Lyrical Analysis feedback

Whilst presenting our lyrical analysis feedback to the class, we received a number of constructive comments which will help us when it comes to creating our final product.

Some positive feedback that we received was that our lyrical analysis identified the key themes within the lyrics. However, some of our peers said that our analysis needed to relate more to our ideas for our music video by including factors such as shot types and characters.

However, we viewed our lyric analysis as a way to focus purely on the thematic content within the lyrics as opposed to a way to plan content for our music video, this is why no direct music video content was included throughout our lyric analysis.

By focusing purely on the themes and emotions conveyed by the lyrics, we feel this will ultimately help us to create a more thematic and relatable video for the song.

Initial ideas - song timeline

Initial ideas - lyric analysis

Artist research

Permission request

The purpose of this post is to show that I have requested permission from "Republic records" to use Lorde's liability for my music video. "Republic records" released Lorde's latest album "melodrama" which includes my chosen song.

Final song choice

For our final song choice, we have chosen to use Lorde's "liability". We feel that there will be many opportunities to be creative with this song, the lyrics are meaningful and profound, meaning that we can deliver a clear, intense message to our audience. We plan to create an effective narrative based on the lyrics, our video will be edited with a black and white filter at a later stage in order to highlight the sombre nature of the song.
This was also the most popular song choice amongst our peers when we presented our potential ideas pitch, which gave us further assurance that it was the right song to choose.

The length of the song may present some challenges, due to it being a relatively short song with a time of 2 minutes and 54 seconds. The difficulty that could be raised by the length of the song is the issue of including all of our desired content within a relatively small length of time. We will however attempt to combat this issue by filming all of our footage at an early stage so that we have plenty of time to play around with our product and edit our footage to ensure that it effectively fits the length of the song.
Our main target audience for our music video is teenagers who are attracted to the indie genre; we will ensure that this video appeals to our audience by touching on issues throughout the video that are often faced by teenagers (breakups, the growing pressure to drink alcohol and smoke etc). By touching on these issues, it will mean that teenagers will be able to relate to our product; thus increasing it's appeal. We will ensure that it appeals to fans of the indie genre by creating a music video to reflect the conventions of the genre, we will do this by including low-key lighting and a hard-hitting narrative.

Audience research analysis

In this post, I will analyse the feedback received from my audience research survey.

1. The answers to our first question - "Do you like to see narrative in a music video?" showed us that only 20% of people don't like to see narrative in music videos, this is a positive response given that we are considering to include a narrative within our music video, this response means that we are likely to go ahead with this route.

2. The responses to our second question - "What is your favourite genre of music?" showed us that the majority of people selected "indie" for their favourite genre. This is positive for us, considering that we have chosen two indie songs for our potential ideas. This response means that we are likely to go ahead with one of those indie songs due to the popular view of the genre.

3. The responses to our third question - "do you think it is important to see reference to the lyrics of the song throughout the music video?" showed us that the majority of people do like to see some sort of reference to the lyrics, we will ensure that we will include reference to the lyrics within our video based on this feedback.

4. The responses to this question - "Do you enjoy watching music videos?" are positive as they reveal that 62% of the people questioned enjoy watching music videos, this is great feedback as it gives us the impression that people will be intrigued to watch our music video based on their general enjoyment of watching music videos.

5. To our fifth question - "do you like to see montages throughout music videos", more of our participants answered "yes" than they did "no", this means that myself and my partner will begin to consider including a montage and think about how we could incorporate a montage into our music video. We are eager to create a product that is popular with our audience, so even though a montage was not considered before, we will begin to brainstorm further ideas based on the results of this question.

6. The responses to this question - "Is there anything that you feel is over-used throughout music videos" revealed that the main things our participants thought were overused were shots of barely clothed women; linking to voyeuristic treatment of the female body. This was an issue that was also touched on when I interviewed my dad, suggesting that this is a popular opinion. This overwhelming response means that we will definitely avoid including any voyeuristic treatment of the female body throughout our product.

Potential ideas feedback

Whilst presenting our potential ideas to our peers, we requested that they filled out the positives and the negatives of our ideas so that we knew what to keep and what we possibly needed to alter within our plan.

From our feedback, we learnt that our strong points were a clear link to our chosen genre (the indie genre) and a clear link between the narrative and our songs. This was extremely positive as I feel that these are two of the main factors that we were striving to achieve.

The only negative feedback that myself and my partner received is that we hadn't yet included reference to theorists within our potential ideas (the theorists have now been added).

The overwhelming feedback from our peers is that we should choose our first idea for our music video (Liability by Lorde), based on this feedback, I feel that we are extremely likely to go with this song.

Audience research survey

In this post, I will paste screenshots of my chosen questions explaining why they will be useful when choosing what to include in my music video. I will later analyse the results received from my questions.

I chose to include this question in my survey as it will help us to decide whether to include a narrative within our product, or go down another route such as using a montage/performance element instead.

I feel that this question will help us to decide what genre we will choose for our music video, and give us a general feeling of what is popular at the moment.

This question will allow us to discover if reference to the lyrics within our music video will be a priority.

I chose to include this question will help us to discover how popular music videos really are, thus helping us to predict the level of success regarding our product/

This question will allow us to discover how popular montages are throughout music videos, which will help us when considering whether we would like to include one.

I feel that this question will potentially be the most useful for our group, as it will allow us to discover what our audience dislikes and therefore inform us of what to avoid throughout our product.

I have also chosen to interview two people of varying ages groups (20 and 56) in order to obtain an idea of the different views adopted by different age groups regarding music videos and how they vary. The responses from both age groups were interesting, and telling of the eras in which they group up in and how they both experienced music videos.

 

Potential ideas pitch

Applying Propp's theory

Whilst trying to find examples of Propp's theory within music videos, I chose to analyse Taylor Swift's "you belong with me" music video:

The narrative within this music video includes 3 key characters; an attractive, popular boy, a geeky, seemingly unpopular girl, and finally, an attractive, popular girl. Some of the character types theorised by Propp can be seen within these characters, as I will demonstrate below:

Number one: the young boy within the music video can be described as the princess, he is the object of desire that the blonde, "geeky" girl is lusting after.

Number two: This character can be described as both the hero and the dispatcher; Propp defined "the hero" as "the one who seeks something", this is demonstrated by showing her desire for the young boy. This character is also the dispatcher as she is the one who sends herself on the quest for the young boy's affection throughout the narrative.

Number three: This character is the one who prevents the "geeky" girl from gaining the boy's affection; she is his girlfriend, therefore, this character would be defined as the villain. This character is later seen throughout the video cheating on the previously mentioned boy; again demonstrating her villainous qualities.

In conclusion, four of Propp's supposed character types can be found throughout this music video narrative, this partly conforms to Propp's theory, however, no reference to "the doner", "the false hero", "the helper", or "the father" can be found throughout this narrative, thus contradicting Propp's theory.

Propp's theory has influenced my product decision, as I am currently planning on including a narrative throughout my music video, I am definitely planning on including some of Propp's character types as I feel that they will help to create an interesting and creative story. I am not planning to fully conform to Propp's theory by using all eight character types, however, I feel that the use of certain characters such as "the hero" will allow me to create an interesting plot.

Applying Todorov's theory

Whilst undertaking research regarding Todorov's theory, I decided to look at Sam Smith's "I know I'm not the only one music video"

Number one shows the narrative starting with an equilibrium; a husband and wife are captured within their home and appear to be content.

Number two shows a disruption to the equilibrium; the husband is shown meeting with another woman in a bar, he is shown with his arms around her waist; clearly implying infidelity.

Number three shows the quest to restore the equilibrium beginning. The wife is aware of the affair but deals with it the only way she knows how; she goes to a store and purchases a bottle of vodka. This is her coping strategy and the way she goes about restoring the equilibrium; she still wants to be with her husband despite the fact that he is cheating.

Number four shows the narrative continuing to a climax as she waits for her husband to arrive home

Number five shows resolution occurring as the equilibrium is restored; the husband returns back to his wife at the start location (their home), both appear to be happy as they share a hug, despite what they are both aware of.

This music video conforms to Todorov's narrative theory, although the restoration of the equilibrium is not quite as happy as it is depicted throughout Todorov's simple five steps.

I feel that Todorov's theory is interesting and makes for a creative narrative, I will consider incorporating this theory into my music video narrative should I choose to create a storyline within my product.

Narrative theorist research: Propp

Vladimir Propp analysed a number of narratives and produced the theory that characters have a narrative function; they provide a structure for the text.

Propp stated that eight key character types can be found within narratives:
1. The hero - who seeks something
2. The villain - who opposes the hero
3. The donor - who helps the hero by providing something, perhaps an object
4. The dispatcher - who sends the hero on a journey
5. The false hero - a character who pretends to be on side with the hero but eventually turns against them
6. The helper - who supports the hero
7. The princess - an object of desire, can often be perceived as vulnerable
8. The father - a character who protects the princess

I will go on to study narrative music videos with this theory in mind with the aim to discover if I can find each of these character types within the video.

Narrative theorist research: Todorov

Todorov in 1969 analysed a number of fairy tails and produced the theory that narratives move forward in a chronological order with one action following after another. In other words, they have a clear beginning, middle and end.

Todorov stated that narratives follow these five key steps:
1. The narrative begins with an equilibrium
2. An action or character disrupts the equilibrium
3.  A quest to restore the equilibrium begins
4. The narrative continues to a climax
5. Resolution occurs and equilibrium is restored.

I will go on to apply this theory to music videos which tell a narrative and discover if all five steps can be found.

Genre theory research: metal video

For my third example, I looked at Marilyn Manson's "dope hat" music video; a clear example of a stereotypical music video within the metal genre.

This is an example of a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals; the lyrics of the song are displayed on the screen within the video; creating a clear connection between the song and the music video.

This is an example of a close up shot of the artist; record labels are aware of the fact that Marilyn Manson fans will be happy to see their icon appearing in his music video, therefore, close up shots of the artist become a key priority, due to these shots increasing the popularity of the music video.

This is an example of intertextual reference; the boat travelling across the lake of what appears to be blood is an ode to the boat travelling across the lake of chocolate within the film "Charlie and the chocolate factory".

This is an example of a relationship between the music and the visuals; a drum kit is shown within the music video whilst the sound of drums can be heard within the song.

This is an example of music videos demonstrating genre characteristics; Marilyn Manson appears menacing and strange with his face full of makeup and tattoos - this relates to the stereotype of the metal genre being slightly odd and threatening.

This music video largely conforms to Goodwin's theory, however, no reference to the notion of looking can be found within this video. 

Genre theory research: pop music video

For my second example, I looked at Katy Perry's "last Friday night" music video; a clear example of a stereotypical pop genre video.

Here I found an example of a relationship between the music and the visuals; just as a saxophone could be heard in the song, a musician appeared on the screen playing the saxophone, thus causing the music video to relate to and reflect the song.

This is an example of a close up shot of the artist, fans of Katy Perry will be happy to see close up shots of her included within her music video.

This is an example of music videos demonstrating genre characteristics; this shot shows young people at a party, dancing and having fun - a scene that would definitely be expected to be found within a pop music video

Here is an example of a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals - this shot of pictures on an online site appeared on screen just as the lyrics "pictures of last night ended up online" could be heard. Again, this is an effective way of reflecting the song within the music video and connecting the two.

Here is an example of intertextual reference; the people within the music video are playing on the wii game "just dance".

And finally, here is an example of reference to the notion of looking - these two young people gazing into each other's eyes.

To conclude, this music video fully supports Goodwin's theory; following each of the six points theorised by him.

Genre Theory Research: indie music video.

For my first example, I looked at Ed Sheeran's "Drunk" music video:

This is an example of a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, Ed takes a shot of alcohol just as the lyrics "maybe I'll get drunk again" are heard. This amplifies the lyrics through his actions on screen and therefore causes the music video to relate to the song.

This is an example of a relationship between the music and the visuals, just as the beat drops in the song, the two glasses collide together on screen; this amplifies the change in the music and the moment of impact.

This is an example of music videos demonstrating genre characteristics. Ed sheeran is sat lonely with his cat, which gives the music video that "indie vibe". The background also relates to this genre, polaroid photographs can be seen against a white brick wall, again giving it a sort of "indie feel".

This is an example of a close up shot of the artist; fans of Ed Sheeran will be happy to see their idol in his music video, the want for this is demonstrated here.

This is an example of reference to the notion of looking (voyeuristic treatment of the female body), here the camera focuses on two attractive young women, this is appealing to audiences despite the fact that it has nothing to do with the song.

This music video largely conforms to Goodwin's theory, however, no intertextual reference is included throughout this music video.

Genre theory - Andrew Goodwin

Goodwin's Theory - Andrew Goodwin argues that "music video"  is a genre itself and that music videos often follow 6 key conventions, regardless of the genre of music.

The six key conventions are as follows:

1. A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (which illustrate, amplify or even contradict the lyrics)

2. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals (again either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting)

3. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (for example, elements of performance are often found throughout metal videos, whereas pop videos are more likely to include a narrative)

4. Close up shots of the artist (This is due to demands of the record label; fans will be eager to see the icon in the video)

5. Frequent reference to the notion of looking (This could be screens within screens, telescopes, and prominently voyeuristic treatment of the female body)

6. There is often intertextual reference (this could include reference to existing films, TV shows or other music videos).

Group choices

For my A2 task, I have decided to work with Keeley Cox. I worked with Keeley last year for our AS task and feel that we worked extremely well together and we both contributed equal amounts, I feel that Keeley will contribute that same effort to our A2 task. Last year, Keeley was open to trying different positions throughout our group and was never awkward or close-minded, I feel that this is a great attribute and will stand us in good stead for A2. Myself and Keeley had no disagreements throughout our AS task so I feel confident going into this task with her as my partner.
Anyia Deignan was also in our AS group but felt that she wanted to set herself the challenge of working independently this year, and experimenting with different areas of creativity.

Despite myself and Keeley being a small group, I am confident that we will still work successfully together and I am looking forward to begin working with Keeley for this task.

Initial thoughts and feelings

I am very optimistic about our A2 task, I feel that it will be an interesting way to use and develop all of the skills that we learnt throughout AS in a new style. I am a huge fan of music and music videos so I am looking forward to experiment with different techniques in order to create my own, I feel that this task really allows you to showcase your creativity/originality. I feel that creating a magazine advert to run alongside our music video will be enjoyable, I have never tried anything like this so it should be interesting to experiment with different ideas.

Whilst creating my music video, I will be wary of existing products to ensure that my video doesn't resemble an existing music video too closely; I want my product to be unique and interesting. I am slightly nervous about creating digipak artwork to run alongside my music video, as I have never tried anything like this before and I am not entirely aware of the skills needed in order to create one. This task immediately seems more challenging than our AS thriller film, however, it will be interesting to experiment with new methods of creativity. This task certainly seems more varied than our AS coursework task so I am looking forward to see how myself and my group respond to the variation.

Outline of A2 coursework

Task: to plan and create a new music video, supported by a promotional magazine advert and digipak artwork for the release.

Reflecting on AS coursework

Overall, I was extremely pleased with my AS coursework and felt that I learnt a lot throughout the process of creating a blog, a plan and eventually a final product. The stages that I found easiest and enjoyed the most throughout the process were editing our product and uploading posts to my blog. I enjoyed both of these areas as I feel that they allowed me to be creative and experiment whilst learning new skills.

Whilst carrying out my AS coursework, I found the actual filming of our product to be the most difficult. This was due to a lack of organisation amongst my group, as well as the weather and the location, we spent valuable time travelling to and from the location when we could have selected somewhere closer to film. Also, we decided to change a section of our plot last minute, which made our general filming plan less organised and slightly chaotic. Myself and my group also decided to film in the dark in order to add an eerey, suspenseful atmosphere, however, the dark surroundings made it more difficult to capture some of the shots clearly, this may put us off filming at night in the future.

In order to make the filming process smoother for A2, myself and my group will consider the forecast a few days before filming to ensure that the weather doesn't make filming more difficult, we will also apply more thought to the location and the content so that our organisation can be improved also. Furthermore, if we do choose to film in the dark at any point, we will ensure that we are equipped with the correct tools to allow us to capture the shots clearly.

In regards to blogging tools, I used sites such as Prezi and picmonkey whilst creating my AS blog. I found these sites extremely useful when wanting to present information on my blog in a slightly more varied way. These sites were effective and easy to use, so I am likely to continue using them in my A2 blog as well as incorporating some new methods with the aim to make my current blog more interesting and diverse.

I aim to make my A2 blog more interesting than my AS one by experimenting with different ways of presenting information and exploring certain websites that I may not have come across before. I would like to upload more video responses, after only using the method once on my AS blog. I aim to expand the depth of my posts across my A2 blog also in order to improve the quality and the overall flow.