Researching early music video's

When researching the history of music videos I found that early music videos where called promotional films. MTV was a large part in the development in music videos it emphasised the importance of music videos in the 1980’s, promotional films where often films of gigs. The first music video that premiered on MTV was;
The Buggles; ‘Video killed the radio star’:

David Bowie “Ashes to Ashes” ; 

This was aired in 1981 creating the beginning of the 24 hour music television.

The development of music videos after MTV moved onto BBC’S Top of the Pops which began playing music videos in the late 1970’s. The iconic music video of “Ashes to Ashes” allowed David Bowie scored number 1 in 1980.

Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" ;

One of the most significant music videos/promotional films was Michael Jackson’s thriller; this eared in 1983 costing a total of $500,000 lasting approximately 12-14 minutes, directed by John Landis,  this self aware horror,music video consisted of 3 levels of diegies;
1. Film within a film
2. Normal world
3. Dreaming
 This has become a popular aspect to music videos allowing narrative within them.
Throughout the video there are various uses of cinematography, with close ups, medium close ups and long shots; The use of make-up and costume upon the cast to make them look like "zombies" helps to build upon the diegises, the use of the typical boy meets girl (The linearity of cause and effect within the overall trajectory of enigma resolution)

The Beatles - Hard Days Night (1964) 

This music video uses various aspects of cinematography such as close ups of feet running matching to the beat of the song, enabling the intensity of the chase to draw in the attention of the audience. The use of tilts to show the girls within the video enable the audience to understand the emotion upon the girls faces, expressing the passion towards the Beatles.
When watching the video there are various cut aways and shot reverse shots which allow the audience to understand the intensity of the running and hiding in which the Beatles must overcome daily. The basis of the song is the fact that the Beatles are tired, this is showing their everyday life and struggles with escaping from girls and their fans.

Music Video Analysis;

Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues (1965);

In terms of Music video history; one of the significant music videos in the music history would be;
Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues (1965). 

This was seen as one of the first proper music videos known as a short film clip he original clip was actually the opening segment of D. A. Pennebaker's film, Don’t Look Back, a documentary on Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England. The video used a run-down alley/street behind the Savoy Hotel in London as its location for filming. The video consisted of one shot throughout the full of the video, filmed in a still medium long shot. The use of zooming out at the beginning of the video. The video consisted of no editing, the only factor of editing would be 
the speckled effect used to make it look old-fashioned. 
The mise-en-scene of the video was it was a greyscale image used as a cheaper option to colour. The use of cue cards to emphasis chosen lyrics was written in bold text, held by Bob Dylan himself, the actual cue cards throughout consisted of intentional misspellings and puns: for instance, when the song's lyrics say "eleven dollar bills" the poster says "20 dollar bills".  The genre of music falls into the bands of Folk rock, Blues rock and rock and roll. The lyrics used where powerful and the ones written on cue cards highlight key points and feelings from Bob Dylan.

Updated Checklist;

1. -         The Brief and your chosen ancillary texts Done
2. -         What makes a good product audience and personal feedback
3. -         Lyrics analysis Done
4. -         Timings of lyrics Done
5. -         History of Medium Done
6. -         3 X textual analysis of videos (applying LIIAR) in depth as possible
7. -         Conventions of form & genre
8. -         3 initial ideas in relation to narrative of video/ film etc
9. -         Audience research including: Questionnaire, Video focus group, poll on blog
10. -         1^st story board for animatic
11. -         Some filming as test shots 

My Lyric Analysis

My Narrative;

In terms of my Narrative to my chosen song (Happy little pill) I have decided to create a developing story over a course of week or maybe a bit longer with the use of elliptical editing.In which during the beginning of the song, the main actor is seen alone on various occasions, he is also shown meeting up with a drug dealer and buying alcohol in which is to show what hes resulted in due to his loneliness however I believe the factor of resulting in alcohol which relates to many people varying in age groups from 16+. Within the first stages of the song the actor is seen in various emotional states, portrayed through facial expressions, lighting and editing.

As the song progresses the actors mental and emotional state has grown into a state of self-harm as well as taking even more drugs and drinking more alcohol, still alone.

By the end of the song the actor has pushed himself to the limits  of overdosing/alcohol poisoning and passed away.

The whole narrative is based on loneliness and lack of support. The ending to the song is ironic as at the actor’s gravestone there are numerous people stood about many flowers laid down yet he believed he was alone and had nobody it has a moral of speak if you need help and if you see someone alone don't let it push them to far. 

Overview of my narrative

My video is to be based on the loneliness of a person whom results in alcohol and drug abuse to numb himself from the emotional pain, the development of emotion is shown in various stages and the overall outcome results in a sudden ending due to his final cry for help.

Pop Questionnaire Results

From these results  I have found that the target audience range between 16-20

the above respondents watch the video rather than listen to the song more often than not. 

They all usually listen to the lyrics of a song this helps me to understand that lyrics are key and the video is a key visual aspect to capturing an audience.

Pop Questionaire

Please participate in my pop genre questionnaire

This is in order to create audience research.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LT2XRSP

Looking at Inital Ideas for Props

When creating my lyric analysis I have found that it meant I needed/wanted various props for certain shots; I decided that I was going to trial making my props in order to enable myself to have my props pre-made saving time during filming.

Here I took the typical Jack Daniels Whiskey label due to the fact that I am using alcohol and opened it upon Photoshop.

I then took my chosen font () from Dafont.com and wrote my new "brand" of alcohol (life) in which I used the quick selection tool to cut out my label. Using it as a second layer I placed it  upon the original Jack Daniels image.

When editing this image I used the cloning stamp to clone the exact tone of black to cover over the 'Jennessee Whiskey' this I then replaced with my life label. Since this is just my draft, I think I'm going to use the eye-drop tool to select the same white tone as the rest of the lettering.

These labels are going to be used in one bottles to portray the line "sipping life from bottles"

Another lyric I have found is 'cocaine, dollar bills'

for this I am simply going to print out dollar bills and stick them back to back as well as create a cocaine like powder using either crushed paracetamols, flour or another form of white powder.

About My Chosen Song & The Artist.

In terms of my chosen song ;"Happy Little Pill" the single is written by Troye Sivan, Brandon Rogers and Tat Tong and sung by Troye Sivan whom is a South African Australian Singer and Songwriter. The song is the second single from his first extended play on a major label. The song was released digitally on 25 July 2014.

In an interview about the new song Troye said that;  "It's about loneliness and the different ways that people cope with the things that are going on in their lives." & "I wrote this song during a bit of a rough time for someone super close to me, and for myself, and it still means as much to me as the day I wrote it."

The music video was released on Troye's Youtube; His music video was directed by Jeremy Koren.

This is the official video of "Happy Little Pill" I found that when watching this video it was difficult to understand the narrative however I found that I have a good Idea and perfect narrative for this video in which is allot different from the official video.

The music genre of this song it pop however the sub-genre is Synthpop (Electropop). Synthpop

is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument.

In order to gain more information about Troye Sivan I decide to look upon his own website http://www.troyesivan.com/  from this I found that Troye is very in touch with social media which is great in keeping linked and in touch with his target audience and 'fans' which is a key aspect to celebrity's 

I found that due to the factor that he is particularly popular and isn't really heard about with a small audience  In order to try and gain some more information I found that Troye Sivan has a agent called Emma under the e-mail address 
I have print screened the e-mail that I sent to gain some more information hopefully I will recieve and e-mail back.

Troye Sivan is signed to EMI Music Australia and is also interlinked with Capitol Records.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRXYE

Researching Successful Music Videos

In terms of music videos I have decided to also research various successful music videos. I looked at 3 main ones in which I took note of the various successful points and aspects which I could find.

Video Number 1;
When watching video number one I found that the editing was all in time with the beat of the song and was fitting to the song. Aswell as the editing the special effects used, was fitting to the song and matched the beat, this allowed the video to flow and meant that the video used conventions throughout. In terms of mise-en-scene the costume choice, fitted the narrative and music genre, it meant that the as an audience I understood whom the characters where and who they are in relation to each other. Aswell as costume; the choice of location also matched the narrative which also meant that the audience understood the whole narrative and understood where the characters where in terms of within the narrative. I found that the song choice matched the narrative which meant that overall the video kept my full focus throughout. I found that the full video was conventional and has so many thing to point out as successful such as; the cast whom where very realistic and put in a lot of effort to keep the narrative and engage the audience enticing them into their love story. I also found that their use of cinematography was brilliant and their framing was successful as they ensured they didn't cut people out of shots and ensured they established locations and the axis of action was clear so as an audience I understood the relationship between the characters.

Video Number 2;

When watching video number two I found that the editing pace of the video was very consistent again like the first video and again it flowed properly and was appealing to the eye. I found that in terms of mise-en-scene the costume choice, again fitted the narrative, as well as the choice of location which again also matched the narrative which  meant that the audience understood the  narrative as whole. I found that in terms of the narrative, it was engaging to the audience and enabled to keep a consistent story the only point which let this video down was the repetition within, it meant at certain points the audience's focus was lost. However the video ensured that despite the repetition it used good lighting to ensure shots were visible and their use of cinematography was good as well as their framing which was successful as they ensured they didn't cut people out of shots and ensured they established locations.


Video Number 3;

When watching video number three I found that again their use of cinematography was brilliant and their framing was successful as they ensured they didn't cut people out of shots and ensured they established locations . I found that their location choice was also very effective as it matched the narrative. I found that they had chosen successful mise-en-scene the costume choice, fitted the narrative and music genre, they had also used successful make-up which portrayed the emotions well; I think their chosen actor was brilliant and pulled of the performance which allowed the whole video o be successful.


What I have learnt from this;

When watching successful videos I learnt that editing is the key and that despite how amazing the footage may be if you have poor editing your video will not be successful. also if your editing pace isn't in line with the music beat etc. It will again look poor and will not be as successful as it could be. I also learnt that when filming framing and camera shots are key, Its best to use a variation such as long shot, medium shot , close up etc. I found that the unsuccessful videos tended to stick to 1 or 2 shot types. Also in order to make the video look more professional the camera must be focused unless its a shot the is out of focus on purpose. I found that in order to engage an audience you must use direct  mode of address and must keep the narrative flowing, without letting it cut of and go "dead or repetitive". Also costume, props and make-up are key as the allow the audience to establish the type of music genre in which the song is based, it also allows the audience to establish the type or role or character they are playing within a narrative.When watching unsuccessful music videos one of the other keys is the location choice all three above had poor location choice as-well as one only using one location for the whole video this lost the audiences interested and meant they wasn't sympathetic to the narrative. I found that in unsuccessful videos it looked as-if everything was filmed last minute which showed when the location choices was poor and didn't fit the narratives or music genre.

What I Plan to do in my music video:

When creating my video I plan to;

1. Research my music genre to enable myself to understand the various types of costume etc. 
2. Test various shots and ensure I use at least 2 or more
3. Find locations & take note of them and then ensure they fit my narrative
4. Find a reliable Actor
5. Schedule a filming, editing , make-up etc timetable
6. Write up my narrative and ideas for each shot,so both me & my actor understand the point in the shot.
7.  Make sure I film shots numerous times to give my self enough footage to work with.
8.  Try to use a variety of  conventions.
9.  Ensure my narrative and actor engages with the audience throughout
10.  Lip-syncing, ensure I use it at least twice within my video.

Researching Unsuccessful Music Videos

In terms of music videos I have decided to research various unsuccessful music videos. I looked at 3 main ones in which I took note of the various unsuccessful points and aspects which I could find.

Video Number 1;
When watching video number one I found that the editing of the video wasn't very consistent and didn't flow properly. I found that the editing pace didn't match the pace of the song nor did it match up to the beat of the song which meant that it didn't flow along with the fact that there was lack of continuity which meant that it didn't fulfill the conventions of a music video.
Also when watching the video the lighting was poor which meant the it was difficult to see what was happening throughout the video, which meant as an audience I lost focus on the video and didn't really want to keep on watching it, also when the lighting was okay it meant that I could see the locations etc which also was poor and wasn't relevant to the song as-well as having no narrative which again lost my interest in the video and meant I didn't understand the point in half of the filming.
Finally the camera angels and focus was poor meaning again it was difficult to see and understand what was the video and footage was about. I also found that due to using the camera/camcorder handheld it meant the footage was unsteady.
Overall I found that the whole video was poor due to the lack of conventions and various aspects of the video.
Also within the video I found that they used conventional scenes; such as the band in concert/ in a gig. However they didn't play the music over it or have the recording of them actually singing which made it lack conventions in some respect.

Video Number 2;

When watching video number two I found that the editing of the video wasn't very consistent again like the first video and again it didn't flow properly. I found that due to the overuse of a green screen the video had poor use of background in which also didn't match to the genre of music (rock) and the background didn't match to the lyrics of of the song. I found that the cast for the band in the video was poor as they wasn't very motivated in performing which let the video down as they wasn't very engaging with audience. Also to add to the cast, the costume and makeup choice was poor as they wear dressed in casual clothes instead of the stereotypical rock costumes they had no make-up on. When watching the video the cinematography was poor as the framing was poor along with the simple fact there was a random quote placed within the video which had no relevance to that point in the song.

Video Number 3;

When watching video number three I found that the framing throughout was poor and that the location choices were again poor in that fact that they didn't change it was all filmed in the same location with no change of costume or props. When watching the video they had tried to place flashing lights in to make the editing match the beat however there was no need and the flashing was irrelevant and didn't match the narrative. The good point was that you could tell that there was a narrative however it was poorly portrayed and it became to repetitive. When watching the video I found that the shots where to long which meant when trying to keep the audience engaged it didn't work, and they failed to use direct mode of address to the audience. I think if they had have used direct mode of address the narrative would have been more emotional and engaging to the audience. Also when watching the factors that the narrative didn't really go anywhere it just cut off and repeated points and scenes that we had already watched.


What I have learnt from this;

When watching unsuccessful videos I learnt that editing is the key and that despite how amazing the footage may be if you have poor editing your video will not be successful, also if your editing pace isn't in line with the music beat etc. It will again look poor and will not be as successful as it could be. I also learnt that when filming framing and camera shots are key, Its best to use a variation such as long shot, medium shot , close up etc. I found that the unsuccessful videos tended to stick to 1 or 2 shot types. Also in order to make the video look more professional the camera must be focused unless its a shot the is out of focus on purpose. I found that in order to engage an audience you must use direct  mode of address and must keep the narrative flowing, without letting it cut of and go "dead or repetitive". Also costume, props and make-up are key as the allow the audience to establish the type of music genre in which the song is based, it also allows the audience to establish the type or role or character they are playing within a narrative.When watching unsuccessful music videos one of the other keys is the location choice all three above had poor location choice as-well as one only using one location for the whole video this lost the audiences interested and meant they wasn't sympathetic to the narrative. I found that in unsuccessful videos it looked as-if everything was filmed last minute which showed when the location choices was poor and didn't fit the narratives or music genre.

What I Plan to do in my music video:

When creating my video I plan to;

1. Research my music genre to enable myself to understand the various types of costume etc. 
2. Test various shots and ensure I use at least 2 or more
3. Find locations & take note of them and then ensure they fit my narrative
4. Find a reliable Actor
5. Schedule a filming, editing , make-up etc timetable
6. Write up my narrative and ideas for each shot,so both me & my actor understand the point in the shot.
7.  Make sure I film shots numerous times to give my self enough footage to work with.
8.  Try to use a variety of  conventions.
9.  Ensure my narrative and actor engages with the audience throughout
10.  Lip-syncing, ensure I use it at least twice within my video.

"Happy Little Pill- Lyrics Timing"

00:00-0:10          (10 introduction )

00:10-0:15          In the crowd alone

00:15-0:20          And every second passing reminds me I’m not home

00:20-00:25        Bright lights and city sounds are ringing like a drone

00:25-00:30        Unknown, unknown

00:30-00:33         Oh, glazed eyes, empty hearts
00:33-00:36         Buying happy from shopping carts
00:36-00:38         Nothing but time to kill 

00:38-00:41         Sipping life from bottles

00:41-00:44         Tight skin, bodyguards
00:44-00:46         Gucci down the boulevard

00:46-00:49         Cocaine, dollar bills

00:49-00:50         And...

00:50-00:53        My happy little pill

00:54-00:57        Take me away
00:57-00:59        Dry my eyes
00:59-01:01        Bring colour to my skies

01:01-01:04        My sweet little pill

01:04-01:06        Take my hunger

01:07-01:09        Light within

01:10-01:12        Numb my skin

01:12-01:24       (Break)

01:24-01:28       Like a rock afloat
01:29-01:33       Sweat and conversations seep into my bones

01:33-01:36       Four walls are not enough

01:36-01:39       I’ll take a dip into the
01:39-01:43       unknown, unknown

01:43-01:46       Oh, glazed eyes, empty hearts

01:46-01:49       Buying happy from shopping carts

01:49-01:52       Nothing but time to kill

01:52-01:54       Sipping life from bottles

01:55-01:57       Tight skin, bodyguards

01:57-02:00       Gucci down the boulevard

02:00-02:02       Cocaine, dollar bills

02:02-02:03       And...

02:03-02:06       My happy little pill
02:07-02:10       Take me away

02:10-02:12       Dry my eyes

02:13-02:15       Bring colour to my skies

02:15-02:17      My sweet little pill
02:17-02:20      Take my hunger
02:20-02:23      Light within

02:23-02:26      Numb my skin

02:26-02:47       (Break)

02:47-02:49       Oh, glazed eyes, empty hearts

02:49-02:52       Buying happy from shopping carts

02:52-02:55       Nothing but time to kill

02:55-02:58       Sipping life from bottles

02:58-03:00       Tight skin, bodyguards

03:00-03:02       Gucci down the boulevard

03:03-03:05       Cocaine, dollar bills

03:05-03:06       And...

03:06-03:09       (Break)

03:09-03:12       My happy little pill

03:12-03:14       Take me away

03:14-03:18       Dry my eyes

03:18-03:20       Bring colour to my skies

03:20-03:23       My sweet little pill

03:23-03:26       Take my hunger

03:26-03:28       Light within

03:28-03:32       Numb my skin

03:32-03:40       (Fade in music)

A2 Media; Chosen Song Lyrics

                                                        

"Happy Little Pill"

In the crowd alone
And every second passing reminds me I’m not home
Bright lights and city sounds are ringing like a drone
Unknown, unknown

Oh, glazed eyes, empty hearts
Buying happy from shopping carts
Nothing but time to kill
Sipping life from bottles
Tight skin, bodyguards
Gucci down the boulevard
Cocaine, dollar bills
And...
This is my chosen song : Happy Little Pill by Troye Sivan




My happy little pill
Take me away
Dry my eyes
Bring colour to my skies
My sweet little pill
Take my hunger
Light within
Numb my skin

Like a rock afloat
Sweat and conversations seep into my bones
Four walls are not enough
I’ll take a dip into the unknown, unknown

Oh, glazed eyes, empty hearts
Buying happy from shopping carts
Nothing but time to kill
Sipping life from bottles
Tight skin, bodyguards
Gucci down the boulevard
Cocaine, dollar bills
And...

My happy little pill
Take me away
Dry my eyes
Bring colour to my skies
My sweet little pill
Take my hunger
Light within
Numb my skin

Oh, glazed eyes, empty hearts
Buying happy from shopping carts
Nothing but time to kill
Sipping life from bottles
Tight skin, bodyguards
Gucci down the boulevard
Cocaine, dollar bills
And...

My happy little pill
Take me away
Dry my eyes
Bring colour to my skies
My sweet little pill
Take my hunger
Light within
Numb my skin

My 3 Original Music Video Ideas:

Idea 1: My first Idea is using the song She Don't like the Lights by Justin Bieber:

When listening to this song, I came up with a narrative when looking at Kate Domialle I have found that this songs lyrics fit the Romeo & Juliet category of the 8 narrative groups.For this the theme would be a love story using the narrative of a male who is living in the limelight, enjoying every moment, such as showing him stood on a stage performing (this will allows some performance element to my video), As well as showing him sat alone on a bench with headphones in.
The narrative is added to by the fact that his girlfriend is against the life of fame due to all the , lights and the cameras. This leads to her  always leaving the male as soon as cameras turn up. Shots showing them arguing and her giving him ultimatums to leave the music industry or loose her. The final outcome will be him performing to the camera in a room singing " she don't light the lights".



Idea 2: My second Idea is using the song Happy Little Pill by Troye Sivan:

For this the video is to be based on the loneliness of a person whom results in alcohol and drug abuse to numb himself from the emotional pain, the development of emotion is shown in various stages such as meeting dealers, Laying alone and the overall outcome results in a sudden ending due to his final cry for help.
This would be good in relation to teenagers as its a stage in which many of them have been through, will go through or are going through.

Idea 3: My third Idea is using the song Shake it off By Taylor Swift:

For this video it would be based on bullying and the stages of overcoming this. The actress would be shown in various situations (flashbacks) of break ups, backstabbing etc. Then juxtaposing the shots with those of her having a good time because shes overcome the situations.
Again this would be good in relation to teenagers as its a stage in which many of them have been through, will go through or are going through.

Researching Music Videos;

This is an existing music video recently uploaded by Taylor swift. This came out on August 18, 2014.

This music video has various aspects to it such as the Ideology of this video I've found that its there is a large use of performance elements with instruments and microphone or its the artist lip-syncing. Throughout Taylor's video the use of Mise-en-scene is a large part to the video, she changes costume numerous time throughout, each costume represents different personas, as well as each on fitting a certain stereotype such as; white leotard= Typical Ballet dancer, tracksuit jacket,cap and high-tops to represent the gangster stereotype, As well as big gold chains,Hoop earrings, leopard jacket to represent the stereotypical chavy teen girl These represent stereotypes however when Taylor is dressed as a ballet dancer, she can not actual ballet dance therefor the underlining story is that just because she looks like that doesn't mean she is that . As well as the fact that Taylor is dressed all in black when shes herself performing, this connotes mystery and how we don't really know her neither do the 'haters' despite what they say.

When watching Taylor Swifts music video, Shake it off; I found that the use of close up shots, is often used when showing Taylor lip-syncing, as well as to show emotions when shes stating that she doesn't care what people say. Throughout the video there is a use of establishing shot this is conventional of music videos as it allows the audience to understand where the actors are, also the use of performance is conventional to music videos, I found that its either performance elements with instruments and microphone or its the artist lip-syncing. Throughout Taylor's video the use of Mise-en-scene is a large part to the video, she changes costume numerous time throughout, each costume represents different personas, as well as each on fitting a certain stereotype such as; white leotard= Typical Ballet dancer, tracksuit jacket,cap and high-tops to represent the gangster stereotype, As well as big gold chains,Hoop earrings, leopard jacket to represent the stereotypical chavy teen girl These represent stereotypes however when Taylor is dressed as a ballet dancer, she can not actual ballet dance therefor the underlining story is that just because she looks like that doesn't mean she is that . As well as the fact that Taylor is dressed all in black when shes herself performing, this connotes mystery and how we don't really know her neither do the 'haters' despite what they say. Another convention of music videos which is used in this video is the editing is placed upon the beat to the song, the use of montage editing fits to the song as its an up beat song.

A2 Media First: Check list

1. -         The Brief and your chosen ancillary texts
2. -         What makes a good product audience and personal feedback
3. -         Lyrics analysis
4. -         Timings of lyrics
5. -         History of Medium
6. -         3 X textual analysis of videos (applying LIIAR) in depth as possible
7. -         Conventions of form & genre
8. -         3 initial ideas in relation to narrative of video/ film etc
9. -         Audience research including: Questionnaire, Video focus group, poll on blog
10. -         1^st story board for animatic
11. -         Some filming as test shots.

My Chosen Brief;

My chosen brief is; A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following ancillary texts out of the three options:

1. •a website homepage for the band.
2. •a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package).
3. •a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package). 

I have decided that I am going to chose the following ancillary texts;
-a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package), as my first ancillary text and 
-a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package), as my second ancillary text.