Monday 15 October 2012

Album Cover Vision

'Do My Thing' will be the name of the debut album by E.G.O. and the song 'Do My Thing' will be the title track of the album. 
  • The album cover will show the full bodies of both of the artists in the group, seeing as their fashion style is a very important part of their artist identity and must be distinctive. Their style is also a signifier of the genre of music that they produce.
  • The background will be plain white in order to draw the buyer's eyes to the titles and the group members. 
  • The titles 'E.G.O.' and 'Do My Thing' must be in bold, unique font and will be central to the album cover, with the two girls standing on the left and right of the words. 
  • On the back, the track list will be on the right hand side, with clear numbers and song names while next to them, the two girls will be there, I imagine them standing side by side, but pushing each other slightly, hogging the limelight and trying to get ahead of the other. The whole body will not be shown, probably just from waist upwards seeing as the front has the whole body and it would be boring to see the same type of shots on both front and back.
  • The barcode will be in the bottom left corner along with pricing, 'Snapback Records' logo, Warner. logo and copyrights.
  • On the inside of the album, we'll have close up beauty shots of each of the girl's face, their make up should be very glamorous and exaggerated, with long eyelashes and glossy lipstick.

Friday 12 October 2012

'Lose My Breath' Video Analysis


Lose My Breath, Destiny's Child, 2004

This is Destiny's child music video for Lose my Breath. In Godwin's theory this is performance video, it has them constantly dancing. You could say its a literal interpretation that they are losing their breath as they are in a dance battle, seeing who is better. are dancing they are losing their breath and, its a dance battle. However the song is about boys and if they can keep up. We see three different looks of the group, all giving it their all showing everyone is equal in their style.

That is the similar interpretation we want to get with our artist, as they will have two different looks. We want the whole feel of dance battle but at the end they are all equal, everyone wins. We like the scene with the circle battle when one guy goes in and performs.

Gender representationThe movement is highly sexualised as their explicit movements and close ups of curves makes men drawn into them and objectifies them. We however we like the idea of bringing males into the music video and using them as props.

Mood Board


Initial Pitch


Typical Target Audience


Meet Emma and Melissa, best friends from the age of 11, when they met in secondary school. Emma discovered E.G.O. when she was 18, through a site that uploads new songs from upcoming British artists and quickly introduced them to Melissa. Emma and Melissa's favourite members from E.G.O are different and they often try to change the other's mind, trying to get them to like the same member but so far they have stuck to their own decisions. The two friends buy the albums, enters the competitions and buys tickets to gigs. One time they choreographed a dance routine to the song together and uploaded a recording of themselves dancing onto YouTube.

Monday 8 October 2012

'F(X)' Artist Identity Analysis

F(X) is a Korean girl group with a style similar to what we would like to achieve with our own group, here are some of their photoshoots to show the style of clothes they wear, focusing on colour. Overall the colours are bright, some pastels and a little bit of neon, playing with clothes, accessories and also hair. They have a very strong artist identity. The top left picture is debut three years ago and the bottom left is from their latest song. A lot more colour has been added in overtime and their debut gave a stronger sense of artist identity, which is understandable seeing as a strong impression is necessary to a successful debut.


'Little Mix' Website Analysis





Sunday 7 October 2012

'Fantastic Baby' Video Analysis


Fantastic Baby, Big Bang, 2012

The primary theme within this music video is rebellion and fighting oppression, which is similar to the idea that we have for 'Do My Thing'. At the start of the video, we see signs with 'STOP MUSIC' and 'STOP SINGING' on them as well as symbols stating the prohibition of music. The law enforces are all uniform, wearing helmets and carrying shields. The protesters are just as faceless, wearing identical white gas masks. In our own music video we would try to achieve a similar effect by having all everyone wearing the same black boiler suits and expressionless faces.


The riot all starts when one of the protesters throws a molotov cocktail, which hits one of the signs. The bright orange of the flame contrasts well with the bleak white/ gray setting and black costumes. All the protesters rush forward to the waiting law enforcers at the fence where they start trying to knock it down. There are many shots of the two sides on either side of the fence, showing a clear divide between the forces. Eventually the fence is knocked down and the protesters can be seen clambering over.


By the end of the video the protesters have moved away from the battle ground and they're in a room, dancing with the group members and throwing off their masks in victory.


For one scene the blonde member of group is a prison room with shackles round his wrists, connoting oppression with intertexuality


'Snapback Records'

  • British record label based in London.
  • Owned by Warner.
  • Signs emerging talent, which they find by holding auditions and hosting competitions.
  • Typically hip hop, RnB and rap genre artists are chosen.
  • Our group will be signed under Snapback Records and debut in a few months with the single 'Do My Thing'.
London Records is a similar label who also belongs to Warner and, as the name states, is based in London. It has signed artists such as the Sugababes (from 1998-2001), All Saints and Then Jerico.

Saturday 6 October 2012

'Do My Thing' Idea

0:00-0:12 Montage of the production line. Hair, clothes, make-up with cut aways to ECUs of Estelle character.
0:12-0:16 Clothes section Est. throwing boiler suit away.
0:16-0:19 Hair section Est. refusing to have hair styled.
0:19-0:26 People walking in lines. Est. breaking away from uniformity.
0:26-0:29 Singing in one of the people in line's face, person not reacting. Up on 'stage' at this point with worker who checks boiler suit people. Man tries to get her back in line.
0:29-0:33 Est. bullies him a bit, throws his book and glasses away
0:33-0:36 Est. gets right up close to his face.
0:36-0:39 Est. pushes him backwards, he falls through the curtains at the back of the stage.
0:39-0:46 Est. grabs boiler suit person on left, scruffs him up a bit
0:46-0:52 Est. grabs guy on right and does similar thing.
0:52-1:06 Dances on stage with the two behind her, they dance robotically.
1:06-1:12 Worker emerges from behind curtains round side of stage, bit dazed, trying to readjust himself (at this point in the song there is laughing). Janelle character also makes her appearance from the side of the stage at this point.
1:12-1:26 Jan. abuses worker, rips open his shirt locking his arms so he can't move them, messes up his hair. Cutaway shots to Est. trying to get suited people to loosen up, still bit robotic but starting to unwind.
1:26-1:35 Jan. pushes worker into a seat, flights with him a bit, then joins Est. on stage.
1:35-2:05 Chorus. People start breaking out of lines coming to watch the dance on the stage.
2:05-2:30 Est. and Jan. rapping to each other. People pushing worker around, dressing him up and generally having fun.
2:30-3:10 Massive party. worker has gotten off the chair, circle dance with him in the middle, Est. and Jan. still performing on the stage.

Recurring shots: Cutaways to performance at various stages of production lines, beauty shots of Est. and Jan singing/ rapping

Friday 5 October 2012

'Marc Klasfeld' Director Analysis


All About Tonight, Pixie Lott, 2011

Rocketeer, Far East Movement, 2010

Hip Hop Police, Chamillionaire, 2007

Marc Klasfeld has directed over 200 music videos over his career for artists such as Flo-Rida, Fun.,  Sum41, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne, 3OH!3 and many more. Many of the music videos he has directed are by American artists, but he has done work for Rita Ora, James Blunt and Pixie Lott as well, all British artists. As well as directing videos himself, he also founded Rockhard music video production company.

Common themes in Klasfeld's music videos

  • Set outside in urban public places, mostly on the streets.
  • Lots of movement of the camera, following the character as they travel, with the skateboarder in Rocketeer, as Chamillionaire runs away from the police and Pixie Lott walking down the street.
  • Some narrative which tends to amplify the lyrics or title of the song such as collecting parts to build a rocket in Rocketeer and running into the police with Hip Hop Police.
  • Performance. Rocketeer has Ryan Teddy singing and playing piano as well as members from Far East Movement rapping. Chamillionaire integrates the lyrics into the narrative so that they are using the rap as conversation between the cop and the main character (who are both Chamillionaire), there is also a news anchor (also played by Chamillionaire) who raps parts of the song. Pixie Lott dances in the middle of the street with backing dancers and sings.
  • Strong intertextual references, especially in Chamillionaire's video. Borrows from TV (news), other rappers (using their names, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg's, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and other names were used in the news stories).

Wednesday 3 October 2012

'Do My Thing' Current Rough Idea


  • Lab setting
  • People on production lines, in plain tank tops/ vest and shorts
  • Given black boiler suits to wear and all hair is styled the same
  • Empty space of some sort (studio) where all the people from the production line are in rows
  • One person, carrying clipboard, uptight personality, stereotypical, goes inbetween rows checking each person for "imperfections"
  • Shots of him walking around with cut aways to beauty shots and salt and pepper shots of a particular person, not revealing who it is but showing small distinctive features, eyes, hair, nails, accessories, clothing
  • He reaches one particular person (who is the person we've been cutting away to), looks her up and down disapprovingly, he thinks she is "imperfect"
  • She starts singing the lines "hey hey hey hey" (start of song) in his face, going right up to him and pushing him backwards
  • Shots of people around her, the others who were on the production line, subtly nodding their heads, tapping their fingers and feet in time with music
  • Man faints (also amplification of lyrics "hold your breath and concentrate, keep holding till your face turns blue") because of singer pressuring him
  • Other people realise he's fainted and they start 'breaking ranks'
  • Hair, clothes change and tattoos, make up, accessories appear while they're dancing/ doing whatever they want, this group are not necessarily dancers, they just want to have the freedom of doing what they choose
  • Constant cut backs, beauty shots, salt and pepper shots of the singer who started the rebellion and another singer who has joined in 
  • Singer/s with the dancers, in a separate room, possibly plain apart from confetti? all over the floor and in the air, where they are dancing
  • Choreographed dance in contrast to the production line people who are just a big mix of skills
  • Near end of video, the man who was checking for imperfections wakes up, everyone is back in their boiler suits and standing in lines again
  • It all looks normal again but the people smirk to each other behind the man's back as he continues checking people

Tuesday 2 October 2012

'Do My Thing' Lyrics With Time Codes

Hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey hey 
Hey hey hey hey

0:12 I wear my clothes like this because I can (because I can)
0:16 I wear my hair like this because I can (because I can)
0:19 I walk around like this because I can (because I can)
0:22 And I do my thing like 'cause this who I am (this who I am)
0:26 If you are expecting me to give you an apology
0:29 For being nothing that you used to (used to)
0:33 Well go on right ahead and wait
0:34 Hold your breath and concentrate
0:36 Keep holding till your face turns blue (turns blue)

0:39 My road, it ain't your road but trust I know just where I am going (just where I am going)
0:46 My flow it ain't your flow, but trust I know, I know just how I'm flowing (just how I'm flowing)
0:52 I’ma do my thing
0:53 I’ma do my, I’ma do my thing
0:55 Please feel free to hate and complain
0:58 Said I'm a do my thing
1:00 I’ma do my, I’ma do my thing
1:02 Say what you want cause this one ain't gonna change
1:06 I’ma do my thing
Ha ha ha ha ha ha

1:12 I can't wear my clothes like you, because I'm not (because I'm not)
1:16 I can't do my hair like you, because I'm not (because I'm not)
1:19 I can't walk around like you, because I'm not (because I'm not)
1:22 I can't do my thing like you, well that just ain't hot
1:26 And If you are expecting me to give you an apology
1:29 For being nothing like you used to (used to)
1:32 Well go on right ahead and wait
1:33 Hold your breath and concentrate
1:35 Keep holding till your face turns blue

1:39 My road, it ain't your road, but trust I know, I just where I'm going (just where I am going)
1:45 My flow it ain't your flow, but trust I know, I just how I'm flowing (just how I'm flowing)
1:51 I’ma do my thing
1:53 I’ma do my, I’ma do my thing
1:55 Please feel free to hate and complain
1:58 Cause I'm a do my thing
2:59 I’ma do my, I’ma do my thing
2:01 Say what you like cause this one ain't gonna change
2:05 I’ma do my thing

2:06 You don't know where I am going, and so you think I am lost
2:09 I ain't on your page, OK so to you that means I'm off
2:12 When I dance, I dance to the beat of a drummer you don't hear and you can't see
2:16 So if I look off beat to you, well the problem must be you not me
2:19 Irregular but never irrelevant, unusual but never uncool
2:22 You're not cut from my clothes
2:23 You never get me, or I don't get you
2:26 Either a believer of the fact
2:27 That unique equals love
2:29 So if I'm going too fast for you
2:30 Open your mind and speed off

2:32 My road, it ain't your road, but trust I know just where I'm going (just where I am going)
2:38 My flow it ain't your flow, but trust I know, just how I'm flowing (just how I'm flowing)
2:44 I’ma do my thing
2:46 I’ma do my, I’ma do my thing
2:48 Please feel free to hate and complain
2:51 I'ma do my thing
2:52 I’ma do my, I’ma do my thing
2:55 And say what you want cause this one ain't gonna change
2:57 I'ma do my thing

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Audience Research

Audience research is vital for music industries, they need to know who they are selling to so that they can satisfy the audience's needs and persuade them to buy into the music. By using YouTube's video statistics feature I can easily see the target audience for Estelle's Do My Thing is females, the top 3 demographic age/gender groups viewing the audio video are female.



In conclusion to the actual song and artist research we have come decided that our target audience is females, from 9 right up to 30.


Secondary Target Audience:
  • Femenists
  • Rappers
  • Contempory R&B/ Soul/ Hip Hop
  • British music fans
  • males 13-25
  • Dancers
  • Older females

Friday 21 September 2012

'If I Were A Boy' Gender Representation Analysis


If I Were A Boy, Beyoncé, 2008

Beyoncé's "If I Were A Boy" music video revolves around role reversal, the lyrics of the song are amplified throughout, focusing on the contrasts between how a male and a female act in a relationship. The video goes through the day in the life of a couple, of which Beyoncé plays the typical male character in the relationship, and the husband is typically female.

We see the husband cooking breakfast for his wife, hoping to eat together, but she doesn't have time and leaves for work. Within the video, Beyoncé is a police officer, which is a very male dominated profession because the qualities required for law enforcement are typically found in males, including authority, bravery and confidence. Beyoncé exhibits these when stopping drivers, practicing target shooting and arresting people. On the other hand the husband is a secretary, a typically female dominated profession. While he is at work he is online, looking for a gift to give to his wife.

Beyoncé's coworker is male, who appears to be attracted to her and after their shift they go to a restaurant with other colleagues, during which Beyoncé ignores her husband's calls. In contrast, her husband chooses not to go out with his colleagues, all of which are female, this may be because he is thinking of his wife, showing his commitment to the relationship.

Later on Beyoncé, her husband and her coworker attend a party and Beyoncé is flirting with her coworker while her husband stands alone. When she notices him watching she heads over to talk to him but he rejects her, leaving while she follows. They drive home in silence and the husband confronts Beyoncé about what happened at the party. He says "You know, when you act like that, I don't think you realise how it makes me look, or feel." to which she responds "Act like what? Why are you so jealous? Its not like I'm sleeping with the guy." At that point the roles are reversed, or obversed, as it appears that in reality, the husband is the police officer, flirting with his female colleagues, while Beyoncé is the wife, having her calls ignored by her husband. The audience realises that while wife's actions which seemed abnormal during the video, flirting, ignoring calls, taking her husband for granted, may look very normal if we had flipped it and seen the husband flirting, ignoring calls and taking his wife for granted. This time, the husband says "Why are you so jealous? Its not like I'm sleeping with the girl." in a joking manner, acting like its nothing.

At the end of the video everything is back to normal and the husband is walking down the stairs, not having breakfast with his wife and putting on his uniform before heading out to meet his female co-worker.

Thursday 13 September 2012

Music Biography

Music during childhood

It Wasn't Me, Shaggy, 2000

Most of the music that I remember listening to during my childhood is basically what was on the radio at the time. My parents would switch on Capital FM while we were in the car then my brothers and I would listen to whatever was being played, since none of us had CD players or cassette players. This song, 'It Wasn't Me' by Shaggy, was No.1 on the UK singles charts back in 2001 so naturally it was played on air many times because of high demand, now whenever I think back to 'childhood music' I think of this song.

Music during teenage years

Knights of Cydonia, Muse, 2006

When I was 13 or so I was listening to rock music, Blink-182, Muse and Arctic Monkeys, all of which I still enjoy listening to now, but when I was younger I would listen to rock music whenever I had the chance, which was really only when I got my turn on the computer shared with my family. I think it was the energy of the instruments that attracted me the most to rock music.

Current music

Sloom, Of Monsters And Men, 2012

During the past year or so I've been listening to more mellow, relaxing music with genres such as folk and acoustic, with a bit of alternative rock or pop mixed in. Of Monsters and Men is an Icelandic band that I only discovered a few weeks ago but I found that I really liked every single song off their only album.

Thursday 19 July 2012

Preliminary Task Evaluation

Did you enjoy the workshop day? What were your best bits and why?
By the end of the workshop day I was very tired but I found the whole experience very enjoyable. Watching the crew work and being able to help them was my favourite part of the day. The entire process was, in my opinion, extremely professional and I can easily imagine how a professional music video would be created, based off the workshop day. Another aspect which I liked was the atmosphere within the studio during the shoot; the entire crew was still working enthusiastically at the end despite shooting for over 12 hours.

What did you learn from participating in the workshop?
By observing the crew I learnt about the different responsibilities each person had, how they contributed towards the shoot. The prop artist and make up artist had to get props and people in front of the camera looking their best at the right times. They had a huge role to play and also had to keep a watch on the shot schedule. Crew working with the camera used many different equipment, including a jib, dolly, track and a variety of lens. By the end of the shoot day I had learnt the basics of how they operate this equipment by watching the crew.

Are you pleased with the footage and your edit? Is it how you expected it to look?
From the beginning of the workshop I had never expected the end product to be as well made as the real music video, but it turned out much better than I had anticipated. The set looked fantastic and the drapery made a good replacement for the infinity wall. Although some of the movement in the shots were quite difficult to recreate, the crew compromised by establishing their own movement, for example, with one of the panda bear shots involving lots of panning and tracking. In other cases, the size of our studio hindered the shots, in the shots with the doll house the crew could not track far back enough as the track on the floor would sometimes appear at the bottom of the screen. During the edit the group was able to pick the best sections of footage together so I am happy with the footage on a whole.

How do you think your workshop experiences will impact on your approach to next term's music video coursework?
The workshop has given me insight to professional music video planning, production and post production and it will help me successfully create my own music video next term. I think that the workshop experience will benefit my planning for next term's project. Seeing all the planning done in preparation for the music video workshop has made me realise that it would all be a disaster without it. Everything ran smoothly thanks to all the planning done by the crew.


Friday 22 June 2012

'Monsters' Analysis

Naked Girls, Monde Yeux, 2012
Narrative, Conceptual

Instant impact
The video begins in an calm, idyllic field, pulling the audience in. Enigma codes of the opening makes the viewer want to carry on watching. Why are there balloons? What is the man doing in a junkyard with golf bats?

Non-linear editing
Video on a whole contains linear editing rather than non-linear, being a narrative music video. The entire music video contains three seperate stories, each set in a their own unique environment, each about a different person and each containing their own "monster". One moment we see a woman wandering through an enchanting forest and the next, a man playing golf.  As the music quickens and the story reaches it's climax the editing becomes very fast paced.

A sense of development
At the beginning of the video the humans had not seen the monsters before, they meet and become friends with them during the video. At the end we discover that the humans are the monsters, the woman's shadow has become the monsters shadow, the man's reflection is the monster and the girl's eyes change from blue to brown, the monster's eye colour.

Strong sense of artist identity
Does not have any reference to artist within the video apart from the title of the band at beginning of video along with the name of the video. Musical style of the song is very distinctive and the music video compliments it well, especially the clothing of the actors, the colour/ mood and the props.

An engaging performance
There is no performance, singing or dancing, within the video. The bird monsters do "dance" but it seems as though they are acting rather than performing, as the intention is to intimidate the woman.

Extremes, binary oppositions and repetitions
Opposites:
     ● human and monster
     ● forest, field and junk yard
     ● day(field) and night(forest)
     ● cloudy sky(junk yard) and clear sky(field)
Repeated appearance of monsters and main three actors throughout. All three stories stay within their own setting from beginning to end.

Are visually striking
Strong and vibrant colours combined with distinctive settings. Costumes and props are particularly eye catching, obviously hand made out of paper maché therefore the viewer notices the effort put into such details. The SFX animated facial expressions of monster are disconcerting but comforting in a way, as if they are given a human side to them rather than just being monsters.

Provoke a reaction
When the bird-creatures begin bullying the woman we would feel pityful towards her, perhaps angry towards the creatures. Towards the end of the video, when all three humans are with their monsters, the audience should feel happy for the humans and monsters because they look like they are having so much fun.

Different layers of meaning
The symbolism of the shadow, reflection and eye colour change is that the humans are the monsters. We see the monsters, which is a representation of the human's "suppressed" presonality, by running free with their monster they are able to accept themselves fully. At the end of the video, their suppressed personality is no longer hidden and they are back in reality.

References to popular culture
Clothing of the female actors follows recent "hipster" fashion trends which suits the indie folk genre of the song well whilst appealing to the niche indie market. This includes the cardigans, floral dresses and knitted sweaters. The male actor wears a shirt, tie and leather jacket combination which is smart casual, another trend that is becoming more prominent worldwide.