The First Pitch

There are certain key conventions in a Pop Video:

• The explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist’s “image” (aesthetic/generic/ideological) as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass consumption

• The featuring of the artist (almost without exception)

• A wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement

• Many Short Shots: High Ratio

• Repetition of reoccuring thematic elements and generically specific iconography (one key element often being dominant and providing the skeletal structure for the promo)

• A possible narrative structure

• A possible performance element

• The flexibility to disregard Realism!

• Shots cut tightly to the beat of the track

• Use of special effects (lighting, annimation, CGIs, in-camera effects)

• A carefully constructed Mise en Scene appropriate to the content and tone of the track

• High impact instantly! (Don’t forget that competition for airplay on the main music channel outlets is intense)

• Discontinuity Editing


Our Pitch, 2 Main Ideas, How they did/didn’t work:

Idea 1:



Artist: Goose
Song Name: Black Glove (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)
http://www.goosemusic.com/

Idea: There are very few lyrics in this song because it is a Bloody Beetroots remix however as a group we have chosen this song to be our main idea that we pitch, this is because we would like the to subvert the stereotype of music videos just being all about the pop star or rock star showing how glamorous, amazing and cool they are. Instead we would like to show how disrupted life has become showing this in an out of control rebellious rave with cuts of videos clips of war or poverty (eg: Soldiers and then at the end a nuclear explosion). Our video is not portraying our artist in the same way as others he is more like an unknown hidden artist but with meaning in his videos and songs. This idea is quite like the way Bob Sinclair is never in his music videos but gets chilled to perform in them, another example would be the Gorillaz using cartoons. To keep the audience watching we will following people running, causing problems in the process, to this rave I also envisioned starting of filing the road in a car to make the video look more fast placed and racy.



What Doesn’t Work: The main problem with our video is the rave because it would be extremely difficult to get that many people and with the style of the music it is quite obvious at the end there will be a rave.


Idea 2:

Artist: RoomService
Song Name: Queen Of The Radio

Idea: RoomService is unknown French band, who have done some recording but have never made a music video before therefore this would be there first music video. Out of the 4 band member 3 of them are French so there clothes and look would be a very cool indie French style. Unlike the other idea we are imitating the conventions of the music video. The clothes of the band will represent them as slightly rock n roll therefore giving them the “cool” factor. The idea is very simple it will just be the band singing in an all white and then an all black backround and we will be coping Jamiroquai’s idea in his Virtual Insanity music video.

What Doesn’t Work: This is the best, simplest and most affective idea because they are a real band and we would not have the get lots of cast members in this video. However, seeing as 2 of the band members are in Switzerland and they are all in boarding school getting them all there on the shoot day would be tricky.

Research and Development-First Ideas

My group will work through the five stage of production. We began by researching pop videos and there conventions and how the industry works. We look at many music videos of different genres and artist and the development of artist threw there carers. In class we did a case study on Kylie Minogue watching her first music video to her most recent and watching the way she was represented and the way she has changed they way the viewers look at her. Her first music video she was represent as a “girl next door” type character and in her last she is represented a superstar with lots of low angle shots and close ups of her lips and body giving her sexual magnetism.
To come up with the RoomService music video I look at many music videos mainly ones by the Artic Monkeys and the King of Leon. The 2 music videos which generated my idea was Jamiroquai- Virtual Insanity http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REfDCPhPQQ4&ob=av2e and Kings of Leon- On Call http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DK_8VZm_Dg&ob=av2n I found that by mixing those two ideas together I could come up with one genius idea. As for my Goose idea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-IaNAw4G8s I did some music video researching on Mike Snow and Bob Sinclair http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7re_u5m4wMk and the prodigy. However all the ideas in that one was not taken from any music videos. As for my third Idea, The Pretty Reckless- Make Me Wanna Die I watched a few of there other songs, some old videos by Metalica, Pink Floyd to come up with there perfect and most suited look and was of representing them in there video.

I pitched my 3 ideas to my group and 2 of my ideas we pitched to everyone else as our First Pitch. I have written out my other two ideas in Blog Entry 3 so that I could show the comments and what works and what doesn’t. My idea for the Pretty Reckless http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYeGw-bo430 consists of giving them that rebellious, Rock n Roll and cool factors. In this rock band there is a female lead singer so I could also have some “sexual magnetism”, as Richard Dyer says, in my music video which these days is the best way to sell anything and make it big. The band will have values of music stardom such as rebellion, anger and disregard for any social values. In there music video there will be a lip singing element on stage making them look like a new band with a large audience. The rest of the music video will take place in a broken down house with alcohol bottles showing that the band had a heavy night last night.

The Five Stages Of Production

The 5 stages of production consist of:

• Research and Development: We must research our target audience, whether it is a niche or a mainstream, we must know the age, gender, social class and interests of this audience. For the development side we must produce a time line, a treatment, pitch, practicalities, storyboards and cast which have all been camera tested to make it certain they will look good on screen.




• Pre-Production: Pre-Production is getting everything ready for the actual shoot day. The most important part of this is producing a Call sheet, the “bible of the day”, which caries all the information which is vital for the day of the shoot. During this stage we prepare the storyboards, the casting, the costumes, the makeup, the locations, the props, anything in the Mise en Scene. For pop videos in particular it will include the shooting order and lyrics of the song chosen.

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• Production: This is the day of the shoot. This is when everything is filmed although there may be pickups later if they are needed. Without the careful and specific planning of the pre-production there would be no production because nothing would be organised and ready for the day. Things may go wrong on the day of the shoot, like a member of the cast not being able to turn up however we must be prepared to improvise and must have a back up plan which should be on the Call sheet


• Post-Production: This consists of the editing and after effects of the production or any pickups needed. This part may take up to a year for big movies. It is also one of the most important parts because if the post-production goes wrong somehow all the work done in the stages before will not be seen as well as it should.

• Distribution and Exhibition: This is the stage when movies are soled to television or are placed in cinemas with either a blanket or platform release. For our pop videos we would distribute and exhibit through television outlets, CD, DVD, Internet and social spaces, marketing sites, mobile phone, posters and lots more publicity.

Pop Video And Marketing Campaign Our Brief

THE BRIEF

You have to create:
- THREE MULTI MEDIA PRODUCTS
- TO ESTABLISH THE IMAGE AND BRAND OF YOUR SINGER AND GROUP and
- HELP SELL THE SONG FROM THEIR FIRST ALBUM.

The group or singer must be a NEW GROUP (even if they are doing a copy of an existing song).

The song is a SINGLE from their FIRST ALBUM.

The actual products to be produced are:
- THE POP VIDEO
- A DIGIPAK for the ALBUM
- A MAGAZINE ADVERT for the ALBUM.