Asking for permission for the track

Indie Pop Music Video Survey- Audience Research

Music Video Survey

We created a Survey on Survey Monkey to find out what things are expected to be included in a Indie Pop Genre Artist so that we can base our Artist around this. We also not only asked what our audience expected to see in the Video but how they would listen to the music and to see if our artist would be a mainstream or independent artist.

Not only did we create a Survey online but we also had audience interviews which allowed us to get detailed information on what they thought the song was about and what they would imagine to be in the song. We have concluded that 100% of our target audience believe there should be a narrative behind the story. This is why we have decided to use a political theme in our music video as it creates a storyline. We also found that the majority of the people we interviewed liked the name Aurora as it suited our Indie style artist.

The audience interviews also gave us ideas on locations, costumes and the type of music the people we interviewed listen to.  This gave us an indication of what we might include in our video and gave us insight into new ideas. This was useful in both finding our new ideas and reinforcing our own ideas.

Research into music videos with a political message

Radiohead- All I need

This music video is using a political message to show the indifferences in the world due to wealth and poverty and how wealth is not evenly distributed over the world. It is showing the parallel lives of two children from two very different backgrounds and how one child lives in a comfortable middle-class western environment, whereas the other child works in a shoe factory in a third world country. The connection between the two children in the video is that the child living in poverty is making the shoes for the westernised child. This is showing the differences between the two life styles and how children from third world countries deserve a better life. This is showing a politcal message as it is showing that something needs to be changed as all children should have the right for education and not have to work at such a young age. It also shows inequailty between two different sides of the world and how politicians need to do something about poverty in third world countries.


Anti-Flag- "1 Trillion Dollar$"




This music video is explaining the amount of money the US spent on the war in Iraq, and this video is all about what the money for war could have been spent on for example with one trillion dollars you could travel the world and get free college education as stated in the video. This is stating that it was wrong for the government to be spending that much money on a war and that the money should be spent on other things to help the people of America. This has a politcal message as it is emphasising the fact that the government have spent their money on the wrong things and also portraying that war is not the best option.

Initial Ideas

We have decided to use the song Burn by Ellie Goulding. This is because we wanted to use a female lead singer as we have got some creative ideas for a female artist. The song Burn can have many interpretations whch makes the song very open for creative ideas. The artist Ellie Goulding is Indie Pop which is what we want to match. However, we have decided to have depth and meaning in our music video by having a political view behind our meaning. As a group we believed we had a right to vote in the EU referendum even though we was under 18 as it was something that will effect our future. This is why we will be using the song to also portray how we feel about politics but to also use a generic Indie Pop artist to show this.

Our main artist we are using is Italian and we thought we could use her to reflect how leaving the EU could effect her life in the near future. For our locations we are thinking of renting out a big storage room for one of our locations as many pop music videos use this to focus on the artist. We was also thinking of going into london to places such as the houses of parliment to emphaise the political side of our music video.

 

Artist Research and the portrayal of the artist: Chris Brown- With You

Another artist I have researched is Chris Brown and in particular his song 'With You'. This music video differs to Taylor Swift 'you belong to me' as it is not an idealised version of the American dream as it is on the normal streets of America with typical buildings. In the video the artist (Chris Brown) is wearing a grey hoodie and lain jeans which is seen to be normal clothing and this is what he wears in his everyday life. This shows that he is trying to be himself whereas Taylor Swift was creating a new image for herself. 

Considering the actions taken by the artist in the video, these are not things you would do in real life as he is walking down the street at night dancing and singing with someone playing the guitar next to him. However, this emphasies his talents suchas dancing and makes him a more likeable artist. The reason he portrays himself in a way of a typical American person and a good dancer is so that he can be a good role model to others. This is so someone they look up to isn't too flashy in what he wears or where he comes from due to his actions and the setting.

In the video Chris Brown is portrayed to be a person who cares deeply for someone he loves as in the video he is hugging and caring for the girl at the end. However, his public personna differs as he is known for being violent in relationships with women for example the Assault of Rihanna during an arguemt in 2009. This implies that Chris Brown's music videos portray him in a different way to how he actualy can be. 

Like the Taylor Swift video the Chris Brown video has stereotypical represenations as Chris Brown finally gets the girl at the end of the video. This is similar to the Taylor Swift video as she also wins the boy at the end. The setting of the video is used to imply that Chris Brown is an ordinary person like anyone else as he uses ublic transport and is an urban setting. The editing is used to emphasise the dancing abilities of Chris Brown as there are fast cuts. There is also a slow motion effect used when the two girls drive past to show that they are looking at Chris Brown and are intrigued by him.

Artist Research and the portrayal of the artist: Taylor Swift- You Belong To Me

One music video that I have researched is 'You belong with me' by Taylor Swift. This music video is useful to research as it relates to the music video we want to create with a lead female artist. The music video doesn't take place in real life as it is an idealised version of the 'American dream',  for  example seeing the good looking person in the opposite window is seen as a perfect love story/dream. This implies that the video has a Cinderella type theme and is quintessential.

In the video Taylor Swift is portrayed as a very innocent young girl who has a nice nature and wins to boy. However, her public persona is that she dates lots of men and writes songs about them. Also, in the video Taylor Swift dresses quite geeky in the video as she is wearing large 'nerdy' glasses. This is not necessarily what everyone wears, nevertheless she is wearing comfortable pajams which shows Taylor Swift is being portrayed as a trypical teemage girl. In the Video both Taylor Swift and the male charatcer hold up notes saying "I love you", these thing would not necessarily be done in real life which again emphasises the idea of the idealised version of the 'American Dream'.

The reason Taylor Swift portrays herself as an innocent and kind hearted young female is that it shows her to be a good role model for young girls as she is not exsposing her body in the video which means parents are more likely to buy her album for their young daughters rather than a Miley Cyrus Album as she exposes her body. In the music video nearly all characters are stereotypical as the attractive cheerleader (played as Taylor Swift) is portrayed as a spiteful person and the innocent geeky girl ends up getting the boy in the end. Also, the male charcter is stereotypical as he plays football and falls for the geeky girl at the end of the music video.

When considering the editing there is a lot of slow motions effects to emphasie the representations of certain characters. For example there is a slo mo of the Dark haired cheerleader when the boy goes to hug her in the car as she flicks her hair looking at the geeky girl. This represents the cheerleader as stuck up and emphasises her stereotypical charcter even further. Another aspect which again emphasies the idea of the 'American Dream' is the setting as it is a typical American setting with the prom and the nice cars.

Artist Research and how they are promoted: Florence and the machine

Florence and the machine is from the pop genre and the band promotes themselves on multiple platforms such as their website http://florenceandthemachine.net/#videos. The website consists of her latest music videos and also consists of her latest album 'Standard'. The website is very arty due to the  bands indie genre. The website is very creative and arty due to the target audience being very hipster.

This image is her album cover from the album "Lungs". The lungs being on the outside of her body supports Andrew Goodwins theory as the visuals match the title. The artist is looking away from the camera and there is birds in the background looking at her. This shows she is the most important figure in the image and that the cover was made to revolve around her. The black border with the white font makes the cover very eye catching which is something we want to make our as well so that it stands out to our audience.  

Music Video preparation/research (Indie/Pop)

We have been looking into the pop genre and in particular Ellie Goulding as her music videos are less  quirky and of a smaller budget than other pop genre videos. Her music consists of narrative and performance which is what we are looking to do. She is a female solo artist and her music videos mainly consist of herself.

Although she is part of the pop genre she is also very indie. In her videos there is a lot of nature such as fields and the sea. These are common conventions in the indie culture. Ellie Goulding's videos are very feministic as shown through the pink filters and a glow which makes it seem more nostalgic.
 

Prelim Task- Justin Timberlake

Our Preliminary Task had many positives but also there was aspect we could improve. We used many different locations and costumes, however, sometimes our lip syncing was not in time with the music as at times our preformer did not know the lyrics. This is going to help us when we make our real project as it allows us to know what we need to improve on (such as lip syncing).

Lip sync Practice - Britney Spears

Here we have practiced our editing skills by creating a short music video. We was successful at getting our singers to match the lyrics in the music. We was also succesful at filming a variety of shots in different locations with many costume changes. We also followed Andrew Goodwins Theory as the lyrics matched the visuals on screen.

Research into different types of music videos

Performance

• Focuses on performers, performing the song.
• Concentrates on the music 
• Highlighting artists' talents and passion 
• Creates image for the band/artist 

Example(s):

Narrative

• Tell a story 
• Connected to the lyrics
• No dialogue
• Features artist
• resolution of a story 
• Unrealistic/overexaggerated 

Example(s):

Conceptual

A Conceptual music video is a abstract video which is based around a single "concept" more than a story. It usually creates a surreal image, using everyday objects. Additionally, it is likely to be more creative and does not need to necessarily make sense.

Example:

ANDREW GOODWIN "Dancing in the distraction factory" 1990

Music videos differ from films because films are creating a narrative and music videos is solely to sell records and tickets for the bands.

1) All music videos have certain genre characteristics, depending on the genre of music.

The expectation of this is that we would see the rock band performing in the video as if it is a gig which suits the genre. This shows that the band reinforces the certain characteristics of the 'rock' genre.

2) More often than not there is a relationship between the visuals and the lyrics.

the lyrics here are "stuck in her daydream" and she is daydreaming in the video, so it matches the lyrics. This implies there is a relationship between the visuals and the lyrics which gives the lyrics more meaning if it is also visualised in the video.

3) There is a relationship between the visuals and the music. 

As the beat drops the title in the video (The Artists name; Labrinth) smashes into pieces which suggests the visuals and the music interlinks. This creates a positive efrect as it makes the the video more intriguing and shows the editing of the video has a sense of feel and connection to the music.

4) The demand of the record label will be evident in the video.

In Beyonce videos the record label sexualise her as shown in this video  by wearing very little clothing and shows the demand from the record label is evident. Beyonce has got her bum out in most of her vidoes which sexualises her and symbolises her to be an object. However the record label would want this as it would sell my records and make more money due to sexualising Beyonce. 

5) Artist Iconography.

Michael Jackson is wearing his typical white glove back hat and high waisted trousers. This uses iconography as we can tell the artist from his clothing even when his face is covered. Iconography allows the audience tov recognise the artist easier and gives the artist a certain/specific identitiy.

6) The notion of looking.

This artist is looking into the mirror and the camera is focussing on the mirror and the artist. This emphasises the point that the artist is meant to be looked at as she is an important person in the video. 

7) Intertextual.

In this video Eminem is creating a superhero similar to batman and Robin but is promoting rap as he is named "rap boy" This uses intertextuality to reflect the comic book as in the video he is supposed to save the child from listening to rap.