Timeline of music video

Here is a timeline of the song where I have written what will happen during those certain times. This is only a brief idea, not yet in complete detail.

Creativity vs. Knowledge

"The more you know how to do something the less creative you become" Agree or disagree?
e.g the more tehcnical knowledge you have of using a camera, the developed understanding you have of film results results in less creativity because you are bound by the rules you have learnt?

We were given this quote in class and were asked to discuss it and debate about it. In my opinion, I disagree with this statement but I also understand the other point of view to why people would agree with this statement. I think creativity comes from inspiration and knowledge. People try to strive for originality however, I believe everything has been done before but it's not necessarily about doing something that's never been done before, but about doing something different in your own way (which has been done before), which makes people stand out. The knowledge that you know can help create something creative through camera shots and techniques, mise-en-scenes etc... once knowing the basics of these techniques, it is then easier to apply that knowledge to the creative process. On the other hand, I can understand the other side of the argument that is agreeing with statement as people feel that the knowledge will limit the creativity as inspiration can lead to copying and therefore not being very creative.

Concept idea for my music video

As my chosen song is a feel good song, I decided to keep it simple but having a happy vibe coming from it. It won't really have a specific narrative as there will be clips from different places appearing throughout the video. The main meaning behind the video is to bring the Caribbean, Bajan culture to England and any other parts of the world and for the audience to appreciate and understand more of the culture that they may not have known before, the song itself explains this idea, therefore I am showing this idea. As my song is a Bajan song, I am adding in videos from Barbados (videos I had taken myself from my trip to Barbados) to give it the Bajan feel. I am also adding in videos that I will be taking in London of areas that are well known as this shows the idea of bringing Barbados to London and seeing the similarities and differences between them. Additionally, having solo shots miming the words to the camera, thereby embodying Bajan Style by playing the role of the lead singer, while doing their signature dance moves and showing patriotism through Bajan colours. Possibly towards the end of the song, I will have a scene of a party with posters on the walls showing close-ups of that and people dancing and having fun.
After thinking of this concept, I realised that it is quite similar to the music video Cheers by Rihanna.

This music video has various clips from her in Barbados and America. On Wikipedia it says
"During the Loud Tour concert in Kensington Oval, Barbados, on August 5, 2011, Rihanna announced that a taping of "Cheers (Drink to That)" had been recorded during the show for the song's music video. It was later announced that the video would be expected to feature footage of her homecoming, as well as clips of her performing during the North American leg of the tour."

Here is a mind map of the ideas I came up with for my music video, these are basic ideas of what I would like to do but some ideas might change. 

Inspiration for music video

As I am the actress playing the role of Amanda from Cover Drive, I have been looking at videos for inspiration in terms of representing myself in the video such as dance moves, costumes etc...
Here are a few that I have taken inspiration from:

Dance moves:

Bogle

This is the dance move that I will be teaching people how to do in my music video, which will be shown during the chorus. This is a typical Bajan dance move, the 'wuk up' that Cover Drive teach other people. 

Research & Planning: Creative process

During class we worked in small groups to help develop and practice our creative processes that we can apply to our own music videos. We were given a pack with information and photos inside of the band Bedouin Soundclash.
These are the resources we were given:

Our task was to create a music video concept for one of their songs called Gunships and an album artwork. The biggest aim was to think carefully about our creative process, where we started and the steps we took to get to our final ideas. 

These are the steps we took to think of our final ideas:

• Music genre - reggae, ska.
• Audience - we thought the audience that would listen and like this style of music would be people who attend festivals and quite a young adult age group who appreciates music. We thought the audience would help inspire us on their image and representation.
• Band members - we looked at the band members individually and noticed the background of two of the members who had a Caribbean background, therefore having some link to their music genre.
• Current image - their current image is very unique and it makes them stand out, especially the lead singer as his style is different to the other two members. We thought the representation of their image would be a challenge and difficult to work on so we decided to keep their image and representation the way it is as this is what makes them stand out from other bands as by looking at them, you wouldn't think their music would be the genre they would play. We were saying that their clothing style would be very 'normal' as in they would wear clothes from shops like Topman and River Island as this would go well with the audience as their fashion sense could be copied and similar to their audience's styles. 
• Music video concept - as two of the band members had a Caribbean background and their music was heavily Caribbean influenced with the reggae and ska, we thought the idea of their music video would be located in the Caribbean in a shack, a live performance as well as candid shots of the island they were located at. There would be some intertextuality from music videos such as Akon - Don't Matter and Jason Mraz - I'm Yours. 
• Album artwork - the idea for their album artwork that we came up with was to be inspired by their music genre. We thought of mid-shots of the band members in black and white and then the background having the 'rasta colours' (green, yellow, red) to represent their Caribbean influence. 

Our idea for the album artwork

I think this task helped a lot as it helped me understand the creative process a bit more and how I can apply this to my own music video and break it down into steps to help get the final ideas. 

Target Audience

My target audience for my chosen song would be specifically teenagers, especially females from the ages of 15-21. However since this is a feel good song, where people can just dance to and have fun it really is targeted to people of all ages and not just people with Caribbean heritage but people all over the world as the song is about bringing the culture to the rest of the world.

Cover Drive's target audience is usually young people and young teenagers from 12-21, mostly females. This is clear from their Twitter and their Facebook page as their fans are usually young females and the occasional young males. But as all their music is feel good, happy music, their target audience can be quite vast as there is nothing specifically directed towards a certain age group in terms of lyrics or music style.

Research & Planning: Music labels role in the music industry

In class we looked at the role of the music labels in the music industry and how much of an impact they make on the artist/band. For example we looked at Ed Sheeran and how much control he has over himself as an artist and putting himself out into the public eye. His record label felt that his image did not match up to his voice and were afraid people would not want to buy his music because of how he looked, therefore they created his first two music videos with him not being in it much but only for a few seconds, which created this enigma of who this artist is as he was not seen clearly in his debut music videos.

The question we got was 'What role does the music label have in the music industry?'
In my opinion I think that the music label is hugely important in the music industry has they have the most control over the artist as they are the ones who are promoting this artist and supporting them. Image is quite important in the music industry, which beats the idea of 'don't judge a book by its cover' moral. For women there is a lot more pressure on having 'the image' in the sense of being skinny, nice skin, pretty face etc.. An example of someone who goes against this idea is Adele. Adele has a similar issue to Ed Sheeran as her look is not the look you would expect to see as an artist, as Adele is not skinny or shows a lot of skin in comparison to other artists who's bodies help them sell their records. On the other hand, this has made Adele as popular worldwide as she is an inspiration for her audience on how she looks and is recognised purely for her music.

However, I think the image is all about record sales for example, Lady GaGa is most famous for how she dresses and her creativity with her fashion, not necessarily her music. In my opinion, I think the attention helps to promote her and helps her to sell her records as the way she dresses makes her an 'individual icon' and people like this about her. People feel that she is just a gimmick and her music isn't really anything special but because of how she dresses people will give her the attention and record sales will be high as it is all about being recognised. GaGa being the individual she is, she has that control, however there is the idea that the music label helped encourage her to do this for record sales.

Research & Planning: Other bands

As my chosen song is by a band, I will only be using myself as the actress to play the role of Amanda Reifer, the main singer and star in it as a solo and no showing the band but still give credit to the them.

Another band that has done this, where it is just the main singer singing and the band is not seen is Coldplay - Yellow

As you can see it is just simply the main singer, Chris Martin from Coldplay in this video alone walking on the beach and the band are not seen.
Another song by Coldplay where it is just the main singer is The Scientist.

Another band that has the spotlight on the main singer is Selena Gomez & The Scene, this is the band she created for her music. Selena Gomez being the main singer, she is the only one seen on the album covers.

 



Research & Planning: Cover Drive branding & marketing

Cover Drive started making youtube videos to help promote themselves on the internet and for people to recognise their music and their style. This was successful as this is how they got noticed and signed by their record label.

This is the first video they put up

After being signed up they automatically started working on music for a single and an album and in the process putting up more videos on them doing cover songs on YouTube to help promote themselves. They created a Twitter to help build their fan base and a Facebook page. Their biggest way of promoting their music when they first started was their first ever gig, opening for Rihanna at her Loud tour in Barbados. As well as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, they also have a Tumblr page uploading photos, by using these social networks this is good for their fan base as the fans can connect with them through any of the social networks as the band do reply personally back to some fans.

The band are a Caribbean band, therefore they try to reflect this through the image as well as their music for example wearing bright clothing. Amanda is the lead singer and the only girl in the band, therefore all eyes are on her when she is performing, so she wears fashionable clothes that you may not normally see people wearing in the streets and she creates a persona when she is singing and performing to make her look more professional.

As well as promoting themselves online, they have also done many shows to help promote their new singles for example performing for a wide, large audience like T4 on the beach, Summertime Ball, Dappy Rockstar Tour (that they went on only after releasing 1 single), JLS tour and Kelly Clarkson UK tour as well as small, intimate audiences such as at clubs and Universities. In addition, being guest stars on many TV shows such as Blue Peter, Freshly Squeezed, This Morning etc... performing live and being interviewed helps people hear them live and get to know them through the interviews.

T4 on the beach 2012

Summertime Ball 2012

JLS Tour 2012

As they are from Barbados, this makes them stand out from other bands as it is rare to find a popular Bajan band and also because Rihanna is from Barbados, the press tend to have compared them to Rihanna in the past because they are both from Barbados, even though Rihanna is a solo and Cover Drive are a band, this catches people's attention. 

Research & Planning: Marketing

Researching on the internet the marketing processes for an upcoming artist/band and how to do it successfully. After looking at the research, one of the most important is the fans as they main people who can help spread the news about the band and the music positively if the artist/band be more personal for example, Twitter is a great way to respond to fans as you can tweet them back follow them back, this is a great way to increase the number of followers. Artists themselves have said they like to use twitter to engage with the fans, for example Missy Elliott, the female rapper told me once "I try to show my fans I appreciate all their support and not just promote my music up here" this makes the fans feel more appreciated by them and makes them want to spread the good news about them to other people as well as their music.

The main aspects of how to market in the music industry:

• Publicity/Promotion
• Advertising
• Retail/Distribution
• Strategy & Process
• Merchandise
• Touring
• Fan Base
• Internet
• Supervision

8 Rules for marketing in the music industry:

1. Define your brand - consistency and professional. Define identity and who/where target audience are.
2. Collect 'currency' - email addresses, mobile numbers and zip codes. Collecting fan data online and offline.
3. Create a website - creating a professional brand. The centre to all the social network hubs, where fans can find the Twitter, Facebook, Youtube etc... as well as looking for updates of shows or news as well as a newsletter that fans can sign up to.
4. Prioritise quality of quantity - connecting fans one on one on social networks, making the fans see them as more humble and loyal.
5. Be media ready - physical and digital copies of music available.
6. Don't forget about offline marketing - live performances, meeting fans after shows and gigs.
7. Know your rights -  being clever in the sense of business, different ways of earning money online and offline.
8. Be creative, be personal - ask fans for feedback and input for the creative process, positive and negative criticism is always useful. Makes fans feel more appreciated and will likely to spread the news about the band and the music. As well as creating blogs to share photos, videos and stories to make the fans feel they are apart of their lives.

Here are some ideas we came up in class about marketing:

Research & Planning: Branding

I have been looking on various websites about how musical artists are branded and how they create their public image. Creating their own public image is important in the music industry as this separates each artists and makes them their own as being individuals. Creating a persona in the public eye whilst on stage, photoshoots, videos helps the audience understand the artist as it helps reflect the musical genre so audiences can get an idea of what the artist is about e.g if artists are rock artists, they will tend to show that through their body language in photoshoots, their clothing, the colours they wear etc...

I came across a website that gave tips on how to develop a image as an artist/band.

The idea behind image and branding: consistency. We’re not talking about good girl/bad girl type of image here (not in this post, anyway); we’re talking about putting forward a consistent public image, so people can easily associate and remember you over time. It has to do with all elements of your public presentation: logos, fonts, album art, merchandise, your appearance, and the overall feel that is presented with all of these elements. All of it is part of branding. For that reason, it’s good to remember that a good brand is not simply created–it is developed. The more consistently you develop your brand, the easier it is for the public to identify you.

1. Decide on an overall visual “look” for your band’s public info–including colours, fonts, etc.–and begin to pattern around it. Website design, flyers, press material, album art, etc. should all start bearing that consistent look. You might want to enlist the help of a graphic artist to design a look that matches your band’s personality.
2. Choose fonts and colours that best reflect the overall theme and feel for your act. (HINT: If your music style is pop/rock, a font named “Gothic Horror” is probably not going to convey the right idea about you.)
3. If your band has a logo, begin putting it on anything and everything that has to do with your band. Make it your aim that when people see that logo, they know it’s you whether or not your band name is with it.
4. Register your stage name and/or logo as a trademark. This ensures that no one else can use your name. (It also lets you know if someone else already has your trade name, so you don’t get sued down the road.)

Let your public image be a reasonable reflection of who you are, as a person and as a musician.

Source: http://artistdevelopmentblog.com/advice/understanding-image-branding-musical-artist/

An example of an artist who has her own creative image:

Nicki Minaj a female rapper from YMCMB records. Over the years Nicki has been a controversial music artist. She was raised in Queens, New York. Nicki changed the female rap industry completely and people's opinions on it. Her first style in the public eye was a Harajuku Barbie fashion, pink hair highlights, pink  dresses, Barbie necklace etc... and creating raps that reflect her 'hood' style, talking about her life in Queens. Over the years, as Nicki has become more recognised and successful, she has chagned her image from this into a new persona. She said herself in an interview "as an artist I have to grow and develop". This change of hers made her fans think of her differerntly, calling this the 'old Nicki'.  

This photo is a recent photoshoot of Nicki Minaj. As you can see by her style of fashion has changed dramatically into more  bright colours, wigs, unique clothing styles. Not only did her image change, people also thought her music changed too. This shows how she has changed her image over the years as shee has become more successful an more recognised. People recognise her now as this crazy, bizzare fashion female rapper. Also in her music videos, she creates her own individuality, which makes people recognise the way she acts anywhere with the facial expressions, the body image, the clothing and the music style.

Here are some ideas we came out with during class with branding.

Research & Planning: Magazines

After knowing my chosen artist, I have been looking at the magazines Cover Drive have been featured in. This helps me recognise which magazines Cover Drive's genre of music fit in with. It seems most of them are magazines that talk about popular Pop music.

Here are some advertisements of Cover Drive's music found in magazines with positive reviews 

Bajan Style live performance

Over the summer I was lucky enough to see Cover Drive perform live at BT London Live in Victoria Park on 31st July 2012 and luckily for me, the first song they performed was Bajan Style. Whilst enjoying the music and having fun, I also kept in mind to take note on the way Amanda performed as this would help me for my music video, the way she moves with the music and her facial expressions while she was singing. This was useful for me as now I have a full understanding how she performs and how she moves, which I can copy over into my music video. I noticed how this is a song where she moves her hips a lot to, this would make sense as moving your hips is a typical dance move in the Bajan culture and also in Bajan dialect is called 'wukkin' up' so by doing this dance move, she is bringing the Bajan elements to the performance that go along well with the music. Additionally, keeping in mind her clothing and her style, trousers and Doc Martens.