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Tuesday 15 December 2009
Friday 27 November 2009
Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
What are the main conventions of music videos?
There are different conventions of music videos depending on the genre of music. For instance, rock music videos normally feature a performance element where the band is playing their instruments as if performing to a crowd. Pop videos are very synthetic (according to Negus) and don’t take this approach. Because of this they are normally just one person singing with a background performance of dancing or another form of entertainment. However seeing as my music video is for a Hip-Hop video I will expand more on this genre.
Traditionally from the Bronx, hip hop lyrics are usually based on social views and are designed to provoke and question the government. A hip hop music video will use just one or two main performers, this is because a lot of the sounds are made electronically, and therefore they don’t need multiple band members. But this doesn’t mean the music isn’t organic, it has a lot of meaning behind it and this is always portrayed in the lyrics and the music video. By only using one or two faces for the band it makes the audience feel closer to the band; this is Dyers theory of stardom. Where the artist is commonly linked with any of the following; Youthfulness, rebellion, sexual magnetism or originality.
A hip hop video will use a lot of sinister close up shots that show emotion; these can be either slowly edited together or quickly and forcefully edited for the audience pulling the audience in to watch and listen to the video/lyrics. Hip hop videos also typically feature voyeurism; however I didn’t choose to use this in my video. Primarily because this is an A level video and it would be inappropriate. But if I was in the industry and had to make a hip hop video I would hire actors/actresses in to fulfil this role.
From watching music videos from directors such as Spike Jonze I found that scar music always used multiple band members in their videos, but from watching the public enemy video for ‘harder than you think’ I found that hip hop videos featured only one or two performers, and I reflected this in my video. Using only Scott Green and Ruby Turner I gave the correct image for the band. I was also able to create the correct image for the actors by getting them the correct costumes and props. Jeans, skate shoes and hoodies all made the video feel hip hop based. However I did put a twist on the traditional urban hip hop location by holding the film in woodland, the change in location showed a contrast from a traditional hip hop video which I felt made my video special. Outside of college I am often in the woods filming bikes; this meant I had a lot of previous experience, especially when it came to framing my shots, for the dolly shots having objects in the foreground that were nicely out of focus etc.
Look at your ancillary texts – How have you used conventions?
In my ancillary texts I have also stuck to the conventions of a media text. For my digipack I used several images of my main performer wearing a hoodies.
This gives the digipack a clear direction of what genre it belongs too. My digipack also had pages dedicated to a list of tracks on the CD, also some special thanks to people who helped the band in the last year. This is typical of most CD covers and I knew this because of my research into CD covers earlier in the year. The digipack also uses identically the same colour scheme as the website, this creates a recognizable look for the band, this is typical of hip hop bands because they want to make themselves noticeable the moment you see their logo or colour scheme. This also makes the audience feel closer to the band, recognizing certain things leaves them to feel as if they are often seeing the band, therefore feel more attached to the band and buy more products from them.
In the case of my website, it too uses this colour scheme, same logo’s/titles etc. I also have a section on the webpage titled ‘latest news’, this is typical of most bands because they like to let their fans know what they are doing. This also links in with trying to make the audience feel as if they are close to the stars therefore they give the band more attention and buy more CD’s. With the news section each news item has the date in red then the hyperlinks reading ‘..click here’ turn grey when you scroll over them. My website also used rollover images, this is typical of websites for this genre of music because it has a nice professional feel when in reality its just 2 images over lapped and when scrolled over one appears over the other. However this is very effective and a lot of websites use it.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
In order to get accurate feedback from my class we had a lesson where we watched through every ones work and gave them accurate feedback, this meant that I got an accurate rounded feeling for what my class thought of my work. Some positive points about my video were that the location was great and aided the feel of the video very well. Also that some of the shots with leafs/foreground in were nice and that the framing and composition was very good.
People also liked my colour grading, and my dolly shots. Over all they said that what could have been tacky and unpleasant to watch worked out really well because of the steady camera work and precise editing.
Some of the negative points about my video were that at times the lip syncing was off, and that unfortunately the performance element of the video wasn’t quite what they were expecting, but I put this down to not having a large budget and professional actors.
Overall I am pleased with how the video has come out. I feel it stays with the convention of a normal hip hop video except I have managed to minimize some of the aspects of hip hop videos that I personally don’t enjoy, like semi naked women dancing.
I also got feedback on my digipack, some of the positives were that it had good photo positioning, a good colour scheme to match the website, my class mates also enjoyed the way that it was simple, but not that simple that it looked under done. The only criticism I received over my digipack was that it needs information on the spines so you can tell what it is when in a CD rack.
For my website I was given positive feedback as well, once again they liked the colour scheme and they liked how the pictures were well edited with the black background to make the character stand out. Some of the negatives were mainly to do with filling blank spaces and fixing typing errors.
Overall I have learnt a lot from my feedback regarding what I would change if I had to do the whole project again. I have also learned that using theorists meant that I was able to follow the hip hop genre in greater depth. For instance the use of props, costume and location all work together to create the perfect looks for a hip hop music video. I feel that by trying to be as accurate as I could when deciding on these I was able to give of a hip hop feel.
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stage. Evaluate your use of technologies for each section of your construction – eg a para for each of Research, Planning, Video, Website, Digipak, Evaluation
Now as I look back over the project I am going to look into what media technologies I used throughout the construction of my research, planning, video, website and digipak.
First off I am going to evaluate what technologies I used when carrying out research into my genre. I used the internet to my advantage and researched in depth music videos and their directors. This meant I had a greater understanding of the genre before I started planning my music video. I also carried out a shot by shot analysis where I was able to understand the type of camera work and editing used in a hip-hop video. All of this meant that because of the technologies available to me my planning and research was a great aid when completing my practical work.
When planning and organizing my video I found it hard to find a song at first. But after several hours searching through my archives of music and MySpace I found an old band I used to listen to called The Hilltop Hoods. I found my favourite song and sent them an email requesting to use it for my media video. They replied the next day saying I was allowed to use the song. This is an example of how I was able to utilize the technologies available to me. I used various websites to track down the band and also to make communication with them.
When it came to actually making my video I made sure that I maximized my technology by using my own equipment. I used my own Canon hv20 which allowed me to shoot in HD and set the camera up to use the correct frame rate and aperture. This meant that my shots would often have a deep depth of field allowing the audience to focus on the main figure in the shot, normally the lead singer.
I have also recently begun using a track dolly system, this has added a new camera angle to my selection of shots, smooth flowing sideways shots that add a new dimension to my video.
What are the main conventions of music videos?
There are different conventions of music videos depending on the genre of music. For instance, rock music videos normally feature a performance element where the band is playing their instruments as if performing to a crowd. Pop videos are very synthetic (according to Negus) and don’t take this approach. Because of this they are normally just one person singing with a background performance of dancing or another form of entertainment. However seeing as my music video is for a Hip-Hop video I will expand more on this genre.
Traditionally from the Bronx, hip hop lyrics are usually based on social views and are designed to provoke and question the government. A hip hop music video will use just one or two main performers, this is because a lot of the sounds are made electronically, and therefore they don’t need multiple band members. But this doesn’t mean the music isn’t organic, it has a lot of meaning behind it and this is always portrayed in the lyrics and the music video. By only using one or two faces for the band it makes the audience feel closer to the band; this is Dyers theory of stardom. Where the artist is commonly linked with any of the following; Youthfulness, rebellion, sexual magnetism or originality.
A hip hop video will use a lot of sinister close up shots that show emotion; these can be either slowly edited together or quickly and forcefully edited for the audience pulling the audience in to watch and listen to the video/lyrics. Hip hop videos also typically feature voyeurism; however I didn’t choose to use this in my video. Primarily because this is an A level video and it would be inappropriate. But if I was in the industry and had to make a hip hop video I would hire actors/actresses in to fulfil this role.
From watching music videos from directors such as Spike Jonze I found that scar music always used multiple band members in their videos, but from watching the public enemy video for ‘harder than you think’ I found that hip hop videos featured only one or two performers, and I reflected this in my video. Using only Scott Green and Ruby Turner I gave the correct image for the band. I was also able to create the correct image for the actors by getting them the correct costumes and props. Jeans, skate shoes and hoodies all made the video feel hip hop based. However I did put a twist on the traditional urban hip hop location by holding the film in woodland, the change in location showed a contrast from a traditional hip hop video which I felt made my video special. Outside of college I am often in the woods filming bikes; this meant I had a lot of previous experience, especially when it came to framing my shots, for the dolly shots having objects in the foreground that were nicely out of focus etc.
Look at your ancillary texts – How have you used conventions?
In my ancillary texts I have also stuck to the conventions of a media text. For my digipack I used several images of my main performer wearing a hoodies.
This gives the digipack a clear direction of what genre it belongs too. My digipack also had pages dedicated to a list of tracks on the CD, also some special thanks to people who helped the band in the last year. This is typical of most CD covers and I knew this because of my research into CD covers earlier in the year. The digipack also uses identically the same colour scheme as the website, this creates a recognizable look for the band, this is typical of hip hop bands because they want to make themselves noticeable the moment you see their logo or colour scheme. This also makes the audience feel closer to the band, recognizing certain things leaves them to feel as if they are often seeing the band, therefore feel more attached to the band and buy more products from them.
In the case of my website, it too uses this colour scheme, same logo’s/titles etc. I also have a section on the webpage titled ‘latest news’, this is typical of most bands because they like to let their fans know what they are doing. This also links in with trying to make the audience feel as if they are close to the stars therefore they give the band more attention and buy more CD’s. With the news section each news item has the date in red then the hyperlinks reading ‘..click here’ turn grey when you scroll over them. My website also used rollover images, this is typical of websites for this genre of music because it has a nice professional feel when in reality its just 2 images over lapped and when scrolled over one appears over the other. However this is very effective and a lot of websites use it.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
In order to get accurate feedback from my class we had a lesson where we watched through every ones work and gave them accurate feedback, this meant that I got an accurate rounded feeling for what my class thought of my work. Some positive points about my video were that the location was great and aided the feel of the video very well. Also that some of the shots with leafs/foreground in were nice and that the framing and composition was very good.
People also liked my colour grading, and my dolly shots. Over all they said that what could have been tacky and unpleasant to watch worked out really well because of the steady camera work and precise editing.
Some of the negative points about my video were that at times the lip syncing was off, and that unfortunately the performance element of the video wasn’t quite what they were expecting, but I put this down to not having a large budget and professional actors.
Overall I am pleased with how the video has come out. I feel it stays with the convention of a normal hip hop video except I have managed to minimize some of the aspects of hip hop videos that I personally don’t enjoy, like semi naked women dancing.
I also got feedback on my digipack, some of the positives were that it had good photo positioning, a good colour scheme to match the website, my class mates also enjoyed the way that it was simple, but not that simple that it looked under done. The only criticism I received over my digipack was that it needs information on the spines so you can tell what it is when in a CD rack.
For my website I was given positive feedback as well, once again they liked the colour scheme and they liked how the pictures were well edited with the black background to make the character stand out. Some of the negatives were mainly to do with filling blank spaces and fixing typing errors.
Overall I have learnt a lot from my feedback regarding what I would change if I had to do the whole project again. I have also learned that using theorists meant that I was able to follow the hip hop genre in greater depth. For instance the use of props, costume and location all work together to create the perfect looks for a hip hop music video. I feel that by trying to be as accurate as I could when deciding on these I was able to give of a hip hop feel.
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stage. Evaluate your use of technologies for each section of your construction – eg a para for each of Research, Planning, Video, Website, Digipak, Evaluation
Now as I look back over the project I am going to look into what media technologies I used throughout the construction of my research, planning, video, website and digipak.
First off I am going to evaluate what technologies I used when carrying out research into my genre. I used the internet to my advantage and researched in depth music videos and their directors. This meant I had a greater understanding of the genre before I started planning my music video. I also carried out a shot by shot analysis where I was able to understand the type of camera work and editing used in a hip-hop video. All of this meant that because of the technologies available to me my planning and research was a great aid when completing my practical work.
When planning and organizing my video I found it hard to find a song at first. But after several hours searching through my archives of music and MySpace I found an old band I used to listen to called The Hilltop Hoods. I found my favourite song and sent them an email requesting to use it for my media video. They replied the next day saying I was allowed to use the song. This is an example of how I was able to utilize the technologies available to me. I used various websites to track down the band and also to make communication with them.
When it came to actually making my video I made sure that I maximized my technology by using my own equipment. I used my own Canon hv20 which allowed me to shoot in HD and set the camera up to use the correct frame rate and aperture. This meant that my shots would often have a deep depth of field allowing the audience to focus on the main figure in the shot, normally the lead singer.
I have also recently begun using a track dolly system, this has added a new camera angle to my selection of shots, smooth flowing sideways shots that add a new dimension to my video.
I didn’t use a fish eye in this edit however if I did this project again I think I would because it means that shots never get laborious and they give a feeling of identity and being close the artist. This relates to Dyers theory of Stardom.
When editing my footage I also used my own editing software called Sony Vegas 8.0 which I have been using for around 2 years now, I am much better with this programme and it meant that I was able to transfer the files of my camera and onto my computer much easier than relying on college to do it for me. Having my own editing software also meant that I was able to edit the footage in my own time and this mean I had no distractions in class; I was able to edit the footage together quickly
Next I am going to evaluate how I used technology to my advantage to make a website.
The website was made in lesson time and we were required to independently learn the programme and how to use certain tools within the programme. When making the website I used photographs to add to the genre. These were taken on my own SLR camera and meant that I had high quality images to use. This made a lot of difference because it gave my website a much more professional feel. I was also able to edit the photo’s in Photoshop which meant that I could make the background of a lot of the images appear black, therefore fitting the colour scheme for the website.
However I didn’t use any special fonts when making the website, in my opinion this was my own fault, I liked how it looked with the basic Microsoft fonts and didn’t want to risk changing the fonts and having issues with fonts not appearing when the website was exported. Because of this I kept my fonts very basic, however my audience feedback shows that this was a good thing and it gave the website a simplistic effect that worked well.
I also used technology when making my website in the form of Youtube. This allowed me to stream my music video through my webpage without having any loading issues etc. I realized this as soon as I handed my draft copy of the website in, many class mates had issues with videos that wouldn’t work, because of this I decided I would do the same for my final edit of the website. An advantage of using Youtube is that it’s a flash player; most computers have flash on them and therefore will play the video and if they don’t it prompts them that they need to update, meaning the problem is non of my own.
My digipak features the same colour scheme as my website, this was thanks to technology and the ability to make both the website and digipak on the same programme. For the digipak I used fireworks, this meant that I was able to accurately measure out the size of the image in millimetres to ensure it would fit. I then split the image into 3 sides and duplicated this to make the front and back of the digipak featuring 6 sides in total. This is typical of digipaks and especially digipaks in the hip hop genre.
I used technology to research into what featured on most hip hop CD covers, I found that there was always a list of tracks that were on the CD, I also found out that there would often be a small blurb describing what the CD featured and on some there would be a “thanks” section where the band thank or credit anyone involved with the making of the CD.
After researching into this I felt it was vital to include all of these sections in my digipak and therefore I did. Thanks to good quality technology I was able to maximize my digipaks quality.
Tuesday 3 November 2009
Feedback on CD/Website
Student feedback:
Web:
Needs link/maybe experiment with differant font/size at 'welcome'. Fade image of Mathew Pike
CD cover:
Too minimalistic, needs more going on. Looks good in terms of fonts ect.
Teachers feedback:
Website: C
• Audio player is half obscured
• I get a Flash Player Security warning when I load your webpage – we need to speak to Lisa or Josh about this – but they don’t have access to your T drive, so we will need to ask them to come over
• Integration of some images is weak – the one of Matt is much better, but the positioning of the albums lack page design – You need to change these to original images
• A lot more text needed – try a blog/ news/ etc
Cover: D
• More images needed – what about the rest of the band
• Tracklist is placed over the list of tracks
• Here is the new single... is very weak use of language – rephrase
• More text needed – see real covers
Web:
Needs link/maybe experiment with differant font/size at 'welcome'. Fade image of Mathew Pike
CD cover:
Too minimalistic, needs more going on. Looks good in terms of fonts ect.
Teachers feedback:
Website: C
• Audio player is half obscured
• I get a Flash Player Security warning when I load your webpage – we need to speak to Lisa or Josh about this – but they don’t have access to your T drive, so we will need to ask them to come over
• Integration of some images is weak – the one of Matt is much better, but the positioning of the albums lack page design – You need to change these to original images
• A lot more text needed – try a blog/ news/ etc
Cover: D
• More images needed – what about the rest of the band
• Tracklist is placed over the list of tracks
• Here is the new single... is very weak use of language – rephrase
• More text needed – see real covers
Wednesday 21 October 2009
Friday 16 October 2009
Friday 11 September 2009
Shooting Schedule
I have spoken with both my actors and have concluded on 3 days for filming, Tuesday the 15th of September 09, Saturday the 19th of September 09 and Tuesday the 22nd of September.
Treatment
For this video I will be using the actors Scott Green and Ruby Turner. They will be performing in various locations around Bramcote and Nottingham. The first few shots of the video will be taken in an overgrown field near my house. The field is open and will be easy to shoot in. The video is going to be mostly following Scott as he performs to the camera by singing the lyrics to the song with occasional cut shots to Ruby playing the flute and occasionally backing singing.
I will use various camera techniques to give a professional feel to the video such as a tripod to ensure steady shots are always being used, I will also use a dolly camera system to allow for smooth tracking shots.
The first few shots of the video are going to be setting the scene, dolly shots will be used to show who Scott is, he will then sing us through the first verse and chorus within the setting of the field. This will be until the lyrics sing “Throw your hands in the air like your hailing a taxi!” at this moment there will be a shot of him hailing a taxi, then he will get in the taxi and continue singing until it gets to the lyrics “woah!” When he will jump out of the taxi and continue singing by the side of the road until the lyrics “take a plane to Japan” where he will get out of the taxi and be standing outside east midlands air port, at this point a plane will fly right over his head as he is singing. Then when the lyrics say “Fly to Libya for some Bacardi with Gadafi” I am going to try and do a small animation where an arrow travels across from the UK to Libya, then the lyrics go “Dinner date, followed by a funk show” here there will be cut shots from a dinner date then to a party.
I will use various camera techniques to give a professional feel to the video such as a tripod to ensure steady shots are always being used, I will also use a dolly camera system to allow for smooth tracking shots.
The first few shots of the video are going to be setting the scene, dolly shots will be used to show who Scott is, he will then sing us through the first verse and chorus within the setting of the field. This will be until the lyrics sing “Throw your hands in the air like your hailing a taxi!” at this moment there will be a shot of him hailing a taxi, then he will get in the taxi and continue singing until it gets to the lyrics “woah!” When he will jump out of the taxi and continue singing by the side of the road until the lyrics “take a plane to Japan” where he will get out of the taxi and be standing outside east midlands air port, at this point a plane will fly right over his head as he is singing. Then when the lyrics say “Fly to Libya for some Bacardi with Gadafi” I am going to try and do a small animation where an arrow travels across from the UK to Libya, then the lyrics go “Dinner date, followed by a funk show” here there will be cut shots from a dinner date then to a party.
Thursday 10 September 2009
Website draft
After analysing the HIlltop Hoods website i chose to use the same colour scheme as they did in order to work their banner into it.
Here is my website draft.
Here is my website draft.
Location permission
I dont need it as the land is on public property (goverment owned) therfore anyone is allowed to film anything.
Risk assesment
A performer trips and brakes a bone. – In the case of an incident as serious as this there must be some form of plan, therefore all persons on the shoot will have mobile phones on them with charged batteries and efficient credit. If a bone is broken or someone is bleeding but it is within a safe limit, we will make our way back to my house as its only a 5 minute walk from location to my house. From there we will decide upon the best cause of action.
A dog attacks our actors or cameramen. – In this case we will request the owned control their dog, if the dog persists to be of a nuisance we will safely leave the set for a few minutes until the dog has passed, if the dog bites anyone we will immediately call 999 and tell them of the situation. We will then wait for their opinion on the matter and act from there.
A tripod or camera falls over braking the equipment. – In order to prevent this we will make sure that the camera is always on the tripod and always has the metal prongs sticking out the bottom of the legs. This will allow the tripod to be stable and bedded into the ground without chance of movement. Just to make sure nothing happens I will also ensure the tripod legs are level and when no one is attending the camera I will take if of the tripod and place it in its bag, then put it in a backpack and ensure no one is within the distance to steal any of the camera gear. In the case that someone does steal a camera I will immediately call 999.
A dog attacks our actors or cameramen. – In this case we will request the owned control their dog, if the dog persists to be of a nuisance we will safely leave the set for a few minutes until the dog has passed, if the dog bites anyone we will immediately call 999 and tell them of the situation. We will then wait for their opinion on the matter and act from there.
A tripod or camera falls over braking the equipment. – In order to prevent this we will make sure that the camera is always on the tripod and always has the metal prongs sticking out the bottom of the legs. This will allow the tripod to be stable and bedded into the ground without chance of movement. Just to make sure nothing happens I will also ensure the tripod legs are level and when no one is attending the camera I will take if of the tripod and place it in its bag, then put it in a backpack and ensure no one is within the distance to steal any of the camera gear. In the case that someone does steal a camera I will immediately call 999.
Location pictures and actor choice
Location photos.
Actor Choice
Scott Green is going to be my main performer, this is because he is a close friend and is happy to spend the time shooting for perfection. And after shooting with him for my AS thriller I know he is happy to do what I say and will come for filming when I request.
He will be wearing jeans, skate shoes a hoody and a flat peak cap. This is to imitate the Hilltop Hoods style and appearance. He wont use a mic when singing instead he will be acting quite aggressively singing in front of the mic and I will try and use a fish eye lens where its suited.
Ruby Turner is going to be my second performer, she will play the flute in the video and will also sing the female voice in the chorus. The reason for picking Ruby is that she is my sister, therefore easy to get out for filming. She also owns a flute so that sorts out the issue of where I am going to get a flute from.
She will be wearing similar clothes to Scott to keep in with the hip hop style.
Actor Choice
Scott Green is going to be my main performer, this is because he is a close friend and is happy to spend the time shooting for perfection. And after shooting with him for my AS thriller I know he is happy to do what I say and will come for filming when I request.
He will be wearing jeans, skate shoes a hoody and a flat peak cap. This is to imitate the Hilltop Hoods style and appearance. He wont use a mic when singing instead he will be acting quite aggressively singing in front of the mic and I will try and use a fish eye lens where its suited.
Ruby Turner is going to be my second performer, she will play the flute in the video and will also sing the female voice in the chorus. The reason for picking Ruby is that she is my sister, therefore easy to get out for filming. She also owns a flute so that sorts out the issue of where I am going to get a flute from.
She will be wearing similar clothes to Scott to keep in with the hip hop style.
Wednesday 9 September 2009
Research into CD/DVD Covers
Hilltop Hoods album art.
This artwork uses a basic drawn image that directly relates to the name of the album, for instance the album is called "The hard road" And the image is of one person walking down a long road. This shows that the album is going to be telling the story of some sort of artist on a journy through life. This shows that the band are an original band according to Negus because its not something a synthetic band would sing about.
There is also a scribble at the top right of the CD cover that has a black banner running behind it (on the top of the image) This is to make the name of the album and the scribble stand out. The scribble shows what kind of genre the cd is because its very hip hop style font.
In comparison
Here is one of Blink 182's album art.
You can see that instead of the black sinister background it has a white background, perhaps to show that there are no serious issues raised in the album and this is backed up by the image on the album art.
The picture of a smiley face imply this as well, it shows that the album is intended to be fun and have no serious meaning. How ever that doesnt make them a synthetic band, maybe that is what the artist wants to express, teenage fun? Teenage rebelion? Non the less this band isnt synthetic as they have been making music for many years now and its been along time since their first single.
My CD cover Mock up.
Edit 1
Edit 2
Edit 3
Edit 4
This artwork uses a basic drawn image that directly relates to the name of the album, for instance the album is called "The hard road" And the image is of one person walking down a long road. This shows that the album is going to be telling the story of some sort of artist on a journy through life. This shows that the band are an original band according to Negus because its not something a synthetic band would sing about.
There is also a scribble at the top right of the CD cover that has a black banner running behind it (on the top of the image) This is to make the name of the album and the scribble stand out. The scribble shows what kind of genre the cd is because its very hip hop style font.
In comparison
Here is one of Blink 182's album art.
You can see that instead of the black sinister background it has a white background, perhaps to show that there are no serious issues raised in the album and this is backed up by the image on the album art.
The picture of a smiley face imply this as well, it shows that the album is intended to be fun and have no serious meaning. How ever that doesnt make them a synthetic band, maybe that is what the artist wants to express, teenage fun? Teenage rebelion? Non the less this band isnt synthetic as they have been making music for many years now and its been along time since their first single.
My CD cover Mock up.
Edit 1
Edit 2
Edit 3
Edit 4
Tuesday 8 September 2009
Monday 7 September 2009
Research into websites
Websites!
Hilltop Hoods
www.hilltophoods.com
Initial analysis of this home page
The first thing you see when you look at this page is the rather dramatic image in the background which is the album art for their latest album. The whole page has a black background therfore the orange on the picture stands out more.
The font used is very strong and although it isn’t shoved in your face it has a strong feel about it, it makes the band seem really legitimate and professional. Just underneath the title “The new album: Out now!” there is direct links to how to purchase their album. This shows that they are still a small time band that need to promote themselves and try and sell you their work. Argubly any band wants to sell you their music but on the hilltop hoods website its the first and main thing you see on the home page.
When you first go onto the website there is an intro, during this a song of their new album plays, this is to get you in the mood to listen to their music. Then when you are on their website they have links to their myspace, twitter and facebook where you can listen to more of their music.
There is a banner at the bottom that acts as the navigation for the website, from there you can go to various pages, for instance the first link is to their biography, here there is lots of information about the band and how they started as a group of friends. This links in with Negus theory of original and synthetic music.
While you scroll over the links a rather high tech bleeping noise is played, this makes the band seem technical and with them being a hip hop band and most of their beats being electronically made this is the look they are after.
Throughout the website there are alot of pictures, it appears that the band had a promotional photo shoot to promote themselves on their websites. This helps to create the star image and like Dyer says, it makes the artist seem closer to the audience because you can actually see pictures of them.
The Spice Girls website
http://www.thespicegirls.com/
The spice girls was a big girl group in the 1990's. They have since dispanded but they are a perfect example of a synthetic pop group and their website reflects this.
The website appears very glamorous but at the same time its not very well laid out, and non of the images are of a very good quality, however you can see that the band is all about their image.
On the left of the website there is a title saying “Spice girls” in a powerful font, this grabs the eye of the viewer and makes you look at the band members posing in their glamourous way, in the background of this there is a picture of a world map. This is designed to make them seem globally known and make the average fan feel small in comparison to their world wide fan base. This is Dyers theory about the star being close but absent at the same time.
As you navigate your way around the website you can’t escape that image in the left column of the band members, and the information on the right is actually squashed in order to capacity the large picture of them. This really emphasizes how image based the band are.
There is no option or link to listen to any of their music, and the entire website is just full of modelling tips and how to get your hair and makeup perfect, nothing to do with the music! This enforces that they are a very synthetic and facetious band.
Hilltop Hoods
www.hilltophoods.com
Initial analysis of this home page
The first thing you see when you look at this page is the rather dramatic image in the background which is the album art for their latest album. The whole page has a black background therfore the orange on the picture stands out more.
The font used is very strong and although it isn’t shoved in your face it has a strong feel about it, it makes the band seem really legitimate and professional. Just underneath the title “The new album: Out now!” there is direct links to how to purchase their album. This shows that they are still a small time band that need to promote themselves and try and sell you their work. Argubly any band wants to sell you their music but on the hilltop hoods website its the first and main thing you see on the home page.
When you first go onto the website there is an intro, during this a song of their new album plays, this is to get you in the mood to listen to their music. Then when you are on their website they have links to their myspace, twitter and facebook where you can listen to more of their music.
There is a banner at the bottom that acts as the navigation for the website, from there you can go to various pages, for instance the first link is to their biography, here there is lots of information about the band and how they started as a group of friends. This links in with Negus theory of original and synthetic music.
While you scroll over the links a rather high tech bleeping noise is played, this makes the band seem technical and with them being a hip hop band and most of their beats being electronically made this is the look they are after.
Throughout the website there are alot of pictures, it appears that the band had a promotional photo shoot to promote themselves on their websites. This helps to create the star image and like Dyer says, it makes the artist seem closer to the audience because you can actually see pictures of them.
The Spice Girls website
http://www.thespicegirls.com/
The spice girls was a big girl group in the 1990's. They have since dispanded but they are a perfect example of a synthetic pop group and their website reflects this.
The website appears very glamorous but at the same time its not very well laid out, and non of the images are of a very good quality, however you can see that the band is all about their image.
On the left of the website there is a title saying “Spice girls” in a powerful font, this grabs the eye of the viewer and makes you look at the band members posing in their glamourous way, in the background of this there is a picture of a world map. This is designed to make them seem globally known and make the average fan feel small in comparison to their world wide fan base. This is Dyers theory about the star being close but absent at the same time.
As you navigate your way around the website you can’t escape that image in the left column of the band members, and the information on the right is actually squashed in order to capacity the large picture of them. This really emphasizes how image based the band are.
There is no option or link to listen to any of their music, and the entire website is just full of modelling tips and how to get your hair and makeup perfect, nothing to do with the music! This enforces that they are a very synthetic and facetious band.
For this post I will be carrying out research on who listens to different genres of music.
First thing I did was to create a questionnaire to ask 10 or more people about their music tastes.
This questionnaire will have to ask what type of music the person listens to, it will then have to ask how long they have been listening to this type of music. I will then show them 3 artists within their chosen genre so that they can pick who they like the most. My questionnaire must also ask about music videos and what they think work.
1. What type of music do you most enjoy?
a) Hip Hop
b) Rock
2. How long have you been listening to this type of music?
a) Sub 2 years
b) 2 – 5 years
c) 6 – 10 years
d) 11 – 20 years
e) 21 – 30 years
f) 30 + years.
If the answer to question 1 was Hip Hop please answer here.
3. Which of these 3 is your favourite artist?
a) Run-D.M.C
b) Public Enemy
c) 2 Pac
If the answer to question 1 was Rock please answer here.
3. Which of these 3 is your favourite artist?
a) The Beatles
b) Elvis Presley
c) James Brown
4. What do you like to see in a music video?
a) A band or group of people performing how they would if they were at a live show.
b) A band or group of people performing a pre practiced choreographed show.
c) One or two singers singing to the camera while the background changes.
The results
Here are the results I received from asking 20 people my questionnaire, I chose to ask 20 people as it’s enough people to give me a broad idea of what kind of music video people enjoy without it being too much hassle to ask that amount of people. In order to do this questionnaire I asked my family members and close friends the quiz but I also emailed around 10 people and got replies from them all.
From these results I can see that it was a good choice choosing to make a music video for the hip hop genre as out of 20 people 11 people chose hip hop where as only 9 people chose rock.
I also found out that more people prefer Public Enemy over Run DMC and 2 Pac, this is good as i liked Public Enemies style of music video for "Harder than you think" (I did an analysis on this video) and my music video is going to be of a similar style.
My questionnaire also showed me that people who enjoy hip hop and rock don’t appreciate choreographed performances, as I suspected this is more for the pop genre. Instead they enjoy either a live performance or just one or two people singing in front of the camera, like in a lot of hip hop videos. For this reason my video is going to be just one or two people acting in front of a camera.
First thing I did was to create a questionnaire to ask 10 or more people about their music tastes.
This questionnaire will have to ask what type of music the person listens to, it will then have to ask how long they have been listening to this type of music. I will then show them 3 artists within their chosen genre so that they can pick who they like the most. My questionnaire must also ask about music videos and what they think work.
1. What type of music do you most enjoy?
a) Hip Hop
b) Rock
2. How long have you been listening to this type of music?
a) Sub 2 years
b) 2 – 5 years
c) 6 – 10 years
d) 11 – 20 years
e) 21 – 30 years
f) 30 + years.
If the answer to question 1 was Hip Hop please answer here.
3. Which of these 3 is your favourite artist?
a) Run-D.M.C
b) Public Enemy
c) 2 Pac
If the answer to question 1 was Rock please answer here.
3. Which of these 3 is your favourite artist?
a) The Beatles
b) Elvis Presley
c) James Brown
4. What do you like to see in a music video?
a) A band or group of people performing how they would if they were at a live show.
b) A band or group of people performing a pre practiced choreographed show.
c) One or two singers singing to the camera while the background changes.
The results
Here are the results I received from asking 20 people my questionnaire, I chose to ask 20 people as it’s enough people to give me a broad idea of what kind of music video people enjoy without it being too much hassle to ask that amount of people. In order to do this questionnaire I asked my family members and close friends the quiz but I also emailed around 10 people and got replies from them all.
From these results I can see that it was a good choice choosing to make a music video for the hip hop genre as out of 20 people 11 people chose hip hop where as only 9 people chose rock.
I also found out that more people prefer Public Enemy over Run DMC and 2 Pac, this is good as i liked Public Enemies style of music video for "Harder than you think" (I did an analysis on this video) and my music video is going to be of a similar style.
My questionnaire also showed me that people who enjoy hip hop and rock don’t appreciate choreographed performances, as I suspected this is more for the pop genre. Instead they enjoy either a live performance or just one or two people singing in front of the camera, like in a lot of hip hop videos. For this reason my video is going to be just one or two people acting in front of a camera.
Research into the industry (record company, artist)
There have been a string of big record companys in the popular music industry since music has been being made comercially.
In that picture you can see a timeline of all the major record companies.
Hip Hop artists
1. Run-D.M.C.
2. Public Enemy
3. 2 Pac
4. Eric B. & Rakim
5. Jay Z
6. N.W.A
7. The Notorious B.I.G.
8. LL Cool J
9. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
10. Outkast
All of these artists are quite modern and all of their music videos reflect this.
Rock artists
1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. James Brown
4. Rolling Stones
5. Bob Dylan
6. Chuck Berry
7. The Who
8. Led Zeppelin
9. Stevie Wonder
10. Jimi Hendrix
As shown these artists arn't modern at all, most having hit it big between the 1950s and 1980s.
In that picture you can see a timeline of all the major record companies.
Hip Hop artists
1. Run-D.M.C.
2. Public Enemy
3. 2 Pac
4. Eric B. & Rakim
5. Jay Z
6. N.W.A
7. The Notorious B.I.G.
8. LL Cool J
9. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
10. Outkast
All of these artists are quite modern and all of their music videos reflect this.
Rock artists
1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. James Brown
4. Rolling Stones
5. Bob Dylan
6. Chuck Berry
7. The Who
8. Led Zeppelin
9. Stevie Wonder
10. Jimi Hendrix
As shown these artists arn't modern at all, most having hit it big between the 1950s and 1980s.
Research into genres.
Rock Music.
This genre is a form of popular music that has been in making since the early 1960s.
There are sub genres in rock music such as heavy metal, but the majority of rock music consists of a band featuring a drummer, bass player, guitars and a singer.
The music videos are often just videos of the band performing.
Most of the music isn’t synthetic, the artists are making music for the love of making music.
Hip Hop.
Hip hop has came from the Bronx, new York in the early 1970s. The music was traditionally made by African Americans with some Jamaican influence.
Hip hop lyrics are normally about social issues and they are aimed against the government.
The normal hip hop video features just one or two singers miming the lyrics without much of a story.
Some music can be synthetic but some of the older hip hop and original stuff was really from the heart.
This genre is a form of popular music that has been in making since the early 1960s.
There are sub genres in rock music such as heavy metal, but the majority of rock music consists of a band featuring a drummer, bass player, guitars and a singer.
The music videos are often just videos of the band performing.
Most of the music isn’t synthetic, the artists are making music for the love of making music.
Hip Hop.
Hip hop has came from the Bronx, new York in the early 1970s. The music was traditionally made by African Americans with some Jamaican influence.
Hip hop lyrics are normally about social issues and they are aimed against the government.
The normal hip hop video features just one or two singers miming the lyrics without much of a story.
Some music can be synthetic but some of the older hip hop and original stuff was really from the heart.
Thursday 9 July 2009
Video Analysis of 2 music videos
Reel Big Fish -
This music video isn’t your most conventional music video, it would appear more like the video was made for the purpose of having fun.
The music video fits with Dyers theory that a star must have an element of rebellion, in the video the band is seen to be making in direct jokes about ball games in the US. There’s clips of people doing back flips and scoring nets in basketball ect, this shows that they’re just having a joke and pretending to be amazing at the sport when in reality they’re abysmal at it.
Another of Dyers theories that the video fits in with is that of youthfulness, In the video the band appear to be wearing funky glasses and wearing whacky clothing. Adding to this they spend the video jumping around and having a good time, almost posing as really big stars? This also links into his theory that the star must be close but distant at the same time, creating a friendly fun atmosphere in the video allows for this.
According to Negus this video would be a very synthetic music video, how ever the band themselves are not, the video appears to be very poppy but the band are not, as they’re more scar than anything.
Adorno would say that this video creates false needs, as the glasses and rest of the costume worn by the stars are not needed but after seeing the music video people may feel the need to buy such glasses. This had happened a lot recently with artists such as N-Dubz.
The video also clearly has a narrative to it. Showing the band members being woken up and asked to perform through a set of speakers, walking through corridors while a game of basketball takes place.
According to Andrew Goodwin particular music genre’s have their own type of music video, this is correct of this video as ska music is often just having fun and showing the bands view on social issues.
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Public enemy - Harder than you think
This video is for a music in the hip hop/rap scene. But this video some what strays from the stereotypes. Unlike most hip hop video’s there’s no choreographed dancing, no voyeurism like Dyer would have thought. Just 2 artists singing in front of the camera.
I think this is the best approach for me as it means not having to do to much preperation and getting props when i could be spending the time filming. Also the video turns out well with just the 2 singers.
The video doesn't fit in with Adorno's belief that music videos are used to feed the masses because as i said it doesn't fit any of the stereotypes.
This music video isn’t your most conventional music video, it would appear more like the video was made for the purpose of having fun.
The music video fits with Dyers theory that a star must have an element of rebellion, in the video the band is seen to be making in direct jokes about ball games in the US. There’s clips of people doing back flips and scoring nets in basketball ect, this shows that they’re just having a joke and pretending to be amazing at the sport when in reality they’re abysmal at it.
Another of Dyers theories that the video fits in with is that of youthfulness, In the video the band appear to be wearing funky glasses and wearing whacky clothing. Adding to this they spend the video jumping around and having a good time, almost posing as really big stars? This also links into his theory that the star must be close but distant at the same time, creating a friendly fun atmosphere in the video allows for this.
According to Negus this video would be a very synthetic music video, how ever the band themselves are not, the video appears to be very poppy but the band are not, as they’re more scar than anything.
Adorno would say that this video creates false needs, as the glasses and rest of the costume worn by the stars are not needed but after seeing the music video people may feel the need to buy such glasses. This had happened a lot recently with artists such as N-Dubz.
The video also clearly has a narrative to it. Showing the band members being woken up and asked to perform through a set of speakers, walking through corridors while a game of basketball takes place.
According to Andrew Goodwin particular music genre’s have their own type of music video, this is correct of this video as ska music is often just having fun and showing the bands view on social issues.
----------------------------------------------------------
Public enemy - Harder than you think
This video is for a music in the hip hop/rap scene. But this video some what strays from the stereotypes. Unlike most hip hop video’s there’s no choreographed dancing, no voyeurism like Dyer would have thought. Just 2 artists singing in front of the camera.
I think this is the best approach for me as it means not having to do to much preperation and getting props when i could be spending the time filming. Also the video turns out well with just the 2 singers.
The video doesn't fit in with Adorno's belief that music videos are used to feed the masses because as i said it doesn't fit any of the stereotypes.
Tuesday 7 July 2009
Director Research Task
Director: Spike Jonze
Age: 39
From: Maryland USA
Spike Jonze is an American music video expert. However some of his most notable moments have been in films. He has been Academy award nominated for his directorial part in the 1999 film John Malkovich and for the 2002 film Adaptation. He is also the co creator of MTV’s Jackass.
But spike Jonze has also done a lot of big music videos. Some of his earliest music videos started in 1992 with “High in High School” by Chainsaw Kittens and “100%” By Sonic Youth. He then moved on to make more music videos, some of the most notible of which were “Praise you” by Fatboy Slim in 1998, “Electrolite” by R.E.M. in 1997. He has even worked with the legendary Tenacious D and other bands like Daft Punk and The Beastie Boys. He has continued to make music videos until his most recent video with Kanye West for his song “See you in my nightmares” in 2009.
In total Spike Jonze has made 54 music videos and is a well known director of music videos.
I find Spike Jonze style impressive because he uses quick cuts to really create a hard hitting video, this is similar to the film Jackass which he helped created for MTV. The quick cuts make the viewer watch the video several times because the human eye doesn't have enough time to take in all the images.
Spike also uses alot of flowing images where panning and tracking shots are vital. I like this because it gives the video a profesional feel.
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Director: Emmett and Brendan Malloy
As a collective they are known as: The Malloys
The Malloys first started making music videos in 2000 with some of their first pieces being Responsibility by MxPx and Breakout by Foo Fighters. A respectable start by any standards. The Malloys have always worked with what they would consider “Organic” music, music that is made just to be enjoyed, not synthetic where the music is made to make money. In the early 2000s they managed to work with some big bands such as Wheatus, Blink 182 and American Hi-Fi. As time went on they started working with bigger and bigger bands making good quality music videos. In 2003 they worked with Metallica on their single St.Anger. They also did some work with bands like The Black Eyed Peas and the White Stripes in 2005.
In more recent years they have worked with the likes of Oasis and The Kooks (2008) But in 2009 they have started working with more pop orientated groups such as N*E*R*D and the Jonas Brothers.
In the end The Malloys are big music video makers who have worked with a lot of big bands who have trusted them to represent the meaning of the songs and create the right star image for them.
I find the Malloys filming styles impressive because they add humour to their videos, like Spike Jonze i feel this makes a music video more entertaining and on first viewing will have viewers amused. It will also make people want to watch the video again. An example of this is their video to Foo Fighters - Breakout
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