The indie audience

You're average indie:

• Likes Mac Demarco 
• Squints in the sun
• Stares at the separation between two strips of veneer on a coffee table
• Wears Kangol semi-ironically
• Will probably say 'thrift' rather than 'charity' shop

This is important as I will be trying to appeal to these self-proclaimed enigmas- I want to know where they congregate, how I can find them, and how I can make my music video appeal to them.

Storyboarding

Storyboarding- animatic examples

 Animatics are a method of presenting a storyboard whereby music is played over the top of a slideshow of the sketches, with the stills being in time with the music the same way in which the actual footage will be in final production. These are good for illustrating how a music video will look, and are also helpful for showing how much of the song your storyboard will actually cover. 

This is my animatic. I expect that I will make some changes or have to work around some differences on the days of filming but this is my rough guide to the music video I will be filming in February. 

CD Covers- convergence cultures

When analysing album covers:
Media forms
Institutions
Genre
Representation
Audience
Ideology
Narrative

Music is an aural art form, but the packaging for the recordings has a distinct aesthetic.

No binaries:
Hepworth (2011): in an article about the resurgence in vinyl record collecting, observes the hybrid, convergent nature of his-and fellow collectors'- preferences for how they consume music in the digital era.

People either want their music fast and portable or slow and cherished but often find a place for both. 'Slow and quick, portable and tangible' duality can be seen with the vinyl record. Many people keep their music in the cloud for quick access and preserved on vinyl for its cherished antique status. (Digipaks in vinyl records)

 

Asking audience

I will be handing out this questionnaire out to different people


Questionnaire

Age:

Gender:

Describe your music taste:

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Do you actively watch music videos?

Y/N

Name 3 artists you are currently listening to:

_________________________________________________________________________

Do you watch their music videos?

Y/N

If so, are there any running themes within the music videos (e.g. Blonde wig in Sia music videos)?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Name your favourite music video and why:

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Do you think music videos should provide more than just entertainment (e.g. political statement)?

Y/N

Why?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Here were the responses:

A common theme I've found amongst the questionnaires that I gave out was that a lot of people seem to acknowledge the power that music videos hold in pop culture today: this is illustrated through their circling of the 'Y' after the question : "Do you think music videos should provide more than just entertainment?" and also the qualitative answers which they give afterwards, such as "I think music [videos are] an easy and creative way of providing a widespread population with a message". 

Textual analysis of A2 music video

Textual analysis A2



The music video's pace is matched with the visuals, with the camera cuts increasing as the song progresses. In terms of the lyrics and the visuals, there is a high-angle shot repeated when the lyrics say "You're giving me the look" of the boy lying down looking up at the camera. Also with the lyrics "We're always in small circles" there is a superimposition over the subject of a spinning theme park ride going around in a circle to match the words. 

The song is calm and melancholy which is matched by the location of the music video, on a bright day on a shore with saturated colours of blue, green and yellow. The music video is solely a performance piece and appears to have no intended meaning encoded within the text- so in terms of Hall's reception theory, a preferred reading from the audience simple to achieve in this music video.  

The music video begins with a tilt up shot of the tide on a sunny beach with a simplistic thin font in sans. This fits with Goodwin's 'Genre conventions' of a music video as the song is a low-key electronic song which has an arpeggio tone (light and upbeat). 

The editing shows different shots to slide into 
view, and the editor uses this technique to show the progression through the day from the beach during the day to the theme park in the night. 

Representation and the Media video

- 

In this video Stuart Hall talks about to visual representation of groups in the media. He outlines how a representation represents an idea which is already there (also known as a hegemonic idea). This is a useful video to consider in the planning of my music video as I am aiming to play on the representation of vampires in my music video but counteract the representation by showing the main character to subvert or comically adhere to the stereotypes of vampires. 

Stylisitc influences

As a preliminary concept, I have been a inspired by the alternative genre of music videos and, more specifically, the themes of horror films within certain music videos, that often work ironically or satirically. In researching various branches of music videos I found myself drawn to darker music videos sometimes a bit gory but generally violent or gruesome for comic effect: such as Kasabian's 'Vlad the Impaler' or Yeah Yeah Yeah's 'Heads Will Roll'. Both of these music videos were directed by Richard Ayoade, whom I did a case study on, outlining he aspects of his directing which I have been inspired by: Richard Ayoade case study. Though my music video story has been heavily altered since the beginning of the year, I still maintain these influences and I hope that they will be apparent in my final music video at the end of this year.