Discuss avatars in terms of their social and psychological functions and semiotic meanings

Avatars are used to represent the user, in social networking, games and generally on technological items. An avatar is better known as being a cartoon like character image that an individual creates, which in someway represents themselves and their character. An avatar is most commonly seen as being a cartoon image; however it can be words, as in the name you give yourself on a social networking site or an email address. Avatars are usually chosen by the individual and represent them in some way, however physically they do not usually show much resemblance.

Avatars act as a sort of telephone number, therefore allowing others to find the user; this acts as a social function of avatars, because they are enabling others to identify the individual, through an image, which resembles them as a person. The social function of them, in this context, is that they show others who this person is and enables the audience to understand this person. The avatar creates assumptions about the individual who created it. The psychological function of this is the process of the user creating their avatar, and in what way they create it and the different decisions they make within the process, and how the outcome represents themselves.

When we look at an avatar, we look at its other meanings, as if it were a sign, as they are a form of language and they operate as a sign system that can be read in semiotic terms. This term, is neither social nor psychological. It is based on language, and communication, as when we look at an avatar, we almost look at it as if it were a person, because we try to find meanings and connotations, by just looking at the exterior. The way the avatar, which is the signifier, points to the user; the signified, therefore creating a sign, follows the same concept as above, because they are both linguistic and based on the way we connect and perceive something when we look at it.

Although, avatars are supposed to represent the user, they are very often used in a way that shows the gap between the avatar and the user, because users like that their avatar is very different from themselves. This is a psychological function of an avatar, because it allows people to represent themselves within a social network, or in a game, but not show their real identity, and hide behind an avatar, as if it is an escape from reality, or being someone who they wish they were in reality. Some users, create their avatars in a way that they are totally different from themselves in reality, as an escape and way of hiding themselves, however some decide to instil certain qualities into their avatar to represent themselves in that certain environment, this is a social and psychological function, as you are representing yourself how you chose, firstly so you fit into that particular environment, and secondly in an escapist way.
The use of an avatar creates a way that you, the user can distance yourself from reality, and fictionalise yourself, therefore using the method of pretending to be someone else in a virtual environment, as a way of escaping your real identity.

An avatar, works as a visual representation, which enables you to take part in online activities, therefore it acts as a social tool, however as well as being a social tool, it is also psychological, because you can change the visual of your avatar, to be fitting with the `perfect person`, or how you believe `perfect`, to be perceived.

Although, we believe avatars, to be fictionalised cartoons, they also come in the form of a profile picture; that being an actual image of you, on social networking sites such as face book. It is a way, of showing others certain aspects of you that you believe are valued and inspirational within that society. This is both social and psychological, as it is a way of fitting in with certain social groups because of our appearance and the way we present ourselves and also the way we believe we should look.

“Teens often fabricate key identifying information like name, age and location to protect themselves”, Danah Boyd. This quotation, shows that as teenagers, we will give out key pieces of information about ourselves, in order to protect ourselves. We could give out information like where we live, to protect ourselves, because of how that certain environment is perceived and its reputation.

Storyboard.

Shot one; Close up of the alarm clock, on the girls bedside table and a close up of the watch on the boys wrist. Shot two; Mid shot of the girl in bed, mid shot of the boy eating breakfast. Shot three; Close up of the alarm clock on the girls bedside table and a close up of the watch on the boys wrist. Shot four; Mid shot of the girl in bed, mid shot of the boy eating breakfast.



Shot five; Close up of the alarm clock on the girls bedside table, Close up of the watch on the boys wrist. Shot six; Mid shot of the girl in bed, mid shot of the boy eating breakfast. Shot seven; Long shot of the girl making her bed, Close up of lyrics in the cereal bowl. Shot eight; Close up of the lyrics on the girls bed sheets, close up of the lyrics in the cereal bowl.


Shot nine; Mid shot, of the the girl opening her blind to let the sun shien through. Shot ten; Close up of the lyrics on the shower wall. Shot eleven; Close up of the girl putting on mascara, blusher and lip gloss. Shot twelve; Close up of the girls foot walking, close up of the boys foot walking.



Shot thirteen; Mid shot of the girls back walking into the train station, mid shot of the boys back walking into the train station. Shot fourteen; Mid shot of the train station clock, showing different times for the girl and boy. Shot fifteen; Close up of the train ticket being put into the machine. Shot sixteen; Mid tracking shot from behind of the girl, mid tracking shot from behind of the boy.



Shot seventeen; Mid shot of the boy texting on the train. Shot eighteen; Close up of the girls phone "one new message". Shot nineteen; Close up of the lyrics on the girls phone. Shot twenty; Mid shot of the girl looking out the train window, mid shot of the boy looking out the train window.




Shot twenty-one; flashback scene, with "sunrise" across the screen. Shot twenty two; Mid shot of the boy sitting on the train, showing the passageway. Shot twenty three; Close up of the boys head from behind, walking down the train. Shot twenty four; Mid shot of the boys feet, walking down the train.






Shot twenty five; Long shot of the boy on the beach, in front of the rocks. Shot twenty six; Close up of the boys face. Shot twenty seven; Mid shot from behind of the girl getting off the train, Long shot of the boy sitting down at the beach. Shot twenty eight; Tracking shot from behind as the girl gets of the train, and walks down sheringham promenade.

Shot twenty nine; Long shot of the girl and boy sitting next to each, looking at each other but not saying anything.



Drawn by; Laura Lewis.

Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah

Upon doing our research into split screen videos, as this is how we intend to make our music video, we done some research into the "Hey there delilah" music video by the Plain White T`s. We have decided, through inspiration from this video to still use our original split screen idea, using an equal half of the screen one for the girl and one for the girl, but to create a seperate window in the corner of the overall screen, which shows the background scenery within that shot, for example the scenes at the beach, the third window will have shots of waves, birds and general landscape shots of the surroundings, but not our characters.

Analysis of audiences of 3 similar artists.

Three artists that are similar to Shannon Hurley are; Ellie Goulding, Laura Marling and Lissie.

Ellie Goulding

Ellie Goulding, only just appeared on the scene in 2009, but since then she has played at many of the big festivals during the summer, and is about to start on her second tour this winter, having already been on tour during the winter of 2009. She is a british solo artist, although her voice is very similar to Shannon Hurley and is the type of artist who have more of an independent audience and than mainstream, however her music is very accsessible and is listened to by a fairly wide audience.

Her first album "lights", which has reached fairly high in the charts, which shows the album is quite mainstream and appeals to a more mainstream audience, for it to be appearing in the commercial charts. The album cover shows that this first album is showing her audience who she is and introducing herself to them, this is shwon by the image of herself on the cover. The title of the album "lights", doesnt really have any connotations over who the audience is, however it does suggest that she is trying to make an entrance within the music industry, as when you think of lights, you imagine something to be very visible and grabbing peoples attention, which is perhaps what ellie goulding wanted to do, with this album.

"you`re just a body i can smell your skin and when i feel it you`re wearing thin"

The above, is lyrics taken from Ellie Goudlings, The writer, which appears on her album "Lights". The lyrics suggest, she is talking about an ex boyfriend, and trying to let go of the feelings she had, which is similar to Shannon Hurleys sunrise, as she talks about wanting to still be and feel loved by an ex. The feel of the music and the meanings within the lyrics, gives the audience something to relate to.

Laura Marling

Laura Marling is a british singer/songwriter from Hampshire, she is a female folk artist, altough she has been on the music scene since around 2008, she is still very much independent and appeals strongly to the folk scene.

She has two albums, "alas i cannot swim" and "I speak because i can", which is her most recent album. Her first album cover "alas i connot swim", has a creative feel to it, because of the colours and shapes, however considering this is her first album she keeps her identity hidden within the album cover, so the audience can not really understand who she is or what sort of style she follows, however in her second album "i speak because i can", it features an image of herself on the cover , which reveals to the audience who she is and her persona. Her second album cover allows her audience to establish who she is and to be able to connect with her,as well as her lyrics and topics she sings about.

"oh naive little me asking what things you have seen you`re vulnerable in your head you`ll scream and you`ll wait till you`re dead"

The above, is taken from Laura Marlings, Rambling man which is from her second album, I speak because i can. The lyrics, have a certain rhythm to them and a poetic feel. They link to Shannon Hurleys lyrics from sunrise, because she is talking about someone and how something has happened to another person who is close to her. They do have a different feel about them to sunrise, but they are still quite romantic like the lyrics in sunrise.




Lissie

Lissie is an american solo artist, who has only just come on the music scene during the summer of 2010. She currently has some tour dates, in england, this shows she is interacting with her fans on a much wider scale, than just in her own country. Her voice is very similar to Shannon Hurleys. Her first album is called "Catching a tiger", the title is quite playful, therefore trying to appeal to a younger audience.

Lissie appears on her album cover, as a main part of it this helps the audience to establish who she is, because she is fairly indepedent. Her general style which is shown on the album cover, will appeal to her target auidence as welll as her songs appealing to them. The image of her, is natural which is one of the characteristics of shannon hurleys target audience, that are dress in a natural manner, with the way they have their hair and make up.

"I tunred my back you were gone in a flash like you always do you`ve always gone off somehwere else"

The above lyrics are taken from Lissies, When im alone, probabaly her most well known and popular song on her album. It is quite similar to Laura Marlings, and still holds the romantic feel of shannon hurleys, sunrise.

How can you use your knowledge of these three artists to strengthen the marketing of your singer and to appeal to the target audience?

I think I can use the knowledge, that I have gathered through researching the three artists; Ellie Goulding, Laura Marling and Lissie, to strengthen the marketing of my artist, because i can make sure that marketing techniques that I use are suited well to our target audience. I can be sure of whom my target audience is, because i have researched the type of interests, aspirations, fashions, social events etc that my target audience would attend or follow, therefore i can tune my marketing in a way that will appeal to this particular market. My knowledge of the target audience, that was contributed to by the research of the three artists will help me to market the singer in such a way that it appeals directly towards the audience that is specfic to the artist. Knowing my target audience, will help me to be able to appeal more directly to them, and make sure I gather a large but, however specific audience to the artist.

Target audience powerpoint

Target audience powerpoint

View more presentations from Louise92.

Audience profile.

Above, i have created a spider diagram of ideas, of the type of person my music video will appeal to. I have thought about other they artists they may listen to, the festival they go to, the fashions they follow, their aspirations and their lifestyle. I can take from these ideas that my target audience is female, the gender of my target audience needs to be considered carefully.

As well as using a spider diagram to create a target audience, i have also decided to use Find your tribe which, is a fun way of separating people into tribes and social groups that they idealistically and stereotypically belong to, by asking the individual a series of questions about what brands, food outlets, tv programs, radio, music and social activities they like.

I complete the series of questions, as if i were the target audience, and according the findyourtribe.co.uk, my target audience are, "Rahs".

Although i think Shannon Hurley's, sunrise, would appeal to my target audience of "Rahs", because some of the traits and characteristics, i have included within my spider diagram are evident within this particular social group. I also believe that Shannon Hurley, would not just appeal to "Rahs", as her genre is fairly diverse, and would appeal to varying social groups. I think that she would also appeal to an indie audience, because of some of the traits i have wrote about on my spider diagram, for example the other artists they would listen to.

Within my spider diagram, I created sections, the first section is music, festivals, artists and radio stations my target audience would listen to or attend. I included artists such as ; Ellie Goulding, Lissie and Laura Marling, i believe that my target audience would listen to these artists, because they are all female solo artists, the same as Shannon Hurley, they are all of the same genre being folk and indie. I also put that they would listen to radio 1, because they are heavily involved with unsigned and undiscovered acts,and Ellie Goulding, Laura Marling and Lissie are all fairly new acts who have just been discovered, which i believe would appeal to my target audience because like Shannon Hurley they have just been signed, however they are still not incredibly mainstream. I also decided that they would attend festivals such as, Latitude and Hop farm festival, which are fairly small and local festivals, and their line up usually consists of bands or solo artists who have just been discovered or who are well known but still more independent than mainstream so would not attend festivals such as V festival or Isle of wight festival, where the main performers are well known, mainstream artists who are currently high in the chart. As well as the artists that play at festivals such as Latitude and Hop farm, appealing to my target audience, the vibe of the festival also creates a certain appeal to certain people, such as the above festival are very creative, arts and crafts orientated, therefore appealing to my target audience, because many of them work within the creative industry.

I also came up with places they would shop, fashions they follow, food outlets they eat at and their values. I believe my target audience would shop in places such as; Topshop, charity shops, accessorize, Zara, office and vintage shops, therefore they wear a mixture of high street and vintage, second hand clothing. In these shops they would buy products such as brogues, satchels, nautical themed clothing, high waisted shorts, shirts, knee high socks and would wear minimal make up, have no facial piercings, long hair and a full fringe or a pixie crop hair cut. I think this because, like the artists the brands are well known, however some still appeal to the independent market such as vintage stores, as opposed to the mainstream market. The way they have their hair and make up, is very similar to the artists that they would listen to, their general style is also similar to Shannon Hurley's, therefore would appeal to the target audience. The places they go to eat, are small independent outlets, which as well as being places they eat at, they also treat it as a place to meet friends and socialise, i believe they would appeal to my target audience because it is very in keeping with their lifestyle. The types of projects that my target audience would get involved in would be small charities and organisations such as children's and arts event, i think this because of their own personal aspirations and careers.

The third point of my spider diagram is aspirations and ambitions, i chose to write; careers in the creative industry. Careers such as, designers, journalist, magazine and newspaper columists, photographers, artists and musicians. I thought this because, the festivals, fashions and charities/organisations they are interested in are in the creative industry and very geared towards the arts. In this section i have also included a part about their idols, in which i have included people such as; Audery Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Agnes Deyn and Alexa Chung. I have inlcued these individuals because, of firstly their style is very similar to that of my target audiences`, therefore they will look to these celebrities for inspiration in fashion. The clothing, hair and make up worn by Audery hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, are now being worn by this target group, they are alos interested and inspired by the individuals work.

The fourth sector on my spider diagram shows my target audiences media consumption and the type of media products they like and use on a frequent basis. I believe my target audience reads magazines such as Lula, mainly watch`s E4, BBC3, uses the internet for sites such as; tumblr, facebook and flickr and they watch films such as; The notebook, Revolutionary road, (500) days of summer and sofia coppola movies. I think that my target auidence would consume these media texts because, for example tumblr is as yet not very well known and is not mainstream and flickr is a photo sharing website, which realates to their careers and aspirations, within the creative industry. Lula magazine, is not widely avaliable and is not mainstream, as opposed to a magazine such as vogue, therefore i thikn it would appeal to my target audience. The movies i have listed, use the same kind of techniques as i shall use in my music video, i have also taken research and am suing some of the ideas that are used within the movie (500)days of summer. I think that my target audience are a heavy user, but late adopter of technology, they use technologies such as Ipods very heavily as they are passionate about music, mobile phones, laptops and use cameras heavily and would have the latest camera there is, because of their artistic character.

Costumes and props.

Music videos; the same genre as our piece of music.

Music videos, that are a similar genre to our choosen piece of music; sunrise by shannon hurley.

I have choosen the videos below to analyse; Ellie Gouldings - The writer and Laura Marlings - Devil spoke. I chose these specific videos, because of the similarity in genre of music between them and my own choosen piece. Also both of them are female solo artists. In relation to target audiences,the target audience for both artists, are very similar, both having the same interests,following the same fashions, both artists also appear at many of the same festivals suchs as; lattitude, glastonbury, underage and hop farm festival.

Shooting schedule.

Date; 17/10/2010
Time; 10am
Location; The train , Sheringham Beach.
Cast; Ali Poll, Becci Cooper.
Equipment Needed; Video camera, Tripod, Stills camera (to take photos for flashback)
Props; Mobile phone, train tickets, pieces of paper to write lyrics on.
Costumes; each character will need to wear the same clothing as they do in the last shot at their houses, they will also need to bring a plain hoody each for the photographs.


Itinery 17/10/2010


We will meet at norwich train station at 10am, to get the 10.45am train to sheringham, we will film all of the scenes at the train station, on the train and at the beach. We we also take stills at the beach for out flashback scene.


Date; 25/10/2010
Time; 10am
Location; Lauras House, Wymondham train station.
Cast; Becci Cooper
Equipment Needed; Video camera, tripod.
Props;watch, clock, mascara, blusher, lipstick, paper to write lyrics on.
Costumes; Girl; needs to bring three pairs of pjs and one pair of ordinary clothes (same outfit as she wore in the beach/train scene)

Itinery 25/10/2010

We will meet at lauras house at 10am, and film all the scenes with the girl at lauras house, and the train station.

Date;30/10/2010
Time; 10am
Location; Wymondham train station, Lauras house.
Cast; Becci Cooper, Ali Poll.
Equipment needed; Video camera, tripod.
Props; Cereal, bowl, make-up, watch, clock, paper for lyrics/words to be written on.
Costumes; girl - same outfit that she wore to the beach,boy - three different tops, same outfit as he wore to the beach.

Itinery 30/10/2010

Meet at lauras house, to film all of the shots with the boy, and the shots of the girl putting her make up on in the mirror and all shots of the boy at the train station.

Date; 21/11/2010
Time; 11am
Location; Sheringham
Cast; Becci Cooper
Equipment needed; Video camera, tripod.
Props; None needed.
Costume; same outfit worn on the train.

Itinery 21/11/2010

We will meet at lauras house at 11am, and drive to sheringham, to film more shots of the girl walking to the beach and at the beach.

- I have made amendments to the shooting schedule, because we were not allowed to film at norwich train station, therefore had to add dates in, in order to film at an alternative station. We also had to add dates, as we needed to re-shoot, the shots of the girl at sheringham.

Research into the use of split screens in music videos.

Split screen is when their is a visible division of the screen in a film or video production. Usually the split in the screen is in half, however it is evident that it can be split other ways. Before the arrival of digital technology in the 1990s, a split screen was previously achieved by using an optical printer to combine two or more actions filmed separately by copying them onto the same negative. The technique, also allows one actor to appear twice in one scene; as if they had been cloned or travelled through time. The easiest way to achieve this is to lock down the camera and shoot the scene twice, one version with the character appearing on the left, the other on the right, the seam between the two shots is invisible, which makes the duplication seem realistic.

Split screen has become very popular, due to several studio made films during the 1960s using split screen, within their films. These films include; John Frankenheimers, Grand Prix (1966), Norman Jewisons, The thomas crown affair (1968), Richard Fleishers, The boston strangler (1968), Airport (1970), Woodstock (1970) and More american graffiti (1979).

The 1964 New york worlds fair, was very influential for split screen movies, Ray and Charles Earnes has a 17 screen film, they created it for the IBM`s "Think" pavillion, and the 3-division film "To be alive", by Francis Thompson; it won the academy award that year for best short film. The pavillions success, then ifluenced the 1967 Unviersal exhibtion in Montreal, also reffered to as Expo 67, the multi screen highlights included "In the Labyrinth, which was reffered to by Time magazine as "stunning visual display".

The split screen technique, can also be commonly used to portray both characters in a telephone conversation, or a long standing convention which dates back to early silents, which is hsown in Lois Webers triangular frames in her 1913 film "Pillow Talk".

In 2002, "The rules of attraction", by Roger Avary used an unusual and revolutionary use of the split screen, where two seperate halves of the split screen were folded into a seamless shot through the use of motion control photography.

Split screens have aslo been used to show twins in films such as; Wonder man (1945), The dark mirror (1946), The parent trap (1961 original + 1998 remake) and Adaptation (2002).

Abel Gance, a french director, used the term "polyvision", to describe his three camera, three projector technique to both widen and divide the screen in his 1927 silent epic, "Napoleon".

Sugar Water by Cibo Matto (1996), is very famous for its use of split screen. It shows elements of what we want to achieve in our own music video, because of the similarities of the use of two characters, within our video the boy is ahead of time, whilst the girl is behind, this then allows us to avoid the characters meeting within the video, and so they do not meet back up in the video, therefore similar to "sugar water", we are using two different time frames, but the use of the split screen allows us to show both characters at the same time.

As well as split screen being used in movies, it also has an extensive use in the television show 24. Split screen is also used in sports on tv, because it shows the instant replay, highlights package or a featurette all on one screen.

Sugar Water - Cibo Matto video.

Costumes, props and characters.

Props

• Pieces of paper+ letters to create songyrics.


• Bowl + cereal


• Mobile phone


• Train tickets


• Photographs
• Watch

• Clock

• Mascara

• Blusher

• Lipstick

Costumes

• Girl; We are going to dress the girl in pastel coloured clothing, to show her feminity. The choice of pastel coloured clothing, is also because this is the colour palette we have chosen for the mise-en-scene of the music video. The girl will need three paris of pyjamas for the first scenes at the house, then one pair of ordinary clothes which she will wear in the last scene at her home and in the train and beach scenes, this is to show that they are different days. She will also need a plain hoody for the photographs; for the flashback scene.

• Boy; We are going to dress the boy in fairly simple clothing; jeans and t-shirt, The boy will need three different t-shirts, this is show that they are different days. He will also need a plain hoody for the photographs; for the flashback scene.

Characters

• Boy; Ali Poll
• Girl; Becci Cooper

Explain what Find Your Tribe implies about the cocept of identity in todays world.

Explain what Find your tribe implies about the concept of identity in today’s world. In your essay you should;

• Refer to find your tribe essays(use quotes/comment on what you read)

• Refer to the ideas of Michel Maffesoli

• Comment on how the idea of pick n mix identity is relevant here

• Discuss how this concept of identity differs from the modernist concept of identity

• Use some of the worlds below; Stable/fixed, shifting, fragmented; pick n mix, subject, tribes, urban tribes, and ideological influences/structures/apparatus

Plan for essay.

What is the concept of identity?

• Religion

• Social Groups

• Location

• School

• Education

• Class

• Ethnicity

• Urban/Country/Town

• Family

1). Pick n Mix identity; on find your tribe you select various sections which represent you, this relates to how your identity is shaped because part of it comes from your family and the other part of your identity is formed by you as an individual, because you chose your social groups, fashion you follow, music you like etc, therefore it is like find your tribe because you are choosing various small sectors that complete your whole identity some self inflicted and some given to you by the family you were born into.

2). Michel Maffesoli;

- “The time of tribes”; various social groups are expanding and evolving into sub groups, influences from film, music and fashion.

- “Mass culture has disintegrated”; one large group has separated into smaller sub-categories.

- Social groups; smaller sub-categories because, fashion, music, language, catchphrases. Identity politics; certain rules within a group, what we should wear people we should socialize with.

- As your identity changes, your social group changes with it.

- Proliferation of lifestyle cultures; expanding, more groups appear; sub-genres, have the same interests as one another.

- Urban tribes; metropolitan areas, location/area you live in has an effect on your identity.

3). Modernist concept of identity; how your parents bring you up, therefore shaping part of your identity, for example the beliefs they pass on to you, the location they bring you up in.

Essay

Find Your Tribe implies that an individual’s identity is shaped by how it’s always shifting around, it also refers to the ` pick n mix` identity, because of the way you select certain elements to reveal your identity on Find Your Tribe, this is very similar to way that we shape our own identity, in way that we choose our social groups, the fashions we follow, the people we socialize with, the music we listen to.

Michel Maffesoli`s ideas of identity, represent those of Find Your Tribe, because of his book “The time of tribes”, which connotes the expanding and evolving sub groups, as opposed to one large social group, these sub-groups are influenced by fashion, music and film. “The time of tribes” relates to find your tribe, because find your tribe works out people social group by asking them questions involving the types of music they listen to, TV they watch, websites they visit the most. The word Tribe means a group of people who all have to same sort of interests, therefore connoting social groups and groups of people brought together by the same interests and aspirations. Maffesoli`s quote of “mass culture has disintegrated”, is evident in Find Your Tribe, because the social groups they name at the end of the quiz, are not just indie for example, they are sub-groups. The proliferation of lifestyle of cultures, has led to the expansion of sub-genres in the modern era, this is due to people having the same interests, and also people having a larger variety of interests, therefore the individual is not `fitting`, to be in a particular group, because certain aspects of their lives are different from the stereotype, this is why sub-groups have made a vast increase. He also talks about `Urban tribes`; social groups within cities, and how they differentiate from social groups within rural areas, the area you live in or were brought up in, has an effect on your identity, this part of your identity is from your parents, as they decide where you are brought up.

The modernistic concept of identity, is the part of your identity whereby your parents choose where you will be brought up, where you will go to school; therefore to some extent choosing the type of people and social group you will socialise with and your beliefs. The modernistic concept of identity, differs from the identity that Find Your Tribe shapes for you, as this is the part that you shape yourself, through a medium of fashion, music, film and the people you socialise with.

Shot List.

*SS; split screen. This shows the time difference between them and the fact that their lives are now seperate.

Girl Boy

SS 1). Close up of alarm clock. Close up of his watch
SS 2). Long shot of her waking up. Mid shot eating his breakfast
SS 3). Close up of alarm clock. Close up of his watch
SS 4). Long shot of her waking up. Mid shot eating his breakfast
SS 5). Close up of alarm clock. Close up of watch
SS 6). Long shot, rolling out of bed. Mid shot eating breakfast
SS 7). Long shot of girls back, as she throws duvet up. Close up of cereal, with lyrics written on
cereal.
SS 8). Zooms into the lyrics on the sheets. Mid shot of him throwing the spoon into the bowl
disrupting the lyrics.
9). Long shot of her opening blind,
revealing song lyrics on window.
10). Song lyrics stuck on shower wall,
and spray water over lyrics.
SS 11). Close up of her eye, putting mascara on. (shot 11,12,13; split screen just the girl)
SS 12). Close up of cheek, putting blusher on.
SS 13). Close up of lips, putting lipstick on.
SS 14).Close up of feet walking into train st. Close up of feet walking into train station.
SS 15). Mid shot of back, showing train. Mid shot of back, showing trains.
SS 16). Mid shot showing train st clock. Mid shot if train st clock (different times)
SS 17).Close up of ticket + machine. Close up of ticket + machine.
SS 18). Tracking shot from behind; follow until sat down on the train. Tracking shot from behind;follow until sat down on the train.
19). Mid shot of him texting on his phone.
20). Close up of girl’s phone “1 new
Message received”
21).Close up of her phone showing the text;
song lyrics.
SS 22). Mid shot, looking out of train window. Mid shot, looking out of train window.
23). Flashback of images of the day they broke up. Flashback of the day they broke up. (sunrise written across the screen)
24). Mid shot, getting up.
25). Long shot, walking down the train;
follow him off the train.
SS 26). Continuous shot, on the train. Close up of waves, zooms into him walking
towards us.
SS 27). Continuous shot, on train. Long shot, hands in his pockets looking out
at the ocean looking thoughtful.
SS 28). Continuous shot, on train. Close up of him looking over his shoulder,
and over his shoulder you see the rocks
where they broke up.
SS 29). Follow her back as she gets off the train. Continuous shot of him leaving; includes,
walking back up the beach, walking back up
sheringham high street, getting on train.
SS 30). Tracking shot from behind as she Continuous shot (see shot 29)
walks along sheringham promenade, then continues the shot as she
descends onto the beach.
SS 31). Mid shot of her sitting by the sea,
with her knees up, looking at a photo
of him.
SS 32).Close up of the photo.
SS 33). Long shot, getting up, holding photo
to her chest.
SS 34). Long shot from behind, dropping photo
into the sea.
SS 35). Close up of the photo in the sea.
SS 36). Long shot of her walking away. Last continuous shot of him.
37). Close up of lyrics in the sand, being
washed away.

By Louise McGee + Laura Lewis.

Location Shots

Location Shots By; Laura Lewis.

We have decided the locations for our music video are going to be; The girls bedroom, The Train and Sheringham beach. We decided to use multiple locations, because it enables the audience to follow the girls journey to the beach, which symbolises the journey they have taken through their realationship. We have decided imparticular to use sheringham beach, because of the connotations that the sea and tides have, that being; the sea is washing away the feelings that the couple has for each previously. Sheringham beach, also has alot of character, due to the large rocks on the beach and the town. We have decided to use a train because, this also connotes the journey that they have taken together, we also decided to use a train because of our research we have taken from (500) days of summer; the train scene, because we liked the lighting and mise-en-scene, within this particular scene. We decided to use the girls bedroom as one of the locations, because the room has pale colours, which shows her feminity, it also shows the start of her journey to the beach. The use of the girls bedroom as a location, also shows the time difference between herself and the boy, we have also decided to use split screen, because it shows the time difference between the two characters. The opening shot, establish`s straight away that there is a time difference, because it shows the girl waking up and the boy eating breakfast, and a shot of a clock which shows they are working at different times.

Annotated concept board for our music video.

DSC_0899
Originally uploaded by xlondoncalling

Treatment for music video.

The concept for our music video follows the story of a relationship breaking down, however within the music video we have decided that using a romantic relationship would be too cliche so we have based the music video on a break-up instead and only reflect on the day they broke up - always leaving their relationship between the two characters. Our music video is in the style of Jean-Sebastian Monzani; who created the video in our research, that we have taken most inspiration and ideas from. Jean-Sebastian Monzani's video, that we have taken inspiration from, includes the use of notes and letters, to spell out feelings and thoughts, which we are going to apply to our own music video, through using notes and letters stuck onto the train windows to show the girls feelings. We are also going to write selected pieces of the lyrics into the sand at the beach, and when the tide comes in the sea will wash away the words, therefore representing how the girls feelings towards the relationship have been washed away and are no longer present just like the lyrics in the sand, and also signify that the relationship is in the past and there is no possible chance of a reconciliation between the couple. We are also going to use the idea of a split screen, just like the one used in (500) days of summer and Daniel Powter's, Bad Day music video, to show the couple have separated and they are living through their days apart instead of together. The split screen is a representation of the fact that the couple have parted. We will also refer to Death Cab for Cuties, Grapevine Fires music video, because of its emphasise on the use of captions and using images to show the plot of the video which is similar to Jean-Sebastian Monzani's video. We are going to apply this to our own video by using letters and words on paper to show the lyrics and how the lyrics affect the mood of the couple's separation.
There are a few themes raised in the music video. Time is a big theme because we have decided that the boy will be ahead of the girl so when he get's to the beach she is still on the train and when he leaves the beach she is getting there so then the couple never meet up again to avoid the cliche endings which usually appear in music videos. Also with the boy being ahead of the girl in the day it emphasizes their separation even further because they aren't going through the day at the same time like they would have done when they were together because they spent all their time together.
We have chosen four differnt locations for our music video they are; the girls bedroom, the train and train station and the beach; Sheringham. Sheringham, is the main location, where most of the video will take place, however we have chosen the other three locations in order to build up the girls character and show her journey to the main location, Sheringham. We have decided not to reveal exactly who the character is until we arrive at the beach because the journey to the beach will reveal parts of her words and letters which will show lyrics and feelings. The lighting is going to be light and pale, this lighting will then relfect the girls costume, which is going to be of a pastel colour. Using the beach as our main location is very important within our video, the props being; the cut out letters, notes and images to be reflective of their realtionship, because this is a place were they would have spent time as a couple and the beach would be their 'place' but also the place where the couple broke up. The props are images. They are important, because we using these as our main focus throughout the video, particularly for the duration of her journey to the beach. We will show a fast scene of photograph's from the day the couple broke up at the beach while the girl is on the train which is why the couple go to the beach at the end of the music video and this revealed to the audience nearer to the end.
Our target audience is 16 to 25 age range, both male and female, however perhaps slightly more appealing towards females within this age range. We think that our music video will appeal to this group of people because of the style that we have chosen to adopt within the video, that being very modern. The video, has been created in an artistic and creative manner, therefore it is more likely to appeal to 16-25 year olds, than any other age group. The theme and plot of the video, is also more relevant to this age group. The way the video has taken on a creative edge also mean's that the video appeals to a creative social group of people. The reason why the music video appeals to males as well as females is because the music video isn't based on the romantic side of the relationship so the video isn't mushy so male's can relate to the music video and the issue's raised.
Written by Louise McGee

Research and inspiration for my music video.

We have taken all or parts of the following videos as research into our own music video,although they are not all music videos, we have chosen various aspects of the following videos such as lighting that we would like to encorporate into our own video.

(500) Days of Summer - Expectations/Reality from Julius Santos on Vimeo.

The above clip is from the 2009 film (500)days of summer, directed by Marc Webb. We decided to use this as research, because of the use of a split screen, showing the reality and expectations. We could apply this technique to our own video because of the plot, by using the one half of the screen to show what is really happening within the realationship and the other half to show what the realationship was previously like.

Your secret from Jean-Sebastien Monzani on Vimeo.

The above clip is a short video/animation, i found on a blog. We have decided to take inspiration from this video and apply it to our own by the use of captions and cut out letters to spell a word and within the editing make the letters move to form a series of words, which represent the couples feelings about their realationship. We also like the colours and camera techniques that have been used within the video. This video links to the music video, because of the colour scheme and tone and also the use of notes to express feelings, which we shall use within our video, but write the lyrics on them.



The above video is the full music video for Daniel Powters, Bad Day. This video is very similar to the one from (500)days of summer, because of the use of the split screen technique, and because the plot is about a realationship. This video links to our music video because of the use of the split screen where it shows a girl and boy in one shot and a boy in the other, and also the use of clocks at the start of the video, which is what we shall start our video with, in order to show they are on different time zones.



The above video is the full music video to Grapevine fires by Death cab for cutie. We decided to use this for our research, because of the use of captions and images. We are intending to use images and captions within our video to help tell the story. This video links to our music video because of the use of captions and images, we are going to use captions and writing to show the lyrics in various ways and are going to use stills images to show the break up of the couple and are going to play it back in a flashback in the video.

Lyrics to Sunrise by Shannon Hurley

I've got to see you
Let the light shine down on me
When the day breaks
And the sky is changing colors
into something new
I want to see it with you
Sunrise
I want to see you again
Promise that you'll always stay
Sunrise
When the world is brand new
I want to see it with you
I want to touch you
I want to make you feel
Like you're the only one
In this world for me
I want to hold you
I want to make you see
That yesterday was long ago
And soon it will be
Sunrise
I want to see you again
Promise that you'll always stay
Sunrise
When the world is brand new
I want to see it with you
Cause I know we can't let this end
We can say all the sorries in the world
Just to be friends
There's nothing I want more
Than flying home
Just to meet you
Sunrise
Sunrise
I want to see you again
Promise that you'll always stay
Sunrise
When the world is brand new
I want to see it with you
Sunrise
I want to see you again
Promise that you'll always stay
Sunrise
When the world is brand new
I want to see it with you
Sunrise
I want to see you again
Promise that you'll always stay
Sunrise

Analysis of Afrika Shox by Leftfield.

Afrika Shox by Leftfield.

The choice of images that have been used in this video give the impression that the genre of the music is that of RnB and Hip-hop. It also follows the genre of street dance. The video leads us to believe this because of the dull colour palette, the location being in a big city, the characters and the subject matter. The fast pace editing also leads us to believe this, because it matches the beat of the music. The video backs up Goodwins theory of a link between the lyrics and the visuals within the video. The Afrika shox video represents this theory by; they sing "the rhythm of afrika" which represents the title of the video and the rhythm in th song and also the the way in which the visuals are shown at the same sort of pace as the song, this reiterates the lyrics. The title of the song automatically represents nationality and race, however the artists name `Leftfield` represents the left and right sides within society and government. The use of a big city as the location for a song entitled `Afrika shox`, shows the contrast between a large urban city and africa, it also shows the contrast between those who live in the different locations.

The lighting in the video is ambient as it is located outside, however within some of these outdoors scenes, the taxis have their headlights on which creates a spotlight effect, it also defers the audience away from the various things that are going on around them. Non ambient lighting is used several times during the video in the forms of signs and the lighting in a car park. I think the purpose of the video is to show the african culture and the way it differs from the british,american culture. Special effects and CGI`s have been used in this video, they have been used in order to show the male characters limbs falling off.

The video does not include any performance from the band/solo artist themselves, however it follows a narrative based structure, where it tells the story of the male character in a big city, who is losing his limbs. The narrative structure is linear.

Narrative Structure Powerpoint

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Narrative Structure Powerpoint

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