Research is very important, especially in creative media as it will determine the outcome of a future production. There are two main types of research, Primary and secondary research.
Primary Research:
This is a self generated research. One main way to collect primary research is through a survey or questionnaire as you can distribute it easier and gather more answers in a shorter space of time.
An example of primary research I carried out is when we interviewed the various doctors in the James Paget corporate video, we used that to find out information about the hospital and what anyone visiting should expect.
Secondary Research:
This is to collect data from the originator of primary research, it mostly involves finding out information from third party sources.
An example of secondary research I used is when creating my music video I looked into the popularity of my video style, this was so that I could have something that would not be too niche but that it would be slightly different to other music videos.
Quantitive Research:
The use of consumer sampling such as surveys to find out data and information. The findings are often presented numerically and then converted into percentages for the data to be shown on a graph or chart.
An example of this is on the website IMDB. Films are rated out of 10 and it shows anyone wanting to watch the film whether it is any good or not according to the critics.
Qualitative Research:
This is a exploratory method of research often used in any academic subjects, it provides insights into helping develop ideas or solve problems.
An example of this is user reviews. This gives an audience a much more in depth look at whether something is worth watching or not, reviews are extremely important in the film industry because it can be a good source of viewers feedback.
Audience Research:
This is to use the audience and their reactions to a product to look into how to improve or pitch something.
An example of this is when I wanted to re brand a Unilever product, I created a presentation to show off the idea and wanted to see what the rest of the class thought if the idea.
Production Research:
In order to do production research, used location and talent release forms to not only ensure the legality of it but also find out the age of the actors, what type of location I would be filming in, whether there would be any electrical outlets etc.
'I'm only human, I'm only, I'm only I'm only human, human' This line expresses that human’s are not perfect. 'Maybe I'm foolish, maybe I'm blind Thinking I can see through this and see what's behind
Got no way to prove it so maybe I'm lying' This highlights some of the weaknesses of humans. 'But I'm only human after all, I'm only human after all Don't put your blame on me, don't put your blame on me' The lyrics go back to the idea of being ‘only human,’ and because of this fault, you can’t blame someone for making a mistake. 'Take a look in the mirror and what do you see
Do you see it clearer or are you deceived, in what you believe' 'Cause I'm only human after all, you're only human after all
Don't put the blame on me
Don't put your blame on me'
This goes back to the idea that human beings are imperfect and always make mistakes, and that it is not fair to hold a grudge against someone for making a simple mistake.
'Some people got the real problems
Some people out of luck
Some people think I can solve them
Lord heavens above
I'm only human after all, I'm only human after all
Don't put the blame on me
Don't put the blame on me'
Some are worse off then others, but they still look to others for help; even when, the others they are looking for are only better because they were more lucky.
'Don't ask my opinion, don't ask me to lie
Then beg for forgiveness for making you cry, making you cry'
This can be one person telling the other person the truth, and because it will hurt the answer, the person being asked will want to lie and make it better. Because of the lie it can connect to the idea humans aren’t perfect.
'Cause I'm only human after all, I'm only human after all
Don't put your blame on me, don't put the blame on me'
Some people got the real problems
Some people out of luck
Some people think I can solve them
Lord heavens above
I'm only human after all, I'm only human after all
Don't put the blame on me
Don't put the blame on me
I'm only human I make mistakes
I'm only human that's all it takes
To put the blame on me
Don't put the blame on me
Unable to solve other peoples problems because we can't always tell what the problem is because we're only human.
I'm no prophet or messiah
You should go looking somewhere higher
In order for some things to be solved those who need help should go looking for God because at this point the problem is beyond a mere human’s ability to solve.
I'm only human after all, I'm only human after all
Don't put the blame on me, don't put the blame on me
I'm only human I do what I can
I'm just a man, I do what I can
Don't put the blame on me
Don't put your blame on me
Chorus is very repetitive but does strengthen the claim that humans make mistakes.
My music video will be an animation made in Adobe After Effects, this means that it's difficult to create a typical storyboard as it is all animated (and often the animation idea changes drastically from planning to production. Instead of doing a story board, I created an animation plan, this shows the style of animation, in my case it is a style called 'Kinetic typography' which heavily uses animated text.
The animation plan also shows some of the more important animations, for example in the chorus in the lines 'Don't put the blame on me', I wanted to create an animated earth to relate to the nature of the song which is the innocence and problems of being a human being. I want to do this because it splits up the music video quite nicely, rather than just having animated words which would become boring after a while.
The animation will primarily consist of text however there will be animated images in the background or on the foreground. In order to create a sense of meaning or for the music video to conform to the songs lyrics I want to make the video 'Imperfect'. This means that I want to make the video glitchy and lowlfi in places, This is important because otherwise the video will be long winded and boring, the glitch effects and transitions should hopefully split it up quite well.
At the end of the video I want to create a human like structure out of text layers of the lyrics and then have a camera set up in after effects to slowly zoom out and pan across the image while the final remaining words are being animated in, once the song is over I would like the video to dip to black.
In this essay I will be exploring the styles, conventions and techniques of music video production. When looking at styles it means what genre of music video, for example if a music video is a parody of something that is already available. Conventions are important to study as they are one of the most important aspects, for example lyric interpretation would be an example of a convention, if a music video does not interpret the music or the lyrics then the video would be very boring. I will also be looking at some techniques that are frequently used in music video production, for example lip syncing. This is one of the most common techniques used in music video production as it shows the artist (sometimes an actor) singing even though they are miming along to the song.
Europe - The Final Countdown
This is a good example of an in-concert 'as live' music video. This means that it has a live setting almost like watching a live performed version. This was a very common style of music video, especially in the rock genre during the 1980's. This video show's a lot of the band playing 'live' but also shows a large crowd of people watching, this is to show that this is a live show and not just a music video filmed on a sound stage.
This style was so popular during the time because it made the video very energetic, rather than having to think of a storyline and find locations etc, it was easier to film a live concert and just release that (with the original song overdubbed). However, towards the beginning of the 1990's, this style became very cliche and outdated, and it quickly became less and less popular with rock groups, this was where music videos with a meaning and a story line became a lot more popular.
Aha - Take On Me
The music video to 'Take on me' by Aha is very different to a lot of music videos released at this time (1985) as it uses a special animation technique known as 'rotoscoping', this is animating over an image from a live action film. This music video is an example of an interpretive style, this means that the music video takes an interpretation from the lyrics and tells a story with it. This is a bit different from a narrative where it would directly link to the lyrics, an interpretive style gives the music video more creative freedoms such as story telling and characters.
This music video although is in an interpretive style, telling a story of the two main characters in love, the shot often cuts back to the band playing. For example when the main synthesizer line is played, the camera cuts back to the keyboard player. I believe they used this to break the video up, otherwise the story line would be very long winded and probably get boring to the viewer after little time.
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Can't Stop
'Can't stop' by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers is an example of a surrealist/absurdist style of music video. This means that it is unconventional and often bears no relation to the meaning of the music or lyrics. This video contains many spontaneous and random shots, some artists use this style of music video because it keeps the viewers attention for longer as it is more bold. In this case, there's no real story line to the video, it is based around the band playing with a lot of shots in between of something non related.
Beastie Boys - Shadrach
'Shadrach' by Beastie Boys is an example of an impressionist music video. This means that the video is more rich in artistic value than actual story telling or relating to the lyrics. This video is almost a mix of impressionist and 'as live' because in many shots it shows the band playing in-front of an audience. Impressionism has been around since the early 19th century and differs from a lot of art movements as it defers from the original meaning of the artists intended mood or style and takes an individual approach that is often bolder, more colourful and generally more interesting.
This music video, just like 'Take on me' by Aha is rotoscoped, except this is slightly different as it is painted over rather than just sketched. This makes the video stand out and be more visually appealing to the viewer. Directors create impressionist work as it's different to mainstream styles, because there are so many music videos being released it's important to have one that stands out from the rest and a good way to do this is to use this style.
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Fat
'Fat' by "Weird Al" Yankovic is a parody of Michael Jackson's 'Bad', both song and video wise. A parody is an imitation a style or a creation from a particular artist but often with comical effect. "Weird Al"'s entire career has been made by creating parodies of mainstream music and accompanied by music videos. I chose this video in particular because it is clear that it was intended to 'copy' or pay homage to the original Michael Jackson music video, for example the setting & choreography were carefully planned to follow exactly what the original did except with a comical twist.
An example of this is in the scene where the backup dancers and main talent are jumping over the parking barriers, it's clear to see that although it was an homage to the original version, the "Weird Al" verson added a comical twist with the backup dancers struggling to get over the barriers.
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Lame Claim To Fame
'Lame Claim To Fame' is another of "Weird Al" Yankovic's work, this time it is the video itself that is important. This falls under the category of animation as it is not a parody of anything, strictly speaking it is digital stop motion animation. This is when the camera takes a series of thousands of photographs and in between the photos the models or pictures are moved around and added, once put into an editing software it creates a 25-30 frame per-second animated sequence, although very time consuming the finished results look a lot more interesting than something that is animated in Adobe Flash.
This particular video features a series of brightly colored pictures that look to have been cut out in a messy fashion, this is because the video is shot inside a scrapbook so the messy cut outs make it more realistic. There are some aspects to this video that aren't in the scrapbook style however, for example at the beginning and the end we are given a mid shot of the room that the scrapbook is being looked at in, this is so that the story flows better and has an easy to follow beginning and end
Conventions
'Rag 'n' Bone Man' - Human
'Human' by Rag 'n' Bone man is a good example of lyric interpretation and lip sync, the music video itself represents the imperfect nature of humans and how mistakes and faults shouldn't shape someones life. It also shows that everyone is different, throughout the entire video it shows people morphing into someone else while keeping a smooth flow of lip syncing. Although the nature of the video is fairly simple, the message it puts across is very powerful.
Techniques
Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
This is an example of a chroma key music video, also known as 'green screen' it means that something is shot in front of a green wall or sheet and then the unwanted green colour is removed or 'chroma keyed' out, this means that you can edit anything in its place, this is good for saving money, rather than having to shoot the talent in a different country for example, it's easier to put them in front of a green screen and have some stock footage running behind them to achieve the same effect.
This music video was one of the first to extensively use this technique. It was shot in 1979 meaning that computer technology was only just developing, so the effects that were achieved by the chroma key were very basic by today's
standards. As seen in the image to the left, the effects in the backdrop were very basic and corny, but it did show a lot of promise for the mass production of chroma keyed music videos.
Barenaked Ladies - One Week
This is an example of a 'split screen' effect where there are multiple shots on screen in one sequence. Split screening is used to create a unique feel to the video, for example in this video the split screen is used to show both singers doing different things but at the same time in the same sequence.
A music video is a short film/video that accompanies a song or soundtrack, these are used to tell a story. These have been around for decades but were made massively popular after the launch of MTV in 1981. One of the first popular music videos is "Video Killed The Radio Star" by "The Buggles" which was released in 1979 and aired regularly on MTV in the early 1980's. The video used very early production technology and used physical sets and real time special effects such as smoke or sparks, this is because at this time computer special effects were in the very early days of development. This essay is to explain the purpose of music videos and why they are so popular.
Promotion of Artists
Some music videos focus mainly on the artist's image, this is to help promote the artist and and it also makes them stand out more. This is more common with solo artists as they can be the center of attention. For example in the music video for the song "Roar" by Katy Perry, she is very much the focus of the video, telling a story through interpretive dance and costumes.
This is also common of directors too, often they will have a certain style that makes them stand
out more.
Producers Strategies
Artists are all marketed in different ways, this is not necessarily about thier 'image' but more so down to the producers strategies. There are different labels that artists are signed to, this means that there are many different approaches to how an artist is promoted or how they are perceived by the public. One example of this type of strategy is in the music video for "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams. The music video for this was very controversial and received many complaints, some radio stations even refused to give the song any airplay because of the nature of the song. It was directed by Diane Martel and had a very basic layout. However it objectified women and portrayed the 'Bachelor' lifestyle as a good way to live. However, because the music video became a controversy, more people watched it and it has now received over 400 Million views on YouTube alone, creating millions of dollars of Ad revenue and becoming massively successful.
There are a lot of different strategies used by directors and producers, controversy is just one example. Other examples include extensive use of the artists image such as Miley Cyrus or Lady Gaga. Some also use a narrative as a good strategy, to keep the audience engaged for longer.
Extending Income
Music videos are a very good way to bring in more income to a record label and in turn will also bring more income to the artist. Now it is very important to have a music video accompany a song because it is much easier to share on social media. YouTube and Vevo are the most common music video sharing sites today, and they amass millions (sometimes even billions) of views to music videos, this in turn creates revenue from adverts that are played before the videos and can bring in hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars depending on the amount of videos, the context of the music video and the time of year that it was posted. However music videos have been around for decades and before the internet, these were played primarily on television, most famously MTV which was launched in 1981.
A famous example of a song from this period that was massively boosted by its music video is Michael Jackson's "Thriller". It became one of the most replayed music videos of all time because of the story that it tells and also because nothing like it had been done before. Originally the song didn't become a hit, but when the music video was released, it reached a lot more people and the more airplay it got, the more sales there were in records. This in turn took over $500 Million in sales alone.
Extension of Media Outlets
A music video can help expand an artists audience, this is because the people who come to watch the video may not be a fan of the artists music, but maybe a fan of the videos that are produced. This is why a lot of artists tend to stick to the same producer as it gives them their own style or 'niche', so for example Sia is very well known for well choreographed videos such as 'Chandelier', this would interest people who are interested in interpretive dance and would keep them engaged. A video can connect to a bigger audience than just the song alone, this is why there are now so many music videos, it's very uncommon to see big artists without music videos.
Although Youtube and Vevo are the two top music video sharing sites, Facebook is very useful for an artist to advertise their video, sometimes there will be short clips extracted from the music video and posted onto Facebook, this is so that the clips can be liked and shared so it creates a bigger interest and inevitably a bigger audience. Although in order to gain any success from this, the music video must stand out as there are millions of videos shared on Facebook every day.
Synergistic Marketing
This strategy is used if a song is used in a movie for example, this is a very easy way for a song to become successful, obviously depending on the success of the movie. One example of this is the song 'See you again' by Wiz Khalifa, featuring Charlie Puth. This song was used at the very end of 'Fast and furious 7' and was made as a tribute and homage to the late Paul Walker. The song became a massive success because of this and when the music video was released, it gained over 2 billion views. This mean't that the movie was more recognizable and the artists gained a lot more attention and revenue because of this.
Conclusion
I think that music videos are so popular because they add a unique perspective on the original song. They are also a lot easier to share on social media sites and they stand out a lot more than just the audio track itself. Music videos have grown in popularity since the early 1980's because technology has advanced, it has become easier and easier for more and more people to view music videos, and because of the internet, a music video now makes up a lot of revenue where as in the early days, they were used as a promotional tool to advertise and sell records.
Camera Use In this video we tried to use a lot of wide shots to make the area look more open, This was also used to show a lot of people in the same shot, For example at the very end there is a shot with the patient, the nurse and two other nurses, the only way to achieve this shot was to have the camera in the corner of the room on a tripod. Since we only had one camera it was difficult to setup multiple shots so it was more sensible to use a lot of mid and wide shots. We also used a lot of close ups, this was often to show what's going on in more detail, for example we needed to show the procedure of how they prepare a patient for an operation. We did this by using a series of close ups and we showed the camera step by step.
Editing The editing in this video is fairly simple because it is aimed for children, the transitions are just simple jump cuts and dissolves. Rather than having lot's of text on the screen we decided to use a voice over to narrate what was going on in the video. The only use of graphics in this video was at the very end where there was a title card with the logo's of the hospital and schools involved. We used a more child friendly, happy go lucky soundtrack because it would be more appealing for the intended viewer (children and parents).
Sound
For the majority of the sound we captured for our video, we used "RØDE VideoMic's". The original plan was to use a zoom audio recorder with a shotgun mic but on the day the audio recorder was very unreliable so we switched to the rode mic's. For the voice over we used a lapel microphone because it was better at capturing close up audio and cutting out a lot of background noise.
As previously mentioned, for the music that plays throughout the video, we used a royalty free track found on the YouTube Audio Library. This was so that there were no problems with copyright.
Mise en Scene
We didn't have any control over where things could be placed because it was a hospital so we had to work around that, although it was fairly simple to do so because the majority of the scenes were of the actor in the hospital bed. It was a little more difficult to film in the corridors as they were busy and we had no control over that, so we had to just work around it.
Once again we had no control over the lighting since there was no space for soft box lights or anything, so we had to rely on the lighting in the hospital. For the most part this was okay since the lights were white and fairly diffused, the only problem we ran into was in the anesthetic room where the lighting was more yellow, it made the image grainy in places and really was not ideal. The one thing i'd change about this is to bring a few portable lights to just even out the shot and make it look to a higher standard.
