Thursday 29 September 2011
Look and Image - Indie Music Video Analysis
This video is not necessarily indie-aimed, but there are obvious indie themes in this video. For instance, the way the words "I'll save your seat" appear on the van is a typical convention of the indie genre.
When the man is carrying the bright blue balloons, the colour especially ties in well with the summer theme.
In terms of her actual image, she always wears similar clothes in her music videos, normally shorts and a tank top. The fact that everything is colourful, even her bicycle wheels, ties in with her fashion sense and the front cover of her album, which definitely stands out!
She is cycling towards the camera which helps the viewer perceive this as a narrative and helps the audience relate to an artist identity.
Wednesday 28 September 2011
Ideal Audience Member
Name: Laura Brown
Gender: Female
Age: 19 (born in April 1992 in Barnet, North London where she still lives)
Hair: Blonde
Clothes: Shoulder bag and ankle boots
Celebrities: Alexa Chung
Music: Mainly Indie music, but enjoys going to see mass-market acts at festivals. She recently went to V Festival and stayed in the Red Camp. She has been going every year since 2008 except last year when she had food poisoning. She also likes to write music in her spare time. She finds new music either by her friends recommending particular songs or going to gigs and seeing new acts advertised
Films: Niche-aimed films such as Trainspotting and This is England. She likes bigger films as well such as Hot Fuzz and Harry Potter.
Television: She watches 4Music and likes presenters such as Will Best as she likes his sense of humour. She claims she doesn't like the X Factor but points out she only likes to watch it when Louis Walsh is on it! Other TV shows include The Inbetweeners and Made in Chelsea.
Education: She passed her GCSE's in 2008, getting 5A's, 2B's and 3C's and stayed in the sixth form for two years before going to Loughborough University in 2010
Transport: She owns a blue Mini Cooper S and uses it to drive on the M1 to university
Music Artists: Ed Sheeran, The Kooks, and sometimes likes listening to more mainstream-based artists such as Rihanna (who she is a big fan of) and Olly Murs.
Technology: She is a frequent Facebook user who updates her status about 3 times a week and uses a Blackberry to connect to her friends and social networking sites. She also likes to post YouTube videos of her own songs as she is a big fan of music.
Gender: Female
Age: 19 (born in April 1992 in Barnet, North London where she still lives)
Hair: Blonde
Clothes: Shoulder bag and ankle boots
Celebrities: Alexa Chung
Music: Mainly Indie music, but enjoys going to see mass-market acts at festivals. She recently went to V Festival and stayed in the Red Camp. She has been going every year since 2008 except last year when she had food poisoning. She also likes to write music in her spare time. She finds new music either by her friends recommending particular songs or going to gigs and seeing new acts advertised
Films: Niche-aimed films such as Trainspotting and This is England. She likes bigger films as well such as Hot Fuzz and Harry Potter.
Television: She watches 4Music and likes presenters such as Will Best as she likes his sense of humour. She claims she doesn't like the X Factor but points out she only likes to watch it when Louis Walsh is on it! Other TV shows include The Inbetweeners and Made in Chelsea.
Education: She passed her GCSE's in 2008, getting 5A's, 2B's and 3C's and stayed in the sixth form for two years before going to Loughborough University in 2010
Transport: She owns a blue Mini Cooper S and uses it to drive on the M1 to university
Music Artists: Ed Sheeran, The Kooks, and sometimes likes listening to more mainstream-based artists such as Rihanna (who she is a big fan of) and Olly Murs.
Technology: She is a frequent Facebook user who updates her status about 3 times a week and uses a Blackberry to connect to her friends and social networking sites. She also likes to post YouTube videos of her own songs as she is a big fan of music.
Tuesday 27 September 2011
Examples of Intertextuality in Music Videos Part 2
Film is not the only influence for music videos. TV, fashion and video games are other things artists base their music videos on. Examples of TV influence in music videos:
1. Beastie Boys - Sabotage (1994), which is basically a spoof cop show title sequence.
2. REM - Bad Day (2003), this is a news show parody.
Fashion in music video:
Catwalk references and supermodels have been included in a couple of music videos:
1. George Michael - Father Figure (1988)
2. George Michael - Freedom (1990)
Video game influence in music video:
This is to gain a wider audience by tapping into more younger people's taste. Examples of this:
1. Robbie Williams - Let Love Be Your Energy (2001)
2. Linkin Park - Breaking the Habit (2003)
3. Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication (1999)
1. Beastie Boys - Sabotage (1994), which is basically a spoof cop show title sequence.
2. REM - Bad Day (2003), this is a news show parody.
Fashion in music video:
Catwalk references and supermodels have been included in a couple of music videos:
1. George Michael - Father Figure (1988)
2. George Michael - Freedom (1990)
Video game influence in music video:
This is to gain a wider audience by tapping into more younger people's taste. Examples of this:
1. Robbie Williams - Let Love Be Your Energy (2001)
2. Linkin Park - Breaking the Habit (2003)
3. Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication (1999)
Monday 26 September 2011
Music Video Directors
Music video directors are normally film school graduates who want to move into the film industry at some point. Example of people who have done this are:
1. David Fincher: Madonna - Vogue (1990) and Express Yourself (1989). The latter video was controversial
2. Spike Jonze: Fatboy Slim - Praise You (1999)
3. Michael Gondry: Bjork & Foo Fighters
1. David Fincher: Madonna - Vogue (1990) and Express Yourself (1989). The latter video was controversial
2. Spike Jonze: Fatboy Slim - Praise You (1999)
3. Michael Gondry: Bjork & Foo Fighters
Examples of Intertextuality in Music Videos
1. Queen - I Want To Break Free (1984), based on the housewife role
2. 2Pac - California Love (1996) is based on the 1979 film Mad Max
3. Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love (1986) is one of the most famous examples of referencing fashion photography. The video consists of mannequin style women with Palmer in a suit on a stage. A parody of it was Tone Loc - Wild Thing (1988) and it was copied on Shania Twain - Man I Feel Like A Woman (1999)
4. The front cover for Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc (2005) is based on Ghibli, which is basically a Japanese form of animation. The particular concept used is essentially a rock (in the middle of the sky) with houses/windmills or types of living.
2. 2Pac - California Love (1996) is based on the 1979 film Mad Max
3. Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love (1986) is one of the most famous examples of referencing fashion photography. The video consists of mannequin style women with Palmer in a suit on a stage. A parody of it was Tone Loc - Wild Thing (1988) and it was copied on Shania Twain - Man I Feel Like A Woman (1999)
4. The front cover for Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc (2005) is based on Ghibli, which is basically a Japanese form of animation. The particular concept used is essentially a rock (in the middle of the sky) with houses/windmills or types of living.
Intertextuality - References and why it is used in music videos
1. Intertextuality - Referencing other pieces of media text inside a piece of media eg a man could be drinking a can of Coca Cola on EastEnders.
2. A theorist, Stewart, suggests that visual music video references come from many sources, but the main three are usually cinema, fashion and art photography.
The reason why intertextuality is used by music artists is because not everyone finds a reference, so the people who do may feel like they are part of an elite group. Another reason could be so that the audience can have a particular identity with the text.
2. A theorist, Stewart, suggests that visual music video references come from many sources, but the main three are usually cinema, fashion and art photography.
The reason why intertextuality is used by music artists is because not everyone finds a reference, so the people who do may feel like they are part of an elite group. Another reason could be so that the audience can have a particular identity with the text.
Audience Understanding
1. Audience Engagement - The interaction between the audience and the medie text, and different people react in different ways to the same media text.
2. Audience Expectations - The ideas people have in advance of consuming the media text. Producers aim to alter their expectations into something they don't expect.
3. Audience Foreknowledge - The definite information (as opposed to the expectations) which an audience brings to a media product.
4. Audience Identification - When a part of the audience feel connected to a media text, because it directly expresses their attitude or lifestyle.
5. Audience Placement - Strategies used by media products to target a particular audience to make them feel that the media text is especially for them. The difference between this definition, ie Placement, and Identification is that Placement is where the people who create the media text deliberately connect the storyline of the text to relate to a niche of the audience, whereas Identification is where a niche of the audience find themselves relating to a character even though it was unintended by the media text.
6. Audience Research - Media institutions measuring an audience as it is important that the information they create in the text is relevant to the audience.
2. Audience Expectations - The ideas people have in advance of consuming the media text. Producers aim to alter their expectations into something they don't expect.
3. Audience Foreknowledge - The definite information (as opposed to the expectations) which an audience brings to a media product.
4. Audience Identification - When a part of the audience feel connected to a media text, because it directly expresses their attitude or lifestyle.
5. Audience Placement - Strategies used by media products to target a particular audience to make them feel that the media text is especially for them. The difference between this definition, ie Placement, and Identification is that Placement is where the people who create the media text deliberately connect the storyline of the text to relate to a niche of the audience, whereas Identification is where a niche of the audience find themselves relating to a character even though it was unintended by the media text.
6. Audience Research - Media institutions measuring an audience as it is important that the information they create in the text is relevant to the audience.
Wednesday 21 September 2011
Results for Artist Research
Last week, our group went onto the Unsigned website and looked for some Indie artists. However, when it came to contacting the artists they needed the information for things like what school we went to and what we were using their music for.
We narrowed it down to a band called 1984 and an artist called Audrianna Cole. We decided to go for the latter option as she was the only one who replied!
We narrowed it down to a band called 1984 and an artist called Audrianna Cole. We decided to go for the latter option as she was the only one who replied!
Conventions of a Genre - Hip Hop/Rap
The typical traits of hip hop and rap range but they are usually linked with money. Typically black people are rappers, for example 50 Cent, and very rarely are there white rappers eg Eminem.
A main convention is bling. This jewellery basically shows they have a lot of money and that they don't mind spending their cash. Here is 50 Cent:
Another one is cars. This convention also relates to wealth as this is used for many situations in rap music videos, but it is usually the artist pulling up at a club arriving at a party in style. The Hummer is the typical car normally used in these music video:
If rappers have a song alongside a singer then bling is not the main focus. Whereas rappers have close ups on their bling and cars, the singer does not have much of a focus on that but more close ups on their face. With Snoop Dogg featuring Justin Timberlake - Signs (2005), Snoop Dogg is carrying out the usual conventions for this genre, eg cars, women and money, however, Justin Timberlake is dancing as opposed to flashing bling and a convertible Mercedes.
He even has his own hand movents while dancing, which could be a way of connecting with the audience, and could possibly be copied by them when they are dancing themselves, and this could be a USP, or a way of distinguishing this song from another.
A main convention is bling. This jewellery basically shows they have a lot of money and that they don't mind spending their cash. Here is 50 Cent:
Another one is cars. This convention also relates to wealth as this is used for many situations in rap music videos, but it is usually the artist pulling up at a club arriving at a party in style. The Hummer is the typical car normally used in these music video:
If rappers have a song alongside a singer then bling is not the main focus. Whereas rappers have close ups on their bling and cars, the singer does not have much of a focus on that but more close ups on their face. With Snoop Dogg featuring Justin Timberlake - Signs (2005), Snoop Dogg is carrying out the usual conventions for this genre, eg cars, women and money, however, Justin Timberlake is dancing as opposed to flashing bling and a convertible Mercedes.
He even has his own hand movents while dancing, which could be a way of connecting with the audience, and could possibly be copied by them when they are dancing themselves, and this could be a USP, or a way of distinguishing this song from another.
Tuesday 20 September 2011
Audience in Music Videos
In yesterday's Media lesson, we were distinguishing between music videos from My Chemical Romance and Katy Perry.
My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade
This video shows that they are more important than the others in the video. This is conveyed by lots of low angle shots.
Katy Perry - Firework
The lyrics of this song are more important than the visual provided by the music video, however it is still important that with a song with a powerful message that there is something for the audience to link to the song
The audience for this song (and for her as well) are young teenage girls and the music video has considered this by having people who are having problems eg person who is afraid to be gay, and this helps the audience connect to this song.
My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade
This video shows that they are more important than the others in the video. This is conveyed by lots of low angle shots.
Katy Perry - Firework
The lyrics of this song are more important than the visual provided by the music video, however it is still important that with a song with a powerful message that there is something for the audience to link to the song
The audience for this song (and for her as well) are young teenage girls and the music video has considered this by having people who are having problems eg person who is afraid to be gay, and this helps the audience connect to this song.
Audience
For the artist to make a connection to the audience, some key features have to be considered when it comes to how the media portray them:
1. Aspiration/Role Model
2. Connection/Communication
3. Relate - a "back story" that the audience can relate to
4. Enjoyment/Entertainment
5. Icon
6. Belonging
7. Identity - style choices reflect music tastes
8. Visualisation - something to LINK music to, this is very important in the music industry!!
9. Awareness
1. Aspiration/Role Model
2. Connection/Communication
3. Relate - a "back story" that the audience can relate to
4. Enjoyment/Entertainment
5. Icon
6. Belonging
7. Identity - style choices reflect music tastes
8. Visualisation - something to LINK music to, this is very important in the music industry!!
9. Awareness
Friday 16 September 2011
Planning for Audience Research
To ensure that the filming of the music video has the correct connotations and things people can relate to, we need to ask people questions about what they like seeing in music videos.
It is good research to ask people if they have a preference on what their favourite music genre is, but for this task, we could look up statistics of information and ask people open questions. The reason why these questions are better than closed questions is because the latter can only be answered with "yes" or "no". However, with open questions, the research can be more reliable and successful.
It is good research to ask people if they have a preference on what their favourite music genre is, but for this task, we could look up statistics of information and ask people open questions. The reason why these questions are better than closed questions is because the latter can only be answered with "yes" or "no". However, with open questions, the research can be more reliable and successful.
Starter - Camera angles you would expect in a music video
Yesterday's starter exercise was to list down the typical angles found in a music video. In our class we came up with these:
1. Close-up
2. Extreme close-up
3. Long shot - this is to show/set the scene, establishing it. This can be linked to an establishing shot, which is a shot, normally outside of a building to indicate that the following scene will be set there. A good example of a show which does this is Friends, when there is a scene set in the coffee shop "Central Perk", you know it will be set there as you see the outside of the building. When we see establishing shots and other camera angles, it doesn't necessarily psychologically register, which means it is a camera technique that works!
4. High angle
5. Low angle
6. Aerial
7. Zoom in/out - in A2 production our group can consider not to use the zoom that often as it is not regarded as a professional technique.
8. Tracking
9. Whip Pan - camera moving incredibly fast from one side of a room to another, ie from left to right
10. Master shot - Shot that we keep going back to in a video, so the main shot.
1. Close-up
2. Extreme close-up
3. Long shot - this is to show/set the scene, establishing it. This can be linked to an establishing shot, which is a shot, normally outside of a building to indicate that the following scene will be set there. A good example of a show which does this is Friends, when there is a scene set in the coffee shop "Central Perk", you know it will be set there as you see the outside of the building. When we see establishing shots and other camera angles, it doesn't necessarily psychologically register, which means it is a camera technique that works!
4. High angle
5. Low angle
6. Aerial
7. Zoom in/out - in A2 production our group can consider not to use the zoom that often as it is not regarded as a professional technique.
8. Tracking
9. Whip Pan - camera moving incredibly fast from one side of a room to another, ie from left to right
10. Master shot - Shot that we keep going back to in a video, so the main shot.
Camerawork in Music Videos
In yesterday's lesson, we watched a couple of indie/rock music videos to identify the camerawork used so we could refer to it when we need to make our music video.
Givers - Up Up Up
1. High angle on the road, which indicates that the band are high up and are looking down on the world in this particular situation. In this music video, there are a lot of high angles and this links in with the title of the song, "Up Up Up", therefore the director has considered the meaning of the song with which angle is necessary in each shot.
2. Close up - on the band, as they are one of the main focuses.
3. Low angle on the building, this could be an establishing shot of a building that could be linked to the band. It is a building in the city they are in, which looks like New York, and one of the band members is walking alongside another building in New York, so the idea of one character being in one location one minute and a completely different one the next minute is introduced, which is a common theme in music videos. It tells us that the action is not necessarily happening all at once!
4. Master shot - the main shot in this music video, ie the "master shot", is the band, who are "Up" in the sky.
5. Tracking - this is when the camera is following one person or a group of people in a shot. In this scenario, a band member playing an instrument is being "tracked" by the camera.
We The Kings - Check Yes Juliet
1. Close up - again, on the band itself.
2. Master shot - The band performing this song at a house party
3. Medium and long shot - these shots were included as well as a close up to show them playing instruments and the whole band together
4. Narrative - when the song has a bridge section, the plot became more dramatic and we had more time to focus on the drama. As soon as the chorus comes back in, the camera focuses on the band again. This is especially something that we should consider when filming our music video.
Givers - Up Up Up
1. High angle on the road, which indicates that the band are high up and are looking down on the world in this particular situation. In this music video, there are a lot of high angles and this links in with the title of the song, "Up Up Up", therefore the director has considered the meaning of the song with which angle is necessary in each shot.
2. Close up - on the band, as they are one of the main focuses.
3. Low angle on the building, this could be an establishing shot of a building that could be linked to the band. It is a building in the city they are in, which looks like New York, and one of the band members is walking alongside another building in New York, so the idea of one character being in one location one minute and a completely different one the next minute is introduced, which is a common theme in music videos. It tells us that the action is not necessarily happening all at once!
4. Master shot - the main shot in this music video, ie the "master shot", is the band, who are "Up" in the sky.
5. Tracking - this is when the camera is following one person or a group of people in a shot. In this scenario, a band member playing an instrument is being "tracked" by the camera.
We The Kings - Check Yes Juliet
1. Close up - again, on the band itself.
2. Master shot - The band performing this song at a house party
3. Medium and long shot - these shots were included as well as a close up to show them playing instruments and the whole band together
4. Narrative - when the song has a bridge section, the plot became more dramatic and we had more time to focus on the drama. As soon as the chorus comes back in, the camera focuses on the band again. This is especially something that we should consider when filming our music video.
Artist Research
In yesterday's Media lesson, we researched artists to use for our music video. They had to be niche so we went onto a website with unsigned artists.
My group now consists of myself, Sean and Amelia so we decided that we should focus on the indie genre. It would be easy for representation compared to other genres such as Hip Hop or RNB, as the connotations for those genres would be fast cars and bling, which we don't have. As an alternative, the representation for Indie music is simple and can be done easily. Normally these videos include a band playing the instruments, in this case guitar and drums and maybe a piano, and some sort of storyline which will be easy to film.
My group now consists of myself, Sean and Amelia so we decided that we should focus on the indie genre. It would be easy for representation compared to other genres such as Hip Hop or RNB, as the connotations for those genres would be fast cars and bling, which we don't have. As an alternative, the representation for Indie music is simple and can be done easily. Normally these videos include a band playing the instruments, in this case guitar and drums and maybe a piano, and some sort of storyline which will be easy to film.
Monday 5 September 2011
A2 Summer Holiday Work Task Two - Research and Understanding
Rizzle Kicks
They are bringing Old School style music back into the charts and have already had two top 10 singles in the last month so, like many artists today, they have quickly risen to fame.
The video for the song "Down With The Trumpets" looks quite niche. They are going around Brighton with a trumpet and a boombox machine which gives an urban theme.
Also, the niche theme suggests they are not trying to hard to get a number 1 hit but just sticking to what they know and connotations such as the boombox machine suggests not that they always carry one around, but it tells the audience what their musical style is. Another connotation could be the cup of tea at the end of the video, which suggests this is something else that they are used to or that they can be linked to.
They are wearing casual clothes as well as a few urban accessories eg hats and necklaces.
Editing: The cuts are quick, when the lyrics are being rapped, it usually cuts from them rapping a line on the street and finishing it on the television screen.
MES: It is filmed in Brighton and in parts of the video they are at a beach and a park, so there is a flavour of what it is like there.
Ed Sheeran
He is portrayed to be young and unique and, in some cases niche, although he has also had 2 top ten hits recently.
Editing - The video for this song and another top 10 song of his are in black and white. This could convey a mysterious mood and we may be unsure what happens in the video.
MES - Like another of his songs "The A Team", he does not make many appearances in this video. This could be to keep his look niche and to make his name bigger than his appearance, although many people will recognise Ed Sheeran.
There are many connotations in this video such as the Buddha which could link to various aspects.
The Wanted
They are represented as a normal boyband and it is easy to assume that they have appeared on The X Factor or Britain's Got Talent. Their latest song is a little different to their previous singles:
This song sounds and looks more like a club song compared to a boyband song, and the CEMS depict this.
Editing - The editing shows them in a club one minute and the next jumping into the sea from a high part of a beach. Not many boybands typically do this, so the conventions and stereotypes are being pushed and altered.
MES - This video is set in an area of Spain which looks like it is popular amongst British people. This would be a typical scenario for a dance music video but this shows that The Wanted are trying to differentiate and not go down the usual boyband route, ie cheesy key-changing songs and curtain-style hair.
They are bringing Old School style music back into the charts and have already had two top 10 singles in the last month so, like many artists today, they have quickly risen to fame.
The video for the song "Down With The Trumpets" looks quite niche. They are going around Brighton with a trumpet and a boombox machine which gives an urban theme.
Also, the niche theme suggests they are not trying to hard to get a number 1 hit but just sticking to what they know and connotations such as the boombox machine suggests not that they always carry one around, but it tells the audience what their musical style is. Another connotation could be the cup of tea at the end of the video, which suggests this is something else that they are used to or that they can be linked to.
They are wearing casual clothes as well as a few urban accessories eg hats and necklaces.
Editing: The cuts are quick, when the lyrics are being rapped, it usually cuts from them rapping a line on the street and finishing it on the television screen.
MES: It is filmed in Brighton and in parts of the video they are at a beach and a park, so there is a flavour of what it is like there.
Ed Sheeran
He is portrayed to be young and unique and, in some cases niche, although he has also had 2 top ten hits recently.
Editing - The video for this song and another top 10 song of his are in black and white. This could convey a mysterious mood and we may be unsure what happens in the video.
MES - Like another of his songs "The A Team", he does not make many appearances in this video. This could be to keep his look niche and to make his name bigger than his appearance, although many people will recognise Ed Sheeran.
There are many connotations in this video such as the Buddha which could link to various aspects.
The Wanted
They are represented as a normal boyband and it is easy to assume that they have appeared on The X Factor or Britain's Got Talent. Their latest song is a little different to their previous singles:
This song sounds and looks more like a club song compared to a boyband song, and the CEMS depict this.
Editing - The editing shows them in a club one minute and the next jumping into the sea from a high part of a beach. Not many boybands typically do this, so the conventions and stereotypes are being pushed and altered.
MES - This video is set in an area of Spain which looks like it is popular amongst British people. This would be a typical scenario for a dance music video but this shows that The Wanted are trying to differentiate and not go down the usual boyband route, ie cheesy key-changing songs and curtain-style hair.
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