introduction A2 coursework

For the A2 media coursework we must create music videos in groups with a promo pack. The promo pack should consist of a CD/DVD digipack for the video and a print-based ad advertising it. We have decided to equally play each role and work in a team. Once we come to taking up different roles we will see who wants to do what and who is most capable at each task. Our first task was to choose an appropriate song to use in our video. The artist we chose was Florence and the Machine as she fits in with all our music tastes and she is currently gaining more popularity. In our group we also each fit her genre criteria and we have all, prior to this, taken interest in her as an artist.

In order to use one of her songs in our video, we had to notify and ask permission from her record company "Island Records". here is a print screen of our email.

Copywriting a song entitles the song to belong to, for example, Island Records and Florence and the Machine. This means that if someone copies the song without permission, it is then copywrite infringement. This is very important because it stops people downloading or sharing it without paying any money for it. This is why illegal sites such as Limewire and Bearshare are so dangerous to the music industry and is one of the factors towards the band itself making little money from their record sales. Here is a quote about copywriting from musiclawadvice.cu.uk:

What Does Copyright Protection Provide?
If you are the owner of a copyright, e.g. in a song, then unless you have given permission for any of these specific activities, no one else can do any of the following with your song:
- copy it
- issue copies to the public
- perform or play it in public
- broadcast it or include it in a cable programme service
- make an adaptation of it.

We found a song that doesn't have a a music video called "Swimming" we chose it as it is important to chose one with no video so we can't get ideas from it. Also we all enjoy the song chosen, here are the lyrics:

Your songs remind me of swimming,
Which I forgot when I started to sink
Drank further away from the shore,
And deeper into the drink

Sat on the bottom of the ocean,
A stern and stubborn rock
Cos your songs remind me of swimming,
But somehow I forgot

I was sinking, now I'm sunk
And I was drinking, now I'm drunk
I was sinking, now I'm sunk,
And I was drinking, now I'm drunk

I tried to remember the chorus,
I can't remember the verse
Cos that song that sent me swimming,
Is now the life jacket that burst

Rotting like a wreck on the ocean floor,
Sinking like a siren that can't swim no more
Your songs remind me of swimming,
But I can't swim any more

Then all of a sudden, I heard a note,
It started in my chest and ended in my throat
Then I realised I was swimming,
And then I realised I was swimming,
And then I realised I was swimming,
And then I realised I was swimming

Pull me out the water, cold and blue,
I open my eyes and I see that it's you,
So I dive straight back in the ocean

Take a deep breath, tuck the water in my chest
Cross my fingers and hope for the best
Oh, take a deep breath, tuck the water in my chest,
Cross my fingers and hope for the best

Then all of a sudden, I heard a note,
It started in my chest and ended in my throat
And then I realised I was swimming,
And then I realised I was swimming,
And then I realised I was swimming,
And then I realised I was swimming

We specifically chose this song and artist as each of us can appeal to her and currently like her music too. We thought these lyrics could be transformed into a music video as they have a clear subject matter. We wanted to chose an artist who is upcoming and successful, who many people could currently relate to. Some of the lyrics could be seen as metaphors of disliking someone so we could make a video representing this side of the meaning. Or we can take it in the more literal sense, I feel that this song is quite versatile.