The 4 Ps

a) What band/artist related products can audiences buy?
Products range from the actual music that they produce which comes in many different formats, such as cds, downloads and dvds. Other products include the bands merchandise which fans buy to be associated with the artist. These are often mainly clothing and posters.

b) Where can audiences buy/listen to music/merchandise/hardware?
The internet has recently taken over from high street shops as online sites such as Amazon and Play have become more favourable compared to HMV and other retailers. Downloading is now popular, this applies to both paid for content and illegally downloaded music. Bands myspace pages also offer fans a chance to hear their music. All of their videos can also be freely viewed on sites such as Youtube.

c) Give 2 or 3 examples of paid-for/subscription based and free products.

• Record companys sometimes give out free sampler cds in places like magazines to give their artists greater exposure. Both Epitaph and Roadrunner records have done this in recent months.
• Mailing lists are also very popular among artists as they keep the fans up to date on breaking news.

d) List between 5 and 10 examples of creative music marketing strategies (including at least 3 internet based examples).

• If you preordered Enter Shikari's new single online you got the service charge on your gig ticket discounted for a show on their upcoming tour.
• Saosin gave fans the chance to be credited on their album booklet if they texted in their name to a given number. Example of subambulant marketing.
• Radiohead let fans decide on how much they wanted to pay for their new album. They were the first to do this and it has recently spread to other media platforms with the new 'Championship Manager' video game poised to do the same.
• Green Day released their single 'Know Your Enemy' without any warning or publicising. This started rumours that a new song was out and momentum eventually picked up and got people talking about them again.
• Slipknot posted a video on youtube and their myspace 'encouraging' fans to go to their shows on their 2008 US tour.

Referencing

I have decided to edit together some bits of other bands videos, such as shots I like that I feel would add to our music video. I realise that some may be impossible to pull off or very hard, but we could attempt to do some similar things to create the same effects.

Music Video Referencing from Simon Cardy on Vimeo.

Genre Stuff

Here is prove that the visuals of a music video really do have to match the genre of music. I was bored so decided to sync up Britney's video and August Burns Red cover of 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'. We can see that the whole mise-en-scene of the video doesn't fit the track as well as the cast. It does, however, provide a few chuckles at some points where it matches quite well.

Hit Me Baby One More Time from Simon Cardy on Vimeo.

BLK feedback

Simon, all looking good on this blog EXCEPT I can't find your teenage dirtbag evaluation and you're hardly using labels which is NOT GOOD!!

Bit of marketing research

Here is one of the videos mentioned in today's lesson to exhibit different ways of bands marketing themselves. Here is a lovely little clip of Slipknot 'encouraging' fans to come to their US tour this year.

Change of Plan

Ok, I've had a change of heart and have decided to choose 'Start Something' as my first choice and pitch option. The track is from welsh band Lostprophets and I believe it would make a great video. It is fairly heavy, but mostly singing based. I also think that the frequent changes of pace will make for a great music video. The opening section could also inspire some clever editing to the beat to build up the song and look very interesting. I believe this track would be an almighty contender for our song choice and feel that it would be a really powerful video.

Below is the song and the accompanying lyrics:



Start today, now show us how you feel
Make your way, it's time to choose
Have my say, I know, I know what I see
Have my say, they think you'll lose
For all this to mean so much to me
For all this, you make a move
Pass you by, it's all in this life you have
Pass you by, goodbye to you

[Chorus:]
1, 2, 3, 4 Move
If you don't stop there, you'll make it through.
Stop dreaming, start something
When it's in your hand just start anew

It's ok to use your ability
You must know, it's hard to choose
Time will tell, it's hard that the way you feel
means you always seem to lose
Seize the day, the one that you left behind
It seems so strange that you don't move
Frozen still in front of your own lights
Win or lose, its time to choose

[Chorus]

Band Layouts

As far as I'm concerned there are only two band layouts that we should choose between for our music video. Either the band playing together in a circle or in seperate rooms within the same location. Both offer the vocalist a lot of freedom and space to move and I believe a lot depends on what location we end up shooting at. Both of these videos display the two different setups I am decribing. Cancer Bats opt for the circular method in 'Hail Destroyer' and Every Time I Die choose to be isolated from eachother in 'Wanderlust'. I really also like the idea of the vocalist walking down the dark corridor in this video and discovering his fellow band members.

Set Your Goals - Gaia Bleeds (Make Way For Man)

I have chosen this track as my pitch as I believe it offers a poppier alternative to our groups first choice of Architects. Set Your Goals are a Californian pop/hardcore band who specialise in being rather catchy but with a hint of heaviness remaining. The band has two vocalists, but that doesn't necessarily mean we would have to, but does provide the alternative. The song is about how we are destroying our planet which means we could have lots of lovely atmospheric scenery shots or we could create our own meaning. I still believe we need a similar interior location for the performance as we would have for 'We're All Alone'. Here is the song with the lyrics below. Enjoy!




Oh!
Stand down
Manifesting a destiny of unavoidable doom
Black wolves are gnashing at our heels
Fangs of accountability all unforeseen or intentionally neglected?

Oh!
The degradation of a home
Humanity sits on its throne
Cover your eyes and ears and know
We can't escape the consequence

And now the rising of septic tides as refuse litters the Pacific Gyre
We continue to drown the ocean in its own waters
Stand down, stand down
Time's out now
Kill like we know how
Killing like we're allowed

Oh!
The degradation of a home
Humanity is so lost
Cover your eyes and ears and know (without remorse)
We can't escape the consequence
And everything's ending

Make way
A failed culture makes its mark existing only to destroy what came first
With no regard for creation
Men play God
Drop unstoppable bombs
All institutions are wrong, but none of them will ever stop

Make way for man (x4)
Bombs away (x3)
No escape

Now turn the other cheek and pretend
Full speed to hatred forcing life against its will
Full speed 'til we're dead
We can�t escape the consequence

Oh! (Bombs away)
The degradation of a home (Bombs away)
Humanity sits on its throne (Bombs away)
Cover your eyes and ears and know (Bombs away)
We can't escape the consequence
No escape

Carol Vernallis

Carol Vernallis says the camera in music video seems to mimic the way we view sonic space... do you agree? Do you think we are conditioned by music video to read sonic space in particular ways?

This term 'Sonic Space' has confuzzled me as I have no idea what it means. This has unfortunately led me to have an incomplete answer for this particular section. I profusely apologise.


She suggests that the jumping camera focus is like the camera in place of our eyes, doing what we do when we listen. However, this is predefined for us by the Director - we have even less choice to look away/outside of the Director's choice than we do in film - do you agree?

I agree to an extent as there are so many cuts in music videos that it is hard to focus one image unless it is repeated many times. Music videos are much more based on the directors vision as he only has a few minutes to pack all he wants in so we are forced to look solely at the directors choices of shots.


She says music video is more like listening than viewing - do you agree?

Not really, because if you wanted to listen you would just listen to the song rather than watch the video. The video generally anchors the lyrics and helps to promote the artist as we can look at them and we are able to easily recognise them.

"We compensate imaginatively for what we do not see in the frame" - Agreed?

Yes it is natural for the human mind to link the things they see and jump to conclusion. This is useful in music videos as there is only a limited amount of time available so you can cut corners by suggesting things rather showing events in detail.

The constant motion in a music video and the variances it shows mean that a strong CU is a stable point. The music video "brings us towards these peaks, holds us against them, and then releases us" - do you agree?

I agree with this statement as it is crucial to see the artist's face as they are the focus of the video. Also the words of the song would be escaping from their vocal chords located inside their mouth.


Is the viewer "sutured (stitched) into the diegesis of the film world through the editing"?

Yes, the viewer is brought into the world of the music video. This is partly due to the gaps in narrative having to be filled by the audience and that there are many CU shots which make the viewer feel more involved.

Music video is freer in terms of viewer identification and perspective - agreed?

It is freer to an extent as not all people would watch some music videos due to the genre of the music and whether they like the song. The director can be freer, however, as he can take his own perspective on the track and the images that go with it.

Carol Vernallis believes the image alone cannot tell the story - do you agree?

I belive she is correct because if you watch a music video on mute it doesn't feel like a complete viewing experience. In my view this would also be pointless as the song is the whole reason the video exists so without it the shots would be rendered pointless.

FACT

Heres an interesting fact. The location in this video for Lostprophets - Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja was filmed at the block of flats at Edmonton Green. This proves good music videos can be made in the local area.

Spooky...

I knew we were on the right track as I just discovered the location in the video I just posted was one on our shortlist. We can't use it, however, as it is sadly way above our budget. Oh well, would have been nice...

Location Inpiration

In an ideal world the disused setting for this music video for 'This Years Most Open Heartbreak' by Funeral For a Friend would be perfect. I can't see us obtaining this, however, but we will look hard for something similar if at all possible.

Silverstein - I Am The Arsonist

Here is another suggestion for our music video. Silverstein's 'I Am The Arsonist' is a more poppy song and has a few changes in pace. There is also a lot of singing which creates a catchier mood. This could be used if the others are proved to be too heavy for our purposes.

Here are the lyrics:

Throwing up at the thought of you two.
How could you do this? My best friend with my bride,
Now you tell me you are leaving.

They'll see the fire in the dark night sky,
I hope you're home when I arrive.
And if theirs a pyre in the afterlife,
I'll be there again to light the match.

Burn! Gasoline, fire, it's the perfect combination.
Light it up. Burn it down. Breathe in my addiction.

They'll see the fire in the dark night sky,
I hope you're home when I arrive.
And if theirs a pyre in the afterlife,
I'll be there again to light the match.

"I am the light that warms up your body, that sets free the demons inside.
I am the one that that never ignores you, that never will let you down."

They'll suspect but they'll never prove that I was there.
In my veins, I feel the rush of adrenaline.
It's so hard to run away when I want to stay,
To watch it burn, watch it turn into dust.

Goodwin Deconstruction: Slipknot - 'Dead Memories'

This is the video for Iowan band Slipknot's 'Dead Memories'. It was filmed in their hometown of Des Moines by director Paul R Brown who specialises in heavy rock videos. The genre of the music is evidently metal and videos of this genre are largely performance based and have darker colours involved.

The bands constume and mise-en-scene at the start of the video links with the cover of the album that this is from, 'All Hope Is Gone'.


Along with every band member appearing in different locations, the lead vocalist walks through and almost narrates his journey. The lyrics could be seen to be amplified by the video as the theme of the song is dead memories and things that have happened in the past. The events being shown in each room could therefore have links to things in the protagonist's past.

Location

I was bored last night so decided to look at possible locations in the local area and found an arts depot warehouse in Edmonton. I emailed them and they have given us permission to one day after school go and check it out. This may signal the return of reccy videos and a solution to our location finding. Lets hope it looks good!

A Fault Line, A Fault Of Mine

One song proposal is a catchy number from Florida noise merchants, Underoath. I am fond of the dual vocals that they have going on which range from the screaming of lead vocalist, Spencer Chamberlain to the clean singing of drummer, Aaron Gillespie.

I believe that this would provide a nice alternative from our first choice as it is slightly less heavy and has an actual verse-chorus structure. It also has several, obvious changes of pace and is a perfect length song at 3.22. Downsides to this choice would be that only me and Nick are familiar with the song so may not suit everybody.

Here are the lyrics that the video could possibly be based around:

I'm not scared, but this is happening,
I'm not afraid but this is real, this is real.
It all comes at once, from every single direction.
This time I'm not, I'm not sleeping at all.
Could this be real? I've failed you, I've failed you.

I was lying when i said, i was looking north.
I was too scared to show, what i am.
Bare with me bare with me, this is all i have left.
This might be more, than a simple conversation, conversation.

It's been dancing around in my head.
For quite some time.
Just the thought of cleaning up myself.

I was lying when i said i was looking north.
I was too scared to show, what i am.
Bare with me, bare with me, this is all i have left.
This might be more, than a simple conversation.

I'm not sleeping.
I'm not sleeping at all
I stare at the wall, watching my time float away.
It's all been a blur, and nothing will change.
I stare at the wall, watching my time float away.
it's all been a blur, and nothing will change.
I was lying. (I was lying, i was lying) (I was lying)
This is defeat.

Lip Syncing Evaluation

As part research and part filling spare time in an enjoyable manner me and Nicholas attempted to lip sync to The Blackout's 'Its High Tide Baby'. The general consensus seemed to be that we did a good job as well. The common opinion seemed to be that although Nick looks much more the part and is more expressive in the role, that my actual lip syncing was more convincing. This may be due to the fact that I actually sung the song and let myself go while Nick mimed along and was not as familiar with the song. This means that if I can give Nick some vocal coaching and if he becomes really familiar with the song we choose for our project then we will have the perfect frontman for our needs.

BLK feedback

Some excellent posts so far Simon, a great start to your background work for this project. There’s quite a lot of important work missing though and you need to catch up fast, as it will be so busy when we get back to school.

We also need to get you using/applying advanced theory more explicitly when you analyse music videos, think Vernallis for now, although you will also need to get to grips with Goodwin in the new term.

For now, your short term targets are:
1. Link your workshop video to your blog
2. Post your workshop and lip synch evaluations
3. Post the work you have done for Miss T on Vernallis. See her post on the main Music Video Blog for the specific details of what is needed here
4. Post your track research/ideas – we need to see what tracks you have in mind for your own video. You have added some tracks but not the lyrics, or the reasoning behind these choices and the tracks you have added are currently unavailable
5. Put some inspirational/useful weblinks up
6. Sort out your blog navigation – you need to link to the main music video blog for example
7. We need a photo and some info about you please!

All instructions are on the main blog if you are not sure what you should have done. There will be a lot happening when term starts so the sooner this outstanding work is completed, the better.

Try to avoid linking videos without some analysis/commentary. I want to give you plenty of marks for your work, but this is sometimes lacking which makes it difficult to reward you.

But a great effort so far, keep up the good work and see you soon!