2. Music Video Research
Laying the Foundations
One of the most common problems with student production work is
that it often doesn’t look like what it is supposed to be. This is what I
call the Ronseal Effect: your production should do exactly what it says
on the tin!
-Film openings are there to star the film off, not tell the whole story;
they include titles – which feature certain institutional details, such as
names of the people doing particular jobs, certain companies which
have particular roles. Reading through this article, I have
-Trailers work to give the audience a sense of the film and to entice us understood how important it s to
in – not give whole story away.
-Music videos almost always feature lip-synched performance. keep my work consistent
throughout the project which will
Yet very frequently, students’ videos end up looking more like also help ensure that the final
something else – film openings resembling trailers, trailers looking like
music videos – because the research hasn’t been carried through to outcome is exactly what its
the final product. supposed to be and as close to
what I want it to be as possible.
- Pete Fraser, A Level Media Studies Chief Examiner
Media Magazine issue #37
3. Music Video Research
Previous student videos should give you an idea not This list points out the things that
only of what works well but also what should be
avoided. Ten things to avoid (though there will previous projects have done that
always be examples which disprove the rule!): aren’t the best to include in my
own, so I will keep these in mind
1. Well-known songs. both when planning my
2. Overdone effects – you shouldn’t use effects production and while working on
just to disguise poor footage. the production in order try and
3. Aimless driving around. avoid any pitfalls and therefore
4. Scenes involving booze, fags or drugs (even improve the final outcome of my
simulated).
5. Shots of people just walking around. project.
6. Speeded up footage or footage run backwards
to cover lack of material.
7. Zooms.
8. Found footage – it should be your own unless
there’s an exceptionally good reason.
9. Atmosphere-less stage footage.
10. Over the top stories.
-Pete Fraser (February 2004)
4. Music Video Research
A Recording Musician’s Guide To Making A
Music Video
I have found this article about a
Taking a further step away from the live video, a
story video could feature no members of the guide to produce a music video,
band, or could feature them as actors or cameos. and a part on the story of a music
The story video is effectively a very short silent video is quite relevant to our case,
film, and really lets you go to town with as we cannot have the band
creativity. Is the lead singer a bit of a dislikeable
clown? In a story video, you could dress him up members in our video as they are
in neon overalls and have him chased by your in another country and cannot
neighbour’s dog, all the while lip-sync’ing to the possibly travel in order to star in
song! Or, better still, think of a narrative that our project. We will take the
really reflects the feel or tale of the song. A lot of
big-budget videos are a hybrid of story and advice of looking at the lyrics of
performance, with the lead singer as a our song and having the story
protagonist, perhaps wandering moodily around reflect the tale of the song.
a city, lip-sync’ing, interspersed with cuts of the
band performing and a separate storyline.
- SOS May 2010
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may10/articles/makingmovies.htm
5. Digipak Research
Deconstructing album cover art
Who made it, why, how, for whom, and for what purpose?
It’s important to think about not just who constructed this media text and why, but also who he audience
is for any given text, and how they may respond to it. Of course album cover art is usually to promote an
album, to make it eye-catching (it will usually be reproduced not just on CD covers but also posters) and to
tell us something about the musician and the music behind it. While the immediate target audience is
likely to be those who frequently buy music, and particularly those who favour the specific band or genre,
the artwork may be designed to attract a wider audience.
An example of self-referential cover art
With this in mind, we an consider what is actually in the image. As the image is a construction, everything
has been put there deliberately and for a reason. This includes all the text, graphics and logos.
-MediaMagazine September 2012
This tells me that whatever the design of the album cover, it has been put there for a specific reason, whether it is to attract
the attention of a specific audience or to reflect the artist’s image or feelings towards a certain topic. We also have to
consider what different audiences will make of what is on the cover. An image could mean on thing to a person, and an
entirely different thing to another.
6. Digipak Research
The best designed album covers not only look great and are eye-catching, but they do an
amazing job representing the content: the band, the brand, the music. You’d be able to tell
what the music, artist, and vibe is like just from looking at the cover.
There are plenty of sweet-looking album covers that don’t relate to the band or music.
Sure, it’s a nice piece of art, and that’s totally fine, but it’s not well designed. And that’s
what we’re focusing on here. Your design should not only look impressive but represent
whatever it is you’re designing for.
-spyrestudios.com
Reading through this article of 20 Best Designed Album Covers for
Inspiration, I have found out that a nice looking album cover might
not necessarily be a well designed cover. According to the article, the
cover should represent the artist, their music and their style. The
author talks a lot about each album cover giving the audience an
idea of the type of music they will get from the album just by looking
at the cover.
When designing my album cover for my work, I will keep this in mind
and try to produce a cover that is well designed and represent the
artist in the best way possible.
7. Magazine Advert Research
Your poster will need to have some kind of main image to grab
people’s attention and get them to read it. There’s no limit to the
images you could use, but some common types are: There are several types of designs that
A person The most obvious image to use is one of the band, or the
stars of the film. This will make people identify closely with the could be used for adverts, however,
people in the poster, but can remove any sense of mystique. Straight taking the album design into account as
photos of people would tend to be used for pop acts, or for quite
fluffy films (like romantic comedies). well as the style and genre of the artist,
Photomontages This is where several photographs are combined
into one image that tells a story. It’s often used for action films,
the advert should reflect and relate to
where by combining pictures of the main actors with some scenes the rest of the album. The article gives
from the film – a car chase, an explosion, a fight.
Illustrations This could include a version of the band, performer or
several types of imagery that are
leading actors and actresses, usually in a stylized way – maybe as a conventionally use for posters (and
stencil, or a cartoon caricature. But an illustration could be of
something else entirely – maybe something that sums up the theme adverts) and their effects on the
of the tours or film, or just an eye-catching image. audience.
Words It can work really well just to have words on your poster, to
get across the message really quickly and effectively. To do this you’ll
need to think about typography…
-Trashed Magazine, September 2010
8. Magazine Advert Research
Typography In the continuation of the article, the author talks
This is the kind of type (letters) being used. A complete set of type is about the typography and how it changes the mood
called a font. You’ll know about different fonts from using a word
processor, but designers can choose from hundreds of thousands of and feel of the advert. Choosing the right font for the
different fonts. They can also design new fonts, or simply hand draw advert might be the very aspect that changes the way
letters. The type you use will say a lot about your poster. So for the audience sees the and or the album and whether
example…
• Swirly colourful type will suggest something trippy or hippie.
the will buy the album or not.
• Cartoony type will suggest something fun, As a finish, it also gives a list of things that a poster or
• Harsh capital letters will suggest a serious theme. advert should have in order for it be professional as an
• Type that looks like it is from a particular time in history will advert should provide the audience of all the required
suggest that era (like the ‘70s, or maybe Victorian England). information for them to e able to purchase the album
• There are some key words that you’ll need to include in your advertised.
poster to make sure that once its caught people’s eye, it gives
them the essential information.
Remember not to overload your poster with words – you need to keep
the message punchy and immediate. Most people only look at a poster
for 8 seconds – so you don’t have long to grab their attention!
For a music poster you’ll need:
• The name of the artist or artists.
• The name of the tour, album or single.
• If it’s a gig, the venue or venues that they’re playing at, with
dates.
• For an album or single, you’ll need the release date.
• A website is always good, so people have somewhere to go for
information.
-Trashed Magazine, September 2010
