Emily Wyatt summary

When Emily Wyatt came to visit the school she taught us about the importance of a treatment and brief when producing a music video. She went on to talk about the budget and how this can dictate the style and the possibilities of the video. Emily spoke about how she produced and more importantly distributed videos onto sights such as Vevo and YouTube and how these sights have helped boost the videos that she produces. She went on to talk specifically about a video that she made with Ellie Goulding for her hit single burn. She started telling us about how the treatment and budget shaped the video.

Emily told us about the budget of music videos and how they determine what the video is going to look like and the possibilities available for a video.  For example if you have a high budget you can travel and employ well known directors, your film sets can be bigger and more varied. You can also have more props and shoot in places that suit your video more. If you are an unknown or a small artist you are going to looking at a budget of around 6000 pounds. This includes camera time and studio time. This can also include lighting and the hiring of actors. For well-known acts the company who is making the video will often look for external funding to make the video. Well known acts are normally given a budget of around 25,000 pounds or more however some videos such as the ones made by lady gaga can go up to 100,000 pounds due to the amount of props and shots that are required for her videos.

The treatment is the piece of texts that is given to music video producers to actually make the video. The treatment must have a link to the artist and the genre of the music so that the video will attract the same target audience as the musician. In the treatment you also have to decide whether you are going to do a full performance video or a full narrative video. In Birdy’s videos she tends to always have a full performance video due to her natural performance talent whereas the Maccabees normally have full narrative videos due to their songs containing a lot of meaning and adventure. Emily said that the treatment should outline what is going to happen in two hundred words and also show you visually what is going to happen in the video.

The most important area that Emily discussed was the distribution of music videos. Due to current technologies, she said that the videos she made had to fit a certain specification so that it had the possibility of being put on television and can also be promoted via the radio. However the best form of promotion and distribution is via the internet. Sites such as Vevo help promote the video and spread the video to wider audiences.

Emily was recently on set for a music video for Ellie Goulding, an extremely well known artist. For her knew single ‘Burn’ she wanted there to be lots of lights and for there to be a sunset. The video is set on an airfield and depicts people coming to see her and being attracted to her music. Polydor records, the company which Emily works distributes and produces some of the most iconic music videos from some of the most iconic and famous artists. The Ellie Goulding video was made with a large budget mainly because of the after effects and all the lighting that went into post production. The editing of the video took nearly 3 weeks.

Timeline

Crystal Moon Treatment

Crystal Moon Pitch presentation

David Bowie and Elton John

David Bowie is one of the most innovative musicians in the world and produced some of the most popular music in the world as well. His image was a cultural message and due to his massive audience a lot of people copied his personal image. David Bowie can be very closely compared with   Elton john. As much as both of them have very unique images, both of these images can be constructed in the same way. When performing and in their music videos they have a very extravagant image that can very easily be compared to David Bowie.

Moreover their general appearance is very similar. Bowie is famous for his stage appearances in sci fi clothing and his famous red hair with the fashionable mullet of the 1980s. Elton John who changed his name for his music and his newly constructed image puts forward a very camp and extravagant appearance on stage. He is famous for wearing the typical 1960s style round framed sun glasses. Both artists have received a lot of fame, stardom and targeted a massive audience due to their innovative musicianship.

Mika and Freddie Mercury

Freddy Mercury who is one of the most popular musical artists who ever lived can be compared to modern musician, Mika.  Mika who first came to fame in 2007 with his album live in cartoon network adopted the same style of music as Mercury. Mercury is one of Mika’s main influences which are shown through his style of music and the fact that Freddie Mercury is mentioned in one of his songs that reached number 1.

One of the reasons that these two phenomenal artists have been compared is because the style and the image that they have constructed of themselves. Both of them sung songs with incredible and meaningful narratives behind them. They also wrote their own songs which now isn’t very common.

Their image can often be described as very camp and very individual. They are both incredible entertainers. Having both been signed by very high level record labels there public life was kept very quiet, especially Mika who is very rarely seen in the press. Moreover they are both often seen at music festivals, with Mika at Glastonbury on many occasions and Queens famous appearances at live aid.

Buddy Holly and Elvis

Elvis Presley’s image as one of the greatest musicians in the world and extraordinarily gifted stage talent has often been likened to Buddy Holly. He was described as the single most influential force of early rock and roll. Moreover like Elvis his legacy and fame was emphasized through his death. His works and innovations inspired artists and later musicians such as Bob Dylan and the Rolling stones. Like Presley he is also in the rock and roll hall of fame and beats Presley in the rolling stone rankings at 13. Buddy Holly released three albums in his lifetime. However, he recorded so prolifically that Coral Records was able to release brand new albums and singles for 10 years after his death. Holly had an incredibly large target audience. The demand for unissued Holly material was so great that Norman petty resorted to overdubbing whatever he could find to keep selling his music. The very last album that was released with music by buddy holly was released in 1969. Holly was one of the first in the genre of rock to produce, write and perform his own songs. Holly’s music was also inspired by rhythm and blues and country music. This was more popular among a white audience.

The aspect that made these two artists very similar is that fact that they both had incredible stage personas where they were able to captivate the audience very easily. Elvis came to fame through a series of television shows which were broadcasted throughout the nation. Similarly Holly was presented on TV shows which boosted his image incredibly. They were both headliners of rock and roll for their age and time in the music business.

Initial ideas and treatments

David Bowie

STARMAN

What is the star image of this band?

In 1992, with the album Ziggy stardust, Bowie challenged the core belief of the rock music of its day. He launched his own Ziggy Stardust show. This show became extremely popular throughout the capitulating Bowie to stardom. Bowie was unique in the way he performed and his diverse and controversial appearance on stage dressed as a sci-fi character with his beaming red hair. His release of the album Ziggy stardust coincided with the Apollo 11 expedition. This automatically drew attention to this modernised album. He constructed his image based on society at the time; this meant that he targeted a wider audience. Bowie’s influence has been unique in popular culture and has permeated and altered more lives than any other figure. Each of his songs has an individual persona behind it. His chameleonic transformations weren’t just in his appearance but his voice as well.

Treatment for Music Video

Due to his prolific and stand out career, building a music video around David Bowie and the track starman has numerous amounts of possibilities. Each of his songs has a different persona behind it and starman is no different. Starman is one of the songs that brought Bowie to worldwide fame. For this video there could be a link to the Apollo 11 launch and instead of the shuttle going to the moon it could be to mars. This could also be filmed through the perspective of another person looking up into the sky and then cutting to the men in space. The mise en scene would have to be bright and animated. The music video could also include cuts of a band performing starman with a Ziggy stardust theme. The performance could be used to illustrate Bowie’s star image which would lead to an extended target audience.

Freddie Mercury

KILLER QUEEN

What is the star image of this band?

Freddy Mercury was the lead singer of the highly successful band queen. He was very well known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals. He has been known to be one of the all-time great entertainers. Mercury was very theatrical when performing and delivered to audiences all around the world. Like other performers such as Bowie, Mercury’s appearance was very extravagant as he would often appear wearing tights on stage and a tank top. Many suspicions were raised over his sexuality. Mercury died due to HIV in 1991 and was named 18^th in Rolling stones greatest singers of all time and died a legend. His star image was constructed due to his amazing stage performance and the creative and innovative music that he produced.

Treatment for Music Video

There is already a narrative within the lyrics of this song which makes it easier to construct a music video based around it. You could also include features of Freddie mercury in the video. His sexuality could feature as a predominant part of the video and could be the basis of the story line. The music video could include a live performance in which you can see his audience and identify there features. The music video will hopefully target a large audience. The video will include dancing and entertainment throughout which gives the audience a reason to buy (RTB).

Elvis Presley

LOVE ME TENDER

What is the star image of this band?

Presley is one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20^th century and was successful in a wide range of musical genres. He was one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20^th century and has often been referred to as the king. Due to new media technologies in the 1950s, Presley came to fame by appearing on a television shows that were broadcasted throughout America. His energy for music and moreover his sexually provocative performance style drew a lot of attention to him in the 50s. He was the first white man to perform music of an African American culture. His fame coincided with the dawn of the civil rights movement, and was the reason for a lot of Black people acting 10 years later in the movement. He died due to prescription drugs however his death created his legacy which will never be forgotten.

Treatment for Music Video

For the song ‘love me tender’ there is a love story which will be included. This could link to the hardship of love and the lust when someone cannot have their love returned. Moreover it could coincide with Elvis’ performances and have dancing in it however this isn’t the tone for this song. The performance aspect could be run on a close up alike to the close up shot in lady gaga's video bad romance. When he talks about dreams in the song, this could be about his career and could include flashbacks. The video should also portray Presley’s star image.

The Brief

The Brief

 

Produce 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 cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);

 

a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).