Contacting Record Company

In order to successfully make our Video, and abide by all copyright laws, we have decided we will contact the record company. (ISLAND RECORDS UK)
Part of the Music Industry code of conduct, you have to apply for permission to copy a song. The e-mail below shows this.

Copyright laws are extremely important in the record industry If a song or other recorded media containing copyright material is duplicated without permission of the copyright holder, it is a form of copyright infringement.
Musical recordings that have not been officially released by the artist or their associated management or production companies.
In my case, although the song will not be released the term 'bootleg' is used to differentiate these otherwise unavailable recordings from "pirated" copies of commercially released material, but these recordings are still covered by copyright despite their lack of formal release.

Copyright is important so that new up and coming artists don't make their way successfully off the back of someonelses success in song writing and singing. After a certain amount of years this is no longer the case and certain songs become open for artists to re-record and release.

Schedule

In order to allow my project to run smoothly I am creating a schedule to ensure dealines are met and the things that need to be done are done on time and properly.

There is a month time frame for this project, by sheduling I should ensure I leave myself enough time to edit my Music Video well.

Tuesday 20th October - Location Recce
Sunday November 1st - Take pictures
Tuesday November 3rd - Test shoot
Thursday November 5th - Revisit Footage
Tuesday 10/17 November - Film

Lighting

Lighting can be the making of a film, it is the difference between something you film looking amateur or professional.

In my video, there will only be a few times where the use of lighting will be necessary, as most of the video will be filmed outside there will be a lot of natural light. This will be something I can use to my advantage, with the use of reflectors I will be able to place the light onto specific areas or characters as I require.

On the occasions the character is inside, there may be a lack of natural or artificial light.
This is something I will have to take note on on my location recce. By assessing what light I have available to me, it will allow me to plan what lighting I will need to take with me to shoot.

I will also need to decide what type of lighting will be required for each type of shot. In addition to this I will need to write equipment lists and asses the possible Health and Safety issues and how they can be avoided.

3 Point Lighting:

1. Key Light - Brings Intensity, Brightness - essentially the hard light.
2. Fill Light - Soft Light - Diffuses Shadows.
3. Back Light - Gives the shot depth, separates the subject from the background.

Equipment List:

Portable Lighting Kit
3 "Red Heads"
3 Stands
Spare Bulbs
Gaffer Tape
Gloves
Croc Clips

Also the use of Gel papers in order to create different lighting colour effects.

In addition to this there are also a lot of different types of budget lighting available for me to use. Sources such as mobile phones, torches and lamps can also be used to aid lighting on a set. Cheaply and effectively.

Health and Safety:

Possible risks: Burning of hands on Barn doors or light.
Overcome: Wear Gloves

Possible Risks: Tripping or falling over loose cables on the floor.
Overcome: Gaffer tape any loose cables to the floor, have one person assigned to the job of holding lights.

Health & Safety for filming locations:

College:

Cables trailing or slung: It's possible that when we film the lighting cables may trail across the floor and cause a hazard to people walking that may trip. We plan to overcome this by taping down any loose cable to the floor.

Confined spaces: Some of the locations we are filming in are very confined. This could cause problems when moving around the room to film. We can overcome this by moving any excess equipment or clutter out of the way and making sure the floor space is clear.

Eastbourne:

We plan to film in different locations in Eastbourne such as the Beach and Botanical gardens.

The weather: This could prove a hazard if the weather becomes bad when out filming, the equipment could get damaged. We could prevent this by filing under cover and checking the weather forecast in the days running up to when we are scheduled to film.

Access Requirements: As the beach is a public place we don't need to gain permission to film there. However we may need to get permission to film in the Botanical gardens.

Initial Ideas

I have looked at Music Videos for Florence and The Machine. Although the style of videos vary, there are aspects which I have gained inspiration from to use in my own Video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nxO-yPQesA

This particular video 'Rabbit Heart' has a very individual approach to video making. In the same way as I aim to focus on one main character throughout my video. This video does the same. Florence is the main focal point throughout this has been accentuated by the use of White light, representing her as some angelic like figure who the other people in the video appear to flock to subtlety.

In many of Florence's video this pattern remains, because of this sense of consistency among her videos, the consumer can relate to the message she is trying to get across, this also gives her lyrics a sense of realism as we assume it is an experience relating directly to herself, we hear her sing about.

As shown below we can see another still image from Florence's video "Kiss with a fist" showing this example once again. This video takes her pattern of video behaviour to the extreme when we see a series on shots with only Florence by herself. The white background contrasting her colourful clothing really emphasises this.

I have also looked at other artists of a similar genre of music to Florence, to see if there are any similarities in the style of videos. Here I have Chosen Kate Nash "Foundations." In terms of the comparisons in genre between the two artists. Their music is meaningful and light hearted. Some of their lyrics can be linked to Controversy. They both have a very similar girly look, with long ginger/red hair, and they are both English, and where most artists mask their accent when singing, We hear quintessentially English works when they both sing.

The most obvious comparison is the choice of clothing, they both often wear bright clothing to represent their personality.

I have also chosen to loom at Marina and the Diamonds, who is very similar to Florence and the Machine in the fact that she is an up and coming artist who is breaking into the music industry. She is tipped by the NME magazine to be the best newcomer this year, and her new single Hollywood, is already in the charts.

She poses the same style of alternative music as Florence and the machine, and also interestingly her name is very similar. Florence and the Machine and Marina and the Diamonds.

http://www.nme.com/

I have looked at http://www.facebook.com/ to see if I can find some evidence of the comparisons between the artists.

As you can see from this face book group the description and images of Kate Nash show distinct similarities between her and Florence.

Her edgy and controversial personality is shown by the images on the page and discussions on the blogs. This can also be found on both Marina and the diamonds page and Florence's. Although they are discussing different topics. For example what the video portrays or the personality of the artist.

The genre of music, and instruments used are listed on the page this would be to detail to new fan what her music is about.

As a relatively new artist. Marina and the Diamonds has fewer fans on her face book page but details of her new single and album are on the page.

Another Artist I have looked at is Lilly Allen who again, sings in the same style, and has an edge to her lyrics. Here recent edge has reflected in her image and the Mis en scene. With her Dark make up (seen below)and clothing, this shows she is taking her music much more seriously and we see this in the sophistication of her latest music Video "22." As she is singing about growing up and maturing, her music videos are doing the same.

Lilly, however takes a different approach to her image, with a somewhat loose pattern to her style. She doesn't maintain one look, she has gone from Reebok Trainers and a prom dress, to skimpy leotards and bare feet at this years V Festival. One thing that has remained the same though is her singing style and care for the reaction her lyrics may achieve.

I have done some research into Mis en scene and the different impacts it can achieve from an interesting website detailed below.

http://www.slideshare.net/kjera/mise-en-scene-analysis-presentation

This website details the essential parts of Mis en Scene to enable success.

Video styles

I have also studied different Music Videos in order to gain inspiration for my own video. As shown below in the Paloma Faith Video "New York" we see a shot of her walking along the street, this is a shot I aim to use in my own video, but by looking at the way in which it has been executed here, I have been able to rethink the transition into this shot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki0xBb2wbr4

Although the following image isn't from a video or genre of music linked to mine. I have chosen to use it because it displays a shot similar to one I wish to use in my own Video. I would like to use a shot with three characters and a mirror. The camera will be positioned in an over the shoulder shot so that the only way we see the characters is in the reflection of the mirror.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1VTcJfL7RE

Looking at the Video for Marina and the diamonds Hollywood. There is a shot we would like to use in our video. Using a mirror and a shot capturing the reflection.

Mise-en-Scene

Setting and Location
There are 2 main locations we are are using for the making of our video. Firstly the work place of the character which we will film in College. For another of our locations we will use the streets of Brighton. We need to replicate an office environment, we may well be able to access this within college. Finally we will use the pier and Brighton at night.

Costume and Makeup
The main character of our video will be dressed in work clothes, that replicate an office worker. This will involve fairly dark and grungy clothing to reflect her bad mood. Later on in the video we see the character going out with her friends, the make-up and costume will become brighter and reflect her more happy and relaxed mood. This is something Florence and the machine relies on in her Videos. She wears bright and vibrant clothes which reflect her mood, song lyrics and personality. In her videos below we see a the pattern in the videos her clothing style remains similar throughout each video.

I this print screen from the video "Rabbit Heart" We can see that her costume is very feminine. Although the people and props surrounding her and brightly coloured. This ensures that Florence stands out but the colourful, vibrant and crazy theme remains.

The costume in the second video "Dog Days" Once again makes Florence stand out, as the extra in the video are dressed as clown. She is dressed in a similar way but she stands out in a darker more sincere way. This is fitting with the style of the video as she is a victim of these creatures we see. Her make up is dark and almost made to look like black eyes, and pose she is standing in makes it look like she is being crucified, the head band, although used as a prop looks like some sort of bandage which indicated injury. All of these things have been carefully thought of and put in place. This has helped us think about what we will use in our video, both to capture the story and character.

Use of colour
Similarly to the use of colour in costume, we will be trying to reflect the mood of the character throughout the video. This will involve altering the white balance on the camera in order to create darker shots, and as the video progresses I will then change to create a lighter series of shots. From looking at Florence's video's we can see this work effectively in telling the story as in the shots above.

Props
In order to get the message of the video across to the audience. The song will play in a series of different ways, this will include through props such as i-pods and stereos, car speakers and portable devices, In order for our video to be a success we will have to use all of these props. Props such as beach huts for the shots we will film on the beach will also help in portraying our character in a fun and adventurous light.