Above is our final copy of our letter to Polydor Records on headed paper.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Letter to Polydor Records
Our group have decided to use Kate Nash's song "We Get On" for our media coursework. This is the letter we had to write to Polydor Records who own the rights to Kate Nash's music. We found out that Polydor Records owned the rights to Kate's music through wikipedia. Originally, we went onto her website but could not find her record company so we went to wikipedia and saw that Polydor Records owns the rights to her music.
St. Anne’s Catholic High School for Girls 28th September 2009
Oakthorpe Road
Palmers Green
N13 5TY
020 8886 2165
Polydor Records
364-366 Kensington High StLondon
W14 8NS
Dear Sir/Madam,
We are three Media students at St Anne’s Catholic High School for Girls and we are writing to request the rights to use Kate Nash’s song ‘We Get On’ for our A2 Media coursework in a music video. The music video will be used for educational purposes only in order to get a grade for our A2 Media coursework. As a group we are great fans of Kate’s work and thought it would be a good song to use.
We hope to hear from you soon.
Yours faithfully
Sinead Murphy Francesca O’Toole Samantha Williams
St. Anne’s Catholic High School for Girls 28th September 2009
Oakthorpe Road
Palmers Green
N13 5TY
020 8886 2165
Polydor Records
364-366 Kensington High StLondon
W14 8NS
Dear Sir/Madam,
We are three Media students at St Anne’s Catholic High School for Girls and we are writing to request the rights to use Kate Nash’s song ‘We Get On’ for our A2 Media coursework in a music video. The music video will be used for educational purposes only in order to get a grade for our A2 Media coursework. As a group we are great fans of Kate’s work and thought it would be a good song to use.
We hope to hear from you soon.
Yours faithfully
Sinead Murphy Francesca O’Toole Samantha Williams
Friday, September 25, 2009
As part of my research I have looked at the boyband Westlife and the ways in which they attract their audience...
WESTLIFE is an Irish pop band that formed on July 3, 1998. The group's original lineup comprised Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan and Brian McFadden however since, Brian McFadden left the group to develop a solo career. The lead vocalists in the band are Filan and Feehily.
Furthermore, the boyband is the only act in UK history to have their first seven singles go straight to Number 1 and since their first single in 1999 they have dominated the charts with their music and gone on to sell over 40 million records.
Westlife's first big break came in 1998 when they opened for the Boyzone and Backstreet Boys' concerts in Dublin. Later that year, they won the 'Best New Tour Act' award at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. In March 1999, the band released their first single, "Swear It Again" which immediately topped the charts in Ireland and in UK for two weeks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36RVO0eFSvw
Westlife's music has evolved over the years. The link above is their first music video and first single "Swear it again" and the song's genre is a teen pop ballad. The camera at the beginning of the video tracks in slowly on the lead vocalist singing, perhaps to appeal to a female audience and therefore creating a voyeurism. Furthermore, the way the lead singer is presented as singing (lip syncing) to the camera gives the audience the feeling that he is confiding in us. Furthermore, the video seems to be both performance and narrative. It is narrative when the singers are shown to be playfully messing around and the close ups of the band members laughing suggest that the company are focusing on selling the band on their playful and attractive image. Overall, although the camera focuses on the lead singer and shows many close ups and shots of him when the song reaches the chorus there is an important high angle shot that shows the whole group standing on a small white stage singing and moving together. This shot emphasises and reminds the audience that they are united as a group and the close ups and quick shots of the singers separately once again are used to attract a female audience. However, they are also effective in the way they introduce the other band members to show that they are all different and there own person. Additionally, the singers are all dressed in black and this emphasises to the audience that they are united.
Furthermore, the boyband is the only act in UK history to have their first seven singles go straight to Number 1 and since their first single in 1999 they have dominated the charts with their music and gone on to sell over 40 million records.
Westlife's first big break came in 1998 when they opened for the Boyzone and Backstreet Boys' concerts in Dublin. Later that year, they won the 'Best New Tour Act' award at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. In March 1999, the band released their first single, "Swear It Again" which immediately topped the charts in Ireland and in UK for two weeks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36RVO0eFSvw
Westlife's music has evolved over the years. The link above is their first music video and first single "Swear it again" and the song's genre is a teen pop ballad. The camera at the beginning of the video tracks in slowly on the lead vocalist singing, perhaps to appeal to a female audience and therefore creating a voyeurism. Furthermore, the way the lead singer is presented as singing (lip syncing) to the camera gives the audience the feeling that he is confiding in us. Furthermore, the video seems to be both performance and narrative. It is narrative when the singers are shown to be playfully messing around and the close ups of the band members laughing suggest that the company are focusing on selling the band on their playful and attractive image. Overall, although the camera focuses on the lead singer and shows many close ups and shots of him when the song reaches the chorus there is an important high angle shot that shows the whole group standing on a small white stage singing and moving together. This shot emphasises and reminds the audience that they are united as a group and the close ups and quick shots of the singers separately once again are used to attract a female audience. However, they are also effective in the way they introduce the other band members to show that they are all different and there own person. Additionally, the singers are all dressed in black and this emphasises to the audience that they are united.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Possible Song Choices
In my last media lesson we chose our groups for our coursework and I, Francesca and Samantha discussed possible song choices for our music video.
Overall, we brainstormed and came up with six possible album tracks to use; we also thought about the pros and cons of these songs as shown below:
Anything but ordinary - Avril Lavigne
The song is about the girl's personal feelings, she is confiding in us, "Sometimes I get so weird". This is effective as the audience feels closer to the artist and perhaps feels more involved. The song has an effective and simple rhythm which would be easy to work with. However, there isn't much of a narrative and our group has decided that we are looking for a song which tells a story so that our music video has structure; a beginning, middle and end.
Things I'll never say - Avril Lavigne
Good narrative and the lyrics of the song such as "I'm staring at my feet" would make effective and interesting camera shots. An effective and fast tempo. However, the end of the song changes and would be hard to mime for our singer.
Birds - Kate Nash
Has a soft and effective instrumental at the beginning which sets the soft tone of the song. "She was waiting at the station" We could show the girl waiting at a train station and this would be an effective and realistic setting. We could film some effective shots of the girl and boy together such as close-ups of eyes, looks. This type of music video would appeal to a young, teenage girl audience. However, overall, there isn't much of a narrative and we feel it would be quite tedious because it lacks narrative.
We get on - Kate Nash
Very catchy song and the lyrics such as, "I don't usually notice people's eyes" would make effective filming as after she sings this we could flash to a close up of the boys' eyes and her reaction. As she is singing with hindsight we could use flashbacks throughout the video and could flash back to her singing in the present. Furthermore, the song tells a story, "I conducted a plan to bump into you most accidentally" and this would be an effective moment as we could evoke humour by showing that her plan doesn't go as well as she had intended.
That's the way I loved you - Taylor Swift
Good narrative, "All my single friends are jealous". We could film the girl's friends reactions to her with her boyfriend. However, the narrative could be quite confusing as it is sometimes unclear and the story she is telling is hard to understand. Not much imagery and visual information in the lyrics therefore we wouldn't be able to make many visual links.
The Best day - Taylor Swift
The Best Day is effective as it tells a very clear story, "I come home crying and you hold me tight and grab the keys". It would make an effective music video as the lyrics hold many visual representations such as "I've got my big coat on". Also additionally, it would make a good music video as it is not like a typical and sterotypical song instead it is about family and growing up which is rare to find in the charts today. However, the problem with The Best Day is we would need children in it and it could be hard to get them to do certain things.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Case - study: Madonna
In my last media lesson we looked at music videos featuring Madonna and analysed their codes and conventions and mise-en-scene to help us with our own music videos for our coursework. By looking at Madonna's music videos we were given an understanding of how she presents herself and how she attracts and appeals to her audience. We also looked at the ways she has changed over time especially in her image to attract different audiences and keep her old fans.
The first music video we watched was "Borderline". This video was part of Madonna's first key era in the early 1980s and she is presented as very feminine and young as she wears revealing clothes. Her dress sense therefore enables her to appeal to a teen audience as she is popularizing a girly, teen look and she also popularizes the big hair bows which were in fashion at the time. Furthermore, in Borderline Madonna tries to appeal to her audience through her racial and cultural identity. The setting of the video is an urban landscape therefore she is trying to appeal to her audience and give the impression that she really is a normal and typical women rather than a big, grand fashion icon. She also tries to attract the teenage audience in the video when she is presented as showing rebellion by the graffitti as she is attempting to relate to teenagers. Overall, in Borderline Madonna is presented as a playful and pretty teenage girl as she wears a floppy bow on her hat. However, she is also presented as very cool by the way she wears jeans and a leather jacket giving the audience the impression that she is strong to. Her "Boy Toy" belt relates to the teenage audience also and it is evident to the audience that she may be in her mid 20s but she still wants her image to be relative to teenagers therefore she has younger actors and actresses in the video alongside her.
Secondly, we looked at Madonna's music video "Material girl" and immediatedly recognised a contrast in image as the setting in Material girl is extremely grand and glamorous. Furthermore, the audience are given the impression that Madonna is indulging the glamour she sees all around her and she evidently has money and status as she has a rich red velvet carpet on the floor and she wears lots of expensive jewellery. She is also dressed very sophisticatedly and her outfit and hairstyle which has an 80s twist suggests a Marilyn Monroe homage and reference. Finally, there is a moment in the video when she is in her dressing room and has less makeup on and Madonna doesn't look as glamourous. Perhaps this is a personal reference to her past and she is remembering the girl in Borderline who didn't have glamour or fame. Therefore, perhaps she is reflecting on her past when she wasn't as well-off to keep her old fan base intrigued.
The third music video of Madonna's that we watched was Like a prayer and this music video shows a dramatic change in Madonna's image. Madonna in Like a prayer is presented as alot more mature and this emphasises that she is developing and is no longer the girly teenager she was in Borderline. She sings about more serious issues and overall the video demonstrates religious aspects which suggests that personally Madonna may have found religion in her own life.
Finally, we watched "Vogue" which introduced another Madonna image known as the erotic period. This new image
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Research - Music video analysis.
The Climb's video begins quite slowly and the camera focuses on a dark background. Suddenly the camera tracks upwards to present a very bright blue sky which connects with the slow music and creates a mysterious and perhaps magical atmosphere. The camera quickly blacks out to show a guitar lying down with a blue light reflecting off of it. This blue light holds the magical atmosphere and the camera flashes to a shot of the artist walking forward in the dark. She is singing and behind her is a bright blue and white light. The lyrics she sings whilst walking forward, "I can almost see it, that dream, i'm dreaming" connects with the pattern of colours as perhaps the brightness represents her dream. Furthermore, when the artist sits down the light behind her appears to be more like a spotlight perhaps suggesting that her dream is to sing.
Additionally, the beginning of the video is very much performance as it focuses on the artist singing in this mysterious, deserted setting. However, the second part of the video is narrative. There is an over the shoulder shot of the artist looking ahead of her and the camera speedily tracks in surrounded by mist which gives the audience the impression that it is dream like or a flashback which it is. The flashback shows another setting, a field and a new scene is created. The artist and a boy are riding horses in a beautiful setting and they are both wearing cowboy hats which suggests that they are in a country town. Furthermore, they are both casually dressed and the camera flicks from one smiling admirably to the other. The audience is immediatedly given the impression that they are in love which appeals to the young female audience once again. Then the camera flashes back to the blue setting and the artist begins to play the guitar whilst singing to her song.
Additionally, the beginning of the video is very much performance as it focuses on the artist singing in this mysterious, deserted setting. However, the second part of the video is narrative. There is an over the shoulder shot of the artist looking ahead of her and the camera speedily tracks in surrounded by mist which gives the audience the impression that it is dream like or a flashback which it is. The flashback shows another setting, a field and a new scene is created. The artist and a boy are riding horses in a beautiful setting and they are both wearing cowboy hats which suggests that they are in a country town. Furthermore, they are both casually dressed and the camera flicks from one smiling admirably to the other. The audience is immediatedly given the impression that they are in love which appeals to the young female audience once again. Then the camera flashes back to the blue setting and the artist begins to play the guitar whilst singing to her song.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Research into Music Videos/ Andrew Goodwin's Theory
Andrew Goodwin developed a Music Video Theory in which he argued that in music videos there are a number of key features which can be identified which appear time and time again:
Firstly, Goodwin said a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics can be seen. In other words, Goodwin meant by an amplification of the visuals to lyrics makes the events look over-dramatic and over the top. A contradiction of the visuals to lyrics means there is no relation between the events occurring and the lyrics of the song and there is no obvious likeness at all. Finally, an illustration of the lyrics is when the lyrics are illustrated with visuals. Overall, when planning our music video we will have to decide whether we want our music video to relate to the lyrics, to be a contradiction and therefore totally random or possibly an amplification so our music video is dramatic.
Goodwin also said that in a music video there is a Genre-related style and iconography present.
- Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.
- Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.
- Intertextual references to other media texts may be present.
Overall, it can be argued that Goodwin is saying the majority of music videos concentrate on how the main artist or band is presented and how they look, their image. This is a voyeurism where the director focuses on the artists image to appeal to a particular audience. For example, in alot of modern dance music videos the female artists are presented negatively and wear skimpy clothes to generally appeal to a particular male audience and when we plan our music video we have to really think about how we want our artist to be presented.
Overall, music videos are primarily used as a marketing device to sell and promote the artist's music in order to increase profits. The first main music video which was used as a promotional technique was "A Hard Day's Night" by the Beatles in 1964. They starred in their own first feature film directed by Richard Lester; this feature film emphasised their newfound international fame and was beneficial for them as it increased their audience on a wider level and promoted their songs such as Can't by me love. Overall, the feature film directed by Lester showed a day in the life of the Beatles and it's style was a mock documentary. It was effective for the Beatles as it meant their music could become more widespread.
Firstly, Goodwin said a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics can be seen. In other words, Goodwin meant by an amplification of the visuals to lyrics makes the events look over-dramatic and over the top. A contradiction of the visuals to lyrics means there is no relation between the events occurring and the lyrics of the song and there is no obvious likeness at all. Finally, an illustration of the lyrics is when the lyrics are illustrated with visuals. Overall, when planning our music video we will have to decide whether we want our music video to relate to the lyrics, to be a contradiction and therefore totally random or possibly an amplification so our music video is dramatic.
Goodwin also said that in a music video there is a Genre-related style and iconography present.
- Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.
- Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.
- Intertextual references to other media texts may be present.
Overall, it can be argued that Goodwin is saying the majority of music videos concentrate on how the main artist or band is presented and how they look, their image. This is a voyeurism where the director focuses on the artists image to appeal to a particular audience. For example, in alot of modern dance music videos the female artists are presented negatively and wear skimpy clothes to generally appeal to a particular male audience and when we plan our music video we have to really think about how we want our artist to be presented.
Overall, music videos are primarily used as a marketing device to sell and promote the artist's music in order to increase profits. The first main music video which was used as a promotional technique was "A Hard Day's Night" by the Beatles in 1964. They starred in their own first feature film directed by Richard Lester; this feature film emphasised their newfound international fame and was beneficial for them as it increased their audience on a wider level and promoted their songs such as Can't by me love. Overall, the feature film directed by Lester showed a day in the life of the Beatles and it's style was a mock documentary. It was effective for the Beatles as it meant their music could become more widespread.
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