Filming Progress #1

As a group we are now at the point where we are starting to think about shooting footage for our music video. However, we are having some issues. This is because we were a group of three, but now one of our group members have dropped the subject, and so we are now a group of two. This means we are now unsure whether to continue as the two of us, or to find more group members, as we might find issues working with such a small group. In addition, we are not one hundred percent sure that we want to continue with our song, and narrative choice. The next step for us is to have a discussion, so we can make a definite plan ready for filming, and be sure with a plan.

Conventions of a Digipak

A digipak is a style of disk packaging for CDs. Usually made of card, digipaks contain several panes, which fold out much like a book. Inside a digipak are plastic wallets, which hold the CDs. They tend to be used for special editions or albums, not usually for a standard single track.

The front and back of the digipak are the primary promoters of the CD and artist, to sell the product. Therefore these panels of the digipak conventionally have eye catching images, titles, and colours. The image on the front of the digipak will typically have some relation to the artist or song.

The back of a digipak conventionally has a barcode, the track list, album artwork, the record label, and additional information.

The inside of the digipak contains the information about the about the song/album, and the artist. This information will typically be lyrics, song information, and personal messages.  Frequently behind the disc stored in the digipak is an image of some kind, much like the image on the front of the digipak.

Music artists usually have a set advertising theme, or 'brand identity'. What this means is that similar images, colours, and styles will be used throughout all kinds of advertisements. This consistency is adopted by almost all music companies, and is true for digipaks. Having a brand identity means that an audience is more likely to remember and recognise the artist, as they only need to have seen one of the many advertisement methods music artists use.

Intertextuality in Music Videos

Intertextuality is the relationship between texts, especially literary ones. What this means for music videos is when a reference has been made to another form of media. For example it could be a music video similar costume to a film, or a lyric which relates to a newspapers story.

Intertextual references are used in music videos because of the target audience. If references are used they are almost always relevant to the people the video is intended for. Using intertextuality makes the audience feel clever when they recognise it, and leads to them enjoying the video more. It is a clever technique used in music videos because it can lead to the attraction of new fans. This is because fans of the intertextual reference may want to watch the music video to see it, and this leads to them viewing the music video.

Examples of intertextuality in music videos:



Robbie Williams' 'You Know Me' contains a number of intertextual references to 'Alice in Wonderland' the film, with a similar setting, and Robbie William's dressed as the rabbit from the film. In addition at the end of the video there is a shot similar to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's typical film clip, but with the lion replaced with a rabbit.




Taylor Swift's 'Love story' contains lyrics based around Romeo and Juliette, complementing this is the scenes, which are a more modern adaptation of the play.




Another example would be Madonna's 'Material Girl, which is a reference to Marilyn Monroe's 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend', a song from the film 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'. It is a replication by the choreography, and the costumes. This was done as Madonna is a big fan of Marilyn Monroe, and so this was her way of paying homage.

Music Video Distribution

There are many ways for audiences to access music videos, each of these ways have there own individual benefits and disadvantages. This is down to the distribution techniques of music labels.

Before, music videos were mostly watched on music television channels/programmes such as MTV or Top of the Pops. However, thanks to the internet there are now many more, somewhat, better ways for an audience to view videos. With music television the audience could not choose the video to watch, instead they would have to view whatever was on at the time. This meant only very famous music artists would be known for their music videos. One possible benefit for music television is the fact that the audience could not choose the videos being played, which could potentially lead to fans the music artist would not receive otherwise. Usually an audience will have a particular song in mind when looking for it on the internet, but with music channels they may be exposed to new songs.

Social Networking sites can lead to music videos becoming 'viral'. This is where information about a certain music video will be spread quickly to huge numbers of internet users. One of the main ways of music videos becoming famous is down to 'word of mouth', and with social networking this has become a much better way of gaining a fan base. A feature that helps music videos become famous through the use of social media, is the fact that videos can be embedded into posts. This allows viewers to immediately watch a posted music video, rather than clicking on a link, which means users are more likely to do it, because of ease.

YouTube is another very popular distribution method. Almost all music artists will upload their video to YouTube, because it is such a key website for gaining views. If someone wishes to watch a music video YouTube is the easiest way to do so, because it is free, and will almost certainly contain the video. The gain in popularity of YouTube has meant that many small-time musicians can become famous, because YouTube can be used by anyone. An example of a singer who became famous from YouTube is Justin Bieber. Bieber had no fame when he released a cover of Chris Brown's 'With You', and was discovered by a talent manager. Since then he has become one of the most recognisable names in the music industry.

Song Lyrics Ideas

Below are some annotations I made to the lyrics of Chris Cornell's 'You Know My Name', the song my music group and I decided to use. These are just some ideas of possible scenes, and imagery.

Chris Cornell 'You Know My Name' Music Video Analysis

Chris Cornell's 'You Know My Name' is a narrative based music video. This is connoted by the clips in the music video, and the fact that the lyrics complement the imagery.'You Know My Name' makes the comparison throughout it between the lives of a professional spy (James Bond), and a rock star (Chris Cornell). This is because the song was created by Chris Cornell for the James Bond film 'Casino Royale', which is why there are a montage of clips from the film 'Casino Royale'. Therefore the whole music video could be seen as an intertextual reference to Casino Royale, and James Bond in general. Even the lyrics are an intertextual reference, with examples such as "arm yourself because no-one else here will save you", a reference to James Bond's missions as a spy, and "Life is gone with just a spin of the wheel", a reference to the people Bond kills and also the betting he does in the casino.

                           This fade effect above clearly shows how Cornell and Bond are being compared

The constant comparison of James Bond, and Chris Cornell helps to give Cornell connotations that he is like Bond. This is a very positive connotation for Chris Cornell, as it suits his genre of music, and Bond is an iconic suave character. The genre of music is rock, which suits James Bond's dangerous lifestyle. Chris Cornell is being compared to James Bond, to signify he himself is skilled, and lives a dangerous, yet exciting life. The eponymous character James Bond, is known to everyone who has seen the film as a hero, which is why Cornell's comparison can only signify him in a positive way. Chris Cornell wears similar clothing to James Bond, which further adds to this similarity signified.

The genre of the music video is rock. This is signified by the fact that Chris Cornell is performing to the audience/camera at various points during the music video. Artists performing during their videos is a conventional connotation of the rock genre. Cornell is playing a guitar and singing into a microphone, if this were a pop song he would most likely be without the guitar and microphone.

The colours in the music video is also a connotation that the song is of the genre rock. These colours throughout the video are of dull, natural lighting, and at points black and white such as at 0:23 where a filter has been used. In addition the outfits worn in the video are mostly of blacks and whites, such as the casual clothing of Chris Cornell, or the tuxedo of James Bond.

A variety of locations are shown in the music video, because in Casino Royale James Bond goes to a number of places. In the Chris Cornell scenes he is also shown in quite a range of shots, often in similar places to James Bond to make the comparison between the two. For example at 0:56 Chris Cornell is on a plane looking down, then a bird's eye view shot is shown of a chase scene on building rooftops with James Bond. The change in shot here was used here to signify that Chris Cornell is on a plane and viewing the chase scene. Therefore the bird's eye view shot could be perceived as a point of view shot.

At 1:47 fast paced editing is used of alternating shots between Chris Cornell and James Bond washing their faces in a sink. This connotes to the audience the similarities between Cornell in Bond, even though they have very different jobs. The mirror in these shots is indication that the 'characters' are questioning themselves.

'You Know My Name's' pacing is fast paced, which is complemented by the fast beat and singing. In addition many of the scenes are very action packed, with chases and fight scenes.

The target audience of Chris Cornell music video is most likely males from teenagers to adults. This is firstly because rock music's fans are usually young males. Secondly, because James Bond is aimed at a male audience from teenagers to adults, being a 12a so that younger males can watch it, but also being targeted at an older audience of males who have enjoyed the other James Bond films. which are very old now.

Copyright Permission Letter

Dear Copyright Holder,

We are writing to you in hopes of gaining permission to use one of your tracks by Chris Cornell. The name of the track we are requesting is ‘You Know My Name’.

Currently we are A-level Media Studies students. Our project in media is to create a music video for a track of our choice, and to produce an album, and a magazine advert for the artist. With your permission we will be using the track for our project.

If you were to give us permission, the track will be used strictly in an educational context allowing us to develop our creativity, but also hopefully to introduce a new audience to the artist.

The company and artist will be fully credited throughout preproduction and in the video itself. If required a copyright notice from you can be included in the records of the project. If this is required, please send full details.

We look forward to your reply.

Kind regards

Jordan Jackson

Kate Foster

Categories of Music Videos

Music videos usually fall into one of three main categories which are: performance based videos, narrative based videos, and concept based.

Performance based videos contain the band or artist performing the song to the camera or audience. Rock music videos almost always have the band playing at some point to the camera, this is because the band is the focus as opposed to a pop song where the focus is usually the solo singer. Within the genre of rock heavy emphasis is usually placed upon the drums and the guitar, therefore being played during the video appeals to the fan base. The Killer's 'Mr Brightside' is an example of a performance based music video.

A narrative based video is one in which a story-line is presented for the audience to follow. The narrative will usually complement the lyrics. Often this type of music video is used for songs created for films, with compilation of footage from the picture. An example of a narrative based video is Chris Cornell's 'You Know my Name'.



Concept based music videos contain no story or performance, but based upon one idea, which is simple and normally unusual. This type of video is artistic, because of it's focus on the visuals and effects, rather than the narrative or performance. An example would be 'Her Morning Elegance'. This is an example as there is not clear narrative, but instead various symbolism. The basis of the video is that this woman is shown doing various activities just with the use of typical bedroom items, mainly clothing and pillows. This is not a clear video, but something quite abstract and different to conventional music videos.

These types of music videos are becoming more and more popular. The reason for this is because Performance based/ and Narrative videos have been done plenty of times before. The only way to be truly original now is through an abstract idea, hence a concept video. Concept videos are more entertaining to an audience as they are something different to most main-stream music videos.

Conventions of Music Videos

Camera

Close ups are used frequently in music videos. This is because the audience often watch music videos to see the singer, being a fan of them. Showing the artists face leads to the singer being more memorable, thus creating more popularity. When a music video is created the music is being sold just as much as the singer, as this ensures that a brand is being created. In addition close ups are also used to display the emotions the singer is creating as they are lip syncing the lyrics. It clearly signifies to the audience that this person is singing the song. 

Camera movement is another camera technique used in many music videos. The convention is used to trace the music artist or band. This is because the music video is about the artist, and so as the audience are listening to their song, they are watching the relevant scenes. An example of a music video to use a tracking shot all the way through is Foo Fighters' 'My Hero'.

Editing

Jump cuts are a popular editing convention in music videos. The reason for this is because music videos have to be quite short in their duration, so the flow of the narrative has to be fast. This leads to time being shown passing quickly. Similarly to jump cuts are montages another editing technique used in music videos, for the same reason.

Another commonly featured editing technique is the fade transition. Because many cuts are used in music videos something different such as a fade can put emphasis on certain cuts differentiating them.

A cutting technique sometimes used in music videos, is cutting to the beat. This is where the shot will change in response to the beat or tempo. An example of this is The Offspring's 'Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)''



Costumes

There are such a wide variety of music videos that there are no main conventional style for clothing. However the different music video genres usually have a conventional style to them. For example in a pop video the outfits worn are usually brightly coloured, and fashionable. When in rock videos the clothing is usually the opposite being dark, and 'rebellious'.

Locations

Much like costumes the conventions of locations mostly relies upon the genre of the music. However many music videos are filmed inside a studio, this is especially true for pop videos. In music videos the location almost always reflects the genre, for example in a pop video the surroundings will be bright and colourful.