Monday, 24 September 2012

Conventions of Music Videos - by Josh

 An important person in the music video industry, Andrew Goodwin's 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' (image right) summarised the forms and conventions of music videos, identifying that their main objective was to encourage sales of the artist's music, as well as to promote them. It was designed to accompany a pre-existing music track, and often presented a relationship between lyrics and visuals to help amplify, illustrate or contradict the lyrics' meaning. 

 Lyrics will also tend to help establish a general mood and feeling rather than a coherent meaning with abstract terms like loss and meaning. However key lines may play a part in the visual but very rarely will a music video illustrate it wholesale. Some songs feature the lyrics on screen throughout the whole song, a example of which being Calvin Harris's song 'We'll be coming back' where the lyrics are ever-present on screen. Another interesting example is Coldplay's song 'Every Teardrop is a Waterfall' which is largely shot in stop motion with the lyrics to the song being painted along floors and walls as they are sung (image below).

 Particular music genres would have their own particular style and iconography, which would contribute to the artist developing their own style and iconography in and out of their music videos which would in time become part of their
star image, an example of this being Lady Gaga (image right) whose strange, kooky videos, outfits and style have helped her become one of the most popular artists in the world, who likely would not be as popular as she is without her music videos. Often in music videos there are references to voyorism particularly in treatment of women and also in terms of men looking at women in a sexual light, highlighted with the use of screens within screens like looking through binoculars or windows. 

 They may also have intertextual references to films, books and even T.V, which would help to cross promote both things, such as Dire Strait's song: Romeo and Juliet (image left). In ways of editing music videos will tend to make use of the tempo of the track which drives the video, e.g cuts are a lot smoother in ballads with transitions such as dissolves and may emphasise particular sounds from the track by foregrounding instruments such as a guitar, keyboard or drum solo. Although the most common form of editing associated with music videos is fast cut montage rendering with many images rendered impossible to grasp on first viewing (resulting in repeated viewings and more promotion for the video), some videos use slower and calmer cuts and transitions to establish a certain mood. As with any video, how the camera is used and how images are sequenced has a massive emphasis on how a song is portrayed and what its meaning is. Camera movements may accompany the movement of performers such as when they are walking or dancing but can also be used to create a more dynamic feel to a stage performance with close ups predominating to create a sense of intimacy with the artist.  This can also be done through the artist breaking the fourth wall between the artist and the audience, e.g. looking at the camera.

 Mise-en-scene can be extremely important in a music video and can instantly establish the mood and setting of it, as well as the style of the song. A formal setting could be created by a dark, dull coloured with old furniture, old fashioned wallpaper as well as the way people are clothed. E.g. older men in suits will create a more tense, strict 
atmosphere than if there were younger men in casual wear. The costume for the artist/s is also very important. It inaugurates how the artist is meant to be portrayed in the video, such as if he/she is dressed in formal wear then he/she could be at work. Chroma key is also commonly used instead of an actual physical background if a suitable location cannot be found and to reduce cost. This type of video will usually take on a narrative form but it can sometimes just be a performance; the costumes will create a sense of what the artist is trying to look like, e.g. in a heavy metal band the band will generally be dressed in an outrageous style (Slipknot image below) which contributes to their performance persona and have influenced many fans to strive to achieve that look. Bands such as Slipknot use these outfits to distinguish themselves from other artists and instantly grab attention of people. Artists often indulge in extravagant outfits to make themselves unique and grab the interest of people from first glances purely from their look. A less dark, serious image could be that of Elton John (image left) with his different looking glasses and in his earlier years his crazy outfits. These alone could have been John expressing his sexuality, just as how many female artists today express their sexuality with revealing outfits. Music videos can also be used in attempt for the artist to try and reinvent themselves, a good example being Geri Halliwell. After leaving the Spice Girls she needed to establish herself as an individual artist and develop her own particular style. This was especially important for her as she was renowned for being a bit on the large side, and this was the main cause of her depression which led to her leaving the group. As such, when the music video for "It's Raining Men", a lot of the camera was focused on her new, slim body, used to advertise how fit she now was, as she was often criticised because of her weight. Often outfits are changed throughout the video in an attempt to change the mood or show time passing by, as well as to interpret particular lyrics and portray them visually. The artist doesn't ave to be a good actor for a narrative video to be filmed and could be acting as a narrative voice or a conscience, similar to a play. An examples of this is: Eminem's feat. Rihanna "Love The Way You Lie" (video below).



 Artists may use actual actors in their videos instead of themselves as they may feel their acting isn't good enough or they want to act as a narrative to the people in the video. Many regarded the representation of the video as a reference to Eminem and Rihanna's lives, Rihanna - who had domestic violence history with her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown - said that the video provides an insight into domestic violence which is what makes the song and video effective. Here Eminem and Rihanna are most likely narrating the couples thoughts as they think about leaving each other but are unable to. This can be linked to the relationship between lyrics and visuals; does what we hear correspond with what we see in the video? Key lines can play a part in the visual, notably in Eminem's 'Love the Way You Lie' where the lyrics: 
"Just gonna stand there and watch me burn" and "If she ever tries to fucking leave again Im'a tie her to the bed and set this house on fire" are physically represented on screen with the girlfriend playing with fire (image above right) in her hand and Eminem and Rihanna standing in front of a burning house (image left). However, most of the time lyrics tend to offer establish the general mood and feeling rather than a coherent meaning, thus lyrics are mostly used as more of an explanatory tool to what is happening in the video with narrative purposes. Another notable feature of this film is using Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan, both well known actors which add a celeb star status as well as intertextuality; Eminem chose Monaghan personally because of his versatility which would help him play the dark role of the boyfriend effectively.

 The music and particularly the tempo of the track will dictate how the video will be edited, such as how short cuts and how fast transitions are, e.g. in a slow ballad the cuts would be less frequent and may make more use of transitions such as dissolves than in a fast drum and bass song. This means that the tempo will drive the editing and will tend to concentrate on particular parts of the track which are significant, e.g. the camera will focus on the guitar player and his instrument during a guitar solo. There is also a significant demand from the record company for lots of close ups on the artist or lead singer as they are generally considered to be the most important part of a track and are therefore made most important in the video, which also develops a sense of intimacy with the audience; it makes them feel as if the artist is addressing the audience themselves, an example of which being in Geri Halliwell's video 'It's Raining Men' where at the end of the video she looks at the camera and kisses (image above right).

"There is to be reference to voyeurism particularly in treatment to women but also in terms of systems of looking (screens within screens)"

 This has been a regular target for many record companies over the years particularly with female artists, since the notion of looking relates to this, voyeurism is often used as a form of sexualisation in videos. This is done so as to gain more video views through using women as a form of marketing; a lot of the time female artists would dance in their videos which is particularly common in Pop, e.g. Beyonce in her video 'All the Single Ladies' (image below). It also features a lot in Rap in Hip Hop videos.




 

Friday, 21 September 2012

Analysis - Eminem - by Josh


Since the lyrics in this song were quite literal, it fitted perfectly as a narrative video. Also it was quite long for a music video, this being 8 minutes long whereas normally they range from 3 minutes to 5. It was nominated for a number of awards including: Video of the Year, Best Rap Video and Best Cinematography, but only won Best International Artist video. This is clearly a very popular music video, having been nominated for so many awards, the namesake of the song gave rise to an internet slang term for an overzealous, maniacal obsessed fan over a celebrity, which is shown throughout the video. A lot of the music video's lyrics and images are censored because of the dark, menacing nature of the song.

 The video tells the story of a over-obsessed fan of Eminem, who writes letters to his idol in the hope that he would write back to him. He eventually drives his car with his pregnant girlfriend off a bridge, killing them both. The video starts without music for about a minute which shows the girlfriend (who is played by Dido) of the protagonist (Stan/ley)lying on a bed while thunder and rain pour down outside, the sound of which is heard throughout the non-music section of the video. She gets up from the bed while picking up a jumper, where the video then cuts to Stan in a bathroom pouring liquid onto his hair. Looking in the mirror, he smiles to see that his hair has bleached blonde, the same colour as Eminem's (image right).

 His girlfriend bangs on the door asking him to let her in to which he does nothing and just continues to stare at himself in the mirror. A bird's eye view of the bathroom and hallway show the squalor of the home; poorly lit shadeless lights highlight the dirty, disheveled walls and bathroom floor, hardly a good place for a child to live in (image below).
 He eventually lets her in but scares her by shouting 'What?' at her, to which she looks in horror at the sink and his hair, saying 'Stanley, what are you doing to yourself?'. This perhaps indicates that she is aware of his weak personality and is worried about what he is becoming. He responds: 'What, the hair, you don't like it?' and continues to gaze in the mirror, until his girlfriend's cries of 'Stanley' provoke him to turn around and shout at her again: 'Don't, call me, that, okay?', him referring to his own name as 'that' clearly show his dislike at being called by something he no longer wants to be known as, which could reflect on him already beginning to lose sense of who he is. The dying of his hair is clearly him trying to look like Eminem, being so obsessed with him. He ignores her saying 'Don't you think you're taking this too far?', lifts the toilet seat and rushes out the door, slamming it on the way out. His girlfriend's last cry of 'Stanley' is emphasised by a clap of thunder and the song starts at the sound of the door slamming. The thunder could signify how Stan's girlfriend is already starting to lose sense of who he is and doesn't understand him anymore.

Lyrics
 There is a large emphasis on the lyrics in this video and the whole video is built around them,  The opening lyrics of the first verse are "Dear Slim, I wrote to you" and at this point we see Stan, the main character of the video, writing a letter to Eminem whilst referring to him as 'Slim', Eminem's nick name - here Stan is talking to him as if Eminem is his friend, perhaps showing an emotional bond Stan has for his idol. Throughout the song Eminem is trying to convey how fans can become too attached to their favourite artists and role models, through doing so they do not attend to the things they should be doing, e.g. Stan should be looking after his heavily pregnant girlfriend but instead: "We waited in the blistering cold for you for four hours and you just said no", which is linked with when Stan is speaking into a tape recorder: "Dear Mister-I'm-Too-Good-To-Call-Or-Write-My-Fans",Stan is beginning to lose faith in Eminem writing back to him. However later in the video when Eminem writes back to Stan it reveals how he tried to write him and his brother an autograph but wasn't able to, being rushed away by security.

Music
 Despite the video not always making a connection through cuts with the beat of the music, it still retains a large use of transition pacing, keeping in tempo with the song and setting the mood. In fact there are a lot of fast paced transitions when Stan's anger starts to build up, especially when he is in the car hurtling towards the bridge, at which point some of the transitions are barely a second long compared to the start of the video where the shots are drawn out and move about a lot more. What perhaps sets this apart from other videos is that there are no instruments present, perhaps because a lot of the music is percussion based and doesn't feature the typical instruments used in music videos such as guitars or bass. This is also probably due to the video being completely narrative as well as the fact that most rap videos do not feature instruments; there are no guitar solos or any distinctive, impressionable sections that are focused on any one instrument, the main focus being the artists' lyrics, as the video is based around these.

Intertextual References
 Stan makes a few references to Eminem in his letters, further establishing his love for Eminem, most notably perhaps: "If I have a daughter, guess what I'ma call her? I'ma name her Bonnie", in reference to his song 'Bonnie and Clyde 97', to which Eminem replies "I'm really flattered you would call your daughter that". Stan also mentions how he "read about your Uncle Ronnie too I'm sorry
I had a friend kill himself over some bitch who didn't want him"
in an attempt to relate to Eminem and show how alike they are. Another interesting reference is that t Phil Collin's song: 
"You know the song by Phil Collins, 'In the Air of the Night' about that guy who coulda saved that other guy from drowning but didn't, then Phil saw it all, then at at a show he found him? That's kinda how this is, you coulda rescued me from drowning". This also relates to how Stan and his girlfriend drown at the end of the video, perhaps Stan was influenced by this song to take his girlfriend's and his own life by drowning.


 This video became an important promotional item for Eminem, as well as the use of a more Pop genre centered artist (Dido) helped expand his target audience.

Monday, 10 September 2012

Research and Planning - Music Video - by Josh

 I first drew up a mind map to get an idea of how music videos were categorised. This allowed me to grasp the concepts of music videos and what defines them, such as the music genre, location, props, clothing, lighting and iconic music videos. Performance vs. Narrative is also important: a lot of videos interpret the song whereas some will just be the band/artist playing, sometimes live in front of a crowd.

Music
http://www.musicroom.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Gotye-and-Kimbra-Somebody-That-I-Used-To-Know.jpg Perhaps the most important aspect of a music video, the video is often built around the lyrics and the genre, for example, the music video for 'A Team' by Ed Sheeran is about a girl who sells her body for drugs, which the video depicts, capturing the harshness of life for someone addicted to drugs. Some videos have been banned as a result of them being too elicit, such as Rihanna's infamous 'S&M' video which was banned on Youtube as the video interpreted images from the song's lyrics, the words being of a sexual nature. A cool, acoustic song will usually feature a video that is slow and calm, whereas a loud Drum & Bass song will be fast paced with the camera capturing a lot of action. This type of genre, along with Dubstep and House is often set in a club or party with lots of flashing lights and dancing. Some videos may just feature dancing, most often found with female artists such as Lady Gaga or Rihanna. Indie-Rock music videos as often strange and alternative in their depiction, one of the most famous being Gotye's 'Somebody that I used to know' (image above), where the wall Gotye is singing in front of is painted with various shapes and colours until Gotye is also painted over, as well as woman who also sings.

http://www.contactmusic.com/videoimages/sbmg/oasis-morning-glory.jpgCamera & Lighting
 The effect that lighting can have on a video is that it usually sets the tone for the whole scene, e.g. a vivid and bright video will usually have major (happy), and sometimes loud music, whereas a low lighting or black and white video has music that is minor (sad) in tone and rather quiet. However these two can often contrast. For example, the music video for Oasis' song: 'Morning Glory' is loud and major sounding, where the band is lit up in vivid orange lighting (image left); they're having a great time playing loud music, however the people in the rest of the building are not enjoying their loud music, banging on their apartment door, the hall is bathed in harsh, bright white light, expressing their anger and frustration. 'Changed the way you kissed me' by Example is fully in black and white, but in the chorus there is still lots of lighting at a concert which is hidden by the crowd at points and suddenly bounces back, emphasising the tone and pace of the song. 

Iconic Videos
http://www.rsafilms.com/thumbs/1615/coldplay-strawberry-swing.jpg Another of Example's songs: 'We'll be coming back' is similar to his other songs in the way that it features heavy bass and electronic music, but a major difference is that the music video is not set in a club or at a concert; it is instead a looping video of a couple in the background playing at the shore of a beach with the lyrics of the songs displayed above them, perhaps the couple are interpreting the lyrics which is reinforced by them being shown at the top of the screen, which is unusual as most music videos do not feature lyrics. An interesting video is that of Coldplay's 'Strawberry Swing' (image above), a video like no other, it features Chris Martin (the lead singer) surrounded by pictures and backgrounds made up of chalk which constantly changes through stop-motion to provide a narrative for the song, where Martin saves a girl from the clutches of an evil giant squirrel. The video's style and story is very reminiscent of Coldplay's Alternative/Indie-rock style which is presented through the kookiness of the video.