Treatment for your music video

Outline of ideas

I decided to make my music video on Ben Howard 'The Wolves'. I wanted to do a more narrative-based video, with a deep meaning. I chose a good actor who would be able to portray the feelings that I wanted, as well as being able to look good in the role of a singer when my video would be performance-based. However, my artist fell ill in the crucial times of filming so I had to change directions and choose a different song.

Copyright Permission Letter

Dear Copyright Holder,

 

I am a current A-Level student and I am writing to request your permission to use one the tracks by Ben Howard. The track I would like to use is ‘The Wolves’.

 

With your permission, I would love to use this track in my current Media Studies A-Level project, which involves creating a music video, as well as producing an album and a ‘digi-pack’.

 

If we received your permission, this track would only be used in an educational context and be viewed by our media class, our teacher and the OCR exam board moderator. It shall not be released to a large audience.

 

The artist and your company would of course be fully recognised throughout pre-production and the final video itself. A copyright notice with wording supplied by you can be included in the records of the project. If this is required, please send full details.

 

I look forward to hearing from you,

 

Regards

 

Harry Chance

Research into Industry

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos date back much further; they came into prominence in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip" or "film clip".

Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action. Many music videos do not interpret images from the song's lyrics, making it less literal than expected. Other music videos may be without a set concept, being merely a filmed version of the song's live performance.

• Pre-production

The first stage of making a music video in the music industry is to choose a production company which they know will produce a good video and be known by the public and well respected. If a famous band/artist was to choose an unknown production company then the public may think they are not so serious about making it. It my also not be to a very good standard and therefore people would not enjoy it and want to watch it. It also includes hiring the crew and building/planning sets. In this stage there should also be ideas and a story board in mind with a structured plan of what they want to happen. This should be discussed with the crew and production company. This could take several months to get right and have several meetings with everyone involved.

• Production

ProductionAt this stage more crew will be hired to help with the production of the video, and then once they know everything is in place, filming will begin. Hundreds of takes will be taken so that they have plenty of footage to work with and create the video. Stills will also be taken and used if necessary. This is probably the most important part of the production process, because if this part goes wrong then the entire video will go wrong and the video may not be made, wasting a lot of money. It is also possible that they will begin to make the video, or even be half way through, and they will not like it, and have to begin completely again. However, as the video will have been drafted so many times this should not happen.

• Post-production

This final stage is where the video is put together, and edited. If animation is necessary then this is the part of production where it will happen. There would be a separate team of crew who work in the graphics department who specialize in putting these parts together and making the lip syncing and everything else perfect. This music video will then be duplicated hundreds of times ready for different formats and also ready for distribution. Parts of the video may also be used for advertising the video, as well as the stills being used for digi packs and posters.

• What is the purpose of a music video for the companies/artists that make them?

The most obvious and general reason for companies and artists to create music videos is for the profit they make on them. However other reasons include enjoyment, and doing the thing that they love. In the case of the artist it is about showing off their talent for singing and possibly dancing too. Where as in terms of the production company it is about them doing the thing they love too. Media production and working with the aritsts. The purpose of the music video itself is to advertise and get peoples attention for the artist to make them more popular with the public, the better the video is, the more popular the song will be, and then more people will buy it and therefore they will gain more money from it.

• Who are some famous music video directors and why are their videos so well known?

Jonas Akerlund- The director of Lady gaga’s ‘Paparazzi’ David Fincher- The director of The Rolling Stones ‘Love is strong’ and Michael Jackson’s ‘Who is it?’Their videos are made so popular by the large budget they are able to put into it. The larger directors will not want to do a video for a not very well known artist as the likeliness of it even getting into the charts is slim. They need return on a music video, as then it will become more well known.Depending on how well constructed the video is, determines whether it becomes popular, if it is different from normal videos and shows a unique and cleverly choreographed video, the public will be more likely to enjoy it and continue watching it. However it also depends on the song, as if the song is very popular, and makes it into the top 40 chart list, then more people will want to watch the video that goes with it. I know that when a new song comes out and they release the song without a video then I will keep checking the charts on the TV to see whaHow much money is usually spent on the average music video? Have any been made very cheaply or had large budgets?According to research, an average, fairly low budget music video would cost a minimum of £50,000. However this can go anything up to $500,000 or even more. For example, Michael Jackson’s music video for scream cost $7,000,000 to make. It really does depend on how well known the artist is, a new artist/band will not have a very large budget to spend on hiring all of the crew to create a video quite as large as Michael Jacksonst the video is like.

• How much money is usually spent on the average music video?

Have any been made very cheaply or had large budgets?According to research, an average, fairly low budget music video would cost a minimum of £50,000. However this can go anything up to $500,000 or even more. For example, Michael Jackson’s music video for scream cost $7,000,000 to make. It really does depend on how well known the artist is, a new artist/band will not have a very large budget to spend on hiring all of the crew to create a video quite as large as Michael Jackson's.

• How do audiences access music videos? Where can they be seen?

There are a number of ways that the audiences can watch a music video, whether it is old or new. One of the most popular ways these days is to watch it on YOUTUBE, I find youtube is very useful as it has almost everything, including the brand new videos. Millions of users watch youtube as the videos are easily accessible.Another way is to watch music channels on the TV such as; MTV, VIVA, and special time slots when the top 40 countdown and other chart shows are on the TV. Snippets of music videos are shown on adverts between TV shows if it is a new video and they are trying to advertise it.

Intertexuality in Music Videos

• It is perhaps not surprising that so many music videos draw upon cinema as a starting point, since their directors are often film school graduates looking to move on eventually to the film industry itself.
• Most mainstream music videos have a cinematic feel - largely thanks to new technologies and post production techniques.
• There are several lucrative tie-ins these days, including synergy of soundtrack releases and exclusive artist recordings.
• Intertexuality is when media texts reference another media text - this can either be reflected in the style of the video or done in a humourous way. It can help audiences take further levels of meaning away from a text.
• Television is often a point of reference too, as in The Beastie Boys' spoof cop show titles sequence for 'Sabotage' one of the more well known.
• Visual reference in music video coming from a range of sources, though the three most frequent are perhaps cinema, fashion and art photography.
• One of the most memorable examples to fashion photography is Robert Palmer's 'Addicted to Love', which involves supermodels that front the band. The video also intergrates Mulvey's Male Gaze.
• The use of video games in music video has become popluar with Robbie Williams (Let Love Be Your Energy) and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers (Californication) using a video game style video.
• John Stuart's description of the music video; 'incorporating, raiding and reconstructing', is essentially the essence of intertexuality.
•  Using something with which the audience may be familiar to generate both potentially nostalgic associations and new meanings. It is perhaps more expicitly evident in the music video than in any other media form, with the possible excpetion of advertising.

I will probably not use too much Intertexuality as my video is going to be more serious and formal than mickey taking by using things such as video games.

Categories of Music Videos

There are 3 main categories of music video which include;

• Performance-based videos
• Narrative-based videos
• Concept-based videos

Narrative-based

A video consisting mainly of a story line relating to lyrics and genre of the song. This is a good technique to use for engaging the audience. This type of video is often used for songs that feature in films, with scenes from the cut into the video.

In Ed Sheeran's 'Lego House', Rupert Grint plays a character who is obsessed with Ed Sheeran. The video is cleverly done as the audience believe that Rupert Grint is infact playing Ed Sheeran, however we are set straight when we see the body guards drag Rupert Grint off the stage.

Performance-based

Performance-based videos feature the band/artist performance either to the camera or an audience. This is a popular technique rock bands use as there concerts are usually high energy and there is more interest for a viewer to watch the band perform as a whole rather than an artist on their own.

Tiesto 'Maximal Crazy' boasts a performace-based video with clips from shows and gigs. The shows that are involved in the music video are of collosal size with hundreds of thousands of fans watching, this promotes the image of Tiesto that they can bring in huge quantities of people to watch their shows. 

Concept-based

Concept-based videos are sometimes unusual they are based around one idea. They often concentrate on a specific editing technique. Usually a video does not consist totally of one concept.

'Mirror' by Lil' Wayne is a concept-based video that consists largely of Lil' Wayne doing various things with paint. At times the video is performance-based but it is predominatly concept-based.

My video will largely be concept-based as my song choice is more suited to this category. I believe that narrative-based videos have to be with a deep song, one with a meaning. My video will also largely be performance-based, with my artist lip syncing in various shots.

Laura Mulvey - Theory of Male Gaze

One part of her male gaze theory suggests that the camera/audience always represents a heterosexual man's perspective of the scene objectifying women.

For example, Leona Lewis' 'Bleeding Love' uses a strong emphasis upon male with herself and the other female actresses in the video wearing very little. However, this does not put females off watching this video as they may still be able to relate to the narrative of the music video and the lyrics.

Another part of her male gaze theory suggests that women are only portrayed as one of two possibilities. Either a viginial innocent charcter or a sexy "whore" (her words, not mine). This is called the virgin/whore dichotomy.



A good example of virgin/whore dichotomy is the Pussy Cat Dolls 'Don't Cha', which uses the Pussy Cat Dolls, especially Nicole Scherzinger in a sexual way and uses the male gaze theory.

Though Laura Mulvey's theory could be used to great effect, I will not be using her theory as I think it is not suitable for my video, however, I will be using an attractive female as my artist as this will suit the genre and lyrics of my song choice.





Conventions of Music Videos

The main conventions of music videos include the camera shots used, camera movement, the mise-en-scene, editing, lighting, sound, props, costume and colour. I will make sure to apply these conventions carefully to my music video.

Camera Shots

Music videos often include many close up shots, long shots and mid shots. These are used to create emphasis on the artist and their emotions and the location.

Camera Movement

The movement of the camera is used to follow and trace the artist or band. Camera movements includes tilts, pans, tracking, and crane shots.

Mise-En-Scene

This refers to the positioning of performers and props on stage or in a scene for a production for a music video or any other media text. Mise-en-scene puts importance on the representation of something.

Editing

Jump cuts are the most used form of cuts used in music videos. This is because this cut allows a sudden change from scene to the next. Similarly, transitions such as fade and dissolve are very common in music videos as they create a different effect to cuts.

Lighting

Some music videos are black and white which helps to create a certain dark atmosphere. Also, some artificial lighting which puts the artist/s in an enhanced sight.

Sound

Sound is mainly the vocals or the song, but in some cases such as Michael Jackson - Thriller, is set as a short narrative.

Props

These are a vital aid to add to the scene and create significant on particular objects or people.

Costume

This goes with the scenes in the song and reflects the genre. Costume is an important factor because it has a slight influence on how the viewers will dress as they use the artist/s as a role model.

Colour

Colours tend to set the mood of the song through creating an atmosphere.

Karaoke Task Media A2 Preliminary

Karaoke Task Media A2 - 'Don't Stop Believing'

We split up into groups of three to carry out our preliminary task; this was to create a music video. We chose to have it performance-based and decided to carry out the task using Glee's cover of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing'. We chose to have it performance-based as this was a chance to use the new lighting installed and the new sound system. These have proved very beneficial throughout the preliminary task.

During the creation of the preliminary task I decided that in my main task I would like to integrate performance-based, narrative-based and concept-based categories as I think using all three categories would grab the audiences attention the most and create an interesting and entertaining music video.

This is me working the lights and sound systems. We learnt how to use the equipment so we could then use it in our main A2 Coursework pieces if needed. 

Video Analysis

 

 

Stop Motion

• Stop motion animation involves physically manipulating 3D objects frame-by-frame to create the illusion of movement.
• Stop motion has come a long way and covers a range of media from  big budget feature films to homemade digital exihibitions.
• Stop motion animation remains an incredibly popular medium for creative individuals to work in, despite the competition from digital animation. Budgets can be kept extremely low and the impossible can be made possible without the need for hours behind a computer rendering frames of computer-generated imagery and the expense of software.

• Released in 2009, this video has become a huge hit on YouTube. It features a woman lying on her bed occasionally joined by her partner. The creativity is astounding with the woman taking a journey through wind storms, clouds and falling underwater and swimming, all created with pillows, sheets and careful movements of the performers. The video consists of 'roughly 3225 still photos... using one camera, hanging from the ceiling' and 'took only 2 days of shooting.'

• 22 months, 1,357 hours, 30 people, 2 ladders, 1 still camera, 288,000 jelly beans. This is an extreme case of stop motion. However, all the hard work and effort has payed off with a truly magnificent video.

Stop motion would be a very interesting and different way to have my music video. I would try and follow the forms and conventions of other music videos as this would guide me to create a better video and improve the crispness of the stop motion.

Practical Tips

 

Andrew Goodwin writing on 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'

1.       Music videos demonstrate genre characterisation

2.       There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals

3.       There is a relationship between music and visuals

4.       Demands of record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work.

5.       There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6.       There is often intertexual references.

Andrew Goodwin's theory shall help me with the production of my music video as I will know to demonstrate the genre characterisation.
I will also incorporate the focus of forming a relationship between lyrics/music and visuals.
During my music video I shall have many close-up shots as these provide the audience with the image of the artist and a possible motif that partners the artist.
If I use a female artist I will be sure to use the notion of looking which may entice an audience of men, however I would still keep it accessible to woman as the music video could be narrative-based, keeping the woman involved with a possible romantic narrative.

History of the Music Video

·         Advances in technology have transformed the music video into what it is today.

·         Music videos have been around since the 1920s, as short films. i.e. Bessie Smith.

·         1965 - Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues, segment in the film ‘Don’t Look Back’ – widely known as the first modern music video.

 

 

·         1970s – TV Programmes, promoting artists.

 

·         1975 – Bohemian Rhapsody, ground-breaking video, starting the music video era. One of the first to use advanced video effects.

 

 

·         Camerawork –

o   How the camera is used and how images are sequenced.

o   Close ups dominate – typical convention.

·         Editing

o   Editing establishes mood.

o   Digital effects

·         Development in Technical Codes

o   Fast cut montage

o   Multiple viewing

o   Effects

o    Non-representational

o   Lack of edits, long take/steadicam.

·         By the mid-1980s releasing a music video along with a track was normal.  

Beyonce - Single Ladies analysis

Things to think about

'Songs in Real Life'

Task

For our task we created a 'Songs In Real Life' video. This task was to be completed in pairs and I was paired with someone who had a very similar humour as me and we decided to focus the video around comedy.

Whilst creating the video I learned a lot about Windows Movie Maker and Adobe Premier Elements. I taught myself to use the software efficiently and become commander of the programme, by doing this I was able to perfect the lip syncing and other such creative faculties that will aid me in my tasks foir the oncoming year.

Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, we were unable to finish off the project yet I have still taken in valuable skills.