Research

Location and Talent Releases

Timeline

Location Recces

Styles, Conventions and Techniques of Music Videos

The Purpose of the Music Video Essays

The Panoram Soundie was like a juke box; it was put in bars and clubs in 1941. They played short clips that went along side songs. Fast-forward forty years to 1981 and “Video Killed the Radio Star” by Buggles was the first music video to be played on MTV.  In this essay I am going to explain and give examples to the purposes music videos.


Artists/bands as well as directors/producers can be promoted through music videos. There are a few ways in which they can be used to promote the artist/band such as starring in the video, having their name somewhere in the video or a recognisable symbol somewhere in the video. In Alan Walker’s video for “Alone” all three ways are used. He makes an appearance randomly throughout, his name is used as a code name for the people in the video (“Walkers”) and a symbol which includes his initials is used on the website the people log into as well as on jumpers.

To promote a director through a music video usually their name is included in the video, for example in Taylor Swift’s music videos for “Blank Space” and Wildest Dreams” she teamed up with director Joseph Kahn; in both videos his name is the second thing to appear.

Artists are marketed differently depending on what sort of record label they belong to and how much financial backing they have. Someone like Carrie Underwood (signed with Arista Nashville) has the image of a pretty blonde cowgirl with a bad girl streak that is reflected in her videos.


Independent bands and artists that are just starting out don’t have as much finance to fund a glossy polished image and their videos have a lower budget. Self-produced artists (artists that don’t have a record deal) make and distribute their own videos which are then shared on YouTube and social media sites. There are many artists posting on YouTube, usually their music videos consist of them sitting in front of a camera singing covers.
Another thing music videos can be used for is to promote an artistic statement. Sia’s music video for “The Greatest” is a tribute to the Orlando shooting victims; promoting artistic statements through music videos is a good strategy producers use to create a fan base with the same values/beliefs as the artists.

Artists/record labels make money off of music videos by how many views it gets, each view contributes to their income. However, due to the vast amount of sites that audiences can use to watch the videos, it is impossible to get an exact total therefore an estimate is made based on how popular it is (as well as how well the song is selling) and the artist/record label is paid accordingly. 

Artists that are more alternative or self-produced rely on media outlets (rather than the charts and radio stations) to get audiences to hear their music. A media outlet is a source that allows audiences access to artist’s work. Such outlets include iTunes, Vevo, YouTube and so on. 

Synergy is the term used when products are sold in order to promote a larger product.  Usually this is merchandise promoting a film (for example marvel themes dolls, bed sheets, water bottles, e.t.c., are advertised around the same time as their latest films). However, this can still apply with songs that are written/recorded to specifically go alongside a film, for example when “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” was getting ready to be released in cinemas Ed Sheeran released a song, “I See Fire”. With synergistic marketing every party involved benefits in some way from the deal, whether that’s publicity or profits.
                   

I think that music videos are popular because they give fans a way to see their idols doing something they love when they might not be able to go to a concert. I also think it gives people something to talk about. No matter the demographic, if people have access to the internet or music channels on their television, people will have an opinion on the video and share their ideas. 

James Paget - Cove Clinic Video

James Paget - Ward 10 Video

Throughout this video we used mid and close-up shots so that what is happening is clear to the audience. When we were given the brief we were told the video's purpose was to put children who are going into hospital for an operation minds at ease so it was important that what was happening to the children on screen was realistic and clear.
To the right is a still from the video, in this part of the video the patient is having a wrist band put on. We chose to do this as a close up rather than a mid shot so that the wrist band was the center of the clip.

The target audience for this video was children and their parents so we decided to keep the straightforward. We did this by sticking to jump cuts and dissolve transitions. At the end of the video we put in a graphic that included the logo of the hospital, school and college because in the brief we were asked to show who was involved in the Hospital's Take Over Day.

To record the voice over and most of the interviews we used a lapel microphone that plugged into a phone and the audio was recorded on a Rode Mic app. To record the ambient sound we used a Rode videomic that plugged straight into the camera and the audio was recorded onto the SD card in the camera. We used a royalty free song we found on The YouTube Audio Library to keep a lighthearted mood throughout the video.

When filming we had to work around where things were placed as we were in a hospital so things had to be in specific places. However, this did have an advantage on the final product as everything was in its realistic place. The majority of the lighting throughout the video was artificial lighting, again, like the mise-en-scene, we didn't have much control over this and the video was affected by it. For example in the anesthetic room the lighting was quite dim, resulting in the clip looking quite unprofessional.

Types of Brief

James Paget Corporate Video - Cove Clinic Timeline

James Paget Corporate Video - Ward 10 Timeline

James Paget Corporate Video - Pitch Document

James Paget Corporate Video - Location Release Forms

James Paget Corporate Video - Talent Release Forms

James Paget Corporate Video - Budgeting

James Paget Corporate Video - Production Schedule

James Paget Corporate Video - Storyboard

James Paget Corporate Video - Recce

James Paget Corporate Video - Brief

Corporate Video Brief

James Paget – National Takeover Day 2016 – Meeting with Lisa King

(Our Notes)

·         Cove Clinic has been open for 3 months

·         Filmed from a child’s point of view coming to the clinic

·         Film a child walking through the hospital

·         Include statistics

·         Trip of ward 10 for the clinic

·         Height of a child

·         6 children as actors (3 per video)

·         Recce - Wednesday 2^nd

·         Day of filming - Friday 18^th November – 9.30 to 1.30

·         Possibly use the books

(Lisa King’s Notes)

·         Hand gel is an important part before entering the ward/clinic

·         Press the buzzer to gain entry to the ward.

·         As a surgical patient the child would be directed to ward 10B which is at the back of the ward.

·         Parent’s kitchen. Parents are welcome to make drinks and store food in the fridge as long as lids are put back on tubs and labels with dates and names are stuck on to every box that they have.

·         The playroom is always open for patience. There is paint, glue, cars, trains, dinosaurs, etc.

·         Every child will be allocated a bed within the surgical area. Children can bring a toy or stuffed animal they like to make them more comfortable. Parents have a bed next to the child so they can stay overnight.

·          Adolescent rooms (13-18 years) have two beds and an en-suite. Patients can be connected to the internet and the ward has many DVDs for them to watch. Adolescents also have their own games room which has game consoles and a TV. Parents are not permitted to stay in the rooms with the patient as there is another bed, however other arrangements can be made on request.

·         There is an open visiting policy with restricted visiting after 7.00pm as some patients may need quiet.

·         Parent’s parking tokens can be validated at the main desk for free.