StoryBoards

Opening Sequence

Verse 1

Chorus 1

Verse 2

Chorus 2

Verse 3

Final CD Cover After Feedback

CD Cover After Feedback With Title

This is the final version of our CD Cover and I am really pleased with the outcome of it. The images of the band are strong, clean, dominant and professional looking. They convey the theme of girl power and independence and show costume, gesture and unity in a positive way. Before feedback we believed that having a self-titled album worked but we realised having a specific name was better and 'Heartbeat' fits the theme of the cover and is a track by the artists.

The name of both stands out against the black background and creates an edgy feel, relating to the band, which is also shown through provocative costume. I think the product fits the genre of R'n'B, as we used the research we had found in producing the finalised product.

Time-Line/Script

Let U Go (4 minutes)

Acoustic intro (20 seconds)

See band members one at a time and then as a group

Name of band and title

Verse 1 (30 seconds)

I’m so confused

Walking down the street seeing individual singing

I don’t know why I let you treat me like you do

We’ve got issues

Flashback to couple arguing

I let you walk in and out of my life, and that’s not right

Walking down the street seeing individual singing

So much hurt, so much pain, I never thought I could feel like this

Looking at photo of couple on her phone

But I do

Being in a relationship with you is like a roller coaster

Walking down the street seeing individual singing

Chorus (35 seconds)

Let the rain fall down on me

Band members singing together

I let you get away with everything

Flashback of singer seeing boyfriend holding a girls hand

I let you slide, my tears I hide

Band members walk away

To cover up my station made

Let the rain fall down on me

Band members singing

I let you get away with everything

Flashback of singer seeing boyfriend hugging a girl

I let you slide, my tears I hide

Close up of each band member’s face

To cover up my station made

Fade out of band standing together

Verse 2 (30 seconds)

No more sleepless nights

Walking out of the bedroom singing

Up waiting for you to unlock the door and come inside

I’ve got to get a hold of myself, ‘cos I have too much pride

Walking down the stairs singing

For you to think that you can do the things you do

Individual sitting at the bottom of the stairs singing

I know that you don’t love me like you say you do

Flashback to couple sitting at the bottom of the stairs cuddling

I have to tell myself to just let go of you

Individual sitting at the bottom of the stairs singing

"I’m sorry"

Boy apologises to girl

"Apology not accepted"

Girl walks away

Chorus (35 seconds)

Let the rain fall down on me

Band members singing together

I let you get away with everything

Flashback of Singer sees boyfriend in car with another girl

I let you slide, my tears I hide

Boyfriend and band member asleep in bed while girl is crying

To cover up my station made

Band members singing together

Let the rain fall down on me

Band together

I let you get away with everything

Close up of band member

I let you slide, my tears I hide

Close up of band member

To cover up my station made

Close up of band member

Verse 3 (1 minute)

Everything you did baby, I let you slide

Individual singing to her boyfriend

(Whoa)

Everything you did baby, I let you slide

Individual singing to her boyfriend

Whoa

Close up of individual band member’s face

I, I gotta let you go (repeated in the background until the end)

Never said anything to hurt you

Band singing together

Hey

Whoa

Yeah

Yeah

Whoa

Close up of each band member’s face singing

"I’m Sorry"

See a text from the boyfriend saying "I’m sorry"

"I’m Sorry"

Band members slam door on boyfriends’ faces

Advert mock-ups

This is the first mock-up of our print advert, another way of promoting the band's debut album. This will be featured in a music magazine of our choice, which from our research will be Hip-Hop magazine 'King' or online sites such as 'thesituation.co.uk'

From my research, I found that adverts within the R'n'B genre contained the image from the CD cover or one very similar. The name of the band and its title we're again a major focus, in a large, coloured font to stand out. Many had the name of a known single from the band, in our case 'Let u Go' and an available for download sign. This advert contains almost all of these qualities, apart from the name of the single but the image doesn't look professional and fades into the background. The band are not depicted as one and the lighting is off.

This advert features a full body shot, one taken for the front of our CD Cover. The band looks more dominant and more professional, not to mention sexy. A smaller thumbnail of a different image is shown below, generically seen in the genre and a feature of all our adverts. Another itunes sign is present, incorporating new forms of technology and appealing to the target demographic.

This advert is the first with a black background, which really accentuates the red and purple font, ensuring the name of the artist and album stands out. The pose is really strong and dominant, although there is no bond created with the audience as the artists are not looking at the camera. The shot is medium long and you cannot clearly see the band, something we really wanted to capture. Although the layout and colouring is better than the previous two, there is still improvements to be made on the image.

I really like the layout of this advert and the image of the band is much clearer and stronger. The red writing really stands out against the black background and the single is featured alongside the itunes symbol. However, the thumbnail image is not present, something that I think works really well and what others liked from audience feedback. We will work on this winning idea to improve our final print advert and make it a success.

CD Cover summary

By producing several CD mock-ups, we decided that the best image was full bodied, close together and strong. The costume, gesture and facial expressions of the band had to be shown to have the desired effect upon the audience. We also felt that a black background work best and reinforced the powerful image of the band, whilst also making the red and white font stand out. We shot different poses in the photography room at school, utilising the lighting to create a professional look that was balanced and highlighted specific features. We decided upon two final images to make the up the front and back of our CD Cover and from the audience feedback the changes made really improved our product.

CD Cover Mock Ups

We decided upon a format for our CD Cover from our research, which included a central shot of the band together, preferably full body, with a large and bold font of the artists name and album title. We produced several mock-ups before deciding upon a final version:

Large, bold and colourful font of artists name, a generic code of the R'n'B genre. Red connotes passion, danger and love, which is reflective of the band's image and the songs on

the album, such as 'Let U Go.'

Close-up images of the band members, connoting power and status and highlighting facial

expressions, creating a bond with the audience.

Summary: Although we liked the idea of having these type of image on our cover, the red on purple background didn't really reflect the genre or image of the band. The font is too simple, although curved to create a feminine image. The photos didn't have a the professional feel we was looking for and the make-up wasn't bold enough, making the artists look a little washed out.

Plain, black background with a powerful, central image of the band who are united as one. The band look very much together, as their bodies entwine and matching costumes are shown. A sexy image is portrayed but the band doesn't portray the dominant image as they are low down, connoting low status

Same bold, red font connoting passion and danger. The name of artist covers the width of the cover, like Mariah Carey's 'e=mc2.'

Summary: This image was popular with the group but we all agreed the positioning of the band could be strengthened with a full, upright body shot. The costume fades into the background and the lighting is dissimilar through the front of the frame to the back.

Medium close-up, full body shot of the band, showing costume, gesture and facial expressions. This time we tried a white background, which

enables the artists to stand out a little more but looks unprofessional.

Same red font to stand out and capture audience attention. The red on white background isn't as effective as on black.

Summary: We preferred the look of having a full body shot as we believed it portrayed the band as being more dominant, as well as giving a sexier look. However, after seeing the effect on a white and black background, we felt that black had a greater

and more professional effect.

This final mock-up is similar to the third, again on a white background with a body shot of the band. Having the band shot at different levels doesn't convey a theme of unity and it would look better if they were the same level and the person with long hair was in the middle. This would create cleaner and more professional lines

Summary: This CD Cover has an effect but the lines and levels are wrong and unprofessional. The body stance looks awkward and head positioning is off. The white background still doesn't look as effective as the black.

Final Design for Advert

By producing several versions of print adverts, we decided upon a format we felt created the strongest impact and shot another image of the band for the finalised product. We realised that the mock-ups we did didn't really portray the glamorous and sexy image we wanted them to, so had to re-evaluate make-up and hair for a greater impact and a more professional feel. Eye make-up needed to be heavy and black, in order for the artists look to be more edgy and glamorous. Having the band shot together was always our main priority but having the member with long hair in the middle and the two with short hair either side created a better look and made the lines look sleek and professional. We made sure the itunes design and record industry was noticable, as we found this to be the case from research. The main focus point was the name of the artist and the album, alongside the 'hit' single we was producing. The red and white font of the bands name really stands out against the dark background and black costume, connoting power, passion and danger.

Mock-ups

Evaluation of Music Magazine

King magazine is the perfect choice in promoting our artist to the demographic we are gearing towards. Having an article in such a well respected and loved magazine will ensure the growth of popularity for our artist and have it categorised with stars such as Christina Milian. The photoshoot will reinforce the sexy R'n'B image we are trying to create and will appeal to young men, who will be more interested in buying our album, eventhough it is targeted more towards young females.

Having our artist available online will ensure it reaches the target demographic, as 16-24 year olds are more likely to read celebrity news and purchase music online. It will be a great way to promote our artist to a wider audience and reach people from all over the world, in the hope of the band becoming an international success!

Music Video - Final Product

I am extremely proud of the finished music video and believe it suits the genre of R'n'B, appealing to our target demographic. We wanted our video to have a strong narrative and relate to the audience emotionally, which I think it does. Each individual band member's verse is different and reflects their personality, as well as evoking emotion and aspiration. The shots of the band walking together shows unity and reinforces the image of girl power and how females should come together to be stronger. The flashbacks add a nice touch and work with the narrative, as well as giving a more professional feel. I feel the choice of costume reflects the genre and is casual yet sexy, something a female audience would try and emulate. The power and status of the band is shown throughout by central framing, close-up camera shots, strong hand gestures and black costume. The male character within the video is only shot a handful of times and when with a band member is in the background of the frame, highlighing his unimportance to them and the audience. His costume is also reflective of the genre as it is casual and street, much like that of R'n'B stars Chris Brown and Usher. I have learnt a wide range of skills through producing this video, especially improving my editing skills to create fluidity throughout the video. Using imovie was a greta way of improving our video by cropping shots, changing lighting and changing the pace of some of the scenes. The timing in some parts of the video isn't perfect and more close-up shots of the band could be present to create a stronger bond with the audience. Overall I am really happy with this video and the comments made by other people.

Written Essay

Look Closely At Your Product, Video And Print Artefacts, Deconstruct Them Utilising Theoretical Concepts. You Should Consider :-

Narrative

Representation

Audience

Post Modernity

The concept for my groups R'n'B music video was to follow a strong narrative that created interplay with the lyrics of the song and enabled the audience to relate to what they were seeing and hearing. During the research process we found that slow R'n'B tracks, especially by female artists, told by a story that would evoke emotion and be familiar to the audience. When story boarding the filming of the video, we focused upon the lyrics and where possible matched the scenario to what was being sang. This concept is known as Todorov's Narrative Theory and we wanted our video to follow this particular structure, as it creates fluidity and gives a strong sense of meaning to the song and final product.

Narrative theory interlinks with Propp's character theory as every narrative consists of character types with different roles that are recognisable and relatable to the audience. Our video consists of three dominant female characters who not only portray the 'hero' role but have elements of villainy. The ultimate villain of the piece however is the male character who is pursuing the three women for personal gain. The image we created for our group was that of a female empowerment, independence and sexiness. Although at first they are all seeing this guy behind each others backs, in the end they realise he's to blame and they would be better off without him. The 'hero' character is who the audience identifies the most with and likes and aspires to. We want young teenage girls to be able to relate to 'Pulse' and realise it is okay to be strong and independent and without the need of a man.

As mentioned before, the representation of our all female group isn't stereotypically the view portrayed of women in other media texts. However, female artists in R'n'B are shown as sexy, strong and dominant young women through costume, gesture and framing. As a group we decided to conform to this convention and use the theme of 'girl power' just like previous girl bands such as Destiny's Child.

The costume in our print products is provocative and creates a glamorous and sexy image that appeals to both men and women. For our CD Cover and advert the band is framed centrally and in the forefront to highlight dominance and the image of them selling the product. In the video this dominance will be enforced not only when the band is shot together but when the male character is present. Framing will be very important as the focus will be on the female artists with the male character never shot alone or for long periods of time and when shot be in the background. The costume also challenges the representation of women as it doesn't portray the dowdy, mumsy image on other media forms. The band are shot on sexy black dresses, with glamorous make-up and big hair to highlight their sexuality and sell the product.

The audience and how they consume our products is very important and we have utilised the uses and gratifications theory in our work. This theory concludes of the views audiences' have on personal relationships and personal identity. The relationship between the female artists and male character evokes emotional interaction between those in the video and the audience. It creates a view of the women and how they fit into the world, which we haven't conformed to, as our artists portray female independence. We want our young female target audience to identify with the group through a direct mode of address. What they see through our products should be a reflection of themselves and past experiences.

Written Essay

How Far Do Your Group's Ideas For The Music Video Conform To Convention?

The genre of music that our group has chosen to create a video for is R 'n' B. Before any of our ideas could be produced, we had to individually research the genre, to depict common codes and conventions. This included any aspect of mise en scene, media theories, setting and iconography.

After watching and analysing six R 'n' B music videos each, our group came together to discuss conventions and brainstorm ideas. Our initial idea is to find a song that is slow, emotive and preferably by a female artist. We found videos that accompany slow 'jams' were more relevant to the lyrics had a wider range of camera shots and emotive use of iconography. The female singer/star would ultimately be the 'hero' character, who sings of her troubles but overcomes them e.g. Rihanna's, Take a Bow. The setting, costume, props, narrative and iconography would have to be relevant to the character and their story.

For R'n'B videos the general convention of setting is that of simplistic, realistic and natural. We thought it would be suitable to film our video outside or in normal places, such as a house. This would therefore conform to the R'n'B genre and give the audience what they know and want. The setting will be easy to create but finding props to accompany the artist will be a harder task. In R'n'B videos, expensive props are used such as, iPods, mobile phones, designer bags and clothing and expensive cars.

Costume

Verse 1

Female Band Member: Casual yet sexy costume to reflect genre and outside setting e.g. skinny jeans, high heeled shoes, jacket and scarf.

Male Counterpart:

Casual and street costume to fit genre e.g. t-shirt

, hooded jacket, baggy jeans and trainers.

Chorus 1

Girlie and sexy costume for each individual member

Member 1: Plain top, skirt, leggings and high heeled shoes.

Member 2: Long top, leggings and high heeled shoes.

Member 3: Long top, tight jeans and high heeled s

hoes.

Verse 2

Female Band Member: Simple top and short pyjama set for the present tense of the verse and casual, comfortable costume for flashback.

Male Counterpart: Simple white t-shirt for "I'm Sorry" speech, as this is a trademark style statement amongst R 'n' B male artist.

Chorus 2

Casual yet sexy costume again for the members who are shot in an outside setting

Member 1: Skinny jeans, tight top, cardigan, scarf and high heeled shoes.

Member 2: Long Top, leggings, cardigan and high heeled shoes.

Member 3: Top, leggings, black leather jacket and high heeled shoes.

Verse 3

Female Band Member: Skirt, leggings, top and flat shoes for a more casual and homely feel

Male Counterpart: Casual costume including a hooded jacket, jeans and trainers

The thought process of choosing these types of costume was to ensure that it fitted the generic codes and conventions of the R 'n' B genre and reflected the research undertaken. The band is promoting a sexy yet simple image, such as R 'n' B stars Rihanna and Beyonce. However, as a band that promotes female independence and empowerment, the sexy nature of the clothes had to be downplayed to show that you don't need to dress provocatively to be a real women or in order to attract the opposite sex. Incorporating a lot of black items into the bands costume reinforce their power, status and wealth, conforming to the R 'n' B genre but opposing the stereotypes of women in other media forms.

Rihanna

For the role of the male in the video, it was important to conform to the generic codes and conventions of the genre. The costume was loosely based on R 'n' B star Chris Brown so reflected youth, street style and casual, sporty dress. We didn't want to dress the male in black as his status in the video is lower than the bands and we had to ensure this was evident to the audience.

Chris Brown

Shooting Schedule for Music Video

Shooting Schedule

Verse 1

Who?

Alex Marks

Adam Freezer

What?

Filming the first verse and flashback of couple arguing

Picture of the two cast members uploaded onto the generic prop of a mobile phone

Where?

RowHeath Park by the duck pond and bridge

When?

Wednesday's media lesson, 14th October

Chorus 1

Who?

Alex Marks

Chelsea Smith

Victoria Greenway

Where?

RowHeath Park entrance and sitting area by duck pond

When?

Friday's Media Lesson, 16th October

Verse 2

Who?

Victoria Greenway

Adam Freezer

What?

Filming of second verse and flashback of couple kissing on the stairs inside chosen house to create realism and suit generic codes of genre.

Where?

Alexs' house

When?

Monday period's 1 and 2, 19th October

Chorus 2

Who?

Alex Marks

Chelsea Smith

Victoria Greeenway

Where?

Three adjoining roads outside school leading up to a mid point in the road

When?

Monday 19th October, 3pm

Verse 3

Who?

Chelsea Smith

Adam Freezer

Where?

Alexs' house to enable audience recognition and realism. Shot of couple arguing in the living room before a bay window for natural lighting

When?

Friday 23rd October, periods 3 and 4