Conventions of a music video

One of the conventions of a music video is a variety of camera shots. This includes things such as close ups and long shots. Long shots are often used so that you can focus on the location of the video and close ups are used to focus on the artist themselves and their facial expressions. As well as shots, they also tend to use camera movements such as panning and tracking.

 

 

Another important aspect of music videos is the mise en scene. It is important that the video appears visually interesting. This includes things such as props, lighting and costume. Therefore when we film our music video we must make sure that we focus on these aspects as they can affect the overall look of the video.
 

Although I have already mentioned costume in mise en scene. It is also a very important aspect on its own. Often in music videos artists appear in more than one outfit depending on the different settings that they use. Therefore this is something to consider when creating our own music video that we have a variety of costumes to keep the video interesting. Moreover, the colour of the artists costume can reflect the mood. Therefore for my own video I am going to dress my artist in dark clothing to reflect the mood that I am trying to set.
 

These are some of the conventions that tend to appear in most music videos. However different genres of music also tend to have their own conventions as well. For example Indie and Rock bands are more likely to use dark locations and costume to match the mood of their music.

 

 

As Rihanna tends to appear under the R&B genre. I decided to research into the conventions that appear in these music videos to ensure we are following the conventions that our target audience will expect to see when watching the video. One of the main focuses in R&B videos is the artists make up. It tends to be quite dramatic with the use of dark colours to emphasise facial features. There tends to be a lot of focus on the artists eye make up. As well as this females also tend to wear a red or dark lipstick to demonstrate their power as a female.

Next, both males and females in R&B videos often try to demonstrate their sexuality. This is often shown through the clothing that they choose to wear. Women often wear minimal clothing to display this. However for my own music video I will challenge this stereotype as we are using a young actress and do not want to display this image. Females also tend to wear high heels to elongate their legs and appear desirable to males. This is something I will consider doing in my own music video.

Another thing that appears to be important in music videos is the use of Jewellery. Such as necklaces and earrings. This can also be used to demonstrate power and wealth. This is something I will consider using in my own music video. However I was planning on focusing on the actresses make up and outfit rather than jewellery.

When female artists are creating a fast tempo R&B music video they tend to use a lot of visual effects. As well as this there tends to be a lot of dancing involved. Therefore they do not necessarily follow a narrative style.

In conclusion, after carrying out this research I have deepened my knowledge on the conventions of a music video and I now understand that different genres of music use different conventions. Therefore when I film my own music video I will use conventions that are specifically related to my genre.

Magazine Covers

As part of our coursework we have to create a magazine cover about our artists single. Therefore I thought it would be a good idea to look at some real music magazines to see how they structure images and the different colour schemes that they use. 

One of the magazines that I looked at was Q magazine. The magazine was first established in 1986 and was originally named Cue. However the company changed the name to a one letter word as they thought it would be more eye catching on the shelf.

One of the things that is obvious from first looking at this cover is that the image is the focus point. This is because it takes up a large amount of space and there is minimal writing surrounding it. I personally like the look of this magazine cover as it is not too over crowded and I think the simplicity of it works.

Moreover, the colour scheme on the front of the magazine is quite minimal. Once again I like this style as I think that too much colour and text could draw away the attention from the main image.

Another music magazine that I looked at was NME. In comparison to Q magazine this cover has more than one image on the front. As well as this, the magazine has used free merchandise to influence the sale of the magazine, such as a free poster. It is important when creating our own front cover that we consider different advertising techniques.

One of the things that I do like about this magazine is the use of bold font. This makes the writing stand out on the shelf and catches the audiences attention. This magazine also has far more colours on the cover than Q magazine.

Although I think this magazine has good selling techniques, I personally prefer the minimal effect that is displayed by Q magazine.

Next, a Magazine that I looked at was Smash Hits. The magazine stopped being published in 2008, I decided to look at the cover because it would've target the same audience as my own, which is teenagers and young adults. Therefore it is interesting to see what worked and what didn't.

One of the things that is obvious when looking at the cover of this magazine is that they are targeting a specific audience, which is females. This is highlighted by the pink colour scheme and the use of "Girls Rule!" in large text in the centre.  Therefore they have instantly ruled out the chances of any male reading the magazine.

Following on from this, the magazine also creates a lot more images than the other two magazines. I think this is because it is targeting a younger audience and therefore visual information is very important to them.

After looking at this magazine I have found out that colour scheme is very important depending on the type of audience you are choosing to target. Although I do think that perhaps this magazine was not as successful as it could've been because the magazine appears quite child like which is not appealing to young adults.

In conclusion, since looking at these professional music magazines I have gained some inspiration for my own. I have decided that I want my magazine to have one image as the focus point and a simplistic colour scheme. Therefore this research as been successful as it has helped me to develop my own ideas.

Institutional Research

There are different industries that are used to represent different artists. Some artists are part of an independent record label where as others are part of a major record label whether that be British or American. 

Many artists begin their career as part of an independent record label and then go on to work with larger companies once they have established a larger fan base. An example of an independent record label is Domino. Some of the artists that would with this company include Arctic Monkeys and Blood Orange.
Independent record labels have less financial backing to help their artists. This means their artists do not always receive the same perks that a larger company would. For example they might not release as many music videos as this is a costly procedure. Therefore it is more difficult to get noticed in the charts.

In comparison to this there are also Major record labels. These companies tend to dominate the charts with their artists. This is because they have the financial resources to make sure their artist is a success and are also able to make technical music videos. Examples of major record labels include Columbia Records, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. Some of the artists that these companies work with are Beyonce, Adele and Pharrell Williams.  As you can see these are very well known artists who have had a number of successes in the charts. This is because they are receiving the financial backing needed to target a global audience. For example they appear on TV shows such as the BRITS.

For our own artist, Alexa Rose, it is important that we decide what type of record label we would like her to work with. As she is an upcoming artist it would make sense for her to be part of an independent record label as she builds up her fan base. However we could work with a major record label to ensure that she has a successful career.  Although artists from an independent record label can also have great success, Arctic Monkey's are a great example of band that have been able to break the mould.

I have decided that our artist, Alexa Rose, is going to be part of an independent record label. This is because she is not a major star and it is therefore unlikely that a major record label would work with. It is important for her to establish herself in the music industry first.

Lyrics Analysis

As part of my pre-production planning I decided to print off the lyrics to our chosen song so that I could analyse what I believe to be the meaning of the song. The song that I chose is Disturbia - Rihanna.

One of the things that I noticed whilst analysing the lyrics is that it has negative language throughout. I have highlighted some of the words that I believe to be negative. An example of this is the word crazy, which is not typically perceived to be a positive emotion.  This word is used in the first verse of the song, therefore the audience are immediately made aware of the negative mood that the song is going to follow through with.
 

As well as this, as I have mentioned before I interpreted that the song is about the emotions you feel after a breakup. This was first established in the third verse when the word consume is used. This suggests to me that the negative thoughts you have often take over your reality for a short period of time.

 

 

Following on from this, one of the verses also contains "faded pictures". I interpreted this as someone looking back on the relationship that they used to have with someone else and this influenced the narrative idea that we came up with.

Next, as you can see I have highlighted "thought will be altered" as I thought this suggested how the presence of love can alter your normal thoughts and you can become blinded by the person you think someone is.

Overall after looking at these lyrics I found that the overall tone of the song is very negative. Therefore when I am  presenting the narrative I need to make sure that this is clearly illustrated to the audience through body movements and mise en scene. For example I am planning on dressing my actress in black clothing to portray this.

In conclusion, I thought looking at these lyrics without the real video in front of me was very helpful as it meant I could not be influenced by the true meaning of the lyrics and came up with my own unique narrative. I thought that this task was very influential on my idea.

Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me - Analysis

As I am planning on recreating a music video to a female artist I thought it would be a good idea to watch a professional video by a female artist that also follows the theme of love and heartbreak. You Belong With Me is one of the first music videos released by Taylor Swift and it currently has over 300 million views on YouTube, therefore there must be something successful about the music video to interest such a huge audience.

This music video follows a narrative structure, which is about a young girl who has fallen in love with her best friend but she has to watch on whilst he is with someone else. However the video does end happily with Taylor's character ending up with the boy.

One of the things that I think is particularly clever about this music video is that Taylor Swift has targeted her audience very well. She is aware that many young girls might have experienced something similar to this in the past and can therefore relate. I think that this makes the target audience more willing to watch the music video if they can place themselves in the situation. As well as this, Taylor Swift has ended the video in a positive light as the character ends up with the boy. Therefore this gives the target audience hope that they will have the same success. 

The music video also displays a lot of close ups of the artists face, I think one of the reasons for doing this is so that the audience can see the unhappiness of the character and sympathise with her. This is something to consider when we create our own music video as we are also following a theme of heart break therefore we should make sure that you can always see the characters facial expression.

Another thing that I like about this music video is how the characters are styled in certain colours to represent their personality/character. For example Taylor's character is styled in white to represent innocence where as the other female in the video is wearing red to display that she is the enemy and manipulative girlfriend. 

Overall I think that this video is successful. The artist has not used many visual effects such as split screens, they have kept it very simple. As mentioned previously I think the one thing that makes this video so successful is the relatable storyline. Therefore this research has made me aware that the narrative of the video is just as important as the effects that appear on screen. 

Purpose of Pop videos in the digital age

One of the main purposes of a music video is to promote the artist and their single. As we continue further into the digital age the narrative of music videos is becoming increasingly important in order to make not only your target audience want to watch the video but also people outside of that. Artists nowadays are constantly trying to spark up attention about their music and get the public talking. One of the best ways to do this is visually through the use of a music video.

One band that I have noticed that are constantly trying to stand out visually is One Direction. I have found that their music videos are often quite different to other artists in order to make people talk. An example of this is when they made the video to Best Song Ever. Within the video they had themselves styled as other people such as the director talking to the boys about them creating a new video.  This is very different to how most artists portray themselves in their music video and therefore made people outside of their fan base watch the video as it got people talking. It is also proving to be a success as their fan base is constantly growing and they are becoming increasingly popular with different age groups and cultures.

Moreover, the narrative to a music video can also provide a greater understanding of what the song is about. When the target audience first listen to a song they might not necessarily understand the meaning of the lyrics. However when you visually watch the lyrics on screen it could help you to understand what the artist is trying to portray.

As well as this, the purpose to a music video is also to entertain the target audience. More often than not you will watch a music video more than once particularly if it has an interesting story line. The use of the target audience watching the video several times could also help with the sale of the single. Furthermore, when you watch a music video on sites such as YouTube it often displays other videos and tracks by the artist, therefore promoting the sale of their whole album.

As you can see from the above points, music videos are extremely important in terms of marketing and promoting an artist especially in todays society when people are able to access media on many different platforms it means that the target audience are becoming more and more interested in the visual side of music.  The majority of artists in the charts will release more than one music video to their current album in the hope of expanding their audience.

In conclusion, after writing up this post I have gained a greater understanding of why music videos are so important in the digital age and has encouraged the development of my own. 

Choosing our artists name

It is very important when choosing our artists name that it is something short and catchy. We want our artists name to be memorable but to also appeal to our target audience which is 16-24 year olds. 

One of the things that I looked at whilst trying to decide on a name for our artist was the top 10 female names.  By doing this I was able to see what is popular as we want to make sure that our artists name is liked by our target audience. Below is a print screen of the top 10 names: 

One of the names that I was quite drawn to on this list was Ava,  although this is clearly a popular name I also think that it is quite unique. Moreover, it is very short meaning that it is easy to remember  and easy to market, which we must consider as we also have to create a digipak and magazine cover.  Another name that I also like is Alexa. I think that either of these names would be ideal. 

I then carried out some research into last names to see which ones were the most popular and not so popular. For our artists last name I would prefer to use something that isn't quite as popular.  Below is a print screen of some of the most popular last names, therefore I will try to avoid using these. 

One of the last names that I am interested in using is Bell. This is because once again it is short and snappy. After doing further research I found that Rose would also flow very well with either of the first names. 

In conclusion after writing up this point I have come up with a final decision that I am going to call my artist: 

Alexa Rose 

I think that is a relatively easy name to remember and it still unique enough that our artist won't get lost in amongst the crowd.  Overall I am pleased with our artists name and think that I carried out sufficient research to see which names were popular to appeal to our audience.