My Chosen Song

This is the song I have chosen to use for my music video. ("Yellow Flicker Beat" by Lorde) The genre of this song is indie.

Lyrics

I'm a princess cut from marble, smoother than a storm
And the scars that mark my body, they're silver and gold
My blood is a flood of rubies, precious stones
It keeps my veins hot, the fires find a home in me
I move through town, I'm quiet like a fire
And my necklace is of rope, I tie it and untie it

And our people talk to me, but nothing ever hits
So people talk to me, and all the voices just burn holes
I'm done with it (ooh)

This is the start of how it all ever ends
They used to shout my name, now they whisper it
I'm speeding up and this is the
Red, orange, yellow flicker beat sparking up my heart
We rip the start, the colors disappear
I never watch the stars there's so much down here
So I just try to keep up with them
Red, orange, yellow flicker beat sparking up my heart

I dream all year, but they're not the same kinds
And the shivers move down my shoulder blades in double time

And now people talk to me I'm slipping out of reach now
People talk to me, and all their faces blur
But I got my fingers laced together and I made a little prison
And I'm locking up everyone that ever laid a finger on me
I'm done with it (ooh)

This is the start of how it all ever ends
They used to shout my name, now they whisper it
I'm speeding up and this is the
Red, orange, yellow flicker beat sparking up my heart
We rip the start, the colors disappear
I never watch the stars there's so much down here
So I just try to keep up with them
Red, orange, yellow flicker beat sparking up my heart

And this is the red, orange, yellow flicker beat
Sparking up my heart
And this is the red, orange, yellow flicker beat-beat-beat-beat

Target Audience Member

This is my target audience member.

She is between the ages 15 and 25, therefore she can more easily relate to my artist who is in the same age group and the same gender.

She likes to read books and enjoys English Literature therefore she is interested in finding the meaning of song lyrics rather than being interested in only the tune, as a result likes indie music more than pop music.

She has a unique style and doesn't mind standing out and being different, which is similar to my artist, which is why she is a fan and is able to connect with her, this is also due to the way my artist dresses.

I also found from my research that the artist "Lorde" (The actual singer of my chosen song) has an audience of mainly teens through to young adults.

Lordes Audience

My target audience member will also use social media sites such as Tumblr. From my research I found that Lorde uses Tumblr to engage with her audience. My target audience member may also use Tumblr to find out more information about my artist.  http://lordemusic.tumblr.com


Gratification
personal identity- I think that the target audience member would enjoy this artist and this genre of music due to the fact that it may reinforce their personal values as well as finding a role model.
Information- I don't think my artist will gain any information from this music video apart from possibly learning more about themselves, my target audience member may also use the music video to find a meaning within the lyrics.
Integration and social interaction- I don't think that my target audience member would watch my music video for social interaction as the genre of the music is not a popular genre and therefore would not be seen by a lot of people. However my target audience member may have a niche group of friends that also enjoy this genre of music.
Entertainment- My target audience member may use my music video as a way of escaping reality and entering the world of my artist, it may also be used as a way of gaining emotional release due to the song being very lyrical, the audience may be able to relate to it. My audience may also be able to relate to my artist due to the clothing my artist wears. In this way my target audience member could act as an opinion leader that encourages other to be interested in my artists music.
I hope my target audience member would also be interested in the music video due to the aesthetics.


Although this is my target audience member, there are also many other groups that would enjoy this type of music without having these attributions.

Music Video Analysis Using Vernallis

Narrative
One of Vernalises theories about music videos is that it is a visual response to the music and lyrics, the narrative also tends to be fragmented. In this particular music video, the narrative is not very elaborate but follows the band taking a trip to the beach with some girls, this is a visual response to the music as the band members seem to be referring to the girls as they sing the lyrics; "You don't know you're beautiful."  This music video also follows the convention of fragmentation in the narrative as we see the narrative is constantly being broken up by close-ups of the artist, an example of this is at 1:13.

Editing
Vernallis's conventions of editing such as ignorance of continuity editing is used in this music video an example of this is between 1:22 and 1:31 because we see girls driving and a car, and then it cuts to a scene of the girls at their destination getting out the car. In many places in the music video, the editing cuts to the beat of the music which is another convention that Vernallis states. There is also a stlye of transition that runs through the whole video which is when one shot fades into the other, this can be found anywhere in the video.

Camera Movement and Framing
This music video follows Vernallis's convention of camera movement as the camera hardly ever stops moving in this music video, many of the frame are also incomplete or do not show the whole picture/image which is another one of Vernallis's conventions.

These shots are also extreme close up shots which are very common in music videos and are conventions of both Goodwin and Vernallis. These shots use direct mode of address which draws the audiences attention to the artist and make the feel more connected.

Preliminary Lip Sync task

For my Preliminary task I filmed people singing along to the song rather be (by Clean Bandit and Jess Glynn) I then synced the lip movement with the original audio using Final Cut.




I used markers to mark where the voice sounds start on the audio, I then lined it up with the mouth movement of my actors. (As this picture shows)

























Here is my final preliminary lip sync task


Evaluation
I think that this preliminary task went well as the lip sync in regards to the lip sync as the lip movement was successfully matched with the music however, if I were to do this task again I would improve the visuals so that the video is more interesting and perhaps include a storyline, although the main reason for doing this task was to practice matching lip movement to sound therefore overall I am happy with the product.

Song Ideas

This song is a possible choice for my music video as it is an indie song which I feel is open to interpretation, I believe that this allows me to produce a more abstract video. I also like how the volume and speed of the song progresses over time as it will give me more flexibility with my music video.


Because of the fact that this song is very different from current pop music, I feel that my artist should also have a unique style and appearance. Examples of artist who's styles are going to influence my artists style are;

Florence (from Florence and the machine)

This is because unlike other artist she wears minimal makeup which is very different as most popular artists choose to wear quiet a lot of makeup and bold cloths that stand out however Florence looks very much like a "normal" person.


These are examples of videos that I would like to take some ideas from because they are very different and abstract.

Conventions of Music Videos (Vernallis)

This video is an example of jump
cuts in music videos which supports Carol vernallis's conventions of the music video genre, the cuts  are also edited to fit the beat of the music which supports Goodwin's conventions of music videos.













This clip also supports vernallis's theory that the characters tend to move to the music/dance. It also supports the concept that there tends to be a lot of camera movement within the video which is shown in this video when the camera rotates. The movement in this video also creates a unique style which is another Vernallis concept.

Shot Ideas

 I like this shot as it shows both the artists reflection staring, and the person she is staring at. Therefore it gives the audience more information about the scene/situation whilst still not revealing the whole shot which creates mystery. this shot shows also voyeurism towards the male as he is being watched as he undresses and is unaware of it (although we as an audience are aware). This follows Goodwin's concept about the conventions of music videos.

 The lighting in this shot is something that I would want to replicate in my own music video as it creates mystery through the use of shadows, this leaves the audience wanting to see more. This lighting effect may have been created using a main low angle light lighting the front of his face and a weaker filler light from behind. I also like the black and white effect which suits this particular music genre.

I also like the lighting in this shot as it frames her face very well and highlights certain parts e.g. her cheekbones whilst creating shadows on other parts such as the side of her nose and her left eye.

I like how this lighting only focuses on the artists face whilst there is no light in the background. this again supports Goodwin's concept about close ups of the artist.

Amplification And Disjuncture

The use of amplification in music videos may be personifying or exaggerating a lyrics.

An example of this is the Kanye West and Rihanna music video for the song "All Of The Lights"

this is a shot from the music video where the word "lights" was sang and was also amplified on the screen.

The use of amplification in music videos usually highlights important lyrics or highlights important parts of the narrative of the music video it can also  highlight the beat and the song.

Disjuncture is when the actions of the video do not relate to the lyrics or the music.

Bruno Mars's music video for the song "Grenade" is an example of disjunction as the visuals (Bruno Mars carrying a piano) does not relate to the lyrics ("I will catch a grenade") However the visuals do represent the general meaning of the song which is that he would go to great lengths to try and please the women he loves.

Disjunction is normally used to express the meaning of a video to the audience rather than the literal lyrics.

Carol Vernallis

1. Vernallis states that music videos are a visual response to the music and the narrative of the music video doesn't always have to be complete (it may be fragmented with disjointed structure. montage style)
2. Vernallis says that the editing may match the beat or the musical phrases and the video my break rules of continuity editing which is a convention music videos.

Examples of editing used in music videos;
-Jump cuts
-Breaks of the 30 degree rule
-Breaks of the 180 degree rule
-Cutting against the movement
-Cutting with the lyrics
-Extreme jumps in time and space
-Extreme changes in pace
-Juxtaposed frames
-Graphic matches
-A style of editing that runs through the video and is distinctive to the video

3. Extreme shots are used and a style of framing and movement runs through the video that is distinctive to the video.
The camera may move to the music/lyrics.

4. Actions may not be completed or may be interrupted.
character tend to move to the music.
Some frames are more important then others and some frames may be unnecessary

Music Video Ideas

This is an example of camera work that I would like to use in my final music video as it follows Goodwin's theory about the use of close-ups whilst also using slow camera movements which I think enhances the emotions of the lyrics and draws our attention to the artist.

Sia's trilogy videos goes against all conventions of music videos as it doesn't feature the artist and none of the lyrics relate to the visuals of the videos. all the videos are also set in one location, also match on action and smooth transitions are used which goes against Carol vernalis' music video theory.





All these videos also feature the same actor/dancer which is very rare rare for an artist to do. The videos are also very abstract and have hidden meanings. http://popdust.com/2015/01/21/sia-shia-labeouf-elastic-heart-music-video-explanation/

Although I am not making a trilogy, I want to make my video unique and different just as Sia has, as it would make my video stand out. I could do this by not making the narrative of the video obvious. This may encourage people to re-watch the video as they may want to find the hidden meanings.

Examples of Goodwin's Conventions

Goodwin has a number of conventions he states are commonly used in music videos

1. Goodwin's first convention about music videos is; "There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contrasting the lyrics" Here is an example of music video that supports Goodwin's idea; 

This Video Shows a relationship between the visuals and the lyrics as when the artist sings; "pulls me closer," the visuals show a couple pulling each other closer.

2. Goodwin's second convention is; "There is a relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contrasting the music" This is an example of the music being reflected in the visuals of a music video as the scene changes as the music and instruments change.

In this clip, as more instruments are introduced and the music becomes louder the visuals also change to match the music.

 

3. "Genres are complex and diverse in terms of iconography"
The genre of this video is rock there the video has some rock stereotypes such as the scenes of a rock band playing music, which is very iconic, and the spiked hair.




4. A lot of close-ups of the artist/ vocalist.
This is an example of a video that supports the theory



5. Voyerism is present especially in the treatment of women.
This music video show that voyerism as the artist appears to not know that the camera is there, this is shown by the fact that she does not look at the camera.