Location change

The first location we picked the video was miles away, and due to transportation and practicality we have decided to move the location.We will now be filming at "Cuckoos Hallow" which is only 5 minutes from school, it has several lakes, bridges, trees and areas of grass perfect for filming. At this location we can still carry out all the narrative ideas we had come up with, and its easier to reach if we need to re film. Shortly I will upload some photos of the location and a plan of the video itself (with lyrics) so we can see the idea more clearly and help us along with the filming.  

Metal mood board.

This is a mood board that we have chosen and created based on the Rock/Metal genre. This is likely to relate to the song we will choose as our final one. You can see the typical conventions of the band in this mood board, there are a lot of dark colours and clothing. However we might not apply these factors since although the song is from a band of this genre, the actual song is acoustic.

Artist research - Defeater

Defeater is a hardcore punk band who like to take "creative liberties" when crafting songs. According to guitarist Jay Maas, "There's a prevalent thing in this genre where if you're not doing what hardcore bands have been doing for the last 25 years almost verbatim, you're fucking up." Defeater also showed their softer side with the four acoustic tracks at the end of their second studio album Empty Days & Sleepless Nights.

Defeater is a concept band whose body of work features an overarching story-line told through multiple concept albums. The narrative highlights the hardships and internal conflicts faced by a working-class family living on the Jersey Shore during the post-WWII period. On why this era is of interest to the group, Maas said it's because, "it's seen as this period of great American prosperity but there was still a lot of racism, sexism and homophobia. We write about these prejudices and things like war and murder and how they affected real people. All these things definitely contradict those Norman Rockwell-rosy images of that period."

Record labels - Metalcore

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

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

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

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

years, these include:

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

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

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

Music video directors

Just like in a feature length movie, a director is required to monitor the production of the video and ensure everything is going to plan. The director is there to ensure that the band is doing the correct conventions of that genre, unless the video is based on something else. They are also the director of a back story that may take place to go along with the music video, ensuring all actors and other cast are doing the correct thing, just like in a movie. These 2 aspects are important in the music video to ensure a video is developed for the specific genre of music. The director makes sure that the conventions of the music match the genre of the music the video is applied to, unless it is intentionally altered for obscurity or comic effect. A popular director in the metal/metalcore scene called Robbie Starbuck is a director of bands within that particular genre. He has worked with bands such as Asking Alexandria, Times of Grace and Escape the Fate and developed music videos that fit to the various subgenres of music. The video for “Caraphernelia” by Pierce The Veil appears bright, and has a story relating to the lyrics of the song. Whereas the video for Asking Alexandria’s “The Final Episode (Let’s Change the Channel)” has a more gloomy and dark approach to it, hence the style of music played. Robby has done a good job of working with different conventions of music video genres. His website (http://www.robbystarbuck.com/) has all of his various videos on the site.

two videos that robby did for "Asking alexandria"  

Brainstorm for music video ideas

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

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

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

When we finalise the ideas I will post again to show what we have decided to do and how we intend to make it happen.  

Defeater - I Don't Mind

When making a music video that tells a story, it is always good to keep the lyrics in account. They can assist in the portraying of the story very well and will make the music video not only easier for the audience to understand, but for the people to make as well because they will already have a template for the video. The lyrics I have posted are for the song “I Don’t Mind” by Defeater, our most probable candidate for our song choice. The song itself does not have a music video created for it, but when looking at the lyrics, it is quite easy to build a rough idea on what a music video for the song will look like. 



Let's talk about the old days, 
Let's talk about your friends, 
Let's talk about the summer 
And how you wish it wouldn't end.

Did I forget to tell you, 
How pretty you looked in that dress? 
In the first time that I saw you, 
You cleaned the mess from my head.

And I don't mind, 
If we take our time. 
No, 
I don't mind.

Lets go walkin' on the boardwalk, 
Dip our feet into the sea. 
Lets find ourselves lost for hours, 
Until we find ourselves a drink.

Lets talk that sun into setting, 
Just need the sound of your voice. 
Need that calming and the comfort, 
Something to drown out the noise.

And I don't mind, 
If we take our time, 
'Cause I'm all yours 
If you're all mine.

Something I've been meanin' to tell you, 
About three years and a day. 
I'd very much like to get married, 
Maybe have kids and move away, 

'Cause there ain't nothing like your smile, 
Your legs and those eyes. 
I will beg and steal and borrow 
To keep you safe your whole life.

And I don't mind, 
If we take our time, 
'Cause I'm all yours 
If you're all mine.

Star appearances in music videos

A guest appearance is a participation of an outsider performer usually called guest artist. Guest appearances are often described with the words featuring, with, or and. It is abbreviated in credit lists as Feat., Ft., f. The terms guest role or guest star are also common, the latter term specifically indicating the guest appearance of a celebrity.In the early stages of music videos this was with artists such as Queens "Under pressure" Featuring David Bowie. Although in the early stages on music videos artists were not always credited.  For example, Eric Clapton was not credited in print for his guitar in the release of While My Guitar Gently Weeps of The Beatles. Gradually guest appearances have become a fully credited staple of music industry. The custom of guest appearance has become especially prominent in rap music, and this influenced other genres too. In metalcore and rock music it is especially common, often getting other bands vocalists to add screams or clean vocals over tracks. 
In the video for You me at six's track "Bite my tongue" It features guest vocals from Oli Sykes. The singer of You me at six's singer (Josh) and Oli are actually good friends in real life, probably a reason they wanted him to feature over another artist. You me at six are a UK based rock band, often only having clean vocals in their songs. Having a featuring artist such as Oli, who's band primarily use screaming vocals give the band a more diverse sound.In the video Josh begins at the platform of a control panel while his band are playing instruments while his band are held up like puppets on strings. Giving the impression that Josh is in charge and controlling his band. When Oli's part of the song kicks in he throws Josh off the control panel and takes control himself. Showing that both singers are just as important as each other. Its also a good way to get a clear view of both vocalists on camera. In the pictures shown I have screen grabbed the shots from the same camera viewpoint.  

Record labels

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

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

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a British multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and was one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major publishing arm, EMI Music Publishing – also based in London with offices globally. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but since February 2011 it has been wholly owned by Citigroup (which took the then financially troubled company over because of more than $4 billion in debt it held).

Warner music group

Warner Music Group (WMG) is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies. For three decades the conglomerate was known as WEA, which stood for Warner Bros.-Elektra-Atlantic Records; three major record companies that signed and developed musical acts and, in turn, distributed product for subsidiaries and other record labels.

Sony music entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment (SME or Sony Music) is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation. The company, which evolved into Sony Music, was founded in 1929 as the American Record Corporation (ARC) through the merger of several smaller record companies.

History and Development of the music video

1929 - Blues singer Bessie smith appeared in a 2 reel short film "Saint louis blues". It was shown in theaters untill 1932.

1940  - Walt disney released Fantasia, an animated film based around famous classical music.

1956 - Tony bennet was filmed walking along the serpentine in hyde park, london as his recording of "Stranger in paradise" played. This film was distirbuted and played by UK and US tv stations, Leading him to claim he had made the worlds first music video.

1967 - The beatles took the music video to new heights when they released music videos for Penny lane and Strawberry fields forever. These videos used techniques from films such as dramatic lighting, unusal camera angles and rhythmic editing. These two videos were the first of concept videos to try and illustrate the song and its lyrics in an artful manner.

1970 - Around this time Top of the pops helped music videos to progress rapidly. It created a lot of competition between bands and artists as the limited space on the show meant it could only showcase as number of videos per show. This encouraged bands/ artists to make the best videos possible.

1981 - MTV (The worlds first music channel) was launched. It was devoted to showing bands/artists videos. This also encouraged people in the industry to make the best possible videos. At this time videos were more focused on narative than just the artist performing.

Modern day - Today music videos are even more important to artists. The budget for videos has increased, along with the technology available to artists to make videos. Nowadays music videos are heavily featured on narative.

Bring me the horizon - It never ends.

Movement

In music videos movement often goes with the video, the video will match the pace or beat of the music. In It never ends Bring me the horizon do this very well.  The ambulance in the video moves quickly and matches the guitar riffs and drum beat. Oli sykes (the lead singer) flies behind the ambulance again very fast, and to the general pace of the song. The typical convention for a metal-core song is to be fast paced and heavy, and often movement in the videos matches this convention. Even when Oli is taken out of the ambulance and wheeled to the operating room the fast pace of the video is still kept going. The doctors run with him on the bed and keep the fast paced urgency flowing throughout.

Narrative 

The video has a lose narrative that does match the lyrics although it isn't totally direct. The song title (and main lyric) It never ends, is shown throughout the video. Oli is clearly injured, hence the ambulance, but still people are chasing him and wont leave him alone. The lyric "every second, every hour, every minute, every day. it never ends, it never ends" is illustrated well in this video. The video is set partly at day, and partly at night, showing it doesn't matter what time it is but everyone is still after him. The narrative in this video is apparent as a theme, but not as a direct visual of all the lyrics in the song.


Band/Artist

There is a constant focus on Oli in the video. None of the other band are pictured or seen at all. As he is seen as the "main" member of the band, the focus is almost definatly on him throughout. Since he is not actually perfroming in the track he is acting in it instead. It makes sense for Oli to be the most featured as he is the frontman of the band and also owns clothing lines, he is classed as the most famous. The record label use him to promote the band and give the band good image.

Typical conventions of a music video - prezzi

Typical conventions of a music video on Prezi

Conventions of a music video

Movement

This is essential to music veidos and usually complements the rhythem of the song. Movement can be achieved by moving the camera, or having people moving and dancing on screen, or even with the speed of editing. Some videos rely on movement to excite the viewer, such as in many pop songs like "rock your body" by justin timberlake. Rapid editing with shots less than a second long, complements the dancing in the vdeio.

Narrative

 Music videos may also have a narrative or "story". The story being told in the video may relate to the songs lyrics and illustrate what is being said or be independant and tell a different story altogether. For example "Abigail" by motionless in white features a narraitve, which links into the songs lyrics. The video shows a young girl (presumably abigail) in a police interigation room, and then being released and having a sexual relationship with a priest. The song features lines such as "Oh abigail how could you do this to us?" and the viedo showcases her betrayals in life.

Performing/appearing

In music videos it isnt uncommon for bands or artists to lip sync or pretend to play instruments with the studio track put behind them. The artist or band may also be featured in the video acting or appearing rather than performing. In some cases bands will do both act and perform in the videos. Asking alexandria did this in several music videos, they both acted and performed in them. They put 3 music videos together the make a narrative labeled "Through sin and self destruction" of which the band all acted in.

Intertextuality

Sometimes bands and producers may play with conventions by  making references to a genre as a whole, or to other music videos. This is intertexuality. This can be shown by Capture the crown, and in their video "You call that a knife? This is a knife!" The present metalcore as a whole genre with the clothes they wear, and the movements they make. But the band  also make referneces to other bands in metalcore such as Asking Alexandria. They copy particular scenes and use the same gimmics, such as the singer with water pouring over them.

The purpose of a music video.

The purpose of a music video is to sell products, the main ove being the song featured in the video. Other products to do with a band or artist are also marketed by music videos. For example, the album the song is featured on, the film the song is part of a soundtrack for, or an upcoming tour. Music viedos are a strange way to market, as they allow the audience full access to the product they are selling. When you watch a music video you get the song or "product" being promoted, for free. before the digital age, music marketing was too problematic. Whereas today, with new technology music videos can be seen basically anywhere and at any time. Sites like youtube, facebook and myspace are all popular for displaying music videos by bands or artists. With the internet so accessable on so many devices (smartphones, tablets and laptops) music videos and band advertisment can be seen anywhere in the world.

Goodwins theory of a music video - analysis

1) Music videos demostrate genre characterisitcs.

In motionless in white's video for Immaculate Misconception the genre characteristics are shown throughout. As  a genre it is classed as "metalcore" which is a branch off from heavy metal. As a genre it is considered dark and often angry and hateful, which the video shows at the start with chris tackling the protestor. The band perfrom on stage infront of a live crowd, typical for metal videos. It shows the band performing, and playing their instruments, as opposed to in pop videos where the person may dance. The theme of anger in metalcore music is shown as Chris (vocals) screams and sings at the man he tackles at the start, and directs his anger at him. The club they are perfroming in is dark, fitting in with sterotypical views on "Heavy" music. All of this fits in with goodwins theory, as the video matches the genre characteristics.














2) There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.

There is a very strong relationship between lyrics and visuals in this song. The song is about being different, and standing up to people who lie and pretend , as shown at the beggining with Chris tackling the protestor. There are also many lines such as " I dont care if this offends you, and your worthless god" which is shown on screen as Chris recreating the scene of the crucifiction from the bible. When the man from the start enters the club and chris screams "So come and F***ing get us!" and walks towards the man to confront him, followed by his loyal crowd (Again to show him as a jesus like figure). Another line "I am who I am, This is what we are" is reflected throughout the entire video. The makeup the band wears, the clothes, the style, the music is all different to what people may consider normal or even acceptable. Its showing the band (and in turn the fans) dont care about being different. Once again this meets goodwins theory as the lyrics and visuals match very well on screen.








3) There is a relationship between Audio and visuals.

The music and visuals work well together, they are quite illasturtive and create a dark and eery tone to the whole video. The whole video is dark, with hardly any lighting to fit the music. The only light is the orange flashing strobe when the band are on stage, allowing a view of the crowd for spilt seconds at a time. The band headbang, and move to the beat of the music at the same time whilst on stage. Contrasting to pop videos with dancing, this headbanging and crabbing is the metal equivelant. When the music is faster paced, there is generally more movment on screen, but with it still being kept dark.
The audio, the visuals and the lyrics all fit in together to match and create a good video. It sticks to the metalcore "sterotypes" or formula for the videos the bands produce, again meeting goodwins theory.

4) The record labels demands will be met with lots of close ups of the artist and they may develop motifs across their videos.

Motionless in white are no different from any other band that make music videos on the basis that there are a lot of close up on the band, inparticular chris. As chris is the singer/screamer and the frontman of the band, he is the one who can move the most and have the most focus set on them. Chris doesnt devlop any particular moves that he uses in every video, but the makeup however is used in every video.  To fit in with the metal theme (and the theme of being different) the band uses a lot of heavy make up on stage. Chris does however lean over into the crowd quite a lot, but this isnt special to motionless in white, as frontmen of most bands tend to do this when performing live. This still meets goodwins theory, although it isnt as strong as genre characteristics, or the relationship between lyrics and visuals.

5) There is frequent reference to the notion of looking.

This is one area where metal videos differ widley from others, The fouse is more on the actual music than on the visuals of a person. There are no mirrors used, and no screens within screens at all. The only thing that is used is a stage, for the band to perform on. The only focus of looking (more so for people who are newly exposed to the genre) is the shock factor of the makeup, the piercings and the stretched ears. There are only a few women in the video, but these are just members of the crowd, and are not used to attract attention with skimpy outfits or any sexual referneces. The notion of looking in metalcore videos as a whole is focused on the lead singer/screamer of the band, as these are often the most popular members. Immaculate misconception doesnt really meet this critera very well, and metal as a genre doesnt focus on looking as much as pop videos would.

6) There is often intertextual reference.

There isnt much reference to other forms of media (eg tv, film or other videos) in Immaculate misconception. It can be seen in some music videos for there to be the bands name, or the record labels name in film style at the start of the video, but not here. The only slight reference to TV is at the start with the protestors, as it appears to be a modern day protest that would be seen on the news, and in the past there have been many protests outside venues against metal bands. In this particular video there are hardly any references at all, but most other music videos do use referneces. This video doesnt fit in with goodwins theory.

What does the task involve?

Promo video definition  : A music video or song video is a short film intergrating a song and imagery for promotional or artistic purposes.  Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos date back much further, they came into prominence in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip" or "film clip".



Digipak Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.



Websites: Used by bands to promote themselves, using images, free music, tour dates, live footage and offical merchandise.

Brief

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

A website homepage for the band
A cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)
A  magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package)

How long should the videos be?

The length of a track is the usual convenetion, but if it is  a particulalry long track, they could fade early. Three minutes is the classic pop song.