One of the effects I'm going to use is of the match on the beach. I decided to do an experiment shot at dusk to see what the lighting is like. It was also a good idea because I learnt that you need to hold the match at the right angle for it to burn correctly. Also I need to be aware of the wind on the day of filming as it effects how it burns and the overall effect.
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Monday, 3 October 2011
Audience Research: Genre
Who listens to dance music (and the surrounding genres)?
My target audience is 16-30 year olds who regularly listen to, download and share music, specifically from the genre dance. They are more likely to have a disposable income, also, as they are young but will be students or starting out in their careers. As my video would broadcast on music channels and YouTube, I need to think about the differences in grabbing the audience through these different mediums. The majority of my audience will watch over YouTube as they spend more time on the internet than watching television. This means they have chosen to click on the video so will need less hooking in than on television, which can be easily flicked over to another channel. The beginning will be slower paced than the rest of the video but is still engaging as it introduces the artist and will be shot artistically. Then, once the beat kicks in the pace will build so by then the audience should want to continue watching.
According to this useful website on the media use of US teenagers, about 44% of what young people watch online are music videos. And the internet is incredibly important to young people in the UK as well, as this recent Guardian article states, just 23% of 16-24 year olds say they would struggle without tv.
So the audience I'm targeting an audience that is very internet literate and is used to spending hours online a day, so in order for my video to stand out from the rest and to be successful I need to make sure it engages with the viewer and looks professional, fitting with the conventions the audience is used to (see below).
How are they traditionally targeted through the media?
Looking at some of the statistics for social networks, Facebook has a huge influence over my target audience's age group...
So marketing is now primarily done through social networking sites as that is where most young people spend there time. There is a lot of business to be made advertising through these sites, so in order for music artists to be known to their audience they need to have a marketing campaign on these sites, with their own pages and interact with the audience, to get them sharing to their friends and talking about the music.
Music video conventions
- Lip-syncing
- Great cinematography
- Sharp editing to the music
- Lip-syncing
- Dancing
- Changing locations
- Colouring/Lighting carefully considered
- Repetition techniques - manipulation of the film
- Emphasis on the beat through cuts and pacing
- Close ups of the artist, which provides empathy for the audience which they can identify with
Further detail in specific shots:
Many videos I have looked at have visual signifiers/reoccurring motifs, which anchors meaning for audience. Here are a few that I will include...
- extreme CU of lips to main line of the song
- crash of the waves
According to this useful website on the media use of US teenagers, about 44% of what young people watch online are music videos. And the internet is incredibly important to young people in the UK as well, as this recent Guardian article states, just 23% of 16-24 year olds say they would struggle without tv.
 |
| Source |
How are they traditionally targeted through the media?
Looking at some of the statistics for social networks, Facebook has a huge influence over my target audience's age group...
 |
| Source |
Music video conventions
- Lip-syncing
- Dancing
- The artist featured and engaging with the audience
- Editing to the music
- Different locations/costumes to keep it interesting
- Visual signifiers
- Reoccurring motifs
- Some sort of narrative
- About 3-5 minutes long
Combining my research into what the audience for dance music videos want to see and the established conventions for music videos as a whole here is what the audience will expect to see in my dance music video...
- The artist featured and engaging with the audienceCombining my research into what the audience for dance music videos want to see and the established conventions for music videos as a whole here is what the audience will expect to see in my dance music video...
- Great cinematography
- Sharp editing to the music
- Lip-syncing
- Dancing
- Changing locations
- Colouring/Lighting carefully considered
- Repetition techniques - manipulation of the film
- Emphasis on the beat through cuts and pacing
- Close ups of the artist, which provides empathy for the audience which they can identify with
Further detail in specific shots:
Many videos I have looked at have visual signifiers/reoccurring motifs, which anchors meaning for audience. Here are a few that I will include...
- extreme CU of lips to main line of the song
- crash of the waves
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Risk Assessment
I need to do a risk assessment in order for my artist and myself to remain safe during filming...
Location 1 - River
Location 2 - Beach
Location 3 - Forest
Location 4 - Plain Walled Room
As this is in my house, I feel this location is reasonably safe. I will make sure my artist knows where she is going and that all furniture and wires are in safe positions so no one can trip up.
Location 1 - River
Location 2 - Beach
Location 3 - Forest
The forest location is a public footpath and I will bring a map, torch and phone in order to not get lost and stay on the official paths.
Location 4 - Plain Walled Room
Scouting Locations #4
The interlude needed a separate location in order to fully signify the difference in tone. For this I wanted something simpler, so looked around my house for a plain wall. I eventually found one, except it had a picture hook and plugs, so I will need to work around them, but otherwise I think this wall will be good...
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Critiquing Existing Products: Dance Videos
Today I'm going to look at four music videos, some of which are of the dance genre, as well as others which feature inspirational techniques or locations...
Firstly I am going to look at Sunlight by Modestep.
Flashback uses the lyrics and narrative of the song to create an interesting video. As he is trying to remember what happened to night before, so the video begins in the morning, with the artist alone on a boat surrounded by polaroid pictures. Edited to the music, we see flashes of the night before, specifically following one girl, as we move from streets to a club to a boat. It is edited quickly with lots of movement and we see the artist performing as well. I like the 'flashback' element and the use of the polaroids - a reoccurring motif. There is a lot of red lighting which is inspirational as I'm hoping to have my video toned blue.
Rizzle Kicks' video for Down With The Trumpets is is much more informal and features part of a beach location, so is interesting to look at as one of my locations is also the beach,
Seeing them both on the screen and holding it at the same time is a nice touch, that, combined with the music and lyrics gives the video a clever, cheeky and fun feel to it: then cutting to them outside fives it an edgy feel. As urban artists it is unusual to film the video on Brighton streets/beach and not on some shadowy streets or in a club.
The bright lighting and British retro edge make it more fashionable, mainstream and accessible to everyone, whilst standing out from the rest of the urban market. The stereo/tv is a reoccurring motif that works well.
The artists are very expressive with fluid facial expressions, movements and lots of dancing- contrasting with Calvin Harris who is very serious throughout Flashback.
Jump cutting and repetition is used in front of the beach huts as some young guys dressed in urban clothing dance quite cheesily, indicating that this is obviously meant to be a little ironic and not to be taken seriously. Slow motion and clever editing make not having such a big budget, not be a problem.
There is an interesting transition and the beginning of this video, which I have looked at briefly before...
The video overlaps the images of the artists face and shoes over night-time New York from above. I like this transition which I tried out a few days ago and will probably use in the verses in the beach and forest locations to add to the dream-like and home-movie style effect.
Firstly I am going to look at Sunlight by Modestep.
I like this video as has a great USP as it uses older actors who get up to things which young people stereotypically get up to which is interesting and funny to see and has got people talking about - a great marketing device (another similar video is Danny Byrd's Tonight).
The editing is very fast paced, matching the rhythm and pacing of the song, a common technique which I've looked at a lot.
It starts off with an elderly woman opening her curtains and making some food, but after putting on a record and letting in her two male friends, the video cuts to the more traditional club/gig scene where Modestep are performing to its typical audience of 18-25 year olds - showing that the scene is less than typical.
In the club scenes they a shot very intimately with a lot of close ups of the decks, instruments and singer, as if you were there in that claustrophobic club, a great technique to use to make it feel more real and relatable to its target audience.
There is great use of slow motion throughout the video, which I think highlights the actions of the older characters as they progress through their day and also makes the change into real time towards the end more effective as the beat becomes much faster so it matches this. The video cuts between the typical club scenes to this narrative, which is effective in telling the narrative. The first shot of the 3 older actors doing something out of the ordinary is below.
They then go on to shop lift, drink heavily, play poker, smoke, take drugs, trash the house, walk along the beach, drink in public, smash bottles, do shots, get thrown out, pick up girls, go clubbing (it becomes clear that they end up in the same club as the one Modestep are performing in, tying up the video nicely), watch girls pole dancing, do more drugs, dance on a boat until dawn, having a party in their garden and having the police come round.
Overall, I think this is a funny (as this is not what you expect from the over 60's), well-shot and clever video that looks at the youth and elderly today and how they are portrayed, so has a message behind it. Also a reoccurring motif that is used is the artists logo, which is seen on the record playing and the helium balloons.
Next, I'm going to look at another inspirational dance video - Flashback by Calvin Harris.
 |
| There are many high angles used, as well as close ups of the action |
It starts off with an elderly woman opening her curtains and making some food, but after putting on a record and letting in her two male friends, the video cuts to the more traditional club/gig scene where Modestep are performing to its typical audience of 18-25 year olds - showing that the scene is less than typical.
There is great use of slow motion throughout the video, which I think highlights the actions of the older characters as they progress through their day and also makes the change into real time towards the end more effective as the beat becomes much faster so it matches this. The video cuts between the typical club scenes to this narrative, which is effective in telling the narrative. The first shot of the 3 older actors doing something out of the ordinary is below.
Next, I'm going to look at another inspirational dance video - Flashback by Calvin Harris.
Rizzle Kicks' video for Down With The Trumpets is is much more informal and features part of a beach location, so is interesting to look at as one of my locations is also the beach,
It is quite laid back and has a nice retro feel to it, especially with the tape player and huge stereo with unbuilt tv screen that they hold at the beginning. It brings a touch of nostalgia and a home-movie type feel that I'd quite like as well as building a connection with the artists.
The bright lighting and British retro edge make it more fashionable, mainstream and accessible to everyone, whilst standing out from the rest of the urban market. The stereo/tv is a reoccurring motif that works well.
The artists are very expressive with fluid facial expressions, movements and lots of dancing- contrasting with Calvin Harris who is very serious throughout Flashback.
Jump cutting and repetition is used in front of the beach huts as some young guys dressed in urban clothing dance quite cheesily, indicating that this is obviously meant to be a little ironic and not to be taken seriously. Slow motion and clever editing make not having such a big budget, not be a problem.
There is an interesting transition and the beginning of this video, which I have looked at briefly before...
Experimenting: Forest Location
While I was scouting my third location in my local woods/forest, I filmed some shots to get a feel for the place as well as trying out different angles I could use.
I forgot to take my tripod along, which I obviously will for the actual shooting, so tried placing the camera on rocks instead to see what effect that had. The lighting was really good when I went, which I hope will be similar when I film as it was really atmospheric.
I forgot to take my tripod along, which I obviously will for the actual shooting, so tried placing the camera on rocks instead to see what effect that had. The lighting was really good when I went, which I hope will be similar when I film as it was really atmospheric.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)