Idea One:

The first idea i thought of was to keep the basis of the original idea 'love' however deepen the video with an actual storyline:
I would have two main characters, a boy and a girl similar ages around 20. I would show the up and downs to relationships following there lives closely including split screens to convey how they both feel and how its different from each other. It would end up with them both being together happy together. I would include dancing to allow it still to have 'pop' conventions.

However a downfall of this idea is that is doesn't really differ from the original video, the meaning of the videos are both the same, they both are focusing of love between couples. However i would be changing the original video due to a deepened storyline.


Idea Two:


My second idea is again to keep the storyline of love however change it to the love and different relationships between fathers and daughters.
I would show the main character and how she struggles to cope with not seeing her dad and how she feels towards him. I would have the main character doing a little bit of dancing to show the conventions of pop videos, the dancing bit would be filmed in a dance studio where there are lots of mirrors again more pop conventions.

This idea i believe is better than the first due to a different aspect than the original video also it would target my audience for suitably with it being 'teenagers'.


Idea Three:


My third idea is to completely challange the conventions and have a boy as the main character who is singing about his love for another boy. This idea would really exploit the conventions of 'pop' and also provide a detailed and extremly contraversal video. However i believe that this would be a too detailed story and i would not be able to portray the story in the short time in which the song i have choosen is. Also it would decrease my target audience as not many people would be able to relate to the story, which is what i intend to do.



After thinking for a while about all three of my ideas i have decided to go with Idea 2. I did this as i believe its a compramis between all three. It still challenges the typical 'young love' by changing it to the 'loss' of love between family members which i believe would attract my target audience idealy as everyone knows all teenagers have a hard time with their parents when they are growing up and vice versa.

Lyrics to 'Gravity'

Gravity (x6)
Stop pullin' me

I know that you still haven't found you,
And when I wanna stand on my own too
Suddenly you start to show
Signs of what is possible

Then you're back to your ways
And I let me down
Tell me why I keep tryin'a stay around
When all my family
They always telling me

To be through with you
And I know that deep down I'm callin' time on you
On you
On you

Every time I'm ready to leave
Always seem to be
Pullin' in the wrong direction
Divin' in with no protection
Man, you can't keep steerin' me wrong

Oh gravity
Pullin' me back
Pullin' me in
Why you pullin' me back
Pullin' me in
Just like gravity
Gravity (x5)

I know I betrayed but I'm made to
Ignore the universe when I see you
Cause every night the stars will shine
Verging into U-turns times

Anythin' that they can just to change my mind
When I pass your road I can't help rewind
What is wrong with me?
All that I wanna be is

Through with you
And I know that deep down I'm callin' time on you

On you
On you

Every time I'm ready to leave
Always seem to be
Pullin' in the wrong direction
Divin' in with no protection
Man, you can't keep steerin' me wrong

Oh gravity
Pullin' me back
Pullin' me in
Why you pullin' me back
Pullin' me in
Just like gravity
Gravity (x5)
Stop pulling me
Gravity (x5)

Be quiet, let me leave, let me go
Don't say another word
Cause with every sound
You're pullin' me down

Baby,
You got a hold on me
Like gravity

Yeah (x6)
Yeah (x5)
Gravity

Every time I'm ready to leave
Always seem to be
Pullin' in the wrong direction
Divin' in with no protection
Man, you can't keep steerin' me wrong

Oh gravity
Pullin' me back
Pullin' me in
Why you pullin' me back
Pullin' me in
Just like gravity
Gravity...

Final Idea.

I have finished all my research and i think i am ready to start planning my own pop video and ancillary piece, my digi-pak.

My initial idea is to do Pixie Lott's song 'gravity'

I have chosen to do this video as i believe that there is no 'storyline' in this video, it focuses on the artist and just shows her dancing. So i aim to add a story line to the video, still focusing on the 'main character' however adding a storyline to make it more of a 'televised bard'. I still want to attract the same target audience however i aim to do it in a different way.

research- digipak

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Chloe work

View more presentations from Chloe Adams.

Planning.

After looking through many pop videos and analysing them whilst studying the conventions and different ideas into them i think i am ready to plan my own pop video. I have different ideas that i am going look into to see which one i like best and also other people so that it could be very successful .

However first of all i am going to do research into my ancillary product. I am interested in doing a digi-pack for my c.d, so i am going to so some in depth analysis of them so i can understand how i can link mine into my pop video.

How Gender is represented in Pop Videos- 'Girls Aloud Love Machine'

I have chosen to look at how gender is represented in Pop videos as I believe representation is a key factor into targeting the chosen audience. Girls Aloud are a great example as they have been in mainstream media for almost 10 years now and have a very large fan base. Also, not only are they famous for their music they all have gone on and made their own careers expand into various things for example Cheryl does TV and Nicola does fashion. They would not be able to do this without being extremely popular with their target audience and I am interested in how they appeal to them as I would like my pop video to be as successful and with a similar target audience.

At the start of the video there is some very ‘classy’ music being played with a text over the video reading

‘THE ESKIMO CLUB’

After you see the girls appear walking into the club with a close up on the legs and also on their party dresses. There is also a long shot on them flirting with the band and portraying them as having lots of male attention. This appeals to the audience as it shows them to be popular like many teenage girls wish to be. The next shots are of a bar man making cocktails very ‘stylishly’ with the girls having a laugh portraying them as fun and ‘cool’ as the bar is conveyed as contemporary.

The dresses of the girls are all different however all are the same style; they show cleavage, there legs are on show which reveal their tanned and very slim bodies which portrays them as being ‘attractive’ and would appeal greatly to the male audience as well as allowing them to be idolised by the female audience.

There are plenty of close up shots on the different instruments, champagne and people dancing which again reinforces the cool and contemporary feeling about the girls. I have also noticed that lighting is used greatly to represent the gender. For example this shot of Nadine shows spotlights and beams focusing and highlighting her in the mid shot of her on her own. It highlights her figure showing that it’s very important in the representation of women whilst also showing them as ‘bright’ and ‘fun’ which is what they want to be perceived as.

There are also mid shots of the girls doing dance routines on the table conveying them as quite rebellious as ‘normal’ people don’t often get the chance to do that which appeals to the target audience of teenagers as they all wish they could be rebellious.

Most of the camera shots featured in the video are close ups of the 5 girls faces to portray the ‘beauty’ and ‘attractiveness’ of them to the audience again conveying the am being able to be ‘idolised’ as many young girls will want to try and look like them. Also near the end of the video there is a continuous long shot of the dance floor with Girls Aloud dancing in their dresses with a large group of people, which portrays the women as popular and ‘sexy’ as the dancing could be perceived as that.

To conclude Girls Aloud have been portrayed as confident, confident and attractive women which is what the target audience want which is a factor to why they have succeed so well.

How Gender is represented in Pop Videos- 'Girls Aloud Love Machine'

More indepth analysis of Pop Videos

I have looked deeper into music videos to get a deeper understanding of more technical conventions to help me to be able to plan my video correctly.

Craig Davis’s theory

1. Conventions of the band performance:

 a degree of authenticity of the performance is sought by the band and the director so we find lip-sync close-up, mimed playing of instruments, repetition of chorus shots to enhance. ‘Repeatability’, unusual camera shots and angles e.g. the micro camera shots. Attached to the neck of a guitar, sweeping crane shots to film audience reaction to it.

2. Conventions of solo artist performance:

Dance routines to enhance ‘repeatability’ a first person mode of address directly engaging the viewer through the camera which involves many close up shots of eyes rolling and gesturing (see how these conventions have been adopted by ‘Pop Idol’ contestants in a bid to appear professional and authentic)and if the video is a hybrid form cutting between performance and narrative then the solo artist or band lead singer often becomes part of the narrative story, acting as narrator and participant at the same time (see Jarvis Cocker in Pulp’s video for ‘Babies’)

Camera shots:
Pop videos tend to include many long shots, close ups and mid shots. This is to create emphasis on the artist, location and emotions. Also, close ups are used not only to show emotions but to reflect the words of he song with the movement of the lips of the artist.

Camera Movement:
The movement  of the camera is used to follow and trace the artist or band, camera movement includes, tilts, pans, tracking and crane shots.

Mis en scene:
this refers to the arrangements of performers and props on stage or in a scene for a production of a music video or any other media text. Mis en scene puts importance on the representation of something. An example is, ‘Mad by Neyo’ it involves him walking down a road alone, being isolated in a room which reflects his isolation from his lover. Also the props include hats and dark clothes which reflect his mood. Similarly the light is kept very dark as its black and white; this connotes the angry and depressed mood.

Editing:
Jump cuts is the predominant editing technique used in pop videos. This is because this allows a sudden change from one scene to another. Similarly transitions such as fade and dissolve are very common in music videos as they create a different effect to cuts.

Lighting:
Some pop videos are black and white which help emphasize a particaular mood and some videos have artificial lighting which put the artist in an enhanced look.  

Sound:
Sound is mainly the vocals or the song but in some cases such as Michael Jackson- Thriller, the producers can the the music video into a short film.

Props:
These are vital in aiding to add to the scene and create significance on particular objects or people.

Christina Aguilera 'beautiful' as a 'televised bard'

In Christina's video the visual images follow closely with the lyrics which allows a story to be told to the audience. I have decided to look at her video in particular as for my pop video i would like to follow the same idea as her, telling a story through the use of the conventions of a pop video. 

The song starts with her singing "Don't look at me" at this point there is an extreme close up on her face. This is so you can see her say the lyrics clearly so it must be a key message to the story in the video.

Then follows lots of different visuals, mainly mid shots. This allows the audience to identify the characters which are going to be included in the video and also key in the storyline. However it also allows the audience to identify the basis for the story line in seeing that all the characters are very different.

You then hear the lyrics "Now and then i get insure, from all the pain, im so ashamed" The mis en scene of the scene creates the feeling in which she wants to impact on the audience, she is wearing all dark clothes, the lighting is very poor and the room is dark, empty and gloomy, leaving the audience feeling similar. 

You then see another two images, one close up, one a mid shot through the mirror. This images explore the key idea for the video; everyone is beautiful no matter how they look. 

Again you see an extreme close up on her face whilst she sings the chorus" I am beautiful no matter what they say words can't bring me down" The close up allows the audience to be able to just focus on the lyrics showing that they are very important in the storyline. 

There is then a image shown of a girl getting beaten up, this disturbing image comes at the point when the lyrics are "Words can't bring me down, so don't you bring me down today" the words are almost ironic as when they say dont bring me down she gets pushed to the floor. However this strong imagery allows the misconception of people which is the moral of this story to be shown through great devices. 

However after this, the visuals change. For example the two guys staring at each other kiss, the man who was staring in the mirror puts on his makeup 

Which shows through the development of the song and lyrics the storyline has increased with the audience now identifying everyone is beautiful in there own way. 

You also see lots of the typical conventions of pop videos for example the use of mirrors. However throughout the pop video the shots of Christina are only of close ups or mid shots of her in the same room. Yet through the use of clips from other people and the development of them being 'normal' images then to them being gay, or skinny or transsexual and the lyrics developing into her saying 

"cause we are beautiful no matter what they say 

Yes, words won't bring us down, oh no 

We are beautiful in every single way 

Yes, words can't bring us down 

Don't you bring me down today"

Overall Christina's pop video beautiful has been extensively conveyed as a 'televised bard' with a story being told throughout with the use of visual images, not of the pop start herself. And the mirroring between her lyrics and what is shown.

Christina Aguilera 'beautiful'

Although i have analysed some pop videos i have done some further research into pop videos, i found plenty more information which has allowed me to look deeper into the conventions.

The purpose of a music video is to sell the song, sell the artist and to convey the songs meaning. To successfully achieve these music videos has conventions which they are able to follow.

There are three main types of music video, these being a commercial exhibitionist, televised bard and an electric shaman. A commercial exhibitionist video is based all around the artist where there will be a large number of close-up shots of them used to sell them as well as their music. An example of a commercial exhibitionist is Katy Perry California Girls where the video follows her in the candy land. A televised bard is where the music video tells the audience a story which related to the lyrics of the song, an example of this is Christina Aguilera beautiful where she is shows that everyone is beautiful in their own way. An electric shaman is the least used type of music video where artistic images are used and there are no camera shots of the artist. An example of this is Gnarls Barkley crazy.

Once the type of music video has been established the other conventions are used to make up the music video, these being: the music demonstrating the genre and characteristics e.g. through the speed of editing, a relationship between music and visual, a number a close up shots of the artist, the use of voyeurism and intertextual references.

Goodwin’s music video analysis

Andrew Goodwin writing in ‘Dancing in the Distraction Factory’ (Routledge 1992)

-      Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).

-    There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (illustrative, amplifying, and contradicting).

-    There is a relationship between music and visuals (illustrative, amplifying, and contradicting).

-    The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

-    There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

-    There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

I am now going to look deeper into the different types of pop videos, i am going to analyse a video perceived as a ' televised bard'  as i am interesting in doing this with my video.