The Process of Creating a Music Video

The Process of Creating a Music Video on Prezi

Vox Pops: The voice of the people

Vox pops is another technique we can use to get information about the desired target audience.
The interviewees are shown to be in public places and are supposedly giving spontaneous answers, in a chance encounter, to the interviewer. Vox pops are used all the time in news programmes to show balanced views.

Each person is asked the same question(s) with the aim in mind to get as many (variety of) answers by the public on a certain subject. Therefore to get as much variety as you can, you need to ask a range of different people, age groups, gender, religion, race etc.

Additional Filming

Today I helped Ellie with her preliminary task, I helped to film the video. Indifferent to my own preliminary task, I used different shots and experimented within the scene to make the video fun and eye-catching for example the actors in the scene are positioned differently in the scene and make most of the space. 

We did many takes to get good footage, different shots and to make sure the lip syncing was spot on. Something which proved useful was to turn the screen on the side of the camera to face the actors so they could see what they were doing, this helped as they could see what they were doing and to get the best performances. 

Ellie herself edited the footage and on her blog soon will be the finished video:
http://elliemoorerca2.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Survey

To further research, I've created a survey to get some answers from the public to find out what they think of my chosen song 'Paper People' as well as to get some insight of the type of audience the song will appeal to, this will also help when it comes to broadening our target audience.

Please can you click on this link and answer the survey!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HLZ5QN5

Preliminary Task: What I've learnt

The preliminary task was a good introduction to what producing a music video would be like. It wasn't that hard to learn the lyrics because there was only about a minute's worth to learn, when it comes to shooting our music video that will be much different as there is about 2/3 minutes worth to learn, as well as it's just one person learning all these lines.

Filming the preliminary all in one day I think was useful as you get everything you need there and then, also helps just to get it out of the way and know you have all that footage. So when it comes to shooting my coursework I think it would be effective to shoot everything in one-two days.

The editing process, even for a very small project like this, seemed long and tedious I think I didn't actually grasp how long this process will take- and we just roughly edited! For the coursework if we get all the filming out of the way quickly then we can spend much more time editing which could prove very useful.

My Preliminary Task

This is mine and Shelby's preliminary task. We filmed it yesterday, all in one day, and roughly edited it this morning. Finally it's done! And here it is..

The Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task we have to lip sync to Elton John's 'Don't go Breaking My Heart.' 
The song itself is a duet, originally sung by ELton John and Kiki D in 1976. For the preliminary we have to film 3 or more continuous takes with varying camera positions, the objective is to be fun, creativity and to get a taste of what our actual coursework will be like.

Here is the video of the original song and lyrics:

Lyrics:

Don't go breaking my heart
I couldnt if I tried
Honey if I get restless
Baby you're not that kind

Don't go breaking my heart
You take the weight off me
Honey when you knock on my door
I gave you my key

Nobody knows it
When I was down
I was your clown
Nobody knows it
Right from the start
I gave you my heart
I gave you my heart

So don't go breaking my heart
I wont go breaking your heart
Don't go breaking my heart

And nobody told us
`cause nobody showed us
And now it's up to us babe
I think we can make it

So don't misunderstand me
You put the light in my life
You put the sparks to the flame
I've got your heart in my sights

Artist's Target Audience

Looking more into our chosen artist's music and profile it's clear that the primary target audience is girls aged around 16-24, like myself, and possibly younger teenage girls. Another audience the artist attracts are folk/acoustic music fans, so possibly people who like to listen to other artists such as Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran.
The target audience is also another factor we need to include whilst brainstorming for ideas, as well as to promote the track and the artist successfully.

What is a Digipak?

A digipak is a type of CD packaging and are mostly used for special CD editions etc, they are however more expensive compared to traditional CD packaging.
Digipaks are made of card stock with plastic trays attached inside that hold the disc(s), they are almost book-styled as they either flip open or can have three or more parts.

What to include on a digipak:

• The track list, this can either be on the back of the digipak or on the inside
• A small booklet which will have additional information about the artist, album, songs and lyrics etc. The small booklet will also include photos of the band/artist

How the Music Video Industry work?

A Comissioner from a record label send a track to 5-10 different directors, the directors come up with some ideas for a music video and send back a treatment, at this point the director will still be unpaid.
The director who submits the 'best' idea/treatment is then selected and comissioned to make the video, then the director is paid.
As for many directors in the business, it is a precarious existance where their livelihood is dependant on each comission.

Marcus Foster "I Was Broken"

Marcus Foster, little known before this video, started to get some attention as his song 'Let me Sign' (covered by Robert Pattinson) was featured in Twilight and another song in The Twilight Saga:Eclipse. Both films helped to raise his profile, so when he released his debut single (and album) Kristen Stewart agreed to be in the music video.
This got a lot of attention for the video as websites published articles and the music video got shown on MTV and other music channels.
In the music video itself is in black and white and there is a fixed close up shot of Marcus Foster's face capturing the pure emotion of the song. Kristen Stewart appears throughout the video looking sultry and moody at the camera in jeans, a plain white t-shirt and her long black tousled hair. The music video also includes dissolves of fields and streets.

OB Management

OB Management work as agents for music video directors, their aims are:
To nurture talent (such as Emil Nava),
To work with production companies and Record Labels,
and to match the right director to the right artists/ song.


These are some of the production companies that OB Management work with:
Pulse Films
Rocket
Agile Films
Friends
Wonda

Emil Nava

Emil Nava begun as a runner for film production companies. He worked for Blink productions, now he freelances for OB Managment.
He graduated to Assistant Director where he managed video shoots. He was then signed to Academy (the biggest music video production), then worked for Between the Eyes; however he now works mainly for Pulse.

When he began shooting videos for independant labels the budget varied between £5000- £10,000; again which isn't a lot of money when producing a music video.
His first budget was £20,000 making the video for Kid British's song 'Our House.' The video was filmed in Manchester, local people were cast to appear in the video. It took one day to film, 2/3 days to edit and 10 days of post production; which just demonstrates the very tight timescales within this line of work.

Emil has also directed:
'30 minute love affair' and 'Picking up the pieces' by Paloma Faith,
'Lego House' and 'You need me' by Ed Sheeran,
Rita Ora's 'RIP'
and Jessie J's 'Do it like a dude' and 'Price tag'

At his busiest so far, he made 24 music videos in one year with his most expensive video to date costing £160,000 for Jessie J.

Emil's Top Tips:
- Use extreme close up on faces whenever possible
- Do not shoot the whole of the video in medium or long shot

Jamie Thraves

Jamie Thrave is a director, who used music videos to get into the film industry. He started to make short films at University, he later used his award winning short film as a 'calling card' to get his 'foot in the door' with the video production company Factory Films, who have helped to produce many famous music promotions videos.
Jamie Thraves started by shooting three very low budget music videos that cost about £5000 each; which is quite low when producing a music video.
His two best known music videos are Radiohead's 'Just' and Coldplay's 'Scientist.'
'Just' took 3 days to shoot and cost around £100,000; the video for Coldplay's 'Scientist' also took 3 days to film but cost double of Radiohead's 'Just.'

His most recent music video was 'Song for Lisa' which cost £20,000 and 2 days to make.

So far he has shot three features: The Low Down, The Cry of the Owl and Treacle Jr.

Jamie's Top Tips:

- Use the lyrics; but try not to be too literal

- Most importantly go with the emotion of the lyrics

Music Video Success Criteria

Audio Clip of Paper People

Charly Houston 'Paper People'

This is the song Ellie and I chose for our music promo video coursework, here is the song and lyrics (below):

Paper People

 

Verse:

Your paper face tells so many lies,

Ink spilled with guilt,

Speaks wonders,

Your cardboard mouth filled with spite,

Your heart tells me nothing,

Pre Chorus:

And I, have so little time,

These cracked walls are filling up with sand,

And I can't find your hand,

Chorus:

I don't mean to push away,

But pushing back you're here to stay,

I promise this, it'll be that way,

Your paper face is covered up to hide the colours that I show,

I'm proud,

My paper mouth should speak out loud,

Verse:

I'm burning holes, in the soles of my shoes,

Walking, for you,

Rubber tires set on fire,

As tears stream down my face,

Pre Chorus:

And I,

Have so little time,

These cracked walls are filling up with sand,

And I can't find your hand,

Oh I'm lost,

Can you bear me a dime?

I'm an intervention, and this is what I do with my time,

Chorus:

I don't mean to push away,

But pushing back you're here to stay,

I promise this, it'll be that way,

Your paper face is covered up to hide the colours that I show,

I'm proud,

My paper mouth should speak out loud,

I'm proud,

My paper mouth should speak out loud.

Death in Vegas 'Dirge'

'Dirge', meaning a sombre song, is by a London, psychedelic rock band called Death in Vegas. 

This song is probably one of tha band's most recognisible songs as it has featured: on a Levi jeans commerical, the second Blair Witch Project, The Last House on the Left (2009), in an episode of British Horror 'Being Human' episode "The Longest Day", the second episode season two of Misfits and on the trailers for 'The Black Dahila' (2006) and 'Stoker' (2013).

The music video itself is very interesting, as normally you wouldn't expect this to be a music video for a psychdelic rock band.

The music video is shot in black and white and has a sort of 'Hollywood Glamour' theme as all the actors costumes are from that period of time and the music video is shot in a ballroom. Considering the theme of 'Hollywood Glamour' the audience would normally expect younger aged actors; however all the actors in the video are aged 50/60 and above.

The actors on the ballroom floor are ballroom dancing to the music, which a band is playing in the video, again contrasting the genre of the music.

The slower paced editing perhaps could be seen to contrast the bass beats of the song. However the jump cuts do fit in with the genre as they are unusual and they wouldn't work in any other video or music genre. The jump cuts also add interest towards the end of the video, it also matches the climax of the song.

Michael Jackson "Thriller"

Of course Michael Jackson's "Thriller" had to be the Greatest music video of all time.
The music video cost $700,000 to make and the director of An American Werewolf in London directed the music video, who was a big director of the time and his films were known for their special effects. It was a big scale production as there were special effects, a well-known director, the different sets, make-up and costumes and dancers/extras.
The video itself is a short film, and has an old style horror elements like what you would expect in a Hammer Horror production (e.g. suspense and eerie sets) and included the respected actor, in both Hollywood and the horror community, Vincent Price.

The UK premiere of the video was on Channel 4 at midnight, it was an event everyone awaited for and was an instant impact. The famous thriller dance routine had everyone in the clubs up and dancing, the routine itself is still legendary even now and had featured even in films like '13 going on 30,' everyone was sucked into the 'Thriller Mania.'

The album is the best selling album of all time and Michael Jackson himself is one of the biggest recording artists to date.

A-ha "Take on me"

This is probably one of the most well known music videos and is number 3 of the 100 greatest music videos.
When the song was first released it disappeared in the charts, it wasn't until the band decided to make a music video that the song became a real success.
The video uses rotoscoping, which is a type of animation where you draw over the film to create this matte, hand drawn effect, this was expensive but at the same time the effects were revolutionary. The video won 6 awards out of its 8 nominated.

Queen "Bohenmian Rhapsody"

This was the group's first hit single and first number 1, it stayed at the top of the charts for 9 weeks which caused a problem when they had to perform the single at Top of the Pops each week and they were on tour at the time. So to defeat this problem the group made a promotional video to play instead whilst they were on tour.
The video itself costed £4,500 and took 4 hours to film, the opening of the video with the four members in formation has to be one of the most famous images of all time. The special effects at the time were cutting-edge and impressive to audiences.
The video will always be recognised as one of the greats, and is ranked number 4 of the 100 greatest videos.

Madonna "Like a Prayer"

Ranked the 5th greatest music video of all time (Channel 4).

Madonna's "Like a Prayer" video tells the story of a man wrongly accused of rape which Madonna witnesses, however she is threatened and runs to the church for guidence. There a black Jesus comforts her and she now knows she must tell the truth to help set free the innocent man.
The music video caused outrage within the Catholic church because Jesus was represented as black, as well as she makes love to the black Jesus in the video. The video caused even more trouble for Madonna as Pepsi withdrew their sponsorship which meant Madonna lost money.

Nirvana "Smells like team spirit"

This video in more or less words speaks for the generation of the time and represents this anger/rebellion of youth. Kurt Cobain wanted the video to be like the film "Over the Edge" (1979), the director took his ideas and interpretted them (which we see in the video). However Kurt and band were not happy and reluctant to co-operate with the director of the day of the filming. The music video captures the band's anger and the extras (who tear the set apart at the end) and somehow make something magical as 'a moment' has been captured.
Following the release of the song/video, the band became very successful and had more hit songs.

Ranked 10 of the 100 Greatest music videos.

Radiohead "No Surprises"

"No Surprises" comes from the successful album 'OK COMPUTER' in 1997, and is number 24 of the 100 Greatest music videos.

The video itself is filmed in one take, the shot is an extreme close-up of Thom Yorke's face in a plastic bubble. As he sings the lyrics scroll upwards mirrored, as the video goes on there is water slowly filling the plastic astronaunt dome. For about 50 seconds Thom Yorke holds his breathe which makes the audience sympathetic as he looks like he is suffering/uncomfortable. 

Eminem "Stan"

This music video is unlike most music videos as it shows the darker side to fame as we follow a obessive fan who feels he is living a duel life with Eminem. The song itself is very personal as Eminem writes of an event in his own life. The song uses samples from Dido's song "Thank You" at the time Dido was a little known star but after this video/song was released she rose to stardom.

The real challenge for the actor of the video, played by Devon Sawa, was to act and lip sync good at the same time. The music video ranked 31 in the 100 Greatest music videos, and here it is:

Sinead O'Connor "Nothing Compare 2 U"

Ranked 35 of the 100 Greatest music videos.

The song is originally by Prince, but it wasn't until Sinead covered the song that the song itself became popular.  The director was given £40,000 budget to film the music video, he filmed on location in Paris however most of these shots were not used for the finished video. The video itself is mostly close-up shots of Sinead, the audience are automatically drawn to her eyes.
The close-up shots also helped to grip the audience esspecially when she shows pure emotion/tears on the lines "All the flowers that you planted, Mother/in the back yard/All died when you went away," as she herself had a very complex relationship with her mother who had recently died at the time.

The song and album went to number 1 in the charts after the music video was released and effectively launched her career; and this is why this music video is a good example of a video adding value to the song.

Flatboy Slim "Weapon of Choice"

Ranked 38 out of the 100 Greatest music videos; and more popularly known for its music video. The video features the Hollywood actor Christopher Walken, who previously trained as a dancer before his acting career, dancing and flying in an empty hotel to the song.
The video is known for its choreography and won 6 MTV awards in 2001.