'Atlas Hands' - Benjamin Francis Leftwich

This is one of my favourite songs and when I watched the music video, I found some similar qualites to what I've been inspired by for my music video, eg. natural lighting. The beach location is something which I'd love to use, especially with the sunset; it creates a very mystical atmosphere. This would be good for my video, as it would feel quite magical, mirroring the love that the characters feel. The slow editing fits with the pace of the song and creates quite a dreamy effect, particularly with the use of natural lighting. I really like the close up of the boy's eyes at the end because it makes you feel a connection with the character. There's a scene in my music video where the girl first sees the boy in which we will also have a close up of her eyes. I can use this video as inspiration for that particularly shot.

Location Shots

I took my camera with me when I went for a walk around the village where I live and took some photos of some places I think would make great locations for our video. The sun was nearly setting creating beautiful lighting, which gave the photos lovely golden tones. I think the Autumnal feel would really work in our video, particularly in the fast-paced montage scenes. By filming footage in Autumn when the bright coloured leaves are falling from the trees and in Winter when everything seems quite bare, we will be able to show that time has passed, and the contrast between Autumn and Winter can reflect the change in the relationship as time goes on. Here's a slideshow of some of the images which I uploaded to Photobucket:

Media Consumption

I think it's relevant to explore how my audience would consume our music video. Given that the 21st century is brimming with new technological advances, my audience would most likely consume our video online, through sites such as youtube One of my target audience memebers (Rachel Beaney) said this is how she watches and keeps up to date with new releases

I found this insightful youtube video called 'Social Media Statistics & Facts 2011' which highlights the power and popularity of social media. 

 

"Nearly 2 hours of video is uploaded to youtube every every second" - This really stood out to me because it shows how easy and popular it is to be a producer of media as well as a consumer. One can then share their work, or others' work using other social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and this can lead to a worldwide phenomenon.

Another thing I find interesting is that the video is made in Australia so it is very biased, especially when it labels Australia as the number 1 prolific user of social media in the world.

It surprised me to realise that Myspace is no longer popular, with users "cutting ties and fleeing to other social sites" such as Facebook and Twitter. I decided to do further research to find out why this is the case and found this really interesting article - 3 Reasons why Myspace has lost popularity

Twitter has become a huge phenomena. It was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July. Twitter rapidly gained worldwide popularity, with 200 million users as of 2011, generating over 200 million tweets and handling over 1.6 billion search queries per day. Daily user estimates vary as the company does not publish statistics on active accounts. As a user of Twitter myself, I find that I do not use it as much as Facebook and I think many of my friends would agree. A lot of people my age that I know prefer to use Facebook and some don't even have Twitter accounts.

I found a article on the Gaurdian Business Blog that explores the "increase in number of hours public spends watching TV, playing video games and using the internet" - The Gaurdian - Article

The pie chart below shows what online sites are most popular for sharing information, such as music videos.

If I was creating my music video for a company, I would create many pages on social networking sites, such as a fan page on facebook, and this would most likely increase the popularity of my music video.

Risk Assessment

Costume - Girl

We are now starting to think about what our protagonists will be wearing when we are shooting. Considering that our USP (Unique Selling Point) is telling a classic 'boy meets girl' story, with a kooky and quirky vibe, we must ensure that the costume follows this trend. When looking at previous films that we take inspiration from, and in this case [500] Days Of Summer, you can see that the costumes connote cute, originality and indie.   

Frills and bows are featured, suggesting a girly girl, which is something we want to portray. The colours are subtle, suggesting the girl may be slightly reserved and innocent. There is a definite vintage tone, again highlighting the quirky vibe we want to capture.  

These are some other dresses that we think our female protagonist would wear. Again it shows that she has a quirky personality!

Steve Jobs

My teacher showed me this inspiring speech made by Steve Jobs in 2005. Drawing from some of the most pivotal points in his life, Steve Jobs, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, urged graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks at the university's 114th Commencement on June 12, 2005.  Steve Jobs was a defining figure in the media evolution, affecting the way we communicate today. This speech highlights the importance of new media technology and its role in the world today. To me, this was very inspiring and made me want to have an impact on my target audience in the same way that he has influenced people.

Romance Genre

Genre: A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, categorised in similarities in style, form or subject matter.

I have chosen the genre of romance for our music video, because it has clear conventions that I can create with ease in my final piece such as having the mutual attraction and love of a man and a woman as the main plot. I am part of the target audience (being a teenage female) meaning I have a clear understanding of what one wants and can expect from this genre. The songs that I am considering also have romantic connotations, ie. The Beach Boys - Wouldn't it be nice, has hidden meanings of loss of love, or longing for love.

When asking a member of my target audience (Cassie Shaw), what came to mind when I said the word romance, she immediately said 'Titanic', highlighting how influential the media can be.

Strong Narrative?

When asked about how to summarise our music video simply and effectively, it took me a while to think about how to describe it in only a few sentences.

The narrative to our music video is the typical 'boy meets girl' romance/young love story, however the story is subverted and the relationship breaks down, so it's not a classic fairytale ending. It plays with the theme of nostalgia and it holds a certain quirky kooky vibe.

Storyboard

Me and Rachel have created a detailed storyboard that clearly shows our thoughts about what we plan to do and how to direct our actors when filming. It has allowed us to understand and appreciate how much time and detail goes into the planning stages of creating a film piece. I now feel more confident and calm about future filming. 

Audience Feedback

Rachel and I decided to film some audience feedback to make sure that our focus accommodates our target audience's desires. We asked three people of 17 years old; one boy and two girls (as our target audience is mainly female) about their views on music videos and their opinions on the concept for our music video.

We learnt that...

- A strong narrative is vital, as it engages and entertains the audience. 

- Our ideas do appeal to our target audience, as all feedback was positive. 

- Despite the fact that one person had not heard of the song, 'Wouldn't it be nice' by the Beach Boys is widely recognised and in general, a good choice of song. 

- The connotations of the song are nostalgic: "summer", "childhood", "young love", "beach"...

- All three agreed that our narrative and song choice go well together, thus creating a sense of resonance. 

We are very pleased with this feedback and we're confident with our ideas and excited for the future!