Research: Moodboard

This is a moodboard i put together by using artists within the same genre as my chosen song. The moodboard easily shows the differences and similarities that are present within that one genre of music.



The moodboard shows pictures used to amplify the overall sound of the music and aspired brand of the band or artist. However most of them consist of an image of the solo artist himself.

I have also put together a mood board consisting of images of our chosen artist. I have done this to gain a visual approach to show what look we are trying to achieve within our music video.

Research: Digipak + Advert deconstruction

DIGIPAK'S
When looking into digipak's to deconstruct i tried to choose albums along the same genre as our chosen song. Both digipak's i'm deconstructing are by male singers with the same sort of rustic, acoustic feel to their music.

Jack Johnson - Curious George



Front and Back covers:
I chose this digipak in particular as i thought it was very bold and eye catching due to the use of a solid bold colour on the front and back covers. Overall the covers consist of only 3 primary colours, the main ones being red and yellow with some blue on there also. These colours are bold, vibrant and eye catching, this can help in the sale of the CD as the cover is more appealing than a dark dull cover. The title for the album and the artists name are both done in a larger, bolder font, this is also done on the back cover but is opposite colours to the front. The image on the front cover is of Jack Johnson sitting naturally playing his guitar, this could imply how free and natural his songs are. However the image on the back is of Curious George relating to the album title.


Inside:
The inside of the digipak uses just 2 of the colours it used on the front and back, these are bold and striking solid colours which are pleasing on they eye. The images used are all pencil drawn images and portray a fun side to the songs on the album.






Michael Buble - Crazy love


Front and back covers:
The main feature on both the front and back is Michael Buble himself, on the front cover we have an extreme close up of him. The very little we can see of the background is all plain white to not distract your attention away from Michael's picture. The album title isn't too bold and noticeable so the CD is mainly being sold on the recognition of Michael Buble which is bannered by his name and album title. The image of Michael on the back gives us an idea of what kind of person he is and what kind of music he produces: through his dress code we see that he is a classy person with a bubbly personality through his smile. This is comforting and could make the buyer feel better about themselves when listening to his songs. The only real colour used on both sides is yellow, this is a more natural colour and is used well to brighten up the cover.



Inside:
The inside of this digipak is quite plain and continues with the white backgrounds. There is more colour on the inside however it is only bannered across the inside stating the title and artist again. This gives us no ideas about the song or artist, making the main feature in the inside of the digipak the CD.


ADVERTS
When looking into adverts to deconstruct i tried to choose ones along the same genre as our chosen song type, however i found the adverts themselves very hard to come across and was amazed at how many music magazine didn't contain any adverts for albums at all. Here are the 2 that are closest to our genre that i managed to find.

Florence and The Machine - LUNGS



Noah and The Whale - The First Days of Spring

Research: Music video remake

Example - kickstart bar9 remix



^ Above is the original video which we have tried to copy. We chose to do this music video because firstly we like the song and how not many people had heard this remix before, and secondly we liked the story it told through out the video, i feel the main factor of influence for my other group members was the fighting as they seemed to really enjoy that part of the filming.




^ Above is our remake of the music video. It is a narrative music video because it has no performance linking into the video. The song is quite upbeat so tested our different ways of filming to incorporate different techniques into it, however it wasn't too challenging as there was no lip sinking in it which would have pushed our skills from AS media more as we have never done it before.
When comparing the 2 videos we thought we had done a reasonably good job with what we had available to us, we also tried to get in a range of shots and angles as well as following the story. When simply watching our remake some people might not understand the narrative within the music video so watching the real video first is a good comparison.

Here are some screen shots from our video:

Research: Song choice

As a group we all come up with a variety of songs on our own, i displayed mine as a mind map so they were easily located when comparing them with my other group members choices. Before we started creating our song ideas we agreed as a group that we would do a slow beat song, to hopefully make the music video creating easier. At first we toyed with the idea of a John Mayer song but then later decided that it would be quite difficult as its melody and lyrics were all random and all over the place.
After looking at a few other songs we came to a final choice of J.R.A - closure J.R.A himself is not a signed artist so his songs are mainly on youtube or itunes. Our chosen song of his isn't widely knows and does not have a music video for it at all. Because J.R.A is not signed to a record label we had to contact him directly through his YouTube channel.
Here is a copy below of the message which we sent him asking him for permission to use his song for our music video.

Research: Group decisions

Group members:
Oliver Brookes, Thomas Blakey and me

The reason why i have choosen to work with these 2 in a group has more than one reasoning, firstly i feel we are all able to contribute different skills into the production and development of our music video. Personally I'm better with the planning, keeping time in mind and with the ideas towards to filming and location. Oliver brings to the group his great eye for camera work and the technical factor involved in the construction of ideas and clips. Thomas is also more technical but in the way of editing and finalising the end product as he has a keen interest in the Imovie on apple's.

Research: Music video analysis

Weezer - islands in the sun




The camera work used throughout the video is very pleasing on the eye as the vast majority of the shots are long shots displaying the landscape, however there are some very good close up shots portraying the happiness and friendliness between the animals and humans which relates to the bubblyness of the song.

The focus through out the video is generally evenly spread between all 3 members of the band implying that they all sing equally through out the song, with no established lead singer.

There is no obvious make-up used in this video on any of the band members, and there clothes are basic and simple colours so that they don't distract away from the scenery.

This music video isn't performance based or narrative as there seems to be no story on the surface and none of the singers are shown singing the song, generally the video is mainly a feel good video as its very idyllic.

The relationship between the visuals and the lyrics is quite prominent in some places, especially at the very start where we immediately see a image of the sun which links in to the song title, we then have another dominant image of the sun at the very end of the video. Also through out the video there is continual reference to 'playing and having fun' and this is emphasised by the singers playing with the animals and having fun and laughing. We also get the impression that the video is set on a island as the only people present are the singers and the animals.

John Mayer - Say




The camera work within this video is generally similar as the shots are mostly close up or extreme close up, this is due to the setting as it doesn't allow long shots. There the occasional mid shots involving the surrounding room of some significance.

The focus of the video is solely on the singer as he doesn't disappear from a singly shot as he (from one angle or another) is constant through out the whole video.

There is a lot of transition editing between different shots to differentiate as the video is pretty plain due to the fact the whole video is solely the singer with very little scenery and a lot of close ups.

Its very performance based as he is singing and playing the guitar through out the video.

The relationship between the visuals and the lyrics is generally clear. 'Walking like a one man army' this is clearly a prominent line within the song as he is the only male figure in the video.

Research: Genre

As a group we have chosen a song with more of an acoustic feel as we all liked that type of music and thought we would be able to make a good video as we are all quite passionate about it. We did this because it covers a very vast target audience as the songs could be quite hip but done in a slow beat acoustic way. Through asking peers and searching the internet we realised how vast the age group for this kind of music was starting at about 15years old and with people in their mid to late 20 still listening to and enjoying acoustic slow beat songs. Overall i think our song choice would be attractive to that vast majority of the age range stated.

Research: Goodwins theory

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics eg. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band.

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals, either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting.

3. There is a relationship between the music and visuals, either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting.

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work.

5. There is a frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes etc) and partivularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6. There is often intertextual reference to films, TV programmes , other music videos etc.