Jenny Winspear

Mary is my best friend
She makes me my tea
She lets me stay around her place
When there's nowhere else to be
There's nothin in her bedroom
Just a bed and TV
and it's OK if i'm in her way
I just sit and drink my tea

I'm so Lonely
I 'aint done much
Lately
When you come lookin'
You'll find me
Sleeping
Soundly
Mary

Mary keeps me smilin'
Even when I'm down
She lets me stay around her place
When there's no-one else around
There's nothing in her bedroom
Just a bed and TV
and it's OK if i'm in her way
I just sit and drink my tea

I'm so lazy
I 'aint done much
Lately
When you come lookin'
You'll find me
Sleeping
Soundly

When she comes around
She says I always look so down
And yet she's always right
She makes me feel alright

I'm so lazy
I 'aint done much
Lately
When you come lookin'
You'll find me
Sleeping
Soundly
Mary

Before planning my music video, I looked at the conventions of this genre to see what I would need to take into consideration when creating my own. Firstly, the aim of a music video is to promote the artist or song, to create a personality for the musician and to make their tracks animated with style. I looked at all sorts of music videos and researched the history, learning that the Beatles lead one of the first developments of music videos, that Madonna was promoted as a sexual character and that Michael Jackson's dancing in his videos contributed to one of the things which made him famous, all things achieved by their music videos. This shows just how much effect music videos have on the public and the artist.
For my music video, I have chosen 'H*t ‘n’ Cold' by Katy Perry. She has a completely different style to my original choice of using Justice as my artist. Where Justice uses lots of animation and special effects, Katy Perry is more focused on promoting herself and her lyrics. Her target audience appeals to both men and woman, men because she dances and she has interaction with the camera portraying her as provocative and sexual. But also she appeals to women because her lyrics are sassy and her tracks are upbeat, feel-good songs.

To keep with the image of Katy Perry, I am going to use girls in my music video dancing on their own in the mirror, not in a sexual way but rather in a more upbeat and playful manner. I plan to start with a girl in her bedroom choosing clothes for a night out as one of the running lyrics is "you change your mind, like a girl changes clothes". 'H*t 'n' Cold' is going to be the song that the girls are listening to as they get ready, as girls often dance around when they are feeling good. The purpose of this is that the track consequently becomes promoted as a feel-good song. I am hoping for my actresses to make good facial expressions to show emotion and look more convincing. To support the lyrics, on the second chorus I plan to change scenery from a bedroom to being on a date. The boy won't play a big role as the lyrics for this verse go:

We used to be just like twins, so in sync
The same energy now's a dead battery
Used to laugh 'bout nothing
Now you're plain boring
I should know
That you're not gonna change

And what I am going to try and create is the same style as the 'Kate Nash - Foundations' video where Kate rolls her eyes at her man and pushes him away making her appear as a woman who doesn't rely on a man. By changing the setting and style at this part will hopefully make the video more interesting and captivating to the audience. Next I am going to use a close-up of one of my actresses faces and show how they "can't get off this ride" by making them use panicky facial expressions and desperate movements e.g. hands running through hair. When I come to editing I might speed up the filming of this part because it will speed up the pace of the emotion. The song then goes to the "you change your mind, like a girl changes clothes" and has a pause so on this bit I am going to film all my actresses standing still but use editing to flicker between them and each time it changes they will be wearing something different to show the amount of time a girl changes clothes. Finally for the last part of the song (chorus x3) I am going to have all the girls dressed and ready, walking down the street/down a hallway looking independent and having a good time.

For my project I am going to need around 4 actresses and I have chosen Laura Shirreffs, Rachel Barnett, Lauren Gamble and Jodie Le Marrec who have all agreed to perform in my video. Both Laura and Jodie are talented dancers so if I want to add in any fancy dance moves I have the choice of asking them for choreography. I am also using Jodie’s boyfriend Dave for the café bit as they are comfortable around each other and will work well. As I mentioned before, I have chosen a bedroom as the main setting as it gives the impression that the girl is getting ready for a night out. I am going to use two rooms in my own house which both have different mirrors (so the girls look like they are in their own rooms) and two rooms in a friend’s house so that they all look like they are in different places. For the second chorus where I use a boy and a girl on a date, I am going to go to Jersey Potteries Cafe as it is not busy and it has a nice atmosphere. Finally at the end where the girls are all together, I am going to go to a well-lit street or a hallway in a nightclub to give the atmosphere of going out and having a good time. For my props all I need is a few clothes and possibly a CD player to show that they are dancing to music. Finally I using a XL2 Cannon as my camera and Manfrotto tripod incase I need my camera to be still.

Monday – Film Lauren.
Tuesday – Film Rachel.
Wednesday – Film Laura.
Thursday – Film Jodie.
Friday – Film in Café and film all the girls together.
Saturday – Look over all of the footage and decide if I need to film any more and if so I still have time next week.

For the editing I am going to give myself a week to progressively work through the footage. I plan to film more footage than I need so that I have enough to fill each part of the song. I need to make sure that the music I play whilst I’m filming is close to the camera so that when I sync the track to the footage there is no delay. If I need more time to edit (which I probably wont as I have 5 hours during the week to complete it and if I need some time after school I can use that) I can run onto the next week as all I need to complete after that is my construction and evaluation. I am going to take notes whilst I am filming so it is easier and quicker to write my construction.