This document provides guidance for a case study assignment on music video production. It outlines the learning outcomes and assessment criteria for the case study. The document is split into three tasks. Task 1 addresses the purposes of music videos and strategies used by labels and artists. Some key purposes discussed are entertainment, branding/identity, and sales. Task 2 focuses on styles, techniques and conventions of music video production. Task 3 involves analyzing at least three music videos considering what was discussed in Tasks 1 and 2. Notes are provided on completing the case study, including using images and examples to support points. Questions for Task 1 examine the core purposes of music videos and broader strategies employed by different types of artists.

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Music Video Production
Case Study
Natalie Lynch

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Unit 29 - 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

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Unit 29 – Music Video Production
 Learning outcomes, this case study is concerned with the first
two learning outcomes of the unit:
1. Understand the purpose of music videos
2. Understand the styles, conventions, and techniques of music
videos
3. Be able to originate and plan a music video production for a
specific music track
4. Be able to work to complete production of a music video.

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Unit 29 – Music Video Production
Assessment Criteria
 The assessment criteria addressed by this case study, further
details are in your project brief:

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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.

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Task 1 - Purposes

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Task 1 - Purposes
• Q1 - Outline the 3 core purposes of music video with a short explanation
for each:
• Entertainment – This is usually the most common reason why a music
video is made. It gives a visual representation of the specific song and
attracts the audience by including different features that they will like and
find more interesting.
• Branding / Identity – This is where the artist shows or creates their own
individual image through the music video. It can reflect their personality or
unique style. The existing audience may want to mirror this image but it
also might bring in new audiences too.
• Sales – By putting a music video out for viewing, it means that the artist
will receive more recognition and publicity so therefore is highly likely to
reach higher sales if people like what they hear / see. If they release the
video through a different platform or through someone else who is well
known, then their audience is likely to grow resulting in more sales.

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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?
• One of the broader purposes of music videos is that it allows the artist availability of
not having to play live. Their music videos are usually of a live performance or
something constructed to be similar which can give the audience a feel which is
almost the same as if they were seeing them live.
• Another purpose is that the audience can interpret a video what ever way they want
to. The music video is there to represent the song so that it can be seen visually and
this may help the watchers / listeners understand the song more. It also may pass
through a message which may attract more of the same audience or even a new
audience.
• Music videos can also be produced in order to increase sales of other products to
make them come across more popular. Some companies ask artists to use a certain
product in their videos or the artist just includes a particular product anyway and this
can highly increase sales as their audiences will want to use it too.

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Task 1 - Purposes
• Q2 – What are some of the broader purposes of music videos?
• A highly effective reason that some music videos are made is to
reinforce a political view or social message. This way, awareness
is created or increased and then people are left to interpret it in
anyway that they would like to. It can also give a huge impact as
people may be more willing to help if they see that a well known
person is talking about it and maybe helping too.
• Artists may create or be in a collaboration with other artists as
means of promotion. By including the other artist in the same
music video, it will bring both the main audience and the other
artist’s audience together and each artist may gain more followers
and fans by doing this.

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Task 1 - Purposes
• Q3 – Describe what is ‘synergy’ is and how it has been used in music
videos [min. 3 examples of synergy and convergence]
• Synergy is where different elements of a media conglomerate (a thing
that is made up of a number of parts that are all grouped together
somehow) work together in order to create new products across
different media. It is often useful as it creates a greater effect than both
individual things alone and most likely causes increased popularity
and awareness of the products.
• Convergence is the coming together of all mass communication
outlets within the media. This includes the internet, print, television,
radio, as well as portable and interactive technologies through
different media platforms.

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Task 1 - Purposes
• Q3 – Examples
• The first example is that a music video may feature clips or be based entirely around a film.
Sometimes a soundtrack will be made for a film and the main song will have a music video
created in order to help promote and increase awareness of the film. A music video to show this
is Celine Dion’s ‘My heart will go on’. This is a very well known song which music video features
clips from ‘Titanic’. By doing this, both media products have massively helped with increase the
popularity of one another.
• Another example is merchandise from films. This is not always done straight away however if a
film proves to be highly popular, merchandise is created in order to re-boost or just to keep sales
and popularity high for as long as possible. The Harry Potter series has done this and released a
variety of different products that are available to buy worldwide.
• When artists bring out new music it is generally the case that they will tour with that album. This
shows synergy as they will have to work together with various other companies in order to
produce the tour to be the best they need it to be. This will include venues, merchandise
companies, transport, and all other technical things hat they’ll need as well as extras (eg.
dancers, backing singers etc.). All of this will help the band to get promoted as well as all the
other different companies that are involved. Artists that have toured recently are Justin Bieber,
Drake, Catfish and the Bottlemen and many others.

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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.
• The artist I have chosen is Drake.
• Drake’s music falls into the genre of hip hop or contemporary RnB. In his music videos he presents
himself in the typical way this sort of artist would. His videos involve the most common conventions of the
genre he’s in. This involves making everything he has look extravagant – from clothing to cars to houses –
it’s all put there to make him look the best. On the other hand some of his videos include gangs, violence
and isolated locations which can contrast and alter people’s impressions and thoughts on him and his
personality. Some videos objectify females or portray them in a particular way which is again one of the
most popular features of music videos across these two genres. Drake might have included this in his
videos as he knows it’s the basic thing to show and will know it’s popular among his audience.
• Drake’s personal brand ’OVO’ which covers his own clothing brand, his record label ‘OVOSOUND’ and his
annual ‘OVOFEST’ is widely advertised across his videos with himself as well as other people in the
videos wearing items from the clothing range. This involves the simple owl logo which is highly
recognisable by his audience and the hip hop scene, therefore helping to promote the brand through his
own music.

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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.
• In One Direction’s music, the member’s always tend to be on the screen
which is massively different to Animal Collective’s abstract video’s where
their faces aren’t shown much if not at all.
In Animal Collective’s song ‘Brother Sport’, it starts off normal, as
if it had been filmed on a personal camera. It shows two children
running and keeps changing the focus to them throughout the
whole video. Shortly in, more psychedelic graphics are introduced
that are bright and quick moving across the scree, giving a very
abstract feel which will intrigue the viewers. This may be done to
attract their particular audience and shows that they might not
have had a big of a budget as One Direction in their videos.
Animal Collective include a lot of editing and special effects which
is what will make their videos unique.

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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.
In One Direction’s song ‘Steal My Girl’ it starts off with a short
scene where the singers in the group do some acting. This is
already very different to the video from Animal Collective. It
already shows that the two artists have very different aims –
One Direction’s to entertain their audience which is generally
younger teen girls and Animal Collective who’s main aim is to
create an abstract piece which is open to interpretation by
anyone. The One Direction video focuses on the 5 singers
individually and together and shows them in different
scenarios which is meant to be light hearted and funny for
their audience.
This style is shown throughout most of One Directions videos,
however this excludes the more serious songs where they
have a different approach to how the music videos are run.

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Task 2 – Styles, Techniques
and Conventions

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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
• The camera work in music videos generally has a huge impact on how well the music
video turns out and how it’s portrayed by the audience. It gives meaning and expresses
different emotions through the techniques that are used.
• Close Up Shots (Extreme and Medium close ups)
These are one of the most commonly used shots in music
videos. It helps to emphasise the emotion of the song as well as
the message it’s trying to get across by focusing on the person
and their features. It creates a sense of intimacy for the viewer
because they’ll generally be watching from a TV, phone or
computer. This is very similar to extreme close ups which focus
on the artist even more to capture more detail from the facial
features. There’s also use of medium close ups which shows the
artist from chest to head.

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Task 2 – Styles, Techniques and
Conventions
• Q1 – Camerawork
• Mid Shots
Mid shots are when the artist or actor in the music video is
shown from waist height upwards. This focuses mainly on the
person as the subject of the shot but also gives an
impression of location/setting which can affect the overall
feel.
• Wide Shots
Still having the person in the shot taking up a large portion of
the frame however a lot of the time everything is in focus so
that the viewer can see both the person and the location and
how it looks all together.
• Extreme Wide Shots
The location/setting is the main focus of the shot. The artist is
visible but can be barely seen and only shown in minimal
detail. The idea of the artist being so small can emphasise
the location.

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Task 2 – Styles, Techniques and
Conventions
• Q2 - Describe and explain the use of editing in
music videos, i.e. the way in which shots are
sequenced, considering the rhythm of the edit and
combinations of shots and post-production
techniques
• The most popular and common form of editing in
music videos is fast cut montage. This is where a
number of images or short scenes (usually 3
seconds or less) are put together in order to show a
lot of information or to indicate energy/chaos.
• Split screens, colourisation and CGI are all common
ways of editing music videos. This way it can create
and offer different feelings or atmospheres for the
viewer to experience.

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Task 2 – Styles, Techniques and
Conventions
• Q3 - Describe and explain some of the technical
developments in music videos, i.e. in terms of how
the music videos are filmed, edited/produced and
viewed
• High quality and portable video cameras that have
become widely popular and available at home for an
affordable price. This makes it a lot quicker and
easier for artists to create promotional videos still
with good results.
• Video recording and editing processes are a big part
in the development of modern music videos and
therefore effects such as chroma-key and green/blue
screens have been introduced and developed
further.

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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 recognisable
genre and use illustrations to explain what their genre conventions are…
• The genre I have chosen is indie/rock. General conventions of this genre
in music videos are that they usually are shown in black and white. If this
is not the case, then they are mostly set in a dark location or various
locations with low lighting. More conventions include a large number of
close ups and long shots being used, in order to capture the emotion of
the artists performing. Conventions in indie/rock music videos often
include showing the artist performing or acting rather that a strictly
choreographed piece. Sometimes they cut between the two to make it
more interesting. A number of times, special effects are used too. This
could be to do with lighting effects or small alterations.

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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 intertextuality is and find some
examples of it in music videos?
• Intertextuality is the way in which one media text is referenced to another. It
generally means that there’s a type of link to another media product which
could be film, television or music to pay respect/promote another media text.
Parody music videos also show an example of this.
• A more recent example of intertextuality is in Iggy Azalea’s video for ‘Fancy’,
which recreates some of the most recognisable scenes from the film ‘Clueless’.
She tries to recreate the scene by involving a very similar outfit, an American
high school setting and by being on the phone.

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Task 3 – Case Study

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Task 3 – Case Study
 For your individual case study you are required to prepare
material on a minimum of three music videos.
 This should provide discussion on the usage of the following:
 Purpose of the video [consider the strategy of the artist and the
intention behind the video, remember the core purposes and break
this down into the other purposes we discussed]
 Style[s] used
 Techniques employed
 Intertextuality
 Camerawork/editing
 Genre conventions

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Task 3 – Case Study
• Links;
Beyoncé – If I Were A Boy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWpsOqh8q0M
Kanye West ft. Jay Z – No Church In The Wild
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJt7gNi3Nr4
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPf0YbXqDm0
• 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

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Beyoncé – If I Were A Boy
• Purpose – The purpose of the song is to highlight the vulnerability of
women in relationships and how it would be if it was the other way round if
men had the same thoughts as women in tense relationships.
• Genre Conventions – The genre of this song is Pop / R&B and I believe
this is shown and represented well through the different features on
scene. This includes the simple clothing, locations, narrative and actors
that are all stereotypically associated with the specific genre of the song.
• Camerawork – The most common camera shots used in the video are mid
shots and close ups. This is purposely done to capture the emotions of the
characters and how they change and progress throughout the song. The
depth of field in most shots is quite shallow, allowing the viewer to focus
deeply on one main thing at a time.
• Editing – The whole video is shot in black and white which is done in order
to capture the true emotion of the characters. It may also be done to
represent the meaning of the song and the breakdown of the relationship
in the narrative.

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Kanye West ft. Jay Z – No Church
In The Wild
• Purpose – The most common theme throughout this song is trying
to get a message across that you have to fight for yourself as
there is no one else out to save you. This is the basic meaning of
the name of the song ‘No Church In The Wild’.
• Camerawork – Various shot lengths and angles are used during
the video. This is done in order to show the perspectives of each
group. At the start of the video, it focuses on and shows a close up
of someone and what they’re doing but without showing their face,
therefore giving them no identity.
• Editing – Lengths of each shot in the video are all very short, with
only one being over 3 seconds throughout the whole song. This
makes it all very fast paced and highly reflects the content of the
song which is a riot.

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Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars –
Uptown Funk
• Purpose – The purpose of the video / song is to promote the
artists involved with the song and raise awareness of their
music and the genre they fall into.
• Camerawork - The shots in this video vary between long shots,
mid shots and close ups. The singer and the group he’s with
are in the video all the way through and don’t go off camera at
all. Camera shots occasionally are from a low angle, therefore
making the artist look good and like they have power.
• Editing – This is simple throughout most of the song and video.
Simple effects and transitions have been applied to make the
video more interesting and flow with the tempo of the song.