Music Videos.

Wednesday, 12 September 2012

MUSIC VIDEO THEORIES

Andrew Goodwin.

Andrew Goodwin identifies 6 key aspects of music videos that we the audience should look out for which are:
1) Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
(e.g stage performance in metal videos, dance routines for boy/girl band & aspiration in Hip Hop) Below are examples of each from Youtube.

Judas Priest - The Sentinel
This is an example of the characteristic stage performance for the music genre metal. Doing my research for this example did uphold Goodwins theory as most of the metal music videos that I came across were stage performances.

Little Mix - Wings
This is an example of a very current girl band who have just released their first music video called 'Wings', which involves alot of dance routine, there are many music videos from the past and presence to back up Goodwins theory e.g JLS -' Everybody in love' and Spice girls 'Stop'.

Little Mix - Wings

JLS - Everybody in love

Spice Girls - Stop

Nas - I know I can
Hip hop has the genre characteristic of aspiration according to Goodwins theory. Hip hop music videos often advertise extravagant things that hip hop artists from a difficult background now own giving the audience a sense of aspiration, however the example below shows a community coming together, expressing through actions and lyrics that they know they can be anything they want to be.

2) There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.

(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

Beyonce's 'Dance for you' music video illustrates and amplifies what the lyrics put forth.

Below is a line from the song that demonstrates just this:-

"I'll be rockin' on my babe rockin', rockin' on my babe

Swirlin' my babe Twirlin', swirlin' on my babe"

As Beyonce sings this she illustrates her lyrics through dancing amplifying the audiences visuals of what the provocative lyrics mean. (You can view this example on the video below at 2:04)

3) There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.

(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting)

example

Emile Sande - 'My kind of love'

The atmosphere in this music video is very spacious but closed at the same time, this is demonstrated in the tone and the visual as the artist is shown to be in big spacious locations but secluded to her own company most of the time. The relationship between the music and visuals in this music video illustrate her thoughts of having her own type of 'love' that no one else feels.

4) The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work ( a visual style).

Goodwin is suggesting that in order for artists to be established an artist will have their own established style in their music videos (visually).

examples...

Beyonce's videos conventionally uses background dancers making her established as a all round performer ..

(Below are a few examples)

'Love on top'

'Run the world'

'Diva'

'Single ladies'

Rihanna's established motif is being sexual which is reflected and visualized through her movement, clothing and various camera angles...

(Below are a few examples)

'SnM'

'Rude boy'

'Only girl'

'Where have you been'

'You da one'

Adele's videos are conventionally just her performing on a chair or doing live performances with close ups on her face illustrating emotion ...

(Below are a few examples)

'Make you feel my love'

'Someone like you'

'Rolling in the deep'

5) There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

Goodwin on voyeurism

Goodwin argues that the female performer will be objectified in this fashion, through a combination of camera work and editing with fragmented body shots emphasizing a sexualised treatment of the star.

example ...

'Crazy in love'

In male performance videos, the idea of voyeuristic treatment of the female body

is often apparent with the use of dancers flattering the male star ego.

examples ...

'Same girl' - Usher ft R Kelly

'Thong song' - sisqo

6) There are often intertextual references (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc)

Below are some examples of music videos with intertexuality references ...

'Think like a man' - Jennifer Hudson ft Ne-yo

This music video has intertextual reference through lyrics

to the book 'Think like a man' and the film.

'Material girl' - Madonna

Madonnas video has intertextual reference to the film 'Gentlemen prefer blondes' (1958) however the intertextual

image was not of Monroe but of the archetype of the sexy blonde who gets what she wants.

Laura Mulvey.

Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist. She is currently a professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck university of London.

Mulveys male gaze theory.

One part of her Male gaze theory suggests that the camera/audience always represents a heterosexual man's perspective of scene objectifying women.

The concept of the gaze is one that deals with how audience views the people presented

Features of the male gaze:-

- The camera lingers on the curves of the female body this relegates women to status of objects. The female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily, by identification with the male.

Below is an example of a music video referencing the Male Gaze Theory by Laura Mulvey.
Scouting for girls- she so lovely

“I love the way she fills her clothes
she looks just like them girls in vogue”

Another part of her male gaze theory suggests that women are only portrayed as one of two possibilities. Either a virginal innocent character or sexy "whore" (Naughty I know ! ;))! This is called the virgin/whore dichotomy.

Example 1 of sexy "whores"

Example of sexy "whores"

Example of a virginal woman

The 'Male gaze theory' can be applied to modern music videos particulary in genres such as rap and pop. Below is an example of voyeuristic tactics used to entice men into watching 'Candy shop' by 50 cent:

Friday, 7 September 2012

PLAN UPDATE.

Through out the summer holidays Georgia & I didn't get a lot of work done, however we are getting back on track!

Planning & Research.
We have decided to follow through on our decision to produce a music video by Vince Kidd called 'Like a virgin'.

Through out this week I plan to analyse the lyrics of the song and compare the different connotations behind the words to Madonna's 'Like a virgin'.

I plan to use the technique that our class was taught to analyse clips for our AS Media exam for both 'Like a virgin' music video's by Madonna and Vince Kidd.

I also plan to produce an online survey and questionnaire that I will put on social networking sites and distribute to sixthformers, family and friends.

Finally I plan to carry out interviews on underground artists that I know from sixthform and church.

............

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNICAL CODES

The Key Innovation in the development of the modern Music Video...

- Video Recording

- Editing Processes

- Development of effects e.g. Chroma-Key or Green/Blue Screen

An example Of Green Screen

The advertisement of high-quality colar videotape recorders and portable video cameras enabled them to produce promo videos quickly and cheaply, in comparison to the relatively high costs of using film.

A-HA

'Take on me'

A-ha's video changed the way that Music Videos were made in the 80s.

In the 1990's , a number of Technical Codes became common.

The most common form of editing was usually associated with the Music Promo fast cut montage.

Showing many images make it impossible to grasp on first viewing thus ensuring Multiple Viewing. e.g. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

Commonly Used Effects ...

Split screens & Colourisation

...

Artists then began to use Non-representational techniques, in which musical artist never shown... e.g. Lack of edits, Long take/steadicam

(Common experimentation)

e.g. Lisa Loeb

Monday, 16 July 2012

TECHNICAL CODES

Camera work.

As with any moving image text, how the camera is used and how images are sequenced will

have an impact on the audience.

Camera movement, angle and shot distance all need to

be analysed.

Camera movement may accompany movement of the

performers. ( walking, dancing) for a dynamic feel.

Close-ups predominantly take place in Music Videos and most TV partly because

of the size of the screen and partly because of the desire to create a sense of intimacy

for the viewer.

An example of a video that uses Camera Movement, Shot Distance and uses Close-Ups to create a sense of intimacy for the viewer is ...

'Hometown Glory - Adele'

Editing.

Conventional editing for Music Videos are

fast cut, fast paste for more

excitement and to gain multiple views. Slower

paste is generally for ballads, partially

used for female Artists with a broad appeal. e.g. Dido

Example of one of Dido's ballads.

A Female Artist who challenges the conventional thing that women create ballads with slow paste and slow cut Music Videos to go with it is Beyonce Knowles ...

Various examples of her fast paste and fast cut Music Videos.

- Digital effects enhance the editing which play with the original images to offer

different types of audiences.

Lisa Loeb challenges all of the above as her Music Video 'Stay - I Missed You' has no edits, this technique cleverly draws the audience ,as you feel as though the Music Video is virtual due to the ongoing smooth Camera movement.

RESEARCH & PLANNING

PLANNING.

In recent lessons we have begun planning the research for the creation of our Music Videos.

GROUPS.

I have decided to work with a partner instead or a group consisting of 3-4 people, my second group member is ...

.Georgia Duberry.

After the groups were clarified, Georgia and I made the definite decision to use Underground/Original Artists or bands for our Music as we took into consideration the advice from our teacher that it would hold more originality to the creation and final cut of our Music Video.

RESEARCH.

Apart from the underground Music Videos that we have briefly looked at in class, myself

and Georgia have been doing some home research on young current Underground/Original Artists and Bands.

we have looked at ...

- ALUNA GEORGE

Aluna George is a current Underground artist

whom Georgia came across on Youtube.

The lyrics to one of her songs were only recently uploaded onto the internet.

We looked at two of her Music Videos in depth:- 'Just A Touch'

& ... 'You Know You Like It'

We have taken Aluna George 'Just A Touch' into consideration to one of our choices for our Music Video as the lyrics to the song are very easy to converge into film motion with reference and symbolism to things.

- VINCE KIDD

I mentioned Vince Kidd in my first post as a

former Underground Artist who was recognised for his appearance on 'X Factor' and BBCs 'The Voice'.

Vince uploaded his official video of his remix/remake of Madonna's 'Like A Virgin' onto SBTV which he performed on 'The Voice'.

Above Vince Kidd's version & Below is Madonna's Original

Both Georgia and I have taken Vince Kidd's 'Like A Virgin' into strong consideration and is probably what we will decide to use for our Music Video because of the vast difference between the Mainstream Artist (Madonna) whom the song belongs to and the Underground/Original Artist who has taken the song and made it soulful and current. We have analysed the difference in setting in the videos and camera angles and have discussed how we could merge the two into our own Music Video. The lyrics to the song would used to our advantage in our Music Video as there is a lot of symbolism in this day and age for Sex and Lust and is quite a big issue in British culture as teenage pregnancy is on the rise which could be a significant thing for our target audience.

We also looked at Underground/Original Artists and Bands local to us...

- E-WHIZZ AIRBORNE

E-Whizz Airborne, attend our School (Bishop Stopford's School), the band consists of a Drummer, Guitarist, Keyboard player and a rapper. They recently came second in an event called 'The Next Brit Thing' which was judged by the Mainstream band Mcfly.

They have recently recorded a Music Video which isn't available at the moment. However below is a video of them in rehearsals.

The band represents our local community and breaks the stereotype of black young males having no aspirations in life which is challenged in the lyrics of one of their songs 'My City' which is shows that they are thankful where they have come from and hope to make their city proud.

- YPF CHOIR

The YPF choir belong to both me and Georgia's church: 'Edmonton Methodist Church' I am also apart of the choir. The choir performs regularly at their church and have recently been on a trip to Plymouth for a Methodist concert where they led worship for 2 days. The group have made original songs as well as performing Praise and Worship songs. I thought that the choir would be an original and suitable choice for our Music Video as the video could include:Youth, Religion, Culture, Representation of changed society, we could have used all these things and embed them into the setting and Camera Angles.

Below are links to a video and audio of the choirs performance at Plymouth.

http://www.methodistconference.org.uk/plymouth-2012/2012-07-01/1100-am/conference-sunday-worship

http://audioboo.fm/boos/868895-enfield-ypf-choir-at-methconf

I plan to Upload more about our planning through out the week ...

EARLY YEARS OF MUSIC VIDEOS

Music Video:-

Since cinema was invented it created the ability to bring songs and music to life. The advances in technology have transformed 'The Music Video' to what it is today.

The Early Years.

- Music videos have been around since the 1920s.

- It started to come around during WW1 like films.

-Bessie Smith was one of the first Musicians to make a music video. (Jazz Musician)

BOB DYLAN
Bob Dylan made one of the first iconic music videos: 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'. It was credited as one of the first modern music videos.

Preview of the Music Video

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
(1975) - A ground breaking video released by
Queen. The video was a marking of the Music Video era and set the language for tyhe modern Music Video. The video was considered one of the first to use advanced video effects.