The pop band Maroon 5 is chosen with their song "She Will Be Loved." The first process of this project is, discussing which of the 4 songs provided do we want to make our music marketing project about. The decision came easy to all group members as we went with familiarity and immediately started brainstorming ideas of how we can make our own turn of this song into a music video. But, that was not something we got to do first. The next step in the project process was research on other pop artists from two music production companies. We wanted to go with the big stars currently - Harry Styles, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and Ariana Grande- to get the best people for our research because they are likely to not fall from fame with their current standings. There were technical difficulties, so we all helped each other out to complete our research chart and submit it in a timely fashion.
Following our research, we incorporated ideas of these artists we researched and original ideas of what we want our star to stand for in the brainstorming process. Part one of this blog sparked several more ideas when we majorly independently wrote on what this music video and marketing is going to be about. We used every minute we could to discuss all aspects we could think of to make the music video. How characters were to dress, the location of the filming, availability with enough allotted time for editing, and how to make the shots as close to the storyboard as possible (with safety precautions of course). We used class time for discussion on what impressions or ideas we got from listening to the song on our own. Personally, I started a draft of a storyboard when trying to start envisioning the filming and storyline we brushed upon. I sent the few panels drawn out to the group and during the next class, we discussed ideas further of progression of our target of story. We shifted from ideas of a crazy stalker being the main antagonist in our storytelling music video to more of a desperate ex-girlfriend. We decided based upon our gender dynamic that we would have our main character that the story revolved around be David. Mel seemed most comfortable and excited to play the role of an almost crazy ex and that Larissa could be the new female in David's life, to build a jealous dynamic.
After panning out ideas of a story, I set to do the entire storyboard and fill the rest of the plot lines. With the location agreed upon and date; the picturing for the storyboard scenes were close to the actual ones we experienced when filming. I sent the storyboard as soon as it was finished so the group could review and see the scenes we were going to try and film. I was the one to direct these scenes when we were shooting and film them the best I could. I brought the cupcake for the opening shot, a polaroid camera for the pictures to reflect the past relationship, a restraining order (we deleted the scene from the video), and the storyboard to look and reflect on the ideas planned. Filming was a stressful endeavor due to corona being a risk during the shots that were inside the car and required closeness to be filmed. I was restricted and observed by my father to regulate guidelines for covid, so the filming was almost cut short. We filmed for close to 2 hours, but I had to leave. The rest of the more intimate car scenes were shot by David since he was not under as strict guidelines with socializing. Everyone made filming very easy and listened to the story I planned out on the storyboard and well as adding modified interpretations to better the filming. Scenes were not exactly as they were planned due to the location not having all the qualities desired, but we managed to work it out the best we could.
The scenes were filmed a week before the due date, and David took the role of editing clips for the music video. There were some technical difficulties we heard about that had stunted his process but the video was prepared to the best he could with enough spacing to look at the video with different views, instead of cramming it all in one day. The presentation slides were split among the group to equal workload. Mel was more artistic, so she took on creating and design. She and Larissa worked together for the social networks to look as beautiful as they do while also creating a good marketing plan for our star. His name Jax Dailey came to a more confirmed state while making the presentation. I worked to reach out to friends I knew who would be willing to be our model pop star, and I successfully acquired a person who agreed. We incorporated the photos he sent us into the stars' social media. During our brainstorming, we came up with a backstory to where our pop star got a bit of fame. He was talent scouted on Americas Got Talent and reached third place. One behind a music production company, he used their resources to further his advances to release music.
Marketing strategies for distributing the music followed the basic ideas of availability to stream on all platforms. But the outreach to create publicity, our star planned talk show interviews, personalized 'single' PR packages, merchandise, private screening before release, a pop-up show, and a live countdown with a Q&A. We wanted our star to stand for helping his fans and bringing about attention to social issues that he felt passionate about. Outreach to all-stars is difficult with a big enough following, but he reaches out and leaves a connection, where and when he can communicate and show compassion for his fans. Presenting our information was planned with our topics and order based on who was more involved in that idea. We all agreed the slides would include the information for presenting, but we would also add to it. On the day of the presentation, a group member was unable to come to class (a health concern), so the planned process became a bit jumbled, and nerves decided to kick in.
This project was indeed stressful but creative freedom. The ability to learn and explore more on our own was something that still needs more practice, due to the regular conventions of school learning following the same principle of learning for years upon years, but the information learned and ideas discussed created some new thought flow on these processes. Observation and critique of other groups showed other methods and work put in to make the same original finish as us. The presentations were thoroughly entertaining to watch but also spiked nerves based on the differences of the original content group did not think to cover. This project may be helpful because I am leaning towards the filming option on my Cambridge portfolio. Another experience in storyboarding definitely helped me with envisioning as well the long process of thought-out planning before jumping into filming. These aspects would help me if I choose the film option for the Cambridge portfolio. If I were to pick the music-related one, the research would be a very helpful background in the facing of a music band project option.
Here is the website we created for Jax Dailey:
https://jaxdailey.wixsite.com/my-site
These are pictures from his social media:
And here is our design:
