Initial Idea

As i have decided that i want to do an upbeat, lighthearted song for my music video. Now i have made this decision i can start looking at the type of songs i want to use. I thought that using a classic song from the 90's would be fun to do as lot's of these were upbeats and fun, so done some research into songs that i used to like. One of the options that i have been considering is 5ive - Got the feelin'.

Got the feelin was the third single released by the band, and the song reached a peak of number 3 in the UK singles chart. It was originally released 3rd June 1998.

Target audience

My target audience for my piece will most likely be young girls aged 16-20, I chose to aim at this audience as i know them best and understand what they would and wouldn't like.

Plan

This year i want to
- Use a variety of interesting camera shots in order to make it more original and creative.
- Have a good solid plan and stick to it rather than coming up with dialogue on the spot.
- Become more creative and make use of editing effects that are available e.g. stop motion and after effects.
- Get the most out of my actors so they give the best performance possible.
- Use effective settings, costumes and mise en scene to engage the audience.

This year i don't want to
- Leave all my work until the last minute and not have time to make any adjustments.
- Not plan correctly and then have to make up dialogue on the spot which ends up sounding very tacky.
- Chose sets and styles carefully to fit the genre of my video.
- Not communicate with the people in my video as this will reduce the chance of them giving a good performance.
- Only do work in lessons as this will mean my work is not as good quality, instead i will make sure i work on things outside the lesson.

Research planning

At the moment i am undecided about whether i would like to go into the short film idea, or the music video but am leaning towards a music video. If i come up with a concept for the video first then it may be applicable to both so that will probably be the best place to start.

Music video
Audience Research
- include what sort of video people like to watch e.g. whether they like there to be a story told or whether that doesn't matter as much, for example i could just do different shots with lots of funky effects.
- whether they would prefer an upbeat song or a downbeat song (happy/sad)
- what styles people like as then i can see what would be a hit with my audience

Song research
- search for songs with the most liked videos and see what they have in common/what makes them good
- voxpops of what songs people like and why, also maybe what genre they prefer
- look at what is in the charts at the moment and make records

General research
- Different effects that i might want to include e.g. stop motion
- Potential settings for the video (where do i want the main set for the video to be? Or do i want to include multiple ones? If so, what would they be?)
- People i will use in the video? Different types of people, how many do i want there to be..

Short film
Audience research
- What would appeal to my audience, what different issues there are nowadays that i could maybe address?
- Would i want to focus the video around a character or other things?
- If i want to use characters what type of characters would i include? E.g. different stererotypes

General research
- What setting would i do, would i use the centre of a town, someone's house, outisde etc....
- Look at what is out there already to inspire me

General research techniques
- Voxpops
- Interviews (video recorded, sound recorded)
- Surveys/Questionnaires
- Location shots
- Personal interests
- Looking at exisitng videos for inspiration and using them as research
- Looking at different issues and stories that are in the news etc to see whether they could be transferred into a short film/music video.
- Experimenting with lighting/colour etc to find out what looks cool

G324

Children's Programme

- A little bird (any animal) flying round a town visiting different areas of it and teaching the children about them.

- Musical programme, teaching children little songs/rhymes to help them remember things.

Music Video

- Choreographed pop video, cheese fest

- Stop motion story of a person's daily routine, could be upbeat or downbeat

With the children's programme the main constraint was the fact that it would ideally be animated, yet i do not have the skills to pull it off. There are some ways that i could try and get round that such as using stop motion or something but this might not look as good and may not flow as well.

Definition of creativity

Coming up with and producing original innovative ideas.

4 characteristics of creativity:

- Imagination

- Purpose

- Originality

- Of value

' I can use things i have already learned to help me.' In product design when trying to design new and innovative products that work i have to use the knowledge of manufacturing etc to make sure it is a realistic idea.

' I like finding out new things and new ways of doing things.' Last year i enjoyed learning about all the possible different camera angles you could use which ultimately made my piece much better and was interesting at the same time.

' I try out lots of different ways to do things and solve problems.' / ' I can create things in my mind.'

Our idea was original as it didn't include the generic party scene we tried to make it less cliche by turning it into a beforehand part and they were in fancy dress to try and make it more funky and we could be more creative with the costumes etc. For the genre we were working in usually the colours are very bright and high key lighting wise, we chose to challenge this by changing the setting to a more gloomy, perhaps realistic, atmosphere and mise en scene to represent the direction that the film was going in, e.g. the drama of a car crash. The mise en scene of our film was therefore one of the main ways in which we chose to be creative.

I think that our work engaged the audience quite well and the upbeat feel to the opening was refreshing and would mean that later in the film the contrast between the good and bad atmosphere would be even more dramatic. Ways in which we engaged the audience were by using the right type of music and trying to include interesting and a mixture of different shots, for example close ups of the handles and of the faces so you also get to know each of the characters particularly well. We chose to use a slow motion effect on these parts as well which pinpointed specific aspects of the characters personalities and made it clear to the audience as well.

Children's TV Drama Research

The Top 20 Children's Tv Shows

1. Simpsons

2. The Muppet Show

3. Danger Mouse

4. Bagpuss

5. Grange Hill

6. Rainbow

7. Scooby Doo

8. Doctor Who

9. He-Man and The Masters of The Universe

10. The Magic Roundabout