Practical Production Treatment | The River - By Raleigh Ritchie

Audio : Lyrics and/or music	Timing	Images/Shots
I wish we were grown And old enough to run away	00:08 to 00:12	Have the main man dress up older (maybe in a suit w/briefcase) and woman smartly dressed (dress w/high heels) running away into a wood/forest from the city (Mousehold Hill as a location)
Down to the river I’ll go south of the river How many rivers?	01:08 to 01:12	Shots, using jump cuts,  medium, long, close shots of him travelling to a river. If possible get some aesthetic shots of them in the river, maybe looking around lost Jump cut multiple shots of him in different rivers along to the music, shows desperation and searching
We can get a loan To buy a powerboat and ride But now I’m overflowing	01:58 to 02:08	During ‘get a loan’ it will be river shots, then ‘buy a powerboat’ will cut to him in a smaller boat (maybe kayak or canoe) in order to match the words in a funny way Then when ‘overflowing’ play he will get flooded (bucket of water) and either fall over the boat or sink
I wish I didn’t live Miles away and with my mother	00:24 to 00:30	Use of drone shot, stops running in middle of field and takes a dramatic leap to show him surrounded by only forest/fields/open area
When I get my promotion I’ma see you everyday	01:49 to 01:55	Create a makeshift work environment (desk, two seats, computer set up) and cuts to medium of having his hand shook by someone who looks like a office worker. Both in suits to represent work and handshake to connote he has been promoted.

Music Video Proposal | The River - By Raleigh Ritchie

Band & Track Name: The River (By Raleigh Ritchie)

Running TIme: 3:56

General style of music video: Lo-fi Pop / Hip-Hop

Briefly describe what will happen in your music video, highlighting camera angles, shots, editing techniques and narrative. What will we see? What is the narrative? The young man/boy will realise how much he wishes he was older in order to be with the one he loves, being pushed further and further away from his comfort zone and the city, showing how as time progresses he has less chance currently. I would love too have sweeping shots of him in fields or open areas in order to show how lost he is. Making use of my drone I can have birds eye views in order to change up the shot ratio as well as being able to follow them running in third person (without needing a hand held device for stability) Editing techniques will mainly focus around jump cutting the video to match the time of the lyrics, matching words with actions, as well as maybe adding blur effects to show how thrown off he is and portray his frantic nature.

What resources will you need? (Props, styling, location, recording and lighting equipment, actors, etc) Most of what I have planned I have all of the resources necessary, this includes being able to drive for wider use of locations, using my own camera means I don’t have to worry about when I can borrow the college one, drone allows more unique angles I also have some close friends who live in different areas of the countryside or outside of the city with land that I can freely use to film and fly my drone without breaking any laws. The style of those featured within my music video will be casual, no set costume or style, this will keep is accurate to the research of younger indie artists being dressed a lot more like you would in day to day life. I will be setting a no logo/brand identity on shirts that is made obvious, going by legal terms of a real music video, those would have to be blurred out and would cause more hassle.

Who will you need to organise for your music video shoot? (Are they reliable?) I have a few friends in mind but I will need to narrow them down around when I have decided my filming schedule, if they have a partner/other half then that will make the dynamic of the video run smoother, but if not there is no real set back of having two people act out a relationship of some sorts for me.

When do you plan to shoot your music video? I want to begin shooting as soon as possible, I’m hoping to have all the research, planning and storyboarding finalised by the end of this week in order to give me plenty of filming time. Though there may be setbacks, that is my intended time of starting filming. The storyboard won’t have to be in depth because you have to roll with what you are given on the day (weather is a big variable)

Target Audience | Research and Planning

Pop Music Target Audience

Although it may seem unconventional when initially thinking about it, pop music has a very big aim towards females, mainly young but also those who are older who can keep up with all the change and new songs. 'Little Mix' is extremely popular among young teenagers, for both their music and the celebrity image they have acquired, being a relatable all girl band. Yet bands such as 'One Direction', though they are male dominated, still appeal heavily to teenage girls and fan girls who create groups and names for their own fan base. The target audience of women has become even more noticeable with the rise of K-Pop bands, although being Korean Pop, it has recently taken off in both the UK and U.S and many videos have emerged of girls bursting into tears of happiness after being given tickets to see 'BTS' (arguably the biggest K-Pop band globally currently)

Students are the min targets for the Pop Music genre, they will have the most disposable income and time, meaning they are able to keep up with current music. Also within their friend groups Pop music tends to have the biggest hits alongside hip-hop

Website Research

Pre-Researching

I had in mind to create a simple yet effective website. Overloading the website with text or information would not suit well to my intended audience, with ideas about the total attention span of younger generations going down, my target audience wants the songs and information quick and easy. The home page generally focuses on the latest or most popular songs of said artists and then if the viewer wants more they can search further into the website if they are a dedicated fan. The link will be either a fake interview or a collection of behind the scenes.

CHVRCHES

The website for CHVRCHES contains a lot more content and material than I will be expecting to include. They have information regarding their albums, tours and an embedded link to their latest/popular song.

With my 'new' indie artist I won't have any information about albums or tour dates to include, since they aren't supposed to be well known, and probably don't have a successful album to promote, it will more likely be one, or maybe two songs, then a little information. Their website uses a very inconspicuous menu bar just beneath their header, yet 3 of the five link to the same home page, the 'stream' and 'store' links take you to a whole new web page. This is the same kind of effect I am wanting to create within my own website. 

Khalid

Khalid is relatively the same layout, just closer to the level of publicity I am aiming for, he is well known yet isn't quite taking the same approach as CHVRCHES in terms of tours and promotion. He is much more about creating music rather than touring, meaning his info is more about his songs and the tour dates don't take up a majority of the whole website

The links to social media aren't crucial to my website, due to the only real piece of online convergence being the website, my new artist won't have much of an online presence to link everything from twitter to Instagram. Khalid's website focuses around his album release all about being an 'American Teen', using two main images on the home page, holding the US flag as well as being in the same dessert surrounding while sitting in a stereotypical american car. Representing both his album and his target audience all in one.

Pop Genre | Stereotypes & Conformity

Generic Conventions:

Imagery: Pop music generally uses dance orientated beats, leading to the imagery primarily being focused around clubbing, or the main character matches or dances to the beat. Within the sphere of clubs and partying the crowds are presented as young adults, generally clear skinned or fairly attractive, connotes to the audience that these types of happy and wild times are all linked to the song they are currently listening to

Gender: Women within pop, yet not in every single one, generally wear sexual and seductive clothing in order to conform to the male gaze and lure their audience in. Nicki Minaj is an example of a massive pop artist which has a large audience following of both male and female, the men coming for the catchy music and raunchy clips of her, and the girls for catchy music and a female idol.

In terms of the main performer (i.e the artist or main protagonist for the music video) the props and dress style has become more sexualised as well as extravagant. Back in the prime of people such as Britney Spears and Carrie Underwood their make up was no where near the extreme of most pop stars in videos today. Although in recent years, being more obvious of less globally famous artists, younger artists have taken a step back and gone into the more casual dress in their videos being surrounded by friends within their videos. A good example being the artist 'Sigrid' who uses the combination of flashing and eye catching colours, combined alongside energetic dancing, to create a more modest approach when creating her image to the public

U.K | Indie-pendent Labels

Indie Labels

Independent labels have been creating and impacting music for a few decades, due to the recent developments of the internet, their work have been more evident in recent years. Radio and Television were traditionally ways of artists to have their big break, now with the Internet gives them a more accessible means of creating a forefront to their music. Nowadays Indie labels account for 30% of overall record sales (statistic from pigeonsandplanes) which  are split amongst thousands of labels worldwide.

Indie labels control about 12% of music industry, making them the 4th biggest type within the whole industry.

Examples

4AD : 4AD is one of the larger indie labels created by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1979. It was initially a trial label for up and coming artists, if they gained traction, or showed potential worth investing in then then would move up to "Beggers Banquet Records" They would be judged over the course of a year then it would be decided if they "graduate" but only one group ever ended up following this program

Glassnote : Glassnote was a alternative rock/folk/hop-hop label which became one of the most influential record label powerhouses. They won an Emmy after publishing 'Phoenix's' critically acclaimed debut record, then soon to follow they released 'Mumford and Sons' song 'Sigh No More' which peaked at No.2 on the billboard charts. Glassnote also took on CHRVCHES which are a band I was origionally intending to base my music video on, they had a hit single called 'Recover' and have blown up since then.

Taylor Swift | "You Belong With Me"

"You Belong With Me"

Representation:

Taylor swift presents the stereotypical american story in her music video, which can also feature in a
lot of films too, where the geeky nerdy girl fancies a hot popular boy. The representation of herself
varies from the nerdy shy girl to the popular mean girl, but she never strays away from her pop figure
persona (later she mocks in her “Delicate” music video) where she plays the star role in ALL of her
music videos. Using close ups and making her the centre of attention creates her idolising figure
which young teenage girls adore

Camera:

POV and over the shoulder shots are used vert creatively within this music video to creative a level in
which the audience can see from both the male and female perspective. The over the shoulder shots
makes them feel more connected within the scene, as if they are behind the girls back supporting her,
or going through the same situation. Living out a dream they can’t achieve through someone else.  
Closeups between the boy and the nerdy girl are used in order to convey their relationship getting
closer and stronger, using the classic narrative, they are just starting as friends but it could lead to
more

Target Audience:

Taylor Swift’s main target audience is obviously young teenage girls, this is shown through her “21”
music video where her meetup is mainly consisted of all girls, using her concerts as another example.
Taylor Swift plays heavily into her target audience, this music especially, the young girls may have
someone at school that they fancy and they wish that how this story ends is their own life. Throughout
all of Taylor’s videos she presents the female as very stereotypical and getting the dream guy, or as
an embodiment of female empowerment, in “Bad Blood” she shows herself and lots of other women
off as rough tough females off to kick ass (even is they are scantily dressed in tight leather or latex
suits)

Mise-En-Scene:

The locations are all very american based, using a teenage highschool to put across the coming of age
love story, as well as harmless house parties to finalise the budding relationship. All of these locations
relate massively to her audience, they will all be in high school or some sort of education and relate
more to the video creating a sense of involvement or similarity. Clothing wise Taylor faces the
absolute basic and generic makeover that every nerdy or geeky girl has to make them attractive,
they remove the glasses and become ten times hotter than they were previously thought of.

Sound:

The only obvious sound change in relation to the video is the change in tempo. Just after the ‘hot boy’
realises his girlfriend is a cheat, the tempo changes to a quicker pace while the lyrics “all this time how
could you not know baby?” making the narrative match the flow of the visuals.