Research : 3 Potential Albums

Research : Applying Goodwin To A Contemporary UK Music Video

•  Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.(e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop). 

What is the genre of the music video you have been allocated?

- This genre is pop.

What are the associations with this genre of music generally?

- The associations are well made/'beautiful' artists, with the centre of attention on the artists as it is more likely for a pop singer to be a celebrity compared to an indie singer. Also in pop often features dancing within the music videos due to the style of the music composed. This is done to create an uplifting atmosphere and getting people to dance. This need is further encouraged through the dancers in the background and foreground, as well as the artist himself, who stands as the focal point in the video almost mimicking Elvis Presley's iconic dance moves, representing pop once again.

Does this music video reinforce the expectations of this genre? 

- Yes, because Willy Moon is show to be well dressed, flawless and the centre of the audiences attention with the majority of the lights on him, centre screen and in front of all the mirrors, so when he isn't physically in the shot, his reflection will be. The artist is also on a podium replicating iconic Elvis Presley dance moves.

• There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). 

Describe the content of the music video - what happens?

 - The music video starts looking into a darkened mirror and then zooms out so you get the artist. The dancers then come out before the singing starts and there choreographed dance moves contrasting against the artists dancing, putting more attention onto Willy Moon. Also the black outfits of the dancers -who also have bland hairstyles - contrasting against the well lit, blue suited Willy Moon.

What is the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals? Is this a music video

which illustrates, amplifies or contradicts the lyrics?

- The visuals and the lyrics don't really have a relationship as the video is more about the artist and the dance. Therefore this music video contradicts as it has no relation to the lyrics.

• There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). 

What is the relationship between the music and the visuals? 

- The music and the visuals link up, so as a certain beat starts Willy Moon's movements and that of his dancers - match up so the movement matches the beat. So all dancing in the music video matches the rhythm of the song. Also the lighting dims and the brightens back up on certain beats, so that the lighting visuals also match the music. 

Does the pace of the editing reflect the pace of the music? What kind of atmosphere is

created through the visuals and is this in keeping with the tone of the music? 

-  The editing sometime matches the beat in some parts and in others it blends with the singing, reflecting the overall pace of the music . The atmosphere created by the visuals is a very flashy, organised chaos. This keeps in tone with the music because

Is there any lip-syncing used? How much? For which sections of the lyrics? Why?

- Yes, Willy Moon is shown to emphasise every lyric, especially on the close ups where his mouth is more clearly shown. This is also a constant throughout the video and is something that can be seen in every shot the artist is in. There is also more emphasis on the chorus and the bridge, so that the audience pays more attention to those lyrics and gets them stuck in their heads.

• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

How is the artist promoted through the use of the camera in this music video? 

- The artist is shown to be well dressed, well made up and somewhat flawless in the video, so the camera angles add to this image. 

How much screen time does the artist have? 

- The artist has screen time for the majority of the video, only changing for him to the dancers sometimes. However, when the camera is on the dancers the reflection of the artist can be seen in the mirrors. Showing that this music video is selling the artist as the product.

What types of shots are used when the artist is on screen and what purpose does this

serve?

-  There are a lot of close-ups and extreme close-ups on the artists face, this is to get the audience to recognise the artist and force his image to be everywhere. There is also use of mid-shots, to show what the dancers or the artists is doing with their arms and hands within the dancing.

• There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. 

Is there any evidence of 'looking' as described above? What purpose do you think this

serves?

- Yes there are mirrors placed around the podium that the artist stands on. This could represent image, which is an important selling point for pop artists, also as it say in the lyrics 'Tryin' to doubt my style?'. However, it could also be to make sure that the artist is shown in all shots, even if he's not physically in them, as his refection is shown in all of the mirror as he is in the centre and the focal point.

 

• There are often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).

 

Are there any sections or elements of the music video which remind you of other media texts or of other artists?

- Yes, Willy Moon's dancing reminds me of the iconic dancing of Elvis Presley

Music Video : A Little Bit Of History

Music videos didn’t start with The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night, any more than it started with MTV, VH1 or YouTube. In fact, believe it or not, the story of the music video begins well over a century ago.


It was American electrician-slash-photographer George Thomas who was the first to put images to music and match them. His ‘illustrated song’ – a series of still images printed onto glass slides, coloured in by hand and projected onto a screen alongside a live musical performance – made song-book publishers Edward B. Marks and Joe Stern’s number, The Little Lost Child, a massive hit back in the music halls of 1894.

























People like Oskar Fischinger in the 1990's helped build on the music videos. Oskar Fischinger was an animator who's work accompanied music - this at the time was called visual music.

I 1940 Disney created Fantasia based around famous pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski; seven of which are performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Other earlier, but less successful, musical animations were 'Silly Symphonies'.

In 1956 Tony Bennett was filmed walking along the Serpentine in Hyde Park, as his song 'Stranger in Paradise' was played, this was then distributed to play on TV stations and lead to Tony Bennett claiming he made the 'first' music video.

In 1960 France a visual jukebox had been created and was being used to create short films for French artists to accompany their songs. This spread to other countries where similar machines were uses - like Cinebox in Italy.





However, the defining work in modern music videos was The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night where musical segments of the film/video set up the basic visuals of the modern music video.

Also Bob Dylan's 1966 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' used the "random" performance of the celebrity, Allen Ginsberg, in a non-preforming role. This has been imitated by many other music videos since.

In the 1970's Top of the Pops(created in 1964) was being used to promote a video and if the video was good and well received by the public they would go out and buy it so that they could see the video again the next week. Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' also started a new era where artists started using their music videos for promos.





The 1980's saw the launch of MTV(1982) a satellite channel specifically for music videos. The first music video to be aired on this was The Buggles 'Video Killed the Radio Star'.
The mid 1980's showed artists using more sophisticated effects and adding a storyline or plot to their music video - like in Michael Jackson's Thriller where it is actually a 13 minute music video and around a 3-4 minute song. 

Also since Top of the Pops was censored artists decided they would use another approach to music videos, which was to produce a promo or video that would have to be banned or edited to be fit for Top of the Pops, so that the resulting controversy and publicity would sell the release of the single or album. Examples of this is Frankie Goes To Hollywood 'Relax' and Duran Durans 'Girls Gone Wild'.
Music videos in the mid-1980's became a central role in the marketing of a band or single.

Although MTV is now more focussed on reality shows than music, the Internet has picked up where TV has waned, and, since 2005, YouTube is now the first port of call for anybody searching for their favourite artist’s latest video. The video for Lady GaGa’s hit, Bad Romance (which owes more than a nod to Thriller) became, in 2010, the most-viewed video not only on YouTube, but on the entire Internet. And now, thanks to smartphones, more people than ever check out videos anywhere, anytime.


 

A Music Video I Like

I like this video because it is witty, and even though it is done on a low budget it is still really good and well put together. This video shows many different shots, slow motion and even in the madness of what is happening they still manage to cut back to the band so that it fits within the video. The wit is shown discretely with little messages, like with the 'dead end' road sign, and with the stereotypical 'bad leg' zombie who has to drag their leg behind them. This is why I like this video.

Timeline of Pop Music

I did some independent research on the history of pop (popular) music, while doing this i found THIS WEBSITE to be very useful.

This  is a useful website because it shows the most popular musicians of the time, you can also choose a specific year if you would like to know more about.

Independent Research : Music Experience and Behaviour in Young People

• How do the findings of this research compare to your own 'music experience' as a young person?

The findings of the research shows that the computer is no longer the main entertainment hub, this is because of the development of digital technology and technological convergence. Showing that 65% of people would rather use their iPod to listen to music and only 18% listen to music on a CD player; I find that this compared to my own 'music experience' is incorrect as now the technological convergence means that you can do everything and more on your phones. However, I prefer to listen to my music on my iPod, also the only time I listen to music on a CD player is in the car and I barely use my phone for anything music related as it simply doesn't have the memory I require for my music.

My music experience shows this to be wrong as the amount of digital music has increased and that all the music I know to be on my and all my female friends phones and iPods is 'free' content. This is simply because the digital music that need to be paid for is too expensive and it's far easier to just get the 'free' content downloaded straight to your phone with a free app. However, I do believe it is correct that males have a larger digital music collection, as i know that a lot of my phone or iPod memory may be taken up by digital music, but I also have a lot of apps and photos - more than any of my male friends who have more music than photos and apps. 

 

I disagree with this statistic because the P2P decline has changed and more people are using P2P websites like Piratebay to illegally download music, which is at its all time high, shown by the fact all my music on my iPod is 'free' content. So compared to my music experience this is outdated.

 

 

Advanced Portfolio - How Is It Assessed?

In order to achieve the highest grade possible for your coursework it is important that you understand how it is marked.

You will receive a total mark out of 100 for your Advanced Portfolio. Grade boundaries work out (roughly) as follows:

A grade = 80+
B grade = 70+
C grade = 60+
D grade = 50+
E grade = 40+

The mark is broken down into 3 areas:

Research and Planning = 20 marks
Construction = 60 marks
Evaluation = 20 marks

How to Reach Level 4

Your research and planning has to meet the following criteria to be deemed as level 4.

• Planning and research evidence will be complete and detailed. This means for your main task and your 2 ancillary tasks.
• There is excellent research into similar products. Again, you have to have evidence of carrying out research into existing music videos, CD digipaks, music magazine advertisements or artist websites.
• There is excellent research into a potential target audience. This has to happen after you have chosen your artist but before you start the planning of your products.
• There is excellent work on shotlists, layouts, scripting and storyboarding. You will need to have this for all 3 components of your portfolio.
• There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes and props. The quality of your actors 'acting'is not marked but you need to bear in mind that the people you choose need to be comfortable in performing for the camera.
• Time management is excellent. This is seen by the trail of posts on your blog and reinforced the importance of managing your time effectively.
• There is excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the presentation of research and planning. This links to the idea of making your blog as media-rich as possible.
• There are excellent communication skills. Your blog isn't assessed for the quality of your use of English but real weaknesses in this area can affect your mark.
• There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning.

To get a level 4 for the construction element of your coursework then bear the following in mind.

You get a mark out of 40 for your music video's construction and then 2 marks out of 10 for the construction of your ancillary products. This actually makes it easier to score highly IF your products are of a high standard.

Level 4 candidates are expected to demonstrate excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:

• shooting material appropriate to the task set; including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shot sizes and close attention to mise en scene
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions, captions and other effects
• recording and editing sound with images appropriately.

 

The evaluation is critical to your success. It is important that you know the questions in advance so that you can relate to these as your production work develops. There are only 4 questions as opposed to the 7 you had to answer for AS. They are:

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

In order to reach Level 4 the following criteria have to be met:

• There is excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.
• There is excellent understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
• There is excellent understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
• There is excellent understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
• There is excellent understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
• There is excellent skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
• There is excellent ability to communicate.

Advanced Portfolio - What Is It?

For your Advanced Portfolio you have to produce a promotional package for a contemporary album of your choice which includes the following 3 media texts:

1. A music video for a song from your chosen album (video : the main task)
2. A CD Digipack design for your chosen album (print : the first ancillary task)
3. A music magazine advertisement for your chosen album (print : the second ancillary task)

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I work in a group?

No. You have to work individually.

What does 'contemporary' mean when choosing an album?

For the purposes of this task 'contemporary' means released from June 2010 onwards.

Can I choose any album from June 2010 onwards as the focus for my coursework?

No. You need to choose an album by an artist who is relatively unknown. We will discuss what this means at a later point in time.

What is a CD Digipack?

Don't worry. We will research this in due course.

I have already decided on my album. Is this OK?

No. Undecide quickly! You will not be asked to make a decision regarding your album choice until we have undertaken the research stages of the coursework.

I don't know how to use Adobe Photoshop. Will this mean I am disadvantaged when it comes to producing the two ancillary tasks?

No. You will be shown how to use Adobe Photoshop when this is required. However, all of the PCs and Macs have this programme available for you to use and it would be a good idea to try to learn a little more about how it works independently.