Our Brief

This is our brief of our band 'After Midgnight.' It states all the things that we like and dislike (as a band) and what we are similar to.

Planning our ideas

This is a spider diagram of some of the ideas that we have come up with for our band.
We have now decided on a song and a name for our band.

We are called 'After Midnight' because this can be interpreted as staying up really late and sleeping during the day. It implies a festival/party type vibe which adds to the indie genre we are trying to achieve. Our song is 'Suddenly I See' by KT Tunstall and she is a solo artist. Although she is solo, we really like the song and its quite indie/folk and we think that it will be visually appealing as we want to film a lot of our footage outside and give it the hippy/nature atmosphere.

19th September 13

Journal:

We needed to come up with a name for our band so we started to brainstorm. We thought that if we used a name generator this would be quite random and start to make us think of some ideas. We came up with the name 'After Midnight' for our band. As a group we are really happy with the name of our band because it gives the connotations of genre of the band. For example, connotations that come with after midnight entail staying up late, partying, and it makes us seem quite edgy. These ideas make our band seem quite laid back and carefree which are connotations that are linked with indie/rock/folk bands.

Conventions to adapt

Haim: (main) 


This band is very unique and quirky which is the type of band that we want to have too. We like the indie vibe that the band has and we think we are going to take on-board the style that the band have. From looking into them we have discovered that they are quite carefree and have a hippy type vibe too. I really like the style that they have and the edgy and unique feel they convey.

Florence and The Machine: 


Florence and the machine is also quite indie too which we like. However, the style is quite extravagant and a bit too much for the type of band we want. Having said this, from looking into it there is a care-free nature too due to the prominent outdoors and nature type feel they have.

Kings Of Leon:


Although Kings Of Leon are a male band, we think that looking into the indie/rock conventions of this band are also important. From looking at the others above, it seems that there is a relaxed feel about indie/rock/folk bands.

Research

We are looking into bands that have a indie/rock/folk type genre.
We have found that there are a lot of bands that are mainly male based bands, but we are researching into this.
We have found inspiration from a number of bands such as:
- Kings of Leon
- The Kooks
- Of Monsters + Men
- Florence + the machine
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Lana Del Rey
- Haim

We are researching into the conventions of each of the bands or solo artists and we are going to try and adapt these conventions to a girl band. The three girl band 'Haim' has inspired us and we are researching into the music and the style of the band as they are very much related to the type of band we want to create.

Research for Music Video

Planning and Research for our Music Video 

Songs and Artists: 

• The La's - There She Goes 
• The Wannadies - You and Me Song 
• Blur - Song 2 
• Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag 
• All Saints - Pure shoes
• Sugababes 
• Blondie 
• Walking on Sunshine 

We have researched into different songs and this is a list of songs and artists that could be relevant for the type of music video that we want to do. 

We are interested in doing a Indie/Rock Music video where the typical conventions of this include a band performance. We think that we need to discuss more on this as we would need to find trustworthy people that could act as the band. We also need to choose a song that can allow us to adopt Goodwin's theory to it, for example the link between the lyrics and visuals. 

Codes and Conventions of Music Videos

About Music Videos and their Codes and Conventions

• Music videos have been around since the 1920's!

• One of the first modern music videos was for Bob Dylan 
• TV shows introduced music video promos on screen which began to replace actual live performances. 
• Bohemian Rhapsody marked the new era of music videos as it is the first to consist of advances visual effects. 

• Close up cinematography creates the effect of intimacy for the audience.
• Fast cut montages make it hard to view which ensured people would watch the video multiple times, editing establishes the tone/mood of the music video. 
• Camera movements accompany the artists or band 
• Digital effects
• Split screens
• Non-representation techniques, where the artist is not used. 
• Few edits

Goodwin's Music Analysis

1. Music videos demonstrate the genre of the characteristics. For example:  One Directions music videos determine that they are a pop boy band due to their stage performance. 
2. A relationship between the visuals and the lyrics. 
3. A relationship between the music and the lyrics. 
4. Close ups of the artists 
5. Notion of looking, eg. screens within screens 
6. Intertextual reference