Similar Texts: The Only Exception - Paramore

A very similar song and track from the same album as our chosen piece is "The Only Exception". In this video lead singer Hayley Williams alternates between laying on a bed of love letters singing to the camera, performing solemnly with the other band members and, most predominant to the narrative, walking through many scenarios looking for "true love" and realising she left him behind.

In the video there are very few costume changes and the outfits that feature are more demure than those seen in R&B, hip hop and rap videos, as is more common in pop punk. The theme of the song is unsurprising as love songs span all genres, with searching for love and breakups most popular even within the subgenres of rock.

In the video Hayley walks through many doors into different locations. This could mean she is searching for love as she is not sure the man she was with at the start of the video is "The One". This reinforces the lyrics as she sings

"That was the day that I promised I'd never sing of love if it does not exist,

But darling you are the only exception"

Here she is admitting her feelings but perhaps out of fear, seen in the lyrics

"I got a tight grip on reality but I can't let go of what's in front of me here",

she isn't ready to confront them, which is why she is running and looking for someone else, possibly to see if what she thinks she feels is true.

The opening shot of the  video is an image which can really only be described as domestic bliss; Hayley and the male the song in question is about are asleep on a sofa together. As it is daytime, evident by the soft golden light illuminating the room, they have probably fallen asleep together watching a film. Both are dressed casually, showing they have probably been together for a long enough time to feel they do not have to dress to impress each other, something Williams does later on in the video. In the foreground there are two coffee mugs positioned close together on a small coffee table, reflecting the closeness of the couple on the sofa. When she gets up, it's clear Williams is wearing a delicate chain with a heart on it, possibly connoting that her emotions when it comes to a relationship are as fragile as her jewellery.

Song And Video Change

Unfortunately we encountered many problems and obstacles when trying to complete the filming for our original video. These problems included unavailability of locations to film within. The Bridge Cafe was to be a main location as previous classes had gotten permission to film there but after many students agreed previously and did not use the location he wanted to charge us. We also had stars who had issues being able to film, including one getting hit by a car. Eventually it became so problematic we decided to just change the video idea. As we were starting to run out of time before the deadline we felt a rock song would be easiest to create in our time constraint. We felt this as there are few costume and location changes in rock videos. Because we chose a pop punk band in Paramore, there is less focus on instruments as is common in many videos of the genre.

The song we have chosen is "All I Wanted" by Paramore, and again we chose this song due to it not having a video already. However the song doesn't have a video as it was only unreleased, rather than specially written for a film as our last song was. The lack of official video still means that there is no expectation to create a similar piece. 

The idea we've come up with to create a new video is to use the codes and conventions of sorrowful love songs and show a female character mourning the end of her relationship. We plan on having her in a garden that may have been a frequent spot for her and her former love. As we live in London we felt that having a short sequence filmed in Liverpool street station would be perfect as it is recognisable as a London station. We also plan on using an iconic red phone box to make full use of our surroundings.

Similar Texts: Lady Marmalade

Lady Marmalade is a cover of a song by the girl group Labelle in 1974. Originally a soul/funk track, it was remixed into a more modern song by Missy Elliott in 2001 for the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack, with the vocals split between popular female singers Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Mya and rapper Lil' Kim. The song has always come under scrutiny for it's sexually aggressive chorus "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi c'est soir?", which translates into English as "would you like to sleep with me tonight?". This is also the song we feel is most similar to our own.

The video has a very sexually visual theme to it as it falls back on the film from which the soundtrack is from. The Moulin Rouge was well known all over the world for it's dancers and the invention of the can-can dance by the Parisian courtesans. Because of this the costumes are very revealing and are more often than not just considered lingerie. This is reflective of the lyrics as they are singing about a prostitute picking up a customer for the night, especially  when P!nk sings the line

"He sat in her boudoir while she freshened up

Boy drank all that magnolia wine"

she is seen sitting at a make up table, as is Aguilera in a cutaway, before moving to the bed seen in the background for the following line

"On her black satin sheets is where he started to freak, yeah"

Similar Artist and Text: Christina Aguilera's Stripped

Over the span of her career Christina Aguilera has released albums similar to Jessie J's Who You Are. A notable example is Stripped, released in 2002.

Both album covers feature the artists with their arms above their heads. This could be seen as a submissive sexual invitation, relating back to Mulvey's theory of the male gaze. However with Stripped it is seen as a literal invitation when seen in conjunction with the lyrics on the record. The image is in black and white, which may indicate that some of the views she expresses on the album are very straight forwards, having no 'grey area' to their interpretation. The image, a long wide shot showing her entire body, has most likely been utilised in order to show off her body in a sexual manner, enhanced by the fact she is not wearing a top or bra and instead has long (and obviously blonde) extensions covering her bare breasts, as well as a pair of leather-esque trousers.

The look which has been encompassed on the album cover can be seen throughout the singles released from the record, save Beautiful which, like Who You Are's lead track with the same name, has a more demure video and theme about personal identity. The lead single for Stripped, "Dirrty" has been heavily criticized for being overly sexual both lyrically and visually. However it is this sexuality that is the binding motif between the album and its singles, making them obviously a part of her musical change, as before she was seen as a very clean cut artist. Despite criticisms the song was nominated for three different Grammy Awards, enforcing the point that sex sells.

As the album was released 10 years ago it is difficult to find a magazine advert for its release. I did however find the tour poster that accompanied the release. It followed a very common theme among tours that coincide with the release of a new album in that uses the album cover as its main image. This helps it tie in with everything else.

Similar Texts: Maroon 5's Songs About Jane album cover

Songs About Jane is the debut album by Maroon 5, released in 2002. This album cover features no real person but instead has an artists' impression of a nude woman. Her flowing hair covers parts of her body, giving the impression she could represent Eve from the Old Testament of the Bible, with the red colour scheme connoting lust and danger. She is holding a jewel encrusted box from which there are dark tendrils of shadow escaping. This probably represents Pandora's Box, and coupled with the title of the record the viewer can assume the woman depicted is "Jane" and that she may be a very troublesome character. This is both emphasised by the red colour scale and contradicted by the flowers adorning her hair, which contrastly makes her seem like a gentle character. The only writing on the sleeve is the names of the band and the record. This could be because their fans do not need an image of the band to recognise the album. The fonts are simple and easy to read, therefore not detracting attention from the image presented.

The Genre Of Our Production And Its Codes And Conventions

The genre of our production is that of pop. The pop genre has the most common codes and conventions of all genres due to it being the most popular genre throughout the world.

Most pop videos will:-

• Be edited to the beat
• Be fast paced
• Have a dance routine
• Have close ups of the performer
• Have a variety of shots but more low angle shots than any other to simulate a live performance
• Use effects
• Contain screens within screens

We will be following the usually codes and conventions of the pop genre so will be trying to include all of the above in our production. This will hopefully give an authentic feel to our production so that it will seem like something you would see on everyday T.V or YouTube etc...

A Shot From Cheryl Cole's Pop Music Video "Under The Sun"

Who Is Our Artist And Target Audience?

The artist we've choosen is easily aspirational and relatable to our target audience.
They're aspirational due to the performance element and career status of a celebrity, which most girls included in our target audience want to have. This can include a certain fashion, the wealth or popularity. Many try to also physically look like artists they look up to, such as copying hair styles and tattoos. 

Our target audience consists of:

• 14-18 year olds
• Females
• Urban (Cities)
• Lower and middle class
• Education level of secondary school/college

Interests and lifestyle of target audience:

• Pop music
• Xfactor
• Friends
• Socialising
• Facebook/Twitter