Music video 1:
This is a music video from a student from another school. This song is called The Ocean. I think this is quite a good music video for a media studies student. The only problem is that I don't think that the narrative is clear enough for the end user and the lyrics don't seem to match the video which isn't very common. The lip-syncing is slightly out as well which is easy to pick up on in a music video because you are constantly looking at their mouth movements therefore the mistakes are more obvious than in something like a movie. The camera shots are decent throughout with quite a lot of varied shots in it, there are quite a few fades throughout the video which gives it a good affect instead of just normal cuts throughout but personally I am not a fan of fades because they aren't common in music videos.
The person who features in this music video is wearing clothes that I would associate with a person who likes this genre of music so I think that they have done well in that respect. I think that the lighting was good throughout even though it was outside because sometimes you can get shots where the sun is in the frame and makes the camera go a bit weird. I think that the target audience for the video is both genders from ages 16-25. Also, I think that the video would be better if the setting was near the ocean/sea because then the setting would correspond to the song title. There aren't any titles in this song apart from the beginning bit saying the students names and candidate numbers.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
G324: Magazine Advertisements
When artist releases a new album they use lots of different types of promotional material, they do this to make sure that the album that they release is well known and will be a success. For one of our ancillary tasks we have to produce a magazine advertisement/poster. I chose this magazine advertisement below because it is a magazine advertisement for a genre that we were considering to use for our final product.
This magazine advertisement is relevant because it is of a genre that we are considering for our music video. Chase and Status are British D'n'B artists who like to tour quite often hence me getting this magazine advertisement for one of their tours. As with typical drum and bass advertisements or album covers, this has the colour yellow in it and as well as this picture in the background standing out, this picture is also featured on their album cover so it shows that they are consistent with their designs. The layout of this magazine advertisement is decent because it has all of the relevant details in the right place, the title is in an eye catching position, the subtitle is nicely positioned in the middle of the advertisement and the tour information is situated at the bottom of the advertisement. This advertisement takes the same form as most advertisements in magazines but this one is good because it is pretty unique using a picture of a dog as the background.
This magazine advertisement is relevant because it is of a genre that we are considering for our music video. Chase and Status are British D'n'B artists who like to tour quite often hence me getting this magazine advertisement for one of their tours. As with typical drum and bass advertisements or album covers, this has the colour yellow in it and as well as this picture in the background standing out, this picture is also featured on their album cover so it shows that they are consistent with their designs. The layout of this magazine advertisement is decent because it has all of the relevant details in the right place, the title is in an eye catching position, the subtitle is nicely positioned in the middle of the advertisement and the tour information is situated at the bottom of the advertisement. This advertisement takes the same form as most advertisements in magazines but this one is good because it is pretty unique using a picture of a dog as the background.
From looking at this magazine advertisement, I think as a group we need to make sure that we make our ancillaries consistent with both the digipak and with the magazine advertisement. These are very important if we want to try and gain maximum marks in both the ancillary tasks.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
G324: Textual Analysis And Goodwin's Theory
Song chosen - Sway - Still Speedin'
1. Music Videos demonstrate certain gene characteristics.
There aren’t really many lyrics relating to the visuals but ones that I did pick up on were where Dynamo makes a cameo appearance when Sway says the lines “Time to blow like Dynamo, no more disappearing act”. Another line is where “Seat belt” is said and it shows a seat belt but other than that there isn't anything else that I could pick out.
3. Relationship between lyrics and visuals. Often illustrative but could amplify or contradict the lyrics.
There isn’t any link between the music and the video really which is typical for a hip hop video.
4. The demands of the record label are that there are lots of close ups of the artist.
In this music video there are a lot of close ups of Sway, this is most likely because his record company has told him to be in a lot of the close up shots so you know that he is the artist doing the music video.
5. The artist might develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work. (A visual style).
I think that there are some voyeuristic bits in the music video nearer to the end where you see a woman undressing and this can also relate to the male gaze theory as she is shown in a way that is meant to interest men.
7. There are often intertextual references. Mostly to film, television and popular culture.
With this song I don't think there are any intertextual references. Although I did pick up on a few of the lyrics which were "Bobs your uncle, mines uncle Phil again" and I think thet line is perhaps related to Fresh Prince because Will Smiths dad is called Bob and Sway says he was raised by a dude as cool as him, as well as that, "Bobs your uncle" is a famous saying so that line might have a few different meanings.
1. Music Videos demonstrate certain gene characteristics.
I think that this song has certain gene characteristics because it has a car in it (hence the name of the song “Still Speedin’”), there are close ups to show the characteristics of the hip hop artist, there are attractive women in the video, the artist is also involved in the music video as well and is the centre of attention. These conventions are typically shown in hip hop music videos.
2. Relationship between lyrics and visuals. Often illustrative but could amplify or contradict the lyrics.There aren’t really many lyrics relating to the visuals but ones that I did pick up on were where Dynamo makes a cameo appearance when Sway says the lines “Time to blow like Dynamo, no more disappearing act”. Another line is where “Seat belt” is said and it shows a seat belt but other than that there isn't anything else that I could pick out.
3. Relationship between lyrics and visuals. Often illustrative but could amplify or contradict the lyrics.
There isn’t any link between the music and the video really which is typical for a hip hop video.
4. The demands of the record label are that there are lots of close ups of the artist.
In this music video there are a lot of close ups of Sway, this is most likely because his record company has told him to be in a lot of the close up shots so you know that he is the artist doing the music video.
5. The artist might develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work. (A visual style).
Sway’s typical look in a music video is to wear glasses, I guess this is another way of showing off his style and you can recognise him easily if that is his particular style and in this music video he wears blacked out glasses.
6. There is frequent reference to the notion of "looking" such as the male gaze theory and voyeuristic looking at females.I think that there are some voyeuristic bits in the music video nearer to the end where you see a woman undressing and this can also relate to the male gaze theory as she is shown in a way that is meant to interest men.
7. There are often intertextual references. Mostly to film, television and popular culture.
With this song I don't think there are any intertextual references. Although I did pick up on a few of the lyrics which were "Bobs your uncle, mines uncle Phil again" and I think thet line is perhaps related to Fresh Prince because Will Smiths dad is called Bob and Sway says he was raised by a dude as cool as him, as well as that, "Bobs your uncle" is a famous saying so that line might have a few different meanings.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
G324: Goodwin's Theory
Goodwin's Theory suggests that there are 7 elements present in most music videos, these are;
3. Relationships between lyrics and visuals. These are often illustrative but could amplify or contradict the lyrics. e.g. Daft Punk - Around the World.
4. The demands of the record label are that the artist/band has a lot of close ups. e.g. Britney Spears - Piece Of Me.
5. The artist might develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (A visual style). The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army. Man holding guitar and the woman playing her drums.
6. There is frequent reference to the notion of "looking" such as male gaze theory and voyeuristic looking at females. e.g. 50 Cent - Candy Shop.
7. There are often intertextual references - Mostly to film, television and popular culture. e.g. Plan B with the song and film Ill Manors.
1. Music Videos demonstrate certain genre characteristics. e.g. Stage performance in a metal/rock video(Kiss), dance routines in a boy/girl bands video (JLS) or blinged up women/men in rap/hip hop videos (2 Chainz).
2. Relationship between lyrics and video. These are often illustrative but could amplify or contradict the lyrics. e.g. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Getting Back Together.
3. Relationships between lyrics and visuals. These are often illustrative but could amplify or contradict the lyrics. e.g. Daft Punk - Around the World.
4. The demands of the record label are that the artist/band has a lot of close ups. e.g. Britney Spears - Piece Of Me.
5. The artist might develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (A visual style). The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army. Man holding guitar and the woman playing her drums.
6. There is frequent reference to the notion of "looking" such as male gaze theory and voyeuristic looking at females. e.g. 50 Cent - Candy Shop.
7. There are often intertextual references - Mostly to film, television and popular culture. e.g. Plan B with the song and film Ill Manors.
Friday, August 2, 2013
G324: The Purpose of A Music Video
A music video is a short film which integrates a song and imagery, produced mainly for promotional purposes but are also considered artistic as well. Modern music videos are typically made and used for marketing devices intended to promote the sale of music recordings.
Music Videos are made for a whole host of reasons:
Music Videos are made for a whole host of reasons:
- Entertainment Purposes (the reason why I have chosen Michael Jackson's - Thriller is because it is the best and most well known entertainment music video/feature film)
- To promote the artist/band (this videos promotes Rihanna because it is a promotional video for her new album LOUD)
- To help the artist's/band's singles to be heard globally (on a mass scale) (this song "Gangnam Style" was a massive success on YouTube therefore it was heard globally and so far has racked up 1.7 billion views)
- To give the audience an incentive to see the artist/band live (at the end of this song there is a performance bit where it shows a snippet of them singing along to the lyrics at a festival, this will give the audience an incentive to see the artist live)
- To link with a Film/TV Series (Intertextual references of stories in Newspapers used in Paparazzi by Lady Gaga below).
- To invoke reactions (This song "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood has sexual nature behind the lyrics and invoked a reaction with the public when they realised what the meaning behind the words were).
- To ensure people remember the song/video (this song by Rebecca Black is really annoying, therefore makes people remember the song/video)
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
G324: Music Video History
A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a piece of music, typically a song. Most modern music videos are used as a marketing device. The music videos tend to be visually memorable. The music video will normally last the length of the song. There are normally specific conventions in music videos they accommodate the genre of the song. Some music videos are called "Promos" this is because the record company wants to promote the artist/band gain money and the way to gain money is by putting out promo videos to get lots of different audiences interested in the artist/band. Music videos are termed as short-form music videos to distinguish them from full length movies.
1930's music videos/First music videos:
The first music video to be brought out was St Louis Blues by Bessie Smith in 1929. She appeared in a film called St Louis Blues to which this song St Luis Blues accompanied. It stayed in theaters till 1932.
1940's music videos:
In 1940 Walt Disney released Fantasia. An animated film which is accompanied by classical music. This is what made up their music video.
In the 1930's to the 1940's Walt Disney brought out Silly Symphonies, these were short films in which music accompanied them, they classed these as music videos.
As well as Silly Symphonies, Merrie Melodies also came out and was also a big success.
The animated short films from Walt Disney were built around the songs to create visuals to accompany the song.
1950's music videos/Middle of the century:
The earliest music videos or music promos were filmed in the mid 1950's.
The Panoram jukebox was then introduced with a few music videos on there at a time and you also had to pay to watch them. These were popular in taverns/night spots but faded out during World War II.
After the Panoram the Scopitone came out. The Scopitone is a type of jukebox featuring a 16 mm film component. Scopitone films were a forerunner of music videos.
1960's music videos:
The next major influence on music videos was The Beatles - A hard day's night (1964). This is the music video for the song but the song was made into a full move which goes on for 87 minutes. The bit that features in this music video is at the start of the full movie.
After The Beatles, there was an American TV series called The Monkees, they performed a few songs and one of their most known songs is I'm a Believer.
The Beatles then took music to new heights releasing movies/music videos for Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane.
Psychedelic music period - Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and/or enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid-1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in the United States and Britain. Psychedelic music bands often used new recording techniques and effects and drew on non-Western sources such as the ragas and drones of Indian music. (Source - Wikipedia). These music videos by The Beatles were introduced right at the height of the Psychedelic music period.
In 1964's TOTP (Top Of The Pops) came out and this was a huge success because for the first time you could see all of your favourite bands/artists performing on the TV or if you were lucky enough in the studio. This carried on through the 1970's, 80's and half way thorough the 1990's. This series carried on weekly for quite a while but was eventually cut off and only appears once a year as a Christmas special after the 90's.
In 1966, Bob Dylan performed Subterranean Homesick Blues. This video was just of some man in the field flicking through sheets of paper with the lyrics on. Unfortunately I couldn't find a music video for this song.
1970's music videos/ Modern Era:
The key innovations in the development of music videos were the video recording and editing processes. Also high quality colour video recorders came along and also portable ones came along and were much easier than the DIY made ones they used to use. These helped artists (particularly pop acts) to produce promo videos quickly and cheaply, in comparison to the high costs of using film. However, as the genre developed, music directors opted to use 35 mm film as the preferred medium, while others mixed film and video.
The first "Proper" music video is Queen's - Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975.
1980's music videos:
In 1981, MTV (Music Television) was launched. It was the first TV channel to broadcast 24 hour music. In MTV's early years their main target demographic were young adults, but today MTV broadcasts are generally aimed at adolescents and teenagers.
The first video to be launched on MTV was Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star.
In the mid 1980's there were more sophisticated effects introduced in music videos.
Michael Jackson took music videos to a new level when he made them into short films, he was the first artist to use this technique. The ever popular Thriller is the one that sticks out in my head as the best music video - short film. Thriller was introduced in the year of 1983 and the video cost around $500,000 which was a lot of money back then to spend just on a music video. (I have only added the short version as it doesn't allow for the longer version to be put on here, the longer version however is about 14 minutes long whereas this shortened "music video" version is the typical 4 minutes long).
In 1985, VH1 was released and the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly older demographic than its sister channel, focusing on the lighter, softer side of popular music.
In 1985, Dire Straights brought out a music video called Money For Nothing, this was the first music video to use computer animation.
In 1986, The Chart Show on Channel 4 was introduced and ran until 1988. In 1988, The Chart Show was then shown on ITV and ran until 1998. Channel 4 then got The Chart show back in 2003.
In 1986, Peter Gabriel's song Sledgehammer used special effects and animation techniques. This won 9 MTV music awards.
Now music television is in decline and the Internet has taken over as the platform for music video. YouTube, Facebook, Myspace and iTunes are now the go to places for artists. Lily Allen is probably the best example of an artist promoted and established through the Internet. Cheap technology also means videos can be made on any budget. The video for OK Go’s - A Million Ways cost less than £30 and was filmed in the singer’s back garden. The dance routine became an Internet sensation and was downloaded over 9 million times.
The most expensive music video is Scream by Michael Jackson in 1995. It cost $7 million to create. (Could only find it on VEVO on YouTube).
Top 5 most expensive music videos are:
Hip-hop - Usually includes artist, normally set in a club or party environment, usually no storyline, typically the women are dancers or models and usually half naked, features jewellery, alcohol, sports cars, features mansion and branded clothing and usually other famous artists featured in the video.
Examples:
1930's music videos/First music videos:
The first music video to be brought out was St Louis Blues by Bessie Smith in 1929. She appeared in a film called St Louis Blues to which this song St Luis Blues accompanied. It stayed in theaters till 1932.
1940's music videos:
In 1940 Walt Disney released Fantasia. An animated film which is accompanied by classical music. This is what made up their music video.
In the 1930's to the 1940's Walt Disney brought out Silly Symphonies, these were short films in which music accompanied them, they classed these as music videos.
As well as Silly Symphonies, Merrie Melodies also came out and was also a big success.
The animated short films from Walt Disney were built around the songs to create visuals to accompany the song.
1950's music videos/Middle of the century:
The earliest music videos or music promos were filmed in the mid 1950's.
The Panoram jukebox was then introduced with a few music videos on there at a time and you also had to pay to watch them. These were popular in taverns/night spots but faded out during World War II.
After the Panoram the Scopitone came out. The Scopitone is a type of jukebox featuring a 16 mm film component. Scopitone films were a forerunner of music videos.
1960's music videos:
The next major influence on music videos was The Beatles - A hard day's night (1964). This is the music video for the song but the song was made into a full move which goes on for 87 minutes. The bit that features in this music video is at the start of the full movie.
After The Beatles, there was an American TV series called The Monkees, they performed a few songs and one of their most known songs is I'm a Believer.
The Beatles then took music to new heights releasing movies/music videos for Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane.
Psychedelic music period - Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and/or enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid-1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in the United States and Britain. Psychedelic music bands often used new recording techniques and effects and drew on non-Western sources such as the ragas and drones of Indian music. (Source - Wikipedia). These music videos by The Beatles were introduced right at the height of the Psychedelic music period.
In 1964's TOTP (Top Of The Pops) came out and this was a huge success because for the first time you could see all of your favourite bands/artists performing on the TV or if you were lucky enough in the studio. This carried on through the 1970's, 80's and half way thorough the 1990's. This series carried on weekly for quite a while but was eventually cut off and only appears once a year as a Christmas special after the 90's.
In 1966, Bob Dylan performed Subterranean Homesick Blues. This video was just of some man in the field flicking through sheets of paper with the lyrics on. Unfortunately I couldn't find a music video for this song.
1970's music videos/ Modern Era:
The key innovations in the development of music videos were the video recording and editing processes. Also high quality colour video recorders came along and also portable ones came along and were much easier than the DIY made ones they used to use. These helped artists (particularly pop acts) to produce promo videos quickly and cheaply, in comparison to the high costs of using film. However, as the genre developed, music directors opted to use 35 mm film as the preferred medium, while others mixed film and video.
The first "Proper" music video is Queen's - Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975.
1980's music videos:
In 1981, MTV (Music Television) was launched. It was the first TV channel to broadcast 24 hour music. In MTV's early years their main target demographic were young adults, but today MTV broadcasts are generally aimed at adolescents and teenagers.
The first video to be launched on MTV was Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star.
In the mid 1980's there were more sophisticated effects introduced in music videos.
Michael Jackson took music videos to a new level when he made them into short films, he was the first artist to use this technique. The ever popular Thriller is the one that sticks out in my head as the best music video - short film. Thriller was introduced in the year of 1983 and the video cost around $500,000 which was a lot of money back then to spend just on a music video. (I have only added the short version as it doesn't allow for the longer version to be put on here, the longer version however is about 14 minutes long whereas this shortened "music video" version is the typical 4 minutes long).
In 1985, VH1 was released and the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly older demographic than its sister channel, focusing on the lighter, softer side of popular music.
In 1985, Dire Straights brought out a music video called Money For Nothing, this was the first music video to use computer animation.
In 1986, The Chart Show on Channel 4 was introduced and ran until 1988. In 1988, The Chart Show was then shown on ITV and ran until 1998. Channel 4 then got The Chart show back in 2003.
In 1986, Peter Gabriel's song Sledgehammer used special effects and animation techniques. This won 9 MTV music awards.
Now music television is in decline and the Internet has taken over as the platform for music video. YouTube, Facebook, Myspace and iTunes are now the go to places for artists. Lily Allen is probably the best example of an artist promoted and established through the Internet. Cheap technology also means videos can be made on any budget. The video for OK Go’s - A Million Ways cost less than £30 and was filmed in the singer’s back garden. The dance routine became an Internet sensation and was downloaded over 9 million times.
The most expensive music video is Scream by Michael Jackson in 1995. It cost $7 million to create. (Could only find it on VEVO on YouTube).
Top 5 most expensive music videos are:
- Michael Jackson - Scream - $7 million
- Madonna - Die Another Day - $6 million
- Madonna - Express Yourself - $5 million
- Madonna - Bedtime Story - $5 million
- Michael Jackson - Black Or White - $4 million
From this we can see that in the top 5 most expensive music videos, Michael Jackson and Madonna take all of the spots.
On YouTube the most watched music video is Psy's - Gangnam Style. It was released in mid-2012 and already has 1.7 billion views which is just incredible. It is also the most viewed video on YouTube.
On YouTube the top 5 most watched music videos are:
- Psy - Gangnam Style - 1.7 billion views
- Justin Bieber - Baby - 875 million views
- Jennifer Lopez - On The Floor - 680 million views
- Eminem - Love The Way You Lie - 580 million views
- LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem - 555 million views
Key Conventions found in Music Videos from different genres:
Hip-hop - Usually includes artist, normally set in a club or party environment, usually no storyline, typically the women are dancers or models and usually half naked, features jewellery, alcohol, sports cars, features mansion and branded clothing and usually other famous artists featured in the video.
Examples:
50 Cent - Candy Shop
B.I.G - Notorious
T-pain - Low
50 Cent - In the Club
B.I.G - Notorious
T-pain - Low
50 Cent - In the Club
Pop - Colourful, close ups of artist, fun and light hearted, appeals to younger target audience, shows artist/band involved in dance routines, good mood - location - happy e.g. a beach/house, teenager scenario (crush) and video has a narrative.
Examples:
Britney Spears
Christina Aguilera
Lady Gaga
Examples:
Britney Spears
Christina Aguilera
Lady Gaga
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