Shot Ideas

Whilst watching last week's episode of 'Casualty', a sequence of shots caught my eye. The storyline has been on-going based on a ex-prostitute, Annie. At the beginning of the episode Annie was visited by another of the prostitutes who wanted to warn her to run away before their pimp found out where she was. It turns out that the pimp found Annie's house and was waiting there when the other prostitute turns up.

I thought it was interesting how the different shots conveyed someone being watched, in a sinister way. I'd really like to try and create the same effect within my music video!

Casualty Shot Analysis

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Exploitation of Young Female Artists

I made this video to explain a few examples.

Sexualisation of Women in the Media

I really wanted to look more closely at how the media industry began to sexualise women through advertising, television and film. I began by looking at some older adverts and discovered that the objectification of female bodies has become more and more apparent over the years.

During and after the 80's most picked up on the notion that sex really does sell. It became more common to see increasingly sexual advertisements. The American Apparel and Gossip Girl interest me in particular because of the ages of the girls; they look too young to be featured in these adverts.

Now I have a basic idea of the ways in which sexualisation and objectification have developed in the media, I would like to focus in on music videos and the objectification of both female artists and video extras used in male artists' videos. It is also important that I look at contemporary examples of young girls in music videos.

Location Shoot

As I changed my concept, I have also changed my location ideas! I still want to use a forest, however I thought that if I filmed in the forest near my house, it would be very difficult to carry all my equipment up there. I also wanted some bedroom and living room scenes, however I did not feel that my own house would be suitable. This is because it's very homely and it's clearly lived in by adults too. I want Kristie's character to come across as isolated - and thought a flat setting would suit my video a lot more; especially a messy, uncared for one. 
I then remembered about what could be the perfect location. At my Dad's work, there are some unused portacabins which were used for training purposes - set up like grotty flats! Even better, there is a small wood at the rear of the portacabins. I decided to go and have a look at both locations, to take some photographs and in order to get an idea of how I could use them!

I think these locations will be perfect! I can set up the portacabins however I would like and they are suitably grotty! One even had a bed in that I could use. I also like the look of the woods, they seem to be slightly more sinister than the forest near my house, as the trees are smaller and more gnarled looking.

More Idea Developments

After my last post, I have been thinking even more about this 'beauty pressure' concept. I want the music video to convey Kristie's desperation to be a top model. She finally gets spotted by a modelling agent who is interested in her. He is somewhat older than her, which I want to be obvious and he is using her for his own personal gratification. The agency begin to take advantage of her (almost grooming her) and Kristie knows she is out of her depth but doesn't know how to get herself out. Nor does she want to, for fear of losing her opportunity of becoming a star. Kristie finds herself losing her own voice and as her modelling career and agent begin to take over her life, she starts to lose control.


I am really pleased with the idea I have come up with! The sexualisation of young girls has been a controversial and widely discussed debate in the media recently and I feel this would be a really interesting way of presenting it. 

I was also reminded of a Dove Beauty Campaign advert which I had seen entitled 'Onslaught':

I absolutely love the shots of all of the posters and advertising the girl is exposed to as they're so quick. It really emphasises the pressure girls are put under.

Changes in my Concept Idea!

I have been somewhat indecisive when coming up with a final idea for my concept, as I was struggling to make much progress with my stalker/forest idea. Although, in theory I liked the idea, when trying to create a storyboard I found it difficult to develop it into a proper concept. I started thinking again, listening to my song and reading through the lyrics over and over. As I was browsing through some old school documents of mine, I came across a presentation I made on representations of women in the media. In this presentation I had particularly focused on the pressure young girls are put under to look beautiful and slim and how many aspire to be like the models so commonly seen in advertising. What with Kristie's modelling, I thought I could base my video around this concept, tying in some of the ideas I already had!


I also remembered an Evanescence music video for 'Everybody's Fool':

The pressure conveyed in the video is really clear and I really like the contrast of the character's real appearance and feelings compared with her bright and happy roles.


The concept also fits really well with the lyrics! I feel that I can make a better narrative out of this idea. 

Digipak Styles

These are a few examples of the different panel designs you can use for a digipak. I found these on a really great website, which makes all of the digipaks from 100% Green Forestry Practices Certified board stock and high-quality vegetable based ink on both the boards and the discs. What I really love about these digipaks in particular is the custom designs people have ordered. I especially like this one: 

I really like the unique idea of the middle panel having a pocket in it for a small booklet. This would be great for a booklet featuring the lyrics of the songs, which you often see with albums. I would also like to use a 6 panel digipak as there is more opportunity for adding different features such as a list of tracks, the lyric booklet, disc tray and plenty of images. I'm really excited about creating a digipak and can't wait to decide what I would like the end result to look like!

Digipak and Album Cover Research

I have started to look at different digipak designs to help me form an idea of what I would like my own digipak to look like.


The traditional and more common form of CD packages are jewel cases. The clear plastic cases are made up of three pieces of plastic. Digipaks however, typically consists of paperboard or card panels with one or more plastic trays to hold the disc(s). You can also get digipaks which have 'soft-spots' rather than a plastic tray, usually a small circle of felt which you can pop the CD onto. Digipak editions of albums are often of limited edition and contain bonus tracks.


I began by looking at a few different digipaks from all genres, to compare and contrast them, as it's quite difficult to pin-point just what alternative rock is as a genre. It's a pretty vast area as there are so many sub-genres within it. I feel that my track is most likely 'noise-pop'. Also, through my band and record label research I realised that often alternative rock groups and artists use a fusion of many different genres to create their own 'unique' sound. 

My favourite cover out of these is probably the Dead Weather: Horehound cover. The darkness and tree like shapes in the background are similar to the sinister theme I wanted to convey in my own video. Though, if I wanted to base my digipak on a lighter tone I also like the Paramore cover featuring the butterfly as it is simple yet effective and the bright butterfly wings really catch your eye.

Shot/Lighting Inspiration

Saw this music video through a friend today and really loved the first few shots that are used! Not sure if I could incorporate some like this into my video but would like to.

Record Labels

In order to create a realistic and professional digi-pack I have been researching record labels which would be likely to sign my band. I started out by looking at bands and artists who had a similar sound and genre to my track. The six main bands I looked at were Muse, Primal Scream, Queens of the Stone Age, Tool, Autolux and Biffy Clyro. The SlideShare below shows my research and final decision.

Band and Record Label Research

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Ancillary Tasks

As well as making a music video, we are also required to produce two of three ancillary tasks. The choices are:

1. Digipak
2. Magazine Advert
3. Website

The digipak is for the album's release, the magazine advert must promote the digipak, whilst the website is to promote the artist/band. At the moment the digipak and magazine advert appeal to me most. I definitely feel confident about having the Photoshop skills to create them. Hopefully I can make them look really professional and interesting!

Digipak

This is a great example of a student's level 4 digipak

Poster

The poster to promote the digipak



Film Inspiration

In Her Skin is a 2009 Australian thriller about the search of a missing girl. Her killer turns out to be someone her family least suspected; her ex-baby sitter.



It think the idea of using a female as the stalker figure is a really unique idea. Especially if her identity isn't revealed until the end!