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:
1. Entertainment- music video are made to be entertaining to its
target audience
2. sales- by making a music video the artist/ song will get more
attention as it will reach more people.
3. Promote artist- because more people see the music video, the
artist will get more popular. At the same time the artist is able
to brand themselves and tell their audience what their about
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?
• Popularity
• Option not to play live
• Push forward/emphasize a certain message implied by the song(reinforce
a message)
• Endorse a product to make the more popular
• Allow the audience to connect with and interpret the song through the
visuals and sound combined
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 you use something to make another thing. Its
also described as extra points. This ca be seen in music videos
such as Pharrell Williams song ‘happy’, which was also used in
despicable me.
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.
• 5sos is a pop rock band that started in 2011 who's target
demographic is teenagers. The style of their music videos have
changed over the years. They started out very simplistic that
appealed towards a younger audience, this can be seen in ‘she
looks so perfect’ which is very bright and energetic video, they
can also be seen repeating a formula with ‘don’t stop’. Their
earlier music videos have little to no plot .More recently though
they have made music that is more dark, for example
Youngblood and teeth.
9. The music video for ‘teeth’ is dark and eerie, unlike their earlier
music, it shows the members being put into a sort of trance where
they see their greatest fears. When they first started making music
were young so made music that appealed to them . Since they have
gotten older they have changed their brand to suit their age, they are
making more dark themed music.
Unlike their earlier music videos, their new videos have some sort of
plot to them. In their music video for Youngblood the plot was an old
Japanese couple remembering their youth, it also references
Japanese gang culture by including shots of people fighting and riding
motor bikes and getting tattoos (tattoos are a stereotypical sign of a
gang member in Japan). They edited the video to suggest that what
we are seeing are distant memories by adding glitching effects, which
fits with the style of the video and song.
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.
• One direction were set up to be a mainstream pop band to make lots of
money. Their target audience were kids aged around 10-14 which is
shown through the simplicity of their videos, for instance ‘what makes
you beautiful’ is about the band hanging out on the beach in summer
and singing about relationships. Similarly their music video for ‘you and I’
is them walking near a beach, because they had a high budget they
used an effect that made them emerge from one person to the other.
Again vey simplistic. This is one way of showing how they repeated a
formula to stay popular.
11. • Animal collective is a niche band that was made with the purpose
to be creative. In their music video ‘my girls’ they used a green
screen to add effects such as changing the background, adding
bubbles and making themselves into silhouettes. Since they had a
low budget on this video the effects aren't that great, but there is lot
going on. By making themselves into silhouettes the music video is
non representational, this is very different from one direction since
they need a star image to stay mainstream.
• In another music video ,’fireworks’, they didn't use any special
effects, they filmed themselves at night with their faces lit with
torches that they held. They also added clips of fireworks which
makes sense since the song is called fireworks. Again its clear that
the budget for this video was low because of the quality, but that
doesn't matter to them as they care more about their music. This
music video is extremely different from “my girls” proving that hey
don’t stick to a formula like one direction do
13. 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
Lady Gaga-million reasons:
Medium close up- its only her in the shot, implying that she
is lonely. Tells audience that she she sad
High angle shot- implies she is feeling down and upset, tells
the audience that this music video is emotional
Close up on the box put the focus specifically on that thing,
telling the audience that it is something important
Close up-of her face suggests her celebrity
status
14. Voyeurism is also used to suggest that there are
different sides to lady gaga, one being her star
persona, the other being her as herself (which we
have not see much of in the past). It makes us
wonder who she really is.
This wide shot put the focus on lady gaga
again emphasizing her celebrity/star status.
The Mise-en-scene fits the style of this music
video since lady gaga is going back to her
roots. the western styled outfit and guitar
symbolizes her western roots
15. 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
Music videos are rhythmically edited, meaning its edited to match the music. For
example in a fast pace song there would be a lot o movement and a lot of different
shots in a short amount of time. In a low paced song however, it would’t look right
if there where lots of harp fast movements and editing, it would look more
appealing if the footage the was slower.
The difference in editing can be seen in Lana Del Ray’s ”young and beautiful "and
Demi Lovato’s “sorry not sorry” music videos. In Lana Del Ray’s video the shots
are slow, as are the movements of the camera. The video is dark which show a
relationship between music and visuals and further emphasizes the mood of the
song (emotional and serious). They also used voyeurism towards the end of the
music video which reflects the lyrics/message of the song, will you still love me
when I'm no longer young and beautiful’. Voyeurism is normally used to reference
the notion of looking, so it fits with the message of loving a person for who they
are rather than appearances.
16. Demi Lovato’s music video was edited to match the energy of the
song. They used a lot of techniques to do this such as adding filters ,
holding the camera to give the video more movement, and
Demi Lovato's song is fast paced and energetic, the editors of the
video used different techniques to make sure that it matched the
song. One thing they did was to edit clips together more frequently,
This makes the video seem more fast paced/energetic. They also
added shots of handheld cameras that are very shaky, when these
clips are played they also add in the audio from that clip. This added
to the image of Demi Lovatos party being wild and full of
energy/chaos.
17. 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
18. 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:
• Low angle shots to suggest a powerful status
• Flexing money (cars chains fashion)
• Parties
• Reference to gang culture
• Fashion-wearing high end clothes (normally baggy) and chains to show off
wealth (presents the as wealthy meaning they have power)
• Normally a few shot of the rapper and his friends driving in a car.
19. 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?
• Intertexuality is where a media references something/ another
media.
• An example of this is Taylor swifts music video for bad blood
which references movies such as kill bill and the hunger
games,. Both of those movies have female lead roles. These
where good references since the plot of the video matched the
referee
21. 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]
22. 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
24. Style[s] & Techniques employed
• Little mix-bounce back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnGHESypBuU
• In all of little mix’s videos they are wearing brightly colored,
fashionable clothes. This fits with the style of the music genre,
pop music normally includes a lot of bright colors and fashion
trends
• Their expensive clothes showcases their celebrity status and
implies a rich lifestyle.
• The mise-en-scene of this room also fits the of the vide which is
that they are dolls in a doll house. They have made the room
look like it was decorated y a kid hence all the furnisher, plants
and unicorn
• They also have a couple of scenes
where the band members are wearing
matching outfits, this unifies them as
one group, they are also dancing a
choreographed routine
25. Style[s] & Techniques employed
• Jonas Brothers-Sucker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnAmeh0-E-U
• The concept of the video was o showcase the Jonas brother with their
significant which goes nicely with the message of the song. The music
video was filmed in Hertfordshire at Hatfield house, witch was a good
location choice since it was grand and fit the concept of living a rich
celebrity lifestyle
• Again fashion was clearly a main factor in this video, the Jonas brothers
are seen wearing expensive looking suits, and their significant other’s
wearing over the top, colorful outfits
• To go with the concept of a celebrity life style they hade scenes where they
were in bath tubs out outside full of bubbles, having an extravagant
banquet and having a tea party in a garden.
• The shots that they get are very pleasing to the eye. The shots outside are
scenic, and the shots inside are aesthetically pleasing
26. INTERTEXTUALITY
• Ariana Grande-Thank you, next
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl1aHhXnN1k
• In the Ariana Grande song “thank you, next” there is a lot of
intertextually referencing movies such as mean girls, legally
blond and 13 going on 30.
• All the movies that are referenced in the song are popular chick
flick’s, which fits with Ariana's mainstream image, she is also an
actor.
27. CAMERAWORK/EDITING
• Little mix- power https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw8B1q1tKgs
• Close-ups of the band members, this happens in most music videos and
reinforces their celebrity status by making them the main focus
• Lot of steady camera movement/tracking shots, brings more life and energy to
the video, the camera moves a lot more when the pace of the song gets
faster(chorus), when it goes to the slower parts of the song
• Vey long distance shot of the and and a bunch of girls marching- shows that
they are together/how many of them there are.
• They use a some slow motion shots of the bad members because it synced
with the song d look appealing to the eye. This also reinforces that they are a
mainstream band as it suggest that they care a lot about looks etc., they also
used it when all the girls were marching making it look more heroic/powerful
• They cut up shots of the people singing and added shots of the other
members to make it look more even, it wouldn't look right if the video focused
on the member singing because it wouldn't fit the energy of the song, splitting
it up with some shots of the other members dancing makes it fit better
28. CAMERAWORK/EDITING
• Louis Tomlinson - Back to You ft. Bebe Rexha
• Close up shots- the song is about them and their emotions, so it makes sense to use close up
shots as it reinforces that.
• Steady camera movements- this bring about more energy which out it looking cheap, if it was a
hand held camera it would look more clumsy which does not match the mood of the song.
• shots edited together more frequently when the song gets faster, this makes it more energetic.
before the chorus/ in-between the chorus’s slower shots are used to match the tempo of the
song, they use slowed down footage of Louis Tomlinson walking and playing football
• Medium shot- in most of the shots the singers are alone which reinforces the message of feeling
alone and being in a bad relationship, using a medium long shot add to this effect because there
is more empty pace seen around them
• At 0.39 seconds into the songs just before the chorus starts they used a blurring effect to match
which both matches the song and reinforce the idea of them not knowing what to do about this
toxic relationship their in (I love it, I hate it”…”i keep comming back to you..”i dont know how to
make it stop”)
• They also edited the shots to make them fit the song, this can be see at the tart when Bebe
Rexha looks up at the same time as the beat, another example is just before Bebe starts singing
theres a mediaum close up shot of a kid kicking a ball , that matched the sounds of the
instruments playing and looks pleasing to th eye
29. GENRE CONVENTIONS
By analyzing different pop videos its clear that there are things
that are in most pop videos. The mise-en-scene f pop music
videos normally consists of bright colors, bright lighting, heavy
make-up, mainstream fashion,3 or more locations.
Common editing techniques include adding filters, using more
shots when the music get faster and using slow motion shots.
Camerawork normally includes lots of close up shots of the artist,
because the main focus is the artist. Tracking shots/steady
camera movements are also used a lot to bring more energy to
the video, they also include long distance shots mostly of people
dancing or used to convey message of loneliness
