Questionnaire #2

Here is the second of my questionnaires that I have received.

1. eeeeerrrr.... no.
2. Yeah, so young people again who are a bit weird. Thats pretty much what I had established. Although the comment about horror films is quite useful as i could try to put lots of intertextuality relating to horror films in it.
3. This agrees with my initial ideas about death scenes. However, i don't think i would be able to make a decent death scene to be honest, so it would be better for me to go with the comedy theme suggested in class since i can make that more.... (dammit whats the word) conceivable?... of quality?... meh, y'know what i mean.
4. hmmmmm, interesting.... Performance would suite the heavy metal genre more which I think is the theme that this person is going for. However, since I've decided not to go for that this answer doesn't really help - though it's a good backup idea if my current one doesn't work.
5. Black and red, classic colours associated with death, I will most likely be using these colours depending on whether i go for greyscale colouring.
6. yeah, same as 4 really
7. ditto again, although this can work for anything really. I was considering using a place like this for my performance shots, though I have since decided not to use these.

We Speak No Americano

This video was recommended for me to look at in support of the silent film idea from the class. First of all, I want to point out that it is in colour. I imagined a silent film to be in black and white (or greyscale or whatever) so it is surprising how well this works in colour. I think that a black and white theme would be good for my video however, as it connotes the dark tone of the song. Most shots are stationary, which is realistic to silent films and also easier for me to do.
The policeman chasing the protagonist is a convention of silent films, as Charlie Chaplin was chased by a policeman a lot. This would work really well for my video as it links to the 'run run away' lyric. The costumes would also work well with my genre as it is quite formal and victorian, though my video would have several different costumes to link to the comedy element of silent films. The actions portrayed in silent films are speeded up and may work well with the jiggy movements of new wave artists. Psycho Killer also has a good beat which works well with these actions and the cuts. Obviously this style would also have intertextuality towards the old film, which links to Andrew Goodwin's theory.

Here are some other videos I have looked at to support my findings on silent films:

Performance or Narrative?

After much thought, I like the idea of a silent film type thing and have decided to do something like it. However, I don't think this would really work for many fully performance based shots and scenes, so I will have to scrap my plans for the band performance shots that I made a short animatic of. Though this is rather heartbreaking, I think it will be for the better. I will not get rid of performance shots altogether though, as i think it could work if the vocalist sang just a line or two to the camera before something more narrative based happens.

Questionnaire

I created a questionnaire to promote ideas about my track/video/target audience and distributed it digitally, I have just received the first feedback:



First of all, ignore the bit at the bottom, I'm not sure what that is or how it got there. Now I will go through and comment on the answers here.

1. This person believes that the genre of psycho killer is Avant Garde because it is unique. In many ways I agree with this as it is a very unique song, and I hope to convey that with avant garde visuals. On the other hand, because new wave is no longer a popular genre, I expect many people will fail to identify it with the track.
2. Young people are identified as the target audience, this matches what I have said in earlier posts.
3. Dark is pretty much what I expected to hear for this question. This guy also claims to have seen the music video, though the only video I can find is of a performance based video for a different version of psycho killer sung by David Byrne alone.
4. This person suggests that the video would be more more narrative based, and I am inclined to agree. Unfortunately, narrative is a lot harder to do... *grumble grumble*
5. Dark colours and nighttime settings are suggested for the mise en scene. This would convey the dark nature of the lyrics. I will probably be doing a lot of low key shots and I am thinking about making the whole thing in black and white. Filming at nighttime and at twilight is a pain and very hard to do, so I will try not to have too many outdoor shots.
6. Fair enough. Talking Heads was made up of a male vocalist/guitarist, a male drummer, a female bassist, and a male keyboarder (pianist?). Perhaps I should consider a similar band layout.
7. An urban environment. This setting would kind of match the genre, and be suitably scary. It may be awkward to film in busy streets so narrow alleys may be more suitable, as this person suggests.

Analysis: It Must Be Love

Storyboarding: Feedback From Class

In lesson today I did a group discussion with the class. After they listened to the song, they gave me some feedback ideas for a narrative. Here is a list of some of their main ideas:

• Most of the class said that I should make the narrative quite funny and use humour.
• One idea was that I do it in the style of a silent film, with the over-the-top acting etcetera. For this they recommended the music video We Speak No Americano.
• Another idea was for either the killer to be chasing the victim, or a policemen to be chasing the killer, in different locations and in different wacky costumes.
• Someone else imagined a slightly less funny video. In this the band could be tied up in an abandoned building and are about to be killed by the psycho killer.
• Another idea is for what they termed 'an axe murderer's day off', where you could see the murderer, dressed in a typical murderer costume, going about normal activities such as shopping.
• Someone else also mentioned being tied up to a wheelchair.

These ideas would fit nicely with my own idea for a Scooby Doo shot, as that is also funny. I like the idea of a silent film the most, though this may not go so well with any performance shots. I might also be able to fit in an axe murderer's day off shot too depending on how the narrative plays out. The idea about being chased by the policemen or chasing the victim could fit nicely with the silent film idea.


Upon reflection of the class's ideas, me and others came up with our own thoughts which expanded on them. Expanding on the silent film idea, it was recommended that I put the line 'Qu'est-ce que c'est' on a slide, like how the films used top portray dialogue, and follow it up with clips from old Hammer Horror films. However, at this point we were thinking on the lines that 'Qu'est-ce que c'est' meant something like; Who are you?. However, I have since realised that it actually means What is it? or What is this?. None the less, I still like the idea of Hammer Horror clips.

Storyboarding: Narrative

Here are my initial ideas for a narrative:

• Detective narrative - In this idea we get occasional shots of a police force both working out where the psycho killers are and then going to get them. The psycho killers would be the band in the main performance. It would link with the 'run, run away' lyrics, only it's the psycho killers that are running rather than a victim, as would be expected. At the end, the detective and his policemen would enter the performance room just too find the abandoned instruments. Then we could see the band walking away into the sunset. Exploring the idea from All These Things That I've Done by The Killers, I could place the sequence out of order.
• My other narrative ideas explore how each of the band members become a 'psycho killer'. I have no definite ideas for this but we would perhaps see a victim annoy the killer and then the killer would approach menacingly, maybe having a shot of a shadow killing another shadow.
• Another idea would be of the vocalist wandering around a town or school and seeing people who annoy him. For example we could see someone who's 'not polite'. There would then perhaps be a transition in the style of Right To Go Insane into the performance shot which would symbolise the vocalist's hidden thoughts or fantasies of being a psycho killer.
• Another idea I have is of what I will call, The Hitchcock Shot. This would be an intertextual reference towards the film 'psycho'. The shot would be of a bath with the curtain drawn across with the silhouette of a woman taking a shower in it, then, the psycho killer would raise up from out of the bath and we would see the woman scream before the killer's silhouette kills her silhouette. Alternatively, I could do a take of this where the killer does not wield a knife but a microphone to make it a performance shot.
• Another of my ideas is the Scooby Doo Corridor Shot. This adds an element of humour too the video as the killer chases a female victim through one door and out of another. Then, in true Scooby doo fashion it would end up with the victim chasing the killer and they would pause momentarily in the centre of the corridor, turn around, start again.

Straitjacket Costume

One of my costumes has arrived! First of all, though the product itself is labelled 'Straight Jacket', the actual name of the garment is Strait jacket or Strait-Jacket according to wikipedia. As far as I can figure out, this is because 'strait' when used in the archaic form takes the meaning of straight. For example 'strait-laced'. Anyway - this straitjacket will reflect the lyrics 'psycho killer' and fit with the general theme of insanity I want to portray in the video.

Storyboarding: Performance

Here is a couple of ideas I had for the performance section of my video.

• Generic band performance. I have a vision of a five man band (vocalist, drummer, guitarist x2) performing in a darkly lit room that is quite large, but that you can't really see much of due to the low key lighting. There would be the conventional shots of the whole band, the artist, close ups of certain band members etc. I have done an animatic of what I can think of doing so far, but I think most of this I will think of during editing, and may depend much on other shots such as narrative ones. Furthermore, the following animatic might not be my final decision as I may insert some narrative shots, or I might decide that some of the shots take too long.

• My second idea I envisage to take place during the French verse of my song. There will be a white background, most likely in the photography studio, and high key lighting. This shot will only include the main vocalist who will be dressed in a stripy shirt, white gloves, a beret, black trousers and braces, with white face paint (so, a mime basically). I have actually already bought some of these things and will do a blog on those soon. The artist will sing the song whilst doing some jittery 'vogueing'. I was inspired by the Madonna video on this and I thought that it was suitably camp to connote the French. The vogueing will be quite jittery to match the beat of the music and to comply with the genre.

• My third idea is of the artist, alone again, wearing a straitjacket and in a white walled room. The walls would have words from a semantic field of 'psycho killer' such 'kill', 'death' and 'psycho' scrawled onto them in red. I would only need a corner of the room as the camera would face the corner of the wall from a slightly high angle.

Analysis: Take On Me

Not only is Take On Me by A-Ha a New Wave song, it's also in the top ten music videos video from ages ago! I want to explore why this new wave song has become a classic because of it's iconic video.

The video starts off as a comic book. There are several close ups of the artist in his sketchy form. This makes the audience realise that the artist is in the comic book, which is a big part of the narrative. This is could be a key point for my video as if the artist is dressed up or something, close ups may be needed to confirm who they are. The close ups also advertise the artise and add to star image.

Optical illusions and special affects attract the audience's eye and keeps them interested. The artist features in the shot to promote his star image and create realsim. The rule of thirds is also used. The artist is dressed in quite a rock 'n' roll type of way which is not a convention of the genre. However, I imagine that this gave him sex appeal at the time. Since the female is not dressed particularly sexy I would guess that this is aimed mainly at women.

Analysis: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

This is listed as the number one new wave song by this website so I thought I would check if it had a video so that I could analyse it. As you can see, it does have a video, so here is my analysis.

The fists banging on the table connect the visuals with the music. This is also quite an angry gesture which sets the scene for the aggressive music, the dark lyrics ('some people want to abuse you'), and the sinister visuals. The setting is a conference room which has it's dark connotations emphasized by the low key lighting. The table and chairs are black which connotes death and evil. The walls are red which connote danger and denote blood. We see a shadowy silhouette with a cane who also looks sinister. The silhouette is a link to the notion of looking.

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Website: Duran Duran

 The Duran Duran website has a welcome page, which is quite a formal and posh thing I think. The welcome page shows the band members for advertising and to assert the purpose of the site. The photo is in greyscale which is very artistic and fashionable. To match this, the band are dressed in very classy and stylish clothing. The single bar allows you to enter the site or go to a member exclusive site. This enhances the classiness, treating the website as a gentlemen's club type thing. Though I like this, it would not be good for a new band such as mine who don't have many members. There are also links to social media. The main headings and logo are in gold, which connotes prestige and style. The fonts used for the heading is in capitals and bold. This, to me, connotes music as it reminds me of adverts for live performances etc. I would like to use elements of this site in my website as I like the classy prestige of the band - though this image may not fit with the song choice psychokiller which isn't really what you would think of as a desirable or perfect song.

Unfortunately, I do not like the rest of this website. In my opinion there is too much text which isn't visually appealing and is very off-putting. Perhaps this is because they are targeting a specific, sophisticated audience. However, this goes against most other sites I have looked at which all try to be visually appealing. The best bit of this site are the pictures at the top which remain on every page, this gives a sense of continuity which I like. The pictures are of individual band members in studios. This portrays them as professional and adds to their star image. The colour theme is a continuation of the welcome page. Another interesting point of the website is the Ask Katy section, which is a Q and A for the band. It might be interesting to do something similar though the personalisation of Katy is not, in my opinion, formal enough for new wave.

Website: Madness



Audience Theory: Psychographics

Psychographics are a way of categorising an audience based on why they use a product. The categories are listed below:

• The Explorer: Driven by need for discovery or to challenge oneself
• The Aspirer: are described as 'materialistic', they care more about what others think of them
• The Succeeder: self confidence, strong goal orientation, organized
• The Reformer: values their own independent judgement and are anti-materialistic
• The Mainstream: this is the largest group, there is a need for security and to live in a daily routine
• The Struggler: seek escape and live for the moment
• The Resigned: these aim to survive and are predominantly older people

I would not describe my audience as mainstream at the moment as new wave, and Psycho Killer particularly, to not fit modern popular conventions. Therefore, I would think that this also rules out many 'Aspirers' as these are more likely to be influenced by the Mainstream. Though many new wave fans might be from older generations, I don't really understand how my song could help with survival. In fact you could say it is not a necessity to spend money on a song so these may be less likely to be my audience. On the other hand, this audience would be more susceptible to special offers on merchandise and music costs which I should bare in mind for my website. The Succeeder could be compared with the middle class geek who I have identified as fans of new wave, but apart from that I do not think it is really applicable. The Explorer may be more likely to seek out alternative, indie music so perhaps these may make up part of my audience, however, this brings me to the Reformer who I feel is most suited to my genre. The Reformer could be described as, in my opinion, a hipster, and would be the most likely to listen to non-mainstream music such as mine. The Struggler category could encompass all music listeners as people will generally listen to a song for escapism and recreation.

Band Name Ideas

The Madness logo in my analysis of artists' logos inspired me with some ideas for a band name. The way that the band was presented as an institution in a quintessentially British manner was very appealing to me and I thought I might try to replicate this. Now, recently I have been reading the James Bond novel Moonraker by Ian Fleming, so a name that sprang to mind was Q Branch. Q Branch is the department in 'the secret service' that produces the gadgets for operatives such as Bond. I thought this would work well with my genre as I feel that it is quite a nerdy genre, much like what I imagine 'those fools in Q branch' (to quote Raoul Silva in Skyfall) to be like. For a band name I feel that the use of a hyphen would be suitable to make the name Q-Branch. This makes the word and letter seem more connected. Like Duran Duran uses the Ds as a trademark, a band called Q-Branch could use the Q. The connotations of the name Q-Branch would suite the new wave genre well. Q is a very odd letter and is associated with words such as quirky and queer which establishes the band as a maker of non-mainstream material. The connotations of Q-Branch as a whole would be prestigious and institutional whilst also being intelligent as new wave artists are. It would also connote stereotypes of being British, which is of white middle and upper classes. These demographics are also conventional of new wave. This would also mean that the band could play on their being British in their website or digipack. Though I would like this, I'm concerned that it might not work as the only song my band will actually "sing" is the American song Psycho Killer. On the other hand, David Byrne, who wrote it was born in Scotland. Therefore, I claim Psycho Killer in the name of HRH The Queen.

This leads me too another idea. This plays more on Englishness and loses the Bond theme, so it doesn't connote new wave so much - though I still want to consider it. HMS Music or something similar is my second idea. ...    ...        ... OK actually I really don't like that. It sounds a bit too cliché and camp.

The Music Industry

The aim of the music industry is to make money from selling music products. The product is created by talented composers and musicians and then produced by a record company. It is then  distributed to us in various ways; CDs, Live Gigs, Downloads.

The purpose of music videos is to advertise the music as they are shown throughout the world on TV. There are several channels that specialise in showing music videos such as MTV and 4Music. The music videos aim to persuade the audience to buy the song or album or even the video itself. However, the changes in technology has meant that much music is available via web 2.0 such as YouTube. This means that music companies and artists make less money as their material is available for free online. For example, Warner Music Group has apparently banned my analysis of Madonna's Vogue worldwide, whilst Around The World by Daft Punk has been band in the US. In this way, the music industry is fighting against piracy. None the less, you can still view my analysis of Vogue for some reason, and I also put it on the website Vimeo where it has not been banned. This means that the music industry is making very little of their profit from selling music traditionally. Instead, musicians make a lot of profit from Live Gigs as these are unique and you can only really experience them to the full extent by actually being there. Thus, it is perhaps an aim of music videos to promote the artist's performances and encourage the audience to go and see them live.
One the other hand, web 2.0 is also helpful to the music industry, as their songs can be advertised quickly over the whole world. It also allows fans of the music to collaborate and create more interest in the artist.
So then, why aren't all music videos performance based? Some artists genuinely want to create a piece of art, and some believe that true fans of the artist feel obliged to buy the song properly, which is often true.

Website: Wix Website Creator 2

This is quite a simple layout which puts lots of emphasis onto the video, which would be my music video in this case. The main colours are black and white which give it the artistic, formal tone of many other new wave websites I have seen. Though this places lots of emphasis onto the video which would suggest that the band is very artistic, it would have little or no room for a picture of the band itself. I would really want a picture of my band on my website as it would be essential for a small newbie band to promote themselves as much as possible.

Something like this is a pretty basic layout. If I were to have a picture of my band rather than the picture of the random woman I feel that it would work rather well. However, it may be a little bare. Furthermore, I would rather have the navigation bar at the top. None the less, it may be good for the prestigious, artistic look due to the colour schemes.

Isn't that the opening shot of Skyfall? The background of this site is a photo from a live gig by a band. Thus, this may be good for a more rock orientated band, however, many artists rely on live performances for key profit, so this would be good for advertising, particularly for small indie bands.

There is room for a big picture of the artist here, which would build the artist's star image and advertise them. This would also immediately inform viewers who's website this is. The base colour used here is black. The dark connotations of this colour might suite the song psycho killer quite well. On the other hand, of the sites I have looked at, I prefer the ones with a white background as it just seems nicer to look at and is more modern.

This seems to have a similar layout to The Killers' website. If I could change the colours of this it may work quite well with the new wave genre. The main picture could be a scrolling thing that has multiple adverts. The space for the logo is not so big on this template which is unfortunate as I want my band to be promoting themselves constantly as much as possible. Having said that, it could suggest that the band is all about the music and not about the money (money, money) which gives it a genuine, real quality.

The logo used on this template is really annoying, however, if The Sounds' logo for example was there instead then this would look really good. Once more, there is a video as the main part of the page, as a music video this would advertise the artist. There is only three parts of the navel bar and I don't know whether you can change that. If you can't then this will be a problem as an artist's website should have a page on videos, news, bio, music and merchandise at least.

There doesn't seem to be a space for an impressive logo here, though it does tick other boxes. There is a space for a picture of the artist, several pages in the navigation bar, and a good colour scheme.

There is so much picture on this template that t actually might be quite good. The fact that the picture takes up so much of the screen could show that the artist is really artistic and is very visually appealing.

This is a very modern look with a similar colour scheme to The Killers' website. In the top right there are links to social media which are essential for music artists' websites.

Band Logos

I wasn't really sure how to label this post so I put an assortment of things. The logo is a big part of any band and can play a big part in both the website and music video of an artist. Once more, Blogger isn't allowing me to make to post images so here is another slideshare:

Analysis: It's My Life



What My Audience Would Like

Just a quick moodboard to sum up my TA

Audience Theory

A2 Media Deadlines

A2 Deadlines


November 21st - music video completed
December 5th - ancillary task 1 completed
December 17th - ancillary task 2 completed
January 6th - all evaluations completed

Evil

 

The idea of the drawings coming to life in this video is an interesting one. Perhaps I could do something similare with 'Wanted' posters. The effect is visually appealing as well as giving an unnatural atmosphere, which could be good for my music video.

Who Would Listen To My Song?

Target Audience To Do List

• find out what it is
• questionaire
• research into my TA
• research how other videos provide for their TAs
• likes/dislikes
• how to adapt it to my music video

This is pretty much just for my benefit, but this is usefull for knowing what posts I shall be making soon.

Right To Go Insane



I was looking up songs about going insane and I came across this. Now, I think I can rule out using a tank in my music video but it was this transition that interested me. Throughout the video this transition is used to show that the artist is going into an insane rage. I think I could use something like this to connote when narrative characters in my video go insto their "psycho killer" mode.

Analysis: Blue Jeans

This clip is used as an intro to the music video. What is the significance of this? Well, I don't know. My best guess is that it builds up tension, whilst connoting old black and white films which links to the black and white music video. As for the old people, well blue jeans are perhaps something a young person would wear, so maybe its something to do with that.

This shot is used regularly throughout the video. The two main vocalists are the most lit up, whilst the rest are silhouettes. This links to the different elements of the music. The shot shows the whole of the band performing this advertises and builds up realism and star image. Low key lighting is visually appealing whilst also connoting the strange, dark sound of the song.

This total silhouetted image is used whenever there is a lack of vocals. It is used in the middle when there is an instrumental section and at the beginning and end to symbolise the opening and closing of the song. This is a convention of bands and represents how the band isn't at it's full musical potential, or are just warming up.

 The key to this music video is shown in this shot. On shot of the band performing is imposed/layered over another shot of the band performing. I really like this technique, it looks relatively easy to do -both in editing and filming- whilst giving a great effect. This is also a reference to the notion of looking. For my music video, this could connote disjointed thoughts.

On top of the set up of the band shown above, there are also other shots. This one shows just two members of the band. These different shots give individual members of the band star image whilst the vocalist who is in most of them is given the most with the new wave belief that vocals are the most important instrument. These different shots are also visually appealing. The way that the rest of the band is imposed onto them symbolises that they are just one part of the band who work together.
 

Some close ups are used to promote the band and improve star image. As with the above, these are often imposed with pictures of other members of the band. This makes them seem like more of a unified artist. The rule of thirds is also used to make the video more appealling.

There are also shots of the instruments, this is a convention of band's music videos as it creates realism. It also improves star image as the artist is seen to be able to skillfully play the instrument. On top of this it is a typical example of a link between the music and visuals. This is part of the andrew goodwin theory.

The video was filmed in black and white but later had a blue tint added to it. The black and white makes the video seem very artistic and perhaps links to the indie genre. It also reminds me of Duran Duran and other new wave bands. The blue tint makes the visualls look colder whilst also denoting the lyrics "blue jeans".




PS. apparently the special overlaying affest is done by 'playing around with the opacity'.