Summer project tasks
1) Research: music video analysis
You need to write a 200-word close-textual analysis of five (or more!) music videos in your chosen genre. For each music video, focus on a different aspect of media language, and embed each one on your blog:
Music Video 1: Narrative
How is narrative used in the music video and what impact does this have on the audience? Can you apply any narrative theories to the story in the music video?
Narrative is used in this music video as we are introduced to the protagonist (which is the lead singer Dan Smith) as soon as the music starts at (0.06). The narrative portrayed by the artists reveals that in this video states the conversation of two people after the Pompeii volcano eruption. However, the narrative portrayed in the music video is about the protagonist searching around an abandoned city were he starts to see people with black eyes and is very confused with what is going on. The lyrics state "but if you close your eyes does it almost feel like nothings changed at all" this could link to the other characters having black eyes and linking it to the people who died in Pompeii being stuck in that position. A media theorist I would apply this music video to would be Roland Barthes - Hermeneutic code, which leads the audience to want to know more as the lyrics is about Pompeii volcano eruption but the video is set somewhere completely different which makes the audience want to understand the significance/enigma.
Music Video 2: Mise-en-scene
What do you notice about the use of mise-en-scene to create meanings for the audience? Use CLAMPS to help you here and think in particular about how mise-en-scene is used to communicate the genre of music.
In this music video the use of mis-en-scene to create meanings for the audience is clear as the music video and the lyrics to the song links. Most frames in the music video has the protagonist (Bruno mars) lip synching the song and showing off his wealth. This is shown through the lighting as its always bright and centred on him. The setting of the music video would be in California, in which mini settings would an outdoor party, outside the protagonists jet, and riding in a mustang. The props in which the music video included were items such as the artist wearing expensive jewellery, the car, drinks and other people in the video to make it look like a party. The mise-en-scene is used to enforce the genre of wealth and as the song is titles 24K magic the 24K links to gold and diamond which is shown to be worn by the artist and his friends.
Music Video 3: Camerawork
Here you are looking for particular camera shots and movement. Remember that movement is a critical convention of most music videos and camerawork can contribute to this.
Rockwell - Somebody's watching me
The music video starts as a personal perspective shot, this means its stationed from the protagonist eyes like in real time. However, it switches because the personal shot is shown to be either the intruder or the home owner as we see the protagonist being shot form a medium close up walking through his home but him also in the shower. There is intertextuality shown in the lyric and music video as the lyrics state "but maybe showers remind me of psycho too much", this is from the famous Alfred Hitchcock's movie psycho and the shower scene. There are various conventions of a thriller film as the music is synthetic which was popular in the 80s due to disco but also the extreme close ups and the big eerie house with low lighting. The video has a slow but consistent pace which fits the music to crate a climax each time it gets to the chorus. This makes the audience feel the eerie and side with the confused resident as to what is going on in his home and who is actually watching him or "am I just paranoid?".
Music Video 4: Editing
Analyse pace, transitions, the number of shots and juxtaposition. How does the music video create pace and excitement - or does it create a different effect for the audience?
The music video starts with a paper plane being flown across the frame which is edited in the form of the American dollar, this sets the tone for the music video as its a song about wealth and those two artist getting money like rain hence the title. The first artist to preform in the music video would be AJ Tracey and the pace of the music video is fast and the song is very electronic and upbeat. Few seconds into the video AJ is seen holding up an umbrella as water is pouring down through a bag a women is pouring onto him. This creates synergy between the lyrics and music video. This can be seen as parallel sound or diegetic sound. The camera shots for this video varies as it started with a long shot of the two artists and then transitioned into medium shots and close up shots of money, women holding the money or a medium shot on the piano player. The video transitions with the beat of the song during (0.37,0.39) this means that the video goes into a faster pace and the camera shots taken fits each beat perfectly. When Aitchs part come through you see the camera zoom (1.16) into the television which then the camera is shot through fish lens and he raps his part. The music video is a fast, colour enhanced and the editing fits the concept of the video which evidently makes the audience feel excited but also take them on a alternate visually enhanced reality because the colour schemed is changed to a brighter colour depending on the setting.
Music Video 5: Conventions
Think back to our Introduction to Music Video and our work on Andrew Goodwin's theory on music video conventions as part of the Ghost Town CSP. How many key conventions of music video can you find in your fifth music video example?
The key conventions for a music video would be "feature movement – often fast paced either in terms of actors, camerawork or editing. Many contain a performance element or narrative. Music videos can also feature visual effects and intertextuality."
This means that in this music video they feature lots of movement and they hold conventions for a typical boy-band. This is shown as the video involves a well known actor named Danny DeVito as their theme for this music video is creating a scene for each member. This means that each member is assigned a character or emotion they have to act on. This means that Harry got "Love", Zayn got "mystery", Liam got "Power", Louis got "Light". The crossover between these conventions means that their mise-en-scene would be unconventional. As you wouldn't normally see a film being made as a theme to a music video.
2) Planning: music video treatment (concept)
In order to produce a successful music video, you will need to write a treatment. This is like a script - it tells the band or artist exactly what will happen in the video and the kind of style or effect the video will have. You'll need choose what song you are going to use at this point - remember, you can use an existing artist's track but it needs to be appropriate for a mainstream audience.
Concept = Rockwell, Somebody's watching me
My music video concept will be based around the 80's hit by Rockwell "somebody's watching me". In this music video I will be taking scenes from the video and re creating it to fit what i feel in the music is trying to present. This means that I will start the scene with a first person point of view walking into a cabin which gives off an eerie vibe. The cabin will be placed in the woods and the inside of the house will contain odd and creepy statues, this will create synergy between the music and the video as its about the hone owner or person living in this setting not feeling safe and feels like someone is out to get them. The video will contain 4 people (characters) but the main protagonist will be around and the camera shots will mainly be medium shot of the main character exploring the house and the other 3 characters will be dressed up trying to subtly scare the main character. The most important scene would be the scene where intertextuality is introduced through the lyric "maybe showers remind of psycho too much", this means that I will contain a scene of from psycho.
3) Statement of Intent
Write the first draft for your genuine 500-word Statement of Intent. This will be submitted to the exam board alongside your media products and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available.
In this music video, the chosen song would be somebody's watching me by Rockwell. The mainstream audience for this music video would a niche audience who listen to both the hybrid genre of pop and rock material however, the mainstream availability to watch this song will amount to lots of audience engagement from a wider perspective. The choice of genre would be hybrid which is between pop and rock, this connotes a wider audience range. The sponsorship deal with this artist would be between JBL boombox which will be included in the music video at a specific scene which will help greater the engagement for the brand and the artist. The two locations where my music video will set in would be the woods (outdoor) and a cabin (indoors). The music video conventions for this music video would be a mixture between slow movements and a lot of editing. The genre would be based around horror and a short film like music video. The camerawork will vary depending on scene but it will contain many medium shots, close ups, personnel view shots (angle from the protagonists eyes), and long shots.
The magazine in which Rockwell will do a cover issue in would be rolling stone in their latest issue within the music section. However, the original music magazine will be called "VideoStar" this means that my artist will be on the cover page (central image) which he will posing with a guitar and holding a cigarette which convey's the rock and pop genre which he will linked with and with the music video conventions. The first few cover lines on the cover would be "Rock/Pop is coming back!", "Get tickets for Rockwell's latest show", "New 80's...coming back". I will include enigma codes and action codes to convey the media language, this means that in the music video there would camera shots to convey a jump scare for the protagonist and audience and they could understand this through the enigma codes through the slow pace camera movement. The action codes will be the jump scare as the chorus sets and this would connote the music and genre have synergy.
My music video will subvert stereotypes in the media as my protagonist will be a black male and the hero would be a female. This would link to the media theory is Stuart Hall's 'Reception theory' as they preferred, dominant and oppositional reading in this music video will be up to the audience. This denotes that there would be multiple ways of understanding the message in the music video.
Comments
Post a Comment