Rosie May 'Morning Blues' Treatment

A Step In The Right Direction...

After tirelessly surfing through different ideas, changing and shifting the content, after arguing and not understanding each other, we came to conclusion that a simplified idea will be exactly what we need.
 We were influenced by the film called A Rear Window directed by Alfred Hitchcock. We would like to use the concept of many different windows which would take us to many different people and different events. However, instead of using already used idea of windows, we would everyone on different rooftops (this can be achieved by using green screen). The events on the rooftops would be:
1) A couple fighting.
2) A drummer practicing
3) A man with binoculars spying on people(presumably we see everything from his perspective)
4) Girls sunbathing.
5) Bass guitar player practicing.
6) A couple kissing( Supposedly same one which was arguing)
etc.

We have also improved our performance element. Instead of just singing on the rooftop, we decided to have Rosie in a studio with many different aspects such as: Lights, smoke, party poppers etc. We believe that for our performance element, we should convey a lot of energy, although our artist says that this song is not very happy. By using many different effects and fast paced editing we can convey sense of energy and hype. This we believe is very important for Rosie at this stage because we need to her to be able to interest people and create an energetic video who everyone would like.
  One of the main elements would be shot on an actual rooftop at sunset in London. This would be done because Rosie loves London and we would like our audiences to see that she is English and as she says herself, she is very inspired by London. As it turned out, one of our classmates has access to the rooftop in London. To say more he has a patio up on the roof with the cityscape of London. This perfectly matchers our ideas about the video and to say more we would not hesitate to use this chance. Therefore, we would first film all the different scenes and performance in the studio, but the big finale would take place on the rooftop of London. However, it is not to be said that our idea is perfect at this stage. I personally believe that just having Rosie on the rooftop for the grand finale is not enough. In the end we should have some certain aspect which would link up all the narrative strands and perhaps be better memorised by our audiences.
 To sum up, our video is not planned out yet. We are currently breaking down the lyrics creating a clear plan for what is going to happen each second in our video. Soon, more is to come.

Influential Stars and their Websites

In order to create a distinguish Star Image we have to look closely into Dyer's theory and compare and contrast websites of the stars who would influence Rosie May's look.

Lily Allen

 

 

Lily Allen's website is quite minimalistic and yet functional. Her website is very accessible, it is easy to explore and listen to her songs without leaving the website. It has many animated functions which you can use as you browse the website. It allows us as the audience to involve with the action. The fact that on the main page she has her name written in a large fond implies that she a single artist and she does not have a band.

 The reason why we like this website is because of it's minimalist layout. Yet in a way it conveys something vintage about it. Certainly taking into account her Star image, we can say that Rosie May might have her star image influenced by her. This is because, although Lily has a rebellious image, she still appeals sexy to many of her audiences. This rebellious look might be very similar to what Rosie May will go for. We would want to make her look classy and pretty, yet we believe that she should have an aspect of rebellion within her.

   We also could judge that Lily Allen dresses up in a retro style which is ultimately what Rosie May wants to look like. Her style conveys her femininity yet she has something brave and strong about her inside. Moreover, she has many different sides to her as we see in a picture above. We can see that she can be rebellious, sexy and sweet. In the image below we see that she is making contact with her audience because almost everyone could go for the look she is presenting in that picture. In a way Lily Allen is quite organic (although she is not) because she goes for the look that everyone can access . However, according to Dyer's theory, she is there for all and then she is not because of the variety of her styles.

 

  http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/

 

Lana Del Rey

 
We believe that Lana Del Rey will have major influence on our artist. She is beautiful, she is rebellious she has got the feminine look. Her website has gold fond which is references Hollywood and the golden era of it. This could be seen in the sepia effect in most of her videos. The fact that she is going for a vintage look and accessories, links with our wish to make vintage star image for Rosie. The website is very structured and has easy access to everything what a fan might be looking out for. Her style is very feminine and tender as we can see in the pictures of her. However, she is also strong within her as we can judge from her music videos where she looks, although beaten down, strong and brave. This is what we would like to include in Rosie May's star image. Her costumes are often very bright or classy which is another aspect that we look out for. We do no want our star to look extra dodgy or exposed.

  The websites itself gives out headlines and all the news about Lana Del Rey. It gives us easy access to all the parts of Lana Del Rey's career. The website sells the artist in a way that we can gain all the information we need about her.

  According to Dyer, her star Image is not entirely synthetic. Within her lyrics and style of videos she carries messages about America. Lana's music is nostalgic and melancholic. We could use these aspects with Rosie May because her music is also melancholic and nostalgic. Although her music is upbeat the meaning is sad.

http://www.lanadelrey.com/?country=uk

 

Eliza Doolittle

 Eliza Doolittle would be very useful for Rosie May as well. From her website we can tell that although she is young and feminine, she is youthful and strong. This can be seen in the way the straps of her top are on different levels. Her hair is long and dark conveying her sexuality. We could use same aspects for Rosie May too. Rosie is young and although she would appear feminine, she would have a strong message behind her about her individuality and certain rebellion.

 From the font style we can tell that she is modern and strong. The fact that the letters are in pink, highlights her femininity and beauty. The fact that there is hand writing implies that she is an organic performer and she is down to realism as well. We believe that we can be influenced by her Star image because it matches perfectly for some aspects of our star.

  the website itself provides information before release of a single, this means that we have an easy access and good display of time before certain events take place. the fact that she is has her photo taken in black and white could be interpreted as if she likes retro style or that she is young and in a way rebellious. It also includes links to facebook and twitter. This will help us tell our friends about the artist which will spread the word of mouth about her as a young artist. We would like to use her as an example of a young artist whose star image and style link with what Rosie May is trying to achieve in her look.

http://www.elizadoolittle.com/

Little Boots

 

 

The reason why we like her style is because she is also young and very pretty. Her Star Image is influenced a lot by the vintage/retro style. Dyer would say that the fact that she is taking her Star image from retro styles suggests that she is more of an organic star rather than synthetic. Dyer would also argue that the fact that she is trying to appear to the younger audience by using an older style conveys her uniqueness and individuality. By doing so she will attract more audiences what will help here attract more people to her website.

  Her website is very easy to use and allows us to navigate through the information which she provides us with. The website is also full of her images and different animations which can highlight her star image. Therefore her website is good in terms of providing information and conveying her star image. She is a young feminine girl. However, in her animations we see plenty of psychedelic stuff. This can be comprehended as her strong and individual style. Unlike all the synthetic stars, she is trying to go for her individuality and free-will.

  We would like to use certain aspects which Little Boots uses. For example, if we use different colours or play around with shapes, we can make her look as an individual and unique artist. Rosie May is also young and she likes retro/vintage styles. Therefore Little Boots is perfectly suitable for being one of the artists who influences her look.

http://www.littlebootsmusic.co.uk/

 

Amy Winehouse

 

 

 Amy Winehouse is another good example of an artist who Rosie May could be influenced by. According to Dyer, she is a perfect example of a young sexy artist, yet, she is reckless and rebellious. Her Star Image is also Vintage and she likes to look different and unique comparing to all the other Pop Stars. Dyer would also say that she is more organic than synthetic because she writes her own songs. Also, we can see it from her website, she likes to use live instruments which is another aspect of her Star Image.

 Her website is very easy to navigate and we learn a lot of information from it as well. Such as: her timetable of performance, her store is also very easy to access.

  Although Amy Winehouse is feminine, we see from her hair style and accessories, that she is rebellious in a way that she decides for herself over her fashion. We know that she is also very unique in the style of her vocal. The fact that she is seen in black and white represents that her style image had been influenced by retro style.

 We would like to apply the same rebellious and free look to Rosie May. This means that we will be able to create a feminine look yet convey her as being strong.

http://www.amywinehouse.com/

Influential Artists and their Album Covers

                                                    

Lily Allen's Alright, Still

 

As we can see from the album cover, Lily Allen is very young and the way she is dressed highlights it. The fact that she is wearing a blue dress with stripes, makes her look young. The trains she is wearing are a sign of a her youthfulness. According to Dyer, the fact that she is wearing these clothes, is a part of her star image. As we know, this not the only way she may look in front of her audiences. This means that although anyone could be like her, she still not accessible because of the way she easily changes her style. The fact that behind we have street style art implies that she is a youthful artist. She is conveying sense of sexuality from the way that she looks at the camera. This is done in order to establish her beauty within the pop-stars and attract a wider range. We can see from the font she is uses, that she is a younger artist. The font used is much more cartoon like what suggests that she is going to appeal to a younger audiences.

 

We would like to take an aspect of her album cover and use for our artist as well. We would like to convey her sexuality in a way that Lily Allen does herself. The way she looks at the camera conveys her sexuality.

 

Lana Del Rey

 

 

As we can see from Lana's album cover, she is very classy and mature. Although she is young, she has a very sophisticated look. This conveys some of her idea behind the Star Image. Because Lana Del Rey looks into America of early 90th, we can see how it is reflected through the style of her clothes. This is because of the fashion style she is wearing we can come to this conclusion. Because the sky is blue above her we can see how in a way she is representing the ideal world which is opposed to the strictness in her face. The font used for Lana Del Rey is bald and large. this implies that she is al big time star who is influenced by America of 80th-90th. The font itself is very Hollywood like. This tells us where she comes from and we learn a lot about her background which could perhaps influence her music.

 

We would like to present Rosie in a similar way. Classy sexy young girl who has got organic star image and has got a message to her star image.

 

Eliza Doolittle

 

 

As we can see from the album cover, she is a young girl. Unlike Lana Del Rey, she does not have as much seriousness in her face. This implies that she is a young artist who is portraying so much of her sexuality but more of her party-animal side. The fact that we see classical aspects of London tells us that she is from London herself. We can see that she is a very positive person because of her smile and loads of different colours used on her album cover. The way she is dressed tells us that she is a young independent artist. According to Dyer, this would be seen as a direct attempt to approach her target audience. This is a very effective way to represent her star image which can also help us learn about the artist herself. The font is very much cartoon like as well as Lily Allen's. IT implies that she is young artist and the fact that there is a small airplane presenting her name implies that she is a playful young artist who would appeal to a younger audience.

 

We would like to approach the album cover task similarly but not in the same way. We would like to put as much information into the cover as possible. However, because our Style Images differ, we might go for an entirely different look of the album. For example, we would probably have darker colours rather than such happy and juvenile ones we see in the cover above.

 

Little Boots

 

 

We learn from the cover that our artists has retro style. From her make-up and hair style we can tell that she is mainly influenced by the 60th fashion. Also, she looks beautiful and makes us feel her sexuality from the way she looks. She looks classy and sure of herself. This shows that she is an independent artist and a strong woman who has got her own free-will and power. We would like to use the same style for our Artist as well. To have her conveying her sexuality and power. From the background we can see different shapes and animations which highlight her uniqueness and individuality. Also the space images behind  her are there to highlight the fact that she is not an easily accessible artist. She is out in the space what reinforces her uniqueness. Her style is very much influenced by the 70th. We can see it from the way her hair is done and bald font style. The font style implies that she is a big serious artist who appeals to an older audience.

 

Amy Winehouse

 

 

As we can see from the album cover, Amy is a young girl who by her star Image conveys senses of sexuality and rebelliousness. We can see from the font used that she also influenced by old vintage American style. This means that we can use her as influence for Rosie May's Star Image. Also from the way she looks at the camera we can tell that her image is also melancholic and mellow. This again highlights her uniqueness. Although some would her as any other female artist, Amy Winehouse is different performer who, according to Dyer, would certainly be noticed as an organic star. She is different from all the other stars because of her grungy sexy look. Nevertheless, she does not lose her femininity and beauty. The font style tells us that she is massively influenced by the 60th. The font and use of black imply big influence from the art-deco style. By her hair style we can say that it highlights the art-deco style and she herself is appealing to a different audience by her individuality and uniqueness.

 

We would like to use this as an influence for Rosie May's look as well. To make her look different yet, similar to Amy Whinehouse, keep her sexuality and beauty.

 

 

Star Image and Artist Development Research

These videos have helped me to gain an understand of how important an artist's star image is. It is not only about the voice that a music artist has but also their star image. It is essential to have stage presence, a likeable character and an attractive appearance in order to achieve in the music industry. Luckily, our artist, Rosie May, appears to possess all of these traits. Therefore, in our three products our group now needs to work on highlighting these different traits under the artist's star image in order for the artist to achieve in the industry and form a successful career, achieved by the audience engaging in all aspects of her as an artist as well as her work.

Constructing the Star Image

 

When Rosie May came into school to visit our group she also brought her scrap book with her. As you can see from this there are mixture of different women from varying eras, reflected in their hairstyles and makeup. We worked with this to produce a 60s star image, heavily influenced by Amy Winehouse and Charlie's Angels. From this we extrapolated that she was going for a strong female presence that signified power, authority and rebelliousness through her stylish appearance of the typical 60s beehive hairstyle and her bold cat-flick statement eyeliner. We took this on board and this lead us in our development of our ideas to look at ways of integrating this into our narrative structure.

 

Meeting Rosie May

On the Monday morning Rosie May came into visit our school and chat to our group about our ideas for the video. We ran her through all of our previous ideas that have had major flaws in them and therefore have been rejected. This was a helpful time in which we, as a group, could gauge her reaction to our previous as well as new ideas. Her feedback and our progression is as follows:

• She wants to be more modern in an urban way than Lana Del Rey and Amy Winehouse yet still encapsulate the timeless retro look they both portray. Since her style is quite similar to Lana Del Rey's this alteration to the star image would be advantageous as she will be differentiating herself from an already successful artist. Therefore another popstar which could influence Rosie's star image is the urban rooted Lily Allen who has, in recent years, altered her star image to become more retro!
• Rosie is still keen on the idea of stock footage, especially of the weather and in particular sunrise and sunset because of the song title 'Morning Blues' and references in the song lyrics. This idea recalls use of vintage film clips of the weather incorporated in Lana Del Rey's 'Summertime Sadness' video at the very beginning. As well as this Rosie loved the idea of the performance elements of her lip-syncing being shot against a wall occupied by projections of London in the 1960s or stock footage of the sunrise and weather. such as in the video below, as the Lana is filmed against a wall with projections of telegraph poles over her, an image conforming to the lyrics of the song. 

• On showing Rosie the video of Beyonce's 'Why Don't You Love Me?' she loved the idea but expressed her hesitation towards the age barrier as she is only 18 years old therefore may not be able to pull off the role of a housewife. However, she found the 50s style very appealing to her taste in style as well as the retro intro suggesting we could take from this idea by creating a similar intro to her video with the text of 'Rosie May' and 'Morning Blues' scrawling across the screen as a way of officially introducing her to the music industry in her new career. 
• Also I suggested we show Rosie the video of Paloma Faith's 'Picking Up The Pieces' due to the retro style she also showcases in the video, whilst also being set in the countryside at a manor house which would perfectly link to Leith Hill Place but is no long possible to use. On hearing this news Rosie instantly reverted to the idea of filming in London again due to the unattainable nature of Leith Hill. 

• However, our teacher expressed his worry to Rosie about shooting in London due to the unpredictable nature of the public around on the street as well as the weather and light constantly changing. Whereas at school we have a perfectly suitable studio offering constantly fixed surroundings and control for shooting. In the studio we could also incorporate shots of other people's lives such as a couple sitting at either end of a long table, sipping coffee in the morning, not talking to each other. Another shot of a girl crying on her own, as well as a shot of a couple fighting, which could all be conclusions of the activities from the night before. 
• However, Rosie then informed us of a connection she has in London to a warehouse area which her cousin lives in and owns. This could therefore easily be the setting for the video due to the fact that it is not completely out in the open like a street is. 
• From here on in the ideas for the video came flowing once the setting was partially decided on, as we still needed confirmation in writing to film in this area. Our thoughts now are to create a very simple video focusing on the feeling of the morning after a party, filming shots incorporating sunlight and natural tones and hues in Rosie's beauty shots. Rosie's lip-syncing shots could be a partially shot in silhouette form against blinding morning sunlight in London in the warehouse setting, possibly on a roof top to catch the light, using this as a cutting point for each shot. 
• In performance shots Rosie could be dancing and turning around during the chorus with the sunlight behind her. 
• However, the video is still too ambitious to shoot at sunrise due to the travel time needed to get up to London. 
• 'Morning Blues' is about the after effect of the night, experienced in the morning. Therefore there is no point in concentrating on the night before. 
• We have decided on the music video being one that concentrates on the location and therefore we can decide on shots based on the urban locations we will be situated in such as against brick walls, lying on rusty car bonnets, walking around empty rooms in the warehouse and dancing on rooftops. Therefore including shots inside and outside of the warehouse. 
• The warehouse location seemed to remind me of James Arthur's new music video 'You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You' which involves James playing a concert in a street to the public. The video obviously retains the artist's urban roots due to the fact that the setting lacks extravagance, ultimately being realistic and prioritising the music over anything else. I feel we can definitely get some inspiration from this type of video due to our location being similar, as well as our ideal target audience being the same age and style as James Arthur's.  

• Another image shown in James Arthur's music video which we had an idea to incorporate into 'Morning Blues' in the bonfire and the public gathered around it. The warehouse location can house a bonfire outside and we can gather the people living in the various warehouses to come together and enjoy the warmth which will ultimately create a sense of community for the video. The relevance of the bonfire may be that the depressing thoughts of the night before are simply being burnt away, preparing for a fresh start. 
•  With the imagery of flames, fire and sunlight being all sources of light and warmth the use of warm sepia tones as well as old fashioned filmic looks of added film specs and light leaks helping to create and include the retro vintage aspect of the video Rosie wanted to maintain. 
• A valid point our teacher made was that the extras must be on the same level as Rosie, socially, but they can't be above her in anyway as they may steal away attention from her in her own music video, therefore she needs to stand out. We also need a range of ages for the extras, which will be found amongst the residence of the warehouse, as to avoid the look of a kids music video, which would be achieved by having extras from school, all around 17 and 18 years old. 
• The projections on the wall we want to include will be stock footage of Brick Lane in the 1960s adding to Rosie's want of retaining her urban roots and love for London. This use of stock footage in projection form will be possible to do due to the fact we are using the videos in a unique way. 
• It could even be possible to include a time lapse shot of Rosie against a wall outside the ware house, lip-syncing, and the residence around the bonfire to be edited in high speed time resulting in a time lapse shot linking to the idea of the people of Brick Lane in the 1960s at their market stools and living their life day by day in anonymity, which the time lapse suggests, additionally allowing Rosie May to stand out against the crowd in her music video.