Andrew Goodwin is a theorist, and his theory highlights the key components that create a music video which consist of intertextual references, voyeurism and a relationship between the music/lyrics and visuals. My chosen songs lyrics are hard to decipher to an extent, but if you listen to it enough you understand that the song scripts the lead singer singing about a girl that he likes, this is illustrated in the fading of actors when they are about to encounter each other this forms a non-linear narrative. Amongst having a non-linear narrative we also have a solo performance from our artist outside, which also features him ‘busking’. The busking goes against the conventions of folk/rock music videos, as in those videos we traditionally see live performances or staged ones. The genre our artist belongs too is not too common amongst people, so there are very few known indie-folk artists, but some are Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Bird and Alexi Murdoch. There are similarities between artists that belong to the genre of my artist; such as they wear the same clothes that the average man would wear, nothing too extravagant, and nothing too expensive. Another similarity is that they often play the guitar, and most of their music videos are commonly from concerts, not much narrative within them. The main focus of this artist does not to seem too manufactured, but to give off a natural feel, so that the audience can connect to them, and listen to their music rather than focusing on the exterior of the person. We decided that our music video would consist of various different close-ups; so that the audience can capture emotion, as well as close-ups of the guitar to make the music video feel much more mellow. We have decided to filter the use of heavy intertextuality due to the reason we want a natural feel, and have the audience focus heavily on the music and the narrative.
Autumn Half Term Assessment: Grade 13/20
So far Kay your blog is looking great. I can see some sense of progression in the planning. You have carried out detailed analysis of existing videos and show good understanding of the theories we have studied. You have collected some relevant audience research and presented it in an effective way. You are logging your activities too.
To improve:
You need to record more of the planning process. Start by creating the the ideas board - you and James could do separate ones to then discuss the ideas. You have been having meetings in class but you haven't recorded your discussions here. You should be keeping an online diary of all discussions, decisions made, planning such as filming (booking equipment, meeting times, what you are filming etc).
Annotate the lyrics in detail and then improve the storyboard. The recce needs to be more detailed - where are these locations? which part of the music video might be filming there? what issues might there be? you should also carry out a risk assessment - ask Mr Skinner to show you an example of how to set one out. The schedule also needs to be more detailed.
Carry out some further audience research relating to the planning. Ask questions about the storyboard and your ideas eg. is the narrative clear? are there enough close up shots of the artist? is the pace right?
One more thing - think about the visuals in relation to the music. Ed Sheeran starts singing and the visual is a guitar. More thought needs to go into the storyboard.
Overall you have a great idea for a video - you just need to complete some more of the planning to give it more flow.