A Level Music Video Final - WET 'Its all in Vain'

FINAL digipak

Evaluation ONE

Evaltuation FOUR

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

We had to create a music video as well produce two ancillary tasks, this was to create a digipak and magazine poster to go with it. When creating these products I wanted to keep the same theme of light and dark so they would both link together. These themes combines demonstrated a marketing campaign for our song with the branding and house style.
The house style of my digipak with red and black this reflected back to the video as we music multiple colours lights contrasting with darkness. We used a brand to make our artist more recognizable for the audience. I believe the theme of the colours were successful with the audience as they would be recognised as a package. Linking my digipak and video together with the same idea of neon colours this had a strong effect on the audience as they would be able to identify these together. This is also encouraging the audience to remember what our brand and look is as they will be able to associate one with another.
When creating my digipak I had to remember important things to keep the theme and brand the same. I had to keep the same colour theme, text , style of presentation, the image and the album title.

Evalutation THREE

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

When creating my music video i made sure to use the codes and conventions of the indie pop genre to be able to produce a real and professional video that would relate to the artists audience. And because the song had no exisiting video we had to research and plan to learn about the codes and attempting to use them while developing and challenging these aspects.

When researching existing WET videos we noticed that there were no live performances or choreographed dances this is not only WET's videos but from other indie pop artists only a few such as 1975 had live band performances. However they tend to sing in front of the camera while the majority of the shots are close ups so we can see the artists face and emotion when lip syncing. We noticed that there is a significantly amount of indie pop music videos with close up lip syncing so we made sure to add this into our video as its a familiar convention.
When researching locations we noticed that WET had very 90s/80s feel towards their video as they had old style American houses, parks and beaches. We noticed that other indie pop videos seem to go for the look and feel so we made sure to add this convention into our video by filming parts of the sea and pier then changing the colour grading to give the footage a more nostalgic feel, Because indie pop videos like to relate to the audience by having similar clothes and locations we believe that we managed to achieve this as we filmed mundane places.

Indie pop has a variety of paces, ours was fairly slow paced so when editing we used longer shots and transitions so there cuts weren't so jumpy. In the chorus we had cut up the chorus multiple times to show a variety of angles so it wouldn't get too boring. Many conventional slow paced songs used longer bits of footage and not many cuts but where as more up beat and faced paced songs they tend it cut it up more matching with the beat of the song.
When researching indie pop artists we noticed that there videos and digipaks are quite dark and lowly lit adding to the whole 'edgy' and mysterious' persona we thought this was important as we are adding neon lights to our video so we added the light and dark contrast so we got deep colours and shadows.
We didn't really use the same conventions of WET's album as they used very bright colours such as whites and purples, this didn't fit in with the whole neon lights and nature theme so we followed the theme of our video and followed it through to our digipaks.

Evaluation TWO

Editing

In editing we used a variety of transitions and effects to the music video to make it more interesting. Using transitions such as fade and dissolve help the video flow better into a next scene of a shot. Using effects such as kaleidoscope makes videos much more visually interesting and compelling.

Re-filming

From the recent feedback the majority of it was to reshoot some scenes of the second chorus so we could get more angles so we could have more cuts than just one angle of the artist singing as it got quite boring.
We had the same set up as last time but we had a much stronger light and the disco lights were much closer to the artist so we got more deeper colours reflecting on the face and also some darker shadows.

Establishing shots

Establishing shots are pretty common in indie pop music videos as it can show the viewers where the artist is , the theme of the video, what time and location the artist has tried to portray or just to show aesthetically pleasing shots to go with a music video. 

We used a few establishing shots to show the journey throughout the video. 

DRAFT music video

FIRST DRAFT magazine poster

This is my first draft on the poster i dont like this because of the colours remind me of a Christmas theme i also dont think the font goes well with the theme of artist. Improving this ill be using a red and black theme as the photo shoot photographs are very dark contrasting with the red go well together nicely.

Magazine poster

Filming

We went to the thamemead pier today to start shooting footage of our artist starting her journey, we initially had the idea to film on erith pier but had to made quick changes due to some circumstances. Although we tried to film some shots we just didn't like they way they turned out so we planned to go to erith the following monday.

Shooting Schedule

Shooting Schedule                                     Location                                         Time 

• Filming Choruses                             Gallery                                           11:25-1:30
• Neon signs                                        Gods own junkyard                       4:00-6:00
• filming begging video                       Erith pier                                       11:25-1:30
• Journey                                              London tube                                  11:25-1:30

Music video director

Hiro Murai-

Murai is known for his own distinctive style as he always manages to add unique twists on all his pieces of work. His twists are usually incorporated with a variety of special effects, there is normally some sort of supernatural creature involved. In Childish Gambinos- Telegraph Ave the video is focused on the artist Gambino having an exotic holiday with his girlfriend (Jhene Aiko) however towards the end of the video Gambino transforms into some monstrous creature. He has mentioned that he loves to leave twists as he likes to shock the viewers thinking the video would end in 'happy endings'.

I really enjoy Marui's videos as they always have a cinematic feel towards them as he uses multiple shots such as this birds eye view. His videos also have rich deep colours in which are visually pleasing.

Artists costume

In the indie pop genre the artist represents themselves in the clothes they wear. Because they are contracted to a independent label they are free on how they want to represent themselves without no boundaries.
Many indie pop artists dress quite 'edgy' or just dress in neutral colours. Our artist will be dressing in clothes that represent her and her characteristics.

Filming

We re filmed the second part of our chorus as there was multiple shots of the same angle which got quite boring when watching the video. We had the same set up of the coloured filters on the spotlight but because the room was much darker and the disco lights were much more closer to the artist the colours were more prominent

Feedback - Digipak

 I presented my artists digipak and magazine in front of my peers and got feedback on what to improve on it. Changing my spine text was said frequently and to make the track listing text bigger. I didn't like the outcome of my magazine poster as the colour didn't really go with the theme and was going to chnage it. The colour of the magazine was brought up more then once and how to improve it to follow the theme of the colours from the digipak.

Music video analysis

Wet-Deadwater

Many conventional indie pop music videos use coloured lights in low key lighting to convey how they feel or just the idea of it looking visually pleasing.

This is a handheld establishing shot, these are very common in this genre as it has the affect of the audience feeling like they are in the moment. This establishing shot looks like quite vintage with the colour being quite brown and green this was probably done in editing changing the colour grading to get a more of a vintage cinematic feel.

In indie pop music videos the artist usually relates to their audience through clothes. The artist here is doing exactly that as shes wearing the classic mum jeans and a plain white jumper which colours go nicely. Costumes are important as it represents the artist and reflects on what their audiences wear.

Close ups of the artists lip syncing is common as shows emotion on what the artist is syncing.

Music video analysis

Broods-Bridges

In indie pop music videos theres a set of codes and conventions they follow to fit into this particular genre.  In this scene we see a medium close up of the two protagonists in the video with the way they are behaving suggests they are in a relationship or in some sort of unrequited love situation. This is a very common narrative in this genre.
The outfits they are wearing also fit in with the genre as they are dressed in vintage 'edgy' clothing, this could help link to the audience as they would feel like they could see themselves in this sort of outfit.

Here this scene is done by handheld which is brings a 'homemade' kinds of feel towards the video. This is very common in indie pop videos as artists want to convey a video which can relate to a audience and make them feel a part of the experience.

This shot is visually pleasing as you can see contrasting colours with the red they are wearing and red on the hut they are sitting on. The location of this shot suggests they are living in a estate this also gets the audience involved making everyday places seem visually aesthetic.








The colours in this shot compliment each other as the blue seats and red jackets are primary colours.  They stand out as the background colours are neutral.

Indie pop music videos conventionally use establishing shots to create a sense on where the video it taking place or where artist it. Establishing shots are also used to create make the video more visual pleasing towards to the viewers.

Record Labels

Major labels are powerful and known to the rule the music industry. They manufacture , distribute and promote the music of the people under contract. An example of a major company would be EMI, major labels are usually owned by a parent company EMI parent company is the Universal music group.
The is different from independent companies as they do not have a corporate backer. An example of a independent label would be PWL.

Major label 
The contracts that the artists sign are usually very strict and often take control on what music they produce and how they promote themselves on the media. Major labels also wont let artists keep the rights to their music so they are restricted on how they can spread their music the way they want.
Most major record label artists earn 10%-15% royalty on their music. This just shows that labels only really care about income and not the actual artist.

Independent label
Independent labels usually contract with indie and alternative artists. The artists have a huge benefit that a major label does not, artists are able to the keep the rights to their music meaning they can use it for what they want; selling it to advertisements, films, television or any other products they wish. They are also in control with how they promote themselves as an artist meaning they have no restriction on they way they dress and the music they make. This just shows how much independent is more beneficial for independent.
An independent label maybe more appealing as they get about 40%-75% in royalty.
Independent also have a much more close relationship with their fans as they want fans to enjoy their music as well as them, presenting themselves as humble and grateful for their fans and willing to give back.

Music video analysis

In the 1975s music video Chocolate it is black and white throughout, this pretty conventional in a indie music video. The lyrics of the song are about drugs which is common theme in this sort of genre. The music video features a women in a variety of sexual scenes this isn't very common in indie pop music videos. The atmosphere is quite laid back and carefree which could be connoting the use of drugs and the effects it has. A band performance is pretty conventional in a this genre so we see the band performing in a run down places such as a warehouse this adds to the whole edgy and mysterious vibe of the video.

As the main singer seems to be the face of the band as all the main close ups are of him this is also occurs in their previous music videos. The main close ups connotes that this is the artist the audience associate themselves with Matt ( lead singer ).

Wet- research

Wet's self-titled debut EP, released last October on Neon Gold Records, has sold 1,000 copies to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan. But several figures within the music industry seem to think that Wet's first release is the first precursor to something much bigger. The songs that Wet has released thus far are all "breakup songs, at least superficially," says Zutrau, but that won't be the case forever. The threesome has been practicing and recording all day in Brooklyn -- preparing for the many live shows and debut album that will both inevitably come -- and then crashing hard at night. "It's exhausting," says Valle, "and so much fun at the same time."  The three members of Wet met while Sulkow and Valle attended NYU and Zutrau was a student at Cooper Union in New York, and the trio began making music casually. When Zutrau moved to Providence to attend the Rhode Island School of Design and Valle headed to Los Angeles for a brief period, the three continued to email each other unfinished tracks, and when they reconvened in New York in mid-2012, passing songs back and forth turned into seriously focusing on a handful of tracks.

Wet

We have all decided to go with the indie pop song called Its all in vain by Wet. As a group we had a much more clearer vision on what we would want the music video to look like for this song.

Songs

After a extensive time of researching of different genre of songs we narrowed it down to these three.



 

Fonts

We have been researching different fonts for our artist using sites such as dafonts, we narrowed it down to these three but it still felt like they represent our artists so we have started looking again for a font that represents our artist.

First Feedback

  We showed our first draft of our music video to our class peers and they told us what went well and what to improve on the video. The response we had the most was the first bit of our chorus was too long and that it needed to be more cuts showing different angles to keep the audience interested, as a part of the chorus had a long time with just one shot which started to get boring. So into response of this we are going to re-shoot the chorus and cut it up more in editing to keep it more interesting and within pace of the song.

Editing styles

Editing in indie pop videos usually match the pace of the song, fast cutting can emphasize the fun and energy the artist wants to purvey, However slow paced songs will have slow pace cuts and transitions to show the emotion they are displaying also when editing its important that the cuts match with the beat. The editing in Lana Del Reys- Born to die uses long takes as it as the song has a slow tempo if this video has fast takes it would look and feel out of place. The viewers also wouldn't be able to connect with the song visually.