Music Video

Final

 



Draft

 



Magazine Ad

Draft 

 

Final

Digi-pak

Bellow are the panels for my digi pak in a  convenient presentation format.
These panels make up a three wide strip with the far right panels folding into the center under the front cover.

Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

 forms and conventions of real media products?

Magazine Advertisement and Digi pak.
I feel I have taken key aspects from both of the magazine advertisements that I analysed and featured in my blog.
These include:

• The use of bold white font for clarity.
  I felt it was important to adhere to this as it has a real impact on the successful publicising of the artist.
• A web address.
  Almost all pieces of advertisement contain a web address. I included it as it would allow the sonsumer to find more of the artists products.
• The clear indication of the release of the album, for example 'new album' and 'Out Now'.
  This is the main message to the consumer and therefore must be clear.
• A focus on the name of the artist through a different colour.
  This sets the artist apart from the rest of the information as important, as well as making it clear that it relates to the album. This is important as all of the advertisements must lead to the products as the main aim of the artist is to sell their music.
• An image of the artist.
  This helps the consumer to form a relationship wityh the artist and creates a form of brand loyalty increasing the likely hood of purchases.
• Review ratings in the form of stars.
  This allows new consumers to guage the type of music and is important in making a good first impression.

Video
In creating my music video I drew on information gathered from all of the videos I had watched throughout the project. I mainly used the earlier videos for examples of the theories of music videos; from the likes of Richard Dyer and Andrew Goodwin.
However, later videos which were closer to the genre of my track were used to learn more about the iconography and mise-en-scene of the genre.

In terms of theorists:

• I created an 'off-mainstream' star image with my video; which, according to Dyer, is part of the two paradoxes that must be understood when forming the star image.
  The second paradox being 'The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer'
• Goodwin gives 6 criteria for setting music videos apart from other media which I will address in terms of my video.

1)Particular music genres may have their own music video style and iconography.A)From my research I saw that the music videos were focused upon a lifestyle different to that usually portrayed within music videos. Most music videos represent a lifestyle to which the audience should aspire to. This leads to the continued consumption of the media products sold by the artist(s).However, within this genre I saw a lifestyle represented as more realistic and troubling. For example, the disconnection and isolation from society seen within 'make a beast of myself'. This is far more likely to help the audience of the music video feel more connected with the artist, but does not create such an ambitious lifestyle. I feel, through keeping the artist alone in shots and by also making the artist the character, that I have managed to show a form of isolation to fit the frustration in the lyrics.

2)There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.A)I did this by inserting references to the media; in the form of newspaper articles on polititians. In 'make a beast of myself' it is quite obvious that other characters are scared by and try to separate themselves from the singer. I would suggest that this is the connection to the beast in both the title and the theme of the song. 'Diamond days' is less literal however the excitement and happiness shown with the two characters is shown to be of high value to each of them and may be the link from their valuable love to the materialistic 'diamond' that others may treasure.
3)There is a relationship between music and visuals.A)This was one area that I would have liked to improve on as I feel that the use of instrumental performance would have increased this relationship. However, the change in the music is represented in video by the cuts to the narrative sections of the video.
4)The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs (or star iconography) which recur across their work (and over time becomes part of their star image).A)I used a large amount of shots in which the artist was clear to the audience in order to build up recognition. This is similar to both 'Diamond days' and 'Make a beast of myself'. However, 'Diamond days' follows the two characters paying particular interest to the way they look at each other in order to express their relationship.In 'Make a beast of myself' the camera follows one of the artists through the streets at mainly mid-shots.

5)There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.A)I used eye line-matches and footage from the point of view of the character in the narrative in order to add a form of voyeurism. Watching the chaos unfold in 'Make a beast of myself' and following the two characters in 'Diamond days', without their knowledge, could be classified as a form of voyeurism. However, neither featured specifically on the female body. This may be in order to avoid dilution of the realistic life that I discussed in question one.

6)There is often inter-textual reference.A) I only manged to achieve this with the use of the newspapers. However, had the lyrics had featured more references I would have been able to include those into my video as well.

Throughout my research I gained a list of conventions, which I went onto including in my own video.
These included:

• The use of fast cuts to show excitement and other strong emotions. However I also saw the use of very long shots in Twin Atlantics 'Make a beast of myself', which uses one shot with a slow-motion effect. This led me to using both longer shots of performance with the shorter shots used in the more frustrated and angry sections of the narrative portion.
• I also noted that it was useful in marketing the artist or artists as friends as apposed to heroes who should be looked up to. This is more important in this genre than it is with some R'n'B artists, for whom stardom and successful appearance separates them from the audience in an attempt to draw audiences into buying the products for aspirational reasons.Here it is more important to the audience that the artists are sincere and have an understanding for them and their lives.

• It was also clear that the videos were targeted quite specifically at a sub-culture of young adults due to the age of the characters in both 'Make a beast of myself' and 'Diamond days' by Kids in glass houses.
• I conformed to this by using a teenager in my own music video.

• The videos also used props to suggest the atmosphere such as the beer bottles in Diamond days and the many objects that are thrown to the ground to show the panic.
• In my music video, I showed frustration with the character throwing the newspapers to the floor, as well as slamming the mug of tea.
  The characters relaxed nature previous to the reading of the newspapers is shown when he lives the milk out on the side and in the way he moves slowly to the table.

• I incorporated the feeling of anger in order to focus upon the lyrics of the song.However, it is also a popular topic for many tracks in this genre.
• 'Diamond days' incorporated a feeling of problems being overcome with the characters collisions with other pedestrians.

• I did not feel the need to have more actors in the video as I thought this may have damaged the feeling of a smaller, non-corporate artist.
• For the same reason, I did not include any stage style performances. There were no instruments used as there did not seem to be a suitable instrument which fitted with the song.

Evaluation Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product

and ancillary texts?

I believe that I have successfully created a brand image for the artist with the use of the video, magazine advertisement and digi pak.
I achieved this by maintaining various links between the pieces throughout their development.

Both the digi pak and the magazine advertisement contain images of the artist. This is the image I would continue with as I feel it fits into the bands own image, as a group without the constraints of monetisation; an aspect of the music industry which usually causes the main imagery of an artist to be branded goods which they are paid to endorse.


The style of the font is also the same on both the digi pak and the advertisement. It is an important part of creating an image for any artist. Most artists and groups have a font which they use regularly in various media forms in order to allow consumers to become more familiar with the brand and to increase the recognition of further advertising.


Through both my own believes and though feedback which I received from others, within the target audience, I would say that the three pieces of media not only relate together but also that they work to promote the identity of the artist; giving a positive idea of the music that audiences can expect to hear from them.

Evaluation Question 3

How did you use new media technologies in the construction

 and research, planning and evaluation stages?

How did you use new media technologies in the constructionand research,

planning and evaluation stages?

Note:Please wait for Prezi presentation to load.
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Evaluation Question 4

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Here are some points I picked out from my feedback of all three of my pieces.

Magazine Advertisement.


+Clear layout.I realise it is important for the information to be easily understood in order for it to be remembered by the viewer.
+Star ratings show support.Star ratings allow people to see what trusted sources believe of the artist in a quick and easy glance.

+Nice image of a dry-stone wall.
-Not much colour.I tried to leave the advertisement quite plain in order for the artists name, and album title, to be more visable.
-Wispy font is slightly unclear.It may not be as clear as some fonts however I felt it was important to use a font that would be easily related to the name 'Tartan Rascals'.
-Image is too transparent.I don't see this as a problem as I did it on purpose, in an effort to achieve one of Dyer's paradoxes 'The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer'.


Digi pak.

+Cohesive with advertisement.
This was one of my main aims as I believe it is important to help audiences recognise the digi pak, and this can be achieved through using similar images as is present on advertisements for that product.
+Contains logo of record company.
It is obvious that the record company would like to promote its company to admirers of the artist as well as using its own corporate image as a way to promote the artist.
+Barcode and webaddress for identifying the digi pak.
I saw the use of a barcode and web address on every digi pak I examined. I also understand its significance in marketing additional products to consumers whom have already purchased the digi pak.
-'About the band' section does not fit in with rest of digi pak.
I do not agree with this point as it uses the same style of text box that is found on the back of the digipak(slide 2).
-Lack of colour.
This was a conscious decision in order to keep the digi pak cohesive with the design of the magazine advert.
-The photograph was too small and transparent (slide 4/6, inside right).
This was in an effort to adere to Dyer's idea and to the image in the magazine advertisement.


Video.
+The table and newspaper scene shows good editing.
I believed it was an important part to put into the narative, in order to show the characters fustration at the news he was reading.
+Links to the newspapers.
This was one of the origional ideas I had when deciding on the narrative I would create.
+Suitable actor.
I agree that the actor fitted well with the song when dressed in the casual costume.
-Not many angles.(within performance)
Additional angles would have been better. However, I did have footage taken from different angles which I was unable to use due to poor quality and I did not leave myself enough time for re-filming.
-Some performance scenes seemed too long.
I believe that I could have made it feel shorter with more cuts, however the physical length had to be there due to the long introduction of the song.
-The performer looks angry.
I felt it was important to have an element of fustration in order for the lyrics to fit, however I agree that the bright lighting led to an angry expression.


Mock-up of digi-pak

Here is my mock-up of the digi-pak I will be making for the Tartan Rascals album.



 I am using a using a neutral tartan pattern, in keeping with the bands existing iconography, on both sides of the back panel and on the inside of the centeral panel. This is to help encorportae the bands brand into the digi-pak.
The front of the digi-pak will contain the bands logo and the inside of the front will contain a list of the tracks.
The CD will be in the3 center of the digi-pak covered by bgoth the central panel, containing an 'About the band' section, and the front cover.
The text will be in a black sans font ontop of a light grey background, in keeping with the stone on the front cover.

Storyboard.

The shots will be played in sequence with shots 'p1' and 'p2' intercut. I am only using two types of performance shots in order to give stability to the video due to the large amount of movement form the character in the narrative.

Props and Costume.

     Props

• Magazines.
• Newspapers.
• TV news report (If appropriate can be found.)
• keyboard and/or Guitar

The popular media types are significant in showing the reasons why he is so distressed as well as being a focus point for his need to escape.

     Costume
The costume for the protagonist will be smart, formal clothing, consisting of:

• Suit.
• Shirt and Tie.
• Smart black shoes.

The vocalist wil wear a more casual and loose fitting outfit as seen below:

 
loose and faded t-shirt.
Jeans with a leather belt.

The keyboardist will wear a similar costume, with a t-shirt and jeans.

Location

The videos narrative starts with the character sat at a table looking over a selection of articles in a newspaper. The character soon becomes agitated and flees the room through he hallway and out of the door.
The next location will be the streets which the character runs through. The first street featured will be the one outside of the house as he runs around the corner.
The location following this will be a street that will lead the character to a more wooded and park-like area.
This allows the transition from urban housing to a wide open country field to be less confusing to the audience.The video will end in the ruined shell of a building, mirroring the distress of the character.


Bellow are images of a possible location in which I plan to film.

Urban/park transition:

Fields:

Abandoned building:

Mock-up of advertisement.

This is my magazine advertisement mock-up.
I took some of the key features of other magazine advertisements and attempted to add them to my advert.

These features included:

• Tour dates.
• Artwork, for which I used the band logo.
• Information on formats in which the album is available in.
• Reviews from industry authority figures.

Track Use Permission

I e-mailed a request for permission to The Tartan Rascals through the contact method provided by mp3unsigned.com, on the bands own profile page.

The message that I sent read as follows:
I'm an A-level Media student making a music video as part of my coursework and would like to use your track 'Lonely Little Soldier'. Please reply with confirmation that I am clear to use your track, along with any questions. Thankyou. Liam Wightman.

I recieved a reply granting me permission to use thier track. It was as follows:
Yes you can use our song...only request we ask is that you link us to the final video and that we are also credited in the credits ...Alex of the Tartan rascals

Narrative Idea For My Video.

After deciding on this track I looked into the lyrics for an idea on which to base a narrative. The obvious would be to have soldiers on a table. However the genre I have been looking into, along with majority of all music videos tend to take a more creative twist on lyrics rather than something so literal.
I have already gained ideas from the videos I have looked at, and I am eager to incorporate these into my own video. Such as slow motion effects and a narrative that displays some of the troubles the character faces.
I would describe this as an indie/rock track. Typically a genre dealing with the social troubles and struggles in everyday life that 'idealistic' genres such as pop, avoid and that rap glamorises.

------------------------------------------------------------
Lonely Little Soldier-The Tartan Rascals. 3:20 http://www.mp3unsigned.com/The_Tartan_Rascals/39285/#Lonely+Little+Soldier
------------------------------------------------------------

That’s your brothers lying on the table
You’d blame them but you’ve not been able
Can’t stand around and watch you pour y'eyes out
Run through your mind just a lonely little soldier.

Thanks for nothing you’ve got me confounded
Watch, the enemy got you surrounded
Don’t wait around unless you want to join them
Runnin through your mind just a lonely little soldier.

(Chorus)
You gotta live a little life
You gotta give a little little smile
You gotta love a little life
You gotta give a little little time.

You’ll catch the bullet if you’ve turned your mind on
What direction do you think the line’s on
Don’t think aloud you might just give your game up
Run through your mind just a lonely little soldier.

Send for cover from those desperados
Leave the whiskey hiding in the shadows
Don’t hang around unless they’re playing your song
Run through your mind just a lonely little soldier.

Chorus

Cheers, your daddy he got you invited
What’s the point in getting all excited?
Don’t hurry home cos he aint got his arms wide
Run through your mind just a lonely little soldier.

Thanks for nothing you’ve got me confounded
Watch, the enemy got you surrounded
Don’t wait around unless you want to join them
Runnin through your mind just a lonely little soldier.

Chorus to fade.
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------

My idea for the narrative is a young man becoming very distressed from different pieces of news focusing on political and military struggles in the form of newspaper articles. I hope to convey the overwhelming feeling of stress and isolation the character is experiencing. This would be shown with lots of shots showing him running from the media. This will hopefully give the effect of stress and confusion, with the video ending with the character giving up as he realises he cant keep running.
I decided that a male character would be better suited to the genre due to the vocalist being male, as well as after further reviewing of the music videos I have analysed.
I intend to use slow motion to parallel the distortion in emotion with that of time.
I believe that the focus of the narrative should begin in a home-like situation as it makes it more personal to the audience.With this being a key point to the genres appeal.

Audience survey.

As I found in the secondary research I conducted, the demographic for this genre is mainly people in their early teens to mid twenties.
I will be gathering results from the folowing survey which I have created:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8D578PW

Audience Research.

I looked at work by similar artists such as the music videos by Kids in glass houses, with 'Diamond Days', and Twin Atlantic, with 'Make a beast of myself'.

Here is the data that is shown by YouTube for these two music videos.

Kids in glass houses- Diamond Days.

Twin Atlantic- Make a beast of myself.

From the audience section of these results it shows that the audience is mainly western countries. The demographic is shown as  people in their early teens to mid twenties.
 As the track I am working on is very similar, This helps me target my music video at this demographic.

Fleet Foxes-Helplessness Blues Magazine Advertisement

Fleet Foxes-'Helplessness Blues' magazine advertisement.

 



This advertisement  uses a complex image as the centre point, with which to draw the eye of the audience. The abstract art style and pencil-drawn style matches the relaxed genre. This is expanded upon by the unusual nature of the images. Such as the face in the top right of the picture; with 3 pairs of eyes showing different stages of the eyes movement(closed, half open and open).
The bold serif font and capitalisation of the letters throughout the title above the image and in the information below, connotes to the genre of bold,abstract music.
The use of white font, upon the black background, for the title suggests that they believe the title to be an important part of marketing the style of the artists. This likely to be because of the unusual name of the group.
The genre itself thrives on the difference from other music.with this often being a draw for the audience.
 This advertisement, unlike that of Vile does not contain any ratings.
This may be due to confidence that the advert will reach an audience already familiar with their music.
It is therefore important to understand the audience and where the advert is to be displayed, when designing the advertisement.
This will be a point I will think about when I come to designing my own advertisement.

Kurt Vile-'Smoke Ring For Me Halo' Magazine Advertisement

Kurt Vile-'Smoke Ring For Me Halo' Magazine Advertisement

This is a halfpage landscape orientated image of the artist.
This shows that the image that they wish to be portrayed of a artist who should be valued for his ability to play and talent; as apposed to an unreachable celebrity.
This is likely to atract other artistic people for a passion for music.
As an american artist, Kurt Vile was well established by 2011 when 'Smoke Ring For My Halo' with Vile's debut solo album, 'Constant Hitmaker' (2008). However the ratings are important as the artist is advertising a UK tour.
The simplicity of black and white images and text mirrors the good simple music that the artist claims to produce.
The image is somewhat voyeuristic with the feeling that the artist is not fully aware of the presence of a camera.

Kids In Glass Houses 'Diamond Days'.

 Kids In Glass Houses 'Diamond Days'.


The theme of the music video is the movement of the male and female focuses of the video. The majority of the shots are less than 1 second long. however the shot types do vary with both long mid and closeups.
This varied collection of shot types in such a fast paced way creates the effect of the excitement of their partying. this is important in creating a balance against the strong feeling of voyeurism. The feel of voyeurism comes from the watching of the events with no point-of-view shots. I believe it is very important not to focus too heavily on a voyeuristic style when the song is encouraging, not the watching, but rather the excitement and human requirement to have fun. This shows the more corporate aims of the music video. This is to sell a life style along with the music.

An idealistic view of life is shown. Targeted at a distinct sub-culture of relatively young adults with no parental responsabilites. This can be determined by comparing the actions of the people featured with that proposed by other media, as an ideal parent. The people featured in the video are more ideally suited to the medias perception of easy-going party people with few or no commitments.

Another strong part to the video is the idea of love and belonging between the two people. Very few people are featured in the video in addition to the two characters which it follows. This shows both the passionate focus of the characters on each other, oblivious to anyone else, but at the same time time showing other people as obstacles. These obstacles are as simple as the man who they bump into(1:11),the man who tries to resist the theft of a bottle being stolen(1;38) and ultimately by a the car that hits the girl at the end(3:44-3:53).

Twin Atlantic-'Make A Beast Of Myself'

Twin Atlantic-'make A Beast Of Myself'


This video is a slower paced song and is entirely made of one shot; shown in slow motion. This adds to the the feeling of unison with the character portrayed due to the large amount of time following them closely and through the feeling of having made a full journey with the character.
 The limited number of shots and types of shots is not what I would like to create in my video. however I believe it is extremely useful in showing the extent at which the speed and position of shots creates the feeling of closeness and understanding.
This is a useful tool in marketing the artist or artists as friends as apposed to heroes who should be looked up to. This is more important in this genre than it is with some R'n'B artists, for whom stardom and successful appearence separates them from the audience in an attempt to draw audiences into buying the products for aspirational reasons.
Here it is more important to the audience that the artists are sincere and have an understanding for them and their lives.

Director Research-Philipp Stölzl

I chose to research Philipp Stölzl as he was the director of the music video I analysed earlier; Bring me to life'

Stölzl has worked on numerous films and music videos.
One Music video he worked on before 'Bring me to life' was Madonnas remake of 'American Pie' in 2000.
This was one of his earlier music videos.
However his first was in 1997, for the'Du hast' track by Rammstein.

The accompanying music video for "Going Under" was also filmed by  Stölzl in Berlin, Germany, in May, 2003. 
This was after directing "Bring Me to Life". The video for 'Going Under' features the band performing a concert as the audience changes back and forth into zombies. Additional scenes involve Lee underwater, representing the lyrics "Drowning in you"
This shows his creative style in interpreting lyrics, with the use of both the narrative and the performance of the artists.

Since then he has also directed films.
These include 'Young Goethe in Love' and 'North Face'.
'Young Goethe in Love' is a historical drama set in Germany, made in 2010. Whilst 'North Face', follows two mountaineers competing to climb the treacherous area of the alps.

Director Research-Isaac Rentz

Isaac Rentz made his first music video in 2008, for the Hot Rod Circuit song 'Stateside'.

He has also made promotional videos for large companies such as Microsoft's x-box and Nintendo's products.



This is a more unconventional, narrative based video with no true performance clips. This comical style is usually more of a publicity act aimed at attracting new interest. As aposed to a more artistic form or a video for a band who is more well known for their raw talent.

One of the videos I am most interested in by him is Blink-182s song 'After Midnight'. 

I believe this is an excellent music video, as it has such a good use of both performance footage and narrative video. Neither side feels overused or feels like an afterthought. The Strong link between the two works well with both sets feeling linked, however unrelated they are. The unusual setting(a youth psychiatric ward) creates a willingness to re-watch the clip for the audience.
Steve Archer says “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."
I believe that this 'Repeatability factor' is what  Rentz created.
This was his second video for a Blink-182 track.

Preliminary video.

Here is my groups preliminary video for 'Burning down the house' by Tom Jones.



Key Improvements:
-More consistency in the lip sync.
-Create a steadier shot when walking with the camera.
-Take more takes so that finding material when editing is not a problem.

Music Video Analysis

Track: Bring me to life

Artist:Evanescence

Director:Philipp Stölzl

Release Date:2004

Length of video: 4:13 (looked at 0:30-1:00)

Number of shots in entire video:

Average length of shot: around 2 seconds.

Number of shots in 30 second segment:

Within the 30 second segment there are:

Number of CU:12

Number of ECU:

Number of LS:5

Number of MS:1

Number of panning shots:none

Number of tilts: none

Other shots:1tracking shot

Shot number	Shot type	Shot length	Description	Edit to next shot
1	ls, tracking	7	Camera moves right, into bedroom via open window.	All shots are connected with a straight cut.
2	ms	2	Falling beside the building.	~
3	cu	1	Woman's face	~
4	cu	1	hand	~
5	cu	1	face	~
6	cu	1	From the side of the bed	~
7	Ls, low angle	2	Falling beside the building.	~
8	cu	1	Woman opens mouth as if screaming or singing.	~
9	cu	2	From the side of the bed	~
10	cu	1	face	~
11	cu	1	From the side of the bed	~
12	ls	2	From bottom of the bed	~
13	ls	3	Falling beside the building.	~
14	cu	0.3	Erratic jumping between different angles.	~
15	cu	0.3	See above	~
16	cu	0.3	See above	~
17	cu	1	Longer shot of woman.	~
18	ls	3~	Camera flies up the side of the building.	~

Before looking in detail at this piece of video, I had never noticed the speed at which the audience is shown the large number of shots.I was also unaware of how many close-ups are used in music videos. 
This knowledge is something I will find useful when I come to creating my own music video.