Girls, this is excellent work! Well done. Your research is extensive! You could do with a little more on planning - casting shots, location shots, costumes, props etc. You have some really interesting and well developed ideas here - I'm looking forward to seeing the results! Make sure you book your workshop time and continue to blog through the production phase.
Any problems/questions then see me.
Mrs A
Sunday 31 October 2010
Thursday 28 October 2010
Our Storyboard...
Shot 1: in the first shot a point of view medium close-up shot will be used of a student having their photo taken as part of a normal yearly routine, this shot will show a few students coming and going for their photo. There will be no instrumental sound for shots 1 and 2.
Shot 2: shot 2 will follow on from shot one with pupils still having their photo taken however shot 1 will cut to shot 2 as an extreme close-up of the pupils face as they turn to look at the door. Shot 2 will cut to shot 3.
Shot 3/4: The sound track now starts as extreme close-up shots show "normal" school pupils getting ready for photo day and the "experimental" pupils getting ready.
Shot 5/6: in shot 5 extreme close-up shots of the students leaving their home will follow onto a panning shot of the 6 "experimental" students walking in a line.
Shot 7: this show will consist of a long shot of the forest to set the setting, this will also intrigue the audience as to what the students are doing there. Shot 7 then cuts to shot 8.
Shot 8: in this shot a medium, close-up shot shows the 6 students walking into the forest together. Shot 8 then cuts to shot 9.
Shot 9/10: a freeze frame will be used for these shots which will show each gender group and will consist of titles "The Girls" and "The Boys" in the shot.
Shot 11: the band are introduced in this shot which consists of a live performance where close-up shots of the band members and instruments will be used.
Shot 12: in this shot the food fight between the boys and the girls begins, extreme close-up shots of the food in the students hands and of features such as eyes etc.
Shot 13: the band will appear again in this shot of them performing, again extreme, close-up shots, medium shots and long shots will be used to get an insight into the band.
Shot 14: a medium shot will show the group of students starting the food fight over the table, further extreme close-up shots will show food being thrown in each others faces/hair etc the characters will then start to run towards each other and progress further into the food fight, a green screen will be used to slow down the actions of 2 of the characters whilst the background will be sped up. When the food fight ends a medium-long shot will show the group walking away from the woods.
Shot 15/16: Shot 15 will consist of a point of view close-up shot of the 6 students each having their photo taken on photo day after the food fight has happened, it will then cut to shot 16 which will again be a point of view shot but this time will consist of a medium shot of the group in a group photo.
On the shots that include the bands live performance the editing will increase in speed to fit the tempo of the music which should be of a fast instrumental/tempo. Transitions between shots will consist of cuts.
By Heather Ainsworth
Jamendo.com
After deciding that we wanted to choose the music promotion brief for our coursework, it took us little time to agree that we wanted to use a song that allowed us creative expression of a professional but unheard-of capacity. To do this meant finding music which wasn't in the charts and was already recorded to a high standard. Jamendo.com is a website filled with music which all have Creative Commons licenses; this means all the music is free and legal to download and use in situations which don't seek commercial profit.
Therefore, we spent time lookin through Jamendo's archives to find the type of song we thought would suit our intentions, and downloaded it free and legally to use in our coursework.
Therefore, we spent time lookin through Jamendo's archives to find the type of song we thought would suit our intentions, and downloaded it free and legally to use in our coursework.
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| [Above: Jamendo's logo] |
Identifying Roles and Equipment
Identifying Roles
Hopefully, the work throughout our coursework will be shared equally. Heather, Lydia and I have attempted to share out the blogs we need to do between us, not by the number we do each but how much we do each, as some blogs require less than others.
Research and Planning therefore is as balanced between us as we could make it. Production will be very similar in this respect, we'll all have input on the kind of shots that are set up, the scenes that are produced and the way the music video is edited. We hope to play the roles of the Girls Team in our video, which means we'll all also have that extra part in our work. Video editing will be shared between us, and the photography and picture editing used for the digipak will also be as equal as possible, but Lydia does have the most experience here so she may guide Heather and I at this stage.
Equipment
The software we'll be using includes InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Express. We'll use these for editing the digipak and music video. To film our video we'll be using handheld camcorders, one from college and my own, so that we can try to get as many angles as possible. With these, we'll use basic tripods to support them, and a digital SLR camera to take pictures of the band for other aspects of the coursework.
In our research, we've used websites such as jamendo.com for the music, blogger.com for this blog, google.co.uk to research other bands and brand imaging, and scribd.com as well as photobucket.com to help put documents and pictures onto the blog.
Hopefully, the work throughout our coursework will be shared equally. Heather, Lydia and I have attempted to share out the blogs we need to do between us, not by the number we do each but how much we do each, as some blogs require less than others.
Research and Planning therefore is as balanced between us as we could make it. Production will be very similar in this respect, we'll all have input on the kind of shots that are set up, the scenes that are produced and the way the music video is edited. We hope to play the roles of the Girls Team in our video, which means we'll all also have that extra part in our work. Video editing will be shared between us, and the photography and picture editing used for the digipak will also be as equal as possible, but Lydia does have the most experience here so she may guide Heather and I at this stage.
Equipment
The software we'll be using includes InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Express. We'll use these for editing the digipak and music video. To film our video we'll be using handheld camcorders, one from college and my own, so that we can try to get as many angles as possible. With these, we'll use basic tripods to support them, and a digital SLR camera to take pictures of the band for other aspects of the coursework.
In our research, we've used websites such as jamendo.com for the music, blogger.com for this blog, google.co.uk to research other bands and brand imaging, and scribd.com as well as photobucket.com to help put documents and pictures onto the blog.
Wednesday 27 October 2010
Branding- Green Day!!
Branding is about creating an image that people link to a particular type of product. Artists too have now created their own band image in order to compete with the vast amount of artists and genres out there today.
One band that have a huge band image is Green Day, since they first stepped onto the scene in the early 90's Green Day have had a reputation for being a punk rock band and turning punk into mainstream. They created a punk rock image that represented them as punk rock artists very much into the typical rock 'n' roll stereotype of sex,drugs and rock 'n' roll with quite heavy instrumental music. This can be seen in early videos such as Basket Case to more recent ones such as Jesus Of Suburbia and American Idiot.
Basket Case:
Jesus Of Suburbia:
American Idiot:
Throughout the years Green Day have established a band image that can be seen by their style, decor and colour palette. There are two colour palettes that can be seen in different media texts, firstly a typical representation of the rock genre is the colours red and black, Green Day have shown that their genre has rock embedded in it by wearing a lot of black and red, however only in their recent music has this band identity really taken place. For example in the Basket Case music video the only visible red is the red guitar strap yet in the more recent Jesus of Suburbia video a lot more black and red can be seen varied throughout the mise en scene.
Secondly another colour palette of green and white can be seen particularly in the early products of the band however can be seen in the American Idiot music video which conforms to the bands name.
When Green Day made a comeback in 2004 their band image was still recognisable however a more mature look had occurred and this time with a black and red colour palette still keeping with the rock genre representations. More recently the band established a new logo of a grenade to conform with the new mature sound and transformed lyrics of wars and politics still showing that they are still that fearless rebellious band.
By Heather Ainsworth
One band that have a huge band image is Green Day, since they first stepped onto the scene in the early 90's Green Day have had a reputation for being a punk rock band and turning punk into mainstream. They created a punk rock image that represented them as punk rock artists very much into the typical rock 'n' roll stereotype of sex,drugs and rock 'n' roll with quite heavy instrumental music. This can be seen in early videos such as Basket Case to more recent ones such as Jesus Of Suburbia and American Idiot.
Basket Case:
Jesus Of Suburbia:
American Idiot:
Throughout the years Green Day have established a band image that can be seen by their style, decor and colour palette. There are two colour palettes that can be seen in different media texts, firstly a typical representation of the rock genre is the colours red and black, Green Day have shown that their genre has rock embedded in it by wearing a lot of black and red, however only in their recent music has this band identity really taken place. For example in the Basket Case music video the only visible red is the red guitar strap yet in the more recent Jesus of Suburbia video a lot more black and red can be seen varied throughout the mise en scene.
Secondly another colour palette of green and white can be seen particularly in the early products of the band however can be seen in the American Idiot music video which conforms to the bands name.
Green Day's band image can be seen in this album artwork through the use of the green and white colour palette which has become a huge symbol for the band, the font used looks quite "goofy" which at the time fits with the bands image as they were young rebellious man singing about sex and drugs.
When Green Day made a comeback in 2004 their band image was still recognisable however a more mature look had occurred and this time with a black and red colour palette still keeping with the rock genre representations. More recently the band established a new logo of a grenade to conform with the new mature sound and transformed lyrics of wars and politics still showing that they are still that fearless rebellious band.
By Heather Ainsworth
Target Audience!!
To identify out target audience we can use media theories such as Young and Rubicams cross-cultural consumer characteristics in phychographic profiling and demographic profiling.
Demographic profiling: GRASS
Demographic profiling involves grouping the audience into smaller groups based on variables including age, gender, geographical area, class, economics etc. This method groups people according to their lifestyles.
I will use this method to identify our target audience:
Gender: Females/males
Race: Caucasian
Age: 16-24
Socio-economic Status: C1- E : Lower middle class, Skilled working class, Lower working class and Subsidence eg students/unemployed.
Our target audience is primarily aimed at males as this group were the most popular out of the sexes on our audience questionnaire however we will also have a great focus on having a female audience aswell as the band are males and can be used for female gaze therefore will appeal more to a female audience, however as the genre of music is indie/pop/rock this will appeal to both males and females, as the artist is a band rather than a solo artist this will also appeal to males as bands generally consist of more males than females therefore males will look to the band for inspiration.
People who are of Caucasian race will be more attracted to the band as the band are of the same race and have produced music that fits with this race.
The age of the target audience is between 16-24 as indie music is a relatively new genre that appeals more to this age group/generation, also as the band are in their early 20's they are more likely to appeal to an audience around their age. Members in this age group are also at a similar stage in life therefore will have similar interests/wants.
Our target audience will generally fall into the socio-economic status groups of C1-E as the target audience at this age will usually be either students, unemployed or will fall into a job for a lower middle/working class.
Psychographic Profiling: Young and Rubicam
Young and Rubicam Cross-cultural Consumer Characteristics characterises people in terms of their personal aspirations. There are four categories of audience, these are:
Mainstreamers
Aspirers
Succeeders
Reformers
Our target audience fall into the categories of Mainstreamers- as this is the largest section of the market and will tend to buy well known brand names therefore if this band were to become successful they would appeal to this group and Aspirers- these people are motivated by status therefore again if the band were to become successful people in this group may look up to them as role models and for inspiration.
The target audience can be categorised further through the lifestyle groupings, the groups that out target audience fall into are:
NINJA- no income, no job or assets
OINKY- one income, no kids yet
SNERT- snot-nosed egostical rude teenage
Heather Ainsworth
Demographic profiling: GRASS
Demographic profiling involves grouping the audience into smaller groups based on variables including age, gender, geographical area, class, economics etc. This method groups people according to their lifestyles.
I will use this method to identify our target audience:
Gender: Females/males
Race: Caucasian
Age: 16-24
Socio-economic Status: C1- E : Lower middle class, Skilled working class, Lower working class and Subsidence eg students/unemployed.
Our target audience is primarily aimed at males as this group were the most popular out of the sexes on our audience questionnaire however we will also have a great focus on having a female audience aswell as the band are males and can be used for female gaze therefore will appeal more to a female audience, however as the genre of music is indie/pop/rock this will appeal to both males and females, as the artist is a band rather than a solo artist this will also appeal to males as bands generally consist of more males than females therefore males will look to the band for inspiration.
People who are of Caucasian race will be more attracted to the band as the band are of the same race and have produced music that fits with this race.
The age of the target audience is between 16-24 as indie music is a relatively new genre that appeals more to this age group/generation, also as the band are in their early 20's they are more likely to appeal to an audience around their age. Members in this age group are also at a similar stage in life therefore will have similar interests/wants.
Our target audience will generally fall into the socio-economic status groups of C1-E as the target audience at this age will usually be either students, unemployed or will fall into a job for a lower middle/working class.
Psychographic Profiling: Young and Rubicam
Young and Rubicam Cross-cultural Consumer Characteristics characterises people in terms of their personal aspirations. There are four categories of audience, these are:
Mainstreamers
Aspirers
Succeeders
Reformers
Our target audience fall into the categories of Mainstreamers- as this is the largest section of the market and will tend to buy well known brand names therefore if this band were to become successful they would appeal to this group and Aspirers- these people are motivated by status therefore again if the band were to become successful people in this group may look up to them as role models and for inspiration.
The target audience can be categorised further through the lifestyle groupings, the groups that out target audience fall into are:
NINJA- no income, no job or assets
OINKY- one income, no kids yet
SNERT- snot-nosed egostical rude teenage
Heather Ainsworth
Audience questionnaire reflection!!!
As we decided to split the reflection of the audience questionnaire I will be evaluating the first 3 questions which identify's our target audience.
The first question asks the audience about their age, it was important that we found a target age group as the rest of our products will be made to fit this group. From the results we can see that the majority of people involved in the questionnaire were in the age group of 16-24. This age group fits into the target audience for the genre in which we originally chose therefore this is the target age group in which we plan to aim our music video and ancillary task at.
The second question asks which ethnic group the audience belong to.
The second question asks which ethnic group the audience belong to.
From the results we can see that around 75% of the audience are of a white British race. It was vital to find a race suitable to our chosen genre of rock/pop. This shows that most of the target audience would be best suited to the genre of music and therefore would be the easiest to aim the products at.
The third question asks the participant about their sex.
We decided to try and split the gender equally as our genre of music and the band will appeal to both sexes. This will allow us to be more experimental such as using both male and female gaze in order to appeal to both genders.
By Heather Ainsworth
By Heather Ainsworth
Monday 25 October 2010
Synopsis
It is photo day and all the kids are getting ready but some kids are so bored of looking the same every picture day...
The video will start in the photo studio with some normal students getting their phots taken and then things are disturbed by something happening by the door.
We then go back in time to the morning. There will be montages of people getting ready and going to the woods. There will also be shots of live performance.
When they get to the woods there is a Girls Vs Boys spagetti western stand off food fight.
There wth be close ups and slowmo shots.
And then you find out that the disruption in the photo place is them walking in covered in food! We then see stills of their new school photos.
This will match in with the rock/alternative brand image of rebelling against the system, being different and having fun.
By Lydia Welsh
The video will start in the photo studio with some normal students getting their phots taken and then things are disturbed by something happening by the door.
We then go back in time to the morning. There will be montages of people getting ready and going to the woods. There will also be shots of live performance.
When they get to the woods there is a Girls Vs Boys spagetti western stand off food fight.
There wth be close ups and slowmo shots.
And then you find out that the disruption in the photo place is them walking in covered in food! We then see stills of their new school photos.
This will match in with the rock/alternative brand image of rebelling against the system, being different and having fun.
By Lydia Welsh
Branding - My Chemical Romance (MCR)
My Chemical Romance are a successfull rock/alternative/emo band formed in 2001. They got together becuase of the 9/11 attacks, the lead singer Gerard Way was inspired by the attacks to form the band.
They where signed by Reprise Records which lead them to tour with Avenged Sevenfold, be the opening act to Green Day and to co-headline with Fall Out Boy and also to colaberate with The Used. These bands also have the same angery rebelious brand image as My Chemical Romance.
We see this negative, angery, rebelious theme in their song names :
In 2006 their third album 'The Black Parade' came out and with it a new MCR brand image. There was alot of controversy around the new album with them pulling publicity stunts such as anounceing a fake name and having gangs of black hooded caped people parading around Hammersmith. All of this fit in to the new brand image of the group. The fake song name was 'The Rise and Death of My Chemical Romance' - all of the stunts where dark, depressing and haunting. Their new album raises such issues as cancer death and the evil teens of today. The new feel shows a more grown up less fun MCR many things are alot more serious.
On their UK tour of 'The Black Parade' they announced that MCR couldn't play and sent out 'The Black Parade' whcich turned out to be simply the band performing under a pseudonym (fictional characters) - This was in keeping with the album. The whole new brand image seems to be a pseudonym. The songs are very much like a ongoing story about a man with cancer. We also see this pseudonym in the new clothing and make up of the band. The lead singer Gerard Way cut off his long black hair and died it bleach blonde! The band had always worn guyliner but now it entailed a whole new look. Instead of looking a fashion statment it was almost asif they where made to look ill or dead. There is more cartoon/animation in thier videos and on posters/merchindise tying into the pseudonym.
They where signed by Reprise Records which lead them to tour with Avenged Sevenfold, be the opening act to Green Day and to co-headline with Fall Out Boy and also to colaberate with The Used. These bands also have the same angery rebelious brand image as My Chemical Romance.
We see this negative, angery, rebelious theme in their song names :
- Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge
- I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
- Thank You For The Venom
- Life On The Murder Scene
In 2006 their third album 'The Black Parade' came out and with it a new MCR brand image. There was alot of controversy around the new album with them pulling publicity stunts such as anounceing a fake name and having gangs of black hooded caped people parading around Hammersmith. All of this fit in to the new brand image of the group. The fake song name was 'The Rise and Death of My Chemical Romance' - all of the stunts where dark, depressing and haunting. Their new album raises such issues as cancer death and the evil teens of today. The new feel shows a more grown up less fun MCR many things are alot more serious.
Although they kept the same colour scheme of black, red and white. They also kept many traits such as thier influence of Green Day, Nirvana and other bands with the help of Rob Cavallo Green Days producer and Sam Bayer the director of Nirvana - 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' video and including Rise Against, Thursday and Muse on their ' The Black Parade' tour.
On their UK tour of 'The Black Parade' they announced that MCR couldn't play and sent out 'The Black Parade' whcich turned out to be simply the band performing under a pseudonym (fictional characters) - This was in keeping with the album. The whole new brand image seems to be a pseudonym. The songs are very much like a ongoing story about a man with cancer. We also see this pseudonym in the new clothing and make up of the band. The lead singer Gerard Way cut off his long black hair and died it bleach blonde! The band had always worn guyliner but now it entailed a whole new look. Instead of looking a fashion statment it was almost asif they where made to look ill or dead. There is more cartoon/animation in thier videos and on posters/merchindise tying into the pseudonym.In this album you can also see the infulence on war and terrorism on the group with all the images of bomb sights in the videos and on posters and in their miliary uniform which has became a major part of their image. You can buy this merchindise on http://www.corpseclothing.com/ - the theme of death continues!
By Lydia Welsh
Audience Feedback: Final Section
To identify with our target audience we produced a questionnaire to gather some data. There were ten questions, roughly split into three sections; one based on the target audience according to GRASS, one on the audience’s personal preferences in music, and the third on what the audience wants and needs out of a music video. I have been given the last four questions to reflect on, which falls under ‘audience needs’.
The first question from this ‘section’ was ‘Would you buy the single?’ The results of this are in the graph below.
These results better reflect audience preference than their needs; there is a fairly even split here, showing just under half of the people questioned would be interested in buying the single; the fact that some people said no shows their own individual tastes, whilst some people were undecided. This might suggest that this group need something to be persuaded and a music video may be what the single needs to push it out further and grab more interest in a music consumer.
The second question was. ‘Which of these artists do you think are similar to The Shame?’ The results are in the graph below.
The first three options were very similar but essentially, represented three different areas of the rock genre. The fourth option was Beyonce which stood apart from the others because she is more likely to be classed under the Pop or R’n’B genre. The fact that all the people asked associated The Shame with the first three options shows they easily understand the genre of the music, and therefore have already built an assumption in their minds of what the band should be like. This means that when we come to produce our music video, we must fulfil expectations of the audience, they want to see conventions in The Shame video which can also be found in the videos of the other three bands listed, because they believe them to all be similar on some level.
The third question in this section involved watching four music videos, links to all four can be found below, with the results to the question.
The majority of our audience preferred the three videos which again, represent three different parts of the rock genre. This furthers the idea that the audience expect and enjoy the conventions which they are comfortable with. During the pre-production of our video we must therefore think about certain shots, angles and props which we can use to associate our artist with the appropriate genre. This will ensure that when the audience come to see our product, they will enjoy it and feel comfortable in the role it fulfils because it will match their expectations.
The final question on the questionnaire allowed the volunteer to tick more than one box in order to find the things in a music video they value the most. The results are below.
From these results we see there is a lean towards aspects which involve the artist, whether it is just the fact that they are shown singing in the video, or if they are actually part of the narrative. The actual story in the video wasn’t as important to the audience but still made an impact. This suggests that when we make our video, in order to appeal to the target audience we must involve the band members to build that connection between the artist and the consumer. By putting the band members into a plot, and making them perform throughout the video, we will also be creating a bit of a brand image, demonstrating the kind of attitudes the band have through their videos, which will hopefully please the audience and match audience expectations.
questionnaire
Audience preference - Questions 3-6
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| As you can see by this pie chart most people said that the genre of our song is alternative. Alternative music is coming in fashion due to web 2.0 becuase the major labels who would not sign alternative music don't have the final say of what is in the shops/charts. |
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| Most people liked our song this shows there is a market place for out song. |
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| This is so we can find out what style is most popular. Our song is a mixture of emo pop and metal. Over half of the people we asked listen to this music. |
By Lydia Welsh
Sunday 24 October 2010
Brand Image and Identity; The Hoosiers
Though some people don’t tend to realise, it’s very common for a band or artist to have a ‘brand image’; despite this term being better associated with products such as Coca Cola or Heinz, it is being increasingly acceptable to apply it to musicians. This is because musicians and artists have themselves, in essence, become a product to sell. Recording companies are finding it ever more difficult to get their bands into the eye of the consumer because there is such a diverse and confusing blur of talent to choose from, which is constantly being laid out in front of the music consumer. This incredible variety makes it difficult for one band to be put above the rest and made more notable, this is why brand image has become more important over the last decade or so, because it makes an artist more relatable to a certain niche, and excels their appeal with that consumer group.
To demonstrate this, I’m going to analyse the ‘brand image’ of The Hoosiers, a relatively recent London-based band (their debut album was released in 2007), made up of three males, who to date have released two studio albums, fall under the pop-rock genre and are with the RCA Label Group. The Hoosiers, despite only having two albums, reinvented themselves (musically) between the making of the two; during the release of their first album their image was deemed ‘less conventional’ by some, and potentially more naive. The singles ‘Worried About Ray’ and ‘Goodbye Mr A’ from their first album were popular, the first reaching fifth position in the UK charts, and the second fourth position. Irwin Sparkes the lead singer of the band, appeared on ‘Never Mind the Buzzcocks’, a BBC music quiz programme, at the time hosted by Simon Amstell. On the programme, Sparkes was questioned about the band’s claim that they had invented a new genre of music: Oddpop. To this, Sparkes replied “Well, we basically invented sound.” Despite the comment being in good nature and not meant to be offensive, it still reflected the naivety of the band and how new they were to the whole business of being in the charts; suddenly thrust in the eye of the media.
Their first album cover was cartoon-orientated and distributed in four different colours. Named ‘The Trick To Life’, it portrayed the band’s desire to be seen as creative and playful but also smart too. The artwork was very abstract with intertwined semiotics related to the lyrics of songs in the album, for example just below the centre of the cover is the silhouette of a rabbit which can be linked back to the third track ‘Run Rabbit Run’. This meaningful and well-thought design represented The Hoosier’s desire to be seen as more than a mediocre pop band, and one which took care in their music; musicians who were ‘smart-casual’ and wanted to appeal to a grown-up audience.
In August 2010, their second studio album ‘The Illusion of Safety’ was released after the band’s reinvention of ‘a more conventional pop band with electro influences’ (according to ‘The Hoosiers’ Wikipedia page, October 2010). Just like the first, the cover was a complete cartoon with no inclusion of the members themselves, choosing to focus instead on the meaning behind the album name with semiotics and interpretations of lyrics. The bold, block shapes used had connotations of the band’s creative flair, and ability to have fun, which continued their image of ‘young, cheerful and contemporary’, appealing to their audience of young adults in the 22- 35 age range.
‘The Hoosiers’ continue this ‘brand image’ in their music videos; earlier videos were still playful and inventive but lacked a certain element that showed the band as confident in themselves as a legitimate pop group. Those videos released alongside ‘The Illusion of Safety’ filled this gap through the unique and experimental narratives which exuded the confidence they had gained since their debut album. To illustrate this, I’ll briefly explain and compare two of their videos, one from ‘The Trick to Life’ and one from ‘The Illusion of Safety’, whilst all the time making note of their ‘brand image’ and how they create and maintain it.
Video 1: Worst Case Scenario
(Track 2 on The Trick to Life)
This video is very focused on effects and band performance; there isn’t a defined plot to it and manages to defy Goodwin’s theory on the functions of music video. The fact that they have created such an unusual video by using only transition and optical effects alongside live shots of them playing, portrays their brand image of creative; they ignore the stereotypical forms of the pop genre and take an alternative approach. Most of the mise-en-scene is all the same (wood panelling), it’s the band’s costume and the colour used in them which provides a different view for the audience. By wearing fashionable clothing dubbed ‘geek-chic’, we see their attempt to connect with the interests of a young audience and target themselves at young adults who’re on-trend, and under Young and Rubicam’s Psychographic Profiling seen as ‘aspirers’. By keeping to a similar theme and limiting the dimensions of the video we see their lack of self-esteem, though the video is different it is still restrained.
Video 2: Choices
(Track 1 on The Illusion of Safety)
The ‘Choices’ video is built on a narrative, a definite plot is made for us and a story mapped out with the band members as the central characters. By taking on a greater role than their previous videos (they progress from playing their instruments which is their comfort zone, to acting and performing), we see the members become more confident with expressing their style of creativity. In comparison to Worst Case Scenario, the mise-en-scene, in particular the location and costume (both are linked to a theme and have a more obvious purpose than to be fashionable), are far more advanced than beforehand which again reflects this new found stability in the band’s campaign to create their identity. The Hoosiers want to express their modern-day image, and the way in which their music is fun and charismatic but sophisticated. They do this by the complex video plot, character/artist performance and experimental yet thoughtful mise-en-scene.
In summary, The Hoosiers’ brand identity is playfully sophisticated, they use cartoon designs for their album covers to express their individual creative style rather than using photos of themselves in an attempt to market the members instead of the music. With a target audience of young adults in the 22-35 age range, the band market themselves as alternative and cheerful through stylish gimmicks (in quirky music videos) and intelligent semiotics (on their album covers) to appeal to that audience.
Wednesday 20 October 2010
Titles in Music Videos
There can be two types of titles in Music Videos;
there are ones which are added on when the video is played on channels such as MTV; (these usually appear at the start of the video for a few seconds, displaying the name of the artist, the song and/or album name as well as Director's name; occasionally the name of the recording company will be shown).
There are also titles which provide part of the narrative for a video; they act as an additional form of creative expression in some, almost narrating a video- a modern example of this is Cee Lo Green's video for 'Forget You'; where the titles signal to us the different stages of the character's life throughout the video.
We're planning on using titles in our own video to help push the narrative along, because our video will hopefully have two 'teams' so to speak. We want to use a freeze frame of each group individually, with titles, to clearly signal to the audience that there is conflict and a divide between them. If the audience understand this concept, then the whole notion of a food fight between them will hopefully make more sense.
(Below are two examples of the titles in Cee-Lo Green's video, showing how they aid the narrative by naming key characters throughout).
there are ones which are added on when the video is played on channels such as MTV; (these usually appear at the start of the video for a few seconds, displaying the name of the artist, the song and/or album name as well as Director's name; occasionally the name of the recording company will be shown).
There are also titles which provide part of the narrative for a video; they act as an additional form of creative expression in some, almost narrating a video- a modern example of this is Cee Lo Green's video for 'Forget You'; where the titles signal to us the different stages of the character's life throughout the video.
We're planning on using titles in our own video to help push the narrative along, because our video will hopefully have two 'teams' so to speak. We want to use a freeze frame of each group individually, with titles, to clearly signal to the audience that there is conflict and a divide between them. If the audience understand this concept, then the whole notion of a food fight between them will hopefully make more sense.
(Below are two examples of the titles in Cee-Lo Green's video, showing how they aid the narrative by naming key characters throughout).
UK Top 20; Music Albums
This us a list of the UK Top 20 Music Albums, on October 20th, 2010 (According to BBC Radio One's website):
1 Robbie Williams- In And Out Of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990 - 2010
2 Tinie Tempah- Disc-Overy
3 Cliff Richard- Bold As Brass
4 The Script- Science & Faith
5 Magnetic Man- Magnetic Man
6 Mumford & Sons- Sigh No More
7 Plan B- The Defamation Of Strickland Banks
8 Belle and Sebastian- Write About Love
9 Alter Bridge- AB III
10 Phil Collins- Going Back
11 Eminem- Recovery
12 The Orb- Metallic Spheres (feat. David Gilmour)
13 Katy Perry- Teenage Dream
14 Lady Gaga- The Fame
15 Brandon Flowers- Flamingo
16 Central Band of The RAF- Reach For The Skies
17 Usher- Raymond V Raymond
18 The xx- XX
19 Robert Plant- Band Of Joy
20 Jason Donovan- Soundtrack Of The 80s
The interesting thing about this album list is the way in which it reflects the ever-growing diversity in popular music tastes. There is a substantial mix of well established artists who have been recording throughout several eras of music (such as Cliff Richard and Robbie Williams in first and third place), artists who are recently established but loved and respected nonetheless (like The Script and Katy Perry), as well as artists who are new to the charts, and relatively unheard of (Eliza Doolittle and Tinie Tempah providing contemporary exmaples).
This mix of artists is solid proof that modern consumers of music don't always want brand new, fresh artists and groups, but can sometimes prefer well-established musicians who they are comfortable with, and who still produce music for the mainstream genre.
1 Robbie Williams- In And Out Of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990 - 2010
2 Tinie Tempah- Disc-Overy
3 Cliff Richard- Bold As Brass
4 The Script- Science & Faith
5 Magnetic Man- Magnetic Man
6 Mumford & Sons- Sigh No More
7 Plan B- The Defamation Of Strickland Banks
8 Belle and Sebastian- Write About Love
9 Alter Bridge- AB III
10 Phil Collins- Going Back
11 Eminem- Recovery
12 The Orb- Metallic Spheres (feat. David Gilmour)
13 Katy Perry- Teenage Dream
14 Lady Gaga- The Fame
15 Brandon Flowers- Flamingo
16 Central Band of The RAF- Reach For The Skies
17 Usher- Raymond V Raymond
18 The xx- XX
19 Robert Plant- Band Of Joy
20 Jason Donovan- Soundtrack Of The 80s
The interesting thing about this album list is the way in which it reflects the ever-growing diversity in popular music tastes. There is a substantial mix of well established artists who have been recording throughout several eras of music (such as Cliff Richard and Robbie Williams in first and third place), artists who are recently established but loved and respected nonetheless (like The Script and Katy Perry), as well as artists who are new to the charts, and relatively unheard of (Eliza Doolittle and Tinie Tempah providing contemporary exmaples).
This mix of artists is solid proof that modern consumers of music don't always want brand new, fresh artists and groups, but can sometimes prefer well-established musicians who they are comfortable with, and who still produce music for the mainstream genre.
Tuesday 19 October 2010
Monday 18 October 2010
Conventions of a pop/rock music video!!
When producing any music video, in order for the video to appeal and be successful music video's tend to follow conventions.
According to Andrew Goodwin there are six points to a music video, these are:
Genre characteristics- certain music genres may tweak the typical conventions and instead have their own video style and iconography such as a live performance by a band in the rock genre.
Visuals/lyrics- there should be a link between the visuals and lyrics with the lyrics illustrating/contradicting the lyrics.
Visuals/music- there should be a link between the visuals and the music with the visuals illustrating/amplifying/contradicting the lyrics/music.
Need to sell artist- the artist may develop their star image throughout music videos therefore star iconography should be visible along with lots of close-up shots of the main artist/vocalist.
Intertextuality- intertextual references to other music videos/films can be used.
Voyeurism- reference's to voyeurism is likely to be seen for example through the use of women and also through the terms of "looking" such as using screens within screens.
Alternatively Pete Fraser see's music video's as having different conventions with a big focus on the narrative and performance, this is because music videos tend to suggest storylines and offer fragmented non-linear narratives which leaves the audience wanted to see the artist again, also a music video can allow up close and personal access to an artist more so than a concert which can be seen through live performances of the artist.
Other alternate conventions are:
Lyrics- these tend to create a feeling or mood rather than offering a meaning, visuals may also be connected to key lines in a song.
Music- editing is usually parallel with the tempo of the track eg slow pace transitions/cuts can establish a darker mood.
Genre- the type of genre can be determined by the use of media language such as cinematography, mise en scene, editing, themes and performance.
Cinematography- the camera movement is important in showing the meaning of the video, movement can create a dynamic feel to the performance and also go along with the performers movement such as walking.
As the genre we have chosen for our music video is pop/rock I have chosen The Killers "Mr Brightside" music video to analyse the typical conventions as this music is the same genre that we have chose.
The plot of this narrative is that of a typical fairytale love story, the "damsel on distress" is watched by her overprotected father whom tries to stop his daughter from falling in love with the "hero", the hero tries at many attempts to win over his princess, after many failed attempts although in the end he wins over the girl he decides not to pursue his love for her.
Propp's theory describes sets of characters who appear in narratives based on what roles they play, characters which appear in this music video are:
The hero- lead singer
The villain- girls dad
The princess- blonde haired dancer who the hero is after
This complies with the convention that key lines and visuals are associated with the song
To start off as the genre for this video is partly rock a typical convention is that as part of the iconography live performance is usually shown. A live performance is shown of the band throughout the video, to accompany this convention as part of the cinematography close up shots of the main vocalist and musical instruments are also seen throughout the video which gives the audience an up close and personal view of the band. Furthermore camera shots accompany the movement of the performers when they are dancing which creates a dynamic feel.
There is a link between the visuals and the lyrics, when the lyrics "while he's having a smoke and she's taking a drag" the lead singer is seen doing hand gestures of someone smoking again when the lyrics " I just can't look it's killing me" the lead singer covers his face with his hand. Furthermore the lyrics/music create a feel good mood as the music is quite upbeat, this is represented in the video through the performance of the characters as they are seen putting on show/dancing. The editing keeps with the tempo of the music throughout the video, as the music is quite fast the editing is at a constant fast pace and increases in speed when the tempo increases.
Voyeuristic shots of females are used which applies to the female gaze theory- using close-up shots etc of the female body for the pure satisfactory of men, as the band are males this is a typical convention that a male band of the pop/rock genre would use. These shots are mainly seen during the performance scenes which will attract the audience and make them want to watch further videos.
Typical male representations are seen throughout the video, in one scene a man is seen watching the females in voyeuristic shots which again shows the female gaze in the video, also in the narrative it see's the lead singer go after the girl that he loves which is typical of the male role when it comes to a "fairytale" relationship, the boy is suppose to go after the girl and live happily ever after. Representations of young adults/teenagers such as having fun/partying/ being intimate are also seen which could be to attract the target audience whom are of this age.
By Heather Ainsworth
According to Andrew Goodwin there are six points to a music video, these are:
Genre characteristics- certain music genres may tweak the typical conventions and instead have their own video style and iconography such as a live performance by a band in the rock genre.
Visuals/lyrics- there should be a link between the visuals and lyrics with the lyrics illustrating/contradicting the lyrics.
Visuals/music- there should be a link between the visuals and the music with the visuals illustrating/amplifying/contradicting the lyrics/music.
Need to sell artist- the artist may develop their star image throughout music videos therefore star iconography should be visible along with lots of close-up shots of the main artist/vocalist.
Intertextuality- intertextual references to other music videos/films can be used.
Voyeurism- reference's to voyeurism is likely to be seen for example through the use of women and also through the terms of "looking" such as using screens within screens.
Alternatively Pete Fraser see's music video's as having different conventions with a big focus on the narrative and performance, this is because music videos tend to suggest storylines and offer fragmented non-linear narratives which leaves the audience wanted to see the artist again, also a music video can allow up close and personal access to an artist more so than a concert which can be seen through live performances of the artist.
Other alternate conventions are:
Lyrics- these tend to create a feeling or mood rather than offering a meaning, visuals may also be connected to key lines in a song.
Music- editing is usually parallel with the tempo of the track eg slow pace transitions/cuts can establish a darker mood.
Genre- the type of genre can be determined by the use of media language such as cinematography, mise en scene, editing, themes and performance.
Cinematography- the camera movement is important in showing the meaning of the video, movement can create a dynamic feel to the performance and also go along with the performers movement such as walking.
As the genre we have chosen for our music video is pop/rock I have chosen The Killers "Mr Brightside" music video to analyse the typical conventions as this music is the same genre that we have chose.
The plot of this narrative is that of a typical fairytale love story, the "damsel on distress" is watched by her overprotected father whom tries to stop his daughter from falling in love with the "hero", the hero tries at many attempts to win over his princess, after many failed attempts although in the end he wins over the girl he decides not to pursue his love for her.
Propp's theory describes sets of characters who appear in narratives based on what roles they play, characters which appear in this music video are:
The hero- lead singer
The villain- girls dad
The princess- blonde haired dancer who the hero is after
This complies with the convention that key lines and visuals are associated with the song
To start off as the genre for this video is partly rock a typical convention is that as part of the iconography live performance is usually shown. A live performance is shown of the band throughout the video, to accompany this convention as part of the cinematography close up shots of the main vocalist and musical instruments are also seen throughout the video which gives the audience an up close and personal view of the band. Furthermore camera shots accompany the movement of the performers when they are dancing which creates a dynamic feel.
There is a link between the visuals and the lyrics, when the lyrics "while he's having a smoke and she's taking a drag" the lead singer is seen doing hand gestures of someone smoking again when the lyrics " I just can't look it's killing me" the lead singer covers his face with his hand. Furthermore the lyrics/music create a feel good mood as the music is quite upbeat, this is represented in the video through the performance of the characters as they are seen putting on show/dancing. The editing keeps with the tempo of the music throughout the video, as the music is quite fast the editing is at a constant fast pace and increases in speed when the tempo increases.
Voyeuristic shots of females are used which applies to the female gaze theory- using close-up shots etc of the female body for the pure satisfactory of men, as the band are males this is a typical convention that a male band of the pop/rock genre would use. These shots are mainly seen during the performance scenes which will attract the audience and make them want to watch further videos.
Typical male representations are seen throughout the video, in one scene a man is seen watching the females in voyeuristic shots which again shows the female gaze in the video, also in the narrative it see's the lead singer go after the girl that he loves which is typical of the male role when it comes to a "fairytale" relationship, the boy is suppose to go after the girl and live happily ever after. Representations of young adults/teenagers such as having fun/partying/ being intimate are also seen which could be to attract the target audience whom are of this age.
By Heather Ainsworth
Sunday 17 October 2010
What Institution would produce our band/song?
We have a band, They have a song, we now need a producer/institution to produce it. In this day and age (with web 2.0 and all) it is not vital to have a institution behind you but it helps! Many bands get signed and then when they're contracts run out they go it alone. This gives them alot more freedom. Before you go it alone your best to be signed. I have looked into 3 different options which may sign our music :
Capitol Records
Big Wheel Recreation
Interscope Records
Capitol Records (www.capitolrecords.com)
This is a major institution from the United States, they have signed many bands from the same genre/brand image as our band such as -
Beastie Boys
Coldplay
Depeche Mode
Hockey
Jimmy Eat World
This is why I believe they may sign our band. They may not be the best to sign our band though because they do not just spechialise on that genre and have many other bands to look after - and with it being a major you do not have much freedom.
Big Wheel Recreation
An independant label from the united states signed some artist with the same brand image of our band such as The Hives and Jimmy Eat World. Unfortunatly they closed in 2004. This would have been good to be signed to because you have more freedom when your with a indepentant label.#
Interscope Records/A&M Records
(owned by Universal Music)
This is a huge American institution as part of a conglamerate. I feel this would be the best institution to sign our band becuase it has signed so many successful band which share our genre and brand image such as :
Elbow
Keane
Escape The Fate
Jimmy Eat World
No Dout
Papa Roach
The All-American Rejects
Tokio Hotel
AFI
Although there are down side such as creativity issues - the marketing should be really good with these and in this market thats what you need.
By Lydia Welsh
Capitol Records
Big Wheel Recreation
Interscope Records
Capitol Records (www.capitolrecords.com)
This is a major institution from the United States, they have signed many bands from the same genre/brand image as our band such as -
Beastie Boys
Coldplay
Depeche Mode
Hockey
Jimmy Eat World
This is why I believe they may sign our band. They may not be the best to sign our band though because they do not just spechialise on that genre and have many other bands to look after - and with it being a major you do not have much freedom.
Big Wheel Recreation
An independant label from the united states signed some artist with the same brand image of our band such as The Hives and Jimmy Eat World. Unfortunatly they closed in 2004. This would have been good to be signed to because you have more freedom when your with a indepentant label.#
Interscope Records/A&M Records
(owned by Universal Music)
This is a huge American institution as part of a conglamerate. I feel this would be the best institution to sign our band becuase it has signed so many successful band which share our genre and brand image such as :
Elbow
Keane
Escape The Fate
Jimmy Eat World
No Dout
Papa Roach
The All-American Rejects
Tokio Hotel
AFI
Although there are down side such as creativity issues - the marketing should be really good with these and in this market thats what you need.
By Lydia Welsh
Conventions of music videos particularlly of the rock pop genre
We have choosen to make a rock/punk/pop genre music video but to make a decent video we first need to find the conventions of other music videos of our genre. Music videos are made up of narrative and preformance elements. Andrew goodwin came up with several conventions that typified music videos:
1. There music ba a relationship betweeen lyrics, music and visuals
2. Each music genre has it's own style/iconography
3. Close-ups of artists/instruments
4. The brand imgae should come through
5. Voyueristic shots
6. References of intertextuality
We see most of these things in the video I have chosen to analyse.
I have chosen this video because the song we have chosen is of the same genre of this song.
Jimmy Eat World - The Middle
The general jist of this video is - A boy goes to a party but he is different becuase he hasn't come in his underwear and then he finds a girl in the same situation and they leave happy and not embrarassed of give into peer pressure - amongst all this there are shots of live preformance by the band.
This video is a prime example of a rock/pop video with it's close ups of instruments and live preformance, set at a house party - with alchol, lude acts, teenagers/young people as main characters (target adience) and a moral tied into the narrative. There is a distinct relationship between the lyrics and music and the visuals we see. They do this using cuts intime with the beat of the music and the lyrics matching the storyline e.g. 'everything will be alright' in the end he leaves with girl and is better off and doesn't care what they think. Still following Andrew Goodwin's theory there are also voyueristic shots of the girl geting out of the car at the begging and many of the people inside - As for intertextuality the video shows many charateristics of almost every teen movie. The protagonists are individual/teens trying to fit in and the setting is a house party in a adverage American home and there are comedy references with showing half naked fat old men and the shots of him on his own sat inbetween two lovey dovey couples.
Narritive
Propp
Characters
- Hero - Blonde outcast boy the target audience relates too
- Princess - Too fit in
- Villian - Peer pressure
Todorov
Equilibrium - He arrives at the party
Disruption - he has clothes on and is the odd one out
Re-Equilibrium - He doesn't give in to peer pressure, gets the girl is happy and no longer alone
Levi Strauss
Binary Oppositions - Peer pressure Vs. Originality
Barthes Theory
Enigma - Will he strip and fit in?
Resolution - He doen't give in too peer pressure but finds a friend
Representation and Ideology
In this video people conform to stereotypes and hegemony such as young people being reckless, breaking the law and lude and boys and girls being together - also that everyone cool is beefed up and pretty - The only time in this video we see a fat person is for comic effect. This text conforms to dominant ideologies but in ways its contridicting them because they say it's wrong when they leave and don't take they're clothes off.
The Male Gaze (Mulvey,1975)- There are voyueristic shots of many of the half naked girls in this video.
The Female Gaze - there is an absence of voyuerisic shots of men although they are present and naked i belive this is bacuse this is a boy band and the protagonisy is male.
Tokenism - there is an absence of ethnic minorities and gay people
Repertoire of elements
Institution - Brand image - what the band wear and how they act this leads ttoo the text - which is about standing out which is what the band image is.
Text - The song is about being individual and not buckling to peer pressure and it has young people/teenagers in which is who the target audience is.
Audience - Teens/Young People who have too deal with peer pressure and many of the issues and stress raised in the video every day and buy the records for inspiration and to unwind.
which supplies the indtitution with money to make more music...
By Lydia Welsh
1. There music ba a relationship betweeen lyrics, music and visuals
2. Each music genre has it's own style/iconography
3. Close-ups of artists/instruments
4. The brand imgae should come through
5. Voyueristic shots
6. References of intertextuality
We see most of these things in the video I have chosen to analyse.
I have chosen this video because the song we have chosen is of the same genre of this song.
Jimmy Eat World - The Middle
The general jist of this video is - A boy goes to a party but he is different becuase he hasn't come in his underwear and then he finds a girl in the same situation and they leave happy and not embrarassed of give into peer pressure - amongst all this there are shots of live preformance by the band.
This video is a prime example of a rock/pop video with it's close ups of instruments and live preformance, set at a house party - with alchol, lude acts, teenagers/young people as main characters (target adience) and a moral tied into the narrative. There is a distinct relationship between the lyrics and music and the visuals we see. They do this using cuts intime with the beat of the music and the lyrics matching the storyline e.g. 'everything will be alright' in the end he leaves with girl and is better off and doesn't care what they think. Still following Andrew Goodwin's theory there are also voyueristic shots of the girl geting out of the car at the begging and many of the people inside - As for intertextuality the video shows many charateristics of almost every teen movie. The protagonists are individual/teens trying to fit in and the setting is a house party in a adverage American home and there are comedy references with showing half naked fat old men and the shots of him on his own sat inbetween two lovey dovey couples.
Narritive
Propp
Characters
- Hero - Blonde outcast boy the target audience relates too
- Princess - Too fit in
- Villian - Peer pressure
Todorov
Equilibrium - He arrives at the party
Disruption - he has clothes on and is the odd one out
Re-Equilibrium - He doesn't give in to peer pressure, gets the girl is happy and no longer alone
Levi Strauss
Binary Oppositions - Peer pressure Vs. Originality
Barthes Theory
Enigma - Will he strip and fit in?
Resolution - He doen't give in too peer pressure but finds a friend
Representation and Ideology
In this video people conform to stereotypes and hegemony such as young people being reckless, breaking the law and lude and boys and girls being together - also that everyone cool is beefed up and pretty - The only time in this video we see a fat person is for comic effect. This text conforms to dominant ideologies but in ways its contridicting them because they say it's wrong when they leave and don't take they're clothes off.
The Male Gaze (Mulvey,1975)- There are voyueristic shots of many of the half naked girls in this video.
The Female Gaze - there is an absence of voyuerisic shots of men although they are present and naked i belive this is bacuse this is a boy band and the protagonisy is male.
Tokenism - there is an absence of ethnic minorities and gay people
Repertoire of elements
Institution - Brand image - what the band wear and how they act this leads ttoo the text - which is about standing out which is what the band image is.
Text - The song is about being individual and not buckling to peer pressure and it has young people/teenagers in which is who the target audience is.
Audience - Teens/Young People who have too deal with peer pressure and many of the issues and stress raised in the video every day and buy the records for inspiration and to unwind.
which supplies the indtitution with money to make more music...
By Lydia Welsh
Saturday 16 October 2010
Music Videos and their Conventions
As previously stated, our group has decided to take on the music video brief; in order for us to produce the best work possible we need to understand the conventions of music video.
According to Pete Fraser, lyrics do not always act as a reflection of the narrative in the video, they can establish a mood or atmosphere about the video but rarely offer a coherent meaning throughout. Fundamental lines may be incorporated into the visuals but there are few videos which act as a dramatisation of all the lyrics in the song.
The music itself is generally used to set the pace of the video, particularly in editing, an up-beat pop-rock video may have faster editing, shorter cuts and sped up scenes because that matches the tempo of the track.
Most videos do conform to some mould of genre, (dark, sinister and morose being linked to metal videos) others excel this and create something practically indefinable. The features which make it possible for us to categorise a video into a genre are found in the types of mise-en-scene, themes, performance, cinematography and editing technique.
Cinematography can actually be broken down into further groupings of camera movement, shot, angle and distance; all of which need to be analysed when interpreting a media text. The camera movement can accompany the movement of the performers, (walking down a street, dancing across a room etc) or be used to create dynamic experience for the viewer when the performer or artist themselves are standing still. For example, live shots of the band performing aren’t exactly visually stimulating unless the artists perform as entertainers and not just musicians; by consistently circling the group on stage the audience get a better feeling from watching and the video becomes less mundane. Close ups are very much a major convention of music videos and fall under shot size in cinematography. These types of shots create an intimacy for the viewer which is what the audience wants; they’re watching the video because they want to feel close to the band and hear what they’ve produced, in order to fully experience the music and believe what the artist is giving to them, close ups provide them with that sense inclusion. As well as this close ups can emphasis the commodity on sale; the artists and voice. In terms of editing, fast-cut montages tend to be the popular style; images are merged in very brief time slots which make it impossible to fully grasp the video in one viewing, therefore encouraging the audience to watch more than once. Some other videos however, particularly from genres such as spiritual, do use slow paced cuts and softer transitions to establish the mood.
Music videos also have a tendency to display intertextuality of some description, especially from artists who’re mainstream and can rely on many views of their video just from their name being on the front. Many links are usually made to film, this is because film is on similar level to music in terms of creating iconic moments and media texts. By ‘borrowing’ ideas from one, reconstructing it, and re-producing it in another, it gives the audience something to remember, making that video stand out more than other. An example of this can be the intertextuality in Madonna’s Material Girl with Marilyn Monroe’s film ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’.
Similarly to poems, narrative in songs are fragmented and this is mirrored in their accompanying video; music videos tend to suggest storylines and offer broken down non-linear narratives which leaves the audience wanting to see them again.
Mise-en-scene expands the variety of access an audience can gain to the artist than compared to a live performance. To show a guarantee of authenticity, a bands musical virtuosity can be shown by using clips of them on stage or in a rehearsal room. Location in mise-en-scene and costume can also play the part of voyeurism, suggesting a sexual allure from the song. Costume also helps reinforce the band’s ‘brand image’ so to speak; the artist’s clothing can accentuate the genre of the video and make the audience feel comfortable with what they’re watching, producing a familiarity with the performer they’re following.
Andrew Goodwin however, gives a different take on the conventions of a music video, by developing the relationships between the different aspects of a video that Pete Fraser pointed out.
Goodwin states there must be a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, either to illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics. Therefore a relationship between the music and the visuals is needed, whether to illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics. This bond between lyrics, music and visuals gives the audience an understanding of sorts, something that keeps them focused and interested in what they’re seeing.
Particular music genres may have their own music video style and iconography, live performances are popular in heavy rock/metal videos whereas studio set ups are more popular in pop music videos, Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies’ video acting as a perfect, modern example of this.
Goodwin also argues the necessity of close-ups in music videos as there is a demand on the record company to provide these for the audience, who’re watching the video to feel close to the musician/s and have that sense of intimacy. If a person feels connected to the music via the work of the video, they are also more inclined to buy the track or album as they feel like that song has some special relevance to them.
The artist in the video can also use visuals to develop their own iconography, both in and out of their videos which in time becomes part of their overall image. Lady Gaga’s enigmatic and cryptic style is a good example of how an artist has managed to rise up out of nothing into one of the best-known artists of the decade, through her own type of iconography surrounding dynamic outfits and peculiar haircuts displayed on stage and in videos.
According to Goodwin, there is often also a reference to voyeurism in modern music videos, the ‘male gaze’ is a term used to describe this when the voyeur focuses on women and the female body shape. Despite this being the ruling type of voyeurism there are cases where this has been reversed (Take That and other boy bands used shots of their young and attractive bodies to attract female viewers).
And similarly to Fraser, Goodwin also makes note of the tendency to have intertextuality in a video; whether this be to another music video or to film, TV, literature etc.
As an example of how Fraser and Goodwin’s conventions can be seen in action, I’ve analysed a music video (below) in an attempt to show how most music videos will follow this trend.
In accordance with Fraser’s conventions, this music video by Taylor Swift, is influenced by her lyrics, though the visuals do not provide a word-by-word representation they do reflect the tone of the message she’s trying to make. The visuals illustrate the idea that she is singing about someone she loves, and though they have not had a perfect relationship, this person still means more to her than anyone else. This notion is clear in the narrative and plot; there are two central characters, the female is played by Taylor Swift herself, and the male role by an unknown actor- the video shows them meeting, falling in love (this part is a definite illustration of the lyrics as the scene shows the two walking on a beach and the lyrics being sung mention being by water), getting married and having children.
The mise-en-scene in the video represents this young, vibrant, indie kind of appeal that Taylor Swift is using as her ‘brand image’- her clothing in every scene is made up of neutral colours, and sends out a feminine, flowery vibe. This approach has been taken in her other videos and live performances as well as magazine and internet interviews; suggesting she is aiming to have this care-free image as part of her own iconography. In addition to this, because the clothing she has is modern and up-to-date, it makes her relatable to the young people watching her videos, and makes it clear that her music is created and aimed at people of a similar age to herself, who have an interest in fashion and popular music.
Editing for this video is nothing unusual; fast-cuts are used to jump between three types of scene within the video; the first is of her as a solo artist in an artificial setting, bringing particular emphasis on her as the artist and musician. The second is the narrative and story in the video which is used to illustrate the meaning of her lyrics and the message within them; the third is a repeated set of clips from what can only be described as memories of the character that Taylor Swift is playing in the music video. These three streams of images are combined to create the full effect, each has a different set of mise-en-scene and cinematography in order for us to sub-consciously realise they are different from one another, preventing us from being confused by the narrative. Jump cuts are therefore used primarily, as this means we can go back and forth between the flows of narrative in a way which makes them plausible and understandable.
To develop the idea of cinematography in this video, the things most notable are the use of camera movement and close ups. Close ups are generally always used in music videos because they create intimacy and make us feel like we are part of the story being told, the focus placed on the characters also allows the audience to view their features more clearly, which makes it easier for us to understand the emotions of the characters and comprehend what they’re feeling in order for us to understand and make our own judgements. In quite a few of the scenes in this video, the characters are still, there are no distinguishing movements, such as dance sequences, which portray the atmosphere in the video; therefore the camera must move and work to make the audience feel like something is happening, and they aren’t watching a profane scene from any form of media text on the internet. An example of this is from 0:36 – 0:41 minutes where Taylor Swift is the main focus, yet she is moving very little so the camera has to move around her, circling her, progressing from an ‘ordinary’ to a high angle, making the video seem more dynamic and interesting.
Because the plot in this music video is more literal than abstract, it makes it easier to define as a genre; Taylor Swift herself promotes a fairly indie persona, she’s pixie-like and neutral and natural because her most used instrument is an acoustic guitar and she likes making videos that have plenty of references to scenery and the natural way of life. This would therefore have her videos fall under ‘indie’, as they don’t particularly strive to make a controversial boom, or work to bend the mind inside an abstract and confusing bubble- instead they sit comfortably in the middle.
Character performance is also very professional, it isn’t too active or too outlandish, nor is it bland. Because the performers act so well they make the video and plot more believable; they make us think that the story being told via the lyrics, could be true, and this enhances its appeal with the audience. Similarly, if you have effective actors in a film, it makes the film more enjoyable because it has good verisimilitude and therefore builds itself a reliable and positive status with the audience.
The plot itself is not unusual, it’s the generic girl meets boy, they fall in love, they fall out, they get back together and live happily ever after. Though ‘generic’ may make it seem negative, the reality is quite the opposite- by being so normal the video becomes relatable and the audience enjoy watching it because they can mentally place themselves in the shoes of the characters and feel like they can associate with them. By being so relatable, the video’s appeal increases, the audience make the effort to repeatedly watch the video because it comforts them in some way; this effect can be explained by Blumler, McQuail and Brown’s Uses and Gratifications Theory. They stated that a media text can serve up to four purposes, Diversion, Personal Relationships, Personal Identity and Surveillance; this music video can fulfil the Personal Identity role because it lets the viewer compare their life and their life issues with those of the characters, and gives them an opportunity to see things from an alternative third-person perspective.
Wednesday 13 October 2010
Initial Ideas!
Our group consists of Anna Clarey, Heather Ainsworth and Lydia Welsh. Together we have decided to create a music video and a digipak that will also include a magazine advertisement.
We have chosen to do the genre of punk rock and have chosen a band called "The Shame" which we found off jamendo.com which is a creative commons website.
As our chosen band is spanish we are unable to use the real band therefore will have to find actors who will fit the brand image of the music. We also need to find extra actors for some of the scenes in our videos that will appeal to our target audience.
Throughout our video we wish to use a green screen to show a variety of techniques to enable us to work with the genre of the song. We shall also be looking at different props, settings and locations to also fit with the genre.
We have chosen a song called "Beautiful Day" as we think this will fit with out initial idea of having a food fight. Our video will also include shots of a live performance as this matches our chosen genre.
This is a URL to our chosen track Beautiful Day:
http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/279328
Heather and Lydia
We have chosen to do the genre of punk rock and have chosen a band called "The Shame" which we found off jamendo.com which is a creative commons website.
As our chosen band is spanish we are unable to use the real band therefore will have to find actors who will fit the brand image of the music. We also need to find extra actors for some of the scenes in our videos that will appeal to our target audience.
Throughout our video we wish to use a green screen to show a variety of techniques to enable us to work with the genre of the song. We shall also be looking at different props, settings and locations to also fit with the genre.
We have chosen a song called "Beautiful Day" as we think this will fit with out initial idea of having a food fight. Our video will also include shots of a live performance as this matches our chosen genre.
This is a URL to our chosen track Beautiful Day:
http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/279328
Heather and Lydia
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