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.

Analyses of magazine advertisements

Adele - "21"

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Florence + the Machine - "Lungs"

Jessie J - "Who You Are"

Paloma Faith - "A Perfect Contradiction"

Analyses of digipaks

Adele - "21"

Birdy - "Beautiful Lies"

Taylor Swift - "Beautiful Eyes"

Analyses of music promo videos

Adele - "Hello"

The first pop promo music video that I have analysed is that for for Adele's song "Hello". Below I have embedded a YouTube video of the music promo video:

Birdy and RHODES - "Let It All Go"

The next pop music promo video that I analysed is that for Birdy and RHODES'song "Let It All Go". Unfortunately, the GIFs do not work on the PowerPoint. Below I have embedded a YouTube video of the music promo video:

HAIM - "Falling"

The third pop promo music video that I have analysed is that for for HAIM's song "Falling". Below I have embedded a YouTube video of the music promo video:

Paloma Faith - "Only Love Can Hurt Like This"

The third pop promo music video that I have analysed is that for for HAIM's song "Falling". Below I have embedded a YouTube video of the music promo video:

Generic codes and conventions of pop music promo videos

Now that my group has decided to make a music video for Chelsea Watts' "Meant to Be", I have made a note of the generic codes and conventions of pop music promo videos:

Choosing a track

It is now set in stone that I will use a song by my sister Chelsea Watts as the soundtrack of the products at A2.

The first track that I thought about using was "Run Down the Streets", a song by my brother Sam Watts featuring vocals by Chelsea. The reason why I wanted to use this track was because it has fun, catchy lyrics. However, my group and I ultimately decided against using "Run Down the Streets" because it is a particularly long track that lasts for 4.06 minutes. Instead, we felt that we should use a track that is about 3 minutes in length—the conventional length of a music promo video—in order to hold the audience's attention.

You can listen to "Run Down the Streets" on Spotify:



In a discussion with Chelsea, she suggested that I listen to her tracks on SoundCloud (), an online audio distribution platform.

My group and I felt that "Meant to Be" was the most appropriate track to use as the soundtrack of the products at A2 after listening to Chelsea's music on SoundCloud. There are many reasons for our decision, including that:

• I think that the song lyrics have the potential to serve as the basis for a catchy, colourful music video. 
• The song is relevant. It is highly likely that a music promo video, digipak and magazine ad would increase the popularity of the track. 
• The music artist herself thinks that it is a "great" idea to make a music promo video for this track: 

A conversation on Facebook.  

You can listen to "Meant to Be" on SoundCloud:

Choosing a music artist

My group has been keen to use a song by Chelsea Watts as the soundtrack for the products at A2—a music promo video, together with a digipak and a magazine advertisement—since the beginning of the module.

Chelsea is my sister. She is an unsigned singer-songwriter from Bristol. She writes her own songs. Her songs are produced by my brother, Sam Watts. She records her songs in her bedroom using a microphone and a computer.

This is her Facebook page:



The reason why my group—Chloe-Ann Taylor, Kiana West and I—want to use this singer's work for the products at A2 is due to many reasons: 

1. Our connection: naturally,  my sister and I spend time together. This means that I can easily involve Chelsea in the making of the music promo video, e.g. by listening to her creative input. 
2. Her willingness to help: I have spoken to Chelsea about using a song by her as the soundtrack for the products a A2 and she has let me know that she's happy to help, e.g. by making an appearance in the music promo video. 
3. Her voice: Chelsea has an incredible voice, but I might be a little biased. I think that her songs are lyrical and that a music promo video would be a great visual way to show what her music is all about. 

Now, I have to pick one of Chelsea's songs that will serve as the soundtrack of the products at A2.