Music Video Pitch

Here is our music video pitch for The Fergies song 'Clumsy'. We outline the basis of how we envision and are going to create the music video.

Artist & why?

Our artist is The Fergies, who are an Australian band made up of 5 siblings. They are Youtubers. We knew that choosing a band that is not British would be difficult, but choose to ask anyway and then create a video concept around the fact the artist would not appear. They accepted the idea and gave us creative control. This also allowed us a lot of flexibility. The track we choose is called Clumsy, which is one of their more serious and slower songs. The Fergies are a pop group but we wanted to explore a sadder and more layered song as we felt we could do more.

Their image is very family friendly/ kids next door and our main goal is to create a much more serious image for them while expanding their YouTube audience. Being signed is obviously a goal but, as YouTube is the new entertainment industry, we believe broadening their audience will be more beneficial.  As there are many Youtubers who make a living just from uploading a video every week. For example Michelle Phan, uploads a weekly make-up tutorial and is a millionaire who now owns her own company and make-up brand, while working along side companies such as Loreal. Being signed isn't the only and best option in today's entertainment industry.

Ultimately we have chosen to create a narrative and conceptual video.

The Idea & Concept:

For the narrative side of the video, we took inspiration from the artist’s story behind the song itself. They wrote the song with a friend in mind who suffered from abuse, who then chooses to hide it from everyone and make excuses when asked about his injuries. Taking this on board we decided our story circle a young boy of 14 or 15 who has an abusive mother and neglectful father. He goes through day-to-day life living two lives until ultimately it becomes too much. The concept side of the video will be the hyper real idea that humans are chess pieces. A chessboard will be shown with characters representing pieces and every move that’s made reflects in the story. Every move we make has consequences but its not always the bigger pieces that win in the end. The teacher and friend comfort the boy throughout and it is later revealed that the teacher and mother are actually very close friends. The chess shots that will be featured are actually moves the teacher is making, whom is playing chess when the mother arrives in a scene later in the song. The video will end where the video opened. The first shot will be of a crime scene, with flashing blue lights and police. In the last few scenes we will see the boy taking a knife from the kitchen and walking into a dark room (which will be used also to represent his state of mind). It will be open to interpretation on how the story truly ended.

Cinematography wise, we have chosen to stick with the theme of black and white with red being the only other promenade colour. Black and white representing the good VS bad aspect and red representing blood, pain and anger. But also love, from his friends and teachers.Within the scenes of the dark room we will create a black and white tiled floor representing the chess board to clearly show the audience the direction we are going in.  The locations are fairly simple:

·         School

·        Home

·        Woods

·        Dark Room

·        Giant chessboard.

     Costumes will be modern but working class.

Inspiration:

Civil Wars.

The Time- Chase & Status.

Linkin Park- Numb.
Cimorelli- Also a band of siblings who make YouTube videos. They were signed last year and we look to them for inspiration on how to make it from a YouTube platform. 

Selling Point of the Artist:

The Fergies are Spokes people of serious situations, that don’t usually get looked upon enough. This will make the viewer or fan feel like they can relate to them and don’t be alone if this is happening in their own lives. Also as Youtubers, they are able to connect with fans on a much larger scale then a regular artist.

Audience:

Teens-early 20’s. Young enough to navigate around the YouTube community. 

Lyric Analysis.

Sophie

The lyrics for this song have a narrative structure. This is where we got our main inspiration for the video as we decided to take the lyrics literally. The verses of the song each include a memory between the artist and their friend. As the song progresses, so does the age. Each memory focuses on a time when the artist noticed the friends scars and each time he would play it of and say he was "Clumsy". The friend protected the artist from the truth, shielding them from the knowledge of knowing and not being able to help or share his pain. The chorus mainly focuses on the extent of the scars/injuries. Its implied that the injuries just got worse and worse, "deeper as time goes on". This can be interpreted as literally becoming deeper and he suffered abuse still, or emotionally he became more scarred even though the abuse had stopped. The ending of the song shows no clear ending to the story, so we've chosen to also leave the story open ended so that it can be interpreted as the viewer wants.

Deborah

This is my version of the lyrics analysis for The Fergies song "Clumsy". I have chosen to analysis it by stating what I want to occur during certain points of the song and why i want this to happen. I have put certain scenes to appear with particular verses or choruses so that it matches what is presented in the music video, and can be used to our advantage. 

By completing this task we were able to analyse the lyrics in depth and take inspiration. It helped visualise the video and have a wider understanding of how the video will link with the lyrics of the music. 

Website Analysis and Inspirations

The Task:

As part of our project in promoting our band, the Fergies, we had to look at other artists websites in order to get inspiration and also analyse how we can make our own one as good, engaging, interesting and easy to navigate for the bands Niche. In looking at other artists websites, we will be able to make our own website (when it comes down to it) just as appealing and engaging, so that way the artists Niche will be able to approach/communicate/support the artists in various ways.

 

As mentioned before, the band shared a similar look to early elements of Ellie Goulding, and I decided, that in order to create our website, we would need to look at some artists who had a "similar" look to The Fergies, and Ellie Goulding was one of them. Her website is unique, and easy to navigate around, with frequent updates and a lovely colour scheme, that matches that of her most recent album cover. The background also features an image of herself, which is larger than the other images of her, and may remind the viewer that they are there entirely for her. Moreover, there is a bar above the main part of the website which has various media related icons, that young people would usually use in their day to day life. Ranging from Deezer, Twitter, Instagram and many more, this indicates that Ellie Goulding not only appeals to young people, but she knows and is aware of what young people use, and uses that to her advantage in order to garner her own fans. Furthermore, in her being involved in more "new" Social Medias for young people, she is getting directly involved in their likes and dislikes. 

Lana Del Rey's on the other hand, is more Sophisticated, and seems to appeal to a more older audience due to its design, and lack of  other "functions". Because of the dull colours and simple text, there is not much of an appeal in her website in comparison to other artists. Moreover, the colour scheme does not seem to match that of her album cover "Born to Die", but rather creates a new scheme that is totally different. However, a noticeable difference is the use of the wide screen on the first page of the website. This screen is used to play the songs the artist had made, and is unique in its largeness, moreover, it allows fans to instantaneously play any one of her songs due to the menu bar underneath, and is easy to navigate. This is good, in that it acts as reminder to the viewers that they are here for her music rather than what she does on a daily basis, something that completely differs from Ellie Goulding's and shows more focus on the music side of things, rather than her image. In other words, making Lana Del Rey seem like a true artist.    

On the other had, Cimorelli (a recently signed band) have an interesting website, but it is terribly bland. This may be because they are rising stars currently, so their website may not reflect the work they do, and is in this state possibly due to it being under "construction" or their lack of skills in creating a suitable website. They have the basic necessities needed for it, and it can be argued that since they are new, this is what is to be expected from new artists. 

One Direction on the other hand, have a more engaging and unique setting. Their website is noticeably cute and well decorated, and is similar to Ellie Goulding's, only that it looks attractive to young teenagers (12-15) rather than it looking like it is for all teenagers. They have included their daily updates, videos etc in their opening page, and is decorated simply to have a unique appeal, that is neither bland, nor overdone in comparison to other websites. This creates a simple yet solid look that appeals to young girls as One Direction mainly attract such, and shows a knowledge on who their target audience is.

Although Conor Maynard's music and image is completely different from that of the Fergies, and other artists presented, by looking at the way he presents himself, and his website, he puts on the image of  "typical" young person or teenager, especially in the video of his first song 'Can't say no'. Similarly to Lana Del Rey's website, the viewer is given the immediate choice (though on Lana's site the music came on instantly) whether or not to listen to his music. But unlike hers (or more like Ellie Goulding's) his image is the first thing that is noticed,  and presents the idea that he is there for the female audience to look at (female gaze) or for the male audience to aspire to. Furthermore, it gives the assumption that he is image conscious, and may focus more on that than his music. On the other hand, he seems very sociable and fashion aware, as his website includes a shop of items related to him, and various social medias, that is more than Lana Del Rey's but less than Ellie Goulding's.

The Fergies, on the other hand, have their own website for their fans to look at and actively contact them on. Their own website seems similar to that of Cimorreli's and One Direction's. In that it is simple, yet it serves its purpose, in the case of Cimorreli, and in the same instance One Direction's, it is quite cute, as the image of the four siblings above stresses their closeness as group, and shows unity. They have a separate bar that shows their fans where else they can find  them, but it is noticeable that it is not as well equipped as Ellie Goulding's, but further stresses that they are not as image conscious as her or Conor Maynard, further suggesting the idea that they prefer to focus on their music, much like Lana Del Ray. 

In conclusion, this task has allowed me to look at and gain information on both my own artists website, and others. This task will help us by inspiring us to create the perfect website for The Fergies Niche, and will be able to allow their fans to visit their site, that will both build their fan base, and engage with them more than their original one. By looking at all of the positives each artists uses in their own website, we can use this as a blueprint in creating the site, and give the Fergie's a site that their Niche will benefit from and they will also.

Ownership:

This task was done by Deborah Akinkuolie, as I felt that I could do this task effectively and efficiently, also because we wanted to divide work equally between us. 

Target Audience Collage

The Task:

From the research that has already been done, on themselves, their fans and their music type, it is clear that The Fergie's attract the attention of impressionable young people, from between the ages of 13-17. It was my job to look into what kind of people they appeared to attract, and how this may influence them as group. 

In Conclusion, this task will help us in discovering who our band appeals to, and how we, can use this to our advantage when creating our digipack, website and music video. By looking at this, it is clear we have gone through and seen who our artists appeal to. From the what has been portrayed of themselves, it seems that they have a similar look, or style as artists such as Lana Del Ray, Florence and the Machine and (some) aspects of early Ellie Golding. Furthermore, with our own target audience ranging between a similar age range (14-22) we are able (as a group) to understand their own interests, and as such, identify with them, and define aspects which would suit them. Subculture wise, it looks as though they appeal to those of Hipster or Scene Kids, due to their uniqueness as a group, and their lack of trying to follow what society finds appealing, moreover fuelling their uniqueness as a band.

Ownership:

This task was done by Deborah Akinkuolie. 

Email To Copyright Holder.

Due to the fact our artist live in Australia, we obviously choose to create a narrative video. We contacted the artist, who are own all their own music, and asked if we could use their music and image in our work and hopefully benefit them in the end.

By completing this task we realised the professional side of the music industry. 

Image & Genre.

The Fergies main image is family. When watching their videos and listening to their music you get a real sense of unity and harmony that is created within a family. All of them are quite young and have a kid next door look. This portrays their innocents and calming personalities. In several videos they prove that they can also play their instruments, conveying them as true artist that take their music seriously. The genre of music they write and create would be categorised as pop.
Our main goal concerning their image is to present them in a more serious manner and less family friendly. Their music truly speaks about serious matters and we want their image to illustrates this. We are working from artists such as The Civil Wars for inspiration.
By reviewing their image and genre we are able to identify the work we have to do to our artist and the steps that we need to take.

Goodwin Analysis - (Flosstradamus, The xx, Disclosure)

Flosstradamus - This is an example of a performance video with Flosstradamus showcasing the inner concert feel of being in their one of the their own shows. The whole video is recorded live at a variety of their shows, following them playing and mixing songs to convey the atmosphere of being at a show of theirs which is clearly a very hyper and high energy environment.

This very first establishes the video being performance based with the re-curing strobe lights and computer used to play and mix songs by Flosstradamus throughout the music video.

The high angle shot helps establish the large amount of people that are at this gig and creates a view of Flosstradamus being popular and having a large amount of fans. The sub-woofer conveys the loud high quality their music is being played at the gig.

This clearly shows the youthful 'hip-hop vibe' the group illustrate with the Chicago Red Bulls vest and snap-backs, which are often worn by the younger generation, which they are both part of.

The strobe lights also give this videos audience the illusion of being live at a Flosstradamus show with these lights appearing throughout the video. It also re-enforces this being a performance video with many components like the strobe lights being present at a live show.

Again another shot of fans at a show and this shot appears as the song has a big drop communicating to the videos audience the reaction Flosstradamus get from the crowd as the song drops. Many fans also appear very hyper and happy which would encourage someone to want to go to a show.

This triangle with an exclamation mark is re-curring throughout the video with it being the groups visual logo they use in both shows and album covers, this once again shows them using aspects from their live shows and including them in this video, conveying it as a performance video.

Another shot of their fans, this time showing the large amount of people recording the show via phones and other devices, its like this performance video is used to show the fans recording the show as a performance video as well.

This time a close-up of a fan, with others in the background, presenting Flosstradamus fans as being youthful and the girl here has some Flosstradamus apparel, with this being included in this video it promotes the groups merchandise to their fans.

The use of hashtags in the video also conveys the use of Twitter being involved, (were hashtags are mostly used) and this also shows the use of social networking from both Flosstradamus and their fan, along with the moniker's of #Hoodieboyz and #Hoodiegirlz that Flosstradamus use to name fans of their music.  

The xx - This is an example of a conceptual music video in which it follows a dance narrative with similar routines that alter slightly through the video. The dance routine conveys a relationship between two people who have gradually grown apart from one another.

This is the first shot of the dance sequence, that changes as the video continues. It conveys the two people in a relationship being very close and loving towards another. The X background also can stand for representing the groups name (The XX) or x, which in slang means a kiss to also represent the physical element of the relationship.

This shot in the sequence metaphorically shows how the couple are together, with the proximity of the dancers showing them altogether as one - this is symbolic of the couples relationship.

The XX also appear together in the foreground, suggesting the dancers and the band are both simultaneously conveying the sense of being 'together as one'.

This shot is an exact parallel to the one before where the couple appear kissing, the widening of proximity and the absence of the kiss abstractly conveys the couple distancing from one another in their relationship.

This shot establishes the destruction of the relationship between the girl and boy, and also the XX band show this. Using proximity this is shown effectively through the parallels with similar shots that appear earlier in the video, as they show everyone close together.

The levels of proximity furthermore expand as the couple are now distanced and the difference in facial expressions (compared to earlier on) highlights the ending of the relationship. Although minimalistic, the change in space between the couple shows they are no longer physically intimate.

The addition of fire represents the destruction of the relationship, which the XX also mirror, possibly the song along with being about the couple also relates to the XX as a band and their relationship with another. The use of only showing one band member and only one of the dancers dancing shows how the relationship that formed the couple as one has been broken and they are now individuals.

The fire spreading and the one dancer and band member being the only ones to appear show the loneliness and loss of a relationship that has occurred. 

The last shot being the some of the band and dancers walking off convey the complete end of a relationship with all the damage done (the fire) and people are left to go their separate ways as they walk off. The ending of the video could be an inter-textual reference of the film 500 Days of Summer. Unlike many romantic films it involves the boy not getting the girl, similar to the way this music video ends.

 

Disclosure - This an example of a narrative video which follows a young couple as they embark on a trip in Amsterdam and what activities they engage in whilst there, is what the narrative of the video is primarily based upon. 

The video starts of with the couple together and through their proximity it is established the close bond relationship they have with one another. 

The whole Amsterdam experience is shown throughout the video, an example here is showing them smoking (possibly marijuana) inside a bar, a behavior illegal in most places around the world.

The toy penis used is also something relating to Amsterdam known for its notorious Red Light District and it also goes along with the whole experience of going to the place much like the previous shot does. It can also relate to a typical fan of Disclosure, who would likely be around 16 - 24 (similar age to actors used here). This all correlates to the duo marketing themselves to their audience.

The continuation of fun and adventure the couple embark on is continued and it is reminiscent of party scenes of Project X and Superbad -which show some intertextual references within this video.  

 

The fun continues with the couple in the video also this shot is cut as the chorus begins to highlight the enjoyment conveyed through the actors.

These body shots are a clear indication of the couples physical intimacy with one another and also follows the notion of looking within this video. 

As the videos second half kicks in the narrative shifts from full fun to anger and some sadness. This part where the girl argues and wants to hit the taxi driver is the introduction to the second half of the videos narrative. It also follows wild nature young people are often stereotyped with having.

The choice of casting is also an interesting aspect in which free runner Tim Shieff who is well known in the parkour community. The music can also be appealing to free runners through using a popular figure in the sport with him being  in the video. Through his tricks he does also fully represent the video in which both characters are on an adventure.

As the video progresses towards the end a bit of performance is mixed in with Disclosure themselves making a cameo in the video and this also links with the narrative as the couple go and see them in the video as a live performance.

This shot being connected to the narrative as Disclosure are seen playing a gig in the video it also promotes Disclosure's album as well with marketing to their fans through this video.

Doing this task has helped me in understanding and being able to see the differences in performance, narrative and conceptual music videos along with conventions each one follows. Along with this, each video is selling to a particular audience and through the inclusion of certain things in videos this is made clear. For example Flosstradamus with close-ups of fans in between around 18 -25 - showing who their music is trying to appeal to being ravers as evident in the video. This also brings ideas of things that relate to the music video that we will be doing and what type of music video it will be whether conceptual, narrative or performance based, or a mixture.

3 Initial Ideas-Unsigned

CoCo and the Butterfields

CoCo and the Butterfields was one of our first choices for a band, we had them in mind at first, due to their authentic look, and uniqueness as a group, which would give a new "flavour" to the music industry if they were to be signed, sometime in the future. Moreover, the group had been recognised in the past as the best unsigned act of 2012, further fueling their success, and garnering their own unique niche. However, because they had formed their own genre of music, 'Fip Fok' (a combination of Folk, Hip Hop and Pop) it would have been difficult to create an image for them, or even, use another artist to inspire us to build on their image and create a Music Video, because there is no other artist that has taken their approach, or has the same genre of music. 

Alex Goot 

Alex Goot was another option we had, as he had a wider and more global recognition as an unsigned artist, and his niche was quite big also, giving us a wider audience to view our video, and more publicity in our creation of our music video. However, Alex Goot is an American singer/songwriter, and prefers to do all his work  by himself, as he has own 'company' to create his videos.  

SilverSpark

SilverSpark, on the other hand, was a rather interesting option. Unlike the other two, SilverSpark actually based their music/lyrics on actual scenarios they have been through. Although it can be argued that other artists do this, they have established that everything they felt, they released it through their music. In other words, it can be argued that they do 'emotional' songs rather than Indie-Rock music. Creating a unique look for them as artists. However, SilverSpark are currently looking for more members to join their band, and are currently more preoccupied looking for new band members rather than the creation of Music Videos. Furthermore, because they are a recently formed group, their own Niche isn't that wide, and would only gather attention from very few people, because of their 'lack' of activity. 

In conclusion, this task demonstrates the fact that i am able to do some research and evaluate the prospect of using a certain clients song to create a music video. This demonstrates a trial and error phase  we have faced in order to find a unique band/singer to promote in our work, and suggests our ability to research a wide range of Individual artists and select promising prospects.  

Ownership:

This task was done by Deborah Akinkuolie.