VINYL SHOOT PLANNING

Influenced by retroism - we wanted to include a vinyl/player as we were lucky enough to have access to a working one and thought it would be a good feature in our video as it is less common to have this feature.

Oasis' video for Wonderwall was the only example of this I could find so it was a relatively fresh idea to think of as decks are being used in night clubs now for indietronica itself. We also like the idea of bringing old music memorabilia into a new/futuristic genre.






As to not damage the record player, we will shoot the footage of a vinyl player spinning at the friend's house. The last time we tried shooting in a house, the lighting and quality was poor so we simply plan to film this section when we get a bright day.

TREATMENT

I have finally decided to present my treatment in the form of a SlideShare as it is a new technology worth embracing and using to showcase my planning.

Click HERE! to view the slideshare of my treatment.

Although this treatment is a guide to the video's content, other ideas that my partner and I could potentially come up with would also be featured.

SPOTIFY FOUNDER SEAN PARKER CLAIMS 'FOSTER THE PEOPLE' EXEMPLIFIES IT'S SUCCESS

Sean Parker at San Francisco's Web 2.0 used our chosen band Foster the People as a perfect example of how bands and artists can make the big time, avoiding having to sign record deals with conglomerate labels like Parlophone, Geffen records, Atlantic and Virgin, by using Spotify to publicise their music.


Spotify's success - The Times

KEEPING UP WITH MUSIC NEWS

Every day, I look at NME's homepage to find out what's going in the music industry:

New technology plays a vital role in how I stay in touch with the music industry. For example, NME's gives me access to new music videos, tickets, merchandise, new albums, photos from gigs, competitions etc.

Click here to see NME.com

THE BRITISH MUSIC EXPERIENCE

Synergy at its best

We are planning a trip to The British Music Experience - O2, an interactive museum at the arena in London. The venue itself is very interesting, built as the Millenium Dome for the year 2000, the shell has been re-used to house a music venue, exhibition space, restaurants and the music experience. It has hosted ice rinks, classical concerts, rock concerts etc; Office space, houses, many media, creative and events organisations.

The British Music Experience is Britain's interactive museum of popular music.

It is hosting talks by music video directors to celebrate 30 years of MTV. 3 Directors are discussing their work and hopefully will give away some industry secrets, will post after the event!

THE SYNERGY BETWEEN BANDS AND THE PRODUCTS IN THEIR MUSIC VIDEOS

Films and television programmes typically do not contain products in their shows because of copyright and having to pay royalties, however, the rules are very different in music videos. There can be very effective synergies between bands and a products company, as some brands/manufacturers have a problem getting their products promoted, featuring them in music videos can bring publicity to the product and create trends of people using them. This means that generally the companies may return favours to the band by promoting their songs alongside their product.

A good example of this is in the video for Reptilia by The Strokes. As you can see below, there is a closeup shot of the drummer's foot kicking the bass drum, but he is also wearing Converse shoes - trademark footwear of the band, thus bringing publicity to the product.

It is because of the synergy between music videos and company's products that I will be featuring some trademark products in my video.

It is also very common for the band to feature their instruments in music videos as a way of 'trademark'. For example: Tom Delonge of Blink 182 always features his signature Gibson guitar in all of the band's music videos to promote the guitar as well as the song. In our video, we will feature close-ups of my fender guitar as an emphasis of this feature.

BAND AND RECORD LABEL WEBSITES

The internet is currently the main place for artists to promote their work worldwide, even small bands now have a webpage, for example: The Travelling Band are a small touring band from manchester who are not commercially successful but have a huge following, encouraged their pro-active use of the internet. They blog, post on Facebook frequently and make great use of their website and other media platforms.

Websites have the advantage of being available 24/7 worldwide, they are accessible by any age group and some are available in translation to other languages. Here, Foster The People's home page gives the option to translate into many different languages.




Bands tend to use websites to promote their music, especially new releases, give information, issue tour dates sell music for both download and hard copy, and also publicise and market merchandise. They can include Youtube links to music videos, background music when the site opens etc, there are often links to tv/radio shows, interviews and other kinds of publicity. Most offer a forum for fans to interact (a form of social media and links to other forms of social media).

Some bands/artists use the webpage to show their views and opinions: Radiohead use a blog to promote environmental issues, waste central is the official social media site for Radiohead fans to publicise their views - it is quite political, very environmental and a spring board for Thom Yorke's opinions.

LYRICS TO HELENA BEAT - FOSTER THE PEOPLE

Sometimes life it takes you by the hand.
It puts you down before you know it
It's gone and you're dead again.
I've been in places and I won't pretend
That I make it I just follow my head.
When its strange to take a walk downstairs
Sweep u all up on a corner and pay for my bread.
You know that I cannot believe my own truth
To show what a truth, got nothin' to lose.

Yeah yeah and it's okay.
I tie my hands up to a chair so I don't fall that way.
Yeah yeah and I'm alright.
I took a sip of something poison but I'll hold on tight.

You know those days when u wanted to choose
To not get out of bed and get lost in your head again.
You play the game but you gotta cut
Cuz' you're comin' down hard your joints are off stud.
I tried to say that's not the only way
I never knew if I could convince myself to change.
You were pacing I was insecure.
Slip and fall I got the call of the prison I was livin' in.

Yeah yeah and it's okay.
I tie my hands up to a chair so I don't fall that way.
Yeah yeah and I'm alright.
I took a sip of something poison but I'll hold on tight
(http://www.lyricsmania.com/helena_beat_lyrics_foster_the_people.html)


Lyrics play a vital role in the song as they are the subject matter for the visuals, shots and scenery for the video.

SHOOTING SCHEDULE AND VENUES

After planning, these are the places we realise we want to shoot:

1. Inside - Vinyl - Probably Alex's house
2. Bike shoot - Hampton Court alleyway (central for all involved) - weekend as need daylight
3. JCG hall - Performance
4. Inside (media classroom) - stop-frame animation
5. Music studio - other performance shot.

We had to get permission for use of the studio and hall
We need to consider lighting levels for all shots as it is autumn, weather for the outdoor shot and noise levels in the performance shot, so that we don't disturb the school.

FOSTER THE PEOPLE MARKETING

It is hard nowadays to find a band/artist who doesn't market themselves online. In some cases, it is the only way to get publicity and recognition. I therefore decided to look at their different marketing platforms and how each of them publicised the band.

INITIAL MARKETING

Not long after the group's formation, the band wrote and recorded 'Pumped Up Kicks', then posting it on their own website. After the song appeared on supergoodmusic.com, it drew attention from Nylon magazine who used the song in an advertising campaign. The song received alot of attention from many blogs and soon became big, drawing attention from record labels. There was no initial marketing from the band themselves.

WEBSITE
www.fosterthepeople.com
The design is the same as their album cover. The site shows clips of videos for their music (both live and promo). Tabs across the top give different options - videos, news, photos, tour dates etc - there is also a online shop selling music and t-shirts. It is a very new band so this store will probably enlarge.

MYSPACE
http://www.myspace.com/fosterthepeople
They have an advert at the top of the page promoting their album. The page uses the same styling (colours/fonts) as the website. There is a playlist featuring the bands tracks, available to play. Also featured are videos for songs (live and promo).

FACEBOOK
http://www.facebook.com/fosterthepeople?sk=events#!/fosterthepeople?sk=wall
They post frequently but don't seem to reply to fan posts. This is a filled up site - there is alot on it. It makes up the as majority of their fanbase - young people. Lists events, song playlists, videos and tour dates.

TWITTER
http://twitter.com/#!/fosterthepeople
Album cover as profile picture. Feed of tweets - their own and from fans. Generally fans get a response if tweeted (more than Facebook). Average tweet update is daily.

WRITING A TREATMENT

Before planning any music video shoot, a treatment has to be written. A treatment is a document outlining the concept of the video. It is the starting point of any project and allows the production company to communicate its ideas to the artist. It describes locations, images, the look, tone and even colours of the intended video, it covers style, costume and overall 'story'.

Click Here! to see a good example of a treatment - I shall base mine on this!

MYSPACE AND OTHER PLATFORMS

Media and promotion is a fast moving industry, people are constantly looking for new ways to engage their potential audiences and consumers. With every product, marketing is aimed specifically at the target audience. Classical music promoters will advertise products and tickets in broadsheet newspapers like The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian and classical music magazines. Pop bands would promote tickets through pre-watershed television advertising, music video channels (smash hits in particular) and girls magazines such as Sugar, Lucky and Seventeen.

My chosen group and genre are aiming at older teens and young people - the social group who are most in touch with and impressed by innovation. These bands make extensive use of modern technology to reach their target audience. Myspace has been used for a while now but new technologies Google Music, Spotify, Turntable, Soundcloud are increasingly popular. Music is accessed on the internet, via mobile phones/smart phones, computers, digital dowload etc, as well as the traditional radio and cd formats.







Bands promote themselves and their music using:

Music promos
Magazine advertising
Tv advertising - especially, but not exclusively on music channels


Flyers
Posters
Billboards
Merchandise
Touring and Festivals
New albums in record shops
TV or radio interviews (Jools Holland/Jonathon Ross/David Letterman (For America))


Myspace
Twitter
Facebook
Blogs
Emailing tasters and links to downloads
Forums
Fanclubs
YouTube
Celebrity reality shows (Strictly come dancing/I'm a Celebrity/Big Brother etc.)

Hype Machine
ReverbNation
Mobile Phone Ringtones
Promotion of new bands on the soundtrack of youth tv shows (Skins, Misfits etc.)

(PRESENTATION ON WEB 2.0 IN DIFFERENT FORMAT TO GO HERE)