Concept
This is concept based music video by the band OK Go, called Here It Goes Again. From first looking at the music video we can see that it has absolutely nothing to do with the song. This video shows the band performing a dance routine on 6 treadmills, a very original and abstract idea that has never been done before for a music video. It would have had to be shot in one take for continuity, which would have put pressure on the band members to not make any mistakes. The routine is flawless in the video, apart from at about 1 minute in where the man on the front left treadmill starts to fall off, but it is barely noticeable as he recovers well. Another point in the video that could have been as mistake is the very beginning where the man is trying to turn on the CD player and it wont work, however this could have been a deliberate mistake to add humour to the video. The routine is in time with the music and the band tend to do tricks in their routine at key points during the song, making the routine more catchy and eye grabbing, making viewers want to keep watching. This concept was a very simple, yet effective video and soon became a viral hit, giving the band much promotion and success.
It's a very original idea and fits in well with the meaning of concept. I think that this video appeals to people that don't have a particular genre they stick to, because it's so random, people that you may not expect to like it, might actually do so. The randomness oft he video is what makes you want to watch it again and again. I think it gets funnier every time, even though i know whats going to happen. Even though the song is a fast tempo, i think the video and what they are doing is very slow compared to the song.
The only camera angle that has been used is an establishing shot showing the mise-en-scene and everything in it. This means that the camera would have been in one position throughout the recording of the music video, because we see no movement. I think it works well becasue we dont need to see anything else that goes on outside of the frame, because it's all going on on the treadmills. I think that if there was a selection of camera angles used then it wouldn't have the same impact like this does, where only one has been used.
Even though it works there are many limitations as to what i can analyse. The setting in which they have filmed this looks like a studio and they have put up a cover to form as the blank canvas, in which they can perform their routine on the treadmills. It's a very basic setting and is very simple compared to some of the lengths that other artists go to. What they lack in setting and camera shots, they make up for in their concept idea. You can tell by watching it that it was well rehearsed, and they took risks in that anything could have gone wrong. The equipment they used couldnt have caused them injury if one of them had messed up, so it shows that when you take risks, they can pay off in a positive way. They are now recognised as a band that creates elaborate and quirky music videos. The style of video added to their success and it led to them winning a grammy for Best short Form Music Video.
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Monday, 22 October 2012
Beyonce - Love on Top
Performance
In this music video by Beyonce, we see her putting on a dance performance to her song Love on Top. This music video doesn't actually have a narrative as she focuses on using performance shots from different angles to create it. Throughout the video she is putting a performance on with backing dancers, and she is singing about being in love and someone making her happy. She demonstrates lyrics through dance moves and hand gestures, and this shows us there is a strong link between the music and the visuals. She's on beat with the music and her backing dancers so-operate well to the dance moves. As I've said the music video style is performance. I think she chose to do this type of video because from some of her previous music video she has done, shes a good dancer as well as a singer. Because of this she has created her own iconography, so we can associate the two together.
With this song being a throwback to the 1980's music, she used inspiration from the late Etta James, and wrote the song herself alongside a producer. The reason why it works so well is because of her RnB background and her amazing vocals that she can express. From the video we can see that the beat and the rhythm of the song all link in to the 1980's genre of music, they are full of beats and you can really bop to the music. Although Beyonce is a one woman artist, all the attention isn't focused on her all the time. The use of different shots incorporate the dancers as well as her, in to the shots and we feel a sense of togetherness, like she doesn't want all the attention to be on her. Although this may be a requirement for some producers, she has strayed away from gaining all the attention.
By using hand gestures, she illustrates some of the lyrics in the song and this si how we know it is linked. For example, she sings the lyrics 'I can see the stars all the way from here', while doing this she raises her hand up, spreads he fingers so they look like a star and brings them back down like she has grabbed something. This is an effective way of telling a story through performance without it actually being a narrative style music video. To break the video up towards the end, she changes her outfits and again influences more girls to like shes wearing and to look up to her in the way that she's more than just an artist. Another element of this video is that one of the outfits she wears is the one that she wore the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. This is iconic because it was such a big event and to incorporate that in to one of her music videos, and done so well, she is not only promoting the dress but herself as well. Wearing a black body suit with black hose, Knowles puts on a display of footwork before breaking into the song. About halfway through, the visuals suddenly switch to night as Knowles lights up the space in various formal looks, including a gold pantsuit, white suit, and finally a tuxedo complete with coattails, top hat, and cane. The choreography from here resembles that of the 1960s male groups. The wardrobe changes in fact correspond with every key change, except the final one. The video ends with Knowles yelling "cut!" and the shot returns to them at rehearsal.
In this video she has used only one setting which is the corner of a penthouse studio that she's in in the video. I think that this has worked well because it's almost as if she is practising the dance, and they are using a studio to do this because it has lots of space. But on the other hand it looks well rehearsed and really fits in with what she is doing. Videos like this react well with performers because it is opening them up to new ideas and concepts.
Beyonce is s very conventional RnB artist and we know she does things, she does it right and well. She's been in music of many years and knows her target audience, she knows what they want to hear. I think the age range would be from 15 - 30 years old, as she very relevant in her music and a lot of girls and young teenagers look up to her as a role model because she had done so well for herself in such a short space of time. Girls like myself have seen her grow from being in the band Destiny's Child, to her being a very successful solo artist. Girls and women don't just look up to her a successful singer but as an icon in fashion. All these factors contribute to her gaining fans and attracting different types of audiences.
They sue a lot of long shots in this video to establish the scene she is in, and what we actually see as the audience is the New York City skyline, which is exceptionally iconic. I think the penthouse is strategically placed and for her, it was a great choice of location to film a music video. Other shots include close-ups of Beyonce's face, and these shows the emotions in her face she is performing this type of song. She looks, comfortable and content with what she is doing.Mid shots are used that display the top half of her body, throughout the performance, as well as the hand gesturing, her body language is also playing it's part in displaying the song visually. The way she moves her body and flows the to the beat of music expresses how the song makes her and the audience feel, if they can relate to it. From the influences that inspired her to this this type of song, a lot of panning shots are used, although they are not long pans, they are subtle and really fit in with the beat and style. The pans show Beyonce and her male backing dancers dancing away and getting lose in the music.
Visually there is not much editing that has been done apart form the obvious which is the editing of the different shots. She has kept continuity throughout the video, and you can hardly tell where shots have jumped to the next one because they have been edited together so well. Other editing that has been used, is the effects used in the second half of the video. They have darkened the shots to make her stand out more, and it also makes her look like she is performing on an actual stage. This is effective because it adds a different element ot the video, rather than it just being her and her backing dancers rehearsing, In the parts where the shots are darkened, light has also been added in from each top corner, this is to have all the attention focused on Beyonce herself and looks really good. Right at the end of the video we see Beyonce shout 'Cut' and she walks past one of the cameras that was filming her, and there would of been one behind this camera man to to get her doing this. Having the video show the camera man at the end makes the video feel more genuine, and also imitates that shes been performing in a show then all the effects disappear dramatically and it goes back to normal.
In this music video by Beyonce, we see her putting on a dance performance to her song Love on Top. This music video doesn't actually have a narrative as she focuses on using performance shots from different angles to create it. Throughout the video she is putting a performance on with backing dancers, and she is singing about being in love and someone making her happy. She demonstrates lyrics through dance moves and hand gestures, and this shows us there is a strong link between the music and the visuals. She's on beat with the music and her backing dancers so-operate well to the dance moves. As I've said the music video style is performance. I think she chose to do this type of video because from some of her previous music video she has done, shes a good dancer as well as a singer. Because of this she has created her own iconography, so we can associate the two together.
With this song being a throwback to the 1980's music, she used inspiration from the late Etta James, and wrote the song herself alongside a producer. The reason why it works so well is because of her RnB background and her amazing vocals that she can express. From the video we can see that the beat and the rhythm of the song all link in to the 1980's genre of music, they are full of beats and you can really bop to the music. Although Beyonce is a one woman artist, all the attention isn't focused on her all the time. The use of different shots incorporate the dancers as well as her, in to the shots and we feel a sense of togetherness, like she doesn't want all the attention to be on her. Although this may be a requirement for some producers, she has strayed away from gaining all the attention.
By using hand gestures, she illustrates some of the lyrics in the song and this si how we know it is linked. For example, she sings the lyrics 'I can see the stars all the way from here', while doing this she raises her hand up, spreads he fingers so they look like a star and brings them back down like she has grabbed something. This is an effective way of telling a story through performance without it actually being a narrative style music video. To break the video up towards the end, she changes her outfits and again influences more girls to like shes wearing and to look up to her in the way that she's more than just an artist. Another element of this video is that one of the outfits she wears is the one that she wore the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. This is iconic because it was such a big event and to incorporate that in to one of her music videos, and done so well, she is not only promoting the dress but herself as well. Wearing a black body suit with black hose, Knowles puts on a display of footwork before breaking into the song. About halfway through, the visuals suddenly switch to night as Knowles lights up the space in various formal looks, including a gold pantsuit, white suit, and finally a tuxedo complete with coattails, top hat, and cane. The choreography from here resembles that of the 1960s male groups. The wardrobe changes in fact correspond with every key change, except the final one. The video ends with Knowles yelling "cut!" and the shot returns to them at rehearsal.
In this video she has used only one setting which is the corner of a penthouse studio that she's in in the video. I think that this has worked well because it's almost as if she is practising the dance, and they are using a studio to do this because it has lots of space. But on the other hand it looks well rehearsed and really fits in with what she is doing. Videos like this react well with performers because it is opening them up to new ideas and concepts.
Beyonce is s very conventional RnB artist and we know she does things, she does it right and well. She's been in music of many years and knows her target audience, she knows what they want to hear. I think the age range would be from 15 - 30 years old, as she very relevant in her music and a lot of girls and young teenagers look up to her as a role model because she had done so well for herself in such a short space of time. Girls like myself have seen her grow from being in the band Destiny's Child, to her being a very successful solo artist. Girls and women don't just look up to her a successful singer but as an icon in fashion. All these factors contribute to her gaining fans and attracting different types of audiences.
They sue a lot of long shots in this video to establish the scene she is in, and what we actually see as the audience is the New York City skyline, which is exceptionally iconic. I think the penthouse is strategically placed and for her, it was a great choice of location to film a music video. Other shots include close-ups of Beyonce's face, and these shows the emotions in her face she is performing this type of song. She looks, comfortable and content with what she is doing.Mid shots are used that display the top half of her body, throughout the performance, as well as the hand gesturing, her body language is also playing it's part in displaying the song visually. The way she moves her body and flows the to the beat of music expresses how the song makes her and the audience feel, if they can relate to it. From the influences that inspired her to this this type of song, a lot of panning shots are used, although they are not long pans, they are subtle and really fit in with the beat and style. The pans show Beyonce and her male backing dancers dancing away and getting lose in the music.
Visually there is not much editing that has been done apart form the obvious which is the editing of the different shots. She has kept continuity throughout the video, and you can hardly tell where shots have jumped to the next one because they have been edited together so well. Other editing that has been used, is the effects used in the second half of the video. They have darkened the shots to make her stand out more, and it also makes her look like she is performing on an actual stage. This is effective because it adds a different element ot the video, rather than it just being her and her backing dancers rehearsing, In the parts where the shots are darkened, light has also been added in from each top corner, this is to have all the attention focused on Beyonce herself and looks really good. Right at the end of the video we see Beyonce shout 'Cut' and she walks past one of the cameras that was filming her, and there would of been one behind this camera man to to get her doing this. Having the video show the camera man at the end makes the video feel more genuine, and also imitates that shes been performing in a show then all the effects disappear dramatically and it goes back to normal.
Sunday, 21 October 2012
Ed Sheeran - The A Team
Narrative
This music video by Ed Sheeran uses narrative structure throughout the video, and is a circular narrative because the video starts with the end of it. From this point it goes right back to the beginning and the story begins to be told. It's being looked on from another person’s perspective on the girls life, and in doing this we understand the reasons why the girl is doing this. When the story begins, we see the girl waking up on park bench in nothing but the clothes on her back and a sleeping bag. Just from seeing her in this situation, we know she is unfortunate to have ended up this way and isn’t living the life she wants to but she is getting on with it. This puts all the focus on to the protagonist and makes the audience want to know more about the girl and it makes you want to question her about her way of life and how she ended up there. We see shots of her face looking cold and withdrawn, wrapped in her sleeping bag, and we instantly feel sympathy for her as an audience. When the girl is walking up a hill on her own and there is nobody around her creates a sense of panic for the girl. This shows because she starts to look around as if anyone is following her. It soon changes when she looks up to the sky and smiles and then changes to a mid-shot of her opening her arms. This gives the sense of freedom which contrasts with the rest of the video. The rest of the narrative then goes on to show she is working as a prostitute and is also a drug user.
This music video by Ed Sheeran uses narrative structure throughout the video, and is a circular narrative because the video starts with the end of it. From this point it goes right back to the beginning and the story begins to be told. It's being looked on from another person’s perspective on the girls life, and in doing this we understand the reasons why the girl is doing this. When the story begins, we see the girl waking up on park bench in nothing but the clothes on her back and a sleeping bag. Just from seeing her in this situation, we know she is unfortunate to have ended up this way and isn’t living the life she wants to but she is getting on with it. This puts all the focus on to the protagonist and makes the audience want to know more about the girl and it makes you want to question her about her way of life and how she ended up there. We see shots of her face looking cold and withdrawn, wrapped in her sleeping bag, and we instantly feel sympathy for her as an audience. When the girl is walking up a hill on her own and there is nobody around her creates a sense of panic for the girl. This shows because she starts to look around as if anyone is following her. It soon changes when she looks up to the sky and smiles and then changes to a mid-shot of her opening her arms. This gives the sense of freedom which contrasts with the rest of the video. The rest of the narrative then goes on to show she is working as a prostitute and is also a drug user.
We see her putting her make-up on in layers, trying to look/feel better, but to the men that use her for prostitution, she is just cheap, dirty and unwanted. She begs on the street for money but because of today’s society, they walk straight past her and feel no sympathy.
These are two very dangerous ways of life and it’s so unfortunate that she has come down to this to get by and to get money. Further on in the video, it shows the girl ‘on the job’ working as a prostitute and she is picked up by a client on a corner, this is also a stereotype for prostitutes as they’re often linked with street corners. He’s fallen asleep after they have done what they needed to do and she is left wondering again and again why she is in this situation, but he pays her for her time, and she uses the money to fund her drug habit. We see her handing over her money and in return the drugs are placed in her hand. She goes to a flat and in the empty room, she consumes the drugs she had just bought, and in this room, her life ends. She was took by a way of life that affects so many people in today’s world.
This type of music video is showing a girls life on a time line and what she does to get by. A lot of long shots are used to establish the scene that the girl is in, this helps us to understand that she lives in a normal city is living in a world far away from what she should be. To express the girls emotions and troubles, close-up shots are used to display this in a very sympathetic way, and makes the audience feel for the girl. These types of camera shots gives the audience a cold feeling, and we recognise that she has a hard, dull and colourless life. Not only this but we see the exhaustion in her face and eyes.
The different settings in the video include a park, busy town streets, a grungy flat and the flash hotel where she prostitutes herself. These all signify different emotion levels in her life right now, and that one minute she can feel free and the next she wants to give up on her life because it is that messed up. Displaying these troubles seems like it was effortless and the girl pulls of the part so well. It's even more effective because it is in black and white, which adds depth to the video. Using black and white throughout the video shows that she is in a very dark place, and in the parts where it was filmed in sunlight, the black and white creates high contrast and shows an even bigger effect from shadows and silhouettes.
The target audience for this music video would range from the ages of 15 - 25., It's using strong subject matters and when you get to your mid teens you start to experiment with things such as alcohol, but if your introduced to something by the wrong person and you become familiar with drugs, you know it's going to end bad. The girl couldn't stop her addiction to drugs, and she did whatever she could to get money to fund this habit. People of this age will be familiar and can relate to whats he is doing because it is very common in this generation. If anything it should provide warnings to young people about what it can do to you as a person.
I think it is very well edited and it's definitely effective in the way it uses blurriness to describe how her life is fading. In one particular part there is a close-up shot of her face, and as it zooms out, blur is applied and her face blurs out. it's significant because it gives us a sense that something bad is going to happen, and it does. In another section of the video, we see the girl stood with her back to the camera, and then sat on a public walkway. Her whole life is sped up very fast, from the people walking to the cars just driving by. This shows that shes wasting her life away at a speed that she doesn't even notice and if she doesn't stop now it's only just going to pass by even more. Speeding up the video like this adds wonder to it because watching it you want to know what is going to happen next. The editing of the shots is done in a way that it's telling the story so well, and even with some of the shots being cut so short and some long, we know where the story is going.
The music video style for this is narrative. It's telling a life story throughout the video in stages. As well as this the lyrics are strongly linked to the narrative, and to make this effective it's as if the shots have been specifically placed to act out what lyrics are being sung at that moment. Towards the end of the video when she is waiting to be picked up by a stranger in a car, Ed Sheeran sings 'sells love to another man, it's too cold outside'. This particular lyric explains what her next actions are going to be, she is going to get in the car and sell herself for money. The story is ended by her life ending, and as Ed sings about her being an angel in the sky, who was too worn out for life in the end.
This type of music video is showing a girls life on a time line and what she does to get by. A lot of long shots are used to establish the scene that the girl is in, this helps us to understand that she lives in a normal city is living in a world far away from what she should be. To express the girls emotions and troubles, close-up shots are used to display this in a very sympathetic way, and makes the audience feel for the girl. These types of camera shots gives the audience a cold feeling, and we recognise that she has a hard, dull and colourless life. Not only this but we see the exhaustion in her face and eyes.
The different settings in the video include a park, busy town streets, a grungy flat and the flash hotel where she prostitutes herself. These all signify different emotion levels in her life right now, and that one minute she can feel free and the next she wants to give up on her life because it is that messed up. Displaying these troubles seems like it was effortless and the girl pulls of the part so well. It's even more effective because it is in black and white, which adds depth to the video. Using black and white throughout the video shows that she is in a very dark place, and in the parts where it was filmed in sunlight, the black and white creates high contrast and shows an even bigger effect from shadows and silhouettes.
The target audience for this music video would range from the ages of 15 - 25., It's using strong subject matters and when you get to your mid teens you start to experiment with things such as alcohol, but if your introduced to something by the wrong person and you become familiar with drugs, you know it's going to end bad. The girl couldn't stop her addiction to drugs, and she did whatever she could to get money to fund this habit. People of this age will be familiar and can relate to whats he is doing because it is very common in this generation. If anything it should provide warnings to young people about what it can do to you as a person.
I think it is very well edited and it's definitely effective in the way it uses blurriness to describe how her life is fading. In one particular part there is a close-up shot of her face, and as it zooms out, blur is applied and her face blurs out. it's significant because it gives us a sense that something bad is going to happen, and it does. In another section of the video, we see the girl stood with her back to the camera, and then sat on a public walkway. Her whole life is sped up very fast, from the people walking to the cars just driving by. This shows that shes wasting her life away at a speed that she doesn't even notice and if she doesn't stop now it's only just going to pass by even more. Speeding up the video like this adds wonder to it because watching it you want to know what is going to happen next. The editing of the shots is done in a way that it's telling the story so well, and even with some of the shots being cut so short and some long, we know where the story is going.
The music video style for this is narrative. It's telling a life story throughout the video in stages. As well as this the lyrics are strongly linked to the narrative, and to make this effective it's as if the shots have been specifically placed to act out what lyrics are being sung at that moment. Towards the end of the video when she is waiting to be picked up by a stranger in a car, Ed Sheeran sings 'sells love to another man, it's too cold outside'. This particular lyric explains what her next actions are going to be, she is going to get in the car and sell herself for money. The story is ended by her life ending, and as Ed sings about her being an angel in the sky, who was too worn out for life in the end.
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Music Video Techniques
When analysing a music video, peoples interpretations are always going to be different depending on how their mind will register certain things. One person may see deeper into a music video than another person, and there is no right or wrong answer, it's just their way of looking at it. The conventions that are in music videos vary depending on the genre and artist, but there are general conventions that apply to all. Based on the different opinions of others, there are theories which describe music video conventions in their own way.
Andrew Goodwin, who was a theorist, states that there are 5 key aspects of a music video, and as an audience we should be able to notice when we know what they are.
These are:
Other theorists like Steve Archer and John Stewart agree on that there should be definite relationships between the music, visuals and lyrics. The mise-en-scene is a key part too as they believe in leaving enough space for a performance. Sigmund Freud's Theory is more referred to voyeurism and the pleasure of women being watched over by an artist unknowingly.
Although people like these I've mentioned had their own theories of what techniques should be used in a music video, there are overall techniques that the majority of video makers follow. They are much like the above, just not in as much detail as the theorists have gone in to.
Genre Characteristics
Genre characteristics relate to an artist visual style, and what sort of music genre they belong to. Pop music videos are considered to be upbeat and they often use bright colours, sunshine in the background and overall niceness. Whereas the rock genre is on the complete opposite side, as they use dark and dreary colours and use things such as blood on their set and use symbolism to connect to their type of audience. RnB however is associated with the black community as they are very soulful and use harmonies in their music, in music videos they focus more on the performance style and it's usually the artist r artists singing to a specific person, conventionally a woman, or just to women in general. They use women as their focus point and build the song and music video around love ans relationships and getting their message across to the woman. All artists develop their own characteristics and this is how we notice them, we become familiar with their styles and it's easier to associate an artist with a genre once we've established what conventions they specifically use in their videos. An example of an artist that has developed characteristics through genre is Cher Lloyd. She became very successful on The X Factor, and from her first audition we established what sort of music she liked to sing, which was pop and a hint of rap as she connects with beats. Now her career is escalating, shes had numerous videos and their is definitely a pattern in the conventions that she uses such as locations, props and colours. Oath was a song she released recently, and what we notice instantly is the use of bright colours, mainly pink. By doing this she attracts an audience who then become familiar with how she constructs her music videos. Props she uses include cars and material things such as a Nintendo Wii, this attracts a wider audience because girls feel like they can relate, and they want the same things.
Links between lyrics and visuals & Links between music and visuals
Andrew Goodwin's theory established that there should be definite links between lyrics and visuals and the music and visuals. As Ive briefly mentioned above, he said that the links between music and visuals should illustrate, amplify or contradict. We mostly see this happening in instrumental solos and it keeps the video fresh rather than it just being shots of thee guitarist or drummer if in a band. It helps to express emotion between the music and what we see the artist doing on screen, eg, performing solo on an instrument. In Justin Biebers music video for Beauty and a Beat, the links we see between lyrics and visuals is that he has Nicki Minaj starring and appearing on his track and this refers to the Beauty in his song title. The other link is an instrumental part in which the beat continues and he performs a dance in his video.
Star Image
Star Image focuses on how an artist or artists come across in their videos. It;s extremely important that they create a positive star image, and even more important for solo artists, as they are the main object that the audience will focus on. From the way they dress to the ways they act, it all builds up in to one image and creates the stars iconography, that us as the audience can associate and recognise to that particular person. The use of close-ups in music videos allows the viewer to identify certain aspects of an artists' appearance and how they use fashion, make-up and props to create their iconography and unique style. This is how artists are remembered and makes them individual from other artist who they may be in competition with in the music industry. Lady Gaga's video for Just Dance is a prime example of where she began to create her own identity in the music industry. As a new-upcoming artist in 2008, when she released this music video, her personality shone though as to what type of person she was. Her quirky and edgy dress sense made a big impact in the music world, and not only did it make her into a fashion icon, but it sent the sales of this song through the roof. To this day, it is the best-selling debut single of all time in the US, and this is down to the influences of who she is and what she wanted to make of herself.
Voyeurism
Nowadays, voyeurism is widely used and we see it all around us on music videos. Mostly used in pop videos, the way women are used as sex objects is very, very common. We may see a male artist surrounded by half naked women, or just half naked women in general, whether the artist be male or female. When women are used in this way to promote music, they often feel 'objectified', but the main reason why people choose to use women like this is because they know that it grabs attention and more people are going to watch the women. It doesn't mean they necessarily like it but it draws the attention in. There is so much pressure on women in the music industry to look a certain way and be like somebody else, and it causes women to feel insecure about how they look. Having women barely dressed in music videos cashes in on these securities and becomes successful off portraying women in this way. Some people wouldn't see this as fair and lots of opinions on the roles of women surround it but if it's going to contribute to the artists' success then they wont hesitate to do so. In Trey Songz' video for Hail Mary, we see a group of women barely dressed in very revealing rugby uniforms. From the nature of the song and genre we know this is done deliberately to sexualise women in this way. They use specific camera angles to focus on the body parts of women that they know the audience will like. It grabs the attention in a strong way, but it spread across the whole song by giving attention to the three male artists that are involved in the video.
Inter textual Reference
Inter textual referencing is where an artist will create a music video based on a another famous film or video, often impersonating them, or using elements of their videos and incorporating them into their own. An artist may imitate scenes from films and add these into their videos to not only promote the artist but the film they are referencing too. Lil Wayne is well-known artist all over the world, knwon for his rapping and explicit lyrics. In this In ception inspired video for 6 Foot 7, Lil Wayne and the Young Money Crew are portraying several scenarios from the film and it consists of numerous scenes which visualize many of the metaphors and similes Lil Wayne says in the song. Lil Wayne's references to Inception link in with his music and lyrics and shows the extent of which his songwriting can go to. To incorperate such a mind-bggling film in to a rap and express it visually is a great acheievment.
Andrew Goodwin, who was a theorist, states that there are 5 key aspects of a music video, and as an audience we should be able to notice when we know what they are.
These are:
- Visuals
- Genres
- Close-ups
- The artist/band
- Voyeurism
- Inter textual references
Other theorists like Steve Archer and John Stewart agree on that there should be definite relationships between the music, visuals and lyrics. The mise-en-scene is a key part too as they believe in leaving enough space for a performance. Sigmund Freud's Theory is more referred to voyeurism and the pleasure of women being watched over by an artist unknowingly.
Although people like these I've mentioned had their own theories of what techniques should be used in a music video, there are overall techniques that the majority of video makers follow. They are much like the above, just not in as much detail as the theorists have gone in to.
Genre Characteristics
Genre characteristics relate to an artist visual style, and what sort of music genre they belong to. Pop music videos are considered to be upbeat and they often use bright colours, sunshine in the background and overall niceness. Whereas the rock genre is on the complete opposite side, as they use dark and dreary colours and use things such as blood on their set and use symbolism to connect to their type of audience. RnB however is associated with the black community as they are very soulful and use harmonies in their music, in music videos they focus more on the performance style and it's usually the artist r artists singing to a specific person, conventionally a woman, or just to women in general. They use women as their focus point and build the song and music video around love ans relationships and getting their message across to the woman. All artists develop their own characteristics and this is how we notice them, we become familiar with their styles and it's easier to associate an artist with a genre once we've established what conventions they specifically use in their videos. An example of an artist that has developed characteristics through genre is Cher Lloyd. She became very successful on The X Factor, and from her first audition we established what sort of music she liked to sing, which was pop and a hint of rap as she connects with beats. Now her career is escalating, shes had numerous videos and their is definitely a pattern in the conventions that she uses such as locations, props and colours. Oath was a song she released recently, and what we notice instantly is the use of bright colours, mainly pink. By doing this she attracts an audience who then become familiar with how she constructs her music videos. Props she uses include cars and material things such as a Nintendo Wii, this attracts a wider audience because girls feel like they can relate, and they want the same things.
Links between lyrics and visuals & Links between music and visuals
Andrew Goodwin's theory established that there should be definite links between lyrics and visuals and the music and visuals. As Ive briefly mentioned above, he said that the links between music and visuals should illustrate, amplify or contradict. We mostly see this happening in instrumental solos and it keeps the video fresh rather than it just being shots of thee guitarist or drummer if in a band. It helps to express emotion between the music and what we see the artist doing on screen, eg, performing solo on an instrument. In Justin Biebers music video for Beauty and a Beat, the links we see between lyrics and visuals is that he has Nicki Minaj starring and appearing on his track and this refers to the Beauty in his song title. The other link is an instrumental part in which the beat continues and he performs a dance in his video.
Star Image
Star Image focuses on how an artist or artists come across in their videos. It;s extremely important that they create a positive star image, and even more important for solo artists, as they are the main object that the audience will focus on. From the way they dress to the ways they act, it all builds up in to one image and creates the stars iconography, that us as the audience can associate and recognise to that particular person. The use of close-ups in music videos allows the viewer to identify certain aspects of an artists' appearance and how they use fashion, make-up and props to create their iconography and unique style. This is how artists are remembered and makes them individual from other artist who they may be in competition with in the music industry. Lady Gaga's video for Just Dance is a prime example of where she began to create her own identity in the music industry. As a new-upcoming artist in 2008, when she released this music video, her personality shone though as to what type of person she was. Her quirky and edgy dress sense made a big impact in the music world, and not only did it make her into a fashion icon, but it sent the sales of this song through the roof. To this day, it is the best-selling debut single of all time in the US, and this is down to the influences of who she is and what she wanted to make of herself.
Voyeurism
Nowadays, voyeurism is widely used and we see it all around us on music videos. Mostly used in pop videos, the way women are used as sex objects is very, very common. We may see a male artist surrounded by half naked women, or just half naked women in general, whether the artist be male or female. When women are used in this way to promote music, they often feel 'objectified', but the main reason why people choose to use women like this is because they know that it grabs attention and more people are going to watch the women. It doesn't mean they necessarily like it but it draws the attention in. There is so much pressure on women in the music industry to look a certain way and be like somebody else, and it causes women to feel insecure about how they look. Having women barely dressed in music videos cashes in on these securities and becomes successful off portraying women in this way. Some people wouldn't see this as fair and lots of opinions on the roles of women surround it but if it's going to contribute to the artists' success then they wont hesitate to do so. In Trey Songz' video for Hail Mary, we see a group of women barely dressed in very revealing rugby uniforms. From the nature of the song and genre we know this is done deliberately to sexualise women in this way. They use specific camera angles to focus on the body parts of women that they know the audience will like. It grabs the attention in a strong way, but it spread across the whole song by giving attention to the three male artists that are involved in the video.
Inter textual Reference
Inter textual referencing is where an artist will create a music video based on a another famous film or video, often impersonating them, or using elements of their videos and incorporating them into their own. An artist may imitate scenes from films and add these into their videos to not only promote the artist but the film they are referencing too. Lil Wayne is well-known artist all over the world, knwon for his rapping and explicit lyrics. In this In ception inspired video for 6 Foot 7, Lil Wayne and the Young Money Crew are portraying several scenarios from the film and it consists of numerous scenes which visualize many of the metaphors and similes Lil Wayne says in the song. Lil Wayne's references to Inception link in with his music and lyrics and shows the extent of which his songwriting can go to. To incorperate such a mind-bggling film in to a rap and express it visually is a great acheievment.
Monday, 15 October 2012
Music Video Styles
Narrative
Narrative based music videos tell a story throughout, and are strongly linked to the lyrics at the same time. They channel a message across and sometimes the audience can relate to them if it's a situation that can happen in real life. An example of this would be Love The Way You Lie by Eminem and Rihanna. It is mainly narrative with a small performance element because we see both the artist performing the song in front of a burning house. The narrative of the video is a couple played by Dominic Monaghan and Megan Fox who visually look to be in a loving relationship, but the reality of it is revealed as the video goes on. It turns out they are in a very violent relationship, and when listening closely to the lyrics we see this is more apparent. Violence is playing the key part in the story and although some people might think that it is being glamorised by using a well known actor and actress, it's purely to raise awareness of what happens in day to day life. Not only do the actors promote the song along with Eminem and Rihanna, but they are raising their own profile as a celebrity, and to be involved in a music video with such an important narrative is a credit to everyone involved. It also helps the audience to remember the song because of the roles played by Monaghan and Fox.
Performance
Performance based music videos focuses on the artist putting on a performance or some sort of dance routine to go along with the song, and they don't necessarily have to contain any story. In the video for American Idiot by Green Day, we see the band performing their song along with their instruments that they play. It almost looks as if they are performing for someone, but they are simply doing it to the camera, but are still putting on a performance. In these types of videos they use a lot of close-up shots of the main singer in the band, with this one being Billie Joel. More than the other two styles, performance based music videos have a wider vafriety of camera shots and angles, and as you can see from the video, they are very popular among rock artists and bands/.
Concept
Concept based music videos are neither narrative or performance based. It's where the video only loosely relates to the lyrics, and the video itself doesn't relate at all. The purpose for us as the audience means we can create our own interpretation and meaning of what we think it's trying to do.
Narrative based music videos tell a story throughout, and are strongly linked to the lyrics at the same time. They channel a message across and sometimes the audience can relate to them if it's a situation that can happen in real life. An example of this would be Love The Way You Lie by Eminem and Rihanna. It is mainly narrative with a small performance element because we see both the artist performing the song in front of a burning house. The narrative of the video is a couple played by Dominic Monaghan and Megan Fox who visually look to be in a loving relationship, but the reality of it is revealed as the video goes on. It turns out they are in a very violent relationship, and when listening closely to the lyrics we see this is more apparent. Violence is playing the key part in the story and although some people might think that it is being glamorised by using a well known actor and actress, it's purely to raise awareness of what happens in day to day life. Not only do the actors promote the song along with Eminem and Rihanna, but they are raising their own profile as a celebrity, and to be involved in a music video with such an important narrative is a credit to everyone involved. It also helps the audience to remember the song because of the roles played by Monaghan and Fox.
Performance
Performance based music videos focuses on the artist putting on a performance or some sort of dance routine to go along with the song, and they don't necessarily have to contain any story. In the video for American Idiot by Green Day, we see the band performing their song along with their instruments that they play. It almost looks as if they are performing for someone, but they are simply doing it to the camera, but are still putting on a performance. In these types of videos they use a lot of close-up shots of the main singer in the band, with this one being Billie Joel. More than the other two styles, performance based music videos have a wider vafriety of camera shots and angles, and as you can see from the video, they are very popular among rock artists and bands/.
Concept
Concept based music videos are neither narrative or performance based. It's where the video only loosely relates to the lyrics, and the video itself doesn't relate at all. The purpose for us as the audience means we can create our own interpretation and meaning of what we think it's trying to do.
Conventions of Music Video
Camera Shots and Angles
The use of camera shots and angles not only apply to music videos but any sort of clip across the media world. They show things in different perspectives, views and give meaning to certain situations. A specific shot or angle used in a music video could mean a lot more than when it is used in an advertisement. Close-ups are the main camera shot to use as it helps to recognise artists, they also show expression and emotion in music or in relation to the song and lyrics. It's important for us to notice this as it helps us recognise and understand meanings. Not only do close-ups of the artist help to promote them as a unique person but closeups of certain products can do this too. If there is something of a particular brand in a music video, the camera man will take close-up shots of these adding to the sales of that product if members of the audience are interested in buying it. If a music video is being shot on an outside location, establishing shots are often used to set the scene, and frame everything that we see on screen. Long shots convey the similar sort of action. When setting the scene, the shts do not stray away from the main focus point which is the artist. As a producer you want to maintain flow in your music video, and linking locations and backgrounds to the actual song is a way of doing this. It's more meaningful and gain a better understanding of messages the artist is trying to get across. In Rihanna's video for Rehab, the scene is set in an amazing area where there are mountains in the background, and the sun is shining brightly. This shows that where they are is somewhat dreamy and that shes infatuated with it. This links in with the meaning of the song claiming that she needs to check in to rehab, because she has an obsession with a man, who she says is her disease, meaning she needs help. She wants to get away from him but becasue she is too addicted, she can't. To signify the high level of emotion that we feel by watching it, there are many close-ups of both the objects faces. They display want and need for eachother and by slow panning the camera and zooming in and out ever so slightly, the emotion is expressed more and more.
Editing and Effects
Editing is probably used about 95% of the time when creating a music video, becasue although you can edit shots together, some are filmed in one long continuous shot whcih doesnt need any ediitng done to it. Shots are cut together to create one final video, and if done coorrctly, the level of continuity should be visible and whether it's been edited seamlessly should be invisible. Although editing is a key technique, in the world we live in with technology forever expanding, artists rely more on effects. You can edit together a music video and it would be good, but you can add effects to it and it can make it even better. There are so many abstract music videos where they hve relied purely on effects. Arists do this to stylize their video becasue they want it to be the best.
Lyric Interpretation
Lyric interpretation is linking song lyrics with the visuals of what you see on screen, quite the same as Goodwin's theory. Although this method can be overused and is seen as thhe lazy rote, its thhe main way to portray messages and meanings. It also can mean an artist singing about something they like to do, or a certain lifestyle, and the music video will show them living this lifestyle to the fullest, and most of the time in a good way this is promoted. How We Do by Rita Ora is a very successful track and illustrates Rita by having a good time, partying and basically having a laugh with people you love. Although people may see this song as a bit obscene due to the song lyric 'I wanna party and bullshit', she is basically saying she wants to have a good time becasue thats what young people do. I think this has very minor effect on the success of the song, becaseu it is positively recognised by a lot of people. The lyrics link to the video and the actions in the video significantly and is done very well by doing so. I think more people can relate to this song because it's talking about a lifestyle that everybody would love to have, but it is mostly aimed at young people, teenagers, and students becaseu it's the nature of the song.
Extending/Consolidating Song Meanings
Extending or consolidating song meanings is the use of symbolism to demonstate meanings further in a msuic video. In a music video where the mise-en-scene is established, there may be symbols in the video that relate to what is being sung, but also to develop the meaning of it and express emotion. Symbols could include the use of women, men, material things, beliefs and actions. I suppose when you think of symbols and meanings, that the subject is going to very deep but this is not always the case. There could be a situation where the song is very straight forward, but incorperating extra meanings and symbols in to the background can help elaborate this. In the music video for Just Be Good To Green by Professor Green and Lily Allen, they are singing about Pro Green having a reputation with women, and shes unsure on what to do. To express this meaning even further there are women all around him, and as the stereo typical man, he tries his best to resist. It's a straight forward song as i said previously but having extra objects in the setting explains the core emaning further. This does relate to Goodwin' theory of sexualising women, but in this video they are not being used for that reason, they are being used to show how having a repuatation with one particular man isn't going to end well, and that it all comes down to attention.
Allusion
Allusion has the exactly same meaning as inter textual referncing, just not as full on, as it is done in a very suttle way. Allusion is only the process of mentioning something or someone iconic in the music and film industry, and only mentioning it briefly using symbols of the artist. This means you don't directly mention their name, you have to incorperate it disceetly into your msuic by using certain objects to symbolise them. It's very indrect towards the person it is about, but by doing it this way it doesnt take the attention off the artist. In his case, if you identify somthing alluding in a video, and you want to discuss it with your peers, it lets you have your own perception of what you think it could all mean, without actually knowing fully what their intentions were.
The use of camera shots and angles not only apply to music videos but any sort of clip across the media world. They show things in different perspectives, views and give meaning to certain situations. A specific shot or angle used in a music video could mean a lot more than when it is used in an advertisement. Close-ups are the main camera shot to use as it helps to recognise artists, they also show expression and emotion in music or in relation to the song and lyrics. It's important for us to notice this as it helps us recognise and understand meanings. Not only do close-ups of the artist help to promote them as a unique person but closeups of certain products can do this too. If there is something of a particular brand in a music video, the camera man will take close-up shots of these adding to the sales of that product if members of the audience are interested in buying it. If a music video is being shot on an outside location, establishing shots are often used to set the scene, and frame everything that we see on screen. Long shots convey the similar sort of action. When setting the scene, the shts do not stray away from the main focus point which is the artist. As a producer you want to maintain flow in your music video, and linking locations and backgrounds to the actual song is a way of doing this. It's more meaningful and gain a better understanding of messages the artist is trying to get across. In Rihanna's video for Rehab, the scene is set in an amazing area where there are mountains in the background, and the sun is shining brightly. This shows that where they are is somewhat dreamy and that shes infatuated with it. This links in with the meaning of the song claiming that she needs to check in to rehab, because she has an obsession with a man, who she says is her disease, meaning she needs help. She wants to get away from him but becasue she is too addicted, she can't. To signify the high level of emotion that we feel by watching it, there are many close-ups of both the objects faces. They display want and need for eachother and by slow panning the camera and zooming in and out ever so slightly, the emotion is expressed more and more.
Editing and Effects
Editing is probably used about 95% of the time when creating a music video, becasue although you can edit shots together, some are filmed in one long continuous shot whcih doesnt need any ediitng done to it. Shots are cut together to create one final video, and if done coorrctly, the level of continuity should be visible and whether it's been edited seamlessly should be invisible. Although editing is a key technique, in the world we live in with technology forever expanding, artists rely more on effects. You can edit together a music video and it would be good, but you can add effects to it and it can make it even better. There are so many abstract music videos where they hve relied purely on effects. Arists do this to stylize their video becasue they want it to be the best.
Lyric Interpretation
Lyric interpretation is linking song lyrics with the visuals of what you see on screen, quite the same as Goodwin's theory. Although this method can be overused and is seen as thhe lazy rote, its thhe main way to portray messages and meanings. It also can mean an artist singing about something they like to do, or a certain lifestyle, and the music video will show them living this lifestyle to the fullest, and most of the time in a good way this is promoted. How We Do by Rita Ora is a very successful track and illustrates Rita by having a good time, partying and basically having a laugh with people you love. Although people may see this song as a bit obscene due to the song lyric 'I wanna party and bullshit', she is basically saying she wants to have a good time becasue thats what young people do. I think this has very minor effect on the success of the song, becaseu it is positively recognised by a lot of people. The lyrics link to the video and the actions in the video significantly and is done very well by doing so. I think more people can relate to this song because it's talking about a lifestyle that everybody would love to have, but it is mostly aimed at young people, teenagers, and students becaseu it's the nature of the song.
Extending/Consolidating Song Meanings
Extending or consolidating song meanings is the use of symbolism to demonstate meanings further in a msuic video. In a music video where the mise-en-scene is established, there may be symbols in the video that relate to what is being sung, but also to develop the meaning of it and express emotion. Symbols could include the use of women, men, material things, beliefs and actions. I suppose when you think of symbols and meanings, that the subject is going to very deep but this is not always the case. There could be a situation where the song is very straight forward, but incorperating extra meanings and symbols in to the background can help elaborate this. In the music video for Just Be Good To Green by Professor Green and Lily Allen, they are singing about Pro Green having a reputation with women, and shes unsure on what to do. To express this meaning even further there are women all around him, and as the stereo typical man, he tries his best to resist. It's a straight forward song as i said previously but having extra objects in the setting explains the core emaning further. This does relate to Goodwin' theory of sexualising women, but in this video they are not being used for that reason, they are being used to show how having a repuatation with one particular man isn't going to end well, and that it all comes down to attention.
Allusion
Allusion has the exactly same meaning as inter textual referncing, just not as full on, as it is done in a very suttle way. Allusion is only the process of mentioning something or someone iconic in the music and film industry, and only mentioning it briefly using symbols of the artist. This means you don't directly mention their name, you have to incorperate it disceetly into your msuic by using certain objects to symbolise them. It's very indrect towards the person it is about, but by doing it this way it doesnt take the attention off the artist. In his case, if you identify somthing alluding in a video, and you want to discuss it with your peers, it lets you have your own perception of what you think it could all mean, without actually knowing fully what their intentions were.
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Introduction
We see music videos on a daily basis while watching television but we never really think about the theory about whats goes on behind it all. There is a lot of things to consider when wanting to create a music video.
There are three main types of music videos and the first is performance. This is mainly focused on the artist performing as a band or they are a dancer. Next is narrative and this is where the video creates something similar to a short film, (usually with the artist in it) and they are telling a story through the ylrics and the actions int he video. The last one is concept music videos and these are the ones where the video only has a mild connection to the lyrics, and the rest of the video creates its own story or the viewer had their own presumptio of whats going on.
There are three main types of music videos and the first is performance. This is mainly focused on the artist performing as a band or they are a dancer. Next is narrative and this is where the video creates something similar to a short film, (usually with the artist in it) and they are telling a story through the ylrics and the actions int he video. The last one is concept music videos and these are the ones where the video only has a mild connection to the lyrics, and the rest of the video creates its own story or the viewer had their own presumptio of whats going on.
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