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
• Q1 - Outline the 3 core purposes of music video with a short
explanation for each:
• Entertainment: to bring an audience though any form of
entertainment. Trying to grab as many peoples attention as
possible
• Branding/Identity: to give the audience an opinion on your
brand and how you want to be portrayed
• Sales: to try get more people to buy the product to gain as
much money as possible
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?
• Meaning: Bigger artists that can make more of an impact tend to do that
through the music video almost like it’s a short film. Doing this can also
expand to a different audience that they may not of been able to expand to
before
• Professional: major labels may give a higher budget and be more
professional to set an example in comparison to smaller artist which will use
a smaller budget and less care into the product.
• There is a major difference between a major label and a unsigned label. An
unsigned label will not have as big of a end product as a major label. A
major label will have more of budget and a more care towards their
product to make the artist look good and also the label
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 convergence]
• A synergy is the cooperation of two or more organizations. This has
been used in music video with cameos of other famous artists.
• Collaboration of songs getting both labels to work on a music
video. For example Logic and Eminem's song “homicide”.
• To make the music video higher quality by reaching out to another
label willing to help
• A song is a good example of human synergy, taking more than one
musical part and putting them together to make a song with a
bigger impact
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.
• lady gaga represents herself as abstract in her music videos.
This appeals to the in depth viewers by giving a reason behind
something not obvious to see while also appealing to the
people that just like flashy colours and wacky outfits. They may
have done this to please as big of an audience as possible.
9. 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.
• One directions music videos have high budgets involved with a
large audience with the goal to make money, whereas Animal
collective have a low budget with a smaller audience with the
goal to be creative. This shows that although One direction have
the bigger following Animal collective is the group making
trying to make it in the industry in a very unique way.
11. 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
The use of camerawork in videos can be very important to make the
music video pop the way the want it too. Having the camera focus on
certain objects to bring more meaning behind them. Lighting to make
the video have a certain mood. Giving it angles to give it a bit of
something different and its not the same old boring music video with
the same angle.
An example of lighting being used in a
music video is shown in the picture to the
right. The song “shot in the dark” starts off
their music video very dark with very few
lights giving it a dark and dull vibe
12. STYLES, TECHNIQUES AND
CONVENTIONS
• Another example of using different
camera angles to make the music video
more interesting is in the picture to the
right. With the song carnival of rust the
music video gives it a tilt before going
in to the carnival to give it mystery and
to give a rollercoaster fun vibe.
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
The use of editing in music video is the make the final product in the
right direction. If that means adding a few tweaks like making the
scenery darker to make the music video seem more dull it will overall
make the final product better. Special effects will also be used to
brighten up the music video and make it more lively. Also to add
scenes that wont be possible to do in real life for example floating
This is an example of editing being
used in a music video. In the song
”secrets” the girl is floating to create
mystery and confusion. The editing
is done to make it seem like the girl
is actually floating effectively
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
Technical developments give structure and
meaning towards the music video. Types of shot
could give a lot of different reasoning which can be
important for the music video. For example a shot
of a bird could give the annotation of peace or
calm. This gives more meaning towards the music
video as people get annotations of what is
happening.
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 recognizable genre and use illustrations to explain what
their genre conventions are…
Hip-Hop: hip hop has a lot of
genre conventions that are very
noticeable. Oversized clothing
with chains and a car with flame
decals is the stereotypical hip hop
artist. More hip hop genre
conventions would be graffiti and
words like “thug life”
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 intertextuality is and find some examples of it
in music videos?
• Intertextuality is visual reference in music videos from a range of
source, this is including fashion, art, video games and more. An
example of intertextuality is Robin Williams- let love be our
energy. The music video is shown like it is in a video game.
The image on the right shows the video game
graphics used in the music video. Using
shapes to make it look like its been
programmed in.
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. STYLES AND TECHNIQUES
EMPLOYED- KSI• KSIs style is narrative. Most of his videos tell a short story that
has connotations to the lyrics. For example the song Beerus is
about the dragon ball z character and the video shows how he
is made. Also on point being a disstrack to Logan Paul and the
music video is a short story of how he slowly takes out Logan
Paul
• KSI is a rapper that makes music for entertainment. Every song
he makes is completely different to each other. In a few of his
songs he likes to reference existing characters. This is shown in
the song “Ares” and “Beerus” with Ares being a god and Beerus
being a character in a tv series.KSIs music videos are mostly
high production telling a short
story. This is show in Beerus with
him becoming a god.
21. INTERTEXTUALITY-
“BEERUS”
• The character Beerus has been used in the song to give it
multiple meanings. These meanings being powerful, on top,
successful and a lot more. This also builds character to the artist
KSI as it shows that he is a big fan of the dragon ball z series
and want to tribute it in the song.
• During the song there is the lyrics ”I'm a god like Beerus”
this suggests that the artist KSI looks up to the character
and wants to be in his shoes.
The link to the song Beerus- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE74_ucrAXQ
22. INTERTEXTUALITY- “ARES”
• Ares is also a powerful god. This gives connotations of being
the best. With it being a diss track and also basically a showing
off of what he's got. Saying he is the best and a god makes
sense.
• During the song there is the lyrics “Ares looking down at the
boy feeling like he's at the top” suggest that now matter what
you'll never be on the same level as him.
• Ares is also the god of war.
Suggest that no matter what
you will lose the battle
Link to the song Ares:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CPzBQiz_Yk
23. CAMERAWORK- “BEERUS”• KSI likes to make a short story in his music video that are very high production.
One of these short stories is Beerus.
• Beerus has multiple shots that combine into a full short film. Starting off with the
feature artist Randolph creating the god Beerus with potions. Using the camera
work to capture the glow in a dark room to show how powerful these potions
are.
• Zooming in onto the character being created gives mystery to see the final
product. Also zooming in on to the products being used to create this god also
keeps us wondering what the character is going to become once finished.
• It has multiple cuts over the the artists dancing to shine a light on them and
show off who they are.
• The camera work also shows off ksi by making sure the background is darker
than the character to give him an importance essence. Making sure the audience
focuses on the character so the story makes more sense.
24. CAMERAWORK-”ARES”
• Ares shows a lot of shadowing to focus on certain things in the
background.
• They make the lighting show off the house in the background to
make sure that’s the primary focus in the scene. It shows the
how big the house is to show how much money the rapper has.
• They make sure the lighting isn't too bright to make sure the
focus is always on ksi.
• As you can see in the photos below the lighting is the same on
both the scenery and ksi to make sure people know they are the
main points.
25. EDITING- “BEERUS”
• The editing in Beerus puts the final product together
• At the very end of Beerus the character is duplicated to make it
look like there is an army behind KSI. This gives a look at how
powerful the character is. Giving him a whole army also shows
power and popularity.
• A scene at 1:39 shows ksi rapping with different angles edited
onto the tvs. This also shows popularity as they want to see
every angle of the character they have creative and they can
also check for any faults. This scene also looks like an interview
with famous celebrities get going back to the popularity
connotation.
26. EDITING- “ON POINT”
• The editing in on point is more to show how powerful ksi is over the person he is
dissing in the song Logan Paul.
• At the end of the video ksi is wielding a infinity gauntlet. The editing to show the
infinity stones glowing gives more of an effect that he is almighty which I his
approach.
• Through the video when they edited the photo with an Instagram photo of a
snake tagging someone. This shows attention to detail through the music video
and a lot brings a lot of context to who the snake is.
• Glowing of children eyes after watching a video showing that the kid is being
brainwashed and the diss is to snap them out of it.
• Ksi flying into the area like he’s a hero to save the children from the villain Logan
Paul.
• The editing makes it a short story. The music video alone is a diss enough with
how much small details they added to it.
Link to on point:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TofmKTHkAGE
27. GENRE CONVENTIONS-
RAPPER• KSI is a rapper which shows a lot of genre conventions which he
includes in most of his music videos
• His music video Ares mostly shows the rapping genre
conventions. With it being a calm video with the intent of saying
he's better than someone. Whilst he is saying this the video
shows a lot of high priced clothing to show off what he's got. A
lot of shots also show the house he is showing in to show off
how big it is.
• In Beerus, KSI has multiple chains to give the idea that ksi is very
wealthy with his career. Having a lot of chains is very common
for rapping to show.
28. CRITICAL APPROACHES-
KSI
• KSIs music is aimed towards a teenage audience. As KSI already
had a platform with that audience already targeted it was a very
easy swap over to his music career.
• KSI likes to make his music towards anyone who enjoys it. His
main focus in music is entertainment which is showcased with
his music videos.
• The song “on point” was targeted to diss a person by the name
of Logan Paul. But he didn't just want it to be seen as a diss
track but also wanted it to be seen as a song.
29. CRITICAL APPROACHES-
RAPPING
• Rappers critical approach usually is money. Most rappers will
make their raps with the intentions of how much money they
can get from it.
• Rappers also usually show off the belonging they have with the
approach of showing how wealthy they are from rapping and
how much better they are then you
• Rapping is a huge competition with most rapping claiming they
are the best and cant be told otherwise
