Several live-footage videos that I have found of the band performing the song we are making a music video, this shows that they have an active fan-base and you get and rough idea of the target audience that we will be aiming at. It shows you the type of places the band play and therefore what kinds of people they are likely to attract. Although these shows are in America, Defeater do play in the United Kingdom stating "Everyone in the UK has been so nice to us, the riders and everything is incredible. Getting fed every night and getting drinks for free and stuff, it’s so much different than in the States."

Dom has contacted Bridge 9 Records to check if it was okay to use the song we had chosen for our music video, as you can see we do and everything is going as planned.

These are photos I have taken of the group whilst we were setting up and preparing to film on the day, before we started the filming we realised that we would not be able to book a school camera in time for when we wanted to start, so instead we used my Fuji Film camera as a substitute since it could also record footage. I think it was suitable for the recording and hopefully we will not need to re-film anything, it looked okay when re-watching the camera however we will see when it comes to do a rough cut.

We have filmed some of our media project and are going out again next week to hopefully complete the rest of what we will need for our music video, we have been filming whilst the weather is the consistently sunny (although if there is a shift in the weather next week, we should be able to edit the brightness using Adobe Premier Pro since we have prepared for this and played around with the editing special effects/transitions incase we needed them).
We are aiming to get it all filmed for definite before the christmas break since the weather is likely to be unpredictable, last year it snowed early and around christmas which will be difficult if we need to go back and re-shoot.

Storyboard

These are scans of the storyboard that was created when we had decided on a rough story narrative for our video, most of the storyboard was drawn by me but as a simple guide for what want. The storyboard was created by ideas from the whole group and everyone was happy with the final story-line.

We wanted a narrative that would be similar to the original message in the song we had chosen so we stuck closely to that and expanded on it, we pictured what the band themselves were likely to do if they were to create a music video for their song.

Script, Scenes and Shots

recce shots

These are images that I have taken whilst looking into possible places to shoot our film at the location we had decided to use, as you can see there are lots of different looking places which have a lot of potential since they add variation to the scenes we will be shooting and we can even make it so it looks like the characters are in a completely different locations which has a lot of potential for the narrative of the song.

Problems: location change.

due to the fact that our location and idea would not be ideal for the sudden change in weather we have decided to change it, instead of walking to Nine Bridges for our filming, which would be a 40-50 minute walk, in changeable weather situations, we are now filming at the location 'Cuckoos Hollow' which in comparison is a 10-20 minute walk that would take up less time; especially since it is getting darker, sooner which means less filming time. It would be better for us if the weather is bad, since we could meet up anyway to film or discuss ideas indoors and it a location within easy reach of all of us.
Overall I feel this is a better choice and that the video will benefit from it, 

Presentation and idea feedback

 

After having finally come up with a plan for our final idea for a music video, we created a power point presentation and then briefed the idea to the rest of the groups for feedback. Our presentation included our location for filming, (which will be Nine bridges, a location in Peterborough), how we plan to edit the video, what shots we will use and we also let the groups hear the song we wish to use. We received much positive responce, aswell as a few improvements we could make which we will take into account and add into our production as we go along. Our teacher also gave us feedback, and although he liked our initial idea he also suggested what else we could put into out music video.

Second Presentation that was breifed to the class

Draft Idea for Music Video

We think that the best way to make this music video is to follow the narrative. The song has a strong narrative which would seem pointless to ignore. The basic idea will be to have a guy and a girl following the lines of the song (which can be found in the last post) and going to different locations to do this, E.g A beach or the seaside.

We want the video to match the pace of the music, so it will be fairly slow and also peaceful to fit in with the feel of the song. Another possible idea that we have at this time is to keep the people in the video anonymous and to not show their faces throughout the video, to create an element of mystery. This will also inspire us to have to use a lot more creative camera angels, and possibly have to film at lot of it using low angels showing the bottom half of the bodies only.

We feel that in this type of video its not particularly important to "have a lot going on" but more about how the video is made. Slow motion shots are another thing that we are considering to use, and also changing the contrast to make the whole video brighter, as we will be filming in the winter and we want the video to have a warmer feel.

This is only a draft and may change, next lesson we will have put together a presentation that we will be able to show to the rest of the groups and receive feedback which will help us develop the idea further.


Music videos that we could take reference to could be ones such as

Sugar we're going down (swinging) by Fall Out Boy is a song that has a boy and girl throughout the music video, and we are shown their story as it goes along. Although the video may not directly follow the lyrics we can still use it as a reference for the storyline idea. This is also good since this song is relative to the kind of genre stereotypes that we will be looking at for our own production.

This music video by Taylor Swift clearly shows the narrative and the link between film and lyrics throughout the whole of the video. This could be used as a reference since it is a clear example. We can apply this video to Todorov's narrative theory since there is a disruption which the character has to face and overcome; this being her trying to get with the guy she likes.

Todorov's Narrative Theory

Equilibrium - Everything is normal - We get a sense of the setting and genre, thus allowing us to immediately connect to the narrative and characters of the music video.

Disruption - Something upsets the normal balance of life - The overall environment and video present a drastic change, which should be clearly recognised by the audience. To some this is where the actual narrative starts.

Recognition of disruption - Something effects the hero - In terms of music videos, the lead artist will portray a clear image of recognition towards the form of disruption. The 'disruption' does not necessarily mean something negative.

Attempt to repair disruption - The hero goes on his quest - After the lead artist has recognised a disruption of some sort, he/she will confront it and and the outcome will either be positive or negative.

Equilibrium is restored - The hero defeats the villain - Everything will go back to normal, however not exactly as it was at the start.

Other Narrative features

• Multi-stranded: Different strands of narratives woven together.
• Fragmented: Different parts of narratives that may not necessarily be woven together in any order.
• Flashbacks: A segment that portrays something that has happened in the past.

Questionaire to receive feedback on our music video

 

I have created a question sheet for people to fill in so that we will bea ble to use it as feedback to base our own idea around, I have tried to keep the questions simple so that it will be easy to fill out but also give us all the details that we need.

Mood board based on other genres

I have created mood boards from other genres to see the other conventions, this is a moodboard for indie music, which although is not the genre we are doing, it might be good to take some aspects and apply them to our own music video since a lot of indie music is accoustic.

I have also completed a mood board based on musicians of the 'Pop' genre so that it is a clear contrast between the different genres.

We can also apply Michel Maffesoli's theory to these mood boards too, since both show the similarities between each of the people in that particular 'urban tribe', this is seen since the people in them are dressed similarly, with bright colours and wacky hairstyles for the pop genre, and a rough, anti-system that each person in the indie mood board share. These conventions will help attract an audience by connecting with certain groups who dress and act similarly.

This is a mood board that we have chosen and created based on the Rock/Metal genre. This is likely to relate to the song we will choose as our final one. You can see the typical conventions of the band in this mood board, there are a lot of dark colours and clothing. However we might not apply these factors since although the song is from a band of this genre, since the actual song is accoustic.

Michel Maffesoli is a French sociologist who has the view that society is separated into 'urban tribes'. He describes urban tribes as micro groups of people who share common interests in urban areas. In these mood boards that I am posting to my blog, you can see that his theory can be applied. In this mood board you see groups of people who dress, look and probably act the same, which are all things that he suggests about these 'tribes', even down to their political and worldly views. By watching music videos by these bands, we can see that they try to target similar people who are from the same groups.


This music video by Falling In Reverse is a good example, we see the same sterotyped clothing, hair, tattoos and other features that are common of many of the bands on this mood board created. It fits the genre of the music, and the people it is aimed at.

Brainstorm Ideas

We think that the best way to make this music video is to follow the narrative. The song has a strong narrative which would seem pointless to ignore. The basic idea will be to have a guy and a girl following the lines of the song (which can be found in the last post) and going to different locations to do this, E.g A beach or the seaside.

We want the video to match the pace of the music, so it will be fairly slow and also peaceful to fit in with the feel of the song. Another possible idea that we have at this time is to keep the people in the video anonymous and to not show their faces throughout the video, to create an element of mystery. This will also inspire us to have to use a lot more creative camera angels, and possibly have to film at lot of it using low angels showing the bottom half of the bodies only.

We feel that in this type of video its not particularly important to "have a lot going on" but more about how the video is made. Slow motion shots are another thing that we are considering to use, and also changing the contrast to make the whole video brighter, as we will be filming in the winter and we want the video to have a warmer feel.

When we finalise the ideas I will post again to show what we have decided to do and how we intend to make it happen.

Looking into song lyrics

Lyrics used in songs have a purpose that could fall under several things, they could be to tell a story; perhaps one personal to the songwriter/band or one that is meant to reach out to the audience. They could be used to share emotions with listners of the song on a particular subject or they could be something that everyone can relate to. When songs are used in films they are normally to convey emotions to the audience, and give the impression that characters or scenarios are good or bad.

Let's talk about the old days
Let's talk about your friends
Let's talk about the summer
and how you wish it wouldn't end.

Did I forget to tell you
how pretty you looked in that dress
In the first time that I saw you,
You cleaned the mess from my head

And I don't mind, if we take our time.
No!
I don't mind

Lets go walkin' on the boardwalk,
Dip our feet into the sea
Lets find ourselves lost anekatips for hours
Until we find ourselves a drink

Lets talk that sun into setting
Just need the sound of your voice
Need that calmin and the comfort
somethin to drown out the noise

And I don't mind, if we take our time,
Cause I'm all yours if you're all mine.

Somethin I've been meanin to tell you,
'bout three years and a day.
I'd very much like to get married,
Maybe have kids and move away,
Cause there ain't nothing like your smile
Your legs and those eyes.
And I will beg and steal and borrow
To keep you safe your whole life

And I don't mind, if we take our time,
Cause I'm all yours if you're all mine

These are the lyrics from the song that we are doing, as you can see these lyrics are used to convey a story. The lyrics tell about a man that is deeply in love with another person, probably a woman who he used to be very close to but was seperated from her (could have moved away, or maybe even died). This song also allows the songwriter to share his thoughts and feelings with listeners, they can understand his emotions through the song.
The genre that the song has been written for often goes into deep, emotional meanings through their lyrics and are designed so that you have to think about the reasons behind them.

I threw a wish in the well,
Don't ask me, I'll never tell,
I looked to you as it fell,
And now you're in my way

I'd trade my soul for a wish,
Pennies and dimes for a kiss,
I wasn't looking for this,
But now you're in my way

Your stare was holdin',
Ripped jeans, skin was showin
'Hot night, wind was blowin'
Where you think you're going, baby?

Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
But here's my number,
So call me, maybe?

These are the first couple of verses and the chorus from the pop song 'Call Me Maybe' by 'Carly Rae Jepson' - an artist that I have previously mentioned - as you can see from looking into these lyrics that they are not as complex as the previous, the meaning to which the artist wishes to convey to listeners is simple and clear, you don't need to read into them to get the message. They are catchy and simple, with only a few lines per verse and the lyrics contain slight abreviations on the end of words such as "holdin'" or "showin'". These are typical lyrical conventions of a Pop song since the aim is to be catchy with a simple topic that people can easily relate to.

I created an account on SurveryMonkey which would allow me to gather results on which one of our four songs would be most popular and most likely to be successful, this audience feedback would also help us get an idea of what kind of genre specific features people like to see.

Slideshow that we presented to the group

Media Presentation

We created a powerpoint presentation breifing the ideas that we had come up with for our music video and then discussed them with the rest of our media class, this was so that we could gather responses and critisism; using my camera I was able to get someone to record evidence.

The views on our ideas were very well received and there wasn't really any bad critisism. We proposed 4 songs: one acoustic, one rock, one indie and one rap, this gave us a variety of genres to choose from and consider; for each genre we listed pros and cons and showed the audio of each track via a link to Youtube for the best result. The media group viewing the presentation decided that it would be interesting to do a rock genre since many of the people in our own group are interested in it, and therefore would already be familiar with many of the codes and conventions of those types of music videos. Taking this into account we have decided on a final song and hope to develop ideas for possible music video senarios.

Music Directors

Sourced from Wikipedia.

A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the coordinator of the musical ensembles in a university, college, or institution (but not usually the head of the academic music department), the head bandmaster of a military band, the head organist and choirmaster of a church, or an Organist and Master of the Choristers (a title given to a Director of Music at a Cathedral, particularly in England).


Sophie Muller
Sophie Muller is a british music video director, which related back to our work since the video we produce will be made solely in the UK. She has done many collaborations with artists like Sophie Ellis-Bextor, No Doubt, Sade, Shakira, Shakespears Sister, Garbage, Blur, Annie Lennox and Eurythmics.
Sophie Muller was born in London, United Kingdom, but spent her early years growing up on the Isle of Man. After leaving secondary education, she returned to London to attend Central St Martin's, gaining a Foundation Diploma in Art.
Following her graduation, Muller went to the Royal College of Art to study for her Masters in Film and Television, where she made "Interlude" and "In Excelsis Deo (In Adoration of God)." The latter won the J Walter Thompson Prize for creativity.
Her trademark style in most of her videos usually has a singer or a band inside a dim, isolated room.
This is good to keep in mind when thinking of our own music video since we could use her style as a reference.

Robby Starbuck
Robby Starbuck is an American music video director. In 2010 he was named to OC METRO's Top 40 under 40. SUBSTREAM Magazine ran a cover story on Robby Starbuck in 2010 as well. He works with a lot of American rock bands, which makes him a good reference for us since the bands we will likely be doing are of the rock and alternative genre. Some of the artists he has worked with include Snoop Dogg, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, The Sounds, Yellowcard, Machine Gun Kelly, Escape The Fate, Smashing Pumpkins, Metric, Times of Grace, Jeffree Star, Jon Mclaughlin, and Asking Alexandria.
Starbuck owns his own production company RSM and is signed there as well. In 2011 Robby was nominated in two categories for the Much Music Video Awards (MMVA) for his work directing Metric "Stadium Love". In 2011 Robby's video for OTEP "Fists Fall" won an online poll for best video with a message on MTV.com for the VMA's. The first Music Video shot on the RED Epic Camera was directed by Starbuck for The Smashing Pumpkins. On February 27th, 2012 it was announced that his company RSM expanded to representing 15 directors including himself

 

This is a print screen from his website http://www.robbystarbuck.com/ which along with his videos follows the typical conventions of the metal/rock genre stereotypes where there are a lot of dark colours and shots of the artist.

Here is an example of a music video he has done, which relates back to a previous music video I have analysed because it is the same band. The genre stereotypes fit is the video so we can use it as a reference.

Star Appearances In Music Videos

A guest appearance is a participation of an outsider performer usually called guest artist. Guest appearances are often described with the words featuring, with, or and. It is abbreviated in credit lists as Feat., Ft., f. The terms guest role or guest star are also common, the latter term specifically indicating the guest appearance of a celebrity.

In the early days of the music industry the bands were relatively stable units, and while guests were not uncommon, they were seldom given credits on album covers. For example, Eric Clapton was not credited in print for his guitar in the release of While My Guitar Gently Weeps of The Beatles. Still the term "featuring" was used as early as in the July 1954 UK Singles Chart by "The Four Aces featuring Al Alberts" with "Three Coins In The Fountain" at 5th place. Gradually guest appearances have become a fully credited staple of music industry. The custom of guest appearance has become especially prominent in rap music, and this influenced rock musicians as well.
To have a guest star on a record, the production coordinator must obtain permission from the record label of the guest and make sure that proper credits are delivered to the host record label to be printed on the album cover, often in the form "Artist name, courtesy of Record Label name." The permission is not always guaranteed or negotiations may take a long time.

 

This is artist B.o.B, an American rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer. "Airplanes" which is the song chosen here, reached No. one in the United Kingdom, and also in New Zealand, as well as the top three in Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland and the United States.

This song features artist Hayley Williams who is the lead singer of the rock band Paramore. This is a good example of songs featuring other artists because the genres of the two different musicians are completely different. The collaboration is used to attract fans from both artists, from the ones that listen to the music and others who are just fans of the celebrity. This will not only boost the popularity of the song but also enhance the career diversity of each artists.

Analysing Music Video

Pop Genre
For music videos portraying the song of an R&B, Hip-Hop or Pop genre, the style is generally the same. Both men and women who are featured are seen as glamerous, modern and attractive. Costume is bright, upbeat and often complimented by makeup. Setting's mostly contain bright studio lighting or a popular location young people are often depicted.

This is a music video by Owl City, a pop/electronic-synth American musical project by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young. His music is popular and this particular song fits the genre I am looking at since it is a collaboration with other Pop artist Carly Rae Jepsen. This type of Genre often has other singers featured within songs since it ups the popularity and targetted audiences are more likely to listen to it, especially if they are a fan of the other artist. This is likely the case with this particular song since Carly Rae Jepson has only just very recently had a rise to fame with her single "Call Me Maybe" which was met with great success, reaching the No. 1 spot on both The Billboard and Canadian Hot 100. The single also went to the number-one spot in 19 other countries.
Comparing this video to the typical conventions of the genre we can see that the costume fits the sterotype, both the male and female artist are wearing what is considered 'hip' by many teens and young adults. It is designed to relate to the audience and show off certain aspects about both singers. It also compliments the background colours.
The setting also fits several aspects of the genre, the location supports the idea that young people like to go out and have fun, we see them in the woods, a cabin, driving through a city and then later around a campfire partying. The song lyrics support the video also, both represent young people.

 

This is a music video by a K-Pop band and the song is called 'Electric Shock', this shows us that no matter what language/country the song is from, the genre stereotype is still the same. Perhaps even more so in the case of this video. The girls shown are wearing trendy, bright coloured clothes. The clothing being worn are probably from a popular clothing brand, this is often the case for Pop videos.

The whole setting for the video is brightly lit up and expensive looking.

Although the Owl City song is of a similar genre, the typical codes and conventions do not always apply. The music video does not show a choreographed dance which is almost always the case with 'Pop', so this would disagree with Steve Archer’s Theory. However the K-pop bands 'Girls Generation' does support it since almost all of their video is dancing.  Andrew Goodwin’s Theory is also supported by both these music video's since both artists appear heavily in the music video, each getting a huge amount of face time and close ups.

Music Labels and Brands

In the music industry, artists have become increasingly reliant on record labels, brand and trademark to help them with things such as advertising, marketing of their music, and the promotion of the band within television, internet and radio, because of this the record label help to increase the band's fan/consumer base.
A brand is a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers"
Record Labels enforce the copyright protection of the band or artist, mainly concerning the protection of sound recordings and music videos. They also handle the contracts between the band members and their managers.
The term "record label" originally comes from the circular label that is found at the center of a vinyl record which displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information.
Around 23% of label revenue is poured back into the signing and developing of new talent through their A&R (artist and repertoire) departments. Record labels enable artists, through advances and marketing/sales support, to treat music making as a full-time career. They exploit the artists’ recordings commercially and collect and pay the resulting royalties on their behalf.
Labels traditionally pay for the recording and mixing of albums (which they eventually, and hopefully get back through the sales of said albums), and they often underwrite new acts’ touring costs to help raise their profile and sales.
--
Large record labels, known as 'Major Labels', may own several 'Sub-Labels' that trade under a different name. Music collectors often use the term sublabel to refer to either an imprint or a subordinate label company (such as those within a group). Since of 2008, there are now only 4 'major labels', however in the beginning there were 6, there were:

Warner Music Group (one of the main four remaining)

Warner Music Group (WMG) is one of the big four record companies, the third largest in the business group and family of record labels in the recording industry.

Warner Music Group was formed in 2004 when it was spun off and made completely separate from Time Warner; as a result Time Warner no longer retains any ownership whatsoever in the Warner Music Group.

In May 2011, the company announced its sale to Access Industries Inc. The purchase of the company was completed on July 20, 2011.

EMI (one of the main four remaining)

EMI, is a British multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and was one of the "big four" record companies.

It was formed in March 1931 by the merger of the Columbia Graphophone Company and the Gramophone Company.

Sony Music Entertain (one of the main four remaining)

Sony Music Entertainment (SME or Sony Music) is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.

The company, which evolved into Sony Music, was founded in 1929 as the American Record Corporation (ARC) through the merger of several smaller record companies.

Bertelsmann Music Group

Bertelsmann Music Group, (BMG), was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann. It consisted of the BMG Music Publishing company, the world's third largest music publisher and the world's largest independent music publisher, and the 50% share of the joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment, Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Sony BMG).

Universal Music Group (UMG) (one of the main four remaining)

Universal Music Group (UMG) is a multinational music company. It is the largest of the "big four" record companies by its leading market share and its multitude of global operations. Universal Music Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of French media conglomerate Vivendi.

Universal Music Group owns a music publisher, Universal Music Publishing Group, which became the world's largest following the 2007 acquisition of BMG Music Publishing.

The UMG corporate headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California, United States.

Polygram

PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.

World music market sales shares, according to IFPI.

 

Universal Music Group — 28.8%

Independent labels — 22.6%

Sony Music Entertainment — 21.1%

EMI — 14.1%

Warner Music Group — 13.4%

--

Independent Record LabelsIndependant record labels ('indie') are record companies that work without the funding from the larger companies, they often allow many smaller music acts the boost they need to begin their musical career. Although most Indie labels are fairly small, some are be large corporations that still remain independant.
The bands taken on by Indie labels will often be completely different to the mainstream genre of music (pop/R&B etc) that would most likely be found in the larger record labels.
In the United Kingdom during the 1950s and 1960s, the major record companies EMI, Philips, and Decca had so much power that independent labels struggled to become established. Several British producers launched independent labels as outlets for their work.
Some independent record labels are:

Wall Of SoundWall of Sound is an independent record label based in London, England.
The label was founded by Mark Jones in 1994 and started out producing electronic music genres such as big beat before diversifying into a broad range of musical genres.
http://www.wallofsound.net/ is the website for this label.

Current artists

• Aeroplane
• Grace Jones
• The Human League
• Reverend and The Makers
• Röyksopp
• Scala & Kolacny Brothers
• The Jolly Boys featuring Albert Minott
• Tiesto v Diplo featuring Busta Rhymes
• Fumin

Drowned In Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway (who manage Mick Hucknall and Brett Anderson). The site is an editorially independent music website.
DiS started as an email fanzine in 1998 called 'The Last Resort' but was relaunched by founder Sean Adams as Drowned in Sound in 2000. It is currently edited by Sean Adams.

Record label
In 2003 Drowned in Sound started a record label which has released recordings by:

• Adam Gnade
• Bat for Lashes
• Blood Red Shoes
• Brett Anderson
• Emily Haines
• Emmy the Great
• Jeniferever
• Kaiser Chiefs
• The Koreans
• Les Incompétents
• Martha Wainwright
• Metric
• Redjetson
• The Stills
• ThisGirl
• Youthmovies

Other typical conventions of a music video

Typical Conventions of a Music Video on Prezi

Conventions of a music video

The Main Conventions Of A Music Video


Movement:
Essential to a music video, music compliments the rythem of a song and can normally be acheived by physically moving the camera aswell as people dancing or through the process and speed of editing.
There are many music videos by artists that rely heavily on the aspect of movement, it creates a sense of excitement and invigoration withing the audience and this is why it is mainly present in the genre of Pop/R&B artists. This genre of music is more likely to get people into the mood of dancing, and therefore played often at clubs and social gatherings to lighten the mood.
These music videos also tend to have rapid editing, with many shots lasting only for a few seconds and a frequent use of lighting.

This is a music video by the artist 'Lady Gaga' whose music is of the Pop genre and the song 'Judas' contains a lot of pyschical movement not only through the use of camera movement but also through dancing.








These are screengrabs I have taken from the same music video, which shows the movement.
This all supports Steve Archer’s Theory in which A carefully choreographed dance might be part of the artist’s performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation.

Narrative:
A music video may contain a narrative, this would be about a 'storyline' that would run throughout the video and more often than usual relate to the lyrics to tell the audience what the song is about, however there could be a narrative that features into the video that is independent to the lyrics and does not at all relate to them.

This is the song 'You Belong With Me' by 'Taylor Swift' which has a direct link between the story and the lyrics, where she tells the story of being in love with a guy who is going out with someone else. This is also common in the Pop genre (Taylor Swift is of the Pop/Country) but can be seen in many others too.

Performing/Appearing:
It is very common for the artist to appear often during the music video they are creating, this relates to Andrew Goodwin’s Theory in which the artist will show often during the video, this is normally a request of the Record Label. During their time on-screen they will often be seen lip-syncing or playing instruments.

In this screen-grab from the same video by Taylor Swift she in seen singing/lip-syncing along to the song. This is a good example where the artist both performs and has a Narrative that make up the music video.

Intertextuality:
In music videos it is common to see producers making references to the other bands of the same genre, or the genre is general. They may be very obvious references, or subtle. For example, the band 'All Time Low'
in their music video 'Weightless' make several obvious references to the bands 'Blink 182' and 'Fall Out Boy', which are both huge, popular, similar-genre artists that would be popular amongst the fans. They also make several rock-culture references that would be funny among that type of audience, especially seeing as All Time Low are an Alternative Rock band.
This complies with John Stewart’s Theory where he states his description of the music video as ‘incorportating, raiding and reconstructing’ is essentially the essence of Intertextuality, using something with which the audience may be familiar, to generate both nostalgic associations and new meanings.

The purpose of a music video.

Purpose of Music Videos

It was in the 1960's that experimentation with promotional short films began, since this was the time that major bands such as "The Beatles", "The Animals" and "The Rolling Stones" wanted to create videos that meant people could view them performing without attending live shows.
In 1967 in February "The Beatles" took 2 days to film one the first ever real music videos in a surrey field to promote there new single "strawberry Fields" this video was hugely successful, making other artists worldwide want to create similar works of their own. Bands become more widespread in fame and the music videos helped get their music out into the world; created a bigger fanbase.
As I stated in my previous entry, Music video's really came into prominence during the 1980s, when MTV decided to base their format around them and during this time period, these works were known as "illustrated songs" or "film clips".

This is the video that The Animals recorded of the song "House Of The Rising Sun" which was recorded on 18th of May in 1964.

The main purpose of a music video created is to sell products, most often the song featured during the video. However, other products can be marketed by a music video, this could be the soundtrack for a film, album which the band has just released, merchandise such as T-shirts, accessories, hoodies etc and even upcoming tours.
Music videos help gain promotion for the bands current singles and helps them stay in the 'public-eye' for longer periods of time, allowing advertisement for released albums or other works by the artists which will increase sales and result in profit from the original recording-price of the music.
Music videos can advertise other products, perhaps ones that sponsor the bands upcoming tours or if the band are being paid to promote a particular item. For instance, if a brand of coffee or clothing need promoting then they can sponser the band to allow the product to appear in the music video - viewers will then see it and be encourages to buy it, especially if the fans feels it relates them to the band.
For example, the lead vocalist of the band 'Bring Me The Horizon' owns his own clothing company, and they often advertise it during their MV's.

This is their music video 'Visions', in this the band are wearing several pieces of Drop Dead brand clothing from their store:
http://store.iheartdropdead.com/

It used to be the case that the videos created would be shown on specialist, well renowned shows such as 'Top Of The Pops' which was a show aired on the BBC from 1964 up until 2006, however this was prior to the new digital stage, since now fans who want to see the latest of their bands new singles can simply access them at video hosting sites, like Youtube or Vevo. (http://www.youtube.com and http://www.vevo.com/) or viewed via portable media devices like mobile phones and Apple's iTouch devices.
Although this allowed the sites to receive more internet traffic and publisization, it was problematic for the music industry since viewers listening to it online for free were less inclined to buy a physical copy of the songs, and although intitally Record Labels would try and prevent this, attempting to prosecute Youtube for copyright infringement, but they eventually found this to be time-consuming and often futile. Some Record Labels deciding to set up their own accounts so that they could monitor the Videos under controlled conditions and offered links to band's other social networking pages.

Analysing a Music Video

1) Genre characteristics in music videos

This video is of 'Wetsuit' by the 'Vaccines', The Vaccines are an Indie Rock band who formed in 2010. Looking at the video by this band we can see significant features from it that let the audience know what Genre the band will be; the main being that since it contains mainly images taken rather than film, we can directly see the type of audience that would listen to this band. Indie as a genre is associated with the freedom to explore things that may not appeal to the audience of mainstream pop/r&b etc. We can see this since the people in the images give us a carefree opinion, generally having fun and just enjoying the music.
A lot of sterotypical 'indie kids' use the photo programme Instagram to take photos, there is a direct appeal to The Vaccines audience in this video as every part of it is taken via Instagram, this means that it will be enjoyed by listeners and they would be able to tell what kind of music video even if they did not listen to the music.
Almost all of the video has a sepia or colour boost tone, this gives it a more colourful, optimistic feel. It lightens the mood and this again helps the video define the genre, since compared to a video of a 'Metal' or 'Hardcore' band of which the shots would be dark and brooding, The Vaccines however have a positive vibe to them. 

This is a comparison between the music video I have chosen and 'The Final Episode' by 'Asking Alexandria', as you can see there is a clear difference in which you can see the bands are two completely different genres of music.

2) Relationship between lyrics and visuals.

The song itself is about livivng in the moment, being young and being stupid while you can.

• "For goodness sake, let us be young. 'Cause time gets harder to outrun"
• "With a cool, cool breeze and dirty knees, I rest on childhood memories."
• "Put a wetsuit on. Come on, come on. Grow your hair out long. Come on, come on. Put a t-shirt on. Do me wrong, do me wrong, do me wrong."

With the meaning in mind, you can see clearly how the images relate to the song. They are all of young people, teenagers, kids and young adults going out and enjoying life. There are silly clothes and alcohol involved and you can see the memories captured witht he photographed, as if by capturing these moments will preserve the present time and the youth that all these people share before they have to grow up and take life with a more serious tone.

In these two screenshots I have taken, they reinforce the point I have made and that the song is telling it's audience - Alcohol and kids smoking, things that young people do that often have silly consequences but because they're living in the moment, they don't care right now.

3) Relationship between audio and visuals.

Justin Young is the vocalist for the band, his voice has the impression of an old 80's rock vocalist rather than a band from the 2000's, giving it a classic, soothing sound. The images shown in the video perhaps represent this since many of them have a 'Sepia' or 'Cross Process' effect which, although

on recent images, gives them an old-fashioned look. The band took inspiration from bands such as 'The Ramones' and 'The Strokes' which both have a similar sound to them.

Justin young also sings with a calm, controlled voice which relaxes the listener, making them feel carefree. The images show this feeling of freedom and recklessnes within them.

4) The Record Label's needs will be met with closeups of the artist and they may develop motifs across their videos.

The band themselves are not shown directly in the music video, this this differs from the 'norm', however this could be because since 'The Vaccines' are an Indie band, they have a 'do it yourself' attitude, and Indie bands do not rely as much on their record labels as much bigger, mainstream artists do, this could be why they do not appear in closeups or clear shots.
The video does have a motif however, as there is a repeated theme of festivals and young people and it is most likely that the images are taken from actual gigs/concerts that the band had played. This would be to promote them since it would show how 'fun and lively' they are to see play and would encourage people to buy their gig tickets to see them. It also makes the idea of camping out at festivals, which indie bands such as the vaccines are likely to play and would need publicization, and this would then inspire more people to do it.

5) frequent reference to the notion of looking
This again goes against the normal music video expectations as there isn't really a notion of looking throughout the video, The Vaccines are not shown so the video focuses on the fans, although you can see the stage at one point during the video, the band are not the focus and there are no mirrors or screens included, so from this we can gather that the main reason behind the video is to publicize the music rather than the artist or the majority of the fans shown. There is a roughly equal amount of women to men and neither are dressed to make sexual implications to the viewer. I beleive that the fact there is no real notion of looking enforces that this is an Indie band, since unlike the generic 'pop' genre in which music videos would focus on the lead singer in a skimpy outfit, the point of this music video is to appeal to that specific audience, who are more likely to enjoy a more creative side to the music video.

6) There is often intertextual reference.
There are slight intertextual references in the video, the bands album cover features several times throughout it to publicize the band and the concerts being shown are obviously from The Vaccines own. Vevo's logo is present in the corner at all times so that they are given credit for supporting the music video, which would advertise their website. Other than this there isn't much display of other forms of media like TV or Film for example, since they are an Indie genre since and, as I have said previously, have a 'do it yourself' attitude so they would not need to advertise other forms of media.
Vevo are however, looking into becoming a TV channel, if this is the case in the end then the video would also promote Vevo's channel to viewers.

Above is Vevo's website which would show the music videos from which is gets it's publicization from. As you can see, the other bans displayed have a similar theme to them as the vaccines in the photographs.

The is a screengrab from the same website, but as 'The Vaccines' were displayed on screen, the website flips through the bands that they helped to make the videos for and this then gives the band advertisement aswell.