Further audience research..

Our audience would probably read magazines such as VICE which involves them even more in the indie/alternative/arty lifestyle. Here is some research VICE did into their audience which also applies to our project..

Audience profile...

This charming young woman could be a typical indie music fan and someone who might watch our music video/listen to our style of music.
Age 18
She would shop in vintage and charity shops (second hand is the best hand)
She would attend gigs with friends, going to see small bands in even smaller locations..
She would spend her money on going out, buying records, clothes etc and fund this by having a part time job.
She would be interested in anything arty/musicy, would do photography and maybe even use an old film camera to get really cool hip shots of her friends.
She sounds great doesn't she?

Interview...

We already did some interviews but unfortunately for the wrong genre of music.. as we are now investigating and creating for a new audience and indie style of music, we decided to do another brief survey to help us get an idea of who our target audience is...

Interview-
1. What’s your name and where do you live? My Name is Emily and I live in York

2. When would you listen to indie? Anywhere really when I have my iPod on me.

3. What do you do in your spare time?
I like to hangout with my friends and listen to music. Also I have a weekend job.

4. What type of clothes do you wear and where do you shop?
I shop for anything unique and retro. I sometimes go to a charity shop or any small unique shop.

5. What draws you into a music video? I think what draws me in is how unique the music video is and how they have set it out; I like funny music videos that aren't so serious as many of them are.

Overall I think these answers will help us start planning and making our music video

Album covers, adverts and digipaks...oh my

The above are examples of Kitty Daisy and Lewis existing album cover and magazine advert. The black and white images make the whole thing look old fashioned and vintage, but there is a simplistic and arty look to it as well with the font.

The advert for Metronomy's second album captures all member of the band in a clean cut but vintage looking way. Their clothing and hair is typical of the styles that marry with indie music and their fans, and the blank background makes the whole image look bold and edgy.

The album cover itself is quite beautiful and simple. The colours and image of the palm tree gives a kind of psychadelic beach look (supposed to be very 'in' at the moment)

What's in an indie music video?

At a contrast to drum and bass videos, which tend to involve more heavy drug taking dark alley way strobe light action, indie music tends to base it's videos around more happy and care free subjects.
The genre of music usually appeals to listeners who don't want to conform to 'mainstream' music and lifestyles, think outrageous outfits from charity shops, thick rimmed non prescription spectacles and scruffy jeans. For this reason, music videos that accompany such under ground indie and alternative artists have an iconic arty feel, with throwbacks to vintage eras and abstract imagery.
Take for example the music video for 'a thing for me' by Metronomy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYB2Mqs24ss&ob=av2e

The video involves old skool 'sing along' subtitles at the bottom of the screen, arty characters holding humorously straight faces whilst acting out the words. The whole video, from retro setting and props to eccentric costume, illustrates the indie lifestyle and imagery such listeners would like to be involved in.

A brief upset and a swift change of direction....

As illustrated by the above cat, my group suffered a minor 'sad' this week. Unfortunately one of us has had to leave the group due to time table changes, silly teachers, lack of organisation etc so we are quite literally one man down.

Mild panic ensued for roughly half a lesson, we feared the end, were ready to end it all but then realised that perhaps this change was help in disguise. Although we have completed sufficient amounts of drum and bass research, we decided that with the member of our group most interested and inspired by that genre gone, we could re start our project based on a different stimulus. The previous research we have done is not utterly worthless, as it just shows the breakdown of a different musical style and how fans of that music introduce it into their lifestyle. The remaining group members, myself included can relate to the new choice of 'Indie' or 'Underground' folky type music a lot more.

Video interviews..

We set up two interviews with people who enjoy listening to Drum and Bass, to get a more personal insight into their lifestyle and why they like the genre of music...

Video interviews continued..

Responses to the survey...

The general reasons people said they liked drum and bass, were because it is a fast paced and dancy genre of music, that fits in with a life style of going out and dancing etc. one person said,

              ''It's a very liberating genre of music, and also very good for getting in a "hyped up" mood.''

The last three questions, who are your favourite drum and bass artist, what's your favourite music video and song by that artist and what would you put in your own music video gathered similar results from every person. Amongst the favourties were Chase and status, Pendulum, Andy C and DeadMaus. Favourite videos and songs by those artists included 'Pieces' our chosen song.

The things that people wanted to see in a music video or would include in their own were, party scenes, general ruckus, girls and an overal dark and edgy feel.

Audience research survey

A link to the audience research survey we created on surveymonkey.com.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LT5X3CV

Interesting interview with chase and status, the men behind the music. Found it on YOUTUBE, interview by 'tuesday spotlight'

                                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0fiL6vF8EM

Chase and status, digipaks and more..

Despite not really liking Chase and Status myself, I really like this album cover. It's bold and eye catching and not entirely serious which fits in with their style of music and the videos that go along with them. The bright yellow makes the cover look modern despite the photo of the dog being black and white. The genre of music being drum and bass, means that the actual artists behind it are more DJ's than singers or musicians. Therefore, unlike a solo singer band or accoustic artist it is not necessary for a picture of Saul Milton and Will Kennard to be on the front of the digipak. The symobolic image of the dog instead, was described by them in an interview I found on 'artist direct' as giving the album a 'punky british feel'

'More than alot' Is Chase and Status's debut album, and encompasses the same bold bright colours and new rave feel as 'no more idols'. As their debut, it was their first chance at attracting their audience. I think that the bright pink, graffiti style image would definately appeal to an audience into dubstep, drum and bass and the clubbing. It has rebellious connotations and reflects the grimy rave scene their music plays to.

This is a digipak front cover from Plan B. I picked this because his music is of similar genre to Chase and Status, and he features in the song we have chosen to use. The mis en scene is dark and theatrical; he is sat on some sort of stage, but the lights give a city feel. His suit and the way he is half engulfed in shadow makes the picture look mysterious and dark, reflecting his lyrics and musical genre.

so...

All three of the videos I have anaylised are for, rappy Brit pop/drum and bass style songs. For this reason they all have similar imagery and connotations.
A theme explored by all of them is quite explicit drug/alchohol related activity, ususally because of the lyrics and the party image refelcted in all of them is something that would appeal to the audience listening. But as well as this often gritty content, there is strong use of comedy and scripting within the videos. This is something that my group will concentrate on more in our own video (personal lives aside, drug taking in a college project is not something I feel will be deemed suitable)
The costume and location used in all three, is every day and casual; street locations and clothing that doesn't involve the raw meat and stilletos look other artists may go for.
Another device used in all three is the hand held camera shot. It adds an- in the moment- feel to the video, and creates a rough and ready fast paced feel.

Chosen song video analysis. Chase and Status ft Plan B- 'Pieces'

The song my group have chosen to use for our project, is by Chase and status and features Plan B. Here is a brief analysis of the original video.. in all its graphic glory.
The video begins with Plan B in the studio, the black background gives a semi live-semi staged look but sets a naturalisitc background as we see the recording equipment etc..

The camera then shows us a seperate shot; some sort of exchange is going on outside the studio. This is an introduction to the storyline of the video..

We see Chase and Status (the two rugged looking fellows) in the back of the studio, the video camera just dropped off outside the building is delivered to them and they call Plan B through. Note the convincing confusion on their faces in the picture above; they appear to know as little as we the audience do about this mysterious camera...
The video footage begins with a promising start; night footage of a girl kissing the camera and looking seemingly innocent. (just you wait)

Through Plan B's hellish reaction and the aid of subtitles, we learn that this is in fact his ex girlfriend. In his flat. Having a party. (we can only assume this was a bad break up)
The video flicks between hauntingly green night footage of the girlfiend wrecking Plan B's humble abode; girls kissing each other, fat bearded men rubbing cake on their faces, smashing, pouring of drinks, (wild antics that make even the watcher cringe and think of the expenses) and Plan B's reaction to this in the studio..

The video footage gets more and more shocking, with his ex very blatantly having sex with another guy in the bathroom and charmingly waving the used protection in the air afterwards.. In another version of this video, presumably the one shown later at night, involves putting a cat in an oven.. well, we've heard of bunny boilers but that is a new level of angry ex.
In a fast paced sequence of flashing car lights, Plan B's angry face close to the camera and a point of view shot of him head butting the poor guy on his door step, we see the journey back to the ruined flat. The camera shows Plan B's perspective as we are shown the aftermath of the previous footage (man tied up on the floor, various substances and debris littering the floor)
The video ends as he opens the oven door to reveal -thank god- a black screen instead of a burnt kitty.
Hate to use his name against him, but I think at this point he really could use a Plan B for sleeping arrangements after this.

Video analysis: The streets 'Fit but you know it'

Fit but you know it is one of my favourite videos by the Streets. Similarly to 'Blinded by the lights' there is a brief prologue of script at the beginning to set the video in motion. Skinner goes into a shop and pays for his holiday photos to be developed, when handed to him, these photos become the central point of the video.

There is a dual narrative in a way, as the moving photographs held in Skinner's hands show the rowdy (and often topless) antics of his holiday, whilst the camera also shows Skinner walking through the street in the present day.

Costume used is casual, every day wear in grey-ish sort of colours, vs bright holiday wear in the photograph scenes, this contrast helps define the two parallel locations.
The overall style of the video is light hearted, with comedy moments and the clever device of the moving photographs in Skinner's hands makes it an interesting watch.

Video analysis: The Streets 'blinded by the lights'

This is an analysis of the video for 'Blinded by the lights' by the Streets. Style/genre: british rap, hip hop (ish)
It starts with a brief prologue; Mike Skinner and his lovely looking lady friend Simone on opposite ends of a phone conversation (note the use of good looking actors) Skinner's phone cuts out 'oh fuckin phone'.. They appear to be getting ready for a night out, and this brief bit of script sets the video in motion; signalling the storyline to come.

The video then progresses as the song begins, Skinner enters what looks like a wedding reception wearing a suit and surrounded by others dressed formally. The camera flicks from long establishing shots viewing skinner and some of the other guests, to a sort of -hand held- effect looking down at Skinner's face as he is walking.

The storyline progresses, as does Skinner's intoxication as he pops however many E's, slams down shots at the bar and then candidly goes to the toilets with his mate and has a couple of lines off his bank card. The shots viewing Skinner's face with the camera held just above him show us his condition worsening, he only mimes the words to the song occasionally and it gets lesser and lesser as the song goes on.
And all the while, Simone has been performing acts of not such a classy nature with his friend in the toilets.
The overall colours used in the video are blacks and whites but with flashing lights (I see what they did there) especially on the dance floor scene, colourful lights and faster camera work occurs to build up to the climax of the video; a massive fight. (Well, it wouldn't be a wedding without one) The music eventually cuts out and is taken over by the sounds of Skinner and co having a brawl, and the blushing bride screaming rude words into the ruckus.
The end is quite a shocking view of Skinner, bloodied and unconscious on the floor. Perhaps there's a moral here?
Don't go to weddings.

Initial ideas..

My initial idea for this project without having started any real planning with my group etc, is to create a light hearted up beat music video, perhaps to a reggae style song. I would like to ignore the more common conventions of perhaps a story line and hopeless singing and posing in front of a camera, and explore more surreal imagery through weird costume and setting. I think this makes a music video more dynamic and worth watching, it supports the music but also adds another dimention to the media package-that the fans want to actually see the song visually.
Regarding the digipak, I think it would be interesting to include a lot of pictures of the band or artist, relating to the music video we produce but also- as it is a whole album- in other costumes/locations etc. I would also like to include perhaps an interview with them, or something they have written to give a personal feel to the package.

album advertisement..

Albums gain a lot of publicity when advertised in magazines and such..the album cover itself is usually used with added details of its release etc..

Music Vids..all you need to know (and more)

Music videos come in various categories, ones that traditionally and rather conventionally follow the lyrics and show a progressive story (usually ending up with a girl crying in a bath or the camera zooming away from a glum looking boy band who just can't remember what happened last night, even at the very end of their song), ones that involve the band or singer changing into multiple outfits standing in front of a wind machine and posing into the camera, abstract ones involving obscure props and dancing animals that are maybe trying to convey some sort of metaphor or deeper meaning...maybe, the ones with scantily clad scantily talented girls writing their names in the air with the help of mediocre special effects and glitter and making feminists all over the world weep as they thrash about 'in da club', the ones filmed solely on a beach where the artist would be dressed in white linen with a bare chest poking out to reveal either
a) large surgically enhanced pectorals
b) large surgically enhanced breasts
c) a pair of something in between both of the above (peter andre)
Whatever the genre, a music video usually aims to support its song with an entertaining and relevant backdrop. The artist is made to look super hot and super cool, thus exciting his/her fans so much that they have to watch it just one more time.
A lot of artists and groups include shots of them 'singing' the song on a stage during the video, in between them running round a field in silly clothes of course. It gives the impression of live performance, and with the powers of modern technology, they can be made to look as if they really are worth seeing in concert.
Successful music videos often include elaborate settings, costumes, dance routines and the best of the best of miming into the camera. But simplicity in a music video can also prove some worth, (see matthew horne's appearance in the Maccabees 'no kind words')
I personally enjoy a video that includes some light humour, maybe even heavy humour, or at least something a little whimsical to add to the viewing experience..
Here are a couple on opposite ends of the spectrum..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpaPBCBjSVc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A68j28KQaik
The progression of music videos through the years is incredible, with more exotic animals jet planes fancy cars women and clubs than ever. But we must never forget the true beauty of 80's music videos. Ever. Leggings, frizzy perms and disco lights.

DIGIPAKS!

Here are a few examples I found on google of digipaks. These are the types of products I will be looking to make in my coursework.
The way they differ from the traditional 'jewel casing' is through their creation of a fuller media package; whereas the budding McFly fan would have once waddled to the shop and picked up an adequate but not thoroughly enticing copy of their latest hits, they can now purchase a 3 CD multiple fold out picture sleeve, lyric book (just in case they didnt know them all already) all singing all dancing digipak. The customer is left feeling satisfied with this collection of products. The way the product creates a sense of aesthetic pleasure links back almost to the vinyl, with various fold outs and cardboard and a tactile nature that doesn't just satisfy the customer's ears.