Initial research completed before any planning of music video began. Including my knowledge with a brief overview of music video's, textual analysis', the link between visuals and rhythm, Promo Vs Art, Institutions, Controversy and Narrative.

1. Scott Williams
This presentation will cover the
subjects and topics that have
been discussed during classes
for my A2 project, showing my
knowledge during the early
stages of research.

2.  When we first discussed the topic of music
videos, we looked through the timeline and
development of how they came to be what they
are today, we looked through how television
shows such as Top of The Pops helped to
advertise this form of media.
 We covered how different artists began to
experiment with the idea of introducing a full
narrative to the videos, with Michael Jacksons
Thriller being the first to add a lengthy story
behind a music video.

3.  For this, we spent some time covering how music videos can be
categorised and defined by their genre, the representation that they use,
the audience and the ideology’s or stereotypes that are exploited.
 The first music video was from 50 cent, with ‘Window Shopper’
 My notes –Genre (Hip-Hop/Rap)
 Representation (50 cent is shown as a powerful and ‘flashy’ figure, through
the use of his very expensive car and how he is waited on by a few of the
other members within the video. 50 is also represented as almost
animalistic, with scenes such as when he takes somebody else's ‘girl’
away from them, showing off his power etc.)
 Language (Within the video very bright and vibrant colours are used,
along with very wide angle shots above the city, giving a very positive
view of the video and of 50 cent)
 Audience (The audience of 50 cents music will often be young black males,
that either admire 50 cents story and his work, or people that admire the
lifestyle that he currently has, wanting to be like him and therefore using
him as a role model.

4.  The next music video that we made notes on was Duality performed by
Slipknot, showing the band and several others trashing a seemingly
abandoned house.
 My notes – Genre (Heavy metal)
 Representation (The band are represented as a very aggressive and
obviously angry force, shown through the simple fact they seem to be
needlessly destroying the building. Also, the use of a ‘horde’ of fans also
helps to symbolise this force)
 Language (The colour of the video is very dark and grainy, linking in with
the bands personality and the language of the song, the shots are taken
through a handheld camera that is almost constantly shaking with the
scene, and along with the fast paced editing it gives the representation of
the chaos that is happening)
 Audience (A large portion of Slipknots fan base will be aggressive adults
or older teenagers {based on the content of the videos} and this is
reflected in the choice of ‘accomplices’ during the sequences of the video.
To the audience that enjoy this side of Slipknot, they may feel as though
they are letting their aggression out through this song.

5.  Along with the textual analysis of individual
music videos, we looked at different theory’s
that have been made about music video’s and
similar such creations, such as Andrew
Goodwin’s theory of the 6 factors to be
included in a music video and Roland Barthes
theory from Death of the Author, saying that
each time a reader (or in the case of music
videos, viewer) they essentially re-write it
when they take in their own interpretations of
it, therefore becoming an author themselves in
their own right.

6.  One very specific aspect that we looked into within
music videos is the way in which the images you see
on screen link in with what you hear in the music. This
is done to make the editing seamless to the audience,
becoming smooth and generally more of an experience
for them.
 The strongest example of this that we watched was
from the music video ‘Star Guitar’ from the Chemical
Brothers, directed by Michel Gondry. The music video
is one continuous shot from the view of a train
passenger with various objects appearing from the
window at the exact points as beats appear in the song.
Watching the vide demonstrates how strong the link
between the two aspects can be.

7.  As we looked into the various types of music video, we discussed against
various videos whether the production of music videos are solely for the
promotion of the song or artist, or whether they are made as a form of art,
and the link this has to the genre or stereotype of the music being made.
 To begin with we looked into examples of Chris Cunningham's work as a
director. We watched a selection of his videos including;
 "Come To Daddy" (1997) video for Aphex Twin
 "All Is Full of Love" (1999) video for Björk
 "Come On My Selector" (1998) video for Squarepusher
 "Frozen" (1998) video for Madonna
 We discussed the differing style from the first 3 videos to Madonna’
music video ‘Frozen’, noting the very large difference in style due to
Madonna’s position in the media and the need to keep her star image.
This can be seen in the video through the fact that the entire video focuses
on Madonna herself lip syncing the song rather than the narrative style
that Cunnigham brings into his other pieces, although still seems very
artistic in the manor it is done.
 We spoke about how the first videos help to argue the side that music
videos can be made as works of art, mainly through the way in which
mise-en-scene is used and manipulated during the music videos, in order
to create various emotions to the audience. For example, ‘Come to Daddy’
uses many techniques to make the audience feel very uncomfortable and
at unease whilst watching it, through the use of mise-en-scene.

8.  We then moved on to argue that music videos are made fro the promotion of
the music/artist being portrayed. Looking into how many music videos are
made to fit the stereotype of the genre and therefore made to match the
demographic that are likely to be watching them. Noting how many cliché’s
can be found in music videos for the purpose of promotion, from the way in
which the band is portrayed whilst performing etc. to the way that the videos
can be edited to make them fit the stereotype of what viewers expect.
 We looked back at 50 cents ‘Window Shopper’ Video, speaking about how
throughout the video he is shown off to be an extremely flashy artist and in
an ideal position, and how this will in turn make the demographic aspire to
him, through this use of his ‘star image’, and as the demographic aspire to
him then they are likely to purchase his products as a result.
 Then looking at the Auteur of an artist or director, when they use an aspect or
similar style throughout their work, and noting that this can be used as a
promotional tool as well as being an artistic trait of the person involved.
 And concluding that there are certain examples that prove or disprove either
side of the argument of promotion against art, so neither one is in the right
but in fact, both types of video become appropriate for different situations; for
a musical artist that believes their work is art in itself, they would want a
music video to suit, and vice verca for the other side of the argument.

9.  As we moved on to discuss the promotion of music
and their artists, we spoke about the different
institutions and particularly music cannels that fit with
each genre. Examples include MTV, TMF, KISS etc.
 We looked at the logo’s for each and noticed that we
could often link this with their genre of music just by
the colours and representation used.
 With MTV’s logo, you can see that it uses bold and
modern designs along with a slightly ‘punky’ text with
the ‘TV’. This shows that not only is the logo helping to
represent the type of genre that is being showed, but
also the common audiences that
will be watching the shows.

10.  We then talked about how this changes the
way that music videos themselves are made,
and how they use this form to increase their
star image.
 In general, music video’s shown on specific
channels tend to have a similar ‘blue-print’ to
them, often with a switch between narrative
and performance based footage. Which heavily
links in with the star image again, since this
will be a large part of the performers views.

11.  The narrative of a music video can very often be the
main focus of a music video, and some artists and
producers use this to produce extremely engaging and
inventive or controversial story lines to their songs.
 We looked at Eminem’s music video for ‘Stan’, in
which it shows the story of a fan going to extremes in
contacting Eminem, and ultimately committing suicide
and killing his pregnant wife. This became
controversial for obvious reasons and subsequently
became a very popular music video, and remains so to
this day. The song itself was played as if it were
dialogue from the characters which increases the effect
of this narrative structure, making it feel exceedingly
like a short film. The narrative is built up in the same
manor as a short film would be, with mise-en-scene
being used in the same way, particularly with the
setting and shots used.

12.  We followed from this topic onto how controversial
and extreme music video’s can help sell a song or artist,
and how this is affected by censorship within the
video.
 In the Eminem example, the popularity that was
gained from the controversial music video was huge,
and this amount of promotion is sometimes only
gained through the nature of the music video, since
otherwise people may have overlooked the song,
despite the artists popularity at the time.
 Other similar examples include Madonna-justify my
love, Justin Timberlake ft Nelly-Work it, Prodigy-
smack my bitch up and Tattoo-All the things she said,
all of which include sexual tendencies that classed
them as controversial, with most needing cuts to be
shown on television, or were simply not shown at all.
But along with this the videos brought a lot of attention
to the artist and tracks, through the controversy linked
in with them.