Poll Results

I have created a poll to see what genre of music video people think my song will fit best. Below are the results:

From the results I can see that a Storyline genre is clearly the most popular genre to use (70%). The 2nd most popular was Dance at 35% and 3rd Performance at 29%.

I asked a class of media studies students aged 16-18 to vote on my poll. This groups fits inside my target audience for the song. My audiences were informed about a previous post I had posted that they could use to help them chose there answer. The post outlined what each music video genre was. (http://bethanyhutsona2.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/music-video-genres.html)

• I think conceptual scored the least amount of votes dues to it's quirky nature. I think a song with a slightly unclear message and more of a feel-good song. This type of video would be unconventional with less of a message. 
• The second choice (special effects) is likely to be to have a low score for similar reasons as conceptual. Special effects videos are often quite abstract and don't follow a particular path. This type of video wouldn't have fit well with a mainstream song.
• An animation video also scored low however, I believe that this type of video could have fitted well with the song. A story could have been told through the animation however, it may have given it a slightly less serious feel to the song, something I don't think would have worked with the approach I wanted.
• A performance video would have worked however, for my a-level project lip syncing and finding the appropriate cast that would have fitted that place of the artist may have been hard. Also, finding sufficient shots for the video would have had obstacles. Therefore, whilst this would have worked for the song as a whole, for my a-levels it may have lowered the standard of my video.
• The second highest score was for a dance video. I believe that this should have scored slightly higher as many successful dance videos are up-beat with a fast tempo to create a feel-good factor and I believe this song is perhaps a bit too slow. However, with the right effort, a slower dance could have been made successful.
• Storyline, the genre of music video that I chose to use for my project, scored the best. I think this genre fits most suitably because the lyrics allow for many different interpretations of the song and therefore by creating a storyline music video you can easily show your interpretation.

Shooting Styles

At the weekend I saw the Sainsburys 2013 Christmas advert; 'Christmas in a Day' The advert, like the music videos I have been watching, had a big emotional impact on it's audience. The advert was directed by Oscar-winning Kevin Macdonald.He created a 45 minute festive film for Sainsbury's to be released on YouTube week comensing 18.11.13. Macdonald collected various christmas home videos from across the UK and collated them to create a short film - he also created a 3 minute teaser advert before the film was released.

The 3 minute teaser includes emotive footage; including, a man eating Christmas dinner alone and a dad coming home from Afgahnistan to surprise his children on Christmas day. This realtes to the theme I want for my music video becuase it has a hard hitting, realistic, emotional impact on the audience.
 

It wasn't just the theme and the impact of the advert that attracted me but also the style, I like that they were home videos included in the filming and clearly not set up situations; this gave it a much more realistic feel increasing the emotional impact.
Read more: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-sainsburys-christmas-day-will-bring-tears-your-eyes-153935

Hozier: Take Me To Church

In class Mr. Buckmaster showed us a music video: Hozier, Take Me To Church.

Ireland's State noted that the video, directed by Brendan Canty, echoes the wave of violence currently plaguing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Russia. The songs lyrics speak of the harsh reality of religious view on homosexuality in many places: "Every Sunday's getting more bleak / A fresh poison each week / 'We were born sick,' you heard them say it". Although these views are considered very outdated in many places these opinions are still practised in many places across the globe.

I like the video because it shows the harsh reality of many societies and opinions; it doesn't sugar coat the situation. The hard hitting impact of the video, gives the song a lot of power over the audience because it very quickly makes people realise the cruel truth about things that Homosexual populations have face in certain societies.

I also like the colour treatment of the music video; I think the black and white video takes away any distractions. The audience’s attention isn't drawn to any insignificant parts of the scenes. I think it signifies that the shooting of the video is not the important part of the video but the message it is trying to send. Also, the black and white colour treatment helps to prevent and other difference the characters may have being introduced to the audience, by all being very plain it almost takes away their individuality.

Things that I will be taking from this video and applying to my own production are:

· The use of colour treatment and the impact it has on the message of the story

· The hard hitting effect of the story

· The controversial manner of the video

I will use this video as the first influence into similar products that I will be looking into to.

Changing my idea

After some thought I have decided to change my initial production idea. I have been considering this for a while and during Friday's lesson I made a final decision. I will still be doing the music video brief however. I have changed the theme song and story line of the music video but, I have not yet finalised my new idea.

Reasons for changing my initial idea: 

• I thought my first idea about someone perusing love and then succeeding was too cliche and predictable
• I felt the idea was maybe a bit hard to follow and that the audience may not understand the significance of shadows and empty seat e.t.c. (Signifying that he is looking for someone/missing someone) 
• I didn't think my song choice linked to my story line strongly enough. The lyrics of 'Clouds' are slightly hard to interpret and slightly contradict themselves.
• Finally, I decided I wanted to explore a completely different genre of media (my AS production was the opening sequence of a rom com and this too was a romance/love based story). This year I want to explore a controversial and slightly more 'gritty' side of media. 

Music Video Genres

There are different styles of music video that artists can use.

Performance:
 

This is where the video is based around the band/artist and shows them performing and their gigging lifestyle. It's a common genre with new, up and coming artists that are trying to establish their place in the music industry and make themselves known to the audience. An example of a music video that has used the performance genre is 'Let Her Go' by Passenger; please see bellow.

Storyline:

This is where the song and lyrics are used to tell a story. This is a very common theme among many music videos and allows for the artists interpretation of the song to be conveyed to the audience. An example of a music video that has used the storyline genre is 'The A Team' by Ed Sheeran; please see bellow.

Dance:

This is where the music video is based around people dancing to the music, it is often used with 'upbeat songs' for a feel good effect. Often, the artist or band are the dancers in the music video.  An example of a music video that has used the dance genre is Love On Top' by Beyonce; please see below:

 

 

 

Conceptual:

Conceptual music videos are based around a single idea or concept and are usually unusual and obscure, even surreal for the audience. Conceptual videos are often quirky.  An example of a music video that has used the conceptual genre is 'Needing/Getting' by OK Go; please see below:

Special Effects:

Special Effect videos are often disjointed, they allow for a slightly surreal feel to the video. An example of a music video that has used the special effects genre is 'Safe and Sound' by Capital Cities; please see below:

 

Animation:

 

Animated music videos can range from the images being hand drawn, created by computer graphic ot moulded out of material such as plasticine. This style of music video is very creative and visually entertaining to watch. An example of a music video that has used the animation genre is 'One More Time' by Daft Punk ; please see below: