Song - V2

In response to the feedback I got from my first recoding of the song I am using: "Caught Off Guard", I decided to re-record it, in an attempt to amplify the vocals, this is what it sounds like:

http://soundcloud.com/sam-high/caught-off-guard-1

I shall again see if I can receive some feedback I relation to the production of the song, and see if I can make this the final version.

SMART Targets - 22/11/11

These are some target I will accomplish in the near future:

• Create a slideshow of location/digipack pictures to show the evolution of them - Thursday.
• Obtain 2 more location photos of the pathway at night time, and turn them black and white - This week.
• Edit song recording to allow more prodominant vocals over the guitar - This week.

Edit: All tasks accomplished - 29th November.

More Set Locations

Here is another slideshow of another set location:

Ideas for use of this location are that the artist is walking along, singing the song, creating contrast to the busy coffee shop scenes, whilst also implementing more performance footage. I plan to film this when it is dark, and add a black and White effect to it, to make it plain, simple, and to give it a noir feel.

This is an example of a similar concept:


"WAITING ON THE WORLD TO CHANGE!!" - JOHN MAYER from Wolde Archer on Vimeo.

A majority of this video features the artist singing while walking , this not only adds a sense of drama to the video, but also a more personal touch, as it can be interpreted either 1. the artist is sharing his inner most thoughts with the audience or 2. he is singing directly to the viewer. I would like to use this concept in my video, especially where the artist is looking directly at the camera, but change the footage to black and white, to add a possibly more darker image, which relates to my song more, but to also increase the artist-veiwer link that this kind of scene creates.

Song Recorded!

I have recently recorded the song I am using for my music video, it is called "Caught up Guard" by Sam High, and I have uploaded it to soundcloud, here is the link.

http://soundcloud.com/sam-high/caught-off-guard

Now having the actually song, it should allow me to put into perspective the production of what I want the video to look like. I shall be uploading more setting photos shortly.

I chose soundcloud to upload my song as it is easily accessible and used by many modern musicians as a simple way for the public to listen to their music.  As it is a contemporary website, that has both a Facebook and a twitter, it suits my target audience well, as well as creating easy access for my modern audience.

Examining some feedback I have received, the song is generally well liked, although in production terms, the guitar is too loud over the voice. I will try and adjust the levels in the production to fix the problem, failing this, I may need to re record the song.

Audience Theory/Research

From the questionnaire I done, I concluded my target audience will be people aged 15-30. A majority of them will be female, though a portion of the audience will likely be male.

The target audience for my video/music would be based of a combination of the influences for the music and image. Artists such as Taylor Swift and John Mayer create music and present an image that is similar to mine, therefore it would be a wise idea to utilize a form of "borrowed interest" and in a sense "borrow" there audience for the purpose of interesting them in my music.

Some key audience theory could also be related to marketing and target audience, for example:
The two-step flow theory - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-step_flow
This is the idea that one person informs another, or a group of people of what interests them, and possible influences them on a certain subject. In this case, a fan of the mentioned artists may find out about my music/video and share it with other like minded fans, effectively increasing popularity.

http://connect.taylorswift.com/forum

This is a link to the Taylor Swift forums, in which fans interact and talk to each other about the artist. This is just one of the many ways fans can share their views, express their opinions and introduces fans that like the same genre to other music of a similar style, there is even a specific part of the forum that is dedicated to "Music you like besides Taylor".

This is a good example of how the two step flow is promoted and can be used to an artists advantage.

Sets for the Music Video

Recently I visited the first set for my music video.

It is a local park, with a very scenic veiw. It will be used as the main place in which the musician will perform the song throughout the video.

Here are some pictures;

This is the place in which the artist will be sitting on a bench playing the song throughout the video, this will be a contrast to the black and white shots of the artist walking. Near the end of the video, we will see the female love interest join the artist here while he is playing (Possibly, the artist will sing a portion of the song to her, this is undecided) and the concluding shots will see both the artist and love interest walking off, into the distance, as seen in the top right photo.

Possible problems that could incur with this location are:

1. The public: as this is a public place, there is the possiblity that other people could be in the footage, this is not nessarily a problem, although it will be ideal if, when filming, there are no other people  about, seeing as a mojority of uses of this park are parent and toddlers, I will try and choose a time to film in which they are not likely to be there.
2. Litter: unfortunatly, there may be pieces of litter scatters about, seeing as most of this will be on the floor, I will try and posititon the shots so that the audience does not see the ground.
3. Weather: The weather will be quite unpredictably, though looking at a forecast will give me an idea of what it will be like. it would be ideal to filming when it has recently snowed, seeing as these are the wintery months, and the snow will, in turn give the video a wintery feel, though as it is unlikely to snow on the date of filming, I shall not rely to heavily on this.