Animatic

Animatic 



Lyrics - Catie Curtis, Burn Your Own House Down

Why do I bother, that's what you say
And I know you're tired but don't fade away
It's been a long year, it's been a long day
You can't remember when it was not that way
When everything was okay

But I'm not gonna let you burn your own house down
I know you don't like living in it now
The halls are empty and the walls are bare
But I believe you, you're gonna find your love in there

Your door was open and your love left
Now all that you want is to burn the rest
But if your heart is open some love will come back
I know you don't believe me, I can see you light a match
I can see you light a match

But I'm not gonna let you burn your own house down
I know you don't like living in it now
The halls are empty and the walls are bare
But I believe you

I'm not trying to say you got no right to complain at all
What I'm saying is I believe in you and I will not believe
That everything is lost

Get up on the roof and look around
Get up on the roof and look around
Get up on the roof and look around

I'm not gonna let you burn your own house down
I know you don't like living in it now
You've got to see that somebody cares
But I believe you, I believe you, I believe you
Whoah, oooooh
You're gonna find your love in there

Research into the Music Industry

Intertextuality in Music Videos

Intertextuality within Music Videos

A quick presentation to introduce the idea of Intertextuality in Music Videos

Intertexuality within Music Videos from Zerikz

Intertextuality in general is ALL media; from games, television, music and film. For our music video, we will not be using much in terms of intertextuality as we believe it to be unnecessary. For our particular song, a parody or mocking another music video/film would be superfluous - unnecessary.

However, we don't necessarily have to make a form of intertextuality noticeable unless certain audiences understand the references, yet myself & Luke still agree on limiting the use of intertextuality within our music video.

Folk Country Pop Social Group Ideas

Presentation:
My target for the presentation was typically women between the ages of 25 to 35. I presented to teachers at my college which provided me verbal answers and advice. Many of them didn't know who I was, which allowed no favouritism to happen making them a neutral party from my view point.
Each teacher had similar characteristics but some differed allowing me to receive data of a broad range.
After asking my social group, it was concluded that my third & conjoined idea is the one I'm going to choose and elaborate upon. Despite the third idea being the most popular, it was a combination of 1 & 2. Some staff preferred idea 1 and some preferred idea 2 and not combined. But, some compared to most is a significant difference allowing me to conclude what the focus would be around.


However, it was suggested afterwards to include some aspects of the second idea as it would improve the narrative behind the lyrics. The suggestion was the 'silhouette', a particular idea that I liked as a metaphor for a backdrop behind my artist. Silhouettes can represent many a things, in this case, a dark figure that has haunted them throughout their life; someone/something that has attempted to persuade my character to commit themselves in certain ways.


Besides this one suggestion, my target audience that I interviewed, were all impressed with what I had to offer.

Vox Pop Questions & Replies with Magazine

Vox Pop Questions

10 Questions to ask the audience: Template

1) How old are you?

I am 18 years of age.

2) Which social group would you say you associate with the most?

I’d associate myself with as a quiet, isolate nerd; interest varies from games, to education.

3) How often do you listen to music per week?

Cannot give a certain time frame, but differs between 2 to 3 hours a day, so between 14 to 21 hours a week.

4) Would you rather just listen to audio or do you prefer to watch the music video as well?

That depends upon my interest in the song, if there’s obvious context in the lyrics, I watch the video. However, House Music, just the audio as we listen for only the tempo, beat and bass.  I typically watch the videos for relation in context and meaning – both denotations and connotations.

5) What genres do you listen to the most?

My taste in music differs, I tend to listen to: Pop, Indie, Alternative and some classic Rock.

6) What music videos do you like and why?

Personally, my all-time favourite is “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen as it was the first official successful music video. However, I enjoy most Coldplay music videos due to the sheer obscurity and original each idea they come up with – a recent video being “Adventure of a Lifetime”.

7) Are you a fan of/do you like Country music and can you name an artist of that genre?

I’m not a particular fan of Country music, but I have listened to many songs in the past by artists such as Billy Ray Cyrus, Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton.

8) When you watch a music video, which aspect is the most appealing to you: Narrative, Performance, Star Image & Editing or any others you can think of?

Once again, it depends on the song, if there’s an obvious meaning behind the lyrics, I prefer Narrative.

10) *Plays song* When you hear this song what does it bring to mind?

Personally, I think of a tragic relationship – going from good too bad.

11) Which aspect(s) do you think I should focus on the most: Narrative, Performance, Star Image & Editing?

After listening to the song, I’d definitely say to concentrate on the Narrative; the lyrics hold a perfect story that can influence the video. I’d still use some aspects of the other 3, but mainly focus around Narrative as it is key and essential for this type of song.

Finally, do you have any suggestions I could incorporate into my music video?

The suggestions I have would be to lay off on the stereotypes, make the video original. Be sure to show that the video is of a Country genre, but obsessing over stereotypes will downgrade the overall quality.

 

With the research I did to collect these findings, I established that some people have a similar view in todays society (similar taste in music), however there is those that differ too. For instance, those that are more into Modern Pop/Chart music to those that appreciate Rock. With these findings, it meant that a broader view can be recognised for what they thought about Folk/Country-Pop. Despite differences in taste in music, the people I questioned had similar opinions over artists involved & associated with Country music, however the majority opposed each other in what aspect I should focus around; i.e. different views on what I should focus on: Narrative, Performance, Star Image & Editing.

After not being able to achieve a definitive answer, I concluded that aspects of each should be implemented, however they would be involved in a percentage type manner - 30% + 30% +30% + 10%, as some are relatively more important than others, yet the lower percentage needs to have some effect in the final release, i.e. Editing. 



 

Above I created a magazine that concluded the questions I required answers for, receiving opinions based around an online questionnaire I had students and adults to complete as additional research. For this magazine, I received details relating to age, demographics, opinions on mise-en-scene & characteristics within Country music.

From these results, I established once again that society has a similar opinion for what they believed when relating to Country Folk. Interestingly, I found out that most people follow standard conventions and stereotypes although, I believe that some ridiculous answers were submitted.



Focus Groups (Target Audience)

Focus Group Ideas

Whilst listening to my chosen song choice, myself and my class members have came to an agreement that my song is mainly directed towards American/British females between the ages of 20 & 30.

The reason for this is because, with my genres being Country, Pop & Folk; the element of Country is typically related to Americans whilst Pop is popular in both the US & UK.

My song is performed by a female artist to which it would appeal more to a female audience than male.
Using YouGov Profiler, and researching target audience based around Carrie Underwood, my initial thoughts were correct, according to YouGov, the preferred audience for 'Underwood' are females between the ages of 18-24 living in the UK. Typically the occupation being based around Law and other socialising jobs. In terms of other forms of media, my target audience would be fans of similar musicians too; such as Lady Antebellum and LeAnn Rimes. Typically my audience are interested in Disney films like Beauty and the Beast & Cinderella as the more modern versions have been recreated in their era.
Next, I researched regarding Dolly Parton. Dolly is an older-style Country artist thus establishing social demographics is regarded easy as it would be stereotypical. In contrast to Carrie Underwood, Dolly Parton attracts more of an older generation rather than young; roughly mid 40s to late 50s. Dolly is particularly popular in the Southern regions of the US, to which regarding to political stand points, they are Right Wingers (Republican), supporters of Donald Trump - target towards racism of ethnics or religious minorities. Right Wingers in South US are typically Christian/Catholic and would be considered oppositional and passive readers & audience. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that my song/genre has to appeal to this particular Demographic suggested via YouGov, but I could take elements from either side and elaborate upon it to create my own target audience.
In relation to another Country Artist of an older generation, Billy Ray Cyrus, the Demographics are relatively similar to those for Dolly Parton; heavily Right Wing, simple and narrow minded.

 Recently we learned about Stewart Hall his Reception Theory; types of readers, aka oppositional, negotiated and preferred (dominant) readers, not only that but whether they're an active or passive audience. As my audience are focused around the internet, I'd have to say they are definitely an active audience but whether they're oppositional, negotiated or preferred readers would rely upon those as an individual person.


The sense and feel of Country music, one would associated as researched in my genre post, with nature and wildlife. Therefore, the audience would use the music as a way to escape from reality and delve into an imaginary world of relaxation. The fact of escapism is under the category for the Audience Theory, specifically Uses and Gratifications created and conjoined by suggestions made by both Bulmer & Katz in 1974.

Soon, I'm having to give a presentation to which I show my chosen audience ideas for my song. To show my ideas, I'll be using mood boards/collages to get views from my potential audience. Hopefully, my suggestions will appeal to them and they can also generate some ideas to improve my video to what they believe would suit my target audience.

Already, I have created a digipak using images from the internet and a few ideas given by some of my class that I want my digipak to look like. As my song involves both literal and metaphorical fire, I want both the beginning of the song and the front of my digipak to have a match lit in a pitch black room. With characteristics from my survey, the surveyors had similarities to conventions that they would associate with Country Pop Folk - farmland. I've already taken the idea for farmland to use on the inside covers of my digipak.

 

 

Digipak Analysis'