Mood board

Mood board:

Effective Marketing by Tyrelle Thomas

Shot List

Shot List


Close ups- We use these shots to establish the artist and show her emotion throughout the music video.
Long shots- This is to show the different outfits used within the music video, by using longshots it helps us imply that she has performed for a long time and to show the different emotions the artist experiences throughout.
Mid shots- This is mainly used to show the artist singing (lip singing)
High angles- We have used high angle shots to show that in some point within the music video the artist has power, it can also help show that she likes control people
Low angles- This is specifically used when the artist is vulnerable or shows elements of innocence within the music video.
Birds eye view- This is used to show the world around the artist, there is no people around which helps show that she is imagining being followed and being wanted and this shot helps emphasise that.
point of view shot- This is simply to show the point of view of the artist and to see how she views the world.
Pan- I have used a pan to show the space and environment around the artist.

Casting videos

Here are the casting videos. The purpose of this was to find the best possible actor for the main role our music video. This was extremely important to us because the actor would have to learn the lyrics and follow quite a few instructions. We was looking for somebody who seemed quite confident and may have had some experience in filming before. After coming to a conclusion, my group and I picked Terek. Terek immediately showed extreme confidence through the way he spoke and his body language which was key aspects we was able to pick up on. To ensure Terek was suitbale for the part, we asked him to recite a few lines for our music video song. 

We was glad to see that all of the actors took this seriously as they arrived in formal wear. The reaons why I stated they should arrive in formal wear is to make them wonder what type of casting interview would have taken place, this would show me who is able to improvise when needed.

Evidence of filming

Here is some of the behind the scenes footage of us filming our music video. This filming took place on Wednesday 6th of September. This is the still shots, our artist is standing infront of a brick wall.

Animatic

Storyboard

This storyboard is to show you an overview of the type of locations I am going to use. The reason it is very brief is because I will be able use my animatic to show you how the transitions will be. There are mainly medium shots because my artist outfit is one of the most important aspects in my music video.

Music Video plan

Music video plan:

Proposal/Treatment

My group and I have come up with a proposal to explain why we have chosen Lil Wayne 'Drop The World'. My group member Terek has presented this using a voice over. Enjoy!

Final Task proposal

Lip-syncing evaluation

When it came to the one minute re-shoot, we wanted to be completely accurate, from location to similar looking artist, in addition, it was the best way to get more practice in with filming different angles and techniques as we had to be very consise and accurate. We were able to get almost perfect lip syncing and are able to learn from our mistakes, making sure that our final task is well mastered.

Our first aim was to think of an artist which was known for good locations and a lot of different angles for us to work with and replicate in the best way possible. Luckily, living in similar areas to the artist we used, we was able to get the exact same location which worked in our favour. We shot the video at a church in west dulwich, it was openly accessible to the public. Secondly, it also worked in our favour that the artist and I were very similar in appearance. We used a Canon 700D with different lenses for us to be able to fiddle with and fund out which would be the best to use for each scene, adjusting the zoom and finding the right depth of field. Furthermore, we was able to get very clean and clear shots which will lead to it being viewed by the audience and be impressed. As we were filming, we would keep watching the video to make sure that we was getting as close as possible with the shot type and angles. We would film each scene at least twice to make sure we didn't miss anything, also following the order of the video allowed to move on swiftly.
We uploaded the filming to Final Cut Pro, re-watching every scene we filmed and then picking the best to be in our re-shoot. we split the computer screen in two, watching the real music video as we go along to get each scene cut to the same amount of seconds, then the music was cut out and the real music video was put over it.

What improvements could be made?

 Camera: When watching the footage back, we was able to see that not all of our shots were in full focus and didnt have the full high-definition affect that we was hoping for. This was a slight problem because it made some of the shots look unprofessional. If we was using manual focus, i think some of the shots would have been clearer.

Lighting: The lighting from our shots was not as good but this was not our fault due to the fact that the weather on the day was not the same as the real music video. This was most noticable when we would film in different parts of the chruch, this was also another reason why some of the shots looked slightly amatuer. Fortunately, this is a learning curve and will not happen in our final task.

Editing: Some of the shots were not timed to the right seconds which lead to it being slightly longer than they should have been. When i edit my main music video. Secondly, we tried to alter the lighting on Final Cut Pro but this was not able to done as well as we had hoped.

Original video:

One minute reshoot

One minute reshoot:

Analysis of lighting

Music video analysis

The Notorious B.I.G - "Juicy"or

The Notorious B.I.G uses a wide range of different techniques to portray an emotional and extravagant living storyline through his music video and lyrics. Scenes of struggle and upset are used to show the ambition and determination, this is for the audience to understand what happening as it shows scenes of Biggie Smalls' past (Struggle) and present (living lavish). Close ups of Biggie's are used to show the emotion in his face and the type of hand movement used to exaggerate what he is saying. The editing is important as the shots go to and from scenes of 'the hood' and more of the violent area he used to live in and now the large mansion by the pool, celebrating success by having a party. It allows the audience to understand the Biggie as an artist and also have a visual representation of his lyrics. The camera angle that is used for the majority of this music video are from birds eye. Furthermore, it seems to be this angle when Biggie is talking about the hard parts of his life, to represent that he used to be looked down upon as someone who is an outlaw and not respected. However this changes and there are low angle scenes of Biggie Smalls in all white to portray his power. In addition, the connotations of white are more God like.

The mis en scene of this music video is extremely important in portraying the different lifestyle that Biggie used to live and went on to live. An example is the scene of him in prison wearing some type of prison shirt and then suddenly the scene will change to Biggie in all white in his mansion. The lighting is generally natural, bright or dark depending on the scenery itself. From the genre of this song being Rap, many of the conventions are seen. An example of this is seen on Biggie Smalls, his chain and clothing. In one of the scenes, he is wearing 'Sergio Tacchini' a brand that was quite popular and would have been seen by the audience and influenced the audience to purchase one themselves.

The lyrics are quite complimentary to the visuals as the audience are not only told but get a visual concept of what Biggie went through on his way to success. By doing this, it doesn't only help the audience know, it supports the audience in understand the amount of  hard work that was put in and also be able to relate some of the members of the audience. 

Music video analysis

Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You' is one of the played songs this year and as it is so recent, it is easy to analyse what techniques used for it to attract such a large target audience. First of all, Ed Sheeran as a well known artist is known for having such prominant songs that always have the right music video for it. His star iconography is to be quite different with the type of song he brings out, however, still remaining in the same type of guidelines as the song will be about a female. 

The storyline to his music videos are one thing that Ed Sheeran can definitely be recognised for as his main audience will know that they are usually things that ordinary people can do, allowing many members of his audience to be able to relate on a more personal level, an example of this is Ed Sheeran 'Thinking Out Loud'. The whole music video is based around a boxing gym that he and a girl go to. Eventually they become friends and start to get closer. The first half of the video is focused on the female character in the gym as lyrics are sung about her to show the audience that she is the other main character in this music video. In these first scenes she is wearing blue. the connotation of blue is power, she is wearing blue to show her independence and that she is a driven and powerful individual. As the video continues and the two of them start to get closer, they both seem to be wearing grey jumpers to show that they are on equal levels and the fact that she is not as independent as she was before. In addition at one stage Ed Sheeran was wearing blue boxing gloves, then she was wearing blue boxing gloves. This is to show the audience the exchange in power in their rekatuinship as they become one another's training partners.

Using this music video, Goodwin's theory of the relationship between lyrics and visuals. The whole video is complimentary to the lyrics. As the song is narrative, it is important for the lyrics and visuals to be complimentary because it allows the audience to follow along and stay completely intrigued with what is going on. In addition, the video is also amplification of the lyrics and meaning of the song, as it is titled 'Shape of You' and the main female character has a great physique. In addition there is also an example of relationship between music and visuals as Ed Sheeran is hitting the punching bag at the same time as the beat. When it comes to the editing of this video, all the scenes at the beginning are quite long winded and only cut so often. However, comparing this to near the end as Ed Sheeran was about to have his final fight, there was more jumpy shots and more movement from the camera to add to the tension of his fight. Finally, the genre of this music and music video is pop. 

Genres

When discussing music genres, it is a very similar concept as films as there is a large variety that can be suggested, also some that may display more than one genre. When an artist is known for a particular type of music, they will be known under that genre. This can also be represented in their music videos.

The pop genre is the most mainstream genre available to the world. It is usually quite fast paced and upbeat, focused on appealing to more of a younger audience. In pop music video's,  majority of the time there will be a dance routine that artist may sometimes be involved in or it may be just behind them. In addition, it is similar with pop bands, they may not have a dance routine but they will all have a certain clothing and look that is appealing to their target audience.

Rap and grime music has come far up the ranks over the many years. These types of videos are easily identifiable due to the substances and props used. Majority of their music videos contain attractive women (not wearing much clothes), alcohol consumption and drug abuse. The settings can differ from 'the streets' to luxurious locations such as high-end houses and apartments. The artist will be wearing the latest designer clothing, along with expensive jewellery. Grime begun as a very underground scene but has surfaced over the recent years.




 RnB and Hip-Hop music videos are much slower and have a more of an emotional reasoning behind them. Their music videos usually tend to be very narrative, explaining the lyrics as it goes on. When it is a female artist, generally go for a vulnerable look and is about being in love.


Rock and indie music video's are very similar in the instruments used, displaying a band and both the music types have a deeper meaning. The types of shots are usually close ups of the band at various locations. In many of their music videos, their is a large use of green screen. In addition, rock music videos may include parts from one of their festivals or performances.

Case Study

Case study:

Micheal Jackson, also known as the "King of Pop", will always be a strong iconic figure, and still is even after his tragic death in June 2009, in the music scene due to the amount of impact he made to music. Michael Jackson was a singer, dancer and songwriter that were known as the most selling music artist at the time of his death. His style in fashion, dance and music made him a global figure that was able to attain his status for over forty years. Michael was the 8th child out of nine children in the Jackson family. In 1964, him and his brothers formed a group with his older brothers and was officially a member of the 'Jackson 5', moving on from this a few years later, Michael became an independent artist with so much potential to become the greatest, the shoes he then went later on to fulfil.  The song that really changed the music world forever was Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. 'Thriller' was not only a hit that sold over 65 million copies worldwide, but concept portrayed in the video till this day is absolutely incredible, helping channels such as MTV becoming popular and supporting its rise to fame.


Jackson 5 - ABC
From one of Michael Jackson's earliest appearances, he already showed that he had more potential and stood out from the rest of his brothers, automatically starting got create his own star image. Michael Jackson's star image was his ability to sing and unique dancing, nobody had seen anyone like Michael which already separated him from everyone. During the Jackson 5, even being the youngest, Michael Jackson was already the lead singer.

 Michael Jackson - Thriller - 1982
One of his biggest solo songs. In 1982, Michael Jackson wrote 'Thriller', this turned into one of his most well known songs and became a song to show a clear portrayal of his star image becoming stronger and leading him to develop into the Micheal we all knew. Furthermore, the music video itself is another reason for Michael Jackson's uniqueness, in these times there had not been video similar to this. It almost came along as a movie to the audience. The part that was most appealing to the audience was the choreography performed, this really did push Michael Jackson's career.

 Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal - 1987
Secondly, another one of Michael Jackson's biggest solos is "Smooth Criminal". This also represented Michael's unique style of star image =. The setting being old gangsters was phenomenal and something that the audience would never see coming. Once again, the music video starts off similar to a film (long intro), in my opinion i believe Michael Jackson realised that his audience would expect a film type intro as it would immediately grabbed their attention. Furthermore, their is also many dance routines throughout with one main dance which led Michael Jackson to 'Defy gravity' with his almost 45 degree lean. The audience found this remarkable and also increased Micheal Jackson's star image as it seemed that all his music videos will catch them off guard. The ideology that is shown is the idea of being pure and dominant, this is connotations given off from Michael Jackson wearing a white suit.

 Michael Jackson - Black or White - 1991
Michael Jackson realised 'Black or White' in 1991. The theme of this song is purely based on the racism that continues to happen around the world and also a direct address to some of the racism that Michael Jackson had received during his career. Speaking on problems in the world was a turn in Michael Jackson's career, he was now getting older and his star image was also changing, whilst keeping the target audience he already had, he was able to increase it due to bringing a real issue that many countries face, to the surface.

 Michael Jackson - They don't really care about us - 1995
In 1995, Michael Jackson had produced 'They Don't Care About Us". This was another song discussing a real problem about the division in countries and different cultures. This was now the star image that Michael Jackson would be known for songs with meaningful topics.

To conclude Michael Jackson's career and rein as the 'King of Pop', it was clear from the early stages of his singing that he would become one of the greatest. At first his videos were almost completely simple but as he started to become more of a star and began to create his own star image, his music videos had much more detail and creativity. Successful examples of this are 'Thriller' and 'Smooth criminal' as these were some of the first music videos that contained a choreographed dance routine that the audience would remember forever. Even coming to the later stages of Michael's career, he still managed to maintain his popular style of clothing and music that his audience would still relate to. The reason Michael Jackson was such an icon to everyone was because he was so different and unique to all the other artist in his time.

Goodwin theories

Goodwin's theories:

When it comes to music videos's, Andrew Goodwin had come up with seven different key aspects and wrote a book called 'Dancing in the distraction factory' 1992 to state that all music video's have key elements, nonetheless, a music video will always have one feature, either being complimentary, contradicting or amplified.

Complimentary - Agrees/follows the conventions of the song

Contradicting - Going against the conventions

Amplified - Exaggerates a part of the music video

Some of the key aspects are

1. A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals displayed on screen. This is where the feature of the music video will either be complimentary, contradicting or amplified.
The first example i have is 'Firework' by Katy Perry
The lyrics of the song are amplified by the visuals and it adds further meaning to the song. It shows fireworks going off from inside of people to represent that everyone is worth something and it just has to be let out and all the people around will recognise how important you are. In addition the use of fireworks and the bright colours is exaggeration to highlight how important it is to realise your self worth.

Ed Sheeran is another example of an artist where many of his songs lyrics and video are complimentary with also some elements of it contradicting. In Ed Sheeran's 'Shape Of You', the majority of the scenes and actions of the video that go hand in hand with the lyrics and let the audience reflect on what is happening.

2. There is a relationship between music and visuals. This is more to do with the editing of the music 

video and how it can be directly in time with some of the music to give it more of a dramatic effect.
A prime example of this is 'Walks like Rhianna' by The Wanted. Not only is it complimentary but during the in sync dance and the lyrics "Our hearts go boom", there is a constant flash from the flood lights as the word "Boom" is said. This is to amplify the music and visuals of the video and for the audience to be more engaged.

3. Genre exists
 This is to do with genre and how certain music genres already exist. Goodwin theory stated that some artist chose specific props and costumes to fit into an already existing genre.
An example of this is rap music as a genre. Over the years, all rap videos consist of the same key features for it to stand out and for the audience to be able to clearly understand before even hearing the music that it is a rap video. This is called iconography. Iconography is the use of objects or costumes that are associated with a particular genre. Examples for rap would be
- Cars
- Expensive jewellery
- Drugs
- Alcohol
- Women (Video purposes)
Heavy Metal consist of:
- Dark clothing
- Long black hair
- Tattoos of skulls and other unusual things
- Piercings

4. Artist Close Ups
Several artist will have a large amount of close ups during their music video and this is seen as:
- Artistic Branding - As an artist, it is important for your face to be known to your audience.
- Celebrity culture
- Artistic portrayal
- Implications on looking good
An example of this 'Beautiful' by Eminem. The close ups in this music video are for Eminem to be seen in a different aspect and another side to him as an artist to his audience. As Eminem is already branded as a huge artist, i believe the close ups used in this music video was for artistic portrayal.




5. Star Iconography
This is similar to the concept of iconography that i mentioned early but this is based around a star artist having a signature part to their video, through their branding or style. There are two differetn types which can be considered. Change and evolving or showing similar features. Michael Jackson was very well known for being an artist that would evolve and change his style of music video through his career and because this is what he was known for, it wasn't a huge shock to the audience to see something different. From the best dance routines to stories to match the lyrics, it kept his audience enticed, waiting to see what he would bring out next. Here are to examples:
Although in both videos he is wearing a red leather jacket, it is clear to see the difference.

Michael Jackson:

Another style is having a similar style for your music videos. Some artist take this route as it is what their audience will recognise them for. An example of an artist is La Roux. She is well known for her crazy make up and songs with dark lighting and the fact that it is used in more than one video can portray that this is the style she felt most confident with and the style her target audience knew her for. Here are two examples:

La Roux:

6. Voyeurism, is something unusual for the audience to see and can range from explicity to the movement of the camera.

An example of voyeurism in a music video is 'Stay' by Rhianna. The reason this is unusual for the audience is the fact that Rhianna looks very vunerable and this is not the look she goes for so it was a huge change. In addition, there is parts of nudity as she is in a bath for the majority of the video. 

Another example of voyeurism is  'Rule The World' by Take That, as they have a frame within a frame. This keeps the audience interested as it is not used in many music videos and it is very obscure.

7. The last feature that Goodwin discussed is intertexuality. This is when a form of media contains other forms of media. This is seen the majority in music videos but is also used in films. An example of music videos is 'We Made You' by Eminem. During this video, Eminem refers to diifferent news and continues to mock it.

Different types of music video

The different types of music video:

Abstract:

An abstract music video's is create to give a certain feeling through the use of art. The majority of abstract music videos do not relate entirely to the audio, which is the reason abstract music videos are so unique as they have no story within it or little connection between the two, for example a fast paced song with unusual movement from the images or characters in the music video. An example of this is 'The lens' by Thee Oh Sees. The images during the video have such little connection, only the word "fly" from the song can be considered to have relation. This can cause the audience to become confused and puzzled as the whole video is animated and doesn't feature any real characters for the Thee Oh Sees to be recognised as, adding mystery to their character, leaving the audience to question the visuals. Another example of a artist who's music videos are confusing to the audience is Lady Gaga's.

The second example is narrative music videos. Narrative music videos are used to portray a very meaningful storyline that is directly related to lyrics of the song. This allows the audience to gradually have a better understanding of the song and usually are able to relate to the song. This makes the audience feel as if they can relate to the characters as be going through something similar or have dealt with the problem before. An example of this is in the song "Naïve" by The Kooks. This is a perfect example as he tells the story about a female that is naïve and the fact that she doesn't accept what she did and is quite denial. The visuals are used to explain this well as it clearly reflects the lyrics of the song.

r music video's are those that are usually very high in artistic performance, from the artist themselves, with a group of dancers or individually. The music video will include a range of different dance routines to really entice the audience and keep them engaged in the music video. They consist of a variety of fast paced shots and angles relating to the song. An example of this is 'Hung Up' by Madonna. Madonna uses a lot of unexpected dancers and different scenes to keep the audience watching, from her dancing in a studio to her dancing in an arcade surrounded by a crowd of people. Madonna's music videos were very similar around this period of time as she wanted to let her audience know that she was changing as an artist and her video's became more extravagant and a different Madonna.

As much as these three are different types of music videos, they are all intertwined because the main focus is how the song writer wants to grab the attention of the audience using a range of techniques (either imaginative or relatable). The majority of music video's are based around preformative and narrative genre and aim to be emotional and convey feelings towards someone or something meaningful that the audience will also feel passionate about. All three types aim to engage their audience but they vary in the style, one may use ordinary images whereas the other will use a structured story full of romance to construct their storyline. This is usually for the artist recognition to rise dramatically as visuals can make an mediocre song, amazing.

Introduction

Welcome,

Hello my name is Tyrelle and this is my A2 Media coursework blog. I am working in a group of 3 and we will be making a music video based of ab existing song and a song of our choice. To ensure that this music video will appeal and entice our target audience, we will be using a range of camera angles, shots and locations, making it as interesting as possible and keeping the shots clean and professional. This blog is to capture every moment from pre to post production. The knowledge i gain and research will be shown over the year.