Contact with the artist

After I couldn't use Mike Dignams track I went to my back up royalty free track. However to make sure I could use the song and to let the artist know about the music video I tried to contact him. 

Practical Production Treatment/ Plan

Storyboard Ideas

Music Video Analysis

1) Taylor Swift- Mean

I have firstly chosen the music video 'Mean' by Taylor Swift as I think it's quite a deep and meaningful piece. This video is centered around the experiences of being picked on and bullied, and the video visualizes how we must keep on going no matter how bad it gets. The video is really powerful from the outset and throughout. There are multiple scenarios in the video where we can see examples of the bullying take place. The video eventually transitions to showing the bright futures that the bullied children and Taylor Swift herself have reached because of their determination to make something of themselves. Taylor wants her audience (majority teenage girls) to shrug off the bullies and keep positive. All the mise-en-scene makeup/clothing/props etc mirror the country genre as everything is very old fashioned and western which reflects the country genre. A bright spotlight focuses on each of the bullied characters in the song to allow us to focus on their emotions. The video combines two visual styles; performance and narrative. In relation to Andrew Goodwin's Theory published in his book 'Dancing in the distraction factory' this video reflects it's genre' video style and iconography as in most country videos we tend to see them playing instruments such as the banjo, the setting (backdrop in this case) is usually in a rural western farm area. So Taylor Swift has really gone back to her country video roots. Many close ups of the main artist within this music video also shows she is the main focus and that she is the product being marketed.

2) LMFAO- Party Rock Anthem

I have secondly picked 'Party Rock Anthem' by LMFAO as it completely contrasts my first video. The whole video is one big dance routine, this relates back to Andrew Goodwins theory of video style and iconography as in most Electronic dance videos we tend to see lots of dancing and bright clothing. Another aspect of their video iconography is the gold dancing robot which appears in every LMFAO video, this really works as even if you can't see the main artists in the video you will know it's LMFAO because of the gold robot. Every actor/dancer in this video is wearing LMFAO's Party Rock clothing range, they have done this in every video to date, this has become part of their star iconography. This also promotes their clothing line and the bright dance scene colours will also appeal to their target audiences fashion sense. Going back to Andrew Goodwin's Theory, LMFAO have used intertextual references from the film 28 Days Later, this is really creative and unusual as instead of having infected people who turn into zombies they have turned the 'zombies' into people who cannot stop dancing. ‘The shuffle’ is a dance routine which is the main performance in this video, it is a very fashionable dance move which viewers are very keen to be able to perform. The routine went viral and references to it in the song helped it be effective.

3) Demi Lovato- Skyscraper

The final video I have chosen is 'Skyscraper by Demi Lovato. Demi Lovato has used her music to help her though her personal struggles, while using this openness to connect to her audience and help them get through their own struggles. I feel this is a really emotional and personal piece and Demi conveys this to the audience really well. Throughout the video there are many close ups of the Demi Lovato, this allows us to see the raw emotion in her face, this also relates back to one of Goodwin's Theories. Goodwin stated that there is a demand from the record company to have lots of close-up At the beginning of the video Lovato’s voice shakes and she sounds like she is on the verge of tears. The volume is soft in order to increase the emotional impact. The mood of 'Skyscraper' goes from sad to uplifting. The mise-en-scene/makeup/clothing/props are all very simple and plain, but this has been used so the only thing to focus on is the artist and the song itself. The colours of demi's costume and surroundings are very light and quite heavenly, insinuating that this is her kind of rebirth into the music industry ( due to her recent stay in rehab).

Contact with the artist

Unfortunately I can't use Mike Dignam's song Great Escape so I'm going with my back up Royalty Free track which is just as good.

Music Video- Definition

My understanding of a music video is that it is a short film that accompanies a song which often includes musicians performing the song or including visual images that interpret the lyrics. Music videos are used to promote the song as the video will be on the internet and TV and therefore reach out to a wider audience. 
Overall I think a music video is something which relates to the lyrics and allows the viewer to engage with it, whether it's a Narrative, Performance, Concept or Animation video.

Andrew Goodwin Research

 Andrew Goodwin wrote a book called 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'. Goodwin was interested in the visual language and imagery that is implicit and explicit within music videos. 
His theory was whether music videos reflect the society we live in and if there is gender inequality and power relations in music videos.

Goodwin Studied hundreds of music videos when researching for his book and managed to come up with some key codes and conventions that are prominent in many music videos today.

The codes and conventions of music videos that Goodwin felt related to the theory include:

1. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals  
This is when there is a direct relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, In other words you see exactly what they are singing about. For example in Taylor Swifts 'We are never getting back together' video the lyrics are talking about how they are never getting back together and the visuals in the video mirrors the narrative.

2. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals
e.g. Jay Z- Empire State of Mind, This video is all about New York, and they filmed it in New York.

3. Particular music genres have their own music video style and iconography (visual style)
'Typical' RnB videos usually feature a choreographed dance routine. Hip-Hop videos tend to include rapping to the camera, and plenty of female flesh on display. Rock/metal videos on the other hand tend to rely on performance videos.

4. There is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close-ups of the main artist

An example of this is Miley Cyrus Wrecking ball. 




5. The artist may develop their own star iconography, in and out of their videos, which over time, becomes part of their star image 
E.g. Adele has a huge iconic style, she nearly almost dresses in black at public events and always have very 60's hair and make up.

6. There is likely to be a reference to voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women, but also in terms of systems of looking (screens within screens, binoculars, film and movie cameras etc.)
This occurs frequently in Katy Perry's videos, in 'Last Friday Night' there is a scene where there is 'Just Dance footage' being filmed off the TV it's being played on.

7. There is likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos or to films and TV texts.
The Wanted- Walks like Rihanna is a great example as they reenact old famous boyband music videos.
Another example is STEPS- Say you'll be mine where they use scenes from famous films 

Music Video Proposal

Song: Broken Stereo

Artist: Sean Fournier

Audience
I'm aiming my music video at a teenage/young adult audience, as I feel that the genre and and the mood of the song reflect the age range. Also similar artists out there like Ed Sheeran have the same main target audience. The narrative in the video also stars two teenagers which will also attract the audiences attention.

The song
The song 'Broken Stereo' by Sean Fournier is an original song written by the artist himself, mainly talking about how he want's to love this girl but she's broken and upset, but if he let's her he said that they could be so good together. It's really a song of trying to prove to a girl that he can make all her worries go away.

Style
I have chosen to use a narrative style as I feel it's the best way to convey the meaning of the song. 

Visual
I am planning to film the video at Wells beach, as the beach is a perfect escape where you can clear your thoughts and feel free. My main plan is to film a boy and a girl at the beach, and the boy throughout the day is trying to cheer the girl up and fix her heart. The settings where I may film are the beach, beach huts, cafe, amusements, shops, restaurant and the final shot will be of the two going back towards the beach on a small train. I want the acting to look natural so I'm planning just to give them an outline of what I want them to do throughout the day and just film them. I want the video to have an element of romance and an uplifting feel to it and hopefully this will be portrayed by the end of the video, and hopefully it will be something my audience can relate to.

Royalty free track

I found a royalty free track to use just in case I can't find another artist/band. The artist I'm hoping to use a song from is Mike Dignam. But in case I need a back up I've found Sean Fournier. Sean Fournier has a really similar indie/pop sound which I really like. Either way I'm happy using both of these tracks.




Lyrics

Why do you look so glum?
Are you breaking?
Behind the smile that I know you’re faking
Cause it is no surprise
I see it in your eyes
And they just don’t lie

Cause if your love was a broken stereo
Would I be music to your ears?
And your fears would be drowned in my audio
You don’t hear me though
And I shed light on your worst-case scenario
When you’re crawling through the dark
My spark would light the way back home
You don’t see me though

And we could be so good
Yeah we could be so good

Why do you look so glum?
Were you weeping?
And letting go of dreams that you know you should be keeping
Cause once you let them go, they’re gone
But I can’t help you hold on

Yeah

Cause if your love was a broken stereo
Would I be music to your ears?
And your fears would be drowned in my audio
You don’t hear me though
And I shed light on your worst-case scenario
When you’re crawling through the dark
My spark would light the way back home
You don’t see me though

And we could be so good
Yeah we could be so good

Cause I’m in your vicinity, but you do not consider me
Met you once or twice, but you probably don’t remember me
As I go undiscovered, you confuse me for another
Making faces in your faceless crowd
When I’ve been screaming out loud

Cause if your love was a broken stereo
Would I be music to your ears?
And your fears would be drowned in my audio
You don’t hear me though
And I shed light on your worst-case scenario
When you’re crawling through the dark
My spark would light the way back home
You don’t see me though

And we could be so good
Yeah we could be so good

Director X

Director X has worked with a range of artists.The majority within the genre of POP and Hip-Hop/R&B. He has worked with artists such as Justin Bieber, The Wanted, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West and many more.

The first artist I have chosen as an example of Director X's work is The Wanted and their video Glad You Came-

I picked The Wanted- Glad You Came as it's one of the most mainstream artists he's worked for and Glad You Came has been The Wanted's biggest selling hit to date. In this video Director X presents the boyband as party animals, The Mise en Scene instantly indicates that they are on holiday in Ibiza due to the obvious signs indicating this.

Director X uses a lot of quick cuts throughout the video to try show how crazy the party is and then he slows them down when it's each individual members turn to sing. This is to show them as the focal point of this section in the song. Also for each members solo they are partnered with a girl to show their attraction.

The quick cuts make the video look like a memory of the weekend as it only shows snippets of little things that they might remember after a weekend of partying. The narrative story behind the song is simple, it's just about a party and everyone having a good time. All the extras included in the video make it look like a real party. I really like this video because the party and the other events all look really realistic.

Drake- Started From The Bottom

I picked this as another example because it's a completely different video compared to Glad You Came by a completely different artist.

From the start of the video we get a definite idea of what the video is going to be about. One of the first things we see is Drake as a young kid in his home town of Toronto. The song is called Started From The Bottom so it is clear that we are going to see his journey throughout life and into stardom.

We then go forward in time to see drake working in a shop before he became famous

Elements from the mise en scene like Drugs, girls, money, alcohol show are commonly seen in R&B/HipHop videos, this is one of the things we can identify them by. All these elements show the viewer that he's now rich and famous because he can now afford all these things e.g Private Jets. This Narrative tells a story of one mans road to success. 

Drake has his friends in the video showing although his life has changed dramatically he still has his friends from before. By including this in the video it shows that he hasn't let this life change him.

In both of the videos Director X has appealed to both of the different audiences. The Wanted being a boyband have to appeal to a much younger audience than drake so obviously aspects such as smoking and explicit shots would not be suitable for their videos, where as going to Ibiza for a weekend would not necessarily fit Drake's criteria.

Summer Evaluation task