The Rise of MTV

MTV is an American music channel which was first launched in 1981 and is a unit of the Viacom Media Networks. The original purpose of the channel was to air music videos and it's target demographic were young adults. However, this has changed within the rise of MTV, and now it is targeted towards adolescents as well as young adults.
The channel has expanded over time and not only has it became the most popular music video channel, but it has gained "sister channels" such as; MTV Hits, MTV Dance, MTV Classic and MTV Rocks.

Codes and conventions of a short film (by Kirsty Guy)

A short film is a motion picture which runs for no longer than forty minutes. They follow a simple story line which is easy for the audience to understand, but this may be portrayed in an advanced, creative way. 

One convention of a short film is the number of characters within the production; this is usually no more than three. For example, there may be a protagonist, an antagonist and a major character. This is because there is not enough time to create a whole background history on each of the characters.

Along with this, another convention is, just like the majority of full films, there is a twist to the story. This creates a more exciting and interesting product for the audience. Having a twist means that the audience are more likely to want to watch it as they will be intrigued to know what is coming up. It also makes the product  more unpredictable and therefore less like anything that has already featured in a film from the past.

The budget of a short film is often low because directors and producers are not back by international or industry based companies. Actors are willing to work for free as they aren't needed as much as actors from a full length film, and the directors do not need to find "stunt-men" as bigger stunts are not conventionally featured. 

Role Allocation

As a group, we came up with different roles that suited us and shared them between us to be able to create the best music video that we possibly could.

Director- Beth Fowler
Producer- Kirsty Guy
Camera Person- Beth Fowler and Kirsty Guy
Editor- Beth Fowler and Kirsty Guy
Music- Kirsty Guy
Location Scout- Beth Fowler and Kirsty Guy
Director of Photography- Beth Fowler

For the casting of the music video, we needed both actors and performers.

Carrie Underwood- Blown Away Analysis (By Kirsty Guy)

'Blown Away' is a song produced by Mark Bright, a producer based in the country genre and was written by Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear. The song was recorded in 2011 by American country pop artist, Carrie Underwood, and was eventually released in 2012.
The lyrics of the song talk about how a family has been ruined by an alcoholic father and now the house is full of sins because of all the pain and misery he has bought to his daughter. Underwood sings about her drunk father and her mother being an "angel in the ground". She believes that there's not even enough wind or rain in Oklahoma (a well known state to be brought down by natural disasters in Southern America) and that a tornado may destroy the house, but the memories will still remain.
The narrative of the video is clever in the way that it links and compares to, not only the lyrics of the song, but also other popular media productions (The Wizard of Oz). The opening shot of the  video is a two shot of Underwood and her drunk father in the kitchen of their house in the middle of nowhere. The lighting of the shot is dark and black and white effect suggests that her life is dull and it also sets the mood of the whole narrative and shows the negativity in the atmosphere within the broken family. This first image, shows Underwood pushing her father away when he is trying to help her with her history homework, she doesn't want his help because she doesn't want to thank him for anything because of everything he has put her through. The costumes of the characters in the narrative are typical for country people. Underwood wears red boots which relates to the musical, The Wizard of Oz. In the musical, Dorothy's home gets blown away in the wind of a tornado, and Underwood sings about this not affecting the fact that the memories will remain in the same place forever, no matter how many tornados, or how much rain there is. There is a dog at the end of the video which also relates to this idea and theme. However, it also represents a friend for life, and even after being through so much, she still has her best friend who will never let her down like her father did.

Role Allocation

Role Allocation

Below are the roles we have allocated for our production.

Director: Beth Fowler
Producer: Kirsty Guy
Director of photography: Sian Ryley
Camera person: Beth Fowler, Kirsty Guy and Sian Ryley
Editor: Sian Ryley, Beth Fowler and Kirsty Guy
Location scout: Beth Fowler and Sian Ryley

Casting

Kirsty Guy: Performer

Casey Hawkes: Mistreated Girl

Michael Robson: Father

Sian Ryley: Mother

Neighbour: 

Beth Fowler: Music room friend

Group of people in the reception area. 

Final Proposal (by Beth Fowler)

For our advanced portfolio we have decided to create a music video to Emeli Sande’s well known ‘Read all about it part 3”. The reasons for us choosing this song is because we wanted to do a cover as one of our group members has good vocals and plays a wide range of instruments making this the perfect opportunity to do a cover of a song. In her music classes Kirsty (group member singing cover) has been practising Emeli Sande ‘Read all about it part 3’ therefore we decided to choose this song for our music video as it does not mean her having to relearn a song and take up much needed time to do other tasks such as recording the video. The working title of the music video is ‘Read all about it: Part 3 – Kirsty Guy’.

   We have decided the best music channel for our production to be broadcast on is MTV. We chose this channel as it is one of the most successful worldwide music channels of today and therefore our music video would be well known for being on there and boost sales dramatically. Our song is a pop song and MTV features all genres of music video according to the channel (MTV Hits, MTV Classic, MTV Rock etc) therefore our production can meet its target audience. The target audience for our production is those who enjoy listening to pop music. This could apply to a wide range of people of many ages, backgrounds etc. However in a general term our production will appeal to a target audience of teenagers and females. In terms of background it will appeal to British and American from all social classes. The lyrics send a message to all those who have been through a struggle or are going through a struggle in their lives and the technicality of this is that everybody has had a low point at some time in their lives.

  The genre of the music video is pop. We have decided to create a music video that is performance and storyline/ narrative based. The reason for doing this is because when I and my peers analysed the lyrics to ‘Read all about it part 3’ we realised the deep meaning and strong emotion in the song. We then decided that our production has to have some type of storyline that conveys the meaning and struggle the lyrics explain. This will play on the emotions of our target audience and make our production memorable. As well as there being a narrative we have also decided to feature performance scene in the video. These will be of Kirsty performing on a stage in the theatre, the reasons for us choosing to do this is because a combination of both lip singing in a performance with storyline/ narrative also creates a bigger impact for the audience as they get a wide variety of visual in the video to suit all audience members preferences. It also shows the emotion and feeling the performer has for the song creating a connection to the characters starring in the narrative.

  When planning the style of music video we wanted to create I and my peers decided a wide range of camera angles were needed to convey the characters story, this will mean some additional planning in order to decide how we will carry out shots such as crane shots and birds eye view shots of the scene. For the performance based scene we have decided to set 3 different cameras in areas of the room. The reasons for doing this is because we do not want Kirsty to have to re-perform the song many times as there are risks of shots in the scene not fitting together. If we have different cameras it limits the amount of times she will have to re-perform as we will have plenty of coverage from different angles.

  The colour when filming storyline scenes will be made dull to emphasise the characters struggle with negative tones. The performance scenes will be colourful, we have planned this to be done with the performance lights available to us in the schools theatre. The reasons for us wanting to make these scenes colourful is to show the clear contrast between performance and narrative, the change in scenes has to be noticeable. We would likes to use many different techniques to show the scenes change, cuts will be used however we would like to steer away from using these too often as it will not show our capability. Slow motion will be used in some scenes showing the detail and characters emotions so the viewer understands what is happening and how the character feels. This slow motion scene will be nearer the end of the storyline as this is when we see the main character in a positive light and we want to emphasise her happiness and the reasons behind this. We are also debating whether or not to use a slow motion scene in some of the scenes closer to the beginning of the video however we do not want to over use this method.

A very British gangster (by Beth Fowler)

Opening sequence analysis

A very British Gangster is a documntary series filmed and carried out by Donal Macinyre. It follows one of Britians most dangerous crime families, focusing on the leader Dominic Noonan. The documentary was converted into a 97 minute film of the footage from all documentaries in one, telling the families story. 
    In the opening sequence we see an establishing long shot of the urban enviorment at night. This symbolises that a majority of bad crimes are committed at night especially in this enviorment. The film is based in the white, working class, northen town of Manchester perhaps living up to stereotypes.

Lana Del Rey - Born To Die Video Analysis By Sian Ryley

Born To Die Analysis

From the album Born To Die that was said to be 'a dark love story seen through hopeful eyes' the music video and song to Born to die were meant to be about how she'd found someone she was happy with, this is meant to be different to how she's felt before.

From analysing Lana's video, I have discovered that the lyrics to the song do fit the video, this comes across when listening to the lyrics as well as watching what's going on, for example the video is part performance and part narrative and through listening to what is being said you start to see that the storyline is about a couple.

Use of the American Flag.

The first thing you see when the video starts is Lana and a male character stood in an embrace positioned in front of an America flag. When looking into where she was from I found out that Lana is American herself so it could be a way of showing her nationality. The use of the flag also becomes apparent in her first music video, Videogames.

Tracking shot of the ceiling.

A tracking shot is then used to show Lana's new location. This follows the ceiling of a large space, which could be related to religion. As the camera reaches the back wall the lyrics come in as the camera begins to close in on Lana.

Centralised between two tigers.

From the shot you are shown Lana to be in the centre of two tigers, however they don't seem to have much significance throughout the video unless the lyrics 'come take a walk on the wild side' resemble the two tigers.

Other things that become quite apparent from watching the video is that Lana seems to wear white quite a lot. From the lyrics 'we were born to die' it makes me wonder if she is in Heaven as the world she is in is dreamlike.



Shows Lana walking towards the new character.



As the video carries on, you are introduced to a new character in the video, he is first seen waiting by a car for Lana, who then goes towards him.

Lana watching her boyfriend.
Many of the clips following this one also
includes the two of them sat in the car.

This is the first time in the video that you start to understand that the song will be about a relationship and it is the first of many clips showing the two of them together.

Close ups are then used to show how close the two characters are especially being in the front of the car. From the screen shot on the left you can see how Lana is watching her boyfriend, and from the clip you can see that focus pull is being used as you can't see the man clearly.

Medium Long Shot - The main focus is on the hand gesture,
however the camera angle that has been used is far
 enough away to allow you to take in more of the scene.

While this is going on, the video goes from what is happening in the car to Lana sat in the large room. This part of the video is now more performance based than the rest, this shows her to be singing the lyrics. However the video then gets more serious and by using a medium long shot it shows the male character to make a gun shape out of his hand and holds it to her head. This happens when she sings the line 'you like your girls insane' and this sends mixed messages as they looked like they were getting on before.

Lana then goes on to whisper 'we were born to die' into the ear of the male,
this is where you start to wonder about what will happen.

In the next part of the video the scene is set in a bed room and the lighting used is one of the key features. It first shows Lana to be alone but then as the darkness covers her and then moves again the male is shown to be lying next to her and it shows her face to be expressionless.  This carries on for the next few scenes and it then goes on to show the male to be stood in a room behind Lana with his hands by his throat, to me it looks as though he's making motions that suggest he might try to kill her.

 The next few scenes take place in a car, throughout this time you see both characters, but the body language of Lana doesn't seem to be very positive, making me think that she doesn't really want to be in the car with him, maybe even with him at all. As the video progresses you are then taken back to the main hall where the video begins, once again showing her to be alone.

Following the hall ways, you are shown the interior of the space. With the use of lighting, different parts of the building are uncovered, this shows the walls and the ceiling. But as well as this forward tracking shots are used, this makes you as a viewer follow where the camera is going. Reverse track is then used as Lana is walking towards a door way, the camera then changes using a long shot which then shows her to open the door, walking into a white light. 

Reverse track is then used, but this time it starts close up to the male characters face and as the camera moves back, it reveals Lana's body lying limp in the arms of the male. The scene at this time shows a car to be on fire in the background, and as the camera gets further away the fire is the last thing you can see. A close up used at the start of the video is then used at the end, showing both characters to be in an embrace with the use of a medium close up. 

Johnny Cash Hurt Analysis By Sian Ryley

Johnny Cash - Hurt

Directed by Mark Romanek, the video was created to capture the essence of Johnny in his youth and in his older years. When filming Cash was 71 years old, and sadly passed away 7 months after filming.

From looking at the video, many things become significant, this includes religion and money. But at the same time Mark uses archive footage, in which he shows Cash as his younger self enjoying the life he was leading. 

These are some of the things I have picked up on when watching the music video.

The music video cuts on the beat, this shows a statue of a man, but at first the shot is quite wide, showing some of the leaves behind. The next time the beat comes in, the video has been cut so that a close up of this statues face can be seen, when this was done, I was unsure as to what significance this figure might have in the video. As the next cut shows somebody on a horse, to then go on to show a large fruit bowl, full up of things like grapes and bananas.

This clip is then followed by a close up of Johnny playing his guitar, this shows his frail old hands, but still shows how music is still in his life even at this late stage. As well as noticing that he has a black guitar, you notice that he is wearing black clothing, which for Johnny Cash was quite symbolic.

After seeing the first part of the song being performed by Johnny, you are then shown an American flag, this shows his nationality and it also gives the video a setting as you know that the footage has been taken in America as you see a sign for the House Of Cash Museum which was set up in Nashville, Tennessee. However from seeing this sign you learn that the museum was closed to the public and then later closed down.

The use of close ups and extreme close ups, especially of Johnny's face are used to show his age. The fact age is significant in this video actually makes me wonder why he's made the video, but as it carries on, you see him sat at his piano with his hands of the lid covering the keyboard, which makes you ask yourself whether he's actually going to play it or not. Following the line 'I remember everything', seeing Johnny as his younger self, this flashback then comes back to the present showing him opening the piano to play, it then becomes apparent that this will be the last time.

Showing Johnny to be sat at his piano before he begins to play.

Johnny's mother.

More archive footage of him is then used, again showing him when he was younger, but this time he is shown with children, possibly his or even his grandchildren, but from seeing this, you see him when he had life in him, whereas now, he isn't as young as he use to be. From this, one of the lines in the song is 'Everyone I know goes away in the end' this creates many different meanings to me as a viewer and it suggests that he could push people away, but then as he's older you start to relate this line to death and that is when you see a picture of his mother in a frame on his wall.

The video then shows footage of the museum, it is shown to be dusty and abandoned and you then see Johnny's records broken on the floor, which in the music industry is a large achievement. But even as a massive star, Johnny use to go into prisons to perform and a clip of this is seen in his video, but is it possible that he once went to jail and by him performing it was showing himself as a reformed man.

A broken record left on the floor of the museum.

'You stay the hell away from me you hear' is a line you hear from a clip you see, this suggests he could be talking to the devil, especially as the song seems quite negative towards some aspects of life, and throughout the video you see things that are symbolic to Christianity and religion. This again becomes more apparent in the video as you see him taking his wealth for granted when he is shown with caviar and lobster in front of him. But when he sings ' I wear this crown of thorns' he is shown to be sat in a large chair, maybe even a throne, but on the table in front of him there is champagne and a large turkey ... So could this be saying it's his last supper ? The only other thing that then resembles religion is when he tips red wine away. This shows Johnny to be selfish, whereas Jesus turned his blood to wine to enable him to share with others, whereas Johnny hasn't, you can see this as there is no one around him.

Archive footage is then used again to show Johnny going home when he was younger, to have a video camera at that time would suggest that he was quite privileged and even wealthy as it wouldn't have been something for everybody to have at the time. The video then becomes quite sad as the line you hear is 'What have I become'. From having him question himself to then show his wife behind him looking quite sad, you feel quite sorry for him. This is because you realise that there must have been times in his life that he might have regretted doing and for him to look back on this is upsetting. You are then shown archive footage of him with his family, this shows him and his family to be happy and enjoying themselves whereas now, he doesn't seem as happy as he use to be.

Here you can see his wife behind him.

At the end of the song, the tempo of the last verse increases, this is together with more archive footage of him when he visited the jail, of the life that is around him, there is even footage from a film and this shows Jesus in the crown of thorns, then being nailed to the cross. The feeling you get as a viewer is quite uneasy as you start to wonder what he's thinking about if he can relate himself to Jesus in the way that he might have done something wrong but maybe hasn't been punished for his actions and this enables him to get a lot of lost feelings out. Furthermore, the use of archive footage near the end of the song definitely brings out emotion and by using footage of him finishing a song when he was younger, starts to bring the video to a close to then show a close up of his face which shows in to look down at his keyboard to shut the lid on it. The emphasis on the use of the piano then makes you ask the question on whether this was the last time he used it, and it was. His last song was Hurt, the closing of the piano symbolised this and by having the screen fade to black it makes you as the viewer of the video sit and think about what you have just watched. This video in a way summed up all of Johnny's life for him then to die later that year.

After closing the piano, Johnny wiped his hands across
the lid of the piano and then the screen faded to black.

Johnny Cash Hurt Lyrics By Sian Ryley

Hurt Lyrics

Below are the lyrics to the song Hurt by Johnny Cash. Here you can see that I have annotated the lyrics. The reason I have done this was so that I had an image of what I thought the music video might be like before even watching it.

History of music videos By Sian Ryley

The History Of Music

During the 40's Jukeboxes became a way of playing music in clubs. Originating in America, Soundies were three minute films featuring music and dance performances that could be played on them, it was more like a projection machine that was accessible to people in bars. The videos you could see ranged from listening to jazz, to watching dancers and chamber musicians, to even seeing Doris Day. From 1940 to 1946 this was the earliest version of a music video that could be seen.



Jiles Richardson also
known as the Big Bopper

In the late 50's the term 'music video' had been used in a interview with Jiles Perry Richardson, a singer and song writer, known as the Big Bopper at the time. It was around this time that the rise of Rock n Roll became apparent with stars such as Buddy Holly and Johnny Mathis becoming more and more popular until the mid 50's where Elvis came on the scene, taking the Rock n Roll world by storm becoming the most popular singer of the time, making television appearances as well as topping the charts with songs like Jail House Rock and All Shook Up. But it was apparent that in Britain the take over of American music was happening, with stars having to record versions of others songs however some of the war time stars like Vera Lynn were still able to make it into the charts and top them.

Know as the musical revolution and the time of freedom, the 60's became the time of music videos, but it was also a time of influence. This came from America and was strong in Britain at the time, introducing soul and blues into the country. Bands such as The Beatles took this influence and it helped them to created there music. One song that did exceptionally well was 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' which became the groups first number one on the American billboards. However during this time the band released a number of films that were able to market their records. A Hard Day's Night was the first film they released as a band in 1964. It was

never really seen as a music video from the way it was filmed, but it proved to be a success for the band, unlike their second film 'Help' that wasn't received as well.

After the success of this many other rock and roll groups did the same, releasing promo films that were able to show off their performances. And this was seen in the 70's when Queen released 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in 1979. The creation of this short film meant the band could send their music wherever they wanted, enabling them to promote themselves. It was also the first time since The Beatles release A Hard Day's Night that more techniques were used in the making of the film, this includes:

- The use of dissolve and superimpose
- Zoom
- Stage lighting and spot lights
- Use of effects
- And even more of a performance based video

But there still wasn't a lot of opportunities during the 70's due to the fact music videos still weren't very popular but many musicians would still perform on shows such as Top Of The Pops. It was then in 1979 that 'Video Killed The Radio Star' was released by The Buggles, later becoming the first video to be shown on MTV whey they first broadcast on Saturday 1st August 1981.

As MTV had taken off, the 80's became a great time for artists as music videos became more and more popular. The time of 24 hour music also came about. With the come back of Michael Jackson and his album Thriller many other stars started to emerge, this included Madonna, Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson, who both along with Michael were some of the first African American musicians to be showed on MTV.

The 80's also saw the use of synthesisers in music videos. In Madonna's 'Material Girl' video, New Wave Music was used. This consisted of synth arrangements with a robotic voice that would repeat the hook of the song.

In 1986 Robert Palmer then released the song 'Addicted To Love'. This later became a deconstruction when Shania Twain was inspired by what he had done and remade his video in her own way when she released 'Man I Feel Like A Woman' in 1999. In her video she had men stood behind her instead of women like Robert did, the instruments the backing dancers had were similar as they were white in colour. The backdrop of the sky was again the same being red in colour.

Robert Palmer in his music video for Addicted To Love. Here you can see the white instruments that have been used and by looking at the image of Shania in her video you can see she has used similar instruments. Other similarities can also be seen.

Shania Twain's video Man I Feel Like A Woman can be seen to have similarities to Robert Palmer's addicted to love, this includes the arrangement of her and the backing dancers, with Shania centralised like Robert was, except she is surrounded by males and he women.



Screen shot from Eminem's
music video 'Just Lose It' showing
him dressed as Michael Jackson.

The song 'Beat It' by Michael Jackson has also been made into a spoof. A man called Al Yankovic made a parody of the video called 'Eat It' getting '7,941,880' on his video and not only this from this and other videos he has made he has been able to make money from his the work he's doing, while at the same time stars are also making parody's of songs, an example of this is Eminem when he released the video to 'Just Lose It' showing that he had incorporated ideas from Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean'.



A screen shot from
the music video 'Scream'.

By the time the 90's had come around more genres of music were being introduced such as RnB, Hip Hop and rap. These became mainstream and are now common. On the 1st of January 1995, Janet and Michael Jackson had the most expensive music video with 'Scream', it cost them $7 million.

At the time, you would have also heard music from MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice, both hip hop artists with songs like 'Can't Touch This' and 'Ice Ice Baby'. British artists also did well at the time, this included bands such as Westlife and Take That, however girl band The Spice Girls also did well, getting 9 number ones throughout the decade.

In the 1990's the rise of platinum records became apparent, with more artists selling more records all the time, a 9 times over platinum record holder was Elton John with 'Candle In The Wind' in 1997 eventually becoming the best sold single of all time to this date.

However with the growth of technology, from 2000, the music industry has changed rapidly. People now have access to YouTube, allowing them to watch the music videos of thousands of artists and upload their own videos, as well as projects being set up allowing the fans of artists to take part in the making of music videos. One example of this was 'The Johnny Cash Project' allowing fans to add things to the video such as images that they have drawn.

The equipment also being used in the last few years has topped that of the previous years. Professor Green used a 360 degree camera to record his performance of 'Remedy' allowing his fans to interact with his video and allowing them to see what goes on around all of the venue.

Computer/ Video Game analysis (by Beth Fowler)

Sims 3

Genre - Virtual World/ Fantasy

Duration

31 seconds. I think the advert is this long because it grabs the audiences attention and immediately gets to the point. If the advert were any longer it may bore the audience as unnecessary information may be added. A short time period makes the advert more precise and memorable.

Content

The content shows a new town and different Characters that can be changed easily. The changing characters informs the audience about how quickly and easily characters can be changed to their specification in order to crate their own personalised virtual world. The new town looks as though it has been put there just for that viewer to go and explore, change and build upon. It appeals to audiences as them being able to build their own small empire. The way in which the light shines over the town displays positivity and good things.

Sound

Voice Over - Voice is very powerful, dominant and wise sounding. Speaks as though they are telling a story. Perhaps the story that the audience are able to create? Very persuasive language used in order to entice and draw the viewers in to buy the product. 

Characters Speaking - Makes the virtual world seem more real and this then further entices audiences as they can control what seems like real people and the thought of this entices viewers. 

Cheerful Music - Gives the game a positive, happy vibe meaning the audience automatically see the game as a happy and positive thing. 

Diegetic Sound - This is used when a character in the advert turns from being slim to fat. The change makes a 'pop' sound and shows how easily again aspects of the characters can be changed.

Editing

Cuts - Many cuts are used throughout the advert, often at a fast pace portraying the excitement of the characters and the game. It also means that a lot of the visual information can fit into such a short period of time. 

Seamless Editing - The seamless editing means that the changes in location and characters aren't noticeable and therefore the viewer focuses more on the scene, characters and information rather than being distracted by the type of editing used. 

Fade - The fade was used at the end, fading from the town to the logo. This puts an unfinished mark on the scene. By this i mean the fade makes the town seem as though it is still alive however you will not be able to see what is happening unless you buy the game. Also, the way in which it fades tot he game logo is almost putting a final reminder of who bought this to the audience and what logo to look out for.

Mise en Scene

Costume - The characters clothing is all very different and continues to change. This shows the audience a wide variety of clothing and styles they can choose for their characters and also how easy it is to style and personalise a characters image to you preference. 

Props - There seem to be a lot of props used however those that are the most dominant in the scene are; pizza, television, lamp and book. All of these props symbolise day to day items thus showing how the game portrays reality. 

Location - The two dominant locations in the opening are the hill and the town. This makes the town automatically more exciting as a hill is a boring place to be with no entertainment. The town displays a lot of places for entertainment and exploration appealing to the audience as they like to explore this for themselves.

Target Audience 

The target audience for this trailer is for both male and female and most probably aimed at younger people. I think it is aimed at young people because they are the most known to play video games therefore whilst older people may still appeal to the game, younger people are the main target audience as they will be for most video games.

Channel for Broadcasting

I think the main channels for this advertisement are going to be children/ teenage channels such as Disney and nickelodeon. I also think it will broadcast on film and music channels. These channels are mainly aimed at younger people however also give the chance to appeal to older people. This means a wider target audience and all in all higher profitability and game sales.

Certification

T13 - America
12 - UK
The certification for this game is low enough for a wide target audience. 13+ would appeal to this game more as people any younger than this may not understand or may find it difficult to play.

History of Music Videos (by Beth Fowler)

Knowing how drastically music videos have evolved into what they are today is important in understanding just how far the music industry has come. By just watching back iconic music videos made by artists such as the Beetles, Queen and Micheal Jackson just shows how much they have informed and evolved the music videos we see on the television and other devices today.

Beatles

The Beatles were one of the first bands to inform and change the music industry in such a  major way. Their music and the image they created for themselves was something completely new to the music industry and because of this they made a huge mark in the history of music. The Beatles consisted of four band members from Liverpool, UK and came into light in the 60's. The band quickly came to fame and as a result of this were aways coming up with new ideas to market themselves as artists, this is when they began to create music videos. Back then music videos were unheard of and artists had to travel all across the world to radio stations and public talks as a way of telling the public who they were (marketing strategy). However after doing this the Beatles decided there was a more beneficial way of publicising themselves, this being film. They began to harass the power of film to market their records and express themselves as artists.
    'A hard days night' is a 1964 British, black & white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and the Beatles first official film broadcast. This was the first un-intended music video form released by the Beatles featuring songs from their album throughout. The film had a very high success rate and this lead the Beatles to other ambitions. 'Should have known better' was the first dramatic music video released by the Beatles a short period after their film was released. After the success of the film they decided that by broadcasting a video that supported their music it would make a lot of profit and therefore the song would be very successful. The Beatles were correct in saying this and this then lead to  many other artist following their lead.

Queen

Queen were the next band (in follow up to the Beatles) to create a music video to be broadcast worldwide. This the meant for them that they could promote themselves without having to travel to these countries and doing separate broadcasts - Saving time & money. Unlike the Beatles performance based videos, Queen experimented with their music videos as they were established 10 years after the Beatles and therefore decided the platform of music videos had not been explored enough since the Beatles released their first music video.
    Queens first official music video supported their song 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and was a huge success. The song included many of the following elements showing their experimentation;
                                            - Dissolve, Colour, Overlay, Varied camera angles, different
                                              performance scenes, spot lighting, lens flare, different
                                              lenses, scenes multiplied.

Micheal Jackson

Jackson took music videos to a whole new level with his videos creating a personality for who he was as an artist. From when he was first established as an artists onwards Jackson began creating big budget videos with a strong narrative that enticed all viewers. 'Thriller' and 'Beat it' are two of Jackson's best music videos both with Strong narratives and iconic clothing. He began to get noticed for his clothing choices and dance moves, thus creating an image for himself that essentially was a big part in his rise to stardom.
   Micheal Jackson's videos became so iconic that they became leading inspiration for parody videos. Whilst this may be seen as a bad thing, it may not necessarily be. For a parody to be made out of them this means that Jackson's videos are very successful and well known and it also means profit for Jackson as there's a very good chance it will shed a positive light on his music videos. Two of the most known parody videos are; Eat it - Weird Al Yanovic and Eminem - Lose It.

Time Line

                                                  1940- 1946 - Jukebox's

Jukeboxes were a very popular way of listening to music in this era and were a very well know device to be held in American Dinners etc (iconic). They became symbolic as key of socialising and therefore were the prime way of listing to music. Soundies became a feature of jukebox's in the 40's and vastly became popular. Soundies were three minute films featuring music and dance performances, designed to be displayed on Jukebox like projection screens in bars, restaurants and other public spaces.

                                                  1959 - Term 'Music Video' 

According to music historians, singer and songwriter Giles Perry Richardson who went by the name of the 'Big Bopper' became the first person to use the phrase 'music video' in a British magazine interview.This may seem obvious however at the time music videos were un heard of and therefore no name had ever truly been created for what they were.

                                                  1990 - Music Videos popularity

Many more genres were introduced to the music industry during the 90's, for example; R&B, hip hop and rap. As more genres and artists were being introduced to the industry, artists found themselves needing to go the extra mile in order to achieve greater success than others. This then meant music videos were being made frequently and were constantly improving. In this decade Michael Jackson's - Scream was established as the most expensive music video ever made with a total budget of $7 million (January 1995). This caused a significant increase in music videos as music industries found themselves sin a position where they had to compete.

                                                  2003 - YouTube

YouTube was created in 2003, it was one of the first sites to allow users to upload and share videos with the world as well as viewing other peoples videos themselves. This changed the way people watched music videos, allowing audiences to stream what ever it is they want to without having to go through all of the unnecessary drama and expenses. This revolutionised music videos and then meant there was a higher demand for them as more sites were created in followup to YouTube's leading example.

                                                2010 - 1011 - Interaction

Music videos allow their audiences to interact and get involved. The Johnny Cash project allowed audiences to interact and contribute to the music video (2010). Whilst professor Green specially created a soundtrack that was produced with a 360 degree camera allowing the audience to interact, manipulate and direct the video how they desire. We have not yet seen any of this technology put into play however this could be the next step in revolutionising music videos? 

Johnny Cash - Hurt (by Beth Fowler)

Music Video Analysis

This music video very much symbolises the end of Johnny Cash's music career and is everything a viewer would have thought it to be. The video includes photographs of his career, archive footage and Johnny Cash in his older age.
The video includes many symbolic scenes and props to add a greater depth of emotion to the video, making Mise en Scene very important to prompting viewers emotions. In the opening scene of the video we see Cash dressed in all black, this is important as he is known as 'the man in black' and therefore in the closing of his career, he has to say goodbye to who he was. After we see a shot of him in the opening scene, we then see a low angle shot of the american flag and a sign for the closing of his museum. The fact in which he had a museum shows his fame and the closing of this museum then shows the fading of his career and the falling of his empire? The american flag represents freedom and what it means to be American. Johnny Cash made part of american history with his music and represented what it was to be American making a stamp on the music industry and how it improves itself.
  In johnny second appearance in the video we see him open the piano. This is a very symbolic movement, almost as if he is opening the piano for one last song. This all adds to the emotion and reality of the video, all scenes in the video sum up his career in  a very short space of time. His appearance in the video shows him in his old age and this in itself sums up the long life he has led and everything he has done to build up an empire for himself and his family. It definitely causes emotion for the viewer, especially those who know cash or are fans of him as it shows his pain and sadness towards aspects of his life rather than celebrating all of the achievements he had made for himself. For anybody at an old age, they should look back at the good times in their life and the fact that he still feels sadness and dwells on the bad causes viewers to feel sympathetic and almost helpless towards his state of mind.
  We see a scene of an empty museum when Cash emphasizes 'Empire of dirt'. This makes me think although he has built an empire for himself out of money and possession, that will not been anything to him or anybody else when he dies so what is the point? the empty museum symbolises how all of his possesions are now dirty, broken and worthless showing that they may have once been worth money but now his career has ended they do not mean anything. This then allows me to see his viewpoint and why he may feel so negative towards his life and memories. Perhaps he hurt the people that mean something to him to build himself a worthless empire that now means nothing and he has nobody. The famous broken golden record was emphasized in the scene of the museum. A golden record is a very important prize possession in an artists life showing them that they have made it and achieved every upcoming artists dream. The fact this record is broken symbolises his broken career.
  The cut we see to Cash in prison shows the dark moments in his life and everything that helped to build up the character he became. After his time in prison he enjoyed to visit prisons everywhere and perform to the prisoners as he didn't agree with the justice system. Many people will have different opinions on this however i think as a whole this puts Cash in a good light and whilst showing the wrong he's done in his life he's also looking back on the people he has done right by. Another part of the video that sheds some light on his story is the light being turned on in a room in which he keeps all of his merchandise. This shows there is still light and life in his career and possessions despite all of the bad that's happened, there have been many good aspects to his life.
  The way in which Cash is sat before a wide table of food has a very symbolic message. The large quantity of food symbolises his wealth and greed and how he has nobody to share it with. I believe this has a very religious link and message perhaps linking with the last song, the last supper? The way in which he pours the wine onto the table signifys the blood of Christ and how he is giving Christ all of his possesions, belongings and wealth as he know longer wants it.
  The lighting throughout the video remains dark. This is most likely due to the strong emotion throughout the video and represents the dark place that Johnny Cash is in. A lot of synthetic lighting is used also to dramatise scenes such as the scene where Cash is playing the piano and there is a bright orange light in the background to represent a sunset.
  In terms of camera angles, we see a varied range of that support the mood of the video. Many close ups are used throughout the video in order to show Cash's emotions as this emphasises the lyrics and depth of meaning. We see an extreme close up of Cash and silhouettes showing his old age and therefore his long life. The wrinkles on his face show tiredness emphasising his struggle to fight against all he has done wrong and his tiredness of feeling the way he does. Many pans are used throughout the video. The pans show the scene thoroughly and make the audience feel a part of the scene as they are seeing more than one area of a location. For example, Cash's empty museum is panned to show in depth how empty the room has become with his career now becoming non existent.
  Half way through the video there is a cut to Cash in prison, this shows his struggles in life giving the song lyrics meaning. Johnny Cash spent a lot of time performing in Prisons as he didn't agree with the justice system and knew first hand what it was like. The abrupt cuts create a build up of dark moments and memories telling only part of Cash's story, towards the end of the video the cuts become very fast paced and we see a build up of moments in his life and then a sudden stop to show his life has past in fast motion and now he is where he is today.
  The video doesn't involve much editing.
  

Rudimental - Waiting all night (by Beth Fowler)

Music Video Analysis

Rudimental are a well-known English drum and bass group who are relatively new in the music industry. They were signed by Asylum Records in 2010 and since then have been quickly rising to fame with the popularity of the drum and bass genre rising. The group were first recognised in 2012 when their first hit single ‘Feel the Love’ ft. John Newman was released. The single most definitely got them recognised, not just in the UK but worldwide and their fame widened when their second Single ‘Not giving in’ ft. Alex Clare was released at the end of 2012. Not giving in topped the UK singles chart and there latest single has received the same response. Their latest single is called ‘waiting all night’ ft. Ella Eyre and was released in the beginning months of 2013. Since then its success has grew and on April the 21^st 2013 it was officially named number 1 single at the time, topping the UK singles chart. All three of these singles are from their debut album titled ‘home’ and have all been successful singles.

   Waiting all night is an emotional music video that tells the true story of BMX champion and actor - Kurt Yaeger. Kurt Yaeger was involved in a serious accident in 2006 that resulted in his right leg having to be amputated. This caused many struggles for Yaeger and meant that he had to learn how to walk again let alone continue his passion for BMX riding. He did however persist to learn how to ride again and in the end won his battle and mastered riding a BMX with the loss of a limb. The video displays his motivation and passion for BMX riding and also features his fiends meaning the emotions and relationships displayed show real life circumstances and emotions, making the video more dramatic and moving for the audience.

   The video has a total length of 4 minutes and 52 seconds; this is a long length for a music video however the story is told in such a way that displays a lot of action (highs and lows in his story) therefore the length needs to be this long to display his victory and struggles. The action in the video is complimented by the music, when there are low points or struggles in his battle the music drops or slows and when he is succeeding or about to succeed there is a build-up of music and a sudden burst of high upbeat sound.

  In terms of Mise en Scene the video features a lot of detail with a variety of locations to tell the true story and keep the audience captured in the high emotion. The video features a lot of locations throughout, these include; Hospital, Main Characters House, Streets/ Roads, BMX park (ramps and equipment that professional BMX riders can practise on) and a room that a welcoming party is thrown in (this could be his house also however it is not clear). The range of locations gives the narrative depth and interest. It means the audience feel as though they are watching a short documentation of real footage as they follow him on his journey from his injury to his recovery. The hospital is a vital location in showing what has happened to him is serious and the sessions he goes to in order to improve his walking and balance is important in showing his steps in recovery. The jumps in time to his hospital sessions show it is taking time for him to learn how to live with his injury and his recovery was not just an overnight success. The changes in clothing and appearance are also importing in showing the passing in time. In the first hospital scene he looks very ill and weak. In the second hospital scene he looks as though he is taking his first physiotherapy session and his frustration towards the fact he cannot yet walk is clear. As the sessions go on you can see him looking healthier and happier with the progress he has made.  Losing the ability to walk so suddenly has to be very frustrating and overwhelming for someone especially as walking is such a simple task that’s done without having to think and showing this is importing in telling his story successfully. All of the characters are wearing casual clothing, this displays the video as more of a documentary showing his story as detailed and truthfully as possible. Another way they have tried to get across his true story is by using some real footage taken at the time, this authenticates the narrative and relationships shown.

   The video displays both day and night scenes and uses mainly natural lighting (this lighting could be synthetic made to look natural in some circumstances such as light leaks). The natural lighting again makes the video seem more like real life footage and helps to compliment the positivity in the action and negativity also. The light leaks shine through in the parts of the scene where the main character is winning his battle and progressing quickly. The light shining through symbolises happiness and positivity for him, it almost looks as though someone is watching over him and when he is fighting to overcome his injury there are people there to help him. This could also symbolise the relationship he has with his friends and family who helped him through his struggle and encouraged/ motivated him to not give up.