FILMING: Avril Lavigne - My Happy Ending

Wednesday 28th September - Performance shots in the Main Hall of Kate playing the Piano. I was very pleased with how today's filming went. We did it after school so we had plenty of time to film and get the best shots possible, which i believe we did. We decided to use the lighting in the Hall placing two stage lights directly down on to Kate sat in the centre of the Hall playing the Piano. This was good as it ensured that the focus remained on Kate and that the rest of the room which wasn't lit created a blank canvas for the rest of the shot. We used a variety of shots as planned - close ups, wide shots, profile shot and we also used the dolly to create a tracking shot going around the piano. 

Here is a photo of what Kate`s costume looked like. We decided upon a casual but bright look to try and communicate the rock pop genre to our  target audience.

Here is an image of Kate sat at the Piano as you can see I believe lighting has been effective in highlighting Kate and bringing focus to her.





These screen shots demonstrate how the footage looked once we put it on premiere pro. These Piano shots will be the main basis to our music video which we will then build the rest of our music video around.

FILMING: Avril Lavigne - My Happy Ending

 Monday 19th September - Filmed Kate doing performance shots in the Gifted and Talented Centre Gardens. We got some good shots but unfortunately we could not use the majority of them as where ever we placed Kate the brightness of the sun intruded the shot and made it look over overexposed. Therefore, we are planning to film again and have taken advice from our media technition Simon Corby to change the iris of the lens on the camera to get a better shot in terms of lighting. We are planning to do this one day after school as we will have more time instead of rushing about at lunchtime.

RISK ASSESSMENTS

Below are the risk assessments I have carried out in order to ensure we are aware of all the possible health and safety issues/hazards before filming.

STORYBOARDING

In order to ensure that we knew clearly what shots we needed and wanted we decided to storyboard each scene we wanted to shoot and drew the main shots we thought we wanted. This will make shooting much easier as when we are filming each scene we will be able to refer to the storyboard in order to make sure we get the shots that we need, creating a main structure for our piece. In total we constructed three storyboards - 2 sheets and then one.

1st Shot = Wide/mid shot of a photograph of our main characters Kate and Tom (our artist/girlfriend figure and our boyfriend figure). This shot is going to be still and the photograph is going to be whole. Then at the end of our music video we plan to have the same shot again but with the photo torn to give connotations of the couple having split up, very much like the photo.


2nd Shot = To further emphasise to our audience the troubles which the couple face we then plan for the second shot to be a long take of the couple having an argument and Tom walking away, but as he does so we will then use a fast zoom in to bring attention to Kate grabbing Tom and pulling him towards her to put focus on the line "Let`s talk this over". Implying to the audience a realistic portrayal of an argument as often people argue but then want to talk about it afterwards and in some cases want to talk about it straight away in regret of their previous words.


3rd Shot = Contrasting from the previous shot, to portray to our audience a sense of intimacy between the couple we then plan to use an arch shot which will rotate around the couple giving the audience an all round view of the couple`s affections towards one another, focusing on emotion.


4th Shot = To give our audience a sense of the visuals matching the lyrics we then plan for our next shot to be an extreme close up of Kate`s lips linking with the lyrics, "Was it something you said".


5th Shot = Continuing the idea of the visual matching the lyrics, for the line, "In a city so dead" we plan to film this shot in our local city of Lincoln in which we are going to get Kate to stand in the middle of the high street and then film people walking past her. We then plan to speed the footage of the people walking past her up to suggest to our audience an idea of how the troubles in Kate`s relationship with Tom make her world stop still while everything/everyone else goes about their daily lives.


6th Shot = Taking a particular like to the line, "held up so high on such a breakable thread" we have come up with the idea as presenting Kate as a puppet to convey to the audience that she is inferior and lacks control in comparison to Tom - Tom is her "Puppeteer" if you like.


7th Shot = For one of our performance locations we are thinking about using the gifted and talented centre on the school premises. We feel this location will be a good one as it is a very open space in which Kate will be able to express herself freely, highlighting to our audience the expression often seen within the rock pop genre.


8th Shot = Yet again using visuals which match lyrics in this shot we plan to put emphasis on Tom`s friends in relation to the line "You`ve got your dumb friends, I know what they". For this line we plan to have Tom`s friends gathered around him as if they are whispering to him and slandering Kate. We then plan to use a transition such as a fade to then cut to Kate whispering in Tom`s ear to highlight the line, "They tell you I`m difficult".

9th Shot = Planning to use slow motion to emphasise to our audience the action which is taking place we plan to have a shot in which Tom is being all affectionate to Kate stroking her face but then suddenly pushes her to floor, to create extra focus on the bad/evil action which Tom has done and the person he has become ("You were all the things I thought I knew") and Kate falling we therefore think slow motion will be appropriate.

10th Shot = This shot continuing from the previous one and continuing the lyric we will then film Kate lying on the floor after she has been pushed to give the audience a view of her reaction towards Tom`s actions and the emotion felt towards this, reflective of the rock pop genre.

11th Shot = Trying to put further emphasis on Tom`s `bad/evil' character we then plan for the next shot to be cutting the strings of Kate as a puppet on the line "Thanks for watching as I fall" highlighting Tom`s inconsideration for his lover.

12th Shot = Wanting to use a variety of locations for our performance scenes, we plan to film Kate in the Mic Room to give our music video a professional, musical appearance.




Same sort of ideas as the previous storyboard but elaborated more. This photograph above shows our other storyboard in which we took more consideration into the types of shots we wanted to use and their content. Such as the impact of zooms, close-ups, pans etc and how we thought our audience may view this types of shots in relation to the promotion of our artist.

SHOOTING SCHEDULE

Shooting Schedule

Day: Monday 19^th September 2011

         Monday 26^th September 2011

         Any break or lunchtime

Location: Gifted and talented centre, school. Kate needs to be singing the whole song.

Cast: Kate Fenwick

Props:

• Guitar

Shots:

• Lots of different shots for the whole song.
• Wide shots, high shots, close ups, extreme close ups (lips, eyes), etc

Costume:

• Tutu skirt
• Black waistcoat/ black and white striped cardigan
• Converse sparkly shoes/ tramp boots
• Black net tights
• Straight hair
• Red lipstick?
• Black nail varnish?

Location: Piano in the hall – lights out ,move piano into middle of hall, draw curtains. Kate needs to be singing the whole song whilst pretending to play the piano but this needs to look realistic! So she needs to be playing to the beat!

Cast: Kate Fenwick

Props:

• Lamp, you could maybe just use a torch.
• Piano

Shots:

• A variety of shots
• Close ups, shot of hands?, Wide shots, etc

Costume:

• Bright blue skinny jeans
• Black skull vest top
• Plain black waistcoat
• Black glittery converse shoes
• Curly volumed hair
Day: Thursday 13th October 2011

Location: Drama studio – Puppet

Cast:

• Kate Fenwick
• Tom Manson

Props:

• String, thick and thin
• Cross for top of puppet
• Scissors

Costume:
Kate:

• Straight hair (back combed)
• Red skinny jeans
• Bright pink studded belt
• Black military style jacket
• Black paint splat top
• Red lipstick
• Black nail varnish
• Smudged eye make-up

Tom:

• Black skinny jeans
• Plain black top
• Black converse shoes
• Possibly black nail varnish and eyeliner? To emphasise a rock pop feel as some males within this genre do wear such make-up. 

Shots:

• Long/mid shots
• Zoom into eyes (quick?)
• Shots of Tom controlling Kate
• Close up of Tom cutting the string

Day: Saturday 22nd October 2011

Location: Lincoln

Cast: Kate Fenwick

Costume:

• Kate’s clothes, to be decided
• Red lipstick
• Black nail varnish

Shots:

• Still shot of Kate singing in Lincoln, with everybody walking past her sped up
• Variation of shots whilst there - wide shot to show the vast amount of people walking past Kate, close ups to show her emotion.

Day: Sunday 6th November 2011

Location: Sarah`s house.

Cast: Kate Fenwick

Costume:

• Kate’s clothes, to be decided
• Red lipstick
• Black nail varnish

Shots:

• Domestic set up (vase on a table covered with a table cloth, subtle lighting) -
• Vase of roses and/or one single rose laid on top of the photograph of Tom and Kate, this will then be pushed by a hand which we hope the  audience will assume is Kate`s and then we will do a quick pan to the stairs which will see legs/feet quickly running up the stairs to give connotations of someone (Kate) being upset by the notion of romance, the couple.

Day: Wednesday 19th October 2011

Location: Wickenby church

Cast:

• Kate Fenwick
• Tom Manson

Costume:

Kate:

•  Red lipstick
• Black nail varnish
• Punk style skull and rose dress
• Black blazer with striped cuffs
• Black laced tights
• Black glittery converse

Tom:

• Black t-shirt
• Black skinny jeans
• Black converse shoes

Shots:

• Long shot of Kate grabbing Tom
• Zoom of Kate grabbing Tom in slow motion
• Close up of them arguing – Arch shot

Day: Tuesday 8th November 2011

Location: School, common room, sat on sofas and in the kitchen to give a communal feel to the shots for the friend parts but also to give a sense of intimacy between the couple for the parts where they are whispering to each other.

Cast:

• Kate Fenwick
• Tom Manson

Costume:

• Kate’s clothes, to be decided
• Tom’s clothes to be decided
• Red lipstick
• Black nail varnish

Shots:

• Head shot of Tom whispering into Kate’s ears fade into..
• ..Head shot of Tom whispering into Friends ears
• Side head shot of Tom stroking Kate’s face,
• then slow motion of Tom pushing her face away
• Mid shot of Kate lying on the floor singing
• Zoom to close up of Kate singing.

Day: Thursday 10th November 2011
Location: School – Mic room (Simon’s room)

Cast: Kate Fenwick

Costume:

• Kate’s clothes, to be decided
• -probably casual to give a fun, relaxed feel to the shots as often seen within some videos of other artists, they look really happy to be finally recording their song, giving a behind the scenes feel to their video as the viewer does not often see scenes like this while also giving a professional feel due to the equipment surrounding them.
• Red lipstick
• Black nail varnish

Shots:

• Variety of shots of Kate singing into microphone.
• Pan, tilt, close ups, etc

PROPS

As there are usually many props in music videos. We had to think about what props we are going to use and if they will be appropriate for our genre.

We are planning to use an electric guitar as this instrument is seen in many rock-pop/pop-punk as it is a conventional form of this genre. We believe by using this prop we will be conforming to the conventions we need to achieve in our music video. Avril Lavigne often uses a guitar in her videos as originally it was seen as a rebellious instrument for a woman to play. This is personified by the way in which Avril uses the instrument to expression emotions. For example, if someone is upset/angry they tend to strum on the strings a lot harder - we plan to express emotion in the same way through the instruments/props we use. 

For this reason we are also planning to use drum sticks to express emotions such as aggression by making our artist bang on objects around her such as rails or brick walls as we believe this will express a feeling of rebellion as it is not the traditional way to use drum sticks.

For our puppet idea we will also need props. We will have to create two wood crosses - so Tom our boyfriend figure can control Kate our artist/girlfriend figure. From this there will need to be thin string attached and then we will also need some thick string/rope to attach to Kate so we can do different shots creating different sizes/proportions. For example, the string will need to be thicker on Kate and look bigger because she is the one who is being controlled and who appears smaller to Tom controlling her, therefore the strong around her will need to be bigger and thicker as everything appears bigger to her as she is smaller where as the string which Tom will see/control will be smaller/of normal size as he is bigger.

COSTUME IDEAS

.

As you can see from the image above Avril Lavigne`s style is unique and for some people unusual and rebellious – which personally I think reflects the punk, rebellious personality of Avril and her songs. I personally think that when people think of someone who is a bit of a rock chick, a rebel they tend to think of ripped clothing, big hair, bold make-up, stripes, netted clothing etc.  With this in mind, myself and Gemma have discussed what costume we would like our Avril Lavigne figure to be wearing. Therefore, I and Gemma have come up with costume ideas through discussing what clothing we would like to see our artist in and what we have access to. We would like Kate Fenwick who is playing our artist Avril Lavigne to wear: Below is a list for one costume idea we have.

·        Tutu Skirt – Plain Black netted or Black with some sort of underskirt underneath.

·        Black & White striped Cardigan

·        Plain Black T-shirt

·        Black Converse Shoe or Dark Coloured Boots

·        Black Netted Tights or Black Distressed looking (rips/holes)

·        Red Lipstick

·        Plenty of Eyeliner

Above is a sketch of what we have in mind. We decided to sketch the costume out to give it a visual form instead of just describing it


We especially like the tutu as it is very similar to what Avril wears in her video and therefore conforms to her video and emphasises to our target audience a feeling of the rock pop genre. We felt this reflected Avril`s quirky, fun personality.


In many music videos there are often a selection of costumes. The costume usually changes when the scene does. Therefore, we had to think about what other costumes we will use. Below are some more sketches of some costumes we have thought about.

1st Sketch = Striped jumper, Bright red skinny jeans, Neon pink studded belt, Black glittery converse, Black fitted blazer with military style buttons 

2nd Sketch = Plain black blazer with striped cuffs, Gothic style dress with roses and skulls all and a net underlay, Laced tights, Glittery black converse

3rd Sketch = Plain black waistcoat, Black skull vest top, Bright blue skinny jeans, Glittery black converse

All of these ideas we believe fit the generic conventions of the rock pop genre due to the stripes, skulls, studs etc..

We also had to think about what costume we wanted Tom - our boyfriend figure to wear. We came to the decision that we are going to put Tom in something very simple such as a black t-shirt and skinny jeans as the male style is very plain and simplistic in most cases. Also, black is the colour which is mostly associated with the punk genre. Below is a photo of Tom in his costume to show the look we achieved for him.

IDEAS FOR PERFORMANCE SCENES - LOCATIONS

As the performance element is the main structure of most music videos’ we have discussed and considered locations which may be possibilities for the performance element of our piece. Below is a list of our location options and the reasons for why we might use them.

Gemma`s local graveyard at Wickenby Church as we believe it will convey the notion of loss and death, the death of a relationship if we film in the graveyard. Also, it is just down the road from Gemma`s house so will be convenient when filming.

We are planning to do the majority of the filming for the puppet scene in the Drama Studio at school as the wall in there offers a blank canvas and our boyfriend figure (Tom) will be able to use the wall to heighten his position physically but also in a metaphorical sense as well. This is because he will be higher than our artist/girlfriend figure (Kate) peering over her suggesting to the audience a sense of control and security. This location may also give us the opportunity to use a range of stage lighting to create focus on our actors.

The Gifted & Talented Centre Gardens on the school premises as there are plenty of areas within the garden to film. Such as, sat in the tree and posed on industrial looking, metal stairs to give a punk, rebellious Avril feel to the piece. Also, we feel this location will give us the opportunity to film around surrounding archaic arch ways of the building to add detail to the shot and to give a nice appearance to the piece visually. We also think that standing at the top of the stairs and shooting the ground below will give us the perfect opportunity to film high shots.

We may also film in the Mic Room next to our media classroom as we believe this will give the video a musical, professional appearance and many artists include shots of them in the recording room in their music videos to give their piece a creative, enthusiastic feel to it. An example of this can be seen in the video below Pieces of Me by Ashlee Simpson.

Another location in which we might film is the Main School Hall. The reason for this is because in there we have access to a large Piano and a big blank white wall offering us a clean, simple canvas for our shots. Ensuring that the focus is on the lighting and the artist and not the surroundings. We believe this will be a good location to film as it will mimic the conventions of Avril Lavigne`s music video for this song. In her video the audience see her play a Piano as the camera uses various shots, pans and tracking to show this. Subtle lighting surrounding her. We plan to conform to the conventions of her video by doing similar shots.

For the lighting we are planning to make the room as dark as possible and then have a small light such as a lamp or even a torch to highlight the artist playing the Piano but also to establish a bleak, sad atmosphere. Below is Avril Lavigne`s video for her song “My Happy Ending”. At 0:12 you will see the start of the Piano scene to Avril`s video which I have tried to explain above.





We are planning to use the sixth form common room within school to film some of the scenes in which Tom`s "dumb friends" (lyric from the song) need to be involved and where Tom will whisper to Kate and then his friends but then push Kate to the floor where she will then lay and carry on to sing after being pushed. We plan to film these scenes within the sofa area of the common room but also the kitchen area to give our piece a sense of intimacy between the couple due to the sofas etc but also a feeling of intrusion and communal space in which everyone aka Tom`s "dumb friends" are "allowed" to intrude in the  couple`s relationship because both spaces are designed for everyone.







To film the beginning and end shots of our music video. We plan to have a photograph of our couple Kate and Tom with a vase of roses or just a bunch/a single rose laid next to/on top of the photo. A hand will then push the vase or roses off the table they are placed on and then we plan to use a pan shot to show feet running up the stairs, the end shot will then be of the photo torn to give connotations of the couple having split like the photo and the it is hoped the pan towards the stairs will emphasise a feeling of emotion and running upstairs to escape reality like many teenagers do.

Through these shots we hope our audience will be able to recognise that the person being portrayed as upset is Kate, our girlfriend/artist figure which will hopefully communicate to our audience that she is the main character. artist.

We plan to film these shots at my house (AppleTree House, Bleasby Moor) as my hallway is a reasonable sized space in which moving the camera around if we need to in order to get different angles will not be difficult. Also, we believe it will be an instantly recognisable location for our audience, a location in which private matters take place and emotions are released, such as arguments. To set this mood we plan to use subtle, low lighting.

THE LYRICS & OUR IDEAS

Below is a photograph of the lyric sheet with my ideas surrounding the lyrics. I showed this to my partner Gemma. She agreed with most of my ideas and suggested some of her own which I then added to the sheet.

I appreciate that the photograph may not clearly show our ideas. Therefore, I have placed the lyrics below with our ideas below them with the reasoning behind these ideas.

So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...

Let's talk this over
It's not like we're dead
Was it something I did?
Was it something You said?
Don't leave me hanging
In a city so dead
Held up so high
On such a breakable thread

You were all the things I thought I knew
And I thought we could be

[Chorus:]
You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
You've got your dumb friendsI know what they say
They tell you I'm difficult
But so are they
But they don't know me
Do they even know you?
All the things you hide from me
All the shit that you do [CD version]
All the stuff that you do [radio edited version]

You were all the things I thought I knew
And I thought we could be

[Chorus]

It's nice to know that you were there
Thanks for acting like you cared
And making me feel like I was the only one
It's nice to know we had it all
Thanks for watching as I fall
And letting me know we were done

[Chorus x2]

[x2]
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
So much for my happy ending

Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...

Ideas & Reasons for these Ideas 

 At the beginning of the song - "So much for my happy ending Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh..." we have come up with the idea of filming a still shot of a framed photo of the couple shown throughout the video with a vase of roses next to it. However, we have decided we are going to edit the shot to black and white but then keep the roses red. We came up with this idea as we believe it will emphasise the colour commonly associated with romance - red. Also, we feel by doing this in black and white it will highlight the feeling of loss and sadness and ensure that the audience establish early on in the video that something is not right in regards to the couples relationship. We have also thought about filming the photo frame at the end of video but broken on the floor to symbolise that the couples relationship is broken.

When I was looking at some of Avril`s songs on YouTube I came across the video below. As you can see a similar editing technique is used with regards to the black & white and the emphasis on red. However, i would like to point out that we came up with this idea originally and then discovered the same technique is used in one of Avril`s videos.



We then thought about relating the next two lines - "Let's talk this over, It's not like we're dead" and actually you could also say the majority of the song to a feeling of death and loss. Therefore, we have thought about shooting a few scenes in Gemma's local grave yard. We feel this location will present to the audience the idea of losing a relationship, it fading and dying. For the particular line "Let's talk this over" we are thinking about filming Kate - our Avril figure grabbing our boyfriend figure - Tom in a motion of desperation but as she grabs him and tries to get him to turn around. We will edit the shot in to slow motion to add dramatic effect.


Then for the lines saying - "Was it something i did?, Was it something you said?" we are going to introduce an extreme close up of the singer's lips wearing bright red lipstick. We feel the bright red lipstick will gain the audience's focus and the believe this shot will ensure that the audience's focus is maintained as we progress in to the first performance element of the video. Using the shot of the lips also incorporates the idea of the visuals corresponding with the lyric as "something you said" is speaking and we speak out of our mouth/lips.


For the line - "Don't leave me hanging in a city so dead" we are thinking about filming Kate in the  middle of our local city,Lincoln with people walking past her, in the rush of the city while she stands still. To ensure that the people appear to be moving in a fast motion around Kate we will speed the footage up. This idea is to reinforce to the audience the break down in a relationship, the emotional feelings that come with a break up - like your whole world is about to fall apart while everyone else around you goes about their daily routine.

Continuing the idea of the visuals matching the lyrics we have come up with the idea of shooting our artist/girlfriend figure (Kate) as a human puppet being controlled by the boyfriend figure (Tom). We originally came up with this idea when we was thinking about the lyric – “Held up so high on such a breakable thread”.

Our original idea was to just shoot our artist dressed as a puppet, cutting the strings and letting her fall just for that one line. However, as we discussed this idea more we developed it and denotations and connotations behind it. We have now decided that we will introduce this puppet idea on the line stated…“Held up so high on such a breakable thread” but then develop it as the song continues.

For example, on the line “Held up so high on such a breakable thread” we have decided not to cut the strings and let her fall, not just yet. As this is at the beginning of the song we are going to film the boyfriend figure controlling the girlfriend/artist figure. As we believe filming the cut of the puppet strings towards the end of the song on the line “Thanks for watching as I fall” will be more effective due to what the puppet presents.

So what does the puppet present you may ask? At the beginning of the song the puppet and the strings which she is controlled by represent control of her relationship with her partner; he is her support, the person who lifts her up when she is down, the person who keeps her standing, in a metaphorical sense and a literal sense. Although, as the song progresses and the audience begin to establish a break down in the couple’s relationship they begin to see the break down of the puppet, control is being lost between her and her partner until she eventually looses control of herself and her relationship which is when we will cut the strings of the puppet which we believe will give a good dramatic effect to the piece.

The lyrics relate to the feelings we are trying to convey: loss, a fall from grace/happiness, the end of a relationship and also coming towards the end of the song – “Thanks for watching as I fall and letting me know we were done”. To ensure that the message/feelings we are trying to convey remain throughout the song we will use cut away through out the video of the strings, the puppet and her series of emotions.

The image below demonstrates our puppet idea.

This video below also demonstrates our idea. We presented this idea to our teacher and then after he showed us this video - Nsync "ByeByeBye"...which highlights the idea of being controlled by a puppet and the controller appearing bigger than the person being controlled.







This video also sprung to mind as a more modern concept of our idea when we presented it to our teacher as the artist Jessie J is controlled like a puppet in some scenes of her video - the costume which is used creates focus and adds a theatrical element to the piece.
 

THE CAST/CHARACTERS

As the song we have chosen is based on the idea of a relationship/the loss of a relationship we had to think about the people we wanted to star in our video as a couple. We instantly came to the decision of Kate Fenwick and Tom Manson. We decided we wanted Kate and Tom in our video as they are both Drama students and have worked together many a time so we knew they would be able to achieve what we wanted them to - portray a couple who are loosing their relationship, we have appropriate expression, emotion and not too over the top. 

Kate will play our girlfriend/Avril figure who feels her relationship is slipping away, she is loosing the control, security she once had and cannot see her dream of a "happy ending" coming true.




Tom will play our boyfriend figure who will represent security for the girlfriend figure. As this security is lost and fades so will the control in the couples relationship.

SUCCESS OF THE ROCK-POP/POP-PUNK GENRE

To measure the success of the rock-pop/pop-punk genre I have done some research in to the top hits of the rock-pop/pop-punk genre over the past few years and this is what I have found. (Wikipedia)


Blink 182 - All the Small Things
Second single released from the band's third album Enema of the State - released January 18th, 2000 and reached number 2 in the UK charts.




Panic! at the Disco - I write Sins not Tragedies
the lead single from their debut studio album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. It was released on April 27th 2006. The song reached 25 on the UK Singles Chart and 44 on the UK Official Download Chart.





Fall Out Boy - Dance, Dance
The second single from their third studio album, From Under the Cork Tree. Released in late 2005.  the single reached No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming their second top 10 hit in that region as well. "Dance, Dance" has won many awards, including Viewer's Choice at MTV Video Music Awards, and received various nominations.




The All-American Rejects - Gives you Hell
released as the lead single from their 2008 album, When the World Comes Down. The song became the band's first number-one song on theMainstream Top 40 and Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks charts, and also peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Billboard announced at the end of 2009 that the song was the most played song of 2009 on their Top 40 Chart, making it The All-American Rejects' most successful song to date.










As Avril Lavigne is a female artist who belongs to the pop-rock/pop-punk genre , I also decided to research other female artists of this genre and their success levels.


Pink - So What
Released as the first single from Pink's fifth studio album, Funhouse. Pink performed "So What" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards on September 7th 2008, and the song was used to promote the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards Latin America. Pink performed "So What" on MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 on November 6, 2008. In September 2008, the song became Pink's first solo number-one hit in her native USA. Not only did the song reach number 1 in the UK Singles Chart but it also reached number one in twenty-five other countries.




Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend 
Girlfriend" was released as the lead single from The Best Damn Thing on 27th February 2007.
The song was a worldwide success, peaking at the top spot of the charts in eight countries, including Canada, the United States, and Australia. It additionally charted in the top ten of most other countries.  It was the top-selling song of 2007, with over 7.3 million worldwide sales. In 2008, the song became the most viewed video on YouTube, and was the first video on the site to reach 100 million views.




Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You
Released in 2009, It is the first single from her fourth studio album, All I Ever Wanted. her first number-one in the United Kingdom, making her to date the only American Idol contestant to have UK number one song. In the United Kingdom, the song climbed from number 3 on the UK Singles Chart to number 1 on March 1st 2009, becoming Clarkson's first British number-one single, selling 51,114 copies in its first week as a digital release.




Christina Aguilera - Fighter 
Fighter is from the fourth studio album, Stripped. The song was released on June 3rd 2003 as the third single. The song peaked at number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100, where it became Aguilera's ninth U.S. top-twenty single. "Fighter" also reached number three in the United Kingdom and Canada, and number five in Australia and the Netherlands.

ROCK-POP/POP PUNK VIDEO ANALYSIS - Another Student`s Music Video

As the brief to make a music video and promotional pack has been set for many years, many students previous to myself have created  music videos. Therefore, I am going to analyse another student`s music video and say what I like/dislike about it. By doing this I will be able to identify advantages and disadvantages of creations made previously and be able to use this to my advantage to create a successful music video myself. The students  who created this video decided to recreate Paramore`s "I Caught Myself". Paramore are part of the rock-pop/pop punk genre, therefore by analysing this video I will be able to identify if the students have used generic conventions of the rock-pop genre. I have decided to recreate Avril Lavigne`s "My Happy Ending" in order to complete my brief. Avril belongs to the same rock-pop/pop punk genre as Paramore.





Like many songs from the rock-pop/pop punk genre the song talks about the changes in people which cause the break down of relationships. In this song the lead singer a.k.a Hayley Williams (played by the ginger girl in this video) sings about the changes in her relationship and how she doesn't like the changes in her partner but because she loves him, she doesn't know what to do.


The first shot we see in this video is of a couple arguing (who we later discover is the lead singer/girlfriend figure and her boyfriend- with good times, come bad times which then goes in to a flash sequence of what appear to be a flashback of happy times, memories which then finishes with the couple arguing again. In my opinion, I think this sequence works effectively as it portrays a feeling of emotion often expressed within the rock-pop/pop punk genre and by starting and ending the sequence with argument shots the viewer gains a sense of a realistic outlook on relationships - with good times, come bad times. The creators of  this video have identified that establishment of the artist and narrative is key from the very beginning of any music video, as the aim of a music video is to promote the artist. By beginning with the flash sequence the viewer establishes that the video is going to be based on the troubled relationship of the artist/girlfriend figure and her boyfriend.

After the "main characters" have been introduced we then see the introduction of the other band members. Firstly, a guitarist who I believe is presented as the lead guitarist due to the mid-shot used which suggests the musicians importance in the band, as the other band members are not introduced fully until later on in the production. This is a convention I believe is commonly used in rock-pop videos as the lead guitarists role is key in providing a main musical structure to a song from this genre and guitars are instruments strongly associated with the rock-pop/pop punk genre.

This mid-shot is then followed by a close-up of another guitar which is then followed by a split screen sequence of four screens introducing all four other band members. I think this way of introducing band members is rather alternative and creative in its form which I believe relates to the rock-pop genre as the band members are introduced via the instruments they play, i.e. the music and not by their appearance i.e. their faces.

The first split screen image is introduced when the guitar sequence/beat changes which puts greater emphasis on the shot and the instruments/guitars which are all introduced first which I believe highlights the importance of guitars within the rock-pop/pop punk genre. However, drums are just as important within the genre and therefore the drummer is introduced when the drum beat kicks in and the split screen sequence changes again when the drum symbol is heard and then changes once more before the drum beat becomes harder at 0:33 making way for an introductory wide-shot of the whole band, standing around, playing their instruments before the lyrics start which I think is a typical shot set up for the rock-pop genre. This whole band shot is edited within shots of a low angle shot of the first guitarist seen earlier in the video which implies a sense of dominance and I believe conforms in the viewers mind that this guitarist is the lead guitarist.

At 0:43 the flash sequence begins again. In my opinion, in this sequence there is a greater emphasis on sadness within the relationship due to the movement  effect/transition which repeats shots of the  artist/girlfriend figure almost crying out for help, this reinforces the idea of the rock-pop/pop punk genre being a genre that is expressive emotionally. The sequence ends at 0:48 with the artist/girlfriend figure pushing the boyfriend figure over and he lands as the artist starts to sing which I think is effective as it almost creates an impact point and  puts emphasis and focus on the singer as she starts to sing making way for the first shot of her (the lead singer) on her own. The shot is quite a low angle shot which puts emphasis on the microphone/microphone stand creating awareness of the outside location. Although outside locations are not typical of the rock-pop/pop punk as locations are usually inside I believe the choice of this outside location and the composition of  the  shot has worked effectively as the bright blue sky draws the eye and creates a simple, clear back drop resulting in no distractions taking away focus. However, one thing  I do dislike about this shot is the use of sunglasses, I can understand why the student has decided on this aspect of misemise-en-scene do fit rock-pop conventions e.g. the stripey top, dark/black clothing, choosing  actors with long hair to fit the grunge, rock-pop look.

At 0:58 the drum beat is used again to focus the viewer on the shot of the whole band again which is introduced by a cut/split transition which is followed by two guitar shots using the same effect. These shots reinforce to the viewer the importance of instruments within the rock-pop genre and in fact any genre in  order to create a rhythmic structure/beat.

Another argument scene between the partners is seen at 1:13. I believe these shots are effective as the boyfriend`s reaction expresses his frustration and emotion towards what is being said and the shots seem to gain a focus due to this reaction and the  shots used before and after it - the lead singer/girlfriend figure arguing with him, and then as he walks away she sings "but I don`t know what I want" creating association between image and lyric a convention often used within the rock-pop/pop punk genre but  I believe this shot also conveys the  idea of her saying what she couldn't`t say while  he  was stood there due to the expressive, emotional facial expression captured which also relates back to the rock-pop genre as this genre is usually very expressive.

The student then comes back to a shot of the whole band again but uses two angles to present the band differently than seen before. I believe the decision to do this is a good one as it gives more attention to the other bands members than the attention being constantly on the lead singer. The first angle presents the two guitarists we saw first of all, who we see most of. I like the composition of this shot as the two guitarists are standing in a similar position which suggests a sense of union between the two while the other band members can still be seen in the background suggesting a sense of consideration for the whole band but due to the angle of the shot the guitarists take the main focus. The second angle shown gives an almost profile view of  the band. Although the angle is good as it creates focus due to the light coming in to shot which results in the performance location being revealed, a garage which I think is a good choice of location in relation to the rock-pop/pop punk genre as it implies a feeling of escape, somewhere to be rebellious, I think the students should have been more careful about where they placed the third guitarist as she blocks the site of the drummer. It may have been due to confidence issues or that is how it appears but in my opinion the guitarist should have revealed her face more as her face is rarely seen, she either has her back to the camera or she has her head down. However, some may argue that this adds to the rock-pop feel of the video as these traits present an emotional person often seen within this genre.

The third piece of  narrative shows the lead singer/girlfriend figure and her friend who are interrupted by the boyfriend figure and they start to argue. In my opinion, I think this piece of narrative effectively implies to the viewer how a relationship and the troubles caused can sometimes affect other aspects of your life although I do think the narrative with just the couple is more effective as the focus remains on them and does not go off towards other people placed in the narrative.

Throughout the video the student ensures that when the beat changes the pace of editing and the shots used emphasises/reflects this change in  the song. For example, at 2:29 the drums are reintroduced, and the beat of the drums and guitars become more intense, therefore the student uses a shot of the drummer and repeats the mid-shot of  the  lead guitarist seen at the beginning of the production. Awareness of the visuals matching the audio (a convention commonly used in the rock-pop/pop punk genre) can also be seen at 2:47 when the song/beat slows down and the vocals are focused on which results in several shots of the lead singer being presented and a close up of one of the guitars to relate to the light guitar rhythm being played. The song starts to become more upbeat, dramatic towards the end and as a result at 3:17 the drum beat/drummer helps to introduce the band "rocking out", jumping around suggesting a sense of rebellion associated with the rock-pop genre.

When the song comes to an  abrupt end we see the couple walk away from each other and the band walk off set. I think this is effective as in some music videos the ending can drag out a bit but by ending the video suddenly it almost shock the viewer and regains their focus. Also, by ending in this way the student has taken in to consideration the dramatisation, "make a statement" attitude in the rock-pop/pop punk genre and has connected the narrative and performance elements together which almost gives a feeling of the two aspects coming together to confirm an ending and the band walking off at the end of the production is typical of  the rock-pop genre, almost giving the viewer a "behind the scenes" view of the production.

Overall, I think this student has created a successful video as they have identified the key aspects to a rock-pop/pop punk i.e. using shots which emphasise the song e.g. the drums/drummer being introduced at heavy beat/impact points, highlighting the use of electric guitars etc. The structure of the production is effective as the student has got  the correct balance between narrative and performance and which I think is due to the  choice of three main locations (garage, microphone outside and narrative outside) which makes the video clear simple to the viewer and  the repetition of  some  shots is successful in reminding the  viewer of aspects which they may have forgotten otherwise. However, I do think that the person who played the lead singer should have had more confidence when she was lip-syncing/singing as this lack of  confidence does show at times which affects the lip-syncing but otherwise a successful, effective music video which meets the conventions of the rock-pop genre and it`s target market.