Connotations for my music video

A Connotation is a translated message which the producer would like the audience to read through different signs and signifiers. For example, If there was a girl dressed in black (Denotation), the connotation of this could be symbolising death, bad or evil, however we read this as the denotation with the connotation in mind.
Within my music video, I believe that I have used this media term quite a lot in translating the message to the audience. For example, the typical use of my brick wall in a lot of my shots connotes the whole RnB theme of the 'streets' where it may not be very wealthy, however Alice looks wealthy, hence the contrast.

 Another connotation which is apparent is the beauty of Alice constantly, which emplies that although she is singing about a boy which is extra good looking but not right for her, that she is quite used to turning men away, which actually gives a different attitude to the performer, and also an attitude for young aspiring girls to have.

I have also chosen to connote a different type of outfit style with Alice wearing not the total revealing clothing like many RnB, but to use more covered up clothing, in the hope to appeal to more of a younger audience without it being to close to the line.

All Three Final Products!

Music Video

Digipak

Poster/Magazine Advert

After looking at all three projects together, I believe that there is a clear marketing continuity pattern throughout which is very important through marketing for easy recognition. For example, If I had completely different styles and designs for each of the marketing pieces, as well as completely different style of music video, it becomes increasingly hard to market my song/Album.
Overall, I am thrilled with how they have turned out!

The First Draft!

I have finally edited the whole of my music video. There are a few changes which I still need to make such as a few of my shots have the lighting in the corner of the shot, However I have exported the music video for audience feedback. I'm thrilled with the progress i've made so far!

Editing- The Closing shot

For my final shot to end the music video, I wanted a sequence which will really capture the 'Attitude' which Alice has throughout the video. She glances at the camera, with a confident smile and walks away. As she walks away, it slowly goes out of focus and fades to black. I am thrilled with my music video so far, especially the ending sequence.

Editing- The 'Brick Wall'

My brick wall footage has worked very well. I have again used some edits which are in black and white, as well as some purple coloured ones for some change.

I have also used the conventional close up very much in my music video which conforms to the obvious RnB close ups which clearly objectify the artist.

This is my Purple edited shot which gives the video some more variety.

Changing The narrative (George Footage)

Although I didn't ever intend for my music video to have a running narrative throughout the video, I did want to have the 'Boy' scenes for some kind of recognition of who she was singing about. However, after reviewing my footage (Which I did particularly like the framing and lighting!), and editing it together alongside all of the Alice Miming clips to give it a meaning, I simply didn't feel it worked well, and the 'Boy scenes' simply looked added in. However I did not make the decision on my own, I referred to my Peers who all agreed with me that the scene with George looked too randomly placed within my music video which heavily consisted of continuous shots of Alice.

Although it now means that my Music video is totally performance based, I do feel like it gives more of a direction for the audience to view the video.

Editing- First problem!

Today, I have been continuing to edit when I came across my first big issue. When playing back the footage, I noticed that in the reflection in Alice's sunglasses, you can clearly see me filming her! This is very irritating as the shots are brilliant and really work, but that slight problem is proving to be a big problem. However, once i've been playing around with quicker edits, I began to notice it less and less as the clips were each very quick. I have decided not to refilm as I think that as long as the clips are short, they shouldn't be too noticeable.

More Editing Progress (Photography Studio)

The photography studio shoot has proved to be very good footage within my music video. Originally the colours were slightly too dull, however after brightening the contrast on the clips, it gave a very white background which works well. I have also used some Black and white effects within the edits to give some variation which works well. I have also now pieced together the first 30 seconds of the music video which is real progress.

Editing! (CCTV Shot)

The past couple of weeks,I have been continuing with editing my music video. In my initial plans, I had visions of creating a really creepy CCTV style shot sequence much like In Nicole Shertzinger's Music video to her single 'Wet'. After much playing around with the sequence which I shot of Alice, I began to style it much like a CCTV image would look. Although in Nicole's video she uses a green colour over the footage, I found after much research that most CCTV images are filmed in black and white hence the decision of colour grading my own sequence. I also noticed the heavy useage of Timescales and different timecodes running in the corners of most CCTV shots. Although this was proving very dificault in my own video, I managed to add a Timecode to represent this. Another key feature of the CCTV style shot is the use of high angles looking down on the characters, which I have also used.

Nicole's CCTV Shot

My own CCTV styled shot

I have also kept on top of other editing such as piecing together the lip syncing which especially takes a lot of time. I also have began to change the contrast and saturation as well as cropping many of the clips to make them stand out more.

Editing update (Drama Studio)

For the last week, I have been editing my music video. I have made some real progress! I have now edited the introduction of the music video, Approximately 20 seconds, as well as the first 10 seconds of miming. However, after reviewing my footage and attempting to piece it together into the video, I found that the Drama studio footage particularly didn't work. I believe that it does not have the same effect which I imagined much like the Ciara Music video which although was a bit of a pain, I still think that it was the right decision to edit these shots out of the music video.

Second Shoot!

Outcome
Today, Alice and I went to the local park with Alice to film another of my scenes for my music video. The filming went overall very well however due to the fact that the park is local, it was very hard to get concentrated footage without distractions. For example, at one point, we were filming the whole song throughout, and a dog walked past and wee'd up the wall next to Alice! Although it was very funny, it did very much disrupt the flow of filming. Little distractions like this kept occurring as other members of the public were distracting.

Things went well

• The Setting was PERFECT! I really love the way the setting and mise-en-scene of the whole scene, and it definitely is exactly the style of RnB I was aiming for.
• I Also managed to take a variety of different photographs which I plan to possibly use in my Digipak design!
• We also learnt the song much better which enabled us to shoot larger and continuous takes.

Things to improve

• Although we couldn't really improve it, the constant distraction was the one thing that let this shoot down.
• Another thing we could improve next time we shoot is the speed in between takes as we spent too much time deciding exactly what to do whereas we could list the shots before we go to shoot.

Not totally sure about the expression on her face, however
I like the subtle graffiti behind her.

My Favourite shot, very RnB styled! Possible Digipak cover.
I do think that the style of shot looks slightly 'Advertising'
however a lot of RnB shots do!

With some basic editing, this photo could also be good to
possibly use in my digipak.

I love the notion of looking in this photo, she looks
Beyond the camera which is intriguing. 

Mood/Lighting Moodboard

One main feature I have noticed throughout the RnB genre as a whole is the presence of contrasting styled shots. For example, one main style I have noticed throughout my music video research of RnB artists is the 'Glamourous' style where thery have very well lit shots aiming to give a very seductive mood to the shot as well as the lighting being very warm tones.. In comparison, I have noticed the 'Grungy/Empty warehouse/anti-Glamourous' shots where the artist remains looking stylish, however they use very cold and grungy lighting. These moodboards are examples of exactly what I mean.

The 'Glamour' Mood/Lighting
The glamourous style shot is very apparent throughout the genre of RnB which is a definite style and lighting I want to re-create. The closeup shot of Rihanna (Bottom, Right image) shows very high key lighting around the face to particually highlight the beauty and makeup. I also love the Jennifer Lopez screenshot (Centre Image) with other warmer tones which highlight the features on her face well with the lighting on her face. For example, the lighting is obviously to the right of her face highlighting her cheekbone rather than the other side of her face which is in shadow.

The 'Grunge' Mood/Lighting
Another RnB style for lighting and mood creation is the glamourous actress looking fully madeup shot in a 'dingy/Grungy' setting such as wrecked walls, empty warehouses and other cold and almost could be spooky setting however the attractive actress brings it back to a purposely designed shot. This is re-enforced more by the use of colouring and mood. Although the initial mood is set by the physical frame, the colouring and mood is set through lighting and colouring in post production. I particually love Ciara's shot (Right,Middle) where she is leaned up against a wall with severe cold temperature with the colours using blue's and greys. The light again is lighting up once side of her face, and one side is in shadow.



After reviewing what types of moods can be created through the power of lighting and and post production with colouring, I now know for certain that I would like to produce two styles of scenes, one very studio/Glamourous styled shoot as well as a very grungy style to contrast and add dimension and meaning into my music video.

Five Final Locations

Location/Scene 1- Dance Routine/Studio
For this scene, I wanted it to be quite like Cassie's video 'Me and U' where she dances the whole way through the video in a dance studio, however our dance studio at school is much more 'Modern' than the one in Cassies video. I am still confident that this location is going to be good, and I am hoping to use colourisation settings to give it more of a grimey look to the video like in Cassies.

The Dance studio at our School.

In our Dance studio, we have a stained glass window which I have decided may be quite good to shoot a few frames of Alice in front of the window miming the song. I am confident that even though i have no evidence of a window being used such as my one, I still think it could fit well with the 'Studio' style shot of an RnB music video.

The Glass Window in the Studio. 

Screenshot from Cassie- 'Me and U' (also Square glass windows)

Cassies Music Video- 'Me and U'

Location/Scene 2- Brick Wall/Backstreet
The Brick wall scene is another that I also may consider changing into black and white, however I do like the vibrancy of the brick walls colouring. Anyhow, I do love this setting as it is exactly the way I imagined it for my music video when I came up with the idea. The only one thing I am worried about is the fact that this wall is outside, and I would of preferred a studio styled lit scene, whereas I have to use the natural light. The Screenshot of JLS shows a good example of the type of scene I wish to construct.

The Brick wall next to my school.

Screenshot from JLS- 'Everybody In Love'

I also wish to do a similar styled shot to Rihanna's 'Unfaithful' Music video where she is lying down on a sofa with graffiti behind her. This is my imitation of this, and I think its going to be a very successful shot.

My Styled shot inspired by Rhianna.

Rhianna- 'Unfaithful'

Location/Scene 3- Glam/Studio
For this scene, I wanted a plain backdrop, so I decided that the Drama studio would be appropriate. Although the drama studio is quite 'Shabby', this may add extra dimension to the mise en scene of my video as I am conforming to the conventional style of RnB, and in particular the grungy styled settings such as Alexandra Burkes Video 'Bad Boys', there are frequently shots of her behind grungy settings, and throughout a lot of scenes in RnB.

The Staircase in the Drama Studio.

The Stairs in the Drama Studio could provide a good scene very like Nicole Scherzinger's Video- 'Wet' Where she is also sat on the stairs in a grungy setting. I believe that this will prove a good scene and an interesting view for the audience, especially the CCTV style shot like Nicole's as well.

Nicole Scherzinger- 'Wet' CCTV Styled Shot.

The plain back wall which is the main background for my video.

Alexis Jordan- 'Good Girl'- Similar dark background

However, Although Alexis Jordan had a plain backdrop in her music video, I feel this is too boring, so using the drama studio with the imperfections, I feel that it is also a lot like Alexandra Burkes Video 'Bad Boys' where she takes the other extreme of using extremely textured backdrops.

Alexandra Burke- 'Bad Boys'

Location/Scene 4- Studio/Chair
In this Shot, I wanted to include a more basic styled backdrop as all of my others have included a certain scene such as the dance studio, or more textured such as the brick wall, therefore the presence of a white backdrop with studio lighting is good for the style of shot I would like to have.

The Photography Studio at School.

Location/Scene 5- Hunk/Male Actor
For this scene, I am also going to use the Photography studio because I will be zoomed right in taking closeups of the male actor, and therefore do not require any special required backgrounds as the actual visibility of the background will be low.

Hair and Makeup planning

For the Hair styling, Makeup and whole character styling, I thought that it would be better to find an artist that already looks similar to Alice, and to then style her to look like the artist even more. The Artist I found is Fergie who sang 'Big girls don't cry'. I believe that Alice and Fergie look very similar, especially the hair styles I have created for Alice.

Alice's Styled look for the Music video

Fergie- 'Big Girls Don't Cry' Screenshot

When I came to designing the makeup for for Alice to wear for my music video, I wanted to keep it very neutral because in my mood board for makeup, I found a lot of neutral style makeup. I also wanted it to be a lot like Fergie as I believe that she is a major influence in the look I am creating for Alice.

Alice and my designs of makeup

Fergie- 'Big Girls Don't Cry' Screenshot

I'm very happy with my styling for Alice as I believe that although conventionally, RnB artists are Black, So I think Fergie is perfect to base my character upon.

Hair and Makeup Moodboard

When I come to have to design the makeup and hair for my actress (Alice), I wanted to make sure i knew exactly the style I am aiming for. To do this, I decided to create a mood board of stills from a variety of female artists within the R&B genre. This will helo me discover the conventions of RnB artists.

Make-up

With the exception of Ciara (Top Left screenshot) where she is wearing heavier eyeliner, the make up used in RnB all appears very natural. Occasionally, some of the artists appear to use a more obvious lip colouring or gloss such as Alexis Jordan (Top Right image). Some of the artists also appear to have slightly heavier eyeshadow such as Tulisa Contostavlos from N-Dubz (Square centre screenshot).

Now I have analysed other female artists from RnB genre, I can begin to plan my make up styles. from my four different scenes/Costumes, I have gone for very different feels. For my more 'Backstreet' themed scenes, I want to be a bit more adventurous with the make up, and use quite dark colours around the eyes (Could potentially signify more dangerous/living on the edge/rough styling?). For my more 'Glam' scenes, i want to use very natural make up styles to keep in theme with the costume.

Hair Styling

Throughout the mood board, where hair styles come into the frame, they either seem to have Straight or curly hair. Another observation is that they all have their hair out of their faces, with the exception of Alexandra Burke, they all have subtle fringes. All of the artists have medium to long hair.

Luckily, Alice's hair is very good for this style. She has a subtle fringe and long hair which keeps in theme with the other R&B artists. I plan to use both curly hair and straight hair for Alice in two different scenes. The curly hair I shall use in the 'Backstreet' styled scenes, and straight hair for the 'Glam' styled scenes.

Costumes!

For my music video, it is crucial that I source some good outfits to fit with the genre of RnB to make the music video look more believable. After viewing many RnB music videos for inspiration for costumes, I have come up with my four costumes that I wish to use.To get the costumes for my music video, we took a trip to the local Primark to see what we could find for a cheap price. Although we didn't manage to get everything i needed, I did find a lot of exactly what i needed to get good RnB styled costumes.

Costume 1
This looks was inspired by Ciara in her music video "Promise". I decided to take inspiration from this costume because I also plan to take inspiration from the dance routine when she is wearing this costume and it also fits very well with the more HipHop side of RnB.

For this costume I needed:
-Large Hoodie
-Baggy Trousers/Jogging Bottoms

I managed to source the Hoodie from Primark, and bought the XXL Size as in the screen shot of Ciara's video, the hoodie looks very baggy. The trousers i could not find in Primark, however my friend had a pair of harem pants which she was willing to lend us. I Believe that I have done well to get a very similar outfit, although it was quite a plain outfit!

Alice in my Costume to the left, Ciara from her video 'Promise' On the Right.       

Costume 2
The second costume I wished to re-create was the look in Nicole Scherzinger's 'Wet' where she wears a leather looking jacket with a hood and lots of accessories. I chose the costume because in a lot of RnB music videos, there is a lot of 'Glam' scenes contrasting with 'backstreet' scenes. I decided I liked this look for the more backstreet styled scene.


For this costume I needed:
-A leather jacket
-Big sunglasses
-Large hoop earrings
-High waisted Skinny jeans

Although this costume does not include any trousers, I felt that my look would work better with some trousers. I can also use the same skinny jeans in costume 4.The leather jacket I was able to get from Primark as well as the hoop earrings and the skinny jeans. The sunglasses Alice (my actress) already had from her own possessions. I also added some bangles to this look as I already had them from Costume 4.

Nicole in her music video 'Wet' to the left, and Alice in the right picture.

Costume 3
Costume 3's idea was taken from Alexandra Burke's 'Bad boys' as well as Jennifer Lopez' 'I'm into you'. The sparkly party dress is going to be my main outfit, and probably be shown throughout the chorus of the song. I chose the outfit to inspire from because i felt it symbolised the party glam theme that runs throughout RnB well.


For this costume I needed:
-A Glamourous party dress
-High heels
-Wrist Bangles

The party dress was the hardest thing for us to find. We searched all through Primark unsuccessfully finding a dress suitable. We then went to other shops such as New Look, Debenhams and River Island, however we were still unsuccessful with finding the perfect dress for this scene. After our failure to find the perfect dress, we decided to ask our friends to see if they had a dress we could borrow to fit the style or similar to the dress shown in Alexandra Burke's video, and our friend managed to find a dress for us! The heels were Alice's own, and they were also used throughout costume 4. The bangles were from primark, our bargain of £1.50 for all of them!

Alexandra Burke 'Bad boys' Video to the left,  Alice to the right.

Costume 4
Finally, costume 4 was also taken from Ciara's music video 'Promise' where she wears high waisted skinny jeans, with a cropped white/cream t-shirt and heels. I chose this costume because I think it symbolises the sexy look of RnB that is in the majority of the female artist videos.


For this costume I needed:
-A Cropped White t-shirt
-High heels
-Wrist Bangles
-High Waisted Skinny Jeans
-Hooped Earrings
-Gold Necklace chain

Alice managed to find her own cropped white t-shirt to use which was helpful. The high heels were also Alice's own. The wrist bangles were the same as the other costumes, all from Primark as well as the Skinny Jeans, Hooped Earrings and Necklace. I think that this is my favourite outfit, purely because we managed to get the look very similar to Ciara's, and I think it suits the genre very well.

Ciara 'Promise' in the left picture, Alice in the right.

As for Georges outfit, I'm hoping George is going to wear black trousers, fairly plain, and a white t-shirt. Although I haven't found a good example to back up my style choice, i'm confident that it won't matter too much as the male actor scenes will only be short, and cut up and mixed in with the four female scenes.
Now I have chosen my four outfits for Alice as well as my four locations, I can now begin to schedule filming dates!

Costume Inspiration Moodboard

When coming to deciding what costumes i need to source or purchase, I decided to do a moodboard of stills from various RnB music videos. I found quite a few features that became apparent throughout my research which I would like to recreate.

After assessing what is common for an RnB female artist to wear during a music video, I came up with this list. This will now help me to know exactly what kind of outfits I am going to be looking for.

• Big Sunglasses
• Big chunky bangles on one wrist
• Big hooped earrings
• Fairly plain tops, Usually black or white
• Skinny Jeans
• Jacket- Biker chick style
• High Heels
• A Glamourous party dress

Choreography Inspiration

There is two things i love about this music video. One thing i love is the dance routine in the beginning of the music video where she is wearing a hoodie and baggy clothing. I think that the dance routine is quirky and adds personality to the artist which is definitely a feature needed in a music video. The other thing i love is the use of clothing. There are some really lovely outfits which would definitely work well with my music video. I Will use these at a later date in a mood board so i know what i am creating for my music video.

More Inspiring techniques

The most inspiring thing about this music video to me is the fact that each camera shot is not only just cut together, but they use effects which almost give the vibrating or shakey movements which really helps to add dimension to the video. I would like to try this when making my own video.

More Music Video Inspiration

 After comparing all of the artists on the 'R&B Now' and selecting those which are similar in style is to my artist, I researched those who i think are relevant to my style. I Particularly liked Nicole Scherzinger's "Wet" Music video as it has quite a few inspiring aspects. Firstly i love the CCTV style shot which is only a small feature within the music video, however i do think it gives a different perspective for the audience to view the action. Another thing that I particularly liked is the use of close ups of un related objects, however going along with the 'Grungy' settings and Mise-en-Scene. I also like the use of sunglasses to conceal her face, however it also makes her look very glamourous.

The CCTV Style Shot

A Closeup of a lock being cut

Another unrelated shot to the lyrics

An interesting close up with an interesting
light and flare across her face.