digipak draft 1

Research into artist

Birdy

Biography

• Born on the 15th of May 1996
• Her real name is Jasmine van den Bogaerde but is better known or her stage name Birdy
• She is an English singer-songwriter
• Her stage name comes from the nickname her parents gave to her as a baby

Career

• Won the music competition Open Mic UK in 2008 at the age of 12
• Her debut single, a version of Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" was her breakthrough, charting all across Europe and earning platinum certification six times in Australia.
• Her self-titled debut album, Birdy, was released on 7th of November 2011
• Got similar success, peaking at number 1 in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands
• Her second studio album, Fire Within, was released 23rd of September 2013 in the UK and other surrounding countries.

Music

• Her genre is of Folk, indie folk, indie pop and indie rock
• She also plays the piano and guitar
• Her record label that she is signed to is Lady of the Lake, Warner Bros
• Birdy contributed three songs to the soundtrack for the movie The Fault in Our Stars: "Tee Shirt", "Best Shot" and "Not about Angels". Videos for both have been officially released.
• In March 2012, Birdy was one of the artists who contributed to The Hunger Games film soundtrack with her single "Just a Game".
• In June 2012, Birdy contributed the song "Learn Me Right" with Mumford and Sons to the Pixar film Brave for which she recieved her first Grammy Award nomination.

Evidence of videos I admire

These are just a few examples of music videos that I admire. I admire all three of these videos for different reasons such as the message that the video conveys, the aesthetic look to the video or just the overall editing. As I am still unsure about ideas for my own music video, hopefully watching these other existing music videos will help me think of some ideas and how I would want my video to achieve the same standard of being admired by others. Through this research, it has helped me to see what makes music videos have that factor and therefore can take in ideas for my own video.

 LET GO FOR TONIGHT - FOXES

This music video is one that I really admire because of the use of its aesthetic display. The video uses a range of different bright colours to depict a happy and energetic vibe which I really like about video along with its contrast from the beginning of the video which was all white. It’s use of mis-en-scene is also what had enticed me to watch the music video because I like the slow motion effects on the coloured food being thrown as it makes a great effect in the way that the video looks. I also admire the idea that her music video is relevant to the genre of pop which is what her song is. This also helps to make it audience appropriate as from looking at the video, people can easily tell the her target audience is of a young population. The way that the video is set out is effective as it entices this particular audience. Her video is also very postmodern as its use of colour can be tied in with Andy Worrall's artwork.

 BLUE JEANS - LANA DEL REY

This is another music video that I also really admire because of its aesthetic display. However this video contrasts from ‘let it go for tonight’ as it uses a grayscale instead of the use of colour. This is effective as it reflects the mood of the music video as the song is quite slow pace and expresses a great deal of emotion. The use of the water’s reflection also makes a good shot for the music video as again it depicts the emotion of the video very well as the water could be a significance for the representation of cleansing of sins or of a sad nature. It’s wide use of shots as well to emphasize the dramatic effect is also what I really like about the music video as it helps to demonstrate the narrative of the video very well. Lana Del Rey is a very unique artist in the music industry as she likes to use a lot of postmodern aspects to her music videos that are full of Intertextual factors. However it appears as this one differs from all of her other ones as this video includes less Intertextual factors and is more on the simplicity side. This is another reason why I admire this video because it goes away from Lana’s stereotypical artist persona and helps the audience to discover other sides of the artist. 

 PRETTY HURTS - BEYONCE

Beyoncé is a very popular and well-known artist who is very powerful in the music industry today. Her music video for the song ‘Pretty Hurts’ is one which I admire due to its message and how it is portrayed well to the audience. The music video and the song both received positive reviews by critics who generally praised Beyoncé's acting, the cohesion between the video and its lyrical content as well as the meaningful message behind it. In the video, Beyoncé describes the sickness behind perfection and the damaging effects to the body it usually has, something that occurs mostly with eating disorders. The song sends a message about increasing a person’s self-esteem and self-love as well as respecting a person’s character instead of the physical looks. This is why I admire the video as its message through the video’s narrative is very inspirational to her audience and it matches the lyrics of the song perfectly.

Production diary - week 3

Analysis of music video

 

This is an analysis of a typical music video which is set out similar to my conventions of a music video post. However this post talks more about the narrative and what the audience is able to see from it including shots as well. I thought I would make it a bit more different from the conventions post as I have already talked about the different conventions. This time, I wanted to analyse the music video more into the audience's perspective and what they can see from it. This will help me with the production of my own music video because it has enabled me to think more of the asthetic aspect of the music video and how I would want the audience to understand it through its narrative and also the different shots that I will be using for my own video and how particular ones I will choose will be effective.

Influences of music style

 

I have done research on what has influenced the different genres of music in the music industry. I have looked at only 4 different genres out of many which include: pop, rock, alternative and R&B because I believe are the most known and popular genres that I may want my music video to use. Using this research, it will be helpful when it comes to creating my own music video. This is because I can have an idea on what music style I will use for my video and the content that I may want to include in my video that will link in to the music style that I have chosen. Also, when it comes to the evaluation stage of my video, I will be able to talk about what has influenced me to have chosen the genre for the song on my video.

Research into a music video director

I have done some research on a famous music director - Jonas Akerlund who has directed music videos for popular well-known artists such as Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Maroon 5. I have looked at what makes him unique as a director and why he stands out from other typical music video directors. What makes him special is that he has a signiture style that pushes the boundaries of the status quo and he also takes inspiration and produces music videos that are parodies of short films and also trailers of movies. This will help me when it comes to producing and planning for my music video because it has made me aware of what my signiture style will be as a music video director for my own music video. What will make my music video stand out from others and will it be unique. Also, Jonas Akerlund's ideas for music videos that are based on short films or trailers is a good idea because it will make the process of producing my music video easier if I had a base to start with as I can replicate it. I also really like his idea of pushing boundaries of the status quo because I can include aspects of my music video that has never been seen before to make it more unique.