Meetings

When creating our music video it was very important to meet regularly and discuss ideas because it helps us to keep all of our ideas organised and it also allowed us to look back on what we had done. We would easily be able to look back and see what we had planned and when. Furthermore, it allowed us to consider everybody's ideas and discuss them all as a group. As we was doing it as a group we needed everybody to be included and share their ideas in the group. This made it fair and it meant our music video would be a combination of all of our ideas. By our whole group meeting it allowed everybody to keep up to date with what is happening in the group and know when any changes need to be made.
As a group we created a group chat so that we could contact everyone quickly and easily to arrange meetings and discuss all of our ideas. It especially helped us to plan when we was going to film, where we was going to meet and what we was going to film. This meant that everybody in the group was aware of what was happening regarding filming at all times. Which allowed us to work well together as a group as we were well organised. We also create a meetings table which allowed us to keep a record of when we met, what was discussed and what the outcomes of that meeting was. This meetings table was extremely important because it helped to keep a record of everything we had done, this meant we knew what we had left to plan and film.

I think that my group and I worked really well together as a group because we were extremely good at discussing everybody's ideas and considering them. But also making a final decision of what we was going to do. Also we were overall very organised as a group, when we planned to meet up and film everybody that was meant to be there turned up and we achieved what we had planned to do in that session. Also when editing our video we were all very honest about our opinions on the what was being edited, which resulted in us getting the best possible outcome with our video as nobody sugar coated what they thought. Any parts of the video that any group members didn't like were changed or altered in some way to satisfy everyone but also still follow the genre conventions.
It was very beneficial to keep a record of what was discussed in each meeting because it allowed us to easily be able to look back on what we have planned and when, we could review everything encase we had forgot. Also it allowed us to see what we had left to plan and film.

Risk assessment UPDATED

Prior to filming our music video I created a risk assessment, this is an examination of everything that could go wrong or cause harm to ourselves and our actors. By doing this is helped us to highlight the hazards that could cause harm when filming and what could go wrong, and made us consider how we could prevent these from occurring so that we work is a safe environment. It is important to highlight and recognise potential risks that may be involved when filming the video so that we can pre think preventions to stop these risks from occurring. By doing this we are trying to put our actors and filming crew in the least possible danger and keep everybody safe. If we did not create  risk assessment then my group and I would be very unaware of dangers and hazards that we may encounter when producing our music video.

While filming we did encounter some of the risks that were outlined in my risk assessment. One of these were that our artists will be cold when filming in skirts and dresses due to the cold weather. We encountered this when filming in claybury park, after the first hour of filming our actor became extremely cold and could barely hold the guitar. We did give her a coat and gloves in between takes however after a while we decided to film the rest of the scene on another day. Another risk that we did find when filming was the general public. It was hard to keep filming the same scenes when the background kept changing (different people in it) to solve this issue we had to wait for it to not be as  busy and therefore the people changing would not change as much. However, as it is hard to pre-plan and consider every single risk that we could possibly encounter, we did have some risks occur that were not expected. This included, the smoke canisters that we used spread very far once dispersed therefore could effect the surrounding public.
 At one point there was two dog walkers standing very close to where we were filming. It would have been dangerous to set off the canisters with the people and dogs around. The dogs may have run over to the smoke, and may have damaged their eyes and breathed in too much smoke. To solve this issue, we approached the dog walkers and explained our situation and they was more then happy to move along so that we could safely release our canisters.
The various columns of the risk assessment made sure that everything was discussed in great detail as we knew what the risk was, who is would harm, the severity of the risk, how we could prevent it and a back up plan. By doing this I had a clear guide of what to do if any of our risks occur, and made sure that all areas were covered. From this risk assessment i have learnt the importance of it because it has made us think about the different preventions when we encounter risks. If/when we encountered the risks outlined we knew exactly what to do to prevent and solves these issues.

Filming schedule - UPDATED

It is important when creating a music video to have a filming schedule because it allows my group and I to ensure that we have filmed all of the parts of our video. Also it helps us to plan out when and where we are filming, therefore making sure an appropriate amount of people in our group can make it to each day of filming so it can be done successfully. It also helps to keep our group organised because it will tell us what equipment, iconography and actors we need for each shot, as a result of this we wont forget anything/anyone, which would waste time. We have various columns in our filming schedule, 9 altogether. The first one is simply, the shot number, this is used so we know altogether how many shots are going to be included in the video. The next one is the 'date and time' column, this is important because it is telling our group exactly when this shot is going to be taken. This is important to organise the group. Then we have the 'location' column which goes along side the previous column as it helps to organise our group as it shows everyone exactly where they need to be. Following this, is the 'content/action' column, which tells us exactly what is going to be included in this shot and what will be seen. Next is the 'shot type & duration' column this is describing the type of shot that is going to be used e.g. mid shot, and how long it is going to be seen for. The sixth column is the 'costume/hair and make up' which includes what the characters are going to look like and what they are going to wear. This is helpful because we will be able to dress the artist in the exact outfit that is needed which will overall save time and help us to be more efficient. My next column is the 'iconography' this is what props will be needed in the scene, this is needed so that we can prepare what to bring before we go filming. Then we have the 'personnel' column this includes everyone that is needed in this particular filming day, which will help us to organise who is needed on the day of filming. The final column is the 'equipment' this is what equipment that is needed on the day of filming to make sure that we do not forget anything that is vital to carrying out the filming e.g. tripod.

We did mostly follow our filming schedule when filming. By having the schedule it made it much easier to prepare for each shoot, this is because it was very detailed and it was quick/easy to look at and see exactly what needed to be done and who needed to be there for each shoot, meaning we could carry out each scene successfully. However,  on the 07/11/15 in Claybury park we started off by taking photos for our magazine advert and digipak but when we went to begin filming the artist singing, it was extremely cold and damp. Our artist was freezing, therefore we decided to film the rest of this on another day to prevent her from becoming ill. Furthermore when filming in the bonfire event we added in some extras shots of the couple together. This included a long shot of a merry-go-round, and some establishing shots of the fireworks in the sky. Also another shot that did not go to plan was shots 24-28 on the 12th in the Drama studio with the dancers, this is because upon reflection we realised as a group the dancers would be quite confusing in the video and could possibly confuse the audience. Therefore, we have decided to take out this part of our filming schedule. Now this means that we have a gap in video, we have decided to fill this gap with more filed scenes and forest scenes of Sharna singing.
Through this i have learnt that a filming schedule is important when filming our music video because it allowed us to have a clear structure to follow and it showed us all of the different shots that we need to include in each of the various settings. This makes us more organised as a group as we are prepared for all of the different shots as we know who is needed what is needed, where and when we need to go and what we want to achieve for this shot.

Music video storyboards - UPDATED

We created story boards in order to give us a clear structure and guidelines of our music video and what shots we will see when. By doing this it allowed us to plan and organise our filming schedule, as we could ensure that all of the shots needed in a certain location are taken. Also it helps us to ensure everything needed is included in the video. We can also plan ahead to make sure we bring all props and actors we need for the shots, therefore helping with the general production of the video.

Prior to designing our storyboards we carried out primary and secondary research in the form of a questionnaire and looking at other indie artists music videos. The primary research of the questionnaire asked our audience the conventions and what they expected to see in our indie music video. We used this research to aid our storyboard creation because it showed us the specific elements that we have to include in order to attract our target audience. This included things like, including musical instruments and having a narrative based music video with some elements of performance. Once our survey was completed we reviewed our results and included the most popular answers in our music video to appeal to the audience. In particular from our storyboards we noticed a 65% majority of the people asked said they would expect an artist to wear quite casual clothing in the video. This could be because by the artist wearing casual clothing it makes them more relatable to the audience and this shows that the people I asked generally relate to the indie music videos they watch and one of the ways  they do this is through the casual clothing the artist wears. This highlights to me the importance of choosing the correct clothing for my female artist so that the audience can relate to them. Also another reason this could be the most popular answer is because again like I said in my earlier point most fans of indie are aware that the music videos are quite low budget. Therefore by the artist wearing casual clothing is represents the video is more about the music then showing off money and wealth through over the top clothing. Therefore, in the video we gained inspiration from this and our artist wore everyday clothing. One of the outfits our artist is wearing a turtle neck, ripped jeans, a parker jacket, high top black convers and this will be styled with chokers to accessories. Another inspiration we gained from our primary questionnaire research was the type of camera shots that we are going to use within our music video, 62% of the people asked said that they mostly expected to see close up in an indie music video, which encouraged me to think about the type of close ups that I can include in the video. From this we gained inspiration to include lots of close ups of our artist singing in the field so that the audience can relate to our audience and feel as if the video Is more personal. Also it helps to highlight the artist emotion when singing certain lyrics therefore the audience will be able to relate their own emotions.
 Our secondary research of looking at similar indie artists was helpful, because these artists are already established and successful, therefore their videos will show us how they attract their audience. Also how they allow their audience to understand the concept of their video and get to know them on a more personal level. In this research I saw that one major way that indie artists done this was close up and playing an instrument. From this we was able to make sure we included all of these features that we recognised in other indie music artists in our own video. Specifically, in Lana Del Rays' Summertime Sadness, a time laps was used, this editing technique inspired Jemimah and she shared this with the group. We all really liked the idea of a time laps as it portrayed time passing by, which could easily link to our video as it is all about our artists past to present life experiences. Therefore we all gained inspiration from this an decided to incorporate this within our own video. At the start there will be a time laps of the clouds, this implies that the video is based on experiences that have happened over time. 


We took a majority of our inspirations from other indie music artists but also from some pop artists. One artists that my group and I took inspiration from was Ed Sheeran and his song 'Thinking out loud'. At the beginning of this video there is a silhouette of a dancer, I was inspired by this as I felt it helped to really focus the audiences attention and the dancer helped to portray the emotions that the lyrics represented. This helped us when planning our video and storyboards as my group and I recognised that we wanted to included performance elements, like in Ed's video, in our own video. It allowed us to see exactly what part of the video we wanted to plan a dance routine for, as on the storyboards we put the seconds for when the frame will occur in the song. Another successful indie artist that we looked at was Lana Del Ray, we looked at the conventions that her music videos include, so that we could get ideas to include in our own video. Furthermore, we looked at all of the various micro elements that are included, such as mes-en-scene (hair and make up, facial expressions, body language, lighting and colour and costumes, these combined help to give a sense of realism to the video), cinematography (the different shots that they included in order to maintain audience interest and engage them) and editing (how they connected their different shots in order to make the video flow).


My group and I sat down together to create our storyboards. Firstly, we discussed our general ideas for what we wanted to include and the various elements we want in it. We then started to produce our storyboards a frame at a time. We looked at the lyrics and tempo of the music to decide what frame we wanted to include. By doing it this way we could ensure that we included all of our inspirations and ideas that we had previously discussed and planned. We done these storyboards from the very first to the very end shot. For each individual one we included a basic picture of what we wanted the frame to look like, also the camera shot, location of the shot, iconography needed, lighting, actors, sound and editing we are going to use. At the bottom there was also a very brief description of the narrative.  We planned these together as a group so that we could all agree on each shot and there would be no arguments when it comes to filming. By doing this is helped us to visualise the shot when it comes to filming them. While creating these storyboards we shared out the responsibility, Rishika done most of the drawings because she it the best at art, therefore could provide a better visual representation of the shot. Jemimah had the song playing, allowing us to listen to the music and lyric, also she helped in planning what as going to be in each shot. Bettie and myself was looking back at our inspirations and helping to decided each frame.


By creating story boards for our ideas it helped us when filming because it gave us clear visual guidance of what we wanted our shots to look like. It also helped us to plan filming because we were aware of who needed to be there and what we needed to bring with us. Furthermore, It made it easier to create a filming schedule as we were able to group together all of the shots that were taken in the same location and film them on the same day. Each shot has a detailed column with a visual of the shot, the duration, shot type, location, iconography, lighting, actors, sound, editing and narrative description. Therefore, as well as having a visual image of what we want the shot to look like. When it comes to editing together our footage we will know what is meant to go where and how it is going to link with our next shot. Although will mainly followed our storyboards, we did make some alterations along the way to develop and improve our video. For example, shot 12 and other shots taking place in the tent is no longer in our video. Instead of having our artist sitting in a tent, we changed this to a mid shot of our artist and her partner running around and having fun in a field together. Another frame that we have altered was frame 4, instead of a high angled shot of the artist we decided to do a panning shot of the artist sitting in the chair and getting her photo box.

Planning editing

Our first editing technique that we are going to use in our music video is montage editing. This will be used in the market scene when the artist and her partner are walking around together looking at all of the stalls and people. The montage will be a variety of shots montaged together, showing various elements in the frame, e.g. facial expressions, body language, stalls, other people in market. The montage editing will make the scene interesting for the audience as it encourages them to pay attention to what's going on, various elements will come in and out of frame quickly. Meaning they will have to be paying attention to see what each one is. Also the editing style helps to hype up the audience and create excitement, as the changing of shot is happening quite quickly the audiences heart rate could increase with each shot change. Using a  montage when the couple are walking through the market could show their  relationship to be exciting and like they are 'living on the edge' as they are hiding it from friends and family so trying not to get caught. However, this could also make the audience feel sympathetic towards the artist as they know the other partner does not want expose their relationship to their friends. Which could imply to the audience she is embarrassed of who she is, in front of her friends. As she is happy to walk around with her when nobody she knows is there.

The next editing technique that we are going to use in our music video is slow editing. This editing technique is quite self explanatory. The shot/frame is slowed down in order to create  certain affect. This editing style is going to be used in the field scene, when the artist is dancing around with her friends in the smoke. By using slow editing here is helps to capture the moment and allows the audience to capture the moment, as it allows them to see the genuine happiness of the friends and artist and therefore assists in creating intensity around the people dancing. By slow it down here it also creates suspense for the audience as they could think that the artist and her partner might get together when the scene slows, meaning it would be an 'edge of your seat' moment for the audience. Seeing if the couple come out to their friends in such an intense friendship moment. Slow editing also has connotations of calm and peacefulness, which could suggest to the audience that it is better for the artist and her partner to not reveal their true selves to their friends as it may disturb the peace. The audience are able to build up a relationship with the artist through this editing technique as they could feeling sorrow for her that she feels she may upset the peace if she reveals her true feelings for her partner.


The following editing technique that we are going to use in our music video is a fade. This is an editing technique that will help connect the different frames in the video. A fade editing technique creates a sense of realism as it is quite basic and not extravagant like a swirl. This helps to represent the artist as quite plain and ordinary, due to the basicness of the editing style. By representing her like this it makes her a more relatable person to the audience, it shows her more as a real person than a star. The audience can build up a relationship with the artist through this as they could possibly imagine themselves being friends with her and compare her to what their friends are like. A fade also helps the video to flow more and make sense instead of just jumping for frame to frame as it would disturb the fluency of the video. One of the key areas that we are going to use a fade editing technique is at the end of the video, the scene will fade to black. This highlights to the audience that it is likely the end of the relationship between the artist and her partner. However, as it is not show what exactly happens next it does create a sense of enigma within the music video. It does not show the audience exactly what happened between the two, this could interest the audience to watch more of the artist music videos, as they may think that is may reveal more of what happened between the two.


The final editing technique that we have decide to use in our music video is filters, this is where a colour or various colours are layered over the frame to give it a certain effect. We are going to use filters throughout the music video as it implies to the audience that the video is like her looking back at the relationship and what happened. It is as if the video is in the artists head and she is looking back. By using the filters it allows the audience to gain a better understanding of the artists emotions and what they are feeling. The sepia filter implies the artist is quite down and depressed due to the darkness of the colour, the audience could relate to this because by showing what emotions she is feeling the audience can link in past experiences when they felt these emotions. Meaning that the lyrics and narrative will be more understandable for them as they are linking in real emotions. It is conventional for indie music artist to use filters in their music videos because many of their songs are about past experiences and them looking back at how they felt at the time and what went wrong.


To conclude, we have decide to use filters, montage, fade and slow editing in our music video as these are common conventional editing techniques that are used within indie music videos to help the audience gain a better understanding of the narrative and what the artist is feeling.

Lyric analysis planning

By analysing the lyrics of our chosen song it helps us to plan out what elements we need to include in our music video. It also helps us to ensure that we include all of the various features that are needed to make sure that we have a successful music video.

From analysing the song we have concluded that the hidden message of the song is that the artist was going through difficulties with a loved one and that there relationship is not as good as it use to be. The can be seen when it says "so far from where we are" Implying that they use to have a close relationship but now come into difficulties. Also when it says "oh lights go down, in the moment we're lost and found" This could imply that they are only good together at night, this could be when they go out and are drunk or on drugs. Which could suggest that they aren't very comfortable with each other in the harsh lighting of day but are fine at night.

By analysing the lyrics we were able to plan the genre codes and conventions. We have decided when it says "oh lights go down, in the moment we're lost and found" We are going to have the artist singing into the camera, possibly playing an instrument. This is conventional of the indie genre because it shows that the artist actually has talent and is able to play an instrument. By showing they actually have a talent it could make the audience respect them more, as it shows they do not need auto tune or their music created by someone else. Also by her singing into the camera it allows the audience to feel like they are connecting to them and as if she is singing to them directly to them. Another convention that this has allowed us to plan was when it says "under a trillion stars" For this we are going to show our artist on bonfire night with her friends having fun, which is conventional of indie genre. This is because it shows them as real people as they are with their friends and having fun.

By showing them as in their natural state with their friends, it allows the audience to be able to connect to them more as they could imagine themselves as one of their friends, hanging out with them. Another convention that our lyric analysis has helped us to plan is having a narrative based music video, this is because indie artists mainly base their music and lyrics on real life events and experiences that have happened to them. This helps the audience to connect to them as they may have been in similar circumstances or gain a better understanding of the lyrics by linking it to a narrative.

Furthermore the analysis has helped us to plan the cinematography that we are going to use. When it says "oh dam these walls" we are going to have a close up of the artist. Therefore this shot will show the artists face and facial expressions as she is singing the lyric. By having a close up here it allows the audience to really see the expressions of the artists and they get a better feel of her emotions that she is feeling while singing that particular lyric. This is a common convention in indie music because their songs are generally about their emotions and a close up helps them to shows this even more, allowing the audience to build up their relationship with the artist. The close up of our artist while she is singing will help to show her actual talent and extraordinariness as she has such a beautiful voice, as well as conveying her emotions through being able to see her facial expression properly. By allowing the audience to know what emotion she felt as she was singing this song it enables them to follow the narrative better and link in similar emotions that the song may bring out in them.

 Another cinematography technique that the lyric analysis allowed us to plan was a long shot of the two ballerina dancers when it says "if these wings could fly" These two dancers are representing our artist and her partner, this long shot would let the audience clearly see the dance moves that the ballerinas are performing. Therefore, these can help to imitate the emotions and feelings of the artist and her partner.

Also it has helped us plan the editing techniques that we are going use. This includes, a time laps of the sky and the whole video at the start of the video. The sky represents clarity and the openness of the artist, linking this in with the time laps of the whole video it shows that the artist is thinking about what is happening. It implies that the video is her reminiscing on the relationship with her partner, and the sky shows that she is trying to find clarity within the relationship and what is happening between the two. This allows the audience to build  relationship with her because it makes the video seem as if she is telling them a story that they can relate to. Another editing technique that we have planned from this analysis is filters. We are going to use these throughout the video, the various filters we are going to use will be quite dark and gloomy. This will represent the artist as quite sad as it implies that she is looking back at her relationship with her partner. Also the filters imply she is looking back at the past, which is conventional of indie music. This is because their videos are normally a narrative based on the lyrics and the lyrics generally describe a past experience that they have had.  

The analysis has also helped us to plan all 5 elements of mes-en-scene. When the song says "in the moment we're lost and found" This is when the artist Is going to be singing into the camera and dancing around on the streets. For this frame our artist is going to be wearing a neutral coloured dress and a darker jacket on top, finished off with some black tights and shoes. The neutral coloured dress represents the artists innocence as it has connotations of purity. However as it is not completely white it could imply that she is not 100% innocent, this could be because she is going against the 'norm' and is in a same sex relationship. This could show that she is "lost" as the neutral colour does not show that she has a very outgoing personality due to the purity connotation. However, the denim jacket and black tights could suggest that she has "found" who she is as a person and it could imply her to the audience to be quite edgy and mysterious. As she has two sides to her. This outfit allows the audience to build a relationship wit our artist because the style choices are some that could be popular within the target audience. Meaning they will see her as an average every day girl.

The next element we have been able to start planning was positioning of characters. We have begin to consider starting our artist off as off centre in most of the shots as this will show her as shy and imply to the audience that she doesn't want to be the centre of attention. This is common within indie artists because they normally use their music as a way of expressing themselves and build their confidence. However, as the song goes on we want her to be more central within the shots, this will show to the audience that she is building up her confidence as she is telling her story. This could help the audience relate to her as many of the targeted age group would have gone through confidence issues at some point in life and could link there feelings to her story. As they see her growing more confident as the song develops they could also grow more confident.

Following this we was able to plan lighting, we think that we are going to use natural lighting in the frames when the artist and her partner are together on their own. This is because it shows how they interact naturally together and implies to the audience that they can be themselves when they are with each other. The audience will be able to link to this as normally everyone has one person in their lives that they can completely be themselves around, meaning they will be able to link this relationship to the song. The natural lighting will expose the pair and show what they are really like together. This could make the audience feel happiness for the couple as they have been hiding their feelings throughout the song and are finally showing what they actually feel for each other.

The next element we was able to start considering was the props used in the video, when it says "under a trillion stars" we are going to have a bonfire scene with the artist and her friends and partner. For this scene they will all be playing around the sparklers. The artist and her partner will be drawing hearts in the air with the sparklers, this sparkles could represent that 'love sparks' between the artist and her partner. It could show their fierce love for each other as sparklers/fire has connotations of danger and fierceness.

To conclude, by analysing the lyrics of our chosen song it has allowed us to consider the various cinematography, editing and mes we are going to include in our music video. By doing this we are also able to gain a better understanding of what connotations the lyrics have and what hidden meanings are portrayed in the song.

Planning lighting and colour

It is essential to use a variety of lighting styles and colours in a music video because it helps to break up the video and engage the audience. Furthermore different lighting and colours used in a video help to set to mood witting the audience and aid in helping to make them feel a certain way when watching.

Our first lighting style we are going to use is natural lighting, this is a lighting source that is natural and represents natural sunlight. This will be seen in our video when the couple are inside the house and bedroom together. We decide to use it here as this where you will see the couples natural relationship together unlike outside the house when they have to hide it from the people around them.    Showing that they don't have to hide how they truly feel when they get together and can be in their natural state. Implying to the audience that the couple have a strong love for eaxhother, which is shown as the natural lighting makes them really visible to the camera and the audience will be able to see all/any blemishes. It is conventional of indie music videos to use natural lighting in their videos to show the artist in their natural state because steortyoically indie artists use their lyrics and music videos to show who they really are and this is aided by natural lighting.

The next lighting style we are going to use in our music video is low key lighting, this is using darker tones of light. Commonly used to create intensity around certain objects within a frame, helping to dramatise the shot. Low key lighting is going to be used in the bonfire scene when the artist and her partner are mucking around with their friends and hanging out together. This is used here to add to the realistic effect of the frame, it will be night time therefore it assists in showing this to the audience, giving the video a sense of realism. However, it also shows that their is a hidden and mysterious side to our artist. She is hiding the secret from her friends that she is actually with her partner, which could imply to the audience that there is a dark side within the friendship group and normally fiends are comfortable talking about most topics together. It is highly conventional for indie artists to use low key lighting within their videos as they are very commonly described as mysterious people due to their different look and life styles then your mainstream artist.

The next lighting technique we are going to use is high key lighting, this lighting is vey bright and harsh looking allowing our audience to see very clearly what is happening within the frame. This lighting is going to be used within the Camden market scene of our music video. The artist and her partner are going to be walking through the market together, as it is a very busy place we thought it would be a great time to use this type of lighting as it will allow the audience to get a better idea of everything that is in the shot. And they will be able to see how the couple interact together in a public place but without any of their friends around them, as without them their the couple may feel more  relaxed about being together without being judged. This lighting style shows our artist to be quite
comfortable in her own skin as this lighting will highlight any blemishes that she may have, also it implies her to be quite innocent as although it is revealing a lot of her, she is not actually revealing and skin or showing voyeristic shots. High key lighting is a common convention in indie music video as artists uses their songs as a was to show their trueselves and reveal themselves/their personalities/ life experiences to the audience.

Also a colour that we are going to to use in the music video is a blue smoke grenade, this is going to be used on the bonfire scene and the audience will see the artists and her friends dancing around in the smoke. By using the colour blue it shows the the audience the the artist is in a tranquil place and is very content being with her friends. It also shows the artist herself to be a very calm and relaxed person. Also the colour blue has connotations of the the sky, which could represent peacefulness and happiness, as a blue sky is seen on a day where there is limited dark clouds. Therefore this could imply that they are all true friends and that the artists is very innocent with no evil not her. We are also going to use an orange smoke grenade mixed in with the blue one, obviously this will be seen in the same scene as the blue. We are using an organs on as well as it implies different things then the blue. The orange conveys to the audience that there is a lot of warmth and energy in the bonfire scene, this could be because the group of friends are all together and enjoying eachothers company. Alternatively by there being a lot of energy, this could represent the sexual energy portrayed by the artist and her partner who aren't together infront of their friends. And orange can sometimes be used to describe the colour of a fire, again this implies there is some tension between the artist and her partner, as one wants to be together infront of everyone and the artist wants to keep it more a secret.

The audience will be able to use he lighting and colour we have chosen to build up a relationship with  the artist and it will also help them to follow the story better, as the m various lighting and colours helps to set the scene better. The lighting and colours also helps to represent the artists emotions and what she is feeling through out the video as things develop with her partner.

Planning artist image

It is essential to have a representation of your artist throughout your music video, this is because it helps your artist to 

The first look we have given our artist is going to be seen in the bonfire scene when she is hanging out with her friends. For this scene our artist is going to be wearing a fitted grey dress styled with a leather jacket; tights; bangles and leather boots. This will help to show our artist as quite edgy and unique, which is convention of indie artists as they generally have a different sort style that doesn't follow the mainstream style. By her having a unique outfit it allows her to express their personality through clothing, therefore the target audience will have an insight into her style and personality letting them build up their relationship with her. Along side this outfit we have chosen for her to have natural looking wavy hair and for her make up to be quite simplistic and pale, she will also have winged eye liner and red lipstick. The simple base coat of make up helps to reflect her easy going and simple personality. Also it highlights how she is not obsessed with looks and likes her natural self more then being covered in make up. Again this is another convention of indie artists as they care more about the music then the 'glitz and glam'. However, the winged eye liner and red lipstick could imply she is edgy and doesn't follow them 'norm', she's happy to do her own thing. Indie artists commonly aren't worried about following the typical trends and are happy doing their own thing.




The second look that we have chosen to give our artist is going to be seen when the artist is walking through market with her partner. She is going to be wearing a turtle neck, ripped jeans, a parker jacket, high top black convers and this will be styled with chokers to accessories. The turtle neck covers the artists upper body quite a lot, which shows her as a very unrevealing person, this is conventional of indie artists as the don't frequently expose a lot of their body, especially the more private areas. Indie artists use their talent and easily relatable narratives to advertise themselves to their audience, rather than exposing themselves. Although the black ripped jeans will reveal some skin on her legs they will still mostly conceal her body, furthermore the black colouring of the jeans presents her as quite mysterious and could possibly suggest she is quite a dark person at times. This would engage the audience as they would be interested to find out more about this, creating an enigma around her as an artist. The green parker coat is something that many of her target audience would own or be highly familiar with, therefore when they see her wearing it in the video they will be able to relate to her.  It also shows that she s up to date with the current fashions as these coats are seen to be quite in at the moment, proving very popular with the target audience age group. Additionally to this the colour green has connotations of wildlife and nature, which could suggest tot he audience that although the artist is quite natural she does also have a wild side. This is conventional of the indie genre because indie music videos generally tend to offer their audience a sense of realism, the green parker coat symbolises the green field and nature around the artist in the video. The black high top convers finish off the look as they maintain the same connortations as the rest of the dark/black outfit. They highlight the sense of mystery portray by the artists, also as the shoes cover lots of her feet it could imply that she is quite self conscious and trying to hide away her body. This is relatable to her audience because many of them may have confidence issues as this is common within people around the same age as her target audience.



The third outfit that our artist is going to wear will be seen when she is sitting inside her house with her partner and they lounging around. For this we decide to give her a very causal outfit of an oversized jumper, leggings and bare feet. The use of the baggy jumper paired with leggings highlights tot the audience the comfortable relationship the pair have with each other and how at ease they feel in each others presence. The tightness of the leggings reflects the looseness of the oversized jumper, highlighting the lack of voyeurism in the video. This is conventional of the indie genre as the artists want to attract and appeal to their audience through their song and story told through their narrative rather than the audience seeing them as objects to lust over. As she is bare foot it amplifies the fact that she is at home and feels very comfortable in front of her partner. It shows she is comfortable and cozy with her partner, she doesn't need to dress up and completely 'doll her self up' just to impress her partner. For the outfit she is going to be wearing very minimal make up as she is at home and we want to display her more in her natural state, so she will be wearing little mascara. Following on from this she is going to her hair tied up in a pony tail or bun, as this is very common with teenage girls when they are at home as this is much more comfortable for them then having their hair down all over their faces. This costume is very casual and shows the comfortable relationship the artist and her partner have. This is also a very relatable outfit for the audience as it is something that they would most likely wear themselves.



The final outfit that we have planned for our artist to wear is going to be seen in the performance part of our video when she is singing and dancing around in the street. For this she is going to be wearing a cream dress, denim jacket with black tights. The cream dress will highlight the innocence of the artist as it has connotations of purity. However as cream is still a little darker then pure white it highlights the fact that she may not be 100% innocent. Denim could be associated as being quite 'hard' and punk rocky, suggesting that she is quite different and doesn't follow the norm. Also the fact that the jacket is blue could have connotations of the sky and the sea which closely link to tranquillity, suggesting she is a very mellow and easy going person. The audience will enjoy seeing her like this as it implies she is a more approachable person and therefore would be easier to approach to ask for a photo or something if they saw her in public.  Also styled with this she is going to be wearing black tights, this is a common theme that we saw through out most of the outfits with have chose for her as it implies a sense of mystery around her and engages the audience to find out more about her and what her story is. Our artists hair and make up would be quite high impact and stand out from the rest of her other looks as it will be seen at day and night time. She will have quite dark eye make up as it suggests she is confident and could be deemed as fierce, this will be supported with crisp contouring and bold lips to follow up the fact that she is confident. This is conventional of indie artists, they can normally seen to be quite shy but use singing and music as a way to express themselves, therefore are confident when they are singing.

To conclude, the artist image is important within a music video because it allows the audience to build up a relationship with the artists and feel like they are getting to know her more as an individual through her style. The outfits that I have chosen are conventional to the indie genre therefore the audience will be able to link the video back to the genre.

Planning cineamtaography

Cinematography is important in a music video because it helps to break up the video and keep the audiences attention maintained. Furthermore, different shots can help to tell the narrative and connote different emotions or states of the artist/characters.

The first cinematography shot we have chosen to include is a close up of when the artist is singing. Therefore this shot will show the artists face and facial expressions as she is singing the lyrics. By having a close up here it allows the audience to really see the expressions of the artists and they get a better feel of her emotions that she is feeling while singing that particular lyric. This is a common convention in indie music because their songs are generally about their emotions and a close up helps them to shows this even more, allowing the audience to build up their relationship with the artist. The close up of our artist while she is singing will help to show her actual talent and extraordinariness as she has such a beautiful voice, as well as conveying her emotions through being able to see her facial expression properly. By allowing the audience to know what emotion she felt as she was singing this song it enables them to follow the narrative better and link in similar emotions that the song may bring out in them. One particular line that we are going to have a close up of our artists face is when she says "I just wanna be by your side" This is because is this specific line it displays strong emotions of sorrow as she is not with the person she loves but also hopefulness as she is trying to be with them. We think these emotions will help the flow of the narrative if we display and highlight them through a close up of the artist.

The second cinematography shot that we are going to include is a high angled shot. This is when the camera is positioned up high and is looking down at the objects/people in frame. We are going to use this when the couple are at the bonfire scene and mucking around with the sparklers, it will look down on them laughing and joking around while making heart shapes with the sparklers. We decided to put our high angled shot here because we think it shows although they are both having fun together at that moment In time they are still vulnerable as their relationship is not steady. They are unsure of whether they are going to be together, which means they are emotionally in danger of getting hurt by each other if the relationship does not work out. Also this will give the video a sense of realism by showing the couple as vulnerable, as many real life relationships have there ups and downs so the audience will be able to relate to this and compare to situations they may have been in. This shot represents our artist as brave, she is aware that she may be vulnerable due to an unsteady relationship but is still having fun with her friends and trying to get past her relationship troubles. This is
conventional of the indie genre because the artist is usually confronting a troubled emotion in their song and lyrics therefore can be perceived as brave by tackling these emotions and not ignoring them.

The third camera technique that we are going to use is panning, this is when the camera pivots across and follows an object/person. We wanted to use this camera technique when the couple are walking through Camden market together, as it is quite a vibrant and busy place with a lot going on and panning helps to show the environment behind the characters. But as it is following the couple it also helps to maintain the audiences attention  to them instead of fully getting distracted from the background environment. Also the market scenery links back to the conventions of indie, as it is quite quirky and doesn't follow the norm, this makes it relatable to the audience. This shot will help to represent our artist as in love and focused on her partner, they are in a busy place yet they are both content with focusing on each other and not being distracted by what is happening in the market around them. By showing her as this our audience can relate to her and almost be envious of her and they may want a partner who pays this much attention to them and focuses on them that much.

My forth camera technique that I am going to use is an over the shoulder shot of a conversation between the couple. The camera will be positioned so you can see the back of someone's head and part of their shoulder and the person in-front of them talking, as if you are looking over the shoulder of the person at the other. This helps the audience to imagine themselves in place of the person who's shoulder you are looking over and see things from their perspective. We are going to use this hot to show a generic conversation between the two and how well the get on together. Showing how they joke around together and understand one and another's humour, the part of the song/lyrics we layered over this shot would should their happy state together as the conversation would actually be muted. This is conventional to the indie genre as most artists display their emotions in their songs through the state of their relationship and how well or not well it is going. This shot particularly represents our artists as concerned and engaged with their partner as they are having a conversation together which shows they have an interest in each others lives.

My final camera technique that we are considering using in our music video is a hand held shot, this is when the camera is held in a persons hand as the movement is to quick for the camera to be on the tripod. This shot helps to create a sense of realism to the video as an actual person is physically holding the camera instead of it just being on the tripod. The shots will be more shaky and not very stable but this resembles the body movement of the person holding the camera, this helps the audience to gain a better  understanding of the narrative as the more wobbly connotes the more emotional and unstable the person holding it is. The camera technique also makes the audience feel more involved with the story line. As a group we was thinking of having a hand held part when the artist is at the bonfire with her partner and peers, and she is holding the camera in her hand. This will make the audience feel like that are more involved in the party therefore they will be more engaged with the video. It will be as if they are with the artists and everyone having fun due to the more personal feel the hand held shot portrays. This technique is conventional to the indie genre as the videos are always very personal to the artist and shows the good and bad sides of them, the hand held gives the impression that it is being filmed on their own personal camera. This makes the audience feel as if they are building up a relationship with the artist.

Our target audience can build a relationship with our artist through the various cinematography techniques used in our music video because they all help to show a deeper insight into the emotions of the artist, and gives the video a more personal feel. E.g. hand held camera resembling a home camera. By doing this the audience will feel like they no the artist on a more intimate level which will make her a more relatable character for them. We have ensured that our artist is relatable throughout by connoting her in a plethora of different ways and showing weaker and stronger sides to her and her relationship which the audience a can link personal stories to.

Planning setting and iconography

 Setting and iconography are important in a music video as it helps to build up a relationship with the audience and allows them to follow the narrative. They help to build up the audiences expectations of what they should see, this could make our video diverse if we do not follow the expectations of the audience. The iconography helps to create a sense of realism and makes the artists story feel more real to the audience.

The first setting we have chosen to film our indie music video in is a field. This is one of our main locations as it is quite isolated which means the audiences attention will remain on the artist while she is performing. Furthermore, we think that is will help to display her as quite lonely and vulnerable which is a convention for indie artists, as they commonly write songs and lyrics about their emotions and feelings and their videos commonly mirror these feelings. Some of the shots that we have considered including for the field setting are long/mid/panning shots of the artists and her female lover dancing and mucking around together and having flash backs of happy time together. By having these shots in the field it shows them as free and expressive as they are not worrying about anything and just running around having fun together. We are going to include a time laps in this setting as well when the girls are having fun together to connote how time flies when your having fun. Another reason we have decided to film part of the video in a field is because it shows the artist in a real life everyday place that many of the audience can relate to, this links in with Dyer's star theory of an artist being more of a real person then star. A frame that is going to be shot in this location is the bonfire scene with the artist hanging out and staying out all night with her friends. Again this is relatable to the audience because it encourages them to reminisce about rebellious times they have had, as this is how the artist is portrayed. Some limitations and risks that we may encounter when filming in this location is the danger of being around the fire, as it can be quite dangerous and cause serious injuries. Therefore we need to make sure that we are extra careful when shooting with the fire and have the correct equipment e.g. matches, water, fire blanket. The only other problem that may occur when shooting in the field is the weather, as it is such a large open space we will have no cover what so ever if it is heavily raining or worse. As a result of this our actors and actresses may feel uncomfortable performing in the rain and not perform to the best of their ability. Also the rain could damage our camera. To avoid this we can make sure we are prepare, if the weather is only slightly bad then we can use more umbrellas and covers to make sure everything stays warm and dry. But if the weather is really bad then we will have to rearrange to another day to make sure we get the best out of our actors and camera.

Closely linking in to the field, within this we are going to have the location of a lake. Here we will shoot the two homosexual girls walking hand in hand together around the lake, being affectionate and loving towards each other. We have decided to shoot this around the lake because it has connotations of peacefulness which helps to represent the girls togetherness as they are not hiding away from anyone and are happy being together at that point. Similarly to the field the lake has the same health and safety risks, but an additional risk is the actual lake its self. There I the unlikely possibility that someone may fall in the lake, at the time of year it will be freezing cold therefore the person my become ill if this happens. Or if they fall in they may not be able to swim which would not end well. Therefore, we will make sure that none of the camera crew or actors go near the lake, ensuring that they keep a far distance away.

Thee second location we are going to film in is a house. This is a highly familiar setting for the audience and they would be very familiar with it, therefore will know what it includes and is in it. Furthermore, a house has connotations of love and a warming, inviting environment were people feel comfortable. Making it easy for the audience to relate to this setting and feel more involved with the scene and helps to gain a sense of realism. The frames that will be filmed in the house will be the two girls sitting around with each other and relaxing in each others company. This shows the audience how they interact together and are comfortable with each other is a private, intimate, warming setting. However, a limitation of filming inside the house is that it can be quite confined meaning that we may not have enough space to achieve all of the shots we want to include as there may not be space to set up our camera and tripod.  Additionally, a small space could end up representing the female characters as trapped and stuck together which is not what we want to portray to or audience. To overcome this limitation we will have to be adventurous with the way in which we set up our camera to make sure we make the frame look big enough so everything desired is in shot.

Linking in closely to the house setting we will also film in a bedroom. This is a more personal and intimate setting, which allows our audience to get to no the artist on a deeper level because they will see how they design their personal space thus showing a lot about their personality, which makes it conventional to the indie genre as they commonly show personal and intimate frames in their videos in order to help the audience connect and relate to them. The bedroom will further mirror the artists emotions because we will have a messy and untidy room which highlights her confusion with her relationship and that her head is a mess because she doesn't no what to do.  However, by having a messy room this could be slightly hazardous to the actors and crew because they may trip over some of the mess which could injure themselves. To over come this hazard we will make sure that everyone is highly aware of themselves and what they are doing when filming to avoid them falling. The weather will not affect us in the house or bedroom because they are both inside and will be dry and warm.

The next location we are going to use in the video is a street, this is a casual everyday environment that the audience will easily be able to relate to. This is conventional of indie as it is something that is used on a daily basis by herself and the general public. We are using the street to show the artist looking back on her life and portraying her as lonely as she is reminiscing. We are going to show one of the artists memories of her and her lover walking down the street together and are happy and enjoying themselves. And the a now shot of the artist walking own the street on her own displaying her loneliness and how things have changed for her. Also how she misses being with her partners. This setting could have limitations because it will have to be shot around the every day public therefore we have to make sure we are respectful of other people and make sure that we do not cause any disturbances. To ensure this we will have group meetings prior to filming to discussing what will want to achieve out of that filming sessions and asses how busy the street is in order to see if filming would be plausible. Also if we decide on a certain area that we want to film we can tell people on approach to this area that we are filming and then if they don't mind they can keep going otherwise could walk around us.

Our final setting that we are going to film in is the dance studio as we hope to include some choreographed dancing to represent that artists emotions as she is singing and the song. We have chosen to do this in the dance studio because it has the right amount of space to safely perform a dance routine and it also has the correct lighting and other various features that we need to help us e.g. black curtains which will assist in highlighting the dancers movements. This would link back to part of the chorus where it says "if these wings could fly" and the dancers would then reveal their wings to the audience, the features in this room will help to dramatize this. Although this room has the right amount of space for the dancers to perform it does limit the places that we can situate the camera and crew as it is not a massive room but to overcome this we will just have to make the crew be creative when thinking about camera placement and think carefully about the placement of the dancers.

Our first piece of iconography that we have chosen to include in our music video is smoke canisters, these are small tube looking canisters that have chemicals inside that burn quickly releasing a coloured smoke. We have decided to use this as it displays that the artist is having fun with her friends and doesn't have any worries at that moment, it also reflects excited by the bright colours used. Smoke canisters are highly conventional to the indie genre because I think the smoke represents the artists as being a free spirit (which is common within indie artists) and floating around without any stresses or fears. We are going to get our actors to dance with the smoke canisters, the colourful smoke that is being released while the dance could also have connotations of them being on drugs and tripping out, implying they are quite rebellious, this gives the video a sense of realism for the audience as is it something common people of this age would do. This is conventional to the indie genre as artists normally symbolise their relationships as a type of drug that they are addicted to and cant live without. Additionally the smoke will be quite thick which could portray her as quite shy and this is mirrored in the fact that she is partly trying to hide her feelings towards the other female and is shy about how she really feels, therefore is trying to hide in the smoke.

The follow piece of iconography that we have chosen to include is alcohol. This is commonly know as a depressant, meaning that is slows down the vital functions such as movements and reactions, it highly affects someone's ability to think rationally and distorts their judgement. One of the most common reasons for someone to drink alcohol is to help them loosen up and be more fun, however a large intake of it can be used by people to forget about issues in their lives and drown their sorrows. We are going to use It in the field scene of the music video when the artist is hanging out with friends and surrounded by her peers. This will help the audience to relate to the video as they are likely to have bee in the situation where they are drinking with their friends in order to forget about issues or stress in their lives. Similarly to our artist who is shown to be drinking in order to forget her troubles with her partner. The artist will be happy and carefree while under the influence of the alcohol because it is says that the truth comes out when you drink therefore she is happy being around her partner and friends without trying to cover up their relationship and it mentally unaware of what she is actually doing.

My third piece of iconography that we are going to use is fireworks because it helps to imply our artist as rebellious which is a convention of artists within the indie genre. They also portray danger and excitement which would resemble the artists relationship with her partner as they are not out as a couple together yet so are still sneaking around together. We are going to use these in the field/lake scene as it is a big open space which realistically is needed to have fireworks safely. We are also aiming to film this frame on bonfire night, as it will be helpful that the sky will be filled with other peoples fireworks as well, therefore helping to build up the story. As well as the actual fireworks we are going to use sparklers which is a handheld firework with releases a small spark. These can be used to draw shapes with and write things in the air if done quickly. We have decided to use these as it shows a youthful childlike side of the artists and her peers, showing they are all quite comfortable around each other and it is stereotypical of teenagers to try to be adult ie drinking but they are still quite childish at times like when they are playing with the sparklers. The artist and her partner will be able to draw heart shapes and each others names displays their love for one and another, this is conventional of the indie genre as there are often gestures of love and romance seen in them.


Another piece of iconography we are going to use is a tent, this is a moveable shelter that is constructed of cloth supported by one or more poles and pinned down by pegs and string. These can be easily put up and moved around. We will use this is the bonfire scene and will be used by the couple as they camp under the stars together. This represents them as love stuck and rebellious as they are staying out late together, not going home and do not seem to be worried about any sort of consequences that may occur. Implying that they live for each other and are so in love they would rather spend the night with just each other than family. Also as the tent is quite a confined space it creates a sense of intimacy and togetherness as they are in the field alone. To make our tent have more of an indie feel we will most likely create our tent out of rough pieces of cloth and fabric as indie videos are normally low budget this home made tent will help to represent this. Also the way in which we make our tent look will help to represent the artists personality and is a way they can express themselves. By them doing this youthful activity is shows them as quite an outgoing couple, which is a trait you would expect from this age group.

My final piece of iconography that we have decided to include In the video is a piano, this is a musical instrument, it is rather large and has metal strings that are stuck by hammers when a key is pressed to produce a sound. The sounds produced are quite mellow which is conventional of the indie genre as it matches the slow songs and helps to build up tension and intimacy which helps the audience to follow the story as they follow the music. It is also conventional to include a type of instrument in an indie music video as it shows them as extraordinary as they have a talent as well as being ordinary and relatable to the audience. To show that our artist has actual talent and knows what they are doing we are going to include a low angled shot of her playing the piano and singing showing her as multi-talented. It also helps us to included Goodwin's performance style in our music video which helps to engage the audience as we are using a variety of styles. A piano is also quite an intimate instrument due to the soft tones of the keys which helps the audience to build up a relationship with the artist as she plays.

This planning of setting and iconography has helped me and my group in creating our music video as it has allowed us to clearly map out what frames we are going to have in certain settings and what is going to happen there. Also what iconography is going to be used in certain frames this will help us to make sure we don't forget anything while filming. Furthermore it has shown any problems that may occur and also how we can overcome these, this will save time when filming if we encounter any of these problems as we are already aware of the risks.