Choosing a performer

When considering girls to be the performer in our video, there is certain criteria that must be met:

• She must be comfortable and confident in front of a camera
• She must have the right appearance to be a pop singer
• She must be within a certain age bracket

We were aware that it would be difficult for us to gauge whether or not people would be good in front of a camera without actually seeing them in action. We found a girl called Jessy Barnett that was within the right age bracket, had the right appearance, and had just left Sylvia Young Theatre School. We felt it was our best bet to go choose her as she was experienced in performing arts and is likely to look good for the camera.

Here are some pictures of her:

Preliminary Task

By completing this task, I refamiliarised myself with the editing software, as well as learning a new how to lip sync the performer to the track. This proved to be a reasonably simple task that did not require much of a learning curve.

Below is our preliminary video of Guy Belot performing 'Gold Digger' by Kanye West.

Inspiration and Influence of ideas: Jay-Z & Kanye West - Paris

The video for Jay-Z & Kanye West's party song 'Paris' uses footage from their concert, of the performers and the crowd, to create a party-like atmosphere. There are mirror effects used in this video to make the crowd look substantially larger whilst also creating an interesting effect. We felt that this mirror effect could be very useful for our video if it were to be necessary that we must increase the size of the crowd to make the party look more authentic. Here is a screen shot of what the effect looks like below:

Inspiration and Influence of ideas: Tinchy Stryder - Game Over

Below is the video to 'Game Over' by Tinchy Stryder:

This video consists only of a constant rotating shot around the subject on display at the time (the rappers featured). My group and I felt that this was an effective way of keeping focus on the main subject whilst still managing to keep the focus and interest of the viewer. This shot was created using a circular track which can actually be seen in the video. I liked the fact that the track could be seen in the video, and felt that that would suit our video as it is set in a warehouse- not a dissimilar setting to the one seen in this video.

Audience Research Results - Synesthesia

Synesthesia is a form of audience research in which the song is played to the participant, and they write down things that they would associate with the song and would expect to see in the music video. Below are the results of this:
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Katie Webb

Bright lights that flash
People going to a party
a Dj
Beach party
Dancing people
Lots of colours and patterns

Eric Dahan

Jumping around
Dancers
Dj
Party

Lily Hassell

Happy
Foot tapping
Festival
Floating
UV colours
Bright

Zack Henry

Argument between couple

Etai Elimelech

Marriage on the beach
Gun shots and fights
Man saves women

From the information we recieved, we deduced that a party scene featuring dancing, a DJ, bright colours, etc, would be relevant to the video.

Permission to use the song

Several days later we received this email in response to the questionnaire we filled out:

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Hi Louis,

Thank you for your email.

Please accept this email as confirmation that EMI Records Limited ("EMI") has no objection to your request to use of “Titanium” by David Guetta Featuring Sia (the "Artist") as you have described solely in connection with your School music video project, PROVIDED that at all times:

(i) Your school music video project is not exploited commercially in any way and is not used in any sort of commercial context;
(ii) Your use of the sound recording referred to above in your school music video project is in no way derogatory towards EMI, its affiliates or the Artist;
(iii) Your school music video project is in no way derogatory towards EMI, its affiliates or the Artist;
(iv) You only use the sound recording referred to above in the manner that you have described for 1 year from the date of this email and solely within the UK; and
(v) The Artist or their management do not at any time after the date of this email raise objections to your use of the sound recording in your school music video project.

Best wishes,
Jessica

Obtaining permission to use the track

To gain permission to use the 'Titanium' remix, we initially thought that we would have to go through Alesso's label, Refune Records, as this is who the song was remixed by. After visiting the Refune's website it became apparent that the remix was not distributed by this label, so we went onto the iTunes store to find the details. We discovered that David Guetta released the single for 'Titanium' which contained all of the remixes via EMI France. Fortunately my friends father knows someone who works for EMI, and took it upon ourselves to ask her how we would go about gaining permission to use the song.

Here is the email we sent to the person in charge of copyright at EMI France:

To Jessica,

I am writing with regards considering copyright infringement on Alesso's remix to "Titanium" as I wish to use this song for my Media Studies A Level music video. This is entirely non-profitable as it is for school work and will only be viewed by a small audience at my school. The video will be put up on YouTube but will be made private. Any information regarding how I would be able to or information whether I can use this song would be great.

Regards,

Louis Kemsley

This is the email we received a few days later:

Hi Louis, I can assist with this request. I just need a few more details on the use if you could fill in the below, I can get the process underway.

SCHOOL/UNIVERSITY: What is the name of the School you attend that will be marking your music video?
PROJECT: What is the name of the project?
RECORDING & ARTIST: “Titanium (Alesso Remix)” performed by David Guetta Feat. Sia
DURATION AND NATURE OF USE: How much of the recording do you require? (e.g. 30 secs, 1 min, full duration of the recording) Will the recording be used solely in the background accompanying visual images?
MEDIA: Is the use only for marking purposes?
TERRITORY: Is it solely UK for which you need rights?
TERM: How long do you require the rights? 6 months, 1 year?
COMMENCEMENT DATE: When do you require the rights from?  

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any further queries. 

Kind regards,

Jessica

We filled in the form with the applicable information and sent it back.