Mock up of digi-pack cover

What is a digipack?

For part of my coursework I have to create a digipack, I am not yet quite clear on exactly what a digipack is. So, I am going to research digipacks and what they are.

Research from: http://musicians.about.com/od/ah/g/digipacksleeve.htm

"Digipacks are a type of CD packaging made out of card stock or other heavy paper/cardboard material. Digipacks can flip open like a book, or it can have three parts, so that one portion of the packaging opens to the right and one to the left, with the CD in the center portion. Usually, the portion of the digipack that hold the CD is made of plastic like a traditional jewel case CD - the plastic part is simply attached to the paper background."

Deep analysis into an album cover

Florence and the machine, Lungs, 2009.
The main focus on this album cover is Florence herself. She is centered in the image and fills most of it. Her red hair allows her to be naturally eye catching as most of the colours around her are white and green. This is a more unusual album cover because she is wearing a necklace with large lungs on the end of it. This is because her album is called lungs and the originality and boldness of this idea, represents her music and her persona. Her pose is gentle and lady like to reinforce her elegant voice and music.This can also be reinforced by the pretty flowers and the floral backdrop behind her. However, because she is so striking and fills the whole cover it represents her power of music and the power of her voice. The over all image created by the album cover works well because it allows the buyer to imagine what the music will sound like and what genre it is.

The name of the group is at the very top of the image. It is white against black allowing it to contrast and stand out. This reinforces that even though Florence is the 'front woman' of the group and the more eye catching of members, her band are still important in the music. The title of the album 'lungs' is harder to see. It is written in white across the lungs which is under a white tasseled top she is wearing. However the blood red lungs are eye catching enough to reinforce what the album title is.

I'd like to create an album cover which has as much thought as this. I would like it to have a deeper meaning than what is on the surface. Also, one that depicts its genre so well and creatively.

Lighting experimentation

In this video I have experimented with some lighting to create a flashing/strobe lighting effect. I got this idea when browsing through music videos on youtube. I came across a Bloc Party video called Talons and featured throughout the video was strobe lighting. I really liked this effect changed the video from a regular chase to a more intense and engaging chase, just by the flashing lights. Here is the video, I like the effects most in the first minute:

Rhys Cooper

Rhys Cooper is an up and coming artists, there is not so much about himself on the internet, however there are hundreds of people suggesting his work. I came across Rhys Cooper whilst research the Kings of Leon artwork. I came to discover Rhys Cooper draws many advertising drawings and generally amazing cartoon style paintings representing bands and film characters such as; Kings of Leon, Heath Ledger as the joker, the sesame street character, Bob Dylan and Eagles of Death Metal.

Here is some of his work that I find inspirational and generally interesting:

Inspiration

I'm not sure if this is an actually album artwork image, however I came accross this whilst browsing on google and I really like the technique. The band Kings of Leon have been drawn into the king cards of every house. I think this is really clever and I like that it is not clear whether the cards have been drawn or just amazingly filtered and adjusted on Photoshop.
Interpreting drawings is definately an aspect that I would like to think about when creating the album artwork and the artwork for my digi-pack.

Album cover research

For the advertisement I need to create the art work for the CD cover. This will also contribute to the digi-pack preparation.
Some of my favourite CD art works is:

















This is canterbury's actaul album cover for their album 'thank you'. It features the band behind colourful text and only on the left hand side. This is unlike the normal album covers which feature bands centralised and large if their picture is on it. I think this represents the album which was a free download for the fans as a thank you. This is a sort of metaphor for how it's not all about the band.

















I really like this album cover. I like how it gives off a 3D affect because it's a photo of real life objects sitting on some shelves. These quirky items represents the bands indie style. The font used has been used on previous albums and singles creating a sense of familiarity with the fans.


















I really like the idea of a drawn album cover, I think this is a bit more different than just a photograph with some text. I like the attention to detail in this album cover however it mixes well with the central negative space. I would like to incorporate some drawings in my album cover.


















I really like the lighting on this CD cover. The light is behind her head and splits across the whole of the image. I also like how the crowd of fans are interpreted into the artwork. The colour of the image looks like it has been a developed film rather than the original image. I like this effect as it looks for authentic rather than a performed image pose. The kind of old style look seems to be an occurance in the indie genre of music.

Research for magazine ad

For the other half of my coursework I need to produce a magazine advert and a digi-pack for my band and their song. For the magazine advert I will research thoroughly into music magazines and the key elements of what is usually featured in an advert. I will use my previous knowledge from GCSE media studies to produce a successful magazine advertisement representing the band and their song.

Here is an example of a magazine advertisement for an album:


















I like this advertisement because it's quite contemporary in terms of photography. The style of the image represents old style western almost like a wanted poster. I like how the top image is split in half and reflects each other, however the left side is white and the right side is black. I also like that you can only see half of his face and shoulders. I think there is a lot of negative space in this image, however I think it works nicely with the vintage style sepia tones.

Anamatic Feedback

As a class we watched our peers anamatics and gave others feedback. To conclude my feedback I need to include more shots. This is because my song is a fast paced song and there aren't enough variety of shots. I realised this also when watching it back and some shots were held for quite a long time when listening to the beat of the music there needed to be a shot. Also, there isn't much variety and majority of the shots were quite similar. This means that I will have to go back to the storyboard and begin to draw in some more shots and try to find a bit more variety. For example, I need some moving shots because all my shots are still and as my music is fast paced and fun there should be some movement with the band, not just the band moving but the camera.

First Draft Anamatic

This is my first draft anamatic for my music video, Canterbury Lost in the Basement:

Initial Storyboard

This is only my initial storyboard because I believe through out the production of my music video I will be adding shots and taking them away, because when I put ll of these shots together to produce my anamatic it may not go so well.

Storyboard ideas

Audience Research

In order to make a good music video I need to find my target audience. After putting together a questionaire and asking family and friends to fill it out here are some of the results:

1) Gender

69% male and 31% female. This means that my target audience will be prodominatly male however I must remember to keep the video suitable for females so it is not sexist.

2) Age range

12% were under 15 38% were between the ages of 16 and 21 19% were between the age of 22 and 30. 14% were between the ages of 31 and 40. 17% were over the age of 41. This means that my target audience will be between the ages of 16 and 21. This is good because I will be able to relate to them as it is my age also.

3) Do you like the indie rock genre?

88% said yes and 12% said no. This means that the indie rock genre is a very popular genre and means that I should have quite a large target audience.

4) What would you prefer to be in a music video?

12% said concept, 48% said performance and 40% said narrative. This means that my target audience doesn't want a concept based video therefore interpreting performance or narrative will be a good idea.

5) Do you watch music videos?

92% said yes and 8% said no. This means that my target audience do watch music videos and should watch mine.

6) If yes where do you prefer to watch music videos?

56% said on the internet 30% said they watch music television 6% said on their phones or i-pods. 8% said none. This means that the internet is the most popular place to watch music videos, which is good because this is where my music video will appear.

In conclusion I have discovered that my target audience will be male between the ages of 16 and 21 who want a performance based music video.

Idea

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Tell Me Baby
This video has members of the public sing and perform this song, I have taken an idea from this. In my video I would like to have shots perhaps of just single members of the band performing and some of them in pairs together and then full shots of the band. I think this will give the video a bit more diversity rather than just the whole band together all the time.

Newer inspiration

These music videos are similar to what I am hoping to achieve now I am not using the band and don't have to keep the filming limited to those performances.

This is Canterburys brand new video, I like this video because of the good use of lighting and that it is in an empty space like what I want to do. This video is good inspiration to me because it suggests what the band likes and what they prefer their music videos to be like. About 0.30 into the music video it starts to cut to show the band playing their instruments, I like the good use of mid shots and close ups that show the band playing, the speed of the cutting is good because it keeps to a similar time to the music, I want to interpret this into my video also. Also, at about 0.10 into the video there is a good use of lighting as the band are like silhouettes playing their instruments, I really like this effect as it matches the mood of the music, the music at this point is mainly base which is quite deep and dark which is represented by the silhouettes then light kicks in when the vocals do.

Music Video Update

For my music video I wanted to get the actual band involved, I have made a decision that this would be extremely hard due to the band being on tour and the tickets costing a lot of money and the cheaper venues are in hard to reach places for example South Hampton. This was a big disappointment for me because it meant I had to come up with a slightly different concept and start to recruit members for the band so close to the time I am expected to film.
My new a slightly changed idea is to have the music video mostly performance based, I am still finishing my storyboard as I had to change a few aspects of the one I already had. I am planning on shooting the music video in a empty space in which I want to make quite dark and have multi-coloured lights flashing about. I plan to do this using glow sticks, plain lights with coloured film over the top and people helping me to move the lights about. I want to try and get a crowd into the space, I have put this in my storyboard however this might change depending on the size of the empty space I am hoping to use.

Lost in the basement

My chosen song, after careful consideration is Lost in the Basement because I can always envision the video when i listen to it where as the other song, friends we're more like a gang is slightly harder to for see.
The band are currently on tour, which is good news for me because it means that I can go and film them at their venues, here are the dates and places in which I can go and film the band:
The Underworld London, UNITED KINGDOM
Hammersmith Apollo London, England, UNITED KINGDOM
Hammersmith Apollo London, England, UNITED KINGDOM

Performance Based

Listening continuously to my track, I have come to the conclusion that I want my music video to be performance based, when I listen to the music I envision the band performing it on stage with a big crowd, also with cuts to backstage and the band having fun, I think this will make the music video relatable and the viewers will feel part of the experience. Another reason is because majority of bands in this genre seem to have a preference for performance based, I have come across many videos in which bands are performing either in a space or at a concert.
Here I have a variety of videos in which are performance based and what I envision to do:
You me at six - Save it for the bedroom


This video is similar to what I want to achieve, the band are performing at their concert and there are cuts to where they are backstage and having fun and joking about, this is part of what I want to do.

Futures - Sal Paradise


I prefer this video to the previous one as this is a bit more diverse, it has clips of the main singer singing, clips of the band performing to a crowd, also of them having fun and joking but also of them performing at different times. I like this because there is a bit more variety and it makes the music video more of a montage which in my opinion makes it more interesting. I like that there are some different camera effects, for example when the camera is on the main singer them camera isn't always focused which is a really nice effect and which makes the video feel more like a proper music video rather than the previous one which made it appear kind of like a home video.

My idea brainstorm

Influence: Lighting

In this video I think there is a good use of lighting, I like how at first it is quite dark because the pace of the music is slow which makes it quite representative, however when the beat kicks in there is lots of light and through out the video is changes colour and the effect from the holes in the board is nice, it's like the light spreads and twinkles.



This video uses digital lighting and effects, the effects are really professional and I wouldn't be able to achieve that kind of standard. However I think I could try and achieve some standard lighting effects using Adobe After Effects. In order to do this I will try and find some tutorials to teach me to achieve a higher level of knowledge in Adobe After Effects.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Fortune Faded



In this video I like the lighting because most of it is on the walls and there isn't much lighting on the actual band. I want to try and do something like this using things like glow sticks and filtered lighting however not directly on the band. I also want to aim the lighting behind the band members in some parts to create a silhouette like light.

Influence: performance based

This video is purely performance based, which at times can be quite un-engaging, I like the performance in the video because of the angles and the scenery. I like that it is not just a stage performance or a studio performance but it is in a house, you would expect there to be a big crowd and it to be a house party but the conventions are broken as it is in an old Tudor style mansion. The music and the setting automatically contrasts itself giving the performance concept an interesting meaning, I would like to interpret something like this into my video to make it a bit more original and interesting.


Video by Chris Storrar

This is another video by the same band, once again performance based. I especially like the part in this video at 50 seconds when the camera focuses from one band member to another, I think this is really creative and I would like to learn this for my video.

I also like the lighting in this video, even though they just look like light bulbs and probably only there as decoration the ones in use give off a spotlight effect behind the band members, this produces a nice shadow and with the music and lyrics as the pace change the lighting effects are put into good use.

I like the camera angles in this video, they are not just focusing on the main singer, there are a variation of camera angles used and the band members are not always centerised, I prefer this I think it looks a lot more creative and yet still draws attention towards the band member. There isn't negative space because the lighting fills it once again creating great use of the simple yet affective lighting.

At 2.50 the singer is marginalized to the left and the light bulb is on the right, the pace of the music gets slow and as it does the bulb dims in light, I really like this as I think it is artistic and is unique for a rock video, I think this video is quite mellow compared to the previous video that they did, it is much more relaxed, there are more close ups creating more of a connection with the band and the audience.

Inspiration

Deaf Havana - 'Friends Like These'

I like this video because it's fun and interesting, I like the use of colour in this video I think it is really engaging. Another part I take inspiration from is the use of the crowd, I like the affect it creates on the audience, so they can feel like they are there. This video has a some narrative cuts in it also which I want to interpret in my video. The pace of the music matches the video well and the general feel of the video is fun and engaging I really want my video to give this affect, this is why I take inspiration from this video.

My band: CANTERBURY

http://www.canterburythankyou.com/




Canterbury are an upcoming unsigned indie/rock band already gracing the stage in and around UK live venues. They formed their band in 2005 whilst at still at school members are James, Luke, Ben, Mike and Scott. Since the summer of 2007 the band evolved musically and began to write more music, tour intensively and record their new album thus producing a new and larger fan base. Canterbury released their free and highly downloaded album 'Thank You' (canterburythankyou.com) and also created limited edition CD versions, the album has now been downloaded over 10,000 times.



My songs: I have permission to use two songs, here is an image of the email I sent to Canterbury and with their written permission:



The first song is 'Lost in the Basement':


I have chosen this song because I like the pace and the lyrics, I think it is a catchy song and when I listen to it I have many ideas that occur in my head for example, cuts between narrative and performance based, like the band performing in a dark room with lots of colourful lights flashing in time and moving in time with the pace of the music.

The second is a song called 'Friends We're More Like a Gang':


I have chose this song for similar reasons the lyrics have good suggestions for narrative and the pace of the music is good and I can match it well.
Also this is one of the songs the band doesn't have a video for, they already have a video for the following songs; Gloria:


Calm Down:


Eleven Twelve:


And Set You Right:


It is obvious that all the videos have something in common, they are all performance based with a small part of narrative. I think the Eleven Twelve video is interesting because it follows the band on tour allowing the audience to feel connected with the band as if they are there.
The Gloria video is very well made, the footage is slowed down however the singers are is sync with the over laid track. I really like this about the video because it makes you interested and even though it is simply performance based it uniqueness still engages the audience.
The Set You Right video is also performance based, however its colours and fast paced editing keeps the audience fully engaged. The pace of the editing and the pace of the music are very well in sync and there is lots of movement and lots of aspects to look at like the crowd and the band thus keeping the audience engaged at all times.

I think for my video I will try to keep the performance aspect to blend in with the other videos and as it will build a sense of familiarity with the audience, also as a rock video conventionally there usually is a performance by the band. To do this I will try to catch the band on tour dates and record them performing the songs and film their crowd, this will build a sense of realism for the viewer.

Justice: DANCE

Camera: To begin, the camera of this video never shows the face, so majority of the shots are mid shots of the torso because the t-shirts are the main engaging attraction of this video. During parts of animation the camera moves as if it's flying through images, this is quite engaging and interesting to look at and if it were in 3D it would be better. The rest of the videos is animation so the camera work over all in this video is quite limited.

Editing: The editing in this video is the most important part, as it is animated the editing would have taken the most time to do. The changing of the t-shirts needed good timing and over layering to complete however in this video it works very effectively. Animation is introduced straight away, as he turns the radio on there are 'radio waves' that come out of it. Then it becomes more obvious when a kind of pop art style is introduced and it zooms through legs and crowds to create a real affect. The animated t-shirts build up through the video and always links back to the song, his first t-shirt says dance and that is the name of the song and there is a part of the song where the t-shirts say the lyrics to the song continuously. I think this is a really clever idea and would like to pursue it or experiment with it.

Sound: I think the video content fits the music really well, for example at the beginning of the video the song sounds like it's on a radio and the man turns on the radio so it interlinks nicely. The pace of the animation and the music are in sync which makes for a more engaging and a better flowed video, what's more is the men also walk in time to the music.

Mise-en-scene: In this video the only thing in colour is the animation which I think is good because it makes the animation stand out more and as it is the main attraction of the video it should stand out the most. I like how the video is just following two men walking and animation on the t-shirts has made it really interesting, there are a few parts in which there are only animation however this is also simple and engaging.

Jay-Z: On To The Next One

Camera: Through out this video everything is centralized in either a long, mid or close up. Jay-z is the first persons face the audience sees in the video, this denotes his importance. Most large objects are in long shots for example the wires, most of the people are centralized in a mid shot and most objects like the skull is centralized in a close up. The camera stays simple in this video because the video itself is simple, the people and objects are its main attraction as well as the track so no complicated camera shots are used.

Editing: Due to the videos simplicity the editing is limited, the first and most noticeable aspect of the video is the black and white effect in the video this interlinks with the contrasting theme through out the video. The pace of the editing is well mastered in this video, it matches the bass of the song perfectly in which makes the video more interesting and engaging. The editing is cleverly done by the director because the cuts and the sequencing makes all the different scenes interlink, for example, at the beginning of the video there is a man in black standing facing a white wall, then it cuts to a black wall with a white liquid dripping on it, this is once again interlinking and following the contrasting theme of the video. Also in this video there are super imposed titles, of lines of the songs.

Sound: The track is the most important aspect of this video, the lyrics interlink with the objects shown in the video, for example he says "now double your money and make a stack" then it cuts to a stack of money. This is continuously shown through out the video and this is what makes the video and the song memorable, a very important aspect to think about when making a music video.

Mise-en-scene: There is a lot going on in this video, firstly there are the black wires with a simple white backdrop, once again contrasting however the main feature is they move in time with the base of the music once again interlinking the song with the video. Then there is the crazy man in the black suit wearing make-up similar to the jokers out of the batman, he is wearing pale white make-up contrasting with dark eye and lip make-up. Continuously through the video there are contrasting, for example the man on the drums has half his face painted black which contrasts one colour against each other and also the black diamond skull with white liquid poured on to it. A important part for this video is to realize his album art work scattered through the video, three white lines have been painted on a black car, three black lines painted on a white woman, there are three white lights on a black wall behind the drummer. The song keeps interlinking back to the video, he says "big yacht" then there is an image of a yacht.

I like this video because it is simple yet affective, the inspiration I will take from this video is to keep trying to interlink the lyrics to the images or objects in the video as it creates familiarity and it can make the video more engaging.

Interpol - Evil

Camera: Firstly in this video there are a series of mid shots and long shots to display to catastrophe in which that has happened. The first shot of the puppet singer is a long shot to make it clear he is apart of the scene. Three quick cut shots zoom into his face to a close up to notice that the puppet is the singer of the band. The following of shots are quick flashing backwards and forwards to the puppet and the crash scene, this keeps in time with the drums and the pace of the music. There are a lot of close ups on the puppet singing with extras waking in front of the camera to kind of separate the shots. This is followed by mid shots of the puppet in the ambulance so that the audience can establish what is going on around him as if he is a real person. A series of close ups are used now to view the surgery that is happening to the puppet to create realism. The music video ends with a series of close ups, mid and long shots to see the puppet alive and dancing once again to create realism.

Editing: The pace of editing is well kept with the music the actions and cuts are kept in time. The cuts keep the continuity well especially when the puppet is taken to hospital and the different shots show him coming through doors and into surgery. The editing is good in this music video as it keep the narrative flowing well which is important when narrative is introduced in the video as it must be easy to watch and easy to follow because not many audiences will watch something that is hard work.

Sound: The only sound in the video is the track itself, this is good because it means the actions are well acted there is no sound needed, it is also good because sometimes other sounds can be distracting from the track itself which defeats the purpose of the music video. The pace of the song is good and is kept through out the music video, there are no pauses or interruptions.

Mise-en-scene: The main interest at the beginning of the shot is the accident in which has happened, all aspects of the accident is clearly seen and the audience can see it is quite severe. There are fireman and paramedics everywhere and people crying and being resuscitated. When the puppet is introduced he is in quite pale coloured clothing alike his skin, he has messy hair and cuts on his face proving he is apart of the scene and the accident. The next location is in the ambulance where the puppet is cared for by paramedics as if he were human. It is quite dark lighting as it is set at night suggesting the song has a dark mood, which is true because the song is called evil. The following location and final is the hospital, where is much lighter, especially in surgery because the puppets life is saved and he is back in the light.

I think this puppet in this music video represents that humans are as fragile as puppets and we also do what we are told and are controlled by other people. Which is shown in the music videos as the people are dying and are controlled by the paramedics and doctors.

Animal Collective - In the Flowers

Camera: Through out the video the camera used is what seems like an old vintage camera as it has a low quality gradient effect which changes between black and white. At the beginning of the music video the camera looks through some bars at a city building and through out the video it makes you feel as if the camera is your eyes and you're looking at all these different locations and flowers. There is a good use of tracking in this video when the camera follows the man, however the only other bit of moving camera is used nearer the end of the video to follow the man or in the middle parts there are some 360 degree spins which give the audience that kind of dizzy feeling. There are quite a lot of still mid and long shots used in this video so that the audience can watch the dancers and the animation happening behind them. The camera often is fuzzy in other places an blends in with other shots creating a disorientating illusion.

Editing: There is a combination of normal camera and stop motion in this video. In parts of the video the director Abby Portner uses stop motion to engage the audience and to make the music video a little more interesting. Firstly the shoes are tied in stop motion, this is good because it takes a boring task and makes it look interesting to the audience. The next stop motion piece is colouring in the followed man, this shows the gradual passing of time rather than the audience watch the mans face get coloured completely they only see it done in blocks. A green screen is now used and there is flashing in the background to keep with the bands 'trippy' 'hippy' feel as their music genre is psychedelic rock. Through out the video the pace is kept well, the director keeps the pace of the music in line with everything happening in the video so it flows nicely and allows it easier to watch for the audience. There is some simple animation used in this video when images on the green screen start to move slightly, it looks as if this was done using flash. In this video there is a lot of overlay used and different shots begin to merge together, like a graphic match however they don't actually match. This video has proved itself very artistic and contemporary meeting the conventions of a psychedelic rock video.

Sound: The band is part of the psychedelic rock genre which also involves bands like MGMT and The Flamming Lips. The music is quite mellow however in places the synthesizers are quite loud and bold, however the director ensures the pace of the video is kept in time with the music. The video interlinks with the lyrics quite a bit there are lots of flowers shots in this video which is good because the song is called in the flowers.

Mise en Scene: There are many locations and lots of things to look at in this video. There are lots of objects from the city building at the beginning to the many flowers in the shots. The band are not featured in this video however there are three characters in this video the bearded man, he dresses in dark clothes and has a long dark grey beard however he does not look very old. The two dancers, the man dressed in dark Lycra with a 80's style pattern on it and the woman dressed in green Lycra, a black tutu around her waist and has doll like make up on her face once again representing a kind of 80's style. This could mean that the band are going for the 80's like sound with techno rhythms from synthesizers. Another location is a traditional carnival, however there are lots of little drawings over the film like the drawing of the little girl and the character made from flowers, this is to create familiarity with the song. Towards the end of the video there are some drawn masks that people hold up to their face and a mouth-less mask which is quite eary to fit with the horror like sound towards the end of the song.

I think this video is really random, yet artistic and contemporary. If you watch the other videos by Animal Collective most of their videos are like this. random crazy bits and pieces put together nicely in a video to create a psychedelic feel.

OK GO - end love

Camera:
The camera is fixed centralised for the first 45 seconds of the video then pans round to follow the band, however still fixed at the same height to keep the group centralised and the attention of the audience. After the first minute the camera being to physically move forward and backward following the band keeping most of them in a long shot or a mid shot, occasionally panning around to follow the band. For a while the camera is fixed again to centralise the band in a long shot so the audience can view the dance, it then tracks the band in a centralised long shot to see all of the body as they're dancing involves the whole body, the camera remains at the same central height. The camera begins to involve close ups of the band singing to create familiarity with the audience as the faces are not as clear in the long shots. A sequence of shots are now used as the band moves away from the camera creating some long and mid shots. The camera gains height now to a crane shot, creating a high angle extreme long shot allowing all dancers and extras to be in shot.

Editing:
The director uses a combination of fast forwarding and stop motion to create a rigid contemporary effect. However in doing this the bands lips are still in sync. This is really important to keep in this video as it creates realism to the video. There aren't any cuts in this video as the director wanted to created the illusion of the passing of time thus constant filming however fast forwarded for an engaging pace.

Sound:
The music through out this video is kept in sync with actions and the movement of lips. The pace of the editing is kept with the sound, also the music has quite a slow steady pace and the movements are kept to go in sync with the music.

Mise-en-scene:
The band are in one colour tracksuits, they are each in bright colour to allow them to stand out through out the video. The music video is set in a park by the river, it looks as if it is in California as it is sunny weather and there are palm trees in the background. As this is a public place there are lots of cars and pedestrians in the background however also other dancers, in casual dull coloured clothes allowing the band to once again stand out. The director uses the basic location to allow the band, the dancing and the music to be the most engaging aspect of the video.

Music Video Research

For this post I got my information from "A2 media studies for OCR second edition".

Pop music began in America in the 1950's along with the birth of Rock 'n' Roll. Since then the music industry as evolved and transformed to be more of a contemporary scene with different genres and different audiences.
The music video is a more recent way of listening and watching music. Music videos used to be films of live performances then slightly edited for example, Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze, one of the later videos (1967), however a good example of what music videos were like, a collaboration of live shots at concerts and gigs.


Todays music videos have more of a narative, some tell stories like majority of Lady Gaga's videos, in particular the song "Telephone". A expensive music video however nothing much to do with the music embodied in the video. The video tells a story of mass murder by a convict and her 'lover'. The use of interesting narative engages the audience in many ways, some disturbing and some interesting. Lady Gaga herself has now transformed the music video world, expectations have risen and Gaga's audience is left wanting more. Due to her extravigant no-budget video other artists fight to complete with the "mini movie" for one just as entertaining.


I think my music video will be more to do with the song and it's lyrics, alike the music video "empire state of mind" by Jay-Z. This song is about New York and the location is New York. I really like this video because it still has meaning however the video represents the song. The video is like a montage of New York showing different parts of New York and what makes the city, in which Jay-Z also sings about in his song.

My brief

The brief I have chosen is brief one:
A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, no longer than five minutes duration, together with:
A cover for its release as part of a digipack (CD/DVD package)
A magazine advertisement for the digipack (CD/DVD package)

I chose this brief as it was the most attractive to me, by choosing to make a music video I think I will be more engaged with the task, therefore having more passion for it.

I am hoping to do a rock video, I am yet to find an unsigned band to work with, however I have a few ideas. I think it is important to find a band and a song first before exploring ideas for the music video so that I can adapt the music and the video together.

Research I will have to complete is to look into rock videos and the genre, think about what makes a good rock video, find a band, listen to all their songs and chose one, brainstorm ideas for the video and try to create a visual idea. After this I can begin story boarding and eventually filming.