Promo pack

A key element of our coursework is creating a promotional pack. A promo pack consists of the music video, an advertisement and a digipak. The advertisement is advertising the release of the single being used in our music video and should include the title of song, artist and release date. A digipak is a design of the covers for the DVD, which will include the single and the music video. I will be planning and evaluating my designs before producing the final designs, which I will be creating using Photoshop. I feel very confident about this task as I have had experience with this programme from the magazine coursework task last year in media.


It is vital that the digipak and advertisement are very similar and stick to the theme of the music video, so that there is a consistent theme in terms of the mise en scene of the promotion pack as a whole. For example, this is evident in the following two digipak's:







Above is the Kanye West digi pack for his DVD 'Late Registration'. Although Kanye West is in a different genre to Lily Allen, is cover work is always unique, which I think is important when designing my own. Both the front and the back cover contain the same photographic image, which gives a professional effect. The bear mascot seen crossing the road is a constant icon used in all of Kanye West's cd covers, but in different forms. Therefore I am going to look at some of Lily Allen's previous cd covers to see if there is any constant theme, before designing my own. The title 'Kanye West Late Registration' is seen at the bottom right of the cover on the side, it stands out from the rest of the image as it is on a clear background underneath a busy looking part of the image. In the middle of the cover, is the part of the DVD box which will be seen when placed on the shelf, therefore it is important that the title is clear. The title is in the same font as before, keeping the same font looks professional and can establish it's own identity. On the back cover is the list of tracks that are featured on the DVD, the text colour is white, which looks effective and clear against the black taxi cab image. Sub titles are in yellow which also stands out clearly against the black, but are also in a slightly bigger font to show division. The DVD has a sub title of 'Abbey Road Sessions' in the bottom left hand corner, as this is an extra detail, the text size is not as big as the title, but remains in the colour back, so it is clear and easy to read. In the photograph, along side the bear mascot, is a road sign on a brick wall which says 'Abbey Road' as if the bear mascot has just left the Abbey Road studio. The sign is in white with red writing so it stand out against the brick wall, it has connections to the DVD but it is in a subtle and interesting way.






Above is the DVD cover for Madonna's 'Music', Madonna is a popular female artist like Lily Allen of a smiliar music genre. A 'Cow Boy and Western' theme is kept constant through out the promotion pack. On the front cover, Madonna is wearing the same costume that she wears in the music video, so fans will instantly recognise this. Madonna is posed and laying on haye which is also associated with that theme. The font used for the titles are in a Western style also, so for my Lily Allen DVD cover I will need to find an appropriate font which represents the modern and funky style and sound of Lily Allen and her single. The part of the title 'Madonna' is in pink, which is the same colour as the hat so there are connections in terms of colour. The middle part of the DVD is in rainbow colours, which will immediately grab attention whilst on a shelf, but also keeps the colour theme that appears under the title. I like the look of the bright colours together as it immediately draws attention, so I will keep this in mind when designing my own DVD cover. On the back of the cover, is a different image to the front cover but the theme is kept constant, there is haye in the background with Madonna's hat on it. Underneath the hat as is the track listings, the font is rather small in a pale pink colour which stick to the colour theme of pink which is frequently featured. Other extra details on the DVD cover include; bar code, DVD, parental advisory and the makes of the record labels and producing studios. I must remember to include these extra details when planning my own DVD cover.

Mise en scene

I am going to share the ideas we have so far with regards to mise en scene.


Costume and makeup:

In terms of costume we have the idea that Lucy could wear vibrant colours, as this stereotypically fits with the upbeat nature of the song. Lucy is going to have a few costume changes during the video; In the class room scene Lucy and her fellow class mates will be wearing a traditional school uniform, consisting of white shirts, a tie, black skirt/trousers and black shoes. However, Lucy's look will be slightly altered with her tie loose, shirt buttons undone and long socks on giving a subtle hint of rebellion which will make her stand out slightly amongst the other students in her class. The teacher in the scene will be wearing something smart, perhaps a suit to give a professional look.


In the scenes on the street, we want Lucy to look fashionable and up to date with the trends. Although we like the use of colour from Lily Allen's earlier work, we wanted to go for her latest look which is darker colours but with sparkle and shine. This may also fit with an older teen audience which we are trying to aim our video for. Our final costume choice for Lucy in the street scenes is black wet look leggins, black heels, a silver sequined structured top with bright pink chunky bangles. In terms of hair and make up; Lucy's hair is going to be styled straight in to a bob, with a thick full fringe like Lily's, back combing the sides to puff it up and give her look some edge. Recent pictures of Lily show her sticking to her usual thick black eyeliner around the eyes, but with bright pink lips, this ha inspired us to use the same look for our video. Lucy's general image in this scene is to look as if she is going out to a party and her look will contrast with the ones who are walking around aimlessly, taking drugs etc; they will be wearing dark colours and hoodies and baggy clothing to give a hint of mystery and rebellion.



As you can see, in the photos below; The first two photos are of Lily's updated image, the make up is what inspired us for Lucy's make up. In the second photo is Lily Allen's newer dress style, as you can see she dresses darker colours with bright accessories. The second two photos are of Lily's old image.

Location:

The location chosen for the scene on the street will be in Lewes. Lewes has a variety of little alley ways and cobbly streets, which will achieve the edgy and urban atmosphere. Enclosed are some photographs or locations we thought would be appropriate... We are going to use a class room in our college for the school scene, as we will have permission from a teacher to have time in their to film and make changes to the room to ensure the desired look.The images below are of Lewes town, Lewes is where our college is, therefore it will be appropriate for filming due to the convenience. This location will be great for the street scenes.

Props:


Classroom scene: We have chosen a classroom in college, that will be available for us for filming. Choosing appropriate props is an essential part of creating the right atmosphere we need for the scene. We will be moving the tables and chairs, so that there is one student at each desk, the desks will be in rows. The desks need to be set out so that the white board is at the front of the class, we will be using red marker pens to write on the white board, so that it stands out clearly for the audience to read. The white board will feature the date, a few of the students names and an anti drugs message written clearly, so the viewer instantly knows the topic of discussion in class. There will be pieces of work displayed on the walls and posters, a clock on the wall behind the students and pens and paper on students desks.

The streets scene: For the scenes with Lucy walking along the streets at night, some of the people passing buy will have props. For example; a lighter and a cigarette and bottles/cans of alcohol. On the streets, chewing gum on the floor and cigarettes, extreme close up shots will be used on these added props to highlight the gritty, urban atmosphere.

Politicians scene: For the repeated lyric of 'From grown politicians to young adolescents' we will be using a few people to act as politicians and props include a documented script that one of them will be using as they read their speech looking in to the camera.

Doctors scene: For the lyrics of 'you go to the doctor and you need pills for sleeping if you can convince him then I guess that’s not cheating see you’re daughters depressed, so get her straight on the Prozac but little do you know that she already takes crack.' For part of these we're going to have an extreme close up shot of the doctor giving a pill packet to the daughter, who takes it in her hand.

Colour:


In terms of colour, in the class room scene, the general colour scheme will be quite dull. The uniform is black, white and grey, the general colour schemes of the class room are black, white, grey and beige... which compliments Lucy's mood of being bored and uninterested. However the writing on the board will be in red ink to emphasise the point being made in the video.

We are filming the streets scenes at night time to ensure darkness, but we will be using lighting techniques to create the perfect lighting we needed on Lucy, as she will be wearing bright vibrant colours that contrast to the rest of her surroundings.

Ideas so far for music video...

After choosing our song 'Everyones at it' by Lily Allen. We examined the lyrics and highlighted key phrases. This immediately inspired us with some basic ideas that we could later change or expand on, the most vivid imagery we got whilst analysing the lyrics was 'teenagers' and the peer pressure of drugs. One idea we had was a house party, which is obviously a stereotypical situation for drug use. Lucy has agreed to the star as the main singer of the video and we had an idea that she could walk around the house party as if she was invisible seeing herself and her friends in a drunken state and in the house party typical behaviour would be seen such as drinking, loud music, violence, one night stands and drug use.
Another idea we had was based in the location of a year 11 class room and Lucy would be sitting at that back of class listening to a lecture on anti drug use and the affects of drugs. After discussing this idea further we thought it would be a good idea to use this concept as an introduction to the music video which could then merge in to another scene, for example the house party idea. Which would portray Lucy reflecting her life now and the impact of drugs on her and her friends lives.
Another idea for a location is a street at night time, perhaps an alley way, to create a grimy urban atmosphere which sticks with the theme. Lucy would be walking down the alley way singing the lyrics, with people walking past/ in the background.

We decided to neglect the house party idea mainly due to lack of control. It would be hard to control a big group of teenagers to naturally act drunk/high therefore we decided to expand on other concepts. Organisation of the event and filming with technical expensive equipment in such a situation are also issues.

After seeking more inspiration we really like the idea of Lucy walking along the streets. We will be staging other people in the streets to act in certain ways, for example; a couple kissing against a wall, people on the floor, people stumbling and laughing etc.
We are still going to start the video with the class room scene merging in to Lucy on the streets. When Lucy listens to the anti drug lecture at the start of the video she appears to look bored and uninterested, we had the idea that the video returns to this scene at the end showing Lucy sitting alone deep in thought whilst her fellow class mates are leaving the room and talking, this is showing that Lucy has really thought about the topic.

Song choice for music video...

Our chosen song for the music video project is 'Everyone's at it' by Lily Allen. Before we came to that particular final song choice we chose a specific genre we all liked, we chose 'indie' and thought about some artists we could choose, for example; Friendly Fires, Kings Of Leon and The Killers. But it was hard to find a song that we liked without an existing music video. We also decided against using male artists, as choosing a female artist meant that we could use a member of our group to star in the video and we decided that this would be a better idea to ensure reliability. We are all Lily Allen fans and thought of a few songs from her latest album, but decided to choose 'Everyones at it' as it a very catchy and upbeat track with clever lyrics that tackle the subject of drugs and being teenagers ourselves we know of the peer pressure and affects that drugs have on the nation and we thought it would be a really good idea to communicate the message of the lyrics through our music video.

The lyrics to 'Everyone's at it' :
I don’t know much but I know this for curtain

And that is the sun poking its head round the curtain

Now please can we leave?

I’d like to go to bed now

It’s not just the sun that is hurting my head now

I’m not trying to say that I’m smelling of roses

But when will we tire of putting shit up our noses

I don’t like staying up, staying up past the sunlight

It’s meant to be fun and it just doesn’t feel right

(Chorus)Why can’t we all, all just be honest?

Admit to ourselves that everyone’s on it

From grown politicians to young adolescence

Prescribing themselves anti depressants

Now how can we start to tackle the problem?

If you don’t put your hands up and admit that your on it

Now the kids are in danger, they’re all getting hammered

From what I can see everyone’s at it

Everyone’s at it

Everyone’s at it

Everyone’s at it



I get involved but I’m not advocating

got an opinion, yea your well off the slating

so you’ve got a prescription, yea that makes it legal

finding excuses, is well over whelming with people

you go to the doctor and you need pills for sleeping

if you can convince him then I guess that’s not cheating

see you’re daughters depressed, so get her straight on the Prozac

but little do you know that she already takes crack



(Chorus X2)

Why can’t we all, all just be honest?

Admit to ourselves that everyone’s on it

From grown politicians to young adolescence

Prescribing themselves anti depressants

Now how can we start to tackle the problem?

If you don’t put your hands up and admit that you’re on it

Now the kids are in danger, they’re all getting hammered

From what I can see everyone’s at it

Everyone’s at it

Everyone’s at it

Everyone’s at it


As a group, we discussed our reactions in response to the lyrics, this started to get us thinking about imagery and plot ideas for the music video. We created a brain storm of ideas, which can be seen below...

Lily Allen is part of the EMI record label, we felt that is would be appropriate to ask for copywright permission to use the song for our music video. This is the letter that I sent to head of EMI...

To whom it may concern,

My name is Jade Townsend and I am a student at Sussex Downs College in Lewes, East Sussex. As part of my coursework project for media studies, we are creating a music video. Due to copyright laws, we have to choose a song without an exsisting music video. My group and I have chosen the song 'Everyones At It' By Lily Allen and I am writing to you today to request for your permission to use this song for educational purposes.

It would be greatly appreciated if you could let me know as soon as possible, my contact details are listed below.

Many thanks,
Look forward to hearing from you,

Jade Townsend.

247a Arundel Road
Peacehaven
East Sussex
BN10 7JX
jade-townsend@hotmail.co.uk

Introduction to A2 coursework

This year for media A2 coursework we will be creating our own music video, with our own choice of song, with the exception if it already has a music video for it. I am really enthusiastic about starting this project and hope to produce an original and creative music video. I will start the project by planning out some ideas for the music video, choosing the song and gaining inspiration, for example; from other music videos, directors cinematography work and mise en scene element ideas from other media sources. We are working in groups of 2-4 and my fellow group members are Lucy Singh, Kelsey Heaton and Charlotte Hills. I think we will work very well as a group of four as we enjoy the same genres of music and our different qualities ans skills will add various creative and productive aspects to the video.