Research for CD Digipack
I have studied various CD front covers, from different music genres. The music band I’m promoting is a girl pop group, however, I think it is important to research CD front covers from other genres, so that I can make a firmer conclusion to what I want my CD front cover to look like.
I looked at 2 RnB CD front covers, one a male singer and one a female. The male artist was new to the music industry and Rihanna – the female RnB singer is well established. I found differences between the CD front covers, Rihanna, being a well established artist didn’t include her name on the front cover, only a image of her. This is because everyone knows who Rihanna is and what she looks like, on the other hand, Iyaz, a new and upcoming RnB singer isn’t as well established as Rihanna and therefore on the CD front cover had both an image of Iyaz and his name in a large font. I think that because the band I am promoting is new to the music industry, I will need to include both an image of the band and the name of the band in a large font.
I looked at two “pop” bands, one an all girl group (The Saturdays) and one a boy band (JLS). I found mostly similarities in the layout of the front covers. Both included; the title of the song, the name of the band, and an image of the group. Both groups are reasonably well established, so it seems that unless the band or artist is very well established then it is essential to include the song title, the band/artist name and image of the band/artist.
Alternatively, for other ideas, I evaluated a CD front cover by Dance DJ Sidney Samson. I found that this CD cover differed from the others very much so, as there was no image of the artist on the front cover. The colours were extremely full on and jazzy, which looked very different from the other CD covers. Because there was no image, the text which included the artists name and the song title overpowered the CD, the
I then looked at a Rock bands CD front cover, Kasabian and CD single underdog. This CD cover is very empty, and consists only of the bands name and the song title. Reasons for the simplicity may be because the message that the music sends is strong enough on its own?
From evaluating these front covers, I have found a common trend that most CD’s will include; an image of the band/artist, the name of the band/artist and the title of the single. The Dance and Rock genres consisted of only two of these three similarities. I think that from this, my CD front cover shall consist of the traditional layout of an image of the band, the name of the band and the title of the single. I think that colour is also important, as the Dance genre CD included lots of bright colours, whereas the Rock genre included a darker serene colour. I think that looking at these covers, the message that my Band are saying in the single is very serious and therefore bright colours will be out of the question.
I have also looked at two back covers of albums by Rihanna, and Girls Aloud. I have chosen these two artists because I know that I am promoting a girl group and will therefore and these artists will be marketed to a similar audience. I found that both back covers for these albums consisted of the track listing, a bar code, reference to the record label and production team, along with an image of the band or artist. For Rihanna, a single image of her face – close up, and for Girls Aloud, their was a silhouette of all the members. I think that the reasons for using a full body shot of the band emphasises the group as a whole, and the close up of Rihanna tries to put forward the idea that the album is all her, and her thoughts, beliefs and values. I think that as I am using a girl group, I will go for a similar idea to the Girls Aloud silhouette image – however, may have a close up image of the lead singer of the band – Becca. However, while on PhotoShop I will see if both images are “too much” together.
Friday, 26 March 2010
Digipack Research - CD Front Cover
Below is some research of CD covers from a range of contemporary recording artists and bands;
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Digipack Ideas
Above is an E-mail to Cancer Research, asking for copyright of their logo - throghout the whole project.Digipack Ideas
Brainstorm for The whole CD digipack
Below is a mind map of all I should have included on my CD front, and Back cover.
Below is a mind map of all I should have included on my CD front, and Back cover.
Planning for Digipack
CD Front Cover
As part of a promotion for a new music Band, I have already created a music video for a song – and will now make a CD front cover as part of the promo pack. The band I am promoting is “Beca et al”.
I will look at what contemporary artists have done on their CD front covers, take my own images of the band, and then do some composition planning on several of my own ideas, using Photoshop. I will then choose a composition I am satisfied with, and then develop it further.
As part of a promotion for a new music Band, I have already created a music video for a song – and will now make a CD front cover as part of the promo pack. The band I am promoting is “Beca et al”.
I will look at what contemporary artists have done on their CD front covers, take my own images of the band, and then do some composition planning on several of my own ideas, using Photoshop. I will then choose a composition I am satisfied with, and then develop it further.
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Research on Music Video's by Kelly Clarkson
Research on Music Videos by singer and songwriter Kelly Clarkson
As I have decided to use a song sung and written by Kelly Clarkson, I have decided to carry out some extended research on music videos from Kelly Clarkson. This is because there may be some influence from the videos in how she is represented by the different camera angles used, colours and image via the Mise en Scene and how the video has been edited.
First I have looked at Kelly Clarkson’s music video for “My life would suck without you”. The music video in general is very upbeat – a contrast to the song I have chosen. There is an obvious and clear narrative to the music video, which shows a young couple – with the story being that their lives would suck without each other. Therefore, I intend for my music video for the song “Save You” to include a clear narrative, which benefits the audience. This is because they can clearly identify what the story is about and make personal links to the song and video.
Secondly I have looked at the Music Video, “Because of You”, which again follows a similar pattern of structure to “My life would suck without you”. Again, it follows a clear narrative – employing a range of different camera angles, however, there is a limited scenery involved in the music video. This is purposeful, however, for my music video I would rather include a variety of scenery as audiences will be more inclined to watch for longer – rather than getting bored.
In conclusion, from researching briefly into these two videos, I have found that videos by Kelly Clarkson often involve a clear narrative, and interesting camera angles and distances. From this research, I am very much inclined for my music video to focus on a strong and clear narrative.
As I have decided to use a song sung and written by Kelly Clarkson, I have decided to carry out some extended research on music videos from Kelly Clarkson. This is because there may be some influence from the videos in how she is represented by the different camera angles used, colours and image via the Mise en Scene and how the video has been edited.
First I have looked at Kelly Clarkson’s music video for “My life would suck without you”. The music video in general is very upbeat – a contrast to the song I have chosen. There is an obvious and clear narrative to the music video, which shows a young couple – with the story being that their lives would suck without each other. Therefore, I intend for my music video for the song “Save You” to include a clear narrative, which benefits the audience. This is because they can clearly identify what the story is about and make personal links to the song and video.
Secondly I have looked at the Music Video, “Because of You”, which again follows a similar pattern of structure to “My life would suck without you”. Again, it follows a clear narrative – employing a range of different camera angles, however, there is a limited scenery involved in the music video. This is purposeful, however, for my music video I would rather include a variety of scenery as audiences will be more inclined to watch for longer – rather than getting bored.
In conclusion, from researching briefly into these two videos, I have found that videos by Kelly Clarkson often involve a clear narrative, and interesting camera angles and distances. From this research, I am very much inclined for my music video to focus on a strong and clear narrative.
Planning
Below is how I inteded to plan my time, in order to produce a Music Video for the deadline December 13th. I intend to have this printed out in my Media folder, and cross out each line after i completed the task. 
Friday, 12 March 2010
Consent Forms
Consent forms for Under 16’s
I designed a permission form for parents of children under the age of 16. Below is a completed example;
I designed a permission form for parents of children under the age of 16. Below is a completed example;
Risk Assessment
Risk Assessment
I thought it best to create a risk assessment before I began filming, as it would be awful if anything went wrong when filming. Below are some risks, that I then assessed;
I thought it best to create a risk assessment before I began filming, as it would be awful if anything went wrong when filming. Below are some risks, that I then assessed;
Planning the Shoots for my Music Video
Planning my shoots
Before I begin filming, I must decide what I am exactly doing and what I exactly need, so I’m not messing my actors and helpers about.
It is planned that the shoots for the music video will span across 2 weeks. This is because there are many scenes involved and take time to set up costumes and props. Also, I had a meeting with the actors and singers and decided to make a day of the activities such as bowling, the cinema and shopping scenes. I have collected some proposed dates for shooting the scenes, according to the free lessons I have in school and also the free lessons of my participants.
Before I begin filming, I must decide what I am exactly doing and what I exactly need, so I’m not messing my actors and helpers about.
I have created a list in excel of all the scenes I am filming, and what props, costumes, actors and camera shots I need. Therefore when I go shopping I can buy all the props and costumes, and can practice the camera shots before the filming day.
It is planned that the shoots for the music video will span across 2 weeks. This is because there are many scenes involved and take time to set up costumes and props. Also, I had a meeting with the actors and singers and decided to make a day of the activities such as bowling, the cinema and shopping scenes. I have collected some proposed dates for shooting the scenes, according to the free lessons I have in school and also the free lessons of my participants.
Planning using an Anamatic
Anamatic
Below is an Anamatic I produced, to roughly show what I intent each scene to show;
As it is unclear what the writing on each image says, then i have inserted each scene from the publisher file they came from. It just says why i have chosen to put each scene into the video.
Below is an Anamatic I produced, to roughly show what I intent each scene to show;
As it is unclear what the writing on each image says, then i have inserted each scene from the publisher file they came from. It just says why i have chosen to put each scene into the video.
Final Plan
Final Plan
I have therefore decided that I am going to create a music video about cancer. I think I will target a younger audience because that is the principal audience for music videos. With all the hype in the media about Cervical Cancer, I think it is important to create a music video which can reflect on contemporary society.
I am promoting an album of a new girl band. Their image will be like contemporary girl bands but their messages are much more meaningful and reputable; the content of the songs will be of “real” issues, such as poverty, racism and illness. The debut single of the album will focus on illness and the effects of cancer on a young person. I have been influenced by Pink’s video for “I don’t believe you” as she as a bride had everything taken away when her bridegroom ditched her on her wedding day.
The girl band will be the actors and singers. I will use a separate actress, one of which isn’t in the music video so that the girl band can narrate the story. The beginning of the video will include the girl band/actors around the cancer victim’s grave. The actress I am using for this is a friend called “Lucy”; I will call her Lucy rather than “the cancer victim”. Then the story of Lucy’s life is narrated as flashback of the “good times”. The flashback scenes include; school life, bowling, the cinema, shopping and other contemporary issues of a 17/18 year old girl. The tempo of the video will change about two thirds through when it is narrated what happened during the time “Lucy” had cancer and how she used her time left.
I have therefore decided that I am going to create a music video about cancer. I think I will target a younger audience because that is the principal audience for music videos. With all the hype in the media about Cervical Cancer, I think it is important to create a music video which can reflect on contemporary society.
I am promoting an album of a new girl band. Their image will be like contemporary girl bands but their messages are much more meaningful and reputable; the content of the songs will be of “real” issues, such as poverty, racism and illness. The debut single of the album will focus on illness and the effects of cancer on a young person. I have been influenced by Pink’s video for “I don’t believe you” as she as a bride had everything taken away when her bridegroom ditched her on her wedding day.
The girl band will be the actors and singers. I will use a separate actress, one of which isn’t in the music video so that the girl band can narrate the story. The beginning of the video will include the girl band/actors around the cancer victim’s grave. The actress I am using for this is a friend called “Lucy”; I will call her Lucy rather than “the cancer victim”. Then the story of Lucy’s life is narrated as flashback of the “good times”. The flashback scenes include; school life, bowling, the cinema, shopping and other contemporary issues of a 17/18 year old girl. The tempo of the video will change about two thirds through when it is narrated what happened during the time “Lucy” had cancer and how she used her time left.
Planning the Music Video by Researching Contemporary Music Video's
Music Video – The Content of Scenes
Studio Singing
I have decided that all the singing for my video will be done in a studio. This is because I want the song to be a narrative of a story which I will need actors to portray. I have found songs that use this same technique that there is more emphasis on close up shots and special effects like smoke machines, balloons and candles. I have also found that there is less movement in slow songs that use a studio, such as the video for Alexandra Burke – Hallelujah, who restricts her movement to her hands and head. However, the more lively songs that use a studio involve lots of; jumping around, dancers, balloons and colour, such as the video for MIKA – Love Today. I think that because the theme of the song I am using is quite serious and slow, it is probably more sensible to create a peaceful scene with barely any movement and focus on the lyrics of the song.
The props I have found other artists have used in their videos include; candles, smoke machines, air fans and a huge importance on the use of lighting.
Costumes of the singers in the songs that are of a slow nature are mostly quite classy. The women seem to be wearing luxury dresses and lots of jewelry, and the men look very slick in smart suits, like Robbie Williams in the “Millennium” video.
The shots of these slower natured songs in the studio scenes are more likely to include more close up shots on the singers face, the instruments being played at key times and high and low angle shots of the band together. I have found that the music videos that do use a simple mid-shot for the studio scene are very short as this would bore viewers; the majority of the slow songs still use a variety of shots to maintain interest.
Flashback scenes
There are a range of flashbacks the video could go to, however for the research I am looking very generally at all areas before I can begin to narrow my research to fit the scenes I have chosen to do. I have looked at
I want the flashbacks to tell a story of the cancer victim’s life at school. I feel as though it would be too broad to include parents, siblings, pets and home life in one short video. Also it is difficult for me to get video footage of the cancer victim’s life at home pre-school because I cannot go back in time! I have looked at the layout for Alicia Keys video for “No One” and found that most of the time in the video is spent on her singing, I stop watched the video and found that 2:34 seconds of it was taken up by her singing alone and the other 58 seconds were of acting or close ups of the piano. This shows that the “Divas” that sing the high ballad songs seem to have more camera work on their singing than of the message or the acting that represents the song. I think that it is important to have a narrative to go along with the song because I feel as though viewers need to maintain interesting throughout the video otherwise they will simply turn it off, therefore I have come to the conclusion that most of the video’s time proportions will be of the acting and only a ¼ will be of singers in the studio. I have found that interesting and different camera work is important when filming because this is a method of retaining the viewer’s interest.
The image of my band is a traditional girl group, but with a special meaning and don’t sing about traditional issues like boys, make-up and shoes. I want the girls to be a good role model for all youngsters, they will wear sensible clothing so that the boys see them as individuals and not sex objects like many young girls are portrayed nowadays in music videos.
Theme
I have looked at music videos from a range of themes and can honestly rule out now the rock and drum and base genres. I found that they were very niche in audience suitability and is something I personally don’t feel that engrossed in. The dance music genre I think alienates other groups of audience too much. It is heavily based upon young thin girls dancing around with barely any clothes on and focuses too much on trivial issues like cars, make up, clothes and image rather than focusing on character and substance. This has influenced me to focus my music video on something that is substantial in society. I found the RnB video by Ciara quite promiscuous and similar to the dance video it focused on lighthearted issues like clothes and unsuitable dancing for a general audience. The Hip Hop video was similar to the RnB video in that it was about coming down for a party and showing off lots of expensive cars and jewelry. My favorite video of the bunch was definitely Pink’s “I don’t believe you” which focused on a bride who has been jilted. The mood was very sad and related to the song lyrics and tempo. I have definitely been influenced by this video to focus on something sad in society and make it very substantial and important to everyone’s life, but give it a youthful perspective to keep a youthful audience.
In conclusion I think that my theme will be of a terminal disease like cancer because it can reach so many people, the video will be sad and will use props such as candles and have a narrative flow story like in Taylor Swifts country video.
Studio Singing
I have decided that all the singing for my video will be done in a studio. This is because I want the song to be a narrative of a story which I will need actors to portray. I have found songs that use this same technique that there is more emphasis on close up shots and special effects like smoke machines, balloons and candles. I have also found that there is less movement in slow songs that use a studio, such as the video for Alexandra Burke – Hallelujah, who restricts her movement to her hands and head. However, the more lively songs that use a studio involve lots of; jumping around, dancers, balloons and colour, such as the video for MIKA – Love Today. I think that because the theme of the song I am using is quite serious and slow, it is probably more sensible to create a peaceful scene with barely any movement and focus on the lyrics of the song.
The props I have found other artists have used in their videos include; candles, smoke machines, air fans and a huge importance on the use of lighting.
Costumes of the singers in the songs that are of a slow nature are mostly quite classy. The women seem to be wearing luxury dresses and lots of jewelry, and the men look very slick in smart suits, like Robbie Williams in the “Millennium” video.
The shots of these slower natured songs in the studio scenes are more likely to include more close up shots on the singers face, the instruments being played at key times and high and low angle shots of the band together. I have found that the music videos that do use a simple mid-shot for the studio scene are very short as this would bore viewers; the majority of the slow songs still use a variety of shots to maintain interest.
Flashback scenes
There are a range of flashbacks the video could go to, however for the research I am looking very generally at all areas before I can begin to narrow my research to fit the scenes I have chosen to do. I have looked at
I want the flashbacks to tell a story of the cancer victim’s life at school. I feel as though it would be too broad to include parents, siblings, pets and home life in one short video. Also it is difficult for me to get video footage of the cancer victim’s life at home pre-school because I cannot go back in time! I have looked at the layout for Alicia Keys video for “No One” and found that most of the time in the video is spent on her singing, I stop watched the video and found that 2:34 seconds of it was taken up by her singing alone and the other 58 seconds were of acting or close ups of the piano. This shows that the “Divas” that sing the high ballad songs seem to have more camera work on their singing than of the message or the acting that represents the song. I think that it is important to have a narrative to go along with the song because I feel as though viewers need to maintain interesting throughout the video otherwise they will simply turn it off, therefore I have come to the conclusion that most of the video’s time proportions will be of the acting and only a ¼ will be of singers in the studio. I have found that interesting and different camera work is important when filming because this is a method of retaining the viewer’s interest.
The image of my band is a traditional girl group, but with a special meaning and don’t sing about traditional issues like boys, make-up and shoes. I want the girls to be a good role model for all youngsters, they will wear sensible clothing so that the boys see them as individuals and not sex objects like many young girls are portrayed nowadays in music videos.
Theme
I have looked at music videos from a range of themes and can honestly rule out now the rock and drum and base genres. I found that they were very niche in audience suitability and is something I personally don’t feel that engrossed in. The dance music genre I think alienates other groups of audience too much. It is heavily based upon young thin girls dancing around with barely any clothes on and focuses too much on trivial issues like cars, make up, clothes and image rather than focusing on character and substance. This has influenced me to focus my music video on something that is substantial in society. I found the RnB video by Ciara quite promiscuous and similar to the dance video it focused on lighthearted issues like clothes and unsuitable dancing for a general audience. The Hip Hop video was similar to the RnB video in that it was about coming down for a party and showing off lots of expensive cars and jewelry. My favorite video of the bunch was definitely Pink’s “I don’t believe you” which focused on a bride who has been jilted. The mood was very sad and related to the song lyrics and tempo. I have definitely been influenced by this video to focus on something sad in society and make it very substantial and important to everyone’s life, but give it a youthful perspective to keep a youthful audience.
In conclusion I think that my theme will be of a terminal disease like cancer because it can reach so many people, the video will be sad and will use props such as candles and have a narrative flow story like in Taylor Swifts country video.
Copyright
Copyright
I have sent an e-mail to Kelly Clarkson's record label, asking for copyright permission of using her album track “Save You” as part of my music video coursework. Below is the e-mail I sent;
I have sent an e-mail to Kelly Clarkson's record label, asking for copyright permission of using her album track “Save You” as part of my music video coursework. Below is the e-mail I sent;
Planning for Music Video
Song theme and Actor/Singer research
I have researched some songs that are of a sad upsetting theme that will link into my video. First of all I have listened to Pink – “Crystal Ball”, which explains that you can’t see what’s around the corner in life. I felt that this wasn’t coming from a great perspective and doesn’t really relate to physically loosing a close loved one. The lyrics just expressed the future.
Secondly I have listened to Mika – “Love Today”, I felt that although the lyrics would give a diverse examination on life with a terminal illness, the song is just to jolly and upbeat in order to take the song seriously.
I have also listened to Nelly Furtado – “All Good Things …. Come to an end”. I thought that this is a suitable song about everything in life comes to an end, however two weaknesses of using this song is; firstly that it already has a video and I don’t want mine to end up being a copied version, and secondly that Emma, my friend who has volunteered to play the piano in the band cannot be used in this song because it doesn’t involve a piano.
Finally I found the perfect song I could use for my video; it is sung by Kelly Clarkson and taken from her most recent album “All I Ever Wanted” (released 2008) and is called “Save You”. The song lyrics involve wishing to save somebody from being hurt and turning back time to happier times and appreciating them more then. My pianist/friend Emma is happy to play the piano for the video; another friend of mine “Becca” can sing and studies Drama at A level. She is more than happy to be the lead vocals for the video, and already has the song so knows all the lyrics. I have been influenced by the likes of the Pussy Cat Dolls and Diana Ross and the Supremes for my video as I will have a lead singer with other back up singers as part of the band. The back up singers are also friends; Clara, Dawn and Sophie. Another friend Lucy studies Drama “A” level and will play the role of the cancer patient. She will not be part of the band because the band is narrating the story and would look odd if the deceased girl were to sing in the band and narrate her own illness.
I have researched some songs that are of a sad upsetting theme that will link into my video. First of all I have listened to Pink – “Crystal Ball”, which explains that you can’t see what’s around the corner in life. I felt that this wasn’t coming from a great perspective and doesn’t really relate to physically loosing a close loved one. The lyrics just expressed the future.
Secondly I have listened to Mika – “Love Today”, I felt that although the lyrics would give a diverse examination on life with a terminal illness, the song is just to jolly and upbeat in order to take the song seriously.
I have also listened to Nelly Furtado – “All Good Things …. Come to an end”. I thought that this is a suitable song about everything in life comes to an end, however two weaknesses of using this song is; firstly that it already has a video and I don’t want mine to end up being a copied version, and secondly that Emma, my friend who has volunteered to play the piano in the band cannot be used in this song because it doesn’t involve a piano.
Finally I found the perfect song I could use for my video; it is sung by Kelly Clarkson and taken from her most recent album “All I Ever Wanted” (released 2008) and is called “Save You”. The song lyrics involve wishing to save somebody from being hurt and turning back time to happier times and appreciating them more then. My pianist/friend Emma is happy to play the piano for the video; another friend of mine “Becca” can sing and studies Drama at A level. She is more than happy to be the lead vocals for the video, and already has the song so knows all the lyrics. I have been influenced by the likes of the Pussy Cat Dolls and Diana Ross and the Supremes for my video as I will have a lead singer with other back up singers as part of the band. The back up singers are also friends; Clara, Dawn and Sophie. Another friend Lucy studies Drama “A” level and will play the role of the cancer patient. She will not be part of the band because the band is narrating the story and would look odd if the deceased girl were to sing in the band and narrate her own illness.
My ideas based on Research
The Band to Promote
Considering I am able to use any song by a current artist I shall use a contemporary song that fits my theme. I will ask permission for copyright.
Therefore I will need a singer or a band to promote as the focus of my coursework. I have decided to have a band, and they can sing and play over the song. As I am not being examined on the content of the song then I shall not put too much of my energy into it. So, I have decided to use Kelly Clarkson’s song; “Save You” which fits my idea perfectly. I will be promoting a girl band of about three or four members who will all play or sing over the song “Save You”. I will have to use singers and actors within budget so will most likely be using the A level drama students to act and some friends that can sing.
Finding my Band and Actors
For my Media A2 Music Video, I will need a band to promote a single. I have decided to use girls because in my school there aren’t many boy singers or musicians. I have asked my friends Emma and Becca if they want to be part of my music video. They accepted and I soon gathered more friends to be in the band, help or act.
Below is a profile of each participant, along with their personal qualities that they can bring to the music video.
The Band to Promote
Considering I am able to use any song by a current artist I shall use a contemporary song that fits my theme. I will ask permission for copyright.
Therefore I will need a singer or a band to promote as the focus of my coursework. I have decided to have a band, and they can sing and play over the song. As I am not being examined on the content of the song then I shall not put too much of my energy into it. So, I have decided to use Kelly Clarkson’s song; “Save You” which fits my idea perfectly. I will be promoting a girl band of about three or four members who will all play or sing over the song “Save You”. I will have to use singers and actors within budget so will most likely be using the A level drama students to act and some friends that can sing.
Finding my Band and Actors
For my Media A2 Music Video, I will need a band to promote a single. I have decided to use girls because in my school there aren’t many boy singers or musicians. I have asked my friends Emma and Becca if they want to be part of my music video. They accepted and I soon gathered more friends to be in the band, help or act.
Below is a profile of each participant, along with their personal qualities that they can bring to the music video.
In order for this to be a success, I need to organize my time schedule so that these 7 participants aren’t getting messed around as they too have A levels to do and universities to get into.
The Software I will Use
The Software I will use
For this piece of coursework I will need a camcorder – along with a tripod. To edit the video I am going to use Pinnacle Studio 9, as this is the software available at school.
I will follow my plan to edit each scene. I will use Pinnacle to upload the video footage then use Pinnacle to edit the video. As I haven’t used pinnacle before I will have to do some practising. All I want to use it for is to cut the scenes down to my given times, I also want to use it turn some parts of the video to black and white, and also to slow some scenes down to create a longer impact of the scene on the audience. I think it is important to “keep it simple".
I will get some basic training into the use of Pinnacle Studio 9 from my teacher and another student in my class who is apparently “an expert”, along with the schools IT technician. U am capable of using a camcorder as I went on a training course as past of the BOOM program in 2009.
For this piece of coursework I will need a camcorder – along with a tripod. To edit the video I am going to use Pinnacle Studio 9, as this is the software available at school.
I will follow my plan to edit each scene. I will use Pinnacle to upload the video footage then use Pinnacle to edit the video. As I haven’t used pinnacle before I will have to do some practising. All I want to use it for is to cut the scenes down to my given times, I also want to use it turn some parts of the video to black and white, and also to slow some scenes down to create a longer impact of the scene on the audience. I think it is important to “keep it simple".
I will get some basic training into the use of Pinnacle Studio 9 from my teacher and another student in my class who is apparently “an expert”, along with the schools IT technician. U am capable of using a camcorder as I went on a training course as past of the BOOM program in 2009.
Research Target Audience
Research on audience
From my research, I have found that most music is aimed at the youth culture. It would then make sense to create a video for a younger audience, because I personally can give wider opinions on ideas and I already have enough knowledge on music video’s aimed at the youth audience to get me started. However, I feel as though some of the videos strongly didn’t appeal to older generations so I think that in my video I will keep the “sexy chics” and sexual content out of my video. I want to aim at a young audience but am still accepted and viewable by audiences over the age of 50.
Target audience research
To back up my audience research I decided to produce a questionnaire specifically for a younger audience, to make sure I was catering to their needs.
Target Audience Questionnaire
I produced a Questionnaire before I began storyboarding any ideas for the filming. I did this so that I could target a specific audience – teenagers. Being teenagers I found many participants in school. I stood with the questionnaires at the dinner hall and got 100 questionnaires filled in from a variety of ages and genders in the school – including teachers, because although I want my music video to target teenagers, I also want to take into account what older generations taste of music is. As if I were marketing this music video/song I would want the largest possible audience. I found that the majority of the participants listened to pop music, were female and aged 12-19. I also found that the majority of participants would buy a record for charity; most answered they would pay between £1 and £2. After analyzing this questionnaire, it has made my decision to do a song that is fulfilling and perhaps for a charity even stronger.
Below is a filled in questionnaire. I was able to reach a large sample size, as the questionnaire took only a minute to fill out
From my research, I have found that most music is aimed at the youth culture. It would then make sense to create a video for a younger audience, because I personally can give wider opinions on ideas and I already have enough knowledge on music video’s aimed at the youth audience to get me started. However, I feel as though some of the videos strongly didn’t appeal to older generations so I think that in my video I will keep the “sexy chics” and sexual content out of my video. I want to aim at a young audience but am still accepted and viewable by audiences over the age of 50.
Target audience research
To back up my audience research I decided to produce a questionnaire specifically for a younger audience, to make sure I was catering to their needs.
Target Audience Questionnaire
I produced a Questionnaire before I began storyboarding any ideas for the filming. I did this so that I could target a specific audience – teenagers. Being teenagers I found many participants in school. I stood with the questionnaires at the dinner hall and got 100 questionnaires filled in from a variety of ages and genders in the school – including teachers, because although I want my music video to target teenagers, I also want to take into account what older generations taste of music is. As if I were marketing this music video/song I would want the largest possible audience. I found that the majority of the participants listened to pop music, were female and aged 12-19. I also found that the majority of participants would buy a record for charity; most answered they would pay between £1 and £2. After analyzing this questionnaire, it has made my decision to do a song that is fulfilling and perhaps for a charity even stronger.
Below is a filled in questionnaire. I was able to reach a large sample size, as the questionnaire took only a minute to fill out
QUESTIONNAIRE
From the results gathered from the questionnaire, I have found the following results – shown in the two graphs below.
Research of Contemporary Music Videos
Research to find what other contemporary Music artists have included in their music videos
Research on Music Videos
I have researched different music genres to find a music video by an artist in each category. Pop, Rhythm and Blues (RnB), Hip Hop, Rock, Classical and Dance.
RnB Genre
For the RnB genre I have looked at the artist Ciara and her video for “Love, Sex and Magic” which I found was an extreme of the RnB genre. The actors in this video were 5 tall, young, black women dancing promiscuously with a white man, Justin Timberlake. The girl’s costumes were extremely revealing, modern and stylish, and were often different in different scenes. However this works within the context of the video. The video was set in a studio with poles, chairs, disco lights and mirrors which I found made the viewer focus on the dancing, singing and acting in the video rather than the scenery, this is a cheaper option.The video was split into three of four different scenes, and different/unusual camera angles that changed quickly to relate the video to the predicted audience. The songs lyrics matched the video fabulously. The narrative of the song is simple and short, portraying a negative image of women as their bodies look perfect – imposing a beauty ideal on young girls which in turn could seed eating disorders in young girls trying to look like the women in the video. The actual story of the song is about how women use their "magic" to seduce men.
Pop Genre – (Sad)
I have looked at a sad song in the Pop genre because I felt as though the Pop genre is too big to sum it up with just one video. The sad song is Pink – I don’t believe you which the video shows a jilted bride who is extremely upset. The video has only one actor which is the artist who sings and acts at the same time, her costume is a beautiful wedding dress with jewelry. The location for the video is in a stunning mansion set up for a wedding where the artist wanders round what could have been her wedding day. No expense is spared in the making of this video, as all the props and wedding dress will cost a small fortune which I’m not prepared to spend on my music video. The shots in the video included panning across the variety of rooms, close up shots which focused on the artist crying and good use of a mirror meant that some shots were created through a mirror. The video was in black and white which instantly produced a sad narrative, and the use of rays of light and candles emphasized the sorrow the jilted bride contained. The message of the video was about not believing the people closest to you and sometimes they let you down, which is quite a large and serious topic.
Another video I have looked at is the Saturdays with “Forever us over”. The main actors for this video were the 5 girls who were comforting each other after presumably breaking up with their partners. The location for the video was mainly in a house and at the park, general places, but towards the end they were singing as a group and were looking very glamorous. Within the video I found a variety of CU, LS, low angle, high angle and panning shots. I found the editing was quite clearly cut, I think this created a narrative throughout the video to relate to the fast song and keep to fit in with the song. I found this video quite simple and cheap. The narrative of the story was grieving over a relationship of lovers, which is quite an emotional message.
Another pop video I looked at was of JLS and “everybody in love” which simply a boy band is singing a mushy love song. The actors were predominantly the four young men, but with several different girls with them at any different time. The audience was mainly girls in the group scenes. The angles were again CU, MS, low and high angles and panning shots, this will give a variety and is attracting to a younger audience. The narrative of this video is very “loved up” and has a simple short message of love the one your with.
Rock Genre
The Rock video was by Biffy Clyroe and the song “Golden Rule”. The actors for the video were the band, and they weren’t acting at all, they were playing the music in a small room of what on the outside looked like an old mansion. The four men all had long hair, tattoo’s and had their tops off which gave a feel of the “rave” scene. The shots were extremely distorted and included a range of CU, MS, LS, Panning and zooming in and out which created a confused atmosphere. The layout of the video involved scenes from the room the band were playing in and long shots of the old mansion which had been digitally distorted. The whole genre is something that doesn’t really appeal to me so it is more than likely I won’t do a music video on this genre. There seemed to be no narrative of the story, as the main focus of the video was about the band performing.
The classical music video I found very dull, although my age of 17 is not the targeted audience age, so I wouldn’t be expected to like it; however this is realistic because I understand that the music genre is for an older audience. The video included a male pianist, three female violinists and the opera singer. The location for the video was a simple studio with smoke often appearing and a few candles on the floor along with the musical instruments. The costume for the musicians involved suits and ties for the men and classy dresses for the females. The shots included many CU’s of the man and panning shots of the three violinists and pianist. Editing for this video was extremely slow, with lots of fading. The lyrics were Latin and I didn’t manage to get the name of the composer because I watched it on the "classical" music channel, but I can safely say that this video has influenced me to create a music video for someone of my own age. However, a nice touch I found was that the candles all blew out at the end of the video, this is something I think I could use in my own video.
Dance Genre
The dance video I have looked at is David Guetta and Akon’s “Sexy Chic”. This video involved a gathering of beautiful looking people at a pool party, a variety of shots were included that went up and down mainly the dancing girls bodies and MS and CU shots of the two men playing about or singing, a particular favorite shot was an underwater which created an extra interest, the camera’s later were splashed with water which gave a lively impression. This video is definitely for a mature young audience because the amount of movement, light, and clothing in the scene would not appeal to an older generation. The narrative of the video is quite light hearted and is about enjoying yourself, something that I partially aim to cover in my music video.
Country Genre
For the country music video I found Taylor Swift and her song “15”, which the narrative was all about growing up today, and issues facing the everyday 15 year old girl. The camera angles were of the main actor which was, Taylor Swift and included MS, panning and high angles showing the girls vulnerability and youthful face. The scene included butterflies, clouds, flowers and a fake scene of a country farm. I also found that the weather contributed to the mood of the lyrics at any given time, so when the lyrics were sad - it rained. When the lyrics were happy, it was sunny. I think that this is something I’d like to use in my video because you never can predict the weather yourself which is the same in life. I also liked the narrative of the lyrics that matched the song as the lyrics told a story.
Conclusion
In all the music videos, there were similarities as all genres included the band or artist singing purely, however all except the Rock and Classical videos included a narrative of a story to link to the song.
Research on Music Videos
I have researched different music genres to find a music video by an artist in each category. Pop, Rhythm and Blues (RnB), Hip Hop, Rock, Classical and Dance.
RnB Genre
For the RnB genre I have looked at the artist Ciara and her video for “Love, Sex and Magic” which I found was an extreme of the RnB genre. The actors in this video were 5 tall, young, black women dancing promiscuously with a white man, Justin Timberlake. The girl’s costumes were extremely revealing, modern and stylish, and were often different in different scenes. However this works within the context of the video. The video was set in a studio with poles, chairs, disco lights and mirrors which I found made the viewer focus on the dancing, singing and acting in the video rather than the scenery, this is a cheaper option.The video was split into three of four different scenes, and different/unusual camera angles that changed quickly to relate the video to the predicted audience. The songs lyrics matched the video fabulously. The narrative of the song is simple and short, portraying a negative image of women as their bodies look perfect – imposing a beauty ideal on young girls which in turn could seed eating disorders in young girls trying to look like the women in the video. The actual story of the song is about how women use their "magic" to seduce men.
Pop Genre – (Sad)
I have looked at a sad song in the Pop genre because I felt as though the Pop genre is too big to sum it up with just one video. The sad song is Pink – I don’t believe you which the video shows a jilted bride who is extremely upset. The video has only one actor which is the artist who sings and acts at the same time, her costume is a beautiful wedding dress with jewelry. The location for the video is in a stunning mansion set up for a wedding where the artist wanders round what could have been her wedding day. No expense is spared in the making of this video, as all the props and wedding dress will cost a small fortune which I’m not prepared to spend on my music video. The shots in the video included panning across the variety of rooms, close up shots which focused on the artist crying and good use of a mirror meant that some shots were created through a mirror. The video was in black and white which instantly produced a sad narrative, and the use of rays of light and candles emphasized the sorrow the jilted bride contained. The message of the video was about not believing the people closest to you and sometimes they let you down, which is quite a large and serious topic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIOwNrb6Enw
Pop Genre - Girl BandAnother video I have looked at is the Saturdays with “Forever us over”. The main actors for this video were the 5 girls who were comforting each other after presumably breaking up with their partners. The location for the video was mainly in a house and at the park, general places, but towards the end they were singing as a group and were looking very glamorous. Within the video I found a variety of CU, LS, low angle, high angle and panning shots. I found the editing was quite clearly cut, I think this created a narrative throughout the video to relate to the fast song and keep to fit in with the song. I found this video quite simple and cheap. The narrative of the story was grieving over a relationship of lovers, which is quite an emotional message.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGPwmr2FWn4
Another pop video I looked at was of JLS and “everybody in love” which simply a boy band is singing a mushy love song. The actors were predominantly the four young men, but with several different girls with them at any different time. The audience was mainly girls in the group scenes. The angles were again CU, MS, low and high angles and panning shots, this will give a variety and is attracting to a younger audience. The narrative of this video is very “loved up” and has a simple short message of love the one your with.
Rock Genre
The Rock video was by Biffy Clyroe and the song “Golden Rule”. The actors for the video were the band, and they weren’t acting at all, they were playing the music in a small room of what on the outside looked like an old mansion. The four men all had long hair, tattoo’s and had their tops off which gave a feel of the “rave” scene. The shots were extremely distorted and included a range of CU, MS, LS, Panning and zooming in and out which created a confused atmosphere. The layout of the video involved scenes from the room the band were playing in and long shots of the old mansion which had been digitally distorted. The whole genre is something that doesn’t really appeal to me so it is more than likely I won’t do a music video on this genre. There seemed to be no narrative of the story, as the main focus of the video was about the band performing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDmeMjsV35U
Classical GenreThe classical music video I found very dull, although my age of 17 is not the targeted audience age, so I wouldn’t be expected to like it; however this is realistic because I understand that the music genre is for an older audience. The video included a male pianist, three female violinists and the opera singer. The location for the video was a simple studio with smoke often appearing and a few candles on the floor along with the musical instruments. The costume for the musicians involved suits and ties for the men and classy dresses for the females. The shots included many CU’s of the man and panning shots of the three violinists and pianist. Editing for this video was extremely slow, with lots of fading. The lyrics were Latin and I didn’t manage to get the name of the composer because I watched it on the "classical" music channel, but I can safely say that this video has influenced me to create a music video for someone of my own age. However, a nice touch I found was that the candles all blew out at the end of the video, this is something I think I could use in my own video.
Dance Genre
The dance video I have looked at is David Guetta and Akon’s “Sexy Chic”. This video involved a gathering of beautiful looking people at a pool party, a variety of shots were included that went up and down mainly the dancing girls bodies and MS and CU shots of the two men playing about or singing, a particular favorite shot was an underwater which created an extra interest, the camera’s later were splashed with water which gave a lively impression. This video is definitely for a mature young audience because the amount of movement, light, and clothing in the scene would not appeal to an older generation. The narrative of the video is quite light hearted and is about enjoying yourself, something that I partially aim to cover in my music video.
Country Genre
For the country music video I found Taylor Swift and her song “15”, which the narrative was all about growing up today, and issues facing the everyday 15 year old girl. The camera angles were of the main actor which was, Taylor Swift and included MS, panning and high angles showing the girls vulnerability and youthful face. The scene included butterflies, clouds, flowers and a fake scene of a country farm. I also found that the weather contributed to the mood of the lyrics at any given time, so when the lyrics were sad - it rained. When the lyrics were happy, it was sunny. I think that this is something I’d like to use in my video because you never can predict the weather yourself which is the same in life. I also liked the narrative of the lyrics that matched the song as the lyrics told a story.
Conclusion
In all the music videos, there were similarities as all genres included the band or artist singing purely, however all except the Rock and Classical videos included a narrative of a story to link to the song.
Brainstorm and Plan of Time
Brainstorm
Attached is a brainstorm of all my ideas of what I think contemporary music videos include; the audience segmentation and themes. I have later included a slide about what I think terminal illness is about, focusing this towards my final product.
Below is how I intend to spend my time, in order to produce a music video for the deadline December 13th. I intend to have this printed out in the media folder and cross out each line once I had finished the task.
Attached is a brainstorm of all my ideas of what I think contemporary music videos include; the audience segmentation and themes. I have later included a slide about what I think terminal illness is about, focusing this towards my final product.
Below is how I intend to spend my time, in order to produce a music video for the deadline December 13th. I intend to have this printed out in the media folder and cross out each line once I had finished the task.
Introduction
Introduction
This blog will cover all the research and planning for my Media A2 level coursework project. I am creating a Music Video, together with a Website for the homepage for the band and a cover for the single’s release as part of a digipak. I (Fred Ellis) am the contributor to all 3 parts of the coursework, I felt that I wanted to work alone on my coursework because I wanted to get my views and ideas across and do things my way.
This blog will cover all the research and planning for my Media A2 level coursework project. I am creating a Music Video, together with a Website for the homepage for the band and a cover for the single’s release as part of a digipak. I (Fred Ellis) am the contributor to all 3 parts of the coursework, I felt that I wanted to work alone on my coursework because I wanted to get my views and ideas across and do things my way.
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