Rough cuts of dvd cover, inlay and magazine advert

These are our very basic rough cuts and as you can see from our final designs. Rather than use photographs we decided to use editing techniques as opposed to the above because we felt that it wasn't necessary to have pictures when we could achieve the same effect through photo elements. I felt that we could have a big impact on our audience through simplistic designs as this wont deter them, for example making the advert too busy and too messy. We've also decided to use a silhouette on the front and back of the dvd to make it seem a little mysterious in a sense, as you know its 2 female singers but you have no idea what they look like until you watch the video, I think this may entice the audience more. With regards to the inlay, we've decided to advertise a competition rather than lyrics or other albums and merchindise. The reason for this was trying to view it from the fans eyes, what would they want to see from the dvd they've purchased? They are obviously keen on the band as they're spending money on them, so whilst merchandise can be found easily on the net as well as lyrics, offering them the chance to win tickets to see them for free makes it feel more personal and exclusive. With regards to the magazine advert, we wanted to make it seem like it was authentic so rather than fill up the page with lots of images we had text that says 'Out Now', a sticker saying when its out on iTunes, again to make it seem more believable, quotes of reviews from music magazines, and then the picture of the album being sold. I think when done this way it will make it seem more of an advertisement.

Shooting Diary.

7th September - 11th September:

In this week we looked at what type of music video we wanted, pop, rock, indie, electro, metal etc. Alot of ideas we had circulated the rock genre but we felt too many other groups were doing this so we've decided to do a dance or electro video. Want the story to be quite spooky and haunting, maybe with an old boyfriend/dead coming back for the girl or a memory. I think if it's going to be an electro/pop video we should make everything really fast and quick. Lots of close-ups but lots of shots at different angles too. Scenes should be shot in an old type house and then in a forest.


14th September - 18th September:

Look into the general meaning of the song we've chosen called 'Little Soul' by a relatively unknown band called H2SO4. The lyrics are very simple, they only sing on small parts. I think we're going to use the 'Little Soul' title as indicating of the characters as being pathetic, like the singer is patronising them calling them a little soul. There are alot music videos with lots of good editing techniques and storylines i.e; Blink 182 - All The Small Things and Paramore - Decode.
We've decided that myself and Hannah Yarde will be the main 2 characters and our 3rd member of the group Matthew Steven has chosen to remain more behind the scenes and work on editing and camera techniques. We have started to prepare a pitch on powerpoint showing the ideas that we have come up with for our video.


21th September - 25th September:

We have wrote the storyboard out in 4 pages, this being the main outline:

Girl is having nightmares but she doesn't know why. She can hear this music but it's completely torturing her. She then starts to feel this demon like presence, the one who's singing this song and she can see the demons reflection everywhere where she is laughing and singing to her, trying to draw her in. The girl gets up to get a drink but drops the bottle on the floor and it rolls under her bed, where she finds a box addressed to her. She opens it and finds a vintage dress but has no idea why and who gave it to her. Along with the music that she cannot escape from and this newly found gift, she thinks she is going crazy so she runs to the bathroom to wake herself up. She calms herself down by running the tap to fill up the sink to splash her face, hoping for a bit of normality. When she turns back around the freshen herself up the water has turned black which just adds to her being more frightened. She looks up at the mirror and sees the demon standing behind her, well and truly petrified at this point she runs out the bathroom but trips up and falls on the floor hitting her head and passing out. When she wakes up she is in a forest wearing the vintage dress that she found in her room earlier before. Shes totally baffled at this point so starts to run away from the demon who has put her in this position. She keeps seeing her appearing everywhere, laughing and singing to her. The girl then realises that shes getting no where and begins to ponder the thought of asking the demon why she is here. On doing so, she sees the demons reflection staring back at her. It then reaches her hand out of the mirror to the girl, inviting her in which the girl accepts. Quickly, you see the hand pulling her in and straightaway a shot of the girl falling on top of her bad - as if she had just fallen out of the entire scene. She then wakes up glad it appears to have been a nightmare, but she flips back her quilt and sees she wearing the dress in her nightmare. Terror quickly sinks in where we then see the demon walking towards her bedroom slowly, then we cut to the girls face looking up in shock and then cut to the demon standing at the door.

We have wrote this in cartoon form in images so it is easy to see the video will be produced.


28th September - 2nd October:

Sorted out the animatic using scenes from storyboard, and then uploaded to blog. We then prepare to film by booking out the equipment we need from media and then we schedualed a plan in which we film according to. We've made a list of shots needed in the house, such as nightmares in bed, walking shots, falling on the bed and such. Then forest scenes are set to be done shortly afterwards, make sure we have proper costume and lighting needed for the day.

5th October - 16th October:

Filming of all the footage in progress, all of the scenes are day scenes so we've had to film over a period of a few days as being the time of the year, nightime sets in pretty soon! Weve also had to reshoot a couple of scenes just to recapture some of the spooky elements that we initally wanted for the video. In this period, we managed to get over 240 pieces of footage to choose from and then we began to edit the video as much as possible. The blog we updated as much as we could in these weeks, updating it everytime we finished our rough cuts and what not.

19th October - 25th November:

In this month long period, we edited nearly everyday for as long as possible. We have edited the blog too with out animatic, rough cut video, final dvd covers and such. We decided against using photogrpahs on the dvd cover and inlay as we wanted to see if we could achieve a successful cover without the need to photography.

Rough Cut of Video

This is our rough cut video. The final video being quite different from this. Due to technical difficulties with the computer we used we actually ran out of time, hense the end of the videeo being long, unedited clips that dont fit in. However we have done alot of work to this rough cut regardless and so the final cut has improved massively but alot of this is due to the stuff that we learned by doing this rough cut.

FINAL DVD COVER, DVD INLAY AND MAGAZINE ADVERT

Dvd Final ^^.

This is the final cover for the dvd. We chose the black/white and red colour theme because it stands out more as a whole. We kept the cover as simplistic as possible but still maintaining some editing technique to make it seem more professional. The main image on the front is a silhouette of a girl flipping her hair back with a microphone in her hand. We did this by drawing it first then scanning the image in and cutting it out on photoshop then adding it in with the 'Queens of Kings' text. Also the silhouette on the back, we took inspiration off a similar image but re-sketched part of the outline and adding extra items. We then did the same thing as above and scanned the image back into photoshop and filled it white. Using the colour red as little as possible means that whenever we do use it, the meaning seems more important. For example, 'LIVE' on the front makes it stand out loads more,also using the red for the 'Including..' section on the back.





This is our final magazine advert. We kept the colour scheme as simple as possible again using black and white and little colour. We put the album image slightly diagonal too so it didn't seem too planned out and then we added a little sticker type logo, stating when it will be released on iTunes, this again makes it more appealing to the audience, especially how alot of music is downloaded through iTunes, which makes this relevant and more authentic. We put quotes from reputable publications, NME and EMPIRE to reinforce the quality of the bands album, again making it seem more believable, to make it more authentic we also put the HMV logo on.






This inlay is our final cover and weve kept the colour scheme as similar to the dvd cover as possible to make everything relate. We advertised a competition to fans about winning tickets to the bands show and tried to make this appear believable by putting the gig tickets on the inlay aswell.






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Audience Research

Questionnaire for Audience Research

Age: Gender:


1. What’s your favourite music video and why? What is it about this music video that makes it your favourite?


2. What do you dislike most about music videos? Is there anything in specifically that puts you off music videos or a music video in particular?


3. Do you think a particular genre of music represents music videos better than others?


4. Do you prefer a Narrative (Story), Concept (An Idea) or performance (Live shots) Videos?
(or if so a combination of either - state which)


5. Our video is based around the idea of a demon and her victim. Is there anything that you think should be incorporated in to the video?


6. We are going to include alot of demonic effects to help emphasize one the characters, how do you think this could be accentuated?

7. With regards to editing techniques and special effects, is there anything you think should be included that will emphasize the 'demonic' message we are trying to highlight?

8. As with all videos, there is a "killer shot", which in some cases can competely sell a video. Do you have any ideas that you think would be best suited for out video?


Written Feedback:

Out of the 30 people asked, we asked fifteen male(s) and fifteen female(s). We also varied the age range between fourteen and twenty five.

1. What’s your favourite music video and why? What is it about this music video that makes it your favourite?

With the audience research we gathered, around about 60% of people asked, preferred a Narrative video, 10% preferred a performance and 30% preferred a conceptual. Overall, the favoured genre was pop and a lot of people liked aspects such as a very high paced video with lots of edits and costume. This is why we decided to have our video primarily narrative and very high paced, using as many different editing techniques and camera angles as possible.

2. What do you dislike most about music videos? Is there anything in specifically that puts you off music videos or a music video in particular?

A lot of feedback we got from this question, related to boring videos that are apparently too slow. The majority of people we asked like, up to date, high paced videos. However there were a few exceptions, where some people were put off by fast editing and fast paced videos. Another thing which put people off was videos with a bad narrative storyline. So in order to keep with our audiences opinions, weve kept the story line as original and clear as possible.

3. Do you think a particular genre of music represents music videos better than others?

Almost every answer we got for this question was Rock. Because a lot of Rock videos include some element of performance (Stereotypically). I think Rock videos tend to have similar storylines too, if they happen to be narrative and not conceptual or performance based. Whilst the idea of doing a rock video was an obvious one, we decided to head into the electro/pop direction whilst trying to maintain the rock-type element that makes music videos so much more better.

4. Do you prefer a Narrative (Story), Concept (An Idea) or performance (Live shots) Videos?(Or if so a combination of either - state which)

Yet again, we got a very strong outcome for Narrative based music videos. Not a lot of people wrote down why, but I think it is because narrative based music videos have something that you can link to and think through the video. Also because most songs tell a story or experience, this could be why. An additional point could be down to the fact that narrative music videos tend to have a lot more graphic matches, and key things that link the song and the video directly. Conceptual on the other hand, will be the idea of the artist, and might not always be seen in the same way as they see it.

5. Our video is based around the idea of a demon and her victim. Is there anything that you think should be incorporated in to the video?

There were quite a few ideas for this question, which ranged from the demon being the girl’s memories, or an old boyfriend or a dead family member. However, our favourite idea was to incorporate the idea of a memory, so we adapted on this a decided to use an old prom dress, which takes the victim to places which meant a lot to her, but her vision of it is now distorted.

6. We are going to include a lot of demonic effects to help emphasize one the characters, how do you think this could be accentuated?

A lot of feedback suggested that emphasizing one of the characters could be achieved by a lot of make-up, clothing and hair. We obviously decided to go with the clothing idea, and choose a dress, which would symbolize the girl’s old prom, which would take her back to a place in which her memories are now distorted.

7. With regards to editing techniques and special effects, is there anything you think should be included that will emphasize the style and genre of our video?

For this question a lot of people preferred fast editing. With a lot of different ideas from flickering to backdrops and blue screens. A lot of people thought, seeing as our video is 90’s Electro/Pop/Techno, that a fast edited video with a lot of flashing lights would be interesting and effective. It would help capture an audience, and with alot of other groups doing rock videos, we could use this to our benefit to make it stand out more.

8. as with all videos, there is a "killer shot", which in some cases can completely sell a video. Do you have any ideas that you think would be best suited for out video?

Here is out chosen visual feedback;A lot of people wrote for this question, that a time lapse would be effective, for example, setting a video camera on a cliff, recording a sunset and speeding it up. Because this may be quite hard to capture and quite timely, we thought using excellent editing techniques in a short space of time may counteract as a 'killer shot'.

Theory of a Music Video

Link to Nirvana - In Bloom : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InQWcq8_VPg

Andrew Goodwin identified 6 key points when analysing a music video. I have observed the music video In Bloom by Nirvana and seen whether this particular music video follows these features. What I did find was that the video didn’t follow as many keys points as I originally figured it would seeing as Goodwin stated that music videos follow these features.

1. Music video demonstrates genre characteristics.

This videos main idea is a performance theme and as they’re a rock/grunge band this is an obvious choice. However whilst these genre characteristics maybe obvious the style in which they’re done is not. The band dress in suits with glasses, wigs and slicked back hair, not very stereotypical of a rock band which suggests that they’re taking the Mick out of cleaner cut bands as it clear that is totally not what the band is about, perhaps implied in the lyrics of this song; ‘Sell the kids for food...Nature is a whore.’

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.

The lyrics between the video is quite contradicting as there is no link between them. For example, the video theme is 50’s style TV show and the band playing on it. The lyrics; ‘He’s the one, who likes all our pretty songs, and he likes to sing along, and he likes to shoot his gun,’ holds no meaning in the video itself. It’s a completely ‘m concept’ video.

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals.

The music and the video don’t really link until near the end where the band goes a bit crazy smashing up their instruments and such and this fits into the chorus where it livens up a bit. In this small section the band really lives up to its stereotypical rock typecast.

4. The demands of the record label will include lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which reoccur across they’re work.

Nirvana, in this video don’t really develop a certain style as they wear costumes, and create characters almost for themselves so there is no real indication of what the band usually wears or a typical ‘look/motif’ that is obvious, especially in this video. There are no real close-ups, mainly mid-shots of Kurt and then shots of the band playing together, although this is done in many different angles, there are no extreme close-ups just shots, when close, of shoulders and head; in the frame.


5. There is frequent reference to the notion of looking and voyeuristic treatment of women.

There is no voyeuristic treatment of women at all in this video, with no reference to anything that would usually be associated with a music video of this genre. The only bit with female involvement is the mass of adoring fans, but even here there is no degrading visuals or representations of women, unlike what Goodwin had suggested.

6. There is often intertextual reference to films or other music videos.

Again this video doesn’t have many references to any other films or music videos but it’s based in a 1950’s type era so it’s in black and white. The video itself is quite original hence there being no reference to any other film productions apart from the era which it is set in.

Overall, Andrew Goodwin provides good points, ones which seem obvious when beginning to analyse a video however when doing this video it’s clear the band don’t follow the 6 points that were originally made. This in turn means that all music videos cannot follow the same points, because essentially they’d all be very similar because of this.

Initial Ideas

Initial Ideas/ Filming - Camera techniques and ideas.

- A normal girl begins to hear this music, and its begins to torture her. The music itself is directly linked to a demon who is intent on causing this girls life a misery through the music which she cannot escape.

- Forest scenes: Running through the trees covered in dirt, leaves, wearing old fashion costume as if gone to another time. Running away but keeps turning back to the camera to give the illusion it is the 'demon' who is chasing her.

- Lots of overlapping shots of demon laughing as it emphasises the creepyness of it.

- Alot of sped up bed shots, cant get to sleep/tossing and turning etc.

- Wash face in bathroom but sees reflection in mirror. Water turns black etc.

- Screaming lyrics and screaming in general to be used in overlap.

- End of song, follow footprints into bedroom, walking very slowly.




The Story
(in short above)

Girl is having nightmares but she doesn't know why. She can hear this music but it's completely torturing her. She then starts to feel this demon like presence, the one who's singing this song and she can see the demons reflection everywhere where she is laughing and singing to her, trying to draw her in. The girl gets up to get a drink but drops the bottle on the floor and it rolls under her bed, where she finds a box addressed to her. She opens it and finds a vintage dress but has no idea why and who gave it to her. Along with the music that she cannot escape from and this newly found gift, she thinks she is going crazy so she runs to the bathroom to wake herself up. She calms herself down by running the tap to fill up the sink to splash her face, hoping for a bit of normality. When she turns back around the freshen herself up the water has turned black which just adds to her being more frightened. She looks up at the mirror and sees the demon standing behind her, well and truly petrified at this point she runs out the bathroom but trips up and falls on the floor hitting her head and passing out. When she wakes up she is in a forest wearing the vintage dress that she found in her room earlier before. Shes totally baffled at this point so starts to run away from the demon who has put her in this position. She keeps seeing her appearing everywhere, laughing and singing to her. The girl then realises that shes getting no where and begins to ponder the thought of asking the demon why she is here. On doing so, she sees the demons reflection staring back at her. It then reaches her hand out of the mirror to the girl, inviting her in which the girl accepts. Quickly, you see the hand pulling her in and straightaway a shot of the girl falling on top of her bad - as if she had just fallen out of the entire scene. She then wakes up glad it appears to have been a nightmare, but she flips back her quilt and sees she wearing the dress in her nightmare. Terror quickly sinks in where we then see the demon walking towards her bedroom slowly, then we cut to the girls face looking up in shock and then cut to the demon standing at the door.

THE END.

Storyboard

This is the inital idea we had for the video, represented on this storyboard.

The Story.

The girl is having nightmares but she doesn't know why. She can hear this music but it's completely torturing her. She then starts to feel this demon like presence, the one who's singing this song and she can see the demons reflection everywhere where she is laughing and singing to her, trying to draw her in. The girl gets up to get a drink but drops the bottle on the floor and it rolls under her bed, where she finds a box addressed to her. She opens it and finds a vintage dress but has no idea why and who gave it to her. Along with the music that she cannot escape from and this newly found gift, she thinks she is going crazy so she runs to the bathroom to wake herself up. She calms herself down by running the tap to fill up the sink to splash her face, hoping for a bit of normality. When she turns back around the freshen herself up the water has turned black which just adds to her being more frightened. She looks up at the mirror and sees the demon standing behind her, well and truly petrified at this point she runs out the bathroom but trips up and falls on the floor hitting her head and passing out. When she wakes up she is in a forest wearing the vintage dress that she found in her room earlier before. Shes totally baffled at this point so starts to run away from the demon who has put her in this position. She keeps seeing her appearing everywhere, laughing and singing to her. The girl then realises that shes getting no where and begins to ponder the thought of asking the demon why she is here. On doing so, she sees the demons reflection staring back at her. It then reaches her hand out of the mirror to the girl, inviting her in which the girl accepts. Quickly, you see the hand pulling her in and straightaway a shot of the girl falling on top of her bad - as if she had just fallen out of the entire scene. She then wakes up glad it appears to have been a nightmare, but she flips back her quilt and sees she wearing the dress in her nightmare. Terror quickly sinks in where we then see the demon walking towards her bedroom slowly, then we cut to the girls face looking up in shock and then cut to the demon standing at the door.

Animatic

Analysis of Similar Videos

Pendulum - Propane Nightmares
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2KC1P9s6-Q

This video has a similar effect that we want the audience to see. When watching the video you feel quite on edge as it has quite a creepy atmosphere, at some points you even get goose bumps. I like how this video mantains a kind of mystery as you dont really know whats going on but your really intrigued to find out. The storyline is quite distorted, its confusing but you still get the basic idea and although i feel that our video should have a more clear storyline, i like how it makes the viewer feel quite unsettled. In this video the characters are running away from something which is the same for a video. It has the same fast paced music which makes the storyline fit in as they have a lot of editing and camera techniques that fit in well with the timing. This video also has 2 main characters which I think goes well as it does conform to your usual 1 main character often seen in music videos.
video also has 2 main characters

Pete Doherty - Broken Love Song Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21pNlwLMvEg&feature=featured

This video is set in black and white and has the beginning a girl with a demon like appearance/or just really evil looking make-up. The video is quite dull in settings and the contrast is pretty bleak. The emphasies the sadness of the video and makes it appear quite effective. The shot of when he is on a bed too is similar to what we would like to achieve, especially with regards to the camera angle. There are a lot of close up shots and this hilights the 'emotion' given off by the artist, again emphazing the storyline. Although the video itself drags on a bit, I like how it doesn't use colour to set the scene, it can do it purely through black and white. The camera technigues and editing techniques are also quite simplistic but effective, again something i would like to incorperate into our video.

Paramore - Decode Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpvai3DQ0Co

This video looks at the forest type scenes we'd like to have in our video. The colour is quite dark and dingy and this makes the lyrics and meaning effective. This music video takes in Andrew Goodwins 6th point, where there is reference to film productions, with the video being based on the movie 'Twilight'. In this video (if you haven't seen the film) you are unaware what exactly is going on, and like video 1, maintains quite a mysterious outlook. This i think works for the video, and although it is a performance video, the focus is set on the frontwoman (Hayley Williams).

The Pitch

Roles for Filming

Group:

Kirsty Foy
Hannah Yarde
Matthew Stevens.


Roles:

Hannah Yarde :- Object of fear, the 'demon' or the 'music' that wont escape the victim mind (kirsty). Refuses to leave her alone, finds the whole thing amusing, entices her closer to 'madness'. General costume will consist of dark clothing, back combed outrageous hair and demonic makeup.

Kirsty Foy :- The victim being tortured by the music/demon. The girl who cannot escape without hearing or seeing the demon person/the fear. General costume will consist of everyday clothing, pjamas in the bedroom/bathroom/house scenes and vintage white dress for forest scene, with minimalistic hair and makeup.

Matthew Stevens :- Off screen role. Editing and camera work.

Chosen Song

H2SO4 - LITTLE SOUL



"Sounds that wail raw energy"



H2so4 played festivals back in the 90's but because a huge hit in britain with their fast paced and quirky songs. The band is based in Kent and they specialise in pop/rock/techno productions.



We chose this song because it's not your typical dance/pop/rock song and because it was released over 10 years ago (1998), it has proved to be a withstanding hit that has surpassed all other similar songs since.


Its fast paced and has a foreboding sound and this allows us to use lots of fast cuts that are quirky, shakey etc which will fit into the haunting/gothic-type effect we want to achieve as they will fit in nicely to the fast beat the song has.

Shooting Timetable

WEEKS 7 - 11: Editing on video and blog until deadline.

Planning Timetable

WEEKS 5 - 6 (GO TO SHOOTING TIMETABLE)

Analysis - Album Promo Videos

Album Promo Video 1 - Kerrang! The Album 2009
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m97xqCkVXuw

This promo video looks at the Kerrang Album but it is advertised through its fans. Rather than having a voice over all the way through, it uses only a small amount of professional coverage and the fans that this album is aimed for are shown trying to sell it to more people. I think this is a clever selling tactic as it uses the average customer to sell it. There are alot of special effects that gives this album a more professional look with lots or effects and animation. It also feeds it tailored genre, its a clearly a punk/rock/metal album and this is shown through the dark colours and background music used. Its a very busy advert which means theres alot to take it which in turn keeps the viewer attached to the video it keeps them watching it. I think this is a good promotion video to take ideas from because of how busy it is and the way they used the fans to promote it.





Album Promo Video 2 - Scouting For Girls
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiLglQ_-NbQ


This video is quite a good example of how they have incorperated some of the countries biggest newspaper and magazines to help sell the product. We have The Sun calling it, 'An Instant Winner', and NME magazine saying, 'Lusting, gallopy Indie Pop'. Having respected puplishers advertising the album in such a way automatically tells its consumers that its a very good album. We first see the bands name and a quick introduction to one of their songs which straightaway lets the potential customer know what kind of music their buying. Along side the tracks played we see the video that accompany the songs made by the record company. This shows the viewer the popularity of the songs that will be on the album too. The colours used are quite pastel, very light and this compliments the comments that NME stated the band as being 'Indie Pop'. Its clearly a light-hearted kind of album, nothing to heavy etc. We also see a cartoon scribbled effect when a new song is playing as it fades into the video that goes with it. This effect is quite simplistic however it suits the promo video as a nice way to jump between the different videos and songs that are being advertised on the album. Unlike the Kerrang! video, its not too busy but yet enough to keep the viewer enticed. A good promotiona video which we could take a lot from.





Album Promo Video 3 - MUSE
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-vDho2OhDs


The advert is particularly interesting because you have no idea what it is when you first see it. We dont hear alot off the new album its alot more about the special effects. We first see a satellite moving and flashing a light to the sky. In the next seen we see the camera viewing the sky through blinds, which you then see ufo-like objects apearing out of the sky. Camera zooms in then out as they get closer. You can hear Muse playing lightly in the background but then the 'lights' hit the tv screen in view and Muse gets louder accompanied by a buzzing noise from the tv. It then goes straight into a video the band have and it plays the song louder. The radio starts to buzz and we here an announcer say..'supermassive blackhole', then the song changes to Supermassive Blackhole by Muse. We then see the light zoom out to the sky where you see a galaxy forming above a city that has a large building with MUSE written on. This then zooms out, almost disappearing and then explodes to reveal the new Muse album.
I think this video is very clever. It automatically gives the viewer an 'out of world' experience, and makes the music appear haunting and lurring. You automatically want to know whats going on and what i like the most is that you have no idea what the advert is at the beginning, its almost an advert for a movie or tv show. The video has no voice over, the music almost speaks for itself and you only realise who the advert is advertising for officially when the bands name appears near the end. From this you cannot really pinpoint an exact target audience because the advert is so peculiar. Because the advert is different to other promotional videos, you straightaway want to watch it. As we see alot of special effects, its easy to suggest a lot of time and effort went into this video which questions did the band put the same amount into their album, almost selling it to the consumer.





Album Promo Video 4 - Girls Aloud - Tangled Up
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nyA23Rfuow


We see the advert go straight into one of their songs, similar to the Scouting For Girls promotional video, with the bands name shown straightaway. The colour scheme used is very feminin, with colours like pink and purple used. This tells us what kind of audience they are targeting. This is more noticable with the female voiceover too, indicating that the bands fands are more likely to be girls then men.
The album is called 'Tangled Up' so we see alot of ropes and such which is a good play on the band album name. The ropes offer a special effect, where the screen splits when their is a new video to be played. Also, the voice over says nearing the end of the video, 'Get tangled up with Girls Aloud', tieing the adverts effects and the albums name all together. The video is quite bland compared to the Kerrang! and Muse promotional video is there isn't alot going on at all. However this doesnt stop the fact that i think this video promotes the album quite well. Its girly, feminin and it gets the point across which suits the band well. Because it gets straight to the point its a good video to use when getting ideas for my own promotional video later on.





Album Promo Video 5 - Oasis - Dont Believe The Truth
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r65s30HDb2Q


This video is completely shot in black and white, which instantly ages the video, it adds almost like a class to it. We first see the bands name on a black screen with no music, the music kicks in and the screen zooms out to the band standing in front a large billboard that has the albums name on. There are a lot quick cuts, zoom, and a shakey like effect which works well with the black and white theme. It stops it from being boring almost. It has an old movie like feel to it, like a movie reel affect with a shakey screen and such. We also see a section of the video that flashes all the names of the songs that are on the album in a very quick shot, then cuts to the band performing Lyla, infront of a crowd. We dont see a voice over till the end which simply states the bands album and that its 'Out Now'. Just like Muse, the video speaks for itself with the songs playing instead of advertising all the videos. It plays Lyla throughout and then cuts to the video for Lyla but only the performing on stage section, emphasizing the british rock genre that the band holds.
I think the video is a nice simple promotional video and sells the album very well. It suits the band, it seems like something they would do rather than having a pink video to promote their album, it all ties in nicely. The video is shot in black and white just like the album itself is black and white so this ties in together nicely too. I think this video would prove to be quite successful as it definetly sells the album well, you can see what kind of target market the band has too with this video with the laid back feel it has.





Album Promo Video 6 - Led Zepplin - Mothership
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmC8uZpJsUY


This video is all shot in the same animation that is used on the album. (Like how Oasis video is shot in black and white because their album is black and white). This video i imagine took quite a long time to do, being that it is also double the length of average promo videos at 1 minute long. The video jumps straight into their biggest hits such as the Immigrant Song, it has a very old fashion theme to it even if it does have a red-cream and black colour scheme. We see the 'ufo/mothership' flying across, reflecting in windows etc, then shots of the band peforming in animated form on posters and in shop window tv's, then it cuts to the mothership in the sky with the band playing on top. What i really like about this promotional video as its classic, it really shows the band in its form. Even if is is animated it has a legendry feel to it. There is no voiceover until the very end and what i noticed ffirst was that his voice was very monotone rather hyped up and enthusiatic like we saw on the Kerrang!, Scouting for Girls and Girls Aloud video. In my opinion his voice has a very, self explanatory tone. Its almost as if hes saying, 'Its Led Zeppelin, theres no explaining to do its Led Zeppelin'. Because of the popularity this band already has, the video sells itself and i think its this that even without voice over work, you hardly notice the advert is on for a 1 minute.





Album Promo Video 7 - Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3mYc1m3lsM


The video is very simplistic there is nothing there about from the band members and a few special affects. But i think this signifys the band quite well. The video itself at the beginning has a very dark appearance with the minimal lightening even though the song itself is quite light. We see Chris Martin singing, surrounded in a blue/pink/yellow hazy fog. Then as soon as the song kicks in theres a bright flash and the video is very colourful which suits the song perfectly, it offers the viewer a different mood as to what was represented earlier at the beginning with the dark tones. Throughout the video the members are in black and white which corresponds to the colourful effects making it seem transcendant and supernatural, with ambient affects, dark yet colourful. There is no voice over only text that states when the album is availabe, again following the Muse idea where the music speaks and sells for itself. A good special affects video which can take a lot from when i make my own promotional video.

Analysis - DVD Covers

1. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
: http://cdn1.ioffer.com/img/item/956/688/93/o_n70tXFav6L3gRWU.jpg

The cover of this shows Bruce Springsteen being hugged with the american flag behind him. This itself is a bit misleading as it look more like a dvd movie cover than a music dvd. The back of the dvd is alot more appealing and obvious with guitarist standing with his guitar and a list of all the songs that are included. The title of the dvd is called 'Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Dancing in the Parc'. This is a clever play on words as the venue the band play is in Paris called the Parc Des Princes. The 'Dancing in the Parc' is a spin on the titles of one of their songs 'Dancing in the Dark'. I think this is a smart and quite a sneaky way of incorperating the venue name and their own album into their dvd. The colours used are quite dark but the front cover
is colourful and inviting so it draws the potential customer in. The dvd is quite dated so its clear there is a lack of creativity possibly due to the lack of technology or equipment available to them at the time.





2. REEL BIG FISH
: http://rockridgemusic.com/assets/RBF_Live_DVD_cover.jpg

This dvd cover is a little different, unlike the first example the first thing that is written is, 'LIVE! IN CONCERT!' This draws the audience in straightaway and then underneath we see the bands name, in logo form. With regards to illustration there is alot of stills from the bands live peromances, showing the members in their true form - playing on stage. I think this is a good way to promote the video as it shows the consumer what they are to expect from the dvd.
The colours used are again a bit dull and dark but the members of the band are lit up on the front so you see them straightaway. The bands name is also set out pretty big so its hard to miss, which again catches the viewers eye. I think the dvd is lacks a bit, although the logo is big and the members are outlined, there isnt much to the dvd cover but it does have a few ideas that i can take inspiration from.





3. OZZY OSBOURNE
: http://www.cmdistro.com/images/xlarge/11229.jpg

This is one of my favourites being that as soon as you see it you can imagine exactly what the concert will involve. Its basic black and white, with ozzy osbourne with his arms in the air screaming, then written around him in a scribbled-like font. Because it is so simple, this is what suprises me the most. There is nothing to it at all, but in the simplicity of it, you see exacty whats going to happen. I think this dvd would be successful because it leaves alot to the imagination, although you're aware of whats going to happen of course there will still be aspects your not aware of so its this that leaves the consumer a little excited about what to expect in the dvd. You can tell from this cover what a typical fan would look like too, with the messy writing and dark attitude of ozzy himself. I think this is a good cover in which to take inspiration from and i hop to incorperate it into my own dvd cover.





4. THE BEATLES
: http://www.rainbowsendrec.nl/imart/Beatles/album/the%20beatles%20%20hamburg%20dvd.jpg

This cover is a little jumbled. Its almost overloading the consumer as there is so much text on it. It would seem with a band like this, it would pretty much sell itself but the designers have clearly taken another route. Above the black and white picture of the band we see a a heading that states 'Pete Best - Mean, Moody and Magnificent'. Pete Best was the original drummer for The Beatles and even though the dvd is about a concert they did in Hamburg, as a band, there is still alot of focus on the drummer. I think this cover circulates alot around the controversy of Pete leaving the band more so than the concert but imagine this sold quite well never the less.
The dvd cover itseld is quite busy, with no clear colour selection, so it looks a bit messy and quickly put together. I do like the heading that states, 'Never before seen footage', as it makes the viewer want to be apart of what seems to be a rare thing.





5. AVENGED SEVENFOLD
: http://www.cmdistro.com/images/xlarge/28981.jpg

This dvd cover is colourful and bright and certainly stands out. What makes this different is its completely animated, its just a 'cartoon' basically. Each member of the band has a character, and this is shown in the skeletons that have been drawn each resembling some aspect of each member M.Shadows has his tradenark bandana and shades on with a microphone, Synyster Gates with a hat and guitar in hand and Jonny, Zacky and The Rev all with their instruments too. This shows off a fun side to them, but also relates to their audience because it allows them to see the band in an animated form. The bands name stand out in quite a clear font so you know exactly who and what the dvd is advertising. The cover itself doesnt exactly tie in with a typical dvd cover but it is eye catching and it does get the point od the dvd across quite nicely. I think this cover is good to take inspiration from due to its success also.





6. MICHAEL JACKSON
: http://cdn1.ioffer.com/img/item/994/322/37/o_ubRMCDm3uo5TNts.jpg

This dvd cover shows Michael Jackson mid performing with his name in a large font, with the heading, 'The Baby, The Man...The King!' On the back of the dvd we see photos of Michael when he was younger, and with the Jackson 5. The front cover uses dark colours, it shows alot of attitude and this is only emphasized with the pose Michael is in. On the back it shows everything in paler tones and suggests his innocence as a young performer and his transformation to stardom as a solo artist. This makes the dvd look more like a story, a movie as such only to be recognised as a music dvd with the listings of songs an performances which will be shown. I think this dvd would be quite successful as it offers the viewer a look at Michael in 2 forms; as a member of a band and as a solo performer.

Analysis - Music Videos

Video 1 - Blink 182 - Rock Show
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxhl-xV0UOs


In this video the band aim to achieve a more relaxed attitude to music videos. Its very much concept based, there is nothing there that links the video to the lyrics, in short its all pretty random. At the beginning of the video we have a black screen with text - explaining the entirety of the video in the space of 3 or 4 seconds. This adds a bit of suspense as what to expect in the next few minutes. We then go onto to see the band explaining for themselves again what they're doing and why. Its all pretty basic so nothing is 'acted out' or performed in that sense. This builds up a sort of eagerness to watch the video, it brings in the audience and invites them into whats going to happen next.

Next we go straight into the next shot which is live performance. This is the instrumental part at the beginning of the song and being that its quite fast tempo, there are a lot of quick cuts flying about, showing different aspects of the live performing aspect but then alot of shots of what to expect in the rest of the video. With regards to mise-en-scene, the only time we see this is where the set of a certain shot is actually set out for example, all the live-performance shots. Here we see them with their instruments and a mob of crazy fans to emphasize their popularity. Throughout the video we see them give all their money away to random strangers, perhaps showing their generosity and such, but to the viewers their actions are amusing and sarcastic i.e; spending a few hundred dollars giving a makeover to a homeless man.

There are alot of closeups throughout the video, showing a more fun-loving side to the band. It shows the audience a less serious side with the introduction of funny faces and crude gesters to the camera such as spitting and swearing. This also emphasizes the bands punk-rock attitude and nature that their so well known for. There are a few scenes, located in the middle of the video that shows the band going to a strip club and then next paying bikini-clad women to clean a mans car. These are quite voyeuristic shots that show women in a derogatory manner although its clear that these are not intentional.

All the way through the video, every shot slots in every well to the pace of the music, the quicker it gets, the more different shots we see. Nearing the end of the video we get more shots with them eventually stopping everything altogether with a camera focusing on the sky with a plane that has a banner featuring their new album. I think what makes this video so successful is that it doesnt conform with your stereotypical concept of a music video with costumes and acting. Its all random basically and its filmed with members of the public and you see things that happens in everyday societies. I think the video is aimed at a target audience which consists of mainly teenagers who arent't really likely to conform, like rebels almost.. I think the busyness of the video reflects exactly what their audience will be like, that their not likely to conform to whats expected of them and their likely to be outgoing and such, etc.Theres a lot going on so much so that you dont want to switch it off, your drawn into the video completely by the concequences of what they've done and the reactions they've provoked. I think making a video so exciting and enticing keeps the viewer attached and i think its particularly clever when they advertise their album at the end. Thus this making a great video to take influence from and making it one of my personal favourites.






Video 2 - Bullet For My Valentine - Hearts Burst Into Fire
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_GJyUK0GUI


This video is entirely performance based with it beginning with a crowd of fans waiting outside a gig chanting the bands name which is a good marketing technique - it shows the bands popularity. We then see the noise fading and a camere panning accross a billboard with the bands name in lights. It then cuts to the bands set being built up in the venue, this is done very quickly with it all being sped up. Showing this makes the viewer more apprehensive and excited about whats going to happen next. It then quickly cuts to the band arriving at the scene and quickly cutting to a closeup of a drumstick with the bands logo/name on. The way the video is set out, it proves to be quite narrative. Although its not an obvious story it showing the viewer what going to a Bullet For My Valentine gig will be like going from beginning, middle and then to the end. We see the band in a room back stage preparing to go on stage then it cuts to the crowd entering the venue, this all being sped up emphazising the amoutn fo fans the band has.

Throughout the video we get alot of cuts to the massive crowd then back to the stage where the band is performing. The mise-en-scene really being the venuw with the fans where everything else is not pre-planned, filmed 'in the moment' kind of thing, then placed in the video. This gives the band a relaxed yet professional appearance. The lyrics themselves dont neccesserily tie in with the video however the lyrics do become more noticeable near the end when on particular line, "im coming home, ive been gone for far too long"-then showing a band member waiting alone at a train station. Also, the gig itself is in wales, and the band ironically are welsh. This questions wether the video is actually a message to their original fans when they first became known and them returning after they hit global success.

The video is completely shot in black and white. This ages the video, suggesting the years the band have spent performing together. I think this is a clever way to promote the band because it shows the viewer that they have a mass of adoring fans, demonstrated in the video with the crowd that came to see them but also with the tour bus, which states they've performed elsewhere to other fans etc.

It also cuts to scenes where the band are in a radio station, on the tour bus, in backstage rooms etc. This demonstrates the intentions of the band again perhaps questionning if the lyrics are relating to them being away, making a bigger name for themselves and returning back home. In one scene we see Matt Tuck (lead singer) alone in his hotel room singing to the song with his guitar then it quickly goes to a scene of them performing the same song on stage to a huge crowd. It then finished with Matt finishing the song in the hotel room, putting his guitar down and then leaving. This suggestd the development of the song itself, showing it in stages with him here, perhaps first creating the song which links back to the tour bus, radio stations etc, then always cutting back to crowd shots.

Altogether i think this video is quite successfull due to its rawness as the viewer gets an insight into the bands hectic life. I think their audience is again likely to be teenagers but more hardcore. As a viewer you get a look at the typical audience, with them donning dark clothing and crazy performances themselves. The camera techniques used are quite basic with panning shots, zooming in, zooming out so its shows that its not really a big-budgeted video, with the fans getting just as involved with it as the band does.






Video 3 - You Me At Six - Gossip
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqyIMODMmbI


This video is very much performanced based as well, however there is a still a party-like concept thats being held. Throughout the video we see alot of quick cuts, zooms in and zooms out, there are no special effects just basic camera work and basic editing techniques. The making of the video itself would be very simple. This is a good example to use whilst researching videos because theyre using the same equipment that we have available to us, just a basic video camera. Its all primarily based around the band, but we see alot of focus around the lead singer. What breaks this up is the quick cuts to closeups of the band members playing and a huge amount of cuts to the pool party and house party. At the beginning of the video, the camera focuses in on the drummer as it starts with a drum intro, so we see the drummer hitting the bass in time with the music. This almost simulates a live performance, like its not recorded and we actually there with the band. When the guitar instrumental is introduced we see the camera cut back to the band then just as the vocals are about the kick in we go back to the pool party where the lead singer is in sight, he takes hold of the camera and sings straight into it, and it is kept like this throughout.

At one point we see the guitarist miming along to the lead singers voice, making it seem as though its him whos singing that particular part when he isnt. Its gives us a false illusion and is almost quite confusing as to who sings what. There are alot of extras on the set of the video, to give the illusion of a party and it does so successfully. At the end of the video, at around 2.22 we see the same people surroundin the band outside (same set of pool party) showing their admiration almost for the band. This shows that whilst the video has the concept of a party we still see the band being the main attraction and that all the people that are at the party are there for them.

We see a few voyeristic shots of girls kissing and wearing minimal clothing, I think this is to emphasize the 'crazyness' of the party, not necessarily showing the girls in a derrogatory manner. The lyrics however dont link to the video at all, for example i think the main idea of the lyrics is a cheating girlfriend or something but there is no focus on one particularly girl to demonstrate this. There is one line, "I am at the party too", and the video does have this concept of a party but other than that the lyrics themselves and the video do not coinside with each other.

I think this video is successful because it paints a picture of what its like at partys for 17-19 year olds, demonstrated in the wild partys and games that goes on in this video. I think this will be a good video to take inspiration from because we are in the same age group as their target audience and the people used in their video, were likely to use the same ideas.






Video 4 - The Offspring - Why Dont You Get A Job?
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqHkuHy39eA&feature=channel


This video is a little different from the other ones that I have researched. There is not live performances but their is mock performing, with them walkin about with their instruments or some part of the instruments singing but there is no crowd of cheering fans. There are alot of short stories in this video so its quite narrative in that sense. The video itself is very random and if you look at the lyrics, there is no obvious relationship to the video and the lyrics. However, at one point of the video we see a girl in one of the stories, miming along to the singers voice, 'singing' to the title of, 'Why dont you get a job?" to her lazy boyfriend. In my opinion the idea of the lyrics is of a girl who is with a guy just for money and its never going to be enough but we aren't really shown that in the video itself.

One particularly lyrics is shown in the video but its shown with roles reversals. This is reflected in the lyrics, "She sits on her assHe works his hands to the bone," but in one scene we see a girl cleaning whilst her lazy boyfriend looks on and laughs. All the scenes are recorded professionally with proper equipment and such, unlike the previous video where its done with a simple video camera. We see one special effect at the end of the video where there is an explosion and we see the crowd of people that were parading behind the band run away which leaves only the band members remaining, walking away together. This is how the video begins and ends which i think is quite clever. We also see at one point a character from a previous video return to this video which is amusing to the bands fans/target audience. i think this band as a varied audience, ranging from the ages of about 15 - 28. Because they've been around longer than the other bands forming in 1984. This automatically gives the band a viewing audience cause it gives the idea that because they've been around so long it will be interesting to see what they can do next.

In the scenes we see the obvious extras, and a set in a homely street and city centre. These are all completelt disserted for the recording giving the audience an almost blank canvas so set the stories that the band have given. Its giving the illusion that the stories are true, because there are no 'real life' elements of real people to remind you that the bands recording the video etc.
I think the video is successfull because of its randomness. It doesnt really have a flowing storyline so its hard to predict what will come next so this entices the viewer. I think because the band is successful anyways, their video is automatically going to become widely watched even if the video itself was to be less than perfect. I think choosing this video to research has proven to be quite useful as ive been given the chance to look out how even utter randomness can make a music video very interesting and initially make the song itself a success.






Video 5 - Armor For Sleep - Remember To Feel Real
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfpORFanIb8&feature=channel

This video sees the band performing and apsolutely nothing else. Straightaway realise that its going to be quite repetitive and bland. Its a very good song and the set itself and video is done really well but because because the video is performance based, for 3 and half minutes you just see the band singing to their song, which can get a bit boring. At the beginning we see the directors clapboard and you can hear the team working on the video preparing to film. The clapboard is lifted and camera zooms into the stage and as soon as the music kicks in, the stage is lit up and you can see the band on the stage in their set.

I really like the idea of this i think it looks visually great. But due to the lack of ideas etc, this is all that i can take from the video. The effects themselves are pretty basic, just quick cuts etc however there is a 'shivering' type effect that happens regularly throughout the video which again looks really good, an aspect i would like to demonstrate in my own music video. Another part of the video we see the everything completely slowed down, and this captures fine details such as fine detail such as droplets of water splashing from the drums cymbals. The actual equipment used makes the video look very professional, we have a 'proper' camera unlike a hand held video camera seen in Video 3.

I think this is a good video to research because it shows aspects of music videos that i dont want to see in my own. Although there is nothing particularly terrible in the video, i feel that because there is little else going on apart from performing it becomes a little dull after a while and it makes me want to switch it off. I will learn from this and use this as an example of how my own video can progress.






Video 6 - The Strokes - Heart In A Cage
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbRe5mxR0q0&feature=related

The video is completely black and white. We see members or the band playing their instruments on buildings and on top of cars which, visually, is quite effective. Because there’s so much going on it’s quite hard to switch off in a sense. The busyness in the video almost makes up for the lack of colour as it prevents the video from being dull.

We see the band being out of focus too set in the background with crowds walking past them so whilst still maintaining the performing side of the band (with them performing in streets and on top of buildings) it doesn’t keep them right in the limelight all that much. What’s different about this video is that you don’t see the band performing together at any point of the video. Occasionally you’ll get 2 band members but that’s as close as it gets to being a full band performing together.

What makes this video sorry different is that is has no concept; there is no meaning at all, so the lyrics don’t link in with it. It’s hard to pin point exactly what the video is about which makes it so interesting to watch. I think a typical viewer/target audience for this band is someone in the age range of about – 14 – 35. This band reaches out to a lot of people which I think keeps the video so simplistic because it has so many fans to please in a sense.
They don’t use a lot of props and such, but it is set in a dingy type of setting, and its set in a city, so what you would usually expect be in a urban location.