Group Work - Record Label Final Decision

After looking at different music record labels, we have come up with a conclusion and decided to go with the choice of the "Fly Eye Records". The main reason for our choice is that this record label suits well with the Progressive House genre which we have decided to follow. However, we also looked at the 'Spinnin'Records' due to their specialization in electronic dance music similarly to the ''Fly Eye Records'. One  thing which discouraged us to follow this record label is the fact that it's based in Netherlands, meaning it would be harder for the label to distribute and market our product to the audience whereas the 'Fly Eye Records' is placed in United Kingdom - a multicultural country with opportunities open world-wide.

Moreover, the main advantage of considering the "Fly Eye Records" as our record label to distribute the single is that they specify in the electronic dance music. This will allow us to target a wider range of audience as the electronic dance music refers to many different sub- genres / sub-cultures including: techno, house, progressive house, trance, hardstyle, drum and bass, dubstep and trap. Overall, the "Fly Eye Records" is a quite new record label, as it was found in 2010. Considering this, the record label continues to develop with some new artists signing. In addition, looking at the past successes of the record label, especially considering Calvin Harris and his new hit songs, I think that choosing the "Fly Eye Record" is a very reliable choice. 

Furthermore, we consider the Fly Eye Records as a very suitable option, as according to the questionnaire results, the target audience is set to include teenagers and young adults. The Calvin's Harris record label seems to be very appropriate as he produces popular music which can be discovered at nightclubs, raves and festivals. This would definitely engage with our audience profile. 

Summary by: Ernest Staszak​

Group Work - Location Analysis

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1) Central London - Oxford Street / Hyde Park
2) Hanwell Bunny Park - Maze/ Field
3) Underground - Hyde Park Corner
4) Ealing Broadway Parking
5) Perivale Horseden Hill

SUMMERY BY: MAGDALENA ZYGMUNT (1504)
            DAWID TOMCZUK (1494)

Group Work - Audience Profile

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Group Work - Who will appear in the video?

As a group we have decided not to include the artist in our music video. The reason for this decision is based on the research we have completed, as the artist's don't tend to appear in the music videos. However, this cannot be generalized due to exception of the video “Beautiful Now” where Zedd (the artist) was involved in within narrative but not performance. Therefore, this will help us to follow the typical codes and conventions associated with the dance music genre and its sub-genres. The use of narrative which  will be based on a female actress  will allow us to create a sense of story telling rather than performance.

Due to the fact that the artist will not appear in the music video, we are planning to reflect them through the models. Currently, we are thinking about using only one actress, however there is a possibility to include a second model within the story line, depending on the time management and storyboard plan itself. Including one or two characters will help us to follow the codes and conventions as well as the narrative often involve more than one person. The possible characters include: Wiktoria, Natalia and Karolina. The characters are in the same age as the target audience which  would be even more appealing and appropriate for our music video as it will allow the audience to relate their personal life to the situations and scenes portrayed within the narrative.

Moreover, we are planning to include some pastiche elements in or music videos. This idea was influenced by the video of Carly Rae Jepsen – “I Really Like You”, where the female artist is represented by Tom Hanks. In this video, the vocals are lip-synced by the male character – Tom hanks. We are planning to take this idea and apply it in our own music video, where the original artist – Zedd, would be represented by a female character. We believe that the decisions in terms of the actors included in our video will be much clearer once we start planning our story board. Our ideas will be then developed and the decisions will be much easier to make. 

SUMMERY BY : ERNEST STASZAK 

Group Work - Narrative, Concept, Performance or Hybrid?

As a group we have decided to follow the idea of a narrative. This is influenced through our previous research on the codes and conventions of house genre. Looking at music video examples we have came across surreal concepts, which are involved throughout the music video narrative. This can be considered as modern convention within this genre as it's often included within progressive house. We are considering to include surreal elements within our own product mainly through editing techniques such as multiple exposures, mirror reflections or time manipulation. 

Within the narrative we are planning to have a model which will follow the storyboard of our product. Within our research we have found out that the house genre artists often don't appear within the video products, however once they do, they tend to play the role of the actress within the narrative where they blend in within the streamline. This can be particularly seen within our chosen song video 'Beautiful Now' where the artist Zedd is involved within the narrative.  Moreover, this applies differently to the music bands, who are often exposed through performance along with the narrative. This combinations allowed us to make a decision of having a female actress rather than male performer. 

Our chosen actress will reflect the representation of youth culture through various  stereotypes but also modern perceptions/ problems associated within young people. These are often seen within this specific genre of music videos due to energetic and dynamic nature of house, in particular progressive house. These representations can be also seen within the original video of our chosen artist supporting our decisions. 

SUMMERY BY : MAGDALENA ZYGMUNT & ERNEST STASZAk

Group Work - Representations

During our meeting minutes we were discussing the representations which we will include within our music video. Looking back at the chosen song 'Beautiful Now' by Zedd we all agreed to particularly focus on the representation of youth (in particular young woman). This decision was mainly inspired by the original video which portrays five different narratives. Three of the stories are based around youth and their problems while two of those stories were based around the female gender. We decided to use the video in the form of pastiche, as it gave us many starting points. The fact that young characters are often seen within the progressive house genre supports our decision even further. 

Within our own product we decided to portray a young, white female character in the age of 17 / 18. The narrative based concept will include various stereotypical representations which are associated with youth. These are often seen within the music videos of this genre. The 'party life' with strong association to drinking alcohol and doing drugs as well as relationship conflict will be portrayed in a form of a narrative, bringing the sense of freedom and living in the moment. The idea of youth being seen as emotional, questioning their sense of belonging as well as obtaining relationship conflicts might be also interesting to interpret. This representation can be linked to Dick Hebdige theory of youth division into categorisation of fun but also trouble. We would like to focus on the contrast between what is seen as right and what is seen as wrong. 

Moreover, the fast beat of the video will allow us to portray the character in constant movement which can be also associated with the modern perception of youth and the way they spent their free time, whether it's due to partying or educating. This will also allow us to reach to wider audience, as the youth might be interested in the representation of their age group. Bringing stereotypes as well as challenging them will allow us to create a sense of identification with our audience, as they would be more likely to relate to the given narrative. 

In conclusion, we are still in process of deciding on the representations within our production, however we are sure we want to go into the direction of youth representations. However, this will depend on our number of actresses. We are planning to go with our questionnaire results which showed clear answer of 1 to 2 characters. The narrative will strongly depend on this aspect. Having two actresses would allow us to create contrasting narratives of going with and against the stereotypes of youth. I think this combination of two would be quite unique and unusual. This can be supported through the original video of 'Beautiful Now' as there is clear portrayal of balance between good and bad. The characters develop their negative representation into more positive. This is something we will be continuously discussing. 

DIRECTOR: MAGDALENA ZYGMUNT 

Group Work - Permission Letter

This is a screenshot representing our final permission letter draft. This was an important aspect within our work to gain permission for the use of song we have chosen. We used formal language, explaining about the purposes of the song. We are planning to now  sent it by post as well as via email to re-ensure quick response from the Interscope Records.