Song Permission

Before we Planned to shoot it was necessary for us to obtain permissions to use the song by the representatives of the band. We emailed 'Bridge Nine Records' is regards to using their song with the following "
Hello,
We are doing an A2 Media Project for a music video, and we have decided to use the song 'I Don't Mind' by Defeater. We are inquiring as to whether we have permission to use the song. No profit will be made from the video, it is for academic purposes only. If we receive no reply, due to the educational usage of the music, we will assume you give your permission.
Thanks.
Dom Waldron (Ken Stimpson Community School)

We then received back an email confirming that we have permission to use the song, with the condition that credit must be given to them.

Colour Correction Research

Over the last few day i have been looking into how to colour correct video in Premiere Pro, as well as how the tools to do this work. I have learnt to navigate the effects used for colour correction and have learn the very basics of doing this. I will continue to learn how to improve my skills in the following weeks untill we are finished editing.

I have also looked into depth of field editing, motion blur and slow motion effects. All of the editing ideas that have been put forward are achievable but i am lacking in the skills to do most of them and so i will have to spend a lot more time researching and learning the skills than i would have wanted to for the project.

To the left is the editing panel for some of the colour correction needed to edit the video to the warmth that we need for some of our scenes.

Storyboard

Presentation

After creating a presentation to show to our class and teacher we published the power point to SlideShare. The slideshow was to show our final idea and how the video should hopefully look. The presentation to our class was very straight forward, my team members explained the background of the band and the usual conventions for the music genre. They also mentioned how the song itself challenges their music conventions.

After my team members had finished i ran though the working draft story for the video and how it kept to the lyrics as much as possible with a acoustic section where the lead actor would strum along to the music.

Above are a few choice pictures of us presenting our Final idea and listening to some of the feedback we got.

Video Idea's draft/brainstorm

We think that the best way to make this music video is to follow the narrative. The song has a strong narrative which would seem pointless to ignore. The basic idea will be to have a guy and a girl following the lines of the song (which can be found in the last post) and going to different locations to do this, E.g A beach or the seaside.

We want the video to match the pace of the music, so it will be fairly slow and also peaceful to fit in with the feel of the song. Another possible idea that we have at this time is to keep the people in the video anonymous and to not show their faces throughout the video, to create an element of mystery. This will also inspire us to have to use a lot more creative camera angels, and possibly have to film at lot of it using low angels showing the bottom half of the bodies only.

We feel that in this type of video its not particularly important to "have a lot going on" but more about how the video is made. Slow motion shots are another thing that we are considering to use, and also changing the contrast to make the whole video brighter, as we will be filming in the winter and we want the video to have a warmer feel.

When we finalise the ideas I will post again to show what we have decided to do and how we intend to make it happen.
Source-Curtis's blog(link to be added)

Music Genre Logo's

There are a few record labels which specialise in metalcore music. They sign bands that play metalcore or hardcore music similar to defeater in order to organize tours, or host festivals with lots of bands who will attract the same crowd. Some of these labels include:


Rise records was founded in 1991 by Craig Ericson in Nevada, California. The record label started off small, having only a few bands, they started off making 7" records, then moved on to CDs. Rise now has 34 bands.


These include: Of mice and men, Miss may I, Sleeping with sirens, Crown the empire, In fear and faith, Sharks, Bleeding through and The plot in you.





Fearless Records is an alternative rock-oriented record label that has been signing artists since 1994. Fearless is based in Westminster, California and are best known for their early pop-punk. However the label has experimented with different acts in recent


years, these include:


A skylit drive, Motionless in white, Blessthefall, For all those sleeping, The word alive, Upon this dawning, Pierce the veil and Alesana.





Sumerian records is an american independent record label based in Washington DC. Like fearless and rise, they specialize in metalcore bands, and Sumerian have mostly american bands signed to their label, and only a few British bands. Sumerian's bands include:


Asking Alexandria, Born of osiris, I see stars, Upon a burning body, Stray from the path and After the burial.

Watsky- Live From Public Storage! Analysis

The below video is a mix of genres and so the codes, conventions and music is a combination of the types of music.

The video is a rap music video and so is done quite simply and on a low budget. The setting is the storage area that the artist keeps his belongings, this keeps with conventions because the majority of rap video's are about real life and are set in an urban or local environment to the artist.
The lyrics are about his real life and have a story, although the video alone doesn't show a narrative it helps to the lyrics.
When it comes to the artist George Watsky wears lose, baggy comfortable clothing and clearly isn't a tread/style setting musician instead choosing to focus on the musical side which is most important to him. Watsky behaves like a lot of  rap artists, he keeps with the flow of the music and and doesn't add huge narrative stories to his rap music, although he has dipped into other genres and done narratives.

Presentation

 As a group we presented out initial ideas to our class. This was to get feedback on our ideas and to see the response to our ideas and music choice. We presented four idea's for music video's for;
Huey Mack - Looking
at the Sky, “I Don’t
Mind” by Defeater,
Pick Up The Phone” by Falling in Reverse and Don’t Ask" by an indie band called Blood Red Shoes.
We asked a friend to take pictures during our presentation for evidence.

Additional Group Ideas

Although we all shared ideas on songs which we would bring to our group i know very little about the songs apart from what i have been told and what i have learnt from the Music videos themselves as well as a small amount of research.

The first option made by my group members for our song choice was a song called “I Don’t Mind” by the hardcore band Defeater. The lyrics in the song are descriptive which means we could act out the lyrics to the song as if it is a story. It also has a decent plotline for a narrative music video. Using various different cuts and pans in the music video, we can easily create the correct atmosphere for the purpose of the music video. The only downside is we would have to travel to several different locations to shoot each scene/shot, which will be very time consuming and we would have to organise transport and get the shots right the first time, which would but a lot of added pressure to the whole process. If we made a mistake or missed a shot it could potential ruin the shoot so we would have to return to the location again, causing more unneeded hassle. Click here for link...

The second group choice is “Pick Up The Phone” by metalcore band Falling in Reverse. Similar to the lyrics of the first option "I Don’t Mind",  the previous song, the lyrics in this song resemble that of a story. There is also plenty of humorous content that can be added to the song and make it funnier. The setting for the storyline would be simple to produce and we wouldn’t have to go too far out of our way to find some great locations to shoot at. (A house would do fine.) Although, this would possibly appear too simple, as we want to present some creativity within the production of the video. Click here for link...

The last group song choice is "Don’t Ask" by an indie band called Blood Red Shoes. This music video would be a fair amount harder to produce if we were to attempt a narrative music video. The lyrics are rather repetitive, although we would not have to include the stereotypical pop conventions which could lead to a very creative and unique video. Click here for link...

Huey Mack - Looking at the Sky

Huey Mack and other Hip Hop artist
within his genre of music.

Over the summer we decided to each meet up and choose a choice of song to bring to the group and then we would choose a single song to base our project on. My song choice is Looking at the Sky by hip-hop artist Huey Mack. This would be a good video to use because of the there is a narrative story. But the song itself also has a music video, so if this were to be our choice, we would have to be careful we’re not completely copying the original video for it. This means that creating a video for this song would be pretty much obsolete as their is already a video which has been done to a professional standard. Also, with this song being a rap song, the main focus is clearly the lyrics. This means that the major convention is to have the majority of the song done through
people singing/rapping, and our ideas would most likely have to keep to this convention and limit our creativity during the music video, as well as having to find the resources and human resources to do so.

Although i would like to have this song chosen for our project, i don't believe that this would be a smart choice. With all of the issues and possible limitations as well as having to ask for permission, which could be hard. I believe that the negatives far out way the positives. 

How Stars are Represented and their Image

The Stars of music videos for example the artist or band that creates, sings or plays the music will often be the focus of videos. A large amount of music videos take clips from live performances and recreations, this shows off the star and helps to give them a larger image in the media. The same effect can be done in music videos by making the star the main feature of the video or the main character in a narrative, an example of this is Labrinth's - Earthquake ft. Tinie Tempah where the artist is the only feature apart from graphics for a large amount of the video.

The Image of stars and celebrities is very important and if a celebrity and if a an artist has a small image within the media and the general public then a good music video with bold image branding can really help.

Music directors and styles

Definition of a Music Director
Source- Wikipedia

A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the coordinator of the musical ensembles in a university, college, or institution (but not usually the head of the academic music department), the head bandmaster of a military band, the head organist and choirmaster of a church, or an Organist and Master of the Choristers (a title given to a Director of Music at a Cathedral, particularly in England).

Styles

While some directors specifically music video directors stick to certain styles or to genres there are directors such as Shane Drake who don't stick to either.

The visual style of Shane Drake is affected a large amount by the artist of which he is shooting for, he genuinely seems to love to come up with a concept for the video, however if it doesn’t suit the artist and reveal a certain truth, he says “it will fall flat”. He will look at what the band or artist means and how they wish to be perceived in the video and in general and goes with that. Shane states that favourite video is Pearl Jam’s, Jeremy. “It was such an honest introspection into the heart and soul of the song, and captured the emotional qualities of the lyrics so magnificently in a way that very few videos are able to do.” this served as his inspiration. 

On the flip side of the coin is Chris Cunningham. He uses a particular style throughout his work. I have found that he has a fascination with abnormalities including human distortion and alienation as this can be seen in videos like Rubber Johnny in particular. He also appears to have a large amount of knowledge about technology and this can be seen in his creation of Bjork as a robot in the music video- All is full of love. Recurring themes which I notice in Chris's style was the use of light and dark, as a lot of his videos seem to put across a feeling of entrapment or depression but then he also goes to the other end of the spectrum in the sense, with his use of artificial lighting, which is exaggerated in particular in Bjork’s All is full of love.

Music labels and Brand research -Independent Labels

The boundaries between major and independent labels, and the definitions of each, differ from commentator to commentator. In practice, however, the traditional definition of a 'major' record label is one that owns its own distribution channel. Some independent record labels, in particular those with successful performing artists, sign dual-release agreements (and make other deals) with major labels and may rely to some extent on international licensing deals, distribution agreements, and other arrangements with major record labels. Major labels may also wholly or partially acquire independent labels. Other nominally "independent" labels are started (and sometimes run) by major label artists but are still owned at least in part by the major label parent. These spin-off labels are also frequently referred to as vanity labels or "boutique labels" and are intended to appease established, powerful artists and/or to give them latitude in discovering and promoting new talent. According to Association of Independent Music (AIM) a "major" label is defined in AIM's constitution as a multinational company which (with the other companies in its group) has more than 5% of the world market for the sale of records and music videos.

A few examples of Independent Labels are;
Angular Recording Corporation, Audio Antihero, Audiobulb Records, AudioPorn Records, Mr Bongo Records, My Dad Recordings and My Kung Fu.

Music labels and Brand research -Mayor Labels

The major music labels today are four media conglomerates that operate a few different specific label imprints, the actual company logo stamped on the recording. The four major labels account for 70% of music sales worldwide and 85% of music sales in the U.S.
-Universal Music Group
-Sony BMG Music Entertainment
-EMI Group
-Warner Music Group



Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group (UMG) is the world’s largest music content company with market leading positions in recorded music, music publishing, and merchandising.
The recorded music business discovers and develops recording artists and then markets and promotes their music across a wide array of formats and platforms. UMG's music publishing company, Universal Music Publishing Group, discovers and develops songwriters, and owns and administers copyrights to musical compositions for use in recordings, public performances, and related uses, such as films and advertisements. Bravado, UMG’s merchandising company, sells artist- and music-branded products via multiple sales point such as fashion retail, live performances, and the Internet.

The Universal Music Group is composed of the following record labels; A&M/Octone, Barclay, Decca, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, ECM, Emarcy, Fonovisa, Geffen Records, Interscope, Island Records, Lost Highway, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Motown Records, Polydor Records, Show Dog–Universal Music, Universal Music Latino, Universal Republic, and Verve Music Group. 

Examples of the large number of artists and bands that are represented; Akon, All American Rejects, Erykah Badu, The Band Perry, Beck, Justin Bieber, The Black Eyed Peas, Mary J. Blige, Bon Jovi, Busta Rhymes, Colbie Caillat, Mariah Carey, Keyshia Cole, Sheryl Crow, Billy Currington, Daddy Yankee, Drake, Dr. Dre and Eminem. UMG represents many artists across the globe from the Americas to Europe and Asia.




EMI Music

EMI Music is one of the world’s leading music companies, home to some of the most successful and best known recording artists.

 Record labels on the EMI group include; Angel, Astralwerks, Blue Note, Capitol, Capitol Latin, Capitol Records Nashville, EMI Classics, EMI CMG, EMI Records, EMI Records Nashville, Manhattan, Parlophone, Virgin Classics and Virgin Records.

Popular artists on EMI labels include Lily Allen, Bat For Lashes, The Beatles, Beastie Boys, Luke Bryan, Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Gorillaz, David Guetta, Iron Maiden, Norah Jones, Lady Antebellum, Massive Attack, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry, Pink Floyd, Corinne Bailey Rae, Sir Simon Rattle, Snoop Dogg, Tinie Tempah and Thirty Seconds To Mars.



Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment is a global recorded music company with a roster that includes a broad array of both local artists and international superstars. The company boasts a vast catalog that comprises some of the most important recordings in history. It is home to premier record labels representing music from every genre. Sony Music Entertainment is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America.

Record Labels in the Sony music group are; Arista Nashville, Beach Street Records, Bystorm Entertainment, Columbia Nashville, Columbia Records, Day 1, Epic Records, Essential Records, Flicker Records, Kemosabe Records, Legacy Recordings, MASTERWORKS, Polo Grounds, RCA Records, RCA Nashville, Reunion Records, Roc Nation, Sony Classical, Sony Music Latin, Star Time International, Syco Music, Verity Music Group and Volcano.

Artists included and represented in the Sony music group are; Calle 13, Calvin Harris, Celine Dion, Cee Lo Green, Chipmunk, Chris Brown, Chris Daughtry, Christina Aguilera, Classified, Paul Potts, Pearl Jam, Pink and Pitbull.

Music labels and Brand research -General

The music industry or music business sells compositions, recordings and performances of music. Among the many individuals and organizations that operate within the industry are: the musicians who compose and perform the music; the companies and professionals who create and sell recorded music; those that present live music performances; professionals who assist musicians with their music careers; those who broadcast music journalists; educators; musical instrument manufacturers; as well as many others.


Within the music industry; most recording artists have become increasingly reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and be both promoted and heard on mp3, radio, etc. and of course television also, with publicists that assist performers in positive media reports to market their merchandise, and make it available via stores and other media outlets. The Internet has increasingly been a way that some artists avoid costs and gain new audiences, as well as the use of videos in some cases, to sell their products.


A record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion, and enforcement of copyright protection of sound recordings and music videos; conducts talent scouting and development of new artists and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information.

History of Music Video's

• History of Music Videos!• Music videos have a history dating back to the earliest days of sound films.• Many upcoming music was promoted through Disney films as they were based around those particular songs
• Soundies!• Another form of music videos were one songs films called Soundies, made in the 1940s.• Thousands of Soundies were made mostly contaning jazz musicians.
• First TV short music clip!• The very first shot music clips, made specifically for the USA television, were the snader Telescriptions.• More than 1000 short music films were filmed for the use of television filler between 1950 and 1954.
• Musicals in films!• Music centred films with performance clips.• This became famous/ popular in the 1950s• Which included Elvis Presley movies and rock around the clock etc.
• Videos for music programmes!• Videos began to be made for music programmes such as Top of the pops a British music programme, which showed music clips and information about music in general.• Promotional music groups began, especially the Beatles in the 1960s.
• MTV 1981!• In 1981 the USA music channel MTV was launched, making or beginning an era of music videos being shown on TV.
• Music videos Today!• Music videos today have one key aspect, which is to promote and make the music market popular.

Music Feature Timeline-

1929 - This was the first music video ever to be released. It was for "St Louis Blues," a song by Bessie Smith. It was premiered in theatres in 1932.

1940 - "Fantasia" was a music video featuring Mickey Mouse created by Walt Disney Studios. It featured a classical music soundtrack to portray the story with, using the instruments to show expressions and feelings of characters.

1956 - Singer Tony Bennet was recorded walking through Hyde Park as his song "Stranger in Paradise" was played in the background.

1967 - This was a time when promotional music videos were of significant importance. The song "Subterrenean Homesick Blues" by Bob Dylan was featured in the film documentary "Don't Look Back" by D.A. Pennebaker.

1970 - The TV show "Top of the Pops" began. This show was used to show new musicians performing live in the studio, many of these were used as official music videos for the band.

1981 - This was the year in which MTV (Music Television) was started. Back then, it was the primary source for all music videos for all different genres.

Present Day - Music videos these days use a variety of different methods. Mostly, it is used as advertising

Prezi

Conventions of genres

Music Genre	Clothing	Behaviours	Video settings
Hip-hop	Baggy clothes, gold chains and jewellery.	Lots of women, loose	Colourful, upbeat
Metal/Rock	Dark/black clothes	Head banging	Life performances
Punk	Tight, jeans	Skate boarders	Small venues?

Conventions of a music videos

Music video's are presented in a number of ways. Here are the most common ones below;
Performance-where the band or the music artist is playing the song throughout the video.
Narrative-where the song involves a narrative and so, the words and meaning of the song is acted out in some way.
Mixture-Where there is the musician playing as well as a narrative storyline occurring and the camera cross cuts to each scene.
Cameo-where the musician features in the narrative but is not actually part of the storyline and does not perform in it.
Animation-Some music videos have a mixture involving animation that is edited in, this creates creativity and entertainment to the video. 

While looking into the codes and conventions of music video's i will be using examples for rock and metal music as i believe that might end up as the genre of music that i will be doing for my main project.

Camera Shots and Movement
Music video includes many long shots, medium shots and close ups. This is to emphasis the artist, location and emotions. The main camera angles used in quite a lot of music videos are close ups, especially in performance based music videos. These are usually of people's expressions, guitars being strummed or drums being played. Another shot that's used a lot is a low shot, these are used on performance based music videos as well so that you're able to see people from every possible angle.

The movement of the camera in music videos is quite a vital thing to take into consideration. This has to be done carefully so you don't go too far off set, so that you don't pan round too far and see another camera. Another reason that they use camera movement is also, for the same reason they use certain shots. This is so it makes you think that you're actually watching them live from part of an audience when the camera pans down and in front of them.

The different camera shots used in Rock and Metal videos: Close ups on the lead singer and the rest of the band, mid shots of the band playing their instruments and the lead singer singing, quick shot changes, pans around the stage and on the audience, long shots of the band playing their instruments, side shots left and right as well as close up's of the crowd.

Editing

Editing is the key stage to any music video, as you need to select the shots needed and match the music to the shots. Footage used is edited to match what is said in the lyrics of the music, as part as parallel editing. CGI effects-many music videos use effects to show impossible outcomes such as superhero moves, for example Eminem's  Not Afraid, in which he flies like a superhero.

Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene needs to be accurate as it needs to convey the style/genre of the music, and it is very good at conveying the style of the music video in most circumstances. Mise-en-scene involves location/set, clothing and costume, props and lighting.
The mise-en-scene codes and conventions for Rock and Metal music videos are : Black clothes, skinny jeans, guitar solos, piercings, performance based, crowds, big hair, dark lighting and colours, dancing and jumping around the stage as well as black and white make up.

The purpose of a music video

The main purpose's of a band or music artist releasing a music video are:

- To increase the sales of the song, and produce a reaction which makes you remember the song.
- To give the listener a better understanding of the songs lyrics or meaning behind them. (If the video is narrative)
- Entertain the audience so the video becomes popular and more well know.
- To show off the other abilities and talents the band,group or artist may may have, for example dancing or acting.
- Marketing for the purposes of exposure and to increase the profile and reputation the artist.
- Promotion. The music video is a promotional tool for the artist. It sometimes serves as a conduit draw attention to a label, but more often it is a catalyst for CD sales or artist song downloads.
- Market the product to the public.

Skindred's musical style mixes alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and reggae.

Due to Skindred's music style and the mix or genre's and styles that are mixed into their music the video is a fusion of these. In this particular music video the main music style is metal. The metal is matched in the video where the whole band is seen playing the song. Their clothing is black and dark colours, with a matching background which is a dark urban scene. The way the band behaves during these playing scenes is in a very traditional and generic way for the bands their genre to behave. A little head banging and some aggressive movements while playing the song helps with the tempo of the video to keep up with the audio speed.
Throughout the video the main singer and figure head of  the band is present as the main focus of the video.  This is somewhat branding as one of Skindred's features and thing's they are know for is having a black Jamaican singer, by promoting this they improve their brand and strengthen the image of the band. It may have been their record label which called for this to help brand and sell the band.

The relationship between lyrics and visuals is small but clear and effective. The verse following clearly matches the visuals of the lead singer standing on the podium, it gives an inspiring feel and projection of the lyrics within the song. This carries through the song.

The Visuals and music match. The music is strong with inspirational lyrics and the visuals and video's go to convey this, a plane falling from the sky to come back up and survive, the leaders standing up on podiums and speaking to the people, fighting through speech for the freedom and what they want.

Defining my tasks

Music Video- "A filmed or videotaped rendition of a recorded song, often portraying musicians performing the song or including visual images interpreting the lyrics." http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Promotional+video

An example of a music video by the Foo Fighters.

Promo Music Video-"A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes.  Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings." http://www.answers.com/topic/music-video


Digipak- "A cardboard sleeve which opens up like a book to reveal a plastic tray glued inside which holds the CD. All the CD artwork is printed on the cardboard packaging. May include a booklet which will slot inside the digipak." www.squidoo.com/ebay-guide-cd-packaging

The image above is and exampe of a Digipak/CD pack cover, for the band Foo Fighters

Band Homepage- "The entry or gateway to the contents of a website; which normally includes the website's title, mission, credits, and menu, with links to supporting webpages." www.englishcn.com/zh/vocations/media/20070818/10075.html

The image above is http://www.foofighters.com/uk 's homepage for the foo fighters band

Branding is a large factor in bands products, for example i can clearly see that on the Foo Fighters homepage and digipak that the name "Foo Fighters" is clearly stamped on both and in the video the Foo Fighters "F" appears, the video is also clearly branded with their name, in the Title, description and tags.

Brief

A promotional package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the folowing three options.
-A website homepage for the band;
-A cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);