Location Reccie

Location 1 - Field path/road where the artist walks along with the photographs. There will be numerous shots filmed along this road from a variety of angles including an establishing shot at the start of the music video. This is also the location where the break up occurs. We will film the photographs being thrown at the artist and as they slowly land on the ground.

Location 2 – this location is at the top of a hill in Cookham. Here we will have the two main characters arriving by car and getting out and sitting on the bonnet. There will be establishing shots of the view over Cookham and shots of the clouds in the sky as well as the couple together. Here we will also shoot the scene where the artist receives messages from his girlfriend telling him they need to talk.

 

Location 3 - Ockwells Road – Here we will be shooting the footage of the couple walking together, showing their loving relationship. This flashback is important because it will build up and contrast with the breakup at the end. This is the location where the two main characters will ask a passer-by to take a picture of them with will become one of the photographs the artist is looking at when walking along the path at location 1. Here we will also film the artist walking on his own to show him reminiscing after the break up.

 

Location 4 – at home together, in a living room where Luke's character will be playing on his PlayStation till he realises he isn't giving his girlfriend any attention. There will be close-ups of the PS controller, two characters sitting together and hugging.

 

Location 5 – the underpass in Cox Green– this is another location where the couple will be together, walking down towards it and sharing an intimate moment. We will be doing a lot of close ups of the couple at this location.

Location 6 – blank background – here is where we will be filming the artist miming to the song. The background is blank and we will be using lights to create shadows of the artist behind him on the white background. This will be done in the common room at Cox Green School. 

 

Shooting schedule

Risk Assessment

Cast List

Artist/male actor in relationship:
Luke Murphy - he is required to be filmed walking along various roads at our chosen locations and act as though in a relationship with the female actress. They will be filmed walking together, holding hands and getting close. He will also be sitting on the bonnet of his car, looking at messages on his phone. The main other role this actor will have to perform is as the artist singing the song. He will be filmed in front of a blank background miming to the song.

Female actress in relationship:
Lauren Craker - she is required in a similar way to Luke Murphy, the male actor. She will have to act as if she is in a relationship with the artist. There will be many close-up and medium shots of her smiling and laughing. In the final part of the music video she will need to shout at her boyfriend and throw the photographs at him before walking away.

Actor walking past who takes picture:
Gemma Bloor - she will be in the shots at location 3 where Lauren’s character will ask her to take a photograph of the couple as a memory for them to keep. This is only a minor role, she is needed in no other shots.


Gemma Bloor

Lauren Craker

Luke Murphy



Prop and Equipment list

Advert Analyses

Digipak Analyses

The style of Bastille...

The style of Bastille... from Leyan Yucel

Our chosen song!

We have decided to make a music video for These Streets by Bastille. It fits into the indie genre so we will have to stick to this style. The song doesn't yet have an official music video so it will be interesting to see how effective ours looks.

Here is the song:

Conventions of music videos

How I’m going to use these codes and conventions in my own video…

For our own music video we will use the indie convention of using a mixture of performance and concept footage. Our locations will be linked to the lyrics of our song but we will set it in large open spaces. We will also include close-ups of the lead singer using bright lighting to include performance footage. Contrasting this with darker shots will make the music video more mysterious and more like typical indie music videos. Close ups of specific props and objects will help the narrative along and create enigma codes. We may use filters, not black and white because that is too extreme, but a lighter filter would help create a carefree, feel good atmosphere. Although often indie music videos don’t make sense, we would rather our narrative was easy to understand because from our audience research we now know that viewers prefer to watch music videos that make sense. 

Institutions Research

How are music videos made – pay production company, performance, concept

The first task in producing a music video is to look at the budget and plan out how much is to be spent on what. This ensures that you don’t over spend. You don’t have to have a huge budget to make a good music video. Next, the themes and ideas for the music video must be discussed with the artist because they may want their video to look a particular way.

The actual song is central to the music video so it’s important that a lot of attention and research goes into it. You need to listen to the lyrics and focus on the underlying messages so that the music video can relate to the song if that’s the approach you want to take. The song should also be played to a group of other people to hear about their opinions and ideas. This gives you a better understanding of what the target audience will be looking for in the music video.

Next the ideas must be finalised and planned out so that they’re ready to start shooting after the storyboard has been drawn out. The filming locations must be found and actors/actresses must be found. Once the video is filmed it has to be edited and then fitted to the song.

Who funds music videos?

Usually the record company will fund the production and distribution of the music video. Sometimes the artist or the artist' management will fund it because more music is being made and promoted outside the record label system. The person/body that pays for the music video is usually the rights holder of the video too so they decide where it can be posted and shared.

Artists can get grants from the Arts Council to help them get their music project off the ground. This funding can go towards the recording of their music and the production of their video. The Arts Council support all sort of projects whether it’s new music or established artists and don’t specify a certain genre.

Rough Trade Records is a record label based in London. The independent company was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store. He promoted and sold records by punk, indie pop and post-punk bands like Buzzcocks, The Smiths and Desperate Bicycles. Travis started managing acts and distributing bands such as Scritti Politti and began the label. Later on, Rough Trade also set up a distribution arm that became known as Cartel that serviced independent retail outlets across Britain. In the late 1980’s Rough Trade started having financial problems and went into administration. Travis managed to restart the label in the late 90’s where he was successful with bands such as The Libertines and The Strokes.

How are they distributed? i.e. how do you watch them?

Music videos are distributed online and via music channels on the television. Online they are often distributed by the artist or production company on sites such as YouTube through Vevo or the artists own account. This allows people to access them easily for free and create widespread awareness of them. Often they are advertised on social media sites by the record label or by the band/artist themselves. The videos can then be shared/retweeted so that people all around the world can watch them.

What is the purpose of the music video?

A music video combines song and imagery and is produced for promotional or artistic purposes. They are primarily made and used as a marketing device to promote the sale of the song. They are also made to help the artist’s music to be heard on a global scale and to promote the artist in general by giving a visual representation of them. Often the music videos are made with the intention of invoking an audience reaction and ensuring people remember the song and video. The production of music videos tends to lead to more sales and encourages the audience to see the band live. After a band has released their album they need to be kept in the public eye so this is when music videos are released. It also creates an extra income and helps the sales of the album. Finally, music videos are created for entertainment purposes. Artists want their fans to have a visual representation of their music and want them to enjoy their music. 

Intertextuality in music videos

Intertextuality is when a text’s meaning is influenced by another text. This can be subtle or obvious and theses references allow for a deeper understanding of the text. Intertextuality can be used to reference a certain style in the video or as a parody, mocking the original.

A lot of intertextuality is based on film and interestingly, a lot of film directors started out by making music videos. For example, Simon West directed the music video for Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ before going on to direct ‘The Expendables 2’ and ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’ amongst many others.

Charles Bazerman from the University of California once said, “We create our texts out of the sea of former texts that surround us, the sea of language we live in. And we understand the texts of others within that same sea. Sometimes as writers we want to point to where we got those words from and sometime we don’t. Sometimes as readers we consciously recognize where the words and ways of using words come from and at other times the origin just provides an unconsciously sensed undercurrent. And sometimes the words are so mixed and dispersed within the sea, that they can no longer be associated with a particular time, place, group, or writer. Nonetheless, the sea of words always surrounds every text.”

He is saying that there are no longer any original ideas. We simply get our ideas from the world around us even if we aren’t aware that we are doing so. So intertextuality is a technique used in almost every music video because the ideas have all been influenced by some other media text that is already present in the world. The original ideas become generalised and we can’t pin point who first came up with them or in which media product they were first used.

A great example where intertextuality has been used very obviously is in Iggy Azalea’s music video for ‘Fancy’. She has replicated the film ‘Clueless’ through similar characters, setting, costume and storyline. Iggy played the character of Cher from the film as she looks quite similar to Alicia Silverstone, the actress who played her in the film. They copied the costumes so that there were almost exactly the same. This makes the audience instantly aware of the link between the media texts. When I watched the music video for the first time, I had not heard about the intertextuality but within ten seconds of it starting I knew that the link was to ‘Clueless’. This music video is considered to be a parody because the lyrics contradict with the main character. Cher is a spoilt girl living in California who loves to spend her dad’s money and think she is so much better than everyone else but at the same time is very sensible and extremely naive. This contrasts with the lyrics “I’m still in the murda bizness” and “trash the hotel, let’s get drunk on the minibar.” I think this music video is very successful as the intertextuality emphasises the message in the song, which is what the music video was created for.

Representation in music videos