Influences of Style

This task
helped me decide what type of costume and style I wanted to use in my video and will aid me in my planning. From these print screens I can gather that artists in the synthpop genre use casual clothing such as trousers and a plain shirt to match. Following on from the synthpop genre, I will also go for the casual look in my music video. I like the hat that Ellie is using in her 'starry eyed' video, as it shows the time of year it's placed in which is winter/autumn as it's cold.

Analysis of Music Videos

From this task I learnt how long shots were on screen for of the star, and the narrative. From all 3 music videos I can see that the star is on screen for most of the time, and is normally around 3-6 seconds long when the star is on; it normally cuts to a close up or cuts to a different angle on the star. Shooting star by Owl City kept proves this a lot. This has inspired me for my music video as I now know how long the star is on screen for in the synthpop genre; and will be influenced by it. There were various mid shots cutting to a close up of the star, to draw the audience in. Pompeii was on screen for most of it not by singing but acting in the narrative, too. Ellie was on screen for all of the time as she was the only person starring in the video. I will take away this and can conclude that when I make my music video the main star will be on screen for around 3-6 seconds before it cuts away from that shot.

Research into Existing Companies that produce music videos

Republic Records
Universal Republic Records and Republic Records are the record labels for Owl City.
- Republic records is an American recording label that operates as a division of Universal Music Group.
- It was founded in 1995.
- Republic Records was reincarnated as Universal Republic Records in 2006, and then re-activated later in 2012.
- Some of their artists include; Hinder, Amy Winehouse, Taylor Swift, Owl City, Florence and the Machine, Drake, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, PSY and Lorde.
- Was said that Republic Records was 2012's top charting US label.
- Their record labels include; American Recordings, Aware Records, BME Recordings, Brushfire Records, Casablanca Records, Cash Money Records, Indie Pop Music and Big Machine Label Group.

Virgin EMI Records
Virgin EMI Records and Universal Music Group are the record labels for Bastille.
- Virgin EMI Records is a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group.
- Was founded in 2013.
- Some of their artists include; Arcade Fire, Justin Bieber, Pixie Lott, Elton John, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Kanye West.

Universal Music Group
- Universal Music Group (UMG) is the largest music corporation in the world.
- Also owns Universal Music Publishing Group, which is the second largest music publishing company in the world.
- Headquarters are located in California.
- Was first founded in 1934, and has been founded in many years since.
- Owns labels such as; Interscope-Geffen A&M, Capitol Music Group, Republic Records, Island Records, Def Jam Recordings and Universal Music Group Nashville.

Neon Gold Records
Neon Gold Records is one of the record labels for Ellie Goulding.
- Neon Gold Records is a New York City based record label.
- It was founded in 2008.
- Some of their artists include; Ellie Goulding, Fort Learn, Foxes, Gotye, Lovelife, Marina & the Diamonds, Monarchy, Passion Pit and Tove Lo.
- Not as big as the other labels.
- Genre mainly consists of alternative pop.

From this task I am able to see the different companies that produce music videos and what genres they do. For my music video I will choose Republic Records as they are already linked to Owl City, and are in the synthpop genre which is what I am working in.

Research into an Artist/Band

From this task I can see how Owl City comes across to the audience; as a down to earth. His album covers come across as 'nature' like - they are about the environment which links into his music videos; as they include everyday life. I like the fact that he plays on a piano/keyboard in most of his videos, and could include this in my own music video. However if I do a song by him, I will have to make sure not to copy him. I am inspired by this artist heavily, and might do a song by him - which might be 'fireflies'.

Analysis of previous students work

I looked at 3 previous students blogs to get inspiration for my blog and to see what was right and wrong with theirs, and to make sure I don't make the same mistake.
Fahmina's blog
Kaylie's blog
Lara's blog.

After looking at their blogs and watching their music videos, I was able to construct a mark for their research and planning, their video and their 2 ancillary tasks. I gave them the scores as follows:

After we scored them, our teacher gave us the actual scores they got. It turns out that I wasn't far off their marks.

I think that the first blog could have been more creative when presenting her work - as most of it is written up in posts. She could have used other websites such as prezi to present her work and make it look more appealing. I thought her video was very good and linked to her research well; you could see how she was being inspired through the shots and the content. Her ancillary tasks were well presented and clearly thought through. I especially like her Digipak.

The second blog did a good job on her advert however her Digipak is much stronger which is why it got a higher mark. Her Digipak goes well with the genre and style of the artist. Her main task was quite good on the editing side however there were a lack of different shots and lack of different scenery, it was mainly shot in one place.

The third blog's research was very poor. Half of the tasks weren't complete and weren't up to a great standard which is why I gave it a low score. However the video was much better and got quite a high mark due to creativity. Her Digipak and magazine advert weren't to a great standard but the advert was slightly better than the Digipak. This person would have got a much higher mark if their research and written work was better.



After looking at previous students blogs, I then looked at 3 music videos from last year and then analysed them:

Imagine Dragons - Radioactive by Molly Perryman

WWW: - Good use of lighting
- Good use of editing (for film effect)
- Band plays in time with music - looks like they're actually playing
- Editing is well done - lip syncing is good
- All shots were on screen for a good time - went with the pace of the song
- Good use of lyrics on screen - went with the song and connected with the next shot (screenshots prove my point)

EBI: - Could have used more costumes - maybe a bit too casual (everday wear)
- Could have included more mid/long shots as there were mainly close ups
- Was a bit repetitive - could have recorded and used different sceneries
- Wasn't much of a narrative, could have added one to also make it less repetitive

Overall I think that this video is an excellent video through how well the shots connected to each other, and flowed well with the song.


Lorde - Royals by Jenna
I decided to choose this song because it's electropop which is close to synthpop.

WWW: - Shots were on for a good length of time
- Good use of objects of significance (see screenshot for one piece of evidence)
- Shots of putting on makeup go to the beat - is on screen for the perfect amount of time
- Good use of framing/positioning (rule of thirds)

EBI: - The camera was moved while she was putting on mascara - could have refilmed this
- Kitchen scene has too much of a high contrast
- Too repetitive - should have filmed more instead of putting the same clips on a few times
- The recordings from outside are too blue - should have put down the blues more (check screenshot)
- The star is only singing in one place - should have shot the star in different places

Overall I think that this video isn't as good as the first one due to the lack of shots of the star singing and the heavily edited shots, however some of the video was good as the length of the shots matched the beat of the song.


Pink - f***in' perfect - Jess and Katie
I wasn't sure what other songs to do as none are really in my genre however in my previous tasks I looked at pop-rock (Avril Lavigne) so I thought it would be the best to do.

WWW: - Good use of fading to black between clips at the start
- Good use of positioning (rule of thirds - see screenshot)
- Good use of shot types
- Good use of lighting (see screenshots)
- Good narrative

EBI: - Camera was moved while recording the close up of the video - should have reshot
- Star wasn't in focus for some of it (see screenshot 1)
- Should have put the shot of the girl getting on the scales for longer

Overall I think this video had a very good clear narrative that went with the song. The lighting was good however the star wasn't in focus in the second screenshot - it's hard to see on the screenshot but easier to see in the video.

From this task I have saw what is effective and what isn't from the blogs and music videos. I will take care in my music video that everything is in focus and will try and use the rule of thirds so it's more appealing to the audience. I will also try and make the video more effective through editing like the Radioactive music video.

Audience Research

My target audience for my music video will be people around my age (16-18+).



I think that 16-18+ is ideal for my target audience because I can relate to them which will help me more while making my video, as I know what's popular in today's society. I also know that music videos are extremely popular around people of this age. This voki is 17 which is in the middle of this.

My Survey:

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Answers:

From this task I can see what the audience really want. There was a fair share between males and females, so it gave me a good representation of gender. 99% of the people who answered it were in the age gap of 17-20, which is my target audience. This could have been because of who I asked - as most of my friends are around my age. It seems like most people in my age gap watch music videos occasionally and a lot.

When I asked why do they watch music videos, most answered that they like to see visual interpretation of the lyrics. This is what I'm going for in my music video. From question 5's responses it is clear that most people want to see a visual interpretation of the lyrics and the video not acting out the lyrics - I can do this in my song. For question 7 some people said natural and others said if it goes with the beat. I will try to do this in my music video.

Most people said casual clothing should be worn in the synthpop genre, as I expected. In my music video I will make sure I use casual clothing due to this response and my influences of style task. I will do the song 'Fireflies' by Owl City so I asked the audience what they thought about him. I like the responses as 'unique, calm, emotional, dreamy'. I will try to make my music video as good as his.

Overall, this task has helped me get a better understanding of my target audience and what they expect/want from a synthpop genre music video.

Tracking an artist throughout their career

From this I have learnt how this artist and her music videos have changed over time. Her music videos are very different now to what they were like before; her costume and videos look more pink and girly unlike her old music videos which were rock and when she looked more like a tomboy. This will help me because from this I can see how artists have to change over time to keep their fans interested and not lose sight. For my music video, I could include some unusual 'new' things such as editing lights which is different from the normal natural video.