Music Video Evaluation

Final Edited Music Video

Copy Right Permission

Timeline!

This is the timeline for all the work i've done over this project.

August 20th - September 5th: Planning of music video project, introduction, brain storm, final idea/concept, presentation video presenting idea to class, starting of the story board. All uploaded to the blog.

September 10th: Rough ideas for sub tasks i.e. Album cover and Website.

September 30th: New planning for idea, reasearch on influencial music videos and references to AS project.

Novmeber 5th: Rich Mix trip to London, to hlep us gain more infomation on music videos and how to plan them out properly!

November 7th: Filming small scenes of the main characters with friends, problems with filming bigger scenes.

November 12th: Change of concept, and photo shoot for the main character Ellen, featuring her solo music career. uploaded images on blog.

November 20th- 28th: Planning and research for new concept showing reference to the Aerosmith music video 'Crazy'. with screen shots. Inspiration for target audience, mise-en-scene, and cinematography.

November 25th: List of thingsto do for filming to make everything look authentic.

Novmeber 27-28th: Filming at Ellens house and the pub, for the bigger scenes.

Decmeber 1st: Filming for the opening scene, involving the school unifrom and based on the opening scence for the 'Crazy' video.

Decmeber 8th: New images and research for finalised album cover and website. Before and after images uploaded onto blog.

Decmeber 15th: Filming the performance sections of the video, close ups of singer.

December 20th: Story board and anamatic completed.

Decmeber 30th: more filming for unfinished parts.

January 19th: Part of Story board uploaded (had some diffculties).

January 26th: Starting the editing of the video.

March 1st: Andrew Goodwins theory based on Aerosmith's music video.

March 12th: Filming for finale and extra clips.

March 19th: Editing the majority of video, adding music and putting on the different effects.

March 24th: Uploading the proper story board and anamatic.

March 26th-until end of Half term: Music video completed.

Andrew Goodwins Theory based on Aerosmith's Crazy

Dancing to Distraction (1992) Theories of Music Videos

1. Music Videos Desmonstarte genre characteristics:
Stage performance in metal video
Dance routine for boy/girl band

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals
Illustrative
Ampliflying
Contradicting

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals
Illustrative
Amplifying
Contradicting

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lot of close-ups of the artist:
the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work visual style.

5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking:
Screens within screens, telescopes etc.
A particular voyeuistic treatment of the female body.

6. There is often intertextual reference:
To films,
TV programmes, other music videos, etc.

Crazy video applying to this theory:

1. The genre characteristics in this video show a typical stage performance from a metal band.

2. The relationship between the lyrics and visuals is shown through the filming of when the lead character Alicia Silverstone escapes from school and the music is timed to "I go crazy, crazy, baby, I go crazy You turn it on Then you're gone Yeah you drive me Crazy, crazy, crazy, for you baby What can I do, honey I feel like the color blue" as the two girls are in the car driving off and singing. Showing that they are "going crazy" and rebelling from actualyl going to school like they are ment to.

3. There is realtionship throughout the song bewteen music and visuals epescially during hand movments and stances during the performance scenes. One moment that really stands out to me would be just as Alicia is jumping into the car and the music is in time with her as if it were moving along with the action.

4. The majority of the video is more story based but during the performance parts the majority of fimling is close ups of the band members and steven tyler.

5.

6.

Story Board

Music Video Story Board

Because I was having trouble with my Powerpoint programme, I have had to redo it all because it would not let me add photos or any text. I have uploaded my rough version to show the work I have done, and will now work on getting this finished before the end of the day.

New images.

Today I managed to take some pictures for the album cover and posters. I have experience in photoshop so I decided to edit them in order to make them the best quality, and more professional.

I researched some contemporary female artists, who have rather natural images, such as Miley Cyrus, Hilary Duff, Ashley Simpson, Beyonce, Rhianna. It was harder for me to find a female rock artist similar to Ellen because the rock industry consists mostly of males. The only female artists that would really relate to Ellen's style of music would be Amy Lee from Evanescene or Avril Lavigne and Debbie Harry.

Here are few examples of the album covers I looked at:

Beyonce:
This cover really stood out to me because it's simple but elegant at the same time, I like how the background is a very calm blue reflecting her personality and giving off a relaxed but energetic feeling. I though this could be a possible choice to use as an influence for my album cover because the way Beyonce is positioned, and the clothing she is wearing really conveys what type of artist she is towards the audience re-enforcing her R&B image from the diamond top and low rise jeans, whilst still appearing classy, sexy and sophisticated. I also think the use of text is appealing because it's not too busy and tells the audience exactly what they need to know.
Miley Cyrus:

This album cover has a very natural and earthy feeling to it from the yellowish tint. I like how this image is captured at a sideways angle because it creates a laid back and easy going atmosphere. Miley looks fresh, lively, and pure which is the image I think is being portrayed when looking at this. Again like beyonces album, the use of text catches my eye because it's simple and get straight to the point, the use of colour white and blue creates a sort of tomboy, active sensation because its a masculine colour, giving her innocent image a bit of an edge.


Amy Lee:
This cover is very edgey, it portrays the intensity and darkness of the singers image and possibably the content of songs. I like how it really gives of the right vibe to what kind of music Evanesance is producing. The use of balck and blue, whilst having a very contrasted effect give it a harsher and boldness, showing they are confident and like to make a big impression.Debbie Harry:
This blondie cover focuses on the use of pattern and colour, creating a very busy and engergetic feeling. I like how she is very poised, creating a sense of strength and ambition. The font creates a more rock image because its bold and the pink and blues show feminine but masculine qualitys. Overall I believe that this conveys the image of a fierce rock chick.

here are the before and after shots of my own images:
Album Cover

I thought that a portrait shot would be ideal for the album cover because it focuses on the face of the artist and gives a more personal and emotional atmosphere. The back and white effect creates a softer appeal to the image on a whole however the darker black around the eyes and the pinkness of the lips gives it more edge. I wanted to keep it simple because Ellen is really natural, which is the image she wants to portray with the audience whilst having rock qualitys.

Website

I decided to go for the traditional myspace webpage. Most rising solo arists/bands create myspaces to promote their music and get their name noticed by potential record labels. I've gotten ideas from other solo artists such as a male artist called Jimmy Robbins.

I like the professional feel to his page whilst still appealing to a younger audience by the use of font and colours. Hes also got alot of infomation about upcoming tours, new songs, and a biography which help the fans get a better insight to all they want to know.

Digipak

We were told to create a dvd digipack for part of our task, I looked at various examples such as one from a Bridget Jones dvd and the Work of Dicrector Michel Gondry.

The Bridget Jones one was fairly simple a four page spread, with the front cover featuring the ablum in a dvd sized format, a track listing and breif biography of the band on the inside DPS, and a backcover including a picture and all the rights and copyright laws.

The Director's one was much larger and contained the backstory and a more in depth history of the director from his point of view and the 3rd person.

I decided to go along the lines of the Bridget Jones digipack because it fitted in better with my project as a whole and I have produced some quality pictures that would work with the format. I decided to use the Album frontcover as the front cover of the pack, a DPS consisting of a breif summary of Ellen Smithson from the 3rd person and a magazine style quotation page from Ellen's point of view, and a back cover containing the rights and copyright.

WEBSITE:

www.myspace.com/ellensmithson