Function of a music video

The function os a music video is to promote the artist.  Artists are usually in the music video but do not neccasarily have to be.  The audience will usually see fast editing, close-ups, slow motion and jumpcuts with the camera constantly moving however not always.  If the artist is in  the music video there will be repeat shots or edits of them to portray their importance.

Andrew Goodwins theory

Andrew Goodwin believes in a number of points to make a music video, and  there are a few different ways to make music videos, such as;
-Illustration; where the video tells a story of the lyrics, dance is also used to express the feelings/atmosphere of the song.  In this video, Beyonce sings about them being together and the music video portrays this.

-Amplification; when the video adds new layers of meaning and doesn't have a simple story line.
In this video they sing about a specific man, who never appears in the video.  It is only ever them in the camera being (beautiful).  

-Disjuncture; where the video contradicts the lyrics meanings.
Both Eminem and Rhianna are singing about is how much of a great team they are but the video portrays how much she hates him.

Pop videos often rely on a lot of repetition, the same image can often pop up in the chorus or verse.  Usually pop videos have a beginning,climax and ending  this then ties-in with the song.  The repetition of the video with the song makes it familiar to the audience so that if it comes on, on the radio people with then recognise it.  Certain genres will portray women in different ways.  Genres like hip-hop and heavy metal, portray women as objects to look at.  Where as women like Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Madonna present themselves this way for a reason.      

Skills Audit...

Skills Audit...

When I began the research process for my AS practical work last year I must admit that it took me a while to get used to researching everything before we could go out and start filming. This was because im so used to working everything out the day before that I wasn't really used to planning or researching things. But I must admit that researching is a really good way of making sure you know everything before you can begin filming.

When I began researching for my thriller film I didn't really understand what i had to research as to me all I thought we would have to research was about locations and where and when we would be able to film.  But when I actually took the time to speak to me media teachers I found out there is a lot you have to research before you can even beginning filming. you have to make sure you have the perfect location, you have a good team of actors as you dont want to be let down at the last minute. 

When thinking back to my research back then and comparing the research I am doing now I can see that there has been a massive change, for the better of course. As I am now know more about what I need to be researching and how it will help me when I begin making my music video. The first thing I began researching would have to be the type of music video I wanted to make. Did I want to make it an RnB music video, an Indie music video or did I want to make it a slow music video. To help me get inspiration of what kind of music video I wanted to produce I watched a few music videos from past city and islington students. I would say that some of the music videos were the wow factor, form the style of music they used or even from the way they edited the music video. 

Another thing we had to do was find the perfect location, even though we still havent decided on all our locations we have a pretty good idea of where we want to film. All we have to do now is get permission to film there. When I say permisson I mean that we have to find out if we are allowed to film because in certain locations you are not allowed to film. Another problem we had when deciding where to film was expenses, I mean to be able to film in certain locations you have to pay money. In my group we wanted to film in a train station, but then our media teacher Rebecca told us that to be able to film in places like a train station you have to have a permit. So once Rebecca had told us that we had to pay I began researching how much it would cost to be able to film in a train station, after looking for ages I finally found out that for  a student permit it would be £40.00. Even though it isn't a lot of money to students like us it kind of is as we would only be filming for an hour maximum so we didn't really want to spend money to film. Even if we can't film in the train station we are stilling going to find some really good locations to film in. 

Another thing we had to research was the weather report we had to make sure that on the days we wanted to film that we had the right weather. I mean if we would be filming a happy scene we wouldnt want it to be raining or grey and cloudy. So we had to take extra time when it came to researching the weather reports. 

All in all I would say that my research skills have developed dramatical from last year to now as this year I have a better idea of what I have to research about and how I ma going to research. I mean I think it is better if you use different methods to research, I mean one time you can use the internet for research another time you can watch tv to get inspiration and another time you can read a magazine to research an idea. As if you used different methods of researching it makes it more interesting and you will enjoy it more.

Analysis of best music video form...

Analysis of best music video....

I have to many favourite music videos but if I was to choose which music video I thought was the best I would have to choose Cheryl Cole's music video for 'The Flood. I would say that this is one of my favourite music video because it has everything I think you need to have a successful music video. It has a brillant mise en scene just from the costumes to the props that are used in the music video. What I like so much about this video is the mise en scene I mean the costumes are amazing from comfy clothes she wears at the beginning of the video to the green dress she wears in the under water scene. Also the props that are used in the music video, I mean the scene when Cheryl Cole lights the match is brillant I mean the flame from the match just brightens up the whole screen.
add screen shots of certain aspects of the mise en scene

The camera work in this music video is also really good. As there is a range of different camera angles used in the music video ranging from long shots to close up's. A particular camera shot which I would say is my favorite is the establishing shot of the sea. This shot is my favourite because it is such a simple shot but it has so much impact on this music video I mean to me this shot sets the mood for the whole music video. Which to me the mood is calm and soothing and the shot of the the sea signifies that. There is also a range of close up's used in this music video which I think is the key thing you need in a music video. A favorite close up of mine is the close up of Cheryl Cole's face when she is sitting near the fire. This is my favorite shot because it is showing the sorrow and how upset she is.I am not saying that I am happy that she is upset but this is my favorite shot as it is showing her raw and emotional she is not holding back.
add screen shots of the music video's camera angles.

The editing in this music video is superb as there is a range of different editing techniques. I mean right at the beginning of themusic video there is a flash back scene of what is too come in this music video I mean the camera shots of Cheryl Cole tossing and turning in bed, her under water. I think this is a brillant technique to use at the beginning of the music video as it is setting the music video up. By using a flash back it is giving the audience a glimpse of what to expect from the music video. The editing of this music video is also quite fast paced.
add screen shots of the music video.

Cheryl Coles 2010 Music Video 'The Flood'

What is the function of a music video?

Functions of a music video..

To me there are many functions of a music video, so it would be hard to summon up the function of a music video up in one word. To me the main function of a music video is to promote the artist, as a music video is a way of showing people who you are through the artists love of music.Music videos are also made to entertain people I mean most videos tell a story whether it is a happy or a sad story. Music videos are also another way for record companies to make money seeing as they dont make money from the sale of albums anymore. Record companies make money from music videos because if the public like the music video from an artist such as Rihanna, then the public are going to want to go to her concerts. The way the record companies make money at concerts is through the sale of merchandise such as programmes, tops, jumpers of the artist. If you have ever been to a concert or festival you will know just how expensive merchandise is,fair enough I know record companies have to make money but why make merchandise so expensive, I mean people have already paid a lot of money for a ticket.

Music today struggles to have the same impact on record sales. I mean Youtube means that fans can access music videos on demand for free. Also if an artist was to release a song without a music video it wouldnt have the same impact . Music videos are made to give the artist exposure and to engage new and exciting fans. People can acess music videos through many ways they can either watch them online at websites such as Youtube or they can download them from websites such as Itunes another way people can watch music videos is through music channels such as Kiss, VIVA or MTV.

Technical Skills I have developed during my AS year..

When it came to reflecting back on my first year in media I realised there was so much I could say as it has been a pretty eventful first year as I have learnt so much. When it came to media technology I thought I knew everything there was that I needed to know, I was wrong there is so much more I need to learn. In this blog I ma going to list and explain some of the skills I have developed through my AS year.

The first thing I learnt was how to use:-

•   Camera; when it came to the camera there was a lot of information to take in as you had to show the teachers that you could use the camera correctly before they would let hire the camera outso you could begin filming your film. We learnt the basic skills when it came to using the camers; how to switch it on and off, how to insert the batterys and memory card, also how to record and how to zoom- we was told it wasnt a good idea to use the zoom button as it wouldnt look right in your film. We also learnt how to put the camera on the tripod and how to play back the footage that we filmed. 

• Film Cut pro; film cut pro is the programme we used to edit our clips and make them into a film. Before we could begin editing our film we would have to import our clips into final cut, once all the clips had been imported we could then begin the editing process. Which took a long time, as we wanted to make sure that our film clips flowed. When it came to final cut pro we also learnt that you could make transitions for your film by using final cut so some of the exmaples of transitions we could have used include fading in and out and dissolves. 

• Sound Track Pro; when it came to deciding what music should go with our film, we had no ideas of where to even begin looking and how would we get the right music to match our film.After deliberating for a few lessons we finally decided to use soundtrack pro. To me soundtrack pro was brillant as it had evrery sound you could imagine and it really made our film have the perfect soundtrack. After deciding what music and sound effects we wanted to use for our film we then had to import into final cut pro and make sure that the music and sound effects flowed with the clips.

• Live Type; this is the programme we used when it came to designing the titles for our film. This was a reallygood programme to use as there was so much choice you could decide from you could have simple titles like plain writing or you could be a little more adventourous and have moving titles. You could also be stylish and have the titles flashing. 

• Handbrake; this is the programme we used to convert our finished film into an mp4. Once our film had been converted into an mp4 we were then able to upload it onto blogger. I must admit i kept forgetting that we had to convert our film into an mp4 before we would be able to upload to blogger, and each time I would have to get a teacher or technican to help me with the process of converting our film into an mp4. But after being shown twice how to convert our film into an mp4 I was able to remember the process and can now do it by myself.

Add pictures...

Planning for Music Video: ANALYSIS OF PIXIE LOTT VIDEO. HOW OURS WILL DIFFER.

There isn't much to analyse in Pixie Lott's music video for Use Somebody. The video is purely set in the studio, there are minor camera works used - just a few pans and zoom here and there. 

The lack of imagination used in Pixie Lotts video is a good advantage for us as we can create any idea for the music video without it being copyright. 

We plan use use much more camera work, and interesting camera angles from close ups to cut ins. We will also expiriment on a variety of editing like black & white. Since the song is pretty slow we will take Vernallis' point - the camera may move in time with the music and so we will add slow motion to some parts.

We will also use a variety of props like a guitar and a journal as well as shooting in different places, unlike Pixie Lott's video where it was only set in a recording studio. 

Before we decided on this song, I suggested to Tomi and Sophie on a Friday lesson that we all listen to it at the same time with our heads down and eyes closed, therefore with no distractions we could visualise what the music video could contain if we chose the song. When the song finished, we wrote down what we visualised ans shared it to each other. After discussing in detail of the ideas we had for the music video, we created a spider diagram which linked our thoughts together, creating a draft outcome to how we could approach the song. We felt that what we visualised was soo detailed so we agreed that Use Somebody was the one to work with.