Meetings

Meetings

Meetings with all members of our group are essential throughout the filming process. The reason for this is so that every member of the group knows what is happening during the production process. It also allows our group to discuss ideas based around the task we have been given. Examples of discussions which have been based on during group meetings are deciding on the artist and the song, aswell as planning aspects of our music video such as mise-en-scene and cinematography elements. In which we recorded a list of every meeting we encountered alongside what the group have discussed and decided on so that we could refer back to our notes to see what we had decided or wanted to include in a certain aspect of the video. Furthermore, group meetings allowed individuals to express their ideas for our music video which may not have been thought of and could enhance our product. Additionally to this, it allowed other members of the group to expand and broaden the idea further, to create ideas which were more intriguing for the audience, or beneficial for the group. To organise our time efficiently, we made sure that we planned every aspect of our production to the best of our ability so that this would save time. This included which members of the group had a certain role in the task to help, so when individuals had done specific tasks they could continue with the next one. This saved alot of wasted time as different roles were completed efficient, with not every member of the group completing the same task which did not necessarily need all 4 members help.

Overall, I think that our group did work well together. This is because I felt as though we corp-orated with a strategy of completing different tasks either as individuals, and as a whole group which enabled us to use our time efficiently depending on what we needed to do. Our group showed good communication skills through taking on board each others individual ideas and suggesting ways in which we could incorporate this into our music video or planning. This was also showed us working well together as we could take into consideration others ideas, but also expand and broaden the idea to help out the individual but also benefit the group. It was beneficial of our group to keep a record of what was discussed in our group meetings as we could refer back to our notes if we had forgotten any elements which we may have wanted to include or expand on. This also gave us a plan of what we were hoping to create, or important notes on how to move forward in our next phase of the production. Meetings helped the entire group to stay on a similar page with everybody knowing what needed to be done next in order to develop the product, and see which role they needed to undergo in order to achieve this.

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

Risk assessments are essential for the process of any media production. The purpose risk assessments is to prevent potential hazards and risks occurring throughout the filming process. Once we have discussed all possible risks which we may encounter, we can then try to prevent these hazards from occurring, or make the chance of them happening lower. By lowering these risks, this will ensure every member of the group is safer, and makes the overall production a quicker process as all potential hazards are dealt with beforehand. A risk assessment not only allows the group to plan out potential risks and how to prevent them. But also suggests alternative methods which can be used in the filming process if the hazard will harm or jeopardize a member of the groups safety. 

One high impact risk which could occur during our filming process is the risk of falling of the stage during the acting and filming process. This could potentially harm all members of the group which may be on the stage itself, or helping to film by setting up the camera equipment on stage. To ensure that this risk does not occur during the filming process we will aim to put masking tape along the edge of the stage to make the edge clearly visible to all members of the group and that they are aware and apparent he edge of the stage is close to them, ensuring that they will stay slightly further away. An alternative to this, is to film on the ground instead of the stage and set the ground up as though it is a stage including all the props in which I would originally include. We did not find that this hazard was potentially threatening to any of the group members safety. We were all well aware of the wires as we had marked them with bright tape which made this obvious to all members of the group to be aware when walking near the wires.

Another risk which could occur during filming, however is a low impact risk if this does occur is the possibility of rain getting on our camera equipment which we will use to film our music video. To ensure that the camera equipment does not get damaged in the process of filming our music video we will also take an umbrella to hold over the camera to ensure none of the rain lands on it. We will also make sure that we take the case which the camera is held in, so that if the rain becomes too heavy and may severely affect the functions of the camera we can put the camera away until the weather has cleared up slightly. An alternative to this plan if weather conditions are too difficult to film in would be to film a different scene which is located either in a different place or preferably inside so that the equipment will not be damaged. However, we did not encounter this specific risk of rain damaging our equipment. This was because we filmed most of our scenes indoors, or when we were filming outside the weather was dry, and therefore was no risk of damaging the equipment. 

Furthermore, another risk which is possible, but not likely making this a low impact risk, is our group being separated and getting lost in London. To ensure that all members of our group stick together at all times, we will make sure we all have a contact for every member of the group in case one is lost, so a meeting place can be arranged. Additionally, a meeting point could be suggested before filming takes place were all members of the group agree to meet if a member of group is missing for a long period of time, which will be easily recognizable for all members and can carry on with the filming as soon as possible. Furthermore, whilst filming in London, a potential risk which we may have encountered is the loss of theft of our equipment due to the business of the location which we may not have noticed the missing equipment straight away. An alternative option for this is to remain in pairs within the group so no member will be alone at any point ensuring that they will not get lost in the filming process seeing as London can be a large place. We did not encounter the risk of loosing group members as we tried to ensure at all times each member of the group was still there, and ensured we all had a source of contacting each member of the group just in case of this hazard. The only hazard we had encountered was the business of the location. In which we ensured to use the equipment which holds the camera and tripod, to make sure they were secure and would not be able to be taken easily when walking down a busy street. 

Additionally, a high impact risk during the filming process could be the factor of filming during the dark conditions. This could impact all members of our group as we would all be filming in these conditions at some point which could lead to possible injuries due to not being able to see where you are going. To try and prevent this risk from occurring we will ensure to take other sources of light with us whilst we are filming in the darker conditions, this could include a torch or the use of a phone light. However, if the visibility is too poor on an occasion were we need to film it may be possible to rearrange the filming time and day, or a different location which may work just as well. We did not encounter this risk throughout the filming process. This is because the majority of filming which we did was throughout the day time, in which we had daylight and were able to see any obstacles on the floor which may jeopardize the member of the groups safety. 

The fifth factor which may cause risk during the filming process is trailing leads. This is a high impact risk as all members of the group can be affected as this could result in tripping/falling over the wires as they may not be noticeable. To try and prevent this risk from occurring we will apply masking tape over the wires which will make them clear and obvious to all members of the group which allows trips and falls to be avoided. Furthermore, if the wires are attached to the iconography which we are using to film and cannot have tape over them as this will ruin the shot we will insure that all members of the group are standing well behind the wires to prevent any incidents. We did not encounter this risk throughout the filming process as masking tape clearly helped to point out the wires, in which all members of the group avoided the wires in order to prevent any hazards occurring.

Lastly, another risk is moving the piano for the filming process. This is a high impact risk as this could possibly affect all members of the group as lifting could result in injury. In order to move the heavy iconography we should lift the piano in the correct position to maneuver the prop without it falling which could result in injury for members of the group. A back up plan for this if the object is too heavy to move is to leave the piano in the same place which we found it in, but if we need a different backdrop for filming purposes we could use different coloured sheets such as black for the performance scenes which would create the same effect, also resulting in not injuring a member of the group. We did not find this risk affected any members of our group. This was because when moving the piano we did not have to move it very far, only a few centimeters forward. In which all members helped to move the piano so this was not too heavy and did not injure any members of the group.

Overall, I think that creating a risk assessment was beneficial to the production of my music video, as this allowed me to see that even minor hazards could effect the groups safety. Furthermore, the risk assessment helps to plan ahead and think of ways in which we could prevent these possible risks in order to keep everybody safe. We did not encounter any major risks throughout the filming process.The only minor risk was the location of London. This was how we had to be extra careful in looking after the equipment to make sure it was close to a member of the group at all times, in case throughout the busy streets it went unnoticed that a piece of the equipment was missing.  The risk assessment additionally helped with planning our filming schedule. This is because it helped us plan around problems which we could possibly encounter to save us time and plan ahead to create solutions before the problem occurs. Furthermore, we have also thought of back up plans which we would be able to use in case filming can't go ahead due to a particular safety risk and ways around this in order to still complete the filming process for our music video.

Filming Schedule

Filming Schedule

A filming schedule is a projected plan of each day's shooting and is important in preparation for any production as this states when and where the production is taking places and what resources are needed. We created our filming schedule on a word document, in a chart style format. The chart explains what date we will be filming along with the location which particular shots will be filmed. The table also includes the shot type which we are hoping to film with the iconography which will also need to be included in the shot. A filming schedule is beneficial to our production because this helps us to decide which scenes we will be filming on particular days. For example, if we have more than one shot/scene located in the same location, we will film all scenes together in order to save time and make sure we use our time given efficiently. Furthermore, as there are certain scenes which are located at a location which is a sufficient distance from the majority of scenes we are filming, such as London, we have organised our filming schedule so that we will try to film all of the scenes which we need on one day so that we do not need to travel back and forth to the location and can use our time wisely and efficiently and could continue with the editing phase of our music video.  

In conclusion, my group have found planning a filming schedule very useful, as this has help us to set out a structure on the basis of deciding when to film specific shots and how to use our time that we have efficiently. This enabled us to realise that it was beneficial to film all scenes that are in one particular location at the same time as this is less time consuming. We planned which location we would shoot first based on our storyboards, the location which requires the most shots we went to first to ensure that we could film these first as they would take up the majority of our time. These scenes were filmed in London. After this, we went on to film the scenes which we could easily access such as in our School hall for the use of the stage. By organizing a time and date which we wanted to use the hall we were able to negotiate times as the hall could have been in use at a particular time and we need to schedule when was the best time for us to use it. After we had filmed the majority of scenes, with timing left over we have realized that the scenes which we filmed in London do not create the effect that we wanted to in our music video and we feel as though they are not engaging enough for our target audience due to the scenery being dull and full of buildings and construction. Since we have used our time wisely with our filming schedule we still have time to re-shoot our scenes of London in a different location which we will think carefully about to include scenery which is engaging for our target audience and can help to make our music video look professional. We did not follow our filming schedule completely. The changes that we made include not being able to film the London scenes due to a variety of reasons. We originally planned to film in London, and the change of weather changed our plans as this was to dark, windy and rainy to film in and would not have created the effect that we wanted. The second time we wanted to film these particular films the camera which we were hoping to use was in use from another group, so the back up camera did not have enough battery so could not continue with the filming. Furthermore, we added additional scenes which were the artist performing on the piano, we decided to add more of these particular shots because the entire music video was more than 4 minutes long and we needed shots which we could add in to continuously change the shot, so that the music video is more intriguing and engaging for the audience to watch. Throughout this process i have learnt that a filming schedule is important to the filming process. This is because it sets out days in which we could possibly film particular scenes and allows us to see what scenes can be filmed altogether to save us more time. Also allowing us to go back and re-film certain scenes if need be.

Music Video Inspirations

Music Video Inspirations

This task involved analysing many different styles and genres of music videos which contained many different conventions and aspects which have in turn, given me inspiration when creating my own soul music video. The inspirations that I hope to include have not been taken from my selected genre, but from a varied range of genres in which I think will achieve my desired effect in my music video and help to engage the audience as they are watching.

Music Video 1: Charlie Puth - Marvin Gaye

The first video in which I have analysed is Charlie Puth with his music video of "Marvin Gaye". From analysing this music video it can be seen that the style of the music video is a combination of both a narrative based video and performance based also. I have taken inspiration from this music video and hope to include this when I begin filming my own music video which is based on the soul genre of music. This style of music video usually includes both narrative and performance based music video styles, as this allows for the audience to understand what is happening in regards to the narrative of the music video as well as the artist being able to portray their emotion behind the lyrics to the song through the use of performance. This also helps to build a relationship between the artist and audience as they can see through the use of close ups and body language of the artist throughout the performance scenes how passionate the artist is of their music. 

Music Video 2: John Legend - All of Me

The second music video which I have analysed is "All of Me" by John Legend. The first aspect of the music video which I noticed supports my first point and inspiration which I will include in my music video, of the artist including two style's in the music video, including a performance and narrative based music video. Again, I would like to include this within my music video as I feel that this is more engaging for the audience to watch as it not only allows them to understand the lyrics of the song more clearly, but also enables them to relate to the artist on the basis of how much passion the artist displays through the performance aspect of the video. Additionally to this, another aspect of the music video which I would like to incorporate into my music video when I come to planning this is the use of a black and white editing filter. This can be seen throughout the entire music video from the artist John Legend, but I would want to incorporate this technique throughout certain aspects of my music video so that it is more engaging for the audience and has a purpose. The use of different colours in the music video can be intriguing for the audience as it suggests different moods, or possibly different time periods which could be significant to the narrative of the music video and make it easier for the audience to follow along. The use of the colours black and white could also represent the artist within our soul music video conventionally as this helps to portray their low and depressive state in regards to the lyrics which is stereotypical of a soul music artist.

Music Video 3: Duffy - Warwick Avenue




Furthermore, I have watched the artist Duffy's music video for her song "Warwick Avenue" which consists of the artist seeming upset in the back of what appears to be a taxi as she is being taken somewhere. I am wanting to include this, and have taken inspiration of this idea as this is how I would like my artist to also be represented throughout our music video. I would like the artist to appear emotional and low which will help to build a relationship with the artist and the audience as the audience feel as though the artist is not trying to hide her true, and raw emotions that have been provoked due to the subject which she is singing about. This presents the artist as down to earth and genuine which will in turn gain respect from the audience. Not only this, but it is also engaging for the audience to watch as they may be able to relate in some way to how the artist is feeling. This would not be interesting to watch for the audience if the artist carried out a monotone expression whilst singing lyrics with meaning and emotion. 

Music Video 4: Ella Henderson - Yours

Another music video which I have analysed is "Yours" by artist Ella Henderson. The first inspiration that I have taken from this music video is the use of a black and white filter throughout the music video. I have taken inspiration of this technique from previous music videos and have noticed it also in this music video. The different colours such as black and white help to represent the artists depressive state and also allows the audience to think deeply into the narrative questioning the purpose of the filter, whether or not this represents a different time period for the artist. Additionally to this which I have previously mentioned, is also the use of a combination of music styles. In this music video the artist includes both narrative and performance based music video styles. This is more engaging for the audience to watch as they can see the emotion and passion behind the artists performance alongside the narrative style which helps to make the narrative more clear for the audience. Lastly, another inspiration in which I have taken from this particular music video is the use of an editing technique. This is when the artist seems to be layered over a building. I would like to use this technique within my music video as I feel as though this helps to represent the artists emotional state and her feelings, also representing the artist as vulnerable which is a conventional representation of a soul music artist. This could suggest that the artist has many different mixed emotions and is confused in the way that she is feeling, making the audience sympathize for the artist as they may be able to relate to the artist in some way.


Music Video 5: Birdy - Skinny Love

The fifth music video which I have analysed is from the artist Birdy and her song "Skinny Love". From analysing this specific music video I have taken inspiration from conventions in which she has included. The main inspiration that I would like to incorporate into my music video is the use of different styles of lighting. Within this music video, the lighting changes dramatically from being low key lighting, to high/natural lighting. By incorporating this into my music video this helps to represent to the audience the different moods and emotions which the artist is feeling. This could suggest that one moment the artist may be feeling okay and not so emotional, then the next in a low, emotional and depressive state which is conventional of the soul artist. The mix of emotions and state that the artist is represented as could suggest vulnerability which is another conventional representation of a soul artist. This in turn may make the audience more engaged as they are focusing on different key lighting elements which suggest the artists mood and emotions which may make them sympathize for the artist.

Music Video 6: Rihanna - Stay

The last music video in which I have analysed is "Stay" by artist Rihanna. From this specific music video I have taken inspiration as I would like to incorporate multiple close ups within my music video, which typically is a tight frame to capture a person or object. I would use this when the artist is singing as this helps to display the passion and emotion that she feels towards her lyrics. This helps to establish the relationship between the artist and the audience as they see her true, raw emotions up close which most people would not usually be able to see as this is something private which the artist may not want to share with the outside world. This presents the artist as natural and down to earth as she is willing to share her emotion with the audience which gives them an insight to her personality which nobody has seen before. The audience feel as though they are beginning to know the artist as they have shared their emotions and feelings which is something you would usually do if you were close to somebody and felt as though you could trust them with her emotions. This particular shot is conventional to the soul genre because it helps to illustrate the artists vulnerability and sadness through the facial expressions, which reiterates what the artist is singing about, and how this makes her feel. This makes the audience sympathise for the artist as they may have been in this situation before.

Our group have already selected the genre of soul to be what our music video is based on. Knowing this, I am considering choosing one of three separate songs from soul music artists. The first includes, "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" by artist Paloma Faith. I have taken this song into consideration on the basis that I think that my group will be able to come up with a unique narrative which matches the meaning behind the lyrics which also can be easily understood, yet engaging for our target audience. Furthermore, the next two songs which I have taken into consideration to use for making our own music video are from the artist Adele. I have considered both songs "Someone Like You" and "Hometown Glory". Again, as previously mentioned I believe that both of these particular songs allow my group to come up with a narrative which relates to the lyrics of the song, in which the target audience may also be able to relate to and understand easily, which is the main concept we are hoping to achieve with our music video, this is the audience remain engaged throughout with a narrative which they enjoy and can understand. However, both of these songs can contain a concept which I have been inspired by from several music videos. This is to include both a narrative and performance based music video style which allows for the audience to become further engaged as they can also see the passion and determination as they see the artist perform the lyrics. I am going to share all three songs which I have selected to my group, in hope that they will have also selected similar songs for similar reasons which will allow our group to include several concepts which are stereotypical to the genre of music which we have selected.

Planning Storyboards

Planning Storyboards

A story board is a series of images and drawings which are explained in a lot of detail to create a visual image of what you would like to be created. The series of images could explain a series or sequence, in which we have planned storyboards in order to plan in detail our music video. The story boards help us to plan which particular scene we would like to film, and what the scene will include. Although the storyboards help to plan out what we would like to include in the video this is only our first vision and we can still include other shots if we feel as though we need to include a particular scene in order to enhance or help the audience to understand the narrative. However, this helps us with organisation in regards to what scene we would like to film and what is convenient to film at the same time in order to prevent wasting time when coming to the filming process, this could result in leaving our group with more time to add additional scenes or re film certain scenes if time is managed well.

In the process of creating our music video we carried out primary and secondary research which would help us in the planning process. The first piece of primary research which I carried out was the questionnaire. The questionnaire included several questions which enabled us to evaluate the target audiences answers of what they expect, and like to see in a soul music video. The answers shown revealed what we expected to find out, as most answers were conventional to our chosen genre of music video. Some of the answers included which type of shot the target audience would like to see in the music video, which came back as the shot the audience would like to see most was a close up shot due to the emotion of the artist being more visible and enabling a relationship to build between the artist and audience. Furthermore, we have taken several inspirations from different soul artists music videos which we have tried to incorporate into our music video as many of these aspects are conventional to our genre. 

One inspiration which we would like to try and incorporate into our music video is the use of a black and white filter over certain scenes of the video. We initially wanted to use this filter in scenes where the artist is performing on the piano which would help reiterate to the audience the depressive state in which the artist is currently in, which could allow the audience to sympathise for the audience. However, I think we have chosen to change this idea as this may not be clear to the audience as to why we have used this filter over a particular scene. Instead we want to include this filter over scenes were the artist is reminiscing on her memories, this filter will help to show this is a memory as well as reiterating to the audience the emotion, instability of the artist and how she is feeling. We have taken inspiration for this editing style from artists such as Amy Winehouse, who used this editing style effect in her music video of "Back to Black" as well as the artist Adele who used this technique in her music video of "Make You Feel My Love". We are aiming to incorporate this effect in scenes which are included in our story board such as 3 and 4 which is just a few of the scenes which will include this effect. The black and white filter helps to demonstrate the artists emotion in the scene that the colour black helps to represent the artists depressive state and negative emotions as she is comparing her past to her present. The use of the colour black contrasts with the use of the second colour of white which helps to represent the innocence and happiness of the artist which could also portray her as vulnerable, as most innocent people are seen this way. This helps the audience to sympathise for the audience as they may be able to relate to how they are feeling as she is already feeling low and down. The two colours also help to show that the artist is reflecting and reminiscing on her memories before she found fame. This is conventional to the soul genre which is evident as I have mentioned, artists including Adele have used this technique which helps to portray the narrative clearly. 

Another inspiration that we have taken from analysing secondary information of artists music videos is a close up shot which is stereotypically used in conventional soul music videos. This style of shot is commonly used in artists videos in which we have analysed such as Duffy, Adele and Amy Winehouse. We will use this specific style of shot throughout the music video. This includes our opening shot which will hopefully make an impact to the audience and give them a sense of what they can expect throughout the video. We will also include this style of shot in scenes 16 and 24 which have been included in our storyboard. These shots will be used in particular scenes which will be used when the artist is singing and performing and this helps to display the emotion and passion of the artist. This helps to build a relationship between the artist and audience as they can see the emotion of the artist and how passionate she is about the certain subject, they can see how down to earth the artist is due to her not hiding her true and raw emotion and feel connected in the sense that they felt as though the artist felt as though she could trust the audience. Close up shots are the best way to illustrate this emotion as there is no cover for the artist as all of their genuine emotions are shown on screen. 

Additionally, we have taken inspiration from again, the artist Amy Winehouse in regards to the style of music video. This is because the artists videos usually, like ours include both a narrative and performance style music video, whereas artists like Adele's music videos are mainly narrative based which is quite simplistic. An example could be of Adele's "Someone Like You" where the entire video is based upon the artist singing, whilst walking down the street. It can be seen through our stroyboards that we are going to include both styles of music videos. The beginning scene starts as a performance style music video of the artist performing on stage, and by the 3rd scene shown on the storyboard the narrative is introduced with shots of a London bus to demonstrate that the artist is reminiscing on her memories before she found fame. Another inspiration in which we would like to incorporate into our music video from the artist Amy Winehouse is the use of aspects of colour at certain points of different scenes. It can be seen in Amy's video "You Know I'm No Good" that the artist has mainly used low key lighting, and then a vibrant colour of red is standing out on her nails. We would like to include this editing technique, however when the scenes of memories that are in black and white are displayed. We would like to incorporate the colour red, which could stand out on the lips or nails. Red has connotations of power and willingness. Which could unconventionally represent our artist which may help to engage the target audience as this is something they would usually not expect to see. The artist may feel empowered by the artist as they can see she is feeling low and down, but is trying to find light in the situation and is continuing onward. This is relatable for many members of the audience as this may give them determination also. The colour red is also conventional to the genre as this has connotations with love and danger, which is what most soul artists base their music upon, leaving the audience sympathising for the artist as the two of these connotations combined could leave the artist feeling vulnerable.

 Lastly, another inspiration in which we will include in our music video is the use of dull/low key lighting. We have been inspired for this use of lighting through the artists such as Adele, Duffy and Amy Winehouse using it in their music videos which include "Rehab" and "Make You Feel My Love". We have chosen to include this style of lighting because this enables the audience to understand that this is representing the past and the artists memories, reiterating how low the artist is feeling. This type of lighting is conventional to the soul genre as this helps to represent the artists emotion which is her feeling low and down. This enables the music video to be relatable for many of the audience members as this could also reflect their mood or be able to relate to the artists feelings. 

My group planned out our story board onto blank pages with boxes which were located for drawings, with a box beneath which allowed us to describe the certain scene. This included information as what editing techniques, iconography, lighting, the location of the scene and a short narrative description. Our group consists of 4 members, which allowed each of us to take a sheet which includes the storyboards and write out one at a time. This was more effective and useful of our time as this enabled us to finish the process of writing out the storyboards more quickly. We all helped each other with ideas and broadened each others individual ideas of what might fit into a certain scene better than another may have. In total we planned out 36 different shots of storyboarding which took up the space in 9 separate sheets of storyboards. We did not necessarily have to plan this many shots, or could have planned more than we needed to but we created the amount of storyboards in which we are hoping to create, and give us a rough outline of which scenes are going to be in which order. If we did not plan out our storyboards, this would be more time consuming as when it comes to the filming process we would then be discussing which scenes were appropriate to film at that particular time. However, we can have a base of what we are wanting to include which allows room for interpretation and development of the story boards meaning we can include more shots or take away certain shots to create a product which we have envisioned.

In summary, we have began to follow the main guide lines of our story board for our music video. Including certain scenes which we have planned out in the story boards. However, the entire storyboard is not fully followed to the last detail as when it came to filming, particular shots may have not suited the scene and looked better with a different camera technique. Furthermore, some scenes would look better with a longer duration of the scene, instead of quickly changing to the next scene. Therefore, we would increase the duration of the scene if this helped to make the narrative more clear or helped to emphasise a particular part of the video if this was necessary. Storyboarding was essential to the planning of our music video production as this helped us with discussing and broadening our ideas. This allowed all of us to have an input of what we would work well and specific points of the music video. 

Planning Individual Magazine Advert

Planning Individual Magazine Advert

Magazine Adverts are important in relation to promotion and distribution of an artists album. This helps to portray to the audience what genre of music the album is and is easier to distribute the album to the target audience as they will be engaged to the album based on the advert. In addition to this, it allows the audience to have an insight to what the album and lyrics are based upon. For my music video I will be also be creating my individual magazine advert. This important to make my magazine advert effective as this is what will engage our target audience due to conventional aspects which we will use that will draw them in. It is important in the magazine advert to include conventional aspects to the soul genre as this is what the audience will stereotypically look for and helps to represent the artist and her music which will in turn make the audience feel as though they can relate to the artist. We planned our original ideas as a group to ensure that we incorporated similar ideas as each other to show that we had a thought process and had planned out typical conventions that would usually appear in our genre of music video magazine advert.

To create my individual magazine advert I have decided to use certain elements which has made the advert appeal to our target audience and promote our artist effectively. The first element which I thought of to make conventional to the soul genre is the use of black and white. Although my individual magazine advert is planned and mapped out in colour, I did this as a first draft, I have decided that I would like the advert to be in black and white, with bold aspects of the advert to stand out which are in red, including the lips of the artist and the first letter of the title 'Amy' and the second part of the title which is '18'. I will use black and white as this is a stereotypical convention. The black helps to suggest the artists emotions and state of sadness and depression which connotates this colour. Furthermore, the white used will help to represent the artist as vulnerable and innocent, which is again, conventional to the genre as most of the artists are portrayed this way. Both colours making the audience sympathize for the artist as the emotions are illustrated clearly and they may be able to relate to the artists situation. The black and white colours contrast each other with positivity and negativity help to illustrate the past and the artist reminiscing on memories where she was most happy before she found fame. Red has connotations of being strong willed, and can give confidence to those who are lacking it and are shy, representing the artist as determined as she is willing to get through times were she is feeling low and down, which the audience may see the artist as motivational as she sees the light through the dark and is willing to try and overcome her circumstances which may give the audience motivation to those who can relate to try and do this as well. Additionally, the colour red represents love, passion and emotion which helps to portray to the audience what the content of the album would contain. The image which we will aim to use is a image of the artist looking downwards, heavily made up and central to the advert. Looking down can have connotations of feeling guilty which may suggest to the audience there is a theme of guilt running throughout the album in regards to love, family and personal life which may engage the audience as they could possibly relate to this. This also engages the audience as they could build a relationship with the audience as she is admitting that she may have made a mistake/error in her personal life which is something an famous artist tends not to do, representing her as an ordinary and down to earth person which the audience may admire. We will also make sure that the artist is looking down and slightly to the right. This has connotations of the artist channeling her internal emotions, this is conventional to the soul genre as artist are known for singing about their emotions and personal struggles which they may be going through, this may make the audience sympathize for the artist as they may be able to relate in some way. Furthermore, the lay out of my individual magazine advert will be conventional to the genre, this includes the image being central to the advert so that the attention isn't diverted away from artist and the facial expressions shown of the artist which will help engage the audience and allow them to have an insight to the content of the album. The title will be focused at the top of the page so that this is something that the audience will look at secondly, this is less important than the image because the audience may have already recognized the artist through the use of the layout. The font which I am hoping to include in my individual magazine advert is quite simple, but bold. It will be in capitals to help this stand out to the audience and entice them into wanting to look at the advert, however the simplistic font is conventional to the genre in order not to completely divert the audiences attention away from the focal image. The typography and language used is again left quite simple and tasteful, not bombarding the audience with alot of factual information about the artist which is not relevant when the main focus is on the music and what it is based upon to show to the audience whether or not they would enjoy this album. The line underneath the title states "presents her debut album" which is intriguing to the audience as this suggests she is a new artist which could possibly be undiscovered talent. The line will be in a hand written style font which is conventional also as this again does not divert the audiences attention but is enough to engage the target audience. The handwriting style font also gives a personal feel to the artists album and enables the audience to feel as though this is the artist creating the album for them, and empowering people that are in a similar situation that they are not alone. The hand writing touch to the typography is a welcoming and personal approach to the advert which represents the artist to be humble and has not let fame "get to them" portraying her as down to earth and a relatable girl which is essential for some audience members.


In conclusion, I found planning my individual magazine advert useful in relation to taking pictures for my advert aswell as preparing for using Photoshop. This is because it has allowed me to carefully think out the advert which I would like to create and all the aspects which I will be including. It has allowed me to develop my ideas in which I believe may engage my target audience as this allows them to consider and understand certain connotations which may help to show what the albums content includes and whether this is something that they may enjoy. I also did want to follow stereotypical conventions however I did want to create something which was also unique and had a personal feel to the album which is not usually created by artists and hope to create this through the use of the image which represents the artist emotion portraying her as down to earth and genuine, alongside the typography of hand written font which gives a personal feel for the audience. Not only this but with a visual image of what I would like to create, this allows me to be more focused on what I would like to create and attentive in regards to not wasting time with considering different options. Additionally, I believe that this planning has enabled me to be more time effective in regards to taking the photos for my magazine advert as I know the connotations which will be perceived from the image and the effect which I would like to aim to achieve in order to gain the audiences attention.

Planning Editing Styles

Planning Editing Styles

A variety of editing styles are essential within a music video, which helps to finalize the product. This is because this helps to create different effects when the audience are watching as this may be able to represent how the artist is feeling at that particular moment and may help the audience to understand the narrative more clearly as particular editing styles may help to show a significant part in the scene or a location which may make it easier to differentiate between the different time periods in our music video. 

1) When it will be used

2) Is it conventional to your music genre?
3) How does the editing style help to represent your artist?

Black and White Filter

One editing style in which we will use in our music video is the use of a Black and White Filter. This will mainly be used in the performance scenes of the artist on stage which helps to represent how she feels about her career. The darker black colour used within this filter could suggest to the audience that the artist is feeling so low and in a depressive state of mind which is negative, this could also suggest what the album may contain in regards to lyrical content and what the audience should be expecting. This contrasts from the other representation of this editing style as the other predominate colour used is white, suggesting innocence, this could portray the artist as vulnerable as she is also in a low state, the audience may sympathize for the artist as they may be able to relate to this situation. The black and white colours contrast each other as one represents negativity whilst the white represents positivity this could suggest to the audience that this is the artist looking back on her past and is reiterating the music videos narrative. 

Slow Timing of Shots

Another editing style which we aim to incorporate into our music video is the use of slow timing of shots. This will mainly be used in the performance scenes of the artist singing or playing the piano. This is conventional to the soul music genre as it allows the audience to see the emotion in more detail of how the artist is feeling. The slowness of the shots allows more time for the audience to analyse and think deeply and empathize around how they would be feeling too. This technique also helps to again help the audience to understand the narrative more clearly as it is predominately based around the artists feelings and emotion as she is referring back to her childhood before she found fame. This is conventional to our music genre as predominately they like to convey the emotion of the artist to help the audience understand and be able to build a relationship. This does help to show and represent the artist as negative, however can show a different side as a down to earth artist as she is willing to show herself in an emotional state for the benefit of the audience with her natural emotions being shown without being able to try and hide them, this takes a lot for a person so the audience may be able to sympathize and relate to the artist more than they originally would have.

Fast Paced Editing


Another style of shot which we would like to include in our music video is the use of fast paced editing. This style of editing will mainly be used in the scenes in and around London. We aim to use this technique when we have shots of public transport such as buses or when people are walking around the streets. This helps to create a busy and chaotic atmosphere to the music video. This use of editing technique is not conventional to the soul music genre as this does not allow for enough detail of the shot to be shown, for example this does not allow the audience to see the emotion of the artist being portrayed as there is not given enough time to focus on this. However, this technique does help to portray a chaotic scene which could illustrate the state of the artists mind aiming for the audience to think she has a lot going on her head and has a mix of emotion. This however is conventional to the soul genre, a range of varied emotions relating to a specific subject which the audience may be able to relate to, and is a stereotypical representation for the artist as this can help them to be seen as vulnerable, which is understandable and relatable for many, and is also what the audience may expect to see in a soul music video as they are able to sympathize for the artist. 

Overlapping of Shots

The next editing style which we would like to include in our music video is the use of overlapping of shots. This certain editing style will be used when the performance and narrative styles are being used in the music video. Which includes when the artist is wandering in and around London, and whilst she is playing the piano. This is conventional to the soul genre as it again helps to display the chaotic lifestyle which could be interpreted as busy mind and thoughts. This helps to suggest that the artist has many different, and mixed emotions which she is not on top of, helping to show to the audience the extent of her emotions. This in turn, represents the artist as vulnerable as she has many different thoughts and feelings which has left her confused and down. This is a stereotypical convention as most artists in the soul genre are left with unanswered questions and feeling quite vulnerable which helps for the audience and artist to build a relationship as they may be able to relate to this particular situation.

In summary, the editing styles we have selected will in turn allow the target audience to build a relationship. This is because we have thought out and planned the techniques which we will be using in order to appeal to our target audience and create something which we know that they will enjoy, and expect to see. The styles which we have selected also help to portray and represent the artist conventionally which the target audience will be able to see more clearly through the representations of these editing styles and will make them sympathize for the artist more.

Lyric Analysis

Lyric Analysis

Our task was to analyse the song lyrics from our chosen song for our music video. The lyrics in which we had to analyse were from Adele's song "Hometown Glory" which was released from her album "19" in 2007. The purpose of analyzing our artists lyrics to the song is so that we can look for hidden and deeper meaning to the lyrics. This helps us with certain planning techniques as we will be able to incorporate certain aspects of the video which relate to the lyrics of the song and will help the audience to not only understand the lyrics but also the narrative which we have created. By conforming certain parts of our music video with the lyrics this makes it engaging for the audience as they can relate and realise the relevance of specific points of the music video.

We have categorized our annotations into different, and specific points. The separate points which we have analysed in the lyrics are, hidden meanings which are meanings which are not necessarily seen at a first glance but when are thought about in detail make sense and are an in depth analysis of the lyrics. Another point which we have analysed in the lyrics are how the artist is represented. This is what is mentioned in the lyrics and how this may represent and portray the artist in regards to feelings and emotions. Additionally we have annotated ideas of mise en scene styling as certain sentences within the lyrics could relate to a specific scene which helps the audience to understand the narrative more clearly. Lastly, we have annotated points in which will help to build a relationship between the artist and the audience members as this may make them feel a certain way towards the artist as they may be able to relate to the situation which is mentioned in the lyrics. The hidden meanings of our song Hometown Glory include the artist and how she feels about the way her life has changed and how she felt about the people which were included in her life before she found fame also. The annotations will assist with planning our soul music video through the codes and conventions in the lyrics. Firstly, the line "missing out the cracks" referring to cracks in the pavement as she is walking down a street. This line has connotations of possibly the artist being superstitious which can therefore represent her as weary and paranoid. From these representations the audience can also infer a sense of self-consciousness which the artist feels about herself. This is conventional to the soul music genre as the artist conventionally lacks self confidence possibly due to the subjects that they are singing about. This also represents the artist as relatable as many members of the audience may be able to relate to the lack of self confidence portrayed by the artist, aswell as they may also follow these rules of "missing cracks" in the pavement as this is a common thing to do, showing the artist as down to earth and ordinary creating a relationship between the artist and audience. Furthermore, "air so thick and opaque" suggests a hidden meaning that the artist feels a sense of entrapment and that there is no way out of the current situation she is in. This could also possibly mean that there is no escape from the way that she is feeling, the low and depressive emotions have submerged her and their is no way out. Conventionally to the soul genre, feeling trapped is a common topic which is included in the artists lyrics, suggesting how lonely and vulnerable they are feeling. Audiences may be able to relate to this situation as they may have been in a similar situation where they feel there is no way of escaping their low emotions. Annotations of the lyrics also help in assisting the cinematography of the music video. A certain line in the lyrics is where the artist is repeating her words which do not mean anything which could suggest humming. This could represent to the audience as though the audience is bored which could suggest of her life and how she has nothing going on and is feeling quite down and lonely in which she needs to fill up her time. At this particular part of the song we will include a close up shot to show clearly the facial expressions and body language of the artist which can help the audience to see and understand how upset and lost she is in regards to the direction of her life and how she wants to go back to how it was before she found fame. Additionally to this the line "people I've met are the wonders of my world" the wonders of the world are regarding to  places and buildings which are seen as magnificent and significant, this could help to represent and emphasize the fact that she misses the people which she used to surround her self with and helps to demonstrate to the audience how lonely she is now. This could be shown through the use of a mid shot which shows her reminiscing on memories of her surrounded by her family and friends. Furthermore, annotating the lyrics from our chosen artist helps us with planning editing styles. The line "Round my hometown" could be used in conjunction with a panning shot of the City of London, which helps to re-literate the narrative towards the audience which helps them to understand that the music video is based upon the artists journey to fame. Also in regards to the same line in the lyrics "Round my hometown" an editing style which we could also include is filters, which at this particular scene which would include memories of the artist before she found fame could be in black and white. This colour helps to portray to the audience that this is the artist lowest moments of reminiscing. Black could help to represent the artists depressive emotions and negativity about finding fame as she is reminiscing. White however, has opposite connotations of black which helps to display happiness and innocence which could help to suggest how happy the artist was again, before fame. The two colours contrast each other as one has positive connotations whereas the colour black has negative connotations. This could suggest to the audience that the artist is reflecting and reminiscing on her memories before fame. Annotating the lyrics also helps to assist my group when discussing mise-en-scene. The line, "Everybody's taking different sides" could help to suggest the artists different emotions, about how she felt before and after fame.This could be represented through different uses of lighting. For example, high key, natural lighting may be used when the artist is reminiscing on the past of fond memories of herself surrounded by friends and family. Whereas, the darker, low key lighting could be used when the artist is in the present day and there are multiple close up shots which helps to express the artists emotions and helps to convey how low and depressed she is feeling. Additionally, "and tutting my heel and strutting my feet" could be shown in conjunction with a close up shot of the heels which the artist will be wearing. This reiterates the point of the artist being represented as weak and fragile. The close up shot used at the particular scene helps to portray the instability of the artists feelings and emotions which could infer to the audience possibly that she needs somebody of something to help her and hold her own on her journey through fame. This could help to represent the artist as weak and vulnerable as she requires assistance due to her unstable emotional state. Additionally "Is there anyone I could call?" could be used at the same time as the artist being seen in a telephone box in London. This may emphasize to the audience the sense of the artist feeling lonely as she is asking the audience for somebody to call, which makes them sympathize for her. Furthermore this helps to demonstrate to the audience the location of the scene which is in London which can additionally help for the audience to understand the narrative more clearly. Annotating the lyrics helps to establish the music video style more clearly in which we have discussed which style would most suit the lyrics and the hidden meanings. Our music video is mainly based on narrative and performance. This is because the lyrics are relating back to where the artist originated before fame and her journey towards where she is today and throughout fame. We wanted to include this style as it helps to engage the audience and gives them a better understanding of the lyrics and what the could mean and how they should be interpreted. Furthermore, we will additionally use the performance music video style  as this is conventional to the soul music genre as this helps to display the artists emotion and passion towards the music and lyrics than a different style of music video usually would. This helps to build a relationship between the artist and the audience as the lyrics which help to plan the different elements of the music video enable the audience to relate to the artist in some way. An example could be the camera shots used, and editing styles used help to portray the artists emotions because of the subjects which her lyrics include, the audience may be able to relate to this in some way and sympathize for the artist. Additionally, by analyzing our chosen music video lyrics this enables us to think of different techniques and uses that we could include in our music video which will help to engage our target audience. This could include certain shots which help to explain and for the audience to understand the lyrics more easily which could in turn, engage them as they may be able to relate in some way.

In conclusion, the annotations which we have included on the lyrics to our chosen music video will help my group to start preparing and planning our music video in more detail. This is because this helps us plan conventional aspects of the video which help the audience to infer the lyrics and what they may mean. This could result in the audience being able to understand the lyrics and therefore understand the narrative of the music video more clearly due to well thought of references which also makes the music video more engaging as the audience may be able to relate and hasn't referenced to scenes which are nothing to do with the music video.