Magazine Advertisement Analysis - Catfish and the Bottlemen

Magazine Advertisement Analysis - Broods

Magazine Advertisement Analysis - Hozier

Magazine Advertisement Analysis - Circa Waves

Magazine Advertisement Analysis - The Wombats

Digipak Research - Analysis of Milky Chance's Album Cover

Digipak Research - Analysis of The Wombat's Album Cover

Digipak Research - Analysis of The Temper Trap's Album Cover

Digipak Research - Analysis of Kodaline's Album Cover

Digipak Research - Analysis of Broods' Album Cover

Ancillary Task - Digipak Research

Before we began brainstorming ideas of what we wanted our digipak to look like, we needed to look at examples of real media that were already out there. We researched, and found a variety of existing album covers. We specifically searched for artists that fall within the indie genre, due to the fact that this the genre that Littlewing fit in to.
It was fairly easy for us to find artists that fitted into the indie genre, and therefore the album covers, because myself and the other member of my production group both listen to that genre of music. We put them together on a mood board, as used this a source of inspiration when creating our own digipak.

Ancillary Task - Artist Iconography

Main Task - Final Cut

Having now included a narrative in our music video, it looks very different to how our second cut did. The inclusion of the narrative was a very good choice, as it broke up the performance, and helped to match the song at times - particularly when the song was slower - as performance wouldn't have fit as well.
We also added more cuts, now that we had all of the footage that we wanted happily in place, and we matched these to the beat of the song as well.
Finally, to really make our music video look professional, we added titles and institutional logos, which made it feel like a real music video, and I was very pleased with the final outcome.

Main Task - Production - Shoot 2 (Narrative)

Having come to the decision that we needed to film a narrative to accompany the performance element, we needed to film within quite a short space of time. Fortunately, organising a date for production was a lot more straight forward, due to the fact there was only three of us, and we all lived very local.

We chose to film at another forest location near to us, as we wanted it to appear as if it had all been filmed in one day, to avoid it look jarring. We walked for almost an hour around the forest, until we found a spot that was on the bed of the river, but wasn't too exposed to the sun, as we didn't want the shots to be over exposed.
In our storyboard, we had wanted a shot of the couple walking up some stairs into the sunshine. We couldn't believe our luck when we walked along the river to find a wooden staircase leading up into the sunshine. The location was quite romantic, and clearly reflected the relationship between the couple. So overall, we were very pleased with how this shoot turned out.

Main Task - Shoot 2 (Narrative) - Storyboard

Research and Planning - Casting

Once we had chosen to add a narrative section to our music video, we needed to find extra cast members to fill the roles in the narrative. As part of our narrative, we required a girl that looked quite similar to the lead singer Annie, particularly having similar hair. This was needed as our narrative would make the audience think that Annie was in a relationship with the boy, however it would be revealed at the end that it is in fact a different girl.

However, when we re-evaluated our narrative, we realised that this was far too complex, so we chose to just include shots of the couple. In terms of casting, after searching for a girl that looked similar, we realised that my production partner looked the most similar, and after some convincing, she was willing to be part of the music video. As for the male lead, I knew that my friend had done some acting before, so therefore wouldn't find it too awkward to be part of the narrative - pretending to be in a relationship.

Main Task - Post Production - Second Cut

Having re-watched our music video many times since finishing the first cut, we realised that some of the shots we had used were quite weak in comparison to some which we were yet to even use at all. Due to the fact we had such a large amount of footage, we were about to go through our video and remove all of the flat and weak shots, and replace them with something much better.
A problem we knew that was existing in our first cut was that we didn't have enough cuts. In order to improve this. we decided to listen to the track again (without any of the visuals), and create a graph communicating the pace of the song visually for us.

By creating this graph, it made it clear to us which points in the song were fast paced, and therefore would require a lot more cuts. It was quite easy to add more cuts in the music video, as we realised we had a lot of shots that were far too long, so this graph helped up choose where to make the shots shorter.
However one problem we were yet to fix following the editing of the second cut was what to put in the slower paced section of the song. We asked our peers for feedback, and they said that it was becoming slightly repetitive having just a performance, so maybe we should think about also including a narrative to accompany it. Myself and my partner discussed this, and we realised that we had known it all along, but we had just had our finger's crossed that it would all work out.
Although we were going to have to do another shoot to film the narrative, it wasn't too bad, because we had storyboarded a narrative as an initial idea, so we were able to use that as a starting point.

Main Task - Post Production - First Cut

Having completed a film opening at AS, the thought of editing a music video seemed relatively easy, due to the fact we now had far more experience of using Final Cut Pro. However, as soon as we started placing our shots on the timeline, we knew the editing process was going to far more difficult than we had initially thought.
We noticed that we have to make much quicker cuts that we had made when creating our music video as we needed the cuts to match the pace of the song. Also, we did encounter one major problem when editing that we had never had to deal with before: the syncing of sound to visuals.
Due to the fact we had chosen to do a performance music video, we had to sync up Annie's singing in the visuals to that in the audio, which was quite difficult. Although, we found it most problematic to sync the instruments to the sound, particularly the drums, as as times they were being played quite fast.

For our first cut, we aimed to just get a rough placing of where the shots would be within the song. We knew that we definitely didn't have enough cuts, however we left it for the moment, as we knew that was something we could change when we more finely edited the music video. The point in the song we were struggling to fill though was the slower section two minutes into the song, so for the first cut we chose to just use a generic montage of the band from cuts filmed during the production process.

Editing

Editing is the process of selecting, manipulating and joining together pieces of footage in order to create a new piece of film. There are several rules to follow as part of editing, such as match on action, however these rules don't apply to every type of film; for example, match on action isn't required to be used in a music video.

Match on action
Match on action is an editing technique in which one shot cuts to another shot, but the action is continued through both shots, and it matches up exactly. This technique is used to create an impression of continuity, and a fluid sequence helps maintain the viewer's attention, so it isn't drawn away by misplaced cuts.

Shrinking time
Shrinking time is the process of showing an amount of the plot within a shorter amount of screen time. For example, irrelevant shots could be removed from a sequence to make it go from a screen time of 30 seconds to a screen time of 10 seconds. The process of shrinking can be very effective, when  used in the correct scenario.

Expanding time
Expanding time is the complete opposite of shrinking time: showing an amount of the plot, but taking far longer to do it. There are many ways this can be done, either by decreasing the frame rate of the shot, or by adding more shots into the sequence. Although this could make a sequence boring, it can be used effectively, to build tension, or to match a rhythm in a music video.

Finding Rhythm
When it comes to creating a music video, the editor has to make a decision; whether to make cuts on or off beat. It can be dependent on the genre of the song, as fast, rock tracks will tend to cut on beat, whereas more mellow songs might not be so strict with making cuts on beat.

Main Task - Production - Shoot 1 (Performance)

Having finally managed to find a date that most of the team could do, we were ready to film. Unfortunately, due to work commitments, I was unable to be there on shoot day, but this is the feedback I received from my production partner after film. Luckily, however, one of our friends was able to accompany my production partner on the shoot, and was in control of the second camera.

We were very fortunate in that the day we had chosen to film on was very sunny - something we were concerned about due to the fact that British weather is so unpredictable. If the weather had been bad, it wouldn't have matched the tone of the song, and therefore the entire music video wouldn't have fitted together with the audio.
The drummer of the band had a practice space at his house that he allowed us to use, which helped reflect the rustic, DIY nature of the indie band. The space itself was quite wooden, and therefore didn't look particularly interesting on camera. Fortunately, prior to the shoot day, myself and my production partner had collated a variety of props, such as patterned backdrops and fairy lights. The simple use of a colourful backdrop made the setting look a lot more exciting on screen. The only issue that my partner found with the practice space was that it was quite small, meaning she was unable to get any wide shots of the band from this location.

After filming at the performance space for roughly an hour, the drummer informed my partner about a forest area that was just across the road from his house. So, laden down with camera equipment, instruments and fairy lights, they all headed down to the forest area. This location fitted perfectly with the genre of the song, as indie music videos are often filmed in places very similar, due to the fact they are so easily accessible. 
After having set up in what they thought was a good location, my production partner realised it was far too bright, meaning that the shots were overexposed. Having moved somewhere slightly darker, the team continued to shoot, and managed to get a lot of footage, including some wide shots, in the time they had left. My production partner was very happy with the footage, due to the fact it was what we had envisioned when storyboarding prior to production.

Main Task - Props List

Main Task - Shot List

Main Task - Shoot 1 (Performance) - Storyboard

Main Task - Research and Planning - Lighting and Colour

Our chosen was a very upbeat, light-hearted track, so we knew that the lighting and colour of the music video would need to reflect this.
As we had planned to film in an outdoor location for most of our music video, we were going to be quite reliant on the weather being good. However, if the weather was good on the day of shooting, we hoped that the sun would pick out the greens and yellows of a forest as it goes into the autumn time.

Green has connotations of positivity and growth, and yellow has connotations of optimism and happiness, which fit well with the tone of the song. However, it is ironic that these colours and the tone of the song is quite optimistic, because the lyrics themselves are in a way quite negative, as the singer has lost the person they love.

Main Task - Research and Planning - Location

Performance Shoot
When it came to choosing the location of our music video, we had to think about the logistics of filming somewhere near the band. We knew that, due to the song having an upbeat tempo, we wanted to preferable film somewhere that was outside, and hopefully sunny. The only issue with this is that we would have to rely on the weather being good, and in September in England, 

that is very much 50/50.
After some correspondence with the band, Annie told us how her dad owned a warehouse, so we could have the great opportunity to film in there, and in the countryside surrounding it. However, as the date of production drew nearer, we were informed that there would be construction work happening on production day, so we would be unable to film in the original location.
With production day drawing nearer, we had to go back to the drawing board to try and find a new filming location. Fortunately, the drummer of the band offered for us to film in the practice studio in his house,and get some outside shots in the forest near his house. I was concerned that it would be a lot of work for my partner to do by herself, but luckily she found another person who could film on the second camera, and help with carrying the equipment between locations. The performance space itself was quite plain, so we used props such as fairy lights and patterned backdrops to make it look more interesting.

Narrative Shoot
When it came to shooting the narrative sections of the music video, we wanted to choose a location that would fit seamlessly with the performance sections, without having to go to the same location which was quite far away. I had watched a music video for 'Comes and Goes' by COVEY, and I liked the shots of people walking through leaves and trees. Therefore, we chose to film in another forest location that was close to both ourselves and the male cast member.

Audience of the Indie Genre

I was interested to see what the consumption of music within the indie genre was like, particularly in Britain.

One of the first figures I found showed that within a focus a focus group, more people accessed their music through social networking, as opposed to downloads. This is good as we would be sharing our music video through YouTube, so more people would be likely to view it, than if it was simply available for download.

As of 2014, according to a survey in America, in 3 of the last 5 years (2009-2014), alternative music has been the most popular genre in sales, with over 50 million albums sold each year. This is very interesting, as I would have highly anticipated pop to be the most popular genre, because the pop genre gets so much play time, both on TV and radio. This shows that the genre of our artists Littlewing is far more popular than we initially thought.

Indie music

• When crossover artists are included with the statistics of music genre, country music is the #1 genre in the United States, accounting for 27.6% of all music listened to regularly.
• Classic Rock from the 1960′s to the 1980′s, which is typically #1 in this type of category, came in second place by a full percentage point.
• Indie music, which when listed as its own genre is the fastest growing music genre, still comes in below current Top 40 hits and popular music from the 80′s and 90′s.
• 18-to-25-year-olds are twice as likely to say they are fans of country music.
• For teens, country music in the US ranks as their third most popular genre of music they regularly listen to.
• More people listen to music from their generation when they grew up when compared to new music that is released today.
• Only 3 music genres saw increases in listenership. Besides country, hard rock and 90′s hits saw increases.

     This show that indie as a genre has become a lot more popular in the past few years, and this could be due to the fact that indie artists are now able to distirbute their music a lot easier. Social networking means that unknown artists, such as Littlewing, are now able to get their music online for free without having to pay expensive fees to get an agent to distribute it.

Main Task - Initial Shoot Ideas

When we were initially storyboarding ideas, we weren't sure whether we were going to have just a performance based music video, or whether we were going to also have an element of narrative as well.

Therefore, we chose to listen to the song and just draw images and shots that we thought would fit with the song, putting into practice the idea of synaesthesia that we had previously explored.

Main Task - Research and Planning - Costume

When it came to the costume of our band, we wanted to stick with their existing representation. As Littlewing aren't very well known, we felt it would be best to stick with the way in which the way in which they already were: that way new audiences would be seeing a real representation.
Within the indie genre, most artists tend to wear quite casual clothing, particular in performance music videos, so it would clearly represent the genre of the band, without even requiring music for this to be obvious.

Main Task - 'Wasting Time' - Lyrics Analysis

Main Task - Artist Correspondence

We managed to find Littlewing through a friend, and due to the fact they have a Facebook page for the band, it was very easy to make initial contact with them. We made most of the correspondence with the lead singer Annie, who was then able to contact the other members of the band for us. 
They were very willing to help us with creating a music video. I think was particularly because they are an independent, so it would be very useful to them to have a music video created for free.
They had a lot of faith in us by letting us create a music video for their song, as they had to trust that we would make a music video that they could use themselves.
Obviously, we had hoped for the band to feature in the music video, and having asked them, they seemed more than happy to.

Following this initial contact, Annie forwarded the message onto the rest of the band to make sure they would be up for it, and thankfully they were. It was so useful to be able to work with the band directly, due to the fact they themselves had written the song, so if they had ideas for the music video they were able to tell us.

It seemed like it had been plain sailing organising what the music video would be like with the band. However we encountered one issue; trying to find a date to film. We realised that it was near impossible to find a date that 5 people from 2 different locations could do. Eventually, we found a date that the band and my partner could do, but I was unable to get time off work to help. Although I was disappointed that I would be there for production, it was the only day that all the band could do, so I entrusted my partner to complete the shoot for me.

Main Task - Chosen Song - 'Wasting Time' - Littlewing

We chose the song 'Wasting Time' by Littlewing to produce a music video for. They have three songs on their EP, however we chose this song because it was quite light hearted, and the song itself wasn;t over-produced, so if we chose to create a live performance element as part of our music video, it would be feasible.
Also, production would be taking place in summer/early autumn. Although British weather is unpredictable, we hoped that it would be quite pleasant weather, and this would therefore fit well with the tone of the song.

Main Task - Chosen Artist - Littlewing

Littlewing is a three piece alternative-rock band from Buckinghamshire.

Annie Needham (Guitar / Vocals)
Joe Humphrey (Drums)
Nick Morgan (Bass / BV's) 

Chloe got in contact with Littlewing after having found some of their music from their EP 'Barricades ' on Soundcloud. We had found that they were from Buckinghamshire, which was pretty local for us, so it seemed that finding a location for shooting would be easier, as we wouldn't have to travel far to accommodate for the band. 

Having got in contact with them, they were more than happy for us to create a music video for them, as they had wanted one made for ages, and they trusted that we would make one that they would be able to use in their own marketing.

Main Task - Initial Ideas

Before we chose the final song that we would create a music video for, we decided to brainstorm about the style and genre of music video that we wanted to create. Both myself and Chloe (the girl I worked alongside) are into indie music, particularly bands such as Bombay Bicycle Club, Two Door Cinema Club, and The Vaccines. Therefore we knew that when it came to picking a song, it should probably be within the indie genre, as it is something we both like and are interested in. At this point we didn't know what style of music video we wanted to create, so we just jotted down possible venues, bands and genres that we could use as our starting point.

Music Video Analysis: Indie Alternative: Hozier - Work Song



Performer and Record Label

Andrew Hozier-Byrne, known professionally by the mononym Hozier, is an Irish indie rock singer and songwriter from Bray, and he is signed to Island Records. Island Records is a major record label that operates as a division of Universal Music Group

Narrative

The music video for 'Work Song' is focused around the romantic relations between people, and these relationships have been demonstrated through dance and movement. The song itself is about how sometimes people can be pulled away from the one they love, but in the end they will always try to find a way back to them. This is particularly demonstrated through the line:

'No grave, can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her'

The use of dance as opposed to a usual narrative I feel makes the narrative more open to interpretation. It could be seen that the pairs of dancers are dancing to symbolise the love between them, but it could also be seen as the break up of a relationship, and the male in the relationship attempting to 'crawl home' to the female: he is trying to win the female back.

Mise en scene
The entirety of the music video takes place inside a building, which looks like a barn. It has been set up to look like a live performance of a Hozier song, and the rest of the cast have been made to appear like audience members of the gig. The location for the music video could have been created in a studio, due to the fact it is only one location to create. Also, by creating the setting in a studio, you are able to control the lighting more easily. At one point in the music video, majority of the cast leave, leaving only the dancers in the room. Although the same location is used, this change in cast members make it appear at first to the audience as if the room has changed.

Costume, Make Up and Props
The costume of the cast seems to fit well with the location on the music video. With it being set within what appears to be a barn, the actors are wearing quite rural clothing: the women wearing shirt dress, and the men wearing quite loose fitting shirts. The make up of all of the cast is also very minimalist, which reinforces the rural location of the music video. Throughout the music video there aren't many major props, so it could be considered that the dancers themselves are the main props of the music video. They are helping drive the narrative, due to the fact that they are telling the audience a story of love through their movements.

Lighting and Colour
The lighting in this music is quite natural, and almost appears to be daylight. However it is clear that synthetic lighting has been used to achieve this, due to the fact you are unable to control daylight, so the levels of light could change throughout the day. Also, throughout the video, it appears like there are several small spotlights that are moving around the entirety of the location.
The video itself has quite a warm tone to it, mainly due to the browns of the location, accompanied by the colouring of the dancer's clothing. This warm tone matches well with the rawness of the artist Hozier's voice, so the visuals accompanied by the sound work very well together.

Camera and Editing
The editing throughout the music video is quite basic, in that time hasn't been shrunk or expanded, and there hasn't been any unusual transitions between shots used. The camera is very mobile throughout the whole music video, which allows us to see all of the dancing, accompanied by Hozier singing. The close ups in the music video tend to mainly be of Hozier, due to the fact that the dancers are constantly moving, so the use of a wide shot or a medium close up allows the audience to see all of their movements.

Music Video Analysis: Indie Alternative: The Wombats - Give Me a Try

Performer and Record Label

The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool. The band is signed to 14th Floor Records in the United Kingdom and Bright Antenna in the United States.

14th Floor Records is a British subsidiarity record label of Warner Music UK, founded in 2002 by part owner Christian Tattersfield.



Narrative

There isn't one set narrative throughout the music video, however it is based around the concept of dating apps, and the people that use them. Close up shots of people's phones show the app that appears to look similar to apps such as Tinder. Part of the music video shows the people on the app taking their profile pictures, showing that people can be quite different behind what you can see in the picture. Throughout the music video, several dates take place, connecting several of the narratives together, as they have an unsuccessful date and then go on a another date with a new person. I feel that this music video is very successful due to how current it is, due to the fact such a high number of people have used dating sites and dating apps at some point in their life. By using some a popular subject, it means that more people are able to directly relate to the music video, meaning they are more likely to enjoy the music video.

Mise en scene

The music video takes place over many different locations, mainly because the locations tend to be at the different settings of the dates, such as a restaurant. However lots of the different locations tend to occur when different people are shown in the setting of their profile pictures. This has been shown as a montage, as it is a series of different clips, without any diegetic sound. I would say that for this music video, there has been a mixture of filming in a  studio and filming on location. I think that some of the shots of the people that use the app were filmed in a studio, because they would have been easier to set up to look how they imagined, rather than filming on a location where you would probable have to move everything around anyway.

Costume, Make Up and Props

There are a variety of different costumes used throughout the music video that help communicate to the audience the personality of the character. This shows that costume is very important when creating a music video or film, as the dress of the person can help be a judge of character. One of the most important props throughout the music video is a mobile phone, as it could be considered that the mobile phone helps to drive the narrative. Close ups of the screen of the phone allow us as the audience to see the potential dates of each character, and then allows us to see who it is they end up matched with.

Lighting and Colour

I reckon that additional lighting has been used to help light some of the scenes, particularly those of them that take place inside. However, I also think that the final shot of a girl leaving her house to go on a date with a new guy has also had additional used within it to make sure that the shot was bright enough, due to the fact it was filmed during the night time. They have probably used more of a yellow toned light so that it doesn't appear as harsh in the shot as a white light would look.

Camera and Editing

The editing throughout the music video is quite basic, in that time hasn't been shrunk or expanded, and there hasn't been any unusual transitions between shots used. Throughout the music video, a mixture of wide shots and medium close ups have been used in order to show to the audience the different characters that are using the dating site. Wide shots are used to establish the location of the person, and then medium close ups and close ups have been used to show the characteristics of the person, by showing objects relating to them, or different body parts, such as the tattoos of the hand of one man in the music video.