The Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task we have to lip sync to Elton John's 'Don't go Breaking My Heart.' 
The song itself is a duet, originally sung by ELton John and Kiki D in 1976. For the preliminary we have to film 3 or more continuous takes with varying camera positions, the objective is to be fun, creativity and to get a taste of what our actual coursework will be like.

Here is the video of the original song and lyrics:

Lyrics:

Don't go breaking my heart
I couldnt if I tried
Honey if I get restless
Baby you're not that kind

Don't go breaking my heart
You take the weight off me
Honey when you knock on my door
I gave you my key

Nobody knows it
When I was down
I was your clown
Nobody knows it
Right from the start
I gave you my heart
I gave you my heart

So don't go breaking my heart
I wont go breaking your heart
Don't go breaking my heart

And nobody told us
`cause nobody showed us
And now it's up to us babe
I think we can make it

So don't misunderstand me
You put the light in my life
You put the sparks to the flame
I've got your heart in my sights

Artist's Target Audience

Looking more into our chosen artist's music and profile it's clear that the primary target audience is girls aged around 16-24, like myself, and possibly younger teenage girls. Another audience the artist attracts are folk/acoustic music fans, so possibly people who like to listen to other artists such as Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran.
The target audience is also another factor we need to include whilst brainstorming for ideas, as well as to promote the track and the artist successfully.

What is a Digipak?

A digipak is a type of CD packaging and are mostly used for special CD editions etc, they are however more expensive compared to traditional CD packaging.
Digipaks are made of card stock with plastic trays attached inside that hold the disc(s), they are almost book-styled as they either flip open or can have three or more parts.

What to include on a digipak:

• The track list, this can either be on the back of the digipak or on the inside
• A small booklet which will have additional information about the artist, album, songs and lyrics etc. The small booklet will also include photos of the band/artist

How the Music Video Industry work?

A Comissioner from a record label send a track to 5-10 different directors, the directors come up with some ideas for a music video and send back a treatment, at this point the director will still be unpaid.
The director who submits the 'best' idea/treatment is then selected and comissioned to make the video, then the director is paid.
As for many directors in the business, it is a precarious existance where their livelihood is dependant on each comission.

Marcus Foster "I Was Broken"

Marcus Foster, little known before this video, started to get some attention as his song 'Let me Sign' (covered by Robert Pattinson) was featured in Twilight and another song in The Twilight Saga:Eclipse. Both films helped to raise his profile, so when he released his debut single (and album) Kristen Stewart agreed to be in the music video.
This got a lot of attention for the video as websites published articles and the music video got shown on MTV and other music channels.
In the music video itself is in black and white and there is a fixed close up shot of Marcus Foster's face capturing the pure emotion of the song. Kristen Stewart appears throughout the video looking sultry and moody at the camera in jeans, a plain white t-shirt and her long black tousled hair. The music video also includes dissolves of fields and streets.

OB Management

OB Management work as agents for music video directors, their aims are:
To nurture talent (such as Emil Nava),
To work with production companies and Record Labels,
and to match the right director to the right artists/ song.


These are some of the production companies that OB Management work with:
Pulse Films
Rocket
Agile Films
Friends
Wonda

Emil Nava

Emil Nava begun as a runner for film production companies. He worked for Blink productions, now he freelances for OB Managment.
He graduated to Assistant Director where he managed video shoots. He was then signed to Academy (the biggest music video production), then worked for Between the Eyes; however he now works mainly for Pulse.

When he began shooting videos for independant labels the budget varied between £5000- £10,000; again which isn't a lot of money when producing a music video.
His first budget was £20,000 making the video for Kid British's song 'Our House.' The video was filmed in Manchester, local people were cast to appear in the video. It took one day to film, 2/3 days to edit and 10 days of post production; which just demonstrates the very tight timescales within this line of work.

Emil has also directed:
'30 minute love affair' and 'Picking up the pieces' by Paloma Faith,
'Lego House' and 'You need me' by Ed Sheeran,
Rita Ora's 'RIP'
and Jessie J's 'Do it like a dude' and 'Price tag'

At his busiest so far, he made 24 music videos in one year with his most expensive video to date costing £160,000 for Jessie J.

Emil's Top Tips:
- Use extreme close up on faces whenever possible
- Do not shoot the whole of the video in medium or long shot