Before I started to think about ideas of the genre of music and type of narrative or story I looked at a few different music videos of various artists that reflected different stories, narrative and performance in their music video. Here are a few video's I have analyzed and have picked particular shots that interested me most and gave me a strong impression of the music video as well as the artist themselves.
Analysis of Chris Brown's 'Turn up the Music'
Analysis of Keri Hilson's 'Pretty Girl Rock'
Analysis of Michael Buble's 'Haven't met you yet'
Here is an annotated music video i put up on YouTube to show what i found interesting and enjoyed most about this production as well as the different angles shots which fit nicely along with the lyrics of the song as well as the visuals.
Summary of research findings:
What I had gathered from these music videos is the range of creative camera shots that are cleverly linked either to the lyrics or beat of the song. There are also many close up shots of the artists in order to emphasize a specific emotion, lyric or to identify the artist as the main person in the music video. I also found that in the music video, a female artist has more various types of costumes than men, and that the costume demonstrates the artists character in terms of style and color tone.
What I planned to do with these findings:
What I plan to do with these findings is to focus on my camera skills explicitly in terms of; keeping it steady and using a specific camera shot for a particular part of a scene. In order to do this, I will need to use a high quality DSLR camera and use a tripod to keep the camera in place. I must also ensure that I plan a broad range of camera shots in my story board in order to visualize my music video clearly and make adjustments on paper if I need a change.
What is a Music Video? I have created a poster to describe what a music video and it's purpose is...
From my research I have gathered that I will take into account of annotating lyrics in order to create visuals that link to the lyrics of the song. This will allow me to think about annotating the lyrics of song to create visuals that link to the lyrics. I will also be able to focus on star construction to ensure that I promote the artist in a way that it will conform to the convention of the song as well as create an intended image of my artist that is clear to the character I build throughout the process. Another thing I considered is that I must ensure I explore narrative videos and story telling as an option for the style of video I want to produce for my final product.
My chosen song
Tamara Laurel - There is a line
Why have I chosen this song?
After listening to various genres of songs from different artists the
song I had chosen for my music video is ‘There is a line’ by Tamara Laurel. The
reason for this choice of song is due to the genre of it being Country Indie Pop, although it is clear that the Country element is the strongest factor in this hybrid, so this is where I will focus for most of my research. From
my research I also observed the personalities of female artists who sing from
the
same genre (innocent, pretty, fashionable) and this is how I wanted to
present
my artist. I feel confident that I can successfully construct an artist in this style. I had also chosen the song because I feel that it fits in nicely with the research I've already conducted so I already have a good understanding of similar artists with whom I could intertextualize and compare my ideas.
The song also has a clear storyline that I am able to play around with
whilst creating visuals; emphasizing the lyrics of the song- which is something i identified from my research as i said earlier on that i wanted to do a narrative style video. After
listening to the song over twice, I had already captured ideas in my head from
how I could present the story from the lyrics of the song. Because the song was
about relationship and love, I decided to work around the lyrics of the song to
figure out a story about relationships.
The
original ideas I got from that was to show the different events and activities
a teenaged couple shared but then the artists boyfriend broke up with her.
However, I then changed the storyline to making the story of a teenaged boy and
girl who had first met in a cafe but later the boyfriend had met another girl
and broken the artists heart. Yes, this is a typical cliche song, but I made
sure that the way in which it happens was unique and interesting.
Genre of music video: Hybrid- Country/ Indie/ Pop Because of the genre that I'm choosing is a mixed genre (hybrid), I have taken some time to explore different of each element so that I have a good understanding of how to construct something within this genre.
Conventions of Country Music
Out of all three elements of my hybrid genre I feel that Country music is perhaps the one I'm least familiar with, therefore to ensure that I can equally tap into this hybrid genre, I have explored this particular genre in a bit more detail.
Here is a video full of images I put together to demonstrate specific objects and iconography that I found represented the genre of Country music. From research and my own understanding of Country music videos, I was able to define a Country music video with pictures which enabled me to think of the scenery, costumes and props I could use in my music videos.
This inspired me to also use something that wouldn't normally be in a Country music video and I have already planned to change some of my initial ideas due to this. For example, I thought of a location like a cafe that wouldn't usually be a setting in a country music video, however a park would due to being in a natural environment and being similar to a barn or countryside.
Star Construction Board
I have created this star construction board in order to show the image and personality I am looking for and hoping to have in the artist that I choose for my music video. Here are Country/ Pop female artists who are well known and have big fan bases. By researching the similar type of image of these artists I realized that all these artists had a pattern that continued; the artists have worn or wear plaits and checked shirts, they usually have long curly hair and they present a natural, calm and humble nature. This is the type of image I wanted to demonstrate within my chosen artist. I felt that I could make my video seem realistic and somewhat relating to the target audience in order to engage them directly to the lyrics of the song along with the visuals.
Further Research of Music Video
Applying Andrew Goodwin's Theory to Taylor Swift's 'Love Story'
Using Andrew Goodwin Theory, I have annotated Taylor Swift's song which includes the different aspects of what Andrew thinks about the purpose of a music video. This has helped me in terms of being able to understand more about how music videos work and the ways in which it presents a story in different ways.
Relevance of research What I have considered to take from this music video is the choice of costume and the colors that runs throughout many of Taylor Swift's previous music videos. Cream and white are colors that symbolize innocence and beauty, which is how I want to presented my artist as. However, due to this music video being about a very old and famous play (dated back in the 14th-15th century), I will present my music video in the present day and subvert the stereotype of Country artists to wear neutral colors in music videos. Due to the settings and the season in which I will film my scenes, the costume may be different to what will be expected for a Country music video. I want to challenge the costume and somehow see if I can make it work. I guess theres no harm in trying...
Sheryl Crow - Easy
I have created a slide share presentation to show my analysis of Sheryl Crow's music video
Target Audience Research From my research I have discovered the history behind Country music and how throughout the years in the late 1950's, the Country music organization has ascended in figures regarding popularity and membership.
Findings Here is a collage of images which represent my findings from my target audience research. Specific findings were that 18-49 year old listen to Country music and more females than males. However, from my research people in a relationship or married are into Country music due to usually being able to familiarize with the music with their life(styles). Over all, Country music has become popular in the music industry and fan bases are only increasing which is a good sign for a less popular music genre.
Analysis of the lyrics After listening to the song, in order to understand the purpose and meaning of the song I decided to analyze the lyrics in detail. This helped me to visualize what sort of shot, scene or prop I could use for each line of the lyrics.
As I found that narrative was an important element of music videos and particularly ones within this genre - from my research. I had always planned to incorporate narrative style in my video, which means that annotating the lyrics, will enable me to develop my idea of a music video that narrates the story within the lyrics of the song. This will allow me to connect visuals with the lyrics.
Planning: My Ideas Here
are my first ideas of how I wanted to present my music video. Throughout the process I have gathered audience feedback and carried out
continuous research which has enabled me to structure my ideas in a more practical and effective way.
Audience Feedback:
Change the day of time, October will be shorter days, so skies will become dark quickly. I may have to change the location due to not being able to see very well in the dark.
For the beginning of the music video to be black and white (to show flashbacks of the relationship between couple) then later on the video to become color.
I was told that the narrative is an important aspect of the song due to the lyrics telling a story/narrative therefore the feedback I got was to have an element of performance. For e.g. lip syncing whilst playing with the guitar. However a restriction I have to avoid is not performing in the school due to decreasing the amount of realism and emphasis on lighting and environment (having to fit to the lyrics of the song).
The feedback back I got from my classmates and teacher is for the first half of the video to be in black and white however making a transition significantly. For e.g. the ripple from a water fountain.
Permission from artist
This is the email I sent to the artist for her consent to use her song for my Media coursework
This was the artist's reply. Thankfully, I had her permission to use her song for my music video
My chosen actors and actresses: Here are both my main actor and actress of my music video
Location research:
Costume
Here
are my costumes for my actor and actresses. Taylor Swift's
outfits are examples for the artist's costume and the male outfits are
for the actors costume.
Chosen Costume These are the costumes I have chosen for my artist, actor and actress. I have decided on these outfits with regards to their personality, weather, practicality as well as from the research I have done of former or previous Country music artists and their image.
Location
I have made a short video of a presentation regarding my finalized locations that I have considered to shoot for my music video.
The previous video is before I made my final decisions of where I wanted to film my scenes, but I'd realised due to travelling, which would had involved wasting time and money, I had to think of better alternatives for my locations. Here are a few slides that I visited and searched for specific areas to film due to reasons that would benefit in terms of positioning and lighting.
Props
After I sorted out my schedule for filming, I thought about whether or not I should add the guitar as a prop for my music video as well as adding a few more props into the video. Here is why I made these decisions.
Schedule
Here
are call sheets I had made for me and my actor and actress in order for
them to know the dates and times of when and where we were filming as
well as their costumes for each scene. This helped me to keep organize
of when I had to film and how much time gap of when I could re-shoot
unfinished scenes. Despite finding it difficult to keep up with time,
availability and doing it by myself, I felt that I was fairly
confident with time management. There were a few cancellations that were
hard to deal with, but I got through it at the end and it made me realize
how important keeping up with time was, allowing me to effectively
create a piece that I initially assumed would become a nightmare. I
guess I had proved myself wrong.
Shot list
Here
is my original shot list of all the planned out shots that I wanted to
shoot for my music video. I did make a few changes of some of the shots
due to the framing and time of day as well as taking out and adding
shots in order to make sense of my storyboard. This benefited in terms
of being organized and sure of the shots I needed to do. Having the shot
list with me also allowed to be able to know what shot was next and
whether I was missing out anything. Filming is very time consuming -
especially if you want to get it right the first time round, so without
this shot list, the filming would had taken up more time.
Storyboard
Before
I produced my own music video, I needed a rough idea of how it would
look like, so I created my own storyboard with post it notes and colors
to know the difference between each character acting in the music video.
It was also a chance for me to make sure that I used a range or shots
and different special effects when filming and editing the final
production of the music video.
Limitations
These
are a few limitations that I found which affected the process of making
my music video as well as the end product. Weather, timing and
equipment were the three main restrictions of making my music video.
Analysis of Footage: Within every scene of the music video, I picked out a variety of camera shots and explain out why I had used that particular shot and how it had effected the narrative point of my music video.
The first draft of my music video:
Using YouTube, I was able to annotate specific things within my first draft of what I found awkward or needed changing. This will allow me to be able to know exactly what I need to do to make my final draft more successful in terms of position with camera, changing of costume and location. I also thought about better camera shots that would help make my music video seem realistic and ultimately present certain emotions I wanted to present through my artists personality.
Analysis of my final music video:
Considering that I have worked by myself during the process of my music video, I feel that I have made a fairly good piece that reflects a unique but disheartening story of a young teenager who was hurt by a teenage boy she fell in love with. I know my music video has places for more improvement for example keeping the tripod steady, however I am sure that throughout the process of making this piece, I have improved vastly in specific places with regards to editing, filming and being organized.
I feel that due to being alone, I had full responsibility for everything, so it was my job to teach myself in advanced editing skills as well as understanding the importance of time management. My camera skills has only increased in a positive way as I am able to establish an understanding of which camera shot I should film for a specific scene or character. For example, I knew I would need to film more close-up shots of the artist than any other actor in the music video, due to being the center of attention in the video. This idea rippled from the different music videos I had research in the beginning of making this piece. A few of my class peers had commented on one of the locations I had used in music video, the cafe scene. I was told that it was a peculiar location for a Country song, however they had said it was a nice location that seemed to work well due to the song being a hybrid (mixture of Indie and Pop music). I knew that the story of a guy cheating on the girl was too cliche, but the location and costumes allowed me to keep it unique which allowed audience to take their minds off of what conforms to a Country style music video. I wanted to challenge myself to subverting certain features of what a Country video looks like. Although it was a risk to take on this challenge, I think it was a risk worth taking and affectively allowing my research and planning to be successful.
Another feature within my music video that I was told would be risk taking, was no lip syncing. I know there wasn't enough lip syncing, which probably seemed as though I was going against the task that was given. However, from my research of music videos, in particular Sia's - Elastic Heart, I know that many artists, especially in today's society want to present their music in various ways other than filming the artist lip syncing for 70% of the time in the music video. In Sia's music video, there is no lip syncing, only dance performance. I wanted to present a story through narrative, for the audience to understand the lyrics along with the visuals.
Visuals of the artists and actors facial expressions and body language allows audience to feel an emotion, to understand and sympathize to what the artists and actors are feeling as well as to get to know more about the artist themselves. I wanted my music video to be unique and sympathetic, initially how I wanted to present my artists personality. From my understanding of music videos as well as from research, many music companies sell more of the artist than the music in order to create a larger fan base and ultimately reaching their target of selling albums (making sums of money and profit). This means there is more of voyeurism and image rather than the actually meaning of making music - for people to listen and understand depending of what genre of music. However, by doing less of presenting an image within the music video, I would be able to explain a story with visuals that were linked with the lyrics of the song.
From my own understanding and feedback from my peers and teacher, I know that the steadiness of my camera was not perfect. However I had a partly broken tripod and very irritating camera that I had borrowed from a friend. Maybe it was me not paying enough attention to keeping the camera steady or if it was having to manage it all by myself. Despite certain things being a headache, I think my hard work and dedication payed it all off and I was only willing to say I done a good job after creating my final piece as well as looking at all the research and planning I put into it.
Bloopers I put together a few clips from my footage that shows the silly mistakes my actors and myself had made whilst filming. As everyone knows, filming is usually the hardest and probably the most stressful, but that didn't stop us from having fun whilst filming these scenes. Scroll down to the see the fun and laughs I had with my friends/ colleagues.
