Frank Turner is an English folk/Rock artist, previously known for his punk career in the band 'Million Dead'. He began to focus on his acoustic career after the band split up in 2005 after four years and two albums being released. He released his first solo EP in 2006, titled Campfire Punk rock which featured five songs on the standard and 6 on the Vinyl album. Recorded at frank's Bassists house in Oxford and recorded by his guitarist.
Frank turner was well educated, attending Eaton University on a scholarship where he studied alongside Prince William. He also attended the London school of Economics where he studied history.
Frank's songs focus on things personal to him, such as how he battled with depression and even political elements. During his career, he traveled around on tours for about eight years.
Frank and his backing band 'The Sleeping Souls' have released six studio albums, The latest album, 'Positive Songs for Negative People' contains the song 'Get Better', which is the song I chose to crate my music video.
Frank Turner has been nominated for 10 awards since 2010 but only won three of them, Kerrang Awards- 2010 for No half Measures Award and two at AIM wards in 2011 for Best Live Act and Hardest Working Artist. Winning awards and becoming a very successful artist lead to his role in the 2012 olympics opening ceremony , where he performed his song 'I Still Believe', Accompanied by 'The Sleeping Souls' and many different actors celebrating English heritage.
Frank Turner's fifth album, Tapedeck Heart has been described by himself as a break up album, following on from the end of a long term relationship, the songs focus around loss and failed relationships, as shown in the song below.
Franks style is very casual, he very rarely dresses up or uses makeup artists, he usually just throws on some clothes and films how he is, to capture how real and meaningful his music is.
In this video, he really captures the meaning behind the end of a relationship, displaying a sign that reads 'The End Is Coming' shows how sometimes you can see it coming even if the other person i the relationship cant.
As he is digging the hole in the music video, it can be interpenetrated in different ways, I see it as him searching for what has been lost in his relationship or even him searching for something more than what he already has. The bystanders could represent the support he has from his family, friends and even his fans.
What is it?
Primary research is information that you have gathered yourself using your own resources to enable you to collect it. Primary research is first hand information that you can collect using things like Surveys, Questionnaires and focus groups who will give their opinions or answer questions which allows you to complete your research.
What did you do?
In order to conduct Primary Research, I created a questionnaire so I could collect the responses in order to analyse them. I also requested feedback on the comments of the Youtube video to gain both positive and negative responses to enable me to complete and improve the video.
Secondary Research- What is it?
Secondary research is research carried out by another source that you have compiled into one place. The research from your chosen subject will be gathered by an external source and put onto things like a website or a book that you can take, with permission, you may use the research in order to conduct your research.
What did you do?
I used secondary research in order to film my music video, I had to browse through the Facebook page of the band to gather some information before I contacted them in order to get an idea of the band members as people and also the music itself.
Quantitative research- What is it?
Quantitative research is collected into graphs and tables and compared, much like a voting system, if there are two opinions, one is always going to be more popular than the other, they would be compared, such as "10 people say that heavy metal music is a very unpopular genre where as 15 say that is it"
Barb, the official viewing figure page in the UK monitor who watches television programs and when in order to record the most popular channels and programs. They arrange them into category's and add up to date facts and figures.
RAJAR do are the same as BARB in the sense that they record the figures and facts, although they focus on radio stations instead of Television . What did you do?
I personally do not use this type of research, I find that often the opinions are biased due to the person conducting the research mostly targeting people who are either familiar with the subject or even who they know has a certain opinion in order to sway the results the way they hope it will go
Audience and Market Research-
When creating a production, you have to determine who it is going to be aimed at, you have to take into account such things as Age, Gender, Location, Status (Upper, middle or working class). Understanding your target audience is important as it enables you to be able to sell your product.
Creating my documentary involved a lot of thinking when it came to target audience as the genre of music I chose is not mainstream, I had to choose between doing something that interested me or what interested a wider audience, Therefore I chose to do both, educating the audience and also focusing on the band I had chosen to follow.
Production Research-
Before starting a production, I had to do a lot of planning, I first had to actually come up of an idea that would then be finalized with a location, props, actors etc. After finding the location, I had to do a release form and recce to ensure I could use the location and what type of capabilities it had, such as power outlets etc. Due to health and safety, after scouting and choosing my location, I had to complete a risk assessment, noting down the dangers that could come to me, the other people involved or the equipment, I also had to think of ways to prevent them or any further action I might take if an incident did occur.
Also for our productions, we had to fill out budget sheets, this was in case we needed to claim our money back and also so we could see what we had spent our budget on. It also enabled us to have the items bought for us. before we were able to film, our actors or 'Talent' had to sign release forms, giving us their permission to be filmed and put online, if they were under 18, they must have a parent or guardian signature giving us permission.
The song that I have chosen to use for my music video is 'Get Better' by Frank Turner, this song has is fast paced and has an upbeat tone. The plan for my music video is to film in a grimy location, the location I have chosen is a well lit basement that looks very grimy and dirty. The wall that I am going to film against is a in-cove that as mirrors on all three bits of wall at different angles.
I have decided to have different instruments that will flick through along with different people in exactly the same location, I have marked the floor where we need to stand, where the camera will go and where the rest of the equipment must be placed. the instruments that I will be using are four different guitars, two electric and two electric/acoustic, Keyboard, Drums and Bass Guitar, along with a guitar Cab and head to give the impression that the instruments are actually being played.
In Concert-Live footage-
In this video, it follows a down on his luck guy who just lost his job as he walks the streets until he stumbles across a gig, it shows the band playing live music that was recorded at one of their shows. being able to see the band performing is good because it sows off their talents in a way that they would not be able to if it was a polished artistic video
Narrative and Interpretive-
The video clearly shows the mood of the song, it is slow paced and has almost a dark twist to it. the meaning behind the song is quite deep, loss is the main tone in this video, the narrative shows two young boys almost facing their fears as they follow one another through woods encountering different people and objects. At the end there is a little memorial to another artist who lost his life on stage after being shot, the vocalist and him were best friends.
Surrealist/Absurdest-
I have chosen this song as it bares very little resemblance to the song and lyrics, the video is made to look like an old game, maybe PlayStation 1 or Dream cast era. It shows animated versions of the band running around different levels collecting things and encountering different people, along with clips of the band playing their instruments and doing some weird dancing.
Impressionist-
This song is off of Frank Turners album 'Tape deck Heart' which is a self professed break up album, this song which explains the video, it shows Frank walking through fields wearing a sign saying 'The End Is Coming' which could be interpreted as he is sensing the end of a relationship is inevitable, he starts to dig for days which could show that he is searching for something more or even to find a purpose. The song itself is quite up beat but listening to the lyrics, you can sense a more emotional undertone which the video reflects.
Inter-textual: Synergy, Allusion, Pastiche, Parody and Homage-
I have chosen this music video because it references multiple films, such as Ghost-busters, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The karate kid (the music video actually features one of the films stars, Pat Morita, the man who played Mr. Miyagi) and Edward Scisorhands. It features the band in all of the different 'Worlds' of the films, even playing characters.
Animation-
This music video was released mid 2015, it is the music video for the song barbarian, the second song on the album 'Last Of Our Kind' it is an animated narrative about Vikings invading the eastern coast and killing off its inhabitants to take the land for their own, it is computer generated animation in the style of a storyboard, the camera follows it around the screen as it changes from slide to slide.
Lip-Synch- Miming and Playback-
this video is made up of different clips from the bands tours and gigs, including their 2011 appearance at Download Festival in Doddington park. the different clips are edited together and synched to match the words and instruments that are playing in the song, created in almost live atmosphere, seeming that the band are actually playing the songs in different locations. Most music videos today use lip-Synching or playback in order to keep the music to the best sounding quality and even to keep in time with the song.
Editing/Post- Production Effects-
this music video was directed by Marc Klasfeld in the style of Hunter Thompson's 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' using both green screen and after effects to create a surreal, engaging music video. the video features the band making their way to Las Vegas and showing the dark side of the city in a way that does not give it bad image.
Making of Bat Country two part episode-
Example of particular effect: Chroma Key
This video is shot against a green screen, like a lot of Linkin Parks video's, it has a very dark and grimy to reflect the style of the song. they use this technique along with normal footage to aid the development of the narrative for the music video, the video is about a boy who lost his father whon was in the military, the video starts with the singer standing in a room as it comes down around him which could be a symbol for the boy and his mothers world falling apart after the death of his father. as the song starts to get more lively and the rest of the band start to play, the video starts to cut to more of a beat showing different shots of both the family and army fighting in what we assume to be Afghanistan.
Camera angles/Shot Types/ Mis-En-Scene-
this video has many different shot types, a lot of the video, especially the start was filmed using remote controlled drones, the band arranged to spend a few days in a quarry while there was mining going on around them, they places smoke flairs and their equipment while having the drones fly around them along with normal cameras, they also used hand held camera for the shaky effect during the solos and 'breakdowns'. Using the drones for the high angled shots allows us to see the whole band and their equipment and surroundings all in one. it shows how technology has enabled artists and directors to do more since the start of music videos, as there are now many different ways to film them.
Music videos were introduced in the 1940s, when an invention
was introduced into bars in USA, it combined an early jukebox and a screen that
showed a completely unrelated clip of people dancing. This was later refined
which lead to a stream of music films featuring artists such as Elvis and The
Beatles. The purpose of this essay is to explain how music videos have
developed and become more popular over the years and are now a daily sight in
most people’s everyday lives.
I believe that music videos are a good way to promote the
artists as it gives the audience a better picture as to what to expect from the
artist, it gives them the opportunity to express themselves in a way that might
not be possible without them. It also allows the artist(s) to show off other
skills that they might have, such as dancing, producing, acting or directing.
Artists such as Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson show off these skills in the
production of their music videos. Having a music video also keeps the viewer
engaged, having something to watch as well as listen to allows you to
concentrate on the music rather than focusing on something else.
The Public image that is shown by the artist is identifiable
within genre, most of the artists in the charts at this time are heavily
reliant on their image, how they are perceived by the public is very important
to their career. A lot of the ‘mainstream’ artists use their aesthetic appeal
to help them sell records, this is shown through their music videos. This
technique is mostly used with the female artists, they are shown wearing little
or no clothes to attract the attention of the audience, luring them in and in
turn deceiving them into buying the song or album. However, this is not the case with all artists,
some of them have a different type of image that portrays the style of music in
a different way which appeals to a different audience, such as a classic heavy
metal band will appeal to a different audience using their music and image.
Artists income comes from the royalties made by the amount
of records they sell and the amount of air time they have, a cut of this goes
to the record label and producers and directors of their music videos. the more
they sell, the more money they will make. This is why new platforms for people
to view and stream music were created. Before things like computers and
television, the only means of listening to music were radio and if you had
enough money, buying vinyl and later cassettes. Now having more platforms on
which they can broadcast, such as music television channels like ‘MTV’ and ‘SCUZZ’
they can get across to a wider audience.
Music videos are used to promote the artists and any products that they might be using, companies pay to get their product featured in popular artists videos as there is such a wide audience and it almost convinces the viewer to go out and buy the product, such as using an energy drink or a speaker like 'Beats'. being paid to feature products is a good source of income, if the artist is more popular, they can charge the company more than a less popular artist because they will have a wider spread of audience.
In conclusion, I think that music videos have become so popular over the years, especially since the 70s/80s because of music television shows, these have opened up a gateway to a sea of different styles of music videos for different genres. Especially since the progression of genres, such as Heavy Metal, Rap and Pop music have developed over the last few years, the styles of the videos have changed to engage a different audience. referring back to the start of my essay, how a lot of the women in the pop music industry are exploited to use sex in order to enable them to sell more music, where as different genres use different techniques to sell their music, such as showing themselves actually playing their instruments and throwing in guitar solos to impress the viewer.
People enjoy seeing their favorite artists in various exotic locations because it gives them something to look for in their own lives, such as film being a form of escapism, music is another form and adding an almost cinematic element to the music allows music to have the same effect on people as film. as some artists team up with famous directors and producers, some of the work that is created is a higher standard in recent years, allowing the industry to take off.
Taken from the music video 'The Nomad' by Black Label Society
Taken from the music video 'California Girls' by Katy Perry
This is a good example of secondary research as all of the information that is featured in this flip book was gathered from the Unilever website and wikipedia in order for me to gather as much reliable information as possible.
I had to use other websites such as BARB and also had to research the BCAP code to see how our proposed advert would rate and how it would be restricted if it was going to be featured on television.
Television advert analysis-
This is a good example of secondary research as all of the information in it was gathered from reliable sources written in my own words, as well as some of the analysis I had conducted myself.
I had to research the BCAP code to see the restrictions and requirements of the advert and analyse it depending on the coded that related to the advert.
these are the bits of paperwork I had to complete before I could start filming my documentary in order to ensure that I had enough money, time and locations needed to complete the task.
