Weekly Production Log 7

This week my group and I have completed the pre-production documents for the music video. The process was quite unbalanced and we as a group didn't have the best communication. However, this didn't stop us from completing the documents and getting through the process. The next steps for us would be to start experimenting with the music video by shooting in our chosen locations and seeing what our cast members can come up with. Once this is done we can then we can progress on to experimenting with lighting and camera angles/shots, to see what works best. 

Production Schedule

Call Sheets and Risk Assessments

Music Video Evaluation on Focus Group

Focus Group

Production Log-6

This week my group and I have put together a series of opened and closed ended question for our qualitative and quantitative research. When coming up with the questions we found it quite simple as our idea was very realistic and so we were able to produce good questions.

Next we went on to film our focus group with 4-5 pupils from year12 and 13 in order to vary the ages and ethnicities. This went well in terms of getting everyones opinions, however we realised that many if not all the people we asked were one sided in their opinions, saying that they did not like the actual song itself, the idea was complicated and the characters were not going to be able to represent the Canadian artists well.

From this we decided to draw a line on going with Selim's idea, and instead go back to our original intentions of using my idea and song. Since, agreeing on this we have produced a new set of questions to go with the new song and idea and filmed a new focus group. Our next steps would be to continue developing our idea and film our focus group evaluation.

Location Recce

Park Cafe outside view 

Park Cafe inside view

Apartment flat- living room

One of the locations we chose to film at is in a small cafe in Kennington park. We decided to film there because the interior of the cafe looks similar to a living room, which we think will look good as it is much more spacious than the apartment. It also looks like a living room of a house from the inside. The park is also located quite close to all of us and is about 5 minutes walking distance from my house which makes it easily accessible to me if per say my group members were not available to film. In terms of the permission, we have already gotten it from the cafe manager who has said that we are welcome to film at any day, any time. This location is going to be part of our 'flashback' scenes where the two characters will be acting out their happy moments spent together, and although this is not the only location that is going to be used to show the couple during their happy times and memories it is still going to take up a few shots and so we'll need to pick a day from our production schedule that will be sunny, to show them enjoying the weather on a day out. Another location we're going to be filming in is an apartment flat, which belongs to my neighbour who I have kindly asked her permission for.  The flat was in fact used before for filming when I was making my unit 1 & 22 short film, and from that experience I found that it would also be suitable for filming the music video. The shots in the flat are going to be showing the female character (the girlfriend) lipsyncing the lyrics of the song we have chosen (Amanda Kaletsky - Desire). These shots will convey her regretting the relationship and remembering the happy memories she once shared with her ex boyfriend. 

Vauxhall Way

Vauxhall Way

This is another set of images showing another location (Vauxhall) where we will be filming 

Shooting Script

Job Roles / Risk Assessments

Job Roles

Job Roles 

Risk Assessment 

Richard Dyers Star Theory

Richard Dyer is a British media theorist who has come up with a theory called the 'Star Theory' which discusses how stars have a special place in the audiences lives. His theory is split up into 3 different areas including; audience and institution, constitutions and hegemony.

He argued that the star image is manufactured; meaning that it is produced or invented, and that individual stars have their own USP in order to be able to grab their audience's attention. e.g KPOP stars with their unique hairstyles and music videos. the highly seen expectation are the following examples such as boy band being good looking and confident whereas girl group's expectations are bubbly, cute, stylish and so on.

Stars as Constructions

KPOP

From researching into Richard Dyer's star theory, I have found in many websites quotations from him suggesting that , stars are constructed in order to have their audience to be able to relate to them in some way. Dyer states "a star is an image, not a real person that is constructed out of a range of materials (e.g advertising, magazines, news paper..) Stars are made to meet the expectations of an audience. This can be linked well with one of the vast growing music genre "KPOP" which is huge in America and Europe as well as it being well known in Asia. They are known as K Idols and most of their audience look up to them as they meet the typical "beauty" expectations. Many of the K Idols are afraid to reveal their image without any make up as it might ruin their reputation of being "beautiful". When they travel around the world to meet their fans, stars would usually wear masks to hide any flaws that is being shown. A pop star is usually seen as an image presented to the audience. This is because it will most likely be to please the audience as they are the ones which will make the star successful. This relates back to the music industry because the word pop performer and pop star has become interchangeable that there has been a high in demand between difference of pop performers who are performing pop music and pop stars who have an identity or persona other than their music career.Some of the reasons why most pop performers get promoted is due to famous partners or featuring in magazines. This helps a record label company to increase sales due to their labelled products such as music by well known artists which leads to a large amount of audience's responding to the product by purchasing their album or downloading it from iTunes as well as becoming a fan. KPOP stars are said to be perfectionists which leads them into working hard in order to become the best. They give fan service during meet and greets; this brings out a great image to the group as well as the idols themselves. A fan service is is where an idol group does something out of the ordinary to please their fans. In a Korean male idol group, fan service can vary such as hand-holding, face-touching, pretending to playfully fight or even snog each other. Idols realise that their fans adore it- so they are encouraged to do it to get more affection from fans.

 

Stars as Personalities

 

A star is built with the help of someone's signature to them in order to differentiate them from other stars. An example of this is Lady Gaga's outrageous fashion when she wore an outfit that was made out of meat and wearing ridiculously long high heels. A persona is created for the audience to identify with and so that the audience can differentiate different stars and decide whether they like them or not. Stars also construct "characters" to create an identity to appeal to their audience. Some of the characters may become icons and it enables the star to be known.

Sia 

Taylor Swift 

 

For example, most of the audience will recognize the singer Taylor Swift as she is known for writing songs about her ex boyfriends which is very iconic. Therefore, many of the talk shows and hosts would refer back to Taylor Swift as the "song writer for ex's". Another example of this is the singer Sia; she is often known for her outstanding wigs that disguises her face in public as well as while she is being broadcasted. The reason why she has kept it this way is because she is trying to have some control over her image. She also mentions, according to Nightline, that she does not want to be recognizable. Sia does not want to be criticized about the way she looks on the internet. he also jokingly mentions that the reason why she has the wigs on is that she could go to her local Target to purchase things without having any paparazzi to take photos of her. "I was at Target the other day buying a hose and nobody recognized me and my song was on the radio. And I thought 'okay this experiment is working.'." quoted by Sia.

Stars as Ideologies and Embodiment's of Cultures 

 

Stars represents cultural values and attitudes which promotes a certain idea to the audience. It is the idea where the audience would want to relate to the stars because they have a feature that they can share or admire. Some fans may attempt to replicate the star in their behavior, with what they wear or what they do. Audience interest in these values which enhances their star quality and it is through conveying belief ideas; stars initiate or benefit from cultural discourse (e.g. their Twitter feed), and create an ongoing critical commentary. Now more than ever before, social networks give pop stars the opportunity to establish their own values outside their music.

Often, stars also provide us with a focal point for our own cultural thinking - particularly to do with Youth and Sexuality. Ideology tends to have a positive side and its negative side; an example of this is the rapper Wiz Khalifa is very open about Marijuana despite the fact that he has been arrested on drug charges. He says that  he is Marijuana should be legalized and the world will be at a better place. Lil Wayne is also open about his love for pot; he openly smokes weed in concerts and in public events. He recently discovered that his Miami home was not selling because the buyers were put off with the smell of weed. Rapper Snoop Dogg has been rapping for several years about weed and he has never hid his feelings for the herb even through tough times. This clearly shows us that it could be a huge impact on the audience's perspective on weed and marijuana; younger audiences may most likely be influenced by this so therefore, ideology may need to be in control as it affects audiences especially when they are shown the negative side of the idols.

However, there is a positive side ideology according to Dyer's theory. An example of this is when Lady Gaga frequently tweets about LGBT issues, and she expects her Little Monsters to engage with that discourse just as much as she expects them to listen to her music. This allows her fans to be able to share awareness about the LGBT in a positive way as possible. A star begins as a "real" human, possessing gender and race characteristics, and existing against a socio-historic background.

 

 

Stars provide the audiences with a focus for ideas of "what we are supposed to look like" (e.g. for women we tend to look beautiful and skinny) - they may support hegemony by conforming to it or providing difference. In the KPOP industry, one in South Korean idols had some form of plastic surgery. A very common cosmetic procedure that is colloquially known as the "V line" surgery. This involves breaking and shaving the jawline to create a V shaped face. This surgery is common amongst young Korean pop stars who have their face re shaped to give them elfin, anime like appearance.  KPOP culture and its look have spread across East Asia and into the Asian community in the US. This popularity and the value placed on the surgery behind the stars has meant that South Korea is now synonymous with medical tourism and has established itself as an epicenter for all sorts of cosmetic surgery. KPOP girl groups, often members, have had plastic surgery. 

 This shows a huge influence on the audience who look up to the girl group. The audience feel the need to do plastic surgery to feel pretty like their idol. This could be a negative impact on the audience as it lowers their esteem and the way the media portrays women idols nowadays are unrealistic. A big industry ensures they stay that way. Everything, from their vocals to their face shape, is manufactured by their management companies. Cosmetic surgery is a large part of creating the KPOP image. Many of the KPOP idols even act as spokespeople for surgical companies.