Location Ideas

I have come up with several different ideas for locations to film my music video.

The meaning behind the song as well as the overall feel of it suggest to me that there should be elements of contrast between the artist and her surroundings. Because of this I have decided to put the artist in a rural environment that reflects her need to be free from the constraints of society.

Location idea 1: Farthing Downs, Coulsdon. This is a hilly area near where I live that offers a mix of woodland and fields.

Location idea 2: Banstead Woods, Banstead. This is a comparatively flat area that is mainly woodland, with a sloping field at the base of the woods.

Location idea 3: Headley Heath, Surrey. This is a heath with lots of dense shrubland and some woodland.

Out of these three locations I think that the most suitable is Location 2 (Banstead Woods) as it is fairly close to where I live so I could go back and film without having to worry too much about getting there. There is also enough of a variety of scenery inside the wood to not have lots of similar looking scenery.

Song permission

I have e-mailed rabid records, the record label who have Fever Ray signed to them. They referred me to this company:   http://www.d-e-f.com/ (which is an artist management company who mange artists like The Knife, Robyn, Moby and M83), who I then forwarded my previous e-mail to and they replied saying that I could use the song I had chosen as long as there was no commercial use. Below is the e-mail of the two correspondences.

Animatic

This is the animatic for my music video. There is a brief description of the action/movement of the actress underneath each

Music Ownership

Major record companies started appearing in around 1929 with the introduction of Music Publishers Holding Company (MPHC), Decca Records and Hollandsche Decca Distributie (HDD). HDD has changed name and ownership several times since its formation and merged with Universal Music Group in 1998 when it was known as Polygram. MPHC has changed name once, in 2003 and is now known as Warner Music Group. Decca Records is now known as Universal Music Group, and EMI (introduced in 1931) has remained the same since its creation. Sony Music was introduced in 1987 and joined with BMG music (Bertelsmann Music Group) in 2004 to create Sony BMG. This then became Sony Music Entertainment in 2008. Universal Music Group, EMI and Sony Music Entertainment are the four biggest music companies (although EMI is likely to be merged into Universal Music group soon) and between them own a large number of smaller record labels and thousands of artists.

It is interesting to note that two of the music companies are also film companies and owned by large multinational conglomerates – Sony Corporation and Vivendi. Warner Music Group was split off from Time Warner in 2004 and made completely independent.

Universal music group is one of the largest music content companies in the world and owns 10s of record labels including:

•                Interscope Geffen A&M

•                The Island Def Jam Music Group

•                Universal Republic Music Records

•                Universal Music Group Nashville

•                Decca Label Group

•                The Verve Music Group

•                Show Dog - Universal Music

•                Universal Music Enterprises

•                Universal Latin Entertainment 

•                A&M/Octone

These are only the US Labels it owns. Outside of the US it has holdings in various countries including China, Brazil, Denmark, Italy, the UK and 31 other countries.

Fever Ray is signed to Rabid Records, which is an independent Swedish Record Label, founded by the band Honey Is Cool. I explain this in greater detail in an earlier post.

Rabid Records Logo

Storyboard

This the storyboard for my music video

Audience

The genre of music that my chosen song belongs to does not lie within what it considered "mainstream", in that it is not played on most, if any, radio stations. The only stations that would play it are ones like Xfm that play generally alternative music, and even then it would only be played by certain DJs, for example John Kennedy on Xfm who has an evening/late show that plays music from artists a lot of people wouldn't have heard of. The kinds of people who listen to this kind of radio station/DJ are likely to be in their late teens to mid twenties. This is the same kind of age group that is my target audience for this music video. This is because music taste is something that develops and changes with age and those in their late teens often go through a period where they are exposed to lots of different kinds of music by friends, the radio, the internet and from live events like festivals. As they share their tastes and finds with each other they will discover that they like certain genres and go on to find artists who make that kind of music.

They may come across this artist by chance from their exploration into trip hop, electronic or ambient music (all of which are part of the song). It is perfectly possible that someone younger than their late teens, for example a 13 year old will hear the song and take a liking to it. I do not think, however, that this will happen at this age as much as it happens in older teenagers. Another reason for younger people not taking a liking to it is the dark and unusual nature of the song coupled with the singer being Swedish and not having many discernible lyrics to sing along with. Not being in the mainstream also makes the song more of an acquired taste rather than something that anyone could listen to and instantly like. Having said that I have chosen the most upbeat song from this artist, which is likely to increase the accessibility of the song as it has a fast pace and more positive sounding effects from the synthesiser. This will mean that it is easier to listen to some other songs from the genre and is less likely to put some audience members off the video because of the songs.

In terms of gender, I don't think that it appeals to one more than the other. It could be said that the female singer attracts a male audience, but the type of male that is attracted to listen to a certain artist just because they are female would not find this song appealing as it is in no way sexual like a lot of pop and R&B singers and the song does not provide any kind of instant gratification that listening to a song by a female pop artist may bring to them. The song may appeal to women, however, due to the themes hidden within the song and the empowerment that it appears to bring to the artist. I do not think that gender plays a large role in the target audience of this song as the target audience is more likely to be invested in the music itself, which is far more dependent on age, as I have previously explained.

To comply with my target audience, the visuals in the music video must have a strong relationship with the song and reinforce the genre. It must also not depend too much on a narrative as the audience must find their own narrative in the lyrics of the song rather than have one dictated to them.

Song Lyrics

So, I lost my head a while ago

But you've seem to done no better

We set fire in the snow

It ain't over, I'm not done


Some do magic and some do harm

I'm holding on, holding on

I'm holding on to a straw


Who is the Alpha and What is made of cloth?

How do you say you're sorry?

And there's nothing to be afraid of


Is it dark already? How light is a light?

Do you laugh while screaming?

Is it cold outside?


One thing I know for certain

Ohhhhh I'm pretty sure,

It ain't over I'm not done.

Song for music video

I have been listening to several different artists including TV On The Radio, Radiohead, Beirut and Battles. I have decided upon a song by Fever Ray called I'm Not Done.

Here is some information about the song,  I'm Not Done, which i have chosen to create a music video for:

Writer: Karin Dreijer Andersson
Producer: Fever Ray, Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid
Distributor: Rabid
Performers:
Vocals - Karin Dreijer Andersson


The song does not already have a video for it, which means that I will be able to have more freedom in the making of without having to worry about it being too much like the existing video. I have linked two videos below, one of which is one of her songs which does have a video (the other is the actual song). The music video for the song which is not the one I will be doing is called When I Grow Up and I will take inspiration from her movement and appearance in my video.

When I Grow Up:




I'm Not Done (This is the song I will be making a music video for):

Below is also the artwork of the album, which the song is on (Fever Ray)

Fever Ray is the solo work of Karin Dreijer Andersson, who is part of the swedish brother-sister duo, The Knife. Her self titled solo début, Fever Ray, was released in 2009 under the Rabid label. Rabid was formed by the members of Honey Is Cool in 1998 of which Karin was a member. After the success of The Knife's most recent album, Silent Shout, Karin took time out to have her third child and it was during this post natal period where she wrote the album Fever Ray. She composed the songs in a state that is common among new parents - "awake, but exhausted, where reality blurs into imagination and ideas flutter in and out." Taken from a biography about Fever Ray by Steve Yates.  Much of the album is stark, moody and occasionally sombre and I'm Not Done is one of the more upbeat songs on the album and the title is "a gesture of defiance against Karin's own thoughts of retirement." This is what she had to say about this song:


“That was the last song I wrote and in contrast to many tracks that are more about anxiety and depression, that one is very full of life,” she says. “Sometimes, when you’re as old as I am now, you think you’re going to quit, and people around you think you’re going to quit. But then you have days when you realise how good music can be, there’s so much left to explore and so much left to do. That’s why I sometimes feel I’ll never quit.”

To reflect the more upbeat nature of the song (in comparison with the others on the album), I will add more colour to the video and include a feeling of freedom to reflect the meaning behind the title of the song.

Photoshop practice

Here is a mock album cover, which I created to practice some photoshop techniques.
I first found a picture of a melon which had been carved to look like a mouth. Then I took the melon out of the picture. After that I found a picture of a woman with her mouth open and removed her mouth from the picture. Next I put the melon picture behind the woman and aligned the melon mouth to look like it was hers. There was then a gap between the lips of the melon mouth and the removed mouth from the woman. I used the clone stamp tool to make the woman's face and the melon mouth more integrated. After that I put the name of a band into the tongue to look like it had been carved in.

Analysis of a music video with reference to Todorov and Propp's theories

This video has a very clear narrative, which is not directly related to the lyrics, but there is still quite a strong link between the two.

Narrative

According to Todorov's narrative theory, there are 5 stages of the narrative:

1. A state of equilibrium

The group of friends are happily riding around on their bikes in their neighbourhood and not getting worried about anything.

2. A disruption of that order by an event

One of their homes is raided by armed forces and two of the boys are pulled out by soldiers. One boy seemingly blames another. (Boy 1 blames boy 2)

3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred

Harsh looks are exchanged between two of the boys in the group of friends, suggesting that one of them caused them to be in their current situation. Boy 1 is suggested to have broken boy 2's bike. At a party, boy 2 is seen walking through looking for someone. Boy 1 sees him and leaves.

4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption

The other three members of the group - the girl and other two boys run to where boy 2 works and try to warn him, but boy 1 appears inside and starts beating boy 2 up.

5. A return or restoration of the new equilibirum

Boy 1 stops attacking boy 2 and collapses on the floor crying. This doesn't seem to be the equilibrium of before, but boy 1 seems to have vented all his anger.

Analysis through propp:

Hero: Boy 2

Villain: Boy 1

Heroine: Girl, although she isn't a prize/reward for the hero

Father: -

Helper: -

Donor: -

Mentor: -

Genre Analysis

Here are 3 videos of a similar genre and how they display similar characteristics








These 3 videos all share certain characteristics, the most obvious of which is the choice each director has made to the video look like it could have been filmed in the 60s. The third video is actual footage from The Jonestown Institute in California documenting the People's Temple movement in the 1960s. They have edited in the lead singer of the band to give a more authentic feel, which conforms to Goodwin's theory of music video characteristics. The first video, 'Lust For Life' by Girls, has the effect of looking like a string of home movie clips cut together which acts as a throwback to the 1970s when people use to film in this style. The song itself also makes reference to wishing things were different when they were younger -
"I Wish I Had A Father
 And Maybe Then I Woulda Turned Out Right"
The Arcade Fire video has the themes of redemption and realisation, the former of which is shared with the Cults video.
All three videos feature the artist although very briefly in the first video.
They also all have people (not necessarily the artist) singing the lyrics of the song.
Each song's video also has strong ties with the lyrics and music of the song.
Similar themes also run through the video such as the idea of things that have happened in the past - wondering about if having a father when they were younger would have made them "right"; being shut out from the world when loved ones have died and then forgetting and moving on; the Jonestown Massacre and how each person's experience is different.

Analysis of a music video in reference to Andrew Goodwin's six conventions of music videos

This is the music video which is analysed in the presentation below the video,
Artist: Battles
Song: Ice Cream

Music video characteristics

A2 Specification

Here are the relevant aspects of the A2 Media coursework specification: 

This is a coursework unit. Centres must set the brief from the menu below, though they may define more precise details in negotiation with candidates. From this brief, candidates will produce:

• a media portfolio, comprising a main and ancillary texts; 
• a presentation of their research, planning and evaluation in digital format(s).

The media portfolio will be produced through a combination of two or more of the following media:

• Video 
• Print 
• Web-based 
• Audio 
• Games software

Each candidate will evaluate and reflect upon the creative process and their experience of it. Candidates will evaluate their work digitally, this evaluation being guided by the set of key questions below. This evaluation may be done collectively for a group production or individually. Examples of suitable formats for the evaluation are:

• A blog DVD extras
• A podcast 
• A powerpoint 
• A Website 
• Or a combination of two or more of the above

In the evaluation the following four questions must be addressed: 

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
• How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? 
• What have you learned from your audience feedback?
• How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

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.