The institution was founded in 1991, is the second largest music company in the world, and is part of the 'Big Three' (the other two being Universal Records and Warner Music Group). Some of the labels that are partnered with the company include Epic Records, Syco Music and Columbia Records. All these labels have signed successful artists like Calvin Harris, Michael Jackson, One Direction, and many more including Neon Jungle. Doug Morris is the Chief Executive Officer and Kevin Kelleher is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. WE have chosen Sony Music as our institutional record label as it's quite well-known and also we thought it made sense due to Neon Jungle being signed to them as well.
Neon Jungle 'Louder' Video
This music video was directed by award winning director Colin Tilley. He has directed videos for music artists such as Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Jason Derulo, Cheryl Cole, and many more. Tilley has won several awards including a BET award in 2011. He was also nominated for another BET award for 'Director of the Year' in 2014.
Neon Jungle are signed to Sony Music, on one of their main labels RCA. If we were to create a girl group music video, it is most likely that Sony would sign a group similar to Neon Jungle. Other groups that are linked with Sony who have become world wide music artists are One Direction. This could cause Sony to be fairly interested in other music groups as they could help them gain recognition and profit.
Since famous director Colin Tilley directed Neon Jungles music video, he would also be happy to direct another groups music video as well. The girls are a UK girl band, which compliments that fact that he has worked with a variety of popular UK music artists. This means he would probably be happy to work with an upcoming girl group who needs a director for their video.
Neon jungle is a British girl group consisting of four female vocalists. Shereen Cutkelvin (middle left), Amira McCarthy (far left), Jess Plummer (far right), and Asami Zdrenka (middle right). Their music genres are based around electropop, dancepop and electronic dance music. They are best known for their second single 'Braveheart and have an albumn called 'Welcome to the Jungle.'
Shereen Cutkelvin
Born 2nd December 1996.
From Lanark, Scotland. She is the youngest member in the band and is very shy but claims she has "been singing since she could walk and talk". Her father is her "musical idol" and is inspired by him. She loves motown and soulful music and enjoys listening to music artists such as Diana Ross and The Temptations. To start her off she uploaded covers of herself on YouTube, along with videos that include her family. She was then discovered and asked to audition to be part of the group. She got the call to confirm her place in the group while she was on her way back home to Scotland, and she also worked for Sony before actually joining the group.
Amira McCarthy
Born 2nd February 1996.
From London, England.
She has always known that performing is what she wants to do in her life. She took part in a singing competition at Westminster Academy, which was her school previously. This is when she realised that she wanted to pursue a career in music and not music or dance. She was scouted to be in the group in the location of Westfields Shopping Centre in London. She later auditioned for the group and made in as the final four.
Jess Plummer
Born 16th September 1992.
From London.
She is the oldest member of the band. She previously worked as an actress appearing on two episodes of the CBBC series 'Wizard vs Aliens'. Her musical idols are Mariah Carey, Rihanna and Jessie J. She was discovered throughout the groups current manager in Brick Lane from London. From there she was invited to the audition and made it through.
Asami Zdrenka
Born 15th September 1995.
From Japan, but moved to the UK at an early age.
She has always loved to sing, and as a child, when her father took her on holiday back to Japan, he would make her sing to her family. Her mother was a singer and her grandfather has released several albums in Japan. She was spotted online through YouTube videos of her singing, which caught the attention of the label.
Once we chose the song 'Louder' by Neon Jungle as our song for the music video, we thought of some ideas we could use for our video. Some of the ideas we came up with were influenced by other music videos we had seen before.
Our rough ideas were:
Drums
Powder paints
Speakers with a deep bass
Dancer ribbons
Smashing plates
Walking down the street - experiment with different shots (e.g. front, back, side)
Fans
Flashing lights
Close-ups
Various locations for each member in the video then meet up for the chorus
Popping balloons
Mascara running down the face - we could show this through a close-up
Quick cuts
Sparklers
Glow sticks
Slow motion
Some of these ideas we found would be fairly easy to do and the props would be available to us (e.g. powder paint, glow sticks), but other ideas we found would be quite hard to do and the props would be hard to find. We discussed as a group what ideas we really wanted to do, what props we wanted and what locations we wanted to film in.
Our final ideas for the music video were:
Throwing powder paint & glitter
This would be shown in slow motion through the editing
We can purchase these items off of the internet
Popping balloons with powder paint in them
This would also be shown in slow motion through the editing
Also the balloons and the powder paint can be purchased
Starting on a stage
We would lip sync the song here
We could use the stage in our school one day after school
Different locations (e.g. woods, the street, a field, etc.)
We would also lip sync here and we can use extra footage here as well
Also we can find a wood near any of our houses to use
In the video we discussed having a cut transition between two different scenes, as well as showing contrasting colours in some of the shots. This idea was influenced by Demi Lovato's music video for 'Heart Attack'. In the video she shows the contrasting colours of black and white and the editing is quick paced. It looks like she filmed in several locations as the transition between two different scenes show different backgrounds. We want to interpret that editing into our video to show the difference between the people in it and the locations we are going to use.
We also discussed the dramatic eye-catching colours that we wanted in our music video. This can be done through the powder paint that we will be purchasing and we can edit the colours when editing the footage. This idea was influenced by Foxes' music video for 'Let Go For Tonight'. In the video there are many different colours being presented through the paint that they use and the food that they throw to create a mess. We wanted to create a colourful 'mess' in our music video, but no through food, so as an alternative we have chosen to use powder paint. The inspiration of the contrast of colours was influenced through this music video as well due to the bright colours contrasting with the white at the beginning of the video. This is something we want to think about doing in our music video to make the colours interesting and different.
When discussing what else we could do with the powder paint that we will be purchasing we thought we could put some in balloons and pop them to create a smoke of colour. This was influenced by One Direction's 'Steal My Girl' music video.
In the video Liam, who is part of the band, breaks balloon type figures with a hammer and powder paint breaks out of them. We wanted to do something similar with balloons as we liked the effect the powder paint gave off when seeing it on the video.
We then discussed exaggerating neon colours in the video with a black and white contrast in other shots. This idea was influenced by Shift K3Y's music video for 'Touch'.
In the music video they use bright neon colours to show a quick pace of the song. They also have quick cut editing to speed up the pace as well. This is something that we want to interpret into our music video to make the video entertaining and quick paced. Also the video uses a lot of close-ups which is something we wanted to add to our video as well.
When discussing, as a group, what song we wanted to do our music video too we decided that we should stick to the pop genre.
The songs that we started off with were:
Ugly Heart - GRL
Louder - Neon Jungle
Human - Christina Perri
Photograph - Ed Sheeran
One Way or Another - One Direction
Really Don't Care - Demi Lovato
Story of my Life - One Direction
We watched each of the songs music videos and agreed that we should pick a song with a female lead. The reason for this was because we wanted the main character in our video to be female, so it made sense to have a song by female artists. When listening to the songs and watching the videos, we all had some ideas but we still weren't sure what song we wanted to do. We agreed that we should narrow the songs list down to three so we could focus on just thinking about those three songs.
The songs we placed in our top three were:
Ugly Heart - GRL
Louder - Neon Jungle
Human - Christina Perri
We listened to the songs individually again and wrote down some ideas that we had as a group for each song. We didn't really have many ideas for 'Ugly Heart', so we decided we shouldn't do that song for our music video. We gathered some ideas for 'Human' and 'Louder' and discussed the possibilities of doing each song. We all agreed that we wanted to do an up tempo song as we felt we could experiment with props, different shots and the pace of the editing. We had some good ideas for 'Human' but we knew it was a slow song, so we decided that 'Louder' by Neon Jungle would be the song.
We listened to the song and recorded some ideas down for the music video while also deciding whether we wanted to do a narrative video or a performance video. The song doesn't really have much of a story line so we felt it would be quite difficult to add a narrative plot to the video. Some of wanted to do a narrative, and the rest wanted to do a performance. We discussed the pros and cons of both narrative and performance and decided on sticking with a performance type video. We chose this because it would have been difficult to create a storyline since the song doesn't have a clear plot, and also we knew we could experiment with different shots and effects while editing the footage to make the video stand out and eye-catching.
The video is set in a warehouse type building with dark low key lighting to exaggerate the emotions that are being portrayed in the video. Many close-ups are used to highlight the four individuals, as well as mid shots to show them all together as a group. A mix of colours have been used in the video to add some interest and colour to the video. The video is very powerful due to the close-up shots, the panning shots and the smoke used in the video. We weren't sure we wanted our video to be powerful, we mainly wanted it to be eye-catching and entertaining. Quick cut editing has been used in the video to increase the pace, and this is something we want to add to do with our editing in our music video. Also slow motion effects have been used to emphasise the emotions, which is something we were all interested in as a group. While watching the videos we all had some good ideas come to our heads and we are all very happy with our choice of song.
There are many different types of music videos. Some can be meaningful, some can be telling a story, and some can just be entertaining. To help us decide what kind of music video we wanted to do we researched into some music videos that show the different types. With us having an idea of what kind of music video we wanted to do, it could help us with what song we could do the music video too.
Entertaining
Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song
At the beginning of the video, we see Bruno, up close to the camera, using his hands to fiddle with the camera. This suggests to the viewer that he is refocusing or changing the focus of the camera, which he isn't, but he is making the impression that he is through the close up positioning of his hands. Once Bruno stops fiddling with the camera, the first thing we spot are the 5 characters wearing monkey masks. the viewer finds this unusual but they keep watching because they are interested in the video and they are intrigued by the masks. The masks have been used to add to the weirdness of the video, which can link with the song, but also to attract the viewer due to the idea being quite unusual and abnormal. Once the music starts to play, both the characters and Mars nod their heads in time with the beat of the song. This humours the viewer as it is unusual to see, and they probably haven't seen anything like it. This creates humour in the video, and it is carried all throughout the video.
The video is set in one location, which is a bedroom that is made out to be Mars' bedroom through the viewers imagination and thoughts. The bedroom is quite simple; this is shown through the bed on the side of the shot, a few photo frames on the wall of the bedroom, and a door that, as a viewer, we are unsure as to where it leads to. As well as the whole video being seat only in a bedroom, the video is shot in a Midshot with no cuts or edits. This adds interest and creativity to the video due to most music artists videos are edited, but also it makes the viewer think about how hard it would have been for Mars, the characters and the extras in the video to do. The video is like a live performance, just not live as it wasn't broadcasted live, and if they messed up they could re-do it, but they would have to start from the beginning. This makes the viewer applaud Mars for his creative ideas, and also for his perseverance when filming the video, as they must have messed up a few times while filming.
All of the characters in the video, except for the extra later on in the video, are wearing the same costumes as one another, but they are different colours. Bruno is wearing a red checked top with black jeans, and dark sunglasses. The monkey on the far left is wearing a greenish checked top with black jeans and dark sunglasses. The monkey on the middle left is wearing a grey checked top with black jeans and dark sunglasses. The monkey in the middle is wearing a yellow checked top with black jeans and dark sunglasses. The monkey on the middle right is wearing a blue checked top with black jeans and dark sunglasses. And the monkey on the far right is wearing a purple checked top with black jeans and dark sunglasses. Each of the characters are wearing the same outfit, they are just wearing different coloured tops to tell each other apart. This adds to the humour and weirdness of the video, and interests the viewer slightly do to them being in sync with each other through their clothes and their dance moves.
One of the reasons why the music video is entertaining and interesting is because the people in the video are dancing along with the music. As previously said, they all dance together in sync which means it attracts the viewer as it makes them impressed and they enjoy the video as they are impressed by the dance moves. All of the 5 monkey characters and Mars dance together along with the beat of the music to attract the viewers and leave them positive. The dances that are presented in the video are quite silly which matches the song and the whole video itself. The clear points in the video that can be classed as silly are the models in the video wearing monkey masks, the dancing in the video, the extra male in the video lip syncing the females part, and the matching outfits. All of these features adds to the humour of the video, and creates interest in the viewer which makes the viewer enjoy the video more.
The lighting of the video looks like a sepia filter has been processed onto the video. Whether this was done on the editing software that was used or whether it was through the lighting that was presented in the studio when filming the video. The sepia tone look makes the room look more realistic as people's bedroom usually have a yellow tint due to the lights in the room. This makes the video more relatable to the viewer as they are used to the lighting in the video. The video reminds me of a group of friends getting together and filming a weird video as a group in someone's room. This adds to the realism and the relatable tone of the video as some people might have done this before and now it's made into an actual music video, which then adds to the interest of the video.
The extra male character in the video is wearing a casual outfit to show that he is lounging around his friends house. The character is wearing a beanie, glasses, a dressing gown, a white vest, black shorts and some slippers. This costume shows the casualness of the video and the setting of the video. It also adds some interest into the video by changing up the dancing and the one shot video of the 6 characters. The male character is seen lip syncing to the female part heard in the song - "Oh my God this is great". This creates a contrast between the male character in the video and the female character voice in the song. This adds to the humour of the video, as well as adding interest to the video to make the viewer find it funny and interesting to watch. Also once this line has been said the male character is seen being sent off and 'harassed' in a humorous way by the monkeys. This is done to create and add to the humour already in the video.
There are many different types of music videos. Some can be meaningful, some can be telling a story, and some can just be entertaining. To help us decide what kind of music video we wanted to do we researched into some music videos that show the different types. With us having an idea of what kind of music video we wanted to do, it could help us with what song we could do the music video too.
Story
Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
At the beginning of the music video it fades in to two houses, the shot is quickly shown and then the next shot of the two main characters is transitioned through a fade. This is used to clearly show the transition between being outside the house to then being inside the house. Also it makes the different shots easier to understand and easier to blend in with each other. The speed of the cuts are average as there isn't much action going on the video, also it makes the story line come across more understandable and also it shows the storyline clearly. As well as fading in at the beginning of the music video, the shots that have different locations have been faded into each other to clearly show a new setting and to carry on the storyline further. This makes the video clear and its easy to understand, it also carries the story well which is what they need to be able to keep the viewer interested.
Midshots have been used for most shots to clearly show the different characters in the video, and also to highlight the storyline. The Midshots are effective as they show the differences between the characters but also they show the different relationships between the three characters shown in the video. The storyline of the video is mainly about a girl having feelings for her next door neighbour. However, the neighbour has a girlfriend that he argues with a lot, but he's still going out with her. The girlfriend is the stereotypical popular girl; head cheerleader, pretty, preppy. The neighbour is also the stereotypical popular boy; a jock that plays American football, stylish, handsome. The main character (Swift) is a stereotypical geek; glasses, reads books, sings to herself, is in the schools orchestra band. These stereotypes are clearly shown through both the Midshots and the Close-up shots and also they are shown through the clothes and props that the characters wear and use in the video. At the end of the video the two neighbours eventually get together at the school prom, which is quite typical in stereotypical videos or songs.
Swift plays two characters in this video, but they both have different stereotypes. This is done to show the similarities in the two characters but also to highlight the Main character which is the blonde female playing the geek. The different characters wear different types of clothes and they are seen using different types of props to highlight their stereotype.
Blonde Female | Taylor Swift (Geek) - In the first scene she is seen wearing a t-shirt that is multi-coloured round the collar and the sleeves, and its also been written on. The t-shirt is quite old school and also it shows she isn't very fashionable due to her choice of fashion. Later on in that scene she is seen changing her outfit to look like a Hippy (Pink t-shirt, grey cover-up, headband and necklace), a Goth (Black jacket, dark eyes and dark red t-shirt), a stereotypical geek which isn't too far from her actual outfit (Stripy top, checked jacket and glasses with her hair in bunches), and a gangster type character (hair up high on the head and a multi-coloured sketched jumper). These different outfit changes show that she has time to wear different outfits, but also it shows that they want the viewer to see that she wants to be perfect for him by trying out different outfits. In the second scene she is seen wearing a grey cardigan with a silky material underneath the cardigan. This clothing shows that Swift looks quite nerdy but also pretty at the same time which highlights her being the main character and being the positive person in the video. In the third scene she is seen as a stereotypical geek who is wearing clothing to show she is in the school band. The colours of her outfit are still quite vibrant and eye-catching against the dark lighting in the video to show that she is the character that everyone should be routing for in the video. In the fourth scene she is seen wearing jeans and a dark blue periodic table t-shirt to exaggerate her stereotypical geek character in the music video, also to highlight her being casual at her home. In the last scene she is seen in a spectacular white dress to show several things. Firstly it's to make them stand out against other people in the scene, secondly to make her look pretty and beautiful against the others, and lastly to make her look angelic.
Blonde Male | Lucas Till (Jock) - In the first scene the male character is seen wearing some type of sleepwear to show that he is at home in his comfy clothes. His t-shirt is a dark green colour which highlights the male gender, and his comfy trousers are blue checkers to show that he is quite stylish, but also to exaggerate that he is sat at home. In the second scene the male character is seen wearing jeans and a plain white top with some colour round the collar and the bottom of the sleeves. He's wearing this to show that he is casual and he is quite stylish as the outfit is quite plain but it still looks good. The males t-shirt could resemble the first t-shirt we see Swift wear, as they are both similar with the colour on the collar. However, there are some clear differences as Swift's t-shirt has more colour and it resembles more of a child-like character, which differs to the male's character. In the third scene the male character is seen wearing an American football outfit to show that he plays it as part of his school. The outfit also highlights the jock stereotype that is being placed onto the character through the bright colours and the stereotypical jock outfit. In the fourth and last scene he is seen wearing a tuxedo to show that he is going to a posh event, but also to exaggerate him being the handsome boy in the video. This leads the viewer to think that him and Swift are supposed to end up together which is what is intended in the music video. He is wearing a black and white tuxedo as well as a red flower on the jacket. This makes me think that that black in his outfit represents him, the white represents Swift, and the red represents the other female character due to her red outfit in the last scene. Swift and the male character look like they are meant to be together due to the match in outfits, and due to them looking like the perfect couple in the last scene.
Brunette Female | Taylor Swift (Jock) - In the second scene, which is the first time we see her, we notice that the brunette female is in fact Swift, but she has a brunette wig on. The character is wearing a pink top and pink sunglasses, as well as having some subtle pink lipstick on as well as other make-up. This suggests that the character is very girly and could be classed as a girly girl. This exaggerates the stereotype of her being popular and a jock, due to the pink being quite a girly colour. Also the car used is an open roof top car which shows her wealth, which then again highlights the popular stereotype. In the third scene the character is seen in a school cheerleading outfit which is a massive stereotype when referring to popular girls. The cheerleader outfit helps identify the stereotypical differences in her and Swifts characters. In the last scene, this character is seen wearing a red top with a few cut out holes in the top. This is to show that she is popular, and also the red highlights the suggestion that she is the bad character as red is usually referred to as a bad colour. Red is also well-known for the devil, whereas the white outfit Swift is wearing is well-known for an angelic type character. This highlights the differences between both characters and shows who the audience should be routing for in the video.
There is a lot of bright lighting in each of the scenes, and this is done to clearly show the storyline of the video. Also it's not complicated lighting which means that it isn't supposed to be considered as a performance type video, it is mainly a narrative type video. The bright lighting is also used to clearly show the differences between each characters, and show that Swift is that main character who should and does get the boy at the end of the video. As well as bright lighting, some slow motion is used to clearly introduce the male character in the video, and also to show the direction and speed of the relationship/feelings towards each other. The slow motion is used to exaggerate certain events in the music video such as; the brunette female kissing the male and then throwing him back down (this is to show that she's only dating the male to make Swift jealous), and when the school team wins the American football match (this is done to exaggerate the happiness of the win, and the change of emotions from positive to negative).
The settings in the video are mainly the two houses, outside on the bench, on the school field, and at the school dance. These settings are used to show that the characters in the video are still quite young as they go to school, which means that the storyline is showing a school romance. This could interest the audience as they are most probably at school and they will convince themselves that it will happen to them. It is interesting for the targeted audience (young teenage/child females) due tot eh vibrant colours, the settings, the clothes, and the story line. The story line is quite Cinderella based give or take a few things, which is why it attracts more young female girls than boys. The settings exaggerate that the characters are all very close, but also it highlights the stereotypes that are being shown in the video.
There are many different types of music videos. Some can be meaningful, some can be telling a story, and some can just be entertaining. To help us decide what kind of music video we wanted to do we researched into some music videos that show the different types. With us having an idea of what kind of music video we wanted to do, it could help us with what song we could do the music video too.
Meaningful
Selena Gomez - The Heart Wants What It Wants
This video is meaningful through the different techniques and edits that have been used in the music video. The song itself is meaningful as it's about her difficult relationship with her boyfriend, and how the relationship is hurting her, but she doesn't want to end it because she still loves him. The whole video is filtered in black and white to match the sadness shown in the song, and also to show the viewer that the video and the song is quite sad. This makes the viewer feel sympathy for Selena as she shows her emotions in the song, and she shows a narrative of her relationship. When viewers are watching the video they will feel sorry for Selena and show their sympathy towards her.
At the beginning of the video, before the music starts, there is a voice recording that was supposedly hidden under her dressing table after a concert. Selena supposedly looked at her self in the dressing room mirror and talked to herself about her relationship. In the voice recording she says she knows him and she knows what he would do to hurt her, she also goes on to say that she didn't realise that if she felt confident about herself it could be "completely shattered" by several things that are "so stupid". She also then says that the person she is talking about makes her feel "crazy" and makes her feel like its "her fault". The voice recording is then ended with the last line of "I was in pain". %This voice recording makes the viewers feel more sympathy towards Selena, and the viewers would either understand or acknowledge that she is in pain, and she needs help, which creates the sympathy.
The shots, in the music video, that show the narrative of the song are put in slow motion. This is done, not only to show the difference between the narrative scenes and the lip syncing scenes, but also to add to the effect of the negative feel of the video and song. The slow motion adds tension and seriousness to the video which suggests to the viewer that this a real thing in Selena's life. It also makes the video more interesting for the viewer. The video is full of slow cuts to exaggerate the sympathetic feeling from the viewers that they would feel for Selena. Slow cuts are also a way to tell a story and highlight the negativity in the narrative. In the video there are parts where Selena look as if she is naturally crying which makes the viewer feel sad and feelings towards the video. The crying impacts the viewer by making them feel emotional which is what Selena wanted from the video.
The crying of Selena is mainly done when she is lip syncing the song which is shown in a close-up shot which is also filtered in black and white. The lip syncing is shown in a close-up shot to impact the viewer and exaggerate the sympathy that they feel towards Selena. Also it is used to clearly show the viewer that she is upset and emotional about her relationship, which again makes the viewer feel sympathetic. If we wanted to do a slow, emotional song for our music video, the close-up shot of the emotions would be useful as it would impact the viewer majorly and also it would clearly show the narrative of the video. Bright lighting is used against the black and white filter to exaggerate the emotion being portrayed and also to make the filter stand out. This was done to highlight the emotion and show that the video is meant to be sad and emotional.
In most of the shots, the narrative is presented in the midground of most of the shots. This means that instead of Selena and the actors/actresses being in the front of the shot, they are in the middle. This is done to suggest that Selena doesn't want to make it a big thing in front of other people, which is why it is in the middle of the shot. Also it seems to add more emphasis to the narrative as it shows more focus on the narrative of the music video. As well as bright lighting, there are also flickering lights in the narrative, to add some tension to the video and also to exaggerate the different emotions that are being shown in the video. Also to create some interest in the video and make it stick in the viewers head, so they can remember the video.
At the start of the bridge the lighting becomes dark from behind Selena Gomez in the narrative. This is to show her innocence in the situation and also to show that her boyfriend in the narrative is the guilty one. Also in the bridge there are clips that look like home footage due to the filter that has been placed on the clip, which makes it look quite pixelated. One of the props used in the narrative is a light in the shape of a heart which is hung from the wall at the party scene. This contrasts to the music video and the song due to the song being negative, whereas the heart light is positive. Overall, the music video has a lot techniques that show the negativity in the song and the narrative, and it's an interesting music video to watch and it will keep the viewers entertained.
Since famous director Colin Tilley directed Neon Jungles music video, he would also be happy to direct another groups music video as well. The girls are a UK girl band, which compliments that fact that he has worked with a variety of popular UK music artists. This means he would probably be happy to work with an upcoming girl group who needs a director for their video.
