btec media

1. Jake McMann
Unit 29
You are to product a new music video for an upcoming band. But to
obtain the contract you must first impress the band with the depth of
knowledge of music video production
Section One: What is the purpose of a music video?
Music Video Production - Promotional
Making sure a music video receives perfect promotion is a crucial
part of music video production, as it ultimately can result in a music
video being a big hit, or a flop. It is very important that the music
video is known and has received the right amount of attention before
the big premier of the video. We can do this by releasing teasers on
Youtube or having adverts on television. It is often that music videos
are viewed as advertisements for buying the song. Music videos are
specifically designed to draw attention to the song that the video is
for, as well as an artist/band themselves. Music videos mostly appeal
to a visual audience however can quickly become popular amongst
others as well. An example of teaser videos for a music video being released is Madonna – “Bitch I’m Madonna”.
Two teaser videos for Madonna’s new single surfaced online, none of which were official but Madonna later
confirmed that her and her team worked on the teaser videos. If a teaser video for a music video proves popular,
it could be shared hundreds if not thousands of times on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and
Instagram – this increases the attention that the teaser video is receiving even more, and gets the audience
excited for when the full music video is too be released. Below are examples I have spoken about, as you can see
the teaser videos have not been posted on Madonna’s official pages, however this was just a marketing
technique, it heightens attention from the audience as they do not know whether the teaser video is legit or not.
Teaser 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWYXktTTdd4
Teaser 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_Tfiymfb7Y
Extension of Income

2. Jake McMann
Extension is income is self-explanatory, it is extending the income
that you have already received because of the work that has
already been done. Extension of income could include royalties for
a song, this is a payment system which allows artists to get paid
for having their songs played on music radio, the web and even
music
channels.
Artists can
also make
extra money from
their work by including links to iTunes on their YouTube
channels, or on their social media. Music videos can also
sometimes be purchased on iTunes. Further extension of
income is product placement in music videos. In every music
video there is at least one use of product placement, the
most recent example is in Britney Spears new music video, for her song “Make Me”, where there is a lot of Sony
products used throughout the video. A link to this music video is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etfJCm0nfr4. Another example of product placement to extend income in
another popular music video is Miley Cyrus – We Can’t Stop, where in the first 30 seconds of the music video she
has already promoted two popular products; a Beats Pill speaker, and EOS Lip Balm. A link to this music video is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrUvu1mlWco, product placement is used in almost every mainstream music
video at some point. I think it is a great way to generate more income for an artist.
Extension of Outlets
Extension of outlets is basically how the music video is going to be
accessed, and the many different ways it is going to be watched.
One of the most common ways a music video is watched is on
Youtube, the majority of artists have Vevo channels where they
would post their music videos. This is great because Vevo is a well-known brand and the go-to website to watch
music videos. Vevo also has apps for the iPhone, Android phones and even
Smart TV’s, this means that any music video on Vevo would be available to
watch on all of these platforms. Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Adele and
Katy Perry are all artists that have Vevo channels. Beyonce’s VEVO Channel -
https://www.youtube.com/user/beyonceVEVO. Another example of
extension outlets is having the music video promoted on music channels on
TV. Popular music channels include MTV, 4Music and Viva – music channels
are a quick and easy way to get a music video out there. One last example
of extension of outlets is by
using the artist’s website to
promote the music video, an artist that has a website for a music
video is Beyonce. To the left of this text is a screenshot of the
website she has for her song ‘Formation’, it features two options
‘Formation (clean)’ and ‘Formation (dirty)’, once you click on an
option it directs you straight to the music video on Youtube. This

3. Jake McMann
is the only way to access the music video to this song, it is private on Youtube and is only accessible through
Beyonce’s website, this encourages the audience to talk about this as it is a unique way to promote a song,
which heightens media attention which means more attention which ultimately means more profit.
Synergy
Synergy is where two areas of media can work together.
Synergy can be used in any form of media, in the case of a
music video Synergy could mean an artist’s song being used in
a film, or an advert for example. Synergy can increase income
for the artist as well as boost popularity of a music video and
an artist/band. When Synergy is used both the music video as
well as whatever media it is associated with can both be
beneficial. A recent example of popular synergy in a music
video is Adele’s Skyfall, Adele released this song as a single –
and this song was used for a recent James Bond film – Skyfall. The music video features Adele, as well as clips
from the film – the music video also follows the 007
theme from the James Bond films. The song and the
music video proved very successful with, 131 million
views – as well as the film. Another example of Synergy
is music videos is Twenty One Pilots – Heathens, this music video features clips from the film‘ Suicide Squad as
well as clips of the band.
Adele – Skyfall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HKoqNJtMTQ
Twenty One Pilots – Heathens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UprcpdwuwCg
Producers’ Strategies
Major Labels
Producers strategies are usually one of the following three; major label,
independent and artist self-produced.
Universal, Sony Music, Warner Brothers and EMI are the four multi-national
corporations that dominate the music industry, these companies are commonly
referred to as ‘The Majors’. Most of these
companies e.g Universal are backed by
conglomerates – this already links these companies to other industries such as
Electronics, TV and Film. It is often that the major companies license or own
smaller companies, this helps them reach smaller audiences maybe of a
different genre, for example Syco, RCA and Virgin. These companies are named
‘major-independents’. Artists signed to major label Sony Music include; Miley
Cyrus, Daft Punk, Fleur East, Example and Paloma Faith. Being signed to a major
label probably means success, but most of the artists signed to these labels

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started off being signed to a smaller label. All of these four major companies are great at advertising and making
whatever they want popular with the mainstream audience, it is rare that an artist signed to a major label would
fail at success in the music industry. These major labels also give huge budgets for music videos and promote it
anywhere they can. For example – Miley Cyrus’ music video for ‘We Can’t Stop’ has 723 million views on
Youtube, features a lot of product placement showing that the record label she is signed too has connections
with smaller companies that want Miley to promote their products in her video. This can increase income as well
as popularity, Miley Cyrus was instantly a house hold name and her music video became incredibly popular in a
short time, proving that being signed to a major label is extremely beneficial for an artist’s career.
Miley Cyrus – We Can’t Stop - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrUvu1mlWco
Independent Labels
There are a huge number of independent labels that have proven very
popular in the music industry as well. These companies usually have a smaller
amount of acts than major labels do and typically feature artists from the Hip
Hop / Rap / Dance / Electronica genres. An example of a popular
independent label is XL recordings, Adele started out on this label before she
signed a new contract with Sony Music. It is more often than not these labels
are bought out by major labels and then become major-independents when
they have established their brand and had some successful artists signed to
them. Independent producers do not pay as much attention to promoting
their music, they see their
work as art and not an advertisement for the music industry, this
is one of the main reasons independent labels are less popular
and less heard of than some of the major labels I have previous
wrote about. Music from an independent label is usually less
popular than that from a major, possibly because the
conglomerates of the music industry have connections with other
big companies, for example Vevo is owned and operated by
Universal Music Group, Google, Sony Music and Abu Dhabi
media. It is a popular service which features music videos from
three of the big four major label companies: Universal, Sony Music and
EMI. Independent Labels are less likely to have their videos on Vevo
and other music streaming websites such as Spotify. XL Recordings
have recently launched their own streaming service that streams solely
music from their label, http://xlrecordings.com/stream, this service is to
compete with other streaming services such as Spotify, Tidal, Deezer
and Amazon Music – however it hasn’t proved to be very popular.
Music videos from independent labels have a lot smaller budgets than major labels, which can affect the
popularity of the song as well as the artist/band.

5. Jake McMann
Self-Produced Artists
Artist self-produced videos definitely have the smallest
budgets and are typically unknown artists. Making your own
video and putting it on Youtube is easy, if it becomes popular
it can sometimes lead to massive success. Arguably the most
popular artist to start out on Youtube is Justin Bieber, videos
of him singing from a young age were posted on Youtube
which led to him being approached by various different
record labels which resulted in him being very popular from a
very young age. The first video that appeared of Justin Bieber singing on Youtube was very bad quality and was
just filmed by probably a friend or a family member and uploaded, it then went viral and was viewed millions of
times. Youtube is responsible for Justin Bieber’s global success today. Justin Biebers music was discovered by
Scooter Braun in 2008, Scoot Braun then become his manager. Most self-produced artist music videos are very
low budget, and do not feature many affects or costume changes, it is solely just the artist singing and showing
an audience their talent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQOFRZ1wNLw
Section Two: What styles, conventions and techniques are used in the making of a
music video?
Styles
There are many different styles a music video can be, some are more popular and well known than others, below
I have explained these styles as well as included examples.
Synergy
Synergy is where two types of media, or companies
combine to make a video, the video can be promoting both
the music as well as whatever product or other company
has been included in the music video. An example of
synergy is Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You. Many
people forget that this song is actually from the movie ‘The
Bodyguard’ and many just think of it as a single, really it is
both. Whitney Houston originally recorded this song for
the 1992 film ‘The Bodyguard’ but it proved so popular she
later released it as a single as well, the music video features
clips from the film as well as footage filmed specifically for the music video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWTaaS7LdU

6. Jake McMann
Narrative
A narrative music video usually features a story that is
easy to follow. A music video that is purely narrative wouldn’t have any lip-synching in it, the narrative always has
to relate to the song in some way otherwise the audience wouldn’t find it very interesting. I think a narrative
music video becomes popular when the lyrics are reflected in the story that is being told in the music video. A
narrative music video could sometimes fit into a genre of film, the artist or band themselves will appear as part
of the narrative, or watching the narrative themselves. The music video sometimes tells a story which is relatable
and has a deep meaning. Advantages of narrative music videos is that it keeps the audience engaged and it
offers a new side to the song that the music video is for, a disadvantage could be that these type of videos are
costly to produce for the record label. A popular example of a narrative music video is Pink – Who Knew. The
music video features a young couple at a fairground in which Pink is lip-synching to the story of the couple, she
looks on and is an observer in this music video like she is in her song ‘Perfect’ too. This video was released in
2009 so the quality isn’t as good as most recent narrative music videos, however the storyline of this music video
stands out and gives an entire new meaning to the song which wouldn’t be possibly without the music video.
Another music video that follows a narrative by the same artist is ‘Perfect’ again by Pink, this music video
features someone who has been bullied and resorts to self-harm, it is a very emotional music video with a deep
meaning, again Pink features as an observer. She is trying to teach the girl that she shouldn’t let the bullies get
her down, at the end of the music video she appears at a party which the girl who was previously the victim is at,
they wave at each other and it looks as if their friends, this was also a very popular narrative music video with a
very deep meaning. The girl grows up throughout the music video and Pink observes the girl’s life and sings
throughout it.
Pink – Who Knew – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJWIbIe0N90
Pink – Perfect - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3GkSo3ujSY
Surreal

7. Jake McMann
A surreal music video is something that would be out
of the ordinary, the music videos are sometimes
animations but can sometimes be live-action videos
with a lot of special effects. Surreal music videos
appeal to an audience and can sometimes become
very popular because they are so unique. Surreal
music videos are sometimes very controversial and
gain a lot of media attention, but sometimes surreal
music videos can also flop and not be popular at all.
Surreal music videos are very hit and miss, they
either become extremely popular and well-known, or
they aren’t really talked about and gain little
attention. Surreal music videos can be very abstract
and random but usually include a message, and can
sometimes be very artistic. I think if a surreal music video is ambiguous it would be popular as this means it can
be interpreted in different ways and can mean different things to different viewers. An example of a surreal
music video is Die Antwoord – Pitbull Terrier. The meaning of this music video is unknown and the band have
never confirmed what the actual meaning of this video is, but I think that this is why it is so popular, it was very
controversial because of how graphic it is. Most of Die Antwoords career is fuelled by controversy, this is why
they have become so well-known and popular.
Die Antwoord – Pitbull Terrier - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJWIbIe0N90
Parody
Parody music videos are often mimicking something that already
exists, it could be a film, a person or a music video that already
exists. The intention of a parody music video is humour; this is a
very popular style of a music video. Parody music videos can also be
very controversial and can receive a lot of negative media attention.
An example of a parody music video is Eminem ‘We Made You’, this
song features many different lyrics poking fun at different
celebrities, in the music video Eminem is dressed a woman at one
point so he can get with another celebrity. The video also features
people dressed up as different celebrities such as Kim Kardashian,
Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Amy Winehouse. The music video was very controversial with a lot of
celebrities taking offence to the lyrics of the song, however all the controversy and media attention made it one
of the most listened to songs of 2009. The music video also makes fun of the film ‘Star Trek’,
Eminem – We Made You - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSdKmX2BH7o

8. Jake McMann
Animated
Music videos of this style are animated either by stop motion, or more
commonly digitally. Animated videos can also fall into the ‘surreal’ and
‘experimental’ style of music videos. These music videos can appeal to
a wide audience as most videos of this style are unique and most the
animations used are very colourful. An example of a popular animated
music video is Junior Senior – Move Your Feet. The entire music video
is animated, it is very colourful and can also fit into the ‘experimental’
style as it is so unique and different from other animated music videos.
Junior Senior – Move Your Feet -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPlQpGeTbIE
Concert “as live”
This style of music video is basically where the music video is from a
concert in which the artist was performing the song that the music
video is for. This style of music video is popular as it gives the
audience a glimpse of what the artist or band would be like live. An
example of this style of music video is Adele – Set Fire To The Rain
(live at the Royal Albert Hall). This song was released as single from
Adele’s album 21, however the music video for it is Adele performing
the song live at one of her concerts. The live performance was
released as the official music video for the song, making it an ‘in concert’ style music video. The decision to
release this performance as a music video on Adele’s Vevo channel proved very popular, with 286 million views it
is in Adele’s top 10 most viewed videos.
Adele – Set Fire To The Rain (live at the Royal Albert Hall) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri7-vnrJD3k
Homage
A music video of this style is usually a tribute to something,
usually the artist or the band themselves. These type of videos
do not mock other music videos. Ideas for ‘homage’ music
videos are taken a lot of the time from the world of
commercials and advertisement or the real-life happenings of
the world today. A good example of a ‘homage’ music video is
The Greatest – Sia. This music video is paying respect to
everyone that lost their lives or was affected by the Orlando
shooting the happened in the Pulse Nightclub earlier in 2016.
Sia clearly pays her tribute to the LGBT community by the
dancer in the music video painting the rainbow flag on her face
at the start of the music video. Music videos that use ‘homage’ can be very popular as they always have a
message, or feature something that some of the audience can relate too. Obviously everyone in Orlando was
affected by the shootings as well as the entire LGBT community, therefore this music video would have been a
huge interest to anyone part of that community or even anyone that knew about the Orlando shootings.

9. Jake McMann
Sia – The Greatest - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKSRyLdjsPA
Interpretive
An interpretative music video is one where whatever
happens in the video interprets the lyrics of the song, this
makes the videos become quite literal. Interpretive music
videos are sometimes huge success’ as they always reference
to whatever the song is, like a performance for the lyrics in
the song. It gives the audience a new image of the song, as
they can see what the artist meant in the lyrics they sang (or
wrote themselves) visually. Interpretive music videos almost
always have a meaning or a deep message that the audience
can understand through watching the music video. A good
example of an interpretive music video is “Firework” by Katy
Perry. This music video proved to be very popular, with 803
million views. In this music video she appears on top of a
balcony, and fireworks are coming from her chest which
would match with the lyrics ‘you’re a firework’. The entire music video is a metaphor for someone having a
firework inside of them, however the audience get to see this visually through this music video.
Katy Perry – Firework - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGJuMBdaqIw
Pastiche
Pastiche music videos also take inspiration from others,
however in this case it is most likely another artist or bands
style. It is usually a music video with respect for whoever
they are taking inspiration from and is light-hearted. An
example of a pastiche music video is Alejandro by Lady
Gaga which I think took inspiration from Vogue by
Madonna as the style in Lady Gaga’s music video is very
similar to that of Madonna in her music video for Vogue. Lady Gaga’s – Alejandro could also be seen as using
the ‘links to other artist’ convention which is a popular convention used in many other music videos.
Lady Gaga – Alejandro - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niqrrmev4mA

10. Jake McMann
Conventions
Lyric Interpretation
A very important convention of a music video I think is the lyrical
interpretation of the song, as all music videos are based around the
lyrics of a song. Different interpretations always have to be taken into
consideration as different people may have different interpretations of
lyrics. The way that an audience interprets the lyrics of a song may
depend on what they can see visually in the music video. A great
example of a music video that uses lyric interpretation is Rebecca Black
– Friday. The music video to this song very strictly follows the lyrics of
the song, it quickly became one of the most disliked videos on
Youtube ever, with a very negative reaction to how auto-tuned Rebecca Black’s voice is in the song and how
cheesy the music video is, however that aside the directors of this music video clearly only used the lyrics of the
song to create the music video.
Rebecca Black – Friday - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVsfOSbJY0
Extending/Consolidation Song Meanings
This is where a music video uses mise en scene and
symbolism to extend the meaning of the song, to let
the audience see a deeper meaning of the song –
directors often use visual techniques and representation
to do this. However, this convention does not always
give music videos a deeper meaning, sometimes the
song could just be straight forward with a music video
that is straight the point, and easy to understand. An
example of extending/consolidation the meaning of a
song is Lily Allen’s music video to her song ‘LDN’. The
entire song is about the city of London being welcoming and the people that live there being polite and friendly
but all of this being fake. The music video also uses lyrical interpretation as the video follows the lyrics almost
perfectly. The music video explains the lyrics in a basic way but the video has been intelligently edited so
everything that Lily Allen see’s in the music video has 2 perceptions, everything is nice when she looks but when
she walks away everything becomes dark and dull.

11. Jake McMann
Lily Allen – LDN - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmYT79tPvLg
Allusion
Allusion is when the audience is under the illusion that something is
happening however then this turns out to be something it did not
seem at first. Another definition of this could be a music video alludes
to a historic event or even a person. A good example of this is the
2014 Christmas song ‘Do They Know Its Christmas Time’. This music
video alludes to the fight against Ebola. Sometimes in music videos
that use allusion, the final cut can make the audience realize that
something has been happening or the music video has been alluding
to something that they were not aware of. The example I have used
shows children that have been suffering because of the Ebola outbreak as well as artists in a studio performing,
the camera angles and lighting used in this music video is very plain and dull, so the main focus of attention is
the fact that was a serious problem.
Band Aid 30 – Do They Know Its Christmas? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w7jyVHocTk
Techniques
Cutting to Beat
Cutting to beat is a common technique used in music videos
where the shot changes specifically to the beat of the song that
the music video is for. This could mean that the pace of the
song matches the pace of the music video, if the song was fast
the music video would match this and vice versa. An example of
this is Adele – Rolling in the Deep, where the shot sometimes
cuts at the start of a line in the song, this happens more at the
start of the music video. I think that this is an important
technique to use when making a music video as it reminds the audience that the music video was created for
that song, this can often make the audience focus on the song even though they are watching a music video.
Adele – Rolling in the Deep - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEDA3JcQqw
Miming and Lip Synch
It is more often than not that a music video includes some sort of lip-synching at some point, the artist would
need to mime the lyrics to the song that the music video is for so that when the audio was added to the video, it
runs in line and syncs perfectly. If the video does not sync properly with the artist miming it can look very
unprofessional and is less likely to be popular amongst the audience as well as receiving a lot of negative media
attention.

12. Jake McMann
Multi-Image
This technique means that more than one image is shown on
the screen at the same time. This technique being used in a
music video means that more than one idea, or
representation can be on the screen for the audience to see
at the same time. It is often that the images shown in the
music video contrast with each other. A music video that uses
the multi-image technique is Eminem – Without Me.
Eminem – Without Me - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVkUvmDQ3HY
Chroma Key
Chroma Key is where the footage used in a
music video has been filmed in a studio
before being edited for the music video, most
likely in front of a green screen or a blue
screen. In editing a second image is added
behind the artist/band and used as a
background, this could make editing easier
and the music video more interesting as more
effects could be used. It can also cut the
budget, instead of travelling to a location you
can edit the location in using a green or blue screen. Part of the music video to Ed Sheeran’s song ‘The A Team’
was filmed using this technique in a studio,
Ed Sheeran – The A Team - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAWcs5H-qgQ
Jake McMann