Media Texts influencing my Music Video

Some of these music videos are not of the same genre as the music I am using in my music video. However, it is the style of the music videos that I am looking at, the way the videos have been edited and just general ideas. I am also looking at costume and makeup in these videos.

Rihanna- We Found Love ft. Calvin Harris

There are a lot of good ideas in this video which I have looked at to include in my music video. I like how there is a lot of different locations in the video and it is quite unrealistic, quite a few parts of the video have been edited so that it is played faster, this means that a lot more clips were able to fit into the video.

 

I think this closeup shot of an eye looks incredible because of the detail. I have thought about zooming into an eye then changing the location of my model and zooming back out again.

 

This is a simple idea which looks really effective in Rhianna's video, its is used 3 times throughout the video with different imageseach time. It is basically just different images projected onto a blank wall. I think this technique would be useful to use in my music video as it will be easier to shoot indoors because you wouldnt have to rely on weather conditions as you would shooting outdoors.

I like the idea of using text in my music video, or even the lyrics of the song. I think something like this would look effective as it is aesthetically pleasing and eye catching to the viewer. This is quite a simple idea as it is just a sparkler however it has been edited into lyrics.

Coldplay- The Scientist

 

I love the special effects in this video. Most of the video has been shot with the artist actually learning and singing the song backwards then this has been reversed in the editing process so that he is singing the song normally but is walking backwards. I think this idea could be used in many different ways and generate a lot of ideas for my own music video. I find this 'backwards' effect fasciniating and also think that it gives an unrealistic dreamy aspect to the song, I would like to use the idea in parts of my music video.


Pink- Just like a pill

 

It is mainly the camera movements which draw me to this music video, the camera shoots from lots of different angles, I like how there has been a lot of different shots taken however you dont notice because the video is edited so that the shots are merged into each other.

 

                                    

 

I like some of the outfits the artist wears in this video. She wears a mask at this point which could represent her having no identity or wanting to not be known.  I would like to use costumes in my music video that actually reprsent things, and have meaning. I like how this shot is taken from over head, I have thought about ways I could capture part of my music video from above.

Pink- Raise Your Glass

 

I think this idea looks really effective, it has been taking I would like to use collage in my music video and experiment with different ways of putting shots together.

Florence and the Machine - Cosmic Love

 

 

I would like to use some close up face shots in my music video. The camera moves from one side of the face to the other in this clip. Even though this is quite basic, I think if the model in my video had some dramatic makeup this same shot would look impressive. I also like the fact it has been shot upside down this could represent that the person is somewhat disorientated or just simply layed down.

 

 

I like how the mirrors have been used in this video, it gives the illusion that there are hundreds of lights when there is infact only a few. I also like that the artist is wearing some fairy lights under her dress, this really adds to her costume and fits in with the background.

 

This part of the music video has actually been filmed then played backwards, it involves camera trickery, giving the illusion that the feathers are flying upwards when they have infact been thrown down then played back. This could represent an idea of freedom as the artist is also raising her arms.

Florence and the Machine- No Light No Light

 

I have chosen this music video to influence me just because of this particular part of the video, it is a cleverly constructed illusion were the artist has been hung in middair, (you could simply do this with the artist leaning of a table) and a projector in the background playing a downwards shot of a building over and over again. To give the effect that she has fallen off a building.

Ke$ha- Take it off

 

In this part of the video, the artist is standing still whilst the background has been played in fast forward. This could be done simply by taking it in 2 different shots, one of the artist and the other of the background.

 

Like the Coldplay video, I have looked at as an influence earlier there is also a lot of parts in this were the video has actually been reversed/played backwards. I like the amount of glitten and paint used in this and how by just simply reversing it looks so effective.

 

 

I am not sure how this particular part of the music video has been edited however, I like how magical and unreal it seems.

Ke$ha- We R Who We R

 

I have print screened this part of the video simply because the makeup artistry is so strong and unique so that ideas for makeup in my music videos can stem from this.

 

This close up shot of the artist is clever because of how her face is being framed by her hands, because it is in slow motion this also allows the viewer to look closely at facial expressions and the makeupo on the artists face.

 

There is a lot of collage and layering in this video.

Kesha- Your Love Is My Drug

 

I like how animalistic the artist looks in this video, this makes me think about costume and using paint ideas.

 

 

I have chosen this video  because I think the cartoon like drawings look really effective and I would like to use this in my music video. This is an eyecatching technique and I would like to use a lot of mixed media techniques in my video.

                    
   
                I have thought about using some text in my music video , maybe lyrics of the song or even just words to describe parts of my video.

Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks

 

I think the makeup effects look amazing in this video. The model has been made to look happy, I would like to use makeup to represent emotion in my music video.

Key Audience Terms

Qualitative Data

Methods of collecting data which are not statistical, but strong in terms of validity. These methods may include case studies and interviews.

Quantitative Data
Quantitative data are those which focus numbers and frequencies rather than experience.

Quantitative methods may include emperiments, questionnaires and psychometric tests. This means that the data will provide information which is scientific and reliable. This is an experimental approach but can not provide an in depth description.

Demographic Data
Demographic data focuses on audience. It includes data collected about the population and culture of people. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, employment status, class, location.

Psychographic data
This type of data is about how groups of people may think, feel, act or believe. Data is collected more in depth than demographic data. These thoughts or beliefs may be collcted through surveys, questionnairs and interviews.

Skills Development Essay

A2 Media Studies

Skill Development Evaluation Essay

Before starting my AS Media course, I completed an introductory task which included designing and presenting a college front cover. As I began this task I felt that I struggled with the digital technology process, i.e. using Photoshop. My knowledge of Photoshop was not at all advanced at the beginning of the course, however I felt this introductory task enabled me to gain an understanding of the basic skills I would need to begin the initial task.

After this I progressed onto making the cover of a music magazine. I also had to create a contents page and double page spread to complete the task. This enabled me to further discover and gain a knowledge and understanding of a range of digital processes. To create the music magazine I thought about the genre of music I wanted the magazine to be based on and researched into what the codes and conventions of this typical genre were. I studied different music magazines and took into consideration the planning and ideas that went behind each one. As with the introductory task from before, I had to take the necessary photographs relevant to each piece within the media text and magazine myself. As the genre I chose was R’n’B I began to think about the relevant conventions significant to this genre. I thought about the type of model I would need for the cover and the costume that was stereotypically viewed as R’n’B. My skills developed in the Photography aspect of the task as I learnt how to Photograph differently and more professionally. For example, I made my model seem dominant by photographing her from a low angle.

After taking the photographs for my music magazine I uploaded these to Photoshop and learnt how to crop the picture and convert to black and white. I learnt skills such as changing the levels and intensity of the photograph. I began to experiment with Photoshop in my spare time and discovered techniques such as layering photographs on top of each other and fading photographs into the page, even though I had not seen this in existing music magazines I decided to use this technique in my own magazine as I felt it looked effective. I also learnt how to place photographs behind texts and titles as they would look in an existing music magazine.

I began thinking about where to place each photograph and also aligning it against the text correctly. My research and planning became important when planning the contents page for my music magazine, as I discovered that most of the music magazines of this particular genre had similar contents pages. This pushed me into thinking creatively about how I could stick to the conventions of this genre and what I had seen stereotypically in existing music magazines, but also how I could add my own twist and make my music magazine different so that the public would be more inclined to choose my magazine over others if it was on a store shelf for example.

The part of the music magazine that I initially found difficult was coming up with a title or name for my music magazine. I wanted something eye-catching and bold that stood out and made the reader want to buy it. After I had come up with a list of names I found that it wasn’t actually finding the title of the music magazine that was the difficult part but how it was presented on the front  cover. As I had discovered during the research and planning process stereotypically music magazines have a colour scheme which they stick to throughout the front cover and contents page. I decided to choose black, white and red as this was eye-catching. I also chose to put my model in these colours when thinking about costume so that not too much attention was taken away from other parts of the page. After focusing on the title, which also fitted in with the colour scheme I found it a lot easier to create text on Photoshop . I began to align my text and headers in the conventional manners of an R’n’B music magazine.

By the time I had edited my photographs in Photoshop and fitted them around the page I       felt fairly confident in completing the text. I had to think creatively about the story I was putting into the magazine on the double page spread and the main topics I wanted to focus on in the magazine. For this, I again took inspiration from more existing music magazines with the same genre (R’n’B). I also looked at what size font was stereotypically used. This stayed consistent through each page of the magazine. I then looked at where to place headings and topics on the front cover which would give an insight to the reader as to what was actually in the magazine, I used different fonts and font styles for this using the experience I had gained whilst creating the college magazine.

After completing the research, planning and 3 tasks for the music magazine including the front cover, contents page and double page spread; I then completed the post production task i.e evaluating my music magazine. The allowed me to think and generate ideas as to what my strong points were and how I could have improved the magazine. Because I had done significant research before completing the magazine I was able to learn about the correct codes and conventions of this specific genre and fulfil the task. I felt that the magazine was a success and would have been presentable to be used as a real British R’n’B music magazine.

Overall, I feel I have developed a range of skills throughout my AS Media course. I can hopefully include these in my A2 studies were I will be carrying out the research and planning of Music Videos followed by constructing a Music Video of my own. After using technology such as Photoshop I know feel confident to use other types of digital technology during my A2 Studies.  

Storyboard of a Music Video

Florence and The Machine - Rabbit Heart

Conventions of a Music Video

General Conventions of Music Videos:
 

Camera work:
CU- emotions, lyrics, makeup

MCU- emotions, lyrics makeup , what they are wearing (tells us more about the person)

LS- establishing shot, context and understanding, see a performance or something important in the background

Over the shoulder shot - Actors perspective from behind person.

Steadicam - (home video)

Pan - see the surrounding area or other people around them

Tilt - see a persons whole figure'clothing.

Tracking - to keep the camera at the same distance from the subject, so the audience are moving with them.

High angle - create a weak perspective.

Low angle - create dominant perspective.

Sound:
Specific song what the music video is based on.

 

 

Editing:

Slow motion - Emphasises a particular part of the clip.

Black and white- old fashioned (in the past).
Distortion effects- i.e ( Blur) there are many of these all depends on the type of shot.
Continuity editing - to see a performance of something, makes a simple and often effective music video

Montage editing - lots of different things going on, could be still shots.

Fade - to move to a different shot. 

Super imposition - Can be used for backgrounds if a green screen is used and to animate videos.

Jump cut - allows a change from one scene to another

 

Mise-en-scene:

Costume and makeup - depending on artist and lrics. Videos are made to promote the artist however, costume and makeup depends on the artists style.

Location - links into the lyrics and the artist

Lighting - Depends on artist, lyrics and shot.
 

 Some of the Conventions of Florence and The Machine's existing music videos:

Costume:
Usually Dramatic, vivid, extravagant clothing and makeup.
Lighting is usually bright.

Location:

Uusally theatrical for example a theatre, with fake trees/ backgrounds.

Editing:
Blurring, Cropping. Reverse speed. Brighness and contrast.

Cinematography:

High/ low ...abstract angles.Freelance.Close-ups.

 

 

Conventions of my song choice: Florence and The Machine's Music Video - Never Let Me Go

• Shots change when beat changes.
• Same Location
• Mise-en-scene is abstract
• Blurring
• Close-ups (feet/faces/wall/sink)
• Abstract shots
• Lots of different shots put together in a short space of time.
• Emotions illustrated through facial expressions, for example laughing/smiling.
• Backwards reversed filming towards end. 

 

Genre: Indie/Rock/Soul

Indie rock originatesdin the UK and U.S.A in the 80's and is a genre of 'alternative' rock. It is a diverse genre with sub-genres including, Indie pop, Jangle Pop, C86, and lo-fi.

Soul music 
 "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, seculartestifying."- from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 
Soul Music is a combination of R'n'B, African American and Gospel Music. This genre of music originated in the U.S in the 1950's early 60's.
It is a mixture of catchy rhythm, hand claps and even body movement is an important feature of Soul Music.
Other characteristics of soul are a call and response between the soloist and the chorus.

Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the UK in the 80's. Indie pop was inspired by punk's DIY ethic, and it generated a thriving fanzine label, club and gig circuit. Indie pop differs from 'indie rock' to the extent that it seems more melodic and less abrasive.

The term "indie" had been used for some time to describe artists on independent labels ,but the key moment in the naming of "indie pop" as a genre was the release of NME's C86 tape in 1986.  Artists were featured such as, 'Primal Scream', 'The Pastels', and 'The Wedding Present'. "Indie" became a genre identified by Jangling guitars, a love of '60's Pop, and melodic song structures.

Chosen Song and Artist for my Music Video

 

Florence and The Machine - Never Let Me Go

 

 Florence and The Machine are an English indie rock band from London, England.

'Lungs' the band's album was released July 2009, as of October 2010, the album had been in the top forty in the United Kingdom for sixty-five consecutive weeks. Florence and the Machine's sound has been described as a combination of various genres, including rock, soul, indie, baroque pop and art rock.

Record labels
 
Moshi Moshi, IAMSOUND, Island, Universal Republic, Republic.

 

Moshi Moshi is a small record label from London named after the Japenese telephone greeting ''moshi moshi'' which translates to 'Hello'. This label is familiar with releasing bands and artists music such as 'Bloc party', 'Kate Nash', 'Yeti' and 'Tilly and the Wall'.

 

IAMSOUND  is an independant record label from Los Angeles. Originally being part of World End Management, one of the largest producer management companies in America. It was created in 2006. 

 The label releases a series of vinyl and digital one-off singles through a singles club. Its current artists include, 'The Black Ghosts', 'Telepathe', 'Suckers' and 'Little Boots'.

 

Island Records is a record label from Jamaica. However, was based in the UK for many years and is now owned by the 'Universal Music Group'. The label currently operates as a division of 'The Island Def Jam Music Group' a rock-orientated label located in the U.S.A. And also as a standalone label in the UK (Universal Island).

 

 

 

Florence's official website: http://florenceandthemachine.net/