Target Audience

Our target audience:

I believe that our initial target audience shall be teenagers of both genders, and young adults from 18-25 years old. This will be due to the band's image that will be easily related to by youth, rather than people older than 25. The band's image will be fairly laid-back and will convey their youthfulness, that will attract teenagers as they feel they can relate. Moreover, teenagers generally want to see a light-hearted, yet in a sense serious band, where they mean what they say, but in the music video there might be light-hearted visuals. People aged between 18-25 will appreciate our music, as must people in this age group still listen to popular music and all forms of rock. Songs such as 'Someday' have a meaning of reminiscing in the past, on the band's youth, therefore this age group may connect with this song, as it means something to them having grown out of their teenage years. Indie/garage rock is highly popular amongst teenagers, that is why they are our primary audience. They like the laid-back tones and they also like the almost counter-culture approach of the band; something they find interesting. People aged between 26-35 may listen to our music, however our music is likely to be played on youth radio stations, where this age group our the secondary audience, so it would be unlikely that they would discover our music. They may also be too mature to understand the meaning of the songs, and understand the band's persona. Therefore, our main target audience is teenagers of both genders and people aged between 18-25. Although, girls tend to listen to pop music, there is a greater trend towards them starting to listen to indie/garage rock. The Arctic Monkeys have a huge female following, and as we are in a similar sub-genre of rock, I see that this will also be the case with us. However, boys will remain our majority audience, as rock is typically more popular amongst them.

Initial reaction to our idea

I believe that our initial pitch for our music video is strong and conventional of a music video in our genre. I see the idea of having scenes of the band playing as a must, as it is conventional and also enables us to get close-ups of our band, to make it more intimate for the audience. The use of lighting will help create an atmosphere for the song, we intend to have half the face covered in light, whilst the other is shadowed. This helps to explain the meaning of the song, in terms that the light represents their past, where they were carefree, and the dark represents their mood now, where they wish they had used time more wisely. This helps the audience get a greater feel for the lyrics, also the meaning of the song. Our subtle narrative is also conventional, as with a rock song, a heavy narrative is not what our audience is expecting; they just want to see the band playing, an have something to entertain them along the way. Our narrative shall be the band in the past, we will film a day out where the band will just act and do all the things a teenager may do when out with friends. This will help connect to our audience, who are most likely to be teenagers and young adults, so they can relate to the music video. Also, it gives us the chance to demonstrate their emotions now, as the band will realise they have grown up, and now they have got to move on.

I believe the setting of Brighton is good for our music video, as there are plenty of locations that will enable us to film believable footage. An example of this is Brighton Pier, as it is now more of a teenage location as it had become more commercialised, yet it also has connotations of the rock genre, as seen through the mods and the rockers in Quadrophenia. It also allows the band to explore their inner-child that will help with the meaning of the song, in looking back on the past and trying to grow up and move on.

The costumes will help represent the image of the band, as they shall not be mainstream clothing as to differentiate from other forms of rock music, such as pop rock. It will also give a laid-back, simple approach to the band to convey their past lifestyle and represent how they are a sub-genre and not a mainstream artist. Most of our audience will have adopted this style of clothing, especially our indie rock and garage rock fans; so we are more able to connect with them in this way.

I see our music video as being conventional to the genre we are trying to convey. By doing this we shall attract and communicate with our audience, helping them to get involved with our video, and also making our video more believable and conventional to our audience's guidelines.

Inspirational music video

Scouting For Girls - Elvis Ain't Dead

The music video has both aspects of what we are looking for; it has the performance side and a subtle story. We intend to include a subtle story as to keep the audience interested; this will also match our genre as it others something else other than the band performing. The lighting is good in this music video and the performance is convincing. The storyline is interesting and gains the audiences attention, however as it is subtle, it doesn't take up the whole music video, thus allowing there to be scenes where just the band are playing. There is a match between the visuals and the lyrics, something we intend to do, as it will make our video more believable and interesting. The storyline is based on the lyrics and is simple; something we need to copy. There is enthusiasm in the performance, which adds to its believability. Moreover, there are close-ups to make the video more direct to the audience, by allowing them to form a relationship with the lead-singer.

Inspirational music video

Don Broco - You Wanna Know

This video, I believe, has some aspects that would be relevant in the making of our music video. For a start, the genre is the same, so there is a performance aspect, which I believe will be influential to my group. The band are incredibly enthusiastic through this video, which helps them to give a convincing performance; we will have to do the same. Their performance conveys their passion for the song and the lyrics, something we should copy. The guitarists and the drummer look convincing, as they look as if they are actually playing, something that a enthusiastic performance would give. The close-ups of the lead-singer are also something we will have to replicate, as it enables the audience to get close with their star. It also helps transmit emotions to the audience, something that is very typical of a rock song. We also are planning to have different lighting in the background, to add various effects to our music video and make it more entertaining. We plan to have a silhouette of the band playing, as having the band playing is something conventional to a rock song. In this video there is very interesting lighting that creates almost the effect we are after; this is what made it an inspirational video for us. The lighting can be used to resemble the mood, and in this song the lead-singer is giving a very emotional performance. The red background conveys his anger, whilst the blue conveys his sadness,which is very effective as it helps add emotion to the song and a persona to to the band.

Goodwin's Theory

You Me At Six - "Bite My Tongue"

You Me At Six's music video for "Bite My Tongue" has many conventions that Goodwin would say was conventional for a rock music video. The song is aggressive and conveys how the band want to be seen through this video.

One of Goodwin's theories that can be applied to this music video, is thought beats. This is where we see the sound in our head. The way Joshua Franceschi, the lead singer, conveys his mood through his voice is important. He starts off slow to begin with, to match the pace of the song, but, when the drums and guitars start going, his pace picks up. During the chorus, he is almost shouting. This is because he is trying to give a performance, we as an audience will remember, yet also display his emotions to the lyrics. This enables him to act as a narrator and explain the lyrics through his emotions and performance.

This links nicely onto another point Goodwin makes. Goodwin believed narrative and performance also make a music video. Joshua Franceschi starts off behind a control pad, controlling his other band members. He is singing the song while he is doing this, thus he is performing and narrating, which enables us as an audience to believe it is more real. However, he is also keeping us interested and is helping us to understand the music video. He gives us someone to attach to - someone we find interesting. For the majority of the song, he is the only active character, until Oli Sykes (the lead singer from Bring Me The Horizon), features and sings a verse. We get a sense that they are two similar characters with the same motives, as Oli takes over from what Josh was doing.
As they both sing, they are both in control. This is portrayed by the fact that they control there band members, suggesting only they can effectively control each other, not anyone else.

Star image is definitely evident in the music video. Both Josh and Oli are lead singers from two rock bands and have a rock image amongst the music industry. Oli Sykes is known for being a singer in a heavy rock band, so involving him in the song, suggested the pace of the song would be fast. They both give a performance that  helps maintain their image. Josh gives a emotional performance, as to much his feelings to the lyrics. Whilst, Oli gives a more aggressive performance to match his style of rock and his character. There are many close-ups of both of the lead singers, so that the audience can feel a connection with their star. This is a important part of making a successful music video.  The close-ups of the band help to keep the band's image as a new, young, modern-day rock band.


There is a clear link between the visuals and the lyrics. The song is about arguments that had previously existed amongst the band. When they were at breaking point, Josh wrote this song to convey how he felt. So by having Josh separate from the band, it conveys how he felt at that time. Moreover, by having Josh control the band, it conveys that the band can't function or exist without him. By getting an aggressive personality like Oli Sykes involved, it further conveys Josh's former feelings towards the band as angry and hostile.

The technical aspects of the video also help to convey genre. The dark and gloomy setting help to convey the song as a rock song, also to convey the mood of the song. The white light helps to convey how dark it is and acts as a glimmer of hope for the band in such dark circumstances. It acts as hope that past differences can be put behind them and they can progress onwards. This is further helping to convey Josh's emotions. The quick editing enables us to see the band play and match the pace of the song. Having the band playing is a convention of a rock song and is normally the main focus, however, Josh and his emotions are more in focus.

There are no aspects of voyeurism nor of intertextuality, as the band are not trying to exploit themselves nor anyone else. The song doesn't need voyeurism as the pace of the song doesn't suit scenes of voyeurism; the song more about the band and their emotions, rather than them trying to win over fans by exploiting themselves. They hope people will like them for there passion and unique band performance in this video. Moreover, due to this it is not necessary for their to be any intertextual references, as the band are doing something personal to them. They are not trying to reference anything people may know about, just what they have been through.

Genre

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is incorporated into many artists' music videos. Intertextuality is the idea of combining two existing ideas to create a final product. In the case of a music video, this can be done by:

• basing the music video around a film, e.g. Madonna's "Material Girl" is based upon the film "Gentleman Prefer Blondes".
• basing the music video around a TV show, e.g. the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" is based on the TV show "Starsky & Hutch".
• basing the video on: a comic strip, news report, a storyteller, video game ect.

By doing this the artist is trying to make a reference to their audience that they hope they will find interesting. However, not all of the audience will notice this reference and they will just see the music video as it is and not what it represents.

 Here are some examples:

Robbie Williams' "You Know Me" is based upon the novel 'Alice In Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll. Williams falls asleep and ends up in a fantasy world, dressed as a rabbit. This is highly similar to that of the plot line in the novel of "Alice in Wonderland", where Alice falls asleep and ends up in 'wonderland'. There is a tea-table set up as to represent that of the 'Mad-haters Tea party' that features in the novel. One of the characters that features in the novel is a rabbit, whom, is particularly well-known for his catch phrase "I'm late". The fact that Robbie is dressed as a rabbit further hints that Williams is trying to convey that his music video is based upon "Alice in Wonderland", as it could be that Williams is trying to convey this character.

Taylor Swift's "Love Story" is seemingly based upon Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet". The song was used in the movie "Letters to Juliet" (2010) that is also based upon the idea of "Romeo & Juliet". The song features the idea that Swift plays "Juliet" and she is searching for her 'Romeo'. One huge difference throughout the video is the ending. In Shakespeare's version, there is no happy ending for Romeo & Juliet. However, in Taylor Swift's version, there is a happy ending; this has been done to match the genre of her music video and to appeal more to her fans. The lyrics are from the perspective of Juliet, which adds to the sense that this video is based upon the play. The story is moved into a modern setting, and features 'Juliet' searching for her 'Romeo' as the main plot line.

Voyeurism - Male artist

Justin Timberlake: "Cry Me A River"

This music video by Justin Timberlake was for one of his first songs. Therefore, Timberlake is trying to generate fans by trying to appeal to his primary audience, females, through using himself in the video. He does this by using a number of intimate close-ups or mid-shots. Moreover, he is also trying to appeal to male viewers through the use of a women in the video, where again, intimate close-ups are used. The mood is very intense and is passed onto the audience, creating sexual tension. This makes viewers of both sexes want to watch on, which Timberlake wants. The sexual build up concludes with Timberlake and the women in the video coming together, shown through the uses of close-ups. This appeals to both genders, yet the female audience get more pleasure as Timberlake is the star. The use of the shower adds to the sexual setting and tension, and creates an a sexual atmosphere amongst his audience. Timberlake uses many pans and creative shots to help create this tension, and keep his audience entertained. This is what Timberlake wanted, the video got him many fans and became one of his most iconic videos ever.

Voyeurism - Female artist

Beyonce: "Best Thing I Never Had"

This video by Beyonce is one of her most famous for demonstrating the idea of voyeurism. The clothes Beyonce is dressed in is one of the factors that contributes to the voyeuristic aspects of the video. For a start, the clothes are see-through and she isn't wearing very much. This helps to attract the male audiences as they are intrigued by this aspect of her video. Moreover, she is dressed in white, in a white room. White has connotations of pure and this can suggest this to the male audience; they find this appealing. She is also lying on a bed, which also has sexual connotations. The male audience like the fact that she is lying on the bed and are able to become more involved in the video. Furthermore, the male gaze is able to be cast over this video, and this is what primarily gets the male audience into watching this video. This is what Beyonce intended to happen, so she could gain more male fans; boosting sales and appealing to more people.

Voyeurism

Voyeurism: the practice of obtaining sexual gratification by looking at sexual objects or acts, especially secretively.

This is used predominately  in women's music videos. Artists such as Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj commonly use voyeurism in their music videos to attract male viewers. However, more recently, male artists have taken on this idea and inputted this in their music videos. Though, they also expose women's bodies in their music videos instead of their own.

Photoshop - Clean Image

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Photoshop - Changing Backgrounds

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Photoshop - Moving Object

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Photoshop - Removing Object

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Photoshop - Creating layers

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Photoshop - Filter

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Photoshop - Spot Replenish

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Green Screen

In yesterday's lesson we were showed how to edit footage from a green screen shoot. The footage was good and so was the performance, but it was harder to edit than first thought. Once we had imported the footage and added the Chroma Key in Adobe Premier Pro, we were able to remove all the green from the green screen, out of the footage. By doing so, it enabled us to create a new background for our footage. The song chosen was a hip-hop song, and my group chose to add a warehouse to the background of our performers, However, once we had blended our footage into the background, we struggled to pull our performer down, as half of her body was missing.

What Went Well?
We were able to successfully remove the green screen and put a new image over the top of it. This was the main purpose of the task, and we managed to do it. We also managed to input a new background of which we hadn't previously done.

Even Better If:
We had been able to pull the performer down and made our shot look more realistic. We could have blended our performer more into the background, to add to the believability of our shots.

We are unlikely to use this in our music video, as it doesn't suit our genre.

Practice Music video

This is our practice lip sync which we did during lessons to practice different techniques of camera movement and performance.

What Went Well?
We had a good lip sync and our editing was good. We edited to the beat of the music and our lighting wasn't too bad. We tried out a variety of camera movements and shots, of which some will be used in our final music video.

Even Better If?
We had a lot more enthusiasm. We didn't look particularly convincing as a band and our performance wasn't great. Although we used a variety of camera angles, for the part where I was singing, we only used the one angle and this may be boring to the audience. We couldn't always get the right effect we wanted from the lighting and we will have to practise this as we will use this in our final music video.

Music video directors

David Fincher:














Best Music Videos: "Express yourself" and "Vogue" (Madonna), "Freedom '90" (George Michael) and "Janie's got a gun" (Aerosmith).
Best films: Seven (19995) and Th Social Network (2010).

'Janie's got a gun' by Aerosmith is one of the band's most popular songs, and this is partly down to the music video. The video is a mini thriller fitted into a music video. This added with gloomy lit cinematography adds to the uniqueness of the music video. Fincher received huge acknowledgement after this music video. It is regarded as one of the best music videos created.

• Gloomy lit cinematography.
• Uniquely compelling visuals.
• "Janie's got a gun" - mini thriller movie in music video.
• Won numerous awards.

Mark Romanek:

Best Music Videos: "Are you gonna go my way?" (Lenny Kravitz), "Closer" (Nine Inch Nails), "Scream" (Michael Jackson ft. Janet Jackson), "Hurt" (Johnny Cash) and "99 Problems" (Jay-Z).
Best films: One hour photo (2002) and Never let me go (2010)

'Closer' by Nine Inch Nails is one of the most controversial music videos still to this day. The rock band had a controversial image anyway, and Romanek helped them to achieve this in their video. It's compelling visuals help ensure the success of this video. The visuals match the band's image and the pace of the song matches the editing.

• Footage always stark.
• One of the best music videos in "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails.
• Won awards.

Jake Nava:

Best music Videos: "Single Ladies (Put a ring on it)" Beyonce, "Someone like you" (Adele) and "Burn" (Usher).

Highly famous and popular music video directed by Nava. The video is highly famous for its choreography and colorisation. The video is powerful and the lyrics match the visuals to great effect. The video helps Beyonce to connect with her fans as the video is very entertaining. Nava's creation has made many want to create the famous choreography from the video.

• Colourisation
• Worked with some of the best artists in the world.
• Successful videos
• Choreography

Star Image

Alex Turner: Arctic Monkeys:

How he got his star image:

• Various gigs at prestigious festivals - Reading & Leeds, Glastonbury. They have headlined at both.
• Connects with his fans through social media - tumblr and twitter.
• He gets into arguments with other popular bands and musicians. He has openly criticised Metallica and The Orwells'.
• Being controversial gets him the headlines in newspapers and magazines.
• TV appearances - acts cocky.
• Tries to relate to his target audience by being controversial. 
• Started off as a modest boy from Sheffield, but has changed his image due to the bands huge success. He is now cocky and has been publicly criticised for this. For example, at the British Music Awards he was criticised for his acceptance speech where he dropped the micro-phone off the stage.
• Music video - close-ups and controversial videos.
• Red carpet appearances.
• His choice of dress and hairstyle has dramatically changed. He used to wear typical teenage clothes with a long hair; typically associated with rock bands. Now, he is pictured in smarter, slicker clothes such as suits with slicked back hair. This changed people's opinion of him. suggesting he is no longer a boy, but a successful man.
• The Video below, taken from the bands newest album 'AM', is the music video for 'R U Mine'. It won awards for being the best music video of the year. The video demonstrates the change in the bands image compared to one of their earlier music videos such as 'Florescent Adolescent'. 

'Florescent Adolescent' is one of the band's first hits and the music video is more of a story, which contrasts 'R U Mine'. The band's image is very different in 'R U Mine' as they had reached their peak when this song was realised. They are very conscious about their image in 'R U Mine', as they have a huge fan base and need to live up to their expectations. While in 'Florescent Adolescent', the band are trying to be seen as interesting and they do this by creating a controversial music video, which would help to create the band's image.  

Review of AS Media

What went well?

• We started early and allowed time for pick-ups and editing.
• We managed to understand the process of editing, which helped us to make the editing as tight as possible.
• Our general performance in our film helped make it seem more realistic. We hope to continue this in our music video.
• We were creative and used a variety of shots. This helped make our film as effective as possible.
• We had a good storyboard and planned well.
• We used props effectively and used them in a way that they could contribute to the effectiveness of the film.

Even better if?

• We had been blogging from when we started the project. We didn't blog til near the end of the academic year and we lost marks for this. For this year we should start blogging when we start our filming for the music video.
• We had thought more about when we were filming. We attempted to film in the evening which didn't work. This is due to us not taking the suitable equipment with us.
• Posted short videos or photos on our blog.
• Used more after effects.
• Spent more time on the credits and our title.
• Update the bolg more.

Music Video examples

For homework, I was tasked with trying to find music videos in which there were certain aspects I found interesting. 

For Don Broco's "You Wanna Know", I liked the interesting change of lighting that helped create a silhouette of the band. We would like to incorporate something like this in our video as we are thinking of doing the rock genre. I also like the change in camera angles of which to us would be interesting. 

Response to previous music videos

1) 13A3:

• Great editing 
• Camera movement = good
• Good lip syncing
• Good acting

2) 13E4:

• Good lip syncing
• Good editing

3) 13A2:

• Good visuals
• Good concept +genre
• Good lip syncing

4) 13B6:

• Good editing
• Good lip syncing
• Good camera angles

5) 13E9:

• Good editing
• Good lip syncing
• Range of camera shots

6) 13B4:

• Good editing
• Good lip syncing

7) 13B1:

• Good lip syncing
• Good editing
• Camera angles

8) 13B3:

• No variety in camera angles
• Editing = okay
• Poor lip syncing

9) 13E7:

• Good lip syncing
• Bit boring

10) 13E6:

• Visuals = okay
• Bad lip syncing
• Lack of variety of camera shots

11) 13A1:

• Poor acting; no enthusiasm 
• Bad editing