Casting

Male Lead:
George Suddaby-

I have chosen George as the male lead as not only does he already own items of clothing i will be needing for costume within my media text, but he is also already very familiar with my chosen song and the characteristics of the band Arctic Monkeys. This will hopefully allow him to portray the Conventions and stereotypes of this genre in the way i hope. Also, with the ability to act, this will allow George to make the role appear real, and not forced.

Female Lead:
Jaz Fletcher-

I have chosen Jaz to portray the female lead as i believe she will be able to create a convincing character within my media text. Not only this, but she also already portrays the chosen image for my media text in her daily life, with an aspect of the stereotypes of Indie Rock clothing. With her Knowledge of Indie Rock music, she will be able to understand what stereotypes i will need to convey in my video without much instruction. One again, Jaz has the ability to act with little struggle allow her to portray the character i need her too.

Uses and Gratification

Uses and gratifications theory (UGT) is the way in which we understand why and how people seek look at specific media in hope to fullfil a specific needs. UGT is an audience-centered approach to understanding mass communication.
UGT suggests that audiences are not passive but instead, but take an active role in integrating media into their daily lives. Audiences also have the powert to pick and choose between various media products, for the one that best suits their interests and needs, fullfilling specific gratifications.

the theroy suggests that the media must fullfil one of the following before we can choose a form of media:

• To Identitfy:

Being able to identify or recognise the person on screen (Role Models)

• To Educate:

Accuiring Information, Knowledge, and understanding on a product

• To Entertain:

Acting as a form of escapism, entertaining the veiwer, whilst also acting as a form of temporary relief for everyday stress.

• Social Interaction:

The ability for a media product to cause debate, discussion, and conversation between people.

Criticism

• has been critisised as people believe they have no control over what the media does or shows to the public.
• The theory avoids the possibility that the media can have an unconscious influence on our lives and views on the world.
• the theory suggests media viewers have a choice as to how they view and interpret things. This can be argued against, as media can me manipulated for a particular view point (such as the news)

Audience types

 

These are various factors that effect whether an audience member takes the oppositional, dominant, or negotiated:

• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Culture
• Beliefs
• Personality
• Interests
• Sexuality
• Class

Costume

Male Lead:
Costume-

• Leather Jacket
• Black Sunglasses
• Skinny Jeans (Preferably grey or black)
• White T-shirt
• Black Converse
• Messy Hair

Female Lead:
Costume-

• Skinny Jeans (Blue)
• Straight Hair
• Black T-Shirt
• Eyeliner
• Red Converse

Poll Results

The Results of the Poll Shows that the majority of people predominantly prefer a story line within a music video, sometimes however depending on the chosen song, abstract could be a better fit. These results have allowed me to change my idea, from being more abstract than narrative, to narrative. However, although i lacked in results for Performance, i plan to include a couple of performance shot throughout the media text as this can be conventional for the indie rock genre.
With the largest amount of votes going to wanting a combination of colours in a music video, i have decided to use a combination of black and white, to show the past, depicting the argument between the couple, and colour to show the present time, and the male leads reaction to this.

Focus Group

Conventions and Stereotypes

History of Medium Moodboard and timeline

 

From the 60's to the modern day, we can see that the stereotypical image and emotions portrayed by indie rock bands hasn't far changed. In these images there doesn't appear to be much radical change that makes it obvious as to what time period each band is from.
With the conventional use of Black and white, and Sepia editing, the bands all appear as mysterious and rebellious, not conforming to traditional happy and eccentric portrayals that that of pop bands may.
In every image, we are drawn into the image with the band looking directly at the camera as if they were looking at the viewer, highlighting the continued use of cinematography in an effort to draw in the audience.

We can also see how over the space of 40 years clothing stereotypes haven't far changed for this genre of music. With the continued look of dark clothing, leather jackets and skinny jeans, the only change that makes the time period clear is the different hairstyles that link with the time period.

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced 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", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip".

Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action. Many music videos interpret images and scenes from the song's lyrics, while others take a more thematic approach. Other music videos may be without a set concept, being merely a filmed version of the song's live performance.

1980s
The first video to be banned by MTV was Queen's 1982 hit "Body Language". Due to thinly veiled homoerotic undertones plus lots of skin and lots of sweat (but apparently not enough clothing, save that worn by the fully clothed members of Queen themselves), it was deemed unsuitable for a Television audience at the time. However, the channel did air Olivia Newton-John's 1981 video for the hit song "Physical", which lavished camera time on male models working out in string bikinis who spurn her advances, ultimately pairing off to walk to the men's locker rooms holding hands, though the network ended the clip before the overt homosexual "reveal" ending in some airings. The video for "Girls on Film" by Duran Duran, which featured topless women mud wrestling and other depictions of sexual fetishes, was banned by the BBC.

MTV did air the video, albeit in a heavily edited form. Laura Branigan initially protested an MTV request to edit her "Self Control" video in 1984, but relented when the network refused to air the William Friedkin-directed clip, featuring the singer lured through an increasingly debauched, if increasingly stylized, series of nightclubs by a masked man who ultimately takes her to bed. In 1989, Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time" video (where the singer performs the song in an extremely revealing body suit surrounded by a ship full of cheering sailors) was restricted to late-night broadcasts on MTV. The Sex Pistols' video for "God Save the Queen" was banned by the BBC for calling the United Kingdom a fascist regime. Mötley Crüe's video for "Girls, Girls, Girls" was banned by MTV for having completely nude women dancing around the members of the band in a strip club. Mötley Crüe did make another version of the video that was accepted by MTV.

In 1983, Entertainment Tonight ran a segment on censorship and "Rock Video Violence."[49] The episode explored the impact of MTV rock video violence on the youth of the early 1980s. Excerpts from the music videos of Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Golden Earring, Kiss, Kansas, Billy Idol, Def Leppard, Pat Benatar and The Rolling Stones were shown. Dr. Thomas Radecki of the National Coalition on TV Violence was interviewed accusing the fledgling rock video business of excessive violence. Night Tracks' producer Tom Lynch weighed in on the effects of the video violence controversy. Recording artists John Cougar Mellencamp, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss, along with directors Dominic Orlando and Julien Temple, provided a defense of their work. The episode's conclusion was that the controversy will continue to grow. Some artists have used censorship as a publicity tool. In the 1980s, the show Top of the Pops was censorious in its approach to video content, so some acts made videos that they knew would be censored, using the resulting public controversy to promote their release. Examples of this tactic were Duran Duran's aforementioned "Girls on Film" and Frankie Goes to Hollywood with "Relax", directed by Bernard Rose.

1981–1991: Music videos go mainstream

In 1981, the U.S. video channel MTV launched, airing "Video Killed the Radio Star" and beginning an era of 24-hour-a-day music on television. With this new outlet for material, the music video would, by the mid-1980s, grow to play a central role in popular music marketing. Many important acts of this period, most notably Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran and Madonna, owed a great deal of their success to the skillful construction and seductive appeal of their videos.

Two key innovations in the development of the modern music video were the development of relatively inexpensive and easy-to-use video recording and editing equipment, and the development of visual effects created with techniques such as image compositing.[citation needed] The advent of high-quality color videotape recorders and portable video cameras coincided with the DIY ethos of the New Wave era,[citation needed] enabling many pop acts to produce promotional videos quickly and cheaply, in comparison to the relatively high costs of using film. However, as the genre developed, music video directors increasingly turned to 35 mm film as the preferred medium, while others mixed film and video. During the 1980s, music videos had become de rigueur for most recording artists. The phenomenon was famously parodied by BBC television comedy program Not The Nine O’clock News who produced a spoof music video "Nice Video, Shame About The Song".

In this period, directors and the acts they worked with began to explore and expand the form and style of the genre, using more sophisticated effects in their videos, mixing film and video, and adding a storyline or plot to the music video. Occasionally videos were made in a non-representational form, in which the musical artist was not shown. Because music videos are mainly intended to promote the artist, such videos are comparatively rare; three early 1980s examples are Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City", directed by Arnold Levine, David Mallet's video for David Bowie and Queen's "Under Pressure", and Ian Emes' video for Duran Duran's "The Chauffeur". One notable later example of the non-representational style is Bill Konersman's innovative 1987 video for Prince's "Sign o' the Times" – influenced by Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" clip, it featured only the text of the song's lyrics.

In 1983, one of the most successful, influential and iconic music videos of all time was released: the nearly 14-minute-long video for Michael Jackson's song "Thriller", directed by John Landis. The video set new standards for production, having cost US$500,000 to film. The video for "Thriller", along with earlier videos by Jackson for his songs "Billie Jean" and "Beat It” were instrumental in getting music videos by African American artists played on MTV. Prior to Jackson's success, videos by African-American artists were rarely played on MTV: according to MTV, this was because it initially conceived itself as a rock-music-oriented channel, although musician Rick James was outspoken in his criticism of the cable channel, claiming in 1983 that MTV's refusal to air the music video for his song "Super Freak" and clips by other African-American performers was "blatant racism".

On March 5, 1983, Country Music Television, or CMT, was launched, created and founded by Glenn D. Daniels and uplinked from the Video World Productions facility in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The Canadian music channel MuchMusic was launched in 1984. In 1984, MTV also launched the MTV Video Music Awards (later to be known as the VMA's), an annual awards event that would come to underscore MTV's importance in the music industry.

In 1985, MTV launched the channel VH1 (then known as "VH-1: Video Hits One"), featuring softer music, and meant to cater to an older demographic than MTV. MTV Europe was launched in 1987, and MTV Asia in 1991. Another important development in music videos was the launch of The Chart Show on the UK's Channel 4 in 1986. This was a program which consisted entirely of music videos (the only outlet many videos had on British TV at the time [citation needed]), without presenters. Instead, the videos were linked by then state of the art computer graphics. The show moved to ITV in 1989.

The video for the 1985 Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing" made pioneering use of computer animation, and helped make the song an international hit. Ironically, the song itself was a wry comment on the music-video phenomenon, sung from the point of view of an appliance deliveryman both drawn to and repelled by the outlandish images and personalities that appeared on MTV. In 1986, Peter Gabriel's song "Sledgehammer" used special effects and animation techniques developed by British studio Aardman Animation. The video for "Sledgehammer" would go on to be a phenomenal success and win nine MTV Video Music Awards.

In 1988, the MTV show Yo! MTV Raps debuted; the show helped to bring hip hop music to a mass audience for the first time.

Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_video

 

 

Lyric Times- Do I Wanna Know

"Do I Wanna Know?"

Have you got colour in your cheeks? (0:29-0:32)

Do you ever get that fear that you can't shift the tide that sticks around like summat in your teeth? (0:34-0:41)

Are there some aces up your sleeve? (0:42-0:45)

Have you no idea that you're in deep? (0:46-0:48)

I've dreamt about you nearly every night this week (0:49-0:53)

How many secrets can you keep? (0:53-0:56)

'Cause there's this tune I found that makes me think of you

somehow and I play it on repeat (0:57-1:05)

Until I fall asleep (1:06-1:08)

Spilling drinks on my settee (1:09-1:12)

(Do I wanna know?)(1:13-1:15)

If this feeling flows both ways (1:16-1:18)

(Sad to see you go) (1:19-1:21)

was sorta hoping that you'd stay (1:22-1:24)

(baby we both know) (1:24-1:26)

That the nights were mainly made for saying things that you can't say tomorrow day (1:27-1:34)

Crawling back to you (1:35-1:37)

Ever thought of calling when you've had a few? (1:38-1:43)

'Cause I always do (1:44-1:45)

Maybe I'm too busy being yours to fall for somebody new (1:47-1:54)

Now I've thought it through (1:55-1:57)

Crawling back to you (1:57-2:00)

So have you got the goods? (2:01-2:02)

Been wondering if your heart's still open and if so I wanna know what time it shuts (2:05-2:12)

Simmer down and pucker up (2:13-2:15)

I'm sorry to interrupt it's just I'm constantly on the cusp of trying to kiss you (2:16-2:25)

I don't know if you feel the same as I do (2:26-2:33)

We could be together if you wanted to (2:34-2:42)

(Do I wanna know?) (2:43-2:46)

If this feeling flows both ways (2:46-2:49)

(Sad to see you go) (2:49-2:51)

Was sorta hoping that you'd stay (2:52-2:54)

(baby we both know) (2:54-2:57)

That the nights were mainly made for saying things that you can't say tomorrow day (2:58- 3:04)

Crawling back to you (crawling back to you) (3:05-3:09)

Ever thought of calling when you've had a few? (you've had a few) (3:08-3:14)

'Cause I always do ('cause I always do) (3:14-3:17)

Maybe I'm too (maybe I'm too busy) busy being yours to fall for somebody new (3:17-3:25)

Now I've thought it through (3:25-3:27)

Crawling back to you (3:28-3:30)

(Do I wanna know?) (3:29:3:31)

If this feeling flows both ways (3:31-3:34)

(Sad to see you go) (3:34-3:36)

was sorta hoping that you'd stay (3:37-3:40)

(baby we both know) (3:40-3:42)

That the nights were mainly made for saying things that you can't say tomorrow day (3:42-3:50)

(Do I wanna know?) (3:51-3:53)

Too busy being yours to fall (3:53-3:57)

(Sad to see you go) (3:57-3:59)

Ever thought of calling darlin'? (3:59-4:03)

(Do I wanna know?) (4:03-4:04)

Do you want me crawling back to you? (4:04-4:09)

Indie Rock

Codes and Conventions – Music Genres

Indie – Arctic Monkeys – I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor

• Scruffy hair
• Casual clothes – Jeans, polo shirts
• Band playing
• Guitars and drum kit
• Dark setting
• Shadows
• Standing still/little movement on feet

In this music video the codes and conventions of the Indie genre are followed to the audience’s expectations. The band a dressed in neutral coloured casual clothing such as jeans and polo shirts, they also have scruffy hairstyles. This supports the relaxed and laid back image of stereotypical Indie bands seen today. The Arctic Monkeys are all playing instruments in this video as well, with a drummer that has the band’s logo on the bass drum. The lead singer is playing guitar as well as the other two band members. There is also use of coloured lighting, which could be seen as something unconventional for Indie bands, however in general the setting which the band is in is dark and ‘moody’ with lots of shadows cast onto the bands faces.

 

Rock – 30 Seconds To Mars – Closer To The Edge

• Band playing
• Massive crowds
• Strobe lighting
• Bright coloured lighting
• Messy/Gelled hairstyles
• Leather Jackets
• Crowd surfing
• Guitars and drums
• Shadows
• Fans

The content which makes up this music video is mainly clips of tour dates played around the world as well as the fans talking. There are many shots of the crowd and the band playing on stage, which is stereotypical of rock music videos. The lead singer also participates in crowd surfing etc. which reinforces the idea of them being risk takers. The use of fans in their video also creates a personal relationship with the viewer. There are many bright coloured lights used as well as strobe lighting, this could be seen as unconventional of rock bands as they may be more associated with darkness and gloom. The lead singer has a red Mohican which is stereotypical of rock bands as they are seen to be different and to stand out.

Lyrics analysis

This Lyrics Analysis will help me to understand what the underlying meaning is behind this song. This helping me to develop my ideas and planning further as to what may be featured in my music video and what will be the narrative plot.

Textual Analysis

Textual analysis

The 1975- Chocolate

The Media text presents the band in black and white, creating the representation of them being mysterious. Black and white editing is conventional for the genre Alternative rock, displaying the group or artist as darker, and aloof. This instantly highlights to the audience the genre and the artist featured. Throughout the video, the lead singer is seen as a silhouette against a white background, once again reinforcing the mystery behind the group and the genre.

Overall the media text has very little in the way to a narrative. This can be quite conventional in Alternative Rock in some cases. Were the video features mainly a performance element with a slight narrative, the audience is more able to link with the band and the emotions being portrayed throughout the song.  The aspect of the narrative throughout this video that is most predominant is the love interest. The female role portrayed as the love interest within the video, although playing a minor part, she plays a huge role in following conventions and the stereotypes of this genre.

Cinematography throughout follows the conventions of close ups on the main singer and long shots on the band as a whole. These stereotypes allow the audience to make a link with a particular singer, meaning that when the band is marketed, this lead singer will be at the forefront of the shot, allowing the audience to see them first and instantly link to the band. Close-ups are also used to portray the emotions of the band, for in this instance we see the lead singer with a fairly bland facial expression, portraying him as moody, and mysterious.

Mise-en-scene throughout this media text uses the conventional aspects of leather jackets, sunglasses, and an overall dark appearance. With the use of such aspects, the audience is able to links the band to a particular style of music, attitude and style. This portrays the 1975 as mysterious, and rebellious, showing them in secluded rooms, and empty spaces. For the majority of the video, we also see them in a car, this portrays them as free, highlighting that they can do what they want and go where they want, once again representing them as rebellious and mysterious, with no clue as to where they may be going.

Textual analysis 1

R U Mine? – Arctic Monkeys

Textual Analysis 1

For a large proportion of this video, the media text is filmed to give the impression that the artists are purely in control of there work and it is being filmed from their point of view, not from an outsiders.  This presents the artist as if he is singing directly to the audience, connecting with them and drawing them into the video.

This also gives the impression that the band is in control of their music and representation of themselves, and is not being controlled by any higher power in the industry. Thus allowing the audience to believe they are connected to the real people behind the camera, not a false image.

Throughout the media text, there are a large number of long shots featured, this gives the viewer the chance to see what is happening around the band, and how the surroundings relate to the personality and style of the group. It also allows all the members of the band to be featured within the shot.

The editing within the video is simple yet strong, with only clear cuts and the simple black and white edit, the video suits the genre of indie rock perfectly. Depicting the artists as mysterious and darker than most artists, the simple editing allows the audience to concentrate more on what is happening within the media text without the distractions of fast paced editing and visual effects. It also allows them to understand the band and their music better.

The mise en scene within this video is very stereotypical of its genre, representing the artists in dark clothing, depicting them as both mysterious and dark. They are also show with sunglasses on suggesting that they are hiding something or there is something unknown about them, again linking to being mysterious.  The video shows the band filming their video in the car, indicating that they create their music maybe whilst their on the road, showing the hectic life of the group.

Sound is represented in a couple of different ways within this video, as it constantly switches between being a non-diegetic voice over and the artists sing being diegetic as it. This changing between drawing the audience into the video by singing directly to them, and being a voiceover as if it a story.

Initial Ideas

Moodboard

I  this mood board i have accumulated all the photos that i thought would relate to my chosen genre of indie music. some of these are smoking, drinking, and dark clothing. i also gathered images of existing bands, stages and stereotypical items that are related to that genre.
these images demonstrate what i hope to feature in my chosen genre and what i will need for the mise en scene of my media text.

Lyric Storyboard (Image)

Planning around genres

Here i have began to look into the many stereotypes within my chosen genre of music.

skill development

From the beginning of AS media I struggled in understanding the technology and software we used throughout the course. These made it difficult for me to create the ideas I had visualised, and the work I developed took longer than expected to complete.

However, over the course of the year learnt the techniques and skills needed to develop a suitable and professional product. Photoshop was what I found most difficult to learn. However, after understanding the concept of layers and how using them makes developing my idea easier, I began to create my product with less time needed. One of the hardest things to learn about for me was a layer, as this was the basis to the whole of Photoshop. Once I understood layers, the rest was practicing and experimenting. However when learning about layers, I found it difficult to understand how to lay them on top of each other in a way that suited my needs for the process. This held me back as without knowing about this, I couldn’t progress any further with the development of your work.

The tools I used the most on Photoshop, were the ‘Quick Selection Tool’ and the ‘Blur Tool’, as these allowed me to layer up my product in a way that looked professional and realistic. However these weren't the only tools used, I used a variety of other to add text, brighten images, erase imperfections and crop out unwanted imagery.

Initially, I had the idea to base my magazine on the genre Pop, as I thought that create what is a mainstream magazine would draw more of an audience. However, I later changed to developing a Niche magazine with the genre of Indie Rock. I changed this because I found that by choosing a magazine with the same genre of music I like, I would be able to relate to the style and content more, and understand what I would like to feature if reading the magazine.

To create my magazine I had to learn how to use the conventions and stereotypes of a particular music genre, and develop on them in a way that appealed to the reader, was original, but didn’t sway far off the traditional appearance of the stereotype of the music genre. By doing this I was able to use colours and fonts to change the whole appearance and feel to the cover. With my genre being Indie rock, I found that I needed to use a lot of bold, chunky, and sometimes distressed fonts. This gave the magazine a rough and edgy look, stereotypical of rock bands. I also used darker colours, avoiding pinks, oranges, and yellows, as these would detract from the main image and could possibly make the magazine fall into a different genre when it came to the layout.

As I prepared to gather the images for my magazine, I needed to think carefully about what I needed to portray with the feature act, and whom I was going to present. Stereotypically, there are more bands featured in the genre ‘Rock’, this is why I steered away from featuring purely one artist on the front cover. However this made fitting text and header more difficult, as a larger proportion of the cover was taken by the image.

The main image was a key feature to the front cover and needed to portray the characteristics and emotions of an Indie rock band, using conventional poses for the magazine. This meant either getting the band to look directly at the camera with either blank or serious facial expressions, or having them further away from the camera with either there instruments or an image of them causing disruption. However I found it difficult to find suitable instruments for the shot, and with time running out, there was more chance of something going wrong with a shot of disruption. This lead me to settle with a simple medium shot of the band staring into the camera, drawing the reader into buying the magazine.

The majority of my research was found on the Internet, researching into current indie rock bands, other magazines in the same genre, such as NME, KERRANG, and Q. however I focused mainly on studying into the layout and style of KERRANG. By doing this I was able to research into what bands are usually featured and how they are displayed in the images and what usually the interview is based around.  This allowed me to develop my ideas on what my featured act might be and the basis of my double page spread.  I also researched into the audience my product will be aimed at. Looking into what advertisements could be featured and what fashion, style, and appearances are favored by this particular focus group.

When I began to plan and develop my ideas for my product, I started by creating drafts of my contents page, deciding what exactly will be featured. This allowed me to create a structured layout for my font page, making sure I could easily fit all that was needed in my product. After doing this I was able to create a magazine that followed similar layout and structures similar to the ways in which KERRANG does.

This year I hope to develop my skills with Photoshop and develop on my skills with editing of videos and images. I will also dedicate more time into researching other media texts, finding examples both in my chosen genre, and in others. This will give me a better grasp on what is needed to develop a successful and professional product.  I will also give myself sufficient time to plan ahead, and schedule shooting for my music video, allowing time for re-shoots if there are any problems on the first shoot.

By doing this I will allow my self-time to develop suitable work, following ideas I will develop, and suitable to my chosen genre whilst using the conventions and stereotypes of typical music videos.