Song use

We have been granted permission by Bridge 9 Records to use the song we have selected

Permission for song

We have requested permission to use the song by emailing the bands record label for use in the song. The email reads:

"Hello,

We are doing an A2 Media Project for a music video, and we have decided to use the song 'I Don't Mind' by Defeater. We are inquiring as to whether we have permission to use the song. No profit will be made from the video, it is for academic purposes only. If we receive no reply, due to the educational usage of the music, we will assume you give your permission.

Thanks.

Dom Waldron (Ken Stimpson Community School)"

Update

We have completed some recce shots and we will be uploading them to our blogs shortly.

Update

We have completed some recce shots and we will be uploading them to our blogs shortly.

Shots

Storyboard

This is the Storyboard for our Media Film

Update

We have begun to look at similar A Level music videos and looking at similar methods and thoughts of how we could do ours.
 
Examples include this interpritation of Mr. Brightside by The Killers

Location change

We have decided to change our location from Nine Bridges in Glinton to Cuckoo's Hollow in Werrington. This is a heavy convenience considering it is more local to us than Glinton and is also easier to get to. It would also be much easier to film here because of the footbridges etc, decent camera shots would be much easier to get.

Presentation #2

We have done another idea presentation to our class regarding our final idea. We presented the main focus of the video with what camera angles we thought would work particularly well with the shots. We presented our ideas to the class and we recieved feedback on the ideas

CLDB Productions

We have finally decided on a name for our media production company - CLDB Productions. It is essentially taking the first letter of each group member and joining them together. We have created a YouTube channel where we will be uploading videos and maybe podcasts of our video.

Costume

For the video, we are in between ideas as to what setting the music video shall be. If the video is set towards the war, same as the ep, then we will be finding some WWII style clothes for the characters in the film to wear. Whereas, we are heavily thinking about modernizing the whole video. For this, we feel it would be suitable to wear typical everyday clothes, that represent that of the genre. Things like band t-shirts, skinny jeans and other clothes that fit the hardcore genre that Defeater are. This would be good to use because it would help to signify the genre and represent the codes and conventions correctly. To the right is a tshirt owned by a fellow colleague,which I feel if very appropriate for the video because of the style of the tshirt and the band it is made for are of a particularly similar genre to Defeater.

More Music Video Research

This music video represents quite clearly the basic idea of what we want to do as a music video, in the sense of camera angles and movements, and in some cases the same location. The music is also the same genre as the majority of Defeaters music. This makes it quite fitting to the stereotype of these music videos as well. We intend to use the base of the music video as our own, only changing the storyline to our one.

Location

We have discussed as a group ideas where we can film our media film, and our prime location we have selected is "9 Bridges" in Glinton. We will hopefully be able to get some recce shots of the area where we will be filming in and maybe do some practice shots with a camera. I have screencapped the location which will be uploaded onto the blog.

Similar Videos to our chosen idea

Over the course of the week, I have been looking into different music videos and seeing what we could base out own music video on.

The music video will various different happy scenes, involving a couple being happy and romantic together. I thought personally that the video would suit an almost black and white camera effect throughout the video, much like the one used in Alesana's "The Thespian" music video. This will also give the video a dated theme to it, hence the song being about him reminiscing moments with his now deceased lover. This would fit in quite well in the song. I am also influenced to use the same romantic feel as The Bunny The Bear's "C'est Pas Si Lion" when the man is almost declaring his love for the girl. This would be good to have because it fits in with the stereotype of these kinds of music videos. It is also influenced by most stereotypical "love song" videos. The song lyrics are about spending time as a couple and doing couple-y things together, and it would therefore be fitting to create a narrative of the song itself, which is what we intend to do as a group anyway.

The video itself will of course be our own ideas. We will be creating a storyboard of things we would like to add into the video, then we will create a rough cut of it soon after. We will also be playing around with the effects to add an old hazy theme to the video, like the one in the previously mentioned Alesana video.

Brainstorming Ideas

We think that the best way to make this music video is to follow the narrative. The song has a strong narrative which would seem pointless to ignore. The basic idea will be to have a guy and a girl following the lines of the song (which can be found in the last post) and going to different locations to do this, E.g A beach or the seaside. 

We want the video to match the pace of the music, so it will be fairly slow and also peaceful to fit in with the feel of the song. Another possible idea that we have at this time is to keep the people in the video anonymous and to not show their faces  throughout the video, to create an element of mystery. This will also inspire us to have to use a lot more creative camera angels, and possibly have to film at lot of it using low angels showing the bottom half of the bodies only. 

We feel that in this type of video its not particularly important to "have a lot going on" but more about how the video is made. Slow motion shots are another thing that we are considering to use, and also changing the contrast to make the whole video brighter, as we will be filming in the winter and we want the video to have a warmer feel.

When we finalise the ideas I will post again to show what we have decided to do and how we intend to make it happen.  

-From Curtis' Blog.

Falling in Reverse Moodboard

I have completed a moodboard of one of our choices. I have done a moodboard for the band "Falling in Reverse" and put similar bands, both visually and audibly, onto it as well.

Media Presentation

 As a group, we have thought up some initial ideas for music videos we can do as our music video project. We put all of these ideas into a powerpoint presentation, which we then presented to the rest of our media class while pointing out some good ideas for an actual music video and also giving good and bad points for each choice. They then gave us feedback on our ideas, and overall gave us their opinion on what song we should do. This was taken into account and we have now decided on our final song idea, which we will develop more.

Types and Purposes of Music Videos

A music video is essentially a video to go along with a piece of music. There are a variety of different ways in which a music video can be made and interpreted. Some of the ways are:
Entertainment
To Tell a Story
To send out a message
To advertise a product
To show off some sort of skill
As a way to get noticed

Mainly, the music videos are produced for entertainment purposes. They are normally produced by a bands record label and advertised through them. 

Looking into Song Lyrics

When making a music video that tells a story, it is always good to keep the lyrics in account. They can assist in the portraying of the story very well and will make the music video not only easier for the audience to understand, but for the people to make as well because they will already have a template for the video. The lyrics I have posted are for the song “I Don’t Mind” by Defeater, our most probable candidate for our song choice. The song itself does not have a music video created for it, but when looking at the lyrics, it is quite easy to build a rough idea on what a music video for the song will look like.






Let's talk about the old days,
Let's talk about your friends,
Let's talk about the summer
And how you wish it wouldn't end.

Did I forget to tell you,
How pretty you looked in that dress?
In the first time that I saw you,
You cleaned the mess from my head.

And I don't mind,
If we take our time.
No,
I don't mind.

Lets go walkin' on the boardwalk,
Dip our feet into the sea.
Lets find ourselves lost for hours,
Until we find ourselves a drink.

Lets talk that sun into setting,
Just need the sound of your voice.
Need that calming and the comfort,
Something to drown out the noise.

And I don't mind,
If we take our time,
'Cause I'm all yours
If you're all mine.

Something I've been meanin' to tell you,
About three years and a day.
I'd very much like to get married,
Maybe have kids and move away,

'Cause there ain't nothing like your smile,
Your legs and those eyes.
I will beg and steal and borrow
To keep you safe your whole life.

And I don't mind,
If we take our time,
'Cause I'm all yours
If you're all mine.





The lyrics in this particular song portray the story of a man with deep affection for a woman in his life, possibly a girlfriend or wife. The song focuses on how they can enjoy the little things as a couple despite any hardships in life. The song is from the album “Empty Days and Sleepless Nights”, a concept album set during the WWII of a man who unfortunately loses a lot of people close to him, develops an incredibly serious drinking problem and ends up committing suicide on a railroad track. This song is one of the more upbeat songs off the album, as it shows one of the highlights in the man’s unfortunate life, so the video could be bright and upbeat and include close ups and camerawork that portrays how happy the couple are in the video.

Star Appearances in Music Videos

Many videos may have a brief cameo from a celebrity of some sort. This is used to perhaps attract not only fans of the band itself, but for the celebrity to enhance his or her career by becoming more diverse. An example of this is Jason Biggs (American Pie Series) appearing in the music video for “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus. A common thing in music today is the collaboration of two or more different artists working on a song together. An example of this is Oli Sykes from Bring Me The Horizon featuring in the song and also appearing in the music video for You Me At Six’s “Bite My Tongue.”  This can improve a band’s reputation if the band is not very big, but this is not the case in the example. People from different bands will also appear in the music videos for another bands song. An example of this is the guest appearance of several stars within the same genre of music appearing in the music video for “All I Want” by A Day to Remember. Stars ranging from A Day to Remember’s former guitarist, Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy), Matt Heafy (Trivium), Vic Fuentes (Pierce The Veil) and Winston McCall (Parkway Drive) feature miming the song that the band are playing. 

Music Video Directors

Just like in a feature length movie, a director is required to monitor the production of the video and ensure everything is going to plan. The director is there to ensure that the band is doing the correct conventions of that genre, unless the video is based on something else. They are also the director of a back story that may take place to go along with the music video, ensuring all actors and other cast are doing the correct thing, just like in a movie. These 2 aspects are important in the music video to ensure a video is developed for the specific genre of music. The director makes sure that the conventions of the music match the genre of the music the video is applied to, unless it is intentionally altered for obscurity or comic effect. A popular director in the metal/metalcore scene called Robbie Starbuck is a director of bands within that particular genre. He has worked with bands such as Asking Alexandria, Times of Grace and Escape the Fate and developed music videos that fit to the various subgenres of music. The video for “Caraphernelia” by Pierce The Veil appears bright, and has a story relating to the lyrics of the song. Whereas the video for Asking Alexandria’s “The Final Episode (Let’s Change the Channel)” has a more gloomy and dark approach to it, hence the style of music played. Robby has done a good job of working with different conventions of music video genres. His website (http://www.robbystarbuck.com/) has all of his various videos on the site.

 These are 2 examples of Robby Starbuck's contrasting videos.

Music Labels and Brand Research

There are many different genres of music videos and certain record labels will go for either certain types of music or bands that they feel will become very popular and make them the most money. The "Big 4" in the business today include:

- Sony Music Entertainment

- EMI Group

- Warner Music Group

- Universal Music Group

The Big 4 are a group of music groups who are at the top of the corporate umbrella in music. They are in control of the different record labels who sign the bands. As of 2005, the "big four" music groups control about 70% of the world music market, and about 80% of the United States music market. Record companies (manufacturers, distributors, and labels) may also comprise a "record group" which is, in turn, controlled by a music group. The constituent companies in a music group or record group are sometimes marketed as being "divisions" of the group.

An example of a record company/label collaboration is Universal Music Group who are a multinational music company and one of the big 4 in the business today since 1998. They sign in bands of all different genres, varying from bands and artists such as Florence and the Machine, Take That and Justin Bieber to Metallica, Enter Shikari and Dead by April. They sign bands and publish their music for the different record labels, one of them being the Record Label Victory Records, who signs bands within the rock/metal/hardcore genres. Bands included in this are Atreyu, The Bunny The Bear, A Day To Remember, Emmure and Jamies Elsewhere. Since their beginning in 1989, they have signed over 100 bands and have accumilated sales in the 250,000 mark. Victory Records briefly had a deal with Universal Music Group in 2002 until VR terminated the contract later on that year. They are currently working with RED Music, a branch of Sony.

This is an example of a band from the record label. The label introduce themselves at the start of the video and advertise the new album at the end.


Independant labels
Record companies and music publishers that are not under the control of the big three are generally considered to be independent, even if they are large corporations with complex structures. The term indie label is sometimes used to refer to only those independent labels that adhere to an independent criteria of corporate structure and size, and some consider an indie label to be almost any label that releases non-mainstream music, regardless of its corporate structure.

Development and History of Music Videos

1929 - This was the first music video ever to be released. It was for "St Louis Blues," a song by Bessie Smith. It was premiered in theatres in 1932.

1940 - "Fantasia" was a music video featuring Mickey Mouse created by Walt Disney Studios. It featured a classical music soundtrack to portray the story with, using the instruments to show expressions and feelings of characters.

1956 - Singer Tony Bennet was recorded walking through Hyde Park as his song "Stranger in Paradise" was played in the background.

1967 - This was a time when promotional music videos were of significant importance. The song "Subterrenean Homesick Blues" by Bob Dylan was featured in the film documentary "Don't Look Back" by D.A. Pennebaker.

1970 - The TV show "Top of the Pops" began. This show was used to show new musicians performing live in the studio, many of these were used as official music videos for the band.

1981 - This was the year in which MTV (Music Television) was started. Back then, it was the primary source for all music videos for all different genres.

Present Day - Music videos these days use a variety of different methods. Mostly, it is used as advertising

Conventions

"Closure" Video Analysis

Conventions

The song "Closure" by Asking Alexandria, from the album "Reckless and Relentless" is a live video with the band performing on stage at a festival with snippets of interviews the band did while at the festival, shots of the crowds reaction to the band and backstage footage of the band's highlights of the festival and them interacting with the other bands and crowd. The band and the crowd portray the modern metal scene, through the use of clothing. Skinny/drainpipe jeans, band t-shirts, stretched ears, long hair and tattoos are very common in the video amongst the band and fans. There are many close ups of the 2 most popular members of the band (Danny Worsnop - Vocals and Ben Bruce - Lead Guitar) because these were seen as the most eye catching. The band themselves have the looks of a typical metal band, and also use the same style of stage moves as modern metal bands do these days. The video uses many camera effects; half of the video is bright and colourful, mainly the backstage shots and the other half of the band performing on stage and the audience is bright and colourful. This could be used to signify the upbeat atmosphere you get when you see the band live.




Representation

The whole band are represented as the 'next best thing' in the video. There are many shots of the crowd going crazy for them, shots of the band signing band merchandise portray the bands popularity. They appear have a somewhat 'on top of the world' attitude, the majority of the video is them having fun drinking alcohol, smoking and just generally having a good time. This is shown as the penultimate reason the band is around, so people can have a good time listening to them. Danny is portrayed as an icon a lot of the time, because of the fans reaction to him, and the fact that he is the main person on screen throughout the whole video.




Audience

The target audience for the video will be mixed gender teenagers aged 13-20. Asking Alexandria lead the lifestyle that most people this age would love to have given to opportunity. People will watch the video and look up to them and think that they want to live the same lifestyle. Andy Biersack, from the band "Black Veil Brides" also cameos in the video having a picture taken with Ben Bruce and he is seen as a role model to people of the same age so people who like both bands can see them both together. People also will watch the video to seek new trends, so if they see something they will like, they will latch onto it because music is very inspirational.




Institution

The song Closure is a single released after "Reckless and Relentless"hit the shops from the record label Sumerian Records. Fans can be seen giving copies of the album to the band to sign, but Sumerian Records themselves do not play a big part in the video.Product placement of beer cans can be seen throughout the video.

Conventions for different genres

Music Genre	Clothing	Behaviours	Video settings
Hip Hop	Jewelry, baggy clothes,  chains, bandanas,	Dancing	Bright, colourful, upbeat
Metal/Rock	Dark clothes, long hair	Headbanging, moshing, aggressive moves	Dark, club venues, flashing lights, fog
Punk	Piercings, tight jeans, mohawks	moshing	Small venues, low budget

Conventions of a music video

The conventions of a music video are important because they help to classify the video into the correct genre. For example, your typical R&B/Hip Hop music video will contain perhaps a club with attractive girls and be bright, upbeat and colourful, whereas a music video for a metal video will be dark and dull, with perhaps a somewhat depressing atmosphere to it. The music style and lyrics must also relate in some way to the music video.

The types of video in which music videos can be done are:
Performance - When the band or artist is seen throughout the music video performing the song being played
Narrative - The song will involve a narrative storyline, so actors will be put in the video to act out the story
Mixture - A mixture of the first 2
Cameo - Where the musician features in the narrative as a cameo, but does not act out the song in any way
Animation - An animated story or other video to go along with the music

Camera Shots/Movement
The camera can be used to portray the story and also the band that are performing. A music video involving the band performing live on stage will also contain the various shots of the band and also will focus on the fans and audience, particularly to view the crowds reaction to the band. An example of this would be moshpits in metal videos. When showing a story, it uses the same conventions as a film; close ups to show facial expressions, match on action to show actions etc. It is more important that shots like these are put into the video, since the video will have no dialogue because of the music and it will therefore be harder to understand. There will also be close ups of the band's instruments to show what they are playing, and also shots of logos for product placement.

Editing
Again, this is the same as film. Special effects will be added to show what cannot be done in real life, such as flying or magic effects etc.

Mise en Scene
The mise en scene of a music video needs to be convey the genre of the music through the use of the location/setting, the lighting and the props used (if it is a narrative music video)
For example, the typical mise en scene used for a rock/metal music video, it will be set somewhere dingy and dull, there will be very little lighting and the band/people acting in the video will have long hair, piercings, dark clothing and chains etc.

The purpose of a music video

The intention of a music video is to entertain the watcher by creating a visual image through the use of a song or piece of art, or other piece of music. This can be used to show a story that the song may tell, or an artistic piece. An example of an artistic piece would be "Somebody I used to know" by Gotye, there is no specific story behind the video, merely just the singers taking on a form of art. An example of a msuic video that tells a story, or part of one is "All Signs point to Lauderdale" by A Day to Remember, which tells the story of a boy bullied at school. It can also be used for advertising products that will be featured in the music video, such as t-shirts, an energy drink or maybe even an upcoming tour that the band will be doing. Popular videos, especially amongst the rock/metal genre show tour diaries, such as highlights of on stage footage of the bands and backstage footage. An example of this is the music video to "Closure" by Asking Alexandria. Music videos in which the songs has featured in a film may have parts of the film in the music video to help advertise the film to fans of the band. An example of this is "Her Portrait in Black" by Atreyu which had a music video done for the film Underworld: Evolution.

"Follow the Signs" video analysis

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
The visual image of Born of Osiris are that of a typical modern death metal/deathcore band, with long hair or shaven heads, stretched/pierced ears and other facial piercings. There are a lot of close ups of the double bass pedals and guitars playing the technical parts of the song which could be used to show off the skill of the band members. There is also a lot of simultaneous headbanging and other aggressive stage moves that are typical of various bands of the same or similar genre. There is very little lighting and the band members are wearing dark or bland clothes, to fit in with the stereotypical view of darkness within the genre of music. It matches Goodwin's theory of genre characteristics within music videos.

Relationships between visuals and lyrics
Between shots of the band, the video itself is of illuminati style people being brought down to earth by monks. This matches the lines in the song "I will show you more, a discovery beyond what you perceive" and "But in the end, disbelief cannot be denied, cannot be refused." This could be suggesting the existance of a greater being beyond earth and it will eventually inevitably be upon us. This, again meets Goodwin's theory because the lyrics and on screen visuals match.

Relationships between music and visuals
Aside from the genre (technical death metal) the band use a lot of choir and keyboard aspects in the song to add a mysterious feel to the video, which fits in very well with the theme of the music video.

The demand for the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work
The music video includes various shots of the band, both with whole band shots and individual shots of each member, showing the instruments and movements that the band do. This could be the recognisable feature or trademark of the band which would make them easy to distinguish by their fans.

There is frequently reference to notion of looking
The majority of the visual effects in the video are done using CGI and actors. The band also are performing in the same backdrop in which parts of the video are set. It helps to pirtray the story behind the music video. Aside from this, there is nobody else in the music video. The main focus is on the band and the story, which the CGI and various bright colours used helps to portray.

There is often intertextual reference

There is no intertextual reference in the music video, other than the record label, Sumerian Records presenting themselves at the start. There is no product placement at all other than accidental close-ups of the band's equipment used in the video and also the band are also wearing very plain clothes with no bright logos or patterns. This helps the main focus to be on the band themselves and the visuals, but doesn't meet Goodwin's theory.

The tasks

Music Video - A video that portrays a story or art through the use of a song, taking into account it's lyrics and musical style. below is the music video for the song "Unbreakable" by Veil of Maya

Band Website - A page on the internet which shows the band's details, such as tour dates, merchandise and a profile or background of the band. Below is Veil of Maya's profile on their record label's website Sumerian Records.

Digipak - A collection of a CD and DVD with other features in a CD pack. Below is the album cover from "The Common Man's Collapse" by technical death metal band Veil of Maya

Brief

A promotional video for the release of an album, to include a music video, together with two of the following  options

-A website homepage for the band
-A cover for it's release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)

How long should music videos be?
The length of the track is the usual convention, but if it is a particularly long track, it dcould fade early. Three minutes is the classic pop song.