Spray Paint Productions

This is the 'Spray Paint Productions' logo which we also used for our press release. as the title suggests it is a picture of a spray can. we originally just wanted the can, but we found that using Ryan's hand was affective.

Press release

Originally we wanted the press release as in the shape of a spray can (in relation to our record label 'spray paint productions) but it seemed a bit too complicated. our band is not meant to be very flashy and mainstream, its supposed to seem independent and individual.

therefore we still took the spray can motif but used a simple rectangular background.

we took a photo of ryan's hand holding a spray can and used effects on the PC to change it to look painted. we also made the artists name 'Shania Mckie' some out of the noxxle as if it was being sprayed out.

we also made bold and lighter purple any words or phrases we thought would be important.

Back cover of CD

we originally thought about a butterfly on the back cover of our CD cover because little girls and boys usually chase them trying to catch them in a net. we also wanted pastel colours for the background and a little bit bolder colours for teh writing.

however, we found that many people didn't like this background or theme, they thought it too showy or complicated, so we aimed for something a bit more simplistic. taht is when we remembered the pictures we took of the background in the performance shots. unfortunatly using the picture wouldn't work, but it did give us inspiration and we finalised on the idea of simple lines runing down the cover in the pink, purple and red theme

our final back cover has all the tracks, the artists name and the album title. i believe it looks very affective and is asthetically pleasing even though it is simplistic.

ideas for front cover and press release

our original idea for the front cover of our CD was the four lips in differernt colours, unfortunatly, this did not look as good as we hoped. therefore we re-thought our options. the lips were a good idea, but the colours were all wrong. while practicing with ideas, i came across a black and white face but with incredibly coloured lips. this brought about the idea of doing the same thing but using the idea of 4 different coloured lips.

The final product is below. The title of the album was called 'Memory lane' because it connotates looking back which is explored in our music video with the little girl.

we wanted the overall colour scheme to be pink because of the perfomance shots of the artist, also we wanted red writing as it would stand out clearly.

Our Music Video

We have had some promising feedback from different people.

An examples of a schedule

During the project we kept schedules of each shooting weekend. Here is an example:

final story board

The opening shots of our music video.
guys, you can choose what one you want on your own blog, coz we need one each, just save and paste yeah!!!

jenny

xxx

Example of a story board for our original idea

Zahra

feedback of music video

We had a feedback session on the 5th of Nov in the media block with about 30 people, most were able to fill in questionnaires
We used a questionnaire we designed for our group which had a number of guestions on what people thought of our artist and her performance, and if they would buy the music.
below is all the questions and summary answers from the 20 questionnaires completed.

Questionnaire

Gender? Male or female
17 females / 3 males

Age?
17 /18

Would you identify our artist as mainstream or independent
4/20 = independant, 16/20 =mainstream

What genre of music do you think our track is?
jazz/soul/pop

What image do you think our artist represents, e.g bold, beautiful, sexy, independent, innocent?
bold/beautuful/free/strong/sexy

Do you think any aspects of the music video mirrors the genre of the track
quick movemets/black singer/colourful and jazzy/

What was your favourite scene or section from the video.
animations/the merged scenes or animated teddy to real teddy/4 images scrolling across the screne in 4 colours/genreal fun scenes

What did you like about the video? What pleasures did you receive
the 'home mode' images/surpised at the end/made me want to cry from sweetness, the heart ache

did it invoke any emotions at any time, e.g happiness, sadness, the need to get up and dance?
happiness and then sudden sadness

What could we do to improve it?
have more flash backs or other scenes in the instrumental/ lip synching at points/make the feathering less/ the writing could be clearer

Would you listen to the song or watch the video again?
yes absalutely/one boy said NO

Would you buy the video or music??
15/20=yes 5/20 =no (not my type of music)

Do you think that after watching this video you would donate any money to the NSPCC?
yes/ if i had money....then yes/ just like watching a real advert/ one of the boys said NO!!

Shot Log

Here is an example of shot logs we kept while filming:

Real Shoot Weekend #1 - Shot List

Here is the shot list we made when we were still doing the idea of having Leah being Zahra's younger self.

Shots @ Megan's House:

• Teddies - ECU shots of barbies/dolls/teddies faces
• Shots of girl on bed - ECU of eyes, hair, feet, clicking, bottom of dress
• Girl on bed singin - MLS, LA
• Girl on bed singing to the teddies - LS, HA
• Mirror shot of girl singin and artist watching
• 'Billie Elliot' jump on bed - MS
• Falling back onto teddies - LS/MS, HA and CU of her face

Shots @ Tanya's House:

• Zahra in the mirror putting on lipstick - CU
• CU of lips
• Zahra sitting on desk singing
• Zahra up against the wall singing - MS

Backdrop Shots (on both sides):

• Whole song in LS
• Whole song in MS
• Whole song in CU
• Random dance moves

NSPCC

The NSPCC resently aired a new advert with a similar meaning to our music video. Here it is:

Artist Identity

• young sassy black soul singer
• an updated 2007 aretha franklin/ diana ross/ whitney huston/ beverly knight/ billie holliday/ chaka khan
• she's very stylish/ classy
• classic soul with a modern, funky twist - she's not too grown up, still quite girly
• inspirational female for young black women/ all girls therefore a wide ranging appeal - those who love the music style of the past plus those who like contemporary pop
• we have decided that her representation in the video will correspond with the narrative. for example when she is with the little girl, she will have to be quite girly therefore she'l be in pink and have natural makeup on. however she will be more made up for the backdrop scenes and more sexy in a classy way
• compared to other black british female artists - she's sexy and glamorous but in a fun, girl next door kind of way - quite accessible - not sexualised though like several of the others you see in r'n'b, rap etc
• has her own niche because of her music and the fact that she isnt sexualised but her video will bring in a broader audience due to the narrative

Zahra

xxXxx

Soul Music, Artists and Videos

Here is some research I found on soul music:

Soul music combines rhythm and blues and gospel music, originating in the United States. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is

"music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying."

Some Soul Subgenres

Mowtown: Strongly rhythmic, and influenced by gospel music. The Motown Sound often includes hand clapping, a powerful bass line, violins, bells and other untraditional instruments.

Deep soul and southern soul: Combining R&B's energy with pulsating southern United States gospel music sounds

Blue-eyed soul: Usually performed by white artists, blue-eyed soul is often characterized by catchy hooks and melodies

Neo soul: A mixture of 1970s soul-styled vocals and instrumentation with a contemporary R&B sound, hip hop beats and rap interludes. The style first appeared in the mid 1990s

Soul Artists and some of their Videos

Old:

• Gladys Knight & The Pips

"The End Of Our Road"

• The Marvelettes
• Diana Ross & The Supremes
• Elvis Presley

"Jailhouse Rock"

• Jackson 5

"ABC"

New:

• Joss Stone

"Tell Me Bout It"

• Lemar
• Lauren Hill

"Everything Is Everything"

• Aaliyah
• Alicia Keys
• Amy Winehouse

"Rehab"

Zahra

xxXxx

Song Choice

When we decided against the previous song list we had and chose to modernise an old 70s soul song as it would suit the voice and image of Zahra. I found the cut down list we made of old classics:

• Gladys knight & The Pips Midnight Train to Georgia
• Aretha Franklin Say A Little Prayer
• Tina Turner The Best OR I Will Survive
• The Supremes You Keep Me Hanging On OR Baby Love
• The Marvelettes Please Mr Poatman

Zahra

xxXxx

Zahra is beautiful

Here are some shots we took while filmng the backdrop scenes. as a group we thought they went really well!
within these shots there could be something to use on the front cover or press release.
also a shot of our lovely little star and her older counter part!!

Other Costumes

This costume is going to be used on the stripy backdrop but the shorts may not be necessesary as they may not be seen on camera

The pink dress will be used in the scenes with the girl at home to ilustrate her girlyness and innocence

Zahra

xxXxx

The Backdrop

We felt we needed an interesting background for the performance shots to contrast with the rest of the video. Jenny (the artist of the group) came up with the idea of decorating a piece of wood that she had at home. We decorated one side in black and white wallpaper and the other side was spraypainted. This gave us a variety to chose from as i had two different potential outfits to wear for the permance shots. Here are some pictures of our progess with the backdrop:

Sunday - @ Jenny's House decorating backdrop. Bought spraypaint from B&Q. Complications meant that we could not shoot at Sarah's house. We decided to change location as Sarah was unreliable.Instead of shooting narrative shots we decided to decorate the back drop. Zahra and Ryan x

Princess Diana Memorial Playground

We went on a test shoot to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground and took some pictures and footage. However we were denied access and decided to film at Grovelands Park which was closer to where we all lived. Here are some pictures of the Memorial Playground:

Zahra

xxXxx

12/09/07

In our meeting today we discussed different camera shots and their timings and the locations we will go and check out over this weekend:

• The 7secs intro - we will have shots of the teddies on coming up on the screen on the beat then the camera will zoom out and we'll see the little girl put the last teddy down ready to sing to her 'audience' of teddies
• 53-59 secs thered be different locations
• During the instrumental wed have the girl doina Billie Elliot jump on her bed. the beginning of the instrumental would be her jumping into the shot, then thered be a chaqnge of location then back to the girl mid jump, then back to other locations then at the end of the instrumental the girl would be landing onto he4 bed

• Different locations would require different outfits and maybe hairstyles (though it will be hard to style my hair easily and quickley...) i.e. when the woman is watching her younger self shed be in a flowery dress but one that she looks comfortable in

• Possible Locations : Sarah's hopuse (her and her sisters room) * kensington gardens * regents park * hackney * camden

• There will be a theme of v oyeurism in our video as the older person will be watching her younger self. we looked at different videos with this sort of theme in it for example:

Shayne Ward - No Promises

Kelly Clarkson - Because Of You

http://youtube.com/watch?v=iLi0yBmPe0k

Kelly Clarkson - Never again