Lip sync tutorial

In the lip synching tutorial I learnt a variety of new skills such as I learnt how to lip synch the video to the music which I found very hard do to the fact that if I was one second out it would look wrong. I also learnt some new things on final cut pro such as how to change the video so it came up as the sound waves so it was easier to edit the video. I felt that the editing differs a lot in comparison to thriller films because with thrillers you can change the order of the editing and speed it up or slow down but with music video it’s hard to do because if you speed up a clip with lip syncing it can go really wrong. Also the music video seems to take a lot more fine tuning  than the thriller.

Lip Synch Tutorial Reflection (Planning)

LIP SYNCH TUTORIALREFLECTION

During this experience, I got the chance to see how the lip synch worked and learn how to do this myself. Through this activity, I learnt how to correctly grab lyrics which matched the artist’s ‘miming’. I found putting all the footage together with the soundtrack challenging because I wasn’t sure how the video would look together. On Final Cut Pro I learnt how to drag and delete tracks making sure the audio worked well with the video. Compared to producing the opening to a thriller film, the editing is a key component in music videos because it allows the audience to be visually interested. Relating to the lyrics, they can also amplify the meaning which leads for the audience to act in a particular way.  

During this task, we had to perform 30 seconds from a song and re-enact the lip synch tutorial by using a range of shots, angles and editing skills. The images showed the process in which we took to film this sequence. It was important for us to correctly hear the lyric and distinguish it from the footage and line them up together. If we didn't, the footage can be too fast for the soundtrack or the soundtrack can be too fast for the footage. 

LIP SYNCH VIDEO (Planning)

22/08/2010

136 Beech Hall Road

Highams Park

London

E4 9NT

4AD Records
17-19 Alma Road
London
SW18 1AA


Dear Sir/Madam

Request for copyright premission to use part or whole of Dominos by The Big Pink.

I am a student of A level Media Studies and for my Advanced Portfolio i will be working in a group to produce a promotional package for the release of a new album track. I would like to request permission to use the above track for this project.


The finished project will not be made available publicly and will be used soley for coursework purposes. The holder of the original copyright will be fully acknowledge in the finished project.


If you do not hold the rights for this song I should be grateful if you could forward this request to the appropriate person, or return it to me with the contact details in order that i might approach the copyright holder directly.

Yours faithfully 
Lydia Alldritt




Unfortunately, I did not get a reply from 4AD records.
However, this is okay because my group and I do not plan to use The Big Pink in our music video, as we are all girls and it would be too much hassle to get a boy in for every lesson to be a part of the video

Analysis of a music video of your own choice or one studied in class, focusing on the 4 key concepts of narrative, genre,media language and representation.

Narrative
The narrative in this video is very straight forward and linear, and the band, The xx, play no part in the video. Instead, there are two actors portraying a couple and acting out the storyline, in some sort of fashion. You could say the whole video is a disruption, as it is all very destructive, but it is really fully equilibrium, due to the constant storyline, with the same actors and motifs throughout as well. The lyrics are connected in the sense that they reflect the love in a relationship and the havoc it can create.


Genre
I would call this genre indie, or an even smaller genre called shoegaze, because of the slow, eeriness of the music and the way the lyrics are so heartfelt. The black and white of the video help the viewer to concentrate more on the music, rather than the band, this is also clear from the very obvious absence of the band during the whole song. The shaggy hairstyle and casual clothes are very symbolic of the indie genre, it shows the laziness and laid back lifestyle the band promotes.


Media Language
The cuts are very slow, just like the music, and usually are in time with the beat. This means the shots are very long and soothing, so the viewer feels calm and picks up the vibes sent out by the song. There are lots of shots from behind, or closeups from the side, which let us see the emotion up close so we don't miss anything

Analysis of a music video of your own choice or one studied in class, focusing on the 4 key concepts of narrative, genre,media language and representation.

Narrative

The narrative structure of this video is linear because it is a very straight forward narrative. The video is equilibrium because there isn’t much of a disruption in it. In the video the wombats are participants in the song and there is no or very little lip syncing to make a narrator narrative. Due to the video some of the lyrics are amplified but it is mainly unconnected.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Genre

The genre of the music video is indie pop. The main location in this music video is a karaoke bar in japan but is also in locations like a hotel room, the street and a limo this helps the audience by amplifying the lyrics in the song. The band are seen wearing casual suit type clothing this links with the genre because indie bands are almost always seen in casual clothing because so it doesn’t deduct from the song and music video. The lighting is dim which kind of links to the song which has a darker song as well.

Media Language

There is a mix of long cuts and short cuts in this video which gives it a sense of spontaneity. I feel that the editing in this video suits the genre because a lot of pop videos  have a lot of different cut types.          

Letters requesting copywrite clearance

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to request copyright permission to use part of the song Nobody by Eliza Doolittle the reason for this is due to the fact I am an A level media studies student and for my C/W I will be working as a group to promotional package for the release of a new album track and so I would like to ask permission to use the above track.

The finished project will not be made available to the public and will be used solely for the coursework purposes. The holder of the copyright will be fully acknowledged in the finished project.

If you do not hold the rights for this song i would like this to be forwarded to the appropriate person to which i would be extremely grateful or contact detail so that i moght approach the copewright holder directly.

Yours faithfully

Imogen Morris-Ley

Imogen.ley@ntlworld.com

Find one example for each of the three categories of disjuncture, illustration and amplificationand explain how they fit the category. try to choose at least one example from the genre that you intend to use for your music video.

Disjuncture -Cold play 'Fix you'
the song doesn't have a very clear meaning but is roughly about trying to hep someone. the music video 
has nothing to do with this and is all about the lead singer walking around the city of London? at night to which it then changes to them performing it live.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skUJ-B6oVDQ&feature=channel

Illustration -Lily Allen 'LDN' 
the song is about lily walking around London and explaining whets happening. the video is very closly related to the lyrics that way such as when she says "A fella looking dapper, but he's sitting with a slapper
Then I see it's a pimp and his crack whore " it shows the it shows the couple looking nice and then it shows them  as a pimp and crack whore.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmYT79tPvLg&ob=av3e

Amplification- Marina And the Diamonds 'Hollywood'
Hollywood is about someone who is obsessed with America and goes there. the video amplifies the lyrics by because it shows marina wearing costumes with the US flag on them also it shows a lot of the clique American characters such as jocks and cheerleaders 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1VTcJfL7RE

Summarise the main points of the handout on Andrew Goodwin's theory on music videos;

Andrew Goodwin feels that traditional narrative analyses don’t apply to pop videos and that pop music approaches narrative in a different structure to novels and films and the reason for this is as follows:

1.       Pop videos often don’t pose to traditional narrative structures (normal-problem-resolve)

2.       Pop videos usual use pop singers not only as a narrator but as a character.

3.       The singer also looks into the camera to try to involve the viewer at home.

Pop videos use a lot of repetition. The video often repeats the chorus or lines but also repetition in song parts and rhythm. There is also a lot of media coverage which makes the song familiar due to the constant repetition.

Pop songs and there video have some form or another of an ending and often reflects the structure of the music to which it may build to some form of climax before it is faded away.

The visualization of the song in some pop music video’s goes beyond the original meaning of the pop song some of these songs also promote other mediums such as film. And so it could be said that there are 3 types of relationships between songs and videos:

1.       Illustration: where the lyric are reflected in the music video
2.  Amplification: is when the video shows new meanings that don’t contradict the lyrics but add new layers of meaning.
3.  Disjuncture: is when a music video have very little to do with the lyrics or where it completely contradicts the lyrics.

Pop video’s often have very clique features such as woman being presented as objects of male desire (particularly in hip hop) which leads to some female’s deliberately presenting themselves that way look directly into the camera at the viewers they cease to be passive.

Video’s try to appeal to different audience’s without alienating there target audience. Such as with older bands they show video footage from their younger days so older audience can still identify with them.

Also the songs that are written for a movie soundtrack often show images of the movie in the video.

Letter requesting Copyright Clearance (planning)

As one of my potential artists that I would like to use in terms of lyrics for the music video was: 
DAISY DARES YOU- 'NUMBER ONE ENEMY'. I wrote them a letter with the following:

Fortunately enough, I got a letter response from them saying:
'Hi Whitney,


Your note attached has been passed to me to handle. Sony Music will allow you to use the Daisy Dares You recording 'Number One Enemy' for your coursework only as per your request. Sony Music will make no charge, providing this will only be used for your coursework and for no other purpose whatsoever.


Please note you will also require separate consent from he music publisher of the song itself. If you haven't already investigated this, call the music publishers society MCPS on 0207 306 4500 who will be able to help you with the publisher consent. 


Kind regards,


Shirley Clark
For Sony Music Ent UK Ltd 

Summary of Andrew Goodwin Theory (research)

Traditional narrative analyses aren't really applied to pop videos as they grab the narrative approach from a different perspective. The 3 reasons for this are: 

• pop videos are based around the song
• pop videos use the singer/rapper both as the narrator and the character
• the singer often looks directly into the camera trying to involve the viewer

Pop videos rely on repetition so that the audience can take relevance to the artist. This can be related to the customers who would buy the single/album. Any logos, distinctive items of clothing or words can instantly allow the audience to make a connection with the artist and the video. 

Repetition on parts of the song or rhythm can allow the audience to associate the artist with that music and become more familiar with the genre. 

They do have a sense of closure and ending which is often displayed on the structure of the music, where it will build to an ultimate climax or constantly repeat whilst fading away. 

There are three types of relations between songs and videos:

• Illustration- where the video tells the story of the lyrics
• Amplification- where the video introduces new meanings that don't contradict with the lyrics but add meaning
• Disjuncture- where there is little connection between the video and the lyrics.

Pop videos have recognisable features which allow the audience to connect the features with the artist. A common feature is having women being displayed as objects of what a man wants. In some cases, female artists deliberately present themselves for the males to look at but they directly engage with the viewer through the camera to make this different in their videos. 

EXAMPLES OF VIDEOS

DISJUNCTURE- 'COLDPLAY-VIVA LA VIDA'

The lyrics revert to Chris Martin singing about a man being in charge. The video is placed under the disjuncture category because the video displays footage of the band playing the song. It features Martin looking directly to the camera intending to include the audience. The video has a solid, 'watercolour-like' finish allowing the video to be visually interesting. The crack effect makes the video look old which goes along with the lyrics. 'Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!'

ILLUSTRATION- 'ALPHABEAT-DJ'

The video illustrates the lyrics as it features the band on a DJ record disc. Throughout the course of the video, it denotes the band in different costumes spinning round on the record. For example a Hawaiian suit, glow in the dark outfit. This relates to the lyrics because it shows the band having fun dancing along to the music as they would expect the audience to do as well creating a happy atmosphere. For example, 'I could be dancing all night if you could play'. The use of the record disc beign used as a key prop in the video allows the audience to position themselves in a club environment.

AMPLIFICATION- 'COBRA STARSHIP FT LEIGHTON MEESTER- GOOD GIRLS GO BAD'

The lyrics depict of how a man changes a woman's reputation by making her 'bad'. The video denotes the band hosting an illegal club with lots of alcohol and gambling tables. Meester and her accomplice go into the club as paying guests disguised as undercover agents. She frames the band to the police who were unaware of their real occupation. This video is under the amplification category because the action denoted in the video shows a deeper meaning to how a girl feels attracted a bad guy and this is reflected on the lyrics. 'I heard that you were trouble and I couldn't resist'.



Analysis of Example-KickStarts (research)

NARRATIVE

This has a clear linear structure where the video appears to be in sequential order. There are elements of normality where the video displays images of different people in splitscreen leading to multiple splitscreens. This could connote that they may be in the same position as the narrator himself. The video repetitively shows the edit of splitscreens on numerous occasions visually denoting the emotions of the characters. At the end of the video, the screen is split into 3, where in each layer, it reveals another person's body part. Random objects like records for the head and springs for the legs are used in this feature to show a sense of humour and outlandish imagery. The central artist's position in the narrative is as both a participant and narrator. He plays in the video as himself showing the audience how he feels with his girlfriend as well as singing the verse and chorus. The video is very illustrative as the lyrics are clearly denoted allowing the audience to visualise themselves in the same situation. For example, '...might be holding your hand, but I'm holding it loose...' This is denoted with a splitscreen showing the narrator singing the lyrics on the right hand side whilst the action is shown in a close-up shot on the left hand side. The chorus is shown in the same location throughout the video in a room of the house. 

GENRE

From this video, you can grasp that the genre is Pop. It is set in both internal and external locations. The internal location depicts is shown in a room inside a house and some sort of studio. The external location depicts of a garden. This is reminiscent of what I've seen in other pop videos because the location is set in a 'life-like' allowing the audience to picture themselves in the same position with both location and lyrics. The clothing used in pop videos are an important issue as on digipaks, it can easily allow the audience to establish the artist. 

In this video, the narrator is dressed in regular, ordinary clothing with a white, bold printed T-shirt, jeans, blue and white 'baseball-like' jacket. This makes the video more realistic as the topic discussed often occurs on a day-to-day basis. His style of clothing is related to the genre as he is seen to be relaxed and comfortable. His t-shirt is quite bright and colourful linking to the genre where a range of colours are displayed in the video. The video is set in daylight which complements the idea of the video being realistic in today's society.

MEDIA LANGUAGE

The video is fast-paced as the cuts are in time of the beat of the music. The toe-tapping at the beginning of the video influences this added with the use of multiple splitscreens amplifies this to a large level. I think the way that they used the randomness of using items as body parts is effective because it creates a sense of escape creating a happy atmosphere in comparison to the unhappiness which the narrator 'appears' to be in. The fast paced editing and images of people dancing in the chorus allows the video to be visually exciting. This video can be aimed at people aged 15 and above due to the relationship issue discussed which is relevant to this audience. This video is animated providing room for lots of movement giving the audience something interesting to watch as well as the catchy beat.