3. What our brief required us to do was to, as a group, create a music video
conventional to a particular genre that would appeal to an audience that you
were targeting.
In order to accomplish our goal there were an array of research and planning
in which I as well as my group had to do to complete the task and in result
achieve our goal. One of those tasks for example was understanding what a
music video actually was, what it did and how they affect the audience. We
looked over various genres and cultures, analysing different theories by
different theorist such as Goodwin and Mulvey, which in turn linked in with
our planning of Digipak and Magazine advert to the final production of our
music video.
The definition of a music video is a series of moving images compliments a
song and can sometimes represent the lyrics of an artist although it does not
have to. A music video can reflect the views and opinions of artists and
usually show some sort of representation of them whether it uses dancing or
controversial themes to achieve this. Sometimes the Moving images the
artists use to create the music video can express the lyrics, making it easier
for the audience to understand what the lyrics mean however this is not
always the case as the lyrics could be in complete contrast to the visuals.
Music videos tend to leave a lasting impression on the audience and in some
cases the audience can build a relationship between the characters.
4. *
In my opinion, I believe that my final product follows the conventions of a typical similar real
media products in a variety of ways. My music video takes on the concept of performance
and narrative based which although this combo is rarely used by artists of the house genre, it
does follow most music videos of the narrative which house genre artists such as disclosure
and Calvin Harris use.
Disclosure: White noise
Calvin harris ft. Rihanna: We found love
The reason we decided to include a performance is so we would be able to promote the artist
as this is his first single so trying to gained as much publicity as possible was necessary to
attract his target audience. Understanding various examples of house music videos we
decided that it was a must that we follow the conventions as well as incorporate some ideas
that would not follow the genre for example being partly performance based in order to gain
the most form our music video for a debutant artist as well as making him have a USP that
would stand out from other artists and in result gain a larger target audience while still
following similar conventions of the house genre to gain the audience who love house music.
5. Some examples of the conventional music video elements that I used in my work
include:
* A variety of lighting including low, high and natural lighting to create various
atmospheres among the locations we used to film in order to create our video
* Mise en scene and especially with location and costume as we decided that it
would be those that the audience would most remember in the video and the
costume suits the artist and what he was trying to portray which was a
carefree, rebellious young adult
* Editing as we made sure that the editing followed at a similar pace to the
music which does not create any confusion with the audience so they can
enjoy the music video.
* What we also did that some music videos do is experiment with their videos
to generate hype among the media and the audience which no matter if it is
good or bad hype, it is gaining publicity.
6. A music videos main purpose is to entertain the audience and in result make a profit
from their marketing sales. But music videos can also create a relationship between
the audience and the artist. By using micro-elements in a variety of ways, the artist
can create a persona for themselves that a particular audience may relate to and with
the use of social media such as twitter, they can build a relationship with the fans.
A music video can have multiple reasons and different motives but it is most common
for them to be made in order for the audience to understand the song better and
understand the themes that it is portraying as well as satisfying their needs for
entertainment and giving them a visual stimulus for the music. It was very important
for the progress of our product that through my research I understood the use of
micro-elements in music videos and ancillary texts so that we are able to create a
music video that is conventional to our genre of music while still appealing to our
target audience
7. *
*
Cinematography is a one of the micro elements which help define and promote the star’s
image. Using various camera shots, angles and movements the audience can develop a specific
viewpoint of the artist. Furthermore the use of cinematography make it easier for the
audience to build a relationship with the artist. By doing this then the artist is able to appeal
more to their target audience. By doing research I have come to the conclusion that camera
shots that show our artist on a personal level such as close up are conventional in order to get
a reaction from the audience.
*
A music video that influenced our cinematography was Example- Kickstarts due to the simple
yet effective use of camera shots as well as the specific close ups on body parts such as the
feet. An example of a camera shot they used was a long shot of the artist. This was a clear
representation of star image and it shows how certain cinematography can be used to
promote a stars image as to what Dyers theory states.
Whereas Disclosure- White Noise influenced how we were going to film the narrative of our
music video and capture the characters dancing, using specific camera shots and movement.
*
8. *
* In order to make my music video look professional, we decided that conventional
cinematography was necessary in order for our music video to reflect the theories of Dyer
and Goodwin as well as to attract our target audience. We decided that our artist was
going to represent their own ideologies and culture as Richard Dyer expresses that an
artist of those traits create their star persona by conveying beliefs ideas and opinions
outside music, which hopefully will get the audience to build a relationship with the
artist. in order to show this there are various camera shots including close ups and
extreme close ups on the artist to show his facial expression and long shots to show his
body language. Goodwin states that all videos use to a degree, successful technical
elements in order to create a music video conventional to its genre as well as to its target
audience. For the artists star image motifs, close ups on the artist face makes the
audience familiarise with the artist face and therefore can identify him in different forms
of media which in turn will promote the artists star image.
9. *
* Long shots was a recurring camera shot that was in my music video in
order to show every aspect of the artist to the audience so they get to
understand the artists personality and attitude through the capture of
his body language, posture and facial expressions. Longs shots are
usually used to show how a character looks or to show what they are
doing which is why capturing the dancers using long shots a good idea
as we get to see what their bodies are doing. Both Disclosure and
Example use long shots but in different ways. Example uses it to show
the artist fully in order to promote his star image whereas Disclosure
use it to show the character progress in the narrative as well as his
dance sequence
10. *
* Camera movements are also key when it
comes to music videos. They can be used to
follow the character during a narrative which
in turn can build a relationship between the
character or artist with the audience. By doing
this you can create various effects with the
video to get various emotions form the
audience. A panning shot is the most common
as it is used mainly to follow an object or
person. In our video we use a panning shot to
follow the two younger characters as they
prepare to dance.
* Although a few theorists such as Goodwin,
Dyer and Mulvey mention that most
conventional music videos will contain some
element of sexual magnetism, our video
challenges their views. first of all there are no
women in our music video to show off
voyeuristically. Secondly the theme of our
music video is dancing and finally the genre of
the artist is house music which tend not to
have women acting sexually.
11. *
* When considering what Mise en Scene elements I was planning to implement
in my music video, it is important consider what many portrayals for the
audience It could create and how it could aid in representing the artist in a
certain way. By the specific elements of Mise en scene chosen, the target
audience should generally get an understanding of the themes portrayed in
the music video as well as an hint of the artists ideologies and culture.
Theorists such as Dyer relates to how the artist’s use of costume, hair and
make up can be used in order to make an artist look more appealing through
youth and sexual magnetism and in result be a bigger success. However we
planned to challenge his theory; because our music video is of the house
genre, our artist has a care-free, rebellious attitude which is similar to the
audience he is trying to target. Goodwin also expresses mise en scene
through the use of notion of looking although my music video has no relation
to it.
12. *
* Iconography we thought was important to
include because they can be used to
symbolise something or have some sort of
relation to the character or artist. We
decided to use iconography in order to
convey a deeper narrative which we may
not have been able without it. We first
decided to have a stereo as a key
iconography as it represents the
characters love for dancing and music.
Another use of iconography we used was
two watches, one for each character. The
reason for this was in order for the
audience to understand the transition
between the character’s younger and
older selves. It is also used to represent
friendship as both watches are similar in
colour and pattern so the audience know
that the character have a deep
relationship with each other.
13. *
*
*
*
*
Lighting and colour is significant in music videos because it
helps Identify the artist as it illuminates them from their
surroundings promoting star image and therefore the
audience can fixate on the artist. Furthermore it can help
set the main atmosphere of the music video while
complimenting the locations. We decided that high key
lighting as well as natural and low key lighting as well
because we thought we would look very effective and
professional if we could incorporate footage that contained
all three.
In my music video I wanted to use high key lighting for
when we used close ups of the artist, so he can be the
centre of attention, letting the audience create a
relationship with the artist and can see what the artist is
doing throughout the music video. There is a difference in
colour when comparing the narrative and artist spotlights.
This was so the audience could differentiate between the
narrative and performance within the music video which I
believe was done successfully.
Low key lighting was used when filming the scenery as we
felt with minimal lighting the sky would gives use a great
sunset effect.
Natural lighting was use for some of the characters scene
because the light that was coming from outside really
looked good on camera and it illuminated the room well.
Furthermore it helped us capture the dancers well too.
14. *
* What the audience are able to identify when watching an
*
artist’s body language and facial expression is what they
are trying to put across to the audience whether it is
sexual appeal or if it is talented youth. It gives the
audience some sort of clear understanding to what the
artist is trying to represent which was expressed in Dyers
theory of star image. Facial expression and body language
is considered more important when it comes to the
characters as the audience only have their actions to go by
to identify the narrative. For example, in our music video
the two younger characters are best friends but we
wouldn’t be able to tell that without the happy facial
expressions and friendly body language towards one
another.
Our artist's body language and facial expressions will not
be exerted because we want to follow his personality of
having a cool and relaxed attitude. However, facial
expressions will be used to show his passion for music and
again to relate to the audience so they can build a
relationship with the artist.
15. *
*
*
*
*
The settings we choose to feature in our music
video are important as it is where the characters
are going to be and they have to suit the genre of
the music otherwise they will clash and in result the
video will not look professional.
Using a plain white room for one our locations was
helpful for our artist as by using a white
background, there is nothing else to distract the
audience so their full attention is on the artist
which in turn will boost their publicity and
promotes their star image. it also helps us to film
because of its simplicity it will allow us to capture
different angles of him against the white wall in
order to show our artists through different
perspectives.
The location of the graffiti wall complimented our
music video really well as the concept of our
narrative for our music video is street dancing and
this is the sort of background that would be
associate with this.
The location of the dance studios was very
conventional because our main theme in this music
video is dancing so that location goes well with the
theme and in result makes it look professional.
16. *
* Costume, hair and make-up is important when considering
how it is on the characters as well as the artist because
this can lead to trend sets if the artist is popular enough
and could result in the audience following in the style of
the artist in order to build a relationship with them. Brands
are also key when it comes to costume as it could
determine what clothing an artist may wear in order to
perceive a certain representation of themselves to the
audience. Dyer’s theory expresses that consumers may
aspires to be like the artist in order to generate a relation
between them and therefore will change their lifestyles to
mimic that of an artist.
* The characters were wearing casual comfortable clothing
that is what you would expect from dancers to relate to
their target audience
* The artist was dressed in casual clothing as this best
represented his personality and attitude. In result we
wanted the audience to be able to relate to the artist
because of this. We wanted the artists to look a bit like
Cee lo Green from Gnarles Barkley so our artist would have
no make-up and minimal hair if any on his head.
17. *
* Positioning is important for the artist as
well as the characters because the way
how someone is positioned could affect
various things, for example the lighting
may not catch the artist well if in a certain
position. In my music video the position of
my artist does not change. Although there
is movement, it doesn’t consist of the
artist moving positions across the room.
Similar to Example’s song Kickstarts, he
was placed in the centre of the room. By
doing this it allows the cameraman to
capture various angles of the artist making
him the centre of attention and in result
will help to build a relationship with the
audience. Furthermore Dyer expresses that
it can be used to help enhance or create
star persona.
18. *
*
Editing is important in music videos because it shows the
transitions between each moving image and establishes a
rhythm to the song. It also shows how one scene can
progress into another if the music video is narrative based. I
believe it is important to think about editing especially in
music videos because just like cinematography it is another
way to receive a response from the audience and make
them fell emotional. It is also important to have the pace of
the editing follow the pace of the music otherwise it
doesn’t flow as well as Goodwin suggested.
* Various editing techniques that were used in our video are:
Various jump cuts of the artist standing behind the white
background as this showed a great effect and looked really
good as he continuously sang the song while jumping from
one part of the room to another. This is conventional to the
house genre because we cleverly use this technique to
quickly progress through a narrative.
* Fast-paced editing to go with the various dancers in front of
the graffiti background because the fast pace editing
followed the pace of the music so they complement each
other.
Example does this really well with his song ‘Kickstarts’ as he
uses various editing techniques in order for the editing to
follow the pace of the music.
19. *
*
*
*
The song our group decided to use for our music
video is by Ben Pearce and it is called 'what I
might do'. The reason we decided to choose this
as our platform is because that this song has a lot
of potential for a well created and professional
music video to be made to complement the song
which I think our group was able to achieve.
Furthermore the genre of the song is house so the
genre is starting to become more popular and will
continue to increase its target audience.
The lyrics of the song can be interpreted in
various ways which is perfect for us as they would
really compliment the ideas we discussed on using
in our video.
I created a concept/narrative/performance based
video in order to go with the chosen song and the
sounds of it in order to create a story that relates
to our target audience. Because the lyrics are
repetitive and vague I wanted to make them have
meaning. It is also to this layout why we were
able to follow Goodwin's theory of music videos
and we were able to follow certain technical
elements such as the pace of the editing to match
the visuals.
