Letter of permission to use the song 'Talking About The Weather'.

Ancillary Tasks.

In order to develop our ideas for the digipak ancillary task, we have been looking at different art and photography, such as modern and abstract, which in turn has provided us with much inspiration. Ideally, we would like our digipak to include trees, or at least weather, to link into the song, whilst at the same time being uniquely artistic.

This particular photograph, links into our theme but also portrays a human face, a rather abstract but effective piece of work;

We particularly like this because of how different it is, it is creative yet relevant. Therefore we would like to try to recreate this style of photography, possibly for our own digipak cover.

Practice Editing of Still Shots

Alongside filming we decided to try out some of the effects that we were going to use in the editing of our footage. We thought it would be easier for us to try out the effects and ideas previously so we are familiar with how the new editing programme works and familiar with how to create certain effects. We did this in order to get ourselves familiar with the programme as not all of us have used photoshop before.

One of our ideas was to show the sky in the iris of an eye which are the visuals to a certain part of lyrics in the song.

This image of the sky inside the iris off an eye was created using Adobe Photoshop, this still image will be used in our final product and linked with the Lyric "When I Look down in your bright blue eyes, I can see the skies."

The process involved was complicated and took a lot of time (about 3 hours). From the original image (featured below) I had to cut around the Iris, then take a copy of the cut out. Next I placed the eye into a new layer in front of a background of the sky.

I then used the magic wand tool to erase the background. After this it was pretty simple I just pasted the sky (which is no exactly the same size as the Iris due to the above the steps. ) Back into the original picture of the Iris, and faded out the sky so that it blended into the eye rather than it standing out like a sore thumb.

The hardest part of the process was getting the reflection of the eye lashes to stay in the image.

At this time we were also thinking about ideas for our ancillary tasks and ideas for the art work of the digipak. So we decided to try and see whether some of our ideas were possible to achieve and tested them on a few random pictures. Some of the editing was very simple and straightforward to achieve the effects we wanted (such as colour grading and adding shadows). Other ideas however took much longer to achieve and needed much more effort (such as creating shilouttes etc).

Before                                                                                                                                    After

Feedback

We really need that footage to come rolling in now! A lot of super research and planning, so we now need to make the product match!!

A few extra elements to work on:

• Zulaikha - section on 'The Importance of Music Videos' - may be worth outlining where you would release your video, given that you are featuring a new artists rather than a big name, and why you would sue this site/outlet... may like to link this to some of the web 2.0 ideas you looked at last year?
• Synopsis of treatment fro music video - why not add your aim here - to amplify the lyrics (and what this means) rather than telling a clear narrative with a full Todorov cycle?
• update entry - need to add more about what Matt did with the eye shot - what programmes/tools etc used and possibly a screen shot. it's impressive stuff and you need to record this to help you later on....
• cast list shots and comments on why you have selected the people - why they suit the roles....

Try and take some still shots of yourselves creating your product and add to your blog...

Mrs Doggart

Pre Production Photography.

As a part of our planning, we thought it was essential to develop our mise en scene and we did this through pre-production photography. On a location trip to Corporation Park, along with our artist Conor Mooring, we took several photographs of the area overall, certain trees we may use for our opening shots and of Conor in the frame. By doing so, we gained a much more detailed idea of what we need to include when focusing on mise en scene.

Here is a selection of the photographs taken on the day; 9th December 2009.

*Post not finished - still being edited*

Update for the week, 7th - 11th December, 2009.

This week has been an essential part of our planning process and we have used the the time to our advantage. At the beginning of the week, all storyboards were completed and posted onto the blog, complete with animations. Risk assessments were made of two our locations (Corporation Park & Zulaikha's house) and we are currently waiting for permission to record in the Music Studio, if this is successful, this will follow with a final risk assessment. Throughout this week, we have travelled to locations, in particular Corporation Park, to take artist and location photographs. The mise en scene of such photographs is incredibly similar to that we intend to use during filming, therefore benefiting our planning process immensely. The final part of our research was our survey and this week all the results and conclusions were posted onto the blog to conclude our research. This week has been a huge focus developing our planning. With the storyboards established and our ideas compiled we began to develop the details of certain shots, for example, Matt worked on photoshop to produce an image of an eye reflecting the sky, in relation to the lyrics 'bright blue eyes'.

Next week, we will continue to develop the details of individual shots and begin shooting on location with our artist and his instrument. Then we will continue to film over the Christmas holidays, with all our footage ready to edit for when we come back and some creative ideas for our ancillary tasks to follow.

Our Storyboard

As a group we put together a brief storyboard so that we know what visuals each section of lyrics will be shown with. Each shot in the storyboard will consist of several small shots from different angles and distances etc. The reason we did not draw the storyboard shot by, second by second, is so that we are able to use our imagination when filming and are able to try and do something different. We have put together a simple storyboard and hope to elaborate on it whilst filming. We hope to use various angles, various types of lighting, and different methods to achieve the effects we want. We are going to try and experiment with the filming so that we are able to achieve something new and this will attract the viewer. For example the shots of the artist performing in the park may be hard to get as due to the time of the year the weather may cause some problems. The shots may not look up to scratch in which case we may replace them with shots of the artists performing in the studio. In the studio the artist will be shot with side lighting only and we hope to achieve a sort of dark silhouette effect. We hope to film footage and both of these settings to give us extra footage in case the original idea does not work as well as we hoped.

Overall we have put together an all rounded idea of what we are looking for as a group and have agreed to the type of shots and angles we will be using.

Storyboard

Risk Assessment

Feedback

Just a few minor things to tweak on the research:

• Zulaikha - how music videos are produced - could add a bit at the end about the Production Triangle Paul Morricone was talking about to show that lack of a budget need not necessarily be a handicap?
• Jess - Indie Audience - just struck me that we don't have a clear definition of who precisely your target audience is - could you do a GRASS analysis at the start of this section to determine who the Indie Audience is? You could also at the end add some brief comments stating what you will build in to your video to ensure it will appeal to and engage just this audience.....
• Matt - Bradford bit - is it worth stating that outfits like Poison Pen are typical of teh instituions that produce music videos like yours and what kind of rpesssures they operate under and how this is similar or differnt to yourselves?

Planning is shaping up but can you add some comments to the colour coded lyrics to tell me what the colours mean and how this will help you???? Look over my list to see what else you need to add for your planning. Location shots - possibly add some comments on why you have chosen these as opposed to other locations - why are they good?

Mrs Doggart

Schedule - Week Commencing 6th December

Monday:- Filming in music studio

Tuesday:- Upload Footage

Wednesday:- No filming

Thursday:- 12:15 - 14:30 Filming in house

Friday:- Filming in Corporation Park

Synopsis

As a group we have decided that our music video consists of both performance and narrative.

We are going to show several clips of the artist (Conor) permorming in the recording studio and performing in the park. The shots taken in the music recording studio will be taken from all different angles so that we have extra footage to work with. We hope to use a variety of shots to create the right music video feel. We will also be using dark shadowy lighting and are hoping to try and create some sort of a silhoutte. Where as the shots that are taken in the park will have a very natural feel to them with natural lighting etc. Although we will still be aiming to create a variety of shots using ur monopod.
During these shots we will also show shots of Conor and his girlfriend spending time together. These shots will be shown as if they are memories by Conor of the time he has spent with her. We will be using soft focus and black and white, sephia tones to show that these are past events that he has spent with her. Some shots will be taken outdoor and some in door. The visuals of the narrative will reflect the lyrics of the song. For example when he sings about seeing the sky in her blue eyes we will show this through the visuals. When the lyrics mention lying in bed together this is what will be shot.

Our narrative will consist of scenes that amplify the lyrics, for example, "Lying in bed together" will show the male and female lying in bed together, this will help the viewers get a clear understanding of the lyrics. We have done this instead of a typical narrative of beginning, middle and end.

Technical + prop list

List of equipment we need at each shoot

Filming in music studio:

• Video Camera
• Music Playing Device
• Chair / Stool
• Mic and Headphones
• Guitar
• Costume
• Torch
• Monopod / Tripod

Filming at house:

• Video Camera
• Music Playing Device
• Blanket and Pillows
• Chair to stand on
• Monopod / Tripod
• Bench in Garden
• Costumes - 3 changes

Filming at Corporation Park:

• Video Camera
• Music Playing Device
• Costume
• Monopod / tripod
• Guitar

Colour Coded Lyrics

Me and my new girlfriend

We'll be together until the end

We can rule this world with a smile

But it might take a while

Now we're lying on sand

And you put your head in my hand

And I know that this feels right, i'll hold you tight

While we drift away

'Cause were lying in bed together

talking about the weather

And I look down, in your bright blue eyes

I can see the skies

I hope you'll never leave

You're not just the latest squeeze

But my God your such a tease

And I don't care 'cause I'm so happy

I used to find hard it to believe

That I wore my heart on my sleeve

That things didn't have to go wrong in an instant if I could stop them

I've taken five steps forward and no steps back

Without you I'd be having a heart attack

But I know that when I come home you'll be sitting alone

Waiting for me

'Cause were lying in bed together

Talking about the weather

And I look down, in your bright blue eyes

I can see the skies

(Bridge)

'Cause were lying in bed together

Talking about the weather

And I look down, into your bright blue eyes

I can see the skies

(x2)

I hope you'll never leave

You're not just the latest squeeze

But God your such a tease

And I don't care 'cause I'm so happy.

The reason we decided to colour code our lyrics was so that we know what lyrics each shot will be shown alongside. Before the lyrics start there will be an instrumental sequence that will be played alongside shot 1 in our storyboard. Each set of lines for example line 1-4 will play alongside shot No2. Lines 5-8 will play alongside shot 3. Lines 9-12 will play alongside shot 4 and so on... This is just in order to make it easier for us when filming so we are aware what each shot should show and if it is a performance shot the artist is singing the right part of the lyrics.

Production

Locations

• Corporation Park
• Music Studio
• College
• Outside
• Garden
• Living Room / Bedroom

Props

• Video Camera equipment
  
• Bench
  
• Monopod


• Mic/Headphones
  
• Stool
  
• Acoustic Guitar
  
• Leaves
  
• Music player

Cast

• Male (Lead Character & Singer) Connor
  
• Girl (Must have ice blue eyes to link with the lyrics)
  

Costume

• Costume that relates to our genre such as Jeans and T shirts etc

Lyrics + Rough music

Me and my new girlfriend

We'll be together until the end

We can rule this world with a smile

But it might take a while

Now we're lying on sand

And you put your head in my hand

And I know that this feels right, i'll hold you tight

While we drift away

'Cause were lying in bed together

talking about the weather

And I look down, in your bright blue eyes

I can see the skies

I hope you'll never leave

You're not just the latest squeeze

But my God your such a tease

And I don't care 'cause I'm so happy

I used to find hard it to believe

That I wore my heart on my sleeve

That things didn't have to go wrong in an instant if I could stop them

I've taken five steps forward and no steps back

Without you I'd be having a heart attack

But I know that when I come home you'll be sitting alone

Waiting for me

'Cause were lying in bed together

Talking about the weather

And I look down, in your bright blue eyes

I can see the skies

(Bridge)

'Cause were lying in bed together

Talking about the weather

And I look down, into your bright blue eyes

I can see the skies

(x2)

I hope you'll never leave

You're not just the latest squeeze

But God your such a tease

And I don't care 'cause I'm so happy.

Here is a rough copy of our music:

This is the preliminary recording of the music we are using. We got this so we could listen to the music while story-boarding so we could see what Ideas it gave us.

Feedback

Can you check your last post -something has gone a bit awry with the formatting???

Mrs Doggart

Audience Research Survey - Results & Conclusions.

A2 Media Coursework Survey
Results and Conclusions

As a part of our research, we thought it was key to create an audience survey, to gain a further insight into not just the importance of music videos, but music itself. We asked fourteen people, using random sampling, of both sexes and varying in age, sixteen questions; a mixture of open and closed, thus giving us both quantitative and qualitative data to conclude with. Here is a breakdown of the questions, the conclusions we have drawn and how these will benefit us later in the planning and production process.

Question one: How often do you listen to music?
Thirteen out of fourteen people asked, replied to the multi option choice of ‘Every day’ with only one person answering ‘Once or twice a month’. These answers along with no one choosing ‘Rarely’ or ‘Never’ conveys the importance of music in everyday life to the large majority of people.

Question two: What type of music do you mainly listen to?
The most commonly occurring genres are; ‘Rock’, ‘Pop’, ‘Indie’, ‘Hiphop/RnB’ and ‘Acoustic’. We have already started considered Indie and Acoustic in the production of our video, but the contrast in these genres highlights the variety in people’s interests. Therefore when later planning and filming, we can look at the other genres in more detail to look for unique inspiration, otherwise not stereotypically used to create a much more different, breakthrough video.

Question three: Do you read any music magazines?
After collating the results, three magazines occurred the most;
NME, a leading magazine in the genre of Indie.
Kerrang, a leading magazine in the genre of Metal.
Sound on Sound; a music recording magazine.
From this, our main target would be the audience of NME with our Indie Acoustic artist appealing well to their readers. Therefore when later looking into our ancillary tasks, we will research in more detail the audience of this particular music magazine.

Question four: Where do you mainly listen to your music?
Online: 22%
MP3 Player: 50%
Music Channels: 14%
Radio: 7%
CDs/Vinyls: 7%
Concluding from this, the majority of people use their MP3 players to listen to their music, howerver on more modern electronics such as the Apple iPhone, it is now much easier to access the web and search for music videos online, on the go.

Question five: How do you access your music?
Download: 43%
Buy: 36%
Spotify: 21%
The majority of those asked told us their main way of accessing music was through download, a much more modern technique but nevertheless, very successful. It has been used by bands such as Radiohead and could be used later when looking at our ancillary tasks.

Question six: Do you enjoy watching music videos? If yes, how often?
93% of those asked said yes, they did enjoy watching music videos, 50% said everyday and 36% said so many times a week. This highlights just how important music videos are to the industry and how commonly watched they are. Therefore, when planning and producing our own, we will aim to make it not only outstanding, but one that challenges the normal conventions in order to create a unique stance for our genre.

Question seven: What is it you prefer about music videos?
The large majority of those asked prefer the music video to be mainly focused on the artist and live performance, whilst still featuring a small area of narrative. This preference was particularly highlighted in fans of the Indie genre. Therefore, when looking at our target audience and what we need to include, we shall focus on the essence of live performance.

Question eight: How do you discover new releases?
TV: 21%
Music Magazines: 22%
Radio: 7%
Internet: 36%
Word of Mouth: 14%
This research conveys music is mostly found over the internet, possibly through sites such as www.myspace.com or www.youtube.com. Although this is the more common choice, music magazines and television are also quite popular, whether it be articles in magazines or videos/adverts on the screen.

Question nine: List a few of your favourite bands;
Bands that came up regularly in answers include; The Smiths, Arctic Monkeys, Snow Patrol, to name a few, all stereotypically Indie bands.

Question ten: What is it about advertisements for music that attracts you to it?
‘Colour, artist/band, artwork and photography’ are the main answers we concluded from this question. As previously stated in our research, the Indie audience is rather niche and a fan of a band is a fan for life. Not only will loyalty attract the audience, but the unique creativity used by the artist, linking back to the emphasis on individuality. Therefore, before we start to look at possibly ancillary tasks, we will have a look at some samples of advertisements and compare them to the genre and our own ideas, in order to gain some guidance and inspiration.

Question eleven: How important is music to you?
Everything: 43%
Very: 43%
Indifferent: 7%
Not very: 7%
Not at all: 0%
This question links into the answer and brief analysis of question one. It portrays just how important music is to us, and consequently the music videos that follow.

Question twelve: List a few of your favourite music videos;
Here are two samples, not only varying in their genre but also how they are created.

The Hours – Ali In The Jungle, is a predominantly Indie song. The video has no elements of live performance or real narrative, but more so visual effects linking to the lyrics of the song;



In contrast, Atreyu’s Portrait In Black is a predominantly metal song and focuses on aspects of live performance and clips from Underworld, a mainstream, popular film linked with this particular song.



Question thirteen: How much are you willing to pay for music?
£0 - £5: 14%
£6 - £10: 29%
£11 - £15: 36%
£16 - £20: 0%
Over £20: 21%
We asked this question as later on, when conducting our ancillary tasks, this may come into consideration. It highlights the average price a person is willing to pay, although it does depend what for, for example £15 is reasonable for an album, not a single.

Question fourteen: What attracts you to the album art?
The majority of answers to this question included; ‘Attractive males and females, colours, the artist/band, good graphics and interesting photography.’ Later on in the planning process, when it comes to producing our ancillary tasks, we will look into this in much more detail. The basis of the attraction is that it must be eye catching, often featuring the band, highlighting a sense of familiarity with the fan.

Question fifteen: What makes you want to read an article about a particular artist or song?
The main answer to this, was whether or not the artist/band was of interest to the audience. For example, if a fan of Arctic Monkeys saw an article on the lead singer Alex Turner, they would be drawn to it, whereas a fan of Metallica probably wouldn’t be, thus linking audience into genre.

Question sixteen: Do you enjoy live music? If yes, how often?
50% of the people asked said they enjoyed live music every so often, with 29% saying every month and 21% saying rarely. Live music is especially important to certain genres, for Pop music you have concerts whereas for Indie music you have gigs. Most people commented, whilst answering this question, that they would go more often to see their bands it was merely a matter of cost, emphasising the importance of performance. This can be taken into consideration in both the production of the video and the production of the ancillary tasks to follow.

From this survey, we have been able to create conclusions based on the audience’s preferences not only towards music itself, but how they obtain it, how they view it and their opinions towards music videos. Also, by including questions relating to ancillary tasks, we have collected much more research and information to help us later in the production of the overall project. It is from these answers that we have gone into the planning stage of our project with a more confident outlook on what our target audience want and what we aim to achieve throughout the production process.

Trip to Bradford

Last week, our media class and the other media classes from college went on a trip to the National Media Museum in Bradford. While there we had a talk from Paul Morricone, a representative from Poison Pen Films, a Leeds based music video production company. They have done projects for the likes of Funeral For A Friend and The Holloways. The Videos that they have created are very varied in both style of music and style of video. During this talk he gave us information and guidance on making our own music videos. This information will come in handy for our production of a music video for our A2 media coursework project.

The mains points gained from this talk are:

· Firstly, the band will ring you up and say they want a music video.

· Listen to music and decide on what type of elements you think will fit with the music.

· Begin production on the video.

· The footage is mainly shot in one day.

· During the shooting of the footage it is better to film the band (if they want to be in the film) lip singing, As this is much easier to do than filming them performing live as they may change what they are doing or making a musical mistake.

· It is best to film in a location that is cheap and quiet rather than expensive and very busy (Like London).

· The editing is the hard part of the production as this may take weeks to complete.

· BUT the editing is the most creative part of the production process as this is when you add effects and change the colour grading etc…

· Show the final product to the band and they will hopefully be happy.

Along with this it seems that bands want high quality videos for a rather low budget, on average £5,000.

As a group we have taken some tips from this day and are applying them to our project to hopefully, help our production and increase our grade.

Feedback

This is shaping up nicely. Just a few extra pointers beyond what I talked about in class:

- Zuleikha - in the section on Institution you need to talk a little about set-ups like Poison Pen Productions - small, independent production units that need to produce the goods on a budget - possibly refer to the timescales and budgets and how this relate to your project.
- Jess - Strawberry Swing video - you say it has no narrative - it does! I think you mean that it s story does not match the lyrics? Possibly worth clarifying?
- Jess - section on Indies - is there a little bit of a contradiction early on when you talk about the Indie being an individual and then talking about the indie stereotype? Again, I think I know what you mean but it may be worth clarifying this a bit more.

I hope by Thursday you have all your research finished and can start cracking on with the planning!

Mrs Doggart

Music Videos: Key Features

Typical representation for a music video solely depends on the genre. The music video needs to incorporate five different sections in order to link in with the genre. The five sections needed are:

• Mise en scene- Do the props, costuming, scene setting, etc, link in with the genre? For our genre, Indie Rock, there needs to be an element of Rock so in order to do this we could use a leather biker jacket slung over a chair in the background so we get can see the 'Couldn't Care Less' attitude that is stereotyped on Rockers. Indie Rock is a more subtle version of the Rock genre, therefore we need to incorporate the Indie genre into our Music Video we could have an acoustic guitar as a prop in an open flat to give us a sense of calmness. Both of these together would show us that its a calm version of rock just by having these props clothing and setting in the music video, fitting perfectly to our criteria. Also having absolutely everything within the mise en scene section link with the lyrics works well, we can see this in the Bad Romance music video by Lady GaGa, which is shown below;

(A part is missing because its saved on my usb, will add this friday night)

• Editing- This plays a major roll in the overall product. We need to use editing to ensure that the music video conveys smoothly. In order to do this we need many of the same shots so we can make sure there is nothing out of place, for example, say we wanted to do a walking shot with different scenery behind the frontman, we would need to move locations and if we only did one shot per location we may find that the frontman is slightly to the left causing a jump in the shot. To ensure we don't make this mistake we need to take several shots using the rule of third. The rule of third would help to keep the frontman central of the screen etc. An example of this is Imogen Heap's- "Jus for now" music video, the camera zooms out from her mouth on every shot to reveal her in different clothing and scenery etc.

• Cinamatography- The angles, close ups, panning, tilting, tracking shots etc, are needed to make the music video look realistic and can often help tell a story in a music video, for example, Britney Spears' "3" music video, shows a lot of variation in shots creating a story. In our video we need to decide upon which angles and shots to take in order to make the music product a success.

• Sounds- In sounds we need to make sure that the music does not cover the singing in the music video, if this happens the video will be a disaster no matter how brilliant it is, this is all in the recording, for example, if the guitar was too close to a mic and the singer was where he/she should be then it would sound strange and vice versa. Also lipsyncing needs to be done by either playing the track really loudly and miming along to the words. Or sing really slowly/fastly depending on whether its going to be fast paced or slow pace, this is so when we do our editing we can add the music to the product. Again we need to do several shots in order to make the lipsyncing work well.

• Lighting- This can interpret the mood of the song by the lighting, for example, in dance music videos if its dark with light beams of vibrant colour we see that as a place full of energy, if we saw a something in black and white we would think of a good/bad memory or a past/present sad time, lots of vibrant colour with no dark shows happiness. Natural lighting is used for creating a sense of real life, not the high life of luxury, for example, Leona Lewis' music video "Happy", this show a story of her and the man have feelings for one another and it's not until the end that we see that she is actually one of the bridemaids to his wedding. The natural lighting help to tell this story as it made it seem as though we as the audience are actually there. Natural lighting also lets the audience capture feelings of the artist, using this lighting is also a cheaper option too.

Overall by incorporating these ideas we should get the outcome of a successful music videos that flows correctly.

Mood Board.

Mood Board

As a part of our research I thought it was essential to include a mood board based upon our genre of Indie. Not only can we establish a good idea of the type of music/artists our music will be like, but also have a deeper understanding of how Indie artists represent themselves through the media.


Some of the bands featured above;
The Sunshine Underground, Babyshambles, White Lies, The View, Florence & The Machine, Kasabian, Muse, Hot Chip, Noah and The Whale – all stereotypically Indie.

The first thing you notice about the mood board, is the domination of the male gender within the genre. It is a fact that most Indie bands today are predominantly male and this is represented here through the photography. Most are also represented as the stereotype conveys (explained in more detail in the Audience piece of research), in particular with their costume. Also represented are two guitarists, Matthew Bellamy from Muse (known to be one of the most talented guitarists today) and Sergio Pizzorno from Kasabian, thus linking in to the importance of instrumental within Indie. Our artist is also male and plays the acoustic guitar on the recording, therefore fitting in with the stereotype perfectly.

Another rather noticeable trait is the branding of the band’s names. For example, The View. The way their name is represented has become a part of their branding, it is featured in magazines, on adverts, on their albums, it is essentially their logo. The same can be said for the other band names featured such as The Sunshine Underground and Muse. Therefore when completing our ancillary tasks we will take branding into account.

The live performance element of the Indie genre is also represented through photography on this mood board. Photos of Liam Gallagher from Oasis, The Rumble Strips and Babyshambles are features, conveying the importance of performance, something we will take into considering when producing our own video.

Overall, the mood board builds the foundations of Indie for us to build upon. During our planning and consequently production, we can take into account what is represented here in order to meet the demands of our target audience and consequently produce a successful music video and ancillary tasks.

The Indie Audience.

The Indie Audience


Gender - Predominantly male, although this is changing over time (e.g. Florence Welch).
Race - Predominantly Caucasian, although this too is changing (e.g. Kele Okereke).
Age - Usually teens and young adults, approximately aged 14 to 25.
Socio-economic status - There is no particular class, as the music is aimed at anyone, there is a wide audience.
Special interests - In this case, music or playing music instruments themselves.

The Indie audience is very much defined by the music itself. The old definition of 'being Indie' was to be Individual, however today it has become more of a stereotype, with it's own conventions and styles. For example, they are defined by what bands they listen to, what instruments they play and the clothing that they wear. Although the stereotype may not be accurate for every member of the Indie audience and differs based on gender, it is a good place to start and establishes a common foundation for the genre to build upon.

Focusing firstly on the audience as a whole, the stereotype conveys a huge amount of information that is extremely useful to those producing music videos. The Indie audience like to be different and not conform to the social norms, nor look like anyone else, individuality is key and music is their life;
• Music is preferred live and loud, whether it be at gigs or at festivals, a rather youthful scene. It is very much a niche audience. It is not merely listening to a band on the radio and appreciating them, but becoming a part of the stigma. If an Indie likes a band, they will have seen them live, own the albums, own the posters and wear the t-shirt. They become totally engrossed in their music.
• Almost every member of the Indie audience will play a musical instrument, most commonly either the acoustic or the electric guitar, although drum, bass and piano are not rare. Not only will they frequently play, most also write their own music and appear in their own indie bands, trying to get their break.
• Following on from the last point, it is Indie music magazines such as NME, which provide them with their break. Most members of the audience tend to find new music in such magazines and therefore read it weekly, almost religiously. Not only do the magazines feature information on bands, but also on new releases and upcoming gigs, everything an Indie needs.
• Once an artist has caught the Indie’s eye, it is a case of acquiring the music. As most Indie music is exactly that, individual, and not necessarily ‘famous’, most of the music can be found on www.myspace.com and often offers a free download. Other ways of acquiring the songs could be downloads from the bands site, or buying a single/album from the merchandise stand outside the gig.

These points form the foundations of what it is like to be Indie and what our target audience is all about. Although they are the main characteristics, it is also key to look at representation and this is where it splits into female representation and male representation of the Indie audience.

Female Representation

Most females within the Indie audience are influenced by female artists within their own genre. For example, this is Karen O from the band The Yeah Yeah Yeahs;


She is very much stereotypical indie, her hair conveys the ‘lego hair-cut fringe’ and her make-up the classic look adopted by most Indie females. Looking more so at the costume, here is a picture of Alexa Chung, television presenter and girlfriend of The Arctic Monkeys front man Alex Turner;


This is the stereotypical dress for an Indie girl, skinny jeans, feminine top, extravagant yet pretty jewellery and overall looking rather natural. We are very much influenced by what we see in the media, whether it be magazines, television or indeed the artists themselves and therefore it is common to see it copied. In this case, girls do copy but take it and make it their own in an individual way in order to stick to their own stereotype.

Male Representation

This also applies to the representation of males, they stick to the stereotypical dress which is hugely influenced by the artists themselves. For example, this is Alex Turner, as previously mentioned, the front man of The Arctic Monkeys;


This is typical dress for a male from the Indie Audience. Smartly dressed in skinny jeans, possibly winkle pickers or smart boots and a polo-shirt/jumper. The hair is mid length and swept over, and this is thus copied by most indie males. As most Indie artists are predominantly male, they are hugely influential with not only their music but their dress.

Overall, it is key to look at the Indie audience when considering our own music. The key word is individuality. We must appeal to their conventions and what they expect from an Indie music video. Also, by looking at the costume/dress through representation not only gives us costume ideas for our artist but also an idea of the Mise en Scene we could use throughout shooting. It also conveys that music in the Indie genre is incredibly influential, and therefore when planning our own music video, we will try to include influential factors into our production as well.


Linking back to the GRASS diagram shown at the beginning of this post, we will ensure when planning and producing our own music video to take into account each stage. For example, with the special interests including musical instruments, we will film performance shots and close ups of the guitars used in order to appeal to our target audience.

Music Video Analysis - Strawberry Swing by Coldplay.

The best way to comprehend how certain codes and conventions are used, not only throughout a music video but also within the genre, is to take a much more detailed look at one, thus producing a complete and thorough analysis. The video I have chosen, whilst remaining Indie, is entirely different to most videos currently circulating modern media. There is no performance, and what narrative there is does not match the lyrics or the music. It is based upon an artist’s chalk drawings and their animation with no real link between the visuals, the music and the lyrics. Despite this completely contradicting Goodwin’s six main conventions, it remains a highly successful music video winning not only Video of the Year, but also Best animation in a Video and Best Rock Video.

Strawberry Swing by Coldplay (2008):


Indie is a term used much more widely today than it once was. It no longer means to be entirely independent but is more so a term to describe the stereotypical traits of the music itself, its sound. Therefore although Coldplay are signed to EMI and are no longer independent, their music and their representation is that of an Indie band. As they are signed to such a large and successful label, their budget for the music video was substantially larger than the budget of any literally independent band such as The Young Knives.

Probably the best way to first analyse this video is look at how it challenges the typical codes and conventions of music videos by Andrew Goodwin, mentioned previously in our research. To begin with, there is no link between the visuals or the music, nor the visuals and the lyrics, yet it seems to work. For example, the lyrics; ‘The sky could be blue, The sky could be grey, Without you I just slide away, The sky could be blue, I don’t mind, Without you it’s a waste of time,’ have no real link to a superhero, clouds or a giant squirrel. It is almost like surrealism. You could also look at a possible connotation of the ‘random animations’ within the video, the possible images of one person’s imagination. When you are in love, which this song conveys through its lyrics, you are almost in a dream world where nothing quite makes sense, you are one step back from reality, almost a blind love. It is possible these animations represent the random goings on within a person’s mind at such a time.

That last point, although a huge use of imagery, is not in itself iconography, another convention of music videos according to Goodwin. Although today, the genre of Indie is rather large and ever-changing, most videos do feature performance, or at least rather a lot of close ups as demanded from the fans. Although Chris, the lead singer of Coldplay does indeed feature in the video, it is always from a far and in full costume and so is hard to distinguish as himself, thus challenging normal conventions. There is no voyeurism, nor any intertextual references; it is a completely unique video. Despite challenging all other aspects, the production of this video is mainly editing; the video and animations themselves were directed by the visual artists Shynola. There is a lot of controversy over whether the art was actually hand drawn or computer generated and so in an interview with one of the directors from Shynola, it was cleared up with; We had pretty much all of the animation roughly blocked-out beforehand using computers. It was just a matter of taking one frame at a time with our grid for reference. Luckily, you only need to draw or rub out the bits that have moved since the last frame. We also had this cool portable monitor while filming, which showed you a live feed from the camera, blended with the previous take and our pre-vis.’

So although the conventions are challenged and the codes not kept to, it remains a very successful video. Why? The animations. Even just watching the video you become transfixed not only on the beauty of them but also the complexity. The effort and time put into the video is astounding and compels you to carry on watching. It is such a different take on any music video, a risk the label were willing to take which in turn has produced a huge advance in modern music videos today.

In order to gain a more detailed and wider understanding of what particular aspects of this video appeal to people, I have conducted a brief questionnaire and asked five people, aged 16 – 20 of both genders, selected at random, their opinions of Strawberry Swing;

1)What are your initial thoughts whilst watching this video?
Participant 1: This is a very good video.
Participant 2: That the animations were very well designed.
Participant 3: Weird, interested, wondering what will happen next.
Participant 4: Very original, hard to follow.
Participant 5: It is odd, but very likeable.

2) Do you like this particular music video, and if yes, why?
Participant 1: Yes, purely for the visuals.
Participant 2: Yes, because it was very well thought out and well produced especially as it seems it was created on a low budget.
Participant 3: Yes, since its fascinating and interesting and something new that i havent seen before.
Participant 4: No.
Participant 5: Yes, it different, colourful, and rather ‘happy’.

3) What is it about the visuals that compels you to watch?
Participant 1: It's just really interesting. Makes you want to watch it all the way through.
Participant 2: The contrast between 3d and 2d animations, specifically the falling umbrella scene.
Participant 3: Its new and different.
Participant 4: Fast paced changes kept my attention.
Participant 5: The rather colourful animations.

4) Do you think the music, visuals and lyrics complement each other?
Participant 1: Indeed they do, very well.
Participant 2: I think the lyrics, especially in the chorus, fit well with the visuals of the video.
Participant 3: Yes all three go together well to interest you.
Participant 4: No.
Participant 5: Yes, I think they do.

5) After watching the video, what is your impression of the song?
Participant 1: It is very good, but the visuals may distract you from the song itself, therefore basing your judgement more so on the visuals rather than the music.
Participant 2: I liked the song, I think that the lyrics and music complement each other very well.
Participant 3: It’s a very chilling, relaxing song.
Participant 4: Comes from someone with a very eccentric imagination.
Participant 5: I really do like it, it’s a rather relaxing song complimented by the visuals.

The overall consensus is as follows; the video itself is new, interesting and very original thus becoming rather impressive and progressed in modern videos today. It is a very likeable video, the colourful visuals are fascinating and quite mesmerizing to the audience. The fast changing 2d to 3d visuals are extremely interesting thus keeping your attention fixed on the video, whilst the music and lyrics complement this. Therefore after watching the video your impression of the song is that it is a rather relaxing and peaceful song.

After conducting those questions and collating the answers, now we can see why it is so successful. Therefore taking a risk with the production of your music video, depending on how you do it, could be rather successful and progressed. Therefore when it comes to the planning and production of our own music video, I will take into consideration other ways of challenging the conventions and taking risks, in order to produce something truly original.

Institutions: How a Music Video is Produced

How A Music Video Is Made
The end result of a music video appearing on music channels has a long process to undergo, from the first idea that the release of a certain single will need visuals to the finished product of a music video. Depending on the singles genre, artist, director and budget etc it varies in the way the music video is produced. However there are various stages that generally apply to the creation of a music video.

1. The artists and its management team decide on what single to release
2. The video commissioner decides on a shortlist of possible directors and sends to them the song, a broad brief and ideas for the video.
3. These directors will reply to the commissioner with outline briefs/ideas from which the commissioner chooses a director and sets the budgets and deadlines.
4. the director develops storyboards and location photos etc
5. A team is put together; art directors, wardrobe and makeup artists and directors of photography are enlisted. Locations are booked and sets are designed and built
6. The shoot often varies depending on budgets and locations usually takes on or two days; all personnel are on site for shoot
7. Once the shooting is complete the film is transferred for editing. The editor will produce a rough cut which tends to take about 3 days
8. any changes are agreed before the visuals effects are added
9. The finished video is passed to label for release to TV stations and airplay in advance of single release.

The record company
When a record company signs up an artist, the artist is given fee in advance in order for them to cover their releasing and marketing costs (such as costs for music video). The record company is who employs the video commissioner etc.

The video production company
The production company represents the director within a particular region. The company acts on behalf of the director finding work for them and negotiating with clienteles. Individual directors are doubtful to have the suitable assets to pitch for a job so the production company does this.

The director
Director has the position of listening to the track, looking at lyrics, albums and any other material associated with the band. When the director puts in a suggestion for the potential idea of the music video and it is down to the commissioner/record companies to say whether they like the idea or not. If the company is pleased with the proposal they will possibly hold a meeting with the director in order to plan the next stages in producing the video.

Budgeting
The producer puts together a financial plan which is put forward to the head of production. It is also submitted to the director to see if it is a convenient budget to fit the production.
In recent years because of the economic crisis in media industries it appears that record companies are low on budgets however the need of high-quality music videos are needed.

Production unit
The production unit’s key members are the production designer, director of photography and lighting and production manager. Also includes choreographer, production assistant, wardrobe stylist and additional crew members.
The time in which the director receives the song and has the finished video can be as short as 3-5 weeks. Often the completed music video is wanted 6 weeks prior to the release date so the production unit must operate promptly. If the video is not delivered by the deadline no one gets paid.

Delivery
Once the shooting, editing etc has all taken place and the music video is finished the music promo are delivered and release forms are signed. In general the production company will seek 50% of the money on commencement and the other 50% on delivery.

Exhibition
Due to the increase of music channels there is space for much more music videos on air. Hence there is also more potential to release promos on VCD as single or even on DVD collections.


Our Product Planning
The music we have decided to use has been composed by a fellow colleage of us who we have regular contact with. During our planning and production process we will have the advantage of speaking to the artist himself and gaining his imput in our production. We are able to speak to him and get to know his reasons about why he wrote the song and what are his feelings and meanings behind it. We have also decided to pitch our ideas cross to the artist to see how he feels towards them; whether he is happy with what we have come up with and if there is anything he may possibly want to add.
Our Budget
Video production companies often have a large budget to work with. The budget may vary from time to time however their aim is to produce a strong and good music video for the artist that the artist will be pleased with. Currently companies are working with around the budget of £5000 from which they have to plan and produce the full video. However as we do not have the access to that type of money our product will be produced from a minimum budget. We are hoping to find locations, props, costumes etc for no sum of money and if needed then very little money. We will probably use those things that we already have easy access to and that we could get hold of of free. Although our budget is minimal we still aim to produce a great music video that has quality and uniqueness for our artist.

Music Video Analysis

In order to help us see how media language is used and how the codes and conventions operate in a indie music video I decided to analyze a video. However, instead of analyzing an ‘indie’ genre music video I decided to analyze a song from an alternative genre. This is because I felt that it would help in the planning of our music video: knowing what other genres consist of may let us adapt certain things towards our own genre in order to get something indie but yet still unique and different to what is typically shown in indie videos.
I decided to look at RnB/hip-hop artists JayZ & Beyonce – Their hit song ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ (This being one of my favorite music videos).





The music video is mainly based on narrative story rather than performance. The narrative of the story and its visuals run in relationship to the lyrics. As most music videos that have a narrative, what the audience see’s reflects the lyrics. In this case the artists main message in the song is ‘all I need in this life of sin is me and my girlfriend,’ this is what is shown through the visuals. We are able to see JayZ and Beyonce as a couple doing ‘SIN’ but all that matters to them is the support of each other and being together. In addition to this there is also a relationship between the music and the visuals as the sequence is edited in pace of the beat of the music. As the beat slows down or speeds up so does the action in the shots and the length of each shot.


The artists are shown in a very glamorous way, driving their expensive cars and having what appears to be expensive jewelry. This reflects the image that we are given of celebrities and artists etc in the sense that they live a life of luxury and lavishness. Often when watching a music video we expect to the artists to be shown in a superstar manner. Their glamour is further emphasized through the rich bright lighting; the warm sunny lighting emphasizes on the artists spectacular image. Although some scenes of the music video are shot in what may be called ‘the hood’ the artists are shown to be ‘street’ in a very glam and stylish way.


The music video is not edited in any extreme way as it tends to be very simple and realistic in order to reflect the reality of the lyrics. Because of the fact that is a narrative based music video any extreme editing would cause the music video to look strange and out of place from the lyrics. Throughout the video mainly invisible cuts are used from shot to another. However there is use of fades and dissolves but this is only to show the passage of time and to show to parts of action running concurrently at the same time. The speed of some shots is also edited at times e.g. slow motion, this to emphasize on what is happening in the scene and cause the audience to pay more attention the artists and their movement. There are several bird eye view shots also used in the video to show settings and to follow the police chase. The camera shots have also been used in a way to make the artists look powerful and dominant, there are several shots that are from a slightly low angles. In contrast to the police officors are shown in a vulnerable way through the high angle shots.


The music video also uses voyeurism. Beyonce is shown to be very glamorous and provocative, appealing to both men and women. Her perfect body and her beauty has all been emphasized on in a way which engages both men and women to the video. Women see her as someone they want to be and men find her sexually appealing. At one point of the video she has a hot red Mexican style dress on which makes her look very hot and provocative. She is the only one that has red on compared to all the black and grey’s in the room. This makes her stand out. Beyonce is the only women we see in the music vide which emphasizes on her importance and makes her the centre of every man’s attention. Beyonce appeals to all women of all ages and races, not only do African black women find her appealing but so do women of other backgrounds. Compared to JayZ, Beyonce is shown in a much more sexualized way; her clothes are very revealing yet not ‘sleazy’ but this is only to emphasis on her perfect body.


Overall the visuals of the music video are mainly focused on the artists and are filled up with close ups and medium close ups of the artist in order to promote and sell the artist. This is able to not only promote the artists but even the genre as we are almostly instantly aware of the genre when watching the video. The music video is able to exert a pull on both female and male audience of a range of areas (mainly teenagers).


Taking into consideration Goodwin’s six points of the codes and conventions of music videos it appears that this video has been able to satisfy all of these points.

Further analysis of music video
I decided to ask a few people 6 quick questions about what they think about the music video and what it is about the music video that appeals to them. These are the results I found:


1. Do you like the music video?
-Yes
-Yes, but don’t like these type of songs
-Yes
-Yes
-Yes
This shows that even someone who is not very keen on such a genre may also find the music video interesting and may like it.


2. What do you like about the music video and what engages you to watch on?
-The story line
-I love beyonce
-It has good narrative
-The artists
-Its different to majority of Rnb/Hip-hop music videos
Here we have a mixture of responses. It shows that people like music videos that are different and although they may not have much artist performance that good narrative can interest the audience.


3. Do you feel the lyrics go well with the visuals?
-Yes
-Yes
-Yes
-Yes
-Yes
All of our responses agreed that the visuals go well with the lyrics. This is a key part we have to think about when creating our own music video -> there must be a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals


4. Is there anything you don’t like about the video or is there anything you would change?
-more performance
-more girls
-nothing
-I like it its different
-some dancing by beyonce – great dancer
Many people enjoy seeing artists perform and especially because Jayz and Beyonce are great performers audience enjoy watching them and some would like to see more dance coreography etc. A section of the male audience also perfer to see more females in their music videos and more sex appeal.


5. Does Beyonce appeal to you and in what way?
-Yes, Shes a great artist and her songs are great
-Yes, She’s really fit. Any guy would want to be with her
-Yes, she’s so beautiful shes my idol
-Yes, I would love to have a body like her
-Yes, she’s even though im not a big fan of her I think shes a great singer with a great style
This shows that beyonce appeals to both men and women. Men see her as someone who they would want to be with and women see her as someone who they would want to be.


6. After watching this music video would you go and purchase this song?
-Definately
-Yes
-Maybe
-Yes
-Yes
This sums up the fact that music videos play a great part in promoting the audience and also making sales.


Both males and females were questioned ranging from ages 16 – 20. I decided to only put down a few of the responses I received because I realized I had got similar responses from many people. The reason I carried this questionnaire out was just to see whether others feel towards the music video and what is it exactly that people like. By knowing what people would alter about the music video it also helps me think about what type of issues should we keep in mind when producing our music video? After all the main targeted age audience is the same.