We realised a short while ago that our original footage lacked pace, fluidity and furthermore the lip-synching was not what we had hoped. So we decided to film two takes of a medium shot of Dana singing the full song, this time she had learnt the words properly. Also we included a close-up and an extreme close-up of her face. To give Dana a more edgy personality we used a brick wall as the backdrop for the shots, also we had two light techincians on hand to help us create an ambience in these shots and to provide shadows to Dana and light up her face, much like in a night club scene.
The filming was quick and easy to do as our artist worked very well in the bright lights and coped very well with the amount of time we had to film it. We are now going on to our christmas break and we will be uploading the footage, editing it and finishing the website and CD cover for our artist.
Friday 11 December 2009
Monday 7 December 2009
Website Design Update
Below you can see a second version of the website homepage for our artist Dana. We have incorporated an image of the artist singing which was taken on set at one of our locations; it has been cropped out using photoshop and placed on a brick wall background. We felt that the brick wall setting contrasted our artist who is sexy, classy and sassy. It was important to create an image of rebellion in our artist.
The text around it has remained the same but we hope to change the colour soon. We have opted for a single image of the artist rather than a scrolling slideshow because we feel that it is a more professional look.
Friday 4 December 2009
During the past few lessons we have continued to work on our website design. Our last images of the website included a picture of Dana that we had taken during our filming. Having studied other artist websites such as Beyonce and Katy Perry, we have decided that to achieve a more professional look for our homepage, we should change the background of our image to blend in with the layout of the website. We therefore used photo shop to cut the image from the following picture:
To achieve the following image, allowing us to experiment with backgrounds, which we have done below the following image:
These are some backgrounds we have experimented with: 
To achieve the following image, allowing us to experiment with backgrounds, which we have done below the following image:
These are some backgrounds we have experimented with:
Our preffered background was the brick wall, which is a 'texture' available on the wix software that we are using to design our website. We feel it is the most suitable as scenes in our music video include Dana singing on a brick wall background. The shabby look to the brick wall contrasts to Dana's glamourous image, demonstrating our desired representation of Dana as glamourous yet alternative. Due to the darker colour of our new background compared to the white that we had used before, it will be necessary to change the font colour in order to make it stand out, as the black is not easily identifiable.
Friday 20 November 2009
We have done more work on our wix website today. Although the above image may look more simplistic than the last, we have created links from all the titles to description pages, and links from those pages back to the home screen. We also changed all of the font on the website to "Monotype Corsiva" - as we feel it is elegant but clear to read. We have decided that until we have photoshopped our images of Dana to include on the home screen we will not decide on a background, although today we explored the options available from the software. We also changed the placement of the main image in order to conform to the rule of thirds.
Thursday 19 November 2009
Album Cover Analysed-Katy Perry
Katy Perry is renown for being promiscuous and flaunting her sexuality, therefore it would only be fitting if her debut album cover for “One of the Boys” represented that.
The cover features a long shot of Katy lying on a sun lounger, they have chosen this shot for specific reasons. Firstly the barely dressed Katy appeals to the male audience as it shows her wearing an ensemble similar to one of those from the fifties era. Furthermore her promiscuity is enhanced by her facial expression, her mannerisms and body position. Her left arm props up her body while she bites a pair of spectacles suggestively with her right hand.
Katy does not dominate the frame and I think this is a very important aspect of the album cover. Many props and ornaments accompany her; one of the most significant and powerful images is the white-picket, which is connoted with the ‘American Dream’ of growing up in a small suburb, having children and growing old. However she seems to be mocking this ideology because her explicitly contradicts the ‘perfect’ lifestyle.
Lastly the font and colour of the writing on the album is essential to add to the artist’s promotion. Katy Perry’s name is in pink bubble writing, which is representative of a young schoolgirls diary or book. I think that this connection with the younger audience adds to her playfulness and youth. The placement of her name is just as important as the font or colour, it is placed high in the blue sky above the reclining Katy
Website Design
We are currently in the process of creating a homepage of a website for our artist Dana. We will be doing this using a free piece of online software called 'Wix'- www.wix.com It is a fairly simple piece of software to use and we have just set down the foundations of the website, below is the rough draft of what we are putting up on it...
as you can see we are only in the first stages of layout, hyperlinking and using music and photos effectively. We have taken ideas from Katy Perry's website which is all focused around her, with several links to: music, albums, videos, photos and interviews...
From the image above you can see that it is very centralised website which concentrates on the artist. Furthermore the amount of links, photos and text.
I think that we have to incorporate all of these things in our own website but at the same time re-invent the standard for female singer's websites.
Friday 6 November 2009
The quote that we recieved back from the previous website for the hire of a fog machine was £70, on our budget of £100 we felt this was not good use of our finances and so have managed to negotiate a price of £40 from the following website:
Low Fog Machine - As its name suggests, produces beautiful floor hugging dry ice fog effect by simply adding regular ice.
Low Fog Machine - As its name suggests, produces beautiful floor hugging dry ice fog effect by simply adding regular ice.
For our digipack we need to provide an image for the front of our CD single cover. We have therefore researched into similar artist's CD covers in order to identify important aspects and common factors that make a CD cover appealing to certain audiences.
Analysis of Beyonce’s Album cover for B-Day
Beyonce much like Dana is an independent female artist. Again, much like Dana her fan base is predominantly female, yet also appeals to the male gaze.
Her album cover for B-Day has a medium close up image of her. The framing and composition of the image and cover follows the rule of thirds, as the main subject is not centralised yet is still the main focus. ( right hand two thirds of the frame) Her facial expression connotes her independence strength and determination, through her firm jaw and gaze beyond the audience. Her independence is further suggested by her sole presence on the cover, the fact that she is the only person shown revisits the suggestion that she is a strong character.
Her low cut top makes the image and cover appealing to the male gaze, whilst also appealing to her predominantly female audience by making her strength determination and elegance aspirational to women. Her elegance is shown through her lengthened neck and up hairstyle emphasising this.
The title on the left hand side of the cover shows ‘Beyonce’ in a gothic calligraphy font, the font for ‘B-Day’ shown underneath is modern and is also colloquial language therefore demonstrating a contrast between the two words, a contrast between old and new. The slang used relates to a teenage market therefore furthering the age range of Beyonce’s fans.
Wednesday 4 November 2009
Unfortunately over half term we were not able to follow our plans for filming as on one occasion one of our actors had a last minute meeting with his agent, and on our second filming date the person who was supposed to let us in to Powers Bar for filming, overslept and was not contactable.
We have therefore had to re arrange our filming schedule and will in the mean time be continuing with our project and beginning to research into our dig pack and website, whilst also continuing planning for our reorganized filming schedule, which is as follows:
Filming Schedule
Saturday 7th November
11:00 – Arrive at ‘Powers’ bar & set up music, stage and lighting
11:15 – Filming
12:30 – Lunch Break
13:00 – Filming
14:00 – Change Location to Sam’s House
14:30 – Filming in bedrooms
Sunday 8th November
11:00 – Arrive at
11:15 – Filming
12:30 – Lunch Break
13:30 – Filming
Friday 23 October 2009
Little Missy Animatic
We recently completed our storyboarding and the process of creating a music video consists of storyboarding and then turning these still images into a shot-by-shot layout and filming style for your music video.
First we took a picture of each of the individual shots from the storyboard using a digital camera. We then uploaded them to a computer and then pieced them together using Final Cut Pro and lay the music down over the images. Below is the Animatic…
At the beginning of the Animatic we have used several shots of
Our next significant shot in the music video is when Dana is singing on the stage, we thought that this would contrast the busy life of her boyfriend with her relaxed pop singer’s lifestyle. Furthermore the master shot that we keep referring back helps us create her image and makes the artist a more powerful woman.
Another vital shot in our video is when Dana will be singing against a graffiti brick wall. We feel that we should try to appeal to audience and we have shown the classy office life and the upmarket club scene, therefore having Dana sing the song against a brick wall connects with a different audience.
From our talk with Jim Coles we have taken his constructive criticisms and have some adjustments to make to our music video.
Jim suggested that we introduce Closeups of Mandy with Dana's boyfriend earlier on in the edit, and also introduce Dana's boyfriend into the shots where Dana is getting ready and include some intimacy in these, as this will help to establish the storyline for the viewer, as Jim suggested that from the point of view of a member of the audience it does not come across clear enough.
Jim also suggested that we use a backstage location at Powers Bar - one of our filming locations - in order to support the suggestions of Dana's performer status, as she is performing on stage in the video, whilst over looking her boyfriends office party.
As beauty in the video is to be aspirational, we intend on re enforcing Dana's glamourous image, and are therefore considering changing our idea of 70's outfit in the bar/club scene. We are still intent on demonstrating Dana in a 'stepford wives' manner in scenes where she is in the home or playing the 'perfect girlfriend', as the irony adds to the humour that we aim to achieve in our video, but feel that it would be more beneficial for the promotion of our artist to have her dressed glamorously in order to emphasise her personality and status.
Thursday 22 October 2009
Update- 22/10/09
Just a short update on what has been going on in our lessons and with our Music Video; recently Jim Cole - a music promotion director came in to talk to us and we ran him through our concept and our animatic. He liked what we had done but also gave us a professional view on our concept and ideas, and gave us constructive criticisms that we have taken into account. We will be uploading shortly our animatic shortly.
How to Direct a Music Video
While I was doing some research on music videos I came across this and found it very interesting how different directors plan and capture a music video.
The director in this video is directing a Hip/Hop video and even though our music video will not be like this, they will have the same pre-production and set-up as our own. He shows many of his methods and tips for shooting the artist. He talks about a 'wide shots' and 'master shots' and the method of 'covering', where if you have several locations with different props in them, you need to get all the shots done in one day to avoid wasting time by revisiting the location.
Tuesday 20 October 2009
Sunday 18 October 2009
Friday 16 October 2009
This is Sam Hayes who will be our 'boyfriend', Steven, originally we had not intended to use him as he is in our A2 music video group however, with major setbacks and communication problems he has bravely stepped up to fill the gap. He has had no prior experience however being part of the A2 group we feel that it will be easier for him to act and communicate with the other actresses.
As you can see he is comfortable in a suit which will help as he is to play the role of a city office worker.
As you can see he is comfortable in a suit which will help as he is to play the role of a city office worker.
Monday 5 October 2009
Katy Perry - Waking up in Vegas
We have chosen this Katy Perry song as it represents Dana's fun and mischievous side while maintaing class.
P!NK - So What
Below is P!NK's video for So What, we have chosen this video because it represents power, humour and anger.
The video begins in a tattoo parlour, Pink is getting a tattoo of a red void mark on her arm across an existing tattoo before the scene cuts to Pink riding down Sunset Boulevard on a lawnmower and drinking alcohol. Pink is then shown entering Guitar Center browsing guitars. She pretends to play before attempting to smash it into the ground, but she is restrained by a store clerk which leads to them engaging in a fight. Pink is shown cutting down a tree engraved with her real name and her ex-husband's names with a chainsaw. She cries on the chainsaw, while telling herself that she is all right, right before the tree falls and nearly crushes her neighbor (played by Will Sasso). After this, Pink is sitting in a bar after losing her table to Jessica Simpson, accompanied by a man who is playing the drums out of glasses.
The next scene goes to Pink on a motorbike, while a newly wedded couple in a car pull up beside her. Jealous and outraged at the happy newlyweds, Pink is shown throwing objects at the car and popping the blown up condoms used to decorate the vehicle, before climbing onto it and playfully (albeit violently) attacking the vehicle. Pink is then shown stripping on the red carpet, surrounded by photographers, she takes off her jacket to reveal her (blurred) nude body. The paparazzi all snap photos of her as she does choreography from Michael Jackson's video for Thriller naked. Then while getting her hair done, her stylist applies hairspray, as Pink turns on her lighter, accidentally setting her hair on fire. Also shown are two men peeing in bottles, which they give to Pink, however Pink passes them to two guys walking past her. They drink it and then realizing what it is, spit it out in disgust. Finally, Pink is shown surrounded by men and women in their underwear engaging in a pillow fight. The video then cuts between all the scenes shown in the video before ending with Pink poking her tongue at the camera with her husband.
Pink is also shown performing the song in concert near the end. Pink's husband Carey Hart makes cameos throughout the video, such as a scene where they are talking as newspaper headlines flash behind them. Producer Butch Walker also makes a cameo. Pink has stated that Hart had not heard the song prior to arriving for the video shoot.
Lily Allen - Alfie
Below is Lily Allen's video Alfie. I have chosen this specific video as it is very comical and represents Dana.
The music video was directed by Sarah Chatfield, who wanted do to a Tom and Jerry-like video, where the human character is cut off at the waist. Hence Allen was not going to be part of it originally. However, she did appear on the video, which starts off with an opening title parodying Looney Tunes and shows Allen in the kitchen preparing a cup of tea, while Alfie, impersonated by a puppet, smokes in his miniature bedroom, watching television. The singer enters the room and takes away his hookah, as he unsuccessfully tries to get it back. Next, Allen irons his tuxedo and marks a job announcement called "The Puppet Show" in the newspaper, as the lyric "You need to get a job because the bills need to get paid" is sung. Meanwhile, Alfie is in his bed, staring at a magazine in which there are undressed dolls, titled "Roxy & Babs get it on!" and proceeds for masturbation. Allen walks in on him with the newspaper and suit as he does so, but immediately exits out of shame. With the start of the bridge, puppet birds sing outside the home, while Alfie sneaks out of his room and tries to get beer out of the refrigerator, but is ultimately caught by Allen. She then takes off his "stupid fitted cap", as he scrawls a picture of her, which is also the cover of "Littlest Things".The final scene happens at night, in the kitchen, where Allen is lying on the floor, watching her brother dance. After the last lyrics, "Please don't despair, my mon frere" is sung, he punches her and the video ends. There is also an alternate version, where the words "weed" and "THC" are blanked, the hookah is replaced by a joystick, Alfie does not smoke, and, when Allen walks in on him masturbating, there is a big "censored" sign.
Music Video Influences
The theme of our music video is mostly based around humour and so below are some of our inluences.
Although Dana is an individual artist and doesn't compare herself to anyone, these three artists are what we compare her to.
P!NK
P!nk is an eccentric woman much like Dana.
Katy Perry
Katy Perry's music video always have sexual references in them however we feel that she adds a touch of class to them.
Lilly Allen
Lilly Allen's videos are always very comical as you can see above where she is showing her relationship with her little brother.
Conclusion, final Video Concept 3, and Annotated Brainstorm.
Taking into consideration results from the Focus Group Analysis, and the interview we had with out artist, we have come up with a final video concept and brainstormed some rough ideas to follow our desired theme. We decided that humour was an important aspect to include in the video as it was something indicated as important to our identified age group, and important to our artist who's opinions we decided were key to consider, as her personality will come out through the song. Here is our final video concept:
Dana – Little Missy
Video Concept 3
Artist/Girlfriend – Dana
Office worker/Boyfriend - Steven
Secretary/Love interest – Mandy
Dana and Steven are in a relationship but Dana has always had suspicions about Steven’s secretary’s intentions with her boyfriend. Mandy is flirtatious and suggestive with Steven in the office and has texts on his phone from Mandy, that unknown to Steven, Dana reads. Dana decides to take matters into her own hands and confront the problem by catching them out, and aims to throw Mandy off her boyfriends scent by sabotaging her plans.
To add a humorous spin to the video Dana will play the perfect girlfriend and different locations will reflect different time periods. For example the disco scene will reflect 70’s, and when at home Dana will be the perfect 50’s housewife. The video will play out Dana following her boyfriend to work or following his secretary home in an attempt to catch our their ‘affair’, although her boyfriend will be oblivious to Dana’s plans. Dana’s emotions such as surprise and anger will be over exaggerated in order to add to the humour of the video and her costumes will be eccentric in order to emphasise the time periods.
The video will animate the storyline through the visuals and include Dana singing the lyrics throughout her antics. The video will be eccentric, energetic and include vibrant colours in order to lighten the storyline and demonstrate her personality and emphasise her individuality.
Analysis from Questionnaire
Recently we held a focus group of people aged between fourteen and twenty-six which consisted of friends, school pupils and family members. There were around eighteen people that turned up to our meeting and we had varying results.
Most of the group thought that the song contained a lot of love; hate and humor; from this we have incorporated humor into our video concept as this describes the artist very well. We had anticipated that the focus group would pick these three words but it was good to actually hear from them to reinforce our ideas.
We asked them about certain images that came to mind when hey listened to ‘Little Missy’, the results contrasted with each other but we shared ideas and thoughts on it. They varied from playground romance to adult themes, like money, business and sexual deviance.
When we asked the group whether or not they liked the song not just if they would buy it, they were split down the middle. The boys enjoyed listening to the song but they said they wouldn’t buy it because it was “too repetitive” however the girls clearly loved the song and would buy it as they walked out the door humming the tune. This brings us onto our next question about audience, from the results the focus group felt that ‘Little Missy’ appealed to a much larger audience than we had suggested. They said the age gap was from sixteen to thirty. There was a unanimous decision about gender, they all thought the song was aimed at a female audience; this piece of information is very useful as it changes the dynamics of the music video completely.
When asked about important aspects of a music video mostly all of the group said that artist representation and gender roles are very significant. Furthermore a music video with a story, humor and purpose is much easier and more interesting to watch. The younger volunteers in our focus group said that if they could relate to the video concept it becomes more accessible to watch as most videos are aimed at a slightly older audience.
Generally people preferred video concept two as it was more humorous and easier for the younger part of the audience of 16-25 to relate to.
Dana - Little Missy - Focus Group Questionnaire
*You will now be played the song we are using for our A2 Media Coursework, ‘L:ittle Missy’ – by Danica Karic*
(Please circle your answers or write where necessary)
1. What three words would you use to describe the impression you get from this song?
2. What images come to mind when you hear the song?
3. Would you buy this song?
Yes No
Please justify why:
4. What audience do you think this song and artist appeals to?
Gender: Male Female
Age Group: Under 16 16-25 25-30 30+
Please justify why
5. What aspects of a music video do you consider important, and encourage repeat viewing?
6. Please read over the two video concepts we have given to you. Out of the two, which do you think best suits the audience and music?
Video Concept 1 Video Concept 2
Please justify your choice and state if there is anything you would change:
Interview with our Artist
Q. What gave you the inspiration to write these lyrics?
A. (She laughs) Funny story, it was years and years ago, my ex-boyfriend had this best friend who I knew was totally in love with him. I kept telling him that she loves you and he didn’t listen. She was easing her way into his life and I was like (she mutters under her breath) Bitch! So basically I got the inspiration from her and telling him that he was an idiot, also she was trying to get me out of the picture. She is Little Missy!
Q. Which Artists have influenced you the most?
A. Ah Lots really! Well actually I guess its different genres that have influenced me not artists, I just listen to everything that there is! So I have no specific person who I prefer. But I guess all this kind of alternative: rock, soft rock…um I’m not sure really! Literally, if I have a moment where I think that I want to kill someone, I would write a song about it!
Q. What genre do you consider your music to be?
A. Well for that song (little missy) it was mainly like pop/RnB, but now I’m changing. Most of my songs are like a soft rock, pop, soul I guess you could say.
Q. If you were to direct the music video, what kind of story would you have?
A. I think it would be interesting to have a teenage version of the story you already have, maybe it to be a high school setting rather than an office/club one. I like a music video to be colorful and exciting, different to an MTV video, if you understand what I mean? The two friends should end up hating each other! She should be angry but funny, she should look is about to kill her but she wont really do anything!
Q. What age group would you consider your music appeals to?
A. I’d say, from like fourteen to thirty. Although for this song because of the language probably a bit older, let’s say eighteen!
Q. Could you describe yourself and your personality in six words?
A. Hah, I’d say, my personality in six words?! Well…(she laughs to herself): Energetic, Inspired, Social, Musical, Fantastic (she cackles) I love myself! And I have been told I’m a ‘complete nutter’.
Video Concept 2 and Annotated Brainstorm
Dana – Little Missy
Video Concept 2
Artist/Room mate/Girlfriend – Dana
Boyfriend - Steven
Room mate/Love interest – Mandy
Dana and Stefan are in a relationship but Dana’s room mate Mandy has a bad reputation when it comes to infidelity and is well known for being flirty and promiscuous, even within their circle of friends. Dana doesn’t like how Mandy acts around her boyfriend, when he regularly visits the dorm or spends time with her friendship circle, which includes Mandy, and she is not afraid of showing it as she is assertive and has no respect for infidelity.
As the storyline is set in a university, the girls will therefore be seen as bitchy and the tensions and issues will be tackled silently, through schemes and deception. The video will demonstrate the tensions of girls in the dorm and put a light hearted and humorous spin on a relatively serious storyline, which the young target audience will be able to relate to.
Dana will be represented as strong and sassy and therefore the music video will include scenes of her singing – in order to follow demands of the record label and include close-ups of the artist, which are vibrant, energetic and fun. Mandy will be represented as flirtatious and attention seeking yet dominated by Dana’s strong character and intimidated by her actions and presence.
The music video will cut from scenes of the storyline/lyrics being animated through the visuals, to scenes of Dana singing the lyrics in various locations.
Friday 2 October 2009
Video Concept 1 and Annotated Brainstorm
Dana – Little Missy
Video Concept 1
Artist/Girlfriend – Dana
Office worker/Boyfriend - Steven
Secretary/Love interest – Mandy
Dana and Steven are in a relationship but Dana has always had suspicions about Steven’s secretary’s intentions with her boyfriend. Mandy is flirtatious and suggestive with Steven in the office and has texts on his phone from Mandy, that unknown to Steven, Dana reads. Dana decides to take matters into her own hands and confront the problem by catching them out, and aims to throw Mandy off her boyfriends scent by sabotaging her plans.
The video will animate the storyline through the visuals, and include cutaways to shots of the artist singing the lyrics, with vibrant colours and energetic scenes in order to bring excitement and individuality to the video, and help to support the eccentric representation of our artist. The video will follow our artist as she plans events such as introducing her boyfriends love interest to other men, and follows the pair in an attempt to catch them out.
The cutaways from location to location, and narrative to non narrative will create a fast pace to the music video and therefore add to the energy and eccentricity that we aim to achieve.
Artist Concept
Born in
At the age of thirteen Dana moved to
After developing a taste for this new mix of sounds Dana began to write and compose music from her bedroom. After she had compiled a few of her compositions she decided to take her work to a record company but was turned down because her music was too alternative for the label’s audience. Dana decided to set up a MySpace page where she could advertise her image and her audience could sample her music; leaving feedback where necessary. This allowed for her to take her criticisms constructively and gain confidence in herself and her talents, and take control of her success.
Monday 28 September 2009
Here are the lyrics to the song;
LITTLE MISSY
Danica Karic
I thought I told you to tell her to stay out of the way
But Little Missy’s too dumb to hear she wants to play
Don’t let her get to me she’ll regret it every day
But cant help thinking maybe you want her to stay
She thinks that I’m thick, but
I’m always thinking quick I’m
Always thinking up little schemes
To get you out of her dreams
WHO DOES LITTLE MISSY THINK SHE IS?
WHO DOES LITTLE MISSY THINK SHE IS?
HAVIN NO RESPECT FOR WHAT IS HIS
WHO DOES THIS LITTLE BITCH THINK SHE IS!
ALWAYS WRITIN’ LETTERS ON THE PHONE
THINKIN’ SHE’LL MAKE HIS BODY HER HOME
BUT LITTLE MISSY DON’T FORGET I SEE
WHO YOU DREAM OF, WHO YOU WANT TO BE
I know you think that there’s no reason to be afraid
But let me tell you she’s got you believing all her shit
I couldn’t give a damn what she’s made you believe
I know her master plan and I want her to leave
She thinks that I’m thick, but
I’m always thinking quick I’m
Always thinking up little schemes
To get you out of her dreams
WHO DOES LITTLE MISSY THINK SHE IS?
WHO DOES LITTLE MISSY THINK SHE IS?
HAVIN NO RESPECT FOR WHAT IS HIS
WHO DOES THIS LITTLE BITCH THINK SHE IS!
ALWAYS WRITIN’ LETTERS ON THE PHONE
THINKIN’ SHE’LL MAKE HIS BODY HER HOME
BUT LITTLE MISSY DON’T FORGET I SEE
WHO YOU DREAM OF, WHO YOU WANT TO BE
Little missy, little missy, you are?
Little bitchy, you’re just a little slutty
You are, you are.
Tuesday 22 September 2009
Introduction
This our introduction to our blog and to explain our current situation with our music Video. We have a group of two which includes Harriet Swede and Sam Hayes. The song we have chosen is 'Little Missy' by Serbian Pop/Jazz singer Dana. We chose this song because the continuous beat and the accompanying piano make the song very accessible to an audience and to put into a music video. Check Back soon, for Location Photos, Casting Photos, a sample of the Song and much more!
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