Jessie J - Nobody's Perfect

I've been looking at some of Jessie J's music videos for inspiration and I feel as though the music video that I want to create relates to the above video very well. I really like the different costume changes, the idea of her swinging on a swing. I also like the dark elements of her looking lost in a surreal world (similar to my Alice in Wonderland idea), being in a liquid and singing quite a lot to camera. However this video was done on a very high budget and for my music video I want to put my own spin on it so by taking inspiration from these element I have thought of a lot of my own new ideas that I can now put into my music video.
Last year for my media coursework I had the idea of the evil characters of my film opening coming out of my pond outside my house but I didn't use this idea as I felt it didn't work. This means that I can now use this idea for this years work. I think that I am going to try and have a few clips of Jessie emerging from the pond as her bad inner self revealing itself or something along those lines. I want my video to have a lot of costume changes and because I get my nails done a lot I have noticed that as well as Jessie's continuous costume changes she also has a lot of nail changes that I will try and incorporate into my video as well. I also have a swing in my back garden which I may use in my video as well.

Shooting Schedule

This is my shooting schedule. I have created this plan in order to help me prepare for the making the most of each of my days that I'm shooting for my music video:

Creating Representation

It can be said that all forms of media are forms of representation. The people involved in making the representation are goverened by their own beliefs, values and attitudes. This means that no representation is objective. Most media products reproduce dominant ideologies in the way they represent the world, which has led to many minorities complaining that they are misrepresented in the media. (Taken from the Hodder Arnold 2007.)
Gender
There are many different ideas of gender representation accross the different genres of media. For example in soaps we often see the "tart with the heart," "the hard man," the "nymphomaniac" and "the gossip." However in music videos the representation can often be shown as much simpler than this; gender can be seen to be polarized. Men are shown to be the more dominant role whilst women are passive, men are portrayed as always wanting to have sex with women whilost women are portrayed as sex objects and features in a man's fantasy, emphasising their physical appearance.

Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze
Mulvey suggested that women in film are represented as 'objects,' images with visueal and erotic impact, which is termed their 'to-be-looked-at-ness' which is shown is Christina Aguilera's - Dirrty. However in this video Christina argues that she is portraying women to be the one in power, "OK, I may have been the naked-ass girl in the video, but if you look at it carefully, I'm also at the forefront. I'm not just some lame chick in a rap video; I'm in the power position, in complete comnmand of everything and everybody around me. To be totally balls-out like this is, for me, the measure of a true artist." However although this point is valid in some respects, she is also playing up to male fantasies with her being shown being around greasy men and dancing sexually around them. In Christina's video intra-diegetic gaze is present, this means when one character in the video looks/gazes at another in the video. Through the process of identification, this may lead to the spectator's gaze also. The spectator's gaze is when the audience is looking at the subject on the screen. When the men look at Christina this shows attraction and wanting for her and by doing this it allows the audience to look over her too.
Classical Hollywood films positioned the audience as males, and through identification with the male protagonist gave him an active role in viewing the female subject and gaining pleasure from them doing so. This look, from audience to actress, is termed 'the look' or 'the gaze.' According to Mulveythe look could 'voyeristic' (women are viewed as virtuous and beautiful) or 'fetishistic' (women are viewed are excessively sexual beings).

Another example of gender representation is Girls Aloud - Something Kinda Ooo. This video is very sterotypically protraying gender. In the early days of Girls Aloud, their music videos were very much fixated on the male gaze, close-ups of lips, stomache, legs and eyes. It is a very seductive music video that is actually aimed at younger girls however many boys would also like to watch this. In this particualr video we see the girls driving fast cars, looking very glamorous; some say that the way they drive is also very seductive as they are playing the the gear stick which is phalic. The roles have reversed from men driving fast cars to women.

Storyboard

I have now completed my storyboard however my song is 4 minutes and 19 seconds which is actually quite a long song so my teacher has advised me to cut the song down however I have so many ideas so I think that I may just carry on with what my storyboard states at the moment and if I reach any problems and feel as though the song is too long then I might cut it down afterwards.
Here is my storyboard so far:

The Cast

I've decided that I'm going to use my friend, Grace Whitaker, for the main character of Jessie J. I decided to choose her because she's confident enough to perform infront of the camera, she can pull of quirky styles simular to Jessie's, she lives close enough to me so that I can film with her as much as possible and she also loves Jessie's music so she will already know all of the lyrics.

Other Media Projects

Today have been looking at videos which I like and could take ideas from other Media Coursework.

A2 Media Studies - The Killers - Mr Brightside  

In this music video, I quite like that it is done in black and white as it is something different to look at however I prefer the extravagant colours of the original video. That is the problem which I wanted to avoid; doing a music video for a song that already has one as all people will do will be to compare them to the professional one, seen here. There is a story line yet some scenes that they flick back to a performance which I think works very well; the couple also act quite well together and having on screen chemistry is a must if you're going to pull off any love story. However I don't know if I am actually going to use a male character and if I do he wouldn't appear as much as in this video. The close ups of the instruments work well when there is no lyrics being sung which is an idea that I will use in my coursework. The cuts between each scene work well with the rhythm of the music and each clip seems to follow onto the next regardless of it being out of sequence (which was actually done on purpose) and it works effectively. There is a time when the girl who is acting also performs as she mouths "it was only a kiss" which I think works well. My favourite part is at 2m11s where they kiss in the car and when they part the other man is stood there but when the kiss again he is gone. I think that the costumes for the band members work well; however it doesn't really look that believable in the marriage scene as they look too young to get married. The fact that there is also no-one at the wedding and there being no priest is also unbelievable however they probably worked with what they had and didn't get any other actors which is a weakness yet the last shot, although it is clearly a manikin, is very effective.

A2 Media Rough Cut- Cosmic Love

 

This is my favourite of these 3 pieces of coursework; the cuts between each clip in the beginning work perfectly for the type of music sung. The simple action of running between trees works really well and I like that they reduced the playback speed to have her running in slow motion. At 30s where they have bangs in the music they cut in closer to the character which works really well and her constant eye contact to the camera is also very effective in this style of song. I think that because she has quite a big mouth and is really expressing each word of the song, it really produces a sense of authenticity as though this was a real music video and not just a piece of coursework. I think that each costume change is really strong, especially the small nude coloured dress as they are each very different to one another. The hands and facial motions along with the small dance moves are really simple yet look really good as they coincide with the music perfectly. I particularly like the stretch she does to the music at 1m25s and as the stars appear I think this is a really strong piece of editing as well as filming. I like that they must have filmed each costume change to the same piece of song as the cut between her singing in each costume works really well. The flick of at the end to the high chime ends this video perfectly.

Paloma Faith - Sexy Chick; A2 Media Video

What I like about this video is the first few seconds where she walks over the camera onto the stage, the half glance that she gives the camera as she sings and her delicate hand movements throughout. I like that bobbing that she does to the beat of the music as though she is really feeling the music and her styling works well with the genre and sound of the music and voice. I think her make-up and hair styling is very good however the costume doesn't do as much justice especially as she should have tucked in her bra straps. However I think that I like the song more than the video because I can see quite a few things wrong with it such as the lisp syncing to the lyrics isn't always in time and the fact that it is all performance which I think are two really big downfalls. However I do like the setting of her singing in a club kind of area as this was one of my initial thought if I were to use the other song of Jessie J's "Mama Knows Best". I like the use of props for example her microphone works well with the setting, I like the close up of the piano player as I will use this in my video and the use of smoke towards the end of the video. The camera angles are quite good and I like the lighting as if it were a spotlight on her with some shots facing the bright light.

Narrative and Performance

Narrative in songs are rarely complete and often fragmented which is also true to music promos, which tend to suggest storylines of other complex fragments in a non-linear order, leaving the viewer with the desire to see them again. As Steve Archer puts it:

"Often music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band. Additionally a carefully choreographed dance might be a part of the artist's performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the 'repeatability' factor."

The artist is also sometimes a part of the story acting as the narrator and the participant at the same time. The video allows the audience more varied access to the performer than a stage performance can. The close-up allowing eye contact and close observation of facial features and role play in a narrative performance present the artist in a number of ways not possible in a live concert.

The mise-en-scene, in particular, can be used:

- As a guarantee of 'authenticity' of a band's musical virtuosity by showing them in a stage performance or rehearsal room.

- To establish a relationship with a familiar film or television genre in a narrative based video

- As a part of the voyeuristic context by suggesting a setting associated with sexual allure, such as a sleazy nightclub or boudoir.

- Or, as John Stewart suggests, emphasising as aspirational lifestyle as in the current emphasis on the latest gadgetry.

Other commentators have identified some other styles in music videos, including gothic, animated, dreamscapes, portraiture, futuristic and home movie. In class we watched the music video "Take Me On" by Aha and directed by Steve Barron:

- This movie starts with drawn moving pictures that look drawn of men on motorbikes and it stays this way until the lyrics start. When they do, a real lady appears in a cafe who is reading the comic strip of these happenings. The drawing of the man escaping the men on motorbikes then comes together with the real life lady; his hand appears from the newspaper and she takes hold of it and then appears in his world. As she then becomes a drawing we see him look as though he's a photo, we then also see some of Aha's band members playing their instruments so this is where the small part of performance appears. The then try to escape from the men on motorbikes by ripping a hole in the newspaper like walls, the girls goes through and lands back in the cafe with everyone in awe of how she got there because they thought she had ran out to not pay the bill (the newspaper was in the bin) but she runs out and goes home. She then takes the newspaper home and reads the rest of the comic to find that the men had caught him but he had got to her bedroom door which he is now at. He then flashes between a drawing and a real person and then eventually turns into a real person as they embrace and we then see the cover of the comic is now them.

And the music video "Every time" by Britney Spears and directed by David LaChappelle:

- The music video starts off with just an instrumental with a view over quite an elaborate city with a poster of her on show, with a notion of looking as people continuously want to take her photo. We then see the storyline pan out as she argues with her boyfriend in the limo and then tries to get into her hotel through the back way through all of her screaming fans with sunglasses and a hat on, implying that she wants to be hidden. This is quite ironic because she sings "notice me" which is what everyone seems to be doing, that even through all of this havoc she feels as though her boyfriend is not noticing her. Her boyfriend is quite aggressive (and so is everything around her with the pushing and shoving) as he first of all hauls a load of magazines with her face on at a person in the paparazzi and then throws him away. The close ups of their faces show the great anger. They then escape to the hotel room but on route bump into confused staff who look surprised to see her again portraying the notion of looking. When they finally arrive in the hotel room the argument continues, he tries to her hug her but she pushes him away. He then throws a plant pot against the wall and she goes to have a bath. She is wearing lingerie and looks quite serene in a clip (where she is against a quite background which is taken from the original cut of the music video wear she sang to camera dressed this way) and then looks in her mirror and begins to undress which is another notion of looking. What she is wearing, seeing her tattoo and her getting into a bath is all quite sexually alluring; the boyfriend also undresses on the coach looking quite defeated. We then see blood on Britney's wrist and a close up of pain on her face, with another clip of her singing to camera in the white room singing in a gentle voice where she wears basically just a simple shirt which is the "performance" part of the song. We see doctors and police men rushing around her in this pristine white room contrasting her falling deeper into her murky bath as all the bubbles come out of her mouth. We then see her run to camera with the light behind her, which implies death and her now in heaven in an out of body situation she sees herself on the hospital bed. The movie then flashes back to her bathroom as her boyfriend rushes to get her out and save her as he cut back to the hospital as she almost narrates the birth of a new baby in the hospital. She is then rushes to the hospital as we once again see the rush of the paparazzi rush around her again in the same panic. The final clip is focussed on the baby and then she suddenly emerges out of her bath back in the hotel room. This section of the clip was not a part of the original music video, it was added because Britney's target audience is mainly young girls so they are very impressionable so for her to die would be traumatic therefore they added her emerging fine from the water.

Treatment Sheet

Propsed Title/Song: Jessie J - I Need This

Synopsis:
For my music video I haven't yet decided who I am going to use for my character however I have a few people in mind that I will speak to this week.

I want to do the music video mainly when it’s bright so that you can see everything that is going on, this means doing the video before 3-4pm because that is when it gets dark this time of year. However I do also want to have some darker shots or just when it’s raining so waiting for this I will need to keep an eye on the weather forecast but also remembering that rescheduling might have to occur as the forecast is not always correct. To do this I would have to do most of my filming in the Christmas holidays or on the weekends because during school times, when I get back it would be too late.

I want to start my video when its dark and hopefully raining and become brighter as the day goes on, possibly with the sun rising if thats possible, then as the song builds up have her on top of the house whilst its very bright. This is only a rough guide so when I choose my actor to play Jessie J I will run these ideas past her and take her interpretation from then also.

Genre:
The genre is slow tempo pop and is quite sad as the girl is not quite sure who she is yet and she needs space from the situation just to be by herself. It will also co-inside with a love story however this won't be the main focus.
I also have the idea of her looking trapped in this piece of artwork that my friend made resembling Alice in Wonderland's corridor. I would start with her looking trapped (either in this corridor or just in the house) then have her looking at herself from inside/outside the glass by layering clips on top of eachother, then have her trying to break out, then have her victorious on the roof and looking at herself from a plane (using the plane shot spoken about before.)
I also want to use flashbacks to make her remember who she is (maybe before she feels like jumping off the house?) and I will need to carry out a Risk Assesment for some of the ideas that I have.

Setting: The video will be set around my house however I don't want it to look as though its at a house. My house is made from glass and lots of wood so I think that it will look very different throughout.

Length: The video should last about 3.5-4 minutes

Format: Digital camera and edited on Final Cut proX.

Camerawork/Type of shots: A variety of shots will be used, I want a "jump cut" and "slow motion" to be a running theme throughout the video so that they really contrast one another depending on what mood or character she is. There will be lots of close shots however some long shots that I will use for example for the establishing shots.

Length of shots/editing: The video will features many long takes in the beginning of the song, however towards the end there will be many short scenes as the song speads up. I am aiming for around 70 different shots, as some will be around 5 seconds however some will only be about half a second long, if that.

Movement and action: Jessie J will be seen to be happy, moody and confused so she will often look at the camera and walk towards and away from it. This will be done because I want her to be relating to her audience.

Visial qualities: The video will be shot in colour. Each of the characters of "Jessie J" will have different costumes that will be completely different in colour and style. I have not decided whether I will have two or three costume changes (at the least).

Target audience: The target audience are mainstreamers who take comfort in media products that are not particularly challenging. They are aged between 14-30, mainly female. The video may also appeal to those going through a hard and confusing time in their lives as the song is about needing space but not just from others, also yourself.

Production methods: I will need to focus on different lighting, camera qualities, different editing techniques, general organisation and being the Director.

Equipment: 2 cameras, a tripod, editing equipment, lighting and costumes. Possibly also an aeroplane or a crane.

Time: I will aim for the filming to take around 3 weeks and the editing to take around 2 weeks

Budget: £0.00 (however £70.00ish if I use the aeroplane).

Rationale: This video will show another side to Jessie J that isn't just happy and strong. It appeals to a large audience, mainly girls however some boys too. It may be deemed hard to watch however I think that it has a strong message that is important for the public to hear. 

Top 100 Music Videos

Today I looked at a programme which featured the top 100 music videos; it featured who the director was, what their aims were when creating the music video etc. Here are some of the notes that I made, starting at number 77.

77. MC Hammer - Can't Touch This

- It features a lot of dancing and colours. It’s said that it’s due to this film that he made the harem pants famous and featured a lot of colour.
76. Beatles - Strawberry Field
Features: many close-up shots of aspects of their faces, for example their eyes, lips etc. It was said to be more of a short film than a music video.
75. Duran Duran - Rio
They often filmed their music videos on beaches and in hot climates, as though they were on holiday. They did this so that they looked wealthy and that the video focused on the lifestyle - bright coloured suits, mean on yachts, women in bikini's. Very 80's music video.
74. Wu-tan Clag - Gravel Pit
There were lots of dinosaurs, women in bikini's in the desert and they used many special effects of the day.
73. Basement Jaxx - Where's your head at?
It included monkeys which replaced the band. Monkeys are the inventers of music
72. Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love
Black & white theme throughout
71. Bjork - All is Love
It featured abstract visuals, surreal objects, portraying a sense of suffering and isolation.
Director: Chris Cunningham
70. The Police - Every Breath You Take
Black & white theme with lots of close-ups of lead singer "Sting".
69. Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Two Tribes
Features: boxing in suits (presidents), creating energy and portraying how boxing has replaced war.
68. Madonna - Ray of Light
Director: Jonas Akerlund (also directed The Prodigy - Smack my bitch up & Lady Gaga - Paperazzi)
Time lapse photography
Filmed in Sweden, New York and LA
67. The Beastie Boys - Sabotage
Mockery of the Police
Director: Spike Jonze (also directed Weapon of Choice/Praise You)

These are deemed to be some of the best music video's however they are all quite dated, so here are a couple that are some of my favourites:

1. Michael Jackon - Thriller
Director: John Landis
This music video has been voted the best music video of all time. It is almost like a short film and this is what Michael had intended; it is a 14 minute long music video. Although this music video is also quite dated it shows how cleverly it is all done, and the creativity behind it. The dance routine to the song is still iconic today and it must be celebrated as one of the best ever. It was inspired by the film "American Wolf".  

2. Jessie J - Nobody's Perfect

Director: Emil Nava

This is a music video that I take a lot of inspiration from; it is Jessie J's third music video, following "Price Tag" and "Do it like a Dude". Starting with an Alice in Wonderland-inspired dinner party from hell, Jessie and her director, Emil, carry on where Price Tag left off, and Jessie confirms she has real video-star quality with a big performance in some stunningly art directed set-ups (by Italian art director Antonello Rubino). She looks stunning throughout and the different costume changes have to be seriously noted, with the different hair styles, makeup and nail patterns. It has been described as, "a proper big British pop video this, built to last a few zillion plays and views. Emil’s best yet."

More "Greatest Videos" can be viewed here:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/50-greatest-pop-videos

Equipment I will need for filming

I think that for my music video I am going to need lighting, more than one camera to achieve continuity, tripods, SD cards, chargers for the cameras, the Mac laptops to edit, the editting software "Final Cut Pro," costumes and of course the actress!

I've decided to try and use a combination of the schools cameras and my camera. I have a Nikon J1 camera with two different lenses, one for far away shots that I will use in the aeroplane and some for more close up shots. The lense that will be for close has a 10-30mm focal length and the one for further away shots measures as a 30-110 focal length. The school camera that I will use is a Panasonic SDR-S26.I am going to ask my teacher for what lighting she has, but I've decided that I need a really bright light and to film when it is dark because I want to create dark shaddows.

I don't think that I will need many props during the music video, all that is really needed is the different costume changes.

Initial Ideas for the Story Board

I've had so many ideas for my story board and music video but I don't quite know yet how to put them all together. These are my main ideas so far:

As previously mentioned I want to try and film from an aeroplane over my location and have my character singer on top or around my house being free. I think I want this to happen towards the end of the video though as it would emphasise victory and freedom.

I also want to include and sort of "Alice in Wonderland" theme and one of my friend's for their art coursework last year made a life size box whereby if you stand in it, everything behind you looks smaller. I've asked for her permission and she consented so I know need to figure out how this will work into my video and how I am going to transport it as it is very heavy and large; it is made from wood and is a cube shape of about 1.5m in length. I think that if I want to use it at my house that my uncle could drive one of his vans to go and collect it for me. I think that this scene would work well in the beginning of the movie as it shows her initial struggle and longing to be free.

Another idea that I have different times of day/year portrayed throughout the movie, at the beginning I think I want to have some darker shots or at times when it's raining as this can represent sadness. I want the weather to become brighter as the video progresses showing strength and improvement in my character.

Another idea would be to use flashbacks where she remembers happier and sad times within her life.

For all of these ideas to work I need to create a good and structured storyboard, be very organised in what I want to shoot and when and concentrate on editing as soon as I've finished filming.

Photos of my location

I've decided that I do want to use my house for the location its mainly glass and I think that will work well as we can have many shots of my character looking into the house at herself looking trapped etc.

Here is the front view of my house where some camera shots could be taken of my character walking through the house with a possible faster playback speed to look as though time is passing really quickly.

These shots are from either angle from the side of my house. You can see the patio where my character will walk on looking at her from the inside to the outside.

These three shots are from the inside of my house, the first is a shot taken from the balcony into the sitting room. The second is taken from the library into the open plan area. The third is taken from the kitchen into the open plan area.

This shot is taken from the back of the house and at one corner; it shows the land in the background.

This shot shows the house in different weather, I would have liked to have shot during the snow for some shots but if that’s not possible that I would just shoot in rain as this has a similar effect.

This is a shot that has been previously posted onto my blog, it was taken from an aeroplane and I hope to use a shot like this in my music video as my character sings from the roof.

 

Conformation from Jessie J's management.

Dance Routine

Seeing as some of the feedback from my questionnaire included that they liked a dance routine I've been researching possible dance routines.
There is only one dance routine that I can find on YouTube for Jessie J's version of the song and I didn't think that it quite worked, so here is one from Chris Brown's version that I particularly liked:

I don’t know if I’m going to use a dance routine but if I do it will be something similar to this because its fluid and shows the right types of emotions from the artist.