Do A Textual Analysis Using Media Terminology Of Three Existing Texts

Ellie Goulding- Your Song Textual Analysis- 

I chose the analyse Ellie Gouldings- Your Song, as she is an artist we are using as inspiration for our music video. This way we can see what conventions she uses in her video's.

Firstly, in Ellie Gouldings video, a camera shot that is used a lot is a close up shot. On more than one occasion there is a close up shot of Ellie's hands while playing the piano, and this could connote that  the piano plays a vital part in the song and video as it is the heart of the soft melody. Also, in this video, there are a couple of high angle shots of Ellie's feet which could connote that she feels in this video that he belongs where she is. In, mise-en-scene, the lighting in this video is mainly natural, but in some of the clips it appears that they have used a filter to change the colour of the lighting. Therefore, some of the lighting is high and some is low key lighting. This would then create a variety of emotions in the audience. Also, to show that Ellie is a genuine artist,  in this video her outfits are very casual which shows that this video is not made up and it is more believable, therefore it will effect the audience more. Lastly, for mise-en-scene, a prop that is used in this video is the piano. The piano is shown in a couple of close up shots and they have done this because it is very important to the melody of the song. Firstly for editing, a lot of slow motion was used and on the clips that it was used on, it could demonstrate that them clips are memories which wanted to be held onto for longer hence why they were in slow motion. Furthermore this creates more emotion in the audience. Next, the use of deep and shallow focus in this video, is used to move from the background to Ellie and so this video wants you to not just look at her but to analyse the actual background as it is a very beautiful location. For, sound, the key of the music is quite sad so I would class it as a minor key of music. This gives the audience more emotion.

Research Methods

There are 4 different research methods-

Firstly, there is primary research and this is when marketers conduct research to collect original data for there own needs. Primary data can be collected by doing questionnaires or interviews.

Next, is secondary and this is when people collect data that already exists. You can get this data from past experiments or even on the internet.

Quantitative data is displaying in a numerical form and it can be measured. Multiple choice questionaires are a good way to collect this type of data because the answers can be measured and even put into a graph.

Lastly, qualitative data unlike quantitative data can not be measured. A good way to collect this type of data is a focus group because it can be taken by observation of a researcher.

Primary research would be useful if we wanted to gather new information about music videos but, the research we are most likely to use is secondary as it is information that already exists and we are using the internet a lot to get this information. The research method we are least likely to use is quantitative data as it is in numerical form and we will not be needing to measure our research.

Branding Of Your Text

The artist we have chosen  is quite unknown and she does not really have much branding. The artist we are comparing her too, is Ellie Goulding. We find that megan is quite similar to her.

Brand Essence- Ellie is very unique and quirky and we find that megan related a lot to Ellie. Having a brand is essential and because Megan is an up and coming artist its crucial she has a branding.

Bran Slogan- Ellie dosnt have a signiture logo however her song titles and albums have distinct features on them.

Brand Personality- Ellie is branded mainly as cute and original, marketers describe her as having these two main traits.

Brand Values- Eliie stands for values like honest and good. some artists values can change but Ellies dosnt seem too.

Brand Appearance- Ellie and Megan both look and sound honest and sincere.

Brand Heritage- Ellie has been in the music business for about 4 years now whereas Megan is just starting to write her cd. Ellie is well known in comparison to Megan who only family and friends really support.

Emotional Benefits- Both artists have a soothing voice which would pull at the audiences hearts with the right song.

Day In The Life of Amber- Short Film

The is the short film we created for our preliminary task.

What Am I Going To Choose For My Main Task?

For my main task after researching both short films and music videos, we have decided as a group to do a music video and we have decided to choose the song Treasure Time by Megan Linnell. This song has not got a video for it at the moment and so we think that we can come up with some new fresh ideas for a video.

What I Have Learnt About...

Scripting- When my group decided to create our short film we decided to create a storyboard instead of a script because it is much simpler than a script as you then have to include all speech and directions.
Storyboading- I learnt that when doing a story board that each picture does not need to be fully detailed and to give you some guidelines you can write stage directions or speech underneath each picture.
Locations- When making our short film, we were quite limited with locations but we used locations that we think was quite unique and it made our film seem more realistic.
Talent- Many people are quite camera shy and they were not a lot of volunteers so amber one the people in our group was in the film aswell as Mr Swain and Mrs Fearnley who acted as the parents in our short film. It takes many takes the get the actor/actress in the right position and to get the right angle of the shot.
Organisation- Its very important to be organised especially when you have to share cameras. Its better to have a rota so groups dont argue over cameras and equipment. Some days we couldnt use cameras and so we had to find something else to do while waiting etc, editing.
Teamwork- I found that our group worked well together and we communicated well aswell.
Editing- I had never really done any editing before this project and so it was intresting having to do that. Its definatly not as easy as it looks and it can take time to get it perfect but you do have to think about it carefully and be patient.

Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Analysis

Andrew Goodwin writing in 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' (Routledge 1992) describes the different characteristics of music video's-

1- Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics- stage performance or dance routine will define whether it is for a boy or girl band.
2- There is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals- There are 3 types- Illustrative- acting out literally. Amplifying- exagerrating the meaning. Contradicting- going against the meaning.
3- There is a relationship between visuals and music- Either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting.
4- The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work.
5- There are frequent references to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic/erotic treatment of the female body. Depends on gender.
6- There is often intertextual reference- to films, tv programmes etc.