Location ideas for chosen genre

These screenshots have been taken from Imagine Dragons, I like the idea of filming outside, instead of using an indoor set, natural lighting can be used and long shots/ extreme long shots are more effective.

This one is taken from one of Muse's music videos. The location is indoors and works just as well as an outdoor set.

I have researched existing locations to aid me into what would work for my chosen genre,so far it has given me plenty of ideas and it also shows the balance between narrative and performance based music videos. They both look very effective and work well with the song and lyrics itself, the wide long shots used show the vastness of the location. The idea of using a scenic location as an establishing shot would be a great way of setting the scene and showing the audience as much as possible in the first shot without over doing it. It helps create a feeling of what is happening before going into it more.
The indoor location from the Muse music video, is all set in the same location/scene, however uses a variety of shot types to make it more interesting to the audience and not just one long shoot. Using a range of closeups of the sings and actors themselves is a great way of showing them off and it keeps the focus on them more and not the location itself. The actors themselves work with the theory from Levi Strauss who talks about binary opposition and using the black and white clothing and background helps aid that theory, using the colour white for purity and the black/darkness more for the bad. Also they took the classical dance of ballet sort of combined with the more modern music, bringing it together to create this almost simple music video. Using this single location, it shows that its more of a stage that they are performing on and it doesn't change.
However, compared to the Imagine Dragons video, it's locations are much more different. This time these ones use a more outside, natural location, with the main focus being the lake, which is very interesting and would be something to take into consideration.
How this has influenced my research and planning
I would love to use water and a lake as it is thought provoking however this will depend on the final song choice. We have several water areas eg The HUmber Bridge, pond at Scawby, Elsham Hall and lake. The studio shot would be great to do however, i want to use more than one location. Additionally we don't have a film studio and i think it could look unprofessional.

Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud [Official Video]

This is another music video that I thought would help me with ideas and what to include in my own music, compared to the others I have looked at, this one is more performance based, this is done in the style of dance. This works well with the song itself, this has given me the idea that depending on what the song is about, determines whether the music video is a narrative, performance or concept based. This music video is about love and passion and how the woman should take him, the singer is showing how much he loves her by saying these words, for example "I'll be loving you till we're 70" and "my heart could still fall as hard at 23". The song title/ chorus gives away exactly what the song is about, the singer is saying his thoughts about this girl, his true feelings to be precise.

The lyrics link with the video, because dance is all about passion and elegance. The dance type used is ballroom, which is graceful and smooth, this links well with the songs rhythm which is slow, but still has that hint of pop in it.

The mise en scene used in this music video, include the set design, which is classical and goes with the style of dance, which is ballroom, so it is set in a ballroom, the costume have been designed with the theme and genre in mind as well as seen, the female is wearing a light, flowing dress, which means it's easy for her to dance in and with the male, it's a simple waist coat and trousers, this is again elegant in a way, but also casual, this casual style thinks which the singer, Ed Sheeran personal style. In this music video, there are no props used, only two dancers have been used to communicate the song to the audience.

With the ASL, they are all quite long, it doesn't have much short shots, this is because the song is slow and so are the cuts, it contains more longer shots than other music videos I have viewed. The shot types range between long shots to medium shots, this shows both of them at the same time, it creates a connection between the two, this gives the audience a clue to what the song itself is on about.

The black eyed peas-"where is the love?" mind map

I have analysed, the Black Eyed Peas "where is the love?", music video. I have made this mind map to break down the key elements that are show in this video, for example the different signs, theorists and the story/ narrative of the video, along with the meanings. There are micro narratives in this music video meaning there are different short stories making up the video and they can be connected together, making up the video. Steve Archer said: "music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band", this links with this music video because it cuts from the performance of the actors and locations to the band singing, both away and into camera.

Update-ideas and creativity

I have updated my ideas, after looking into music videos out there, I have come to the conclusion of staying with my original genre, however my ideas on the video itself has changed. I am staying with my chosen genre of rock, along with choosing muse, imagine dragons, etc, the music videos made for their songs are different to how I imagined them, they are generally narrative and concept based, this is very interesting and attracts the audience towards it. Imagine dragons have used narrative, for example its time, had both narrative and concept, due to its story line and unusual, surreal uses, for example dreaming, floating and falling. Muse on the other hand have used dancers for their Dead inside music video, I feel this is very effective and shows the story in a more theatrical and artistic way, this is an idea I would like to use towards creating my own video.

Initial research ideas

Pop, rock and rap are my chosen genres, this means I will have to go into depth in them, focusing on artists who do this kind of music, and have been successful and made it there own. The main one, pop, is main stream and the radio plays most of this kind of genre, along with soft/ indie rock. This is how I have gained my personal taste, but have listened in depth to other artists that do similar things.

The artists I like and are most familiar with are:

• David Guetta 
• the killers
• Imagine dragons
• Lady Gaga
• Red hot chilli peppers 
• Fall out boy 
• Breedlove
• Fleetwood mac
• Muse 
• Nirvana
• Hooded Allen
• Guns'n'roses
• Royal blood
• Coldplay 
• Ed Sheeran

From all of these artists, the main genre is either rock or indie, Muse will be a good choice because of there upcoming album and concerts being help now, so this will give me a range of present promotional adverts, music videos, etc. 

Since this will be my main chosen genre and artist, I have started to research them into detail. Muse are an alternative rock group, they have been playing since 1994 and have released around 150 million albums worldwide. They have made around 93 songs including there music videos as well. 

Responding to the brief

For my A2 coursework, I will need to create a promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the band
• a digipak for the album's release
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak 

I am familiar with a range of different genres of music, so at first thought of this brief my chosen range of genres will have to be pop, rock and/or rap, but there are others that catch my interest. When making the music video and the other promotional parts, I will have to follow the conventions that make it what it is. I will also have to find a partner to work with who also shares the same interests in music, so it will be easier to chose the song and have the same ideas.