Monday, 22 October 2012

Questionnaire


This is our questionnaire which we used to ask various people, mainly our target market but a few others also to get a variety of feedback.
 
This is some of the audience feedback:

 
 

After taking our audience feedback we created these pie charts to help collaborate  our ideas.The first pie chart shows what our target market would like to see in the video. As you can see live performance and being with friends proved to be most popular this links to our inspirations such as Good time- Owl City which would represent the 'being with friends'.  Also various people had certain landscapes as a visual image for the piece as we are planning to film area's of this in the woods this would link to this. All three of these ideas are highly influencing us for our music promo and as they were taken from our target market it means it will be popular when completed.
The second pie chart shows what season our audience think it would fit best after deciding that there would be some sort or landscape location. However some seasons wouldn't fit the the genre and song so we decided to do some research as you can see the most popular is Autumn as a group we also liked this as we though the use of colours of the leaves would work really well. Summer and spring also proved to be popular as a lot of people liked the idea of friends being together on long summer nights this was because of the lyrics 'tonight belongs to us'. Finally winter proved to be less preferred due to it not having the right image  that the audience visualise.
 



Thursday, 18 October 2012

DanceGrenade pitch!


DanceGrenade

DanceGrenade
 
This is our chosen band, they are a local alternative band from Bourne. As you can see via the picture they are a fun, bubbly band who are more than pleased to feature in our music video. They only have a few songs but we listened to each of them and decided on Korma Chameleon to use to create our music promo.
 
We were lucky enough to be able to contact the band and due to them being a local band it is a lot easier for us to meet with them and involve them with the video.
This is their response we asked to use them;
Yo dancegrenade here.
Really pleased that you have chosen us for your media project. We were planning to produce a music video for ourselves however came across several difficulties, so we are more than pleased that you have selected our band to make a music video for. It is incredibly useful for us-as an upcoming group trying to get ourselves heard by as many people as possible- as we recognise a lot of publicity is done through video sharing websites, such as; youtube. It will be a great device to appeal to the masses through modern devices.
Thanks Lucy and Emily^3
Much Appreciated
Dancegrenade, over and out  \m/

 


Music Video Theories

What is important within a music video?
Narrative and performance are key things which are mostly seen within a music promo however over the years videos are developing and artist are beginning to step out of the ordinary and create videos of huge uniqueness and individuality.

Narrative is the plot within a music video an almost story line which is told throughout the song. Three key words which are used to describe narrative is connection which means to give organisation, a beginning, middle and ending. The second key word is understanding, narrative allows a viewer to construct a meaning of a song. Finally comparison, the audience are able to compare narratives with others. Usually songs narratives are not complete and leave mystery and most videos have no meaning at all they are simple various imagery put together.

Narrative theories



Roland Barthes' theory has tow parts the 'Enigma code' which means that it is not explained which concludes in questions being asked. The second part is the 'Action code' which means there i major structuring which builds an interest or creates suspense of the audience behalf.





Tzvetan Tordorov's theory is that he believes narratives begin with harmony then move into disharmony until a new harmony is recreated again at the end of the piece.





An example of Tzvetan Tordorv's theory is Coldplay's song The Scientist. Whilst watching this video remember the graph show above and the words used, this video helps to represent this.


Two useful terms to remember is Intertextuality which is when a video refer's to other media texts an example of this is Robbie William's let me entertain you which has huge references to rock star's throughout.There are three main types of intertextuality the first is homage this is seen as being flattery to an artist or a film director.An example of this would be Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal this pays homage to a film called the band wagon, Beyonce's naughty girl has also been seen as paying homage. The next type is Pastiche this is when an artist perhaps uses imagery from a film and makes a comment on it, for example Will Young's video Swith on video creates a pastiche from Top gun from the use of imagery of various planes. Finally is parody this is simply taking the mickey, the film Casper has been made a parody by Back street boys in their song Everybody.
When you watch this video can you see the resemblance from casper? 
 
 
 The second useful term is Post-modern(ism) this is simply when texts are created by reusing ideas and imagery which may have previously been used. Post-modern has three parts it begins with experimental of genre to be able to attempt to realise trends, next is the cannon stage which works within trends to fit them into our cultural understanding. Finally is post-modern this is when they look at the new and and ulter it to make it new.



Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Owl city & Carly Rae Jepson

Another video which has influenced us for our music promo is Owl city's good time video due to the scene at the end with the campfire and various people dancing, we think this sort of image would work well for parts of our music promo. The song is by Owl city but features Carly Rae Jepson, it is a pop genre and the music video was directed by Declan Whitebloom in a quiet area of New York.

The video begins with two groups of friends going on a road trip, the two groups eventually meet and are seen to be dancing round a bonfire having a 'good time'. It flicks from a city, busy location where Carly is seen to be driving to a country, quiet road where Adam is seen to be driving. Most shots used are mid shots of mainly focusing on the singers but showing location and other characters slightly within the shot too. When they eventually meet most camera shots are of the two singers, usually close ups however there are some mid shots of the other characters greeting each other. The location is now totally different to where they were driving it is a wood area, the characters are seen to be walking along to a camp area where others are setting them up. The costume used throughout this is casual with both artist in jeans/shorts giving the impression it is perhaps summer. Carly then changes into wellies, helping the audience assume the type of location to be muddy or damp. Various shots of Carly and adam seem to ave a smoke going cross the shot this suggests that there is some sort of fire/bonfire. This becomes more clear when you see other characters walking around with bits of twigs to create a campfire. There are also other various shots which help to suggest it is summer for example the two girls making daisy chains or swimming in the lake. In then becomes night time and there are various close ups of people smiling and/or laughing once again showing people having a 'good time'. Images of the campfire begin to come in, with everyone gathered around it giving a sense of happiness, friendship and warmth. This continues into them all dancing around the campfire, this is the image that we would like to create in out music promo due to the lyric in our song saying 'tonight is the night' we thought this sort of scene would work really well and would amplify the lyrics and give them more meaning.

Tuesday, 9 October 2012

OK GO




Both our group and our chosen band DanceGrenade are highly influenced by the band OK GO and their unique music video's which have helped give us various ideas for our promo. OK GO are a USA band each of the band members met during high school and the band was official formed in 1998. They are an alternative rock band who have won various awards for their amazing music promos. They are of a similar style to DanceGrenade meaning our video will be of a similar style. Many of OK GO's video's are very simple in the fact they can sometimes only be a one shot, however what happens within the video is complex.
One of their video's which is my favourite is called End Love, it is really unique. This promo was directed by Jeff Lieberman and Eric Gunther and was filmed in Los Angeles.The piece was mostly created through photography rather than video. In part of it they are walking backwards but they are still singing forwards which is really cleaver. The song is about an end of relationship hence the name 'End love, I wouldn't say that this is reflected in the music video.Throughout the piece the band are wearing solid neon colours, each member is designated a colour.This makes them stand out and gives them sense of being a band and having similar 'costumes'. I also think it brings out their personalities as they are bright, bold people and these colours enhance this.




The piece begins with a long shot with the band central to screen, they are in a simple setting of what looks like a street. The band do a warm up before beginning a syncronised routine almost like a dance. This puts the band into the public eye straight away, clearly shwoing who they are, what they look it. From this the routine carries on but with a change of location a bit more upclass, it is filmed at a park with huge lake giving a happy sense of feeling. Rather than being video now stock-motion is used and a number of images have been taken which were then used to make each band memeber move in a certain way, also the background is moving for example the lake changes throughout this piece given it more edge and movement. Once the images are put together they are then sped up meaning the ban can look like they are spinning round in circles and other various techniques which make the video look really effective.  The video then slowly changes to being filmed at night this is done through stock-motion again.As you can see the bright colours still stand out making it clear who's who and that they are the band in the piece. The use of lamps is used to almost light up each band members face given them that sense of importance.   

Most of the shots used in this video are long shots of the whole band, they are the main focus of the video and the only other imagery is the location due it being such a bright, colourful scene. This promo has very complex editing a great amount of it is stock-motion which has then created some amazing effects, making images look like they are walking along. Also throughout this it also looks like the band are singing in time even though most of it is photography and highly edited. The piece obviously took a lot of planning due to the routine throughout and the high quality use of editing to be able to make it look effective.   
 







 
 
 
 

 

Monday, 8 October 2012

Digi-paks and adverts.




Definition-
Digipaks are usually book-styled packages with card outer binding and plastic trays inside which hare used to hold the CD or DVD. They were the first alternative to jewel cases to be used by major record companies. There are many positives for using Digi-paks rather than your basic jewel cases such as they are shatterproof, jewel cases easily break, they are environmentally friendly as most of the card used is recycled. However there is also some negatives of using digi-paks for instance they can easily tear or rip due to them being made from card, they are also quick to look old and ragged.

Katy Perry's Digipak
As you can see there is a theme throughout the digipak and it is also linked to her song California Girls which has a similar theme. The theme is a candy theme, which is used on the covers and the actual CD's themselves. There is an effect of candyfloss being shown as clouds which is also used in the California girls music promo. The CDs are also within the theme one being a donut and the other candy. The font used is also within the theme with colour scheme's to fit such as the reds on the back of the digipak. Inside there is also images of Katy to fit the theme there is cakes with her in the image. Also when you open the digipak there is a scent of sweets and candy which really adds to the candy theme she is trying to give. As Katy Perry is on the cover this will drags people attention more due to her being a popular artist everyone will recognise her.
 

Rihanna's Digipak
This is Rihanna's digipak, the colour red is used throughout the covers making it stand out and I also think the colour red is highly related to Rihanna. The use of red roses gives the piece a feminine feel and relates to her video. Rihanna is also the main feature of the digipak suggesting she is a pop artist and this will give more of an attraction due to her being so well known. Relating back to the roses both CDs have roses on once again giving a feminine feel throughout. The front simply has her name and the album name on making it simple and meaning not an overload of writing is given. The inside is all one image, meaning people can take it out and unfold to make one complete image perhaps for fans to use as a poster.

 
Katy Perry's Album advert
This is Katy Perry's advert for Teenage Dream as you can clearly see it is similar to the digipak meaning people are able to relate the two due to the imagery being the same. The text fonts and colours are also the same keeping a house style throughout. The advert doesn't have a lot of text but shows what singles are included which are well known No.1's which will draw people's attention as everyone knows them. At the bottom it includes her website so her fans are able to go on it and perhaps find more information about her and the album.

 
Rihanna's Album advert
Rihanna's advert once again similar to Katy's relates back to her digipak meaning people are able to see the advert and easily go into a shop and purchase the album. The advert is just a simple image with the same house style used for the text on the poster. It clearly shows the name of the artist as well as the name of the album and what well known no.1 singles are featured which will help to sell the album. It also gives a clear realise date so people are aware of when they will be able to purchase the album.Finally at the bottom is a twitter page, meaning fans are able to follow updates on rihanna which will help publicise her.