MUSIC VIDEO

Music Video for Home done from Katy Cowie on Vimeo.

DIGI-PACK FOR ALBUM RELEASE

ADVERT 1 FOR CD RELEASE

ADVERT 2 FOR CD RELEASE

Evaluation Q1

Evaluation Question 1:

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

  Evaluation Q1 from Katy Cowie on Vimeo.

Evaluation Q2

Evaluation Question 2:

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

  katy evaluation 2 from Katy Cowie on Vimeo.

Evaluation Q3

Evaluation Question 3:

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

  katy evaluation 3 from Katy Cowie on Vimeo.

Evaluation Q4

Evaluation Question 4:

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

  katy evalution 4 from Katy Cowie on Vimeo.

Props/Settings/Costume Board

Ancillary Task 2: CD Case & CD Evaluation

Evaluation of Ancillary Task 2: CD Case & CD

CD FRONT COVER:

CD BACK COVER & SPINE:

CD ITSELF:

Ancillary Task 1: Magazine Advert Evaluation

Evaluation of Ancillary Task 1: Magazine Adverts

POSTER 1:

POSTER 2:

Actor Profiles

Actor's Profile's  - 3 characters

The Singer:

Why I have chosen this actor

• She is attractive
• A good actor 
• Is laid back and suits the genre well
• Looks young and fun so the audience will relate

This is the artist in the music video. She is young and attractive which will appeal to both boys and girls of the target audience which is teenagers and young adults. She has a laid back style which suits the Indie genre. The fact that she is of the same age as the target audience is a big plus as well as they can relate to what she is singing about.

This character is seen throughout the video in black room to make it feel more personal as she sings the song.

The Female:

Why I have chosen this actor

• She is attractive
• Good actor
• wanted a blonde to contrast to the female singer who is brunette
• Has a fun and laid back style

This character is one half of the couple in the music video who are split up from each other. She is seen with the male character and without him as they long to be back together. Her style is fun and laid back which suits the music, she doesn't take herself too seriously which is good and this comes across in the video with her being very playful and silly when she is with the male character. She is also attractive which will again appeal to both boys and girls.

The Male:

Why I have chosen this actor

• He is attractive
• Style is laid back like the genre
• doesn't take himself too seriously
• Good actor 
• Height - had to be taller than the female

This character is the other half of the couple in the music video. He is seen with the female character and without her for a contrast in emotions which he portrays well. He is young and attractive which will appeal to the girls of the target audience. His style is also very laid back and he doesn't take himself too seriously so was easy to film with him. He is also a good actor which made picking him easier.

Case Study: Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory

• Laura Mulvey is a 71 year old British feminist film theorist.
• She is a professor of film and media at Berkbeck 'University of London'.

What is the 'male gaze'?

The male gaze is when the audience is put into the perspective of a heterosexual man. It is the way that the camera is used to look at women in film. The camera lingers on the curves of the female body, sexualising females. Mulvey argues that in mainstream cinema, the male gaze typically takes precedence over the female gaze. A women is lusted over or seen as less dominant to the man. 

Example: Love Actually

In the film Love Actually we see a man writing a novel, while the woman  is bringing him a cup of tea, she realises he has an empty cup, but as she takes the cup off the table all the pages of his book are blown into the lake. Seeing this the woman then tries to retrieve the paper and proceeds to jump into the lake, before this however the woman takes her clothes off in slow motion and the camera lingers on her legs, bottom and breasts. The man looking at her lustfully then decides he should help but as he takes his clothes off it is done in a comical way and he ends up falling into the lake trying to take his jumper off.

Example: Alex Gaudino - Destination Unknown

In the music video for Destination Unknown it is clear to see that it is being aimed at men. The women in the video are wearing short skirts to show off their bottoms and tops that show there stomachs. They are all playing instruments in the video, some more suggestively than others by rubbing it up and down. They also concentrate on the women's lips, they are plump and glossy red and the women lick their lips quite a lot. The camera lingers on the bodies of the women and the way they pronounce certain words.

Why is this important when studying media? 

It is important to study this as it just one of the many ways to look at how females are portrayed in media. Laura Mulvey’s work is important as it is everywhere and one of the predominate features in the media today. Feminism is important when analysing a film as there is a way to manipulate people into thinking that women should only do certain things and be lusted after and that, that is the norm for women. Laura Mulvey's work helps us realise that the media have a certain set of rules for women and a completely different set of rules for men when it comes to showing sexuality.

How this could be applied to my own work

In my music video the main theme is love between a teenage boy and girl, therefore it would inappropriate to show the teenage boy looking lustful towards the girl as that isn't what the story is about. To make sure I do not encounter this problem I will have both the girls point of view and the boys to make it even and therefore should eliminate the chances of there being any type of sexual gaze thrust upon the characters.

Todorov's 3 Act Structure

Tzvetan Todorov's 3 act structure

Tzvetan Todorov is a Franco-Bulgarian philosopher. He came up with the 3 act structure for films. The three-act structure is a model used in writing and evaluating modern storytelling which divides a screenplay into three parts called the Setup, the Confrontation and the Resolution.

Todorov suggested that stories/films begin with an equilibrium where opposing forces are in balance. An event then happens which disrupts this balance, followed by a series of events. These problems are then solved to restore balance.

'Three Act Structure' is:

Equlibibrium

Disruption

New Equalibrium

Todorov also suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages: A state of equilibrium at the start. A disruption of the equilibrium by some action. A recognition that there has been a disruption. An attempt to repair the disruption. A reinstatement of the equilibrium. This type of narrative structure is very familiar to us and can be applied to many ‘mainstream’ films.

This theory could be applied to the film 'The Hangover'

Equilibrium: The equilibrium of this film is the when the four friends go on the stag night in Las Vegas.

Disruption: The catalyst for the disruption is when Alan gives them drugs which leads to them not remembering the night out and losing the groom. The turning point for the new equilibrium to come about is when the friends realise that Doug is on the roof of their hotel.

New equilibrium: The new equilibrium is they find Doug and get him to his wedding on time.

How I could apply this theory to my work

I can apply this to my music video as it is the basis of most stories and as my video is narrative as well as performance it will be easy to create a story using these guidelines. The main gist of the music video is a girl and boy who miss each other and in the end are re-united. Adding Todorov's structure the story could go...

• girl and boy are happy together 
• something disrupts this eg the girl moves away 
• then they finally meet again

Music Institutions

Institutional Research - Music Institutions

Island Records

I have done this research so I will know that my media product is being sold and shown to the right audiences and that it will look professional and convincing for the audience. I have chosen an institution that I think are suitable for showing my music video, this institution is Island Records.

I have chosen Island Records as they have produced Florence and the Machine, Bombay Bicycle Club and Ben Howard's music videos and these artists are of the same genre my music video is going to be. Island Records may seem to be an independent institution, however it is a subsidiary company which means they are now joint with the Universal Music Group.

My text in the 'Real World'

My text in the 'real world' will be shown on music video channels on TV. I think my video would be most suited to being on 4Music, The Box, MTV, Viva etc as it is a song that would appeal to the masses as it is a pop song however the artist/video will be in the Indie genre.
My text would also have the chance to appear on online sites such as Youtube and Vimeo. This is key in getting my text well known as more people are using the internet to watch music videos, TV shows etc therefore if my text were on the Island Records label it would mean a lot of publicity for the artist and video, this is because may well known and well loved artists are already on this label, so I think it would be beneficial in the distribution of my music video as it wouldn't just be seen in Europe but all over the world.

Why my music video would work
My music video would work on the Island Records label as it is the same genre as most of their other artists fr example Florence and the Machine and Ben Howard. The artist also plays a massive part in why my music video will work, she is pretty therefore appeal to both genders and the song shows she really just loves music and doesn't take herself too seriously and doesn't need to be all polished to make good music and I think people will relate to this. My digipack and poster for the artist are professional and could be used as a good business product as it shows her and her music in a positive light and looks attractive to the label as they specialise in new fresh music that is made by a wide range of artists and this is therefore the reason I think my artist/music video would be perfect for their label.

I have learned a lot from doing this research. I have seen which institutions would be best for distributing my media product and who would be willing to put money behind the project and where it would be in the real world. It had also helped me to see that record labels are willing to take on many artists of all different genres so they have a wide range of people who watch their videos, go to see their artists etc so artists don't always have to find specialised labels that only take on artists of say the Indie genre.
This has made me realise that in my own media text I can:

• Maybe add techniques used in different music genres' videos to break the conventions of an Indie music video but the followers of artists who are also on the Island Records label will still like it as it will remind them of other artists they like.