Assignment 1: Task 4 Lip syncing

For this post I will writing about how I made my Elton John music video that we lip synced too. This task was designed to practice editing, lip syncing and help me learn one of the key techniques used when making a music video. It is really important that that the artist looks like they are singing live so you have to be careful to match up the video footage with thee recorded sound.

The first thing i did was i imported the sound track i was working with and locked it on the time line. I then used the marker tool to mark on the track exactly when elton john started singing this made it much easier to sycn the music. I then used the marker to mark when my actor sang the first word of the song. This meant i was able to match up the two points and get my first whole layer of video footage in time with the music. I then repeated this progress two more times with the second and third layer of video footage.

It is important to have a variety of shot types in a music video so i used three different shots, one of both the performers two shots of each actor on there own. I layered thee video footage on top of each other so i could easily cut from one shot to another with out having to worry about matching up the lip syncing every time.

I used tools in Final Cut Express called toggle clip overlays and the pen tool to allow me to edit between the three layers of footage really easily. I was able to create straight cuts and dissolves without having to cut or move any footage on the timeline.

Overall I have been able to practice a range of techniques such as editing on multiple layers, using the marker tools, and using toggle clip overlays too create a short sequence of lip-syncing. As lipsyncing is one of the key convention of most music videos it is important to practice it before i make my own music video.



The Pretender - Editing a band sequence.
What we had to is that we watched the Foo Fighters music video for the song "The Prentender". We then carefully storyboarded the first fourty-five seconds. This allowed me to understand how many different shot types are used in a real band sequence from a music video. It also made sure i realised how many edits there are in a real band sequence and how fast the editing needs to be.
I photograph each of the shot on my storyboard and imported them into Adobe Premier. I then imported the real video for the Foo Fighters song and resized it so it would appear in the corner of the screen. I then edited my images in time with the real video so that I was able to practice the style and speed of editing i would need to use in my own music video. Being able to edit the pace of the song is a key convention of almost all music videos and so is a technique I wanted to practice.

Sequence 01 2 from Daniel Merritt on Vimeo.

Assignment 1: Task 3 Editing Technique

This is the final product of the clips that I was given to use.

For this post I'm writing about the techniques I used for making the video that I have posted at the top of this post. I used all sorts of editing techniques in this video and the fellowing sections are what techniques I used in my music video.

Cut to the beat
What I did for this bit of the music video is right at the beginning of it was that I had to cut sections of the video to that cut to beat of the music that it was playing along with. This is because it would make have a more professional look when it would cut on the beat at the same time of the music. Also it makes the music video look better because of this as well.

Effects

What I done for effects is that I done multiple of them in the videos and the  one in the picture is split screen, what you have to do is that you use the tool to make the shot smaller, you use it for the  which you use to put to shots next to each other so it looks better in the music video. Also another video effect I did was reverse, all I done was that I put a shot in reverse so that it looks like there going backwards.



Chroma Key
With chroma key it is a certain effect which is used to highlight one particular colour from an image. You must layer two identical images on top eachother on the timeline but use the effects to dessaturate the bottom image. You then use the chroma key to select one particular colour so when you see the image all the colour you have selected is black and white. I chose to highlight the red colour of the car that the animals where traveling in.

Assignment 1: Task 2 Key features of music video

In this post I will be talking about how music videos have conventions and certain styles.

Andrew Goodwins 6 key conventions
Andrew Goodwin is theorist that theorised about music videos and wrote about book it which is called "Dancing in the Distraction Factory" (1992) And in this book he had identified the following features of music videos:

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (eg stage performance in metal video, dance routines for boy/girl bands). This is one of the most common things that happens in music videos.
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting)
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting)
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style)
5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body
6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc)

1.Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (eg stage performance in metal video, dance routines for boy/girl bands).

Girl/boy bands
With girl and boys they all seem to have a similar contents as others. With major bands such as "Take that", "Girls aloud", "The Saturdays", "The Wanted" and "One Direction" always have reoccurring similarities in there music videos for example in girl bands music videos they have suggestive touching, close ups and while there all dancing at the same time. While with boys bands they seem to be mainly posing in there music videos. And sometimes they both use a studio in there music videos, either singing or dancing.
Examples:





Rocks Bands
In rock band videos there seems like there common recurrences in the type of music. Things accrue multiple times in music videos for example rocks bands in there videos usually seem them in a giant open area (like a warehouse) playing as a band with their instruments. With rock bands they seem to care more about the music they are making then the music videos but also sometimes they don't have enough but there fans prefer just there good music. Example of bands that do this is Green day, Foo Fighters and Nirvana.
Examples:

Rappers
Rappers have a wide variety of conventions in there music videos. Most of rap video seem to either, have half naked women dancing about, chains on there necks, standing in the middle of people dancing around them while there rapping and them wearing urban clothing. But not all rap videos are like that some tell a story in there videos. Example of these rappers are Two chains, Enimnem, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar and Jay Z.
Examples


Folk/Indie Musicians 
With folk and indie music they do have some of the same conventions in there in music videos. A lot they all are different like some tell story others are them walking about just them playing there instruments maybe in a building or out in the forest. Artist that do this are, Lumminers, The Vaccines and Gotye


2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting) This is when, it either illustrative, amplifying or condatrdict the music and visuals of the music video.

• Illustrate: Music videos can use a set of images to illustrate meaning of lyrics & genre, this the most common. An example of this is shown by Nelly Furtado song and music video "I'm like a bird". In this music you see loads of birds and even her to start to fly, illustrating what she is singing about in a very literal way.

• Amplify: This is similar to repeatability. Meanings and effects are manipulated and constantly shown through the video and drummed into vision. This is shown in Miley Cyrus "Wrecking Ball" Music video. In this music video you see her actually naked on a wrecking ball and you keep seeing riding a wrecking or you see her wrecking stuff with a sledgehammer amplifying the lyrics with the visuals in the music video making it stay in your head.

• Contradict: This is where the meaning of the song is completely ignored, an example of this is radiohead's music video "No Surprises" because all what is happening is he is in a tank being filled up. With this music video it completely goes against what the singer in singing in the song, so it they completely go against each other. 

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting)
In some music videos they link music along with the visuals and they do this for 3 different reasons, either to illustrate, amplify or contradict the visuals in the music videos. An example of this is that they might have a fast paced music video to go along with the music. An example of a music video that does this is Nirnva "Smells like teen spirit". In this music video they have the fast paced music and aggresiveness to match the visuals of the music video so that they match.



4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style). This when record label wants to make a special image for the artist that they work with so that they everyone would know the artist by those certain styles and motifs that are used. An example of this is lady gaga who visualy has her own motifs and style which is dressing quite bizarrely in her music videos and in normal life as well, so that what gets her well know by her audience. There are a lot of her weird dressing in her music videos but one of the important one is bad romance. All of lady gaga's visuals are quite striking and rememberable



5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. This is basically on about the viewing of the women body. They women body parts to gain the attention of the audience in certain ways. Most of female pop artist do this to there audiences and it usually get them more popular with there male audiences but its not just females that do this men also do it as well. And not every artist does it. For example is Miley Cyrus in her Music video "Wrecking Ball" where she sits on the wrecking naked.



6.There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc). With this, what happens is that in the music video it has a reference to another film. TV programmes, other music videos. This makes the video more popular to watch with audiences who like those references. An example of this is Lady Gaga music video "Telephone" which has a reference to kill Bill vol 1 and
Thelma and Louise.
Below you can see a still image from the film Kill Bill and next to it is a still image for Telephone by Lady gaga and Beyonce.

Different forms of music video such as digital, or stop motion; In-concert footage; "as live" footage; studio based; cinematic

There is multiple different forms of music video in the style they are presented. How they present it is that there six typical presentations in music videos. These are animation, stop motion, in concert, "As live", studio based and cinematic.

Animated/Digital

Animated music are just as popular as all the others and they can be use to make more creative images that you can only do in animation. There have been many popular music videos in the past for example gorillaz "Clint Eastwood". This song and music did get nominated for multiple awards for how how good the animation was of the music video and how good the song was. It didn't win anything for it sadly.

Stop motion
With stop motion there are a few music videos and just like animation you don't see many of them but they are underestimated as well. Stop motion music video a very creative and also just like animated they allow the animator to do creative work that you usually can't do while recording normally. There are a few popular stop motion music videos for example Fleet foxes music video for "Mykonos" This music is very popular with people and they hail it as a very creative music video and enjoy watching it.


In-concert footage
In concert footage is a different form of music video where they use the footage from a singer who has sung live in a tour or an actual concert. There are a lot of music videos that feature in concert footage from either a single concert they done or they use footage from there tour that they have done recently. An music video that does this is Coldplay which features them playing in a concert what they done.


"As Live" footage
"As Live" footage is footage that is similar to in-concert footage but "as live" footage is different because it uses footage from things like behind the scene so it looks like they are being all normal and having fun. Its isnt as popular as In-concert footage but it is still used in music videos. An example of this sort of footage in a music video is Justin Beibers video "Beauty and a beat"

Studio based
The Studio based music video are stylised as that they base all there recording and footage is based inside a studio. Either they are dancing or sining in a little booth. This is what a lot of girl bands use this sort of footage for there music video because they mainly dance. Also guys do this for singing in a studio and get recorded. An example of a music video that does this is Nirvana music, smells like "Teen spirit"


Cinematic
Cinematic music video are popular for a lot of artist for there music videos because they can use this style to tell a story a long with there song. It is popular with every kind of artist but it is used a lot with indie artist and top artist. An artist who is popular who does this eminem with his music video "Stan".



Different styles of music video such as a narrative based; impressionist; surrealist; pastiche; parody; homage; intertextual

Narrative Based
Narrative based music videos is style used in music video where it tells a story across the music video with a beginning, middle and end. A music video that has a narrtive based style is Daniel Powters song and music video "Bad day"




Imperessionist 

Imperessionist style in a music video is when the artist has a more artist style for the music video. This makes it very stylized and different from other music videos. A music that does this is Goyte "Somebody I used to know"


Surrealist
Surrealist is a style that is similar to Imperessionist but a surrealist is more dreamlike and is similar to there film and art counterparts. An example of an surrealist music video is "The Frog" by The Hickey Underworld.



Pashtiche 
Pashtiche is a style of music video when they use a certain stylised copy from an different time or era. This is a style that is used by many artist and bands for example an artist that uses this style is Christina Aguilera "Candyman" This is based on the 40'ies during the war.

Parody
Parody is style of music video that is used to make fun of another piece of media work or something that is is happening in the real world. A music video that does this style is The lonely Islands song "Jack Sparrow"which mocks the films Pirates of Caribbean.

Homage
Homage is when a music video tributes its self to a certain thing similar to parody but it doesn't mock the style of media like parody. A music video that does this is Michael Jackson "Thriller" music video it is a homage to horror films and the zombie genre.


Intertexual 

Assignment 1: Task 1 Purpose of a music video

The purpose of this post is write about the purpose of a music video. There is multiple  purposes of music video's, there is list written below with most of them.

• Promotion
• Availability of artist
• Extension of income
• Extension of outlets (Music channel, direct DVD and CD sales, websites and downloads)
• Synergy (Films, TV programmes)
• The strategies producers use (Major label, independent and artist self-procuded)

Promotional

With promotion in a music video. When they are promoting the certain products, they do it all in certain ways. For example the in the music video the product they are trying to promote could being used throughout the whole video or it could be seen once on the side just sitting there. For example Miley Cyrus's song "We can't stop" features 2 products that she is trying to promote. Both of the products she is trying to promote are at the beginning, the products she is promoting is the "Beats pill" and "eos lipstick".

Availability of artist
The availability of the artist is important because where they are to promote their music to earn them money. But an artist can't be everywhere at once to promote their music, thats why they use music videos to help them to be everywhere at once. In 1964, the Beatles starred in their first feature film "A hard day's night" by  Richard Lee's. A year later, they started to making promotional clips for distribution and broadcast in other countries. This allowed them to promote their music without having to make in-appereances.


But it was only the success after Queens success of their music video and song "Bohemian Rhapsody". The reason was because there wasn't music channel to watch to music but there was "top of the pops". What they used to do is request the artist to come in to sing there song/lip sync  and if they said no they would get a group of dancers to dance to the music for example they would go get Pans people.

Extension of income
Extension of income is how many things the artist gets income from. There is many things an artist can get income from, they can do tours and festivals, simple CD and DVD sales and downloads. There is a wide variety of ways that an artist can get an extension of income. Another way an artist could get more income is product place, what an artist does is that they place a certain product in there music video so people will hopefully go buy it because they see it in the music video. An example of this is in Brittany spears music work, it features her perfume at the beginning at her music video.



Extension of outlets
With extension of outlets it is where you actually get and listen to the musicians music from, so there multiple ways you can get the musicians music from. There are many outlets for this, a few are music channels, direct DVD and CD sales, websites and downloads. These can all get you the artist music and there videos as well.

Synergy
Synergy is when an artist makes music and a music video to go along with a certain other media production like film, TV programmes and games. A big and example is eminems song "Survival' which he made for the game series call of duty newest game, Ghost. In his music video it features gameplay of the game in background of him singing and them running around spray painting the logo on walls and other things. With synergy it is a way for an artist to get large amounts of money from doing it.



The strategies producers use
Producers use can vary between the different types of producers, Major Labels, Independent, Artist self produce. The music industry is owned by 4 Major companies, which are Sony Music, Universal, EMI and Warner Brothers. These companies mainly rule over the biggest super star singers out there at the moment. What they do is that they make there artist use major conventions on the artist music video. But independent and self artist produced music videos don't follow normal major conventions and they usually do there own thing or something different.