10. Audience Research

Why do people choose to listen to the music that they do?

There are many reasons why a person chooses to listen to certain types of music,
reasons may include their friends group, as the influence of a friends taste is a very strong one, especially at a young age.

The lyrics may inspire a person, or be a catalyst for emotion, such as 'joy':
'Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right
Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right' - The Beatles

Or 'depression':
'I hate myself and I want to die.
do you believe she said that?
can you believe she repeated that?
I said, I hate me myself and I
said I hate myself and I want to die' - Cat Power

Do music videos make a difference to a persons choice of music?


This entirely depends on how a person views their music, I listen to my own music on my ipod, therefore I choose it purely for the sound and listening qualities. Some people will view the majority of their music on channels such as 'MTV', 'YouTube' or a video phone. More and more people these days are not only downloading the soundtrack of a song, but the accompanying video. With this exposure to the music video it does increase the influence that the video has on the choice of music. Generally music video vary with the genre of the music, look at Feist's '1234' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABYnqp-bxvg&ob=av3n
compared to Eminems 'Lose Youself'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRhEcKHU5LY
The difference between the two videos is massive. Feist being an upbeat, 'feel good' song with matching video, shown by the bright colours, smiling faces and quirky dance moves, a huge contrasts to Eminems.  It's dark, dangerous atmosphere gives a scary almost violent feel. On top this, this type of video has a strict narrative that works with the song to captivate the audience, this creates a larger audience, as a sense of story has been created which keeps the interest in both the video and the song.
We can see the difference in video merely by looking at one freeze frame, the difference in video reflects the difference in audience member, showing how a music video CAN make a difference to a persons choice of music.


Difference between '1234' and 'Lose Yourself'

What attracts people to music videos?
People are attracted to music videos that they feel that they can relate to, whether the narrative is similar to their own experience, most predominantly if it was recent, or if they feel connected to the video in some way. A slightly shallow but very true aspect of what draws people to liking music videos, is if there is attractive people in them, generally not wearing much. People also like to watch videos where the vocalist/protagonist is somebody they admire, such as a music artist/band. This can go the other way as well, if they are deeply disliked, for instance Rebecca Black's 'Friday' received millions of hits, although nobody liked the song. People also like to see clever tricks, the works of a talented editor, or some funky animation, this can be seen in Gorrilaz 'Clint Eastwood' or Jamiroquai's 'Virtual Insanity'. It gets the viewers brain marvelling at the impressive technology and effects, making it hard to turn away from the video.


What puts people off?
People do not want to watch uninteresting music videos, that contain people who they have never really heard of, who they will never really care about. There needs to be some form of interest, whether it is the narrative, the actors or characters involved (this includes band members and vocalists) or the skill in the video editing. Some people will be put off by certain genres of music video, for instance violent rap videos may not be appealing to some people, and vice versa. A focal point in the music video is vital as it gives the audience a concentration point, without one interest will be lost. People like extremes, as it is exciting. Boring videos will put people off.



9. Music Video Theory Research

Here is a prezi I created on prezi.com, in order to show my research on music video theory. I looked at Andrew Goodwins theory, and tried to find out whether the my video plans, and the videos that I have studied match up to his theory. The conclusion was that they do to an extent, although some of his ideas do not, others are extremely similar. Have a look at the prezi to see what I have found :)

Here is the link to my prezi:
http://prezi.com/kpww8lr_vzp2/music-video-theory/

Music Video Theory on Prezi

8. Mood Board

This is a collection of pictures; from films, other bands and photographs I have either taken myself or was inspired by on the internet. When pasted together the collection make up the ambiance and mood that I want my music video to take the feel of. The initial washed out colour scheme that is present on my mood board, along with the quirky, almost creepy stance some of the pictures hold, are very inspiring for me and my video. The masks included in the bottom right corner is a scene that is approachable for me, whilst being very effective, I will use this idea in my music video.

7. 9 Shot Grid

Beach House- Heart of Chambers

9 Key Moments from 'Heart of Chambers'



From Left to Right, Top to Bottom:

1. The music video regularly returns to this shot of the couple playing instruments. The parallel sound to the visuals alerts us that this is the band, playing the song. It gives the music video and the characters relevance, as we know that both the song and video are connected.

2. This shot is present towards the start of the video, when natural light has not been introduced yet, this pose with the trolley (although we do not know it is a trolley yet) seems almost spooky, as she is holding the stance of a zombie. This is all cleared up when the video breaks into the light in the next shot.

3. This shows the couples initiation to the light, before this the video had been shot in the darkness. This particular shot is significant as it shows the girl pushing the man in a trolley. We now know what the previous shot was about. It also injects a fun, lighthearted feel to the music video, giving us the first signs of its indie qualities.

4. These close ups of the girl spinning round allows the audience to gain a connection with the girl, as she is looking directly into the camera. This one scene is returned to frequently throughout the music video.

5. This picnic scene is one of the more random scenes, as it seems not to have a connection with the rest of the video, merely enhancing the lighthearted feel. The couple take photographs which become very relevant later on in the video.

6. The video has an ongoing theme of photography, which links the video together, as the boy takes photos of key moments with his polaroid camera. These then turn up on a turning music box wheel.

7. This wheel connects the key moments in photo form in the music video, it is a quirky idea that gives the video and song a very 'odd' feel, this is done deliberately.

8. The first sign of special editing is here, when the camera zooms to a close up of one of the photographs on the wheel, it first becomes a moving cartoon, until it becomes the film again, within the photograph, as though the photos are triggering clear memories of previous events we have seen in the video.

9. This is the finishing shot of the video, a music box. This is how the video begins, and how it ends, the camera zooms into this which acts as closure. It also is representitive of the music, whihc is the main object of the music video.

Experimentation

Beach House- 'Heart of Chambers' screen shots

I experimented on the Internet program, Animoto, when making my 9 shot grid. I found it was not the best for this particular task, but I gained experience with making the video and I will definitely use it again for something more suitable. I was unable to use the song 'Heart of Chambers' as it is copyright, so I had to choose one from the website, which does not suit the theme of the song. However, here is my attempt, and I will follow this with an 'artofthetitle' 9 shot grid.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

6b. Rising Appalachia- Scale Down Analysis

Rising Appalachia- Scale Down Analysis

This can be seen as a typical music video, as the atmosphere of the track and the lyrics are directly associated with the feel of the film, I am going to look at the mise en scene, cinematography, sound and editing to see how they have achieved this effect.

The video begins with very short takes that change perfectly to the beat of the song, this includes lots of close ups upon objects so that it is hard to tell what they are, but the texture is very apparent. For example they have close ups of flowers, a husky and canvas sheets. This works together to create the initial ambiance of the music video.  A long take pan has been used as the first lyrics come in, although there is a woman in the shot, the fact that it pans across pays more attention to the lens flare that is present than the woman, this is the beginning of a music video filled with play on light.

The video now cuts to a completely new scene, a long shot of a hill, with one woman running towards the other. As she is running jump cuts have been applied, to the beat of the song, making her seem like she is being controlled by the music. After the jump cuts slow motion has been used to make the video seem dreamlike.  There is a recurring theme of nature that runs throughout the track, A mid shot of the singer as she lip syncs her own song is transformed via a focus pull to a tree in front, showing the connection between nature and the song. This also reflects the costumes, which are ethereal and earthy, including a multitude of feathers, canvas and dreadlocks, which all have earthy connotations attached to them. One clip which recurs throughout the track is the two woman holding canvas sheets with the lyrics of the song painted on, this shows relation between the lyrics and the video and we can see the two start to intertwine. This is a technique I would like to use in my own music video.

There are large numbers of close up on the women’s mouths as they are lip syncing to the song, this almost forces the viewer to focus upon the texture of the oral imagery and lyrics of the song. Also when the voices layer on top of each other in the song, two video clips have been made less opaque and layered on top of each other which not only creates a dreamlike feel, also allows the viewer to see two different areas at once, expanding the depth of the music video, these clips change to the beat of the song.

When the video returns to a long shot of the two women up on the hill, one of them runs and the other stands, the long shot used with the slow motion is to show the contrast between stillness and movement of the two people. The music video has tried to capture contrast between light and dark as well as this as lots of different lighting techniques have been injected into the video, providing an array of different elements of natural and artificial lighting, including candles, lens flare, fire and fire poi. The fire poi is introduced into the video when the lyrics stop and there is an instrumental, this is to raise the impact of the storyline and keep the viewer captivated, as attention is often lost when the lyrics are dropped.  Slow motion has been used during the fire poi scenes, which seems to defy gravity as they fly through the air to the beat of the song, making the actors seem very talented and adding some ‘wow factor’ into the video.

Towards the end of the song, the lyrics and instrumentals start to get noticeably repetitive, this has been visually reflected in the video, using graphic matches upon people’s faces, repeating the same oval shape over and over as the song progresses. As the song draws to a close and begins to fade out, the two woman stand on the hill and together stare directly into the camera, engaging with the viewer in an almost menacing way, as though they are warning you to listen to the message in the song, which is about the environment, and what we can do to help. The message was reflected in the video with all of the connotations towards nature, plus it was simple with no big props.

Through the use of editing, cinematography, sound and mise en scene, the director has managed to create a music video that is directly linked to the morals and atmosphere of the song.

6. Inspirational Videos and Analysis

Manchester Orchestra- Virgin


Raul B. Fernandez- The Final Breaths of a Main Character

Raul B. Fernandez- The Final Breaths of a Main Character Analysis

The music video begins as though it is the initial sequence of a feature film, with a black screen, and a quiet backing track of crickets. The opening title ‘The Final Breaths of a Main Character’ is introduced as the camera slowly pans from a birds-eye-view on to a boy lying in the woods, this long take of the main character is also the start of the song to which the video is made for.

Artificial lighting has been used within the first take of the film, flitting across the set, in order to inject an element of surrealism into the storyline. Although it is a music video, Raul B. Fernandez had created it to follow a storyline as though it is a short film; we can see this from the match on action of the boy drawing a lighthouse, which is closely followed by an eye-line match, a close up of his face to a long shot of a lighthouse. There are two main themes to the film, the first being real staged footage, and the second is animated cartoon, the first introduction to the animation is the lighthouse. The eye-line match creates a definite sense of conflict between the two film mediums as we see them contrasting directly, adding to the surreal ambiance that has been previously created.

The non-diegetic sound has been matched with the cinematography as the boy is perfectly lip-syncing to the music, this knits the music and the video together, as they are lyrically and physically similar. Beneath the main focus of the song, we can hear diegetic sounds including the rush of the ocean and bird song, which again, incorporates the story with the song. Likewise at the main bridge in the song, the music changes to a more devious, darker tone, and as this happens the entire scene changes to animated cartoon, with exception of the main character and the main prop, a large cast iron bed. The contrast between this creates an almost threatening feel, as though the character has entered into an unfamiliar world, where he is the only human involved. To exaggerate this idea the song begins to rise in volume, layering voices and instruments at different volume and style to create a menacing, eerie moment in the song. At this point short takes from different angles have been matched to the beat of the song, as the beat is fast and prominent at this point the editing reflects the idea of insanity, as the short takes are hard to follow.

At this point a large cartoon wave sweeps across the screen and a wipe cut is used to change scene where more people are introduced into the cartoon world. Their costumes include chivalric jackets and waistcoats from the romantic era, which contrasts the main characters scruffy t-shirt and jeans, injecting yet more elements of surreal. Together with that long takes with a hint of slow motion creates a dreamlike atmosphere, whilst giving a hint of the extended time scheme within the film.

The cinematography has been carefully manipulated to create false movement in the action. By using very tiny whip pans, the idea of movement has been created, as though the bed is bobbing on the waves of the ocean, and being pulled by the breeze. In the film as the bed begins to sink, a low angle shot of the main character has been used to show the sinking motion, whilst enhancing the importance of the main character, as the song draws to a close. To end the song the initial idea of the music video being more of a feature film is reintroduced. The scene fades out into black, and as the lyrics and soundtrack ends the volume of the diegetic bird sounds is raised. This accompanies the final credits, finalising the idea of the music video being a short film.

‘The Final Breaths of a Main Character’ is not a typical music video, as it follows one long storyline throughout, directly reflecting the lyrics of the song. It shows its elements of surrealism through use of cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene (including costume and props) and sound (the main soundtrack and diegetic).

5. Permission from the record label

In order to use Cocorosie's "Lemonade" in my media coursework it is vital that I seek permission from the record label. As I was unable to find an email address, I have printed out a letter that I will send via Royal Mail to the record company, [PIAS] UK. Here is a copy of the letter I will send.

[PIAS] UK


Unit 24


Farm Lane Trading Centre


101 Farm Lane

London


SW6 1QJ

14^th September 2011

Dear Sir/Madam at [PIAS] UK,

I am a sixth form student from Gordonstoun School, in the North of Scotland. I am doing media studies for my A-Level and have chosen to create a music video for my coursework. As I have always very much admired the music of Cocorosie, ‘Lemonade’ in particular, I would love to create a video for this track. I would like to ask you for permission to use this track in my coursework, as I believe it is has the perfect tone, beat and ambience for the video I would like to make. It would be solely used in my coursework for educational purposes, without commercial gain, no copyright infringement intended. Your permission would be very agreeable.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Maud Start

My Chosen Track

The track I have chosen to use in my media coursework is a song from Cocorosie's album 'Grey Oceans', called "Lemonade". 

"Lemonade" is 3 minutes 26 seconds long, starting with a mellow piano opening and adding strings, woodwinds, electronic percussion, and interlocking vocals.
The lyrics are captivating yet hard to decipher, which creates a mysterious feel to the track. I have found it difficult to pinpoint "Lemonade" to a particular genre, and an in depth Internet search made me realise that there is no particular genre. Cocorosie's music has been labelled "Freak Folk" and incorporates elements of pop, blues, opera, electronica and hip hop.
"Lemonade" is one of Cocorosie's more subtle tracks, that incorporates all these genres (bar opera) in a slow, calm manner, manipulating the vocals and layering them to create an almost melancholy ambiance to the track.


Generally the music/artists that has the same mismatched array of technique and style are trying to make a statement or create their own stance in the music industry, piling technique and genre together to create their own, unique recipe.
Other artists that do this include "Johanna Newsom", "Cat Power" and "The Fleet Foxes".

Cat Power

Things that can appear in music videos for this type of song are wide and varied. There is often a very surrealist approach taken, as has been for the official video for "Lemonade", where the woman have facial hair and everything is quite spooky.  The video does not always tend to be directly related to the lyrics of the song, concentrating more on the ambiance and feel of the music, the video will often reflect this directly.

Fleet Foxes

Joanna Newsom

Welcome!

Welcome to my a-level media studies coursework blog.
Here I will be recording my coursework process using film, youtube, writing etc.
It will show my development of ideas throughout the term, allowing you to see the start to the finished piece.
Enjoy!!!