Photos

This is a photo of Rocco Tower situated in St Ouen's Bay. This is the photo that I used for the back cover of my digipak. There were a few blotches on the lens of the camera which you will notice if you click on the photo. To get rid of these blotches I just retouched it using Adobe Photoshop. I also cropped it to 10cmx10cm so that it fitted the back of the cd cover.

This is the guitar I used in the thanks page of my cd digipak. I magnetic lassoed the outline of the guitar and increased the contrast to help the orange of the guitar stand out more. 

Equipment

Equipment:

FlipCam

For the majority of my footage I used a FlipCam. The quality of the footage can not be compared to other cameras I have used. It's high definition and is very easy to upload onto a mac. The downside for me was the size of it, it's very small (about the size of a mobile phone) and looks wimpish attached to a metre long tripod. The other criticism I have of it is it does not zoom in very far.

Sony NP-F750 Digital Camera

This camera has been used by my dad for years. Before I got my hands on the FlipCam this is what I used to film the first set of footage for my music video. Although it may appear fairly primitive compared to what's on the current market, it does the job and is of a decent quality.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Contrary to the majority of my class mates who all used Final Cut Pro. I decided to use Premiere Pro as I was more familiar with it. In Summer 2010 I made a short video and used this programme to edit it. There is a debate between which programme is the best, and looking at various forums on the internet they both seem to be pretty well respected. I just chose to use Premiere Pro as I already knew how to use it, and because it's on my mac at home I would be able to work on it after school hours as opposed to if I used Final Cut, which would have limited me to just working on it at school.

Props/Cast

I used various different props including an acoustic guitar and appropriate clothing for Adam who I filmed.

Ancillary Tasks

Below are my ancillary tasks. An advert for my CD as well as a CD digipak.

CD Front Cover

Back Cover

Inside Cover (Thanks Page)

 

CD

 

Advert

Filming

I filmed the majority of my music video at home where Adam lip-synced the lyrics of Neil Halstead’s Paint a face. I filmed on a sunny weekend deliberately to enhance the song; it is typical of songs of the acoustic genre to be filmed in this fashion as it relates to the tempo and mood of the song. Other scenes of the video were shot at St Ouen’s bay. Using the sand dunes and the views overlooking the beach below.

The time-lapse style shots were filmed at various places, the sped up cloud shots were filmed overlooking St Ouen’s bay, in total I filmed for around 30 minutes on the same shot, and when it went to editing I increased the tempo to 2000%. The driving scene was shot at various places from all around the Island of Jersey, again the tempo of these shots were upped to around 1000%.

In total there was about two hours of footage after filming, which meant that I met my original task of having excess footage. I don’t want to get to the stage and editing where I don’t have enough footage, and have to go out and take some more. This will just be inconvenient so it makes sense to get it all over and done with early on so I can concentrate of the editing.

A few problems did arise through filming, on a few occasions, circumstances arose which meant that filming had to be postponed. My original idea of filming in prior to the winter holidays had to be scrapped due to snow and poor weather. I then fell ill over the Christmas holidays, which meant that I couldn’t blog or film anything.

Planning

For my music video I have decided to go with the song ‘Paint a Face’ by Neil Halstead. The song falls into the acoustic genre and these are some of the things that are associated with that genre.

• Musician/band performing or singing in front of the camera. With a variety of different shots including close-ups and medium close-ups of the musician and the instrument.
• The videos tend to portray a message. Whether that be a message about relationships, life, a day out or perhaps something more significant.
• Contrary to other music genres it is important to keep transitions between shots slow to correlate with the tempo of the song. Genres such as electro and drum and bass which both have a far higher tempo in comparison will have quicker transitions.
• The location of the music video tends to be based around a natural environment. Many musicians such as Jack Johnson and Ben Howard shoot their videos by the sea. They tend to include surfing in them as the acoustic genre is strongly linked in with surf culture.
• Props are always relevant to the genre. There is no point using unrelated instruments, the acoustic genre is based around the acoustic guitar, not the electric.
• Setting is also important. Many music videos are shot on a sunny day with blue sky as this reflects the mood of the song to help the audience understand the message that is being portrayed.

With this in mind, I will be making sure that I follow these conventions as much as possible. I understand that it is unrealistic for me to make a professional looking music video, as I have no budget and limited access to equipment. However, I can at least make it look realistic by using similar shots and following these conventions.

I will be going to various places across Jersey, with St Ouen’s being one of the main places I will shoot. I will be able to take advantage of the views over the bay and the sand dunes. These look like realistic settings of an acoustic music video so it will enhance it.

I will be using a lot of medium close-up shots of the musician lip-syncing, and will try to make it look as realistic as possible. Other shots such as long shots and extreme close-ups will be used to add variety to the video.

A recurring pattern I want to include in my music video is a driving time lapse and a time-lapse of cloud movement. I intend to include these in various points of the video at specific points to create continuity in the video. 


Permission


In order to use the song by Neil Halstead, I first had to ask permission. By doing this I contacted him by writing this email.

Dear Mr Halstead

My name is Michael Medway, I am 18 years old and am in my final year at school at Victoria College in Jersey. I am writing to ask permission for the use of your song “Paint a Face” in my A2 Media coursework. We are required to use a song of our choice and make a music video for it.

Since seeing you live at the Grassroots festival in Jersey last summer I decided that I would want to use it for my music video. However, I need permission from you before I can do this.

I have no intention in using your song to make money, nor will I send it on to anyone else except my teacher and examiner who mark my work.

I understand entirely if you do not wish for me to use your song for my coursework and if that is the case then there will be no hard feelings whatsoever.

If you could get back to me soon, I would be very much appreciative.

Yours Gratefully,

Michael Medway

After gaining permission, I then went on to start filming,

Introduction

Interviews

Here are a few interviews with some classmates of mine. I asked them their feelings on music videos and music genre.

Owen:

Richard:

Toby:

My Idea

My Idea
The idea for my music video is based around time and nature. A lot of artists incorporate nature into their videos to enhance the song. An example of this would be with Neil Halstead. His music may be off the mainstream radar but he is renowned throughout the world of acoustic music for his passion of the sea and more notably, surfing. His video ‘Paint A Face’ features extracts of himself surfing along with epic long shots of the coastline around Newquay in Cornwall.

Things like this are something that I want to use in my music video. I live in Jersey in the Channel Islands, which has no shortage of natural beauty and sunshine. So it would seem naïve to venture clear of the acoustic genre and not make the most of a setting that would compliment an upbeat song such as the one I have chosen.

Another theme of Halstead’s music video is that of the passage of time. One of the first shots shows a sped up shot of clouds. This message of time is repeated throughout the video in different ways, relating to the song. The message the song tries to portray is of how short time is and how one should make the most of it. Again this is something that I will be incorporating into my video, as it is a simple yet effective technique, which compliments the song.

The protagonist in my video will be Adam Heyes, a friend of mine at school who will play the role of the musician who tells his story of the importance of time and making the most of it. I will be visiting various landmarks around Jersey, including the well-known St Ouen’s bay where the footage of surfers will be shot. I’ll also walk across the road to the sand dunes to make use of the views over the bay to enhance the perspective of the song.
I will be switching from nature to a music studio where there will be various shots of Adam playing the guitar and singing.

I also plan to incorporate a driving time-lapse into the video.

Research into Target Audience

Research into Target Audience:

To generate ideas for what genre my music video would be based on I created a questionnaire, which I gave out to 50 student and teachers at my school. I wanted to find out what the most popular genres were and what style of music videos people responded to positively. I already had a vague idea as to what sort of video I wanted to create, but to justify doing it, I wanted to get an idea of what others thought.
Music taste varies greatly from person to person. So everyone will react differently to a given genre compared to another. This means that it would prove difficult to produce a music video that appealed to everyone’s taste.


Below is the questionnaire that I gave out.

Out of the following what is your favourite genre of music?­­­­

Indie

Rock 

Drum and Bass 

Classical 

R&B 

Jazz 

Other 

Do you watch music videos? 

Yes

No

Sometimes 

How many music videos do you watch per day? 

0 

1-3

4-6

7+ 

Do you prefer watching music videos, rather than just listening to the music? 

Yes

 No

 Don’t know 


Most youtube videos show you what audience a specific video attracts the most. Neil Halstead's 'Paint a Face' (the song that I would like to use in my video) showed these results.

Music Video Research

Music Videos

For my research into similar media texts I have decided to explore as many different genres on Music videos in order to gain a better insight into the conventions of each genre.


Neil Halstead - Paint a Face 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71sfMY3ZLWI

Neil Halstead typically plays his music in a subdued and more relaxed fashion compared to other musicians. This represents the genre of music he performs perfectly as his voice is renowned for its mellowness. The speed in which the cuts are made throughout the music video are important as they correspond to the tempo of the song. Using simple techniques such as a placing a plastic sheet over the camera lens and recording drops of water falling onto it is an effective and appropriate feature as it represents the message that 'Paint a Face' is trying to portray, that by putting things into perspective, there are more significant things in the world than what people make out to be. Throughout the video the footage has been toned down and made to look more solemn to correspond with the theme of the song, this effect also creates the effect of it being cold and possibly near Winter. Contrary to many of the music videos I have studied, this one has been set to exploit natures beauty, which in many respects makes it easier for the video to look good. Camera angles also make up an important aspect of the video, they assist the images in appearing more meaningful, for example at the beginning with the drops of water falling on the camera, the camera is facing upwards taking the water and the white sky into picture representing the insignificance of man.

David Gray - Fugitive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REeqmxBJVm0


David Gray is another musician renowned for his mellow and distinctive voice. The music video for his song 'Fugitive' at first to be quite simple, with few camera angles focussing on him and the piano. However, as the video progresses the use of abstract art is apparent and is an occuring theme throughout it. This is an alternative to other music videos as it includes graphic creation as oposed to just video. The cuts correspond to the tempo of the song, which is important as it enables the audience to gain a greater feel for the song.

 Calvin Harris - Ready For The Weekend


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRP9M_xF5SY


Rammstein - Ich Will


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4K6ZxDwi34


Popular German band Rammstein have been renowned for their slightly obscure manor in which they make music videos, to say that some of them are controversial is an absolute understatement so I have tried to choose a more appropriate music video of theirs. However, saying that the film consists of the band going into a bank, holding several people hostage and attempting to steal money, whilst all wearing suits a might add. This in itself is a message about the kind of band Rammstein are, this is a rebellious and illegal thing to do, which is fitting due to the controversy surrounding the band. The way in which the lead singer (Til Lindermann) walks throughout the video in a superior and above the law fashion is also important. It is also important to show his impact on the band, something that only fans of rammstein will understand, that he is the most iconic person in it. The camera angles are always pointing up towards the lead singer indicating his importance. The cuts are slow or fast relating to the tempo of the song which is a general convention of any music video.


Example - Won't Go Quietly


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-So9lXFt5rM&ob=av2e


Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Can't Stop


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwkJfkl-clw

CD Cover Research

Rammstein are typically a heavy metal band, so it seems fitting that the background is black as in corresponds to the genre of music that the band play





Neil Halstead is a very similar musician to Jack Johnson in many respects, just not as mainstream. He surfs and plays the acoustic guitar and sings in a very mellow fashion. Similar to Jack Johnson he surfs, which is apparent in the cover of this CD cover.



This is a typical ‘electro/house’ CD cover, it uses an aesthetically pleasing font amongst bright colours which again appeal to the target audience, which in my mind would be people aged 17-25. The streaks of colour that spread diagonally across the cover represent strobe lighting, not uncommon within a nightclub or music festival dance tent, where this genre of music will be played. The fact that Ministry of Sound is printed on the top left of the cover illustrates its quality as it is a recognised brand of music. The contrast of the black background and the white font is apparent, and is something that the audience will notice almost straight away.



Jimi Hendrix is an iconic and ‘god-like’ figure to some people in many respects. So it seems fitting to have him portrayed over a desert background as a ghost like figure. As in effect that is what he is, a man who has made more money dead than alive. The lack of text on the CD cover is typical of many covers, but in this respect no text is needed due to Hendrix’s face on the front. Fans of his music will be able to identify it straight away because of this. The background of a red rising sun represents one of his songs, as well as the purple theme (Purple Haze), it almost comes across as quite a religious picture. Due to the nature and beauty of the photo, which again is fitting as Jimi Hendrix can be seen as a God to many people.



This is one of the most iconic CD covers of all time. Pink Floyd’s Dark side of the moon album cover has inspired millions of posters stuck up alongside streets and households alike. In fact if you were to show this to people the chances are they would recognise the album cover rather than the Band itself. The black background contrasted against the rainbow or spectrum of colours is as contrasting as you can possibly get. The small amount of text at the top right corner of the CD cover is irrelevant in many respects as because people recognise the picture, they may already know what the CD is.



Here the contrast of red and blue is the first thing the audience will notice as they pick up the CD. It takes up the majority of the cover, with a small amount of text at the top of the CD. At first, one would assume that this cover meant nothing to fans of Red Hot Chill Peppers, however, now it is a recognised image across the world of music. 





The image of a mouth and sticking out tongue is an iconic trademark of The Rolling Stones. Millions of Rolling Stones memorabilia is sold across the world with this trademark on, which gives the purchaser a clear indication as to what the CD is. The colour scheme is important as it will also appeal to the target audience of young people as well as hardened Rolling Stones fans.