Stuart Hall Theorist - Audience

Stuart hall theorist

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Inspiration For Dance Routine

Because we want our video to have a horror themed twist when it comes to the dance routine I think it's the best element to show our idea off to the viewers. This video is very detailed but the main reason I chose it for inspiration is because of how creepy and disjointed every single dancer looks when getting into their different positions and because it looks so believable it may frighten the audience. Michael is the main character throughout the video and this is indicated by he's costume as all of the dancers are wearing dark colours and he has a red jacket on to signify he's importance, this is exactly what we plan to do in our video our main character will be wearing a revealing leopard print outfit (to link back to cannibal as she would is an animal) with matching eye shadow and styled hair whereas the dancers will be wearing ripped up t shirts and dramatic make up (fake cuts, bruises e.t.c). Also because Michael looks like he is leading each dancer into each separate dance move it looks even more synchronized, there are parts in our video where the main character for example will be crawling across the floor towards the camera with the dancers following behind then there is another part of the routine where she is made the main attraction as she does nothing while the dancers pick her up and spin her round (the camera will be doing an aerial shot to show the full scene in detail).
When coming up with the routine we will definitely look back at this video for some movement and ideas because we want to make them original but also see how other successful artists made there mark because this video will go down in music video history so there would be no other video that could help us with our specific story line.


The reason I added this video in for inspiration is because it shows the humour in the horror video that they have created which is another element we could think about when filming our own music video. This is another option for us to think about as a group depending on which age range our target audience would fall under for example if we wanted to keep it in the horror genre we would be aiming it for people around 16 and over because children any younger may find it disturbing and scary to watch. However if we kept the humour element in the video but still linked it to horror the video could then be offered to any age group because scenes that could be made scary could be softened down so that no one would be scared or shocked as to what would happen next, this is a hard decision to make because we want to advertise our video to the target audience that will make it the most successful it can possibly be.
For example in this video all of the dancers come up from the grave, this could have been made to look a lot worse with them having dry white skin but because they are wearing brightly coloured outfits and there make up and hair is precise you don't instantly think horror.
However the main reason I chose this video is because the dancing in this is more free style compared to thriller as every individual included in the video has there own style of dance which gives them more of a chance to stand out. This isn't what we want to go for in our video because the main character is named that for a reason, we want to show that she is in control of all of her victims mainly the male generation because she is a strong women and some of the dance routine will back that up for example in one part of the song the victims are seen crawling away from her slyly but she corners them all which shows she has authority over them, this video is good to use for inspiration but not for the layout of their dance routine because it's not as choreographed and thought out as we want ours to be.

Editing First Shots

After filming the first few shots for our music video, we connected the camera to the computer to start editing when we realized something wasn't right. We looked through each clip that had been filmed and it started to become clear that they were all just of us talking about what position they should be in and how the main character should act/look which made me think that I had stopped recording when the real scenes were taking place and recorded the "deleted scenes" of us as a group getting ready to film.

This is a mistake that couldn't be helped because if I had realized while filming I could of made sure I picked up on it but because I was too busy helping the characters with the step by step movement so it linked back to the song I just pressed the button and moved the camera around to change the angle of view and expected it to be recording however it didn't.

However it did record the first 3 shots that we needed for the beginning of the video, but the element of blood wasn't used so we decided to just re film all of it when we return after the half term holidays, this has made me learn from my mistakes and make sure next time I take more care of looking at the camera when capturing shots to make sure its recording.

We know how we are filming the rest of the video now too and what locations we are using so it will be very easy for us when we go back to college to start from scratch but because our characters are so confident we will get the shots immediately. The main characters costumes are all ready to just be brought in when we come back, we already created the male characters costume before we broke up so he can just re wear it and as for the dancers Emily is going to create their blood covered outfits while she is away on holiday so they are all ready when we come back. This set back has made us more organised and focused on the end produc

First Day Of Filming

We began filming a scene from our music video, this scene was the one that involved the main and the male character which was important because it needed to look really realistic and they couldn't lack confidence because it was quite intimate but the reason we decided to use these two people together is because they are both performing arts students as well as friends so the chemistry is already there. For this scene to have an effect on the audience it needed to be filmed outside in a eerie and deserted place to add the creepy atmosphere we wanted, however because it was daylight and quite a sunny day the atmosphere wasn't there but we can add it in when we begin editing by just lowering the brightness and increasing the contrast to make everything look bolder and darker.
Before we went out to film the characters had to get ready, because the main character had a lot more elements to her outfit our male character only had a t shirt that needed to be cut up and made to look mucky which took 5 minutes to do so he was sat around waiting which shouldn't of happened as we should of been more prepared. The main character took way too much time doing her hair and applying make up which meant we only had 30 minutes to film the scene.
The location we used was in an abandoned part of some bushes with a mesh fence in the background perfect for the story we were trying to create, the first take we filmed was of the male character laying on the floor with various camera angles showing viewers that he had been killed/murdered. The next take included the male character laying in the exact same spot now with the main character leaning over him close to the claw and blood marks on he's t shirt suggesting to viewers that she is the one to blame and maybe isn't human due to the damage she had done. The third shot included the male character again staying in the spot but now the song has begun the main character turns away from him and crawls towards the camera making distorted body movements which indicates to the viewers that there's something not right about her, after the beats comes a "rargh" this is when she has reached the camera lens and jolts forward into it while saying that line and making a clawing motion towards the audience. before the next "rargh" she needs to walk back over to the male character and drag him up off the floor while the camera jolts front to back. Before kicking into the first verse where he is seen as the weak character and she is dominating him by feeling he's body and crawling around he's personal space to make him feel uncomfortable but also can't help himself looking at her exposed body.
This is all we got up to in the time period we had, however we shot each take twice to make sure we had a lot of footage to use in the editing stage. The next part of the video involves numerous different people to play victims of the main character who she has killed/attacked in various different places and in different ways.
The only thing we forgot about when filming was to take shots of me and Sophie filming using the equipment and also reki shots of the location and the outfits separately which we will do when we next film the footage. However I believe in the time period we had we did well to get so much done but the main reason for that is because both people got into character immediately and although it was really cold outside they just got on with it.

Location Discussion

We were going to film the first scene for our video in the media recording room because it would be easier and warmer as the weather is getting worse, however it wouldn't give off the same effect like we wanted it to on the storyboard as the male character will be the cannibals attraction and when she begins to hurt him and he knows what's going to happen next he is supposed to run down a long path situated in a forest like place so it looks like he doesn't know where he will end up, this couldn't happen in the television studio because only a background would be used and the effect would be just taken away.
For example below is an image of someone stood in front of a green screen although the background he uses may look believable the actual scene may not work just being stood in one position, but in a music video this wouldn't be tolerated and wouldn't link to the usual conventions especially because we are using a up beat song movement will be needed throughout to keep the viewers entertained.

However this dark and deserted alleyway below gives off a much more professional feel to it and for our scene we want to film the male character running quite a long distance away from the main character, so a long alleyway would be the perfect destination also if it is run down and deserted it adds more of the grungy/horror atmosphere to the overall shots and if there is streets coming off the alleyways then the main character could hide in them and jump out on the male which again would add to the suspense of the video and shock viewers which is what we intend to do.

Hairstyle Ideas

When searching for hairstyle ideas the thought that had to bared in mind was that the actress's hair was short so there was a limit on what to style the hair like. The idea of purchasing wigs was considered however we decided that using the actress's real hair would be a better idea as wigs are quite an expensive prop to purchase and also vigorous movements will be used throughout the video such as the actress violently shaking her head and the wig may not be secure enough to stay on.

The image above was selected as a hairstyle idea as a quiff has been and continues to be a popular hairstyle. This image however overlaps the hair giving it a more funky and trendy look which is what we want the actress to represent as you find this stereotypically in music videos. This particular hairstyle will be used with the leather costume as combined together they will show a rock chic style much like a bad girl theme which links in with the video as the actress is not a feminine character. The hairstyle also allows the eyes to stand out most by the hair not covering any area of the face allowing the actress to show off her main features as it is the eyes on a female that attracts the male.

This second image was chosen as a hairstyle idea because of its shock factor as it captures your eye for being so extravagant. This links in directly with the whole theme of the video, the idea of the actress being a cannibal and eating people. The hairstyle will be used with the animal costumes as it represents the actress's wild side. Although the hairstyle is shocking it is also quite stylish as a Mohawk style is used by spiking the top up and flattening the sides.

The third and final image was chosen for a hairstyle idea as this is what the actress's personal hairstyle is. We chose this because it will be used with the casual costume and we wanted to bring a personal touch to the character to allow the actress to characterize herself and become the cannibal so the video is far more realistic. It will show the actress's normal side which will allow the contrast of the cannibal to be shown more clearly and flamboyantly. The hairstyle is still stylish as it was inspired from Rihanna who is a well known and very popular singer, however it also shows through its choppy fringe that the actress is perhaps unstable and is covering/hiding something.

Leopard Print Eyeshadow Tutorial

Because we are using leopard print inspired outfit in our video and we wanted to create eye shadow outlining the outfit I thought finding a tutorial video would help us create this look to the best of our ability. Because this woman does it step by step it would be easy enough for us to pause and play the video when putting on the eye make up ourselves. My inspiration for using this type of dramatic make up did come from the Beyonce kitty kat video because it was something I noticed straight away when watching the video and I believe with heavy make up on our main character will feel more confident in getting into the part she has to play, this will also show the fiestyness and sex appeal which links into the "Laura Mulvey" male gaze theory.