(Pre-Production) Market Plan - Katy Perry

(Pre-Production) Music Video Exercise

In this task, our class was split into groups and we each filmed a narrative, performance and animation for a particular song. We then edited each of the clips and put them together for a music video. By looking at different music videos, I gained an understanding that music videos involve a lot of cuts and scenes in different locations to increase it's value and keep the audience interested so that they would want to watch it again.

(Pre-Production) Digital Timeline - History of Music Videos

1930



Spooney Melodies' song 'Crying for the Carolines' was considered the earliest music video, which was shot in black and white and lasted nearly 6 minutes. Black and white images were common during the 1920s and 30s as with films and photographs. The most popular genres during this time was country and blues. This video was considered to be innovative and according to some, is the only known surviving music video from around the 1930. The music video contains art deco style animations with some film of the live-action performer. The video uses amplification to make the video more effective and by associating the animations with the performer singing with fades.

1964



This music video was also shot in black and white and was presented as a mock documentary. More camera angles and movements have been used. This was also one of the first modern music videos to have developed and has influenced Western pop music to a number of comtemporary pop and rock music videos of the time.

1975



This music video was the first to use amplication of advanced visual effects such as fades and having more colour. A lot of music videos during the 1970s had footage of live performance and developed the rock and roll genre as artists were playing guitars in their videos.

1981



In this year, the video channel MTV was launched and began an era of 24-hour-a-day music on television. The song 'Video Killed The Radio Star' by The Buggles was the first music video to be aired on this channel. It also helped make artists successful through this marketing strategy including Madonna and later on, Michael Jackson. This was also a time when technology advanced and CDs, video cassettes and satellite broadcasting began which allowed people to playback music.

1983



Michael Jackson's song 'Thriller' became the most successful and influential music of all time by merging filmmaking and music. It costed $500,000 to film and lasted nearly 14 minutes. He was the first artist to have created this short film where the music video itself has a story. In this year, it encouraged artists to produce pop music and therefore became a popular culture. This short film/music video follows the idea of illustration by associating performers dressed up as zombies and graves with the lyrics.

1985



This music video was one of the first videos at the time to have used computer animation and made the song become an international hit. The video includes stage footage with some roto-scoped-animation in bright neon colours from technological advances. There have been controversies where the song's lyrics has been criticized for being sexist, racist and homophobic. In the later releases, the lyrics were edited for airplay.

1988



The song 'Smooth Criminal' is another short film/music video which was the centerpiece for the actual film 'Moonwalker'. It was a time where films began to invest more into music videos because it benefited both when marketing the film. In the music video, the storyline associates with the lyrics as well as having the artist performing. The artist wanted the music video to be a 1930s nightclub style. This was made possible because performers could wear costumes and the video was shot in an actual night club set.

1995



This music video, which was directed by Romanek, is notable for being the most expensive music video of all time costing $7 million. During this time, music videos had increasingly become an auteur's medium. A lot of the directors during the time brought a unique vision and style to the videos they directed. Advances in technology allowed for better quality music videos as well as creating sets where in this particular video, the artists are in a spaceship. The 1980s were a time where the genres hip hop, R&B and dance developed. It has also made successes of other artists such as Mariah Carey.

2000



Due to the development of genres, it had made more artists become successful such as Britney Spears. Similarly to Michael Jackson's 'Scream', a set was created where the artist performs in a spaceship. More shot variations have been used in this video to raise it's promotional value. Computer animations have also been used such as the fire, which is designed to make it look real in the actual music video.

2005

The creation of YouTube made viewing music videos online faster and easier. Google Videos, Yahoo Video, Facebook and MySpace's video services are also very similar. These websites, especially Youtube, have become a marketing strategy to get an artist's music known as well as becoming successful. It is free and anyone can access the videos.

2011



Youtube and MySpace have been popular ways in getting artist's known and making them successful. There have also been huge developments in style and music itself. The music industry struggles to make money as most artists fail to connect with a wide audience. Jessie J's 'Do It Like a Dude' combines R&B, pop, pop rock and hip hop beats to reach a popular audience which would find her music appealing. The music video contains scenes we wouldn't expect in real life which makes it more interesting for the audience. It also switches scenes and locations a lot to reinforce the idea that the actions happening are related to the lyrics. Therefore there has been a huge development in style and content of music videos since back in the 1960s.

(Pre-Production) Applying Marketing Strategies

Genre: Folk

Artist's Name:  Skylus Tyler
Type of Label: Independent

Merchandise

We would sell badges, t-shirts and straw hats on the artist's own website. As for these products, we would mainly use the colours brown and green which are usually associated with folk music. The design we would have on these products would have the artist's name 'Skylus Griffin' and a guitar design. The Internet in the recent years have become very popular and a website can be set up at a low cost to sell the merchandise. We would spend a small proportion of money at first depending on the profits which will be made from people buying them. We can then gradually spend more money as people continue to buy the merchandise. It will reach our target audience because as people find the artist's song appealing and wears the merchandise, it can attract other people who may be interested in the artist, especially those are into folk music.

Synergy

The artist could do a duet with another artist such as Tinie Tempah, who also sang a duet with Eric Turner in the song 'Written in the Stars'. As he is joined with a more popular artist, the song could make more sales and people may be interested in Skylus Griffin, making him more popular in the song. It will reach my target audience because the song might appeal to them and they be interested in other music produced by the artist making more sales and the artist more popular.

Broadcast

The artist could also do a radio performance with a popular radio station such as BBC Radio One. Skylus Griffin could do a live performance on an event called the 'Big Weekend' to promote his song. The song may appeal to some people, especially those are interested in folk music. The radio can also include an interview from the artist for people who may be interested in the song and want to know more about the artist. It is a good way of rasising awareness because people could be listening to the radio during a journey in a car or on mobile phones.

Print

An interview of Skylus Griffin can be contained in a magazine such as 'Sing Out' which mainly appeals to people who are into folk music. People who often read this magazine could appeal to Skylus Griffin and become interested in his music. Posters can also be used and printed in different areas of the UK to raise awareness in each region. The poster can contain a picture of the artist, the website and any gigs or festivals he will be performing at. People who appeal to folk music are likely to look up his website to view more information about him. Posters can be produced at a cost but will be able to make profits as it raises awareness and makes more sales.

NMT

The artist could have his own website set up at a low cost. It could contain the artist's biography, his music, events and buying merchandise people may be interested in. It can also contain links to social networking website such as Facebook and Twitter, which is a method of viral marketing. This method is able to raise audience's awareness and get people talking about artist's music. The website can also contain giveaways such as tickets to a concert. Myspace Music is another popular way of getting the artist's music known. For example, the band Arctic Monkeys reached their successful through Myspace Music. People continue to search for music on Myspace, even if they are unsigned. A lot of people use the Internet and therefore we can use this to our advantage to raise the audience awareness of Skylus Griffin.

(Pre-Production) Music Videos

Target audiences

Lost In Gravity - Print Your Voice

This music clip is indie and would mainly target 16-24 year olds because the singer is quite young and the lyrics are mainly about feelings. It can target both male and females because they can go through the same emotions. Also the slight theme of rock can relate to them and fit in with their wild lifestyle.

Mr Resonate - Really Here

This song follows a hip hop/rap genre. It targets the age range of 16-25 because the lyrics are about growing up and that is the age range where people start thinking about changing their lives to get out of their current situation. It would mainly target a male audience because the rapper is male and could be rapping about his own life which the audience can relate to. It would target an older audience because the lyrics contains swearing to give an idea of confusion people may be feeling.

Midnight Missions - On a Roll

This song mainly talks about life and the lyrics are written as if it is addressed to some because it often says "you". It would target mainly a younger audience and more of a male audience because the singer is male and talks about his life which could be different to females.

Music videos that inspire me

Paramore - Decode



This music video is of a band playing and singing in the same setting where a story is also taking place. The transitions between both scenes are able to create a mood and better understanding of the meaning of the song relating to the vampire story. The colours used are mainly dark shades of green and blue in a forest which contrasts with some of the brighter colours used. This creates mystery and adds to the impression of a gothic theme which is further reinforced by the rock music. A lot of fades are used towards the beginning between different scenes to give the audience an idea of what the basic context of the music video will be about.

Tinie Tempah - Wifey



This music video is a rap of someone losing their girlfriend in a car crash. A lot of the shots are handheld and uses real locations such as the streets. This is to give an idea of it being a real story that happened and the man is therefore rapping in a memory of his girlfriend as he mostly talks to the camera. It also uses locations such as hairdressers, in a house and transitions between him and his girlfriend to give an idea of their daily routine until a tragic accident happened. As the girl gets runover by a car, a lot of cuts and a slow motion is used which shocks us and creates sympathy.


BoB - Airplanes



The music video mainly uses dark colours and different bright colours to relate to the lyrics of the "night sky" and "shooting stars". As the singers are singing, there are also fades of going into a dark sky with stars to make the lyrics more effective. Many of the shots are of one of the singers rapping to the camera or infront of a crowd which gives an idea he wants to get a message across in his lyrics. The scene at times also changes based on the subject he is rapping about such as being in a party and continues to use dark lighting and bright colours to contrast.