Planning: Final Proposal

Having compiled all of the pre-production resources for my project, I am ready to now make my final proposal. The title of my production is:  Callum Byrne - Nowhere Man (Music Video).
I believe that my music video would be best suited to be shown, primarily, on YouTube. 95 of the 100 most-viewed videos on the YouTube platform are music videos, and 91 of these have over 1 billion views. In the modern day, YouTube has become the prime platform for hosting and viewing music videos. Another greatly popular service, on which music videos are hosted and viewed, is Apple Music. The Apple Music service is available on iPhone and iPad devices, along with the iTunes application on PC and Mac. Despite primarily being a music-only streaming service, Apple Music also allows artists to host their music videos. This would provide a fantastic platform for me to host my music video to a large number of potential viewers from across the world.
The target audience for my music video is young people aged 18-25. This is because the video will feature a young protagonist whom I believe people of this age range would be able to relate to. Also, targeting this specific age group would allow them to potentially be exposed to a genre and style of music that is not as popular in today's culture as it once was. I believe that the video would be best appeal towards the white, working class population. This is because the character portrayed in the video is a young, lonely boy who does not particularly represent the middle or upper class, and that the artist, along with the character in the video, are of the White-British ethnicity.
The genre of the song I have chosen for my music video is a blend of classic rock and soul. For this reason, I believe that the video must have a particular visual flavour attributed to it, which can be achieved through colour-grading, shot composition, lighting and also editing. This style that I am aiming to achieve can be described as a vintage style. This is achieved through a focus on particularly 'autumnal' colours such as heavy browns and dark greens. This colour palette also harkens back to the colours on the cover of the Beatles' Rubber Soul (1966) from which I have drawn the song for my project. The colours in the video will be vital in establishing tone early on, and manipulating visual elements such as contrast and saturation can also contribute to this.
The lyrical contents of the song I have chosen provide a basis for a narrative element to my music video. The lyrics focus on one, nameless man, and his struggles with feeling alone and lost in the world. Because of this, I can explore a variety of different themes in my video, such as loneliness, seclusion and adolescence. In terms of speed, I believe that the tempo of the song warrants a slow, and thoughtful pace for the accompanying video. The song features a guitar solo that lasts for approximately 40 seconds. During this, it may be appropriate to up the speed of the video, either with a montage sequence or with an increased pace to the video's events.

Planning: Storyboards

Filming: Permissions

During my production stage, I will conduct filming on two distinct locations. One of these is my own home, and the other is the Tameside Local Nature Reserve in Tamworth. I am free to get footage inside my own home, however I had reservations about what the law has to say regarding filming in the nature reserve. To clear this up, I researched the topic, and came across an organisation known as The IAC, a film & video institute devoted to promoting amateur filmmakers.

Taken from theiac.org.uk, the IAC have the following to say on the matter:

"Amateur movie makers, whether IAC members or not, are unlikely, in the course of normal movie making in a public place, to have any problems with the police unless they are causing an obstruction. Neither members of the media nor the general public need permits to film or photograph in public places and police officers have no power to stop you filming or photographing incidents or police personnel."

Taking this into account, it appears that I will not need any permissions for filming during the course of my production phase. This is relieving, and means I can proceed with filming as scheduled.

Filming: Equipment

In terms of equipment, I will need a minimal amount of props and tools, as my video is very personal and minimal in its scale. The main piece of equipment required is, of course, the camera. I have decided that the camera I will use for the majority of my filming will be that of an iPhone 6S. On the popular camera quality measurement website DxOMark.com, this camera was awarded a score of 84, ranking it 13th on their table of all phone cameras (as of 2017). However unconventional it may seem to use a mobile phone for principal photography, I can have no doubts about the image quality, and using a phone means that I constant access to my camera to shoot footage whenever the need be.
In terms of props, one of the key factors will be in costume. The protagonist will wear 'woodland', autumnal colours of brown, beige and green. This is in order to create a visual palette which gives the video a distinct 'look', and is also in homage to the album cover for Rubber Soul (1965), which utilises a similar colour palette. I will of course also be using a tripod for my filming. The tripod allows the camera to be stable during shots, and the handle allows for panning, which can be useful for establishing shots. As the iPhone does not have a built in tripod mount, so I will have to use a mount. In anticipation of this, I have acquired such a device from Amazon, the 'Universal Smartphone Tripod Adapter' by Mudder. This was not an expensive purchase, and provides a great and necessary tool for my production. The particular tripod I will be using was the AmazonBasics 60-inch Lightweight Tripod.

Filming: Risk Assessment

My music video will be a relatively small production. Due to the contained narrative, I expect to only use three locations at a maximum, with one interior and two exterior locations. Exterior locations are generally the ones more likely to present risks during production. I have highlighted these risks below, taking into account their relative severity, whom or what they will affect, their probability, causes and how we might go about preventing or controlling them.

Filming: Production Schedule

I have set out a production schedule for my project spanning the months between the beginning of production and the deadline. This is between October and Christmas 2017. My schedule details milestones I am aiming to reach at points across these three months.

Throughout October I am aiming to complete filming of some of the shots that will be the most simple to complete. These shots will be small in duration and can be used for filler across the music video when editing. Examples of this include establishing shots, along with interesting, relevant images that I may decide that I want to include. Throughout October, I will also begin to setup the editing environment in Adobe Premiere Pro. This is so that when I compile enough shots I will be able to get into the editing process as smoothly as possible.
For November my goal is to begin to shoot most of the footage for the video. During November I will also begin to edit the footage that I have together. I will also start developing some of the editing effects such as the titles for my music video and the transitions. The main milestone for November, however, is to complete most if not all of the filming that is required.


For December I anticipate that most of my time will be spent editing. It is possible that, while editing, I will feel that some additional footage is required, or that I need to reshoot particular shots. For that reason some extra shooting may take place during December, although the main goal for December is to finish my editing and complete the project.

As laid out in my Casting post, my music video will place myself as the lead actor. This can pose some difficulties in filming, as setting up shot composition is likely to be more difficult than if I had an actor to work with. Despite this, my aim is to successfully complete most of the filming with the camera on myself.


There are specific times at which my filming must take place. For example, there are sequences in the video that twill take place outside during the daytime. Due to the fact that the filming will all have to take place during winter, I will likely need to get these shots in the morning, perhaps between the hours of 9:00 and 12:00. If I leave to shoot later than this, and it may start getting darker outside, and there will be lighting inconsistencies between shots. Other segments of the video will take place outside during the evening. This places even more lighting risks, as I will have to get the necessary shots just before the sun sets. These will have to take place between 16:00 - 17:00, to get the nice evening/sunset look I am after. I will film other shots in my home, at night. It is important that these are shots are at night, as the distinctive element of these shots is that all of the illumination will come from a laptop screen, representing the loneliness of the online age.

Planning: Casting

Casting is an essential element of any media production. The actors chosen to deliver performances can make or break a production, such as a film, television program or music video. For the purposes of my production, which is a music video, the casting must be thoroughly considered. My particular production will feature only one significant role, being of course the protagonist. With this, I am faced with the decision of whether I will cast an actor in this role, or, extending the principles of auteur theory, simply cast myself.

Casting an actor would mean that I would have more freedom in terms of operating the camera. The two roles of actor and director would be clearly defined, and we would be able to work independently from one another, for example creating dynamic camera movements while the actor is performing. However, this idea is not without its faults. Having one actor play such a key role in my entire production could produce difficult scheduling conflicts. If, for instance, I wished to complete some filming at a particular time, I would have to schedule this with the actor beforehand, which could prove difficult, bearing in mind that the actor is most likely not going to be available whenever and wherever I please. Also, if a scenario occurred where I realised, during editing, that I would require an extra shot or a reshoot of a previous shot, this could be an inconvenience to the actor and could be detrimental to my production as a whole.

Contrasting this with the alternative, casting myself in the role, these problems would then be eradicated. Using myself as both actor and director would give me complete control over all creative aspects of the production, which would be adopting a true auteur role. Any scheduling conflicts would be avoided, as if I needed to achieve a shot at any time, I will be available to complete it as both actor and director. On top of this, as I am the creator and director of this production, I know myself exactly what I want and require from the performance of the protagonist. Having myself take on the actor role would eliminate any communication issues between myself and my actor, whom may not otherwise understand or be able to deliver the type of performance I am looking for. As with the other option, however, this actor/director role also has its disadvantages. For one, I would find myself more limited with camera movement, as it would be of course very difficult to perform in a shot and simultaneously operate the camera. Also, working completely alone in the production of my video would create some difficulty with framing shots, as I would have to make some estimates with framing with myself as the actor.

Despite this, I believe that the advantages of casting myself would greatly outweigh the disadvantages. In particular, I refer to the freedom of having my 'actor' available wherever and whenever required, as the actor would be myself.
I have therefore decided to cast myself in the lead role of my music video. During production I will play the role of both actor and director, which provides the most convenience for filming and scheduling. In terms of props, I, as the actor, will need only a small amount. In particular, at this time, these are:

• Laptop
• Mobile Phone
• Clothing with distinct brown/green 'earth' tones.

These are the only props that I believe will be needed for my video. My production will tell a personal and self-reflective narrative, which I therefore believe will not require an abundance of props.

Planning: Role Allocation and Auteur Theory

For my project, I will be working as an individual, rather than collaborating with a group. This means that I will be adopting multiple creative roles, such as director, cameraperson and editor etc. This form of single-vision filmmaking is referred to in Auteur Theory.

Auteur theory has it's origins in France in the late 1940's. The term 'auteur' translates to 'author', which is fitting, as the theory suggests a director in a role where he/she orchestrates all creative elements of a film's production, much like the control attributed to an author of a novel. An auteur uses all elements of the filmmaking process: lighting, camerawork, framing, editing etc. to manifest their vision. The term 'auteur' is often used in reference to filmmakers with a distinct style to their work, such as Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese or Edgar Wright.

As I am working completely independently on my project, it would be appropriate to apply elements of auteur theory to what I am producing. Having control over all creative elements to my music video allows me the freedom to implant my own, personal style, though my work with the camera, my set-up of shots and my techniques with editing. For these reasons, I will find myself acting much like an auteur throughout the production of my project.

Audience Research: Responses

I received 11 responses to my questionnaire in total. The service I used, Google Forms, allows me to view all of my responses as visualised charts.

From the responses to my first question, I can see that approximately 50% of recipients to my questionnaire were between the ages of 11-22. This offers a solid balance of responses which represent the both the youth, and the adult audience.



This response tells me that almost half of responders do not regularly watch music videos, and in contrast, just over half claim to watch at least one music video per week. This could correlate with the similar, almost halfway divide of age ranges. Of those who do claim to watch music videos, a 27.3% majority watches between 2-3 per week.



This was one of the more divisive questions, and speaks to the diverse range of music available to audiences through different genres. The majority preference was pop music, followed by hip-hop, rock and indie. My music video features a song that might be considered a blend of indie and rock by today’s standards, which suggests that I have a respectable audience for my video.



This answer found one, unanimous answer. Respondents were able to select multiple answers, and all eleven selected YouTube. I can gather, therefore, that it would certainly be appropriate for me to post my video to YouTube, as, clearly, this is where the largest audience for music videos is found.




This is the first answer where I allowed my audience to provide written, qualitative data. I am, however, able to interpret their answers quantitatively. Of the eleven answers, it was suggested five times that some form of artist performance be involved. It was also suggested four times that the video feature a narrative. Other answers suggested proficient use of lighting and editing, mirroring some of Goodwin’s conventions for music videos, such as editing that is matched to the beat of the song.




To follow on from the previous question, respondents were asked from a multiple choice answer which they would prefer to see out of story, live performance, being thought-provoking, having abstract visuals or having a comedic tone. Interestingly, respondents only chose from story or live performance. The responses were as split as can be, and, even more interestingly, story edged out live performance in the responses.



Another question of written responses, here the overwhelming majority voiced that it would be beneficial for the music video to directly relate to the lyrical content of its song. Andrew Goodwin suggested that music videos should use their imagery to illustrate the meaning of their lyrics, and my audience here have supported that claim.



With this question, I aimed to gauge whether audiences were still watching music videos that are not recent. This could then provide me with an idea of what gives a video rewatchability. Of the responses, only two respondents, when asked what the last music video they watched was, responded with a video not from 2017. These two videos were from Radiohead and the Beatles, two of the biggest musical acts of the modern era. It is most likely that their music had more of an influence on this than the contents of the music video.




For the follow-up question, 63.6% claimed that they were influenced, by the music video, to listen to the song more. This suggests that a good music video can have influence as a marketing tool.




For the final question, I asked respondents what they believed to be the greatest music video of all time. I could then examine some of these, to understand what gives them such high regard. There was a diverse set of results, however, Thriller by Michael Jackson came out on top with 4 of the 11 claiming that it was the greatest music video of all time (Google Forms has listed thriller as two separate responses due to formatting).

Other notable responses to this question include Take on Me by A-ha, Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana and Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.

Audience Research: Questionnaire

To form an understanding of what audiences expect from music videos, I designed a questionnaire. This questionnaire was created using the online tool Google Forms, which allows users to create surveys, distribute them and receive results immediately after completion. I found this to be more effective than had I distributed physical, paper surveys.

My questionnaire featured ten questions, taking both qualitative and quantitative data. The questions I chose were such that I felt they would aid me in targeting my production towards different groups and audiences.

To achieve a more balanced sample, I distributed my survey to people of different ages and occupations, rather than just gauging the views of people of similar ages to myself, such as my fellow media students.

The questionnaire can be seen, in full, below:

Audience Research

The song I have chosen for my music video is over 50 years old now. As such, it is unlikely that many adolescents will be familiar with both the song and the genre itself (rock/folk). However, according to a survey on SurveyMonkey.com, approximately 56% of Beatles fans are under the age of 20. Also, according to statistics from popular streaming service Spotify, 61% of Beatles' listeners are under the age of 35. These statistics suggest that the genre of music, and the artist that my song is from, are still accessible to young people, in great part thanks to the music's availability on the internet. This also means that even if those in my target demographic are not familiar with this musical style, there is still a likelihood that they will be open to listening to it, contrary to stereotypes of young people today disliking older music.

From this information, I no know that I don't have to shy away from targeting my video towards audiences in the 15-25 age range. This means that I can press on with the representation of young people in my video, and target my video towards this particular age demographic.

The survey analysed on SurveyMonkey.com also provides another telling aspect of the demographic: gender. According to the survey, 84% of Beatles' fans surveyed were male. What I can take from this is that I would not be wrong in targeting my music video more towards the male demographic, which would be represented in the video itself by a male protagonist, in accordance with the lyrics of the song, speaking to the 'nowhere man'.

Research: Analysis of 'Novacane' by Frank Ocean

‘Novacane’ is a song taken from R&B artist Frank Ocean’s 2011 mixtape Nostalgia, ULTRA. The song’s lyrics paint a narrative in which Frank encounters a nameless woman who studies dentistry, while starring in adult films to fund her tuition fees. The woman offers Frank novocaine, a drug used to numb pain. Throughout the song, Ocean’s relationship with this woman leads him down a spiral of drug use and numbing agents from which he feels he cannot escape, and which takes control of his life. Novacane offers a dour and heart-wrenching portrayal of heavy drug-usage, and the causes behind such.

The music video for Novacane expertly combines performance with narrative to illustrate the toll that the excessive drug use has taken on Ocean’s life. Interestingly, the narrative presented in the music video is not a direct visual telling of the lyrics, but more of a follow-up from the story that Ocean tells through his lyrics. From this perspective, the music video shows Ocean retrospectively describing to the viewer, the story of how he got to this point.

The music video opens on a dark apartment interior. Through the slow-panning camera movement, a beautiful woman is revealed, seated on a chair, however she quickly dissolves into a cloud of smoke. Panning further, Frank Ocean is revealed, sitting alone in the middle of three chairs, smoke surrounding him. Ocean takes a puff of what appears to be a cannabis joint, at which point two more beautiful women materialise around him from the smoke. Consequently, Ocean’s expression also drops, displaying no emotion. This also references the song’s lyric: ‘zero emotion, muted emotion.’

This introduction is not only an impressive visual effect, but is used also as a powerful storytelling tool. Through this short visual, it is implied that Ocean loads himself with drugs for the euphoric, yet short-lived highs, despite not showing signs of actually being happy with his lifestyle. The women around him disappear once more, and Ocean then repeatedly intakes the drug to resurrect his high.

The camera movement begins to unveil more of the apartment setting, revealing a wealth of expensive decor and furniture. It is most likely that this is in-fact a hotel, and not a permanent residence, suggesting the impermanent, transitory nature of Ocean’s lifestyle. It is at this point in the video where the performance element is introduced. Ocean is found seated in front of a bed.

At this point, the use of colour in this music video should be examined. The video is graded to have a noticeably green palette. On top of this, Ocean is wearing a shirt with green patterns printed across it, and all of the smoke visualised in the video is of a green shade, also. The likely implication being made by this is that green is the colour most often associated with cannabis, and therefore, casual drug use.

The final half of the music video consists of a performance by Ocean. He sings the lyrics directly into the camera without a shade of emotion. Alongside this, his mouth is drooped down, and gradually falls lower and lower as Ocean is consumed by the drugs. Ocean then begins to rub Topicaine across his face, a form of topical novocaine. Upon doing this, Ocean is confronted once more with hallucinations of women surrounding him, joined by imagery of rainforests, panda bears and white tigers. Throughout this, Ocean presents no signs of experiencing joy or even satisfaction, and instead continues to apply the novocaine to make himself more and more numb.

Continuing to apply the topicaine, the camera stutters and Ocean’s face begins to distort in an exaggeratory fashion, becoming increasingly affected by the drug use. The frame is also now filled with hallucinatory images and smoke, to which Ocean pays no attention. The camera also moves in-and-out of focus. The frame also becomes darker, and the level of green tint steadily rises. The use of visual effects coupled with simple camera movements during this short sequence makes for powerful imagery which demonstrates Ocean’s mental state. These effects are also well-demonstrated through Ocean’s performance, as his delivery becomes more-and-more slurred with each lyric.

The level of distortion through both camera and visual effects increases to a point at which it reaches its climax. As Ocean is about to break out once more into the song’s chorus, he is slapped across the face by an unseen woman, at which point the music cuts out and the hallucinations disappear. The fact that all we see of this woman is her hand speaks to the intimacy of the music video to Ocean himself. It also suggests that Ocean is not paying attention to the woman, and she is much like another hallucination to him. This also paints a bold picture of the effects of heavy drug reliance. We, as an audience, were not aware of anyone around Ocean, or being affected by his actions, and it is suggested that he himself has not considered such. The slap, however, illustrates the frustrations of those around Ocean toward his behaviour, and represents the effects that his actions have on others, while Ocean is oblivious to this, and is totally numbed by his novocaine.

Frank Ocean is ‘snapped out of’ his hallucinations, and his image fades out, until all that is left is an image of smoke, with a green tint. We finally fade out on a dark and abrupt note, with no narrative resolution to Ocean’s struggle, seemingly finding himself in an endless cycle of drug intake and numbness.

In conclusion, the music video for Frank Ocean’s Novacane is a masterful example of how visuals can be manipulated to not only compliment a musical piece, but to extend its meaning and build on its narrative, if applicable. The video takes place in one, confined set, however use of camera, colour grading and simple visual effects paint a minimalist and painfully effective picture of how this song should be represented through the visual medium.

Research: Analysis of Magazine Advert for Kanye West - Late Registration

The magazine advert for Chicago producer/rapper Kanye West's 2005 album Late Registration aims to intrigue and engage the viewer. This is first achieved through the use of imagery. The album artwork is enlarged, and fills the entire width of the advertisement. It features West’s central mascot, dubbed the ‘dropout bear’, whom also featured on the cover for West’s first album, The College Dropout.

Placed above the dropout bear is the artist name and the album title. West’s name is stylised as KanYeWest, displayed in a gold, serif typeface, and fills almost the entire width of the advert. This effectively draws the viewer’s attention to the advertisement. In 2005, Kanye West was on the rise as an up-and-coming star in hip-hop, and many would have been familiar with his name from the success of 2004’s The College Dropout.

The album title is displayed in all lowercase, and in white lettering, so as to distinguish the album title from the artist name. Interestingly, it’s placement (below the artist name) suggests that the album title is secondary to the artist himself, a pattern found in many album adverts. This is because the artist’s profile and their brand, is, if the artist has found success, capable of selling the record on its own.

Down in the bottom quarter of the advertisement album reviews are featured. There is the use of ‘star’ ratings, which are an effective way of combining imagery and scoring to communicate an opinion. Scores are taken from reputable sources such as Uncut, Observer Music Monthly and Sunday Times Culture. Alongside these, short quotes are taken which aim to compact the magazines’ opinions. Adjectives such as ‘ENTHRALLING’ and ‘MASTERPIECE’ are employed, along with longer, more explanatory quotes, for example: ‘EVERYTHING HE TOUCHES TURNS TO GOLD’.

This quote in particular I find to be powerful, as it coincides with the use of gold shades in the text that are employed across the advertisement; in the review scores, review sources and, above all, the artist’s name at the top of the advert.

In conclusion, I view the magazine advert for Late Registration as a successful endeavor. Its minimalist construction means that all elements are focused, and viewers’ attention is drawn via the clear imagery and bold text. This is bolstered by the display of positive review scores, which reinforce to viewers, the belief that the product advertised is of high quality. This is the aim of an album advertisement, and here it is done effortlessly.

Research: Album Artwork Analysis of George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

The debut solo album of ex-Beatle George Harrison was released in late 1970, following the break up of the Beatles. The photographic artwork for the album is fairly minimal, however it manages to present many of Harrison's intentions following his ventures as a solo artist. At the centre of the cover, Harrison is pictured, seated on a stool above four garden gnomes. It is likely that these gnomes were utilised as representations of each of the Beatles, and that Harrison placing himself separate from them represents his attempts to differentiate himself from the group, as a solo artist. The photograph on the cover is distinctly in black-and-white. The lack of colour conveys a somewhat glum and sombre tone, which is reflected in the tone of many of the tracks on the album. This gloomy tone suggests that, despite his attempt to establish independence, Harrison still feels some sorrow regarding the recent break-up of the Beatles. This is also represented in the album's title, All Things Must Pass, which presents a sincere acceptance  on Harrison's part that all things (in this case the Beatles) must come to an end.

Research: Album Artwork Analysis of Kanye West - Yeezus

Kanye West - Yeezus

Kanye West's polarising 2013 album 'Yeezus' became iconic in hip-hop for its album artwork, or lack thereof. The cover is minimalism at it's most extreme, comparable to The Beatles bold 1968 'White Album' cover. For it's physical release, the Yeezus CD cover consisted exclusively of a single coloured label, along with a parental advisory sticker, and no more, on a clear plastic case. This approach was in sharp contrast to West's five earlier albums, which all featured sprawling, colourful artwork on their covers. The lack of any artwork for Yeezus was symbolic of the direction of the music industry at that time. With streaming services such as Spotify and Tidal becoming increasingly popular, physical CD releases were becoming obsolete, and West acknowledged and embraced this. He described the Yeezus cover as an 'open casket to CDs'. This suggests the artwork for the album was presented as if to give audiences one last look at CD's before they essentially 'die'. Of course, many albums are still released on CD today, however the majority of music is now consumed via internet streaming services. Kanye West's next album, 2016's The Life Of Pablo was, unsurprisingly, released exclusively on streaming services without any physical release. With almost no artwork at all, Yeezus manages to present a cover that is minimal, symbolic and engaging, without the need for a traditional work of art.