Music video case study

1. MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTION
CASE STUDY
C HLOE R O S S

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.

4. TASK 1 -
PURPOSES

5. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Q1 - Outline the 3 core purposes of music video with a short
explanation for each:
• Entertainment- Makes the video fun to watch for the viewers,
which gets the video more views.
• Makes money- The more people that watch the video the more
money the company and band will get.
• Promotes the band- spreads awareness of the band which
makes them more poplar.

6. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Q2 – What are some of the broader purposes of music videos?
Think about some of the strategies employed by artists in their
videos and how they represent themselves, you could consider
where the artist is on a major label, independent label of unsigned,
is there a difference between them?
• Major label artists shows the band/singer more than unsigned, they
tend to make the music video about them to promote themselves.
• Mainstream singers music videos can be made without any context
or story behind it, people will watch to see them in the video no
mater what it’s about. Other music videos made by artists can
connect to the song they wrote and create a story behind that.

7. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Q3 – Describe what is ‘synergy’ is and how it has been used in
music videos [min. 3 examples of synergy and convergance]
• Synergy is where two or more forms of media combine to make a
promotional video.
• This can be used by featuring a song in a certain film such as Skyfall
by Adele was featured in the James Bond movie.
• Or music videos containing scenes from the film because it was
featured in a movie such as the ghostbusters song in the music
video it features part of the movie.
• Convergence is where the music video that features in the movie
doesn’t include clips of the movie but can make references to the
movie.

8. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Q4 – Branding; select an artist you like and look at how they
present themselves in their music videos. Explain what their
‘brand’ is, who is appeals to and why they might have done
this.
• In the Jonas Brothers music videos they always feature it
around themselves, depending on the songs their music video
always sticks to the theme of the song and the song and video
always links.
• When they were young their audience appeal was to
teenagers or young kids as they did feature in Disney songs,
however now that they’re older the audience age has moved
up to teens and young adults as there music videos and songs
have matured.
From Jonas Brothers ‘Cool’ video most of the
time they’re wearing sunglasses and acting
‘cool’ in their video as it links to their song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_JbZvHc92U

9. In their ’year 3000’ video it’s more aimed at teenagers
And younger kids than their music videos now, It’s very
Energetic and fun and the video transitions from them
Singing the song to the story of the song.
The ‘sucker’ music video is aimed at
a range of teenagers to adults it’s
more of a song and video that
anyone can listen to and watch, but
it’s more mature than their ‘year
3000’ video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSry5-qfVFs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnAm
eh0-E-U In their ‘only human’
video they do a very
80’s style type of
video, it’s very retro
and different to what
they’ve done in their
other music videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBNt8
hYvn8A

10. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Q5 – Compare One Direction and Animal Collective music videos [find
them on YouTube!], what can you discern about each act from their videos?
What is the main aim? Explain why.
• With the one direction videos depending on the music it can be very playful
such as ‘you don’t know your beautiful’ it shows them messing around and
doing close ups on their faces this can appeal to the audience because the
reason they watch it is to see them. It also advertises them as being available
which attracts teenagers their age.
• With the Animal collective video you can’t see their faces unlike with one
directon, you can also tell it’s low budget due to the effects and not as high
quality as the one direction videos. It also focuses more on the music than
the video so your more focused on the song than visually watching it.
• With One direction their aim is to advertise themselves as much as possible
in their videos to get more views but with Animal collective they don’t want
to show themselves they would rather the audience focus on the music.

11. TASK 2 – STYLES,
TECHNIQUES AND
CONVENTIONS

12. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• Q1 – Describe and explain the use of camerawork in music videos,
i.e. the types of shot used with examples to illustrate this
• When shooting a music video it’s important that the video builds
on the theme of the song and moves from illustrating to developed
themes. You can have the camera moving at different pastes
depending on how fast and slow the song is.
• You can have the camera do close ups of the singers face to show
they’re in control of the song or to show the emotion in their face
while singing the song.
• You could also have the singer acknowledging the camera so
they’re singing to the viewers or you could have the camera
following their face around.

13. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• Q2 - Describe and explain the use of editing in music videos,
i.e. the types of shot used with examples to illustrate this
• When editing in music videos you need to do it so the video is
in sync with the song, and is going the same pace as the song
is.
• You also need to edit it so there’s a relationship between the
lyrics and the visuals, and the music and the visuals.
• Music videos also demonstrates genre characteristics so when
editing the video it has to fit the genre of music or it won’t
make sense. Taylor swifts ‘ you belong with me’ song tells a
story and the music video tells that story
through the lyrics and the visuals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw

14. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• Q3 - Describe and explain some of the technical developments
in music videos, i.e. the types of shot used with examples to
illustrate this
• With music videos you can have them in different styles so you
could do a live concert style video and film the band singing to
an audience and then edit the audience in.
• You can also film a music video that doesn't have anything to
do with the song but as long as it fits the style of song or genre
then it still works.

15. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• Q4 – Genre conventions; often music videos adhere to genre
conventions within their visual style and production techniques.
Select a recognisable genre and use illustrations to explain what
their genre conventions are…
• Pop music can often be very upbeat and feel good music and
the music videos copy the upbeat feel and shows them visually
in order to match with the song.
Taylor swifts ‘shake it off’ is
very upbeat and the music
video matches this.
Jonas brothers ‘sucker’ is a
very over the top and weird
video but it still matches with
the song and making it weird
and over the top can make it
more memorable to viewers.

16. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• Q5 - John Stuart’s description of the music video “incorporating,
raiding and reconstructing” is essentially the essence of
intertextuality [something asserted by Andrew Goodwin]. Can
you explain what intertexuality is and find some examples of it
in music videos?
• Intertextuality is where the music video refers to or mentions
something from a different media source. In Ariana Grande’s
‘thankyou next’ music video it includes at least 4 references to
iconic movies such as mean girls, legally blonde, 13 going on 30
and bring it on.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl1aHhXnN1k

17. TASK 3 – CASE
STUDY

18. 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]

19. 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

20. JONAS BROTHERS MUSIC
VIDEO- CASE STUDY
• Music videos being studied:
• ‘Only Human’
• ‘Sucker
• ‘Cool’
• ‘Lovebug’
• ‘Year 3000’

21. CAMERA WORK- ’ONLY HUMAN’
In the Jonas Brothers ‘only human video they
made it so the camera is dancing with them.
In one scene it’s zoomed in on the singer then
it zooms out fast, then stops, then zooms out
again, this is then repeated when they zoom
in after, it stops then zooms in again. This is
at 0:55 in the video.
When the camera transitions
to film the dancers it’s out of
focus then it zooms out and
then transitions to another
side of the dancers. The way
they filmed it matches the
pace and the beat of the
music.In the video the camera is never held still,
it’s always shaking and it does lots of
zoom ins and then when the song goes to
a faster pace it does fast transitions to
different scenes in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBNt8hYvn8A

22. EDITING-‘ONLY HUMAN’
• The way they’ve Edited there music is very 80’s style, the color
and the way it’s shot gives of an 80’s vibe they’ve also edited it
so the footage looks aged and fuzzy as well. It also has a lot of
neon lights which also adds to the 80’s aesthetic.
At the beginning of the video it has colored
rectangles which looks like it’s the beginning of an
old video recorder from the 80’s it also starts of
with a beep witch automatically shows you what
type of style video it is.

23. INTERTEXTUALITY- ‘ONLY
HUMAN’
• The Jonas Brothers uses a very 80’s style video, the way it’s
filmed and edited is very 80’s. Also the way everyone’s dressed
and wearing sunglasses inside also contributes to the 80’s style
as well.
They also advertise Coors light as well which was
A big drink in America in the 80’s
There is also a shot with an 80’s
style American cab and with the
singer dressed in a American
high school bomber jacket,
which is referring to 80’s in
America.

24. GENRE CONVENTIONS-’ONLY
HUMAN’
• In the ‘Only Human’ video the genre style is very 80’s style pop
music, all of the music the Jonas Brothers do is pop music style,
but this one is slightly different in the way that it doesn't sound
similar to there other music whereas some of the other songs
they made do.

25. CRITICAL APPROACHES-
‘ONLY HUMAN’
• I actually really like the ‘only human’ video, the way the camera
moves is like they’re dancing to the music and the way it’s
edited clearly shows that they want it to be 80’s. I also like the
color gradients they used, it’s very neon but you get the sense
that it’s a party style video.

26. CAMERA WORK-’SUCKER’In the ‘Sucker’ video they use a
lot of low angle camera shots,
especially when the women in
the scenes come up to them.
Here they’ve shot it so the glare
of the sun spreads on the
camera lenses and filters onto
the women.
They shot this scene and
made it change color on
the single TV and when
it changed color it split
into 9 TVs
They also have a lot of
close up shots and the
camera is always
moving in time with the
music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnAmeh0-E-U

27. EDITING-’SUCKER’
• When editing the video they have a lot of transitions from going
from inside the house to the outside and then back again.
• They’ve also edited it so it’s dark and shadowy inside but the
clothes they wear, especially the women, contrasts the dark
colors with the bright colors.
• They’ve also done it so when it’s filmed outside it’s bright and
sunny but at the beginning of the video the color tone is dark.
• When it transitions it keeps in pace with the music and the beat
of it as well.

28. INTERTEXTUALITY- ‘SUCKER’
• In the ‘sucker’ video they include the actual sucker lolly pops the
song sucker is about them being a sucker for their wives but
then they refer to the ‘suckers’ as in the sweet in the video.
• In the video it includes their wives; Sophie Turner and Priyanka
Chopra who are actresses.

29. GENRE CONVENTION &
CRITICAL APPROACHES
• The ‘sucker’ song is pop music, the same as all there other
songs.
• The ‘sucker’ music video was something the Jonas Brothers had
never done before, style wise. They brought this out as a come
back after a 6 year break and is a completely different style of
music they did when they were younger. It is more mature and
it shows how they’ve grown up.
• The music video in general is a little weird but it all matches the
theme of the song, however some scenes in the video are very
random especially how the wives are dressed up.

30. CAMERA WORK-’YEAR 3000’
At the beginning they shot it so the camera zooms in on the
different instruments being set up.
They then filmed it so it switches from
them singing the song in their garage to
the actual story of the song.
They’ve included an
above angle shot and
the singer looks up to
the camera
The camera
circles around
them a lot while
they’re singing
then when it
goes to them
acting out the
song the
camera stops
moving fast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=HSry5-
qfVFs&list=RDiiHqSf4lf9Q&index=
1

31. EDITING- ‘YEAR 3000’
• They’ve edited so when it tells the story of the video they’ve
included special effects and there’s a scene where they disappear
and re appear in different clothes.
• They also do a lot of transition between them singing the song to
the story of the song being acted out, the transitions do keep in
pace with the song and the lyrics
• When they go to the ‘future’ in the video it’s a lot brighter than the
beginning and there’s a lot light and sparkle special affects going
on
They have also edited a
scene in the video where
it’s all animated when
they go to the ’year 3000’

32. INTERTEXTUALITY- ‘YEAR
3000’
• In the song there’s a lot of references to ’back to the future’ in
the lyric is says ‘he told me he built a time machine like one in a
film I’ve seen’ however the music video doesn’t make a visual
reference to it.
• They also make a reference to themselves on magazine covers
as well.

33. GENRE CONVENTION &
CRITICAL APPROACHES
• The ‘year 3000’ song is a pop song aimed at teenagers and
young kids.
• The music video is filmed to fit in with the pace and beat of the
song, it catches the singers energetic behavior in it when they
are singing, when it films the singers singing it does very fast
transitions between different camera angle shots, whereas when
it films them acting out the story it’s a slower pace and doesn't
use as many camera angle shots.
These shots are all in the space of 3-4 seconds

34. CAMERA WORK- ‘LOVEBUG’
It begins with the camera slowly zooming in on the old
photograph then it transitions and makes the photograph
become reality.
It then zooms in on the couples faces
and blurs out the background to make
the scene look more intimate.
It then does another transition from
photo to reality, this gives the
viewer the idea that we’re watching
the couple (at the beginning)past
It also does a lot of close up
shots of the couples hands
and movements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKpCDz0UjW4&list=R
DiiHqSf4lf9Q&index=2

35. EDITING- ‘LOVEBUG’
Here they edited it so the background of the ticket fades out and is
replace with the flashback scene.
They edited this scene so the women is twirling in her house then the
background fades and she twirls into a dance hall
When the music speeds up and gets more
upbeat they made it slow motion, so when the
confetti explodes and they’re playing their
instruments it’s all slow motion which fits well
with the music and the story being told in the
video.

36. INTERTEXTUALITY-’LOVEBUG
• They set the video around the 60’s, basing of how they’re
dressed and the instruments and setting they use gives of a 60’s
vibe.
• It also references men going to war and leaving their family and
loved ones behind, like they had to do in those days.

37. GENRE CONVENTION &
CRITICAL APPROACHES
• The lovebug song is more of a slow romantic song at the
beginning but near the end gets more upbeat and like a pop
song.
• The video they did tells a story, that’s not about them, but
another couple which I think is different to what they’ve done
before. The music video is kind of like a short romantic film that
tells the story of a couples life through the entire song.
• It starts of with their grandkids looking through old photos of
them, then it transitions into the past and that’s when the song
starts, and the song keeps in pace with the story as well.

38. CAMERA WORK-’COOL’The camera starts of with
a close up shot of the
singer then it transitions
to the camera following
the singer walking
The camera then does a
low angle shot of the
singer bending down to
the camera and singing
to it.
It also transitions
to an above angle
shot where you can
see the singers
shadow.
In the video they also zoom in on
a perfume bottle and when it
does it blurs out the background
and only focuses on the bottle.
They also have a
underwater shot where
they dip their heads
underwater and sing
into the camera.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_JbZvHc92U

39. EDITING-’COOL’
When they transition between shots they make the transitions more
creative, this one is splitting the screen so they make triangles and the
other one transitions into diamonds.
They’ve edited the video
so it looks very bright and
colorful, they’ve enhanced
the brightness of their
clothes so it stands out
more as well.
They did another transition here
where the scene flips upside
down and transitions onto the
next scene, which fits into the
rhythm of the song when it does
this.
They’ve done a shot here
so it transitions to them
just standing in front of a
wall instead of the beach,
with them wearing
different color sunglasses
it makes them stand out
more.

40. INTERTEXTUALITY-’COOL’
• In one scene in the video it advertises a mans deodorant bottle
and the camera zooms in on it, it also advertises an alcoholic
beverage in the video as well.
• In the lyrics the also make a reference to Game of Thrones
‘sitting and winning like it’s game of thrones’ but they don’t
visually reference it.

41. GENRE CONVENTION &
CRITICAL APPROACHES
• The ‘cool’ song is definitely a pop song, it’s very upbeat and I
think the song is being aimed teenagers and adults.
• The music video is very colorful and bright, and it gives the song
a good feel mood to it. The way they’re dressed and wearing
sunglasses shows that they’re being ‘cool’ as well which fits well
with the song.
• The transitions they use also keep in time and pace with the
song as well as how the video is filmed as well.

42. SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE
MUSIC VIDEOS.
• In every Jonas Brothers video I noticed that it always has them singing on the stage and
then it always transitions to either them telling the story of the song.
• They also have a similar style of filming the videos there’s a lot of transitions that fit in with
the music and the way they film it as well always fits in sync with the song, and they do it so
there’s a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals.
• In their new music videos I also notice they advertise some kind of drink, in ‘only human’ it
was Coors light and in ‘cool’ it was Bayous.

43. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE
VIDEOS
• There’s some big differences between the music videos they
brought out when they were teenagers and the ones they bring out
now. The music videos they filmed when they were teenagers was a
lot more energetic and they had a lot more special affects (year
3000) than they do now.
• The videos they film now are more mature and grown up as well as
their music and they are now aimed at a more of a grown up
audience. When they were kids they were aiming it at children and
teens.
• I also noticed that every video is different, especially with the filters
they use and the different clothes they wear. They always make sure
that the song always fits in with the video.