Music Video Storyboard:

Creating a storyboard is an important part of planning when creating a media production like my group's music video. It provides with guidelines and ideas with what you want to achieve. This is why we drew what scenes we thought we would like to film and wrote what camera shots and other details we would like to include in them underneath the pictures. The different sections of my storyboard can be viewed below:

Music Video Risk Assessment and Shooting Schedule:

Risk Assessments are an important part of planning for any media production. This is why my group completed one for our music video. By using it we were able to assess any threats we could face and how we would get rid of them and reduce the chances of them ever occurring. For example, if we are walking on slippery surfaces, such as a boggy field, we need to wear sensible clothing. The assessment can be viewed below:

 








We also filled in a shooting schedule. This is another example which proves planning is important. It provides you with an insight into what you want to/need to/should do and directs you to 'fill in the lines,' which you have put into place. In this case, my group knew we wanted the music video to focus mainly on our female character so having locations like her bedroom and a dressing room, as well as props like her clothes and make-up were important to use in relation to mise-en-scene. The schedule can be seen underneath:

Music Video Location Scouting and Props:

                                                                      Locations:

My group thought a lot about what locations we should film at and include in our music video in order to establish the mise-en-scene. We considered locations including our houses, our bedrooms, parks and fields. Since my sister was away for a while, with her permission, I thought her bedroom would be most convenient to film in to represent our female character's bedroom. I also thought it would be good to film my parents' dressing room where we could retrieve close-ups and mid-shots of female character getting ready. Since we decided my house would be really useful to feature in our music video I also suggested filming the views from my house, filming scenes in my garden, and in a park or field near by. Below are some of the shots I captured of my house which may be featured in our A2 media production:

My sister's bedroom.

My sister's bedroom.

My parents' dressing room.

My parents' dressing room.

Views from my house.

Views from my house.

My garden.

Props:

We also considered different props which would look really effective and create different links within our music video.  I knew I had a lot of different decorations and ornaments in my home which have connotations of love and the loss of it. As a result, I thought they would be perfect for our video. Pictures of these are featured below:

Time may be important to include.  

A link to the name of 'our' song, "Desire." 

Connotations of love and life being like a box containing unknown surprises.

Heart decorations linking to love.

Metaphorical design: Lack of love.

Light can symbolise hope. Blowing it out: the loss of it and the end of the characters' relationship.

One Page Pitch for our Music Video:

Overview: 

Our song choice and themes: 

 My group member and I's song choice is Years & Years' song "Desire." We think that this will be a great song because it can connote a multitude of things whilst revolving around the central theme of love which we think every type of viewer could relate to. This is why I think that we could create an interesting narrative following the journey of a main female character who is going through a confusing time and different emotions due to her relationship. Lyrics from in the song including, "Is it desire?" Or Is it love that I'm feeling for you?" would, therefore, fit really well with these ideas.

Target audience:

I think our A2 media production will be aimed towards a relatively young, active audience. Due to the pop/dance/electronic song and a narrative which explores a relationship/the breaking down of a relationship we think our music video will be aimed towards teenagers and young adults. These are people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four. Because of this, I think they would share the video with their friends on social media, which would mean more people would view it and hopefully become our ‘fans’ if we were real artists. I believe that this is the case due to also fitting into this age bracket and asking people I know about how they would view and ‘use’ my group’s video.

Filming and Editing Skills we need to use:

My group would like to create a modern, vibrant and high-quality production reflecting situations today’s youth can relate to, as my group are a part of it. To do this we would really like to work with good quality cameras which we can use and develop our skills with in order to film footage to the best of our abilities. We would also like to include a range of camera shots, like establishing shots, close ups, extreme close ups, mid shots and others which relate to our video’s narrative. Since we have analysed real media products like Calvin Harris and Disciples’s music video for their song, “How Deep Is Your Love,” we would like to incorporate colourful, vibrant and therefore, eye-catching scenes, especially since they reflect the conventions of our song’s genre. This would mean we would have to work with green screens and use features in Adobe Premiere Pro as part of editing to change the colour schemes of our footage because we really like Gigi Hadid's colourful scenes in their video. 

Our One Page Pitch Video:

Music Video Ideas:

I used www.mindmeister.com to create a mindmap which describes our ideas, thoughts and feelings about what I think we could use in our music video. These ideas relate to our potential audience, the characters, the narrative, camera shots, editing and mise-en-scene. The mind map can be viewed below:

  

Music Video Ideas: by Calum Mc

Calvin Harris Music Video Analysis:

An analysis of the music, mise-en-scene, camera shots and editing used for the music video, "How Deep Is Your Love." This can be viewed below. An explanation for why and how it relates to my group member and I's project as well as the evaluation can be viewed in the presentation below the music video:

 

Calvin Harris & Disciples - How Deep Is Your Love (Music Video Analysis): from CalumMc

Years & Years Website Analysis:

In order to create our website I thought it would be best to study more artist's websites. The group I chose was suitably the artists of our single choice, Years & Years. I thought it would be beneficial to learn from them and see what strategies they use in order to advertise their brand and their music to existing fans and news fans. To do this I created a presentation on www.powtoon.com:

Single covers comparisons:

Years & Years' single cover for their song Desire is really interesting as it is a combination of colourful, morphed illustration. I think the alternate and fragmented illustrations show different emotional depictions such as screaming and sadness. Since this makes it look like a type of uneven jigsaw, I think this shows the painful separation of people who are in love and therefore the effects of gaining/losing 'desire.' Since it is also a multitude of different colours I think this also shows the different 'shades' of desire which links to the different emotions people can feel. The colour of the typography is also of significance too since it is red, this may connote a sense of danger that desire can lead to as well, which is emphasised by it being bold.

I really like Discloure and Lorde's single cover for their song "Magnets." I think it's interesting because it combines a simple three/four tone colour palette (black, white and two shades of blue) within and outside the boundaries of a symbolic and iconic illustration. This illustration is a drawing of the featured artist Lorde. What is iconic about the cover is the white drawing of the "Lorde's" face. In fact this is the same face used for Disclosure's single and album covers. It has become their trademark. What I find interesting about this, is it's symbolism. 

The colour blue symbolises sadness whilst the colours black and white are binary opposites. This therefore symbolises opposition which links to the song as it is about the separation of people in a relationship. The colours therefore connote a sense of sorrow as a result of separation which the song is about. It's also important to consider that the 'face' lacks character, it is anonymous and involute, it could reflect anyone and could BE anyone. This makes the cover and therefore the song so real, interesting and intriguing. I also like the different typography used, especially the swirled font used for the name of the song. This is something we could take into account in making our album cover, in order to make it look more interesting.

When creating our single and album covers I think it would be important if my group partner and I to consider both of these covers even if we didn't use one of these tracks for our music video. This is because both of these covers are really interesting and connote really thought provoking and intriguing meanings. I'd like it if we morphed different images and created some sort of collage a bit like Years & Years have done, but also think about the colour scheme and typography like Disclosure and Lorde did too. This research has definitely been useful and inspirational.

Single choice comparisons:

Years & Years – Desire:

Desire is the band's fifth single. It was written by the group's members and singer-songwriter Kid Harpoon. As well as also being produced by the group, it was produced by music producer and songwriter Two Inch Punch. The song was recorded and released in 2014. It's official release in the UK as a digital download was the 23rd of November. It successfully peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart. It's length is 3:25, which means, as it is reasonably long our music video needs to be interesting and captivating. It could possibly involve scenes connected to someone's personal journey and their gain/loss of love.

As the track is connected to the synthpop/electronica genre it means it is a dance track which needs to be reflected in our music video if we picked this track. Therefore, the video should include elements typical of music videos for these genres, which include fast-cuts, quick transitions and scenes which are morphed together. We chose to consider this track as we are fans of the group and this song’s catchiness.

Disclosure & Lorde’s – Magnets:

"Magnets" is a single by Disclosure and features Lorde's vocals. It was released from the group's second album Caracal as their third promotional single. The date of release was the 23rd of September 2015 under Disclosure's record labels Island Records and PMR Records. The song was written by these artists as well as singer-songwriter Jimmy Napes. The single became Disclosure’s most successful song in New Zealand and Australia. This could possibly be because of Lorde who is from New Zealand and became a worldwide viral sensation with her single "Royals" in 2013. Their collaboration peaked in these countries at No. 2 and No. 14. This meant it became their highest charting song in these countries. It was also a noticeable success in America as it became their first single to make an impact on alternative and adult alternative radio.

As it is also quite long since it is 3 minutes and 19 seconds long and is linked to the deep house, UK garage, synthpop, tropical house genres my group partner and I would also need to consider creating a music video suitable for this dance track. Since the song contains lyrics which have connotations to the loss of love, such as “melting magnets” which connotes the slow separation between people it could also contain quick transitions between scenes showing someone’s sad, personal journey. I am a personal fan of these artists and this song and thought it would be worth comparing for our choice of track.

Textual Analysis - Years & Years' "Desire" Music Video:

I created a textual analysis using Microsoft Powerpoint and uploaded it onto www.slideshare.com. It was really useful as it allowed me to explore the aspects of sound, mise-en-scene, camera shots and editing which are apart of the video. Since my group may want to use Years & Years' song for our A2 media production this is an important part of research as it has helped to expand our knowledge on how real artists create music videos cleverly and professionally. Due to this, it has influenced our thoughts and opinions about how we will create ours. My Slideshare presentation can be viewed below:

"Desire" Music Video Analysis: from CalumMc

Years & Years Case Study:

Years & Years are an all-male trio who were founded originally as a five piece, British electronica band in London. The band is made up of the keyboard playing frontman and lead singer Olly Alexander, Mikey Goldsworthy who plays bass guitar and Emre Türkmen who also plays keyboard. The two past members are Noel Leeman and Olivier Subria. Their music has been thought of as being electropop, whilst being mixed with 1990s house and R&B sounds. Genres attached to the them include synthpop, indie pop and electronica. This is a result of their influences who include the dance music producers Flying Lotus, Diplo, Jai Paul and Radiohead.

Years & Years have become more successful with each music release. After releasing three singles, the band impressed Polydor Records, a britsh record label and company operating as part of the Universal Music Group. This resulted in them signing to the label and relasing their fourth single under them, "Take Shelter." This resulted in their EP reaching number one on the iTunes UK Singles Electronic Chart.

In January 2015, their sixth single called King was previewed on BBC Radio 1. One of the radio hosts Zane Lowe named it the Hottest Record of the day. In the same month they also won a prestigious award, the BBC Sound of 2015 award. In March of that year, their single was also a success as it reached number one on the UK singles chart. Then on the 18th their success grew with an announcement of their first album, "Communion." It ended up also reaching number 1 when it entered the UK Albums Chart. They have also won many awards including MTVu's Artist To Watch Award in 2014 and Gaffa's Best New International Artist Act and Attitude's Album of the Year awards in 2015. 

Textual Analysis - Disclosure and Lorde's "Magnets" Music Video:

Since Disclosure's and Lorde's song "Magnets" is a potential song chose for my A2 music video I thought it would be beneficial to also analyse their music video for it. By creating a textual analysis where I was able to evaluate the song, camera shots, editing and mise-en-scene I was able to learn more about the song and how it links to the video. I really liked that these features create contrasts between the characters in relation to love and the loss of it. This has inspired me and made me think about what my group will do to create an interesting and professional looking video. My powerpoint which I made on Microsoft Powerpoint, which I then uploaded on www.slideshare.com can be seen below:

"Magnets" Music Video Analysis: from CalumMc

Lorde Case Study:

Ella Yelich-O'Connor is now better known by her stage name Lorde. She is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. The genres of music include art pop, dream pop, indie pop, electro pop and indietronica. In her early teens, she signed with Universal Music Group and was later paired with the songwriter and record producer Joel Little, who has co-written and produced most of Lorde's releases.

In the middle of 2013, Lorde released her debut single "Royals". It became an international hit and made Lorde the youngest solo artist to achieve a US number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1987. Later on in 2013, she released her debut studio album, Pure Heroine. The record topped the charts of New Zealand and Australia and reached number three on the US Billboard 200. Its following successful singles include "Tennis Court", "Team", "No Better" and "Glory and Gore."

Lorde would be an exciting artist to study, as I'm a fan of her, as well as Disclosure and their song. I think that her achievement of becoming so popular at such a young age is inspirational and something that may be important to learn from. As a group, thinking as an artist is important in creating a music video and website. Therefore, my choosing a catchy song and thinking about the audience(s) who would like it is important, as if we were a real duo, we could replicate Lorde's blueprint of also becoming young, mainstream artists. I also like that in her and Disclosure’s music video for their single, she appears, acts and lip-syncs in it. This shows that artists who combine theatre with music are popular, with examples such as her, Gaga and Madonna also proving this.

Disclosure Case Study:

Disclosure are an English electronic music duo consisting of brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence. The siblings grew up in Surrey. Their music which is related to genres such as house, deep house, UK garage, future garage, UK funky and synth-pop has reached international success. This has been helped by acts they’ve worked with such as Sam Smith, AlunaGeorge, Eliza Doolittle and Jessie Ware.
Their debut album, "Settle," which was released in 2013 was nominated for Best/Electronic Album at the 2016 Grammy Awards. They most recently released a second studio album, "Caracal," on 25 September 2015 which was also nominated for best

Disclosure could be a captivating duo to study as they are really unique and different to other artists and duos which exist and have existed. I think that my group may be able to learn beneficial lessons from them in terms of how to market singles and create music videos. For example, I think that it's interesting that the pair are rarely in their music videos, yet they are still popular and are a mainstream success. Therefore, although the may not have famous faces, their artist name is.

Artist and Single choice Ideas:

In order to explore which artists and which of their songs my group could choose for our project I thought it would be best to create a mind map of ideas. This was created on www.bubble.us and can be viewed below.  

Analysing The Dance Music Industry:

Below is a Prezi Presentation about the research I  have found about the dance music industry. Some of this research can be found from the following website: Dance Music Industry Information.. I feel that this information has been beneficial learn about as the song choices my group have been thinking about, like "Desire" by Years & Years relate to the dance music genre. From what I have learned I think that if we were real artists, we would be able to to gain a large audience for it, since dance music is growing in popularity, especially if we had a record label as that would be beneficial to help promote it. As well as this, the use of social media and music sharing platforms online also seem incredibly important. When creating our ancillary task in the form of our website, I think it would, therefore, be important to include social media links so that we can gain and maintain a growing fandom.

Marketing Music Videos:

The research I found out about the marketing of music videos is useful as it will help my group in completing tasks for the A2 part of my media course. It helps us understand how beneficial a music video is in promoting a track. As part of the course we also need to create a website. This research suggests that websites are also really important for artists as it helps to promote artists and their songs. If an artist is signed to a record label, they would help them create one so they reach a wider audience. When we create the website, we will have to bear in mind these things so we know how to promote "our" brand and "our" song. Realistically, artists could offer outlets for listeners to listen and stream a song like on Spotify, iTunes and Beatport so we need to bear this in mind too.

I found out that the marketing process by some record labels can affect an artist's album artwork, single artwork and music video. Examples of this include Hussle Recordings, Monstercat and Spinnin' Records. They are record labels which use their logos on artworks for albums as a way of promoting their brands. This is a great tactic as it allows audiences to see their label when new music from them is released which allows them to become more easily recognised and music of the genre relating to the label becoming more well known. This is something which my group should consider as we would want out track and music video to be promoted successfully.

Other ways artists market, promote and advertise themselves and their media products which I have researched about are stated below:

Marketing, Promotion and Advertising: by Calum McDermott

Music Video Regulation:

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) regulate music videos. They do this through the use of age ratings. An age rating is a guideline for an audience and the guardians of viewers as a suggestion for what is or isn't suitable for someone for their age group.

The associate editor of the Sunday Times, Krissi Murison, was interviewed about music video regulation on Radio 4's Today Programme. She said that to regulate music videos it could work with parent supervision if it was constant, although she's not fully convinced.

Full censorship?

Alternatively, full censorship of music videos could be introduced. However, it seems that there are loopholes to the recent introduction of this as it is a problem for artists since censorship can reduce their exposure. For example, when Rihanna's music video for her song Bitch Betta Have My Money was released it was censored so much that only users with a YouTube account who had verified they were aged 18 or over could view it. This meant normal internet viewers could not see the music video or hear the song whilst watching it. This resulted in the eventual introduction of warning signs added before the video which allowed normal users to see the video. Although there is an element of censorship it makes it pointless since anyone of any age can still watch the video.

One example when censorship has been implemented to the extreme was on the music video for M.I.A's song Born Free. It included the mass genocide of ginger people. This resulted in the video completely being banned from YouTube, which meant it could only be seen on Vevo. This could be because of it possibly being viewed as having racist themes.

The blurred lines of regulation:

Another example of extreme censorship was in relation to the very controversial music video for Robin Thicke's, T.I.'s and Pharell's collaboration "Blurred Lines." In the uncut version of the video it featured topless models. This resulted in it being removed from YouTube as a result of it violating it's terms in relating to nudity. However, it was later restored, but with an age restriction proving once again that censorship can be devalued. A second clean version was also uploaded on Robin's YouTube channel, possibly as a result of the backlash.

Lily Allen responded to Blurred Lines with her music video for her first single from her most recent album called "It's Hard out Here." Many see this as a feminist anthem rebelling against misogynistic views such as those expressed in Robin's video. In response to his balloons featured in the video which spelled “Robin Thicke has a big dick,” she used satire to express her negative views on it by including balloons in her video which spelled "Lily Allen has a baggy pussy."

Lily Allen also caused controversy in relation to censorship for herself later on for the music video for her third single, "Our Time." This is because MTV said they wanted a clean version of it. Lily responded to this by saying, "MTV want to ban the 'Our Time' video during the daytime, unless they get a clean edit that shows you a) NOT DRINKING FROM A FLASK and b) NOT DISPLAYING ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR FROM DRINKING BY FIGHTING WITH THE HOT DOG. I told the label we are NOT making a clean version of the video."

My thoughts:

I agree with what Lily is saying because compared to other music videos it only shows mild taboo in a comical and satirical light which most people are used to anyway. I think that this research proves complete/extreme censorship is impossible. This is usually because of the artist's rebelling against it. Although there are certain themes in music videos like nudity I wouldn't want younger people seeing so I feel like age restrictions should be strict. I think this would be a suitable solution.

Peter Fraser’s 10 steps to Music Video success:

In an article named "10 Steps To Success" in the MediaMagazine, Pete Fraser, the principle examiner, wrote about the 10 crucial steps which help to make a successful music video for the A2 course. This article is really useful because it explained in detail what I should and shouldn't do so that I can make an original and really good music video. I will therefore need to consider these steps throughout the creative process for it which are labelled and explained on the mind-map I created on www.mindmeister.com below:

Ten Steps to Music Video Success: by Calum Mc

The Making of Music Videos:

Below is a detailed Powtoon presentation inspired by information from: The Making of Videos Information. The article is a step by step guide to making a successful video. I am now informed of each stage I should take, any issues which could occur and things I hadn't previously thought about like legal issues. This was really interesting to learn about as it helped to inform and inspire me and my group member in thinking of our ideas for our music video. Hopefully, it will be beneficial for us.