How to portray Eve...

I've created some ideas, mixed up some fonts and had a trial attempt at how an advertisement would look like...

Before doing the photo shoot with Eve (hopefully in the next week), I wanted to figure out more ideas for it i.e. poses, look and image and I also wanted to learn more about advertisements. By knowing what I want out of an advertisement I can then go to the photo shoot prepared with the exact image in my head of what I want and how it will come across to my audience. 

My initial inspiration is Ellie Goulding so I had a look at some of her album covers. A continuous theme throughout them is this ‘sparkly light’ effect that I really liked. It’s something that doesn’t relate directly to one genre so I can fit it around my artist and her personality too. Through research I found that the common features of a single release advertisement consists of the Artist name, the song, the release date and sometimes some reviews. What I’ve come up with isn’t a set design because I’m still yet to research further and found out what really works as an advertisement. I’ve used three pictures that I took in my AS coursework that I felt were simple pictures that would fit what I was aiming to make (as a practice). However by using them I realised that neither of them portray the style and the ‘developed’ artist that Eve now is. In each of the pictures I edited them and brought in the lights to see if it was something that would work. As a first attempt I feel that the result is OK, however I’m not too sure yet if the lights would maybe downgrade my advertisement as in some ways it can come across unprofessional. I did however get an idea of the kind of pose I would like. I preferred the long shots rather to the mid microphone shot, as with long shots you can show off personality, style (long shot reveals clothes) and also there’s more opportunity for different ways to pose. I think Eve would look good in her glamorous, stylish clothes that is a theme I’ve carried through since I made my magazine. 

Also by looking at Ellie Goulding’s ‘Animal’ cover I feel that I too should add an element of ‘animal’ in there, however not the claw effect that Ellie has. I think I can create this animal element through facial expression and her body language instead. This is when I started looking back at artists such as Kesha who portrays her personality through her body language in photo shoots– however I’m staying clear from her clothing style. Kesha was also someone I looked at for inspiration in AS so I’m carrying that through too.

The first picture I edited (due to choice of clothing) however it’s a forward, confident and dominant pose and along with the facial expression it portrays a daring ‘animal’ side which is a pose I could consider for Eve. The second photo portrays an ‘animal’ and dominant effect through that hair and makeup especially. This is something I could consider for example, big hair and dark make up for Eve in her photo shoot. Again in the third picture, her hair and her pout portray a less ‘pop’ element to it making it able to be used for a hip hop/dance pose.

Considering the male gaze not only does the luring pose attract male attention but also, it does women due to the clothing Eve wears, her style and also her confidence. I don’t want to portray a party, out of control girl (like Kesha) as it brings upon a lot of negative attention. Instead I want to replace the ‘out of control’ element to it with a glamorous inspirable young woman that the target audience can look up too.

Logo ideas

Possible Location shots

Deciding on an Album Name

Lyrical Meaning

How Ellie Goulding is portrayed through to her audience

How Ellie Goulding is portrayed through advertisements

How Ellie Goulding is portrayed through albums

How Ellie Goulding is portrayed through music videos

As Ellie goulding is the artist of the song I plan to use I felt it would be necessary to conduct some research of  her to develop and act as a guide to how artists are represented and presented when they release music. From my AS coursework I based a lot of my research into shaping and creating my artist Eve T and her genre from Katy B. I'm experimenting with now looking at a contrasting artist and seeing how I could use ideas from her to put together my final music video, CD etc. I need to look into how the song I've chosen is put together with advertisements of Ellie Goulding's work and image etc and how I can make it work with my artist. 

Audience Profile

Genre and Song decision...

Audience Profile

Artist Profile

Benefits of bringing Eve back

Market Research - Band or an Artist?

As to determine my coursework decision I went on to further look into who listens to what and also what is more popular. I asked a few people what there views are to help myself shape mine.

Who listens to what?

Research into Pop or Hip hop

Research into doing Pop or Hip Hop

Analysing a music video

Ed Sheeran - You need me, I don't need you

The first music video I analysed was Ed Sheeran’s ‘You need me, I don’t need you’. As an artist, Ed Sheeran has recently become increasingly more popular so looking at his videos could help me towards creating a video for my ‘upcoming’ artist.
Considering the genre category – the video fits under amplification. The main focus in the video is not the artist (and you rarely see Ed in the video) but instead it’s a person using sign language in time with the lyrics and song. There are some short clips that relate directly to the lyrics for example; when he sings ‘filming’ a camera shot of a video camera appears on the screen. This is continuous throughout the video which applies relation to the lyrics – making an obvious relationship between the lyrics and visuals. At one point of the song you see a shadow of the artist, Ed Sheeran which in one element acts as a marketing side for him- however also creates different views upon Ed. He could be portraying that he wants to deliver music and that the focus is on that, not upon himself. It also shows a link with the audience as by using other people in the video rather than showing himself as the dominant, stereotypical view of ‘YES I’M RICH AND FAMOUS’ – he brings the level of class as one. At the beginning of the video there is a visual of the guitar being playing – clearly linking to the music at the beginning. In some other parts of the video you see Ed Sheeran with his guitar which again links with the guitar music being played at those particular parts of the music.



As Ed isn’t the main focus of the narrative for the music video I feel that they’re also putting across an ‘up and coming’ effect to it which links with the lyrics. This suggests that the video is using pragmatics rather than straight forward denotation. People will recognise that the artist is up and coming and may like that effect in the video (especially fans). There are some conventions of performance with the miming of instruments playing which, even though, we don’t see Ed playing it we know that it is him. Some of the lyrics are recognisable to Ed’s fans as we see descriptions that we know are about him even though we’re not watching him sing. For example ‘ginger hair’.

There is evidence of illustration in the video however it takes upon a different approach - which suggests that it’s more over to amplifications because they’ve interpreted the stereotypical simple illustration of lyrics – instead it visualises the music through sign language. It’s also got images throughout to portray a clear link to some of the lyrics. On the other hand it does have elements of disjuncture as the artist isn’t shown a lot throughout the video.

Analysing a music video

Coldplay - Every teardrop is a waterfall

The second music video I chose to analyse was a song by Coldplay called ‘Every teardrop is a waterfall’. I chose this in particular because I like the style of editing; for example the slow, shuddery effect at the beginning of the music video. The genre that the music would fit under is dominantly illustrations. The conventions within this category that are included in the music video is the band performing –which is a simplistic narrative. However they’ve complemented the idea of a performance with animations and a variety of lights. In one perspective, this could pragmatically imply a typical atmosphere of one of Coldplay’s live performance – due to the stylistic effects of performance techniques. As well as this, the band is the main focus throughout the video. You have the band leader singing the vocals and the rest of the band performing instruments that collaborate with the music in the background. This acts as a marketing technique for the band as it’s ‘selling their performance’ – especially to the type of audience who enjoy that style of music and atmosphere when seeing a band live. 

The use of animation throughout the video is presenting lyrics and also a ‘cartoon’ effect to it through the drawings. This helps the audience visualise the lyrics – sometimes it’s difficult for the audience to understand the lyrics being sung by the band/artist so this effect acts as a ‘reel’ to focus the audience’s attention in. The speed of the lyrics (through the animation) and the different shots is quite quick – this is because the lyrics being written out needs to keep up to speed with the music and the singing – so the speed is determined by the lead singer. Again this is another marketing technique as because it’s so quick – people watching the video will want to watch it again so they have a chance to read the lyrics and understand the whole video (hitting up the views).

Also in the video there is use of amplification for example – the aspects in the video of the band visually playing their instruments; however there is also a simple narrative, noticed in the first part of the song where it shows the beginning of a day
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Continuously throughout the video you can notice surrealistic approaches which are through the animation – which complement the narrative.

Furthermore, throughout the video there is repeatedly direct links to the song. For example: animation and lyrics and also instruments with music/beat. There is no evidence of disjuncture created in the music video because all of the editing and the location link with the bands style, how they’re portrayed, their lyrics and finally their music.   .

One of the effects I like in their music video is how the camera almost follows the singer but he keeps coming in and out of the scene. It gives a ‘first person’ aspect making it as though the audience are following him or – on the other hand, it could be implying that the lead singer is trying to draw the audience in by making them follow him – who represents the band as a whole, Coldplay. In the music video you can also notice an obvious link between the lyrics and the visuals. This is another element I like with how some of the animations link with the lyrics and the actions of the lead singer. For example - the drawing of a heart and the action of the heart beating both combine with the lyrics ‘my heart is beating’.

The way the band are dancing and performing presents them as a band who want to put the effort into a performance and want to deliver this to their fans. As a fan myself, it makes me want to see them as they’re putting the effort in – this effect is noticeable with other fans too. It wins over their audience. The contrasting effects of fluorescent lights, slow motion, flashing lights, jerky camera movements and quick editing all come together to portray this idea of a performance which is what intrigues fans into wanting to see them live. This is an important aspect in videos. When creating the video I will need to be aware of male gaze and also how the female audience will look at Eve. I need to ask myself ‘why would someone want to come see Eve live’ and once answering that I can include that effect in the video.  There is a continuous narrative throughout the video which makes the style seems so simple yet it’s still intriguing. As a band there isn’t that dominant effect created on the audience as there is in solo artists. There is a great deal of effect portrayed by the band when they perform which attracts people to go see them as they can share that ‘vibe’ or ‘buzz’.

A2 induction task four

Why did you choose the text you are analysing?
- They all come from various genres and they are all sung by artists i like and had interesting videos and lyrics.

In what context did you encounter it?
- The internet- YouTube, TV etc.

Which conventions of the genre do you recognize in the text?
-Electro Pop, Indie Rock, Smooth Jazz

To what extent does this text stretch the conventions of its genre?
-All texts stretch by using the known conventions, instruments, technology etc.

What sort of Audience did you feel that the video was aimed at? (and how typical was this of the genre/style of music?)
-All the audiences it applies to. Wombats-Indie Katy Perry- Pop Paolo Nuitini- Jazz

What sort of person does it assume you are?
-The genre of the music played, Indie etc.

What assumptions seem to be made about your class, age, gender and ethnicity?
-There are always alot of assumptions made when someone releases a song, they have to take into account what class, age, gender and ethnicity they are to make sure they don't offend and that the song will be a success!

What interests does it assume you have?
-Generally the same as everyone else who likes the same genres, there are so many generalisations and stereotypes made against people who like a particular genre of music.


What relevance does the text actually have for you?
-None, but the lyrics are intriguing and interesting to listen to.

What knowledge is taken for granted?
-That not everyone is the same, everyone has different personalities even though they like the same genre of music.

To what extent do you resemble the 'ideal reader' that the video seeks to position you as?
-Not to a great extent, but i can be stereotyped like most people.

What responses does the video seem to expect from you?
-Good responses, as the artists wouldn't release a song if they didn't think it was going to be successful, the songs are all good.

How open to negotiation is your response? (are you invited, instructed of coerced to respond in particular ways?)
-Very open, i don't feel like i should be pressured into any particular style of response.

Is there any penalty for not responding in the expected ways?
No, but some people would find it offensive to respond differently to others, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, and not everyone is going to like every song that their favourite artist/band releases.

Analysing a music video

Example - Changed the way you kiss me

The third music video I chose to analyse is Example ‘Changed the way you kiss me’. I chose this because his target audience is similar to mine and I’ve also looked at him a lot for inspiration. The genre in this video was quite easy to specialise because there is a clear narrative to the video – therefore it fits under illustration. The narrative of the video is Example getting prepared to perform and then performing to a crowd. The main focus is on the artist Example – including a lot of close ups to emphasize who he is. There is then a lot of focus on the performance and how the crowd are reacting to him. 




At the time around when this song was released, as an artist he wasn’t widely recognised – yet people knew his music. The emphasis on him in this music video acts as marketing -to promote him as an artist so that people know who he is. I really like how he includes close ups of his crowd however it seems that this would be very difficult to create if I considered using this idea for my music video. One of the reasons he chose t have include a performance in his video could suggest that he’s trying to win over fans by ‘selling his performance’.
Aside from this there isn’t a clear visualization of the lyrics linking to the visuals, which makes it difficult for people to pick up what he’s singing – however this again acts as a marketing technique to make viewers replay the video so that they understand it more – increasing the views.
There is evidence of some amplification demonstrated in the video for example how the music links with the band visually performing instruments. On the other hand there’s also evidence of disjuncture as the lyrics don’t link with any of visualizations on screen – it’s just a simple narrative performance.
One thing I liked in the video that I would consider for mine is the black and white effect. It’s something that can come across very effective- and with further research I’ve considered using it with a split screen effect too. One of the reasons for Example wanting this effect could all be orientated around the idea of ‘selling his performance’. It helps create the atmosphere and feel of one of his performances – which in theory, encourages fans to buy tickets to see him live. He may have also used this effect to link with (what at the time) was his upcoming album ‘Playing in the shadows’ so there could have been an element of foreshadowing in this music video. I quite like the ‘what to expect’ effect too – which I may also consider creating in my music video. Another point is the whole video may be coming together to portray his character or how he wants to be seen. As an artist, I know that Example likes to get people bouncing in every performance so again the video is portraying his personality.

Music video analysis - Katy

Paoli Nutini- pencil full of lead

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Genre Characteristics- Smooth Jazz/Pop e.g the pace and style of music, the instruments used and the unique style of Nutini's voice.

Relationship between Lyrics and Visuals- Dancers match obvious actions and movements to the lyrics being sang. E.g 'Button's to my coat and a sail for my boat' dancers act out unbuttoning a coat and the movement of sails on a boat, there is distinct reference to words shown through actions.

Relationship between Music and Visuals- The music quite obviously dictates the style and pace of the dance routine. E.g Dancers routine is fast paced like the song, the dance routine is not modern and uses steps which look like they were used in the 50's and 60's, which ties in with the genre of the music.

Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motif's?- Few CU's of Nutini at the very beginning of the song, show's he is made out of clay.

Reference to the notion of looking- all the way throughout the song, Nutini is slapped for acting inappropriately towards a dancer, the camera focuses on the dancers alot during filming, alot on specific body parts aswell, which refers to the constant use of male gaze.

Is the video category illustration, disjuncture or amplification? mostly amplification but the video shows parts of all 3, Nutini is made out of clay in the video which has no reference to the song.

Katy perry California girls

Genre Characteristics- Pop/Electro Pop e.g the use and sound of specific technology/instruments

Relationship between lyrics and visuals? none really in the beginning, mostly towards the end of the song. Katy and dancers are referenced by costumes and lyrics etc.

Relationship between music and visuals? Much more of an obvious relation ship at the end of the song, Katy and dancers are perceived under the male gaze by the use of angles, camera shots and costumes etc.

Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs? Many close-ups on KP and female dancers, reference to the male gaze. Close up's on body parts, faces etc.

Any reference to the notion of looking? Many references, KP naked on a cloud, many mens idea of 'heaven' reference to male gaze, again. Snoop Dogg refers to an audience throughout the song.

Is the video category illustration, disjuncture or narrative? Narrative and disjuncture- KP in a fantasy candy  world whilst singing about California, whilst Snoop initiates her route by throwing dice etc.

The wombats moving to new york

Genre Characteristics- Indie Rock/Pop Punk. Tempo's, chords and loud guitars mixed with pop melody, very diverse.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals? Yes. References to lack of sleep, lyrics tell a narrative, all merges.

Relationship between music and visuals? Yes. Music dictates the pace of editing, dances, facial expressions, body language etc. All seems to be very faced paced like the life style of living in New York- reference to name of the song etc.

Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs? Few CU's. When band is playing, CU's on lead singer throughout.

Reference to the notion of looking? Lead singer is easy on the eye but no direct reference to the notion of looking.

IS the video category amplification, disjuncture or illustration? Mainly amplification, lead singer is in the narrative telling/acting the story within the lyrics, whilst band are playing and shown throughout the video.

A2 prelim evaluation

1- Pre Production (story boarding/prop list etc)

The first part of the prelim task was to storyboard the music video, for this we needed to note down every element of the video including costume, angle, time of shot etc up to 1 minute 14 secs. For this you needed to be very patient as everything needed to be commented on and written down correctly so the shots, costume, angles etc all looked the same in the prelim as they did in the real one. For the story-boarding, i worked with a friend to make the process easier and faster to finish so we could get started on the prop/costume list, using the information from the story board we made a list of what every person needed to bring in for filming, for example: ties, guitars, shirts etc. so we were all prepared for filming in the next lesson. We also gave Dale the role of being director, so he gave out all the roles of who he wanted people to be in the video, and direct everything from who sat where, to who did what!

2- Production (filming etc)

The production stage was quite easy to get our heads round once we knew what we were doing, we had to be in our costumes before the lesson started so we could go straight in and start filming, the first bits of filming we did was of the teacher, like the extreme close ups of her eyes, and turning off the light switch etc, after that the 3 band members were filmed, the guys operating the camera had to film from the exact same angles as in the actual video so there was alot of moving around and re-positioning of people, we had 2 lessons to shoot both the interior and exterior of the video, we shot the interior obviously inside in the classroom, then the exterior just outside the library in a little courtyard, where the 3 band members and the 'class' had to dance and sing, the exterior took less time to do than the interior as there were less shots of people, and the main focus were the 3 band mates, it took quite a while for the 3 band members to jump and land at the same time though, which took up alot of time! The filming went as planned, we just then had to edit it into a proper music video!

3- Post production (editing footage etc)

I was away for this element of the process but i know the mac's were used to edit the footage, and that it took 2 lessons to do, we had to sync the music with the footage and make sure the shots and angles looked similar to those in the actual video.

Preliminary task - Production Schedule

A production schedule helps with organisation. With having only two days to film; the filming and each scene from the storyboard were split between outside and  inside (filmed on separate days). The production schedule includes what we need, who we need, props and the technical equipment required. Aside is one I created for the filming of Busted 'What I go to school for'.

Preliminary music video task

One of our first tasks involved creating a music video and with this you had to create a storyboard so that you have something to work from. Having a storyboard is a vital part of planning and preparing the video as it's a direct guidance in what needs to be filmed (as in camera shots), the time schedule and how long each shot lasts. It also acts as an order for when the editing stage is then required.
To the right is an image of my storyboard. 

Katy's busted video

Preliminary task - The lip sync

When first introduced to A2 Media, we learnt about lip syncing which lead on to recreating the song 'What I go to school for' by the band Busted - as a class. Below is the filming to the lip syncing of the beginning verses. What we learnt from this is, to make the lip syncing look real, - you HAVE to sing the song and then mute it when editing to put the actual song on top of it to make it look realistic! 

A2 Prelimary Storyboard and Schedule

Schedule

G325 Advanced Portfolio Cw Schedule Sept - Dec11 Lutterworth College