Mise en scene - costume 

Boy - jeans, top (scruffy)

Girl - heel boots, tight skinny jeans, leather jacket (looking glam)

Star persona

Definition of a star (Richard Dyer)
-'when interest in private life out weighs the interest in their professional career'

-'a star is an image, not a real person, which is constructed from a range of materials'

-'constant dicourse (communication) needed between fans and stars in order to maintain star persona'

Kanna Wilson 2011 took dyers theory and related it to pop stars
'some stars support hegemony by conforming to the represented 'ideal' (thin beautiful etc) some provide difference (large but loveable)'

Having these points will help me to create a star persona for our popstar to create a more real effect for the music video and the marketing of our star.

Music video conventions across all/most music genres

-slow / fast motion
-shots of the artist / band
-the band/artist performing
-different settings (spacial editing)
-linear (the chronical order of what is happening is clear)
-non linear (the chronical order is not apparent)
-links between the lyrics / sound and imagery

These points are conventions of most musical video genres, these will be good to know when creating our music video because it will help us to look out for what conventions we could include to make our music video more conventional and realistic.

Video Planning Ideas - Beneath youre beautiful

Beneath Youre Beautiful
Labrinth & Emeli Sande

As a group we listened to the song and wrote down ideas individually that we could use in the making of our music video.

1st Verse
Girl walking down corridoor looking quite vunerable, walks past a group of boys which all look and stare but she ignores them and keeps walking. This would be like a school corridoor for example, using a range of long shots, medium shots and close shots, perhaps a high angle shot to show shes vunerable. the camera would be tracking backwards as she walks towards the camera. Artificial lighting would be used from above the characters.
Chorus
Lip syncing scene - Close up of the artist singing, depth of field in background to emphasise the artist. Dark setting with use of lighting from above the artist. Also medium shots.
2nd Verse (Female Singer)
Girls in a group laughing while boy walks past, tries to catch one girls attention and she completely ignores him. Followed by a scene of boy looking on his phone - sent a text to the girl, shows no reply.
Female artist singing & playing piano - side on view long shot/ medium shot & close ups from different angles
Female & male artist standing opposite each other lip syncing in next chorus - both facing each other.
3.30 secs - girl looks at phone (close up) boy rings - close up of girl answering phone with smile on her face.
End scene - boy and girl at candle lit dinner - Long shots of setting and close ups of them smiling & laughing

Goodwins Points With 2 Music Video Analysis

Andrew Goodwin's 6 key points for a music video

Andrew Goodwin theorises that there are 6 key elements that should be included in any successful music video.

1.       Music videos should include genre characteristics such as, choreographed dancing for girl/boy bands or a large stage performance for rock artists.

2.       There is a relationship between the lyrical content of the song and the music video, such as the video referencing certain lines in the song eg. Katy Perry's T.G.I.F.

3.       There is a relationship between the music of the song and the music video, such as fast paced moments of the song should be reflected with numerous short shots and fast paced editing.

4.       Numerous close-ups of the artist and a visual style across their videos.

5.       There should be voyeuristic elements in the music video (shots looking through windows or telescopes).

6.       Use of inter-textual reference, such as referencing well known music videos or motion pictures, such as Lana Del Ray's video "Blue Jeans" which heavily references 50's cinema.

The Fray – Heartless

The video for the song ‘heartless’ by The Fray matches the soundtrack very well but is quite a unique styled video. I don’t particularly think that this video covers all conventions but is still very successful; firstly it does not include a typical choreographed stage performance or dancing scene. Yet the majority of the video is make up of thorough stop motion drawings in fine detail, where we see sketched pictures of the band performing, which covers a genre characteristic of a music video. The lyrical content of the song is quite sad and slow, almost put across with a message which engages an audience. The music video links to the lyrics by using many long duration close up shots of the main character which shows emotion. Furthermore the stop motion sketches follow a story of a character walking along the sheet of paper and getting hurt either physically or verbally, therefore this links to the lyrics successfully and shows the audience hurt/pain. The relationship between the music video and the song is communicated throughout: we see high angle shots making the character look vulnerable, numerous close ups showing emotion: the rest of the video is mostly stop motion, it does involve camera movement but all scenes are slow paced edited. In the scenes of the main character out of the stop motion, they mostly consist of the boy gazing out of the window or at the girl he has a crush on, communicating a storyline and covering elements. I feel the video is quite modern yet with a very individual twist.

Ellie Goulding – Your song

 
This song is quite a classic & is well known as it was also sung by Elton john, but the music video helped to make it more modern, current and re-market. The video includes certain genre characteristics such as shots of the artist singing in sync, her walking about which helps the audience identify with her, however it does not particularly choreographed like it would in a more dance/pop video. The lyrical content is about the love someone has for another, so the lyrics are sweet and simple yet happy. In the music video we see transitions from close up/medium shots of the artist Ellie Goulding singing and engaging with the steady camera, to hand held flashback scenes showing other characters in a different location, suggesting a memory and those are the people the song is about. As the music is quite slow with a small quiet beat, the music video creates a relationship with the song by editing in slow paced scenes. Furthermore the shots are quite simplistic by being located in a garden area and the singer is not over dressed but casual, making the video and song look & seem quite personal and relaxed. There are so many close ups of the artist throughout so the audience can identify with her, all with depth of field to keep the focus on only her, from scenes from Ellie in the studio to her in her wellies walking through mud, which gives a wide variation & encourages interest from the audience. I feel the video comes across quite old fashioned & quirky, the video appears to have a slight edit on saturation making it look more like a 70’s style perhaps. The location used in the scenes is quite unusual which makes the video different from others. 

Music Genre Conventions

Music genre conventions

Rock/metal genre

·         After watching numerous rock videos I have noticed that the videos and incredibly performance based. A large range of long shots are used throughout the video to identify with the band yet the focus is mainly on the vocalist.

·         There is sometimes narrative to the video, but the story lines are usual dark which match the style of music.

·         The hue of the videos are usually quite dark, but with high contrast levels, to give the video an overall dark and edgy tone.

·         There is a variety of close ups to show the main artist singing and other band mates performing as well as wide shots of the whole band.

·         Special effects are sometimes used.

·         Editing is fast paced reflecting the hard, loud and fast music.

R&B

·         This genre of music video usually has a light tone to it; the hue is usually bright similar to pop videos.

·         There are usually dancers present, to reflect the sound of the music. The clothing is usually revealing on women, and shows the wealth of the artist, with lavish jewellery and expensive cars.

·         Typically the video will involve the artist in a narrative setting or simply performing in a setting such as a nightclub, mansion, and beach for example.

·         The narrative of the story usually reflects the lyrics of the song, and like pop videos usually the artist will lip sync throughout the video.

Pop

·         Music videos that belong to the genre of pop are usually extremely performance based, with the singer, or band lip syncing throughout the song, as well as performing via dancing or in a narrative story that reflects the meaning of the lyrics.

·         Videos are usually very upbeat, bright and fast paced which makes them appealing to a young audience. If the lyrics and the tempo of the music are sadder the whole tone of the video will be brought down but it will still be quite bright and the artist would probably be in a more sophisticated outfit than if the video is more positive.

·         The camera pans and zooms to catch the movement and emotion of the artist and close ups of the artist are used to show the happy emotions.

·         Very stylised – there are often many costume changes throughout the video.

·         Pop music videos are usually fun and light hearted to appeal to a younger audience.

Indie

·         There is often a mixture of narrative and performance and sometimes the whole band performs and other times just the main vocalist sings. When Indie music videos do have a narrative they are often quite symbolic and do not literally follow the lyrics.

·         Narrative music videos in the Indie genre are typically quite arty, and symbolic, rather than spelling out exactly what the lyrics say.

Star Persona

Star Persona

Richard Dyer

When interest in their private life outweighs interest in their professional career.

‘A star is an image, not a real person, which is constructed from a range of materials’ (press, TV, films etc.)

Social networking – used by stars to keep a constant discourse with fans.  E.g. Lady Gaga promoting her music & products

Dyer – Discourse between fans and stars is needed in order to maintain star persona

Karina Wilson 2011 – related dyers theory to pop stars

‘’Some stars support hegemony by conforming to the represented ‘ideal’ (thin, beautiful etc) but some provide difference (large & lovable)’’

‘Celebrity magazines are about how stars compare to the ideal & how we compare to the stars’ 

Music contributes to star persona e.g. genre, media materials, music videos, intimate lyrics which relate to fans life. Other materials are also essential to construct star persona such as Facebook and Twitter feed.

Lady Gaga

USP = the clothes she wears and her unique style

Ideologies = style, unique, sexuality, quite a rebellious character

‘’ideal’’? = not completely, slightly challenges this idea with her individual style, however does follow in ways as she’s blonde, skinny, good looking etc.

Star quality devalued? = if she changed the outrageous way she dressed she wouldn’t get as much attention from fans and press as she currently does.

Analysing Conventional Music Videos

Analysing conventional music videos

A perfect day Elise

·         Temporal editing, cuts between narrative

·          surreal aspects e.g. Cross on the wall

Rabbit Pudding – Rabbit

·         Intertextual reference of Alice in wonderland

·         Genre characteristics of heavy metal – insects, dark gritty feel, fast paced

Gotye – somebody that I used to know

·         Jerky movements & lined drawings add to the dysfunctional relationship between the two characters

·         Close ups throughout of the artist singing

·         Stop motion

·         Unconventional but still includes conventions of a music video such as identifying with the artist, lyrics matching visuals 

Videography - Cheryl Cole

Videography

Cheryl Cole – Under the sun

·         Continuity editing when walking down the street & throwing an apple

·         Genre characteristics – pop music with dance routine

·         Demands of record label – close ups to identify with artist – first scene is camera panning and close ups of the artists

·         Lyrics matching video – saying ‘I’m over you’ then pushing away a character in the video – amplifying

·         USP – tattoo on back of neck & hand, shown in close ups

·         Music & visuals – dancers, camera movement

·         Intertextuality – raining then she picks up an umbrella – links to George Sampson’s music video, furthermore the style of the settings (American diner) links to the 50’s

·         Reference to the notion of looking – voyeuristic treatment of the female body  eg. Turning on juke box, camera focuses & moves around the costume, encouraging slow movement – reflects how the audience should be looking at her. Positioned from a male point of view which makes it aspirational – women should look like her & that is how men should look at you e.g. Facial expressions – looks seductively into camera, breaking 4^th wall. 2 way interactions invites spectator to objectify her. E.g. cutaways of people looking at her – lady watering the plants

·         Empowered position? Everyone’s attention, physical powers of moving others, sexual object? Weak, manipulates others with her looks

Goodwins Points

Goodwin’s points

·         Reference to the notion of looking (voyeurism) : means the pleasure in looking – subject unaware

·         Genre characteristics – e.g. Rock – performing with instruments, Pop – dance routine, Dance – don’t often see artist

·         Strong relationships of lyrics matching the visuals – illustrative – explaining , amplifying – exaggerated, abstract – image doesn’t match lyrics

·         Music & visuals – instruments, dance movements, camera movements etc

·         Demands of record label, selling & promoting the artist – lots of close ups, (symbol) including a visual motif – something that reappears through videos as part of brand identity

·         USP = unique selling point

·         Intertexuality – reference to other text (films, books, tv shows) usually very person to spectator

Music Video Conventions

Music Video Conventions

·         Slow motion/ fast motion, usually non-linear. (manipulation through editing/temporal editing)

·         Close ups of the artists – this helps the audience identify to the artist and promotes the band/ their identity

·         Performance (instruments, dance routine, lip syncing)

·         Different settings – spatial editing

·         Linear – Edits with time, can work out the order clearly

·         Non-linear – the chronology is not apparent

·         Clear relationship can be established between video & lyrics – e.g. Pace, cutting on the beat, physical action & appearance in video 

Goodwins points

Voyeurism-
 -refernce to the notion of looking (pleasure of looking). Subject unaware.

Genre characteristics-
rock- performing with instruments
pop- dance routine
dance- you dont see the artist

Lyrics matching the visuals-
-strong relationship
-illistrate- explaining in images
-amplifying- lyrics exagerated
-abstract- image doesnt match lyrics

Music matching the visuals-
-instruments, dancers movement, camera movement, gestures etc.
(strong relationship)

Demands of record lable-
-lots of close ups of artist, visual motif (symbol)- repeated throughout videos as part of brand identity (USP)- unique selling point, useful for stars to have one (visual motif)

Intertextuality-
-reference to other texts (films, books, t.v shows)
very personal to the spectator.

Music video conventions across all/most music videos

-Slow/fast motion (manipulation of time through editing- temporal editing)
-Shots of artist/band- E.g. close ups- identification to promote band identity.
-Performance (instruments e.g. rock, dance routine, lip syncing)
-Different settings- spacial editing (different spaces)
-Linear- the chronological order apparent to you.
-Non linear- the chronology is not apparent.
-Generally- really strong relationship between sound and image.

What does a music video do? (purpose)

-Sell the song and invoke a reaction so it leaves you remembering the song.
-To give the listener a better understanding of the song (if the video is narrative).
-To entertain (to show off other talents the musician may have, for example dancing or acting).
-To sell CDs and DVDs to veiwers, creating a memorable visual for the song increases its chance to sell.
-Marketing for the purpose of exposure and expansion of the artists profile.

Music video conventions homework

Homework 1:
Research music video conventions and look at different music genres, write 100 words on each  music video outlining typical conventions of music video technique and style.

 RAP: After looking at a number of different 'rap' music videos I found that most of the videos included a lot of the same conventions, for example, themes of violence, sex and drugs. The males in the videos are usually wearing smart expensive looking suits or very casual clothing e.g. t-shirt and jeans. The females in the videos are usually wearing either mini skirts or very short shorts, it is clear that their clothing is chosen purposely to attract male attention. A variety of camera angles are used throughout. There is a clear display of emotions e.g. anger, by using facial expressions and actions.

ROCK: The most obvious convention of a rock video is that they tend to be performance based. The narrative tends to show romance between the lead singer and a girl. The performance tends to be just the band performing to an audience or just the band playing into the camera. Another main aspect of a rock music video would be the bands logo, it is usually placed on the instruments e.g. the drum.

POP: From watching a range of different 'pop' videos I found that they share a lot of the same conventions for example, dancing, costume is always up to date with the current trends, a lot of long shots and close ups to show the emotion with the song.