Pitch Powerpoint

2nd Pitch and new idea

1st pitch to class on concept of our music video

Music video conventions

High quality videos

Performance based video example

Concept Based Video and Example

Narrative based video and example

A low budget music video

In this music video the audience can see how extremely creative a surrealist concept video can take you. A very low budget video in comparison with the industry, we see a surrealist demolition of a corporate dads house through the vision of a child. The surrealist team enter the house, performing surrealist activities and costume which when juxtaposed with the posh house is humorous towards the audience.

Artist Insight

Tate Modern Visit -27/10/2014

On the 27th October 2014 we thought we'd take a visit to Tate Modern Art Gallery to inspire us with some imagery for our music video based on surrealism. We gathered many pictures of our trip such as art and words we came across whilst on our travels and have gained a better insight into surreal figures and art which already exist and have came up with some new ideas after having explored Tate Modern. We have pinned images and captions on Pin interest which can be viewed with the following link:

http://www.pinterest.com/marcolevicd/trip-to-tate-modern/

Initial Research

Music video analysis

Blue jeans from marclevi97

Artist/ Genre research

Mis En Scene

Most Alternative soul singers usually have a narrative in their music videos as well as performance, Steve Archer said  "often music videos cut between a narrative and performance of the song by the band. Additionally, a carefully choreographed dance might be part of the artist's performance" and this is exactly what some alternative soul singers do, however most of the time the artist in this genre do not join into the choreographed dance, they generally stay put whilst they spectate the dancing.

In contrast, our artist that we've created is more of an artistic person, most singers create synergy between different types of media whereas we will have an artist who combines classic art with music, hence why we are incorporating surrealism in our music video.

           

Tous le memes has a similar genre to our song, but with a more pop sound and a classic french style instrumental, this mis en scene is created through a continuous changing environment, conventionally music videos want to make you feel like you are not watching a video but you are just catching a glimpse of their lifestyle, in this video the setting and props continuously spin and change around the artist, the dismissal of the first shot is clearly visible which makes it a lot more interesting and intrigued whilst the next set is initiated, it gives the aritst a lot of room for creativty and fun.

Inspiring Videos

Compostition

This uses ellipses to shorten the time Indila (the singer) gets to the entrance of the building, this is a useful tool we want to use in our music video because it can shorten the viewing time but allow the artist in the video to walk at a slow pace to keep the mis en scene intact and allow the artist to walk at a pace that reflects his attitude

 

The shot reverse shot is something between the mannequin and the televison is something we will incorporate into our video, this video has a similar theme to ours which is just to be out of the ordinary and have a lasting effect on our audience, this artist is named Stromae and even though he is a french singer he has managed to become a large figure in the music industry as a whole, this is because of his level of creativity and personal input he adds to his videos, you can tell that everything he lets out is not just the work of a record company, he is a very talented artist who adds an artistic flair to everything he makes.

This video has performance shots as well as narrative, it swtiches from one to other very frequently allowing each element to have the same amount of focus, our video will also have this, as well as having a conceptual type of video our artist will also synchronize his lips to the track in a different setting to other part of the video, our artist will also lip sync in the conceptual part of the video but it will not be consistent throughout.

Music video analysis

                                                 Comfort inn Ending
The song Comfort inn Ending by artist Jhene Aiko tells a beautiful story not only through the music, but through the music video to.  The music video begins with medium close-up shots of Jhene gathering all her boyfriend's belongings together allowing us to know he is the one who has done her wrong. The song beginning with the words , ' Thought I told you not to trust these hoes,' is also referring to him and makes us aware he's been cheating.

Following this sequence of shots of Jhene gathering her boyfriends belongings is close-up shots of Jhene then reflecting with her friend on the pain her boyfriend's actions has bought to her and crying with the words, ' I was not the only one to you, so I was the only lonely one.' This being sung, besides the visuals on screen adds to the sympathy we all ready feel for her having been cheated on. The costume design in these shots of very modern every day clothing e.g. beanie hat, vesttop and jeans also adds some realism for her audience rather than extremey fashionable clothing/outfits and makes it more relatable for her fans, as she attracts a more young but mature audience who would most likely wear such clothing.

The interesting shots of reflection such as the one above where the Mise en scene involves the only lighting being made from her boyfriend's belongings being burnt into flames draws us in as a viewer to connect more with what she's saying and the feelings of frustration, sadness and despair she is expressing in the song. Her facial expressions also reinforce this as her face is expressionless, almost as if she has nothing more to give.

 The music video ends by taking us to a memory in the artist mind, of when him and her truly were in love and their relationship was whole. The location being used in the Mise En Scene is full of life and nature which could have the connotation of feeling whole. Having gone from reflecting on the present to reflecting on the past which is a pleasent memory again makes us feel more sympathetic towards her. The body language shared between the artist and the actor such as holding hands adds to the portrayal of love between the two and the costume design of her in a dress covered in nature reinforces the connotation of feeling whole. 

The Island Def Jam Music Group

The Island Def Jam Music label was created in 1999 after UMG (Universal Music Group) merged two of their daughter companies, is in an American label and it is based in New York, it is a very major label with hundreds of mainstream artists currently dominating the charts. We have chosen this label because it is the label of the artists song we have chose, his name is Frank Ocean, he may give off the 'underrated' and 'independent' impression but he is infact signed to Def Jam, he is on the other hand a member of odd future who are also signed to Odd Future Records who happen to be an independent label which is why the word independent seems synonymous to man like Frank Ocean because of the vibe he gives off and the impression we get from his attitude and music.

 

This is Frank Ocean, not only is he the singer of the song we are using but he also has an unusual, creative and surreal personalilty which make him stands out as an artist, he isnt the usual singer and that is why he is a perfect reference for our artist we will create for the music video.

Why is a music video important?

Music videos allow listeners to establish a visual connection with the song, it can leave the listener with a good impression which leads them to watch the video repeatedly as well as listen to the song. It also gives the artist a chance to display other talents apart from singing, the may able to play instruments or even have dancing skills, this gives them a chance to get on a pedastal and the audience will think highly of the artist. By having a music video it can be played on multiple platform such as the televison (music channels), YouTube (which can then be shared to facebook and twitter), this will gain the artist popularity.

Music videos are apart of technological growth, as the music industry growns in order to match how fast society is moving they need to make sure profit is always stable, by expanding the margins of what a singer is it allows the artist to become anyone and anything they want, by always re- inventing themselves they can become who ever they need to be to sell thier music to thier target audience, the main and easiest way to re-invent yourself is to by creating music videos.

 

For example Ariana Grande is known to be a cute, innocent and sweet singer, her target audience loved it and that is how her label marketed her for the earlier years of her career, recently she had to expand her fanbase and target an audience that can audience that she express herself with, as well as audiences who can attend concerts and pay for her album so she decided to become a mature young woman with songs that are no longer so innocent and censored.
 

Surrealism through Art

This is a painting of Cleopatra painted by a surrealist, he depicted her as a classic 1920's actress and has taken the ancientness out from her image and he has made her look like a beautiful everyday actress, the intent of this twist may have been to say that we're all queens, just like Cleopatra, or that if you simply change the date of someones existence they may have not been the same type of person they were, in Cleopatra's case, if she was born in the 1920's she may have been an actress,




This image is an idea for the look we are trying to give the main character, the nice well presented attire juxtaposed with a peculiar facial feature is intriguing as well as surreal, this is the image we are trying to create with Marc, currently, we are hoping to completely erase the Sclera of marc's eye and insert black contact lenses, this will create a fairly unusual look.

Surrealism

Surrealism

Surrealism began in the early 1920's, the term was coined by  Guillaume Apollinaire, he wrote a play called  Les Mamelles de Tiresias which had started the surrealist movement. Surrealism was aimed to allow people to channel their subconscious and move freely in a dream world where they gain inspiration to form magnificent pieces of art, surrealists took in the opinions of philosophers, psychologists and sociologists and they interpreted the work of these people to actively discuss their newly found movement and liberal imagination, Freud's work with free association and the unconscious was a significant pieces for the surrealists and they even created a philosophy as well as a manifesto, the also published a journal named La Révolution surréaliste.

In my opinion I think surrealism is fantastic, even if you do not apply the philosophy to your life just by looking at surrealist art it can help you unlock your imagination and dream of the most weirdest and wonderful things, it helps you look at the bright side of life and also reassures you that nothing is absolute, there are always other ways of looking at things and one idea of something isn't the only idea, this is subject to non cognitivist and emotivism theories which touches on emotional responses and the fact that there is no true or false.

This music video has the classic idea of surrealism, it is very random yet visually striking, the responses to this video can be endless but there is still a connection between the lyrics and the visuals, the couple seated on a table seem to be in love but soon their time together ends, the iron begins to let out steam and that is when the man fly's out the window, the lyrics are about the man being with another woman but she'll still wait for him, he is apprehensive to leave but the fog drags him away, he momentarily flies alone in the clouds (possibly representing confusion) until he sees the other woman he is supposedly with and that is when the lyrics end and the music with visuals begin to establish a connection, this video relates to the origins of surrealism with 1920's dancers dancing in the middle of the street, the mis en scene was very monotonous and mellow to begin with as the video was very colourless and grey at the start and then it adjusted black and white to end where exotic dancers came out.



In this video Peter Capaldi explains Surrealism and its origins as well as the people who inspired this idea.

Music Video Research

Simon Frith's Typeologies

Friths 3 typeologies from marclevi97

Goodwin's Conventions of Music Videos from marclevi97

The importance of a Music Video

The importance of a Music Video

Music videos play a major role to both the relationship between both artists and fans and an artist succeeding in contemporary society where the world is mainly ran by technology. Music videos allow artists to promote themselves and their music through a more visual form, making the music in some ways seem more interesting and in some cases add or reinforce meaning to the song. For example, Rihanna's music video for 'Stay' involves her laying in a bathtub naked throughout the whole song looking quite sad and reflective on her life. Lyrics include 'All alone it was a fever..cold sweat hot headed believer."  So her facial expressions and the state she's in in the video besides being alone adds to the meaning of the song, as its about wanting a lover to stay but they have had leave for the best.

Music videos also allow artists to impress and attract fans in terms of their looks or movements besides their vocal talent, certain fans of artists only become a fan after having seen a music video that grabbed their attention. Certain artists also use music videos to create a certain identity for themselves which may not have been established through their songs. There are many different types of music videos all of which have the same role and importance to the promotion of the artist, such as performance videos which are mainly made to entertain people and advertise the artist. Due to the development of technology and the internet music videos are now accessible not only on TV, but 24/7 via Youtube and other sites on the internet. This being said allows fans to watch their favourite music artists videos over and over again wherever they may be.