Fashion and Props Planning

Lyric Analysis

From doing a lyric analysis, I was able to get a better understand about the lyrics and their meanings. Overall, the lyrics seem to create a narrative of trying to get over a failed relationship, however, it become seemingly difficult for the main protagonist to overcome and causes him to lose control over his emotions. This has helped us develop a more fitting narrative for our music video, as we now have something to base our narrative off and we believe that by using the lyrics to influence our narrative, we will be able to create a strong link between the song and the video, which will ultimately make it more enjoyable to watch and easily to understand. This also gives us the opportunity for us to use some lip syncing scenes that will emphasise the scene and lyrics.

Slow Motion Experimentation

Doing this game us a glimpse into how slow-motion works. We plan to use slow-motion in our music video so we felt the need to test it. Here we used the IPhone slow-motion setting to film in. For our music video we plan to use the slow-motion setting from within imovie as it gives you more options as to where to specifically use it, which is not offered by using the IPhone setting. This will also mean that we are able to use any camera instead of being restricted to just using the IPhone one. We will use this opportunity to use a high quality camera that will give our music video a good look and allow our slow-motion parts to be of a high standard.

Genre Research

- The music video is completely narrative based and has no artist representation to it. Song is about two homosexuals being chased down by thugs because of their sexuality. The music video has a powerful narrative which highlights the difficulties of being gay in this society. The video does not just focus on the negatives of being gay, they also show the powerful love that the couple have for each other.

The music video includes a lot of cuts and jump cuts which helps the audience to see more of the narrative in three minutes. The music video also has some continuity editing to show the scene of people running. This is editing technique is one way of keeping the audience up with the narrative. For the whole music video the director has chosen to place the film in black and white. the editing for the running scene is fast paced show the frantic nature of the situations they are desperate to get away from the thugs chasing them. This shows the audience that this event has already happened and it is part of our history. The dark colours also show the evil that is within the world and what the couple in this video have to overcome to be excepted. Low angle shots are use for the gang to show that they are the dominant characters. the low angle also emphasises the dangerous nature of the gang because they are overpowering the shot with a dark background.

The song is a about a man not getting the woman he adores which he is alone. The visuals in the video portray this well because the facial expressions from the artist suggests he feels deserted and lonely. the Music video is quite slow but it flows brilliantly with the tempo of the song is slow as well. When the two characters meet, the boy singing is put in the dark, as he becomes sad and upset that he has lost the girl he loves. Whilst the two characters who are now together are covered in bright lights. There are a lot of close ups of the artist Calum Scott. This is effective because it shows the artists pain and emotion in the artists face as he is standing on his own. The artist closes his eyes throughout the song showing his emotion and putting his feeling across to the audience.




From doing this we now have a better understanding of the Indie/Rock genre, which will help us with our planning of our music video. This has also shown us the frequently used camera angles, editing techniques, and certain uses of mise en scene. By knowing these things they have given us inspiration on how the we can use them in our own music video and how it will make it more suiting to the specific genre.

Artist / Record Label

James Lewis

Video and Lyrics

Video:


Lyrics:

[Spoken]
So, what would you little maniacs like to do first?

[Verse 1]
Watching through my fingers
Watching through my fingers
Shut my eyes and count to ten
It goes in one ear out the other
One ear out the other
Burning bright right till the end
Now you’ll be missing from the photographs
Missing from the photographs

[Verse 2]
Watching through my fingers
Watching through my fingers
In my thoughts you’re far away and you are whistling a melody
Whistling a melody
Crystallizing clear as day, oh I can picture you so easily
Picture you so easily

[Pre-chorus]
What’s gonna be left of the world if you’re not in it
What’s gonna be left of the world oh

[Chorus]
Every minute and every hour
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more!
Every stumble and each misfire
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more!

Watching through my fingers
Watching through my fingers

[Verse 3]
Caught off guard by your favorite song
I’ll be dancing at a funeral, dancing at a funeral
Sleeping in the clothes you love
It’s such a shame we had to see them burn
Shame we had to see them burn

[Pre-chorus]
What’s gonna be left of the world if you’re not in it
What’s gonna be left of the world oh

[Chorus]
Every minute and every hour
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more
Every stumble and each misfire
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more

[Spoken]
If you want to be a party animal

You have to learn to live in the jungle.

Now stop worrying and go and get dressed.

[Bridge]
You might have to excuse me
I’ve lost control of all my senses
And you might have to excuse me
I’ve lost control of all my words
So get drunk, call me a fool, put me in my place, put me in my place
Pick me up, up off the floor, put me in my place, put me in my place

[Chorus]
Every minute and every hour
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more
Every stumble and each misfire
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more

[Outro]

Watching through my fingers, watching through my fingers
Cause every minute and every hour
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more

Source: http://www.directlyrics.com/bastille-good-grief-lyrics.html

Permission

8.4 - Change In Music Consumption

TImeToast Link

8.2

8.1 - Music Video Audience Research

To gather the information need about the audience who watch music videos, we created a questionnaire and had a group of students discuss music videos;

• Do you watch music video? If so, where?
• Why do you watch them? If you don't, why don't you?
• What do you like to see in them (Performance, Narrative, eat)? Why?
• Do you download them? If so, how do you?

8.3 - Students Video Discussion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLuboFoQeI7kiNDVRjsRV8lPX2V0owg6Kn&v=lw84s0iFF2I

- Students Video Being Discussed.

Thinking Of A Concept / Song

(Credit Ali Grimsell)

(Credit James Lewis)



After a discussion with my group, we have decided that Bastille's 'Good Grief' would be the best choice. This is because the positives and negatives of choosing this song still worked best for us in comparison to Bruno Mars' 'Lazy Song' and Foster The People's 'Houdini'. We felt that 'Good Grief' would allows us to create a song narrative and/or performance based video.

7.4

7.3

POP



The 'Pop' genre is very successful and has a lot of popular artists, including Lady Gaga, P!nk, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake and Katy perry. The Pop industry is well known for its presentation of attractive women, which are usually presented through close ups and medium shots to show their body and facial features. The Pop genre is largely populated based around women artists, which helps attract a female demographic. However, due to the depiction of women from the pop genre, where there are presented in limited clothing, they can be seen as objects to attract the 'male gaze' from the male audience. Moreover, Pop has a large female demographic due to the powerful message  and the female rights each female artist promotes. This encourages women to feel powerful.
The stereotypes of  women artist in pop genre are usually seen as seductive and powerful, this helps attract a male and female demographic. This stereotype of female artists is creates through their clothing, body language and their lyrics from music videos and concerts. On the other hand, Male artists are portrayed as strong and handsome. They are given this stereotype due to the way they are presented in their music videos and the media.
Furthermore, Men and women are presented very differently in their music videos, for example in taylor swifts music video Bad Blood, women are presented and being very powerful and high skilled. Additionally male artist, such as Justin Timberlake, are presented as being a gentleman and handsome. These images in contrast to the rap genre where men are presented as powerful and rich and women are presented as submissive and as items, is very different.

Codes and Conventions Commonly used in the POP videos:

• Populated settings (e.g parties)
• Props; instruments, expensive items (e.g cars, boats, Houses)
• Costumes are usually bright and colourful
• Fashionable hairstyles
• Mix of performance and Narrative
• Scenes follow the lyrics
• Relations or love interest
• Multiple locations
• Fast cuts to match the beat

Here are some example of Male and Female Pop Artists videos:




ROCK

The Rock genre has some of the biggest names of artists and bands there is the music industry including, AD/DC, Bon Jovi, David Bowie, Slash, Nirvana, Queen and Ozzy Osbourne. The Rock genre is Heavily male based, however some popular female artists include, Stevie Nicks, Joan Jett and Lita Ford. Moreover, the music videos used for rock videos are largely performance based and often feature their live performances. For a genre highly populated by men, they are portrayed as both, powerful in their position but also very skilled in the profession, an example is their extreme guitar solos. 
Furthermore, the most popular stereotypes in the rock industry are drugs, violence and rebellion. These are the emphasis the rockstar life style and their carefree lives. A lot of the classic rock artists also give satanic connotations, this is shown through Ozzy Osbournes music.
The previous stereotypes talked about are all featured through the rock music videos and are usually used to help emphasis the instrumentals and the narrative. A lot of rock music lyrics cover the genre it's self, but sometimes a narrative is portray in the videos which help emphasise  the lyrics.

Codes and conventions commonly used in rock videos:

• Long instrumentals
• Performances based
• Usually bands
• Tattoos and piercings
• Black or dark clothing
• Low-key lighting
• Setting often consists of dark, grungy, wrecked places
• Uses a lot of dark scenes

Here are some examples of Music videos from the rock genre:






HIP-HOP

The Hip-Hop genre has been around since the 1970's where and has produced a lot a successful artists, including, Kanye West, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, 50 Cent, 2 Chainz, Jay Z, Nicki Minaj and Kendrick Lamar. These artist have all helped increases the Hip-Hop fan base with there lyrics and performances. Most Hip-Hop artists sing about similar topics, which are either their old lifestyles and how it was living like that or their current lifestyle and their success. There music attracts a wide range of audience, but could be seen as a hypodermic model which is used by young people currently living in the 'hood' that use a music video created by the Hip=Hop artist as a form of escape, where are are surrounded be beautiful women and money. Link on from this, In a lot of Hip-Hop music videos, It is usually performance based, where the artists walks around their success, featuring lots of women and expensive props. This creates a bad image for women, as they are presented in minimal clothing and acting seductive, which portrays them as submissive and objects. Whereas, men/the artist are presented as wealthy and powerful. This is achieved by having them is expensive clothing and drinking lots of champaign, while partying.
Moreover, the general stereotype of the hip-Hop genre are violence, money, drugs and misogyny. This is because of their lyrics where there refer to the violence being a solution and women being a prize. A lot of lyrics refer to selling drugs to make a living, which is used to help emphasise their past and the economy they came from.

Codes and conventions commonly used in Hip-Hop videos:

• Lots of close ups and low angles shots
• Dancing
• Expensive jewellery
• Lots os materialist
• References to wealth
• Sometimes black and white
• Drunkness, drugs and sex
• Links between lyrics and video
• Looking/Voyeurism

Here are some example of music videos from the Hip-Hop Genre:

7.2

Foster The People - Call It What You Want - Performance

creen="true" width="425" height="344">

Call It What You Want begins with a long instrumental where the viewer is able to get a good sense of the setting and location, which is a mansion-like house, yet, not in a good state. The cast features the band and a group of women. The majority of the video is performance based however there is a slight narrative to help keep the video progressing. The editing uses fast paced cuts between shots to match the face paced beat of the music. The videos use of high-key lighting and props give a sense of wealth and high-class, yet, this with the mess and destruction around the house suggests their reckless lifestyle.  Through the use of zooms and pans, the audiences view of the band is much more board as it doesn't just stick to medium shots and close ups. Therefore, these camera movements bring in Blumer and Katz's theory of use and gratifications. Additionally, Andrew Goodwin's amplification theory supports this music video due to the lyrics meaning of having their ideas caged in is being emphasised through the actions portrayed in the video. This is effective as it links the lyrics and the music video together and creates a more immersive experience for the audience. Goodwin's Idea of having close ups to help the audience appreciate the lead singer is also relevant throughout this video due to the effective amount of close ups representing each member of the band, helping create and image and a brand.


Fatboy Slim - Weapon Of Choice - Performance


Fatboy slim is a performance based music video, where Christopher Walken dances around a hotel. This video is successful due to it's well performed choreography and its smooth editing. The variety of camera angles used and the help emphasis the setting and the actors moves. For the majority of the video the actor is positioned in the centre of the screen, which makes him the main attraction. Being able to direct an entire video with one focus is achieved by his unnatural behaviour. This is enhanced by the unpopulated surroundings and the variety of locations used. Through the creative cinematography and performing to the camera throughout the video makes the songs message much clearer to the audience.
Furthermore, the special effects used to help Christopher Walken fly around and float creates a more interesting performance to keep the audience engaged. The use of high key lighting and the fast paced cutting combine with the constantly moving actor, helps suit the face paced beat of the music and gives it cheerful connotations. also, the mise-en-scene of the interior is richly designed, which creates a contrast with the performance and the stereotypical attitude expected in such a place.
This music video could be considered humorous due to the actions involved, for example the mannerism and choreography of the dancing is very over the top giving a comical feel. 

Justin Timberlake - Mirrors - Performance and Narrative


Justin Timerlake's song 'Mirrors' is a mix of narrative and performance. The performance parts are mainly used to help emphasis the narrative and the lyrics. The narrative is presented but cutting between shots of a young and old couple. Which is used to emphasis the progression in their relationship. The wide range of camera angles used, such as close ups and wise shots, help show the emotions of the actors. Moreover, along with the strong narrative, the editing used to support it is well timed with the beat of the music, which creates a smooth transition between scenes, helping the narrative stay clear and understandable for the audience. Justin Timberlake's performance at the end of the music video help bring a summary to the narrative and lyrics. The final setting of the mirrors helps emphasis the lyrics and creates and interesting concept to the video. 
Moreover, the use of dull and bright colours to portray the young and old couples create a binary opposite between the ages and how things change, this makes to separate atmospheres for the music video, which keeps the audience and gives them divided portrayals to support the lyrics.

This music video links with Tvzentan Todorov's Equilibrium theory, for instance the video begins with Todorov's:

 STAGE 1 - The Equilibrium - Everything is fine in the video as it shows a normal looking club where people are playing snooker.

STAGE 2 - The Disruption - We are quickly shown clips of a couple in distress, connoting that something has gone wrong.

STAGE 3 - Recognition - The recognition seem to come from the female character sat on the bed who then makes the first moves it what seems to be a uncomfortable situation.

STAGE 4 - Attempt to Repair - The attempt to repair looks as if they are trying to repair their relationship, this is shown through the different couples kissing, which represent the couple at different stages of life.

STAGE 5 - New Equilibrium - The new equilibrium appears to be centred around marriage, this is because of the montage of  shots showing a ring and the couple being happy. This connotes that the couple have dealt with the trouble in their relationship and are going to progress forward together. It is clear that the story has a drastic change by seeing the changing is actions and expressions shown in the clips. 


Maroon 5 - Animals - Narrative


Animals is a narrative based music video which include aspect of performance, like singing. The narrative cover the story of a man obsessively stalking a women he finds attractive. The video begins in the setting of a butchers shop, where both key characters are present. Throughout the video the setting is constantly changing, which emphasis the extremes the man will go through. Along with the scenes of the men following the woman, it switched back to his room and butchers shop where pictures of her hang. This gives a very disturbing mood and atmospheres, but also expresses the narrative and the mind of the key actor. The narrative is supported with a wide variety of different camera angle and movements which help keep the story flowing and interesting. The scene where the man is stood out side of the woman apartment taking pictures allows the viewer to experience his position, but also how uncomfortable the situation is. Finally, the performance side of the video fits well with the narrative and the flow of the video as it is used to emphasise the guys feelings, therefore, the video and the lyrics work really well together to for this unsettling journey. 
The narrative of 'Animals' makes the audience question the male protagonists intentions and whether they appear innocent or not.


Ed Sheeran - The A Team - Narrative


Ed Sheeran's 'The A Team' is a completely narrative based music video, as it follows the story of a homeless girl and her struggles with drugs.. The video contains no performance, unlike many other videos. It manages to be successful as it has a really well scripted narrative that the audience find interesting to watch. The video is filmed in black and white, which give connotations of depression and loneliness. As well as this, it the audience a sense of life in the 'dark'. which emphasises the narrative of the story and drug abuse in general. The video uses quite slow editing between cuts, this is effective due to the slow pace of the song. The choice of costume and actress works well with the narrative as it creates a more sympathetic mood and atmosphere. 
Furthermore, the wide range of camera angles used and the change in settings help illustrate the narrative and lyrics. With the use of black and white it helps the narrative progress, as it gives the effect of more action. Mover, although it is not clear, their is a binary opposite presented between the hard hitting narrative of drugs and prostitution vs the songs innocence and her friend. There is also a constant contrast between the female and the others around her.

7.1

Analysis Of Students Videos, Digipaks And Adverts

Learning Comment:
After completing this task I have learnt; what genre makes the best videos, what codes and conventions are most pleasing and why it is important to use a range of camera angles.
Here is a list of aspects I feel the need to include in the production of my music video:

• A wide range of camera angles and movement
• Good props and costumes
• Correct lighting
• synergy between the music and the video's narrative
• clean and creative editing
• Visual effects (Animation/Stop motion, Photoshop, Text, Filters)
• Actors/Actresses that fit the role (This helps towards the flow of the music video as it's better if the singer looks more natural)
• Well timed lip syncing (This could ruin the video is not done accurately)