Analysis of two videos also by Lily Allen...

The first video I'm going to analyse is Lily Allens video of "22". This is similar in some ways to our theme of video because in this, she is the same person showing two different persona's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWjNFC-FinU

This is a prime example of a similarity with our video idea, we want to incorporate the same idea of her not being herself because she is drunk and stands out from the rest of the crowd.

They have shown this by her make up and hair being messy, this means if we want to create something similar we can show this without actually showing them drinking or using drugs.

The use of lighting in this video is very effective as in a way helps to create the contrast between the two persona's. The reason this is such a good video is mainly down to the lighting and the different effects it gives.

The second video i have chosen to analyse is Lily Allens 'The Fear' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-wGMlSuX_c.

I chose this in particular because our two video ideas are very similar. As you can see the first scene is an establishing shot which is what we have done with Kelsey in the bedroom. It then moves on to Lily walking through a park singing which is similiar to our shot of Kelsey walking through the streets.The next shot is of her walking through a group of dancers as if she wasnt there, this is how we have portrayed Kelsey in parts of our video including the kitchen scene.

This video really helped us with decisions about our video, we managed to adapt similar ideas to our storyline which is really effective. Another similarity aboutthis video is with the lighting, in some parts of her video very low lighting is used for example here.

Which is then contrasted with very bright lighting here, this has a great effect and we decided we wanted something similar in our video.

Digipack And Flatplans

For our coursework we have been asked to do two print coursework tasks. The first of these tasks is to design a digipack this will feature our song and video that we are making. We are going to be producing these using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Indesign.


A digipak is a type of album packaging used for CD's and DVD's, the most common type being a four printed page (4pp) version which is what we have been asked to design. Most popular artists will use a digipack when producing an album because although it is a more expensive option it proves to be more popular with audiences, it is a lot more tasteful because they use better material and the quality is far better.

As you can see from this Oasis digipack there is a front cover, a back page with the songs for the album then two more pages relating to the album.

Oasis have related the album cover to their genre of music by having the base of a guitar, the full digipack for this album is all similar colours that work well together. This is to insure that the album has a certain amount of continuity to it.

The idea of a digipack really is to protect the CD and make it look appealing and interesting at the same time therefore when designing my digipack for 'Everyones At It' i need to make it appealing to my target audience but also relate it to the theme of the video.

This is an example of one of her previous album covers for 'Alright Still'. As you can see it is a very fun, busy cover which easily attracts the right audience, there are bright colours and funky writing to make it stand out as a 'Lily' album.

I have devised 3 different digipack designs as flatplans and this is the outcome.


In my first design i decided focus on a shot in the film where Lucy (Lily Allen) is standing in front of a brick wall as a still shot, i am then going to use graffiti style writing and bright colours as the title to make it stand out and look as though graffiti had been sprayed on the walls. I am then going to have Lucy standing in particular pose to make herself look healthy and happy. She will wear bright coloured clothing to make a deep contrast to the inside left panel where it will be the total opposite and she will be wearing dull clothes and looking very ill and pale as if she were on drugs, i have placed her to the side of the image using rule of thirds i think this works really well by making a simple image look more interesting, this is will be effective because it is showing you the effects of drugs and how much they can change you.

The outer back panel will also follow the same theme of the brick wall effect, and in each brick there will be a track name in the same bright coloured font as the front cover, this is to keep it all consistent and will make the digipak as a whole look more appealing and neat.






My second design is very different to the first, the out front panel consists of a title in the font 'Laundromat 1967', i chose this because it is a very distorted and unusual. The panel is going to be split in two across the diagonal, but with no direct division line, the top half will show Lucy again as a very happy, healthy person dressed in bright colours around her will be bright coloured swirls that connote the spiral effect drugs have and how a person can deteriorate quickly, but almost acting like an illusion at the same time. The bottom half will be a dingy street just like the one in the video with attached terrace housing up the side this will act as a model of the type of area you would find teenage drug users in. The whole of the second half will be very grey and dull to show the contrast between the two.


The outer back panel is different to the front as i have decided to make it a very bright multi coloured background to catch the eye of the buyer, however i have used the same colours as i did on the front to bring it together, the colours will work in a spiral system of a square shape getting smaller and smaller, the track names will be around the edge of the panel also in the font 'Laundromat 1967'. For the inner left panel i have designed a series of Kelseys face showing different expressions of what drugs can do to you but also a couple of her looking happy and healthy these will stand out over the others with a yellow background.






For my final design i have chosen a very basic white background because i want the audience to focus on the moral of the image which is that i am going to have Lucy standing at the top again in very bright colours looking happy and healthy looking down on herself as a drug addict in very dull clothing and pale skin. I think this will be effective because it is showing you looking at yourself in a different light. The font i am going to use is, 'Docteur Atomic' again this is a very distorted font but a lot bolder than any previous font, i chose this because i have quite a plain background therefore this would help make the artist name stand out.


For the outer back panel i have chosen to keep the background plain and simple being completely white, this will contrast with bright writing in the same font and colour as the outer front panel, this could be a really effective way to get the audience interested.

The inner left panel is then the total opposite of these and is full with random sketchy colour ie; blue pink, green, yellow and orange. This effect connotes the crazy lifestyle that teenagers can lead.









Here are my flatplans.













I have chosen to go with the first idea, the brick wall one as i think it has the greatest link to the video its self. It is a really effective idea and i like that it is a scene taken from the video, it also shows the two opposites of teenagers on drugs and also a happy healthy person this could have a great effect on the audience. It also stands out from the crowd as i would describe is as quite unusual.

Pitch..

We have been asked to pitch our ideas for the video as if it was to a producer, we have included things such as, ideas, the narrative, statistics of sales and the popularity of Lily Allen, fashion styles to be used considering Lilys fashion etc. Here is the video.

As you can see we all took charge of two slides each describing different elements of the pitch.

Mise en Scene

Now that we have an idea that is possible to make we started coming up with the ‘mise en scene’ for our video. For the costumes of drug users we are going to have very dark dull clothing to show that they don’t really care what their wearing because they have their ‘drugs’. And for the main character we are going to put her in bright colours to contrast with the other characters. As far as make-up goes we are going to make sure the teenagers on drugs have a very pale complexion and dark eyes , this shows the bad effects drugs have on you compared to the bright healthy face of the main character (Lucy).
The set and location of our video is going to change extremes from a bright classroom that shows learning and healthy students to the streets where everything is dim and gloomy.
The props we need to make this a successful video are the chairs and tables for the classroom along with a board showing the presentation and then cigarettes and some sort of powder for example flour, salt or sugar to act as a cocaine substance.

Because we want to film towards the evening for the best effect we will need some sort of lighting, for this we are going to use car lights and torches to shine towards the drug victims. This leads on the main sort of colour theme we want in the video which is general gloom and doom throughout accept for the main character who is going to stand out as a very bright and bubbly person. We want to make the street seem very grotty and a place where no one wants to be, that they want to try and leave, this will connote the lyrics “How can we start to tackle the problem”.

I found some images that inspired us with our ideas which i have posted below. They show the kind of outcome we hope for with our final piece.

Making Adjustments..

After we decided the main idea for our video we discussed how we would make it work using the people we had available and the location needed for the video, it became clear that our idea was not going to be easy to make considering we needed a party venue and many actors willing to participate. Therefore we came up with a new concept of shooting it on a street keeping the main character in it walking along past all these teenage drug users. We also decided to still keep the original opening idea of the classroom talk with students about drugs.

Initial ideas

Now that we had our artist and song ready we started thinking about ideas for the video, the first thing that came to mind was to set it in a teenage enviroment where 16-20 year olds are likely to do drugs such as parties or college/universities.
One of our favourite ideas was to start out with a presentation in a school from a girl around the age of 19 about drugs then she shows the class a video, this video is of a party where all around are teenagers on drugs, doing drugs and taking part in inappropriate things, video would be in the point of view of the presenter who is also one of the girls in the video on drugs, so its like there was two sides to her.
This idea was inspired by another of Lilly Allens videos "22" where she is also two different people, in two very different states of mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWjNFC-FinU

SONG LYRICS

These are the lyrics for "Everyones at it".

I don't know much,But I know this for certain,
That is the sun,Poking its head round the curtain.
Now please can we leave,I'd like to go to bed now.
It's not just the sun,That is hurting my head now.

I'm not trying to say,That I'm smelling of roses,
But when will we tire,Of putting shit up our noses.
I don't like staying up,Staying up past the sunlight.
It's meant to be fun,And this just doesn't feel right.

Why can't we all,All just be honest,
Admit to ourselves,That everyone's on it.
From grown politicians,To young adolescents,
Prescribing themselves,Anti-depressants.
How can we start to tackle the problem,
If you don't put your hands up,And admit that you're on them.

The kids are in danger,They're all getting habits,
Because from what I can see,Everyone's at it.
Everyone's at it.Everyone's at it.Everyone's at it.

I get involved,But I'm not advocating.
Got an opinion,Yeah, you're well up for slating.
So you've got a prescription,And that makes it legal.
I find the excuses,Overwhelmingly feeble.
You go to the doctor,You need pills to sleep in.
Well if you can convince him,Then I guess that's not cheating.
So your daughter's depressed,We'll get her straight on the prozac.
But little do you know,She already takes crack.

Why can't we all,All just be honest,
Admit to ourselves,That everyone's on it.
From grown politicians,To young adolescents,
Prescribing themselves,Anti-depressants.

How can we start to tackle the problem,
If you don't put your hands up,And admit that you're on them.
The kids are in danger,They're all getting habits,
Because from what I can see,
veryone's at it.Everyone's at it.Everyone's at it.
Everyone's at it.
Why can't we all,All just be honest,
Admit to ourselves,That everyone's on it.
From grown politicians,To young adolescents,
Prescribing themselves,Anti-depressants.

How can we start to tackle the problem,
If you don't put your hands up,
And admit that you're on them.
The kids are in danger,They're all getting habits,
Because from what I can see,Everyone's at it.
Everyone's at it.Everyone's at it.Everyone's at it.

As you can see i have highlighted the words in the lyric that are giving us our ideas, throughout the song drugs are the main topic which is how we came up with our idea. The idea of "tackling the problem" is why we have included the intro to the video about the presentation to a class of students.
the meaning behind the video to this song is showed by how we exclude the main character as much as possible using colour and staging. The main idea is to show how she is different from them all and that she isn't following the crowd and getting into drugs.

Introduction.. Choosing our song

This is the blog for my A2 Media coursework where i am going to blog every step of what i do for making a music video.
The first thing we were asked to do was pick a song that we would make the video for, in a group of four people, Kelsey, Lucy, Jade and I we thought about the different genres of music that we would want to focus on and came up with indie music or various popular chart artists, after much deliberation we picked Lilly Allen as we can relate to her music which tend to have a meaning, we picked a song from her album called "Everyones at it" because there is a strong theme that
would make it easier to make a music video for.