Ancillary text - Magazine advertisement - Mock up and draft design

My Ideas

For my magazine advertisement, my main mage could be from one of the locations in my video. This includes: The beach, A supermarket, Outside a house, and inside the house, possibly in the dining room. My favourite location of them all is the beach. This is good because it shows the most romantic scenes and shows where the couple met. This is like the start of the story of the couple, so I think the beach would be a good poster image.

Layout idea

 

My draft

First edit

Cast list

Costumes

My chosen song

I have chosen (If you're wondering if I want you to) I want you to - by Weezer. I have picked this song by thinking of a shortlist for what songs I might want to use and then looking at the lyrics and seeing which song had the best narrative. I chose this song in the end because I feel I have some good ideas on a narrative story-line and because the song is quite upbeat, which is how I want to feel rather than depressed.

I really like the song that I will use because the lyrics themselves have a narrative, so when you listen to it, it can actually mean something. It is also quite an upbeat song, which means, editing wise, it has a lot of fast edits, which means a lot of footage, but it also means that it doesn't have to focus on one thing for too long. A disadvantage of this song is that the chorus is repeated a lot and it may be quite difficult to think of something new and exciting every chorus, and it may become a little bit repetitive, but this can be made more exciting by adding a part of the narrative in to the video during this time.

I think this song relates well to members of my target audience. I think my video could be targeted at people aged 18-25. I have chosen this age range because although it is a love story, it is quite a mature theme because it is about a breakup and proposing, so it is not something a teenager would normally do, but probably something that a young adult is likely to do. I like the fact that the lyrics themselves have a narrative which means I could use the lyrics as a narrative idea. This made things  much easier when I was thinking of ideas for the video, but it was still difficult because I had to think of a video that would match the lyrics otherwise it would have been out of place and different to the song.

Weezer

weezer is an American rock band from America. It was founded by lead singer/guitarist Rivers Cuomo and consists of him, Bassist, Scott Shriner, lead guitarist, Brian Bell, and drummer, Patrick Wilson. The lineup has changed three times since its formation and this is the current lineup. Since Weezers founding, they have sold 9,200,000 albums in the US alone, and 17,525,000 worldwide. They have made 9 albums in total, thier most recent being Everything Will Be Alright In The End. This was released in late 2014. Their main influences are Kiss, Nirvana, who they were label mates with, The Beachboys, The Pixies, and Sonic Youth.

Video techniques and influences

Video and technique influences from joewilson1997

Health and safety grid

Narrative analysis of example video

A day to remember - All signs point to Lauderdale



Todorov (1977)
Todorov stated that there are 5 stages to a narrative. Stage 1, is the point of stable equilibrium, where everything is normal with no disruptions. Stage 2, is when there is a disruption of the equilibrium and this then creates a disequilibrium. Stage 3, is the recognition of the disruption. Stage 4, is that it is only possible to recreate the equilibrium through actions against the disequilibrium. Stage 5, is the new equilibrium.The final equilibrium is different to the first state of equilibrium.



In the video I am analysing, I think the narrative follows the Todorov narrative theory. At the beginning we see the group of 'outcasts' being bullied. This is the initial state of equilibrium. They then think they have had enough and want to do something about it. This is the disruption. They then go on to give them food and drink that they have tampered with and the bullies have then eaten it. This is the recognition of the disruption and then leads on to the repair. They then chase the outcast and beat him up a bit, but more outcasts show up and they can get revenge on the bullies. This is the new equilibrium.

Image from: http://dtugby10.wordpress.com/the-todorov-narrative-theory-within-bond/


O'Sullivan et al (1998)
O'Sullivan suggests that all texts tell a story.He says that all media texts tell us a story about ourselves. It's not necessarily about our own personal stories, but could be about us as a culture. Narrative theory shows what we experience while reading a story, is understanding a set of conventions.
Narrative - Structure of the story
Digesis - The place that the story takes place.
Verisimilitude - This is the quality of appearing real or true. For us to connect with the text then it has to feel very true to life by following the rules of continuity.


Narrative - In the video I am analysing, The structure of the story starts off as what a lot of people may go through (bullying etc. ), and then continues in to what most people would like to do to the bullies. This gives the viewer a sense of satisfaction and helps the audience connect to the video. This is using personal stories to connect to the audience.
Digesis - In the video I am analysing, the story is set in a school. This is a place that most people in the world have been to, or are at, and they may see some of the things that happen in the video. This means that a large amount of people may connect with this video in some way and it shows verisimilitude. Also, people may not have been through this exact story at school, but it may have been something similar.
Verisimilitude - The video I am analysing, may seem relatively true to life, because it follows the same structure of what may happen in real life, but some of the things are a bit extreme, such as peeing into a sandwich. It does follow the rules of continuity though, which make his seem true to life


Vladimir Propp (1928)
Vladimir Propp is a Russian theorist that studied the narrative structure of Russian folk tales. He concluded that all characters could be put in to only 7 broad character types in the 100 tales that he studied. These are;
The villain - Struggles against the hero
The donor - Prepares the hero or gives the hero an object that may be magical
The helper - helps the hero in the quest
The princess and her father - Gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, and marries the hero.
The dispatcher - Sends the hero off on his journey
The hero or victim/Seeker hero - Reacts to the donor, weds the princess
The false hero - takes credit for the hero's actions or tries to marry the princess.


In the video I am analysing, some of the characters can be represented by Propps theory. In my video, you see; The villain, the hero, and the helper.
The villain - In the video, we see the villain, or the villains, as being the bullies that are bullying the outcasts or other people in the school. We know this because we see them bullying outcasts from the start.
The hero - The hero of the video, is the main outcast. We know this because we see him being fed up with being bullied and takes action against the bullies. This could be considered the quest that the hero goes on. Although it is not to 'wed the princess', it still follows the theory because it is a quest and then something good comes out of the quest.
The helper - The helpers in the video would be the rest of the people that are considered outcasts. This is because we see them helping the main character tamper with the food, and at the end we see them help the main character get revenge on the bullies.

Filming scheduelle

 



Where my video will be featured/advertised

Storyboard

Location idea 2 - House

One of the houses I am considering, is my friend alexs house. I went to look at his house and found that it would be the most suitable for filming. This is because he has quite a large house, giving me more room for filming. I is also, not very modern looking, giving it a feel of being set a long time a go, which is good for my video as I need to show that the characters are growing up. It is also in a very convenient location because it is 2 minutes walk away from my own house, and it is a 5 minute walk from the other actors house. One of the problems with this location is that I am limited as to what I can do with the space, compared to what I could do in my own house. This means I will not be able to move any furniture, or rearrange anything, which might make things difficult, but I don't think it will be anything that we cant work around. This location is the first choice of location for my house scenes in my music video.

Location idea 1 - Beach

The first place I went to for test shots, was Bridlington beach. Bridlington is a sea side town along the east coast in Yorkshire, 24 miles from Hull. When I was in Bridlington, I took pictures of the beach and the Bridlington Spa, which is a music venue in Bridlington. These are locations that I may use in my music video for the opening scenes and in one of my montage edits. I like Bridlington because the beach is very big and it looks like a typical sea side town. The problems with it, are, that the beach is not very attractive and the weather is very unreliable. For my music video, I would like the sea to be a good colour, such as blue, but at Bridlington it is a mucky brown colour which is very off putting, also, the sand on the beach is very trodden and dirty, which is also very unappealing. The Bridlington spa is a very elegant building and I think it would look good in my music video and I may change locations from the very sea front to at the back of the sand more towards the Spa. I might use Bridlington in my final product because it can be very nice looking, and only 45 minutes drive away, but I may not because of the unreliable weather and the possibility of it not looking very nice.

 

The second place I went to for test shots, was Hornsea beach. Hornsea is a seaside town on the east coast Yorkshire and is 16 miles away from Hull. When I was in Hornsea I took pictures of the beach and the sea. If I were to use this location in my music video it would be in the opening scenes and in one of my montage edits. I like Hornsea because it is very close, and it is not very busy, compared to most beaches. The main problems with using this location is that there is not much sand and it is mainly pebbles, making it look not very nice. It is also a very small place and it looks very basic. Also, the coast line suffers from very bad erosion which would make my music video look a bit ugly. I might use this location in my final music video because it is only a 25 minute drive away, but I may not use it because of the ugly coastlines and the lack of good sand.

Other music videos and songs in the same genre

Audience research

My research

To find out what my audience like I carried out multiple surveys to get the best possible results. I put a poll on my blog to find out what type of videos people liked the most. I made a survey using survey monkey because that was a good poll to send to people from different areas and it has a good way of showing the results. I also did interviews with members of my target audience to find out what they think is involved within the genre of music I am making my music video for. In my survey monkey, I also asked people that liked similar genres so that I could appeal to a much wider audience.

Poll

My poll research is good when I am looking for information based on what fans of the genre I prefer like because they are following the blog because they like similar things to what I do. It gives me an understanding of what the current fans already like about it, rather than looking for new fans and how I could make it appeal to them.
 

In my blog poll, I found that the majority of the voters said they watch power pop music videos the most. This shows that the most popular genre of music videos is Power pop. I also found that half of my audience is male and half of my audience is female. This shows that there is no particular target gender needed in my video. I also found that the majority of my audience prefer narrative music videos. This shows that my video will have to have a story line and follow a narrative for it to appeal the most to my audience.


Survey monkey

My survey monkey results are mainly about getting information from random people and finding out what it is that they like, and getting ideas on what the general public like rather than a specific group of people. These results allow me to add/change things that will make more people from other genres watch my music video.

 

These results show that in my music video, if I want to appeal to a large target audience, I must have the following things:

• A wide range of camera angles, locations and other elements of mise-en-scene.
• Relevance to the chosen song, such as the video representing what the lyrics are saying.
• An interesting storyline that the viewer can follow. This will keep the viewer entertained.
• The musician from the band must be featured in the music video.

Interviews

My ideas

Music video ideas! from joewilson1997

Conventions of genre of my chosen song

Conventions of genre

power-Pop - Power pop is inspired by rock music from the 1960's. In power pop you are likely to find: A strong melodie, very crisp and clear vocals, and some guitar riffs. Some of the genres thatb are derivative of this are: Brit-pop, Pop-punk, Noise-pop, Indie-pop, mod revival, and jangle pop. Another convention of power-pop is that when recording, a technique that is used, is that a lot of compression is used on the vocals, this may be used to stop the vocals distorting at loud parts of the song. The most common instuments used within Power pop are: electric guitar, for the catchy guitar riffs and the strong melodies, Bass guitar, also for the strong melodies, Drums, and sometimes, synthesizers will be used. Them difference between this and pop-rock is that it is a lot more agressive. Some popular examples of some songs that a4re of the power pop genre are:
- Weezer, buddy holly
- Jimmy eat world, The midddle
- Fountains of wayne, Staceys Mom



Rock - Rock is the most popular alternative to pop, its main differences are that it uses guitars and drums to push the music forward and is often considered heavier than pop. And there are many types of sub genres within rock, such as metal or indie. An average rock videos main convention is a lot of movement and editing. this is because of the fast paced beat of the song and the editing being done in time with the beat. Another convention is also for the musicians/actors to not be clean cut and fresh, they are often associated with being gloomy, sweaty when playing instruments and not well kept, maybe due to drink/drugs. It is also conventional for the musician to be passionate about their music, such as the singer when singing, if it is a screaming/shouting part of the song, the singer needs to look like they are shouting/screaming as a part of the band, otherwise it will look different to the video. Below is an example of the musician acting like he is really singing the song.

Textual anlysis

lyric timings

"(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To"

The moon was shining on the lake at night - 0:03 - 0:07
The slayer T-shirt fit the scene just right - 0:08 - 0:12
Your smeared mascara - 0:12 - 0:14
I looked into your eyes and saw a light - 0:14 - 0:18

You told me stories about your chickadees - 0:20 - 0:25
They didn’t like BB guns or stupid archery - 0:25 - 0:29
And charmed the lifeguard - 0:29 - 0:31
He let them use the pool all day for free - 0:32 - 0:35

Then the conversation stopped - 0:37 - 0:40
And I looked down at my feet - 0:40 - 0:43
I was next to you and you were right there next to me - 0:43 - 0:46
Then I said - 0:47 - 0:48

Girl, if you’re wondering if I want you to (I want you to) - 0:48 - 0:54
I want you to - 0:54 - 0:56
So make them move (make them move) - 0:56 - 0:58
cause I ain’t got all night - 0:58 - 1:02

The rest of the summer was the best we’ve ever had - 1:04 - 1:08
We watched titanic and it didn’t make us sad - 1:09 - 1:13
I took you to Best Buy - 1:13 - 1:15
You took me home to meet your mom and dad - 1:16 - 1:19

Your mom cooked meat loaf, even though I don’t eat meat - 1:22 - 1:26
I dug you so much, I took some for the team - 1:26 - 1:30
Your dad was silent His eyes were fixed to what was on TV - 1:31 - 1:36

And the conversation stopped, and I looked down at the ring - 1:39 - 1:43
Your folks were next to you - 1:44 - 1:45
And you were right there next to me - 1:45 - 1:48
And I said - 1:48 - 1:49

Girl, if you’re wondering if I want you to (I want you to) - 1:49 - 1:55
I want you to (I want you to) - 1:55 - 1:57
I swear it’s true (swear it's true) - 1:57 - 1:59
Without you my heart is blue - 2:00 - 2:05
Girl, if you’re wondering if I want you to (I want you to) - 2:06 - 2:12
I want you to (I want you to) - 2:12 - 2:14
So make the move (make the move) - 2:14 - 2:17
cause I ain’t got all night - 2:16 - 2:22

So much pain may come our way - 2:23 - 2:31
There may come a day when we have nothing left to say - 2:32 - 2:40

When the conversation stops and we’re facing our defeat - 2:40 - 2:44
I’ll be next to you and you’ll be right there next to me - 2:45 - 2:48
Then I’ll say - 2:49 - 2:50

Girl, if you’re wondering if I want you to (I want you to) - 2:50 - 2:55
I want you to (I want you to) - 2:56 - 2:57
I swear it’s true (swear it's true) - 2:58 - 3:01
Without you my heart is blue ooooooh - 3:01 - 3:06
Girl, if you’re wondering if I want you to (I want you to) - 3:07 - 3:3:13
I want you to (I want you to) - 3:13 - 3:15
So make the move (make the move) - 3:16 - 3:17
Cause I ain’t got all night - 3:17 - 3:24

Lyrics analysis

The history of music videos

In the 1950’s, televisions were becoming more and more popular due to them being able to be rented and the amount of channels increasing. By 1963, a lot of homes had a television and this is the year that The Beatles had their first live TV performance. This performance was on the Ed Sullivan show in America and almost 85 million people watched the show. It is reported that at the time of the show there was no reported crime in New York and after they had 10 of their songs in the top 20. This shows that TV had a massive impact on The Beatles and on the music video industry because it showed how much people cared about seeing their favourite bands. This was the first real music promo video and it was the breakthrough in America for The Beatles.

 

 

 In 1965, Bob Dylan released the first real music video, with Subterranean Homesick blues. This video features bob Dylan in an alley way with cards with the lyrics of the song on and he is changing the cards when the lyrics change in the song. The song and video is very anti-establishment, because it is speaking about drugs and is taking a dig at the government. It is also shot in black and white and has poor mise en scene and is only one shot, this shows that there was not much money put in to the video because it was sensitive topics. Later that year, The Beatles released a music video for paperback writer, which was in colour, had multiple shots and featured lip syncing and had mise-en-scene relating to instruments. This shows that there was a lot more money put in to this song because the Beatles were very popular and the song was less about the government and was about an author instead. This means more people would listen to it and it would be less controversial.

 A few years later, in 1967, Love is all you need by the Beatles was written and performed live on the first global television link. This performance was watched by 400 million people in 25 different countries. On Boxing Day, The film ‘Magical mystery tour was featured. The film was made with lots of trippy effects and colours but due to it being aired in black and white these didn’t work and it was considered boring. This era was a very strict era and it was later banned because in the film it uses the word ‘knickers’ but no one realised that at the end of one of the songs, there is a chant that says ‘oompa loompa stick it up your jumper’ and then changes to everyone smoke pot’. This is anti-establishment because it is telling people to do things that the government didn’t want people to do.

In 1975, Queen recorded a video for the song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody”. This video was a big step in the recording of music videos as it was the first video to ever be recorded on to tape, which was also a very expensive method of recording. This video included lots of editing and it also had an effect where it looked like their heads where cascading away, which was done by pointing the camera at the monitor and using visual feedback. Queen also used a variety of fades and other editing techniques.

In the 1980’s, MTV was created. This was the first channel on TV that was purely dedicated to music videos. Most artists that featured on MTV were ones that were very popular and had money to produce a video. The first ever video featured on MTV was The buggles’ ‘Video killed the radio star’. In its early days, between music videos the screen would go black while someone inserted the next VHS. One of the main problems with MTV at this time is that not many bands/artists could submit music videos so it had to repeat the same ones which made them somewhat boring after a while, but as they became more popular, so did MTV.

As music videos were becoming more popular, artists were making much more elaborate music videos and even some short films, such as Thriller by Michael Jackson. The video for this song was 13 minutes long and it had $500,000 spent on its production. It featured hundreds of actors and used the best prosthetics, make up and costumes and eventually sold 9 million copies.

With technology also advancing along with the popularity of music videos, much more complex videos can be made, such as the writings on the wall by OKGo. This video is all filmed in just one shot using one camera on a special device called a Fig rig which is a camera stabilization device that let the director get all the shots and different movement in the video.

 

A2 Media Brief

1) A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

• A cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD)

• A magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD)

Evaluation - Question 6

6) what do you like the most/least about your product?

What I like most about my project is the accuracy of the shots to the original video, such as the use of close ups or long shot sands even the use of slow motion, because I feel that is a difficult thing to do and we pulled it off well. I also think the video has been synced with the audio very well and the are blended together very well. What I don't like very much about our music video is that all of the shots and the set ins very cramped and it is all shot in the same place whereas I would have liked it to be a bit more spread out and it to be filmed in a larger room so we could move the set around a bit.

Evaluation - Question 5

5) how do you feel about developing onto A2 level after completing this task?

After completing this task I feel a lot more confident about continuing on to A2 studies because I feel I have been able to learn some of the techniques needed to make some good quality work and it has given me an idea on the amount of work I will need to put into my work in the second year. It has also helped give me some inspiration as to what I could do for my second year project and given me ideas I could use in my own music video, for example, the different lighting techniques used in say something such as the spotlight effect and the lights around the outside of the room are good effects that I could use in my own video.

Evaluation - Question 4

4) How successful was your product? Why do you think it was successful or unsuccessful?

I think my product was succesful but it could have been done much better in some parts. It was good because we managed to recreat pretty much all of the shots too good accuracy, such as the close up shots and the slow motion bed shots, but we could have had better use of props and maybe better locations because we used a class room and that did not really give us enough room the set we needed. We had really good lighting which was one of the main focuses of the video and we had some good ideas when it came to lighting. Overall I think our product was succesful because we copied majority of the shots and the shots  were of good quality and very close to the origional mise ensconce wise, which was the aim of the task.

Evaluation - Question 3

3) How has doing this task helped you and why? What have you taken away from this experience?

This task has given me a lot of experience in editing, camera work and acting. I have learnt how to edit the music video by putting shots together, trimming them and then syncing them with the song, which is a valuable skill, I have learnt how to take multiple shots such as close ups, medium shots, zooms, tilts and long shots, and I had to act in the video, which was a new experience. I have taken the vital skills from this task, which means I will be able to apply them in future things I might have to produce, and for the second year music video I have to make. It has also given me an insight into what the second year of media is all about and how challenging it can be, but also what I can look forward to and what struggles and hurdles I may come across along the way.