Elton John- Don't go breaking my heart

Evaluation:

To film this sequence we had to film 4 separate versions of the video.  These all included a different shot type such as mid-shot, close-ups and high angles.  This was all filmed on a high definition camera which was held on a tripod.  We also tried using the dolly as this could have given us some good angles to use, however the flooring was too bumpy, which meant the filming was too shaky to use.  To film this sequence all we needed was two people to sit or stand in front of the camera.  We would then play out the song and the 2 actors would lip sync to the song.  We had a karaoke version on a computer screen so that they could read the words along with the song.  This meant that their lip syncing would match up to the song when editing the two together.

Editing the sequence took a lot of time and effort as I had to match the syncing to the song.  As I had filmed the piece 4 times I was able to edit different parts together to make it more interesting.  I could switch from a mid-shot to a close-up which is a lot more effective than keeping the angle the same all the way through.  I also had to edit to the speed of the song.  This means that I had to match the video to the tempo of the song.

I made a few mistakes while editing the film as sometimes the music didn't match the actors.  Also editing to the speed of the song was a little difficult.  However, I tried to match them as best I could by trimming off parts of the video.

Altogether, I have learnt that I need to film the whole thing several times to ensure I have many different interesting angles to edit into the video.  Also to take my time when editing the video as I could edit it wrong and the whole sequence could go out of sync.

 

History of the Pop Video.

1. Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby was he first artist who was famous all across the world.  He started in the 1940's and was featured in a film called White Christmas in which he sung the song also named White Christmas.  This was unfortunately the only way his fans was able to see him, on TV.  

     2. Frank Sinatra

Sinatra was around in the 1950's and replaced Crosby.  He also featured in a number of films such as High society and Manchurian Candidate. Frank was the first artist to have many fans that were mainly girls.

     3. Elvis Presley

Elvis was who started rock and roll in the 1960's.  He  had thousands of adoring fans who were able to see him through TV and film.  His career lasted for many years but dipped when The Beatles came about.  However, he was able to pick it back up again with tours around America, where he played in places such as Las Vegas.  

 

      4. The Beatles

In the 1960's The Beatles were the most popular pop music act in the entire world.  They were so famous that by 1966 they got sick of touring as you could no longer hear them at concerts due to the thousands of screaming girls.  

'Top of the pops' on BBC1 was the main way British fans could see their pop idols and their music could be promoted on there regularly. 

In 1966 they made a double sided single 'Paperback writer' and 'Rain'.  They then sent out short films all over the world to promote the records, which were both made in one day at Kenwood House in London.  They did this so that people were able to listen to their music without having to listen to the screaming fans.  

This was the birth of the pop music video.

The Pretender by The Foo Fighters Animatic

Questions: 

1) What we had to do

First, we had to watch the music video to the pretender and gradually draw out the story board for each shot.  We had to draw it up to around 45 seconds to show how the video increases in pace.  Once this was done we had to take pictures of each shot from the story board.  These images were then uploaded to the computer and saved so that the animatic could be created.  The images were then edited together to the pace of the actual music video.  During the editing process at the bottom corner of the animatic, we uploaded the Foo Fighters video to show how the pictures are going at the same pace.


2) What we learned by doing this

By doing this we learnt that as a song progresses and gets faster so does the editing of the video.  during The Pretender, it starts out slow and quite calm and so the shots last for around 8-9 seconds.  However, as the guitar starts properly and drums are added to the beat, the pace quickens quite rapidly.  This means that shots are only lasting for a maximum of 1 second.  This has shown us that when we edit our own music video, we have to edit to the pace of the song.


3) How is editing the music video different from editing the thriller?

Editing the music video and editing the thriller is different because of pace.  During editing the thriller, the shots were long and would usually be around 15 seconds long or maybe even more.  However with the music video, the shots need to be a lot shorter as it needs to keep up with the song. Angles need to switch constantly to make it more interesting for the viewer.  But with the thriller, it was made of slow shots that weren't as interesting as it had to include dialogue between 2 or more people.  Also, there was no problem with putting in the sound in the thriller as it was all recorded at once.  However, with the music video when it is being filmed the people are only lip syncing, which means that the song has to be put in over the top and matched up to the persons syncing.

                              

Purpose of a music video

Music videos are used for-

1. Promotion/publicity

This will persuade the audience to buy their album on CD or digitally on iTunes.
It will also raise the audience awareness or profile of the artist or band.

2. Make money - increase sales.


Synergy:

 Music videos exists as only one strand of a multimedia campaign.  Others include radio, TV and film.

When a film comes out, it usually comes with a song.  Both become very well known as they play off each other.  The music video for the song usually has clips of the film in to promote it.

Artists have also made products to promote themselves such as Christina Aguillera who made a perfume called Not Myself Tonight.
If people like the product then they are most likely going to see other things that that person has done such as listening to their music.

Examples include:




Four weddings and a funeral

Spiderman

The Lion King

Types of music (Organic and synthetic)

Artists can be divided into two clear categories:

Organic- when the music comes first and they make the music they want to make.  Examples of this are 5 Seconds of Summer, The 1975 and The Beatles.

An organic band known as 5 Seconds of Summer, started on their own by posting covers on Youtube.  The lead singer (Luke Hemmings) started his own youtube channel known as Hemmo1996.  The guitarist (Michael Clifford) realized how good Luke was and decided that they should create a band.  This was when the bassist (Calum Hood) joined the band and all 3 members made covers of their favourite songs from their favourite bands, such as Greenday and Blink-182.  After a few months the trio booked a gig at a local pub, however they soon realised that they needed a drummer.  They decided to contact a mutual friend (Ashton Irwin) and performed to 12 people.  Ashton was then asked to permanently join the band and so 5 Second of Summer was made.  In 2012, Louis Tomlinson (One Direction) tweeted the boys' cover of Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus and were later asked to be the boy band's support act on their 2013 tour.  Their fame sky rocketed when they released their first hit single 'She looks so perfect' and later 'Don't stop'.  Now with a tour already scheduled for 2015, they are becoming one of the biggest punk pop artists in the world.




(Luke)



(Michael, Calum, Luke)



(Michael, Luke, Calum, Ashton)



Synthetic- refers to the 'X Factor' methodically,and it is the record labels that sit in the driving seat.  Money is the ultimate goal in this operation.  Examples of this are The Monkees and One Direction.

The members of One Direction did not know each other before starting the X Factor.  They were all solo artists and all were turned down by the judges, however Simon Cowell decided that if their talents were put together, then would could create a boy band.  Harry, Louis, Niall, Liam and Zayn now had to work together to try to win the contest.  However, they unfortunately lost but with thousands of fans backing them, they didn't lose their fame.  With their first single 'What makes you beautiful' they gained millions of fans in England and soon across the entire world.  Over the past 4 years, they have had album chart toppers and their singles have sold millions of copies that they have broken a few records.  They are currently on their third tour around the world and a fourth album on the way.

Record Labels

There are 4 major record labels:

• Universal

Artists include: Ariana Grande, Bombay Bicycle Club, Fountains of Wayne.

• Sony Music

Artists include: Alicia Keys, Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson

• Warner Brothers

Artists include: Biffy Clyro, Clean Bandit, Coldplay, Linkin Park

• Emi

Artists include: Robbie Williams, Snoop Dogg, Kate Bush

• Capitol Records

Artists Include: 5 Seconds of Summer, The Beatles, Iron Maiden

These are referred to as 'Majors'.  The majority are backed by conglomerates with stakes in other industries, such as Film, Tv, and electronics.

These major record labels own smaller record labels such as:

• Columbia

Artists include: AC/DC, Beyonce, David Bowie, Foster the people

• Island

Artists include: Busted, Frankie goes to Hollywood, Elton John, Sum 41

• Syco

Artists include: Matt Cardle, Olly Murs, One Direction

• RCA

Artists include: Bullet for my valentine, The Hoosiers, Jimmy Eat World

• Virgin

Artists include: 30 Seconds to Mars, Daft Punk, The Kooks

• Dirty Hit

Artists include: The 1975, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Fossil Collective

These are known as 'Major-independents' and are used to reach out to different audience from different genres.

After The major-independents come the Independents.  These are small record labels with little or no financial connection to the Majors.

They often concentrate on a small number of acts, within specialized niches in the industry. 

An example of an independent record label is 'Domino Records'.  Artists that are with this label are Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand.




Record labels usually start as independents and are then bought by Majors and then become major-independents.