September 10 – Idea started and develops. Commence of drawing storyboard.
September 14 – Generic research started.
September 17 – Start of audience research.
September 18 – Questionnaire started.
September 22 – Questionnaire published and shared. Results collected.
September 25 – Questionnaire results and analysis completed.
September 26 – Focus group meeting, who are consulted on ideas.
September 28 – Generic research finished.
September 30 – Audience research completed. Storyboard completed.
October 1 – Animatic completed.
Shooting Schedule
Sunday October 5 – Shots of vocalist to be filmed, and possibly guitarist. This will be shot at the buildings near the Civic Centre at Victoria Avenue.
Week of October 6 – plan to shoot the narrative at various locations. Dependent on availability of the talent.
Andrew Goodwin has identified a number of key features in music videos. They are:
- A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics. - A relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music. - Genre-related style and iconography present. - Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist. - Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females. - Intertextual references to other media texts may be present.
Goodwin, in summary, says that music videos are often constructed by the link between the visuals and the song plus the artist. Hence, relationships are built between these in the video, and the close-ups of the artists gives them the representation and publicity they require. Voyeurism is used to increase the video’s attractiveness, particularly to males, whilst intertextuality is often employed in humorous videos.
Many of these features are present in all music videos, depending on the genre of the song and the aim of the record company/artist.
The audience for my music video is a mixed gender, young adult audience aged between 16 and 25. I feel this matches the genre of the song’s main profile, as indie/rock music is most popular with young adults and particularly students. Hence, my focus group comprises of the following:
• 16 year old female • 17 year old female • 17 year old male • 18 year old female • 19 year old male • 21 year old male
I feel this focus group gives me the spread of people within my target audience required to gain the necessary information about what the audience desire in a music video. In particular, I asked them about my ideas for my music video. The feedback I received was mainly positive, with some suggestions. They liked:
• The shock ending in the narrative • The song choice • The possible idea of using distorted images to distinguish between ‘today’ and the ‘memories’ in the narrative • The use of a student-age couple in the narrative for audience association • The focus on the vocalist and not the band • The choice of location for the vocalist
They suggested:
• The couple featuring the narrative must look natural and compatible for authenticity and effect • The use of some guitar/instrumental close-ups to appeal to the more musically-inclined audience • The vocalist’s expression must suit the music and lyrics, like in ‘Run’ • The editing must ensure the video is slow-paced to match the music
The video to this song involves progressive events, represented by the lighting. The beginning is set during dusk, and the sky progressively darkens. The dark setting allows for the director to illustrate the lyrics ‘light up’ in the chorus, as the vocalist, who is the video’s main focus, holds a flare that lights up the setting. This is a feature of Goodwin’s Theory, as the on-screen events illustrates the lyrics. The constant darkness before the first chorus also amplifies the extra lighting once it arrives – this is a use of juxtaposition between light and dark.
Furthermore, the vocalist uses many facial expressions to convey his feelings that match the song. He looks upset and choked at ‘makes it so hard not to cry’. Here, the video matches the mood created by the song, and so adds to the meaning created by the music. Again, this is a feature of music videos identified by Goodwin.
The video is comprised of close-ups of the vocalist mixed in with long-shots of the setting and his movement. The close-ups show his emotions, ths creating meaning, whilst the long-shots allow the audience to see how remote his location is. This is effective, as people can empathise with a supposed need to be alone when feeling unhappy. It arguably also links in with the song title ‘Run’, as he has run from his problems. Furthermore, when the song becomes more uplifting other members of the band become present, showing he’s no longer alone and suggesting that he can see a silver lining.
The chorus is cohesively synchronous with the flares due to the link between ‘light up’ and the visuals. The flares are not seen during the verses, which represents a difference in mood and thoughts between verse and chorus. The throwing of the flare is in-synch with the increased pace of the music, and the motorbike is re-introduced here too. This is an example of the visuals being linked to the music. This is also seen at the end, as the song reaches its conclusion. The lit bike falls into the water in slow-motion, and slows as the song slows, stopping its movement when the song stops. This constant linkage between music and visuals controls the mood of the audience.
I chose to analyse this video because my song is also by Snow Patrol. I have drawn inspiration from this video, as the mood of my song is similar. As such, I will also have some focus on the vocalists, and attempt for his mood to match the mood created by the music and lyrics. There is no separate narrative in this video, but I still aim to include one in mine to help me create more explicit meaning in conjunction with the song.
