Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Starting the Construction phase


Artist and Song:

Satellite Heart by Anya Marina 

I have chosen this artist and song because it responds to what my target audience likes to listen to and what they want. It also tells a good story without being too narrative. This means that I have more freedom in what I choose to put on screen.

To be able to use the actual music for my music video I asked for permission from one of the managers of her record label in the form of an email.


Initial ideas for the Music Video: 

As this is a slow tempo song sung by a female artist, I will be casting a female actress in my music video. This will also tell a story that will relate to the song. The woman will be the focus of the video however I want to include nature shots and atmospheric shots within, corresponding with the 'indie' nature vibe. Also, I don't want to make a performance video so the focus shouldn't solely be on one person. Although I was aiming on filming in Autumn, the trending season in 'indie' music, I think that winter would link more the song, lyrics and would look better and more dramatic on screen.

Subsidiary Products:  

These should reflect the music video. This is because they are all advertising one product: the song. So they should all be recognisably similar and follow a theme as they are all promoting the same product, showing continuity.



Advertisement and Album art:

On thing I noticed about Indie album art was that it was very artistic in contrast to Pop where the artist is shown in a particular way. It could be artistic in many ways for example: a drawing, an artistic photograph, a painting or something abstract and thought provoking.  

Digipak: 

I have decided to have an 8 panel digipak with 2 discs- one will be the song and the other will be a DVD of the music video. 

Monday, 8 December 2014

Research into Chosen Artist

Anya Marina


Artist's Website: http://anyamarina.com/

Star image

Doing research into this artist, I have found out that as well as being an indie artist, she also creates songs with a pop vibe, therefore the lines of genre of her music can be blurred at times. However, watching her music videos, it is apparent that she is more of a quirky artist, experimenting with different styles of videos. She isn't a 'Mainstream' artist but her songs have been noticed by featuring in different TV shows and Movies such as 'Castle' and 'Twilight'. 



The song that I have chosen to make my music video on is 'Satellite Heart' and it id from the soundtrack of 'Twilight'. This song is slightly different to the other songs that has written. This could be because of the movie it was made for and the need to suit the film. This has impacted the song by making it more melancholy and slow paced. However, that is the reason that I like this particular song over her other ones. It is easier to tell a story and it has the vibe and feeling that I wanted my video to omit. It also fits the previous indie genre research that I have done for example, the target audience matches the artist and the ideas I got from doing that research can be easily applied to the music video that I am about to construct. 














Thursday, 27 November 2014

Evaluation of The Planning Stage


The planning stage of my coursework was essential in giving me ideas on what to include and what not to include on my music video and subsidiary products. 


The first thing I did was create and conduct a questionnaire. This was for my potential target audience (listeners of indie music) so I could determine what they expect and want in the products that I was about to make. I analysed the results and it gave me information on what I should do for my products. It was very helpful. it also give me a hint as to what music videos/artists/bands I will analyse that would be inspiration for my final products.

Information I received from this research:

  • Main colours of genre- Red, Black and White
  • Guitar needs to be prominent in video
  • Narrative with concept video
  • Female vocalist
  • Medium tempo
  • Acoustic instruments
  • Song needs to have meaningful lyrics as well as good music to accompany
  • Needs to look professional and smooth and fulfill purpose. 


The next thing I did was analyse 3 different music videos that related to the genre and audience that I wanted to appeal to. This showed me that in making a music video, there were so many different ways that I could go about it. This confused me a little at first, but then I identified what worked and what didn't and what was more appropriate to the song that I had chosen. My song is Satellite Heart by Anya Marina.


Information I received from this research:

  • A range of camera angles and movement is needed
  • Needs to have good concept/story
  • Needs to be Engaging
  • Needs to flow well with the song
  • Needs to look professional

Another part of my research was my interview with an industry expert. This was extremely helpful as he had first hand experience in the industry and told me important information and given me some ideas about the products that I was planning on making. The next step that he recommended me to do was make a mood board so that I would have more of an idea of what I should include in the products and doing an 'indie inspired' mood board would give me more imagery and ideas to work with. Creating the mood board helped me a lot. It showed me the similarities in all indie artists and the common vibe and imagery that had been used over and over again. Although i want to create products that are unique, it need to look like it belongs to a particular genre so that the audience doesn't get confused. This was another thing that the expert said that was very helpful.


Information I received from this research:

  • Colour scheme - Autumn colours with black
  • Video needs to tell a story but shouldn't be obvious, make the audience think
  • I will be casting one female actress

The digipaks and advertisements/posters that I analysed came from mostly the same artists- Arctic Monkeys, Death Cab for Cutie and I had analysed the digipak from Lykki Li because it was an eye catching digipak and i found a very clear image of it whereas I couldn't find a clear digipak layout of Haim's albums and also thought that Haim's digipak would be as effective. Not being able to find a Lykki Li poster made me choose to analyse a Haim poster instead. Analysing these opened my eyes to the different kind of digipaks that were out there and how effective they were. It also got me thinking about the added things that i could add within it such as a mini poster, a lyric book etc.


Information I received from this research:

  • Needs to look like a part of the artist i.e. needs to have consistency across all 3 products
  • It has given me ideas about my advertisement and digipak
  • Needs to look professional 
  • Needs to be visually interesting
  • Can be either portrait or landscape

All of the points that I have gathered together from my product research will be heavily refereed back to and be shown in my Music video, Poster and Digipak. This because I think the research that i have conducted is very valid and are the starting points of 3 substantial products.








Tuesday, 18 November 2014

Friday, 14 November 2014

Digipak Analysis

Arctic Monkeys



Death Cab for Cutie



Lykke Li



Music video analysis


No Sunlight- Death Cab for Cutie (Concept and Narrative)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vss_DUeTAd0

Camera works
The use of night vision camera is essential in the making of this video as it is filmed in darkness.
Fast cuts show sudden changes of shots. This makes it visually appealing because it is fast paced and we expect something significant to happen on the screen.

The range of shots and camera angles not only add much more interest to the video but also helps tell the story more for example, there is a shot where it is taken from the angle of the wheel and you can see the wheel moving as the boy is riding his bike this deepens the fact that it is a journey because we literally see the boy going on a journey to his destination.

Another camera technique that is very useful in the narrative is the pan movement. This makes us feel like we are on the bike with the boy because it replicates the height and speed. It can also be said that it is like a POV(point of view) shot because we she the things that the boy would see.






Editing
An editing technique that is most used in this music video is the use of short takes. This creates a rushed effect or that the action is fast paced or that there is a lot of things going on within the world of the video that to capture everything you would need short takes and more cuts. For example, from the beginning, we see an alarm clock beeping. This suggests that time is important and so when we see the boy getting ready, jump cuts are used to symbolise that no time can be wasted so we see an activity presented in a fraction of the time.

Sound
Sound is non-diagetic in this music video except for in the very beginning where the alarm clock beeps. The song matches with what is going on on the screen in relation to the rhythm and the tempo that fits in with the short takes and fast paced film.

Special Effects
The main special effect in this video is the use of night vision cameras. It gives it an unnatural feel when you watch it because the colors on the screen are green, black and white.


Another special effect could be the actions of the actors and how they act on screen. We know it is dark and it is night however the actors are doing activities such as swimming, washing their car, having a picnic and playing tennis as though it is a hot summers day.


They also use their acting skills to depict that it is hot and sunny even though we know it is not. This acting juxtaposes with the scene and the setting. This could be seen as confusing or creating visual interest.


At the end, the boy that is the center point of the video looks at the time and everyone panics and rushes inside to escape the morning. This shows fear and again could add to the confusion or visual interest on behalf of the audience. Time lapse shots are shown at the end of the video showing the sun rising and setting again, showing the passing of time.













Mise-en-Scene

Props- Props needed to be used to make the film more realistic and to illustrate the activities accurately. Here are some of the props that were used in the music video:
Bike, tennis rackets, alarm clock, deck chair, guitar, food, basketball

Location- This music video is located in a American small neighborhood.

Composition- A range of composition is used in this video. This adds interest and variety to the scenes.

Lighting- As it is night, torches are used in some parts and a night vision camera is used as well.
Night vision, corners darkened. Vignette

Costume- The actors are acting like it is a hot summers day and their costume shows that too with the use of swimming costumes and sunglasses. As the concept of time is important in this song, the wristwatch that the boy was wearing was significant too.











Friday, 7 November 2014

Thursday, 30 October 2014

Interview with Industry Expert

Industry Expert- Tobie Scopes

Record Label owner, Music producer, Head of A&R and is part of a DJ duo (Serial-Killaz).

We had discussions about the products that we were planning on making and what to include such as: the artwork, the writing, what would be appropriate to include in a music video and on the digipaks and on the advertisement.

This was very useful as the interview gave me ideas for my products and also confirmed some of the ideas that I had in my mind. For example, as the song that I want to do (Satellite Heart by Anya Marina) is an acoustic indie song so Tobie suggested to implicate an Autumn theme to the video after he had listened to it and agreed that a narrative/concept video would work well with the song as it tells a story but it isn't obvious. This works greatly in my favour as I will be filming in autumn and I will be casting just one female actress in this video. Not only this, I now also know what my colour scheme will be and that almost all of the filming will be done outside, keeping with the nature theme. To expand on the ideas, I will create a mood board and from there, I will storyboard my ideas for the music video and create drafts of my advertisement and digipak.

 He also told us what music videos and album art would be appropriate for certain genres and artists and the composition of the album art. This deepened my understanding of the industry and what would be more attractive and appropriate.

Saturday, 4 October 2014

Music video analysis


Haim- Don't save me (Concept and performance)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiqIush2nTA

This video is a performance video with a concept in the form of a story so it touches on all narrative, performance and concept. Haim are a pop rock band from LA, California. Most of their songs contain a feminine/feminist vibe and they also convey a strong image of 3 women.

This song very much follows the same message. The song is titled 'Don't Save Me', it is about how she missed how she was before, without the person she is with now. It is also about the lies that you tell when you're in a relationship to not lose the person e.g. 'you say you will save me' sung in this song. This whole song is about the struggle of being with someone and deciding to leave someone who doesn't give you what you deserve.

This song is different because traditionally a man is the one who makes the decisions and the man in this song is saying that he will 'save her' which is a traditional image but she is the one that puts her foot down and says no which might be considered as unusual. The song is also very much about herself and how she has changed as a person and if this is right for her and that sets a very strong image of the women.

Camera Works
This video contains a limited range of camera shots: long-shots, mid-shots and close ups. However, it does use a range of camera movements such as pans, action shots where the camera follows the action and zooms. The angles of the camera rarely change. Most of the video is shot with the angle straight on however the camera is tilted slightly during the action shots.






Editing
The cuts that are used in this video are clean and follow the music very well and the music, the base guitar in this case, also helps link two shots. The cuts are used to create a sequence of shots. In this, the sequence follows the pattern of shooting the performance and then cuts to the video that relates to the narrative although it doesn't become clear as to what the narrative is till later on in the video. I think this is a good technique because the focus isn't solely on the narrative or the performance but the focus is distributed on them equally.

Sound
There in a mixture of diagetic and non-diagetic sound within this video. Within the performance shots of the video, diagetic sound is heard. This is because we see the band playing the instruments and singing to the music. The music carries on when the narrative story shots are used so then the music heard would turn into non-diagetic music instead.

Special Effects
The playing of basketball and the stunts that are shown like the jumps and slam dunks can be seen as special effects because they add to the scene and makes what is happening on screen more exciting. Also the people doing these stunts would obviously have the skill needed so it would've been essential for the directors to cast able bodied people that fit the role and that satisfy them.









In the narrative part of the video, two of the band members get hit, one ends up with a black eye and one with a bleeding nose. The effective use of the make-up makes the injuries look realistic and believable. As well as this, dry ice/smoke machines were used to add to the mystery and it complements the lighting very well.











Mise en Scene
Props- Although the basketball that is seen from the very first shot seems like an insignificant prop, it is used throughout to aid the performance and is used as a central symbol towards the end of the video and is used as a metaphor.


In the beginning of the video, we see the basketball in the possession of the man and at the end of the video, the women have the ball. As this song is about the woman taking control of her life, the ball might symbolise the control and how the control changes over the course of the  video. This is shown through the narrative in the video. The men are seen playing basketball already and a shot of the band in the bleachers, so we assume that the girls are watching the boys play. As the video progresses, we see the girls walking through a dark corridor taking their jackets off, getting ready to play against the boys. They start winning, and get hurt in the process but in the end get what they want and a shot of them standing together holding the ball with of them with a black eye and one with a bleeding nose is shown. Another shot is a revisiting of the first shot of the man spinning the ball on his finger but instead, one of the girls snatches the ball off of his finger. This also shows the change in power and control.

Location- The location of the basketball court is very helpful in telling the narrative. The performance location is helpful with the performance part of the video. Also, the benches, the lighted archway and the corridors all aid both the performance and narrative.




Composition- The composition of the band as together in a three and very central to the shots show that they are an important element in the music video, contrasting to the shots of the boys playing basketball because those shots don't focus on their face. Also, even though the first shot is of a boy spinning the basketball on his finger, it only shows his silhouette and therefore doesn't focus on his face like it does with the girls.













Lighting- The lighting in this video is used in a range of ways and in a very clever way. Lighting is changed using tube lights that you see turned on and off to create dramatic effect, light that mimics lightning flashes during some shots, lines on light that show on the screen, and a dim light that also adds a dramatic, mysterious effect.













Costume- The costume that is used would be considered as 'normal' clothing. For example the girls are dressed in quite feminine, fashionable clothing and the boys are dressed in basketball shorts and trainers suitable to the sport.












Performance and Movement- There are a range of different movement and performance elements in this video for example the athletic movements within the basketball scenes, the instrument playing skills that the band show in the video and the dance moves that the band do that synchronizes with the music.














The performance element is put at the start of the music video clearly stating their roles within the band and what they play. It also puts them in a different environment with different clothes on. This is good because it breaks up the narrative and puts performance elements within the video. The other type of performance they have is when they're standing together and lip-syncing. This adds variety to the types of performance in the video and varies the composition on the screen.