Goodwin's Theory

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).

There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).

Mood Board for Our Music Video

Genre Characteristics -POP

Pop music can be defined as "a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz and folk musics". Although pop music is often seen as oriented towards the singles charts it is not the sum of all chart music, which has always contained songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock, and novelty songs, while pop music as a genre is usually seen as existing and developing separately. Thus "pop music" may be used to describe a distinct genre, aimed at a youth market, often characterized as a softer alternative to rock and roll.

Musicologists often identify the following characteristics as typical of the pop music genre:

• an aim of appealing to a general audience, rather than to a particular sub-culture or ideology
• an emphasis on craftsmanship rather than formal "artistic" qualities
• an emphasis on recording, production, and technology, over live performance
• a tendency to reflect existing trends rather than progressive developments
• much pop music is intended to encourage dancing, or it uses dance-oriented beats or rhythms

The main medium of pop music is the song, often between two and a half and three and a half minutes in length, generally marked by a consistent and noticeable rhythmic element, a mainstream style and a simple traditional structure. Common variants include the verse-chorus form, with a focus on melodies and catchy hooks, and a chorus that contrasts melodically, rhythmically and harmonically with the verse. The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment. The lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions.

Storyboard and Shotlist

Mise en Scene Research

We will use three main locations for our music video. One of the locations will be in a car, driving down a road to represent the journey of the song. We will also use a stage, likely in the drama studio, for the dance routines in the video. Our final location will be at a park, in Milton. This is to show how the theme affects all parts of life.

We will be using a variety of props including a car for the majority of our video. We will also be using lights for the dance section to make the performers stand out from the surroundings.
Because of the different locations that we will be having, we will also have different costumes for the different parts. For the section in the drama studio, because of the dance routine, the costume would need to be voyeuristic to meet the conventions of pop music.

Artist Research

The Saturdays are a British-Irish girl group who formed in 2007, and consists of five members; Una Healy, Mollie King, Frankie Sandford, Rochelle Wiseman and Vanessa White. They have scored ten UK Top 10 singles with only a eleven singles released. In July 2011, it was announced that the band have sold nearly 2 million records in the United Kingdom alone.

The Saturdays were originally signed to Fascination Records, a sub-label of Polydor Records. Their first studio album, Chasing Lights, was recorded during May and June 2008 with input from multiple producers and song writers. The group supported Girls Aloud on their Tangled Up Tour before the release of their first single, "If This Is Love". As well as supporting Girls Aloud, The Saturdays also supported the Jonas Brothers at their Hammersmith Apollo gig.Chasing Lights was released in October 2008 and peaked at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart. The groups next singles were "Up" and "Issues" both of which charted well. The group also did a cover of "Just Can't Get Enough" for Comic Relief 2009.  In May 2010, the band teamed up with Manchester United and they will single at a pre-match concert at Old Trafford. The band released a fifth single from Chasing Lights, "Work".  Their first headlining tour, The Work Tour had twenty-seven dates. In 2008 and 2009, the Saturdays appeared in adverts for several products including a brand of deodorant, tampons, mobile phones, an operating system, and hair removal products. The band was named as models for hair removal product, Veet. The band later became new faces of major campign of Impulse women's deodorant. The Saturdays said that fashion is a huge part of the band, saying people look up to them as their icons. 

The band released the mini album/extended play, Headlines! on 16 August 2010. The project's lead single, "Missing You" was released on 8 August 2010. The second single "Higher", was released on 29 September 2010. Flo Rida recorded a new version of "Higher". After Flo Rida beat the group to number one for the second time, he offered to do a collaboration with the band. The week after "Higher" was released, they re-issued Headlines!, including the new Flo Rida version of "Higher" and three other tracks which were on their previous album Wordshaker. The Saturdays announced their second national tour in the UK, The Headlines Tour. The Saturdays were given their own reality TV show, by ITV2, The Saturdays: 24/7. The show was to follow the Saturdays every step – from gigs, photo-shoots and TV appearances to driving lessons, surprise birthday sky-dives and hanging out with family and friends. Their autobiography, The Saturdays: Our Story was released on 25 October 2010.

The group began work on their second studio album in early March 2009, whilst performing on their first headlining tour, The Work Tour. Wordshaker generated generally favorable reviews amongst critics upon its release. The album's lead single, "Forever Is Over" was released on 4 October 2009 and debuted at number-two. The second single to be released from Wordshaker was "Ego". 

The group announced they were working on their third full-length studio album in late 2010. The first single released from the album was "Notorious". The single was released digitally on May 22, 2011 in the UK. Their second single from their third album, "All Fired Up" was released on September 4, 2011. The group is set to embark on their third tour "All Fired Up Arena Tour in December 2011.

Had it with Today Lyrics Analysis

Woke up this morning, feeling bad
Almost forgot what day I had
And there was something not quite right
Cos' everything was so against me I had no power to fight
And I was all alone, ohhh


Looking at this first section, it seems like the song has a negative theme which contradicts the tempo of the song. 
In our music video, we will show the performers getting into the car and setting off, with just the driver singing along to the words.


I've had it with today
Wish it were yesterday
I can't wait for tomorrow
It's just one of those days
When nothing goes my way
At least I know it will past and elaspe


After looking at the chorus, you can see that the song builds on from the negativity of the first verse, but adds that there a positive end to everything despite what situation you are in.
For the chorus, we will have all the girls singing together. Because of the recurrence of the chorus, we will have the girls singing in the different locations of the video.


I've fallen sick and cannot smile
I'm hardening up inside (ooohhh)
Even the weather shows my pain (shows my pain)
If life were like this constantly I think I'd surely go insane
The pitch feeds my pain
To my veins, ohhh


In this verse, there is a lot of physical references to show that the pain is physical as well as emotional. The use of "sick", "cannot smile" "pain" and "insane" all shows the extent of the problems.
Like the first verse, we will have a sole singer rather than the whole group. this is done to emphasize the personal feelings of the lyrics whereas the chorus is more like a group feeling.


Oohh
If there were no lows, there'd be no highs
I'm glad now I've realised this low can only go
Higher and higher...


At this point of the song, there is a positive look on things, with the lyrics showing that things can always get better.
Again for this section, we will have another individual singer which will represent giving hope to a group.


I've had it with today
Ohh-ohh, I've had it
It's just one of those days
Just one of those days, ohh-ohhh
I wish it were tomorrow


This section is similar to the chorus, but because of the differences, will be sung by the final singer.
In this part, is re-emphasizing the troubles that they have but by saying "I wish i were tomorrow" shows that she has understood what has been said and is looking forward to the bad times to improve.


Had it with today, had it with today
Oh-oh-whoa-oh


To represent the end of the song, the final two lines will be sung by the driver who started the song. This shows that the song has done a full circle and that the group are in a better position than when they started. This will also  be shown from the car journey, as they will leave somewhere like an ordinary car park and will finish at a nice location.
Throughout the video will be a variety of locations, this will show how much of an impact the problems have on all aspects of their lives.