Group Research - The Music Track

Our chosen track asked for in the brief of this project is 'The xx - Heart Skipped A Beat'. The track is owned by The Young Turks Record Company and is 4 minutes long. The song is of the Electronic/Alternative genre, which complies with our chosen target audience.

This song was suggested to the group by Vivian. We thought that this was a good track to use as not only was it of the Electronic/Alternative genre, but that we immediately came up with some possible ideas for the music video also, and we agreed the ideas worked well with the song. Issues with other tracks we chose before this one were that the beat and tempos did not develop, however with this song they did so that was not an issue. Vivian also suggested to the group that the gaps in the song where there were no lyrics could be used to show VHS footage of a narrative story, which we thought was a really good idea and was one we had been looking to do from the start of the project regardless of track. The length of the track however is an issue, as it is 1 minute over the exam board's 3 minute maximum for the length of a music video, so this is something to discuss with the group. Seeing as The xx are under The Young Turks record label, Louis contacted their office asking for permission to use the track in our project. A copy of the email we sent is below.

Group Research - The Record Label

We decided on the name Red Pigeon Records for the Record company and thought of suitable traits for a record label producing and distributing an artist of the Electronic/Alternative genre. They are as follows:

• A branch of Sony Music Records

• An Alternative/Electronic music specialist company
• A British Indie Record Label
• London Based

The reason for the choices were that firstly we believed that the Electronic/Alternative artist being signed would not sign onto a large name label, in order to retain their artist image. Secondly we thought seeing as the artist was based in the UK, we would make the record label British and London based.

Group Research - The Audience

Primary Audience
The primary audience we aim to appeal to are Electronic/Alternative fans. This chosen genre is a large gap in the market with few major artists producing songs of this genre. The genre is not particularly popular primary choice for listeners but there are a large number of people who like this kind of music so theoretically it should sell well.

Secondary Audience
The secondary audience would consist of Electronic/Alternative fans ageing from late teens to early 20s. We thought this is an appropriate age of audience to target as it is where the majority of the number of people who listen to the Electronic/Alternative genre lie.

Tertiary Audience
The tertiary audience we would aim to target would be people ageing from their late 30s to early 40s, as we believe there to be an audience here who listen to and buy music of the Electronic/Alternative genre. Even if they don't, we believe that the tempo of this genre is a lot less garish and more suitable of a more mature audience.

Semiotic Music Video Analysis

'Playing With Fire ft. Labrinth' by Plan B is a song following the narrative of a young boy Jake who joins after he joins a local gang, and is about the consequences of involving yourself in crime and gang culture from an early age.

- The music is written for Plan B's feature film 'Ill Manors' and so the opening of the video is a scene from the film. However, effects have been added to the scene right at the end when the kid punches his friend, to convey the message and relevant imagery in a stronger light.

- Images of fire and smoke are seen throughout the video as a visual metaphor along with how the images are directly linked to the song's lyrics. Scenes of chaos, objects on fire, smoke and council estates intensify the lyric's meanings.

- 'Playing with fire', the song's title is visually represented throughout the video with the footage of stunts carried out with skateboards, roller-skates, BMXs and people on fire. The basketball on fire being thrown into the hoop also connotes this.

- The narrative structure of the video is also heavily linked to the lyrics of the song. "And now that he's rolling with these vexed up thugs" are lyrics in the song which are represented in the video by a scene where the gang he is now associated have kidnapped a man and are interrogating and torturing him. He is influenced by them and joins in with the violence, which a scene also supported by the lyrics "don't have any positive role models in their lives"

Individual Research - Audiences

To find out the interest and habits of the general audience, I conducted a quick survey with generic questions and asked a variety of people who regularly listen to music

From the survey quite a few trends are seen. The younger ages tend to download music illegally a lot more, and consequently consume a greater variety of genres as a result of the larger palette available. Older people consume music in the more traditional way, although there are anomalies. The most common method of listening to music is using a portable device (iPod / iPhone) and the most common time of listening to music is when alone for leisure. 

Individual Research - Influences (Unfinished)

Individual Research - Music Videos Of Interest

The YouTube link is a collection of videos from which I am taking inspiration or just like generally. Seeing as there are quite a few, below is a selection of interesting shots from my favourite videos, or aesthetics of videos which I find visually pleasing. 

TITLES

This style of editing the titles to the beat of the music is really appealing to me. The white text on dark video footage works really well. I would say I prefer the 'Klapp Klapp' GIF, as the font is more stylised and works better with the genre and style of the music video. This is something to bear in mind if / when I use this in my music video.  

ZHU - FADED

These two clips from the music video are GIFs in themselves. I really like the way that the clip plays and then reverses in time with the strobe light effect to give a really cool image. This effect would due really good at capturing the atmosphere at a club or rave scene, which would be good for the dance tracks I have selected.

This slow zoom in isn't a particularly hard shot, but I think that the way the rest of the frame is pitch black is really pretty and looks so good on camera. I like the idea of using darkness illuminated by a single light source, and this could be a style used in my music video. 

THE NAKED AND FAMOUS - YOUNG BLOOD 

This clip represents a theme I'd like to recreate more than a shot. Generally messing about, chaos and mindless destruction of objects can look really cool, especially in slow motion so I'd like to see if I can recreate that.

 

The shots in the dark with minimal lighting are ones in which I think would look amazing, especially in high definition. They add a disorientating and quirky feel to the music video, and I think they would look really good along with the other styles and ideas I plan to use. 

This slow motion style, recording skateboarding or other similar activities is a must have in my video. I just think that the style and way they look when put to music is too good not to use. The setting also has a lot to do with how good the shot turns out, so I'll have to take into consideration where I film the music video.

THE PHARCYDE - DROP

These reversed shots are amazing. I love the way they defy physics, especially the shot containing the water. Generally messing about is a theme of this music video, and I like how the public react in the video to the characters taking their clothes off. I will use something to this effect in my video definitely, using natural public reactions or something similar.