Research on costumes/shot types

Costumes can be very vital in a music video given the fact that it can represent and symbolise the mood of the main character, what genre the song is and sometimes what era the video is set in. Ive researched various music videos that our similar to ours and added below the costumes we could get ideas from. 

This is a screen shot from Adele's music video Someone like you. The costume in this video is just a black coat and jeans, which portrays that she is depressed. We like some of the shots in this music video such as: the tracking shot when she walks into the scene, and the close ups of her face.  

These are different shots used in Beyonce's music video Broken hearted girl. My partner and I have decided that we like a number of shots from this video. For example, the silhouette, over exposer, and the use of black and white. 

Analysis of previous student work

Overall I would say that this music video is intriguing and makes you want to watch more, however, I didn't like the use of words on the screen because I found them quite distracting and pointless. The video starts with a fade in mid shot of the main characters face as he wakes u, I thought this was a very effective opening shot and instantly grabs the audiences attention. They then sped up the video as he got ready and left the house. I also noticed that they muted the background noises throughout the music video except for when he closed the door to leave. I found that quite pointless and think it would sound better if it wasn't there. In addition, I feel like they didn't use enough extreme close ups, close ups and jump cuts. These are the general conventions of a music video and it would have looked more professional if they were included. I liked the fact that they used a range of numerous different locations from Kingston to central London, also the fact that the music video seemed to be in sync and kept to the beat with the track they chose. However, because they went to different locations they could have filmed some more interesting shots other than just him walking around. The shots that I found effective was the shot of him standing amongst all the people while their walking in fast motion and when they used slow motion then straight after fast motion. I think they used the right amount of transitions because too many can seem tacky, the transitions they used were fade in, fade out, and blur. Halfway through the music video they change into black and white for when the main character is rapping. It would have been more effective here if they used diverse shots on him and close ups. The birds eye view shot of the coffee with a heart shape looked very professional and it then went on to a shot of him reading the newspaper through the shop window which made the video of a higher quality. In conclusion, I understood the storyline of the music video, it was intriguing and made the audience want to watch more and the only thing about it i disliked was the use of words and animated images on the screen. So overall I would say that this music  video is a success a received a fairly high mark.    

Diary entry 4: Planning

Today in our media lesson my partner and I decided to change the plot to our music video. Instead of having the main character crying over her abrupt relationship ending we've changed the story so that she's upset over the death of her former lover. In addition, we've decided to change the location to the sea side, include more props e.g a car and only have one main character in our video. Given that, there are still some ideas that we have decided to keep in our music video including: silhouette, the scenes of the main character crying, fading transition, bath room shot and the shot of the main characters reflection in the mirror. We both feel confident about our new ideas and agree we have developed our main concept to create a more emotional music video.  

Conventions of a CD album

- Title and banner, name of album and artist

- Spine containing album name and artist

- Insert (maybe containing lyrics)

- Main image

- Colour scheme/colourisation 

- CD

- Barcode

- Track list

- Lines and borders


- Band logo


- Special features


- Price


- Record Label


- Year of publishing


- Copyright 


- Reference number


- Guest performers


- Individual track writers, composers, engineers, producers

Purposes of an album cover:


- To protect the album


- To advertise the contents


- Using the artistic design to reflect the creative intentions of artists 


- To reflect the principles, attitudes etc of record label


- To stand out, be interesting and eye catching


- In order to boost sales and enhance profit


- Attracts on retail shelves

Album Digipack/CD analysis

The first thing we notice when we see this CD cover is the striking image at the front. Given the time that this album was released, there hadn't been any other album cover like it therefore it was original unique and inspiring. The image of their faces merged together insinuates that they work well as a team, and the clouds in the background makes it dreamlike and links with the title of the album 'the miracle'. The title also stands out against the blue background as its red. The image instantly intrigues the buyers and holds the majority of the attention. However,  I think the album cover would be more striking if the background was just plain white which would also connect with the title. The genre of the music is not evident from the cover however, the band were immensely well known that the genre would be evident and they could get away with such a distinctive cover. If a buyer doesn't  know the band i believe the cover would be interesting enough for the CD to be purchased. 

This album cover is similar to the previous one in the sense that it has all the band members on the cover.  The images of the band members across the page are eye catching and have been drawn as if the bodies are in motion. Although the central image doesn't act as a logo it grabs the potential consumers attention. The colours all merge well together and the colour scheme is consistent, also the title links with the picture. This is shown by the fact that the title is called 'progress' and each member of the band is slowly making progress one after the other. I think that maybe if the title was in a larger font then the album would stand out more. The name of the artist is the most important convention on the album because it reminds the audience who the artist/band is. In addition, I think that the plain background contrasting against the main image of the artists creates a striking effect. Also I believe the CD cover is successful in communicating the genre of the music across to the consumers but this may be because the band might be trying to re-attract their existing fans. 

This album cover is vey intriguing and attention grabbing as the audience could wonder what the red strips are trying to imply. Behind the three red lines are numerous musical instruments all in white, assorted together in a white room. The title of the album is called the blue print 3, I think this connects with the image because a blue print is a plan to build something and the white instruments are formed together creating a somewhat sculpture. The instruments are all used to perform the music on this album and they are all collected together on the cover to indicate a blueprint. The CD cover doesn't have much colour which could seem boring to some buyers or indicate that the artists sounds are pure.

Examples of digipacks

Lyrics for final choice: Lost- Paper aeroplanes

Lost like the sun in a summer
Lost like my words to your ears
Lost like the notion of now and forever and like my comfortable years

Took a little long way round to find this out
And it seems you had so much to say and I drowned you out

Shame that we didn’t quite make it
Shame ’cause you know me so well
Shame that we’ll wash out with sensory pleasure when I’m under another spell

‘Cause it’s a long way round to find this out
And it seems you had so much to say and I drowned you out

Love like you’ve never loved before
Love like you’ll never again
Love like you’re lost in some old fashioned movie and it all works out right in the end

‘Cause it’s a long way round to find this out
And it seems you had so much to say and I drowned you out
Took the long way round to find this out
And it seems you had so much to say and I drowned you out
And it seems you sang the sweetest songs and I’m lost without

Diary entry 3: Change of plan

Today we found out that two members of our group would prefer to split into pairs. Therefore, my new group would be just me and Sophie. We both realised it would be a lot harder to come up with more ideas and to get all the work done with only two members. However, we were confident that we could manage on our own and given the fact that we are close friends we could work on our media in our free time. 

Diary entry 2: Choices of song

Today in our media lesson we chose our song that we would create our official music video for. We split off into pairs and began looking for songs that would be best suited. After researching on youtube and google we came across many songs such as Valentine- Kina Grannis and Set fire to the third bar- Snow Patrol. Originally, we decided to choose the the Snow Patrol song because as we listened to the it we could imagine ideas for our video. Given that, we realised it would be hard to contact the band and it was a really well known song. Therefore we've decided to look at more songs by Kina Grannis.  

Conventions of a music webpage

• Text- used to update and inform the audience.
• Colour scheme- colours that are associated with the band and colours that draw the audiences attention.
• Logo- Used to make the artist memorable and to make the website instantly recognised by the audience.
• Layout-  consists of the banner, menu, logo etc, how the website is set out to make it easier to navigate.
• Audio-  so the audience are more intrigued by the website and so the artists music can be played easily.
• Podcasts/interviews- makes the audience feel like there interacting with the artist and allows them to find out more about them. 
• Banner- The banner usually contains the logo and advertises the band. Its usually the first thing the viewers sees. 

Example of a banner: 

My timeline of music video history

Music website analysis

The music website that I am analysing is Tinie Tempah's homepage. Images, video and audio are well used on the homepage. The pictures are cleverly spaced out across the page and theres a variety of moving images and still images. The background colour is black with all the writing in white. These features draw the audiences attention and ensure that the audience is engaged. At the top of the the webpage there is a heading stating the latest news in the top left, a border containing the menu, which is illuminous, and a big moving screen where u can buy tickets. In order to make it easier for fans to be updated about the star, theres a border containing sites where you can follow the artist, such as: twitter, Facebook, my space, and Youtube. Not only are there videos of live performances but also interviews and popular music videos. This is key in order to recognise which star and what genre this website is advertising. The website has many ways in keeping the audience interested, for example being able to interact with the website both aurally and visually. 


I think the target audience for the homepage would be fans of the artist, and people who are interested in the genre of the artist. The age of the fans that will be viewing this website would be ranging from 14- 25. They are drawn to the website by the live performance and pictures, by doing this its making the artists music videos highly accessible and results in multiple viewing. Having the music videos, live performances and interviews on the website would appeal to the audience because its instantly viewable, free and easy to find. In my opinion, this website is very successful as it is straightforward, and promotes the star in an interesting way. The first thing you see when you go on the website is a triangular picture of the star in the top middle of the screen, which is very important in order to keep the audience aware of the star. Theres also a moving pictures which change every couple of seconds, which makes viewers stay on the website for longer and ensures that they don't get bored.  


Below is a link to Tinie Tempah's official website:
http://www.tinietempah.com/

Timeline of music video history

Lyrics for 3rd choice: Set the fire to the third bar- Snow Patrol ft Martha Wainwright

I find the map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms, and state lines
The distance from here to where you'd be
It's only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place where I'd find your face
My finger in creases of distant dark places

I hang my coat up in the first bar
There is no peace that I've found so far
The laughter penetrates my silence
As drunken men find flaws in science

Their words mostly noises
Ghosts with just voices
Your words in my memory
Are like music to me

I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold gound
I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms

After I have travelled so far
We'd set the fire to the third bar
We'd share each other like an island
Until exhausted, close our eyelids
And dreaming, pick up from
The last place we left off
Your soft skin is weeping
A joy you can't keep in

I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold gound
And I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms

And miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold gound
and I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms 

Lyrics for 2nd choice: Wires- Athlete

You got wires, going in
You got wires, coming out of your skin
You got tears, making tracks
I got tears, that are scared of the facts

Running, down corridors through, automatic doors
Got to get to you, got to see this through
I see hope is here, in a plastic box
I've seen christmas lights, reflect in your eyes

You got wires, going in
You got wires, coming out of your skin
There's dry blood, on your wrist
Your dry blood on my fingertip

Running, down corridoors through, automatic doors
Got to get to you, got to see this through
First night of your life, curled up on your own
Looking at you now, you would never know

I see it in your eyes, I see it in your eyes
You'll be alright
I see it in your eyes, I see it in your eyes
You'll be alright

Alright

Running, down corridors through, automatic doors
Got to get to you, got to see this through
I see hope is here, in a plastic box
I've seen christmas lights, reflect in your eyes
down corridors, through automatic doors
Got to get to you, got to see this through
First night of your life, curled up on your own
Looking at you now, you would never know. 

Lyrics for 1st choice: Better together- Jack Johnson

[Verse 1:]
There's no combination of words
I could put on the back of a postcard,
No song that I could sing
But I can try for your heart,
Our dreams, and they are made out of real things,
Like a shoebox of photographs,
With sepiatone loving,
Love is the answer
At least for most of the questions in my heart ,
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy,
And sometimes life can be deceiving,
I'll tell you one thing, its always better when we're together

[Chorus:]
MMM, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together

[Verse 2:]
And all of these moments
Just might find their way into my dreams tonight
But I know that they'll be gone,
When the morning light sings
And brings new things,
But tomorrow night you see
That they'll be gone too,
Too many things I have to do,
But if all of these dreams might find their way
Into my day to day scene
I'll be under the impression,
I was somewhere in-between
With only two,
Just me and you
Not so many things we got to do,
Or places we got to be
We'll sit beneath the mango tree now

Yeah, it's always better when we're together
MMM, We're somewhere in-between together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together

MmMMmm MmMMm MmMMm
I believe in memories
They look so, so pretty when I sleep
Hey now, and when, I wake up,
You look so pretty sleeping next to me
But there is not enough time,
And there is no, no song I could sing
And there is no combination of words I could say
But I will still tell you one thing,
We're better together

Analysis of Kesha's music video - Your love is my drug

We were given a task in lesson to analysis a music video of our choice in pairs and then present our ideas to the class. My partner and I chose Kesha's - your love is my drug; below is the music video and points we developed. 

• Shot types: starts with a close up, point of view shots, long shots to show the settings, close ups of animals to show she's in a different country, shot of her legs to show she's walking to the point ( this helps it to flow) and is common in most music videos.
• She's wearing a mask to show she's part of the environment.
• She points at the camera to interact with the audience.
• When she sings your love is my drug the bug eye effect comes up to symbolise a feeling of being high.
• Camera movement: tracks in a close up to show surroundings. 
• The bright colours and animals make the music video interesting and make the audience continue watching.
• Intertextuality is also used, the audience can relate to the music video even more if they have been high.
• Point of view shot is used a lot in order to make the audience involved with the narrative.
• A lot of jump cuts which is common in music videos.
• Kesha and the camera move a lot from rocks to animals. A lot of space is used.
• The outfits represent the hippie style of life which also connects to the lyrics. Hippies are also known for getting high which links with the name of the song.
• The cartoon effects relates to the hippies again and the sense of being high, this symbolises the relationship between visuals and lyrics.
• The turning into cartoons to represent invincibility and again being high.
• The star transition to go from cartoon back to real life.
• Cartoons link with jolly music, she's swimming like a mermaid to show how happy she is and to symbolise the sense of freedom.
• The sunset is romantic, connects the two characters.
• The glowing neon paint relates with the landscape and looks tribal. Also multicoloured represents hippie and how happy she is.