Welcome to my blog, I'll be using it over the next year for my A2 Media Studies coursework. I will be posting a variety of information, photos, videos, presentations, texts and posts to contribute towards it.
My music video is aimed at people who listen to Bonobo. When researching his fans I discovered the majority of 'likes' he had on Facebook were from 18-14 year olds. See previous post http://elliebuncea2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/audience-research-bonobo.html. However, I would say my main target audience is from 17-24 as my friends and I, who are 17, listen to Bonobo and are interested in his music videos. I am focussing on 'young adults'. After seeing who's Bonobo's fans were on Facebook, I decided to start looking at other artists in the ectro genre who are related to Bonobo. All artists I looked at had most popular age groups of 18-24 years old. I looked at artist from in and outside of England, including ODESZA, Amtrac, Phaeleh and SBTRKT. See picture below.
I have also found that typical conventions of electro music videos focus on alcohol, drugs and being in a dream state. Videos are often heavily edited, for example rewinds, with dancing and strobe lights. The videos audience are generally those who go clubbing and drink lots (this is often young adults), it is not gender specific.
I've created a logo for my artist, Bonobo, which I can use in my ancillary texts on my website and DVD case. A lot of artists have their own logos which they can be recognised by. I have looked at artists similar to Bonobo to inspire my logo. My logo is to the right. See artists I researched below. From left to right they are, Amtrac, Phaeleh and Sbtrkt. I noted a lot of logos have the artists initials. For example the shadow of the man in Amtrac's logo creates an A shape and the circle and line combo creates a P for Phaeleh. Sbtrkt's logo, however, is an image of the mask the artists wears. I also noticed whilst researching, that logos are often in black and white and fairly simplistic.
I chose to incorporate the black and white theme and putting the initial of my artists in. I used a shape graphic that I found on wix.com and then added the 'B' initial to represent it was for Bonobo. I have put the logo on my DVD case and website. These are my draft versions.
I don't think the artist I am using for my music video, Bonobo, has a particular genre but comes under electronic/downtempo. His music has a close connection to drugs, in particular weed, which I noticed looking at his fans comments on YouTube. I also looked at his fans on his Facebook and found a statistic showing that the most popular age group was 18-24 years old. When looking a gig pictures I also noted that the fans are predominately males in the majority of photos. A good friend of mine saw him perform in Oxford and said the majority of people there were "young people with interests in experimental and modern music". He also noted many were males with beards! So if I was to say who my target audience were I would have to say young male adults.
As bizarre as it may sound I have been filming a lot of shots in my bath, in particular the stop frame animation. My bath is the perfect place to film as it all white and so my background on every shot it the same clean white background.
Here is one example of my stop frame animation which I filmed in the bath.
On Wednesday I took advantage of the sun and did some filming Ardley Woods which was perfect for the shots I wanted. I filmed in both the forest and field. The sun as great when I was in the field as it was so bright and reflected heaven (which is what I want to depict towards the end). I used an actress to help me with these scenes. Some of the shots were similar to those I had seen in Phaeleh's video 'Tokio' (see my previous post on the video here: http://elliebuncea2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/phaeleh-tokoi.html) This is the woods/field I filmed in from a birds-eye-view.
For the tunnel in the opening sequence I simply used a cardboard tube which had a poster of a map in. I thought about using a larger metal tunnel but loved the look of the cardboard rims inside the tunnel. I held the tube to the sun light to film and zoomed in and out to get the shot I wanted. A simple but effective way of portraying coming out of a tunnel to symbolise birth.
50 Cent, real name Curtis James Jackson III, fits into the hip hop/rap genre. His fans dress like him in this gangster, hip hop way in baggy trousers, over sized jackets and flat peak hats. Not only do his fans dress the same but they also have similar stances and gait, hands in pockets, head held high. This 'gangster' stereotype has great emphasis on acting 'hard' and being the bigger male which is very apparent in all the fans poses to the camera.
McFly are a contemporary pop group of four boys and so it is completely understandable that the majority of their audience are young girls! I was a big fan too when I was younger. The boy band produce upbeat, chart topping songs. They have appears on lots of TV young girls/children will watch and also featured on the soundtrack of a teen film 'Just my luck'. Also being seen as 'male heart throbs' it's not surprising the majority of fans are females.
Like Kiss' fans, Dolly Parton fans also dress similarly to her. Dolly Parton is an American singer-songwriter who has been producing country music since 1955. He fans stick to the stereotypical country routes wearing denim jeans, checked shirts and cowboy style hats. They have also styled their hair or worn wigs which are similar to Dolly Partons big blonde hair.
‘Kiss’ are an American rock band known for their white faces
and elaborate costumes that rose in 1973. From James Mollison’s project we can
see their fans dress and even act similarly (sticking their tongues out). All fans have matching white and
black face paints with dark rock outfits on. Most look 30+ which is
understandable as the band will have grown up with the majority of their fans
having only a small younger audience as they are less big now.
My teacher recently introduced me to photographer, James Mollison, and his project 'The Disciples'. The project looks at the fans associated with a mix of music artists. It is clear from his pictures each bad has a very stereotypical fan. It is apparent their clothing is mimicking the music artist they are seeing or that genre.
James Mollison writes: "Over three years I photographed fans outside different concerts. I was fascinated by the different tribes of people that attended them, and how people emulated celebrity to form their identity. As I photographed the project I began to see how the concerts became events for people to come together with surrogate 'families', a chance to relive their youth or try and be part of a scene that happened before they were born."
I mentioned earlier that I wanted to include clocks throughout my peice to symbolise the passing of time (see post here: http://elliebuncea2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/time-symbolism.html). I've played around on photoshop to distort the images I have taken, see pictures below.
This is my opening so far. I like exporting my edited clips to help me view it fully and seeing what bits need tweaking. The start is a portrayal of my characters birth. The water and tube are representative of the womb. I then sped up the shots at 0.32 to portray how the busy the world may seem to a baby. The shots of eyes, noses and light are to depict the development of their senses (getting use to their sight, new smells etc.)
I’ve been trying to think what image I would like to use on my DVD case for my music video. I want to use an image that keeps the ambiguity of the video and doesn’t give too much away. I like the simplicity of Bonobo and Phaeleh’s album covers so think I will take a similar approach.
All of the video is in black and white, I think this is to focus primarily on the imagery and go well with the song ‘Whistling in the Dark’ – as if it is the unknown. I have also edited all of my music video in black and white as I love this effect and I think it helps the ambiguity of the piece.
In the video the majority of clips we see are of a fish or dancers, perhaps they represent freedom. As the music video goes on we see the fish is in a tank, trapped, the dancer is also sat alone looking like she is crying. In the first verse there are the lyrics ‘with your soul trapped between the tide’ and ‘hiding from your secrets’, these reiterate the entrapment theme.
There are lots of mirror and reflected imagery in the music video making the clips look distorted. I also like the blurs used which add to this.
One particular shot I love is 3.46, with the ink. I have tried these shots myself.
I've started looking at album/song covers and DVD cases of artists and films to inspire me when I make my own ancillary texts (in particular the cover release on DVD).
I started looking at Bonobo as I am using his songs. I found lots of similarities and recurring layout/themes in his albums. See images below.
I made a table/list of shots I still to do/redo to help me organise how far along I am. I love making lists to help me keep on track. Some shots I have already done but didn't like them, or noticed errors in them. See picture below.
I like the idea of using lots of shots of clocks and watches
in my video in order to symbolise the passing of time. I have taken some pictures
of the shots I want to include. I noticed Tom Paton used a pocket watch in his
music video ‘Tokoi’ for Phaeleh which I thought symbolised the female
protagonist’s life passing. Below are some of the pictures I took.
I recently Phaeleh’s music video ‘Tokoi’; I discovered
Phaeleh on YouTube as his music is very similar to Bonobo’s (who’s song ‘Recurring’
I am using in my music video). The music video for his song ‘Tokio’ was
directed by Tom Paton. I absolutely love the music video. Like mine it is open
for interpretation. I have interpreted it as life. I think the video is
portraying the girl growing and is very similar to my initial idea of my music
video.
The video starts with the female protagonist falling from the
sky which I believe is a representation of her being born. In the next shot we
see of her, at 0.10, she is curled in a ball on the floor as a child would
sleep with a bunny rabbit toy nearby. I think this represents her being a
toddler. When she wakes she puts her hands to the sun at 0.16, depicting that
she is not use to the bright lights (like a baby). Throughout the video there
are reoccurring shots of her checking the time on a pocket watch, symbolic of
the passing of time. As the video continues the female protagonists walks
through a wheat field with a bunny in her hand, feeling the wheat (0.37 ). The
shots illustrate a child exploring. The girl goes on to smell different
flowers, followed by shots of her eyes and mouth. These frames are as if the
girl is discovering her senses of touch, smell, sight and taste. By this point
the girl has dropped her bunny rabbit. At 1.28 we then see the girl finding a
bottle with a clear liquid substance that makes her fall to the fall and blur
the shots, I believe this depicts her youth and teenage years where she finds
drugs and alcohol. The next time we see her she is in a dark, more fitted
dress, juxtaposed from the pale pink, silky dress she wore initially. This
represents her maturing as she develops into a woman. Then at 2.22 we see her
take off the pocket watch and place it on, what looks like a grave, made with
two twigs. This is a portrayal off her time being up in life and giving herself
to death. The video ends with the girl walking off into the sunset as the day
comes to the end.
The video has beautiful imagery and so much symbolism. The
costumes and props are simple and yet manage to reflect a lifetime. I was
struck by how similar it was to my initial plan. Constant changes in the
filters help keep the ambiguity of the video leaving all interpretations open
to the audience.
I recently discovered Phaeleh, a multi-instrumentalist, producer and DJ based in Bristol. His music is based around dubstep, chill and he is very similar to Bonobo.
I decided to look at his website for inspiration (http://phaeleh.co.uk/). I noticed, as well as his music, his website also has a similar look to Bonobo's. Both are simple, with white text all in (what looks likes) century gothic text, their background is the picture from their latest album, they have links to their social media sites, a recent music video and links to their store and tour dates.
For my brief I chose ‘a promotion package for the release of
an album’, although my music video is the biggest part of the brief, I also
need to include two of the three options:
A website homepage for the band;
A cover for its release on DVD;
A magazine advertisement for the DVD.
I am leaning towards creating a website homepage for the band
and a cover for its release on DVD. I created a website for one of my
evaluation questions last year and really enjoyed it. I used ‘weebly’ to make
it, you can see the website here: http://elliebunceevaluation.weebly.com/
I've started to look at DVD covers and websites to help me.
I mentioned the underwater shots in my last post (http://elliebuncea2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/filming.html) which inspired me (especially the sun beams which come through the water) in these shots and therefore used them in mine. But their are also lots more.
The video, directed by Cybele Malinowski, has some footage in black and white. I am planning on editing all of my video so it is black and white as I really like the look of it and think it will help the ambiguous theme/feel I am going for.
I also like the merging of the shots of Caggie which I have experimented with in the senses scene to portray my character's initial disorientation.
Another shot I like and have used is the blurred fairy lights which I have also incorporated. I filmed these fairy lights over the summer when I was camping with friends.
