Lip Sync Exercise // Evaluation

What did you do to prepare for the lip sync exercise?
To prepare for the lip sync exercise we planned what we were going to wear: all black.
What make up we were going to do: War paint stripes
We needed to learn the lyrics to the song Shake It Off. The lyrics we needed to learn were:

Our final look was:

What did you do in the studio?
When we were in the studio we got split into 3 groups and each went to a station to start filming. Our first station was the green screen. Here we did wide shots, close ups and random shots. 

 
We then moved on to the station which had the cave background where we used the dolly to move the camera. This was harder to film because we had to use the dolly with the camera. We had to make marks on the floor to make sure we knew how far to move the camera.

After this we then moved on to using a sofa as a prop and we had to use a camera with a fixed lense, this meant that focusing was a little difficult because we had to use a tape measure to work out the foucsing. This scene was fun to film because it was our last station so we were just getting extra shots and were messing around getting fun shots.

What did I learn?
In this block lesson I learnt how to use a fixed lense on a camera and how to use a dolly camera, I also learnt how to lip sync properly and I also learnt how to work as a team to be able to set up shots properly. By watching the people who were the floor managers I learned what they needed to do and what you would have to do in a role like that.


What did you do in the suite & what did you learn?
In the edit suite we were taught how to cut to the beat and sync up the lyrics with the video. 

We had to stack up all our shots that we had taken and put them into a bin where we kept all our rushes. We then had to sync them up to the beat and get the lip syncing to macth the music. This was a struggle to do because the whole room was playing the same song so we had to listen closly to our music to get the beats right.

Did you make any mistakes on the day, how could we improve next time?
We made a few mistakes when filming in terms of making sure the camera was in focus because sometimes we would be in the middle of the shot and realise it was out of focus.
I think that we also needed to communicate more because we needed to know how much of us was in the frame when we were shooting because sometimes we would have a person in shot who wasn't dancing because they didn't know they were in the shot.

Our final product:

The Music Industry // Record Companies

Every signed band or artist has signed up to a record label. The music industry is dominated by 3 major companies:

Each of these big companies own smaller record labels and each record label has different artists signed to them. 

Together the major record companies own 76% of the music market.

Artists who are signed to Sony Music:

Adele:

 

One Direction:

 

John Mayer:

Artists who are signed to Universal Music:

Maroon 5:

 Sam Smith:

 Taylor Swift:

Artists who are signed to Warner Music:

Katy Perry:

 Bruno Mars:

Michael Buble:

Independent record labels are smaller record companies that are not owned by any of the "big three:. They are often regarded as being more in touch with the fans and more concerned about the music then their star image. To gain credibility major record companies sometimes buy up these independent record labels or launch their own independent record label. 

Some examples of independent record companies:

Organic vs. Synthetic Artists

Different Genres // In the Music Industry

There are lots of different genres in the music industry some more popular then others, here are the Top 5 Genres (order taken from BPI):

1) Rock (33.8%). Rock music is one of the most popular genres of music in the world right now with rock bands attracting massive audiences around the globe. Although within itself it carries various forms of sub genres based on influences like- Alternate rock, Progressive rock, Classical rock, Psychedelic Rock, Indie Rock, etc.

2) Pop (31.0%). Pop music is a term for popular music. Pop music is centred on rhythm and beats which promote dancing.  The high appeal to this kind of music was also drawn from the rise of MTV and cult figures like Michael Jackson and Madonna.

3) Dance (8.3%). There are two sub-genres of dance which is just normal dance music and then electronic dance music. Dance music is produced largely for nightclubs, raves and festivals. It is also used by DJs to produced remixes from them.

4) R&B (5.7%).  A style of music developed by African Americans that combines blues and jazz, characterised by a strong back beat and repeated variations on syncopated instrumental phrases. R&B was formed on the foundation of Rock and Roll.

5) Hip Hop (3.6%) Another term for hip-hop is rap music, this has become increasingly popular over the last few years with help from artists like Eminem. Rap artists are more likely to appear as a "featured" on a popular song because hip-hop music by itself isn't majorly popular. 

About BPI // British Phonographic Industry

The British Phonographic Industry has over 300 members from independent music companies and the UK's major record companies (Universal, Sony & Warner Bros). BPI member's account for 85% of all music sold in the UK.

Here are some facts and figures from their website:

This shows that "physical formats" are still producing the most income for the industry but it is decreasing with the numbers going from 79.7 in 2009 to 50 in 2013. We can also see the increase of" online sales meaning that over time online sales will over take the physical format sales as they have had a 20.5 in the last 3 years increase.

Here we can see the album sales by genre. This shows that Rock is the most popular genre (with a 33.8%) but Pop is close behind (with a 31.0%). There is a 22.7% difference between Pop and the next genre down which is Dance. So this shows that Pop and Rock and the defiantly going to stay the more popular genre for a long time, however we may see Pop over take the Rock genre because it is coming increasingly popular.

My Experience with the Music Industry // Using Different Apps

Andrew Gooodwin // Narrative Analysis

Andrew Goodwin said that the reason for different narrative structures are:

1. Pop videos are built around songs
2. The pop video uses the singer both as a narrator and as a character
3. The singer often looks directly at the camera 
 
 

He proposed that pop videos rely on repetition and they often repeat images in the way the song repeats chorus or lines.Music videos can be autonomous from the music they spring from. The visualisation of a song may go beyond the original meaning. 

Goodwin said that there are three types of relations between songs and videos: illustration, amplification and disjuncture.

1. Illustration: this is where the music video tells a story that relates back to the lyrics. An example of this is Madonna's like a prayer video:

The video tells the story of what is happening and can relate back to the lyrics "Like a Prayer"

2. Amplification: This is where the image amplifies the lyrics and it may be used to convey a deeper meaning. This is when the artists are more likely to take on fictional roles. This can be seen in Lady Gaga's Judas video:

3. Disjuncture: This is where there is little connection between the lyric and the video. This can be seen in Michael Jacksons video Scream. The video is set in space where there is no gravity or sound so no one would hear him "scream" so therefore it contradicts the whole song.

Like A Prayer by Madonna // Music Video Analysis

 

In class we looked at Madonna's video for Like A Prayer. We were asked to consider a set of questions and answer them.

Themes: Religion, anti-religion, passion, justice, equality and love.

Narrative: In the video Madonna is the protagonist and the Saint is the hero. In the video Madonna witnesses a crime where white people attack a women, a black man then goes to help the women and is wrongly accused by the police, he then goes to jail. Madonna then goes to church to ask what she should do and the Saint tells her to help the man in prison. She then goes and tells the police what actually happened and the man gets let out of prison. 

Lyrics: The lyrics "Like A Prayer" reference to the whole music video because it is very religious and based around a church. Another lyric that matches the action is when she says "Feels like Flying" and she is in a CGI cloud in the sky.

Intertextual Link: This video can be references to the KKK and the bible.

Target Audience: The target audience is very wide because older audiences will understand all the symbolism in the video whereas a teen may just watch it to enjoy the song and the video.

Richard Dyer Star Theory // Cont.

A pop performer and a pop star and different things.

A pop star has a lasting effect on the music bussiness such as Michael Jackson, Queen and The Beatles. This contrasts to "pop stars' who are in the current top 40 at the moment and will be forgoten in a couple of years.

Stars are constructed, althought their management representing them as real people.
Dyer says that Stars have to have a unique selling point.

Some of these are: 
- Justin Biebers hair
- Michael Jacksons white glove
- Ariana Grande's cat ears
- Lady Gaga's outfits
- Madonna's bra

Photocopied Stars
To make money for stars record companies manufactor certain qualities to make them more appealing. This is why every couple of years we get starts who haave the same qualities for example One Direction and NSYNC

Richard Dyer on Music Videos

When we were learning about stars and stardom we looked at a man called Richard Dyer  who has written lots about the role of stars in film, TV and music.

He claimed that:
- a star is an image, not a real person - they are created
- stars are commodities produced and consumed by their fans

When a record company is trying to promote a star they depend upon a range of subsidiary media - magazines, TV, radio, the internet - in order to construct an image for themselves which can be marketed to their target audiences.

When creating a music video company's use star images to promote a certain look.

Major themes in music videos are:

1. Youthfulness
2. Rebellion
3. Sexual magnetism
4. Anti-authoritarian
5. Originality
6. Aggression
7. Disregard to social values
8. Consumption 
9. Success
10. Creativity

The star image is incoherent (it is not complete). This is because fans of the "star" are constantly changing what they want to listen to and see in the music videos and in order to make money, the star has to change regularly to meet the demands of the people. It also enables fans to want to know more about the artist which makes them want to buy into the star image.

The star's image is based upon two paradoxes: the star being simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary and what is present and what is left unsaid. 

Using Wordpress

In the lesson our prep was set that we had to use a software called Wordpress. This is a site where you can create a website/blog.

Our task was to create a homepage for a band or musician using wordpress.

At the start trying to use wordpress was a challenge because I had only used it once before but a long time ago so the whole layout and style of it had changed.

First what I had to do was choose a name for my home page, I decided to do a artist called Bon Iver. I decided to do him because he is a fairly unknown artist so it would be easy to make a homepage for him.

I decided to do a fairly graphic style of site because it would grab peoples attention.

I then had to make it my own and customise different tiles. To do this I had to add a blog and "stick it" to the front page.

I added lots of tabs such as; music, tour, merchandise, videos, etc. This makes the page more interactive for the audience. 

What my home page looked like: 

I think that if I had more time and when I become more comfortable with Wordpress I would be able to produce a much better website layout that looks more professional.

Robbers by The 1975 // Music Video Analysis

This video is a narrative music video, it is about a couple who are almost Bonnie and Clyde like because they plan to rob a store to get money and have a very toxic relationship. Within this the audience see them take drugs and smoke which isn’t what your average couple would do together and sets up a bad representation of the band and their star image.

The video is done by using flash backs and flash forwards, you see moments of the couple being happy together, then you see him by himself and then when they aren’t as happy together.

The song is non-dietetic sound but at certain points (when he is singing into a microphone to his girlfriend) he lip syncs the words to the song. This helps the audience to see that the music isn’t just in the background all the time and it makes it very interesting to watch and helps link the songs/lyrics with the video.

Around a two thirds into the music video the music stops as we see the couple run into the store wearing balaclavas, the audience then her swearing and a voice saying “get on the ground”. The audience then hear a couple of gun shots and then the use of silence to build up the tension of the moment. As soon as the door of the store opens the music starts up again and the audience see the main man has been shot and his girlfriend is helping him.

Before this scene happens the camera goes to the faces of the other men in the van (where the man and girlfriend will get out of) which are the other band member, but Matty Healy (the main character) is the most famous out of the band so he has the bigger part and the rest of the band are just their as “extras”. This also shows that Matty is going to  help set up the image the band want to portray and because he is the main character in this video people will assume that he is the front man.

The music video has very dark lighting to it, apart from when they are outside, so this may connote that their relationship isn’t a happy one. However, when they show intimate moments there is always some sort of light coming through a window to show the intimate moment.

Throughout the flash backs and cross cuts the audience can see a flash forward to them walking towards the store that they are going to rob.

These set up questions for the audience that the band will hopefully answer in the music video

The camera movement in this video is mainly hand held, because we can see the shaky ness of it, however at the beginning  of the video we can see the slow camera movement zoomed in on details of Matty and the girl which gives us a sense intimacy of but once the music kicks in the we get more faced paced clips.

Near the end of the video when Matty is shot the audience can see a cross cut to him being in pain to the couple being intimate, this really contrasts but it works well because they link.

There is direct correlation with the music and the movement, for example when we first see Matty’s bloody hand on the side of the building the beat of the drums kicks in and gives it a more dramatic effect.

The shots we see really contest each other because they show the bad parts of the relationship, the fighting, and the good part of the relationship, the laughs and love.

The meaning behind the song is that it is a toxic relationship and the couple are too focused on each other to notice the destruction they cause to each other, we see this when the camera does close ups of their faces and bodies, and then when they are smoking and taking drugs.

The title “Robbers” refers to how the couple are robbing each other of happiness and chances in this world, such as when Matty points the gun at her head as a “joke” and when they go and rob a bank. The video shows how they are stuck in this type of relationship because they are so caught up in their toxic relationship.

I think that the band wants to be represented as people who care more about the story their music is trying to tell. If people base their opinions of the band on this video and think that this represents them as a whole then this gives them a bad representation. However, I think the way the video was done people can see they the band want people to focus on the deeper meaning and listen to the lyrics and link it with the video.

What Are The Ingredients For A Successful Music Video??

My Top 5 Favourite Music Videos?

1) Robbers by The 1975

 

This video is number one on my list because I love the way it is shot and the story behind the music video. I also like the way the band is portrayed in this music video because they aren't trying to make themselves look good or give themselves a good reputation but they are focusing on trying to tell a story.

2) Carried Away by Passion Pit

 

 I like this video because it is really fun to watch. I really like the concept of the video as it shows the couple arguing but then trying to make it up to each other. I really like the characters in this video and the way it is filmed because it is very cleverly done.

3) Blank Space by Taylor Swift 

I like this music video because of the stylised look to it. Everything looks perfect and all her outfits and settings are extravagant. I also really like how the music video is linked in witht he song and the way she uses her lyrics in some sections of it. 

4) Forgive & Forget by The Kooks

This is number four because I really like how simple the concept is but how well it works. I like the idea of the band playing in the middle and the dancers dancing around the outside to the beat of the music, I think it has a really good effect.

5) Don't Save Me by Haim

 

I like  this video because of the cross cuts between them playing guitar and a basketball scene. I also really like the lightin effect in the video and how they go from them playing guitars, to them playing basketball to them in a room singing. It feels like a very natural video that hasn't tried to be to impressive but still manages to look really good and have a good effect. 

What are the ingrediants?

I think that the ingredients for a successful music video is to make it something that people would want to watch and to reach out to your target audience by doing something they would enjoy. I also think having the stars in the videos is a good ingredient for a video because the viewer can then engage more with the stars. I also think having a good story line or a concept in music videos make them more interesting and enjoyable to watch. Overall I think you need a wide range of ingrediants to make the perfect music video for people to enjoy.