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
Core Motivations
• Entertainment – To aid the song with visual for the enjoyment of
fans. Many mainstream artists use this technique to keep their
fan entertained and help fans be able to connect with them.
• Branding/Identity - Personal branding of the artist. Different
bands/artists has different brandings helping to let fan relate
more to them and be able to recognize the band/artist from their
branding.
• Sales – Endorse products to make them more popular. When a
band/artist includes a brand or product in their video it will make
the fans want to buy it.
6. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Purposes of Music Video
• It gives the band an availability to not have to play live and can
still connect with the band.
• The audience has the advantage to interrupt the song through
the use of the video playing in the background.
• Gives a political view or social message
• The can feature other artists from their label for promotion.
7. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Synergy = A connection between 2 things
• Syncing the beats of the song with the visuals
• Use visuals to create open meaning
• Match the visuals with the lyrics
8. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Billie Eilish
• Her primary audience is teenagers ages 13-18. Billie Eilish is 17
herself so she makes music that she can relate to and an
audience from a similar age. Her songs are slow and linked with
a sad genre. All of her music videos link together and tell a
story. Billie Eilish is branded as Melancholy it appeals to people
by psychology as people will listen to her when they want to be
sad or feel sad.
9. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
One Direction
The band one direction is
mainstream which means it is what
people are enjoying at the moment.
They are made so that they are easy
to follow and do not need much
attention to follow and understand
what is going on. Being a mainstream
bands makes them have a larger
audience and they will expect a
music video making them create a
video with high budgets spent. During
the video you are able to get a clear
understanding of the characteristics
which helps for the fans to get closer
to the different members of the band.
All of One Direction’s songs have a
repeated formula which suggests that
they are based of the same thing
which in this bands case is mainly
love so all the videos are linked with
the theme.
Animal Collective
This band is seen as Niche meaning they
have a smaller audience suggesting they
are not as popular. With the smaller
audience it means the budget for the
video is lower as not as much detail or
links need to be added in to entertain the
audience. The videos have an open
meaning so fans are able to think what
they want to think the meaning means
with no right or wrong answer. Their
videos are not easy to follow making the
audience to be more engaged and active
when watching it this helps to keeps fans
active and interested when watching it.
A theme that is used is the videos are
made to be creative and this makes them
more challenging to watch also linking
with not easy to follow and having an
opening meaning as it leaves you thinking
about what it could be about and what it
means.
11. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• Billie Eilish – when the party’s over
• The start of the video starts with a close up of the glass, this has been used to
make the glass the main focus as the background is all white and the glass is
black, the use of these colours helps to make the glass stand out from the rest
background. It gradually zooms away from the glass reveling Billie who is also in
white still making the glass stand out. When it is all zoomed out you get a long
shot of the room showing everything that is in there to show the theme of the
song. It then slowly zooms back to a close up shot with a view of Billie and the
glass. With the room being white it suggests that Billie Eilish and the glass
shown in the room are the main focus on the video making it easy to follow.
• From this point the main view is close up of Billie Eilish, it starts off close but
slowly zooms out to give a more medium close up shot of her whilst the video is
still going. As we get to the end of the video is slowly moves back down to the
empty glass and then zooms down to an empty shot where everything is just
white. Nothing else is shown throughout the video making the camerawork more
effective with it being the main thing to happen to make the video entertaining
12. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• Billie Eilish – when the party’s over
• For editing on this video I am going to talk about the black tears
seen in the video. The 2 photos shown is one from behind the
scenes and one from the official video. In the behind the scenes
video you are able to see that pipes are used to create the tears
and everything looks darker and natural however on the official
video you can not see the pipes from the editing used they have
been able to make the pipes disappear and make the tears look
natural. You can also tell that the brightness has been enhanced as
her hair is brighter and so is her skin this editing may also be part
of how the pipe had been hidden by editing the brightness.
13. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• Miley Cyrus – Nothing breaks like a heart
• In this music video there is a use of technical developments as there is
multiple drone shots, I have included a photo of one of the shot from
the drone. this is used to show the location of where the video is set so
that fans can get an idea of the song. It also gives less limitation on
creating a story about the video as you are able see the main vision.
14. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
••For the pop genre they tend to use close-up shots which will focus on the
artist’s face. This is because it keeps their face fresh and relevant in the
audience's mind with the pop genre ever-changing and evolving making it
hard for them to stand out in such a wide and well-known genre.
••They also tend to use bright colours (increase in saturation) which
connotes positivity linked with the genre of pop. This will allow the video to
stand out more and appeal to the target audience which is the youth. In
post-production, tints and filters will also be added to boost colours.
••Pop music videos are mainly based upon performance. Unlike indie rock
music videos where the focus is the narrative and band, pop music videos
are mainly focused on the artist and more, specifically their appearance.
••In Pop music videos there isn’t a ‘unique’ narrative and sometimes not
even one at all. If there is it is mainly focused around a relationship/break-
up in which the vocalist/artist will typically play the main character.
••There also tends to be a lot of voyeurism on the male side as the
audience majority tends to be female so they want something that will
‘appeal’ to them
15. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes (1953)
Madonna Material
Girl (1985)
Intertextuality is known as incorporating and reconstructing which means using something
which the audience is familiar with and changing things to create new meanings.
An example I have used to show Intertextuality is Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Marilyn
Monroe and compared it with Material Girl by Madonna. From the photos I have included you
are able to see the similarities from each music video.
From the Marilyn Monroe video you are able to see who the main character is by the pink
dress used to create the main focus. In the Madonna video you can also see that she is
wearing a pink dress also showing she is the main focus. You can see the similarities just from
the dress as it can bring back nostalgic associations.
In the Marilyn Monroe video you can see the men in the background giving you an idea straight
away about what the song is about, it also links with the title. On the video by Madonna you
can see hands which is meant to be men so this links with the original video.
From these two examples you are able to get the idea of how these two ideas are linked and
how intertexuality is used.
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.
20. BILLIE EILISH
ALL THE GOOD GIRLS GO TO HELL
HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=-PZSSWWC9XA
21. • The main focus of the video is Billie as a angel this sets the scene of the music
video straight away as you able to see the theme. The main theme of the video
is meant to be hell as it is shown as dark and creepy. Fire is used in the
background creating a red tint to the video symbolizing danger.
• A long shot is used as the main shot of the video as it gives you the ability of
seeing the whole background and see the setting that is used to help set the
scene.
• A close up shot is used at the end of the video to show you her emotion and
helps keep the creepy theme as you can see she has black all over her face
which gives you lots of negative connotations.
• Sticking with the creepy theme the whole video you are just watching Billie
walking in a straight line and singing into the camera this gives a serious feel to
it and also helps to creep out the audience and maybe make them feel slightly
uncomfortable making the whole video more effective and realistic.
• Billie Eilish’s music videos are more mainstream as it is easy to follow as you
are easily follow and you do not need to create an image on what the song is
about as it is linked in with the title of the song.
• A technique that is used in the video is when the beat/chorus starts the fires in
the background gets bigger suggesting pain and death which helps to link with
the theme of hell. This technique creates a scary and haunted style to the video,
this also means that it will only appeal to a certain audience as people who
enjoy scary/creepy themes this video will appeal more to them.
22. • Intertextuality is used in this video as it is reconstructing a black angel
• A black angel symbolizes
An angel with black wings could actually be a different creature
altogether. A demon. A disgraced angel.
• It suggests that black angels are not good and link with hell so Billie
has used this idea and made it into a video.
• From the 2 photos I have included you are able to see the similarities
and how Billie used this image to create the theme in her music
video.
• They both have a black colour theme, the colour black has many
negative connotations such as death, evil and aggression
• The wings they both have are also black. Crows are seen as evil
and creepy and crows are black with black wings this sticks with
hell and scary theme.
24. • This music video is a lot different to the previous music video as this
one is more fun and positive as the beat is more up beat and the video
is colourful.
• Some of the camera angles used are close up shots and long shots
– A close up shot is mainly used when the song is more serious as
she is singing into the camera this shows the audience that what
she is singing is important and having something simple for these
parts will help the audience to create an image.
– Long shots are used in the music video also, they usually appear
when more things are happening in the background or to show the
setting. This camera shot makes it more mainstream for the
audience as it makes it more easier to follow and less attention is
needed
• The 2 shots I just spoke about are the main two that are used they
are used to show fun to serious from the shots used you are able
to tell which parts need more attention and which ones don’t.
• A technique which was also used in the first music video is when
the beat/chorus starts more action is which suggest the chorus is
seen as more fun and exciting for the audience. It helps to create a
more friendly style as it is more upbeat and entertaining.
25. • With the video being fun it wouldn’t be a Billie Eilish video without being
a little bit creepy and at the end of the video.
• The first photo is the main theme of the music video with is being fun
and entertaining for the audience.
• The second photo is the ending of the song.
• It starts with a close up shot of her face with the red lighting suggesting
power and danger and slowly moves out into long shot of her still with
the red lighting. The mood of this song suddenly changes and is a lot
different to the whole song. All of Billie’s songs link together so this
gives the audience a sneak peak at what her next song is going to
include and a think about what the theme is going to be. This is also a
technique by leaving her audience on a cliffhanger.
27. • This music video is different from the other 2 I have done as this is a older
song of her songs but it shows you how her attitude has changed and her
change in music.
• This music has been edited to be in a higher saturation as the whole video
is bright and exposed suggesting a happier song. The main colour that is
used in this music video is yellow this colour has positive connotations
which is different to the other 2 videos it gives ideas of positivity and
happiness.
• A theme that runs a lot through Billie’s videos is singing straight at the
camera this suggests that these parts or lyrics are more serious and she
wants you to create an image by just showing her face instead of just
having an images distracting the audience. This also uses a close up
camera angle which helps make her the main focus.
• Long shots are used throughout the video this helps to set the scene and
show the setting which makes it more mainstream as setting the scene
will make it easier for the audience to understand.
• However like the previous music video Billie’s videos never stay happy
throughout the video you see the colour yellow suggesting happiness but
at the end of the video it is ruined by her getting caught by the police
which stops the happiness.
Editor's Notes
Q1 – Describe and explain the use of camerawork in music videos, i.e. the types of shot used with examples to illustrate this
Q2 - Describe and explain the use of editing in music videos, i.e. the types of shot used with examples to illustrate this
Q3 - Describe and explain some of the technical developments in music videos, i.e. the types of shot used with examples to illustrate this
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?
