Friday, 26 November 2010

Initial Idea for Our Music Video



When we first chose the song 'The Fear' by Lily Allen, straight away we printed off the lyrics and decided to jot down the idea's we had for a possible music video. This is what we came up with at the beginning, we did stick to some of our original ideas.


By Leila Robertson

Thursday, 25 November 2010

Intital Idea's

From the beginning we decided that we were going to do a music video. We felt that we knew more about music videos that short films. We wanted to pick artists that were suitable for our age groups rather than artists for more of an older age range. As a group we thought of artists that would fit this that we liked ourselves. We then looked at songs by the artists; and decided what songs would be interesting and clear enough for us to create a story out of them.

The list of artists we came up with were;

* Kate Nash
* Regina Spektor
* Scouting for girls
* Diana Vickers
* Pixie Lott
* Rihanna
* Beyonce
* JLS
* Michael Buble
* Lady GaGa

Georgia Angove




Lily Allen's Awards

2010 Brit Awards
British Female Solo Arist

2010 NME Awards
Giving It Back Fan Award

2009 Q Music Awards
The Fear - Best Track

2007 Q Music Awards
Alfie - Best Video

2010 Brit Awards
MasterCard British Album

2010 BRIT Awards
British Single

2010 BRIT Awards
Hottest Woman

2009 NME Awards
The IRP Award Indie / Rock / Pop

2008 MP3 Music Awards
Best Alternative Music Album

2007 Grammy Awards
Best New Artist

2007 MTV Video Music Awards
Best British Female Solo Artist

2007 BRIT Awards
Best British Album

2007 BRIT Awards
Best British Breakthrough Act

2007 BRIT Awards
Breakout Artist - Female

2006 Teen Choice Awards
Best New Act


Georgia Day

Character In Our Film

The main character in our film is Leila Robertson. Leila will be playing the role previously played by Lily Allen in the video of this song. We chose to use Leila as she fits the role well. As a drama student she would not find it difficult to act on camera. With bright red hair, it will be easy to play around with her make up.


By Georgia Angove

Thursday, 11 November 2010

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

1. Do you ever watch music videos?

Yes
No

2. If you wanted to watch a music video, where would you go to do this?

Music Channels
YouTube
MySpace
Other

3. Do you watch music videos all the way through?

Yes
No

4. Would it influence you to download music having watched a music video?

Yes
No


5. Do you share music videos with other people?

Yes
No


Results


Having collected the results from fellow students of the sixth from I have been able to form an idea of where people go to watch music videos, if they ever watch them the whole way through, and if they share the music videos with other people etc. The students I have asked are of a mixed ability A-level students with a random choice of subjects. I restricted the questions to 16-18 year olds with a reasonable mix of male to female but not exactly 50/50. No media students were asked because they are more likely to have more interest in music and music videos as they have seen them in class.Shenfield high school is within a relatively affluent part of the country (South East England) with a predominantly white population.

From the results it is clear to see that many people have the same views on music video. For the first question from the results it was clear to see that everybody we asked watches music videos. Many people watch the music videos on youtube whilst the majority i asked watch them on music channels. Suprisingly most people said that they do not watch music videos the whole way through whilst some indeed do. Evereyone we asked said that music videos do influence them to download music. Finally about 80% of people said that they do share music with other people whilst the other 20% said that they do not.

By Sarah Panzetta

Song Lyrics

Below are the lyrics for the music video we are filming.

Lily Allen - The Fear

I want to be rich and i want lots of money
I don't care about clever i don't care about funny
I want loads of clothes and fuckloads of diamonds
I heard people die while they are trying to find them

And i'll take my clothes off and it will be shameless
'cuz everyone knows that's how you get famous
I'll look at the sun and i'll look in the mirror
I'm on the right track yeah i'm on to a winner

I don't know what's right and what's real anymore
And i don't know how i'm meant to feel anymore
And when do you think it will all become clear?
'cuz i'm being taken over by the fear

Life's about film stars and less about mothers
It's all about fast cars and cussing each other
But it doesn't matter cause i'm packing plastic
And that's what makes my life so **** fantastic

And i am a weapon of massive consumption
And its not my fault it's how i'm programmed to function
I'll look at the sun and i'll look in the mirror
I'm on the right track yeah we're on to a winner

I don't know what's right and what's real anymore
And i don't know how i'm meant to feel anymore
And when do you think it will all become clear?
'cuz i'm being taken over by the fear

Forget about guns and forget ammunition
'cuz i'm killing them all on my own little mission
Now i'm not a saint but i'm not a sinner
Now everything is cool as long as i'm getting thinner

I don't know what's right and what's real anymore
And i don't know how i'm meant to feel anymore
And when do you think it will all become clear?
'cuz i'm being taken over by the fear
Analysis

For our music video we are using the version which does not include swearing in. This is becasue our target audience is teenagers and younger so we cannot include swearing, also it would be aired on all major music channels as it was number one in the charts at one point so the swearing would be cut out anyway.

Lyrically, the song is a rant about materialism "sung in the voice of a would-be starlet", and tackles societal consumerism and overnight-fame-hunting. It also makes reference, through the line "I'll look at the sun and I'll look in the mirror", at the daily British tabloid newspapers The Sun and The Mirror, which often report on Allen.

By Sarah Panzetta

Location and Settings

For our main location we will be filming in London Leicester Square as that is where all the major film premiers are held in London. It is a cool and socialble area and were lots of famous people are seen. We also wanted our video to be shot somwhere people would recognise, and we believe Leicester Square is a well known place that people will see and think of celebrities when they see it.



We are also including quick shots of the landmarks in London such as London Eye, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament , so if people do not recognise Leicester Square they will instantly recognise we are in London from the landmarks. We chose to film in London as people interperate London with young cool people which our music video is aimed at.



Part of our video is also being filmed in a Clothes shop in London we hope to film in Topshop, but have yet to hear from the manager if we can film. We want to film in topshop as its target audience is the same targer age as ours.



Another part of our video is being filmed in Leilas Bedroom, this is because hers is all one colour and we want the main focus to be on the bed so it stands out the most as that is where she is going to be laying.



A scene is also being filmed in our school X block in the drama department for our photo shooting scene, we want to do it in the x block to get a plain background
ound so it looks believable.


Georgia Day

Shooting Schedule


This is our shooting schedule as of now. There are still more scenes to be included but we're not sure of them yet. We are hoping to stick to each date and time however we shall produce a new schedule if needed, due to the weather as well.


By Leila Robertson

Brief/Synopsis

For our Media Advanced Production we choose to film a music video instead of the short film. We have choosen the song 'The Fear' by the solo artist Lily Allen. We have many ideas for the music video that link to each individual line in the song. In the music video we will be filming a girl who is famous but doesnt want to be like a stereotypical celebrity and is scared of this becoming the reality. In other words she feels as if she being taken over by 'The Fear'. She also is forgetting whats 'Right and whats Real'. Aswell as this she does not want to be dragged in to the bad side of what being famous comes with. We have chosen to show this by using different props and costumes through out, we also thought carefully about our location choices. This coinsides with Lily Allen's whole attitude to fame. We choose our artist and song specificially as we thought we could put our own quirky take on our music video and it would be extremly fun to create.

By Sarah Panzetta

Props And Costumes



Monopoly Money - We are using monopoly money to surround Leila on the bed, this shows the fakeness of show business.


Diamonds - We are putting the diamonds on Leila's face to signify wealth.


Black Beetle - We are using Leila's mum's black beetle as the car that Leila's legs are seen getting out of.




Digital SLR Camera - The camera will be used to represent the lack of paparazzi interested in her when she is in London.




Credit Cards - Credit cards are being used in the shot where Leila is in a shop in London. This represents the fact that money is not an issue for her and she doesn't need them.


Prom Dress - We are using a prom dress as the costume for when she is in Leister Square, this is done to show the showbiz side to her.


Mirror - We will be using these for the line 'I looked in the sun and I looked in the mirror.'

Trainers - We are having Leila wearing trainers underneath her elegant prom dress to show that she is not your typical celebrity.


Red Carpet - We are using a red carpet for the scene in Leicester Square, where most film premiers take place.


Georgia Angove

Monday, 1 November 2010

Analysing Lily Allen's Music Video, Smile

As the music starts, we see a mid-shot of Lily Allen sitting in her room on her bed, which then zooms into a close up of her eating chocolate, which is a stereotypical thing for a female to do when she's upset. There's mise en scene of bright colours which contrast to the lyrics of the song and her mood.

It shots to a flashback of her and her partner lying on the same bed as she's currently sitting on, which then flicks to mixed shots of her alone on the bed then her with her partner as it shows it brings back memories. The mise en scene of the orange room which colour codes as happy which contrasts to how she feels. She's wearing a long, pale coloured dress which repressents innocence.

As it cuts to a long shot of her standing in the street, we see several close ups of her face so we can relate to her, the long shot makes her look small and vulnerable. She's wearing a puffy prom dress with a black coast wrapped over the top, then trainers as her footwear, this occurs in several Lily Allen videos so it's become her trademark in a way. As a man walks into shot, there's a close up of Lily's hands as she passes over some money to him, it quickly cuts to the next scene which is a long shot of the boyfriend from the first scene walking down the street.

It cuts to a low angled shot of four thugs, they are wearing stereotypical baggy clothes and hoods, it's filmed at a low angle to make them appear bigger and strong. Suddenly there's a long shot of the thugs jumping into shot and start attacking the ex-boyfriend, it now becomes clear to the audience that Lily had payed them to attack him.

It cuts to a mid shot of Lily and her ex-boyfriend sitting in a cafe, there's mise en scene of a dingy cafe with hardly any colour to it, her ex is in dark coloured clothing. Lily is the only one who stands out, which suggests she's stronger and more confident than him now.

For the rest of the video, there's a long shot of Lily walking down the middle of the road at night. This is a typical cliche for music videos which was first seen in Massive Attack's video for Unfinished Sympathy and also creates intertextuality with The Verve's video for Bitter Sweet Symphony. The idea of someone singing in public, a normal environment is very abnormal yet becoming more popular.





By Leila Robertson

Planning Diary

Week One
Started on our blog post the first blog posted was S.W.O.T, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Planned ideas for music video and started story board.

Week Two
Updated the blog posts included: Lily Allen, codes and conventions of a music video, permission email 2, evaluation of AS blog, permission email and what is a music video.

Week Three
Updated blog posts include: Inspirations/ influences , mood board and intended audience. Story board is half completed.

Week Four
Posts on blog are Genre and insitutional analysis.

Week Five
Updated posts on our blog include an analysis of lily allens music video 'smile', Props and costumes, Brief, shooting schedule, location and setting, song lyrics, questionnaire.

Georgia Day

Institution Analysis

Television Provider Number of Households

Analogue terrestrial - 2,600,000

Virgin - 3,672,000

Sky TV - 8,900,000

Freeview - 9,700,00

Cumulative sales of Freeview boxes and IDTVs capable of receiving the DTT platform have reached 60 million, the organisation has announced, a figure equivalent to the population of the United Kingdom.
The figures come as Ofcom’s Digital Progress Report for the second quarter showed that take-up of digital television in UK households now stands at 92.7%, up by 2.9 percentage points year on year.

SKY Channels

MTV - Who else can get you this close to the stars? MTV gives you exclusive access, because when they talk, they talk to MTV first.

MTV Show - MTV Shows great entertainment! Comedy, reality and the usual MTV favourites all packaged into one channel.

The Box - The Box is the UK's freshest Music TV channel, keeping you up to date with the latest greatest tracks that everyone's talking about.

Magic - Discover new and unexpected guilty pleasures to sing along to. From pop perfection to beautiful ballads, Magic plays the music that makes you feel good.

Kiss TV - Kiss is always fresh and funky, living sexy with the best in urban music.

4 Music - 4Music brings you closer to the hottest artists around right now. If it's music news, latest playlists, video exclusives and great competitions you're after, 4Music has it all including live performances, interviews, documentaries and festival coverage. Plus catch Hit40UK as we count down the 20 biggest tracks of the week and find out the UK's official number one.

VH1 - VH1 provides the hottest celebrity interviews, live performances and the best in music-based entertainment, set to a soundtrack of the most stylish contemporary music around.

Q - Q embraces music from every genre – pop to rock, R&B to rap, and every video we play is chosen by our viewers.

MTV Classic - The very best of MTV music programming, playing all the tracks which have stood the test of time.

MTV Hits - If you're looking for non-stop, pure music, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you'll be looking for MTV Hits.

MTV Base - When you're after the best new videos and exclusive interviews from the world of Hip-Hop, R&B, and UK Garage, check out MTV Base. It's got the lot.

Smash Hits - Is bursting at the seams with non-stop chart toppers from the world of pop.

Kerrang - Kerrang! is where everything 'rocks' – and life is always LOUD.

MTV Dance - MTV Dance has access to the biggest and best sounds around – so you can keep in touch with the hottest dance tracks available.

MTV Rocks - MTV Rocks is the channel for young, engaged, passionate gig-going fans; playing the best indie, rock and alternative music.

By Sarah Panzetta

Genre


Lily Allen's music could be placed under a variety of different genres. The genre I class most fitting to her music would be pop. Pop music is usually comercially recorded music, normally asscociated with and aimed at the youth market. Pop music has absorbed influences from most other forms of music, it is mainly associated with rock n' roll. Since the mid-1950's pop music has usually been identified as the music and the musical styles that are accessible to the widest audience. This means the most popular type of music.

Georgia Angove