Initial Ideas

Cinematography

Shots I would like to use;

• Close ups (main characters face, hands etc)
• medium shots
• long shot
• extreme long shot (from the roof of lord line)
• Pan 
• Point Of View (my entire video will be shot from the point of view of the male artist)

A lot of shots like these are used in the Closer lyrics video by The Chainsmokers, I would like to use this video as a main influence and an initial idea on cinematography and editing for my video.

An example of point of view shooting within cinematography would be the 2016 film 'Hardcore Henry' and the music video for 'False Alarm' The Weeknd this is an initial idea and another main influence for the cinematography of my music video.

Mise-en-scene

Location influences;

Below are a list of video examples from music videos which include different location ideas which will have an influence on my music video

Sia - The Greatest, location- abandoned building

Twenty One Pilots - Ride, location - forest, woodland area 

Tonight Alive - The Edge, location - roof of a building

Of Mice & Men - Bones Exposed, location - cafe/coffee shop (Beginning of video)

Costume influences;

As I have decided to create an unconventional music video where my artist is not shown at all throughout my video below are a range of music videos showing costumes which have influenced my ideas for my main female character in my video.

Lynn Gunn - PVRIS

Jenna Mcdougall - Tonight Alive

Taylor Momsen - The Pretty Reckless

Hayley Williams - Paramore

Documenting Thoughts

I'm listening to my chosen song and have had thoughts about scenes in my video and decided to document them for further development. The beginning of the song I had an idea to show different shots on the beats (montage editing) before the music starts one being a closeup of my main characters face with the song title 'andria' over the top with other shots being of my main character and maybe different locations.

Further into the song when the beat speeds up and the vocalist starts shouting I thought of an idea being in this part of the narrative the couple in my video would argue with my main character screaming at the camera 'I've been at home here' 'I've been alone' and create a distressing scene to match the tone of the lyrics and music.

Synopsis

Brief outline of my video plan:

The song for my music video is about love & loss, when I hear the song I think its about the vocalist recalling all his memories with his (past) love, therefore my main idea for the video is that its going to be shot from the guys point of view and the artist is not going to be featured in the video only the girl, his love. The shots will be as if they are shot on different days and will literally be 'acting out' what is said in the song. The song is very poetic therefore I would like to convey this emotion through my video. The main themes will be love, loss and heartache.


Mind Map of my overall initial ideas for my music video:

My Artist

Influences;

As I have decided to create an unconventional music video with no performance and the artist to not be shown within the video I have decided to create my artist as mysterious much like pop singer Sia. Sia is not shown in her music videos, all her videos are purely narrative based and not performance based therefore this is why I believe this will work well.

Identity

Existing artist within the indie rock genre;

Costume ideas;

Although my artist will not be seen on camera I have come up with a range of costumes I think my artist would wear, most costume ideas are dark as this is what is stereotypical and conventional within male artists of the indie rock genre.

Examples of my costume ideas within existing artists are shown below;

I would also like my artist to be portrayed with the same types of personality traits and attitudes as the examples below

The 1975

Arctic Monkeys

Twenty One Pilots

Nirvana

La Dispute

Artist name ideas;

• Golden days
• The impossible year
• Lane boy
• Ghost
• The Dispute
• Victorious
• Wonderless
• White Noise

Logo ideas

Below are a range of logos from existing bands;

Due to my music video being unconventional and me hand writing the lyrics and putting them over my shots I have decided to experiment more with my logo ideas and create some hand drawn logos to link with the continuity of my video. I also aim to do this with my didgipak and magazine advert. Below are examples from existing bands who have used a hand drawn style for their logos which have influenced my ideas.

Logo Designs

I created these logo designs by drawing them with a fine liner or felt tip pen and then scanning them in onto photoshop. I then made each one into a transparent background so i could therefore create merchandise designs. I am very happy with the outcome of these.

Merchandise designs;

Representation

Stereotypes;

Definition of a stereotype taken from google -  a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

O'sullivan et al (1998) details that a stereotype is a label that involves a process of categorization and evaluation- we can call stereotypes shorthand to narratives because such simplistic representations define our understanding of media texts- eg we know who is bad and who is good.

An example of stereotypes in indie rock videos is the video is usually low budget as most indie bands and independent and or owned by an independent label, the videos also stereotypically show the band performing and playing the music 'live' An example would be 'Such Small Hands' by La Dispute-

Feminism and Stereotypes;

The male gaze is used in many music videos which is the objectification of womens bodies in the media and is a constant running theme.

Laura Mulvey (1975) argues that the dominant point of view is masculine. The female body is displayed for the male gaze in order to provide erotic pleasure for the male (voyeurism)

Women are objectified by the camera lens and whatever gender the spectator/audience is positioned to accept the masculine point of view.

Examples of male gaze;

Asking Alexandria - To the Stage

This is an example of male gaze due to the way the main woman in the video is dressed and conveyed, and the way the guy goes after her and to the bedroom with her. Objectification of her body is key in this video.

John Berger (1972)  came up with the argument of the ways of seeing

• "men act and women appear"
• "men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at"
• "women are aware of being seen by a male spectator"

The below video is an example of Berger's theory.

Asking Alexandria - Death of Me

Objectification of women is shown widely throughout this video due to the women being dressed in little clothing and them being placed in vending machine boxes and being 'bought', this could represent prostitution, the females are there for the men.

Fergie - MILFs

Male gaze is easily portrayed in this video as well as through the lyrics, the video is full of women and only one man, the women are dressed in very little and celebrities such as Kim Kardashian are also in the video, this is significant due to Kim being known for a sex tape.

New Years Day - Angel Eyes

This video shows a masquerade party and the male vocalist going after the female vocalist, male dominance is clearly shown in this video as when the male 'captures' the woman he acts quite violent by giving her an injection and then ripping her heart out which screaming 'Youre fucking mine'.  

An example of the opposite of male gaze is Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me maybe

This is the opposite to male gaze as instead of men being dominant and gazing over women its the opposite meaning in this video the female is gazing over the male and the male is being objectified.

Narrative

Narrative - The structure of a story

Audience

Audience Theory

Theorists-

Bulmer and Kate (1959)

• Entertainment and diversion = escapism
• Personal companion = media is a friend, caring about the cast or pop star
• Surveillance = Finding out what is happening in the world. 
• Personal identity = How do i fit in? Who am I?

Cultivation theory;

Gerber and Gross (1975)

• Audiences consume media and gradually develop views about the world, some of which are false.
• Impacts on audiences understanding of representation- gender,, sexuality, age, disability and ethnic groups

Reception analysis;

Hall (1980)

• Audiences make sense of media texts according to their social position (gender, age, class, ethnic background)

Copycat or modelling theory;

Coleman (2004)

• Audiences are influenced by the media texts that they consume
• More of an assumption used by journalists to explain an individuals negative behavior

Long Tail theory;

Anderson (2006)

• The theory describes how the internet has influenced audience consumption
• Since broadband was introduced, these impacts have been most prominent

Media Language

Intertextuality- Text alludes to or references to another text.

Julia Kristeva (1969) claimed 'The shaping of texts meaning by another text' and "The use of an intertextual reference in any text is the absorption and transformation of another" 

Some referencing is iconic and the audience can easily remember and recognise the style. Referencing can also reinforce nostalgia and familiarity.

Semiotics is the science of signs, media messages are constructed using a language with its own rules

According to Philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1931) "we think only in signs" and "nothing is a sign unless it is interpret as a sign"

Linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1974) offered a 'dyadic' or two part model of the sign. He defined a sign as being composed of;
Signifier - the form which the sign takes
Signified - the concept it represents

Symbol/symbolic: a mode in which the signifier does not resemble the signified but which is fundamentally arbitrary or purely convention.

Roland Barthes (1967) noted Saussures model of the sign focused on denotation at the expense of connotation and it was lift to subsequent theorists to offer an account of this important dimension of meaning, rise in technology.

John Fiske (1982) "denotation is what is photographed, connotation is how it is photographed" 

The 1st and 2nd orders of signification, denotation and connotation, combine to produce ideology which has been described as a third order signification - Fisk and Hartley (1982)

Media theorist Sven E Carlssen (1999) argues that music artists represent themselves as either;

Commercial exhibitionist - Presenting themselves as a brand. Selling their appearance as well as their musical talent. Their face, clothing, style and lifestyle.

For Example Beyonce represents this and this is shown in her 'Drunk in Love' video due to the pageant queen trophy and the inter textual reference to 'From here to eternity' 

Televised bard- Represent themselves as a part of a story or as a story teller, for example Lukas Graham portrays himself as this in his 'seven years' music video due to the burning book s which have links to Nazi Germany.

Electronic Shaman- Generally big budget productions where the artist has immortal powers or adopts the alter ego of another iconic character, personality or superhero. An example of this is shown in Michael Jackson's 'Scream' music video due to the anime references and the powerful futuristic feel.

Lady GaGa - Telephone is a prime example as the video is full of intertextual references:

Emaze presentation on the Telephone Intertextual references

Chosen Song

Andria - La Dispute

I have chosen to create my music video to Andria by La Dispute, one music video that has influenced my ideas for my video is The Chainsmokers - Closer ft Halsey lyric video as I would like to recreate this style of video for my video as I feel it would link with the music and overall feel of the song.

I also found an advert for James Arthurs new album where the first 5 seconds shows handwritten type lyrics accross the screen much like how I would like to present my lyrics in my music video.

Here are some more videos which have also influenced my ideas for my music video for montage editing.

Of Mice & Men 'Never Giving Up' music video

Pierce The Veil 'Dive in' Music video

Pierce The Veil 'Hell Above' Music video

Of Mice & Men Instagram tour video by Sam Shapiro Media

A video posted by Samuel Shapiro (@samshapiromedia) on Oct 5, 2016 at 4:45pm PDT

I created a photo series to this song which influenced me in the way in which i would put the lyrics over the screen and I want them to look, I created this photo series by taking the photos at Lord Line and Whitby and then printing the photos off, writing over them and then finally scanning them into my computer. I would like the lyrics to look handwritten like this as I think it would link more to the personal and emotional concept of the song. I could also use this idea for my digipak and magazine advertisement.

History of Chosen Form

Codes and Convetions of Genre

Genre is a type or category of music, art or any other media form. It is a critical tool that helps us study texts and audience responses to texts by dividing them into categories based on common elements. 

Codes and Conventions of the indie rock music scene;

Most music videos of the rock/metal scene conventionally show the band playing their instruments and performing. The mise-en-scene is usually dark as well as the costumes and makeup, stereotypically wearing all black or dark clothes. If a narrative is applied to the video it usually conveys the usually dark lyrics and meaning of the song. 

Of Mice & Men - Pain is an example of a metal/alternative music video without a narrative but conveys all the codes and conventions of a metal music video due to the dark clothes, the mise-en-scene being set in a studio and the cinematography of the band playing their instruments and performing. The video is also in black & white to again convey the convention of a dark music video and to relate to the lyrics. 

Twenty One Pilots - Car Radio is another example of an alternative music video however this video is more punk than metal. This video has a narrative and the overall feel of the video and song is sad and dark, the narrative and the link with the lyrics shows this. Conventions of mise-en-scene such as the band performing to a crowd in a venue is also shown and the colour blue is dominant throughout portraying sadness. the costumes such as the balaclava is also a convention of the alternative music genre which could have links to more iconic alternative artists such as slipknot. The tattoos are also conventional.

Genre Media Theorists:

Codes and Conventions of Chosen Form

Codes and conventions of a music video;

Brief

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video together with two of the following three options.

• A website homepage for the band
• A cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)
• A magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package)