Permissions Letter

Legally and I suppose morally we needed to get the permission of the copyright holders of the song so that we can use it and publish it in our pop video. We did this for two songs prior to deciding on The Toy Hearts. Even though we worked with them and they were in the video, we needed a formal letter and agreement. A copy of the letter from us is below.

First Pitch for "Green Light"

Pop videos have many typical conventions. This is part of genre, what the audience expects to see in a pop video. Pop videos vary, as do their conventions with genre and type of pop video. There are two main types, a video that shows the artist, and a video that portrays the artist’s view and put across a message to the audience. When planning our pop videos we need to think about whether we want to imitate or subvert the typical pop video conventions. For our pop videos I think we will need to imitate many pop videos in that we will have to show the band constantly in order to get the audience relating with them and so that the audience can recognise the band in future videos and on our magazine advert and digipack cover.

In one of our lessons we had to pitch our favourite idea to the head of media productions (Luke) so he could give us feedback and put across his view on whether or not it would work technically or not. I pitched my “scrap yard” idea, as suggested by my teacher and the other members of the group. I created a Powerpoint presentation containing the song lyrics, and my ideas behind the treatment. The Powerpoint also included hyperlinks to the song and the inspiration video (Justice “Stress”). I had also planned out what I wanted to say so as to appear ready and prepared.

When I had pitched Luke (Our film teacher to acts as Executive Producer) had told me of a previous year when he had done a shoot in a scrap yard several years back and it had looked very effective. I played him the song and he seemed to like it. He also said that if we decided to do this idea the “scrap yard” theme would have to be synergistic through the Digipack cover and the magazine advert. He said that he liked the idea and thought it might be a really effective choice, especially to juxtapose the song. He did say however that Health and Safety might be an issue as the band members may get an injury or they may have to be wearing protective clothing, which would really ruin the image. This would be a really big issue if this were the audience’s first sight of them. He also said that scrap yards might be reluctant to let us smash up things as they tend to sell things on as parts or spares. However Luke sent me away to try and find a scrap yard that we could use the video, so I will phone round yards near my local area to try and find a location for the shoot.

Developing My Ideas

For part of the research and development stage of production we needed to think of a possible song and then think of a treatment for it. We were sent away over summer to think of a minimum of 3 ideas for a potential pop video. This was nowhere near as simple as it sounds as we couldn’t just do songs which we liked; we needed to think about target audiences. So we studied the JICTAR model to try and establish which group our video and song would appeal to. We had to think about occupation, education, wealth and percentage of population in order to target the largest possible audience. To get a bit of inspiration I looked at previous Hurtwood House pop videos and thought about their thinking behind why they chose that song and that treatment. Who were they trying to target? Why had they chosen that song over any others?



I went away and thought of some on trend, current songs which were being received well. The 3 songs I chose were all quite different in who they were trying to target. The first song was from duo Chase & Status who are currently being received very well by teenagers all over the well. The song is called “Let You Go” and features some quite strong lyrics such as “Wherever you are, I will track you down”. The second song I chose is by indie band called Bombay Bicycle Club; I chose them as “festival” music is a very hot topic at the moment. With such a huge range of people were festival-goers I thought this would be a good group to target, the song is called “Ivy and Gold” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV4B4Y6Cr28 and it is quite a happy song with fairly simple lyrics. The third and final song is by an artist named Darwin Deez, who is a very alternative kind of indie figure. He is pretty undiscovered, which would make him instantly popular and he has a very individual style. The song is called “Up In The Clouds” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBfK73KdPPs and the lyrics are about a man letting his partner down.



The treatments for these sons are all very different and all feature various messages. The first video, for the song Let You Go would feature a domestic violence themed video. The video wouldn’t have a performance element as there are no real instruments to be played. The video would feature a man trashing up a room whilst his partner is close up to the camera crying with make up streaming down her face. The video would show establishing shots of the house where all this is taking place and extreme close ups on broken object such as glass, or guitars. The second video, for the song Ivy and Gold would a “tea party” scene in which each member of the band would be sitting around a long table, possibly in a wood whilst they all drank out of huge mugs of tea and laughed joked around. This video would need to include a performance element to help sell the band on their debut single. The band could either be playing inside a studio or they could be playing inside woods or a forest. I believe this would fit very well with the song as the song has an upbeat tempo and happy lyrics.

The third and final video, Up In The Clouds would feature the band (which would only be maximum 4 people) in a scrap yard smashing up cars and having fun. This would be made more interesting by the se of slow motion throughout the wrecking of cars and various other objects. This video would include a performance element, this would be each member of the band standing on top of cars in the scrapyard performing the song. Alternatively they could be in a studio with a clean white background with dry ice. I chose this scrap yard smash up to contrast the song as it is a very calm and serene song I believe it would look really effective.



I pitched each idea to my group, trying to sell each of them in their own right. The group was fairly keen on the last idea of the scrap yard video. They said that it would look very dramatic and would be an interesting video to watch. I also played them the song and they really liked it, they agreed with me that the aggressive video would contrast well with the song lyrics and video. One member of the group advised me to watch a video by Justice called “Stress” which featured a similar scene. We spoke to our class teacher who also liked the idea and suggested we present it to the head of media at our school to see which he preferred. There are 3 of us presenting our ideas to him in our group.

The 5 Stages of A Pop Video Production

The 5 stages of production are essential in the production of any video media product. These 5 stages are:
• Research and Development
• Pre-Production
• Production
• Editing and After Effects
• Distribution and Exhibition

During the research and development stage we will need to look at various different areas. We will need to research a possible target audience so we know who we are targeting before we start; we could use the JICTAR model in order to determine this. We will need to look at competing songs and videos in order to ensure they sold well, if this shows that competing media does not sell well this will affect our decision massively. We also need to research typical conventions of the genre of pop video we are trying to produce. After all this is completed we can then start to think about a song that may fit the criteria, once we have decided a song we will then need to think about a treatment that fits the song and the criteria we have. Once we have decided all of the above we will then need to create a timeline so that we know what is happening in every shot and we are not left confused on the shooting day. We will also need to think about casting and doing a camera test with the possible actors, this will show us if our star “works” in front of the camera. Lastly, in the research and development stage we will need to create an animatic storyboard so we can see if everything included in the shoot looks good together. Throughout all of our research and development we will need to be constantly thinking about the distribution (can it be distributed easily) and exhibition (this will effect what cameras we use)

After research and development we will need to think about pre-production. This is an essential stage of production as this is when the idea comes together and we start to get things ready for the shoot. Here, we will need to think about creating a call list. A call list is a list, which includes a huge range of information, such as actors mobile numbers (in case they go missing on the day) and shooting crew’s mobile numbers. This will be like a “Script” of the shoot day, including timings of shots, breaks, costume changes and any other timings we will need. We will also need to employ some spares on the day in case one of our cast falls ill or cannot go through with it due to other commitments. We will also need to establish our filming location/s and provide maps to cast and crew so they can be where they need to be. Another area we will need to think about is costuming, this includes make up as well. We will need to create a list of costumes and who will provide them, if we cannot provide them we will need to ask the actors to, or we can try and borrow them from the Drama department. Whilst thinking about costuming we will need to think about props, such as guitars, drums or guns and who will provide these then put them into a document to ensure they get back to their respective owners. Finally, whilst on the subject of pre-production we will think about lighting, effects (such as dry ice) and set design as this is a huge part of the final production.
Then, once we have pre-produced and done a walk through of all the stages we will then produce our media product. Here we will do the shooting, and also do any pick ups if necessary. We may need to do pick ups if e had planned to shoot outside but the weather prevented from us doing so.

Pop Video And Marketing Campaign A2

Your task is to create:

• Three multi media products
• Aimed at a specific target audience or audiences
• To establish the image and brand of your singer or group
• Help sell the song, their first single from their first album
• As part of a multi media marketing campaign.

The group of singer mist be a NEW group (even if they are doing a copy of an existing song).

The song is a Single from their FIRST ALBUM.

The actual products to be produced are:

• THE POP VIDEO
• A DIGIPAK for the ALBUM
• A MAGAZINE ADVERT for the ALBUM