Evaluation of progress so far

So far i feel our group is doing pretty well, we are on track and are quite consistent with our blogs. However i do feel that we are quite unorganised, and yet we complete all the work needed. I feel as a group we do try hard however their is a tendency to slip up at times, once again due to our organisation. For example with filming we left it quite late and it became a rush.

Personally i feel that i have improved greatly, because i now understand most of the equipment needed when filming our music video. And i like to think my contribution to the group has improved. Personally i feel i am on track and that i have learned a lot throughout this process of a music video.

There is still a lot to be done, we need to get cracking with out editing and we need to start thinking about the evaluation which will be heading our way shortly. I feel that there is a lot more to be done and i will continue to work hard.

Creating the sad part to our narrative

After filming the live performance for our band, i feel we definitely need to move on to creating the sad part to our narrative. Despite our song being cheerful i feel that the lyrics depict parts of sadness and it talks of a break up. Therefore we should feel our two characters arguing in parts or just separated looking sad and emotional. A great example of this in a music video is Neyo- Mad despite this being a different genre this video shows a good scene of arguing and sadness at the start.




I would like our video to have parts that look like the beginning few minutes where they are arguing. i feel this would look really effective.

Change in Idea's

After filming a couple of scenes in our music video, we found ourselves lost, we had planned a well structured storyboard however we made the narrative to complicated for the audience to understand properly. There for we regrouped and changed numerous idea's and now we have a scene of us performing in a pavilion and it looks really effective. we did this because we realised we needed footage of us actually performing as this would enhance our videos likability. It also meant we could incorporate more shots into our music video.

we were lucky with the nice weather to be able to go out of school and film these shots, i think that with editing it will give the video an extra edge over its competitors because by have all of these extra close ups it means that we can create a relationship with our audience.

We managed to create a good set for our band to perform at and as it was outside it created a more indie effect. we also went for the more simplistic approach because we used the basic instruments on set for example we didnt use an amp with our acoustic guitar. we also felt the acoustic guitar matched our genre better. We also only used one snare drum which also creates a simplistic approach. by doing this it creates a more light hearted feel to the video and makes it look more fun.

In terms of lighting we simply just used natural light. The sun was in the perfect place to create the effect we wanted, it makes a happy and summery effect. And due to it being a live performance, we felt that natural light would suit it perfectly, becuase it connotes the whole band playing in the nature.

After filming this footage we are now able to make the narrative more simplistic, because a lot of the video will be filled with live performance.

Last Lesson (22/10/10)

Initially last lesson we had planned to begin some editing and shoot some more close-ups for the narrative of our video. However after some deliberation and a good rethink of our video we realised that our narrative had become too complicated. Coupling this with the fact that our storyboard has become largely disorganized and we were generally shooting what we thought may be appropriate for the video with little thought. Because of this we have had a complete overhaul of our video and started afresh last lesson. We completed the filming of the live shots of our band outdoors in the sun. We chose to do this as sunlight made the shots eye-catching to the viewer and connotes a happy demeanor on the part of the band. We used basic instruments such as a single snare drum and an acoustic guitar rather than a full drum kit and an electric guitar complete with an amplifier. This will have made the performance look more improptu and simplistic. We felt that this would benefit our image an an indie band as the genre on the whole is notorious for not taking themselves too seriously.



OK Go, epitomize this indie image as they have a humerous video which does not make any intention of ccreating a serious image on the part of the band. Obviously our video will not be solely for the purpose of humour, but the mise en scene of our video should connote fun, and happyness which can then be juxtaposed by the narrative which we are yet to film; but plan to depict a sense of sadness and anger.

Filming diary

Having begun to film the narrative of our music video we have got some good footage that will be useful with regards to our storyboard and final product. We used various locations throughout newport, such as Fiona's house and surrounding areas. We feel that this is an ideal location as Fiona's house is quite small and is decorated in quite an old fashioned manner, which we feel has added to the vintage aesthetic we were attempting to build upon in our video. We found a row of garages on our way to fiona's house that we are planning on experimenting with in terms of camera angles and different shots. These garages are also a good location to shoot some shots for our digipack, as the link between the digipack and the video creates a relationship between the two. We have also filmed some brief practice shots in front of the garages for use in a live band shot. We feel this would look effective as the garages are segmented with different colours. Our idea is to have a band member in front of each one. This will connote a sense of individuality for each member as well as breaking up the image for the viewer, allowing them to take in the Mise En Scene easily without the shot becoming too overwhelming.

We have also shot some footage for the narrative of fiona and ollie walking along together, this is for when the relationship was good between the characters and we plan on using a sepia or black and white effect to show that this is in past tense.

Lesson meeting

We have decided to do some editing on what we have currently filmed as well as film a shot of a snare hit. We were unable to film this particular shot in our filming session due to lack of a stand. We also need to organize our clips, deleting clips we no longer need as well as sorting the clips into the order specified by the storyboard.

Prezi - Shot ideas for the music video

Shot Ideas for 'Souls on Fire' on Prezi

Music Video Analysis- The Maccabees- First Love

The Maccabees are a current established indie band. Their music is very artistic and conforms lots to the indie genre.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A1xu0BSs2s&feature=fvst
Sorry i cannot put this video on the blog- video blocked by request.

The first scene is a powerful image of a women lying on her own very straight and formally dressed. This creates a feeling of loneliness, this connotates with the sing as the song is talking of first love, its all about the emotions you would feel in your first love. The images used are really effective in helping give meaning to the song and narrative. Where it shows the man sitting on a stool on his own next to some lockers, I feel as though this is effective because he is not in the middle of the camera shot. He is sitting to the right and the camera doesn’t seem to focus on him. This gives off a vibe that he is not important because the shot doesn’t show him getting any attention, which could relate to the narrative and suggests this is what his relationship consists of. It then moves onto a really artistic mid shot/ close up of this bloke lying down drawing around himself with chalk on a concrete floor. This is really artistic and is not usually seen in a music video therefore making it interesting for the audience. There are numerous strange images which would be seen as weird to the public for example there is a bloke stroking his car bonnet. This could link to the lyrics because he says “Do you miss home”. There is also a women holding a mug this could connotate to those lyrics because a cup of tea or a mug is seen as quite a homely thing, therefore it links to the lyrics.

 There are lots of fast cuts of different people reactions to a relationship, however all these people display the indie image and look like everyday people too. They all look sad which displays the meaning of the song. All of the cuts are perfectly timed with the beat; I think that we should do that with our video because it helps keep the video interesting and fresh. By doing this it means the video will flow and enables both a narrative and the band to play on the same video. This video is very strange because it shows lots of different characters doing odd things for example a guy puts lipstick on his hand and kisses his hand. By doing this it suggests he is lonely and could be looking for love in his life.



This video contains lots of close-ups of faces, by doing this it creates a relationship with the audience through eye contact. By doing this it could lead to more focus and passion from the fans. It then moves to a close up on his shoes, this shows through mise en scene what he is wearing. He can reach out to his fans by what he is wearing as he could become an icon. This also makes the video seem really simplistic.
There are lots of hidden messages in this video through use of props and certain images. For example there is a woman trying to put puzzle pieces together. This has connotations of a relationship not working because the pieces don’t fit together. I think things like this would be good in our video, as it helps divide the singing parts. And can link all the narratives together.
The setting of this video is based throughout houses, which is clever, as this helps the video to be produced cheaply. The lighting throughout this video is usually natural lighting as seen in the image above.

Filming plan

With half term rapidly approaching we really need to begin planning on our time tables for when we are to be filming. Jack is absent all of half term and I (ollie) won't be available for the first half of it so we will need to film after-school this week. We need to confirm this with fiona as she is absent today; but we have planned to film tomorrow and wednesday predominantly and anything extra we will be able to mop up on thursday. And hopefully begin to export the footage to final cut express on friday so we are ready to edit when we return from our half term break.

Digipak analysis & research

All Digipak's contain the right colours in which suit the genre. For example with heavy metal contains colours such as black and red and the pictures contain skulls and death. This is because they convey the popular themes of misery and bleakness which are often linked with the genre. The band themselves may not have any particular association or preference to what is on the cover of their digipak, however in order to convey a certain band image they must use these stereotypical themes and images in order to seem credible to their target audience.

Here in bullet for my valentines (a metal band) digipak cover we see some of these stereotypical images and themes in order to convey the message and meaning of the songs. Here we see a scantily clad woman lying on the floor, with blood splattered around her head, this would connote Love, lust and obsession as she is apparently dead and has been murdered. Again we see the themes of misery and death in a metal genre digipak. We then notice a shadow from the doorway which would seemingly mean that the body has been discovered at the expense of an unfortunate lover as his head seems to be downcast using his arm on the doorway to support him, or it could mean that the killer is looking over his work. The title font and graphology also connote this violence and he themes as they include guns which would support the existing imagery.

When looking at the indie genre we should expect to see a more relaxed and peaceful, perhaps sophisticated image from the digipak. This should be expected to link with themes in the song, however it may differ from other genres such as metal by subverting from the genre expectations and trying to achieve a more individualist band image. This can be shown in foals album: Total Life Forever. The use of the colour blue connotes a cool relaxed image whilst combining this with people swimming will make the digipak seem more serene and easy on the eye of the audience. Whereas colours such as red and black generally working to rile the audience and connote aggresssion and anger rather than passivness and neutrality.

Analysis of other album covers

The album cover for this artist is relatively plain and simple, this is a general theme with indie album covers. They don't often use bright colours to try to catch the buyers eye as much as other genres like pop princess. A reason for this could be that a pop princess artist would be more interested in just making money and this doesn't reflect intentions of the indie artist.

The Ting Tings album cover is another example of a simplistic and minimalist album cover. Both the foals and the Ting Tings have a creative feel to them as the titles are both displayed in imperfect and unique ways. The font style is messy and they have used interesting ways of displaying the cover using tape and a drawn picture as well as writing on the hands for the name of the album which portrays a rushed feel.

lesson plan

Fiona is absent today, which will complicate things for today as she had the storyboards. However we can either continue on from the last scene from the previous lesson, or we can opt to do some pre production planning with regards to other factors in our filming we will have to address i.e. the editing, mise en scene, and lighting. We could perhaps plan out some more camera angles and try to work out what locations will be used for certain segments of the narrative.

Dress Codes

I have been planning some idea for our bands clothing that create an indie image. For Ollie, the main singer of the band i think he should wear a blazer (blue/grey), a shirt (checkered?) that is done up to the top and skinny jeans, with pointy shoes. For Max who will play either drums or keyboard in the band, i think he should wear jeans, a cardigan (done up) and a polo top. And for me, being the female singer, i have chosen to wear a white vintage looking dress and grey tights. This image is created with influence from other indie/folk bands such as: Two door cinema club, Bombay bicycle club and The Drums.

The lipstick logo

The real artist of our song use a lipstick mark as their logo, i think we should also use this in our products. We could use the lipstick mark in our digipack, using it as a logo along side the name of our band. We could also incorporate this in our video, if the female singer wears red lipstick in the video this would have vintage connotations and also creates a link between the video and the digipack. Also we could use some shots of lipstick marks on a wall or mirror, we also planned on writing the lyric "she's my baby and she's leaving tonight" in lipstick on a mirror, this would convey a metaphor in relation to the lyrics that the female singer is important to the band and that is why the singer sings that he does not want the singer to leave the band which is conveyed through the lyrics and narrative of our video. Also red lipstick is a connotation of vintage as it is generically used in vintage female dress codes.

Locations

We have decided to do some filming in the garden of my house, we will be doing performance shots of the band. It was my idea that we use fairy lights to light the garden, as this gives a warm, personal feel to the performance which is what an indie audience often looks for. Seen in such videos as this Mumford and Sons songs, one of our similar artists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLJf9qJHR3E&feature=fvw

Duties

Jack: Edit song in audacity
Max: Write up ideas as a prezi
Fie:Taking pictures of house and garden
Ollie: Making a prezi on shot and filming idea as well as prop research

Using a projecter in our music video

In our music video i think we should incorporate a projector in certain scenes, i feel this would be really effective in creating a certain sense of loneliness to video in which could show how the character is feeling. We would shoot the shots in a dark room with just a spotlight on the character and the cartoon images on the projector, in which could help create a juxtaposition position as the music would link to the images. The dark lighting would create a feeling which would be a big contrast to the normal emotions of the song.

This is the projector I will borrow, i think this will be really effective and i hope the images projected will be big enough, they should be. I think this will be a great effect to the video and make it something different.

 Laura marling a current singer has done a similar thing and i would be happy if it were to look this affective and i beleive it could look this good.





By doing this it definitely adds something different to the video and i think it is really effective. However when making our video i do not want it to be very similar to this in terms of it being the same, however i reckon it would suit our song. When doing it we should give it our own twist and make it look fresh.

Prezi

I have created an account for myself on Prezi

I saw that Max had used it in order to create a professional looking interactive mind-map and i would like to use it in future as it seems efficient and practical whilst also being an interesting addition to our blog for outside readers.

change in ideas

After lots of thought we realised that a narrative of people splitting up, would not give the band a good image. For example most current indie bands do not focus on the effect of a break up in a relationship in the first big hit. However it can be said that the established bands can do the narrative of splitting up because they already have a solid image and people understand what they are about. Therefore if we made this song depressing as our first song it would affect our image.

Shot ideas

Having been absent from the last two lessons due to driving tests and the incompetence of staff at cambridge train station I have now had a chance to look over some of the shot ideas the rest of my group have uploaded. I really like the idea of the two shot contrasting two people in a relationship as it can clearly depict what needs to be shown in a single camera shot.

I think with regards to the split screen idea, we would need to be cautious of what we use to divide the screen, as the door frame in the practice picture was blue and looked completely out of place as a prop. Should it be used in our actual video a deep blue door would not mix well with our indie genre as it is an uncommon base colour for a genre that predominantly relies on more earthy colours like browns and darker greens. It also had a ridge in it which seemed to subtract from the focus of the two subjects of the shot i.e. Max and Fiona.

Final Cut effects

Over the weekend i took the macbook home to learn some final cut express techniques. I learnt how to make a clone effect and how to superimpose video files into another and i also made a old looking sepia effect.

Using Prezi to get some of my ideas together

Film Ideas on Prezi

Prezi is a great way of collecting ideas, and here are a few for our video

Flickr Photostream of shot ideas

I (Jack) have uploaded a variety of shot ideas which were taken with help from Max and Fiona to Flickr and embedded a slideshow to this blog post.

Click on a photo in the slideshow to be redirected to flickr where you can view the shot description

If you are having problems viewing the flash content click here to be taken to my flickr photostream

I thought i would post this on the blog as the group has been interested in the stop motion technique. I found this video on a technology blog moments ago, it has a very creative feel to it.

Technologies

As an indie band being marketed to a predominantly young adult audience, it is important that we know which technologies will be our main medium for listeners/viewers.

MP3 & iPod.
with the rise of technologies such as iPods and the decline of MP3 player technologies from brands other than Apple. We must be aware that much of our audience will be using iPods to watch our music video or listen to the song. This means that our music video should be available in a multiple formats. More so than any would be the MP4 format as it is the portable video format the iPods display in. This should be one of our priorities.

Internet
It is important to remember that our music video will be uploaded to YouTube and potentially viewed by anybody with internet access. This means that our video must be accessible with an understandable narrative. It should also be a cue for us to plan out our band image so we can be recognized as a brand. This should be done through maximum exposure of whoever is acting as artist in the video. Which will be both Myself and Fiona as it stands. This way we can maximaise the amount of people focusing on our image and thus allowing them to feel like they can relate to us easier.

  

We must also prepare to adapt to changing mediums of technology in which music is listened to/ watched by an audience. For example new technologies such as the iPad are being created rapidly, so we must be prepared to create accounts on new websites such as vimeo and format our video to accomodate new technologies, should they arise is the near future.

Effects and mise en scene

I think it would be a good idea to use either a black and white or sepia effect to show shots that reflect past times of the couple when they were happy. These effects help to convey past tense. I also like the "speckled film" effect as it gives a vintage film, which gives the video an indie style. I think the song is quite cheerful which contradicts the lyrics, so i think some contradicting images of weather i.e rain and sunshine would reflect this and the contrasting emotions of the boy and girl that come through through the lyrics, so for example shots of the boy in the rain and shots of the girl in the sun, this would be using pathetic fallacy.

laura marling- my manic and i

Lesson Meeting

Today during our lesson we went around the school and took pictures at different angels for inspiration of our shots. I will be uploading them to my flickr account shortly.

Shot ideas

ideas:

• The use of shadows; using a projector we could project shapes or silhouettes on to a wall.
• Split screen; a wall to divide the two singers (back to back) See included picture.
• Burning picture of the couple when the song says souls on fire, cuts to different stages of the way through it burning. cuts including the smoke, the ashes etc (close up, mid shots).
• Re use of shots in different angles along with the repetition of the lyrics.
• Platform/high angle male with girl in background on a lower level/angle, maybe a un-focused effect.

I just created a flickr account

I just created a flickr account because Flickr is an easy way to put your photos on the web. Therefore when creating our project we can put images on our blog and flickr to show how far we have come with the band. Flickr can also be a great way in advertising our band as it is another website in which could link us to our blog through sharing content on the internet.

I am currently trying to create a gadget for it on our blog for easy access for viewers.

We just signed up for reelclever. It allows you to organize storyboards online as well as props and clothing. This should be helpful in planning our video's scenes.

Practicing with the camera

When I was practicing filming I discovered that the camera had ran out of battery therefore when filming our actual piece, we need to insure the camera is fully charged. 

I found the camera was quite easy to use, therefore I am confident we will produce a good video.

Practice shots

We are about to go outside in order to complete some practice shots. This will hopefully help us gain an understanding of the cameras and how to operate them better. This is crucial as we only have limited group experience of how to operate our new HD cameras as compared to the old Tape cameras.

Hopefully we will be able to upload some of these shots later in the week.

Band name

Having come to a decision amongst our group we have decided to call ourselves "Bantry Bay" This is due to the fact that we need to create a profile for youtube using this name and post our video in that name. Due to the stunning unsuccessfulness of my (ollie) poll for the band name we decided that we would have to reach the decision amongst ourselves independently. This links to our genre well as most bands would decide band name amongst themselves and do things how they decide instead of letting others do it for them.

Filming Location ideas

In order to maintain our image as an Indie band, we need to closely consider our choice of location for our music video. The typical choice of location for music video's by genre can be shown in this selection of videos:



As can be seen in Katy Perry's contemporary video for her song 'Teenage Dream' The location may be varied but is taken in a range of desirable and happily themed locations, such as the car at the beginning and the club seen later on. This connotes the theme of the video by showing locations and activities that would be envied by the target audience of the video (13 - 30 year olds mostly, i.e. teenagers and young people who commonly make up the bulk of the audience of the pop genre) the cheerful choice of location is typical of the pop genre as most of the music in this genre has a high tempo and an upbeat message.

If we are to focus on the indie genre it is difficult to pin point the typical choice of location for the genre. Many songs in the genre try to deviate and subvert from what could be considered atypical however many also try to include typical features of a teenagers life e.g. going out with friends and relationships
One example of an attempt to produce individual work that subverts the genre expectations.


This shows that perhaps what can be expected of the indie genre in regards to music video is that they are aspiring to create new trends and interests in their videos, which would be inkeeping with the fashion choices withing the genre, as mentioned in earlier posts.

I think for our music video we should base our mise en scene on our lyrics in order to create the most appropriate image for our audience. This will ensure that we are inkeeping with our genre as the lyrics we have transcribed are in keeping with the typical expectations of the Indie genre.

I think the video could take place in a simplistic flat ideally, with cups of tea and cigarettes being recurring themes as they can be noted in many indie music videos and to some extent are popular amongst the student population, thus allowing us to relate to our audience better.

This would certainly be an ideal type of location, perhaps we could include the use of props to a greater degree than shown in this image but the basic layout would be ideal as it is minimalist and cheap looking, which are two features of the typical university flat and furthermore the relativley short-on-money student audience.

Song MP3 & lyrics.

Fiona has managed to obtain an mp3 copy of the song 'Souls on fire' by Local beauties. So we can now begin to brainstorm our ideas around the track as well as making possible dates for filming. Which her and Max have begun to work on with some of my ideas also whilst i write these lyrics down.


I (ollie) have also managed to transcribe the lyrics which we can also work around, so here they are:


feeling so free that i'm changing her mind
 trying to tell me theres more left to find.
I can tell her she's not on my side
She's my baby and she's leaving tonight.


And I, I don't believe you (X3)


Theres a new look in her eyes
all that's left here are feelings so dry
I don't need her but she's got my pride
She's my baby and she's leaving tonight


And I, I don't believe you (X3)


She said her souls on fire and she's got to to leave
I said now calm down baby, you just got to breathe
She said her souls on fire and she's got to leave
I said now calm down sugar won't you think of me?


And if it's true that she's made up her mind
And she's leaving, i leave her behind
caught in the current with nothing to hide
she's my baby and she's leaving tonight


But I, I don't believe you
And I, I dont believe you (X2)


She said her souls on fire and she's got to leave
I said now calm down baby you just got to breathe
She said her souls on fire and she's got to to leave
I said now calm down sugar won't you think of me


And I can't do anymore (X2)
Her souls on fire (X2)


She said her souls on fire and she's got to leave
I said now calm down baby you just got to breathe
She said her souls on fire and she's got to leave
I said now calm down sugar won't you think of me? 
(X2)

Sound Cloud

I have signed up for a Sound Cloud account. The group can utilize this to easily upload the song or clip and embed music to the blog. We will upload the song to the blog using this.

Technological Mediums in which help Music acts become Famous

In todays society the internet reigns supreme, the internet is now the main form of technology in which media shines. This is due to the whole world being able to share the internet and interect with each other. Without the Internet it would be hard for bands of today to advertise themselves and become as big as they are. All sorts of technology has helped the freedom of music today, for example the use of Mp3 files which enables us to listen to music with out a CD or tape which means its all done through files for example with the ipod.



Youtube the most viewed video sharing website on the internet is a great way to post your videos on because its free to put videos on the website and it can get you lots of publicity from people all over the world. Many celebrity singers of today have made it famous through posting videos of them on youtube for example a girl called Charice posted videos of her singing when she was 13 and now she is a popstar and now finds herself in the charts earning lots of money. We would use youtube to promote our band and get publicity which could lead to being spotted by the big organisations like the Universal music group.
 
TV is also a great way to gain publicity, however it is a lot harder to get yourself on TV because you would need to be famous first so that you could get on TV because TV is a huge buisness which only puts the audiences interests first. TV should be used after becoming famous to increase the bands publicity and improve the relationship between the audience and the band. It is more of a stepping stone to become the most famous once on TV.

Websites like Myspace and Facebook are a good way to start out as they are a free way of advertising your band. They also allow room for you to advertise your band how you want and when you want. It is also a good way to show when your concerts and gigs are to all your followers (as most indie bands need to gig a lot to make themselves known).

Even though radio has always been about in terms of modern technology, it is still a great way to advertise my band because thousands of people listen to the radio and it could gain appreciation from listeners and by putting music on the radio it could lead to thousands of sales and also means record companies could gain an interest in you.


In order to become a big and successful band we must use alot of these technological mediums.

Indie songs in the charts today

Indie songs do show up in the modern day charts, however there is not usually many, although bands like the killers find themselves in the charts a lot as they are now an established well known band. This can explain why Indie doesn't feature in the charts very much, because most indie bands struggle to get lots of publicity from the everyday radio one listening public. I think that you have to have a proper interest in music to understand the Indie genre.



In the charts currently, Brandon Flowers is featured in the top 40 he is relatively Indie. He is the lead vocalist for the killers therefore he is well known and has the leeway to enter the charts and produce lots of singles. I think that publicity for a band is the best way in getting towards these big companies which would buy you.

 Although these days the Indie Genre had definitely grown and does find itself in a mainstream situation. Proof that it has grown is now there is now a chart specifically for the indie genre. However it can be said that the Indie chart does not get as much representation as the mainstream charts, which is even featured on music channels like music 4 and viva. And it can also be said that other big genres like hip hop, RnB and dance music all have there own charts too.

               

Record labels

If we were to become big and famous it is more than likely we would latch on to a record label. Preferably we would choose a record label in which would suit the band would help in gaining lots of profits. We would not want to choose an independant label because independant labels rarely go mainstream and earn lots of the money in which could be earned through the music business. There are four main institutions in which are the biggest and earn the most money. These are

Universal Music Group-

 EMI Group -

Sony BMG music entertainment -

Warner Music Group -

 All of these institutions are known as the big four and they are all the biggest in the music business and mainly branch through most genres. Most music you hear in the charts today have been signed by one of these big institutions therefore if we were looking to get signed we would want to be spotted by one of these. However it can be said that because Indie is a style in which is homegrown talent and made by themselves that we could get an independant label first. Also you dont see many indie bands in the big instituions as Indie is not that mainstream.

Record Labels

It's likely that we would choose to go with a well established record label rather than and independent one. The main record labels in this category are as follows:

Universal Music Group
They have signed artists like The Bee Gees, Eminem and The Kaiser Chiefs

Warner Music Group
They have signed artists like Avenged Sevenfold, Gnarls Barkley, Alesha Dixon and DragonForce

EMI Group
Have signed artists like Blur, David Bowie and Kate Bush

Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Have signed artists like Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne and Calvin Harris

My research into the signed bands shows that these record labels support a wide range of music genres. EMI seems to have a collection of signed indie bands. An example of this (until recently) is the indie band OK go who became a hit on youtube and were signed by EMI. Recently though OK Go has formed their own independent label, Paracadute Recordings. Heres a link to this info

AccuWeather

I have manually added some JavaScript to the gadget side bar to display the weather and temperature. This will be useful for when we decide to film our video as the weather will bare a large effect on the video and the precautions with equipment can be taken prior to the filming.

Twitter

I have made a twitter account, you can click the link in the side bar to follow me. I will keep updates of progress here.

Similar artist video analysis

Mumford and sons have a similar style to our artist, they both have a fast tempo and the tracks are made up by acoustic instruments.




The location of the video looks like an old theatre or venue, it has a vintage look becuase of the bricked walls and wooden beams. The stage and room is light partly by fairy lights, that fit in with the simple style as they are just single white bulbs, the rest of the lighting is low with high contrast. The lights flick on at the start to give the impression that it is a simple rehearsal.

As the song builds up with strums of the instrument the camera close up's on the instruments being played before we see any band members. The camera then close ups on the bands feet and faces etc which shows parts of their clothing and their facial hair which is all part of their image, this shows the audience immediately the genre from this.

Over the shoulder, close up shots with lighting brighter from the front gives an almost silhouette look. It also shows us that there is no crowd to the performance, which adds to the effect that they are a simplistic band that care about their music genuinely, and conveys that they have just been caught rehearsing.

The camera flicks between close ups of each band member showing each members importance in the band and the different parts that make up the song. The band is trying to make it look like they are not high profile stars, and that they have not branded an image, even though this rough, un-shaven, skinny trousers and pointy shoes look is classic of indie/acoustic bands.

A low angle shot shows parts of the location, the beamed ceiling again shows us the vintage set and also is trying to establish that there is no over head lighting, conveying that the band do not need anything but instruments and low lighting to put on a good performance. As the shot tilts down the track comes to a turning point in the song emphasising the change in tempo.

As the pace of the track gets faster the cuts between shots quickens, from over the shoulder shots to close ups to wide shots of the band which climaxes the track and the song becomes more powerful, so the audience becomes more involved with the track.