Production Process

Flat Plan

Flat Plan

Shot List Plan

Independent Record Label Research

4AD is a British independent record label, founded by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980. It was originally funded by, and an imprint of, Beggars Banquet.

The label gained prominence in the 1980s for releasing albums from alternative rock, post-punk, gothic rock and dream pop artists, such as Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Modern English, Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox, Pixies, Throwing Muses and Watts-Russell's own musical project This Mortal Coil. In 1987, the label scored an international hit with the dance music single "Pump Up the Volume" by the one-off project M/A/R/R/S. 4AD continued to have success in the 1990s and 2000s with releases from The Breeders, Lush, Red House Painters, TV on the Radio, St. Vincent and Bon Iver. The label's current roster includes acts such as The National, Camera Obscura, Daughter, Deerhunter, Grimes, Purity Ring and Future Islands.

4AD now forms part of the Beggars Group, along with fellow independent labels Matador, Rough Trade, XL and XL imprint Young Turks. The label's history has been detailed by Martin Aston in the biography Facing The Other Way, released in 2013.

Magazine Research

Rolling Stone is a monthly magazine that is based in the US. The magazine was at first known for its musical coverage and political reporting. However, in the 80s its focus shifted onto a younger readership in youth oriented TV shows, film actors and popular music.

Straight away, the cover shows that the magazine's intended target audience is a young one, millennials. This is shown through the editor's choice of placing the singer Bruno Mars in the middle of the page taking up almost eight ninths of the page, according to the rule of thirds. By having all of the focus on the young artist, the attention of a younger audience is most likely to be attracted. It also appears to further target a female audience which is demonstrated through the way in which Bruno Mars is wearing an open shirt completely showing his chest. Also, the fact that Bruno's head covers half of the Rolling Stone logo conveys a heavy sense of importance to the artist as it appears almost as the editor believes that Bruno is more important than the magazine itself, this is further emphasised through the use of having him wear golden jewellery almost giving a sense of royalty.


A high sense of importance is drawn to the artist featured on the 2 page spread, Neil Young. This is achieved through the editor's choice of making it so that Neil takes up one entire page of the 2 page spread and nothing else is featured on the same half of the spread, this conveys a sense of high importance and the monochromatic colouring for the photo also conveys a sense of experience and greatness as though he is an immense symbol in the world of music. The use of lyrics for the first piece of text on the first page shows that this article in the magazine is intended for audience members who are familiar with Neil Young's work as this is a reference that only this part of the audience would understand. The use of the "golden" font on the line 'BE THERE NOW' in the lyrics connotes a sense of greatness as though Neil Young's shows are one of the greatest spectacles anyone could witness in their lifetime, also the lyric itself directly addresses the audience reading the article telling them that they need to go to Neil Young's concerts.

Audience: Primary and Secondary research

Primary Research:
Treatment presentation feed back:

Person 1:
Genre - Heavy metal/rock
Target audience - 16-28
What would you expect to see in the video? - Performance based, musical instruments, quick cuts
Comments on proposed form of the video - Like the idea of using silhouettes

Person 2:
Genre - Metal/rock
Target audience - 18-24
What would you expect to see in the video? - A lot of performance, stage, concert, stage lights
Comments on proposed form of the video - Like choice of locations

Person 3:
Genre - Rock
Target audience - 25-30
What would you expect to see in the video? - Performance based, studio set, high key lighting
Comments on proposed form of the video - Relation to genre, colour connotations, good use of silhouettes

Person 4:
Genre - Metal/rock
Target audience - Male, 16-22
What would you expect to see in the video? - Performance, guitars - band, concert, bright lighting
Comments on proposed form of the video - Bright colours - e.g. red, silhouettes, streets

Person 5:
Genre - Metal/rock
Target audience -
What would you expect to see in the video? - Electric - lighting - flashes, band playing in empty room, concert, dark electric lighting, fast shots, guitar shots - performance
Comments on proposed form of the video - Red - speed, silhouettes, skate park

Summary
From the information I have compiled from my primary research, I have concluded the certain features and filming choices I want to include in my music video. This includes using sort of pale lighting, using a heavily performance based narrative, placing a strong focus on the instruments, using quick cuts, using abandoned locations for filming, and possibly including the use of silhouettes in the video.

Music Video Brief

A cross-media production for a new artist or band in a genre (or sub-genre/hybrid) of your choice.

Create an original music video and associated print or online material to promote the same artist or band.

You should create a cross-media production for an independent record label (such as 4AD) targeting a specialised audience of 16-35 year olds who have a specific interest in your chosen genre of music.

Task 1: Audio-Visual

Create an original music video to promote your new artist or band.

Length: 3 minutes - 3 minutes 30 seconds. Longer tracks may be edited or faded out to meet the required length.

You may use an existing song for your music video (this does not need to be copyright-free), but the song must not have an existing official music video.

Task 2: Print

Create a front cover and double page feature article for a new specialist culture magazine to promote your artist or band to the target audience.

Length: 3 pages