Filming: Day One...

For the first day of filming, I planned to film a few of my indoor shots. For these I filmed at my sisters flat, a location where a lot of my music video will take place.

The shots I planned to film were some of the ''flashback'' shots. For these I needed to consider how the mise-en-scene would change from the 'present tense' shot to the past via visual semiotics. For example, in the ''flashback'' shots, as this was seen to be a happy time by the male character, a string of fairy lights has been added to the scene along with a pink and a blue Disney mug to symbolise the relationship and memories of the two characters.

Case Study: Amy Winehouse & ''Amy'' Documentary

Coursework: Planning My Video

In order to plan and organise my ideas for my music video, I printed off a copy of the lyrics to the song and began to collect my thoughts around different verses of the songs. These annotations will form the basis for my initial ideas and storyboard of the music video.

Storyboarding...

I decided to only storyboard the first two versus of my music video as I am not sure how I want it to end as I have changed from my original idea. The story line I do have though portrays the lyrics well in the first two verses.

Coursework: Permission...

I decided to send an email to James Bay's management to ensure that I would be able to use his song for educational purposes. Below is a copy of the email sent. 

Coursework: A Change Of Plan

My original plan for my music video was to have two narratives running alongside each other with two different endings. When attempting to film this, I realised that, with the time limit, this would be incredibly hard to do.

I attempted the dual narrative but found it difficult to get both the shots synchronised and in time with each other. I thought about filming both shots with a few differences to remove the stress of trying to replicate the shots exactly. However, I thought that the audience might not understand that it was the same narrative and not two different stories.

Instead of my original plan, I'm going to change my narrative into a story of a broken down relationship. I'm going to continue to use the song Let It Go by James Bay as I feel this would fit the new narrative and that the lyrics fit the story completely. 

I will continue to use the same actor as I feel his look fits the part.  

Coursework: Risk Assessment

Before going out to shoot, I decided it would be a good idea to carry out a risk assessment of the places I would be filming for the safety of my actor and myself. The locations I planned to film in included: a wooded area, a flat, a house, and a few separate outdoors shots.

The Risk Assessment form below covers the risks for all of these locations. 

Coursework: Contributor Release Form

For my music video, I needed to gain consent from my actor so that both him and I would understand what was needed and how long for. I asked my actor to fill out this form which states what my music video will be used for, the title of the production, and an overall statement in which explains what is needed of the actor and where he can expect the video to end up, eg Youtube.

Dyer's Star Theory

Audience: LifeMatrix

Pitching My Music Video...

CD Inserts And Booklets

For the ancillary task I have researched what Album Covers and CD inserts include and what common characteristics feature across a range of different genres and albums.

All of the album covers display colours that reflect the genre of the style of music. This is something I will need to consider when creating my own album cover as it must match the ''indie-rock'' style of the song. These colours are also continued throughout the whole booklet, making the package look complete and an on-going theme makes the booklet recognizable. 

Similarly, the motif of colour, typography and symbols are copied onto the CD itself, again making it easy to comprehend the style of the CD and the package as a whole. As seen in the second image, the floral motif of the album is copied onto the spine and clearly displays the same imagery and ideas as the front cover itself. This shows me that the spine is just as important as the front cover in its overall look as it is often the first thing seen by a consumer when the album is on the shelf. For my spine, I will need to consider how the spine (and the album front cover) echoes the overall tone of my music video.







For this album, the cover is very simplistic and 'ordinary'. Unlike the others, it does not include Andy Warhol ''Pop Art'' style colours or animated symbols. I like the fact that the cover has people on the cover as I feel like makes the album instantly recognizable. I could easily echo this idea by taking a simple photo of my actor and having him as the focus of the front cover.

Media Theory And It's Links To Music Videos

Initial Ideas

Controversy In Music Videos

The Best Album Covers Of All Time

In this post, I aim to look at some of the best album covers of all time. For this I will be using Billboard's ''Best Album Covers Of All Time'' list (http://www.billboard.com/photos/6715351/best-album-covers-of-all-time/26 ).

No 23. David Bowie - Aladdin Sane

  Perhaps one of the most iconic album covers, in my opinion, is Bowie's ''Aladdin Sane''. Bowie ultimately changed the face of Pop music at the time of his height, particularly with his alter-ego Ziggy Stardust. I believe the album artwork echoes the image of Ziggy Stardust, and is the mot popular imagery related to this phase in his career. The Aladdin Sane album artwork, in my opinion, will always be one of the most iconic, not only of David Bowie, but of pop culture in general.

No 13. Blink 182 - Enema Of The State

The Blink 182 album of the 1990's bought portrait to a whole new level. Becoming instantly iconic, the actress on the cover can be seen to be provocative and inviting, the opposite of the album title. Blink 182 took the brightly coloured, pin-up girl theme and gave it a daring spin, giving the album title a hint of truth with the actress dressed as a nurse. The bold colours and imagery give the album cover an unforgettable image.

No 6. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon

The strong, bold imagery of this album cover is still echoed and worn by many today, clearly making the cover iconic and noticable my many. The simple cover is unforgettable as many teens who were not around to hear the album first hand still wear its bold imagery today.

No 2. The Beatles - Abbey Road

The Abbey Road album cover is perhaps the most replicated and memorable album cover of all time. Many have replicated the simple photograph of the Abbey Road crossing and always compare it to The Beatles originally. Also making it the most iconic is the fact that it features on many top, bags, umbrellas, posters and badges now, despite the fact that The Beatles were at their height in the 1960's. The Abbey Road imagery is so strong that people instantly know the name of the street and album without even recognizing the area, due to The Beatles themselves. The album is also one of the most well-known Beatles covers along side Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, also known for its appearances as title sequences such as 'The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year'.

Regulation Of Music Videos

BBFC Regulation Of Music Videos from emmfletcher

Case Study: Colin Tilley

Textual Analysis: Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus and The Male Gaze Theory

Q Magazine: ''Mini-Movie'' Music Videos

In the Q Magazine article, Dave Grohl argues that '' When musicians start to use the phrase 'mini-movie' to describe a video, it's time to quit''. He goes on to say that the internet goes on to unpack the sexual and racial politics of the video, forgetting that its just a regular thing for a 'pop star' to do in their career. Grohl slates the idea of a ''mini-movie'' music video stating them to be ''long, self-regarding, hubristic and flamboyantly expensive'', with ''bonus points for celebrity appearances and homage to obvious movies''.


The article suggests that an event video is a window in the musicians mind, and is designed to project power and money into the eye of their audience however, often ends up revealing the artists fatal floors. Despite this, Grohl argues that the only thing that matters to the artist is the short term impact. With Billboard now having a top 100 video list on Youtube that takes into account Vevo's views, he suggests that the artist is aiming for the most amount of hits for a controversial video and not the art form they are creating. It is clearly suggested that these songs become big due to their internet popularity not due to the worthiness of the song. For example, ''Bad Blood'' by Taylor Swift only topped Billboards chart for a week due to it's amount of hits/views on Youtube. Similarly, Rihanna's ''Bitch Better Have My Money'' surfaced at number 17 on the chart without it's video, showing how the controversial nature of her ''mini-movie'' boosted the songs ratings overall.


Grohl, however, does state that some ''mini-movies'' can do themselves justice, such as Kendrick Lammar's ''Alright'' event video which clearly relates to the zeitgeist of America at the time of it's release. He goes on to say that many of these justifying ''mini-movies'' are few and far between, proving that the ''mini-movie'' should be left out of the music industry.


Personally, I believe the ''mini-movie'' music video can do itself justice if it is relevant to the type of the song or of the time of its release. ''Mini-movies'', in my opinion, can work if they are made using high quality, cinematic shots, rather than low quality/under prepared ideas. If the concept of the ''mini-movie'' music  video is to challenge perceptions or address real life issues then I believe that the ''mini-movie'' does justice to the artist creating the meaning. However, weak storylines and bad acting can ruin the music videos intention and appear as a ''cringy'' which takes away the entire thought process of the original idea and creates a platform of mockery for all those viewing it.


Overall, I believe that the ''mini-movie'' music video can be just as effective as a short length music video if the concept is right, however I also think that it is easy for an artist to misrepresent themselves or ruin the meaning of their song by choosing the ''mini-movie'' route.

Practice Piece: Album Cover

Creating my album cover was the first time I had used Photoshop. As I did not feel entirely confident with the software, I decided to keep my practice album cover rather simple.

To keep continuity between my music video and my album cover, I decided to have the cover as the actress who played the lead singer in my music video. The similarities between these are firstly the actress but also the string lights that appear in the back ground of the video and on the band homepage.

I could not decide between black and white or colour, however, I believe both give the album a look that matches the genre.

If I had been more familiar with Photoshop, then I would have sharpened and brightened the colour to add a more ''pop'' feel to the album cover.

Practice Piece: Paramore Website

As part of my digi-pack, I decided to create the homepage for my band, Paramore. The homepage of my website includes a gallery, news section and direct links to social media and album purchases.


I thoroughly enjoyed creating this webpage as it allowed me to be creative and choose the design and content myself which helped me to understand the importance of the layout and the ease of access to each page linked to the site.




http://paramoremedia2.weebly.com/

Practice Piece: Still Into You By Paramore

Here is my practice music video to the song ''Still Into You'' by Paramore. I really enjoyed filming and editing this piece alone as it means i can have full creative ownership over my final edit and that i can juggle my own ideas to fit the musics genre. 

For my coursework, i am considering doing a song of a similar genre to this as i found it very simple and fun to come up with ideas to fit to the bars of the song.

Practice Piece: Song Choice

For my practice peace, I have decided to do a music video for Paramore's ''Still Into You''. I chose this song because it fun and has a fast beat in which i can edit to which will help me develop this skill for my coursework piece.

I also think that this song is ideal to practice making a music video for as it would be difficult to replicate which removes the temptation to copy the original music video. I feel that using this song would give me a lot of options for content for the music video. 

Textual Analysis : Robbers By The 1975

Recreation Task: Pharrell Williams - Happy

Our version of Pharrell Williams ''Happy'' is inspired by the original music video seen on the post above. The idea of this video is different people looking happy and dancing around in different locations. Due to time limits, Oliver and I filmed all of our footage at school or at home. We managed to recreate the notion of different locations, merely by changing angles of shots once we had run out of classrooms and corridors to dance in. 

I enjoyed creating this task as it has benefited me highly and has given me a sense of what it will be like to do my actual A2 music video coursework. This task allowed me to think of how things fit to the beat and adapt to the quick cuts that were not appropriate for the thriller task of last year. 

Textual Analysis: Happy By Pharrell Williams

Pharrell Williams became known for his ''catchy'' song ''Happy'' in 2014. Not only did Pharrell rule the charts, he also created one of the biggest creations of cross media convergence of its time.

Alongside the release of his single, Pharrell Williams also released a 24 hour version of his music video, which showed different clips depending on the time zone/location in which you clicked the link. This 24 hour music video aired at the Buenos Aires Film Festival, showing how a mass market product can appeal to a niche audience. To date, the video has 668million views on YouTube.  The exchange of the 24 hour music video was widely encouraged by Pharrell and his team, along with the encouragement of fans recreating their own version of the ''Happy'' music video, with the original text symbols and ideas from the original music video.

This promotion allowed ''Happy'' to become much more known, with fans from around the globe creating their own ''Happy'' music videos with the tagline, ''We Are Happy From...''. Many examples of exchange have come from places such as Japan, America, Mongolia, Australia, Unibas and many other locations.
Many of the videos were very professional and received many views themselves.

Continuing it's promotion and viral spread, the audio became the soundtrack to the children's film, ''Despicable Me'', creating another link between the single and other media texts. An example of this is the featuring of the films ''Minion'' characters in the music video to the single.

The popularity of the music video comes down to it's simplicity. The video was directed by a French production team, known as ''We Are From LA''. The simplicity of the video was also translated into the hardware used to create it as all the shots were merely filmed with a steady cam. Both the team and Pharrell Williams can be responsible for the changing nature of copyright infringements due to their encouragement for others to use the track to express themselves.

The success of the music video led to it winning many awards at the Grammy's.

The History Of The Music Video

The music industry has been vital throughout the years and has often changed the face of it's consumption. The importance of music videos has been massively highlighted in previous years, along with landmark decisions that changed the way music videos are created today.

Storyboarding Practice: Californication By The Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Textual Analysis: Thriller by Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' music video is one of the most iconic of its time. Although iconic, it also subverts and adheres to Goodwin's Music Video Theory from the written piece called ''Dancing In The Distraction Factory''. Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'' music video, released in 1982, shows aspects of this theory along with a iconic change to the way music videos had been produced.

At the beginning of the music video, Michael Jackson leaves the movie theatre along with another female character. Although the female character is not dressed provocatively or explicitly, the female character is still shown in a way that creates voyeuristic treatment of the female body. The female is not shown to be obsessively linked to Michael Jackson in a desirable manner, but is presented as rather flirtatious towards him. For example, as the lyrics are introduced, the female is shown to walk in a way that accentuates certain parts of her body. The female is seen to almost strut rather than casually walk, which instantly draws the eye towards her in a non-sexual way, but does show her as being attractive and desirable. She is also shown to be rather vulnerable which may also create a specific view on how she should be perceived.


Also, in the opening of the music video, the lyrics and the visuals are shown to have a relationship. The lyrics state, ''you see a sight that almost stops your heart''. Simultaneously to this, Michael Jackson mirrors the lyrics by continuing to clutch his heart almost as if it is stopping, as stated by the lyrics. This is also shown when the lyrics state, ''But all the while you hear the creature creepin' up behind'' as Michael Jackson grabs the female characters shoulders and acts as if he is a zombie, almost foreshadowing what is about to happen within the music video. This adheres to Goodwin's Music Video Theory as he clearly states that a relationship will be shown in most music videos between the visuals and the lyrics, either illustrative or contradicting. By doing this, Michael Jackson is clearly adhering to the conventions of most music videos despite his iconic change of direction within his choice of video for the song, ''Thriller''.

Michael Jackson himself is also particularly focussed on within the music video. This may be due to the demands of the record label and their need to sell and promote the artist within the video for their song. Goodwin suggests that this use of close ups and motifs will be used throughout their work, is down to the record label and is most often used within the genre of music videos. Michael Jackson in the thriller music video is subject to many close ups, both with others creating a background and of him alone. He is also shown to have his own dance sections which continued to become and iconic motif that Jackson continued throughout his work. These dance routines often showed Michael Jackson as the front man which would have been massively beneficial for the record label to promote him and show him as an individual. This massively adheres to Goodwin's theory.

The music video also references a film/ movie theatre showing intertextuality. The music video starts with a film, including Michael Jackson himself, that is being shown in a movie theatre. This reference to another media text, although the media text is fictional, helps the audience to relate and understand the music video due to its relablitity. For example, cinemas are a wide spread hobby for many people, by including a cinema in the music video, the record label are suggesting that Michael Jackson is a normal person like you and I.   

Introduction...

For my A2 Media Studies course, I will be expected to make a music video for my coursework piece. Along with this music video, I will be expected to create promotional aspects, such as CD cover and a magazine page/ website to promote the band. 

I am really looking forward to creating my own music video due to the fact that music is a strong hobby of mine and is something I enjoy and can often relate to well. Using my skills from last year, I am also expecting that my media product will be more advanced than AS and will be suitable for its purpose. 

For my A2 project, I am considering working alone. Although I enjoyed working as a group last year, I feel that allowing myself to have creative ownership over my product will mean that I can learn more from myself and further enhance my skills.