Music Video Questionnaire

I used a website called SurveyMonkey.com to create a survey with questions based around music videos. I thought that it would help me create my own music video, as it would give me a good idea of the kind of aspects of a video people like, don't like, what types of video are popular etc                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DG3VZ68

Research Techniques Notes

Types of Research:

• Audience research - the analysis of who consumes what media products and why
• Market research - investigations into the way that products could produce income by looking at the demands of consumers
• Production research - the research conducted to inform the production process of a media product e.g background info, locations, legal and ethical requirements

Primary Research 

Primary research involves material and resources and information which has been found 'for the first time' by the researcher. This would include material found using techniques such as:

• Observations made when viewing an exhibition, show, performance or on visiting location.
• Interviews with people
• Reports of Meetings/Discussions with people
• The collection of information from questionnaires or surveys
• Focus group activities 

Secondary Research

Secondary research is information or material which is collected by looking at the findings of others.Secondary research would include:

• Referring to books, journals, magazines and newspapers.
• Gathering information from the internet
• Making notes on information presented on audio visual formats like dads, videos or cds.
• Collecting information from CD ROMs

Reliablitiy and Validity 

There are many techniques that can be employed when researching. However it is vital that you choose the right one to ensure that your information is reliable and valid.

Reliablity: whether this can be trusted as a source of information. Could it be biased by peoples opinions or effected by flaws in their research methods? If this activity was done again, would it get the same results?

Validity: The relevance of information to your investigation. Can you determine that it proves what you think it does?

Music Video Planning

I have chosen the song 'Moving Home' by Moose Blood, which is off of their EP with the same name, released February 2013. I have decided that I want my music video to illustrate the lyrics to the song. 

Lyrics:

 





Ideas Brainstorm

• The key word I'm going to keep in mind throughout the filming process is 'melancholy' as I feel that this word best describes the lyrics for the song. 
• Haze aesthetic - present in most of the bands videos - added in post production
• Close ups of tired eyes, shaking hands etc - illustrates lyrics 'My eyes are getting heavy' and 'i'm a nervous wreck, I'm a mess'
• Shots of character asleep with the television on - total darkness in room except the television shining on character
• Fairy lights - links to star iconography as they appear in all of Moose Blood's music videos
• Shots of rain, looking out of windows, looking lost - links to melancholy
• Low Key lighting - suits mood of the song
• Slower paced edits - consider timing in song
• Multiple exposures
• Black and white - linking again to the melancholy feel
• Close up of the 'do not disturb' sign on the hotel door 
• Travelling on the tube/bus/train alone

Music Video Analysis - (West Coast by Lana Del Rey)

The music video for Lana Del Rey's song 'West Coast' was released on youtube on May 7th 2014 and is a narrative video shot on location, but is also performance based.

The video for the song definitely illustrates the lyrics. An example of this is when Lana sings 'Down on the West Coast' and the visual that accompanies it is her stood on a beach, suggesting that she is on the West Coast. Then there is a tracking shot of palm trees, echoing the idea of the beach environment.     

Sound beats - don't always match the visuals - disjointed

Lana Del Rey, the star, is the main focus for the record label, and therefore there are lots of shots of her. She appears as the protagonist in the narrative of the video, and is also seen performing (lip syncing) the song, which is common in pop videos. Her 'look' is very important in regards to her star image, which Andrew Goodwin talks about in 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'. She is a very recognisable figure, and there are certain aspects about her/her videos that are very unique to her, which fans use to relate to her or associate with her, for example: her moody, grunge/hollywood glamour look, black and white imagery, palm trees, cigarettes, home video-esque filming etc. This iconography recurs throughout all of her videos, her concerts, her interviews etc and therefore, fans associate them with her whenever they see them. Obviously, with her voice being so unique, this adds to her star image also - people identify her voice with her image automatically. 

An interesting aspect of the music video is that some of the footage appears as though it is home video footage. 

Carol Vernallis - The Kindest Cut

Carol Vernallis teaches Film and Media studies at Stanford University. She carried out vital research and analysed editing in music videos and in Hollywood film, distinguishing the distinct differences between the two. 
I have been studying her academic essay ' The Kindest Cut: functions and meanings of music video editing'. 



Differences between Music Videos and Hollywood Film


Music Videos:

• The order of shots is often unconventional. There is no specific or typical order for the shots to be placed in. Shifts more freely between shots.
• Time, space, character and narrative are revealed incompletely - you do not always learn everything from one music video.
• Multiplicity of shots of shots sometimes obscure paths.
• Discontinuity - pop videos often draw our attention away from the narrative by foregrounding other structures and elements. 
• Visual hooks create continuity. Non continuous shots linked by a single feature - unified by figure, shape, colour etc. 
• Sometimes elements (setting, colours, star, editing) are all equal, sometimes one is dominant and others are subordinate. 

Hollywood Film:

• Continuity is important - the film draws us into a narrative.
• Single clear path through the film's world.
• Unity of time and space.
• Conventional order of shots - typical shot order - film opening, establishing shots, two shots, medium close ups etc. 

Other additional points to be made are that music videos feature far more cuts than are used in film, and much more frequently. Also, editing in music videos has much more responsibility than in film as it directs the flow of narrative. 

Vernallis stated in her essay that music videos often use fast cutting or editing to the beat of the music, which often appears to have a rhythmic style similar to that of the song. This is often referred to by film and television critics as 'MTV style editing' and is a complete contrast to editing in film which is often far slower in pace. Despite there being obvious differences between the two styles of editing, both film editing and music video editing it can colour and change our views and understanding of the characters that appear in them. 

Vernallis also points out that in music video editing, sometimes the edits are meant to be noticed as it brings out certain elements in the song. 

Questionnaire Feedback

Below is the feedback that Beth and I received from our clients at Hellcats Tattoo Parlour, after sending them the link to an online questionnaire that we created. We are extremely happy with the results from the questionnaire, as it showed us that our clients were very satisfied with the work we produced for them.

Music Video Analysis (The Hunter by Slaves)

The music video that accompanies British punk band Slaves's song 'The Hunter' is very much a performance based video which amplifies the lyrics for the song. The video is quite experimental in the sense that the video focuses a lot on the visual effects used in conjunction with the music. Andrew Goodwin talked about the use of 'thought beats' in his book 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' which is the idea that you can actually 'see' the music. This video is a good example of this, through the incidental cuts and the visuals moving in time with the music etc. 

There are some parts of the video where it can be considered that the video actually illustrates the lyrics. For example, Isaac sings 'Keep smiling through your teeth' and the next shot is of a person's teeth smiling. Another example of this is when the lyrics say 'were crying to be fed' and Issac mimics the action of crying in the video.

Andrew Goodwin also commented on the importance of 'star image' and 'star iconography' in music videos. He pointed out that record labels demanded more and more that the artists appeared in the music videos in order for the audience to feel a sense of connection to them and to associate the artist with a certain 'look' so that they are easily identifiable. Slaves are known for having a certain recognisable 'look' about them - for example, they wear a lot of Fred Perry and Adidas Originals, crazy patterned trousers, round sunglasses, dr martens etc. The video conforms to this idea from Goodwin about star image by including countless close ups of the band members throughout the duration of the video, which allow us to learn about their recognisable style and see the different aspects that make.