Asking for Permission

Me, Charlie and Daniel have selected a song called 'Make It Out Alive' by Sarah Bird on unsigned.com. We sampled a few of her songs and decided that we liked this one the best.

We emailed Ms. Bird and she replied allowing us to use her song. Here is the original email and the reply we received.

Our Artist: Sarah Bird

In just three years, Sarah Bird has established herself as one of the best vocal talents on the music scene in Leicester.

She used to be a member of a successful Leicester-based group called 'Sugabeat'. Her accomplishments within band Sugabeat include two appearances at Glastonbudget, a weekly stint at Entropy and weekly slots hosting open mic nights at The Exchange Bar and Bruxelles Cafe; not including the countless gigs booked at O Bar, The Looking Glass and The Shed. De Montfort University's newspaper The Demon, described Sugabeat as "a band not to be undermined [with] a strong on stage presence [which] loaded the air with a lively dose of pop with lead singer's effortless voice piercing the atmosphere. To say that her voice is incredible would be an understatement."

Now, Sarah is embarking on a new direction, focusing on her ability as a talented songwriter. With her beautiful voice and soulful pop and blues inspired tunes, it is with no doubt that Sarah is already fulfilling a reputation as an exciting and exceptional new solo artist.

 

Here is a link to Sarah's official website:

http://www.sarahbird.org.uk/

Sarah Bird - unsigned.com Profile

Me, Charlie and Daniel have found an artist on unsigned.com that we really like. Sarah Bird is a singer/songwriter from Leicester in the United Kingdom. We are currently sampling Sarah's songs to decide which one we would like to ask permission for to use in our music video.

This is the link to Sarah's profile on unsigned.com

http://www.unsigned.com/000sarahbird

Copyright

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. Generally, it is "the right to copy", but also gives the copyright holder the right to be credited for the work, to determine who may adapt the work to other forms, who may perform the work, who may financially benefit from it, and other related rights. It is a form of intellectual property. It is a criminal offence to take copyrighted material without asking permission first.

Case Study: Emil Nava

Emil Nava began his career as a runner for a film production company and went on to graduate and become an assistant director for Blink Productions where he managed video shoots. 

He then signed to Academy, one of, if not the biggest music video production company in the world. After moving on from this employer, he worked for Between The Eyes and now works mainly for Pulse as well as freelancing for OB Management.

When Emil first started making music videos for independent labels, the budget would be between £5,000 and £10,000. However, his first budget for one of the bigger companies was for the band Kid British with the song 'Our House'. The budget was £20,000 and included filming in Manchester using local people for 1 day, 2 to 3 days editing and 10 days for pre-production planning. This shows just how fast-paced the music video business is.

Emil has made some of the best known modern music videos to date for number 1 artists including Rita Ora, Paloma Faith, Ed Sheeran and Jessie J. Jessie J's video for 'Price Tag' had a budget of £160,000 - Nava's most expensive video ever to produce.

Emil's top tips: 'Use extreme close ups whenever possible, do not shoot in long or medium shots for the whole song'.

Case Study: Jamie Thraves

Jamie Thraves is a British film writer from Romford who has gone from making short films to some of the best known music videos in the industry. He began making short films at university andsoon became associated with Factory Films. Jamie has made two feature films, 'The Low Down' for FILM 4 starring Aidan Gillen and Kate Ashfield and 'The Cry Of The Owl' for BBC Films starring Paddy Considine and Julia Stiles. 'The Low Down' was named as one of the '50 lost classic films' in The Observer and had brilliant reviews across the board.

Jamie then became involved in making music videos after the successes of his short films. The process for making a music video is competitive as a 'commisioner' from a record label will send a track to a selection of directors (roughly 5-10). The selected directors will then submit a treatment (idea for the video) and send it back to the record label. The company will then select the treatment that they see best and pay the director to make the video.

Jamie is known for having made several famous, ground-breaking music videos, the two most successful being Radiohead's “Just” and Coldplay's “The Scientist” which won three MTV awards in 2003 including Best Director and Breakthrough Video.

Music Video Success Criteria

To make a successful music video, it needs to appeal to the audience in a way that makes them want to buy the music they are listning to. There are several ways to measure how successful a music video is:

• Word of mouth
• YouTube hits
• Newspaper articles/television reports
• Number of times shown on television
• Downloads (illegal and legal)
• Chart position
• CD/single sales
• Number of requests for a video on music channels

For example, on the 6th November 2012, the number 1 position on the BBC Radio 1 chart was 'Candy' by Robbie Williams. This is based on downloads only. However, the most popular music video on YouTube on this date was 'Little Things' by One Direction with a whopping 15,129,542 views after only having been posted for 3 days.

Both music videos are very different and both are more popluar in different forms. Here are both videos to compare.

The Top 100 Music Videos of All Time

These are the 100 greatest music videos of all time as compiled by Channel 4.  I have been studying this list in class to see what makes a good music video to get inspiration for my own music video.

1. Michael Jackson: Thriller
2. Peter Gabriel: Sledgehammer
3. A-ha: Take on Me
4. Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody
5. Madonna: Like a Prayer
6. Robbie Williams: Rock DJ
7. Michael Jackson: Billie Jean
8. The Verve: Bittersweet Symphony
9. Madonna: Vogue
10. Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit
11. Coldplay: The Scientist
12. Michael & Janet Jackson: Scream
13. Pink Floyd: Another Brick in the Wall
14. Christina Aguilera: Dirrty
15. REM: Everybody Hurts
16. OutKast: Hey Ya
17. Blur: Coffee & TV
18. Beyonce: Crazy in Love
19. Madonna: Material Girl
20. Gorillaz: Clint Eastwood
21. Queen: I Want to Break Free
22. Justin Timberlake: Cry Me a River
23. Britney Spears: ...Baby One More Time
24. Radiohead: No Surprises
25. Madness: Baggy Trousers
26. TLC: Waterfalls
27. David Bowie: Ashes to Ashes
28. Foo Fighters: Learn to Fly
29. Electric Six: Gay Bar
30. Weezer: Buddy Holly
31. Eminem: Stan
32. Chris Isaak: Wicked Game
33. U2: The Sweetest Thing
34. The White Stripes: Fell in Love with a Girl
35. Sinead O'Connor: Nothing Compares 2U
36. Red Hot Chili Peppers: Give It Away
37. Guns N Roses: November Rain
38. Fatboy Slim: Weapon of Choice
39. Pulp: Common People
40. Missy Elliot: Get Ur Freak On
41. The Spice Girls: Wannabe
42. Bjork: It's Oh So Quiet
43. Dire Straits: Money for Nothing
44. Kylie Minogue: Can't Get You Out of My Head
45. Aerosmith: Crazy
46. Adam & the Ants: Prince Charming
47. The Prodigy: Firestarter
48. Johnny Cash: Hurt
49. Jamiroquai: Virtual Insanity
50. Paul Simon: You Can Call Me Al
51. Run DMC & Aerosmith: Walk This Way
52. Massive Attack: Teardrop
53. Wham: Club Tropicana
54. Daft Punk: Around the World
55. Fatboy Slim: Praise You
56. Eminem: Without Me
57. Meatloaf: I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)
58. The Cure: Close to Me
59. Abba: Knowing Me, Knowing You
60. Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams
61. The Prodigy: Smack My Bitch Up
62. Blur: Parklife
63. George Michael: Outside
64. Bjork: Human Behaviour
65. Aphex Twin: Windowlicker
66. Bob Dylan: Subterranean Homesick Blues
67. The Beastie Boys: Sabotage
68. Madonna: Ray of Light
69. Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Two Tribes
70. The Police: Every Breath You Take
71. Bjork: All Is Full of Love
72. Robert Palmer: Addicted to Love
73. Basement Jaxx: Where's Your Head At?
74. Wu-Tang Clan: Gravel Pit
75. Duran Duran: Rio
76. The Beatles: Strawberry Fields
77. MC Hammer: U Can't Touch This
78. Godley and Creme: Cry
79. New Order: True Faith
80. Radiohead: Just
81. Ultravox: Vienna
82. 50 Cent: In Da Club
83. Shakespear's Sister: Stay
84. The Boomtown Rats: I Don't Like Mondays
85. Sid Vicious: My Way
86. The Streets: Fit But You Know It
87. Talking Heads: Once in a Lifetime
88. Elton John: I Want Love
89. Smashing Pumpkins: Tonight Tonight
90. The Pet Shop Boys: Go West
91. The Specials: Ghost Town
92. Herbie Hancock: Rockit
93. The Rolling Stones: We Love You
94. Bonnie Tyler: Total Eclipse of the Heart
95. The Cardigans: My Favourite Game
96. So Solid Crew: 21 Seconds
97. Cornershop: Brimful of Asha
98. Bronski Beat: Smalltown Boy
99. Supergrass: Pumping on Your Stereo
100. Musical Youth: Pass the Dutchie

My Favourie Music Video

My favourite music video is 'Stan' by Eminem. It's such a poignant video that adds a lot of value to the music itself.

'Stan' tells the story of an obsessed fan named Stan who is writing a letter to his idol, Eminem. The song is sung from Stan's viewpoint for the first three quarters of the song, and Eminem's for the last quarter. The video sees Stan become increasingly obsessed with his idol, sticking Eminem's photo over his girlfriend's (played by Dido) face in a photo of the couple and even dying his hair to look like the rapper. However, Stan's obsession goes too far when his pregnant girlfriend stands in the way of him 'being with' the man he wants.

This video is effective for many reasons. Firstly, the way the video plays out the song exactly as the story is being told is ingenious. Most videos try not to be too literal with the lyrics of the song as is looks amateurish. However, this video strikes the right balance between story telling and mimicking the lyrics exactly.

The use of actors in the video also adds value to it. Devon Sawa plays Stan and Dido, who was then an upcoming artist, plays his girlfriend. As Eminem is not in the video constantly like some music videos, it allows the audience to focus more on the song rather than the singer. The casting for the video was also a fist class choice, both the actors played the parts excellently and convincingly which made the video even more entertaining to watch.

The mise en scene of the video also compliments the song well. Grey, black and white feature heavily in the video giving it a very simple look, but it also makes the mood of the video seem melancholy and eerie. The simple costumes and make-up of the actors makes them seem like ordinary people making the video seem more relatable to watch.

All of these factors make this a truly brilliant video that really add value to the song. The video also featured on 'Channel 4's 100 Greatest Music Videos' and came in at number 31.

I'm clearly not the only one who thought it was an amazing video!

What is the Purpose of a Music Video?

Most people think that music videos are only there to have something to watch whilst your favourite songs are playing. However, they have a much bigger purpose than that.

Music videos can do many things, but their main objective is to promote the artist. Since most music videos feature the artist, it is easy for them to get publicity. A good music video should stay in the listeners mind when they hear the song.

Here are the main things that a music video could and should include in order to be successful:

• advertise
• draw attention to a song
• illustrate the song
• appeal to a visual audience
• express an individual's emotions
• tell a story
• market an image
• promote the artist/album/single
• persuade the audience to buy
• raise the audience's awareness or profile of the group/artist
• make an artistic statement
• product placement

Coursework Brief

The A2 coursework requires me to make my own music promo video. It has to be up to 5 minutes in length, but since most music videos last for around 3 and a half minutes, this is the time that I'm aiming for. The music to be used in my music video has to be non-copyright, so I will be looking on websites such as unsigned.com and newgrounds.com. 

I also have to produce a digipak which will make the DVD of my music video more professional. I have to produce a magazine advertisement for my music video as well. 

I am working in a group with Charlie Searle and Daniel Morris who I worked with for my 'Thriller' task.

Welcome!

I'm Katie, welcome to my music promo video blog!

I'm an A2 media studies student at Robert Clack in Dagenham. I successfully completed my AS course last year and received a B grade - hopefully I can bump that up to an A this year!

I've always been interested in media, especially music, and so I can tell that I'm going to really enjoy this course!