When considering the key features of a music video, Andrew Goodwin, Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992) identified a number of conventions which can be applied to the music video Celestine by Spector directed by Ted Cullen and High 5 Collective in 2012.
Firstly he stated that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. This video could be categorised as being in the Indie Rock genre. It is a performance-based video rather than narrative-based so portrays a disjunctive relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. However, this assures the audience that the band can actually perform well and they therefore gain respect from their target audience. They are also directly addressing the audience rather than obeying the rule of the fourth wall and making it more personal.
There are iconic features to the video in the way that their appearance is very retro and preppy due to their suits, their slicked back hair and their thick-rimmed glasses. These could also be interpreted as their star image motif due to the amount of close-ups used. The cutting rate is synchronous to the music as the shots cut on the beats, showing an illustrative relationship between the music and the visuals.
In the middle 8 breakdown section of the song the singer talks about going back in time ‘to make no mistakes, write all the songs, meet all the girls who are beautiful now but were miserable then’. The visuals for this part of the song are mostly focused on the singer’s face, illustrating the personal nature of these lyrics.
A clever editing technique used is the way that in one of the chorus’s towards the end of the video, the main singer continues to move and sing as the rest of the band are frozen whilst mid-air. This emphasises the talent and importance of the main singer in contrast to the rest of the band.
Goodwin also made reference to the notion of looking, presented in this video in the way that the band look at themselves playing their instrument or singing in a big mirror in the desert. This also highlights the fact that music videos incorporate the voyeuristic treatment of the body as the band are admiring their talent and showing that they have high opinions of themselves.
Music videos are a postmodern form which implies that they often borrow and rework ideas from other texts and forms. Spector’s video uses intertextuality in the form of a quote at the beginning of the video where he quotes from Anthony Kiedis who is the lead singer of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The quote he uses is ‘...in the desert where all good music videos are made’, suggesting immediately to his audience that his video is going to be good, giving them high expectations.
To declare music videos in general to be confined to one category is not only very hard but also virtually impossible. The reason for this is mostly explained in a quote: “Music videos are based on reinvention, re-imaging, never standing still; always looking different; being in flux; moving.” from the article ‘The End Of Celluloid’ (Matt Hanson, 2004).
This quote reinforces the idea that no two music videos are the same as directors are forever attempting to be original and unique by reinventing and taking ideas from past creations.
Many female pop artists’ music videos have strong conventions of the porn category. Take Nicki Minaj “Right By My Side” as an example there is a close up shot of her bum, this is clear evidence of voyeurism as the camera lingers on the subject from the perspective of heterosexual males.
You can also build upon this as it uses dismemberment to objectify her, all these points suggest the video denies woman agency. Goffman, Jhally and Kilbourne focused on how women are represented in popular culture, including music videos. In each of their studies, a pattern was found where women were typically depicted in subordinate, subservient and male pleasing roles, suggesting sexism.
But to label music videos in general as porn is absurd as it is only seen in a small number of music videos.
Commercial and advertisement are pretty much the same as the dictionary definition of commercial is ‘an advertisement in a common media format’. For a music video to be an advertisement for the artist you would expect to see a dominating prevalence from the artist upon the video.
This is actually very common in pretty much all music videos as if you think about it the music video is to plant an image in the consumer’s head so whenever they hear the song they will remember the video.
Techniques included in such commercial music videos may be relative size, the artist will never be much shorter than any dancers or actors included in the video. The reason for this is height symbolises social rank and artists are seen to be rich and high up on the social ladder.
A great example of this relative size technique is in Kylie Minogue’s music video for ‘Time Bomb’. Kylie Minogue is known to be quite short yet you wouldn’t notice it in the music video as she is wearing high heels and none of the men are towering over her.
The reason for this is that Kylie is a very successful pop-star meaning her meta-narrative development has led her to this point were she is a dominant force in the industry and this is portrayed in her music videos.
How are men and women represented in the video Gold Digger by Kanye West ft Jamie Foxx
The video involves heavy use of the “artificial look” of women; the girls in the video are all slim, long legged, airbrushed with breast implants etc. thus not being a true representation of how women actually are. This fetishistic view of women is reinforced by the text seen on screen, referring to the front covers of early pornographic magazines – reinforcing sexism. The male gaze is also further enhanced through the use of dismemberment, with many close ups and prevalence towards the women’s breasts and lips, as well as their erotic outfits.
The video seems to be a glamorised pastiche of 60s pornographic magazines/posters. This is built upon by moody lighting and costume iconic of the era for example polka dot underwear and the suit worn by Jamie Foxx. Girls posing and dancing enforces their sexualisation and objectification even further, encouraging the viewer to focus and perhaps fantasise/be jealous of what they see in the video.
Men are instead represented as being cool and independent, with a lot of attention being focused towards their smart/casual attire and designer sunglasses; helping build on their star image reinforcing the notion of wealth and fame. This juxtaposes the representation of women within the video in that they are heavily depicted as sexualised, computer enhanced and commoditised whereas the men are shown as rich, respectable and well composed – perhaps reinforcing gender inequality.
The video begins by 50 cent arriving in a Ferrari at a mansion. The sports car symbolises his wealth, typical of a dominant male.
The door opens and he is met by a women dressed erotically with many others wondering around in similar attire. This suggests all the women are dressed to grab the male’s attention, reinforcing the idea of commodification in that the women are objects of desire for male’s pleasure.
The whole atmosphere and look of the mansion could be in ways link to that of a brothel, this link is also present in the lyrics when Olivia says “I’ll have you spending all you got”.
There are also many examples of how post production techniques have been used to create an artificial look, one example is how lighting has been added or subtracted to create a glow from the women’s body.
This sense of an artificial look effects the male gaze upon the music video as most males will look at the women with lust, therefore denying women agency.
The way in which 50 Cent walks through the mansion taller than all the women is evidence of relative size, in that he is taller than all of them so is socially higher than them too.
Relative size in this context supports residual ideologies of a patriarchal society.
- A tracking shot at speed following a boy riding a motorbike.
- Lots of long shots to show surrounding landscape.
Will Smith - Switch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzUozo1628U - Only in a few locations but due to lots of different shots you don’t notice. - Lots of mid shots to show him and surrounding women dancing.
The camera moves slowly and focuses mainly on the artist, therefore evidence of star image being created.
Bright white lights come across camera whilst the artist is singing the song to enforce the songs title of halo by creating Beyonce as an angel image.
A narrative of two people’s love and the passion they share.
The narrative is reinforced by the use of close ups showing the emotion on their faces and the relationship between them.
Audience can never create a full character exposition of the male actor as his face is never fully revealed; the only face fully shown is that of Beyonce’s.
The image of Beyonce in this music video is that of innocence and love, people can relate to her lyrics and she helps develop peoples understanding of the song through the video.
Jay-z & Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind
Lots of montage shots of New York City and the culture of the city.Most of the music video is in black and white which gives the video an appearance of age and as if its reflecting on history as Jay-z raps about the past events of the city.
At the end it then comes into colour when the two artists are lip synching the song as if to show it is now in the present.
Also lots of long shots are used to further reinforce the fact it is all about the city of New York.
The rule of thirds is present as Jay-z raps on the far right when in a location in the city as if he is trying to show it off to the audience.
The lyric ‘concrete jungle where dreams are made from’ is a lyric that is constantly trying to be proved throughout the song.
This video doesn’t show a great amount of conventions of drum and bass music videos due to the fact that it is narrative-based and there is no performance from the artist whatsoever. The narrative is particularly unconventional due to the fact that the main characters are elderly ladies playing bingo. However, it still presents an illustrative relationship between the lyrics and visuals as the lyrics are ‘tonight’s gonna be the night’ suggesting that tonight is going to be the night the old lady is going to win bingo! This adds a comical twist to the music video.
However, there are some conventional aspects in the video, such as the fast cutting rate, the use of time lapse and the bright colours and lighting used, all of which we aim to present successfully in our music video that we create. These conventions are particularly effective in drum and bass music videos as it illustrates a sense of chaos and excitement that the music creates.
This video could be considered as art because it has extremely high comic value which will appeal to the target audience. The way that the storyline is unconventional also means it could be considered as art because it is a completely unexpected narrative in relation to the song.
Media Language:
The message of this video is that ‘the night’ could mean anyone’s big night, for example, teenagers going to a party or a celebration of some sort, and the way it’s old ladies going to bingo in this case emphasizes how the song could be used for any occasion. It also promotes that the artist has comical values and wants to entertain their audience.
Another message that the video presents is that elderly people can have fun too and they still have excitement in their lives. This is emphasized with a variety of camera techniques, for example, close ups of their reactions to anticipation and competitiveness.The editing also promotes this as the shots are all sped up and jump cuts are often used, showing how exhilarating their lives actually are. However, the mise-en-scene presented is very cliche, for instance, the props are mostly kitsch ornaments or china plates which are typical objects related to the elderly. This is enforced with panning shots and extreme close ups.
The audience that Netsky is targeting is younger generations who are interested in club music. He performs regularly at night clubs and festivals where this generation are known for attending in order to promote his music.
This generation are also known to be into technology, particularly the internet, where they are able to share music and music videos through social networkingsites such as Youtube and Facebook meaning his music is being promoted constantly. Netsky’s music will also be shown on music channels, such as Viva and MTV which are aimed at younger people, meaning he is targeting his audience through this medium as well.
Representation:
At the beginning of the video where the music is calmer and slower, Netsky is shown very still and sleeping in various different locations with different props, such as a blindfold, but when the tempo increases, he is shown performing at his gigs and crowd-surfing in the audience. In my opinion, this shows that music makes Netsky feel full of life, just as the title suggests.
It also presents Netsky as a vibrant, energetic kind of person as he interacts continuously with his audience, shaking p eoples hands and performing to them. The way that he has a cake fight in one point of the video, also connotes how he is a playful type of person.
This persona of his will appeal to his audience and will therefore help sell his product because it shows his enthusiasm towards his profession and how it makes him ‘come alive’.
Different social groups are represented in this video in the gig scenes and also in the scenes intercut with these. At the gigs there is a large crowd of fans of all different ethnicities, ages and gender presenting the dominant ideology that everyone is equal and that no one should be excluded. The scenes intercut with the gig scenes show different groups of friends smiling and laughing together at the camera also enforcing the dominant ideology.
This video is very conventional of drum and bass music videos as it is performance based and narrative based with an amplifying relationship between music, visuals and lyrics. Shots of Delilah lip-syncing are intercut with shots of the storyline: an abusive marriage with their kids witnessing all the events. The visuals are synchronous to the music as the shots are cut to the beat of the music, meaning the video has a fast cutting rate as the tempo is so upbeat.
The video has an amplifying relationship between lyrics and visuals as the words don’t specifically tell a story but the artist has interpreted the lyrics into a narrative of a disfunctional family. The sound and visuals are very synchronous as when the music is slow and calm at the beginning, the visuals show calm, normal behaviour in the family but as the music tempo increases, the behaviour becomes more violent and aggressive and the cutting rate gets faster.
This video could be considered as art as it is advertising problems that are current in our society and it notifies the public of the reality of problems like domestic abuse. Certain people who would watch this video would relate to the problems shown and hopefully it would be an incentive to prevent further domestic abuse in our society.
Institution:
The decisions are shared between the artist, the artist management and the record label. The record label fund the branding and marketing so they will have their say in where it is promoted or how much, in order to keep in with their budget but also to increase sales. The artist and the artist management will work alongside the record label and have their say by coming up with the ideas and the material to promote, in order for the record label not to advertise them in a way in which they do want to be.
Due to the revolution of the social media, artists whether amateur or mainstream, are promoted and advertised through peer influence on websites such as Facebook or Twitter after being uploaded for free onto sites like Youtube or Soundcloud. This therefore means that the music press is very specialised and is only consumed by those who are avid fans of alternatives types of music meaning that is does not play a huge role in digital media age.
Photoshop allows huge amounts of creativity as you can take any image and transform it into something completely unique. The challenges are remembering to save it regularly and remembering to do things like new layers etc. But mainly the challenge is to create something new, original and something you’re proud of. The way I overcame this was by taking my time and researching previous posters, this allowed me to build a good knowledge of festival posters and put myself in the position were I had to create an original one.
The techniques I used in Photoshop were:
Layer effects
Text effects
Cutting images
Texturing a background
Overlaying layers upon the background
My finished product is in my opinion very original and stands out. It follows certain conventions but challenges others, and if you can do that and still create a good poster I believe it is therefore successful. The whole urban hip hop idea came about as whilst doing my research I realised it was the genre with the broadest variations; therefore it allowed me to let my creative brain go.
The advice I would give myself would be to not rush into anything but to research until I am comfortable and passionate about the media product I am doing. Also to save the document regularly under different names so I can go back to my first designs and work from them if anything goes wrong.
This video is more of a montage/compilation of life in a predominantly afro-Caribbean neighbourhood in the USA.It involves a lot of reference to culture and history of the area, for example the shops and buildings shown, as well as religious practices and types of people who live in the area. I believe the artist has shot the video in this way to shed light upon the somewhat “gritty” lifestyle which some people have to, or choose to live in the deprived area in which he grew up. This fits the lyrics of the song - rapping about his past and his surroundings, which is represented by what we see on screen. Unlike many hip hop videos Jay Z is displayed individually and independently, rather than in a group or gang as many rap videos do. This can be seen as a sign of strength and fearlessness perhaps.
When looking at techniques within the video, black and white is used throughout. I feel this gives the video a different feel to most modern music videos in that it does not try andshow off and promote people or products. It is not “flash” and a means of advertising, it is simply showing what life is like living in some parts of Brooklyn, it does not promote the lifestyle, but then it does not display it negatively either. This may be conceived as unusual for a music video in that it just shows simple daily occurrences. The use of slow motion also builds on this as it helps make the visuals more clear.
The cutting rate is relatively fast and is this way to compress many different scenes and events as possible, to provide the viewer with the best “taste” of Brooklyn life. Prevalence is given mainly to Jay Z however world famous hip hop producer Rick Rubin can been seen making appearances along side him within the video, Rick made the track with Jay Z.
Calvin Harris - I am not alone (Directed by Calvin Harris in 2008)
The video is extremely bizarre and disjunctive. The few lyrics which the video has do not relate to the events displayed on screen. There are two narratives going on within the video, one being that of a little boy in the winter woods, and the other being of a scientist doing unexplained experiments on women. Having said this, there is an element of dance performance maintained by women dancers who appear to be controlled by the scientist (played by Calvin Harris).
In terms of techniques used in the video, fluctuations of lighting and saturation are significantly used to make the set seem more dark and dingy. This helps reinforce the notion of the scientists “weirdness” and also the disjuncture of the video. Also this may be disliked by some viewers, it does make the video completely unique and unlike any other. This makes the video independent and helps the artist stand out, without really promoting him on screen in terms of close ups of his face and style, him lip syncing etc. which is what many artists tend to do in the music industry. Other effects include pro filmic effects - making liquids/potions look brighter than they are, as well and things like sparks when sharpening knives, which are simply there to enhance the video.
