Lesson -15.06.12

In today's lesson we focused on coming up with an idea for a music video we were going to do, and coming up with the storyboard for it. My group is me, Rabia, Aysha and Gamze. Aysha and Gamze are the actors in our song, Rabia is in charge of the camera, and I am the director of the video. The song we chose was 'Barbie Girl' by Aqua. We wanted to choose a song that would be fun to do, because we wanted to show our creative side in a music video. First, we printed the lyrics off, so as we could learn them for when we started filming. We then created a storyboard of ideas for our music video. Once we'd done this, we showed our teacher and started to film our first scene. We couldn't film much, as we didn't have any props or costumes, so we did a first draft. This was particularly helpful as we know exactly what to do when it comes to filming the actual thing.

Two music videos: 1910-1970

The first music video I researched was 'Hey Jude' by The Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney, and was released in August 1968, and was the longest single to top the British charts- seven minutes long. The Beatles recorded 'Hey Jude' at Abbey Road Studios, and was nominated for the Grammy Awards of 1969 and and in 1968, it was voted the best single of the year in NME magazine. The video I have used is effective, like the 'House of the rising sun' video, as it shows all the vocals of the band via close up shots. They have used instruments which may seem as though it has not been lip synced, and is live, and so more authentic and 'real'.

The second music video I researched was 'Walk On By' by Dionne Warwick. It was written by Dionne Warwick herself, and was recorded at the same December 1963 session that yielded her hit 'Anyone who had a heart". 'Walk On By' was released in April 1964 it's peak position in the UK singles chart was number eight. There were several remakes of the song, by artists such as Bobby Kris, Isaac Hayes, Jo Jo Zep and Sybil. The music video is quite interesting, as it plays on the title. The video sees Dionne walking past chairs throughout the entire video, playing on the title 'Walk On By', as she's literally just walking past them, not doing anything else. There are also close up shots of her, so as the audience know what the artist looks like. The original video is not available, but below is a recording of the song.

 

Music- late 60's and early 70's

Many "song films" were produced by UK artists, so as they could be screened on TV when the bands were not available to appear live. The UK band 'The Kinks' made the first plot promo clips for a song. In the video, the layout is that of a comic book, for their song 'Dead End Street'. It also shows photo stills of the great depression as well as no lip sync, which was unusual at this time.

Mick Rock was a director for some of David Bowie's music videos, and he said "In all cases I waived any fee for their promotional usage. Nobody had any idea at the time that people would one day pay money for such things". David and Mick both underestimated how successful he would be, especially with such hits as Space Oddity and Life On Mars. He had to work on a tiny budget, but had total control on what he wanted to do with the music video. His promo Life On Mars was famous and recognisable because of two main aspects; the turqoise suit that Bowie made, and the make up rendered by glammeister.

'House of the Rising Sun'- analysis

In the first lesson, we watched the music video the song 'House of the Rising Sun' by The Animals. It was made in 1964 and so the obvious reasoning for the transitions is the lack of technology. Also, the transitions were slow which reflected the slow beat of the song, and the close up shots allowed the audience to see the members of the band in more detail. There was also a pan shot which established the scene the music video was set in, and was used before the music started to prepare the audience that the music was about to start. The band were lip syncing, and it was effective because it looked as though they weren't- the instruments also made it seem like they weren't.

Introduction

This blog will be used for my A2 Media Studies coursework. I will be focusing on music videos and eventually making my own one, as well as a digipak to go with it.