Letter to Kaleo's Companies in charge about Copyright

Here is the letter we wrote to Atlantic Records, asking for permission to use Kaleo's song Way Down We Go for our A Level Media Coursework.

Students A Level Media Music Video Analysis

The Double-ganger

One of the main elements of our video is our protagonists (Hannah's) Double-ganger. In the video we find out by the end that a hooded figure has been following Hannah while she has been on her Journey. This turns out to be a reflection of herself (a Double-ganger). While filming we knew that we could excuse this effectively with clever camera angles and swapping of Costumes (coats). However we needed someone to come with us on our filming days to be in the camera view with Hannah, but not showing their face, otherwise the effect at the end would be ruined.
When casting we needed to keep in mind that we needed someone of a similar build to Hannah, in order for the illusion to make sense. We ended up using Paige who is in our class. As she is our friend, she is of a very similar build to Hannah and was very available to come and film with us. Her costume was very similar to Hannah, in that it is all black with a similar blue coat. However we wanted the coats they were wearing to be slightly different as allowing the audience to recognise who is the protagonist and who is the double-ganger is very important for the storyline. Hannah's coat was a lot bigger with a fluffy hood (to hide her face) whereas Paige's coat is smaller with our the fluffiness on the hood. One problem we will need to be aware of when filming is Paige's hair, as it is a completely different colour to Hannah's and if it is visible in the video, the effect will be lost.

Costumes and Props

Costumes:

Costumes used in the 'Way Down We Go' music video are very neutral and plain, as they are not the main focus and the band and/or producers might not want to distract the audience with an expressive outfit, when the song and the bands performance is the main focus, as for the Indie Rock genre performances are very important, if not the main aspect of a band such as Kaleo. Moreover, the lead singer JJ Julius Son in the video looks to be wearing all black. Again, this is not made obvious in the video as it is not what the band want their audience to think about throughout the video. After Hannah and I discussed this we decided to have both our female protagonist and our male character who will be lip-syncing would be wearing all dark colours. Aiden ended up wearing all black; black top, black trousers and black shoes. Hannah ended up wearing the same however her jumper ended up having writing on it, which linked to the Indie theme. Hannah also was wearing a dark blue coat with a large hood, this large hood allows her character to 'hide' from society and her true self. Hannah's double-ganger, also known as Paige, was wearing the same style of clothing, along with a darker blue coat to link to Hannah. To conclude on the Costume side of our project, we did not choose to have our characters to be in drastic clothing, due to the fact that we did not want the outfits to distract from the main aspects of the video, which is the message about mental health issues

Props:

We did not use many props in our video other than a tripod to get steady and arty shots, the colourful lights for the lip-sync clips, a phone, a backpack and a train ticket. In more detail, the backpack, phone and train ticket were used to enforce the idea of our female protagonist being on a journey/escaping something. The tripod allowed me to stabilise the camera to capture extreme close up shots, for example; the close up shots of the water fountain where more effective while using the tripod because it was less shaky. The shakiness was present because of the size of the lens I was using, due to its length the wind would shake it a lot easier. The tripod helped improve this massively. Finally, the lights used for the lip-sync scenes was the most effective prop we used as it help link to Indie Rock; due to the colourful and flashing lights and Aiden standing against this light creates a silhouette, making him the centre of the light. This light effect reminds me of an Indie Rock concert due to the flashing and changing colour. We are representing an Indie Rock performance on a much smaller scale.

Mental Health

Mental Health and Illnesses are the main theme and purpose for our music video as we would like to make people aware of this and whether they or people they know may be suffering. However our main aim was to target women who were suffering from a mental illness/disorder, that is why our main character is a girl, because it brings more awareness. Women between the ages of 16 and 24 are almost three times as likely (at 26%) to experience a common mental health problem as their male contemporaries (9%) and have higher rates of self-harm, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. This is clearly an issue that needs a deeper look and a strategy for addressing the factors that are causing it. However this does not mean men do not suffer as well; In 2013, 6,233 suicides were recorded in the UK for people aged 15 and older. Of these, 78% were male and 22% were female. We wanted to establish this in our video, that is why we have a male character lip syncing to the male lead singers voice. Representing that men do suffer as well as women because our character who is lip-syncing will be showing a lot of emotion as he helps develop the journey/story of our protagonist as well as his own. Leaving the audience wondering what is going through his head, much like what people do when they have a mental disorder.

Postponing Filming

Unfortunately due to the bad weather in our location we were planning to film (which was Rochester) we had to Postpone the rest of our filming. We have rescheduled it to Thursday the 14th of December and we have planned to arrive their around 4pm in order to get the right time of day; which is evening time just as the sun is about to go down. As this scene will be the end of the day for our protagonist.

Location Research | Rochester

Our chosen Location for filming in order for the day:

We decided use Rochester as another location because we wanted different scenery for the running scenes, the capture and the meltdown. The illusion that they had run a far distance into a different place was important for the plot, if the location was recognisable from previous scenes the audience may have got confused. In addition, Rochester was the preferred choice for this due to it not being too far away, so travel was not an issue, and I like the scenery there. For example; the time we are planning to film it will be fairly dark and the lights will be on in the High Street, allowing the shots to be aesthetically pleasing for the audience. Moreover, we wanted the setting to be slightly darker as the illusion that time had passed while they were running was important. Not only is this a music video but it is a story as well. Here are the following Locations in Rochester;

• The Vines
• Rochester High Street

We will be going to the Vines first as this is where the running scene will carry on from the last time we filmed (which was in Canterbury). This particular location is very aesthetically pleasing due to the symmetry of the trees along the sides of the path. Along with the trees there are also a couple of old-fashioned looking lampposts, which I feel give an Indie Vibe, they will also help brighten the clips up as it will be dark when we film. The long straight path will also allow us to get some effective long shots as our characters are running. We will have to be aware that the public will be walking through her regularly as we will be right next to the train station. e won't want too many people walking past the camera view as they may distract from what is actually going on in the video. I hope that this Location overall will be successful as it has a beautiful setting that will go effectively with the other shots we have from our previous Location (Canterbury).

Here is the second location that we will be going to in Rochester, which is Rochester High Street. The reason that we went to this location before The Vines was not only (and more importantly)for plot purposes but due to time we had planned to film The Vines will be too dark for us to get appropriate lighting for each clip. Whereas the High Street will be lit up from street lamps, shop windows and Christmas lights, allowing us to capture the appropriate lighting, so the audience will be able to see what is going on. The reason we chose the High Street as our final location is due to the different areas our characters will be able to run down, for example; alleys for our double-ganger to try and 'escape down'. It is also a very public place that may help represent a deeper meaning. Such as the mental issues that a person may have aka our protagonist. The busyness of the street could represent the protagonists mind, and how nothing is ever straight forward when you have a mental issue. This will hopefully also be a successful and effective Location.

Record Label Research

Major Label:

Major Labels are record labels that are a part of a large international media group. These are usually referred to as 'The Big Three', this includes; Universal Music Group (most of EMI's recorded music division absorbed into UMG), Sony Music (EMI music Published absorbed into Sony/ATV Music Publishing) and Warner Music Group (EMI's Parlophone and EMI/Virgin Classics labels absorbed into WMG on 1 July 2013). In addition to this, the reason these labels are referred to as 'The Big Three' is because they represent the majority of the music sold, making up as much as 80% of the music market or more depending on the year. Moreover, artists who are signed to a major record label are either signed to the central label or the the subsidiary labels that are owned by the major record. For example; an artist or band could be signed to Sony, or the could be signed to the Sony subsidiary label Columbia Records. These subsidiary labels have access to their own staff, can sign their own artists and make the majority of their own finical decisions. However, they have to answer to the "main" company; their involvement in the subsidiary labels can be things like; managing their budget or reducing their staff etc. If the subsidiary labels deliver a poor performance the major companies can shut down the company and distribute the artists to the other subsidiary labels they own. Meaning  that major labels have a lot of power and control over the production, marketing and distribution of the music that they (and their subsidiary labels) release.

Warner Brothers Records is a major label, and is also one of 'The Big Three' record labels. It is an American major record label established in 1958 as the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group (WMG), and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. Warner Bros Records was established on March 19th, 1958, as the recorded-music division of the American film studio Warner Bros. For most of its early existence it was one of the group of labels owned and operated by larger parent corporations. The sequence of companies that controlled Warner Bros and its allied labels evolved through a convoluted series of corporate mergers and acquisitions from the early 1960's to the early 2000's. over this period Warner Bros Records grew from a struggling minor player in the music industry to become one of the top recording labels in the world. Artists that are currently signed to Warner Bros Records include Cher, Kylie Minogue, Jason Derulo, Due Lipa, lily Allen, Adam Lambert etc.