Props list

I will not need a huge amount of props for my production, the main concern is getting a hold of enough instruments to form believable performance shots.

Firstly I will need a microphone on a stand for the performance shots












It is also very important that I have an electric guitar for these same performance shots












I will also need a can of cheap beer for later in the video when the singer is talking about how common life is not as amazing as the girl pictures it.











I will also need a record player to use throughout the video.

I will also need a trolley for the supermarket scene. This will be quite simple to get as, being in a supermarket, I will have easy access to one.











Finally I will need a few everyday items to be in the trolley and for the two to be toying with during the supermarket scene. These items will be things such as cereal boxes and toilet rolls.

Shot List

I have learned quite a lot about what sort of shots are important in creating a decent video in this genre from other bands and professionally created videos. Below I have planned out a shot list that will give a basic plan to my music video.

Key:
ES: Establishing Shot
CU: Close Up
MS: Mid-shot
LS: Long shot
TS: two shot

List

ES: supermarket exterior
ES: housing estate
ES: supermarket aisle
ES: back street
ES: Pub/bar
LS:woman back
MS:woman turning around
MS:man staring over at woman
MS: singer performance shot
CU: man
MS: replying to woman
LS: the pair walking away from camera
MS: man repeating lyrics
MS:woman repeating lyrics
MS: man repeating lyrics
CU: man repeating lyrics
LS/MS: Man performance shot
CU:woman smiles
LS/MS: Man performance shot
LS: man sitting alone on a bench during the day (looking defeated)
LS/MS: Man performance shot

Detailed analysis of Music Video

As well as the previous video Analysis, I have also done some more detailed research. Below I have created a timeline of key moments in the three videos that I have analysed. I have also focused solely in on the Britpop genre in this stage of research.

Firstly from the Britpop genre is "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis

The next song that I have chosen to analyse is Wonderwall, also by Oasis, I have looked into this song before in this project but I felt that it deserved some more detailed attention.

The third song that I’ll be analysing is Disco 2000 by Pulp, which tells the tale of two people meeting up on a night out.

Filming and editing schedule

I have created this schedule detailing the days on which I will be Filming or editing, I will try to stick to this schedule as best as possible to try to complete my project as efficiently as possible.

Letter To Label

Dear Island Records

 I am a great fan of your popular 1995 hit "Common People" by Pulp. I have chosen to use this song for an amateur production that I am doing. in this production, I am providing a brand new music video based on my interpretation of the lyrics.

I am planning to use inspirations from many other signed bands to influence the style and look of my video, bands such as Blur and Oasis, and other bands of the same genre and decade.

I am not planning to use this video to make any money or in any commercial way, so you should not be worried about me stealing any of your copyrighted material, I am simply writing to inform you of what I am doing out of courtesy.

So I hope you do not mind my small production, thank you for releasing the material that has allowed me to start this.

Yours gratefully Patrick Hall

Analysis of Lyrics

The song "common People" is centrally about a well educated, well spoken, and wealthy female art student coming to Sheffield with fantasies of living life ruff with the common people like the singer of the song "Jarvis Crocker". The first exchange that happens between them is that she buys him a drink rather than the other way around, this tells us that Jarvis is broke and intends to hang onto this girl for her naivety and her cash. "Well what could I do?" This line puts us on the inside with Jarvis and it's implied that we all know how naive she is and that he is going to take advantage of that, as it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

The first place that he takes her is a supermarket, possibly to get himself some food and booze, also though to show her the boring side of the common life opposed to the romanticised view that she has. When he tells her to "pretend you've got no money" the thought doesn't even occur to her that it could be a real problem and so she assumes it's just a joke. He swiftly points out though that it is quite serious for all the REAL commoners around her. She also doesn't realise that she's naive and just continues on smiling when he takes the mick out of her idea of becoming like them.

Next he tells her that even if she does everything as he does, and blends in perfectly with the common people of Sheffield, she'll never understand because she'll always have an easy way out whenever she wants it, this means that she'll never understand the desperation or the real problem of being without money or support.

The next verse of the song talks about how she's not going to be well received by anybody around once they figure out she's just pretending to live the common life, he's saying that she is mocking the common people as she thinks it's all a bit of a joke because she doesn't really understand the true hardships that these people go through.

When Jarvis is talking about grease being easy to wash off of her cloths, he's saying that she can easily be rid of this life if she wants to and she's got nothing to really worry about.

Finally, he is saying that she'll never really get the experience of being poor and that she won't ever be accepted by the people that truly are, she'll always be thought of as, and will always be,
 naive.

Costume Planning

I have put together an outfit that can be used for the video, it is the mostly casual sort of style that comes with the Britpop genre. I have Some picture of the Outfit below.

 I have chosen some thin                                           I also have a thin white                                    on top of this, I have a
 dark green Trousers                                                   V neck T-shirt                                                    casual Black jacket

I have altered to costume slightly from the initial design in order to give it a darker look which better falls in line with the genre. the second costume seen in the video stays within the style of casual and dark, both of these new costumes are shown below.

Here are shots of the two outfits used in the actual filming of the piece. As you can see, I've altered the costume slightly to make it seem darker as I am now heading in a more gritty direction and felt that this would suit it better. the costume on the left, as you can see uses a very similar colour scheme.

Mood board

Initial Planning

I have spent some time thinking through the various elements of my music video. I have taken into account all of my research to create this mind map of different decisions which will lead to the creation of my video.

Artist Tracking- Robbie

I have decided to take a detailed look into how the image of Robbie Williams has evolved throughout the course of his career, as he has aged quite a bit since his debut in 1990 at the young age of 16. As you can see on the right, he is already looking pretty cool right out of the gate, he is photographed here wearing RayBan sunglasses and a stylish patterned shirt. he was also often seen at this time in his wire frame glasses, and although they made him look a bit like harry potter, it was quite a distinctive style. It was clear that he was focused on looking stylish and colourful especially with his swept across hair and brown leather jacket.








If we fast forward to 1995 upon the release of Take That's "back for good", we can see that Robbie's style has changed drastically. we can also see the influence of the direction of the band with the greyscale and serious expressions. Robbie's personal style here though is radically different to his debut. Firstly his hair has been shaved off and too have his sunglasses. He also is wearing all black in this image. all of these things come together to create a much more serious and grown up look for Robbie, this gives us the impression that he has matured quite a bit since he joined the band.






Fast forward another six years to 2001, a new millennium and two years into his solo career, we can see that Robbie has changed his look again. Most notably here, Robbie's got his hair back, although there's something different about it this time, a big bleach blonde highlight right down the centre. It may look a bit ridiculous now but it was just an experimental style that he didn't keep for long. Robbie is showing here that it's good for blokes to experiment with drastically different styles in the way that many female artists do.He has stuck with the black clothing although thankfully has lost the turtleneck.


Two years later in 2003, Robbie shows off his growing collection of tattoos, he has quite a few covering his arms and torso here. you will also notice that he has already gotten rid of the mad bleached hair in favour of all black. He is also only wearing a vest on stage in his performance here, trying to show off for the ladies no doubt. It's pretty clear by this point actually that Robbie sees himself as some sort of male sex symbol, and gladly embraces that.





If we fast forward again to 2009 we can see Robbie as he's poised to re-join Take That. He's got his shirt on this time (barely). Aside from his new-found tan though, there has not been a great amount of change made to his style since 2003. Although all members of the band were on board with Robbie coming back to the band in '09, he never actually went through with it. As the current pattern is going, we can definitely tell that Robbie is becoming more concerned with looking sexy than looking cool, although he does still look pretty cool.








Now if we finally progress to modern Day, 2014, we can see Robbie's latest look. Here he is on the left and it looks like we may have slipped back into 2001. Beside the return of the bleach though, Robbie has grown out of the sexy shirtless style and is actually dressing quite smart for a lot of his performances now, a more traditional look for male solo singers. It looks as if Robbie has accepted that he's not a young lad anymore and really gone for a more mature and respectable style.


That is the complete Style of Robbie Williams from his debut up to modern day, he has shown quite an evolution from young lad to middle aged man, from cool dude to sex symbol  and now to dapper father.

Audience Research

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8XTVR96

Digipacks

An important part of any album release is the design of the CD/ Record casing.different colours, fonts, and imagery can be used to attract the attention of the customer; they can tell them a lot about album and which genre it represents.

The first CD case that I have looked at is from Pulp a popular Britpop band from the 1990's. The album cover "Different Class" is quite famous for it's distinctive look.

This is the Front cover of the Album, as you can see strait away, it has a very limited colour palette; the main colour scheme of this album is black and white. this is partially the theme of the band, although these colours do fit with the music quite well. you can also see here a scene of a wedding with the band members super imposed on in black and white to fit with the colour scheme. The yellow sticker in the picture is not part of the actual album cover, it was just on mine.

Next we have the actual CD . As you can see it is bright white with silver lettering. What this achieves is a striking image as you open the case, the bright white on the all black case makes the CD stand out. this further contributes the album's distinctive and recognisable look. You will also notice that the font used here is very interesting, it is made to look like some sort of cheap disco sign which fits in well with the themes of the music in the album.

The final item of interest is this remark from the band stating how they don't want to cause any fuss with this album, it was included as a sort of mock disclaimer.

The next Album that I am analysing is War by U2, another popular Britpop band. Unlike Pulp though, U2 are together and producing music to this day. To the left is the front cover of the album, the most striking part of this cover is the title "WAR" this is due to the fact that it is is highlighted in bright red whilst the rest of the cover uses greyscale (an established staple of the genre). the next thing that you'll notice is the slightly disturbing image. the case depicts a beaten child with his hands behind his head. this combined with the title connotes a child that has been caught up in a conflict. this disturbing imagery is in an attempt to give greater meaning to the album and to the individual songs within it.

The CD here shares a similar colour scheme to the front of the case with the grey scale images and the red lettering. you will notice that unlike the Pulp CD, this writing is very blocky and bold
this creates a more striking look, unlike the cheap look that is seen on the Pulp cover. The disc here also dull white which helps it to blend in with the light greyscale cover, this effect helps make the title even more eye catching.

the next Album that I am looking at is (What's the story) Morning Glory? Oasis  are possibly the most popular Britpop bands  of all time and so of course have had quite a few famous albums. Among them was this. As you can see on the left, the album cover is not in greyscale although it does stay true the the style of the genre by using very dull colours, this is in part due to the location of the photograph which is very urban and almost entirely made of concrete. there are also two people in the picture although they are out of focus and seem to maybe have been blurred out deliberately. this creates an odd sort feeling which makes the whole scene seem  a bit off. Unlike the previous two albums, the text here is barely made to stand out at all. The title of the album is in small white font at the very top of the cover, this makes it seem as if the title is secondary to the feel created by the image

 The CD is very plain; containing only the title, band name, and track list for the CD. this does greatly play into the established style of Britpop albums as they are notoriously anything but flashy. we can also see that the cover image is repeated inside the case behind the CD. Besides that, the disc is plain black with blocky white text for all of the things mentioned above.








From analysing these CD cases I can see that there is a very obvious established style among Britpop bands. If I am to imitate this style I think that the main thing that I need to include are: the dull  colour scheme, fitting images of real life for the main cover of the case rather than just a picture of the band or any abstract image. I should also make use of the dull colour scheme to create some striking or eye catching imagery.

Genre Research

Britpop is widely popular all across the UK, the genre peeked in the 1990s when bands such as Pulp, U2,Take That and Oasis were all releasing their best music.

Across all of these bands there are quite a few similarities which make up the conventions for video of the Genre. One of the most notable conventions of this genre is the use of colour, or lack there of. many famous Britpop music videos are shot either in greyscale or using a very dull colour pallet. this is usually to fit with the pace and feel of the music as Britpop is characterised by being quite melancholy in it's tone. keeping with this the editing of most of these videos



Unlike some other genres, Britpop videos never use any diagetic sound bar the lyrics being sung by the band, this is a staple among videos from all of the main Britpop bands.

One of the most successful Britpop bands was Oasis with many records to their name, as well as being the most recognisable Britpop band to this day. Possibly their biggest success was the song "Wonderwall" which earned the band millions.

As well as it's financial success, Wonderwall also won the award for best music video at the Brit Awards on the year of it's release in 1996. This video, quite naturally, became extremely influential in the Britpop genre and many of it's features can be seen in videos that followed. these featured included the slow paced editing and the strong focus on the band playing out the song onscreen, as well as the lack of colour throughout the video. Interestingly some colour isolated colour is kept in the video in order to highlight certain objects such as the instruments

The costuming for Britpop bands is quite well established. The main style is just to keep things casual, most Britpop bands wear nothing flashy, just everyday (mostly dark) clothing. Most bands of this Genre look as if they are not dressed for a performance at all. this re-enforces the down to earth feel of this genre as they sing about everyday problems for regular people rather than the big money/ flashy lifestyle that is pushed by Rap and big rock bands.

Inspirations

I have looked to quite a few different artists and bands for inspiration for the style and the theme of my video. I am looking to do a song from the Britpop genre such as something from Pulp. I have though looked at quite a lot of artists and bands outside of this genre as I am planning on combining these different iconic styles to hopefully create something truly unique and interesting whilst still remaining true to the style of the genre.








I have taken quite a bit of inspiration from this band as they are of course part of the genre that I am attempting to imitate. I like this band as they are part of the Brit pop genre which is usually quite a boring look although they still show quite a bit of interesting style in things such as the costuming and colour as shown on the left. as you can see they have used quite bright colours with an emphasis on yellow and black. This makes for quite a strong and pronounced style which gives their albums a recognisable look. this same colour scheme can be seen above.






As I have said, I am also looking at some inspirations form outside of the genre as I believe that they have something to add to the traditional style of the Brit pop band. I have spent quite a while looking at artists from other genres such as pop, rock, and glam rock. I would particularly like to focus in on David Bowie as he has a very diverse range of styles, some of which I hope to take inspiration from. He is also a great inspiration to my work as many of his videos focus on telling some sort of story instead of just creating a performance to fit the song.

As well as other genres, I am looking at some other popular Brit pop bands for inspiration. I looked at a few popular music videos from another Brit pop band "U2". they had some interesting techniques that they used in a few of their videos. for a start they were very different to the pop videos that I had watch previously and even differed from pulp's. they used a combination of coloured and monochrome picture, granted that the coloured scenes were still quite dull. this brought a definite feel of sadness to the videos. the great thing about U2's videos is that they create a great mood with use of the colour, lighting and techniques such as slow fading.

Music TV Channels

Over the course of the last 30 years several TV channels have been set up exclusively for the showing of music videos and other music related screenings  such as interviews with musicians.

One of the most notable channels is MTV which stands for Music Television. Being set up in 1981, MTV broke new ground by being the first of these channels to be created. Later in  that same year MTV made music history by making "Video Killed the Radio Star" the first music video to be shown on TV. this launched the channel into fame and into the mainstream.

MTV continued showing music videos from all the top artists of the time, for the first time, bringing music video to the mass audience on a regular basis. there was one rather noticeable trend at the time though, the videos screened were almost all from white artists. popular music from black and ethnic artists had not been shown on the channel. This was changed though as the artist Micheal Jackson became to popular to  deny and his videos were picked up and screened on MTV in 1983. although there were a few ethnic artists shown on the channel before, this was the real turning point where the colour barrier was broken and black artists were celebrated appropriately.

Two years later in 1985 MTV made some significant changes to it's formula. now not only did it show new and popular music videos, but it also started screening live feeds from music concerts that were happening around the world. This began in July with the popular Live Aid concerts, most news channels showed only a few clips of the event, MTV though went the whole hog and showed the entire 16 hour performance so that everyone with a television set could see the performance if they wanted to.

Unfortunately over time MTV started to change it's formula away from just music as they were losing viewers. The channel started showing adult rated cartoons and TV shows such as Beavis and Butthead. this led to a rapid decline of music videos shown on the channel as it moved more and more into this new formula. Today almost no music videos are shown on the channel as it is solidly set in it's new formula.