The Script

The Script

 The script was created by Ashley and created so we would know the timing of the song to go with the shots. This script will be useful while editing so we know what time of the songs go with each shot.

Shot List

Shot List

 We created the shot list so we could use while filming the music video. I completed the shot list and then printed it out. The shot list follow the same as the storyboard.

The Storyboard

The Storyboard

 We all got together as a group and did the final planning for the storyboard. We all gave different ideas towards it and discussed the possibilities of some ideas. Harry was the group member who created the storyboard.

Location Shots

Location Shots

We have one main location in our music video. The location is in Ashley's house and it is a room with just the poker table in the middle. With only the poker table in the middle it gives the location a 'Back Alley Poker' feel. This was a key part to our mise-en-scene. 

The song choice - "Short Change Hero"

THE HEAVY LYRICS

"Short Change Hero"

I can't see where you comin' from

But I know just what you runnin' from:

And what matters ain't the "who's baddest" but

The ones who stop you fallin' from your ladder, baby

And you feel like you feelin' now

And doin' things just to please your crowd,

When I love you like the way I love you,

And I suffer, but I ain't gonna cut you 'cause

This ain't no place for no hero.

This ain't no place for no better man.

This ain't no place for no hero

To call "home."

This ain't no place for no hero.

This ain't no place for no better man.

This ain't no place for no hero

To call "home."

Every time I close my eyes, I think,

I think about you inside,

And your mother, givin' up on askin' why -

Why you lie, and you cheat, and you try to make

A fool outta she...

I can't see where you comin' from,

But I know just what you're runnin' from.

And what matters ain't the "who's baddest," but the

Ones who stop you fallin' from your ladder, 'cause

This ain't no place for no hero.

This ain't no place for no better man.

This ain't no place for no hero

To call "home."

Why we chose this song

We chose this because both rhythm and lyrics of the song would fit the narrative and theme of the video. The chorus 'This ain't no place for no hero.' fits well with the theme of a poker game. We think that the song will run smooth with narrative 

Tracks we considered

Tracks we considered 

We consider a list of tracks that would fit in to our music video theme.

They were-

• Thick As Thieves - Kasabian 
• The House Of The Rising Sun - The Animals 
• Ain't No Rest For The Wicked - Cage The Elephant
• The Importance Of Being Idle - Oasis
• Re-Wired - Kasabian
• King Of Kings - Motörhead
• Short Changed Hero -The Heavy

These were all the tracks we considered. Some of the tracks melody fit the theme of the video well but the lyrics wouldn't fit the overall narrative. 

Ideas Brainstorm

Ideas Brainstorm

As a group we discussed many ideas about our music video. From the start of the we wanted the keep the idea of a poker game. But we discussed what music could go with the theme of the video and what narrative ideas we could use and would work well. 

Representation now and in our music video

Representation now and in our music video 

Representation is always changing and in our music video we will follow the typical conventions of the different characters. One of our main protagonist in our video will have a gambling/debt problem. In this we will not subvert the conventions of a gambler but follow the stereotype. We will do this by displaying items in the scene to show that he is in debt/gambling problems. For example we will include something like a letter of notice or an overdue bill to show the audience clearly that he has money/gambling issues. With this issues the target audience should support the this character during the music video.  The character will also be dressed in an untidy shirt and tie. This will be to show that all these problems are also displayed in the characters appearance.

With our main antagonist we will dress him up in dark clothing to show that he is the antagonist. This will allow us to display the juxtaposition of both characters. He will wear either a dark shirt or a black hoodie. For his back story we  will show him as a person who plays poker for fun and not have anything on the line. We will do this by showing him playing online poker in his backstory. In the scene we will also have a book about poker to show the audience that he is playing poker to win.

Music Industry Research

Music Industry Research 

The main aim of the music industry is to make money from a music product.  The music industry are  constantly developing to fit with today's society. The music record company must hire a artist to create the music, The record label will then distribute the music through a number of different ways. But it has become for difficult to distribute the music due to a number of factors.
One of the main factors which is stopping the process of distributing the music is that music streaming has become an increasing problem for record labels. Streaming is rapidly becoming the dominant form of music consumption and is the worst paying for the artist.
Streaming services like Spotify offer very little transparency on the artist payouts. This happens because Spotify pays
the labels of the artist to use the songs and often the labels don't pay their artist the fair amount.

Problems like these have a knock-on effect with live music events. Because the artist are getting lower income of their music they have to increase the price of the tickets of the live events.

Steaming music compared with CD purchases. The one major difference between CD's and is that CD's are only for a certain length of time. This is one of the disadvantage to a CD based distribution. Streaming music has a heavy effect on the artist income but it does last longer than the CD's. Now with a increase of the pirating music it has become more difficult for artist and label company's to survive in this industry. 

Current Developments In Music Videos

Current Developments In Music Videos

The music videos today are a crucial marketing tool for the artist and the music videos are constantly changing to keep up with modern society and their target audience. The advancements in technology have made it easier for companies to have CGI music videos. Many artists will also use animation in there music videos. For example the Gorillaz use animation for all of there music videos and example of this is Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc. The Gorillaz have also used CGI in live events is well as their music videos.

The Artist

The Artist

Song

We have chosen 'Short Changed Hero' as our main song because it will fit with the narrative of the video.

The Artist

'The Heavy' are a indie rock/neo soul band and they are from Bath, England. They have released 5 full albums since 2007 when there band formed. The Heavy's songs are widely used in many different types of media platforms. Their song 'How You Like Me Now' has been used in many TV shows such as 'Community' and 'The Vampire Diaries'.

The song we have chosen to use,'Short Changed Hero', was also used in a video game called 'Borderlands 2' and other songs they have created have been used in other video game titles.

The song 'Same Ol!' was also used in the trailer for Quentin Tarantino's 'Hateful Eight'.

We have chosen 'The Heavy' because they are an indie rock band so it fits with the target audience and the song will fit the narrative of the video.

The band itself keeps up to date with technology to fit with their fan base. For example they have a blog on their website to keep up with fans. Their website is at http://theheavy.co.uk/blog

The band members are-

• Kelvin Swaby (Vocals)
• Dan Taylor (Guitar)
• Spencer Page (Bass Guitar)
• Chris Ellul (Drums)

Theorist In Music Videos

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Goodwin's theory states that there are 5 key aspects to a music video.

• Thought through beat 
• Relationship between the song and visuals 
• Narrative and performance of the song
• Technical aspect of a music video
• The main protagonist 

How this links with our music video
Andrew Goodwin says that a music video will fall into at least one of these key aspects. Our main idea is related to a poker game. This idea would fit into the category of 'narrative and performance of the song'. Andrew Goodwin's theory should fit into our planned music video. 

Sven E Carlsson's Theory

His theory is Binary opposites drives the narration of the music video forward. He suggests that music videos fall into one of two categories and they are performance and conceptual.  

A performance video is when the video is centred on the main artist. He believed that  the performer is often made as a 'commercial exhibitionist'.

The second type of performance is electronic shaman. This is where they are displaying the music video as a form of art. An example of this is 'Arctic Monkeys-Do I Wanna Know' where they use a single line to display the different types of music

Another type of performance clip is that the main artist is turned into a 'television bard' which he is seen as a storyteller of the music video. An example of this is 'Ain't no rest for the wicked' By cage the elephant. Where the main protagonist (the artist) is walking down a road and singing the song like a story.



A conceptual video is where they focus on the story/narrative of the video instead of the main artist.
An example of a video where it is focus on narrative rather than what the main artist is doing in the video is Alt-J Breezeblocks.
This video is unique because the whole music video is backwards. This makes it hard for the audience to figure out who is the main protagonist and who is the main antagonist. Only till the end of the music video do you see who is the protagonist. They do this to keep the audience interested on the narrative

From this theory our music video will follow a conceptual video rule of  Sven E Carlsson theory. We will follow this rule because we will focus on a narrative music video.

Target Audience

Target audience 

The target audience is for the people who like and listen to indie rock music. The audience will be mostly male. The age of the target audience would be 16-25. These people would enjoy going to live music events such as concerts. Most of the audience would use up-to-date technology and would download music instead of buying the CD's. They would use such apps as Spotify and Apple music to listen to their music. The target audience would watch music videos of there favourite bands. The videos they would be more interested in watching is music videos with a strong narrative.


Our target audience would be a student in 6th form or at university. The target audience are likely to feel that music is a big part of their lives and because of this they will wear band merchandise and other items to stand out. They are also likely to play an musical instrument. The target audience will be studying an arts/media courses or personal care services.





Our video would also attract other people who are interested in poker/card games. These types of people can be included in our target audience as a secondary audience. This target audience wouldn't be that interested in the type or style of the music but would be interested in the narrative of the video. These type of people would play poker as a hobby and have a keen interest on how the game is being played.

Survey Analysis

Survey Analysis

We created a survey on 'Survey Monkey' to find out information about music videos. This survey will help the way we create our music video.  Here are the results.

This shows that majority of our audience is male.

From this our target audience will be between that ages of 16-25. This will mean out music video will be tailored to a younger audience.

50% of the people we asked said that they watch music videos. This shows that music videos have a great importance towards the band's image and it  is a important tool for promotion.

60% of the results say that indie rock music is the style they prefer to listen to.  This will mean we are going to have an indie rock song for our music video. This will effect the style of music video we will create.

In this question 60% of the audience says that they would like a combination of all of the editing techniques. This shows that we will include all types of editing techniques in our music video. But two people said that quick cuts and time-lapses are important to the editing. So will put more concentration on to those editing techniques.

The top choice was narrative but mixture/ Hybrid was also one of the top choices. From this question we will try and by narrative heavy on our music video. We might also have a band playing in some shots but it wouldn't be realistic to have a heavy narrative and a band performance.

Most people said that the music video show end in time with the narrative.  This shows that the target audience  would like a music video in time with the music. For this editing will play a big part  the creating of the music video.

Most people said that the colour scheme should be in full colour. Must a minority of people said that black + white. So if we have a flashback we will make it black + white to show it is a flashback.

Most people said that they prefer a modern style of music video. This will mean we will make the music video style modern to fit the target audience.

The majority of answers to this questions all involve a good narrative. We will have a narrative heavy music video as one of our main priority.  Other people said that editing was important. This will mean that editing in our music video will also be important and we will use different editing techniques to our advantage.








Overall our audience will be between the ages of 16-25 and will be mostly male. The audience as a whole like to watch music videos and if they are watching music videos they concentrate on the narrative of it. This is the main reason why we are going to focus on a narrative heavy music video. The music will also fit the theme of the narrative. The narrative will also be quite modern and the music will end in time with the video. From this we will also have a mix of editing features but to put emphasis on quick cuts.

The Heavy Music Video Short Analysis

This music video is also only a performance which is unusual for a indie rock. A typical indie music video would be centered around a narrative. Through out this music video they use the same lighting and location. The lighting they use a dark lighting through out. The majority of the video is focus on the lead singer.
Throughout this music video they use a lot of close up shots on the different musical instruments. They also use a shot where the lead singer is in the centre of the shot, sitting on a black chair. This is shot shows that the lead singer is the centre of this music video because no other character which has a similar shot to this.
All the band are all dressed in suits which is the typical dress code for the band. They have dressed like this to fit in with the theme of the video(Dark Lighting).

From this music video we will take the idea of the lighting of the video to be used in our finial product. We will look into using this type of lighting because it will fit our theme of our music video (Back ally poker game).

Casino Royale Analysis

Casino Royale Analysis

This scene is different from rounders because it is set in a expensive casino and 'Rounders' was set in a 'back street' setting. It was also different due to the types of clothes they we wearing. In Rounders they were wearing normal clothes but in Casino Royale they we all wearing suites to show that they are represented as high class.

The mise en scene shows that it is a high class casino. Everything to the amount of chips being played and the clothes that they are wearing shows that they are playing a high stake game.

In the middle of the scene that man says '115 million in the pot' this shows how much this game is worth. This represents all the characters as wealthy. But in the rounders game they are playing for a low amount and can be seen as 'putting it all on the line'

We will take the 1 vs 1 duel between the two main characters from this because it will make the narrative more interesting



via GIPHY

Rounders(1998) Opening Hand Analysis

Rounders(1998) Opening hand Analysis 

In this scene Mikey(the main protagonist) goes against KGB(main antagonist) and loses the hand. This scene will be one of the main influences on our final product. The camera angles used in this scene are extremely important to the theme of the film. The used close ups of the faces of the players to show that they have no expression. They also use good close up on the cards the players have. Which is a good use of the close up camera angle.

With editing they use fast cuts on each of the players. This is a good use in editing which we will use in our final product. They use a low key lighting within this which makes the scene more tense. The lighting is important to any poker/gambling theme video.

The audience of who would watch this would be people within the ages of 18-40 and those people would play poker.

This scene will be extremely important to our finished product. We will take the type of shots, the lighting and the general expression of the characters from this scene. For example we will take the 'back street gambling' setting from this and use it in our final product. 

Michael Jackson - Thriller analysis

'Michael Jackson - Thriller' is a influential music video which has affected the way music videos have been created.   This music video falls under the category of a mixture/hybrid because Michael Jackson is performing and playing a part in the narrative.   

The main narrative of this music video is that a couple leaving the cinema because the female character was scared of the movie. Walking away from the cinema Michael Jackson (The main protagonist) Starts to sing the song in time with the music video. Then later zombies surround the couple and Michael Jackson turns into one of the zombies and then the famous thriller dance starts. 

The mise en scene in this is set up to give the atmosphere a horror setting to fit in with the narrative. This is consistent through the whole music video.

Michael Jackson directed this music video himself with Quincy Jones and the label is 'Epic Records'.  It was released on January 23, 1984

The genre for this music is Disco/Funk. 

Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody Analysis

Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody Analysis

Audience 

The audience for Bohemian Rhapsody was mostly youths between the ages of 13-18

Genre 

The genre is rock and roll. 

Narrative

There was no narrative in the video for this song because it was the early stages of the music video. It was just multiple types of shots  of them playing live which is typical to the rock genre.


Representation 

The whole band are dressed as the rock stars of that generation. They have long hair and wear tight clothing which was typical of the rock genre then.

Analysis 

The music video uses live band footage which is typical of the rock genre but the intro they used was different to many other music videos. In the start they show the four members singing at a black background. This is seen form a artistic point of view. They use cross fading editing techniques in the start.

Institution

The band Queen was signed by a company called EMI for most of their career.

Codes And Conventions

Codes And Conventions 

The codes and conventions of a music video change depending on the genre. But most music videos split up into 4 different types. Those are-

1. Performance - This is when the artist or band playing is the centre of the music video. 
2. Narrative - This is when the music video has a story line and they follow it through till the end of the music video. 
3. Mixture - A mixture is a combination of both performance and narrative. This is the most commonly used out of the 4 because it is difficult to try and make a music video out of just Performance. 
4. Cameo - This is when the band or artist is in the narrative but is not performing 

The basic codes and conventions are-

Camera and editing

• Camera angles/shots 
• Camera movement 
• Editing techniques(Time-lapse)
• Sound 

Mise-en-scene 

• Props
• Costume 
• Location 
• Facial Expressons 
• Lighting 

Our Original Ideas

As a group we have had the idea of a music video surrounding a poker/card game with different characters around one game. From this idea we will have to research videos related with a certain type of music relating to a poker game. Or research poker scenes from films an see what we can put into a music video.

Kings of Leon - Use somebody

Kings of Leon - Use somebody(Sony Music, 2008)

                                                                                                                         
Audience

The audience would like this music video because it shows footage of the band on tour and backstage which would bring them closer to the band. The lyrics and the visuals of the lead singing give opportunities to the audience to develop a personal relationship by empathising the lead singer.

Narrative 

 The narrative shows the audience the what it is really like to go on tour, showing that it is not as good as it seems because it is lonely. They do this by showing juxtapositioning showing two sides of the tour. One with his band having fun and another on his own showing he is sad.

Genre

The video clearly shows that it is a rock genre. They do this by showing shots of the band playing live and there life on tour. This is typical of the rock genre to show these type of shots. The use of muted colours are also recognisable to the generic rock genre.

Representation 

The whole music video mainly focus on the lead singer, who sings into the camera to show his expression. But the representation of the band as a whole is different. They are different because they only show the shots of the band having fun. So they show two different types of representation in this video.

Analysis

The opening shot is a wide shot of a dark hotel room overlooking the city, with the band members over the chairs, this gives the audience an idea of the narrative. The use fast paced shots to keep the audience engaged.

Institutions

The Kings Of Leon were in the US since 2003 but was a bigger success in the UK. But by 2008 the band went global. It is signed the sony music and has won a grammy award. There concerts are instant sell-outs and are hugely valuable to sony because they are a very popular band.

R Kelly feat. Usher-Same Girl analysis

R Kelly feat. Usher-Same Girl analysis (Sony Music, 2007)

Audience

The target audience for this video is likely to be primarily male who might relate to a similar issue.  The fans could also aspire to live the kind of lifestyle that the two artist have. The audience would be excited to see these two R&B artists come together to create this song. Showing in the music video that these two artist are friends gives an opportunity to develop personal relationships with the artist.

Narrative

The narrative begins with the equilibrium of their typical work. The narrative then continues through a phone conversation between both people who have meet the woman they wanted. But later in the narrative a disruption emerges that they are dating the same girl. This carries on for most of the narrative but at the end they plan to catch her in the act but then discovers that they are twins.

Genre

The genre for this music video is R&B. This is because throughout the music video they are showing of what they have. It also shows signs that it is R&B because of the slang they speak through the song.It also shows that it is R&B because of the two artist are showing of their wealth which is typical in a R&B music video.

Representation

There is a lot In this clip that is stereotypical of the genre. For example The main artists are showing of their wealth by the many shots of their cars. This is typical in an R&B music video. Also the portrayal of the woman in this music video is typical because they exaggerate her sexuality. But what is different is that they show the two artist have become friends instead of enemies in the situation.

Analysis 

There are a lot of different types of shots in this video. Most of which are used to show the phone conversation between the two artist. The camera angles are used to show how similar the artist are to each other. They also use over-the-shoulder shots to show the strong sense of music being a conversation.

Institutions

This is a collaboration between two famous artists. Both are signed with Sony and have a huge following. This made them both extremely important to Sony because they are both hugely important to the R&B genre. R.Kelly is sometimes referred to as the 'King of R&B' and usher is one of the best selling artists in American history, having sold over 23 millions copies in the United States alone.

The History Of The Music Video

The History Of The Music Video

One of the first examples of a music video was 'St Louis Blues - Bessie Smith' In 1920. But this is a early example of a music video and it is not like a modern music video. That first music video was used in a short film. Modern music videos are used as a promotion for a new album of the bands. Another early music video was created in 1940 by Walt Disney called Fantasia. This was a animated film based around a pieces of classical music.

But the main developments were in the 1950's and 1960's. The main development of the modern music video was from The Beatles. The created 'Strawberry Fields Forever' in 1967, they used different techniques such as reverse film effects, dramatic lighting, rhythmic editing and different camera angles. This music video showed many people that it can be illustrated through a artistic way rather that creating a film for the performance.

The music video is considered to be brought up by BBC's Top Of The Pops in November 1975. This is where Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was aired. Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was one of the first music videos which was viewed from a artist point of view. This viewpoint was important to the change in music videos.

In the 1980's many artists started to use more complicated effects to there music video and started adding narratives. Michael Jackson was one of the first to add a narrative to his music video. His most popular music video was 'Thriller' this video has changed the way many music videos have been created by the way the narrative works in the video. The thriller video was the start of including a narrative into the music videos.

The time line of music videos(Taken from TimeRime.com)

The Brief

The Brief

At A2 I will need to produce a promotion package for the release of an album, to include:

Main Task:

• A Music Promo Video

Ancillary Task:

• A digipak
• A magazine advertisement for the digipak