Research Into Chosen Artist

R E S E A R C H   I N T O   C H O S E N    A R T I S T : N I N A  N E S B I T T 

Objective: to be able to research into your chosen music artist

Outcomes:
All: will be able to research into their chosen music artist and describe the conventions (Grade E)
Most: will be able to research into the artist and explain the representation through examples and terminology (Grade C)
Some: will be able to discuss how the micro elements represents an artist through excellent examples and ter
minology (Grade A)

Our chosen artist Nina Nesbitt. This artist interests me on a personal level, being a fan of her music and the indie genre as well as from a director and produces perspective, to re brand the artist in a more edgier light as well as taking on one of her songs and changing the low budget video it comes with into something more Grundgey and iconic. Nina appears diverse, appealing to both a pop and indie music genre, in the music industry this is a plus point as it means she doesn't limit herself to just one target audience. She inspired us to create a music video based on her style, and her low budget video previously mentioned that accompanies the song means that our young target audience wont have preconceptions about our video and compare the song heavily to an artist, as the artists video isn't as memorable. In addiction to this most people also wouldn't have heard of her, as she is yet to be widely recognized which for us means we have pretty much a clean slate for re branding and building on the artist of the song which we will create.

Nina Nesbitt is a 19 year old music artist from Scotland who over the past 3 years has grown in popularity and is now producing music for a wide mainstream audience. Starting off as a purely indie acoustic artist she still represents the typical styles and has conventions of the indie genre yet her growth in popularity has allowed her to break into the mainstream charts and produce more high budget pop tracks that ultimately make her more successful in the pop world. Her growth in popularity comes after she previously dated Ed Sheeran, ( a fellow indie/pop artist who is globally successful now) now Nina regularly tours the UK selling our shows and even playing at large mainstream festivals such as 'V fest' which she played at in 2013. Nina Nesbitt is signed to Universal Music Group which is one of the biggest in America has  has a range of subsidiary companies in European cities one being Paris. Nina Nesbitt is best known for her hit single 'Stay Out' which reached no. 21 in the UK charts. she has released a variety of EP's: 'the apple tree' this was out in 2012 and features my groups chosen song 'The Apple Tree' which reached No. 6 on the itunes downloads charts after being played on BBC radio 1. 'The Way Of The World EP' remains Nina's most popular EP that has propelled her onto the mainstream music scene, and this most recent of her EPs success in the charts indicates that Nina is getting more and more successful and is now an up and coming star in the music industry selling over 10,000 copies of her most recent EP which shows her appealing to a young audience.

Music Video Analysis

The first video I looked at was Nina Nesbitt's 2012 hit single boy. This song comes when Nina was really just starting to appeal to the mainstream music industry, and the song began to get people talking about Nina after being played on mainstream radio stations such as BBC radio 1 which gave Nina publicity and inspired a wider audience to go and buy her 'Boy EP', as well as tickets to go onto her 2012 Boy - the uk tour to see Nina live.

The music video is basically about Nina's breakup and shows her being rebellious and gutsy about her and former boyfriend not being together. This fits in with Dyers theory as she is being an iconic young woman who doesn't need a relationship or a man to make her happy, this therefore inspires her target audience which is mainly younger 14-22 year olds (females) to be strong and individual and don't cry over men because they don't need a relationship to be happy. The branding of the artist in this way again makes her more successful as an artist and she is marketing herself as iconic and a strong individual which makes the audience relate to her as she is represented as an ordinary teenage girl who her target audience can look up to and idolize. The fade jump cut is frequently used within this video to portray the quick fast paced life of a teenage girl, and the memories are represented with clever adaptations of the fade shot, and the editing of the popcorn appearing on her book show that the memories are fresh in the artists head and she is thinking about her ex boyfriend.

Nina picks up letters, as the lyric 'pick it up' plays.

Goodwin's theory is also used in this video as there is a relationship between the lyrics and the video, with the lyrics 'pick it up, pick it up' being played when Nina goes to pick up a letter from her ex boyfriend. Her apprehension to pick it up shows that he meant a lot to her again showing that she and him had a good relationship yet it is now over, she later beings to tear apart loads of letters showing that she is over him and she doesn't care what he has to say to her. This shows her to be an iconic and rebellious teenager which according to

Dyers theory sells her more to the audience and inspires her target audience to want to be like that therefore making her more of a success in the music world. The artist is further represented as an ordinary teenager, when the fade shot shows popcorn appearing which highlights the memory of the artist and her boyfriend having a food fight with the popcorn. This is typical foolish and fun behavior expected from a young couple, which the audience can relate to as they have most likely done something similar with there partner. Low key lighting is also used to highlight the memory which shows the artist in a happier light, compared to the moody tone set in the present day with the high key and ordinary atmosphere she finds herself in, which shows that she has woken up from being in love and is now faced with the reality of the situation.

The clothing of the artist is ordinary yet typical of an indie artist, This is overall the style of the music video as the diverse iconography in the background give the room a bohemian feel and the fact she wears a over sized red jumper shows she is both stylish and likes to dress different from the mainstream, making the music video very indie with a fun poppy feel. This inspires her target audience to also dress differently and to stand out from the crowd. The video is mainly performance based with Nina throwing letters into a massive pile which ultimately shows she is over her boyfriend and doesn't care about him anymore. This fits in with Goodwin's theory yet again as the symbolic nature of this pile of paper shows that her boyfriend wants her back because she is irresistible which makes her more of a success to the target audience who will admire her attitude and want to be more like her.

The next music video I analyzed was the Nina's biggest and most successful song to date 'stay out' the video takes place in Nina's home capital edinburgh. There she lives the typical student/teenage lifestyle and goes out late with her friends at university. This relates to dyers theory, firstly because she appears ordinary and doing ordinary activities and secondly because the fact she's going out late and having fun is typical for a young person and her young target audience can relate to this as her having fun with her friends is what her target audience is aiming to do. Fade shot at the beginning  of the video, and the words 'Nina Nessbitt' edited over the top establish her as the artist, with the shot allowing the audience to see she is a normal nice girl who just wants to play her song and sing. This will ultimately make her appeal to the target audience as they are able to look up to her and wish to buy her music because she comes across as a lovely person and artist.

  The fact Nina is playing the guitar is typical of the music genre indie which is who she is trying to appeal too. she looks iconic and independent overall appealing to the audience. Goodwins theory is used throughout the video as the lyrics relate to the visual when she is 'staying out' all night long. Nina also mildly flirts innocently with a few guys in the video, which uses Dyers theory of a stay as women artist use there sexuality to manipulate men. This shows the target audience what its like to go out and have fun as a teenager. We can tell Nina is a young artist also by the fact that her and her close friends get on public transport which is commonly associated with young people and indicates that Nina and her friends may be drinking. Nina also plays her guitar on the bus which shows she is having fun wherever she is going and again shows that she is appealing to the indie genre as she is playing her own instruments. Also this appeals to the audience who will be able to relate to the lifestyle nina is trying to portray with students having little money therefore frequently using busses.

Nina on public transport having fun

Another notable part of the video is throughout the jump cut is commonly used. This is because it gives the audience the impression of the fast paced nature of Nina's night out, and how having fun with friends is enjoyable and fast paced which relates to the mood of the song. This makes Nina more successful as an artist as she shows the audience how having fun is easy achievable without money and inspires the people listening to the music to go out and have fun giving the song a fun vibe and the audience therefore associate this vibe with the song
and going out.

The mise-en-scene effects the video, as the high key lighting shows the audience the happy expressions on her friends faces, with the positioning of the characters close together combined with the editing to show a 'selfie' is common for young people. This is building even more of a relationship with the audience is Nina is doing activities which her target audience understand and do themselves. The clothing is dark and tight, which is typical for a cool pop artist again making Nina's song appeal to a variety of indie pop genres which will boost her record sales and make her more of a successful artist. The style of the music video is very indie pop, as she plays her own guitar and wears dark clothes yet also looks stylish and does typical activities that appeal to a young pop audience such as having fun in a group of girls and going out on buses. Nina is marketed in this way because she can then appeal to more then one genre and get more record sales and have more of a fan base.

Nina poses with her friends

In summary our research of both music videos gave us a better understand of the target audience and how the creating of a music video directly relates them. Using aspects such as going out late, and appearing rebellious and iconic will make our music video successful as it will appeal to the audience and make them want to buy the single and watch our video. This research also gave us a better understanding of how our chosen artist relates to her genre, and inspired us to incorporate elements such as the use of instruments and her stylish clothing which will make our artist edgey and inspire our target audience of 13-22 year olds to dress like her.