Research Questionnaire

Age- Average age of participants was 19, but ranged from 16-26

It was important for us to gain the views from our target audience who we typically identified as 18-25, although we were limited by the people available to fill in the questionnaire.

Sex- M- 45% F- 55%

We don't believe there is any gender preference to the electronic music genre so we aimed to get equal views from both boys and girls.

1. How many music videos do you watch a week?

0- 5%

0- 5 - 10%

1-5 - 10%

5-10 - 10%

10-15 - 15%

15- 20 - 20%

20+ -30%

Many commented that although they may watch up to 50+ music videos a week it is done in an unconscious manner- i.e putting music stations on the TV to listen to the music, but they do not become absorbed in the video.

2. How important is it for a song to have an accompanying video?

Won’t listen without a video- 10%

Fairly important- 60%

Not bothered either way- 25%

Don’t watch music videos- 5%

The results tell us that the majority like to see music videos, and interestingly it is actually vital to some. Electronic artists often don't have music videos and we believe this is a disadvantage and they may loose a proportion of a potential audience albeit quite small. An intriguing music video is a good way to get someone listening to your music if they have never heard it before.

3. Do you enjoy music without lyrics?

Yes- 20%

No- 50%

Exceptionally - 30%

We asked this question as we needed to gauge how responsive are audience would be to Lawrence King's music. Unfortunately half of the people we interviewed do not listen to lyricless music but we hope this could change once they had been introduced to different types of music, and a music video maybe a good way of doing this.

4. Do you ever listen to Electronic or Chillout music?

Yes- 15%

No- 45%

Sometimes- 40%

45% of the people we interviewed do not listen to electronic music whether this be because of personal tastes or access to different type of genres. The electronic genre is not widely played or promoted on TV or radio so the results are not surprising. However many seem to like it occasionally and the medium of music video may help promote this further.

5. Do you think it’s important to see the artist in the music video?

Yes- 65%

No- 35%

It is useful to point out that mostly girls answered Yes, and when we asked why it was often because they like to gain fashion ideas from pop role models. Many participants also commented that if they were listening to music with out lyrics like dance music or d'n'b they often do not care about seeing the artists. The opposite is true with bands and pop stars. Our group therefore believe that it is not a necessity for Lawrence to be in the music video unless it would benefit our final piece.

6. Do you like to see a narrative (i.e story) in the music video?

Yes- 75%

No- 25%

From these result it is obvious that the larger majority like to have something to follow within a music video and we will definitely incorporate a narrative within our music video.

Editing Techniques Practice

Our group know that we wish to time lapse some of our footage during the editing stage. To discover how much footage compresses down to the the final product once the speed has been increased we did a practice shot. We decided Nicola would sit perfectly still in the middle of the college atrium whilst people move around her for 20 minutes.

I captured the footage in Final Cut Pro and put it into the timeline. I then used the speed option to essentially put the footage on fast forward. At first I tried 500% and 1000% but this did not make a significant impact on the movement around her. In the end, we set it at 9000% speed which is the video you can see above. This is the most suitable speed setting for this footage as the atrium wasn't that busy. 20 minutes compressed down 7 seconds worth of footage

Through doing this preliminary editing exercise I have got to grips with how to use Final Cut Pro and we have an idea of the length of footage we will need, and how much that will compress down to, to create time lapse sequences. Due to the location being different as well- the cars will be moving at a faster pace than the students in the atrium-I imagine 9000% will be too fast, I will use 2000-4000% region as we will want to keep it in pace to the music.

Production Meeting 3

Today we brought together all our individual ideas and discussed them. All our ideas are quite similar in some respects so it wasn't that hard to all agree on a final idea. We want our narrative to center around a boy and a girl who cross paths throughout the day but never notice each other. Near the end of the music video they will finally meet and form a relationship. However, we are still keen to include nature shots to reflect the inspirations Lawrence King has within his music. Over the next few week we will pin down locations and characters, and then begin our treatments.

Individual Idea for Pop Promo

Although we all have individual ideas within our group many of them are similar due to us basing them around the same key concepts. My idea for the narrative and concept are as follows...

• Video set in one 24hr period from dusk till dawn following one person (Character A). This reflects the journey within the track itself.
• All clips to have there speed settings changed, predominately put into fast motion with some put into slow motion. This will help to cover the period of a day within one song.
• As Character A travels through different environments there will be....
• A series of shots on nature, flowers opening, birds taking flight etc when they are in the country
• And urban shots when Character A is in the city.
• Nothing significant to happen over the course of the day, just showing the beauty/art in every day life.

My initial ideas for treatment on my concept are as follows...

• A big focus on colour in regards to MES. Character A brightly dresses, traffic lights, bright flowers, bold signs in the city etc.
• POV shots from Character A walking will stop the music video from looking too polished and still give it an underground feel.
• Extreme Close-ups in the nature scenes to show the detail and beauty in certain flowers/ creatures.
• All Close-ups must be well lit with natural light plus a strong key light to ensure the camera catches precise detail, with shadows kept to a minimum.
• Longer, wider shots for the urban environment to take advantage of the mass of people and busy streets.
• As explained previously in the editing stages I will slow certain clips down or speed them up as appropriate to the speed of the music at that point
• Many shots may benefit from having colour saturated to emphasise particular focal points.

Band Research: Boards of Canada Album Covers

Maya's entry

Here are two examples of album covers for Boards Of Canada.

This one is for the album Geogaddi released in 2002. It is of what appears to be silhouettes of people standing with their arms and legs outstretched , amongst some trees, around a star or planet. It is almost as if it is simply a tie-die pattern, and then on closer inspection you realise its actually humans and objects.The red and orange tones give a warm and friendly feel to the cover. It has a symmetrical look to it, and a psychedelic feel. This goes very well with the fact that the music is of the electronic/ambient/psychedelic genre. Personally I think the font size that has been used for the title of the album and the band name is too small, and when we make our own album cover we need to carefully consider the size of the font we use so that it is easy for everyone to read.



This one is for the album The Campfire Headphase released in 2005. It is a photograph of a man, but we cannot see his identity as the image has a green and blue smokey/liquid like overlay. It is almost as if water has been poured onto the photograph, making it damaged but giving a nice affect. I really like this cover and it has given me some good ideas on what I could make my album cover like. As our artist is fairly anonymous, we could have a photo of him (or someone similar as it wouldn't really matter) then overlay it with something such as an effect or colour, to give the impression that our artist is rather mysterious and unknown as you cannot see his identity.

Interesting typography has been used for the words "Boards Of Canada" with all the letter A's being changed, and we could experiment with fonts when making our album cover to give a unique and interesting feel to it and make it stand out from the crowd.

Print Adverts (Posters)



Here is a print advert for the album The Campfire Headphase. It is heavily based on album's cover - the same photo, typeface, look and feel. This increases continuity, strengthens the albums brand identity, and helps the audience to recognise that this advertises the album, so when they go into a record shop looking for it they will know what it looks like. I am going to do similar with my music album promotional package, and make the album cover and magazine advert very similar in style, as it works really well in strengthening the artist's and the albums identity. As the photo of the poster is quite bad quality, I can't see what is written in the smallprint underneath the title, but I presume it is the albums release date, and perhaps a link to their website, which is really crucial to put on a print advert so people know where to find more information on the album or artist.

Band Research: Boards of Canada Music Videos

This is the music video for Boards of Canada's song "Dayvan Cowboy", taken from the album "The Campfire Headphase". It was directed by Melissa Olson and has been watched over 820,000 times on YouTube. The video consists of footage from Joe Kittinger's famous parachute jump from 19.5 miles (31.4 km) altitude. Later on in the video, slow-motion footage of big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton is used. It is quite simple, no complicated narrative, just watching an amazing spectacle of someone jumping from plane and the view they had and imagining the adrenaline rush that he must of felt, and I think it works really well with the uplifting feel of this song. It "matches" the album cover and their overall marketing campaign, with a strong nature and artistic theme, and I think the music video has a very broad appeal in terms of who will watch it.

This is the only official music video Boards of Canada has (the rest on Youtube are fanmade). Some artists in this genre of music choose to simply not have pop promos and just have their songs. We hope to show that having a music video can be a great addition to your song, and can really help to create a promotional package that can help to promote the band/artist.

Band Research: Boards of Canada Introduction

As the artist of our chosen song to make a pop promo for is not well known and hasn't had any previous marketing campaigns or pop promos made, I have been researching artists that make similar music and have had previous marketing campaigns and pop promos. Nicole has been researching Zero 7, and Jessica has been researching Star of the Lid and Four Tet. I have been researching Boards Of Canada, a Scottish electronic music duo.

Genres: Electronic, Downtempo, Ambient, Experimental, Psychedelic, IDM (intelligent dance music)

Years active: 1986 - present
www.boardsofcanada.com

Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin. They are signed to Warp Records and have released several works on that label with little advertising and few interviews, while also having an obscure and elusive back-catalogue of releases on their self-run label Music70.

Their music is reminiscent of the artificial, warm and scratchy sounds of 1970s media and prominent themes include nostalgia, childhood and the natural world. They are said to take the documentary films made by the National Film Board of Canada (Canada's public film producer and distributor), from which their group name is derived, as a source of inspiration.

Major releases:

• 1998: Music Has the Right to Children – (Warp/Skam) #193 UK
• 2000: In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country – (Warp/Music70)
• 2002: Geogaddi – (Warp/Music70) #21 UK
• 2005: The Campfire Headphase – (Warp) #41 UK
• 2006: Trans Canada Highway (Warp)

Audience:
I think that the target audience for Boards of Canada's music will be fairly young people aged 18-30 (although there's nothing to say older people wouldn't like it), either male or female, and the key feature that defines their audience is people's music tastes - whether they have an open mind when it comes to what music they listen to and would enjoy non-mainstream music, and that will enjoy experimental and electronic music.

Band Research: Zero 7

Nicola's entry

I have chosen to research in to bands that are similar to the kind of music that Lawrence makes as he is not an established artist I need to research in to how bands like him promote themselves.

Zero 7 are a Grammy nominated ambient music duo from the UK comprising of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker and they use guest vocalists on their tracks such as Tina Dico, Sophie Barker and Mozez. So far they have had four studio albums since 2001; Simple things (2001) When it Falls (2004) The Garden (2006) and Yeah Ghost (2009) and their music has been TV shows such as CSI, Smallville and Sex in the City and coke-cola

Zero 7 use youtube to promote there music, the have their own youtube channel on which they put their pop promos and they also have a link to their website which is promoting their new album “yeah ghost”. Their music videos are quite abstract for example the video for destiny is done in a cartoon style in black and white with tints of red and orange following a girl going about her day and seeing couple and relationships everywhere and then at the end of the music video the black and white turns to colour when the girl is walking down the street towards a café where someone is waiting for her, i think this video works well with the lyrics are the promo shows how couple/relationships work together and how destiny shapes the world around us, this video is more narrative based as we do not see the band performing which a typical convention for this genre of music. this video uses lots of mid shots and panning shots to show the girls travels and point of view shots showing what the girl sees on her way to meet her friend/partner.

Star Image/Construction

With this genre of music the bands are fairly low key and use the internet to do their advertising or use word of mouth to get there music out and Zero 7 are much the same as they use various artists to do the vocals on their tracks and i think this is they way most artists from this genre like to be, they like to remain anonymous and not gain all the fame and just have their music appreciated just for the fact that they make good music.

Band Research: Four Tet Print Designs

I previously analysed Four Tet's music videos and I will now do the same for his print designs- album cover, posters and adverts.

Above is the latest Four Tet album design There Is Love In You (2010). Interestingly, the front of the album cover doesn't contain the album name or title of the artist. This would not be something I would use on my design as the artist we are designing for is up and coming, and promotion of his name is important. However, the individuality of this design and the rising popularity of Four Tet means that this cover is memorable as a Four Tet album. A black background in punctured by many round circles each with a different image within- a mixture of abstract forms and colour, flowers and nature.



Above is the Magazine advert for Four Tet's 2010 tour. The theme of the album cover has been carried over to the advert and is providing the background image. The Artist name has been included this time probably because some one flicking through a magazine may not know or assume that this is an advert for Four Tet, where as someone buying the album would already know what the album looks like and who the artist is. The Artist name is in a simple, modern, bold text that almost looks like it has been cutout of the background and contrast well so it can be clearly read. The symbols used to communicate who the support acts are add a friendly and fun touch to the advert. The style of text used to list the tour dates is classic and simple, a feeling of sophistication had definitely been created.



This is Four Tet's first ever album DIALOGUE (1999). It contrasts with their latest album as it has and artist title and album name clearly displayed in bold, central text. In regards to colour, The album uses greyscale which gives a feeling of simplicity (much like their first album). The nice effect of condensation behind the text brings an interesting focal point to the design. The black circle in the middle gives the illusion of a classic LP within the case, that is being distorted by the trapped condensation.

Apologies for the small image! Above is a framed version of Four Tet's promotional advertisement for their album Everything Ecstatic (2005). As usual with Four Tet, the images of the advertisement correspond with the album. I particularly like this design for its fun use of bubblegum colours- it shows Four Tet are not afraid of looking too 'girly' and 'sweet'. However by doing this it creates an extremely fun looking advert that is bound to catch peoples attention.

I can conclude from my research into Four Tet's print designs that there is no set style for an electronic artist, the key is to experiment with doing something different and make it interesting in a subtle way or an obvious way. Images of nature feature heavily across their designs as a whole as do fun colours and computer aided designs.

Band Research: Four Tet Music Videos

Four Tet is the stage name for Kieran Hebden, who is a solo experimental, electronic DJ and musician that Lawrence King named as one of his influences. Similarly, The music from Four Tet is also predominately lyricless. Four Tet uses samples from r'n'b and hip hop to Jazz and other electronica mixed with Hebden's guitar tracks. VH1 describes him as "balancing organic and programmed sounds" in his music.


The video for Hands is filmed in soft focus to give the images a distorted feel. The images all fit into the nature theme, with animals, leaves and a jellyfish. The video is understated and concept based, meant as an accompaniment for the music, not a video in its own right. Its evident that the artist wants his music to be the talking point, not the music video.


She Moves She is one of Four Tet's adventures into a more professional artistic music video, directed by Ed Holdsworth. The music video is concept based, beginning with a train leaving a station, with the video shown as a point of view shot for the trains window. The images start unaffected at first, but become introverted, illustrated and mirrored. The colours are often enhanced or turned negative. The footage is show in fast motion, in beat to the music. At the end the images duplicate to the beat of the music until they become nonexistent.

The above video is for the Four Tet track Smile Around Your Face and features actor Mark Heap. The video is one very simple concept- a continuous close up of Mark's face. However, The close up tracks to follow Mark as he goes about his day, almost as if the camera is strapped on the front of his body. Nothing out of the ordinary happens on Mark's day; he leaves his house, gets the bus, take a tumble on the bus and gets a headache, takes his kids to the park and has a bath. However if you look a little deeper into the narrative the video becomes highly emotional. Mark is picking his kids up from another house (presumably an ex wife) and takes them to play at the park but has to take them back again. When alone later in the bath the cinematography suggests he is sad that he cannot be with his children and the time he has with them is precious. This is done by blending the shot of him in the park with his children and the one with him in the bath- making it almost feel like a daydream. After the sequence when Mark falls over of the bus the video is edited in such a way that we are aware that Mark has a headache. The colours are distorted and saturated, and are uneasy to look at.

Primary Research: Lawrence King Questionnaire

To gain further knowledge of Lawrence King and get an insight into his music we emailed him a questionnaire which he politely completed.

Hi Lawrence! Firstly, how would you classify your music into genres?

I tend to describe it as Experimental/ Ambient/ Electronica. However I'm not putting myself into boxes just yet, things may change!

What is the inspiration behind your music?

Mainly nature and the wonderful things it creates... sunsets, bright blue skies the sound of a pebble hitting the water etc. But also the journey of time within nature and the concept of day and night.

What other artists would you consider in a similar genre to yourself?

I like the works of Boards of Canada, Four Tet and Zero 7. We aren't exactly the same but you get the idea.

How come you don't have any music videos?

Music videos are less common in electronic music- we like to concentrate more on the music! However some of the bands I have mentioned before have done music videos and I do believe they can sometimes help do justice to the song. As I'm not a big artist yet, still a student, there wouldn't be much point to making a music video until i gain a bigger fan base after considering costs etc. Unless more student like you want to make them anyway!

What do you enjoy in music videos (any genre)?

Variety is key, some have a great story to them, whilst others you just see the band performing and its still great. I don't believe its necessary to see the artist unless its a band, then its cool to see them all play together. I enjoy some of the more weirder music videos from Aphex Twin as you genuinely want to keep on watching to see what the hells is going on. Its always nice to see things you have never seen before in music videos- new environments and cultures etc.

What would you like to see in the music video we make for you?

That's really up to you, I have nothing set in my mind, hopefully you have got an idea what my music is all about and use inspiration from that. But I'm all for being experimental and doing what no one has done before so go crazy! I wouldn't want it to be generic and copied.

And... Would you like to be in it?

Preferably not, I'm quite keen to remain anonymous as an artist. I want people to concentrate on the music not me. This isn't like pop music where the image of the artist is key to the success. (Lucky for me? lol)

Thanks Lawrence!