Thursday, October 17, 2013

Lesson on Album Art

In our lesson about album art, we were told to bring in some of the albums we owned, along with one that we wanted to talk about. While talking, we would need to be thinking about composition/ colours etc and how those things appealed to the target audience.

Initially in the lesson, we displayed all the albums around a table, and thought of conventions that all/most had with each other.

They include:

  • Album/artist name
  • Shot of the artist/band
  • Tracklist
  • Barcode
  • Institutions (Record Label etc)
We then thought of ways we could categories the albums,

Some categories were:
  • Colour
  • Solo artist/ band
  • Genre
  • Target Audience
  • Concept or picture of artist
  • Era (Decade etc)
The discussion continued with each of us talking about an album we brought in. I talked about Lana Del Rey's 'Born To Die' and the interesting spin of the American Dream with songs such as 'Born To Die', and her upright, almost soldier-like pose. Also, the main colour palette of the album consists of red, white and blue, further portraying that idea.




Thursday, September 26, 2013

Our Superstar


In our lesson we had to create our own ideal superstar. In our group, I was the manager and projected my ideal superstar to the rest of the group, who helped me visualise and create the star. This helped us think about our project and the artist/band we are trying to create. It made us think about back stories, characteristics and extra hobbies that aid the life of the superstar.
 




 

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Song Ideas

Throughout the summer I was noting down songs I found interesting that could potentially aid us in our music video project.

Gossling - Heart Killer
This song is more alternative with a very distinctive voice that could potentially be hard to portray realistically.


Civil Wars - If I Didn't Know Better


This is a slower song with a lot of narrative potential to accompany the performance.

YELLE - L'Amour Parfait


This is a foreign song which could be interesting to work on. It is more modern which could potentially allow for more modern and 'out there' themes in the music video. Also, there are a few french lyrics, most of them are repeated, which means it might not be that hard to learn for our performer.

ASTR - Razor 

  

This song is more upbeat and fast-paced with dark lyrics. This could allow for more interesting themes in the music video.

Eilidh Hadden - Close To Home

Although this song is by a solo artist, it could work with a girl group or having back up singers visible in the music video. 

YADi - Sahara Heart


Although almost 4 minutes long, this song can be cut easily to a suitable time. I really like the edgy-ness in this song.

Sir Sly - Gold


This might work if we wanted a male singer.

Lana Del Rey - Damn You


This is one of Lana's unreleased demos that I think is a pretty simple yet powerful song. The only problem with this is that Lana has a very distinct voice so it might potentially be hard to create a believable lip-sync.

CHVRCHES - Lies


This song is fast-paced and I like it because I feel a studio performance music video would be beneficial to this song, and I can imagine a powerful female performance around a studio when listening to this song.

What Music Means To Me

Song from my childhood:


Song from my early teens:

Song from now:


Monday, July 22, 2013

Prelim Evaluation

1)    Did you enjoy the workshop day? What were your best bits and why?


I enjoyed the professional atmosphere of the day. It's exactly what I would expect from a shoot as there was stress balanced with a lot of fun. Looking at industry professionals and having the chance to help them allowed me to understand more about different aspects of a shoot and what I enjoyed the most; camera work and directing being one of the most interesting. When helping with the camera, my job was to track the camera back and forth while others would cable bash and make sure the camera was pointing at the actors. Although it wasn't the most interesting job, it helped me understand the importance of everyone involved and how everyone's job is equally as important.

















2)    What have you learnt from participating in each of the prelim tasks?



Initially, thinking about performance music videos with Cry Cry by Oceana helped me understand different aspects associated with this type of video and what needed to be there, be it money shots, locations and costumes.

After that, the audition video we had to create in groups was the starting point of allowing ourselves to let loose and have fun. Being with friends while making fools of ourselves to a song really helped understanding what we needed to achieve as performers on the workshop day.


After roles were allocated, deciding costumes and planning everything was another aspect that we had to prepare prior to the day. From the planning, I learnt how important organisation is, and how important it would be that everything would need to be planned perfectly for my own music video to ensure a successful shoot.


As a dancer on the day, the importance of making the main characters and the others feeling comfortable on the day was extremely important in ensuring the shots would look good. As I wasn't needed for performance for most of the day, I tried making the main dancers comfortable enough to perform well in front of the camera.





3)    Are you pleased with the footage and your edit? Is this how you expected it to look?

The footage looked professional and was close to the original. It was interesting to see that with a camera available to a consumer we could produce such high quality footage. 
It was interesting to edit the footage as we never previously encountered lip-syncing and this experience helped me visualize the importance of over-acting to make sure the footage looked alright. We were warned that we need to dramatize our actions while performing so they looked normal on screen, and this applied to lip-syncing as well. Although expected, this also allowed us to understand that it's important to have many takes of the same shots to ensure you have the shot you need. 

Some shots that we needed were missing, but we chose others shots and manipulated them by cropping and flipping to make sure they looked as close to the original as possible without ruining the quality. For example, only one shot with a boot existed, but there were many in the actual music video, so we had to change it so it didn't look the same everytime we used that shot.



4)    How do you think your prelim experiences will impact on your approach to next term’s music video coursework?

The prelim has helped me understand the importance of organisation and how important is it to make sure everything is planned. It has also helped me see that I could make a professional-looking video with simple locations and props that I could get.
It also helped me see that the confidence of an actor really helps portray the performance and it is obvious on screen if they didn't perform to their fullest. This will be important next year if we have choreography, but even generally it will be important to ensure confidence in all our actors.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Performance Music Video Analysis: Oceana - Cry Cry



I have chosen to analyse the music video to Cry Cry by Oceana.

1. The music, lyrics and imagery work in collaboration.
    The lyrics represent a story, whereas the music video is very simple and conceptual. The editing fits  
    around the music and some guitar sounds are directly heard as Oceana strums the guitar in the video.
    Also when she sings 'Deep inside, you cry cry cry' at one point, she is seen looking at a bird in a cage'.  
   This represents that the music video is more metaphorical rather than literal.
 
2. The performance drives the music video and it is sustained throughout. There may well be 
    narrative or conceptual elements too.
    Oceana performs throughout, whether it is just singing or dancing. There are very few cutaways  
    to metaphorical representations of how she feels such as the water, bird, and her burying her
    face in her arms.

3. The band or artist sing/mime throughout. The lip-sync is believable.
    The lip-sync is believable throughout as this is a performance video so there are certain audience
    expectations that the singer would sing and perform for the camera.

4. The role of the band / artist may switch between artist performance and artist-in-character 
    performance.
    Initially Oceana just performs, whether that be by herself, with a guitar or with a microphone. She then
    sings as artist-in-character but as herself while contemplating. The difference is noticeable as she is no
    longer performing to the camera, but is just singing to herself. Examples of this are when she is sitting
    against a wall and buries her face in her arms.

5. The audience will expect to see singing/ dancing/ movement/ playing instruments. This is likely 
    to conform to their expectations of the genre and/ or the band/ artist.
    Oceana dances, sings and plays the guitar in this music video. The laid back, melancholic style of this song
    is very prominent with the message behind the song and represents Oceana as a serious artist.

6. The band/ artist performance will be engaging/ impactful/ visually striking.
    The music video is very simple and gets more memorable towards the end with the juxtaposition of lighting
    and liveliness portrayed by Oceana. Initially she is very conserved and melancholic, and by the end the
    movement through the dance is very free, also juxtaposing the bird in the cage. Other moments og visual
    impact along with the bird in the cage include the many outfits/ sides of Oceana, the location of the run-
    down, dirty building and the water falling down against the wall. Although the music video as a whole is
    not made for repeat viewing, it is made to represent the song in a more conceptual way that represents
    Oceana's style as a singer and a performer.

7. It is likely that the video features highly stylised costume, hair, make-up, backdrops and effects.  
    A variety of sets, backdrops and costumes is common.
    There are a variety of costumes ranging from casual to expensive dresses as she performs with the
    microphone and dresses suited for her to dance in that are glamorous yet revealing. There is a different
    make-up and hairstyle for each different outfit that results in a lot of work. There are also many locations,
    for example the empty room where she performs with the microphone, the kitchen, the staircase and later
    on the mirror and the lights. There are no effects present in the music video as they are not needed to help
    portray the message with the theme chosen.

8. A strong sense of development is expected - things change and move on.
    Development isn't prominent in this video, although the editing speeds up with more backdrops and
    costumes being introduced further into the video. There is no narrative portrayed in the video as it's purely
    performance with cutaways to the artist contemplating while singing.

9. A strong sense of artist identity is crucial through movement, gestures, costume/ hair/ make-up 
    and band relationships. The video is aspirational to fans of the band/ artist.
    Cry Cry was Oceana's first single from her debut album meaning it was necessary for her to introduce
    herself and target certain audiences. She presents herself as a serious artist with respect for the history of
    the genre, presented with the style of her performance with the microphone which is very reminiscent of
    singers from the 20th Century. This helps her establish a fanbase that likes original Soul/R&B with a
    modern twist. At the end of the video she does more complicated dances than at first, with more modern
    hairstyles and outfits. This helps attract younger audiences interested in the genre. Playing the guitar helps
    her presents herself as a serious artist as it connotes her musical identity. The fact that she can play musical
    instruments is important when establishing yourself as a musician and not only a singer. Also, the message
   of the song is very important and personal, so it wouldn't make sense to make a music video that was more
   fun and upbeat.

10. Beauty shots/ money shots are expected by the record label, plus repetitions of these key 
      shots.
      Beauty shots are seen around the middle of the music video. For example at 1:27-1:31, the lighting is
      perfect, and so is Oceana's make-up and hair, which is repeated later on. The main money shot in my
      opinion is when Oceana is at a MCU in a corner looking to the right as this is when she has the most
      make-up and best lighting. 2:26-2:28 would be an example of this.

11. Extreme juxtapositions and binary oppositions make the video interesting.
      There are constant changes from where Oceana looks miserable and sad, to where she is dancing with
      wide movements that represent how free she is. Also, the lyrical juxtaposition from verse to chorus,
     where the verses represent a sad story of a girl getting into trouble, and the chorus where Oceana speaks
     directly to her/us with hope is very uplifting. This is represented in the video with my point before of her
     dancing versus her being very closed up (sitting down, in a corner etc).

12. Discontinuous editing is standard.
      There is a constant change of settings and costumes.

13. Audience will gain pleasure from references to popular culture.
      The 20th Century throwback of her performance with the microphone is the closest reference to any
      popular culture in the music video. The location is unknown, although the dress she wears at 2:18 is very
     glamorous and may have a Dream Girls vibe.

14. The video will be polysemic in nature, offering different layers of meaning, despite only being a 
      performance video.
      The song itself is polysemic, and the music video adds to this with a lot of iconography such as a mirror,
      the bird and the water mainly representing different layers of meaning from Oceana dealing with the
      reality of the situation (Oceana's best friend dying at a young age from getting into drugs and the wrong
      men) to hope with the dancing and the hints of happiness while Oceana is performing the most.

15. It is likely to provoke a strong audience reaction.
      I don't think it will provoke a strong audience reaction, but is satisfying to the audience, as it suits the
      song and represents it well.


Thursday, January 17, 2013

Horror - Audience Expectations

Horror Definition: an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; a shuddering fear.

Why do people choose to watch horror films?
 
Horror films are able to entertain and excite audience on a level other film genres can't. The ''Thrill factor'' makes them appealing to audiences and is what makes them so different and unique to other genres. For example comedy is created to be funny and action which entertains an audience in a much different way.
 
A wide variety of sub-genres allow for many different audience types to enjoy a different experience of horror. As we are planning on creating a paranormal film, we need to make sure we achieve a good sense of mystery and suspense.
 
 
Target Audiences for Horror
 
Typical horror movie goer: 15-24 male.15-24 males (largest group of cinema group goers) look for thrill and action within a film whereas females typically prefer romance and comedy as they are lighter forms of entertainment.
 
On the other hand, recent figures  from 2007 show that females watching horror has exceeded male viewers for the first time. The UK film council website stated that 'the number of women attending cinema screening of horror films now marginally exceeds male attendance figuires for the first time.
 
 
This shows that more and more women are now watching horror, so we as film makers need to appeal to women as much as men. By having a strong female lead that was originally a victim, we incorporate understanding of many women's expectations in films in general.
 

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Horror - Institutions/Distributors



Paramount Pictures - Distributed Paranormal Activity successfully.
                                                     - Many divisions to productively distribute a film successfully.

       Some divisions are: 


     Advantages:     Global reach (distributing around the world).
                            Viacom's many branches could help boost film's success.
                            Modern technological advancements in terms of distribution platforms (our target audience        
                            16-24 males and females use technology all the time).
                            Previous success with Paranormal Activity.

    Disadvantages: Not specialized in horror.
                            Audience expectations for our film could differ from what they are used to.  
                            Viacom's leading brands also have a different audience to the one we are targeting. 

  
Lionsgate - Distributes many horror films successfully (Texas Chainsaw, Saw films, Silent Hill etc)
                           - Familiar with audience expectations for horror genre. 
                           - Able to distribute globally.  

'Lionsgate produces movies that major American studios would not accept because they are too controversial or too disturbing for major studios.' 

                          As our film is intended on not being too disturbing, so  it can attract and appeal to a wide and gender-balanced audience, in a real life scenario it could potentially be produced by another distribution company, for example Paramount distributed Paranormal Activity which is closer to sub-genre and theme with our film, hence making it a better choice.