Story Boarding the music video

 I discussed with my group the aesthetic/ vibe we were going for when creating our music video. Looking at friendly, indie-rock bands we found several photos of the style of set we would have (messy garage band, relaxed living room and boys chilling out). Our initial idea was garage band and skateboarding outside on the streets but we have now discussing a change to a 1920's jazz venue and it turning into a rock garage.

here are some images about the skateboarding idea- the colour palette is similar to our ideas for recording (lots of greys, blue and dark colours like red)

My bands instagram

 

Typical conventions of instagram posts from Artists/ Bands

Typical posts from Artists and Bands

Things to post:

 

• Album covers 

•  digital packs 

•  generic lifestyle 

• recording booths/ studio 

•  sponsoring/ endorsing products 

•  tour dates 

•  outfits/ fashion

•  concert dates 

•  colour palette/ themes 

•  awards and achievements 

•  artistic 

•  record company 

•  modelling

•  abstract shots 

•  announcements/ collaborations

• behind the scenes shots of music videos

What would our band post about?

As they are a new band, their Instagram is unlikely to have posts of collaborations, awards, record company and concert or tour dates.

They are more likely to have abstract and modelling shots, artistic colour pallets, fashion, recording studio, album covers and their generic life.

Examples of Artists/ Bands instagram posts:

The Beatles- Behind the scenes/ recording post:

Behind the scenes posts make the audience feel part group which generates a large, loyal fanbase to purchase music.

Drake- Private life/ generic life post:

Private life posts show the audience what the artist is like, as if they know Drake outside his Star Persona. They allow the audience to relate to the artist which in return makes the artist more popular with their fans.

Billie Eilish- Fashion post:

Fashion posts promote the artists merchandise which generates them more revenue. Fashion also plays a large part of Billie's Star Persona as she constantly wore baggy clothes with dyed hair which attracted her 'edgy' fanbase.

Cold Pay- Concert/ tour dates post:

Concert and tour date posts spread awareness of the bands live performances and let their audience know when they are performing and where. Promoting their live performances help the sale of tickets and creates more profit for the band. It also attracts new audiences members who might possibly be in the location of the performance.

Charlie Puth- Album Covers/ Singles post:

Posting the new album cover or single the artist has produced can create lots of hype and therefore, on its release, attract lots of streams/ views in a short amount of time. It also promotes the songs release and tells the audience to buy their new song.

Harry Styles- Modelling post:

Modelling is posted by artists to portray their Star Persona and their 'image' to their followers. Modelling posts also help make the artist attractive and look good, which improves their image.

Dua Lipa- Sponsorer post:

Sponsored posts spread awareness of the brand/ product the artist is promoting. This benefits the Artist as they get a share of the profit made from the post or get paid a specific sum of money to promote the product. Fans often want to copy their idol and will purchase the same perfume, make up or clothes that their favourite artist wears.

Elton John- Awards/ achievements post:

Artists often post the latest award they have won as it displays their talent and, when new people see the post, believe the artist must create amazing music and visit their Spotify, AppleMusic etc...

Matt's camera workshop- Primo Spherical lenses and band positioning

 Matt's camera workshop- 24th September

Primo Spherical lenses:

When making professional music videos, people use Primo-Spherical lenses to capture better quality images. Matt introduced us to a set of Primo- lenses and told us the difference between these lenses and the large singular lens we used when filming our opening sequences last year.

Primo-Spherical lenses:

1. Can't zoom
2. come in multiple mm for different sized shots e.g. 18mm- close, 35 mm- mid, 85 mm- long shot
3. requires a tape measure to calculate the distance between the subject and lens, then focus the lens using the ft and M measurements on the lens (measuring mark found on side of camera near the lens)
4. great quality image
5. need to be swapped every time you want to film a different width shot

Spherical lenses compared to Zoom Lenses.

Spherical lenses in different mm 18-85

Spherical lens attached to camera. (White Measuring marker for focus on the side)

Zoom lenses:

1. can zoom
2. picture quality is not as good
3. doesn't need to be swapped for every shot
4. can shoot multiple width shots

We also learnt about shutter speeds and FPS during the workshop. Shutter speed is the rate of which the image is captured on the camera and how quickly the shutters on the camera open to expose lighting through the lens. Lower shutter speeds, like 50*, give lots of motion blur as the lens is capturing more exposure and seeing the image for a longer amount of time. Higher shutter speeds, like 300*, are used in action films; such as the Transformers films, to make the images look janky, chaotic and high definition, which create a tense atmosphere as everything appears to be happening very quickly. FPS is the rate of which the frames on screen are shown, in other words, it controls the speed of the video, allowing us to make slow motion (15 fps) or fast motion (60fps). Films are typically shot between 25-30fps.

Band positioning- making the shot appealing to the audience:

Matt taught us when positioning our. cast/ band members on set, infant of the camera, that it is not like actors on a stage. There is only one audience member to perform to (the camera) so we position the band to appeal to that one view point. We focused on levels of positioning e.g. platforms, crouching or lying down and proxemics such as the band being positioned into a wonky diamond and two of the members facing inwards and 2 facing the camera.

Some examples of how we positioned people for the camera:

Analysis of a music video

Reconsideration of music video/ adapting idea

 Presenting our idea to Luke:

After showing look our powerpoint and initial ideas about our music video, Luke gave us his feedback. He liked the song and the rebellious idea that we had come up with, depicting the band as a group of teenagers who have 'Had Enough' as it says in the song. Luke also said our ideas about the set were good, starting the band in a garage and having them move to a second location such as neon circle in a restricted area or spray painted building site. The only thing Luke was concerned about was the skateboarding idea and where we would do it. The advantages were that it would look cool, go with the rebellious theme and have a new location to film in which would make the video interesting for our audience. The disadvantages were that only 1 of our potential cast can skate (to some extent) and it would require a day to go to Guildford so we would have to film the rest of the video in a multi-story car park. We also pitched the idea of the music video containing content of the band messing around and show that they are a group of friends, which could fit the mood of the song but we would need to keep the colour scheme of the video so it wouldn't look unusual e.g. radish/ brown garage to dark brown living room.

Reconsidering/Altering the idea:

After our meeting and presentation with Luke, my group and I have decided to alter some aspects of the mood of our music video and the content. First of all, we decided that skating would be too difficult to film as we only have 1 decent skater from the band and we would have to film during our free time as we don't want to leave/ film away from the media studio on film day. We want to have 2 sets during the video. The first set would be a messy garage where the band have set up their instruments and speakers. The second set would be a graffiti wall the band have made, with the band name, some song lyrics and instruments sprayed onto the wall. The video would start with the band performing in the garage and then cut to shots of the spray cans spraying and painting, which ultimately creates the graffiti back wall later shown in the video. We also kept the idea of them climbing over a fence, but instead of them sneaking in somewhere to skate, they would take their guitar and drums etc... and have the last few "I've had enough lyrics" set in an LED circle of neon lights as the band rock on to the song. During the video we would also have shots of the band smoking cigarettes and messing around with each other such as playing cards, spilling drinks and so on...

Clay Shirky Task

 Clay Shirky's End of Audience Theory

Shirky's theory is the belief that there is no longer such a thing as a passive audience, a group of people who like to mindlessly watch a film and let it wash into their brains without having to think or do anything. He believes that, nowadays, only 'Active Audiences' exist due to the development of technology and that we prefer to tweet, like and leave reviews of films. He explains that people now expect to be able to interact with media and our products (films). 

An example of this theory is shown in the recent rapid decline in magazines and newspapers. People no longer like to be passive readers, but want to like/unlike and spread their opinions. Companies such as The Times, and The Guardian have created digital versions of their magazines/ papers to keep their audiences interested. Another reason could be that audiences feel equal to 'Media Makers' on the account that they can directly communicate to the company they are consuming from. 

Music video pitch

Music video pitch[2] from MaxWright28

Possible cast for the music video

Possible cast members for the music video

We want the cast of the video to look like skaters (typically unordinary/ messy people with a baggy fit fashion sense). The look we are aiming for is a typical long haired or buzzcut garage rock group of teenagers who are trying be different and edgy. 

Possible cast names:

Monty- drums (can skate)

Luke- Guitar

Joel- singer

Arlo- bass guitar

 

Indie pop/ rock Genre music video ideas/ similar genre

Arctic monkeys- I Bet you look good on the dance floor

My group discussed possibly using a retro filter over the camera to the song, like in this video, to give it an old school, chilled vibe to fit the style of the singers voice. We could build a set similar to the one in the video of the band having fun and making music live in a recording room. Another reason why we liked this video was that the colour scheme of the lighting blended with the poor-ish quality of the video and created a nice, cool atmosphere.

City Never Sleeps- Tourism

This is a student made video from Hurtwood House School. The song matches the positive/ indie rock genre of our song. One of the sets we want to make for our music video would be a skater workshop/ garage, so we could take inspiration from the messiness and un-organised looks of this video.

I've Had Enough- Atlas Wind

Similar to the first song video, it provides a live, niche performance (such as one from a new band). 

Matt's Friday workshop- Making a music video

 Making a music video

Matt discussed the pros and cons of doing a solo artist and a band. We talked about famous solo artists and bands first music videos and how we could take inspiration/ what to avoid when making our own.

Solo Artists:

Matt said that solo artists, being easier to market and create a persona, come with advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of having a solo artist is that they are easier to market in terms of genre/ style, can easily create or change their 'Star Persona' and that it is easy to control their public image. However, the disadvantages are that it is harder to create a music video starring 1 person and that it costs more money as they need twice the amount of locations/ sets to make the video more interesting as there is only 1 narrative/ person to film.

Famous Artist's first music video- Post Malone:

White Iversion:

Post Malone's first music video. Expensive due to the fact we focus on 1 person and require extra expenses to make the video interesting- requires a very expensive car and 2 or 3 locations to film. His 'Star Persona' is shown through his unique appearance (dreaded hair, gold grills and chains). Post Malone was an easy Persona to market as he was the first of his kind/ style of appearance and became extremely popular with young people as he was a rebellious and non-mainstream figure (now mainstream). 

As we can see, there are 4 shot locations in the video and to make his 'character 'seem interesting, they focused heavily on his materialistic personality. The camera focuses on his grills, heavy gold chains and watch with a car spinning around behind him. This is to draw the audiences attention to things in the video and make it interesting because focusing on 1 person for 3 minutes becomes boring for most viewers. 

In contrast to an artist of the previous genre, Matt showed us Katy Perry's first music video as well. Again, very expensive as solo artists require several locations and other assets to make the video interesting. The narrative is entirely focused on her being popular and the centre of attention. We can see there are 4-5 different locations during the video and how it constantly changes to keep the audience engaged. due to the many sets the video is filmed in, it would have taken a longer time to film and, as a result, cost the producers more money to hire the venue and create set.

Band artists:

Bands also come with pros and cons when marketing and making a music video. The pros are that the videos are generally cheaper to make as having several musicians play instruments is already exciting for their fans to watch, which means generally 2 locations/ sets are needed for the video. Furthermore, bands are cheaper to sign to a record company as they make the music themselves, unlike solo artists who often require extra personnel to mix the music and play instruments. However, it is difficult for a band to change their image and genre of music once it has been established. In addition, it is also difficult to create and manufacture a 'Star Persona' for a new band as the members of the band will want to do what they want as it is a group decision.

Matt showed us the first music video the Arctic Monkeys ever made. The video is filmed on 1 set which makes it very cheap. An Advantage to 1 set is that the entire music video can be shot in a day, meaning the production company doesn't have to spend more money hiring a venue. The set is simplistic and there is no materialistic content in the video which makes it even cheaper to create (unlike the solo artists). In general, Bands are the ideal choice as they are cheap to market and produce lots of their own content and no extra cost.

Star Persona

Star Persona

 

-       The brand image that is built for an artist or brand

-       Something which appeals to their audience and sells their music

-       What people expect when they see a video by that artist/ band

-       Their ‘reputation’

 

Most artists keep their image from the beginning of their career. Very few, like Taylor Swift, change their images throughout their career: ‘red era’, ‘1989 era’, ‘reputation era’. 

 

Star persona construct:

-       Costume

-       Lyrics

-       Body and facial expression

-       Behaviour and attitude

-       Music videos

-       Social media posts and websites

 

Social media:

-       How does each post represent the artist/ create ‘star persona?

 

(Advert with LilNasx, UberEats)

 

Elton’s Instagram account shows him to be a quirky, charismatic role model who puts himself out there in a flamboyant manor. Telling the story of his past rock ‘n roll life whilst showing he has matured with his family and age, appealing to his old fans (rock fans) and newer ones (friendly family or pop fans)

 

-       How has each post been constructed to appeal to different audiences?

 

His newer posts, consisting more of photos with him and his children on holiday or out with friends, are more family friendly and appeal to older audiences (parents). These people are most likely his older fans who have aged and had families of their own. His other posts in which he wears his classic flamboyant outfits, might attract a younger generation who belong/ support the LGBTQ community and see him and his outfits as a role model who represents their beliefs and political views.

 

-       How does the post create revenue?

Several of his posts are videos of him promoting merchandise (books or other artists who he has worked with) which generate an income as he will have been paid to recommend the book or promote an artist’s (who he will have worked with and gets a portion of the profits) song. He also posts about his own concerts and new releases of songs to promote his business, which ultimately creates awareness and increases the profit he makes from song releases.

 

-       How does the post help to create a consistent branding?

 

Elton John’s posts, amongst his personal life, do help create consistent branding. An example of this is the image of him in his pink cowboy costume. The caption to the image was “Feeling pretty in pink. Thanks for the look LilNasX”. This was for an UberEats advert but also hinted/confirmed their recent collaboration featured on the rappers new album ‘Montero’. 

Another example of consistent branding is Elton John’s recent release of ‘Cold Heart’ with Dua Lipa. He has posted several images with the artist or its public branding to spread awareness of the new song and increase sales.

Music video song choices feedback

After showing everyone the songs I selected for my media music videos, I received some positive feedback.

The class liked the range of genre I had found and said that it provided a wide range of narratives to chose from when creating my music video. 'Leaders of the Blind' was described as fast paced, which would be useful to create a very interesting music video in regards to editing, being quick and aggressive. Another song I played, 'Brand New' by the Vistas, got lots of positive feedback as it was a cheerful, up-beat and summery vibes song. It's a modern song, which would appeal to my generation as a target audience, and had lots of opportunity to create a narrative through the cinematography and lyrics. in addition to this, the singers voice is a young adult male, which my classmates said was useful as it is easy to find someone to imitate the voice when casting for my music video. After this, when creating our groups to work in for the music video, I showed my group another song I had found. they said that the song (Bleed for this by City wolf) was a fantastic song, which was fast paced to create intense editing and a great style of rock genre. We planned some really good shot locations and styles of camerawork we wanted to include when making the video.

in conclusion, my group are making a rock styled music video to 'Bleed for this'- City wolf