Story Board

Mood board

50s Hair Designs

   
These are all hairdoes we are considering to style our actress with. We will be trying out what we can do when we decide on an actress to star in the video.

50s Dress Designs

   
Above are the designs we like for the 50s themed dress for the dream scenes. They have a strong 50s look to them and we especially like the idea of polka dots.

50s Women vs Modern Women

    

These pictures show the vast contrast between a women in modern day and in the 50s. As you can see, the idea of what it means to be in the public eye has changed dramatically. It also shows how fashions have vastly changed over time not only in clothing but in breast size. Both of the modern day women have come to prominence through reality tv shows, a complete contrast to 50s female icons who where known for talents. Even there poses show how society has changed. The 50s icons have a elegant modest feel to there photos, whereas the modern day women both have similar poses that are not modest at all and there faces look full of attitude. 

Looking at 50s videos.

Looking at 50s videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2wfMxD1bBU&feature=related

The 50s artist hadn’t caught on to music videos yet, this is how they promoted themselves through live performances. Heres Elvis performing hound dog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4hXyALR9vI&playnext=1&list=PL1899A65B05D750EC

Peggy Lees Fever performance has inspired us to do a singing scene in black and white to really shine the 50s theme. We have an idea to have the characters red lips to be the only thing in colour connotating  the  strength of a women

Ideas For 50s Theme

Ther Plot

The plot

We have come up with the plot heavily based around the title Romance is Dead. The plot follows a young modern woman through a troubled relationship but we have come up with the idea to flick between her reality and her fantasy. Her fantasy will be based in the 1950s and we will use the stereotypical image of a women back then to emphasise the dreamy 50s state. It will show how relationships differ from then and now commenting critically on how romance is dead in our modern world and people stay together for the sake of not being single. We have come up with an idea of having a typical 50s spotlighted stage and her singing into a 50s  mic (seen above) whilst flicking to her modern day reality and having the couple argue. We want a twist in the end and we want to see the women throw a pregnancy test at the man in anger and then in the 50s turn on the situation have her happily pregnant. This is the basic plot of the story and we are currently drawing up a story plan for it.

Changing of music videos of Female Artists

If we were too look back of the earlier 'music videos' we see a massive difference from what we see now. For example the jazz musician Bessie Smith when she was filmed performing to accompany her popular songs it mainly focused on her as time went on we have seen a dramatic change in how female artists are seen in there videos.  For example Marylin Monroe- Diamonds are a girls best friend we see more of a theatrical approach where there has been more thought of to how the singer will be portrayed and a focus on how she looks. We can see this today in such artists as  Lady Gaga.

Testing the Macs

We have now attempted to use the macs in school to test them out
Unfortunately we do not have the ability to use transitions in the school macs so we will have to go to facilities outside of school.  However, we have tried out putting music to moving imagery and using some of the effects available on the school macs.

Annotation of Lyrics

Lyrics to Paloma Faiths Romance is Dead

Lyrics to Romance Is Dead :

The plastic flowers you gave for sit on the table so unstable
And there is some greasy finger prints on the pre-wrote birthday card you wrote your name in
And I know that you make your effort
But I think you could do much better


A rose is blue and violets red
Say it isn't true Don't tell me romance is dead
So wake up you sleepy head
All your dreams are just a kiss away...


I ask you for a letter so you emailed, Have we failed?
Oh, you kiss with such a potential,
Then ask to speed up
It's not enough
Now I am carrying my own bags up,
17 flights of stairs, love


A rose is blue and violets red
Say it isn't true, don't tell me romance is dead
So wake up sleepy head
Think of all the magic we could make
All your dreams is just a kiss away...


You shouldn't take just valentine day
Just to show you love me
You don't need any money,
Just abit of imagination


A rose is blue and violets red
You say it isn't true,
Don't tell me romance is dead
So wake up you sleepy head
Think of all the magic we could make
All your dreams is just a kiss away


All roses blue and violets red
You say it isn't true
Don't tell me romance is dead
So wake up you sleepy head
Think of all the magic we could make
[bis]
All your dreams is just a kiss away!

Contacting Paloma Faith

We had Posted a Message on Paloma Faiths fan website. As well as that i know someone who is in contact with paloma faith we are hoping to send a letter through him to get to get to her to inform her of our music video. This is a work in progress and Im sure there will be updates if we get feedback from her.

Theme ideas

Themes

 The theme that shines through in our many ideas in our discussions is the 50s theme.  Its brings about such strong imagery to mind that we feel it would be fun to play with the idea further. Paloma Faith herself has said to be inspired by the 50s era making this theme relevant to her music.

She's a modern artist we wanted to reflect that but also incorporate the 50s era. We looked at 50s imagery like advert posters from the time to see the portrayal of women. As we looked further into the role fo a women in the 1950s we saw a great contrast to now. This is another theme we hope to bring forward in our music video, the contrast between the modern day women and a 1950s women. We then went on to look at Anne Taintor's portrayal of women in that time period which shows a twist on the stereotypical look of a 1950s housewife. So this has also influenced our decision to use the 1950s theme.

Artist Research

Paloma Faith Blomfield is a British singer-songwriter and actress born July 21st 1985 in Hackney, London to a Spanish father and English mother. She was raised by her mother in Stoke Newington after her parents split, who encouraged her as a child to dance and she attended weekly ballet lessons. This led to her going on to study for a degree in contemporary dance after her A-Levels at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. She later dropped out and applied for an MA in theatre directing at Central Saint Martins College or Art and Design whilst taking on numerous part time jobs to fund her studies.



Her first attempts at music began when she mimicked famous soul and jazz singers including Etta James and Billie Holiday, whom she admires and also influenced her own work and 1950s style. She worked in a pub where she would also front her manager's band which later became known as 'Paloma and the Penetrators' and during this time period she was scouted by an A&R man from Epic records, who invited her to perform for the manager of the label. She was later offered a contract, when her music on her myspace page began to stand out with hit songs that weren't generic.


In 2009, she released her debut single "Stone Cold Sober", then her debut album, Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?, which was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. Her album stayed within the top 40 album charts for over forty weeks and she has released five singles: "Stone Cold Sober", "New York", title track "Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?", "Upside Down" and "Smoke & Mirrors" of the album.

Final Song Choice

Final Song Choice

Following my 50s idea I started to look at artists now a days who where inspired by the 50s. An artist I also came across was soul/pop singer Paloma Faith. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvGSrU2F9U&feature=fvsr Her song Romance is dead has great lyrics and through these lyrics we have started to come up with ideas for possible stories so we have decided this is our final song choice. I am looking forward to delving deeper into the possible 50s theme. In class we have started to recap on the narrative theories and from this I hope this helps with our music video.

The lyrics we have started to annotate and we already have a few ideas floating round. The concept I feel cant be too literal but it also must have some relation to the songs. I think the idea of a dieing romance is a strong one and has potential for development so I hope we pursue this. An idea we have includes the narrative theory of binary opposition. It incorporates young which would be modern day vs old which would be our 50s idea. We hope to develop this rough idea further to see how we could use it in our video. We have outlined a rough storyboard and at the moment we are just seeing what ideas fit well with the lyrics and what ideas do not. Through the storyboards we are seeing what clips would fit the timing of the song and what ideas simply do not flow well with the song.

Song choice updates

Song Choice Updates

We have discussed further our song choices. The Pictures with their Tears track from the hit TV show Must be the Music  who are also unsigned have come up. Another song that has popped up is Elvis Presley’s lesser well known songs called “ When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again’. I really love the 50s era and I feel it has such strong imagery with the 50s rock nd roll look of denim jacket, quiffs and brillcreme that something along those lines would come through well in a music video.

song choice ideas

Song Choice

We as a group are still deciding on what song should be used for our music video. Variouse songs have been discussed and we have written a list of possibilities. On this list includes an unsigned artist called Alex Lambert with his song Dream with open eyes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebGQ3FaQN7o

 We found him on myspace and we liked the lyrics to the song.

Others on our list include Tinashe’s She gives a Damn and Gary Allen with Nothing on but the radio. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4-FaTaIWh0 We have started brainstorming very rough ideas for these songs but we feel the ideas are just too cliché or just don’t have a strong enough storyline to them. Also on our list is Bob Marleys Buffulo Soldier and Eddy Grant Electric Avenue but we feel these songs are far too commercial and already have music videos to them so our ideas might be clouded by there original videos concepts.

Gagas Fame Album research

1. This is a very strong image for a first album which is needed to gain attention. It shows Lady Gaga’s love of strange fashion with the glasses. Her name is clearly shown at the bottom against a dark background making it stand out.
2. Not showing her eyes in this picture dehumanises her. It shows more of the Lady Gaga character rather than the artist herself and naming herself Lady Gaga also adds to this.
3. The crystal on the glasses shows her need obsession with fame and the glitz and glamour that come with that. The fact the album is called the fame also reinforces this obsession.
4. The famous saying ‘Diamond in the Rough’ is quite fitting when looking at this image. She came from fairly humble backgrounds and now has made something of herself.
5. The dark shadow on her part of her face adds mystery to her character. This image makes the audience want to find out more about who this Lady Gaga is and that’s what makes it a very strong first album cover.

Album analysis

1. This image shows great power mimicking that of a super hero, which are seen also in the title of the album ‘ the adventures of bobby ray’ which is styled in a comic book sense.
2. The image of him as been edited to make him look slightly animated again bringing out a comic look theme .
3. This is his first album so a strong visual image of him is needed for the album to stand out. His name is also in bright yellow which helps this.
4. His styling is very important as is all musicians, so his jewellery you can see on his hand, his glasses and his jeans all portray a ‘cool’ image for a younger audience.
5. The use of the four elements Earth, Wind, Water and Fire emphasise the super hero theme and his pose also looks like he’s about to take off or has landed echoing the comic book feel.

1. The dark use of colour gives the album cover an eary , creepy feeling.

2. There is strong imagery of death (the bed made of bones, the grim reaper like character, the dead flowers) adding to the sinister feel to the piece.

3. The strong emotion flying at you in this album is fear. The little girls face clearly shows terror and her teddy adds to her innocence and therefore adding to the horror we see in her eyes. This relates to the songs on the album which include ‘Burned Alive’ and ‘Nightmare’

4. There is a clear inspiration from horror movies in this. The full moon and the graveyard is a clear cliché horror film look and the horrid batted skull leering over the tomb stone adds to this horror film inspired cover.

5. The lack of the bands name on the front cover is clear in white but the album name is in red and slightly less clear to see. This is good marketing as the band name stands out.

Album cover research

Album Cover Research

1. The image shows Elvis doing what he was famous for.
2. The fact the pictures shown from the waste upwards shows the prudish times where they thought his dance moves where vulgar so to please a larger audience this photo is of him waste up
3. In true rock and roll style hes strumming his guitar which is although you cant see it well in the picture his customized guitar which has his name carved into it.
4. Hes wearing shirt and tie which connotates a polite gentlemen.
5. His name is in bright colours to stand out and also with the use of pink and green it would broaden its appeal to both young females and males

Peter Gabriel Sledgehammer Analyse

Peter Gabriel Sledgehammer

The song by Peter Gabriel’s music video was for its time revolutionary in terms of the use of special effects.  Its use of claymation, pixilation, and stop motion animation gave this video a place in music video history. It won a  nine MTV Video Music Awards in 1987, a record which is still held today and it is the most played music video in MTVs history. The mad crazy movements create a chaotic effect and it takes the explicitness out of the lyrics. The video was filmed one frame at a time which gave it a flip book feel to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqyc37aOqT0

Analysis of a Music Video

Study of music video

Alejandro Music video studyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niqrrmev4mA

Lady Gaga’s Alejandra has loads of religious connotations in it. Reasons behind this Lady Gaga herself, has not explained so it is up for interpretation as to what this video means although shes explained its about the gay community which strongly comes through in the video. This is my interpretation of what the video shows. The video begins with the climax of the story. It is therefore a circular narrative. Its plot is of Gaga’s characters mourning over the end of a relationship, her love of the gay community and her sexuality all of which are battling with her religious beliefs. The subplot is of a young man struggling with his homosexuality. At the beginning of the video the only man to be awake is the character who is struggling with his homosexuality. The fact that the rest of the soldiers are asleep could symbolise his struggle to fit in or his secrecy of his sexuality. In the USA army there was a policy  called Don’t Ask Don’t Tell which restricted soldiers who where gay from telling/being allowed to be open about there sexuality in the army. Lady Gaga was a public figure who helped repeal this, but it was not repealed when this video came out. This has significance when looking at this video.  The mise en scene is very militant and dark which again reinforces my previous point. Uniforms are worn which are comparable to Nazi dress sense of strong dark uniforms. In my opinion Gaga tried to show the absurdity of this law by comparing the restriction to Nazism. 

The clip after shows men marching forward which symbolises the strength and power of the gay community marching forward for equality. The bright light in the background and the fact there walking from a higher ground into darkness could be symbolic of the religious rejection of the gay community in accordance to the bible.

The fact that that light fades out onto lady gagas face portrays her as an almost God like figure. The goggle she is wearing could symbolise religion can cloud people’s views on things, in relation to this video its symbolic of the religious views on the gay community and how that can cloud its followers views. The goggles glass themselves are like stain glass windows which is again evidence of the religious connotation.

The fading to the images of the funeral suggests it is a past memory. And the fact Gagas is wearing black connotates her mourning someone, and the heart with the A made of nails and thorns suggests its the character alejandro she is mourning. The heart’s nails and thorns, in my opinion could connotate two things. The nails and thorns in terms of religious terminology can be connected to Jesus’ crucifixion in which he’s nailed to the cross and has a crown of thorns around his head.

 Gaga is looking down on the men whose choreography is very rough and rigid, showing their battle with their homosexuality. It also symbolises Lady Gaga as a Gay icon, which she is fast becoming, as they are physically looking up to her almost in a worshipping sense.

Goodwins Music Video Analysis

We studied Goodwins Music Video Analysis

1.Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work.

5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6. There is often intertextual reference

Editing Music Videos

Editing

The most common form of editing associated with the music videos is fast cut montage, this ensures multiple views for the audience who on the first watch probably wouldn’t catch everything. This means more promotion for the artist. The editing of course has to relate to the speed and feel of the song itself. So fast cut montage would work particularly well with an upbeat song. However, if the song is a slower one the editing would have to fit with it. So, slow pace and gentler transitions could be used to establish the mood of the piece. This type of editing is apparent for the work of many female solo artists with a broad audience appeal such as Dido http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-fWDrZSiZs

A video without editing would be incredibly difficult to pull off. Very few artists have attempted such a task as editing helps the mood and pace fo the video. Lisa Loeb’s Stay, however, is a very cleverly choreographed music video with no cuts and no edits. Its done by a hand held camera using steadicam. The camera positions and singers movements around the flat would of needed very accurate planning. It took 8 takes to get it correct http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70PR5pinGs8

Camera Work for Music Videos

Camera Work for Music Videos

The choice of camera angles in any moving image sequence will have a significant impact upon the meaning. We as a group realise much analyses in our camera shots and movement  for our music video will need to be done. Camera movement may accompany movement of performances (walking, dancing etc) but it may also be used to create a more dynamic feel to stage performance, by for instance circling performers as they perform on stage.

Another example of how camera angles can affect an audience is close up as it predominantly creates a sense of intimacy for the viewer. It also emphasises the product on sale in terms of the artist and the song itself. 

Introduction to music videos

Introduction to music videosSince cinema was invented it created the ability to bring songs and music to life. The first appearances have been said to appear as early as the 20s with jazz musicians such as Bessie smith making short films to accompany popular songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyRwomM37j8&feature=fvsr

Musicals too have been putting image to music for many years, incorporated an artist performing musical numbers in film stretching back to the 1920s.

Before channels such as MTV film which incorporated music could only really be seen in cinemas or the few TVs that where around. The first music video has been said to be Elvis Presley’s jailhouse rock. Its said to be the first short film of an artist performing one of there hits.

By 1965 Bob dylans film Subterranean Homesick Blues for D.A, Pennebakers film, Don’t Look Back is widely credited as one of the first modern music videos. The 1970s brought about record labels discovering TV shows as a great opportunity to promote their artists. They focussed on producing short promo videos which these early music videos began to replace the live performance of the artist on the TV stage.

One of the most iconic music video that came out in this era was Queens 1975 video of Bohemian Rhapsody. It was a completely new experimental music video with advanced visual affects for its time. The language of the video also helped to create the atmosphere for the shoot. With channels such as MTV hits which came around purely to play music videos the market for such exposure hit off. The first music video ever to be played on MTV was the Video Killed The Radio Star video by the Buggles in 1981. Another iconic music video was Micheal Jacksons Thriller which in 1983 Was the first of its kind as he created a short film completely based around the song. With advances in technology musicians have been able to transform the music video into what it is today with such affects as this video demonstrates