Music Video Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKyK1Mme9Sc

The first video I am going to analyse is Two Door Cinema Club - Sun, the reason that i chose to analyse this particular music video is because the band who sing the song are an indie band and this is the genre that we have chosen to do our music video on. This particular video is very interesting as at points it has everybody apart from the band and a few dancers 'vanishing', this is a very good effect to use as it adds something different to the video as if it was just the band or just the party scenes it would be a very boring music video. It also makes really good use of different shots with a variety of them being used, for example when the lead singer is singing at 1:31 a number of different shots are used on him, including a close up, a mid shot, and a long shot. What tis does is it gives the video lots of different dimensions and means that is not too boring and it keeps the viewer entertained with a number of different shots. The storyline to the video is also very key, it starts off with the lead singer sitting on his own, then a number of people appear but they come and go throughout the video. The video then ends with the band standing on there own as everybody goes when the song comes to a stop. in my opinion there is no clear use of Freytag's theory of narrative within this piece as there doesn't seem to be a conflict that ends up being resolved in the end. However I feel things can be learnt from this video, it has made good use of editing to create the effect of the crowd vanishing, also the number of different shots which are used is a good thing because it keeps the video moving along. If the parts of the band singing were all done in one shot the video would not be very interesting. The main thing I like with this video is that it is very simple and doesn't over complicate things it only uses one setting but uses a number of different shots and angles within the setting to make the video look good.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOjdXSrtUxA

The next video I am going to look at is Ed Sheeran - Give Me Love, the basic storyline for this video is that a girl becomes cupid and then begins to go around shooting people with love arrows, but she then realises after bringing lots of people together that she herself is very lonely and she then stabs herself with the arrow, but then when a policeman comes in to investigate her death the arrow vanishes meaning that her love has been found. This storyline follows Freytag's theory of narrative well as it has all the factors that are required the conflict in this case being that despite helping others find the love the girl cannot find love for herself. However the video does twist Freytag's theory slightly as it starts with the girl being dead and the policeman walking in and then begins to tell the story of how things got to that situation. It has a very dark feel with it being shot in a night time scenario this makes the feel of the video very different than if it was shot during the day, but the dark feel of the video works as the song itself is quite sad so it wouldn't be good if the video was very jolly and had a party for example. I feel that the video is very in synch with the song as when the song changes pace so does the video this can be seen at 3:26. Overall i think that this is a very good music and is very well put together, but it would not be a good example for my group to follow as the song we have chosen to do is a lot more upbeat than this particular track.          

Focus Group Feedback

After the questionnaires had been done, we then each had to do a focus group. The purpose of this was for us to gain a deeper understanding of our target audience so that we can understand what they look for from a music video. It also allows us to get more in depth and personal answers than a questionnaire would. This is because it allows us to use more detailed questions and because you are face to face with the person you can get an honest response from them as they feel obliged to because they are sat there with you. 

Because I undertook the 25-30 questionnaires I had to get some people that took the questionnaires to take part in the focus group. 

Some interesting data I found out was that a lot of people that were into indie music also liked other genres such as rock and rap 

" I dont just like indie music, I like all different types. I like finding out about new and unusual artists that not many people have heard of before." This was the answer from one recipient when they were asked if they only liked indie music. 

Another question we asked was, What do you like to see in music videos? 

One recipient gave the answer of: "For me a music video has to be fun, the band or artist can't take themselves to seriously otherwise it just doesn't appeal to me. I cant connect with it. 

The second recipient's answer to the same question was, "If I'm being honest I don't really watch music videos for me its all about the song, but if I know that the music video is good through what other people say i'll watch it. 

 

From the answers we gained from our focus group it is important that we have a slightly quirky music video so that it fits with what people who already listen to that genre like. People like music videos that are fun and keep them entertained so it is important we keep with this idea as it will mean that our video is more likely to be successful. 

The people in the focus group were also asked what clothes they like the people in the video to be wearing. 

One of the people involved gave this answer: " I think that people care too much about what the artists are wearing, obviously there going to go to the shoot and wear the clothes that the stylists give them, its beyond there control so I don't know why people worry about it. 

Another answer given was: "I like to see the artists dress quite casually, like there not trying to hard. But if for example theres a storyline involved I don't mind them being in costume.  

From these answers we have learnt that the people that took part in our focus group do not view style as important, but given the responses from our questionnaires we know that style is important and that it is important that the style fits the genre of the track. So it would not be good to have a rapper dressed in a gothic style as it would not fit.  

Location Recee

A location recee is where you go to the locations you plan on using and check the suitability of the area. The reason we are going to carry out this recee is so that we have an idea of the area before we film there this is so that we know what surrounds the area and if there are going to be any problems. after surveying the area around where we are going to film we noticed that there could be a problem of traffic because we are going to be filming near a busy road. this could be a problem for a number of reasons, the first problem could be that the noise created by the cars going past could affect our filming as it could drown out our actors and the sound of the cars could be more prominent than the actors voices. Another problem with this is the danger that the cars could posses however this will not be a problem as we will not be filming really close to the road. Another problem we realised could arise from the location we chose is that it is a busy block of flats, this means it could be difficult to stop people from getting in our shots and ruining our filming, however this will not be that big a problem because of the time we are filming at it will not be that busy. Overall I do not think there will be any major problems with our location, it is suitable to film there and we will do so. 

Our Storyboard

This is the storyboard that we as a group created for our music video. it is in the format of a 2-Column storyboard because this is the best format for the type of production we are doing. 

Storyboarding

The type of storyboard we are going to use for our project is a 2-column storyboard. We are using a two column storyboard because we are doing music videos which means we do not to focus on every shot that is going to be produced and also because it is likely that there will be no narrative we do not need a box for it. A two column storyboard also allows more freedom when comes to actually filming because it will not restrict to the shot that has been drawn on the storyboard. Also a two column storyboard allows us to focus more on the detail of the shot than the actual shot itself, it allows us to see the ideas because they will be written down as opposed to being pictures. 

After having a go and producing a two column storyboard for the groups music video I received feedback from one of my peers who was not in my group. The feedback i received was that I should try and link certain parts of the song to the lyrics in order to make it more clear and precise what was actually going on. I was also told that I should summarise the whole video to a better quality. The next time I produce a two column storyboard I will link certain shots to the lyrics of the song, I could also put what lyrics will be played from the song when certain shots are happening this could be an additional column that would aid us when it comes to producing and editing our music video. I will also make sure I go into more detail about the shot the next time I produce a storyboard because it will make in easier and clearer for whoever is going to use the storyboard, this will also save me time as I will not have to explain to the person what is happening.