PLANNING: EDITING

PLANNING: EDITING

What is editing? Why is it important? 

Editing is a technique which helps to assemble many images together to complete a sequence. Editing is an important part of a moving image because it helps to fluently move from one image top another. It is also used to set up the mood of the scene; allowing the audience to react in a certain way depending on the narrative. Editing can help to make and emphasis on the action by working with other micro-elements, such as sound. Some of the main editing techniques we plan to include in our music video are: 

Slow jump cut: We plan to use slow jump cuts when the main character is walking in the alleyway. Jump cuts are not part of continuous editing techniques and will be recognised and stand out to the human eye. This will be used to represent the disruptive lifestyle of the artist as her behaviour is not healthy and will be recognised as unstable. This technique was influenced and developed from Amy Winehouse’s music video, ‘Back to Black’ where a shot is repeated twice from different angles. We believe that this shot will make our music video look professional and unique because is not an editing technique typically used in music videos.

Overlay: We plan to use an overlay in our music video towards the end when the artist lays on the ground and the shot is topped with an image of a ticking clock to show that her ‘time is running out’. This will create possible connotations of death which will make further suspense for the audience but can also engage them into the video more as they will try to guess what it means. We were inspired by Adele’s music video Send My Love which uses multiple overlay effects in order to enhance the visuals and show the concept behind the video. It was successful and gained mass popularity therefore we hope our technique will find an appeal.

Dissolve: We also plan to use a dissolve effect. This will be utilized at the end when the singer walks away from the camera and at last slowly disappears through the dissolve technique. This will leave the audience with apprehension as they are unaware of what happened to the artist and will be left to wonder. This was inspired by Ed Sheeran’s video Small Bump where the characters slowly appear and then dissolve to show passing time which matches Ed’s narrative. It is a unique and original technique therefore we hope that it will appeal to our audience as it’s less common. 

Fade to black: We intend to use a fade to black technique at the end of our music video and after portray some text which will read ‘I AM not as FINE as I seem’. This will represent the emotional state of the main artist and possibly touch upon the theme of mental health and address the stigma surrounding it. This was influenced by Lana Del Rey music video ‘Blue Jeans’ where the scene ends with a fade to black shot. The shot looked professional and clean as the audience understand that the music video has ended. Similarly, in our music video we will finish the video with a fade to black leaving the text to allow the audience reflect on the quote. 

Duplica: Another key editing technique we want to utilize in our music video is a duplica of our artist. This can confuse the audience as it’s an unusual edit and can be quite bizarre. However due to its originality it makes the music video interesting. This was inspired by Gondry’s diverse music video with Kylie Minogue Come into my World. We wanted to have an aspect of diversity in our video as the genre of our product is niche so we are able to experiment with unique editing styles. 

Slow pace editing: We will use slow editing when the artist is performing to emphasise her importance, and to allow the audience to connect with her through her body language and facial expressions. It will also match the song’s pace and allow the audience to absorb the narrative and the concept behind the visuals. We were influenced by Adele’s music video ‘Someone like you’ which also uses slow editing throughout the video to reinforce the artist’s importance and role within the music video. This was edited in an effective manner, which is how we want to edit our scenes.  

PLANNING: GROUP ROLES

What are the production roles? Why are they important? 

Production roles are the jobs that are assigned to a member of the production and these are the people who take care of the area to which they have been placed into. In the industry, often these people are professionals and each one is hired to complete the task in the field of their strength, because they specialize in it. These are the members that create the ‘film crew’ and build the film; allowing it to happen. However, because there is only a limited number of members in our group we had to take more than one role. These are the roles that we had to distribute between one another:

·         ·         Director

·         ·         Editor

·         ·         Location Manager

·         ·         Lighting Operator

·         ·         Producer

·         ·         Camera Operator

·         ·         Storyboard Organizer

·         ·         Costume, hair and make-up artist

·         ·         Print Designer

·         ·         Photographer

·         ·         Cast Control

These roles are important because without a clear organization of who is in charge of what we would be in chaos and mess, not knowing what to get on with. Production roles are very important because it can help to distribute roles equally, thus making sure that no one is overloaded with work as well as everyone works in their preferred field which they feel passionate about and can work to the best of their ability.

The Different Roles Available.

Director – a film director is in charge of the visualization of the script by guiding the filming crew as well as actors in order to complete his/hers vision. It is in fact the director’s role to choose the cast as well as other members which he/she then closely works with to complete the film and bring it to life. Directors need to look out for others and make sure to give constructive feedback in order to improve the work of the crew. On top of that they need to stay organized and within the film budged. A director has to be responsible and feel confident with his/her decisions and teamwork skills. We have decided that Bibi should take on the role of the director because she is capable of managing a group as well as giving constructive feedback and guiding others during their work. Additionally, she has good leadership skills and is also hard working and will be able to supervise everything well.

Producer- film producers take on a variety of roles no matter if they are independent or employed. Producers cooperate many aspects of the film such as selecting a script, which would then be given to the director, being in charge of the finance and budgeting. Producers cannot always personally supervise all of the production. Therefore, they are entitled to hire executive or line producers who altogether with the director will help to finish the film making. However, it is the producer who has the last word on music, editing and everything else within the production. We decided that Bibi will be the producer of our production because she can cooperate well, as well as has many skills which will enable her to make good decisions for our campaign and make sure that our production runs well and will be successful. Additionally, Bibi is organized and will be able to help us stay on top of the task and complete this without many difficulties.

Editor- a film editor is part of the production. Their job is to work with the raw material of shots and frames and place them together in order to create a whole; according to the script and overall concept of this production. They add all the transitions as well as the edits in order to enhance the sequance. Often if the editing stage goes well it is not visible nor noticeable for the audience. Editor must work intensively by developing the footage as well as complementing it with sound, pace and acting for the film to make sense and look as realistic as possible. Editors play a massive role in the film industry because this is a time consuming and hard job which is often unrecognized by the spectators.  We decided to do this job together because we are hardworking and patient. We also believe that we have the required skills for editing videos in a professional way, thus we will be charge of it.

Location Manager- a location manager is a crew member who is in charge of finding an appropriate location, accordingly to the director, and securing it for the filming. They need to gain permission from the authorities and let them know the exact situation and plans of how the crew wants to use the space. The location manager also has to emerge with the possible issues that could arise during the filming and if the authorities are convinced and know that no one’s safety will get violated they will allow to film. These members will work with the production designer and director to find the most appropriate place that will fit the director’s vision. In our team we have decided that I will take care of the location management. This is because I know a lot of possible settings that would fit our narrative and give us the right conditions to film. I am also polite and will be able to ask for permission to film in the intended location.

Lighting Operator- these are in charge of controlling artificial lights during the filming process. They work with the director and cinematographer/ story boarder to help pursue the vision.  Lighting operators are responsible for the movement and set up of lighting equipment to create shadow or necessary lighting in the scene or specific character.  They may also lay electrical cables, wire fixtures, install color effects or image patterns, focus the lights, and help out during the placement of additional effects during the editing stages. The role of light operators is risky because it involves hot and heavy objects therefore this role must be taken by someone responsible. I was nominated to be in charge of lighting. This is because I know a lot about the different lighting techniques and how to use it effectively in order to help create a character representation and cause an audience response. Additionally we have considered that this is a risky job but I am responsible enough to take care of my own and others safety.

Camera Operator/ Camera Person- in the film production these members are often called the cinematographers. The camera operators are in charge of operating the camera and trying to use a variety of cinematography techniques to enhance the sequence as well as create a character representation. If done fluently, cinematography is often unnoticeable for the eye and comes naturally for the viewer. Throughout the production the cinematographer will work with the director and story boarder to help pursue the idea and vision. Often the camera person needs to be creative and have a talent for picking up naturalistic shots. They usually have many camera assistants in order to capture the best shots which then get send off to the editor. We decided that Bibi will take the role of the cinematographer. This is because she is the director too and will be able to pursue her vision clearly and accurately. 

Storyboard Organizer- the storyboard organizer has to make sure that the story drawn by the artist flows and has fluency to it as well as complements the script. They have to make sure that everything is right before submitting the idea to the director who needs to approve it before filming. The organizer works with the artists in order to make sure that no further amendments need to be made so the filming can begin as soon as possible. We decided that I will take care of the storyboard because I like to draw and will be able to visualize the narrative easily. This is important because without this the cinematographers will not be able to film the footage accurately. Therefore, together with Bibi we will work on our production hand in hand.

Costume, hair and make-up artist- the artists’ work closely with the actors as well as the director in order to pursue a believable and appropriate character that will suit the director’s vision. These artists apply prosthetics onto the actor to make them suitable for their role. They are in charge of picking the costume and hair styles which need to be approved by the director. This is an important job as they are in charge of creating character representations which need to be conveyed to the audience and if these are done inaccurately then the film would not attract the intended target audience. We decided that Bibi will be the costume, hair and make- up artist. This is because she is a creative person and will be able to pursue exact and accurate character representation which is necessary in a film so the viewers will know exactly who everyone is.

Print designer: print designers use their technical skills to arrange and style designs as they appear on a page. Their design activities include choosing font types, sizes and colours to create attractive headlines and text-based presentations that will catch the reader’s attention. We have decided that we will be responsible for print design as we are creative and good at producing designs and make something effective from nothing. This will not only be beneficial when creating the digipak as we will be required to create an effective poster type pack which include images and colours, but also as a pair we will have more ideas and opinions on how to present our posters. 

Photographer: A photographer is someone who takes photographs of something and uses the photo in various ways, which may include, album covers, posters, social networking sites, newspapers, magazines etc. A photographer should be skilful when holding and positioning a camera to ensure they take high quality photographs. We have decided that Bibi will be responsible for the photography, taking pictures of the artist and characters, scenery etc for the digipak, as she has a steady hand and is able to hold the camera in a unique way that will allow me to capture different shots effectively.

Cast control: This is someone that takes charge of the cast who is responsible of the cast members, ensuring all the artist have arrived on set and are behaving appropriately, doing what they are required to do.  We have decided that Bibi will be responsible for cast control as she is able to be strict and serious if necessary which is appropriate in this case, as she must encounter these attributes to handle the cast members and ensure they are doing the correct thing.

Conclusion:

Overall, this task was beneficial because it helped us to assign the roles to our members as well as chose the roles for ourselves which will allow our duo to stay coordinate. After completing this task, we identify our qualities, strengths and weaknesses, and according to these qualities we have been able to fairly decide who to allocate to each role. We have chosen roles best suited to our abilities and personas. We are aware that certain roles hold more significance over others, therefore, we distributed roles equally ensuring that each of us held a major role. 

PLANNING: PRE-PRODUCTION PAPERWORK

Intro: 

Pre-production paperwork are the agreements and legal requirements that need to be completed when preparing for your final production stages.  These include:

• Client release form

• Location release form

• Location recce form

• Production Schedule
• Risk Assessments/Hazards

It is very important to create these because without them you are at risk of getting yourself in trouble especially when filming in a public area. These can help to plan your filming stages as well as help to inform everyone else about your actions. The pre-production paperwork is a requirement that will help to explain your work to the authorities or any others who are concerned. It will also assure others of your own safety when filming, hence why the risk assessment. In order to complete this task to the best standard, as this is a serious and legal requirement, we had to divide the roles and take on different paperwork.

Location Release Form:

This is a required document that acknowledges the authorities of the different locations you plan to film in, as well as asks for their permissions, discussing the terms and conditions that come with this production. This document helps to prove that your actions are safe and approved by your career. This needs to be distributed to the owners of your filming location and signed by them after they read and understood the different terms and conditions that come with this production. This is an image of our Location Release Form:

Risk Assessment/Hazards:

This form has information that provide the possible risks that could await the production while filming. It reminds everyone to take caution as well as explains how the accidents can be resolved or avoided. This will also assure others that you are ready to face the possible accidents when creating your footage and will be able to deal with the obstacles. Additionally, the risk assessment allows you to calculate how likely is it for the risk to happen which yet again allows you to decide if your production is safe and take extra caution with some risks. This is our risk assessment:

Location Recce Form:

This document helps to list all the locations that you intend to film in. This should be distributed to every member of the film production, including the actors, in order to acknowledge them of the different locations that they need to be in. This task helps to organize the production crew as without this clear ‘timetable’ it would be impossible to get everyone to the right place at the appropriate time. Location Recce should be easy to read and include some visuals in order to make it simple for the members to get to their destination. This is an example of our location recce:

Production Schedule:

This document also works as a timetable for the filming crew as well as the actors. This also works as an outline of the production, including the times and dates of the filming with the needed equipment and actors. This can save a lot of hustle within the set, as the crew will be able to work with the designated actors and focus on the specific scene rather than a whole, which can make everything less stressful and a lot easier. This is an example of our production schedule:

Client Release Form:

This form was created to help us when recruiting an actor, necessary for filming. It discusses the agreements that the person has to give their consent to when signing up to help us in our production. This form has to make the client aware of what is expected of them as well as acknowledge them of the possible risks and the future usage of the tape. This form needs to be distributed to everyone in the cast and in order to start filming they need to sign the form after reading and understanding all the terms and conditions of this contract. This is our example of the Client Release Form:

Advantages of creating the pre- production paperwork:

• Allowed to make our production look legitimate

• Helped to evaluate the possible risk that could occur

• Allowed to prepare for these risks as well as how to deal with them

• Given us legal security

• Made us experience what it is like creating a production in the industry

Conclusion:

Overall, completing this task was highly beneficial because it has allowed to evaluate the possible risks that need to be taken under consideration as well as legally secure us in terms of a client and location which is important as now I know I can rely on the actors and know that I do not have to adjust my idea because everything went as planned.

PLANNING: LIGHTING AND COLOUR

PLANNING: LIGHITNG AND COLOUR

What is lighting and colour? Why is it important?

Lighting helps to convey the character representation and mood of the music video as it is usually manipulated to create an effect on the audience and convey further meanings. Colour is the contrast that is evident the most in a scene. It also creates mood and makes different representation to get a specific audience response. Often lighting and colour complement one another and are used together to make a double effect on the spectator. These are important as subconsciously the audience always makes assumptions about the genre or character in the music video basing on lighting and colour. Without these the viewer will be confused on who they should support and who they should loathe.

Lighting is divided into two sections which include:

·         Angles- the positioning of the lights

·         Type -the way the lighting is used e.g.: dark or light

These are the different lighting and colour techniques we plan to use:

Top Lighting: We intend to use top lighting in our music video. This will be evident at the middle of our music video when the artist is in the alley way and stands under a street lamp and looks up to the light. The scene proposes prostitution however the holy connotations of top lighting contrast that thus giving away varied meanings for the audience who can find their own individualistic messages. This was inspired by Lana Del Rey’s music video Blue Jeans. In the video she uses top lighting to convey her innocent nature and purity of her love with another man.

Back Lighting: We also want to use back lighting in our production. This will be evident at the middle of our music video when the artist walks away from the lamp drinking and smoking and a long shot will capture their back as they walk towards the end of the alley way. We hope to create a silhouette of the artist in order to create suspense for the audience and keep them entertained. It also stands as a symbolic representation of hope for the character. This was inspired by Ed Sheeran’s video One where the artist stands in an empty auditorium and sings to help emphasize on his isolation and possible emotional issues.  

Black & White filter: The following music videos by Amy Winehouse - Back to Black, Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans and Adele – Someone Like You, the use of black and white filter is effective in order to represent the sorrowful and miserable emotions of the artist and their feelings. It also enhances the narrative of the music video. This creates a mature feel for the audience which they can relate to and understand. These colours will also be used to portray our main artist in our music video as a disheartened person.  This will create a feeling of pity from the audience as the character looks lost and vulnerable. These neutral colours will be used throughout our music video, in order to represent the theme of addiction, consumerism and self-disruption of the character. The music videos have influenced our ideas as all of them connote are successful and appropriate to the genre.

Low key lighting/Natural: In our music video we will use natural lighting due to the time we are going to film the video in, therefore the natural/low key lighting will be beneficial as it will make our music video more generic and professional for the audience to watch. Not only it is conventional for the genre of our video, but also will help to portray our dark themes of self-disruption and alcohol addiction. This was influenced by the music videos stated above.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the lighting and colour used in each of these music videos are effective in the way they are used and portrayed. As a result, we have also decided to use similar colours and lighting in order to ensure our video gives off a similar effect, having the same impact on the audience. It is important that we follow these videos as they are successful as a result of them using appropriate lighting and colour.

PLANNING: EDITING

PLANNING: EDITING

What is editing? Why is it important?

Editing is a technique which helps to assemble many images together to complete a sequence. Editing is an important part of a moving image because it helps to fluently move from one image top another. It is also used to set up the mood of the scene; allowing the audience to react in a certain way depending on the narrative. Editing can help to make and emphasis on the action by working with other micro-elements, such as sound. Some of the main editing techniques we plan to include in our music video are:

Slow jump cut: We plan to use slow jump cuts when the main character is walking in the alleyway. Jump cuts are not part of continuous editing techniques and will be recognised and stand out to the human eye. This will be used to represent the disruptive lifestyle of the artist as her behaviour is not healthy and will be recognised as unstable. This technique was influenced and developed from Amy Winehouse’s music video, ‘Back to Black’ where a shot is repeated twice from different angles. We believe that this shot will make our music video look professional and unique because is not an editing technique typically used in music videos.

Overlay: We plan to use an overlay in our music video towards the end when the artist lays on the ground and the shot is topped with an image of a ticking clock to show that her ‘time is running out’. This will create possible connotations of death which will make further suspense for the audience but can also engage them into the video more as they will try to guess what it means. We were inspired by Adele’s music video Send My Love which uses multiple overlay effects in order to enhance the visuals and show the concept behind the video. It was successful and gained mass popularity therefore we hope our technique will find an appeal.

Dissolve: We also plan to use a dissolve effect. This will be utilized at the end when the singer walks away from the camera and at last slowly disappears through the dissolve technique. This will leave the audience with apprehension as they are unaware of what happened to the artist and will be left to wonder. This was inspired by Ed Sheeran’s video Small Bump where the characters slowly appear and then dissolve to show passing time which matches Ed’s narrative. It is a unique and original technique therefore we hope that it will appeal to our audience as it’s less common.

Fade to black: We intend to use a fade to black technique at the end of our music video and after portray some text which will read ‘I AM not as FINE as I seem’. This will represent the emotional state of the main artist and possibly touch upon the theme of mental health and address the stigma surrounding it. This was influenced by Lana Del Rey music video ‘Blue Jeans’ where the scene ends with a fade to black shot. The shot looked professional and clean as the audience understand that the music video has ended. Similarly, in our music video we will finish the video with a fade to black leaving the text to allow the audience reflect on the quote. 

Duplica: Another key editing technique we want to utilize in our music video is a duplica of our artist. This can confuse the audience as it’s an unusual edit and can be quite bizarre. However due to its originality it makes the music video interesting. This was inspired by Gondry’s diverse music video with Kylie Minogue Come into my World. We wanted to have an aspect of diversity in our video as the genre of our product is niche so we are able to experiment with unique editing styles.

Slow pace editing: We will use slow editing when the artist is performing to emphasise her importance, and to allow the audience to connect with her through her body language and facial expressions. It will also match the song’s pace and allow the audience to absorb the narrative and the concept behind the visuals. We were influenced by Adele’s music video ‘Someone like you’ which also uses slow editing throughout the video to reinforce the artist’s importance and role within the music video. This was edited in an effective manner, which is how we want to edit our scenes.  

PLANNING: CHARACTERS

PLANNING: CHARACTERS

Main Female Character/ Artist

Name: Natalia

Age: 17

Ethnicity: White, Eastern European

Gender Stereotype of Role: Show and express feelings as stereotypically women are much more emotional than males. In our video our artist will be emotional which is conventional but at the same time she will be mentally strong. Another common stereotype is that females don’t have addictions or don’t consume substances whereas males use them when having fun. However, we will challenge this in our video and show that females struggle with addictions too. This shows that she is not a conventional female artist. 

Costume, Hair and Make-Up: We intend on using light make-up for our character in order to convey her class and wealth. It will imply that she is successful and therefore ‘should be happy’. In addition, we plan on using a black coat and boots to further emphasise her class. Additionally, we want our character to dress like a classy woman who is clearly financially stable and doesn’t lack money/ possessions etc. This will create a sense of superiority and intimidation from her and the audience will admire and aspire to be like her. The character will mainly wear dark clothing to convey her depressing thoughts and addiction of drugs. She will wear a winter coat, to show that she is longing for ‘warmth’ from others but also protection from the situation she is in. The main character will also wear a red lipstick and a light eye makeup to represent her as a femme fatal and someone you usually think is happy and ‘well off’ but when the makeup becomes smudged, it will represent her dark addiction of drugs and her vulnerability. Stereotypically having blond hair shows innocence and vulnerability, therefore we decided that the mains artist should be blonde to draw an audience response.  

Body Language and Facial Expression: She will lack a lot of face movements to create a sense of mystery. This is unlike pop where females will ‘lure’ the audience with their smiles or happy facial expressions. The character will have a straight face while singing which can also convey her miserable emotions. When it comes to her body language it complements the facials as the body movements will be also quite stiff and lack choreography. This will be used to further compliment the indie/blues genre and place the focus on the music instead of the artist.

Role Within the Music Video:  The character will take on the role of the female anti- hero and the artist. She will be the focus of the video and will play a key part in representing the narrative. She will be the one who walks around London and at the end will disappear.

Conclusion

Overall, we believe that our character is appropriate for our music video because she fits the common conventions of an indie/ blues genre and audience will be able to identify with her which will help to build a relationship between the artist and the audience. Because the character is also our artist it will help us to establish her as a performer and possible help her to breakthrough in the industry. We are now clear on how we want to portray our character and we are hoping that this planning will be beneficial when it comes to creating our music video. 

PLANNING: LOCATIONS

PLANNING: LOCATION

Intro: 

Location is an important aspect to consider and plan when creating a music video as the setting is a main factor which determinates the success of a music video. The locations chosen in a music video must fit the concept and the narrative. My peer and I have decided on our locations after planning our storyboard and finalising our idea; ensuring that we considered all small aspects and had a clear idea of what our video will look like. We decided we wanted different locations to make our music video more mysterious, creating suspense and confusion for the audience but also add a variety and keep on entertaining the audience. Carrying out a questionnaire also helped us to finalise our decisions on our chosen locations, as we asked our audience "Where should the action be set?" Our target audience said they expected to see suburban areas, alleyways and Central London. As a result, we decided to follow what the audience wanted and also considered potential advantages and disadvantages of our chosen locations, as it is important to identify what problems could occur or how the locations could be adapted.

Conclusion:

Overall, we have decided to use various locations in order to make our music video more interesting. Certain locations we have chosen are conventional to the alternative Indie jazz/Blues genre, such as the suburban areas and Central London. All of our chosen locations are relevant to our narrative and our target audience, therefore we are hoping these locations will be beneficial and our scenes will be shot accordingly. However, we have also identified potential disadvantages and how to overcome them as this is important when planning, as we must ensure each location will be relevant and can be used and we need to be prepared for possible obstacles.

PLANNING: ARTIST IMAGE

PLANNING: ARTIST IMAGE

Genre ideas:

The genre of our music video is Indie Jazz/Blues, therefore, we intend to follow the main conventions as well as challenge some of them, by making our artist conventional to other jazz and blues artists, such as Lana Del Rey, Amy Winehouse and Paloma Faith who are artists that have an original style of performing. Similarly, our artist will also reflect originality, through our use of mise en scene. We will ensure that our artist looks confident and professional at first through her body language and facial expressions. Then through the use of make-up (that she will smudge) and the iconography of alcohol, we will portray her as a disheartened and sorrowful person which people struggling with addiction and emotional issues can relate to. However, we will also challenge stereotypes by allowing our artist to fulfil her self-disruptive longings through the song and themes, which is not evident in all Jazz and blues music videos, due to artists following conventions. By challenging genre conventions, we are likely to make the artist more successful and popular due to them becoming more noticeable by their fans, and the mainstream audience. 

Morals and Values:

We want our artist to cause controversy in her morals because the Indie genre in well known to be controversial and left-wing in their representations. We want to attract our target audience through the true and original artist, which will show that they carry their own values and are not afraid to stand up for them, even if it makes them different form the mass. It is important that the artist is able to portray her own persona to match Dyer’s theory of ‘ordinary and extra-ordinary’, because then we will attract and appeal to everyday people. She should also be able to express her true self to the audience by being open about personal issues and addictions as people will be able to feel like they are not alone and can look up to celebrities that struggle.

Media perception: 

Our artist is inspired by Amy Winehouse and Lana Del Rey. Both of these stars are respected within the industry and media. Therefore, she will be identified as a good performer in the industry rather than a fully established star. This is due to her lacking ultimate popularity and not being noticed by a mainstream audience. As a result, our artist will be perceived as niche, rather than mainstream, as she will express her different views and values which may be viewed as intense and sincere by certain audiences. Also, she will not be in the public eye as much as the mainstream artists, due to her being relatable to the audience though her normality and lack of consistent fame. Moreover, our artist will express her true self to the audience, rather than being portrayed as 'fake', which is important when it comes to the audience forming an opinion about an artist. Amy Winehouse and Lana Del Rey similarly expresses their true self to the audience through their unique image which is evident in the media, newspapers and magazines and are not afraid of the critique for their action as they have their loyal fan base.

Similar Artists:

·         Lana Del Rey

·         Paloma Faith

·         Amy Winehouse

These solo female artists have inspired us when constructing our own female performer. We want our artist to have a sophisticated look at first to assert her class. However, when the audience look closer they will be able to see a softer side to her, as if seeing different ‘layers’ to the artist and see her in various ways. This will help to add originality to the artist and get rid of monotony as the audience is always displayed to a different side of her and everyone will be able to identify with the performer.

In our production we want our artist to dress like a classy woman who is clearly financially stable and doesn’t lack money/ possessions etc. This will create a sense of superiority and intimidation from her and the audience will admire and aspire to be like her. However, during the music video, she will reject all that and show that she doesn’t truly care for her possessions but wants love and companionship. This challenges conventions as typically people long for wealth and success but she actively rejects that. This is typical of an indie/ blues artist as conventionally many niche artists often repel the mainstream values and chose to live by their own individualistic morals. Similarly, to the costume, the artist will also have a classy make up, consisting of light facial and eye highlights but red lips, similarly to Lana. However, during the video, she will smudge it away to imply her rejection of

typical beauty standards and convey that beauty doesn’t mean happiness, just like money. Both of these ideas are challenging the mass ideologies and therefore are conventional of the indie/ blues genre. Lastly the body language and the facial expressions we plan to use are similar to Amy Winehouse. In most of her music videos she has a very inert facial expressions and stiff body movements. This helps her to maintain her serious image but at the same convey her miserable persona, evident in most videos and her everyday life. We want our artist to have a similar facial features and body movements which matches the typical indie blues artists who have a common sorrowful image associated with them.

Our Artist: 

In our production we plan to create an accurate image of a typical indie blues artist to fulfil audience expectations. We decided to use myself as the artist because we believe that I will be able to fulfil the role of an indie blues artist. I will take on the role of an unhappy woman who is longing for companionship. In order to reflect that she will have a miserable facial expression and a wretched body language. I will convey controversial values and challenge some mainstream conventions which will fit the indie/ blues genre. In addition, I look old enough to be the character we want to portray but at the same time I have a young look which will bring older and younger audiences together. Lastly I have experience in acting which will help me to convey the role of the main artist and portray a realistic character to the audience.

Link to Theory:

• ·         Hebdige: First off, audience engagement can be applied to our product. Engagement is linked to Hebdige theory. He stated that different people can react in different ways to the same stimuli, or a media product in this particular case. This can be linked to his subculture theory and how different groups of people react similarly within their group but differently to other groups, if exposed to the same media text. This means that audience has the power to engage in different media in their own individualistic way, based on their own memories or traits. This makes them an active consumer who can make their own choices and decisions. This is common for indie genre as such niche genre has a loyal fan base who actively selects to listen to such music as they are not fed with it from the media. Furthermore, the artist could be categorized into a subculture as she is clearly an individual who isn’t afraid to reject common values. For example, she rejects money and wealth for the sake of her own wellbeing and emotional happiness.
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• ·         Goodwin: Our idea will be associated with Goodwin's theory as we will follow the features he has identified which include: genre characteristics will be conveyed through the artist’s costume. The star will have their own individual image, with dark attributes from the makeup, and a mysterious persona from her body language and facial expressions.
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• ·         Aristotle: The themes of youth, morality and consumerism are very common within today’s society and people will be able to identify with it. The theme of youth will evoke audience’s emotion as they will feel nostalgic about their own past, which will gain the artist a sympathetic response. The idea of morality will engage the audience as they will be able to judge the decisions the artist makes and actively respond to the product. Lastly the theme of consumerism is very applicable to today’s society. Clearly the artist is rejecting all her possessions and shows that products are not important and don’t give you happiness.
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• ·         Dyer: Our artist will be portrayed as a performer as she will promote her moral ideologies throughout the music video. As suggested by Dyer ‘A star should be ordinary and extraordinary’, meaning that we will portray our artist as someone the audience will be able to relate to, for example her drug addiction and emotional issues, but extraordinary because she will be a talented singer.
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• ·         Mulvey: We will not utilize Mulvey’s theory or ‘Male Gaze’ as the artist will not expose her attributes for heterosexual males and the camera will not linger around her assets. This is conventional for an indie/ blues music video because niche genres often promote equality and value the music instead of body selling.

Conclusion:

Planning our artist representation has been extremely beneficial for us, as we now have a clear idea of how we want our artist to be portrayed, which is to express her difficult situation. We are also now more aware of which similar artists we want our artist to reflect which is Lana Del Rey, Paloma Faith and Amy Winehouse who all differ from mainstream artists and can create controversy at times through their truthful and varying representation.  Now that we are aware of this, we will ensure our artist is portrayed in the correct way, making her niche but also mainstream, through media perception which will allow the audience to notice her and the fact that she has her own style of music and an original persona. Creating the right artist image is important in the long term as the audience should be able to identify the artist from the offset, identifying their beliefs, values and persona, which should not continuously change as it could turn the audience against the artist. Without planning our artist representation, we would not be able to link our artist to certain theories such as Goodwin and Hebdige who promote important factors within their theories, that should be evident within all music videos. Therefore, by planning our artist representation, we have now identified which characteristics our artist will follow and which theories will apply to her role.