Pre-Production: Costume Research

Planning costumes for our actors 

When planning what kinds of costumes to use, we decided to study what kinds of clothes other indie rock bands wear. Here are some of the outfits which we found particularly useful:



From these images, we decided that most indie rock bands wore clothes which were darker in colour and have more of a 'hipster' look. As we would be using kids for our music video, we decided that we would tell them to wear all dark clothes e.g. black skinny jeans/leggings, black boots and a grey jumper/top. By doing this our band which we would be creating would look more as though they were of the indie rock genre. 

We then looked at the sort of clothes that The Jacques would typically wear and found similar things:


The Jacques also wear a lot of darker and baggier clothing, which confirmed for us what we had planned for our dress code for the children, which we would use in our music video. 

Pre-Production: Props Research

Choosing our Props


After we had decided on both of our locations we needed to make sure that the props we used would fit with our genre but also be linked to how we would use children in our video. 

For the scenes in the child's bedroom, we decided that we would leave all of the props already in the room the same, as we felt that this would provide us with a more accurate representation of a child's room. However we thought that we could add some props to the bedroom which would be a reference to the child's love of music, as they would dream of being in a band. This could include an instrument of some sort, music posters and headphones. 

For the performance scenes on stage, we decided to make our own instruments out of cardboard. Although we could easily borrow instruments from Norden Farm, we thought that, our video would look better if the children had home-made instruments. This meant we would need to make a drum kit and 3 guitars. 

Pre-Production: Location Research

Choosing a Location

The stage at Norden Farm

When we originally brainstormed ideas for our music video, we decided that the most ideal venue would be a pub/bar which looked low budget and as if it was in an urban location. However, one of our group member's mum worked at Norden Farm, which had a few stages which we would be able to use to film on. The stage we would use could be emptied this was ideal as we would probably not be able to record children pretending to play instruments in a bar, in order to do this we would need actual live performers. Using this location would also be extremely convenient, all of our group members know where it is, it is very close to where we all live and it would be free. 

For our second location, we decided to use one on of our group member's little sister's bedroom. As we were using children, we wanted to make sure that the location where the child was shown at home was a place where a child would spend time, particularly when they listened to music, like the child we choose would be doing during our music video.

Pre-Production: Shot Lists

Pre-Production: Storyboards

Pre-Production: Risk Assessment

Risk Assessments

Our Final Idea

Picking the Final Idea for our Music Video

When trying to chose a final idea for our music video we had to chose something which we thought would accurately represent the band, conform to the indie rock genre and be relatively easy to achieve. At first we decided to use our idea of including a narrative where the lead singer is late for their gig. We planned to show some mid shots of the lead singer Fin waking up on a wooden table outside a pub with an empty pint of beer next to him. He would then frantically look at the time, realising he is late for his gig, before picking up his guitar and running to the gig venue. We would switch between shots of Fin running and the band playing without him, showing Fin bursting through the venue doors and making it up onto the stage just in time to start singing. The remainder of the video would include fast cuts of their performance to keep the pace of the music video up. 

However, when trying to organise a day to film with the band so that we could try and chose a venue, we found out that the band would not be available until way after our filming deadline. This meant that we had to start our storyboards and planning again. 

The idea which we then decided on was to use children to represent the band. This meant that we would not need the band for filming at all and we could still go ahead with using a performance. In the end we also decided to keep a narrative but we chose a different one. At the start of the video we planned to show the child representing the lead singer, Fin, in her bedroom putting on her headphones to listen to Weekends by The Jacques. After he/she has put on a pair of headphones, we would transition to shots of the children representing the band in some performance scenes. Throughout the video we would cut back occasionally to the scenes in the bedroom. This should hopefully make it seem like the performance scenes are in the child's imagination as if she dreams of being in the band herself.

Initial Ideas

Brainstorming our initial ideas

Now that we have chosen our track 'Weekends', we decided to start off by brainstorming a few ideas for our music video:

As mentioned in the mind map above, we had an idea to use Polaroid cameras in some way, as there is reference to them in our chosen song. One idea which we particularly liked, was to use the border on Polaroid images around our music video, however we were not sure how we would achieve this when editing our music video together. 


We also decided that we would use a low budget venue. As well as this being a benefit to us as we would not to have to pay as much for our venue, it would also conform to a convention of the indie rock genre, as well as being something which The Jacques often use themselves. We decided that a preferred venue would be a small pub/bar. 

As I found when researching into indie rock bands, a majority of them base their videos mainly on performance so we decided that our video should also conform to this stereotype. Despite this, we did have a few ideas where we could combine a performance with either a narrative of a concept. For example, we had an idea to have the lead singer of the band wake up somewhere and realise that he is late for their gig. We would then show him running to the venue, making it just in time to start singing, cutting between him running and the band playing without him. 

Lyric Analysis

Our Chosen Song- Weekends

After confirming with the band that we could make a music video for one of their songs, we needed to decide which song we would chose. In the end we decided on 'Weekends'. After choosing our song, we decided to analyse the lyrics of the chorus of the song, to try and get some inspiration for our music video, and to make sure there were links between the lyrics and the visuals.

Audience Research

Our Target Audience

We decided that our target audience for our chosen artist The Jacques is teenagers and young adults. To decide our target audience, we looked at the genre indie rock to see with what age group this genre was most popular. Indie rock music is typically found at music festival, which are normally more popular with teens and young adults. The Jacques themselves have also already played at several festivals, confirming their target audience of teenagers and young adults. With this target audience in mind, we wanted to make sure that our music video was both fun and edgy, so that it would appeal to younger people.

The Jacques

Analysing our chosen artist

Our chosen artist, The Jacques, have, in the past, produced music videos which conform to the stereotypes of their genre- indie rock. The band themselves are typically seen wearing dark, baggy clothing with a slightly grungy vibe. Their hair is often messy, giving them a rougher, carefree appearance, conforming to one of the conventions of indie rock bands. As the band only started up fairly recently, they do not yet have many music videos. However, from the few music videos which they do have, it is easy to see that their videos have a certain style. The videos are almost always in urban settings, and lots of shots are used to show this, e.g. shots of road signs and built up areas. 

As well as this, the camera moves around a lot, creating a rough feel to the video, which is a common feature of indie rock music videos that I've seen when researching other indie rock bands. Some of their videos are in black and white and they have used boarders around the screen, which is similar to the techniques used in 'Debaser' by the Pixies, where they overlaid lots of shots, which I looked at earlier. 

Use of a low quality camera and a boarder in The Jacques' music video 'Weekends'.

Use of a low quality camera and overlaid shots in the Pixies' music video 'Debaser'.

Analysing Music Video Genres- Indie Rock- Part 3

Pixies

The Pixies are an American band formed in 1986 in Boston. They are associated with the genres indie rock and alternative rock. Their style has been described as a mixture of surf music and punk rock. They have said that they try to be dynamic, but their music is usually either loud and intense or quiet and relaxed. 

Debaser is an example of one of their songs. The music video features shots of a live performance, overlaid with letters and effects which make the video look as if it is malfunctioning. The video itself is very dark in colour and it is very hard to tell what is going on, as the video seems to have been shot using a lower quality camera, making the video seem more unfinished and different. This conforms to the indie rock genre, where videos are typically performance based. Indie rock videos are also often of a lower quality, to reiterate their 'alternative' feel which they have about them. 

Analysing Music Video Genres- Indie Rock- Part 2

The Strokes 

The Strokes are an American rock band formed in 1998 in New York City. The band is associated with the genres indie rock and garage rock. 

An example of one of their songs is Reptilia. The video for it is entirely performance based, a typical association with indie rock bands, however, all of the shots used are close ups. As I found out through earlier research, the stereotypical music video has an average of 60-70% mid shots and close ups, compared to this music video which is entirely made up of close up shots. In doing this, they have managed to create an interesting music video using only one shot type. This could be viewed as a technique that the band chose to employ, in order to stand out and seem different from other bands, which is something which most indie rock bands try to do in their music videos. 

Analysing Music Video Genres- Indie Rock- Part 1

As our chosen band, The Jacques, is an indie rock band, we decided to study other similar bands who incorporate similar ideas/concepts into their videos so that we could represent the band's genre as best as possible. 

The Libertines

The Libertines are an indie rock band formed in London in 1997. Their music videos typically had quite a low sound quality making the video come across as more raw and unpolished. Conforming to stereotypes of indie rock bands, a vast majority of the band's music videos are performance based and the band has often been compared to many classic British rock bands. 

An example of one of their songs is 'Don't Look Back Into The Sun'. The video opens with the band walking around somewhere in Britain (which we can tell from the British flags) with some of the band members wearing the uniforms which the grenadier guards wear- a uniform typically associated with Britain. Throughout the video, we see a live performance from the band, as well as seeing the band walking around wearing their uniforms. The camera quality is low, and the shots look as though the brightness has been slightly decreased, giving the video a very amateurish look which is also often associated with indie/alternative bands. As well as this, the shots are often shaky, as if filmed on a low quality/home video camera. This technique is also often used in indie rock videos, to give the video a more rough look.

Approval From Our Artist

In order to get approval from our chosen artist The Jacques, so that we could use one of their songs to make a music video, one of our group members who knows the band, messaged the lead singer on Facebook. 

Artist Background Research

The Jacques 

Our chosen artist to make a music video for is The Jacques, an indie rock band, from the Bristol area, who formed in early 2014. The band is made up of two sets of brothers, who have played at many venues including at the Dot to Dot Festival and Glastonbury Festival as well as being a sport act for The Libertines at Hyde Park. The band was signed at Hyde Park by the drummer from The Libertines, Gary Powell. 

We decided to use this band as they were a friend of one of our group members so we knew we could easily get permission to use one of their songs for our coursework. They also go to university fairly locally and when they aren't at uni they are only as far away as Bristol, so it should be fairly easy to negotiate a time when we could meet and record with them.

Audience Research 2

Who are the specific audiences for particular products?

For this part of our research we decided to look at what kinds of videos are shown on MTV Rocks, the institution most likely to show a music video from a band which we have been looking at, and their audience demographic. This channel mostly plays songs with the genres indie and rock. They are described as having a target audience aged 16-24.

The most common artists/bands which appear on MTV Rocks include The 1975, Twenty One Pilots, Arctic Monkeys, Bring Me The Horizon and Catfish & The Bottlemen. These artists could all be described as producing more 'alternative' music which fits with what you would expect to find on MTV rocks- indie and rock bands. The target audience of these bands range from young teens up to middle aged people, as the bands are generally quite well known. Also the genres indie and rock are more likely to appeal to a wider audience as they are becoming more and more mainstream. 

Audience Research 1

What do real audiences consume?

After looking at and analysing some music videos to try and find conventions which they followed as well as looking at the types of shots they used and how different styles of music video are structured (narrative, performance, concept). We have now decided to look at popular music videos to try and see patterns in what audiences like to consume.

When searching up the most popular music videos of 2015 we found that the most popular videos were 'See You Again' by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth, 'Hello' by Adele, 'Lean On' by Major Lazer and DJ Snake and 'Sugar' by Maroon 5. These were all very big mainstream tracks. The most viewed track of all time is Gangnam Style by PSY with around 2.5 billion views followed by See You Again by Wiz Khalifa with around 1.5 billion views. Both of these videos were not famous because of the song itself. Gangnam Style is so famous because of the slightly rediculous music video and the dance which they made to go with the song. Whereas See You Again is from the sound track of a very famous movie sieries, Fast and Furious, and the song was written in memory of one of the cast members who died.

Analysing Music Video Directors- Mark Romanek

Mark Romanek

Mark Romanek is an American film maker who also directs music videos and commercials. He has been directing music videos since 1985 and has worked with a variety of artists throughout his time directing including Madonna and Michael Jackson. He was awarded his first grammy award for his video for 'Scream' by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson which is one of the most expensive videos made costing around seven million dollars to make. In his more recent videos, he has worked with Taylor Swift  in making her video for 'Shake it off' and Jay-Z's '99 Problems'.

Analysing Music Video Directors- Director X

Director X

Director X (Julien Christian Lutz) is a Canadian music video director. Some of his most successful videos include 'Fancy' by Iggy Azalea, 'Yeah' by Usher and 'Black Magic' by Little Mix. He has also worked with artists such as Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber and The Wanted.




He has been directing music videos since 1998, and since then has always worked with very popular and well known artists. In his music videos, he often uses the black 'letterbox' bars on the top and bottom of the video, which would open and close at the beginning and end of his music videos. This can be seen in Usher's 'Yeah'.

Analysing Music Video Directors- Hype Willams

Hype Williams

Harold 'Hype' Williams is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter and music video director. Throughout his time directing, he has won many awards for his music videos. For example in 1996 he won the Billboard Music Video Award for Best Director of the Year. As well as this he has also been recognised for his work in making Will Smith's video 'Gettin' Jiggy wit it' as well as TLC's 'No Scrubs' and Kanye West's 'Gold Digger'. He has worked a lot with Kanye West creating a total of twenty music videos for him. 



Hype Williams is known for his use of the fish eye lens, which contorts the central focus of his videos. This technique is used in his video 'Gimme Some More' by Busta Rhymes. 



Another style which several of his videos employs is splitting a shot and putting the two parts of the shot above and below the main video. He has used this technique on many of his videos, including 'So Sick' by Ne-Yo and 'Check on it' by Beyonce.