Planning: Final idea

Final Idea

Introduction:

After discussing our initial ideas, we decided as a group that we didn't want to use any of the ideas as the final idea, instead we come up with a new idea together adding themes and elements from our initial ideas to it. We decided to choose the song, 'Papi Pacify'- Papi Pacify. We chose this song as it is a slow song but also has a catchy beat and rhythm to it that the audience will enjoy listening to. The lyrics also encouraged us to choose the song as they differ from mainstream lyrics and have an open interpretation allowing us  to create an original narrative in relation to it. The genre of the song is alternative R&B which is a popular and highly regarded genre of music. R&B music consists of conventions including the female characters wearing minimal clothing with dramatic hair and makeup and high heels, the male characters wearing expensive jewellery and looking sexual through their outfits which consists of them being topless. Alternative R&B songs are also likely to be slow with themes including love, relationships and emotion conveyed through the narrative and lyrics. Another modern convention of alternative R&B music is challenging stereotypes which is portrayed though the micro elements, costume, hair and makeup in particular. These conventions will be easy to adapt to our music video, and is essential in order to make the music video appealing to the target audience which is likely to consists of young, males and females, more so females, aged between 16- 28 who find slow and fast music appealing and enjoyable to listen to. We was satisfied with the genre of the song as we wanted to target a young audience, making a music video that we was also able to relate to. We will create a music video in regards to everything we have researched about the conventions of the R&B genre, and the target audience to make our music video successful. The artist of the song, FKA Twigs is a singer/songwriter who is signed to Young Turks record label and sings songs from multiple genres of music including, alternative R&B, electronic, Trip hop, experimental and indietronica. Her image is different and unique with her voice reflecting this, highlighting that is not a mainstream artist and does not reflect their image. Therefore, she is more likely to be perceived a performer rather than a fulfilled pop star which we found appealing as it makes her an original artist rather than a mainstream one. Therefore, when finding an artist to perform in our music video we need to find a character who can reflect FKA Twigs, by sharing her diverse values and her unique persona through her performance. After deciding on our song choice, and taking the genre and artist into consideration, we decided we was satisfied and started planning other elements of the video. 

Video content and structure: 

We decided that we wanted to follow genre characteristics, and therefore decided to make a video structure, performance and narrative based. Therefore, we will create a narrative in relation to the lyrics and music and also have the artist performing throughout the video. By combining the video structure, we are hoping that the audience will be encouraged to watch it and will enjoy the outcome. We felt that star image was important, therefore, without a performance the video would be more confusing and less conventional. We decided that choosing to do a narrative rather than concept would be better as the lyrics are powerful and  we want to reflect this through a story. After coming to a joint conclusion with the structure we began to speak about the video content. We decided that the narrative should be original rather than a vague music video that follows a clear structure of a equilibrium, disequilibrium and then ending with a new equilibrium. Instead throughout the video, there will be a feel of tension and anticipation as the narrative works towards the climax. The themes outlined throughout will be tension and hope, with each character portraying this as they fight for the tarot readers love. We will ensure our narrative is relevant to the target audience and may allow them to relate to what is occurring through the theme of love.

Star image and mise en scene :

We came to the conclusion that the main artist should be portrayed as a young female around the age of 18-25 that will be portrayed as unique but someone the target audience  (aged 18-28, mainly females, different ethnic backgrounds, working class and skilled working class) can relate to. Therefore, she will not follow hegemony and look like a perfect role model with a perfect body, instead she will be someone who promotes her ideologies and moral star image to the audience through the lyrics and the narrative, becoming relatable but also encouraging her subcultural and individual values.

The mise en scene will include: 

• Lighting- Low lighting to reflect the mystery and suspicion. Dark colours, such as blue, red etc to set the atmosphere.

• Costume, hair and makeup- The different characters will all look different according to their personas. 

1. The artist will wear dark clothing, with her hair curly and exaggerated, dark makeup to represent her as a stereotypical tarot reader. 
2. The first male character who feels a connection with the tarot reader will be a 'geek' who will be dressed to reflect his character. He will wear a shirt, tie and glasses, with neat hair. 
3. The second male will be a wearing a simple tracksuit to reflect his comfortable attire  along with earphones as he is jogging down the road. 
4. The third male will be wearing a a top and tracksuit bottoms reflecting a dancer.
5. The fourth male will simply wear a black top and jeans as he is watching TV. 

Facial expression and body language 

1. The artist will have very unique facial expressions, looking quite cold and isolated. This will be supported by abstract body movements promoting her as different. 
2. All the males will have confused and intrigued facial expressions as they begin to feel a connection with the tarot reader. They will have upright and bendy body language as they fight each other, competing for the tarot readers love.

Setting- There will be various locations where the events will take place. Settings will include: 

1. A dance studio- Where the dancer will be performing.
2. A drama room- Where the tarot reader will be performing, due to the black walls surrounding the room.
3. Streets- The male jogging will be jogging down the street when they feels a connection
4. An underpass- Where all four boys will fight each other.
5. Library- Where the geek will be reading

Icongraphy 

• Books- read by the geek 
• Earphones- used by the male jogging to listen to music. 
• Mystic ball- used by the tarot reader to cast spells and enforce her power
• Tarot cards- The males faces and their fates will be on these cards, chosen by the tarot reader.
• Candles- on the Tarot readers table

Theories associated with my idea: 

• Goodwin's theory: Our idea will be associated with Goodwin's theory as we will follow the features he has identified which include: genre characteristics, a relationship between lyrics and visuals, intertextual reference, notion of looking and star image motif, performance, narrative or concept? 

Genre characteristics: 

- Alternative R&B genre: female artist will have dramatic makeup, attractive male characters, slow song, themes including love and emotion, challenging stereotypes through costume, hair and makeup, iconography, setting etc. 

- Relationship between lyrics and visuals: The visuals will reflect the lyrics as the lyrics repeat 'Papi pacify, pacify our love', which will be reflected though the visuals as the males will be fighting for their love interest, in order to win her over. 

- Notion of looking: There will be close up's of the males assets before they feel the connection.

- Star image motif: During the scenes, there will be close ups of the artist as she performs. 

- Performance, narrative, concept?: The video will be narrative and performance based. 

• Mulvey's male gaze: This theory will be within my music video as the male characters' assets will be captured through the close up camera shots. 

• Dyer's theory: My artist will be portrayed as a star although she will promote her moral and subculture ideologies and values throughout the music video. The artists appearance will also go against hegemony as she will be different and relateable to the audience rather than being perceived as a role model. 

• Hebdige's Subcultures:  Although our music video is likely to appeal to a mainstream audience through the common conventions, the portrayal of particular characters may cause certain subcultures to engage with the music video as well. For example, the geeky character will reflect a geek through his persona and appearance which is likely to appeal to the geek/nerd subculture. 

Discuss your final choices in relation to your audience feedback

After receiving audience feedback about our final ideas related to the alternative R&B genre, we finalised our decisions, changing some ideas and developing our initial ideas further. We found that the audience wanted a conventional narrative, so we ensured that our narrative was abstract but also conventional at the same time.  A majority of the audience also said they wanted to see intertextual references evident, so we have decided to include that within our music video. The audience feedback we received was essentially similar to our final idea, and there were no real differences. This is due to us already researching the conventions of the alternative R&B genre and what appeals to our target audience from beforehand. Overall, the audience feedback allowed us to finalise our decisions and ensure that we know what our target audience want to see and what appeals to them. 


Why and how is this music video conventional to mainstream music video making? 

Our music video is likely to be conventional to mainstream music videos as we will follow the common conventions that most videos follow which include: a main artist evident performing, lip syncing, a narrative, special effects and glamour and editing to match the beat. These classic conventions will enhance the quality of my music video making it appealing to the target audience. It is important to make the music video conventional as the audience should be able to identify similarities associated with other similar music videos to understand it better. Also, if the music video does not follow conventions it is likely to that it will not appeal to the mainstream audience, instead it will be targeted at a niche audience, putting the videos success at risk. For example, if there is no artist evident in the video, the audience will not be able to relate to it as much in comparison to there being an artist who can be perceived as a role model or someone that the audience can could a relationship with. Therefore, by including common features that exist in most mainstream music videos, will ensure that my music video is conventional which is an important aspect, in ensuring that the video appeals and can be enjoyed by a mass audience. 

How is this music video conventional to your chosen genre? 

Our music video is conventional to the alternative R&B genre as we are going to include most of the conventions which includes, choosing a sow song, themes that evoke emotion, attractive female and male characters that engage the audience, adapting elements within the music video that challenges stereotypes and creates a new trend. Moreover, Songs from the alternative R&B genre commonly include themes associated with love and relationships, which will be evident in the narrative within my music video when the female and one of the males find love at the end. Another convention associated with alternative R&B music videos includes the artist being evident in the video which we will include, as we will have the artist performing as well as her being involved in the narrative, taking on the role of the love interest. Alternative R&B music videos are supposedly meant to be narrative and performance based which will be evident within my music video. Therefore, the classic conventions associated with the alternative R&B genre will be apparent in our music video as it is important for the audience to be able to identify the genre to see if it appeals to them. 

Existing videos that have influenced our decision

When deciding on our final idea, we watched existing music videos in order to compare the ideas to ours and we found certain videos that have influenced our decision, including: 

- Chris Brown: Fine by me- This video includes the artist fighting against different people, all of various abilities, and the outcome being that the artist wins despite him just being a normal guy in comparison to the other fighters. The way the suspense and tension builds throughout this videos encouraged our decision, influencing us to go ahead with the various fights occurring between the different males. 

- Lady Gaga- Judas- This video promotes the artist as getting into the role of a character who has different values from the artist herself, and this is interesting to watch seeing the artist adjust to be another character. This has influenced our decision to portray our artist as a character who is slightly different to there artist and promotes different ideologies and values. This is likely to influence the audiences opinions on the artist and allow them to see different sides to her. 

How does your music video represent your artist? 

My music video will represent my artist as original like the actual artist of the song,  who has her own style of performing. Our artist will go against hegemony by looking and behaving differently to other mainstream artists such as Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Rihanna etc who all support hegemony and are perceived as role models, who young females look up to and aspire to be like. Instead we want our artist to promote individuality clearly and for them to promote their ideologies through their performance and body language. This is important, as the artist should have an identity rather than being perceived as similar to other artists. However, we do not want our artist to be perceived as a controversial figure for promoting her views, therefore, we will ensure she promotes them in a sensible and mild manner. Overall, our music video will promote the artist as someone who is isolated and lonely which will be evident as she is confined in a white room and then in a forest alone. Her portrayal will be beneficial as she will become popular among her target audience and will gain more fame after the video, if it succeeds.