Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In media for our A2 portfolio we were asked to produce one main product chosen independently from a list of options including; produce a music video and two subsidiary promotion packages or create a film trailer also with two additional ancillary texts. I chose to produce a music video as I wanted to challenge my knowledge within the promotional video field of media and the conventional forms advertisements and promotion. Conforming with the music genre was key in the production of this promotion video. I wanted to produce a video with a lot of meaning and that was relevant to the lyrics. Before starting my video i looked into other songs of different genres including 'Third Eye Blind' and 'Alicia keys' and in the difference between the two videos, there is a prominent contrast between them. This told me that the difference in genre means that the video is going to be very different. I looked into some more of Paolo nutinis work, including the song 'Candy'. I think that this music video had the biggest connection between one of his existing music videos and mine. This included slow motion shots and short clips. There was not an existing music video for 'these streets' song which i think worked to my advantage because whatever features i decide to include is going to be all my ideas and creative. There are ways in which my product fits conventions, one way in which it fits conventions is the way my music video cuts the the beat or the rhythm of my song. Generally most music videos cut to the beat of the music so therefore i wanted to include this convention to make it look professional. I edited the colours of my music video. To do this i had to go through every clip and edit the colours birghtness and contrast. Generally in most slow songs, the music video incorporates slow motion clips, so i decided to include this effect in my music video. At first i wanted to start the music video off at a slightly normal pace, not including slow motion effects and throughout the song i wanted to include more slow motion effects, this will signify the music getting more meaningful as the song goes on.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

In the music industry it has become habitual that when a new album is released there are promotion packages also produced so make the album successful. This is a very important stage in the music industry as without the promotion it is unlikely to sell as well. Before making my two ancillary texts i had to research and plan what i was going to do in relation to conformity and genre. Looking through some existing promotion packages its clear that they need to reflect upon the style of music it is going to be promoting. For example in Paolo Nutinis latest album 'Sunny Side Up' the design of the album cover is colourful, complimented by the use of a cartoon character to represent the artist. This is very opposing to the style of my album cover, the reason being the contrast between the style of the two albums and the significant difference between the pace and meaning of the songs. When making my two subsidiary products IE the promotion poster and album cover, this was using basic skill learnt at As level in making my double page spread. I have a keen interest in photography and when planning what image i would have for these products i recalled upon some pictures i had taken previous to this project. I decided to use my final images because of the relevance to the genre. I manipulated these images with adobe photoshop and Microsoft publisher. This was merely a question of editing the colour and fitting the appropriate texts and fonts onto the page. I found my font for 'wordart'. however i wanted to make the style more personalised so i edited it on format to make it look more individual keeping in theme with the design aspects i had planned. Also i needed to contemplate whether i would have similar looking album cover as my promotion poster.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Our audience feedback was a set task with the aim of enabling us to gain outside knowledge within this field of work that we were unaware of. The advantage to the audience feedback was the accessibility to analyse the feedback and know different aspects within the video that could be improved. I asked three of my friends to view my video and give me feedback. Most of the feedback that i received was positive, however, this didn't really give me an insight to where i may have gone wrong. In response to this problem i structured a third and final question which was 'Are there any parts in particular in which you thought could have been improved on?' this question led to answers which would tell me what features of the video could be improved on. Aspects such as brightness and contrast, and including the use of more people. I think that the use of more people would have made a lot of sense as the song itself mentions a lot about people and emotion. There are some points in the music video that the colour and contrast is a bit too strong, for example the point in which the lyrics say 'searching for the change that i lost somehow' the contrast is too strong so therefore Paolo nutinis face is hard to make out. The people who have seen my music video generally liked the slow motion effects that i incorporated in my video, so if i had the chance again i would definately keep this effect. I think that this effect was a simple yet effective move. The slow motion was a symbol indicating the purpose and the depth of meaning to the song. Generally people enjoyed the colours of the video, This was something that was time consuming, however looked nice when it was finished.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Throughout the past two years i have progressed and explored different technologies within media that allows me to gain a better understanding of producing certain products. I have become very familiar with the process of hardware and software and gained a lot of knowledge within technology. Certain programmes that i felt restricted my progress was adobe photoshop. This is the industry standard photo manipulation software which allows us to access fonts and contrast aspects within an image and lets us explore a wide variation of sizes, textures and colours. I felt very restrict within this programme as i felt it was very difficult to use, there were some elements within the programme in which i didn't understand. Keeping in mind some of the useful tips that i learnt when processing my AS project, this helped me in the production of my music video as i already had a fairly good understanding on using some of the equipment. One piece of technology that i used was a Canon MD205 portable camera, this was very simple to operate, it is a basic recorder with record and stop on it. The shots were recorded onto a mini Dv (digital). This was an advantage having this camera because it means that what ever is recorded can be uploaded straight onto the LG editing suite using a fire wire connector. Unfortunately there were some negatives in using this camera. If i wanted to use the sound i had shot, i wouldn't be able to because the sound quality on this camera is very poor. Some shots i would have wanted to do at night but i was restricted by this camera as it is a single chip camcorder which meant that it was hard to use at night because the camera could not adjust to the darkness. Similar to our AS project, we were able to process all of our work on the computer on a web page called blogger. This was a huge advantage to me as it is easy to use and can be accessed by any computer worldwide, it is editable and easy to view. How ever, the down side to it being viewable by anyone could be seen as encouraging plagiarism. Some other downsides to using this website was a problem with adding posts. If i wanted to go back to a previous date and add a new post I was not allowed, so this created an issue with ordering my work, which became problematic throughout the later stages of my coursework.

Music Video

Audience Feedback

As part of our project we were also asked to collect audience feedback in aid to help us analysing certain bit which could be improved or other parts which looked good and had a lot of impact on the video.
I asked 3 of my friends to answer the following questions:
What did you think the purpose of my music video was and what was the video reflecting upon?
Do you think the music video reflected on the image of the artist and the music genre?
Are there any parts in particular in which you thought could have been improved on?

Participant one:
Question one: I thought that the music videos aim was to reflect upon life as an adult and includes aspects of the importance of freedom.
Question two: I think that the boy used to be in the music video suited the genre of the music and had a rugged look as that of the artist. As the video was set in fields and small streets with not many people around it really captured the genre and the topic of freedom.
Question three: I think that i would have used a lighter brightess and less contrast so the place looked brighter in some parts of the music video but the rest was really well put together and suited the song.


Participant two;Question one: I thought that the aim of this music video was to show a young man searching for something that he had lost, in this case, his childhood and the relation to stress and play implies that he misses those days.
Question two: I think that the editing really made the video look the piece, i liked the use of slow motion, it really suited the genre and the style of this song.
Question three: I dont think there would be anything i would change if i could do it, i think the use of colour and motion was really effective.


Participant three;
Question one: I think that the aim of the video was to promote the world as it is today and to show the good aspects of the world in a time where it is viewed negatively.
Question two: The song makes me think of freedom and fields, trees and people so i think it suited the lyrics in the song.
Question three; if i was making this video i would have used more people, there are some references in the song which talks about people and faces so i think it would have been good to include some more people.

Album cover

Back cover



This is my final back cover, I chose this image because I felt that it was appropriate in terms of relating to the song. The image shows a wooden wall and beyond the wall is a school. As the song i am promoting reflects on school life i thought that this wouldnt be appropriate. I edited the sky in this image to give it a better effect. i edited this on www.pixlr.com. Which is a free online picture editing programme.






This is the front cover. This is an image which i took in America. I felt that this would be the most appropriate image in connection to the genre of the artists music, as its very representative of the type of music that it is. My final cover is very opposing to my original idea where i wanted the artist on the cover. I felt that having a cover without the artist on is always very effective. This regularly is an indication that the artist is very famous and not in desperate need of more recognition. The album 'These streets' shows a different side to Paolo Nutinis musician skills as this album contains music of a more chilled out/blues genre.





Inside page









This is my final inside page. I wanted this to be in contrast to the album cover, this is very opposing in terms of image and style, however it relates to the cartoon effect of the album 'Sunny Side Up' and is in keeping with the colours of the sun on the cover.

In my album package i wanted to include some contrasting images. so i decided to go with the bright cartoon effect of the street which i edited on photoshop. my front cover image was unedited in terms of colour and contrast, however the writing that is on i edited on photoshop, using a simple font which i manipulated to look more personalised. My back cover is an image that i decided to use because i feel that the blue skies and wooden material together created a good effect. I edited this image in photoshop and www.pixlr.com. Firstly i heightened the contrast of the wood and second i selected the small area of the window and edited the contrast and brightness. I wanted the skies to stand out. I chose a font that looked good and in keeping with the theme and also similar to the font on my front cover. I decided to go with the colour black as it would stand out. I tried using a white font but this didnt not look good and it was difficult to see the words clearly.



Here is an example of one of Paolo Nutinis existing album covers;




In relation to my statement of the artist not in need to recognition, i think this album cover supports this. This album cover does not portray the artists face, just a cartoon, yet it is very effective.




Digipak





This template is an example of the conventional sizes that my cd case will have to obied by.

Final Advertisement

This is my final poster. After my second attempt and looking at the design elements i decided that some features did not look too good, for example in my second attempt i chose to have the title of the page central at the top of the page in large writing and the 'the new album' in the centre of the page also in large writing. After looking at the impact of this i came to realise that the large orange writing was not in keeping with the neutral design of the rest of the page. I chose to have the title at the top of the page slightly smaller and 'the new album' with the rest of the title. I changed the font of it completely and the colour. I made it smaller with a blue filling. I felt that this would be more suitable as the blue filling could be representative of blue skies. Something that i wanted to incorporate a lot of in the music video. I edited the advertisement for the live gig and made it smaller, however i left it at the bottom of the page still so it was in keeping with the rest of the page. I added other conventional features such as what other songs were included in the album.





Second






This was my second attmept at a poster. In this attempt i aimed to include the more nessecary qualities that an advertisement should include. For example, where the next gig by the artist will be held and the purpose of the poster. When the album is going to be released. I chose to have the main detail in a large font which would stand out on the page and make it clear what the posters aim is. The font i chose for 'the new album' was influenced by the album cover of James Morrison. I wanted this image to have a more effective impact by adding a feature to the page which would stand out. So in keeping with the genre of the music i chose a simple change which would add to the originality of the page which was fading the edge of the page out. This gives off an impression of clouds and dreams, a topic which is impiortant in Paolo Nutinis music.





First





This was my first attempt at making my advertisement poster. After this first attempt i looked into things and features that are missing that would be included in conventional advertisement posters. My main aim in this first attempt was to get the right format and create a font that would be suitable according to the music genre. My text was edited on word and i changed the colours and sizes so the font would suit the purpose. After creating this, i looked into what was missing. Advertisements for music companies were missing which i would have to edit and put them in place. I chose this picture as it looks very free, as the song is about childhood, I thought that this picture would proove very suitable. The reason i chose dogs to be on the poster was because dogs are seen to be very innocent and child-like which is relevant to the song.

Some pictures i could use

These pictures are some pictures that i have taken at all different time throughout the past couple of year from different place in the world. After looking at my collection of photographs i decided that these pictures are all very appropriate to go on the promotion poster.
The look of each of these images portrays a very simple way of life, it presents freedom, an aim that paolo nutini wants to portray in his music.




The first image was taken in december in the snow, i think that this shot would go really well on the poster cover as it links to a shot in the music video of a snow fight. This is the sort of street i invisioned when making my music video.

The second image was taken in America, Tampa Bay, i like this image because it is simple, yet i like the blue skies and the relaxed feel the image gives off. This could be an example of a working class, yet relaxed and pretty.

The thrid image was again taken in America, this image appeals to me a lot, because as mentioned in the lyrics in paolo nutinis song he talks about stresses of life, however i think this image gives off a working class feel yet it is attractive and very nice to look at.

The fourth image was taken on Beverley Westwood, i think that this would make a very good poster image as it captures a moment of freedom very well. As my dogs are running in the grass that is too long its looks careless and free, i also like the contrast between the grass and the sky.

The final option was a picture taken in America again and the reaosn i took this picture was because i wanted to capture the sun set, i like the shine of the sun against the road. The road is very quiet which, again gives off a feeling of freedom.

Font styles for poster

Looking into how important the title of the Poster is in attracting peoples attention i looked into website that would give me a wide range of options on font styles, this will give me a variety of options that i could choose from to title my poster.

The first option that i looked into was the type writer effect in which i found on one of my websites. I think that this font could be very effective if i put it on my poster as it looks very urban which would suit Paolo Nutinis image that he wants to portray amongst his audience. I want every aspect of my poster to suit my Artists style.






As my chosen song is about younger days and the lyrics relate a lot to childhood and the difference between childhood and adulthood, i think that ths writing font would be very appropriate in relation to the song lyrics. As this writing has a childs writing look about it therefore i thought that i could apply my knowledge of conventional promotion posters and album cover to my subsidary project.

First idea, breif poster

This is my first brief of my promoting poster, i chose to have a conventional image dominating the majority of the page to let the audience know who the artist is and also to portray the image. I wanted to have a large title over the top of the page to make it clear the name of the song, i decided to make the poster image link to the name of the song, so for that reason i chose to use the main image of the artist against the background of a busy or quiet street. Using the influence of James Morrison of his album cover 'Undiscovered' i decided that an option for the name style would be to have Paolo nutinis name is gold writing underneath the image of the street, the reason i chose gold writing was because i want it to look trophy-like.
I want to keep this poster simplistic but yet effective by including all of the important details such as, the artists style, the song name and the name of the artist, Paolo Nutini.

Subsidary products

Alongside our main project of making a music video, we have been asked to create two subsidary product, to compliment our project. I decided for my first sub that i would make a magazine advertisement to support the music video and advertise it. My second sub is going to be to produce an album cover.

Target Audience

The music by Paolo Nutini tends to be very feel good, in my point of view i would say that the target audience is for a more mature audience, yet not too sophisticated, the music that is written and performed by Paolo Nutini tends to have lyrics that creates a self reflective atmosphere so therefore i would aim his music at 16-30 years. Also the image that he portrays suggests his music is aimed at a more working class audience, the tattoos suggest adolesence and his image overall to me shows that he is aiming at a younger audience. He gains support from fans by being so multi cultural, by him wearing the 'Sweden' t-shirt, this shows a very partiotic side from the swedish. Paolo Nutini is originally from Glasgow so he will have a lot of support from his friends and family.

Schedule List

As i am filming my video around winter time, this gives me a disadvantage. I aimed to film using only natural light however this is going to be difficult as when i leave college it is often getting dark so i am going to create a filming schedule;
I am aiming to use the camera during half terms, this means that i will have all day to capture the natural lighting. I booked a camera all throughout February half term. This meant that i was able to catch 7 days of different weather, as music video focuses a lot on the environment i wanted to pay close attention to contrasting weathers. From this i was able to capture a scene of a snowball fight. Something which i wanted to include.

Location

I needed to think carefully about where i was going to film my music video. As my chosen song is by Paolo Nutini his style of music has a very specific genre which i aimed at targetting a more mature audience. His music is generally produced to create a 'feel-good' atmosphere and my chosen song in particular created an image of freedom. I wanted to produce my video so it would be well suited to the genre of the song. The song 'These Streets' explains how life is good, using examples of an instance in which people are unhappy and talking about life as a young child where there are no problems. He uses portrays contrast between adults and children through the words of his song. These words influenced me to choose a child-like location.
Some examples of places of prime locations in which i chose to develop my music video would be;
Parks, football fields, snowball fights, empty streets, busy working hours, quiet roads, rivers, lakes and other places related to the countryside.

The images above portray the type of contrast that i wanted to portray in my music video. The freedom of the countryside relating to the freedom of childhood, and the busy working streets, realting to the stresses of adluthood, opposing to childhood.


I have created a list of my plan;

Plan of action

As one of my subsidiary products, i decided to make an album cover. To do this i needed to look into a variety of CD covers to get an influence on how i was going to design my album cover and what would be appropriate for my music genre. I wanted to look at album covers similar in some aspects but also different in music genre. I decided to look into a very influential artist, Van Morrison. As Van Morrison also has very laid back and relaxing music he also has a twist to his music by preaching as he is a very religious artist. Another artist i decided to look at is Paolo Nutini. In contrast to Van Morrison, Paolo Nutini's music is aimed at a younger audience, he has a more experimental side to his music and explores different varieties within his particular genre. My final album cover which i decided to look at was James Morrison's, the reason i decided to look at this was because his music is quite similar to my chosen artist Paolo Nutini, yet i feel his music is aimed at a more mature audience and most of his songs tend to be about love and relationships. I chose these three artists because they all base around the same sort of genre, yet they are all aimed a different aged audiences, so i wanted to look at how aiming an artist at a particular target audience can affect the way the album cover is designed.





The Van Morrison album cover portrays an example of a more sophisticated music taste, but also quite sinister, the background is dark and the contrasting ghostly white face looks deathly and scary. This album cover is particularly interesting because the music by Van Morrison tends to be feel good. The colour of the background is very opposing to the lighting of the face, the image looks as if it is in negative because of the use of very contrasting colours. The face itself has a look about it which suggests a light is being shone on him. As Van Morrison is a christian and very religious, this could suggest the light of god being shone on him. He sings a lot about god in his lyrics.



This Album cover is very interesting, however it works very well in aspect of the music genre. The Album and the images have been edited to look like a cartoon or pop art. This cover is very colourful in relation to his 'feel good' music genre. This suggests that his music is aimed at a more creative audience and also signifies that he has a very artistic side to him, which is portrayed in his music. The use of different colours implies a variation suggesting that Paolo Nutini's music has a variety of different sides to it. He is posing in fours different stances, this accompanies the variety of colours and again supports the implication of variation.



This James Morrison album was released as a debut album in the United Kingdom, 31st July 2006. The cover has a very bland use of colours, in contrast to the Bold, Gold writing down the side of the album cover. The reason the producers have used this gold writing is to make it look trophy like. The image that James Morrison portrays is an urban, relaxed view. His music, similar to that of Paolo Nutini's is very feel good but also for a more sophisticated audience, this carries characteristics of Van Morrisons music.

Before i started to produce my music video there are a few stages that i want to complete to make the process more organised. First of all after making my video i need to move onto the other two tasks, which i have chosen to create an album cover and also make a poster to promote my music video. To do this i need to make a plan, first of all i am going to do some research into Album covers and get some examples to help me work out what is necessary to include on an album cover.
All of the above images are contrasting.

Storyboard

Before creating my music video, it was necessary to produce a storyboard by simply drawing onto paper images of what i was going to do. I listened to the song and drew what imagery i would see, this was influenced by the lyrics. The purpose of my storyboard was to give me a breif idea of what i was going to do and what the lyrics made me think about. I drew down my ideas that are relevant to the song. This is a breif video lasting 1 minute to demonstrate and present my ideas, i am going to create a storyboard with the the music and time how long i want each frame.

Synopsis

Media- Music Video Synopsis

For my chosen brief, as I have chosen the song called These Streets by Paolo Nutini I am going to use a main character to use throughout the music video. The song I have chosen is mainly about the good and bad in the world. I am going to start with the tramp sat by the side of the road looking out onto the streets watching people walk by. I am going to have him walking around the streets, I am going to show their facial expressions and this will represent the songs lyrics. The reason I chose to use a tramp is because I want to represent the stresses of working class people, as the tramp is not involved in this class I thought It would be good to show how people outside of work would see things, or people who are inpartial to the working world and people who dont nessicarily have to deal with the stresses of working. I am going to have close ups from the tramps point of view of the people facial expressions to show their feelings, i will also use the mise en scene and lighting to portray the atmosphere or the meaning behind the song. For example i am going to film in a dark dirty city street in contrast to the green sunny feilds. I am also going to film in a park to represent the innocence of children and how Paolo Nutini says ‘where’d the days go, when all we did was play’ This line reminds me of childhood so therefore I am going to portray these thoughts in my video, childhood is very often portrayed by children laughing and smiling, so therefore i am going to use this sterotypical view of children in my video to make it clear what sort of atmosphere i am trying to create within the video.

These Streets

These streets was written by Paolo Nutini and produced by the Warner Bros, which lead to its release in 2006. Although no official video has been released, this video definately gratifies the artists and the audiences needs by recognition. This video is created mainly by the use of close ups. This is so the artists face is shown and he is shown performing, also it shows the audience his costume which portrays the image that the artist has aimed to acheive.

Lyrical representation

For my music video i had to listen to my song 'These Streets' several times and try to imagine how the words would create my video, and how i could represent the lyrics in the song and try to reflect the feeling and emotion into my video. As there has not yet been a video created for this song, i can use this to my advantage as none of my ideas could be influenced by an existing video.

These streets Paolo Nutini- Music video

Cross the border into the big bad world where it takes you bout and hour just to cross the road.-

Tramp sat by the side of the road watching smartly dressed sophisticated people walking across the road

Tramp dressed in torn dirty clothes, the sophisticated people wearing suits and work clothes, carrying brief cases.

Close up on tramps face, low angle on sophisticated people, instigating that they are superior and the tramp is looking up to them.

Just to stumble across another poor old soul from the dreary old lanes to the high street madness-

An establishing shot of the tramp sat down a quiet dark lane, alone, looking out onto the busy high street, looking at one woman in particular

Tramp again dressed in torn clothes and dirty, looking at woman wearing a skirt and a blazer, looking smart, but miserable.

Establishing shot of the tramp sat alone, looking content, and then an establishing shot to a close up of the woman looking miserable and frustrated surrounded by people.

I fight with my brain to believe my eyes, and it’s harder than you think to believe this sadness

A shot of the tramp looking straight into the camera, still with everybody in the background trying to get past him and steer away from him, Miming the words to the camera, looking content still.

Medium shot to close up of the tramp, the goes to a shot of his feet

That creeps up my spine and haunts me through the night

Tramp turns his back to the camera and begins to walk away from the highway back towards the lane. Whilst lighting a cigarette.

Goes from a medium shot back to an establishing shot

And life is good and the girls are gorgeous, suddenly the air smells much greener now

Tracking shot of the tramp walking along, smoking and admiring his surroundings. Looking at the people passing him by; switches to a tracking shot of a group of girls walking past laughing.

And I’m wandering around with a half pack of cigarettes searching for the change that I lost somehow

Close up of his hands, looking at a packet of cigarettes and some change in his hands

These streets have too many names for me, I’m used to Glen field road and spending my time down in Orchy

Cuts to a continuity shot/ montage of several faces

Ill get used to this eventually I know, I know

Tramp continues to walk along the busy high street

Establishing shot of the high street

Lyrical

Before creating my music video, i decided to look at some existing music videos so i could find out the conventions and what i would need to include to make my music video work. We also looked at a few music videos in class an one which i chose to analyse what Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen;



This promotion video was considered ground breaking and grew to be famous and extremely popular. In this video there is not lyrical representation, which it was so special about this promotion video, it is unconventional, the camera angles, the movements and the overall performance in this video is unconventional.



The meaning of the song; research

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is in the style of a stream-of-consciousness nightmare that has unusual song structure, more akin to a classical rhapsody than popular music"

'The title's "Bohemian" refers to the "easy come, easy go" A musical rhapsody is a "composition irregular in form and suggestive of improvisation",so a literal interpretation is that the song title means "A rhapsody about a bohemian".'

As the video starts, it begins with a low angle view of the silhouettes of the 3 artists, the reason the low angle shot is used is to signify dominance, as the band members are performing in a certain way to look dominant and epic. In this video the directors use a lot of close ups, because this is a promotion video the use of close ups enables the band to get recognition and this gratifies the needs of the audience by showing the band. The director also uses medium shots, this is to get a view of the full band, which is also close enough to establish not only their faces but also a bit of the background, this allows us to see the setting in which the video was produced. The opening shot is very dark and misty this is to represent the genre of the band which is grunge and rock, The Mise en scene represents a grunge feel to the music. also right at the start begins with flames in front of the band members, this represents to me evil, because evil often paints an image of fire and red colours, so i think the purpose of the fire is to represent evil or burning, the song gives off a god like theme and the words and the video work to create the theme of supernatural, the lack of meaning in the song draws more attention to the video its self as people have to draw more conclusions to the meaning of the song. The video shows that they are trying to look Epic and god like. The shot then changes to we can see a shadowed view of the artists faces and the background is it total blackness. The lighting used is spotlights on each of their faces, this is to make the artists the main focus as well as representing the style of music. The artists look ghost like. As this song is unconventional, the video has been created to fit that sub-genre, it has been produced to look quirky and strange. The director has used montage editing instead of continuity editing, this is because montage editing adds to the epic style that the video is also this allows quadruple exposure of the band. The shot changes to a medium close up of two artists on stage wearing very glamorous costumes. This is a very contrasting view of the band. I think this is to represent the variation that the band can perform, this is supported by the various musical instruments that surrounds them. The performers image is also very opposing, referring to the Gothic, long, rock-style hair cuts, against the white shiny, pop-looking costumes, also in terms of the media, stereotypically, good and evil is often represented by the colours black and white. The lighting portrays a very stereotypical 70’s rock band. Generally in the 70’s disco lights were used for pop bands, this consisted of red, blue and green spotlights. This is a factor that creates such an unconventional video because the lighting and costume seems inappropriate for the genre of music that it is accompanying. Because of the lack of musical rhythm, this creates a feel of ambiguity which also adds to the almost supernatural theme that the video creates. The image also presents by use of images an extremely contrasting video and all together creates a very mythological music video due to the fire and the unconventional song lyrics. This video has been made merely to show the performance of the band, although it has been created and edited to look exaggerated and over the top, this is to emphasize the epic style of the video. There is no hidden meaning behind this video, however it was one of the most well known and expensive music promotion videos to produce, this is not only due to the cost of props and materials but also due to the length of the video, which is 6 minutes long. one of the factors contributing to the video being unconventional.

The lyrics

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, No escape from reality Open your eyes, Look up to the skies and see, I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy, Because I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low, Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me Mama I just killed a man, Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead Mama, life had just begun, But now I've gone and thrown it all awayMama, ooh, Didn't mean to make you cry,If I'm not back again this time tomorrow,Carry on, carry on as if nothing really mattersToo late, my time has come, Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time Goodbye, ev'rybody, I've got to go,Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth Mama, ooh, I don't want to die, I sometimes wish I'd never been born at allI see a little silhouetto of a man,Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very fright'ning me(Galileo) Galileo (Galileo) Galileo, Galileo figaro Magnifico I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me He's just a poor boy from a poor family, Spare him his life from this monstrosity Easy come, easy go, will you let me goBismillah! No, we will not let you go(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go(Let me go) Will not let you go(Let me go) Will not let you go (Let me go) AhNo, no, no, no, no, no, no(Oh mama mia, mama mia) Mama mia, let me goBeelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me So you think you can stone me and spit in my eyeSo you think you can love me and leave me to die Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby,Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here Nothing really matters, Anyone can see, Nothing really matters, Not hing really matters to me Any way the wind blows

Second analysis
Another video that i thought would be a good video to analyse is Semi charmed life by Third eye blind. I chose this video because i feel it is very contrasting to Bohemian Rhapsody. There is also a connection between Queen and Third Eye Blind because Steven Jenkins (the lead vocalist) covered Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.
Third eye blind is an all American band and all members are from San Fransisco. The band was formed in the early 1990's and the song Semi Charmed Life was released in 1997.



This video is extremely opposing to Bohemian Rhapsody, this is an example of a conventional video, unlike Queen. This video lasts 3 and a half minutes, the typical length that would be expected in a conventional music video. This video is very subtle in contrast to the Epic feel of Bohemian Rhapsody.
Cinematography: This video is very similar to Bohemian Rhapsody,this is because both of the videos shows the band performing. A lot of music videos have a hidden meaning which is portrayed by the use of cinematography and the mise en scene, however this video shows just the band performing. The camera is used in a way to establish who is in the band 'Third Eye Blind' this gratifies the audiences needs by seeing the band performing, this also gratifies the artists needs by getting recognition. This video includes a lot of close ups, this is aforementioned to get the artist recognition. At the beginning of the video it starts with an image of the world with a overshot of a satellite, and then zooms into the world to show a sign of the American flag in an extreme closeup. The establishing shot shows the world blue, then zooms in onto the world and zooms out of the world to show the image of the blue jacket, this is to make a graphic match into the diagesis, it is also to establish the setting, which is America. As this song is called Semi Charmed Life, i think this is shown to appear patriotic and also to represent the country. The shot then goes on to show a over shoulder shot of a road from the artists car, the artists however are playing with each other and laughing, this is to represent the band and the music as 'feel good'. This is shown because if the genre of the music was rock and heavy music, then the music video would show the artists as unhappy. However as this music is 'feel good' the use of cinematography is manoeuvred in way which shows the artists facial expressions. The camera is also used to film establishing shots, this gets a shot of the place in which the video is set. In this videos case it appears to be set in the suburbs, representing the lyrics as the video presents a semi charmed setting. This is another indication of what type of music this band produces. The video goes on to show an establishing shot a a group of people on motorbikes, this gives a sense of gangs as they are all together, their identity however is anonymous because of the dark lighting, a low angle is used to film this shot, this is because they want to portray dominance, this again shows that the artists want to be in control and dominant.
It then goes on to show a man with a dog, the dog has great significance in developing the type of characters that the band members are, this is because the dog that is shown is a pit bull, stereotypically known as a vicious dog as they are often bred to fight. The man who is holding the dog has a shaved head and gives off the image of being a skin head who in the 60's were known for trouble and causing fights and in general breaking the law so this portrays very well what type of characters they are. There is an over shoulder shot of a band member looking out onto the city. It is an establishing shot so we can again as an audience establish where they are. He appears to be looking out onto new york, New York is generally represented in a way which creates a very busy atmosphere and stereotypically known to be a very busy city. The use of travel has been used a lot on this video by using motorbikes, cars and walking, this is to signify that the artists are on the move constantly, which also connects to criminality. This relates to the lyrics in the song 'I'm packed and I'm holding' these lyrics mean 'i have a gun and i have drugs' by the lyrics immediately represent a very gangster feel and the video represents this. As the main artist (the singer) is saying these lyrics we see him walking down the street by a tracking medium shot, he is wearing a black leather jacket and black clothing. This contrasts to the blue sky which dominates the background. The black clothing is to represent bad and darkness. As he is walking down the street he turns to punch a wall, this is performing aggressive behaviour. This video seems very opposing to the feel good type of song it is, but the fact that the song is happy means that the artist is trying to glorify drugs and violence. Towards the middle of the song it shows the band performing the song

The lyrics

I'm packed and I'm holding,

I'm smiling, she's living, she's golden andshe lives for me, She says she lives for me,Ovation, She's got her own motivation, she comes round and she goes down on me, And I make her smile, It's like a drug for you, Do ever what you want to do, Coming over you,Keep on smiling, what we go through. One stop to the rhythm that divides you, And I speak to you like the chorus to the verse, Chop another line like a coda with a curse, And I come on like a freak show takes the stage. We give them the games we play, she said, I want something else, to get me through this,Semi-charmed kind of life, I want something else, I'm not listening when you say, Good-bye. The sky it was gold, it was rose, I was taking sips of it through my nose, And I wish I could get back there, Some place back there, Smiling in the pictures you would take, Doing crystal myth, Will lift you up until you break, It won't stop, I won't come down, I keep stock, With a tick tock rhythm and a bump for the drop, And then I bumped up. I took the hit I was given, Then I bumped again, And then I bumped again.How do I get back there to, The place where I fell asleep inside you? How do I get myself back to, The place where you said, I want something else to get me through this, semi-charmed kind of life, I want something else, I'm not listening when you say, good-bye, I believe in the sand beneath my toes, The beach gives a feeling, An earthy feeling, I believe in the faith that grows, And the four right chords can make me cry, When I'm with you I feel like I could die. And that would be all right, All right, When the plane came in, She said she was crashing, The velvet it rips, In the city we tripped, On the urge to feel alive, But now I'm struggling to survive, The days you were wearing, That velvet dress,You're the priestess, must confess, Those little red panties, They pass the test, Slide up around the belly, Face down on the mattress, One, Now you hold me, And we're broken. Still it's all that I want to do. Feel myself with a head made of the ground, I'm scared but I'm not coming down. And I won't run for my life, She's got her jaws just locked now in smile but nothing is all right, All right, I want something else, To get me through this, Semi-charmed kind of life, I want something else, I'm not listening when you say, good-bye.

Third analysis

This song is called New York and is performed by Alicia Keys and Jay Z. This song was released in october 2009.

One of the reasons i chose to analyse this video is because i wanted to have a variation, and in terms of style and genre, this music video has almost no relation to my previous two videos. The music genre is RnB which is generally targetted to a younger audience, perhaps aimed at teenagers, contrasting to the previous two videos which would generally be suited to most age ranges in terms of the style of music.

This music video is about glorifying New york, therefore the video is based in new york city center

The use of camera makes the city look glamorous and sophisticated. The video begins with a a series of continuity editing, in this the producers have represented New York. Most of the pictures that are shown have been taken from a low angle which shows that the city is dominant, which is very relevant because of the significance America has amongst the world. The shots are also edited to be in black and white, this again represents sophistication and maturity. The video is very conventional in the respect that is cuts the the beat. After the continuity editing we are shown one of the artists, Jay Z. In this shot it is a medium close up low angle, this makes him look dominant. He is wearing expensive looking clothing and a hat pulled down over his eyes and sun glasses on, this image is sterotypically used to represent gangsters and thugs, and also signifies that he wants to look mysterious, so therefore this is the image that the artist wants to portray, sub conciously targetting a younger audience, by the use of his clothing. The lead up to the chorus shows establishing shots, looking down onto New York. I think this is to show how big New York is and how amazing it looks. The shot then switches to a medium shot of the second artist, Alicia Keys. In this shot she is playing the piano on the streets of New York, i think that this is to represent that she has talent as she is able to play the piano and also this represents that New York is a stage for her to perform to the world on. This perhaps has the intention of saying that she is known all over the world. Behind her is a road with cars going past, there is a long traffic queue behind her, this represents to me that New York is busy and also glamorous. Her clothes are also used to glorify New York as well as portraying the image that the artist want to show. She is wearing leather clothing, which is well known to be a sexy material for a woman to wear, which also shows that she wants to be seductive.



New York Lyrics

Yeah,
Yeah, Imma up at Brooklyn,
Now Im down in Tribeca,
Right next to DeNiro,
But i’ll be hood forever,
I’m the new Sinatra,
And since I made it here,
I can make it anywhere,
Yeah they love me everywhere,
I used to cop in Harlem,
All of my dominicanos
Right there up on broadway,
Brought me back to that McDonalds,
Took it to my stash spot,
Five Sixty Stage street,
Catch me in the kitchen like a simmons whipping pastry,
Cruising down 8th street,
Off white lexus,
Driving so slow but BK is from Texas,
Me I’m up at Bedsty,
Home of that boy Biggie,
Now I live on billboard,
And I brought my boys with me,
Say wat up to Ty Ty, still sipping Malta
Sitting courtside Knicks and Nets give me high fives,
N-gga I be spiked out, I can trip a referee,
Tell by my attitude that I most definitely from…
In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
The lights will inspire you,
Lets here it for New York, New York, New York
[Jay-Z]
I made you hot n-gga,
Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game,
Sh-t I made the yankee hat more famous than a yankee can,
You should know I bleed Blue, but I aint a crip tho,
But I got a gang of n-ggas walking with my click though,
Welcome to the melting pot,
Corners where we selling rocks,
Afrika bambaataa sh-t,
Home of the hip hop,
Yellow cap, gypsy cap, dollar cab, holla back,
For foreigners it aint fitted they forgot how to act,
8 million stories out there and their naked,
Cities is a pity half of y’all won’t make it,
Me I gotta plug a special and I got it made,
If Jesus payin LeBron, I’m paying Dwayne Wade,
3 dice cee-lo
3 card marley,
Labor day parade, rest in peace Bob Marley,
Statue of Liberty, long live the World trade,
Long live the king yo,
Jay-z Empire State Of Mind lyrics found on http://www.directlyrics.com.com/jayz-empire-state-of-mind-lyrics.html
I’m from the empire state thats…
In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
The lights will inspire you,
Lets here it for New York, New York, New York
Welcome to the bright light..
Lights is blinding,
Girls need blinders
So they can step out of bounds quick,
The side lines is blind with casualties,
Who sipping life casually, then gradually become worse,
Don’t bite the apple Eve,
Caught up in the in crowd,
Now your in-style,
And in the winter gets cold en vogue with your skin out,
The city of sin is a pity on a whim,
Good girls gone bad, the cities filled with them,
Mommy took a bus trip and now she got her bust out,
Everybody ride her, just like a bus route,
Hail Mary to the city your a Virgin,
And Jesus can’t save you life starts when the church ends,
Came here for school, graduated to the high life,
Ball players, rap stars, addicted to the limelight,
MDMA got you feeling like a champion,
The city never sleeps better slip you a Ambien
In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
The lights will inspire you,
Lets here it for New York, New York, New York
One hand in the air for the big city,
Street lights, big dreams all looking pretty,
No place in the World that can compare,
Put your lighters in the air, everybody say yeaaahh
Come on, come,
Yeah,
In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
The lights will inspire you,
Lets here it for New York, New York, New York

Music Video History

The History of Music Videos


For my brief, I chose to create a music video. Before making this I had to research some of the basic and more in depth facts about music videos for example, what purpose it served, what effect music videos hold within an audience and most importantly the conventions of a video and how they have progressed over time. Music videos have become more and more popular in modern day, which started in the 1980’s when MTV introduced the first music video ever to be broad casted on TV; ‘Video Killed the Radio Star ’year by the Buggles in 1980, which was broad casted in 1981, the song was produced just one year after the band first formed in 1979.
Music videos not only are created for entertainment, but were introduced as a way of promoting not only the song but the artist, they are primarily made as a marketing resource, they are also used for the uses and gratifications theory (using media to interact with the audience) over time music videos have gradually progressed, music videos were not willing to invest vast amounts of money on something that was there merely for entertainment reasons, they felt there needed to be a significant reason behind them, this is when music videos began to be made for promotion reasons. Which significantly effected the new programme which was introduced in the early 1980’s, MTV. The reason this new and original television programme struggled massively in the first 2 years, 1981-1983 was because of the pure lack of music videos that had been produced and because of the music businesses lack of ability to see their potential and how they could help with promotion, and also because of the break in conventional television programmes. Since music videos began to increase in popularity, findings showed that so did the artist, this shows how much of an influence music videos have within the media industry and how they effect peoples opinions. The videos hold a massive influence on the way the artist is represented and the style of the music. The audience also reacts the music video and responds in a generally positive way. The audience want to feel that they can relate to the song which in turn means that they can relate to the artist and as many people have role models, they like to be able to relate to them and feel they hold something in common, so another purpose for a music video is so people can feel they can relate. For my music video I chose to use a song by Paolo Nutini called ‘These Streets’, who creates his influence by his original voice and dress sense which is presented in his music videos which reflect the way he wants to be perceived.
There are 5 main aspects within a music video, these consist of; Performance, Narrative, Lyrical interpretation, Lyrical representation and Abstract, these 5 aspects work together to create a music video and all create good promotion values and representation. In a conventional music video the image on the music video will cut to the beat, this helps to create a good theme and rhythm and puts the song and the video well together, this is part of the lyrical representation. Generally in a music video the artist will be performing the song whilst miming (Mickey Mousing) the words of the song. They primarily work through the use of montage. Lyrical interpretation can be shown in the music videos, meaning the song that has been introduced may have a hidden meaning and this can be represented in the music video. The reason for this is because not only can the montage cut to the beat but it can also establish what is going on in the song and the meaning behind the lyrics. To get an idea of this we watched a video of ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson. Which was a fast paced and original piece. All music videos are performed in different ways and the cinematography depends on how the artists wants to audience to respond to the video and how they want them to relate. For example, for a fast paced video, continuity editing would generally be used along with montage. However for a slow and more in depth song angles such as tracking shots and establishing shots would be used, depending on what response the director and the artist want to provoke, Not only has the progression of music videos been launching since the 1980’s, as has the progression of technology which has added to the impact that music videos can influence.
Some of the earliest music videos were introduced in 1926, where many short musical animated films were introduced. The Warner Bros Introduced Vita phone between 1926 and 1930, which featured dancing, vocalists and bands. Spooney melodies was a musical video series, which lasted about 6 minutes per episode. Which had an animated visual with the singer recorded in the background. In the 1970’s a well founded and popular television programme ‘Top of the Pops’ began to play music videos. As a way of enticing listeners, the BBC gave a rule that there was a restricted amount of times that a certain song could be played. This would increase sales and popularity. Two programmes which made a significant impact on the popularity of music videos were Australian shows called Countdown and Sounds Unlimited (later shortened to Sounds) both of which premiered in 1974, and made a point of not only promoting the song but also the artist. In 1975 a famous and extremely popular video was launched, this video was created by Bruce Gowers for Queens new single ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. One of the reasons that this promotion video is so notable is because unlike conventional cinematography when montage and continuity editing is used, this video was entirely filmed and edited on video tape. In 1983 a video was introduced which was created and directed by John Landis, this video was ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson and soon after it was launched, was placed in the Guinness World Records as one of the most successful videos of all time. Unlike most conventional music videos lasting between 4-5 minutes however Thriller in 13 minutes and 41 seconds, and cost over a $5million to produce. The reason that this video was such a hit is because it broke out of the conventions of music videos and included narrative and acting, like a short film. In 1991 a new song was released by a more alternative rock band R.E.M and the song ‘Losing My Religion’ was launched along with a music video that became very popular due to its unconventional presentation. The video was created by Tarsem Singh, which was released on February 10th 1991.
Since the 1980’s and with help from programmes such as TOTP, MTV and earlier shows such as Countdown and Sounds, music businesses have been able to invest their money in something that will promote not only the music but the artist. Since music videos launched it has not become an essential to have a music video to go with a newly launched song. It has found that a better music video makes better music. Not only this but since music videos were created the artists can base new music on what they want and the lyrics and be represented in the music videos.

My music video

As i have chosen to create a music video, i am going to create it to go with the song 'These Streets' by paolo nutini, the main reason i chose this song, is because there is no existing music video, so what i create will be purely original. i am going to do this by firstly analysing the lyrics to the song and how the lyrical representation make me feel towards the music and what i think would be appropriate for the song. These Streets was produced in 2006 and was made by the Warner Bros, as this song has been released yet i am able to make the music video on how it influences my views and how i feel people will relate to it. Here are the lyrics to the song;

"These Streets" 2006 Warner bros
Cross the border,
Into the big bad world
Where it takes you 'bout an hour
Just to cross the road
Just to stumble across another poor old soul from
The dreary old lanes to the high-street madness
I fight with my brain to believe my eyes
And it's harder than you think
To believe this sadness
That creeps up my spine
And haunts me through the night
And life is good and the girls are gorgeous
Suddenly the air smells much greener now
And I'm wondering around
With a half pack of cigarettes
Searching for the change that I've lost somehow

These streets have too many names for me
I'm used to Glenfield road and spending my time down in Orchy
I'll get used to this eventually
I know, I know
Where'd the days go?
When all we did was playAnd the stress that we were under wasn't stress at all
Just a run and a jump into a harmless fall from
Walking by a high-rise to a landmark square
You see millions of people with millions of cares
And I struggle to the train to make my way home
I look at the people as they sit there alone
Life is good, and the sun is shining
Everybody flirts to their ideal place
And the children all smile as a boat shuffled by them
Trying to pretend that they've got some space
These streets have too many names for me
I'm used to Glenfield road and spending my time down in OrchyI'll get used to this eventually
I know, I know

These streets have too many names for me
I'm used to Glenfield road and spending my time down in OrchyI'll get used to this eventually
I know, I know
Life is good, and the girls are gorgeous
Suddenly the air smells much greener now
And I'm wondering aroundWith a half pack of cigarettes
Searching for the change that I've lost somehow
These streets have too many names for me
I'm used to Glenfield road and spending my time down in OrchyI'll get used to this eventually
I know, I know
These streets have too many names for me
I'm used to Glenfield road and spending my time down in our OrchyI'll get used to this eventually
I know, I know

My chosen Breif

For my brief i chose to create a music video. to do this, i am going to research a wide variety of music videos, in this i am going to not only analyse the conventions of music videos, but i am also going compare the difference between old music videos and modern day videos. The reason i am going to do this is so i can look at how music videos have progressed over time and look at how technology has improved the effect that a music video has within its audience. and how the institution works to create a video that is suited to a age targeted audience. Generally music videos are created for people in a younger age band. the reason for this being that it is generally people within the ages of 14-25 that tend to watch music videos more frequently that people either older or younger. because of this, i think the producers like to make videos that would appeal to that specific audience, for example they would include the stars doing things that a typical person of that age range would do, like bowling or shopping. The artists tend to be dressed up in clothes that would appeal to their target audience and the artists are made to look attractive. By doing this they attract a bigger audience as people find the videos attractive and relate to the style of the music video. For example if a music videos genre is RnB then the video would look sheik and fashionable. Therefore is a song was rock, then the video would look very grunge and metal.



Acronym

Language
Institution
Ideology
Audience
Representation

Language- The language is presented in a number of forms, including;
Lighting, Cinematography, Mise En Scene and use of Camera.
In most music videos, as the are used for mainly promotion purposes they tend to use a lot of close ups, this is to gratify the needs of the audience and also the artist by showing their faces, which is earning them recognition. Also the lighting holds a sub-conscious hold on the audience as this determines the atmosphere that the video creates amongst the audience. The lighting is adjusted depending on the genre of the song, for example, if the genre is heavy metal then conventionally, the lighting would be dark, however if the genre is 'feel good' then the producer would conventionally use a lot of light colours and blue lighting as blue often represents freshness and freedom. Also the Mise En Scene can portray strongly what the song is trying to say in non-diegetic terms. I am going to have to take all of these areas of language into consideration when making my music video. As i feel my song is feel good i am going to portray this image and reflect it using all of the aforementioned.

Institution- The institution is about creating something that is going to be appropriate for my chosen target audience.
Audiences are generally targeted by the use of;
-Costume and Environment
After choosing my target audience i am going to have to take into account what is popular within the certain age range. To achieve this i will need to research fashions and trends. I will make my video suitable amongst my chosen age range by the use of costume, i am going to use clothing that would be popular within my chosen group.