Digipack
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Monday, 1 March 2010
Friday, 18 September 2009
Section 1: Initial notes on music video
From the point of view of the public, music videos are seen as purely light entertainment. The majority of music videos make the artist seem sexy and as a piece of eye candy to an intended audience. They also demonstrate post-modernism, by using signifiers such as superficiality, irony, playfulness, emptiness and of a serious meaning. Another way a music artist can connect with it's audience is through humour.
However, from the point of view of the record company, music videos are purely for promotion and for advertising the band. Sometimes they advertise other things too, like a film. If an artist agrees to put one of their songs to the soundtrack of a film, most likely the music video will have clips from the film in it. Overall, the aim of the music video is to raise visibility of the band, almost like a visual radio. The music video can then be shown on music TV channels, like MTV; which is famous for beginning the trend for a channel showing only music videos.
The most common element to be used in music videos is some sort of a performance involving the singer and instruments, which usually shows the artist miming/lipsynching live or in a studio. This is important for their star image as it allows them to bond with their audience. A good way of achieving this bond is having the artist singing to the camera. Another element that's frequently used is a storyline/narrative, which conveys some sort of message or meaning. Sometimes both performance and storyline elements are used, using a cross-cutting effect between each scene. For the music video to be successful and praised by critics and the fans, it needs to be stylish. The video's style needs to reflect the style of music, whether that's in the special effects, montage editing, camera use/shots or mise-en-scene. Sometimes artists choose to put extra sound on the video, which isn't in the CD version of the song.
The basic function or purpose of a music video is advertisement. The realisation of the importance of a music video to the industry came in December 1975 when the rock group Queen began its 9-week run at the top of the UK singles chart with the epic single 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' which came with an epic video. Most record companies employ somebody whose task it is to commission videos. This person can be called by a number of titles, for example commissioning editor for video or head of video. A music video usually takes 2 weeks to produce. According to Andrew Goodwin, the 3 different ways in which the visuals in a video can relate to the lyrics of a song are:
However, from the point of view of the record company, music videos are purely for promotion and for advertising the band. Sometimes they advertise other things too, like a film. If an artist agrees to put one of their songs to the soundtrack of a film, most likely the music video will have clips from the film in it. Overall, the aim of the music video is to raise visibility of the band, almost like a visual radio. The music video can then be shown on music TV channels, like MTV; which is famous for beginning the trend for a channel showing only music videos.
The most common element to be used in music videos is some sort of a performance involving the singer and instruments, which usually shows the artist miming/lipsynching live or in a studio. This is important for their star image as it allows them to bond with their audience. A good way of achieving this bond is having the artist singing to the camera. Another element that's frequently used is a storyline/narrative, which conveys some sort of message or meaning. Sometimes both performance and storyline elements are used, using a cross-cutting effect between each scene. For the music video to be successful and praised by critics and the fans, it needs to be stylish. The video's style needs to reflect the style of music, whether that's in the special effects, montage editing, camera use/shots or mise-en-scene. Sometimes artists choose to put extra sound on the video, which isn't in the CD version of the song.
The basic function or purpose of a music video is advertisement. The realisation of the importance of a music video to the industry came in December 1975 when the rock group Queen began its 9-week run at the top of the UK singles chart with the epic single 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' which came with an epic video. Most record companies employ somebody whose task it is to commission videos. This person can be called by a number of titles, for example commissioning editor for video or head of video. A music video usually takes 2 weeks to produce. According to Andrew Goodwin, the 3 different ways in which the visuals in a video can relate to the lyrics of a song are:
- Illustration - The video closely illustrates the song.
- Amplification - The video builds on the song - Adding something to it.
- Disjuncture - The video has no connection to the song.
A music video treatment will, in no more than a page and a half, describe what happens in the video and how it will look. Some of the things to avoid in making a student video are well-known songs, overdone effects and aimless driving around.
Section 2: Close analysis of 3 professional music videos
'Smile' by Lily Allen
GENRE
The video for 'Smile' foregrounds Lily Allen performing the song, as she is miming the words throughout the duration. This performance is also combined with a narrative which matches the lyrics of the song. However, the main genre of Lily Allen's music is pop, but this particular song could be placed in the ska category because of it's beat.
NARRATIVE
The narrative focuses on Lily getting revenge on her boyfriend for cheating on her. Also, the narrative illustrates and amplifies the meanings in the song. The music video has a clear beginning, middle and end. The beginning shows Lily sat at home by herself eating chocolate and being upset. The middle is when Lily is getting revenge on her ex-boyfriend. The end is Lily walking down the middle of the street and being happy. The narrative is generally linear but with lots of ellipsis and flashbacks. For example, at the start Lily is sat on her bed alone, there are jump-cuts to her sat on her bed with her boyfriend and then back to present day again. This suggests that the flashbacks are Lily's thoughts and memories. The characters relate to conventional archetypes, for example, Lily is the hero, her ex is the villain and the people who attack him are the helpers. There are also some examples of binary oppositions in the video e.g. good v bad, male v female, happy v sad, feminine v masculine, hero v villain. These oppositions convey important meanings in the narrative and link to the lyrics.
LANGUAGE - MISE EN SCENE
There are many key signifiers in the mise en scene of this music video. One important signifier is portraying Lily as girly but tough. She wears long dresses and pink eyeshadow, however her actions showing her getting revenge on her ex-boyfriend aren't associated with femininity. Therefore, performance and costume in the video are opposing Lily's image. Also, Lily's facial expressions link to the theme of the song and show the change she's gone through from the beginning to the end of the video. At the beginning she's upset in her room and bored in the cafe listening to her ex, but by the end she's walking down the street and smiling. Another key signifier in the video is the settings. Lily's flat is brightly coloured with orange walls and seems more homely and lived-in, whereas the man's flat has white walls and black furniture and all his possessions are neat, therefore it doesn't really look like someone lives there. This demonstrates the binary oppositions mentioned earlier of male v female and hero v villain, conveying men as the villains. It also allows the audience to differentiate between the man and the woman. The other characters are also important. Their clothing depicts them as 'chavs,' and their actions are a stereotypical view of what 'chavs' do, e.g. beating people up and breaking into houses. The final scene of Lily walking down the middle of the road, shows she's changed and she's now happy to move on. Walking down the middle of the road signifies confidence, rebellion and non-conformity.
LANGUAGE - CAMERA
There are many shots in the 'Smile' video that convey certain meanings to the audience. One shot that's used frequently is close-ups on Lily's face while she's singing. This shows her facial expressions and informs the audience on how Lily's feeling. There are many mid shots used to show Lily's face, hair, jewellery and costume. However, there are longer shots in the bedroom to emphasise her aloneness. Also, in the bedroom there are frequent tracking shots so the audience can see the surroundings as well as the characters. During the violent scenes a hand-held camera is used, which makes the audience feel like they're part of the gang and that's their point of view. This gives a sense of realism and involvement. Overall, there are no overly dramatic shots. Maybe this is due to the budget, because this was Lily Allen's debut song after being signed perhaps her record label weren't sure whether she'd be a success or not so they didn't want to spend much on her first music video.
LANGUAGE - EDITING
The editing for the video is generally fast-paced, so it keeps to the beat of the song, and the fast-spoken lyrics. The first prominent example of editing is the opening flashbacks which show Lily alone, then with her boyfriend, then alone again. These flashbacks represent her thoughts, memories and possibly her wishes of what will happen. Some continuity editing is used in the narrative scenes, for example when Lily is paying people to beat her ex-boyfriend up. There's also cross-cutting between the performance and narrative scenes and the shot-reverse-shot technique is used to show the conversation in the cafe.
REPRESENTATION
Lily Allen is represented as feminine but tough, through her costume especially. She wears lots of make-up and dresses, but also trainers, heavy jewellery and her hair is up. Those last few factors aren't associated with femininity. The main gender representation is between the 2 main characters. In the song lyrics, the female is innocent and the male is seen as the 'bad guy.' However, because the video uses amplification it shows the female being the malicious one by getting revenge, and the male being more innocent. But, listening to the lyrics Lily's actions in the video are justified. Also, the representation of social class is predominant. The setting shows them in a working class cafe, and their flats aren't extravagant or spacious. These characters are represented as just normal, everyday people.
AUDIENCE
The record company would've had to choose a target audience for this video and use techniques to connect with them. In the song lyrics, Lily Allen addresses 'you' or her ex-boyfriend directly. Another technique is occasional eye-contact and sly smiles, which build up intimacy with the audience. Also, the audience, especially females, would pleasure in sharing Lily's revenge. The video might influence female fans to be less accepting of male dishonesty in relationships. As well as that, viewers might find the video useful in thinking about their own relationships.
'The Golden Path' by The Chemical Brothers
GENRE
The Chemical Brothers' video for 'The Golden Path' has a narrative but no performance by the artists. Throughout their career, The Chemical Brothers have developed their own style/genre of video. Therefore, as soon as a video by this artist comes on, fans are easily able to recognise the artist, even though they're hardly ever featured in the video. This is evident in the video for 'The Golden Path.' In relation to the music, the genre is dance music or drum and bass. This is linked to in the video in the dancing at the end.
NARRATIVE
At the start of the video, the man goes to work; the lyrics suggest he thinks work is 'hell.' However, sometimes he escapes to a hippy-populated field. This shows a contrast between the dull setting and characters in his office, to the bright and happy setting and characters in the field. There's a slight connectivity between the lyrics and the video, however the video amplifies the meanings in the lyrics. For example, the lyrics describe some sort of hell whereas in the video he's walking into work. Also, the lyrics describe the devil/demon with flashing lights and the video shows a printer with flashing lights. Lastly, the lyrics talk about a volcano and the coffee flask explodes like a volcano. The video has a clear beginning, middle and end structure. The beginning shows the main character walking to work, where he crosses the road without looking. This shows that his days must be repetitive, because he's so used to crossing that road that he doesn't need to look for cars anymore. Then he gets into the lift. The middle is where he's transported to a better world that contrasts with the workplace because it's happy and colourful. The end is when he escapes the dull workplace for good so he can stay in his happy place. This video is linear throughout. The linear narrative structure provides a sense of progression. There are also clear character types shown in the video. The man's boss is the 'villain' because he gives the main character a low wage. The worker is the 'princess' because he's not amazing at his job, he gets a bad wage and his life seems generally dull, therefore he's sort of a damsel in distress who needs rescuing. The girl and the hippies are the heroes. This is because they're free to do what they want and they save/rescue the worker from a bad life and job. The binary opposites demonstrated are stress/calm, colour/black and white, work/play, control/freedom, good/bad and happy/sad.
MISE EN SCENE
Costume
The main character wears a scruffy suit, showing his low wage. The girl that he meets in the field wears a yellow dress, which is hippy like. Also, alot of the hippies wear some sort of flower/floral clothing to fit with their stereotype. When the man takes off his suit to escape his dull life for good, he wears a white top and underwear which symbolises freedom.
Lighting
There are dull lights in the office, which enhances the natural colourful lights when the video shifts into the field outside.
Acting
The main character is a white male in his 20s. He is also the love interest for the main white female character. She is a hippy and also in her 20s. The boss is older and looks in his 50s.
Make-up and hair
The man's hair is tidy for work and messy when he's in the fields. This highlights the contrast even more, between both the settings.
Props
GENRE
The video for 'Smile' foregrounds Lily Allen performing the song, as she is miming the words throughout the duration. This performance is also combined with a narrative which matches the lyrics of the song. However, the main genre of Lily Allen's music is pop, but this particular song could be placed in the ska category because of it's beat.
NARRATIVE
The narrative focuses on Lily getting revenge on her boyfriend for cheating on her. Also, the narrative illustrates and amplifies the meanings in the song. The music video has a clear beginning, middle and end. The beginning shows Lily sat at home by herself eating chocolate and being upset. The middle is when Lily is getting revenge on her ex-boyfriend. The end is Lily walking down the middle of the street and being happy. The narrative is generally linear but with lots of ellipsis and flashbacks. For example, at the start Lily is sat on her bed alone, there are jump-cuts to her sat on her bed with her boyfriend and then back to present day again. This suggests that the flashbacks are Lily's thoughts and memories. The characters relate to conventional archetypes, for example, Lily is the hero, her ex is the villain and the people who attack him are the helpers. There are also some examples of binary oppositions in the video e.g. good v bad, male v female, happy v sad, feminine v masculine, hero v villain. These oppositions convey important meanings in the narrative and link to the lyrics.
LANGUAGE - MISE EN SCENE
There are many key signifiers in the mise en scene of this music video. One important signifier is portraying Lily as girly but tough. She wears long dresses and pink eyeshadow, however her actions showing her getting revenge on her ex-boyfriend aren't associated with femininity. Therefore, performance and costume in the video are opposing Lily's image. Also, Lily's facial expressions link to the theme of the song and show the change she's gone through from the beginning to the end of the video. At the beginning she's upset in her room and bored in the cafe listening to her ex, but by the end she's walking down the street and smiling. Another key signifier in the video is the settings. Lily's flat is brightly coloured with orange walls and seems more homely and lived-in, whereas the man's flat has white walls and black furniture and all his possessions are neat, therefore it doesn't really look like someone lives there. This demonstrates the binary oppositions mentioned earlier of male v female and hero v villain, conveying men as the villains. It also allows the audience to differentiate between the man and the woman. The other characters are also important. Their clothing depicts them as 'chavs,' and their actions are a stereotypical view of what 'chavs' do, e.g. beating people up and breaking into houses. The final scene of Lily walking down the middle of the road, shows she's changed and she's now happy to move on. Walking down the middle of the road signifies confidence, rebellion and non-conformity.
LANGUAGE - CAMERA
There are many shots in the 'Smile' video that convey certain meanings to the audience. One shot that's used frequently is close-ups on Lily's face while she's singing. This shows her facial expressions and informs the audience on how Lily's feeling. There are many mid shots used to show Lily's face, hair, jewellery and costume. However, there are longer shots in the bedroom to emphasise her aloneness. Also, in the bedroom there are frequent tracking shots so the audience can see the surroundings as well as the characters. During the violent scenes a hand-held camera is used, which makes the audience feel like they're part of the gang and that's their point of view. This gives a sense of realism and involvement. Overall, there are no overly dramatic shots. Maybe this is due to the budget, because this was Lily Allen's debut song after being signed perhaps her record label weren't sure whether she'd be a success or not so they didn't want to spend much on her first music video.
LANGUAGE - EDITING
The editing for the video is generally fast-paced, so it keeps to the beat of the song, and the fast-spoken lyrics. The first prominent example of editing is the opening flashbacks which show Lily alone, then with her boyfriend, then alone again. These flashbacks represent her thoughts, memories and possibly her wishes of what will happen. Some continuity editing is used in the narrative scenes, for example when Lily is paying people to beat her ex-boyfriend up. There's also cross-cutting between the performance and narrative scenes and the shot-reverse-shot technique is used to show the conversation in the cafe.
REPRESENTATION
Lily Allen is represented as feminine but tough, through her costume especially. She wears lots of make-up and dresses, but also trainers, heavy jewellery and her hair is up. Those last few factors aren't associated with femininity. The main gender representation is between the 2 main characters. In the song lyrics, the female is innocent and the male is seen as the 'bad guy.' However, because the video uses amplification it shows the female being the malicious one by getting revenge, and the male being more innocent. But, listening to the lyrics Lily's actions in the video are justified. Also, the representation of social class is predominant. The setting shows them in a working class cafe, and their flats aren't extravagant or spacious. These characters are represented as just normal, everyday people.
AUDIENCE
The record company would've had to choose a target audience for this video and use techniques to connect with them. In the song lyrics, Lily Allen addresses 'you' or her ex-boyfriend directly. Another technique is occasional eye-contact and sly smiles, which build up intimacy with the audience. Also, the audience, especially females, would pleasure in sharing Lily's revenge. The video might influence female fans to be less accepting of male dishonesty in relationships. As well as that, viewers might find the video useful in thinking about their own relationships.
'The Golden Path' by The Chemical Brothers
GENRE
The Chemical Brothers' video for 'The Golden Path' has a narrative but no performance by the artists. Throughout their career, The Chemical Brothers have developed their own style/genre of video. Therefore, as soon as a video by this artist comes on, fans are easily able to recognise the artist, even though they're hardly ever featured in the video. This is evident in the video for 'The Golden Path.' In relation to the music, the genre is dance music or drum and bass. This is linked to in the video in the dancing at the end.
NARRATIVE
At the start of the video, the man goes to work; the lyrics suggest he thinks work is 'hell.' However, sometimes he escapes to a hippy-populated field. This shows a contrast between the dull setting and characters in his office, to the bright and happy setting and characters in the field. There's a slight connectivity between the lyrics and the video, however the video amplifies the meanings in the lyrics. For example, the lyrics describe some sort of hell whereas in the video he's walking into work. Also, the lyrics describe the devil/demon with flashing lights and the video shows a printer with flashing lights. Lastly, the lyrics talk about a volcano and the coffee flask explodes like a volcano. The video has a clear beginning, middle and end structure. The beginning shows the main character walking to work, where he crosses the road without looking. This shows that his days must be repetitive, because he's so used to crossing that road that he doesn't need to look for cars anymore. Then he gets into the lift. The middle is where he's transported to a better world that contrasts with the workplace because it's happy and colourful. The end is when he escapes the dull workplace for good so he can stay in his happy place. This video is linear throughout. The linear narrative structure provides a sense of progression. There are also clear character types shown in the video. The man's boss is the 'villain' because he gives the main character a low wage. The worker is the 'princess' because he's not amazing at his job, he gets a bad wage and his life seems generally dull, therefore he's sort of a damsel in distress who needs rescuing. The girl and the hippies are the heroes. This is because they're free to do what they want and they save/rescue the worker from a bad life and job. The binary opposites demonstrated are stress/calm, colour/black and white, work/play, control/freedom, good/bad and happy/sad.
MISE EN SCENE
Costume
The main character wears a scruffy suit, showing his low wage. The girl that he meets in the field wears a yellow dress, which is hippy like. Also, alot of the hippies wear some sort of flower/floral clothing to fit with their stereotype. When the man takes off his suit to escape his dull life for good, he wears a white top and underwear which symbolises freedom.
Lighting
There are dull lights in the office, which enhances the natural colourful lights when the video shifts into the field outside.
Acting
The main character is a white male in his 20s. He is also the love interest for the main white female character. She is a hippy and also in her 20s. The boss is older and looks in his 50s.
Make-up and hair
The man's hair is tidy for work and messy when he's in the fields. This highlights the contrast even more, between both the settings.
Props
The following props are seen in this music video:
-Photocopier - Shows working environment
-Computer
-Pay check
-Magazines
-Papers
-Coffee machine
-Doughnut - Represents relationshipAll these props represent one half of the music video; the part where the main character's in work. The following props represent the hippy part of the music video: smiley face, yellow campervan, flowers around neck, record player and bubbles.
Setting
The first part of the music video is set in a dull office. It's also dull outside when the man's walking to work. The only place that isn't dull is the hippy field, which is colourful. This links with the binary opposite good v bad and happy v sad, because the field is good and happy, and the office is bad and sad.
CAMERA
The first prominent shot is a close up of the man with the Sun behind him. This shows how miserable he is. Another close up is used showing the pay slip. This shows that the man's job isn't paying well. Next, there's a hand held shot as the boss walks into his office, which shows his boss' anger at him. Then, there's an over shoulder shot as the boss stands over him, showing the boss' power over the worker. When the main character escapes to the field, there's a full shot showing the hippies which highlights their freedom. Then he comes back to work, and realises that the life the hippies lead is much better so he decides to take off his suit and escape back into the happy field. As he's getting unchanged he's shown in a 2 shot, which shows his co-workers confusion at his actions. Finally, a point of view shot is used as the man and women spin around in the field, showing them having fun and being happy.
EDITING
In this music video, there's lots of continuity editing, in order for the audience to follow and understand the story/narrative of the man's fantasy. To highlight even more the contrast between the fantasy hippy place and in work, the editing changes. There are slow cuts in the fantasy hippy place and fast cuts when the main character's in work. There are also various weird, experimental transitions that wouldn't normally be found in a music video.
REPRESENTATION
The idea of the video exactly matching with the lyrics in this way shows The Chemical Brothers as free-spirited, non-conforming artists and the lead male represents this as he is going off into a dream world and not conforming to what's expected e.g. going to work etc. The work place is seen as boring with bland colours which shows the main character's life style. However, the dream world is colourful and everyone is having fun. This shows what he aspires to be.
AUDIENCE
The target audience for this video is definitely youth, possibly people in there 20s who're old enough to be working, so they can relate to the character, but still young. This video would appeal to the audience because it dramatises the fantasies of young people in boring jobs. The audience may be influenced to reject boring work in favour of pleasure e.g. dancing. However, if they don't take action themselves, they will take pleasure in watching someone live out their fantasies.
'Higher Ground' by Red Hot Chilli Peppers
GENRE
This video shows the band performing the song in front of a bluescreen, which is replaced by different images in the background. However, there's no narrative or characters. The genre of the music is rock/funk, which is linked to in the fact that the video shows musicians playing their instrument very dramatically.
NARRATIVE
The song is about the 'world' going round. It also mentions people having wars and serious issues like that. The images in the background link to this general narrative. This video is a montage, therefore it doesn't have a linear narrative structure.
BINARY OPPOSITES
-Black and white v Colour
-Past v. Present
-Band v. World
-Individuals v. Crowds
MISE EN SCENE
One of the first things you notice in the video is the colourful costumes and the bright colours of the instruments, which reverses the stereotypical image of a rock band. Also, the singer is topless, therefore his muscles give a macho image. The blue-screen background allows different things to be portrayed through the setting. The background changes from black and white old footage to colourful animations. Another prominent background that stood out was the kaleidoscope image, where the 4 bandmembers were lying head to head while kaleidoscope patterns rotated in the background. This image of rotating is recurring. It is repeated when people are dancing in a circle. Maybe the rotating theme relates to the lyrics about the world and the pattern and people are turning like the world.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
In this music video, there are a wide range of different shots used. One predominant shot is tracking shots which are used alot, going towards and around the performers. There are also low angles and canted (dutch) angles. Aswell as that, there are high angle shots looking down on the group of people and overhead shots looking down on the band with the kaleidoscope image in the background.
EDITING
The fast pace of the editing reflects the heavy/fast tempo of the song. Montage editing is demonstrated in the background blue screen images. The lipsynching by the band members creates continuity.
AUDIENCE
When this music video was made in the late 80s, it would've attracted a young audience. The bright colours and energetic performance appeals to youth values. The audience would experience pleasure in watching the over-the-top performance by the charismatic singer and musicians. Also, the audience might be influenced by the clothes and the fashions in the video.
Section 3: Close analysis of 2 professional music videos
Paolo Nutini-New Shoes
Genre:
The genre of 'New Shoes' by Paolo is acoustic. The artist performs in his own video but he doesn't play his instrument in it which is unusual for an acoustic artist. The video has a slight narrative in which he wakes up, puts on his new shoes, goes and parties and goes outside because he feels confident now he is wearing his new shoes. This links to the lyrics.
Narrative:
The song is about a man (Paolo) who wakes up and feels something is missing so he puts on his new shoes and everything is fine, and he has a good time. The video also shows the artist's grown confidence now that he has his new shoes on because he walks down the middle of the road singing and dancing. The video has a linear narrative, and is a performance video aswell.
Binary oppositions:
New/Old
Cartoon/Reality
Boy/Girl
Morning/Night
Mise-en-scene:
The start of the video begins with an animation of the camera rolling down the road which links to Paolo walking down the middle of the street throughout the video. A set of titles introduce the video and the artist which give it more of a short film feel rather than a typical music video. All the people in the video wear casual clothing to give a relaxed and down to earth look. Also Paolo's leather jacket signifies that he is cool and his new shoes make him look attractive, shown by the interest he is getting from the girls in the video. In the video there is a tramp (shown through his tatty clothes) which Paolo associates himself with, by patting him on the back, this signifies that he doesn't care about poverty (lyrics-'short of money'). The way that the artist walks down the street, now that he has his new shoes on, shows that he has become bold and brave. In the bedroom there is a guitar on the bed to relate to the genre of music- accoustic.
Editing:
The titles roll in from the side. There is also a match-on-action shot from Paolo closing the fridge door and opening his wardobe door. Little lights are used as an animation to float around Paolo to make his new shoes look that bit more special. This effect would have been put on after.
Audience:
Girls or teenagers would be the main audience of this video because they may find the artist attractive. The video also has a fun and party theme, which could influence that side of the audience into liking the video.
Camera/Cinematography:
There is a point of view shot of Paolo looking into the kitchen at the partying people to make it feel like we are there and involved. A hand held shot in the party also does this, and could also signify the drunken stumbling from the party members. At the start of the video there is an aerial shot to show the messy room and Paolo as the centre of attention. A pull focus is used to show a point of view of him focusing on the time, matching the lyrics in the song.
You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift:
Genre:
American pop/country music
Narrative:
The video foregrounds Tayor's performance of the song. Performance combines with narrative, often merging the two together in the same scene.
The narrative of the story is that of a young teenage girl who is in love with an attractive teenaged boy and in the end she gets the boy. It has all the typical American-esque stereotypes that are associated with high school, the girl is part of the 'marching band' making her a geek of the school and the boy is on the football team making him a 'popular' kid. The boy's girlfriend (who is actually played by Taylor again, but wearing a wig) is head cheerleader which therefore makes her part of the popular kids too.
Beginning:
The two are talking across houses via placards about life in general.
Middle:
The main girl sees the nice boy going out with his 'slaggy' girlfriend.
End:
The main girl ends up going to prom, after telling him she has too much homework and can't make it, she eventually plucks up the courage to show the boy the placard baring the words 'I love you' on them to find out that the boy in fact has the same placard with the same words written on them but in his own hand writing, and she ends up with the boy of her dreams and the 'slaggy' girl ends up with nothing!
The narrative is generally linear, however it does contain lots of ellipsis and jump cuts to show the passing of time.
Binary Opposites:
Geeks vs Slags
Bandies vs Cheerleaders
Scruffy vs Fashionable
Blonde vs Brunette
Innocence vs Experience
Love vs Lust
Meanings:
Don't judge a book by its cover.
Be confident.
Take risks and life is usually rewarding.
Be yourself.
Media Language:
Mise En Scene.
Locations:
Houses, personal bedrooms, school, football field, prom hall, and in a nice red car.
The sets and locations are all stereotypical 'high school girl' locations, like for example the prom hall is all decorated, and her room is very girlie with posters and pictures and light pinks everywhere. Whereas the boy's room is very guy-like with American footballs lying around and American football jerseys. In the prom scene the 'slaggy' girl wears a bright red dress which automatically has pejorative connotations to it, and the dress is very low cut, whereas Taylor Swift's character comes in with her angel-like, white dress with long wavy blonde hair and she looks stunning.
Editing:
The editing throughout is generally linear, except for the scene in her bedroom where we are presented with a lot of jump cuts to show the passing of time and also the different outfits that Taylor Swift's character has in her wardrobe, also a very stereotypical way to perceive a young teenaged girl, obsessed with clothes, shoes, hats and make-up.
Audience:
The audience is generally girls, teenaged girls who have a very fairy-tale view on love and friendship. Its shows the right girl ending up with the boy of her dreams and she 'lives happily ever after.' It's every girls dream come true ending.
Genre:
The genre of 'New Shoes' by Paolo is acoustic. The artist performs in his own video but he doesn't play his instrument in it which is unusual for an acoustic artist. The video has a slight narrative in which he wakes up, puts on his new shoes, goes and parties and goes outside because he feels confident now he is wearing his new shoes. This links to the lyrics.
Narrative:
The song is about a man (Paolo) who wakes up and feels something is missing so he puts on his new shoes and everything is fine, and he has a good time. The video also shows the artist's grown confidence now that he has his new shoes on because he walks down the middle of the road singing and dancing. The video has a linear narrative, and is a performance video aswell.
Binary oppositions:
New/Old
Cartoon/Reality
Boy/Girl
Morning/Night
Mise-en-scene:
The start of the video begins with an animation of the camera rolling down the road which links to Paolo walking down the middle of the street throughout the video. A set of titles introduce the video and the artist which give it more of a short film feel rather than a typical music video. All the people in the video wear casual clothing to give a relaxed and down to earth look. Also Paolo's leather jacket signifies that he is cool and his new shoes make him look attractive, shown by the interest he is getting from the girls in the video. In the video there is a tramp (shown through his tatty clothes) which Paolo associates himself with, by patting him on the back, this signifies that he doesn't care about poverty (lyrics-'short of money'). The way that the artist walks down the street, now that he has his new shoes on, shows that he has become bold and brave. In the bedroom there is a guitar on the bed to relate to the genre of music- accoustic.
Editing:
The titles roll in from the side. There is also a match-on-action shot from Paolo closing the fridge door and opening his wardobe door. Little lights are used as an animation to float around Paolo to make his new shoes look that bit more special. This effect would have been put on after.
Audience:
Girls or teenagers would be the main audience of this video because they may find the artist attractive. The video also has a fun and party theme, which could influence that side of the audience into liking the video.
Camera/Cinematography:
There is a point of view shot of Paolo looking into the kitchen at the partying people to make it feel like we are there and involved. A hand held shot in the party also does this, and could also signify the drunken stumbling from the party members. At the start of the video there is an aerial shot to show the messy room and Paolo as the centre of attention. A pull focus is used to show a point of view of him focusing on the time, matching the lyrics in the song.
You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift:
Genre:
American pop/country music
Narrative:
The video foregrounds Tayor's performance of the song. Performance combines with narrative, often merging the two together in the same scene.
The narrative of the story is that of a young teenage girl who is in love with an attractive teenaged boy and in the end she gets the boy. It has all the typical American-esque stereotypes that are associated with high school, the girl is part of the 'marching band' making her a geek of the school and the boy is on the football team making him a 'popular' kid. The boy's girlfriend (who is actually played by Taylor again, but wearing a wig) is head cheerleader which therefore makes her part of the popular kids too.
Beginning:
The two are talking across houses via placards about life in general.
Middle:
The main girl sees the nice boy going out with his 'slaggy' girlfriend.
End:
The main girl ends up going to prom, after telling him she has too much homework and can't make it, she eventually plucks up the courage to show the boy the placard baring the words 'I love you' on them to find out that the boy in fact has the same placard with the same words written on them but in his own hand writing, and she ends up with the boy of her dreams and the 'slaggy' girl ends up with nothing!
The narrative is generally linear, however it does contain lots of ellipsis and jump cuts to show the passing of time.
Binary Opposites:
Geeks vs Slags
Bandies vs Cheerleaders
Scruffy vs Fashionable
Blonde vs Brunette
Innocence vs Experience
Love vs Lust
Meanings:
Don't judge a book by its cover.
Be confident.
Take risks and life is usually rewarding.
Be yourself.
Media Language:
Mise En Scene.
Locations:
Houses, personal bedrooms, school, football field, prom hall, and in a nice red car.
The sets and locations are all stereotypical 'high school girl' locations, like for example the prom hall is all decorated, and her room is very girlie with posters and pictures and light pinks everywhere. Whereas the boy's room is very guy-like with American footballs lying around and American football jerseys. In the prom scene the 'slaggy' girl wears a bright red dress which automatically has pejorative connotations to it, and the dress is very low cut, whereas Taylor Swift's character comes in with her angel-like, white dress with long wavy blonde hair and she looks stunning.
Editing:
The editing throughout is generally linear, except for the scene in her bedroom where we are presented with a lot of jump cuts to show the passing of time and also the different outfits that Taylor Swift's character has in her wardrobe, also a very stereotypical way to perceive a young teenaged girl, obsessed with clothes, shoes, hats and make-up.
Audience:
The audience is generally girls, teenaged girls who have a very fairy-tale view on love and friendship. Its shows the right girl ending up with the boy of her dreams and she 'lives happily ever after.' It's every girls dream come true ending.
Section 4: Target audience research
Questionnaire
Age?
- 16 and under
- 17 to 20
- 21 and over
Gender?
- Male
- Female
What genres of music do you like?
- Rock
- Indie
- Classical
- Metal
- Pop
- Jazz
- R'n'B
- Hip hop
- Dance
- Other
Do you watch a lot of music videos online or on TV?
- Yes
- No
What is your favourite music channel?
Who is your favourite artist?
Do you like music videos to contain a narrative?
- Yes
- No
Where would you prefer a music video to be staged?
- School
- Stage/Gig
- Outside
- Beach
- Park
- Other
Would you like to see the artist appear in the video?
- Yes
- No
Would you prefer a music video to be linear or non-linear?
- Linear
- Non-linear
Results
The majority of people we gave our questionnaire to were aged between 17 and 20, which is our intended audience for the music video. This is because, the artist we have permission from is only young, therefore the audience will be able to relate to his lyrics because they will be a similiar age to him. However, he has quite a mature sound to his music, which would eliminate an audience in their early teens. Also, the majority of people who filled out the questionnaire were female, which isn't related to our target audience because it's not gender specific. However, I do think the artist would appeal that bit more to women because of his appearance. Most people chose indie as the genre of music they prefer, and they also said that they watch music videos alot. 4music turned out to be people's favourite music channel. This could be because it's more accessible; it is available in all basic television packs. Another reason could be because it is branded under popular Channel 4, which mainly shows teen programmes. In the open question of who is their favourite artist, Rihanna was named twice and Beyonce three times, compared to the other artists such as Arctic Monkeys and Calvin Harris who came up just once. Most people said that they would like a narrative in a music video and that they would prefer it to be filmed outside. Also, they would like to see the artist appear in the video and have a linear structure. These answers have given us a clear idea of what our target audience prefer, therefore we will try to incorporate as many of the ideas, they have indicated that they like, as possible to keep them happy and interested.
Section 5: Planning materials for video
Lyrics for 'Marching Band' by Joe Brooks
Notes on the band:
Joe Brooks is a UK singer-songwriter from Southampton. He's been recently signed to Lava Records and has received media coverage based on his topping the UK Myspace charts. While unsigned, he gathered 12 million plays on Myspace which built up a strong Internet following. Brooks has a fan base that ranges from Europe to the United States. Tickets for his shows are currently being sold for 12 times their face value.
Treatment:
Our video mainly consists of a man grieving over the loss of his girlfriend. There are constant flashbacks, shown in black and white, of happier times with his girlfriend and imagining that she's still there. An example of this is in the scene when they're both sat on a bed, watching a film in black and white, then his girlfriend disappears and the colour changes from black and white to normal colour to show the transition between past and present. We allow the audience to come to their own conclusions about what happened to his girlfriend: whether she died or she's just left him for another person. He is also shown trying to deal with the grief by consulting in his friend, who just angers him even more because he doesn't understand. In the end, he decides that he can't cope anymore so he decides to end his own life with pills.
Set/Location details:
Most of the music video is set inside a house as we needed to show the main characters doing homely, couple-like things such as arriving home, watching a film or playing video games to convey their happiness when they were together. The scenes that were set in the present, when the boyfriend was by himself, were mainly located in the house to portray his feelings at losing his girlfriend. He was enclosed inside, which shows that he was bottling his feelings up. We then moved some locations outside to stop the video looking to cramped and isolated. This was shown when the boyfriend was walking along the street and miming to the words of the song. We wanted to show that he was now willing to open up his feelings to his friend, by being outside. A theme that was recurring in the music video is the theme of doors. This relates to the theme of death that was also present in the video, because we wanted to show that death could lead to doors opening to another life, or doors closing on physically being alive.
Casting notes:
Kit Phillips
We cast Kit as our leading male because we know from past experience (working with him before) that he would give a great performance, he's hard working, determined to succeed and is very reliable. He's a very good looking guy who we believed would fit the role perfectly. The emotions we needed from our leading male were very raw and upsetting and we knew that Kit would be up for a challenge.
Sarah Cramp
Also, from past experience we knew that Sarah would not get irritated with her lack of being in the film and we knew that Sarah and Kit have great chemistry together and would be able to pull off being a couple deeply in love.
We also had a little cameo from our good friend Mark Farrent who is best friends with Kit in real life so we needed a strong bond between the two male characters and these two pulled it off exceptionally well.
Costume details:
We went for the casual but 'cool' look to show that our main character was an attractive, well dressed guy. However, because of the flashbacks in our music video, we needed a few outfits, although the change was subtle as all the outfits were similar, but fashionable. He wore a leather jacket - black. Neutral colours, nothing too extreme - blues and blacks. He wore stylish blue jeans.
Shot List: Inside shots:
Shot 1: Tilt up from Kit's feet, and then back down again.
Shot 2: Panning shot of face.
Shot 3: Mid shot of Kit's face, singing.
Shot 4: Steady camera mid-shot, Kit gets up and out of shot.
Shot 5: Long shot in bedroom Kit storming in.
Shot 6: Mid-shot of Kit and Sarah in bedroom playing x-box.
Shot 7: Close up of two linked hands.
Shot 8: Long shot of two actors cuddling on the bed.
Shot 9: Close up of the two cuddling on bed, low angle close up.
Shot 10: Long shot of two actors walking towards the camera, holding hands.
Shot 11: Close up of hand dropping and pill bottle, with pill rolling.
Shot 12: Hand-held panning shot in bathroom.
Shot 13: Close up of actors face singing.
Shot 14: Hand held shots to portray anger and to build tension.
Outside shots:
Shot 15: Tracking backwards shot, hand held of Kit singing.
Shot 16: Long shot with interesting mise-en-scene, singing to song.
Shot 17: Hand held shots of Kit walking home.
Shot 18: Over the shoulder shot of Kit turning the key in the door.
Shot 18: Close up shot of door closing.
Shot 19: Close up of Kit's face singing.
Shot 20: Panning shot of two lads meeting each other.
Shot 21: Mid shot of the two boys arguing and fighting.
Shot 22: Long shot of Kit walking home towards to gate and opening it.
Section 6: Planning materials for ancillary products
Here is an example of a magazine article advertising an album, this picture inspired our final ideas as we wanted to use the overlap tool using our artist, yet make it look artistic at the same time:
Another example that sparked our ideas for a final design was the artistic flair in this picture:
We were also inspired by the enigma codes that this advert provides and hope to be able to create a similar sort of feel:
Digipak research:
Digipak is a patented style of compact disk or DVD packaging. Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. Digipacks are a type of CD packaging made out of card stock or other heavy paper/cardboard material. Digipacks can flip open like a book, or it can have three parts, so that one portion of the packaging opens to the right and one to the left, with the CD in the center portion. Usually, the portion of the digipack that hold the CD is made of plastic like a traditional jewel case CD - the plastic part is simply attached to the paper background.
Here is the final design for our digipack:
The inside of the back cover is a 'Special Thanks to' page:
Another example that sparked our ideas for a final design was the artistic flair in this picture: We were also inspired by the enigma codes that this advert provides and hope to be able to create a similar sort of feel:Digipak research:
Digipak is a patented style of compact disk or DVD packaging. Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. Digipacks are a type of CD packaging made out of card stock or other heavy paper/cardboard material. Digipacks can flip open like a book, or it can have three parts, so that one portion of the packaging opens to the right and one to the left, with the CD in the center portion. Usually, the portion of the digipack that hold the CD is made of plastic like a traditional jewel case CD - the plastic part is simply attached to the paper background.Our albums track list:
1. Alonz-y Alonso
2. Alohomora
3. Salazar
4. Vashta Nerada
5. Scorpius
6. Rift Through Time And Space
7. The Big Blue Box
8. Marching Band
9. The Master
10. This Is Not War, This Is Pest Control
11. The Mysterious Ticking Noise
MARCHING BAND THE ALBUM's FIRST MAGAZINE ARTICLE:
This is the finished version of our magazine article, we decided to keep it big, bold and simple, because we thought that the 'The Crooked Voltures' article was straight to the point and very effective in catching our attention as potential buyers. Keeping ours as simple as possible, using big bold lettering with bright, contrasting colours for emphasis.
Here is the final design for our digipack:
Album cover:
The inside cover of the album is our 'Marching Band' lyrics page:
The inside of the back cover is a 'Special Thanks to' page:
The back cover:
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