My Song Ideas

Today we were placed into our groups for the final task and in my group is: Angel, Georgia, Charlie and myself. Now that we are in our groups we have to start to look into which song we would like to use for the music video part of the promotional package. This would therefore help us decide upon a genre and then an overall image for the artist. However before looking at songs we found out that Charlie and Georgia did not want to perform meaning that the song we chose almost had to have female vocals, in order for us to be efficient in the future.
Whilst trying to choose a couple of songs to pitch to my group there were some rules we had to follow, these were:
1. It can not already have a music video
2. They original artist of the song can not be too well known
3. You should try to avoid songs where the artist has a really recognisable voice e.g. Ellie Goulding

This is my song choice pitch:

Student Video Marking

Today in class we looked at this year's mark scheme for the first time. We began to look at the difference between each of the Levels and what we would expect to see from a music video of each of these standards. We particularly looked at what is expected from a Level 4 standard of work, which is a step up from last year, because the idea for this year is for it to be professional and be able to survive as sufficient advertisement for a song in the real music industry.
Along with this we also learnt that the marks are more split this time. This is because marks are also awarded for a website and a digi pack, alongside the music video production, which is due to the task being a promotional package task, rather than just a production task.
However, this lesson we only looked primarily at past student's music videos and looking at the mark scheme, mark them out of 40. This is what is required, from the mark scheme, in order to do well
The video that I have decided to mark is Insomnia:

I thought that the video started very strong with the drops of water falling from the tap because it involved thought beats and therefore created an intense and well thought about opening. However even though I did understand the narrative, therefore showing it was portrayed clearly, it became a bit boring after a while as it was all in extremely dull colour tones with a greyish feel throughout all the narrative clips. I think that the lip syncing was completed really well by the performer, but when it was on the performer there needed to be more variation of shot and more movement, especially as it was just him on a black background.Also it would have been even better if you could have been able to see more of his face, as the lighting was poor causing you to only see half his face.

Overall I think that the music video was proficient, and held much of the appropriate camerawork and visuals to be a music video, along with conscious editing. This meant that it showed signs of being a good video. However at times it felt a little bit more like a short film to me and the locations and long length of certain shots made it obvious that it was not a music video of professional standard.
With all this in mind I awarded this video a Level 3 and 23-25 marks.

Cross Media Branding

As our final task is to create a promotional package for the music industry, it is important that we look at cross media branding as this plays a major role in completing a promotional package, because it can help you to create an artists image and overall specific look. This can therefore make the artist be seen as more realistic and as if they really are artists.
For this to occur, you have to look at the colours, font, costumes, lighting and setting. These are focused on in great detail because if these maintain consistent throughout the Album, Website and Single an artist's image can be portrayed and easily sold to the audience as a specific genre.

Examples of where Cross Media Branding has taken place include with Daft Punk, Ellie Goulding and Disclosure. They all have a continued theme throughout their recent albums and this helped to portray across the type of artists they are and the genre of music they produce.

After completing this research on Cross Media Branding, I have realised that the selling of the single and artist's Star Image can not purely be completed through a single music video. It has further enabled me to see that an equal amount of time needs to be taken in all parts of our final task including the website and Digi Pack, if the overall project is going to be successful, as it all adds together to create a theme for the artist and therefore easily show the genre to the consuming audience.

Previous Student Videos

In order to make as best a music video as we can, it is important that we look in depth at previous videos. This is because then we are able to see what is possible and realistic for us to complete and also what mistakes we should try to avoid. It can also further help me to see a greater variety music video genres and therefore get a better feel into what a music video should look like.
The music video which I have decided to look into is 'No Sleep Tonight':



Banana Phone Editing Practice

Over the last couple of weeks we had to put into practice what we have learnt about music video filming and editing. We filmed in groups where certain shots were required, these shots were:

1. Filming a person sitting down with the monitor window open and with another camera film the monitor.
2. Depth of field task- This is how we had to do it:
•  Do a distance little and large shot so that someone looks very small in the background and another very large.
•  Place an object like a cup or a ball down maybe with grass background - place the camera level with the object quite far away and then zoom into it so the object is sharp but the camera is blurred. 
• Place your artist in the background and add various cut out props to the foreground to float around the artist.
3. Reverse Shot- While the artist is singing get them to walk carefully backwards, but to add excitement to the shot add obstacles for jumping over and ball throwing so it can be reversed.
4. Wheelchair / Tripod – we are going to simulate tracking and dolly shots. Camera on wheelchair film artist moving towards you singing to camera one take 30 seconds.
5. Tripod shot – raise the front leg of the tripod so the camera is pushed forward on the back legs.
6. Lego stop motion – 30 still shots of Lego action (one second each)

Once we had achieved these shots we had to then individually go away and edit the footage we received, certain types of editing were recommended for us to try. These were the ones recommended:

1. Cloning Edits
2. Split Screen
3. Blurred Background
4. Make an object or person colour and the rest in black and white
5. Titles

Once we completed these we also try other effects of our own choice the ones which I completed were 'Distort', 'Ghosting' and 'Reverse'.

Here is my final edit of Banana Phone:

I thought that most of the editing which I completed was smooth and made the video to this song fun, fitting to the genre/ theme of silly of the song. My favourite parts of this video are the shots where ghosting takes place, with the banana in the foreground and also the stop motion shots at the beginning. However if I was going to do task again I would try to improve the cloning shots. This is because even though the cloning did work, with three different shots beginning in one, it was not as clean and professional as I would like it to be. Furthering on from this, it was not as professional as I would have liked because the lighting was different in each of the shots, so you could see where I had cut the artist out using the 'Six Point Matte'. To improve this for next time, I would be more aware of the lighting when shooting cloning shots and would avoid completing it on an inconsistent day for the weather.

Audience- How I Consume Music

How do you consume music?

When? do you have a daily music routine? Is some music more suitable at a certain time of day than another?

I normally like to listen to music throughout a lot of the day, when I am allowed to. This has caused me to develop almost a routine as to when I listen to music and the type of music I listen to. More specifically in the mornings, when I wake up and get ready for school I like to have Capital Radio playing in the background, as it helps to make me feel more awake as they play charts music so it is normally upbeat. Then I also listen to music from my playlist whilst travelling to and from school on the school bus this is also fairly upbeat and quite mainstream too. However when I am at school I only really listen to music during my study and free periods, although this music is normally much slower and calmer so that it doesn't distract me from the work which I am trying to complete. Then in the evenings which is usually before I go to various sporting activities or training I listen to upbeat music again, so that I feel like I have more energy to go and use in the sport.

Where?

 Most of the time I listen to music in my bedroom as a lot of the time I listen to music when I am getting ready. Also in my parents car they always have the radio on so I listen to a lot of music in the car too. However when I am home alone I will have the music playing wherever I am in the house, whether that be the kitchen or the living room.

Who with? do you share your music or is it an individual experience?

I majority wise listen to music on my own because apart from at parties or gigs I am on my own when I listen to music or have headphones in, so it does make it a more individual experience.

How?

I listen to music in a great variety of ways because I listen to the radio and the playlist on my phone/ iPod, however a lot of the time I listen to music to create a background noise which can help me to concentrate better or to make what I am doing more enjoyable, e.g. waking up for school or cooking. This is because I do not like to be doing something in silence when on my own.

 

Why? What are the pleasures associated with music consumption? What does it offer the audience and what needs does it gratify?
Listening to music for many people is a way of escapism and is able to take your mind off other things. Also listening to music can help you concentrate as it can be relaxing and soothing. However one pleasure that can be associated with listening to music is that it can get you excited and more alert, especially if the music is very upbeat or you really enjoy the listening to a particular artist.

Uses and Gratifications Theory: 

Personal Identification - When I used to get angry with my parents I used to blast songs that would express how I feel and that would make me feel better
 

Information - When I was younger I used to watch Horrible Histories and one way they taught the information was through song. The one particular song that I still remember now is 'My Name is Charles II', because it was catchy and the video that went with it, at the time I found it quite funny.
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Entertainment - When I am at home, if I am bored or not doing anything, I enjoy to listen to upbeat chart music either from spotify or from Capital's internet radio, because it cheers me up and can help me to relax. This is because as they are mainstream songs I am able to hum, sing and enjoy myself.
 

Social Interaction - When I go on trips with my friends, normally to do with sports trips/ tours, over the time we are there we begin to associate a certain song that was played a lot, that we enjoyed with the trip and so when as a team we are all together we like to play hose songs, or all sing along and laugh about it when if it does come on.

Director Study

Today we looked into a famous music director. I have looked into and learnt about Hannah Lux Davis. Directors play a huge role in creating music videos because they are the ones who can determine how the artist is portrayed across to the audience and how their music is represented through the artist and this can affect the artist's target audience. Also if the director does not portray the music well it can end up in the music video not being successful in the means of advertising the artist's single.

Hannah Lux Davis is very creative and successful in her creations. This has lead to her to specialize in a single genre, pop, and draw in similar artists to create a music video for each time.