Storyboards

These are the storyboards that we created which will allow us to get the shots and scenes that we want. It will stop us from forgetting to do anything, and will give us a guideline as to what angles and shots we want to capture. 

practice lip synching

 

This is a (very poorly lit) video, where we practiced lip synching. We also used this as an opportunity to decide who we wanted to us for the singer in our band.

We have decided to use Dominic as the singer, as we think he looks more effective and he felt more comfortable singing in front of a camera.

Planning our idea.

Over the past two weeks we have began planning the concept behind our music video.
At first we thought that we could have two story lines, as this is what the song suggests. However, after going to see the recording studio at the DCAS centre, we now think it would be better to just have one storyline, and have a bigger section of the video to be performance based.

Here are a few pictures of a mind map I made whilst brainstorming ideas;

Request for permission from the record label.

Today I sent an email to The Kooks record label seeking permission to use their song.

Planning a location for our performance section.

 

 We thought that this sound deck could look effective for some shots of us recording the song. 

We went to visit the DCAS centre today. We had a little tour and then went to look at the recording studios.
We have decided that this location will definitely be used in the video, and so I took some pictures to help when storyboarding.

Why we chose the song

This is a video of our the meeting we had, discussing why we chose the song; she moves in her own way by The Kooks.

Finding a location for a potential performance shot.

During a group discussion. regarding which locations for a performance scene, we came up with the idea that using a local creative arts studio could look effective.

The place of interest is called 'Donut Creative Arts Studio' and allows people to hire their recording studios. We emailed them shortly after making up the decision;

This picture is a link to their website. 

and it didn't take long for them to reply;



How I will research my audience.

What do real audiences wear?

Who is the specific audience for particular products?

How do media industries target their audience?

Follow the entire product - adverts (magazines), TV ads, album covers, YouTube views.
                                          -Investigate my audience by researching similar bands.

• Pitching the product to the rest of the group and take feedback,
• Showing early drafts of work (storyboards, mock upfront copy),
• Taking peer product at later stages, and then again on the finished product; "can you tell me what happened in that sequence", "what the relationship between the characters are".
• After editing, make a rough cut and show people for feedback.

- Produce two copies of the ancillary task, then gain feedback on which one should be chosen.

Reception theory in relation to planning our music video

This is a prezi presentation, explaining how the Reception Theory will influence planning our music video.

Reception theory;

Stuart Hall's reception theory;

This considers how texts could be encoded with meaning, placed their by producers with the expectation that they will be decoded by audiences.

• Producers construct a text that is encoded with a message or meaning,
• Audiences either correctly decode the message and understand what the producer is trying to say,
• Or they reject/fail to interpret the message correctly. 

There are three types of audience decoding; 

• Dominant of preferred - as the producer wants,
• Negotiated - audience accepts, rejects of refines elements of the text,
• Oppositional - dominant meaning is recognised but rejected. 

In conclusion, reception theory attempts to explain the ways in which an audience views the text and it's meaning. 

Uses and gratification theory in relation to my music video.

This is my prezi presentation;

Uses and gratification theory.

McQuail's uses and gratifications theory.

 

Information;

To gain a sense of security through knowledge,

Satisfying curiosity and general interest.

 

 

Personal identity;

Identifying with others

Finding reinforcement for personal values.

 

 

Integration and social;

Finding a basis for conversation and social interaction

Having a substitute for real-life conversation.

 

Entertainment;

Getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment.

Lana Del Rey Summertime Sadness Textual analysis

This is my textual analysis for the song; Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey.

Different uses of music videos - Integration with advertising and music videos.

In recent years, music videos have began to be used to help market films. This is usually due to the fact the song features in the film, but it can be an effective way to integrate advertising the film with promoting the song.

An example of this is with Paramore's music video for the song 'Decode'.
It features some shots from one of the twilight films.

Feminism in Music Videos.

The representation of women in music videos is an important issue for many people, and since the development of the music video, has been a main focus for many feminists.
Feminist, Laura Mulvey, explained how woman are presented in three ways;

• How men look at women,
• How women look at women,
• How women look at themselves.

She also says how the audience is often forced to 'view' characters through the perspective of a heterosexual male. This is done through camera angles, often focusing on a woman's body, and by creating content that largely displays a mans reactions to events that happen to the female.
Mulvey explains that women are all too often relegated to the status of objects.

This video is a good example of how women are often over-sexualised and objectified. The focus of the females dancing, and her curves by using low angles and close ups can be seen to be degrading. This is enhanced by the fact there is a lot of use of high angle shots on the males, making them appear to be the more powerful people.

However, this is all just in the audiences perception, and in some ways can link to John Friske's theory that genre's reflect zeitgeist. In 2005 when this video was released, representation of sexualisation was accepted, and in some ways still is. Comparing this videos to other, such as Sir Mix A lot's 'Baby got Back' video, shows that objectification of women within music videos could be something that reflects popular opinion of people at that time, as Laura Mulvey produced her theory in 1987 when it was less accepted.

Research into CD covers.

 

 

These Four cd covers are example of bands that would fit into the Indie genre. Only one of them have a main focus of the band and that one still shows them in relation to music ( holding guitars). They all have quitter melancholia colour, with greys, blacks and low saturation.

 

These three are examples of bands/artists that fit into the pop genre. They all have a strong focus on the artists with them being the centre images and the only people present. They have bright colours and all feature a lot of pinks and reds.

Research into magazine covers.

 The rolling stones magazine.

                                              It has a focus on the artist. There is not much information on it as it only gives the main story. The colour of the Rollin Stones is linked to the artist (It is red, so it the writing for 'new faces 2011' and Wiz Khalifa's coat). There is no barcode on these. Both of the artists displayed on the front could fit into the pop genre, although they both have very different musical styles; Wiz Khalifa is hip hop and Amy Winehouse is jazz, soul and reggae.

 NME (new musical express).

There is a focus on the artist. There is a lot more information, gives an insight into a few of the stories and bands/artists that are included. The colour of the title remains consistent (red) although it is altered slightly with there being a black outline on the left picture. Both of these have the bar code on the front picture. Both of these show artists that fit into the Indie genre, and the artists/bands advertised alongside them do too.

 

 Q magazine.                 

Again there is a focus on the artist, however for the Prodigy cover it is not of his face, which contrasts to the others. There is much less information on the left cover than on the right, which tells the audience what will kind of content will be in it. There is a barcode included on both. It also tells the audience about the magazine as a whole 'The uk's biggest music magazine',and tries to persuade people to buy it '50-page special inside'.

In conclusion, magazine covers are there to persuade the audience to buy the magazine. By having the artist/lead singer as the main focus it will attract fans instantly. Also, by including some rufther information about the articles that are inside it can then keep a persons attention and further their interest. A running theme throughout the examples is that the magazine tends to have a certain genre as their main focus. Therefore, each magazine is aimed at people with different tastes in music.

Reseach into clothing

Clothing is an important aspect in a music video, as it can help identify a band, and can add to the idea that people watch them to help create a basis for social interaction. 

 

 

 

 The kooks - they are wearing clothes that look slightly vintage. There's a lot of denim jackets, hats and brogue shoes.

 Radiohead- they all look casual, wearing shirts and jackets. Although there is one man in the back that looks like he is wearing a suit.

All American Reject's- very casual, modern clothing. Shirts and t-shirts.

In conclusion, I have found that the most appropriate clothing for the actors within our music video will be casual, vintage with lots of denim and shirts. 

Record Labels

The Kooks are signed up to two record labels; EMI  and Virgin Records.

This information is helpful, as this is an aspect that is displayed on band websites and CD covers.

Audience research for Indie Music

As part of our research into music videos we sent out a questionnaire to 19 people, all aged between 16-18, asking them about their consumption of Indie music and how important music videos are.

(my graphs show the highest response for both gender);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our results show that females were more like to listen to indie music, that they see music videos as important and that their opinions on a song are more likely to be influenced by a music video than males.

This will be important when it comes to planning our own music video, as it suggests who our target audience should be. 

 

 

 

Textual analysis - The Kook 'Naive'

This is my first textual analysis. I have chosen the song Naïve by The Kooks as we are using a song by this artist for out final coursework. Therefore I thought it would be helpful when it comes to planning our music video, as we will have a general idea of the kind of characteristics that The Kooks have in their own videos. The song Naïve was released 27th March 2006 as the fourth single for their Inside in/Inside out album. It charted at number 5 in the UK singles chart and became the 19th best selling single in 2006.

This is a screen shot from the opening of the music video. The low saturation in this image is a key characteristic of Indie pop videos. This is usually to contrast their songs from stereotypical pop songs which are known for their bright colours and high saturation. Low saturation is used here because it is set at night, which is often seen in Indie Pop music. Also, the main focus is on the lead singer, which is another characteristic of many Indie Pop videos.





This next shot displays a characteristic of Andrew Goodwin's theory into the key features of music video's. It portrays the idea of a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The words in the song at this point are 'In such an ugly word', which reflects the feel in the video that the girl is upset. Another aspect of this idea it in the flow of the video. The beats in the song are reasonably slow, and so are the cuts between each shot. This is in contrast to the rhythm of the singing but works well as it follows the flow of the overall song.

Here are a range of shots that show the lead singer singing through a crowd. Band performances are a key aspect in Indie pop music videos, however this video goes against the conventions and just uses lip synching. Another point from Andrew Goodwin's theory, that many record labels demand a certain style which should be followed throughout the artist/bands videos, has been shown in this video. The use of many different close ups shows an underlying demand from the record label. Also, it is clear that lighting is important in this video as there are many different colours shown in these shots. This is another important aspect of Indie-Pop music videos, which usually use false lighting to add to the low saturation effect and to show that it is different from mainstream pop music.



How is the music industry regulated?

Regulate the media industry is done to ensure material is suitable for the audience it is being distributed too, and to make sure it doesn't cause anyone unnecessary offence.

 

Ofcom (Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries.) is the main company in the UK that is in charge of regulating the music industry. They have a set of code guidance notes, and if someone has breached these codes Ofcom have the power to fine, ban or alter when the material is allowed to be shown. A link to the guidance codes.

 

A need for regulation was bought in, due to a belief in the hypodermic needle theory. This explains that when people use the media they simply accept everything they view, that we are just injected with certain views an opinions and we don't think about whether they are correct. Therefore we need to regulate the music industry so people don't begin to accept detrimental behaviour (such as drug abuse) as being normal and acceptable. An example of this has been regulated is shown in this news report; Ofcom fine Scuzz £10,000.

 

Another reason regulation is needed is because of the Cultivation theory, which explains that the more time people spent "living" in the television world, the more likely they are to believe that the society portrayed on television is a representation of real like. Cultivation leaves people with a misperception of what is true in our world. An example of where this has been regulated in shown in this news report; Music videos face crackdown over sexualised content.

In my opinion I think that the music industry should be officially regulated. This is because we can not always avoid listening to certain songs or watching certain videos as distribution has increased. Songs are now played in shops, on the radio, adverts, television programmes and films. Without regulation they could be playing inappropriate songs during the day in shopping centres where children can openly hear them and parents have no power to stop them. Regulation is necessary to protect children from exposure to hateful and over sexualised content, and dramatized drug use.

The representation of sexuality in music videos

Ever since Elvis Presley shocked the world with his pelvis thrusting in 1956, the portrayal of sexuality has increasingly become much more acceptable in the media industry. It has now become a key aspect of music with many artists become much more provocative and open about their sexuality, with some songs being entirely based on sex. To a certain extent that has been useful as it can help give fans a sexual identity, with many music industries rebelling against conventional modes; for example Lady Gaga, Boy George and Madonna. However, there has also been debate over whether this is now having a detrimental effect on people’s perception of sex.

Music gives people the opportunity to explore different sexualities away from having a sexual partner; this is done through both the rhythmic and verbal context.  Popular music is mainly about giving and receiving love and affection, which has been a similar case for many years. However it has been a more recent development that actual physical sex has been a key concept in many songs. Examples of such songs are; ‘Bump ‘n Grind’ by R Kelly, ‘Birthday sex’ by Jeremih and ‘I want your sex’ by George Michael. Each of these songs were released after 1980.

Following John Friske's (1987) view that genres reflect popular opinions at that time (zeitgeist), the music industry reflects a developing view on sexuality. One aspect of this is as acceptance of homosexuality has developed, portrayal in music has increased too. For example, Macklemore's 'Same Love' song came about at the same time as same sex marriage was being debated in politics throughout many parts of the world. There is also an open acceptance of same sex couples being portrayed in music videos even if the song is not directly linked to homosexuality. For example, Ed Sheeran's 'Give me love' music video.

One disadvantage of the portrayal of sexuality in the music industry is that in certain cases it has been perceived as being too provocative for the target audience. This has at times resulted in the music video from being banned. An example of this is Bjorke's video for the song 'cocoon' that showed the artist singing naked, which was initially banned from YouTube. Also, a recent example of a music video that has caused outrage is Robin Thicke's unrated video for the song,'blurred lines' which has been seen to undermine women, portray them as sexual objects and reinforce sexist ideas. This video is now age restricted in YouTube and banned from being shown on music channels at certain times of the day.

In conclusion, the development of sexualisation in the music industry can be used in a positive way; to help people understand different sexualities, and to help people develop their own sexual identity. However, it can be taken too far and can be seen to include over sexualised content. This then leads to a problem with how to regulate the music industry to make it appropriate for the audience. Music industry regulation.

The Kooks - She moves in her own way.

We have finally decided on a song choice that we wish to use for out music video. The song is 'She moves in her own way' by Indie pop band, The Kooks. The members originate from Brighton and formed the band in 2004. They released the song in 2006 and it is still one of their most famous singles.

This is the song;

New group members.

Since coming back from the summer holiday we have decided to team up with another group, to mix our skills so we can hopefully make an even better music video.
I am now working with; Dominic Collins, Harry Jackson, and Misha Armstrong.

The History of the Music Video.

As part of my research I have made a Prezi Presentation on the history of the Music Video, and how it had changed and developed into being one of the most important aspects of music culture.

Here is a link to the presentation;   The History of the Music Video.

Evaluation

Overall evaluation for our preliminary music video - prezi presentation.
For our overall evaluation we created a prezi presentation (see link above). We answered 6 Questions which were;

• What our task was,
• What our intentions were,
• How production and post-production went,
• What we thought went well,
• What we could have improved on,
• What we have learnt from the process.

We also made a presentation for the quesitons;

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge foms and conventions of real media products?
• How effective if the combination of yourmain product and ancillary texts?

Practice Piece - finished

This is our final video.

Our magazine advert.

What we did well; There is synergy between this advert and the CD cover as we have used the same font and picture for both. We included important information including; where they can get the single form, when it is released and the record company that released it.

What we could have improved on; We could have made the bottom half look more professional by including some reviews from well known music magazines. The layout could also be improved the make sure there it looks neater.

 
 
 

This is our CD cover;

What we did well; It sticks to characteristics of the genre as it is focused on the the band. It is not too cluttered with photos or text and it is quite clear what song it is.

What we can improve on; We could make it slightly more interesting.

 
 
 
 

This is the inside of our CD insert.

This is the back of our CD insert.