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Candidate Number:
Centre Number: 16607
Brief 4

I have chosen to produce a music video for my NEA project.
The brief states:
You work for an independent media

production company. You have been

given the task of producing a

three-minute music video for a

fictional dance band/artist signed to Universal Music, and the working

website for the band/artist.

Statement of Intent

How do you intend to use the four areas of the media theoretical framework to communicate meaning and meet the requirements of your chosen brief? (approx. 400 words) 

Product 1 

To form my three-minute dance music video, I intend to use media language to portray a sense of freedom, relatability and escapism. I plan to use techniques such as intertextuality. A member of the culturally sophisticated 16-25-year-old, class AB demographic would be able to recognise and relate to the technique used as it reflects their interests. For example, I intend to add some footage of fairy lights to refer to the SIFI/horror series Stranger Things. My storyline follows a young, gay individual who is struggling to accept their true self, while they face struggles from society. Likewise, the character Eleven struggles to intertwine and find her place within society. A sophisticated audience would be able to identify and link the two together.  

From my research Universal is home to some of the most influential artists today and from the past, my video must match the style expected to be produced by a Universal artist. I will do this by using a few different mise en scenes, this way I can combine a narrative and a performance. The mise en scene showcased during the narrative scenes will have glowy, dream like lighting to convey the fact that it’s related to the performer as though it is a flash back. On the other hand, the mise en scene during the performance aspect will have a plain backdrop and harsh lighting to clearly separate the two scenarios. 

Andrew Goodwin’s theory states there should be a relationship between the song and the visuals, a performance and narrative to go with the song and the performer/ artist should be the centre of the video, all attention should be on them. The hybrid structure of my music video allows for the mixture of performance and narrative and allows for the artist to be showcased during the performance scenes. The use of lip-syncing and shots of objects that amplify the lyrics all follow the conventions stated by Goodwin. 

Product 2 

To create a convincing working website for my artist I intend to follow similar codes and conventions of a Universal artist as well as incorporating aspects of a dance artists style. From my research most, I have found most Universal dance artists, such as Martin Garrix and Years and Years have a minimalistic approach to their websites, with only the most key information, and only use one or two different colour pallets. As well as this a dance artist most likely has a generous colour scheme and unique symbols relating to their brand identity. So, I plan to use intertextuality for my website, there will be links or Easter eggs to key information about the artist. For instance, this will include tour dates, latest singles, merchandise of the artist and Univeral Music and as the target audience is 16-25-year olds they are members of the digitally savvy generation. Links to their social media accounts mean their audience interests would have been met.  

To show the process of production there will be links to behind the scene clips from the shoots and exclusive interviews from the artist. 

The website will have a clear sense of brand identity with a consistent use of the same font, colour scheme and images. Any images used will be from a shoot where the artist is dressed in similar clothing as to what worn in the music video, thus giving a persistent brand representation. 

Richard Dyer’s Star Theory suggests that a performer is constructed and reflected to come across as a real person. My plan to incorporate their social media links, and management contact details. As a result, representing the artist as a normal person with similar interests to their target audience. 

How do you intend to link your media products to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the digitally convergent nature of your media production? (approx. 100 words) 

As my target audience is made up of culturally sophisticated 16-25-year olds, they will be up to date with the most recent digital trends. For example, it is becoming extremely popular to stream your favourite artists music via popular sites like Spotify, so to comply to the majority there will be links on the website to the artists Spotify account. Here they can find the latest albums, the artists personal playlists and so on...  

There will also be links to where the audience can purchase tickets online rather than at the theatres, they can also buy merchandise and go to their social media pages.  As well as this, one of the main features will be a link to the music video, therefore linking my two products together. As a result, these features demonstrate the natures of digitally convergent media products. 

(approx. 500 words)

• Music Video:

One, three-minute music video.

• Distribution channel:

Content must be suitable for

broadcast on streaming sites

such as YouTube and age

appropriate for young adults

from the age of 16.

• Number of web pages: One

homepage and one linked

page.

• Cross-media production

target audience: A culturally

sophisticated, 16–25 class AB

demographic.

https://centralhubsouthendhigh.blogspot.com 

Finished products: Productions

My Website

My Finished Video:

Music Video NEA from Emily Smith on Vimeo.

An Interview with 'Levi lewis'

Feedback: Group Feedback

From the responses I received there are a few things I can use to improve my video. For instance, in the second question I asked if members of my target audience could recognise the intertextual references to the SIFI horror series and one person answered no.

Industrial Context

I have created a PowerPoint that includes a brief history of my chosen medium, the contemporary context and information about how companies like Universal Music finance, distribute and exchange their products.

Music video research from EmilySmith250

Audience Research

Audience research (emily smith) from emilyllsmith

Planning

Here I have composed a Microsoft powerpoint to show how I have roughly planned to shoot my music video. It includes the various shot types I would like to achieve as well as the ways in which I'm aiming to challenge and subvert from the classic genre conventions of a Dance music video.

Planning from EmilySmith250

Planning: my pitch

To begin my video I had to think about a plethora of aspects,

1. Who I was going to cast
2. What the actual narrative will be and complete a storyboard
3. A shot list
4. What locations I would film at 
5. If there would be any aspects of risk and to complete a risk assessment.
6. And, for my website, what layout I would like that to be.

1. CASTING

I decided that my music video would consist of both a narrative and performance theme. So I needed to cast actors for both aspects, and after coming up with my narrative and social groups I want to include two actors in my narrative aspect and one performer.

Narrative

Rory O'Connor

Reuben Johnson 

Performance

Sam Morris

2. NARRATIVE + STORYBOARD
For my initial narrative, it was going to cantered around an individual who wanted to express themselves by dressing like the opposite gender and facing the challenge of accepting how they truly felt. However, as the idea progressed and I was considering location and costume ideas it got more complicated than I hoped. I was also going to have Rory acting as the performer too.

Here is my final complete storyboard:

My final narrative had Rory and Reuben as two lovers finding it hard to be together as Rory's character is overwhelmed by other peoples negative opinions. Then, because I was then having the mixture of narrative and performance I needed someone confident to be the performer and lip sync convincingly. The narrative will also be past experiences that the performer has gone through, Rory's character will represent the performer.


3. LOCATIONS

Narrative:

For the narrative shots I decided to shoot at the beach. This was so the Mise en scene would be calm and dream like, which highlights the fact that the narrative is whats going on inside the performers mind, almost like memories.

Performer:

The performance shots will be inside and all in the same place with rainbow lighting, this is so there is a juxtaposition between the narrative and performance and the rainbow also represents LGBTQ+ inclusivity.


4. WEBSITE

I want to have a minimalistic approach to my website as most Dance artists also go by this theme. There will be a clear sense of brand identity and will have areas where you can by merch products, concert tickets, the artists latest projects and social media links to show digital convergence.

Generic Research

GENERIC RESEARCH

For my music video I need to become familiar with conventional camerawork, editing techniques, as well as popular choices of mise en scene.

CAMERAWORK

I have noticed that most music videos have many different shot types, this is to create a wide range of shots to have a broad choice of what to use when editing and adding to the  prospect of creativity.

MISE EN SCENE

Mise en scene has to be unique for a music video to be captivating, although most of the time creators of music videos follow the classic genre conventions for example a pop video will be bright colourful whereas a dance video might be more grungy and frantic.

Research: Focus Group

To gain a greater idea of what people from my target audience would enjoy from a dance music video I have chosen to have a focus group of six individuals. Four of them will be primary and two will be secondary audience members, just so I can gage a wider understanding of their preferences.

Focus Group Profiles Primary Audience Members  

Sam Smith 20 years old: 

Sam is currently employed by the RAF, after working in London for two years after finishing his A Levels. He is also well travelled and is well educated around many cultures. Making him culturally sophisticated. Sam also enjoys listening to a wide range of music from house, dance, R&B, pop and rap.  

 

Tegan Mason 17 years old: 

Tegan is currently studying zoology, she enjoys seeing west end shows and her favourite artists concerts when they tour. She loves listening to Demi Lovato, Sam Smith, Marshmello and Jax Jones. 

 

Rory O’Connor 18 years old:  

Rory enjoys musical theatre and performing in as many shows as he can, he also like to attend the opera every now and again. For music he likes to follow the charts and searching for new upcoming indie bands. 

 

Ella Dowden 22 years old: 

After completing her a levels Ella is now completing an apprenticeship with Barclays in London, on her commute to work she likes to listen to a selection of music, from Calvin Harris, Disclosure The 1975 and Ed Sheeran. 

 

Secondary Audience Members 

Reuben Johnson 14 years old: 

Reuben may be only 14 but he still enjoys listening to dance music, I would still like to aim my music video at him because it will help me get a wider understanding of what content to include. 

 

Tigi Whitehouse 17 years old: 

Tigi is a model working in London, she doesn’t listen to dance music on the regular, but I would like to include her opinion, so I can challenge and subvert genre conventions. 

Questionnaire

I compiled a few questions to ask them and these were the most popular answers:

1. How do you view your favourite artists music videos?        

   YOUTUBE
2. What do you prefer a music video to focus on?                                                                         A MIX OF THE TWO
3. What do you think are important social issues today to include in a music video?          HOMOPHOBIA
4. Do you like it when the editing of a video reflects beats in the music?                                   YES