Planning Setting and Iconography- Miss Georgiou

When planning a music video is essential to decide the location and iconography. They are important elements to a music video as they can present the codes and the conventions of the indie genre. They can give the audience a better understanding of the video and what is going within the video. I believe that iconography is most important as it gives a music video a deeper meaning. The location, also, is important as it can represent the artist in certain ways and can give the audience a sense into their lives and how the artist lives.




Throughout our music video, we have decided on several different locations in order to create a successful indie music video. The first location we have chosen is Camden Lock in where there is a river, shops and places you can eat. We have chosen this setting as it reflects the look of the indie genre. It is a highly conventional location for an indie music video so we believed that this would be a successful location to convey typical stereotypes of the genre. It is also a place where we can portray a loving relationship and people having a good time. When we are filming here, we will film many different shots in order to get the benefit of the location. We will firstly have a long shot of the couple walking along the camden lock, the canal, holding hands. This will portray the loving relationship that we want to create and the sense that they love each other and want to show each other off and they do not care about anything or anyone else. The long shot will be shown when the lyrics say 'we don't have to worry about nothing'. This portrays their relationship as healthy and that they do not worry about anyone else and what other people think. The next shot will be a close up, handheld shot of them taking a picture of themselves with the canal and the lock in the background. This again shows off and portrays the loving relationship and they want to capture every moment together. This shot will be shown when it says 'we got the love', to again portray their loving relationship and to portray to the audience that they are in love. With it being in a open setting, it seems more natural an realistic. However, because of this setting, it limits what me and my group can do as there are many people that will be around us. Because of how busy it will be, we will not be able to fully focus on the couple as there will be many people passing by. There are also some health and safety risks when it comes to this location. For example, the river can cause a problem. The walkway is very narrow and there will be many people walking by meaning that there will not be much room causing, perhaps, someone to fall into the canal. However, we will take extra care when filming and wait for the right time when there isn't many people in order to create a successful shot and nothing go wrong. As this is outside, the weather plays a massive affect on our filming. If it is raining we will not be able to film as it will not be as successful and will not convey the typical indie conventions. As this is our main location we have no other back up plans therefore we will have to wait for a time when the weather is suitable to film. This can cause an impact however as it may delay our production and when it comes to editing we will not have enough time to complete it as we have to meet our deadline.

The next location we will be using in our video is an alley way. We have chosen this location in order to convey the meaning of the bad side of a relationship. The darkened alley way and the hidden area can represent the dark side and the argumentative side of a relationship.  Within this location we will film the arguments between the couple and what happens after an argument. This is  conventional to an indie music video because the setting is low in cost and many people prehaps  have been in the same location and can therefore can relate to the music video. Also, it will be filmed at nighttime meaning the lighting will be low key. The low key lighting will portray to the audience that this is a negative part of a relationship and that the artist is in a dark unhappy place. This setting will be first seen when the lyrics 'when the lights turned down' are sung. The lyrics and visuals then link together and match eachother, showing Goodwin's theory to the audience. We have decided to use this here in order to enhance the bad nature of the relationship through the setting and lighting. My group and I want to make the video as relatable as possible to the audience so by doing it in a setting like this, in a real life location, we hope that many people as possible can relate to it and therefore connect with the artist more.  When fliming this shot, we will use long shots and close ups in order to show the couple together. The long shots and close ups will show off their body language and their body langauge and the way they are feeling towards eachother at that moment. The body language seen will portray them as unhappy and fighting which can make the audience feel bad for them and slightly on edge as they are in pubic and will not know what will happen next. The location does limit what we can do as it is a small space and this could be disturbing the public. It also proposes some health and safety risks like the small space we have, when the couple are arguing and fighting this can cause for sonmeone to fall over or trip up so we will have to be extra careful when moving.


The next location will be in the home, outside in the garden. This location will be used throughout the video portraying the good and bad sides of a relationship. During the relationship and the good times hey have together, the garden will present them as simplistic meaning they dont need to go out to have a good time together just being in eachothers presence is enough. This will also be used in the break up scenes where there will be a fire and she is throwing things onto the fire. The fire will be shown in the video in the chorus towards the end of the song when the artist sings 'and we gonna let it burn burn burn burn'. We have decided to do this here in order to again link the visuals and lyrics together. This also gives the audience more of an idea of what is going on. This will be relatable to the audience as they can see what the artist is going through and can relate to it as it may be the same experience as what the audience have been through. This can give the message across to ther audience that she is going through a traumatic experience and is letting all of her emoptions out. Close ups and establishing shots will be significant in this location in order to show the artists face and the location that sheis in and the different things that are happenng. For example, her throwing stuff on the fire and the facial expressions she is making which will express hersel and what she is feeling underneath. There are some limitations to this location because of the fire we intend to make. However, we do not want to make the fire out of control so therefore we would only be able to make a small fire which means that it will not look as effective when we film the scene as the fire will be small. The health and safety risks that could occur is the fact that the bonfire could get too out of hand and someone could end up burning themselves or it could set a tree on fire. To avoid these risks we will keep a safe distance away from the fire when filming and when the main character is acting she should also keep a safe distance. We will also keep a fire blanket nearby and a fire extinguisher in case such problems occur. The weather also plays a massive issue in this location, it may rain on the day we decide to film this scene and create a bonfire therefore making it impossile to make a bonfire. If this occurs we will have to film on a different day as this is a key part of our video which we do not want to miss out. 

The iconography we intend on using are all items that are conventional to the indie genre. For example we will be using a guitar, beanie hats, alcohol and cigarettes. We will include these items as we believe that they will help to reinforce the genre and make the scenario more realistic and believable. 

The first iconography element we intend on using is the guitar, specifically an acousitc one. We want to use this in order to show off the artists talent that she has. The acoustic guitar is highly stereotypical of the indie genre as it a main instrument used within an indie song. The guitar will be seen when she is singing into the camera or when she is playing to herself.  Specifically at parts when she is performing to the camera at the chorus when the song says 'strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world'. This makes the video have a more personal feel and makes it seem as if the artist is singing and playing her guitar to the audience. The inconography of he guitar shows off her talents and allows for the audience to see she is multi-talented and be attracted to her more. We believe this is a successful element within the video as it will make the video more realistic and make the audience want to get to know more about her.

  The next iconography elements comes under the use of costume. We chose to dress the artist in a big denim jacket and big boots after analysing many indie music videos, we noticed that many indie artists wear this and therefore we will include this in our video to make the video more realistic and relatable. The costume is highly laid back which is conventional of the indie genre. The costume will be seen throughout the music video in order to portray the indie genre throughout the whole video. We will also dress the artist in a beanie hat as they are extremely casual hats which is another reason why we added this into our video. The relaxed look of the hat reflects how the artist feels, feeling comfortable with themselves and that they can wear what they like and dont feel the need to change for anyone yet at the same time still portraying the indie genre.

The next iconography element that will be included in our video is the use of alcohol. We wanted to include this to show the audience that the couple are having a good time together and simple things can keep them happy and like to do things just the two of them. However we also want to include alcohol to portray the abusive and negative sides of a relationship. The use of alcohol can portray to the audience the idea that they want to forget about their problems within the relationship and just want to swallow their sadness and feelings and alcohol is the only way the feel they can do this. This is conventional to the indie genre as it can be seen as rebellious and not of the norm which is part of the indie genre. The alcohol abuse will be seen at the bridge of the song when there is no music playing. It will be shown through the use of long shots, close ups and low angles to make the audience have more of an understanding of what is happening. The clips will also show flash backs of happy points of their relationship, enhancing the sadness and anguish that the artist is in.

Magazine Advert Analysis- Miss Miller

Magazine adverts are a good marketing technique in order to promote and sell an artists upcoming or already selling album. It also allows for the artist to be represented in certain ways to the audience and can also target a wider audience than a one it already has. Another feature in which magazine adverts promote is the genre that the music is. I have chosen to analyse my chosen artist who is Ellie Goulding and also will be analysing an advert from Florence And The Machine. I have chosen to do these two artists as they are both part of the indie genre and allows us to have a wider insight of what should be included in our own adverts and we could include elements that would make the advert successful.

This is an advert from Ellie Goulding that promotes her album 'lights'. Within this advert the artist is represented as the main focus. As the only image on the poster is her as a close up shot, this attracts the audience attention to only on her and everyone should focus on her. This portrays that she wants everyone to know about her and that she is important within the indie genre. On the other hand, as the poster is only a picture of her, this could also imply that she is a down to earth artist in whom doesn't want to or needs to impress anyone. Therefore, just having a picture of her, she is implying she is being herself. As the advert is rather simple and plain, this can reinforce the relatability of the artist and that many people can connect with her which represents her as likeable and someone in whom are just being themselves and do not need change in order to achieve fame. The usage of her body language can show and portray her femininity and the fact that she may be open in her lyrics about her feelings and what she is going through which again is conventional as it allows for the audience and artist relationship to build as the audience may understand her feelings and will want to know ore about her. The black dress  that she is seen to be wearing allows for contrasting of colours between black and yellow. The black dress implies to the audience that she takes her career seriously and wants to make an impact in the music industry. Her name looks like lights that you would see in a theatre which links back to her album title 'lights'. The font is easy to read and sophisticated which again links back to the concept that she is relatable and easy to like. Her name is the biggest piece of writing you can see which again implies to the audience that she wants to be recognised and be the centre of attention and people should notice her. The style of her language is extremely simple with only a little piece of writing seen. This makes it appeal to a larger audience and can attract different age ranges. The design of the magazine advert shows the artist to look like she has gold glitter in her hair to give the impression that she has some sort of light in her hair. This relates back to her album name 'lights' and therefore keeps the consistency of the advert and keeps the theme of the album. This can relate to the audience as indie music is all about expressing yourself and being different, therefore, the audience may feel like she is diverse from other artists and can therefore attract to her audience and make her stand out from the rest. The colours used are black and gold, they are almost opposite colours so they contrast from each other and you can see them clearly. The gold within the advert can make it seem to the audience as if she is striving to be the best. Gold being associated with winning and being successful can link with the artist wanting to be high up within the music industry and wanting to do well. The black within the advert can represent the deep feel of her lyrics that she has. As black is mainly from the neck down, this can link with her emotions. The blackness represents sorrow or built up emotions that she will be releasing in her songs.

Overall, this advert attracts its audience through the use of its contrasting colours, they are seen in a sophisticated and different way and will therefore attract mainly women who will want to listen to her music and can relate with what is being said as her feelings may relate to the audiences.

The next magazine advert I have found again belongs to the indie genre by Florence and The Machine. Promoting her new album Lungs. Again, a picture of the artist is seen to be the biggest image and again, portraying her as the centre of attention and everyone should focus on her. With the image being in the centre and framed by text to boarder, this attracts more attention to the image itself. Because the main visual is her it promotes their identification along with the album which they want to be successful. The dark neutral colours background highlights the bold white writing emphasising the key components of the artist name and album name. This allows for the audience to clearly see the artist name and the name of the album and enables them to know what they are promoting and they get to know more about the artist. The advert is designed to promote the band and sell their image. The feature of the picture being Florence introduces the lead of the band to the audience. Paired with the neutral colours  and natural backdrop, the reader can percieve the sound of the band to ne neutral by slightly kooky ad the same time, due to the boldness of the lungs. The way she is shown on the advert, makes the audience perceive her to be different and unique and can therefore be intrigued to her and want to know more and ultimately by the album to hear her. The bold white writing of the heading instantly draws the reader in. It is made important by its own frame and the capitalisation of the letters. The contrast between the background and the white adds to the titles importance and draws our attention towards it.The inclusion of the of the pink flowers attract the more feminine market adding a sense of romanticism. The advert therefore attracts its target audience and gives us an insight as to the genre and the feel of the album and what her son gs may be about. The typography is rather simple and there is not too much writing on the advert. The text we can see is seen to be in old fashioned writing which can give the audience an insight that makes them believe the songs included in the album are old fashioned style. However, this may only attract a small audience as it only attracts to a small group of people. The use of a different font makes the name of the band stand out. The different font may be official to the band helping them to promote their image and band name. The eye is also drawn to the band name as it frames the photo and text within the advert. The date informs the reader when the album is being released. Raising the profile of the band once more and attarcting as wide as an audience as possible by giving them all the information they need in order to purchase the album.

This indie magazine advert makes the artist seem different and unique, this can attract a wider audience and make the album more successful and more and more people will hear about the artist. 

Research Into Chosen Music Artist- Miss Georgiou

Researching into a variety of music artists, my group and I decided that we will be using Ellie Goulding as our chosen artist with her song 'Burn'. What attracts our group to her is the fact that she is an indie artist, we wanted to create an indie music video and we believed Ellie Goulding was the perfect option for us. As she is a female artist, we believed that it would be an easier task to do a female as one of our group members could play her.



Ellie Goulding, her real name being Elena Jane Goulding is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist from Hertfordshire. Ellie was noticed by Jamie Lillywhite and who at a later date became her manager. in 2010 she became the second artist to both top the BBC's annual Sound of... and win the Critic's Choice Award at the Brit Awards in the same year. Ellie then released her album Lights in 2010 and it debuted at number one in the UK Albums Chart. Goulding's second album, Halcyon, was released in October 2012 and reached number one. Halycon debuted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 chart, which was her first top ten debut in the United Sates. In 2014 she then went onto winning Best Female Solo Artist at the Brit Awards. These are the most significant events that have happened in her career as an artist. Since she has started as a singer until today, she has always been signed to Polydor Record. Polydor Records are a British record label that is under Universal Music Group. Ellie Goulding is a highly successful female artist, her first album, Lights sold over 850,000 copies in the UK. Her most recent song, and the one in which we will be using for our production, Burn, cold 116,857 copies in the first week and stayed at number one for 3 consecutive weeks in a row. 




Ellie Goulding has many music videos and her first one was released in 2011 with Lights. I will be analysing the videos which are Starry Eyed and Burn. Richard Dyer introduced a theory which states that a star image is an image not a real person that is constructed out of a range of materials, for example, advertising, magazines and films. Dyer also believes in an aspect called hegemony. This is known as a 'culture' and is the idea that the audience relates to the stat because they have a feature they share or admire with the star. He also believes that stars are made for money purpose alone and target one specific audience/group of people. Within Ellie Goulding's video Starry Eyed, this theory is evident. This is because she switches from her singing to the camera looking glamorous and then to her living a normal life with her and her boyfriend. This relates to the idea of hegemony as the audience share a feature with her, which is her normal lifestyle. The audience are able to see that she lives a normal life like myself and other viewers. Yet, the parts where she is singing to the camera with her hair and make-up done, this again relates to his theory where he states that artists are made to only appeal to one specific audience and are made for money purposes. This is believed as she is very stereotypical and therefore cannot relate to everyone only certain groups of people. 

Another theorist that I have been studying is Goodwin, his theory has 7 elements and some are noticeable within this video. For example, the constant use of close-ups. There are many close-ups within this video when she is singing into the camera. Goodwin states that the record label ask for them in order to promote and sell the artist. As this was one of her first music videos, the need for close-ups is necessary so the audience get so see who she is and get to know who she is and what she is about. Another element used within the video is the mixture of performance and concept based clips. The artist is represented in several ways. At points, for example, when she is singing into the camera, she has lots of make up on, her hair is done and she is wearing sparkly earrings on, she is represented as a pop star and as someone in whom has a high profile. Contrastingly, at other points within the video, she is seen to be wearing normal clothes, minimal make-up and wearing a hat. This makes the audience she is a down to earth person and is just like me and you and can also resemble the fact that she takes her career seriously and wants to impress her audience. Yet, as she can change between the two, this builds the artist and audience relationship as they are attracted to her as they may see her as different and more unique to other artists within the same genre. I believe that the target audience for this music video is primarily teenage girls as the elements included teenage girls can relate to. For example, the points in which she is seen with her boyfriend, teenage girls and girls in general can relate to this and understand the song and video more. This makes the audience again understand the normality of her life. The style of the music video is mixed between performance and concept based. The performance parts of the video break up the concept based parts and allow for the artist to express herself. 

During the performance parts, she is singing into the camera with close ups mainly used. This allows for the audience to connect with her as they feel she is singing to them and makes the audience feel more invloved within the video. However, the concept parts of the video allow for it to tell some sort of story. She is seen with her boyfriends having a good time in which represents a loving relationship. Mise-en-scene is used minimal amounts within the video, yet, a main part used is the clothing. As I have mentioned, at some points she is dressed up and some points she is wearing normal, everyday clothing. This can reinforce the idea that within her relationship she is comfortable being herself and feels she can represent herself freely and how she wants. However, the glittery clothes and the make-up when she is performing can also imply that she is serious about her career. Within this video, that is the only mise-en-scene element used. The main cinematography elements within the music video are close-ups and long shots. These two elements are very stereotypical of the indie pop genre. The close-ups at several points allow for the audience to feel intimate with the artist and feel as if they are involved within the video as they can clearly see what is going on. On the other hand, long shots allow for the audience to look on in her life. With the camera being so far away from the characters, we are able to look in on their relationship and she what they do. This gives the audience an insight on her life and what her relationships involved. Which again, girls can relate to as they may have been in the same position and feel as if she really relates to themselves. 



The next video that i will be analyzing by Ellie Goulding is How Long Will I Love You which is contrastingly different to Starry Eyed yet still follows the same concept of a loving and caring relationship. Richard Dyer's star theory has one noticeable feature in this video and is again the idea of hegemony. This is the idea that the audience relates to the stat because they have a feature they share or admire with the star. As the video is based around a relationship may people, boys and girls can relate to it. Another way in which this music video follows Dyer's theory is through his theory of Paradox 2. This Paradox says that the star must be present and absent from the consumer. In this music video despite being present to the consumer, you see Goulding in her natural element, in the record studio making the song for the audience. The Record label are then able to show the audience that despite being absent from them, she is still working on bringing something new to the industry for them within her music but in the recording studio. Having this in her music video, lets her create a relationship with the audience as she is able to give the audience an insight of her profession and see what the audience aren't able to see typically. 

Elements of Goodwin's theory is also demonstrated within her music video. Firstly, the music video demonstrates genre characteristics, this shows that the indie genre characteristics and codes and conventions. For example, at several points within the video she shows performance which is a characteristic of the pop genre. We see her performing towards the camera whilst playing her guitar. This follows Goodwins theory as it allows for the audience to see her in her own element and portrays her talent, that she can play guitar and sing. This creates an audience and artist relationship as the audience feel as if they can connect more with the artist and they get to see her doing what she loves most. Another element of Goodwin's theory that is used is the use of constant close-ups. For example this is seen with the handheld shot when they are in the car driving together. Goowdwin states that the record label demands the need for close ups in order to promote and sell the artist. The close-ups allow us to see the loving relationship that she is in. As we are focused on the two faces of the couple, this portrays the strength of their relationship and that they are proud to show each other off. We are also able to see clearly their facial expressions which portrays the love they have for each other and that they are proud to be with each other. The final part of Goowdin's theory is the relationship between the lyrics and visuals. This is sen through the cinematography elements such as close ups, long shots and mid shots. This variety of camera angles presents the relationship between Ellie Goulding and a man in whom seem to be deeply in love. This is essential within a music video as it gives it a narrative to the music we can hear and allows for the audience to connect with what is being shown as they may be in the same scenario. It also lets the audience connect with the lyrics of the song, and the performance and narrative based concepts have a balance between the two allowing for Ellie to show of her talents as well as a loving relationship.

The artist is represented as a down to earth and grounded female. She is somebody in whom doesn't push or exaggerate the boundaries of the genre but still follows the typical codes and conventions in order to create a successful music video. Although the video combines the pop and indie genre conventions, she creates them in her own way. She is represented as a quiet and inccoencently in love. This is seen through the miss-en-scne of body language and facial expressions. We see the couple look at each other and timidly smile which enhances the idea she is an innocent character and is in love with her boyfriend. She is also represented as realistic and highly relatable. This is shown through the use of mise-en-scene clothing. She is seen to be wearing everyday clothing such as jumpers, jeans, jacket and a hat. This allows for the audience to understand she is an everyday girl in whom feels she can be herself and doesn't need to impress anyone. This relates the the audience as they feel they can connect with her as she is only being herself and can be seen as an inspiration to the them to make them believe that the audience should just be themselves and shouldn't feel the need to change in order to impress anyone.

I believe that the target audience for this video is teenage girls from the ages 15-21. I believe this as the video is very conventionally girly and many girls can and could connect with it. For example, the scenario and the relationship in which she is in, perhaps many girls can relate to it as they have been in the same position and can feel she is telling their story. However, i also believe that boys can be the audience to this video also, from the boys point of view with him being in love with her, boys can also relate to her as they have been in a relationship like theirs. The style of this music video is a mixture between performance and narrative based. The performance parts of the video enable for the audience to see how talented she is. She mainly playing the guitar and the piano in order to attract a wider audience. Her showing off her talents within the music video will attract a wider audience and therefore will create a bigger fan base for herself. The narrative parts of the video again portray a loving relationship and also convey the conventions of the genre which tells and reinforces to the audience the genre of the music video. 

Mise-en-scne is a highly used element within this video in order to create it to be as realistic and relatable as possible. She follows the generic conventions of an indie genre wearing casual clothing such as baggy jumpers big coats, unusual hats and jeans and tight leggings on the bottom throughout the whole of the video. The oversized jumpers and baggy tops gives the video a realistic and relatable approach to the music video and will make the audience connect with her more as she is wearing day to day clothing making her seem down to earth and the audience will want to know more about her and feel she is a successful indie artist. The audience will also relate to her as she is a normal female despite having a career in the music industry. Overall, clothing is the main mise-en-scene element used within this video in order to create an indie feel and she represents the meaning that you don't have to change in order to be successful in life.

Cinematography is also a noticeable feature within the music video. For example, when the couple are in the car and there is a high angle, as seen above, this represents the idea that we are looking into their relationship and we get given a good insight of what their relationship includes. We feel a connection with the artist as she is allowing us to look into her relationship and she is open about it which makes the audience, again, feel as if she is relatable and she is being herself. Another cinematography element used is a long shot of herself going to steal a pair of pants from a washing line. The long shot here is used with a handheld camera shot filmed by the boyfriend within the relationship. This gives the idea that the boyfriend wants to show her off and wants to capture every moment with her. This reinforces the loving relationship in the video. 

Both of her videos here are conventional of the indie genre and both successfully reinforce the genre through mise-en-scene and cinematography. her videos will assist us in our own production and will help us to create a successful indie music video and we will know what elements to include within our production. 

Target Audience Results- Miss Miller

When planning for our music video production we had to carry out research in order to get a variety and diverse range of views on indie music and music videos. The individual questions allowed us to get answers from a wide point of view and therefore, my group and I could see what people would expect to see in an indie video and what we should include in ours. These results in which we collected enabled us to include certain elements the audience liked into our own video in order to create a wider audience and ultimately, more people attracted to our video. As we asked 40 people, this allowed for a wide opinion on the indie genre and what aspects we should include.

The first question we asked was 'how old are you' we asked this as then we could find out how old the people were that we were giving the questionnaire to. Overall, the majority of people that we asked were aged 15-21. This vastly helped my group and I as the majority point of view were the targeted audience that we hoped for. This enabled us to get the point of view of our targeted audience and therefore include such elements that they opted for in order to create a successful music video that they 
are attracted to and would enjoy watching.



The next question was a closed question that enabled us to find out the gender of the participants that the questionnaire was given to. This made sure that we got males and females point of views and therefore would not be one-sided. However, the majority of people were females. We then took this information on board as we were able to see that females had the most say. We could then include things that females want to see and males want to see in order to attract a wider and more diverse audience. Expanding our audience rather than just sticking to a female targeted audience. 



This next question was another closed question which asked 'do you like indie music' we asked this question so we could see how many people taking our questionnaire like the genre of music. 30 people said that they liked the genre and 10 people said they didn't. This means that the majority of people liked the genre and meant that the questionnaires we recieved back would have their honest opinions and we could take their opinions on board and assist us in planning for our video and include things that the people who like the genre would enjoy. 

Another closed question that we asked was about our chosen artist. We asked 'Do you like Ellie Goulding' and 24 people said yes and 16 people said no. We asked this question in order to know whether the artist we had chosen, many people liked and whether it was a good option picking her. This allowed us to know whether or not many people would be interested in watching our video to one of her songs. The majority of people said they liked her so we believed initially that it was a good idea to continue using her as our artist. 



This next question was an open question which asked 'how do you think artists should be portrayed'. There were no options for this question so the audience had to respond of their own thoughts and how they truly believed an artist should be portrayed. 15 people said they should be seen as happy, 5 people said that they should always be smiling, 10 said having fun and 10 said they should be portrayed as respectful. This allowed us to see peoples thoughts and opinions on how an artist should be perseen. As these results are from the majority of our target audience, this is vastly helpful in our planning as we were able to have the point of view of our target audience and what they belived and we could therefore include these elements in our video to attract the audience more and make it a more enjoyable experience for them. However, as these are mainly views from 16-21 year olds, we thought about representing the artist in other ways such as violent and aggresive to attract a more diverse range audience rather than having such a niche audience.

We then asked the question 'how do you think an indie artist should dress' which enabled us to have a wider view on how the artist in our music video should dress. Some answers included modest, baggy jeans, loose t-shirt, ripped tights and boots. These elements that people suggested were highly conventional of the indie genre and follow typical conventions. We will dress our artist accordingly to what people said as we feel it will enhance the indie genre within the video and we want to follow the typical codes and conventions of the indie genre so dressing them appropriately is important for my group and I.


This open question asking 'what attracts you to indie music videos' allowed for myself and my group to know what elements within an indie music video would be most successful in attracting an audience. Answers included a relaxed setting, upbeat music, filters, makeup and clothing. Because of this feedback that people said would attract them to the videos, we have disscussed including certain elements in our production, again to make the video more appealing and enjoyable. As well as this, people would then tell their friends in whom are also interested in the indie genre and ultimately we would create a wider audience as it appeals to more and more people and they would also be interested in viewing the video.


The next question that we thought would help us in our planning process was 'what do you expect to see in an indie music video' peoples answered included a country setting, break ups, couples, love, bright red lipstick and beanie hats. We will include these elements so that the audience are watching something that they expect to see. However, we have decided that we will include some other elements in order to subvert the genre and the audience can be shocked in what they are seeing.

This question that we asked now was 'what is your preferred genre' this allowed us for us to know what the majority of people taking our questionnaire liked. This then allowed us to know how many people liked the indie genre and ultimately how many people would be interested in watching our production. We could then discover whether the answers we were given were biased or not. 

The final question in our questionnaire asked whether the audience preferred concept, performance or narrative based videos. The answers we got were that 15 people liked narrative, 15 people liked performance and 10 people liked concept based videos. We asked this question in order to discover which element we should include in our own production. As the question revealed that the majority of people like narrative and performance, we will include both of these elements in order to appeal to more people rather than picking one and not targetting a wider audience.


When getting results from our audience, we created vox-pops in order to collect qualitative data rather than having all quantitative data. This helped my group and I as the open questions that we asked, were fully explained by the individual and we could get a better understanding of what they want they want to see within our music video. We asked 5 people out of the 40 we gave the questionnaire to complete a vox pop for us. Below are the vox pops I recorded and the answers they gave helped my group and I have a better and wider understanding of what we should include within our music video and what elements would most appeal to an audience.

When analyzing and gathering our data we noticed and discovered that there were youth sub-cultures that were and are formed throughout society. A sub-culture is a group of people who are united through a common value system and tastes (clothes, music, politics etc.) sub-cultures have certain values such tribal/gang rivalry and conformity and rebellion for example. There are many theorists in whom believe different things about sub-cultures and youth sub-cultures. Grant McCracken believes that the postmodern world is full of diversity, dynamism and creativity. He states that if we look at the array of values and ideologies then we cant say all sub cultures come from one culture. For example, when looking at the indie genre, McCracken would believe that the indie sub-culture has come from many different sub cultures linked together and certain elements will attract an array of different people.

Lyric Analysis- Miss Georgiou

When planning for our music video we analysed the lyrics of our song that we are using in our production. We had to do this in order to discover the hidden meanings and ultimately did it to help us with planning the micro-elements to include.

The first thing we did when choosing the song we were going to do was print out the lyrics and disscuss and annotate as a group. The song we had chosen was 'Burn' by Ellie Goulding. The hidden meanings we believed that were in these lyrics were the fact that the artist or whom she is talking about was in an abusive relationship but finally got out of it. We then discussed this idea as a group and believed that we would use this idea within our own video yet making slight adaptations and changes to it as we go along.

Whilst we were analyzing our lyrics we decided that the music video would be performance and concept based. We decided this as we believed that the lyrics would fit perfectly with the message we wanted to portray and using performance and concept based clips, we would achieve the message well. For example, where the lyrics say 'We got the fire' we will be using a long shot of the artist playing her guitar singing into the camera. We decided on this as it is conventional to the indie genre, we are able to see her playing the instrument and her clothing which both reinforce the genre and the audience are able to see her pain and emotion, again, reinforcing the message we want to portray. For the concept based parts of our music video, we will be showing a loving couple together. For instance when it says 'they're gonna see us from outta space', we will be using a low angled shot of them both in order to show the audience their relationship. The low angled shot will reinforce the idea of a loving relationship and that they don't need anyone else, just them two. We will be switching between performance and concept, not only to portray the message of an abusive relationship but also to make the viewing more pleasurable for the audience.

We annotated our lyrics stanza by stanza analysing and making note of what could be included at each point. At the chorus when it says 'we gonna let it burn burn burn burn' we thought about including a fire in order to link the visuals with the lyrics. We will be showing clips of the artist throwing her partners belongings into the fire. We believe in doing this, we will build the artist and audience relationship as the viewer may have been in the same, distraught state and cab relate to what the artist is going through, connecting them together. At this point also, you will be able to see clearly the artists clothing which will be a denim jacket, jeans ad big boots. These are all conventional of the indie genre and the audience will get to see who she really is and begin to have an idea of the artists image. Again, when it says 'burning one hell of a something' when it says burning we will include a person smoking a cigarette again linking the visuals and lyrics together.By doing this, the audience are given an insight of her personality. Her smoking can portray her as rebellious which the audience may be attracted to and can make her fan base increase. 

The annotations that we made will help my group and I when planning for things such as the micro elements, style, target audience and conventions of my chosen song. For example, the lyrics have given us a better insight of what we could of included and reinforced our ideas.

Initial Group Planning Ideas- Miss Georgiou (Mon)

Within my group there are three members, myself, Charlotte Monksfield, Heather Everingham and Leandra Saunders. We are all working together to create a successful project and an indie video that will appeal to targeted audiences. We all contribute equally within the group and share tasks to ensure our project goes as smoothly as possible and that all deadlines are met.

In out first meeting as a group, we created a mind map, brainstorming initial ideas for our music video. We had looked at many different music genres and artists in whom we thought could be an inspiration to my group and I and we also looked out for elements that we could include in our own production. The first song we had as initial idea was Ed Sheeran A Team. Myself and my group discussed this song choice and we believed we could include many conventions and edit it to conform to and indie genre yet when it came down to characters, we believed this was not the right song for our group and we therefore changed the initial song choice, however this song was one we highly considered. The next song we thought about doing was How Long Will I Love You by Ellie Goulding, again, we believed that the conventions and miss-en-scene would make this video highly indie and successful, yet when discussing about the other Ellie Goulding songs, we believed that we would pick another song to do. 

Further on in our planning process when had finalised the song choice, which will be Burn by Ellie Goulding. We had another group meeting where in this time we went into detail about what we would be including in our video, elements such as codes and conventions, mise-en-scene, cinematography editing and how the artist will be represented. We did this by annotating the lyrics thoroughly, allowing us to consider what filming elements would look most successful linking with the lyrics. This allowed us to be able to include conventional mise-en-scene elements which conformed to the indie genre. For example, we analysed the words by seeing what elements would be most effective. Throughout the song it says 'we gon light it up up up' as this connotes something being set on fire, we used the iconography element of a lighter to make it seem as if the artist is lighting something up. This is effective as the fire element used creates a danger and more rebellious look for the artist, enhancing her artist image. By analysing this as a group, we were able to come together successfully as a group and decide on elements that we all liked as a group and what we are all happy with. We also decided that we wanted performance based concepts within our video and where would be most acceptable to put these. By looking at the lyrics and listening to the song several times, we were able to see that the chorus would be the most effective place to put this. We included the iconography of the guitar within the performance clips as it shows off the artists talents and shows off her musical ability as she can sing and play an instrument. This allows for the audience and artist relationship to build as the audience may be inspired by her and want to be like her, encouraging people. By planning this as a group we were able to discuss the certain essential mis-en-scene elements that were needed for our music video, we also discussed the matter of cinematography elements such as camera angles close-ups long shots, high angles low angles and many more to see what went well with the footage we were planning on filming, and also to follow different theory's such as Goodwins and Dyer's star theory. 

The next part of our planning process again meant the group coming together and discussing specific elements we would be using throughout the music video. We disscussed things from mise-en-scene, music video theory, target audience and cinematography. By annotating these different micro-elements as a group we were able to identify many different connotations of our music genre. The mise-en-scene was specifically important for our music video as we wanted to be able to represent the indie music genre successfully and we would therefore need to include supportive elements. We looked at iconography and make up in a lot of detail. For example, we included a guitar as this is very stereotypical of the indie genre and this would be able to inform people of the genre and reinforce the genre. As well as this, it makes the artist seem successful and multi-talented, making the audience want to know more about her. The clothing that we decided on was also highly stereotypical of the indie genre. We wanted to dress the artist in a big denim jacket, jeans and big boots. We decided upon everyday clothing as we believed that it would attract a wider audience. The casual clothing makes the audience realise that the artist is like everyone else and can therefore relate to her more and find her music more relatable. Also, the clothing portrays her as grungy looking which is typical of the indie genre and makes the audience aware of the genres and will attract the target audience. Within this meeting we also looked at cinematography elements that we wanted to include. We decided upon many different camera shots such as close ups and zooming in. Close ups we believed would help the audience connect to the artist more. The audience are given a clear view of the artists emotion on her face and can therefore see what she is feeling. The audience then may be able to know what she is going through as they have experienced the emotion before and can therefore sympathise with her and gives the video a more personal feel. Zooming in is also effective within the music video as the audience feel as if they are being shown more into the artists life. The zooming I'm shot makes the audience concentrate on 

What is going on as they are being dragged closer into the artists world and what she does in everyday life.

The next meeting as a group consisted of us applying for copyright and researching into our chosen music genre. We applied for copyright in order for the record label to use their song 'burn' for our own use. We got in contact with the record label in many different ways, such as, email, Facebook and twitter. We did this in order for a more likely chance for them to get back to us with regards to their song. My group and I however do understand that record labels are very busy so we may not get a reply at all, as we are still waiting for a reply from them. When researching into the chosen gener we looked at the many different micro-elements in order to see what is conventional to our specific chosen genre. By researching many different indie artists for example, Nina Nesbitt and Kate Nash, it enabled us to see the streotypes that we could use to show and to prove that our artist is an indie/pop artist. It gave us many ideas on mis-en-scene, cinematography and also editing, and some of the things that are key to the music video.

It is essential and very important to carry out meetings with your group members as it shows we are able to work effectively as a group and also gives us time to discuss things that may not be going to plan and things that we can improve. It also allows for every person in the group to get their view pints across and make successful pointers in to what may enhance the video and what may look better rather then what we already have.We have worked and co-operated well as a group as we decided and took on point everybody's ideas, and decided to take into account everybody's ideas instead of mainly one. This helped us to listen to each others ideas and then to work better as a group.

Research into Chosen Music Genre- Miss Georgiou

The music genre which my group and I have chosen to do is indie. We have decided to do this genre as we believe that we can include conventions in our video to make a successful video. We were inspired to do this genre when we were researching into the different genre of music when my group and I believed that indie was the best choice for us. What interested us into doing this genre is the diverse range of iconography and editing styles in which we noticed within different music videos which we believed we could use and adapt in our own video. We have decided to do Ellie Goulding, Burn for our production. Two similar music artists that are in the same genre as Ellie Goulding are Nina Nesbit and Kate Nash. They're music videos are similar to the music video that we want to produce and have therefore become very inspirational to our group and to myself, especially. 


Nina Nesbit, is an extremely indie artist and her video 'Stay Out' was one I looked at and it gave me many ideas to include in our production. The typical conventions included within this video are seen throughout, for example, the guitar that she is playing. This is conventional of the indie genre as the guitar is a highly conventional instrument that is played by indie artists. When she plays the guitar it gives the audience an indication of the genre. The clothing that she is wearing is also a convention of the music genre. A studded leather jacket, blue shirt, jeans, and boots represent a relaxed nature which portrays the the nature of the genre. Mise-en-scene is also key within this video. The iconography that is used is a guitar which is evident throughout most of the video as she is playing it the majority of the time. This is key in this music video as it is a key indication of the indie-pop genre. It is also important as it portrays the artist is multi talented as she can sing and play the guitar. Setting is another element to mise-en-scene, the setting in which this music video takes place is at night time in bars and clubs. This goes against genre characteristics as clubs and bars are not conventional of the genre. This again portrays the artist in a different manner, as it allows for the audience to be more related to her and can relate to her as the audience have been in the same sitauations and can find the video more interesting and enjoyable. At the beginning of the video we are shown several different close up shots of her getting ready with her friends. This enables for the audience to be introduced to who she is and for the audience to know whom she is out of her group of friends. Another main cinematography element is the use of a long shot, these are seen throughout the video in several different scenarios. These shots allow for audience to watch her live her life and go out with her friends, this ultimately makes the audience and artist relationship stronger ans the audience realize that they are alike that she lives the same life as everyone else. The key main editing style used in this video is quick editing. This is used to reflect the lifetsyle in which she leads and the actions in which she is doing with her friends. The target audience for this video is teenage girls. This is evident from what is shown to us within the video. For example, the video is based around a group of girls on a night out in which many girls can relate to. It can make younger girls look up to her and want to lead her lifestyle and make them look forward to what they have to come as they grow up. But, I believe that the target audience is 16-21 year old teenage girls as they can fully relate to the video. The artist within the video is represented as a fun outgoing character whom is very talented. This is shown through her playing her guitar as well as her being with her friends. Her clothing also portray her to be a relaxed, she is in everyday clothing which can portray her to be a down to earth and humble girl. The video has a mixture of concept and performance based aspects to it. The concept of the video is her going out with her friends having a good night yet at some stages within the video she is shown performing to the camera with her guitar . The mixture between the two breaks up the concept and allows for the audience to feel a connection towards the artist as it feels as if she is singing to the audience as she is directly looking into the camera. Within this video there is evident use of Goodwin's theory. For example, the constant use of close ups. This is a point within Goodwin's theory and it states that the record label will ask the need for close ups in order to sell the artist to the audience. This is clearly used within this video as there are several close ups seen throughout the video, especially at the beginning of the video as she is getting ready. The next element of Goodwin's theory is the use of the notion of looking. The artist does this several times within the video specifically when she is singing into the camera and she is surrounded by her friends.

The next music video I looked at was the song 3AM performed by the artist Kate Nash. When watching the music video there were many codes and conventions that are evident to the indie pop genre. For example the first convention that I saw was the use of the clothing that she wears. The headband that she wears on her head and the makeup that she is wearing is extremely diverse which goes against typical conventions. However, because of the style of her music and the way in which she portrays herself, it is conventional to the artist herself. The next convention within this video is the use of the setting. At several points within the video the setting refers back to the artist sitting in her bedroom. The bedroom is seen to be extremely vintage and retro which is highly conventional of the indie genre. Mise-en-scene is used highly in this video in order to make it a conventional video. The first element of mise-en-scene is iconography. At many points throughout the video she is seen to be holding photos of her and her boyfriend/ex. This reinforces the relationship within the video and the audience can sympathize and feel her pain and feel what she is going through. Without the use of these pictures the audience wouldn't be able to see her side of the story and see what she is going through and ultiamtely who the song is about. The next mise-en-scene element used is the lighting. There are two uses of lighting within the video which are high key and low key lighting. When she is by herself the lighting is low key, this is seen when she is in her bedroom. The high key lighting used is seen when she is with her boyfriend. This reinhances how happy she is when she is with him and that she is in love with him. Contrastingly, the use of the low key lighting is shown when she is by herself in her room looking at the pictures of her and her partner.

This portrays the sadness and upset she is feeling when she is away from him and that she wants to be with him always. The editing is rather slow within this video and there isn't much use of fast editing. This is to portray that time goes slowly when she is without her boyfriend and its going to be a long time until they see each other again. The target audience are primarilly teenage girls. This is because the scenario in which happens in the video many girls can relate to and can understand how the artist is feeling and can therefore enhance and build the artist and audience relationship. The music video is nearly all concept with occasional points of performance. This breaks up the concept and allows for the audience to see her singing and how she feels and what is going on in her mind. This allows for her also to perform her song and show the audience how talented she is. Goodwin's theory is somewhat evident in ths video, however, not too much. One element of his theory that is evident is the fact that at somepoints there are closeups of her and her boyfriend. This makes the audience see them both fully and can see how they feel towards eachother.

Overall, researching into my chosen music genre helps me with planning my own production as I have had insight into what can be included in an indie video to make it successful and conventional. Nina Nesbit's video of Stay Out has assisted me in my own music video as the elements that are included make the video successful and enjoyable to watch and what is what i want my video to be like also.