Information about Mercury Records

I have left a message with Pixie Lott's record company 'Mercury Records' to ask for permission to use their song- I left the message with the licensing company on 02074 715333 and are still waiting for a call back.

Analysis of My Survey about Pop Music

1) I asked people their ages so that I could find out what the main audience was that I am creating my video for.

The majority were 17-19 years old (40.91%), Then aged 14-16 (34.09%) and finally 11-13 (25%)

2) I then wanted to find out whether they enjoy pop music or not, just a general question to start off and to learn more about my audience.

The majority said yes (52.27%), then occasionally (34.09%) - this is a good thing as it shows that the genre is appropriate for the audience.

 3) I then asked who were their 3 favourite pop artists are. This helps me by telling me whose music videos to look at for inspiration. The highest were The Vamps at 14% and Im also going to look at Taylor Swift, Iggy Azalea, 5 Seconds of Summer and Katy Perry all of which had 10% of the votes.

4) Then I was interested to find out about which radio stations my audience listened to. As I expected Capital clearly won with 68% of the votes!

5) It is interesting that the number of people who have been to a pop concert is lower than the number who haven't, there is one more person who hasn't been to a pop concert- this shows that people have to watch the music videos in order to see their favourite artists perform, therefore I have seen that music videos are a key part of the music industry.

6) I wanted to find out about what my audience would expect to see in a pop music video- they concluded that they mostly expect to see boys (however I wasn't intending on using boys, and this may be referring to boy bands e.g One Direction/The Vamps). The next were Girls (definitely using), a storyline (wasn't going to use) and on trend clothes (again, I am obviously going to use on trend clothing).

7) Not surprisingly, lots of people said that they enjoy watching music videos- therefore I know that I have chosen a good audience and they know lots about what they involve.













8) I wanted to find out why my audience enjoy music videos- mostly they said that they are entertaining- which implies that they are not full of boring long shots with no definition. The option for 'I love the music' was also high- this shows me that music choice is important to the audience. The 'Other' answers included 'Just interested in what they did in the video', 'Like to see if there is hidden meaning behind the song' and 'love seeing hot guys'.

 9) Surprisingly most people said that they would expect a Pop Music Video to be set on a beach- something I hadn't thought of. However luckily in a street/town were quite high and I was intending on using these locations anyway. I am also using a bedroom, and fortunately some people believed that this was a typical location- so In general with my survey- my assumptions have been confirmed. 

Typic Synopsis of some Pop Music Videos

Best Song Ever

One Direction

2013

This music video begins off with all the members of the group pretending to be not only themselves by also being part of a film production company, such as the producers, choreographer, stylist, and assistant- they use this as promotion for their film 'This Is Us'. The music video takes place in Hollywood, as the Hollywood sign is shown right at the beginning of the video. There are comedic elements to the beginning with the 'producers' calling the group the wrong names and referring to the member who they are played by as 'perfect'. The video then continues to show the rebellious side to the group as they completely trash the office in which they are in. It also shows clips from their film which they are promoting, this caused the fans to get excited for the film causing more interest in the video.

Things I would like to use from this video are some of the comedic elements as I think that this makes the video much more exciting than just having a boring scene, however I feel that this is more effective with male artists and particularly boy bands where this behaviour is usual.

Salute

Little Mix

2014

This video is set in what seems like during a war- and the group are promoting the independence of women joining together and not relying on men.The group use lots of dancing throughout this video, which they have used for the song in many other instances such as stage performances of it. This creates iconic dance moves that the fans recognise. The setting is dark which creates an eerie sense to the video- representing the darkness of wars and symbolic of their negative nature.  The use of a wind and smoke machines are clearly used in this video to create atmosphere and to make it more authentic.

Things that I would like to use from this video are lots of dancing as this is obviously common of girls music videos as well as possible use of extra wind in order to place more emphasis on my artist.

Who's Laughing Now

Jessie J

2011

This video is very clever as Jessie J seems to be singing as if giving advice to her younger self being bullied in school. The video adds extra value to the song as it creates a narrative that you wouldn't necessarily understand from the lyrics. She also represents her self now as the teacher of the class- looking over the bullying. I like the lip synching of the younger girls singing the words and think that this is clever. The synopsis of this video shows a young Jessie J being bullied in school by the other girls who are of a complete opposite to her (all wearing pink etc) and the she decides that she has had enough so she gets up and leaves and goes into the school hall where a poster of Hollywood is up (very clever as many pop videos are set there) and she begins to sing in front of it- as if she is beginning to come who she is today. 

I like the idea that it is set in an every-day environment so I am setting mine in a similar day to day place (a bedroom).

Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart)

The Vamps ft. Shaun Mendes

2014

This video begins with a panicked shot of the group trying to swim onto land. After this the audience can then see that they seem to be stranded on a desert island. This uses underwater filming. The video then continues to show the group trying to think of ways to escape e.g. making signs out of palm leaves and struggling to survive! They then get taken in by this tribe of girls of whom they then perform for. There are intertextual references here to  other stories which the audience would be familiar with such as Lost, The 100, Lord of the Flies and even I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here- where there is a similar narrative of a group being stranded on an island. The girls are dressed like Amazons which is another intertextual reference; they are strong and show the boys how to survive. There are comedic elements in this video such as playing golf with a coconut and drinking them like champagne. The end is ambiguous as the group could be either running away from the rescue plane or chasing it.

I am going to use an underwater camera- much like they did in this video. I would also love to use a similar location (however unfortunately that is highly unlikely!!)

Annotated Lyrics for my Music Video - "Nasty"

Pop Music Survey

To help me with my research I have made a survey which I sent out via school email to years 7-13. I also posted the link on Facebook so that I could gain a wider view outside of my school. I would have posted this to Twitter as well, however the audience on Twitter would be very similar to Facebook, therefore I feel it is unnecessary. 

I wanted to do this survey to find out about what kind of music/music videos people my target age like - this then can help me to think about what artists I should be looking into for inspiration for my own video.

Here is the link to my survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3MPH5Y7

9 Shot Analysis of a Pop Music Video #2

I have chosen to analyse "How Ya Doin'' By Little Mix ft. Missy Elliot
Where relevant I have referred to Goodwins Theory.



Background Info:
This video is also advertising hair dye, the group may have been paid to do this. Therefore the hair dye company is creating synergy between the group and their brand.

1) This shot is really long and lasts about 6 seconds! This sets the scene of the girl group all getting ready in a bedroom. ( I really like this type of shot and might try to use it in my video).This shot is returned to throughout the video. This shot abides by rule 1 as a girly bedroom scene is typical of the girl-pop music genre. Also rule 3 due to the fact that the upbeat music links to what the girls may be listening to 
whilst getting ready.

2) This shot lasts for about 1.5 seconds and shows a close up,of one of the members, which therefore abides by rule 4, . I really like the green screened background here and may use something like it in my video. This also links to rule 2- as the song is about being on the phone and the member is holding a phone.




3) This shows another member of the group, which therefore links to rule 4 and lasts about 1.5 seconds again, this time in a different background again, I like the pink background and want to use one in my video.

4) This shot shows the 3rd member  of the group- it has a similar green screened background to shot 2, and this lasts about 1 second. This also abides by rule 4 as it is yet another close-up of another member.






5) This then returns to a shot similar to the 3rd one, this time showing the final member of the group. This once again lasts about 1 second and abides by rule 4 due to the solo/close up shot.





6) The screen then splits to show all 4 members in their different settings, this is common in girl band music videos. This lasts about 3 seconds. This links to rule 1 as this split screen is typical of pop groups and also rule 4 as it shows them all close up.

7) This shot is similar to the last one, however the different panels begin to change, this is a really clever effect, however I don't think I will use it as I feel it works best with a group rather than a solo artist. This lasts a split second.This links to rule 1 as this split screen is typical of pop groups and also rule 4 as it shows them all close up.

8) The panels change here, in time with the music- this again lasts a split second. (Rules 1, 4, & 3)

9) The panels change here, in time with the music- this again lasts a split second. (Rules 1, 4, & 3)

Collage of Pop Music Videos

From my collage of Pop Music videos I can tell that close ups are key, I am aiming to create a shot similar to the one in the top left corner of Ariana Grande in her video for "Problem". I got the inspiration to film in London from the shot next to the one of Ariana Grande, of One Direction in their video for "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)"- I think this looks cool in a video. I also like the underwater filming of Justin Bieber in the top right corner and I am going to attempt something like this too. Bright colours are clearly a key theme in Pop Music Videos as most of these images are full of lots of colours. Another key theme is girl power as most of the videos show girls as strong and in some cases much like superheroes, such as in the image in the bottom left corner.