Module 2 review (Work done on the group blog by myself)

This post was done entirely by me i created this post on put it on the blog on the date 30.10.12.

The call sheet was also created by me and included printed copies in order to create detailed individual call sheets for each days shoot and was created on the 30th of october.

This was the contribution i made to the production schedule it is the schedule for the photo shoot of our actors or 'band' and was posted on the 30th of october.

This is the animatic for the music video that both me and katie created, katie focused more on the creation and photographing aspect while i edited the majority of the animatic it was created on the 10th of October.

This was the research i conducted into social networking sites and how the band i have chosen uses these i included photographs from each social networking site the band is on and also included comments that the band have received from fans this was created on the 1st of october.

The email to the copyright holder was created by me as i was the one who got in contact with the band and created the email to first send to them i then screen shotted every photo of it and placed it on the blog on the 1.10.12 it has been ongoing however following conversation with the band.

The final idea brainstorm was created by both me and katie as we where both present when it was created and both shared input into it this was created on the 1st of october.

The lyrics analysis and timecode was another task created by both me and katie and was created on the 1st of october 

Here are some pie charts about this work and also my overall involvement in the work i had done with Katie now however we have both decided to create our own versions of the music video due to complications with the coursework.

and here is a video diary showing what i will now be doing.

End of module 1 report

must make all 4 of the completed tasks more creative
have awarded myself a low 3 (C1) barely (12 marks awarded)
annotate and label blog for a more thorough research blog

Website analysis (Two Door Cinema Club)

Two Door Cinema Club are an indie pop band that shares heavy influences with our own band Partyclub (both are indie pop music artists). It is for this reason i decided to check out there own website to gain some inspiration into what i can create for my own band that will fit into genre conventions for Two Door Cinema Clubs Audience. I began analysing the website from there front page the first thing i noticed was a very simple yet colourful website display that flows throughout the website and the different font used for the bands name in the website (i think this has been done to draw attention to the website, to show that this is the bands official website). The colour scheme used throughout this website seems to attract both a male and female audience due to the use of unisex male and female colours meaning more of a following can be gained. I also noticed a modern appeal to the website through the use of the Twitter, Facebook, Sound Cloud and Youtube links on the website.

I next moved onto the news page of the website and found that the band create regular updates of upcoming shows on a large left side 'newsfeed' but i also noticed the edition of a news archive which shows previous announcements, photo's, guest appearances, etc so that fans and potential following can look into the bands past as well as keeping up to date with the bands present affairs. I have also noticed the introduction of black coloured pop ups and pages that stand out from the rest of the website meaning that these have been purposely created like these as they don't fit in with the image of the rest of the website and draw attention of web viewers.

Moving onto the gigs page i found it to be very similar to the newsfeed page, because not only was there a left hand side list of upcoming gigs (which led through to the option of purchasing tickets) i also found that the website has a gig archive that comes complete with fan reviews of the evenings, gig video's and in some cases live streams of the entire gig from start to finish. The colour scheme also starts to variate which can be seen throughout the website each individual page (apart from the home page) has an individual colour scheme, which holds the attention of the website viewer as he or she will be viewing a bland and boring website otherwise.

From the releases page the change in colour scheme is still very largely present, on this page i also noticed that instead of having just there latest album on show they have there complete albums, all EP's and all tour cd's and dvd's present on the release page. This in depth view of all the bands products can build up quick following due to the fact all albums can be viewed, sampled, sold and social networked about through the links on this webpage something which will be a key factor when creating my own website for Partyclub.

Moving onto the video's page i found some consistencies of the releases and video's page in the fact that they both have the complete works of the band on one website instead of separated into smaller pop up's from the releases page this is a much more professional way to make a music artists website as it shows that the band is very active in the way that they have so many video's and songs out (something that i will have to add into my own website when i create it).

All websites have irregularities but in the case of a website that is trying to sell a bands image and create more of a following i was very disappointed with the photo's page of the website it had broken links that only went straight to twitter with little to no explanation of what i was posting when i create my own website i will need to put working links to photographs of the band at gigs, performing and creating music video's in order to make my website look professional. 

It seemed like the further and further i got into the website the more and more i found was missing for example on the about page there was only this photo with a coming soon text next to it, in my opinion it is very unprofessional to put a half finished website on the internet when it should be used as a tool for gaining a following and fans when i create my website i will make sure i put the entire finished thing on before i upload it.

One thing i did like about the website is the option to 'sign up' to it almost like a fan club following directly through the website i found that by singing up through Facebook or a login account you gain personal remixes of EP tracks, photo's of the band, email updates and notifications of exclusive private gigs, etc. when i create my own website it would be a very good idea to include a sign up option so that people may join in and create a hype for the band before the music video is completed.

I also found a further page going into the bands individual twitters, fan sites, tumblr accounts and record labels i found that this information could have been much better displayed with photo's of each band member explaining a little about what each account has and giving a message for fans but it seems like this website is only half done anyway so it's probably something that will be able to be seen in the future on this website (when creating my website i will make sure i do exactly this to create more of a fan following).

Contact information is present on the site for the bands music label, marketing strategist, press manager, manager and other key people who are relevant to the interests of the band. When i create my own bands website i will make sure to include this information and more such as copyright information on the bands record label (which isn't present on Two Door's own website) 

When going on the store page noticed a complete change in colour scheme and text font i think this irregularity is one of the many things that have yet to be changed on the site and will be changed in the future i do however like the idea of having two different stores for both western and eastern parts of the world it gave the overall opinion the band has a 'worldwide following'.

And finally the store page of the website that sells merchandise for the bands following it seems like this is one of the most important parts of the website as it appears to be the only thing that has been fully finished. Merchandise is an important part of the bands following as it helps to spreads the bands image through fashion as well as music.

Digipack Influences

Before i began looking into a single digipack for detailed analysis i first created a mood board of lots of different photo's of digipack's that i felt fit the conventions of our song for example our song is an 'indie' based song so i made sure in my mood board i had photo's of indie bands using vibrant colours and visuals to reinforce the image that the band i am promoting is a happy and very eccentric band below you can see these influencing band digipack. When looking at my own chosen bands image i see that the song name 'Young and Free' should be integrated into the digipack for obvious reasons (one of which being that it will sell the song and the bands image).

My three music video ideas for Young and Free by Partyclub

The song i have finally chosen is Young and free by the band Partyclub before i come up with my final idea for my piece i have decided to brainstorm three separate ideas. below are each of these ideas complete with video inspiration

Conceptual video idea (idea 1)

The first idea that i have is to have a music video that is fully conceptual that will involve the band laying on a black background while events and things happen around them (by other people wearing black drama suits that will be moving the band around, flowing signs and colourful objects around and creating a sense of hyperrealism through the use of easily obtainable materials. Some music videos i have found that i can take inspiration from for this idea are below. As you can see both of these video's have elements of conceptualisation in them from the use of simple easy to come by materials. Some problems with this idea however is that it would require a large amount of outsourced help and would be very difficult to gain enough shots to fill a full music video in our shooting time. This idea could be incorporated into my final video idea but it is unlikely to be a full conceptual video due to the intricity and amount of hardship the video would entail.

Narrative video idea (idea 2)

After some further research into video's that fit into my genre of music i began to look into the possibility of creating a narrative video and began to think of having a video that was based around the concept of heartbreak and loss which is a very easy selling point for an audience in my music genre (indie rock) i came up with an idea that a couple could meet in a conceptualised London setting with more and more things being represented as different objects to represent the couple falling 'madly in love' with one another for example canary wharf being turned into a colourful cardboard cut out and the gherkin being turned into an actual gherkin (this would fit a hyper real environment very nicely). This idea would be easier to shoot than an conceptual video and would still contain elements that would be conceptual and could be done in a much shorter time. Some problems i have found with this idea however is the need to 'flesh it out' at the moment i have a setting for about a minute and a half of filming i need to add in elements of performance and find some other scenes before i have a fully planned music video. (to the left are some examples of music video's i feel fit the conventions of this idea very well).

Narrative and performance video (idea 3)

After some more thought i looked at some music video's that rely solely on performance and narrative and found that both where pretty boring to be honest i then thought to myself why could i not combine elements from both the narrative and performance aspects of music videos and create an entirely new video? I then kept the idea of a couple meeting in London and kept most aspects of my second idea but have now added a 'culmination' of the video this culmination is that the boy and girl will have an argument, separate and the boy will play a show with his band and see the girl with another boy creating a much needed filler element to the music with performance aspects involved in my video it fills up alot more time and many other narrative elements can be input into the video (for example both the boy and the girl getting ready) this video idea would still need alot of work for example how would the boy and girl meet? what will the video show them doing? key details like this would need to be created if this idea is taken any further.

My brief

I have been set the task in my final year of A level media studies by my teacher Mr Barton to create a music video for an unsigned music artist (with a partner) that fits music video conventions. In this blog i will outline all of the research and planning i have undertaken and will show the development and creation of my music video as it is made.

Enjoy!

Pitch mark analysis

The concept for the song is about a man meeting a woman and reminiscing about her the day after he thinks more and more until eventually every woman he sees is the woman. He goes to a pub after work and eventually finds the real woman. (in depth concept)

the imagery used for the band is vintage smart (very detailed)

Audience has been clearly identified in the pitch (an indie audience)

we have awarded this pitch 16 out of 20 marks (a level 4 grade) but it could be improved by explaining the pitch clearer and could have had a lot more input on imagery (there was barely any)

Parade perfume video concept analysis

If i was pitching the concept of this video to the band i would say...

The video will show the band as a confident, femeinine and friendly group which we can do by showing the band in a city environment (which can be a scary place) and turn it into a bright inviting place, as each verse comes in we'll have the band in new places like on streets of maybe on a boat to show filled with people to show that there confident and comfortable in the big setting we can also have cuts to band members posing to show elements of voyeurism which we can sell to our audience.

Bastardo - Charlotte Hartherly (analysis)

The song Bastardo is a video that has both elements of voyeurism and hyper reality embedded into the video below i have clarified how both elements are used for the video.

Voyeurism

Voyeurism is used in this video as a basis for the magazine in the video (which is the reason that none of the characters including the singer move throughout except for the mouth of the performer) we also see that the video is based around photo's which include both model photo's of the male and the female in the video which is used to show that voyeurism is used through the magazine (which is an older 1970's and 1980's children's magazine).

Hyper reality 

My chosen artist for my A2 music video coursework

I looked into a lot of unsigned bands on the BBC introducing website which is a website that was set up to help unsigned band with a lot of talent to make it as musicians. I looked for unsigned bands that could be used for my Media A2 production below is a description of the band i ended up choosing from my research (information such as where they originated from, how they are progressing, there genre type, etc).

PartyClub - (http://partyclubmusic.xtreemhost.com/partyclub/home.html)

Partyclub are a 4 piece 'Indiebounce' band that although being unsigned have produced a debut single on there own which has been put onto itunes called 'Young and Free'  (which can be seen below) and have a few other songs on there website (as well as youtube video's on there own personal channel). The band are from York and have there music featured on fashion websites and online stores such as ASOS (which is how i originally heard of the band) i think this would be a good band to represent as they have a very upbeat tone that can be associated with hipster and possibly scene culture (the music is upbeat and is very catchy which are trademark qualities of both cultures).

I sent the group an email asking them if i would be able to use there music for the purpose of my A2 coursework (see below).

I have also taken screenshots of the bands Website, Soundcloud, Facebook page and Twitter account (see below)

Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/partyclubmusic)

Twitter account (http://twitter.com/wearepartyclub)

Soundcloud (http://soundcloud.com/partyclub)

Website (http://partyclubmusic.xtreemhost.com/partyclub/home.html)

And finally here is some of the bands music (the songs posted are the final songs i will use in my Music Video).

Digipack task boot camp

below are the two parts of my album digipack that represented hipster music (but could also be argued to represent aspects of goth/ emo culture as well)

Analysis of Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Dani California

Analyzation of The Prodigy - Firestarter

This is the video i have been tasked with analyzing it is from The Prodigy and is labelled as a punk track.

Relationship of lyrics and video 

Only when the man is introduced and starts speaking does the camera go from a standing shot to a wild array of movements and camera angles.

As the words 'im a firestarter' are sung the video becomes progressively weirder with new movements being put into the video for example this intricate looking spiders web later in the song. 

Use of close up's

The use of close ups are used to show who in the video are key characters (and are the band members) for example both of these photo's show close up's of more important characters in the video.

Relationship of video and music

The dancing that the singer creates during the video is based around the music of the song for example the slapping of the head when the drum roll is played in the song.

The lights in the tunnel only begin to light as the starting notes are played in the song indicating they are turned on because of the song starting.

Indication of genre

The many piercings, clothing and hairstyles of the main singer (which is shown in lot of close up's) show that the genre of this music is based towards punk/ rock.

The use of unsafe power tools in an unsafe environment gives the opinion of a rebellious nature also leaning more towards a rock/ punk based video.

Analysis of 'Frontier Psychiatrist'

This is song i have been tasked with analyzing it is The avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist below i have stilled images i think are relevant to the relationship of the music, lyrics and music video.

Relationship of lyrics and video 

the relationship that the lyrics have with this video is that there is an action to go along with the lyrics (we see a psychiatrist asking a man to 'Lie down on the coach' which he promptly does).

Again the relationship the lyrics share with the video is through the use a an animated mise en scene prop in this case the false teeth in the glass of water being manipulated to say 'And he also had false teeth'

Use of close up's 

Relationship of video and music 

Indication of genre 

Music Video analysis (Performance, conceptual, narrative and voyeurism)

I chose to analyse four video's based on performance video's, conceptual video's, voyeurism video's and Narrative video's each analyzation can be viewed below.

The Hives - Go Right Ahead - Performance video

This track is by the Rock Band The hives and was released in 2012. The genre of this track is Rock, usually rock video's fit a certain stereotype in that they usually have either a performance based video, conceptual video or a narrative video, The hives have not gone against this stereotype which can be seen in this video the band is performing the song live in the studio (wearing tuxedo's however for that classy finish). The relationship between the video and the lyrics in this video are very few (the video of the performance is shot from many different angles and as such at certain points of the song the camera angle and shot type will change from a close up to the guitarist to a mid shot of the drummer, in other words the lyrics are used to push the video forward but not to symbolize anything that is actually happening in the video). The shot types used in the video are very close up and wide in order to show all of the band performing they don't really serve as a purpose to show how the band feels while playing the song (the band is irrelevant in the video apart from the fact that they are performing and that they are the band). The use of lighting in this video once again serves no emotive or creative purpose it is simply there while the band is performing it doesn't drive the video along any further. The use of close ups in the video are equally split among all aspects of the band and create a 'vibe' that all of the band members are equally important and all fulfill a separate role in the video. The video contains a modern take on music video's as the band are aware that they are filming this video and that there fans will be watching it giving the audience a more personal appeal with the video. The video has no buildup to certain things that occur in the song (the chorus will begin and nothing new will happen with the video the band just keeps playing). Overall i think that the video is a good example of a Performance Video as it has all of the key stereotypes that create the feeling and vibe of a performance video (the use of the camera shots, lyrical camera angle changes and performance of the band members give a clear view of the performing aspect of the song).

               

Ok Go - This Too Shall Pass - Conceptual video

This track is by the Indie Rock Band Ok Go and was released in 2010. The genre of this music is Indie Rock, Indie rock video's are usually stereotyped to be either a narrative, conceptualized or performance based video and Ok Go have not broken the stereotype (and are known for there conceptual video's such as here it goes again) they have however combined both characteristics from they have both performance and conceptual aspects to there video's (which can be seen in both versions of the song one featuring a very well choreographed marching band complete with ensemble and the other based around a very long and intricate Rube Goldberg machine). The relationship between the lyrics of the song and the songs video is very detailed indeed for both of these video's not only do the lyrics 'drive the video on' but certain key points of each video are started by certain points of the lyrics (for example when the marching band falls silent a group of people hold a sign which says 'this too shall pass'). The Shot types that are used in this video are very wide and are often full body/ long shots in order to get in all of the events that are happening the camera shots involved show the intricate nature of both the music video's and also help to create a feeling through the conceptual nature of the video's. The use of lighting is a key aspects involved in the Rube Goldberg video as it is used to help build the mood of the conceptual video (it is used not only to make the video better quality but also to 'wow' the audience). The use of close ups in the video are used to show the intrinsic nature of the video's (an example of this is seen all the way through the Rube Goldberg video and can also be seen multiple times in the marching band video). This video like The Hives video is filmed very much like the band are aware that they are being filmed and as such have created a more personal link to there fan base with the video. This video does have a buildup for example when a new verse or certain lyric is sung a group of ghillie suited musicians leap out from the floor and begin marching and playing, or a new part of the Rube Goldberg machine is activated. Overall i think that both of the songs video's are good examples of conceptual video's as both create a feeling when watched and the feeling is amazement through the use of camera angles, different camera shots and the use of lyrical forwarding of the song we see a series of events that make us as an audience think "wow this is amazing".

Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag - Narrative video

This track is by the Rock Band Wheatus and was released in 2000. The genre of this music is Rock, usually rock video's fit a certain stereotype in that they usually have either a performance based video, conceptual video or a narrative video, Wheatus have not challenged this stereotype but have combined two types of music video both narrative elements and performance elements are seen throughout the music video (as we see the band performing in what look like the main characters school gym, and we also see the story of the main character who is a school loser looking to 'get the girls of his dreams'). There are a variety of shot types used throughout this video from wide angle to close up that are used to not only show the band performing (like how they are used in The Hives video) but also to show events and people's emotions that help to further drive the video's story along and create the atmosphere for the story (an example of this is the hallway scene that shows both the boy and girl looking at each other). Lighting is used in this video to symbolize the environment that the main character is in (which is a school during the day) and is also used to set the mood of the final chorus which is an atmospheric bright light in a dark room giving the whole scene a very dreamy composition. The use of close ups in the video give the same outcome and The Hives video in that each band memeber is given a fair share of shot time and close ups that lead a viewer to believe that each band member is important in the video, close ups are also used to show who are key characters in the story of the narrative video. This video is an older style of music video as there is alot less of a personal feel that the audience will gain from it as a story is being told, (instead of a performance the band is telling a story that the audience will hear). This video does have a 'buildup' as such and example of this is when the third verse kicks in the story culminates and the loser gets the girl. Overall i think that the video is a good example of Narrative video as the video shows a clear beginning, middle and end of the story of the 'loser' and also creates a stereotype of a narrative video which is 'boy likes girl - boy tries for girl - and boy gets the girl.

Benny Benassi - Satisfaction - Voyeurism video 

This track is by the DJ Benny Benassi and was released in 2009. The genre of this music is electronic, usually electro video's fit a certain stereotype in that they usually have either a sexuality theme based video, a conceptual video or a narrative video, Benny Benassi has not challenged this stereotype but have combined two types of music videos both sexuality based elements and conceptual elements are seen throughout the music video (we are shown a group of women operating heavy industrial equipment and tools which are used as phallic symbols in the video, the women also wear skimpy and revealing clothing and have facial expression that are very suggestive). There are a variety of shot types used throughout this video that vary between close ups, mid shot's and full body shots these shots are used to show the use of the tools and obviously the sexual symbols that are present throughout the video (the attractive women with the big tools). Lighting is used in this video to symbolize the symbols further for example light is shone directly on each woman in order to give the appearance that they are hot and sweaty while using these big power tools (another sexually suggestive element used in the video) lighting also gives the indication that the video is not real as the women work in front of brightly lit screens indicating that they are out of the usual building environment meaning that the video is a re - represenation of reality . The use of close ups in the video give the feeling that the women are making these suggestive movements and wearing the outfits for the person staring at the video (the watcher of the video is made to feel like they are being looked back at the sexualised females). This video is a newer style of music video as there is alot more of a personal feel that the audience will gain from the video as through the use of close ups the watcher is being made to feel like he or she is also being watched back by the attractive women . Overall i think that the video is a good example of a voyeurism video as the video shows a group of attractive females being used to attract the male gaze through the used of phallic imagery and camera shots used to entice a male audience.

  

Knowing where I'm going (self assessment)

My coursework score and target grade

My course score was 167 out of 200 and my the result i got was a (just about) A2. My target grade was a C1 this means i have improved 5 levels on my own target grade (i done an amazing job).

My foundation production score was 88/100 and was graded at a A.
My TV drama and music industry exam grade was 79/100 and was graded at a B

Score boundaries

160 marks are required to get a A
140 marks are required to get a B
120 marks are required to get a C

What can i do to improve this year 

- Stop being so casual about stuff (deadlines need to be taken seriously)
- be more creative with work (not writing pages and pages when a creative option is available)
- take a bigger role in my group (be more involved in the group)
- make sure to comment on my blog and leave annotations (leave reflective comments)
- make sure the coursework films title's make sense and fit into the scenario

Re - edit task 'The Fray - Absolution'

For the next part of my transition project i was tasked by Mr Barton to 're - edit' the first one minute and thirty seconds of a media project using only the full video as guidance, i completed this task by adding in key parts of the video first (namely the performance pieces that included drums, guitar, bass and singing) this allowed me to build the video up around the most crucial parts of the video that required synching.

Below is my re - edit of the piece of work

Lip - Synch of LMFAO's Part Rock Anthem

Here is the lip-synch task set to us by Mr Barton it involved both me and Kieran- Hanks Mccomas performing a 'Synch' of the songs chorus at five different angles (including an angle of us dancing the '2 step') we where given a shot list to follow which was:

1. A mid shot.
2. A close up shot of both of our faces.
3. A Low angle.
4. A high angle.
5. A close up of both of our feet.

below is the final video of our lip - sych