Superhero Costume Ideas

Since the narrative for our music video is going to be based around a day in the life of a superhero I decided to do some research into the costumes are main character would be dressed in.

Option 1. SUPERMAN
Superman is arguably the worlds most recognised superhero. His movies attract people of all ages/gender and backgrounds. This is ideal for us as we want to appeal to a wide variety of different people.

Superman wears a skin tight blue suit with his emblem across the chest. He wears a red cape and boots

Here is some research into Superman Costumes I conducted on the internet. Our Budget is between £20-£30

Option 2. SPIDERMAN

Our second option is Marvels’ Spiderman. Spiderman currently has 3 Original motion picture films released and is currently undergoing a reboot under the name ‘The Amazing Spiderman’ which currently has released 2 films.

Spiderman wears a red/blue full body, skin-tight suit including a full face mask which resembles somewhat of a spider and its web

Option 2. POWER RANGERS

Our third Option is one of the above Power Rangers. They also have an individually coloured morphsuit and mask. Power Rangers are currently a bit outdated and is based on a childs TV show. This could tie in nicely with our idea of an Average superhero who has past his prime and feels he obsolete

Organic and Synthetic artists

Organic artists are often sold on their authenticity, both musically and socially. Their image is infact not constructed, and do have a say in their image. For example, the band Mumford & Sons are sold purely on their musical ability, and not visually. Their music videos usually highlights the fact they are a band and play their own music. They also usually show them performing. In contrast, synthetic artists are often sold on their look and personalities, for example One Direction are sold on their good looks and young charm. Their image is carefully constructed and emphasis is put on the sales of merchandise, rather than them performing live. Their target audience is usually less sophisticated and younger. The profits generated by this kind of artist tend to be of an immediate short term strategy by the record label. One Direction's music videos solely focus on them looking nice and lip syncing to the audience, rather than Mumford & Son's proving their sound and musical ability. Mumford & Sons write their own lyrics, and their passion is evident in their music videos when they lip sync with true passion, whereas One Direction get their songs written for them, and their songs/music videos are majorly based around superficial things such as love, girls and girlfriends which contrasts what Mumford & Sons write about real life events. Moreover, as we can see in these photoshoot pictures below, Mumford & Sons are still with their instruments. This portrays the image of a proper band that they want to give off. Additionally, their outfits are more casual and less stylish, displaying their main focus is their music. In contrast, One Direction are usually all smiles and very happy in photoshoots/single covers. This illustrates their synthetic look and how they are extremely controlled and manufactured. This links to one of their main focuses being memorabilia and merchandise, rather than Mumford & Sons main focus being their music.

Their logos also portray their image. Mumford & Sons' is not brightly coloured as their intention is not to jump out at you and catch your eye. The colours are dark and dull, which displays their logo and 'brand' is not their main focus. Whereas One Direction's logo is very bold and eye catching, and immediately makes you want to know more.

Location ideas

We think it would be a good idea to film in some iconic, British locations, this is because it would mean that British fans would be able to instantly connect with the video and the artist. Lots of people are very patriotic and therefore would enjoy a music video that encompasses the beautiful sights England has to offer. For audience members outside the UK being able to see the most attractive tourist sites that England has to offer is a perfect way to sell the artist and video. Giving the foreign fans a taste of the British lifestyle. London is one of the major cities of the world and a dream location for tourists therefore supplying people with visuals of these places would be very appealing. Also the location says a lot about the artist, filming outside in fun, busy locations lets the audience know that the artist is an adventurous and bubbly person which is what appeals to the teenage audience with evidence from similar genre artists such as One direction who filmed one of their music videos on a tour bus around London.

Idea (2)

All Star - Smash Mouth

Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me
I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed
She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb
In the shape of an "L" on her forehead

Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming
Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running
Didn't make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

So much to do, so much to see
So what's wrong with taking the back streets?
You'll never know if you don't go
You'll never shine if you don't glow

[Chorus:]
Hey, now, you're an All Star get your game on, go play
Hey, now, you're a Rock Star get the show on get paid
And all that glitters is gold
Only shooting stars break the mold

It's a cool place and they say it gets colder
You're bundled up now but wait 'til you get older
But the media men beg to differ
Judging by the hole in the satellite picture

The ice we skate is getting pretty thin
The water's getting warm so you might as well swim
My world's on fire. How about yours?
That's the way I like it and I'll never get bored.

[Chorus 2x]

Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas
I need to get myself away from this place
I said yep, what a concept
I could use a little fuel myself
And we could all use a little change

Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming
Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running
Didn't make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

So much to do so much to see
So what's wrong with taking the back streets
You'll never know if you don't go
You'll never shine if you don't glow.

[Chorus]

And all that glitters is gold
Only shootin' stars break the mold

Digipack - Powederface

The right image is an original album cover, the left image is my version of the album cover. I used photoshop to edit a picture of Angelina Jolie's faces to a black and white version. I added a picture of drips and changed the colour to blue. Then I added the translucent purple circles and placed them over the other images. I then added the text and tried to match the colours.

Star Image

Richard Dyer is a professor in the department of Film studies at King's College. Dyer said that a star is an image created by music companies through advertising, magazines, music videos etc and not a real person. His theory is that they are made simply to make the company money by advertising to a specific audience. 

Dyer's theory can be supported by looking at artists such as Miley Cyrus, this is because when Miley Cyrus started out in the industry she was a young pop performer, performing to the young teens who watched her show 'Hannah Montanna'. Looking at her at the time we could not know for definite that she was not herself, but as the show was ending people began to see a different side to the cute and joyful teenage Miley, and began to see a darker side with the release of the song 'Can't be tamed'.  

Once the show was over she changed her style, music and record label. This shows that the record label before was trying to keep the teenage image of Miley but it's not what she wanted. She began to wear different outfits and have different styles, she cut her hair extremely short and dyed it. Her fan base has changed completely with some of her old fans sticking with her and a lot of other types of people beginning to like her. Her portrayal of a lack of clothing and inappropriate behaviour has drastically changed people's idea of her.

Telephone by Lady Gaga Analysis

The video matches a few of the key features in different areas, for example the video matches the lyrics when the word telephone is sung we see a telephone in the shot most of the time. Also When we hear the sound of muffled talking on the phone or a phone ringing we are shown a character speaking on the phone to imply it is diegetic sound but also part of the song. Also throughout the song we are shown multiple close-ups of Lady Gaga and Beyonce's faces, body parts and clothing which shows the record label is trying to sell the song and the singers on their looks as well as talent. The close-ups of Lady Gaga's interesting outfits and lack of clothing throughout the video is a way to sell Lady Gaga as an artist through her music videos. 

Evaluation of Fist Idea

Whilst presenting our ideas to the class it dawned upon us that maybe our current visions for the music video we are going to create aren’t quite right yet.

To briefly summarise our ideas thus far:

• Produce a music video for the song ‘She’s So Lovely’ by the band Scouting For Girls
• Have two main themes: Narrative and Performance. We would have a band performing the song while we cut to several narratives throughout.
• The basic narrative is of boys lusting after girls in different ways in a variety of different locations. The location would link to the lyrics of the song.

Problems/feedback with the idea

• It could be seen to be too similar to the current music video that exists already
• There would be too much emphasis on the band which might get boring after a while
• A party scene would be too hard to create and we would be too reliant on lots of people showing up
• Our idea follows the lyrics too literally 

Positives 

• Really good song - easy to lip sync to 
• Good idea but not for the song - follows the lyrics to literally

In response to this feedback as a group we are going to have another brainstorming session to hopefully come up with some more ideas and maybe use a different song 

Idea (1)

Key Features of a Music Video

Andrew Goodwin has identified the key features of a music video:

1.  Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (eg stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band.
2.  There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).
3.  There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).
4.  The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
5.  There is frequent reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6.  There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc).

How To Make A Song

This YouTube video is a comedic tutorial of how to make a song by Brett Domino. It uses slight mockery to infer that making songs is extremely simple and easy to do, he proves this when at the end of the explanations he incorporates everything he has taught into one and makes a song. He talks about the structure of a standard 'pop' song explaining that it must contain a straightforward: instrumental hook, drum beat, vocal hook and lyrics. He teaches that all though many believe the lyrics to be extremely important that actually that are generic sentences to make the audience believe the singer is singing about them. This helps to sell the song.