Research and Planning Music video

Research:

Song: "How You Remind Me" by Nickelback. The reason I chose to do this song is simply because i like it and when i hear it i see a lot of images in my head that when put together it would quite match with the lyrics. The song is perfect in time wise, it is no shorter than 2 minutes and no longer than 4 minutes as asked by the teachers. It has a length of 3 minutes and 47 seconds.

Music Track

Genre - To this specific music track I have choose i would say that the genre is impressionist. However Nickelback have various types of genre withing their musics.

Pace - The pace on this song varies, it changes with the lyrics, at times it is quite slow and as the instrumentals get louder and faster it gets slightly faster too.

Duration - The song overall play time is 3 minutes and 47 seconds, this is just in the criteria needed for this bit of work.

Narrative -  The lyrics is all about a couple breaking up.

Concept - He talks about his ex leaving him and how the memories of them together still haunts his head. He tries everything but the feelings he has for her just wont leave. He sees images of her everywhere he goes even if she is not there.

Imagery - When hearing this song i get an image of many couples from today. I myself could relate to this at times. I see many couples who were together and everything was going sweet until one day it went the opposite way. Couples that broke up and will just not forget each other. This leads them into feeling the same way the singer feels and blame everything on themselves.

On the actual music video itself there is a lot happening , we see various different footage, there is not a story to follow as this is an Impressionist music video. We have footage of the band playing, of the main singer, of the girl he speaks about, and of everyone in the club. These cut and change between each others.

The title for my chosen song is "How You Remind Me". The title almost gives everything away, just by reading the title we can already tell that the song will be about a person losing and mission someone or a certain something.

The second part of the lyrics does not say much anymore, It is just a combination of everything that has bee said before but this time he misses some bits here and there. He also repeats everything a few more times than he had done before.

Artist Image and Representation

Nickelback is a Canadian band formed not long ago, in 1995. The band is composed of four males, Chad Kroger, Daniel Adair, Ryan Peak and Mike Kroger. Each individual have there specific qualities and instrument they play. For example Chad Kroger main qualities are "guitarists and lead vocalist", Daniel Adair is the drummer, Ryan Peak is a guitarist, a keyboardist, and backing vocalist, Mike Kroger is the bassist.






Nickelback don't really have a unique way of dressing, they dress just like an every day man does, causal or sometimes smart. However they have a combination of how to dress. When they dress together they normally all dress similar or they normally dress in twos. Two of them dress similar and the other two dress similar but different then the other twos. As you can see on the pictures on the right, they are all dressed not the same but similar, with glasses and dark clothes and a jacket. And on the picture above they are also dressing similar but they are not all the same, two are wearing a jacket and two are just wearing a t-shirt. This way of dressing fits well with their image and their style of music. When speaking of rock bands we immediately think weird clothing, masks and other unique way of clothing, however this is not the case with Nickelback.

Nickelback music videos are all actually quite similar in a way. Their music videos most of the times have a dark background which matches a lot with their way of dressing as their clothing are normally dark colors too such as, black, grey and blue. Although they have dark background they also use a lot use brightness and contrast in order to make them and everyone else who is important in the music video stand up. An example of this would be their song "If today was your last day". The dark background and the dark color is not always the case when it comes to Nickelback, they also have songs where they use alive colors and background. For example their song "This Afternoon". Another similarity in most of their existing music videos is the fact that in between the story of the music we always cut to see the band playing and singing.

This Canadian band has been one of the most successful Canadian band. The band as managed to sell more than 50 million albums worldwide. They also gained a place in the 11th best selling music act. Their song "How you remind me was named the best selling rock song of the decade". They also appeared in 7th place on Billboard top albums of the decade.

Pre production paper work:

Music Video Styles, Conventions and Techniques

Music is now a big part of most people, some can not go a day without listen to a music. Music videos are also really important. They also come in various forms of styles an conventions depending on its genre. Below is a list of some genres music videos may come under.

Genres

In- Concert and 'as live' footage:
This is a very simple genre where i'm sure many people know about. This is simply when a band or artist decides to perform in front of a crowed. This is very popular and most of the times successful as bands and artists normally sell out every single ticket. This is also seen as live performance because they are actually there performing at the time and it may also being recorded and broadcast directly to a TV channel where people may watch to.

Here is a great example of a live concert, the singer is Beyonce, one of the major label actors.



Narrative and interpretive:
This is one of the most common music videos made, narrative and interpretive music videos are made on purpose for the audience. This normally tells the audience a background story that goes along with the lyrics and helps the audience understand better, however this is not always the case. Some stories tend to completely ignore the lyrics.
The music video from Basshunter "now your gone" is a good example of a narrative and interpretive. When watching the video while listening to the song it is much easier to understand and follow, it also catches the audiences eyes as it is telling a sort of love story between a couple who had split up.


Surrealist/absurdist:
These music videos tend to be unique, and normally made by the same artists and bands. They normally give the audience something to think about, they are surprising and unexpected. Most of the times the video and the story being told has no relation what so ever with the actual lyrics being sang.
One of my favourite example for this type of music video is "Without me" by Eminem. The video itself kind of follows the lyrics but not completely, also the video is surprising and unconventional.



Impressionist:
This is another unique type of music videos, when we talk about impressionist music videos we are talking about expressing the artists feelings by recording how the artists actually feels rather then following what the lyrics are saying. Chris brown made a song called "With you", this is another good example of Impressionist music video. Most of the time we see Chris Brown dancing and expressing himself, showing how he feels rather than seeing a story of what he is singing.


Intertextual (Synergy, Allusion, Pastiche, Parody and Homage):
Some music videos are sometimes made on purpose in reference of another source such as movies, for example soundtrack videos normally refer to a film. This is called "Synergy", where a soundtrack is made specific to the film. An example of synergy would be "Let it go" soundtrack video which was also used in the film frozen. Because of this we can say that some music videos may also allude to another media text. Meaning the soundtrack video "let it go" may call attention to the film Frozen itself. More people may be motivated to go and watch the film after seeing the soundtrack video separately. Pastiche is when someone makes an identical, or imitates another artists style and work, this fits well with parody. Parody is another style that comes under intertextual, when we see a parody of something it is simply making fun or having a laugh at the original piece of media. Some music videos are made with compassion, they are made to pay respect for an artist or a certain subject, these type of music videos are called homage.
One of my favorite example of an Homage music video is "Never Over" by Eminem where he pays his respect to Proof, and tells him to Rest In Peace.


Animation (Stop motion, Digital):
These are music videos which are animated in some way. Some are animated throughout the whole music video and some are just animated in some areas. "Feel Good" by Gorillaz is an example of full animated music video with background footage of real life people.

Techniques

Alongside with the genres used to make the video clips there are also different techniques artists and producers use in order to give their music video that little boost into looking much better than others. Again bellow there is a list of different techniques used in music video production.

Lip-Synch (Playback):
This is one of the most common techniques used in media when producing a music video. Lip-Synch is when the artist pretends to sing the lyrics while being filmed so when editing it would look much nicer to see his lips moving to the audio. This is also very common at live concerts.
I found an example of lip-synch from a program broadcast on "Spike", where the actor Dwayne Johnson has a lip-synch battle against Jimmy Fallon. They both pretend to sing a song made by another artist, normally this lip-synch is done by the artist who wrote the actual song.


Editing:
Music videos are edited very differently than normal films and other videos. When it comes to music videos continuity is not as important however it is also taken very serious. One of the edit most used is slow motion visual image as the audio is still playing at normal speed, this is very popular in music videos.  Some music videos have been awarded as the best edited music videos in history. The latest winner for the best edited music video was "Rap God" by Eminem in 2014.
Here is a link to the list of the winners for the best edited music videos since 1984, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV_Video_Music_Award_for_Best_Editing.

Cutting to beat:
Cutting to beat is another popular edit within the music videos industry. This is when the visual images normally stop, cut, or change whenever we hear or feel a beat. This gives your music video a bit more rhythm. "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson and Bruno mars is an ideal example of a music videos that cuts to the beat. Whenever the beat drops the shots change.


Post-production effects:
Effects are the main thing in music videos, these are what normally get the audiences attention whenever watching a music video. Music videos are one of the best source of media to use effects, this is simply because most editors do not have the chance to bring their own stunning and originals effects to other type of media such as movies, and news etc. However when it comes to music videos there are no limit on the effects you can use, anything fits and gives you that unique view. The music video "Stronger" by Kanye West shows a good example of how to bring effects into your music videos to give it that original look.


Camera movements:
Camera movements are something vital in media, without camera movements in a film or any other moving image media the footage may end up looking boring and lame. This technique again gives music video another perspective and attracts the audience. There are various types of camera movements varying from tilts, pans, crabs and even tracking shots. We can find some camera movements such as tracking shots, tilts and pans on the music video "Part of Me" by Katy Perry.



Camera angles and shot types:
Again another technique that can give a lot of meaning to a media text. It is similar to camera movements, without these the audience may not always understand what exactly is happening within the scene and not follow everything. Without them a media text may again be lame and boring. Again Camera angles can vary, so can the shot types, from close ups, to medium and long shots. Also there are establishing shots and birds eye view shots. The music video "Earthquake" by Labrinth is a great example of different shot types and angles.

Mise-en-scene:
Mise-en-scene plays another important role in media text such as films and music videos. Mise-en-scene are all the things that can be seen in a shot. This is normally important as this is what enforces the mood of the song. It will get the audience thinking and feeling. "Written in the Star" By Tinie Tempah and Eric Turner is a good example of this, as the shots and settings change we have different mise-en-scene. For example when is Eric Turner singing the only mise-en-scene we have is just a piano in a white room.


Effects (Split screen and Chroma key):
This is a good technique used in music video. This is when then screen is split into different individual screen and shows multiple visual images at once on the same screen. This could be multiple images of the same even or even multiple images or different events. This is normally done to give that interesting panorama feeling. Bellow is an example of a music video with a lot of split screen technique being used.


Chroma key is another effect that is used not just in music videos but all around media, especially when making and editing films. Chroma key is done by using a green or blue background where you can later use the green and blue background to replace it with another background you would like to use but could not use it when filming.


Here is an example of how chroma key works in media. As you can see the above picture is what is really happening, there are two reporters standing in front of a green screen, this is then replaced by another background to make it look more professional.

The Purpose of Music Videos

                                                                      History
Music videos play a big role in the media industry today. These came about a few years ago, when a video would be played alongside with a music. The jukebox was first invented in 1941 in USA. This became very popular all around clubs and bars, The jukebox is machine that would play short clips as the music itself was playing. The Jukebox was able to play twenty four 78 rpm discs. As the years went pass, music videos started to develop and also becoming more popular. It was not until 1975 that the first music video was launched. The music video "Bohemian Rhapsody" released by by queen was the first video which was actually seen as a proper music video. The reason being for this is simply because this had all the structures and aspects of a music video. It consisted cuts to different places, and effects. Before that all music videos were just a footage of a band singing. Five years later another big music video was released by David Bowie. His music video Ashes to Ashes was also a big hit. Music videos developed a lot and gotten better and better. As the years went pass artist decided to team up in order to make a more popular music video. Another thing that became very popular was artist teaming up with brands in order to promote each other. For example in 2010 we had Professor Green who teamed up with Doritos in order to produce the music video "coming to get me".
In this blog post I will write about the purpose of music videos and why they are becoming so important and popular in today's media.

Promotion
When talking about promoting we are trying to say selling yourself or making yourself known. Music videos is one of the biggest source used by artist and bands to gain recognition. Some bands tend to add extra details to their music videos in order to make themselves and their music videos unique and different from others. This would give them more recognition and is also a way of being identified. For example some bands tend to have their own way of dressing, or a symbol or badge they all use. An example of this would be "Slipknot", they are a heavy metal American band which was formed in 1995. This band way of identification was masks. They choose to all wear masks whenever they would perform.

Wearing a masks is actually very popular within bands, they tend to have a unique way of dressing to go with the masks, they see this as bringing art to music as this will keep your audiences attention.

Producer's Strategies
We have many bands and artist today, some more known than others, this is why they are all marketed in different ways. There are Major label bands and artists and there are also Independent bands and artist. We can also find the Self-produced artists. In the major label, the artists and bands will have a lot more publicity to their background and songs. For example artist and bands such as "Black eye pees", 50 Cent and Kanye West had and some still have a massive support and help creating and producing their songs from the "Universal musical group". This will give them a lot more publicity and recognition. However in the independent label, artist develop their own songs and send it out to the world. They face the music industry on their own. An example of this would be artists such as "Danny Brown with his "song grow up". Self-produced artists are similar to the independent labels however they do not have as much finance to place their music videos on TV or a music station. So they send out their music videos via the internet, this is how they gain their recognition. This has its advantages, for example as you are working on your own you get to do and produce what ever you feel like it, there are no orders or rule to follow. Also any money made from your work its all yours, you do not have to share or pay anyone else for supporting or helping has you did it all on your own. The down side of this is that by going into the music industry on your own there are little amount of chance of you even been recognized or been heard.

Extension of outlets 
Once your song is made you will obviously want to broadcast it. Extension outlets are a good way to promote your song or music video. The good thing about this is when your song or music video is played by anyone anywhere in the world, theoretically the artist or band should get a payment in form of royalties for their work. However this is not always the case simply because we live in a big world where technology is developing and spreading fast, it is almost impossible to keep track of the number of times a song, or music video is payed. This is most common on the mainstreams artists as their songs and music videos are played all the time and everywhere. Less popular artists normally rely on the internet in which many people upload videos every minute. This makes it very difficult for them to be found however it is where their songs might be seen and give them a little recognition alongside with a little income.
They have a big variety of choices in which to upload their music videos where people can see. The most common ones are Youtube and Vevo, however there are the social networks such as Facebook, Tweeter, MySpace, Instagram and many more.

Synergy

This simply refers to two different entities working together. They do this in order to gain advantage of each other to promote each other. In order for this to be done there will be paper works such as licence deals in order to get a legal permission. A big example of this is "High School Musical".

High school musical can also be found all around the store in many different products such as towels, cups, clothing, umbrellas and a lot more. This is all synergy.

In Synergy both who decide to work together benefit from the contract. It is a win win situation, for example High School Musical by letting other companies use their icon and such they are receiving a little money from the company and at the same time they are letting other companies promote them. And the company who is using their icon and such will be selling more items as they have a popular icon printed to their items.