research

Now that our video is complete we are researching some final details to make it look as professional as possible.

In order to do this we have put some research into the type of music channel our video would be hosted on. As one of the most popular and renowned music channels is MTV we have decided that this is the type of channel that The Killers would want to be exposed to as it will give them a big audience range. This will help their chart position and help to promote the band to a wider variety of audiences as MTV is accessible across Europe. However MTV is not so black and white and so offers a variety of channels for different music genres such as:

As our target audience is aimed at "indie" and as The Killers music is depicted as "indie rock" we have decided that the MTV station we would host our video on would be MTV Rocks. After this we have researched some of the videos available on the MTV Rocks website.

Final product:

Research into indie genre music promotional posters

Now that we have obtained some general research on the magazine-music institution, we are now looking a little deeper into the area that is particularly important to us- the indie market. The reason we are doing this is although there are conventions in general concerning promotional magazine advert, there are also differences in the way that different genres are presented in order to reach their target audience. Firstly I have looked at a HMV advertisement for The Killers. I have briefly analysed this, identifying the main features that make this poster successful and make it have impact.




These two magazine adverts are both very similar and both come into our target market audience. Both use dark backgrounds, simple bold text and also simple images. These are elements which we feel work very well as they are simple yet have a big impact. We feel if we make our poster too busy it will look unrealistic and unprofessional as all the adverts we have seen so
far have been fairly simple.The first magazine advert only uses white and red text. The information is very simple and consists of; the album name, release date, one critic view and the band website. The second magazine advert only uses white text. The information is far more in this advert. The magazine advert includes; the album name, several critic reports, the singles on the album and the band website.

Poster research

In order to create a professional looking poster as part of our digi-pak we needed to do some brief research firstly on the overall conventions of music posters in the industry. After this we will then put some more extensive research into our target genre conventions concerning promotional posters. As we can see from the following images there is a huge variety of ways to present a promotional poster:


This is a fairly simplistic poster which would most probably be seen as an advert in a magazine or on a billboard. It is a clean fresh looking poster which is eye catching and the text is not over-whelming. The information is informative and on a need to know basis. it also shows a copy of the album as well as a photograph of the artist.
This poster promoting Oasis's album is a whole new way of presenting a promotional poster and features no picture at all of the band. It is simply based on the artwork of the album which is used to enable the viewer to identify the artwork, making it recognizable. Again the poster is simple and to the point with little text.
This is an example of one of the new JLS album promotion posters. The poster is very simple with minimal text with just the band name and album title. However this poster is used to promote the album after it's release therefore does not need as much text. This poster consists of just one of the band member which is slightly unconventional, however it works as the band is so famous and identifiable
This Girls Aloud poster although fairly old has been very useful as to me this is a traditional promotional poster. This is the same artwork used on the album cover which is being used to promote both the band and the new album.

Costume

It is important to our video that before we go out to film we put research into the type of clothes our actor should wear. His clothes not only must reflect our genre of music but also must look like they belong in a music video. In order to to this we have research the type of clothes worn by the killers themselves and also other similar artists in the indie genre.

The Kooks

Scouting for girls

Arctic Monkeys

Bombay Bicycle Club

Most use the term "indie" to describe any rock music produced by artists working within the network of independent record labels. However in modern society it is also used to describe the way a person dresses and the music they listen to. Stereotypically the type of clothes and style associated with this movement are skinny jeans, checked shirts, denim jackets, boat shoes, long messy hair, vintage/retro clothing and much more. As shows in the pictures above indie bands take all these elements to create a strong image for themselves. However as I have noticed for many of these bands often they are very normal looking, and seem relatable to their fans. They do not dress as if they are rich and famous which would make their image unattainable to many. This is something we to endeavour to achieve to conform to constraints of the music industry.

We have decided from our research that our main character will be wearing: Black skinny jeans, a checked shirt, a dark jacket and "Vans". We want him to appear like a ordinary person who our audience can feel empathy with and can relate to.

digipak research

Digipak

While we had a bit of spare time we decided to use it constructively and began research on the digipak part of our coursework. So before we can even begin to think up ideas and designs we need to understand the conventions of a digipak and how they are targeted at their audiences. This required intensive research on the topic .

So what is a digipak?

A form of jewel case, for holding one or more CDs or DVDs, in which the outer cover is of card rather than plastic.Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.

Digipaks are not only used for CD covers but as mentioned also DVD's. However it is important that in order for our case to look professional we must use the correct sizing which is used normally. We found this information out from a website called www.4bmartinvest.co.uk which distributes the "Flexi trays" used in digipaks.

The information we found out was that the typical size of a CD tray is 135mm x 125 mm. Now that we know the correct size of the tray this enables us to make correct sizing of our images on photoshop etc.

The word digipak is really just a fancy way of saying what we would call a CD case. In modern society with an increasing competitive market in the music industry and the competition from downloading online, the digipak has become increasingly more important to the success of the single/album being sold. The CD cover is the thing which makes a CD stand out on the rack, it is the thing that makes you remember it on a TV advert or you simply see your favourite artist featured and you go out and buy it. This puts a huge importance on the design and layout of the digipak. However this also varies according to the market you are trying to appeal to. Here are some examples of a variety of genre digipaks:

Rhianna: Loud

Seen in the photograph above is Rhianna's latest album "loud", and is a particular favourite of mine. What I feel works really well about this digi-pak is its use of color and also its simplicity. The delicacy of the layout makes this a strong and powerful image and creates a very feminine look, which is the main target audience of Rhianna. This particular album also links to Rhianna's latest music video "only girl in the world" which makes it instantly identifiable to those who have watched this video. The images have clearly been manipulated and desaturated slightly which works well as it creates a softness to the photos which could otherwise be too bright and over powering. The CD itself also follows the style of the digi-pak and shows a great attention to detail. This digi-pak is not only designed for its purpose but it is also been designed for the user to enjoy is and be ascetically pleased by it.

Finding the puppet

While the anamatic was being finished off by Hulya, myself and Aisha headed off to ebay and amazon scouring the net for a puppet to use in our video. This was very hard as the puppet is central to the plot and it had to look right or the whole video just would not work.We searched for ages for puppets, ventriloquists, string puppets- you name it we searched it! After days of looking we still could not find a puppet that looked the part....




Finally after about a week of endless searching we found exactly what we were looking for! However the auction had five days until it ended, We got into contact with the owner straight away to see if we could buy it outright if we offered him a fair price. However unfortunately he would not take it off, as it had already received bids so we had to hold tight and wait. Sunday came and we were all at the ready with our credit cards, and in the last two minutes we went bid crazy! Luckily we managed to win the item and received the puppet just a few short days later and we were finally able to film our video.

Copyright Letter

As web definition from wikipedia copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted by the law of a jurisdiction to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. As a result of this in order to be legally allowed to use the killers track for our music video we will need to obtain permission from the record label. The track "Shadow Play" is the second song from the album "sawdust" which was produced by Island Records. In order to gain permission we have written an email to Island Records requesting their permission. (see below)

As a group we constructed a letter which Aisha sent on behalf of the group.Below is a copy of what was written in this letter.

Dear Copyright Holder,

I am an A level student and I am writing to request your permission to use one track by the artist; The Killers, entitled ‘Shadow play’ (Joy Division cover). The track 'Shadow Play' is the second track in The Killers' album; 'Sawdust'

With your permission, this track would be used in my current A-level Media Studies project, which involves creating a music video for a popular music track, as well as producing an album and a magazine advert for the artist.

If I received your permission, this track would ONLY be used in an educational context and be viewed by my media class, my teacher and the OCR exam board moderator. It would NOT be released to a large audience or uploaded to any public video websites.

The artist and your company would of course be fully recognized throughout pre-production and the final video itself. A copyright notice, with wording supplied by you can be included in the records of the project. If this is required, please send full details.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Aisha Adedeji

Mood board

We have created a mood board in response to both the lyrics and music to our chosen song "Shadowplay". In this mood board we have used images and words which we feel best represent how the song makes us think and feel. We have also jotted down some initial ideas that these images have given us for our video.

The Killers "Shadow Play" lyrics

To the centre of the city where all roads meet, waiting for you
To the depths of the ocean where all hopes sank, searching for you
Moving through the silence without motion, waiting for you
In a room with a window in the corner I found truth

In the shadowplay acting out your own death, knowing no more
As the assassins all grouped in four lines, dancing on the floor
And with cold steel, odour on their bodies made a move to connect
I could only stare in disbelief as the crowds all left

I did everything, everything I wanted to
I let them use you for their own ends
To the centre of the city in the night, waiting for you
To the centre of the city in the night, waiting for you

Searching for artists.

Now that we have decided on the genre of our music we now have to decide and agree on an appropriate song. To get some initial ideas we typed in "indie rock" into Google and a Wikipedia sight came up listing the top "notable" indie rock artists.
Here are just a few examples of what artists that featured on this site:

The Foals Coldplay MGMT Razorlight Embrace Ladyhawke Maximo park Bloc Party Bombay Bicycle Club The Smiths The Temper Trap The Kooks Klaxons The Courteeners The XX White Lies Weezer The View Nada Surf Cat Power

We then narrowed our search down using youtube trawling through hundreds of artists, listening and interpreting the music carefully. After looking at many videos we decided on our top artists which included:

The XX

The Foals

The Maccabees

The Killers

The Klaxons

Two Door Cinema Club

Limp Bizkit

After much discussion we managed to narrow our choices down to our three favourite songs which were

The Killers- Shadow Play

The Foals- Cassius

The XX- VCR

After much debate we decided that "Shadow Play" by The Killers would be our chosen song for our music video. We felt the song had a good pace to it and was quirky and different. We feel the song has a lot of potential to make a creative music video as the XX song was a bit too slow and mellow and Cassius by the foals already had a very good video and we felt it would be to hard to compete with this.

Genre

As a group we have decided on "Indie Rock" as our themed genre for this project. We want to create a music video that is a little bit off the wall and interesting and using the genre of indie music will allow us to do this. We have also decided that we would prefer to do a narrative music video which again suits the genre of music we have chosen. Pop and dance music would have been too restricting as this would of had to involve using dancers and we just did not have the resources to create a convincing video to these genres of music

So what is indie rock?
Indie rock is a genre of rock music, and a means of producing that music, that originated in theUnited Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. It is rooted in earlier genres such as alternative rock, post-punk, and new wave. The meaning of the term "indie rock" is contested today by many musicians, fans and commentators. Some use the term "indie" to describe any music produced by artists working within the network of independent record labels and underground music venues that emerged in the United States and elsewhere in 1980's and 1990's. Others understand indie rock as a distinct genre of rock music with a specific artistic aesthetic, and careless about the context in which it is made. In the 2000's many acts with a musical style identified as "indie" signed to major record labels or their subsidiaries, and began promoting themselves through more traditional media outlets. This has led to a further blurring in the meaning of the term. Ultimately from our research we have devised that indie rock is almost like a cult in modern society. The people who listen to this music group themselves as a "type" of person. This is particularly important to the research for our video as it is vital we reach out to our target audience and cater to their needs. Our target audience expect something that is new fresh and different