Other Students Music Video's

Daniel Cope - I'll Show You New York (G324)

Throughout the video, the main narrative/theme was based upon a couples relationship and the time they spend together. There were a few shots of performance when the guy was playing guitar and singing along with the song, but I don't believe this worked very well with the rest of the video as the lip syncing wasn't very good and there was only a tiny section of performance compared to the amount of narrative used. 


There were a range of camera angles used. I believe the close ups of the actors faces worked well as it showed the emotion on their faces showing how happy and in love they were with each other and how the time they spent together made them feel happy and relaxed. I also believe the sped up shot of the high street worked well as it showed time passing, but was also shot well and worked with the narrative.The black and white effect at the start of the video worked well as it showed that this moment was in the past, when the couple first got together. I also believe the close up shot of the couple holding hands was effective as it symbolized them being together in a relationship. 

There were no titles present throughout the video, which I believe there could be more added to it, perhaps near the end. At the start of the video, before the music played, there was non diegetic sound of a train passing, connoting that the male character was at a station waiting for a train. Also, near the end of the video, diegetic sound of the high street can be heard, connoting the male character has fallen back into the real world and has to deal with his problems without his partner.

The Purpose of a Music Video

The main purpose of a Music video is to promote the music/single/album of an artist, but also to advertise the music to an audience.

Music videos were first made as a marketing device to promote the sale of music recordings.

The first music video that was ever released was by "The Beatles" and was called "A Hard Day's Night" which was released in 1964. More modern music video's use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, such as animation, documentaries, short films and non-narrative approaches.

A decent music video must entertain and appeal to the mainstream audience . Some music video's also use narrative to tell a story but some music video's do not link the narrative to the lyrics, some contradict them and some don't use any narrative at all.

There are also many different genre's of video's that have different generic conventions that make them a specific genre.

For example, the Rock genre tend to use live performance in their video's:

 

  System Of A Down - B.Y.O.B 

 

The pop genre tend to have dancers of women in scantily clad clothing:

 

David Guetta - Where them Girls at
 

Rap tends to have bling, gang signs and also includes women dressed in scantily clad
clothing:

 

Tinie Tempah -  Drinking from the Bottle 
 

History of Music Videos

The first ever music video that was created was in 1929 and is called "Saint Louis Blues" by Bessie Smith" which was shown in movie theaters until 1932. It was filmed in black and white and was a performance video of Bessie singing live.

 In 1940, Disney released their animated music video "Fantasia" which is a series of classical music that has been illustrated into a film. Warner Bros then copied Disney and created "Merry Melodies" which was also an animated film to music.

 In the 1960's "Scopticone Jukeboxes" were created. These jukeboxes had a small screen that, when money was inserted , played a music video of the users choice. These originated in France and were expensive at the time.

 In 1964, the Beatles released the music video "A Hard Days Night" that was the first ever music video to be created into a short film. In 1967, The Beatles released the song "Strawberry Fields" that used reversed film techniques and was part of the psychedelic period as the video was illustrated in an artful manor.

In the 1970's, the first "Official" music video was released by Queen called "Bohemian Rhapsody" and this video is considered the bands most popular music video of all time.

 In 1983 Michael Jackson released his music video "Thriller" which was the first ever short film music video, directed by John Landis. This is the most successful of MJ's video's and is also one of the most popular videos ever released.

In 1985 a band called "Dire Straits" released a song called "Money for Nothing" which was the first "Song" that had been animated into a proper music video. In 1986, Peter Gabriel released "Sledgehammer" in which the music video was animated by Aardman which was the first video to be animated in this way.

In 1987 Duran Duran released "Wild Boys" and this music video cost the most expensive of it's time to make, costing £4 million.

In 1992 MTV started to put the music video directors names in the credits, and this then became the directors medium. In 1995, Romanek direction MJ's video for scream, which cost £7 million to make. Romanek made 2 of the most expensive music video's of the times.

In 2001 a website called Napster was released. This website let the public share and watch music video's online for free, but soon got outdone when YouTube was released in 2005. When YouTube was released, a band called OK GO released a music video for their song "Here It Goes Again" in 2006 which got the band it's fame and recognition.

In 2007 the RIAA prevented single users to share music video's online and after they merged with Google, an agreement with loyalties was formed. Also in 2007 MTV started to provide streams for artists and the Itunes store was created by Apple INC which sold music online both for money and for free.

In 2010 VEVO was created. They have their own website and many channels on YouTube which started internet advertising of music video's for a range of singers and bands.

In 2012 the top 3 music video's were:

#3 - Cheryl Cole - Call my Name 

#2 - Gotye - Somebody that I used to know

#1 - Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe

Specific Knowledge of Music Videos

Mind Map

Genre Specifics

Rock/Metal - Live performances - crowds, Dark colours, set in dark places e.g - Graveyards, may reference to other music video's/ films - intertextuality - e.g

Panic! at the Dicso - I Write Sins not Tradgedies

Pop - Live performance, dance routines, close ups of artist, male gaze theory (Laura Mulvey), artist usually involved in narrative, lyrics usually match visuals - e.g

 

 One Direction - What makes you Beautiful

Rap/ Hip Hop - Live performance, bling, close ups of artist, male gaze theory/ scantily clad women, backing dancers, rappers tend to use signs, intertextuality to film - e.g

 Wiz Khalifa - We Own It

 

 

Textual Analysis - Plan B

Plan B - Writing on the Wall

The story line of the video is based upon a man and a woman's relationship, where the man ends up having a one night stand, cheating on his girlfriend whilst the woman is left at home alone waiting for her boyfriend to come back. The structure starts with an Equilibrium  then goes into disruption and ends with Recognition.

Plan B features in the video at the club as his fictional character "Strickland Banks". He appears performing his song and is shown as popular and a celebrity. At the start of the video, a sign saying - "Strickland Banks: SOLD OUT" is shown, connoting that again, Plan B's character is very popular and has a lot of fans.

The theme of the video is based upon "Relationships". The video raises the issue of stereotypical gender roles showing the woman at home cooking whilst the man is out at a club having a good time.

In the house where the woman is, it starts off colourful as the woman is happy but after she receives the phone call from her boyfriend, a lot of white is shown, connoting that she is innocent and the victim of the situation. In the club where the man is, it is darker and dim connoting that he wants to hide himself and is more of a bully in the situation, juxtaposing him from his girlfriend.

Throughout the video, close ups of Plan B are used to both promote him and make him look good. Close ups are also frequently used of the main woman to show her facial expressions and how upset she is about the situation. Longs shots are also used of the woman to show her dress and figure, which is using the Male Gaze to attract a male audience. There is also a long shot of the woman burning herself on the on connoting a "Burned" relationship.

We carried out this task in groups of 2 to focus more on the content of the video, comparing it to the lyrics to gain a further understanding so that we can use this information for our own video we will later on be creating.





We did this textual analysis in small groups as a class to gain a further understanding  of different generic conventions and what types of video' use which conventions. We also discussed equilibrium stages and how to identify them in music videos.

Textual Analysis - Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun goes down



The video's story line is based upon a woman's relationship with a man, where the woman is a sex worker and the man is a drug dealer. Both main characters are of the lower class as there are connotations of this from the locations used in the video such as alley's, warehouses and an estate. The accent of the characters at the start of the video also show this. The structure starts with an Equilibrium, then goes into disruption and ends with Recognition.

The theme of the video is based upon "Relationships". The video raises the issue of the  stereotypical lower classes and their way of life.

At the start of the video, fancy typography is used which juxtaposes it from the video which is about everyday situations for the lower class.


Most of the video is shot with a handheld camera, which again links in well with the lower classed theme and also works well with the story line  as if one of the main characters friends is filming it rather than a professional camera man. There are also many long shots used to show the locations the video is shot in, linking in again with how the director wants the characters to be perceived.

 Faced paced cuts are used consistently throughout the video to show how rushed and tired the characters feel about both their lives and their relationships.

The dominant colours throughout this video consists of mostly greys and blacks, connoting themes of depression and gloom.




We also did this textual analysis in class to see how setting can effect a music videos theme and mood. We also looked at this particular video to see the generic conventions of the genre and how the director wanted the video to look.

Music Video Analysis

Robbie Williams - "You Know Me"

"You Know Me" -  Sung by Robbie Williams, released on the 4th December 2009 and the Record Company who released it are EMI.

It is based on an original song "Voilà" written French artist "Francoise Hardy". It is also based upon the film and story "Alice in Wonderland" as Robbie in the video, portrays the iconic White Rabbit. It also supports Laura Mulvey's "Male Gaze" theory as the video includes crudely dressed women in Bunny outfits, whilst Robbie is fully clothed and we cannot see much of his skin. It fits in well with the "Pop" genre of music as it includes women dressed in skimpy outfits dancing around, as well as the main character having a dance routine. Close ups of Robbie are also used frequently throughout the video. The lyrics used in the song go with the story line well, reflecting how he is missing someone and he feels like he is in a fantasy. Also fitting in with the majority of Robbie video's, Robbie is the main focus and the story revolves around him. At the start of the video, diegetic sound is heard of people walking around and the staff moving things to create the effect that Robbie is getting ready to do a show. Also at the start, there's a lady wearing a rabbit jumper eating a carrot connoting what is going to happen later on in the video.

P!nk - "So What"

"So What" - Sung by P!nk, released on the 11th August 2008 and the record companies who released it are LaFace and Jive.

The lyrics sung are based on her separation from motocross racer Carey Hart, which occurred six months prior to the release. The story line used also reflects this. As in most of her videos, P!ink is the main character/focus and the story revolves around her. It also features a lot of close ups of P!nk. The visual style used also fits in with her previous video's, linking them with the artists style. The way she is dressed also reflects the "Rock" genre of the song. there's a lot of close ups of P!nk's face used connoting that she is the main focus, but also to show her star image.

Knowledge of Music Videos

Mind Map

I have created a mindmap of my knowledge of music videos and what they can include, as well as the propeties they may have. I have done this to gain a further understanding of music videos and help me get a head start on my work.

Kate Farrell - 7403