Planning - Mock Band Poster

This is a mock poster of what I will produce to a higher quality later on in the process. I will have an actual image of the band in a field instead of stick figures.

The bright green field and blue sky matches the mise-en-scenes I plan to use in my music video which helps connect the two products and goes towards the overall cheerful branding of my band.

I chose the band name 'Silver Lining' because it matches the message of the song to "cheer up" and put it in front of a cloud as a visual pun.

I plan to have this poster be hung in "Jeans" bedroom to assist in the digitally convergent nature of my music video and website. It also gratifies the audience who go onto the website and see the poster on there and in the video. I could, as another option, use this an one of my two original images for the website.

For the final poster I plan to use a low angle shot of the band in a field filled with flowers and the sun and sky be a prominent feature above them.

Inspiration

UPDATE 25/7/22

With this poster I tried to make the intertextuality as explicit as possible to gratify a vast audience.

Planning - Mise-en-scene's (Shooting Locations)

Location:                                         Shots/Safety:

Bedroom

 Used for opening shots of the video as "Jean" wakes up. Lots of   opportunity for intertextuality.

 Risk of objects falling down on actors and I will need to have a keen   eye of what is in the mise-en-scene.

Field

 Shots of Jean walking through field and possibly have band there for 'cut' shot.   Happy bright full of nature. More for narrative shots and making "Jean" look good in   the natural light.

 Make sure that the weather is sunny and that there is no one else in the shot.

           

Flower Hill/Path

Long shot of "Jean" walking on the road whilst band stands on the hill and gets ready to perform for the 'cut' shot. Sunny shots with flowers adds to happy branding of the band. More for narrative shots.

Risk of long shot being shot far near a road, I will need to watch out for cars and that I don't step back into the road trying to get a shot. Also people on the path walking past and making sure they are not in the shot or I bump into them. 

Performance Space

 Used for the performance aspect of my video, my video. Fits in with   the bright happy aesthetic of the other mise-en-scenes.

 Once again be very aware of the objects in my mise-en-scene.

 

I plan to use at least two different mise-en-scenes, meeting to the brief.

Planning - Brand Mood Board

I want to present happiness and cheerfulness as aspirational to the audience and thus through my branding encourage my audience to aspire to be happy, appealing to my aspirational audience.

To emphasise this on my website and in the opening I plan on having my fictional band partner with a mental health charity and state that "a percentage of the revenue made from this music video will go towards the charity". This emphasises my brand and adheres to the Sony Brand Values where my band earns trust for the Sony brand through ethical conduct.

Planning - Cast of Music Video

"Sleepy Jean": 

Name: Kate Wells 

Costume: casual darker branded clothing, t-shirt, cargo pants light jewellery, wavy hair down, drawstring bag, pride pin.  

Band Member 1:

Name: Purnoor Fatima 

Instrument: Piano

Costume: bright colourful shirt and skirt with boots, colourful eyeshadow

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  <-- Inspiration

Band Member 2:

Name: Evan Brading 

Instrument: Guitar 

Costume: colourful short sleeved button down shirt and loose plain tie, jeans or other trousers.

<-- Inspiration (less 'edgy' and more colourful)

Band Member 3:

Name: Milly Fane 

Instrument: Lead Singer

Costume: dungarees, glasses, white shirt.

<-- Inspiration

By making intertextual references to other famous musicians iconic outfits (especially Green Day) the audience is gratified through recognising the references and the 'star' status of those musicians is carried over to my band through association, and this appeals to my aspirational audience. "Jeans" outfit is branded to also appeal to my aspirational target audience.

I plan to use at least two different characters who represent at least two different social groups. Band Member 1 represents South East Asian communities. "Jean" represents the LGBTQ+ community, signified by her pride pin. Also, half of the cast is female and half of the cast is male. This plan adheres to the representation requirements in the brief.

Industrial Context - Sony's Values and Purpose

 Values:

• Dreams and Curiosity - pioneer the future with dreams and curiosity.
• Diversity - pursue the creation of the very best by harnessing diversity and varying viewpoints.
• Integrity and Sincerity - earn trust for the Sony brand through ethical and responsible conduct.
• Sustainability - fulfill stakeholder responsibilities through disciplines business practices.

Purpose: "Fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology."

 How I will adhere to Sony's values and purpose:

• Have a diverse cast of actors in my video to portray the band and other characters.
• Produce my video ethically and sustainably and promote that fact on my website in a sincere manner.
• Promote creativity through my story line and though the use of various shot types, for example a rack focus.

Planning - Storyboard

The general narrative idea for my music video is following a girl named Jean, like in the song, and her journey from being grumpy in the morning having to wake up early to meet her friends, to realising the joys of life and that she should cheer up and realise that her life isn't so bad. The audience follows Jean doing various 'fun' activities, such as shopping with her friends, where she will buy a designer item of clothing just like my aspirational audience would so this would appeal to them. I realise that by presenting Jean as gaining happiness through buying designer items could be seen as taking on a consumerist ideology, however I hope that this translates to the 'bands' 'fans' having a consumerist ideology when it comes to buying their music. As the main purpose of music videos is to help sell the artists music.

The plan is to make the visuals match the lyrics as much as possible in the verses as to adhere to the conventions identified by Goodwin. Thus we see Jean shaving when the song states "My shavin' razors cold" and so on. I realise that it is unconventional to represent a woman in a non-voyeuristic and unglamorous way by showing her shaving, however I think that my younger target audience would apricate a realistic representation of women. Also my glamorous representation comes from the representation of the band itself so I still appeal to my aspirer audience.

I want my brand to become one of "finding happiness in the everyday" or something along those lines and thus have chose the narrative of Jean finding happiness.

Personally I believe a narrative is more satisfying when it comes "full-circle" and therefore have chosen to parallel some shots from the beginning of the video at the end, such as the sunrise and sunset, but still create a story that has a clear beginning and end to it. 

I wanted to try and connote that the artist is an intrusive thought that belongs to Jean. I want to connote that she is telling herself to "cheer up" because she realises that she can find happiness in everyday situations. I hope to achieve this by having the band show up in places where Jean and her friend are, and then by cutting to a performance space where they state "cheer up sleepy Jean" this connotes that the performance

space is Jeans head. I have planned this feature to be shown frequently in the video so I hope this comes across clearly to the audience as it is an established piece of my video. Even if the audience does not understand this, it still links the narrative and performance aspects of the video effectively.

I chose a band of 3 as when listing to the song I heard three distinct instruments, a guitar, piano and a set of drums. I plan to find and use three individuals who can actually play these three instruments so the band looks authentic in my video. 

Planning - Summation of Key Conventions

Music Video and Genre Conventions:

• Music videos are either performance or narrative based, or a mix of both. 
• The artist, whether the video be performance or narrative, is presented as glamorous, by dressing up in nice, fashionable cloths and through a variety shots of the artist to allow the audience to feel a connection to the artist. 
• There is likely to be a relationship between the lyrics and music and the visuals of the video, this makes the video more appealing to watch in conjunction with the song. 
• For pop songs, a performance aspect is very prevalent and fast paced editing is used to match the often upbeat nature of the song. 
• Pop songs use a considerable amount of close up shots, to emphasise the lyrics and to highlight the artists face connoting passion.
• The mise en scene of pop music videos is usually bright and aesthetic.  

Conventions I Will Adopt:

• Most or all of Goodwins Theory. 
• Having a strong performance aspect and using lots of close up shots of the artist to help create a personal connection between the artist and my aspirer audience.
• Using a bright and aesthetic mise en scene (that will be digitally convergent with my website).
• A fast paced editing style that matches the quick tempo of my chosen song.