'The Rogues' - Fairytale of New York

On the festive impulse, our group decided to wish Tupton a 'Merry Christmas' by creating a short chistmassy video starring all of us, not only being a fun way to challenge ourselves, but also get some last-minute practice in!
We set ourselves the challenge of creating said music video within the time limit of two hours, including the shooting and editing time. In order to save time, we took inspiration from the original video by The Pogues, noting down key events we could attempt to replicate, adding our own twist -linking to my subsidiary group's initial idea of putting a twist on a 60s single.
We shot a variety of scenes ranging from 'band' shots, stabs of narrative to fit Goodwin's conventions as best we could, including examples of bad and almost 'good' lip-syncing. Mise-en-scene was hesitantly planned as we managed to grab some instruments such as the guitars, piano ad drums; but also ensuring band members were all wearing hats to differentiate themselves from lead singer, Dom.. who sported a lovely pair of dark shades, much like Shane MacGowan himself.

Our Digi-pak was constructed by our photoshop Wizard, Emily; taking a still from our video (Dom playing the piano), fading into a snowy, New York scene to in keep with the lyrics adding a taste of what the audience would expect from the music/ video.

 

After many technophobe moments from myself, our Adobe whizzkid Danny came to the rescue in order to finish our piece within good time, ensuring all lip-syncing was, well... synced and that all transitions wre carefully planned.

On that note, here is our two-hour miracle..

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Love A2 Media.

 

 

Costume

Today we focused mainly on costume and make up design; because we've chosen a song from the 60's, we wanted our actors to replicate the 'typical' 60s look. We researched into the era in order to understand how the women dressed which then allowed us to add a contemporary twist. We noticed that shift dresses were common during the 60's however we feel that going for a more glamorous look and opting for floor length dresses would work better with the genre of music we have chosen, taking inspiration from The Marvelettes mid-length - floor-length stage dresses. Modesty was key in researching out costume inspiration, as women from the 60s era were far from scantily dressed, regardless to how common as it is today.

 

When asking for feedback from our peers, (most intended audience) we found they appreciated the longer dresses, deeming them as more 'sensual' and 'leaving things to imagination' rather than the scantily dressed artists of today. This confirmed our belief that there is sex appeal of modest women, both in contemporary and traditional periods -sex appeal also influences sales of albums/ singles in both periods.

 

This is our practise piece from July.
We hope in order for our final piece to be successful, our narrative will be far stronger and has more clarity. 
To improve our final piece, we intend to include:

• Varied shots
• Stabs of narrative where appropriate
• Performance shots
• Following Goodwin's conventions
• Following the culture code
• Improved Mise-en-scene
• Consistent organisation
• Improved lighting/ camera work
• Increased skill on Adobe Premier Pro

However, things we feel we did well in the practise piece were:

1. Attempts at narrative
2. Mise-en-scene: Lip ring, different hair colour, school isolation
3. Adobe Premier pro effects: colour to black and white

If we continue with these, plus increase skill in the above list, we feel our piece will reach our intention and be successful.

'Black Heart' textual analysis

 

Our next textual analysis will be on Stooshe - Black Heart.

The mise-en-scene of the piece follows the hitherto cultural code, the protagonists are dressed similarly to show their unity, and we see many 'vintage' props around them, such as podium staging and vintage camera -also integrating with the retro cinematography.

There are several shots of the female in red sporting a romance with one of the actors in the video, suggesting a narrative romance is taking place, but we see his diverted glances at another girl in the cast... which we can interpret the song is directed at him and his 'black heart'.

The choreography for the piece, instils the era and style we aspire to have, with rhythmic, synchronized movements from all participants. We also noticed the types of movements along with the singing, e.g., movements with microphone stands, are similar to those utilised by 'The Supremes'. 

There is various focus on the three protagonists, but is namely often focused on the one singing a verse, which all three partake in. We see stabs of the narrative consistently, in keeping with our chosen style, whilst still sporting a vintage flare.

Upon the climax of the song, the girl in red (who is blatantly being taken for a fool by the boy at the beginning) is central to the shot, allowing viewers to see her disappointed/hurt reaction to her partner 'playing away from home' -Then the girls sport their feminine attitudes, integrating with The Marvellettes glamorous style and desire to be respected, showing the boy with the 'black heart' that nobody takes them for a fool.

To conclude, we have chosen to take this video as inspiration for our piece and use conventions vis-à-vis Andrew Goodwin, lyrics fitting visuals/ narrative to create our interpretation of a vintage song, and promote it to a contemporary audience. We hope by doing this, we'll be successful in constructing a 'retro' style piece and make our target audience (16-20) aware of the different phases/ representations of women, in a vintage setting, but with females they're familiar with and of similar age.

The Marvellettes vs. Robin Thicke

From 1960's to 2013.

 

 

A pertinent debate that must be addressed in our research would be how the representation of women differs throughout the decades, seeing the 1960s as a 'watershed' for the music industry.

Black people had only lived in Britain in large amounts since the 50s, and before Tamla Motown it was forbidden for Black artists to be distributed in such a frontally way the music industry provided. Women were often seen in 'girl groups' -namely one lead singer with 2-3 backing singers. In comparison to how women are represented in controversial, contemporary videos such as Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' with the models scantily dressed, provocatively dancing; the 60s and eras before represented women as glamorous, with floor length dresses, showing significantly decreased décolletage. Women in the 60s enabled their selves to be attractive, without the debate of having to take their attire off in order to do so.

Taking The Marvellettes or The Supremes as examples, the women were seen dress-clad from generations before theirs, to show their traditionalist views and desire to be respected instead of sheer lust.

In keeping with this style of video, our piece will include elements of 'class' in which we can see in Please Mr. Postman. Our actors will be dressed in knee-floor length attire, with modest choreography to suggest through our research, we admire the 60s female style and drive to be respected as opposed to a contemporary scenario, in which women are often forced to be scantily dressed to provoke sales.

 

 

Storyboarding

We finally finished our storyboard for our chosen video, 'The Marvellettes Please Mr. Postman'. We carefully planned the shots, camera angles and Mise-en-scene desired in order to capture the era of the song. We have integrated performance shots along with stabs of narrative which will enable the audience to follow the plot we're depicting- this will bring a more modern twist on an older song.

 

 

DigiPak Analysis

To prepare for construction of our Promotion DigiPak for Please Mr Postman, we researched retro DigiPaks from an earlier period of 1930-40, before The Marvellettes were established.


Bobby Hackett



Adele: 21



We looked at Bobby Hackett firstly, noticing that his album cover was incredibly minimalist, with dull, unattractive colours to show the period Bobby was produced was an un-established time for the music industry, a sort of 'make do' period. However, this is influential on todays music as artists crave the 'vintage', 'retro' look: with contemporary artists such as Duffy and Adele making minimalist appearances on their album covers.






In keeping with our sixties' style, we began to look at DigiPaks from the same period as The Marvellettes. The Beatles were our main choice, as their influences is still a pertinent force on todays music industry: The Beatles have defied 'Star Theory', breaking the boundaries of conformity.
Comparing The Beatles to Bobby Hackett's album, they both have the minimalist approach, yet The Beatles defy this by adding slight comedy of a different cover as they appear on it, sparking the album covers we recognise today, in which promote the artist.

Vintage 'Parlophone'

Finally, comparing The Beatles to a more contemporary 'Boyband', One Direction, we see that these influences from The Beatles are still prevalent in their cover for their recent album 'Midnight Memories', which displays brighter colours in order to attract the younger audiences targeted at. The cover also establishes the band so the cover is easily identifiable, with the same fonts being used throughout the covers as a motif, and also for identity purposes.

'The Marvellettes' ...almost.

We carefully seleceted the actors for our music video, from pervious experience we required someone reliable, willing, confident and accustomed to acting.

Zaylie

Sophie

Daniella

Isobel

 

We selected these girls to in keep with our contemporary audiences, but all four have been previously trained in acting, theatre and music so they were fitting to what we required.

Textual analysis of 'Please Mr Postman'

We decided to analyse the music video for The Marvellettes 'Please Mr Postman' as this is the song that we have chosen to do our music video on.
When analyzing the video, I found that all the shots are performance based and there is no narrative included. This is relevant to the genre of music which is Motown and also the time period the video was shot in.
The video was shot in the early 60's which is the reason why it is performance based. Technology at the time would of been basic, therefore special effects etc. wouldn't of been used. The video is also shot in black and white, again showing the era and how basic the technology would of been.
In the video we get close ups of the lead singer 'Gladys Horton'. It was typical of that time period to have a band with one main singer and a few backing singers.The lyrics are suggesting that a woman is awaiting to here from her partner who is away at war. She is begging the postman to give her a letter from her boyfriend/husband which is again relevant to the time period as letters would of been the only means of communication.
The music and the visuals match as it is a performance based video however in order to modernize the video/song, we have decided to include narrative as well as performance in our story-boarding.
There is a strong focus on the artist 'The Marvellettes' and the song as that would of been what sold the record. This contrasts to artists today who are mostly created by management teams to sell records and appeal to their target audience.

'The Marvellettes - Please, Mr Postman'

 

 

Shared Through:http://jorjahlangthorpg324.blogspot.co.uk/

Tamla Motown

"Motown is an American record company founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. in 1959, the United States. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music by achieving a crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its soul-based subsidiaries were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as "The Motown Sound", a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence.
Gordy originally set up two nominally-separate labels (Tamla Records and Motown Records) in 1959. The two labels featured the same writers, producers and artists, and they were both formally incorporated together as Motown Record Corporation (commonly referred to simply as "Motown") on April 14, 1960. " -Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motown 

Berry Gordy, Jr.

 



Motown still has large influences contemporarily, with signed artists such as The Marvellettes, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, both still invading the charts to this day. However, 'Motown' may stereotypically be viewed as a 'Black label', which is proven wrong through singers Dusty Springfield and Amy Winehouse; White artists taking influence from the Motown genre, singing songs seemingly written for Black artists and through their costume choices, integrate fully with the Motown conventions. 'Vintage' style is often adopted by younger generations, through sixties 'swing' dresses, prominent collars and furious back-combed hair, appearance is still as overtly important to today's generation as it was during the times of 'The Marvellettes'.

Narrative theories

The target audience of a media product need to quickly understand what is happening. This can be achieved by having a clear narrative. These are a few ways in which narratives can function:

OPEN- This is where questions remain unanswered and the audience are left wondering what will happen next.

CLOSED- This is where all questions are answered and the audience fully knows what is happening/happened.

LINEAR- The narrative is in order.

NON-LINEAR/FRACTURED- This is where the narrative in out of order e.g. a trailer for a film or use of flashbacks.

SINGLE STRANDED- Only one storyline in the media text/product

MULTI-STRANDED- This is where there are several storylines in an overall narrative for example soap operas.

ROLAND BARTHES

Barthes came up with the theory that we use 5 different narrative codes when analysing media products.

1) Action code
2) Mystery code/Enigma Code
3) The Semic Code
4) The Cultural Code5) Code of Oppositions

In our music video, we plan to use 'The cultural code' in order to make the audience aware of the time period of the artist/single. We are going to make this obvious to the audience by the characters in our video being dressed in typical 60's fashion and also by using props which would of featured in that era.





Shared through: http://www.jorjahlangthorpg324.blogspot.co.uk/

Research into up-and-coming artist (Passenger)

We began looking at the distribution/ promotion of up-and-coming artists, how they and their management promote them and enable them to become established artists.

Research into 'Please Mr Postman'

 from jorjahmae

Sixties' soul -extended

"Beginning in the mid to late 1960s, Motown Records artists and many other soul artists began to write about not only the growing civil rights movement but poverty, war, and numerous issues affecting the black community. In 1964, one of Sam Cooke's last songs was released, the civil rights anthem "A Change Is Gonna Come". " -Wikipedia.

As we're focusing on the Motown 'soul' period, this information was crucial as The Marvelettes were a fully Black-American girl group. This was contextual goldust, as during the sixties, there were many discriminations against black artists being televised and they were often disregarded; we've decided to contrast this entirely using four White-British girls singing soul music which traditionally is just unheard of. By doing this, we've put a modernistic twist on an older song, using our own theories integrating the video with war and poverty in the narrative. Researching the sixties is a huge contributing factor to the success and verisimilitude of our music video, without the extensive research the videos would not incorporate with the deeper meanings the song upholds, and audiences would not be able to see the subtle links between Motown style and our modern ideas.

Lyric Analysation 'Please, Mr Postman'

History of the music video

 

 



Today we looked at an overview of the history of music video (above) watching the technological progression increase over the years, looking firstly at strictly performance video such as 'The Beastie Boys', then comparing it to Michael Jackson's Thriller, a 15-minute video using thorough narrative with prosthetics to suggest a change in music video conventions, a springboard into a new obscure way of media.

Comparing 'Thriller' to Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' which again, was strictly a performance video.. Shows the rebellion after technology became available, Queen rebelled against the 'Star Theory' stereotype creating a performance video with more 'sass' and detailed camera work, as opposed to a 'one-take' video such as the work of 'OK GO - Here it goes'.

I personally feel that 'Thriller' had more effect on audiences as it was 14 minutes long, with audiences, namely teenage girls of the time, anticipating it -or staying up late in order to watch its release. However, by saying this, I feel Queen were more influential to audiences as they stood for individuality; not following 'star theory', becoming their own motif of individuality and freedom.

Sixties Music Video conventions and changes in decades

Beach Boys - 'Good Vibrations'

After avidly researching videos from the early to late sixties (above), we discovered a common theme was strictly prototype, performance-based videos.. lacking any evidence of camera-handling, narrative and an evident lack of audience/ receptors.
We've decided to break the boundaries of this period, realising if we wanted to do a sixties song, we'd have to include some conventions (e.g., black and white editing in post-production, mise-en-scene etc.) We decided to incorporate this, yet still appeal to a contemporary audience, as the idea is to re-release an old single.. Taking The Marvelettes, including some of Andrew Goodwin's music video conventions, fitting lyrics to visuals through clear narrative of a young couple affected by war and separation - but using it in a contemporary way, alongside the performance shots.

Star theory from meganrobin

A2 Brief & Sixties soul

As September marks a new year, we've begun preparing for our A2 media portfolio, deciding on a music video with a little twist. We thougt we'd defy the age-old A2 tradition of a modern music video to an alternative music track, etc etc etc.. Instead, we've taken to the route of Sixties' soul music, namely The Marvelettes - Please Mr. Postman. Attempting to follow conventions of a sixties-style video, yet still adding some contemporary-ish narrative to keep it interesting!

I began researching sixties music and what it meant to be a teenager in the sixties, finding that "Youngsters contented theirselves with buying singles by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc. getting LP's for birthdays and Christmas, usually. By 1963, parents all over the UK were "united" in yelling up the stairs at firmly shut bedroom doors : "Turn that record player down!" The new stereo players were louder, with separate bass and treble controls, and did not distort at high volume like the old mono machines.
Music was a teenage institution then, like computers and computer games are now. There was Saturday Club, and the Top Forty (Sunday afternoons) on the Light Programme (radio equivalent of Radio 1 back then), with Top of the Pops and Thank Your Lucky Stars on TV. Nobody missed those shows if they wanted to be thought "cool".
It is important to note that many schoolkids were collecting records of Buddy Holly, American folk blues, and Bob Dylan. A class division in musical taste was emerging. Generally, it was the grammar school kids who went for the folk and blues, listening to Mike Raven's RnB Show on a Sunday night, while the secondary school "teeny boppers" went for the Beatles, Billy J Kramer, and so on. This snobbishness was in good humour, although there were some nasty battles between the multi-class Mods and Rockers for a while. By 1966, music had diversified so much that it didn't matter what sort of school you went to, but whether or not you were into the latest music."
The video stylings also differed from todays music industry, with black and white/ sepia tone videos, with lots of performance shots, as opposed to strict narrative, clearly promoting the bands/ artists more than appreciating the music itself. I'm taking inspiration from these bands, such as The Marvelettes or The Beatles, in order to attempt an interesting and fitting final piece!

I'm quite literally that weirdo with five colours in her hair.

On completion of our single cover and insert, we discussed replacing the found imagery on the single with our own productions, we tested the hair pastels we spoke of previously with this outcome (above). We're now replacing the initial cover of Mcfly with our photos, as we took more simply for cover artwork purposes, the one pictured above was just a preliminary picture.

This is how our newer front/back cover of our insert now looks.



Group Addresses:

Zachary Pitchford: www.zacpitchfordg324.blogspot.co.uk

Jorjah Langthorp: www.jorjahlangthorpg324.blogspot.co.uk 

Synergy, Chalk and cheese.

To create consistency in our project, synergy would need to be used between the CD cover and the magazine advertisement, and also to promote the artist and their music. We thought of using concurrent vibrant colours to not not only capture McFly's abstract, boy-ish nature, but to also integrate with the song we've chosen 'Five colours in her hair'.
Similarity is crucial within this synergy as it would create a wider recognition of the artists work if audiences were to see the single cover in a shop, after seeing similar advertisements in magazines etc.

I'm taking inspiration from this advertisement (found on google) which displays the abstract nature and vibrance we aspire to include in our piece. It also explains the conventions of an advertisement needed, in order to be successful and didactic.

Our prop for the video itself arrived today, 'Mungyo Hair Pastels'. Which the group all finding very exciting and have already tested the waters with them to see what our outcome will be.. I, on the other hand, am feeling whatever stress you can feel from having your hair chalked many different colours. The pastels were needed for Mise-en-scene purposes, and also to fit Andrew Goodwin's music video convention of a relationship between lyrics and visuals as we display our actress with vibrant hair and a lip ring.

'She's got a lip ring and five colours in her hair..'♫
WISH ME LUCK.

We also realise, if we're to film on consecutive days, the continuity will be a bit shifty as the colours will be in different places in each shot. So if we desire a fluid continuity system, we will need to take photos prior to filming, to recollect where the colours were initially placed, or to complete filming in one session to ensure the continuity system is consistent.

 

Group Addresses:

Zachary Pitchford: www.zacpitchfordg324.blogspot.co.uk

Jorjah Langthorp: www.jorjahlangthorpg324.blogspot.co.uk

COMPLETION

YAY! We finally completed our CD insert after two hours, including many conventions of a typical insert such as:

• Pictures of the band
• Lyrics from the single
• Motifs 
• Acknowledgements

Front/ Back Cover

Lyrics Page

Acknowledgements

Also, in preparation for filming, we decided we would need to fit visuals to lyrics, and since I don't naturally have colourescent hair, we would need to take it upon ourselves to colour it with 'hair chalk' which we have ordered from Amazon. I'm being exponentially trusting with my fellow group members as I'm allowing them to chalk my hair many different colours.

FINGERS CROSSED EVERYONE.



Group Addresses:

Zachary Pitchford: www.zacpitchfordg324.blogspot.co.uk

Jorjah Langthorp: www.jorjahlangthorpg324.blogspot.co.uk 

I'M BACK

I've returned to school to today's session in which we are creating an insert and back cover for our single, which we'll be filming and creating over the following weeks...

We are currently using existing artwork for our insert cover and back cover, to sport as a template. Despite this, we intend to futurely progress this by replacing the signatures of McFly with the signature of our protagonist /artist. We also intend to reciprocate the abstract painting of the girl with five colours in her hair with a picture of our actor/actress during post-production phases, or drawn by one of our more artistic acquaintances.

After extensive research, we also discovered that we've subconsciously incorporated with McFly's abstract style CD artwork from the past. (Below) Whether this be purely abstract, punchy imagery, mostly featuring the band, linking with the narrative or not. Comparatively, it also flirts with the colourful nature of the band's previous advertisements, and covers such as the ones we created in previous posts.

Group Addresses:

Zachary Pitchford: www.zacpitchfordg324.blogspot.co.uk

Jorjah Langthorp: www.jorjahlangthorpg324.blogspot.co.uk



'Cause OBVIOUSLY..I'm still in a sick state.

19/6/13

The group have had a minor setback for filming yet again, as I'm still comatosed with Ethromycin.. All feel free to 'Aww'.
The others and I have been in contact regarding work etc, and I have reassured them that I have the storyboards here and completed them with regards to bars of music, instruments and lyrics. I've left them with the duty of location visiting, and beginning to visualise content of the video itself.
We've decided for a half performance / half narrative structure, with elements of Andrew Goodwin's convention of a relationship between lyrics and visuals:
For example, a close-up of a girl's lip with a lip piercing when Mcfly sing
'She's got a lip ring and five colours in her hair'

So whilst I battle on with my immune system, heres a chirpy (almost sarcasm) song by McFly, covered by up-and-coming boyband 'The Vamps'...

One of the McFly band member also stars in it, if that has any sort of relevance...

It doesn't, does it?

Group Addresses:
Zachary Pitchford: www.zacpitchfordg324.blogspot.co.uk
Jorjah Langthorp: www.jorjahlangthorpg324.blogspot.co.uk  

'Sick' Advertisements

Originially Dated For: 18/6/2013 -New Blog Created!

I'm currently at home struck down with tonsillitis, but have been brought up to speed by the rest of the group as to what we've been learning regarding magazine advertisements. As I'm away from school, I thought I'd have a go at making my own to pass some time, and to stay on top of the work.

I decided on a landscape advertisement, filling the page with vibrance, in an attempt to make it hard to ignore when skimming through magazine pages, as this was the band's first song, I thought I'd keep a dichotomy between simplicity and vibrance, also including a quotation from a large musical industry MTV.  I researched and followed the conventions of other magazine advertisements for different bands and how they are promoted,this would include: QR Codes, used often in contemporary advertisements as a uses and gratification mode of bringing social interaction and web 2.0 to mediatypes and also the record label's (Island) logo to enforce advertsement of theirselves, prior to the band.

Group Addresses:
Zachary Pitchford: www.zacpitchfordg324.blogspot.co.uk
Jorjah Langthorp: www.jorjahlangthorpg324.blogspot.co.uk

Preliminary Brief

Originially Dated For: 17/6/2013 -New Blog Created.
After completion of our AS course, we've returned to sixth form to begin overlooking the course for A2, the music industry and history of the music video. We decided despite the turmoil of filming last year, and how we overcame it, that we'd remain in the same group for the next chapter of the course: we feel that the outcome will be successful for this preliminary piece, even though we may not work together for our final pieces at the end of A2.

Course content will include:

• Music Video
• CD Digi Pack - Front/back cover including spines, and an insert booklet of even numbered pages.
• An A4 page magazine advertisement

The song we've chosen to reciprocate is 'McFly - Five colours in her hair'

We chose this song as the group varied in preferential genre, and this was a song we all knew and had in common; however, another contributing factor would be that we feel this was not the best music video Mcfly produced, prior to being compared to the likes of noughties band Busted (below) before finally overcoming this harsh comparison and alienation, then branching out to form their own style. As this wasn't their most influential video, we feel we won't be too heavily swayed in re-creating it.

 

Group Addresses:

Zachary Pitchford: www.zacpitchfordG324.blogspot.co.uk
Jorjah Langthorp: www.jorjahlangthorpG324.blogspot.co.uk