Thursday, 12 December 2013

History of music videos

Music videos in the 21st century are vastly easier to access that they have ever previously been due to the development of computers etc and the progression of many other technologies. Music videos are used as a representation and a form of promotion for the artist as well as the song that it accompanies. It also integrates a song with a story and gives a deeper insight into the lyrics and concept that they are trying to convey to the audience. It also acts as a source of promotion for the artist as well as the single/album as it entices the audience to watch the videos and therefore the songs that they have produced. It is also used to create a 'hype', for example Kanye West 'Bound 2' whose video create a stir in the media for the wrong reasons, however                

the media coverage has lead it to reach 
11,294,435 views on youtube. Although         music videos were invented before the 
1980's this is when they can into prominence as the pop genre was founded as well as many other artists who targeted their music at a wider audience than any other. 

The development of technology and internet access has made music videos more accessible to a wider audience. Due to this, music videos have developed using larger budgets and more advanced technology. It has lead to music videos being more interesting for fans and viewers as well as create more of a hype. The creation of youtube in 2005 has heightened this and was seen as a revolution where music videos were concerned. Youtube has allowed people to view and listen to songs that they may not have heard before and has also been used as a platform for new artists to promote their music. 

                                                     Other way audiences consume music videos: 

                                                      -  Youtube 
                                                      -  TV (Music channels) 
-  Twitter 
-  Facebook
-  Tumblr 
-  Smart phone 
-  Instagram 
-  Spotify                       

Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Research Into Record Labels

Major record labels are defined as large companies within the music industry that may also own smaller record labels.

An example of the major record labels that dominate the music industry are:
  • Universal Music Group (part of EMI's recorded music devision absorbed into UMG)
Artists that they manage include:
- Akon
- Demi Lovato
- Ellie Goulding
- Eminem
- Kanye West
- Keri Hilson
- Mariah Carey
- Nicki Minaj

Other Labels that they manage in the US:
- Interscope Geffen A&M
- The Island Def Jam Music Group
- Capitol Music Group
- Republic Records
- Universal Music Group Nashville
- Decca Label Group
- The Verve Music Group
- Astralwerks Records
- Blue Note Records
- Universal Music Enterprises
- A&M/Octone
- Show Dog - Universal Music

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  • Sony Music Entertainment (EMI Music Publishing absorbed into Sony/ATV Music Publishing)
Artists that they manage include:
- Paloma Faith
- Miley Cyrus
- Britney Spears
- Justin Timberlake
- Michael Jackson
- Labrinth
- John Legend
- Avril Lavigne

Other Labels that they manage:
- Columbia Records
- RCA Records
- Epic Records

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  • Warner Music Group (EMI's Parlophone and EMI/Virgin Classics label absorbed into WMG)
Artists that they manage include:
- Kylie Minogue
- Ray Charles
- Wale
- TI
- B.o.B
- Birdy
- Wiz Khalifa
- Sheryl Crow

Other Labels that they manage:
- Atlantic Records Group
- Warner Bros. Records Group
- Rhino Entertainment
- Parlophone Label Group
- Warner Music Nashville
- Warner Classics

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  • The EMI Group
Artists that they manage:
- Coldplay
- David Bowie
- Lily Allen
- Republic

Other Labels that they manage:
- Blue Note Label Group
- Capitol Music Group
- Caroline Distribution
- EMI Christian Music Group
- Virgin Music Group

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Independent labels can be just as successful as major labels but operate from a smaller company base. They are traditionally known as offering more 'organic' music rather than manufactured mainstream. 

Examples of Independent labels in the UK: 

  • Andmoresound:  Andmoresound was an independent record label based in Glasgow, Scotland, managed and operated by musician and businessman, Lindsey Boyd. It was named in homage to the song "Andmoreagain" by the band LoveAndmoresound was responsible for launching several Scottish indie pop and indie rock bands including Boyd's own group Mac Meda. Most notable signing was another band Boyd occasionally plays in, indie pop group Camera Obscura, a band who would find greater success on the Elefant Records and Merge Records labels. Mac Meda's debut single, "My Favourite Trashcan" claimed NME 's 'Single of the Week' title on its release.
Artists that they manage: 
- Camera Obscura 
- Tacoma Radar 
- Mac Meda  

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  • Blue Dog Records: Blue Dog Records was an independent London record label located in offices above the original Barfly Club (The Falcon, Camden). Started in 1997 by Nick Moore and Jeremy Ledlin it was licenced and distributed by Richard Branson’s V2 Records, and had a mostly guitar band roster of artists. Many of the acts who released their first singles on Blue Dog were then snapped up by bigger labels, with Sona Fariq signing to Warners, Contempo signing to London, Murry the Hump signing to Beggars Banquet, and Crashland to Independiente/SonyThe label dissolved in 2000 due to funding cuts from V2 Records and the label's main artist The Crocketts transforming into The Crimea. Moore set up short lived online label Animal Noise that continued to work with Alchemicals, The Disorientee and also released records by Baby Bird & Carina Round.
Artists that they manage: 
- The Crocketts 
- Daytona 
- Contempo 
- Sona Fariq 
- Super J Lounge 

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  • Creation Records: Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation,whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were also in the band Biff Bang Pow!, which was also the title of a The Creation song. The label was revived at one point in 2011 for the release of a compilation album, Upside Down, spanning songs from the label. The label ceased operations in 1999.
Artists that they manage: 
- Oasis 
- My Bloody Valentine 
- Teenage Fanclub 
- The Cramps 
- Medicine 

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Consider the following questions:
1.    Is it right from a music point of view as well as an industry point of view that 4 companies dominate the music industry?
2.    What affect do you think this has on the industry?
3.    Are Independent labels as successful as major labels, how do you judge this?
4.    Is there anything that independent labels offer the industry that the majors do not?

Planning editing styles

By combining a range of different shots, cuts and transitions together is allows the audience to follow the narrative, understand a concept and witness an artist perform. Editing is a very important aspect to consider when making our music video as it allows our production to flow more easily between shots. This allows our audience to follow and understand our narrative rather than being confused by a diverse style music video such as Gondry or Cunningham. 

We have decided that fast paced editing is the most appropriate technique to employ within our music video due to the conventions of the dance/house genre that we have used. This specific genre is known for its beats and music rather than the lyrics and we therefore felt it was important to reflect this within the editing that we chose to use throughout the video. It will lead to an increased pace and in turn an create the correct pace of events throughout the narrative. Fast paced editing is also more complex and will lead the audience to have a more exciting and thrilling viewing experience and we hope that this will leave a longer lasting impression. This editing style we will use in the flashbacks of the relationships in order to give a sense that it is almost their life together flashing before his eyes, as well as representing how quickly it is all over. This will further emphasise the emtions of the loss that he is experiencing as well as being an emotion that the audience can relate too. Furthermore, it will also match the chaos and drama that we wish to create when the car crash happens, we felt that slower paced editing would detract from the panic that we would like the audience to feel as the events are unfolding. 

However due to the nature of our narrative we will employ areas of slower paced editing to convey the emotions of the story line and the characters that are shown. This will be used in the graveyard scenes where the artist is visiting the grave of his lost loved one. This will contrast the more upbeat flashbacks that we have chosen to include and therefore evoke the correct emotion from the audience as they are lead through the ups and down of the relationship.





Tuesday, 3 December 2013

Planning cinematography

Cinematography consists of the camera shots and angles that are used throughout the music video. Without the use of cinematography there would not be a music video at all and it therefore a hugely crucial aspect of creating our music video and therefore very important to incorporate it successfully. Our group meetings therefore consisted of planning cinematography in detail to decide upon which shots that we will use to create the correct effect for our production. 

Establishing Shot: 

We will use an establishing shot to set the scene of each location that we use within the video and to provide context. It is the only shot that can show the audience the setting, what characters are involved and more complex backgroud and foreground details in a single shot. It will make it easier for the audience to understand the following events; as well as to serve the purpose of linking each location together so that they flow more smoothly and therefore make a more professional looking music video. 

An example of this is the establishing shot of the graveyard that our character visits throughout the music video. This is an important location to the narrative and by introducing it to the audience it highlights its importance as well as adding a sense of foreboding.

Mid shot:

The mid shot shows some part of the subject in more detail, whilst still showing enough for the audience to feel as if they were looking at the whole subject. In fact, this is an approximation of how you would see a person "in the flesh".

We have many midshots within the sequence when the subject is not showing much emotion or intense concentration. For example we have used this when the character is walking through the graveyard with the intent to deliver information which in this case is the setting of the graveyard and background context as there is no speech involved within a music video. This neutral shot also allows room for hand gestures and movement which we have accompanied with a panning shot to track the movement of the male.

Close Up:

We have followed the mid shot with a close up which is where a certain feature or part of the subject takes up most of the frame and is usually a close up of their face. They are useful for showing detail and emphasised the characters emotional state. 

The use of this camera shot allows us to present the audience with the reactions and emotions of the subject to show the mourning that he is going through when visiting his loved one. This will allow the audience to connect with the character and build a relationship as well as putting themselves in the situation. This will also continue to help them grasp and understand the narrative that we have chosen to follow for our music video.

Low angle:

We have decided to encorporate many different camera angles within our music video to represent the highs and lows of the relationship that posseses our narrative. An exmaple of this for example is the use of a low angle shot showing the couple in a pub with the city sky line behind them. This is used to show that this moment that has been captured is at a time where the relationship was going well and shows them as having higher authority as the camera is placed slightly below them. We also decided to position the girl at a higher situation (sitting on the wall with the boy looking up) to show that she is of higher importance than the boy in his eyes (as the narrative tells his story).

Eye level:

The majority of our camera shots positioned in this way as it is a fairly neutral shot where the camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene, so that eg actors' heads are on a level with the focus. This is more practical for telling a story to show the different events clearly without confusing the viewer. This is important wihin a music video that is narrative based (such as ours) and is therefore why we decided to use this shot within our production.

Settings:

Graveyard: We have used a graveyard within our music video as a large part of the narrative shows the mourning of the main character to provide a sense of foreboding. We therefore chose to use a graveyard as it holds the connotations of death, mourning and sadness. This we felt would therefore be appropriate to reflect the emotions of the character and therefore make the audience aware of the sad story that we are conveying through the music video.

Iconography used within the scene:

- Flowers: These are used when the character is paying his respects to the loved one that he as lost to show the intense emotion that he is feeling. It is also very conventional to what the audience would expect to see in a graveyard and helps them to follow the narrative as we are complying to what they would expect to see.

- Grave stones: This audience would expect to see these in the setting of the graveyard that we have chosen and therefore makes it more believable that this is a real occuring event that is taking place.

- The sun: The sun can be seen shining in each of the shots that we used of the graveyard to represent the lyrics 'the sun dont shine without you'. Although it contradicts the words it represents the fact that she is still there although she is absent physically. It helps to link the visuals with the lyrics and therefore follows Goowins theory.

Pub: We have filmed the couple in a pub to show the happy times of their relationship. This is an appropriate setting to show the two characters having fun and in love as it is something that many couples would go and do together. This will therefore be easy for our target audience to relate too and in turn keep them interested in the narrative.

Iconography used within the scene:

- Glasses: We encorporated drink glasses within the setting of the pub to make it seem more realistic as it is what the audience would expect to see.

We plan on including some different locations such as footage from a club etc to link the narrative with the genre of Dance/House as this is what our music video seems to be lacking. The settings that we have used to date are not conventional to the music genre however do link to the lyrics of the song. By going against the conventions of what the audience expect we hope that it will add further to the attraction of the music video and therefore entertain them.

Monday, 11 November 2013

Storyboards

Storyboards are graphic organisers combining two main parts: images and descriptions of a scene. They are a series of photos, drawings or clip art that outline the sequence of scenes and major changes in a video production. It includes graphics that reveal main action of scene as well a scene description. It also goes into further depth including aspects such as camera techniques and audio (eg. narration, dialogue, voice over, sound effects and music). It allows us to manage the timing of our production and gives us an opportunity to solve any problems that nay arise prior to filming. It portrays our basic idea of the production illustrates to others how the final product is seen as well as clarifying our vision to the rest of the group. 

We carried out a range of primary and secondary research in order to help us to plan our music video and provide us with a larger amount of information. Our primary research included: questionnaires and vox pops. This provided us with information on the preferences and opinions of our target audience as well as highlighting any areas that may allow us to expand our target audience. Our secondary research included: research into our artist and record labels; this provided us with knowledge to understand the style of the artist so that we could follow this within our own interpretation and music video. 


To storyboard our video we followed the outline that we was given and filled in each section to outline everything that we may need to know when filming our music video. To do so we combined each others individual ideas and discussed which would give our video the best outcome, we then transferred these onto out storyboards. The responsibility was split eveny between each member of the group by giving each individual a section of the nusic video to storyboard once it had been decided within the group. 


Our storyboards acted as a guideline to the different scenes and shots that we wanted to include. However this altered as we were filming due to the ivolving ideas that we had once we were in the actual location and the difficulty of achieving some of the shots that we had included in the storyboards. We began to realise that we had not planned the type of shots that we would include in enough detail. For example when the male character is walking through the graveyard and to the grave stone we had not included enough close up shots of his facial expressions in the planning and therefore added these once we began to film. This was the case in several different sections of the narrative, however the storyboards meant that we could follow the basics and adapt it when we felt necessary, producing a more successful music video. 

Our Storyboards:
 











Planning lighting and colour

Lighting is largely important to consider when producing our music video as it will be used to portray the mood and atmosphere of each scene. The colour that is created by the different lighting techniques can also be used to present juxtapositions and connotations and will help to indicate the artist and narrative as well as any hidden meanings behind the actions or lyrics. The lighting is also more important to our group due to the song that we have chosen to create our music video for as the lyrics incorporate the idea of the 'sun' and is therefore vital that we have considered linking the lyrics and visuals throughout. 

We have used naturalistic light throughout our music video to give a believable and realistic view of the scene. This, we hope, will lead to the audience being able to relate to the video more easily and therefore make it easier for them to put themselves in the situation and to connect with the characters and events. We filmed the graveyard scenes in the daylight to contrast the lyrics 'the sun don't shine' and we angled the camera so that the sun could be seen in each shot that we used to remind the audience of the links to the song. For scenes that show the good times of the relationship we have filmed in the dark which again contrasts the lyrics of the song. This contrast will help to show the audience the good and bad times of the relationship and make it easier for the audience to understand and interpret. Our decision to use naturalistic light however goes against the conventions of the house genre that we have chosen. House and dance tends to focus on artificial club lighting techniques as this is where this genre of music would typically be played and enjoyed. It is however the right decision for the narrative based concept that we have adopted for our music video as we have broken the conventions of the genre throughout. For this reason however we also have used sections of artificial lighting to remind the audience of the genre as well as following the beats of the music. It will also increase the entertainment value for the audience as it will introduce a party element and therefore making it easier for them to enjoy, rather than a continuous narrative based focus. 

We have used colours within our music video in order to give a sense of foreboding of the unfolding events. For example we have dressed the female character in black clothing as it gives the character a sense of mystery and holds the connotations of death, foreboding her death within the narrative. It poses questions for the audience and makes them unsure of the following scenes that they will witness, creating a sense of the unknown which will increase the entertainment element for the audience. This is paired with a pair of jeans to give the character a sense of normality so that the audience feel as if it is real and therefore more easy to relate to. 

The decisions that we have made regarding lighting and colour have been discussed by all group members so that all our ideas could be incorporated. We felt that is was important to communicate hidden meanings in the lyrics etc through the use of different aspects such as lighting and colour which is why this kind of planning is important. This will give the audience a fuller understanding of the narrative as well as the song which will add to the entertainment value. It will continue to add to the relationship that the audience have built with the narrative and the artist. 

Monday, 4 November 2013

Lyric Analysis

The lyrics of our song are fairly basic due to the genre of dance/house that focuses more on the beats of the music rather than the words. The lyrics have more of a literal meaning rather than any hidden ones. The lyrics describe a relationship and the love that the artist/ persona feels for their boyfriend/girlfriend. We have decided to use this theme within our music video through showing the ups and downs of a relationship as well as incorporating a narrative in order to provide more depth. The happier lyrics such as 'I love you, don't ever let go' will be paired with happy flashbacks of the couples relationships such as at the park etc. The lyrics ' The sun don't shine without you, without you' lends itself to the part of the narrative where there are harder times of their relationship such of arguments etc. These lyrics will also be linked with the crash to emphasise the idea that she has gone, 'without you' and will use darker lighting to contrast the other more cheerful aspects. 

The younger (teenage) target audience that our song and artist lends itself to a narrative such as the one that we have chosen. This is because they will be at the stage of their life where they will be experiencing similar events and will therefore make the video more relatable to the audience. This will give them a deeper insight into the song and the lyrics and enhance their understanding whilst also entertaining them. We didn't feel that there were many hidden meanings behind the lyrics of the song that we have chosen so we therefore decided the enhance the lyrics that were already present. We therefore decided to choose the narrative of a relationship where the lyrics 'the sun don't shine without you' would be relevant. We decided for it to be about the loss of a partner and that it seems like the sun doesn't shine when she isn't around. We also felt that this would lead to the audience to be able to relate to the lyrics and the narrative and therefore make it more emotive. It also made it easier for our group to make lighting decisions as we would include high key lighting for good memories that they shared together and low key lighting for when he is missing her. Setting decisions were also made easier due to the fact that they had to comply with the idea of a relationship, this lead us to choose the settings that we did e.g: Bedroom, House, Park, Pub. 


(Include annotations of the lyrics) 

Target Audience Research: Pie Charts

We chose to use pie charts to present the information that we collected from our questionnaires. This was in order to make the feedback easier to interpret as we felt that visual aids will be more engaging.

Our first question determined the age of the participants that we were using within our questionnaire. This was so that we could ensure that we were collecting the opinions of a range of different age groups as well as a greater number of participants belonging to our target audience age group. This would make sure that we had collected enough information in order to be useful within our research and that we could broaden and include as wide target audience as possible. As well as this it allows us to specify the people we are targeting in more depth and therefore more accurately to increase the appeal of the video.

We chose to use a sample of both males and females, ensuring that each category was evenly spread. This was deliberate in order to gain further understanding into the opinions of both genders due to our target audience being fairly evenly weighted. This gave us an insight into which different aspects each gender would like to see in a music video, as well as highlighting any correlation between each. It would also result in our music video becoming pleasing for both males and females and therefore broadening our target audience rather than focussing on just one gender  specifically. The genre is a very accessible for both males and females and as a result we wanted our research to reflect this, and in turn our music video.



 Once we had determined the basic information of the participants that we had included we then wanted to deep a bit deeper into their interests, and more specifically their favourite music genres. Our feedback further cemented the opinion that we had chosen the right genre of music for our specified target audience due to the majority of participants favouring the dance genre (35%) over a few selected others. We feel that this is due to an increase in popularity that the dance genre has seen within the teenage generation and is featured in mainstream music. This encourages the fact that our music video will be successful and that our song was well chosen. The genre is also one that is enjoyed by each member of our group and we therefore felt that we had a better understanding of the genre and allowed us to be more creative. This will hopefully lead to our music video of having a higher chance of becoming successful.


The following question also reiterated the conclusions that we had drawn from the previous one. It allowed us to see that the artist that we had chosen was popular within the public and more importantly our chosen target audience. This statistics of a majority of 77% of participants that answered our questionnaires had heard of the song and gave us more hope in that we had chosen a popular song and that our music video will be a success.


It was made evident that the participants that had completed our questionnaires preferred a narrative based music video. We followed the opinions of the participants as it was also one that all members of the group also agreed with. Due to our music video belonging to the dance music genre we felt that we should follow the conventions. As dance music focusses predominantly on the beat of the music 



Monday, 21 October 2013

Planning setting and iconography

What is the purpose of setting and iconography?


The setting and iconography that we have chosen in our music video are crucial in order to convey the genre of the music as well as the way that the artist is represented. The setting and iconography will allow the audience to build a relationship with the artist and allow them to understand lyrics and visuals. Each of the locations that we have chosen represent the narrative and the forms of iconography also link with both of these. Each aspect has been carefully chosen to display genre characteristics or develop a relationship.

What settings will you include and why?

For the scene where the crash takes place we have chosen to use a isolated dusty road where there will be little other car activity. This will therefore allow us to have only our car in the shot as well as to stage the crash without putting anyone else in danger. The dust on the road will also help to mask the little resources that we have and the unprofessional construction of the crash itself. 

The flashbacks that we have Incorporated within our narrative will be filmed in multiple locations in order create the feeling that time in passing and to therefore represent the time that they have spent together in their relationship. One of these locations will be a in the bedroom to show the couple intimately and portray the happy times of their relationship as we will also be showing the negative side. Other locations such as: Hyde park and a bowling alley will be used for the flashbacks. This is because they are typical places that a young couple would go to spend time with each other which reflects our chosen narrative and will therefore be more relatable to the teenage target audience. This will allow the audience to build a relationship with the narrative and therefore the artist. 

The lyrics in the song says 'walk through the valleys' which is a biblical reference and we felt that it would lend itself to the part of the narrative that will be located at a graveyard. This will show the mourning the death of the teenage girl after the crash has taken place and is a crucial part of the narrative.

What iconography will you include and why?

There are several specific pieces of iconography that we have chosen to use in order to develop the narrative and the story that it tells as well as create an effect on the audience. These include:
  • Grave stone (Graveyard)
  • Flowers (Graveyard)
  • Tissues (Graveyard)
  • Boats (Hyde Park)
  • Picnic - blanket, food etc. (Hyde Park)
  • Car - (Dusty road)
  • Phone - (Dusty road)
  • Another car? (Dusty road - crashes into)
All of the iconography that we have decided to include are all crucial in creating a believable setting for the scenes that make up our chosen narrative and will lead to a more professional looking music video.  

How does it build a relationship with your target audience? 

Each of the objects of iconography that we have chosen are all linked to the setting and scene that they are being used in. This therefore reinforces the atmosphere that we are trying to create so that the audience can empathise with what is occurring as the iconography is stereotypical to the setting. This will therefore help the audience build a relationship with the narrative as the props will help to make the setting feel as real as possible and therefore more relatable. 

Friday, 18 October 2013

Research into chosen artist

Our chosen music artist is Klangkarussell consisting of two members Tobias Rieser and Adrian Held. They are danceelectronic producers from Austria who were formed in 2011. The reason that we chose to create a music video for their song Sonnentanz is that it is their biggest hit has been which has reached the Top 10 in 6 countries: AustriaBelgiumGermanyNetherlands, United Kingdom and Switzerland. It is therefore a well known song and is enjoyed by a large audience and therefore will make to video more enjoyable as a large amount of people like and listen to the song. Klangkarussell is a fairly new artist and have already become largely well known within the dance/house genre and therefore attracted us to choose their music. It is also a genre that we all choose to listen to and will therefore lead us to understand and incorporate the conventions of the genre when creating our music video. 

Tobias Rieser began as solo artist under the name 'Klangkarussell' and Adrian Held produced electronic music under the artist name of 'i herald'. The pair joined together in 2011 under the name of 'heroes sound' and produced their first songs together. However, to avoid confusion they changed the name to Klangkarussell and now produce their music under this artist name. In June 2013 the duo released their debut single "Sonnentanz" which peaked to number 3 in Austria, number 3 in Belgium, number 170 in France, number 4 in Germany, number 1 in the Netherlands and number 3 in Switzerland. The song was released in the United Kingdom on August 18, 2013 and features vocals from Will Heard. To date is has accumulated 22 million views and over 10,000 comments. 


YearTitlePeak chart positionsAlbum
AUT
[1]
BEL (Vl)
[2]
BEL (Wa)
[3]
FRA
[4]
GER
[5]
IRE
[6]
NL
[7]
SWI
[8]
UK
[9]
2013"Sonnentanz"337103413Non-album singles
"Sonnentanz (Sun Don't Shine)"
(featuring Will Heard)
183
"—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released.

The pair are signed to Vertigo RecordsCapitol RecordsUniversal Music and and after wowing the major label with a private gig, they were signed up to create their debut album, due early next year. It is said that is will reveal the depth of the pair's influences, indirect as they are: the carefully constructed beats that hark back to Adrian's drum'n'bass background in their flawless execution (though not their tempo); the anthemic qualities of the Kalkbrenners (and even Austrian pop icon Falco), and the restless innovation of dance music's lateral thinkers like Jamie xx and Flying Lotus.


Artist music video analysis
1) Analyse 2 music videos
2) Explain how Dyer’s star theory is used
3) How is Goodwin’s theory used?
4) How is the artist represented?
5) Who is the target audience?
6) What is the style of the music video?
7) How is mise-en-scene used?
8) What common camera shots do the music videos use?

Summary
Explain how your research on your chosen music artist will assist you with planning your own music video 

Wednesday, 16 October 2013

Target audience research: Evaluation

Target audience consider many different components including: age, gender, income, status, ethnicity and interests. A target audience is greatly important to decide upon as each decision that is made will need to consider whether it will be appropriate for the target audience that you have decided upon so that will attract an audience to the product that you are creating. The target audience of a product can be organised into two categories: Niche - small and Mass - large audience. 

We carried out different forms of research in order to make sure that each aspect of our music video would attract the correct target audience. This research included: 


  • Questionnaires - We produced a questionnaire that would find out the crucial information needed in order to collect relevant feedback in order to adapt our ideas and concept the suit the target audience that we had chosen - making it a more successful music video. 
  • Pie Charts - The information that we collected from the questionnaires we then transferred into pie charts in order to visually display our findings. This made the information easier to understand and interpret to make group decisions. 
  • Vox Pops - This was video footage of us asking questions to a selection of people that would fit into our target audience demographic to collect information on different aspects of a music video. It gave us an insight into the opinions of the people that will be watching our music video and whether it will appeal to them.

Theorys:

  • Grant McCracken - His theory states that post-modern is full of diversity, dynasim and creativity. McCracken says that if we look at the array of values and idealogies then we cant say all sub-cultures come from one culture.
  • CCC's - Assumes that all sub-cultures come from one main culture: a definite reaction to the mainstream culture.
  • Hebdige - He believed that if you look deeper into the industry, there is enough richness to warrant renaming sub-cultures as 'little cultures'
As a group we have decided to follow the CCC theory as it is the most relevant to the dance/house genre. This is because although the artists are seen to be 'extraordinary' they are also portrayed to be very grounded in comparison to artists belonging to other genres, such as Pop and R n B where videos rely more heavily on branded clothing etc. 

Research into our chosen genre

The song that we have decided to use to create our music video is Sonnentanz by Klangkarussell that falls under the genre of Deep House. Deep House is a subgenre of house music that originated in the 1980's which initially fused elements of Chicago house with Jazz funk and soul music. The genre is well known for its complex melody and use of unrelated chromatic chords underlying most sequences and a soul, ambient, or lounge vibe vocals. 

House/Dance characteristics:


Cinematography:  - Handheld camera work
                               - Rarely any static shots
                               - Large variety of camera shots and angles
                               - Close up of lead singers

Mise-en-scene:     - Night club scenes
                               - Flashing lights
                               - People dancing (street dancing, break dancing, raving)
                               - Modern teenage stereotypes (Alcohol, Drugs)
                               - High key lighting
                               - Fun atmosphere

Sound:                   - Upbeat music
                               - Repetitive drum beat
                               - Produced sounds (techno/electronic style)

Editing:                  - Fast paced/ to the beat
                               - A cut to a new shot usually every 1 or 2 seconds
                               - Usually cut to tell a narrative 

Example of a conventional dance video:


The song Animals by Martin Garrix for example shows a conventional dance music video to complement a typical dance track. It has upbeat music created with produced sounds which is stereotypical for the dance genre. The video however begins by breaking the conventions by using static shots with a slow pace, however this goes with the slower pace of the introduction of the song. The amount of shots used begins to increase which quickens the pace of the music video to reflect the faster pace of the music. As the beat of the song kicks in the night club scene is introduced, showing people dancing (raving, break dancing) with flashing lights. This is greatly conventional as this is the setting that dance music would be listened to and enjoy which leads the viewer to feel as if they are there enjoying themselves with the people present in the video, further adding to the entertainment value of the video. It sticks to the rule of a new shot every 2 seconds within the quicker pace in the middle of the song. This allows the video to follow several stories within the nightclub setting as well as further adding to the drama of the music by making the pace faster. There are also several shots of the artist performing the song to a large audience. This gives the impression that he is a well known artist that is enjoyed by a large target audience and adds to his status within the video and therefore also in the eyes of the audience. 


Example of an unconventional dance video:



Another dance video is Clean Bandit - Rather Be feat. Jess Glynn. This video however breaks many of the conventions that have previously been mentioned. It focusses on telling a narrative to the audience rather than a performance based video. This is shown through its use of longer camera shots, including static shots and slower paced editing to provide more information within each shot - making it easier for the audience to understand. (This is a feature that we have included within our video due to our video being largely narrative based.) This breaks the conventions of the dance genre as the videos usually have a new shot every one to two seconds in order to increase the pace to resemble the fast paced beats. Several of the settings that are used are also unconventional such as someones home, restaurant and a market, however these scenes are necessary in order to tell the story. A club is shown however half way through the video showing a large group of people enjoying themselves, this will keep the audience interested and add an element of excitement and enjoyment as the artist still wants to attract its chosen target market. This setting incorporates flashing lights as well as the group playing to an audience, this is conventional as it is what the audience would be expecting to see within a dance video, and encourages the audience to join in and have fun.