Holidays

Right well I'm off today and back on the 17th so i highly doubt there'll be any more postings between now and then...

Things we want in the narrative...

-Chandelier
-Cobbled Stone Streets
-Street light
- Grand staircase

Inspiration

Iris - Goo Goo Dolls

-Cut with a film - quite filmic
-Perfomance linked with films (i.e. he is watching it)
-Band performance
-BIG SONG!
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Ultravox - Vienna

-film noir (black and white)

-old style outfits e.g. detective coats

-cobbled streets and garnd buildings - exactly the kind of loactions we're looking for

Sure, thanks for asking to use the layout =]
Emma
x

Music Video Conventions

Although general rules in the film industry are continually broken intentionally in the music video industry, music videos still have some identifiable conventions.

There are many signifiers in music video that can be used to tell what genre they belong in e.g guitars for rock or metal, no instruments for pop etc. Artists can also be presented in a certain way to fit their unique image and genre e.g. singing, dancing, playing, instruments, acting.

Images in a music video can be used to illustrate, amplify or contradict the music or the lyrics. Illustrative images are basically narrative. Images that amplify develop the meaning behind the lyrics or the music and aren't directly linked. Images that contradict the music or lyrics are essentially completely random but usually make the more enjoyable, entertaining, popular music videos for audiences.

Due to the fact that the music industry id generally made by men for men, it can often present a voyeuristic view of woman. However, in recent years things have been changing due to new markets opening up e.g. the gay market.

Muisc videos can also draw upon other texts (e.g. eighties popular culture, films) for intertextuality

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I didn't watch it all the way through but the first few minutes were brilliant (in a laugh at kind of way)

Reminders

Stuff I/we need to do (either on here or the group blog)

• Music Video Analysis
• Music video conventions work
• Past Amateur Music Videos
• Actor, location photos
• Inspiration
• Album cover stuff
  

Here's your group work on Marketing!

Femme Fatale Research

"an alluring and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire"

"ability to entrance and hypnotize her male victim"

"Her charms leach the virility and independence of lovers, leaving them shells of themselves"

"In contemporary times the femme fatale is symbolic of women of free will and unrestrained passion."

"Survives as heroine and anti-heroine"

"In social life, the femme fatale tortures her lover in an asymmetrical relationship, denying confirmation of her affection. She usually drives him to the point of obsession and exhaustion so that he is incapable of making rational decisions" I think this is very interesting....possible narrative for our music video

-Wikipedia

I looked on google for some femme fatale photos so we could start thinking about costume, props, MES etc but they were all a bit on the slutty side and not quite the look I had in mind. However here are some pictures I thought were quite good.

BLK feedback

no progress on this blog for a while Cat, please add to it regularly - gaps are to be avoided as this will have a negative impact on the marking of your individual work for this project

Moodboard

Sum 41, Bowling for Soup, Son of Dork
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Due to our genre AND idea change i realised that this post, although it could be said to be initial research seems quite irrelevant. Therefore i thought I'd put up lots of pictures that either directly link to our music video (e.g. costumes) or to the idea behind it (e.g. film noir)

BLK feedback

great ideas Cat, there may be some issues with some of these tracks but i think they are all fairly do-able. If a track is too long, we can cut/fade it at an appropriate point. I agree with the prodigy/pendulum point. anyway good work. try and complete any unfinished bits asap and get them out the way.

The Chemical Brothers - Elektrobank Analysis

Editing
-cuts
-footage set to the pace of the music
-cut aways (e.g. father, crowd, judge)
-dissolves (e.g. at the end)
-fades (e.g. between girl and coach)

Mise-en-scene/ colour/costume
-Natural lighting
-blue and white colour scheme
-red ribbon - stands out
-gym competition - small crowd - realistic

Camera framing and movement
-Establishing shot
-Door - frame within a frame
-high angle --> shows location
-POV shots (e.g. girl)
-hand held (e.g. thumbs up)
-tracking shots (shows distance travelled)
-long shots

SFX
-slow motion --> emphasises action

Target Audience
male, 20s to mid 30s

Eminem - Stan Analysis

Editing
-Straight cuts
-Fades to and from black
-Fades between different storylines or locations
-Cross cuts
-Cut to a beat

Lighting
-Realistic lighting (ambient?)
-All quite low lit
-Lighting in basement is dimmer
-Lightening??

Colour
-Dirty, dark, green tinged --> poor standard of living
- Black and white --> memories, fame

Mise-en-scene
-Lightening --> danger, 'horror movie'
-Rain --> doom and gloom
-Mirrors --> reflections on past, what he wants to be
-Photographs --> Memories, fame, obsession
-Grimy Bathroom -peeling paint, dirty etc

Camera
- 'beauty shots' of Eminem
- Voyeuristic shots --> through windows, frame within frame in car
-Vertical tracks
-Horizontal tracks
High angle - viewing scene objectively, not there
-Circling and low angles of Stan - focus

Costume
All quite chilled out, not too dressed up...reflects class of society and surroundings

SFX
-Lightning
-Rain
-Car into water
-End with the window
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Representation
-Obsession, violence and aggression are seen in the video but not actually by Eminem - less violent for him
- The real celebrity life - obsessive fans, has the same problems as normal people (girlfriend issues) etc

Narrative
-Informal realtionship between stan and eminiem, funeral, dido and stan relationship, obsession

Audience

-Young, teenage audience to mid-20s

-eminem and dido fans

Initial Ideas - Possible Tracks

• Luke and I like Angelspit but the song we have in mind has a few issues with lyrics i.e. the repetition of 'pill binge'
• Millionaire by Queens of the Stone Age...everyone in the group seems quite keen on this one.
• Angela and I quite like Infected Mushroom's music (e.g. suliman) but the majority of their songs are too long.
• Any of Pendulum's tracks that don't have videos...likewise the Prodigy. Very adaptable and have a lot of potential.
• Seeing how fun our remake of busted was and how good it turned out we are all now keen to do something similar e.g. mcfly, sum 41, blink 182, new found glory or another busted song.
  

BLK FEEDBACK

Some useful work here Cat, but don't forget to post your track ideas asap

Marketing Strategy Reflection - The Dynobots

What did you miss out?
- A unique selling point although perhaps we don't have one because we were trying to market ourselves at a conventional indie band who are just like everyone else.
-Myapce - 'Featured Artist' section, top friends of other big bands
-Signing in HMV
-Turning on the Christmas lights
-Use location to market e.g. make a music video in traf. square, london --> get attention

What have you learnt?
- Have a deeper unerstanding of what it means to market 'above the line' and 'below the line'
- USP helps band stand out or blend in the the current music scene
- Merchandise doen't have to link directly to the band themselves or there music e.g. the sheep on our cover
- Timing is everything e.g. christmas, released so as to go head to ehad with another band/ avoid this
- Convention is needed up to a cetain point to give the artists identity but can be broken
- It might not suit a bands image to play big venue's like wembly....rather do a pub crawl
- Marchandise can be produced cheaply at home e.g. tshirt designing kit
- Some bands/artists obviously don't write their own myspace blogs etc( air of mystery around their private life) whereas others do it themselves/makes it seem as if they've done it themselves making it more persoanl, informal and fun.
- There are lots of tactics involved with getting on radio e.g. free demos / merchandise for a competition
-It's not what you know but who you know! (makes a big difference in the business)