Ancillary text - Digipak Cover research

 I really like this album cover. It's simplistic background and text reflects the simple nature of the genre whilst the colours reflect the text 'yellow//gold' and also are quite common, earthy, tonal colours that are conventional of the genre. The thing I like best about this album is the blurred faces. This effect has been achieved by taking a still photo while the subjects are shaking their head with the camera having a slow shutter. I think this adds a really nice effect to the album, creating a soothing, slow feel to the cover. The subjects in the album are naked, this reinforces the 'natural' element that is conventional in the indie folk genre.

 This album is nice, creating a fun, happy theme with the subject smiling. The use of a sea side background reinforces the convention of nature in the indie folk genre. Water also connotes purity and its flowing resembles a journey; which most indie song's lyrics reflect. The house in the water is a nice touch. I would quite like to use an abstract idea like the house in my album cover, it gives the audience something to think about as well as being different, which is what most 'indie' listeners pride themselves on being.

 This album cover looks quite ghostly with the image being in black and white and her face quite blurred. I like this as it implies a bit of mystery and will draw in an audience. I really like the font that is used for the text. It looks classy and mature whilst the added colour gives the album a 'fun' element. I also like the use of underlining the text as it adds definition and adds structure to the text.

 This album for Jeff Buckley in 1994 still could be applied to modern day albums. I like the microphone prop used as it shows performance. Most indie artists pride themselves on their talent than their image and using a musical prop in the album cover shows that they are trying to sell their talent and their music instead of just trying to sell their face and become as famous as possible. however, the use of a mid-close up still achieves this by making the face easily recognisable to the audience.

 I like the simplistic yet effective cover for this album. I like the depth of field used, making the background slightly blurry and grainy. I think this gives the picture more of an old fashioned look to it which is reflected by the prop (old fashioned film camera) used. The fact that the subject is filming will also appeal to their target audience as a lot of 'indie' listeners think themselves to be very creative and arty which includes many photographers and artists. This link between the band and their audience will encourage more people with similar interests to buy the album.

This is a brilliant album cover. The image for this cover is very good as the bright colours will stand out to the audience on the shelves and make it more aesthetically pleasing. Again, the use of water symbolises nature and connotes peace and calm. The large text is very eye catching and easy to read while also making it easily recognisable.

I like the use of contrast used in this image. The black and white is intensified so that the image looks a lot harsher and edgy. However I don't like the text in this cover. I think it is very simplistic, which can sometimes look good if done correctly however I think this text just looks quite amature, especially 'the boatman's call' part. In my image I would probably change the colouring to a lighter red and a different font.

This is another great album cover. The image of the girl looks like it has been painted, which again reflects the link to their target audience who like art and creative things. The font and colour of the text looks really good juxaposed to the image. The font looks quite playful which contrasts the deflated mood of the subject, which gives very little away to the audience about the intended mood and tone of the album. This will make the audience more interested in buying the album.

Filming Problem

The deadline for our first draft was on 16th of december 2013. Unfortunately, due to my main character being ill, I have not yet filmed. I hope to do so this weekend.

Poll Results

Risk assessment and Health and Safety

Risk	Why is it a risk?	How to prevent	In the case of an emergency	Risk rating
Woodland	In the running scene there is a risk of Lily falling over	Check the running space prior to shooting to make sure there is a clear path	In order to prevent any minor injuries I will keep a first aid kit at hand while on location	Low
Lighter	In the smoking scene lily uses a lighter to light a cigarette, the flame will be close to her face	Check the lighter before shooting to ensure that it is not faulty	A fire extinguisher was already in the location ready to use and a first aid kit was at hand. If burns were serious I would call an ambulance	Low/medium
Glass bottles	A glass vodka bottle was used when filming, this could have been dropped and broken	Make sure there is a soft surface underneath the bottle so it is less likely it will smash	Clear the area of any glass and warn others glass may be around	Low
Water	Lily has a shot under water in the bath and she could accidently swallow some or drown	Shoot in small intervals under water so there is very little chance she will run out of breath	Place her in the recovery position and call the ambulance if necessary.	Low/medium

Shooting Plan

Date	Day of shooting	What I plan to shoot
9/12/13	Test Shot	Make up and hair
16/12/13	Test shot	Miming and ‘running in the woods’ scene (practise tracking feet)
21/12/13	First Shooting Day	Flash back – Band room scene
22/12/13	Second Shooting Day	Woodland Scene/ Flash back Woodland Scene/ Bathroom Scene

Technical Equipment

The camera I will be using to film my video is a Sony HD Handycam provided by college. The camera films in HD to ensure a good quality video which is essential in making the video look professional.

I will be purchasing my own memory card so that I can use it for future projects. It is important to have a memory card with at least 8GB to ensure that you can film thoroughly without having the misfortune of having to stop filming due to lack of space on the memory card which would waste filming time and is just generally annoying.

 The software I will be using to edit and assemble my video will be the latest Adobe Premiere Pro. This will ensure that I will be learning how to use software at industry level and create a quality product as efficiently a possible.

 A simple but very important piece of equipment I will be using is a tripod. this will enable me to keep the camera steady when filming and also make sure I am framing the shot correctly and more easily. The tripod is also good for moving shots as the weight of the tripod will counter balance the weight of the camera, making the shot considerably less shaky than if it was just hand held.

Thanks to Wes, he has let me use his Canon DSLR to take pictures behind the scenes while filming and also to take the pictures of Lily for my ancillary texts. I would prefer to use this camera for the pictures over the Sony HD Handycam as this camera has different lenses I can use in order to get the best photos I can get in respect to lighting and balance. It is a professional camera therefore the images should also look professional and make my product more realistic.

Hair and Make up test day

I decided to hold a make up and hair test day on the 9/12 on my two main characters in order to look at some different ideas and styles to see what suited them, the character and what looked good on camera. I found this very helpful as we decided on make up and hair for the main shot in the woods. As a major section of my video, the make up and hair needs to look right and fit in with the style and genre of the music as well as the ideologies people have of the indie folk genre.

Make up

for Lily's make up, we tried out three different looks, all inspired by grunge/indie models and recreated by myself.

the first look is quite simple, consisting of foundation, blusher, eye liner and mascara.

I really liked this look because it was simple yet effective. it reinforces the idea of natural beauty that is presented a lot in the indie folk genre. As the song is entitles 'Youth' it is also good that the make up isn't too heavy and doesn't make Lily look much older than she is, which is important as the character should be in her mid-teens. I think this make up compliments Lily, there isn't a lot, yet there is enough to cover any unexpected imperfections. I like the fact that Lily is quite pale as again it reinforces the 'natural' look that is fashionable at the moment

the second look is slightly heavier, using dark brown, smoky eye make up.

I thought this make up looked nice but I wasn't sure about it for the woodland scene. I liked the smoky eye effect as it is quite grungy and the earthy brown colours reflected the natural theme I was going for however I think it is just a little too heavy for a scene that is meant to reflect natural beauty and innocence. I do think I will use this type of make up for the swing rope flash back scene though as it would fit quite well for an 'every day' make up look.

This make up is the heaviest out of the three, with simple eye make up but dark brown/red lipstick.


I didn't like this make up look at all. It is definitely too heavy for the scene and it didn't compliment Lily either. It made her look a lot older than intended for the music video and makes it seem less realistic. It also definitely took away the idea of a 'natural' look and doesn't make the character seem innocent and a protagonist. Lipstick will probably be used in the band room flash back scene but that will be a bit lighter and less harsh.

Hair

Like the make up, I found three ideas for hair as well which again, were recreated by me.

The first hair style is already a lot like Lily's hair, dark blonde and long so I thought this would be an easy hairstyle to achieve.

I liked this style on Lily as it is her natural hair, also the straighter it is, the longer it looks and long hair is very fashionable among young people today.

The second style is slightly wavy yet still natural looking.

I really like this hair style on Lily, the few curls just add definition to her hair and makes it look more multi-tonal which looks really nice on camera and also it is not too curly so that it shortens the look of her hair.

The last hair style is quite curly and looks fairly 'greek goddess' like.

This hairstyle on Lily is very similar to the last one. I like that the curls are quite loose and start about half way down her hair. The curls also make her hair look shinier and will look better messed up in later scenes.

I have decided on the first make up look for lily along with the second hair style. I think these looks are the most natural and look the nicest on Lily and on camera. It promotes the idea of natural beauty which links to my specific story line and also the genre of the song.

For Wes, I wanted to recreate an Alex Turner hair style which is quite messy and popular with the indie audience.

The left picture is before and the right picture is after. In the after picture, the lighting is quite bad, however you can see that I have messed it up by back combing sections and using a wax to make it look messy. By making his fringe bigger and hiding more of his face (connoting that he has something to hide), he looks more like an antagonist which is precisely the look I am going for. This will be the type of hair used through out the woodland scenes.

Casting

I chose my friends Lily Dobson and Wesley Foster to star in my music video for many reasons. Firstly, they are young and fit into the same age bracket as the intended target audience of late teens/young adult. This will appeal to the audience as they will feel more connected to the video and this will make the song more relatable to them. The song is entitled ‘youth’ so my actors should preferably be in their teens as it reflects the song’s true purpose and will make more sense to the audience.

Lily and Wes’ looks also played a vital part in their casting. Lily’s looks go very well with the genre of indie folk. Her long, naturally wavy hair is a common style for people who listen to this genre. She also suited the simplistic, natural fashion well which is also associated with the genre and didn’t look out of place or uncomfortable in this type of clothing and make up. Lily is also very pretty, and in reference to Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘Male Gaze’ this will attract the viewers, especially the opposite sex and will make people subconsciously be more inclined to watch the video. She has a very slim physique which seems to be very fashionable at the moment to have the ‘thigh gap’ etc. so she is someone most viewers would aspire to be like.

Wes also looks very conventional of the genre with dark, big hair and normally dresses in clothes considered to be ‘indie’ like Parkas and Doc Martens, therefore is very comfortable and familiar with the clothes worn in the video. Along with Wes’ looks I also chose him as he is Lily’s boyfriend. As the song is about a young relationship, it is essential for the actors to have chemistry and them being an actual couple will help their acting and make the video a lot more realistic and created verisimilitude. This makes the video a lot better on the whole.

Animatic - Youth by Daughter

Story Board

Story Board Plan

Youth – Daughter 4:10

0-13: shot of the woods, looking up to the sky through branches ‘youth – daughter’ appears and fades. Tilt down to normal level.

13-18: Shadows settle on the place, that you left./ pan round the wood and settle on Lily, ex long shot.

20-24: Our minds are troubled by the emptiness./ cut to long shot, medium shot, close up, extreme close up. Tear rolls down cheek

26-30: Destroy the middle, it's a waste of time./ Lily turns head right, pan left to Wes with head facing left. Zoom out quickly to long shot showing them holding hands

31-35: From the perfect start to the finish line./ Wes and Lilt fight, Wes pushes her away. Close up on Lily’s hands holding his shirt, slow motion. Long shot of him walking away and Lily falling, slow motion.

38-42: And if you're still breathing, you're the lucky ones./ long shot of Lily on the floor from the back.

44-49: 'Cause most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs./ extreme close up of Lily’s ribs from behind to show her breathing.

50-54: Setting fire to our insides for fun/ Close up of Lily’s face from the front whilst lying on the floor with smoke coming out of her mouth.

56-1:00: Collecting names of the lovers that went wrong/ still a close up of Lily’s face as she gets up. Extreme close up of Lily’s hand as she pushes herself up. Close up of Lily’s knees and she gets up.

1:02-1:04: The lovers that went wrong./ long shot from the front as Lily stands up and walks towards the camera.

1:05-1:16: instrumental/ flash back of Lily and Wes in happier times whilst flashing back to the long shot of Lily walking towards the camera up to a midshot.

1:17-1:21: We are the reckless, We are the wild youth/ still flash back of Lily and Wes, smoking and drinking. Back to the midshot of Lily.

1:22-1:25: Chasing visions of our futures/ mid shot of Lily from the front as she turns and runs in the opposite direction. Close up of feet running through the woods.

1:29-1:33: One day we'll reveal the truth/ close up of feet as Lily stops running. Medium close up of Lily as she stops running (shocked face).

1:34-1:38: That one will die before he gets there./ pan from Lily to Wes. Lily goes to touch Wes but he disappears.

1:41-1:46: And if you're still bleeding, you're the lucky ones./ tracking shot of Lily walking up the stairs

1:47-1:53: 'Cause most of our feelings, they are dead and they are gone./ close up of Lily’s hand opening the door and then turning the bath tap on.

1:53-1:58: We're setting fire to our insides for fun./ close up of Lily setting fire to some pictures of her and Wes.

2:00-2:04: Collecting pictures from the flood that wrecked our home,/ extreme close up of the burning picture.

2:05-2:08: It was a flood that wrecked this home./ slow motion of the picture being dropped in the bath water.

2:12-2:14: And you caused it,/ long shot from behind of lily climbing in the bath from behind.

2:19-2:21: And you caused it,/  flash back establishing shot of Wes running up to push Lily on the rope swing.

2:25-2:27: And you caused it./ flash back high angle, long shot of Wes pushing Lily on the rope swing. Straight cut to a normal long shot of Lily and Wes hugging on the rope swing.

2:33-2:38: Well I've lost it all, I'm just a silhouette,/ long shot of lily on the rope swing, zoom to a mid shot of lily on the rope swing.

2:39-2:44: A lifeless face that you'll soon forget,/ medium close up of Lily's face, super impose a flashing skull over her face.

2:46-2:50: My eyes are damp from the words you left,/ extreme close up off Lily’s makeup stained eyes.

2:51-2:57: Ringing in my head, when you broke my chest./ speeded up backwards mid shot of lily frantically shaking her head.

2:58-3:03: Ringing in my head, when you broke my chest./ slow motion extreme close up of Lily’s hair flipping around. Back to the speeded up mid shot of Lily frantically shaking her head. Still thin the mid shot lily stops still and looks at the camera.

3:04-3:10: And if you're in love, then you are the lucky one,/ close up of Lily on the right side of the screen miming the lyrics.

3:11-3:15: 'Cause most of us are bitter over someone./ same shot focused to the background where Wes if stood.

3:17-3:21: Setting fire to our insides for fun,/ back to Lily in focus as she mimes the line.

3:23-3:30: To distract our hearts from ever missing them, but I'm forever missing him./ focus to the background where Wes has gone, then back to Lily in focus as Wes comes and stands behind her, she turns and he disappears.

3:35-3:37: And you caused it,/ front mid shot of lily getting in the bath. Slow motion

3:41-3:44: And you caused it,/ bird eye mid shot of lily putting her head under the water.

3:48-3:50 and you caused it,/ Close up birds eye shot of Lily’s face in the bath as she opens her eyes.

3:51-4:10: instrumental/ pan back round from Lily and tilt up to the original frame and then fade out.

Focus Group - What theory would be best to use in my music video; Binary Oposites, Stereotypes or The Male Gaze?

Focus Group - What locations would you associate with the Indie Folk genre and a love story narrative?

Focus Group - What comes to mind when you think of a love story narrative

Focus Group - What Cinematography, Mise en scene, Sound and Editing would you expect to see in an Indie Folk video

Focus Group - Would you prefer to see a music video with performance, narrative or abstract elements and why?

Focus Group - What comes to mind when you think of Indie Folk?

Focus Group - Has a music video ever persuaded you to buy a song, which song and why?

Indie Folk Mood Board

Genre - Indie Folk

Indie folk is a genre of music that branches off from indie rock and came about in the 1990’s. It came along at the time of the ‘New Weird America’ scene and started with indie rock singers and songwriters that had become heavily influenced by the contemporary folk music scene from the early 1900's like The Almanac Singers and The Weavers. This hybrid began and has been growing ever more popular in recent decades. The pioneers of this genre are artists like Jeff Buckley who got inspiration from Bob Dylan and James Taylor. And now the recent faces of indie folk include artists like Daughter, Bombay Bicycle Club, Bon Iver and Ben Howard.  People are starting to listen to this genre more and more as the music is easy to listen to with a mixture of mellow, acoustic sounds and catchy melodies yet no artist sounds the same. Being ‘indie-individual’ the artists are celebrated for their individual and original voices that don’t fit in with the mainstream pop genre. Indie folk concentrates more on the talent in the voices and instrument playing than the hype around the music industry or making a fashion statement. Listeners of indie folk are listening simply for the enjoyment of the music stripped bare, no auto tune or technology, just instruments and a voice. Although many indie folk artists are unsigned or singed to small independent labels (hence the name ‘indie’) the most well-known indie folk labels in America consist of Hush, Barsuk Records, SubPop Records and Ramseur Records.

Conventions of the genre include:

Live performance: This is used predominantly to promote the artist or band. It also takes away all the frills to modern day music videos, it proved that even stripped down music videos that simply contain the music can be just as effective as ones based on a narrative. Live performance videos are also used to show the passion the artist has and reflects how the audience of this genre prefers to consume the music. However most indie videos now include narrative as well as live performance to keep the audience entertained and to appeal to more audiences. Performance can be seen in the Benjamin Francis Leftwich video for Box Of Stones where he is playing an acoustic guitar, reinforcing that the purpose of the video is to promote the artist and his talents.

Narratives: Most indie videos now use a narrative along side live performance. The narrative can be used to keep the audience entertained and to appeal to a wider audience. The more different it is, the more memorable it will be to the audience and can improve sales. Indie music video narratives often include a person going on a journey or looking back on their life. This often reflects the lyrics that are used a lot in this genre. In Bon Iver's Video for Calgary, there is no performance, simply a narrative running consecutively to the music. This can help reflect the mood and tone of the song.

Mise en scene: Artists often play themselves in the narrative as the song lyrics often reflect themselves and the things they have been through. They often have a retro look, leather jackets and jeans. Girl artists usually wear dresses and boots. However more predominantly in Indie Folk, women are shown as pure and innocent and often wear white dresses and not too much make up and lots of neutral colours are used in both sexes. The location for the videos are usually set in woodland or in open spaces in nature because the bands and artist usually like to keep their videos basic and simplistic like the soft sounds. 'Calgary' includes a huge amount of nature and fairy tale like aspects in the mise en scene which makes it like a mystical fantasy to the audience. This engages them more as they want to see what happens in the end, even though it is usually predictable.

Sound: Indie bands, specifically Indie Folk are based around the acoustic guitar and vocals. There are rarely any other instruments used apart from the occasional percussion instrument like a tambourine or drum. This is because indie artists are against the use of any technical editing to their songs like auto tune or edited instruments and are proud to just display their talent. Their songs are often simplistic so you can feel the full effect of the meaningful lyrics. The music is mostly diegetic when the video consists of live performance, however it can be non-diegetic when the video centers around the narrative but there is usually some diegetic music played. 'Box Of Stones' mainly consists of just a voice and an acoustic guitar, this portrays a soft mood to the audience and makes it more relaxing to listen to. The focus is more on the talent of the singer than of the instruments.

Cinematography: Extreme close ups are the most commonly used in the Indie genre as it shows the identity or character of the artist which is what they are predominantly trying to sell. Lots of close ups are used in the video for 'The Way I Tend To Be' by Frank Turner, to show him singing to remind the audience of the purpose of the video along with entertaining them with the narrative. Long shots and full body shots are also used, especially in live performance to show the use of instruments and also to show the clothes the artists are wearing, as many bands are the source of style inspiration. Pans and tilts are used to show movement and give the impression of a journey. They also show the location to the video to put the video in context and easier to understand to the audience.

Editing: The edits for Indie Folk are usually quite slow and the shots are long, this is usually because the edits match the beat of the song and most Indie Folk songs are relatively slow. The edits speed up when the song speeds up. This also can reflect the mood or tone of the song and changes how the audience perceives this. Sometimes effects are edited in to the video post production like black and white or to make it look like it is from an old tape. This is to give the video an old fashioned rustic look that is popular at the moment. Old styles in media and fashion are perceived to be cool and edgy. This technique is used in 'Calgary', it reflects the tone and mood of the song and makes the video more simplistic and can have a soothing effect on the audience.