Evaluation Question 4 - How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Research and Planning

To document our research and planning we used a site called Blogger. The blogs which we created to do our posts were made much simpler by writing them virtually and having them all saved on the computer. We had to create shotlists, storyboards and other documents like the plot and narrative guidelines. Having Blogger store all of these things meant they were all accessible in one place rather than if they were done by hand. Virtually, they were always there and available whereas having paper copies of everything were likely to get lost or damaged. Blogger has weaknesses, because there is no back up system there was the risk of all of my work being lost. Some things were made by hand first like the storyboard and shotlist but the majority of work was on the blog. YouTube was also used slightly during the research and planning stages because we needed to upload our lip-sync practice video. Putting this on YouTube and then embedding the clip into a blog post is much easier and safer because if something goes wrong it is available to embed again. Slideshare was another technology used. It is a helpful website which offers hundreds of slideshows on things which are of use to posts and research. I learned more on Andrew Goodwin's theory through a slideshow I found on Slideshare which benefited my research and planning because I was then able to base my music video plans around his principles for a successful music video. Internet Explorer also acted as a credible resource for my research and planning because I found out a lot of important information on the internet which added to my research and planning. Extra research into other theories like The Reception Theory which were extra information to me were available due to the internet. Photoshop was also useful because it meant our digipak and magazine advertisement plans looked rather professional so we had a template to work from. Photoshop is a very good programme to use because it gives you hundreds of tools to use to make the ancillary products however you want them. The images can be edited and words and colour can be layered over the top to create the plan which we wanted.       

Construction

YouTube was another online technology which was helpful to me because both of my rough cuts and my final cut were uploaded to YouTube so they could be viewed by both me, my group and my teacher. As well as this it gave me the chance to embed them into Blogger posts so they were securely there and weren't likely to disappear. If something happened to the iMac then YouTube would have my videos on there so they could still be viewed and marked. The Canon HD CMOS Pro was the camera we used to film our music video. It was a very good quality camera which allowed us to film in HD to get the best looking music video possible. I also used a tripod and a dolly.  As well as this there was the use of iMovie to create the actual video. iMovie is a very good programme for editing the footage together for the music video however we encountered a few problems. When adding the music for the music video it would only make the song available for the length of time as the footage, this made it hard to match up lip-syncing shots and narrative shots but eventually we overcame this problem and produced a high quality music video. We also used Final Cut Express, another editing software which allowed us to enhance the colours of our music video and give the finishing touch to our video like saturation, brightness and additional effects. The Blogger App was very useful during construction. This meant that I had the storyboard, shotlists, any influences and plot and narrative framework to use during the shoot. I could go back and edit them when plans were changed and to add more detail to posts which may not be clear or may have needed developing. Having all my research and planning at my fingertips made shooting the music video and creating the ancillary products, especially with the mobile app for Blogger. During the shoots I was able to bring up the app and search for the post I needed to make sure I followed our guidelines and plans which we made ourselves. Using an Apple iMac instead of a Windows computer was very beneficial because it has a faster processor, better quality screen and louder speakers which help when looking over our rough cuts. For the magazine advertisement and digipak we used Photoshop to create the ancillary products. This meant we could crop and merge the images we had taken together so that it looked professional.

Evaluation

During the evaluation I have used many different programmes to create interesting ways of evaluating my music video. First of all I used Blogger to create this post whereas my other evaluation posts are more creative. I used iMovie to create my directors commentry and to film myself. This was much easier to do by using iMovie because it gave me the option to overlay footage over the recording of me talking about my video. Making a Prezi was another resource I used to evaluate my products and this was pretty simple to use. I did it because it was more interesting than doing a PowerPoint presentation and it is more user interactive. I experimented with Final Cut when doing my evaluation too and the vast features that Final Cut offer allow for a professional looking directors commentry. The iMac was a benefit to me when doing all my evaluation questions because of the faster processing and the built in iSight camera. I was able to film myself and the videos were quicker to create and export than if I used a Windows computer.    

New Media technologies have vastly helped my evaluation processes and it would have been difficult to evaluate my products without such hardware and software. 

Evaluation Question 3 - What have you learned from audience feedback?

I used a Prezi to show the feedback processes which went into the development of our music video and ancillary tasks.

Evaluation Question 2 - How effective is the combination of the main product and the ancillary tasks?

Evaluation Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

FINAL PRODUCTS

Final Music Video

This is our final cut of our music video. We have added in various different things based on personal opinions and also based on feedback received from our target audience.

 

The first noticeable difference between our final version and the initial two cuts, is that the use of black and white is more purposeful, we changed this based on audience feedback. Prior to this, the effects had been used very sporadically and that meant that the audience did not really understand why it was being used. The main reason for the black and white is to distinguish between reality and dreams. The black and white connote this to the audience and as a result the audience can understand what is happening.

Also in this version we have a lot more location shots, again this was based on audience feedback from the first two versions that we had done. The audience wanted to see more of the location, this was beneficial to us and the audience because it meant by doing this we could build on strengthening the narrative to make it obvious what was happening throughout, all the way until the end of the music video. The location shots also meant that we could show off our camera skills, we have used a range of shots, long shots, close ups and even establishing shots of the moon with the trees in the way.

Another difference is that we have added another character. This was quite a large change that we considered late on. The reason for adding the second character is that we had to add more depth to our narrative rather than just having one character who may be lost and can't find his way home. Adding a second character really aided our narrative and made our whole video more interesting and captivating to watch. We did away with the fatal ending which we thought was too severe and not shot properly and incorporated the idea of a recurring dream instead. We are pleased with our final cut and like the way it has come out.

Final Digipak

This is the final product we have created for a Digipak. We stuck with our original theme of the woods and forest which have been incorporated into our plans and featured in our actual music video. We did this because it created connection between our music video and ancillary products. We used abstract shapes around the front cover title because after researching the genres album art it was a common denominator. We used pictures of our characters on the Digipak so that it portrayed the importance of the characters to the music video.   

Final Magazine Advertisement

This is our final magazine advert. The idea for this was a joint effort from everyone in our group. In order to produce it we took ideas from everyone's original ideas. As you can see, we have incorporated parts of each team members advert into our final product.

We have used a consistent font throughout all of our products, this is good because it links all of the media texts together. It gives a sense of intertextuality. The font on our magazine advert is good because it also links in with the theme of our music video, whilst also challenging stereotypical conventions of this genre.

The image used in the background was one that we took during one of our shoots, it is an action shot that looks as though Connar is walking away from the camera. It is effective as it makes our audience want to see more, and therefore effectively advertises our music video. Also by the image being very open, it leads the audience to want to know more, enhancing them to go and watch the music video. This therefore makes the image a very good one to use on an advert as it does make people want to watch the music video.

We have included other key information on the advert, this includes the website address, iTunes logo and the record label for our artist logo. By including all of these it makes the advert look very professional. It adds a sense of realism. Based on audience feedback we did change these from the original version, we were told that originally they were too big and needed to be reduced in size, therefore we took this into account and made them a lot smaller. This is the final product, once audience feedback had been considered and changed.



MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT PLANS

This is my first attempt at a magazine advertisement. I have used Stock Images from the internet to create the same sort of gesture as our video - that a ghost will be involved with a person. I used Photoshop to create this magazine advertisement and there a lot of things which are lacking from my design. The green artist title is a difficult colour to read against the black background whereas the white is much clearer. The fonts are a bit too basic for a music magazine advertisement. The information is lacking and there is no record label logo to indicate which label SBTRKT are with. However, things which I did that I liked were the black and white effect on the 'ghost' to show he is a ghost and different from the full coloured man. I think my image choices are alright because I picked images which would connect in a way that would portray them looking at each other. They don't have a white background because I used to tools to get rid of the background. To improve the magazine advertisement I think more detailed information needs to be added and perhaps more interesting visuals.

Since doing the first magazine advertisement I have designed another one with much more detail and more sophisticated aesthetics.

I am much prouder of this magazine advertisement since I have developed my Photoshop skills. It is much better than my first one with more detail, information and better images. I have included a Young Turks logo and a quote from a music magazine to promote the single. One thing I really like which I have done is make the middle part of the title black to contrast the white and make it clearer against the background. The background of the road and the forest incorporate into the house style of all three products. Our video is based in a forest and features an abandoned road whilst our digipack also has images of trees and creepy forests on it. I used a black and white theme for the majority of the writing to match the record label logo and so it isn't too over-powering over the top of the background. However, to make the artist name stand out I used an effect which is a mix of colours to amount to something a bit different from the rest of the fonts and colours. I'm glad it doesn't clash with the background, however that is personal opinion, some people might think it does.





ANALYSIS OF A MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT OF OUR CHOSEN ARTIST

This is the advertisement from NME magazine which is promoting the release of our artist's new song which was released in February 2012. The font for the advert is quite basic due to the fill effect which encompasses the images of a modern day battlefield. This is useful because an overpowering font would distract from the symbolic imagery used. The song is called 'Hold On' which is ambiguous when it comes to the deeper meaning. One meaning could reflect the struggles of the soldiers used on the advertisement, telling them to 'Hold On'. The contrast in colour between the battlefield image and the man and woman behind the text could show the ambiguity and how the song also references to a couple and perhaps relationship struggles, making 'Hold On' another accurate term. The faces are shown through a blue tint creating quite a ghostly effect, shrouded by black to create an overall dark image with negative connotations.

The font for the magazine advertisement is quite basic and bold which is the norm for SBTRKT and their other forms of advertising. There is usually more of an artistic style to the font but this has been abolished for the magazine advertisement because there is imagery inside of the text. A normal, non-distracting style is best for this reasoning so the picture can be seen clearly.

There is a blue hue on the face of the woman in the magazine advertisement. This connotes depression and sadness which relates to the emotional song. Blue also has a calming effect which could reflect the slow tempo of the song and create an overall relaxed mood against the harsh war imagery. The blue face fades in to a black background which creates an effect of fading away or fading into an abyss.    

The war imagery has quite a harsh effect and really impacts the audience due to the severe nature of war and the battlefields. The term 'Hold On' could be about the current soldiers "holding on" in their lives while fighting in the war. The realism of the musky image of the army soldiers creates a true-to-life, hard hitting representation of the war which can be generalised to any audience due to the vast amount of wars going on all over the world.    

The thing I like the most about the whole magazine advertisement is that the symbolic and ambiguous nature of the design draws in a wider audience due to the vast meanings and significance it could possess. I have been inspired by this magazine advertisement and hope our ancillary tasks create such an effect.  

 

2 DIGIPAK PLANS

 

This is my first Digipak design which I made in Photoshop. While I like the ghostly image I have used for the track list page I think, now looking back on it, that all of the images are a bit muddled and don't flow together well. The colours are quite clashing and all of the images are slightly opposing. The theme is still relevant and transcends through the digipak but I think I should have decided on a theme and stuck with it. I do however, really like the inside image of the forest with the log cabin which would be where the CD is held, it has a very eerie vibe to it which I think it necessary for the product.  

This is the new Digipak I have created which folds into a 6 panel, the same as my original one. I used a Black and White effect to add an edgy feel to the Digipak so it matches the edgy feel of our song and video. I used images of forests and lonely roads because that is what will be featuring in our video as stated in our proposal, shotlist and storyboard. I incorporated the Young Turks record label logo to create authenticity for the Digipak. As well as this I found an image of a barcode to make the Digipak look like a real Digipak. I thought too much black and white would make for a slightly boring overall effect so the front cover is of colour and I found an effect which gives the cover a surreal vibe, linking to the ideology of our video. I tried to find fonts similar to the original SBTRKT font because it works really well for the artist. The contrast between colour and black and white also represents the contrast between our two characters, the human Tom and the ghost Tom. To give an overall authenticity and realness to the Digipak I included a tracklist with 4 songs to make the Digipak appear to be for an EP.    

ANALYSIS OF DIGIPACK BY MY ARTIST

This is some of the album art for SBTRKT's digipack. This is our chosen artist for our music video so our digipack will be similar to this. Our song Trials Of The Past features lyrics which refer to ghost-like entities. The image on the front is the SBTRKT logo which is of a native tribal mask designed by anonymous designer and visual-art director A Hidden Place. The album art features the SBTRKT logo.

The font is quite different to most fonts and it reflects the genre of the music. SBTRKT are an Indie Pop band so they are different to the mainstream Pop music so it makes sense that the font would be different too. The 'B' and 'R' are filled in so that the logo is block colour and the majority is black, a dark colour which goes with the style of music. The simplistic white font on the black background of the digipack stands out and makes the tracklisting and the artist name clear. It also says what number track each song is and how long it lasts for. 

The thing that stands out the most is the native tribal mask which is the iconography associated with SBTRKT and which will need to be included or used as inspiration for our own Digipak for SBTRKT. The house style will have to incorporate similarities between the Digipak, Magazine advertisement and the overall aesthetics of the music video itself.

 

As you can see from the close up screenshot, the Young Turks logo is used in the bottom left corner of the digipak. This is quite common for record labels to put their stamp on their artist's albums which is something we will consider for our own digipak.

 

The use of the tribal mask on the digipak is significant because it is popular iconography for the artist SBTRKT. The artist logo can be seen everywhere and I would like to reproduce something similar. We have decided as a group that due to our music video being set in the forest, images of woods and forests are a great connection to make the house style between our video and ancillary products consistent.

 

Unlike this Digipak, I will want more details on our own like a website address, record label and artist information and perhaps track information. I appreciate the use of monochrome colours and will want to replicate the black and white colours to keep the basic, simplistic feel of the Digipak because the colours are also associated with the genre of music and look of the artist. 

Doing this task has helped me because now I know about the artist in more depth so it will be easier to work on creating a Digipak for the song Trials Of The Past. Analysing my first Digipak has shown me what is used on them and what things make a great Digipak, inspiring me to create a great one for my coursework. 



 

LYRIC ANALYSIS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE + PITCH IDEA BASED ON LYRICS

"Like A Prayer"

Life is a mystery,
Everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name
And it feels like home

[Chorus:]
When you call my name it's like a little prayer
I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer you know I'll take you there

I hear your voice, it's like an angel sighing
I have no choice, I hear your voice
Feels like flying
I close my eyes, Oh God I think I'm falling
Out of the sky, I close my eyes
Heaven help me

[Chorus x2]

Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name
And it feels like...

[Chorus x2 (with Choir)]
(Just like a prayer, I'll take you there
It's like a dream to me)

This hit Madonna song has very deep lyrics which can be interpreted in different ways. However, the repetitive use of the word 'mystery' creates an image of a mystical element to the song, perhaps supernatural. Imagining a video based on these lyrics I would assume there would be a lot of blue colours, almost cosmic to connote a sense of spirituality. The supernatural element is highlighted by the lyrics 'In the midnight hour I can feel your power'.

A lot of emotion is envisioned from the lyrics such as 'I hear your voice, feels like flying' which develops a sense of romanticism within the lyrics. Use of the word flying also creates another ideology of supernatural powers or perhaps hyperbolic language to convey a metaphor. 

There is also a religious aspect to the Madonna lyrics with the repetition of the word 'Heaven'. As well as this other words like 'God' and 'Prayer' build a semantic field of Christianity portraying a certain ideology to the audience. 

These lyrics are important because without a music video to accompany them they have to build their own narrative clearly. As well as a narrative, a portrayal of a deeper message has to be conveyed to the audience. Doing this task has helped me to understand the importance of lyrics and how difficult they can be to decipher. Due to this, the song we choose to create a video for will have to have lyrics that can be understood by a wide range of audiences who will be targeted by our music video. 

For the previous Madonna lyrics, if I was to pitch a music video idea I would use a dark coloured room, perhaps green-screened to create an open and vast effect. With blueish hues and mystical iconography like stars I would create a space-like set which would deliver a supernaturally enforced location. In accordance to the use of religious terminology in the lyrics, I would avoid the popular cultural trends of nudity and sexuality explicit themes of today's Pop music videos, thus making a clean music video which can deliver a moving performance. Performance shots are important in such an emotional song and I envision close ups of the lead actress lip syncing some of the verse lyrics while the chorus would predominantly be accompanied by an emotional slow dance or narrative shots of the female singing, facing upwards.

 

Much like Belinda Carlisle's video for 'Heaven Is A Place On Earth', which delivers a similar message, I would want something similar with Madonna lip syncing the song. This gives my pitch idea some intertextual references already and a good basis of structural ideas. 

Doing this task has helped me realise that music videos are difficult to create because the reception of audience is vital and music videos can easily go wrong. Also, dependent on the lyrics it is questionable whether there should be a link between lyrics and video. If a song lyric is metaphorical it would be more successful for the actors to either just lip sync or act a scenario of what the metaphors deeper meaning is. For example in the Like A Prayer lyric 'feels like i'm flying' it would be better to either show Madonna lip syncing or emotionally pushing her arms in the air than to harness her up and try to create a scene of her actually flying. My idea pitch has shown me that it is important to be creative and artistic yet practical, a good thing to keep in mind for when I shoot my own music video. 

ANALYSIS OF DIGIPAKS

This is the Digipak of the Katy Perry album 'Teenage Dream'. As you can see the main theme of the digipak is sweets and confectionary. 

The CD's themselves are designed to look like a doughnut and a strawberries and cream boiled sweet.  This adds to the overall theme of the Digipak. 

This image shows Katy Perry laying on a cloud of candy floss, which matches the video for her song California Gurls. This could have connotations of how 'sweet' she is or in fact, how 'sweet' her life is. The whole digipak seems very light-hearted and fun which could be why confectionary is the main theme, because children are associated with sweets and children's lives are relatively fun and stress-free. 

The text and font used on the digipak is red and blue, which are quite masculine colours, stereotypically, however are used in a way to match the theme of blue and red sweets and other confectionary like doughnuts. 

The digipak is mostly targeted at females due to the colours used to attract a more feminine audience. Katy Perry's fan base, KatyKats would be a large audience demographic for the Digipak and the album.

However there are two images within the Digipak which sexualise Perry and show her in quite a provocative way, potentially appealing to heterosexual males. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

This digipak is very different from the first seeing as the artist and music genres are very different entirely. Kings of Leon are made up of four band members the album cover for their debut album is made up of the faces of the band members and extra eyes which look as if they belong to a bird. 

There is a colour scheme to the digipak which is different shades of green. 

This creates a theme and a house style for the digipak and this could potentially be the dominant colour for the brand of Kings of Leon. Green does have connotations of jealousy which could relate to some of the music on the album but it also could just be the colour which the band have used as their consistent colouring. 

The album name and band name are very small at the top of the front cover to avoid distracting from the image. The images are important for the debut album because KoL would want their audience to know their faces and begin a connection with the band and individual members. Images are remembered better than words so the use of imagery is a good way of keeping their debut album in people's minds and an active way of instigating the Two-Step flow. 

On the inside of the digipak the paper unfolds into four squares which each have an image of one of the band members on it. This is again another way of the band members being known individually, by face. This allows for "fan girling" due to the attractiveness of the members and so that all audiences can identify any of them. The same colour scheme of different shades of green has been used on this part of the digipak too to create a consistency and connection between all parts of the ancillary product. The costumes for all of the band members look slightly different, showing individuality and a personal factor to the digipak. The background is black which makes the images of the men stand out clearer and also connotes darker imagery, perhaps in connection to the heavier genre of Kings Of Leon. 

Doing these analysis' has made me realise our digipak needs to be consistent and have a theme to bring it all together. This is very important and as well as this is it important that our images used on the digipak are of good quality and are significant to the product. 

2 MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT ANALYSIS'

The thing that stands out the most for this magazine advertisement is the use of bold lettering the clearly display the name of the artist at the top. This is the first album of 'Lana Del Rey' since her performing stage name changed from 'Lizzy Grant' the the clear lettering may be to capture attention under a new title. The use of colours is reverse between the artist title and the album title.

The title colour is white so it contrasts, yet compliments the blue background of the sky whilst the effect is subverted so the words 'born to die' are in a sky blue against the white of Del Rey's shirt. This is to avoid distraction and make the magazine advertisement clear and readable.

 

The photo used for the magazine advertisement is the same as the Born To Die album cover, showing connection between the products and increasing the brand of Lana Del Rey. The image of herself used is quite polaroid-esque quality which matches the vintage, indie, smooth music which she creates. The colours are all quite soft and the magazine advertisement as a whole is quite relaxed, in colour.



The font used for the magazine advertisement is italic when the album information is stated. The italics look quite sophisticated which reflects the sophistication of the album. The text includes the hit singles which are featured on the album, advertising the album to people who may not know Del Rey, but know the singles. In the bottom right hand corner there is the record label logo so audiences are aware who Del Rey is signed to and across from this is her website address, so fans and new audiences can learn much more about the brand of Lana Del Rey.

This magazine advertisement of Rihanna's album is a lot more basic than Lana Del Rey's. However, the font used and the monochrome colour scheme is a lot edgier perhaps signifying her edgy music which can be heard on the album. 

The 'R' symbol which can be seen in the top right hand corner is important because it has ambitious meaning. It could stand for Rihanna but it also could be associated with the albums title 'Rated R' which plays on both the American certification and Rihanna's name. Again, going with the alternative style, the R looks like it has been carved or cut into the wall. 

Rihanna's name and the fact that it is her new album are clearly displayed in a highlighted font so that they are not missed. This is because the name is also the brand name so it is an important part of the promotional value and marketing strategy. The black and white theme which seems to be a major part of the advertisement is due to the edgy punk-esque style which captivates the advertisement as a whole. 

Rihanna's overall look is very punk-rock because of her jewellery; rings, big earrings and metal bracelets and heavy eye and lip make-up. This could be because the album is "Rated R" it is for a more adult audience, so Rihanna has gone for a more adult aesthetic. 

The two songs (singles) from the album which are being enthusiastically promoted are in a red font. Both the names are quite hard hitting - Russian Roulette being a dangerous game and the word Hard having many ambiguous connotations. The red font could connote many things, danger, promiscuity, blood, for death or pain and overall the effect makes the words stand out on the black and white advertisement. They would be well known songs, as singles which have been released from the album, so they need to be advertised an promoted so audiences can make the connections and purchase the album, increasing sales. 

I chose to analyse this magazine advertisement against the Lana Del Rey one because they are both very different, the colouring is different and the connotations are completely different. As well as this I wanted to point out that Rihanna's advert doesn't have any website informations, record label information or any release dates for the album. These things are all important for a magazine advertisement and although I will take inspiration from them both, I will also learn from them. 







WHAT IS A DIGIPACK? WHAT IS A MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT?

Digipacks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.

This is an example of a Digipack, showing that the artwork all connects and the actual disks are in the centre, with artwork incorporating all the pieces together. A digipack is important because it helps promote the artist, artistically. As well as this it helps to make money, establishes artist genre and builds a fan base due to visual imagery of the artist. The digipack is a vital piece of our coursework because it is an extension of our music video, creating a whole product to market our artist.

A magazine advertisement is a page in a music magazine which features artist information and promotes a song, album, concert, tour or appearance. This example is of a Jessie J magazine advertisement which promotes her debut album including her international smash single Price Tag.

   

The importance of a magazine advertisement is that it is incorporated into a separate type of media so the synergy creates a wider audience for the marketing strategy and a more successful promotion. With our magazine advertisement we will be promoting the artist and their new single/video which we are creating a video for. The house style must be consistent between the advertisement, video and the digipack so all products create a whole brand. 

Doing this post has helped me realise how important both the Digipack and Magazine Advertisement are and to remind myself that our group need to not completely focus on the video and divide the tasks between us. 

THE CULTURAL EFFECTS MODEL

The Cultural Effects Model is a theory which suggests that media influence on audiences isn't immediate but actually works over a period of time. This has been associated with Neo-Marxism and has been known as the 'Drip, Drip, Drip Effect'. When compared to Music Videos it can be seen in both lights. Cultural stereotypes and trends which can be seen in music videos can affect audiences and influence their behaviour while music videos also adapt and are based around cultural trends and celebrity influence.

A prime example of the Cultural Effects Model in use within Music Videos is the raised expectation of 'beauty' and attractiveness when it comes to both men and women. This includes, weight, body types, muscular definition and facial features. 

The music video for Can't Remember To Forget You by Shakira ft. Rihanna is based around the attractiveness of both female artists. The song has no relation to the sexual nature of the video and the sexualisation of both women is the almost a distraction from the song and the lyrics. The view of the 'Ideal Woman' in society has been changed by music videos like this where the artists rely on being seen as attractive rather than talented. 

The ideological representations of sexual attractiveness and how women are seen in this video implies that women have to be of an extremely high standard in all aspects of beauty to be considered 'ideal'. 

This theory also applies to men, which is clear by the amount of music videos led by male artists in which semi-nudity is also a necessity. 

Jason Derulo in his video for Trumpets can be seen topless quite frequently to display his abs and overall muscularity. This, just like with women, our beliefs and values are altered by this long-term exposure to men and women in such amazing physical condition that it influences society's expectations of people and how attractive they have to be to be attractive. 

 

Our music video is going against the rising cultural stereotypes that are evident in music videos and other mediums. Our narrative involves our main character of an average build for a teenager dressed in pyjamas, exploring his environment. We are not relying on baring skin or showing flesh to create an audience for our video because we want our video to reflect the lyrics and feel of the song. Being semi-nude will not fit into the ideologies we have in mind to show supernatural activity and creepy spiritual activity.

LIP SYNCING AND IT'S IMPORTANCE

Lip-syncing in music videos is the art of matching up the song and the lyrics of the song to the artist or actors miming the words. This creates the feel that the music video is live and that the song is actual being sung by the artists in that moment of watching the music video. It is the technical term for matching lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. It is important that lip syncing isn't out of time otherwise it can mess up a whole music video.

Some of the best lip-syncing can be seen in Rap music videos. Due to the fast lyrics and fast tempo of music it can be very difficult to edit the music video and song together to match and also to film in the first place. From doing our own lip sync video we realised how hard it is to lip sync words without singing them properly.




It is common that only minimal parts of rap lyrics will be lip synced and that the majority will be narrative based or only less than a seconds worth of lyrics will be lip-synced at a time. This can be seen in Berzerk by Eminem.

Another good example of lip syncing is Emma Stone and Jimmy Fallon's lip sync battle on his talk show.
 
It may not be a music video but I think it really displays how difficult lip syncing can be and how good it looks when done in perfect timing.

The importance of lip syncing lies in the controversy of bad lip syncing. Beyonce among many artists has been accused of lip-syncing and be blasted for being 'fake' and a 'fraud' because of it.

As you can see, lip-syncing is very important in live performances as well as in music videos.

It is important for me to have researched for this task because now I know how important lip-syncing is and even in music videos it needs to be spot on for the flow of the music video and the synergy between music and visuals. Without perfect lip-syncing the whole video will be distracted and it will greatly take away from our piece of work.

LOCATION RESEARCH

For our music video we have chosen the song Trials Of The Past by SBTRKT. Due to the eery vibe of the Indie Pop song we have come up with an idea of a dark woods at sunset, leading into night time. There are woods near where we all live so I have been location scouting and taken some pictures of the woods we are thinking of using.

These are the images I have acquired of the location we were thinking about using. I got a close up and an establishing shot so it would give more information when it comes to decided on a location. My initial thoughts are that although the forest is a nice scenery and would work well, it may be difficult to film at night. Without the sunlight to our advantage we would have to improvise and somehow produce a light to shoot our music video. The forest was a good location for our video because the song is quite creep and our initial idea was to create a video with a main character who is lost and cannot find his way home, or understand where he is.

 

MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS FROM CHOSEN GENRE

 

Visual Codes

The whole video has quite a retro feel, with some of the objects that can be seen being very vintage. This links to the clothing that the main characters are wearing as well as the objects which are from an earlier period. There are quite a lot of bright colours used in the music video to connote the positive atmosphere within the video.

 



 

 

There is typography used in the video, 16 seconds in, this is the title of the song and the name of the band who perform the song.

The font resembles 'junk' which has been made up into words, this references to the garage sale that is happening in the music video, creating a link between both elements of the same product.  

The collection of retro and vintage objects which can be seen have nostalgic connotations which reflect the message of the song.

This image of the old style projector is an example of the retro technology which is seen in the video.

 

 

Technical Codes

 

One of the interesting camera shots used in the video is a close up on a tape the male characters find.

The tape reads 'Capital Cities, I Sold My Bed But Not My Stereo' which is the name of this song and the artist singing it. This is a way of breaking the 4th wall which gives the video an interesting dynamic.

This shot shows the characters dancing and singing along to the song. The long shot shows the characters amongst the other vintage items in the garage sale and their attire. At this point the music video becomes more of a performance video than narrative because the aspect changes and the male characters, who were playing anonymous roles, become the stars, as themselves.

The lights for the projector, lamp and stereo all turn on and off in sync with the music, this references to Andrew Goodwin's theory that the visuals on screen possess a connection with the melody of the song.

This is the example of the lamp which was flashing on and off in time with the music.

 

The editing is very fast paced and cut in time with the change of the music. Some shots last for less than a second due to the rising tempo of the music and the exciting nature of the video. In the second minute of the music video there is a lot of zooming out processes used to create effect. The shot starts off in a close up on the television screen and ends with the shot further back showing all of the older technology.

 

This is quite an artistic effect and also quite gimmicky, it could be described as a convention for the band because of their nonchalant, fun style of music and attitude within the music video.

 

Genre

 

The genre of the video is predominantly indie. Showing the connections with this artist and our artist SBTRKT. However our artist is more Electronic Pop which is also a slightly more mellow song whereas this Indie Pop could be considered happier and a lighter style of music. The genre and style of this version of Indie music requires a light-hearted music video. This means there is no pressing issues featured in the music video just as in the actual song.

Quite expected is the use of the cliché technique that the whole music video has been imagined, almost like a dream sequence. This is very abstract and creates a diverse effect for the whole music video. This could be considered subverted as the music video is on a high, until the realisation that it wasn't real.

 

Narrative

 

There isn't a specific narrative to the video because it is mostly performance based, however, the loose narrative shows the two main characters, who are the member of the band are searching through a garage sale and find a tape which has their own song on it. After this, they break into song and performance accompanying their own music in different situations. They begin by performing on the garage floor and then the video shows them in different television and computer screens whilst the setting changes. The setting changes due to the hue in the lighting while it changes from a brighter more inviting colour to a darkish blue.

 

Organisations

 

Capital Cities are signed to both Lazy Hooks and Capitol Records meaning they are both independent and mainstream. As artists, they are independent when it comes to their niche market but are distributed worldwide by their mainstream record label. Capitol Records probably provided the big budget which would have been required to shoot this complex video. As well as props like all of the technology used, there is special effects used to display the music video within the music video on an old television screen. The song first came to rise with its commercial success being featured in the German Vodafone advert, then topping the German music charts. Lazy Hooks specialise in music for advertisement, which is how Capital Cities managed to have their song on the advert for Vodafone.

 

Audience

 

The audience figures are quite large, due to the 145 million views of the official music video for the song on YouTube. This demonstrates quite a big fan following due to the mainstream record label, Capitol Records. The video would attract an older audience than the song itself. Although the Indie Pop song is aimed for an audience ranging from ages 15-30, the use of vintage technology and olden day appliances in the video could spark interest for older generations. This would lead to the Two-Step Flow, advertising and promoting the video through word of mouth.

 

Representations

 

There are no social representations due to the light-hearted nature of the song. However there are representations of the past with the props and settings.    

      

This screenshot shows some of the 80's paraphernalia which incorporates into the video. The pink flamingos and poker cap are both reminiscent of the 80's.