Research on other A2 Music Videos

I've been doing some research into other A2 music videos for inspiration for our own, the video that struck to me most is this one The reason for this is because they have used the kind of style and shots that Alysia and I would like to use for our own music video. Their song is also about love and you can see throughout the video the couple are in love with each other through the different types of shots and the setting. Their setting is also around autumn/winter time and focuses on the natural features, to do this they have also used natural lighting. However, what I would do with my own music video though is change the length of the shots; particularly at the beginning of the music video the shots lasted way too long and it looked like they did it just to fill up time.

Institutions and Audiences

We would like our music video to be played on channels like MTV Rocks to have the genre recognised and show it would be shown to people of our target audience. Also channels like Kerrang! Would be suitable as it is indie/rock, and Kerrang! Show music videos of that genre. To publicise our video, we would have to get in contact with radio stations, iTunes etc to get our music played and heard by our target audience.

Focus Group

For our focus group we decided to do a questionnaire aimed at 17-21 year olds. The question we're based on their music taste, what the they liked and disliked in music videos, what colours the associate with certain feelings and their opinions on other digipaks.

These are two sets of results. The results show a varied set of opinions which is good because it'll give us a lot of ideas. Unfortunately we didn't get an overwhelming amount of responses so we have also one a survey monkey survey which we think will get us more responses from more age ranges.

 
 
 

Ben Howard Music Video Analysis

Shot Type	Wide shot: Contains a figure from the knees/ waist up and is normally used for dialogue or to show some detail of action. Also shows the setting.	Analysis
2:13		This still also shows the setting of the video and the lighting is completely natural again. The lyrics that go with this image reinforce the organic, acoustic genre of the music as well as the surroundings: “steady as the stars in the woods”.  This affects the audience as everything intertwines with each other and all creates the image of natural, earthy, acoustic music. Having Ben Howard in this image lets the audience know what he looks like, his outfit is completely casual and is earthy colours. Also showing him in this still connects the visual with the lyrics “We stood” although it says “we” when it is clearly just him throughout the whole video, engages the audience more as it’s as if he wants us to be there with him.
Lyrics	‘We stood  Steady as the stars in the woods  So happy-hearted  And the warmth rang true inside these bones’

Ben Howard Music Video Analysis

Shot Type	Extreme Long Shot – Generally used as a scene setting shot. It shows a view of an object in the distance	Analysis
1:36		This still image shows the setting used in the video. The lighting is completely natural and shows a sunrise and the trees are silhouetted. Goodwin in Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992) states that there will be a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. This is clearly reinforced in the mise en scene in this still. The location is clearly ‘far from home’ there is no evidence of this being a ‘home’ environment. There are no houses – it is nature. However, because it is an idyllic image the audience would want to be at this location. Hence, the location reinforces the optimistic lyrics.  This is further reinforced with the golden sunshine. The sibilance of the ‘summer shone’ evokes this image that the audience can see in the music video.
Lyrics	‘The summer shone beat down on bony backs  So far from home where the ocean stood Down dust and pine cone tracks’

Representations

Representations

On the left is an image of Erick Baker performing the 2009 Voodoo Experience at City Park on October 30 2009 in New Orleans. The pictures taken of him at this event show him in a stereotypical way of an acoustic singer/songwriter: Playing his guitar, singing, wearing a casual shirt and jeans and hasn’t made a theatrical performance like a commercial pop singer, for example, would. On the right the image shown is his cover for his new album ‘Goodbye June’. In this photo he’s looking away from the camera, suggesting that he is deep in thought. He’s also leaning against a rustic-looking, painted wall. This reinforces the earthy, natural effect that also represents his music. In both pictures he’s dressed casually.

There isn’t a lot in newspapers about Erick Baker as he is an unsigned artist, but a singer/songwriter who is very similar to him is Ben Howard. Typically of what you’d expect from an acoustic artist, there isn’t anything bad written about him. For example, this is a print-screen from The Daily Mail Online after searching ‘Ben Howard’. The only things written about him are his successes at the Brit Awards. Whereas if you’d search someone like Justin Bieber, there will be articles slating him just as much as writing about his successes.

Auteur Theory

Autuer Theory is when a director puts their own stamp on their work by including their own personal taste and creative thought into it that is noticed by the audience as it is unique to the director. It is also a method of becoming recognised in the industry.

The person who was first to use Autuer Theory was a film director and critic called Francois Truffaut.

·         Mickey Smith and Allan Wilson directed two of Ben Howard’s music videos ‘Old Pine’ and ‘The Wolves’. Mickey Smith has also directed a short film/long advert for Relentless Energy Drink and so on.

·         These directors are Auteurs as in their music videos/short films they have directed, the settings are nearly always by a beach or countryside landscape. The extreme long shots/establishing shots are always showing the waves of the sea or sunrise/sunsets of the surrounding areas. I think that the reason they do this is so their work looks natural and organic and not commercial. The natural settings also go well with the acoustic sound of the music, again reinforcing the sound of nature.

Music Video Analysis: Blurred Lines

SHOT	Medium Two Shot	Analysis
00:01:00		At 0.01, the opening shot shows Robin Thicke in bed with a scarcely dressed girl. Over the shot there is text saying '#THICKE', the reason for this is so he can promote himself and his music to get people to know who he is and buy his music. The text shown is in the colour red which represents lust/love, which is relevant as they're in bed together.
SHOT	Long Shot	Analysis
00:41:00		In this shot you can see that the lighting is artificial and there is a plain white background so that the audience are focussed on the people in the shot. The way the men are positioned are so the focus is more on them than the girls because they're wearing darker/bolder colours whereas the girls are just wearing white skimpy clothes. This shot again shows the sexual attitude towards the girls.

Mood board and analysis

For our mood board, the inspiration was from artists/bands such as Ben Howard, The Neighbourhood and Tom O’Dell and what has been featured in their music videos. We also gained inspiration from what we both love as individuals that we’d like to be included in our music videos, such as tattooed men and women who are dressed in the stereotypical way of indie/rock/acoustic singers, idyllic sceneries and natural props and lighting. All of this we gained by searching for pictures on Tumblr.
For our music video, we want our theme to be vintage/indie/bohemian. Our mood board represents this as we have examples of what we’d like our actors to look like (tattooed, 1950’s dress sense) and we also have examples of where we’d like to film it; in a natural setting, maybe a woodland or a beach to incorporate the indie side of our theme.
Our colour scheme consists of mostly natural, earthy colours to reinforce the organic, acoustic sound of the song we’ve chosen. For costumes Alysia and I have decided to stick to mostly dark colours, so it contrasts with the bright lighting with natural looking surroundings.
The most significant picture on our board is of the artist himself, and it is placed in the centre of our mood board. The reason for this is because we want to keep in mind that the song we’re using is his song, and we want to represent it how he would have done as an acoustic artist.
To improve, I’d spend more time planning my mood board and how it is relevant to our music video instead of just picking things that we think look nice.

Andrew Goodwin and Laura Mulvey

Goodwin's Theory

Goodwin's Theory is based on 8 main factors:

1. Links between lyrics and visuals

2. Links between music and visuals

3. Genre characteristics

4. Intertextual reference

5. Notions of looking (objectification of women)

6. Voyeurism (direct gaze, other people looking at the artist etc)

7. Demands of the record label (representation of the artist)

8. Performance based, narrative based and concept based music videos.

Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey coined the term 'Male Gaze' in 1975. She believes that in film audiences have to view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. Features of the Male Gaze include the camera fixating on sexual parts of the female's body such as curves or chest. However, there are criticisms of Mulvey's theory such as women may enjoy being looked at and appreciated by men.