MUSIC VIDEO FIRST CUT

Here is the first cut of my music video, as it is only my first attempt I intend to improve the cuts and sharpen the editing. I struggled with my footage, as the song was relatively long, so therefore I attempted to make the song fade out at the end.

magazine advert analysis

Florence + the Machine is a female artist with a powerful and euphoric voice, and has a more feminine brand identity. This advert for her album lungs, continues the house style set out in the digipak cover and continues the presentation of her as a strong yet feminine artist. The font used for "Florene + the machine" is used to present her in a feminine way, as it is neat and curved. The fonts used for the title "LUNGS" is bold to make it stand out and appear in a powerful way, while putting more focus on the central photograph. The central focus is put on the photo of Florence Welch, as it is of main importance in this magazine advert. It catches the readers eye, and then they read downwards to see the main details of the album. The text saying "includes the singles Rabbit heart (raise it up), Dog Days are Over & Kiss with a Fist" is so the audience will see that songs they recognise and enjoy are featured on the album, and it'll associate the artist with the songs that they know and make them want to buy the album. The paleness of Florence in the photograph and the white colour of the text, has connotations of purity as her music has an almost angelic sound to it. Florence and the Machine come under the more indie or alternative genre, so the imagery here is more quirky and different. It focuses less on the glamorous presentation of the artist, and more on the meaning behind the music that she writes.

Unlike Florence + the Machine, Ellie Goulding comes under the popular music genre.  This advertisement focuses more on the attractive appearance of the artist. Her brand identity, focuses around sparkles and bright lights that look pretty ad relates to the writing of the music. Like Florence, the house style portrayed by the album cover is continued in the magazine advert as the same fonts are used and a similar use of sparkles around Ellie's head. The same font as used on the album cover is also included in the magazine advert, as it will be something audiences will easily recognise when going to buy the album. The colour of gold gives of suggestions of something magical or mystical, that Ellie Goulding's music has a general theme of.

digipak practice

As part of my pre production planning for my digipak, I decided to attempt to design a digipak using in design. I have not used this programme before, so decided to experiment and see if it is the best software for me to design my digipak with.

Here are the results of my practice lay out for my digipak. As I am only experimenting, I used images I got of the internet that are similar to what I intend to use for my final digipak design. I feel I have created the product I set out to do, however I found it difficult to implement some of the tools within in design.

In my final digipak, I think I will use Photoshop instead as it is the software I am used to using and will create the best possible product with.

As this is only an initial practice, I haven't included the track listing on the back of the album and some other features that would need to be included. I have created the title using a thinner font, however I think in my final design I want to use something more bold which will stand out more easily.

Mood Board

This is my mood board for my target audience of my music video. The song is under the genre of acoustic music, and the audience generally consists of girls between the ages of 14-18. A popular artist of the genre is Ed Sheeran, who has a more casual and laid back presentation. Fans of the genre tend to value the music itself, rather than the appearance or presentation of the artist. Acoustic music tends to be very popular around autumn and winter time, due to it's relaxed sound and calm mood. Audiences greatly enjoy attending live gigs by their favourite acoustic musicians, and these also have the same relaxed atmosphere that goes with the music. The topicality of many songs tends to be focused around love and relationships, as well as devastating break ups. The audience of young girls find the idea of the relationships written about exciting, and they fantasize about finding someone who may feel the same way the musicians do about who ever they're writing about.

In order to satisfy my target audience, my music video revolves around a young couple that may reflect the lyrics of the song. The relaxed and chilled out mood is carried over into the video, to show two happy and calm people just being together. I will film my music video in a forest, to illustrate the autumnal season and use lens flares in order to give the video a sentimental and warm feel to it.

Digipak Planning

This is my flat pan design for my Digipak. I have drawn it out, in order to plan how I want to design it and plan the lay out.

Director Study

Jon Jon Augustavo
Jon Jon Augustavo is a music video and film director based I


from San Francisco originally. An artist he frequently collaborates with is Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and he has won three MTV VMAs in 2013 for his videos.

Jon Jon generally works with more popular artists and hip hop musicians to produce their videos. In many of them, he makes use of bright lighting and a strong contrast to give his videos a recognisable trademark. 
His music videos generally have a distinct focus on people and their relationships in the scene. For example, his video for Same Love revolves around the lives of a gay couple, from birth to death. This strong and loving relationship is presented in a narrative style video, which Jon Jon produces well. In a recent interview, Jon Jon has said "I've always been interested in being a story teller, whether people want to hear it or not. So I'm always interested in making something that has a beginning, middle and end that people will, hopefully, be interested in seeing what happens.

Jon Jon also produces performance and concept videos. This music video for Little Nikki Says by Little Nikki, is primarily a performance video with some elements of a concept video. Slow Motion is used in this video, similarly to it's use in many other of his videos. And a distinct focus on dance and music, similar to the video for Can't Hold Us by Macklemore. He has catered more to the popular music genre, by using brighter lighting and having more of a focus on the attractive presentation of the actors within the video. This shows the flexibility of the type of clients he works for, and in producing videos for a range of different audiences. This video may appeal to girls aged between 10-16, while the Macklemore music videos may appeal to an older audience of 13-19 with a more equal distribution of boys to girls.

Digipak analysis

Alt J-An Awesome Wave digipak

This is a Digipak for Alt J's album, an Awesome Wave. The cover art is a satellite photograph of the Ganges river Delta, and goes with the alternative nature of the band's music.The bending lines and unusual colour combination makes it stand out as unique and different. The lack of any text on the cover of the album, suggests the distinctive album art will mean audiences will recognize it when seen on a shelf.
The plain white inner part of the album, is cut into an angular shape where the disc is held. This relates to their symbol choice of a triangle to represent the band. The lack of photographs of the band means the audience is encouraged to focus on the actual music, rather than the appearance of the band or how their presented.
The digipak comes with a performance DVD as well as the music CD itself, which gives fans an extra reason to spend more.

Biffy Clyro Digipak 

This is a Digipak for the album Opposites by Biffy Clyro.  The genre of their music is alternative rock, and the surreal art work makes them stand out as different and the bones suggest it is more edgy than other music might be. The sharp branches stretching along the back of the Digipak, suggests a slightly more dark theme to their music.

The surreal imagery of the trees is continued in the center two sides of the digipak. The dark clouds in the image on the right, continue the suggestion that their music is darker and edgy. The two images of the trees are similar, yet different. The one on the left is in a barren dessert like landscape while the one on the right is in a green field with water surrounding it. This relates to the title of the album, opposites as they are the same things in opposite appearing landscapes.

The inner case for the discs, has an image of a green hill running along it. The unusual characters on the case notes, presents the alternative nature of the music as it is different and would appeal to the audience that would buy the music. Similarly to the Alt J album, the lack of photos of the band members shows they intend to push the focus on their music rather than their presentation and appearance.

Fleet Foxes

The Fleet Foxes album, comes under the genre of indie folk music, that would appeal to an audience ranging from late teens to older ages. The intricate artwork with surreal imagery, attracts audiences looking for something distinctly different. The colours used of oranges, browns, reds and greens are generally associated with calmer folk music which provides easy listening. It has a more autumnal palate which relates to that kind of music tending to be more popular in the autumn and winter seasons.

Unlike the Alt J and Biffy Clyro Digipaks, this one contains a black and white photograph of the band. This is presented in black and white to relate to the classic simplicity of the music, while the photo means the listener relates the music to the band members themselves. The photograph is less focused on the presentation of what they look like, and is more to show who they actually are as people. While photographs of the band in the other digipaks haven't been to put more focus on the music, the inclusion of the photo in this digipak shows the listeners who the people behind the music are.

The basic black and white design on the inside of the album showing the lyrics, relates to the simplicity of the band's music. It's basic design lacks colour or excitement, similar to the calm tempo of the music itself.

Music Video Analysis

This music video for small bump by Ed Sheeran, is an example of a concept video. It has the main focus on Ed, as he sits in the waiting room of a hospital. The slow motion movement of the camera as it pans around the room as the shot moves past Ed, relates to the slowed down speed of the music.



The cuts between the close ups of the props, relates to the drum beat at the start of the song. The use of props of the x ray, hospital bed and yellow tub of chemicals in the mes en scene, indicate to the audience that the video is set within a hospital.

The establishing shot shows Ed alone in the hospital chairs, which gives a sense that the waiting room is a small and intimate setting. The costume of his hoodie, baggy jeans and trainers indicates a lack of formality and a casual attitude. His leaning posture suggests he is anxious and waiting for something. Relating this to the lyrics, it may mean he is there waiting for the birth of a child.

The close up camera angle on Ed, emphasizes the serious expression he has. The slightly high camera angle, makes him seem vulnerable and sensitive to what situation he may be in.

The track movement of the camera along the hallway, emphasizes the intimacy of the waiting room as it shows us the location is very small. As the doctor walks away, special effects are used to make it seem he fades into the scene as if he is a ghost. This suggests a period of time has passed, as the people in the scene move on. It also adds to the sense of loneliness that Ed may be feeling.

As the camera moves further down the hallway, more people appear and disappear in the similar fading ghost effect. This suggests people continue to move on quickly, while Ed remains waiting patiently. The doors in shot give a voyeuristic impression, as if the viewer is spying on Ed.

The running child through the hall, has connotations of youthfulness and energy. This shows a distinct contrast, to what Ed is like in the waiting room. It could also relate to the theme in the lyrics, of expecting a new born baby. While the man struggling through the hall being carried by his friends, represents someone who is suffering being helped by others. This may be symbolic of the baby referred to within the lyrics, as struggling while in the womb of the caring mother.

In the second half of the video, the movement of the camera slowly homing in on Ed is repeated as it was done in the start of the video. This is to focus on how Ed appears to be coping while he is waiting for this period of time. In the background of the shot, the only thing that appears the same is the woman waiting at the back.

The closing part of the video, is a close up of Ed as he sings "you were just a small bump unborn, for four months then torn from life". The dark lighting around his face has connotations of despair and depression, and his stern expression tells the viewers something has gone wrong and it isn't right. It ends with Ed bowing his head, which suggests he is mourning or being thoughtful.

This video is typical of the genre, as it deals with a serious subject and focuses on the artists interpretation of the song into his actions. It is to relate to the meaning of the lyrics, rather than act along side them as a performance video or a sort of dance routine.

Music Video Analysis

Music Video analysis

All I Want-Kodaline

This music video is an example of a narrative video. The story relates to the lyrics, as the main character has an attraction to the girl in the office, but she isn’t interested due to his unusual face. All he wants is to have a normal life, and to be able to talk to this girl, but he is bullied by his co-workers which lowers his confidence.

The mes-en scene indicates that the main setting of the video is an office. The music has not started yet, and the sounds of phones ringing are typical of what you would find within an office.

The reaction shot, shows the sense of fear the woman presents to what she has just seen. The sound of her screams indicates her terror

The reaction shot from the man, explains the woman’s terror as she is shocked by the man’s unusual facial features. A sense of surprise is shown by the acting of the man.

Within the music video, members of the band appear as extras. They have cameo roles within the music video; however they are never of main focus or importance within the narrative. The lack of focus on the musicians is typical of what you might find in many alternative music videos. Pop videos usually have a lot of focus on the artist and their glamorous representation, while many alternative artists want to put more focus on the music itself rather than on their image.

the over the shoulder camera angle, gives the impression that the man in the video is spying on the girl. The blurred part of the office cubicle in the shot, gives the effect that the audience is watching him secretly.

In this long shot, the view of the girl in the reflection is symbolic of the man wanting to be with someone who may not have the same intention. It is represents her as being close to him, in his field of vision, but only just out of reach.

The lens flare in this shot, gives the impression that this is a happier time for the man and it gives it more of a sentimental feel. The flare has connotations of warmth, and a joyful quality to it.

The low angle makes the man seem more superior, in association to the dog. It puts the viewer in the dog’s perspective, and suggests they have a close bond that he may long to have with a real person. This personal connection encourages empathy from the viewer, as it would seem he has no real friends.

The scenes of the man in the house with his dog further emphasise his loneliness. The props of the guitar and the painting set show him to be creative, which makes him seem more mindful. He also interacts with the dog as if it was a friend of his, suggesting that it is all he wants.

in this scene, the dark lighting has connotations of the sad and depressed mood he is in. The empty chares show him to be completely alone, and rejected from his colleagues.

The fighting sequence occurs to go with the music picking up. The song begins to sound more cheerful and optimistic, and therefore goes with the character overcoming his colleagues to protect the girl.

The running and the fast paced editing, also goes with the music picking up towards the end of the song. It suggests a conclusion is coming and that there is a happy ending.

The video ends with a long shot of the man running down the street in joy, giving the video a happy ending. This imitates the typical scene in a film where the hero walks away into the horizon.

Music Video Proposal

I have selected a royalty free track that I can use as a back up, if I can't get in touch with a band or if something goes wrong. I selected the song, as acoustic music is one of my favourite genres of music.

Music Video Proposal

My idea for a music video I could make for this track, is to make a narrative style video that revolves around various couples. I intend to have the actors in the video lip syncing to the track, and doing various things together looking happy to be in each others company. I intend to relate the lyrics of the song, to what the couples are doing throughout the video. Filming would mostly take place in out door locations, such as in a park or walking around a forest.
The focus of the music video won't just be on romantic couples, but friends as well. I want to put across the idea of someone enjoying the company of someone else, showing their loyalty and chemistry when they're together.
The target audience for this music video, is girls between the ages of around 12 and 17, as many fans of this style of music fit into this demographic.
The budget will be low, as actors will be volunteers and the activities they will be partaking in do not require any spending.

Money Talks music video

           Here, I have tried out making a music video for Dirty Cash (Money Talks) by Stevie V.

I have attempted to make use of some of the typical codes and conventions that are usually found in music videos.