We chose to create our own table and plan, using it much like a simpler version of a call sheet, rather than filling out an indepth one of these, believing that for us, this is a simpler presentation and only included the things we need to know. This was combined with written notes, explaining exactly how and when each cut was going to be done. We also gave ourselves some time to overfilm, to make sure we get the exact shot right so we dont have to go back, also giving us the ability to choose the best one fron a number of shots. Although we appologise for the difficulty in reading this table, you can see that we have a clear understanding of when we would be filming what particular bits, taking the lighting and weather into consideration in aim of not having to change or go back and repeat these elements of filming. A number of props are needed in which we will ensure to organise, particular when adding to the mise-en-scene of the video, such as adding more stones or gravel to make the scenes look more appealing or relatable to the action, an example would be where we will add extra wood chavings to the floor when i am riding the bike as when visiting this sceen we did not feel initially that it had the same suburban or coutryside feel as we had liked. In organising our filming in depth, we hope and belief that this would save us much more time in doing so, realising the importance of organisation when completing my AS Thriller.Locations we will be using include:
Marketing techniques:
The aim of my project is to promote the band Delphic and boost their overall music sales through the use of the video, website and digipack Even after my research into the music industry. 'Pull' and 'Push' are two differnent types of promotional strategies that are used within the industry to promote and enhance sales. The push strategy makes use of a company's sales force in order to create consumer demand for a product, or in this case a band. The producer (record company) will promote the product to the wholesalers, which will then go to the retailers, and in turn will be promoted to the consumer. A push strategy tries to sell directly to the consumer without having to go through any other distribution channels, using consumer promotion and advertising as the main promotional tools.
A pull strategy focuses more on creating consumer demand for a product. This requires time and money to be spend on high quality advertising campaigns and promotions in order to provide as much knowledge about the product/band as possible, to attract the largest amount of consumers. If the strategy is a success then the consumer will ask the retailer for the product, who will then ask wholesalers, this is a much more thorough and reliable way of promoting a band, as you can be sure that the advertising material has gone out and consumers are aware of the band and their songs. However, it can be very expensive to do successfully and so it will only be used if a definate profit can be made. For example, this technique may only be used on large mainstream artists that can guarentee the record company a profit, where as, smaller and newer bands may not be able to generate the same public interest and may end up costing the company instead of profiting them.
Here is a voice over, explaining our initial aim before creating the video:
We wanted to ensure that this looks like a music video, rather than just looking like a story, so movement will relate to the beat of the song efficiently, and we will edit it in this way. No talking will be evident here, like when creating our thriller as this will interrupt the music and we do not wish to do this.
Mise en scene: the filming will be based outside a friend’s house believing that this would be an ideal situation. We wanted to expand some of the lyrics meanings in interpreting them to relate to a specific place where the main character feels comforting, having recently lost a partner. In choosing this house, we will be able to make use of the scenery it looks on to. The house looks over on to some hills and trees, with no other houses in sight, being beneficial in showing it to be a quite and peaceful place. We will be showing the outlook from the roof of the house, having the main character sitting on here and using a point of view perspective. We will then use this point of view technique on the hills themselves, showing the beauty of what she is seeing and coursing the audience to relate to the character straight away; sharing a link. Other camera angles will also be used here, wanting to use a majority and keep the audience interested. The character will also be shown walking around, having someone else hold the camera at this point. We will then have to deviate away from this house, needing a ‘red room’ for an attractive male to be filmed, again ensuring the video relates to the lyrics, as Goodwin suggested. This room will be empty with red walls, we may have to create this look by covering the walls with red paper or cloth but will aim to find a room in which has already been painted, making sure realism is included to the best extent. We will also make use of the town square, choosing to film at a busy time and when there will not likely be anyone there, providing us with a contrast to use without our filming, relating slightly to LeviStrauss theory who looks at the use of binary oppositions in portraying information throughout the media.
Lighting: We will film our bits outside in the mornings, just before midday, believing that the lighting here would relate the best. This may also help suggest a mood, knowing that it will be light but not as light as it could be, whereas the character is happiest at this place but still not as happy as they could be, because of the loss of a partner. Throughout the lyrics, the singer also asks to be reassured that nothing is wrong. Artificial lighting will be used in the 'red room' along with some camera effects, wanting to portray a smoky and slightly sexual effect. Along with showing that this is a memory and that the boy here is happy, along with the girls memories of him.
Costume: the girl will be seen wearing different costumes, symbolising different days. We want her to look normal and relatable, aiming for her to look like a middle class school girl. Although voyeurism could be used to add attractiveness to this video, we found that this was less important. However, we did want her to look attractive to some extent, aiming to put her in attractive but casual clothes. The boy however, will be placed in quite smart clothes, wanting him to look his best as this is how the girl is likely to remember him. The girl within the video will sometimes be shown to have a blue face, using it to symbolise how she hides her true feelings around other people, finding it hard to feel comfortable around anyone but the boy she has lost. We will aim to portray this throughout the video, showing her to have a blue face whenever their is someone else in the shot but not when she is seen with the particular boy she is missing, therefore blue face paint will also be needed.
Props: A ladder will be needed for the opening scene of the video, wanting to show the girl walking up and down it in rhythm to the fast opening beat of the song. This will also symbolise the girls confusion and almost 'imbalance' in relation to her emotions and state of mind. The ladder will also allow for showing how the girl will reach to get on top of the roof, ensuring the video makes sense. Their will be three or four different costumers that the girl will be wearing. She will be seen in casual clothes throughout the video but ones in which make her look okay, wanting her to match the stereotypical view of a typical older teenage girl. A red wall will also be needed to relate to the 'red room' mentioned in the song. When choosing our locations to film, we will tweak little elements of the scene to help with the overall perception of the film. For example, we would like the view from the roof to look green and well looked after, so leaves may have to be collected and placed in specific areas. This may also be the case when the girl will be seen riding a bike, wanting to create a more countryside view.
Plot and structure: It will not run exactly in the rhythm of the story line, wanting the audience to be allowed to interpret things on their own. We also thought that this would prevent it from falling away from a music video and looking more like a film. The lighting will be bright throughout the video, although some flash backs will be apparent, portrayed with the use of colour. It will be made clear than the girl is missing a particular guy and at the moment, prefers being on her own and pretending that everything is okay. Having her face turning blue whenever their is company will help make this evident further, although we still want to add a small element of confusion. Their will be flash backs of the boy and the two characters will be seen together, however, then will never touch and the boy will somewhat flash, showing that he is not really there. A lot of fast cutting will be evident, matching with the speed of the song, along with some slow motion elements, going against the beat completely. I felt this would be beneficial in achieving an effective music video for this song choice.
Having no success in finding an imediate email or address directly for the band 'Delphic', i descided to email the record company; knowing that they are signed by 'Polydor'. The email reads;
Polydor Records,
We are currently completing an A-level in Media Studies, and for our coursework we are doing a music video. We are enquiring as to whether we are able to use the song 'Counterpoint' by 'Delphic'.
We would be creating a music video to this, strictly for coursework purposes and will not be publishing or using this video for any profit. We would appreciate it if you would get back to us, as we are extremely keen to use this song, feeling it would provide us with the ability to gain a good grade in this course.
Kind regards,
Adele Jackson and Carly Price.
However, we are yet to recieve a reply, therefore assuming that it will be okay to continue with using this song and looking forward in doing so.
Having been indroduced to the course, we wanted to get a good idea of the public's opinions and ideas about music videos, allowing for us to know what audience we are best to base our video on before choosing the song we did.
Knowing this was a very important element to creating a successful video, we did a vast amount of research into our audience. Firstly, we collected together all the questions we felt would be beneficial in getting a response from, before putting these into a well formatted questionnaire and distributing them to a number of audiences. We wanted to grasp information from as many different audiences as possible, not only considering their age but with social groups as well. We put much thought into how and when we would give these out.
The questions include:
- What is your gender?
- How old are you?
- What genre of music interests you the most?
- What style of video would you prefer to watch?
- How many people would you expect to see in a music video?
- What is your favourite music video at the moment?
- Why do you think this music video is so successful?
- What age do you expect people seen in a music video to be?
- How long would you expect a music video to last?
Firstly, we visited a high school, as we felt anyone younger than this would struggle in understanding the questions and would also not benefit in a cleverly adapted video or see the importance of this. We distributed our questionnaires to every student possible, including a free envelope and postage stamp with each, to allow them to send there completed answers directly to my house. This covered people between the ages of 13 and 18 years. Wanting to deviate away from students now, we went to the town square, kindly asking if people would mind filling in these questionnaires, explaining that the information would be used in helping us with our media A-level and in creating a music video for the correct audience to ensure it is relatable. We found this to be very successful in collecting a wide range of pedestrians from different backgrounds and age groups.
After collecting these results we looked at what age of people listened to music the most and the most popular styles, finding indie music and R&B to fall top on this. Having a high interest in indie music ourselves, we decided we would base our music video on this; also believing that this style of music would give us a steady baseline in the ability to achieve an effective video. The audience most suited to indie music seemed to be between the ages of 20-40 when looking at the feedback from our questionnaires, and would therefore aim in making it appealing to them. We finally concluded that the best audience to focus on would be people aged 20-30, finding indie music to be more popular with the late teenager or young adult age range as well as knowing these people have said to still listen to music a lot. After collecting this information and finally deciding on a song, we wanted to again achieve some more research in much the same way, having the ability to now get more direct information on the actual song of our choice - being 'counterpoint' by a band named 'Delphic'.
In doing this we visited some students at university, although this was narrowing our audience, we wanted a chance in actually showing people the song and enabling them to hear it for themselves as we watched. These students were aged between 20 and 25. Using a method of observing, we were able to see their reactions in this way; something that we found difficulty in achieving with the use of questionnaires. This also helped us see the exact bits in the song which got peoples attention more than others, meaning we may try and exaggerate these in our video. The students were then asked about the video, before resulting in an in depth discussion about what they felt about the current video and what they thought would improve it. Some of the questions asked included what people would expect the video to be like or more, what they would want to see when watching it. This helped us greatly, finding that the majority of people would like to see a storyline created rather than showing a performance based video all the way through. They would like the ability to relate to the video but at the same time, they want things left to their own imagination, meaning they can get out of it what they wish. We focused on the answers given from older people rather than the younger ones here, learning that they were more precise about what they wanted and had more idea's, as well as the fact that these would be our main audiences and therefore, what they want should be considered more important that the others. This would ensure us that there are people that are going to like the video and make it a success. We also asked how they would rate the song in particular and whether they feel this particular song was targetting their audience. How they interpret the lyrics to the song wa questionned aswell. However, although we have found the people we should be focusing on in order to gain recognition and sell our products, we will still aim to adapt our video to all audiences, making peoples enjoyment of our video as wide as possible.
In helping us consider a destination for our film, we looked at some theorists in which attempt to explain how audiences recieve, read and respond to text, particularly focusing on the Reception Theory:
This is a band in which we consider to be very simular to Delphic in terms of their music and therefore tried to gain some ideas from their videos, knowing how successful the courteeners are now considered to be. We researched into many of their videos, new and old before becoming obvious as to what we found worked well and what did not. Here is one of their videos, giving an example of how i constructed them to allow me to see why the video is thought to be so good.
This video opens with a close up of the main singers face, drawing attention to the artist to enable promotion and acknowledgement; much like Goodwin’s theory explains. In relation to the lyrics, this could also be helpful in showing the belief and confidence he has in what he is saying, looking directly at the camera. Having the actors within a frame looking into the camera directly can also help with drawing the audience in to the particular story or feelings you are trying to create; there is evidence of this being used throughout the music video, an example of this would be when we see the woman moving towards the camera. Opening with a close up like this could also be to increase the videos attractiveness, looking at vulgarism here, although this seems unlikely in this video, as it seems somewhat unnecessary when you consider the meaning behind the video, as this is not likely the image they are trying to create.
We are then taken to an alley way, using a stereotype here and relating the video to the lyrics. Alley ways are often considered to be degrading - often seen to be hung around in by gangs, drug and alcohol users and relate to street/knife crime etc in terms of the media. The lighting is duller here than on the shots of the main singer, adding a shade of blue. This may be used in showing the woman to be in a less cheery or easier place than him; a ‘dull’ place, again relating to what is being spoken about along with the title of this song. We are then shown a close up of her hand and scattered paper being driven towards her. As the woman is introduced, we see her wearing black which is known to be a colour symbolising death and unhappiness. She is also seen lying on the floor here, meaning much the same thing. After a close up of her hand, we are made to focus on the face as her eyes open. Just as they do, we are taken back to the lead singer, showing his eyes open in much the same way. This cleverly brings a connection between the two individuals, making it clear that there was a history here without having to show them together in a more obvious but less effective way. This is also told to us through the lyrics when he says ‘I know you...this is not the girl I used to whirl’. Shots between the singer and the woman are often done from similar angles, making the link even stronger.
In terms of the paper we see moving around her, this could also be symbolic in a number of different ways. The paper is scattered around and is seen to be unimportant here, even though it does have words written on it. Therefore, it could be used to say that ‘words don’t mean anything’ and ‘nothing will save her’ now perhaps - being too late for anything to make a difference. The way they are made to move around also may refer to how out of control the woman is, adding a messy effect to the scene.
Although the woman is clearly a mess - which is exaggerated by the lyrics as they repeat the line ’you’ll carry on until your dead and you drop’ - she is shown to be presented as a neatly put person, wearing a clean dress with her hair carefully placed. This could link to Levi-Strauss’s theory within media, using binary oppositions to get information across and could effectively cause the audience to question what is being said and also make them analyse the film themselves, again, drawing them in, in such a way. This becomes clear later on when we are shown two of her, almost referring to a split personality or her old and new self. She appears covered in brown and is made to dance with her original self that we have been following throughout the film. This is a very effective element which allows the audience to interpret it how they wish. The lady covered in brown could be all the woman’s bad elements of her personality and actions which is overtaking her or could simply be her shadow or her when she is dead or has ‘dropped’ as the lyrics suggest. Allowing the two women to dance together in a strange way rather than making them fight or repel one another is very effective, showing them connecting and counterbalancing the emotions the two of them have, as well as keeping the video unique.
There is never any eye contact from the woman to the camera until the very end, helping to show that she is not completely will it and not all there. This is also shown using clever effects, making her dancing look strange and almost confusing as she walks towards us. As her second figure appears in brown, the lighting darkens even more, showing the audience that the singer is right and things are getting worse before brightening up as reality sets in. The lighting stays bright almost all the way through where the singer is positioned, showing that he is knowledgeable and clear minded, knowing what he is talking about.
The lighting of the woman slowly brightens, giving us a clearer perspective of the two and it is the first moment where we are able to focus on her face clearly. She begins to get more vigorous in her dancing, falling further away from the audience in such away and more into herself and her own dancing, helping to show her slipping away from the world maybe. The music tempo dims here and the singer is now standing up, making this scene much more serious. The editing speeds up here, following the music as we see the woman beginning to literally break, again relating to the lyrics. We see her break into little pieces which are made to circle in the air much the like the paper was at the beginning - showing a relationship between the beginning and end of the film and keeping everything together.
The camera shots and editing is very effective throughout the video, linking with the tone and rhythm of the music throughout, speeding up and slowing down where necessary. There were lots of close ups used, bringing specific visuals to focus for the audience and also making the whole picture slightly unclear, keeping people watching. Flashing lights and faster editing was made to bring the more serious bits to attention and add chaos to the scene; along with the rise in tone of the singer and the speed the lyrics are spoken. Everything fits nicely together throughout the video in which has obviously been carefully constructed. Having the woman dance throughout the video also adds energy to the song in which we can almost feel, wanted to get up and do something similar.
When researching this film, people seem unclear of why this woman is going down the route she is and have many different understandings on what is happening here. Some believe the woman to be a girlfriend who he wants to stop taking drugs, even though he takes them himself. There are a lot of links to drugs throughout the lyrics, including 'put the fiddle down', 'teeth are starting to go', ‘shoot up’ etc. However, others believe it to be merely a woman he sees drunk often, who he never used to see in that way, believing it to be a shame. This is a very effective element to this music video, allowing the audience to interpret what is going on individually, yet still showing enough for them to have the ability to understand the basic idea and find a connection with the piece.
I will deconstruct the lyrics of the song in depth, ensuring i have a clear understanding of the message they are giving across and therefore relate my video to them successfully. However, i do not want to follow the lyrics in a step by step format when watching my video, as this would create boredom and allow for no real creation.
'Counterpoint' By Delphic
Late at night, I'll run through the streets and empty corridors. I'll find my counterpoint, inside a red room locked behind a door.
I keep holding my head up, holding it up. Holding my head up, holding it up. And you just don't come back, around. It seems to me that we will never be.
And tell me nothings wrong, nothings wrong, nothings wrong today. Just tell me nothings wrong, nothings wrong, nothings wrong today.
Late at night, I'll run through the streets and empty corridors. I'll find my counterpoint, inside a red room locked behind a door. Behind a door.
And someone tell me, nothings wrong, nothings wrong, nothings wrong today. Just tell me nothings wrong, nothings wrong, nothings wrong today.
Ooooooh, everything I know. Ooooooh, everything I know. Is suddenly gone.
And tell me nothings wrong, nothings wrong, nothings wrong today. And someone tell me, nothings wrong, nothings wrong, nothings wrong today, today, today, today.
In asking a number of people, there seemed to be many different interpretations to the song. It is made obvious that there is something wrong with the singer, as they aim to deny and convince themselves otherwise. However, it is not clear to what this is exactly. Individuals have analysed this in being because of the loss of a sexual partner, as we read ‘it seems that we will never be’ and ‘you just don’t come back’. This could be due to them going their separate ways or maybe because of her passing away, if looking at it in more dramatic terms, as this could relate to the link to a ‘red room’. This would work when looking at the loss of not just a partner, but of a friend or family member to, trying to deviate from the typical love relation to many bands lyrics.
The song could also manage to be linked with a place, rather than a person. He may have had to move away from home for example, claiming that ‘everything I know has suddenly gone’. Choosing a song with many different variations of belief has enabled us to widen our ideas, rather than being narrowed down by a straight forward and obvious story line. I wanted to ensure that our video leaves some questions and allows for different interpretations to be made in much the same way, finding this to add fascination and interest.
Although we do not want to relate to the lyrics quite so obviously in our video, there must be some links made obvious for the audience to connect the two. In particular, we will follow the lyrics as they explain how he finds his place behind a ‘red room locked behind a door’, using this in our images. Another way this song can be read is that the person feels as though they do not fit in, as he tries to ‘hold his head up’ and believes that his ‘counterpoint’ is kept away from everyone else.
With much consideration, we decided that we needed to be clear of a very basic story line to ensure our story makes sense and save confusion. We will stick to the view that he is missing his girlfriend, or fiancé, as she has passed away and, even so, he is still expecting and wanting her to come back. Using a more dramatic storyline, allows for us to connect much more with the audience and add some more interest to our video, being a more demanding and relatable link. We will still aim to not make this very clear; meaning some of the other meanings to the lyrics may still have the ability to flow through. Some of the strangeness of the bands videos they have done themselves will try to be apparent, along with short clips of them performing throughout. We may include some evidence of the man thinking she has come back, before realising he is imagining it and much of the story will be taking place in a red room, whether this is done with painted walls or with the use of coloured smoke. We will ensure to use many camera angles and follow the tempo of the music with our editing.
Delphic are an alternative/ indie dance band, mixing rock subgenres with electronic dance music. They are officially a four piece band, consisting of a vocalist, guitarist, a drummer and a multi – instrumentalist. Originating from Stockport, they releasing their first single in August 2009 named ‘The Momentary’. This was made obvious of its success, being nominated for three UK Music Video awards, including Best Cinematography, best editing and best telecine. They are now covered by the record label Polydor, being based in the UK and aiming to be the future sound of Manchester.
Their first TV appearance was in November 2009, in which they played their song ‘Doubt’ and ‘Halcyon’. In this year, the band also managed to tour the UK music festival circuit, playing at; T in the Park, the Reading Festival, Leeds Festival, Creamfields and Bestival.
In 2010 they were placed third on the BBC of Sound poll, being here in which they gained their most recognition.
They seem to build craft dance music for indie boys to dance to, however, also touching on a slight rock band template. Their second album named ‘Acolyte’ was released this year, enabling Delphic to establish themselves as a name in their own right, rather than being a common style of Artist. In doing much research into this Band, i found that they were often referred to as ‘inklings’. This has furthered my inspiration in relation to my Artillery tasks, using this as a somewhat, hidden or subliminal relation to them by adding images of ‘ink’.
Knowing that the Band is becoming increasingly successful ensures us that the song, in terms of its tempo and lyrics is likely to be enjoyed by our audience. Being a fairly new band allowed us to experiment with something fresh, rather than having to relate back to older and more original or recognisable pieces.
Having been introduced to the A2 course, we chose to complete a music video. We believed that this would enable a number of experiments and innovative ideas to be created; being a broad topic and a dynamic selection. We studies a number of videos in aim of collecting inspiration, including those given to you previously. Firstly we aimed to create a video for a song in which does not yet have one, preventing ourselves from being influenced by other elements. This way we would have the ability to start from scratch and make the most of the course, showing exactly what we are capable of and how we interpret the particular song. Knowing the influence music videos have on the song itself and the acknowledgement and advertisement it gives, we also agreed that this would help benefit the song. We also wanted to ensure the song was unique and had not been heard by a lot of people, therefore adding some more interest when considering the audience, being a new and fresh piece of media altogether.
However, after some very in depth research we settled on a song in which does have a video, believing that it would be good to contradict this and completely show a different side to the song. Although there is a video, the band we are basing it on are not very well known, as we wished, and due to them having a very strict style and strangeness to their look and feel of their songs, we wanted to show a more relaxed video in which we believed could relate to a wider range of audience. Having listened to the song before seeing the video, we were still able to interpret our visual interpretations in this way - after discovering the video had not covered these, this gave us a great opportunity to show the video in a slightly different light and experiment with our own ideas. Knowing I have to create an advert, along with a CD cover as my ancillary tasks, I found myself having a number of different ideas for this band straight away, becoming very excited to start.
We have chosen to base our Music video on a band named Delphic, using their song named ‘Counterpoint’.
We now needed to get a set idea of precisely what we were doing and create a step by step plan of how we will conduct the filming, where it will be set and what props etc we will need. This would ensure we create the video efficiently, under good organization. The audience needs to be considered throughout this, being the main element of success. In considering this, we have created a number of questionnaires to be completed by a wide range of people to get a clear idea of exactly what they are looking for.
The importance of planning, research and audience became very clear during the first year of my Media course in which I will make use of throughout, ensuring I am able to complete these tasks to the best of my ability. Here is a link to the blog I completed for AS level. http://jacksonawalton.blogspot.com/
This is a more comical look at a music video, again relating well to the lyrics in this way. The video plays an important part as it could be unclear that they are talking about their shoes otherwise, cleverly showing the influence these videos can have on the song. It also shows how effective it is to make a twist on something - having them sit in their shoes rather then just having their feet in them like ordinary people.
The opening of this film is very effective, using a very obvious zoom-in as the beat in the music sounds, already showing a connection between these two. It also allows us to establish the surroundings and location of where they are, in terms of the mise en scene. There are a sequence of shots here, changing in time with the strength of the beat in which the main singers are shown from a distance but it is still not clear what they are doing, effectively drawing the audience in and causing questions to be asking to ensure they carry on watching. Evidence of panning shots are seen here, panning to the right in one shot and then to the left in other which proved to look good.
The lighting is clear and it looks as if only the natural light is being used on the camera at this stage, which is necessary in making it feel real as a connection from the audience is important. The shots we are shown are typical of any town, showing pedestrians and busy roads. We are finally introduced to the two singers closely, having them both appear behind a bus as it drives past - a realistic way to hide and place people into view, again giving the audience something to relate to.
We see them sitting in a shoe each, being very effective in bringing the lyrics together. Placing the audience to make it look as though they are riding towards them with the use of the camera also enables them to feel as though they are really there due to the perspective given. Speeding up some of the shots here with the use of editing, allows the images to relate well to the speed of the music and the speed of the lyrics – combining them all together. This also could be done to add excitement and buzz to the video by showing them travelling really fast in this way.
The singer’s movements are rough and somewhat twitchy throughout the video which has again been cleverly done to fit in with the rapping of the words and beat of the music. This was also seen in the Take That video which i have looked at, using the camera and editing to achieve this in much the same way but they used smooth movements rather than rough and messy ones. An example of this is when we see one of them picking chewing gum off the bottom of his trainer. This also adds comedy to the scene, being something that can often happen to us.
The location then switches now, giving us a break from the main scene to prevent us from becoming bored or overloaded due to the chaos that was shown, done with the use of lots of pedestrians and quick editing. This also allows us to focus clearly on the two singers in their shoes without any distraction, ensuring we see clearly who they are for advertisement and promotional purposes. Lots of lights are shown here, still keeping the excitement of the video, along with some little dancing from the band.
In relation to the connection the two singers have with one another, they are shown switching glasses. It could be important to show a relationship between the main singers and get some personal information about them into the song, even if it is something only slight. This would make sure they are liked by the public and more records are sold. They are shown playing a game of football sitting in the shoes and score, showing the love they have for them and relating to the lyrics. Showing them compete in an activity like this is very effectively done, showing them play in the shoes, even though they are sitting in them rather than having them on their feet, adding a twist to the video and keeping it unique, entertaining and different. This video would not have the same effect if they were seen walking around with the shoes on their feet like normal, showing that you must add something different to your music video for it to be successful, always considering the audience throughout. This is done later on in the video when we see them brushing them with a toothbrush, also showing how they help them attract females at the end. Building up to the shoes allowing them to attract females at the end also shows they are typical boys, again allowing the audience to connect with them as individuals.
When completing in depth research into music videos, in aim of contracting inspiration and getting a feel of what makes them successful, i wanted to analyse a wide range of video types. Therefore giving myself a broader view and allowing myself to see the different styles which can be achieved and work well. Although this is a very different approach to a music video as those i have already looked at, it has proved to be very effective and still manages to relate to the lyrics and music without showing a particular story. The editing proves to be particularly effective here.
Although there is no particular story line here, the motions in which the pictures are made to move at allows you to feel the rhythm of the song very effectively, also ensuring they fit with the beat of the music. The band members have also enabled themselves to be seen in the video even though they are not so clear, still ensuring a little publication is made and showing the audience that this is their music. The motions, editing, lights and images here all draw you in cleverly to the music of the song, sucking you in much like you want to move in the way they, along with the rest of the images are seen to. Although not following the lyrics strongly, they do say ‘on display for you’ which is almost like this, the video being more of an art and interesting concept of beauty rather than being used to tell a story.
Voyeurism is seen in this film, much like Goodwin suggested as we see nicely shaped woman dancing along to the music increasing its attractiveness along with the fancy colours used. Every movement they make fits in with the beat of the music, particularly with the drums in the background making it look very neat and very nicely slotted in with the song. Doves, flowers and other pretty images are seen throughout, along with a lot of bright colours which could be sued to resemble a number of things. Happiness and dance are two obvious characteristics which come across when watching this video and it could also be used to resemble the a club with the lights, movement and dancing that we see, giving us a real inspiration to get up and join in with this song.
Another music videos making use of this style would be by Gnarls Barkly - Crazy and Peter Gabriel -Sledgehammer:
Choosing to do a video like this also allows the audience to interpret the song as they wish, without any distractions or leading information that would mean there was only one way to think about it, they may help with widening their audience. Editing also has the ability to be experimentled widely in these types of music videos and you producers can really show of what they are able to do. Looking at how cool and effective the video is made to look could come across to the audience in making them view the band as cool and trendy because of this, getting a good impression through when using this technique.
The video opens with a dark lighting, gradually drawing us in as the music begins. This is done with the use of shadows and lighting, looking much like the sun rise; this is exaggerated to us with the use of a sound effect of birds. With the use of lighting in this way, we are also drawn directly to the writing on the boat with a close up, as we read the word ‘progress’ - this has been done, cleverly giving meaning to the song for the audience, linking the lyrics and video together, whilst also allowing them to send out a message without having to include it in the lyrics themselves.
Showing evidence of a sun rise and birds chirping gives us the feeling that it is very early in the morning here, causing the audience to wonder why they are up at this time and that it must be something important. Lots of close ups are shown to us here, also allowing questions to be asked by the audience, through not giving to much information away to quickly as we cannot yet see the whole picture. They also allow us to focus on key information, such as the boat and ores, telling us that they will be rowing. We are shown a medium shot of the bottom of the teams legs as they are all seen walking at the same pace, this could be to connect them together, showing them doing the same thing and that they are alike and a team again, showing a relation to their lyrics and the bands real life story as well. The motion and speed they are made to move at also fits cleverly with the tempo of the music and it is a very well framed shot. Close ups are then used to show the faces of each member of the band individually in which very similar camera angles are used. The picture here is very clear and it is likely this has been done for promotional purposes, ensuring the band is recognised. Using the same camera angles also adds a connection between each member of the team but yet still showing that they are individuals. It also helps to show their facial expressions in which portray their emotion, in which I’d say, was seriousness and concentration in this case.
As the camera moves away, we see them carrying the boat together, again helping to show them working as a team. This also allows the audience to feel as though they are there; watching the band walk away from them and making them want to follow. The mise en scene in terms of the closes they are wearing also helps to show this, dressing the same, showing they are all equal and bringing them together. They are also dressed in white, being viewed as a peaceful colour whereas we later see that the people they are racing against are in red, a colour of danger and nastiness perhaps.
We are placed in lots of different positions with the use of the camera, keeping us entertained and allowing us to get a good picture of what is going on. We are placed looking up at the boat from the water at one point in which it is made to look like they are placing the boat on top of us, this not only ensures the audience feel they are involved but could be a subliminal message to show that they were falling but have now brought themselves back up as the camera moves before the boat has time to touch us, not falling into the water like it was going to, showing a relation to the lyrics. They are shown lowering the boat down as a team using almost an establishing shot here. They use the same movements in which look very controlled and swift like, going along with the beat of the music, which is at this point smooth and soft. It could also be to show they know what they are doing and have practised, again adding importance to the event. Having them look down on us may relate to power and how they are now ‘shouting up to the world’ and are certain of themselves and what they are doing, relating well to the lyrics.
We are shown an extreme close up of the water here, using it as a cut away from the main action. This prevented the camera from having to show the team getting into the boat, in which may have looked messy compared to the rest of the video in which very smooth and slow movements have been seen. Taking us to the water and going back to them sitting in the boat already provides a more effective and quicker way of doing this and getting the message across. The water is made to look pretty and fresh, along with the rest of the scenery, done with very well constructed lighting and shadows throughout.
Showing Robbie standing now allows the audience to be taken away from the rowing for a little while to prevent boredom and keep them engrossed. Showing only one scene can often be too little in which I will consider when completing my music video. As we revert back to the rowing, the camera angles are very effective and good photography is used. There is evidence of close ups again here, showing hands cracking and support for one another with the batting of backs etc, being determined not to be ‘held back by the flood’. Robbie has a tattoo with the word ‘love’ on his hand, in which could have been made use of out in cleverly showing it to the audience. Reverse shots are using showing both the teams in which will be competing. At the moment where we have to look past the other team to see Take That, we do find ourselves doing this in which proves to be effecting and that we are being drawn into watching them and supporting them efficiently, putting our concentration on them. There is also less focus placed on them in terms of the quality of the shot; blurring them out slightly to help achieve this. The gun is made to go off with the music as the lyrics speak the word ‘no’. This not only allows them to add sounds to the video without disrupting the song but can also be used to help in strengthening the meaning and importance of what they are saying. They also use this bang to up the tempo, noise and speed of the song, making it loader and more intense. The editing follows this - speeding up and showing quicker close ups. Splashes of water help add a chaotic effect here as well as showing the effort they are putting in. They also talk about how no one dies in the lyrics here, adding a relationship with the gun as well as using it to show the beginning of the race. Birds eye views, panning shots and establishing shots are seen here, keeping the angles varied. A cut away is done of children waving at them here, showing that they have support or even that that they had support at the time, allowing them to get back together, ‘learn’ and ‘hold back the flood’. It also helps to keep the video look realistic and relatable, adding general members of the public in now and again.
The opposing team are seen to win the race but Take That carry on rowing anyway, showing that they should never give up or that winning isn’t actually that important or that they gave up to easily in the past? We are shown them rowing through a building at one point, only allowing us to see them through gaps. As well as being an interesting layout, it helps connect us to the story as we feel we are watching. Much like the shadows, we are clearly shown the reflection of the band members in the water; this may be a message to show that they have nothing to hide. As the video falls to an end, we are shown many establishing shots, showing us just how beautiful of a place they are in and that everything is okay as we begin to fade away. The sun then turns to thunder and the light dims, relating heavily with the lyrics and could mean a number of things. They may have failed to hold back the flood after all or this could also be there to show that it doesn’t matter as they are still rowing in it and haven’t given up. It could also be that maybe the video is what people thought of them in which they are in fact wrong.
Some main components which stand out when analysing those of a music video include the; lyrics, music, genre, camerawork and editing, with the codes and conventions falling into three distinct groups: - Technical (camera techniques and shots) - Symbolic (clothing, colours etc) - Written and audio (music and lyrics). - Lyrics: these help to establish the general feeling of the video, giving a sense of the subject matter. Key lines will often play a significant part in the visuals but there will rarely be a full interpretation. Many viewers find the appeal of songs in the lyrics rather than in the music, this could be due to the lyrics often being 'relatable', enabling the listeners to connect with the song due to them having experienced things similar to what is being covered or spoken about. Also giving them a better understanding of the video placed with the piece, making it easier for the music video to express emotions and sentiments, feelings and intent. Music can provide and express emotions, but adding lyrics to a song adds depth and texture to what would otherwise sometimes be seen as plain and repetitive.
- Music: the tempo of the track helps drive the editing. Particular sounds in a track could also be enphisized on screen, showing a close up of a guitar solo for example. If the music is slow then you may choose to look at placing more slow motion editing in the piece, rather than if it were caotic music, fast, quick editing could help exgaddurate that. However, you may choose to deviate from this, contradicting the music which can sometimes be effective.
- Genre: Each genre carries its own codes and conventions, a viewer would expect to see these in the music video which would be reflected in the mise-en-scène, peroformance, camera work and editing style. Music can be divided into many genres in many different ways due to the different purposes behind them and the different points of view from which they are made, and because of this the genre classifications are often controversial, with closely related genres often overlapping. Some music genre examples include; Indie, African, R&B, Classical and Pop.
- camerawork: How the camera is used and how images are sequenced has a significant impact on meaning. The angle, movements and shot distance are likely to change and flactuate in relation to the music. Upbeat tones are likely to require more dynamic camerawork for example.
- editing: Editing is really the art of telling a story and in the process of filming, you must film to edit. Some music videos feature fast cut montages, redering images so that the viewers find themselves unable to focus and take in everything that was shown in this way, encouraging repeated viewings. The editing helps to establish the mood, and is sometimes used to fragment the narrative. Often enhancing the editing are digital effects, which play with the original images to offer different kinds of pleasure for the audience.
Andrew Goodwin has identified a number of key features which distinguish the music video as a form, in which i have covered in the Powerpoint presentation i have create, shown below.
Some other theorists relating to the forms and conventions of a typical music video include:
Steve Archers Theory: He believes there needs to be a strong and coherent relationship between the narrative and performance in any music promotion for it to be succesfully, much like what Adrew Goodwin has explained. He also explains how it is typical for music videos to cut between the narrative and a performace of the song by the band. A carefully choreogrphed dance might also be part of the artist's performance or an extra aspect of the video, designed to add visulisation and get them noticed, also looking at the 'repeatabiliy factor.
Sigmond Freud's Theory: This psychologists refers to the notion that erotic pleasure may be gained by looking at a sexual object, being most effective when the subject doesn't appear to know they are being watched. This could help gain viewers in relation to music videos.
John Stewart’s Theory: This theory looks at how the music video has the aesthetics of a TV commercial, using lots of close-ups and lighting to focus on the star’s face. He sees visual reference in music video as coming from a range of sources, although the three most frequent are perhaps cinema, fashion and art photography. Stewart’s description of the music video as ‘incorportating, raiding and reconstructing’ is essentially the essence of Intertextuality - using something with which the audience may be familiar, to generate associations and new meanings. A music video allows more access to the performer than a stage performance can occording to John Stewart and the mise-en-scene should be made use of, emphasising an aspirational lifestyle.
Laura Mulvey’s Theory: Claims that the presence of women in films is often solely for the purposes of display, rather than for the narrative purposes, also proposing that this is due to filmmakers being mostly male. The reason of this being to facilitate a voyeuristic response, spoken about in my PowerPoint above, when researching into Goodwin's Theory.
What is a music video? A music video is one produced to accompany a complete piece of music or song, intended to promote the sale of music recordings - using the video as a marketing device and for artistic purposes. Through this, artist's singing talents can be showcased, along with how they perform, with music video’s playing an important role in the success of many artists and the music industry.
The experiences and temptations vary, depending on what a particular person responds to, knowing that the audience of a music video needs to be considered a great deal. Some examples of themes shown within a music video that benefit from this can include:
· urban drama (Suzanne Vega - Everything’s Gonna Be Alright) · authority (Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun) · money (Jay-Z - Big Pimpin) · dance (Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal) · teenage reminiscence (Smashing Pumpkins - 1969)) · graphical creativity (The White Stripes - Fell in Love with a Girl)
Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques.
History of the Music Video
Looking at the history of music videos has enabled me to get a real grasp on the impact they have had and how they transformed the music industry.
The TV show 'Countdown' played an important role in the development of the music video industry, premiering in 1974. Music video clips were used as a method of promoting acts that were to appear on the show. As the popularity of these video clips grew, the music industry began to realize the marketing potential they had here.
''Video Concert Hall,' was apparently the first video music program that was shown nationwide on American television, followed by ‘night flight’, shown on a US program. In 1981, the video channel MTV (music television) was launched, being the phenomenon that gained the power of the music video. They launched the channel with the video, "Video Killed the Radio Star." By The Buggles; broadcasting 24-hour-a-day music. Due to the amount of broadcast, more videos were needed to be produced, resulting in them beginning to play an important role in artists’ careers. Throughout the 1980s, MTV expanded to become an important tool used in music marketing. Singers not only used music videos to promote their albums, but also to create an image for themselves. An example here would be to look at Madonna, as her career was greatly influenced by her video that presented a sexy, appealing looking artist, being most associated with music video censorship. The controversy surrounding her marketing of sexuality began with the video for "Lucky Star", aand grew over time due to clips such as "Like a Virgin". In this period, directors and the acts they worked with began to explore and expand the form and style of the genre, using more sophisticated effects in their videos, mixing film and video, and adding a storyline or plot to the music video. Occasionally videos were made in a non-representational form.
In 1983, the 13-minute-long video for Michael Jackson's song "Thriller," was released, becoming one of the world's most successful and influential video in music history.
For each of Micheal Jacksons video's, there would be an elaborate narrative, the best example being this landmark 'Thriller'. Every new Michael Jackson video was seen as a benchmark in technology and storytelling. - MTV had been running for two years before broadcasting this video in 1983, revolutionising the genre and setting newstandards. He used this video to create a mini-comedy of music and gore, telling a story with a beggining, a middle and an end. The interesting choices and visuals in this video are, in themselves, innovations at this time. The general public was not familiar with this style and genre before this music video was released.
MTV went on to launch further channels, showing music video’s based for a particular audience, such as VHI for the older audience, featuring soft music, and MTV raps, bringing hip hop music nationwide - launching channels around the world during the 1990’s. The past decades of music video, whether seen on TV or on the Internet, have presented numerous art works expressing the street life and fantasy lives of modern sub-cultures. By looking at personal reactions to music video, it becomes possible to understand how music videos gain such significance.
Use of the internet In 1997 the website iFilm was launched, which hosted videos, including those associated with music. Napster was another website which enabled users to share video files running at this time, using a peer to peer network service. Both of which increasing the promotion and knowledge of music videos, enabling more ways in which they can be viewed.
By the mid-2000s, MTV and other similar channels abandoned showing music videos in favor of reality television shows, as these were more popular with its audiences; this lead to the release of the website YouTube which made the viewing of online video much faster and easier by 2005. MySpace's video functionality, which uses similar technology, launched in 2007. Such websites had a strong effect and some artists began to see success as a result of videos seen mostly or entirely online. We can look at the band ‘Ok Go’ here, who achieved their fame through the videos of two of their songs, both of which first become well known online.
The Internet has become the primary growth income market for record company-produced music videos.
Advanced technology
Apple's iTune's store is now apparent, providing a section of free music videos in high quality compression to be watched via the iTunes application. The iTunes Store has now begun selling music videos for people to buy and use on iPod’s, with video playback capability.
Following the rise of internet broadcasting and the popularity of video sites such as YouTube, independant filmmakers began recording live sessions to present on the Web - Offering freedom from the financial requirements of high-production movie-like clips; rising opportunity for people involved in music to become known. It was seen as the only method for little-known indie music artists to present themselves to a wider audience. Consequently, artists these days can spend millions on promotional videos, in order to make the biggest impression on the public
MTV officially dropped the Music Television tagline from their logo in 2010 in response to their increased commitment to non-scripted reality programming and other youth-oriented entertainment.
Although we appologise for the difficulty in reading this table, you can see that we have a clear understanding of when we would be filming what particular bits, taking the lighting and weather into consideration in aim of not having to change or go back and repeat these elements of filming. A number of props are needed in which we will ensure to organise, particular when adding to the mise-en-scene of the video, such as adding more stones or gravel to make the scenes look more appealing or relatable to the action, an example would be where we will add extra wood chavings to the floor when i am riding the bike as when visiting this sceen we did not feel initially that it had the same suburban or coutryside feel as we had liked. In organising our filming in depth, we hope and belief that this would save us much more time in doing so, realising the importance of organisation when completing my AS Thriller. Locations we will be using include:
