Equipment To Bring and Timings

For the filming days, we must bring;

• microphone stand
• microphone
• fairy lights x2
• camera
• tripod
• camera charger
• acoustic guitar

We have arranged to meet in a central location for everyone at 8:30am to ensure we have a full day of filming. Although we cannot go to Mama Liz's to begin filming untill 1pm, we will use the morning to film any narrative scenes we need too and to make sure the performance aspect of the music video is planned completely as we only have a limited amount of time in the venue.

Our Location

We decided to film our music video in Mama Liz's VooDoo Lounge in Stamford. The urban feel and vibe , as well as the  lighting available to us would help to create the gloomy feel we are trying to achieve (inspiration from Mumford and Sons- Little Lion Man). The venue itself is appealing to a range of people, and often puts on gigs and festivals of many different genre's.

Not only this, but the venue is easy enough and close enough for us to get too, without looking too stereotypical or allowing people who also live in the surrounding area to be able to identify where it is, adding to the overall sophistication of our video.

In order to make sure our venue is 100% perfect, and also so we can make decisions in advance as to what props we need to take with us, we will visit the venue on Friday 4th November before our actual filming date a week later. From doing this, we will allow ourselves to save time and effort on the actual day, and also be able to make sure we have everything with us that we will need.

After visiting the venue, they rang to tell us that we were unable to use the location on the only day we were available to borrow the equipment due to a band wanting rehearsal time. Instead, we chose to sort our second choice, Stamford Art's Centre's Ballroom. However, after turning up on filming day, we quickly realised that it was a better option for us to film there than Mamma Liz's due to the equipment available to us, and the effects we could create from using them.

Representation

Possible Representations
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Regionality
- Age
- Class

Voyeurism
- Freud’s Theory = erotic pleasure aimed from looking at a sexual object, preferably when the object is not aware
- Shown be screens with screens CCTV style images, webcams, characters watching characters


Gender Representation
In typical music videos males and females are usually represented as the following:

Male
- Dominant
- Powerful
- In control
- Controlling
- Active

Female
- Submissive
- Sexual objects
- Powerless
- Controlled
- Passive

Representation of Characters

How the actors we use in the music video are represented is something that needs to be taken into consideration when filming our video. Their facial expressions, clothing, body language and props all have a dramatic impact on how the person is represented, and the effectivity of our video on a whole. Therefore, all areas need a respected amount of thought being put into them. Non-verbal communication is important as it seems there will not be any verbal communication with the characters within the music video, and due to this all the areas of non-verbal communication need to be considered.

Non-verbal communication consists of the following:
- Physical Space
- Clothing and Appearance
- Locomotion
- Posture
- Gesture
- Facial Expressions
- Eye Contact
- Touch
- Paralanguage

Facial ExpressionsFrown - Displeasure, Unhappiness, Anger
Smile - Friendliness, Happiness
Raised Eyebrows - Disbelief, Amazement, Schock
Narrowed Eyes - Anger
Blushing - Embarrassment, Shy

Eye Contact
Glancing - Lack of Interest
Steady - Active Listening, Interest, Seduction

Hand/Arm Gestures
Pointing Finger - Authority, Displeasure, Lecturing
Folded Arms - Not open to change, preparing to speak
Arms at side - Open to suggestions, relaxed
Hands Uplifted Outward - Disbelief, puzzlement, Uncertainty

Body Postures
Fidgeting, doodling – Boredom
Hands on hips – Anger Defensiveness
Shrugging Shoulders – Indifference
Squared Stance or shoulders – Problem-solving, concern, listening
Biting lip, shifting, jingling money – Nervousness
Sitting on edge of chair – Listening, great concern
Slouching in chair – Boredom, lack of interest

Physical Space
From Physical contact to 18 inches – Intimate space
From 18 inches to 4 feet – Personal space
From 4 feet to 8 feet – Social space
From 8 feet outward – Public space

Inspirational Videos- Mumford and Sons "Gentleman of the Road"

Within this shot, the silhouette of the tree against the gloomy sky with clouds stands out really well. The sunlight coming through the clouds once again helps the colours and also giving connotations that a better time is coming. The use of an image being shot looking straight up into the air offers something different to a reasonably simple kind of video.

Being able to see the instruments being used allows the audience to connect with the musicians further. Contrasted with nature shown in the background, the overall feeling portrayed is that the band is simple and just enjoy playing their music.

The use of the rule of thirds being used for the main singer allows them to be centre image and therefore centre of attention. The use of colours in this particular shot is beautiful, giving off connotations of an older world through the effects put on it. Generally the shots within this video are fairly simple, however being able to maintain the sophistication and maturity needed to reach their target audience.

The use of the photograph in the wallet allows the viewer to instantly be able to follow the narrative available, however still keeping an air of mystery.

Inspirational Video- Mumford and Sons "Little Lion Man"

 When looking at this video, we really enjoyed the lighting that was used to create certain moods and focus in on certain areas of the shot. The angle of the shot used on the left is interesting and offers a different feeling for the audience than a straight on shot would. The use of shadows in the screenshot below creates a moody atmosphere and looks incredibly professional.

This is the first shot where the band is seen in a full shot. The lighting is once again very effectively used, creating shadows but also highlighting the band themselves. Fairy lights around the stage help to create a feeling of night time and also magic, as well as the simplicity the band has.

We belived the shot of the piano offered something different to a straight forward close up of an instrument, as the angle is slightly distorted. The lack of identity from the musician (only being able to see his hands) also adds to the shot and its overall effectiveness; offering something different to a straightforward shot.

This particular image on the left is a shot we greatly wish to incorporate into our own music video. The lack of people or things in the foreground offers feelings of loneliness, which is greatly reflected in our song choice. Towards the end of the video however we will repeat the shot, but with his lover stood in view.

Preliminary Task- Dido "Life for Rent"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL-Si9zkCZQ

In order to practice my camera skills again, we created a "practice" music video from a song of our choice. The song we chose to use was Dido-Life for rent as we wanted to test the waters with a slower song in order to allow the lip sinking to be less quick and therefore more accurate. As a final result, I am reasonably happy with the final video and believe that the lip sinking was as effective as possible for a first attempt, and the range of shots were appropriate to the video.



Shown below are some screenshots of my video whilst being edited on "iMovie";

Information on Genre- Acoustic/Rock

Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acousticmeans, as opposed to electric or electronic means. The retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the advent of electric instruments, such as the electric guitar, electric violin, electric organ and synthesizer.

Performers of acoustic music often increase the volume of their output using electronic amplifiers. However, these amplification devices remain separate from the amplified instrument and reproduce its natural sound accurately. Often a microphone is placed in front of an acoustic instrument which is then wired up to an amplifier.

Following the increasing popularity of the television show  MTV Unplugged during the 1990's, acoustic (though in most cases still electrically amplified) performances by musical artists who usually rely on electronic instruments became colloquially referred to as "unplugged" performances.

Writing for splendid, music reviewer Craig Conley suggests, "When music is labeled acoustic, unplugged, or unwired, the assumption seems to be that other types of music are cluttered by technology and overproduction and therefore aren't as pure."

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music. Rock music also drew strongly on a number of other genres such as bluesand folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical and other musical sources.

Musically, rock has centred around the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with bass guitar and drums. Typically, rock is song-based music with a 4/4 beat utilizing a verse-chorus forum, but the genre has become extremely diverse and common musical characteristics are difficult to define. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political in emphasis. The dominance of rock by white, male musicians has been seen as one of the key factors shaping the themes explored in rock music. Rock places a higher degree of emphasis on musicianship, live performance, and an ideology of authenticity than pop music.

By the late 1960s a number of distinct rock music sub-genres had emerged, including hybrids like blues rock, folk rock, country rock, and jazz-rock fusion, many of which contributed to the development of psychedelic rock influenced by the counter-cultural psychedelic scene. New genres that emerged from this scene included progressive rock, which extended the artistic elements; glam rock, which highlighted showmanship and visual style, and the diverse and enduring major sub-genre of heavy metal, which emphasized volume, power and speed. In the second half of the 1970s, punk rock both intensified and reacted against some of these trends to produce a raw, energetic form of music characterized by overt political and social critiques. Punk was an influence into the 1980s on the subsequent development of other sub-genres, including New wave, post-punk and eventually the alternative rock movement. From the 1990s alternative rock began to dominate rock music and break through into the mainstream in the form of grunge, Britpop, and indie rock. Further fusion sub-genres have since emerged, including pop punk, rap rock, and rap metal, as well as conscious attempts to revisit rock's history, including thegrarage rock/post-punk revival at the beginning of the new millennium.

Rock music has also embodied and served as the vehicle for cultural and social movements, leading to major sub-cultures including mods and rockers in the UK and the "hippie" counterculture that spread out from San Francisco in the US in the 1960s. Similarly, 1970s punk culture spawned the visually distinctive goth and emo subcultures. Inheriting the folk tradition of the protest song, rock music has been associated with political activism as well as changes in social attitudes to race, sex and drug use, and is often seen as an expression of youth revolt against adult consumerism and conformity.

Story Board

Music Channel Ratings

MTV was expected to be the highest rated channel, as it has many branch of channels such as "MTV Shows" and "MTV+1", and also more specific channels such as "MTV Base" and "MTV Dance"; which are more specific to a certain audience, yet still an MTV channel. Not only this though but it contains many different genres of music and therefore appeals to a wider variety of people. Scuzz for instance, has lower ratings due to its niche market, appealing to people who prefer a certain type of music, generally with a genre of rock/screamo.

Because of this, we would aim for our video to be put onto MTV's mainstream channel, as it is most popular and also mainly watched by people that meet our target audience. MTV's ratings would increase the success of the video and help to make the band more public.

" MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York that launched on August 1, 1981. At one time, MTV had a profound impact on the music industry and popular culture. Slogans such as "I want my MTV" and "MTV is here" became embedded in public thought, the concept of the VJ was popularized, the idea of a dedicated video-based outlet for music was introduced, and both artists and fans found a central location for concertmusic events, news, and promotion. MTV has also been referenced countless times in popular culture by musicians, other TV channels and television programme, films, and books." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV

Typical Audience

A typical audience for our music video would be teenagers, aged 16+ up to adults up to the age of around 30.

Our target audience will be able to refer to intertextual references from their culture which will appeal to them within the video, and also appreciate the narrative and shots in detail. They must have an appreciation for the genre of music itself, and contents involved within it such as live music.I aim to learn more about the target audience by producing a questionnaire.



Here is an example of a questionnaire that I made and gave to around 20 people of different ages;

My results are shown in graphs below;

From these results, I can see that their needs to be quite a few shots of the band within the music video, and the video needs a fairly strong narrative to keep the audience interested. The music genre of song we chose tneds to fit with the audiences opinion well so therefore our song should be reasonably appealing to many different people.

General Overview Notes

• Narrative is almost always subordinate to performance
• Songs rarely tell complete narratives (videos might)
• Music videos resist classic realistic narratives
• The audience consume the text in a more casual way
• Music videos have repeatability built into them
• Intertextuality- references to other existing videos
• Postmodernism- copying things that already exist, such as REM’s “Bad Day” references to the news
• Are the band organic (write their own music) or manufactured (have songs written for them etc)?
• Illustration: everything in music video is shown by song. Examples; REM “everybody hurts”, BLUR “park life”
• Amplification: retains a link with the song but constructs other meanings through signs and symbols. Examples; Coldplay “the scientist”
• Disjuncture: ignores the content of the song and genre of music and creates a whole new set of meanings. Videos don’t usually make a great deal of sense and often use abstract imagery- used to assert independence/imply a rejection to conformity. Examples; Radiohead
• Lyrics: establish general feeling/mood/sense of subject rather than meaning
• Music: tempo often drives the editing
• Genre: reflected in the mise en scene, themes, performance, camera editing and styles
• Camera work: has an impact on meaning. Movement, angle, shot distance all play a part in the representation of the artist/band
• Editing: most common form is fast-cut montage, images impossible to grasp on first viewing, ensures multiple viewing. Editing uses digital effects, which play with the original idea.
• Not all audiences will spot a reference with intertextuality, so greater pleasure might be derived by those who recognise the associations and feel flattered by this.
• Exhibitionism: the apparently more powerful independent female artists of recent years have added to the complexity of politics of looking at general/cultural debates, by being at once sexually provocative and apparently in control of, and inviting, a sexualised gaze.

Steve Archers Theory

There needs to be a strong and coherent relationship between narrative and performance in music promos

Music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance by the band

A carefully choreographed dance might be part of the artists performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the repeatability factor.

John Stewarts Theory

The music video has the aesthetics’ of a TV commercial, with lots of close ups and lighting being used to focus on the stars face

Visual references comes from a range of sources, most frequently cinema, fashion and art photography

“Incorporating, raiding and reconstructing” is essentially the essence of intertextuality, using something with which the audience may be familiar too, to generate both nostalgic associations and new meanings

The video allows more access to the performer than a stage performance can

Mise en scene, in particular, can be used to emphasise an inspirational lifestyle

Freud’s Theory

Voyeurism- refers to the notion that erotic pleasure may be gained by looking at a sexual object (preferably when the object is unaware of being watched)

Laura Mulvey’s Theory

Because filmmakers are predominantly male, the presence of women in films is often solely for the purposes of display (rather than for narrative purposes)

The purpose of this display is to facilitate a voyeuristic response in spectators, which presumes a “male gaze”

Narrative

CONNECTION- gives organisation/coherence to a series of facts/ images/

UNDERSTANDING- allows us to construct meaning

COMPARISON- we compare narratives to others

We expect;

BEGININNING

MIDDLE

END

In songs narrative is rarely completed and often fragmentary… therefore complete meanings/narratives don’t exist. Narratives are often non-linier

Roland Barthes

Enigma code- refers to an element that isn’t explained, and therefore, exists as an enigma, raising questions that demand explanation. Most texts hold back details in order to increase the effect of the final revelation of all truths.

Action code- refers to the other principle that builds suspense or interest on part of the audience. The action code applies to any action that implies a further narrative action.

Tzvetan Todorov

Believes narratives begin with equilibrium (harmony), then move to disequilibrium (disharmony) until a new equilibrium is restored by the end.

Vladimir Propp

Developed version of Todorov’s theory;

Equilibrium

Conflict

Disequilibrium

Partial resolution

Equilibrium

Claude Levi-Strauss

Believed constant creation of conflict/opposition propels narrative. Narrative can only end on a resolution of conflict. Opposition can be visual (light/darkness, movement/stillness) or conceptual, and to do with the soundtrack. Example, Katy Perry “fireworks”.

Theories within my Video

We are aiming to create a middle ground between Steve Archer's theory and John Stewarts', with

the videos being cut between a narrative and a performance by the band, with lots of close ups and lighting being used to focus on the stars face. However we will ignore the idea of  a carefully choreographed dance being part of the artists performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the repeatability factor as we fear it may take too long and the end result may not be that good.

Pitch Screenshots

Mood Board

Intertextuality Within Music Videos

A good example of intertextuality is "Robbie Williams- Let Me Entertain You", with his influences stemming from the rock-legends "Kiss". The make up he wears within this video was associated greatly with the band and made them recognisable all over the world.

In "Dan Black's- Symphonies" he copies the start of some famous filmes dating from back in the 60's to the present day. An example of this is shown above.





The example below is from Eminem- Just Lose It;

The Nites- No Reason Lyrics

The Nites- No Reason Lyrics

Intro (instrumental)

I need a last show, yeah I wanna see the sun

Don’t wanna let it pass, don’t wanna walk when I can run

So many times I tried, and many times been wrong

Still everytime I tell myself, don’t you dare

Sell yourself a line your nothing more

And the face you wear, theres no reason why

It’s the way things fall

In a world full of questions

Don’t have to ask them all

You Just got to let it go sometimes, sometimes

Theres no reason here, that I can find

And im done with searching

Wanna close my eyes

Just gotta let it go sometimes, sometimes

I read the wrong book, I didn’t see the signs

I took a right hook, in old classical style

I took everything they had, still look them in the eyes

And everytime I tell myself

Don’t you dare

Sell yourself a line your nothing more

And the face you wear, theres no reason why

It’s the way things fall

In a world full of questions

Don’t have to ask them all

You Just got to let it go sometimes, sometimes

Theres no reason here, that I can find

And im done with searching

Wanna close my eyes

Just gotta let it go sometimes, sometimes

Talking in circles through the night

Im trying to find that something real, and right

Im chasing your shadows everywhere

For what its worth and how it feels

Theres no reason why

It’s the way things fall

In a world full of questions

Don’t have to ask them all

You Just got to let it go sometimes, sometimes

Theres no reason here, that I can find

And im done with searching

Wanna close my eyes

You just gotta let it go sometimes, sometimes

After using Wordle to present the data of favourite music genres, I felt it would be beneficial if I put the lyrics to "No Reason" and get a visual image of the words that appear most in the song. After seeing it visually it has helped spark more ideas for narrative and themes for the music video as the reoccurring words are more easily identified.
I then printed the Wordle to annotate with word meanings and ideas for some of the words, this was easier to do when the words aren’t in context as you don’t think of the idea from what was said before it to make the lyrics link with one another so it was a good idea to collect all different ideas. The ideas/meanings I have got for the following words were:

Reason: looking for substance and the answer to his questions

Eyes: wants to see something

Wanna: his desire to discover someone/something

Gotta: his need to discover someone/something

Find: he's searching for something

Let: hes willing to change/adapt

Searching: looking for someone/something to answer his questions or enrich his life

Within our music video, we will aim to create a video with a fairly strong narrative, but also incorporate certain shots and ideas that will leave it memorable in the brain for being a little different.

Our Roles

In my group there is 4 people;
Ryan Fleming- Actor/props
Jacob Ede- Actor/lighting
Amy Hale- Camera/director
Emma Phillips- Camera/director

Although giving eachother these specific jobs, we intend to take into account everyones opinions and ideas and welcome the idea of changing groups if someone is deemed to be better at a different job to what we decided they would do. Not only this, but we all intend to help towards the editing of the video.

The Nites- No Reason

The track we have chosen is by a band with a acoustic/pop/rock  genre from London, UK. We chose a band with this genre as it crosses the divide of music we have between the members of our group, and also as we believed we could easily mime and create a video that did the song justice from ideas we had gained just by listening to it a couple of times.

The Story of the band (according to them);

"The story of The Nites begins back in 2003, when a barman named Ant met a cleaner named Mike. One day, Anthony came home from work to get ready for a gig that night and found Mike cleaning his apartment. Back then Mike worked for a cleaning company that cleaned Anthony's apartment once a week. Mike had been asked to fill in that day for a sick member of staff and visited Anthony's apartment for the first time. They acknowledged each other briefly before Anthony went to get ready. Shortly after, he heard music coming from the lounge and went out to discover Mike singing a song on his beloved vintage Martin guitar that his uncle left him. But he soon forgot all about this when he tuned into what Mike was playing. After finding out it was one of his own tracks they instantly geled. After talking about their styles and influences and getting to know each other, they started writing the very next day and after 3 years of hard work enlisted the help of Craig Powell, head of the Songmaker Group, who instantly saw their talent and song writing capabilities. Currently in the recording studio laying down their debut album, so expect good things from The Nites in the future."

Band Members

• Anthony Goldsbrough - Vocals
• Michael Gazzard - Guitar, Piano, Vocals

Conventions of a Music Video