Lyrics

This above shows the analysis of our song. We found the lyrics and as a group we analysed the lyrics altogether. We done this as a group so that together we could discuss and think of what the background meaning of this song is. This also helped us to think of key shots, setting locations, costume changes and various other techniques we could use for our music video. 

Roles

This is a Gif of us stating what roles me and the people in my group have taken on. I'm doing Mise en Scene and Lighting, Sterling is doing Performing, Directing, Editing, and Marc is doing Sound, Editing, and Camera. We have chosen for each of us to do these roles because they suit what we would prefer and have the abilities for.

Georgia - Mise En Scene and Lighting

As I am doing the mise en scene of the video, I will be choosing the different locations we will be shooting for our music video. I have also chose to do lighting, which means that I will be making sure the locations and the shots are correctly lit to suit the concept of what to have shot.

Sterling - Performer, Director and Editing

Due to my job roles, I will ensure that I have planned out and developed ideas for the entire video. We have also decided to use me within the video, because we thought the vocals would suit me best, as well as the fact I made the final decision of the song. I will ensure that there is a concept and that all stylistic features of a conventional video will be in use. I also have experience using FinalCut (the programme where we will edit all of our footage), as does Marc, so we both decided to share the role of editing together.

Marc - Editing, Camerawork and Sound

As I'm doing sound for our music video, I will have to make sure that there is not sound in the video other than the music itself. For editing, I will be working with Sterling to ensure that our clips cut to the beat of the track and we will stylistic features that a conventional video will use. For camerawork I will have to ensure that all shots are framed correctly, that the camera is recording correctly and that everything needed is in the frame.

Song Details and Initial Ideas

What song have you chosen?
We have chosen the song of Lonely Town - Dirg Gerner

Why did you choose it?
We chose this song because it fits with our genre. Furthermore, the other reason that we liked this song is because of the lyrics that come with it. We thought these lyrics could relate to our audience. This song also includes several continuous beats which we could include very bold shot changes. The fact this song is very unknown also helps to create a fresh and new type of music video which the target audience might not have seen before. This will help to make our music video stand out from the rest.

What genre is it?
The genre of this song is Soul, which is the genre of our choice.

What are some of your initial ideas for the video?
As a group we have discussed loads of different ideas, I think some of the main ones is having a love narrative between a girl and a boy, with different setting locations such as Boxhill, London, and Soho. We also liked the ideo of shooting Sterling singing into the camera when our location would be on a rooftop in London. We wanted to include this setting type because it was most common in the questionnairres which we asked our target audiences.

Who will be the performer, what kind of image will they have?
The performer of this music video will be Sterling as he has the right persona and represents the best sort of image for this type of song. We would also like to have other people included in our music video but we haven't quite got as far as what kind of persona we want them to have yet. The kind of image we want them to have is to have a chilled easy kind of look. Which links to the rhythm of this song as being quite slow and chilled to listen to.

Any shooting locations in mind? What about the vibe of the video?
Again we would like the chilled out vibe of the video as this is what the song refers to.We have came up with us starting of shooting in Boxhill, then further into the video we have the setting changing to London, the backstreets of London, Soho and the Southbank. These are all places which link to the narrative we would like to create in our music video.

Soul Music Video Research

Amy Winehouse-Valerie

One of the conventions of a Soul music video is having live performences. Which is in this music video, it shows to the audience their passion for their music, including the instruments they have used. As you can see here, they are showing a live performance to a very big audience showing the love people have for their music. A weird thing that i discovered in this music video is that the artist doesn't actually appear in the video. This is unconventional however it shows how big the artist must be as the audience would be able to identify the artist just by hearing the music. Instead they have a woman performing but its a woman that looks like a double of Amy Winehouse. As you can see, the woman looks identical to Amy Winehouse. The editing of the music video is also conventional as it is all cut on the beat. This makes everything in sync and the video look more in time and easier/entertaining to watch.

CD Cover Analysis

Advertisement Analysis

CD Cover Analysis

CD Cover Research

Above as you can see is the album cover of the very famous Amy Winehouse called Back to Black. There are several different conventions of CD covers.

 Camerawork: The long shot of the artist on the front cover showing her sitting down, looking what as I would say quite vulnerable. Especially with the very low key lighting, looks like she is trying to be hidden in the picture, which may hint to the audience with what this album may be about, her feelings for example. Amy Winehouse is also looking directly into the camera showing her engagement with the audience. Trying to make this CD album cover something to remember.

Mise en Scene: The Mise en Scene of this album cover is very low key lighting, black being the colour people refer to as negative, maybe linking back to her drug use which is very known by everyone and we all know how out of hand it got. However the costume she is wearing, the very pretty little dress shows she has made an effort to look nice, like she makes an effort with her music and shows her passion for what she does. The font used for this album cover reminds me a lot of the music symbols you get, maybe again linking to her passion for music and the way she loves what she does. Also the name of the artist 'Amy Winehouse' is very big and bold, this is so that the audience will see this and remember who she is and that she made a CD. The performance of the artist in this photograph is very strong. I can tell this because of the way the connection with the audience is so strong, she is looking directly at us and not showing any sign of her being shy to the camera. This is maybe because she wants to show that she is actually alright, she wants to let everyone know that she can be strong and coveying this on the CD cover. 

CD Cover Research

Camerawork: There is a long shot of the artist, this shows their importance, also there is a photo of the artist at a live performance which shows that she is passionate about her music. The longshot and high angle shot also shows their high status.

Mise En Scene: The background of this CD cover is purple which is typical as it implifies the happy mood it is trying to give off, also the font looks like it has been hand written which is fun and looks like it has been wrote into a diary, implying an insight to her life. The flowers represent a happy mood and people familiarize it with summer. 

Soul Music

 

The conventions of a Soul Music video:

 Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying. Soul music has its roots in gospel music and rhythm and blues. The hard gospel vocal quartets of the 1940s and 1950s were big influences on major soul singers of the 1960s. The term "soul music" itself, to describe gospel-style music with secular lyrics.

 Forms and conventions of soul music videos
- The majority have a narrative – love/family etc
- mono-tone colour scheme is frequently used
- slow cuts and editing
- no special effects

Record Label Research

Stax Records

For our music video we wanted to make our genre Soul. For us to have a better understanding of why these music videos are made and to just have a better understanding of them we need to know about the record labels. The first record label is 'Stax Records'.

Stax was founded a long time ago in 1957 by Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton. This record label is an Americal record label and was originally founded in Memphis, Tennessee. Their parent company is Concord Music Group and it's Distributors are: Universal Music Group and again Concord Music Group. Some of the successful artists which they have had are: Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes and The M.G's.

This record label was in fact once called Satellite Records before the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961.

Motown Records

Motown records is one of the more popular Soul music record companies which people are music more familiar with. It was founded in 1959 by Berry Gordy. 
They are associated with Universal Music Group which means they are not an independent company. Artists that they have worked with are people like: Stevie Wonder, Jackson 5, Marvin Gay and Diana Ross.
Motown Records originated in the United States of America.

  Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records was founded in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Atlantic Records are assosiated with Warner Music videos. This means they are not an independent company. Some of the current artists that they have are: James Blunt, Bruno Mars, Jason Miraz.

Mood Board-Soul

Sould music is a popular genre that originated in the United States, combining elements of African American gospel music and Blues. Making the audience a wide range. In the moodboard placed above there are images of several artists which people first associate the music Soul with. One of the famous type of Soul music is motown which most people think Soul is. Soul music is very upbeat and catchy to draw the audience to sing along and dance making this genre of music an all time favourite.

Theories-Carol Vernallis

'The Kindest Cut'

Within a music video she identified that there would be a multiplicity of incomplete sometimes obscure paths within the story.

The order of shots would be unconventional, there would be no typical order and they would shift more freely in between each different shot.

Pop videos draw us away from the narrative by foregrounding other structures and elements by using discontinuity.

There will be visual hooks to create continuity. This is where non continuous shots are linked together by a single feature, I.E. A shape or colour.

The time, space, character and narrative are revealed in completely not like they would be revealed within a film. 

Hollywood Film:

Within a Hollywood film there would be single clear paths throughout the story.

There would be an order within the shots making them conventional to the piece.

A unity of time and space would be shown throughout the film.

Throughout a Hollywood film, the continuity would be thorough throughout meaning that the narrative would draw the audience in more.

Theories-Goodwin

'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'


Illustration:
- The music always cuts on the beat in time with the editing.

- The images illustrate the literal meaning of the lyrics. This is often shown just with the band singing and dancing throughout the music video.

- The band would be singing, dancing, playing instruments in their own area within the video. They would also be dressed expectantly according to their genre, often dressed in a similar fashion to the other members of the band. 

Amplification: 


- The film cuts on the beat but also off as well to emphasis the features within the music video. 
- The images are used to amplify the lyrics, a specific narrative may be used that would not necessarily be picked up from reading the lyrics alone. 
- The band take on fictional role within the narrative. 

Disjuncture:


- The film cuts off the beat, sometimes, but not always, this is a sign of a badly made music video.
- Images which do not relate to the lyrics are used, sometimes used by the bands who are already very well established but can afford to take the risk within their music video.
- The band can take on an image that is nothing like them or completely the opposite of their expected image. E.G, The lead singer of Texas dresses up as Elvis Presley within one video.  This video of Katy Perry is a clear narrative video as throughout the whole of the video there is a clear storyline. Even at the beginning there is no song. Just the audience seeing the beginning of the story. It is also a typical type of story you would expect a pop singer to do a video on.

Low Budget Ideas 2

A-Ha-Imogen Heap

In this music video they have included millions of shots of several different cut aways which makes up this very fast pasted music video. For example the shot above, is a music box which has been edited on maybe photoshop but it looks so interesting to the audience. When infact at first it was most probably just a boring shot of a music box. This would be very cheap to film, and wouldn't cost anything when it actually looks quite expensive to the audience because of the way it looks so professional.

Another low budget idea is the way the music video is so fast paced edited. This makes the video so fun and exciting to watch as it is so jam packed with all different shots. It looks so hard and expensive when really you just have to have a little play on the mac and cut things out to make it look unique and different to the boring objects and shots they were originally. The low key lighting also contrasts with the actual song as it is a very strange and creepy song. The low key lighting and strange shots help exagerate the lyrics and the feel of this song which they have successfully done.

Analysis of Pop Videos 2

Rita Ora-How We Do

Firstly the different locations create the sence of Rita Ora having a good time as one of the locations is at a massive party. Looks like she is living the lifestyle which the audience that look up to her aspire. Different locations is conventional in a music video which Rita has done also including the costume changes which is very typical of a pop music video as they have to make sure they look just right for the different settings.

Another convention of a music video is the close ups of the artists which Rita Ora has done. This is conventional because of the way it shows the importance of the artist over everyone else in the music video. It also exagerates the lip syncing which they can do so very well to the song. The close ups also portray the enjoyment Rita Ora is having as we can see her facial expressions so well.

The mise en scene of this music video is very key. The different costumes the artist is wearing is very fashionable and up to date as the audience will look up to what she is wearing. Also the atmosphere. It is like a massive party which relates to the way teenagers live and aspire to. The revolve around parties and it also links with the lyrics of the song which is also a convention of music videos.

Low Budget Ideas 1

Just Got Paid-The Fix 

Firstly, we have the dark background with the spotlights where the artists are which are introduced on the beat. This is conventional as the music video is normally in rythm with the song. The way the have represented the first shot automatically makes us feel like this is a professional music video like they have spent quite a lot on the setting and props.When in fact its probably just a big room with the lights off and some spotlights on the floor, showing the silhoutte of these artists.

These artists have also followed the rule of using close ups of all the different band members, this shows the audience the importance of them all. Also showing the lip syncing of the artists and the direct adress between the audience and the audience as the artists look directly and confidently into the camera which makes the audience more engaged.

There is a mid shot of the band which is conventional. It shows their performance as a group and the way they are a close group and confident towards the camera. It also shows the different constume changes they have which also conventional as the costume changes normally changes with the set which is exactly what happens in the music video.

Throughout these shots the different camerawork used is effective as they mix it up a little so the audience isn't seeing everything in the same perspective. Otherwise they would just get bored of seeing the same thing. It also gives us a sence of fun and the enjoyment the boys in the video must of had when filming this. Which connects to the performance. To make your music video successful the performance has to be realistic otherwise it would look fake to the audience and ruin it completly. You need to know all the words to the song for the lip sync and you need to be confident for the camera and act like the artist you are meant to be playing which will make it look professional like this music video.

Conventions Of A Music Video

                            Narrative:
There is usually a narrative otherwise known as a storyline to the music video. These storylies normally link to the meaning of the song.

                            Lip Syncing:
The lip syncing is normally the main focus to the music video as the artist will sing along to their song in the music video.


                            Costumes:
The costumes the artists are wearing in their music videos normally represent them. Also when the setting changes the costume of the artists would change also.

                            Performance:
The performance will be done by the artists and this should reflect them as a person in the music video.

                            Locations:
The music videos should include 3 or more different locations which should link with the narrative otherwise it would look a bit odd if there were loads of different locations which would confuse the audience.

                             Editing:
Different genres will include different editing techniques. The most common form of editing throughout music videos which i have studied so far though is fast paced editing. 

                             Props:
Most music videos will include props to help represent themselves to the audience, most of them will be stereotypical objects which people would familiarise them by their genre.

                             Mise En Scene:
The mise en scene will be different depending on the different genres, for example, a rock band will be low key lighting, wearing dark clothing, with the band holding their instruments. This is how the audience would familiarise them.

Analysis of Pop Video 1

Carley Rae Jenson-Call Me Maybe

MISE EN SCENE

The mise en scene of the music video is very high key lighting as it is a pop video it is very bright and upbeat video and music. It is conventional of the pop genre to have a narrative behind it which is what this music video includes, inluding a very cheesy storyline which links to the very cheesy lyrics. The costume of the artist which is in the music video are wearing very bright and light colours contrasting with what personality theyre trying to represent.

EDITING

The editing is fast paced which connects to the music video beig cheesy and happy which gives the audience a feel good feeling.

SOUNDS

The only sounds that you could really hear during this music video is the soundtrack which is being played in the background throughout the whole of the music video.


CAMERAWORK

The camerawork for this particular music video is mainly on the artist which is a convention of a pop music video, as the camera is mostly on them and their image whereas in rock videos they are mainly on the live performences showing their passion for music whereas pop is more about the way the artist is represented.

Analysis of Rock Videos 2

Red Hot Chilli Peppers-By The Way

I started to analyse the Red Hot Chilli Pepper's song By The Way because I thought the music video to this song would fit the typical stereotype which people would associate rock bands to be.

At the beginning of the music video they show the artists of the song/members of the band performing live, showing they are passionate about their music and instruments, which is what they want to portray to the audience. By showing them performing live it sends the message that they care about putting on a performance which you wont forget. People in a rock band are seen to be 'obsessed' with their music which comes across obvious when they contain loads of footage of them playing their music to their audience live.





When in the music video the artists are involved as that is one of the conventions of a music video. As they are taking part in it their costume plays a big part in showing the audience what their personality is like. For instance, in this music video, one of the main participant's is dressed quite informal, has a beard, tattoos and smoking. This is what people automatically think of when they think of a rock band. The colour scheme is normally darker colours like black to associate with the music they play. Furthermore they usually have tattoos and piercings to show the 'rebelious' side to them which again is what people think of at first.

Brief

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with the following:

• a cover for it's release as part of a digipak (Cardboard CD cover)
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak