Research into magazine pages for musicians:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=musician+double+page+spread&rlz=1C1AVNE_enGB648GB648&biw=1366&bih=623&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj2nfrStfnJAhUBeg8KHQRaCUkQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=9x5s-9KIFp5e8M%3A

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=musician+double+page+spread&rlz=1C1AVNE_enGB648GB648&biw=1366&bih=623&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj2nfrStfnJAhUBeg8KHQRaCUkQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=wv3WszoxkFC_LM%3A

Target audience- For the next part of the musician promotion task, a magazine spread for the artist needs to be made. I have done some prior research into other newsletter promotions that are suitable for the target audience to to gain a secure understanding of what will be engaging for the fans to look at and read. Some examples have been placed in the document with this text. I chose these in particular because both of them are of standout quality, ideal for the young and quirky audience that is trying to be addressed. They can appeal to the audience because firstly, the magazine identifies with various things that they can relate to through their psychographics and what they are interested in- for example, the mention of social media and being recognised as a famous person, as a lot of today’s younger generation are media savvy and interested in current affairs of the famous. This specifically is the audience we are aiming to address through the use of the magazine pages. These are likely to interest those between the ages 16-25 especially because as a part of the younger generation demographics, who may be interested in rock/indie music and articles about it because of their age, gender and class.

Design- It is also noticeable through the two examples and other pages that I am familiar with whilst reading magazines, the white background feature with large, bold and peculiar text on top of it seems to be a popular design choice. This must be because it is aesthetically pleasing and stands out immediately to the audience- perfect as hand-outs for live band events. For this reason, I think it would be good to head in this direction when designing our print magazine pages so that they can look as professional and exciting as others do. The white background is clean cut and makes the image of the artists stand out more. Through the use of IT, the images have been edited so that shadows can be seen behind them; I like this effect and think it could be a possibility for our magazine pages because it looks very theatrical. This would be good to emphasise our performance based shots and then perhaps some smaller screenshots of the narrative could be shown on other parts of the pages. To add more depth to the entirely white background, the use of the border would make it look less plain, like in the Blink 182 magazine pages. One that matches the colour theme we choose would make the magazine pages look more detailed but not so overwhelming, which would make them look aesthetically pleasing.

Layout- As shown in the two examples, the heading and image of the artist are the two largest elements to the pages. Clearly this is effective because its visually appealing layout is what makes the audience pick up the magazine in the first place, so this is an important aspect to consider. Because of the two examples shown and by looking at other magazine spreads in general, the layout with a large image and heading seems to be a strong idea to use in our own work. The speech bubble with the main heading in particular, I think is effective. It is a creative way to lay out the page by making it look both edgy but professional at the same time, which is what the target audience we are addressing should find appealing. If we use a large speech bubble with the title in, plus the image of our performer and then a few screenshots of the footage itself, there should be some empty space about the pages. In these spaces, small text boxes can be put in these places so that some information about the music video can be detailed here. There will be less of these on the first two pages as it will be filled with the main image and title. However on the third page, more screenshots and information to support them would be necessary. The size of text is also important to consider too. I have used the Blink 182 example to demonstrate perhaps what would be interesting to use in our own magazine spread. The main introduction is in a slightly larger, bolder font than the main pieces of information. Also at the paragraphs beginning, the first letter has been made much larger which I see often in magazines and think that it makes the page look professional. I also love the idea that a quote has been taken from the interview and has been added to a part of the page separately so the audience can read a snippet of what the artist has to say.

Content- The content of the pages needs to be a minimal amount, especially when reaching out to our target audience, because they aren’t actually majorly interested in the writing but are more focused on the visual aspects of the magazine. For this reasons, some basic information about the artist themselves, us the directors and editors, and why we chose to do this music video would be enough. Also some information on the third page regarding how the shots were made would perhaps be interesting for the audience to read. 

REDRAFT OF MUSIC VIDEO RESEARCH:

(note that all photos are still in previous upload)

Research into music video genre:

A music video is the accompaniment to a song of a band or artist. They are important because they are part of the songs promotion; often what most viewers will see when they first listen to the song whether it is streamed from their phone, on their TV or through social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter. For this reason, the music video plays a crucial role in reaching out to the audience by becoming a visual aid to the song. The audience will probably take a lot of judgements about the artist/band and their music based on what they see in the music video. Music videos will vary depending on the genre of music that it is supporting. Some will be entirely performance based; others narrative based or some will combine elements of the two. Conventions are also key to defining genre. For example, in a pop music video an audience will expect to see various social scenes like a party or a night club, or outside in hot weather- summer time. However, more rock music videos would expect to be quite dark, shot in more abstract locations. Typically rock videos can be associated with darkness, winter, and even abandoned warehouses may come to mind.

Research into music video location:

It is often that rock music videos are located in abstract and obscure places because it makes them unique.  We have discovered this through research of other popular and successful rock/indie music videos. A lot of rock songs try to accomplish some originality and part of this is down to the music video. Through discussion, we decided that as a group the museum would be an interesting possibility because they showcase a variety of extraordinary, standout objects that can be made to look creative if filmed effectively. All of the antiques on show are majestic, conceptual, and aesthetic. The example of the art gallery is good because of the diversity of the paintings they have. Some are relatively modern whereas others are quite archaic, dating back to even the Tudor period. Also the objects that we film, including those paintings, can be open to interpretation to the audience as to how the pieces affect them personally.  For these reasons, the museum would be an ideal location for shooting the music video as our piece of coursework. We are allowed to film in the museum as long as there is no flash on the camera. Through research of other music videos, we also found that social events like parties and gatherings seem to be popular. Perhaps this is because it creates the image of recklessness and freedom. Being surrounded by friends is positive and shots can be made about this through dancing and congregations of friends laughing and having a good time. House parties tend to be dark too with only flickers of light being shown and this could be effective in the music video our group is making because it could reflect upon the fact that even though it is a lively setting, there are darker aspects to the narrative.

Our story:

The story and narrative that will support our music video, “West Virginia”-The Front Bottoms, follows the scene of a party in which social interactions and relationships are explored. Although the story is not explicit, it complements the lyrics by showing the arguments between people in relationships. At the party, there will be diversity shown between lots of different types of relationships which can convey the realism of the story. We have also decided that rather than having a narrative at the museum, some live action shots of the band will be taken here too. This will include various shots of the members from close up and afar. We thought that if we filmed some of the museums artefacts, it would make for an interesting concept in the music video so not as much to create a narrative but to convey some of the unique and interesting objects in the museum. It was found through research that quite a few other rock/indie genre music videos accomplished this successfully too. We have applied our story to Hollywood’s classical 5 stage narrative.

1.            Exposition – Setting scene and introducing characters. This can relate to our music video because the narrative starts with the introduction to the setting of the party, with the friends being trailed from behind with the camera (a brief introduction to characters in narrative too).

2.            Development – Situation develops, more characters introduced. The main characters are introduced properly here so to develop the situation through the argument that is beginning between them, a starting point for the narrative.

3.            Complication – Something happens to complicate the lives of the characters. When the music becomes louder, so does the situation. This only reinforces the argument further and makes the complication of the situation worse.

4.            Climax – Decisive moment reached; matters come to head; suspense high. Here the narrative breaks out into violence towards the end of the verse. This is shown through the body language of characters and close ups of objects that have violent connotations, like alcohol and smashed glass. There isn’t any dialogue because this will be told through the lyrics of the song.

5.            Resolution – Matters are resolved and satisfactory end is reached. Towards the end of the song the narrative is resolved by the two girls being less resentful- although not entirely friendly as at the beginning, a conclusion is made through the use of character facial expression and body language being restored to how it as at the songs beginning.

Research into other music videos:

The Vaccines- Teenage Icon

Modest Mouse- Coyotes

The Black Keys- Gold on the ceiling

It is also important, before we start to film, that we research other music videos of a similar genre and target audience so that we have an understanding of how and what makes them successful. One music video we researched was one by The Vaccines that I had previously watched. I remember the beginning of the video to be situated in a museum type building with large stair cases and golden rails, like the museum has in Bristol. It is also of the same indie/rock genre that our music video is going to be so was useful to analyse. The Vaccines’ music video was effective through its use of subtlety and its conceptual design. We found this to be common amongst other music videos of the indie/rock genre too. For this reason, as a group we collectively have decided that the museum would be exciting and interesting to film at so that our music video will create similar effects but in its own unique way. We also looked at some other music videos such as Coyotes by Modest Mouse for inspiration too. This was interesting to watch as it followed the narrative of an unusual protagonist- a coyote. Considering some of the museum shots for our music video will be from the animals in the museum, this provided some good inspiration because although not exactly the same, there are some shots we could take from this. For example, the fast paced shot of the coyote travelling from place to place. I think we could use some shots like this in our music video during the faster scenes to increase tension. The shots will reflect the timing of the music video. Another music video we looked into was Gold on the ceiling by The Black Keys. The start of the music video has a really good introduction to the setting, making use of busy traffic effectively. For this reason, I think it would be effective for some traffic and city shots to be added to our music video to create a similar effect.

Research into target audience:

To understand who our target audience is, we needed to see which types of people were interested in rock/indie music. It came to our understanding that a lot of people interested in it are younger people because it is most appealing to them. In particular, newer rock and indie music found on channels like Radio 1 or Kerrang were viewers predominantly between the ages of 15-25. Perhaps this is due to the trendy, almost fashionable, music scene surrounding rock and indie genres. For this reason, we are going to aim for our music video to appeal to this target audience too.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is another important theory that can be applied to the music video. The music video will not be aimed at those at the bottom of the pyramid because it is highly unlikely that those who may not even have physiological needs will have access to the music video. It will also ot be aimed at those at the very top of the pyramid who have achieved full self-actualisation and self-esteem because it is unlikely that these would be watching a rock music video as those who often listen to rock will be in pursuit of trying to better themselves or search for something more in their lives. It would therefore be appropriate to aim the music video at an audience looking for love and belonging or perhaps safety of the body and mind. This is because a lot of these people can relate to the meanings behind indie/rock music so will want to listen to this genre and would then want to watch the music video that accompanied it, maybe to find something relatable in their life or even just for entertainment as this group of people may enjoy watching these sorts of videos. Social class is also important to be considered here. As discussed, the people who watch this music video will not be deprived of their physiological needs but may not be rich enough to afford quality living either. This means they could be students (as they fit into the target age group too), teenagers living with their parents or even unemployed.

Extract from BBC Radio 1 remit- “The remit of Radio 1 is to entertain and engage a broad range of young listeners with a distinctive mix of contemporary music and speech. It should reflect the lives and interests of 15–29 year olds but also embrace others who share similar tastes. It should offer a range of new music, support emerging artists – especially those from the UK – and provide a platform for live music. News, documentaries and advice campaigns should cover areas of relevance to young adults. The remit of 1Xtra is to play the best in contemporary black music with a strong emphasis on live music and supporting new UK artists. The schedule should also offer a bespoke news service, regular discussion programmes and specially commissioned documentaries relevant to the young target audience (15–24 year olds), particularly, although not exclusively, those from ethnic minorities.”

Camera Shots in Music videos:

Very Wide Shot- This is where the artist is still visible (barely) but the emphasis is still on placing the artist in the location/setting.

Wide Shot- A wide shot is where the artist is shown taking up more of the shot, but the focus is still on the surroundings.

Medium Shot- A medium shot shows the artist from his/her waist to head and is able to show their expressions. It mainly focuses on the subject, but still giving an impression on the location/setting.

Medium Close Up- This shot is halfway between a medium shot to a close up shot, showing the artist from chest to head.

Close up shot- This is a shot where the camera focuses clearly on something. Usually displaying the artists face, but it can also centre on an object that the artist is holding.

Extreme Close up- This shows a part of the artist’s face extremely close up, for example eyes, or mouth to identify something that can have an effect of showing the audience the artist’s thoughts and feelings. It could even be used to see the artist singing/lip syncing to the music that is playing.

Over the shoulder shot- This is a good shot to be used, specifically in narrative based music videos. Usually when the artist is acting or speaking to another character you tend to see an OTS shot to display the conversation or to show something the character is looking at.

Cut in- This shot can be used in music videos to show something that the lyrics might be saying. It shows and object in detail and is similar to an extreme close up, but used very quickly and has an object that relates to the subject or narrative.

Camera Angles:

Camera angles play a huge part to emphasising the artist or to show emotions and expressions. 

Eye Level – This is a very common view being the real world angle that we are all use to seeing; it shows subjects as we would expect to see them in real life.

High Angle – This is where it shows the subject from above, and the camera is angled down towards the subject. This has the effect of making them appear less powerful, more submissive and even less significant.

Low Angle – This is where the artist is shown from below, making them seem a lot more powerful and dominant.

Bird’s eye view – Bird’s eye view is showing the subject/scene from directly above. This can be used for a dramatic effect or showing a different spatial perspective. It can also be used to show the different positions and motions of characters, enabling the viewers to see things the artist might not see.

Slanted – This is when the camera is slanted also known as a Dutch angle where the camera is purposely tilted to one side so that the horizon is on an angle. This is creative in making interesting dramatic effects.

Camera Movement:

Pans – This is where the camera scans a scene horizontally. The camera is place on a tripod, which operates as a stationary axis point as the camera is turned, often to show the moving object which is kept in the middle of the frame. This could also be used as an establishing shot in the beginning of a trailer, so that the viewers know where it all takes place.

Dolly/Tracking – This is where the camera is mounted to a cart which travels along tracks for a very smooth movement. This would take place while one/two people are walking from one place to another, and the camera moves with them making it more fluent.

Music video research

Research into music video location:

It is often that rock music videos are located in abstract and obscure places because it makes them unique.  We have discovered this through research of other popular and successful rock/indie music videos. A lot of rock songs try to accomplish some originality and part of this is down to the music video. Through discussion, we decided that as a group the museum would be an interesting possibility because they showcase a variety of extraordinary, standout objects that can be made to look creative if filmed effectively. All of the antiques on show are majestic, conceptual, and aesthetic. The example of the art gallery is good because of the diversity of the paintings they have. Some are relatively modern whereas others are quite archaic, dating back to even the Tudor period. Also the objects that we film, including those paintings, can be open to interpretation to the audience as to how the pieces affect them personally.  For these reasons, the museum would be an ideal location for shooting the music video as our piece of coursework. We are allowed to film in the museum as long as there is no flash on the camera. Through research of other music videos, we also found that social events like parties and gatherings seem to be popular. Perhaps this is because it creates the image of recklessness and freedom. Being surrounded by friends is positive and shots can be made about this through dancing and congregations of friends laughing and having a good time. House parties tend to be dark too with only flickers of light being shown and this could be effective in the music video our group is making because it could reflect upon the fact that even though it is a lively setting, there are darker aspects to the narrative.

Our story:

The story and narrative that will support our music video, “West Virginia”-The Front Bottoms, follows the scene of a party in which social interactions and relationships are explored. Although the story is not explicit, it complements the lyrics by showing the arguments between people in relationships. At the party, there will be diversity shown between lots of different types of relationships which can convey the realism of the story. We have also decided that rather than having a narrative at the museum, some live action shots of the band will be taken here too. This will include various shots of the members from close up and afar. We thought that if we filmed some of the museums artefacts, it would make for an interesting concept in the music video so not as much to create a narrative but to convey some of the unique and interesting objects in the museum. It was found through research that quite a few other rock/indie genre music videos accomplished this successfully too. We have applied our story to Hollywood’s classical 5 stage narrative.

1.            Exposition – Setting scene and introducing characters. This can relate to our music video because the narrative starts with the introduction to the setting of the party, with the friends being trailed from behind with the camera (a brief introduction to characters in narrative too).

2.            Development – Situation develops, more characters introduced. The main characters are introduced properly here so to develop the situation through the argument that is beginning between them, a starting point for the narrative.

3.            Complication – Something happens to complicate the lives of the characters. When the music becomes louder, so does the situation. This only reinforces the argument further and makes the complication of the situation worse.

4.            Climax – Decisive moment reached; matters come to head; suspense high. Here the narrative breaks out into violence towards the end of the verse. This is shown through the body language of characters and close ups of objects that have violent connotations, like alcohol and smashed glass. There isn’t any dialogue because this will be told through the lyrics of the song.

5.            Resolution – Matters are resolved and satisfactory end is reached. Towards the end of the song the narrative is resolved by the two girls being less resentful- although not entirely friendly as at the beginning, a conclusion is made through the use of character facial expression and body language being restored to how it as at the songs beginning.

Research into other music videos:

It is also important, before we start to film, that we research other music videos of a similar genre and target audience so that we have an understanding of how and what makes them successful. One music video we researched was one by The Vaccines that I had previously watched. I remember the beginning of the video to be situated in a museum type building with large stair cases and golden rails, like the museum has in Bristol. It is also of the same indie/rock genre that our music video is going to be so was useful to analyse. The Vaccines’ music video was effective through its use of subtlety and its conceptual design. We found this to be common amongst other music videos of the indie/rock genre too. For this reason, as a group we collectively have decided that the museum would be exciting and interesting to film at so that our music video will create similar effects but in its own unique way. We also looked at some other music videos for inspiration too, these can be found in the images displayed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFUKrsDDChE

 

Research into target audience:

To understand who our target audience is, we needed to see which types of people were interested in rock/indie music. It came to our understanding that a lot of people interested in it are younger people because it is most appealing to them. In particular, newer rock and indie music found on channels like Radio 1 or Kerrang were viewers predominantly between the ages of 15-25. Perhaps this is due to the trendy, almost fashionable, music scene surrounding rock and indie genres. For this reason, we are going to aim for our music video to appeal to this target audience too.

Extract from BBC Radio 1 remit- “The remit of Radio 1 is to entertain and engage a broad range of young listeners with a distinctive mix of contemporary music and speech. It should reflect the lives and interests of 15–29 year olds but also embrace others who share similar tastes. It should offer a range of new music, support emerging artists – especially those from the UK – and provide a platform for live music. News, documentaries and advice campaigns should cover areas of relevance to young adults. The remit of 1Xtra is to play the best in contemporary black music with a strong emphasis on live music and supporting new UK artists. The schedule should also offer a bespoke news service, regular discussion programmes and specially commissioned documentaries relevant to the young target audience (15–24 year olds), particularly, although not exclusively, those from ethnic minorities.”

Camera Shots in Music videos:

Very Wide Shot- This is where the artist is still visible (barely) but the emphasis is still on placing the artist in the location/setting.

Wide Shot- A wide shot is where the artist is shown taking up more of the shot, but the focus is still on the surroundings.

Medium Shot- A medium shot shows the artist from his/her waist to head and is able to show their expressions. It mainly focuses on the subject, but still giving an impression on the location/setting.

Medium Close Up- This shot is halfway between a medium shot to a close up shot, showing the artist from chest to head.

Close up shot- This is a shot where the camera focuses clearly on something. Usually displaying the artists face, but it can also centre on an object that the artist is holding.

Extreme Close up- This shows a part of the artist’s face extremely close up, for example eyes, or mouth to identify something that can have an effect of showing the audience the artist’s thoughts and feelings. It could even be used to see the artist singing/lip syncing to the music that is playing.

Over the shoulder shot- This is a good shot to be used, specifically in narrative based music videos. Usually when the artist is acting or speaking to another character you tend to see an OTS shot to display the conversation or to show something the character is looking at.

Cut in- This shot can be used in music videos to show something that the lyrics might be saying. It shows and object in detail and is similar to an extreme close up, but used very quickly and has an object that relates to the subject or narrative.

Camera Angles:

Camera angles play a huge part to emphasising the artist or to show emotions and expressions. 

Eye Level – This is a very common view being the real world angle that we are all use to seeing; it shows subjects as we would expect to see them in real life.

High Angle – This is where it shows the subject from above, and the camera is angled down towards the subject. This has the effect of making them appear less powerful, more submissive and even less significant.

Low Angle – This is where the artist is shown from below, making them seem a lot more powerful and dominant.

Bird’s eye view – Bird’s eye view is showing the subject/scene from directly above. This can be used for a dramatic effect or showing a different spatial perspective. It can also be used to show the different positions and motions of characters, enabling the viewers to see things the artist might not see.

Slanted – This is when the camera is slanted also known as a Dutch angle where the camera is purposely tilted to one side so that the horizon is on an angle. This is creative in making interesting dramatic effects.

Camera Movement:

Pans – This is where the camera scans a scene horizontally. The camera is place on a tripod, which operates as a stationary axis point as the camera is turned, often to show the moving object which is kept in the middle of the frame. This could also be used as an establishing shot in the beginning of a trailer, so that the viewers know where it all takes place.

Dolly/Tracking – This is where the camera is mounted to a cart which travels along tracks for a very smooth movement. This would take place while one/two people are walking from one place to another, and the camera moves with them making it more fluent.