Draft of music promo video

Below I have embedded the first draft of my group's music promo video.

Once the music promo video was uploaded to YouTube we asked our classmates and teachers for feedback. Their feedback has helped us improve our main product.

Firstly, we asked the people we got feedback from to say their thoughts on the titles we had used. A majority said that the design of the titles was unconventional. They felt the design was better suited to a film.

My group's original titles (1/2)

My group's original titles (2/2)

Therefore, we have changed the titles so that they are positioned in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen in a smaller text size - a convention of music promo videos:

Furthermore, we were told our credits at the end of music promo video were unconventional. Therefore, we have chosen to remove the credits from our main product.

With credits

Without credits

Digipak and magazine advertisement photoshoot

I took a range of photos for my group's digipak and magazine advertisement on the day that we filmed our music promo video. Here they are:

My group has chosen this image as the front cover to our digipak. The reason for this is because we like the background scenery and think that it reflects Chelsea in a good light.

My group has chosen to use this image for our magazine advertisement. The reason for this is because we like Chelsea's thoughtful facial expression and how sunshine filters through the trees.

Update: For an evaluative explanation of how my group made our digipak and magazine advertisement, as well as our music promo video, please see evaluation question 4. 

Social media hype

I have shared a mysterious photo from the set of our music promo video with the hashtag #secretproject to my Instagram page to build hype for the music video:

Hand draft of ancillary texts (digipak & magazine advertisement)

Digipak

Below I have sketched a draft of the front and back cover to my group's digipak:

Magazine advertisement

I have also sketched a draft of my group's magazine advertisement:

Shooting schedule

Please find below the shooting schedule for the music promo video. Most of this document was made by me with some input from my fellow group members.

Setting a date to film

My group has decided to shoot the music promo video early afternoon Friday 7 October 2016. All of the group, as of far, are able to attend filming.

The weather forecast looks good with a very unlikely chance of precipitation.

Chelsea, the star of our music video, is also able to attend filming. She let me know that she was able to make it over text:

Mise en scène (locations, costumes & props)

Props

We plan to use props in our music promo video in order to represent its themes.

For example, one prop that my group plan to use is a vase of roses. These will be sourced from my local supermarket. The reason why we plan to use roses is because they symbolise love - a common theme of our music promo video and pop music videos in general. This suggests that the roses in a vase as a prop will symbolise the genre of our music promo video.

Another prop that we plan to use is a photo album that contains picture of Chelsea Watts, the star of our music video, and her boyfriend. The pictures for the photo album will be printed off from Chelsea's Facebook account. The reason why my group want to use this prop is because my group think it will symbolise that Chelsea's lyrics are about her boyfriend and the love that they share. The effect of this may be that it is clear to viewers that the narrative of the music promo video revolves around Chelsea and her boyfriend.

The folder that will serve as a photo album. 

Costumes

Furthermore, my group have planned for our music promo video to contain different costume changes. The reason for this is because multiple costume changes are a convention of pop music promo videos.

• The first outfit that Chelsea will wear during my group's music promo video is an autumnal dress. The reason behind this costume choice is my group think that it will reflect the time of year at which we made the music promo video - Autumn. Update: On the day Chelsea chose to wear a jumper and jeans instead of a dress because it was cold outside. We respected her decision. 
• Another outfit that Chelsea will wear during the music promo video is dungarees. The reason for this is because this certain item of clothing can be considered fashionable. Therefore, this costume choice adheres to the convention of music artists in pop music videos being clothed in fashionable outfits like dungarees.
• A third outfit that Chelsea will wear during the music promo video is pyjamas. Chelsea will wear this costume during the scenes set at night. The pyjamas can also be seen to suggest that Chelsea has let herself go after a bad breakup. Update: On the day Chelsea wore her dressing gown because we felt that this costume would work just as good as pyjamas. 
• The final outfit that Chelsea will wear during the pop music promo video is her care work uniform. Chelsea will wear this costume during the lyric line "You bring out the best me", as the music artist herself suggested.

Locations

In addition to the above, my group has discussed potential locations for the setting of our music promo video. Collectively, we have come to the conclusion that the majority of our music video will be shot at my house because this is one of the most accessible locations to Chelsea.

The interior scenes will be filmed in my house. Most of the scenes will be shot in Chelsea's bedroom. My group feel that this is a fitting location for our music promo video because Chelsea's bedroom is where she wrote and recorded "Meant to Be". Furthermore, the bedroom has a large window which should ensure that the scenes shot here are well-lit. Some interior scenes will be set in the bathroom. One scene shot here will involve Chelsea looking at herself in a mirror. This scene relates to Goodwin's notion of looking because Chelsea is looking at herself in a mirror.

The exterior scenes will be primarily filmed on Whitchurch Green. This is open space of land which we feel will reflect Chelsea's freedom after her breakup. Other exterior scenes will be shot in a woodland area outside my house. My group think that the scenes shot here will add an element of nature to our music promo video. This could enhance the visual look it. Furthermore, we could edit our music promo video so that it has jump cuts to trees in the woodland area. This would allow for a break in continuity.

Update: Check out the photos I took of the interior set:

Storyboard

Below is the storyboard that my group has made for our music promo video. Chloe originally drew the storyboard, however I added colour to the storyboard and redrew parts of it. I think that this made the storyboard clearer when scanned.



Annotated song lyrics

Now that I have made myself aware of the generic codes and conventions of music promo videos, my group  has annotated the lyrics to "Meant to Be" with potential ideas for a pop music promo video:

Media theory (Goodwin, Postmodernism & Vernallis)

Goodwin

Postmodernism

Vernallis

Audience research

My group have created a questionnaire, a primary research method, to find out about our target audience's knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of music promo videos.

My fellow group member Kiana designed the questionnaire with SurveyMonkey so that it can be completed online rather than on paper. You can view the questionnaire by clicking here.

Findings

18 respondents completed our questionnaire.

As you can see from the diagram above, the majority of respondents to our questionnaire said that they were between the ages of 16 and 18. For this reason, my group has decided that teenagers and young people will be our target audience. The reason for this decision is because we think that it is the younger generation who are most likely to engage with our media product, as suggested by the majority of respondents to our questionnaire being young people.

The diagram shows that there was a near balanced number of males versus females for the data collected. This may mean that respondents' responses are representative of the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of music promo videos both genders have.

The image above illustrates that the majority of respondents to our questionnaire watch music promo videos either 4-6 or 10+ times a week. This suggests that the people who view our music promo video are likely to watch many other music videos. For this reason, my group have come to the conclusion that our music promo video should stand out so that it sticks in viewers' mind, e.g. by having a gripping narrative that retains viewers' attention from start to finish.

From the pie chart above, it is clear that most respondents to our questionnaire identified pop as the genre of music that they listen to the most. For this reason, my group has decided to use a pop song ("Meant to Be") as the soundtrack to our music promo video in order to appeal to our audience's interest in pop music.

The diagram above shows that most respondents to our questionnaire watch music promo videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube. For this reason, my group will upload our music promo video to YouTube to ensure that it can be easily accessed by our target audience.

From the responses above, it is clear the vast majority of people surveyed see music promo videos as important to the success of music artists. One respondent in particular felt that music promo video "help sell music [because they] draw[] people in." Other respondents felt that music promo videos portray artists and their "style." For these reasons, my group will ensure that our music promo video is visually engaging is so that it draws viewers in. We also plan to very much involve the music artist Chelsea Watts in in the music promo video in order to promote her voice and talent.

One of the many responses above suggests that our music promo video should have "quick shot transition[s]" to keep the music video interesting. Another suggests that our music promo video should have a "compelling... thoughtfully-crafted" narrative to ensure that the music video is "enjoy[able]". Another respondent said that they liked a music promo video because it was "funny". For this reason, my group has decided that our music promo video will have an element of humour to ensure it is likeable. One respondent said that they did not enjoy a music promo video because it "was too long and...depressing". For this reason, my group has decided that out music promo will last no longer than 3 minutes - the conventional length of a music video - to ensure that is not too long or short in length.

The diagram above shows that few respondents to our questionnaire purchased a song after watching the music promo video for a song. For this reason, I think that my group should ensure that our music promo video is beautifully crafted to increase the likelihood of viewers purchasing "Meant to Be" after watching the music video for the song.

From the responses above, it is clear that respondents expect to see many things in music promo videos. Quite a large number of respondents said that they expect to see "the artist" in music promo videos. For this reason, my group has decided that, in order to meet viewers' expectations, our music artist Chelsea Watts will feature heavily throughout our music promo video. One respondent said that they expect to see "a story line" in music promo video. For this reason, my group will ensure that our music promo video has a gripping narrative. Another respondent said that they expect to see "quick shot transitions".  For this reason, my group will ensure that our music promo video is edited to include lots of jump cuts.

The majority of respondents to our questionnaire preferred narrative focused music promo videos over abstract ones. A common reason they give for this preference is that they like how a narrative adds "meaning" to songs and makes them "easier  to understand." For this reason, my group has decided, in line with audience preference, that we will construct a narrative focused music promo video.