Research - Websites

This is the homepage for the Daft Punk website. There are just 3 things on the website:

1. A main title piece in the middle, advertising a music video of the band. If the cursor is hovered over this a small icon pops up offering the user the option to watch this video.



2. Below this, is a small option to sign up for the bands email service. This indicates the simplicty of the website may be down to more extensive information provided in regular emails.



3. The final thing is located in the bottom right of the screen. It is simply a link to purchase some action figures that have featured in Daft Punk music videos. A common trait of these kind of unique artists, is that their tracks form storys, and websites, CD covers, and musics help to continue this theme and idea.

Above is a screen shot of the simple home page of unsigned band The Brett Domino Trio. I chose to use this website as an example, because the unsigned status of the band means that I can use its level if quality as a bench mark upon which to create my website for my artist DoBERMAN.

Upon clicking the Enter button on this page, the audience is taken to the more commonly styled home page below:

This is quite a typical band home page. With many links it offers the following to the audience:

• Information about the artist/band
• Images of the artist
• Videos of the artist
• Audio of the artist

This just shows that the idea of a website, reguardless of the record label the artist may be signed up to, is to promote the artist. Therefore, I will look at making a plain, yet slightly quirky and wacky website to match the image created by my artist.

(http://www.daftpunk.com/)
(http://brettdomino.com/)

Research - Target Audiences

I conducted some target audience research to give me an idea of some aspects I may wish to include in my music video to make it appealing. I produced an open questionnaire with the following questions/enquiries:

1. Gender
2. Age
3. Preferred style of music
4. How often do you listen to music?
5. How often do you watch music videos?
6. If you could pick one thing that stands out in a positive way from music videos, what would it be?
7. Would you be interested in seeing any of the following in a music video: Animation, Flashing/Changing colours, A space/alien themre
8. Do you have any other comments about music videos you'd like to add?

I chose to use an open answered questionnaire rather than the bog standard questionnaire with a choice of answers, because I feel that, with a music video being such a creative project, I wanted to get the full opinion of my target audience. Having the full opinion will allow me to understand the many ways in which a music video can appear appealing, and then narrow that down to match it to my track, and produce an appealing music video that fits the criteria I can develop

Having conducted my questionnaire on a range of 20 people, aged 15 to 47, I concluded the following:

• The style of a music video depends heavily on the genre of the track
• However, commonly appreciated traits in music video, reguardless of genre, are humour and a sense of uniqueness.
• Out of the 20 people questioned, only one would not appreciate animation in a music video, therefore this seems to be a positive aspect of music videos.
• More people listened to music every day, rather than watching music videos on a regular basis.
• In creating a music video, I am in a way reaching out to a niche audience. However, if the video focuses heavily on the track, I believe this can widen the audience numbers it will appeal to.
• An element of performance seems widely appreciated.

Research - The Industry

I decided to ask a friend of mine, Rob Madin, if I could use one of the tracks he recorded under the alias DoBERMAN. This was because his music is not only of a really high quality, but also, as an unsigned artist, I feel making a video for him will be beneficial to the both of us.

DoBERMAN is one of a few musical projects Rob has, and is an experimental/electronic project. The idea behind the projects name, the cross between a dog and a human, is an example of the different nature associated with electronic music. This demonstrates that the surrealism behind Electronic acts is not only demonstrated through their music, but also the image they portray. However, despite much of the artists promotion coming through their image, I do not believe that this means that Electronic music and its artists follow the theory of synthetic creativity. Far from it, as I believe, particularly in the case of DoBERMAN, that it follows a very original, organic style of creativity. The image is just present to go hand in hand with the music, and mirror it.

To summarise DoBERMAN:

• DoBERMAN is an Electro/House music project.



• Based in the UK, they have produced a number of original tracks as well as remixes.



• The track I will be using is titled 'Fell From Space'.



• DoBERMAN uses originality and surrealism in its image to support the style of its music.

Above, an image from the DoBERMAN myspace page. The edit, to have the dogs head on the human body, representing the artist name, is an example of the surrealism of the artist.

DoBERMAN is not signed to a record label. Some record labels that would possibly be suitable for the artist are:

• Ninja Tuna/Ninja Tune
• Pleasure Records
• Soma
• Dirty Beat Records
• LGR Music
• Dirty Trax
• Flux

I selected these record labels as they are labels that specialise in the specific genre of Electro/House, which DoBERMAN can be categorised under. Many of the artists on theses labels can be described as quite unique, and "wacky", even if the label is major or minor. This just demonstrates that for my website, CD cover and music video, a unique idea is essential to work with the genre.

(http://en.wikipedia.org)
(http://www.google.co.uk)
(http://www.myspace.com/dobermanremixes)
(http://www.ninjatune.net/ninja/release.php?id=1448)
(http://www.somarecords.com/)
(http://fluxrecordings.com/)
(http://www.dirtybeatrecords.com/)
(http://www.dirtytrax.co.uk/)
(http://www.purepleasurerecords.com/)
(http://www.lgrmusic.com/)

Research - Genres

Genre comes from the French for 'kind' or 'class'. A genre is a category used to define something. However, there are many of these categories with un-defined boundaries, and there is regularly overlapping of genres to classify products. Genre is used for classification in many areas, but there are three main areas:

• Television Genre
  
• Film Genre
  
• Music Genre

Within each area, there are many genres that help define a product. In the music genre there are 4 criteria which group the genres among themselves. The genres then go on to classify the different music, by artist, records, and songs. The 4 criteria are:

• Art Music
  
• Popular Music
  
• Traditional Music
  
• Regional and National Music

My track, 'Fell From Space' by DoBERMAN, would come under the criteria of popular music, as it is similar to some of the music that is breaking into the charts style wise. How ever, "Pop Music" is itself a genre, and my track more fits the genre of Electronic, and is a cross of many of its sub-genres such as Electro, Glitch, House, and Dubstep.

The genre of Electronic is characterised by its futuristic sound, its use of experimental methods, and its sometimes unique combinations of sounds and experiments with tempo and beat. Some of the main artists who fit under this genre are Sub Focus, a Drum and Bass/Dubstep band/artist, and more similarly to my artist, Daft Punk, an Electronic House band who have managed to force their music into popular culture.

The traits of Electronic music videos are that they look to do something unique, original, and look to create something never seen before by the audience. The video often plays off the beat of the track, as many electronic songs lack the lyrics to create a narrative for the video. Therefore, dancing is sometimes used as the performance element, and often the unique, futuristic sounds help determine the focus of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGBhQbmPwH8 (Link to Daft Punk Video 'One More Time'.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9MszVE7aR4 (Link to Daft Punk Video 'Around the World'.)

Above, an image of house band Daft Punk. This image just demonstrates the unique style associated with the Electronic genre.

Above, a screenshot from the video to the track 'Shadrach' by Beastie Boys, which demonstrates a unique style of animation used. Coincidentally, it is done through the method of rotoscoping, which I will be looking to use to animate my piece.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/)
(http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre.html)
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/genre)

Research - Music Video Analysis of 'Young Folks' by Peter, Bjorn & John.

I chose to analyse 'Young Folks' by Peter, Bjorn & John, because it is an animated music video, similar to the type of video I'd like to create. Although the music is dissimilar to the music I shall be using, the animation is something I can take great inspiration from, along with the rest of the video.


Firstly, Negus' theory of organic ideology is displayed in the fact that, we never see the band in person, and so they are not sold on their image. Although we see drawn characters who seem to be performing, the audience do not necessarily know if this is the artist, and therefore there is a much stronger focus on the music rather than the artists image. This follows Negus' theory as the band are not being manufactured by the record company, but instead have their music sell records, not a fake, plastic image often associated with a synthetic ideology.

Research - Music Video Analysis of 'Paint Your Target' by Fightstar.

I have chosen to analyse the following video as I believe it is a demonstration of such a simple idea working well. I think that, because I am limited in many ways making my music video, this video could provide great inspiration and innovative ideas for my own music video.

What immediately stands out from this music video, is the support of the theory from Pop music theorist Andrew Goodwin's book Dancing in the Distraction Factory, of song lyrics creating a sense of subject matter. In this case, the lyrics, and title of the song, 'Paint Your Target'. provide the inspiration for the narrative in the video, children pretending to shoot each other in a school play ground, so 'painting' each other as 'targets'. This is also one of the reasons I chose to analyse this music video.

It is shot very simply, with two main focuses. The band performing, and the children playing. However, they have cleverly added bullet effects and explosions with special effects. This is very simple, but transforms the video entirely. It is extremely clever, and a fascinating and original idea, and I think this supports Keith Negus' theory of organic ideology. This is because Fightstar are a band who have had there entire style and image not changed, or created, but nurtured by the record company, into something new, and original, and their raw musical talent is used to sell their records. The simple, but original and interesting video reflects this originality and individuality of the band, but because the video is not the dominant factor, it still allows the band to showcase that their appeal comes across not in their image, but dominantly through their music.

The performance of the band in the video is an example of Dyer's theory of stardom. The bands performance showcases their talent, something which Dyer states as a common value of music stardom. This is because their talent becomes a desirable quality that is attractive of the band. The same can be said for the aggression that the band display in their performance. For some audiences, Dyer sees this aggression as a value of music stardom, as it provides character and stage presence, and the fury in which lead singer Charlie scream, sings, and thrashes his guitar about, demonstrates this immensely.

Dyers paradoxes that the star(s) must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary and simultaneously absent but present are also both present in the video. The lighting seems to cast a god like, halo type outline around the band at points creating the extraordinary image of them, but they wear such normal clothes, and are in such a normal location, a school, that that ordinary image is still present. The band are also quite obviously present in the video, but at the same time, seem absent, as the children pay them no notice as they play around them.

Research – Directors: Tim Burton

Tim Burton is an American Golden Globe winning director, producer and writer, and is one of my all time favourite directors. Although he does not focus on music videos, he did direct the music video for The Killers' single 'Bones'. He instead focuses on full, feature length films, I admire his innovative use of stop animation in films such as 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and 'The Corpse Bride'. Other films he has worked on include 'Beetlejuice', 'Edward Scissorhands', 'Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street', and many more. He is known for his dark yet quirky films, and has developed a style that can only be described as his own. His films showcase the Gothic genre to the mainstream audience, with the help of his individual and interesting ideas, and humorous screenplays. I personally find his creation of characters impressive. In his re-creation of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', Burton put his own style into the classic story, creating a wonderful, imaginative, and in someways eccentric story, and his re-creation of the characters, particularly Willy Wonka, enabled him to do this. His characters in stop animation have also become "Burton-ised", for example Jack Skellington from 'The Nightmare Before Christmas', and Victor from 'The Corpse Bride', two main protagonists, have cold, white faces and stick thin bodies, with exceptionally skinny digits such as arms and legs, and are dressed in black. The colour contrast, and choice of body shape, reinforce his mystical, fairytale like tales, twisted into the gothic genre.

Burton also has experience in the field of music videos. Most noticeably, his direction of the music video for 'Bones ' by The Killers. This music video demonstrates a different style of animation used by Burton, as a CGI type effect is used to remove the flesh and skin of the band members, turning them, and other characters in the video, into skeletons. This example of his animation is the main reason for my consideration of using a style of animation in my music video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar5BKXg60ME (URL to 'Bones' music video, directed by Tim Burton, as embedding of the video has been removed.)

(http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000318/)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton)
(http://www.timburton.com/)
(http://www.timburtoncollective.com/)

Research - Director: Jake Wynne

Jake Wynne is a London based director and editor working out of Prime Focus London. He works primarily on music videos and commercials, having worked with bands such as The Stereophonics, and creating commercials for companies such as BMW, Playstation, and Footlocker. Having watched his films, such as the 'Basketball' Playstation advert, and the 'Nike' Footlocker advert, one thing that appealed to me was the humour behind his work. His films seem to break boundaries in being different and attempt to attract the audience with humour, something I would quite like to experiment with in my music video.


(http://jakewynne.com/)
(http://www.vimeo.com/user710676)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/)
(http://www.imdb.com)

Research - Director: Lindy Heymann

Lindy Heymann is a British writer and director, who graduated from Central/St Martins with a BA in Fine Art/Film. Films that she has worked on include 'The Real Fawlty Towers', 'Kissing Buba', and 'Showboy'. I have noticed that a lot of her work comes in the form of documentaries, or "mockumentaries". This is a really interesting and different way of capturing something, and is not something found regularly in mainstream popular culture. It called also provide a good creative point upon which I could develop and create my music video, as it does not necessarily have to follow the theories of Negus, Dyer, Adorne, and other film theorists. This is because with a "mockumentary", there is the sense that the film should be taken light heartedly, and therefore I could move away from the idea that my music video must present my artist in an iconic, positive way, and perhaps use the video to create a down to earth character from my "star". In this sense it could follow Negus' theory of organic ideology.

(http://www.lindyheymann.com/)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/)
(http://www.imdb.com)


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