Artist and Record Label Background

Permission to Use Song

Learning Comment:

From completing this planning task I am better to able understand the rights of ownership behind songs and media products 

Final Video and Lyrics

Video and Lyrics 

The song I have chosen to use for my own music video is 'Chewing Gum' by Nina Nesbitt;



These are the lyrics for 'Chewing Gum';

Thinking of a Concept/Song

Learning Comment- Task 8

From completing task 8, I have a clearer idea of what the audience want from the music videos and which codes and conventions they would enjoy seeing from the music video.

From doing a survey about music assumption and what the audience want from a music video, I found the majority of people who watched music video watched it on YouTube. The most popular genre of music videos is Pop and Indie.
When asked the question "Do you prefer music videos that follow a narrative or do you prefer performance based music videos?" there wasn't a significant difference between narrative and performance responses. Many people said that they watch music videos to be entertained, because they add meaning to the lyrics and help with the understanding. The responses that said they don't watch music video is because 'I enjoy music for what it is, not the image behind it'. Lighting and mise en scene are considered important for the music video, which means I will have to be creative and careful when planning and filming.
The majority of the participants responded that there is nothing in particular they want to see from a music video.

Task 2 has helped me identify key theories used in music videos and the effect this has over the whole of the music video. One of the key theorists that I found was Andrew Goodwin who stated that music videos feature many close ups in order to develop artist's 'star persona'. I found this theory was shown in the majority of music videos I researched.

The research of Task 3 allowed me to get inspiration and ideas for my own music video such as what the audience liked and disliked about the previous student's music video.

Music Video and Audience Research- Task 3

Music Video and Audience Research- Task 2

Music Video and Audience Research- Task 1

Music Video Analysis- Learning Comment

From completing the music video analysis tasks, I have developed my own ideas about what I want to do for my own music video. I have learnt what elements are involved in a narrative music video, for example a story line and characters. I have also learnt what elements are involved in a performance based music video such as lip-syncing and camera techniques in order to make the performance interesting.

-Some of the elements I must consider from doing this research;

·       whether to do a performance based music video or a music video with a strong narrative 

o    if I decide to do a narrative, how will I make sure that the narrative is strong, clear and engaging from start to finish, will it follow stereotypes or codes and conventions of other narratives from music videos?

·      -How should the visuals represent the audio, should they amplify, contradict or illustrate them?

·      -In my own music video am I going to adhere to gender stereotypes in my music video or am I going to challenge them? If I decide to challenge the how will I make it evident that I am challenging them. 

Music Video Analysis- Task 4

Music Video Analysis- Task 3

Music Video Analysis- Task 2

TASK TWO

For this task I analysed the differences and effects of performance and narrative videos.

Seafret- Oceans

Oceans is a narrative based music video, it features the narrative of a shy teenage girl dressing in a superhero costume and walking out to a park where she discovers she has superhero powers. Personally I think this song works well as a narrative video as the theme of the song is about insecurities and being unsure of ourselves shown through the lyrics; "We hide our emotions, Under the surface and try to pretend". This theme is very relatable for the audience and therefore it is more effective to get the message of the song across by using an engaging story rather than have the band lip sync the lyrics in a performance video.
This video adheres to Todorov's narrative theory as there is equilibrium of the girl returning home, a disruption by the girl putting the superhero costume on, leaving the house and being attacked in the park and then the equilibrium is restored when she receives justice and accepts herself and the powers she has.
The video also very loosely adheres to Propp's character theory as there is the protagonist (the main character who is also the hero), the reward is acceptance of her powers, the villains who attack her in the field and the helper is her mother.
I thought this video's simplicity was quite effective as it worked in synergy with the acoustic and heartfelt music as it didn't take anything or distract from the song, however I did feel in the middle there didn't seem to be much of a story plot which may make audience lose a bit of interest in seeing how the video ends.

Churchill- Change

Change worked well as a performance based narrative because these style music videos are often seen as repetitive and that they get boring after a long time of the same image in the music video however this music video uses effective editing and camera techniques to keep it interesting and engaging. The Change music video begins with the main singer stood before a simple blue background with a microphone but as the camera begin to zoom in on her face it cuts to the same shot only the singer was costumed completely differently, the shot only shows very briefly until it's back to the original shot. These quick cutaways add energy and pace to the video which engages the audience effectively as they don't know what to expect next but want to. The screen also gets split into two with both a male singer and the female singer, singer the females lyrics, this is cutaway by a long shot of the man singing the females lyrics alone. This adds a sense of intrigue for the audience as it's obviously not the man singing the lyrics. Another thing that makes this video unique and interesting is the mise en scene used, the blue background is shown throughout the whole video but because the outfit changes are so extravagant and interesting, such as the retro style outfits, it increases and maintains the engagement and intrigue. The camera angles and editing techniques vary throughout the whole clip from a long shot pan around the drummer to a simple close up of the main singers. This continuous change keeps the audiences interest peaked as they don't know what to expect.  Through the use of high key lighting all the changes in camera angles and costumes can be clearly seen which I think is a particularly effective element of this music video.I personally found this video technique very engaging as it was simply but if well done can create a very effective music video. From watching this music video I have decided to use it as inspiration when I come to planning my own music video.

OK GO- Here it Goes Again

I felt this song worked very well as a performance based video as it was quite fun and energetic and therefore would have been quite hard to find a narrative that worked well and complemented the up-beat atmosphere of the song. The dancing on the treadmills was unique and interesting, I found this very engaging as an audience member and it add atmosphere and pace to the music as they moved in time with the beat and therefore created synergy between the visuals and the song. I think this video had the potential to look very unfinished and amateur if it wasn't carefully made. However as the dancing is well rehearsed and known by every dancer it looked polished and clean which made it very engaging as it created a better effect when the dancers timings matched each others and all the dancers timings matched the pace and beat of the music which created synergy between the audio and the visuals.
The Here it goes again music video fit the Blulmer and Katz's escapism theory, as this video is entertaining and has a fun energy and mood, audiences may watch it to escape and distract themselves from their own personal lives and any issues they may have.

Ed Sheeran- Sing

This is a very entertaining and engaging music video which expresses the energy and atmosphere of the song. The music video is a blend of performance and narrative based. The performance by Ed Sheeran adds authenticity to the music video and shows brand identity, however the narrative element adds interest and is effective at further engaging the audience.
The novelty of using a puppet as the protagonist of the video makes it unique and thereby very engaging for the audience, the use of a puppet that looks like Ed Sheeran further shows brand identity.
The visual effects such as the swirling background behind Ed Sheeran when he is singing creates a link between the visual and the theme of alcohol in the lyrics creating synergy.
I felt this video worked well as a mixture of the narrative of the puppet going out for the night to a club and a performance video by Ed Sheeran. It is an upbeat song and therefore fitted well with the fun, lighthearted plot of the narrative however since Ed Sheeran is a very popular and famous artist and a lot of the audience listen to this music because they like the artist I felt it was important that Ed Sheeran be shown throughout the video. This video adheres to Andrew Goodwin's theory close ups are important so that the audience can appreciate the celebrity, Ed Sheeran, this is shown in the performances by him throughout the video.

Music Video Analysis- Task 1

TASK ONE

For this task I looked at the representation of artists in different genres:

Videos for Inspiration

Song:

Saint Raymond- Fall at Your Feet

Halsey- Castle 

Nina Nesbitt- Chewing Gum

Lyrics and scenery

Use of light



Cuts

Cuts and Camera Effects

Analysis of Previous Work

For this task I researched and analysised work from previous students

Do My Thing

• I felt mise-en-scene was effectively used through the setting, clothing and colours etc. The bright colours of the background suited the up-beat style of the music as they both created energy and atmosphere and worked in synergy to achieve this. Both the background and the music are complemented through the costumes which add a lighthearted and fun atmosphere through the many different costume changes using a variety of different styles from a sequined dress to dungarees and a letterman jacket. The relaxed body language, facial expressions and high key lighting of the actors also added to the happy and vibrant mood and atmosphere.
• Another thing I felt worked well was the use of the varying angles and shots used throughout the whole music video. The first shots of the music video featured extreme close ups of mouths, eyes and fingers, this was effective at capturing the audiences interest as the close ups make them wonder what a wider shot contain. The close ups were broken up by two person shots showing both the artists at once.
• One thing I found that made this one stand out from all the other ones I watched was that the picture is very clear, the majority of the other music videos were slightly blurry. The clear image could have been because of the use of high key lighting but it gave the whole video a much higher quality. Another thing that made this one stand out was the quality of the lip-syncing, the two actors were over exaggerated the lip syncing which made it look more realistic and professional. 
• One criticism is that the video doesn't have a narrative and is quite repetitive which may make some of the audience bored and stop watching halfway through the video rather than watch the whole thing. However there is a bit of a difference when instead of having more shots of the the two females just being on camera they have one female dancing with two background dancers which adds a bit of interest. This also separated this video from others I have watched as I didn't see any dancing in any of the videos.
• Throughout the music video they used editing software to create a collage of different videos this added some edginess and made it more interesting for the audience to watch. 
• I liked this music video as I felt it had a very fun atmosphere and energy and had a continuous feel through the whole music video. I also felt it looked the most professional due to the higher quality of footage. 

Read All About It

• This music video is shot using a black and white effect which creates a sad and emotional atmosphere and could also be seen to link to the newspaper theme in the song. The black and white effect complements the serious nature of the song and bullying theme expressed in this video. However I feel having the whole video shot in black and white would ruin the power and atmosphere created by using it, which is why I like the use of the colour footage that shows protesters and the ending of the video.
• The effect used in the shots showing the protesters is very effective as it gives the footage a gritty raw mood which continues to fit in with the bullying theme of the music videos. 
• One shot I found that was very effective was the one that had the chorus lyrics, the shot showed the protagonist in the centre of the screen and behind her the wall was covered in newspapers and the protagonist slowly turns around with her back to us. I thought this shot was effective as it linked the images to the lyrics "they can read all about it" but in a more creative way than just having the female read a newspaper in front of her. However one criticism I have about this shot is the actor's lip syncing, personally I felt this shot could have been more dramatic if the actor had over-exaggerated or been more confident lip syncing the lyrics. The images and the black and white effect create a serious and emotional mood and they could have added to that if the actor had added more emotion and confidence to the lip-syncing. 
• I thought that there were some strong elements to the video such as the transitions. One of the first transitions that is shown is a high angle shot of a notebook that shows an image of the ground in the next shot and then the shot fades into that image of the floor. This creates a sense of fluidity. Another element I liked was when an actor fell in slow motion as I felt it was in keeping with the atmosphere but just added some diversity to the pace of the video. 
• I felt the animal print in the costume didn't fit the sombre and serious atmosphere of the music video. 
• One issue I found was that the lip-syncing wasn't very confident which I felt lowered how professional the video was, because when you look at a professional music video such as Emeli Sande's original 'Read All About It' the artist over-exaggerates the lyrics on film to convey the emotion and power of the lyrics that the audience feels when they are watching a live performance. 

Born To Die

• One strength of this music video is that it had a clear narrative of a relationship between the main actors, however the video was kept interesting by breaking up the narrative story with static shots of the female actress lip-syncing or sat at a piano.
• The mise en scene is strongly used in the music video:
• Lighting- the lighting was used in creative and unique ways for example some of the shots used only a spotlight on the main character with the surrounding background pitch black, this created a very dramatic and mysterious atmosphere. Other times soft warm ambient light was used to convey the comfortable and relaxed mood of the character, whilst high key lighting from natural sunlight was used to add diversity and interest to the whole video. 
• Costumes and Settings- throughout the whole video costume had been carefully thought about, both conveyed sophistication and elegance. Through the setting of a regal and stately looking home and open outdoor areas the locations gave a wealthy and posh representation. This representation was further shown through the costumes, the male actor wore a suit and the female actress wore several elegant dresses with pearl and diamond accessories.
• Props- one of the main props used was the vintage microphone and piano, both of these adhere to the wealthy representation. The microphone was used by the female actress at the top of the stairs, which gave a very dramatic effect which I really liked as it was unlike other videos where they had just zoomed in on the mouth of the music artist or had a close up of the face.
• I felt the actress played the character very well as she was appeared very elegant and as dramatic as the location and the costumes. She was also particularly good at the lip syncing and conveying how the singer sounds slightly bored, this was shown through accurate lip syncing and her body language and facial expressions.
• One criticism I found was that there weren't many camera angles, shots or transitions that stood out for being creative or interesting, in the other videos I looked at there seemed to be at least a few unique and creative camera or editing elements used in the music video. 
• Another weakness of this music video is that all the shots were the same length which although kept the pace constant, didn't make it very diverse and therefore may cause some of the audience to become bored of the video and not watch the whole video.
• Out of the three I looked at this was my favourite one as I enjoyed the fact that there was a balance between the lip-syncing performance and the narrative as I felt it kept me interested in the video. I also enjoyed this video most because I felt there was a strong sense of synergy and that everything had been carefully considered from the costumes to the locations.

I then analysed digipaks made by previous students.

LEARNING COMMENT:
From completing this research task I have a clearer idea about what things I need to be aware of when planning and creating my own digipak such as:

• is it too repetitive all the way through the music video and digipak or is it interesting and has creative 
• Whether the quality of the footage is good enough, one of the issues I found with some of the videos I watched was that they looked less professional because of the low quality of the camera. This is also what made the 1st video I analysed standout as it had  very clear image all the way through the video which made it looked more finished and thought out. 
• Does the lip syncing fit the lyrics, this was another element that I felt either made the video look polished or made it look untidy and rushed. This means that when it comes to