Target Audience Questionaire

Please circle the relevant answer

Gender   Male     Female

Age         15 or younger     16-18     19-21     21-30     30+

How often do you listen to music per day
0Hours    1Hour    2Hours   3Hours   4Hours   Other_______

What Genres of music do you listen to (you may select more than one)
Indie   Rock    Pop   Dance   Electro   Punk    Trance    Classical     R&B

Do you regulary download/buy CDS
Yes    No

Do you watch music channels on a daily basis
Yes     No

Who is you're favourite artist and what do you like about them
________________________________________________________

Do you tend to find music video's more appealing when:
 The video matches the lyrics       or           The video is completely random



This is a completed questionaire

Sarah.

Top 20 Albulm Sales UK and Worldwide

Worldwide

Michael Jackson - Thriller
ACDC - Back in Black
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell
Eagles - The Greatest Hits
Backstreet Boys - Millenium
Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Shania Twain - Come On Over
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin 4
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
Celine Dion - Falling Into You
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Mariah Carey - Music Box
Micheal Jackson - Dangerous
The Beatles - 1
Celine Dion - Lets Talk About Love
Bruce Sprinsteen - Born In The USA
Bee Gees - Spirits Having Flown

15 out of 20 of the artists with albulms in the top 20 worldwide sales have all been in the rock/pop genre of music. This is very important because the genre of music that we are going to create a music video from has progressed from the rock/pop genre.

UK (Top17)

Queen - Greatest Hits
The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
ABBA - ABBA Gold Greatest Hits
Oasis - Whats The Story Morning Glory
Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
Pink Floyd - The Drak Side Of The Moon
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Queen - Greatest Hits 2
Michael Jackson - Bad
Madonna - The Immaculate Collection
Simply Red - Stars
Shania Twain - Come On Over
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
James Blunt - Back To Bedlam
The Verve - Urban Hymns
Dido - No Angel
Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

Callan Wheatcroft

Branding - History

Artists have created their own brand image to be unique and stand out from the crowd. They offer the audience something particular even though they may play similar music to their competition. A brand image makes an audience loyal to it and create an image that people link to and draw the audience to them over and over again.

'The Rolling Stones' have created their own brand image successfully with this logo.

This logo has been with them since 1971s album 'Sticky Fingers' to today. This logo is widely recognised and offers them 7 out of the eight elements according to mudvalley.com

Brand Essence- new wave
Brand Slogan- a current slogan introduced in 2005 'Established in 1962'
Brand Personality- rebellious two fingers to society
Brand Values- the youth against repression
Brand Appearance- a mouth with a tongue poking out
Brand Heritage- the tradition of the 1960's 'Sex Drugs & Rock n Roll' lifestyle
Emotional Benefits-offers the audience a sense of youth toetherness that will fight against anything that stands in their way

Its is through this that the logos"Advertising is not merely about selling the produst; it is about selling a brand, a dream, a message" (Katherine Viner, commondreams.org)

The brand has been pushed and pushed at us through advertising it has fixed in our minds and we can no longer get rid of it, everytime the consumer sees an image remotley like that The Rolling Stones will always be at the back of their minds. The brand has a constant message and theme thrown at the audience for nearly 50 years therefore instilling it in the consumers minds over and over again.

Callan Wheatcroft

Institution

The independent record label that would be ideal to produce indie rock music video would be 'Glassnote Records'. Glassnote Records currently have contracts with many indie music bands such as 'Mumford and Sons', 'Two Door Cinema Club', 'The Temper Trap' and 'Kele'.

Although Glassnote records is based in the USA it would like to broaden its field and is definatly big enough to so do. The record label isnt a money making machine, churning out the same old music videos and isnt into the mainstream music, this record label is more likely to produce somehting that is a little bit more out there, indie rock, indie pop, daft punk ect.



Glassnote Records are known for taking a 'sink or swim' risk with artists that arn't mainstream. Bands like Mumford and Sons have swam whilst bands like 'I Hate Katie' (now formely known as 'Darling Theives') sank.

Therefore i feel a band like 'Jellys Last Jam' which is the band we are taking the song from would thrive under a record label like 'Glassnote Records'.

Callan Wheatcroft

Nick Lacey - Genre Theory- 'same but different'

Many music videos offer the audience something that is 'same but different' as it is a tried and tested method to maintain the mainstream audience. This works very well if the artists you wish to make a music video for is an already established well known artist, however it wouldn't work well if you was a new upcoming band. Many artists create something thats inventive and experimental and and now and again you get an artist that creates a music video just to shock and distgust people to get their name known.

Certain artists that follow Nick Lacey's theory of offering the audience something thats 'same but different'. Bands such as 'Fall Out Boy' do this very well. They have a lot of the video based on the performace of the band but also there is a storyline that runs throughout it with Pete Wentz (lead guitar) the main character. Pete is the main character (not the main singer) as he is the member that all the women like therefore appealing to the female fans. Such music videos that do this are 'Dance Dance' and 'Thanks for the Memories'. Another band that follows the conventions are 'Florence and the Machine'. Florence's video however unconventional they may seem, are all very similar to one another. The main focus is on Florence throughout her videos, she is always dressed in wierd and wonderfull clothes and it is either filmed in the countryside 'Dog Days' and 'Rabbit Heart' or completely in a studio on green screen 'You got the Love' and 'Kiss with a Fist'.

On the other hand there are artists that offer non of the above. An example of this is Progidy's 'Smack Your Bitch Up'. This music video has been used purely for the shock factor. The drug use and explicit sex was used to create controversy, the controversy would get the video banned and make it even more popular. The experimental use of POV cam and editing when the music kicks in, the the vision of the women is warped thus breaking the conventions of a music video. Another band that breaks the conventions of a music video is Bloc Party with 'Flux'. This video doesnt have any of the band in it and just shows monsters attacking a city, the monsters are clearly people dressed up in costume and wouldnt be that expensive to re-create. The only editing is laser beams and explosions on a minor scale and that wouldnt be that hard to acheive. The cinematography is very varied and there isnt that many close up shots to create an audience artist recognition.

Callan Wheatcroft

History of the Indie Music Video

The original Indie Music videos were made notable by many very influential bands in the early 90's. Bands such as Oasis and Blur kicked it all off with their working class gritty image. This gave the band a certain authenticity and wide appeal to the working class as they felt that they could connect with them, they made their image as the same as their audience.

Oasis

The typical mise on scene of an Oasis music video is the working class streets of the north of England. Many of their films have been changed to black and white in colour such as 'Wonderwall' and 'Importance of being Idle'. They dressed very ordinary like much of their targeted audience and performed in a very realistic, carefree two fingered to society manner. In many of their music videos the cinematography is based heavily on the band performing, most of the time the camera shows close ups of the two brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher. The lighting is generally very low key with lots of scenes being in black and white, their is lots of side lighing used to show that the band has two different sides to it.

Blur

There image is very similar to the image of Oasis however they have a different approach to their music videos. The colour thats used are very in your face especially in videos such as 'Park Life', 'Girls and Boys' and 'Country House'. Whilst Oasis give a very dark and mysterious aura off in their videos Blur's video show a lot of humour (Matt Lucas having a cameo role in their music video 'Country House'), however from then on all the conventions are very similar. There are lots of close up shots of the lead singer to give a connection between him and the audience. He looks very ordinary like 'One of the Lads' and his perfomance is very entertaining for the audience as there is generally lots of dancing about and playing pranks giving the band a
very down to earth authenticity.

Callan Wheatcroft

Kick starts - example

I was originally looking at the official indie chart, however the songs on the chart didn't seems to be indie enough for the type of music we was looking at. I decided to still have a look at a couple of the videos, where i came across Kickstarts by Example. This video really stood out to me as a broke the conventions of a typical indie music video.

From the start there is a very fast pace editing that flickers through lots of short clips, however when the music begins it then slows down to a average pace, then speeds up again when it gets further into the song. It slows down during the verses so the audience can interact with the artist whilst he is singing the verses. 

There is a number of split screens throughout the video, and within the split screen it shows different clips of lots of different people doing the same thing. The people within the music video are all dressed very differently, this is to keep the audience interested, as the have lots to look at. The video the goes into full screen but flickers through all the different people again, by having so much going on in a music video keeps the audience  interested and then the video can be watched over and over again as the viewer might have missed things the first time.

 The video then continues to be very random. Within the split screens there is a number of random things including fingers and sunglasses. I loved how random the video is and this will be a inspiration to us when creating our music video. Sarah.

     

Feedback: 17/10/10

A very good start - good detailed posts with theory and sources referenced.

Genre:
Get a few more videos/images into these posts e.g. the history of music video and analyse how the conventions have developed.

Also apply all the typical conventions of music video to your analysis of two music videos- outline these - use Andrew Goodwin and Pete Fraser's ideas and reference them!

Good start on the conventions of the indie video sub genre also - dont forget to look at this historically too - how the Indie video has developed - from Blur/Oasis onwards etc... Dont forget the emphasis on gritty urban settings, working class brand image- locations-mise en scene - authenticity of the band and their music etc...

Why dont' you outline them as bullet points first - why are they different to the normal conventions of music video - what makes this subgenre unique?

Can you find any videos that break the rules of music video conventions- use general genre theory - remember- all genre texts combine the "same but different" (Nick Lacey 1999)


Branding:
Remember to move onto branding - definitions and how it has been used in the music industry - get a couple of artists with strong brand images and analyse their media products - videos, album covers etc...

Audience: Define your target audience
Remember to use all your demographic and psychographic profiling - Maslow, Young and Rubicam- cross cultural characteristsics and niche consumer groupings - get an image of Maslow's pyramid to put in your post etc...


Well done! Miss McNulty

Genre and Music Video - Subgenre of Indie Videos

Indie music has come out of the 'Alternative Rock' genre. These subgenres are 'Indie Rock' and 'Indie Pop'. Indie pop originated in the UK and started back in the early 1980's with bands such as 'Primal Scream' and 'The Pastels' leading the way. Back then they never made music videos and were only ever seen on TV's 'Top of the Pops' and at live gigs, however current indie pop artists such as 'Kate Nash' and 'Florence and the Machine' have the capability of making one.



Kate Nash's 'Foundations' is very typical of the Indie Pop genre. Like the majority of pop related music genres there is a love interest and this is no different. Both of the characters are wearing typical indie clothing, Kate Nash is wearing a bright yellow checkered dress with yellow leg-gins and her boyfriend is wearing skinny jeans, pumps and a v-neck cardigan. There are lots of close ups and extreme close ups of Kate to create a link between Kate and the audience. The cinematography is very varied, with high angled shots of Kate and her boyfriend sleeping in bed, over the shoulder shot of Kate miming the lyrics, a medium shot of Kate miming on the stairs and longs shots of Kate pretending to box. The editing is very typical to the genre but very relevant to the song, it shows socks that were rolled up as one going apart, toothbrushes rubbing together falling apart and watches that are linked together going apart, this symbolizing the gradual splitting up of Kate and her partner. The lighting is very high key and the colours are all primary. It is set in the house that Kate and her boyfriend share it also has the typical props that you would expect from an 'Indie Pop' music video, teddy bears, cards, skateboards and beer.  

Indie Rock is also very similar to Indie Pop as it also originated from the 'Alternative Rock' Genre in the 1980's in the UK. Bands like the 'Stone Roses' and "Happy Mondays' are iconic bands of the 1980's that started off the whole Indie Rock scene and current modern bands like 'The Killers' and 'Kasabian' have kept the scene going today.




The Killers 'Mr Brightside' is very experimental however it can be criticised for the intertexuality of Adam Ants 'Prince Charming' and therefore not being so original and inventive. The first thing that jumps out at you is the costume. The costume is very theatrical and pantomime and in keep with the image that The Killers want for themselves. Eric Roberts is a famous actor that features in the music video and he also featured in many other music videos such as Mariah Carey's 'We Belong Together' and Akon's 'Smack That', therefore this would bring in an already pre-prepared audience. There are lots of extreme close up shots of the main singer to create a bond between them and the audience. Very typical of the genre it shows lots of people together having a good time, flirting and showing a sex interest in one another with the women being viewed as the sex object, being made to dance for the men. Side lighting is used on the main singer when he is trying to impress the women, unveiling two sides of him, the singer and the flirt. The women is all dressed in white with very pale skin to make her look innocent and vulnerable. Towards the end of the video the editing becomes slightly faster, especially when the women is dancing with the main singer and trained dancer, this therefore showing the tension and mimicking the pace of the song.

Callan Wheatcroft

Music Video Conventions - Theories

Sarahs conventions powerpoint

View more presentations from smcmediastudies.

Fall out boy - American sweetheart
This is very unique music video, and this is why it really appealed to me. The is a very unique use of camera angles throughout the video, including a number of a canted angle. This video breaks Andrew Goodwins rules that the lyrics have to match the video, and the video it not relevant to the song at all.  However with the video being so unusual keeps the audience intrigued and this leads to them watch the rest on the music video. The costumes in the video are very old fashioned but yet colourful, which follows the theme of the music video. The costumes break the typical conventions of rock bands,  you would expect a typical rock band to wear dark and gloomy clothing, Fall out boy have broke this convention to be a different.






I initially put the music video on the show you the type of editing we are considering on using when we create our music video. The short clips and the fast edited really drew me to this video, and this would keep the audience interested, i then when into looking at what artists inspired Lady Gaga when she created her brand image and it is said that her image came from a mixture of glam rock artist like David Bowie and pop artists like Madonna and Michael Jackson.




i felt this music video is very similar to the Lady GaGa video listed above,  accept the Lady GaGa video is just a modern version. In this video Modonna has alot of intertextuality of Marilyn Monroe. 'Pete Frasers' convention of intertextuality states 'Music videos often music videos use something with which the audience will be familiar with to create nostalgia and associates. This music video is very similar to Marilyn Monroe's film gentlemen prefer blondes. Marilyn was such a style icon and Modonna has used this to make her video a success.

Sarah

Genre of Music Video- Basics

The subgenre of music videoas we have chosen for our project is Indie. The conventions that are within the Indie music video are generally based heavily on the performance of the band at gigs and festivals, they also show a lot of focus on the fans having a good time hoping that it rub off on the audience at home, however we intend to break this general rule. They would dress in a very quirky fashion and show off their skills as talented musicians with the majority of the focus being on the main singer, this is seen with many artists such as 'Vampire Weekend' and 'Arctic Monkeys'. The pace of the editing would fit the pace of the music and the content of the lyrics has a strong basis on what the video is generally about. What also is quite common is showing the whole band in the studio working together giving them a better reputation.




Vampire Weekends 'A Punk' uses an array of typical indie conventions. All of the band members are wearing very recognisable indie clothing, the clothes they wear are very bright colours. Mise on scene is very quirky as it shows the band dressed in hats and scarfs but this is all in keeping with the bands already quirky music. The lighting of the video is high key however the cinematography breaks the conventions as the camera stays motionless with the band member running towards camera. However the main focus does stay on the lead singer with him running up to the camera when singing the verses of the song. The editing of the video is also quite quirky, with the occasional jump cut and the speeding up of their actions make their movements very jolty, this is paralell with the music.

Biffy Clyro's 'The Captain' is very different to Vampire Weekends 'A Punk' in many ways. For a start the main focus all the way through the video is Simon Neil (lead vocal). There are many extreme close ups of his face so that the audience build a bond with the lead singer. There is a range of different type shots running throughout the video on the lead singer so that the audience dont take it in all at once and are tempted to keep watching it over and over again. The costume is very relevant to the songs and so is the setting. The song is called 'The Captain' and so the video is is shooted on a pirate ship with everyone dressed as pirates. The lighting goes very dark when they shoot the band playing their intruments together giving a sense of togetherness and likeability to the band. The lip syncing is also very effective and works very well.  The lead singer has scenes were he is being whipped with no top on, this would appeal very much to the female audience of the band. The editing of the video is quite fast, no so fast that the video becomes blurred and hard to watch but fast enough to keep the audience interested, it has also been editted some white flashes to make it look like the ship is being hit by lightning whilst the band is playing. All this is very typical of the indie music genre.

Minus the Bears 'Knights' is very unconventional and breaks every from of editing rule used by the vast majority of modern day indie musicians. The editing is mirrored images of themselves. This is very inventive and experimental and appeals to myself a lot, although it may not get the same reaction on everyone. It does however create lots of debate, people would talk about the video creating a buzz around it, it would be well known for both its popularity and unpopularity, still in essence making it popular as people are talking about it. The video still sticks to the conventional rule that the main focus being the band perfroming. The variety of shots used, mainly medium, close up and extreme close up makes the editing very interesting and the audience will not get everything on the first viewing. The tracking shot running through the street is also very interesting as the shots are not just reversed onto each other but also are rotated and quickend up.

Callan Wheatcroft

Introduction and brief

Hello.

In our group there is Callan and Sarah and we are both studying Media at A2 level. We have chosen to  create a brand campaign for a new album/band. To do this we are going to produce a music video, a CD cover and a magazine advertisement.

Callan & Sarah