Wednesday 17 October 2012

Intertextual Reference #1 SONG

Sinead O'Connor's song 'Nothing compares to you' is an iconic song and video. It features her walking through a graveyard dressed in afull length  all black coat exposing long shots and establishing shots of her and the location. In contrast to this, there is a constant stream on close up head shots of her singing the song/lip synching. We can reference the video to our plans, part of one of our costumes of the female actress is her long black skirt which can be intertextually referenced to our music video.
Another aspect of her music video we can reference is when Sinead starts to cry. Planned in our video is around the lyric 'don't fight' to have a shot of a tear rolling down Emily's face much like in the screen shot of Sinead O'Connor. On the lyric 'don't fight'  is a shot of Emily'd fists tightening and squeezing together,, restraining herself from fighting against. This also links to Andrew Goodwin's theory, 'There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals' This can apply to our music video in a respect that fists are with fighting, so by showing her resisting from the fight is applicable.

Costume Intertextual References.

Sinead O'Connor in her music video 'Nothing Compares To You' is wearing a big long black coat, which covers the entire bottom half of her body, which is similar to one of our costumes for Emily to wear. I chose for Emily, a black maxi skirt, which has relevance because she felt her relationship with Nile was long and dragged out, so she cut the end short, which is represented by the sudden colour change to white. It was the want to incorporate sadness and loss into the music video on top of what we have already got that made me realise the link between the two music video costumes. The association of sadness and loss is the key point in this reference.
The French Lieutenants Woman's costume again is a long dark cloak/cape, which can be identified with loss and grief and waiting upon a loved one. The prolonged waiting can be established in our music video by the constant chasing and catching up with each other, but just slipping out of each others reach. The visual image is as important as the inmteretextual reference itself it is how you make the connection.

The final costume link between Ava and characters from textual references is with Jane Eyre in the BBC's version. When Jane runs away from her mannor, she winds up on a rock (which we have also interetually referenced to one of our locations) similarlly she is again in a long dark overcoat which can be associated with the costume we have chosen for Ava to wear.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Monday 8 October 2012

Importance of Festival Marketing

Festival Marketing 
The process of advertising and marketing a festival during the lead up and wait for it is one of the most important times to do this. A strong way of marketing is the Internet. Everyone has some form of access to the Internet and therefore anyone can reach the site. There are different ways of online marketing. For example; website, social networking sites, youtube. As another example, Latitude has a countdown timer until the festival is (at the start of the new year) to let everyone know exactly when it is. It also has an interactive map with 2 settings, daytime and night time, really highlighting when certain places are open, it is also a form of amusement for the audience. The importance of a festival website is possibly the biggest priority of them all. It is where all of the vital information is held, it is where you can buy tickets. The website should have features to sell the festival. For example, exclusive festival pictures, of acts and the public. It is the 1st place where the acts are announced, generally the hub of pre-festival information. 

Latitude is well known for being in the middle of nowhere, another renowned factor about Latitude is the coloured sheep. Most people who go will know that the sheep are iconic to latitude and are there every year, coloured with organic natural dyes as to not harm the sheep. This is a brilliant way of marketing to their target audience as it is instantly recognisable. 
Despite a majority of the advertising/marketing performing on the Internet, word of mouth and gossip on social media sites are also important. By having a conversation about who is at a festival on a social networking site like Facebook, can lead to another person deciding they want to go because they know that an act they like is going. Their second port of call would be the festival website itself, again, emphasising the importance of a festival website. Also talking about festivals in a common room or a staff room is another way of getting people interested in an event like Latitude.

There are many different marketing/advertising mediums. One way that a lot of people tend to skim over is flyers/magazines/TV/radio/campaigns/newspapers etc. The media that everyone can access. A way I found out about a local festival called 'Playfest' was by a flyer being handed out to me after a gig at the waterfront. I think this is effective because people will have just come from one gig and if they see bands they like on the flyer, they will be interested in it. Local TV and Radio stations are also of big help, especially for a festival like Playfest which has only been going 2 years, BBC Radio Norfolk helped it out by making regular announcements about it, also the local TV did a news story on the success of it. People overlook how much of an asset thee mediums are to festivals like Playfest that are just starting up.

Different methods of marketing appeal to different target groups. For example, some of the target audience for Latitude may not have  a TV, but may listen to the radio, or read magazines/newspapers, or vise-versa. A majority of the target audiences can be reached through one medium or another, it just depends on how they access it. 

DO FESTIVALS CATERING FOR DIFFERENT MUSICAL GENRES OFFER DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES?

There are different items/objectives/attitudes/behaviours associated with different genres. For example, associated with rock, is long hair, tattoos piercings, and possibly fat middle aged men. (stereotypically) However a festival like Latitude may serve for 'indie' people, stereotypically, girls with highwaisted shorts, crop tops, denim jackets, parka coats etc.

In the grand scheme of things I don't think the festival experience differs that much between a variety of festivals.
However looking at aspects more closely, this could mean, a different experience in terms of what the festival has to offer. For example, Latitude offers, music, poetry, dance, literature, children's areas, cabaret and more! Whereas a festival like Reading of Download only really offers the musical experience.
In terms of personal experiences, (e.g. drug taking) different drugs give different experiences as a whole, so depending what kind of things you are into, you could have a huge variety of experiences.

Thursday 4 October 2012

Shifted Festival Poster

LATITUDE FESTIVAL POSTER SHIFT

2007 was the launch of the first ever Latitude  festival. This means that there won't have been a huge shift/change of design in the posters since then, maybe a few tweaks here and there.
One feature that has remained consistent throughout the slight alterations of the poster is the font and design of the word and title, 'LATITUDE' heading the poster. This allows the audience identify with the poster and recognise/associate certain memories or band that carry with the logo.
A major aspect that has changed throughout the 6 years that Latitude has been going, is the design (not so major) and the change in colours. Despite sticking with the same colours, they are still sticking with the blue and green theme but made the colours clearer and changed it to a sky background rather than just a solid sky blue. The green has changed to a darker/richer green, which borders the poster better than the other older one.


The 2012 design is a little more basic then the 2007 design. It has dragonflies in the top corners of the poster and a bolder, floral design but set back from the poster a little more than 2007.

The newer poster is more spaced out and is more in proportion, it gives more room for the headline acts to be at the top of the poster, this is what usually sells the festival to a majority of the people.

There has not been a huge shift in the change of the posters, just slight changes that over time probably haven't been noticed much by the audience.


Music Festival Increase

Over the past decade there has been a large increase in interest and the popularity of music festivals, especially in the U.K. This may have been influenced by one of the world's biggest and most renowned music festivals - Glastonbury.
In my opinion, this is a result of 3 heavy factors. 
1) Local venue/Festival
Although a festival is a collection of 100's of gigs compiled into 1 weekend, the atmosphere, expectations and behaviour are the main differences between the two. 
At gigs, the event isn't that long, a few hours at the most, festivals are longer and more anticipated. 
The expectations at a festival, are to drink, relaxed vibe, possibly drugs, music, friends, camping, little technology, wellies/mud, community, the festival package as a whole. 
In contrast to this, in my experience, the expectations for gigs are, loud music, intense, drinking, moshing, dark rooms, tense vibe and excitement. 
Behaviour is also a main difference between gigs and festivals. At a festival, the behaviour of people generally tends to be relaxed, chilled out, friends, spontaneous actions, having fun. However behaviour at gigs is more deviant, daring and dangerous. People tend to play up to their friends at gigs (in my experience) 

2) Sense of Community
 One of the expectations at a festival is the sense of community around and also, strangely, the feeling of security you get from it. It is one of my favourite aspects. Having conversations with people you've never met before is an enjoyable feeling, sharing a mutual hobby/something to connect two people, whether it is a band, a tent or a political view. 

3) Technology
The spread of technology is so vast now, pretty much everybody above 13/14 years of age is expected to have a mobile phone, possibly even a laptop. Access to the internet nowadays can get you anywhere. For example, social media websites for your band, 10,000 followers on twitter, youtube 'famous' - youtube even pays people for making videos when they reach 10,000 subscribers. Going to a festival means you escape, phones, internet, gossip for 4 days. It is also an act of rebellion, getting away from families/parents for a long weekend and drinking. It is something that people don't do on regular occasions and can excite young people and give them satisfaction from doing something that maybe their parents would 'approve of' if it was in normal society. 

Festival Posters

LATITUDE POSTER


The Latitude poster is appealing to a certain audience; an audience who are interested in the location its self. (hence the background picture is of where the festival is) Also they designers have used the fonts that the bands originally use in the promotion packs. The design of the poster, the header, has a vintage style about it, aimed at people who have an interest in style and originality. The font of 'Latitude' stays the same every year since the festival first started out 7 years ago. Regular festival goers would recognise the logo immediately.

READING FESTIVAL


The Reading festival poster is purely selling the artists. Much like the Latitude festival it uses the font from the bands CD covers or promotion packs. This kind of poster appeals to people who have interest only in the bands. The colour scheme tends to be simple and not detract from the artists, again focusing only on the headliners and other important bands. 

DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL


Download festival tends to sit in the middle of the two other posters, it is not ALL about the artists, also the design of the poster and the location, as it states where is it on the poster below 'DOWNLOAD'. The design bordering the poster is a kind of tattoo-cartoon style, appealing to people who have or are interested in tattoo's. The headliners on the poster take up most of the page, meaning that the focus is mainly on the bands playing, the poster is wholly advertising the bands and the festival. 


Wednesday 3 October 2012

Final Costumes

The Present day costumes will be as is in the pictures. 

Nile
Plain black T-Shirt signifying the 'dark side' of the relationship, the rocky argumental side.
Grey Jeans highlighting that there were some grey areas of their relationship - not completely truthful. 
Grey DM Boots suggesting he HAD the upper-hand of the relationship. (the renowned and long lasting strength associated with Doc Martens)

Ava
White T-Shirt speckled with black the white suggests she wishes she could go back to it being how it was, however the black speckles are the parts which make her believe it was the right decision to go.
Black Maxi skirt signifying the 'dark side' of the relationship, the rocky argumental side.
                                           Brown buckled belt making the fact that there was some difference                       between the two characters stand out. one of the reasons Ava left.
                                          Black spiked shoes suggesting that Ava sometimes lost her temper and became quite 'prickly' with Nile.


The Past or memories of the two characters costumes will be as in the pictures.

Nile
Blue Tye Dye top the pattern suggests a happy, fun and playful relationship, exhibited via the music video clips.
Blue Denim shorts again, a sense of fun and joy is represented via the colour.

Ava
Blue strap top delight and appriciation is shown through this colour on Ava in their relationship.
Black leggings highlighting that maybe there are a few things that Ava doesn't like to talk about/a secret kept from Nile. 



Nile
Turquoise shirt similarly to the other outfit, happiness and playful, featuring a minute pattern, showing small details in their relationship.
Grey trousers suggesting there may be one or two disagreements or situations that went wrong.
Grey DM boots similar to the trousers

Ava
Sky Blue shirt similar to before, exhibiting her contentment and happiness.
Grey Cardigan implying that there was/is some disagreement between the two of them
Dark leggings suggesting that there is something she is keeping from Nile or something she hates about 'him' or 'them'.
Black shoes similar to 'dark leggings'.



Monday 1 October 2012

Costume Ideas

The plan is to keep the costumes simplistic and representative or their relationship, the present and the past. 

Present
Black and white - alongside low saturation of video.
Simple clothing - nothing with excessive patterns/ complex textures.
Nothing to detract from what is going on in the video.
Modest clothing - Clothing that covers a majority of the body. 

Past
Simple clothing.
Bright colour - blue theme - co-inciding with the sea/river locations and the high saturation filters on the clips.
Vest tops/t-shirts.

Ultimately, the aim is to have a visible difference between the flashbacks and the present time clips. Despite the difference of them being together in the flashbacks and then on their own in individual shots the costumes are important. They reflect their mood also.
I think they play an important part in the video as whole. 

Actor/Character Profiles

In our video there will be only two characters; young female and male. We chose the two actors (Emily and Fraser) on their creativity influence, acting abilities and appearance.
In my opinion, knowing the people you are working with makes the process easier and more efficient. If you know how people work, their motivation and willingness, then understanding will be fluent. This will work in my favour, Emily I have known since 2007 and Fraser I attend school with. I know them both well.

_______________________________________________________________________


ACTOR
NAME - Emily Greig
GENDER - Female
AGE - 17
HEIGHT - 5 Ft 7"
HAIR COLOUR - Chestnut Brown/Red tint
SCHOOL - Wymondham College
SUBJECTS - Media, Philosophy, Psychology

CHARACTER
NAME - Ava
GENDER - Female
AGE - 19
INTERESTS - Reading and Writing literature, Love Stories, Poetry, watching films, sight seeing, day dreaming, attending concerts, writing own music, camping with friends.
RELATIONSHIP - Ava fell in love with Nile, they were together for 4 years and were the perfect teenage sweethearts. Ava ran away from the relationship, like she runs away with her mind. She felt like she was not good enough for Nile and in the music video is trying to remember them and her old self, as her mind has changed since they were together. At the end of the video she tries to kill herself but fails, she watches him walk away from her (un-knowingly) on the beach.

_______________________________________________________________________



ACTOR
NAME - Fraser Stannage
GENDER - Male
AGE - 17
HEIGHT - 5 Ft 10"
HAIR COLOUR - Dark Brown
SCHOOL - City Of Norwich School
SUBJECTS - Photography, Psychology, ICT

CHARACTER
NAME - Nile
GENDER - Male
AGE - 19
INTERESTS -Writing own music, attending concerts, photography, drawing/graphic design, reading, devising film ideas, acting, being with friends.
RELATIONSHIP - If possibly, Nile was more in love with Ava than she was with him. Nile adored her. When Ava ran away from their relationship together, he was not going to let her go. In the music video, Nile tries to re-trace their steps in their relationship to see how he can 'find' her again. He gets close towards the end, but walks away from the beach. However his quest to find her is not over.
_______________________________________________________________________

Character Names

At first, using the names of the actors as the characters names, seemed good enough, but after researching Kankouran and the meaning, researching names and meanings would fit within our research in its entirety. 
Kankouran's song 'Rivers' acted as a basis for the research into names. A brief internet search for name meanings formed a list of possible names. 

Avon
Ailsa
Dana
Dee
Delaney
John
Cleonie
Miriam
Nile
Douglas


All of the names listed have some connection or meaning to a river, it was just a case of choosing which ones fit the characters look, and fit well together.

After creating many different combinations of names, it was a group decision that Ava, (originally Avon) and Nile would fit best to our characters.