Secondary Research

1. Secondary Research Ellie Rawlings

2. Introducing the Music Video • Introducing the Music Video states; “Music videos are typically 3-5 minutes long”, they frequently include quick cuts that match the beat in the song, a certain style and effects. • Depending on who the target audience is also determines the style and tone of the video. For example if the artist is a pretty female the producers will make a more provocative video enticing the male audience to watch for the women and the female audience to watch to aspire. • Music videos now are primarily used as a marketing device, this is intended to promote the sales of the artists recordings.

3. Introducing the Music Video Cont.. • On the internet there are sites such as Myspace that allow unsigned bands like Arctic Monkeys to find mainstream success by providing them an outlet for their music videos. Making them one of the most recognised bands of this generation. • Also, platforms such as YouTube also aid the success of the artist and help them reach a wider audience. • There are conventions that artists follow depending on what genre they are in. For example a rock video would be a lot of dark colours and quick cuts.

4. Music Video • In MediaMagazine issue 1, Pete Fraser stated that you need to watch a lot of music videos -and video a lot too- so you are able to analyse in-depth the language of the genre. This could cause me to look into codes and conventions used in pop-rock music videos, from the mise-en-scene to editing in time with the beat. A key thing for my video will be style so I would like to look at capturing that rock feel in my video, with the main aspect of this being appearance, this will also contribute to the way the video will be received. • He also suggested that with a music video you not only have to focus on trying to sell the music but also rebrand the artist to make the video worth of replays. This would mean going back to my initial research and looking at what my audience want in a video and using techniques and styles that will satisfies their needs while still staying close to my own vision. Because my song and band are well known I hope to completely change the face of the band and make it much more modern so it appeals to my target audience

5. Music Video Cont.. • Another point Fraser makes is that in some circumstances working with friends performing for you will be enough but if you want to create a good video you will need professional actors to create verisimilitude in your video or story. This is something I will have to look into as I want the best possible finished product, I will look on website for aspiring actors looking for jobs to put into a portfolio meaning they will be cheap and more effective. • Finally, Fraser states that you should plan your storyboards ahead so you’re ready with props. Then when you go onto the shoot make sure the track is audible for the actors so the lip-sync will be in time in the video and make it easier when you go into editing. Also, check your footage to make sure you are getting the footage you want. Then when you get onto the editing stage make sure you name your files, and when it comes to effects use them “sparingly” and in a “planned fashion”, and consider your transitions. Once you have finished screen to your audience and get a peer feedback.

6. Women in Music Videos • After looking at this document it made me think that women are not as well-respected as artists in the music industry as men. • ‘Teach it’ follow the way that female artists make more provocative videos or album covers to address their audience • This relates to the Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze Theory, stating that women are seen as sexual objects by men. • This causes them to enjoy the artist whereas a female audience would aspire to be the artist therefore listening to their music or going to their concerts to get a better understanding of them so they can be more like them, boosting their sales and making the artist more money. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3HeLs8Yosw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBxt_v0WF6Y

7. Women in Music Videos Cont.. • On the other hand there are some female artists who go against the typical conventions of how women are seen in the industry. • Artists such as; Florence Welch and Hayley Williams are recognised for their talent in having a great voice and making good music, not how suggestive they can be. • Also, there are artists such as Susan Boyle, who walked into a room full of skeptics at her audition. After she sung Dec even said “You weren’t expecting that”, this just shows our attitude to female artists, and how we think of looks first voice second. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YgjBFd6ZMM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbN0nX61rIs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jca_p_3FcWA

8. Ancillary Tasks

9. Deconstructing the Album Cover • This document states that when constructing an album cover you cannot just think about who constructed it but who your audience is and how they may respond to it. • Album art is actually to promote the band or artist. You have to make it eye-catching as it will usually be reproduced onto posters and other marketing platforms. • Also, these digi-packs have to tell us something about the artist so the audience can relate to them and further enjoy their music, and can be used to attract a wider audience.

10. Deconstructing the Album Cover Cont.. • The album cover can be used to put certain messages and connotations on the cover. • There is also signs, symbols and codes used to create the digi-pack. This is why something is there and the meaning it will hold for the audience. • They are usually divided into the technical (what techniques are used to create the image) and the symbolic (what indicators provoke feeling). • Finally, the composition, making the picture fit the album whether that is casual and comfortable or weird and claustrophobic.

11. How to make an Album Cover • http://inspiredm.com/how-to-make-an-album-cover/ • Jonathon Combs states that the most important part of creating a digi-pack is the initial ideas. He then talks about how surrounding yourself by the right group of people, aids the process and makes for a better work atmosphere creating a better end product. • Also, planning is a key step to creating a digi-pack. Gathering and organising the layout helps you get a better grasp of the angle you are going with the cover, and whether it fits into the tone of the album.

12. How to make an Album Cover Cont.. • Make sure you edit your pictures after you have taken them to ensure you have the best lighting and finished product possible. • When manipulating your pictures make sure to take great care that it looks how you want it to look and if you are piecing the picture together make sure it is lined up correctly otherwise the picture will not be as successful. • Once you have finished putting the picture together add your text in, in an appropriate font keeping in the style of the cover.

13. Magazine AdvertisementAlternative Theory • In the 1950’s art director of Fortune Magazine (Leo Lionni) devised a large booklet on how to demonstrate graphic excellence. • The first thing Lionni establishes is that design is form. Sometimes it is decorative, and has no other function that to give pleasure to the eye, which links back to Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze Theory. Often it is expressive form to hold a meaning, which makes it relatable and aids promotion. • He also states that it is always abstractlike a gesture or a tone of voice, it has the power to command and hold the audience’s attention, creating symbols and clarifying ideas. • Lionni then goes into the importance of advertisements to catch the audience’s eye and to establish identity, or simply to get the most out of the physical of the magazine page in that it is there for people to see and they don’t have to search for it.

14. Magazine AdvertisementAlternative Theory • He then says in his booklet that advertising in a magazine is an intuitive language, difficult to speak, yet easily understood. Few fail to recognize a strong composition, an intriguing arrangement, an arresting color invention, but when you do that is when you shall achieve an advert with the greatest impact. • One purpose of this book was to remind advertisers that design is a seemingly inexhaustible source of visual excitement and by using this medium you can speak directly to your audience. • Lionni states the advertisements should not just be designed as mere eye-catchers for just any block of advertising copy. They should be intended to indicate the vast varietyof language of design, and the power of the printed page to evoke a range of moods with ever unexpected means.