[PLANNING] Music Magazine Album Advert Drafts

For the magazine advert, I am intending on taking a portrait photo of my talent in front of a flower bush and then have the text surrounding the subject. For instance: 

This aesthetic would match the genre of acoustic/acoustic indie I am aiming for. Moreover, the images have a rather wistful and romantic ambience to them which reflects the lyrics of the song used for the music video.

Another option of mine was to have a floral motif against a pastel background and have a photo of the artist pasted on top of it as though it is "stuck on", giving the illusion that it is similar to a clipping from a magazine.  

[PRODUCT] First Edit of Music Video

OFFBEAT MV [First Edit] from Katie Lam on Vimeo.

The first edit of the music video, "Offbeat".

As you can see, the music video is currently at a skeletal stage. There are many long gaps in between clips of the artist singing and cutaways, indicating that I have a lack of footage. I have made plans to film more cutaways when my artist is free.

Moreover, there are aspects of this edit which I am unsure whether or not they are effective. In particular, the part where the lyrics are "I wanna hit rewind, playback a hundred times" and the shots denote the artist walking backwards, then forwards and then backwards again. This was supposed to reflect the lyrics which describe rewinds and playbacks but I am worried that my editing did not convey my intended vision.

[PRODUCT] Progress of editing music video

When editing the music video, in order to make the process easier, I filmed the 'artist' lip-syncing to the whole song in one take.
Then I placed the entire clip onto iMovie, aligned it in time with the music and simply inserted other clips as cutaways.

[AUDIENCE] Focus Group

FOCUS GROUP

Name: Courtney Peacock
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Education/Employment: College student
Relationship status: In a relationship
Socio-economic classification: C1/C2
Favourite genre of music: Punk Pop, Pop Rock, Heavy Rock, Metal
Preferred method of listening to music: Streaming, purchasing CDs/Vinyl
Interests: Attending concerts and gigs, listening to music, photography, illustration and art, reading

Name: Madeleine Rigby
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Education/Employment: Sixth form student
Relationship status: Single
Socio-economic classification: B
Favourite genre of music: Pop, Classical, Musicals, Acoustic Pop
Preferred method of listening to music: Streaming, Radio
Interests: Drama and performing arts, musicals, playing the clarinet, being sociable

Name: Daniel Heywood
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Education/Employment: College student and working as an usher at a theatre
Relationship status: Single
Socio-economic classification: C1
Favourite genre of music: Pop, EDM, Rock
Preferred method of listening to music: Streaming (e.g. Spotify), Radio
Interests: Playing drums, reading, travelling

Name: Jess Boxall
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Education/Employment: Sixth form student and works at Waitrose
Relationship status: In a relationship
Socio-economic classification: B
Favourite genre of music: Pop, Acoustic Pop, EDM, RnB
Preferred method of listening to music: Spotify, YouTube, Online Radios
Interests: Socialising, fashion, makeup, reading

Evidently, three out of four individuals of my focus group are female. This is mainly because acoustic pop tends to be a genre geared towards a female audience and my final product is also aimed towards this demographic. Therefore, I aspired to make my focus group representative of my intended viewers.

[PLANNING] Music Video Storyboards

[PLANNING] Treatment

Song: Offbeat - Clara C

As the song is of an acoustic-pop genre, the music video's concept will also replicate the motifs and icons associated. For instance, the video takes place on the beach, a popular location for acoustic-pop videos.

The music video will begin with the artist's name and song title in the middle of the screen. In the background, the artist will be walking but her back will be facing the camera - she will be walking AWAY from the camera. Then, the text will fade and, in time with the song's rhythm, a sequence of shots depicting the artist walking along the beach will follow. This will establish the location of the music video, the genre and direction. Furthermore, the artist will not be walking towards anything specific or have a particular goal. This will reflect the nature of the music video and how it is simply an amalgamation of varying shots with different content.

Following on from this, when the artist begins to sing, there will be a succession of shots which mirror the lyrics. For example, the first line is "I want a library, full of our stories". As the artist sings these words, the camera will pan across a shelve of books and then cut to an open page of one particular book. The rest of the music video will be of a similar essence. In between each cutaway will be clips of the artist singing.

The video has no particular narrative, but the video focuses on the little details within the artist's life and how she is so in love that everything she encounters reminds her of her muse. Hopefully, my music video will reflect this idea.

[PLANNING] Permission to use song

This is an e-mail which shows I have sought permission to use the original artist's song for my music video.

[RESEARCH] Ancillary Product Analysis: Digipak - Noah & The Whale ("Last Night On Earth")

[RESEARCH] Ancillary Product Analysis: Digipak - Taylor Swift ("1989")

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[RESEARCH] Ancillary Product Analysis: Music Magazine Album Advert - Noah and The Whale (Last Night On Earth)

[RESEARCH] Ancillary Product Analysis: Music Magazine Advert - Mumford and Sons (Sigh No More)

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[RESEARCH] Music Video Analysis: Bastille - Send Them Off!

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[RESEARCH] Music Video Analysis: Sia - The Greatest

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[RESEARCH] Music Video Analysis: Colbie Caillat - I Do

  

[RESEARCH] Music Video Analysis: Noah & The Whale - L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N

In this analysis, I apply the theory of Andrew Goodwin to the music video. I have identified particular points or aspects of the video which correlate to the points Goodwin makes about music videos.

[RESEARCH] Location research

For my music video's location, I decided to film on my local beach in order to convey a cheerful and pleasant atmosphere, mirroring the tone of the song.

Furthermore, many acoustic pop music videos are filmed in natural surroundings, meaning my product would be targeting the intended audience of explorers and reformers.

In addition to the beach shots, I filmed many of the cutaways on the pier - Southend pier is known to be the longest Pleasure Pier in the world. Coincidentally, there was an arts festival happening during the time we were filming - Estuary 2016. The festival consisted of a variety of colourful beach huts lined up along the beginning of the pier. Despite the fact that I was aiming for a more muted and neutral colour palette (as demonstrated on my moodboard) to match the genre of acoustic pop, the opportunity to film against and within these huts was not one I could pass up.

Whilst conducting research on my location, I discovered that it was featured on a UK food lifestyle programme, "Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast" which aired on Channel 4. The series is based in the hosts' (Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty) café at the end of the pier.

With the location being featured on a popular television show (average rating: 1.7 million viewers - source: BARB ), it will be more recognisable and familiar when viewers watch my artist's music video. Furthermore, it applies with Andrew Goodwin's music video theory which states that there is use of intertextuality in music videos.

The programme invites celebrities to the cafe to assist the host chefs cook a recipe of their choice. Prominent names that have guest starred on the show include Kate Hudson, Usain Bolt, Orlando Bloom and Lindsay Lohan. As Richard Dyer mentions in his "Star Theory",  fans of these public figures see them as the "ideal" and wish to become like them. The sheer popularity of these celebrities means Southend Pier is given positive exposure that will help boost the reputation of the area.

Moreover, Channel's 4 target demographic is young adults between the ages of 18-30 who are also dominant consumers of contemporary music videos. Therefore, by featuring a location which has experienced vast exposure on national television can help my artist's fanbase to expand.

[RESEARCH] Moodboard

I have constructed a moodboard which conveys the genre that I am aspiring to represent through my final product and ancillary products - acoustic pop.
There are artists which are associated with the genre, such as Jason Mraz and Ben Howard, as well as motifs which are regularly demonstrated in acoustic pop music videos (such as sunsets and beaches).
Moreover, I am aiming to use a more muted and minimalistic colour palette in my final and ancillary products.

[RESEARCH] Andrew Goodwin: Music Video Theory

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[RESEARCH] Richard Dyer: Star Theory

Star theory richard dyer from 10-klam

[RESEARCH] A Brief History of Music Videos

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Advanced Portfolio: Music Video Brief

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

• A website homepage for the band.
• A digipak for the album's release.
• A magazine advertisement for the digipak.

The Phone Call

Reflecting on 'The Phone Call'

"At the end of the course you will be expected to reflect on your technical skills and development.
You must upload your version via Vimeo and comment on the pros and cons of the following:"


1. Equipment used

For ‘The Phone Call’, we used two different cameras – the Canon Legrio and a Canon DSLR. We swapped back and forth between them according to the types of shots we needed to get, which was useful as it allowed to accumulate a range of shots. However, the main issue with using these two cameras was that they were of completely different quality. The DSLR camera was much higher quality than the Legrio, which meant the overall video suffered from inconsistency.

We also used a tripod when shooting with the DSLR camera. A tripod helped ensure that our establishing shot and long shots were stable and not shaky. But using a tripod also restricted the range of shots we could have with the DSLR because it was less mobile than the handy Legrio camera. Therefore, we mainly used the Legrio camera and as it was lower quality, this lowered the overall quality of our video.

2. Working in a group

Working in a group was a fun experience and each member of our group played a vital role, from filming to using the clapperboard, as well as acting. It was interesting working with people I had previously never worked with before.

3. Shooting out of sequence

When shooting out of sequence, the clapperboard plays a pivotal role when it comes to editing the final video. However, in our group we neglected the role of the clapperboard slightly by not filling out the details fully, which meant when it came to editing the clips, it was a confusing task. Moreover, we had forgotten/skipped shooting some shots which meant that the finish video was shorter than anticipated. 

Each member of the group had to create their individual versions of ‘The Phone Call’ and it was interesting to see other peoples’ versions

4. Experience of editing and uploading

Editing the video was a bit more challenging as the clips were filmed out of sequence and when it came to re-watching the footage, there was a lot of wind noise which meant the actor’s voice was drowned out.

5. Points to be aware of/improve when you shoot/edit again


- Use clapperboard correctly
- Make sure shots are consistent in quality

6. Feedback from peers

Audience feedback (click to enlarge)