Looking at Other MV Codes and Conventions

For our final song we have decided to use a pop song (as labelled by iTunes) her music is soft to listen to and very feminine. Sarah’s voice is similar in some songs to the likes of Duffy but with a softer edge such as Feist. As a pop song we will take into account the different pop codes that come with making a music video for that genre of music. To do so we will look a range of different female sung pop music videos and analyse the motifs and repetitive styles used.

Dum Dum Girls – Bedroom Eyes

In this video there is a distinctive idea of looking established from the beginning. Predominantly the lead singer is looking at the camera establishing a connection with the audience. Furthermore, the idea of sexually looking at the band member’s is created through the use of body suits, semi-opaque tights and heels. It can also be said that the heavy makeup and pin-up appearance of the lead creates an overtly sexualised image. The band is the whole focus in the music video, and it is 100% performance. This is because as a girl group they play the instruments opposed to men, who would then stay out of the limelight and have focus on the female singer. In this case I believe the girls play to that and constantly show how good a female drummer, bass and guitar players are.

From this video I have learnt that sexualisation in pop videos are just about constant and that depending on the formation of the group a music video can be played out very differently.

Ellie Goulding – Your Song

In this music video Ellie wears little make up and looks very natural. It is set in autumn and as such she is wrapped up in coats, hats and scarfs in nearly each shot. This is a significant different to that of the Dum Dum Girls who do completely the opposite in costume. The feel of the video is windy, natural and very British! She plays to the British factor for the American viewer but also to the British viewers, who like me, like the see a less post production alteration and a more natural, believable vibe. This music video is a great starting point for our ideas as it coincided with the vibe of how we want our music video to be. From this music video I have learnt that vouyreistic tones are evident everywhere, in this video cameras are seen within the shots (a camera within a camera) and she still plays with her hair and looks wistfully into the camera. Moreover, I have learnt that music videos play to what is prevalent in popular culture such as vintage clothing and sepia camera shots.

Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed (US Version)

Ellie Gouldings song Starry Eyed was initially directed by the UK but as she grew in popularity the US got their claws into the song and remade the video. I am using the music to show how different countries have different codes. Compared the Your Song, this music video is (in my opinion) a shameless attempt to create a British feel. Product placement is incredibly obvious with the Mini Cooper car (Known for being British); post production is again very obvious with Ellie Gouldings skin illuminated beyond belief. She is wearing strong sea blue contacts to enhance her eye colour and in close ups her ears are adjourned in diamonds. In my opinion I find this video terrible and an example of how different cultures perceive ‘good’ music videos. British find more subtlety’s appropriate in some cases, whereas the US use constant perfection the grade boundary. For our music video I will try and stay clear of this type of music video.

 

What I've Been Listening to... 3/11/11

Baths- Lovely Bloodflow

Peter Bjorn and John- Second Chance

Band of Horses- Detlef Schrempf

Jack Steadman- Cheating
(without the stupid user video)

 

Starting to Plan

As soon as we decided on the song that we would use we started to plan for the music video. We wanted to keep onto of the work load as it can pile up quickly and become very much disorganised. We initially started to brainstorm ideas of words and images that come into our heads when we listen to the music without any visuals. By doing this we do not have any visuals to associate and hinder our creative streams. We all put our words together and this is what we came up with;

·         Autumn

·         Wool

·         British-ness

·         Instruments

·         Walking towards the camera

·         Moon and stars

·         Candles

·         Brighton pier

·         Arcades

·         Southbank

·         Birds

·         Saatchi Gallery on Kings Road

·         Natural Earthy look to the singer

·         Warm tones

·         Frost/ Ice 

Looking at all the words that we formulated together we were able to gather more of an idea of what it will look like. We all especially liked the idea of the Moon and as result we looked up dates for a full moon in which we can incorporate into our music video once storyboarded and finalised. Firstly we typed into Google ‘full moon dates 2011’ however we were unsure if what we were told was accurate for London so we narrowed down our search to ‘full moon dates 2011 England’. Luckily, what we were told applied to the Northern hemisphere which meant that it applied to England. The nearest date for a full moon is the 10^th of November at 8.14pm. Now all we have to do is hope for a clear night sky.

The Final Song

After much discussion my group have finally come to a decision on what song we should use for our final piece. We have decided to use a different song to the ones listed because one of our members was absent when we shortlisted songs and was unable to contribute. When she was in for a group meeting she recommended a song called ‘We Won’t Run’ by Sarah Blasko. We all loved the song but couldn’t decide between that or Laura Marling’s ‘Night Terror’. As a result we decided on conducting a survey to see what the public through was a better song. He is our findings. Sarah Blasko’s song had a landslide victory with 6 votes to Laura Marling’s 2. Our volunteer’s commented that Laura Marling’s song was “too slow and didn’t have much to work with however; it was beautifully sung and had a lot of meaning in the lyrics”. Others commented that Sarah Blasko’s song was “upbeat and could be interpreted in many ways”. 

 

 

 

Group Music Video Song Ideas

We have started in our groups to look into possible songs for our music video. During today’s lesson we used YouTube to show the other member’s the songs that we could use. During the lesson we looked at about 10 different songs, but we were able to cut them down to a final 6.This is the list of our final 6 songs that we will now decide upon.

No Doubt- Just A Girl

Lucy Rose- Scar

Best Coast- Boyfriend

Modest Mouse – Float On

One Republic – Say (All I need)

Laura Marling – Night Terror 

CGI Animation in MV

CGI Animation has dominated music videos as technology has progressed. The term computer animation refers to dynamic CGI rendered as a movie. The term virtual world refers to agent-based, interactive environments. Due to technological convergences over the years, it is now possible for consumers to create professional work from their homes. An example of this is the Wacom Tablet Pen; I received one for a Christmas present last year. This piece of equipment is used in films from the likes of Pixar and can produce work that can be so clean cut it looks real.

In Music Videos CGI animation or alteration has become something of the norm; creating the artist into an untouchable, flawless creature. This is mainly done through the use of colour enhancements, skin perfecting, body enhancements and CGI based locations. In today’s music charts this is a vital component to creating a finished video. Society has become so dependent on the idea of aspirating for perfection, whether it’s realistic or not that the look of a video is flawed in the sense that they have become prioritising the aspiration of an unattainable image. Moreover, this creates a detrimental domino effect on the audience, often leading into low self-esteem and unsuitable idols for young girls and boys. A good example of this is the Katy Perry MV for the song ‘California Girlz’ in which her skin is flawless, such has a ‘perfect’ figure and the lighting creates an idyllic world – promoting her over sexualised image to young children.

Nonetheless, CGI in music videos does not always have a sinister effect. Gorrillaz, a British band formed in 1998 by the amazing Artist Jamie Hewlett who created the Tank Girl series of comic books and the voice of 2-D Damon Albarn. Gorrillaz have based their whole image concept on the use of CGI integration into music videos. The band members of Gorrillaz are all drawing in super flat imagery such as the art movement by Japanese Artist Takashi Murakami.  As such a fitting name was given to the frontman of Gorrillaz, ‘2D’. The lead guitarist is drawn as a small Japanese girl named ‘Noodle’, the bass is a menacing ‘sex-pest’ under the name of Murdock and the drummer is a large black man called Russell. Each of these characters has interesting personalities which is further illuminated in their extraordinary website.

As technology has improved over the years, their music videos have become significantly better and find new ways of wowing the viewers. In 2001, they released the MV for the song ’19-2000’, the video was completely CGI Animated creating a whole new world for the audience to be sucked into. In 2005, ‘Dare’ was released with a significant improvement on the integration of CGI into the real world. ‘Dare’ used technology to allow the 2D character of Noodle to interact flawlessly with the image of a real person. This effect for me meant that I felt that the characters had more of a real life (even though I know they are fake) .I felt as if the way they were presented (CGI) were the actual band. 2010 saw the release of the album Plastic Beach and the release of the MV for the song ‘Stylo’. Again in the few years, Gorrillaz had again taken a massive step forward in the presentation of the band and the use of CGI. In this video, the band members are presented in 3 dimensional animations but still retain their characteristics such as 2D’s endless black abyss like eyes.  The line between the real and animated has become that much more faded in this MV. An example of this is the road on which the car drives on, it is very hard to detect the transition between real and fake, and when seen is only briefly. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IUjtHf76wM&ob=av3e
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAOR6ib95kQ&ob=av3e
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhPaWIeULKk&ob=av3e