I originally exported my music video in blueray 1080p quality but it wouldnt upload to youtube properly so I had to exported it at a lower quality. I still have the high quality exported if I need it in future.
Im really happy with my music video , unlike previous projects I started really early and this gave me alot more time to edit , change and re-film footage that was missing or wasn't perfect for the video. I used various different editing techniques and reffered to other music videos throughout my project and this gave a more proffesional look and feel to my video.
If I was to do this project again I would dedicate more time to getting the best equiptment and would research into editing techniques further.
This is the track that I'm going to be using for my music video project , its an original liquid drum and bass track , Ive produced it using various different bits of audio editing software (Cubase , FL studio and Reason) and I own all copyright for this production. This song is currently available for free download along with all my other tracks , on my soundcloud account.
Their is no particular meaning to this track but I created it in the summer of 2012 on a sunny day and I feel that its a really positive sounding piece of music , which has the ability to lift peoples moods. I didn't intend on implying anything or hiding any messages in the music , my sole aim of this production was to make people happy and I feel that is the real meaning of this song.
Theirs a very oriental feel to the track due to the Chinese samples I used to produce the track , they give the track an original twist that an audience wouldn't usually find in drum and bass Music.
The track lasts for exactly two minutes and fifty five seconds and I produced the track at 170BPM (beats per minute) most commerical pop songs are set at about 100-130BPM , but I wanted a faster more upbeat feel to my song and wanted to keep in with the structure and layout of a liquid drum and bass track.
Ive had three main ideas for my production and am at this stage unsure which one I would like to pursue so have decided to plan out and analyse them all in great depth to try and work out which will be the most appropriate and the most effective.
One of the very first things I noticed when reading through the brief is that archive footage is allowed under the assumption that the video will not be used for anything but educational purposes. I intend to publish my music video to youtube and release it as an official music video so am going to have to film all of my footage myself if I want my production to run smoothly.
Idea One : This idea involves going on a road trip somewhere , most likely to a beach somewhere on the south coast , with some friends and creating a montage of all the footage.
I like the idea of the audio and visuals linking together throughout the journey for example for example the car starts moving in time with the start of the song and wide shots of a big open beach at key points in the song.
I feel that the upbeat fast tempo nature of the track suits really well to the feel of a roadtrip.
Here is a video thats a fairly close representation of what I want mine to look like. Skip into the video about 30 seconds.
Idea Two : This idea is similar to my first idea in that it involves a roadtrip but instead of the beach being the destination Im going to head to a massive event in Great Yarmouth and montage the journey and the event together.
I would probably edit the video so that the introduction to the song (the first 32 bars) is footage of the journey and once the song drops the footage of the event kicks in with lots of footage of busy crowrds and happy dancing people.
This video is almost exactly how I want mine to be , its a very close representation of what my final video will hopefully look like.
Idea Three : This is the simplest idea of the three but will require alot of editing and careful filming. I want to film the song being played on a turntable but use lots of different effects to make it more intresting. I'll have a mixing session in the studio and get alot of footage of the other bits of equiptment and cut all the footage to the tune.
I want the video to show the audience what it's like being in a functioning music studio , so that they can see what kind of work goes into the music and the fun that can be had producting and chilling with friends.
After thinking about all of my ideas in a bit more depth I have decided to go with my final idea , the studio session, Going to the event would mean that I have to wait a couple weeks before filming and I dont really have enough time for that and im concerened that my first idea might not be intresting or creative enough. Im really happy with my third idea though and think everythings going to work out nicely.
Here is a copy of my shooting script
Im going to need a few different props , such as speakers , turntables , headphones and other things of a music nature, I already have all this equiptment and have everything I need at home.
Here are some photos to illustrate the type of props that are going to be in my music video.
Im going to be borrowing a HD camera of a friend so I can record my video in the highest possible quality.
The studio Im going to be filming in is owned by a friend of mine its the perfect place to record anything because its kitted out with sound padding , state of the art audio and video editing equiptment and over a thousand pouinds worth of relevant props for my video.
Its a really bright open studio with white walls , which will make it perfect for filming and if its too bright I can just sort that out in the editing process.
The actors in the film are friends from outside college that have agreed to help me with this project.
Here is the storyboard that I have created for this production
Ive now finished my planning at am just waiting for my the filming day , Ive finished organising everything with my friends and have made sure ive got all my props and that I can definetly borrow the camera.
This song is called
“Kick Push” and is performed by the artists Lupe Fiasco.
Directed By: Christopher Adams and Hana McDowell aka Chris & Blaq
Edited By: Hana McDowell
Shot By: Christopher Adams
Lighting By: Christopher Adams
Visual Effects and Graphics By: Christopher Adams
“Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name
Lupe Fiasco is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He
rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, Lupe Fiasco's
Food & Liquor. He also performs as the front man of rock band Japanese
Cartoon under his real name. As an entrepreneur, Fiasco is the chief executive
officer of 1st and 15th Entertainment.
Raised in Chicago, Fiasco developed an
interest in hip hop after initially disliking the genre for its use of
vulgarity and misogyny. After adopting the name Lupe Fiasco and recording songs
in his father's basement, 19-year-old Fiasco joined a group called Da Pak. The
group disbanded shortly after its inception, and Fiasco soon met rapper Jay-Z who
helped him sign a record deal with Atlantic Records. In September 2006, Fiasco
released his debut album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor on the label,
which received three Grammy nominations. He released his second album, Lupe
Fiasco's The Cool, in December 2007. The lead single "Superstar"
peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. After a two-year delay, Lasers
was released in March 2011 to mixed reviews, with lead single "The Show
Goes On" peaking at number 9 on the chart. Food & Liquor II: The
Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 was released in September 2012”.
Christopher Adams and Hana McDowell tend to work as a team and they mainly
stick to the genres of rap and Hip Hop. Here is an example of another music
video that they directed.
These
videos were directed by the same people but their very different, this shows
that videos are customised to suit the performers and to portray whatever type
of image that they want their audience to see, for example Kick Push has a upbeat,
peaceful and meaningful video and all these traits are present in the video,
where as “Trap House Boys” glamorise money , cars and guns , so their video is
full of all these things.
Christopher
Adams and Hana McDowell also directed another music video for Lupe Fiasco , although
it wasn’t nearly as successful as his other video is still gathered a
reasonable amount of attention online and promoted him.
The directors have used a lot of different
camera angles and filming techniques that can be found in skate films, Lupe
Fiasco is a known skater and this is reflected in his video. Really low angle
shots are used a lot so that we can see the skateboarding action and at one
point they connect a camera which makes for really interesting footage.
Here is an example of the type of footage
that skaters get; it has a lot of similar camera angles and filming techniques
as this music video.
The video also includes a lot of close ups of
Lupe pretending to sing the word to his song, this is really common in music
videos unless they follow some sort of irrelevant narrative. There’s also a lot
of footage of the area that Lupe grew up in, this type of footage gives you an
idea of where the artist originated and gives you an insight into the type of
environment that shaped them as a artist and a person.
There are several different links between the
lyrics and the on screen visuals, the first example of this we see is when Lupe
comes into shot the second that the song drops, this is almost an introduction
to the artist and shows you who you’re about to listen too, it also makes for
an entertaining video because what’s on the screen is constantly changing. The
first verse opens with the lyrics “first got it when he was six, didn’t know
any tricks” and then the video changes to a shot of a young black male
(probably about six) with a small skateboard, this is an illustration of the
lyrics and it makes for a much more interesting video when sound and visuals
are working together.
This music video contains a massive
relationship between the music and visuals, there are several examples
throughout the video but one of the most obvious and easiest to break down is
the way that whenever there is a major change in the song (every 8th,
16th and 32nd bar) the video changes , usually to a
different scene or a key event in the narrative will occur.
During the chorus the video cuts to footage
of a skater slowly moving along in time with the music , the chorus is a nice
simple repeated sounds and the visuals work well with it as they follow the
same simple and repetitive pattern.
This track was released by the Warner Music
Group http://www.wmg.com/ their a massive record label and have released work from
Ray Charles , Red hot Chilli Peppers and hundreds of other A list celebrities.
WMG paid for the music video, the advertisements, the production of the album
this song is on and the distribution and marketing.
The artist is portrayed as a peaceful skater
with hip hop influences and an urban upbringing, this means that he appeals to
two main demographics, Hip Hop fans and Skaters (teenagers). The directors have
aimed to present the artist in the most positive light possible whilst still
showing us the grittier side of him e.g. standing around in gangs , in trouble
with security.
This song follows a really strong narrative
about how the artist met his girlfriend, he then goes on to explain that they
used to skate around together getting into trouble and having fun. The lyrics
and visuals both set the scene really well for the story , as different parts
of the story are revealed the visuals will change accordingly , for example
when he begins to talk about his girlfriend a young woman comes onto the
screen.
There are several different parts of Mise en
scene in this video but the most important and notable are the skateboards that
are used throughout a large portion of the video, adding these into the video
adds a strong visual aspect and adds an additional reason for the audience to stay
locked into the music video.
The editing style is very similar to a skate
films but follows a few techniques that you’re more likely to find in Hip-hop,
Rap or RnB videos such as close ups of the lead singer whilst they mime the
words to the song.
Here is an example of a skate video and a rap
video, Lupe’s video is almost a crossbreed of the two.
This music video doesn’t really contain any
voyeurism , although there is a small part of the song where Lupe starts to
talk about how he fell in love with his girlfriend and some might say that this
falls into the same category. This video differs from most Hip Hop videos in
that it has such a small if any amount of voyeurism , most Hip Hop videos have
half naked women running around in clubs or on beaches , but the directors
thought outside the box and went for a different approach.
This
video contains an interview with Chris Parr. He discusses and explains what he
feels makes music videos are so important and why they have such a large impact
on the music industry in various different ways.
Music Videos have many different
purpose’s, to make people laugh, to provoke emotion in the viewer
or simply to entertain. All of these link back to one main purpose and that is to promote the artist/band and to showcase their music to a wider and more varied audience.
When somebody finds a music video
entertaining their likely to share it with their friends and will most likely do this via some sort of social networking site. Every single person that watches that music video or hears their song on the radio is a potential customer and they could generate profit for the band/artists , the directors , the film crew and finally the record label.
The sole purpose of a music video is to generate more income for a band , thats the simplest and most effective way to explain their purpose, but some artists such as Rhianna for example , continue making videos even though their already rich , this is becuase they want free advertising and publicity so they can add to their fame.
It’s
incredibly easy to gather evidence that supports the statement that music videos help sell music, here is a
extremely popular music video that has sold thousands of records.
Views
– 259,580,597
She
sold over one million copies of this song in the UK alone.
Here is a music video by an artist without
an expensive music video I have chosen a band that are still fairly popular so
that musically things are fair.
Views
– 512,054
When
you compare the number of views on this video and the amount of records it sold with
underground songs (without expensive music videos) you can see a huge contrast in
the amount of money the artists generate.
Evidence shows that the more money an
artist invests into their music video the more records they will sell. Some artists are
willing to spend millions on music videos in an effort to sell more records.
A very important part of getting publicity
for a music video is to find the best and most common ways to share it with the
public , there are several different ways that an artist can do this but the
main three are music channels (MTV) , DVD’s and online downloads.
Music
channels such as MTV generate income from advertisers , they broadcast adverts
for various different companies for example MacDonald’s and Maybelline and the
more views that the channel can guarantee the advertisers the more money that
they are able to charge. These channels accumulate so many viewers by
broadcasting music videos and the more popular the videos the more money is
generated for both the artists and the broadcaster.
It’s hard to say exactly how much income a
music channel brings to an artist but there is certainly a lot of evidence to
support that the extra exposure and the additional visual aspect to the music
can take an artist to the next level.
The use of synergy has brought a whole new
side to both the music industry and many different forms of media such as
television, films and adverts. Often artists are commissioned thousands of
pounds to produce soundtracks for high end blockbuster movies and some adverts.
Sometimes the most memorable part of an
advert is the soundtrack, a nice upbeat tune over a boring advert can change
the way the audience looks at it and their more likely to give it the time of
day.
Here are some strong examples of how music
has driven up the sales of a particular product, film or other media product.
The recently released James Bond movie
“Skyfall” gained an enormous amount of publicity before it was released by the
release of its soundtrack which was performed my award winning singer and
songwriter Adele. The combination of a multi-million movie franchise and one of
the most successful singers in the country makes for one of the most successful
films of the year and shows us an incredibly catchy and memorable advertising
technique.
An
audience will often associate their favorite television programs with the theme
tune, the artist or band will receive royalties for the use of their song and
unless their song is copyright free then they will have to agree some sort of
contract with the team behind the program which is basically just an agreement
on how much their being paid.
A
good example of a popular television series with a well-known theme tune is
“scrubs”. Over the course of several series and many years of creating this
show they have kept the same theme tune throughout and it has now in a sense
become a part of the program, it’s something the audience have come to expect
and enjoy.
One of the most important components
involved in creating a successful advert is to have a memorable , simple and
catchy soundtrack. If you’re watching an advert and you don’t like the
soundtrack then almost sub-consciously you stop listening to advert and
completely lose interest in what their saying. Whereas if the audience likes
what their hearing their much more likely to become engaged with the advert and
take the time to see what the purpose of the advert is.
There are many different examples of
adverts that have successfully chosen the perfect soundtrack for the production
and really managed to engage the audience and advertise in a professional and
creative manner.
This is an advert for a Sony Bravia
television and it fills all the criteria of a good advert , it’s simple ,
there’s nothing too complicated going on and theirs enough bright colors and
action going on to keep the viewer engaged.
Music videos can be used for a large range
of different things , their used for publicity , their used to boost record
sales , they exist so that music channels can generate income and finally they
give artists a way to portray an image of themselves to their fans in any way
that they see fit.
Here is a list of videos that are going to influence and shape my music video , they come from varied genres of music and are both new and old , but the thing that they all have in common is their entertaining and keep the viewer engaged and listening to the music which is the main aim of any music video.
The main thing that I like about this music video is
that it give you a first person view of somebody on
a night out and its an idea that I am thinking about
encorperating into my production,
I really like the editing style used in this music video
everything is in sync with the music and theirs alot of
different , elements that come into play such as large
titles with the lyrics.
This music video is the closest thing I could get to
what I want to produce. It's basically a massive house
party that gets out of hand and thats more or less
