Equipment and Props

I need...

- A camera that shoots in video.
- A tripod so that all my shots are kept steady and as I am going to be the one in the video i need to be able to press record while the camaera is steady on something and go and be in the shot without having to hold the camera.
- A bottle of wine and other alcoholic beverages.

-A Paracetamol and a credit card and a bible... oh the irony

-A lampost or dark street just for some night shots

-Sherbert

Ideas for video

I am going to make a concept based music video as i like the idea of just having loads and loads of simple shots around the main important shots in my video as i think it helps the main shots look more importants and helps the song stand out and it makes it easyer to keep up with the speed of the song when it gets faster. - I got this idea after looking at owl citys video and escape the fate video as the simple shots from escape the fate of the light in the street are beautiful and the little shots to make owl citys video help make the song stand out more so i think it is important to have them in my video.

I am also going to use the fact there is a story in the nickelback video i looked at and not have an actual story in mine but going to imply things and not litterally acting it out. I am also going to try and repesent someone thats been out of life in my video as i feel that is what the song is trying to get out in the lyrics.

In all the music videos i looked at there is atleast some performance based footage in there however this would be hard to achive in mine so i am going to go against it and not have any in mine.

I have decided i am going to appear in the video myself as i only need one main person and i can rely on myself more than another person and i know how i want the shot to look without having to explain it to someone else in great detail.

Lyrics

These are the lyrics of the song i am going to make a video for. I used wordle to make a word cloud and highlight easily which words are the most important and are used the most.

Tell your friends not to think aloud
Until they swallow
Whisper things into my brain
Your voice sounds so hollow
I am not a leader of men
Since I prefer to follow
Do you think I could have a drink
Since it's so hard to swallow
So hard to swallow

So turn the television off
and I will sing a song
And if you suddenly have the urge
You can sing along

I touch your hand, I touch your face
I think the fruit is rotten
Give me lessons on how to breath
Cause I think I've forgotten
I think I've forgotten

One day, up to a cliff
That overlooked the water
I jumped in to save a girl
It was somebody's daughter
And now the ring is on my hand
It was given to me by her
To this day we all sit around
And dream of ways to get higher
To get much higher

Band Research

I have decided to make my music video for the Nickelback song 'Leader of Men'

Nickelback were formed in 1995 by Chad Kroeger, Ryan Peake, Mike Kroeger and Brendon Kroeger. Thier first release was a 7 track EP called 'Hesher' one year after the band had formed, the same year they recored thier first album 'Curb'. 'Fly' was featured on both the album and the EP and was the first single produced by Nickelback.

In 1997 Brendon Kroeger left the band and in 1997 Mitch Guindon joined but left after just under a year and Ryan Vikedal joined the band.

'The State' was realeased in 2000 in the US and in 2001 in Europe. It spawned four singles which were top 10 rock hits making the album certificated gold in the US. It reached platnium sales in 2008.

In 2001 'Silver Side Up' was released and 'How You Remind Me' was an instant hit reaching number 1 on the mainstream and modern rock charts and pop chart. Number 2 on the adult top 40 and billbord number 1 single of the year.

'The Long Road' was released in 20o3 and the lead of five singles was 'Someday' the album went on to sell 5,000,000 copies would wide.

Ryan Vikedal left the band claimed to of been pushed out, then Dan Adair joined the band and they released 'All The Right Reasons' the album featured other people in some of the songs with Billy Gibbons playing a guitar solo in the song 'Follow You Home'

In 2008 the album 'The Dark Horse' was released as singles and then as an album.

'Here And Now' is to be released on 21st of november 2011.

CD cover for my CD

(above) is for the front of my CD 

I was going to use a photo of them on the inside but found out i wasnt alowed to so i just kept it plain and simple which has been the case for lots of sucsessful albums.

With the back cover of the CD i just have it plain with the track list, band title and a bar code. These are pretty much the same in most CDs. The reaseon i didnt put a photo on the back is because it would make it look to cluttered and i was going for making it look simple.

Digi pack research

With most nickelback abum covers they are one plain photographic picture and the band name is very obviously placed and written. The name of the album is not as obviously put and is near the band name so you read the band name first and then the album name after.

The album is entirly covered with one photo so that the photo can become easily associated with the album and people can recognise it easily.

The photo on the front doesnt normally have anything to do with the narrative of the songs or the videos on the album but does strike the audience to think about how it could link to the songs and most different people will find their own meaning for it as the graphic desginer orriginally did not have a link in mind to the songs and the photo.
I am going to do my CD cover like these ones so it can keep with the same way the artist does it and i really like the simplicity of it and how it being simple makes it easy to recognise.

CD covers

The CD covers i like the most are the plain ones with a single picture on the font and the title of the artist and the album/single clearly labled and clearly visable.

I like the dark CD covers like this one by coldplay as it makes the title and the colour of the picture stand out more. I like that the picture doesnt really link to anything on the CD and just looks nice and simple.
I am going to look at some specific Nickelback album covers before i decide what im going to do when i make mine.

Advert

This is the advert i made for my Digi Pack to go in a magazine

I kept it simple like the Pink Floyd advert i looked at as it only has the infomation people need to know aboubt the single.

I did put a picture of the band on it though as i thought it would help it stand out to fans with a photo of them and the logo way of writting their name with the backwards 'B' makes it stand out to fans more.

I also found out i wasnt alowed to use a photo of them so i made it simple like the CD cover to make the two of them link. 

Advert research Green Day

This advert from kerrang is for grren days album 'American Idiot' the thing that stands out is the colour use of red black and white which is conventional to the genre of music and the cover of the album so you can see it stand out easyer after looking at the advert. Another thing that stands out is the photo on it wich is of the singer and as the band is quite well known the photo would stand out because people would see him and know instantly who he is and if they like the band read on to what the advert is saying so its better to eye catch with a picture of the singer as it grabs peoples attention more. I am going to use that for my advert as the band i am using is very well known so a picture will catch a readers eye more than the name of the band.

Advert research

I looked at this advert for Pink Floyd when i was looking to make my advert and i love how simple it is its easy to get the info off it and you can see imedietly what it is they are advertising.

For mine however i chose to have a photo of the artist as i think it helps people even more then as they see the band then read rather than the other way around.

It has the name of the band, the name of the single/album and the date it comes out and thats all the info fans need. So that is all i am putting on my advert.

Target Audience

The audience i am making my video for is aged between 15 and 30 and there isnt really a specific gender as both genders seem to like the type of music i am doing, in regards to socail grouping there isnt really one but they have to enjoy the 'Rock' genre of music which does usally tend to fall into a certain group of people.

(Media Grouping) Films and TV shows my audience would maybe like are ones with maybe some drama (but not a soap) and maybe some comady programs but not slap stick humor more like ittellagent wit. They probaly listen to other music from the genre but nothing to heavy as Nickelback are not that heavy. They also may listen to songs with a meaning in them rather than just rihanna singing about sex with no clothes on.

For the individual song i think it will be people who are maybe bored of their lives, living the humdrum life (get up, go to work, come home, eat, shower, go to bed) everysingle day that will enjoy it and get a meaning out of it. This also backs up Dyer's Utopian Solutions theory as his theroy says that people will resond to a media text if it offers them compensation for the things missing in their own lives. Through the media people can fulfil their own lives leading them to strive a utopian life.

Copyright

Dear Mr Chad Kroeger, Mr Ryan Peake, Mr Daniel Adair and Mr Mike Kroeger (Nickelback)

As part of a media studies course i am doing at collage, in England, i have to make a music video and i was wondering if i could use one of your songs. It is the song 'Leader of Men' and you will be fully credited for it.

It will be on my blog for media and if you want i can make it privte on youtube so people cant view it i can also credit you on youtube for it as well.

I will not be making any money from it and i will not be publishing it in any way.

Although it is for a meida course, i am a HUGE fan and it would be an honour if you would let me use your music to make my own video.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Please email back to 05brooksm@mangotfieldschool.org.uk

Mara Brooks x

Music video - Owl City 'Fireflies'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psuRGfAaju4&ob=av3e

This viedo by Owl City is really simple in terms of what it contains. Its filmed in one room with natural lighting and just a simple button saying 'Magic' turns all the lights on to light up the room, the lighting still looks natural though like there is no more lighting other than what you can see being lit up so it is still very natural.

Slowly there are different shots of anything that emits light turning on and lighting up the room. This makes the music video a concept based one.

From then on it is just lots of shots of the toys moving and lighting up and as the music speeds up the shots speed up also. Then as it slows down it simply goes round and turns everything off.

I like how the simplicity of the shots contrasted with the rasmats of the tune and volume of the song makes the song stand out over the video as sometimes the video can distract from the song.

The video is entirely performace based except the close ups of the little toys but the audience knows they are still in the same room and can still imagen that he is still playing.

The video goes against Lura Mulveys theory as she says that men are big strong and the hero and women are sexual objects or a house wife in everything. This video has only one person in it and he is a man in a room playing a keybord with toys all around him and no women or pictures of naked women around the room.

Concept based music video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDJpf2mQ0w4

This is an example of a concept based music video which means that the video doesnt really have any relevance to anything it is just random, in this case its falling pencils and toys and things. I am going to use this in my video as is is simple and breaks it up more.

l.i.f.e.g.o.e.s.o.n

I like the darkness of this video and the way it seems to show emotion even though nothing is really being implied by the song or the video. The lighting is always on the person in the background and not the performers in the foreground. This would of been achived with a spot light behind the two foreground singers pointing onto the person behind them.

Music video - Escape the Fate 'something'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH2OkPf4rMI&ob=av2e

The establishingshots of this video are beautiful peices of cinimatography and set the sene for where the band are playing. like the nickelback video they are playing along with a story or narrative which is shown with a dream like effectaround it so you can seperate the two as the singer is also the person in the narrative.

The band are all shown playing in the video and on the more prominant guitar parts there is a close up on the istruments.

It does use random effects at a few points duing the video, like blurring and moving of the camera to make it seem less boring but i think this makes it look tacky and not as good, I think they should of just put more shots in it to make it less boring as that would of looked better.

The lighting in the video is all from behind and looks almost to bright however i think it works well as the background is all bright and over exposed and the foreground is just the right brightness which makes the light behind almost highlight them.

This video fits in with goodwins theory as the demands of the record label are to wear certain clothes and play the music in a certain style. There is also a narrative base in the video which is something else in the theory.

Music Video - Nickelback 'someday'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VMFdpdDYYA&ob=av3e

I loved the way the story links to the song and it is another mini narrative going on in it however still shows the band though it. The contrast in the video is very high and the white balance is slightly off to give it a grey tone to it, however this is only applied to the story and not when the band are being shown.

The parts where the band are performing is a if its in like a garage or something similar which helps them connect with their fans that are playing in garages and basements.

The camera shots of the story are very basic and just show whats going on in a single frame so you imediatly know whats going on in the narrative. The shots when they are singing, are eaither showing all of the band members then then close ups on each individual member one at a time and keep alternating between them and all of them.

The transactions between the narrative and the band at the begining are slow fading which helps sofen what would be a really harsh cut otherwise at the begining of the song. Then when it gets heavyer the transactions are removed to make it fit with the song more and be choppyer and faster.

It fits in with Goodwins theory as there are links between the lyrics and the visuals like when it says 'and unpack your suitcase' the girl is putting the suitcase on the bed and the lip syncing with the band fits with the music which shows that the visuals backing up the music.

Conventions of music videos through different genres

Different music genres have different general ideas for music videos. I looked into different genres and found some things in each one that are widely used throughout that genre.

Rock.... (E.G Nickelback, the calling and aerosmith)

When i looked at rock videos there was an obvious simalarity between them which was that they were almost always dark with a very high contrast level so most colours are dark and things like skin and lights stand out and look alot brighter.

Most rock music videos are also very performance based with some videos being entirely performaces although the videos that caught my eye were the ones that told a story or some kind of narrative and switched between the story and the artist performing (Nickelback and The Calling). I also noticed the narrative of the videos always has something to do with the song and is usally done to make the emotions of the audience stronger than they would be if they were just listening to the song alone (like watching a short film).

Rap.... (E.G Eminem and 2pac)

I looked at rap music videos and found them to be like rock in the sence that there is alot of performance in them and usally a narrative to them however, unlike the rock genre, they become entwined rather than being two seperate things going on (Eminem- 'When im gone'). I also found the mood of the lyrics in rap music would influence the video, like if the mood is dark and deppessing then the video would be dark and have low contrast levels and when its rapping with no real message just about sex drugs etc. the tone of the whole video is alot lighter.

Alternative.... (Green day, Escape the Fate)

These music videos where alot like the rock genre however the actual artists had more of a steryotypical look (lots of eye make-up, black clothes) they also the editing is also alot more choppy and to go with the usally fast paced music and alot of movement in the camera.

Pop star theory

A true pop star is 'brand aware' amongst a wider market over a period of time, for example Madonna who has constantly changed her image from bleach blonde 80's hairstyles to a more glaorous look today, she is very brand aware.

Stars and contructions.

Stars are contsructed, artifical images, even if they are being represented as being real people experiencing real emotions.

This is true for pop music as the consturuction of bands and artists isnt even hidden from the public.

Industry and audience.

Stars are manufactured by the music industry to make money from an audience who respond to elements of a pop stars persona by becoming a fan and buying records.

This is applied to the music industry as the purpose of any artist is to make money.

Stars will represent a certain ideology and culture. Audience intrests in these values strengthens their 'star qualitys' and it is though thier beliefs and opinions and general lives away from thier music that creates their star persona. E.G A star could start a fashion trend by fans copying their clothing and hairstyle.

Charater and personality.

Stars begin as a 'real' human with gender and race charateristics and exsiting against a socio-historic background.

The star tranformation turns them into a construct which has foundation to the real person. We see them as not totally fictional, as being very much of their time and culture, the product of a particular generation. Stars give audiences a focus of what they are 'supposed to look like' E.G Thin and beautiful. They may support hegemony by conforming to it (being thin) or by providing a difference (being bigger and still loveable)

Goodwins theory

Goodwins theory is based on 8 main princaples
he says that all music videos have all or at least some of these things.

-Links between lyrics and visuals
-Links between music and visuals
-Genre characteristics (E.G hoodies for rap)
-Intertextual reference
-Notions of looking (sexulisation of women)
-Voyeurism
-Demands of the record label (representation of the artist)
-Performance based, narrative based or concept based.

Laura Mulvey's theory

Mulvey was a feminist and she thought that every woman portrayed in the media is eather shown as a madonna (a housewife) or a whore (a sexualised object).
This is true in music videos as most women nowadays are singing about sex and have to dance/dress accordingly this is more shown in the R&B and Pop genre. E.G Shakira 'Hips Dont Lie' she is wearing a very short skirt and a tight top which shows the video is focused on her sex appeal over everything else. Also Lady Gaga's 'Just Dance' shows her wearing next to nothing and this is for the male audience.
However the Rock/Indie genre does go against this is some cases E.G Avril Lavigne 'Skater Boy' she is wearing a baggy top and jeans and looks how most teenagers do that arnt slags and is associated with boys also there are lots of low camrea angles which show that she has the power over the men as she looks higher.

History of music videos

The first step towards music videos is actually the same time as sheet music in 1894 George Thomas would use a lantern to project still images while the sheet music was being played live. This is the first step towards music videos.

In 1926 due to the arrival of talkies many short films were made which featured artists, bands and dancers.

In the early 1930's cartoons were put along to music alot like in walt disneys fantasia which features cartoons of many kinds along with the sound of an orcestra.