Organizing to film the music video

To prepare for filming, we used our group chat we have on Facebook messenger to organize when and where we are going to film. We decided to film on Friday the 30th of December at my house as the surroundings and size fits well with the look we are trying to achieve for our music video. I will update blogger as to how this day of filming turns out.

  

Foxgloves on twitter!

In order to make our band website look more official, we have created a twitter page to link onto the website. Every website for a band I have ever looked on always has social media links, therefore we decided that our website should have a social media page. It was quick and easy to set up, we have only tweeted once, but as the year continues we will put out more tweets. We also need to take some photos of the band members so it looks more personalized. Here is the link! https://twitter.com/?lang=en

Character profiles

Moodboard

I made a moodboard to help me map out ideas for our music video and to establish what effect we want to portray. There is a link at the bottom to the moodboard on the website as it won't let me embed the link.

http://www.gomoodboard.com/boards/ZjITW37F/share

Foxgloves merchandise

For the majority of the merchandise I used a website to create my own merchandise because I found using Adobe Photoshop was challenging for me. I used Photoshop for the grey jumper with the fox symbol. At first I watched a tutorial on YouTube to help me, I had to opened both the images on Photoshop, then unlocked the background, I then changed the size of the fox before selecting it and dragging it on to the jumper. After this success, for some reason it wouldn't let me select the fox image it kept deleting itself so instead for the rest of the products I used the other website. I will now be able to use what I have created for our band website for the band merchandise part of it.

Foxgloves merch from hyleanaanthony

The risk assessment

In order to prepare for our music video, we have had to complete a risk assessment. For our thriller, a risk assessment was more appropriate because we filmed outside so there were a lot more potential risks. However, for our music video, none of the suggested risks really apply to us because we are filming indoors for most of it, so to a certain extent the risks are minimized. Never the less, it is still important to complete a risk assessment so collectively we have completed one.

Storyboard

Also, here is the shot list to go with our story board

Shot list say it from hyleanaanthony2

Website practice

Here is a link to my website:
http://editor.wix.com/html/editor/web/renderer/edit/97700940-0536-4735-86cb-c968b8da9cd1?metaSiteId=f8321d0c-5729-4d16-8c67-13c229d2fb48&editorSessionId=BCB98B39-A860-4A8A-B4C5-4B22BEE6454A

Website analysis (10)

In class we have been asked to do a website analysis of a band/artist website in order to see what a professional one looks like. The song we are doing is by Flume, instead of doing an analysis of Flume's website, I have done an analysis instead on the Chainsmoker's website as they are similar artists to Flume. This is so that when we do make our website, I will not be too heavily influenced by Flume's style.

Knowing the criteria and being the examiner

Adding imagery to the lyrics

In order to help us with planning our story board, we printed off the lyrics of the song 'Say It' and annotated the lyrics. We did this to help us create an image for our music video and to put our ideas into a logical order. Of course for the story board we will expand on these ideas, but now we have a rough order of the sequence.

Logo Practise

Logo practise from hyleanaanthony

Focus group planning

As part of audience research, our class has chosen to do a focus group including all members of our class. Our class is very small, so this type of research is effective in our circumstances as it is not that time consuming. At some point in the week, our class will discuss everyone's music video ideas and critically analyse them, by saying what we like/don't like and what could perhaps be improved. This will all be filmed on a 360 degree camera which none of us have ever used before. In order to prepare for this task, we have been asked to write down questions we want to ask the group and the general story line of our music video.

I will add the 360 degree video including feedback when the footage gets uploaded onto the school system. 

    

Music video - Copyright permission

We have been asked to email the band/artist who made the song we are using to make a music video for their permission to use their song. We searched for Flume's email address by going on his website page, however we could only find links to his social media pages. We have sent the artist a message on Facebook, but just to be sure we also sent a email to the record label that helped produce the song (Future Classic), if it was okay to use the song for the purpose of making a music video.

How our music video will apply to audience consumption habits

Here is how the 'Uses and Gratification'by Blumler and Katz theory applies to our music video.

Who our audience is

Audience by hyleana anthony

The Life Matrix

This comic strip explains what the life matrix is about and all 10 different categories. I am now going to apply this to our song choice of 'Say It'- by Flume. The song's genre is a combination of sub genres which include: electronica, wonky, future bass, and trip hop. The general gist of these sub genres ultimately amounts to the song being a mixture of mid-range unstable synths, pitch bendings, a variety of sounds and rhythms normally produced by a synthesizer and electronic-based styles such as techno, house, ambient, drum and bass, jungle, and industrial dance. Therefore, I think that our audience would fit into 'tribe wired', or 'fun/actics. This is because the song is upbeat, a typical club song, and lots of young people can relate to the issue of temptation (which is what the song is about). It is also aimed at the digital age, which for instance the category of 'settled elders' may not be that interested in because it does not relate to them. Therefore, our music video is more aimed towards younger people, as others may not appreciate it's meanings and messages as much as potentially the younger generation would. If we were to do a music video aimed towards 'home soldiers' our video would be very different as it would contain different messages such as 'you should appreciate your family more'.

One minute music task feedback

Before the summer break, me and my group did a short one minute music video which only until recently we have received feedback from. This is useful for our group because we can reflect on the things that went well, and what we can do to improve the things that could have been better. We now know what to work on in order to create the final music video to the best of our ability. Also the strengths mentioned about the music video will also maintain through out our final piece, if not better. We also plan to focus more on the narrative so that the music video doesn't loose the feel to it towards the end.

Reception theory

Presenting our pitch

Here is our pitch video, we are going to start filming soon, and we are excited to do so! I hope you enjoy this video.

Music industry: case study of Bandcamp

One page pitch

Here is our one page pitch! Together, me Rae and Niamh came up with a few ideas for our music video. Later on this week we are going to present this to Mr Welch, so hopefully more ideas to come.

Star theory

The most famous music videos and CD covers of all time

Textual analysis of Say it by Flume (9)

Created with Padlet

Media regulation

Rihanna BBHMM

In lesson we were given an article, we were asked to review and discuss the controversy surrounding Rihanna's music video titled 'Bitch Better Have My Money'. Many journalists and the general public have voiced their opinion about the controversial video.

The 'Video Games' article explains what the actual video is about. "Firstly, Rihanna's accountant has stolen her money so Rihanna kid naps his wife, stuffs her into a trunk, strips her half naked, half drowns her and then stabs the accountant to death. Finally, she has a smoke in a trunk full of cash whilst naked and covered in blood."

The article goes onto explain the backlash the video received on the internet, following its release. The article also says how "an event video is a picture window into a pop star's brain", it says that this could potentially reveal flaws with the artist, even though it is meant to make project power and money. I feel that this music video perhaps suggests that Rihanna is a bit deluded, it seems she has gone back to her 'controversial' ways again, as she does come across as being very provocative. I believe that in the music video industry now, it is 'normal' to see something along these similar lines, however, I do believe that Rihanna has perhaps taken the music video a bit too far. The gore, the violence against women and drug usage doesn't portray Rihanna in a positive light. The lyrics aren't family friendly either, with the reoccurring line 'Bitch better have my Money' appearing several times throughout the song. The video to me makes it seem so surreal that maybe Rihanna would be capable of actually doing something like this in real life, it is genuinely quite scary that the video could put ideas into younger impressionable minds. 

The general feel  from the article is that Rihanna's video is 'just something pop do at a certain point in their careers.' The article explains that the "event video" has its own conventions, as if it were a genre,: it must be long, self-regarding, hubristic and flamboyantly expensive.The article goes into further detail by saying that pop-stars like 'Micheal Jackson' and 'Axl Rose' have all made this sort of video which usually concern the pop star's fantasies. I personally believe there is a limit to controversy in music videos, as in this case, I believe that Rihanna has taken it too far, however, maybe this music video in 20 years may be considered to not be controversial as music videos may keep changing to fit with the times. 

Partly the media is to blame for this racist, violent and sexual video. The media fund this on their platforms such as YouTube and Vevo, which to a certain extent is protected if for example you have a YouTube account and has age restrictions, and the warning at the beginning of the video. However there are obvious ways round this, and it may even courage people of a young age to watch the video even more. Perhaps there should be a ban on music videos of  a similar type to this one, or perhaps Rihanna is simply going mad. 

Director case study

Applied genre theories (8)

Photo-shop practise

Photo shoot from hyleanaanthony2

Later on in the week, I was told about a editing website called 'pixlr', which in my own time created more effects on images we took. I found this software a lot easier than photo-shop to use, here are some examples of what I have created on the website.

Textual analysis of Telephone by Lady GaGa and Beyonce (7)

Different types of genres

Music videos and genres

The conventions of a music video differ depending on the genre of the music. However, some general conventions are; the artists are shown performing, the lyrics of the song reflect and influence what is shown in the video, the pace of editing is suitable to the pace of the music, and then codes of outfits tend to reflect the mood of the song. 

Theories about genres:

Hartley (1994)- this theorist argues that 'genres are agents of ideological closure - they limit the meaning of a given text'. Giving the effect that genres act as a straight-jacket by limiting creative potential in artists. For example there may be a pop artist who wants to be different and incorporate a different genre into their music but they feel restrained by genres, and what the audience is expecting of them.

Hodge and Kress (1998)- they say that genres 'control the behavior of producers of such text, and the expectation of potential consumers'. Therefore this conforms to the audiences expectations, which is necessary for them, for example if somebody invested money into going to a gig to see an artist because they like the genre of music they are; and they come out with something different to the norm, they may feel like perhaps they have been cheated out of their money. 

Fiske (1987)- genres reflect the zeitgeist (current events). Genre conventions 'embody the ideological concerns of the time in which they are popular. This suggests that genres tell us something about the way of the world. Therefore genres are important in shaping future events and how society functions today.

Rick Altman-  he argues that there is no such thing as 'pure' genre anymore. Audience become tired of the same formula as it needs to still have appeal to audiences. The reason that genres survive is through hybridization borrowing. For example, there may be sub genres withing a genre which may be slightly or completely different to the main genre. 

Textual analysis 6

http://www.peaceforeverever.co.uk/

CD cover for 1 minute music video

To create this, at first we tried quite a few software's but discovered that the tools we needed wasn't on there so we decided to use Adobe photo-shop. We had already decided whilst filming that this was the photo that was right for the CD cover. However, we thought it was maybe a little bit simple so we decided to give it a cartoon effect whilst it still remained 3D.
At first, the colour of the writing for 'Pieces' was green, but we decided this did not stand out enough to leave an impression on our audience so we contrasted the colour to light and dark pink. The writing is reflective to indicate that I'm reflecting on my past mistakes.
I am represented as being a Queen/princess by having a crown on my head, showing that i am pure and innocent, whilst Oli has rat ears and a tail, indicating that he is no longer good enough for a queen. Initially, Oli's tail was in the shape of an 'S' but we had to change this as the template cut it off.

Originally there was a back cover before this one but I didn't like the photo that was used so a different one was made. Unfortunately I was not present when Niamh made this so I can't really say much about it other than the collage gives the album a more urban feel. 

1 minute music video task

Here is our completed one minute music video task. We really enjoyed filming it, and we are looking forward to filming our final music video. However for our final piece, we are thinking of hiring professional actors to star in the music video, and to film a more up-beat music video. We hope you enjoy watching this music video!

1 minute task storyboard

Made with Storyboard That
Made with Storyboard That

Credit to Niamh

Risk assessment

Textual analysis 5 CD cover

Planning the 1 minute music video

In order to organise our music video, we have all printed off a copy of the lyrics to the song 'pieces' and begun to order our thoughts around the verse and the chorus. These ideas will help us to order of events in our music video.

Textual analysis 4

Initial ideas

Textual analysis 3

Created with Padlet

Recreation task

Synaesthesia exercise

Synaesthesia from hyleanaanthony

Significant moments in music video history

Significant moments in music video history timeline.

Significant moments in music video history, a timeline made with Timetoast's free interactive timeline making software.

Textual analysis 2

Storyboard of 30 seconds of Californication

For this task we had to create a story board for how we would direct a music video for Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Me and Niamh did this task to gain some experience on how to plan out an actual storyboard for a music video. This proved to be more challenging than making just a normal story board as when we filmed it, we had to get the pictures in time with the beats. We recorded this on Niamh's phone, so the quality is not as good and the shot is a bit wobbly.



Textual analysis 1 of Blur Coffee and TV

Introduction post...

Welcome to my new blog! I'm excited to be starting the A2 course as I can't wait to create a music video with my friends. My main task for A2 is to create a promotion package for the release of the album, to include a music promo video, together with two of following three options: a website homepage for the band, a CD inlay for its release as part of a digpak, or a magazine advertisement for the digpick. Personally I would prefer to create a website for the band, and to create a CD inlay as I would like to use photo shop.