M1 Justification of content

What Genre is your song?

This song (Solstice by Yeek,) is seen as best fitting into the dream pop genre which is a sub-genre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelica developed in the 80s. The genre is typified by strong texture and atmosphere just as much as melodic quality. Whilst this genre has been around for 40 years it remains current and now appeals to all genders of generation Z and I would say it is usually associated with reformers and strugglers of the C1, C2 and D classes. This song revolves around the process of rain and particularly the negativities it can bring, with the gloomy and solemn mood supported by the heavy synth use and monotone vocals. I outline my target audience more clearly in the M1 Distribution and marketing blogpost. 

What are the conventions of a dream pop music video? 

Music videos from the dream pop genre tend to have unique visuals and concepts behind them (even if the video is performance style,) vintage colour grading/ filming (super8/vhs look) and long duration shots. Wide shots are used excessively in these music videos to create a sense of isolation which we can see in the ‘Only in the west’ video from Yeek. I want to utilise this convention to support the videos concept, aided by some close-up shots to show emotion and finer details. Furthermore another genre convention we see is innovative special effects and editing techniques which I will try to conform to by using some SFX. Some artists from this genre create performance style videos such as 'No Vacation', 'Alvvays' and Yeek himself (however he hasn't created a Dream pop video yet, just Indie and R&B.) However performance does not typify a dream pop video as many artists don't even feature in their videos and prefer to lead with more concept style videos when the message is stronger - which is what I will be doing in the video I create. This means I will not be breaking any genre conventions by leaning more towards a conceptual video. Beneficially to us, dream pop videos often use weather to support the mood of the song - shooting in sunny condition when there is an uplifting mood and ominous and miserable conditions when there is an overbearing or melancholy mood. 

Why have I chosen a concept style video?

I've chosen to create a concept style video because although some dream pop videos are performance there is always a supporting concept, either seen in special effects or innovative camera movements. Yeek himself always has strong concepts which act as the foundations for his videos and support the feeling and message of the song. In his 'Only in the west' music video we saw him use strange conceptual shots to emphasise the meaning of the song, showing the effects of drug abuse. In addition I feel that a conceptual video will fit this song best because it has a slower pace with a mood that may not have worked well as a performance style video. Furthermore this allows for more expressive and memorable shots and means that this video can be filmed well without the need of an artist performance (would be difficult with travel and COVID restrictions.)

How will the visuals reflect the themes and meanings behind the song?

I will follow the song's theme of rain within my video, looking at its connotations, mental effects and beauty. The lyrics focus on the artist's hesitation and anxt towards rain as well as referencing drug use as many of his songs tend to do. There is a sense of boredom created by the monotone delivery of the lyrics which I also want to outline with the visuals. Rain has holy connotations which I want to allude to with some of my visuals, with a handful of the A-Roll shots being set in a church. As religious people often speak of feeling overwhelmed inside of churches I want to support this by using low, wide angles to create a sense of inferiority; supported by some subtle distortion special effects. As rain can have negative effects on mental health and leave many people feeling alone and isolated (even more prevalent in todays current social climate,) I want to use an abundance of wide shots and only ever feature one character in frame at a time to emphasise this solitary feeling and fit the overall theme and meaning behind the song. As mentioned earlier, the artist purposefully comes across as bored to show the effect rain has on him which I will support when shooting in the house location, by having many jump cuts and actions which portray the actor as bored and show an unproductive passing of time. Apart from rain themed supporting B-Roll I will also reference the process of evaporation which is crucial to rain by manipulating the opacity of different subjects. 

How will this video support Yeek's iconography?

Yeek is a multimedia artist, filmmaker and musician. He is apparently ‘the pop artist throwing convention to the wind’ which is evident in all of his work and is why he is often labelled ‘genre-less’ although most songs fit into the R&B, indie and dream pop genres. His following is expected to sky-rocket as his reach increases however he has still remained independent, signed to his own label (Yeek INC.) The artist has a very strong image and iconography not only created by his unique songs but also by the graphic elements, style and special effects in his self directed music videos. The first of these effects that we often see in his album covers and music videos such as ‘Only in the west’ is the neon green line animation. This is usually used to outline objects, people and create drawings that support the lyrics. I’m confident that I could execute this effect in post production using frame by frame animation in after effects even though it’s very time consuming. The next common trait we see on his single covers is the elliptically boxed text stating the name of the song, this is a minimalistic touch that lets you know it is one of his songs and would be interesting to weave into the music video, possibly as a title. Finally, another way I want to develop the artists iconography is by using abstract special effects and transitions such as data moshing to build on the special effects we have seen in some of his previous video such as ‘Fatigued’. The release of this new video paired with a 2 year old song will fit perfectly with the release of his next album which is due to drop soon, for newer viewers this will build interest in his older work which increases his monthly listeners and build brand loyalty. 

Technical Justification

This video will be exported as a high bitrate .MP4 file with a H.264 codec to make it ideal for upload to sites such as YouTube, Vimeo and Instagram reels however I talk more in detail on distribution in my M1 Distribution and Marketing blog post. The video will be filmed and uploaded as 1920x1080 25fps as this is what the main camera operates as and the editing software works well with however the aspect ratio will be 4:3 as opposed to 16:9 to give a more nostalgic feel in addition to the frame posterization from 25fps to 18fps to support this feeling.   

What is the purpose of this video and why is it necessary? 

When thinking about Bulmer and Katz’s ‘Uses and gratification theory’ (1974) I feel that the purpose of this video will be to provide as an escapism/diversion as well as giving an opportunity for the viewer to relate to the lifestyle and emotion seen in the video caused by rain. Typically the escapism and diversion purpose-based videos have lots of interesting special effects and I feel that out of the 4 reasons people consume media this one follows the mood of the song the most because ultimately the visuals are just supporting the feeling of the song.  To make sure my music video appeals to my target audience (TA outlined in distribution and marketing post) I’ll use interesting compositions, camera movements and SFX because GenZ’’s attention span is shorter and therefore I need to hold this attention through the use of these techniques. Furthermore I may show subjects in the video that make it more relatable to this younger audience such as the brand of clothing or an online game. I'll use effects such as overlays and frame posterizations to create a nostalgic feel to support the artist's and genre's aesthetic as this follows current trends that the audience is interested in. The video acts as something for the listener to associate the song with which makes it more likely that they will think of the song more, listen to it more, re watch the video, look at Yeek's other work and share with their friends. As I mentioned earlier the release of this video paired with the release of his new album, will lead new listeners to see his older work and feel closer to him as an artist, building brand loyalty and adding to his already powerful following. However alongside anything this video acts as a means of promotion, increasing interest in the artist and his songs which increases his revenue and therefore future brand expansion - maybe signing artists to his label soon.