The Song

I was the one who successfully pitched 'Pretty Girl' by Sugarcult to the rest of the group; on instant hearing of it, my team mates all liked it, as it was catchy and had a lot of potentional.

We brainstormed the song, coming up with various ideas that could be possible to work with.

We had to narrow our choices down, choosing an actual idea that could be made given the time we had and the resources that were avalible for us to use.

Final Music Video

Here is our final music video!

Individual Storyboar

Here aresome pictures of my individual 10 shot storyboard:

Summary of Individual Audience Research

Here is the summary of my audience research:

Music Video Notes

Here are some of the notes I made when analysing some Music Videos which I made reference to in my essay.

Rough Trade Record Label

Seeing as the brief stated that we had to come up with a band and a Record label, I have decided to research into Rough Trade Records - an independent record label that was founded in West London in 1976 by Geoff Travis.

This niche label was made bankrupt in 1991, however relaunched in 2000. Rough Trade specialised in promoting European Post-Punk and Alternative bands throughout the 70s and 80s, and decided to branch out and sign up Lucinda Williams in the late 1980s - an American rock, folk and country singer.

Founder, Geoff Travis also started up another Music Label called Blanco y Negro who signed up diverse artists such Everything But The Girl (an Electronica, pop and dance driven band)and The Veils (an Indie band). This
record label later joined partnership with Warner Brothers, which helped to make them more mainstream.

Prior to their bankrupty, Rough Trade was an independent label, however were bought out by BMG, a leading mainstream label.
Since their rebirth, Rough Trade have signed up chart-selling bands such as The Strokes, Babyshambles and The Libertines.


The takeover by BMG, helped transform Rough Trade into a more mainstream Record Label, which in turn increased thier profile and their sales. Now they have a selection of the finest bands to come into the Music Industry for a long time. They have also signed up bands from across the world, including America, New Zealand and of course England.

Artists such as Maximo Park, Super Furry Animals, The Smiths and The Long Blondes are all signed up to Rough Trade Records.

Potential Songs

Me and Rach have decdied that we would really like to do a video to The Street's song 'Blinded By The Lights'. Although this song already has a video, they are quite a niche band, in that they only appeal to a certain section of society.
The video that was released didnt really hit the charts int he way that other videos of theirs have done.

Lily Allen && Jessica Rabbit

I was watching the Music Channels this morning, and this video came on - I thought it was a really good and interesting video - the combination of both animation and real life looks really individual. Lily Allen is presumably trying to take on the role of Jessica Rabbit, and successfully achieves it.

Pretty Ricky: Album Cover Analysis

This is the Album Cover I have chosen to analyse.

Images

Front Cover

* MS of the band

* Lead singer in the foreground signifying his importance

* Direct eye contact from the guys - inviting the Audience in

* Main colours: Blue and black

* They have used the colour blue which ties in with the title of the Album

* Two-tone colours used.

Back Cover

* LS Colour image

* Lead singer again in the foreground

Text

Front Cover

* Simple and plain font has been used

* Eye catching and straight to the point.

* The font is right at the top - drawing in Audiences even more.

* The colours of the fonts are black and white, with little blue stars around the writing - this again reinforcing the title of the CD.

* The lettering is central to the CD cover - more eye catching

Back Cover

* The font is the same used on the front of the cover

* For each track, there is a little star next to the title of the song - this again reinforces the title of the CD.

* Small institutional font for audiences to read.

Relationship Between Text And Images

Front Cover

* They are separate from each other - no overlapping - showing clear roles for both the text and the images.

* The image reinforces the titles - the predominant colour is blue - the title is called BlueStars

Back Cover

* The text and images are again detached from each other

Iconography

* The band are wearing clothes that signify ther gnre of the music, that being RnB - chains, hats, sunglasses, baggy clothes, they're black.

* The pose is very inviting and somewhat suggesting - the lead singer is suggesting that the audience come into their world - him standing with his arms pointing towards us.

* The band are dressed like many RnB artists - they follow classic conventions for black RnB singers.

* The Album has been rated with a Parental Advisory sticker - something that most black

artists have on their albums.

Institutional Context Of The Music

* Shows the record label to be quite versatile in genre - Atlantic Records produce different genres of music.

* Quite a mainstream band for people who enjoy RnB music.

* First album - it has all of their hits on it.

Potentional Target Audience

* RnB music fans.

* Mainstream for people who enjoy that type of music - the Record label also reinforces this - its a worldwide record label, not an underground one.

Album Cover Questions: Part 1

What Are The Typical Features An Album Cover Has? Make A List Of All The Elements They Have In Common.
* Vivid images
* The Band name.
* Normally has the Album title

How Would You Categorise The Cvers In Front Of You? Are There Any Other Ways Of Distinguishing Between Them Other Than Generically?
* Year
* Genre
* Solo artists or bands
* British or foreign
* Mainstream of niche
* Image of artist/band on the front or just a random image
* Natural image or Computer Generated

Album covers serve Many Different Functions. What Do You Think These Are?
* Information for audiences
* Distinguishing the artist from othr artists
* Personal Identification of the artist or band
* To protect the record - Copyright
* To advertise and promote the record/artist/band

Album Covers

Here is a selection of Album Covers that I will be observing and analysing:

The albums are as follows (in clockwise order from left to right):

1. Blur - Best Of Blur (2000)

2. Bob Marley And The Wailers - Legend (2006)

3. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (1999)

4. Jamiroquai - Return Of The Space Cowboy (1994)

5. Cindi Lauper - 12 Deadly Cyns & Then Some (1994)

6. Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner (2003)

7. Dead Kennedys - Plastic Surgery Disasters/In God We Trust (2001)

8. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon: Remastered (1994)

9. The Dandy Warhols - Welcome To The Monkey House (2003)

10. Elvis Presley - Elv1s: 30 Number One Hits (2002)

11. Faithless - Forever Faithless (2005)

12. Ok Go - Ok Go (2003)

13. N.E.R.D - Fly Or Die (2002)

14. The Game - Doctors Advocate (2006)

15. Kanye West - College Drop Out (2005)

16. Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)

Inspiring Videos: Part 2

This is a really inspirational video that works really well with the song.

Brand New - The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows


* This narrative video shows a clear storyline - a couple are driving at night time, they have a crash, the girl is seriously injured and is rushed to hospital, throughout the time the doctors are trying to bring her back to life, we seee shots of the boyfriend upset and feeling emotion (we also see clips of the band singing the song), the girlfriend dies, but then theres a twist in the video, we see everything in backwards form, and at the end of the video, we go back to the scene of the crime, and its the boyfriend who dies, not the girlfriend.
* This vivid storyline is easy to grasp, through watching the video.
* The video clearly represents its genre - that being emo rock.
* Good visuals - the shots clearly show different things.
* There are different shot types which help create effect and meaning.
* The video shows the themes of love and emotion.

Inspiring Videos: Part 1

Me and Rachel checked out some of the previous A2 music videos that other schools have produced and came across this really good one:



The following points are reasons why the video worked so well:

* Audiences are able to identify that the genre of the song is rock - this is shown through the choice of actors used and the whole theme of the video.
*The video is a mixture of Live Action and narrative - we see some live performances from the band, but at the same time we also see a storyline about love and lust.
* The Media group have successfully stuck to the brief - they came up with a good band name the 'Whoremoans' and have produced a music video to a song that hasnt already been promotionally advertised through music videos.
* The Media group have tried very much to make sure the lip-syncing is al in order - and have managed to do so, there are however some shots where the lip-syncing is out of time.
* The video hosts an array of different shot types - CUs, LAs, Pans, LSs, MSs and Tilts.
* The video is also shot in both black and white and colour; this adds creativity to the video and also originality.
* The video is predominantly shot in handheld - this gives a more amatuer effect, however the video still looks professionally made. The whole handheld theme adds to the 'rock' genre aswell.

All of the above make this video a successful one - the song is catchy, and the video just makes audiences want to watch it even more. The audience appeal is prodcued through a mixture of shots, different colour affects and also through the choice of actors.

Different Types Of Music Videos: Part 2

According to www.wikipedia.com, a music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song.

There are predominantly 4 types of Music Video - Animation, Live Action, Documentaries and Abstract Films. Each type of video allows artists and bands to present their emotions and feeelings regarding the Song in different ways.

Music Videos are often referred to as promo videos as their main aim is to promote a song.

Different Types Of Music Videos

There are a range of different types of Music Videos that different bands and artists use to promote their songs - cartoon style videos, videos shown through a story, videos based on Live Performances and also just random clips of the artist.

I have found some examples for each type of music video:

Cartoon Style: Bloc Party - The Pioneers


Story Style: Akon - Don't Matter


Clips of An Artist: Timbaland - Give It To Me


The difference in style of Music Videos enable bands to present themselves in different ways to their audiences. Each music style has a dfferent effect - some more interesting than others.


A recent video that successfully took an approach of a short film was that of Justin Timberlakes 'What Goes Around'. This video was an original and creative idea that made the video different to ever other.

List Of Potential Songs

Today, me and Rachel Skipper came up with a list of potential songs that we could do our Video to...They are:

* Veronicas - 4ever
* Sugarcult - Pretty Girl
* The Penfifteen Club - Hey Miss Hilton
* Paris Hilton - Nothing in This World
* Goo Goo Dolls - Iris / Slide
* Jimmy Eat World - Hear You Me
* Senses Fail - Save Yourself
* Joseph Arthur - The Honey And The Moon
* Muse - Feeling Good
* Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
* Counting Crows - Colorblind
* All American Rejects - Dirty Little Secret
* Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares To You
* The Killers - Mr Brightside
* Semisonic - Secret Smile
* 3 Doors Down - Here Without You
* Vanessa Carlton - 1000 Miles
* The Kooks - Seaside
* Damien Rice - 9 Crimes

The majority of songs listed above, dont already have music videos, so would be suitable for our project.