PLANNING

How the research helped..

Looking at genres similar and different to my groups particular song choice helped me a great deal. The research informed myself and Libby of various forms and conventions for our planning.

We created our own ideas for our media product from the conventions we saw and any specifics that we liked the look of, we were able to incorporate them into our own style.

When analysing and researching music videos this helped me to see the comparisons and differences within each that were aimed at my own target audience.

Not only did we analyse music videos just for research, but we also set up a questionnaire for our target audience so that we could get feedback from their answers.

Questionnaire

1) How often do you watch music videos?

2) Do you ever listen to indie/soul music?

3) For a love song about a lesbian couple, would you carry on watching if it was with two girls rather than a male and a female?

4) What normally attracts you to watch a music video?

- a storyline
- a performance based singer/band
- a bit of both
- eye catching visuals and colours

5) What would uniterest you in a music video of this genre?
- a storyline
- a performance
- a bit of both
- a slow song
- nothing eye catching
- the song wasn't my cup of tea.

Research on Karima Francis

This You Tube video is of her first released song called 'Again'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdpETnzW980

This music video has only recently been released as when we started our own production prject, Karima had only released her album at the time.

In this video she shows the relationship she had with her mother as she was growing up. The effective use of the door as a prop signifies her going back in time and reliving the memory of her childhood. Or opening up her memories and emotions for her audience to see, just like the door opening.


Karima Francis: Observer music monthly' acts for 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvB9Iby3oh4

Our song choice

After researching many different types of genres of music video, it was then time for myself and Libby to choose a song in which we could produce our own music video for.

Our choice ended up being a song called 'The Author' by Karima Francis.

The genre for this particulaqr song is accoustic soul/indie. The reason for this is because it falls under the indie category, but Karima Francis' uses soulful mealodies in her songs. This makes the song a hybrid as it falls under different genre categories.

A lot of the time, the majority of songs are hybrid, as it is difficult to define each song into just one specific category. Many songs now have elements of different genres such as pop/soft rock, rock/grunge, or R'n'B/soul/pop. There are so many various types of music these days that its not as simple a lot of the time to put a song into a genre category.

Karima Francis is a singer/songwriter, formerly from Blackpool but currently based in Manchester. She started out small and unknown until the Observer named her 'number 1 act to watch out for in 2009' and after she performed at Manchester's In the City.

Shortly after this she signed a record deal with an independent company called Kitchenware Records.

Her debut album; The Author was released March 2009 and is the only album Karima has produced so far.

Kitchenware Records is a small organisation established in 1982 in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Their aim is to "develop and encourage new music irrespective of the genre".

Other artists that have signed deals with the Kitchenware Record Company are:

• The Editors



• Sirens



• Lighthouse Family



• Kate Walsh
  


• Naive New Beaters



• and more...

Steve Archer's Key Elements

Steve Archer, another media theorist considered that there needs to be a strong relationship between narrative and performance in music promos. Music videos will often cut between narrative and a performance of the song by the artist/band.
The performance within the video could be the artist performing the song or a choreographed dance.

In Steve Archer's theory, he came up with some key elements of music videos.

• Lyrics- Establish a general feeling or mood of the song. Key lines may play a part in the visuals but a music video will rarely illustrate the lyrics wholesale.

• Music- uses the tempo of the track to drive the editing and may emphasise particular sounds from the track, such as a guitar, keyboard or drum solo.

• Genre- Some videos transcend genres but others are more easily categorised. If you watch a particuklar genre of music video or music channel that only tends to play a particular genre, then you are more likely to pick up distinct features which enable them to be categorised into that genre. The features may be, themes, performance, mise-en-scene, editing styles etc..

• Camerwork- How the camera is used (camera movement, angle and shot distance) and how images are sequenced have significant impact on the meaning that is portrayed. Camera movement for example may accompany the performers movement but it can also be constantly circling the band/performer as they are performing on stage. Close-up shots create a sense of intimacy for the audience and also emphasises the commodity on sale; essentially emphasising on the artist's face and her voice.

• Editing- Most common editing is fast-cut montage, but some videos use slow pace shot transitions to establlish the right mood to the viewer. Often enhancing the editing are digital effects, when orginal images are played around with to offer a different kind of effect or pleasure for the audience. Editing is important in a music video as it allows the producers/encoders to manipulate the film in order to portray the right effect and mood to their decoders.

• Intertextuality- Music videos, often described as 'post-modern' which is sometimes used to mean intertextuality. Intertextuality is when a text draws upon or references an existing text. In music promos we frequently see existing texts being drawn upon in order to spark recognition in the audience. However not all of the audience will spot the reference but this does not mean their pleasure of the text is detracted, but there might be greater pleasure from thise who recognise the reference and feel flattered by it. Music videos tend to use refences from the world of cinema or television. For example, Madonna's music video 'Material Girl' drew on the song sequence from 'Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend'.

• Narrative and Performance- Often music videos will cut between narrative and a performance of the song. A music video allows the audience a much more varied access to the performer than just a stage performance can. Narrative in songs suggests storylines or offer complex fragments in a non-linear order, leaving the viewer the desire to see it again.

Analysis of music videos

MUSIC VIDEOS

Madonna- Cherish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wN-Tbf43AA

Geri Halliwel- Raining Men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tio-YWTBHo

Madonna- Like a Prayer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79fzeNUqQbQ

Kylie Minogue- Can't get you out of my head

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfr9bhSmfXc

Forms and Conventions- Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin; media theorist, identified key features of music videos that he wrote in his book on the rise of MTV 1992. Goodwin researched and identified features which distinguish music videos as a form. These seven features were:

• A relationship between visuals and lyrics (illustrative, amplifying, contradicting)
  


• A relationship between music and visuals
  


• Particular music genres have their own style and iconography
  


• Demand of the record company for close-ups of the main artist. Artists may develop motifs which recur across their work
  
• They demonstrate genre characteristics
  


• Frequently reference to notion of looking e.g. telescope. And particularly voyeurism in the treatment of women.
  


• Likely intertextual references, to other music videos films tvt texts, etc.

These 7 points give a general over-view of the types of forms and conventions that are present in general music videos. Bearing these key elements in mind, I must make sure that some of these points, if not all are included in my own music video.

In doing this, I will be following Andrew Goodwins elements of the forms and conventions included in music video, which would then allow the audience to make a decision on the type of reading they obtained from the media text.

Analysis of similar artists to Karima Francis

Whilst doing background research on Karima Francis and looking at some of her other lyrics, myself and group partner Libby also researched into similar artists like her. We found a couple that fell into the indie/soul category and they were:

• Tracey Chapman
• Joan Armatrading
• Alanis Morrisette

By looking at similar media products this allowed us to get a general idea of what the target audience are used to seeing and the typical conventions and characteristics that are portrayed in these videos.

Media Studies

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Research: Uses and Gratifications Theory

Bulmer and McQuail are both Media Theorists that produced the Uses and Gratifications Model.
This approach model suggests why people use a particular media and the reasons for this, which lead to a variety of responses and interpretations.


When planning my own media products; music video, cd cover and cd advertisement, I will have to consider each use of media and what particular things attract the audience to a text.


The Uses and Gratifications Theory suggests that an individual's needs influence how they use and respond to a medium. And the same media text may gratify different needs for different individuals, which is associated with individual personalities. E.g. maturation, social roles and a person's background.





















Use of media:

• Information- People use media to find out relevant events in the immediate society/world. To seek advice and knowledge on general matters, and for self-education.

• Personal Identity- To find reinforcement for personal value's and to find models of behaviour in order to develop insight into one's self.

• Integration and Social Interaction- Identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging; social empathy. This type of use is a substitute for real-life companionship.

• Entertainment- This is generally the most common use of media, to escape or divert from other problems. Individuals get an aesthetic enjoyment and an emotional release which may also allow them to relax.

During my own media production, I will need to bear the various uses of media in mind. However, I think that my music video will fall mainly under the entertainment category, but also under integration and social interaction.

My audience would experience enjoyment from the video and watch it because they like it, as well as feeling part of a social group, identifying belonging.

Research into Genres and Conventions

Whilst researching different types of genres in the music industry, not only did I look at the music videos for each particular genre, but also what the videos contained. I analysed various music videos and noted that some genres follow the same conventions in they're category, however sometimes they may convert the codes and conventions.


In all music videos the artist is shown performing, the lyrics of the song influence what is shown in the video. The editing will also fit with the pace of the music and the costume, or code of dress reflects the mood of the song.


Generally when stereotyping music videos and genres, the characteristics in each category are the same or similar. For example, a lot of pop bands contain either a performance or mixed performance and narrative based in their videos. The group will have matching clothes, or with slight differences, and there will be a lot of cuts and quick editing.

But on the other hand, the majority of R'n'B music videos always have girls in them, with little or seductive clothing on. There are a lot of cuts to different scenes, generally containing the idea or theme of the performers wealth being apparent in the scenes.


Not every music video and genre type is exactly the same, there are a few expections. But a lot of the time different music genres follow certain types of forms and include specific conventions throughout their video.


Most artists and bands choose to follow the codes and conventions of their music genre type, but from analysing different videos it has become apparent to me that the artists that subvert the normal conventions make more eye-catching videos to the audience.

Semiotics and Film Language Research

When referring to particular readings of the texts, such as a dominant reading or an aberrant reading, you also have to be aware that a piece of text can get many different meanings from people. When one person takes meaning from a text, another could understand it in a totally different way.

Semiotics is the study of signs, and a sign can convey meaning to the audience. A sign is made up of two parts;

The signifier- the sign itself for example a picture of words in a text.

The signified- the meaning taken from the actual sign.


A piece of text can be polysemic, which means the text has multiple meanings. The meaning each indiviudal takes from the text is influenced by many different factors. This depends on our age, gender, ethnicit, the context of viewing and many other factors.

Film Language

Denotation- This is the first order meaning. It is the first obvious meaning of the sign that we understand.

Connotation- This is a deeper, less obvious meaning. A feeling or idea that is suggested by a particular word object or situation, although it doesn't need to be part of the meaning.

Syntagmatic- Syntagmatic connotation is the meaning signs make when they work together.

Didactic- Didactic texts have denotive meanings and aren't often open to interpretation.

Media theorists have produced examples of the different types of signs that can be presented in various texts:

• Iconic Signs- The signifier is connected to the signified through the principle of resemblance. These type of signs accuire their function through similarity to what they signify. E.g. A photo is an iconic sign as it resembles what it refers to.

• Indexical Signs- This is when the signifier makes you think of the signified becuase they are physically connected in the real world. For example smoke is caused by fire, so the smell of smoke (signifier) makes you automatically think of fire (signified)

• Symbolic Signs- This type of sign such as language are purely artificial as it is a human-imposed convention. There is no physical connection or natural resemblance between the word and the concept. E.g. The English word 'dog' and the concept 'dog'.

Media producers prefer they're texts to avoid being polysemic as they want they're audience to understand the one sign from it; to get the dominant reading. To get this producers achor the meaning of the text to prevent signs being polysemic. The signs then work together syntagmatically and prevent any polysemic meanings.

Research of music videos

During the research stage of the project, as a class and individually, I researched at lots of different music videos in order to get ideas of forms and conventions that I could include in my own music video.

Here is a music video of a pop artist with a hint of soft rock. The artist is named Pink and her music video is called 'Stupid Girls'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA9w4voK9YY


I analysed this particular video as it has alot of intertextual references within it as well as having a message behind it by making fun of the 'stupid' celebrity girls.

Textual Analysis of Music Videos- PINK

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We also looked at various other artists such as Madonna and Geri Halliwell. Their music genre also falls into the pop category along with Pink.




SCAN IN MY MADONNA SHEETS AND GERI HALLIWELL SHEETS RESEARCH

From the 16/12/09 our Media Studies Teacher asked us change our blogs into individual work.

The joint blog included:

• The Introduction
• Annotation of the lyrics
• Inital ideas
• Audience Feedback
• Changes and Development
• Explanation of our Storyboards

From this point on, all other post titles are individual work.

Some posts have been moved around into a better order but the titles above are joint work.

RESEARCH

Encoding Decoding Model

Media Theorist Stuart Hall, published his research on the Encoding/Decoding Model.
He stated that media studies tends to focus on one of three areas.

• Institution- who produces the text and why.
• Content- the media text itself, we might explore genre, narrative or representation.
• Audience-who the audience are and what impact does the text have on them?

We refer to the institation, the people who produce the text as the encoders. The encoders create the meaning of the media text in the assumption the it will be understood by the audience.

Therefore the audience are the decoders, who take meaning from the text. Any piece of text we read or listen to, we as an audience try to understand what the encoder is trying to communicate with us. However all texts are polysemic; having multiple meanings, so individuals decode texts in many different ways.

Decoding readings:

Dominant reading= This is the preferred reading, where the individual fully understands the texts codes and meaning.

Abberrant reading= The reader is unable to understand the meaning the encoder has tried to make. They don't get the text what-so-ever and there is dissoance between the cultural assumptions by the encoder and the cultural context of the decoder.

Oppositional reading= The reader understands the dominant meaning from the text but does not share the texts code's and rejects the reading. This is because they are in a social situation that puts them in the direct opposition to the dominant code that the encoder is trying to portray.

Negotiated reading= This type of reading is where the individual partly shares the text's code and accepts the dominant meaning, but sometimes resists it in a way that reflects their own positions, experiences and their interests.

To ensure the encoders get a dominant reading the encoders need to talk to their audience in an apporiate way; which is called the Mode of Adress. The institution will generally make assumptions on the decoders interest, knowledge and cultural views to try and anchor the meaning of the text.

The assumed language and points of reference an encoder uses to connect with an assumed target audience is known as the ‘Public Idiom.’

Whilst researching music videos and ideas for my own production, I have to take into account the audience I will be displaying my music video for. In doing this, being the encoder I will have to make an assumption on what they will be looking for in order for them to get the correct reading from my text.

Once having chosen my target audience and genre type of my particular song, i will have to reseach particular codes and conventions in which the target audience will produce a dominant reading for, thus making it a popular music video.

Introduction to our project..

The Brief
We were given a brief for the project that we have to work on this year. This was to create our own music video for an existing song that didn't already have one. Before creating a music video we had to research and analyse other music videos to get a general idea of particular forms and conventions.

To help us we were shown a few examples of previous years and different school's videos. By doing this we were able to see what they had created and what their ideas were for their videos. As well as looking at school videos, we also analysed music videos from different genre's. In doing so, this enabled us to view the particular forms and conventions in different genre styles of music and what each genre tended to include. When researching music videos we looked at a variety of artists including Madonna, Pink, The Script, Geri Halliwell, Beyonce and The Fray.


Group Organisation
When picking our groups we had to decide who would be partaking in each role within that group. Our group consists of Liberty Jeffery and Briony Crawford. We decided that Briony would be directing and filming the music video and I will be playing a part within the video. Having this information we then therefore had to pick a song we would like to do our music video to. The song that we both felt was appropriate and enjoyed was Karima Fancis- The Author. The reason we chose this song was because we both liked it from the moment we heard it. The song is about a story of a relationship between two people and the love that one women had for another.

After we had decided who would be doing each specific role, we then had to choose our other actress for our music video. We had to pick our actresses very carefully as they had to portray the genre of the song. The genre of our particular chosen song was acoustic soul/indie. The actresses we chose to play out the parts within the music video are Liberty Jeffery and Nicola Sands.


Target Audience
When planning my group production work i researched different types of music genres for different target audiences. By looking at various types of music genres this allowed me to get a general idea of lots of different styles and how each particular product addressed their aimed target audience. Addressing the target audience appropriately is important because the reader needs to relate to what their viewing, giving them that incentive to purchase that particular song or album.

With our music genre in mind we had to make sure that our video would address our chosen target audience. During the planning of our production work we researched many music videos with a variety of genres that were targeted at different audiences.

• Pop
• Rock
• Indie
• R'n'B
• Rap
• Dance
• Alternative

By looking at different videos and seeing the particular styles they portrayed allowed me to get a general idea of how each product aimed to attract and address their target audience. After doing some research on the music genre of our song choice we found that our particular target audience was mainly female, ranging from teens to young adults.


Conventions
Looking at music videos that fell under the acoustic soul/indie type of genre was definately able to help us with the planning stage of our media production product. I was able to look at the conventions of music videos with a very similar genre, which helped us to apply some ideas to our own product. Karima Francis is an upcoming artist that is not yet well known and also has no music videos of her own that we could use for background research. Because of this we looked at very similar artists like her to get some ideas, but it also gave us the freedom to be creative and choose whether or not we wanted to follow the genre's type of conventions.

For our music video we decided that we would portray the love story in a typical convention, by having male and female actors. In doing this we were initally following the conventions of a love story, even though the song was about two females. After a little planning and ideas from our focus group in our media class, we then thought it was appropriate to subvert the normal conventions associated with society by chosing to have two female actresses in the video instead. The reason as to why we chose to subvert conventions is because you very rarely see two women portraying their love in music videos, which allowed us to be different in a way.