Thursday, 31 March 2022
Contextual analysis 2- Numb (Men I Trust)
Contextual Analysis 1- Maniac (Conan Gray)
This music video for Conan Gray's "Maniac" has similar use of lighting and camerawork to that I would like to do within my own music video. There is a strong set narrative following Conan and his friend Jess as her zombie exes show up to the movie theatre they work at, throughout they end up 'defeating' all of them resulting in a resolved ending to the video. The use of powerful colourful lighting is something I wish to incorporate into my own video as well as the use of both lighting and camerawork to create effecting shots.
Mise-en-scene: There are three main settings throughout the whole video, starting with the American movie theatre, established through a long shot with the old-style writing of 'Maniac- Conan Gray's1 written across allowing audiences into the main area of the video. This is then followed by the inside of the theatre, where Conan and Jess were working and later encountering Jess' 'zombie' exes. Keeping within close proximity the next few scenes are shot behind the theatre with the rubbish bins, the lighting at this point has darkened and camera shots are lower to enhance the 'darkness' of the scene. From this point onwards the mise-en-scene switches with the pace of the song, between both characters and in and
around the movie theatre. Conan is now taking on more of a performance aspect within the theatre which I will discuss more when talking about performance and camerawork. After more characters are introduced the 'exes' Conan extends his performance into one of the empty movie screens with an old-school SubZero SZ-V1 vintage microphone to reflect the 80s theme of the video as a whole as well as the 80s-based movie theatre. About 3/4 of the way through the video the pace of the music gets quicker which is then reflected in the pace of the switches in scenes, Conan and Jess are 'reunited' to formulate the resolved ending to the video together. The performance aspect is further enhanced nearing the end of the video with props such as broken glass, an 80s LED clock and an old sweet jar to solidify the narrative.Camerawork: There is a variety of different camera shot types throughout Conan Gray's 'Maniac', starting with a long establishing shot of the initial mise-en-scene, being the 80s American movie theatre as seen above. This is then followed by zoomed in mid shots of both main characters, Conan and Jess, I would like to adopt this convention into my music video as I feel like it an effective way of establishing characters etc. Throughout the video the producers have used numerous mid shots from behind the artist and accompanying characters in order to enhance the alternative lighting as well as adding dimension to the video. During the scenes of Conan's 'performance' where he is using the broomstick as a makeshift microphone and breaking the 'fourth wall' through eye contact and a direct mode of address, the camera shots used are either mid or mid-long shots switching between all of Conan's profiles. For example, shot moved from one of his side profile to a straight on mid shot with direct eye contact, this is also an effective method of adding dimension to the
video. From the middle to the end of the video the lighting and camerawork is used cohesively to create a 'shadowing' effect with a bright coloured light boarder. The rest of the video is filled with similar shot types, close ups to establish new characters as well as continuous mid shots of Conan dancing to match the pace of the music itself (Goodwin).Wednesday, 30 March 2022
Focus group cont.
1. On which platform do you listen to music on the most?
Joe- Spotify
Ellie- Spotify
Molly- Spotify
Sophie- Spotify
Cindy- Spotify
Rob- Spotify
2. What are the genres of music you listen to the most?
Joe- hip-hop + rock
Ellie- pop + musical theatre
Molly- pop + indie
Sophie- pop + classical
Cindy- pop + rock
Rob- punk + indie
3. On what platform would you watch music videos?
Joe- YouTube
Ellie- YouTube
Molly- YouTube
Sophie- YouTube
Cindy- YouTube
Rob- YouTube
4. Which do you believe is the most recognisable aspect of music videos?
Joe- the music/ lyrics of the song itself
Ellie- performance
Molly- the music/ lyrics of the song itself
Sophie- narrative
Cindy- the music/ lyrics of the song itself
Rob- performance
5. What is the reason for you to watch music videos?
Joe- Just out of interest
Ellie- If the performance is good
Molly- Boredom
Sophie- The visuals add another dimension to the music
Cindy- Not a fan of music videos on the whole, but if I do watch them it's to see the artist
Rob- To see how they transformed the lyrics into a visual video- how they interpreted their own lyrics and want to present them
6. How often do you watch music videos?
Joe- Rarely
Ellie- Rarely
Molly- Rarely
Sophie- Bi-weekly
Cindy- Rarely
Rob- Rarely
7. If the artist of the song was in the music video, would that make you more likely to watch it?
Joe- I don't know
Ellie- Yes
Molly- No
Sophie- Yes
Cindy- Yes
Rob- Yes
Primary and secondary focus groups
Tuesday, 29 March 2022
Industrial context: Sony music
Sony Music began as the American Record Corporation (ARC) and was founded in 1929 through the merging of numerous record companies. ARC was then acquired in 1938 by Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), it was then renamed Columbia Recording Corporation before changing to Columbia Records Inc. in 1947. Columbia Records was very successful in the 50s before launching a sister label- 'Epic Records' in 1953. Sony then entered the picture in November 1987, acquiring CBS Records for $2 billion. Sony then renamed the record company Sony Music Entertainment (SME) in January 1991.
Labels + Content Divisions- Part of Sony Music Entertainment:
- Columbia Records + Columbia Nashville
- RCA Records + RCA Records Nashville
- Epic Records
- Artista Records + Artista Nashville
- Legacy Recordings
- Sony Music Latin
- Masterworks
- RCA Inspiration
- Provident Label Group
- Sony Classical
- Global Podcast Divison
- Harry Styles' new upcoming album 'Harry's House'
- Jade Thirlwall signing solo deal to RCA Records
- Bring Me The Horizon + BERWYN win at the NME awards
- Sony Music wins the Young Music Boss awards 2022
- Bakar- Nobody's Home
- Bad Boy Chiller Crew- Disrespectful
- Khalid- Scientific Drive
- Adele- 30
- French Montana- They Got Amnesia
- Beyonce
- Calvin Harris
- Harry Styles
- James Arthur
- J-Lo
- SIA
- Zayn
'Oh my God'- Adele
Monday, 28 March 2022
Tuesday, 15 March 2022
Audience research
Target audience/demographic: Primarily 16-25 middle market aspirational audience of whom are emotionally engaged with the media they interact with.
The 16-25 age group, also known as generation Z or Gen-Z were raised in the time where social media was growing and developing, meaning navigational skills and competency surrounding technology and online media forms for this group of people are advanced. This all then alters the way in which these individuals interpret and use the media and therefore the way in which media producers target their products in order to satisfy them. Research conducted surrounding the way in which Gen-Z consume media was collated and this is what they found:
- Gen-Z accounts for over 40% of consumers
- 85% of all Gen-Z learn about new products and media through social media platforms
Thursday, 3 March 2022
Brief 4 points
- 'The target audience was specified as a culturally sophisticated, 16–25 age group, class AB demographic'
- 'at least two characters representing at least two different social group'
- 'clear sense of branding across the two elements of the cross-media production'
- 'utilising a variety of camera shots and movement'
- 'effective material was shot at night'
- 'access to high quality equipment – some video work was of close to professional quality'
- 'suitable for broadcast on streaming sites such as YouTube'
- 'minimum of two original images on the website'
- 'best work emphasised the performance aspect'
- 'Top end work (within the website) ensured that traffic was driven between the website and the music video'
Wednesday, 2 March 2022
I think I would like to complete a music video as my NEA as growing up I have always enjoyed watching musing videos and have been interested in how they're made and how they reflected artists and their music. I think in terms of equipment I have access to creating my own music video would be the best choice, I'm also passionate about a wide variety of music so choosing the song would be a large part of what I will enjoy also.
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I think I would like to complete a music video as my NEA as growing up I have always enjoyed watching musing videos and have been interested...
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Target audience/demographic: Primarily 16-25 middle market aspirational audience of whom are emotionally engaged with the media they inte...
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This music video for Conan Gray's "Maniac" has similar use of lighting and camerawork to that I would like to do within my o...