Main Task - New Storyboard Ideas

As we have decided to scrap our initial storyboard, we have had to go back to the drawing board, and design a new idea to compliment the song. We have drawn out grids to help our ideas, and have come up with our new storyboard plan.

The three sheets below help show what is going on. The first is our 14-frame grid, with the storyline running down the left hand side, and the shot choices on the right. The second sheet is a notes sheet, including a list of timings within the song, and also a drawing of what the note used in the video will look like. The final sheet is a set of annotated lyrics, with shot numbers and additional notes written across them.

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Storyboard Plan

Notes Sheet

Annotated Lyrics

Main Task - Music Permission

Having decided on Florence + the Machine as our artist, we then set about gaining the relevant permission to use her song. We have written to Mark Crossingham, the Managing Director of Island Records, to seek permission to gain the rights to use the song in a 'private and educative manner'.

The letter is below, and dated 13th July 2010. We are still awaiting a reply, and hope to have the permission by early September. Click the image to enlarge.

Main Task - Initial Storyboard

Having now decided on our artist, we set about beginning to come up with some initial ideas for our music video, and drew up a very simple storyboard, showing what we wanted to do with each given frame. The purple sheets at the top of this post are our rough ideas, with the white storyboarding sheets at the bottom being what we plan to do.

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ROUGH SKETCHES
Shots 1-9

Shots 10-16

Map - we drew up a map of locations to shoot, with each number corresponding to a frame

STORYBOARD SHEETS
Shots 1-4

Shots 5-8

Shots 9-12

Shots 13-16

Having decided that there was more scope to this idea than first thought, we have scrapped this plan. However, we did decide that there were some aspects worth trying to re-use, and we are currently in the process of redesigning the storyboard.

Research - CD Covers [Part 2]

Having researched the purpose of a CD cover, I decided to have a look at five CD covers - each from a different genre, with a different style cover, to demonstrate the different possibilities we could look at for the Florence and the Machine digipak.

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U2 - NO LINE ON THE HORIZON

JOHN LEGEND - ONCE AGAIN

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - WE SHALL OVERCOME: THE SEEGER SESSIONS

BLUR - BLUR: THE BEST OF

THE BEATLES - SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND

Research - CD Covers [Part 1]

A part of the ancillary tasks we have to undertake is to design a cover for a digipak for our chosen artist. It has to create a brand identity, establishing house colours (the primary 3 or 4 colours used on the artist's website, CD cover, and adverts), typography across all three products, and created an image that the band closely relates to at all times.

By choosing specific colours, fonts and images, we are able to create a distinctive representation for the artist. Using Florence and the Machine will be difficult, as she has already created an image for herself, but we think we can create a twist on what she has already used, whilst in keeping with her persona and her most recognisable features.

Research - Niche Markets

Niche markets are a band doing something that no-one else is doing - be it in the form or a video, their music, or with the way they are. A prime example of this is Lily Allen. She was unique in her style of 'talk singing', and this led to big money and big hits. Then, artists followed suit, and the likes of Kate Nash turned up on the scene, causing the niche market of the 'talk singing' to become a mass market.

Heather McDonald, from About.com, said this about niche markets:

"The sad truth is, every writer, radio station, website, or fan for that matter, you are trying to reach is likely being bombarded with info from other music hopefuls. You a reason to stand out. Try to find something that will make people more curious about you - give them a reason to want to know more. Being elusive worked wonders for Belle & Sebastian at the start of their career and people write about Marilyn Manson for being, well, Marilyn Manson. You don't have to devise a huge, calculated persona, but giving people a reason to check out your show or your CD before the others can only help."

Super Furry Animals
Since forming in 1993, Super Furry Animals have become the face of niche markets. Having gone 17 years without any form of competition to their market, they are willing even now to do daring things with their songs and videos. Their mad ideas lead to bizarre happenings - the yeti costumes in Golden Retriever, the blue boiler suits worn on their current tour, and even the use of black and white artwork on their 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (In Space)' EP led to them becoming known for their crazy thoughts.

Golden Retriever Video



Melody Gardot
Having been involved in an accident leaving her unable to walk for a year, Gardot learnt to play the guitar, and alongside her ability to play the piano, she began to write music. She is primarily a jazz artist, but with her beliefs in Buddhism, macrobiotic cooking, and calling herself a 'citizen of the world', rather than being born in Philadelphia, she has carved her own little niche in the music industry, placing her alongside the big pop, and R&B markets. This was proven in 2009, when her second album, My One and Only Thrill, reached the top 40 in 8 different countries, including the UK.

Research - Websites

Having already looked into how effective a good website can be, I am going to look into three well-known artists to see how best to sell the act.

Florence & the Machine

As we have chosen Florence and the Machine as our artist, I thought I should have a look at her website. The use of the lungs in the top left ties in her album of the same name, and all the information on the homepage is related to the sleevenotes of the album. She has chosen colours closely associated with nature - browns, creams and reds, and the use of sepia photography also helps distinguish her style. The site takes a little while to load, which is possible down to the video on the right, so this could be changed, but other than that, the website displays the artist very well.

Paul McCartney

As you can see, Paul McCartney's website is very plain, and simple. It lets his name do the talking, and the use of his signature as his 'logo' in the top left proves this. Having a white and grey background helps emphasise the large orange picture in the centre of the page, and draws your eye straight to it. The typography on the sight is all the same, and uses the same colour scheme throughout the pages. The very few images help keep everything very simple, and also makes the reader look when they see one. With Paul changing his image very little over the last 45 years, it doesn't need to tie into album covers and Beatles memorabilia, so this is why it is very empty, and benefits from the use of white space. It is a very clever design, and helps sell the artist well.

Keane

Having released three albums and an EP, each one getting to number one, Keane can change their website constantly, and get away with it. Since the release of their third album, the basic design of the site has been the same, and the typography used throughout the site is very soft, which closely associates it to the band's music. There is no block text on the homepage - only images that have a title, so that you can click through to the page. The blue background and gold bars help keep the site eye-catching, and make it so that you want to look again. These colours change dependent on where the band are on tour, which makes it a very clever, well-built site.

Research - Website Terminology

Cookies - the small file that remembers the data you entered on specific websites.

Tabs - the links to other pages on your website on the top of each page.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) - an RSS feed is a way for companies to automatically send out related news from their website to people.

Citizen Journalism - the social networking sites, blogging and the use of camera phones to upload photos of events is known as citizen journalism.

Transferability - a corporate identity that links a website to a CD cover, a magazine article or an advert on TV that is associated with a certain company.

Roll-Overs - pictures that change as you move the cursor over them.

Interactivity - when you allow your audience to actively participate in your web page.

Scrolling Marquee - text that moves across the page, like a news banner.

Research - Effective Web Design

In the 1990's, websites were designed for one particular type of browser - primarily Internet Explorer. This limited the usage of the internet, as no-one really thought about the design of sites.

The World Wide Web Consortium laid down the rules for web design. It split the content from the design, which meant changes were easier to make, and websites are now easily read through different methods, for example, mobile phones. The vast majority of websites are now written in Cascading Style Sheet, or CSS for short.

How To Create An Effective Website

1. Plan it first 

Draw a site map - what you are going to include on each page, and what information needs to be used. Sketch how you want the pages on your site to look - having a continuous, vibrant image is key to people wanting to look at the site again. 

2. Think about your audience
Work out what the purpose of your website is - is it to inform, or to entertain? You have to consider how you pitch the information on your page to your chosen target audience. 

3. Navigation
Every link on your site needs to be labelled correctly, and be separate from the main text so it physically looks like a link. Links usually have a separate section on a page, and stay in the same position on every page on your site. 

4. Fonts
The majority of websites use basic fonts, as others have to be included as images, which means each page will take a lot longer to load. Also, consider the continuity on each page - will it be visually appealing if every other word is a different font? 

5. Homepage
The most important page on the whole of your website is the homepage. You have two seconds to gain the attention of your audience, as otherwise, they will click away. There is always other sites that are similar to yours. Think what is the most important and the best things to put on your homepage, and try to keep it simple and interesting. 

6. Test it
You have to constantly test your website. Make sure it all works, and every link works. You'll also be able to see what works, and what doesn't.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0, as it has become known, is the next generation of the internet. Nothing has changed in terms of tools and software, but the way people use the internet is completely different. The rise in social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, means that the new way for people to access the world is through other people online.

With over a billion accounts in total from those three sites alone, social networking is the future. This is why businesses are using it to advertise and contact customers.  

Research - Our Chosen Artist

Having already looked for an unsigned artist, we have now decided to try and find an artist already signed to a record label, of whom we can contact to gain permission to use their music.

We came to the conclusion that the artist we would like to use is Florence + The Machine, and the song in question is You've Got The Love, a cover of the 1986 record by The Source ft. Candi Staton, recorded for her 2009 album Lungs.

The song has key changes, the right lyrics and the right tempo to ensure we can keep to our plan for the video. We now need to contact the record company, Island Records, to enable us to use the song within our coursework.

Florence has already recorded a music video for the single, but as it is a performance-based video, we have planned for a narrative-based video, so whatever we produce will be completely different anyway.

Research - Unsigned Bands

Having begun to look towards looking for an artist to use for our ancillary and main tasks, Naomi and I decided to have a look at a website called Unsigned - a place where unsigned bands could upload their songs, and try and get signed to a record label.

It seemed like the ideal place to find an artist for whom we could contact, and use their image and music within our coursework projects. We both looked around separately, and then together, and we could not find anything that really worked with our ideas for the music video.

Having chosen to design our ancillary tasks around our music video, we wanted to find something that would match our vision for the video, and unfortunately, Unsigned could not bring us anything, so we are now looking for other ideas into how best to find an artist for the project.

Research - Notion of Looking

The third of Goodwin's Theory principles that we looked at was the 'notion of looking' (There is frequent reference to the notion of looking, and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body). This included men and women looking seductive within videos, and also eye contact with the camera and each other, to create a link between the person and the audience.

Pink - Who Knew (dir. Dragon, 2006) Pink continually looks towards the camera, and acts like the narrator of the story unfolding between the young couple. The two people also keep eye contact between themselves, and we look on as the third person to work out what is happening



Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head (dir. Dawn Shadforth, 2001) Kylie keeps eye contact with the camera, and also dances very seductively with a low-angle shot looking up at her legs and thighs, giving the viewer an idea of her being a 'sex symbol'

Research - Intertextuality [Part 2]

Using another of Goodwin's Theory principles (There is often intertextual reference between films, TV programmes, and other music videos),we looked into the different forms of intertextuality displayed in different music videos. Intertextuality is where a music video tends to include aspects of a specific item, such as film, television and fashion.

Relationships with Video Games
Music videos that include similarities with video games include:

Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood (dir. Jamie Hewlett, 2001) took main idea from the 'new' use of 3D animation



Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out (dir. Jonas Odell, 2004) took main idea from performance/concept-based videos to create a mystical image



Relationships with Fashion
Music videos that include similarities with fashion include:

Robert Palmer - Addicted To Love (dir. Terence Donovan, 1986) takes main idea from catwalk models at the time, and also paintings from the era



Beyonce - Green Light (dir. Melina, 2007) takes main idea from the catwalk, the influence of fashion currently within the music industry and the sleek photoshoots in glossy magazines

Research - Intertextuality [Part 1]

Using another of Goodwin's Theory principles (There is often intertextual reference between films, TV programmes, and other music videos),we looked into the different forms of intertextuality displayed in different music videos. Intertextuality is where a music video tends to include aspects of a specific item, such as film, television and fashion.

Relationships with Film
Music videos that include similarities with films include:

2Pac & Dr Dre - California Love (dir. Hype Williams, 1996) took main idea from the film 'Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'



Madonna - Material Girl (dir. Mary Lambert, 1985) took main idea from the film 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'



Relationships with Television
Music videos that include similarities with television include:

Beastie Boys - Sabotage (dir. Spike Jonze, 1994) took main idea from the titles of 1970's police TV openings, such as Starsky and Hutch and Hawaii Five-O



REM - Bad Day (dir. Tim Hope, 2003) took main idea from TV news channels

Research - Music Video Directors

Many film directors started their careers in music videos, and gained big feature film jobs thanks to their creative ideas within artist videos.

David Fincher - directed Madonna's Vogue and Express Yourself, alongside George Michael's Freedom '90. This then launched him to fame, and he has directed films including Se7en (1995), Zodiac (2007), and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).

Michael Bay - having directed Faith Hill's There You'll Be and Divinyl's I Touch Myself, Bay has gone on to become the director of films such as Bad Boys (1996), Armageddon (1998), Coyote Ugly (2000), Pearl Harbour (2001), and Transformers (2007).

Mark Romanek - Romanek actually went the other way, and having directed One Hour Photo (2002), he directed Scream, by Michael & Janet Jackson, Johnny Cash's Hurt, 99 Problems by Jay-Z, and Coldplay's Speed of Sound.

Other notable directors include Jonas Akerlund (Christina Aguilera - Beautiful; Madonna - Ray of Light; Pink - Sober; Lady GaGa - Telephone), Brett Ratner (Mariah Carey - I Still Believe, We Belong Together and Touch My Body; Jessica Simpson - These Boots Are Made For Walkin') and Joseph Khan (Britney Spears - Stronger; U2 - Elevation; Muse - Knights of Cydonia; Kylie Minogue - All The Lovers)

Research - Lyrics-Visuals Creative Task

Using one of Goodwin's Theory principles (Relationship between lyrics and visuals), we were given a creative task of creating a new video for Doves' song There Goes The Fear, from only hearing the song, and not seeing the actual video. Below is the lyrics and the real video, and also a copy of my storyboard for my vision of the video.

Storyboard (click for full version)

Lyrics

Out of here
We're out of here
Out of heartache
Along with fear
There goes the fear again
There goes the fear

And cars speed fast
Out of here
And life goes past
Again so near
There goes the fear again
There goes the fear

Close your brown eyes
And lay down next to me
Close your eyes, lay down
'Cos there goes the fear
Let it go

You turn around and life's passed you by
You look to those you love
To ask them why ?
You look to those you love
To justify
You turned around and life's
Passed you by
Passed you by, again

And late last night
Makes up her mind
Another fight
Left behind
There goes the fear again, let it go
There goes the fear

Close your brown eyes
And lay down next to me
Close your eyes, lay down
'Cos there goes the fear
Let it go

You turn around and life's passed you by
You look to ones you love
To ask them why ?
You look to those you love
To justify
You turned around and life's
Passed you by
Passed you by, again

Think of me when you're coming down
But don't look back when leaving town
Think of me when he's calling out
But don't look back when leaving town
Think of me when you close your eyes
But don't look back when you break all ties
Think of me when you're coming down
But don't look back when leaving town today

There goes the fear again, let it go
There goes the fear, let it go

Think of me when you close your eyes
But don't look back when you break all ties
Think of me when you're coming down
But don't look back when leaving town today 

CLICK HERE FOR Doves - There Goes The Fear

Research - Goodwin's Theory

In 1992, Andrew Goodwin published his theory on music videos in a book called Dancing in the Distraction Factory, published by Routledge. He had 6 points, of which he believed featured in every single music video.

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (eg. performance-based in rock; dance routines)
2. Relationship between lyrics and visuals
3. Relationship between music and visuals
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work
5. There is frequent reference to the notion of looking, and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body
6. There is often intertextual reference between films, TV programmes, and other music videos.

Research - A Brief History of Music Videos

Since cinema was invented, it created the ability to bring songs and music to life. Advances in technology have transformed the music video into what it is today. Surprisingly, music videos have been around since the 1920's.

• In 1929, jazz singer Bessie Smith starred in a short promotional film called St. Louis Blues, featuring her songs. It was so popular, it was shown in cinemas until 1932.
• In the 1960's, The Beatles began to feature their music in their own films, which spurred on album and single sales
• In 1970, the record industry discovered TV shows as the way to promote a band, so began to use them to show music performances and videos.
• 1975 brought Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, which used advanced techniques at the time that no-one had ever seen before
• In 1981, MTV was launched, which showed music videos 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It was the first music video-only TV channel in the world.
• 1983 brought along Michael Jackson's Thriller, the most anticipated music video of all time. The 14-minute long short film, was, at the time, the most expensive music video ever made, and is now synonymous with being the music video that changed the face of the record industry.
• The rise of using intertextuality really began in 1985, with the release of Madonna's Material Girl, directed by Mary Lambert, and featured scenes used in Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend, featuring Marilyn Monroe.
• In 1992, the rise of using famous directors in videos increased, with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Spike Jonze and Mark Romanek beginning to direct big-budget short films
• In 1995, Romanek directed Scream, by Michael & Janet Jackson, and in doing so, created the world's most expensive music-video, at a cost of $7m.
• Videos really changed in 2005, with the rise of YouTube and the iTunes Music Store, where videos were suddenly accessible to all, anywhere, 24 hours a day. People could now purchase videos, and carry them wherever they go.