Ollie Hosier's BTEC Media Blog

Tuesday, 22 April 2014

Research Into My Track - 'Sugar, We're Goin Down'

The Song: Analysis

The song by Fall Out Boy, 'Sugar, We're Goin Down' was released in April 2005 and was one of their lead singles from their second album, 'From Under the Cork Tree' (2005).

Meaning / Imagery - The song talks about a post-relationship and the problems that it has caused between the boy and the girl. The song talks about how the girl in the relationship treats the boy like rubbish. One quote from the song is "I'm just a notch in your bedpost but you're just a line in a song". The artist here is saying that the boy meant nothing to the girl, like he is an object, however he fights back by saying she is an object, a "line in a song".

Narrative - The song itself does not have a clear narrative, just an explanation of the relationship. However the video itself does. The narrative in the video shows a boy with deer antlers who is seen as an outcast in a small town. He falls in love with a girl in the town who also falls in love with the boy, however the farther of the daughter is not amused. In the end the farther is exposed as he also has deer like feature (feet). The video shows the two lovers in their progress of spending time with each other. I think it was trying to portray the message of saying that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover.

Genre / Style - Pop Punk / Emo

Pace - The pace is in the range of slow / medium.

Duration - 3:49

The Artist

Clothing / Costumes - Their style of clothing / costume is quite simple for the punk genre. There is not a lot of distinctiveness to their costume other than the fact that they all wear casual jeans and shirts in most of their videos. Their clothing only becomes distinctive in one video which is "Thnks fr th mmrs"

- Casual shirts and jeans.

- Clothing has distinctive features like the piece of clothing around his neck.

Make-up - Not a lot of make up is used, with only one band member using a small bit of eye liner.

Tone Of Existing Videos - Because most of their videos have minimal relation to the lyrics, the tone is hard to establish from the video. However the tone of their songs are clear, they mostly talk about dark and sad memories, which can contain some anger. However the videos are light hearted and add comedy to it.

Locations In Existing Videos - Most of their music videos consist of them performing to the camera, like the audience watching is a 'live' audience. The locations vary from stages to living rooms to proms to a studio of rappers. The locations of their stories also vary from video to video.

- Performing to the camera.

- Performing on-stage / studio.

- Performing in a living room / cabin.

Concepts / Narratives - In most of their music videos, they contain a simple structured narrative that has a beginning, middle and end. For example in their video "Dance Dance" it is about a couple who goes to a prom and about how they over throw the popular kids / bullies. Most of the characters in the video are 'nerds' / 'geeks' and are the same people who are playing on stage, who are less geeky. They slowly become more confident through the video.

Lyrics and My Idea

For my idea I wanted to have a 'geek boy and a beautiful girl fall in love' video, despite their high school / college status. I wanted to make it look like they are breaking the outcast barrier. This is similar to the original video by Fall Out Boy.

Synopsis - At the beginning of the video you will see the band start to play the song with the sound of beat cutting to the narrative section of the video. The narrative will then begin with the geek boy on his own walking through the corridors of a school / college. Numerous amounts of people nudge him as they walk past, like he isn't even there, dropping his books and bag. Walking to his locker the boy gets a bit frustrated and slams the locker, walking off, bumping into a girl, beautiful and pure. She drops her books, they both try to pick them up as their eyes meet. They both smile and start to walk together, spending time together. The rest of the video is them hanging out, the geeky boy getting more and more confident as they start to fall in love. The end will be of them having a very awkward hug / hand shake. Throughout the video it will cut to the band performing.

References

Meaning to the song information - http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858534775/

Song Information Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar,_We're_Goin_Down
Pictures and Videos - www.youtube.com

Monday, 14 April 2014

Styles, Conventions and Techniques Of A Music Video

What Are The Styles and Conventions?

In music video production, there are eight different styles that contain different conventions, and these are:

Popular Music Genre
In-Concert and 'as live' footage
Narrative and interpretive
Surrealist/absurdist
Impressionist
Influence Of Commercial
Intertexual
Animation

Popular Music Genre - In some music videos, the song and the images on-screen may reflect the genre of music as well as the artist. For example in Trey Songz's '2 Reasons' the video contains a lot of glamorization on alcohol, partying and style, quite popular in the genre of hip-hop / hi-NRG (high energy). It shows the artist performing to the camera, like it is an audience.

In-Concert and 'as live' footage - These music video consist of bands or an artists performing their music live. One example of this would be Michael Jackson's 'Another Part Of Me' which shows Michael performing his song on stage with some shots showing the audience's reaction to his performance, simple but effective. The video also shows a montage of some of Michael's moments in life before moving onto the live footage.

- Michael with Princess Diana.

Narrative and interpretive - These music videos contain conventions of an narrative, a story that the audience can follow whilst listening to the song. In some cases the lyrics of the song would contradict or ignore what is shown on screen and may not fit. However some narrative and interpretive music videos may have some lyric interpretation to it, linking the song to the images on-screen.

One example of this is Lawson's 'Taking Over Me' - The song is about loving a girl and how it makes the guy feel, which is beyond amazing. This is a song about a positive, passionate love. The video depicts a group of people who are in relationships going on a road trip, enjoying life.

This gives off the feel of happiness and love and fits well with the song lyric "love is taking over me". It promotes a literal expression of passionate love or lovers. The video begins with a road trip and ends at a generic american motel.

Surrealist / absurdist - The conventions for these kinds of music videos surprise and sometimes confuse the spectator by adding things that are unconventional and bear not relation to the lyrics. One example of this is Fall Out Boy's 'Where Did The Party Go' - The song speaks about a party and the question to where it has gone and speaks about the enjoyment of the party. However the video shows a group of people running from a dangerous threat in a hospital, with a few references to parties. The weirdest of the video conveys a hidden message and is shown through different features in the video.

Impressionist - These music videos try to capture the emotional tone rather than the literal meaning to the lyrics. However they could extend or consolidate a song's meaning. They contain common conventions that are seen as 'artistic' such as soft lighting, flowing and intermingling colours and soft edges. One example of this is Kelly Clarkson's 'Dark Side'. This video uses a lot of montages of different people's 'dark side', the things they see as a problem in their life. It uses a lot of slow moving shots of different objects and people to convey the message of being proud of your 'dark side'. The artistic shots of different locations also connotes the 'dark' side to the song.

Influence Of Commercial - Some videos may glamorize or reference a certain way of life like being rich, or being working class etc. For example 50 Cent's 'Window Shopper' shows the artist in the high life of being rich, visiting loads of stores which have ridiculous prices, however he continues to buy. This shows that to him, money isn't an object.

Intertexual: Synergy, Allusion, Pastiche, Parody, Homage and Referencing - When a music video is made, it may include references to other texts or subjects. Synergy in music videos is when a music video references a film or even has clips from the film in the video. Synergy may also promote a film by using footage from the film in the music video. Allusion is when a music video 'allude' to another piece of text, historical / cultural event or person. Music videos may also imitate another artist or their style in a light hearted way, this is called pastiche. This is different to parody, as they purposely make fun out of the artist, song or video. Homage is when an artist makes a video that respects the artist as a way of saying thank you.

One example of an Synergy is 2-Chainz's 'We Own It' - This music video was a promotional music video for the feature film Fast Furious 6. This video contains footage from the film throughout and was the official video and song for the movie.

Pictures that shows the music video promoting the film - It shows no footage of the artist singing the song just the footage from the movie.

One example for Allusion is Michael Jackson's 'They Don't Care About Us' - This video shows Michael within a prison performing his song surrounded by different historical events from the past. It also makes references to different people and cultures.

The picture shows a picture of Michael and the famous Franklin D. Roosevelt.

One example for a pastiche is Christina Aguilera's 'Lady Marmalade' - This music video is an imitation and a reference of the film 'Moulin Rouge'. It imitates without mocking the film or other references to the song.

The first picture is from the music video. The second picture below that is the film poster. This shows that the music video is clearly imitating the film due to the similar cabaret theme.

One example for a parody is Fall Out Boy's 'Beat It' (originally by Michael Jackson) - This video shows the band Fall Out Boy wondering through a world where there are numerous amounts of references to Michael Jackson, with some mocking his dance moves. For example in the video there is a martial arts class where people learn Michael Jackson dance moves. In a way this video could also be a homage as it is paying respect to Michael's song 'Beat It' and his iconic moments in life.

Here is the martial arts class scene:

Animation (stop-motion and digital) - Some music videos also implement animation weather it be stop-motion or digital. An example of this is a-ha's 'Take On Me'. This video uses stop-motion / comic-book like animation to create their narrative with some real life footage. The video is about a man in a comic-book who meets a girl in real life and is about how their worlds intertwine with one another.

Techniques In A Music Video

Lip-Sync, miming and playback - For a music video to flow coherently, lip-syncing the song correctly is required. Some music videos go without lip-syncing, so is not compulsory, however if it is included it needs to look like the artist is actually singing the song in that moment in time. They are more common in music videos that contain a narrative. To have a slow-motion effect or sped-up effect and still have a coherent lip-sync requires the original song to be slowed down or sped up first before filming. This then can be fixed in post-production. When filming the artist lip-syncing, the song itself can be played in the background (playback) and then be added on in post-production, removing the camera audio.

An example of a video that does this is Chris Brown's 'Don't Judge Me' - This music video starts off with Chris performing his song in slow-motion as he starts to walk down a long and lonely road.

Editing - Editing in music videos is referring to the way the music video is edited as some are done so in interesting way. In some instances they break some music video conventions.

An example of this is Green Day's 'Boulevard Of Broken Dreams' - This music video has a very interesting super-8 film effect put on it as well as a constant green screen effect which gives the illusion that the band are walking through different locations when they are actually in one spot (assuming on treadmills).

Cutting To The Beat / Multi - Image Effect - To get a clear understanding to what the music video's rhythm is, having shots that cut to the beat could help. It adds some coherency to the video. The multi-image effect is also a common convention in music videos which can add an interesting look to it. It shows more than one piece of action on screen. One example that uses both of these is R.Kelly's 'Same Girl'.

Post-Production Effects / Chroma Key - Adding special effects to a music video could really help in creating an interesting and attracting music video. Depending on the genre of music only some will use special effects. It can mostly be seen in popular music genres where the budget is a lot bigger. It may help in attracting a different target audience. Chroma key is when a blue or green screen is replaced with an image, moving or still.

One example that has special effects in it is Bad Meets Evil's 'Fast Lane' - This music video incorporates special effect text with the movement of the artists on screen.

One example for Chroma Key is Kanye West's 'Bound 2' - This video shows Kanye West and his girlfriend riding on a bike against a green screen.

Camera Movements, Angles and Shot Types - Pans, tilts, crabs and tracking shots can add excitement to a music video. Various shot types could also create a meaning or tone for the audience. An example for camera movements / shot types is Nelly's 'Hey Porsche'. This video contains a lot of helicopter shots / high angle of the car driving down the road. This creates a tone of excitement for the audience.

Mise-en-scene - This is crucial when creating a music video with a desire to create a certain mood, weather it's glamour, passion, anger etc. One example for this is Michael Jackson's 'You Rock My World' - This video makes sure that it sticks to the 1930 - 50's theme by using the correct costumes and setting for that time period.

Examples of Mise-En-Scene in the video:

This shot in the music video could indicate that the music video is set in the 1920's / 1930's as the 'Broadway' font was created in 1927 and was popular in places like Chicago.

This scene from the music video shows a little bit of the decor of the location as well as a wall phone. The wall phone was popular in the 1930's and is a great mise-en-scene feature.

In the 1930's the Zippo lighters were created and the style of those lighters are seen in this segment of the video.

Cocktails, specifically martinis, were popular in the 1930's and are briefly shown in this segment of the video.

Fans like this were seen a lot in the 1930's and are seen behind the bar when Michael jumps onto bar and starts dancing.

References

Michael Jackson, Another Part Of Me - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vwHQNQ88cM

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

The Purpose Of Music Videos

Introduction

In this essay I will be exploring the purpose of the music video. I will be exploring how it has developed over the years in providing the media industry with innovative ways to expand enthusiastic music artists and director's exposure.

History:

First music video that used advance special effects was 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen.

In August 1981 MTV opened its 24-hour satellite music channel. Over time it became rapidly popular but only a couple of TV operators had it.
2005, iTunes opens, allowing users to access music videos and download them from the internet. 1 million downloads after 20 days.

Promotion Of Artists

Music videos have help in different kinds of promotion. These are promotion for the band / artist and the director / filmmaker.

Lawson, 'When She Was Mine' - This music video was the first for Lawson and used simple but effective promotional methods like adding their name 'Lawson' onto their drum kit. This music video also shows off their style of playing and fashion.

Chris Brown, 'Next To You' - This music video was directed by Colin Tilley and contains a narrative as well as the artists performing. This provided promotion for the director by showing off his directing skills. It gained promotion by adding the name of the director at the beginning of the video. In favor it added promotion for the song too.

Producer's Strategies

Different artists market themselves in different ways. Major labels / artists market their videos with a 'polished' image giving it an appealing appearance to the audience. Polished image videos will contain conventions like high sex appeal, high budget, possibly heavy CGI, and fashion trends. These videos can be found on websites like 'YouTube' and on TV channels like 'MTV Music'.

For example in Shakira and Rihanna's "Can't Remember To Forget You" the two artists are portrayed as beautiful and sexy women. Sexual appeal is polished in this video through their costumes. For example a lot of skin is shown. This shows that the video could be aimed at a male audience.

Here are some pictures that show this:

Will.I.Am, 'T.H.E' - This video uses CGI of the artist dodging impossible obstacles. This shows that the artist is skilled in dodging these obstacles and that he is working hard to accomplish this. This then links with the lyrics "Imma go hard".

Independent and unknown artists will market their videos differently. These artist will try and expose their talent rather than producing a narrative, however, this isn't always the case. They are often low budget due to tighter finances. Found on websites like 'Vimeo' and on TV channels like 'Scuzz'.

Zolar X, 'Timeless' - This video shows the band performing, showing off their talent and their style. Zolar X are an American glam rock band, founded 1973.

This picture shows one of the band members performing their talents which is him playing guitar whilst wearing his unique costume. Their costumes are similar to alien like wear.

There are also other scenes of them backstage as well as them at other concerts and locations with fans.

Dressing Room / backstage.

Due to websites like 'YouTube' and 'Facebook', self-produced artists are able to distribute and exhibit their music videos for free. This allows for full control of their videos which have some advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

Innovation on ideas
Free marketing
Freedom for new ideas
Can set your own deadlines

Disadvantages:

Low budget, limits ideas
Saturation, less likely for the artist to get noticed

SoMo, 'Ride' - Famous on YouTube, SoMo has made his own music video to his song 'Ride'.

The picture below shows the artist using a low budget location, which is, from the looks of it, a quiet countryside road. A good example of a low budget video.

Artists who like to express their music videos through artistic visuals will do so to promote a statement or address an issue. They will normally be:

Visually experimental
Low Budget (not always)
Contain various transitions / shots like crossfades

Michael Jackson, 'Leave Me Alone' - This high budget video conveys a message in a creative and experimental way.

The pictures below shows good examples of experimental visuals within the video.

Michael molded into a theme park.

Lizards and a set of chattering teeth.

Dog wearing a suit.

Extension Of Income

Like radio, when a music video is shown on screen the artist gets royalties. Each time it is watched another payment is made. The artist will 'in theory' get royalties as it is almost impossible to track the consumption of the video. Instead an estimate is made which is based on the popularity of the artist or song. One problem with that is only some unrecognized artists get royalties and is due to mainstream popularity.

Reasons are:

Mainstream artists are popular
Companies don't want to take the risk on paying the unrecognized artists
Budget may be low or the music video might not be well made due to low budget

There are other methods for unrecognized artists to get paid for their videos:

Coming up with innovative ideas
Uploading to YouTube, payments can be made through the amount of views a video gets
Other methods of distribution and exhibition

In-wall flash drive - In New York people can download and share files from a pen drive in a wall to gain exposure.

Extension Of Outlets / Platforms

In the media world today, the are different kinds of media outlets / sources that allow people to access media text. When it comes to music videos there are different kinds of outlets / platforms and they are:

Radio - KissFM
Web 2.0 (internet / official websites, however websites embed videos from websites like YouTube) - Michaeljackson.com
TV - Kerrang!
DVD /CD - Thriller 25th Anniversary
VHS - Michael Jackson's 'Moonwalker'

Having an extension of outlets / platforms has its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

More platforms to distribute and exhibit videos and music

Disadvantages:

The ideas become saturated due to other artists doing the same thing
Innovation is required to gain exposure
Piracy is becoming popular

Synergy

Adding a name, logo or symbol to another product like a clothing line or merchandise can gain exposure for the artist. This is known as synergy. This allows the artist to gain exposure as well as allowing the product maker to make profit. The trademark owner will contractually allow production companies, like a clothing brand, to use their logo, name or symbol for a fee.

An example of this is Drake. Being a famous rapper through his talent, he also has his own clothing line which gives him an image that his fans can purchase. This gives Drake more exposure. Other companies may make or sell the clothes and Drake will supply the 'name'. For example 'wehustle.co,uk' are a shopping / retail website that provide merchandise of different artists.

- Merchandise of Drake.

- Drake's symbol.

Conclusion

I believe that music videos have help enormously in generating more exposure for an artist as well as creating an enjoyable viewing experience. With the different ways to watch these videos, the popularity to want to see them has risen. For the future I believe that music videos will live on selling their purpose. However due to legal issues like piracy, the music video business may go down the drain.

References

Queen Video, Bohemian Rhapsody - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ

Lawson Video, When She Was Mine - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmQRAXJoHg0

Chris Brown Video, Next To You - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEuQU6a90Pc

Will.I.Am, T.H.E - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjIwmJMqrco

SoMo, Ride - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTH69dPZL9M

Alternative Tentacles Information / List Of Artists - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_Tentacles#Current_artists

Zolar X, Timeless - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBktbhpp4AY

Zolar X Picture - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/Zolarxtimelesscvr.jpg

Zolar X Information - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zolar_X

SoMo Picture - http://dgfpkz9520wnr.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/somo-new.jpg
Michael Jackson, Leave Me Alone - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crbFmpezO4A
Michael Jackson Picture - http://www.mrldavis.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ariana-baby-i21.jpg
Flash Drive Information and Picture - http://gizmodo.com/5677377/theres-a-usb-stick-in-my-brick-wall/all
Moonwalker Picture - http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1995215616/tt0095655?ref_=tt_ov_i#
Drake Picture - http://cdn.urbanislandz.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Drake.jpg
Owl, Drake Picture - http://www.drakeofficial.com/
Drake, HYFR - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KCWqnldEag
Shakira, Can't Remember To Forget You - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3mP3mJDL2k
Drake Merchandise Picture - http://www.wehustle.co.uk/drake?page=2