Today we had a few hours to learn about the production of a music video. We looked at the fact that we needed to keep the camera in the same place while using a green screen. In addition, we had to watch out for our clothing and make sure that it didn't include any green on it because that would ruin the green screen effect. After that, we looked at the rules for doing a tracking shot. We had a small tracking shot set up so that we could demonstrate what we learned after. There are 3 people minimum needed for a tracking shot. One as the guy sitting on the chair filming, One as the person who would be pushing the guy sitting on the chair filming, and finally the actor that would be filmed. One rule we were told about the tracking shot is that the person on the chair should not be sitting sideways or in any strange way because it is not a very stable seating position. We were shown how to use tape to mark starting and ending positions for the tracking shots. We could establish where to start and end by playing around with the camera and the positioning of the actor to find out where it would work best. Next, we learned about different positions of power on the music video set. We learned that the director would normally not actually be present on set but would be supervising everything in a top box area. We were taught that the floor-man gets directions from the director and tells everyone when to "stand by" "roll cameras" "action" and "cut." In addition, we were told some basic rules before we went to the experiment. One of them was that we should film each shot wide, then mid, and then closeup, to make the editing process easier and to get more interesting shots of the same thing rather than just, having one shot of what happened. In addition, we learned that we should not playback the shots while recording as it is distracting and might mess up the camera if we make a mistake.
We then took turns doing each role. I was the actor first and we took a few videos of me and another person lip-syncing to Harry Styles' "As it was" and dancing a little. Then, I played the person in charge of the playback. When the floor-man would say "playback" I would be the one to start the music and be in charge of when it stops. We would switch sets every once in a while to be able to test out every one of them. There was a green screen set, pink lighting set with a couch, and a tracking shot set. The point of this exercise was to play around with the equipment and see the rough feel of how it is to make a music video. Finally, we were recommended to research a song we like for our actual music video. This is because if we pick a song simply for the genre, we will not enjoy filming it on the day because it will be playing on loop for about 5 hours on our shoot day.
Spine - the slither of material that goes on the back of the album (what you normally see)
Colour palette similar to video/social media
Branding of star persona
Front Cover
Image of singer/band on front
Name of singer/band
Name of album
Parental Advisory Sticker
Info about any bonus material included e.g extra tracks, behind the scenes, music video etc.
Inside Front Cover
Other image/background
Possibly any of the following:
Thank you note to fans
Credits for crew involved
message to fans
Lyrics to a song
Info about the artist
Spine
Name of singer
Name of album
Record label logo
Inside Back Cover
Other image/background
Space for disc to be inserted
Back Cover
Other image
List of tracks (most have at least 9-12 tracks)
Barcode (MUST)
Record label logo
Copyright info
Examples of a couple Album Covers:
This album is quite rebellious. It is very graphic and clearly wants to be remembered. However, it could not be the first album as normally, the first album of an aritst will have their face. Levi Strauss's Binary Opposition could be introduced because a heart connotes love and a grenade connotes death and violence. These two are binary opposites.
Taylor Swift's Fearless album shows Taylor Swift to be strong as a lion and very powerful. the colour palette is very similar with not many differences. It may slightly portray her as flirtatious.
Key Points
The music vides are for a song on the album, not the whole album
There is a connection, but its not a direct take away
Theme of being alone. There a shot on the roof, a large portion of it is taken up by the sky and building implying how small the person is compared to the rest of the world
Him being on the edge of the building could be portraying the idea of being suicidal playing into the element of being alone
Behind the shoulder shot showing the city in front is showing how big the city is compared to him and without introducing the song yet giving off the impression of quite a sad type of genre.
Placing the person at the centre of the camera is creating the star theory by making the connection that this music video is going to be connected to him
The man is looking out the window and we can see that he has ambitions
The lyrics clearly have a chorus of people singing. This contrasts from him being alone and the rest of the world being connected which is separating him from reality.
In a more wide shot it shows a mattress on the floor looking very beat up which gives us the impression that maybe this man is homeless. This would explain the massive empty building away from the city making him 'different' from everyone else.
Grabbing of the jacket creating a shield for him
Singer is singing in a dark space alone, creating loneliness maybe having a connection with the character in the music video
"I was left to my own devices" stating now that he is alone and has no one, also saying "devices" making a connection to social media and how the people of the world are becoming more attached to devices and detached from the world.
We get the impression that this man is the last connected with the real world
Man walking down the stairs leading to the streets where all the people are and have maybe now been taken over by social media creating an image that he is going down to hell.
In the window behind from the outside world you can see a shade of red implying hel
Inside the building is a bright white light contrasting from the hell and this is where the man feels safe and secure
Man is opening a well reinforced door another idea of safety
Darkness outside often refers to loneliness and suffering. In addition, the rain is also implying hurt
The city looks very deserted, almost a post apocalyptic end of the world situation
Biking around looking for people but no luck
"city that we love" showing sadness that it is all disappearing.
"darkness from above" telling the audience that its a scary place
The chorus of the song is saying that if u imagine that everything is ok it will be ok
Shot of him entering a shop to get something to drink but when he realises that the cashier is also possessed he runs away
As he is running through the night, he passes two people who are kissing and then turn to the camera showing that they are also possessed. This tells us again that he may be the last person in the world who is in touch with reality and not taken over by what this video is portraying to be a social media plague
As the main singer runs into an arcade and sees two girls playing, we get a closeup shot of his face showing us that he has hope they may be normal. However, when he sees that they too are possessed, he continues to run away
"But if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all" showing that he is trying to remember what it was like before the world became corrupted by social media
Him driving a car alone at night makes portrays the idea again that he is alone in this world
In addition, the night time is normally when people feel most alone and lost hinting at some mental health issues possibly
The car breaking down in the middle of the night as the lyrics state "darkness from above" saying that maybe he was unable to escape the possession and he will get infected too
Shot then cuts to daytime as the main singer looks into the review mirror seeing his eyes change showing that he is in the process of being infected
"How am I gonna be an optimist about this" while he is looking into the river seeing his eyes change is an example of Andrew Goodwin's link between the lyrics and the visuals theory
Him walking alone in the desert again reinforcing the theme of loneliness and being lost physically and mentally in the world
Walking towards a mountain which has a heavenly white shine coming from above implies he accepting death but trying to get to heaven before the evil consumes him
Stands at the top of the mountain looking into the distance making us think that he has managed to make it out safely, but then turns around to reveal that he has been infected by this evil as well and has not managed to escape
This can also be seen as social media consuming everyone in the world no matter how hard some people try to stay away from it and creating a sense of displacement and being far from reality
After doing some research I have found that this song is originally about two souls inside bodies in a museum that were mummified and turned into statues by the Pompeii volcano disaster. In addition, this is why the lyrics say "grey clouds rolled over the hills" and "the walls kept tumbling down" however, I do stand by my interpretation of it
Today we began the workshop by discussing how to bring on a new artist. We agreed that some considerations that need to be taken into account are the individual look of this artist, it has to be unique to them and not a copy or a resemblance to a known or existing artist. When shaping an artist we need to be a little frugal. Money should definitely be invested into them well, however, it should be spent with caution. Some things that we learned we must look for when shaping an artist is reaching a certain target audience. In addition to this, let the audience know what they look like and how they perform live. The aim of this workshop was to look at first music videos of various artists and bands and then analyse them.
We had an initial example of looking at Lady Gaga's "Just Dance." Throughout the duration of the music video, we looked at all the different locations the camera had to be set up. We made a short analysis of it while we were there as well. One thing that was pointed out was that the video portrayed the artist as showing her rebellious side. In addition, at the beginning of the video, the scene of the party seemed a little dead, that is until Lady Gaga joins in and lights it up. We also pointed out that there are some defining features that she is showing. We can tell that she is into fashion, and dance, and is showing to be young and available. A part of the mise en scene in this music video is that there is a constant strong light in the middle of every shot which makes the scenes look like disposable camera pictures of a party. One final thing we considered was the possible length of the shoot day. We came to the conclusion that it most likely last a whole day and was very relentless because each shot location would have taken about 40 minutes to set up and execute. This would be the minimum. There are about 15 shot locations so the shoot day would have been very lengthy.
Another example we looked at is "I kissed a girl" by Katy Perry. In this video, I think what the label is trying to show is that Katy Perry is attempting to appeal to a young audience. Some examples of this are the pillow fights and the vibrant pink theme in the video. This music video is not completely male gaze as it is more dressed to impress the same gender than trying to appeal sexually. It is an incredibly formulaic music video. The song has a straightforward structure. We can see this because the scene stays the same as long as the music is the same. The moment the music switches up, the scene immediately follows. Every scheme would take an extended period of time because of needing to style hair and makeup, along with putting on different dresses. The lighting is quite girly, it can be seen as traditional beauty lighting. This would also most likely be a day shoot, however, it would not be as lengthy as the previous example.
Nextly, we looked at a band example which was "I Bet you Look Good on the Dance Floor" by Arctic Monkeys. We figured out that this band only had two main different shot locations. The band tries to emphasise that the point is more about listening to music than trying to make a big music video. In addition, bringing drum sets and a whole band's music equipment everywhere just wouldn't be viable with the amount of time it would take. Traditional bands make the majority of their earnings through tours and live performances. This is the reason they make performing music videos. It shows a taste of what you will get when you end up going to see them live. We also talked about the filming which sort of looks like they purposefully shot it on old cameras for added effect. The way they look on stage makes the audience think they simply showed up in casual attire which they would wear in everyday life. However, I would argue saying that it is carefully thought out clothing just to make the audience feel that way.
To conclude, it is so much harder to come up with activities for a solo artist's music video to do than for a band. This is because a band will have preemptively set activities. The instruments they play. However, for a solo artist, there have to be lots of scenes where a lot is happening. This is because otherwise, they will be lost and simply standing around. For example, you would make them stand on cars or dance around in a party atmosphere while they sing.
Lots of music videos you get cutting to the beat where the cuts happen only when the beat changes. We don't see this as much in this example.
Opening title card or title graphic. Handwritten phone and in lowercase. Thres no capital letter for America which is part of the meaning.
The fact the background is black and the writing is in white could be a representation of which direction the video is going in
Moving away from "The American Dream" possibly because it is normally a concept driven by middle/upper class white people
Opening shot is in a wearhouse. It is an industrial space and it tends to be quite dirty and not a nice place to be
Calm atmosphere in the beginning. Reminiscent of a tribal type of music. Very African possibly.
Then we see the main guy: The mise en scene of this scene is that he is wearing sort of subtle civil war trousers and that he is topless and showing his skin colour. All of this gives hints to which direction the video is going to go.
Calm Music until he shoots the guitarist who now has something over his head, making him look like a hostage. This would make the main guy the terrorist or a shooter. There is a reference to the character Jim Crow Laws making it about segregation.
Then a black guy comes in a wraps the gun in a red cloth meaning blood and death. It also supports the Republican red colour and shows that gun laws and the legalisation of them is mostly supported by the republican party.
Some of the moves that the main guy does almost make him look zombie like.
There is a montage behind him of kids dancing on cars and almost being celebratory.
The church singing happily then getting shot by the main guy is reference to a church massacre in 2015 and in Charleston which had 9 people dead but 10 people shot. There were 10 people in that same scene in this music video. The shooting was by white supremacists
Constant juxtaposition between the smiling and dancing in the front while there is a riot and mayhem in the background.
Lyrics talking about being on his cellphone and then camera pans to a low angle shot of bunch of kids who are all on their phones which is showing the changing culture of the world with children constantly watching something on their devices
After this, there is a white horse with a black hood which is a reference to the KKK. However, this is a reversal because normally they are in white hoods.
The silence after everything and then he lights up a cigarette is a reference to drug culture
There are lots of cars at the end with the main guy dancing on top of them. Cars were previously typical in a rebellion.
The final scene is him running through the dark corridor. This is a reference to a scene where a black man is running away from white supremacists and you can see the white in his eyes.
Andrew Goodwin was a media theorist who wrote a book called "Dancing in the Distraction Factory" in 1992.
To be conventional is to abide by the rules that are expected of you. For example, boys having short hair or trainers being worn universally.
Said Music Videos have the Following Conventions
A link between the lyrics and the visuals
A link between the music and the visuals
Reflect the common features of the genre of music (e.g fast cars down the beach in an RNB track)
Use of intertextual references
Notions of looking and voyeurism
Demands of the record label evident eg budget etc
Star image a key focus
Performance based, Narrative based, and Concept based are the 3 types of music videos.
Link between the Lyrics and the Visuals
Visuals reflect lyrics either metaphorically, symbolically or literally
An example of this is Taylor Swifts "Love Story" where the visuals match the video literally
Link between the Music and Visuals
Visuals reflect the pace, rhythm, and atmosphere of the music
The Prodigy's "Fire Starter" is an example of this because the music is sort of mental and the visuals match this by being very strange and not making a lot of sense.
Visuals and the Song
Disjuncture - the meaning of the song is completely ignored. The images in the video do not relate.
For example, in the song 'White Knuckles' you get lyrics such as "You'll never get that taste, out of your mouth You'll never get the paw prints, out of the hen house now" and the visuals have nothing to do with it because it is a bunch of guys with a pyramid of bins. There is no correlation whatsoever between them.
Amplify - The meaning of the song is exaggerated through the use of visuals
"I came in like a wreaking ball"
and then an actual wreaking ball comes in
Illustrate - The meaning of the song is made clear through the video. This is the most common use.
Reflects the genre of Music
For example pop. some main conventions of this are:
Bright and Colourful - aesthetically pleasing to audience
Timely Fashion
Young People
Male Gaze/Female Gaze
Reflective of the record Label
For example, Stormzy had no record label at the time, was British, with zero budget, his music video was filmed in an Ikea car park in Croydon
Could reflect issues such as the record label's
Financial Status
Power/Connections
Other signed artists
Global Location
Target audience
Performance/Narrative/Concept Based Music Videos
Goodwin believed that music videos have at least one of the following three elements as their core focus
Performance Based - videos focus on a singer or band performing to camera, often with instruments.
Narrative Based - Videos have a storyline.
Concept Based - Videos focus on some kind o arty, surreal, odd based concept. Can be quite memorable if done well.
An example of a Performance based music video is 'American Idiot' by Green Space
An example of of a Narrative based music video is "Coffee and Tv" by Blur
An example of a Concept based music video is "Upside Down and Inside Out" by OK Go
We started off this workshop by looking at a few examples of band photos and talking about what they represented. Our first example was an ACDC band photo and the main attention of it was the guy in the front who was wearing a school uniform. This is what people would find memorable from the image because when you think of a heavy metal band with the lead guitar player dressed in a schoolboy uniform. One interesting thing about this photo is that the person in the school uniform is not the lead singer which is what we would expect by seeing that he is in the front. However, we can assume that the lead singer stepped aside for this photo to let the other guy take the lead with their personality and looks.
The next example we looked at was an Ariana Grande photo. We discussed how contrary to popular belief, her attire is not directed towards the male gaze audience but actually towards a female audience. One important thing that was pointed out was the fact that she was in a very uncomfortable position but it made her look elegant and model-like. This is important because we learned that good photos require for someone to be in an unnatural, uncomfortable position to be seen as unusual and different. In the end, this is what mostly drives sales based on the photo.
Nextly, we looked at a very famous Beetles band photo example of them walking in a synchronic manner outside Abby Road Studios in London. They are all dressed in different colours. We can clearly see that Paul McCartney doesn't have any shoes or socks on. This drove conspiracy theories. One of them was that the fact he didn't wear shoes or socks is because he is already dead and this is a replacement. Even though none of these was true, nobody will attempt to shut them down because ultimately, this will all sell records. Stories always help artists sell a lot because it gives the photos meaning.
One of the final examples we looked at was a Justin Beiber photo. He looks sad. Like he has had enough of life and looks like a tortured artist. The good thing about this photo is that it portrays a story with nice colours while also making him look good. In the end, all of this helps the music sell because of the meanings it allows the audience to interpret.
We were taught that when looking at pictures we must think about how in real life, we unconsciously make snap judgments on who a person is solely by the way they look. This is the way that the audience will interpret a band image that is put out there and these things must be thought of prior. For example, Do you want to make an image display fear, such as the NWA one or do you want to make the image displace diversity, such as the ACDC band photo with the school uniform? Ultimately, it does not matter as long as there is some sort of story which makes the audience pay attention and buy the product.
After looking at all of these examples on Band Photos, we decided to try and improvise our own little band photo using what we knew in a small time frame. We attempted to incorporate what we learned into our own shots. We mainly focused on the fact that we needed to be in uncomfortable positions that looked unusual to make a solid shot to gain attention and hypothetically, drive sales. Here are two examples of this:
Then, we attempted to have a photo which would use the fear response as the main attention catcher(similar to the NWA photo). Obviously, since we are not professionals it didn't go perfectly, however, we did get a decent example out of it.
Miley Cyrus is an American Singer and Actress who is known for her raspy voice. Her music is quite diverse, exploring genres such as pop, country, hip hop, rock, and some other experimental genres. One of her major achievements is that she has managed to gain the most US billboard top 5 almbums by female artist in the 21 century. However, she wasn't always like this. Miley Cyrus has undergone massive changes in her life and in how the public perceives her.
In the early 2000s, she was admired by early teen audience for playing in the Disney TV series, Hannah Montana. Cyrus got the lead role in this series and went on to be widely known for it in her origins. She took advantage of this fame and managed to sign a four record deal with Hollywood Records who would then distribute her music that did not involve Hannah Montanna. She did get two number 1 hits while playing that character for Disney and acquired a large audience.
However, after a while, Cyrus decided she had enough of being known as a quirky teenager who was in a show directed to a young audience. She wanted to make the transition of being known as a more mature singer and actress. This could lead back to Dyers' theory because in his perspective, it would be essential that Cyrus did this. Otherwise, the public would soon get bored of her playing the same role and move on. It is a thing celebretities must do in order to continue to stay relevant. Another example of this would be Justin Beiber getting arrested when everyone thought he was just a clueless teen. Miley Cyrus made her first step towards a more mature career by starring in the film "The Last Song" in 2010. When that didn't do that well, she resorted to becoming controversial in order to gain public attention. One way this happened was when a video of her at 18 years old smoking and with a bong. This ended with her being ranked as number 13 on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list. In 2013, she released her most known hit "Wreaking Ball" which now has about 1.1 billion views!
Later on down the line in 2016, as she became more well known for her music and acting she became a key advisor for the 10th season of "The Voice." After doing well there, she then signed back on for the 11th season as a coach advisor who replaced Gwen Stefani. She became the youngest coach to ever appear on the series. Then in 2020, she released her single "Midnight Sky" which became her highest charting solo since "Malibu" in 2017. In addition, Cyrus won a 2020 Webby Special Achievement award. Finally, in 2021, she performed at a TikTok Tailgate show in Tampa, for 7,500 vaccinated health workers. It also served as a pre-show for the Super Bowl.
This example supports Dyers' theory because it shows that a star is an image, not a person itself. It is how the world perceives someone and it can vary depending on how this person portrays themselves to the public eye. In this case, Miley Cyrus went from being a teen sensation admired mostly by young teens and seen as a child to becoming a more mature adult singer and actress now known for her "Greatest of all Time Artists Chart" appearance in 2019. She is also seen as one of the few examples of successful child actors who turned singers.
Promotional Campaign - A series of advertisements using various marketing tools that share the same message and ideas to promote a business or even to a target audience
A cordinated series of actions/elements aimed at achieving a shared, defined, set of goals
Both Disney and Host use a range of activities and media to build awarenesss and demand for their films and time these to build up anticipation in the run up to the opening weekend
This might be done through: Trailers, social media, interviews, competitions/giveaways, billboards, synergies with toys/costume/accessory manufacturers, sponsorships with food/drink other brands.
Music Promotion Campaigns
Series of actions/elements incorporating a large range of events and use of different media
Music videos, other video content, album artwork, tours, live appearances, such as festivals or radio shows, social media, interviews, TV, posters, and radio
Shared/defined set of goals the record label are investing money in the campaign in an attempt to build demand for the products and services it sells. This typically includes recorded music, tour tickets and merchandise. The label also raises revenue through streams and plays of music on YouTube and radio stations as well as licensing the music for use in TV shows
Launching a new Artist
Campaign will also need to introduce and communicate the identity of the artist. E.g rebellious
He has written extensively about the role of stars in film, Tv, and music
According to Dyer, in order to understand the relationship between the music industry and its audiences, it is important to consider the roles of music stars
What does 'Star' actually mean?
Dyer suggests that when we talk about the term 'star', the word itself refers to the semi-mythological set of meanings constructed around music performers in order to sell the performer to a large and loyal audience
Stars have some common features
A star is a perspective or image, not a real person, that is constructed out of a range of materials.
Such materials may include videos, artwork, performances, and media appearances
Stars depend upon a range of subsidiary media in order to construct an image for themselves which can be marketed to their target audiences
Some examples of these media may include: magazines, TV, radio, the internet
The star is made up of a variety of attractive meanings that may attract a target audience
Some common values of music stardom are: Youthfulness (E.g. One Direction), Rebellion, sexual magnetism (E.g Shakira), Originality, creativity/talent, aggression/anger (e.g heavy metal or rap), and even success against the odds (e.g Adele originally or Ed Sheeran)
Richard Dyer states that fundamentally, the start image is incoherent that is incomplete and 'open'. He says that this is because it is based upon two key paradoxes.
Firstly, the star image must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer. For example Beyonce having an extremely expensive looking dress on stage and then just a picture of her with her own child. Another example is Justin Beiber having his face on a 2018 calendar and then a picture of him getting arrested.
Secondly, the star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer. For example, Taylor Swift inviting fans to tea parties or engaging with them and stopping for selfies outside her shows. This shows presence to the audience. An example of being both present and absent as a star is live performances. Watching them and seeing you favourite artist makes you feel like they are present, however, you are in a crowd of masses amounts of people and likely very far away from the artist, making them absent.
The Star Image
This incoherence ensures that audiences continually strive to 'complete' or 'make sense of' the image
Achieved by continued consumption of the star through his or her products
In the music industry, performance seems to promise the competition of the image, but is almost always, ultimately unsatisfying
Target Audience - 8-20s, on-trend, the 1980s, costumes, neon, working out - aerobics. Intertextuality - the referencing of one text with another text (if you know you know. Inside joke sort of.)
The Black Eyed Peas - Pump It
Not serious, making fun. Mentioning Fast and Furious.
MGMT - When you die
*Genre: Indi pop, maybe rock.
*Target Audience: late teens - 20s.
*Graphics dominating the video.
*Some parts link to lyrics but not the narrative story.
*Lots of different artistic styles. Seeing the band in the video.
My name is Zachary Fracassetti and my music taste is more rap and a bit of RNB. I look forward to the A2 year of developing my music video into something I can be proud of. I found that during the A1 coursework of the opening title sequence I needed to be a little more organised in my research and planning process. Therefore I will strive to direct this towards making my A2 music video plan stronger, and hopefully, then be able to have a successful finish. Some of my favourite music artists include 50 Cent, Eminem, J Cole, Chase Atlantic, and Queen. It depends on the type of mood I am in when deciding to listen to certain artists. Sometimes I like to listen to Queen songs and attempt to reproduce them on piano by ear.
Here is a video I posted a while back in which I attempted to play the game of thrones theme after a week of practice!
