Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Monday, 25 June 2012
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.
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.
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.
Friday, 22 June 2012
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.
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."
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.
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
What are we doing for the task?
We are creating a promotional music video for an uncopyrighted song, a promotional video is a music track that is acompanied with a short film to create a music video for the band, this could also be for artistic purposes.
History on music videos
Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos date back much further, they came into prominence in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert","promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip" or "film clip".
This is a music video by the band ' Imagine Dragons', the film they have chosen to accompany the song reflects the mood, makes it relatable to the audience. The shots they have used are fairly long, meaning less editing is required (which would be less hassle) and it still works effectively.
Digjpack
We will also be creating a Digipack for the band we choose. This was my first choice out of the three options given.
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.
Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD Digipak (DVDigipak) is used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets.
History on music videos
Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos date back much further, they came into prominence in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert","promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip" or "film clip".
This is a music video by the band ' Imagine Dragons', the film they have chosen to accompany the song reflects the mood, makes it relatable to the audience. The shots they have used are fairly long, meaning less editing is required (which would be less hassle) and it still works effectively.
Digjpack
We will also be creating a Digipack for the band we choose. This was my first choice out of the three options given.
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.
Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD Digipak (DVDigipak) is used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets.
This is the CD case and CD for the band 'Imagine Dragons', I have included both the music video and Digipack to show that this is what we will be doing.
This is the OASIS Digipack, it has several folding panels and would perhaps contain more than one CD.
Website.
For my second choice out of the three options, I have decided to do a website design for the band.A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a set of related web pages containing content such as text, images, video, audio, etc. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet address known as a Uniform Resource Locator. All publicly accessible websites collectively constitute the World Wide Web.
This is the website for the band I have included in this post, it helps advertise the band, let fans know of any upcoming news and they can sell merch/albums online to make money.
Brief
The breif for our A2 Media Project is to create a promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:
- A website homepage for the band;
- A cover for its release as part of a digipack (CD/DVD package);
- A magazine advertisement for the digipack ( CD/DVD package).
The music video that we will be creating should have the average length that is the usual convention, however if it is a particularly long track we can make it fade early. Three minutes is the usual length.
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