2. MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTION
• We will look at Music Videos from a number of perspectives, this
template is for you to write up your notes and to complete your
case study.
• The document is split into 3 different tasks, each with separate
questions to answer.
• Task 1 is concerned with the purposes of music videos and the
strategies employed by labels and artists
• Task 2 is concerned with the styles, techniques and conventions of
music video production
• Task 3 is your own case study into a minimum of three music
videos where you can unpack and discuss the videos considering
everything you have looked at in Task 1 and 2
3. NOTES ON COMPLETING THE
CASE STUDY
• It is often easier to show something you are discussing than to
take time describing it. With this in mind, feel free to add lots of
illustrative images from your chosen video examples. Links to
YouTube/Vevo/etc. are also encouraged.
• Remember, when you make a point or define something, you
should follow this with an example, an explanation of this and
then link to further texts/videos where possible.
• If you don’t think there is enough room to add your full
response to a question, don’t just reset the font size to really
small, add an extra slide wherever necessary.
5. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Entertainment – The purpose of most music videos is to entertain
people whilst they listen to the music and they were originally for
music TV channels so people had things to watch on their TV's
whilst they listened to music.
• Branding – They can use music videos to show off members of the
band so that fans get attached and buy more merchandise with
them or can use product placement to make a lot of money.
• Sales – They can use music videos to get more views and listens to
the song because people want to watch the video and they can also
make merchandise with things from the music video and it
generates them more money.
6. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Artists can use music videos to get messages across and tell
views things, this could be something as simple as a bands
inside joke to the fans or a political statement in a back plot.
7. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Synergy is where two or more products under the same brand
work together to make more revenue for example music videos
and being promoted on YouTube with ad space, as this gets the
video more views attracting more of an audience to the music
and generating more money for the artist. They can also use the
artists seen in the music to use to sell merchandise to get fans
attracted to them. Another example of synergy is product
placement within things, for example, some music videos may
have a specific brand of alcohol in or brand of car in that is
always used and they are payed lots by the companies to have it
in the music videos.
8. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• The wombats present themselves as older now but people that
still enjoy to do things that they did when they were younger.
For example, in their music video for their song ‘1996’. The song
is about how they want to bring bag 1996 as this was the prime
of their youth years and they have references to things from
that year all around the music video. For example, on the wall
they have the album ‘never mind’ by nirvana as this was top of
the charts at that time. This appeals to an older audience of
listeners who also like modern pop-rock.
9. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• In one direction they are trying to appeal to a young teenage
audience as the stereotypical young teenager is supposed to be
thinking about relationships and girls and one direction. With
animal collective their music videos are more fitted for all ages
as they are more abstract and minimalist than one direction
videos and they focus on the instruments being played as they
are the only things in the video that haven’t been green
screened.
11. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• Different camera angles can be used in music videos to show
the artist in different ways, for example a low shot of the artist
can show their power and status as they are dominating the
shot.
• The way the camera moves can also be used to fit the theme of
a music video. For example, the music video for the song ‘turn’
by the wombats has the camera on a track spinning around the
subjects through out the song giving a sense of things turning
and dizziness as the song talks a lot about the brain and the
song is called turn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AahUu7am5No
12. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• The song ‘moving to New York’ by The Wombats uses edits in
unusual green screened things such as a hamster and puts it in
unusual to give a hallucinogenic effect, this is because the song
is about a lack of sleep. One example is a hamster edited in
where a train should be.
• There is also a heavy use of a vignette throughout the video to
give the idea of sleepy and half closed eyes to fit the theme of
sleep loss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD92J4W9n04
13. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• The music video for the song ‘figure it out’ by royal blood uses
different colour tints that change from red to blue throughout
the video to show two different realities inside somebodies
head. The different colours are down to interpretation, but the
song is called figure it out and the colours could be used to
illustrate the different realities within the subjects head and they
are trying to figure out which is real as they are in legal trouble
and may not be able to believe what is happening to them.
There are a lot of close up on the subjects face to show that
they are thinking and maybe to get the point across that it’s all
happening in her head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhgVu2lsi_k
14. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• The modern rock genre usually has a similar music video style.
They usually consist of a plot happening but every few seconds
it either fades between the band playing in a plain room or a
room that has something to do with the song, and then cuts
back to the plot. An example of this is ‘techno fan’ by the
wombats, this has the band playing in a multi colour ‘techno
style’ room, and keeps cutting between them dancing in a club
which correlates with the lyrics to the song which is about
dancing together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8l-9nuXkDo
15. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• Intertextuality is using referencing to other things to get ideas
across. A good example of this is Taylor Swifts ’Bad Blood’ music
video which uses a lot of intertextuality of different action films
to represent her and whoever she is talking about in the song
fighting like they do in films. For example, they have the
corridors like out of the film alien to show them fighting like
they fight the alien in the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcIy9NiNbmo
17. TASK 3 – CASE STUDY
• For your individual case study you must study an artist or genre
of music, focusing on a minimum of 3 videos [ideally 5+ videos]
• This should provide discussion on the usage of the following:
– Style[s] & Techniques employed
– Intertextuality
– Camerawork/editing
– Genre conventions
– Critical approaches [you should be applying some of the critical
approaches from your lessons and some of your own, to your
selected videos]
18. TASK 3 – CASE STUDY
• You should include a video link for the video
• You can include as many illustrative stills as you like
• Be creative in your approach, it is suggested you use the
heading on the previous slide a guide on how to structure your
response to get you started
• Remember, make a point, use a specific part of the chosen
video as an example, explain yourself and then link to another
video where possible
• Compare and contrast your artist/genre to other artists/genres
• Remember to consider differing contexts
19. STYLES & TECHNIQUES
• The wombats have a style to all of their early music videos which is either
being or playing in a place that fits the theme of the name of the song, and
this always involves things going on around them or at the same time as
them playing and it always involves other people. For example in their
music video kill the director they are playing around other people and
things are happening to other people around them and it doesn’t effect
them. This is to make them stand out and put the viewers attention on
them.
• Another example of this but the band are just there and not playing
instruments is 1996 where they are walking around at a party and
everybody is dancing and throwing water around them but they’re not
doing anything
https://youtu.be/pVs
sCPuEzbM?t=81
https://youtu.be/pVs
sCPuEzbM?t=81
20. INTERTEXTUALITY
• The wombats use intertextuality in some of their videos such as
‘Tokyo (vampires and wolves)’ and ‘kill the director’. In the music
video for kill the director the band have have scenes that would
be like that of a romantic comedy on British TV because in the
chorus the main lyric of the song is ‘if this is a rom-com kill the
director’.
• Later in the video they also use intertextuality to reference
different TV genres such as action or thriller.
https://youtu.be/pV
ssCPuEzbM?t=7
https://youtu.be/p
VssCPuEzbM?t=10
3
21. CAMERA WORK/EDITING
• The wombats use a lot of camera work and editing in a lot of their
videos. Two good examples of this are the videos for ‘turn’ and
‘moving to New York’. In the music video for turn a camera is used
on a circular track as the camera turns and spins around them
throughout the whole video referencing the title of the song turn.
The camera does’t stop doing this throughout the whole video until
the very end.
• An example of a lot of editing the wombats use in their music
videos to fit the theme of their songs is moving to New York. In this
video editing is used to show the singers lack of sleep which the
song is about and this is done by adding is hallucinogenic shots
such as when a hamster is on a train track.
https://youtu.be/AahUu7
am5No?t=165
https://youtu.be/fD
92J4W9n04?t=70
22. GENRE CONVENTIONS
• Many of the wombats music videos are very typical of the pop-
rock/rock genre. Many of their music videos are them playing in
different locations. This is very common of the rock genre and
many other rock videos are them playing in different locations
such as royal blood’s lights out and the foo fighters the
pretender.
• They are in different locations depending on the theme of their
songs for example, the song ‘ our perfect disease’ has them
playing in a hospital and their song ’techno fan’ has them
playing in an empty club.
https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=ZSznpyG9CHY
https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ
https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=w8l-
9nuXkDo
https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=d3Il0bRgor
M
23. CRITICAL APPROACHES
• Many of their music videos are made to suit the the theme of the lyrics of
the song that the video is for. They do this by changing the way the video is
filmed and the location that the video is filmed at. What they are always
wearing differs in each video depending on where they are too. For
example in the video to ‘lets dance to joy division’ they are in their practice
room and they are playing and they are in their casual clothes but as they
play more chaos begins to ensue.
• Similarly in the video for ‘jump into the fog’ they are playing in a hotel as
the lyrics talk about being with somebody in a hotel and smoke starts to fill
the room. However their style is very repetitive between all of their music
videos, they always play in a different location and something happens
behind them as they play. In recent years their music video style has
changed, they now have story lines and they are not playing the song in the
video. The video for ‘Greek tragedy’ is about a stalker fan because the song
is about being addicted to somebody like a drug.
https://youtu.b
e/ayuooyWPEU
c?t=164
https://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=9MH
mx9nvHqU
https://www.youtub
e.com/watch?v=hpa
dYhXHgwA
