Rationale

From the feedback received we have decided to instead of go for the obvious light side and dark side, go for something a little less obvious. Some of the feedback we received stated that the idea of light and dark side being portrayed using lighter and darker clothes is a bit too obvious and has basically been done before. We’re going to have the artist gradually becoming this darker person due to a break up with his girlfriend. In the video the girlfriend will break up with him and kiss him goodbye on his cheek, leaving a lipstick print on his cheek. Over time this print will turn black and throughout the video the black print will gradually spread over the artists face (using stop motion) as he becomes this darker and darker person. The reason we have made these changes is that it’s much more original than the previous idea’s that have already been used, and it’s not so plain.

Institution Research

Our artist is going to be signed to independent record label Zube Records. Zube records are a London based record label that specialize in rock, indie and alternative music. The reason we want our artist to be signed to this label is that the genre of our artists music is rock/indie, and our artist is from London.

Advertising:

Before the launch of the album posters will be put up in the 10 main indie music venues around London; Scala, The Lexington, The Borderline, Buffalo Bar, KOKO, Notting Hill Arts Club, Madame Jo Jos, Moonlighting and Islington’s O2 Academy. There will also be 2 track EP’s available for free inside the venues to raise awareness of the albums release and get people interested in our artists music. During the albums release adverts will be placed on Myspace in the mellow rock section, and singles from the album will also be played on Myspace radio. After the albums release music will continue to be played on Myspace radio and be available to XFM.

Publicity:

Prior to the albums release, Pitchfork online magazine will be able to listen to the album and provide a review of the album for the online community. During the albums release NME will be given a sample of the album with 3 tracks from the album to put in the magazine to raise awareness. After the albums release tour dates will be put in the back pages of NME and Q magazines.

Promotion:

Before the albums release, our artist will do a radio interview for XFM answering questions from members of the public and talking about the new album. On the day of the release our artist will do a signing in HMV Oxford street for any fans to attend and get their albums signed. After the albums release our artist will be playing various concerts and a few meet and greets for fans in smaller venues such as Scala. 

Indie/Rock Music Video Recipe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeQrIa9yDmU&safe=active

Representation Case Study: Paramore – Playing God

Throughout the music video ‘Playing God’ the lead singer Hayley Williams is constantly subverting the gender stereotypes and representations of women in the media.

Mise en scene is used in this video to subvert female stereotypes and typical representations in this video. Usually female artists wear revealing clothes in music videos and become part of the male gaze, but the costume of the artist in this video is sensible and she is covered up. This subverts the usual representation of women being objectified and presented passively, and instead presents her as strong and independent as she doesn’t need to be part of the male gaze to sell.

Props are then used to subvert the gender stereotype of men being dominant, in this shot we denote the male band members tied up in a basement. This connotes that they are vulnerable and in a weak position, which is rare to see from men in music videos. The lighting of the shot is dim as if to suggest the men are insignificant, whereas the female is always shown in brighter lighting, which subverts usual representations of men being more important. Furthermore, cinematography is also used in this shot in the form of the angle used, the high angle of the shot reinforces their vulnerability as it makes then seem small.

Performance is used in the next shot to subvert gender stereotypes, we can denote the female pulling the men along with the rope. This connotes that she is dominant in comparison to the men as she is the one in control of them, which opposes the usual representation of males being dominant and being superior to women.

In these next two shots angles are again used to represent the artist. In the first point of view shot its from the females perspective, it’s as if we are looking down on the men in a high angle shot and this once again makes them seem vulnerable and inferior. The second is a point of view from the males perspective where the female can be seen from a low angle shot, which empowers the female and reinforces the concept of her being dominant. Both of these shot’s subvert typical gender representations.

In this shot Hayley is in the centre and shallow focus is used. You can see the men in the background but the camera focus is on her and the men are blurred, this connotes that the female is more significant than the men as not only is she the centre of the focus, but also the centre of the screen.

However, these representations may be different due to the genre of music that the song belongs to. The genre of this song is alternative rock, and although the objectification of women isn’t restricted to the hip-hop genre, it is seen much more often in that style of music than it does in rock music videos, and it is rare for women to be seen as inferior in rock music videos also.

Example Music Video Remake

Textual Analysis of a Music Video

The title of this video is called ''Introdiction'' by the artist Scroobius Pip. It was directed by Aaron Shrimpton and Scroobius Pip himself. This is an example of a performance music video, Scroobius Pip performs the song to the camera in one take, which therefor puts a lot of emphasis into his performance, lyrics, and entirely on the artist himself.

This video is unique compared to other performance video's as there is no camera movement at all, depth of field is instead used to create different shot types. At the start he is standing far back from the camera to create a long shot, but as the lyrics start he comes closer to the camera so a close up is created as he performs to the audience.

Call Me Maybe Production

On the production day I played the rule of over-enthusiastic guitarist. This required me to take on a role I'd never played before and do exactly what the director asked of me.

Our Team consisted of ten people. We had one director, four cameramen and women, one person controlling the lights and four band members. The day was an overall success, we all had fun and learnt some of the basics of shooting a music video