Main project music video research

For my main task I have decided that I want to do a song that is fairly old, the reasoning behind this is that all my class mates are doing a modern song and from watching videos from the previous students they are all based around modern songs.

Below are a few ideas for songs that I could make a new music video for:

Paul Weller - Brand new start

I like this song as has a nice calm tempo to it, some people may argue that it is depressing but I think that it is about moving towards the future after something bad has happened. Another reason why I like it is because it has a simple mise-en-scene and the camera angles are very simple as is the editing. I feel that this video suits the song very well but that there is room for improvement.
Snow Patrol - Open your eyes

The reason that I have chosen this song is that I don't think that the video relates to the song very well. The way in which this video was shot was a camera was mounted on the bonnet of a Ferrari and driven as fast as possible around the streets of Paris in the early morning. With the lyrics that this song has I don't really feel that that is relavant.
The Jam - That's entertainment

Another one of Paul Wellers songs here but this time it was when he was with The Jam, this song is probable one of The Jams biggest hits and I feel that a new video would update it and make it a better viewing experience. There are some camera shots that I like in this video such as the long shot of all of the band together playing their instruments, the reason that I like this is that it shows the music been played and the passion behind the lyrics.
Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street

The video above is not the official music video as far as I'm aware and after doing dome research on YouTube I can 't seem to find an official video to stream in here so there is not much I can say about how the video is constructed.

Analysis of The Jam - Going underground

Here is the song again,

In the video not only are there a lot of references to the 'mods' but there are also genre theories present and these are,

Distopia - It is not a song about what people wish was happening it is basically having a dig at the goverment in 1980 and the prime minister (Margret Thatcher)

Social inadaquacy - The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, the ric want more money and the people theya re getting it from are the poor

Weller is basiclly singing about everthing he hates and the libary footage of the atomic bomb is a refrence to Engalds commitment to the nuclar program in the 80's

Generic conventions comparison

In the lesson we were asked to compare out AS production and a real media text.

Here is what I did:

The Vixens

In the lesson we looked at a previous A2 production by a group of girls that called themselves 'The Vixens'. They were awarded a level 4 for their video, here is the video:

The reasons being this could of been awarded a level 4 are the following:

Editing

• Variety of shots
• On tempo / on beat
• Good lip Syncing
• Colour letter boxing

Meis-en-scene

• Infinity scoop
• Use of costume
• Props
• Only two locations

Cinematography

• Good range of shots
• Well framed
• Steady shot
• Simplistic camera work

Sound

• not much diagetic sound, some at the beginning and end

Genre theory

The genre of the music that i am going to produce a music video is new wave, so I have done some background research into other songs of that genre, new wave consists of mod revival, Rhythm and blues, jazz soul, power pop, punk rock, ska and pop below are some songs of the new wave genre:

Boom town rats - I don't like mondays

Madness - Baggy trousers

The Jam - Going underground

Talking heads - Once in a lifetime

Talking heads - And she was

Audience theory

Today in class we discussed audience theory, here is what we found out:

Hypodermic Needle Theory

We are all affected by the media in the same way.

Reception Theory

Text has no inherent meaning because meaning is created by the audience during consumption of a text.

Two Step Flow Theory

'Opinion leaders' influence the thoughts and interpretations of media texts by others.

Uses and Gratifications Theory

The audience is very much active and can determine their own interpretations of texts.

What I found interesting in relation to creating a music video, hence why I'm blogging about this, was Blulmer and Katz's four purposes that might make an audience consume a text. These are: -

- Diversion - to escape from everyday problems and/or routines.

- Personal Relationships - using a text for emotional and other types of interaction.

- Personal Identity - finding themselves reflected in texts, helping them to learn about their own behaviour and values.

- Surveillance - retrieving useful information such as weather updates and news bulletins.

Types of research

In the lesson we discussed different types of research.

Qualitative

Exploring the qualities of individual texts, interpreted  broadly so as to include audience responses as explored in interviews, focus groups and so on.

Quantitate - Statistical research e.g.. questionnaires

Qualitative - Qualities of texts, peoples opinions e.g. interviews

Focus groups- bringing small groups of the target audience together to see what they think

Pink and Eminem

In the lesson today we looked Pink's fu**ing perfect music video and then we compared it to another video of our choice that is similar. Similar in terms of theme and what the song is about and what the audience is.

Here is Pink's Fu**ing perfect music video

and here is Eminem's Not afraid

The similarities are that the audience are the same and I feel that the audience is teenagers and early twenties both men and women. They are both about themselves and what it was like growing up and the pressures that they were under. The lyrics are powerful in both videos and the video complements this as there is a scene in Pink's video when the woman self-harms and then sees the teddy bear and then realises what she is doing, the music then picks up and this adds to the power of what is going on visually.

Eminem's video is different, the establishing shot is of him stood on the edge of a tall building and it looks as if he is going to jump off it. When he says 'you can try and copy my lyrics off the paper' it suggests that he is fed up with people trying to copy his work. When he edges closer to the edge of the building it makes it seem that he is serious about jumping off.

Audience

We spent a couple of lessons talking about audience and what the audience needs are. We also discussed the hypodermic needle model which is the theory of the audience all receive the text in the same way. We also explored other audience theories such as uses and gratification theory and the dependency theory.

Here are some of the notes I made:

Filming a 30 second performance video

As a practice for filming the real video I have made a 30 second video to Golden Earrings Radar love. The advantage of this is that it allows me to practice the different camera shots and angles that could be used for filming a production video.

Below are some images of the shoot

30 Seconds mini task (Radar Love) - My video

Here is the video that I created

Editing A Performance Video

As a practice for the main task we filmed and edited a 30 second performance video for Radar Love by Golden Earring. To edit this we used Final Cut Express. As an editing experience it did not go well to start with as once we put the footage in editing we found it was not usable. So we had to re-film, as a result of this the new footage was much better and allowed us to achieve a good performance. The whole purpose of this task was to practice making a performance video as we have never don this before.