History of a music video

Throughout time music has changed, whether its the genre of Rock & Roll or Pop all genres have made a dramatic transformation, which has defined the music industry and made the whole world of music change and become more dynamic and diverse.

From legends like Rod Stewert and Queen who dominated the charts for the Rock industry to Bob Marley who opened up the music industry for black and oriented people as before him, people uneducated and ignorant to other cultures did not believe that Reggae music should be pursuaded.Not only has music entertained people but a whole worldwind of emotions and indepth stories which may not have been known if it wasnt for music.

'Top of the Pops' which was aired on the BBC was one of the most dominant music shows featured of the 21st century, which involved the most popular singers/bands of the week to perform to build up the stars fanbase and acheive more publicity with their music. Also it was vital to be shown on such shows as Totp because music videos were only shown on a couple of tv shows, and video footage for music videos would usually be live footage of the performers as diverse videos were not yet to be achieved in the technical world but this also benifited the artist as their demographic would witness their idols performing without autotune or miming.

More recently in the past 30 years artists have adapted to the use of becoming a marketing puppet, which involves the stars being moulded to fit the music criteria of what the music companies think are 'perfect' for the industry, so they will make artists (especially new artists) conform to singing songs that the artist doesn't necessarily like but record labels agree will sell. But music used to be what an artist wrote and the fanbase would know the star more personally as they have wrote the songs.

The use of music videos has really encouraged the artist to engage with their demographic; such artists as Lady Gaga will provide videos to shock and entertain her audiences as this links her with her audience as she requires their needs of being an individual and providing footage fit for her wacky lyrics.

1970's

The late 1970's was completely different to today where artists can easily create and air music videos, the majority of music artists would appear on the show Top Of The Pops which was considered an opportunity in the music industry that helped artists become more established and known in the industry. By performing on the television show, obviously it was broadcasted meaning through this appearance they was automatically more recognized for their music/talent. This show broadcasted all current songs too, this made it vital for artists to appear on the show in order to be considered current and popular and reach out the a potential target audience, they would also obviously appear alongside already popular artists meaning they became familiar with the industry too. Before this the only type of music video that was created was performance based, this had both disadvantages and advantages, the disadvantages meant it was difficult to stand out against other artists as all music videos were similar, it also made it harder to distinguish the genre of music their music video fell into. However with a performance based music video it showed the artist live meaning the audience could easily see their talent. 

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody was the first music video to step away from the performance based music video that all audiences were familiar with, the music video being different is a big factor in why the music video and song went on to be so successful. Despite it being so successful, due to the technology still limiting the music video the video still looks of a lower quality as opposed to music videos produced today, this is evident as this music vide was created with a videotape whereas today we have various pieces of equipment to create one music video. While some artists continued to create performance based music videos, many decided to experiment with concept and narrative based music videos which contributed to their success as it interested the audiences as it was new and different from the music videos they were used to. This made it easier for a artist to become successful and profitable from the music video, giving artists a advantage when creating different music videos this was because they could create something thats interesting meaning more people will view it, as they're considered more interesting than a performance based music video.

1980's-1991.

Slowly as more music videos were created where a music video could differ from usual conventions, they became just as popular as the song and artists themselves. The music videos developing with the software gradually also made it easier for the artist to create a certain image for themselves, e.g. a innocent image could be portrayed through a simple music video with the artist and a love narrative whereas a more edgy image could be created if the female artist was dressed and dancing provocatively. MTV is a network created in the US, its massively successful and recognized globally, although it was created in 1981 MTV has developed and changed according to the times meaning it air's the most current music, it began airing Madonna who contributed also to how big music videos were to become, it helped the artist not only establish a certain image it gave them a personality at the same time that the audience could take in. It also provided the opportunity for the fan base and target audiences to become more involved with the artist they found interesting, as the you become more familiar with who the artist was from how the artist was represented. Music videos soon became necessary to create publicity for the artist, taking all this into consideration the music videos still are no where near as advanced as they are today with all the software and technology that has been developed to edit the music videos making them of a higher quality. 

Group Magazine

For our group magazine, we tried to interpret the theme of R&B but also a hint of Pop throughout advertising for a promotional tour advert. Both me and Nadine took time looking at our Rita Ora (our artists) posters and also artists that are familar to her and of the same convention; we took inspiration with other posters/advertisements layout, designs and contrasts of colours.

I feel that this poster connects with a demographic of both R&B conventions and Pop as the bold and intimidating font and dark/edgy colours red and black appeal to a stereotypical R&B fanbase, which contrasts to the bubblegum pink background which suggests the artist has a fun and bubbly side to her which helps to intrique both audiences of a R&B and Pop demographic.

The 'Roc Nation' logo helps to lure in any fans of the record labels fanbase as the label is very popular label which manages stars like Jay Z, Kayne West and Rihanna ext. Which sets out huge expectations for this up and coming artist.

I feel this advert is good as it is clear who theartist is and what the advert is telling us to do, and is crucial to appeal to both male and female audiences with the use of pink and black. The font also can showa metaphor for the artist by suggesting that because the fonts are different sizes that she doesnt take herself to seriously and has different sides to her.                                                     

The 2nd promotional advert has a more edgy vibe to it, which features reds and blacks which suggests the artist is mysterious and has a bold and intimidating persona, which fans might be interested to find out more about but also a much more controversal font that some audiences may find hard to view. We felt the glow on the artist and 'Wonderland' suggests a more ghostly and interesting effect which makes it stand out against the bold red background. However the use of Italic and swirly writing helps to engage a more feminine and girly audience but also portrays the artists fun side.

The actual advertising of this poster is more specific and helps the audience with what the album looks like and relates the poster back to the album of the digipak which is more simplistic for the demographic.

We felt that this poster was overall more effective as the colours seem to have a consistancy of a colour scheme and the overall look of the poster is proffesional. Also the conventions of the advert can easily be compared to our chosen artist Rita Ora as she like to use dark and powerful colours and have a close up of her face and all the information that is needed is on the advert.

One way I think this poster could be improved would be to have a popular radio station or magazine to rate us or comment about the album, which will also be good for the media for our artist and audiences will be even more intriqued to find out about her.

We decided the most effective of the 3 magazines was thelast advert to the right, because it not only advertises the artist but also the product which is shown in the bottom left hand side of the composition and by developing our own research into magazine we acknowledged the fact that audiences do not want to be overwhelmed by loads of writing but a basic and straight to the point layout of an R&B convention, which we have tried to follow in this advert, which we felt as a group was eye catching, followed the theme of red,black and white which creates a rough vibe to the artist which helps connect the artist and demographic.

We felt that the poster that Nadine created for the group was successful and really helped capture the look of the R&B vibe we was going for as the text used was hard hitting and we felt looked professional as we see the artist and the product which in the real world really helped promote the artist.

      

Filming Schedule

It is easier to keep to the storyline of the video, and helps us to stay on track with a schedule as we will have a clearer understand of what we need to do, how long it will take and what will be happening in our scenes. This helps us to not waste time by filming random shots that we may not use and also how to be successful with the use of fast pace editing as filming a forest for long periods of time will not be entertaining for the viewer. 

This will also help with our acting as we know what character we will be portraying and have a deeper understanding to what we are trying to portray in our video, instead of getting withdrawn from the project and losing crucial ideas that will make the video professional and th best of its ability.

Did you follow the schedule while filming or did you make changes to the initial plans?

We initially wanted to follow the schedule as closely as possible because we did not want to confuse the audience and wanted the story of our narrative based video to be clear. However we did come across a few altorations which effected our filming; we had quite a few trouble filming due to weather issues as the severe rain would have damaged our props and also due to us filming in the Winter season it became dark very quickly which really put a holt on our initial plans but this also benifited us as we thought of better ideas and a solution of filming.What would have been the forest scenes instead we thought would be more beniffical filming indoors,which mkes the video appear unique as not many artists use home footage in their videos and will relate to the theme of a conventional R&B video as we have tried to porceive a cool and laid back vibe to the video which will hopefully make the audience feel comfortable with the artist. So even though we did struggle with some major parts of our filming process we have over come what could have been major problems and used this to the best of our advantage, which hopefully after he editing process has finished will show a sucessful and professionl music video.

Risk assessment

It is crucial to keep in mind risk assessments as our group will be filming in areas like London which can be extremely dangerous if risk assessments are not involved ie. props,actors and equipment. Also we must take into acount other members of the public as we could put them in harm. With our sparklers for example we will have to make sure we have a bucket of water near by just encase the sparks get out of control, also it would be necessary to wear gloves encase the actors burn their hands. 

1. Work out what areas in location could be a hazard.

2. If the actors are in any danger and what could harm them 

3. Be precausious and decide and evaluation the risks

4. Record findings and discuss of how we can prevent props/actors from danger.

5. Update and review 

THE RISK:

Is the chance high or low, that somebody could be harmed by the hazards, together with an indication of how serious the harm could be. Which would be crucial to insist when using any of our props but especially crucial when they could seriously hurt someone and that could get us in trouble.

Planning location

Forest

We will be opening our video in a forest which will firstly show our video to have a original setting and will define our video more clearly to have an alice in wonderland take into the world of hopes of dreams for our young artist. We want our video to be fun and a bit quirky to really connect our artist/genre and video all into one. The girl playing the persona of alice in the video will start under a tree reading a book, which will admediatly start the music which introduces another character to the scene who will play the rabbit persona of Alice in Wonderland who leads her on an adventure to the wonderland that is London. The forest scenes will show a variety of establishing shots, long shots and panning shots to make the scene appear confusing like we are in the alice esque actors brain and taking this journey with her. We will have to keep in mind that for safety measures if the grass is muddy we will not be able to run as actors may hurt themselves and also the surface of the tripod is steady as the shots will appear wonky and uneven which wont make our filming professional. Also any unsteady surfaces could cause injuries so we will have to take this into consideration but on a possitive side we will not have the bother of other members of the public, so the scene will not be as complicated to film.

Brick lane:

To create an urban vibe to our vibe; we have located one of scenes in brick lane,which is well known for indie/individual people to hang out as it has a laid back back and arty feel to it with its various graffiti walls which we thought would be ideal t the video. In various parts of the video we will show short jump cuts throughout of the artist singing against the wall which endulges the audience with the the area and that the artist is trying to appear as cool and we think think that the walls will look proffesional. Our artist Rita Ora tries to keep her music videos original and orientated so thats what we have tried to put across in the video as graffiti walls are not so glamourous but the artist in the vieo somehow feels at home with them and released from the crazy 'Fantasy world' which we will be locating in central London. Various close ups and midshots of the album will be shown here as the audience can connect with our artist and help to distinctly reconise her.

London:

London is the must place to be, so it was only necessary that we showed central london as our 'Fantasy World' as this is the place that could make your dreams come true, but it could also crush them; which is the overall moral to our music video. By editing the lights from the city and cars on final cut editing,we feel that we can really exagerate and empasize the look and make them appear more disirable for an overall more detailed visual metaphor. By creating a story with our video we will show off how london appears to seem so magical and endearing but as the video goes o our Alice in Wonderland esque actor of the video gets lost in the more brutal side of london and doesnt like the downwards spiral she has got herself caught up in; This is a metaphor as some things in life may look nice but could have a whole other meaning if you look into to it.

Their are risks while filming in london that might set our filming back as we will be relying off weather and if it rains we will have to be careful of our filming equipment encase it gets damaged. But the weather could either way work in our favour as when attempting to show the glamourous side of london, if it was a bright day this would show hope and success, butalso if the weather is cloudy and grey this could connotate sadness and the downwards spiral of losing control in this wonderland.  Another effect we may come across while filming would be how packed london will be at cerain times of the day, so it would be necessary to look into what days and times would be best to film and also certain areas in london may need permision to flm.

Photoshoot

It was essential to carry out a photoshoot as it is necessary for fans to connect with the artist and shows the artists image as the audience can interpret the look of an artist with their own and a look of an artist/group can sometimes effect if the demographic can relate and like them; acts like One Direction may not technically have the best voices but young teenage girls will more likely be tempted to buy an album because they are attractive. For our photoshoot we decided that we wanted our pictures to be conventional of our artists genre as they are a crossover artist of R&B/Pop and decided it's important to draw in fans of both sides of the music. It is crucual that the audience begin to reconise their artist and will help grow a bond between a fanbase and an artist/band. 

The 2 images to the right we decided, it was best not to use them as our the cover of our cd; we feel that this image was a great image as the colours in the face seem to pop out to the viwer and also the artist shows a happiness behind her eyes which makes the audience feel comfortable with the star. However we come to the conclusion that the overall image would suit a well known star better as only half of the face can be seen, which suggess we should know the artist already, which would not be ideal for up and coming artists.

The angle of the shot is ideal as it appears that the artist is inferior to the audience and feels as though she is waiting for the audience to judge her. But this would genrally be better suited if the star was just a Pop star and does not perceive a R&B vibe with her look as she does not appear intimedating to the audience which stars like Rihanna or Nicki Minaj thrive for when creating their covers. Also the colour of the overall image looks of a sepia colour which is unprofessional so would need to pay more attention to lighting in the furture. So this is why we decided to not use this as our artists first album cover.

                                                                                             

       

This final image was one of the many images taken from the photoshoot, but we felt had the most professional feel to it and really appeals to a R&B/Pop demographic. The artist looks like a star and she is connecting with the audience through her eyes as the close up feels intimate with the artist and the audience. Through the use of photoshop I feel that the image could have huge potential but would have created more effect and would be easier to edit in photoshop with a green screen background, but still this image creates an intensity that Beyonce and Rihanna use to entice fans to buy their music.
Our groups photoshoot consisted of wide shots and long shots but I think to make the images appear more proffesional we could have maybe took more time editing photos to give a touch up and more images including extreme close ups as the star is still not very well known so the demographic must have a clear idea of what the artist looks like.However a long shot of an artist gets across the whole personality of the star and what they wear and you can have more of an insight into how they would act which is also benifical with new musicians; which we will know in the future when creating a photoshoot for a new artist.