recording over old stuff

Throughout this project we have learnt new skills. One thing ive learnt is that we always need to stop the tape at the right second as we could record over our work or someone elses work which we did do. However it was okay as the piece we recorded over wasnt needed.

Missed Out On Filming

I wasnt able to be at one of the shootings, but i did get to watch what had been filmed and have my take on what i think was good, bad and needed reshooting. My group members agreeed so we are therefore going to reshoot some of the scenes as the lighting and camera angles werent as good as they couldve been.

2nd day of filming

Today we filmed the main shots were our artist sits in the living room surrounded by candles to represent how she is missing the relatiionship but also how the relationship is burning out, which the candles represent.
We used many different shots such as mid shot to show the artist, long shot to show the room and the candles within the room aswell as to establish its a new location. We also used close ups so they audience remembers to focus on the artist.
We also came up with a shot were we have the camera on one side of sarah (Tia, our artist) to show that she is focusing on somethign afar,disconnected from the audience as she is thinking about the relationship. However, as its a music video and the artist should always be connected to their audience, we did have sarah turn to the camera a few times to keep the fans enticed.

Todays filming

Today we filmed shots for the ending of our music video. We also filmed some shots were our artist is looking out on the view thinking of the relationship.
What i think couldve been better is the time we went out to film. We filmed at about 3.45pm which meant that it would start out light but then get darker which in a way can set a sad mood to the tone of the music video. However as it was getting cold and darker we didnt shoot as much as we would like to. If we have time, we will hopefully be able to reshoot.

Planning for next filming session

As we are planning to shoot this saturday and sunday we have to make sure that the weather ia suitable for the shot. I have checked on 'Metcheck' and they are good days for filming as it will be sunny but breazy aswell which is a good effect on our artists hair. As it will be getting darker as we film, the darkness can represent how upset 'Tia' is feeling and represent that she has no hope on the relationship starting up again.

New Artist

We have decided to change our artist as our current one didnt have the time to be apart of our music video as she had other priorities. I think this was a good decision as our new artist is sarah and as she is a media student in our group she understands the different shots that would work well for different lyrics etc.

'Candle Scene' Inspiration

Christina Perri - A Thousand Years inspired us to have candles lit in our music video as for me the candles represent the love that our artist had with her ex.

At 1:03 there is a scene were Christina is surrounded by candles and we were inspired by that as it can reprent the lyrics so we have used it in our music video. In my opinion the meaning behind having all the candles is to represent her heart as she still wants their to be light in her old relationship. We were also inspired by this music video at 2.54 when the candles were blown out to represent that their love has died out.

Artists Name

As most artists only have one name they are known for ie Rihanna, Pink, Eminem we decided that our artists name should be one name. We have come to a decision that our artists name will be Tia as it is short and snappy and hopefully because of how short it is, the audience and fans will remember and recognise it.
However as having a surname might make the artist more recognisable we thought about creating a surname to go with Tia, however when we asked others that we think would be fans of 'Tia' they said that they prefer for us to create an artist with just their first name. As we are thinking like music executives, we must go along with what the audience would like to see and hear and if having an artist with one name is what they prefer then thats what we will give them.

Discussing the rest of filming

Today we had a group discussion about next weeks filming as its the final week we can do any proper filming. There have been issues on when and where we can film as we have to work around our actor's schedule as we have to consider her priorities.
I was quite relaxed that we will get the main scenes filmed by the end of term and if we need to shoot 'pick-up' scenes then we can do that after christmas. However, my other 2 group members did have worry that we werent going to film it within the next week because of not being able to film in certain locations.
However we have now decided that within the next week on 2 days we will have most of it complete.

kate nash - foundations

The first five seconds of the video uses cutaways to entice the audience so they keep watching to see what type of music video it will be e.g one that tells a story a performance based video.

The toothbrush shot suggests the video is about a relationship as the colours represent that its about a boy and girl from the use of the pink and blue. This therefore is seen as a key feature of music videos, to establish the simple generic features.

There is not a specific beat to the editing of the music video as this in my opinion it represents the bumpiness of the relationship, as the video has no smooth beat and neither does the relationship.

The shots of Kate and her 'boyfriend' playing cards creates the sense of narrative as it may seem as though there is a relationship. We the audience understand from other shots that they have a relationship  through the shot of the feet under the table as they play 'footsie' which can be seen as a romantic gesture.

A cutaway shot that was used was a shot of toy animals facing the camera, then being turned around so we the audience arent able to see the faces. This can signify that the relationship is over and either the girl or boy is turning away from the relationship.

The shots of them sitting on opposite sides of the table and on their own side when in bed can suggest that the relationship isnt what it used to be. It can represent that the relationship is tense.

The close up of playing poker and otu of focus on the guy to suggest his out of pic and need to focus on her so the relationship would last longer.

The close up of the hands drifting apart signifies the narrative of the music video; that the relationship, like the hands have drifted apart but the girl still thinks about the relationship. This connotation of the music video inspired us to use it in our music video.

The cut aways of the hands,animals and the bed show a narrative to the music video which is what we want for our music video, a sense of a story being told.

The fast forwarding of the socks being untangled and tangled in my opinion signifies their relationship because the tangled socks represents their messy relationship and/or how close they are and when the socks are untangled, it signifies that they have lost contact and they have gone separate ways, which the socks are a visual of.

This music video helps the lyrics become visual because of matching the visuals with the lyrics. For example at  1:23 Kate is eating lemons when she sings 'you said i must eat so many lemons'. Another example is at 1:34 when we see a shot of the couple arm-wrestling which is in sync to the lyrics as 'aggressive' is sung when we see the wrestling. A final example of the relationship between the visuals and lyrics is at 1.41 where we hear Kate sing 'wind up' and we visually see windup toys of babies.

At 1:45 there is a shot of the couple making a cake. I think this was used to create a sense of memory to the narrative to suggest that the relationship does hold memories.

When the watches come together at 2:46 it can suggest that they still love each other and want to together but maybe time is what they need or that they just don't have time for each other anymore. The watches therefore can represent the time wasted.

From 3:26 where we the audience see the watches, socks and toothbrush separate it can suggest that like the objects, the relationship has drifted apart and we understand from Kate's point that she wants to move on.

Overall, watching this music video has suggested that the cutaways is what helps tell the narrative of the video.

Todays Filming - 6/12/12

Today was the first proper day of recording for our music video. Overall it went very well because as i am the camera women recording the video, i used close ups. establishing shots, extreme close ups etc because its a video to promote the artist.
We did have some issues such as having to hold the video camera as one part of the tripod that clips onto the video camera wasnt there. However, i kept my hand as still as i could.
Today we did learn to practise the shot before actually recording to see if we needed to alter positioning etc. Lighting was involved as i could see that the room was too dark, so when i actually recorded Yvette, we decided to turn on the lights so it will be clearer to see when Yvette comes through the door.
The issue of lip-syncing went quite well today as Yvette had learnt the song so knew the beat of the song and when the come in.
Yvette had to pretend to know how to play guitar and she doesnt know how to play. However we showed her a few tabs that she can show to make it more realistic. As for strumming, she couldnt fake it as it would look obvious and wouldnt look as effective. I told her to put her thumb and first finger together as if she was holding a pick and to just strum all the strings back and forth so it seems realistic. We looked back at it and it does look okay.
One issue i had today was when Sarah recorded from a different angle which has the banister bars infront of Yvette. We thought it would look effective and they think it does. However i dont think it looks as good as it could be. However this shot is good for a cutaway for when the instrumental is playing.

My opinion on the album title

I like what sarah has done with the Logos. My top 2 would have to be the 'Universal College' logo, the 'Earwig Factory' logo and the 'Allstar' logo.

I like the 'Universal College' logo as it has the 'scribble' effect which can represent that the artist has illustrated it herself instead of using a fancy font. This logo therefore to me seems original and seems as though the artist wants to connect with her audience/fans so by making it seem as though she has created the album cover herself it makes it more meaningful. It also looks bold which i want our artist to be, a strong female and so this logo in my opinion does so.

I like this title as like the previous one it seems more creative as though the artist has personally cut out letters and put them together showing that she has alot of input. I also like this title as i havent seen that many album titles with this kind of style so not only will it make it more orginal.

Contacting Cady Groves

I felt that it was important to contact Cady Groves (the artist) as it shows that we are taking consideration and making sure that its okay for us to use the song as she is an unkown artist and the song is okay to use. I am waiting for  a reply, so hopefully she will reply  

References from other music video for 'Put Your Hands Up'

Cher Lloyd's 'With Your Love' video inspired us for our original song 'Put Your Hands Up' Cher's song inspired us with the concept of hanging out in the house/bedroom with friends having a laugh. We also decided to have shots on the street and this music video helped us understand how to shoot shots when following behind the artist.

The classic 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' video also inspired us because our concept was similar to hers, girls jumping around having fun. The use of narrative at the beginning also inspired us for our music video

1st Dec - First Day Filming

Today was the first day of filming. As we only had an hour to record we decided to film cutaway shots of the couple having fun and being the loving relationship that they had  to use as memories. We took photos aswell as recording as we need some photos of the couple to hang in house to show that they used to live together.

New Cast

We had to recast the characters as our girl who we wanted to be in it couldnt anymore due to work factors. So therefore we started searching for another girl and found a guy who would be apart of it. Our final cast now is Yvette Tyler who will portray the artist and Charlie Gomer who will play the ex in the music video .

Mcfly - thats the truth

McFly - Thats The Truth

At the beginning of the music video there is a instrumental which shows the narrative of the song and music video which can set the overall tone. This is to convey to the audience the sort of music video it will be. As this is quite commom in music videos we have decided to use this in our music video.

The chorus is mainly performance which is what we hope to do in our music video as music videos are made to sell the artist and if the audience ie fans see their favourite artist play instruments it can suggest that not only can they sing, but they can also play instruments.The use of midshots of them performing also show that they are musicans aswell as performers as we the audience can see them playing the guitar/drums.

This music video shows the typical conventions of a breakup song - performance in empty  place, person thinking about the relationship, smashing things out of anger.

The lighting of the bedroom is dark to represent the misery and the shining light from the window can represent that the relationship is still there. Lighting in music videos can make the overal feel of the video and therefore when we make our music video, we are going to have to consider lighting options aswell.

Towards the end of the music video the build up of it has come which is shown through the narrative story aswell as the musical istruments as in the guitar and drums. This is due to the flooding of water in my opinion signifies how the guy who has been in the relationship is drowning of sorrow because the water is filling up.

At the end of the music video where the guy looks at the bed with the two pillows can suggest that he misses his ex and that they should be together as there are two pillows on the bed.

Overall this song is quite upbeat which is a juxtaposition to the music video as the narrative is quite lonely and upset.

newest idea for 'Im Still Here'

today whilst collecting pictures for the mood board, i found an image of a piece of paper and some notes on it. This made me think of another idea to the music video which can be used as a cut away and when the girl is playing on the guitar. My idea is that the girl could be writing down the lyrics as she sings them so the audience sees that she is thinking of the lyrics as she sings them and the song goes on. Cut aways would include close up of some of the lyrics and the girl writing on a piece of paper.

Music Video History Time Line

Music Video Director Case Studies

Tim Pope

Tim is a London director and is most famous for being a music director as he has directed many videos over time.From my research ive found that he has repeatly directed music videos for 'The Cure' and 'The Darkness' (both rock bands) which can suggest that his style of music videos is the image that 'The Cure' and 'The Darkness' wants to create.

This suggests that Tim has a more creative side towards rock music as he has directed for 'Altered Images','The Bangles', 'bryan ferry', 'china cross' etc. These are just many of the artists he has worked with and all of these are within the 'rock/punk' genre which can signify that maybe Tim is a fan of rock music and so therefore wants to create rock videos or the artists are fans of his previous work and want him to direct their video.

Harold 'Hype' Williams
Hype Williams -is an American film  and music director. He has been a music director for over 20 years as his first music video was BWP ((Bytches With Problems) - "We Want Money" in 1991. He has directed many of R.Kelly's videos aswell as Usher's which can suggest that he is more of an urban director. He directed R.Kelly's 'I Believe I Can Fly' music video which was a very popular music video in 1996.
The first 40 seconds in this music video is setting the location, which can suggest that Hype wanted to create a story to go along with the song and not just a performance. The music video is related to this song as the story is telling us about dreams, which the song is about.

From these 2 case studies i can conclude that directors are not only a music director, but also a film director. I think being a film director helps them shoot a more successful music video as like films, music videos are all about telling a story through all the different shots.

Intertextuality Within Music Videos

Intertextuality is when one text is has a link to a different media text such as films, specific characters etc. Intertextuality in music videos are hard to spot as the audience may not spot the reference. It is argued that greater pleasure from the video will be by those who know the reference and are somehow flattered by it.

An example of this would be the Britney Spears music video for 'Oops I Did It Again' with a link to 'Titanic' .
At 2.:52 there is reference to 'The Titanic' about finding something at the 'bottom of the ocean'. This is intertextuality because in the film 'Titanic' the necklace drops to the bottom of the ocean.

Intertextuality is common in movie soundtracks because the music video contains performance as well as cut aways of the movie. An example of this is by Miley Cyrus 'The Climb' which is off the 'Hannah Montana: The Movie' soundtrack which has elements of studio performance as well as cut aways of the movie to help tell the narrative of the lyrics in the song. In this music video, intertextuality is used by having snippets of the movie appear. There are 3 parts to this music video in my opinion; the first, the performance part when she is sitting down with the light behind her, the second aspect is Miley walking up a path on a hill which signifies the lyrics and the visuals as 'aint about how fast i get there' at 2:54 suggests that she is over the hill and doesnt matter   _________________-________________________how long it took her.         

However, there have been some issues surrounding intertextuality. John Stewart who is known for one of jobs; a media critic said that ‘visual reference in music videos comes from a range or sources through the 3 most frequent cinema, fashion and art&photography.’

Star Image - Rihanna

Rihanna from 2005 has changed her image as a result keeping her audience interested aswell as an event in her personal life that i believed made her a stronger and better star.

This is Rihanna's first music video for her single 'Pon De Replay' which us as fans and her audience can see the change over the years.

Her style image has changed as we can see in her 2007 'shut up and drive' music video

One of her recent image change was in 2010 when she dyed her hair red. One of her music videos in 2010 was 'only girl in the world'.

STAR IMAGE PRESENTATION

Eric Saade - Masquerade music video analysis

I am analysing a Swedish artist, Eric Saade. I think the genre of Eric’s overall music is pop as most of his videos involve dancing which is a generic characteristic of pop videos. The beat of the music video is upbeat so it can therefore be seen as a pop song.

The lyrics in this music video are illustrated by the visuals. An example of this is ‘no one else can match those eyes’. This is illustrated by Eric looking in the mirror and we as the audience can see his eyes are focused looking at his reflection suggesting he is thinking about his girl and her eyes. ‘Were both in this masquerade’ also reflects the visuals because Eric sings this line as he walks into the masquerade ball. ‘A girl behind the mask’ is amplified as when this line is sung, the camera cuts to all the girls with the masks and the effects that added when in editing emphasises that there are so many girls in the room and he is trying to find one.

A line that I think shows the narrative of the music video is ‘stop this masquerade’ whish is illustrated by visuals as Eric takes off his mask to show he doesn’t like hiding and doesn’t want their love to be a masquerade. As he is frustrated with the situation, Eric screams ‘No’ which is shown through the visuals by him grabbing onto the walls to show his anger.

Towards the end of the music video the visuals illustrate the lyrics that eric is feeling as the emotion of confusion is shown. ‘I'm confused and I just don't know what to be for you’ is what he sings when in the jail cell and this visual illustrates why he feels confused and how his love for her has led him to a prison cell.

A clip of the music video, when Eric is in the cell, he looks directly towards the camera after he sings ‘need you to confess your love for me’ which can mean two things. One that he is singing it to the audience watching, which can attract more fans as his facial expression can make the audience sympathise and secondly, he is looking at the camera to suggest that we the audience are the princess and need to express our love for him.

Repeated visuals of Eric at the masquerade ball are used to illustrate that his love for the girl is a masquerade, so by repeating the visuals, the audience know the narrative of the music video.

A powerful scene near the end of the music video where there is a split screen of the girl and eric when Eric sings ‘Were both in this masquerade’ illustrates that both of them want to be together, but the situation of status is turning their love into a masquerade. The final scene of the video where Eric is about to get killed he sings ‘

I wanna get to know you,the girl behind the mask,I want a chance to feel you, the girl behind the mask’ shows through the visuals of his facial expression that he is scared of dying as well as upset that he didn’t get to know ‘the girl behind the mask’.

In the first few seconds of the songs, the beat does cut as the camera moves closer in so the audience gets a sense of the beat of the overall song and music video. At 1:19 the video does cut to the beat as in the previous 2/3 seconds the camera is still showing the ball,then when Eric says ‘Oh Oh’ the camera cuts to him on the beat entering the room. After he enters the room the beat of the music to me seems to speed up and the cuts of Eric looking for the girl represents that as he is trying to find the girl as fast as he can. At 1:47 as Eric sings, it cuts so we as the viewers are drawn closer into the scene as he is trying to talk to the girl. From 3:20 to 3:29 clips are cut to the beat as it is the tense part of the music video and so by cutting on the beat it amplifies the tension of the narrative. The clips that are cut to the beat are scenes from earlier on in the music to show the audience the trouble of a servant and royalty being together and how that has led him to being killed. From 3:47 onwards the cuts are quick as it builds the tension of the visual narrative shown in the music video.

There is no instrument performance in this music video as it is more focused on the narrative rather than the performance of the star. As it is a pop music video, the aim is to focus on the star ie their face, which is done in this music video through the close ups.

At the beginning of the music video, where the narrative is key, the instrumental isn’t the instrumental of the actual track but it is included to set the tone of the music video and to suggest what kind of the narrative this music video will become. However the instrumental of the actual track starts at the beginning and we know this because it cuts to the beat so every time it cuts, we the audience know that the song is about to start as we recognise the change in music, from sad classical to pop/dance rhythm.

As stated previously, the video does change to the pace of the music.At 0:32 when the instrumental starts playing, it changes from a calm mood to a upbeat tone which is shown through the cuts made.

I think the record label are looking to sell this track as a typical love story where two people from different ‘worlds’ try to be together but cant because of the status that both of them are; pheasant and a higher class girl. The image that Eric is showing is a loving, brave guy that’s in love because he knows he shouldn’t be going for a girl like that, but does anyway. By representing him this way in his music video, may allow fans to think he is this way in real life, so sympathise for him as they think from watchitng this music video that is a love-stricken bloke.

This music video relates to his previous videos as most of his previous songs are mainly about love such as ‘manboy’ ‘break of dawn’ ‘hearts in the air’ etc.

In ‘Break Of Dawn’ and ‘Maquerade’ the motif is ‘Eric Saade’ but it is displayed completely different. As ‘Masquerade’ is a Victorian themed music video, it seemed logical for the motif to set the tone so by having ‘Eric Saade’ written in fancy writing, it set the tone and story of the video and song right from the start. This is different to ‘Break Of Dawn’ motif which is a simple. plain motif. This can be seen as a change of image as he is more modern compared to his character in ‘Masquerade’.

There are two clips in this music video that gives the sense of sexual display. At 0:50 Eric shows his chest as he changes clothes which can entice the viewers as they like eric as he is attractive and by showing his bare chest, increases his, likability. Another clip that shows the viewers a sense of sexual display is at 2:23 when Eric and the girl are kissing and the camera pans down and shows Eric putting his hand on her leg and revealing it to the audience. This therefore attracts the male audience as they might not be the prime target audience for Eric.

There is a reference of ‘looking’ as in screen within screen. This is shown when Eric is changing and there is a mirror within the camera shot. This can give the audience the sense that they are not only feeling as if they are in the room with Eric, but also the feeling that Eric is looking at them when he is looking at the mirror.

Red Riding Hood Task storyboard

To What Extent Can Goodwin Theory Of Voyerism Be Applied To Music Videos ?

I think that Goodwin and Laura's theory of voyerism can be applied to music videos because it explains the genders pleasure of cinema idea of looking in order to gain sexual pleasure.

This is shown through the music videos of Trey Songz - neighbours know my name, Nicki Minaj - superbass, beyonce and many more. I believe that this theory is popular so the artist and the song can sell and be a talked about subject.

Goodwins theory argues that the female performers will be objectified through the camera shots,costume and editing emphasising a sexualised treatment of the star.I think is a good thing as it attracts the male audience and so they will purchase the song as well as boost the artists popularity with that specific viewer.

Guys will view music videos by artists such as Katy Perry,Rihanna, Nicki Minaj etc as they know that from watching their music videos they will gain a sexual pleasure becasue of how they have been percieved in their previous music videos. Its argued that male viewers will gaze at the screen as it has geared into notions of voyerism as it is a powerful controlling gaze at the objectified female on display.

Goodwins theory applies to Nicki Minaj's music video 'Superbass' as there are establishing shots of Nicki which shows the seductive clothes she is wearing, which shows off her figure and chest. This attracts the male audience because of what they can see within the shot and therefore will gaze. The editing in the music video does objectify Nicki Minaj because it becomes a slo-mo when she pours a drink on her chest to show off her flirtatious side. Girls may also gaze because of the use of shirtless, built up men in the music video.Therefore this music video doesnt suggest it will be males watching because of the sexual pleasure from gazing at Nicki, but also females due to the use of males.

Katy Perry's 'California Girls' video can be applied to the theory of voyerism but is not as obvious as the video by Nicki Minaj.

The costumes that Katy and her extra's/dancers wear apply voyerism because the costumes are short and show off skin and their figure so the men, if they watch this video will like it because they are able to stare and will view the video over again because of the pleasure shown through the costumes.

With Katy licking the ice cream at 0:18 with slow motion and her biting her tongue at 0:34 gives a sense of sexual pleasure for the viewers, mainly the boys. There are other aspects of this video that voyerism applies too. For example the cloud shots where she is nude, also gives the male viewers a sense of sexual pleasure.

The dance routine at the beach suggests voyeurism in terms of  objectifying women in how they move to provide sexual pleasure. The shots used in these dance scenes are close ups/mid shots of the girls from the chest up which also shows voyerism as they are focusing on the girls' bodies. The final shots that represent voyerism is shown at 3:18 when Katy and her dancers squirt cream. This represents voyerism through the mid shots because it gives a sense of visual pleasure for the males to gaze because they can only see them from their chest and upwards. 

Goodwins theory of voyerism also applies to music videos with male performers as the idea of girls dancing around the male performer showing off his figure to attract the female audience as well as flatter the male star ego.
It can also be seen that female watchers will watch male artist videos because they may gain a sexual pleasure with topless shots. The idea of voyerism becomes far more complex when we see the male body on display and we might raise questions about how the female viewer will respond.

50 Cent:

Trey Songz:

Both these videos above represent voyerism in terms for female dancers attracting the audience as the dance moves and the costumes use can be seen as the seductive way of attracting the gaze from the males. In Trey Songz video, females would also gaze because of him being shirtless which will help promote the video as they will view it mutliple times to gain the sexual pleasure of him being shirtless as well as promote him as an artist and maybe as a 'ladies man'.

The idea of voyeurism is also frequently evident in music videos through a system of screen within screen. Characters shown watching performers or others on TV, via webcams, video cameras etc.

Avril Lavigne's 'Sk&er Boi'  videos uses this concept through the use of video camera's when she is performing on the street at the end and someone in the crowd is recording her. We the audience are watching a screen and within that screen there is another screen as well as within the first 28 seconds of the music video.

What i learnt from our preliminary task

I learnt many things from our preliminary task that will help us create a more realistic and high standard music video.
One of the things i learnt was that the shots cant be long as they need to be short to grab the audience's attention. This way, they may have to watch the music video a few times to fully understand the video as well as making sure that they didnt miss anything. By doing this, it will promote the artist as well as the song.
I also learnt about how to make lypsyncing look realistic. For our preliminary task our artist mimed the lyrics which we thought would be the best way. However, looking back on it now, i see that its not the best technique. I have now learnt that whispering the lyrics or singing along to the song in a low voice makes it more realistic which is what we want our music to be.