Looking at other student works helps with our own imagery and what we can realistically do
This video got full marks and an A grade. It was shot with a Canon 5d Mark II (a very expensive camera) and edited using final cut. The narrative is very easy to follow and the lighting is very consistent. The artistic shots are really creative and are easy to make such as something we can do. The costumes are very simplistic and it seems like we could re-create something like this without spending a lot of money. The video is really well done and executed and the editing is really fantastic, the long shots give a good idea and shows how effective it can be. It's also clear when they use the handicam that it can be effective during a fight scene. They use a lot of amazing techniques to capture the footage which overall makes a really creative and unique music video.
This is a really good performance based video shot in a greenscreen room, This shows how effective it can be to have different things going on whilst staying in the same location - this minimizes the locations we would have to go to. There isn't a narrative and it's more of the band messing about - this is popular for an indie pop video (we're doing indie rock) and therefore could not be used for our video however it's really interesting the timing they cut it. The closeups of the band is a good idea as it's done across all genres. It brings the audience closer to the band.
This video is really good for showing intertextual references. They refer to alice in wonderland throughout and use clips from the film. It fits in with the song as the film is fairly crazy and it's singing about being complicated. The editing such as 1:16 is really creative and a good effect that could be used for our video as well. The lighting doesn't change too much and they again film in the same room throughout apart from a few scenes. Throughout most the performances shown there has not really been no shot of someone singing/the artist. I think for our product we need to focus on being performance based with a slight narrative as it gives us more to work with and makes it realistically easier for us to shoot.
The initial question was about how they liked/disliked a general indie rock videos. Most say how it is about the music and the band that it's low-key and atmospheric. The narrative also seems to play a key role and the appearance of the band has to be in as well. We can't over saturate it with a detailed narrative as most like it being simplistic.
A lot of the audience like the narrative of this music video. The body language of Biffy Clyro as well adds to it. The simple costume choice also creates a better image. Overall they like the narrative of this music video and the way Biffy Clyro acts in this.
The effect of black and white really caught everyones attention. It's a good lighting choice to use and we should think about this for our music video. The hidden references to drugs as well from the song is seen as interesting. The low-key lighting "connotes the genre" therefore it must be usual for an indie rock song to have a low-key lighting - this audience member could see it's indie rock due to this. The smokey effects can also attribute to the quality of the video and as we discussed we'd like to use a smoke machine.
A lot of the audience disliked the video due to the over complicated cgi/effect. It seems to be a hit and miss since some people did like this. The use of a symbolic colour to make everything stand out could be a good idea but overall it seems the effects really put people off this video.
To find out the target audience i created a google form to collect responses to questions i asked
I overall got 10 responses
From this it's clear to see the target audience is male, 15-17 and the majority listen to indie rock videos. This can be biased as the questionnaire was sent out to our friends and peer group and therefore is a very small sample size. However it's fairly well known that the target audience for indie rock is 15+. The gender does not matter as there is not much difference between those who listen to the genre or not.
During discussions in lesson we began thinking out our music video in depth and what we could realistically use for the video. We came up with the following ideas:
We still want to use a lot of this however instead of Chocolate- The 1975 we are planning to do Biblical - Biffy Clyro.
Using wix is very easy and user friendly. Obviously i need more practice as the one i created doesn't reflect a professional band however there needs to be a correlation between the digipak and website therefore they will need to be created at the same time. Wix has a lot of features that will be fun to be creative with.
All these digipaks are from the indie rock genre - they all focus on a main theme or look they want to give out. They all show a white washed image or faded image this fits in with the indie genre. For the Biffy Clyro one (bottom left) he went with more of a theme of the trees whereas the Arctic Monkeys (bottom right) went with the theme of cigarettes. For our digipak i think it should feature the band but should also go with a corresponding theme that is done throughout the pak and therefore looks professional. We will need High quality pictures in order to make it look good. The black/dark theme also looks good as we can use it to our advantage with the text to make it stand out a lot more.
Overall a lot of indie rock bands tend to have black themes with their logos, images, lots of helpful links, Both the 1975 and Fun. manage over tumblr which is a popular teenage blogging site which is also where a lot of their fanbase come from. Our website will have to be user friendly with interaction and images and videos. Links will need to either be on the website or link to a different site. The darker theme seems to be a better idea as it looks more professional whereas the 1975 are trying to stand out from the norm.
The bands rock genre is emphasised as the webpage is simplistic and user friendly. They show the band and the music as the main focus which is popularly done across the genre. The dark theme also fits in and the font they use is official therefore they have a professional vibe and a more rock/not mainstream look about them.
Creative interface - Scroll down to reveal the site
Simplistic and colourful
Many photos of the band
Social Media links
Merch Stores
Moving backgrounds
Fun font
The band is trying to create a difficult image of mixed genre however they are clearly in the pop genre due to their reputation but the amount of images and way it's presented. The fun type of layout also makes it more pop than indie or rock. They use differing fonts to correspond to the different genres of their albums.
Bruno mars has a very pop website with the pictures and bright colours. The scroll down effect gives it a cool effect in comparison to just scrolling normally. The links are very useful and the images on the website correspond with the albums shown.
Im going to re-create the digipak for a florence and the machines.
I decided to stay with the vintage theme but with the black and colours. I motion blurred some of the photos and put them over the top of the original to give them a cool effect and i also enhanced the text with the outer glow option and by overlaying them then moving them a bit to the left/right. I also decided to include a panel with the entire band on them - even though Florence is the front woman the band should get recognition so i added one of them in the inside panel. The idea for the roses on the cd and the actual logo keeps the vintage theme and also has a reference to the actual bands logo. I also put a red-gold gradient over some of the pictures to give them more of a gradient tone instead of a bland image.
From creating the digipak I got practice with using Photoshop which i used previously for making logos for my film opening. There are a few essential things i picked up from doing this
300 dpi for best resolution
Use High quality images to get the best result
Special FX can improve the text without much effort
Holding the shift key whilst transforming doesn't distort the image
We did a quick activity which brought up random sites and words for the digipak we can create it was an interesting activity which helped us understand the digipak and how to create them.
a type of packaging for CDs or DVDs, typically made from cardboard with an internal plastic holder for one or more discs.
They typically look like this but the can have less panels.
The Killers are an American Rock band - from their digipak it's easy to tell this due to:
Nonchalant Body Language
Black and White/grayscale colouring
Out of the norm outfit - quite rock anyway
Sexualised females (usually done for rock genre)
The target audience would expect this from a rock band and therefore it will change the way the digipak looks - if they don't release a hardcore looking digipak then they might lose a significant amount of their fanbase.
Katy Perry is an American Pop artist and this is clear from her digipak due to:
Her being the main focus
Quite fashionable
Pink colours and bright outfits to make her stand out
The darker theme does set it apart from usual pop music digipaks
The font of the writing is particularly cartoony and pop ish
She is allowing herself to be sexualised
Due to katy perrys fanbase being young girls and quite older men (due to her body) the fact she allows herself to be sexualised means it will sell.
Robbie Williams fits under the pop rock genre with his earlier work being pop but then evolving to more rock as he becomes a single artist this is clearly shown:
Still the main focus on the video (pop)
Quite risque actions (hanging upside down)
The sunset effect makes the audience feel more of a vintage vibe instead of modern
His clothing looks quite dated
His target audience is primarily adults (females) however he is trying to reach to the younger generation from his collaborations with other artists therefore his digipak will be trying to reach across to a broad audience - this is probably why he went for a quite cool looking album instead of a nonchalant one (rock genre.)
One Direction is an English pop band with a very pop image:
All the boys having fun and being up beat
Bright colours
Fun fonts and logos
Modern and casual clothes
The younger/teenage girl audience is their target to aim for - the cute looking and happy digipak fits into this because they would not be able to go too risque encase they destroy their image.
To make sure we keep our band up to date and understanding what we are trying to do we created a google document that will update the information as we find out about it and sort it out. We are also currently trying to find loyal people who will perform in our video and therefore this document will help us know who we are using
After looking at this video i thought about my music video and how we will execute it in such a professional manner
- Locations
Looking at this video 1 location seems like a plausible idea as they used one house in an effective way. Locations depend on the narrative and since this song is strong with the narrative then the location cannot change much as it'd draw from whats going on. Since our video will be slightly more performance heavy i think 1-2 locations would be a good idea
- Props
A large amount of props were used in this to progress the story and help the audience understand the character more. As Jake Wynne said - Only use a narrative if it adds to the performance. This narrative added more the performance through the use of the props as we learned more about the character. In our music video i think we will stick to minimal props to focus more on the performance.
- Costume & make-up
Just like this is gospel the artists only wears a regular everyday outfit. This is to not draw attention to them as indie rock like to either spread a message or focus on a narrative. I think using everyday outfits will get the theme across instead of wearing more absurd outfits.
- Equipment that you may need e.g. track, fig rig etc.
From this scene a green scene was used nearing the end however it seems like a tripod was used. A tripod will be essential that if we don't use any other equipment we have to use that to get a good quality shot.
- Number of shots required
We will need a high number of shots to make the video effective however as this video shows the cuts can be quite long and still be really effective for the viewer, i think this only works depending if it's heavily narrative based.
- Number of performers
This video also shows how effective it is to only have one performer as long as the performance they give is amazing. However i believe the band should always be included as indie rock is all about being unified as a band and a fandom.
- Issues of representation
I don't feel as though there will be any issues of representation i think if the group & band is respectful we won't delve into that. We could aim to have not such a boy heavy band which is common in indie rock and if we do have actors we should be quite diverse. But we still need to stick with the audience that listens to indie rock (i.e not use kids or older people as indie rock is for the teenage/adult audience).
- Will you use a real band or just mime?
I think a real band would be useful since they will be used to performing and will know how to look whilst performing I also think we should play the song whilst they perform so they can sing as accurately as possible for later editing.
After looking at this video i thought about my music video and how we will execute it in such a professional manner
- Locations
For location we don't really need to have to many 1-3 is a good number however if we want to push it we might go for more depending on our full idea. Location also depends on if it's narrative or performance and since we are doing a combination we will need to decide what will be best.
- Props
Again, Props depend on a narrative or not. We will clearly need our instruments but other than that it's all down to the narrative we chose. In this video they use 2 very important props and a few very small ones i think having a prop used throughout the video would be very good - maybe even one that goes through the narrative and performance.
- Costume & make-up
The costume and make-up needs to stay fairly regular - In indie rock the artists tend to stay on the "normal" side and don't go over the top unless it's needed for the narrative or the performance. Since the song we chose is quite normal i don't think we'll need too absurd ideas but just regular clothes and minimal makeup.
- Equipment that you may need e.g. track, fig rig etc.
To get a lot of the cooler shots a good editing skill will be needed and a good amount of clips- the only equipment i can see us needing is a track or a dolly to get motion shots and a tripod to make sure the camera is still,
- Number of shots required
The number of takes we will need to do will be over 10 and the number of cuts needed could be 100+. A music video needs a good number of anything to make it good and therefore if we film a lot then we will have a lot to work with.
- Number of performers
Depending on our narrative the only performers we will need is the band. This is due to the fact in indie rock the band is usually the actors in the narrative or at least the main singer is. We can't have too many actors because otherwise it would just get confusing
- Issues of representation
I don't feel as though there will be any issues of representation i think if the group & band is respectful we won't delve into that. We could aim to have not such a boy heavy band which is common in indie rock and if we do have actors we should be quite diverse. But we still need to stick with the audience that listens to indie rock (i.e not use kids or older people as indie rock is for the teenage/adult audience)
- Will you use a real band or just mime?
I think a real band would be useful since they will be used to performing and will know how to look whilst performing I also think we should play the song whilst they perform so they can sing as accurately as possible for later editing.
After changing our genre to purely indie rock there will obviously be a few more different inspirational videos.
This video is very inspirational as we really want to do this as our song. The narrative and performance combination is also very creative and easy to create. The fact he is walking and singing is a good approach and it's really interesting to look at - the sort of monotone way he speaks the lyrics always looks really interesting.
This video shows a correlation between the lyrics and visuals as it's about the singer being high and as shown on the screen the effects of being high distorts the video. This video is narrative and is fairly linear in that it's easy to understand but has no clear path. The idea of a simplistic narrative is very inviting however it would be hard to put across. The dull lighting is quite inspirational and is done through a lot of indie rock.
Within the music industry the representation of females and males is still quite dated - it falls into a category of stereotypes and incorrect ideas.
Females
Often sexualised
Dancing provocatively
Women can however use their sexualisation to sell more albums/get more views
However if males do this it can be seen as offensive
Laura Mulvey - Women are objectified and have the 'to-be-looked-at ness' in films
They are an object of desire and are there for the male gaze
Many females began to challenge representation and they are rarely sexualised
Some subvert the ideas and try and use empowering lyrics or videos
Males
The more closely that a man conforms to what is expected and what we have all come to accepts as traditional characteristics of masculinity, the closer he is to being a “real man.”
Evidence indicates little change in hegemonic masculinity and strong representation of the four themes of the male sex role (stoic, aggressive, dependable and not feminine).
Hegemonic masculinity is competitive and reflects a tendency for males to seek to dominate other males and subordinate females
Characteristics such as drive, ambition, claims to self-reliance, heterosexuality ,misogynistic, and being aggressive
There are a lot of two sided debates over videos.
In Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines - The woman are clearly sexualised and objectified in comparison to the males in the performance. The body language and the clothing is very sexual and in every shot this is shown. The lyrics of the actual song is degrading and demonising for woman. The camera has a lot of close ups on the women and it reinforces the patriarchal society.
In comparison someone like Adele - Chasing Pavements. The video doesn't sexualise women at all and focuses on a narrative. It's really respectful in comparison and in a lot of her videos she is barely ever sexualised unlike in other popular songs. However it could be up for debate that it's due to the genre and type of singer (male vs female singer or pop/indie)
After discussion we decided to change our genre to just Indie Rock. This is due to the fact we took inspiration from the music video workshop with Jake Wynne and we really felt inspired by one of the videos he edited. We also think alternative rock you can be more creative with it and it suits the type of band we can use.
From this it's clear to see the target audience is male, 15-17 and the majority listen to indie rock videos. This can be biased as the questionnaire was sent out to our friends and peer group and therefore is a very small sample size. However it's fairly well known that the target audience for indie rock is 15+. The gender does not matter as there is not much difference between those who listen to the genre or not. 
The Killers are an American Rock band - from their digipak it's easy to tell this due to:
Katy Perry is an American Pop artist and this is clear from her digipak due to:
Robbie Williams fits under the pop rock genre with his earlier work being pop but then evolving to more rock as he becomes a single artist this is clearly shown:
One Direction is an English pop band with a very pop image:
