Finished Music Video

Final Products

CD Cover Ideas

Here are five ideas I have come up with so far for our CD Cover:

Music Video First Draft

Video Log 2

Fighting Rehearsals

Video Log 1

Filming Process

The filming process was quite a long one in comparison to last year, however this was expected because with a music video everything has to be very well thought out and planned, and I think the storyboard helped us a lot more while filming too than it did last year. It was split into two Fridays, with a one week break in between. We firstly filmed all the performance parts, and this went very well especially because of the camera we had access to. The training sequence was actually done inside one of our lessons, and for this we again used the same camera, however for the actual fights themselves we had two different cameras that were used.
For the performance we had to take all the instruments and equipment to the place we were filming, and the whole process was quite timely, especially because of a few teachers not allowing us to take some instruments until a certain time, however in the meantime we got all the rest of the props and lighting ready, whilst also connecting one of our phone's to the speakers so the band could hear it from where they were, and also to help whilst editing with the lip-syncing.
The training sequence was filmed during our lesson times on Friday, and this went quite smoothly as it was really just random things being done, and it still looked quite good on camera. After that we all met up after school, and we were using the drama halls, which was also the place we used for the performance part involving the band only. We brought the mats over to the rooms, and this time we were restricted to one room because of the other being used by some other students. Next we gathered quite a few people and got everyone to surround the area we would be fighting, but as it was after school many people left after only a few fights, which is why we filmed the main and most important fights (the last two) first, as this was predicted by the group. We finished late again that day, but after this nothing had been reshot, meaning we did it well the first time, and overall I think filming was a success.
The group did have a few issues with the camera though, as we had to switch to one with less quality, and after a while that stopped working so we had to switch to a handy-cam, and this took down our quality quite a bit. Another thing was that the settings on the handy-cam were different, so we had to export the files separately, and this just added to the time we had to wait before we could start editing. But by the next Friday the group had started editing, whilst also having a lot of behind the scenes shot too, and some of these might even feature in the digipak, which we will hopefully start soon enough as well.

Music Video Basic Plot

After discussing several ideas for the music video, and acting upon the information we received from the audience research, the group have finally agreed on a final idea, and I think if it is filmed as the way I myself imagine it, it should turn out very well.

The basic concept involves the lead singer (star persona) being a fighter at the top of his game, however after going into drugs and drinking he accepts bribes from another fighter, but eventually he decides to stop cheating for money, and this comes with a great cost, as he gets beaten up by the briber in a fight. After this event happens, a trainer approaches him and offers to help him and overcome the person who bribed him. The whole training process is then shown, and he eventually gets better and better until he goes on to beat the person who beat him before. The struggle will be shown in the video in the way the sequence of fights are shown. The group have also decided to make the video more narrative based as the storyline is quite a complex one, and we will obviously need a lot of time to try and get our ideas fully across in it.
I think we have considered our audience a lot overall, and taken forward many of their ideas and tried to combine them as best as we can, and hopefully that will show in our final music video as well.

Learning the Basics

As a fight scene is something we haven't really touched upon since starting Media Studies, itis important my group and I know some of the basics just to make it a little bit easier while filming. This video is something that we all watched, and we did think it was beneficial:

I think the most important thing while filming is the camera angle in this scenario, as the camera shot itself will help push some of your points through and make it more appealing to the eye, but by being directly behind or in front of the contact will obstruct the viewer's eye from what is actually going on, so the hits will look real. Another thing is that there needs to be many cuts and the match on action needs to be done very well in the editing process. This is shown in a fight scene from the Bourne Supremacy involving Matt Damon. Another thing that I picked up on here was that there was a lot of camera shake, and this was to again make it harder for the viewer to see exactly what is going on, and to make everything look more realistic whilst adding a dramatic tone to it:

Fight Scene Inspirations

Here are some fight scenes from a few movies that are our main influences:

Audience Research Analysis

Audience Research Analysis on Prezi

Genre Conventions

This is a quick Prezi I made mentioning some things you would expect to see in a music video for the genre of rock, and hopefully ours will feature some of these things too:

Genre Conventions on Prezi

Shooting Schedule

Basic shooting schedule from 11187AJ

Animatic Storyboard

Animatic Storyboard Drawings

Here are three pages of drawings I did for the animatic storyboard:

Audience Research

Here is a video of us asking a few questions to some people to try and get a good idea of what they are expecting to see in the music video:

Rock Band Covers Visual Brainstorm

Here is a brainstorm consisting of CD covers from artists and bands from the genre of our chosen song - Rock :

Storyboard Ideas

My Storyboard on Prezi

Song Title Ideas

Song Titles on Prezi

Work Update

Simple Plan (Album+Song Analysis)

Skillet (Album+Song Analysis)

Linkin Park (Album+Song Analysis)

Analysing Band CD Covers

Discussing Initial Ideas

Choosing the Song

Our Top Three Tracks

Army of Me - Bjork (Analysis)

This is a video of me talking about the visuals shown in the music video 'Army of Me' by Bjork. I also talk about the themes and why I think the things shown in the video were to try and push an ideology or belief forward.

Gorillaz - Construction of a Band

Bachelorette - Bjork (Analysis)

The tone of this music video is quite a dark and ominous one. This is suggested by some of the lyrics, such as 'love is a two way dream', and 'if you forget my name, you will go astray, like a killer whale trapped in a bay'. I think this suggests that the overall theme is a break down of relationships, and also fate, as there are connotations of destiny in the way the book found her, and not the other way around. The book itself could symbolise her ego, as the size of it keeps on increasing as she gets more popular. This also reminds me of the way the diamond's size kept on increasing in 'Army of Me', and perhaps she was trying to link these two videos together.

In my opinion Bjork's videos are always quite interesting, however this could be for one of two reasons - the artist suggests her own ideas, or the directors she works with are auteurs. This was the case when she worked with Chris Cunningham, because he does have his own style in his videos, and when I watch something that he has directed I know he was behind it before I even see his name.

Billie Jean - Michael Jackson (Analysis)

This is a Prezi I made about one of Michael Jackson's most famous songs - Billie Jean.

MJ on Prezi

Target Audience

A band needs to appeal to a certain type of audience, and this is usually what makes them decide to do what they do when it comes to the music. The band I am focusing on is Busted, which was an English pop/rock band consisting of three members - James Bourne, Matt Willis, and Charlie Simpson. They were all young teens and their main target audience were teenage girls. This was reflected in the way they were shown in public and in their music videos/performances. The main aspects that I picked up on were the hair, clothes, facial expressions, age, and gender. This was from the following picture:

In this image all three of the boys have their hair dyed and styled in a fashionable way. Their clothes are casual, and they are all wearing black jeans. Their facial expressions are also trying to show that they are young and careless, and this is also shown through their ages as well. This shows that the band weren't trying to go for a grown-up look, as that isn't their target audience. Instead they were going for a young audience, and I assume it would mainly be girls, as I think it would work the other way around as well.
Another band that can relate to this are One Direction, which is a boy band that was formed in 2010. They are also targeting roughly the same audience, and they are using some of the same techniques as Busted. They all don't act too mature, so the younger people feel they can relate to them. Also, the colour of the clothing they are wearing is vibrant and bright most of the time. This is to show that they are young and happy. In my opinion the marketing for bands doesn't change too much with time, and I think it will always be similar to other bands who have targeted the same audience.

Come into my World - Kylie Minogue (Analysis)

The star was the subject throughout the video, and she was being replicated every time the camera ended up in the same position it was in firstly. In a way this could be the director using voyeurism, as we (the audience) wanted to see exactly how it would happen. Also, the video was directed very well. The characters who were duplicated almost interacted on several occasions, so it must have been very well though out. I think Michel Gondry does count as an auteur, as his videos do seem to be quite unique and his own. This one I especially like though, as I love effects that look hard to do, and this one was, as shown below:

Conventions of a Music Video

This is a short Prezi I made to show the conventions of a music video. It is basically outlining the things that we discussed in lesson, except it is now being put to use by analysing artists and music videos.

'Undone' Introduction Analysis

The music video 'Undone' by the band Weezer was directed by Spike Jonze in the year 1994. It is essentially of the band just playing their instruments, and it was all done with one continuous long shot. It started off with a fade from black, and then we were eventually led to the band, however they were upside down and they couldn't be seen properly at first either (silhouette effect). After this the camera flips over and the band is shown properly for the first time. This was to build up anticipation in the audience. Another thing that might have helped this was the way the video was slowed down (slow motion), and this all led up to the moment when the light switched on.
I think that the camera takes on the guise of an obsessive fan, seeking for some secret within the performance, or perhaps desperately searching for something more to the video. Spike Jonze is perhaps pandering to our voyeuristic needs as a viewer, yet also teasing us at the same time.

Auteurs in Music

An auteur is a director/filmmaker whose individual style and creative influence on a film is so great that it gives a film its personal and unique stamp. In today's lesson we were told to find 8 auteurs in the music industry, and they are listed below:

1. Spike Jonze – The Pharcyde (Drop)

2. Tom Scharpling - The Stepkids (Legend In My Own Mind)

4. Marc Klasfeld - Red Hot Chili Peppers (The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie)

5. Jake Nava - Roll Deep (Badman)

6. Jesse Dylan - Barack Obama Music Video (Yes We Can)

7. Wolf Haley (Alter ego of Tyler) - Tyler, The Creator (Yonkers)

8. Chris Cunningham - Aphex Twin (Come to Daddy)

Q) Write three things you have learnt about Chris Cunningham in this lesson:

A) I have learnt that his videos are unique and have their own style. I have learnt that he is a famous music director who is respected in the music industry, hence him working with Madonna. Finally, I have learnt that he is an auteur.

Q) What theme runs through his videos?
A) There isn't an actual theme throughout his videos, and in that way they are random.

Q) How would you describe his style?

A) His style is unique as he makes music videos that include visuals that do not come to mind when listening to the lyrics. This is a reoccurring theme apparently

Narrative and Performance

Narrative in songs is rarely complete, more often fragmentary, as in poetry. The same is true of music promos, which more often suggest story-lines or offer complex fragments of them in non-linear order. In doing this the music video leaves the viewer with the desire to see it again if only to catch the bits missed on the first viewing. As Steve Archer puts it: "Often, music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band. Additionally, a carefully choreographed dance might be a part of the artist's performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the 'repeatability' factor. Sometimes, the artist will be a part of the story, acting as a narrator and participant at the same time. But it is the lip sync, close-up and the miming of playing instruments that remains at the heart of music videos, as if to assure us that the band really can kick it." (Steve Archer - 2004)
The video allows the audience access to the performer in a much greater range of ways than a stage performance could. Eye contact and facial gestures via the close-up, role playing through the narrative and mise-en-scene will present the artist in a number of ways which would not be possible in a live concert.
The mise-en-scene may be used as a guarantee of what Simon Firth terms 'authenticity' as in the stage performance/use of a rehearsal room by a band whose musical virtuosity is their main selling point. It can be important to a narrative-based video to establish setting and relationship to existing film or televisual genres. Equally it may be used as part of the voyeuristic context by suggesting associated with sexual allure, such as a sleazy nightclub or boudoir. Or finally, as John Stewart suggests, it may be used to emphasise an aspirational lifestyle for the audience, as in the current dominance of a futuristic look with emphasis on the latest gadgetry.
Other commentators have divided music videos in terms of style, though often there will be crossover between these; apart from Performance and Narrative, it is possible to identify at least six: Gothic, Animated, Dreamscapes, Portraiture, Futuristic and Home Movie.

Slideshows

Here are a few slideshows I found that also explain the history of music videos. They primarily cover the same ideas and concepts that I went through, but they are more detailed than mine.

The History Of Music Video

Music Video Intro And Intertextuality.Ppt


The Music Video & History

History of Music Videos

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music or a song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. However this all started a long time ago with a very different motive when a man named Lee De Forest made the first music video. However at the time the music was played alongside animated films, and the music was just an orchestra in the background. Between the 1930's to the 1950's Max Fleischer was a key figure in America, more specifically Hollywood, as he helped to establish the whole concept of the music videos at that time.

The next major breakthrough was in 1964, when the group Animals released their music video 'House of the Rising Sun'. Looking back on it you can tell the whole set design was rather cheap, as everything looked flimsy to be honest. However obviously for that time it must have been seen differently, and that was essentially the starting point for music videos in my opinion. Also, in the same year Beatles released their first feature film (A Hard Day's Night) and this went on to inspire many other artists as it was something original and new at the time. Two years later The Beatles stopped touring and filmed two sets of colour promotional clips. This was quite a big thing at the time, and the band members themselves said that it was just to concentrate on writing and recording.
The next big thing in the history of music videos was when Bob Dylan made a music video, but instead of miming to the recording, he illustrated the lyrics by throwing cue cards containing key words from the song on the ground (Don't Look Back). At this time song films were called 'film inserts', and they were starting to mean something to audiences. In the same year (1966), 'Dead End Street' was released, and it was the first music video with an actual plot. However music videos were still just being used to promote the sales of the music recordings, and were not being sold separately like they are now. This was proven when David Bowie distributed Mick Rock's music for free for promotion.
A few years later Top of the Pops started playing music, and this was in the late 1970's. To rival this whole concept, 24-hour-a-day channel called 'MTV' was launched (1981).

First Post

The task given for my A2 media studies coursework is the following:
A promotion package for the releases of an album, to include music promo video, together with two of the following three options:
a) Website homepage for the band.
b) Digipak for the album release.
c) Magazine advertisement for the Digipak.