Research Into Print Artefacts: Album Cover

I conducted some research into existing print artefacts so I was able to see if there were any evident codes and conventions I should be following. I decided upon creating an album cover and DVD cover as part of the release, alongside the track. I looked at various album covers of female pop artists, taking into consideration the effect of: lighting, font, colours and size of text. I established that there was a lot of focus on the artist for the albums that I looked at, none were abstract, instead they were simple with the focus being on the artist. Here I have analysed the different album covers:

Duffy - Rockferry:

Duffy's album cover is in black and white, which gives it a classy, sophisticated feel. The font used for the title is simple and understated. In the photo used on the album she looks quite sad, which goes with the theme of her album, as she covers heartfelt, reflective and at times sad encounters of relationships. Her expression and feeling in the image make a person who hasn't heard her music assume it is soulful and that there will probably be ballads on it. The latter, being true.


Rihanna - A Girl Like Me:

The lighting used in this image is quite bright, yet natural. We can see that it is sunny, as the sun is picking up tones in Rihanna's hair. As the sun is associated with a feel-good feeling, the lighting used in the image gives the connotation that Rihanna's album will consist of feel-good music. Her exotic look accentuated by the make-up she is wearing merely suggests that the music on there may have influences of various cultural music, this is true as there are many tracks on the album that sample dancehall and reggae beats. Again, the focus is on the artist and the font used is simple and understated.


Adele - 19:

The colour black usually suggests darkness, used on this album cover I think that it suggests a dark album, by this I mean heartfelt songs with deep meaning that come through with the lyrics of the songs; suggesting that the contents of this album are very soulful songs. This shot of Adele's face doesn't really show her face properly, giving someone an unclear picture of what she looks like, posing a question of anonymity. This may have been purposeful, so that the focus remains simply on Adele's music. The font used is simple, again this simple cover is so that the focus is kept on the music made by the artist.


Corinne Bailey Rae - Corrine Bailey Rae:

The first thing that draws my attention about this album cover is the design of the drawing on the side. To me, this drawing suggests creativity and personality. The font used is different to the others, again suggesting creativity and personality. This might make a person who doesn't know the artist to think that the album consists of different genres of music. The cover suggests that the artist is unique, as there aren't many album covers like this. The lighting used is quite bright, yet natural; making the artist seem classy. The lighting is reminiscent of summer, giving the connotation that this album is perfect for soulful, summery ballads; great for someone who is looking to listen to something laid-back.

Editing

Editing:

Once I had all of the footage I needed I was able to begin my editing process, using Final Cut Pro. I started by watching my footage back on the full computer screen, just in case there was anything that I had missed or hadn't noticed in the shot. I then logged and captured my work onto the computer so I could cut parts of the footage to get the correct footage that was needed. Once I had assembled the footage that I needed I dragged it onto the timeline, so I could move it about or experiment with other footage. The next step was adding the track to the timeline, so that I was able to ensure that my actresses miming was in sync to the song. I already had a rough idea of how I wanted my video to look, although I was aware that when it came to editing I might aspire new ideas, as I may learn something new.

The opening sequence of my video begins with the actress singing the first line of the song, it then cuts to a handheld shot of me walking behind her, to give the illusion it is the guy that she is singing about walking behind her, (''watching me like you never watch no-one/Don't tell me that you didn't try and check out my bum''). There are then a series of shots which I have cropped to incorporate different types of framing and to add variety to my shots.

Another way I have made use of editing is by changing the position of my shot. I took part of my footage where the actress is singing against the brick wall and zoomed into it so it looked like a close-up shot. I then moved the position of where my actress was stood by turning the shot so it was at an angle, to make it look as though she was leaning against the wall at a low angle. I then added a video filter (solarize) to change the effect and make the shot seem more animated.

I managed to edit the footage I had of my actress sitting on the bench in the park; I cut the parts of the footage where she was sitting in different positions and then put it on the timeline to look as though it was continuous. In the last position I reversed the shot so that she moves back to where she was sitting before. I wanted to show her by herself so that it would go with the songs lyrics, "I can be alone yeah/I can watch a sunset on my own". Her constant shuffling around on the bench gives the impression that time is passing, which is why I did that shot.

When it came to the footage I had of my actress walking on the pathway in the park I wanted to experiment and really see if I could take advantage of the editing software to create something more visually interesting that already decided. I used the different parts of her walking on the pathway and reversed them to look as though she was walking backwards and put them in between clips of her singing and then superimposed/layered her walking in the different parts of the pathway so that it looked as though there were three 'copies' of my actress walking at the same time, on the same path. Again, I wanted this to show the essence of time passing by to fit in with the lyrics of the song.

For the next part of the video, I wanted to make full use of all of my shots. I dragged the footage I had of my actress standing against a pink wall singing onto the timeline and cut it in several places. I started off these shots by cropping the first shot so that it was quite small and then for every part that I cut, I made the shots slowly begin to get bigger and bigger, until the last shot was almost full-screen size.

The last part of the footage that I edited was the clouds. I first started editing the footage of the clouds and experimenting with the it just to get a feel of the various things that I could do in editing. I changed the speed of the clouds to about 2000x, making them move a lot faster than they were. Again this was to give the illusion of time passing by. I then cut parts of the clouds, gradually changing the colour of them so that they transformed into pink clouds. I chose pink as I thought it looked the most visually pleasing out of all of the other colours. From pink I then made them gradually change back again into blue. I placed the footage of my actress looking up at the clouds before this so she is seen looking at the clouds, and then it seems as though the clouds are seen from her perspective.

To show the positivity of the song and the fact that my actress is now happy that she can be ''alone'' and enjoy her own company. I decided to use a shot of my actress laughing. I did not intend to use this shot until it came to editing, but then I saw that it meant that the video ended on a good note. I did record shots of my actress laughing although these were extra and at first I had no intention of putting them in. I think that this shot brings the video to a nice close.

Throughout editing I asked people for feedback, often asking my friends to watch what I had completed so far so I could work on any criticisms they gave me. No one really had any criticisms, apart from in my early editing stages, where they commented that syncing was a problem. After I managed to fix this, most of the comments were positive, and people said that the syncing was very good.

Overall, editing has been a lengthy and at times tedious process, but throughout it I have been able to improve my ideas for the use of my footage and have become more confident in my editing and computer skills. I was amazed at what I could do with the editing software to create a more visually interesting product and I am the most proud of my cloud sequence. Although it took a long time to get it just right, it has been worth it and I feel my shots fit together nicely giving my work a more professional look. Getting my actresses miming in sync was also more difficult than expected but I believe my hard work and effort has paid off, as I am very pleased with my music video.

Filming

Filming - Day 1:
The first part of my filming process was initially gathering the equipment needed for filming and making sure it was sufficient for filming. The day before filming, I made sure that the camera was fully charged, so that it would not run out of battery whilst filming. Even though it would have been easy to charge even if there wasn't enough battery, as I was filming outside my house, there was the issue of lighting that I had to consider. As it is the time of year when it gets dark fairly quickly I didn't want to waste anytime having to charge the camera. To ensure good lighting, I proceeded filming at 1pm. The location for this footage was just outside of my house, against a brick wall. I wanted to use this brick wall as the album is called 'Made Of Bricks' and I wanted to capture a still from the footage so I was able to use a still of my actress against the brick wall for when I created my album cover, as it fits in with the imagery of the albums title. For lighting, the weather on this day was quite good, it was fairly bright although it was windy and cold. However, this does not come across on the footage I have captured, as my actress did a great job, she worked well following my instructions and her miming was in sync with the song. I didn't encounter any problems for sound, as the track was played through my iPod, which was connected to a docking station. I placed the docking station close to the actress so she could hear the song clearly and be able to mime along in sync. The only bad thing I would say about this day was that there was always the anticipation of rain, however, luckily it was fairly dry. I was able to relax more when the shots of my actress against the brick wall were done, as the next few shots I needed were going to be filmed inside and I therefore didn't have to worry about the lighting or weather.I feel that the first day of filming went well and through playing back the footage captured on the camera I was happy with it, as I will be able to use most of it.

Filming - Day 2:
The second day of filming was like the first day, but quicker. Although I knew what parts of the song I needed (as I had watched the footage captured from day one) I thought it would be wise to still get extra footage just in case it was needed, so instead of getting my actress to sing to the parts I needed, I simply asked her to do the whole song. Day two of filming generally consisted of more shots against the brick wall, but this time I asked my actress to wear a different outfit. On this day I was more experimental, as I included shots with movement and asked my actress to position herself in different places against the brick wall, to vary the shots. I particularly liked the footage with movement, as I felt it added more to the video, instead of my actress just singing against the wall, this time I made her dance along to the song whilst I used the tripod to mimic her movements. The weather on this day was better in my opinion that day one, as it was brighter and less cloudier, although unfortunately it was still cold and windy.

Filming - Day 3:
The third (and final) day of filming was the most easiest, as these were the shots in the park and of the clouds. I needed three shots of my actress sitting on the bench in three different positions, three shots of my actress walking on a pathway in the park, in three different positions and one shot of my actress leaning against a tree, looking up at the clouds. I found this footage was quick and easy to film and didn't take much time and to ensure the lighting was clear and bright I chose to film early in the morning, at about 10am. This enabled me to have the rest of the time to film my clouds, while it was still bright. Luckily the clouds looked really good and because it was windy they were moving quite fast. I set the camera on the tripod away from direct sunlight to ensure that no damage was done and left it running for twenty minutes. To check that I had enough footage of the clouds I played it back on the camera, but watched it whilst it was forwaded, as I was going to change the speed in editing anyway, to make them appear to be moving faster. Overall, I feel my filming went really well, I am very happy with the footage I have captured and can now proceed to log and capture my footage off the DV tapes I have used so I can then move onto the editing stage.

Production Schedule & Contingency Plan

I will be filming in Redhouse Park, getting my actress to walk on a pathway in the park, so it shows her being by herself and therefore fitting in with the lyrics of the song. As the album I am promoting is called 'Made Of Bricks', I thought it was appropriate for me to get footage of my actress standing against a brick wall. Most of the video will consist mainly of this footage, getting different shots from different angles to vary the footage. I will be filming this part of the footage just outside my house.

After checking with my actress regarding both of our schedules and when we will both be available to film, I will be able to film once a week from 19/10/09 up until 9/11/09. In preparation for my filming, I will be checking the weather in advance, so just in case the weather is bad I can rearrange my filming for another day.

Health & Safety issues/concerns - After assessing my filming plans, I have concluded that there are no health and safety issues or concerns.

Permission - Permission is not needed for me to film at my chosen locations as I will be filming on my property and the park is a public location.

Camera equipment - Camera, Battery Charger & Tripod

Casting

The actress in my music video is Theresa-Ann Whitton-Lovelace. I will only be requiring one actor for my video and no props are needed. I have asked that she wear different outfits on the different days that we are filming. I have also given Theresa a copy of the song along with the song lyrics so she is able to learn the song in advance. This will help when it comes to miming the song, as the better it is mimed the easier editing will be. Also to look more professional the footage of her miming will have to be in sync with the song, (although all of this will be taken care of when it comes to editing the footage).

Theresa will be playing the character of the singer in the video. I have spoken to her about what she will be required to do on the days of filming and she is happy with what she has to do. She will have to walk on a pathway in the park and sit on a bench in the park, other than that most of the footage will be of Theresa miming to the song. She will have to mime to the song many times, as I will require various diiferent shots from different angles. She is aware of this and willing to do this. I am very thankful for her cooperation and grateful for her help.

Song Lyrics And Annotation

Kate Nash

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Nash

Final Proposal

After undertaking my research, I know have a clearer idea of what I am going to create. When given the choice of what media products we had to create, I knew from the onset that I wanted to do a promotional music video. It appealed to me the most as I enjoy watching music videos and therefore have a fair amount of experience and interest with them. From my reseach I have concluded that Pop music is the most favoured genre, and so have decided to pick a song from that genre. As it is the most popular genre, I had a lot of choice in picking a song. Referring back to my questionnaire results, the equal amount of people enjoyed both performance and narrative types of video, when asked why, they stated it was because of the 'comedy'. I believe choosing either one of these types of video will prove favourable as they were the most popular. As a way of trying to incorporate comedy into the video for comical value and to make my music video more enjoyable for the audience, I have decided to choose a song with lyrics that the audience will find comical and will be able to relate to, as viewer satisfaction is vital for my media product to be successful.

The song that I have decided upon is, ''Merry Happy'' by Kate Nash. It is an optimistic song about being single after you've been dumped/broken up with someone, portraying a positive message about not needing the other person and enjoying the pleasure of your own company. It is very light-hearted and I believe that the audience will be able to familiarise themselves to the situation the artist is singing about. A typical pop video usually includes performance and narrative, although not a common choice, very rarely pop videos can be abstract. As the lyrics allow me to do a lot visually regarding effects that can be applied in editing, I have decided I will be doing a performance based type of music video with use of effects. I feel the use of effects will help make my product more visually interesting.

Although the song is sung by a female artist, I think that the lyrics and meaning of the song may also be relatable to males too. However, I do think that females will enjoy it more, as it is sung by a woman and therefore from a womans perspective - so my prediction is that it will be more popular with females rather than males. In regards to the age of my audience, I will be aiming my products at those who are aged between thirteen and thirty, classified as group 2 (11-15 years), ranging to group 5 (26-40 years). This is because it is about the decline of a relationship and being single, and usually at about this age is when you start to experience relationships, also, generally about the age of thirty is when you settle down. This defines my potential target audience as female and over the age of thirteen years, varying between a broad social spectrum of: group B (middle class) to group E (residual and those of the lowest levels of subsistence).

I think my music video will be broadcast on most channels, such as MTV, The Box, TMF, Smash Hits and 4Music, as these channels play mostly Pop (popular) music alongside a variety of other genres, hence promoting my video more, as it will be seen by more people. These channels also have certain times that they play only new songs, giving people a chance to see the video. As MTV is the most popular watched TV channel for music videos, I think my production would be most suited to be shown on this channel so that it is promoted the best it can be.

The song I have chosen is quite upbeat and is happy with a positive message. As the song is about an experience that many can relate to, I have decided on using locations that people can also relate to by using familiar settings, such as the park, using shots of my character walking in the park. The album that I am promoting alongside the song release is called 'Made Of Bricks' and the song 'Merry Happy' is taken from this album. I am going to incorporate the use of this imagery into my video, due to it's relevance and link. I will do this by getting the actor in the video to perform the song standing behind a brick wall.

Role Allocation And The 'Auteur' Theory

Role Allocation:
As I am working individually, I will be adopting the roles of the: Director, Cameraperson and Editor. I will be adopting these roles as an 'Auteur'. By working by myself I feel I will be able to portray my personal, creative vision for my music video more thoroughly.

The 'Auteur' Theory:
The Auteur theory is based on the work of a group of cinema enthusiasts who argued that films should show a director's personal vision. Filmakers that they advocated as 'Auteurs' of their films included: Alfred Hitchcock and Jean Renoir.

Research on The 'Auteur' Theory:
Applying this theory to my coursework, I have researched an 'Auteur' of their own music videos. The 'Auteur' that I have researched is Hype Williams.

Hype Williams is now a widely reknowned director of music videos, over the years he has acquired his own signature style. When he first started out in the 1990s and early 2000s, Williams began using the 'Fisheye' lens, whereby the camera view is distorted around the central focus. Williams' innovative idea was used to great magnitude, focussing on recording artists and props (such as, cars and sunglasses). A good demonstration of his work using the 'Fisheye' lens, whilst also showing his focus on props is the video for "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" by Missy Elliott.

Video link: Missy Elliott - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)

One of Williams' other signature styles popular in various urban music videos is where he places upper shots in regular widescreen ration, whilst the second shot is divided and placed in the upper and lower bars. A fine example of his work using this effect is "So Sick" by Ne-yo.

Video link: Ne-Yo - So Sick

Storyboards

Audience Research: Questionnaire Results And Summary

Question 1:
The answers I recieved for favourite genre of music were quite spread out, showing that out of the ten people I asked to fill in my questionnaire, the music listened to was quite diverse. Through the answers to this question, I can establish that rock was the least popular genre and the most popular of the genres was pop.

- 10% chose Rock as their favourite genre
- 20% chose R&B as their favourite genre
- 20% chose Hip Hop as their favourite genre
- 20% chose 'Other' as their favourite genre
- 30% chose Pop as their favourite genre

Question 2:
I asked this question to see if their favourite song had any correlation with their favourite video, out of the ten people who filled in the questionnaire, only three people stated that their favourite song was also their favourite video. The favourite songs were all fitted to the genre chosen in question one, apart from one person - although they stated that their favourite genre was R&B, their favourite song was of the pop genre. This shows me that there are people out there who are open to listening to songs that are not perhaps from their favourite genre, but are still maybe willing to listen to them and hence, watch the music video to the song.

Question 3:
My main reason for asking this question was so I was able to see which type of music video people would choose but also to see if the song sung by the artist of their favourite music video also made their favourite genre of music.

- 60% chose a performance type of music video
- 30% chose a performance and narrative video combined (hybrid)
- 10% chose a narrative (storyline based) type of music video

- 40% chose a song that was sung by the artist of their favourite song, with two people putting their favourite music video the same as their favourite song
- 60% chose a music video by an artist different to the one that sang their favourite song

These answers show me that many people are open to listening to a wide variety of music from different genres, here is an example of this from the questionnaire...

"1. What is your favourite song?... Westlife - Flying without wings"
"2. What is your favourite music video?... Michael Jackson - Smooth criminal"

This example also shows me that the genre of song from their chose music video is the same as their favourite song.

Question 4:
Out of the people questioned, the 60% that gave an example of a performance type of music video for their favourite music video said that they liked the performance in the video and for the majority this was what why they liked the video, other reasons as to why they liked their chosen video are:
- "nice, bright colours - visually pleasing"
- "It's simple and the performance allows you to focus on the music more"

For the 30% that chose the performance and narrative (hybrid) type of video, they said that they liked it because:
- "It's funny"
- "It provides comical value as well as performance footage"
- "The storyline of the video is enjoyable to watch because it's funny and I like how the artist is performing as well"

For the 10% that chose narrative, they said they liked it beacause:
-"It's very powerful storyline that has an impact on you"

These answers show me that out of all things in a music video, most people enjoy performance based type of videos, purely because they enjoy simply watching the artist perform the song although a lot of people, on the other hand enjoy it if there is narrative added to the video as well as performance, so that the video in return is funny.

Question 5:
There wasn't a huge variety of different music channels picked by people, which shows me that many people watch the same channel - with the majority tending to watch channels that play a range of different genres of music.

- Choice of favourite genre from question one was pop, these people gave the answers: "MTV, MTV, The Box"
- Choice of favourite genre from question one was Hip Hop/R&B, these people all picked the same channel, which was "MTV Base"
- Choice of favourite genre from question one was Other, these people gave the answers: "KISS, The Box"
- Choice of favourite genre from question one was Rock, channel chosen was: "Kerrang"

These answers show me that the most popular channels include: MTV Base, MTV and The Box.
MTV Base specialises in Hip Hop and R&B, so it is therefore clear to see why those people that chose Hip Hop/R&B as their favourite genre chose this as their favourite channel also. As MTV and The Box both play a variety of different musical genres, this is why those that stated Other and Pop as their favourite genres watch these channels, as they cater for everyones musical taste. The one person that picked Rock as their favourite genre chose Kerrang as their favourite channel, which mainly specialises in broadcasting music videos of the Rock genre. Through this question, I have been able to see how someones favourite genre of music influences what channel they choose to watch music videos on.

Question 6:
I asked this question to see just how often people watch music videos and to see if a music video is still significant to music fans.

- 10% watch music videos 1-5 times per week
- 30% watch music videos 6-10 times per week
- 50% watch music videos 11-15 times per week
- 10% watch music videos 16+ times per week

I can see from the results that a music video is still significant to music fans, with the majority watching music videos 11-15 times per week.

Question 7:
When asked where the preference was to watch music videos, the answers showed me that the source preferred by many was TV.
- 70% said TV whilst 30% preferred to watch music videos online

I believe that most chose TV as the majority of music channels play certain genres and it is therefore easy for someone to find a music channel tailor made to their favourite genre, e.g. MTV Base specialises in urban music only, whilst MTV specialises in all genres.

Question 8:
From this question, I concluded that the most popular types of music video are performance and narrative, both equally.

- 40% said their favourite type of music video was performance
- 40% said their favourite type of music video was narrative
- 20% said their favourite type of music video was abstract

Question 9:
I asked this question as I wondered if colours in a music video were important to anyone and whether they were noticed. I wanted to know this, so I could use the right colours in my music video in relation to the song. The answer was a resounding yes, with everyone saying that it was considered important. This has definately made me think about which colours to use.

Question 10:
The majority of people said that it didn't matter if the video was of low budget or high budget, my reason for asking this question was to see if people cared more about the song or the video. The answers have shown me that even if a video isn't a big budget venture and is relatively low budget the majority of people would still watch it. This is good for up and coming artists who may not have the money to fund an expensive video.

- 90% said that it didn't matter about the budget of the film
- 10% said that it mattered if the video was low budget

Audience Research: Questionnaire

As part of my audience research, I have created a questionnaire to help me understand any contextual issues before creating my media product (music video). I asked ten people to fill in my questionnaires, leaving some open answers, so that their answers weren't restricted, whilst also including quantitative and qualitative questions, so I had both types of data.

1. What is your favourite genre of music?
 Pop  Hip Hop  R&B  Rock  Dance  Other


2. What is your favourite song?
______________________________________________


3. What is your favourite music video?
______________________________________________


4. What do you like about this video?
_______________________________________________


5. What is your favourite channel to watch music videos on?
_______________________________________________


6. How many times do you watch music videos per week?
 1-5  6-10  11-15  16+


7. Where do you prefer to watch music videos?
 TV Or  Internet


8. What is your favourite type of music video?
 Performance based  Narrative (storyline)  Abstract/artistic


9. Do you think colour is important in showing emotion when used in a music video? (E.g. bright colours to portray happiness)
 Yes  No


10. Does it matter to you, if the video is of low budget or high budget?
 Yes  No

Mind Mapping Of Initial Ideas

To help me gather my ideas for my music video, I created mind maps. Writing my ideas on paper, helped me to think more about them and compare them. From looking at the mind maps I was able to decide which I idea I liked best and then develop upon it.

The History Of Music Videos

Where it first began:
1926 saw the arrival of sound films and talkies, where many musical short films were first produced. The series entitled ‘Spooney Melodies’ is considered to be the first true musical video series, featuring various shots of the performer singing the song. The term ‘music video’ first came into use in the early 1980’s, when the major music channel MTV launched in 1981. The first video to be aired on MTV was “Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles. MTV sparked a whole new concept of 24 hour a day music on television – this was the beginning of an era. By the mid-1980’s, thanks to MTV, music videos began to play an important role in popular music marketing, with many stars owing their success largely to the appeal of their music videos and also the clever construction, courtesy of the video directors.

The greatest music video ever’:
Musical films or ‘mini-movies’ are important in terms of influence regarding music videos, as several well-known music videos have been based around or have been influenced by the idea of a film. A prime example being Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, directed by John Landis; Landis is a famous American film director who has worked on many different horror projects. This is a very iconic video and also the most expensive video of its time. An innovative music video, fourteen minutes long - It captured the audience through its storyline and is often referred to as ‘the greatest music video ever’, setting the boundaries for other artists and music directors to follow.

Music videos at present and their future:
Nowadays, many people are viewing music videos on the internet, with an increase in video sharing sites, such as YouTube, Metacafe and VodPod, accessing different videos has never been easier, whilst also being convenient e.g. if there was one particular music video that you wanted to watch, by simply typing in the name into YouTube, within seconds you would be able to watch it, in comparison to watching it on television whereby you would have to wait for it to come on. As MTV is beginning to focus more on playing programmes rather than devoting the channel fully to music videos like it did when it first came out, the internet has now become the chosen source for watching music videos. Most importantly, however, this still proves that people enjoy watching music videos and although it can be tricky to determine the future of the music video, this proves that there are still people out there interested in the videos, maybe as an artform. Considering that music videos began as a promotional tool, I have realised whilst undertaking my research that they have evolved slowly but surely into a craft of their own.

Research Into Existing Products

As I will be producing a music video, I have conducted some research into four existing products - these are four different types of music video, by different artists. As part of my research, I have substantiated that there are different styles of music video, these are:

- Narrative (a video based on a storyline)
- Abstract/Artistic (a video that doesn't necessarily have to represent anything in particular but can express something in colour, shapes or pattern. A non-narrative approach)
- Performance (a video of a live performance recording)
- Hybrid (a video that can incorporate two different styles, such as narrative and performance)

Most commonly, the motive behind a music video is simply for promotional purposes; so that the artist/band can put their music out there for people to hear and also to boost sales. Other times it can be to promote a tour, a film or for charity. A music video can be particularly important for a new, up and coming band, as it gives them a chance to draw attention to their song and most musicians rely heavily on music videos for promotion. Although there are other ways to promote their music, for example having fan pages on social networking sites; the music video has been around since the 1930's proving it's significance.

I have analysed the main styles of music video; performance, narrative, abstract/artistic and hybrid. This is so I was able to gather many different ideas and analyse whether each type of style had its own set codes and conventions. I was also able to see how each style is different to the other.

Beyonce - If I Were A Boy
Video link: http://www.mtv.co.uk/artists/beyonce/video/if-i-were-a-boy

Narrative:
The video begins with Beyonce and a male actor in separate shots, saying the words "intimacy", "honesty", "commitment", "you", "me" and "us", this connotes marriage, so we assume that they are both married. The video provides the narrative of an ordinary, everyday couple. The song starts as her husband prepares breakfast, which the wife (Beyonce) doesn't eat showing the husbands care and effort to go unnoticed and unappreciated. The wife sets off for her job as a police officer, with a male police partner and it is evident that there is a chemistry between the two of them. We know that she is a police officer as the uniform she is wearing portrays this. Meanwhile, her husband is shown in his office at work being approached by an attractive female colleague, who he 'brushes off', and continues looking at a pair of earring to buy for his wife online. He then calls his wife, only to be ignored as we see that she is out "with the guys". Later on, the husband presents the earrings to his wife and they both leave for a party, where he is hurt to find his wife and her male colleague dancing intimately. As the two arrive home, the huband confronts his wife, this is a significant part in the video as the twist in the plot is revealed and the viewer sees the roles reversed. The audience learn that it is in fact the husband who is the police officer, with an attractive female partner and his wife is the office worker whose care and efforts go unnoticed and unappreciated.

Mise en scene:
In terms of mise en scene, the costume of the police officer has been used to portray the job role, whilst the smart dress portrays the office job. A significant prop used in the video are the earrings given as a gift to his wife, as they show his love. There is a shot of the wifes male colleague checking her out, as she is arresting someone, this is in opposition of the husbands female colleague as she is interested but he tends to ignore her, the characters used in video show the differences in gender, which is important as it is a theme in relation to the song. The entire video is shot in black and white, which gives it a very sophisticated feel and gives it a dramatic effect. This works in theme with the song as the artist is addressing an issue of importance regarding gender differences, because the black and white gives it a more dramatic feel, it engages the viewer and it makes them notice the video more.

Camera shots, angle, movement and composition:
There is a lot of use of close up shots in this video, mainly used to show the expression on the characters faces. At the start of the video when the husband has made breakfast, the camera is moving to mimick the actions of the characters, and in the car when the wife arrests someone, the male colleague is sitting in the car looking out through the front screen, we can see the windscreen wipers on the car moving; these point of view shots give a realistic portrayal of what each character sees, so we are able to see each characters point of view and understand it and also understand how it relates to the theme of gender difference within the song. There is also use of a long shot when the husband confronts his wife, this has been used to show the distance between them, as he has been hurt by her actions and he doesn't feel close to her emotionally, the long shot captures this space between them. Shot reverse shot has also been used to show the viewer what is going on with both parties, this is where her husband calls her and we see a shot reverse shot between the two; the first of him calling her, the second of her ignoring him and the third of him with a hurt expression on his face.

Editing:
Seamless editing has been used mostly throughout the video, the cuts between the shots are very smooth and therefore are not very noticable, giving a more 'polished' feel to the video. There is use of superimpose when the couple are both driving home, the front windscreen of the car has been superimposed with the top of the tunnel they are going through, this has been used to show the weather, as it is raining and the windscreen wipers are moving on the car, making the front screen slightly blurry. Here, both of these images have been layered on top of each other to create this effect. Towards the end of the video there is a a fade to black followed by a fade up from black, which has been used to signify that time has passed and the place has changed; this is when they switch roles, so in this video, fade has been used to show the change in their roles.

Joss Stone - Fell In Love With A Boy

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DwcPqjCW3Y

Mise en scene:
The clothes worn by the people in the video and Joss Stone are very relaxed and casual, she herself is wearing jeans and a t-shirt, this shows she is comfortable in her element on stage. It is evident that the audience and Stone are having a good time, as they are all smiling and dancing, clearly enjoying the performance given by Stone. The lighting used in the video is that typical of a low-key gig, the room she is performing in is very simple as well as the rest of the video, this is also another key feature of a performance based music video, as it allows the viewer to focus more on the song and the music. The song is of the soul/rnb genre and is very relaxed, so the video reflects this.

Camera shots, angle, movement and compostition:
The video starts off with a close up shot of a record being played on a record player and then cuts to a member of a backup musician playing the drums. Shots of the audience are also shown throughout. There is frequent use of fast close up zooms and pans, as well as tracking shots. The angles range from high to low and are varied throughout - this is possibly to show things from the audience's perspective. Most of the shots in the video are close-up shots, there is also medium and long shots.

Editing:
Everytime there is a zoom in the video there is also use of blur; this is just an effect added in editing to make the video more interesting visually.

Gnarls Barkley - Crazy

Video Link: http://vodpod.com/watch/2092675-gnarls-barkley-crazy

The concept of this video was highly inspired by The Rosarch Test (also known as the Inkblot test) carried out by the Swiss Psychologist Hermann Rorschach, which was a psychological analysis method. In relation to the title of the song 'Crazy', the video goes along with the psychiatric undertone of the song by way of the song's lyrics; "I remember when I lost my mind...", whilst the inkblots take form of various shapes and animals and we are able to see both band members, Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse animated, morphing into the shapes. As this video is abstract, it is therefore a non-narrative approach, although it doesn't represent anything in particular, the viewer is still engaged in the video as it is visually interesting and hence captures the interest of the viewer.

Advanced Portfolio - Introduction & Plan

For my A2 Media Studies advanced portfolio, I will be producing a promotion package for the release of an album, this will include: a promotional music video, an album cover, mgazine advertisement and a DVD cover for it's release, as part of a digipak. As part of my project, I will be undertaking an extensive amount of research; this will be research into existing products and audience research. I will mind map any initial ideas I may have and then storyboard my chosen idea, once I have proposed my final idea I can then begin casting and filming. After filming, I will then edit and create the print artefacts to go alongside my music video. Finally, I will film my evaluation.

To prepare myself better for any obstacles or challenges that may lie ahead. I have made a plan of dates that I intend to follow regarding the timing of my work and the deadlines I have to meet:

7/09/09 - Research into existing products
14/09/09 - Mind mapping of initial ideas
21/09/09 - Annotate lyrics with ideas
28/09/09 - Storyboarding of final idea
05/10/09 - Final proposal
12/10/09 - Casting
19/10/09 - Filming
26/10/09 - Half term
2/11/09 - Filming
9/11/09 - Filming
16/03/09 - Editing
23/11/09 - Editing
30/11/09 - Editing
07/12/09 - Assemble final edit
14/12/09 - Hand in final edit
21/12/09 - Christmas
4/01/09 - Create print artefacts
11/01/09 - Create print artefacts
18/01/09 - Film evaluation
25/01/09 - Finalise blog pages and have them ready for assessment