Time Management

I have completed week 1 of my research and planning. I am currently slightly behind however I aim to complete the analysis of redundant and entropic music videos and my application of Andrew Goodwins theory by the end of the week. The reason I have not been able to complete my generation of ideas using lyrics is because my group are currently waiting for our chosen artist Alex Megan to reply.

Institutions that might produce and exhibit my music video

I have done some research into possible institutions for our music video.

Moodboard for music video

Here is a mood board I have created in response to Alex Megans song 'Try'. These images connote the types of things such as clothing, make up and locations that my group will be using in our music video.

The images I have used are redundant, as they are what is expected from the indie genre and the lyrics of the song. The images I have used illustrate the lyrics which therefore relates to Andrew Goodwins theory that there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. This is also known as synaesthesia. 

Things that inspire me..

Creativity

What is creativity?
Creativity is making or doing something that is unique and inventive. It could also be an original idea.

How can you be more creative?
I could be more creative by being more original in  my work such as doing things differently instead of doing things that people expect and taking the straightforward option.

Where does it come from?
Creativity comes from things that we see throughout our life that then inspires us to do something such as create a new product.

What role does it play in creating a a media production?
Creativity plays a role in creating a media production as producers and directors are always looking for new and unique ideas through media platforms for example music videos because they want their videos to be unique, interesting and memorable as well as innovative to therefore result in a larger profit.




Creativity depends on.....taking a chance and preparing to be wrong or you will never come up with anything original.

Creativity is...preparing to be wrong and take chances and to then think about things in a different way.

Do you agree?
I agree with Sir Ken Robinson because if we don't take chances and try out something we are always going to follow peoples expectations and give straightforward answers. In education students are usually worried when giving answers thinking they will get it wrong and be laughed at meaning students don't try to challenge ideas leading to them being unoriginal. 








Do you think this makes you more creative?
It does you help with creativity by giving you some tips on how to be more creative but it doesn't automatically make you creative because you yourself need to come up with the ideas and be innovative.

Generating ideas using lyrics

Alex Megan- Try

Said that I-i-i-I should move on with my life

If I could get back to where I was

It would be nice

I can’t love you like I did before

Don’t come around here any more

Cause the truth is a lie

And I’m empty inside

Only time will tell

If you know me well

But I’ve still got my pride

You can beg and plead

Oh

 Get down on your knees

And try-y-y

Thought that I had lost in love

But that’s what makes me sad

But how can you lose something

That you never really had

I handed you my world

I thought that I will always be your only girl

And the truth is a lie

I’m empty inside

Only time will tell and you know me well

But I still got my pride-e-e

You can beg and plead

Oh-h-h get down on your knees

And try-y-y

Maybe I’ve been broken-n-n                             

Maybe I was blinded by the sun

I’m hoping you’ll be surprised who I’ve become

And the truth is a lie

And I’m empty inside

Only time will tell and you know me well

But I’ve got my pride

You can beg and plead

Oh-h-h get down on your knees

And Try

Truth is a lie

And I’m empty inside

Only time will tell and you know me well

But I got my pride

You can beg and plead

You can beg and plead

Oh

Get down on your knees

And try-y-y

Get down on your knees

And try-y-y

Ideas

• Loneliness 
• Love
• Relationship/storytelling
• Slow paced to match beat of the song 
• Outdoors location such as the woods
• Girl playing a guitar
• Town location 
• Casual clothing with subtle make up
• When showing the relationship, the girl could wear more glamorous clothing such a floral dress with red lipstick
• High and low key lighting
• Narrative  such as a fight between the couple and performance
• Sunny weather for the relationship scenes
• Dull colours for scenes of girl on guitar
• Light colours for the relationship scenes
• serious and sad facial expressions
• Pride
• At the end the girl could be playing her guitar to an audience 

Stars and Stardom

I chose to do my stars and stardom post on Nicki Minaj.

 

Redundant and Entropic features of music videos

Redundancy is the result of high predictability.
Entropy is unpredictability.

This image of a puppy is redundant as it is what we would expect a puppy to look like. The image is predictable because it is cute and fluffy.

This image however is entropic as it goes against the stereotypical image of a puppy. The dog is wearing human clothes and has human hair which isn't what we expect a dog to look like.














Redundant and Entropic features of  4 music videos.
Foxes-Glorious





Redundant Features 

• Live performance to the camera to make the audience feel involved with the song which is a generic convention of indie music videos.
• There are a lot of medium close ups, close ups and long shots which is another key feature of Indie music videos.
• The cuts between shots are quick which in most indie videos I have looked at this is stereotypical.
• Tracking and zoom camera movements are used throughout the video which is similar to other indie videos I have looked at such as Taylor swift '22' and 'Dog days are over' by Florence and the Machine.
• The location is outdoors in a simplistic location which is a key feature of Indie music videos. An outdoors location was redundant in the majority of music videos that I looked at to find out conventions of Indie videos. 
• The video mainly focuses on Foxes again this is redundant for Indie videos.
• The clothing Foxes is wearing is simplistic and her make up is subtle
• High key lighting throughout the music video
• Synaesthesia 'Just before they hit the ground' (0:43)
• There are bright colours within the video shown through mise en scene, such as the pink flowers and clothing worn by other people besides Foxes which is a convention of indie videos.
• The video is slow paced which is what we would expect.
• Repetitive footage
• Lip sinking
  
  
   

Entropic Features 

• There are a large amount of people featuring in the video even though the main focus is on Foxes which is unusual for an Indie music video as we would expect to see a limited amount of people so that the audience don't focus all their attention on others in the video, 
• There is no narrative in the 'Glorious' Video which we usually see in Indie videos however this ensures that most of the focus is on Foxes to connote importance.
• Even though the location is outdoors it is located at a house with a swimming pool which is unusual as we would expect to see a forest or the countryside or a place of nature. 

Of Monsters and Men- Little Talks



Redundant Features

• The video is slow paced which is expected
• In some parts of the video bright colours are used for example the womens clothing and make up is very bright which makes her stand out therefore being redundant as it is expected. 

• Although the location isn't actually a real place it is still outdoors

• Synaesthesia is used in the video as there are some scenes in the video where the lyrics and visuals match. For example 'This old and empty house' where a house is then shown and the video is in black and white so therefore connotes oldness. 
• There are a range of shots within the video ranging from close ups to extreme long shots. 

• The video is narrative as it is telling a story which is a generic convention of Indie music videos. 
• The video is upbeat and occasionally the beat matches the footsteps of the cartoons which relates back to Goodwins theory. 

Entropic Features

• The singers are rarely shown in the video which is very entropic as a key generic convention of Indie videos is that the main focus is on the singers.
• The animals in the video mouth the word 'Hey' which is unexpected as animals can't talk for example at 1:51 in the video.

• The whole video is in black and white which is therefore entropic as the majority of indie videos are bright.
• When real people are shown they are in the scene with the cartoon people which is very expected.

• The use of fantasy animals is also entropic because if an animal is used in music videos we expect them to be real such as a dog or a horse. 

•  The whole video involves cartoon people which is therefore entropic as all the indie videos I have researched contained real people the whole way through the video. 

Birdy-Shelter 


Redundant Features

• The location is outdoors in a woods which is a generic convention of Indie videos. 
• There are medium close ups, close ups, long shots and  Extreme long shots which are expected.

•  The Mise-en-scene such as clothing and make up is very simplistic. 

• Tracking shots are used throughout the video which is stereotypical of Indie videos.
• Birdy is the only one who stars in the video therefore focusing all the attention on her and from my research into other music videos of the same genre, this is redundant. 
• The video is a performance one which again for indie music videos this is stereotypical as they are usually contain aspects of both narrative and performance. 
• Slow paced video
• The tone and atmosphere of the video reflects that of the music as the song connotes sadness and this is amplified through Birdy's facial expressions and the seriousness in her voice as she sings which relates back to Andrew Goodwins theory.
• Repetitive footage

Entropic Features

• The lighting is low key the whole way through the video which is unusual however for Birdy this tends to create her brand identity for her dark videos. 
•  The colours within the video are dark which is unusual as the audience for Indie music would expect some aspects of brightness through Mise-en-scene.
• There is no narrative within the video which we would expect of the Indie genre. 
• Throughout the video the locations are mainly blurred out which is entropic so therefore the video uses shallow focus a lot which furthers the attention on the artist.

Nina Nesbitt- Way In The World

Redundant features

• The location is outdoors as it is at the beach which is a key feature of Indie music videos. 

• The guitar is stereotypical of the indie genre and it is what we would expect to see in an indie music video, 

• Nina's clothing is very casual as she is wearing a plain jumper and shorts and she also has simplistic hair and makeup.
• Repetitive footage
• The main focus is on Nina which connotes importance which is a redundant feature of Indie videos. 

• There are a lot of medium close ups, close ups and long shots and extreme long shots which is another key feature of Indie music videos.
• Live performance to the camera to make the audience feel involved with the song
• High and low key lighting used throughout with high key lighting being used the most. 
• Aspects of Synaethesia 'at the front of the bus' (1:51) as it shows a broken down yellow bus. 

• Slow paced 

Entropic features

• The cuts between scenes are slow which is unusual for indie videos however it does fit with the slow paced song. 
• There is a lack of narrative within the video as its mainly performance.
• Unusual location of an arcade in an indie video. It would be expected more in pop music videos.

• Although there is aspects of synaethesia there isn't much of it as 0:09 Nina says 'Im working at a retail store' when she in fact standing on a beach. 
• Extreme close ups are entropic of the genre
  

Andrew Goodwins Theory

Andrew Goodwin has 6 features of Music videos:

1.There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.
Synaethesia

2.There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
There are three ways in which the visuals respond to the music:

• Illustrate
• Amplify
• Disjuncture

3.Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6. There are often inter-textual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).

I chose to apply Andrew Goodwins theory to Katy Perry's song California Gurls. 

Andrew goodwins theory 2 from HollieeeG

Conventions of music genre

Initial ideas and asking permission from artist

https://soundcloud.com/alexmeganmusic

Our chosen artist for our music video is called Alex Megan and we decided to use her song 'Try'. Louise, India and I found her on Soundcloud.
We also wrote to Alex Megan asking for permission to use her song:
'Hello, we are three students from the UK studying a media course. For our project we are required to make a music video, we heard your music on Soundcloud and thought specifically your song 'Try' was very appealing to us and we would like to ask permission to use your song 'Try' in our music video project. To help us better our project and relate to the song it would be beneficial to us if you could possibly send us a copy of the lyrics. We are fans of your music, good luck in the future and thank you for your time.'

Textual Analysis of a Music Video

Union J: Brand identity

Functions/Purpose of music videos

Introduction to brief

For this piece of coursework I will be producing a promotional package for the release of an album.
This must include:

•  A music video as part of a group
• I will also produce a cover for the album's release on Digipak
• A magazine advertisement for the Digipak

I will be working in a group with India and Louise. 

Action Plan
Week 1: 

• Textual analysis of music video
• Research artists and how they create a promotional package
• Explore purpose of music videos
• Research unsigned artists

Week 2: Research and Planning

• Identify conventions of music genre
• Analyse music videos- redundant and entropic features
• Apply Andrew Goodwins Theory
•  Post Action Plan
• Get permission from copyright holder
• Grade booster on stars and stardom 

Week 3: Research and Planning

• Create mood boards
• Create pitch
• Outline target audience
• Generating ideas using lyrics
• Research institutions

Week 4:Research and Planning

• Create a story arch
• Present pitch and get feedback
• Plan 5 sections of music video
• Storyboard/animatic

Week 5: Planning for production

• Shot lists
• Locations and casting
• Risk assessment
• Test shots
• Costumes and props

Weeks 6&7&8: Filming and update blogs

Weeks 9&10: Editing and update blogs

Week 11: Editing

• Complete a rough cut
• Gain audience feedback on rough cut

Week 12: Editing

• Complete final cut of music video
• Gain audience feedback on final cut

Week 13-Ancillary Tasks: Research and planning 

• Analyse 2 print adverts and 2 digipaks
• Complete mock ups of print work
• Experimentation with fonts, colours and layout
• Complete photoshoot

Week 14-Ancillary Tasks: Production

• Produce print products 
• Gain audience feedback on print drafts

Week 15: Production

• Complete final edit of digipak and print advert

Week 16&17: Draft evaluation

Week 18: Evaluation

• Evaluation questions 1-2

Week 19: Evaluation

• Evaluation question 2-4

Week 20: DEADLINE