These charts below evidence the results from my previously created questionnaire. I asked 10 members of our niche market who responded as shown.
The music video we are
recreating for our A level is “When you
were young” by The Killers. Have you heard of this song?
According to UK Tribes
they categorise our youth in the Modern Society which category would you stay
you stereotypically come under?
On a scale from never to A
lot in your own opinion how often do you use the internet for music related
things? (e.g. downloading, listening, streaming, sharing.)
If you could create your own ideal music video would style would it be under?
Does a music video entice you to buy the song album?
Do you share / re-post videos that interest you on networking sites ?
What is a Digipack? A type of packaging for CDs or DVDs, typically made from cardboard with an internal plastic holder for one or more discs. This simple concept is heavily used as a main source of promotion. My study into Digipacks supports my study of music videos because both sources of promotion support eachother. Before researching and analysing exsisting digipacks, I wanted to observe the flat plan layout in order to understand the compact nature and also the amount of space I would have when creating my own.
Additional features of a digipak;
Dvd
Lyric book
Artist photos or imagery
Song listing
How does a digipack bennefit an Artist?
The front of a digipack almost acts as a controlled exposure to what the artist does and doesnt want to reveal about themselves. It is likely to embody a theme and a message about the artist and/or the content of the album. This also strongly supports brand image. The artist and the digipack work alongside eachother almost promoting each other in which obviously soley bennefits the artist. It could be argued that from an audience perspective purchasing an artists digipack establishes a loyalty to the Artist.
This video evidences the production of me creating a mood board of a more refined selection of ideas that both me and Jake have for our music video. At this stage in the research production of our music video the moodboard should evidence a development in ideas as well as the most successful ones.
In music video production, producers reflect on the iconography of previous videos that in which creates an expectation for each genre. Iconography in media is;"Discussing imagery as iconography
in this way implies a critical "reading" of imagery that often attempts
to explore social and cultural values. Iconography is also used within film studies to describe thevisual language of cinema, particularly within the field of genre criticism." In this post I am going to explore the iconography in both indie and rock videos then evaluate how they both compare. In order to reach out to our audience and make our video successful I have created a glogster of iconographic things in which are needed to make our music video an all-round success.
In order to understand what our target audience expects from a music video, I asked 5 of them myself. The question proposed was; In a few words what is your main expectation from a Music video? The List below reveals the 5 different responses I recieved.
Gaining an insight into the Band/Artist
Evokes an emotion
Visual communication
Comedy Value
Memorable
These 5 factors, I completely agree with as they link closely to my personal expectations from a music video. To develop on this further I then challenged myself further by responding to some of the questionnaire answers with the videos that instantly came to mind. Gaining an insight into the Band/ Artist
When responding to this topic I instantly thought of celebrity scandal as I remember watching " Sorry Blame it on me" By Akon when he was caught in a scandal surrounding indecent sexual treatment to a minor on stage. As his genre of music has no link to my interest I watched his music video in order to gain more information about the topic that was so largely enforced in the media. As an Artist he used the video and lyrics to give himself a voice of deffence through music.
Evokes an emotion
When responding to emotion I thought of a video I saw recently in the current charts in which engaged my attention due to the continuous flux of emotion throughout the video. "Waiting all night" by Rudimental shows the process of lost strength to found strength supported by passion. For me the like ability of the song was completely encouraged after watching the video, it made me stop and reflect.
Visual communication When reading this response the first video that came to mind was " No kind words" by The Maccabees. This almost challengesvisual communication with lack of. But by challenging the expectation this became memorable to me.
Comedy Value
The crude nature of Blink 182 in "Whats my age again" in which the entire band run around America left me as well as the world in tears of laughter as the band connected the video and the lyrics as well as the audience. Although the video recieved negative criticism alongside the positive I feel it was a prime example of a successful music video.
In order to further our study jake created a podcast.
This storyboard is a recreation of our Storyboard 1 video evidencing the process in which me and Jake created our storyline. Jake has re-created this to provide more in depth visuals and timing in which helps show the accuracy and detail it took for us to create and construct the plan.
After reflecting on mine and Jakes storyboard plan, I decided to look further into how both the youth and the mature are portrayed in music videos. This is because our video contains both of the binary opposites and I personally feel that showing "Reminising on the past" is going to be a hard challenge to film and strongly portray a relationship between characters.
The video below is "Mirrors" by Justin Timberlake in which I have made written commentary throughout. Although the genre has no link to mine and Jakes genre of choice, I feel that the songs are connected by video as our narrative Idea has similar intentions and heavily links to "Mirrors".The video evidences the contrast of age and reflection of the past.
My group consist of Jake Ellsley and myself. We decided to work together as a pair due to our strong communication skills and hard working approach we have towards our work. We also have similar taste in music connecting indie and rock. This means that when constructing our music video our understanding and passion towards our sub-genres will connect well. This common interest will avoid confrentation and any minor disagreements can be solved through communication.
The Killers are a well known American Born
Rock Band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada over 10 years ago now in 2001.
The band consists of four members including lead singer; Brandon
Flowers. Lead Guitarist; Dave Keuning. Bassist; Mark Stoermer. And
drummer Ronnie Vannucci. rumour is that the name The Killers came from
the logo on a bass drum in a fictitious band portrayed in the new order
song; "Crystal"
The band have released four studio albums
which are; Hot Fuss, Sam's Town, Day & Age and Battle Born. They
have sold over 20 million copies. They also released other albums
including a live album from the Royal Albert Hall, and a compilation
album called sawdust. They also have a Christmas album called Red.
Recently they released a greatest hits album named Direct Hits.
In 2001 it hit Brandon Flowers that he
wanted to be in a rock band, so he started his search and found an add
from a guitarist called Dave Keuning in a local newspaper. They had
similar influences and began writing songs together. At this early stage
they had recorded 4 songs, Desperate and Four Winds which were never to
be released and early versions of Mr Brightside and Under the Gun. They
started playing small venues and handing out versions of their demo.
They brought something different to Las Vegas at the time. Drummer
Ronnie Vannucci and bassist Mark Stoermer were members of other bands
and were eventually persuaded to join the original double. The Killers
didnt break through at all in the American music industry but did in the
English in 2003 when they signed with Lizard King Records. From there
the Killers were born and made their way to becoming one of the biggest
rock bands ever. On August 19, 2003, one of todays greatest hits, Mr
Brightside was aired live on Zane Lowes BBC Radio 1 show. This let to UK
shows and copies of Mr Brightside which they realeased only a few of in
different versions including Vynl. As a result from the publicity they
had generated in the UK they returned to the US a different band and
soon signed with American Record Label, Island Def Jam.
When Playing live they have always been one for the theatrical with
fireworks lights and whatever they can get away with that will get the
crowd buzzing. I can say from expirience as I have seen them twice now
that their live performances are unreal and cannot be compared to any
other bands. They came on 20 minutes early at Wembley in the Summer so
that they could play a record 24 songs.
The Killers have always been creative with their discography and have
brought out something new and interesting for every album, which is
fashionable at the time.
The Killers Look is also something completely unique to them. They looks
so different yet so right for each other. The way they are very mature
and dress smartly really is an influence to other bands. Brandon
Flowers, The Killers main man, has admitted to having fashion issues
over the year, not knowing his own style, hense the feathered jacket but
after 10 years he has finally found a style which is now connected with
him, his leather jacket and all black look.
The video I edited below, is fast forwarded evidence of a 52 minute process in which me and Jake had to apply the form of "trial and error" in order to come up with an outline storyboard for our music video. This was the most challenging part of planning that as a group we have had to face, but I feel personally due to our communication as a group we worked extremely well.
The second video is evidence of our communication skills and also how we encouraged eachothers creative ideas as a group when we created from our storyboard.
Due to me and Jake both having a wild range of ideas,the best way we could both express ourselves was by throwing all our ideas out and then conversing on which ones needed eliminating or refining. The video below shows the process.
After reflecting on the outcome of the process we are now ready to develop our planning and create our first storyboard.
I created the
questionnaire below in order to make sure my questions of interest were
answered by the target audience a the little time they give up for us must be valued. I have also evidenced the planning
behind the questions as this took time and thought.
The music video we are
recreating for our A level is “When you
were young” by The Killers. Have you heard of this song? If so what do you
think of it?
a) No, I haven’t heard this
song B) Yes, I have heard this song and I think................................................................
According to UK Tribes
they categorise our youth in the Modern Society which category would you stay
you stereotypically come under?
a)Alternative b)Leading Edge
c)Aspirant
d)Urban
e)Mainstream
f) Unsure
On a scale from never to A
lot in your own opinion how often do you use the internet for music related
things? (e.g. downloading, listening, streaming, sharing.)
a) never
b) rarely
c) sometimes
d) average
e) over average
f) A lot
If you could create your own ideal music video would style would it be under?
a) Obscure/ Weird
b) The video tells the story of the Lyrics
c) Real life footage e.g Concert or Gig
d) video suits the emotion of lyrics
e) Other
Does a music video entice you to buy the song album?
a) Yes
b) No
Do you share / re-post videos that interest you on networking sites ?
Evaluating risk is an essential assesment when creating a music video.
Location: The risk reagarding location would be accessing private land for shooting without permission, in which would not only be illegal but also change the structure of our video. Also one of my location options was abroad, but due to independant travel the health and safety measures of the set in Iceland, this cannot be considered. After my experience "shadowing the Director" I was taught the concept of granting permission, in which many public locations are more willing to allow you to film on their premises as long as they are aware that the footage is for education purposes. Therefore access to the sights of choice should not be as challenging as predicted. Another consideration would be respecting the environment and also understanding the public have priority so we must not intrude or invade their space.
Actors: The risk surrounding actors is the reliability of actors as the importance of the video is far more to me and Jake than them. Therefore they may lack reliability prioritising other tasks before ours. In order to deal with this we have to have back-up actors, who may not be our first choice but have the ability to deal with the challenge and adapt well with guidance and direction from me and Jake.
Equipment: The advanced equiptment in which would be ideal for me and Jake to use, is almost a daunting concept as we have researched and understood what we need but are unaware how to use the equiptment from experience. A major risk is mis-use of hired equiptment resulting in damage/breakage. Another risk is the price, being students our budget is unlikely to stretch to the full cost of equiptment, so we have to be sure to take extra special care as the equiptment isn't our own. To solve this we must try and make use of the equipment provided as well as researching where we can hire equipment from with the biggest discount.
Editing: The risk surrounding editing consist of data loss or overwriting footage. This is a miss-fortunate risk in which to resolve would be very time consuming. In order to respond to this risk would be to make sure we have made backups of our files, so we do not lose valuable time later.
After forming together my ideas on what the Risks would be I put the information into a Risk Assesment chart I created. This was to help me and Jake on the day of the shoot.
Song: Mr Brightside
Artist: The Killers
Album: Hot Fuss
Length: 3:48
Genre: Indie Rock
Live Set Location: Theater
Overall:
The video fades from black and hits a ride cymbal before the music starts. The video then pans
around the main characters involved, the girl, the man and Brandon the lead singer. Then as the lead singer begins to sing it cuts to a wide angled shot
of the band with Brandon looking very dejected and wandering in the
middle of the stage. He makes hand gestures which suggests that hes
picked himself up. It then cuts, using shot reverse shot,
between Brandon looking at the girl and her looking back which suggests
there could be something going on. Then it gets interesting when
another man throws the girl an apple, see GIF.
I'm not sure what the apple signifies but he then points at her as if to say "You owe me" The camera then cuts
to the lead singers face who by now is looking at the man.The lyrics
fit into the video very well, "it was only a kiss, it was only a kiss".
The Girl then walks off with another man who we haven't been introduced
to yet via a tracking shot.
The video continues like that for a little while with her going off
with different men as the song gets towards the chorus, most of the
shots used are hand held.
Something else that is rare in a music video is some of the shots they
use during the chorus. Although most dont have a crowd/dancers they have
a shot from their view of the band performing. Just before the chorus
she goes round the back of the stage with the lead singer and the other man peaks round
and sees. Once again the lyrics fit the video very well, "Jealousy,
turning saints into the sea" during the chorus the women dance while the
men just watch very much in the style of Moulin Rouge. The video pretty
much continues as such from there on as the two men fight over this, to
be blunt, whore. The battle continues between the two and the final
shot is off Brandon and the girl and he just walks away towards the
camera leaving her all alone. This shot is very effective and decisive. I
personally like the shot before, which is the end of the live
performance where Brandon makes some sort of defining motion, it really
stands out for me, Timing 3:34 in the video.
The video has a very clear very suited theme to it making it very
likable and the lyrics fit the actions in the video perfectly making it
very successful.
Was there a clear story?
The video was done in the style it was because all of the band members
are fans of Moulin Rouge. There is an extremely clear story of a battle
for the whore angel in the video between the lead singer, Brandon
Flowers and the other man. It depicts the paranoia and jealousy of a man
who suspects he is being cheated on.
The
lyrics also follow the actions of the lead singer and the narrative
part of the performance quite closely, which I think is a massive
factor.
Overall Opinion:
My opinion is that it is one of the best videos I have seen. Its
extremely interesting and keeps the viewer engaged. The story is very
clever and fits the video perfectly which makes it even better. The
style makes it different and that's something that is difficult to find
in a music video nowadays.
Lighting:
The lighting throughout is without a doubt artificial as they are always inside.The
stage is lighted as a stage would but without flashing lights. The
dance floor is also lighted very professionally. There are no flashing
lights in this video which i think would suit the style of song very
well.
Clothing: The
clothing was styled upon the style of Moulin Rouge. The band are all
dressed up in extremely smart suits with a hint of jazz to the look to
make them stand out. The rest are dressed up emphatically and majorly
over the top but it works with the style of the video.
Editing:
The editing is characterized by the use of cut transitions. It also
fades from black at the beginning of the video, and at the end. The
editing speed also depends on the part of the song, for example, speeds
up at the chorus and slows down towards the end.
Behind the Scenes:
The video i am analyzing is the second more expensive video The Killers
made for Mr Brightside, The band created an emergency English video and
then a year later created a more expensive video suited more to America.
The video was filmed over a series of a couple of days.They had a
massive crew and massive set and a lot of actors they could use.
A powerful factor in which encourages the success of a music video is the AUDIENCE. I feel that this has been forgetton when researching and learning how to understand how to create a successful music video. I wanted to understand how society have the power not only as an audience but as an influence. When trying to identify the target audience in more depth for our music
video, I need to research what appeals to the youth at present. With
Adults they are categorised by factors such as income whereas this
cannot apply to the youth. in 2005 Channel 4 created a youth market
categorising different notions of Tribes with information on hobbies,
fashion and musical interest.
Uk Tribes is a website in which I have used before to understand my target audience in a more level of depth. Just like within the music industry there are sub genres in society there are sub categories for our target audience. It is essential that both me and Jake make sure our video adresses all the segments of the audience starting at ; "Alternative."
In order to access the statistical data I had to email channel 4 to explain why I needed access to the data.
After granting access, I then analysed the data provided and also observed the visual evidence given. The youtube video below helped me gain an insight into the visual appearance of our target audience.When analysing the information provided I came across the interests of Alternative tribes; "Alternative Tribes are passionate about music, sharing an appreciation
for live music, independent record shops and grass roots talents – it’s
all about authenticity and being ‘real’. Unusually, Tribe members will
buy music to support the artists they love and a dedicated merchandise
and gig goers. Rather than rebelling against specific objectives, the
Alternative segment is motivated by a need to be themselves, nothing
more, nothing less…" This has almost provided me with a briefing to what ourmusicvideo must entail in order to attract our audience.
The Sub-genres Young Alts are just starting out are are voracious consumers
of every source of Alt inspiration they can get their hands on, from
Kerrang! to Neflix and Spotify… Icons: Jennifer Lawrence, Zane Lowe, Lauren Laverne, Nicolas Hoult, Lena Duham Skaters are one of the few activity-based Tribes, enjoying
their new cool status as Skater trends become embraced by the Urban,
Leading Edge and Aspirant Tribes.Icons: Tony Hawk, Jerry Hsu, Chris “Ginger Ninja” Oliver, Daryl Dominguez, Shane O'Neill, Theotis Beasley. Emos and Scene Kids are both motivated by US rock scene
and Americana icons, yet differ in terms of their outlook. For Emos,
it’s about expressing yourself through music, while Scene Kids are more
preoccupied with having fun and boozing with mates. Icons: Gerard Way, My Chemical Romance, Rites of Spring, Panic At The
Disco, Fall Out Boy, Funeral For A Friend, Three Days Grace, Asking
Alexandria, Pierce The Veil Hardcores have a serious affinity with a screaming genre of
punk and the straight edge scene – wearing their distinctive tribal tats
and turn-up look with pride. Icons: Goodtime Boys, It Prevails, Black Flag, Madball, Agnostic Front,
Terror, Black Flag, Rise Against, Minor Threat, While She Sleeps Real Gamers are masters of the digital world, its languages and codes of conduct – don’t underestimate their influence! Icons: Shigeru Miyamoto, Richard Jacques, Charlie Brooker, Hideo Kojima Nerds are having their day – the Internet gives them
unparalleled access to pop culture and Nerd icons are taking over
screens around the world. Icons: Michael Cera, Andrew Hussie, Charlie Brooker, IT Crowd, Lady Gaga
The information above is my research into what actually are the conventions of an "Alternative"Tribe. These sub-genres represent the different sectors in which make "Alternative." In order to identify what sub-genre our audience would mainly consist of, I further researched into the icons of each genre. This helped me come to the conclusion that Emos and scene Kids would be our main target audience due to their icons not only being heavily based around music, but the style of music in which we are creating a video to.
During the process of researching and progressing in the development and planning for our music video, I came across the music video for "Bound 2" by Kanyes West. Similar to my previous research into Miley Cyrus' video "Wrecking Ball" this video had attracted a lot of controversial attention in the media. Celebrities " Seth Rogan" and "James Franco" re-created the video in a mocking yet humourous nature due to the attention the Rapper and his Fiancee Kim Kardashian had attracted. The video below is evidence of this hitting American tabloids.
Something that caught my attention was an article by the Gurdian claiming the motorbike from the original video was put on sale on ebay and then taken down.The concept of the prob being sold for £4,500 shows how the success of a music video to promote an artist can also be used to make money in many more ways that what meets the eye. I am now motivated to make sure the potential success for mine and Jakes video leaves us with the ability to create attention in all sectors rather than just the Music industry. Although the idea of creating an all round success has been shown, I must be aware and acknowledge the negative impact the video has had in the media. The reason behind the Bike sale being taken down from ebay was due to the huge controvesy surrounding the video. Linking to my Music progression post and my previous study of wrecking Ball, this has further supported my decision in not including any sexual behaviour or indecent exposure in our video.
Song Name: Backseat Serenade
Artist: All Time Low
Album: Don't Panic
Length: 03:23
Genre: Pop Punk
Live set Location: Arcade
Overal:
The Video begins instantly with an out of focus shot
of a bedroom with an animal costume hanging up and the lead singer
coming into the shot from the right as if he has just woke up. He then
looks towards the costume hinting that it may be of some importance in
the video. There is then a cut scene to
an arcade, which turns out to be the location of the live performance
and the animal costumes the side story. The way the Lead singer appears
to sing when outside of the live performance is very casual as if hes
just singing to himself like any normal person would in the morning. It
then cuts out to a few other people putting on animal costumes. At 0:21
it switches to a live energetic and passionate performance which is the
main convention of a rock genre music video. The setting is in an arcade with the lighting set up incredibly well to very good effect. This pattern of cutting
between the live performance and the band members in animal costumes
continues for the rest of the start of the video. There are many close ups of the lead singer signifying his importance in the band. There are also many wide angle shots
of the whole band, this is mainly to get them all in once shot. A lot
of the cut scene shots incorporate some sort of childish humor which
reflects the band extremely well, GIF below, the GIF is an example of a shot reverse shot
to show two peoples acknowledgement of each other. Towards the end of
the video the main band members that wore the costumes appear inside a
"whack a mole" game inside the arcade, With the lead singer still
singing. And then to finish off the video they cut between the band
playing live normally as they have been throughout
the
video to the band in their animal costumes playing their instruments.
It ends conclusively when the lead singer takes off the costume and gets
into bed signifying the end of a "typical day at the office". In the
live performance they aren't very creative with the different shots they
use, they tend to use the same techniques and shots again and again, close ups and mid shots of the members separately.. I have only noticed this after watching it a good 4/5 times. Was there a clear story behind the video?
The story behind this video is just imagination. What if the targets you
have to hit in a "Whack a mole" game actually had to go to work. If
they lived a normal life. Went to work in their uniform, ate in their
uniform. They then clocked in and went to work getting hit on the head.
Then at the end of the day they just go home as if it is a normal
thing. Overal opinion:
My opinion on this video is that its very creative and imaginative and
the video has been carried out impeccably. The bands personalities
really show out throughout the video and the way that silent humor has
been sneaked into the video has a great effect. The live performance is
very passionate and undoubtedly real. I think its a brilliant music
video, fun and enjoyable to watch as well as an incredible song.
Lighting:
The lighting of the live performance is very clever. There appears to be
some sort of LED spotlights scattered around behind the band. These
create a line effect across the screen when they hit the camera directly
(as seen in image above). Other than them the only other light is the
light from the arcade machines and any set lighting the crew creating
the video have introduced that isn't visible. But the fact they haven't
used massive lights making the video all bright has had a good effect.
The dark scene with spotlights and random other colours from the arcade
makes the performance look amazing.
Clothing:
The obvious thing to put under clothing would be animal costumes which
included: a dog, a cat, a dinosaur, a racoon, a fish, an octopus/squid,
and a rabbit. But the clothes that the band wear in the
main performance are very hipster and all dark coloured, mainly black.
This is because all of their instruments are white and so they have a
good aesthetic effect.
Editing:
The
editing is defiantly characterized by cut transitions which switch
between the live performance and the short story on the side. These cuts
create short takes and also some long takes, but overall the editing is
edited to the music. Behind the Scenes:
When you watch behind the scenes of the video you can see a sneak peaks
of how the crew created the video with exception to the random
inappropriate behavior from the band. You can see that it is actually a
lot lighter than it is shown in the video so some sort of effect has
been added there. Also when the do the "Whack a mole" the parts where
the characters pop up are covered in brightly colours plasticine. They
also use multiple cameras on set.
On a scale from never to A
lot in your own opinion how often do you use the internet for music related
things? (e.g. downloading, listening, streaming, sharing.)
