Creative Media BTEC: UNIT 29: Music Video Production - Styles, Conventions,Techniques and Pictograph

Styles

Genres

Conventions Of a Rock Video

We will be analyzing a classic music video with a rock genre andf a music video with a Pop Genre

I Love Rock & Roll by Joan Jett

Dark location
Heavy Make up and hair styling
Repetitive colours i.e Red and black
Aggressive facial expressions and physique
shots of the band playing the instruments i.e eectric guitar, jukebox
some heavy metal vocals/ sometimes screaming
backstage footage
Men are the main focus, women are idolising the main people
different shots of movement
close ups - specifically during the chorus
shots of the band together
Not always a main story line - sometimes just the band playing their music to an audience

Pop

Shake It Off by Taylor Swift

Links between the lyrics and the visuals of the music video - they match up
Bright and inviting lighting.
Props/ costumes that makes the main star stand out from the rest
Segments of the story appearing in a sequence to do with the storylie of the music.
Subject matter appeals to the Target Audience for Pop which is teenagers)
The costume that the man artist is wearing is trendy and the style is in fashion at the moment and not outdated
Generally young actors in the video, round the same age of the artist as it is likely they will be a love interest, or in this case any age as the message of the video is to lot let anything get you done - which applies to all ages. in other videos that send out messages, there is usually variety of actors appearing that all differ in age and gender
Narrative of the story line in the lyrics/ visuals
Songs are likely to be about love as that appeals to the target audience
Referenced to the artists name or label in the music video
Performance by the artist such as playing instruments/ singing into the mike, choreographed dancing
Synchronized dancing number , mainly with females rather than male. If the the artist id by themselves, they usually have a accomplice or background dancers
Close ups of the artist/ group shots of the band
item of clothing that is symbolic to them i.e hat or scarf for symbolism
Sometimes voyeurism if it a story about love so could feature kissing, explicit scenes or female/ male looking like an object if sex

Narrative

This is the way that the story is told via the lyrics and the visuals

We will be looking at Take On Me by A-ha

there are 5 stages to a Narrative in a Music video:

1) Equilibrium - Where everything is normal and as it should be - in this music video, the female is in reality and is reading a comic while the male is inside the comic book and drags her in, they start to have fun and fall in love.

2) disequilibrium - where the story starts to unfold and the peacefulness is disrupted by an event - the comic police realise that something is wrong and the character shouldn't be in there and start to chase the couple.

3)Recognition - the characters understand that there is a disturbance - the couple run away from the police until they are shoved into a blank page.

4)Reparation - The characters are attempting to repair the damage caused to them from the event - the male pushes the female through a vortex back to the real world and leaves himself behind

5) New equilibrium - Everything returns to normal or there is a new restoration from the previous storyline - the female returns to her human form, the male makes it into the real world and they live happily.

Impressionist

This is an artist own taking an original style and making it their own.

The video below is We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel

It gives the viewers an impression of culture from 1949 - 1989 as it is a timeline.

Lyric interperation as well as between the visuals
Extension of the song's meaning that could eb explained in the video
Reference's
Link's to other artists in the visuals or in the lyrics themselves
Shots that cut to the tempo of the visual
Effects that will be used in the narrative
Some miming and lip syncing

Surrelaist

Abstract music videos that aren't ever going to happen in real life but are extremely creative and completely fictional

The video below is ET by Katy Perry ft. Kanye West

Pastiche

This is usually a video that delivers a message, in an ironic way, similar to parody but not usually taking the mickey out of a certain subject, but usually respectful

Here is an example

Lady Gaga's Born This Way is a Pastiche to Madonna's Express Yourself

Born This Way by Lady Gaga

Express Yourself by Madonna

Parody

This is when there is a music video made to take the absolute Micky out of the original video and the artist. Just for fun.

What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction

What Makes You Beautiful by Key Of Awesome

similarities between the two videos
same tune but the lyrics have changed - usually rude and explicit
In the lyrics it would be mention of the original video - but the awkward parts that looked off (in his one it was the awkward standstill between the girl and Harry Styles)
Mick taken out of the band
similar setting such as the beach and the clothes and hairstyles are quite similar
Exaggeration.

Homage/ Referencing

This is when artists pay respect on their music video to another text or person that has influenced them or just because they like that particular persons style.

this is when the music video references cultural or historical events that could be to dith the somg that has been released.

Izzy Azalea and Charli XCX is a Homage to the movie, Clueless (1995)

500 miles by The Proclaimers is In reference to the film, Benny &Joon

In concert and "as live" footage

This is when included in the music video for a particular band, some previous footage from their band playing live , as in a gig is included.

The example for this is Red by Taylor Swift.

Animation

This is a music video that is fully or partially cartoon,

Lollipop by Mika

Interpretive

This is a music video where the audience get to decide what they think the music video is about.

There isn't really a story or a meaning but the viewers decide what they believe is the meaning.

Elastic Heart by Sia ft. Shia LeBeuf

Influence of Commercials

This is when the music video changes is influenced by advertisements and commercialism, this could be for parody purposes or literally to sell the product. such as cars, money, woman and everything that has been commercialised

In this example, the commercialism focuses on the aspects of the music video that include the rap artist, Flo Rida

Troublemaker by Olly Murs

Conventions

Lyric Interpretation is when the video is based around the song, if the directors opinion and therefore it may be different than what you may see it as.

Henrietta by The Fratellis

The director may see this isng as a positive song abiut an unhappy woman who leaves her boring husband to have a fun life with group. An interpretation of the lyrics could be for me, that the boys are popular and the same woman called Henrietta keeps annoying them, following the group around. So the adm hatch plan to take money from her because they know she's rich but scarcastically they are inviting her to join the road with then.

Consolodating/ Extending a Song's Meaning

This is when there is an indirect message within the somg that isn't so obvious, whereas the viewers have to work out the message of the music video by themsleves.

Black And White by Michael Jackson

This end sequence to everyone being equal, rather than just the difference between the colours of people skin, this also includes ethnicity, religion, gender age etc.

Allusion

This is when a person, event, history, piece existing of text or culture topic is referenced in the music video. this could be blatantly obvious or really subtle. This one refers to the story between Romeo and Juliet, which was writtern by Shakespear

Love Story by Taylor Swift

Link To Other Artists

This is when other artists are involved in the lyrics or the visuals of the music video.

Queenie Eye by Paul McCartney - Features a cast of different Actors and Singers throughtout singing na ddancing to Queenie Eye.

Techniques

Cutting to the beat

This is when, during the editing process of the music video, the cutting to the shots and them matching them to the rythym of the music video

She Looks So Perfect by 5 Seconds Of Summer

Effects

This is self explanatory, this is when visual/ special effects are added to the music video.

Bad Blood by Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar

Miming and Lip - Syncing

This is when the artist lip syncs the word to the song in a music video.

Rockstar by Nickleback

Playback and Lip Sync.

This is when the artists voice is pre recorded then edited in conjunction with the music video, either slowing down the speed or bringing it up. The artist then lip syncs in the video.

Burn by Ellie Goulding