Planning: Initial idea

 Initial idea

After our group was formed, we each shared our initial idea with each other to  help us reach a conclusion based who's idea was the most original and would work if it was chosen as our final idea. We each come up with an individual idea, choosing a song and identifying all the elements associated with it, including the genre, narrative structure, micro elements, theories, conventions, advantages and disadvantages etc. Taking everything into consideration was useful as it made the idea more realistic and allowed us to understand who's idea was the clearest and could be storyboarded. When creating my final idea adapted my learning from previous lessons, including the theories that we researched, such as Hebdige, Mulvey, Goodwin and Dyer, seeing if their theories we useful to my idea, which was more effective as it made my idea stronger, giving me a greater chance of pushing for the idea to be chosen as the group's final idea. 

Below is each groups members idea. 

Idea 1:

Marlyn presented her idea which consisted of: 

• Song: We don't have to take our clothes off- Ella Eyre
• Genre: Pop/R&B/funk
• Narrative: The video begins with the star waiting backstage behind the curtains to perform on stage. She is perceived to be holding on to a necklace/pendant which is special to her and has a meaning behind it. The audience learn that it is a present from her boyfriend after she begins to have flashbacks of the past, which consists of her boyfriend and her having fun, running around the streets of London in a loving manner. It then skips to present tense and the artist appears on stage with the audience cheering for her as they await for her to begin singing. She is supported by two dancers who perform contemporary dancing as she sings. However, throughout she has various flashbacks, including the couple making out in a passionate manner. 
• Narrative structure: performance and narrative based. 
• Characters: A couple (boy and girl during the flashbacks) and two dancers (two girls contemporary dancing), the main female artist (also the girlfriend). 

Mise en scene:

 Costume, hair and makeup:

• A white top and leggings when she is signing and dancing.
• Minimal makeup presenting the artist as sweet and innocent.
• Messy, curly hair portraying the young teenager as having a carefree look.

Lighting:

• Low key lighting during the flashback scenes. 

Iconography

• An important object like a necklace or pendant used to remember her boyfriend and their relationship.

Setting:

• A stage where she performs her dance and a crowded, urban location where she has her flashbacks.

Application of theory: 

• Goodwin's characteristics- The characteristics Goodwin has identified in his theory will be evident within my video. Characteristics will include: 
• Genre characteristics: The genre of the song consists of three genres combined, therefore, i will use conventional characteristics from each genre, including a young , female artist, who is attractive and relatable to the audience, dancing, exaggerated genre reflecting their young ages. 

• Relationship between music and visuals: The visuals will reflect the music as the music has a slow pace which will reflect the artists sadness and the difficulty she is experiencing. 

• Star image motif: The artist will be perceived in the video through the numerous close-up's and mid shots. 

• Performance, narrative, concept: The narrative structure will consist of performance and narrative, with a story forming supported by the artist singing about her relationship. 

• Dyer star image-  The female artist will be represented as a star in the video, by looking glamorous although she will look like an average teenager so the young female audience can relate to the star and the video. 
• Mulvey's theory- I will be going against this theory, as I do not want to sexualise the female character. 

Advantages: 

• Has a message behind it, promoting that we should not be pressurised into having sexual relationships, and reinforces that building a strong friendship in a relationship is what matters. 
• The female artist will be easy to find. 

Disadvantages: 

• The narrative needs to be clearer and structured through storyboarding in order for people to understand it, and for it to be portrayed clearly.  
• The length of the song is only 3.53 minutes which is too short. 
• The use of nudity/sexual content could potentially be a problem, as portraying it in a mild manner is likely to be difficult and could lead to controversy, due to age guidelines. 

Idea 2:

Carlie also presented us her idea: 

• Song: "Run This Town" - Rihanna, Kanye West and Jay Z (Trap Remix)
• Genre: R&B/Trap
• Narrative: A group of females going out onto the streets behaving rebelliously and rioting to prove that they run the world/town, hence the title of the song. They will commit violent attacks on the streets, damaging shops and other areas around them to prove they can do what they want in the town due to having ultimate power. They come across another gang of males promoting a gender battle, which is won by the females.
• Narrative Structure: Narrative and Performance. 
• As the narrative takes place, the female gang leader is also going to perform, singing and dancing. 
• Characters: 5 girls, a mixed race girl as the artist (part of the girl gang). Artist is the leader who wears all black costume and is scary/intimidating.

Mise en scene: 

• Low key lighting- to represent the darkness and violent attacks in the scenes
• Costumes- All black to represent darkness.
• Settings- The streets of London (cold and dark)
• Iconography- Baseball bats and other dangerous items used as weapons.
• Colours- Black and grey used to reflect the dark and negative atmosphere

Application of Theory:

• Mulvey's Theory: This will not be present as I am portraying the female gang members as aggressive and violent rather than sexual. 
• Dyer's star image: Will be present as the artist will be portrayed in a powerful and violent manner. 
• Popular culture: Is present as the original song is mainstream but with an element of controversy as i will be using the trap remix of the original song.
• Goodwin's Theory: This is present as most of the characteristics he identifies in his theory will be present,including:Relationship between visuals and music and Relationship between lyrics and music, and genre characteristics. 

• Hebdige: This will be used to show the gang which is regarded as a subculture. This shows them as different to the mainstream.

Advantages: 

• Promotes equality in genders, empowering woman.

Disadvantages: 

• Difficult to show violent attacks on the street as it is illegal and causing damage isn’t something we can physically do in a music video.
• The iconography is potentially dangerous and may cause problems for us with the police if they misunderstand what they are being used for.

Idea 3:

 I presented my idea to my group: 

•  Song:  Don't think I'm not- Kandi

•  Genre: R&B

•  Narrative structure:  Performance, narrative and concept

1. Performance: The artist will perform and appear in the music video to ensure she makes herself familiar to the audience.  She will sing and dance during the chorus.
2. Narrative: The narrative will include a female who argues with her boyfriend and then walks out on him.  She then goes on to show her independence by partying and having a good time suggesting that she is over her boyfriend. She drops her shoe, then another male picks it up and puts it onto her shoe.
3. Concept: The narrative sends a message to women in unfaithful relationships and women in general to be independent and to stand up for themselves promoting gender equality and women independence

•  Characters:

 - Male (female’s boyfriend)- He will be trying to persuade his girlfriend that she is innocent and will chase after her trying to get her back.
- Backing dancer’s-They will be the female’s friends partying with her and will also dance with the female.
- Female (Artist)-  The artist will dominate the music video as she will perform throughout the video.

• Mise en scene:

- Lighting: Low lighting- To make the atmosphere more mysterious
- Colours:
 Feminine colours including: red, pink
- Costume, hair & makeup: 

• The female and backing dancers should wear short dresses, miniskirts, and crop tops with heels, with their hair open to make them look ‘sexy’, ensuring their independence is portrayed.

- Facial expression & body language :

• The male should have a regretful facial expression and body language suggesting that he doesn’t want to lose his girlfriend and regrets his unfaithful behaviour.
• The female should be aggressive at the beginning and abusive when arguing with her boyfriend portraying her anger at him. 
• The females should have attitude and comfortable body language when performing.


- Setting
: There should be various locations including;

1. A house- The argument between the male and female takes place
2. A party/club- The female portrays her independence and has a good time partying
3. Green screen- Used when the artist and backing dancers are performing.

Theories associated with the idea:

• Mulvey's male gaze:  The female artist’s assets will be captured through close up shots and mid shots.

• Goodwin's theory:

• Genre characteristics: My genre is R&B, therefore I will follow conventions including my females wearing minimal clothing and dancing within my video.
• Relationship between lyrics and visuals: The narrative I have come up with will reflect the lyrics.
• Intertextual reference: I will refer to Cinderella through the shoe, with the female artist dropping it and falling in love with the male who finds it. 
• Performance, narrative, concept: I will combine all three to make my music video more complex and effective.

Advantages of the idea:

1. The characters will be easy to find.  
2. There is a clear concept behind the video suggesting that women should not fear their partners and should stand up promoting gender equality and women rights.
3. The narrative will appeal to a wider audience, as females will be encouraged to become independent rather than reliant on their boyfriends. Males will also find the narrative appealing due to the females that will perform in the video.

Disadvantages of this idea:

1. The setting of a club may be difficult to due to us being below 18 years old, which is one of the key locations that will enhance the music video, making it more realistic and believable.
2. The narrative may be perceived as too mainstream, typical breakup situation.
3. The overall idea can be perceived as vague.

Questionnaire:

After sharing our initial idea as a group, we gave each other feedback, including advantages and disadvantages. We then individually created a questionnaire to receive reliable feedback about our genre of music and the elements and characteristics associated with our initial ideas. I created my questionnaire revolving the R&B genre, asking questions associated with R&B music videos, and characteristics they like and dislike seeing in an R&B music video. The feedback i received was extremely useful, as I tallied up the results and found that my idea was conventional, meeting the audiences expectations. For example, when creating my initial idea I decided I wanted to make the narrative of my music video conventional, so the audience were able to relate to it. Therefore, in order to clarify this, in my questionnaire I asked the question " Do you think the narrative of an R&B song should be conventional or different?", sixteen out of twenty people said conventional as oppose to four people who disagreed. The results therefore helped me to finalise some of my decision or adapt some of the choices to meet the audiences expectations. 

Conclusion:

Overall, sharing our initial ideas with each other was highly beneficial as we individually got to share our idea confidently, sharing our personal opinions and looking at the advantages and disadvantages of each idea. This involved us looking deep into our ideas, linking them to theories, and identifying the advantages and disadvantages associated with the idea. By looking at each individual element was beneficial for me as I felt I could picture my narrative and had a clear idea of how it would form structurally after taking the genre characteristics, the narrative structure, micro elements and the necessary theories that could be applied into consideration. We all identified similar weaknesses in each idea, which was whether particular content would be appropriate due to controversy and censorship issues. However, each idea also promoted strengths, with each narrative having a strong message behind them, making them relatable to the audience. After dispersing and creating individual questionnaires, we then came together again to discuss our results, finding similarities and differences and justifying our idea, persuading each other, and encouraging us to nominate a final idea. This task has encouraged us to make a final decision as to who's idea we are going to go with, based on how realistic the idea is and whether we will be capable of producing the material to the highest standard. We have decided to go with Marlyn's idea as it is the most original idea and the genre of the song which is pop is most likely to appeal to the younger audience, which is supported by the narrative as it includes a young couple and the struggle they face within their relationship which the young audience will be able to relate to and enjoy as a result. Therefore, after considering everything, we are most likely to go with Marlyn's idea as we also liked the song and figured that it would be easy to find a female artist.