Music Video Planning - ideas

Our initial idea involved narrative and performance aspects, perhaps interconnecting them at some point.

• The narrative would be shot in a black and white/sepia tone in an old style classroom; this would contrast with the performance shots as these would be shot in vivid colour to link with the 80's indiepop genre.
• The narrative would basically be following the lyrics, a guy trying to get a girl's attention. However towards the end there would be twist to do with the girl cheating on him but in an unpredictable way so it's not too cliché .
• The performance shots would include views of the crowd, at a gig and close-up's of instruments being played. We thought of starting the song with speakers/amps being plugged in, guitars being plugged in, drumsticks being picked up etc, and on the last beat of the song, a shot of a lead being pulled out, before fading/cutting to black.
• We decided to have the titles and some lyrics, on a blackboard, in the classroom, perhaps using stop motion or using a teacher to write them on the blackboard.
• In order to link the performance with the narrative, we thought the guy and the girl could attend a gig when a band are playing, so that we're using other locations outside the classroom.

Questionnaire

What age bracket are you in?

0-20 21-30 31-40 41-50
51-60 60+

Gender?

Male Female

What genre of music do you listen to?


Do you think that music is a big influence on people?

Yes No

If yes, how?






If R&B isn’t your preferred genre of music; do you listen to R&B?

Yes No

If not, why not?





What three things do you associate with R&B music?





Do you think that R&B artists and the media portray R&B music in a negative light?

Yes No

If Yes, why do you think this?

Proposal

Name: Lauren Jordan

Date of Proposal: 1/7/2009

Topic: "To what extent do people feel they have to conform to the lifestyle that R&B portrays?"

Reason for choosing this topic:
*To see how audiences react to R&B music.
*To see how the media portray R&B music and how the artists themselves portray/promote R&B music.
What do you expect to find out?
*How audiences conform or don't conform to the R&B lifestyle.
*What stereotypes people have of R&B music and the lifestyle.
How will it help develop understanding for the Year 13 coursework?
Research will help see how people consume music and their views on other people's music and whether they think that music in an influential part of people's lives.
How will you express your findings? (blog, essay, video, audio podcast)
*Blog entries.
*Mood boards/mindmaps.

Context: Media Project

“To what extent do people feel they have to conform to the lifestyle that R&B portrays?”

I have chosen this topic in order to see whether audiences feel they have to conform to the lifestyle that R&B portrays or whether they think that other people have to conform to it. I also would like to find out how the media portray R&B music, and how the R&B artists portray themselves and whether they contradict each other. Finding out whether this is what happens is interesting, because it could show that the media is able to influence people; not only their choices in music and clothing, but their entire lifestyle and that this can happen, perhaps, sometimes subconsciously.
In order to do this I will research three different R&B artists and see how they either conform or contradict the general stereotype view of R&B music; to find this out I will research different aspects of media text, such as magazine and CD cover analysis and internet research on social networking sites such as MySpace to see whether fans of R&B are stereotypical.
From these different types of research I am hoping to see what stereotypes people have about R&B music and lifestyle and whether this differs depending on the demographic of the audience. Also, I am hoping to find out whether people feel they have to conform to the R&B lifestyle, and again whether this depends on the demographic of the audience.
The research will help with Year 13 coursework, as I will be able to see audiences views on different types of music and how influenced people are by CD covers and magazines and how this persuades them to purchase it or not; this will help with designing a CD cover and Digipak.

Thriller Music Video Notes.

Artist: Michael Jackson
Director: John Landis

Media Forms and Conventions:

-strong promotion of artist, close up on his face.
-rule of thirds.

Genre:

-Chiascuro lighting, genre of movie.
-Contrast; upbeat music and spooky mise~en~scene.
-Lyrics linked with genre.
-Haunted House, weak girl.
-Zombies can move to the dancing.

Narrative Structure:

-Dialogue.
-Have they left the movie? reality and fantasy mixed.
-Diegetic sound from zombies.
-Performance and narrative.

Intertextuality:

-Opening shot, reference to cinema, Vincent Price.
-Background music, spooky sounds.
-Cliche horror.
-Third Man, Harry Lime climbing from man hole.
-The Shining, "here's Jonny"

Representation:

-Equal, not stereotyped race.
-Woman was weak.
-Traditional ending.
-Very 80's, big shoulder pads, big hair.

Audience:

-For mass audiences, every can relate.

Technology:

-Special effects, not CGI

Music Video Research: Audience.

What did we do this morning?

We asked a group of young people from our college to watch four different types of music video's.

What did you want to find out?

We wanted to see what our audience liked and disliked about the music video's they saw and what they would want to see in a music video.

What did you find out?

I found out that the audience wanted video's that reflected the genre of the music. Certain members of the audience like the realistic urban location shown in the 'Aphex Twins' music video. Many members didn't want the video to be really repetitive, such as "Boogie Pimp's" video which many people said was "boring".

What could you have done to make the survey more effective?

We could have a bigger contrast in audience, as many people liked similar music and therefore we didn't have very many contrasting ideas about what people liked. Also, with some of the questions, we could have pursued them more and found out why people thought what they did, for instance; 'why did you find the 'Aphex Twins' video interesting?'

Lily Allen, The Fear Lyrics.

I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I don't care about clever I don't care about funny
I want loads of clothes and f***loads of diamonds
I heard people die while they are trying to find them

I'll take my clothes off and it will be shameless
'Cuz everyone knows that's how you get famous
I'll look at the sun and I'll look in the mirror
I'm on the right track yeah
I'm on to a winner

I don't know what's right and what's real anymore
I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore
When we think it will all become clear
'Cuz I'm being taken over by The Fear

Life's about film stars and less about mothers
It's all about fast cars and passing each other
But it doesn't matter cause I'm packing plastic
And that's what makes my life so f***ing fantastic

And I am a weapon of massive consumption
And it's not my fault it's how I'm program to function
I'll look at the sun and I'll look in the mirror
I'm on the right track yeah I'm on to a winner

I don't know what's right and what's real anymore
I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore
When we think it will all become clear
'Cuz I'm being taken over by The Fear

Forget about guns and forget ammunition
Cause I'm killing them all on my own little mission
Now I'm not a saint but I'm not a sinner
Now everything is cool as long as I'm getting thinner

I don't know what's right and what's real anymore
I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore
When we think it will all become clear
'Cause I'm being taken over by The Fear.