James Morrison - You Make It Real

Link To Video

Laura Marling - Night Terror

Song lyrics :
I woke up and he was screaming
I'd left him dreaming
I roll over and shake him tightly
And whisper "if they want you
Oh they're gonna have to fight me"
Oh fight me

I woke up on a bench on Shepherds Bush green
Oh a candle at my chest and a hand on his knee
I got up it was dark
There is no one in the park at this hour
Why do I keep finding myself here?
Oh find me

The above is the first two verses of 'Night Terror' by Laura Marling - a currently popular singer/songwriter. The following verses aren't identical to the above two, but are similar. As I'm analysing the video, I chose to research the lyrics to understand more why she chose to perform in this way. Marling took more of a thematic, atmospheric approach to creating her video - the lyrics of the song and the video don't follow the same narrative, though the atmospheres of both are sinister and ghoulish.

Laura Marling was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize, showing her audience is more sophisticated and appreciative of her style of music. She adheres to the conventions of acoustic singer/songwriter music videos - most videos of this genre involve the artist singing and playing instruments towards the camera. She is the main focus of the majority of her videos (singing towards the camera) yet she aims to subvert this convention by involving more to the videos (for example; the clowns in 'Night Terror' and the shadows in 'New Romantic').

KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See


KT Tunstall has taken a very conventional approach to acoustic singer/songwriter music videos. The video 'Suddenly I see' focuses on her and her band performing - playing instruments and singing, demonstrating the genre characteristics. Many acoustic artists do this - it shows a sense of simplicity yet depth to the video as it's simple, clearly focusing on the lyrics and music being played. This video conveys a strong impression that Tunstall aims to receive the recognition for her music - in the video a photographer is following her around, implying this. In the introduction of the song, the video is edited to the beat of the song, showing sillhouettes playing instruments (see image to right) - this however focuses on the idea that image is not important, it is simply music. The lighting in the video is very dark and mysterious, with sudden flashes of light on the performers - this imitates the lyrics of the song ('suddenly i see'). The video is medium budget - it's set in a kind of warehouse , and is very simple (nothing extraordinary is being filmed), though the lighting shows extravagance and effort. The stripped back mise-en-scene imitates the stripped back singer/songwriter genre. It's clear that this medium budget was created with an aim to keep up her singer/songwriter image, after this was released she also released a second video for the song - which is of a higher budget, with lots of animation and planning. This implies that the first video was partially pushed by her record label, demanding lots of close ups of the artist aiming to be recognised and remembered.

Audience Research

Questionnaire

1. How are you most likely to watch music videos?

• Music channels/TV
• DVDs
• Internet streaming sites e.g. YouTube
• Internet downloads
• Public display monitors
• Mobile phones
• Other – if so, please state ___________________

2. Why do you watch music videos?

• To keep yourself updated – knowledge of ‘new’ music in general
• To keep yourself updated – knowledge of artist/genre
• Entertainment
• Word of mouth
• Other – if so, please state ___________________

3. What attracts you to a music video?

• Interesting narrative
• Dancers
• Special effects
• Actors/actresses
• Artist/genre
• Music
• Other – if so, please state ___________________

4. What kind of music do you tend to listen to?

Rock Pop Indie Rap R’n’B

Electro Acoustic Hip hop Reggae Jazz

• Other – if so, please state ___________________

5. Generally, what genre of music videos interests you most? (Tick two if two genres – e.g. ‘pop rock’)

Rock Pop Indie Rap R’n’B

Electro Acoustic Hip hop Reggae Jazz

• Other – if so, please state ___________________

6. Do you like the artist to be involved in music videos you watch, and why?

• Yes
• No
• Undecided

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. How important is the music video when deciding whether to download the song?

· Very important

· Important

· Not very important

· Not at all important

8. You’re watching an acoustic music video – would you rather watch it if it had an interesting narrative, or if it focused more on the talent of the artist, for example KT Tunstall, ‘Suddenly I See’, artist singing and playing guitar? (Please tick)

• Narrative
• Talent of artist

I handed my questionnaire out to people ranging from 11 year old school girls to men in their mid 50s to give me a wide range of people's views so I didn't disregard some of my audience.

I also found question number six helpful - the majority of the people I asked said yes, they did want the artist to be in the video. The main reason given was that it gave them more knowledge of the artist.

I was hoping question number eight would be incredibly helpful, but it wasn't really. People answered about half and half, not really giving me a straight answer. In some ways that's bad as it shows they're undecided as a community, but in other ways it makes my challenge less difficult as they wont mind either way.

Initial Brief

Brief:

• Music Promotion

Main Product:

• Music video

Ancillary Product 1:

• Magazine advert

Ancillary Product 2:

• DVD cover

Genre of Main Product:

• Acoustic singer/songwriter

Target Audience:
Demographic:

• Female, aged 16-25

Psycho graphics:

• Likes to party, enjoys being trouble free and being able to roam 'free'

Lifestyle:

• Typical student life

Similar Media Products:

1. James Morrison - "You Make It Real"
2. KT Tunstall music video - "Suddenly I see"
3. Lisa Hannigan music video -
4. Laura Marling music video - "New romantic"
5. Damien Rice music video - "9 crimes"
6. Beginning of film 'Closer'

Justification for choice of brief:

• Song written and sung by a good friend of mine, Phoebe Hibbert. This allows me access to the song easily and trouble free (no copyright troubles).
• Target audience includes my age range - makes it easier to identify with what they'd expect.

Representational Issues:

• Challenging 'ladette' representation of young British women.

Narrative:

• Linear narrative - follow narrative of song, but inter cutting with performance of artist/mood shots of artist.

Subverting/using conventions:

• To include the artist in the video - many acoustic singer/songwriters are the main focus of their music videos. The audience gets the impression they are simplistically exhibiting their talent.
• To edit to the beat of the track.
• Fast paced editing.
• Stripped down setting.
• Guitar iconography.

Challenges anticipated:

• Being able to film in ideal settings/locations.
• Editing - matching shots to the music.
• Organising my cast and being able to get them to act how I want.

Hardware and Software:

• iMovie - to edit and pull together my footage.
• Photoshop - to create and edit my ancillary products.