Music Promo Video Props & Equipment

In order to achieve the shocking and controversial effect we are hoping for and too ensure our theme of a 'wild party' looks realistic and professional, it may be beneficial to use a large variety of props. Below is a variety of images we have collected from the website weheartit, displaying party type situations, in which we have observed to find conventional props we could use in our music promo video. 

Props Collage

After observing the variety of images we have collected and numerous music videos, we found their were many props that were present in them all. The props that were present and that we have selected to use within our music video, consist of the following:

• Water guns
• Cans of silly sting
• Food (To use within a food fight)
• Balloons
• Streamers
• Fancy dress costumes
• Cigarettes
• Alcohol (Bottles containing fake alcohol)
• Confetti
• Fake sick (Vegetable soup)

As a group we have tried to obtain many of these props, for as little money as possible by looking through our own belongings, whilst also getting into contact with family or friends. We have been successfully able to gather many of the props above, we had hoped for, which will ensure that we achieve our desired affect for our music promo video. With the use and combination of all the props above, we will be able to create and enhance the effect of an out of control and wild party. If we were to include no props within our music promo video, this could cause the video setting 'a party' to look very unrealistic and unprofessional. This could also minimise the shocking and controversial effect we are hoping to create, with emphasis from our selection of props. 

Music Promo Video Chosen Location (Original Images)

After producing the research, shown previously, for the location of our music video, we wanted to locate the majority of our music video in a derelict/disused warehouse/building and also in a wooded/forest area. However as we were worried about whether we would have to gain permission to film in an actual disused warehouse, we aimed to find a room or building which would could gain access too, that would just provided us with the appearance of a disused warehouse/building. 

Outer house/Garage Before Items Were Removed

Outer house/Garage Before Items Were Removed

Outer house/Garage Before Items Were Removed 

Outer house/Garage Before Items Were Removed

Above is an image of the location which we used for the indoor 'party' proportion of the video.  The location we used is my garage/outer house building, with all of the items seen in photograph above removed. We felt this would be appropriate, specifically as it gave a derelict appearance, with a cement floor and bare brick walls, creating the illusion of a disused building. We also felt that as the room was quite small this would play to our benefit, as with a small number of people, the footage would still appear as if the room were quite packed and busy, like an actual party. 

Disused Warehouse

Above is an image of the location we used for the morning after sequence of the party. This location is the disused warehouse we had intended on originally filming in. However as we were unable to gain access to it, we simply filmed the location from a particular angle, whilst my self and Nikki were walking away from the building, to allow it too appear as if we were leaving the warehouse and the party had taken place inside, when placed directly after the party footage. 

The image above, displays the last location we used for the music video. This location displays the tree/forest area which is situated nearby the disused warehouse location. We chose this location, as it causes the location of the party to appear as if it were in the middle of a desolate location. This location also benefits the music promo video, as it also provides a good view of the surrounding sky, displaying the sunrise, allowing the viewers to see that it is the morning after the party. 

One Of The Group Members Houses

One Of The Group Members Houses

One Of The Group Members Houses

Asides from the main locations used within the music video, we also used Nikki, one of the group members  house as the location for the beginning of the story, which can be displayed in the image above. We simply used this location for the beginning of the story, in which I myself, is persuading Nikki to come out the party. 

Music Promo Video Full Story Board & Shot Types

Before recording the footage for our music promo video, it is extremely beneficial to devise a storyboard, displaying each scene of the music promo video in order, with each particular shot type and movement we will be using for each scene. The full storyboard we have produced for our music video, with the final selection of shot types and movements, is displayed in the images below. 

Music Promo Video Full Storyboard

We have ensured to plan and sketch both the beginning and end of the music promo video fully, as they provide more of a narrative and organised order to follow. However specifically, for the middle 'party' section of the music video, we will be creating a fast paced montage of a variety of video clips. Therefore, although we have planned a few video clips we would definitely like to include in the montage as a basis, we will be taking a large number of video clips from different angles of a variety of behaviour on the day of filming. 


Producing a full story board plan, ensures as a group we are aware of what footage needs to be taken and provides a basis for how it should appear. When recording the footage, we will be aware of what personnel and props should be included in the footage and where to position the camera and how it should be moved. This will create a more orderly and organised production process, and ensure our music promo video is created how we hoped. 

Music Promo Video Location Recce

Before filming our music video, it is important that we have completed the recce questions to ensure we have taken into consideration everyone’s health, and everyone will be safe whilst taking part.

Are there any potential hazards that could pose a health and safety risk where your music video will take place?
As we will be filming our music promo video in outdoor areas such as a forest, wooded area and a derelict  building, there could be a number of potential hazards. Within the woods, there could be a number of tripping hazards such a  branches or rocks. Tripping hazards could also be present in the building, if there are any rocks or empty objects laying around. There could also be sharp  objects present in both areas, such as broken bottles, which could be very dangerous. 

What will you do to ensure these risks are minimised?

To ensure these risks are minimized, we will film in a small part of greenery area, which we will ensure has no broken branches or rocks lying around. However if there is, we will clear the area firstly. In the building, to minimise hazards, we will clear out the place first, not only to ensure we can move around safely but to also ensure we can get all personnel and equipment into the place or building.

Will the time of day/weather affect the outcome of the music video? Have you allowed for this?
As the music video will be recorded in outdoor areas, we need to make sure the weather is clear of both rain and wind. This could interfere with the overall music promo video, the effect we are trying to achieve and the costume and make up of those will be present in the video. This could also damage the recording equipment. We would also like to record a portion of our video at dusk, this may not provide us with enough time to record the entire portion. Therefore we may also need to record that specific portion of the video over multiple days.

Have you considered lighting? What about the ‘problems’ of natural lighting, either outside, or streaming through a window? Will you need to use a flash? Have you considered reflective objects that might spoil the effect?
The majority of the music promo video, will be recorded in a derelict building, which has very few windows. Although we would like the video to have quite low key lighting, we still need to actors and action to be visible to the viewer, therefore we may need at least one source of lighting such as a spotlight or even simply a lamp. The portion of the video which we will be recording at dusk, will be recorded in the wooded forest area, as we may need lighting for both the area and on the camera, to help illuminate the area and ensure the scenes and characters are visible on the camera, this will require a light source which will be mobile and easy to move around and carry. 

Do you need permission to record your music video in the place/venue you have in mind?
The first proportion of the music video will be shoot in the garage of one of the group members, therefore this will only simply require the permission of her, in order to arrange a time suitable to her. We will also be recording a portion of the video in a wooded, forest area, however this is a public area and is particularly rather quiet, so we won't need permission to film or be inflicting with any members of the public. 

Are other people/crowds likely to be an issue for you? What have you done to ensure that it will not spoil the effect?
The majority of the video will be recorded indoor, therefore other then those involved in the music promo video, there will be no public crowds of people. The portion of the video however, which will be recorded outside, people walking around could become an issue. However the locations we are filming in are rather quiet therefore this may not be an issue, but if people do walk past during filming we will have to simply wait or politely ask them to move.

Are you reliant on lifts/props/friends’ equipment/models? How have you planned that these things will come together at the appointed time?
For our music video, we will be featuring a large number of people, to ensure the party atmosphere looks professional and sufficient and gain the chaotic effect we desire. Therefore we will need to get in contact with everyone and arrange a time in which everyone will be available to be in the recording.  The props we will be featuring in the music video such as water guns, belong to the members of the group, therefore we do not require permission, as they have planned in advance to bring them along to the video shoot. The equipment we will be using, the tripod and the video camera, will be borrowed from the media department at our college. Therefore we will need to get permission from our lecturer before borrowing the equipment to record and ensure other groups do not need the recording equipment at the same time, which could interfere with our recording schedule.  

Music Promo Video Location Ideas (Original Images)

Before creating our music promo video, we discussed as a group where we would possibly like to record the video. We would like to record our video in a urban locations, such as derelict buildings and forest areas. Therefore to gain some inspiration for the specific locations we will chose, we searched for locations within our local area to see what was available. Below are some photographs, displaying a variety of different urban areas which we found within our local area:

Music Promo Video Location Ideas

We have chosen an urban area, as we wanted to present a chaotic atmosphere, which will be emphasised through the use of derelict buildings and woodland locations. These type of areas, also seemed to be very popular in the music videos which we chose as inspiration and had a similar theme and music genre too ours, which would allow us to keep to the stereotypical conventions for our music video, ensuring it looks more professional and consistent of the genre. 

Time Management (5 Weeks To Go)

Within our media coursework, we have completed all of the research and inspiration we needed to create the initial ideas for our music promo video, CD digipak and magazine advertisement. Afterwards, we then created the first drafts for all aspects of our printed parts of the overall package. Through producing numerous pieces of feedback, we have created and amended a number of drafts for each aspect until the final drafts were produced successfully. Therefore overall we have created and finished the final versions of our printed coursework.

With 5 weeks to go until the final deadline, we are now focusing on the music promo video. So far we have planned:

1. the initial plot idea
2. the genre conventions we would like to include
3. costume and make-up ideas
4. character ideas
5. the song we will be using as the soundtrack/to create the music promo video to
6. a rough copy of the story board and shot types

This has provided us with almost all the research and planning we need to create the final draft of our story board and shot types, to create our music promo video, which we will produce within the next 5 weeks. In order to do so within the next 5 weeks we must:

1. consider and chose the final location for our music promo video
2. complete the location recce for the music promo video to ensure the health and safety of everyone who will be taking part, is taken into consideration 
3. the props we will require for the music promo video are available
4. after producing all the planning, we will then go onto shooting and filming the music promo video 
5. this will then need to be edited appropriately, with the soundtrack we have chosen added to create the final music promo video and complete the overall package

Music Promo Video Story Board & Shot Types - Initial Beginning Sketches

Before we can begin to record our music promo video, it is important that we plan each scene beforehand, to ensure everyone within the group and involved in the video are aware of what they are doing. Before designing the storyboard, we first wrote down a list of ideas, of the scenes we could include in the music promo video, which can be displayed below.

Music Promo Video Scene Ideas

After drafting initial ideas for our music promo video scenes. We then began to devise a storyboard, in order to see how we would set the scenes out. Below is the example storyboard we created, displaying the first 10 shots from our music promo video.

Example Music Promo Video Storyboard

This is an extract from our overall storyboard, featuring the first 10 shots of our music promo video. We have included a small description under each shot draft, featuring what is in each shot and what camera angle, movement and shot type will be used. Creating a storyboard before producing our music video is extremely helpful, as it will provide a more orderly production process and keep the group on track with what scenes need to be filmed and how, ensuring our project is completed, specifically to our final plan.

Peer Feedback - (Printed Tasks) CD Digipak & Magazine Advertisement Final Drafts

To ensure the final draft of our printed tasks, the CD digipak and the magazine advertisement, are completed to the most professional standard possible, and also appealed to our target audience, we thought it would be most suitable to gain feedback from our peers, who are among the age group of our target audience. To gain this feedback, we printed out both our printed tasks and glued them onto large pieces of paper, allowing our peers to annotate there thoughts and opinions around the printed tasks on the paper. To display how we conducted the feedback, we recorded this onto a video, which can be displayed below. 

However, although the video displays how we conducted the feedback, it is difficult to see what our peers annotated upon the pieces of paper. Therefore to display the specific feedback our peers wrote around the printed tasks, we also took photographs of each piece of paper, which are displayed below.  

Magazine Advertisement Feedback

CD Digipak Front Cover Feedback

CD Digipak Inside Sleeve Feedback

CD Digipak Back Cover Feedback

From viewing the feedback which was gained from our class peers, we are very pleased with the outcome of our final print products. For both our products, the majority of the feedback provided was very positive. For our magazine advertisement, our peers felt we had a good layout, we had a nice and relevant use of colour and they particularly liked the use of the music reviews which was placed at the top on the playing card. They also liked how the things placed around the image, such as iPods ect, are relevant to both the style and genre. For the CD digipak, we also received very positive feedback. They felt the colours we had used, fit very well with the image and the overall product and the images used were of a good quality, meaning the overall product looked professional. They also felt the photos and fonts used were very well done and professional and the cluttered layout, has a nice effect on the product and suits the theme very well. We are very pleased overall that we have been able to appeal to our target audience effectively and that they liked our finished products and felt they were similar to those of a professional standard. 

Magazine Advertisement Fourth & Final Draft

Magazine Advertisement Fourth & Final Draft

This is the fourth draft we have created, for our magazine advertisement. As a group, we were extremely pleased with the third draft we had created and had intended to use the third draft as the final and finished draft for our magazine advertisement. However after receiving feedback, from both our lecturer and peers, we felt it would be beneficial for the overall package to redesign and remake the front cover of our CD digipak. Therefore once we had completed the second draft for the front cover of our CD digipak, we then needed to replace the original front cover which was featured on the CD case and iPod with the new design. This simply allows the product to look professional and consist with the CD digipak, whilst also our audience to identify and associate the magazine advertisement with the CD digipak, which would allow them to successfully find and purchase the item. Therefore as we are very pleased with the final alterations and changes, this will be featured as the final draft of our magazine advertisement. 

CD Digipak Inside Sleeve Second & Final Draft

CD Digipak Inside Sleeve Second & Final Draft

This is the second draft we have created, for the inside sleeve of our CD digipak. We were very happy with the first draft which we created for the inside sleeve, in particular how similar we were able to create it, to the initial design of how we had hoped the inside sleeve would appear. However, within the first draft, we intended to place photographs within the polaroids featured, unfortunately we had not taken part in the photo shoot yet to produce these photographs. Now that we have taken the photographs and selected which specific ones we would like to use, we have edited them to create the desired effect we wanted to achieve, specifically a very vintage and dishevelled appearance. We then afterwards, placed the completed photographs into each polaroid, in order to complete the final draft of the inside sleeve. In addition, we have also had to make one small alteration to the overall layout. As evident in the first draft of the inside sleeve, their appears to be four polaroids, featuring the names of the four group members. However, as one of our group members has left the group, we will no longer be featuring her within the inside sleeve. Therefore we have removed one of the polaroid images and will be only featuring the three remaining group members within the inside sleeve.