Locations List

Locations 

• Charlotte’s bedroom
• Hairdressers salon
• Drama studio
• Outdoor shots: street, alleyway 
• Bathtub in a bathroom
• Infront of brick wall

Genre Inspiration for Albums and CD Covers

This collage is a collection of album covers from similar genres, also featuring album covers which, as a group, we like and would incorporate some ideas from them into our own digipak. Overall, these album covers are inspiration for our digipak

Prop list

Props 
- Glow Sticks
- Poster of James Dean
- Lights
- Lava Lamp
- Plasma ball
- Bubble bath
- bath bombs
- makeup
- outfits
- sleeping mask
- pajamas
- dogs

Costume Inspiration

In our music video, Nova is presented as the "fashionista" type, always wearing extravagant, over the top outfits which frame her attitude.

We used different sources for our inspiration for Nova's character and outfit.

One inspiration was Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga is renowned for her courageous and out-there looks.
In the picture below, she is photographed in a large fur jacket, similar to Nova in one of the music video looks. (Also in the picture below)

In the second look for the video, we imitated the pop singer, Dua Lipa's style - specifically in this case, monochrome and red. Dua Lipa is known as a fashionable young artist who sparks inspiration in her care free yet polished style. 

We implemented Dua Lipa's style in the outdoor shots of Nova. The heels with a monochrome and red outfit is another one of Nova's main styles within the music video. 

Dua Lipa also implements neon lights into her performances and images.

Above are images of Dua Lipa's use of neon lights in her performances.

Above are images of Nova in our music video using neon lights in the music video.

We also used more of Dua Lipa's style in the shot above with the use of flowers as a prop. We applied this style by having Nova bite the flower, like Dua Lipa in the shot above.

Lastly, Demi Lovato's bath look in her music video for her song Sorry Not Sorry was our inspiration for our own Shots of Nova in the bath, The comparison is seen below.

Artist Inspiration for Nova's Image

Nova's style and image has been inspired by different elements of female singers, whether that be their appearance, stage presence or genre of music. Here are a few examples of female artists who have moulded and inspired Nova as a pop star:

• Jorja Smith
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Her online presence as a new and upcoming artist has been getting a lot of positive feedback from views and she is developing a solid fan base in preparation for future songs and events. Jorja Smith comes across as fun loving and edgy, and is known for her fashionable outfits and modern songs.

• NAO
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Nova is inspired by Nao's beautiful aesthetic across all media platforms as the synergy is very cohesive and bold. She uses bright solid colours like in the above pictures along with iconic hairstyles. She comes across as free spirited and confident which is one of the reasons why she has a great fan base.

• SZA
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

SZA, similar to the other artists, has a very noticable, strong identity, who loves her music. She is seen as a pop/R&B star and is adored by many, but she also comes across as down to earth and relatable, which is what we aimed to do for Nova. SZA is also a newly discovered artist who is creating a very strong fan base and is building up her fame very quickly.

• FKA Twigs
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

FKA Twigs is a known singer, but not as popular as the other artists above. She is known for her alternative music (which is not everybody's taste), her unique style and her abstract videos and advertisements. Near the end of Nova's music video, the song gets progressively more abstract and strange. The visuals for that part of the video take inspiration from FKA Twigs and her extremely creative and artistic image.

Similar Genre Videos

Macklemore - Downtown
We like this video as it does not have a true narrative - it shows many random shots without much correlation. Although this song is a different genre to our pop song (this one is hip-hop), the music video does not hold strict hip hop conventions: there are not any guns or weapons/ showing off money. The only part of this music video that fits hip hop conventions is the use of women for the male gaze.
We would implement the use of colour, outdoor shots, hair and clothing styles and camera work from this video.


NAO - Fool to Love
This music video is by the same artist that we are doing for our final music video, this means this video's song is of the same genre as our chosen song. What we like about this video is the use of lighting, it uses different coloured lighting throughout, beginning with orange and moving to white and green.
Another aspect of this video which we like is the movement of the actor/ dancer. His "wacky" dancing is what we had originally envisioned for our music video, and is still remaining in our plan
Although, we would not use the camera work of this music video as it begins as one whole shot, when we would like top use many fast cuts of different shots going in time with the beat.



Dua Lipa - New Rules
This song is in the same genre as our chosen song, likewise to fool to love. We admire the use of different colour within outfits and settings. This is specifically admirable in the scene where the six different girls are aligned wearing the same dressing gown in each a different colour. Another shot which we like is one where the actress opens the curtains in one shot, where it then moves to another shot beginning with her opening the curtains in a different location.
Although, we would not use the camera work as they use one continuous shot for the majority of this video.



Sundara Karma - She Said
We admire the use of colour in this video. Such as the backdrops: shiny purple streamers, gold streamers, blue sequins. Additionally the often shot changes without a particular narrative. We also like the costume use in this video, such as the platform black leather heels.
Despite this, we would not use the amount of performance that this video features, as this video shows the whole band playing which we would not plan to do.

Representation

Representation within music videos creates huge controversy and issues in modern day.
Representation is a construction of aspects of reality. In music videos, this representation of reality is typically always altered and reshaped into something which does not correlate with the actual reality of which it is attempting to reflect. These representations allow the audience to reshape their understandings of what is the truth

There are certain groups of people who are stereotyped in music videos:

• Women. Many male rap artist's music videos feature at least one woman who is over sexualised for the purpose of entertaining the viewers. The women are there as a prop, an object for the artist to show off. Black women are typically used more for this purpose/
• Youths/ black men: this group of people are typically stereotyped as being reckless, drinking and taking drugs irresponsibly and being a nuisance to the older generation.

Voyeurism - Sigmund Freud
This is watching someone for the purpose of erotic pleasure. People who participate in this viewing wnt to watch the person without them being aware that they are being viewed.


Katy Perry's California Gurls shows Katy laying down naked for some shots, as well as being in a bikini for the most part of it. This invites viewers to watch her and to gain erotic pleasure. In some shots, Katy is looking away from the camera, allowing the audience to feel more powerful as it seems she is not aware that she is being watched.

Male Gaze - Laura Mulvey
Male film-makers use women for display, not narrative in order to produce a voyeuristic response. This allows the viewer to feel powerful and in control (a male gaze) through watching these displayed passive females. In male artist's videos, the male's have women dancers in order to boost the male's ego.


In Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, the women are purely used for display in order to create a voyeuristic response. Here, Thicke is using women dancers in order to boost his ego and make him seem more powerful.

Exhibitionism
Female performers are sexually provocative and in control by inviting the male gaze themselves, this is the opposite of vouyerism.


Here, Nicki Minaj is aware that the camera is there and filming here. This is made obvious by her making eye contact with the camera throughout the video, she is in charge and inviting the male gaze herself.

Raunch Culture - Andrea Levy
Levy's book Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture attacks increasingly sexualised culture which objectifies women. Levy states women are encouraged to make themselves seem like objects and have sex as their high source of power.



Here, Rihanna is dancing in the fashion of which a stripper would. Rihanna is aware of what she is doing and is empowering herself by taking control of her body, although it could be argued that she has been brainwashed to make herself seem like an object and use her sexuality as her source of power.




This video begins with the artist, Kendrick Lamar, being blindfolded, surrounded by approximately 15 women dancing around him in their underwear, some touching him. The use of the blindfold shows to the audience that he does not need to look at naked women in order to feel more manly, he is going against stereotypes of men in music videos by ignoring the women and not viewing them as objects. At the end of this scene, the women go against him and pull out a dagger to stab him, showing that in this video, women have more control over him.
The next scene shows Kendrick being approached by a gang of black men in balaclavas and bandanas, wearing all black and carrying weapons. This representation of would make the viewer believe that this reflects all black men, therefore showing a negative representation.
The third scene shows Rihanna approaching Kendrick's car in glamorous clothing: a white fur coat, expensive looking jewellery, a tight white dress and heels. This representation shows Rihanna being a strong dominant female as she is the person approaching the male. Rihanna also looks successful and independent, due to her expensive look, going against stereotypes of women being weak.
In the third scene, Rihanna is overlooking Kendrick and another black man having a fight whilst laughing. This makes Rihanna seem of higher significance as she is overlooking, making her seem omniscient. Additionally, the fact that it is two black men fighting supports the stereotypical representation of black men of being violent and in gangs.
Rihanna is then shown as a close up of her face, allowing her to look at heightened importance. A wide shot of both Kendrick and Rihanna is then shown of them sinking into the cement; this makes both the male and female seem at one and equal.
There is then a panning shot going into a birds eye shot of Kendrick holding Rihanna by the hand off a building. Rihanna is placing all of her trust into Kendrick, the male. This is a reflection of society - women being controlled and held up by higher corporate men.
Kendrick is then shown in a smart outfit, a black suit with a red rose in the pocket. This defies the stereotype of black men in music videos typically being in chains and rough looking clothing. Kendrick is facing himself sitting tied up in a white suit, where he starts shouting and a black woman puts a plastic bag over his face. This whole set up agrees with the stereotype of black people being in underground gangs, committing crimes.
The last scene of the music video is Kendrick and Rihanna doing doughnuts in a BMW at night in a city where Kendrick loses control and they crash. Their reaction is laughter, despite being covered in blood. This representation makes black people seem reckless with their money and irresponsible.

Music Video Timeline

This presentation is made to show the progression of music videos in general over a 90 year period, starting with the first ever music video at 1929, to reflecting on modern day music videos and their ever-growing large impact on our society and the viewers.
This research is beneficial to the construction of my own music video due to presenting the modern day standard of which my group should be aiming to.

Email of Consent

We sent an email to NAO's publicist asking for permission to use her song for our educational music video. we did this so we would not get copyrighted on youtube.

Song Pitches and Feedback

3 song pitch from Anneka Williamson

Here is our group's slideshow of our three top song choices for the final music video Which are Consideration by Rihanna, Burn It Down by Daughter, and Nostalgia by NAO. This presentation previews shot ideas and the main thesis of what we would do in the proposed music video for each song if we chose that one. After presenting, we  received feedback from our teacher and classmates. They told us their individual different ideas and which song would be the most successful for our group to create in their own opinion. We took the advice from everyone and decided to use NAO's Nostalgia for our final song. 

Music Video Presentation Feedback

Consideration - Rihanna:

• Does not have a chorus so may be hard to keep the audience interested or keep a particular theme.
• Rihanna is black and everyone in our group is white so it would seem unrealistic to many people watching as the voice and appearance do not match.
• Since the song is by Rihanna, it may be had for the audience to detach from the image of Rihanna that goes along with her recognisable voice.
• This song could get boring since it is the same tempo all the way through and does not change much.

Burn it Down - Daughter:

• Anyone in our group could play the main artist.
• This song has an interesting beat as it varies and it consists of a main chorus so there is lots of room for creativity.
• Could be both performance and narrative- based.
• Could be filmed outdoors and be very symbolic.
• Comparable to Kate Bush and Florence and the Machine for their quirky look. 

Nostalgia - NAO

• Has a very 70s vibe - comparable to bands like Jackson 5 but with a modern twist.
• Very colourful song, has a lot of room to be visually interesting, creative and colourful.
• Would include dancing 
• Very performance based with strange twists to make it more alternative.
• Would have to have an iconic artist with lots of costume changes and alter egos.
• Lava lamps, disco balls, studio lights etc.

Song Inspiration

During the deciding process of choosing our song, we made it clear that we all wanted a fast pace, up tempo pop song. After perusing through different mini genres within this genre of fast pop, we decided that we wanted a song with 1970s/80s style pop.
Below are some tracks which we liked the sound of before choosing NAO's Nostalgia.





Night Fever by the Bee Gees is a classic within the realms of 1970s pop. This song has a similar beat to Nostalgia, noticeable by the fast beats and "funky" sounding instruments used.




Next is Michael Jackson's Beat It. This song is from the 1980s pop movement which additionally has a similar beat and tempo to nostalgia. NAO also has a similar sounding voice to Michael Jackson's - due to both being sopranos and singing in a higher register.

Once listening to these songs, we decided to use NAO's Nostalgia ultimately. This song had attributes of 70/80s pop which is what we were aiming for in our song.



Here is the audio to the song we chose for the final music video.

Banana Phone Final

For this task, I was in a group of three consisting of me, Charlotte Ellis and Harry Foord. All together as a group, we worked well and efficiently, managing to complete all of our filming within one lesson. We managed this in a short time period due to planning which videos to film in which order before setting out on filming. Additionally, as only two people were needed for each clip (camera-worker and actor), Charlotte and I did the 3 clips as a pair whilst Harry did the stop motion Lego sequence on his own. These approaches to combating the filming task collectively cut our overall filming time down considerately.
However, we did meet some drawbacks in the filming process, such as needing to re-film many clips due to them not turning out as how we had envisioned as a group, for many reasons such as not being in focus, being too short, etc. We overcame this by ensuring we had time at the end of the lesson to re-film the needed shots, which we did successfully.
In the individual editing component, I found some issues, such as creating the effects which our teacher had set us to add to our videos. To overcome this, I used YouTube videos of tutorials of those specific effects/ edits to learn how to do them. This way of teaching myself was successful as I finished the Banana Video edit in time.

30 Second Breakdown

30 second breakdown from Anneka Williamson

For this task, I screen-grabbed each shot for the first thirty seconds of the music video for Stacy's Mom by Fountains Of Wayne. I then wrote the duration of the shot, the shot type and what was happening in that shot, along with any other additional information.

Audience

How do you consume music? 
I listen to music for a large majority of the day, every day. Music has practically become a backing track to my life nowadays as I listen to it whilst doing most tasks.
Typically, my day with music goes that I listen to my playlists when I get ready in the mornings, listen to the radio in the car/ on my phone if I'm walking somewhere, listen to my library/ playlist whilst working (if that is permitted), then on the way home, in my free time when I'm alone at home, and then before bed to help me sleep.
I listened to music most around exam period. It helped me concentrate whilst revising, in the fact that I was not getting distracted by my surroundings. Also when I wanted to relax during my revision breaks, I would tend to reach for my music library on my phone over anything else.

Where? 
I listen to music mainly when I have free time to myself, so this requires for me to be alone and not in anyone's company. Therefore, I pejoratively listen to music in my bedroom. However, when I am out with company, music is usually always on in the background just as background noise.
Also, whenever I travel, I will always listen to music. If its in the car, I'll listen to the radio, or if its for a long journey, I'll listen to songs of my own with earphones. I'll always listen to music if I'm on public transport or if I'm walking somewhere without company.
I've been to a collection of music festivals additionally. This year I attended two days of the Wireless festival weekend, along with V festival. Wireless is a R&B and Hip Hop festival and V festival is mainly a pop festival, although it does cater to most music genres and tastes.

Who with? 
If I find a song which makes me think of someone, or makes me think that a certain person will like it, I will always either send them the song or play it when I am with them. When I am with friends in a relaxed atmosphere, we usually will play our music through speakers. My friends and I all have quite a range of music tastes, so it's typically quite difficult to play a variation of songs which we all like when we are all together at a gathering.
Although, I do primarily listen to music by myself to relax and for escapism.

How? 
90% of the music I listen to is from my own library on my phone. I use Apple Music to stream and download music - on this app, there are pre-made curated playlists for all genres of music. I tend to listen to the R&B/ Soul and Hip Hop/ Rap playlists. I will always listen to music when getting ready in order to make time seem to go faster, and create an upbeat mood. When in the car for short journeys I will listen to the radio, although, my typical music taste played on mainstream radio stations, so for longer journeys I will always listen to my own music.
I enjoy live music immensely due to the atmosphere and have been to a handful of concerts and music festivals/ events.

Why? What are the pleasures associated with music consumption? What does it offer the audience and what needs does it gratify?
I listen to music in order for different reasons, which are all displayed in the uses and gratifications theory: Personal Identification, information, entertainment and social interaction. I listen to music to exaggerate the mood and emotions I am experiencing, such as an upbeat happy song if I have just received some good news. The same principle goes for entertainment purposes.
Music gives me pleasure in that it can relax me, get me excited, and help me escape. It is difficult to beat the feeling of discovering a song which fits your music taste and mood exactly - I really believe music makes everyday modern life a lot more enjoyable and bearable, especially useful for people who are experiencing a tough or depressing event.