Research & Planning: Storyboard & The Plot

Before I started to sketch my storyboard I wrote down a list of the shots/events that I would like to happen. With the narrative and theme of my music video it is likely that this will change maybe even on the day when filming but I have done this to get a rough idea and a sense of direction for the music video, as if not it could be a string of meaningless shots.

Here is the list that I created:

And here is the storyboard:

 Evidently, I am not the most capable drawer so therefore I am now going to explain the sequences of events and the shots in more detail:

1. The first scene is going to be a various amount of shots, each filmed differently put together to create a clip of cinematographic country side. It is hard to determine how exactly each shot is to be filmed without knowing the location and what will be there on the day. I have added this bit at the start as I feel it sets the theme and tone of indie and nostalgia (Bon Iver's signature theme) that I desire.
2. A young girl, of about 18 will be looking out of a window, with her back faced to the camera. This shot will linger to communicate to the audience that she is the main focus point of the music video. This will be a mid or long shot. Once I have organised the location I will be able to determine a suitable distance. 
3. It will then transition to the same young girl sitting at a dressing table, looking at herself in the mirror and then down at the objects sitting on the dresser. This will be a long shot, as I want to also get the door frame in. I am using a lot of mid/long shots to establish that this young girl could be considered to be disconnected from the world because she needs to move on.
4.  It is now a close up of the objects on the dresser, which is a map, car keys and necklace (these will be discussed more in a later props post). This will be filmed as a close up to draw attention to them.
5. The young girl goes to grab them but her fingers linger, suggesting hesitation and nervousness. This will also be a close up.
6. Following the hesitation, the young girl grabs the keys and this will be filmed as a close up.
7. It is now either a mid or long shot of the girl picking up her coat off of the bed and putting it on, she will either be side facing the camera or with her back to the camera. Not identifying the girl creates anonymity which creates a sense of mystery which is what I'm going for. (All of these above shots may be in slow motion, I will determine this in the editing process and what is more visually appealing)
8. The screen will then fade to black. I have yet to decide whether to put a title in, as this could be conventional as it is seen in some music videos but not all so I will consider this in the editing process.
9. It will fade back into footage of the car journey, this is also very hard to say how I am going to film it, therefore I am going to experiment with it. 
10. Filmed from a very long distance the car will pull into the location and park up. The shot will then linger to communicate that the girl is still hesitant and nervous hence why she doesn't get out of the car immediately.
11. The girl gets out of the car and walks towards an edge and away from the camera (Go to the *** to see the complication with this specific direction). This will be shot with the camera on the floor or very low just to get the feet coming out of the car and walking away.
12. There will no be a series of shots taken of the girl standing at the edge with the necklace she took with her in her hand. Their will roughly be about 5 different shots taken at different distances and angles. I will shoot a various amount and then when editing will put them into an order that goes well. This variety of shots etc is to create a sense of hysteria and confusion which is what the girl is going through.
13. There will then be a close up of the girls hand holding the necklace. This is to communicate that this necklace has meaning.
14. The necklace will then be thrown either into water or in the distance of a field. I also need to experiment how to film this.
15. The final shot will be a close up of the necklace on the ground and the girl in the distance walking away. Which is symbolic of her moving on etc.
16. It will then finally, fade to black.

*** If I don't manage to locate a suitable location where there is water that I could throw the necklace in then I will find a suitable field, with some sort of edge. I need to do more research on this but thankfully I have a contingency plan.

From the original notes to the storyboard I made some changes, which improves the narrative. As I have yet to experiment with some shots and locate places I will update this blog post with any other changes I make.

Research & Planning: Narrative

Now that I have chosen the genre, artist and the song I am focusing on creating a narrative.

Initial ideas for my narrative:
In order to help me create my narrative I researched a lot into the meaning behind the lyrics, so I could potentially follow with the theme the lyrics create. This is what I found:

The lyrics

A suggested meaning of the song (Beach Baby - Bon Iver)

  Here are my notes and overall initial idea for the narrative for my music video. I am next going to expand this idea into a story board etc:

Research & Planning: Song Choice

Song choice is a big decision in the process of both research and planning the production of the music video, after previously choosing the artist/band I am going to go with (Bon Iver) I have now chose what album to go with as well as what song.

Finally, I came to the decision to go with the EP 'Blood Bank' as the song I want to create a music video to is 'Beach Baby' from the EP. Below is the audio of the song:

I chose this song because after loving it as a song, I easily found myself being able to create a narrative with it that I loved. I researched the meaning behind the song so when I create the narrative I could try and keep it as close to the meaning that Bon Iver intends, but if I drift from that I don't think that it wouldn't be a negative thing yet a positive as it could be considered a new fresh outlook on the song. 

The song in fact already has a music video, but this won't affect my production for the song, as I am going in a different direction. One of the only similarities will be the use of cinematography. 

Here is the video:

(ENTER MUSIC VIDEO)

Research & Planning: Audience

I am going to focus on researching the audience the artist I have chosen has and with this then select an appropriate magazine to advertise my main product and ancillary products, as well as an appropriate place to distribute my main and ancillary products.

Artist

The artist/band I have chosen to go with is Bon Iver as I feel after watching music videos they have already for their songs that is the direction I want to go into.
Example of Bon Iver - Holocene music video:

To see a more detailed post on why I chose Bon Iver, click here. (ENTER ARTIST (FINAL) LINK)

Audience 

After researching both Bon Iver's audience as well as Indie Folk as a genres audience it seems to be typically that both audiences are;

• Digitally illiterate - aware of how to buy albums etc online and also know how/where to watch music videos
• Of all genders, men, women and of any age - surveys show that next to films an important aspect in their lives is music
• Educated audience - Bon Iver's albums being critically acclaimed suggests some fans being educated
• Distribution - music videos etc being released on YouTube means it is distributed to a large audience - their music/music videos can reach many people
•  Borrowed interest -
• - Bon Iver has collaborated with artists such as Kanye West on the track "Lost In the World" (sample of Bon Ivers song "Woods"), he also contributed to the vocals to Kanye's track "Monster" and Dark Fantasy and both featured on Kanye's critically acclaimed album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. This collaboration publicized him to a wider audience
• - Bon Iver's music has also been featured in many TV shows such as Skins, House, Greys Anatomy and many more which all three have different target audiences which means his audience varies accordingly. 

After doing this research I have decided that seeing as Bon Ivers audience in very vast a number of magazines would be appropriate,  but I have chosen to go for NME.

I have chosen NME because as you can see from the chosen image above they feature similar bands to Bon Iver. So, Bon Iver advertising in NME would be in place and appropriate.   

Also because NME is considered to be quite an 'Alternative' magazine the fact that Bon Iver won the Grammy for Best Alternative Album for Bon Iver, Bon Iver, beating out Radiohead, Death Cab for Cutie, Foster the People and My Morning Jacket.

Research & Planning: Artists

Now that I have chosen and researched the genre I am going to do (Indie Folk) I have narrowed down artists in which I am interested in doing my music video and ancillary products for down to three;

1. Bon Iver
2. Half Moon Run
3. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Bon Iver

Bon Iver is an American indie folk band founded in 2007 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago independently in July 2007. The majority of that album was recorded while Vernon spent three months in a cabin in northwestern Wisconsin. The name Bon Iver is derived from the French phrase bon hiver, meaning "good winter".

Albums;

• For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)

  
  Released: July 8, 2007 (intial), February 19, 2008 (US) & May 12, 2008 (UK)

  
  

• Bon Iver, Bon Iver (2011)

  

  Released: June 17, 2011

• Blood Bank (EP) (2009)

  

  Released: January 20, 2009 
  
  Half Moon Run
  

Half Moon Run are a Canadian indie rock band based in Montreal. The band members, who previously lived in Comox, British Columbia and in Ottawa, Ontario; are singer Devon Portielje on vocals, guitar and percussion; Conner Molander on vocals, guitar and keyboard; Dylan Phillips on vocals, drums and keyboard; and Isaac Symonds on vocals, percussions, mandolin, keyboard and guitar.

Albums;

• Dark Eyes (2012)

  

  Released: 27 March, 2012

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is an American indie folk band formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007. Led by lead vocalist Alex Ebert, the group features a revolving lineup of up to 12 people. It began as a collaboration between Ebert and singer Jade Castrinos as part of a musical collective. Ebert's live persona and the band's name are based on the protagonist of a story he wrote, a messianic figure named Edward Sharpe. Drawing from roots rock, folk, gospel, and psychedelic music , the band's image and sound evoke the hippie movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

Albums; 

• Up from Below (2009)

  

  Released: July 7, 2009

• Here (2012)

  

  Released: May 29, 2012

• Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (2013)

  

  Released: July 23, 2013

These three bands are the current Artists I am looking to chose from, when I go onto look into Audience I will have made my final decision, even though all three bands share the same target audience with being similar in genre. At this current time I am thinking of going for Bon Iver. 

Research & Planning: Conventions

I will be looking into the conventions of music videos, magazine advertisement & digipaks.

Music Video Conventions

What are codes and conventions?

The codes and conventions of music videos are the different techniques used to construct meaning in them. These techniques can be divided into two types; technical and symbolic.

Technical Techniques:

 how meaning is conveyed using technical equipment e.g the way the way camera angles are used, different types of shots, sound either diegetic and non-diegetic sound, the pace and style of editing, and the genre.

Symbolic Techniques:

are ways of showing meanings beyond what you can see for example through, facial expressions, gestures, poses and mis en scene.

Although each genre of music and their music videos have different typical conventions I am going to focus on music videos in general. 

Reasons for codes and conventions:

• So audience can become familiar with a particular genre, as they get used to recognising the different conventions within a certain genre
• Provides a structure that the audience can understand 

The codes and conventions  

• Camera - The way the camera is used is crucial in producing a music video. It can have and create different effects by different angles, and movements, generally every music video uses a variety of camera shots, angles and movements to create different techniques and to make the video unique and interesting.
• Editing Techniques - Editing is the process that concludes the making of the music video. 
• Sound (non diegetic and diegetic) - Sound, like footage can be edited to create different effects and variations to the normal vocals that we hear. Sound Parallel sound is when the music matches the mood of the video. 
• Mise-En-Scene - Props, Lighting, Costume, Hair/Makeup, Location/Setting, and Colours - These elements usually depend on the genre of the music video and the style. These elements are important in contributing towards the chosen genre. (FOR A LATER POST CHECK BOOKMARKS ON LAPTOP)
• Notions of looking - Stereotyping - Notion of looking elaborates upon stereotypes and labels that you may associate with a certain artist/group. These stereotypes are usually taken advantage of in many music videos in order to appeal to the specific target audiences. 
• Style - to see the list of different types/styles of music videos from a previous post, click here. 

Magazine Advertisement Conventions

The functions of magazine adverts:

• To promote the artist
• To sell the song/album available 
• To be eye catching

The conventions & their importance:

• The release date - the audience need to know when they are able to start purchasing the album.
• Album/song title - to be able to purchase the album you would need to know the name of the album.
• Image of album cover - helps the audience purchase the album as they would need to know what the album looks like. This also helps promote the band because the advert will look more interesting and eye catching with a visual image.
• Artists name - essential for the audience to know who the name of the artist/band is. Help promote them to become more well known in the music industry.
• Information about the album - crucial so the target audience can get an idea of what will be in the album and what to expect.
• Where it is available to purchase - so the audience will know wether it is available to purchase on iTunes, Amazon etc online or in store and if so what stores.
• Record label logo - by knowing which record label they are signed to, we would get an idea of what kind of music they're playing in the album. Also, once again they image in the advert might make it more visually appealing and interesting. 

Digipak Conventions

What is a digipak?

It is a patented style of CD or DVD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI Media, a MeadWestVaco, etc. 

They conventionally have a gatefold like a book, the outer packaging is made of card/paper and the inner packaging is made of plastic, they are normally used on special editions and albums, they became popular with artists and record labels in the early 2000s

As I will be creating the front cover of the Digipak in my research I am going to focus more on the conventions of the front page.

The conventions:

• The front panel, as well as the back panel are the main promoters of the CD and are very much used to draw in the audience/consumers of the product
• Tend to have a large eye catching image on them
• The picture illustrated on the front commonly have a relation to the song or the artist
• The song/album title is also found on the front
• Close relationship between the digipak design and target audience

Research & Planning: Genre

Definition of genre

Product One - The Music Promo Video

The genre I am planning my music video to fall into is Indie Folk, this is because as I have chosen to create a music promo video for an already established Artist it is to be the genre of their music. If I had decided to rebrand them I would look into analysing another genre but I feel it best to follow with Indie Folk.

Indie Folk

The music genre arose in the 1990s from musicians in the indie (independent) rock community influenced by folk and classic country music. Indie folk combines the catchy melodies of indie rock with the acoustical sounds of contemporary folk music. 

Below are Wikipedia's list of 'Notable Artists' in the Indie Folk genre.

Examples of some...

Half Moon Run - Click here to hear their song Full Circle 

Bon Iver - Click here to hear their song Holocene

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Click here to hear their song Home

The artists above are my top three to choose from. In a later post I am going to research and analyse them individually in order to then make a final decision.

Music Videos (in general) - There are many different types of music videos and below are some examples:

•  Homage (an acknowledgment to something from the past)
• Animation (use of drawings to illustrate lyrics and meanings)
• Narrative (Sometimes there is an extended version of the music video in order to help develop characters or the plot. It tells a story throughout the video)
• As live (Shows the song sung ‘as live’’ usually in a concert venue) 
• Referencing (Uses a media subject for inspiration)
• Parody (It is created to Mock. It’s soul aim is to make fun of an original piece of work through either the subject matter, the author or the style)
• Influence of commercials (Uses advertisements strategies to carry the narrative)
• Interpretive (It is a visual interpretation of the lyrics)

Product Two - Cover of Digipak

Otherwise known as 'Album Artwork' the front cover of a Digipak is what attracts the audience into buying an artists music, but each genre of music attracts a different kind of audience. Therefore, across the music industry different album artworks of different genres are different, and this is to entice the target audience according to the genre. For example, there are particular characteristics, conventions and features of a indie folk album artwork that would be different to those of a R&B genre.
I will later create a post where I contrast two different Digipak covers to show the difference genre has on them.

Bon Ivers Digipak 

Part of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Digipak

Product Three - A Magazine Advertisement for the Digipak
Although I have yet to decide the magazine I will feature my advertisement I did some research into Digipaks and Magazine Advertisements. I found these helpful slideshares:

Analysis of digipaks/magazine adverts from chosen genre from Grace Lindsay

Analysis Of Magazine Adverts from HannahLenane

Once I have chosen the magazine I will research more into their genre.

Research & Planning: My Brief Continued...

Brief One: A promotion package for the release of an album. To include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options;

• A website for the brand;
• A cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD Package);
• A magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD Package).

OR

Brief Two: A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following options:

• A film magazine front cover, featuring the film;
• A poster for the film;
•  A website homepage for the film.

These are the two briefs that I like the most and when choosing my brief I think that it is a necessity for me to be interested by them and that is why out of the twelve these two are my favourite.

It is also necessary for me to choose a brief that require some skills I already possess and that is also why these two appeal to me as for both from AS I have gained a valuable set of skills, examples are editing, directing, filming etc.

Another factor is that I feel which ever one I pick of the two they will both give me enough of a challenge, but not be too challenging that I can't cope. Out of the two I think that brief one would give me more of a challenge as brief two is similar to my AS production but brief one is completely different in terms of genre etc.  

I feel motivated by both briefs but brief one I feel more appealed to as it would be completely new to me, because as I  previously commented, brief two is similar to my AS production. 

For both I feel I have strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths: knowledge of how to research into genre, audience etc, editing, filming etc

Weaknesses: cinematography, documenting evidence etc

My final choice is brief one as the challenge of creating a music video as well as two other ancillary products really appeals to me. I have yet to choose which ancillary product to do out of the three. 

Research & Planning: Distribution Flow Path

To gain some information that is useful to me creating my main product and two ancillary products, and will be even more so at a later date in this production once the three products are created I completed this sheet:

I have yet to finish filling this sheet in.