Andrew Goodwin's Theory | Research

According to Andrew Goodwin's theory, there are 5 different aspects to a music video.

1. Thought through beat

Thought through beat is viewing what the lyrics mean or represent in your head. There are three different steps to this theory. The first being the process of analysing the music structure and understanding the chorus and the verses. The second being the main voice of the song. This is where the voice of the artist is very unique compared to others, which gives the person a form of identification which can then be related to the star image or the singer. Then the third is the story of the artist which is being told within the song. This can establish the music artist as a story teller, and the music video backs this up showing the video through the vocals of the song. An example of this is when the vocals have a sad tone, it shows that the music artist is sharing an emotional story.

2. Relationship between music and visuals

There are three different ways in which visuals are used to promote a song.
Illustrate
In music videos there are certain images and shots that are used to explain the meaning of the song lyrics. This can be linked in with a narrative video by following a storyline through the direction of the lyrics. This interests the viewer of the music video as it makes them understand the lyrics more and in some cases it makes them feel sympathy/empathy for the music artist in the video.
Disjuncture
The music video doesn't follow the meaning of the song and the meaning is ignored. This links to a performance video which focuses mainly on entertaining the viewer by showing them interesting footage. The music video creates a story, but the story it creates has nothing in common with the lyrics of the song.
Amplify
This is when music videos repeat the same footage and the same camera shots to make the video more interesting and easier to remember. This is called 'repeatability'. This is used in music videos to show the same message and to make the viewer remember certain parts of the video.

Goodwin believed that a music video could promote a song through the way it analysis's the lyrics of the song. This is portrayed in music videos when the character or artist in the video follows the instructions of the song. For example; when the song lyrics are "jump", the actor in the video will actually jump and follow the instruction.

3. The narrative and performance of the song

Goodwin believed that it is important for the music artist to be involved in the music video by performing or acting out a role as the main character in the video or as the singer. The helps make the song look more realistic and helps give the audience a special connection and understanding of the song. Many artists will get involved in their music videos to allow their audience to enjoy the video as well as understand the lyrics a little better. Also if the music artists of the song are involved in the video, more people are going to want to watch it. For example; 'Roar' by Katy Perry. Perry is the main actor in the song as well as the singer who sung the song. This helped make the song and the video look more realistic and it helped engage the audience as well due to the fact she was in the video.

4. Star image

Goodwin said the star image as a vital aspect of the music video as the music artist makes the music video more appealing to the audience while bringing a unique style to their video by the way they are portrayed to the audience. In these music videos there a lot of camera shots that make the artist the centre of attention. The starting image is always very unique in the way the artists are presented through the costumes, the moves and their appearance. This helps to promote the artist's image in the public eye and also helps promote the video while creating a reputation in the public for the artist.

5. Technical aspect of a music video

Goodwin said that the technical aspect holds the music video together through the use of the Mise-en-Scene. This includes the special effects, the sound and the editing. The lighting and colour helps to set the mood in the video and it creates emphasis on the most important parts of the song to create a dramatic effect and add a thrill to the video. The Mise-en-Scene is important in the production of the music video as it can help the artist gain authentication and also make their work look more professional. The beats of the song are very important and useful as they help create an effective cut and keep the footage and cuts in time with the music. This makes the video look more entertaining and it holds the music video together. 

Target Audience | Research

When deciding what target audience we were going to aim our band at, we decided to research Neon Jungle's target audience first so we could get some ideas to help us in our decision. We found out that Neon Jungles audience are mainly around 16-21 year old females. Neon Jungle consists of young female singers so their audience would most likely be around the same age group and maybe a bit younger. This photo is an image of some of the fans that visited Neon Jungle at one of their CD signings. Here we see teenage girls along with a teenage boy which makes the target audience varied.

 

Due to our band members being of a young age, and our band consisting of the same style as Neon Jungle we decided that having the same target audience would be appropriate. However we want our target audience to be varied in gender as well as age. Our target audience is going to be based around the ages 13-21 because we feel the younger audience will gain a bigger following for the band.

Email | Planning

For us to be able to cover the song 'Louder' by Neon Jungle and create a music video to it, we had to contact the record label. The record label is Sony music so we had to contact them through an email explaining why we wanted permission to use the song. By doing this we are making our project more professional and realistic. In real life, if an artist wanted to cover a song and create their own music video for it they would have to ask permission to do so as it would be classed as copyright if they did it without permission.

Font choices | Produce

Before creating the front and back of the CD cover we had to choose a mixture of fonts that we could use. We used the website 'dafont' as the source for our fonts and we found a variety of different options that we liked.

 

Here are the different font types we found that we all liked:

 

1.

 

2.

 

3.

 

4.

 

5.

 

6.

 

From this list of fonts, we had to choose two that we wanted to use in our CD cover for the front and back covers. We decided on the top two fonts as we thought they suited our music video and the style we wanted the band to have. We wanted the text to look quite vintage due to the name of the band and we felt that the top two fonts show that well. We also felt the audience will be more attracted to those fonts and they would feel more inclined to buy the album and research the band. As well as having the font on the CD, we are going to use this text in the music video to end the video and show the band in the video. We are very happy with the decision of our texts and we think the audience will be attracted to it as well.

Artists Mood Boards | Produce

Here are the mood boards of the members in the band. In these mood boards you will see interests and hobbies of the band members to get to know them a little better.

Becca:

 

Viki:

 



Artist Fact Files | FINAL

Here is a little bit more information about the band members.

Our Band - Vintage Strobe | Produce

Vintage Strobe

The group consists of two members, Becca and Viki. The group was created in the early months of 2012. They performed at school performances sharing their talent and went on radio tours around the UK sharing their musical ability. After the studio tours they went into the studio to start recording their first album.

Rebecca Bennett

Nickname: Becca

DOB: 14th April 1997

Becca started on YouTube making videos with content such as funny videos, make-up videos but mainly song covers where she shared our singing talent. These videos were soon found by Sony who then put her in for an audition for a new girl group. The audition was very successful as she is now one of the members in 'Vintage Strobe'.

Victoria Cresswell

Nickname: Viki

DOB: 31st October 1996

Viki is the oldest member in the band. She auditioned for X Factor UK, while working on some photography projects, and got through to the Judges Houses. Unfortunately she was sent home before the live finals, but Syco Music decided to put her in the group along with Becca.

Their first single was released in 2013 which was a cover of Neon Jungle's song 'Louder'. This single peaked at number 2 in the UK Chart. The group are currently planning on releasing their debut album in the early months of 2015, and this album will be called 'Faded Lights'. The group have also been on the cover of the popular UK music magazine 'Q' which helped gain their following. Once their album is released they are going to carry out a tour across the UK making appearances at a variety of summer festivals such as Wireless Festival and V Festival.

Pitch | Planning

Before filming the footage and editing the video, we needed to present a pitch to others to express our ideas and explain how we want the video to look like. We all took turns presenting each slide showing what our ideas are and how we are going to film them. Viki was absent on the day of the presentation so we made sure we split her parts up between us so it was fair.




To start the pitch we talked about the band that would appear in our music video - Vintage Strobe. We spoke about each members history in detail explaining how they became part of the band. We then discussed the reasons why we chose the song and why we chose the band.

We then when on to talk about our influences for the music video. This includes what music videos influenced us and what ideas we have taken from other videos that we will try for our own video. We then discussed the different ideas that we want to complete in our video, and we discussed that what sort of filters we will use if we use any.

We then spoke in detail what we have planned to filmed. We talked about the different settings we want in our music video and what we are going to be doing in these scenes. We then discussed the costumes we want to have the people wear in the video. We made sure to add what costumes we want in what scene so we get our point across well. We talked about the different props we will need when filming some of the scenes. We also discussed where we are going to film the scenes and how we will travel to them.

The pitch was very successful as we put our point across and explained how we were going to do things we wanted. We explained how we wanted the outcome of our video well, and the audience understood what we wanted and how we were going to do it. Our pitch was graded an A grade due to our explanation and the detail we had in our pitch.

Locations | Planning

When discussing the different locations we wanted to use within our music video, we wanted to make sure they were easy to access and get to. We knew we wanted to shoot some footage in the woods, and we wanted to experiment with different backgrounds to add some variety to our music video. We had the idea of throwing powder paint and popping balloons with powder paint in them so we had to agree on where we were going to film those shots. We also knew we wanted to use a black and white background, and we wanted to film on a stage. Once we knew the basics of what we wanted to shoot, we had to discuss and agree where they would be shot.

Woods:
We needed to make sure the woods was easy to get to so we weren't having to deal with travel transportation. We suggested multiple woods that we were quite close, but we decided on a woods that is located near Viki's house. We chose this wood as we knew where it was and how to get to it from Viki's house. This meant we didn't have to worry too much about how we were going to get there as we could walk there and it wouldn't take us long.

Powder paint:
For the powder paint a black bed sheet will be used for the background so we just needed a back garden to film in. We decided since we were going to the woods near Viki's house we would film the powder paints in her back garden as well so we could film on the same day and not worry about arranging another day to go round her house.

Black & White background:
For the black and white shots we are using a screen as the background so, like the powder paint scenes, we just needed a house to film in. Since the black and white screen is one of my relatives we decided to film these shots in my house so we don't have to carry it around and take it to other houses.  We decided that we would film it in the living room as it is the biggest room, and the easiest to film in.

Balloon:
For the balloon scenes with the powder paint we needed to film in someones back garden again. We are going to use the same bed sheet for the background so it didn't matter if the location was different the past powder paint scenes we need to film. We decided to go to Nadine's house and film in her back garden as it was easy to get to, and it would be easy to arrange a day to film these shots.

Stage:
For the stage scenes we are going to use the stage in our school hall as we knew we would be able to use it and also it would be easy to get to since we could film these shots after school one day. We just need to make sure we know when the hall is free so we can use it.

Costume & Props | Planning

When discussing what costumes and props we wanted to include in the music video, we made sure to keep it quite basic and feminine to add to pop genre of the music. There are four different scenes that we are going to have in the video so we split them up and discussed costumes we would need in each scene.

Costumes

Powder Paint:
For the powder paint scene we made sure to keep the costumes simple and plain so the colour is the main factor in the footage. We decided that both people in the music video would wear a black top and black leggings to add some emphasis to the bright colours of the powder paint.

 

Stage:
For the stage scene we wanted to create a feminine look, so we made sure to have a costume that would resemble a stereotypical girly girl. We decided that both people in the music video would wear flower crowns, a dress and high heels, and the colours would be pastel or light colours.

Woods:
For the woods scene we wanted to keep to the outdoors effect so we made sure the costume resembled what you would usually wear outside. We agreed that we would wear a nice top and some leggings or jeans, but the main features in the outfit are the boots and the coats with fur hoods. We chose boots and coats with fur hoods because that type of fashion is in at the moment and we felt more people would be attracted to the video if they see fashionable outfits.

Black & White:
For the black and white scene we made sure to keep the costumes plain and not to over powering so the footage focuses on the contrast of colours. One person would wear a black top and black bottoms and we would film them against the white background. Then the other person would wear a white top and white bottoms and we would film them against the black background to create some contrast.

 Props

We don't need that many props in our music video but there a few that we need to make the video eye-catching and enjoyable. The props that we need will mainly be used in the powder paint scenes as the others don't need any props. Here is the list of the four different props we will need:

• Powder paint - We have decided that the colours we want are pink, yellow, orange and green because we feel they are the most eye-catching and the most colourful. We will put the powder paint in the balloons as well as throwing it on the two people in the video.

• Glitter - We have decided that we want a variety of colours for the glitter so the two colours we have decided on are silver and gold. We will throw this on the two people in the video and we might also experiment with putting them in the balloons as well.

• Black bed sheet - We will use this as a background for the powder paint scene.

• Balloons - We will placing powder paint into these and popping them to create a powder paint smoke effect.

Technology | Produce

When choosing what days to film on we needed to know what equipment we needed when. Also we needed to know what software we will be using to edit our video. We also needed to know how we could download the song to put over our footage when editing the video.

Cameras -
Woods Locations -
When filming in the woods location we used the 600D Canon Camera. We used this because we knew you could film on it as well as take photos, but also because we knew the quality was good. The camera is owned by Viki so we were able to use her camera and take it out with us to the woods. The shots created with this camera have come out really well as the focus is good and the brightness has come out well.
Powder Paints -
When filming the scenes with the powder paint we used Viki's 600D Canon Camera again as we knew the quality was good so we knew these shots would also come out very well. We placed the camera on a tripod to do this as we wanted a sturdy shot, and we also wanted a mixture of close-up shots and mid shots and we thought it would be easier to do this on a tripod. These also came out well, and the powder paint can be seen clearly which is what we wanted.
Black & White -
When filming the scenes behind the black and white screen we used my 60D Canon Camera which is similar to Viki's but is a newer version. We used this camera as we knew the footage would be clear and the outcome of the footage would be successful. Also since we were filming these shots at my house it made sense to use my camera instead of getting Viki to bring hers with her. We placed the camera on a tripod as we wanted a sturdy shot again, and we knew what rough shots we wanted to film rather than experimenting with angles. These shots have come out really well and the outcome is very successful.
Balloon -
When filming the scenes with the balloons and the powder paint we used my Canon compact Camera as it was easier to bring along due to it's size. The quality of the camera isn't as good as the other camera's quality but for the shots we wanted to film we knew this camera would do the job just as well. We filmed these shots with a hand held camera as we wanted to experiment with the angles of the powder paint coming out of the balloons. This footage has come out really well, and they will look really good in the final video.

Computer (Mac)-
Editing -
To edit our video we decided to use Final Cut Express. We used this software last year, so we knew how to use it and how it works. We also knew the different effects and filters that were available for us to use in our footage. This software is fairly easy to use, and it's also fairly easy to find information about. For example; if we didn't know how to do something we could find the answer through the internet fairly easily.

Music -
Filming -
When filming the footage we downloaded the song onto a few of our phones. We played the song through our mobile devices when filming the video and sung along to it, as we knew the footage would be muted when we start editing it.