Choosing our Album Name

We needed to choose an album name, that will match our Music Video and which is catchy in one word. We asked in our previous audience research for some ideas and the results we got were: momentum, Moving On, The Other Side, Over You and Love Died. However the only one we liked was Momentum, as we felt that it really reflects the theme of our video. Momentum means moving quickly, and this emulates the narrative of our video. (Which we are re-editing now) Our artist starts the video upset about her relationship and looking back on it, and as it progresses she realises quickly how bad their relationship really was and how she is going to move on now. So we feel Momentum, fits our song to our music video and also links to our choice of how we designed our CD Cover.

Resarch into Industry and Practice

The music industry "consists of companies and individuals that make money by creating and selling music".
A record label is "a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music video". Within the music industry most recording artists have become reliant upon the record labels to widen their consumer base, market their products, and promote them on portable devices, radio, and television. Marketing their merchandise, and making it available in stores and other media platforms.

Record labels generate revenue by entering recording contracts with artists. The record label funds, markets, produces and distributes and in return recieves royalties when an artist sells their music.
Record Labels, can be small, localized and independent but more recently reffered to as 'major labels' Some major labels consist of:


 
  


 
 

Research into Ideology and Star Image

Ideology means a set of values, beliefs and ideas that are presented by a media text. Dominant ideologies are accepted and understood by the majority of people as part of our culture and expectations. Some Dominant ideologies are:
Patriotism- to love, support and protect one's country and its people.
Marriage and Family- The "right way" to live is to marry an opposite sex partner and have children.
Male superiorty- Men are suited to positions of power, decision making within work and the home.

Roland Barthes states:

• For ideology to work there must be a set of shared values and myths.
• The only way these codes can become shared is through frequent use in communication i.e. reinforcement. (Media, Newspapers)
• These shared values and ideas are called ‘signs’.
• These signs are then used to realise social values in public forms.
• Every time these signs are used we are maintaining cultural ideology.
• We are formed and socialised via these ideologies; i.e. we identify our membership in a culture by accepting and promoting these signs and myths.
• Therefore the audience of a any medium such as a film or magazine becomes the means or vehicle by which an ideology can be maintained; we ourselves become promoters of values.

Representation can be a single image, a sequence of images or a whole programme. Whatever representations are used there are ideologies and meanings in that presentation. This gives the insitutions power as these representations can influence social attitudes to the audience in many ways.

This links to Stereotypes and Personal Image, Stereotypes are used to understand a text. They are an extreme form of representations. Stereotypes in texts are just 'types' rather than the complex person, they are usually negative exaggerations with a lot of assumptions. Stereotypes occur when there is a power imbalance between members of society, such as: gender, race/ethnicity,  disability and age. Stereotypes help to re-affirm and reinforce dominant ideologies. 

Star Image is when an artist has a unique selling point, which could be their own image to market themselves or a symbol thats consistent with all forms of their branding (on their cd covers, videos, etc).
For example: Will.i.am is known for his iconic logo which he features on his CD album covers, music videos and even on his clothes.
            

 

When creating our music video we have to think about the representations of our artists and how the audience are going to take in our text. We need to think about creating the right 'star' image of our artists in our video, through their chlothing/ general styling, whilst helping the audience understand through the use of stereotyping.

Research into Ideas (Moodboard)

I have been doing some research into what me and Laura want in our music video ie- mise en scene, fonts, shotting, settings. I have created a moodboard of ideas as a 'come to' place to inspire us when planning, filming and editing our music video. When creating this moodboard, I looked back to the feedback from the Audience Research of what people want from our music video, after they listened to our 'song' idea.

Audience Research

For my Audience Research I am going to do a number of things to ensure I am targeting the right people and catering to their needs and expectations. I need to find out who is listening to specific genres of music and what type of people they are, and I need to find out what people want from a music video. I have also selected a track, which me and my partner Laura are keen on using for the song in our music video, and intend on getting audience feedback to what they see and expect when hearing it.

Me and Laura, asked our class to close their eyes and listen to this song and then write down anything they thought of whilst listening to it, For example setting, instruments, characters etc.





Results:

Calm atmosphere
Pastel of vibrant colours
Close-ups (allows personal aspect of relationships to be highlighted)
Set in summer- field of flowers
Reflection of past relationship in black& white
Natural environment
Pale clothes, pastels and whites
Solo artist in a dress, walking in natural scenery
Reflections of past in sepia
Summer
Bright colours
Performance scenes
Band
Sepia
Live performance scenes
White dress
Instruments like guitar
Narrative- boy and girl
Summer
Field
Boy and Girl relationship
Summer/Spring
Girl with guitar
Past memories as flashback scenes

From this feedback of the song choice, we feel the audience are aiming our video at an indie/country  type genre with natural scenery and quirky clothes. The expectations of this video were all relatively similar in that it should be half narrative half performance with scenes of memories or flashbacks in black and white or sepia.

Audience Theories

There are many theories that we can apply to help us come to a better understanding of the relationship between texts and audience, such as the: The Effects theory, The Uses and Gratification Model and The Reception Theory.

The Effects Theory: The effects theory (sees Audiences as Mass) is the consumption of media texts and its effects or influences upon the audience. The effect is normally negative, the power lies with the message of the text and the audience are 'passive' powerless to prevent the influence. The BoBo Doll experiment, was conducted by Albert Bandura in 1960, it was a controversial experiment that "proved" children copy violent behaviour. In the experiment children watched a film where an adult attacked a clown toy called a  BoBo Doll. The children were then put in a room full of toys and told they were not to touch them. They were then taken to a room full of BoBo Dolls and the results found were 88% of the childen copied the violent behaviour they had just viewed. 40% of them children, 8 months later were still imitating the same violent bahaviour. The conclusion made was children will reproduce violent media content. The theory suggests the audience are influenced by the media texts they see, however the theory is flawed in the case that many people do consume violent texts and are not influenced so...

The Uses and Gratification Model was introduced. This model is the opposite of the Effects Theory in which the Audience are seen as 'active', they use the text not used by it. This model shows the audience is free to reject, use or play with media how they like. Therefore using it for: Escapism, information, pleasure, diversion etc. Controversially the consumption of violent texts is helpful rather than harmful. It suggests the audience use the texts to act out violent impulses through the consumption of media violence rather than physically commiting the acts themselves. Both theories have their flaws and limitations so...

 Stuart Hall an academic at Birmingham University in the 1970's came up with the Reception Theory.

The idea that texts encoded by the producers and decoded by the audience. A producer will encode a text with a meaning and the audience will understand the message and correctly decode it. In some cases the audience will reject the message or not understand it properly. Hall identified three types of audience decoding of texts: Dominant- the audience decodes the text the way the producer wants them to, understands the message and agrees with it. Negotiated- the audience rejects, accepts or refines parts of the text in light of previous views. Oppositional- the meaning is decoded but rejected for political, ideoligical or cultural reasons.

Profile for the Type of Audience listening to County-Pop

• Quirky
• Vintage
• Natural 
• Relaxed 
• Girly 
• Confident

Magazine Advertisement Research (Ancillary task 2)

Magazine Advertisements appear throughout many types of publications. Advertising is one of the main factors that keep magazines maintained; nearly every magazine relys upon revenue from advertisers to stay in business, advertising can make or break a publication. The genre of the magazine usually depicts the genre of the magazine adverts inside. For example in Kerrang a rock magazine, you wouldnt expect to see advertisements of Katy Perry or Lady Gaga. The purpose of a magazine advertisement is to sell/promote the artist. Therefore everything about the ad aims to represent the artists music style, persona or genre of video.

 

 

 

 

CD Digipack Research (Ancillary Task 1)

Music Digipack's

For Ancillary task 1, I have to create a Digipack to promote my music video. A music Digipack is a is a patented style of CD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI-Shorewood and Atlas Holdings LLC company. Digipacks are made out of card stock or heavy paper/card material. They can flip open like a book or three parts, one to the left and one to the right with the CD in the centre piece. Digipacks were first created by MeadWestvaco and there product Digi-Pack was trademarked. This format became popular and began to be used by many manufacturers and the name 'Digipack' began to be used to described any soft CD packaging.

Key Elements of a DigiPack                            

Name of the band/artist                 Picture of artist/band          Colour and Style to fit artists genre
Name of the album                        Barcode                              Adverts
Credits                                           Logo                                   Cardboard sleeve
Bonus Material                              CD logo
Recording information                   Website Banner
Producer
Price

Music Video Conventions, Codes and Analysis

Indie

 

Gabrielle Aplin: Panic Cord

Gabrielle Aplin, is an Indie, Folk artist, which is a combination of all three genres I
have started to research. I'm looking at this video as an inspiration example for my own
as, I like the editing technique used; the whole song filmed of her with her guitar lip
syncing whilst cutting to scenes of a narrative which tells a love story. I like the use of
colour in this video which is warm, vibrant yet natural as it creates a calm, happy atmosphere.
I also feel that the colours depict the relationship in the video, which appears loving and
affectionate.The editing technique used is something which I am looking to use when creating my video,
in the way that, Gabrielle has been filmed singing the song with her guitar and then it is
interlinked with flashbacks/memories of her relationship. I feel it adds character and a real
story to the video.

 

The sound at the beginning of the video is generic to an indie/folk song as we are introduced immediately to acoustic guitar and singing. This scene in the video of Gabrielle singing, is the performance part to the video. The use of the colour white in these scenes, in the background and her clothing suggests her innocence or vulnerabilty when looking back on her relationship.
 

 

However this scene is part of the narrative to the video, the use of dark, warm, colours emphasises the romance in the relationship. The setting of a fire and marshmellows with fairy lights is a stereotypical scene to insinuate romance and love. But the darkness could also connote the inevitable 'breaking up' which is a stereotypical convention of a love story in music videos.

Conventions:

As she is a folk, pop, indie artist we as an audience are going to
expect a mix of conventions from each genre.

 

My Expectations would be:
Acoustic guitar

Bright lighting
Fresh, bold/quirky colours
Arty/expressive narrative
Performance based

Country side/city setting
Love story/teenage troubles

 

Codes:
Guitar

Vibrant/fresh/subtle colours
Narrative
Country side setting/ vintage home
Love story

 

Ellie Goulding: Burn

Ellie Goulding is an indie pop artist and the conventions of indie music are the focus
of what I might include in my video. This music video tends to focus more on the darker
quirky side to 'indie' music set in an urban but isolated location which is where the
performance takes place.

My Expectations would be:
Performance
Narrative
Country/City/Backstreet location
Guitar

Codes:
Gig type setting
Dark scenes
Bright colours
Dark colour clothing
Narrative

 

The opening of the song starts with a summery setting in fields of long grass with people running through it in checked shirts and wellies which tend to get associated with indie wear. The music starts with an upbeat backing track and Ellie Goulding's singing, it seems quite apparent to the audience that it could link to the indie genre as it creates a chilled backstreet lounge type image or a festival type image.

 

However as the song continues the tempo speeds up and we are presented with scenes of a gig atmosphere which highlights the more quirky indie stereotypes. The colour theme is quite dark with low lighting creating an edgy vibe.

 

 

This scene shows lots of lights shining up from the ground which fits with the lyrics at this point but is also quite arty which is a convention often typically used in the indie genre. The clothing here is different to the previous scenes in which she was wearing blacks and this could emphasise the lyrics of the song but to also show a more vibrant personality and fun side to the video.

 

Country

 

 

Lissie: When I'm Alone
Lissie is a Country, Folk, Rock artist. Her music video is all performance based
and cuts to different close-ups, long shots and pans of her singing with her band
and guitar.

Expectations of Conventions:
Guitar
Vocals
Performance
Bright lighting
Country setting
Relaxed vibe
Casual/Dark clothing

Stage
 

Codes:

Guitar
Vocals
Performance
Dim lighting (rock element)
T-shirts/Jeans (casual clothes)
Small messy room (rock band, behind stage)
Strong tone

Animated live performance (head banging)

 

 

 



Taylor Swift: Safe&Sound

Taylor Swift is a solo artist and her genre is country/ country pop singer.

 

 

 Pop

 

 

 

Lana Del Rey: Video Games
Lana Del Rey is an Alternative, Hip Hop, Pop artist. Her music is
generally quite slow paced and melow but occasionally has an up
tempo beat/rhythm to it. 

 

Expectations of Conventions:

Vibrant/Bold colours
Narrative

Love Story

Stylish Clothing

Vocals
Performance/Routine

Bright Lighting

 

Codes:

Narrative
Lip syncing/Vocals

Friends

Fun

Love

Vibrant Clothing

Dated clothing (looking back to the past)

 

 

 

 Miley Cyrus: Who Owns My Own Heart

 Miley Cyrus is a Pop artist. Therefore the genre of music and the codes of this video
should fit with our expectations of the POP genre.

Expectations:
Bright Colours
Narrative
Performance
Love/Hate teenage relationships
City/Party/Fun location
Provactive clothing

Codes:

Luxurious colours
Extravagant settings
Short, revealing clothing
Enhanced mame-up/ exaggerated hair styling
Club/Limo Setting
Performance/Narrative combines
Slow Motion club scenes
Flashing lights
Nightlife

Genre Conventions

My chosen Brief : Conventions of a Music Video

Narrative Theories

 

Narrative is the way in which a story is told in both fictional and non-fictonal media texts. Most music videos are told in the form of a narrative which tells a story in a structured way which the audience take in and understand. There are many theories regarding narrative.

 

Propp:

Vladimir Propp analysed hundreds of Russian fairytales and proposed it was possible to classify characters into defined roles. Films such as Star Wars and Star Trek fit his model precisely, but many more recent films do not.

 

Propps Character Roles:

 

The Hero – seeks something

The Villain – against the hero

The Donor – helps the hero

The Dispatcher – sends the hero on his way

The False Hero – falsely assuming the role of hero

The Helper –  who supports the hero

The Princess – the reward for the hero but who also needs protecting

 

Her Father

 

Barthes:

Roland Barthes suggests narrative works with Five different codes which enforces the audience to make sense of it.

Action- resolution produced throuh actions

Enigma- teases the audience by presenting a puzzle (delays the story's ending)

Symbolic - connotation

Semic- denotation

Cultural- a narrative device which the audience make sense of/recongise as part of culture.

 

Torodov:

Tzevetan Torodov propes most narratives start with a state of equilibrium in which life is 'normal'. This normal state is usually interupted by an outside force which has to be fought to keep a state of equilibrium.

Stage 1 – Equilibrium

Stage 2 –Disequilibrium

Stage 3 –Recognition

Stage 4 –Reparation

Stage 5 –New Equilibrium