This document provides guidance for a case study assignment on music video production. It is split into three tasks. Task 1 addresses the purposes of music videos and strategies employed by artists. Task 2 focuses on styles, techniques and conventions of music video production. Task 3 requires analyzing at least three music videos considering Tasks 1 and 2. The document provides learning outcomes, assessment criteria, and tips for completing the case study. It includes questions to help structure responses for Tasks 1 and 2 regarding music video purposes, branding, synergy, techniques, genres and intertextuality.

1. +
Music Video Production
Case Study
Spacehulk

2. +
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

3. +
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.

4. +
Unit 29 – Music Video Production
Assessment Criteria
 The assessment criteria addressed by this case study, further
details are in your project brief:

5. +
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.

6. +
Task 1 - Purposes

7. +
Task 1 - Purposes
 Sales -The music video is meant to reach out to people and make them want to buy the
music of the band and it will make others want to buy other music/albums from the band
and to get a bigger audience in lots of different markets at the same time . It may also
encourage people to pay to see them perform om concerts. Videos as a marketing tool
have become powerful enough to break new artists and kick start their careers and this
massive exposure generates lots of revenue.
 Branding - Branding is the way a band make a style themselves and /or create an identity
of its own so it can stand out from the others in the market. This makes people want to buy
the music as people are often looking for new trends from musicians and a strong visual
brand/style can be conveyed in both a bands music and look. It can also let the viewer
understand which music genre the band is part of ie Rock/Goth/Rap. Music video is also a
way a band can protect their image from being copied by others and a bands style is linked
with them.
 Entertainment - The music video is meant to entertain so that people come back and listen
to more of the bands music. A good music video can start and artists/bands following as
viewers are eager to see more from the band. More people watch music videos then
download them as it is easy to listen to them for free from the internet via viewing platforms
like YouTube.

8. +
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?
 Some of the broader purposes of the music video is to sell the artist/band
to the audience and show them off. Some of the strategies used by groups
and large labels is to sign up young attractive talented performers. Labels
they understand that if you have an attractive band appearing in a music
video will make more people want to see them in the video. Young boy
bands are a common way of using this strategy as they often get a
massive young girl following who become obsessed by them and buy
almost everything they put out. An example of this are bands like One
Direction but these are one of many other examples over the years are the
Jonas brothers, Take That and Back Street Boys. Each member of the
band is marketed with their own distinct personality and look to catch the
attention of as many different people as possible.

9. +
There are lots of visual differences between bands/artists promoted by major labels compared
to independent labels. Major labels have huge budgets for the videos they produce compared
to independent labels so videos made by major labels appear much more slick and polished
in comparison to indie videos. Indie videos look lower in budget and have a home made feel.
A good example of the difference in quality is the Thriller
videohttps://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Thriller+video&&view=detail&mid=8E0893D58A
0E4E68F3AC8E0893D58A0E4E68F3AC&FORM=VRDGAR produced by Epic Records
compared to Oasis’s first video Shakermaker.
http://www.totallyfuzzy.net/ourtube/oasis/shakermaker-video_48bbb4620.html produced by
their indie creation records. The Oasis video is a very basic performance compared to Thriller
which is like a mini movie and employed a movie Director to direct it John Landis.
Indie musicians have embraced this low budget style and use it as a hallmark of new talent
and creativity and many low budget videos can be just as creative and entertaining as the big
budget music videos like Fatboy slims Praise You produced by indie label Skint Records
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=is+fatboy+slim+praise+%23&&view=detail&mid=2936
4AF2462AD8E377C929364AF2462AD8E377C9&rvsmid=1AAE717E68FD388C63591AAE71
7E68FD388C6359&fsscr=0&FORM=VDQVAP

10. +
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 in the music industry is when a brand/product/movie partner up with an artist and mix
together to make a music video so both can mutual benefit together increasing both profiles. This
is often done using an artist to be the face of something to the point when you think of one you
think of the other an example of this is Wills Smiths music video ‘Men in Black’ that also promoted
the movie of the same name and both stared him. The video is like a promo for the movie.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=men+in+black+will+smith+music+video&&view=detail&mi
d=008F6752C5367BDF0274008F6752C5367BDF0274&FORM=VRDGAR
 Pepsi has created synergy with number of famous artists like Michael Jackson, Beyonce Brittany
Spears & Pink and create adverts that are music videos
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=michael+jackson+pepsi+video&&view=detail&mid=718A6
FAA8B227D4F4A51718A6FAA8B227D4F4A51&FORM=VRDGAR
 The Song Skyfall by Adele makes you think of the James Bond movie Skyfall every time you hear
it and promote both the artist and the movie.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Adele+Skyfall+&&view=detail&mid=9F66220A023A47336
7B19F66220A023A473367B1&FORM=VRDGAR


11. +
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.
 I chose the band Oasis. In their music videos they present themselves as indie rock
stars. Their brand is very linked to Indie British rock which emerged in the early 90’s
and many see them as icons of this genre. This brand mainly appeals to people a
little older then me 20-50 but I feel that people younger can find in enjoyable as I did
when I was 11. They styled themselves as working class ‘lads’ who were stylish
and ‘mad for it’ and their look and style was easy for their followers to achieve (as
many of their fans wanted emulate it). Liam the lead singer had lots of charisma and
a strong mod style which appeal to many young men also because their look and
music was so accessible the band became massive .

12. +
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 Directions video has a higher production value as there is a lot of effort gone into the
special effects in the video as they are seamless which show the video had an extremely
large budget as these effects are expensive. The One Direction video is designed to make it
sell to teen girls and the stars faces are everywhere there's no scene where there is not a
band members face. With the Animal Collective video its more about the music and visuals
but the videos has a low production value so its harder to watch and understand (no story) the
video does contain special effects but these are very basic and low budget and look like they
could have been produced on a home computer. Animal collective for me has a more artistic
value and is more impressive as its has a more individual creative feel. When One Direction is
making a video it has a specific target market in mind and tries directly to appeal to this
market so the purpose of this video is to sell more, this type of video is not going to make you
think or give you a different way of thinking its to pacify you and make you turn off your brain
and get lost in the music and for young girls to dream of meeting the band. The Animal
collective video shows that they are modern and creative and are at the cutting edge of what's
new in music which elevates their status in the indie crowd and boosts their profile and as
they hide their images in the video they are telling their fans they are all about the music.

13. +
Task 2 – Styles, Techniques
and Conventions

14. +
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
 In music videos a number of different types of shot can be used,
medium close up, close ups, extreme close up, wide angled shots,
panning shots, low angles shots, fade out shots tracking shots &
cut aways . The camera work in two videos are very different as
for the One Direction video it is mostly focused on the band
members so there's a lot of tracking shots and medium, close up
and extreme close up shots all the camera work is focused on or
around them (the band) and is very smooth and professionally
produced. Animal Collective have there camera focused on the
band but not in any detail. The whole video focuses on the 3 band
members playing their keyboards the camera will occasionally
zoom in then zoom out. The overall image is made up different
shots spliced together with some cut aways to other band
members and some zoomed in close ups.

15. +
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
 In both videos they edited the music video for the style and genre of the band. In One
Direction every shot is focused on the band members so they have tracking shots and
focus on the bands faces and the video is edited so the band members change into each
other using computer graphics, with Animal Collective it’s a lot more free form as there is
more focus on what is going on screen and is more about the visual so keeps a wide shot
most of the time. In in both videos they don’t really edit there video to the beat as others
would (an example of this is POW by Lethal Bizzle
http://www.popscreen.com/v/5WRJX/LETHAL-BIZZLE-POW-2011-OFFICIAL-
VIDEO).ideos . Both videos mentioned have been enhanced by using post production
techniques in the Animal collective video they have used some basic overlays and filters to
achieve the look of the video, In the one D video they have used morphing graphics in post
production. Editing can create meaning as depending on what is going on in the video it
might make the audience think of something more then the music video and also give a
feeling or impact to a line in a song. A good example of a well edited music video is Bjork
‘Its oh so quiet’ that uses good editing techniques to give a one take old Hollywood feel to
the video and also uses good editing techniques as it speeds up and slows down
depending on the tempo of the fast and slow parts of the song.

16. +
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
 Many bands these days use cool and interesting ways of filming their
music video for example the band Okgo used a drone to film their music
video this is very different to earlier music from before 2000 as most bands
did not have this technology (or budget) to do this so they had to use other
things for example the song Masterplan (1995) by Oasis uses animation to
communicate there message. The internet and boom of technology has
made making and watching music videos easy and accessible for
everyone you can buy editing software now that can be installed on a
home computer like premier pro you can learn editing techniques using
YouTube tutorials and internet guides using . You are able to view these
videos online as previously you have to see it on a music TV channel and
you would have to wait for all week for a show to come on TV

17. +
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…
 Britpop has a lot of interesting conventions as they use a lot of British
imagery for example red white and blue, union Jacks, mod symbolism,
track suits. trainers and working class references like football and
casual lad/culture. Brit pop was essentially guitar based rock/pop with
attitude and a nod to the 60’s and had an urban sound taken from the
emerging Manchester indie music scene.

18. +
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?
 “Transcript of INTERTEXTUALITY IN MUSIC VIDEOS. Intertextuality refers
to the process of creating references to any kind of media text via another
media text. It essentially means that it has a type of link to another media which
could be film, television or music to pay homage to another media text”
 An example of this Kate Bushes Wuthering Heights that she took direct
inspiration from the Emily Bronte’s book Wuthering Heights and paid homage
to this in her song.
 Another example is Michael Jacksons Thriller video that is directly inspired by
the Horror B Movies. The video actually starts in a movie theatre and is
directed by John Landis who directed the film American Werewolf in London.

19. +
Task 3 – Case Study

20. +
Task 3 – Case Study
 For your individual case study you are required to prepare material on a
minimum of three music videos.
 Oasis: live forever
 M8: outro
 Foster the people: pumped kicks
 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

21. +
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

22. +
Task 3 – Case Study
 Oasis: live forever
 https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=music+video+oasis%3a+live+forever&view=detail&mid=9AA7A1DB52C6521F20409AA7A1DB52C6521F2040&FORM
=VIRE
 Purpose of the video was to introduce the band to a wider audience as this was Oasis’s third Uk single and the band where gaining a
growing following so as a newly emerging band they had to show potential fans what the bands sound, look and overall style was. The
attitude of the band was part of their success and part of what made people seek out the video so this attitude needed to be seen in the
video. The video has a very indie arty home made look to it and Liam the lead singer features heavily as he has a strong personal look it
gives the video the Britpop look. There isn’t really a story to the video (although they do bury the drummer who then comes back to life)
the video is more of a metaphor that if you make a great song you will live forever in your music.
 Style used is indie homemade
 Techniques employed in this video are lots of clips/cuts of the band in slightly weird ways an, liam sat on a chair high up on a wall, use of
a green over lay on black and white film as the band walk through the image. Lots of strong images are used as there are lots of the cuts
to the band posed in different ways. Liam plays a major part of the feel of the video as he sings directly into the camera with attitude.
There are also a few performance shots.
 Intertextuality Liam is viewed as the style icon of the Britpop fashion/music movement
 Camerawork used almost hand held and uses lots of close ups, extreme close ups and tracking shots
the editing technique is lots of cuts showing the band then cutting to an image graffiti, sparks, guitars
 Genre conventions of this video are Britpop

23. +
Task 3 – Case Study
 M83: Outro
 https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=music+video+M8%3a+outro+&&view=detail&mid=25A33D8FEA117D8D1E9625A33D8FEA117D8D1E96&FORM=VRDGAR
 Purpose of the video is to show them as a credible art based band and possibly to show their ability to create music to images as they eventually moved
onto creating movie sound tracks like Oblivion and Divergent. Band member Gonzalez said about the album this song was from “its written like a
soundtrack to an imaginary movie with different ambiances, different atmospheres, different tempos, different orchestrations and different
instrumentation.... When I make an album it's always about nostalgia, melancholy in the past and memories. This feel is represented in this video which
is very heavily produced and must have had an extensive budget as it Stars Kirsten Dunst and the photography and special effects are very high quality.
When I first watched it I thought it had no narrative and the images represented the feel of the music rather than having a meaning its only as the video
ends you understand the video is a story of one woman coming to terms with the end of the world whilst another is unable to.
 Style used is Slick like a Fantasy Sci-Fi movie
 The majority of the techniques employed in this video revolve around the acting of the characters and the addition of special effects for example Kirsten
Dunst in the first shots looks distressed but as the video progresses she looks calmer and more resigned to her fate. The special effects show the worlds
colliding and causing the end of the world which gives the video an epic sci-fi feel.
 Intertextuality – Kirsten Dunsts performance in the video has now linked them both together.
 Camerawork is focused on the characters in most shots using wide shots, medium close ups and extreme close ups there are a few tracking shots as
well. The edits have created a very filmic style that is beautiful to watch almost like a fantasy sci-fi movie as lots of the scenes in isolation look like
artworks. The introduction of great special effects evelate the videos quality.
 Genre conventions for the band are Shoegaze and Synthpop

24. +
Task 3 – Case Study
 Foster the people: pumped kicks
 https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=music+video+Foster+the+people+pumped+kicks+official&&view=detail&mid=6DE636FD2CF9AC1A22776DE636FD2CF9AC1A2277&FORM=VRDGAR
 Purpose of the video is to introduce the 3 band members to a wider audience as this was their first release. The video also creates a
brand for the band of a laidback hip LA band of cool musicians. The video consists of a mix of performance and lifestyle video as it show
them playing concerts to small crowds and the video also promotes all three members as laidback fun loving musicians. The video does
this as it shows them in the studio and in their down time between performances surfing and playing Frisbee. The strategy behind this
video is to brand them as cool not commercialized/manufactured real musicians enjoying what they are doing to convey a Hip lifestyle
that is very appeal to create the band a following. The video has no story line to it
 Style used is indie low budget hand made almost documentary style.
 The majority of the techniques employed in this video revolve around the bands performance on stage and their cool lives off stage to
create a very cool LA low key vibe.
 Intertextuality –the song refers to a kid who when on a shooting rampage due to not being able to have the most fashionable trainer so
trainer fashion is linked to this video
 Camerawork is as it happens music documentary style and looks like it is made on a phone or handheld camera and involves lots of
close ups, mid shots wide angle shots and sweeping shots. Editing of the video is is lots of cuts between different venues both on stage
and behind the scenes of their tour give a documentary type feel as it feels very intimate.
 Genre conventions indie pop and alternative dance