Research into Music Labels

Research into Equipment

Canon 550D

This is the camera that I will be using to record my music video. It is a professional camera and therefore will make the quality and detail of my music video extremely successful. I am also able to film in HD with this camera which therefore will increase the professional impact that it has on the overall video. This camera is easily accessible to me as it is owned by my school. Fortunately, I have had experience with this camera multiple times before, including GCSE and AS coursework. Therefore I am familiar with how the camera works and its features. I am able to change the settings to fit in with how I want the video to look including depth of focus which will make the video more professional. As the camera is digital, it has a memory card that I can easily transfer onto the computer in order to edit it in Adobe Premiere.


Studio Lighting

The lighting will be extremely important in my video as good lighting will make it look professional. The lights I have access to will be particularly helpful as they are easy to move around and therefore I will be able to make the lighting exactly how I want it to and edit it frequently and easily if I am unhappy with how it looks.

I am able to use the location of the black box drama studio in school, where there are lights already rigged onto the ceiling and positioned in particular locations. It is easy to adjust the brightness on them to make them as dim or bright as I would like and that would compliment my shot well.

 
To edit my footage I will need to use Adobe Premiere Pro. It allows me to cut and edit my footage however I think most suitable to my video. It will bring all my clips together to create an overall final product. We have been practising in our theory side of the course how to use this, therefore when it comes to putting my video together I will be more familiar and able to complete it successfully.

Production Diary Post 4

This week I have continued to work on my blog tasks. Researching more and more about the music industry and about my specific genre will be extremely helpful when I start creating my music video, digipak and magazine album advert as it will give me a better understanding of what I should include and what would be successful and appreciated by an audience. Most specifically, researching into the genre has shown me that the Indie genre is very minimalistic and likes to keep things simple which puts more on an emphasis on the music itself rather than a huge production. I will keep this in mind when creating my products as I want to appeal to my audience in the best possible way.

Channels/Festivals

Music Channels



Viva

Viva is a music video and entertainment channel that broadcasts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel was officially launched by Alexandra Burke, with an exclusive live performance of her single "Bad Boys".
 The channel is owned by Viacom International Media Networks Europe and was originally a German channel. It is also the first channel from MTV that is on Freeview. It launched on 26 October 2009.
It was first aired on the 1st December 1993 in Germany and is owned by MTV but led by Time warner, Polygram Records and EMI Music. DoRo Productions were hired to design the chanel. Viva now runs across Europe and is a successful music channel.
As well as featuring music, they have a wide selection of TV Programmes that are extremely popular worldwide.  This includes Pretty Little Liars, Catfish, My Super Sweet Sixteen, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and MTV Cribs.
Viva brought in VIVA to replace TMF.

MTV

MTV is an American basic cable and satellite television channel owned by the MTV Networks Music & Logo Group, a unit of the Viacom Media Networks division of Viacom. The channel itself is headquartered in Los Angeles,
It was launched on August 1, 1981, the original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by television personalities known as "video jockeys," or VJs. In its early years, MTV's main target demographic were young adults, but today, MTV's programming is primarily targeted at adolescents and teenagers.
MTV has spawned numerous sister channels in the U.S. and affiliated channels internationally, some of which have gone independent.


4 Music

4Music is a music and entertainment channel in the United Kingdom and available on some digital television providers in the Republic of Ireland. The channel launched on 15 August 2008, replacing The Hits. It is the only Channel 4-branded channel within the Box Television network. It is available on Freeview, Virgin Media, Sky and Smallworld Cable. On 2 April 2013, all Box Television channels went free-to-air on satellite, apart from 4Music which went free-to-view. As a result the channels were removed from the Sky EPG in Ireland.



Festivals


Reading/Leeds Festival

The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festival that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. Campsites are available at both sites and weekend tickets include camping. Day tickets are also sold.
The Reading Festival, the original and senior of the two, is the world's oldest popular music festival still in existence. It has had various musical phases over the years, as detailed below. In the twin-site era, rock, alternative, indie, punk and metal have tended to dominate.
The festivals are run by Festival Republic, which was divested from Mean Fiddler Music Group. For promotional purposes during 1998-2007 they were known as the Carling Weekend: Reading and the Carling Weekend: Leeds.
In November 2007, the organisers welcomed "Reading Festival reclaiming its prestigious name" when the sponsored title was abolished after 9 years.

V Festival

The V Festival is an annual music festival held in England during the penultimate weekend in August. The event is held at two parks simultaneously which share the same bill; artists perform at one location on Saturday and then swap on Sunday. The sites are located at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and Weston Park in South Staffordshire. Although predominantly a rock music festival, a wide range of musical genres are accepted; in recent years pop acts have become more common.
The "V" represents the Virgin Group, with the event being sponsored by Virgin Media. It was previously televised by Channel 4 predominantly on their sister channel 4 Music, although for the 2014 edition of the festival it was announced that television broadcast rights would be returned to MTV.

Research into artist

Research into Genre

History of Music Videos

Knowing about the history of music videos will help me in creating my own video as it will allow me to see how videos have developed over time and how I can create a video that will match the codes and conventions of a successful, professional, high quality music video that is available to watch today. It is important to recognise that a music video is a vital aspect in marketing and promoting the artist and the song, therefore my video needs to be able to captivate an audience and keep them interested throughout in order to make it memorable.

Research into Directors

Harold "Hype" Williams is an American music video and film director. Williams first displayed his work by tagging local billboards, storefronts, and playgrounds using HYPE as his graffiti tag. Williams was born in Queens, New York and is of African and Honduran descent. He later attended Adelphi University. Williams' big break came when he began working with Classic Concepts Video Productions. Lionel "Vid Kid" Martin & VJ Ralph McDaniels created Williams' first opportunity with the "Filmmakers With Attitude" moniker, which was Williams' first video company. Awards Williams has received for his video work include the Billboard Music Video Award for Best Director of the Year (1996), the Jackson Limo Award for Best Rap Video of the Year (1996) for Busta Rhymes' "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check", the NAACP Image Award (1997), the 8th annual Music Video Production Association Award for Black Music Achievement (1997), MTV Video Music Award in the Best Rap Video (1998) category for Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy wit It", MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video (1999) for TLC's "No Scrubs", and the BET Award for Best Director (2006) for Kanye West's "Gold Digger". In 2006, Williams was honored by MTV with its Video Vanguard Award, presented in honor of his achievements as a filmmaker.

Francis Lawrence is an American music video, film and television producer and director. Lawrence directed his first music video for Michael Blakey, president of Atico Records and Tidal Force drummer for that band's single, "A Man Rides Through". Soon, Lawrence became known for his original and imaginative music video scripts and visual directing style. He eventually joined a major new production company and his successful career as music video director, having worked with stars like Beyoncé, Green Day, Britney Spears, The Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z, Avril Lavigne, Aerosmith, Janet

Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Destiny's Child, Gwen Stefani, Pink, Shakira, and Missy Elliott. Some of his most famous vidoes include Cry Me A River - Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears - I'm a Slave 4 U and Lady Gaga - Bad Romance.  


Spike Jonze is an American director, producer, screenwriter and actor, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television. Jonze is well known for his music video collaborations with Fatboy Slim, Weezer, Beastie Boys and Björk. He has worked with other major artists such as Kanye West and Jay Z, and was the director behind their video for 'Otis'.












Resarching into video directors

Production Diary Post 3

This week I started to complete the tasks that I have been given in the build up to creating my music video. It is essential that i research, know and understand the way music videos work and come together, and what is necessary in making them successful. To begin understanding this, I chose to research the codes and conventions of music videos. This helped me to learn about the different ways in which camera, editing, sound and mise en scene can effect the music video. I learnt that it is extremely important to use the right camera angles to capture the artist in the music video, as it determines how they are presented. For example, a low angle shot would make the artist seem dominant and powerful so if I wanted my artist to come across this way, I would use that angle. However, a high angle shot would do the complete opposite and make the artist seem vulnerable and modest, so it is essential that I use the correct angle in order for the artist to come across how I want them to in the video. As I am leaning towards doing a narrative video, mise en scene will be very important as it will help to tell the story and add more depth to the video. This will include things like props, costumes and make up.

Work That I Admire

Looking at different music videos by a range of artists has allowed me to discover the different types of emotion and style that come across in them. Each of them have their own storyline and/or a message that intrigues the audience and makes them pay attention to what is happening on screen. From these videos I have concluded that a strong story line is important in keeping the audience's attention throughout and ensuring that they don't lose focus. Therefore in my own video I will follow a storyline and try to make it as interesting as possible to keep the audience entertained. Furthermore, I think that including some kind of message in my music video will impress audiences and make them remember my video therefore this is also an aspect I would be keen to develop.