2. I am going to analyse our music video in reference to five criteria of Andrew
Goodwin’s theory of what should be included within music videos. I am also
going to analyse the narrative, editing, camerawork and diegesis of our
music video in terms of Carol Vernallis’ analysis of which aspects a music
video must include. I am going to reference to a range of different music
videos which are similar in relation to aspects of our music video.
3. “There is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying
or contradicting the lyrics”
Within our video, the visuals represent the narrative in which we are trying to portray. For the
lyrics, “’cause you make me smile, yeah you make me smile” we have shown footage of the good
memories in their relationship. However, for lyrics such as “I feel like jumping off for the first time”
we have shown footage of the couple arguing. Close ups of the artist and/or couple are mainly used
during the happy moments. In contrast, long or mid shots are often used when the couple are
arguing or unhappy. This signifies the closeness or distance between the couple in both physical and
emotional terms. The mood of the song is reflected in the footage, illustrating the narrative.
The use of the lyrics illustrating the narrative shown in the footage is also used within the music
video for “Teenage Dirtbag – Wheatus. The lyrics read “it’s prom night and I am lonely, low and
behold, she’s walking over to me”. The footage literally acts out the story told in the lyrics,
much like in our video.
4. “There is a relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating,
amplifying or contradicting the music.”
As our song is upbeat, the cuts in our music video are quick and in time to the beat of the
music. This puts emphasis on the song itself.
For example, cuts of the artist shown on different positions on the bench are cut to fit the
beat of the music. This puts focus on the song and fits the video around the song, rather than
the other way round. We are again putting emphasis on the artist as the footage is of her.
A similar concept is used within Beyoncé's music video for “Upgrade you” in order to
emphasise certain beats.
5. “Record companies will demand a lot of close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.”
Several close-ups and mid-shots of the artist are used within our music video. We found this
was conventional within the indie-pop genre as it promotes the artist and song as a package.
It is also conventional for the artist to star in a narrative within the video, allowing for the
main focus to remain on the star. We also used a close up shot of the artist as a master shot,
to keep referring back to. This draws the attention back to the song rather than the
narrative. The way in which we filmed and dressed the artist also built up her star persona.
She is shown as a young, average teenager within the narrative. Whereas, the performance
footage where she is dressed in white dresses shows her elegant and innocent side. We
have also used close-ups for the digipak and magazine advert. This gives instant recognition
of the star and sells the artist as a product as well as the album. Promotion of the artist
herself through the average teenager persona again allows for the audience to relate to the
star.
6. This concept is also used within Lana Del Rey’s video for Ride. The artist is shown doing stage
performances of her song. Within these scenes, she is dressed in dresses and put under a
spotlight. Both of these aspects build an elegant and beautiful character. Parallel editing of the
artist leading a care free lifestyle is used. Within these scenes, she is shown in more casual
clothing. These personas allow the audience to both idolise and relate to the artist. The
continuous close-ups of the artist allows the audience to familiarise themselves with them,
increasing their popularity. This helps to promote the artist as an icon as well as their music.
7. “Voyeurism is present in many music videos, especially in the treatment of females,
but also in terms of systems of looking.”
Voyeurism is used in several ways within our music video. Firstly, we have shown intimate
scenes of the couple in order to show their closeness at certain points in their relationship. For
example, footage of the couple walking hand in hand in different locations is used. This helps
the audience to understand the narrative, as these are examples of good memories in their
relationship. We have also used voyeurism in a negative way. For example, the male character
in the relationship is shown trying to kiss the female character. She then moves away to show
that her feelings are not retaliated. This again helps the audience to understand the narrative
and the feelings of the characters through their body language. This particular example also
allows the female character and main artist to maintain the superior role within the
relationship, giving her the power and showing her as an independent woman. This also
reflects her confusion of the relationship as told through the lyrics. We have also used
voyeurism through using hand held camera work in order to follow the artist running and
playing in the woods. This is not only a performance but again maintains focus on the artist.
We have also focused on one body part in order to make these scenes diverse compared to the
others.
8. Voyeurism is used in similar ways to our video within Rihanna’s video for Unfaithful. The
story line is similar in that there is a growing separation between the two characters. The
power is again in the hands of the artist, portraying her as the dominant character. The
voyeuristic nature of the camera gives the audience insight to the couple’s relationship in
order to understand the situation. This video is another example of a female artist, shown to
play the main role in a narrative throughout her music video. The voyeurism within the video
again allows for the focus to remain on the artist.
9. “There are likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos or to
films and TV texts, these provide further gratification and pleasure for the
viewers/fans.”
We decided to draw on similarities of the style of notebook doodles in our digipak and magazine
advert. We had previously seen a similar style to this used on several teen movie DVD covers.
This concept channels teenagers, which are our target audience. This makes the artist seem
more relatable, as she is made to seem like a average teenager. This is also represented through
her clothing. As in the other examples such as the teen films “Easy A”, “Angus, Thongs and
Perfect Snogging”, “Juno” and “Napoleon Dynamite”, all main characters are shown to be
wearing their normal clothes. This allows the audience to identify themselves with the stars and
the characters they play, therefore causing the same effect with our artist. Intertextuality of
these films through the style of the digipak allow the audience to relate to different types of
media through simply looking at these visuals. Thus drawing attention from the common target
audience of teenagers.
10. Throughout the video, we also used conventional movie aesthetics to romanticise the
footage. We used colour corrector during the editing stage and developed a sepia effect
to our footage. This gives an old fashioned look to our video and also distinguishes the
memories from the performance scenes. Sepia is also used within “The Wizard of Oz” in
order to distinguish two different worlds, much like our video.
11. Narrative
As a group, we interpreted the lyrics within our chosen song “Barely Love You Too” to
describe the artist losing interest in a boy she once loved. We therefore decided to base the
narrative of our video on this story line. To do this we filmed footage of the couple in both
good and bad memories of their relationship. We distinguished the memories from the
performance scenes through the post editing of the footage. This included changing the
colouring of the scenes to sepia and blurring the edges of the frame to give the scenes a
dream like mood. As the lyrics in the beginning of the song describe the good side of the
relationship; for example, “’cause you make me smile, yeah you make me smile”, we showed
footage of the couple as happy through the first verse. As the song continues, the lyrics
explain the feelings of the artist fading as she says “I barely love you too”. This suggests a
one sided love on the male’s side. We therefore portrayed the male to have an interest
while the female is not interested.
12. Narratives are commonly used within the indie-pop genre. Within Taylor Swift’s video
for Trouble, the lyrics explain “I knew you were trouble when you walked in…and now
I’m lying on the hard, cold ground”. The narrative within the video illustrates the artist
falling in love with a young man who then gets in trouble and is shown to be beaten up.
The artist is then shown to be abandoned. The performance scene of the artist is used
as the master shot, as in our video.
13. Editing
The editing throughout our video is used to emphasise the beat of the song. The shots usually
last 2-4 seconds. The quick cuts keep the video interesting whilst keeping with the upbeat
tempo of the song. The editing is also non-linear, as music videos often tend to defy time
continuity.
Quick editing is used within music videos with an up-tempo beat as the cuts emphasise the
music.
14. Camerawork
Within our video, we have used a master shot of the artist performing. This is a shot in
which we frequently refer to throughout the video. This offers a sense of continuity
throughout. We also use a range of close-ups of the artist in order to keep the focus on
her. We use both still and hand held camera work in order to give variety to the video.
The hand held camerawork also gives a voyeuristic element to certain shots. We used
slow motion within these scenes to exaggerate the hand held element.
Hand held camerawork and slow motion editing is also used within Lana Del Rey’s video for
National Anthem. This creates the same voyeuristic effect as within our video.
15. Diegesis
To keep up with the fast tempo of the song, quick cuts must be used. This therefore
means that certain actions may not be completed. For example, a slow motion scene of
the artist spinning around in the leaves is shown. However, as the action is in slow motion
and lasts a few seconds, we cut the action down in order to keep with the tempo of the
song. This therefore means the full spin could not be shown. There are gaps in the
diegesis of the video as the video is made up of non-linear, montage editing. This
however, does not affect the narrative, as the footage and lyrics contribute to building the
story line.
16. Conventional Digipak and Poster
Within our research for digipaks and magazine adverts, we found that both contain lots of
close-ups of the artist and is focused mainly around them. We also found that the two
products tend to look similar, as they are both selling the same thing. We therefore used a
picture of Scarlett wearing the same costume in both products, in order to link them
together and portray the same persona. We also used the same fonts, in order to keep
continuity between both texts and maintain the notebook style. These aspects of our digipak
are conventional. For example, Florence and the Machine and Marina and the Diamonds
both use similar techniques within their two texts in order to advertise the artist and music.
