The Timeline

Music Video Treatment

Emily

This week, we were introduced to Emily, a music video commissioner who works at Polydor Records. She visited our media class in order to explain to us the concept of making treatment for music videos. Her visit was very useful as now my peers and I grasped the whole idea of preparation for music video and how a professional music video is made and advertised. She showed us some examples of music videos she had worked on which included Elle Goulding's "Burn" and James Blake's "Overgrown" which I liked in particular as it was directed by no other than NABIL. One of the most useful things I learnt from Emily was that when using VEVO, one may find more advantages than in YouTUBE network as VEVO promotes its new videos on their website which is a crucial point for an upcoming artist. So now with the stream of this new information, my group and I are really looking foreword to working on our musician's unique and urban style and of course creating the set for the video will be equally exciting.

First Pitch of our Music Video & feedback

Final pitch presentation from hurtwoodhousemedia5

On 12th of September we pitched our idea to James and Luke. One of the main worries that Luke had about the music video was that if the art direction is not organized properly, the video could potentially end up having the unnecessary comical effect so in the future we will have to be careful with that and remember this critique. Another point Luke made is that the animal masks we will be using have to be well-made and also quite original. We have found a shop in Guildford, a town by our school where they sell high quality animal masks so that has been taken care of. In terms of narrative, Luke has suggested we take it further and add sequences of humans digging, in order to get to the foxes underground deejay set. This could potentially make our music video look lively and unique. James also proposed that we use the studio when working on the "party" scenes. That way we will be able to control the cinematography and special effects better. All of those comments were really useful and will be taken into much consideration when making the video.

Trouble In The West

This is the song we agreed on using for our A2 music video. It has elements of dubstep and trap in it. 

KOAN Sound

KOAN Sound "Funk Blaster" Official Video
perfectly illustrates their music style and their star image

KOAN Sound performing live.      

My production team

This school year I will get to work with Gill and Bee on the A2 Music Video. I think with Gill's knowledge of  music, Bee's computer design skills and my passion for filming, we make a great team therefore I am excited to be working with them. So far we have decided to go with Koan Sound's "Trouble in the West" which is a dubstep song, making this project for me even more interesting and challenging.

AWOLNATION - Sail

Video Concept

My music video would evolve around the character played by my friend Natalia. This music video would take place in a psychiatric cell and tackle the idea of a person going insane due to events that happened in her life. She would be lip singing the words "Sail" which would reference the idea that her mind is completely gone and she went crazy. The camerawork will mostly concentrate on her and the band singing and performing in the background of the psychiatric cell where she is locked in. There will also be a montage of the events that made her mentally insane, like the killing of all ex-boyfriends that wronged her as in her point of view, this was the only way to get her revenge. The effect of a video camera in a cell that "films" the bands performance would also play nicely in this scenario and add a specific style.

               Natalia                                                                           The effect of a video camera

Jonas Brothers

What is their star image?

Jonas Brothers is a good example of a US Synthetic boy-band. They gained popularity through Disney channel and consist of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas and Nick Jonas. Their music targets young teenage girls with the help from their lyrical love songs. . They portray the look of youthful, clean-cut, handsome, friendly Christian boys which is such a popular image in the U.S.A. It is fair to say that this boy-band heavily depends on their sexual magnetism.

This music video is in black & white and shows different montages of Jonas Brothers touring and performing to big crowds of teenage girl fans. It has a feel of appreciation video for fans.

Mise-en-scene 

* Jonas Brothers dressed in skinny jeans and T-shirts

* the music video is taken place in big theaters filled with fans

Cinematography 

 The camera mainly focuses on the close-ups of Nick, Joe and Kevin which just proves that indeed their most important asset is their looks. There are also wide angles on the crowds to show how many people there are in the audience. The occasional close-ups and wide shots on teenage girls ( target audience) and their posters are also present.

Sound 

The music is very melodic and lyrical which makes its pace quite slow

Editing 

Due to the music being slow, the editing complements it and stays quite gradual as well. The crop-editing technique is used from Jonas Brothers to their fans to show that connection between artists and their admirers. 

I FINK U FREEKY & I LIKE U A LOT

Today during class, my media studies teacher showed us a music video which I certainly found original and entertaining to watch. Die Antwoord's music video is a great example of an artistic, innovative music video that doesn't need big budgeting or support from a major label company. This is definitely something to keep in mind when planning out my own A2 music video.

Mumford & Sons

Mumford & Sons is an Organic band consisting of four members: Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall and Ted Dwane. They are a very talented folk band playing on variety of instruments like banjo, guitar, drums and piano. They do not depend on their looks or their sex-appeal but purely on their talent and skill. They write their own material too. In December 2012 "Forbes" magazine called Mumford & Sons "creative and intellectual best of their generation!"

"The Cave" music video was a major success for Mumford & Sons winning major awards and gaining recognition from critics.

This music video starts with band members giving their music instruments to men dressed in marching band outfits, then driving away on motorcycles while wearing white tuxedos to give the video a more hipster/indie look. They continue driving around in a beautiful forest while the marching band plays their instruments by the beach. This prolongs throughout the song until Mumford & Co return for their instruments.

Mise-en-Scene

* celebratory white tuxedos

* marching band dressed in bright suits and hats which plays off well the white tuxedos

* the location of the music video is very peaceful and original thus goes well with the lyrical song

* the light in the video is quite bright as it shows the presence of sun and daytime 

Editing

The pace in the video is quite fast in order to keep up with the band riding motorcycles and the rhythm of the song. 

Sound

The music starts slowly and then speeds up with every verse.

Cinematography 

The director uses a lot of wide shots to show the actions of the band and their travels. He also uses ,id-shot on Marcus Mumford in order to point out he is the lead singer of the band. There are also close ups on instruments which indicates to the audience that they are "organic".

The xx

What is their star image?

The xx is an Organic English band. The group consists of three members: Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith. Their music genre is indie pop mixed with dream pop. Their style is very original and when paired with impressive talent, this makes them one of the best bands of our generation. Unlike synthetic bands, The xx not only target teenage girls but a much larger segment of sophisticated audience not depending on age.

"Crystalized" was the band's first single therefore this music video played a very significant part in showcasing the band's star image and  connecting with their audience.

The music video starts with a wide shot of the band leaning against the wall that projects blue skies. Throughout the whole music video, miss-en-scene stays the same with projections of the wall and lighting changing.


Editing

The pace of the video is sharp with the angle changing from one band member to another. This editing technique is done to match the pointy, grating music of The xx. The lighting in the video stays dim throughout the video. This makes the band seem mysterious and more indie.


Sound

The music used in the video consists of Sim's and Croft's voices, guitars and electric keyboard making it sound gripping.

Cinematography

Throughout the video, a viewer can observe wide shots representing the whole band leaning against the "changing" wall. There are also close ups of their instruments like Sim's guitar and Smith's keyboards. This to prove to the audience that they are organic performers. The director also pays attention to the background of the wall. 

The Brief

Produce a promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

a website homepage for the band;

a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);

a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).