Magazine Advert Ideas

In continuing my theme of split screens and wanting to create a brand identity, I will use a similar layout for the magazine advert to my album cover. However, I will possibly be using a different picture in order to not make them look too similar. I will also be adding additional information in the magazine advert, such as three panels for tour dates, singles featured on the album or for where people can download/buy the album and a panel that will say the albums release date. This is my flatplan for the magazine advert:

I will be using the same house colours and typography for all of my promotional materials in order to create a distinct brand identity that will be recognisable to fans and potential buyers.

Another idea I have thought about is still splitting the advert into two sides like the split screen I will be using in my music video, but instead making the left half of the page a picture of the character lip synching in my video and then the right side having all the information including tour dates, album release date, featuring singles, etc.

Digipak Cover Ideas

After discovering I would be able to use my idea for 'Heartbreak Beautiful' I started thinking of ideas for my digipak cover. As I have previously said, I will continue using the theme of split screens throughout my promotional material. Here is a flatplan of the cover, annotated with
some of my ideas so far:

I would like to use the album name Heartbreak Beautiful, as it is the same name as the song I will be using to make my music video. Through research I have found that the majority of the time an album will be named after a track from said album, such as Paramore's 'Brand New Eyes'. As this song will act as the first single off of the album, it makes sense to make this the album name. This also makes me more able to create a brand identity for Snakes Hate Fire, as I can tie in things from the music video with the album, such as the split screen and different outcomes from the same situation. After searching to see if any other bands have made similar album covers, I have found no other albums that use a split photo effect like I want to for my album cover, making it unique and creative. However I did find that Christina Aguilera achieved a similar effect with her album 'Bionic' and this will help aid me when editing my own:

An idea that I came up with was to make multiple different album covers for the album, portraying the music video of multiple situations with different outcomes. However, I am aware that this will take a lot of extra work which I may not be able to do in the limited time we have to produce our promotional products. I was inspired by the band 30 Seconds To Mars for this idea, as for their 'This Is War' album they allowed fans to pick 2,000 different covers for the album. They asked fans to send them pictures of themselves or people they admired, or images they loved and the 2,000 best ones were chosen. Here are a few:

30 Seconds To Mars Album Covers

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I feel like this is a very creative and unique idea, and would like to be able to do something similar with my album cover if possible. However, if not I also like the idea of face filling the whole of the frame, and this is also something I would like to achieve.

Problems I Have Encountered And Overcome

In order to film my music video for 'Heartbreak Beautiful' I had to be sure that I was able to use split screen at the editing stage, otherwise the idea would not work and footage would be useless. After finding out from my teachers that there was no way to use split screen on our editing software (iMovie) I tried to resolve this problem by seeing if I could use functions such as 'picture in picture'. However, this proves unsuccessful as without being able to resize the original video I could not get two videos to run alongside each other simultaneously. I tried filming the original video portrait instead of landscape so that it would not need to be resized, but again this did not work as the video was unable to be rotated so it was the right way up. The only other option I could think of to salvage this idea was to try and acquire another kind of editing software such as Final Cut Pro which has a split screen function, however this was something I was unable to do as it is very expensive and would also be a steep learning curve for me in the limited time I have.

After speaking to my teachers about this problem they suggested I either come up with another idea for the song which does not involve split screen or use my idea for 'Innocent'. Whilst trying to think of ideas for 'Heartbreak Beautiful' this is what I came up with:

• Playing one video after the other instead of using split screen, however this may confuse the audience.
• Showing the character have a dream life where everything goes right, with the final scene showing that actually her life is the complete opposite (such as her dream life if her living in a nice house with a car and a job, when in reality she is living on the streets).

Although these ideas would both work, I was still very set on my original idea and further investigated a way around my problem. I received and email from Apple which informed me that a new version of iLife had just come out, which included the new iMovie 11. I inquired as to whether this new software update allowed people to do split screen:

As I already have iMovie 09 I would be able to upgrade to iMovie 11, giving me a way around my problem and allowing me to do my original idea - meaning I will be able to plan my shooting schedule and start filming as soon as possible.

Brand Indentity in Similar Products

I will be researching how bands similar to my chosen band (Snakes Hate Fire) market themselves and create a brand identity.

Paramore

(Paramore)


(Snakes Hate Fire)

A band similar to that of Snakes Hate Fire in regards to genre and style is Paramore. Much like Paramore, Snakes Hate Fire are a pop-rock band formed of 4 male members and 1 female member. I have analysed 3 different forms of promotion by Paramore - their album cover, website and a magazine advertisement for their album, in order to see how they have created a brand identity across all these promotional products.

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Paramore Promotional Material

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I was unable to find a magazine advert for their album, however I found a magazine advert for the first single off of their new album 'Ignorance'.

Typeface

The typeface for the album cover and the magazine advert are both the same, but in different colours. The band name is in the same font (Helvetica Neue Thin) and the track/album title is in the same font (Edwardian Script ITC). This allows an audience to link the magazine advert for the single with the album. Both of the titles of the magazine advertisement and the album cover seem to be set in the corners, however the band name seems to be larger than anything else, which seems to suggest that people will be more likely to recognise the band name than the album or single title. This is also done as the images used on both sets of promotional material is not a picture of the band, but a random image, therefore the band name needs to be more eye catching for potential buyers.

However, when looking at the bands website I find the typeface is completely different to that of the album cover and the magazine advert, which is unusual when trying to create a brand identity. This 'typewriter-esque' font is found on no other forms of promotion, even when further inspecting the back cover of the album:

The typeface on the website does however tie in with the colour scheme of the website, and does not look out of place. The font is in capitals which makes it eye catching and has a sort of old fashioned look, which goes with the neutral colourisation of the album and website. This font is also a masculine looking font, which contrasts with the rather feminine colours used. On the other hand, using a masculine font would make sense as the band is male dominated. However, they have a female singer and the majority of their fanbase are female, and I feel like this is why they have tried to mix both femininity and masculinity.

House Colours

The album cover and the bands website use similar house colours in order to create a brand identity. They both share a cream/off-white neutral background, which may give the image of a calmer more mellow album. However, fans of the band know that their music is pop-rock and know that it is not calm sounding and therefore juxtaposes with the bands sound.

The magazine advert in contrast has a black and white theme and does not have any of the house colours seen in previous promotional material. Upon further research I found that this is because the image used in the magazine advert is actually the same image used for the single cover. Although the black and white is different to the soft creams and browns used as the house colours in other promotional material, they are still neutral colours and do not directly contrast with the album cover or website, going along with the natural colours theme.

Star Image Motifs and Style Features

Paramore have always used the same lower case Helvetica Neue Thin font for their band name on all promotional material, making it instantly recognisable to audiences. They do not use any symbols or recognisable images, however the band is recognised by the lead singer Hayley Wiliams' trademark bright red hair, which is oftern incorporated into promotional material such as using a bright orange font for the title of their last album 'Riot!'. Among the promotional material I am analysing here, the band have chosen to use a bright yellow butterfly with its wings detached not only on their album cover but on their website home page as well. The bright colour of the butterfly's wings contrasts with the cream/off-white background and makes it stand out, catching potential buyer's eyes. This seems to be a theme for the new album and acts as a recognisable image for the band as it would stay in your mind if you saw it in a magazine. Paramore have said that this image of a butterfly divided from its wings inspired the line "The angles were all wrong, now she's ripping wings off of butterflies" from their song 'Brick by Boring Brick' on the album.

Selling Music Using Artists Image?

The band have never used images of themselves for covers of their album, which is also shown in the album I am analysing today. They use the image of a butterfly with its wings detached throughout the promotional material, showing that they are trying to sell their music not their image. On their website the only images you see of the band are pictures from tour or stills from videos, not used as promotion. On the magazine advert and image of two ornaments on a curb is used instead of an image of the band themselves, this also shows that the band are well known and do not need images of themselves on the cover of their promotional material in order for it to sell, as the peaked at number 1 on the official UK Rock charts.

No Doubt

(No Doubt)



(Snakes Hate Fire)

Another band similar to Snakes Hate Fire in terms of style and genre are No Doubt. Although No Doubt were around long before Snakes Hate Fire, they share some similarities of sound and the way they look as a band, such as No Doubt have 3 male members and 1 female lead singer, similar to that of SHF.

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No Doubt Promotion Material

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As I could not get an image of the website from when their last album was released I will compare the album cover and the magazine advert to their modern website.

Typography

The typography used on both the album cover and magazine advert is the same as they are both exactly the same image. The 'Old English' font gives the album cover and magazine advert a royal look, which ties in with the idea that this is a greatest hits album and they have come to the top of their career. Using the same font on both pieces of media helps create a brand identity as it is a unique font that potential buyers and fans will associate with the band and album. The black and white colour of the typography ties in with the black and white theme of all of their promotional material, also creating a brand identity. However, as the website is more modern it uses different typography, as No Doubt have recently reformed. The typography used on their website interestingly is the same as the typography used on the red sticker on the album, which shows that even thought the band have reformed they are still trying to link their new image with their old one to keep their audience attracted.

House Colours

There seems to be a theme of black, white and red across all of the promotional materials that I am analysing. Through research I have found that No Doubt have had these three colours incorporated into other albums of theirs as well, and as I am analysing their modern website I can see that this has transferred into modern day. The 2 main house colours are black and white, as seen on their album cover and magazine advert. This allows them to stand out from other artists, as they will usually use colourful images of bright, eye-catching colours to make people notice their material. No Doubt offers a different style for people to opt for. Red is used as an accent colour, as seen from the sticker on the album cover. This stands out on the black and white background and catches a potential buyers eye. This has also been used in other albums of theirs, such as 'Rock Steady':

These house colours create a clear brand identity for the band, and if someone sees a magazine advert or album cover with these colours they will more than likely link it with No Doubt. We also see a use of these house colours on the bands website, with black and white being the main theme with accent colours of red in random links and text, showing that they are still using this to keep up their brand identity today.

Star Image Motifs and Style Features

Much like Paramore, No Doubt do not seem to use any reoccurring icons or images in order to create a brand identity. However, they do seem to use pictures of themselves in all of the promotional material I have been analysing. This seems to show that the band are most recognisable by their image, in which lead singer Gwen Stefani shown up front standing out as the female lead singer in a male dominated band. Also, in most pictures I have seen in No Doubts promotional material, one of the male members of the band is either always looking at Gwen or looking away from the camera whilst the other members use direct address. This is interesting as in most band pictures either all band members would be looking at the camera or looking away from the camera, and this is another thing that makes No Doubt stand out and be different.

Selling music using artists image?

As I have noted previously, No Doubt tend to use pictures of themselves on most of their promotional material and especially in the material that I have been analysing. However, as this is a greatest hits album it would make sense to have the band on the front because it allows fans both old and new to recognise that they have bought out a singles compilation. On the other hand, this gives the impression that No Doubt are trying to promote their music through their image as if it would not be as successful if they were just selling it without their image, as if they are not well known enough.

How will I attempt to create a brand identity for my artist?

If I were to use 'Heartbreak Beautiful' I would use a theme or star image motif of split screens. This is because this will be a prominent part of my music video, and I want to continue that by making the album cover split into two images, and also use this as part of a magazine advert. I also aim to maintain the same typography throughout my promotional materials, as I have seen this has been successful for Paramore. As the band have split up I will be unable to take shots photos of them for any promotional material, so I will be using either images of my character from the video or images that could be linked with the different situations of the video. As the album would be called 'Heartbreak Beautiful' I would want to have one side of the album as a sad image for 'Heartbreak' and the other side of the album cover as a happy image for 'Beautiful'. I feel like this is an inventive idea as through my own research I have yet to find an album cover or any promotional material that uses split screens quite like this.

If I were to use 'Innocent' I would make my theme or star image motif close-ups or medium close-ups of my character from the music video, using light house colours to promote the connotations of 'Innocent'. I feel like the music video would be very character orientated, fixed on the idea of the girl getting over her boyfriend and therefore I would want her to be heavily featured in the promotion. The last shot of the music video would be the girl walking away from the camera, linking arms with her friends and looking back as she says the line "Cos I'm all I need". This may be a good image to use for the front cover of my album as I have yet to see anything like this for other album covers. The girl would be using direct address looking straight into the camera to connect with the potential buyers which makes it eye catching, this is a technique I have seen No Doubt do with their promotional material. The fact that it would just be the main girl character turning her head round to look at the camera with the rest of her friends looking the other way is also similar to No Doubt's use of direct and indirect address. Much like 'Heartbreak Beautiful' I would also aim to use the same typography throughout the promotional material in order to create a brand identity.

Target Audience

With both of my ideas I will be targeting an audience of teenagers to young adults (approx. 15-21 year olds). I feel this age group are the most likely to enjoy a pop/rock band such as Snakes Hate Fire and I will also try and attract this age range by using teenagers in the video itself.

Although I feel my video could appeal to both genders, I feel the 'Innocent' video would appeal to women more as it will be based around a girl who is getting over her ex boyfriend. The 'Heartbreak Beautiful' video may be more relatable to both males and females, as most people have felt that they have missed out on opportunities in their life or wish things had turned out differently. However as I will be using a female character this may appeal to women more, unless I intend to use voyeurism. My target audience will also be students as the age range I am trying to appeal to would either still be in school, have just left school or will be in university.

Draft Storyboard and Possible Scenes

Before drawing out a storyboard I came up with a list of situations for Heartbreak Beautiful that I might be able to include:

Valentines day - Expectations: card from a secret admirer and flowers. Reality: bar of chocolate and a card from mum.
Facebook - Expectations: changes relationship status to 'In a Relationship'. Reality: changes relationship status to 'Single'.
Pub - Expectations: a guy approaches her and buys her a drink. Reality: The guy walks up next to her, gets his drink and walks away.
Town - Expectations: girl is sitting on a bench in town waiting for her boyfriend, he turns up and they walk away hand in hand. Reality: the girl sits there on her own eating her lunch whilst the boy walks up and meets another girl who is sitting on the other side of the bench. The girl watches them walk away hand in hand.
Smoking - Expectations: girl is offered a cigarette, refuses and walks away from the situation. Reality: the girl accepts the cigarette and we fast forward in time to see her looking dramatically older with yellowing teeth due to her addiction.
Engagement - Expectations: girl's boyfriend gets down on one knee and opens a small jewelry box to reveal an engagement ring. Reality: girl's boyfriend gives her a small jewelry boy revealing a bracelet.
University - Expectations: the girl comes downstairs and opens a letter excitedly, thinking its from her favourite university. The letter says she has been accepted onto her course. Reality: the letter says she has been rejected from her course.
School - Expectations: the girl is sitting in a class room surrounded by friends, laughing and joking. Reality: she is sitting isolated reading a book whilst the other girls are sitting in their own groups around her, possibly making fun of her.

I will attempt to film most of these situations even though I wont need all of them just because I think it would be better to film more than I need than to film too little. Then I will have a variety of footage to choose from. My draft will include the University, Facebook and School scenes but these may be replaced by other scenes.

--

These are my draft storyboards. At the moment they are just a rough plan, as I am still not sure on what song I will be using, however I feel it is essential that I plan for both. My finalised story board will be in much more detail, with more indepth planning such as more shots, more precise timing and a better idea of lighting arrangements.

Draft Storyboard for Innocent

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Draft Storyboard for Heartbreak Beautiful

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It may be hard to see some of the comments I have made next to the drawings, so I will also include the original images here:

Innocent:

Heartbreak Beautiful:

Pictures of Locations

I have been able to take a few pictures of my ideas for locations. I found a large field/park area which could be used for both videos. The field could be used for 'Heartbreak Beautiful' during the lip synching shots. The park could be used as a location for the character to walk through during the walking shots in 'Innocent'.

There is a walking track through the park which I could use to film the journey shots for 'Innocent', as well as an obstacle course which I could also use for some interesting shots. The field in the 3rd picture would be perfect for 'Heartbreak Beautiful' as it looks very tranquil, and shots of the light coming through the trees would really go with the tone of the song and video. The only problem I may face is people in the park or field that could interrupt continuity and would disturb my vision for the character to be alone in the field.

However, if there are traveling issues I may use a local field called Pinehill Field to film in, which has basically the same field layout with trees, but doesn't have a playground.

I have also been able to get in touch with some people from the University of Bedfordshire, who have allowed me to use their student union for filming. This location would also be good for both videos as it could be used for one of the scenarios in 'Heartbreak Beautiful', such as approaching a guy at a bar and not approaching a guy at a bar. In 'Innocent' this location would be used to film the scene where the character meets a new guy, or for when the character is hanging out with her friends.

However, I have recently been informed that the student union is being demolished as a new one is being made around the corner, therefore I won't be able to film there. After talking to the people at the student union again though, they have said that I can film in the new one when it opens at the beginning of October.

UPDATE

I have been informed that I will be unable to use the new student union due to privacy reasons, therefore I have had to come up with new situations to film. One of these is a situation where the girl is on Facebook, in her expectations she changes her relationship status to 'In a Relationship' however in reality she changes it to 'Single'. This is a good use of Goodwin's theory of the notion of looking through screens within screens. This will be shot in the office in my house:

There may be a problem with lighting and space, as there is only one small window and it is quite a small room, therefore I may have to use artificial light or change to a different room.

I have also taken some photos of the dining room where the University acceptance/rejection scene will take place:





Problems I found when taking these pictures are again space and lighting issues, especially from the angle of the first pic. Therefore upon filming I may need to use another angle, or use artificial lighting.

Camera Work and Editing

In all music videos, camera work and editing are extremely important in getting the right look and feel to the video. In my previous post about anotating lyrics I mentioned my ideas for camera work and editing, however I will make a short list of ideas in this post to remind myself when drawing my storyboard.

Camera work ideas for 'Heartbreak Beautiful':

• For my split screen shots I will need to film some situations twice if the ideas are just 2 different outcomes of one situation. I will need to take careful consideration of lighting and camera placement during the filming of these shots, making sure both outcomes are filmed in the same way with the cameras in the same place.
• At the beginning I will attempt a 'frozen in time/wraparound' shot as previously mentione in my Anotating Lyrics post.
  
• I will be using high angle shots of the girl at times to show her vulnerability. However at the end I may use a low angle shot of the girl in the field to show how she is now in control and has come to terms with her reality.
• Long shots of the girl in the field will greate the image of space and freedom.
• During the split screens I may need to use long or medium shots to show the girl in each situation, and close up shots to show the difference in her reaction. These close up shots will also create intimacy with the audience.
• Whilst filming the split screen shots I may also need to put marks on the floors to make sure my actress stays in the same spot when filming the 2nd shot.

Editing ideas for 'Heartbreak Beautiful':

• I am hoping to be able to use split screen in this video. The effect I want to achieve of two videos running along side eachother looking almost identical may be difficult, because of timing issues. However on location I am considering using a clapper board as through research I have found that this will help me synchronise both videos.
• For the 'frozen in time/wraparound' shot I will need to use a lot of editing. This will require more research, however from what I have already read I would need to film one shot of the girl standing still and one shot of the camera rotating around her, and then overlap the videos in editing. This will require my actress to stand in exactly the same place for both shots.
  
• For transitions during fast montage flashbacks I will be using a white flash which will be added in editing.
• The scene at the end of the video where the 2 versions of the girl are in the field will require me to film the shots twice and overlap them in editing.

Camera work ideas for 'Innocent':

• Close up shot of the girls phone screen at the beginning, showing text from her boyfriend, and close up shots of her reaction.
• High angle shot to show her vulnerability.
• Long angle shots showing her walking.
• Recording of screens, showing Facebook comments or statuses. This would need to be recorded on the computer using a software programme, as filming the screen with a video camera would make the screen distorted.
• Medium shots of lip synching, looking into the camera (direct address), possibly high/low angle or other interesting angles.
• Low angle floor shots of feet walking along.
• Spinning shots if at the fair or maybe hand held shots.
• The girl and her friends looking into the camera and talking to it as if they we're talking to another person, e.g POV shots of an unknown person.

Editing ideas for 'Innocent':

• Smooth transitions such as fades or shots sweeping in from the sides, keeping the video fun and interesting.
• Possible colorisation
• At some points fast cuts
• Possibly having 3 shots in one, such as for the "No, no, no" lyrics, this could be achieved by split screen or picture in picture.
• Shot reverse shots of the girl looking at her laptop/computer screen, then editing the shot of the Facebook comments and status' in, then cutting back to her so we can see her reaction.
  

Music Video Pitch

We were asked to pitch our ideas for our music videos to the class in order to get some feedback on how to improve our ideas. However as I have been very ill recently I missed the day where we had to pitch to the class and instead pitched to a group of my friends who were the same age as what my target audience will be. As I am still struggling to decide between both 'Heartbreak Beautiful' and 'Innocent', I decided to pitch both of my ideas and whichever idea they preferred would ultimately be the idea I go with unless I encounter any problems. I also showed them my ideas for camera shots and editing so they could get an idea of what the video would look like.

Media Pitch

I have struggled to decide between two songs (Heartbreak Beautiful and Innocent) for my music video. In order to be prepared to choose either one I have planned both videos.

I have interpreted Heartbreak Beautiful as a song that looks back on life and on the decisions a person has made, whether they be right or wrong. I have taken my inspiration for the look of the music video from the film 500 days of Summer, where they use a split screen to convey what the character is expecting and what actually happens in reality (this would be good as it shows my knowledge of intertextuality and music videos, etc). In my music video, I will use this idea but in a past tense, so the character looks back on past events that she has embedded in her mind.

For instance, one event could be where the character opens a letter she has found on the table, excited that it could be a university acceptance letter. When she opens it, she expects she will be accepted, however in reality she is rejected.

Another could be where the character dreams (expects) that she would one day become a singer. A letter comes through the door and she dreams that it would be a record company offering her a recording contract when in reality it is her acceptance to university, etc. Or another idea for this could be she dreams (expects) that she would be playing concerts and gigs by now, when in reality she is busking outside a coffee shop.

I want to do this by adding in a split screen, one titled expectations and one reality, showing the characters reaction in both situations as they happen.

I will ground the video by regularly panning back to the character singing, as the band I have chosen have split up and so I wont be able to film them performing. I think she should be in a large field to show the freedom she now feels after coming to terms with her reality, with it being a sunny day to represent her new found positive outlook on life, however as we are approaching winter this may be difficult. The song has quite a serious tone, and I think one interpretation could be her looking back over these past events and how they have shaped her into who she is now.

However, as it may not be possible to use split screen I can't decide between that and the song Innocent. Heartbreak Beautiful is a more liberal song, and could be interpreted in many different ways, whereas Innocent has a set meaning.

The lyrics for Innocent are very straight forward and depict the story of a girl who finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her. In the song she decides to leave him and discovers that she doesn’t need a man to make her happy.

My idea for this video is to focus on the character moving on from her boyfriend cheating on her. Again, I wanted to regularly cut back to the character singing, but in this video I thought that this could be depicted in two different ways: she could be in a different place every time it pans back: like journey. For instance, it could start with her sitting on her bed with a text from her boyfriend saying he‘s sorry, then cut to a flashback of how their relationship was and how she found out he was cheating, continuing with interchanges throughout the video of scenes where she is hanging out with her friends and having fun whilst getting over her relationship, meeting new people and possibly seeing her ex with a new girl. When the camera pans back to her, she is walking down the street etc.

Each time we cut back to this scene, it could show her at a different stage of the journey she is making and eventually end with her knocking on a door, or arriving at her destination, meeting her friends and looking happy to show that she doesn’t need a man. The journey that she takes from her bedroom to meeting her friends could represent the journey she has taken from being in an unhappy relationship to finally being happy single.

Another, simpler idea could be to just have her staying in her room reminiscing for the parts where she is lip syncing, and interchange this with shots of her going out with friends, having fun whilst they help her get over her ex, etc.

In this video I would also use many references to the notion of looking, as when the character is lip syncing she could be looking into the camera directly using direct address in order to connect with the audience. I may also use computer screens, as I am thinking of including a scene where the girl flashes back to when she found comments from another girl on her boyfriends Facebook. I will also be using a close up of her phone screen at the beginning of the song with a text from her boyfriend apologising to her.

I think both of these ideas would be good however I feel like I could do a lot more with Heartbreak beautiful as the lyrics don’t tell as much of a story so the video will be more original and I could use split screens as my niche. This is also an original idea that I haven't seen many artists do recently, and certainly not with the idea that I have. However with Innocent the song tells more of a story and I would be able to amplify the lyrics more, using more of Goodwin's theories.

--

The general consensus of my feedback was that my audience preferred the idea for Heartbreak Beautiful, because of it's originality.

What my audience thinks would work well in Heartbreak Beautiful:

• The different situations will give variety and will keep people watching.
• The creative shots will catch peoples eye and set it apart from other videos.
  
• The split screen would be good as it is not typically seen in most music videos and could also be used as a good star image motif.
  
• How the video would tie in with the lyrics without making it too narrative and monotonous.
• The use of intertextuality
  

What my audience thinks could be improved in Heartbreak Beautiful:

• Lighting could be difficult in the outside shots, especially if I want it to be a sunny day when filming. Artificial lighting may need to be used.
  
• The creative shots I have thought of using may be hard to do considering my limited resources.
• Colourisation could be used to make the flashbacks more obvious, allowing the audience to understand the message, such as black and white or sepia.

What my audience thinks would work well in Innocent:

• The story is something most people can relate to, as many people have had a break up at one point or another in their life.
• It has a good message to the audience about moving on after a break up.
• Is upbeat and would go well with the song.
• The use of lyrics and visuals.

What my audience thinks could be improved in Innocent:

• The cutting back to the character on a journey after the flashbacks could be confusing and would have to be made clear through editing effects.
• It is very narrative and may seem more like a short film rather than a music video.
• The shots and angles could be more creative.
• A niche would need to be created in some way.

It seems that my audience preferred the idea for Heartbreak Beautiful due to it's originality, however preferred how the story was portrayed in Innocent. Again, this makes it difficult for me to decide, however I am still leaning towards Heartbreak Beautiful. I will keep all these suggestions in mind whilst continuing to plan my music video.

Annotating Lyrics

In order to come up with some more ideas for my music video and try and apply Goodwin's theory of there being a relationship between music and visuals, I have annotated the lyrics of both of my songs:

Heartbreak Beautiful

In my analysis of 'Heartbreak Beautiful' I was able to come up with some interesting shot ideas. The first like "We are heartbreak beautiful when time stand still" gave me the idea of having a shot where the character is standing in the middle of the field, looking as if shes been frozen in time, whilst the camera pans around her in a circular, 360 motion. The only example of this that I could think of was a scene that I have seen in the film The Matrix, in which they use the frozen wraparound effect during a fight scene. This may be difficult or even impossible to achieve with the editing equipment I have available, but it would be an interesting an effective shot to use which will need more research in order to make it a reality. This shot also shows a relationship between lyrics and visuals, putting into effect Goodwin's theory.

Continuing my knowledge of Goodwin's theory I would like to amplify the lyric "When your life flashes before your eyes will it be beautiful" by using a white flash effect used as a transition between fast paced flashbacks, around 0.5 seconds apart. This will be effective and eye catching for the audience.

Another interesting scene that I have though of whilst analysing my lyrics was for the chorus at the end. The girl in the flashbacks and the girl in the field will both be the same girl, however I thought an interesting idea would be to make the girl in the flashbacks suddenly run out of the last split screen scene she was in as if she was running from the situation. She ends up running to the field where she sees herself lip synching to the words. Both versions of the girl look at eachother, cutting to a close up of the field girl lip synching the words "Will it be beautiful?" to the flashback girl. We then cut to a close up of her looking straight into the camera and then back down. This scene would be unanticipated by a viewer, and would stick in their mind as it is at the end of the video. This would possibly entice them to rewatch the video again. I have seen tutorials online of how to achieve this kind of shot, however lighting could be a problem. This would have to be overcome by doing the shots immediately after eachother. Here is a tutorial that I have found explaining how to achieve the effect:

Innocent

Much like 'Heartbreak Beautiful' whilst analysing these lyrics I found ways to show a relationship between lyrics and visuals. As the lyrics are quite narrative in themselves, I will try and amplify or hint at them during the video.

In the first like "It's hard to believe what you're telling me" I have thought about doing a close up of a text from the girls boyfriend, saying something along the lines of "I didn't mean to hurt you", and then a medium shot of her reaction. This would amplify the lyrics and make the audience want to keep watching to find out what the boy has done.

During the fourth line "Then I would walk right past you and not worry what life brings" I will try and subtley hint at the lyrics by having the girl walk out of the room.

The the lyrics in the bridge will be amplified ("This has got to stop I can't keep running back to you") by the girl shaking her head as if trying not to think about him, or remembering how he cheated on her.

The lyrics in the 2nd verse however will be contradicted, as although they are quite negative ("'Cos everytime I think of what you did I want to cry") these shots will consist of her and her friends out having fun, possibly at a pub/club or at the fair.

The last line "'Cos I'm all I need" could be portrayed in 2 ways. The two idea's I have come up with are that she throws away the new guys number that she has met in the previous scene, or it could be a shot of her walking away with her friends linking arms, where she turns her head round to the camera and lip synchs the lyric, both emphasize the idea of the song that she doesn't need a man.

This song will also use the notion of looking more, as there will be screens and direct address with the character lip synching, showing more of Goodwin's theory than 'Heartbreak Beautiful'.

The ideas that I have come up with in Innocent are typically narrative ideas, unlike Heartbreak Beautiful where I have had to come up with quite interesting and abstract shots for lack of a story. In order to make 'Innocent' stand out I would need to consider some more interesting angles for shots to keep the viewer interested, possibly including some editing effects such as colourisation or creative transitions.

Correspondence With Artists

I have been able to get in touch with both artists, asking whether I would be able to use their songs. The first person I approached was Alex Day via Email:

Unfortunately, it became evident that Alex would be unable to perform in the music video as he had to go on a trip to Zimbabwe and would also be promoting his other band around the same time that I would have to film. In light of this, I felt that my idea was not strong enough without some kind of performance and therefore decided to get in touch with the lead singer of Snakes Hate Fire via Facebook in order to ask for her permission.

I have chosen the band Snakes Hate Fire because they are a young, current band that would appeal to a wide audience. The quality of their tracks is very professional also, which makes them more attractive to listen to and would make an audience for my video want to keep listening to the song. They are a pop/rock band, and therefore would mostly appeal to a teenage audience but I feel their music could also appeal to young adults, therefore this is the age I will target with my video.


After finding out that split screen may not be achievable for 'Heartbreak Beautiful' from my teachers I thought it would be wise to ask Grace for permission to use 'Innocent' instead, just in case I definitely can't use the effect and can find no way of resolving it other than to use a different song. However, I am still awaiting her reply.