Brief 4 – Music Video and Online
How do you intend to use the four areas of the media theoretical framework to communicate meaning and meet the requirements of your chosen brief? (approx. 400 words)
Product 1
For my music video, I intend to create a video showing the anthemic nature of the song "Mr. Blue Sky" implementing forms of narrative- a mix of performance montage and a narrative element, following the story of a young artist exploring the day around him. My artist will be presented as down-to-earth and relatable (no designer clothing, or makeup, and a natural mise-en-scene) to reach my 16–25-year-old aspirational audience. Sony has signed many up-and-coming artists with a small fanbase, so my video will include elements briefly presenting naturalistic, real-world scenarios my audience would understand and can relate to: e.g. a messy bedroom, rather than glamorous sets. The animations, as well as the range of different shot types and visual effects, will adhere to many of Andrew Goodwin's aspects of a music video. There will be reoccurring themes to anchor the video's meaning such as reappearing characters – like the main rabbit, Muffin - and other parallels, with a cyclical structure from beginning to end. My graphics and iconography will maintain the uplifting style seen in my visuals and animations to maintain a cohesive brand identity. Intertextual references will be made to the TV show Adventure Time, which uses a similar artistic style to my video, and was aired in 2010, the age in which my target audience would be watching. As well as this I will pay homage to several classic Disney films such as Bambi and Lady and the Tramp, paying tribute to Disney’s ground-breaking cel animation. Older Disney films are aimed towards a broad target audience and will play on feelings of nostalgia and flatter the audience with an exciting easter egg for them to discover.
Product 2
Creating my artist’s star persona will be achieved in the creation of the accompanying website, which will include “exclusive” photographs of my band and “meet the team”, with working links to exclusive interviews and additional content for fans. Hyperlinks and social media buttons will encourage audiences to engage with my artist as my target demographic is accustomed to engaging with their favourite artists online, being digitally native. My website will be easy to navigate, with clear feature tabs such as “About”, “Home”, “Tour”, and “Merch”. Information will be provided on the history of the artist in the “About” section, briefly highlighting the issues that he faced in his past, illustrating his aspirational nature of striving for happiness and overcoming struggles in life. Using the same shooting locations for photography as seen in the video will create synergy. I will go above and beyond to create a house style that engages audiences and encourages them to see more. If possible, I will include a dedicated merchandise section where I will superimpose some of the art used in the music video onto t-shirts, mugs and more. The Sony logo will be visible at the bottom of my pages, and I will maintain a constant colour palette reflecting the visuals seen in the video to reinforce a clear house style. Returning fans of my artist will be catered for as I will include several teasers for more albums to come, accompanied with the teaser of a ‘brand overhaul’ “All of My friends R Animals”- like many artists change their website aesthetic from one album to the next, the audience is teased with a release date and juxtaposing imagery to the rest of the website – the artist is still the same, but in a different setting to mark the changing of seasons from summer to autumn.
How do you intend to link your media products to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the digitally convergent nature of your media production? (approx. 100 words)
I will demonstrate my understanding of digital convergence by including a call to action, encouraging fans to tweet with a set hashtag shown on my website, relating to the content of the music video. The website will be linked in the description of my music video and the video will be featured on the homepage of my website- both are accessible from one another. Characters and animations from my video will be shown throughout the website, in order to maintain a visually appealing, cohesive house style. The website includes an easter egg that is only fully understood if the video is watched (which is purely visual, but provides entertainment for loyal fans), as well as other easter eggs with secret rewards for observant viewers. Furthermore, there will be extensive links from one media product to the other – links to the website at the end of the video, links to the video in the website, etc. I will also use assets of my animation on my website - gifs and easter eggs will be littered throughout the website in a fun and interesting way.
