1. Toyin Giwa Media Studies
The Music Video Industry
A music video is a short film integrating a song and different camera shots,
produced for promotional or artistic purposes.
Modern music videos are mainly made and used as a marketing device
intended to promote the sale of a song. Music videos use a wide range of
styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action filming,
documentaries, and non-narrative approaches. Some music videos blend
different styles, such as animation and live action. As seen from Kanye West’s
music video ‘Good Morning’, he was able to use intertextuality from his
previous album cover using a similar bear pictured wearing glass, and
therefore made his whole video animated. This type of music video integrated
well with the song’s lyrics
showing the bear (Kanye
West) going about his day as
a normal human. Using
intertextuality based on his
own album’s fashion Kanye
West was able to interpret
images and scenes from his
song’s lyrics, while others take
a more thematic approach.
Other music videos can be
filmed without a set concept,
being a filmed version of the
song live performance, known
as a performance music video.
There are 3 stages in a music production which are:
-Pre-Production
This is known as the first stage of making a music video. In the music industry
first thing to do
is to choose a
production
company which
the record label
can work with
and know will
produce a good
video and be
known by the
public. If a
2. Toyin Giwa Media Studies
famous artist was to choose a production company which isn’t well known,
then the public may think they aren’t worth watching because their reputation
isn’t good. It probably will not be of good standard and the audience might not
enjoy it and want to watch it. It also includes hiring the crew and
building/planning sets. In this stage there should also be ideas and a story
board in mind with a structured plan of how it will all go about. This should be
discussed with the crew and production company. This could take several
months to get right and have several meetings with everyone involved. Then
the budget is made in order to restrict certain things.
-Production
At this stage more crew will be hired to help with
the production of the video, and then once they
know everything is in place, filming with the artist
can begin. Hundreds of takes will be taken so
that they have plenty of footage to work with
and create the video. This is probably the most
important part of the production process,
because if this part goes wrong then the entire
video will go wrong and the video may not be
made, wasting a lot of money. It is
also possible that they will begin to
make the video, or even be half way
through, and they will not like it, and
have to begin completely again.
However, as the video will have been
drafted and planned so many times
this barely happen.
-Post-production
The final stage is where the video is put together and edited. If special effects
are needed then this will happen at this stage as well. The video will then be
duplicated hundreds of times ready for different formats and also ready for
distribution, making its availability fit the advanced proliferation of modern
technology. Parts of the video may also be used for advertising the video.
The purpose of music videos is to make profit, and this profit takes the form of
financial gain. The main purpose of a music video to the artist and their record
label is to promote their music. When a video accompanies a song, the
exposure of the single will automatically double. While the song can only be
played on the radio and audio-only Internet services, such as iTunes, having a
video to go with it means the song can also be played on sites such as
YouTube and Vevo. Companies are aware that when word of the mouth
3. Toyin Giwa Media Studies
occurs, most of the audience are likely to share a video than an audio file, to
talk about a video. To most artists this could mean more recognition, allowing
them to get their message or self image across with more power. For a record
company, the music video gives them the opportunity to exploit synergy,
including products as well as behind the scenes as seen from Rihanna’s video
uploaded on her YouTube account. This also allows them to earn more
revenue, or place controversial images beside a song that, when it’s just
listened to, doesn’t have as much of a shocking imprint on them.
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