Filming schedule

I have created a filming schedule in order to stay organised and ensure that we manage our time well and film everything that we need to film. This filming starts next week which gives us plenty of time to edit.

Audience feedback on draft digipak

I decided to gather some audience feedback on my digipak to see whether I should make any changes when shooting for my actual digipak.

What do you like about it?
'I think overall it is a good digipak. I like the colouring you've used as it sets a mood for the sort of music that will be played in the album' I particularly like the positioning of the girl on the front and back cover as on the front where she is central it looks symmetrical and like a proper album cover and on the back, where the face only covers a quarter of the page.'

'I really like the font which you've used and that you've used the same one throughout the digipak. I also like the colouring and the CD with the yin and yan on, that's a really clever idea for helping with the representation of the album.'

What should I improve?
' I think that you should consider where you are going to shoot each picture as the background will be important as well as the main person modelling. You should also think about the lighting of each picture as they all have to fit together and you don't want one picture to be really bright, representing one thing and the other really dark, representing another.'

'Make sure the pictures in the middle slides relate and fit with the theme of the whole digipak. Beware that it might be hard to get a picture of the shoes and make it look effective. Also think about the costume, will it be the same throughout the digipak?'

What I've learnt from this 
My overall basic idea is a good one and I will keep the main person as a female model. I will also take the photo using the rule of thirds, either centeral of the left, the right or in the centre of the photo. I have since considered my background and location and I will shoot my photos on Attenborough nature reserve, using a range of lactions within the reserve but they won't look too far different. In terms of lighting, I will use natural lighting as this often produces the best photographs and means that with this basic lighting, I can then manipluate it later on with editing. I have also decided that for my middle slides, I will probably take the original photos as planned but also experiment with some different shots on the day and use ones of the female model as these link together easier. 

Music video pitch audience research

Audience research

I decided to conduct some audience research to help me refer back to when I create my own music video. This is the questionnaire that i handed to people;

Question 1

I handed these out to 10 people, half were male and half were female. This was a deliberate choice so I had an even split across the genders so the results weren't biased towards one sex. 

Question 2

8/10 people I handed this to were aged 15-20 and this will be my target audience for my music video as the data i've collected will be relevant to this age and hopefully allow me to make it appealing to 15-20 year olds (my age category)

Question 3

Indie is the most popular music genre with 6/10 people selecting this category. This fits with internet research that I have gathered that younger people (the 15-20 age category) like indie music the most and this is most probably what genre my music video will be from. 

Question 4

Half of the people said that they preferred narrative based music videos, although the other half was split over performance and concept based, with concept based getting one more vote than performance. From this I can take that people prefer watching a narrative based video and this is what mine will be like. 

Question 5

6/10 people said that a good story line was the most important thing in a music video and this fits with the narrative theme being most important. In order to make an effective appealing video I will make sure the narrative features an interesting and gripping story. However, acting and good visual effects were also voted for so I will pay attention to these too

Question 6

The majority of people (8/10) said that it wasn't important to them to see somebody singing the lyrics of the song in the video and so this is something to consider when I decide whether to keep my video purely narrative based or include some performance within it. 

Question 7

From my research I have found out that the majority of people watch music videos 'sometimes'. This means that they are not always watched but are relatively frequently. This means that people do enjoy to watch them and means that the purpose of this whole task will be to create something interesting and appealing for people to watch. 

Overall this research which I have conducted has been very useful because its given me some ideas for my music video and allowed me to learn some key things which will mean, hopefully the majority of people will enjoy it. 

Target audience research - what to research

In order to create a target audience for my own music video I need to explore the different groups of people they are and why one group would be more likely to enjoy a certain style of music video opposed to another.
There are different categories of people which I need to consider and those are mainly related to age and gender.
A demographic is a set of characteristic which describe a group and these could be things such as age, gender, class, ethnicity, location, sexuality and lifestyle. These could be used to identify who and what sorts of people would be interested in what type of music video. For my audience research I will  need to look into different demographics and establish who my target audience would be.

Director inspiration- Sin J. Lee

Sin J. Lee is a music video and film director who lives in the UK. His work is best known for his trademark use of lighting and colour palettes which give his work a contemporary feel. I first found out about this director as he directed the music video 'Boom clap' by Charli XCX and this earned him a BRIT nomination for best music video.

BOOM CLAP- Charli XCX

What I like about this music video is his use of fades and effects to transition shots. It gives the video an arty look and the professional way that it is done is effective and something I would like to achieve in my own music video.

Another thing I like about this video and his direction are the costumes that Charli XCX wears and the locations she is in. Her clothing is modern and contacts between colourful and more monochrome colours and I think this is effective because her clothing fits with the background. For example, when she is in the street, with blue skies and green trees her costume is bright and when she is filmed later at night in a more city environment her costume is black with a silver jacket.

Desire- Years & Years

Something which I really like about this music video is the quick shots which only last about 1-3 seconds between the narrative, the band singing and other artistic shots. This is effective because it keeps the music video fast paced and this fits with the pace of the song. 

(insert gif) 

Another thing which I like about thus video is Lee's use of different camera angles. He uses high and low angle shots as well as close ups, long shots, mid shots and many others. This is effective because it offers new perspectives of the video and also shows technical skill. 

Overall this task has been useful because it has allowed me to start thinking about my music videos and the various components of it, from lighting to camera angles. I will use Sin J. Lees style as inspiration for my video and this will hopefully allow me to create a good video.

Digipak analysis- Ariana Grande 'Dangerous woman'

Magazine advert- Kodaline

Kodaline are a four person Irish rock band who released their debut album 'In a perfect world' in September of 2012. The song 'all I want', which is featured in the album, has had great success and been played in many TV shows and even blockbuster films such as 'the fault in our stars' and 'Love, Rosie'.
The colour scheme of the picture on this front cover is bright and picturesque and fits with the theme of indie rock/pop which is the genre of music that they perform. People who enjoy 'indie' music often task an interest in fashion and art and so the visual appearance of this photograph would appeal to its audience.
The tranquil setting of water and mountains is often linked to feelings of harmony and being an idealistic location which links to the title of their album 'in a perfect world' because this picture looks like some peoples idea of a perfect world. It also helps the audience to visualise a mental setting or mind state whilst listening to their music and lets their mind wonder to a better, more relaxed place and this therefore makes their music more enjoyable for the listeners.
This is also unlike a 'normal' album cover of an artist in the charts or somebody who produces 'mainstream' music as a typical album cover would include the artists faces in direct address to show the audience who the album was by. This magazine ad is good because it shows the audience what the album cover looks like so they will recognise it if they see it again and focuses only on the name of the band 'Kodaline' and their album name 'in a perfect world'. The font is sans serif  which is simplistic and works with the simplistic picture.

The back cover contrast the front cover  as it is set at night time. It is set in the same location with mountains, trees and a lake. It looks very pretty but also dark which could symbolise that although at first glance (based on the front cover) their music may be happy and relaxed if you look further (based on the back cover) there could be deeper themes in their music and within their lyrics.
The track list is written in sans serif white writing and numbered 1-11 to make it easy to identify which track is which when listening.
Record labels 'song music' and 'RCA records' are listed and this makes them identifiable as signed to a well known record label and this also makes it look professional and legitimately.

The CD has the same image and style as the front cover of the album which makes it identifiable and can be easily matched if the CD and CD case get separated from eachother.
The CD therefore has the same connotations  as the front cover of the album being of the indie genre and the music being chilled and for any audience but mainly being targeted at the younger generation as they're who are seen as preferring this sort of music.

Album analysis- Kodaline

Kodaline are a four person Irish rock band who released their debut album 'In a perfect world' in September of 2012. The song 'all I want', which is featured in the album, has had great success and been played in many TV shows and even blockbuster films such as 'the fault in our stars' and 'Love, Rosie'.
The colour scheme of the picture on this front cover is bright and picturesque and fits with the theme of indie rock/pop which is the genre of music that they perform. People who enjoy 'indie' music often task an interest in fashion and art and so the visual appearance of this photograph would appeal to its audience.
The tranquil setting of water and mountains is often linked to feelings of harmony and being an idealistic location which links to the title of their album 'in a perfect world' because this picture looks like some peoples idea of a perfect world. It also helps the audience to visualise a mental setting or mind state whilst listening to their music and lets their mind wonder to a better, more relaxed place and this therefore makes their music more enjoyable for the listeners.
This is also unlike a 'normal' album cover of an artist in the charts or somebody who produces 'mainstream' music as a typical album cover would include the artists faces in direct address to show the audience who the album was by. This magazine ad is good because it shows the audience what the album cover looks like so they will recognise it if they see it again and focuses only on the name of the band 'Kodaline' and their album name 'in a perfect world'. The font is sans serif  which is simplistic and works with the simplistic picture.

The back cover contrast the front cover  as it is set at night time. It is set in the same location with mountains, trees and a lake. It looks very pretty but also dark which could symbolise that although at first glance (based on the front cover) their music may be happy and relaxed if you look further (based on the back cover) there could be deeper themes in their music and within their lyrics.
The track list is written in sans serif white writing and numbered 1-11 to make it easy to identify which track is which when listening.
Record labels 'song music' and 'RCA records' are listed and this makes them identifiable as signed to a well known record label and this also makes it look professional and legitimately.

The CD has the same image and style as the front cover of the album which makes it identifiable and can be easily matched if the CD and CD case get separated from eachother.
The CD therefore has the same connotations  as the front cover of the album being of the indie genre and the music being chilled and for any audience but mainly being targeted at the younger generation as they're who are seen as preferring this sort of music.

Digipak analysis- Ed Sheeran 'X'

Digipak analysis- Rihanna 'Loud'

Rihanna 'Loud' from izzyhumphriss

Digipak analysis- The 1975

The 1975 analysis from izzyhumphriss

Theorist- Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey wrote about the film industry and we can apply her theory to music videos as well. Her theory is to do with the concept of  'the male gaze' which is the idea that orginated from traditional film but can be applied now, that the people 'behind the camer', so directiors, producers and camera men were all men and so therefore the women in front of the camera were objectified and sexualised. Male characters are much more developed whilst females aren't. This links into the idea of voyerism which is the pleasure others get from watching others have sex. This can be applied to music videos when women are showna acting in a sexual way or dressed in clothes which others could imagine in a sexualised way.
Videos which fit this idea include;
Brittany Spears 'Toxic' 

 

Fith Harmony 'All in my head'  

 Miley Cyrus 'Wrecking ball'

Theorist- Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin wrote the book 'dancing in the distraction factory' within which he identifies some key features of a music video to distinguish it as a form.

1. Particualr types of genres have certain video styles and iconography , for example stage performace or dancing.
2. A relationship between lyrics and visuals where the visuals illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics. 
3. A relationship between music and visuals linked to the beat and pace of the music  as well as solo instruments featured. 
4. Demands of a record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and artists may develop motifs which reoccur. 
5. Frequently refernce to the notion of looking and voyeristic treatment of the female body. 
6. Intertextual references are made (films, tv programmes and other music videos.)

Examples of how these features are shown; 

•  Within the pop genre it is very typical of boy bands to dance and sing at the same time when performing in their music video. An example of this is JLS in their music video for the song 'Beat again'. The whole video is set in a balck room with neon lights hanging in the background and the focus of the video is on them singing and dancing

•  The music video for the song 'Roar' by Katy Perry is an example of Goodwins second feature of a music video which is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The video is of the pop genre and is set in a jungle which is what the lyrics can be related to for example 'I've got the eye of a tiger, dancing around the fire' and this is shown on screen. 

 

• An example of Goodwins third feature (a relationship between music and visuals) is displayed in Selena Gomez's music video 'can't keep my hands to myself'. This pop song is an upbeat song with a fast beat and this is reflected through the quick shot changes in the video. 

• An example of  his fourth feature of  a music video (lots of close ups) is Jess Glynnes music video for her 'Take me home' which is a pop/soul genre. The whole video is composed of close up shots of her singing to relfect the emotion of the song. 

 

• An example of his fith feature is Jenifer Lopez and Iggy Azaleas video for 'Booty'. This is a pop song and shows how womens bodys are displayed in a voyeristic way. Throughout the whole film the two women are dressed in very revealing outfits and sometimes with nothing on at all. They are also moving in sexual ways alone and with eachother.  

• His final feature of a music video is intertextual refernces and an example of this is Taylor swifts music video for 'Love story' the song talks about romeo and juliette and the iconic love story by William Shakespear. The song is made to look like a modernised version of the story whilst also keeping some traditional features of the time such as the clothes. 

Video analysis- Jake bug- 'Two fingers'

Jake Bugg is a musician,singer and songwriter from Nottingham who creates music in the indie rock/folk rock genre. His debut self titled album reached number one in the UK album charts. The song 'Two fingers' is from this album and was released in September 2012, the music video was directed by Jamie Thraves.

The whole video is in the narrative perspective and the lyrics link to the visuals. For example Jake Bugg is from Clifton in Nottingham and there are lyrics such as 'I go back to Clifton to see my old friends' and we see clips of him getting on a bus and going to meet his friends. This is typical of a music video as we see the visual representation of what is being sung to help the video to flow. We also see that when he sings 'Hes with my momma, yelling and fighting' that the man and women are arguing and the woman hits the man. By showing  visually what we hear auditory, it allows the audience to gain greater insight into what the song means and potentially the inspiration behind it. Goodwin says that a key feature of a music video is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals which this defiantly has.

Another feature of a music video, according to Goodwin is a relationship between the music and the visuals. This is a good example of this again as we can see him performing the song so singing and playing his guitar, this is a visual representation of the music being made. The pace of the video switches between quick shots and longer shots. The quicker shots are used towards the end of the chorus mainly when the lyrics 'I got out, I got out, I'm alive and I'm here to stay', this has a quicker beat and so the shots are quicker to mimic the music.

Close up shots of Jake Bugg are used to let the audience know who the focus of the video is on and who he is as an artist. He is dressed in a very ordinary costume, jeans, a polo top, a plain jacket and Adidas trainers. This fits with Negus's organic ideology which takes a naturalistic approach to artists and says that the seeds of success are within the artist and this talent is brought out by the record company. He is shown to be normal because he is and he can be well known and enjoyed by many due to his pure talent rather than any fancy advertising or gimics which may be pushed on to less talented artists.

An inter textual reference within the song is when him and his, who we presume to be mother, put up their two fingers and this is a reference to the song title 'two fingers'. It signifies them swearing at the bad parts and times of life and the whole song is about how he has escaped that and 'got out'. From watching the music video we can assume that he managed to get out due to his music career taking off and another reference to him as an artist within the video is that we see him preforming in a club/bar.

The video is mainly narrative based but has different narratives within it. One storyline is him visiting his friends, another is him at home watching his mum fall out with her partner and another is him advancing in his music career. However there are also parts within the narrative of his music career advancing which are performance based as we see him on stage with his guitar and singing the song to an audience.

Overall this video represents Jake Bugg as an artist and tells a story from his past. It gives an insight into his personality and shows where he comes from, both through lyrics, music and visuals.
Original video:

Video analysis- Jess Glynne 'don't be so hard on yourself'

Video analysis- Two door cinema club 'what you know'

Two door cinema club are a three person irish indie rock band. They have released 4 albums, their debut named 'tourist history' and their most recent is called 'gameshow' and was released earlier this year (2016). The song 'what you know' is from their debut album, 'tourist history', written by Alex Trimble, Kevin Baird, and Sam Halliday and was produced by Eliot James. It peaked at 64 on the UKs single charts.
There is a relationship between the music and the visuals as a feature of the video is that we see the band playing their guitars and also the lead singer, Alex Trimble, miming the lyrics. We also see clips where the music is mirrored with the visuals, for example a lady on roller blades skates past some drums, hitting them in time to when the sound of a drum is played. This is effective as it makes it feel like we are watching a live performace of the song rather than it being recorded, filmed and edited seperately.

                                                                                   make animated gifs like this at MakeaGif

 Many close up/mid shots are used of the band to show the audience who is singing and performing the song. This allows the audience to gain insight into their style, appearance and personality, marketing them as a band and this may mean they gain followers and fans. Their style is quite retro, they are dressed in suits with old fashioned guitars which may be found in an 80s music video rather than one made in 2011. The whole music video fits in with this theme as the setting, costume, make up and action are typical of a music videos found in the 70s and 80s with bright colours, roller skates and dancing. This creates the representation that the band has their own unique style and shows them to be individual which is how they're record label promotes them. 

The bands costume for the video.

 

Example of video style and dancing.

                                                                                    make animated gifs like this at MakeaGif

Whilst the artist isn't on sexual display, there are women within the video who are. The woman dancers switch between a costume of a red, tight top and short blue shorts to a tight yellow top and red skirt. There is also a women shown in a bath and later, two women in a bath together. These outfits show a lot of skin and Mulrey, who wrote about the film industry, would explain this using her theory of the male gaze, where the men 'behind the camera' objectify women who are infront of the camera. These women dancing around in minimal clothes may also be used to add appeal to the video as the band themselves aren't the stereotypical image of young and 'good looking' and therefore the directors componsate for this by including attractive girls so the video is more visually pleasing for its audience. 

Example of how the women are sexualised.

 The video is mainly performanced based as we see the band performing the song and also women performing through dance. Andrew Goodwin wrote in his book 'dancing in the distraction factory' that video styles and iconography which use stange performance and dance is one of the six key features of a music video which distinguishes it as a form. The video doesn't really tell a story or link to the lyrics and so its main purpose is to entertain the audience and allow them to observe and listen to the music without having to understand how they link or what the meaning behind it is, simply enjoying the song.
 

Example of how the video is performance based.

                                                                             make animated gifs like this at MakeaGif

Overall this video is entertaining, catchy and fits into the genre of 'indie pop'. It could easily be danced to as well as listened to in a chilled situation. It is individual in its video style and appeals to a certain type of audience which likes modern music but also likes retro features of fashion and trend.
The original video is:

Video analysis- The 1975 'girls'

Original video;

Video analysis- Wolf alice 'bros'

The song 'bros' by wolf alice was released in may 2013. The band are a four piece indie/alternative rock band from north London and their music is described as mix of vintage '90s rock, electronics and moody atmospherics. The music video is a tribute to 'childhood friendship and imagination'. The track is listed from their debut album 'My love is cool'.

The narrative is based on two children exploring london and there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. Some of the lyrics include 'you are my best friend' and 'theres no one that knows me like you do'. These link to the visuals which are shown as it shows the two girls with their heads on one another which Sassure would say is a signifier that they have a close relationship and are important in the others life. 

Another part of the video where the lyrics link to the visuals is where they sing 'I'll keep you safe,
You keep me strong' this is represented in the video where they are carrying an old television and one girl runs over to the other to help her lift it as it is obviously heavy. This shows the girls physically helping one another to lift the heavy object and shows that they are stronger when they work together but this can also be interpreted in a metaphorical sense of keeping each other strong when they are facing tough times. Adults or more mature people would most likely relate to the second interpretation and younger audiences the first. 

via GIPHY

The relationship between the music and the visuals is mainly linked to the pace of the film. When the tempo of the music is slower, longer shots are used, for example; there is a part of the video where the music is mainly instrumental, with only a few lyrics and a shot is used for 10 seconds which is very long for one shot of a video. This creates the atmosphere of the video to be relaxed melodic as there isn't much to see so you focus on the music rather than what is featured.


via GIPHY

In contrast to this, when the music speeds up and more instruments are added to build the song up to its ending, the shots are quicker and switch between different parts of the narrative so as the music builds you are seeing different images which allows you to concentrate on a lot of things and the momentum quickens too.


via GIPHY

The artist isn't featured in this music video and it is purely focused on the two girls. This represents the artist within its genre of indie rock as they don't follow the mainstream trend of being in the video and having it focused on them and them singing. The way this track is represented is to allow older listeners, whether that be in their 40s or teenagers to find their younger self and remember adventures they've had but whilst also relating to some of the meaningful lyrics. The video itself is very innocent and allows the audience to interpret its lyrics as they please. Barthes refers to this as 'death of the author' as once the artist has finished writing the lyrics and the editors and directors have finished creating the video their influence is no longer relevant and the final product is open to interpretation by any individual.

This video is unusual for wolf alice as a band as their music videos usually include adults, who might be actors or themselves. Either way, their other music video have much more adult themes within them such as drinking and smoking in the song 'she' and the music video for the track 'freazy' is entirely of the band themselves. All of their music videos seem different and of different themes which adds to the artists appeal as they aren't repetitive.

The video is a mixture of narrative based and concept based. The narrative based sections are when you see the girls doing thing such as exploring, running, eating and this shows their day, we know that is is meant to follow a narrative as at the end of the video they get on a bus and this signifies the end of their adventure and going home. The concept based parts of the video are focusing on innocence and adventure which are portrayed through the narrative.

The full music video is shown below;

Learning about camera effects

I watched two videos about camera settings to help increase my knowledge about how to operate a camera and change the different effects to manipulate the final image. 

Aperture 

Aperture is the measurement of how wide the hole at the back of the lense opens to let in light. It is expressed in F/stops and the smaller the number, the more light coming ito the shot. This can be ajusted to change the depth of field. 

ISO

ISO is how light sensitive the camera is, it can change the sensitivity and the higher the number, the more light sensitive it is. The numbers double as they go up, for example 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600. In a dark room you would need to use a higher ISO and outside you would want a lower ISO as there would be more natural light. The lower the ISO, the more detailed the picture. 

Shutter speed

Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second and is to do with the amount of time the shutter is open for each time you take a photo. The larger the number, the faster the shutter speed. An example of a fast shutter speed would be 1/2000 sec. and this would be used to capture fast movement, such as sports where people are running around and the moment has to be captured exactly before they move. An example of a slow shutter speed woulod be 1/30 sec. and this would be used in low light situations. The lower the shutter speed, the richer the colours and the more detailed the picture. In daylight 1/25 is advised and if you use under 1/60 then a tripod is needed to avoid camera shake. 

Photogrophers secret: Don't shoot on a shutter speed less than 1 on the focal length of the lens so on a 250mm lens no lower than 1/250th or faster and use a tripod. 

Creative modes

The green triangle is full auto mode where the camera total control of the settings and chooses every setting.

Above the green box are 'creative modes' and below the green
box are 'basic zone modes'.

Creative modes

P (program) 

It has a built in light measuring device called a 'light meter' which selects aperture and shutter speed based on the ISO setting and the light on the subject.

TV (time value)

This gives the shutter speed priority and automatically chooses the aperture. This is best for the control of movement for example avoids blurring on fast moving objects. 

AV (aperture value) 

This allows you to choose the aperture setting and ajust the depth of field or focus on a certain object. The camera then automatically decides the shutter speed settings. A low aperture settings mean there will be a low depth of field and a tripod is needed with this setting. 

A-dep

This allows you to choose important areas in focus, for example objects close to the camera and keep the image sharp. This setting will automatically choose the aperture and it is important to pay attention to the shutter speed. 

M (manual)

This allows you to have total control over the aperture, shutter speed and ISO using the display. This can be used best for under or over exposing images.