Research on other music video styles: Rihanna

As I am planning on doing a pop music video I thought it would be beneficial to look at pop music videos that are around at the moment. As Rhianna is one of the biggest artists around at the moment I firstly looked at her music video to - Only girl in the world.

I liked the use of this shot as the background is totally clear and it would be easy to use a field in our music. We want the main focus to be us and not what is going on in the background. When we record our music video it will be important that we think about what will be in our background.
 
 
I like this shot in the video because although the background is mostly red throughout the use of the balloons bring extra colour. As we are doing a pop music video bright colours will be important so we appeal to our target market and they find it interesting.

 



This is the final shot I liked in the video, it looks superficial and although there are things going on in the background she is the main focus. I like  that there is flicking between 2 different shots after this part of the video, which makes it look really professional. This is something that me and Alice could also achieve in our own music video.

Research on other music video styles: Florence

Florence and the Machine was the first artist we thought we was going to use for our music video however we found out that if we did one of her songs we wouldn’t be fitting in with the media criteria. However as we had already done some research on her we found that we liked the use of quick close ups and could possibly incorporate some of the ideas she uses in our own music video. We think this could work in our music video because although we are doing a pop song the use of close ups would work even if it was a fast or slow song. It would also help us in case we had any gaps in the recordings we done as we can put in a 2 second close up to help make up time. Below is some of the close ups we liked from her music video - Shake it out.

 

We also liked the use of some of the close ups of her face that are in the music video. If we was to do this in our music video it would help us promote our band more as this relates to Andrew Goodwin's theory with “The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artists" and so if we was to do this then our band would be better established. Below is some of the facial close up shots we liked from her music video - Shake it out.

 

 

Letter of permission

I have wrote a letter to both Virgin records and All Saints to ask thier permission to use their track, "Pure Shores". This is essential now we have decided what track we are going to use and we need to make sure we do everything possible to avoid any copy right issues. Below is the letters I have sent to both Virgin records and All Saints. I hope that they allow us to use thier track as it will work well with all of the ideas we have for the music video.

Song choices

Me and Alice both thought it would be easier to record a pop band rather than just one artist and so together we came up with a list of all the songs we could potentially do. This was an important decision to make as we would be listening to this song frequently and would need to know it word for word. Here is the list of songs we considered:

Girls Aloud

· Sound of the underground

· Love Machine

Sugababes

· Round round

· Too lost in you

The Saturdays

· Higher

· Up

Pussycat Dolls

· Don’t Cha

· I hate this part

Atomic Kitten

·Whole again

· The tide is high

All saints

· Pure Shores

· Never ever

The song we choose has to be over 10 years old or doesn’t have a music video for it. Therefore the oldest band in our list is All Saints and our preferred song between the 2 is Pure shores and so this is the song we are going to do for our pop music video.

Pictures of group

Here is some pictures of me and my other group member Alice. As you can see we work well together and also get along very well. As we both want to do well in media this year I feel I have made the right choice as to who I should work with to complete my media coursework.

Preliminary Task - 9 to 5

Before recording our final chosen video for out coursework we got one more opportunity to try out creating a music video, we got given a song we had to do it to and also got to choose the group we wanted to work with to see if we could work well together during out final video too. From doing this task I believe all the members in my group found out how important it was to plan as the plans we had for this video we very basic and we found frequently we was making things up on the spot just so we had enough clips to fit the song. Therefore it is going to be essential that we plan our actual music video thoroughly so we do not waste time by trying to think of other shots we could put in. Below is the link to the video we created which was to Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5.

Preliminary Task - 9-5

The first 40 seconds of this video I feel looks really professional, the reason for this is because firstly it links to the second point in Andrew Goodwin's theory with "There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals" Alice does actions that link in with the lyrics in the song:

- "Tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen" In this part of the video you see Alice wake up and get up very groggily, therefore fitting in with this lyric.

- "Pour myself a cup of ambition" In the part of the video you see Alice do exactly the same thing as the lyric by pouring herself a cup of tea.

- "Jump in the shower" Although this part of the video isn’t at the exact same time as the song there is only a couple of seconds in between it, in which you see Alice pull back the shower curtain and get in the shower. Therefore fitting in with Andrew Goodwin's theory.

The fact that we linked part of the song with Andrew Goodwin's theory shows that we understood it; I also believe it would be a good idea to try and do this in our actual music video too.

After 40 seconds into the song you can see Alice and Myself talking and so this therefore makes the video look unprofessional, I don’t think we realised how important it was not to talk at the time as we didn’t re-record it and so only had this clip to use in that section. As well as that in this clip you can see random chairs computers and people, although we are meant to be in an office environment the people in the background are talking and so we should have asked them to pretend they are working to fit in with the theme.

Throughout the rest of the video we also tried to link other lyrics and visuals to Andrew Goodwin's theory as we felt it was important to stick to a similar theme. There is also a moment in the song when there isn’t any singing and so we decided to get Alice and Lauren to skip down the corridor, this was effective as although the lyrics in the song aren’t positive the song it still up beat and so by skipping it fitted in well.

I learnt a lot of thing by doing this video, firstly that it is important to plan thoroughly so no time is wasted thinking of other shots. It is also important not to speck or laugh when the camera is on as every single shot could be helpful in the editing process. A final area I have learnt through use of this video is to make sure we have more than enough clips to fit the video, the reason for this I because at the end of the song you see we are in different clothes this is because once we got to the end of the editing the song we realised we had no more clips left to use, therefore it is essential we have more than enough when it comes to our actual video as we may not get another opportunity to film.

Friends Practice Task

As mentioned in the post before this, last year we got an opportunity to try out filming both a music video and a scene from the comedy Friends. The reason for this is because it would give us an idea of what we would have to do this year and find out what was important in making them both successful. Again I wasn’t in this clip I recorded it, the reason for this is because I like to know what angles work for certain areas so I can do it again in the future. Below is the link to the Friends clip we created.

Friends - Practice Task

I love the beginning of this clip with the introduction being the same style as the actual Friends episodes. This I believe would give off a good first impression as it is something that wasn’t asked of us to do but we did to make it look more realistic. I also like the fact that we put canned laughter into the clip as this is something that is always heard on actual Friends episodes as well, again making our clip more realistic. I think the actual set up of the clip went well as you could see the people you needed to see through out, however a personal adjustment I would have made was there to have been a wider range of shots as they are only filmed from one area at the moment. The final aspect of the clip that I liked and thought went well was the fact that everyone knew their words and so there we no need for a sheet of paper to be shown in the clip.

Overall I am happier with the outcome of this clip rather than the first practice music video we did as it looks more professional, however this clip required a lot more thought and we needed to learn our lines thoroughly before filming it, therefore taking more time.

Practice lip sync - Get down

Once we had completed our music magazine coursework last summer all classes in year 12 got an opportunity to try filming in preparation for this year. We got to try out filming a scene from the comedy Friends as well as a song. I was put in a group with Millie, Hayden and Sam, in which we choose to record Get Down by the Backstreet boys. Below is the link to the video we recorded, I am not in the video as I recorded it.

Get down - Hayden, Millie and Sam

As you can see from the video there a lot of things that aren’t right, firstly Sam has the lyrics in his hands and so this doesn’t make it look like a music video as no one on TV does this, as well as this some of the areas of the song are not in time with the singing which again makes the video unprofessional. Another area that we should have thought about more carefully is mis en scene, on the stage you can see the stand, there are also chairs placed randomly. If we would have planned more carefully where we was going to film and what the background would look like it would have looked much better. A final areas that I personally need to work on before we record our actual video is camera work, towards the end of the song I am zooming in which makes the video look unprofessional, I should have made cuts instead of kept zooming in and out.

A positive aspect of the video is some of the dancing; this was all done naturally and so didn’t look out of place. As this was a pop song it was good that we did do some dancing as this is something that is usually established with pop music videos. Overall I feel that if we had thought more about where was filming, ensured everyone knew what they were supposed to sing and planned the shots we was going to do more thoroughly this video could have looked more professional. However as this is only a practice we now know what we need to think about when we do our actual coursework, therefore I have found this task beneficial.

Chosen brief

For our media coursework me and my other group member Alice had to make a decision as to what brief we would like to follow. The choice we had to make was between a music video or a movie trailer. As we are working in a group it is important that me and Alice decide carefully about what one we would like to follow.

The advantages of doing a music video is that it is easier to portray the genre in this rather than in a movie trailer. We know this because we have both tried out a practising a music video and a clip from friends as a practice task and both said that a music video is something we would be able to relate to easier based on the experience we have had. Another advantage of doing a music video is that there is lots of music we can choose from therefore meaning we can have a big brainstorm of the songs we would like to do as well as that the lyrics are already there for us and so we would be saving time.

The advantages of creating a movie trailer is that we would be able to create our own script and story line therefore allowing us to be more creative. As well as that film trailers are short and so we wouldn’t need to film as much as we would if we were to do a music video, this could save us time in both the planning, filming and editing of the trailer.

Based on these advantages we have both identified we have decided to produce a music video, not only do we feel more comfortable with this it will also be easier to memorise the lyrics as we will choose a song that we are familiar with.

In order to be successful in this piece of coursework I will be blogging the process of our music video and the completion of the two ancillary tasks we have to complete: the creation of a CD case and a website advertising our group.



 

Analysing Music Videos - Andrew Goodwin's Theory

I am now going to analyse 2 music videos that relate to Goodwin’s theory, the first being: Aqua - Barbie girl
Aqua - Barbie girl

This video relates to Goodwin’s theory with the use of genre characteristics.

The reason for this is firstly because the girl is seen as a huge stereotype: Everything in her house is pink which is something that is typically stereotyped with girls. As well as this she owns a horse and dog which is something typically associated with girls, loving animals. As well as this she always comes across as always worrying and changing her appearance. She is seen in the bath washing and a shot of her sitting having her hair done often appears through out the video. The lyrics through out the song also relates to genre charecteristics "Life in plastic, its fantastic" having these type of lyrics in the song will encourage young girls to have plastic surgery and therefore this song could be seen as a bad influence. At the end of the song Barbie tells Ken that she loves him, he doesn't say it back and I believe this also relates to Goodwin's theory because girls love the idea of being in love and so boys play up to it to get what they want.

The man in this video is nearly always seen wearing blue. This plays up to the stereotype because girls are meant to wear pink, boys wear blue. There is a moment in the song when the girl is singing and takes of her dressing gown and in the distance you can see the boy is looking. This makes men seem bad as it shows that they do not have any respect for women something which is possibly seen as a stereotype in society today as well. There is also a lyric that the boy says in the song that shows genre characteristics "You wanna go for a ride" this lyric relates to male genre characteristics as it is seen typically in society that boys pick up girls to go for a ride in their car and so they have continued this in this song.

Overall I feel that Barbie girl is a song that fits in perfectly with Goodwin's theory because nearly everything shown in the video relates to genre characteristics.

The second video I am going to relate to Goodwin's theory is: Eminem - My name is

Eminem - My name is

This video relates to Goodwin's theory because of Eminem’s use of intertextual reference. The first reason for this is because of the references he makes to other artists and people know world wide such as the spice girls. However in this video he takes this idea a step further by actually dressing up and acting like 2 well known people: The president of America and Marilyn Manson.

He firstly impersonates the president by dressing smartly, wearing a wig and pretending to be giving a speech in the exact same scenery that the actual president however instead of giving a speech eminem is rapping. He impersonates Marilyn Mason by pretending to be him in one of his music videos he is wearing a wig and has heavy make up on something in which Marilyn Manson is known for, again instead of singing he is rapping.

Although this use of intertextual reference it can be positive by clips from a movie being in a music video that is a sound track in the movie, therefore all linking together.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Today in class we looked at Andrew Goodwin’s theory. He wrote a book in 1992 called "Dancing in the distraction factory" in which he analysed music videos.

There are 6 elements he wrote about, they are:

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
An example of this is in the song "Barbie girl" in which male and female characteristics are described. eg - "Barbie" brushes her hair and owns a horse whilst "Ken" drives a car and is always out with his friends.

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.
An example of this is in the song Taylor Swift - Love story. She has followed parts of the film in her music video and so even without hearing the lyrics you would know its Romeo and Juliet

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals.
An example of this is Katy Perry's - Thinking of you. The lyrics in the song are very slow soft and loving this is also portrayed in the music video.

4. The demands of the record label will include lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work. An example of this is Madonna being a sex symbol which has been carried on through out her whole career.

5. There is frequently the notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
An example of this is Britney Spears in her particular video "Hit me baby one more time" as she is a school girl in the video but isn’t dressed as a typical school girl. would look.

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes and other music videos.)
An example of this is Eminem in his video "My name is" where he dresses up and impersonates The president and Marilyn Manson.