What The Song I Chose Means

For obvious reasons, lyrics are a very important component of a song, because of this I have decided to post the lyrics here:

Neopolitan Dreams

You go on I’ll be okay,
I can dream the rest away
Its just a little touch of fate, It'll be okay
It sure takes its precious time, but it’s got rights and so have I

I turn my head up to the sky
I focus one thought at a time
I do not let the little thieves

Under my tightly buttoned sleeves
You couldn't be a longer time, I feel like I am walking blind
I have arrival time

There are no legible signs
There are no legible signs

I like the way that you talk,
I like the way that you walk.
It’s hard to recreate such an individual gait

You wait you turn in the queue,
You say your sorries and thank you’s
I don’t think you’re ever
A hundred percent in the room
You’re not in the room
You’re not in the room

Deepest, of the dark nights
Here lies, the highest of highs
Neopolitan Dreams, stretching out to the sea

You wait you turn in the queue,
You say your sorries and thank yous
I don’t think you’re ever
A hundred percent in the room
You’re not in the room

You’re not in the room

The line 'You go on I’ll be okay' is the line that inspired my idea to have her walking on her own either following a trail or leaving one for someone else to follow. I decided that her following a trail would work better though.

neopolitan
nouna resident of Naples
I thought that this was unusual as the definition of Neapolitan, in my opinion, fits better with the connotations of the song, however the artist chose to spell it with an 'O' rather than an 'A'

This is what Lisa said about the song on her website:

"I guess it stems from a parting of two people, obviously me and someone else," says Lisa of the song. "That's where the spirit of the song came from, but then it moves into a place of like, not having such a clear idea of where you're headed. But then when the refrain comes in, the 'ba-da ba-das', it's like saying 'there's so much going on, but hey, fuck it, we're just gonna have fun'."

The song I chose has a quiet intro compared to the rest of the song, so below I have placed a link to the song so that it can be heard in its original state, before I adjusted the volume in my video.

Lisa Mitchell - Neopolitan Dream

Getting the Go Ahead

After writing back and forth for a while I got told that I was allowed to use both songs in my media project. This is great news for me and I can now start work on writing a pitch and treatment.

It was important to gain permission to use the song in the earlier stages of this project as if I hadn't and had then subsequently not been given permission i would not have been able to post the final music video.

Bit of a Copyright issue

Naturally one of the issues with making a music video is Copyright. Of course it is possible to use music that does not have a copyright, but now a days most music has protection to make sure the artist gets the credit they deserve.
In order to make sure i do not breech any Copyright laws, i have e-mailed 'the bands' who have created the songs i want to use.

They said what?!

As you can guess, its no good carrying out audience research if I don't use the findings in a constructive way. In order to work towards what the audience wants I need to first understand what that is. After carrying out my research, this is what I found:

The Post

When I wrote the post I gave people some questions they could answer because I know that sometimes its hard to know what to write.
If you're not sure what to write here are some points to consider:
•What sort of music do you like?
•Where do you usually watch music videos? (music channels, websites etc)
•What do you expect to see in a music video?
•Would you say there is a common theme in music videos today?
•What do you not like to see in a music video?
•What do you think the point of a music video is?

These are some of the recurring responses that I got:

'I expect to see something that refelcts the mood of the song.' -quitefunky
'I think that music videos should definitely reflect the mood/feel of the song.' -laurasaurus
'ideally a music video should have something original and interesting and relevant to the mood of the song.' - jack-wainwright

So, when I make my video I need to make sure that it suits the song. A slow song shouldn't have really fast cutting filming, and visa versa.

'Sex is a common theme' -quitefunky
'the most common theme running throughout the genres is sex' -Adamski
'The most common theme in music videos today is mainly sex/holidays. Basically skinny ladies in bikini's' - Beth Atkins
'I do not particularly like simply girls half naked, dancing around' -TheTitlow
'I feel that it is not about how sexy you look, I find imagination and creativity can be the best'- Guest
'surgically enhanced women dancing provocatively close to the screen' -Guest

Right, so sex is obviously a common theme in current music videos. I have noticed that people tend to dislike this however. As one person said 'i'm fed up [with] music videos of semi naked girls, it makes me look like some kind of perv when i have TMF or The Hits on in the background'-Guest. So when I create my music video sexual appeal is something I should think about, but I don't want to have tall skinny girls dancing around.

'I like it when they tell a story, especially if it's directly relevant to the music & lyrics of the song, because it's more interesting.' -laurasaurus
'I'd say stuff like love, break ups etc are common themes, but that's probably just because they're common themes in songwriting.' -laurasaurus
'I like a music video which tells a story relating either directly to what the song is about, or the theme of the song.' -tom
'I guess the common theme of relationships can get a bit repetative, so something a little different and quirky is cool' -Guest
'Well I like music videos which fit with the song well and don't leave you thinking, 'that was strange' -Guest
'I've always liked music videos that are really unusual and break the mold somewhat' -F.D
'I find that bands who's videos consist soley of live performance shots are quite boring' -JessehRAWR
'(the point of a music video is) To visualise the story of the song, to explain the lyrics, the advertise the band and the song.' -JessehRAWR
'I also like to see some sort of story happening in the video, and this story should link with the lirics of the song' -TheTitlow

It is apparent that people like it when a music video tells a story, especially when its relevant to the song. Despite the fact that most music videos consist of the singer and dance sequences, from reading the comments I get the idea that people actually like it better when they have to think when they watch the video. I think a music video that encompasses this point very well is 'Just' by Radiohead:



I think that this video is the perfect balance of a story, the band and a little bit of quirkiness.

When I make my music video I need to take into consideration the fact that the majority of the people who took part in my audience research said that they enjoy a story and as one person said, they like it 'when you see something new or something differently every time you watch it'.

The Vox Pop

Unfortunately, I have very little vox pop data to look at. From what I can remember on the day I think it is safe to say that people generally had the same opinions as those found from my blog post.

Audience Research Anyone?

As you would expect, for a music video to be successful it is necessary to keep an audience in mind.

In order to do the best that I am capable of, I need to analyse and take into account what my target audience is looking for when they watch a music video.

So, this is where you come in. In the form of a 'comment' I need to get feedback on what people think makes a great music video. It doesn't need to be a essay, a simple sentence would do, but the more informative the better.

If you don't have an account with one of the sites required to submit a comment then feel free to use this google account:
username: media.audience.research
e-mail: media.audience.research@googlemail.com
password: 1234567q

If you're not sure what to write here are some points to consider:
•What sort of music do you like?
•Where do you usually watch music videos? (music channels, websites etc)
•What do you expect to see in a music video?
•Would you say there is a common theme in music videos today?
•What do you not like to see in a music video?
•What do you think the point of a music video is?

Thank you for taking the time to help me out!

Not quite what I had hoped for

Unfortunately I had very little luck when I carried out my Vox Pop.
Not only were people against me, but my camera was too. Out of the twenty odd people I tried to speak to, about five of them agreed to speak to me. This might of been enough, had it not been for the fact that my camera has decided that it did not want to show me more than .47 seconds of what I had filmed. No point complaining, you can't win them all. What research I did collect is in this post however I wish to gather more data to analyse. Because of this I have decided to create a post in which users of the Internet can post a comment to tell me their view on what a good music video should have.

This along side of the data gathered from the Vox Pop should enable me to start creating a really good music video.

Vox Pop

A Vox Pop is: public opinions gathered in interviews: the impromptu opinions of ordinary members of the public as gathered by a radio or television interviewer.

So, me and a friend went into our local city, Norwich, camera in hand and tried to find out what ordinary members of the public thought of music videos. I prepared little cut out pieces of paper that had my blog and e-mail details on, as I would be filming people to get their opinion and I thought that it would be a good way to let them easily see what they were being used for and also if they decided they did not want their opinion to be posted, they would be able to contact me to withdraw.

We came back with very little but I have decided to post this as a lot of effort went into trying to carry it out well.

What can I do next?

In the post 'So what exactly makes a music video?' I have stated my own personal opinion on what makes a music video however, in order to make a great music video, it is clear that I need to know more about what my audience thinks.

In order to find this out I intend to carry out a Vox pop in order to find out what the general public think about music videos.

By doing this I hope to get a wider audience feedback then if I just handed a questionnaire out to my class mates.

So what exactly makes a music video?

After reading HOW to make a music video, I decided that I should first consider what I think a music video is made of before I find out what an audience thinks.

It would be impossible to list a set of criteria for a music video, as there are so many different possibilities.

For some a music video is a way of visualising the meaning of the lyrics via a "short story". For others it is just soft porn. Then there are those whose video is completely irrelevant to the song. And of course there are all the ones in between.

I think it is safe to say that a music video is created to entertain an audience and help them enjoy a musicians creation.

Generaly, certain genres of music tend to fall into certain catagories of music video. But, as with everything there are always exceptions.


Below are a few music videos that should help illustrate my point.


Emiliana Torrini - Heartstopper



Calvin Harris - Im not alone



OK Go - Here it goes again

Creating a Music Video

It is important for me to know what exactly it takes to create a music video. Below is a basic outline of what goes on in order to produce the music videos that we see on TV.

The role of the Commissioner:

• Given the task of overseeing every aspect of the music video.
• Having input with the artist.
• Ensuring the interests of the artist and the record company are in line.

Video Budgeting:

• Budget of the music video is decided by the record company.
• The size of the budget is dependant on the success of the previous records/music.
• The genre of the music is also significant, is the genre is popular then there will be more airplay, thus the video will have more air time; ergo more money will be returned.

Selecting a director:

• Bigger CV the better; pick someone who knows what they’re doing.
• Pick someone who can work to a budget and deadlines and other certain parameters.
• Lots of treatments might be submitted, so it should be one that is the best.

Artist-Commissioner Relationship:

• The commissioner’s relationship with the artist is key to the success of the video, even if they hire other people.
• Final piece as close to the final vision as possible.

Responsibilities of the Director:

• Writing the treatment.
• Distributing relevant information.
• Maintaining creative integrity.
• Has an obligation to produce using only one production company, whereas directors of feature films may use multiple production companies.
  

Conceptualising the video and writing the treatment

• Visual magpies; may see special effects in one music video and wish to use it in there own. Research into various aspects of modern videos to create the best visuals.
• Director brainstorm the visuals that should be appropriate according to artist and audience.
• Director writes their visual idea in the form of a treatment.
• May write several treatments for one song before the commissioner chooses.
• May write several ideas in one treatment.
• Ideas and presentation are deciding factors when it comes to pick a director.
• The record company and production company execute the agreement, binding the director to the video project.

The information here was gained from a class hand-out.

After reading this information, I know that not all treatments get accepted first time, and that I should consider this when planning my own. Also, many ideas are often proposed in one treatment, so i shouldn't just come up with one idea.

It also became very clear that a director does not just take into account what the band wants or what the song may mean, but they must take into account what the target audience would want. A 'pop' bands fans might not appreciate a gruesome and bloody video as much as 'metal' fans might for example.

Therefore I will now find out what my audience wants by carrying out some research.

A Little Review

Below I have textually analysed two current music videos. I have done this in order to widen my understanding of what can be expected and included in a music video.


Manchester Orchestra - I can barely breathe

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more."
Enough said really

The choice to have the lyrics shown over the video is an odd choice, but i think that with the barely readable script they have used, it works really well.

The girl walking on her own really fits the lyrics "come on, come on, its the end of the world". The setting she is walking through and the costume chosen for her really epitomises these lyrics as well. The mis-en-scene in general works to give the appearance of being alone in the big wide empty world.

At the very beginning of the music video we are shown a scene being roughly drawn onto 'old' paper as well as the lyrics, written in a barely readable script style font. As the lyrics continue the scene gradually fades to a real scene: a girl sitting on a suitcase on the side of a road.

The camera then closes in on the girl and film strips are played over the top, it is assumed that these scenes are her past, as we see them 'fly' out of a scrap book she is writing in.

Through out the whole video aspects like the use of special effects, the scene overlaying and the way in which the scene seems to match the rhythm of the song all tie together to create a video that really works.

Ida Maria - Oh My God

This music video is rather different to Manchester Orchestra's. How ever they both use quite 'old style' lighting.

'Oh My God' it self is quite a quick song, and they have built on this when filming. The camera cuts often from band member to member, focusing mainly on the lead singer.

This quick cut and seemingly self-filmed way of creating the video also fits very well with the lyrics of the song. The lack of sticking to one camera angle and view sums up the line 'Do you think I'm in control?' very well. Overall the video is very simplistic but it suits the song.