After reflecting on the structure of the song, lyrics an meaning, I have come to decide that there is a small section at the end of the song during which I would like to show a montage of no characters, no artists but purely scenery and event taking place which additionally relate to the song and reflect further meanings. These may include:
Birds flying
The sea
Crowds moving about
Water running
Hands exchanging rings (marriage)
Suns setting
Over the coming days/weeks therefore, I intend to capture as many images as possible, and, should I come across any other appropriate scenes I shall film these too.
Ideally, before i progress further with the planning of my production, I need to work out exactly who will be willing to participate in my music video.
I have narrowed down my narratives to include:
A young Boy (alongside a friend)
A young girl (alongside her boyfriend)
An older couple
An artist
I have therefore messaged several of my friends who would fit aleast one of my requirements using Facebook to ask them to participate in the production of my music video. I will wait to see what responses I get before clearly planning my music video, because, shall those individualas I intend to use by unwilling to participate, then I may need to use a differnet narrative included on the narrative mind map I previously created.
After viewing music videos from all genres (but more from the popular/alternative) I have come to realise that sometimes, a change in stock, a tinge or filter being applied to a music video can achieve excellent effects. In particular, the black and white effect can be used to set a dull, upsetting on and reflect the music that the video is promoting. I think that this would work particularly well with my own video, as the music (and lyrics) reflects ideas of sadness and misery whilst having a slight sense of hope towards the end which can also be achieved by the romanticised image created by the black and white effect. instances where black and white create a certain effect include...
Leona Lewis-Footprints in the sand
Here, the use of black and white creates a miserable, dull, upsetting feeling which perfectly reflects the music, lyrics and the images been shown on screen. It could also be argued hints that the events shown are in the past-so perhaps the characters (but more likely actual people) have now passed away, or that the situations being presented are cyclical-never ending and despite the black and white effect are constantly occurring and will continue for as long as the issues in society remain.
The Silence-Alexandra Burke
The black and white effect used in the Silence has quite a different effect, emphasising wealth and evoking the idea of class. It also emphasises the facial expressions and appearance for the star. However, it could also reflect how the colour seems to have been drained from her life, once again coinciding perfectly with the lyrics and music which explore ideas of something that used to be present but has now disappeared (resulting in silence)
Someone like you-Adele
Once again, the black and white reflects the song and upsetting nature of the lyrics. The whole video basically includes the artist reflecting on her past, wondering down a place that seems to hold happy memories but that has now passed. The black and white therefore backs this idea up, as it connotes the impression that the story being through the lyrics is very much in the past tense-reinforcing the idea of something that has now gone whilst achieving great effect.
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After being greatly inspired by the various effects created by the use of balck and white, I have confirmed that the entire (if not majority) of my final outcome shall be in black and white.
In order to generate som emore ideas for the ones I am starting to formulate for my own production, I have watched many videos (in roughly the same genre as my own) and focoused particularly on the settings used. I have created a Animato to portray some of my findings, although unfortunately i was restricted to just a 30 second video, meaning that the inspirations I took from the textss have not all been captured. From completing this task, however I have come to realise that infact, british homes are not as regularly represented as I thought. They seem to rather be either apaartments (more American) or the shots are so closeup that the sorrounding home area cannnot be seen. Where this is possible, however, the settings are much more cleverly designed than would be possible in my own video-so I will quite simply have to make the most of what I have available with reagards to the home settings. Outside, however, I may shoot the artist scenes in a woods if possible (inspired by Leona Lewis, Run) or perhaps in an empty park of some sort, yet these will only be finalised once my narratives and further details of my production have been set.
View my animato here: http://animoto.com/play/OovaJXRlBS7x3vseqvdexw
The colour tones that have been used for this text reflect perfectly the title of the album, and give thecover quite a calming glow, also including earthy tones-representing the artist as quite natural in character and ‘down to earth.’. The use of lighting around the artists head does seem to give her an almost religious, messianic glow conveying a sense of respect and suggesting that she is somebody the audience should look up to. This is backed up by the low shot of the angle.
The text that has been used on the front of the cover is an unusual font, but is almost iconic of the artist in her career and has been used on several of her album/cd covers. It is almost soft in shape, with few harsh lines but keeping to the circular notion-carrying on the them that has been created as a result of the soft glow of circle. Despite the fact that the name of the artists is is a perhaps worryingly similar colour to those used in the rest of the text, it still manages to stand out, achieving a particularly good effect. The fact that the name of the artist is in a larger font than that of the title of the album again puts her at the forefront and in control of her music, selling the star rather than the concept, likely due to the successful outcome of her previous work.
Mise en scene aspects of the text such as the hair of the artist and the facial expressions she possess are quite ambiguous. They could either be deemed as her reflecting upon an event, in despair, relief or perhaps just absorbing her surroundings in an appreciative manner. The idea of the artist having her eyes closed on the front of a CD cover does seem to be a running theme throughout many of my inspirational texts, and I feel proves particularly effective. Perhaps I could incorporate such a shot into my own project.
The back of the CD cover seems extremely simplistic, adding to the natural, “all or nothing” sense that the front cover seems to give. The names of the track are positioned in the center of the cover, allowing this to be the focul point of the CD. The small writing at the bottom of this section of the text does seem to be of a practical nature, also providing recognition to the institution involved. Although the coloiurs and concept that have been used in this cover seem successful due to the relation with the name of the album and lyrics of the enclosed tracks, so therefore such tones and clever use of lighting willnpot be apparent in my own project. The emphasis on the character and her facial expression, however have been useful to me, whilst the style of the font have also encouraged me to pick one font, and use it on all three of my texts to provide a sense of continuity.
The soft, natural colours which have been used help to reflect the soft style of music that is included on the CD, whilst complimenting the images of the artist perfectly and giving the cover quite a sophisticated look. She takes up the majority of the frame of the shot-placing her at the forefront of her own CD and reflecting the increasing need of the consumer to have a recognizable artist who provides an icon for the music that she produces.
Mise en scene aspects of the featuring shots (such as the make-up, lighting and costume/prop) help to construct an identity for the artist. Her ring and lipstick connotes the impression of a glamorous figure, and represent her as a stereo-typical star. According to Blulmer and Katz (1974) Uses and Gratifications theory, the audience may therefore use the text, and the figure of the artist to gratify their sense of person identity as with the target audience likely being girls around the artists age or younger, may be inspired by her yet find traits that they themselves share, increasing the pleasure which they take from the text (although sub consciously).
The colour of the fonts that have been used again add to the soft, subtle tonesof the whole cover, yet in my opinion they are bot particularly effective on the front of the cover. They seem to almost blend into the overpowering main image, and don’t have quite the emphasis that I think a CD cover of this sort should include. The fact that the artists name is in capital letters does draw particular focus to this aspect of the text, and once again backs up the diea that the artist is and should be at the center of her own music whilst also possibly reflecting the commitment that she shows to her own music and conveying respect. The slightly different font used for the title of the artist is quit sophisticated, whilst contrasting with the pink used above in a pleasant way.
Several icons are present on the back of the CD cover, and seem to have quite a practical feature. The small logos of the institutions that Leona Lewis belongs too are familiar from my institutions research (Prezzi) whilst the images of previous albums by the artist are used to attract the existing audience of Leona Lewis fans, who may be inclined to buy this track due to particularly enjoying previous installments from the start.
The black and white affect that has been applied to both of these shots gives added depth, and allows the audience to focus more of the facial expression of the artist rather than being attracted by colour, also adding a solitude nature to the cover and emphasizing the sad tone of the track. The fact that the artists eyes are closed on the front of the colour, yet closed on the back does seem to reflect the idea of the binary opposites (Strauss) of awake and asleep, also giving the cover itself quite a narrative tone.
The very fact that Adele features so predominantly on the front of the cover does place a lot of emphasis on her appearance, which is likely due to the fact that because this was the debut album, a lot of attention had to be payed to creating an image for the new singer. This is also baked up with her name in large text. The font of the text is quite unusual, yet does seem to reflect the style of music that the artist produces.
The colour scheme of the entire sleeve is of a dull nature, and had it not been for the use of the green in the figure “21” could be argued constructs quite a boring sleeve. The use of the white font in contrast to the dark background on which it is set adds emphasis to the text and helps it to stand out. The very plain background does little to add any meaning to the music which has been encorperated into the tracklist, yet the simplicity of it does seem to represent the genre of the artist. When creating my own music video, I may too use black and white in my music video and perhaps in the images on the sleeve, as I think it creates a stylistic approach. The close-up I feel is also particularly affective, whilst the sad expression on the artists face would fit the style song I am going to produce my music video to coincide with too.
Hold up, hold on
Don't be scared,
You'll never change what's been and gone
May your smile shine on
Don't be scared,
Your destiny may keep you warm
'Cause all of the stars have faded away
Just try not to worry,
You'll see them some day
Take what you need
And be on your way
And stop crying your heart out
Get up
(Get Up)
Come On
(Come On)
Why you scared?
(I'm not scared)
You'll never change what's been and gone
'Cause all of the stars have faded away
Just try not to worry,
You'll see them some day
Take what you need,
And be on your way,
And stop crying your heart out.
'Cause all of the stars have faded away
Just try not to worry,
You'll see them some day
Take what you need
And be on your way
And stop crying your heart out
'Cause all of the stars have faded away
Just try not to worry,
You'll see us some day
Take what you need
And be on your way
And stop crying your heart out
At GCSE level, for my practical production I created a music video to Florence and the machine-'The Dog Days are Over' after debating whether to make a video for that song or Leona Lewis-'Stop crying your heart out'. I was inspired to make a video to 'Stop Crying Your Heart Out' following watching the artist perform on the X Factor (Please see above) and was greatly intrested by the use of slow motion and black and white effects to accompany the song and create sympathy for the documentary style montage in the background of her performance. Unfrotunately, however I did not produce a music video to this song because I felt that the ideas I had would be too complex, and that at the time I was best suited to produce a one with simpler narrative. The task just seemed too daunting. 2 years later, however I feel that the abilities and skills that i have aquired as a result of media studies and producing videos as a hobby outside of college has built up my confiendece, and therefore I now feel much more capable of producing a music video to this song, expanding on some of the ideas that I had in 2009. I feel that this song, with it's great lyrical meaning will allow me to produce a heart warming, inspirational music video, which would result in many possibilities for a CD cover and Poster advertisment to accompany it.
After narrowing down my song choice and investigating existing music videos, I have come to identify my target audience as.....
Females age 14-25 who are fans of popular/alernative music, likely in the D-E Socio-economic status bracket
Clearly addressing my Target audience has allowed me to directly ask them "what type of music/music video would you expect this artist to produce" (the artist being similar to the one I would like to include in my own). The artist I have chosen is Gabrielle Aplin, a singer who has very recently emerged, so hopefully, although most target audience members would recognise her music, they may not be familiar with her appearance and identity yet.
I feel that understanding what the audience expect just from one single image of an artist is crucial in providing the audience with a product which they do not feel alienated by as a result of it being so far away from abiding by the key codes and conventions that such texts usually do. I have asked 8 people (who would fit into the target audience of Gabrielle Aplin's music, as well as that of my own project)to write down their thoughts when asked the above question, with the following results......
The target audience seem to have identified Gabrielle as the singer of slow, meaningful music and of the indie/alternative genre. This task has proved very interesting to me as it has reinforced the idea that the audience often make assumptions and expectations about a music video or the type of music an artist would produce just by the appearance of them. this seems particularly interesting given the simplicity and ambiguity of the image they were provided with. once I have identified the artist of my own music video, I shall complete a similar task to directly address the target audiences needs.
In order to grasp an understanding of how the characters are represented in my key inspirational texts, i have made the above collage and mind mapped how they come across to the audience. From this task, I have concluded that existing texts are often set in the winter time, with large coats and dull tones contributing to the dull atmosphere. the characters also often have quite a natural look about them, encouraging the audience to relate to them and I will definitely try to include one such features into at least one of the narrative of my texts.
Unfortunately, I am still not entirely decided on the song that i would like to accompany my music video. However, since September (when i initially listed some ideas), I have narrowed down my ideas to: Adele, set Fire to the Rain and Leona Lewis, stop Crying your heart out (a cover of an Oasis track). This is due to the fact that both songs carry great lyrical meaning, and I feel are dramatic in a way in which i would be able to show a strong narrative along side the artists miming the words. From my research into inspirational texts I have decided that I would like my video too....
Have multiple narratives which relate to issues of a modern day society
Include the artist singing, perhaps at a beach or somewhere desolate to present the idea of isolation
Have a linear narrative structure with a clear conclusion
Include shots of items, locations ect. which reflect the lyrics (ie. water running, candles, ect.) to create an almost montage effect
Include shot transitions that reflect the audio
Perhaps fortunately, I have come to realise that the two songs that i have narrowed down do not currently have any existing texts, allowing me to not be influenced by the existing tracks for these particular tracks.
I have come to realise that I do not have that mcuh time left before I must start with the practical production of my project. I aim to complete the majority of my blog work (research and planning) by the Christmas break, and to shoot/film in January. In order to ensure that I get alot of my work done before the Christmas break (just 3 working weeks away) I have planned the work I will complete in December. Although it is realistically unlikely that i will post precisely what i have planned on a given day, I will ensure that everything i have planned to do before christmas does get completed (atleats to an extent to be improved at a later date), and that I am fully prepared to start filimg when I return in January.
By investigating the logos which give institutions a sense of identity, I hope to beable to better understand the key codes and conventions sued by logos in teh music industry. Once I have done this, I may work to create my own to accompany the texts promoting the artists which i create, or alternatively i may find an appropriate existing company/logo to use.
Syco Music
The emphasis on the world Syco connotes the
idea that they music they produce is of great value, or produce a lot of money
due to the shiny effect that has been applied at the golden colour of the text.
The ordering of letters is also unusual, as they don’t all follow a typical,
symmetrical line. This suggests that the music the company produce diverse, fun
and exciting music whilst the normality of the font, colour an position of
‘music’ in contrast to this states that this aspect of the title is not quite
as important and serves as more of a practical function.
Virgin records
The font of ‘virgin’ is that of a conglomerate,
and has become iconic and easily recognizable to the public over the years. The
font does almost convey the impression that the item which the logo has been
applied too has been “signed” by the company, almost creating the sense that the
institution itself has a personal identity. Once again, the normality of the
word ‘records’ in contrast to this reflects the practical nature of this aspect
of the logo. The colour of it is similar to the other logos in discussion, and
is likely due to the fact that it the logo can be easily readable over
virtually any background (ie. Photographs on a poster) whilst also reflecting
the idea of a serious institution.
Island
The
position of the image of the palm tree in the center of the logo may reflect
the institutions Jamaican background whilst the contrast of white and black to
create a shilloutte effect may reflect the idea of the sun setting in a foreign
country which has positive connotations. The font of the writing itself is
unusually quite straight forward, which almost reflects the idea of isolation and
could be linked to the island title and concept of the company.
XL/Columbia
The black that has been prominently used in
both of these logos once again emphasizes the white which has also been used in
contrast. They seem quite serious, and practical looking whilst the font of the
“Columbia” title in particular seems quite old fashioned and perhaps reflects
the era during which the institution emerged. The geometrical order of each
logo almost incolses the concepts and would likes make it easy to neatly place
the logos on any given CD/poster/credits of a moving image text, whilst
conveying the impression of quite a matter of fact company who takes matters
seruoysly (conbtary to the Syco logo which seems to have been created to attract
and promote the company itself).
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