Prop:A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or on screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct from the actors, scenery, costumes, and electrical equipment.
This is our prop list. It is important to have a prop list so that, as a group, we know exactly what props are needed for each shot and whether or not these props are suitable for what we are trying to achieve; this is important as the wrong style of props could lead to a jarring music video narrative. By having a prop list, it saves time, and when preparing to film we can quickly check what props we've got with us and whether or not we have missed anything important.
Shot list: A full log of all the shots you want to include in your film. Essentially it is a checklist filled with details that will give your film a sense of direction and efficiency.
By utilising this shot list and filming alongside our storyboard, time efficiency will remain, as we will know exactly what shot comes in at what time and for how long. A shot list also helps directors and camera operators follow the same process whilst filming as it allows everyone to see clearly how the music video will be filmed. It will also help to keep crew on track with their original ideas and help to achieve the music video they planned and the one they showed to their target audience focus group instead of getting side tracked with other ideas.
Sufficient detail throughout and I liked the costume idea and digipak drawings. Explanation of locations are very clear and can see that there is a journey taking place throughout the music video through the locations.
I really like your song choice. I agree with you that there are lots of possibilities for this song.
Simran:
Sufficient detail throughout, backed up points with images etc. I thought the digipak drawings were very detailed with everything explained well. Main idea is explained very well and can't wait to see what the end/final product looks like.
The fact that EDM music videos do not tend to feature the artist(s), and that they often employ narratives that are unrelated to the lyrics could be an advantage. I personally prefer it when the narrative of a music video is related to the lyrics; looking at your animatic, this shouldn’t be a problem.
Mr Kerrigan:
Your locations are well researched.
Your animatic is easy to follow; I feel you have a good idea of what you are attempting to achieve. I’m looking forward to seeing how you execute it.
Your ideas for your actress’s clothing make sense.
I like the idea for your music video given your comparatively limited means. I think it strikes the balance of being both interesting and achievable. As you have correctly noted, EDM videos often involve some sort of connection to a club; I think that the idea of tracking your actress in the run up to a night out is a great idea. Make sure that you make your links between the content of the music video and the lyrics obvious to your audience.
Animatic: A preliminary version of a film, produced by shooting successive sections of a storyboard and adding a soundtrack.
Phoebe: "I'm even more excited to be starring in this music video now that I've been able to see the animatic. I can really envision the story line. It's a cool concept."
James: “I think the group has done really well in making the animatic and I think the shots they have chosen fit really well.”
Alex: “The theme of romance really comes through and I feel like the music video is slowly coming alive what with now having an animatic version of it. I’m so excited to see the final thing"
Scarlett: “I finally see what the group is intending to achieve now that I've seen the animatic. I look forward to seeing the real thing.”
Ben: “I think the animatic does represent a simplified version of what The Chainsmokers achieve in their own music videos. However, they don’t have the same level of production so it is clear its being done on an amateur scale.”
Storyboard: A sequence of drawings, typically with some directions and dialogue, representing the shots planned for a film or television production.
What is the purpose of a storyboard? To organise the images to be displayed in a sequence for a motion picture, animation, or interactive media sequence. Storyboards make it easier for the editor to know what order the clips should be shown in.
Feedback
Phoebe: "I'm really excited to feature in this music video. When listening to the song and looking at the story board I can really envision the story line and its cool concept."
James: "I'm not the biggest fan of the song. I wouldn't say EDM is my favourite genre; however, I think the group has done really well in finding a story to go with the song."
Alex: "It follows the romance theme of the EDM genre but doesn't include a club or dancing scene, which is common in these types of videos within this genre, however I'm interested to see the final product."
Scarlett: "It's cool, however until I see visuals to audio I won't know if it really works. It will be cool to see though and its a good idea."
Ben: "I love The Chainsmokers so I'm really excited to see how they're represented in these guy's music video to one of their songs."
Costume not only helps the audience understand the age of the characters, but also the time in which the music video is set. e.g. modern day or periodic. Deciding what Phoebe will be wearing in our music video was not particularly difficult because we chose clothes to represent the emotions she is feeling throughout the music video. We have decided to dress Phoebe in black, ripped jeans and a khaki jumper to reinforce the stereotype that young people of this generation are often depressed or sluggish. She is going through a break-up, so naturally she will feel down. The fact that much of her upper-torso will be concealed also emphasises she may be insecure or worried about never finding someone like him again. She will also be wearing these clothes (including Nike Janoski shoes) because they are stereotypical items of clothing that young people wear; this helps to make the music video less jarring. She will also undoubtedly be wearing a coat to keep herself warm as we will be filming in the winter time.
She will also be wearing a necklace. The significance of the necklace will be that her ex-boyfriend gave it to her. The fact she hasn't taken it off shows she is not over him yet and still needs to come to terms with the break-up before she is ready to take it off.
Below are images of costumes we want our actor to wear when we are filming our music video:
Phoebe will be wearing minimal make-up to intensify the fact that she is not trying to impress anyone and feels down about the break-up situation. We also feel like a casual look (to match the clothes she is wearing) would be jarring against a full face of make-up.
This is one of the hardest decisions to make during the research and planning process as it is vital we choose the right actor to fit the role of the character. If the actor does not fit the criteria, it could give the music video a jarring feel to it. Our music video was not based upon anything, e.g. a book, so our group had complete freedom with genre, song choice, theme and what we wanted our actor to look like as there is no 'character' to by.
The singer in 'New York City' is female and so it would only make sense to have a female actress. We wanted our actress to look very feminine and natural, e.g. to have long hair minimal make-up but also to look as if she fits in with the 'club scene'. We also wanted our actress to look mature as our target audience is 18-25 so if the actress is around this age or looks as if she were then it will help the audience to relate and connect with her, making our music video effective. We know that our close friend Phoebe has an interest in drama and achieved an A* grade at GCSE and a C at AS Level. She is an obvious choice for the lead female role.
This location will be used to show the actions of the sad girl at the beginning of her day, i.e. checking her ex-boyfriend's profile online, putting make-up on and getting ready. The room will be dark and dusty (as if she rarely leaves it or goes outside of her house). This will help to emit raw emotions of loneliness. Empty alcohol bottles and cigarette packets will be placed around the room to tie the video with the lyrics - "to kill yourself with bad habits".
2) Forest/woods
We will film Phoebe walking and lip-syncing through the woods as part of our music video. It helps keep the visuals interesting if there is a variety of locations in which our character is filmed in. Also often people walk through the woods to get away from the struggles of everyday/home life because they are peaceful and tranquil. Our character is shown to be experience a break-up, which is saddening for her, thus, we wanted to film Phoebe in the woods as it shows that she is trying to escape the emotions she is feeing and try to clear her head. 3) Guards Park (Island)
It was Bonnie's suggestion to use Guards Park Island (facing the Maidenhead Bridge) as one of our locations for our music video. As a group we discussed how we thought that it would be possible to gain very effective shots of Phoebe walking up and down this bridge or sitting on the bench positioned opposite, as she reflects on the meaning of the song.
We also want to use that same bench, which is situated in the middle of the island to film the initials carved into the bench of the girl and her ex-boyfriend. This will make for an effective music video as it shows the typical activities that couples do and conforms to the media's representation of modern day couple life. Due to practical and financial difficulties we are unable to actually film this music video in New York City and so we want to constantly remind the audience that the girl is in a city but it is not New York. We have decided, as a group, to use this as a representation of Brooklyn Bridge in New York, because despite as much as we would like we cannot film in New York City, as previously explained. We also thought that by filming Phoebe walking across and looking out at the surrounding water would be very reflective of the way she is feeling and what she is experiencing.
4) Maidenhead Town Centre
As a group we have decided to include some footage of Phoebe walking through Maidenhead High Street. This helps bring some continuity to the music video as it helps to audience believe that the female character is actually on a journey rather than just random locations for variety purposes. This is also a representation of Maidenhead being a smaller version of New York City. Also, at night we thought this location would be effective to film in due to all the street/shop lights illuminating around her as she walks straight down the middle of the high street.
5) Top of car park
We thought that this will be the most effective location of all because it will make for a very cool shot. Being able to see the entire town lit-up at night will show just how deep the girl's emotions run and that they are constantly with her - through day and night. We think that the effect filming at night will bring to the music video and theme we are trying to project will work well and in our favour.
After coming up with a wide variety of initial ideas, as a group we finalised our favourite idea:
This happened to be a day in the life of our female character. Our main character is to be a girl, around the age of 18 - an age based upon looming important decisions about what life has in store for them after they leave school/comfort of the comfortable, routine-based life they have become accustomed to.
We want her outfits to reflect her mood and by this we mean because the song is quite sad we do not want her to be in bright colours because it would be incongruous to the theme of the song and the emotions felt by the character.
We want to show a journey, such as the main character getting ready for the night, we will show her make-up as well as her in different locations such as the woods and the top of a building, looking out at the towns skyline. Our target audience is of an age where watching 'Day in the life of...' videos online are exceptionally popular, which is one of the reasons why we decided to follow with this theme.
We plan on making links with the lyrics and the visuals on certain lines such as "Losing my lover to the arms of another" and "New York City please go easy". As we will not actually be filming in New York City we want to find a way to incorporate American culture in to our video as well through imagery and metaphors.
Above are our initial ideas for our digipak. We wanted our actress to be on the front cover of our digipak and to incorporate the night-time shots that will be featured in our music video, shown through the drawing of the stars. We also wanted to conform to the typical EDM album covers that we have previously deconstructed by featuring the band/artists name and the song/album title. The side panels will most likely just include a backdrop of the city view (trying to mimic the song lyrics "New York City") with the song name/band name due to limited space. The back side of our digipak will follow on from the front with the night-time shots to give our first ancillary task a sense of continuity. To make the back side of our digipak more interesting to look at and appealing to a wider audience we have decided to introduce ideas about one statement object, e.g. our actress from a side point of view or a lamppost, originating from the filming location.
Magazine Advertisement Ideas
Above are our initial ideas for our magazine advertisement. We wanted the magazine advertisement to match our digipak to give our whole project a sense of consistency, but we have made minor changes to make sure we keep the campaign interesting and versatile. The only main difference between these ideas and our initial ideas for our digipak is the positioning of the superimposed text. We will have the record label name, name of artist and name of song on the advertisement but we also wanted to include "OUT NOW" because we thought it stands out and the sense of urgency it projects will help get our target audience engrossed in the promotion and speed up the purchasing process.
Because everyone in our group has very different music tastes it was a difficult task to decide on one genre. 'New York City' by The Chainsmokers incorporates almost every aspect of what everybody in the group likes listening to. This song will be challenging but enjoyable to use when filming for our music video because it has various ways to mimic the meaning of the lyrics into our visuals. I also think that because we will be filming in the winter season this will help creatively when trying to grasp the dark tone of the meaning behind the lyrics.
To ensure that all of the promotional materials appeal to the correct target audience, we have, as a group, decided to introduce a focus group to witness the development of our products and provide us with feedback at each different creative stage. Currently, some of the members of our focus group have provided their opinions on what they consider to be strengths and weaknesses of the real media artefacts we have been investigating. When moving forward, the focus group will provide us with feedback on our promotional works at periodic intervals. This will allow us to make our products to the best of our ability and to explain decisions about the development of the product through detailed evaluations.
When we were assembling our focus group, the goal was to come up with a representative sample of our target audience. In order to decide on a target audience we began by creating a profile of a typical member using theories such as 'Register General's Social Scale' and 'Selby's Psychographic Cluster'.
Audience Profile:
Age: 15-24
Gender: Mixed, but primarily female
Register General's Social Scale: C1/B/E
Selby's Psychographic Cluster: 'Innovators: who wish to make their mark'
The Register General's Social scale is the way the British Government defines the populace through their occupation:
Group
Occupations
A
Professional Workers (lawyers, doctors etc.), Scientists, Managers of large-scale organisations.
Skilled Manual (i.e. hand) workers – e.g. high grade, e.g. master builders, carpenters, shop assistants, nurses.
C2
Skilled Manual – low grade, e.g. electricians, plumbers.
D
Semi-skilled Manual, e.g. bus drivers, lorry drivers, fitters.
E
Unskilled Manual, e.g. general labourers, barmen, porters.
Values, attitudes and lifestyles (VALS) is possibly a better way of defining audiences by categorising them into groups by the values and attitudes they hold, along with the lifestyle they have. These are psychographic variables (psychographics is the study of personality, values, attitudes, interests and lifestyles).
Description:
A typical member of our target audience would be a female, however the various promotions will be targeted for both males and females. When researching The Chainsmokers original productions and who typically goes to see them live, we personally felt that they catered slightly more for women than men. They would also be in their late teens or early twenties - perhaps a sixth-form/university student. They would be someone who wishes to strive in the world they are present in and make their mark and could possibly see themselves as rebellious - someone who wishes to remake their world in their own image. We also think that the members of our target audience would most defiantly enjoy going to gigs and festivals, much like those of Nass and Boomtown, where dance/EDM music is sort after.
In terms of Elihu Katz's 'Uses and Gratifications', they would be someone who gains a sense of their own identity from the music they listen to and someone who uses music as a form of escapism from the stresses of everyday life drama. The 'Uses and Gratifications' model suggests that audiences use the media rather than being used by the media. Focus Group:
Using this audience profile (above) as a base, we compiled a group of five people who are within the same friendship group so to an extent share similarities and are similar ages/genders with our target audience. We will continue to use the exact same members of the focus group throughout the development of our coursework and evaluations.
Phoebe: Studies drama, English literature and philosophy and ethics at A-Level. Her hobbies consist of playing guitar (very musical person and enjoys going to gigs and festivals), blogging and reading. James: Studies maths, economics and geography. His hobbies are football, going to the gym and socialising.
Alex: Studies history, geography and business studies. Hobbies consist of horse riding and socialising with friends from school and work.
Scarlett: Studies geography, business studies and drama. Her hobbies include dancing, athletics and socialising with friends.
Ben: Studies psychology, biology and chemistry. Ben's hobbies include playing cricket and attending gigs.
The New York based Disruptor Records is labelled as a joint venture with Sony. Adam Alpert (The Chainsmoker's manager) says partnering with Doug Morris (Sony Music Entertainment CEO) and Sony Music will allow Disruptor to develop new opportunities for its artists.
Disruptor Records will sign artists and take a long-term stance in developing them by using direct artist-to-fan communication channels. Further, the deal provides for Disruptor to also take advantage of traditional record label marketing capabilities by partnering with other labels within the Sony family on an artist-by-artist basis, according to Alpert. The team at Disruptor Records use forward-thinking, progressive marketing methods revolving around genuine, non-commercialized promotion.
Artists Disruptor Records have signed include:
The Chainsmokers
XYLO
Life of Dillon
Lost Kings
Vanic
Jocelyn Alice
To be a successful record label in this day and age it is vital that the team keep up with the times, especially when trying to achieve their goal of creating a direct artist-to-fan communication channel. Therefore Disruptor Records and the artists they support can be found on most social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, YouTube and Spotify.
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc., the United States division of Sony Corporation. It was founded in 1887, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company.Columbia Records is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business. Columbia Records have also set themselves up on most social media accounts, as have the artists they have signed.
Artists currently signed to Columbia Records include but are not limited to:
The American born DJ duo consist of Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall. They each graduated from prestigious North-Eastern Universities, enjoy a good burger, and have been rejected from many of the venues they now play at and pride themselves on being regular, down-to-Earth kind of guys despite their success.
The duo had a hit in two countries with their 2014 single "#Selfie", which peaked No. 16 on the US 'Billboard Hot 100' and No. 11 on the '
UK Singles Chart". Andrew and Alex had noticed how the word selfie had become a trend and they wanted to take advantage of it. They made a demo of a song containing monologue from a female clubber about taking good selfies. Several singles such as 'Roses' and 'Don't Let Me Down' became top-ten singles on the 'Hot 100' in the USA. They released their debut EP, Bouquet, in October 2015. Their single 'Closer', featuring vocals from Halsey became their first number-one single on both the '
Billboard Hot 100' and the 'UK Singles Chart'. They signed with Disruptor Records, a joint venture label with Sony Music Entertainment by their manager Adam Alpert, in April 2015.
The thing that separates these two men from the rest is their unsettling and uncanny ability to discover and create trends.They find the parts of things that people actually care about, whatever they may be, and focus on creating and improving those parts.
Genre
When researching The Chainsmoker's genre it occurred to me that artists can often fit into many different genres due to the ever increasing list of categories and sounds being created on new, innovative technology. The Chainsmokers would fit into these genres:
Electro house - Form of house music. Electro house is characterized by a prominent bassline and/or kick drum and a tempo between 125 and 135 beats per minute.
Progressive house - Subgenre of house music. The progressive house style emerged in the early 1990s. It initially developed in the UK as a natural progression of American and European house music of the late 1980s. The word "progressive" was first used widely in the 1970s to differentiate experimental forms of rock music from mainstream styles. Such music attempted to explore alternate approaches to rock music production.Some acts also attempted to elevate the aesthetic values of rock music by incorporating features associated with classical instrumental music. This led to a style of music called progressive rock, which has been described as "the most self-consciously arty branch of rock". The same definition can be used for 'progressive house'.
Electronic dance music - (EDM) is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres produced largely for nightclubs, raves, and festivals. Produced for playback by disc jockeys (DJs), EDM is generally used in the context of a live mix, where a DJ creates a seamless selection of tracks by segueing from one recording to the next.
Before the summer break our group decided to create a music video for 'New York City'. When researching the genre for this particular song we discovered it fell into the EDM category. We then looked into related artists and found that Knife Party, Nero and Sub-Focus were all part of the EDM family. By analysing other music video from artists that are featured in the same genre as my chosen artist, The Chainsmokers, then my group can include some of the typical conventions of these videos, such as camera angles and shots. By using these conventions it will also help us point our promotional products in the right direction for our target audience as they will undoubtedly have similar fans.
Because none of my previous deconstructions have released a magazine advertisement, I have decided to deconstruct an entire digipak collection from an artist which I know has released one.
Focus Group
"I love the album but I think that because the album is called 'Lights' it could have been a lot more interesting/bright with the use of different coloured lights all over the album covers and magazine advertisement. The theme just seems a bit too dark for something that is named 'Lights'."
"I like how minimalistic the album cover and magazine advertisement is. It isn't pretentious or trying too hard to attract an audience due to the fact this was Ellie's first album to be produced. She also looks really down to Earth with little make-up or expensive clothing. This helps us, as the audience, to connect with her as a normal human instead of some megastar."
"I really love how the light flows through her blonde hair, I think it makes Goulding look really ethereal and attractive. I also really enjoy how you can look at the photograph and know it has deeper meaning to the artist and metaphorical links can be made with the lyrics/experiences of the artist. This helps the audience believe that the music does really matter to Ellie and that she is not just another artist churned up by the record label to make money."
Lessons to be Learnt
Highly important to include all of the conventions of a typical album cover artwork, e.g. album title.
Complex designs with in-depth meanings can be effective when understood by the audience.
Important to think about how you want the audience to perceive the artist and their values shown through their music. How can my artist's personality be shown through the promotional materials.
Brand recognition is vital so it is a good idea to use familiar themes, symbols and images that connect your promotional materials to the artist and themselves. It might be worth using the same font as in your music video and the album artwork.
Can be useful to use the same image for all three promotional materials as it gives the campaign a sense of continuity."
If we chose to superimpose text or logos onto the image we are using, it is important to think about the colour choice of the image and the text, e.g. will they go? It is also important to think about the positioning of the text, will it be obscured by the colours of the image or will the text block key aspects of the image?
Sigma: Life - Digipak and Magazine Advertisement Deconstruction
Focus Group
"I love the fact that the illustrations can be linked to the songs, album title and the meaning behind the whole production. It shows depth and makes me believe that the artists have worked as hard as they say they have through interviews and I want to support artists who work for their success."
"I do like the artwork of the album but considering nearly all of Sigma's music videos are bright and just full of electric energy, as are their songs, I think the black was a bad choice even if it does help highlight the detail of the illustrations."
"I think that dance music is quite modern and often EDM artists use pictures with crisp, sharp lines that project the modern use of technology to create outstanding beats. The fact Sigma (being on of the most influential dance duos of late) have gone for a classic style of what reminds me of an almost indie/alternative album cover is slightly confusing but endearing at the same time and shows that they want to be unique from other artists from the same scene."
Lessons to be Learnt
Highly important to include all of the conventions of a typical album cover artwork, e.g. album title.
Complex designs with in-depth meanings can be effective when understood by the audience.
Important to think about how you want the audience to perceive the artist and their values shown through their music. How can my artist's personality be shown through the promotional materials.
Brand recognition is vital so it is a good idea to use familiar themes, symbols and images that connect your promotional materials to the artist and themselves. It might be worth using the same font as in your music video and the album artwork.
If we chose to superimpose text or logos onto the image we are using, it is important to think about the colour choice of the image and the text, e.g. will they go? It is also important to think about the positioning of the text, will it be obscured by the colours of the image or will the text block key aspects of the image?
Sigma are an English drum and bass DJ and record production duo consisting of Cameron 'Cam' Edwards and Joseph 'Joe' Lenzie. The pair met at Leeds University at drum and bass nights in 2006. Cam worked in a local record store, Tribe Records, while Joe was an aspiring DJ at local hip-hop events. Once they had completed their time at Leeds University they relocated to London and became a three-piece with Cam's school friend, Ben Mauerhoff, being signed under DJ Fresh's Breakbeat Kaos. However, the long distances took their toll - Cam and Ben were based in Surrey, whereas Joe was based in Hertfordshire. They could not get all there members into the Harpenden (Hertfordshire) studio, thus leading to Ben's decision to leave. In December of 2008 Cam and Joe formed their own record label, 'Life Recordings' (so called because according to Joe, the industry demanded that their work be their life and this was the only way to make it big and successful). Their 2010 collaboration with DJ Fresh - 'Lassitude' - peaked at number 98 on the UK Singles Chart. Their single 'Nobody to Love'topped the UK Singles Chart, becoming their first UK number one. Their follow-up single 'Changing' featuring Paloma Faith also reached number one.
3 Beat Records
3 Beat Productions is an independent British record label. 3 Beat Music was founded as a dance music record shop in 1989 by John Barlow, Dave Nicholl, Phil Southall, Phil Beddard and Hywell Williams who were only students at the time. It started its journey as a second hand record stall in Quiggins, Liverpool, but later moved to a more permanent location on Wood Street. This is where the shop won numerous awards, including Music Week's 'Independent Record Shop of the Year'. In 2002, the record shop expanded and moved to Slater Street (above, right picture). As of 2009, the record shop changed ownership and is now no longer part of the 3 Beat group. Its new owners (ex-employees of 3 Beat) wanted to keep a connection to the history of the shop whilst also showing that it had evolved, so changed the name to '3B Records'.
Business quickly boomed, leading to the birth of the 3 Beat record label when customers started bringing in demo tapes to the shop. The first release was 'Compulsiony' Zenana (later became K-Klass). Many became massive chart hits and things built up from there. 3 Beat also set up the now legendary G-Love night club, which quickly became one of the best night clubs in the country, bringing huge names to Liverpool for the first time. On the last Thursday of every month, queues would stretch outside the door, as clubbers came from as far afield as London and Glasgow to embrace the G-Love. In 1991 the night club was voted 'Best Club Night' by Mixmag.
Even more success came when 3 Beat began managing dance trio 'Dario-G'. 3 Beat co-produced their massive hits 'Sunchyme' "Carnival de Paris" and "Voices" across two years (1997-1998). These three songs went on to become huge successes for the artist and gave the record label a boost any label would dream for.
- "Sunchyme" reached number two on the UK chart. It was kept off the top slot by Elton John - "Candle in the Wind"- a tribute to Princess Diana, released soon after her death in 1997.
- "Carnival de Paris" climbed to number five on the UK chart and was selected as the theme tune for the World Cup in 1998.
- "Voices" was chosen to be used on the soundtrack of Danny Boyle's "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
In 2007 the label was reborn as 3 Beat Productions building up a hugely talented roster of artists. With the likes of Martin Solveig, Skepta, Alexandra Stan. And after twenty years of dance music they had their first UK number 1 in 2011 with Sak Noel "Loca People".
Nobody To Love
I know you're tired of loving, of loving
With nobody to love, nobody, nobody
So just grab somebody, no leaving this party
With nobody to love, nobody, nobody (x4)
Synopsis
This music video is a 'concept' music video, featuring two girls on a road trip through Cape Town,
South Africa. This idea can be linked to the record label's own journey, from humble beginnings to successfully singing world-renowned dance acts. The fact that the music video was filmed in Cape Town with lots of people who actually live and work there featured - this shows how Sigma has expanded worldwide due to 3 Beat's growth and success.Therefore, the label's requirements of an artist in this case may be to reinforce the label's success and growth.
Mise-en-scène
When watching this music video and trying to establish what emotions Sigma were trying evoke, I found out that the music video was shot in Cape Town, South Africa. It features two girls on a road trip where they try to find someone or something to love. Often in dance music videos there is little to discuss in terms of mise-en-scène because they feature one main character(s) who tell a story through dance. There are often lots of establishing shots as emotion can also be felt through the scenery in which the actors dance in. Despite this there are a few objects worth mentioning. It is not the objects themselves but the way they are framed that help establish ideas of freedom. Lots of people go on road trips to have fun, be free and 'find themselves'. Objects such as flares, sparklers and open-top cars are all commonly used within different types of media to aid characters that need to escape the drama of their everyday life, by being aesthetically pleasing. For example, fireworks could be used to show the escape from a dramatic lifestyle and could be linked to ideas of celebration, new beginnings (like New Year's Eve) and rebirth, such as a small town record shop growing into a huge record label with a host of talented artists. The car itself could have a deeper meaning as well. The car itself looks reminiscent of 1950s America, e.g. Elvis Presley era, so could be again linked with the birth of something (in this case the birth of rock n' roll and supposed 'rebellion' from the expectations of society placed on teenager). The car is also light blue and when exploring connotations that link with this colour, peace and tranquillity arise. This would link to the idea of feeling free and peaceful as they explore Cape Town trying to find 'someone to love'.
A dream catcher is also featured multiple times throughout the video.
Dream catchers are believed, by American Indians, to give its owner good dreams. A dreamcatcher is a round wooden hoop that contains a loose string web with a hole in the centre, and feathers hanging from the webbing. Nice dreams travel through the hole into the sleeper’s mind, while the bad ones, as well as nightmares, are trapped inside the web permanently. The relevance this object has to the concept of the music video is that it is supposed to emit happiness and the whole song/video is about finding someone to love/enjoying life - which make humans happy.
Costume & Make-Up
Due to Cape Town's hot climate, the girls in the video are wearing standard summer clothes for the scenes filmed inside. For example, denim shorts and a flimsy top to keep themselves cool whilst exploring and dancing in the different locations within the music video. Lots of the clothing worn by the girls also have aztec patterns on them; this relates to the dream catcher metaphor. The girls are often seen to be wearing bikinis instead of underwear due to the fact that many of the scenes within the music video are shot on a beach, where they dance and jump in the water on the shore.
At 1:38 there is a mid-shot of a native boy holding an axe, about to chop some wood. He is wearing plain clothes (red vest top with navy blue shorts). The boy looks to come from a poor/simple background, lacking prosperity; this can be inferred by the fact he is having to chop wood and also because he has some kind of animal skin drying in the background - activities common in third world countries because they rely on natural resources for fuel/shelter. So for this reason, it is strange that he is wearing red Converse (an expensive trainer brand). Children from poor backgrounds in Africa often cannot afford shoes and so make their own out of scrap materials they find lying around. Therefore, his costume does not entirely conform to the normality of his origin.
All actors are wearing minimal make-up and jewellery due to the fact the video is very physical. Therefore it would not be practical to wear huge amounts of make-up because it would wear off from the heat and jewellery is not appropriate to wear when involving yourself in physical activities.
Key Shots, Camera Movements and Edits
The first interesting shot I want to discuss is at 2:11. I thought this shot was nice because the red colouring from the flare in which the girl is holding have illuminated the walkway of the woods. For a video of such brightness/energy this shot makes a nice change by filming it in almost complete darkness, besides the light from the flare. Despite how dark this shot actually is, the video has still managed to keep an uplifting feel and a theme of feeling free and alive. The way that the shadows in the surrounding wood move and run in the opposite way to the angle of the girl makes for an interesting sequence and versatile visuals.
The second key shot comes in at 2.25, when the girls have changed locations to a small boat/club house on the rivers shore. I thought the way that the long-shot cuts immediately closer to the girls as they get closer to the piers edge was interesting as it shows that the gap between the lives of them and the audience is small, as the song is about finding someone you love and often people who fall in love are close. The moment they jump into the water also makes for a nice shot because shots that have one major statement moment are often aesthetically pleasing to the audience.
The final interesting moment of the music video starts at 3.11 and finishes at 3:21. This sequence of lots of different people dancing to the same song shows that people of all genders and races etc. can love one another, which is the whole purpose of the song - spreading love. This relates back to Andrew Goodwin's theory of how there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. The lyrics can be represented with images (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting). In this case the characters dancing to the same song represent the love humans feels towards one another despite their background.
Focus Group
"I like how free-spirited this music video is - all the bright colours help add to this effect as well. It makes you feel happy whilst watching it, which is the purpose of this upbeat music genre. Despite this I think that the video lacks locations. For such a well known and popular song it is surprising that there are only a few locations - after a while I got a bit bored and felt it was a bit repetitive."
"I love this music video because it makes me want to dance, and considering the genre is EDM/dance music, I'd say the promotional video has done its job sufficiently."
"I really like the fact that there are South African people featured in the music video plus the standard pretty model girls because it adds variety to the music video and shows off the traditions/people of the location that has been chosen to feature in the music video. I also love how energetic the music video is and there is not a boring part - even when the actors are sitting down!"
Lessons to be Learnt
It is well worth considering incorporating elements that are symbolic into the video.
People tend to enjoy videos which reveal a deeper meaning.
Tone/concept of song needs to match mise-en-scène.
Bulk of music video consists of long-shots and close-ups, so these would be good to include when it comes to filming my own music video as they seem to be popular and effective.
It is a good idea to combine some aspects of the visuals with the lyrics of the audio as it helps highlight the concept of the song and makes the employed metaphors easier to grasp.
It can be important for elements of the video to be relatable to the target audience; be that the protagonist or the setting.
Not breaking the fourth wall and having no lip-syncing. can help give the video a very natural sense, as if there was no script to follow and the director was just filming ordinary people doing what they want to do.
