Choosing Groups

In todays lesson we choose our groups for our coursework and chose which song we were going to use for music video.

We also started a pitch to show the class why we chose the song we did.

Super Fury Animals - Golden Retriever

We watched this video to aid our research and widen our knowledge in music videos.

This video starts of by showing us a golden apple, and by the end of the video we see the same apple on the outside of a box which is therefore resembling the band to be inside this little box.

Also the use of costumes was good because as the music video went on the dogs got hairier and hairier. 

Also the use of camera angles and jumpcuts makes the video effective.

Geri Halliwell - Its Raining Men

We studied this music video in class and this is what we found out from this video.

This song is a pop song which follows many music video conventions as we expected it to.

The music matches the way the video goes. 

She is shown as a voyeur for men. This is done by showing her from the legs downwards and not pointing the camera at her face. This happens a lot throughout the music video.

Also the video starts as a dance audition for a dance academy which gives the video narrative.

Coursework Song

Firstly we listened to all the songs that were on offer from our teacher.

We narrowed down our choices to 3 songs which were:

Deadly Serious - Night time scene. A rapper singing. Rap song.

Slow Jam - Up beat, with a rapper singing. A rap song also.

Hangin With My Crew - Slower beat, boyband like. Similar to something that JLS would do.

But after some discussion and thought process we all decided on choosing Deadly Serious, because we thought we had more options of how to do this video and had good ideas already.

Coursework Brief

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

 

• a website homepage for the band;
• a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).

 

You will be allowed to work in groups of up to 4 people, and you will be marked on your individual contribution to the project. You will make the cover and advertisement for the digipak.

 

You must set up your own blog where you will record your research and planning and your evaluation.

 

All work must be presented electronically on a blog or a Frog site.

Michael Jackson - Bad / Beyonce - Single Ladies

In our lesson, we watched a number of Michael Jackson videos and compared them with lots of his other work, to see how one of the greatest entertainers in the world took his ideas to his music videos and presented these videos to the world.

Bad

Michael Jackson was in the middle of every frame. He was the main character.

Good use of costumes as he was wearing something different to everyone else in the room.

Diegetic sound used from his clothes to add to the beat.

Confrontation at the end which links to the name of the song.

MJ is in control of the whole situation as he rallies his crew around the urban setting.

Beyonce - Single Ladies

We also looked at the cover of the Beyonce album called I am... Sasha Fierce and compared to her song Single Ladies.

We came across many similarities with the picture and the video.

The way she is dressed on the back is how she is dressed in the video.

The use of colour is the same in the video and the album.

The use of voyeurism is high in the video and on the back of the album cover.

Beyonce is the main dancer in the video and ulitmately is gazed upon the most. Her side dancers are almost non existence because of Beyonce's presence.

Lesson One

Learn't about the main 5 changing points in music videos and technology making them a useful tool for artists.

1962 - British TV programmes about music e.g. Top of the pops, Ready! Steady! Go!

1981 - MTV Launched.

1984 - MTV presents its first music video award.

1995 - Release of the most expensive music video ever, 'Scream' by Michael Jackson.

2007 - Sony Launches music box.

In the early 1980's music videos started to become more popular.

Early music videos were in black and white, but slowly as technology developed they became into colour.

Hard Days Night - Shows the Beatles running away from their fans throughout the video, of these fans majority are women. This is breaking Moral conventions. It contained humour. The Beatles were shown as rebelious. Also it was a whole featured film.