Our group created a shot list which we used to identify the different shots, movements and angles that we will include in our music video. This will be extremely helpful as we were able to choose various shots, angles and movements and discuss whether they would work together to make a successful and entertaining music video. It also helped us avoid repeating similar shots. When filming the music video we will keep the shot list handy to ensure we are capturing the correct shots in the right order.
Conclusion
Shot list helps our group understand what shot sizes, angles and movements we will capture in order, for each frame and for how long these shots will last. The shot list will be very useful for the director as they will know what angle and shot to have in which order, which will also prevent them from repeating shots. The editor will also find the shot list useful in post production to ensure everything is in order and all the shots make sense to make the most entertaining and appealing music video.
Introduction:
We decided to analyse different music videos to identify similarities within our own music video. This also gave my group and I some new ideas that we could use to develop our idea making it more successful. We also decided to analyse videos by looking at three main factors including, content and visual style, content and visual style of the video and artist representation. This is to find similar to the videos that had these particular factors, we had to analyse the various music videos from these various genres.
Content Analysis Video 1: Sia - Elastic Heart
Analysing this particular music video was interesting as the visuals and content of the video was unique and different to most mainstream music videos.
Themes Apparent: The particular themes that were explicitly evident to me included isolation, struggle, connection and escape. These themes also supported the particular narrative of the music video.
Lighting and Colour: There was natural lighting throughout, top lighting as well as back lighting with no added colours as I believe the artist wanted to keep a natural and innocent tone to it. Furthermore, the natural lighting makes it more realistic as the top lighting adds to the personalities of the characters that are caring and innocent to each other.
Body Language and Facial Expression of the Characters: The two characters have flexible bodies in addition to their body language throughout bend and dance to the music. This is followed by their neutral facial expressions in the beginning in which then turns into an aggressive facial expression. This creates suspense and tension for the audience especially if the narrative is not as clear to them.
Setting: The setting is a white empty white room with a large cage in the middle. This is where the two characters dance inside. The us of the cage represents imprisonment.
Iconography: Iconography in the music video includes the cage to illustrate the how the two characters that may feel trapped and the bandages the male character has wrapped around his hands to portray his struggle.
Character Representation: The characters are represented unconventionally as they are perceived by the audiences as dirty with no emotions. Instead they express their emotions through dancing as their form of communication. Characters like this are not usually mainstream and therefore, this music video is more likely to be targeted towards a niche audience.
Artist Representation: This is not evident in the music video as the artist is not present.
Editing: There was slow editing used in the beginning of the music video and fast editing gradually used towards the end of the music video. This accompanies what the characters feel within the narrative as the type of editing is used to empathise their emotions. First calm and non-expressive and then aggression.
Use of Camera Work: Panning shots are used throughout the music video to capture shots around the cage. Establishing shots were also used to allow the audience understand the type of setting the characters were in and extreme long shots and long shots were used to capture the characters when they dance together.
After analysing this music video, we identified some similarities that we also may use in our music video such as the type of editing they used to portray their emotions within the music video without any words. Moreover, this will create some type of suspense for the audience. We wanted to keep our music video clean and simple like this to keep a natural tone to it.
Artist Representation Video 2: A$AP Rocky - L$D (LOVE, $EX, DREAMS)
Whilst analysing this music video, the bright colours and creative editing really captured my attention. Although this type of complex editing was no what I had in mind, A$AP Rocky is very similar to the artist Post Malone which makes sense why their artist representation may be similar in many ways. Originally coming from a lower class background, they portray a stereotypical individual who may be from this particular background and therefore they both may have similar morals and values.
Body Language and Facial Expression of the Artist: The artist has a neutral face throughout the music video with a calm and relaxed type of body language. This mellow type of vibe we get from him is contrasted between the creative editing and vibrant colours used throughout the music video. This is also contrasted from when he is performing, lip syncing to his song. This is when he becomes a little more active.
Costume, hair and makeup: His clothes tend to follow mainstream fashion as he has different types of outfits throughout the music video. It goes from black and white or bright colours and geometric patterns on his tee.
Interaction with Others: In this music video, he has a female companion with him which looks like they have an emotional relationship together. They accompany each other throughout the music video until the end where she disappears.
Camera work: There are many crane and panning shots that follow the artist around which is also accompanied with complex editing which gives it a trippy feel to it. There are also close-up shots of him and medium shots of him when he is with the female character.
From this analysis and from the title of the song, the music video is meant to portray an LSD trip. This is supported by the colourful edits and camera shots shown in the music video. The narrative also predominantly focuses on him and his female companion and from the title reads 'Love and Sex' which may inform the audience what that female character was to him. The similarities I found with this artist and the artist that I have chosen for my own music video is that they have similar themes within their music video that focuses on the opposite sex, money and drugs.
Structure and Artist Representation Video 3: The Weeknd ft. Future - Low Life
Analysing this music video, the particular structure and the character representation used within this music video was similar to how I wanted my music video which was why I was interested in it.
Performance: The performance in this music video was mainly the artist performing the song. There wasn't much any other performing within the music video, this is how I want my music video. With very few things to distract the audience from the artists.
Concept/ Abstract Ideas: The artists are lip-syncing to their song with other female characters that are standing in the background to attract more audiences.
Narrative within the video: There isn't a narrative as the concept is based on performance.
Conclusion
Overall, I will be taking these ideas from these music videos. I will do this through the same use of dark coloured clothing with high and low-key lighting. This evokes suspense from the audience. Similarly to these music videos, this is what I want to achieve within my music video. This has helped me on how I can achieve a successful music video looking into some music videos that have similar factors that I want to include.
In order to film our music video, we needed to do a storyboard to understand what was going to happen in every shot. It's a graphic representation of how a moving image will unfold shot by shot, made up of illustrations or images. Each shot includes what camera shot will be used, location of the shoot, props, lighting, sound, dialogue, editing and narrative description to ensure that there is no confusion when filming. In addition, this helps filming run much smoother as everyone will know what shot to take next.
Having a storyboard for our idea is very helpful for a number of reasons, not only is there as guidance but we're able to look closely at the narrative taking all shots into consideration, rather than identifying a brief overview. This would have not give us any insight into the details we need to look upon when creating our music video. This makes it easier to pick upon the things that need changing if its an unrealistic goal. We story boarded the entire music video and thought about all the details, giving us a clearer idea of how our music video will unfold.
Conclusion
With a story board, my partner and I are able to shoot our music video without any confusion because we know what shot we need to shoot exactly.
Audiences Why is it important to know about audiences when creating a music video?
It is vital to know about audiences when creating a music video as it lets us know what their interests and expectations are. Prior to creating the music video, it is important to find out what the target audience enjoy, so we can alter and make decisions to suit their expectations. We will make the music video as relatable to the audiences expectations as much as possible. This is so that we will gain a mass audience to watch the video, in comparison to creating a music video with solely our own interests which would be more likely to attract a niche audience rather than the mass audience which is what we need for a successful music video. To find out about our audience we will be collecting primary and secondary data such as research on the internet and questionnaires, which will be put into graphs to be easily analysed.
Age, Gender and Ethnicity
After creating our questionnaire and evaluating data, we learned our music video will be suitable for those of all ages, genders and ethnicity between the ages of 16-28. Our genre is hip-hop and we believe this target audience is suitable as they are more likely to listen to this genre of music . The audience can be very broad as we are not targeting a specific gender, as both males and females can enjoy this type of music, therefore will enjoy my music video. Although in terms of relatability, males will be more likely to relate to the video as our artist will most likely be a young male, also there are stereotypes surrounding young males from disadvantaged backgrounds and as the song will follow these themes, it will relate to a certain demographic more than others. Our music video will not be aimed at a certain ethnic background audience, as those of all ethnic backgrounds and race may be able to relate to the video, the narrative is also not focussed on ethnicity but rather the problems people of lower social classes face on a daily basis. Identifying age, gender and ethnicity is pinnacle to the creation of a successful music video as important decisions are made surrounding them.
Income Bracket/Status
We identified that the income status for our target audiences is working class or unemployed - those who are in the E/D audience category. This is because the performance we will be showing with the music video will relate to those of that belong to that social class. The main character in our music video will present working class values and will show this through their persona and behaviour. This is so our audience can relate to the character. A large majority of the audience will also be young people or students who will be attracted to the music video due to the themes and the narrative. After we select our target audience our main character will be chosen specifically to relate to our audience, therefore they will be of the same social class and wear typically those costumes.
Interests/Hobbies
Our audiences interests and hobbies can be identified as they line up to the genre of the song we have chosen. The genre is hip hop and it is likely that it will be played at gatherings and meet ups with friends, as well as when relaxing or trying to relive stress. Our audience is at an age where they will be busy with exams or even their job and will want time to themselves to listen to music and relive as much stress as possible. The narrative may also appeal to my audience as their hobbies will include what is shown in the video, going out and being with friends ect. Identifying the audience's interests and hobbies is important as the audience should be able to relate to the content in the video.
Audience reaction
- Audience engagement will be present in my music video as the audience should be able to react differently according to their hobbies. If they are able to link what is shown on screen to their own experiences the audience will react in a positive way. Although it is said subcultures are evident in society according to Hebdige, certain subcultures may be able to relate to my music video. They may do this by associating their interests with the video, therefore a larger audience can relate to it.
- Audience expectation will be present as the mass audience will have different expectations according to their age, gender and hobbies. The audience may also have different expectations due to the theme and overall how the music video is portrayed, with a lot of low key lighting and generally a darker theme. Although the video should be able to meet the expectations of a spectrum of audiences due to the star image motif and possible intertextual references we will include.
- Audience identification will be present with our main character, or artist. According to Dyer our artist should be portrayed as ordinary and we have taken this into consideration, this is so that as much of the audience as possible can relate. The artist will be portrayed as a young working class male who worries about his future due to the position he is in, this part will be relatable but the ending will include his fears becoming true, this will be controversial but will show the realities of growing up struggling in society.
Why have we identified this group as our target audience?
We have identified this group as our audience as our song choice directly reflects our audience and who they are from a social, economic and behavioral position. The video is suitable for people from the age of 16 to over 30 years old, of any gender. As this is a very broad spectrum of audience to enjoy the music video we can ensure it will be successful. The themes are also relatable to these types of people as they focus on youth culture, having fun and socialising. This is something that can easily appeal to mass audiences. Younger audiences under the age of 16 and those over the age of 30 may not be able to relate to the music video due to themes it focuses on, younger audiences not being able to understand them and older audiences simply not being able to relate due to the many responsibilities they may have at this age.
Outline of Narrative What was the task? Why did you do it?
To understand how we wanted our music video to unfold in our chosen form of narrative, we had to come together to analyse the lyrics to make sure it made sense. We made sure what the audience was listening to, was what they were also seeing. I wanted the relationship between the lyrics and visuals to be strong so it was easier for the audience to understand what was going on in the music video even though we didn't have a clear and specific narrative for it. By identifying the narrative, it helped us develop our idea to each line and beat by applying it to theories we had previously learnt. As a result, this allowed us to identify how we wanted each shot to form and when it should come in.
Themes evident within song:
1) Power
2) Money
3) Friendship
4) Determination
5) Death
Apply idea to theory:
Goodwins Theory - Our idea follows Goodwins theory on genre characteristics, relationship between lyrics and visuals, intertextual reference, notion of looking and star image motif, performance, narrative or concept based. These following conventions that Goodwin mentions are used in our music video as we believe that our audience will enjoy it more if it has a clear structure throughout instead of a music making the audience think too hard when they could be enjoying it.
Genre Characteristics:
Hip-pop, rap genre - The main artist will be visually pleasing to the audience to make him stand out more, the females within the music video will have dramatic makeup.
Relationship between lyrics and visuals - The visuals will reflect the lyrics when he raps about money, he will have money in his hand and other expensive stuff to show the audience that he has money.Further showing the audience that despite where he started from, he still made it.
Intertextual reference - Notion of looking - We plan to have our main artist looking attractive to make him stand out to the audience. There will also be females in the music video that will also look attractive through the use of close-up shots. Star image motif - During the scenes, there will be many close-up shots of the artist so the audience are able to spot the artist whenever he appears despite the different shots we might use.
Performance, narrative, concept? - The video will mainly be performance based with the artist lip-syncing to the song with no clear narrative.
Mulveys male gaze - This theory is based on the 'male gaze' on a female assets. This theory will be evident throughout our music video as the female character will be captured through close-up and mid-shots as it does attract more audiences despite its frustrating reason why.
Adorno's popular culture/true art theory - My male artist will not follow the popular culture as he is not dressed in typical clothing that a mainstream audience will expect him to wear however, will ensure my success through working-class audiences as there use to seeing similar themes in the music video in their everyday life. This will make more appealing to them.
Video Narration
From analysing the lyrics of the song, we first identified the themes that were portrayed throughout the music such as money, death and power. As our artist wont be following any specific narrative and will be following a performance based music video, he will lip sync in most of the shots where the other shots will be of his friends and establishing shots of his area to really empathise his working class background. This allows the majority of the audience to relate to our music video further making it more entertaining them as they feel closer to the artist.
As the music video begins, there will be an establishing shot of the urban area of where the artist is from, this will capture the distinct features of his area allowing the audience to understand where he is from despite the expensive things he has. This will also be in slow motion because it allows the establishing shot to become more effective giving the audience time to understand where he's from.
There will be a various of shot reverse shots of our artist in different urban areas of where he's from to really empathise where he's from and that he is proud about where he comes from despite where he is now.
Conclusion
By planning our narrative according to the lyrics of the song, it has allowed us to acknowledge each stage carefully and how it will follow. This task also enabled us to think about each shot in more detail furthermore, allowing us to remove small parts that were irrelevant. It encouraged us to identify the major parts of the narrative that the audience need to see to allow them to understand the narrative. From this task, it has made my partner and I more confident about how our idea and narrative will form itself and how it will come together smoothly.
Without planning the narrative according to the lyrics, it would've been challenging to film what shot goes next or if we have enough content filmed. We are now aware of the locations we need and how we will film according to the content we need to film.
Once we had finalised our song choice, we decided to write a copyright letter to the record company to ensure our production was legitimate and that no problems later occur during the process which may prevent us from using the song we have chosen. Creating a copyright letter for reassurance is essential to the process of the music video, without it we do not have legal rights to use an artists song for our benefit and eventually share it on platforms such as Youtube. The copyright letter will be used as a source of evidence to prevent us from being accused of infringement.
Copyright letter:
We wrote up a letter requesting permission to use the single, we ensured that we will credit them for letting us use the song and we emphasised that the song will be used solely for educational purposes.
Email:
We sent this via email to the artists two managers. We are currently waiting for a response to ensure that we can continue with our production and use the song for the video we are creating.
Conclusion:
Creating the copyright letter is very important as it will give us the legal requirement to use the song we wish to, so it is done in a legitimate and effective way. The letter will be used as protection for our own production company as we have reached out to the copyright holders of the song. On the occasion that the copyright holders respond and inform us that we cannot use the single, we will respect their decisions and immediately alter our ideas to suit our position. If we get permission to use the single however, we will do as promised and use it while crediting them in the most appropriate manner.
After completing our final idea, we made a questionnaire that posed particular questions which we needed answers from audiences of music videos, to aid us during production. The questions focussed on the hip-hop genre and hip-hop music videos. This feedback and data would be helpful as it allowed us to make required changes to the decisions we make during production and other planning.
Questionnaire:
Graphs
After receiving responses from our questionnaire which was given to 20 people, graphs were created to visualise the data. There is also analysis below each graph which interpret the results of the graphs more clearly.
Conclusion:
The responses we received allowed us to make important decisions based on what the audience want
