Getting our surveys ready for our audience

We have been discussing in our group on getting our primary audience together for the survey we have to complete for our video. We have already got a group of 5-10 people with a combination of male and female aged ranged from around 17-20.

We will get these completed within the next few days.

Ideas for my website

I have a few ideas for my website:

1) The first idea is having the background all black and then a large photograph of Jem on the left. The font will be white so it stands out on the black background. This will keep the website quite sleek and sophisticated looking; although it might not represent Jems actual appearence which is a bit more laid back and cool.

Like the Arctic Monkeys website: http://www.arcticmonkeys.com

2) Secondly, keeping the website looking more relaxed and fun. I could do a shoot of Jem in colour and make that the background image or the opening page to enter the website. Similar to Jake Buggs, I could promote the album on the website's main page and have a white background so there doesn't look like there is too much going on. http://jakebugg.com/home/

3) I love this. This is an example page from WIX, which is useful as it is the website I can used to create my artists page. Here it is: http://www.wix.com/website-template/view/html/1693?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wix.com%2Fwebsite%2Ftemplates%2Fhtml%2Fmusic%2Fsolo-artist%2F1&bookName=create-master-new&galleryDocIndex=8&category=music&metaSiteId=
It still looks sleek and I can do a shoot of Jem in the studio in black and white, possibly with him holding his guitar or music instruments in the background.

Ideas for my CD Cover

 I want my CD cover to be not too different from my website's style. At the moment I'm thinking for my website this look: http://www.wix.com/website-template/view/html/1693?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wix.com%2Fwebsite%2Ftemplates%2Fhtml%2Fmusic%2Fsolo-artist%2F1&bookName=create-master-new&galleryDocIndex=8&category=music&metaSiteId=

Both of these covers are nice, simple and would work with the style of website I would like to produce. Although the photographs do not have to be head shots they do look quite nice as they focus on the artist. I am going to speak to my artist as well (Jem) to see what his views are and too see what he likes as he is an musician himself and it is something he in the future might have to design.

I also like the idea of a contact sheet I think this is really cool and different, I could get 4 photographs of Jem, simply me talking to him in a studio about his music and there I could get multiple pure images of him doing his own thing.

Jake Bugg CD cover and Website: Inspiration

I like this Jake Bugg album cover because it shows of his facial exterior. I think it focuses on him and a cover like this  establishes him as an artist. The colour tone which is more sepia than black and white looks good as it isn't as harsh. There is a slight Burgundy tone which makes it look more subtle rather than in your face. The underline under his name emphasises the title, although it is under just his surname looks more effective.

This is the current website for Jake Bugg. As you can see his new album is being promoted all across his website. The banner at the top is a direct link to iTunes so you can purchase the album, as on the main page the news the album is out now.

Arctic Monkeys CD covers and Website: Inspiration

Here’s the artwork for ‘AM’, released on 9th Sept 2013.” The minimal design is in keeping with the animated video and artwork for the album’s lead single ‘Do I Wanna Know?' The Arctic Monkeys keep their design rather simple. Like many of the other artists I have spoken about before they follow this noir theme. The band never have themselves on the front of the cover, this establishes that they are already well known and don't feel the need to have to promote more.
In my case, I will have my artist on the front cover as I feel it works more with his appearance, he is also a solo artist so he will need further promotion.


I like the layout of this website, although I think there could be more to it. Everything is black and white which makes it look monotonous and stale. The black and white look is the norm for the artist so it keeps in with the theme.
Although, now a days websites aren't used much anymore. Instagram and Twitter are the big names in social media and they pull through all the important information (New album/Tour Dates) instead of people actually having to look on their website,

The Kooks CD cover and Website: Inspiration

The Kooks album cover is definitely one of my favourite. I love the black and and white theme within these artists as it looks more alluring. Looking at these noir album covers directly makes me think of Indie Pop/ Rock bands as they have a similar exterior.

In this case the album cover name "Inside in Inside Out" which is labelled in red looks rather attractive and initially brought to my attention. It takes away from the dull side of the album which some may consider. There is a slight graduation from the white to the artists sitting down playing their guitars, this doesn't make the album look to chaotic and separates the band to the title/ band name.  At the moment the bands tour is being established so the tour dates are the only page on the website that you can actually get into. From what we can gather, the band has stuck to a black background and a grey font which is written in a large format in Bold (and all capitals). This is similar to what I had in mind.

Paolo Nutini CD cover and Website: Inspiration

Nutini's album 'These Streets' was released on 17th July 2006 and immediately entered the UK album charts at number three. The album cover consists of three colours in strips going along vertically.

I like this cover as I think it works, each colour possibly representing each individual artist. However, in my case I have one artist and this might not look suitable. I could however take separate shots of Jem in different stances and use them. This look is more fun and not as sophisticated, slightly more playful.

Again, this website is rather sleek and clean. The white background works really well with the title and the other interior of the website. The new album cover is what fills in the colour for the font which looks really interesting. This again will remind whomever is looking at the website there is new music being launched/ or launching. All of this acts as a catalyst to help promote the marketing of the band and looks good.

The layout is also really immaculate, it all ties in really well and looks good. Having the same font from the title to the content on the left makes it look more organised and tidy. This is definitely a layout I will be taking into consideration for my website.

Saint Raymond CD cover and Website: Inspiration

To the left, is the website for singer Saint Raymond. I really like the colour scheme for the artist because I think it works for him, a website full of colour wouldn't work for his appearance. In the background there are photographs that have been torn up and put together like a collage/montage which keeps him young and cool (not taking himself too seriously and keeps him youthful).
The photographs could also reflect the songs he produces, possible around the themes of being drunk/young and in love.  The white font stands out and looks effective; swell as the font which works well. This is definitely a concept I would like to use with our artist because again it focuses on a younger audience and looks pretty cool!

This is the CD cover from his album 'Young Blood'. As you can see it is really similar to the website, in fact the photographs are exactly the same. The artist's name and album name have been combined within making it look sleek and out together. I really like this look, I think it is different and works well and lets us think he is pretty laid back and focusing on the music rather then his public appearance instead of having a photograph of him on the front cover of his album.

Editing: Finishing the rough cut

Today, we finished the rough cut for our music video. We need to make sure the next time we edit that we cut more because some of the scenes are too long. Together we also agreed on over laying some of the shots that are next to each other because the projection shot has the same background as the foreground in the prior or following shot.

Overall. we are really happy with the way the video looks at the moment and now we are going to create a survey on survey monkey so we can gather our primary audience.

Artist comparison 'Coasts'

Our artist 'Coats' whom we are using for our music video have a indie/pop genre to their music. I have also been looking at other artists that have similar genres in their music. For example bands and artists such as Smallpools, Saint Raymond and COIN sound the same and fall under the same indie/pop genre. It isn't just their music that makes them similar its also their appearance which make them fall under the same category. They both have a primary audience of 18-25, and have the 'boy-band' look which catalyses themselves for a younger audience.

Editing in todays lesson 2/12/2016

Today in class, Me and Wini tried to finish putting all the shots in order. We are nearly close to finishing the rough cut of the video, and it looks really good. We realised though today that towards the end of the song there is actually about 10 seconds worth of sound of the waves, as it finishes the chorus comes back again but it sounds really interesting and breaks up the video/song because sometimes it can sound quite repetitive.

Although, we realised we need to hurry up editing as we are taking longer then usual. We have nearly finished we just don't want to rush anything. It needs to be finished by next week because we need to present to our different audiences.

Theorist: David Gauntlett

David Gauntlett is a British sociologist and media theorist. He specializes in studying contemporary media audiences, the every making and sharing of digital media, and the role of such media in self-identity and self-expression.

Gauntlett published ‘Media Studies 2.0’ online in 2007, which argues that classic media studies fails to define when the categories of ‘audiences’ and ‘producers’ unite, and that new, altered teaching methods are needed.

He states that because of web 2.0, we as audiences can become our own producers thanks to websites such as YouTube. Through this we can create our own identity and even influence other peoples.


Through this, gender identity for example, has become less constricted to previous representations. Web 2.0 allows us to create our own unique identity that doesn’t necessarily follow traditional understandings of gender. The ability and freedom that web 2.0’s allowed means it is now far more acceptable to be different and accepted for our individuality.

The copycat theory

Copy Cat or Modelling Theory: The copycat theory relates to something which is publicized in the media that creates a lot of attention, resulting in other people to imitate, or ‘copy’ this in order to gain the same level of attention. The well known example of this is copycat murders, suicides and other violent acts that come with no other motive other than attention, caused by seeing the same acts in the media, be it film, television or books.

• Audience react differently to various situations as they have different interpretations. An individual perceives a form a behavior described or portrayed by a character in media content
• The individual judges this behavior to be attractive and potentially useful for coping with some personal situation
• The reproduced behavior proves useful or effective in coping with the situation thus, rewarding the individual
• With model use, the behavior becomes habitual for that situation
• Copycat effect - you do what you see
• Centers for disease control and prevention recommendations- 1994
• They began telling news media how to portray news media about suicide to prevent copy cat

Introduction to audiences

Here is a PowerPoint I found on the internet and has helped me have a clearer understanding to audiences. It help break down the different audience categories and is definitely good to read if your starting audience theory.

Screen testing with the projector

Today we went into the black box to test out some projections.

Unfortunately Jem was not available for the screen test, it would have been better to use him as we could have got a better idea of how it will look.

Instead we used Wini as a test subject, and she did some lip syncing in front of some of our footage from Brighton.

 We especially liked how the blue toned footage looked on the projector, which we will keep in mind while editing our projection video. 

We wanted a dream like feel to the projection scenes, so the bright, more abstract worked well with this concept. 

The overall feel of the screen test was a positive one, we are all feeling optimistic about the music video.

The Effects Model

The Effects Model

• The consumption of media texts has an effect or influence upon the audience
• It is normally considered that this effect is negative
• Audiences are passive and powerless to prevent the influence
• The power lies within the message of the text

This model is also called: The Hypodermic Model

• Here, the messages in media texts are injected into the audience by the powerful, syringe-like, media
• The audience is powerless to resist
• Therefore, the media works like a drug and the audience is drugged, addicted, doped or duped.

Psychographic/ Demographic audience

Demographics

Definition: Demographic information is used in media marketing to classify an audience into age, gender, race and other categories. Demographics are broken into bands depending on peoples jobs or status.



Physcographics
 

 Psychographic segmentation divides the market into groups based on social class, lifestyle and personality characteristics. It is based on the assumption that the types of products and brands an individual purchases will reflect that persons characteristics and patterns of living.

Theorists: Stuart Hall

Audience Types
Hall included three different types of audiences decoding of text:
- Dominant or preferred
- Negotiated
- Oppositional 

DOMINANT
- How the producer wants the audience to view the media text they agree with the message is it conveying.
NEGOTIATED
- A compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings, the audience understand and agree with the text but disagree with other areas they have their own views on.
OPPOSITIONAL
- The audience rejects the encoded meaning and creates their own meaning for the text, they fully disagree with the message being submitted.

Theorists: Jeremy Tunstall

His theory posits the idea that all texts have preferred audiences as well as additional audiences which can be engaged:

• PRIMARY- Watching films in a cinema involves a primary mode of audience engagement as the spectator is immersed with the narrative. So for your primary, target audience they will have bought the song/ downloaded it and will consume your text in this way.
• SECONDARY- While watching a programme at home on television may involve eating a meal at the same time, texting, using social media or other additional activities. Your secondary audience may be interested, but they haven't bought the single
• TERITARY- Tertiary audience engagement is using the text as background media like music radio. Your tertiary audience may hear your song on the radio while driving to work.

Codes and Conventions of Music Videos: Glossary

This is about the relation of visuals in the music video to the lyrics of the song, and how well they link, and how effective it is to the audience.

Disjuncture: The meaning of the song is completely ignored. The images in the video do not relate

Amplify: The meaning of the song is exaggerated through the use of visuals

Illustrate: this is the most commonly used convention when filming a music video, when the meaning of the video is very clearly related to the lyrics of the song. Personally I think this convention works really well because it is a great way to appeal to an audience, and to gain understanding of the point you are trying to reveal to your fans etc.

Theorist: Andrew Goodwin (Goodwins Theory)

Today, we discussed Andrew Goodwin and his theory. Here are some of the key features we learnt for theory:

1) Music videos demonstrate certain genre characteristics
2)There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals
3)There is a relationship between music and visuals
4) The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artists.
5) Artists may develop motifs or iconography that reoccur across their work
6)Frequent references to the notion of 'looking'  (screens within screens, filming, cameras and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
7) Often intertextual references- mostly TV, Film and popular culture.

Our Primary Audience

Our primary audience is age ranged from 16-24.  The music genre indie-pop and that usually is played by a younger generation then older. Also the audience varies with boys and girls but as our artist has  young boy band features we hope this will attract a wider audience with the girls.

Editing: Making the video final for projections

Today, we are carrying on making the video for the projection video we are making. We were playing around with multiple techniques and trying to make the video look as interesting as possible, the only thing is we tested the shots we got from Brighton before and we have to be careful because the images are not as saturated once they have been projected.

We were playing around with the colour and made certain scenes have a specific tone. For example the shot we have of the Brighton sign we gave a touch a blue so it would look slightly interesting and broke the shots up; not tonally looking all the same.

Then we also played around with speed and slowing certain scenes down and making them feel much longer, this worked really well as it actually showed more of what was actually happening in the shot and wouldn't make the projection look to chaotic.

Making the video for projections onto Jem

We as a group have agreed to making a video of projections for our music video of Jem. We want to use some of the footage we have from Brighton to put on the projector and this will played onto our actor. We have tested it out and it looks really interesting, we have to be careful because we don't want the work to look cheesy/ cliché so we will have to frame the subject in good composition.
Jem will also be singing over the top of the projections and we haven't tried this out yet so we have to check it works well.
I got inspiration from this concept when I was watching a Drake music video and it made the video feel more alive and captivating. Similarly, there are also multiple photographers which have used this technique and it looks really good.

New footage- Projections?

Today we decided on adding projections to our music video. This will create a different dimension to the video although we have to be careful and make sure the colours will not look odd and take away the urban atmosphere we have. We are now brainstorming and looking through our footage to decide which shots we want to use.

Editing: Needing new footage

We came to realization when looking at all of our footage that we need more shots as when we were in Brighton the rain was really heavy and we had to stop filming outside. As a group we have all agreed we need something slightly different so it breaks away the typical urban atmosphere but at the same time we do not want it to take away the color levels and vibe we have from the footage we just shot otherwise it will look to contrasting and different, taking away the individuality of the prior shots.

Probelm with the tripod

When we first needed to use the tripod we realized there was something wrong with the leg of it. This was when we were trying to get the shot ready for Jem who was shooting his busking scene. We managed to play around with it and got it working but there was an error with one of the screws not allowing the leg of the tripod to lengthen out.

Calling the teacher

We had to call Nuray (the teacher) when we were in Brighton because of the bad weather conditions and we needed her opinion on what to do. Unfortunately, Nuray was on holiday and couldn't answer the phone call so we decided to sit down and work it out for ourselves. Although the weather agreed to be slightly cloudy it didn't mention any rain which got really bad.
We sat down and the closest seating area which is possible and agreed to change some of the shots we had already agreed on, which wasn't that much of a big deal but was difficult because the accessible areas to shoot were really busy because of the rain everyone was paraded inside.

Filming: Cast Issues with Raphi

Unfortunately, on of the members of the group who was friends with Raphi forgot to tell her until last minute that we needed her for the following day due to a muck up with the weather forecast. Raphi was unable to make the shoot and we had to shoot Jem all day instead. We got some good footage, we are slightly concerned as we aren't sure if the footage of Jem and Raphi in Brighton is enough to produce enough the music video.

We would of shot more on the next following days but we didn't have access to the gallery rooftop and we had to give the equipment to the next group because they were filming the next day.

Filming Day 1: Brighton (Bad Weather Conditions)

When we booked the trip to Brighton we checked the weather conditions prior to going. According to the BBC the weather was going to be bright and sunny. When we got to Brighton the weather was freezing and the sky was really grey, we carried on filming as if it wasn't an issue but some of the shots were ruined as we hoped there was lots of natural sunlight.

However, when we went to film on the pier we had about ten minutes till it started pouring down raining. This was really annoying as we couldn't film the rest we wanted to, we waited around for a few hours hoping the rain would eventually calm down or stop but it didn't and we had pre booked a train home around 4:00.

We have taken more shots to make up for the shots we didn't gain but we didn't get the sunlight shots which we would have preferred.

Filming Day 1: Brighton Photographs

Learning how to use the equipment

As we are filming next week, we all needed a reminder on how to use the equipment.

We can all remember from last year but it was good to refresh our memories to ensure that we are fully prepared for filming on Monday and Tuesday.

We all now feel confident with the equipment and are looking forward to shooting our video!

The night before the Brighton Shoot

The night before the shoot in Brighton we had to check to make sure we had everything and make sure it worked. We charged all the cameras again to make sure they were 100% charged so the battery would last the longest. I made sure my tickets were in my bag and everything was ready for the morning,

The record company- How are you going to sell the artist? How does the video increase chances of selling the song, or improving the artist’s profile?

We want to excel the artist with use of marketing, we want there to be merchandise which will help sell the artist, by wearing the clothing/merchandise it will get the artist out there and gain a bigger audience.

Social media will have a vital role in selling the artist; We will use an Instagram, Snap chat and Facebook which will increase the sales and improving the artists profile. This will help him become a worldwide star, and gain a bigger audience. 

Who are your other characters or cast? Who will you have and what do you want them to do? How will you direct them?

The first scene we will need a full band for the music video, we have Jem who will be doing the vocals for the music video and we will need the rest of the band. This will help create a boy band effect for our video and make the video feel more effective; by having a band it creates a more alive atmosphere.

Raphi, the girl who will be portraying the boys love interest will be there from the beginning of the video till the end. We will be directing them when we are on set, we want her to be playing hard to get but in the same way she will be affectionate.

The only other characters/cast we will be having will be on Monday when we shoot the rooftop for the party scene will be the other people we will be using to help create the dance/ gathering scene. 

Who are your other characters or cast? Who will you have and what do you want them to do? How will you direct them?

The first scene we will need a full band for the music video, we have Jem who will be doing the vocals for the music video and we will need the rest of the band. This will help create a boy band effect for our video and make the video feel more effective; by having a band it creates a more alive atmosphere.

Raphi, the girl who will be portraying the boys love interest will be there from the beginning of the video till the end. We will be directing them when we are on set, we want her to be playing hard to get but in the same way she will be affectionate.

The only other characters/cast we will be having will be on Monday when we shoot the rooftop for the party scene will be the other people we will be using to help create the dance/ gathering scene. 

Culturally,what will you be foregrounding or having as subtext in your video?

Jem will be an aspiring artist, like many people his age who will want to be a singer when they are older. This will be a target audience for the ages 16-25. The busking will be good to contribute to this as this is what young boys will do to live their dream.

Who are your other characters or cast? Who will you have and what do you want them to do? How will you direct them?

The first scene we will need a full band for the music video, we have Jem who will be doing the vocals for the music video and we will need the rest of the band. This will help create a boy band effect for our video and make the video feel more effective; by having a band it creates a more alive atmosphere.

Raphi, the girl who will be portraying the boys love interest will be there from the beginning of the video till the end. We will be directing them when we are on set, we want her to be playing hard to get but in the same way she will be affectionate.

The only other characters/cast we will be having will be on Monday when we shoot the rooftop for the party scene will be the other people we will be using to help create the dance/ gathering scene. 

How do we expect to enhance the emotional content of the video?

We will enhance the emotional content of the music through the use of the characters, props and the lighting. From the beginning when they first meet; this will create an emotional association to the viewer straight away. The shots with the sun we are using will create an romantic setting.

How do we expect to enhance the emotional content of the video?

We will enhance the emotional content of the music through the use of the characters, props and the lighting. From the beginning when they first meet; this will create an emotional association to the viewer straight away. The shots with the sun we are using will create an romantic setting.

How do we expect to enhance the emotional content of the video?

We will enhance the emotional content of the music through the use of the characters, props and the lighting. From the beginning when they first meet; this will create an emotional association to the viewer straight away. The shots with the sun we are using will create an romantic setting.

How will the lyrics feed into our video?

Our lyrics will feed into the video via the use of clear, distinctive visuals such as the sea side, which is evident with the words in the video. The lyrics set the story for the video, there is a lot of imagery of the set in the video which helps set the scene and atmosphere.

  

How will the lyrics feed into our video?

Our lyrics will feed into the video via the use of clear, distinctive visuals such as the sea side, which is evident with the words in the video. The lyrics set the story for the video, there is a lot of imagery of the set in the video which helps set the scene and atmosphere.

  

What categories of music video do you want to film?

We want to film two categories: performance and story. This will create a more emotional attachment to the viewer, as the lyrics have a romance story line the video will heighten the effect of what is taking place. Although we have our storyline which is evident through the lyrics and cast, we also want there to be performance which will heighten the effect of the music video. 

Concept- remember to include what is specific or unique to this video. What is the tone and atmosphere?

 

The concept of the music video consists of a typical teen romance storyline, involving a young couple played by Jem and Raphi. The filming locations will take place in the town of Brighton and Jealous studios rooftop in London Shoreditch. The beginning of the video will begin with Jem busking in Brighton, this is when the girl will walk past and catch his attention; this is when the story line will start and they will both be hooked on each other.  

We will be filming multiple scenes with the couple around the town; either holding hands, being affectionate and just looking very comfortable together. In between these shots we will be using the band which will be playing on the rooftop, this will break up the scenes and make the video feel more unpredictable. This will be followed on by the party which will be taken place towards the end of the music video; we will be using Jealous Studios’ Rooftop and we will be using fairy lights and props to make it look like a party. The atmosphere in each scene will feel completely different and this is the approach we wanted to take, making the video feel more contrasting and typical of a romance music video. 

Health and Safety: Risk assessment for filming

While we are filming we have to make sure of the following:

• A parent or guardian knows where we are all time for filming 
• Our production call sheet has listed emergency numbers and we know where the nearest emergency services are
• Some equipment (for example the lighting kit) will get very hot. We are aware of all the necessary precautions that will need to take place. 
• The Manfrotto tripods are extremely heavy and will take more than one person to put up and put down. 
• When we are in public, we will have to have a letter from school to say we are students (like an id, we will also keep a digital copy on my phone)
• We will take care in public, with equipment and ourselves, being mindful of traffic and others around us.
• If we are ask to move on by any official or public person, be gracious, apologize and move on. 

Health and Safety: Risk assessment for filming

While we are filming we have to make sure of the following:

• A parent or guardian knows where we are all time for filming 
• Our production call sheet has listed emergency numbers and we know where the nearest emergency services are
• Some equipment (for example the lighting kit) will get very hot. We are aware of all the necessary precautions that will need to take place. 
• The Manfrotto tripods are extremely heavy and will take more than one person to put up and put down. 
• When we are in public, we will have to have a letter from school to say we are students (like an id, we will also keep a digital copy on my phone)
• We will take care in public, with equipment and ourselves, being mindful of traffic and others around us.
• If we are ask to move on by any official or public person, be gracious, apologize and move on. 

Equipment List

Today we have chosen the equipment we will be using for our music video, we have chosen to use:

Manfrotto Tripod
Camcorder
Shoulder Mount
7D + 18.155
Canon XF 100

All of this equipment will be used to film on Monday and Tuesday. We went over in the lesson today how to work everything again and make sure we knew how to change the memory cards and charge the batteries on both cameras.

Booking our train tickets to Brighton

Here are the train times we are booking for our trip to Brighton on Tuesday 25th October 2015, we decided to leave at 9:00 and arrive at 10:42. We thought getting there early would be better then later, so we have time to look around Brighton and possible scout some more possible locations as we haven't been there before. So we can start properly filming around 12.00.

Then leaving at 9:00 gives us time if we want to do any sunset shots, we didn't want to have to worry about stressing when we were there; so this gives us all enough time to shoot as much as we need to.

Today 19.10.16

Today, Me Maddy and Wini were working on finishing our Story Boards and our Pitch. We only have the rest of this week before we start filming on Monday and Tuesday so we want to make sure everything is finished. We are also deciding today on the times we will leaving for Brighton on Tuesday and what time we will be returning so we will get the tickets booked later.

Today 19.10.16

Today, Me Maddy and Wini were working on finishing our Story Boards and our Pitch. We only have the rest of this week before we start filming on Monday and Tuesday so we want to make sure everything is finished. We are also deciding today on the times we will leaving for Brighton on Tuesday and what time we will be returning so we will get the tickets booked later.

'Oceans' Lyrics Annotations

Lyrics analysis of the song ‘oceans’ from sophiamusmarmedia

Biography about 'Coasts'

This is the band The Coasts whose song we will be using for our music video. Here are a few facts about the group:

• English Rock band formed in Bristol in 2011
• Consists of Chris Caines (Vocals), Liam Willford (Guitar), James Gamage (Bass), David Goulbourn (Keyboards) and Ben Street (Drums)
• "Oceans" has receives international media attention and has achieved over four million plays on SoundCloud
• Genres consist of Indie pop and Alternative Rock
• Members all met at Bath University and then moved to Bristol after they had finished and then formed their band

Reply from Coasts for 'Oceans' permission

Here is the message we sent to the band Coasts on facebook, we kept it quite simple and they have agreed to let us use it which is good news,they also have around 1.4 million views on youtube with their own video so it will be exciting when its done to send to them and overall see the comparisons from theirs to ours.

What did we do today? 10.10.16

Today in class, Me, Maddy and Wini discussed the changes in our music video. Now that we have properly picked the song we are going to use we used all the pre-planning notes we had before and tried to adjust them to make sure they will work with the new song. Our new song 'Oceans' by Coats is a similar storyline (love) but it's about being by the ocean, which is good for us so we decided we are going to go for the day to Brighton to film. The beaches there will work perfectly and they have a pier which would be good for Jem's busking. We had to speak to Jem today to make sure he was okay with the following changes: Going to Brighton for the day, having to learn the new lyrics for the song within the space of two weeks, changing his styling and just confirming the dates for filming. Now we will start annotating the lyrics and make sure to be getting on with our story board.

Styling Mood Board

Styling moodboard.pptx maddy from sophiamusmarmedia

Location Mood Boards

Rooftop moodboard 1 from sophiamusmarmedia

Using Coats song 'Oceans

Coasts - Oceans from Duncan Roe on Vimeo.

We were looking on Soundcloud for options for our music video and came across the band Coats. The song is indie/alternative rock so it is similar to the songs we had before, we have emailed them and they have agreed to letting us use the song.

Group Discussion: Can we get the song finished in time?

In our group we have been discussing the song. Jem said today the song might not be completely finished, so we had to think about either using the song he produced and wrote himself which lasts 2:53 minutes. The song we have heard already is really well recorded and sounds good so we would like to use that; unless we pressure Jem to get the full song recorded in a recording studio in time.

The other option is to use a cover he has done but then the song will not sound as authentic and we will have to change the whole story line for the song.  

Pre: Styling Mood Board

Here is a basic 'Styling Mood Board' of what we want our artists style to look like. This was just a simple one to get an idea of what we all wanted and we will put up a more detailed one closer to the time.

Styling mood board from sophiamusmarmedia

Looking and discussing locations for our music video

We spoke to Jem yesterday and discussed the whole prospect for our music video; and where explained to him where we wanted to shoot and why. Jem does busking by London Bridge because that's where he lives; he showed us a video of him busking and the location was really good for our music video. In the back ground there was lots going on and there is a great view of The River Thames. This will add some authenticity to our video and will look really good with the rest of the locations we currently have planned.

Here attached is the video of Jem busking so you get the idea of why we wanted to use this for our video:

Pre-Production Planning

Yesterday, we booked the artist for our music video and made sure he was available for the dates we wanted. We talked through with him the ideas for the music video; the pitch, styling and changing the lyrics as prior he had explicit language. He agreed this was okay and is gonna send a clean set of lyrics through to us so we can start our timeline for the music video.

Screen Testing: Choosing our artist

Here we took a few candid photos of our new artist Jeremy Sanderson-Nash who is going to be in our music video and we are also using his own song. This is going to work really well because he will already know the lyrics; so he will be really good with singing it and knowing it already. 

Jealous Studio: Photographs of Location for Shoot

Here are some of the photographs of the studio where we will be using the roof to shoot some of our video.The song we are using is about 'Love' so it will work really well when we shoot. 

Jealous Studio: Photographs of Location for Shoot

Here are some of the photographs of the studio where we will be using the roof to shoot some of our video.The song we are using is about 'Love' so it will work really well when we shoot. 

Codes and Conventions of Music Videos: Andrew Goodwin Theorist

Andrew Goodwin
'Codes and Conventions of Music Videos'
Taken from "Dancing in the Distraction Factory" 1992

Key Features:
1) Music Videos demonstrates certain genre characteristics
2) There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals
3) There is a relationship  between music and visuals
4) The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artists.
5) Artists may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work
6) Frequent reference to the motion of 'looking' (screens within screens, filming, cameras) and particularly voyeuristic (pleasure through looking) treatment through the female body.
7) Often inter textual references- mostly to film, television and popular cultures.

The Three Second Rule

The three second rule in a music video technique used to rule when editing, each part of the music video in different locations is used for only three seconds per switch of shot. This isn't a rule that is popular nowadays amongst all music video's however, it is still a rule that applies to most pop/hip hop videos especially used by artist such as Nicki Minaj.

Why I chose my group?

I chose to work with Wini and Maddy because we have similar interests in what we wanted to shoot and the genre of music we wanted to work with. Also each of us will benefit from working together; Maddy has good locations to shoot, Wini is good with the camera and I have extra equipment and like to edit. We also have similar timetables as we take mostly all the same subjects; Media, Photography and English; although Maddy also takes Psychology so we will also have to work around her by probably editing outside of school time. So far we have all worked really well together, we all have each our on individual ideas which combine well together...We are really excited to start filming!

Disecting 'The Music Video'

The music video for 'Whenever, Wherever' was directed by Francis Lawrence all in front of a green screen and features Shakira; whom is surrounded by the earth's natural wonders. The video begins with her being submerged in the ocean, before leaping out onto the surrounding rocks and observing a landscape of mountains; a falcon swoops down towards her.
Then she proceeds to walk barefoot into the desert, where she is soon seen dancing amid a stampede of horses.

The stampede suddenly stops; Shakira kneels into a shallow pool of mud, and then begins crawling through it. As the video comes to its conclusion, she is seen on top of a snowy mountain before jumping off, decending into water and submerging herself once more, as the video comes full circle.

Research: Choosing our song

For picking our music video we looked at using Lola Aviva which is a friend of each of ours. We did our research and looked at her music page on Sound cloud: https://soundcloud.com/lola-aviva All of her songs start off really good but we weren't sure when we came to the introduction of her singing we would want to use it for the music video. This is due to the fact it might not have been recorded well and the lyrics didn't fit the persona for the music video.
We had this idea of using Maddy's dads studio in Shoreditch, he has a rooftop which has signs on it and we pictured using that for the video; but Lola's music wouldn't of have fit the criteria.

Country Music

Country Music Originated in southern states of America Comes from folk blues and western music Often consists of ballads and dance tunes with generally simple forms and harmonies During 1970-1990 the genre changed, merging with genres such as pop and rock making the genres country rock and country pop Most songs tell a story, about love and loss The videos, therefore, also often try to narrate the lyrics.

RnB Music

History of R&B Music 40s+50's
-Integration of country and city blues styles
-Use of electronice or amplified instruments
-Rhytm and blues music was very popular in the African American community in the post- WWII years.

During the '50's R&B was dominated by vocalists like Ray Charles and Ruth Brown, as well as vocal groups like The Drifters and The Coasters

Ruth Brown- Tears Keep Tumbling Down
Ray Charles- Hit The Road Jack

60s and 70s

-R&B turned more into soul music
-Artists began to stylize their music in different ways. This started to happen in different regions in America, where different areas produced different kind of soul.
-More animated/ dancing performances
-Stevie Wonder 'Superstition'

Types of Soul:
Gospel
R&B
Rock & Roll

Soul began to split into different styles. Artists such as James Brown and Sly Stone developed 'funk' and people such as Kenny Gamble  and Leon Huff started off Philly Soul. R&B- turned to disco

80's and 90s (Music Video Era)

-TLC 'No Scrubs'
-By the time of the millenium- rapping was introduced

2000s

- In the early 2000's, R&B became more modern due to artists such as Beyonce, Rihanna adding a more pop genre feel.

Hip-Hop Music

During the 40's - 80's, New York introduced Hip-Hop into the party scene by having MC's rapping over DJ sets. There is a documentary programme on Netflix called 'The Get Down'. 

 

Most of the music videos in hip-hop have a similar aesthetic. They usually have a small crew, with minimal editing to the video and a low production value.

 

During the early 90's, hip hop began to present itself with a more 'gangster' reputation. For example, artists selling drugs to get by/criminals etc. 

 

ARTISTS:

Snoop Dog 

Spike Jones        etc

 

During the early 2000's, it started to focus more on the styling of the artists, which is what then made hip-hop into its own 'lifestyle'. Focused on jewellery, money, cars, location, style.

Psychedelic Music

Psychedelic Music

• 1960s influenced by psychedelic culture of LSD and shrooms
• Jimi Hendrix-Purple haze 1967 one of the first music videos.
• Not a music genre in itself, steal from lots of other genres to create hybrid genres.
• Psychedelic folk, David Bowie, the genre favoured acoustic instruments. 
• Psychedelic rock attempt to enhance and replicate the experience of psychedelic drugs.  Such as the Beatles.
• Glam rock, bohemian rhapsody Queen, varied between simple and complex rock n’ roll which was influenced by psychedelic rock. Innovative music video at the time, new technology and advanced editing for its time. 
• -Psychedelic pop, blend of psychedelic and pop; melodic songs with tight song structures.

Indie Muisc

Indie music consists of independent artists and record labels attempting to separate themselves from  mainstream 'pop' music. They usually try to break away from large institutions because they want to be independent and allowed to create the music they desire. This can also be described as the 'DIY' attitude, because the artists do it themselves, or at least try to. 

Alternitive music became more popular in the 1990's when musicians would make music, however still be part of a commercial music label/record company. In other words, they still make music classified under the genre of 'indie', but don't agree with the philosophy of it. 

In recent years 'Indie' music has become more and more mainstream, due to their labels and artists such as Rough Trade and people such as Mumford & Sons etc. It has also had an increasing popularity within the younger generation, due to artists such as Ed Sheeran, and groups including The Black Keys and Vampire Weekend. 

Indie music includes many sub-genre's such as indie rock, indie pop and indie folk. 

Indie rock:
started in 1980's in the US and UK. 
includes groups such as The Smiths, The Strokes and Nirvana - who were one of the most famous rock groups of all time, mainly due to the lead singer Kurt Cobain and his own story. 
Indie rock also slightly removes it's self from the aggression that pure rock carries with it as a lifestyle. 
Their music videos usually have a similar aesthetic. Low key lighting, usually them on stage or performing their songs, focuses a lot on the instruments e.g drums, guitar etc. 

Indie pop:
started in the 70's, includes groups such as Vampire Weekend, Bastille etc. 
Indie pop music videos usually have a narrative/story to them. 

Indie folk:
started in the 90's. 
Took inspiration from country music, folk music and jazz. 
People such as Bon Iver and Mumford And Sons.