P.P-C - Group Discussion

Today Tally, Mandy and I had a discussion about our track and storyboarding. It was very important that we split the track up fairly between us. Before splitting the track up we talked about our ideas together, to make sure we were all on the same line and listened to the track a few times, to help trigger some new ideas. We then went through the lyrics carefully and broke it down into 3 different sections. We would all have 4 sections to draw up into a storyboard, and put together to make the final animatic. Once we had split the track up we found that we all were given the chorus. We found the discussion really helped us become more organised and helped share the work load between us evenly. We are now ready to start our storyboard, and then our group will be able to start the animatic.

A.S - Pitch Evaluation

Yesterday, the 12th October, Tally, Nellie and I presented out pitch to the class and the teachers so that we could propose our idea and perhaps gain any other ideas. During our pitch, we talked about what we had learned from our product and technical analysises, showed the class some pictures of a reccie we completed at Hilbert Park and put forward some ideas we have for the music video. The pitch went really well, and the idea seemed to go down quite well.

However, an espect that both us and the teachers are concerned about is that if we do not use a broad range of exciting visual effects, our video could become quite dull and repetitive. Our video idea is based around a narrative, although there will be some performance scenes, involving the singer as a young boy, being neglected by his father, but growing up and forgiving him. To make the video stand to repeated viewings and be an interesting experience, we hope to use lots of transitions from young boy to man, to represent him growing him up, as well as the narrative.

P.P-C - Music Video Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F5hFana8JA

I will be deconstructing ‘Change’ by Daniel Merriweather. Daniel Merriweather is a fairly new artist, he was first noticed after making some successful tracks with Mark Ronson, and he later released his debut album ‘Love and War’ in June 2009. This single was in the top 10 at number 2. Daniel Merriweather’s genre of music is R&B, indie and Acid Jazz.

After watching the video over several times, it was obvious to see that the music video is all performance based. This conforms to the typical music video you would expect to see for this type of artist. Also as he is a recent artist, we want to see more of him (Daniel Merriweather) rather than a story. As the audience we feel as though we can connect a lot more with the artist, if they are singing to us and telling us the story. An example of this is ‘the notion of looking’, which is used through-out the video and makes the audience feel part of the music video (making them feel important) and are therefore more likely to watch the video.

It is important to notice the locations in which the performance takes place, as instead of a narrative being told through the visuals it could be thought that it was being told through the locations we are shown in the background shots of the performance. There is a small link between the visuals and lyrics, for instance the location shows a run-down estate, and in the lyrics he is talking about the two different lifestyles and how it is such a difference and how nothing is going to change for him.

I believe that this music video does not show that much creativity, although is there for one purpose, which is to help promote and sell the track. It is used as a tool, to gain sales and market the track. This is very important for the track and the artist. For instance if a consumer watches the music video and likes the track they are then more likely to purchase and download the song. Due to this track only consisting of performance I therefore do not feel that much experimentation has gone into this video, and could not be called art.

Through-out this video there are many tracking shots used, although in these shots the artist moves with the tracking. This type of camera work may have been used so we can see the artist but at the same time the scenery around the artist, which helps set the scene of the song. I believe that a camera and the artist were placed on a moving object (for example a car) and then started to film. At the very beginning of the music video we are shown a few different location shots, this is for the audience to familiarise themselves with the setting, and for them to recognise certain features in these shots which will help to tell the story, as the artist would want the video to be perceived in the correct way and meaning. Most of the shots in this video are quite long, rather than being fast paced, the shots will be longer for this type of video and genre, due to there being no narrative and mainly showing off the artist. Some types of editing techniques used in this video are the following; Fading into another shot and cuts. The cutting shots are used through the whole of the video; this is quite a simple technique, which goes well with the music video as it is also quite simple. The cutting shots start to become slightly quicker when the speed of the music and beat increases.

Looking at Daniel Merriweather’s clothing it is noticeable no special effort has been made to dress up. This conforms to the genre as most artists in this genre tend to wear very simple, plain, casual clothing, although it is usually darker coloured clothing. As the song and lyrics are talking about different classes and lifestyles, Daniel Merriweather’s clothing connotes to us that he was part of the lower class. We notice in the music video that the weather looks very dull and grey, this also helps to set the scene, it also may connote to the audience from the use of the clouds and the colours that it was difficult growing up around that area and wasn’t a very happy place. All the different elements of mise-en-scene are very important during a music video because they help the audience to understand the message being conveyed. This video is talking about different types of people, classes and cultures, it is trying to tell a message to the audience that if different types of people don’t try and start to get on then nothing is going to change, and there will always be a split between the poor and the rich. This type of video actually relates to the real world and sends a lot of meaning out to the public.

This type of track and video will help to sell his product, as consumers will realise that Daniel Merriweather’s music has a lot of meaning and truth behind it. Rather than the normal, generic things people sing about, this song has a lot of connotation used in it. They also represent the artist in a very relaxed fashion, and manor, which will appeal to a wider range of consumers. In this song Daniel Merriweather addresses different social groups, for example he mentions a guy with a gun and then on the other hand a rich man turning on the garden hose. Two completely opposite types of people, in his music he sings about why the two different social groups cant get on. In this video the ideological discourse is not being challenged the video, is very straight forward, and easy to understand the correct interpretation. Personally I believe that the values and opinions stated through this music video are reinforced by the public, it is the opinion that most people will believe about the different social groups and opinions.

This video will be consumed on lots of different music channels, such as MTV and HITS; it will also be consumed on the internet e.g. YouTube and MySpace. This gives consumers a wide variety in which they can watch the video and listen to the track.

A.S - Music Video Analysis

Adele - Hometown Glory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OikV0hy5mSQ

The single ‘Hometown Glory’ by Adele was originally released in 2007, but in 2008 it was re-released as the fourth single from her album ‘19’. Due to this, there were two music videos produced and released, and I have chosen to analyse the second version. The music video is taken from a live performance by Adele of the song, and was directed by Dugdale. Adele is of a similar genre to James Morrison as both are linked to the term ‘blue eyed soul’ and are both solo artists, although Adele has a much more soulful tone to her voice, and tends to write about heartbreak. This soulful genre is evident through the video, as Adele is on the stage alone, performing to the audience. There are pianists and musicians involved, but they are less visible, and so shows Adele in a spotlight, just simply performing her song, without a high budget music video. This use of a low-fi video shows that Adele is more concerned with putting across her music, so much so that they have used a live performance. The opening shot is a low angled mid-shot of the male piano player playing the introduction, and it then cuts to a long shot of Adele alone on stage with ‘Adele’ written above her in large letters. The video is a performance based video, with no narrative concepts at all. Adele is just singing the song, sometimes directly to the camera. This then leads to the idea that this video has primarily been produced as a means of advertising the artist, as she is the main focus.

At the beginning of the video we see a close up of the sign above Adele stating her name, this has been used as an introduction to the video as it was a live performance. All musicians present, such as the piano player and string players, are wearing black, whereas Adele is wearing a light grey tunic/dress which stands out vastly against the dark settings. This technique has been used so that the audience can familiarise themselves with the artist, as she stands out so much more than other people. Another visual technique used are meat shots of Adele, again so that we can focus on her and become accustomed to her look. The editing pace of this song is reasonably slow, as this is well suited to the song. The song has quite a low tempo, and so a fast paced video would grate against the song and make a confusing and unattractive video. Just before the first chorus is sung, the video is faded out to black, and then a jump cut to a MCU of Adele singing which catches our attention as it is a sudden emergence of colour and visuals. There are also many extreme close ups of Adele whilst she is singing, especially of her mouth. This is evident at 1 minute 38, and has been used as a more visually interesting shot and framing, so that the audience do not get bored of the simple performance video. A large amount of panning and zooms have been used throughout the video, partly so we can see the instruments used and also again as an interesting visual technique to catch our eye.

Throughout the video, Adele is represented as being a strong solo artist. When performing, she is seen to be holding the top of the microphone stand, whilst singing to the side of it. This is representing her as taking control of her career and going what she wants to do, as she is grasping the stand in a possessive way. She is also portrayed as being very earnest with her music, as she often breaks the ‘fourth wall’ by performing directly to the cameras, as if it is a personal performance to ourselves.

This video is aimed at a focused audience, as the song is quite relaxed and it is less likely to catch the eye of the ambient audience. This also applies to the music video, as there it is quite slow paced, with no vivid visuals such as bright lights or fast jump cuts. I don’t believe that this song would be shown frequently on music channels, as it is not mainstream pop, it has a more soulful sound, and therefore it could appeal to an older audience. I also believe that this video has been produced to showcase Adele as an artist and musician, as the emphasis is put on her performance rather than visual effects.

P.P-C - Example of Shots

The images show above are shots that our group would like to create in our music video. We think that these type of shots would fit in with the genre of our artist (as the artist in these shots is James Morrison). They will also fit in with the narrative that our group came up with the other day. The use of the sun glare in these shots works really well, and helps to create feelings and emotions.