Questionnaire For my Final E4 ESting Project
Please watch the following clip and give your constructive feedback:
1. Who do think the target audience is for my project?
2. What did you think was the content and narrative of my project?
3. Did you notice what style of animation my project was in? e.i stop motion, clay, puppet etc.
4. What did you think about the props I used and the production quality of my project?
5. Did you notice any animation techniques in my project that you may or may not have seen prior? e.i style, FPS, multiply objects moving together.
6. Did you feel in a sense that the objects were alive living in their own world?
7. What did you think about the scenery and the colors of my project?
Thank You for Your feedback.
Designing an ESting
Below is the relevant planning paperwork for my ESting.
Budgeting: My total cost for my ESting with £0:00 due to the college providing me with the props required.
Music Video Pre-production
Step 1: The track I will be making my Music Video to is 'Otto Knows - Million Voices'.
The song was made by the Swedish DJ 'Otto Jettman' in 2012 using a sample from Wyclef Jean's song also called 'Million Voices'.
Step 2: Analysing my music track.
The concept of track was to make a song using samples from another older song and creating something new. When you listen to the track it can make you feel and imagine a sense of adventure and a perfect summers nights with the people you care most about creating unforgettable experiences.
There is not a set narrative for this track its just a great upbeat powerful track and different people may perceive it differently . This track is an instrumental song meaning it has no lyrics and is just a beat, it is also a dance or electronic track meaning its upbeat and colorful. The pacing of the track mainly is very fast but also calm with a few beat drops and a very slow proportion around the middle.There is two versions of the song one being the original mix (5:57) and the other is the radio edit (3:10) which is the one I will create my music video to.
Step 3: Researching Artist
Otto Knows has made around 6 official music videos to date and they are all very different as they each give their own message. Otto has features in his music videos vary rarely with the most popular one being 'Otto Knows - Dying for You' which was released in February 2016. In the video he was playing a piano while another artist was preforming vocals, the video has a plan black theme with fake snow making a a stunning video with a emotional message.
Otto only has four music videos that are public on YouTube
Otto Knows - Million Voices (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8jhXmfdRFY)
Otto Knows - Parachute (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6P7lgfo9Gk)
Otto Knows - Dying For You (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVt4oljqL38)
Otto Knows - Next to Me (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD9zmaX4ez8)
His first official Music Video was for his one song 'Million Voices' back in 2012 which currently has over 26,000,000 views on YouTube, Otto also chose not to appear in this video. The video was created for the release of the song and was filmed in France. This video consists of a group of friends on a summers day as they venture into a forest to complete a puzzle. It features bight colors, smooth transition shots, tracking shots, cutting to the beat of the track and great locations.
Lastly, I would like to talk about the next music video Otto created which was the video for his song "Parachute" which was released in 2014. The video currently has around 3.9 Million views on YouTube. Otto also does not appear in this video. The video consists a lot of strangers in smart working cloths walking somewhere but are unable to look away from their phones as they walk much like today's society. There is a anomaly however as one little girl chooses not to follow the rest of the crowd a invests in her own mind rather than a phones and becomes animationed which is a metaphor for having a free mind, using her new power she decides to fly away and her father must find a way to reach her but to do so he must free his mind to do so. This video was made in America and fits into Otto's theme by using his outlet to send a message and attempts to make the viewer feel emotion towards his work.
Step 4: Planning your video
My synopsis: My music video will consist of me and my friends as we will be going to gorleston beach and other surrounding locations, I have chosen this place because I have been visiting it my whole life also it is a place where me and my friends enjoy a lot. It will consist of time lapses, establishing shots and pan shots.
Step 1: The track I will be making my Music Video to is 'Otto Knows - Million Voices'.
The song was made by the Swedish DJ 'Otto Jettman' in 2012 using a sample from Wyclef Jean's song also called 'Million Voices'.
Step 2: Analysing my music track.
The concept of track was to make a song using samples from another older song and creating something new. When you listen to the track it can make you feel and imagine a sense of adventure and a perfect summers nights with the people you care most about creating unforgettable experiences.
There is not a set narrative for this track its just a great upbeat powerful track and different people may perceive it differently . This track is an instrumental song meaning it has no lyrics and is just a beat, it is also a dance or electronic track meaning its upbeat and colorful. The pacing of the track mainly is very fast but also calm with a few beat drops and a very slow proportion around the middle.There is two versions of the song one being the original mix (5:57) and the other is the radio edit (3:10) which is the one I will create my music video to.
Step 3: Researching Artist
Otto Knows has made around 6 official music videos to date and they are all very different as they each give their own message. Otto has features in his music videos vary rarely with the most popular one being 'Otto Knows - Dying for You' which was released in February 2016. In the video he was playing a piano while another artist was preforming vocals, the video has a plan black theme with fake snow making a a stunning video with a emotional message.
Otto only has four music videos that are public on YouTube
Otto Knows - Million Voices (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8jhXmfdRFY)
Otto Knows - Parachute (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6P7lgfo9Gk)
Otto Knows - Dying For You (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVt4oljqL38)
Otto Knows - Next to Me (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD9zmaX4ez8)
His first official Music Video was for his one song 'Million Voices' back in 2012 which currently has over 26,000,000 views on YouTube, Otto also chose not to appear in this video. The video was created for the release of the song and was filmed in France. This video consists of a group of friends on a summers day as they venture into a forest to complete a puzzle. It features bight colors, smooth transition shots, tracking shots, cutting to the beat of the track and great locations.
Lastly, I would like to talk about the next music video Otto created which was the video for his song "Parachute" which was released in 2014. The video currently has around 3.9 Million views on YouTube. Otto also does not appear in this video. The video consists a lot of strangers in smart working cloths walking somewhere but are unable to look away from their phones as they walk much like today's society. There is a anomaly however as one little girl chooses not to follow the rest of the crowd a invests in her own mind rather than a phones and becomes animationed which is a metaphor for having a free mind, using her new power she decides to fly away and her father must find a way to reach her but to do so he must free his mind to do so. This video was made in America and fits into Otto's theme by using his outlet to send a message and attempts to make the viewer feel emotion towards his work.
Step 4: Planning your video
My synopsis: My music video will consist of me and my friends as we will be going to gorleston beach and other surrounding locations, I have chosen this place because I have been visiting it my whole life also it is a place where me and my friends enjoy a lot. It will consist of time lapses, establishing shots and pan shots.
People have been listening to a
form of music for over 100 years, in modern day however artists, bands and
other music creators have the chance to not only express themselves through the
music with sounds but now also a form of video also which creates a better experience for the viewer. The first ever music video was released on MTV's TV channel on August 1st 1981 and would change how people listen to music forever, the video played for of 'The Buggles' and their song 'Video Killed The Radio Star". Shortly after this Music Videos started gaining momentum in the mid 80s and are currently seeing
mass amounts of popularity with all the biggest artists using music videos with almost every song they release. My
aim and the purpose for this essay is to expand and show my knowledge of world
of music videos in terms of all the aspects that goes into creating them, the industry behind them and
the history of how they became what they are today.
Para 1:
Promotion of Artists
One of the reasons Music
artists and bands make music videos is done as part of a promotional tool,
which likely aims to increase exposure of the artist along with the song, build a loyal fan base, express themselves to a further extent and make extra money. Music videos do usually cost a lot of money but they
can also make a lot of money through downloads of the song, advertisements on the
music video and product placement within the video for example a
lot of main stream pop music videos will likely include someone using a 'Beats
Pill' or wearing a pair of Beats headphones. Another part of promotion for a music video or any type of media is the
director of the shoot. Having a good director with a popular
and respected name has many benefits such as free promotion from their fans and
others wanting to see more of their work as well as them likely being good at
their job resulting in your video being of a high quality and well directed/polished. Some more examples of how brands promote themselves are to post content regularly which results in people listening more, higher chance of word of mouth and it will attract new listeners/potential sponsors. Another way is to release behind the scenes footage that they can obtain easily and people will find interesting resulting in a more connected fan base. Furthermore bands also work with director who contribute not only to the project but also with the promotion aswel, here are a few examples of how a director might promote themselves; post onto their own website, post of their social media pages and get other larger names involved with the project. The results of this might include more views and word of mouth surrounding the project and different fan bases seeing the product which could lead to more loyal fans.
Para 2 :
Producer Strategies
Firstly, I would like to
mention that the Music video producer’s job is to control the way in which the
music video is created all the way throughout the project. The strategy of the
producer will likely be to discuses, add input and control how the Record Label wants to have the project providing there is one and which director they want to shoot and direct the project. The purpose of the producer
strategies are to encourage overall sales of the artists/brands work, promotion
of the artist/song and to increase the artists/brands image to the audience.
There is quite a few different ways that the strategies are used I will list
some and give examples. One of the more obvious ones is the image, this can
vary in terms of style and what’s happening on-screen such as costumes, sets
and special effects. The narrative will have a large impact on things such as how
memorable the video is resulting in exposure through people talking about the
video over social media and word-of-mouth, it will likely build more of a
relationship with the viewer as if they enjoyed they will re-watch and/or come
back to watch new content when available or watch previous content. Another key feature of this is the
different approach from each artist, this means you will rarely see two music
videos/songs that are similar. This comes under each artist being marketed
differently, trying to tailor themselves to different markets while being
unique and their own form of art.
An example where a producer has changed the style of the image resulting in it influencing the style of the video. Rihanna - ROCKSTAR 101 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMOIUUS8GWo)
Another notable feature is how mainstream artists who often have large amounts of money themselves, brand deals and a label to help pay for a music video meaning they will of course spend a lot more money on a project compared to an indie artist who is not with a label and rarely is offered brand deals, this can be very noticeable but is often not the reason why a music video is either deemed good or bad.
I will now give two examples of music videos one artist has recently singed with record label (Atlantic records) and the other is a indie artist. Both these artists are incredibly talented and have produced very professional music videos but if you look deeper who can see some very noticeable differences between the two. The biggest differences between the two are that ones in set in one room whereas the other is able to explore several different locations, one has close to 30 extras whereas the other only has around 8 and lastly at the end of end song during the 'credits' ones displays the '2 Project Studios' logo which is a very high end recording studio and in-house video production location and if affiliated which some very large artists and the other lists 10 peoples names including the artists.
Joyner Lucas - Stranger Things (Has record label) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-u9uo0laA8
Witt Lowry - Piece of Mind 4 (Indie Artist) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpoiWX9ZSZY
Para 3 :
Extending artists and record label income
Extension of income is where a artist or record label will attempt to
receive the money they are owed for the royalties of a song or music video that
they have made and own. Every time an Artists or a record labels song is played or music video is viewed the creator/s are owned money for their content. This however can
become very difficult for large artists to keep track of all the times and
places there art is played or watched. This is due to the huge amount of media
playing/viewing providers and companies out there. With some possibly playing them illegally and playing/showing things they have not paid for which can damage an
artist or record label when done regularly. To counter this an artist or record
label will find other ways to make up for lost income. It usually results in
extra product placement, an attempt to sell more merchandise or synergistic marketing. Furthermore, an
artist will never be paid the exact amount they are owned due to it being
impossible to count the exact amount of views or plays. To compensate for this
most media outlets will have to estimate how much they should pay for the
royalties or the artist/record label will ask for a price, they take into account things like song popularity, place on the
charts and how well its selling as a single to name a few factors. Furthermore an example of a Music Video using product promotion is Dr. Dre - I Need A Doctor Ft. Eminem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA770wpLX-Q) This incredible popular and loved music video includes multiple piece of promotion as show below. The promotions include Eminem wearing a Casio G-Shock Watch, the doctors using a hp computer and Dr. Dre drinking bottle of Gatorade. For artists music videos helped them greatly in terms of helping them express their art and as a way of creating more revenue to make them more profitable and their careers more sustainable.
Para 4 :
Extension of various media outlets
Media outlets are platforms and formats that allows us to access and watch a huge amount of media. Some examples of the more popular media outlets are as follows:
YouTube.com
Apple Music
CDs and DVDs
Vimeo.com
Television Channels
Really any platform that will allow someone to view a music video is a media outlet, Artists and Record Labels will look at these outlets and decide which to put their content onto or they will be asked first. Once their content is being played on that media outlet they will receive royalties as well as promotion and exposure for their art. The list stated above is only a small portion of the rising amount of media outlets available to the public today, the advantages of this include more competition between the outlets resulting in them all wanting to have the best music and best possible experience for the users so they will stay on their outlet and on the flip side this gives the viewer a large range of media outlets to choose from are some advantages. The disadvantages to the huge amount of media outlets we are presented with include that it can be very difficult to find all the songs from your favourite artist as you may find all their content to be spread about allover different platforms and outlets, the outlets will also be making less money and paying more for the royalties due to the high amount of competition and demand meaning they will have to play more ads and find over ways to make money (premiums, memberships, product placement etc) and the market will likely become over saturated due to how over done this idea is and how its separating up the market into lots of different pieces so people cant just enjoy the music as much. Here is a comparison of the YouTube music video marketing to the Vimeo market showing the different view counts on Rihanna - Work ft. Drake (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL1UzIK-flA).
Para 5 :
Synergistic Marketing - Promotion - income
In terms of media, Synergy is where a company owns a product completely but will make licensing deals with other companies who will then create new products and sell them using the other companies creation. This usually results into a form of profit for both companies. The company licensing their product/creation to the other will receive great promotion for their brand and product when done correctly resulting in a more loyal and engaged fan base meaning the first company will likely make more future sales as well as them making extended income from the first licensing for which they didn't have to do to much over than created the product/creation in the first place and license it. The company buying the licensing can sell a product using another much more popular brands name and/or creation which usually works well due to them now not needing to advertise their product as they in a sense just ride on the back of the licensing they are paid for. Here is an example of the Artist Drake wearing if own clothing brand Called 'Octobers Very Own' (https://uk.octobersveryown.com/collections/shop-all) in his music video for Hotline Bling.
Lastly is soundtracks which usually help all parties involved due to promotion, income and usually good content.
Conclusion
In the current day music videos are nearly if not as popular as music in general. I believe this is due to the experience the viewer receives when watching as it adds to the feeling and emotions of listening the someones art as well as watching makes it more entertaining and helps people relate more. It also makes the art more sustainable because rather than music listening couple of times to a song or artist and becoming board you are able to watch the videos which are often more re-watchable. Further evidence of this is the growth of music videos in the last decade and the current growth and expansion we are still seeing today. A very recent example of this is a Colombian singer who received over 4,500,000 million views in less than 12 hours.
Another example that also ties in with synergistic marketing because it was made for movie and received a huge amount of success is Wiz Khalifa - See You Again ft. Charlie Puth which was uploaded in 2015 and is currently sitting on over 3,300,000,000 views. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgKAFK5djSk)
Part 1: Pioneers and Technology
For each of the technology listed below, please discuss / include:
Who invented each technology and when?
How each optical toy / device works?
Visual examples of technology in use
Embedded videos to show YOUR versions of the technology
What is meant by the 'persistence of vision'?
This works by our brains looking at an image of something and processing it while another image is being shown , this then makes our brains merge the two images into one making the images seem as they are moving, this can then be repeated for several minutes to create a movie.
Thaumatrope
The Thaumatrope was invented by John Ayrton Paris who was a well respected English physician and in 1825 he invented the Thaumatrope. The Thaumatrope works by having two separate drawings on each side on a round piece of card, then after making hole on the left and right side on the card you can make it rapidly go back and forth between the two picture by using strings or elastic bands in the holes and moving your thumbs up and down. This merges the two images into making it look like one single picture due to persistence of vision. Today it may not seem that impressive but back in the early 1800s it was seen as a very impressive invention.
Phenakistoscope
The Phenakisticope was first invented in December 1832 by two different people in two different places by a Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau and the Austrian professor of practical geometry Simon Stampfer. The Phenakistoscope works by spinning a a disc usually cardboard while its attached vertically to a handle pointing upwards with the disk at the top/middle. This then will create the motion of animation as it seems the before still images are now moving
Zoetrope
The Zoetrope was invented in 1834 by William George Horner who was a British mathematician and was a very popular piece of entertainment for around 30 years. The Zoetrope works by using a cylinder with slits cut vertically in the sides, around the inside of the bottom consists the sequence of images. As the cylinder spins the pictures at the bottom come to life and begin to move.
Praxinoscope
The praxinscope was created as the successpr to the zoetrope. Charles-Emile Reynaud invented it in France (1877). It is very simular to the Zoetrope but the Praxinpscope offers a winder viewing angle by adding mirrors to the inner circle.
Kinetoscope
The kinetoscope is one of the earliest motion pictures devices in history and was designed to be viewed by one person at a time through a 'peephole'. The first Kinetoscope was invented in 1861 by Tomas Edison who is a famous American Inventor and Business man and William Kennedy Dickson who was a Scottish inventor. It worked by creating the illusion of movement by conveying a strip of film which played images over a light source with a high shuttter speed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_animation Part 2
Developers.
George Pal George Pal was a Hungarian-American animator, film director and producer. He was born 1st February 1908 in Hungary, He was always making films growing up and when he was 23 he married and moved to Berlin where he founded Trickfilm-Studio where he mainly was involved in Puppet Movies, he first used stop motion in a professional setting when creating add shorts, later in life he moved to America and began working for Paramount Pictures. He mainly worked with puppets using stop motion and other figures then in later life he used animation and live stop motion.
A famous piece of this work called 'Wonderful of the Brothers Grimm' which was made in 1962 using puppets. Credit: Youtube.com
Willis O'Brien
Willis Harold O'Brien was a American motion picture special effects and stop motion pioneer. He was born 2 March 1886 in Oakland California. His most famous pieces of work was The Lost World and King Kong. Willis used model figures in his stop motion animation such as Dinsours and Cavemen.
Wills also revolutionised the technique of paring live action actors with his creations as how in the film 'The Ghost of Slumber Mountain' made in 1918. Credit Youtube.com
Ray Harryhausen
Raymond Harryhausen was born June 29 1920, we was a American-British artist, who also did crucial effects as wel as writing and producing. He created a format of stop motion animation called 'Dynamation'. He was greatly inspired by Willis O'Brien's King Kong movie who was also a mentor to Ray. He even worked on Mighty young Joe with Willis. He worked with Stop Motion and computer generated animation.
Here are some images of his best creations. Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9kmjW73-v4
Phil Tippett
Phil was born September 27 1951 in Berkeley California. He is a American director and has a Oscar and Emmy award for is visual effects. He mainly works with creature design and computor based animation. His most known work is being apart of hugely popular films such as RoboCop, Jurassic Park and even the orginal Star Wars trilogy.
Otmar Gutmann
Otmar Gutmann was born April 24 1937 in Germany, he is a German TV Producer, his most seen and appreciated work is the globally loved Pingu. Most of his other work also was made using computer animation.
Tim Burton
Was born Augest 25th 1958 and is a American Film Director, Producer, artist, animator and writer. Is most famous work is Beetlejuice 1988, The Nightmare before Christmas 1993 and Corpse Bride 2005. He started making stop motion projects when he was a teenager and was also heavily involved in art when growing up.
A great piece of animation created by Tim is from the short animation series 'Stainboy' this clip is form episode 1 which was release in 2009. Credit Youtube.com
Henry Selick
Henry is an American Stop Motion director, producor and writer, Born 30 November 1952. His most well know work is also for The nightmare before Christmas as well as James and the Giant Peach. He was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. He was inspired at a young age by two stop motion films called 'The Adventures of Prince Achmed and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. The Brothers Quay
Otherwise known as Stephen and Timothy Quay are identical twin brothers born June 17 1947 in Pennsylvania, US. They are both Film Directors and Animators, the majority of their animation is done using puppets and other organic materials. There biggest projects are 'The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes' and 'In Absentia
A great example of the type of work the brother produced is this clip from the film 'Street of Crocodiles' released in 1986. Credit Youtube.com
Adam Shaheen
Adam was born 13th October 1964, He is a British-Canadian animator, television producer and screenwriter, he has over 150 international awards for his work. He also in the founder and owner of Cuppa Coffee Studies. His most known work is for Celebrity Deathmatch, Jojo's Circus, Rick and Steve and Life's a Zoo. Adams first animations were made using just clay figures but as more and more resources have became available to film he a strayed more to computer animation
An example of why Adam is so beloved by his fanbase is also throught the cultral aspects of his work for example here is a famous clip of a Celebrity Death Match clip with features Beavis and Butthead. Credit Youtube.com
Nick Park
Nickolas Wulstan is a English director , writer and animator, born 6 December 1958, His most known work is the national loved Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, Shaun the Sheep and a bundle of others, He was born in Lancashire, England. He growing up he was fond of drawing cartoon and when we was 13 he started making his own films. He is also one of the key people for Aardman Animators which is a British animation studio based in Bristol. Nick really loves making his films using clay figures along with stop motion.
An great example of Nicks work is if you look back to the earlier parts of his career also to see how he has evolved while keeping his classic style. Clip from the short 'War Short' from the 1990s.
Media Platforms and Audiences
Examples for each of the following in the format Stop Motion.
TV program - Children- Postman Pat - This is target towards children because its family friendly and
positive and also ends on a positive message. This movie uses a very modern form of animation which is high definition and very colorful. I believe this is done make to shorts not look like real life as the animations are tying to give it a cartooned vibe while using of the capability of modern computer animation
Adult - Angry Kid - Adult - This is targeted towards adults due to its vulgar humor. This style of animation is very unique, They used Live action and stop motion when creating these shorts.
Feature Film - Children- Fantastic Mr. Fox - This is targeted at Kids as its family friendly and funny to children. This is also a very high quality stop motion animation with a lot of compter generated features also. The animals and humans also look very realistic. They did this by using stop-motion and a very large budget.
Adult- ParaNorman - Adult - This can be viewed by children but does involve large amounts of gore and jump scares. I have never seen an animation style like this before and its due to the animatiors trying to make everything scarys as everything as a creapy feeling to it. This was done by using a form of 3D stop-motion
Advertisement - Children -McCoy's Crips - Children will find this funny. This is a very classic form of animation using live action stop-motion, it look pleasing and is very cheap to produce it would of however taken a bit of time to prefect.
Adult- Honda - Adult - This is targeted towards adults to buy there cars but also towards kids as they are likely trying to also build a relationship with young potential consumers. This is personally one of the most impressive look aniamtions I have seen as it mixes stop motion and computer animation perfectly to create a incredibly well done masterpiece of modern animation
Music Video - Children - OK Go - "Primary Colours" Helps children with Colours. This is also a simpler form of animation using stop motion as well as a ton of hours and man power to make this possible.
Adult- Sledgehammer- This is target towards older people due to the old looking film style, lyrics and backdrops in most scenes. This music video mixes a lot of animation styles together for a 5 minutes of mind blowing animation ranging from stop motion to clay and computer animation.
Ident - Children CBeebies - Children as its on a children TV channel. This a fully computer based animation which is just made as a ident but shows great quality and great smooth animation with multiply things moving at once.
Adult- BBC Hippos- Adults as BBC 1 is a TV channel for adults. This animation is also just a ident for BBC but it mixes a few actual nature shots of hippons along with very pleasing shots of hippos swimming synchronized by editing it using computer programs and animation.
All Clips from youtube.com
Part 4
Who do you think stop motion in made for?
I think that stop motion can be viewed by anyone and loved, its a classic type of cinematography and was a big step in terms of entertainment, it made the impossible possible for a lot film makers, there is also very different types of stop motion in all different genres e.i Wallace and Gromit which is who a younger family friendly audience or there is more scary and thrilling movies such as Beetlejuice or Alice
What do you think holds for stop motion animation e.g., will it disappear and be replaced with computer animation?
I think within the next decade its not too debatable that stop motion animation will be taken over by computer animation, I think the reason for this is the fact that computer animation is getting better and better each year with better colors, and cinematography and with lots of depth and detail. Where as stop motion has improved a lot since it started to become popular and Ido believe there is a ceiling and only so far you can go with it but I would like to think will also be around and the work people have done with it will be looked back on and praised for many years to come.
Step 3: Researching Artist
