Shooting My Animation

To shoot my animation shots I decided to use a still camera as I thought this would be the easiest to create the effect I want. I tried several tehniques including placing the alphabet magnets on a sheet of white paper and simply using a fridge for my bakground. I found the fridge worked better as it was easier to sort the lighting. However I did struggle with the camera as I found it hard to create non-blurry pictures. Below are some examples:

On white paper background:

 On white fridge background:

Although the colours are better on the fridge versions, I think I will re shoot them as they are very blurry so would perhaps be able to create clearer images using a different camera.

Costumes

After studying several music videos within my chosen genre, I found that abstract styles were present in most cases. For my music video I plan to reflect these conventions and the clothing worn by the actors within my piece must also reflect this. I have chosen several outfits that I feel fit the conventions of my Indie-pop music video. Below are examples of the types of outfits I will use within my video:

Mens:

Womens

Risk Assesment

Health and Safety

After designing my storyboard and choosing where to shoot my video, I had to consider health and safety regulations. As my filming took place in only one location against a blank background and did not consist of any potentially dangerous activities, my health and safety considerations were fairly minimum. I first checked for any hazards in the area I was working in. as it was indoors I only had to move a few wires and a chair to ensure the space was clear and there was nothing to trip over. The risk of harm whilst filming, I found, was low and I did not face any problems when I did film as the only possible hazard was the tripod and I was careful to keep it out of the way as much as possible and ensured I was careful when moving around it. As there were no changes to equipment I did not have to revise my risk assessment and continued to film in a safe environment.

Filming Schedule

I have created the following filming schedule to help me plan when and where I will film. I have split my filming into two main sections; my animation and all other filming. My animation will be filmed with a still camera and will involve still images being taken in a sequence. All other filming will be done on a video camera in various locations. I have also listed the props I will need to get to ensure that my filming looks authentic and follows the conventions outlined previuosly for the indie genre.

Animation: Done on still camera.

            Props: Alphabet letters

                        Sheep picture

                        Clock image

                        Watch Picture

                        Globe Image

                        Eye Picture

                        Brain Picture

                        Maid Picture

                        “thing” Picture

                        “4” Image

                        Arrow Picture

            Started:

            Completed:

Other Filming: Done on video camera

            Props: Cardboard “U”

                        Cardboard “A”

                        Cardboard heart

                        Dressing Table            

                        Mirror

                        Smart/casual Mens Shirt and trousers

                        Womens dress

                        Clutch Bag

                        Keyboard

                        Fur coat

                        Decoration for “party” backdrop

            Inside, against cream backdrop:

 “Party” scenes Frames:

 1

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14

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28

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                        Street scenes. Frames: 8

                                                            9

                                                            10

                                                            11       

                                                            12

                                                            13

                                                            124

                                   

Dressing Room scenes. Frames: 5

                                                6

                                                7

Started:

            Completed:

Storyboard

I have now completed my storyboard, I will use this to plan my filming schedule and what props I will need to attain.

Music Video Ideas

Poll Results

I created a poll to find out the preferences of my target audience; after I had a reasonable amount of responses I added up the results and will now analyse what my target audience want to see in my video. I asked 5 males and 5 females to ensure that there was no gender bias within my results and all of the people I asked were within my target audience age of 16-19.  This ensures that all data collected is valid and will have a significant view on the opinions of my target audience.

What is the most important part of a music video?

For this question, the majority answer was Narrative fits with lyrics. This has been useful in providing me with an insight into the style of video my target audience will want to see. I will now make sure that when creating my storyboard I will have a narrative that runs parallel with the meaning of the lyrics.

What types of music do you prefer?

The most popular responses for this question were Performance and Abstract. I will therefore try and create a music video that is quite edgy and, whilst keeping elements of performance, also has another element to it, for example animation.

I will now go on to create my storyboard. I will first brainstorm initial ideas based on the points raised in my poll then use these to create a storyboard within the Indie-pop genre that has both elements of performance and animation.

Music Lyrics Analysis

From my lyrics, I can tell that the song is upbeat with a positive vibe to it. The lyrics are quite simple and easy to understand and are repeated frequently throughout the song. The frequently repeated lyrics mean that it will be possible for me to repeat scenes within my video, helping me fill in the time. However, due to the quick tempo and upbeat lyrics, I will need to use quick, snappy editing meaning that I will need quite a few ideas to create the different scenes. I will now go on to storyboard my ideas and create first drafts of my video.

Kasabian: Fire Music Video Analysis

The music video represents the band as robbers. The institution is Sony BMG and is one of the ‘big four’ therefore wants to appeal to a mainstream audience whilst also keeping within the genre of the music, thus creating a video that is accessible, relatable yet also a little quirky. The ideology suggests that the band are carefree and rebellious libertines; creating audience satisfaction as they watch their fearless Protagonists on their adrenalin filled mission. It is a surreal representation that tells a story set in old America in a western style. The situation is set up in a band robbery style with the band members playing the robbers.

The denotative levels of meaning within the video suggest that Kasabian are rebellious and like to break the rules. On connotative level, this breaking of the rules could be seen as a reference to the music industry; Kasabian could be seen as protagonists against the antagonists of the music business, stealing back their music from an industry that is trying to create throwaway pop music with no real meaning. When the band robs the bank it is revealed that they have not stolen money but music lyrics. This is joined by the replacement of guns with guitars, connoting that music is the bands life. The bank the band rob is called “West Ryder” union; which is a clear intertextual reference to their album the song is from “West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum”. The non verbal meanings within the piece show how music is their money by replacing money with music sheets. The significance of this mis en scene shows that the industry is trying to stop them producing their music as it’s not popular culture. The dominant iconography within the video is the presence of music, which is what it all links back to.

The narrative is set in chronological order, it tells a story which the audience views through in a voyeuristic manner. The heroes and villains are unclear, although it would be commonly viewed that the robber are the bad guys, Kasabian do it in such a way that we almost reach the presumption that they are taking back what is rightly fully theirs as there is no forced violence or hostility and are simply fighting against the institution.

The genre is Indie with the conventions being unconventional towards the mainstream, narcissistic style of pop videos and having a more abstract style to them. In order to keep within the verisimilitude of the video, the band are wearing old fashioned, cowboy style outfits with handkerchiefs covering their faces and the whole video has a slight yellow tinge to it as if it is aged.

The media institutional source for the video is Sony Music. Although Kasabian come across as an alternative rock band, there are certain aspects of them that make the m more accessable than some other bands as, because they belong to a large record company, they have to be slightly more mainstream as Sony Music needs them to sell plenty of records. The video is distributed online through Youtube, their website and Itunes, this is a cheaper way of production and also offers the chance of advertising through other organisations and companies.

The target audience for the video are generally a younger audience, as Kasabian fans tend to be; however there is also an appeal to an older audience who enjoy rock music. They are likely to view the video on Youtube, offering the Sony Music a perfect opportunity to market their goods as they can suggest songs of theirs to listen to if the audience likes Kasabian. 

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros Music Video Analysis

The music video represents the band as free and happy. It shows them enjoying a liberal lifestyle, running around in the countryside in what seems to be summer weather. The band is represented by Rough Trade; who are known to be a more laid back, fun loving record label. The video aims to show an alternative band having fun in a carefree situation.  It is a self-representation of the band as they want to appear to have a happy, exciting lifestyle which is reflected within the video. The actual clips that make up the video are real clips of the bands progression and are the bands favourite memories from the pas t few years.

The denotative levels of the video show the video running parallel with the lyrics. The main chorus phrase of “Home is wherever I’m with you” reflects the clips of the band together as friends who are travelling through different locations, however always seem to be enjoying themselves as they are all together and do not need buildings to cement where there “home” is. The connotative meanings of the text are shown through the nonverbal meanings. The band constantly look like they are having a good time throughout the video by the way they are skipping around and holding hands playfully. The setting also supports this jovial theme as the several different locations are always shown in a summery season. Verbal undertones such as the whistling also denote happiness and an outdoors lifestyle. Visual techniques like the old fashioned film camera effect create a feeling of nostalgia.

The narrative doesn’t run in chronological order and has no particular storyline to it. However all of the scenes show no sign of performance to an audience until the last clips which are of the band performing. Suggesting that there is a slight storyline to the video with the band beginning with a journey and ending up at the performance. Although the narrative of the video is questionable, it does stay within the realms of verisimilitude as the video keeps within its genre. Although the video mainly uses voyeurism in which the band are unaware of their being watched; it does have elements of narcissism when they are aware of the camera and play up to the fact they are being filmed. There are no distinguishable protagonists/antagonists in the video as there is no fight for good or bad. However the low angles of the band do suggest superiority, and make the band the centre of attention in the video.  The muffled style of the vocals on the video add to the effect of nostalgia and give the video a “vintage” feel which is a major convention of this style of video. The ideology of the video portrays a feeling of “summer love” in which the scenery is beautiful and everyone is joyful and loved up.

The genre of the video is alternative, however can also be described as indie rock. The band use ‘folky’ instruments to create this vibe such as acoustic guitars and the addition of people whistling. The upbeat tunes and meaningful lyrics are all conventions of this genre and allow the audience to recognise and relate to the artist and their lyrics. The nostalgic image is also carried through in the bands clothing. Their style is extremely vintage and can be associated with a ‘hippy’ lifestyle. There are no fictional characters within the video, and all the people seen are the members of the band. This is another convention of this video type as the artists want to convey the style of the band and not put on a front. The video conforms to the characteristics of the genre with it’s nostalgic style and portrayal of the band. However, this almost goes against the conventions of the indie style as this would suggest doing something that isn’t the norm and doesn’t conform to a stereotype.

The institution representing the band is Rough Trade. Rough Trade are well known for their production of ‘indie’ music. They treat the artists with respect and only associate with real musicians who write their own music. The video was distributed on YouTube and the bands website as, although they’re a commercial institution, the funds for the band are relatively low due to their genre not being popular in the mainstream.

Just like the original music videos that aimed to give the audience a sneak peak into their favourite artists life, the music video appeals to the audience by showing clips of the band. The video suggests that the audience will be fun loving individuals who like the idea of a carefree lifestyle and can use the video as an idyllic situation they can aspire to. I think that the video is a good reflection of the style and character of the band and their music. It is possible to create such videos on a low budget which is beneficial for smaller bands who need to promote themselves but can rarely afford to. The idea of the clips being the bands favourite memories from the past few years only adds to the sincerity of the video and denotes the lyrics of the song perfectly.

Julian Casablancas: 11th Dimension Music Analysis

Julian is represented in several different situations that run parallel to the lyrics, although in all of them he plays himself as a performer. He in turn represents the lyrics through his actions and uses his role to illustrate the key points of the key points of the song. The song and video fit in with a moral ideology with references to forgiveness: “forgive them even if they are not sorry” and war. This provides a great opportunity for Casablancas to represent himself as a man of morals as he wrote the song, suggesting that it is embedded with his beliefs and feelings.

The video has several denotative levels of meaning. These are shown in the three morals that are addressed within the piece, represented by the three levels of the building that creates the establishing shot of the video. Julian is faced with three situations in which he acts within the boundaries of the three morals that we are shown after every scene. The situation we see involves Julian as an actor, who makes it as a famous actor, and still his manager pays him a tiny amount even though we are shown how much money was made. However, instead of becoming angry at him, he simply turns away, showing his disappointment in the man’s behaviour. This then prompts a clip of Julian writing on a wall the phrase “anger is weakness, patience is strength”. He is then shown running up the stairs, representing his travel to the next scene and situation. On the next “floor” Julian is shown to be a singer in a club, and goes over to greet his friend who is stood with whom we assume to be his girlfriend. He greets them both, but when his friend is looking the other way, the girl mouths “call me” at him. Julian’s response is to shake his head at the girl and start conversation with his friend. This is then followed by another clip of Julian, this time writing “sin is honouring desire above what you know is right”. The final scene is set in a recording studio, and deals with another situation that requires a great moral decision. A man bangs on the door and it is made clear that he is being attacked by three other men. At first he ignores the scene, but after a while he goes out to help the man. This creates a basis for the final phrase of “every positive action has a reward”.

The connotative levels of meaning within the piece are represented by the building itself. It could be seen as a metaphor for the different levels of moral wellbeing Julian faces within the piece. The three different coloured floors could be representative of the three issues Julian faces with the white, neutral coloured top level connoting a feeling of wellbeing and wholeness. Between the different scenes we are shown clips of Julian on a black, techno background that seems to be an empty space. Stood next to him is a mannequin. This could be seen to represent Julian’s conscience and the mannequin is his body; connoting an ideology that it is his conscience that is making the decisions in each situation as when the problems arises in each situation, it freezes and we are shown the clip of Julian and the mannequin. Another explanation for the different levels could be that Julian is in limbo, and we are looking over the situations from his past and how he dealt with them. This would explain why the last level he visits has a white light and we do not actually see what happens there, as this could represent heaven.

Throughout the piece, there is a general dark and dirty theme with the lighting being dim and the locations look used and neglected. This contrast against the end of the piece when Julian is shown to be running towards a higher level that has a white light and connotations of purity. By repeating the phrase “forgive them, even if they are not sorry” throughout the song, this suggests that Julian has lived by this phrase and this is shown in the situations within the video. It could be viewed that Julian is suggesting that by living by this phrase, you will make the right decisions in life and go to heaven.

The audience views the narrative as a story. The video conveys elements of voyeurism as the characters are not aware that we are watching them within the scenes. However, this element is contained within the three “morals” as Julian presents the chorus to us within his character whilst looking directly at the screen as if he was performing to an audience. It is hard to distinguish the heroes and villains within the piece. Although it is made clear that Julian plays a protagonist role, the only clear antagonistic roles are played by the men who attack the man in the last situation shown. The other characters, although having slightly different wishes to what may be viewed as right, simply add to the scene and are not used to make Julian look like a “hero”.

The video belongs to the alternative, abstract genre as it has no surface meaning as a video. It shows elements of the abstract genre through its alien setting and the design of the clothing and props used which have a surreal, techno theme to them. The genre is supported by the artist himself, as he is often related to alternative music and more abstract videos.

The text has been mainly distributed by its institution over the internet on video sites such as YouTube and not produced in DVD format as the target audience is not large enough for them to make a profit on such a large scale of production. The source is a commercial institution so the text doesn’t try and please or persuade anyone, it can be as controversial and eclectic as it wants as it is expressing itself in a form of art rather than commercialism.

The audience the text is aimed at is those who are interested in alternative/indie music. They may have sourced the artist from his involvement in the better known band The Strokes who are also involved in the indie/alternative scene. As an audience member myself, I see the text as an interesting metaphor for the journey through life and the problems we face. I like the way it shows different situations and how we should deal with them by representing them with moral codes.

History of Music Videos

Music videos have been used throughout history to promote artists and their music. Music videos were primarily the artists playing characters in a narrative film. They allowed labels to create a certain image for an artist and were used as a form of publicising the artist as no one had TV’s and it wasn’t always possible for large pop stars with a huge fan base to travel to all of their fans. Therefore the creation of films meant that fans had access to see their favourite artists performing on a budget that they could afford. However, over time the focus moved away from the artist and lyrical content and more onto the narrative form.

The earliest music videos began in the Sixties when music entertainment became an industry. D A Pennabaker created a documentary of Bob Dylan and chose to open the documentary with a short film. The film was a simplistic, single shot video with no sound as films like this had never been done before. The video was in black and white and showed Dylan holding flashcards of key phrases from the song to draw attention to the lyrics. This kind of music was different from the norm as; not only did the artists write their own lyrics, the focus was on the song and not the artist.

From then on, artists began to use films as a way of identifying with their audience as not everyone would be able to see them live/on TV so by creating music videos their audience could see the artists they loved so much, performing their favourite songs.

In 1964, the Beatles released “A Hard Day’s Night”, a film in which the Beatles played themselves and tried to show what it was like to be the Beatles. This technique was new as, not only did the Beatles use the documentary style rather than characters in a narrative; the video also used a variety of different shots, camera angles and the band are miming their own lyrics ready to add the vocals over later. By 1965, the Beatles had produced another film, this time in colour. More techniques were used to make the video more entertaining, close ups, camera angles and a lack of continuity editing were all used to help create a fun loving image for the band. However, by 1967, the Beatles imaged had changed again. They were no longer performing and had started taking drugs. The result of this was the video for “I Am the Walrus” which had veered away from the traditional, wholesome style of the Beatles and towards a more surreal, colourful style. This helped the Beatles create a wider fan base as they opened up to a whole new target market.

By 1972, video production had developed to new levels; artists had now started using music videos separate from documentaries and films to promote their music. David Bowies Space Oddity video used animation special effects to reflect the futuristic vibe of his lyrics. However, his video had receded back to the boring, performance style, even though this now included more advance techniques of filming such as close ups and cantered angles. In 1976, Queen released Bohemian Rhapsody, which was considered to be one of the first music videos. By now music videos had become a crucial part of the music industry; Queen spent around £8000 on their Bohemian Rhapsody video, using lighting, staging, dry ice and props in a video that was just as important as the song itself.

With the importance of the music video on the up rise, a new style of performance was introduced. Artists such as Wham and Duran Duran explored a narcissistic performance with a voyeuristic style. Videos like “Club Tropicana” gave an insight into an aspirational lifestyle which the audience were allowed a sneak peak into. By this stage the video was now becoming more important than the song in terms of a selling technique.

As music videos drew into the new millennium, artists were starting to experiment with more abstract forms of performance. Acts such as R.E.M and Radiohead produced videos that were less obvious than the ones before them, using more symbolic references rather than a sterile, mainstream dance performance. For example, Beautiful South’s video for Song For Whoever used an abstract performance style with several hidden messages and references. Through their video they suggested that anyone could be a pop star and slated the idea of pop music without directly saying anything. They used a blancmange in sunglasses as their singer to signify the superficial identity of a pop star.  Similarly, R.E.M used religious ideology in their video for “losing my religion”, unlike several other abstract pieces, R.E.M used the narrative to represent the lyrics; the religious iconography and visual symbolism were all clear signs of how the importance of video had evolved. 

Nowadays, music videos tend to reflect the style of music they represent. Mainstream artists will still go for the original, narcissistic performance style of video, whilst alternative/niche artists are much more likely to produce low budget, abstract pieces. Bands like Warpaint display this through their videos. The band aren't very well known by a mainstream audience, and this is reflected in their work. Their videos, although experimenting with elements of voyeurism, tend to be abstract and show no surface connections to the songs lyrics.

Although Warpaint are a good example of Indie music nowadays; there is a less obvious dominant style with a lot of styles of music having there own music chanels and magazines, and also their own debuts in the charts. Styles such as Rock and Country which where once styles which only the very select few new about and enjoyed; have placed their mark on the music industry through performers such as Blink 182 and Mumford and Sons respectively. Music has developed at an astronomical level over the past 100 years, veering away from the original performance style of videos that gave audiences an insight into their favourite artists life towards a storytelling fashion that reflects the styles and values of the song and band rather than the actual person themselves.

Audience Poll

I am producing a promotional music video for Metronomy and I need to establish the demographic and psychographic profile of my audience. To do this I have created several polls to help me decide what style of video would be most successful with my target audience. I have asked both demographic and psychographic  based questions to help analyse the preferences of my audience. I will now as around 20 people to participate in my poll; I will choose these people through Facebook on what it says there music preference is, I am looking for people who are into indie/alternative music. Once enough people have completed my poll I will then go onto analyse the results of my poll which will allow me to make final decisions about the style of my music video.

Coursework Brief

A promotion package for the release of an album, including a music promo video, a website homepage for the band and an advertisement for the release of the bands Digipak.