Practise Filming...

We have decided to complete a 'pilot' for our final idea, in which we will practise the techniques, such as split screen, and overlay we have decided to use in our Music Video. We have picked Wednesday 26th October to complete this task, this is the perfect day to experiment as we have no other commitments on that day, meaning we have the time to gain the knowledge of how we will edit the Final Product. This in the end will hopefully save us time in our real filming.

Feedback from Audience

Our group decided to pitch our song to a Focus Group where in return they wrote down there thoughts, ideas and reactions to our song, which we can turn into ideas for our Music Video.

One of the main features that many of our focus group members brought up was the theme of a Love Story including: Boy and Girl, Relationship, Romance, Young Love and Break-Up. This leads us to believe that a key convention of our Music Video and Genre will be Lost Love.

Our Location will be an 'all natural' location as the majority of our Audience said that it would be best in a: field, river, beach, forest and include natural lighting and filters such as the sunrise and moonlight. An idea of rain was also brought forward to enhance the fact the song is sad but the nature element is till there.

A convention we thought up in our original planning was that of 'flashbacks' or looking back to the couples memories together, the focus group also thought this up, without the influence of us, which increases our ambition to use this element in our music video.

The Mise-En-Scene of our Video will include a scruffy casual look from the Artists and a guitar will also be present throughout to bring the music and talent of the Artist to the audience.

Audience Research- Survey

To further our understanding of the Indie Genre and the Audience it attracts, additionally the thoughts and feelings towards Indie our group has devised an Online Survey which is posted below, but will also be posted on our Individual Twitter Pages, Our Groups (B.A.A.D)'s Twitter Page and Facebook.

The questions we have used will gain the information we need to fully sell our Artist to gain all the following and Audience Mike Dignam needs, whilst presenting him in a way that reflects and music and personality.

May have found a song?

Our Group have managed to find a song that we may be able to use to create a Music Video. We have contacted the Artist himself to see if we can use his song which we found through Spotify; The song is called I'll Lie Here by Mike Dignam. Dignam is not well known but Artists that can be compared to him are Ben Howard and Daughter, the Genre these Artists share is Acoustic Indie, but this specific song can be classed as Indie Pop Due to the Upbeat Tune.

This is the Emails that have been sent and received in order to gain permission to create a music video for the Artist, Mike Dignam's Single.

Due to the lack of a music video already we can be creative in making an original Music Video for this Artist. We will portray the individuality and personality of the Artist as best we can and represent him in the way he feels is 'him'. The Lyrics can create a narrative for this song as the Indie Acoustic Genre focuses on the Lyrics and meaning of the song more than showing off the Artist and Creating a image for them, very alike Pop does.

Finding a Potential Song

The process of Research & Understanding initially consists of finding a song in which we can portray the Genre, Artist and Music in the way it wants to be presented through it's Music Video.
I created a Slide show to show the ways in which you could do this.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

"Music Videos ignore common narrative as they are essentially advertisements. As consumers, we make upour own meaning of a song in our minds; a music video can anchor meaning and gives the record company or Artist a method of anchoring meaning" Andrew Goodwin

Goodwin Identified 6 Parts of this Theory-

+ There is a relationship between the visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the Lyrics.
This Convention explains how Goodwin noticed a music videos visuals either have a complete similarity or direct contrast to the lyrics in the song.

Example
Lady Gaga Feat Beyonce- Telephone.
'Stop Telephoning Me'







+ There is a relationship between music and visuals again, either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the Music.
Goodwin Identified that the visuals within a music video may be edited in time to the lyrics/ change in the pace of the song. He also stated that these visuals are commonly repeated within a chorus to emphasize the repetition in lyrics and beats.

Michael Jackson-Thriller
This music video shows this very well as the iconic dance moves to the strong beat provides a clear link for the audience to the music heard.






+ Music Video's demonstrate genre characteristics; their own music video style and iconography.
Goodwin recognised that most Artists have a trend of repeating certain actions within their music videos in order to establish this as their 'trademark' action and therefore making their songs recognisable due to it recurring often.This represents the style of the music the artist is representing and is a marketing strategy in order to be remembered in later years. Genre is also known by location, for example songs within the Indie genre are often filmed in an abandoned and lonely place to convey an individual in an isolated location.

Katy Perry- The One that Got Away
This represents Genre Characteristics as it is a Pop song, that can easily be related to teens/ young adults and girls about their 'young first love' that they will never forget. They potentially may of made them excited but this didn't last as they were young. This is also around the time Katy Perry went through her own relationship problems.



+ Demands Of the Record Label will include the need for loads of close ups of the artist/vocalist.
Goodwin found that many music videos include the voyeuristic idea with the Artist by watching them throughout their Music Video. This will show the Audience the Artists motifs and represent them in the way they want.

Beyonce- When I was A Boy
This video portrays this convention very well, as so does many of Beyonce's music videos. It shows the emotion of the Artist especially in a narrative story. It also shows how the Artist has a raw voice that she wants to show her audience.




+ They frequently refer to the notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body
Goodwin recognised  that the convention of voyeurism is used in order to show the Artist throughout the video but it is most common with female artists as provocative angles are often used to sexualise the Artist following 'Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory' causing a fetishation from the audience towards the Artist.

Robin Thicke's- Blurred Lines
This is a perfect example of how the female body is shown throughout a music video. Robin Thicke is a Male Artist who will attract Females and Males, but with the use of this Music Video he will attract a lot of Male Attention.




+ Inter textual of other artists products and text
Goodwin recognised that it was not uncommon to recognise either the visuals or lyrics of a song to be an exact reference to another media text. This is used to engage the audience and and provide them gratification if they recognise it.

Madonna- Material Girl
This Music Videos includes the intertextuality of Marilyn Monroe's Movies. This conveys a reference to these times in her music videos to the audience.

Adele

Adele is a British Soul Singer and Musician who started of big by winning a Brit Awards, and in 2008 released her debut Album '19' who from that gained critical and commercial success, this is because it cerified four time platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US. She then won Grammy Awards and went on to release a second Album called '21' which gained her entry for various reasons in the Guiness World Records; finally to top off her ongoing career she wrote and sung the song Skyfall; the newest James Bond movie.


Album Covers-

This Camera in this Album cover focuses mostly the top half of the face, facing down, with the light solely on one side of the face. This seems to me as a very dramatic and sad image, due to the lighting and Adele's eyes facing down giving the impression that she is crying. The darkness behind her shows she may be unhappy in some way and the light on one side maybe indicating she wants to hide emotions and not show to much. The music shows her emotions though. With the name Adele so dominant it gives the impression she is trying to say, this is me and this is my emotions I am letting out in my lyrics to you.

This is the next Album that Adele released, and already this feels less depressing emotional and more mature in a way. The camera is faced forwards onto Adele, which is in contrast to the previous one as it revealing more of her face, although she is still holding something back with the colour scheme being black and white. Her head in her hand shows she may be emotionally tired and feel like she needs to let out her emotions again; and alike previously we see her eyes nearly closed or looking down, maybe hiding?
The lack of props and and set indicated that her emotions and lyrics are the main focus of these Albums and the meaning behind the Albums themselves.


Music Video-

The set of this music video seems to be a big empty Stately home type building, with clips happening in various rooms, such as a man in feather in one, Adele in another, the drummer in the hall and the upstairs hallway also. The empty stately home may indicate her loneliness or a story of her and her lover nearly living in a house and moving on with their life together. This could be later linked to the props used.

The camera used seems to be on a track and a tri-pod so we keep getting closer and further away to Adele, maybe indicating we are getting closer to her emotions.

The props used are various amount of crockery and old chairs which belong in the home, covered in plastic. The crockery in then getting smashed, which could link to her heart getting smashed, or the fact that the domestic life she was going to have with Him is over. The old chairs covered over could mean that she is hiding and putting away her future.

The dancer adds to the effect of the music and grand house, this grandness is enhanced by Adele's costume being a smart, quite stately home feel outfit, which again goes with the theme of the Music Video. Adele is represented as Soulful, emotional and truthful.

Concert Set-

Adele's concert set here is that of The Royal Albert Hall, a grand venue, which can allow her to project her soulful voice to the audience, again displaying her emotions for them. The large scale of the venue reflects her voice.







Newspaper Articles-
Adele in the Guardian about a 'future film'. http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/12/adele-cameo-secret-service

Vocal Worries http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15181392

Adele seems to never be in the limelight for a negative reason.

Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson is an Acoustic Folk Rock Artist and Musician who achieved success after his debut Album release in 2001, Brushfire Fairytales. Johnson's feel is supported by him playing various instruments such as guitar, ukulele, piano and drums, representing him as a 'one man band' and a talent all by himself.
Since Jack Johnson's debut Album, he has released five more, and a number of EP's.

Album Covers-

 The Artist, from this Album is represented as quite artsy and minimalistic in the way that it is a silhouette of a male, probably representing Jack Johnson with his guitar, by a lonely tree on a cliff. As it is a silhouette I can only comment on the colours used as being bright and eye-catching to enhance the black areas that want to be shown. The title of the Album is In Between Dreams which is represented with the tree having a whole in between the branches. Lastly the guitar represents the music and genre of Jack Johnson himself, and tells the audience it is all about the music represented.

In contrast to the tree and area looking quite high, the Album To The Sea is lower down and darker than In Between Dreams. The camera is far away on this Album making it look nearly like a silhouette, but you make out that it is Artistic photography, which links to the Indie/Folk Genre and the clever use of lighting in the photography that has made it look that way. The props used is wood in the shape of a wave, which links to the title To The Sea; the blue colours used in the sky also looks hazy like waves also. This overall represents the artist as imaginative,  creative and a big believer in simplicity and focusing on the music.


Music Video-

The Music video itself is a lot like Call On Me by Blondie. The set is a mixture of 'home videos', filming of his photo shoots and his concerts . The main video which we hear him singing live is the main clip, again focusing on the music of the artist, and there we see him with his guitar again.

The editing is strong throughout as firstly we see a group of clips in one shot, we then see less and then it goes to a clip with him by himself; we also see a mixture of effects and black & white throughout. Again emphasising on his folk, back to basic, but artistic feel that he represents.

The costume worn by the artist is very plain, plain shirts and trousers as his image to him is not as important as his music, which is supported by the fact he didn't feature himself on the covers of his Albums. The props are all 'natural' from the shots that his was filmed in, such as with his guitar etc...

Concert Set-

I could not get a shot of his set, which makes me think that his set was not filled with props, it was just him and his guitar which I got an image of.


Newspaper Articles-
Jack Johnson does not appear to be in the limelight, which is a strong representation of how he doesn't use fame to his advantage he just focuses on his music. I did find an Article of him in Music Magazine the Rolling Stones. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jack-johnson-serenades-tiny-room-in-new-york-20130625

Blondie

I used the Article by Rolling Stones to gain a better insight into the band, Blondie.

Blondie is 'one of the most commercially successful and adventurous' bands/ survivors of the New York punk scene, who have released three platinum albums; Parallel Lines, Eat to the Beat and Auto American.

The band consisted of, the bleach-blonde and only female Deborah Harry who became an international icon and boyfriend Chris Stein, who developed the melodic side of the punk genre; Gary Valentine, Clem Burke, Chris Stein and Jimmy Destri were also members of the band.

A few months after their hit single, Blondie made their British Concert Debut, Gary Valentine then left the band and created his own which then broke up Spring 1980.

Album Covers- 

The Band here are represented as being quite a united strong band, with Harry especially being the dominant one in the group due to her stance being strong with her hands on her hips and not smiling unlike the rest of the band. They seem to be putting on a front as being strong but up for having fun and unique which is appealing to the audience, this also comes across in some of their music videos.

In this Album cover the Camera angle is straight on, which does not make the band seem less dominant as the camera is far away to fit in the whole band making it seem like you are taking on all 6 of them, which in a way makes them seem daunting but powerful.

The set of the Album is an image of the band on a striped background, this is in contrast with their costumes which is smart but slightly edgy as all the males are in black and white suites with skinny black ties, and Harry is wearing an all white dress and shoes, I believe this is to show the dominance and strength of her in the band. The stripes switch as it passes them making it seem as if they changed it up and differed the design of it due to their rebelling and punk feel.  Blondie's logo is bold and in red to stand out to the customers, but I believe the swirly writing is a juxtaposition to the type of music that is produced by them.

This Album Cover has a different feel to it completely as it only shows Deborah Harry singing. I believe this is because she became and icon and along with her boyfriend became the main face of the band, Blondie. This album will be easily identified as Blondie just for Harry's presence alone. The writing/logo is the same as used in the previous Album cover which shows that it is part of the bands identity, the font is now in pink, but the Album name is in capitals underneath just like previously in capitals on top. Harry's hair here is not as slicked and well done, she has 'punk' hair which shows the genre off more, the setting seems to be, or seem to be mid concert; this gives the band the identity of being about the music and mostly the singing as she is with a microphone. Harry has nothing but spotlights focusing on her, and she is wearing a yellow shirt of dress, again not focusing on that as this Album seems to be about the music alone.

Music Video-

The set of this video is a mixture of what seems like 'home videos' of Harry in the sea, her in the city and Blondie performing on stage.

The Camera used in this music video seems to be handheld, like it is a friend that is filming her and when it is the concert scene, a fan in the audience. In the urban city scene it seems like handheld also but from a distance that makes it seem like she is not meant to be being filmed. 

Clips in the video also seem to consist of bloopers of them making the video showing a fun side to Blondie.

Te editing of the video seems to be mismatched and rebellious like Harry and Blondie come across, which helps the genre tie in better and represents the band to the audience as being a punk rock fun band.
The costume and props are not 'set up' they are all representing who the band is, by the set on the stage to the urban, edgy outfits the Deborah Harry is wearing.

Concert Set-

The concert set is linking with the Album Cover at the top of this post. The stripes again show that link but the mismatched striped revealing the word Blondie shows that they have changed it up again, like what was said about the Album Cover. Other than that no props are used, which seems to me that they are trying to represent to the audience and public that they are all about the music they create.

Newspaper Articles-
Article in Classic Rocks news, recently released in August 2013, proving that although they are from the 1970's Blondie and their music is still talked about and loved.

 http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/no-truth-in-blondie-quit-rumours/

The Independent talking about Deborah Harry acting her age. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/music-review-blondies-new-ambition-is-to-act-her-age-and-at-68-debbie-harry-is-a-force-to-be-reckoned-with-8682735.html

An article of the Pop band One Direction using Blondie's song, One Way Or Another. http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/116555/Debbie-Harry-Gives-Thumbs-Up-To-One-Directions-Cover-Of-Blondie-Classic-Theyre-A-Hot-Group