Research and Planning - Conventions of a pop video

Looking at the different style of pop videos and the 3 main forms that they come in, Performance, Narrative and Image. Performance is a performanced based video normally on a stage or something of a similar sort. Narrative is where the video tells a story either the one relating to the song or a separate narrative is told. Image is when the video focuses mainly on the artist or artists.

We looked at music videos such as Stan - Eminem, Praise you - Fatboy slim and Rich girl - Gewn stefani.

Stan - Eminem

• Real life story



• Narrative - the lyrics tell a story



• Star plays himself



• lyrics 'Thank you' give it a softer look yet contrast what is going on



• Stan waves a TV screen convinced eminem is waving at him - looney



• We hear what he is thinking/writing



• Posters of eminem everywhere - obsessive



• Stan has neglected girlfriend for fantasy life with star



• Lightning and Sweaty obsessive look creates intense dark atmosphere



• Performance shots



• Agression comes out of obsession - anger is taken out on girlfriend



• Violence/murder - typically found in rap videos



• Little brother carries on his obsession



• Shown on live news - realistic in real life

Praise you - Fatboy Slim

• A Parody


• Home video Camera


• Obviously not professional dancers


• Goes against the average music video
  
• Heads walking past block view, along with cars and a crowd (like a pirate copy of a cinema film may)


• From a bypassers view or a person in a crowd watching
  
• Outside of a cinema (a place you would expect a crowd of people to be)


• Using a plain stereo for music
  
• Dancing tries to be stopped by what looks like security (what would normally happen in this sort of situation if it happened in real life)


• Dance moves are purposely amateur.
  
  

Rich Girl - Gwen Stefani

• Star in video


• Dramatic costumes


• Historical content
  
• Main narrative tells story from certain era


• Slave - pretending to dream about being rich


• Fast paced


• Edited to match story (like a childs imagination)


• Children laughing - non diagetic


• Mainly all female - Post moderism, females are dominant.


• Showing little flesh being 'sexy'

Preliminary Work - Visit from Tom

The class got a visit from technical wizz Tom who gave us a 2 day workshop on music videos and the types of planning involved and what we would need to consider when planning/filming a video. We did a practise run and planned out and filmed a music video on the song 'Midnight at the Oasis'.

First of all we watched the video 'Thriller' and filled in a table on different aspects of the video and how it can relate to the genre and music followed by other videos we chose in groups.

We then came up with ideas and wrote out a synopsis and drew a storyboard of what would happen in our version of the music video for midnight at the oasis.


We produced a storyboard showing a more detailed sequence of what would happen throughout the video, timing, costumes. This made it easier to not get lost when filming and putting it together.

Lyrics

Midnight at the oasis

Sing your camel to bed

Shadows painting our faces

Traces romance in our heads

Heaven holding a half moon

Shining just for us

Let's slip off to a sand dune real soon

Kick up a little dust

Come on cactus is our friend

He'll show us the way

Come on 'till the evening ends

'till the evening ends

You don't have to answer

There's no need to speak

I'll be your belly dancer

Prancer and you can be my sheik

I know your daddy's a sultan

A nomad known to all

With fifty girls to attend him

They all send him

Jump at his beck and call

But you want need no harem

Honey

When I am by your side

And you won't need no camel

No no when I take you for a ride

Midnight. At the oasis

We also produced a mood board to brainstorm ideas we got from the lyrics of the song to give a hint of what we could involve in the music video.



On the second day we began filming our video, we imporvised with the equipment we could use and using the school grounds as a location. We also used costumes from the school drama department and filmed our scenes.

From filming for most of the day, as a group we learnt the amount of intense planning we would actually need and the large amount of things we need to consider when filming.

Research and Planning - The Feeling - Influences

The Beatles (1960- 1970)

Supertramp (1969 - 1988, 1997, 2003)

Queen (1970 - 1997)












10cc (1972-1983, 1992-1995)






ELO (1989 - 2000)














Jellyfish (1990-1994)

Research and Planning - The Feeling

Members

Dan Gillespie Sells - Vocals and guitar
Richard Jones - Bass guitar and backing vocals
Kevin Jeremiah - Guitar and backing vocals
Ciaran Jeremiah - Keyboards and backing vocals
Paul Stewart - Drums

Twelve Stops and Home -2006

Join With Us - 2008

EPS: Four Stops and Home

In an e-mail newsletter released on January 11, 2007, it was announced that The Feeling was the number one most played band on UK radio in 2006. Their four singles received a total of 97,436 plays, which meant that, on average, a song by The Feeling was played 267 times every day, or once every 5 minutes.

Awards:

2006 - Q Award - Best Track - Never Be Lonely (nominated)

2007 - BRIT Awards - Best Song - Fill My Little World (nominated) (got to the final 5) Ivor Novello Awards - Songwriters of the Year

NME Awards - Best band (nominated)

2008 - Elle Style Awards - Band of the Year

Research and Planning - Media Literacy

Media is a changing progress, it constructively changes as technology improves, these are some examples on how things have changed.

Here are some interpretations of media literacy:

The ability to create, use, analyse and understand media products, within the context of their audiences and institutions. (Donna Cooper-Cliftllands)

A broader version of conventional literacy, which includes all visual, aural and digital forms, seeking to enable people to become more thoughtful producers and interpreters of media
(Pete Fraser)

Media literacy is being able to engage not just with the immediate content of a media text, but also to be able to apply knowledge and understanding of institutional factors that have an impact on shaping the text itself and on the messages and values embedded within the text. Media lieracy also invloves knowledge and understanding of how different audiences in different times places may interpret the text in different ways. Crucially, the media-literate reader of the text is qable to see that his/her own reading of the text may be at odds with that applied by some or all of the target audience. (Wayne O'Brien)

Highlighted above in the interpretations is what makes them different from each other and the similar things said in each definition, we looked at 5 overall and i came up with my own overall interepretation of what i think media literacy is:

Media literacy is the way people understand the meaning of a text and how they react to it.

There are increasing concerns on the youth of today and how we have alot of use of 'We Media' sights such as facebook and how youths could be missing out on 'enriching' culture such as novels or plays due to the way their main source of communication now.

New Literacies

In between the old school idea of literacy seen as something you either do or do not have are a range of theories and strategies as literacy being a social and political practise.

Freire (1972)
Freire believed how people can be disempowered and often excluded from literacy due to social culture. For example people with less developed skills who could not read or write would have less of a say is things they may not fully understand, causing them to possibly become controlled by people with more knowledge of the concept.

Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown believes that in order to be considered in the society people should learn to speak english, read and write. To lack these skills would be considered as 'not making an effort' and therefore excluding yourself from the 'values' of the country rather then being overpowered and people that do not 'join in' are seen themselves as outsiders.

James Gee has a 'Meta-understanding' (meaning many undertstandings) of literacys. This skill he calls 'Poweful literacy' is the simple idea of 'Discourse'. He has the idea that different types of literacy can be used and different times and it is poosible to have several different types of literacys, that you could analyse together or seperately.

Digital Literacy
Digital literacy is basically a digital divide (divided world) of a social justice issue. People that may have access to certain technologys will have alot more knowledge then people who don't have the privilage. Using these sights such as facebook and youtube requires a certain amount of knowledge which may come quit easily to people who use these technologys often. It could be from learning or creativity we practise and improvise for example being able to complete a video game without reading the inside rule booklet.

Memes and remix

A Meme is the rapid uptake and spread of a new or particular idea.
When people pass on a meme, they would be reinforcing their own sense into the world. Like viral marketing such as 'word of mouth' spread just as quick and effectively as a virus can spread.

Preliminary Work - Visit from Spencer

Our A2 media class got a visit from Spencer a successful Graphic designer who spoke to us about marketing and helping us gather our ideas.

'Listen so customers will talk, Talk so customers will listen'

He mentioned how the best ways to grab peoples attention is by being completely random and different. Yet you would also have to consider who wants it and how you can interest them.

Song lyrics:

Alright

Those were the days
Your mother would say you could come out and play
Wed' kick things around
Climb up a tree and jump across the canal

Then every summer was a year in my head
When it ended, yeah, we wished we were dead
But nowadays it comes and goes before before you noticed

The sun is shining
We've nothing left to loose
The sun is shining
Put on your favorite shoes
Were getting tired im
Sick of waiting for you

Iv'e gotta move on
But my heart belongs in a world that has gone I went to your house
Your mother's still their but she said you moved out
She said you left 11 years agoShe said she told me this before but I dont know
She wont understand if I say that I love you

The sun is shining
We've nothing left to loose
The sun is shining
Put on your favorite shoes
Were getting tired
I'm sick of waiting for you

The sun is shining
It's gonna be alright
The sun is shining
Stop putting up a fight
Im getting high so high
We've nothing left to loose
Nothing to loose

(The sun is shining)
We've got nothing to lose
(The sun is shining)
Put on your favourite shoes
(We're getting tired and I'm)
Sick of waiting for you
Waiting for you
(The sun is shining)
Stop putting up a fight
(The sun is shining)
It's gonna be alright
(I'm getting high so high)
We've got nothing to lose
Nothing to lose


We spent the time together as a group with Spencer and listened to the song and conducted a brainstorm on the things that we immediately think of when hearing the song:

Following on the concept of being different and unique, we came up with another brainstorm on the opposite things to come up with different ideas we could use in the video:

As a class we put ideas together of other things we think of when listening to the song.

Research and Planning - The Fray

The Fray Formed in 2002.

Band members:

Isaac Slade - lead vocals, piano/keyboard
David Welsh - lead guitar
Joe King - rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Ben Wysocki - drums, percussion

Previous members:
Dan Battenhouse, Zach Johnson, Dave Hedin, Caleb Slade, Mike Ayars, Alex Cooksey

CD covers

•Broken lightbulb – light bouncing off crushed glass.
•Dark background
•Glowing text
•Smaller pieces of broken glass at top remind me of tree branches

•Extremely similar to ‘how to save a life’ but heart matches the title of the song- ‘Heartless’ (Broken heart)
•Opposite colours (light background, dark text)

•Neon- like letters (light bulb theme with covers)
• Busy crowd walking around (blurred so means they are walking fast)
• Reminds me of a underground train station (platform sign, busy people)
•Dark (letters are only source of light)

Merchandise

Quite unique yet musical designs with a wide range to both men and women/ different ages. A wide range of t shirts with various of different unique designs.

Website

• Matches Cd cover.
  • Play button matches neon text.
  •Simple layout
  •Moving people walking in the background bring it to life.

Music Video: How To Save A Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UksIFm8Ru6s

•Uses people of all kinds of races
•Goes against typical videos in having to have skinny good looking people
•Confronts Death and lets us see how loved ones react rather then focusing on the deceased.
•Doesn’t exactly show attractive shots (girl with braces, girl shouting)
•A lot of emotion shown.
•Butterfly is symbol – Growing (Cocoon and Butterfly)
•Filmed in white room, no distractions focuses on the people and the band.

A2 Project Brief

This year A2 students would be expected to create a range of projects using various skills and developing them of a higher level compared to AS. As a group we decided on one brief we all agreed on and it was

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together of two of the following three options:

• A website for the band;
• A cover for it's release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);
• A magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package);

We then decided that we would chose to do the cover and the magazine advert. We thought it would be easier as in the previous year we had already developed skills in designing covers. Even though the standard would have to be equal as the video we had to make we thought we would have a better chance of designing to a high quality.

At the same time we would be coming in to a whole new area of video, we would have to look into music videos and the music industry developing a wider range of skills.

To be able to achieve the grades I want to come out for me at the end of the year, when producing my work I will keep to the mark scheme and make sure that it is clear what level I am aiming for.

I will make it clear the different between basic and proficient work is compared to excellent.

For my research I would need to make sure it relates to my potential target audience and the whole feel of the video.

I would need to make sure the organisation of the characters, locations, costumes and props and really clear and detailed.

I would have to handle my time management extremely well, preventing to fall behind which could possible make my work more rushed and less good quality due to rushing it.

My presentation would have had to be well thought out, making it overall very well presented being clear and neat. Also making it look good.

Another thing I would need to make clear is skills I have used or learnt throughout my project to keep my work at a high level making it seem more complex and professional. Also making sure that I have excellent communication skills.