lO1.1 - lO1.2
BRIEF
Vibe Productions would like us to produce a music video for the Raindance Film Festival. The video must be under 6 minutes and must be submitted on February 3rd 2017. The film festival are looking for quality of narrative and production values as well as independent nature of the production. The music video should not suggest any drug use or unnecessary or excessive bad language.
Primary research - video analysis
'The Lady is a Tramp' music video is set in a studio performed by Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett. The song alone is extremely powerful and upbeat, but making video appear live adds personality to the video as Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga interact throughout the song. Because of this, the audience are given a really positive vibe visually knowing real emotion flows through the entire song. As the video is set in a studio and there is no clear narrative, we can tell the artists are passionate about the implication of their music and want that to be their audiences main focus when watching the video. This is also why the location of the video does not change. There are few, if any props in this video however they create the set of a studio. This is likely to be a real studio and gives the feature a professional, minimalist look. The back drop is white which contrast's with both artists black clothes and especially Lady Gaga's blue hair. This brings attention to the artists who are the most important aspect of the video. The microphones are attached to arms to give Bennett and Lady Gaga freedom to move and enjoy themselves throughout the song. If they had to hold the microphones the video would give a totally different impression as their body language would become closed and the free upbeat style would be lost. Tony Bennett wears a black suit, expressing his professionalism and almost dated formal style. His red hankerchief matches the red cussions in the background as well as Lady Gaga's red lipstick. This helps maintain the video's clean, minimalistic look. Lady Gaga is dressed in a black lace bodycon which fits well into the Jazz genre of the song. Her beauty spot suggests she is dressed in a 50s/60s style so we can assume the lace bodycon follows the style of Marilyn Monroe or Doris Day during the 50s/60s.
These costumes fit the usual image in a Jazz music video where men would where a smart tuxedo or suit, while women would look glamorous in some sort of dress or blouse with their hair and make up done. As the entire video is set in a studio and focuses on the artists recording the track, there is no clear storyline the audience can follow. This however is faithful to many jazz music videos released since the 50s, which feature only the artist performing the song with a band, often to a live audience. I think they have made the right decision to create a music video like this as it reminds us why people watched music on television - to see the artists present their talents live. One narrative I can derrive from this music video is the relationship between Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga we see develop from start to finish. We can tell they both enjoying themselves in the making of the film as Lady Gaga adds appropriate side comments to some of the lyrics and Bennett finds them extremely amusing. Often in the song Gaga runs across to use Bennetts microphone and we see a relationship full off fun emerge. Gaga later steals Tony's hankerchief which he finds very amusing and the two soon start dancing together. The video closes with the two very close to eachother and Tony recieves a kiss on the cheek. I think this is a very apropriate way to end the video as it shows the audience the passion behind the music and how a very true relationship has emerged from it.
'When I Fall in Love' (1956) music video by Nat King Cole is set in what appeaars to be a studio in front of a live audience. Nat King Cole stands alone in the center of the stage and peforms the song. It is being shot here because, like many jazz music videos of this time, the peformers played infront of a live audience while it was recorded for television. The 'music video' concept we know of today did not exist until the late 70s; most jazz and swing music videos before this featured the artist and band playing live in front of an audience. Nat King Cole became an icon recording much mainstream, pop orientated material. The mimal set in which the video is set tells us that Cole was keen to keep his audience focused on his music as well as him self, being the only person on stage. There are three large pillars mounted with a trophy positioned in the shape of a triangle around Cole which are visually impressive to both the live and television audience. He moves between the pillars throughout the song while the camera changes positions which suggests the directors took the TV audience into consideration and did not just keep the camera in one place. Whether or not Cole had any input into the staging of the music video is unsure. However, if he were to it would suggest Cole wanted a set that projected his image as an artist professionally whist also taking the presentation to a live audience into consideration.
The pillars gave Cole the freedom to move around the stage and the music video becomes visually entertaining. We see him use the pillars to lean on during the song. In the music video Nat King Cole wears a black suit and tie which is relevant to the time period and genre, as most peformers during the 1950s and 1960s dressed formally on stage. Examples of these peformers are Louis Armstrong, Dionne Warwick and Frank Sinatra. This tells us Nat King Cole was an pop artist of this time, as his costume and style fit one of a mainstream artist during the 50s. The video does not feature a storyline like many music videos of it's time. This tell us Cole wanted the audiences focus on the music rather than a narrative. Now more conventional videos feature both the artist and some sort of storyline. This portrays the artist as one who wants to tell a story with the video but encoruages the audience to appreciate their music.
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Primary research - Creating an image
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The main focus of Slipknot's music video for "Duality" is to convey the bands intesity and love for their fans considering the video was shot in a fans house. The video features lots of objects being broken by dozens of fans in and outside the house while the band play inside. The artists are regularly on camera playing their instuments and interacting with fans however they all wear masks. The artist have equal if not less screen time to the fans which tells us they apreciate the following they have and they want their audience to feel included.
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Camera angles appear shaky and change quickly to give the atmosphere of being in a live audience. This encourages the audience to react in the way the fans do in the video. In this frame, we see one of the members of Slipknot interacting with one of the fans quite intimatley, as he is grabing their hair. This tells us that the band are down to earth with their fans and could possilbly encourage their audience to experience this themselves and go see Slipknot live. A hardcore and rebelious persona is created by the bands costume and actions. The masks they wear are intimidating and create an impression the audience will not forget. Slipknot have managed to keep this persona throughout their career and this music video is no exception. The of smashing objects and the implication of violence in the video portrays the bands agressive style and intimitating following.
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The main focus on the music video “life on mars?” is to convey David Bowies simplicity. By having a music video that is this simple, it shows the audience that he didn’t care about the visuals all he cared about was how his music sounded. All you see throughout the video is David on screen, wearing simple but effective clothing. No one else features in this video, David may have done this to make the audience listen to the video rather than watching it and not acknowledging the video. Various camera angles are shown throughout. Close up angles of David’s face particular sell the artist to the audience as it shows all his features, in these shots his bright blue eye shadow draws your attention.
A simple persona is created in this video which tells us that David is ‘simple’ and cares more about is songs than his appearance. David is trying to portray simplicity throughout. |
References |
Slipknot - Duality . (2009). Slipknot - Duality [OFFICIAL VIDEO]. [Online Video]. 26 October 2009. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fVE8kSM43I. [Accessed: 20 January 2017].
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Target audience Reseach
Using the research
secondary research: INTERNET RESEARCH
Competition"The New Breed" - Jeff Parker
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Jeff Parker is an American Jazz and rock artist and has established himself as one of the most formidable solo talents in modern jazz. Thought 2013 and 2014, Parker made the transition from rock to jazz and was extremely successful; his new album 'The New Breed' was labeled by the Observer as the best jazz album of 2016. As my group plan on creating a modern style video of a traditional jazz song, Jeff Parker is a prime example of the competition our video would be facing. As modern jazz is becoming more popular, we would need to produce a video that captures a classic jazz or swing track, and brings it to 2017. Parker has done this with his music, but we need to able to do this with our video.
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sucessful music videos |
Michael Jackson video for ‘Thriller’ is one of the most successful music videos ever. For the first time, his audience watched a music video as if it was short film. The 12 minute feature had acting, singing and dancing which all interchange fluently giving the video a good pace. The zombies and special effects were really ahead of its time for what you would expect on a music video, which is one of the reasons it is still loved today. The video made a drastic change to the number of purchases made to the album Thriller, as well as inspiring other artists to include a narrative in their music videos. Thriller was also excellent for MTV's reputation as racial barriers were dissolved, it revolutionised the production of music videos, and helped create a market for VHS rentals and sales. Brian Grant, a British director said: "As soon as the Americans got involved, things became monetised, turning music videos into a proper industry, which operated alongside MTV. The big turning point was Thriller."
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Where do people watch music videos? |
The most popular platform that people watch music videos on is YouTube. More Internet users watch music videos for free on YouTube than download music either through official sources like iTunes or even illegally. 40% of YouTubes audience watch music videos from sources such as Vevo and Warner Music. YouTube overall, and even YouTube on mobile alone, reaches more 18-34 and 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in the U.S so it is the best platform to showcase my music video to a large audience.
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the way people watch music videos - how has it changed?
During the 1960s, barely any artists recorded music videos.The Beatles as well as the Beach Boys and Bob Dylan started toying with the idea of promo videos for their music. Come the 70s, some artists like David Bowie created promotional videos for their music, however, due to the popularity of shows like Top of the Pops where artist could perform on TV, the idea of music videos had not caught on. It was in 1975 when Queen released their single 'Bohemian Rhapsody' when they decided to record a special video for the occasion, featuring the band performing the beginning and end of the song on stage, and with the latest video editing technology accompanying the middle “opera” section. The success of the song showed artists how a music video could change their audiences response in a positive way. In 1981 Music Television was founded, the channel originally aired music videos as targeted young adults, but today it is primarily towards teenagers, high school students and college students. In the 80s, MTV gave artists the perfect platform to broadcast their new projects to their fans and was extremely successful for many years. Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' in particular was a huge success for MTV; the 13 minute video enjoyed its worldwide premiere on MTV on December 2nd 1983. From the 80s to the late 2000s Television was the main source of music videos for fans with channels such as Kerrang, Viva and 4Music. With the arrival of YouTube in 2005, music videos have moved from MTV to the video sharing site. This made viewing music videos extremely convenient for viewers as they can now choose what music videos to watch whenever they like on their computers. Today anyone can access YouTube from computers, smartphones, consoles, tablets and even televisions, yet MTV still exists. However the company has moved from just music to reality shows, fictional series and holds many music festivals.
References |
Hart, R. (2016). 20 Best Jazz Albums of 2016. Available: http://observer.com/2016/12/the-20-best-jazz-albums-of-2016/. Last accessed 12th Jan 2017.
Image acquired from https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/the-new-breed Hebblethwaite, P. (2013). How Michael Jackson's Thriller changed music video forever. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/21/michael-jackson-thriller-changed-music-videos. Last accessed 12th Jan 2017. McMillen,G. (2011). Study: More People Watch Music On YouTube Than Download It. Available: http://techland.time.com/2011/04/12/study-more-people-watch-music-on-youtube-than-download-it/. Last accessed 17th Jan 2017. https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/en-GB/statistics.html Cawley, C. (2015). From MTV to YouTube: A Brief History of Music Videos. Available: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/mtv-youtube-brief-history-music-videos/. Last accessed 17th Jan 2017. |
Using the research: processing my findings
video analysis
By analysing the music videos on this page I have studied what is successful about them and what is not. I have found that for a music video to appeal to a younger audience it should contain a clear narrative they can follow and possibly gain something from. I think a successful music video should leave the audience thinking about their own lives and how what they have learned can take effect on them. If this happens, it is possible that audience member is going to start listening or make a purchase from the artist and there is a good chance they will be interested in other music videos by the artist or music videos to come. I have also found that to appeal to an older audience, producing a video in the style that would remind them of their youth would have an immediate effect on the viewer and would stand out as a modern video unlike the majority of the music videos out today. This may also encourage them to purchase from the artist or become interested in other videos produced by them. To create a story line that can appeal to both a young and old audience I believe the video should feature few props and characters so the main focus is clear and not misunderstood. This stays true to the simplistic sets in live performances from the 50s and 60s, while telling a story visually.
target audience
Results from question one and two show that the the majority of the people who took the survey believe my music video should be targeted at an older audience as they would have listened to Nat King Cole during the 50s. However, some suggested since the younger generation have been brought up with media sites like YouTube, Cole's work has be displayed on a new platform avalible to anyone who chooses to watch it. This means my video should include elements that would appeal to both a young and older audience for example, I could switch between a narrative like many modrn music videos and a live performance like most mainstream music videos from the 1950s and 1960s. In question 2, most people chose people aged 51 and above as my target audience follwed by 20 - 24 years. This supports the idea that I should create a music video targeted at both old and young generations.
Question 3 tells me that Nat King Cole's song 'Mona Lisa' will appeal to both male and females. A young male pop star of today like Justin Bieber draws the attention of many young girls who find him attractive and may just enjoy his music because of the way he looks. Nat King Cole however was a much older pop star who soully wanted to produce music which suggests his audience would be a mixture of both genders who enjoy his talent.
The responses from question four tell me that my target audience consume most of their media from YouTube while Television and Radio are second. This suggests my music video should be broadcasted on Youtube howeverI think it should also be broadcasted on television as it is easier to access this for the older generation of Nat King Cole fans.
In question five I asked what elements should be included in my music video. I got responses that suggested using old fashion props and suits while some suggested adding a narrative to give a twist to a traditional jazz video. One suggested including Nat King Cole in the video along side a narrative. I think this would appeal to my target audience as it would add a modern style to the original video from 1950.
In question five I asked what elements should be included in my music video. I got responses that suggested using old fashion props and suits while some suggested adding a narrative to give a twist to a traditional jazz video. One suggested including Nat King Cole in the video along side a narrative. I think this would appeal to my target audience as it would add a modern style to the original video from 1950.
Creating an image
For our music video we would like to create the image that the artist features in the video, but is set aside from the story line. If we choose an artist from the 50s or 60s we then have the option to create a video in the same style, so the original video can overlay the story line and the audience can feel the music coming from the artist whilst following the modern narrative. Our research has shown that artists of use their amount of screen time to convey an image for themselves. In our production, we would create the image that the artist wants to be part of the production but also tell a story with their music and the audience can feel that when they watch video.