After creating the list where we picked out key moments in the song, we began to create our timeline for the entire song which we'll need next week when we begin storyboarding.
We started by making a rough plan, drawing a line on paper from 0:00 to the end of the song at 3:28 and made annotations, numbering each element so that when it came to creating the timeline, we would be able to simply number than, keeping in clear and organised.
However, before we started making these annotations, we started to think about where we could possibly cut the song down as there are some sections that we felt lasted too long or seemed repetitive. So, as Eden and I started to transfer the key moments of the song onto the timeline, Eddie went onto iMovie and cut a section at the end, making it flow nicely, cutting it down to about 2:57.
Now that we had made little annotations as to where certain things in the song happen, we labeled them as to what element we thought would go best where and what parts of each element we would want to introduce and when.
I think what took the most time in this process was deciding when to introduce the final element. We wouldn't want it to come in too soon but at the same time, we don't want the audience to get bored cutting only from element 1 to 2. Eventually, we decided when to introduce it by making a compromise saying that we will introduce the element in one part of the music but continue keeping the audience interested by having the smoke bombs come in slightly later rather than at the same time.
Below is the altered version of the song and the final timeline that we created:
Before approaching our timeline, I made a small list of key moments in the song i.e. when the singing starts, when the beat kicks in and when the dynamic of the song changes. I thought it would be important to make a list like this before creating our first draft of a timeline so that we know where to introduce our artist and the three different elements based on the song, allowing us to engage our audience and keep their attention.
In class today, we as group decided that the target audience for our artist will be females aged between 18 and 20. Although as a primary audience it's quite narrow, our artist's content is too mature for a young audience whilst the sense of female empowerment would attract 18 to 20-year-olds. Having a young target audience would prove valuable for an up and coming artist as this is one of the largest demographics with statistoics in the category proving to be the most active comsumers in the market. As a secondary audience, we would be appealing to men aged 18-20 for reasons more to do with sexual desire. Although sexualising our artist isn't a main aim, as a convention to the 'indie pop' genre, the symbolic conevtnions used will be molded around the idea of making her attractive.
Target Audience: How do VALS and JICNARS Apply to Our Artist
When it comes to VALS and JICNARS for our campaign, we'll be focusing mainly on VALS, specifically teenage VALS because our target audience isn't quite old enough to fall onto the JICNAR scale. Any income or profession that our target audience may have wouldn't directly affect their consumption of music whereas, through VALS, we can predict their expenditure of artists.
- It is useful for institutions and academics to be able to build up detailed accounts of how
audiences are constructed.
- Rather than seeing audiences as masses or in simple numerical terms, it is common
practice to find ways of segmenting the audience.
- This segmentation can be achieved both demographically and psychographically.
Demographic Segmentation
- This is where an audience is segmented according to various significant social criteria
e.g. gender, class, race, sexuality.
- One of the most common demographic approaches to audience involves the JICNAR scale:
- Income, education, gender and social class will affect where you are placed on the JICNAR scale. Psychographic Segmentation: - Also known as lifestyle profiling, compiles a psychological profile of the consumer, with ideas about how they conducted their lives in the market-place. - The various attitudes, values, beliefs and 'lifestyle' choices are separated in specific categories which can be used to predict audience consumption.
VALS, the Value Attitudes and Lifestyles classification system is probably the best known of the psychographic profilingsystems:
Although my group and I are quite decided on the dance styles being used (commercial jazz for element 1 and 3 and close contact contemporary for element 2), a point raised from our feedback was to try and find a way to use the choreography as a transition or at least as link between the elements despite the varying styles. I did some research into this by looking a dance videos on YouTube. Although I haven't found any examples of transitions through dance, I have found some choreography that can be manipulated to each dance style to suit the element.
In order to better express our idea and the styles we want to use, I went onto YouTube to see some example. There are multiple videos for both the second and third element below.
How we’ll respond to our feedback and steps that need to be taken:
- Research into blinders lights (consider whether the lights could flicker or brighten in time with the music, rather than just slowly becoming brighter as the song progresses).
- Plan/research camera transitions to create stronger links between the elements as well as making the video more engaging for the audience.
- Further research into dance styles and specific choreography that could be manipulated to each dance style to link the element or use them as transitions between the 3 elements.
- Try and find ways to use the thickness of the smoke to our advantage and have the dancers emerging through the smoke with a jump or hand movement. - Look into other music videos and compare videos that are filmed straight on and ones where the camera moves so that we can decide how we'd like to film ours.
After pitching our treatment to our teachers we were given some points of feedback outlining certain issues within our idea and things that we should consider:
- Think about exactly what we want from the lights for element one, whether they'll grow stronger as to create a silhouette effect around the artist or whether it's the artist herself that we want to see get lighter with front lighting.
- Consider using the location in element three for the entire video and remove the studio elements.
- The smoke bombs would have to be in the background rather than foreground because it's too thick to film through. Would that then ruin the location? - Confirm the use of location and plan a trip to visit it soon so that we have time to consider a different idea for element 3. - How far away is the location? Set a date to assess the location for risks and practicality.
- Think about whether all the footage is going to be filmed straight on or with some movement. - To connect the three elements and also to allow the video to progress fluidly, look into ways, we can use the camera work and choreography to create transitions between certain shots and elements of the song. - The artist and the colours are the only things that link the three elements - Think about how we can link the choreography in all the element.
In order to present our treatment for our idea visually, we created a presentation on Prezi that Eden, Eddie and I all worked on together. You'll find it embedded below:
We also created a document on a shared Google Drive folder full of all the photos in our Prezi that we shall print out without the writing so that as our idea develops further, our teachers have a visual reminder of our ideas.
Before approaching the development of our treatment, we viewed other examples to gain an understanding of what we wanted to achieve and how to go about presenting this. Below are photos of a printed treatment:
In today's class, my group and I decided to yet again change the first element, the performance element by combining two of my original elements from my 'Waiting Game' pitch and incorporating a combination of two elements from Eden and Eddie's pitches. The idea of a white room with our artist wearing red was too similar to another group in our class so we've decided to combine the element with the artist and the large red back spotlights together. So as the song progresses, the lights will become brighter and will shine more frequently helping to build the song. The second element would stay the same with the red lights, the dancers, and the haze, linking with the red in the first element. Our third element would be in a location similar to what I pitched for my 'Get Free' video, with an industrial, run down building where we'll see the artist with the dancers doing a similar routine as in the first element. There would also be red smoke bombs that would be lit around the artist.
In today's class, my group and I decided that we're going to use the basic structure of my 'Waiting Game' video concept adding moments from their pitches. One more significant change that we are questioning is to change the red background and overall dark outlook of the performance element where the artist will be mainly seen. Instead, we would do the opposite. We would place her in a very light white room with the artist wearing red. This decision would make our artist seem extremely bold and superior as the contrast in colours will be striking as well as because she'll be alone.
Today was the last day that people in my class pitched their ideas and overall I think everyone has come up with elements that would make for very unique videos. After the pitching, we found out who we're going to be working with. My group consists of Eden Bowyer and Eddie Beck. We were all interested in using dance elements and so far we seem to be finding relatively smooth ways to incorporate elements from all our pitches together for our final video. Before we began discussing our group and idea, we exchanged numbers, timetables, social media and emails, creating groups on WhatsApp and finding out that we all have the same free period in our timetable so we'll be able to meet quite easily.
After getting feedback from my pitch the other day, I developed my idea further, altering some sections of my original post.
The main location would be a pretty simple, the colour scheme would be rather neutral with the artist wearing predominantly black with the walls around her being a dark red connoting an atmosphere of power, passion, and danger. Overall, this set would be fairly dreary, however, through the use of lighting, the intended atmosphere would be created. I want the frame to be flooded with the colours red and black, I would use red top lighting but leave the general light fairly low to further create a dangerous yet enticing mood but still allowing us to see the artist's face clearly. I believe that this would help to draw the entirety of the audience's attention to the artist herself, which with this particular artist, her target audience would find appealing. One of Richard Dyer's paradoxes is that the star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer. With this contrast of light and dark, the artist would be able to seem rather distant and yet present concurrently. The video would begin with a single light on the artist against the red wall, her head would be lowered but as the camera gets closer and as the lyrics start, her head would rise. She would predominantly stare into the camera, creating a connection with the audience as well as looking aside from it. The camera work would begin mainly as close ups and some extreme close ups of her mouth as she recites the lyrics, she would do some movement such as running her hands through her hair but it would be fairly minimalistic, to begin with. However, when the beat kicks in, the lighting would increase making her more visible and the shots would widen allowing room for more movement. There would be moments where the artist wouldn't exactly be facing the camera but simply living in the set as it is an apartment.
There are two other elements that would involve dancers, the first to be introduced is an extremely minimalist construct. There would be no physical set, allowing the focus to be on the dancers and how we present them in certain light. I would want the lighting to be predominantly from behind the dancers, creating a slight silhouette effect. A lot of the dance would involve contact which would be exploited in close ups to present as ora of struggle, escape, and longing. The room would also be filled either with haze much like the pictures below:
The second element involving dancers would again be fairly minimalistic however it would be used more towards the end of the video as the song begins to climax.
There would be multiple lights behind the dancers that would again create silhouettes however they wouldn't all be shining at once, they would change simultaneously with the music highlighting some moments over others. There would be moments where the artist would also stand in front of these lights often accompanied by the male character but that wouldn't be until further into the video.
The video fits with the star image of the artist as she is the main focus the video, the footage will draw the audience's eyes to the artist making her seem more superior.
