Mind-map: Initial Ideas and Perceptions

In order to help me collate ideas for my music video, I have created a mind-map that documents all my initial ideas and perceptions of how the video should be composed - this will help me in my planning stage and it will also allow me to then produce more ideas for a storyboard and therefore my animatic before I eventually start filming. These are my initial ideas and perceptions:

This mind map has allowed me to collate my thoughts and ideas of how I initially foresee the video in my head, despite having a number of ideas I have based this mind map on the idea that I will be using my younger sister in a video that is similar to that featuring lonely, isolated and vulnerable protagonists i.e. "The A Team" - Ed Sheeran.

Textual Analysis: Dire Straits - "Money for Nothing"

Camera

The video uses a number of close ups on the fictitious characters as well as the actual band members to capture emotions throughout the performance, encouraging the audience to empathize with the artist. Close ups are used as well as long/two shots to capture the band on stage in one shot together - as the video is a performance video.

Mise en Scene

In the real life shots, the band sport clothes applicable to 80's fashion: headbands were worn - a trademark of Dire Straits who essentially formed a subculture through their music and fashion. The instruments used are also appealing colours to maintain the interest of the audience: lavish guitars are used to look fancy and give the band a respectable image. All aspects of the Mise en Scene are relevant to the social historical context of the time period in which the video was made - fashion such as wristbands and flamboyant shirts are made more visible by the neon lighting effects used in the video to enunciate the bands identity and image - they are essentially a brand.

Sound

The soundtrack used is the original recording of Dire Straits' Money for Nothing. The video has been tailor made to accommodate the sound of the single in order for the text to transition smoothly and in synchrony.

Editing

Many quick, concise cuts are used to shift attention quickly and encourage the audience to invest interest in the video, which uses bright colours due to the vibrant animations. Many tracking shots are used to maintain focus on the band, which emphasises importance and forces the audience to concentrate on the ideas/emotions the director is trying to put accross. Neon lighting effects have been used in the shots where the band are performing (neon effects have been omitted from the computer animated segments of the video) to highlight important features such as headbands, wristbands, guitars and even their shirts - these bright accessories/instruments with undertones of eighties fashion present a clear image of the band to the audience. At the time, some form of high tech video editing software would have been utilised in order to add digital effects to the video, almost like a latter day iMovie.

This video was considered ground breaking at the time of it's release, MTV were persistent in their desire to produce an animated promo for the track, as they felt they were broadcasting too many performance videos of artists standing there and playing instruments - they wanted something cutting-edge that would break the conventions of music videos and surprise people.

Music Videos - A Comprehensive Historical Overview

History

In 1927 the inaugural sound film The Jazz Singer was screened across the USA and was heralded for it's innovation - combining two forms of media that were not previously associated with one another. As a result of it's commercial success, the film was somewhat of a catalyst in the decline of the silent film industry - which deteriorated soon after the release of Alan Crosland's feature.

It was in the 1930's that the first 'soundies' - three minute films comprising of music/soundtrack and short dance sequences - were produced in New York, Chicago and Hollywood. They were screened on visual jukeboxes - the Panoram to be specific - in bars, nightclubs, restaurants and amusement centers. The Panoram therefore served as a viable means of marketing the product as consumers found themselves surrounded by a platform on which they could watch the videos, rather than having to go and 'chase' music videos. The Panoram was a coin operated jukebox system, and with ample Panorams scattered around New York, Chicago and Hollywood, producers found that this system of marketing could prove lucrative.

Throughout the late 1930s and 1940s, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) enjoyed it's most fruitful spell of musical productions, most notably The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940). After the success of the latter films, MGM realised that music and video were a successful convergence and began producing an array of musicals in what has been described as their 'Golden Era'.

1963 saw the appearance of the UK's first TV programme: Ready Steady Go!, which was broadcast live from ITV. The show would stage mainly rock bands with choreography and make-up kept to a minimum to make audiences feel closer to the action, promoting consumer involvement. Performers where scattered amongst many small stages so that transitions were smooth and kept the viewers engaged - similar to the format in which Later Live With Jools Holland is now presented. The studio was quite confined and limited, however the production team stated this is actually what they wanted, as it allowed people watching at home to be able to feel a sense of involvement and facilitated camera work to capture the bands from a number of different angles.

Just as Ready Steady Go! was gaining popularity, it was rivaled when BBC began to air Top of the Pops (TOTP) in 1964. Essentially, TOTP was a 'performance video' of bands performing hits popular that week, although they were actually performed live, some bands have used footage of themselves performing on TOTP for performance music videos.

By 1967, The Beatles had released promos for Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever. This form of music video was referred to as a 'promo' - which engulfs it in connotations that suggest the video was to help market/advertise the record. The promo for Strawberry Fields Forever has been cited as an innovation in the music video industry and that what was in the 60's classed as a promo is now widely accepted as a music video.

Queen released the soundtrack and promotional video for Bohemian Rhapsody (directed by Bruce Gowers) at a time when the incremental success of music videos was rapidly increasing in 1975. It was noted that by releasing a promotional video for a record, it meant television companies could broadcast the video and have the song played on their channel without having to have the artist present and boredom was not a problem for the audience. This idea formed the basis of MTV and all the other music channels that followed. It is widely regarded as the first promo that is now

1981 saw the inauguration of MTV, which is when various artists saw the lucrative benefits of producing music videos as they could screen the videos without having to be present in a studio, yet the artists/record companies received royalties - record companies began to exploit the financial rewards of MTV.

Michael Jackson's Thriller made music video history due to the effects and vibrant display. It sustained a captivating narrative - almost a hybrid of a thriller (hence the title) and a horror wrapped into a music video. Released in 1983, MTV was already incredibly popular, meaning Thriller received plenty of air time.

1984 saw MTV's official music video awards launched, encapsulating just how important video convergence is to the industry, a song could be mediocre however if the video was deemed interesting my the public, a promo alone could win an artist an honour.

At the time of it's release (1986), Dire Straits' Money for Nothing music video was considered not only an innovation in the music video industry, but ground breaking. It utilised advanced computer animation software that illustrated the bands lyrics, this alone placed it top of the charts and also top of the music video charts for it's compelling narrative features.

Audience Survey Results

How the texts I have analysed have informed my research

In order to obtain useful information to help my research, I have analysed a plethora of videos to make my research eclectic. By analysing texts from a variety of different sources, I can gain a more detailed insight into the interests of my target audience (with help from my survey). For example, many of the videos I have analysed are of an Indie Rock/Pop origin, however, I have also taken the time to analyse Hip Hop/Rap songs to diversify my research - the more I know about the expectations of each target audience the more informed and well rounded my research will be. YouTube is a useful tool in dissecting subcultures, for instance, if you were a fan of The Jam (a prominent figure in spurring the mod revival in the 70s/80s) and watched the official video for "That's Entertainment" or "Going Underground", it is likely that on the column to the right bands such as Small Faces, The Who, The Clash and possibly even bands who emerged slightly later than The Jam such as Oasis and The Stone Roses - bands who have both cited The Jam as primary influences in their music - would be suggested as viable listening options to the viewer. Essentially, if someone listens to The Jam, it is quite possible that they also listen to a few of the other bands mentioned above, therefore if my target audience enjoy Guns N' Roses (falling more into the rock/metal genre) it can be postulated that they also enjoy bands such as Motley Crue, Aerosmith or even AC/DC.

Therein, I will be analysing an array of videos deriving from a number of different sources to gain a better knowledge of the conventions of different music videos that go with certain genres. Famous music videos such as Thriller - Michael Jackson and Money for Nothing - Dire Straits will be analysed to dissect the components that constitute such a successful music video. Contemporary texts must also be analysed to gain an insight into what is compelling consumers in the present day.

Textual Analysis: David Bowie - "Space Oddity"

Camera
The video features the use of a handheld camera at the beginning of the video to allow for a sense of realism, as if the audience are in the room with the artist. As has become customary, an ECU was used on the artist at the beginning of the song to connote their significance. By opening the video through the use of a handheld camera,

Mise en Scene

Bowie, who was a significant figure in pioneering the 'glam rock' era, sports a variety of flamboyant outfits, often styalised with sequins/glitter finishes on his shirt to catch the light and draw attention. Bowie also wears make up, making him appear paler in conjunction with his orange hair - a trademark of Bowie's at the time which gave him that feminine, ideosyncratic edge over other artists.

Audience Survey

In order to gain more of an insight into what demographic I will be creating for, please fill out my audience survey to help me collate data for the research section of my blog.

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