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Emmanuel

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Filming Day 1

On wednesday we went out to begin filming. We went to one of our first location, which was the playground. The day was foggy and so we used this to our advantage and included this in the filming. We filmed for the some of the beginning of the song. We began with filming a long shot of the fog and slowly zooming out to make it seem like the playground was appearing out of the fog, this gave the video a natural effect. This footage will be uploaded and edited and then we will continue to film more of our video.

Audience Research Findings

Brief Outline of Ideas

Famous Album Art Analysis

This album artwork belongs to the well known artists Katy Perry. This album was huge hit, especially one the  songs 'California Gurls'. This song promotes a luxurious, exotic summer time but in a very different way using 'Candy'. Using the candy and sweets portrays the music video as something everybody loves, this adds more to the song through the video. People emerge of jellies and Katy Perry herself who is very attractively 'undressed'  in a cloud of candy floss. It can be said the video was filled with every type of sweets and candy anybody would love increasing the target audience. What is said to have increased the popularity of this album is the claim fact by fans that the digipak itself smells of candy floss making it a very unique album work indeed.

Treatment

Target Audience - Vox Pop

To gain an extra insight into what the general audience would like to see in the music video, we conducted our very own 'Vox pop'. The questions asked were the following:

• Do you watch music Videos?
• What is your favourite music video?
• What do you like about music videos?
• What makes a great music video?
• Where do you watch music videos?

Here is the video of the Vox pop which our group created;

Target Audience- Summary of Findings

In our focus group, we predetermined through the use of our studies what our audience would like in a music video as well as what they think makes a good music video.

With questions asked on a small scale survey, we found out that two of the main answers regarding what made the favorite video their 'favorite' was those which involved a dance routine. This clarifies to us as a group that videos which contain some sort of particular dance, whether it be made up or choreographed, effectively helps to induce a music video. It is no surprise then some videos which are the best of the best, for example Michael Jackson's 'Thriller', which is the No.1 music video of all time, is based 75% on dance routines.   

Another example which amplifies the idea that perhaps dance is the main success of a music video is a current music video which is taking the world by storm, 'Gangnam Style' by music South Korean Artist PSY. The only word of which i understand of the song is 'style', presumably because it's all in Korean, however, this hasn't stopped the music video for getting most views on YouTube and getting on almost every music chart in the world. We as a group when making our music video should consider these factors which are effectively enhancing the audience of the music video. We will therefore take this into consideration when making our music videos in order to widen our audience and indulge their attention.  

In the survey a question which had many similar answers was 'what do you like about music videos?' Our audience had very similar views. The common view stated by them was again, 'Dance', but furthermore, music videos had a special something which give views a deeper insight into the true meaning of the song, this allows them to better understand the music/lyrics by the use of a video.

As a summary, the target audience gave frequent answers to the expectations of a music video, they answered things like, dancers, excellent use of visuals and effects, story line and surprises with a bit of comedy. They mostly view their music videos on YouTube or through the TV in channels such as MTV or Kiss. 

These findings will aid us in the production of our music video as a final product and effectively enhancing our audience. 

Audience Research - Survey Monkey

Our group have made a short survey to use as a resource for finding what type of audience our music video is aimed at as well as what to include in it to make it even more appealing.

The Video - Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task - The Editing

After we had finished filming all the necessary shots for the music video, the group uploaded the different takes in order select the best ones that have a good lip simulation of the song.  The clips shown on the left are the clips used to be edited. These will be dragged on the the editing bar along  with the music.

This print screen shows the clips for the music preliminary task attached along with the music which is shaded in green. The music has been locked in place to stop it from moving as the clips are now being put into place with the corresponding lip movement. The points marked in red on the blue shaded area is the exact time at which the two participants begin to sing.
The black outlines are there to make the black overlay used to fade specific parts of the video for a period of time until the singing of the dong begins.

The image on the right is part of the filming which is going to be used with the sound track. Here we were trying to find the specific lip point to which the lyrics of the song begin on the person being filmed.

This is the ending to whole video. It shows the faded out effects used to make the ending a nice ending rather than a sudden stop. The music is also faded together. After finishing everything , the video was rendered and then exported so it could properly be uploaded onto Youtube.

Preliminary Exercise

For our first preliminary task, we had to get familiar with how to create a music video with lip-syncing. The purpose of the preliminary task was to practice editing the music to the lip-syncing. The song we done was 'Don't go breaking my heart'  By Elton John.

The filming took place at Robert Clack lower school in the playground with trees and benches in the background. This was the main setting for the filming. Due to the song being a duet, we obviously had a girl and a boy doing the lip-syncing. However this proved to be difficult as it was the first time they would be doing a video of this kind.
After the filming we had to ensure the lip movement of both participant was in time with the music playing to make it look genuine. Although it was a difficult task as both participants would sometimes lack the minimum lip movement required to make it look as though they are singing. Nevertheless, we tried the best we could to make the edit look very neat.

Expanding Audiences

The vast growth in the internet  has made it far easier to broaden and expand audiences. The internet has allowed for internet downloading sites to expand and very recognisable websites such as 'YouTube' to grow in such size that it is used extensively by hundreds of millions of people around the world. This is a great way of getting music recognition, expanding audiences and gaining new fan bases around the world.

Advertising is also another method used extensively by music businesses to get recognition and gain audiences. However this can prove to be expensive which is why its much cheaper to upload the videos on youtube.
The main ways which the music industry expands audiences is by advertising on large billboards next to a main motorway or through posters which are stuck on walls.

  

For people who don't use the internet or go out much, such as elderly people; this audience tends to be reached through newspapers, radio, or television adverts.

Vox Pops

Vox pops is a term used to describe the 'voice of the people'. It usually involves interviewees which are shown in public places and are giving spontaneous opinions in a chance encounter. Vox pops are mainly used in news programmes to show a balanced opinion regarding a matter. This will allow them to say..'Opinion was divided on the streets'.  The main purpose of a vox pop is to get a varietry of answers and opinions on any given subject.

Initial research into artist/target audience

Labrinth began his career and rose to the very top with Tinie Tempah debut single 'Pass Out'. Labirnth was the producer and writer which provides vocals on the song's hook, but is uncredited. Labrinth song reached number 1 on UK singles selling 92,000 copies.  Teenagers are more into this type of genre of music and as the chart polls show, it was very successful in appealing to this particular taget audience, hence, we will also be targeting this audience with our music video.

Process of creating a music video

The are different processes in the making of a music video. Each process differs for all videos as each video has to be unique with different catering aspects. However, there is a basic process.
It begins with selecting the music, then deciding on a theme or an initial idea that the video should portray upon the music. A storyboard is crucial to know what scene you are planning to shoot after each scene is taken. Location is also key in the making of a music video and permission must always be granted as filming without permission is deemed trespassing and thus making it a criminal offence.
After all of the above is sorted out the shooting may begin. When filming beings, the camera focuses on the artist singing, you must play the song and have them sing and play along to it in order to make sure that their lips and/or instruments are in sync. Then editing correctly making sure the music and lip syncing is in time is vital to make the video look proffesional.

Chosen Artist Profile

Famous as :

Singer, songwriter

Birth Name :

Timothy McKenzie

Birth Date :

December 31, 1989

Birth Place :

London, England

Claim to fame :

Debut single "Let the Sun Shine" (2010)

Labrinth - real name Timothy Mackenzie - is an English producer, singer and songwriter. He was the first non-talent show signing to Simon.

Clip of chosen song

Song Lyrics

"Express Yourself"

I say the same thing twice, I'm awkward when I speak
Ain't got the perfect smile, don't turn heads on my street
Trying to be a superstar like everybody else
But being myself is something I do well
Whatever you do, do it good
Whatever you do, do, do, do, lord, lord, lord
Do it good, alright

Express yourself, express yourself, whoa do it
See it's not what you look like, when you doing what you doing
Express yourself, whoa do it

I don't make the papers, I'm far from JLS
Ain't got the x factor, I'm not what they expect
But it won't be long before my turn is next, to express
Now with all due respect
See whatever I do, I do it good
Do, do, do, do, do, do, do
So whatever you do, do, do, do, lord, lord, lord
Do it good,

Express yourself, express yourself, whoa do it
See it's not what you look like, when you doing what you doing
Express yourself, whoa do it

Hey, loose my shirt and tie
There ain't nothing too high
Show them what you got, whoa
It's nothing wrong with perfect and perfect
Now it's your time to shine
Express yourself, click your fingers now
Express yourself, come on,

See it's not what you look like, when you doing what you doing
Express yourself, whoa do it
See it's not what you look like, when you doing what you doing
Express yourself, come on now, yeah, come on, now,
Come on now, yeah, come on, now,
Come on now, yeah, come on, now,
Come on now, yeah, come on, now.

License Permission From Sony

This is proof of permission given by sony. 

This is further proof of permission by another member of sony music to verify permission for the use their track.

Digipak

Digipacks are a type of CD packaging made out of card stock or other heavy paper/cardboard material. Digipacks can flip open like a book, or it can have three parts, so that one portion of the packaging opens to the right and one to the left, with the CD in the center portion. Usually, the portion of the digipack that hold the CD is made of plastic like a traditional jewel case CD - the plastic part is simply attached to the paper background.

Digipacks were first created by MeadWestvaco, and their product, called Digi-Pak, is trademarked. However, as the format became more popular and began to be used by more manufacturers, the generic "digipack" came to be used to describe all soft CD packaging.

Emil Nava Top Tip

Top Tips

Use Extreme close up on faces wherever possible.

Do not shoot whole of video in medium shot/long shot.

Example - Sinead O' Conner' ''Nothing Compares to U''

Emil Nava - OB Management

OB Management work as agents for music video directors,
Thier aim is to:

• Nature Talent
• Work with production companies
• Work with record labels
• Match the right director to the right artists

Some production companies that OB work with are:

• Pulse films
• Rocket 
• Agile Films
• Friends
• Wonda

Some of Emil Nava recent video's include:

Paloma Faith '30 Minute LoveAffair'

Client ; Sony

Paloma Faith 'Picking up the pieces 

Client ; Sony 

Ed Sheeran 'Lego House'

Client ; Atlantic

Jessie J "Do it like the a dude'

Client ; Island

Rita Ora 'RIP'

Case Study 2 - Emil Nava

Emil Nava began as a runner for different film production companies. He worked for Blink Productions and now freelances for OB Management. After working as a runner, he graduated to Assistant Director where he would manage the video shoots.

He signed to 'Academy'- who are the biggest music video production company.  He then worked for 'Between the eyes' and now works mainly for Pulse.

Emil has now begun to make adverts, which generally have a far higher budget and production values but which allow for less creative freedom. One of the most well recognised adverts are ' L'oreal ''Dare to be different''

At his busiesr, Emil Nava has managed to make 24 music videos in ONE year. When he began shooting videos for independant labels the budget would of been as low as £5000 to £10,000. His most Expensive video to date has been for Jessie J with a budget of £160,000.

• Emil Nava fiest budget was for the band 'Kid British' and the trrack ''Our House'' with budget of £20,000
• Location: Manchester
• Cast: Local People
• 1 Day Filming 
• 2/3 days for editing
• 10 days pre-production
• Demonstrates the very tight timescales involved.

Copyright Law

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. Generally, it is "the right to copy", but also gives the copyright holder the right to be credited for the work, to determine who may adapt the work to other forms, who may perform the work, who may financially benefit from it, and other related rights. It is a form of intellectual property (like the patent, the trademark, and the trade secret)

Case study 2 - Jaime Thraves

Jaime Thraves most recent video - Japanese Popstars - Song for Lisa

• Currently videos cost about £20,000
• Shooting time - 2 days
• Jaime has said the music videos to get into the film business 
• Has so far sot three features; - The Low Down, -The cry of the owl, - Treacle Jr

                     

Jamie's Tips

- Use the lyrics but try not to be too literal

-Most importantly go with the emotion of the lyrics.

Case Study - Jaime Thraves

Director - Jaime Thraves     

Made Short Films
Used award winning short films as a 'calling card' to get a 'foot in the door' with the video production company factory films.

Began by shooting three very low budget music video; cost about £5000 each

This is how the process work:

• A commissioner from a record label sends a track to 5-10 directors
• The directors then each submit a treatment
• This stage is unpaid
• The director who has submitted the 'best' treatment is then commissioned to make the video.
• Only then is the director paid. 
• As an be seen for many directors in the business it is a precarious existence where livelihood is dependant on each commission. 

Jaime Thraves submitted treatment for his best known videos and each was accepted. 

Some of the very highly rated videos directed by Jaime Thraves recently are:

• Radiohead - Just, £100,000 budget

      

• Coldplay - The Scientist

- Music video was made in three days with a £200,000 budget. 

Key Music Video Conventions

In class we were discussing the different conventions of a music video and made a list, here are some of them:

• Dancing 
• Lighting
• Facial Expressions 
• Girls 
• Product placement
• Costume
• Instruments
• Settings 
• Narrative
• Make up

Here are some more;

Top 100 Music Videos

1. # Michael Jackson: Thriller
2. # Peter Gabriel: Sledgehammer
3. # A-ha: Take on Me
4. # Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody
5. # Madonna: Like a Prayer
6. # Robbie Williams: Rock DJ
7. # Michael Jackson: Billie Jean
8. # The Verve: Bittersweet Symphony
9. # Madonna: Vogue
10. # Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit
11. # Coldplay: The Scientist
12. # Michael & Janet Jackson: Scream
13. # Pink Floyd: Another Brick in the Wall
14. # Christina Aguilera: Dirrty
15. # REM: Everybody Hurts
16. # OutKast: Hey Ya
17. # Blur: Coffee & TV
18. # Beyonce: Crazy in Love
19. # Madonna: Material Girl
20. # Gorillaz: Clint Eastwood
21. # Queen: I Want to Break Free
22. # Justin Timberlake: Cry Me a River
23. # Britney Spears: ...Baby One More Time
24. # Radiohead: No Surprises
25. # Madness: Baggy Trousers
26. # TLC: Waterfalls
27. # David Bowie: Ashes to Ashes
28. # Foo Fighters: Learn to Fly
29. # Electric Six: Gay Bar
30. # Weezer: Buddy Holly
31. # Eminem: Stan
32. # Chris Isaak: Wicked Game
33. # U2: The Sweetest Thing
34. # The White Stripes: Fell in Love with a Girl
35. # Sinead O'Connor: Nothing Compares 2U
36. # Red Hot Chili Peppers: Give It Away
37. # Guns N Roses: November Rain
38. # Fatboy Slim: Weapon of Choice
39. # Pulp: Common People
40. # Missy Elliot: Get Ur Freak On
41. # The Spice Girls: Wannabe
42. # Bjork: It's Oh So Quiet
43. # Dire Straits: Money for Nothing
44. # Kylie Minogue: Can't Get You Out of My Head
45. # Aerosmith: Crazy
46. # Adam & the Ants: Prince Charming
47. # The Prodigy: Firestarter
48. # Johnny Cash: Hurt
49. # Jamiroquai: Virtual Insanity
50. # Paul Simon: You Can Call Me Al
51. # Run DMC & Aerosmith: Walk This Way
52. # Massive Attack: Teardrop
53. # Wham: Club Tropicana
54. # Daft Punk: Around the World
55. # Fatboy Slim: Praise You
56. # Eminem: Without Me
57. # Meatloaf: I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)
58. # The Cure: Close to Me
59. # Abba: Knowing Me, Knowing You
60. # Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams
61. # The Prodigy: Smack My Bitch Up
62. # Blur: Parklife
63. # George Michael: Outside
64. # Bjork: Human Behaviour
65. # Aphex Twin: Windowlicker
66. # Bob Dylan: Subterranean Homesick Blues
67. # The Beastie Boys: Sabotage
68. # Madonna: Ray of Light
69. # Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Two Tribes
70. # The Police: Every Breath You Take
71. # Bjork: All Is Full of Love
72. # Robert Palmer: Addicted to Love
73. # Basement Jaxx: Where's Your Head At?
74. # Wu-Tang Clan: Gravel Pit
75. # Duran Duran: Rio
76. # The Beatles: Strawberry Fields
77. # MC Hammer: U Can't Touch This
78. # Godley and Creme: Cry
79. # New Order: True Faith
80. # Radiohead: Just
81. # Ultravox: Vienna
82. # 50 Cent: In Da Club
83. # Shakespear's Sister: Stay
84. # The Boomtown Rats: I Don't Like Mondays
85. # Sid Vicious: My Way
86. # The Streets: Fit But You Know It
87. # Talking Heads: Once in a Lifetime
88. # Elton John: I Want Love
89. # Smashing Pumpkins: Tonight Tonight
90. # The Pet Shop Boys: Go West
91. # The Specials: Ghost Town
92. # Herbie Hancock: Rockit
93. # The Rolling Stones: We Love You
94. # Bonnie Tyler: Total Eclipse of the Heart
95. # The Cardigans: My Favourite Game
96. # So Solid Crew: 21 Seconds
97. # Cornershop: Brimful of Asha
98. # Bronski Beat: Smalltown Boy
99. # Supergrass: Pumping on Your Stereo
100. # Musical Youth: Pass the Dutchie

Music video success criteria

We've have been discussing some of the ideas to include in our video which will make it more interesting and successful. There are different ways of making a popular music video, some of which include:

• Humour
• Originality
• Irony
• Emotion
• Memorable
• Creative
• Simple and effective
• Dance
• A story

100 Greatest Music Videos

This is a list of the top 100 Music Videos ever made.

98# Bronski Beats / Small Town Boy / 1984
This video is about the personal and universal story about young men's isolation in the early 1980's of being a homosexual. The video portrays blatantly obvious scenes about homosexuality. A man goes to a swimming to stair men dividing and getting out of the pool,  

96# So Solid Crew / 21 seconds / 2001 
Clever debut, each artist has 21 seconds to introduce themselves to audience. Each artist that appears is london rapper. There was some controversy about this video which did cause a stir within the audience. People in the video including artist have had a violent past as well as criminal offences and were thought of as a bad example for kids. 

95 # The Cardigans / My favourite Game / 1998
The video was shot in L.A. It is about a failing love affair. There were a variety of shots taken for the ending, however only one was used.  

92 # Herbie Hancock / Rock it / 1985 

This myusic video had to be done differently due to MTV banning music videos by black people. Therefore, Herbie appeared in the video but as someone in a TV. 

                                     

88 # Elton John / I Want Love / 2001

Elton john did not like appearing in his own videos, therefore someone else was used. This person lips sang on the behalf of elton making him sound like elton john. The video was all done in one take, no edits whatsoever. 16 shots had to be taken for it to be complete. 

        

                                             

87 #  Talking Heads / Once in a lifetime / 1981 

This video is mainly improvised by the dancer as well as it being very simple.  

  

                                

79 # New Order / True Faith / 1987

This video has absolutely nothing to do with the music.

                              

78 # Godley and Creme / Cry / 1985

This video uses a variety of different faces which lip sing the song as well as doing the facial expression which go with the songs lyrics. 

                             

73 # Basement Jack / Wheres your head at / 2001 

Filmed in a monkey mental institution.

                                               

63 # George Michael / Outside / 1998

Video is set up in  a 'public toilet' which is then turned into a disco toilet and George michael performing as a dancer dressed in a policeman suit. This is video 

                              

49 # Jamiroqui / Virtual Insanity / 1996

Wears a silly hat, very boring song, however it is a great music video dominated 197 music video awards.

                               

Purpose of music promo video

There can be many purposes to a music video. Music videos help enlighten a song which isn't very good but at the same time if the song is good, can help the song get much more audience recognition.
The purposes are endless for creating a music video, some of which include :

• To promote the song
• To express meaning and emotion 
• To tell a story 
• To increase a new artists popularity 
• To entertain 
• To create controversy and most important publicity 
• To add value to the song
• To emphasise visual element 

A music video's principle purpose is to promote a song and/or artist. A music video has the potential to be played in a wider scale then just a song. A song would only be listened to on a radio  however, a music vide can be seen on T.V channels , Youtube [Internet browser], film clips, and in advertising videos. This makes a music video more successful by getting more recognition. A successful music video done by an artist who has previous songs but not videos help it get gain further interest by a larger audience.

My favourite music video

There are different music video's which i could endlessly consider my favourite. One of those which I can think of from the top of my head is Michael Jacksons 'Dangerous' performed on stage at the MTV Video Music Awards. I consider it one of my favourites as it integrates, music, dance and creativity together produce a fantastic performance.

Coursework Brief

I have been assigned the task of creating a music video.


Your Task is to produce:


-A music 'promo' video


-Up to 5 minutes


-Either working on your own or in a group of up to four members 


You also need to produce


-A 'digipak' for its release on DVD


-A magazine advertisement for the DVD