Location Scouting - Revised

Below are a list of shots that will/might be used in our music video and why we might use them.

This fire pit and stool will be used for a shot in our video as it will be used to place the fire as a link between the song lyrics and the artists feelings about the girl. I think the fire will represent the burning pain he feels for the loss of the girl.

Secondly the beds are going to be used for a scene in the video when the couple are both on the telephone to each other, it connotes a relaxed setting that they are both at ease lying down talking to each other - and also that they are inseperable and do not want to be apart because they are in love. This scene will be used as part of a flashback of before they split up, so this part of the video needs to make them look happy.

The wood swing will be used for a flashback for happier times, we decided to use this as a location as it is a romantic setting for the lovers to be and we thought it was quite original. This location will be good for our narrative as a romantic theme. It shows the couple enjoying each others company and nothing else which will also help connote a loving atmosphere in the music video.

Digipak Initial Ideas

As Guy was reliable for our music video, and he was the lead male role. I decided to use him for my digpak as the artist. My first thoughts were to use him on the swing where he is in our music video with the girl. I decided to take some shots/photographs of this at different angles as I thought that it tied in well with the music video as he might be playing his guitar/singing where they used to be together to remind him of their times together. Here are some of the shots I took. And one I am going to use possibly for my front cover.

I have decided the last photograph above would be best and a good idea for a front cover, my reasoning behind this is that you can see his face clearly - this is good for a new artist as it gives the audience a face to link the voice to, although some of the others show his face well, I think in this one the angle of the picture is effective as it is from up above and a close up so his facial expression can be seen in detail as it shows emotion. I also think the fact that he is bright with a dark background gives contrast and fits in with the song title 'Time For This Light To Shine' as he is bright in the darkness. It also connotes how he would be singing when no one is around about his feelings, which adds an element of emotion to the cover. The fact he has a guitar in his hand also helps to connote the acoustic vibe that the song is, especially as the guitar is acoustic and is the main instrument played in our song. Although I will have to rethink where I am going to put the title and his name on the cover. I think to make the album cover look simple, but effective I will add his name in the top left hand corner and the title of the song along the bottom. In a font that reflects the song, such as a yellow font that looks like it is shining. I am going to edit this shot until I am happy with the positioning of the font and the lighting - so it can be my album cover.

Treatment of music video - Revised

Although it is still the same track and artist as shown on the other treatment, some of the ideas have changed.

Outline of ideas:

Filmed in varying locations- river/house/car/outside natural settings/city centre

2 lovers

Resources we will need:

2 actors

mobile phones

firewood

photographs of the couple

hipflask/alcohol

car

house

Justification of ideas in relation to genre and artist:

The acoustic music compliments the two ideas of lovers as the lyrics relate to a love story and the idea of the light in the lyrics being a spark between lovers and fitting in with the light from the fire.

Music Video Analysis

Jason Mraz - I’m Yours



This music video can be found on Jason Mrazs’ website, but not on you tube.

The song I’m Yours is about giving into love and life and the music video reflects this. The video does conform with the conventions of an acoustic artist, for example the clothes that are worn and the locations the video is shot in. The clothes are baggy, casual and have a beach-look to them, this shows a laid back feel to the style of music and the video. The locations are mainly on beaches, or on cliffs showing freedom and natural beauty of settings and scenery for example a close up shot of a puddle on the ground and him stepping in it, or a flower blowing in the wind with a high angle shot from the ground of him singing sitting next to it, or the establishing shots of the landscape to show the vastness of the setting and the freedom it represents. A shot of him and some friends jumping into a river from the top of a waterfall/cliff shows him letting all his inhibitions go and being free. The setting of his home in this video and the way he travels in the video is generally not an upper class or rich way to travel, and he lives in a block of flats and travels in the back of trucks and on buses, this differs from music videos within the genre of RnB for example where limos and private jets may be used as a form of travel in this genre. The director may have done this for appeal to fans because it uses conventions that are familiar and that audiences know goes with the genre of the song. I also think the album cover, as shown above fits in the with genre of this song and video as it is simple, but effective and stands out as it does not look like your everyday album cover because the self portrait is an interesting way to portray yourself on your album.

The video is narrative and performance based. Although Jason is singing the lyrics throughout the video it is mainly narrative based apart from one shot with him singing and playing the guitar as a performer. The narrative structure in this video is mainly linear. This type of narrative structure is appealing because it is telling a story and grips you throughout to find out the ending. The lyrics and the visuals in this song link because the images are about freedom and being with the people you love and living life, and the lyrics in this song relate to this, for example “but I wont hesitate no more, no more. It cannot wait, I’m yours” or “open up your mind and see like me, open up your plans and damn you’re free look into your heart and you’ll find love love love, listen to the music of the moment people dance and sing, we’re just one big family and it’s our god forsaken right to be loved”. these lyrics show the feeling of him as wanting to be free and love/be loved, which is a convention of the genre as it has a laid back theme of only singing about feelings and not wanting to be rich or famous in genres such as hip hop.

The video cuts to beat at the beginning by changing shot in time with the acoustic guitar changing chords/notes. There is a focus on the guitar instrument as this is generally the only instrument played and is constantly played throughout the song. The shots generally stay in time to the music throughout the video.

The editing in this video is fairly quick as the video never really focuses on one shot, I think this is to keep you intrigued as to exactly what it is in the shot, as there are also many close up in this video. There are no special effects or CGI’s in the video as the song is about being free and is all set in a natural location rather then a stage set so this would not be in keeping with the theme and I think this is why they were not used.

The lyrics music video relates to other music in this genre such as “Better together - Jack Johnson”. Some of the settings in the music video “Wasting Time - Jack Johnson” are similar to those of Jason Mraz, for example travelling in the back of a truck and being on the beach, with your acoustic guitar playing and singing. Although there is no video very similar to this, there are plenty of aspects from this video used in other videos in this genre, especially by the artist Jack Johnson. Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz are also similar about their lyrics as they both often involve lyrics about love/relationships, and freedom. This adds to the appeal of this video because if other artists in this genre are like this, it is likely the same kind of audience will like your song and the video that goes with it.

The representation of the locations in this video are recognisable and realistic to some, and in my opinion exciting and unpredictable. But I do not think the life showed in this video is safe or stable. The world shown is a working class world which maybe shows a slight vulnerability of the character and his life.

Audience Research Evaluation and Analysis.

For my questionnaire, the demographic was ages 16-20 in both males and females, generally all in college or sixth form, and I asked 15 people the questionnaire. The aim of my questionnaire was to find out what my target audience was interested in, to help decide what do for the music video, and digipaks.

I asked 8 males and 7 females my questionnaire.
Below are the results of my questionnaire that i decided to analyse, i decided to focus on the questions that a specific to the making of my music video and digipak covers, the other questions were purely for interest into consuming and to see how my demograpic consumed the media/music.


I am starting at question 4, as i have already said the ages, genders and that they are in college or sixth form.


Question 4 -

The two most popular genres were indie and dubstep, this was interesting because it included 5 males and one female vote over the 2 genres. The genre 'acoustic' which is the same genre as our song, only got one vote, but was from a male, this fit my thought that it was a slightly more male based genre over females, the results show that my chosen demographic like to listen to a range of music genres. The dance, drum and bass, dubstep and hip hop being fairly popular fits in with the demographic as 16-20 is the age you start going to parties, or start going clubbing, and as these types of places play this type of music - it is likely that it will be a popular genre. The indie genre is a popular genre as this type of music is popular at festivals such as latitude, i attended this festival this year and the audiences at the indie performances were in my demographic, young teenagers and were the busiest performances that I saw.


Question 5 -

The most popular way of purchasing music was through internet downloads (8/15), closely followed by CD's(5/15) . This shows that CD's are still popular when purchasing music, so you have a hard copy and so you can see the artist you are buying, and learn a little about their style. I thought this was important to know that CD's are still popular as we have to design our own album covers, therefore being a key piece of knowledge when planning our own covers.


Question 9 -

The way my demographic most listened to music was on their mp3/4 (5/15) but surprisingly second to this was joint radio and tv/music channels (4/15). Most of the people i asked said that when they were working for college they would have a music channel on in the background to discover music they liked, or to watch the video to songs that came on that they enjoyed listening to. This shows that music videos are still popular and are enjoyed by consumers of the song. I also think that music videos are still important as at latitude when bands were playing some stages had the music video showing at the same time, for certain songs. To promote the song, and/or download of the music video with the song as you can now do this on iTunes.


Question 11 -

Word of mouth and the internet were the most popular way (9/15) to find out about unsigned bands/artists, and surprisingly TV was one of the least popular ways. This is good, as we have to make our own advertisement for a magazine that would fit the genre of our music video. Knowing that it is popular helps find inspiration and interest into this way of advertising. This result also shows an active audience for the music, rather than a passive audiences waiting to hear about new acts, but seeking them out.


Question 13 -

2-4 times a week was the most often my demographic watched to music videos, no one watched them over 5 times a weeks and 5 people said once a week, therefore 10 said 2-4 times. This proves that music videos are still popular, and are still important to go with a popular, or up and coming single. Furthermore shows that a good music video will boost the popularity of a song. Out of the 5 people who said once a week, one 1 was female, this shows that maybe women prefer the visual side to music, more so than men.


Question 14 -


"Would you ever buy music magazines or visit bands websites to check on upcoming events and for interviews/info about the band/artist?"


All but 2 interviewees answered yes to this question, this again shows an active audience, seeking out promos and gig dates etc. A couple of the reasons for why were to find out whether they were playing a gig nearby, or to find out whether they had any more music coming out soon. This is proving that adverts and websites are an effective way of promoting band information as they are popularly found and read by fans.


Question 16 -


"In your own opinion do you think the looks and the way the artists/actors look in a music video is important?"


10/15 answered that looks in not important but 5/15 said it is. I agree that on some levels that it is important as they people in the music video have to fit in with the style of the song and have to be dressed and in the right locations to match the song, or be relevant. There are more and more ways of viewing videos because of rising technology so the correct look and style should be included in the music video. In this question more females than males said it is more important that the look is right, this may be because in general females are more concerned about their image than men, although i think this stereotype is decreasing as men are increasingly caring about their appearance. I think this result will help us to style our actors and use the appropriate locations for our music video, to make sure the look the the video and the people in the video fits.


Question 17 -

9 out of 15 answered important, this shows that an audience like a music video that they can relate to the lyrics in the song, and that the narrative in the video matches the song, or that it tells the story so that the lyrics can make sense. This shows that the audience like to relate the video and lyrics to their own personal lives. This is good because our own music video will have a story that we think relates very well to the lyrics of the song, that clearly is important when planning to make a music video. This again also shows how an audience has an active mind about making connections and relations. 4 were male, and 5 were female out of the people who answered that it was important, this shows that in general men and women both like narratives that relate to the lyrics.

Evaluation of Methodology -

I think my collection 0f data is reliable and valid because my sample size is fairly big and are all in my target demographic

Analysis of magazine advert.

I think this magazine advert successfully promotes the artist, as it uses the artists body and face to relate the music to a person, and the angle of the shot is effective as the high angle shows the whole of the artists body, and the clothes he is wearing connotes a young fashion sense and seems to fit in with the 'indie' genre.

The white background with the bold purple writing and scribbles is effective as it gives off a young vibe, appealing to it's young target audience. This advert would stand out in a magazine because of the big picture of the artist and the bold 3D font, it also advertises where you could purchase the music - at hmv, this will encourage interest and encourage people to go and buy the music that is being advertised.

The four stars that are large - much larger than the comments. This is because the large stars will attract people to thinking the music is good. As 4 out of 5 stars is good, people who come across the advert will be intrigued into listening to the music because of other peoples opinions on it, especially as the stars are given by popular music magazines.

Magazine Advertisement Analysis

This advert is again for Jason Mraz, the advertisement stands out because of the bold black writing on top of the faded out photograph underneath, the photograph is of Jason Mraz and his musicians, but does not advertise himself all that well. Although the location and his name is promoting with the writing and as his name is the first thing on the advertisement it would catch your eye if in a magazine.

The advertisement also promotes the new album, and the mise en scene and contrasts makes the advert work well, this advert would be in music magazines such as NME. The fact the advertisement lets you know the album is available to download, this is used to encourage fans, or people who want to find out more to download the album, or singles and make money.

The photo in the background shows the excitement and fun that he is having with his friends, this connotes that if you went to one of his shows/gigs then you would have fun like this, also enticing the audience.

In conclusion i think this advert would work well in the right magazine as it effectively catches your eye with the font and information, even without a defining photograph.

Ideas and influences for digipak cover

Although this type of music is not in the same genre as my song. This album cover would be good for promoting a new artist as it is a close-up effective shot of the artist, that is eye catching and familiarizes fans with her face. She is made to look seductive and her hair and features are all done up to possibly appeal to males in this way, her lips are slightly apart which is to appear in a sexy way. This type of picture would be that for a mainstream audience, and could appear in 'glossy' magazines such as 'glamour'.

Although the album cover is simple, the use of not having a complicated mise en scene makes the cover attractive and appeals to it's target audience. The names of the artist and album cover do not stand out particularly in this cover, this is because Beyonce is an established artist and just her face will catch attention and then fans can read the name of the album, unlike the Jason Mraz cover where the names need to be shown clearly, as his album was new and he was a new artist.

Influences and researching for digipack covers

When researching digipak covers I found this album cover of Jason Mraz, I focussed on this, as this album cover is in the same genre as our song, and this album cover is used because Jason Mraz at the time was a new artist, so the cover has only him on the front to promote himself, and for the audience to know who he is. This album successfully promotes a new artist.

As we could not use the real artist for our album cover, I decided to use the main male protagonist as the artist for my digipak cover.

This album cover focusses solely on the artist, as the background lockers are blurred, and he is only in focus. This is because the artist wants you to look at him, rather than the background, to promote himself. He is also sitting at a school desk concentrating on something other than work, this may connote that he is bored of life, or the 'normal' life, and wants to do something different with his life, or that his music is different and new.

The font of the name of the album and artist, look hand written and in pencil, this fits in with the theme of going against conventions and using an alternative and unique style as it is his own hand writing.

The bright lighting at the end of the corridor behind his head makes his body and figure stand out, this contrast is strong with the dark body and bright lights. The camera angle is a simple mid shot but is effective as he is what stands out in the shot, and nothing else catches your attention first. This type of image would not necessarily be advertising to a mainstream audience but would possibly be in magazines such a NME or Q.