Special effects

Because our music video will include performances, we wanted to use transparent materials to give effects rather than do it by editing. We had ideas of filming through stuff like glass and plastics, I went away and took photos of our locations. When I was taking the photos I realised some filters worked really well but I had to put the filter right in front of the camera lense to not to have any reflection.

I think red and blue worked really well and if we use this it will be good to signify the artist lyrics and her feelings. Red has the dominant meaning of love or anger in our video red represents anger and rage. For blue we could say that she wants to be free maybe like heaven and hell. She wants to run away from her reality and dream something new.
by Sung min

Church location

One location we wanted to film was inside a church where it could represent a place the artist feels safe and protected. I went around New Malden churhces to ask if they could allows to film inside, however because of the things we wear and sing they weren't totally happy. I think this is due to prejudices and the relationship that has been highly built up between religion and world music. So we did not get the chance to film in there but we had other alternative location like the house to show a place where she feels safe.

by Sung min

Locations

Our group sat down and thought about locations that matches with our music video and places which we could go and film and orgnise props.

Locations
-Piccadly circus-busy location which matches with confused mind of the singer(lyrics)
-China town-it has lots of red banners which is the colour that we want
-River side-matched with her state of mind, wants to go somewhere and find her self
-Grave yard-one of our narrative scene includes self-harming so we thought grave yard is a good place to film
-Camden-lot of people with same style and characteristic like our band concept and the music
-Cathedral/church-a place where she can her self or can rest(her own place)
-Drama studio in school-dark and dull if we use lighting effectively than we might produce a great effect
-underground station-very compact place and where we can use intertextuality
-band stand-could be used to do performance scene
-coffin-links to grave yard location but we thought of actually filming inside the coffin(make one maybe)
-house-we want to show that she doesn't feel comfortable in her own house
-car-again a very compact place but it would work
-phonebox-relate this location to how she feels about herself and she needs help from someone, maybe by calling someone
-bus-shows her everyday lifestyle
-school corridor-where she gets bullied
-play ground-she wants to go back to her past and hange things and this could represent her naiveness
-train station-again relates to river side location where she wants to go somewhere
-ally way-shows how she is trapped in her situation
-graffity-could be used as a bacround when performing

The downside of the locations was that in some places we had get permission to film and some places there would be too many people to film.

These are pictures of some locations that we will film:

Props
-costume
-microphone
-drum machine
-guitar
Other things we need when shooting may include: -fog machine

                                                                           -fairy lights

                                                                           -speaker

Through out the music video we are going to change the costume
-main actor-she is going to wear baggy trousers with flats and hair up but after she is going to wear heels, skirt and her hair down.
-bully-she is going to wear a skirt, heels and hair down but after she is going to wear trousers, flats and hair up.

by Sung min

Research on different music videos

One idea that we had when performing is use white and black to show evil vs black. One music video that I found is Korean but it only used white and black with random but meaningful objects to produce their music video.

One thing that drew my attention was the lighting that is used at the backround its simple but effective. I also noticed that they used editing alot like slow motion to match it with the music. If we only use white and black we have to think about where we set our location and costumes. We thought of using only white and black becasue it creates atmosphere and we want to show the evil character of the girl.

The above music video has a narrative based on the lyrics. This one uses limited colours but there is a part where she changes from white to black which I thought it matches with our lyrics.One thing that I liked was the costume that she is wearing when performing the dance. The lyrics are asking for desparate souls to come to her and rest which matches the narrative that is showing. In our music video we are thinking of having the narrative but in a way that she is getting the confidence.



One other interesting Korean music video was a group of singers called 'Three brothers' and i don't know if they actually sang it or if they are just dancers. But the video looked really unique and it made me think about the lyrics more because there wasn't a narrative. However the dance routine actually matches with the lyrics. Even though our music is not romance or love centered music which we could have a dance routine, but the locations are simple but it works really well, it looks natural which we want to do it as well.



Even though is not a band, the video made me think about the use of third as well as the importance of costumes. In our music video we don't want the band to wear bright clothes but something that shows their characteristics.


One music video that also made me think about location is 'Empire state of mind'. This also does not have narrative but used different locations and shown them as pictures matched to the beats to the music.



In our music video, I want lots of different locations because than we have more shots to use and more variety of different style of shots.


Further more, one music video that I found out had special editing skills included which made the video to be made like a comic book.



Our song is like a girl who was not confident about her self but as the song is played on she gets more confident, the music video exactly shows how we can show this if we include narrative. The camera movements, costume and location. Also this vidoe has voyeuristic shots of the girl singer this is done by what she wears and low and high angle camera shots. In our music video we don't want voyeuristic shots but high and low angle will be good to use.


I had the idea of making the guitarists to wear masks because then it creates atmosphere and lets the audience to concentrate on the singer when performing. One music video that used masks to cover people's faces that I found is not a bnad but it makes the audience to focus on the main characters. Also if we could, I want to use the technique where the character moves or stands sill and other things move or stand still. In order to this, we may need to include narrative.


by Sung min

M-E-S

Mise-en-scene is delibratelly used for audiences to make them want to hear or see the video again. It needs to be extraordinary and to do this production companies use lighting, props, costumes, different camera movements and fram being changed frequently. However, something ordinary in a pop video becomes extra-ordinary.

Therefore, as a group we need to research of the roles that we are taking as we produce the music video. For me I will direct and film so I need to research camera angles and shots which matches with the music. I can do this by looking at the similar types of music video and learn.

by Sung min

Don't want these

On 21st of September as a starter we had to brainstorm what we don't want to have in our music video. These are the lists:
1)A lot of lighting-our style of the music is gothic and punk so bright scenes will not work
2)flowers-this is an example of a prop that we don't want
3)voyeurism of the girl-because we are performing as a band and the singer should look strong we will not film the artist in a voyeuristic way but may include close ups
4)a lot of colour-this links to not having a lot of light, we want limited colours to give more impct

by Sung min

Band Name

Our band name we decided to use is 'CherryDeadPsycho'. We also made up the band name members which are: Luna Blackheart, Misty Clouds, Jynx Williams. We gave each band member a different charactersic for example Jynx is sweet and kind so we made her nickname Cherry and vise versa for the other band members.This is where the idea for the name of the band came from, we put the names in that persific order because it is alphabetical. It would sound weird if it was in the order of how the band stood together, 'PsychoCherryDead'. 

By Louise Thorne

Band name

It was difficult to come up with a band name, the first idea was to call it Blackheart but this became the surname of the singer therefore we did not want to use surname of one of our band member. We wanted to have a name that represents our each character so we talked about it and came up with the name CherryDeadPsycho and I think it is a very meaningful name.
by Sung min

Star image

Richard Dyer said "A star is an image contructed from a range of materials".

Construction of a pop star
-The song (lyrical themes and musical structures/genres)
-The record covers (image of the star, singles and albums-digital age)
-Media coverage (interviews about career and private life through tabloid gossip)
-Live performances (image through the stage show)
-The music videos (draw upon the image presented in each of the other aspects)

Re-construction of image
-Each video may also draw upon its predecessor both in reinforcng the star's existing image and in taking the image on further, perhaps in new directions.
-Thus, music videos will act as a showcase for the star's talents and plat a significant part in the constucted ad maintenance of their image.

by Sung min

What is Narrative?

Todorov's Structual Theory-He believed that every narrative moves through a period of transformation in progressing towards its conclusion.
1)Equilibrium or normality
2)Disruption of the equilibrium
3)Recognition of the distuption
4)Attempts to repair the disrution
5)Return to equilibrium/normality

As a class we applyed the theory to Shrek 2.
1)Shrek and Fiona are married (a happy family)
2)Prince and Fairy godmother
3)Drinking the portion (happily ever after potion)
4)Goes back to an orgar and prevent Fiona from kissing prince Charming
5)Return to an orgar

Propp's 'Structural' Theory
He was a Russian critic and folklorist. He summurised character roles that motivate the story.
1)Hero
2)Villain
3)Dispatcher
4)Donor
5)Helper
6)Heroine
7)False hero

We are able to recognise these character roles from early stage of experiences which the industies have built up with their audiences. Not all characters may be found in all narratives and sometimes updated versions of the more traditional roles may be presented.

Through this lesson, I have learnt that if we include a narrative in our music video we have to think about the relationships between the lyrics and the narrative introduced. Also think about Propp's theory and Todorov's which will make the audience easier to understand when watching the music video because the characters introduced already have been experienced.

by Sung min

Narrative and pop video

 We applyed Todorov's Structual Theory to a pop video 'Love is a battle field' by Pat Banatar.
1)Equilibrium-a happy family
2)Disruption-getting kicked out of the house
3)Recognition-missing each other (letters)
4)Repair-standing up to the villain (dancing)
5)Return-happy again (freedom gained)

Poetic and suggestive narrative
-Narrative in songs, as in poetry, is rarely complete and often fragmentary. The same is true of music promos, which tend to suggest storylines or often complex fraagments in a non-linear order, leaving the viewer with the desire to see them again.

Intertextuality
-Music videos draw upon existing texts in order to spark recognition in the audience
-They draw upon the cinema traditions (fashion, art and photography)
As an example, music video 'She and him' shows high school, romance and glee.

Narrative and performance
-Often music videos will cut between a narratice and a performance of the song by the band
-Choreographed dance
-Artist as part of story;narrator and participant

by Sung min

Pop music

Music videos are successful when its theory of voyeurism, intertextuality and narrative are presented. The key element is voyeurism, this builds sense of pleasure from watching and looking. Also it makes the audience to feel that they are secretely looking or watching and its done by camera control, diclating in the male point of view. This idea comes from Freud, and it has been used in Media Studies particularly in explaining the gendered pleasure of cinema. It has been argued that the male viewer gain sexual pleasure when the objectified female body is on display. However, in my point of view not always theory of voyeurism works. I think it depends on the type of music, lyrics and the singers.

Goodwin on Voyeurism
-He argues that the female performer will frequently be objectified in this way, often through a combination of camera work and editing with fragmented body shots emphasising a sexualised treatment of the star.

Moving on further, audiences accept the fact that it's ok for female performers to be shown this way even though they know there is an uneven split of men and women in pop videos. An exmaple is men don't have to take off their clothes but women should but this makes money therefore female artists sacrifice themselves.

In male performance videos too, the idea of voyeuristic treatment of the famlae body is often apparent with the use of dancers as adorments flattering the male star ego.

Beyonce is known to be religious person however 'Crazy right now in Love' music video is showing completely different side of her from what she believes. This is shown by what she is wearing (like a table dancer), performing for the camera, being objectified (not the artist controlling), she is his accessories (dancing around him), man dressed up properly but not the artist, she is being fragmented and slow motion is used to emphasize and exaggerate voyeurism.

by Sung min

Adverts

An advert should have:
1)What is being sold
2)Target audience
3)How audience is persuaded to buy that product
4)Choice of music/track/image of the artist (this adds to the advert)

As class we looked at an advert on VW car brand, this used CGI to show the intertextuality of original movie 'Singing in the rain'. VW is golf CTI for business people and music/dance/image of the artist is used to show urban culture and people will see you as an out going person if you ride the car. CGI is used on the classic movie clip and chose singing in the rain because the advert wanted to show that the weather might be miserable bout you are happy with your life.

Also we looked at a Gap advert; boyfriend jeans. The target audieces were females aged 18+ to 35 and the advert shows a strong independant woman and it's done like a musical. The reason why it is produced as a musical is because you don't have say much but the things that you want to say is expressed by facial expressions and the lyrics.

For more reseach, I looked at few more adverts. Cadbury's Gorillar advert was a massive hit. The gorilla's costume cost them a lot of money but I think Cadbury succeded in getting consumers to remember their product. For example, consumers will remember Cadbury in their subconscious when they look at purple things also the music got famouse because of the comercial but also it works really well with the concept of the advert. Further more, if a consumer never tried the product they might buy it at some point becasue the advert made them wonder what kind of flavour it could be.

Skoda's Fabia advert used music from 'Sound of music' which is an intertextuality. The lyrics and the visual of the advert murges in very well. However, when people watched this advert consumers wanted to taste the car made of out of cake rather than buying it.

Purpose of advertising is to make you want to buy the product and make the brand stay in your head. Music videos are like adverts but much more fluid. Therefore, when we make our music video we should think like as it is a long advert which sells the product and the artist also pursuade audiences to demand more. To do this we should plan carefully on mise-en-scene, camera and editing skills. For mise-en-scene think of good places to film for our backround but with meaning that relates to the our music also think about props that we are going to use to give more emphasism. The way the camera moves will determine how audience feels after watching the video therefore we should apply sence of voyerism by filming at different angles to give more shoots when editing. Special effects by editing will make our music video more eye-catching as we match it to the lyrics and visuals.
by Sung min

Research on costumes

Costumes are important because it give more to the representation of the artist as well as the theme of the song. So I went away to research on costumes that other bands wear who sings the kind of songs that we are going to make the music video. Because our song is punk and gothic style, we wanted the singer to wear a corset and fortunately one of our group member had one so it was easy for us to get the costumes ready. For the guitarists, we wanted to match the jeans and boots but the top to wear something significant. So for cherry she wore read scarf and for dead she wore a skull drawn t-shirt.

These are the some pictures of gothic style:

by Sung min

More on Intertextuality

I looked at McFly's 'Party girl' music video and film 'Twilight'.

-both includes vampires
-similar mise-en-scene(i.e where the house is and mountain backrounds)
-they are both set in 20Centuary style, this is shown by how they dress up
-silimar story(human becoming vampires) but no love triangles in the music video
-props(i.e vampire teeth) adds affects to the mise-en-scene

Twilight is a very well known film which includes vampires and love story between human and vampires. I think McFly used this to attract more fans(teenagers) which shows a good exmaple of an intertextual product.

Intertextuality

As an example of intertextuality, we looked at Moulin Rouge(series of pop videos laid out as film) and Mr.Brightside by The Killers.

-set in a bursteque show
-thells the story of a fated love triangle, the lowly boy, the star singer and the wealthy playboy
-many similarities of mise-en-scene
-similarities in production values and technical codes
-use of same/similar scences and set ups
-use of CGI(e.g fireworks) adding to the impact of mise-en-scene
-period costumes and props are set

Moulin Rouge is a successful film which has unique sense of showing the story line and this helped music video Mr.Brightside to be understood better by the audience.

From this lesson, I have learnt that for our music video to be understood better we need to research music videos similar to our type of music so that we can produce intertextual images. But not only from music videos but films and the lifetyle(reality) of people.

by Sung min

Andrew Goodwin Theory

Andrew Goodwin is a music video theorist who also wrote a book called the 'Dancing in the distraction factory'. He summarised the key characteristics of music videos:

1)Genres-characteristics (e.g boy band will have a dance routine/heavy metal groups will have stage performance or some kind of performance)
2)Relationship between lyrics/ visual-this can be interpreted metaphorically
3)Relationship between music/visual
4)To increase demand of the record, it will include lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs in a visual style
5)Motion of looking (e.g screens within screens) and to sell the artist it will have voyeuristic treatment of the female body
6)Intertextual reference (e.g films, TV programmes)

As an example of how Goodwin's theory is applied as a class we looked at 'Can't get you out of my head' by Kylie Minogue.

1)Genre(characteristics)-dance routine included and she dances as well
-she does not have a lot of clothes on(flesh exposed)
2)Lyrics and visuals-can't get you out of my head, literal interpretation as she hold her head
-set me free, pace of editing changes (dissolves/ fades to white) and the use of slowmotion
3)Music and visulas-amplication of the music is shown by her being angelic
4)Demands of record-lots of close ups of her face and body/low angle shots to make her look bigger
5)Voyeurism-artist wearing white short pants with hood
6)Intertextuality-music video by Beyonce 'Crazy in love', sci-fi films and video games

Lastly, we looked more in depth on Goodwin's thoery:
1)Genre-develops over time and patterns are extablished and the music video have to show what the audience expects so that they would understand better
2)Lyrics and visulas-this establishes a whole new area of meaning to the audience
3)Music and visuals-this is not varifying to the lyrics but refering to just what you hear, there is a huge link between music and visuals becuase the visual is amplifying the music
4)Record company don't make MV, production companies do and selling records does not make them money, they make money by selling tickets and merchendises
5)Voyeurism-this is usually established when marketing female popstars by filming fragmentic body shots
6)Intertextuality-borrow from successful music videos

Through this lesson we learnt that in our music video we have to include some kind of performance because it is the kind of music that has that characteristics. Also that we need to think about how we are going to show the relationship between lyricas/visuals and music/visuals. In addition even though our music is not the kind of music that includes voyeurism of female body shots, we must use extrem close ups and eye-catching camera shots or angles to attract the audience and further on use intertextuality something that the audience is already aware of or know so that they understand better what we are trying to show.

by Sung min

Applying Andrew Goodwin's Theory

I looked 2 other different style music videos and tried to apply Andrew Goodwin’s Theory.

Lady Gaga-Paparazzi

1)Genre-dance routine included and she dances as well

2)Lyrics and visuals-the title of the song is ‘Paparazzi’

and the main chorus of the song repeats the word paparazzi. As the music video is played static photo shots are shown which represents the pictures that paparazzi took of her this shows the relationship of lyrics and visuals

3)Music and visuals- the scene changes according to the music and her clothing, hairstyle and facial expression changes as the music tone changes

4)Demands of records-extreme close ups of her body and face/extraordinary clothes draws consumers attention

5)Voyeurism-the word ‘paparazzi’ is self creates voyeurism because it makes the audience feel like we are framing her and going after her everyday like a paparazzi and because of her unique clothing style her flesh is exposed

6)Intertextuality-paparazzi manners towards stars

Sara Bareilles-Love song

1)Genre-artist playing the piano and sings at the same time, different types of characters introduces in the music video

2)Lyrics and visuals-it does not have strong relationship between lyrics and visuals but people that goes in to the box to listen her music tells us that people need love songs

3)Music and visuals-this one also does not have strong relationship however her clothing style matches with the music that she plays (i.e romance/love-light coloured tone dress)

4)Demands of records-people who like this kind of music would buy it mainly it would be girls because the lyrics attract them

5)Voyeurism-there isn’t much of voyeurism in the music video but there are some close ups of her face

6)Intertextuality-old and vintage style setting when people used to listen to the music from the machine by inserting a coin rather than downloading like these days

by Sung min

Naming the artist

Choosing the names of the artists was difficult as choosing the song. Because our music is indie pop, punk, emo style we wanted a gothic names. Each of us gave some ideas but it wasn't good enough so we used our best friend...the INTERNET. We typed in gothic names and it gave us list of names that we could choose. We didn't copy it but we had some idea how to make it better and tried to come with names that will represent the characteristics that the bad members have.

So we came up with these:-Luna Blackheart (main singer)

                                           -Jynx Williams (lead guitarist)

                                           -Misty Clouds (back up guitarist)

by Sung min