Narrative Storyboarding - draft

My video will be a performance - hybrid narrative, as this is my favourite type of music genre, it is what I feel holds the audience's attention most, and this was confirmed and well received within my target audience research. The images below are my initial brainstorms of, and draft of my final storyboard for the narrative sequence of my video.  

This image depicts the initial ideas that I had for my narrative section of the video. The rough drawings and annotations debate which scenes and settings to use for my video, how to create a rough storyline through a limited number of sequences, so as to not to dominate the video, or take away from the performance element.   

The above image shows the first set of sequences. My narrative storyline focuses on an older couple, who are my actor's (cousin) and my grandparents, the benefits of this and the physical similarities between my grandfather and cousin alludes very nicely to a cross generational theme. This theme should leave the audience wondering if the older man is the artist in years to come, creating a warm nostalgic feel which I feel fits the music. The first sequence of the draft storyboard is the older couple dancing in a garden which I will decorate with lights and lanterns to give a romantic feel, the second sequence involves old home movies of the couple playing, perhaps with them watching these. Another sequence could feature signs of affection such as the couple walking, holding hands. The last sequence of this page features the older couple arguing over something, I have decided upon this having researched narrative music videos and finding that there is usually a conflict, keeping the audience's attention as they wait for the resolution.

The resolution that I have chosen as is shown in the above shot, is for the older man to be at the piano following the argument, and his wife to enter, with him teaching her to play the piano - I feel that this could create a sense of synergy with the performance element of the video. Lastly, the final sequence shown is a reverse zoom shot/ close up, which mirrors a shot of the artist to show the audience the cross generational theme. My draft of the storyboard focuses on the actual sequences I aim to film, and the shots/ camera angles I will use have been written below. Within my final storyboard I will explore these shots fully, presenting these visually as opposed to purely through the writing, I will also ensure that any sequences I am unsure of are decided upon and either removed or carefully detailed.

Filming

I felt that the filming of the performance for my video went very well. The above image is taken from when I filmed the initial time lapse within the field, I took three time lapses a different points of the morning as it started off being quite misty. I was pleased with the final time lapse that I took as the mist cleared and I was able to film the sun coming out, which when fast forwarded I feel will be quite effective. I found my storyboard that I had created to be invaluable as it really guided me in the direction of the video, and how I was best to film, from what angle and what shot I wanted to capture. Equally, the shooting schedule really helped me to keep organised and was important as I knew exactly what I was supposed to be doing at each time of the day and I was able to mostly keep to the timings of the shooting schedule. I was happy to have gotten what I feel is enough footage to make up the performance element of my video, and I felt that the landscape/ back ground of the video looked very good, and the time of the morning meant that I was able to get a good variety of lighting within my shots, casting shadows on the artist and creating the bleaching effect that I intended to capture.  

The biggest challenge that I faced was definitely moving the organ onto the field, the organ was moved out of the house on a cart and then rolled onto the field but this took a fair amount of time to manoeuvre! Moreover, I wanted to use lots of little candles on the surface of the organ to create a romantic effect, and make the prop more interesting. I was unable to do this as the wind was too strong on the day, and the candles were being constantly blown out - therefore I had to remove all of the candles, although luckily this was a minor issue. I also found it difficult to capture certain shots that I had storyboarded, I was unable to change from being in and out of focus whilst filming as it was slightly too sunny for the camera to allow me to do this, this was disappointing as I had hoped to shift certain shots from out of focus to in focus. Overall, however filming went very well, I was able to capture the majority of the shots that I wanted too, the weather was very good (thankfully!), meaning that i was able to film the sequence and eventually all of the different elements came together, and I am very excited to plan the narrative elements of my video to see how they will fit together. 

Shooting Schedule

When filming my music video it is vital that I keep to a time schedule and am efficient, therefore a shooting schedule is needed to remind me of what I should be focusing on and when. I have created a shooting schedule for my initial filming and have attached the image of it below.

My shooting schedule dictates the date of filming, time slots of activity, the set details, a synopsis of what I am doing, the characters needed to be present, the props I need (or need to move in my case), and there is space for my own notes on lighting and camerawork. I intend to be filming between 8:30 and 1:00pm with scheduled breaks and time to create the set/ set up shots. Whilst I am pleased that I have a shooting schedule and I intend to keep to it, I realise that not everything may go to schedule and I therefore have to be adaptable to different circumstances on the day. 

Planning My Video

 Locations:

My video is made up of a performance and narrative elements, therefore I will film it in two parts. For the performance elements of my video I want to use a field to have my artist playing the piano in. I will use a field in the countryside, which I have already got permission to use. Therefore, this will provide the location for the majority of my music video and I will then scout locations for the narrative elements of the video.



Props:

The main prop that I will be using is an electric organ/ piano. I will borrow this from my grandparents and will use a cart to move the organ from the house to the field I will be using for filming. The other props that I have used include candles to have on the organ, tarpaulin for the ground, the props are fairly simplistic for the performance element of my video. However, for the cross generational idea that I have for my narrative story line I will require a variety of props, these will include fairy lights, candles, an old movie camera and older home videos of the actors I will be using.


Actors/ artist:

The main actor that I will be using is my cousin, he will be playing my artist as the video centres around the piano piece, as a talented pianist who can play the piece, I have asked him to be my artist. Having decided to have a cross generational theme for the narrative part of my video, I have asked my grandparents to be my other actors and will film them also.










Costume:

For the performance element of the video, which features the main artist I have a good idea of what I would like to have him wearing. My artist comes under my primary target audience age as he is 23 and therefore I wanted him to contribute to what he would wear, in order to connect with the audience. I knew that I wanted the costume to be on trend, as I am wanting to keep my video modern and contemporary, despite the classical nature of the song - therefore his outfit will contain jeans, a top of his choice, a grey jumper and timberland boots, ultimately the colours that he will be wearing are fairly neutral so that it his playing and the landscape that are really emphasised and stand out.







Form of consent:

It is very important that I have a form of consent to ensure that my actors are happy to not only be in my music video, but for it to be viewed and sent to the exam board. Therefore I have created a form of consent that I will ask my actors to sign stating that they consent to having the video viewed by external sources. The image to the right is my completed form of consent with the signatures of the three actors I will use within my video.

Performance Storyboarding

I have now concluded all my research into digipacks, artists, directors, generic conventions, genres and my target audience. I have begun to plan the filming of the performance element of my video, I did this by creating a large storyboard with pictures and annotation to visualise exactly what I will be doing, how the shot will look and what kind of camera angle I need to use.

I have used a variety of images to demonstrate what I want my video to look like, I have planned to do a time lapse for the opening of the video, running into an establishing/ wide shot. The video is then a mixture of shots typically associated with the genre, close up sequences of the artist playing and of the keys, extreme close ups, mid shots, side angles, over the shoulder shots and panning of the landscape to create an effective video.

This element of the video has no storyline and is purely performance based to focus on the artist, and ensure that he is the main focus of attention. The setting is romantic, which I feel reflects the nature of the song and will match what I have envisaged for the narrative sequence. In the same way that another artist may lip synch to their music video, my artist will pretend to play the piano as the organ cannot be played without a power source - and I will layer the song over the video footage that I will take, for the full effect.

Target Audience Research Analysis

The below images are the results of my target audience research questionnaire, condensed into data through the use of pie charts. 

My initial question was regarding the audience's gender and I had a fairly even split within my results, although a slightly higher proportion of females answered my questionnaire. This result was expected as the classical music genre is diverse and does not target one genre over the other, such as say the rap genre which might predominantly target men over women. Therefore I will ensure that my music video appeals to both men and women, to reflect the mixed gender of my target audience.

Age wise, my target audience is between 17 and 25 years of age. This younger age group I think represents several elements of my project. Firstly the age of the artist will naturally attract a younger consumer, equally the contemporary nature of my music video and taking influence from narrative story-lines of music videos from different musical genres such as pop open myself up to a younger demographic. Lastly, despite my target audience being from 17-25 I believe that the diverse nature of classical music means that my target audience could well be broader as it appeals to people of all ages, however I will specifically focus on the younger target audience of between 17 and 25 years of age.

To get an idea of the kind of music that my target audience listen to I used a multiple choice question, as can be seen from the pie chart my target audience listen to a wide range of musical genres. Predominantly though, the most popular genres were: Pop, Rock and R&B - this is beneficial as the narrative elements of my music video were inspired by watching those created in pop music videos such as Katy Perry's 'The One That Got Away'.

This question was pivotal for my idea for my music video, as my song is slightly alternative in that classical music is not always associated with the younger generation and music videos, it was important that my target audience listen to a variety of music, therefore I was very pleased that 100% of my audience said that they do in fact listen to a variety of music and would therefore be more open to my track. 

The result of this question was very interesting to me as I had no option that I was hoping would be most popular with my audience, the audience found the Artist and Location of a music video to be the most important, even above Camerawork. This was slightly unexpected as I had thought that Camerawork would be the most important to my audience, however this shows me that the representation of my Artist and Location needs to be carefully thought out and constructed to give the maximum effect and impress my target audience.

I was extremely happy with the outcome of this question given its importance in the type of music video I am doing. The most popular music videos that my target audience watch/ prefer were Narrative, Performance and Hybrid. This is particularly significant for me as my video will be a hybrid of performance and narrative elements therefore the knowledge that my target audience prefer this type of music video and engage with this the most is encouraging and indicates that hopefully my video will be well received by my target audience.

Again, this question was important for me to know and for my target audience as given that only a small number of my target audience said that they regularly listen to classical music, it is imperative that they are open to music of a different genre. Thankfully, 100% of my audience said that they were indeed open to music of a different genre and therefore will be receptive to my track. 

As I had anticipated there were several different opinions expressed with this question. The typical associations with the classical music genre are for it to be orchestral, instrumental (many people expressed an association specifically with pianos and violins) and emotional. This is good feedback for me as I feel that my track whilst being dramatic and building, it is also quite emotional. 'Nuvole Bianche' has been featured in adverts, TV programmes and film - this can benefit me as the narrative element of my storyline featuring an elderly couple could be quite powerful, therefore there should be a sense of synergy between the track and the music video.      

This was one of the most pivotal questions for me. This was as the concept behind my video is to use a dramatic, building piano track set to a modern music video like those that I have researched, conforming to certain generic conventions of the genre. I was however nervous as to how this would be received as the younger audience that I knew I would be targeting are predominantly listening to more upbeat, pop style music. Therefore, I was very pleased to see that 100% of the people I asked felt that they would enjoy this change, and would enjoy seeing a classical track set to a more modern/ contemporary music video.    

The final question that I asked was regarding the digipack that I will need to create to accompany my music video. It was important for me to find out what element of a digipack appeals to the audience the most. Interestingly, my target audience felt that the photography of the album is the most important element, followed by the artist and colour scheme. I have therefore taken this feedback on board and will ensure that the photography, artist and colour scheme are what I focus on most and ensure are extremely effective - with font style and links to social media playing a slightly smaller role.

My questionnaire was incredibly informative and the results will influence the approach to my music video and digipack - as I take on my target audience's likes and dislikes, to create the best product I can.  

Within my target audience research I did not limit myself to just one form of research, but created more spontaneous 'vox pop' style audio interviews with my audience to get a more 'natural' reaction, whereby I have not guided the conversation but allowed them to express exactly how they felt. I have attached an example of an interview below.

http://wikisend.com/download/381874/joy audience interview.m4a

The above link should be live in wikishare within 7 days, so if it does not work, you can download the file quickly as the interview is only about 2 minutes long. 

Within the audio interview the person I interviewed expressed her conformance with the results of my questionnaire. For example,  her favourite type of music was pop and she felt that she enjoys the typical associations of a music video of that genre e.g. being "flashy" with dancers involved. My audience member stated her associations with classical music as being slower paced and quite emotive. Having listened to my track she felt that the emotion of the song and how it built was evident and I was pleased that she seemed interested at the prospect of the track set to a modern, contemporary music video stating that it would be "different from what we usually experience". 

  

Target Audience Research

Whilst planning my music video, it is vital that I understand my target audience, so I am able to know how best to appeal to them. I will research the original artists' target audience, then contrast this with contemporary/ classical artists who my style of digipack and video will be similar to, to asses who will be my target audience. I will compile this research into questionnaires and data to help me better process the likes and dislikes of my audience.

Ludovico Einaudi's target audience is difficult to define, although his age and the classical influences of his music may suggest an older audience, the reality is that his music is appreciated by people of all ages and situations. An article from The Sydney Morning Herald, written by Kathy Evans explores how Einaudi's target audience has changed. The nature of Einaudi's music and contemporary influences, the mix of genres that he uses from pop to blues means that he is more accessible to a younger generation.  

Within the article, the journalist notes Einaudi's love of combining classical music with more modern genres, his love of 'Coldplay' is noted and his own classic look of all black clothing and glasses which are his trademark. The article is interesting and has shown me that Einaudi's music will most likely attract a range of people, therefore I am interested to see the results of my own questionnaire. The link for the full article is below,

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/crossover-king-finds-a-new-audience-for-his-classical-music-20140202-31uvr.html

Consumer information surrounding classical music

When conducting my target research I felt that it was important to discover how consumers relate to classical music as this will be vital to the reception of my music video. I have referenced below a study that I found online conducted by the 'John S and James. L. Knight' foundation and a collaboration of American Orchestras. Despite the fact that the study is specifically regarding American audiences, I believe that there is still valuable and relevant information to be taken from this. 

Please follow the link below and scroll to page(s) 41 and 42 to find the information that I looked at and processed. 

http://cuttime.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/2002_classical_music_consumer_report.pdf    - scroll to page 41/ 42

I believe that the key information of the study regarding the relationships between the audience and classical music, can be summarised in the following quote; "Overall, consumers have highly personal, complex and multi-dimensional
relationships with classical music. For some people — those most involved with the
art form — classical music plays out like a sound track to their lives." This quote has shown me that classical music can connect with the audience, and I therefore feel that the cross generational theme of my video, and narrative storyline will adhere to this and should hopefully make an interesting and emotionally evocative music video.

My Research - The Questionnaire

As part of my research into my target audience, I have created a questionnaire designed to ascertain what likes and dislikes my audience have. I have asked a range of questions to determine my audience, such as age and gender, as well as questions about my song's genre, the audience's preference for music videos in regards to content and mise-en-scene. The most crucial question for me is whether or not my audience is willing to embrace different genres than perhaps what they might usually choose to listen to, and be open to a "classical music piece set to a more modern/ contemporary music video".  

Having created my questionnaire, I will now conduct the research and process the results within my next post.  

Adele - Hello

Although I have decided on my song and have already begun to plan what I envisage for my video, I feel that a post on Adele's new song and video 'Hello' from her album 25 is vitally important in contemporary media practise as she has made such an impact with this piece of work. 'Hello' is the first release by Adele in three years, following the release of 'Skyfall'. Adele was very careful with the marketing strategy for her single, to be followed by the album. The profile of the album was kept low, and was unexpected, a very different strategy to other artists who promote their forthcoming albums on social media and advertising for months before a single is released, for example Justin Bieber's 'What Do You Mean'.


Adele kept the release under wraps, a promotional advertisement of the video was viewed on the 12th October, in an advertisement break of The X Factor on prime time UK television, a clever tactic in of itself given the estimated 6.8 million viewers watching. The clip itself was only a 30 second promo of her new material, as can be seen from the screen shot the clip was very minimalistic containing only the lyrics of the song written in white, to contrast the black background - whilst the audience listened to Adele singing the first part of the song. This was an incredibly clever marketing technique as it built hype, the buzz surrounding Adele and her music was created a full ten days before the release of the song.

This is the only post Adele made on her social media before the release of the song 'Hello', it is so effective given its honesty, Adele connects with her fans through her realism and the personalisation of the letter makes the fan feel connected to Adele and her life - all creating hype surrounding the release of her song/ album. The song 'Hello' was released on the 22nd of October 2015 and broke several records. The result of Adele's marketing tactics and the effect of keeping the audience in suspense resulted in explosive gain for Adele and the video currently has over 222 million views. 'Hello' broke the Vevo record for the most amount of views in 24 hours, with over 27.7 million views, eclipsing Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' which previously held the record. Perhaps most impressively is the other record of reaching 100 million views on YouTube within 5 days, a record previously held by Miley Cyrus for the controversial, 'Wrecking Ball'.

There is definitely a sense of synergy within Adele's work, her album covers are a prime example of this as they show a sense of progression. The same style of shot is used, an artistic close up or extreme close up is the focus of the cover to emphasise Adele's status as the artist. The editing of the albums are important also, much of Adele's work and her album covers have a black and white effect, there is convergence between this and the sepia effect throughout Adele's 'Hello'. A black and white effect is very classic, and minimalistic and this has become a kind of motif for Adele, therefore the new album cover is an example of convergence, it is instantly recognisable to fans to be the work of Adele, and is a continuation of Adele's successful 'branding' as an artist.  

Permission

Having chosen a song that I love and would like to use, it is vital that I get the original artist, Ludovico Einaudi's permission for me to use his work to avoid any issues with copyright, ownership and plagiarism. Einaudi is represented by Decca Records, a subsidiary of one of the Big Three, Universal Music Group. Therefore, having researched the procedure for gaining permission to use a song, I will email Decca Records to ask for permission to use the song 'Nuvole Bianche' by Ludovico Einaudi.

The above screenshot is the email that I sent to Decca Records, the email contained a list of information that is required on the website and I was sure to emphasise that my music video will not make a profit. I also commented that Ludovico Einaudi will be referenced on my blog, and stressed to be the true artist of the song.

-Artist
-Title and Year of Recording
-Link to Recording/Album
-Catalogue Number
-Country Track was published in
-Description of Use

The above list is what Decca Records published on their website as key things to include in the email when requesting permission to use one of their artist's tracks.

I received a reply from Decca Records, I am free to use the song as long as the video is not published in a public domain. Therefore, as a result I will not be posting my finished music video on my blog but it will be copied on to a private DVD. However, I will be documenting the process with regular posts and screenshots.