Purpose of the Music Video

Music videos haven't really been around for as long as you think compared to other forms of media text, in fact the first proper music video was released in 1975 by 'Queen' the 70's English Pop/Rock band. 

In 1975 when the rock band Queen made their video for their hit single Bohemian Rhapsody. The video helped promote the song as the music videos in this form had never been seen before. This gained 'Queen a lot of fame, and it even came out the same year as blockbuster film 'Jaws'

The promotion of Artists and the promotion of directors is very common in the music video industry. One of the music videos main functions is to promote an artists image of how they want to be viewed by the audience. In Sum 41's video for the song 'Fat Lip' the artists are seen playing at some sort of punk meet up in a wasteland area with skateboarders, head shavers and just full on mess. This helps the bands to  portray their image of being rebellious teens, this then makes them appeal to younger aged people like themselves who like to act in that sort of manor.

Although Music Videos will be made to appeal to whoever that artist is trying to get across to, for example Sum 41 aren't trying to appeal to an old generation (60+) therefore the artists really need to think what content they need to include to really grab a hold of their fans.

The music video can also be used to promote the director. In the video for Savant's 'Kali 47' The director from YouTube named 'Mike Diva' uses lots of action, effects which promotes him. This came about due to a kick starter campaign which helped him to fund the video, this then lead to a lot more recognition for him in the media world.  

More specifically, even for big artists nowadays, it's important to have music videos as part of a strong album campaign to keep them relevant in an increasingly competitive and changing industry.

Music videos have become a lot more popular recently due to the fact that the artists can really show who they are and what the can achieve with media visuals, and it's much more exciting and interesting to watch visual which accompany a song.   

So how do these big artist's music videos compete from those smaller, unknown ones? Basically, these big artists such as Katy Perry are already well-known, so what purpose do their videos fulfill? They're pretty much just there to maintain the artist's image. Here's Katy Perry's video for 'Roar':

Countless underground artists choose to self-produce their music not by choice, but by necessity, as interested record labels are difficult to come by, even though you can self-produce a music video through a label. Although, some larger, major label artists choose to self-produce their own music. Here is an example of a self produced song by 'RadioHead'

 
Another example of an artists music video is when they release a video which is considered to be artistic, this includes experimental colour shapes and just an overall arty feel instead of having naked women and drinking in the club, and example of an artistic music video is Tame Impala's 'Feels Like We Only Go Backwards':



Some music videos try to promote a message or a statement about something, this is a creative way to get a message across as it appeals to so many different types of people and some people may be more inclined to listen, not to mention it could just be a great song and video, and example of this is Public Enemy's 'Fight The Power' 

Like radio, when a music video is shown on TV or viewed on the internet the artist gets royalties, so every time it is watched a payment is made. The artist will technically get royalties as it is almost impossible to track the proper amount of views of the video. Instead an  roughly true estimate is made which is based on the popularity of the artist or song. One problem with that is only some unrecognized artists get royalties and is due to mainstream popularity.

Reasons for this is that mainstreams artists are usually already popular so companies would rather invest in those than waste money on un-recognized artists who may be good but the companies don't want to take a risk which could cost them money. Although un-recognized artists can get recognition for their videos and get paid for it, one way is to come up with new and innovative idea, which are interesting and fun to watch, for example 'Ok Go', their music videos are very interesting and involve contraptions and routine dance moves which are very specific. if some of these music videos are uploaded to YouTube they can get paid through the amount of views they get.

Here is an example of Ok Go's music video for 'Here It Goes Again':

Another thing which typically large artists tend to do is 'synergise' with commercial partners. This just means that they strike up a deal with one another, that one party will promote the other's product while the other one does. For example this Tupperware box below is not made by Disney, it is a independent company, but it has bought the rights to use Disney's Frozen print on it.

for example this music video promotes the film 'Frozen' therefore fans of the film will watch this and fans of the music video will watch the film, so its a very solid cycle. Below is Idina Menzel's - 'Let It Go' which is from Frozen (Disney):



Product placement is a way company's can promote their brands via an artists media texts. An example of  product placement is in Skepta' music video 'Shutdown' in this music video him and his 'crew' he is with are seen wearing Nike and driving Mercedes.

Below is screenshots from the music video:

There are always different types of ways that you can get your media text out,These types of media outlets and sources allow people to access media text in different ways. When it comes to music videos there are different kinds of outlets and platforms they are as follows:

The Internet - Websites such as YouTube and Vimeo allow users and artists to upload media texts for free to be viewed by anyone who has access to these websites, artists can also make money from the number of views they accumulate on certain videos.

Television - Certain Television channels and programs show music videos, although these music videos are only usually from well known artists or upcoming ones. Channels such as Viva and E4 show music videos regularly.  

DVD or CD - Some artists (usually bigger, well known ones) may release a DVD or CD of some of their songs and music videos, although usually the DVD show coverage of a live performance or a whole tour, and example of one of these is 'Eminem's - All Access Europe'

VHS - Some older artists who were around when VHS was more popular may have released copies of their music videos or live tours on this platform. An example of this is 

DVD cover of Eminem's - All Access Europe

VHS cover of Michael Jackson's - Greatest

Journey of a Script

Research and Planning: Music Video

My Track

SBTRKT - KYOTO, From the Transitions EP.

Analyzing the Track

The track itself is very moody feeling, the deep bassline helps to achieve this, as the beat kicks in it still feels slow and has a serene sounds-cape feel, the synth used in it sounds Japanese, hence the name of the track 'Kyoto' which is an old capital of Japan. The track doesn't include any lyrics but I believe it still manages to achieve what the artist has set out to achieve. 

This image is of Kyoto the Japanese City.

The Artist

SBTRKT (pronounced Subtract) is a masked electronic, post-dubstep and indie-pop artist from the UK. SBTRKT consists of Aaron Jerome, he has collaborated with multiple other artists mainly including 'Sampha'. SBTRKT has released Two albums and multiple EP's.

This is a photo of Sampha, a regular collaborator of SBTRKT 

Clothing and Costumes

SBTRKT usually wears a plain t-shirt ad jeans, but during all live performances and music videos he wears tribal masks like the ones below. Other artists have also experimented with wearing masks such as 'Deadmau5' and 'Daft Punk'. No one really knows why he wears a mask but it could be to hide his identity or simply just an image he is trying to create. 

     

SBTRKT performing in his mask for a Boiler Room set:

Existing Media

Most of SBTRKT's work is very similar, it all has a surreal and unrealistic feel to it, he has experimented with different types of music, some include vocals with beats when others are just complete instrumental. The music videos are usually very strange as well, he has also had forms of animation for them. SBTRKT has recently released an interactive website with all sorts of media, music and release dates. 

Link to SBTRKT: http://sbtrkt.com/home/

Examples of SBTRKT's music videos:

Music Video Idea

My music video idea is based around Japanese themes, due to the fact that the song name is named after Japan's old capital 'Kyoto', I will also include cherry blossom trees in some of my shots because this is also Japanese. 

It is going to be based around a masked character, i thought of this idea because the artist whose song I chose also wears a mask in all of his performances. It is going to have a surreal feel to it and to achieve this I am not going to use a narrative. My character will be dressed in a plain hooded jumper and a plain balaclava, I am still unsure on the colors of these. 

I want to achieve the surreal feel to my music video by using effects from premiere pro or after affects. I have seen a couple of music videos with effects I would like to involve in my music video.

This 3D effect would work nicely with my surreal theme.

(Taken from Kendrick Lamar's Look Out For Detox music video)

  

Some of the color effects on this LSD:Bad Trip video I think would work well.

For some shots in my music video I was planning to use slow-motion to see some objects to be dropped or just to slow down certain parts. Below is a video literally just showing some objects being dropped and how it would look.

The main problem I was worried about is that the slow motion would ruin the quality of the video, so to make sure that the quality of the slow motion on the cameras I was using was good enough I did some test shots by pushing a chair and watching someone beat box.

My character is a masked character, I am trying to stick to SBTRKT's theme with this. I am using a black balaclava and also a black hooded jumper.
Below is a screenshot from the website I ordered my hoodie from.

Music Video Forms, Conventions and Techniques

In and 'as live' footage:

This example of music videos shows the band or artist during a live performance, editing different shots from different cameras and a variation of the artists live shows make these videos more exciting instead of the entire performance being shot from one camera

My example of this is 'Lithium by Nirvana':

Narrative and Interpretive:

Narrative music videos have a story to follow and can also have a relation to the song name or lyrics in the video. Fr example the video I chose by 'Sum 41' (In too deep) the band are at a swimming pool competing in a diving competition against professional divers, the song is also called In too deep which relates to the water. 

My example of narrative is 'In Too Deep by Sum 41':

Surrealist and Absurbist:

These sort of music videos usually include surprising or unconventional things. they may also include tings which are not possible, for example in the music video I chose (Eminem - Not Afraid) the artist begins to fly which is impossible for a human to do independently.

My example of Surrealist and Absurbist is 'Not Afraid by Eminem': 

Impressionist:

In these types of music videos the artists try to catch the emotional side of the song instead of the emotions of the lyrics. There was a movement in the 19th century which was similair  to this type of work called 'impressionism' this type of art focused on how the world made the artist feel instead of capturing the world itself.

My example of an impressionist music video is You're Beautiful by James Blunt: 

Intertextual; Synergy, Allusion, Pastiche, Parody and Homage:

These types of music videos reference to other subjects, soundtrack videos usually have references or clips from the film which is also known as synergy. They can also reference to other types of media texts, events or about a person. A Pastiche is a light hearted take on certain style used by another artist. Parody's are actual takes of another artist work not just the style.

My example of synergy is 'We Own It by 2 Chainz and Wiz Khalifa' originaly from Fast anf Furious.

My example of a parody would be 'White and Nerdy by Weird Al Yankovic' which is a parody of 'Chamillionaire - Ridin''

My example of a pastiche would be 'Just Lose It by Eminem':

Animation; Stop Motion and Digital:

Animated music videos simply include animation, stop motion or digital animation, these could partly have animation or be fully animated

My example of an animated music video would be 'Ghost are Dancing of Home and Dry':

Lip-Synch:

Lip synch music videos are where the artist or an actor mimes the lyrics to a song, this is usually seen in all music videos where there are lyrics and performers.

My example of his is 'Yonkers by Tyler, The Creator'

Editing:

Good editing techniques can make music videos look alot better, interesting transitions and post production effects are all included in editing.

I chose Rap God by Eminem as my example as it won best editing in the MTV editing awards of 2015. 

Cutting to the beat:

Cutting to the beat is where the transitions are made when certains beats kick in, or as a drum hits, this can be an effective way of making the music video more interesting and helping to establish the rhythm. 

My example of this is 'Lose Control by Keri Hilson ft. Nelly'

Camera Movements:

This includes stuff such as panning shots, long shots, crabbing shots etc. this can create a more exiting experience for the audience because there is more going on,it can also make it feel like a feature film.

My example of good camera movement is:

Split screen:

This is where part of , or the entire music video is split up into two or more screens.

My example of this is Yu by Mellow High:

The Requirements of Working to a Brief

What is a brief?:

A brief is a task or a set of tasks given to someone by another person, company, competition etc.

What is a commission/what does it mean to be commissioned?:

Being commissioned is when you are directly contacted by a potential client and given a specific brief which has been personally give to you, large and small companies commission people.

The writers of Sherlock (Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss) came to the BBC with an idea and pitched it and the BBC really liked the idea, but they wanted 6, 60 minute episodes but the writers wanted 3, 90 minute episodes, this really caused a lot of problems, the full story is below from Wikipedia.

What is meant by the term tender?:

Tenders are sort of like being commissioned but instead of it just being a private brief given to you by a client, it is an open brief which can be taken on by anyone as long as they follow the brief, tenders are really good to help lead onto a creative job in the media industry.

Below is an example of a real tender from the Ideastap website, the description is below:

If you successfully win this competition you could win:

How else could you respond to a brief?:

Another way to respond to a brief is through competitions such as the E4 Esting one that I took part in, these tend to win you money or prizes for being within the top 3 or a runner up and are a great way to get some work recognized although they may not lead onto a career as well. 

Another example of a competition is the 'Young Filmmaker Competition'. Below is the rules regulations and description:

Reading a brief:

Negotiating a brief:

From a creative point of view it was very flexible with its rules as the content could be anything you wanted but some of the fixed rules in the brief such as the duration of the overall clip, for example it states 'if it's not 10 seconds long IT WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED BY THE JUDGES', so overall it could literally be anything you want as long as its fairly tame enough to be on television during the day and its 10 seconds.

Problems I had to deal with such as regulatory ones aside from E4's own guidelines in the competition rules, this animation is supposed to be broadcast on national TV, so there is OFCOM's regulations to satisfy as well, namely their rules on explicit content and the watershed.

Below is a screenshot from the Ofcom website. 

I had to make a few tweaks to my project as it was underway, I had to add a lot more frames to my animation as I thought I would need less but in fact I needed a lot more to make the finished product a lot smoother

You must always take into consideration that things may need to be changed around, for example your budget might change during production, so you might have to make dramatic changes to some parts of your work that cost too much.

Briefs, especially tenders, are a good thing for people who are starting out in the industry as it's a great chance to get their name known and get experience.  I had many opportunities for self-development during this project; probably more than a lot of other projects I've been a part of on this course. I go into more detail about this in my evaluation for the Animation unit. 

I did a lot of new things I hadn't done before such as working frame-by-frame. I also hadn't really had the chance to make an animation, let alone shoot it manually on a DSLR before, so that was something I had to learn quickly and pick up on as I went alone.

 The contribution I made to the project brief was my finished animation; a 10-second long 'ESting' for use on Channel 4's channel E4.

Animation Evaluations

My E-sting was fairly simple with filming and locations so I didn't find any problems with that, although drawing every individual shot for my E-sting was very time consuming and took around 9 lessons to complete, although the filming took only 1 lesson. Collecting all of my resources was also very simple as all I needed was a pen and some paper, my plastercine model was also made in one lesson but I had to wait for a few days to get it as we ran out and had to order more. Another problem I had to deal with was sticking to Ofcoms rules and guidelines for advertising, I wasn't allowed any product placement and I stuck to this rule. Another rule I had to stick with was the E4 brief for making my Esting.  Rules are below:

My feedback was collected from my classmates, teachers and questionnaire answers, mostly all of my feedback was the same, the things which worked well and needed improving were all the same. For example lots of people said negatives such as I needed more colour in my Esting, or that more stuff needed to happen, positives were things like, they liked the fluidity (smoothness) of my animation, and that it was very imaginative and creative. 

Working to a brief in this assignment wasn't very restricting, the only restricting factor of it was the time limit of the animation, the animation had to fit within 10 seconds which can be hard to do. Overall I could pretty much make anything I wanted as long as it had no explicit content and it was 10 seconds long.

I believe that I could work in animation in the media industry, I feel that I worked within a deadline and completed my work to almost my best ability, If I was working with a team for an animation assignment I believe that I would be able to create a piece of work a lot quicker but I may be restricted with my creativity because of other peoples ideas. 

Animation is an area in the media industry which intrigues me, I have always liked the idea of drawing and creating characters and pieces of art work, so to have these things to come alive in an animation would be very interesting for me. Therefore I believe that it would be a viable career for me in the future, even if it isn't directly within animation.  

Animation feedback Presentation from Bruce Mann

My esting would be (if successful) be broadcasted onto e4 during daytime TV, therefore it would need to abide by certain rules and regulations which would be looked at by Ofcom, luckily my Esting would not breach any of these rules, I have read the rules from the website from each section, the areas are below: 

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/broadcast-codes/broadcast-code/ < Link to Ofcom

Single Camera Production Techniques

In this essay I will be talking about the techniques used within single camera production, recently due to the higher amount of dramas, single camera productions have become very popular among film and TV. 

Camera:

Single camera productions use one camera throughout all of their scenes, this is done because it can make the drama within a program feel more realistic and can really involve the audience with what is going on on-screen. Sometimes single camera production can break the rule and end up using two cameras for certain scenes but this only usually happens when there is a scene with a risky stunt which can only be performed once or there is lots of back and forth dialogue.

Directors tend to enjoy single camera productions a lot more, due to the fact that they can really set up their camera into the perfect shot and really concentrate on how each of their shot will end up, and when certain scenes have to be re-filmed over and over this can really help the actors get into character, which will make the filmed piece better overall because it will be perfected 

Lighting: 

Lighting within single camera productions can end up being a lot better than multiple camera productions, this is because lighting can be perfected for only one camera shot instead of trying to make it look good on lots of different cameras, overall this can make scenes look a lot more realistic when the lighting is correct. 

Sound:

When filming single camera, each shot (especially those with dialogue) there must be a slight overlap/overlay of sound between each shot to ensure there will be not jumpy starts or awkward pauses between each shot's sound. Sometimes single camera productions will use two cameras to ensure their sound overlaps well with the other audio but only two camera will be used in those sorts of scenes with heavy dialogue. Audio you hear in some scenes isn't always from that same shoot, it could be from another take of the same scene and dubbed over. 

Coverage: 

Coverage is simply a term for how many shots/film has been taken, when there is a lot of coverage it makes editing a lot easier because you have lots more shots to add and use, when not much coverage has been made you may find that re-shooting shots is necessary, this isn't always helpful and can waste time. 

When using digital camera the amount of film is restricted by the memory on your SD card, certain clips can always be deleted if they are not needed, if DV tapes are being used then the directors can only shoot things they know they need as these tapes are expensive and outdated.

Master shots are a good shot to take as you can always switch back to them, a master shot is basically a take of an entire scene which is from a long shot angle.

Editing: 

Editing can always take along time with certain production because there will be a lot of footage for you to look at before you can order them and create your product.

A lot of film can be wasted/not used in a multi-camera production, this can end up with it being a lot cheaper to make as it will take far less time to make, whereas in single camera certain scene will be filmed all together if they require the same cast and location.

Multi-camera productions, especially live sport or programs such as The X factor can switch from camera to camera and can be mixed and aired straight away, whereas in this is not possible in singe camera production as all of the footage must be edited and put in order before it can be shown.

Shot logs can be helpful. They explain and shown certain shots needed and basically show which ones could be hard to film and which can be done easily. 

Period:

A period drama is a drama which is set in a specific era in the past. Period films and TV programmes are often romance but can also be adventure themed. Period dramas rely heavily on props costumes and sets to re-create the style.

Crime Drama:

Crime dramas involve criminals and authority figures such as police, they use low lighting which is easier for single camera productions.  An example of this is CSI.

Horror: 

Horror films use the single cameras to their advantage by using angles and certain shots which feel very personal to the character which really involve the audience. An example of this is Insidious 

Comedy:       

Most television sitcoms such as Friends film in studios and sets and use multi-camera techniques but in comedy shows such as My Name Is Earl and Peep Show they are all filmed using single camera productions.

Series: 

Series is a list of episodic programming with the same characters in each episode but there is a different story lines each episode, although there may be a sub-plot throughout every episode. An example of a series is Breaking Bad 

Serial:

A serial may run also for a specific amount of time, but can also be never ending (such as Eastenders), In these the characters are the same in each episode but the story line develops across each episode. There is never a main protagonist instead everyone shares it equally, some characters may get more screen time than others but their story importance is the same.                           

Single Drama:

A single drama is just one self contained story which aires within one (sometimes two or three) episodes, they're like small movies.  The minimum length for a single drama is 5 minutes.

Advantages of single camera production: 

• Director can control each shot much easier, and can end up with a better result than in multiple camera production.

• The overall production will feel more personal and make the audience feel more involved with the story.

• A lot less film will be wasted.

• Larger variety of camera angle which can be advanced or standard.

• The shots can be done all together/in groups so that production team can always be busy.

• A higher amount of locations are available due to less equipment

• The overall production can cost a lot less

• Lighting in different shots can be refined and made perfect.

• Master shots can still be done.

• Due to the fact that there will only be one camera multiple run throughs may be needed, this can help the actor/s get into character.

Disadvantages of single camera production:

• Production can be lengthy and time consuming.

• It can end up being more expensive than multi-camera productions due to the length of time taken to make it.

• Continuity errors occur a lot more due to re-shotting scenes.

• Some of the action filmed can look more staged/stunted.

Alternatives to single camera productions:

Instead of filming by only using one camera you can do multi-camera productions this is using multiple cameras, around 2-4 instead of using just one. 

Advantages of multi-camera productions:

• Fewer re-shoots.

• Less continuity errors.

• Action is continual and does not stop and start (look jumpy and fake).

• Filming is usually completed quicker. 

• You can broadcast the footage live and mix the camera shots together instead of having to edit it all first. 

Disadvantages to multi-camera productions:

• Lighting can be difficult as it must apply for all cameras .

• Directors have very little control over there shots.

• Locations are limited due to amount of cameras and equipment.

Multi-camera productions setup:

Above is the regular four camera set up for an interview/talk between two people, the cameras numbered 1,2,3 and four and all angled in different ways, 2 and 3 would be the master shot/medium shot angles and 1 and four would be close ups of either A or B.  The director would choose when to switch between camera when he felt necessary.

Single-camera production setup:

Each shot is taken on the same camera, so the camera must be moved around for this. Each shot is re-shot from different angles per scene.