A Choice Of Six...

With six song choices to choose from - all with accompanying storyboards - I thought it was best to further research the songs that I hope to use;

Miss Jackson by Panic! at the Disco
single released
July 15th 2013
video uploaded
July 15th 2013


Belle of the Boulevard by Dashboard Confessional
single released
October 13th 2009


Not Like the Movies by Katy Perry
single released
August 3rd 2010


Sober by P!nk
single released
November 3rd 2008
video uploaded
October 25th 2009


Fairytale by Sara Bareillies
album released:
 January 20th 2004
video uploaded:
 November 17th 2009


Another Heart Calls by The All-American Rejects
album released:
December 16th 2008



As can be deduced by the links (or lack thereof) above, half of the song choices I have picked do not have accompanying music videos. Whilst this may be useful as it eradicates the chance of any ideas that could be considered too similar to the official video, it also means that there is no joining off point from which to start my own video and therefore no additional help.

Storyboarding

After finally narrowing 19 songs down to 6, I started to plan out my videos based on what I saw in my head as I listening to the songs. 

Next weekend I will be meeting with my lead actress to discuss which video she will be most comfortable with and to finalise plans regarding locations, dates and props which will all go towards creating the perfect mise-en-scene. 

Defined Lines

Although it may seem as though this blog is predominantly ruled by 'Blurred Lines', it isn't. However, with the stir caused by the video, the song and its affiliates have remained buoyed in the spotlight. 

The latest news is based on the feminist parody 'Defined Lines' which is the product of the imagination of University of Auckland law students, particularly Olivia Lubbock, Zoe Ellwood and Adelaide Dunn (the Law Revue girls). 

The video subverts that of Thicke's creation, with scantily clad men being treated like sex slaves by the three fully clothed women. However, the real controversy stems from the temporary removal of the video from YouTube after being flagged as having 'inappropriate content'. The video has now been restored after an appeal by the Law Revue girls, who stated that whilst they understand why it was flagged that it is also a 'massive double standard' with it being taken down and that the negative response is 'just funny' because it shows the public's views on the objectification of the male models, whilst the response to Thicke's video were predominantly positive. 

Banned Lines

Almost as if to prove my point about Robin Thicke's video 'Blurred Lines' that I posted about last Friday, Edinburgh University Students Association have banned the video due to it's sexism and the fear of promoting 'lad culture' with the EUSA vice president stating that it 'promotes an unhealthy attitude towards sex and consent' and with lyrics such as 'I'll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two', can you really blame them? 

All this once again leads me to question just how much explicit content in music and music videos is too much?

Saving Rock and Roll

During my recent YouTube browsing sessions, I stumbled across what is possibly the best idea that I have ever seen for promoting music known as 'The Young Blood Chronicles'. These are a series of music videos by Fall Out Boy for their new album Save Rock and Roll.

 So far, only 5 out of the 11 videos have been released, but I have to admit that I am now eagerly anticipating the release of the sixth. And with the fan-base left guessing as to which of the album tracks will be used for the next installment, it has proved to be a very effective marketing technique that I honestly have not seen before. Each music video works separately with its own distinct style, whilst all 11 tracks will form the story which began with the kidnapping of the band and them being subjected to various obscure methods of torture. Even guest vocalists such as Big Sean play parts in the story, with Big Sean helping release Patrick Stump (lead singer) from a trance before being killed by their captors.
Not only is this a great way to market their new album and tour, but it is also a great way to keep the fans on their toes whilst waiting for the next video release.

Part 1 - 'My Songs...'
Part 2 - 'The Phoenix'
Part 3 - 'Young Volcanoes'
Part 4 - 'Alone Together'
Part 5 - 'The Mighty Fall'
Part 6 - eagerly awaiting release...

21st Century Ease

Turn on laptop; open up Safari and iTunes; log into Facebook, check emails and open up YouTube. My personal daily ritual. Ever realize just how easy it is to get anything just from the tap of a few computer keys?
YouTube - type in Panic! at the Disco as I fancied watching their 'I Write Sins...' video. The first option to come up was the video for 'This Is Gospel', a newly released single from their upcoming album. Attached to the video are the options to preorder the album or to watch the other released video which is for 'Miss Jackson', and with the thought it mind that one song was not enough to make me wish to preorder an album, I chose to watch the second video. At which point I then figured that yes, I need this album on my iTunes. Click the link, iTunes opens, select 'preorder' and wait. Now as each single is released, they will be added to my library.

Is it just me that is astonished with the ease with which it is to do these things? The way that just from typing in one song, I can preorder an album that I wasn't even aware was to be released. The speed with which information is sent to us through the internet can only speed up the exponential growth of the music industry, with more platforms and bigger, worldwide platforms upon which music is released. Even amateur musicians can make a name for themselves both through YouTube or making music on SoundCloud.
And the most amazing thing about this is that YouTube is only 8 years old! And SoundCloud is only 6! Infact, the internet itself only became domestic in the early 90's and yet now it dominates all day to day life, from reading books to watching films, from chatting to classmates to chatting to that Australian friend you met in America on holiday 3 years ago.

More on mad music videos

After my rant about Miley Cyrus and her antics (which have broken the Vevo 24 hour record with 19.3 million views!), I figured it was only fair to include the men of the music industry, since they too have hit the headlines - without the need to 'twerk' at awards ceremonies.

It all started with the release of Robin Thicke's video 'Blurred Lines' which featured several models (that I honestly felt the need to 'save' due to their entirely expressionless faces which evoked images of incredibly depressing strippers) looking almost entirely nude and extremely objectified. This video was removed from YouTube and led to numerous debates over its flagrant disregard for women and lack of artistic merit (okay so the last one is just my opinion). However, as with Miss Cyrus, this may have only helped buoy the video's success to the point at which the single spent a record number of weeks in the number 1 spot on the charts and becoming the second-biggest-selling single of the year, just behind Pharrell Williams and Daft Punk's track Get Lucky. The single's unrated video has now racked up 19,660,723 views and the edited version with 171,437,468, showing that, yet again no publicity is bad publicity.

Meanwhile, in more recent news, YouTube lifted its recent ban on Justin Timberlake's video for 'Tunnel Vision' which was deemed acceptable due to the apparent artistic merit found in a 7 minute long video of female nudity which has claimed only 7,109,262 views and is yet to grace the UK singles chart.

With the recent increase in NSFW videos, it is not a stretch to deduce that this is fast becoming a sign of the future of music videos. 

Did iTunes kill the music industry?

With the recent release of the new iPhones and 10 years since the opening of the iTunes store, its time to take a look and see just how much of an effect its introduction has had on the industry.
The opinions surrounding iTunes range from it being the saving grace of music to it being the final nail in the coffin. I'm not denying that online music was rife prior to iTunes, with the existence of Napster and sites such as MP3.com, but the question has to be asked as to whether ease of access has endangered the existence of offline, real-world music stores, such as the recently collapsed and reconstructed retailer 'HMV'. It is also questionable as to what effect this has on the artist, as although it is easier and cheaper to sell their singles online, it is also cheaper to buy them and thus it could be said that it minimises the originally substantial profit margin that was available to artists of the 90's.
It should also be recognised that with official music downloading, comes unofficial music downloading which leads to no profits being passed on to the record companies or their artists. It may be easier and more efficient for the public, but one cannot deny the value of a physical CD or LP.
However, the digital revolution has also allowed for smaller and less mainstream bands to hit the singles charts and to be streamed worldwide to their niche market of consumers, as it is now easier to introduce music to the public without big name record company backing.

All of this suggests that whilst digital music is better for members of the public, it does damage bigger names in the music industry, but with the amount of money these artists pull in hourly, how much does it really matter to us little people sitting behind our mobile phone and laptop screens?

Whatever happened to music videos?

Needless to say that with recent music industry related events, the big news is the 'outing' of Miley Cyrus as being completely crazy. One overly sexualized video could be forgiven, but with the recent release of her 'Wrecking Ball' video, the public must question just how much damage the media industry has caused the once tame country girl who is now seen nakedly straddling a wrecking ball and performing sexual acts with a sledge hammer.

It has to call to question just who is going to go onto iTunes to buy the video, after all, the main purpose of a music video is to advertise the music, and with both the music and the video in mind I have to say that the god-awful video ruins the relatively decent song. I say relatively since it is a great step up from her earlier offering of 'We Can't Stop'. 

I have to admit that I struggle to think how her record company plan to market her video, since I can't see how they would release it into the mass population by any way other than the shocking press that it is receiving (which is the way that I came across it). Then again, in the media industry, it's well known that no press is bad press. Unfortunately, this is evidently true for Miss Cyrus with her video being the talk of Twitter, YouTube and various other online media platforms, leading me to not only ponder what happened to music videos, but also what happened to society for videos such as these to be becoming commonplace and for explicit content to be a part of modern music, a pattern which is backed up by the Arctic Monkeys' video 'You Only Call Me When You're High', which was banned from being shown on several music channels due to its sensitive material.