Music videos vary and are usually dependant upon the genre of the artist and also the audience that it is targeted at.
Music videos I am going to analyse are 4 very different ones I feel I could use for inspiration.
- Jonas Brothers 'When You Look Me In The Eyes'
This video is one of the Jonas Brothers very early videos of when they had started out with Disney as their Record Label. The thing I like about this video is that is stars REAL fans at the boys' concerts, who scream their name and know all the words to every single song they have sung, even if it is a cover song.
Putting the fans in a music video and real footage of real concerts is amazing and very courteous of Joe, Nick and Kevin to do this. As they were only 14, 16 and 17 when the video was being made, they could have had input into the making of the video, however being familiar with analysing Disney artists- it is very unlikely that they had input as they are made as a product in which to sell, not treated as real people with feelings who want to express their musical creativity.
I would like to use the idea of using real footage from concerts, as it shows audiences that the artist cares about their fans and also assures the people buying tickets that they are noticed and loved for buying songs, albums, merchandise and concert tickets. Which I feel is something that artists these days don't show enough to people, as words on social networking websites such as Twitter are not deep enough.
- The Wanted 'Glad You Came'
This video is basically there to make all the girls swoon over Jay, Siva, Tom, Nathan & Max. The video shows the 5 band members of The Wanted on a beach not wearing a lot of clothes, whilst they are also flirting with girls in bikini's at a party.
It's clear to see this video is to get more female attention and the producer isn't scared to make it obvious, especially as it was released closely to the announcement of their upcoming arena tour.
I would like to use the idea of using very handsome and good-looking people in my video to attract the audience, however I know it is unlikely that talented models are going to be in my video as it would be very expensive nad time consuming looking into it and then it not being followed through.
- Nick Jonas & The Administration 'Who I Am'
This video is one of my most favorite music videos when it comes to putting across the storyline to the audience, however the actual song is a let down. The storyline concentrates on people showing the audience who they really are, by holding up a white poster with a word or phrase on it- but it is something that can't be noticed on the outside. A good example from the actual video is when Nick, himself comes on the screen on the end with a poster that says 'Diabetic'.
I would like to use the idea of a person or several people holding up a poster with a word or phrase that is relevent to them as an individual. Doing this, I feel that I will be able to get across the storyline I want to, but also the audience can make up their own storyline so that they can listen to the song and relate to it.
- Rihanna 'Only Girl In The World'
Personally, I feel this video is very sex explicit and undermining to females. Rihanna uses her body as a product to help sell albums and sell out tours. There's nothing wrong with having a good figure and being able to show it off, but I feel that if she toned down the outfit choices and dressed like every other artist, she would deffinitely still have as many fans because she is majorly talented and has a magnificent stage presence.
It is clear that this video is used to show off Rihanna's body, but also shows that her videos are her biggest selling point, however she is an extremely talented artist as she writes her own songs and is one of the biggest worldwide selling female artists.
My Ideas
All of the ideas above are fantastic and would make it a more enjoyable experience to watch and also very enjoyable to create and see the end result, however I know that I cant use all of the ideas at once so I will have to do some research and choose which effect I would like to use closer to the time. I could do this by creating a questionairre and asking a large amount of people which they think would be more effective.
I would like to use the idea of animation in the post production process and the use of unusual props however it would be very time consuming and wouldn't make sense with the narrative I want to put across with my music video.
Wednesday 21 September 2011
Monday 19 September 2011
Analysis of Music Videos
Music videos are usually used to promote a new single from an artist. As soon as a single is released from an existing or an upcoming album, a music video will follow to be promote the new single.
Artists claim from their own perspective that they use music videos to express their feelings towards their songs, be creative, have some fun and give back to the fans. However, artists who do not have the freedom to give their ideas to put towards the production of the music video usually use it as a promotional video and sometimes use product placement to make people want to buy products that are put in the music video intentionally to make more money and usually depends on the record company.
Good examples of artists who have put ideas towards their music videos are;
Jessie J
- 'Who's Laughing Now'.Taken from her first album 'Who You Are'.
- This song is a fantastic song about when Jessie was bullied in junior school and how everyone put her down and said she will never become famous and now she is famous, all the bullied want to be friends with her and act like they know her, when all they know is her name. The song has been very inspirational in the world of social networking and she is working with 'Beat Bullying' to raise awareness for bullying in schools. As Jessie said herself from her own Twitter page 'I just let my creativity flow, I feel you're going to love this one- I did it for all of you out there looking for hope'.
Analysis of the music video focuses a younger looking Jessie J with the same hair, clothes, and make-up as Jessie the only thing different thing is the height and nose piercing. The storyline is a flashback of the 'mini Jessie' in school, getting bullied in a little junior school. It also keeps flashing back to Jessie as an artist when it says 'Who's Laughing Now'. I feel that this video is very good, especially for promoting positive behaviour and showing that no matter what happens when you're younger, anything can happen and you can bounce right back and be the better person.
Taylor Swift- 'Love Story'. Taken from her second album 'Fearless'.
- This song is very creative, especially as it was said to be written when she was 15. Firstly, I would like to say that giving input into a music video at the age of 16/17 is very good, and shows that she deffinitely has a long career ahead of her. If you listen to the lyrics of the song, it basically talks about the story of 'Romeo & Juliet' but from the eyes of a creative young girl where there is always a happy ending in this story because death is not on the cards.
You can tell that the song was inspired by 'Romeo & Juliet' from the clothes worn in the video, as it shows that it is set in Shakespherian times. The clothes have very delicate detail of which are in rich colours such as deep orange and reds. The story also includes a good-looking male of which she names 'Romeo' in the lyrics and also recalls the words 'And my daddy said stay away from Juliet' which connotes that it is a sweeter version of 'Romeo & Juliet' without the bloodshed.
Example of an artist who is restricted and does not have the freedom of creativity when it comes to music videos;
Shayne Ward-'Gotta Be Somebody'. Taken from his third album 'Obsession'.
- First of all, this song is a cover song originally sang by the American Rock band, Nickelback, which personally, I think should never be a single, let alone the first single from a new album because it gives audiences the wrong idea about the new album, especially after a musuic-break of 3 years. The basics of this video are very unusual, as the original portrayal of the song when Nickelback sang it is completely different when compared to this version. I feel as if Syco and Sony BMG were struggling with a good idea concept for the video, so had to work with what they had- A very good looking, young male singer who has abs like they have just been photoshopped in real life.
Analysis of this music video includes a half-naked Shayne staring out of a window of a New York apartment with a 'stalker' taking pictures of him without a shirt, it then flashbacks to the girl following him to the dry cleaners, cafe and other places around town before he actually finds out and catches her. As a comeback song I find this highly disappointing and very unthoughtful of the record company to allow such a product to be distributed to promote his upcoming album.
I feel that if they had used one of his self-written songs such as 'Crash' and he had been able to input his own ideas to portray what he was feeling when he wrote the song, the single and album would have gone straight to Number One and his tour would have sold out and extra dates would have had to be put in place because of high demand.
Unfortunately, because of this Shayne was shortly dropped by his record label for not being unsuccessful enough. However, I feel as if they wanted a reason to drop him, but it wasn't long- around 2 weeks- before he was picked up to the top by 'Simply Delicious' and taken to expand his target audience to the West End by playing Staycee Jaxx in the 80's musical 'Rock of Ages'.
Example of an artist who uses product placement in music videos to make more money;
Lady Gaga- 'Bad Romance'. Taken from her first double album 'The Fame Monster'.
- As we all know, Gaga is famous for her extravagant creativity in her outfits and her flourishing bisexual stage presence. Before this video was made, we all knew it was going to be bursting with Gaga originality. However, who knew it would be the start of epic Gaga product placement? She has made her fame all by herself and she didnt need anymore 'little monsters' following her not-so-perfect role model act.
Analysis of the music begins with the basic knowledge of what she is talking about. When you read the title of the song, you instantly think that it's going to be about being loved the wrong way. However when you break down the lyrics, she is actually talking about the situation of 'being in love with your best friend' and was said in an interview that the lyrics are taken from a storyline of a film, meaning that she (Gaga) wants the deepest, darkest, sickest parts of you that you are afraid to share with anyone because I love you so much. However the story also tells a story of a 'fashion line' with the lyrics of 'Walk walk fashion baby, work it move that bitch crazy' which is very confusing, especially when compared to the rest of the storyline.
-Information taken from here-
The basic creativity of the music video is that she is dancing in front of a panel of judges who are mostly male, in very few clothes but still with background dancers. Within this, Gaga appears in a bath tub and is flaunting silver triangular earphones in here right ear. These earphones later came on the market at a recommended retail price of $149.99 as they were specifically designed by Gaga herself and the famous music and DJ guru Dr. Dre.
Artists claim from their own perspective that they use music videos to express their feelings towards their songs, be creative, have some fun and give back to the fans. However, artists who do not have the freedom to give their ideas to put towards the production of the music video usually use it as a promotional video and sometimes use product placement to make people want to buy products that are put in the music video intentionally to make more money and usually depends on the record company.
Good examples of artists who have put ideas towards their music videos are;
Jessie J
- 'Who's Laughing Now'.Taken from her first album 'Who You Are'.
- This song is a fantastic song about when Jessie was bullied in junior school and how everyone put her down and said she will never become famous and now she is famous, all the bullied want to be friends with her and act like they know her, when all they know is her name. The song has been very inspirational in the world of social networking and she is working with 'Beat Bullying' to raise awareness for bullying in schools. As Jessie said herself from her own Twitter page 'I just let my creativity flow, I feel you're going to love this one- I did it for all of you out there looking for hope'.
Analysis of the music video focuses a younger looking Jessie J with the same hair, clothes, and make-up as Jessie the only thing different thing is the height and nose piercing. The storyline is a flashback of the 'mini Jessie' in school, getting bullied in a little junior school. It also keeps flashing back to Jessie as an artist when it says 'Who's Laughing Now'. I feel that this video is very good, especially for promoting positive behaviour and showing that no matter what happens when you're younger, anything can happen and you can bounce right back and be the better person.
Taylor Swift- 'Love Story'. Taken from her second album 'Fearless'.- This song is very creative, especially as it was said to be written when she was 15. Firstly, I would like to say that giving input into a music video at the age of 16/17 is very good, and shows that she deffinitely has a long career ahead of her. If you listen to the lyrics of the song, it basically talks about the story of 'Romeo & Juliet' but from the eyes of a creative young girl where there is always a happy ending in this story because death is not on the cards.
You can tell that the song was inspired by 'Romeo & Juliet' from the clothes worn in the video, as it shows that it is set in Shakespherian times. The clothes have very delicate detail of which are in rich colours such as deep orange and reds. The story also includes a good-looking male of which she names 'Romeo' in the lyrics and also recalls the words 'And my daddy said stay away from Juliet' which connotes that it is a sweeter version of 'Romeo & Juliet' without the bloodshed.
Example of an artist who is restricted and does not have the freedom of creativity when it comes to music videos;
Shayne Ward-'Gotta Be Somebody'. Taken from his third album 'Obsession'.- First of all, this song is a cover song originally sang by the American Rock band, Nickelback, which personally, I think should never be a single, let alone the first single from a new album because it gives audiences the wrong idea about the new album, especially after a musuic-break of 3 years. The basics of this video are very unusual, as the original portrayal of the song when Nickelback sang it is completely different when compared to this version. I feel as if Syco and Sony BMG were struggling with a good idea concept for the video, so had to work with what they had- A very good looking, young male singer who has abs like they have just been photoshopped in real life.
Analysis of this music video includes a half-naked Shayne staring out of a window of a New York apartment with a 'stalker' taking pictures of him without a shirt, it then flashbacks to the girl following him to the dry cleaners, cafe and other places around town before he actually finds out and catches her. As a comeback song I find this highly disappointing and very unthoughtful of the record company to allow such a product to be distributed to promote his upcoming album.
I feel that if they had used one of his self-written songs such as 'Crash' and he had been able to input his own ideas to portray what he was feeling when he wrote the song, the single and album would have gone straight to Number One and his tour would have sold out and extra dates would have had to be put in place because of high demand.
Unfortunately, because of this Shayne was shortly dropped by his record label for not being unsuccessful enough. However, I feel as if they wanted a reason to drop him, but it wasn't long- around 2 weeks- before he was picked up to the top by 'Simply Delicious' and taken to expand his target audience to the West End by playing Staycee Jaxx in the 80's musical 'Rock of Ages'.
Example of an artist who uses product placement in music videos to make more money;
Lady Gaga- 'Bad Romance'. Taken from her first double album 'The Fame Monster'.- As we all know, Gaga is famous for her extravagant creativity in her outfits and her flourishing bisexual stage presence. Before this video was made, we all knew it was going to be bursting with Gaga originality. However, who knew it would be the start of epic Gaga product placement? She has made her fame all by herself and she didnt need anymore 'little monsters' following her not-so-perfect role model act.
Analysis of the music begins with the basic knowledge of what she is talking about. When you read the title of the song, you instantly think that it's going to be about being loved the wrong way. However when you break down the lyrics, she is actually talking about the situation of 'being in love with your best friend' and was said in an interview that the lyrics are taken from a storyline of a film, meaning that she (Gaga) wants the deepest, darkest, sickest parts of you that you are afraid to share with anyone because I love you so much. However the story also tells a story of a 'fashion line' with the lyrics of 'Walk walk fashion baby, work it move that bitch crazy' which is very confusing, especially when compared to the rest of the storyline.
-Information taken from here-
The basic creativity of the music video is that she is dancing in front of a panel of judges who are mostly male, in very few clothes but still with background dancers. Within this, Gaga appears in a bath tub and is flaunting silver triangular earphones in here right ear. These earphones later came on the market at a recommended retail price of $149.99 as they were specifically designed by Gaga herself and the famous music and DJ guru Dr. Dre.
This links to the theory of Stuart Hall of which he said that there are three ways in which an audience can receive texts, in this case- a music video.
The first way is when an audience interprets the message and storyline of the music video as it was supposed to be understood. This is called ‘operating in the dominant code’- I remember it as ‘the exact thoughts that are going through the producers head’. The producers and the audience are communicating perfectly with each other and are in the same mindset as they are understanding and communicating together.
The second way is that not all audiences understand the message and storyline of the music video, and that there is a negotiated mixture of adaptive and oppositional elements so that people can understand it with some help from external references such as forums etc. The producer can negotiate with the differently influenced audience as they come up with new ideas and perceptions that the producer might not have thought of.
The third way is that the audience does not understand the text at all and understands the message and storyline in a completely different mindset compared to the producer. However this is not always a bad thing because this means that the audience can re-work the music video to their preferred meaning which can greatly widen the target audience of the producer and artist.
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Brand Research
Artist branding is very simple, as long as the artist you are trying to brand is seen as a positive influence to all ages, especially young people.
Positive influencing is a huge part of selling products, so I did my research to see how artist branding worked and how influencing it was to the target audience.
Pixie Lott.
Everyone knows the lovely blonde 'girl next door' figure and her first album 'Turn It Up'. She was pictured in several 'indie' playsuit outfits from the normal highstreet store 'Topshop' and matching accessories from the online shopping website 'Aldo'. Within days of these pictures being released online, both Topshop and Aldo had sold out of the items that she was wearing. They were in demand from young girls all over the UK and Ireland. Also, few months later 'Lipsy', one of the less well known teenage brand approached Pixie as they really like her 'girly-come-indie' look and wanted her to design her own clothing line that could be sold in their shops. 10 months later, 'Pixie Range' was launched in-store and online at every Lipsy store throughout the UK. 18 months later, she has designed several seasons of clothes including 'Festival', 'Daytime', 'Nightlife' and 'Rock Chick'.
Alexandra Burke. The edgy R'n'B X Factor winner from 2008. Since X Factor, she has brought out only one album but has done lots of modelling for Dolce & Gabbana on international catwalks. She has recently showed a huge passion for accessorising, where she was approached by catalogue retailer 'Argos' to bring out a watch line of her very own where she is included in the designing, choosing materials and distribution process. Released in July 2011- 5 watches can be bought online and instore.
The Wanted. The very good-looking boyband consisting of Jay, Tom, Nathan, Siva and Max- of whom started out back in 2009 and have only just made a real name for themselves within the past 18 months with their excessive social networking and tour schedule. Their artist branding is different to the two above as their brand of merchandise has their faces and/or names on. There merchandise is sold concerts and events they go to and also can be bought online from their official merchandise shop.
Positive influencing is a huge part of selling products, so I did my research to see how artist branding worked and how influencing it was to the target audience.
Pixie Lott.Everyone knows the lovely blonde 'girl next door' figure and her first album 'Turn It Up'. She was pictured in several 'indie' playsuit outfits from the normal highstreet store 'Topshop' and matching accessories from the online shopping website 'Aldo'. Within days of these pictures being released online, both Topshop and Aldo had sold out of the items that she was wearing. They were in demand from young girls all over the UK and Ireland. Also, few months later 'Lipsy', one of the less well known teenage brand approached Pixie as they really like her 'girly-come-indie' look and wanted her to design her own clothing line that could be sold in their shops. 10 months later, 'Pixie Range' was launched in-store and online at every Lipsy store throughout the UK. 18 months later, she has designed several seasons of clothes including 'Festival', 'Daytime', 'Nightlife' and 'Rock Chick'.
Alexandra Burke. The edgy R'n'B X Factor winner from 2008. Since X Factor, she has brought out only one album but has done lots of modelling for Dolce & Gabbana on international catwalks. She has recently showed a huge passion for accessorising, where she was approached by catalogue retailer 'Argos' to bring out a watch line of her very own where she is included in the designing, choosing materials and distribution process. Released in July 2011- 5 watches can be bought online and instore.
The Wanted. The very good-looking boyband consisting of Jay, Tom, Nathan, Siva and Max- of whom started out back in 2009 and have only just made a real name for themselves within the past 18 months with their excessive social networking and tour schedule. Their artist branding is different to the two above as their brand of merchandise has their faces and/or names on. There merchandise is sold concerts and events they go to and also can be bought online from their official merchandise shop.This links in with the Pop Star Theory by Dyer who says that 'Pop Star' and 'Pop Performer' are not the same thing.
He says that a 'Pop Star' is a product that is specifically constructed to sell more records and merchandise and not only do they have a fanbase because of their music, they have a fanbase because of the added 'extras' that are manipulated upon the fans.
Whereas a 'Pop Performer' is an artist that has made a name of their own and has the bare talent to get signed by a record label because they are talented and a positive role model to have people want their talent to be heard by the world. They are also usually known for only their musicianship and do not have 'brand awareness' to support them if their career flops.
Record Labels
In the music industry, a record label is a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. They also manage their artists so that they are seen on the TV and heard on the radio to get their name in the media.
Artists rely on their management to look after them and their career so that they have fame or work for as long as possible. Record labels use inside publicists to point artists in the right direction so that they can have as many fans as possible, make lots of money for the label and do what most artists do best- ENTERTAIN!
What some record labels forget to advise on is to encourage positive media reports to keep supporters or fans. By doing this, it helps to market merchandise, sell-out tours and inspire and entertain audiences for as long as possible. However, the involovement of social networking, such as Facebook and Twitter directly from the artist has been a huge part of selling tickets, merchandise and gaining new audiences!
There are many record labels out there, some more popular than others, the top 5 since 2009 are;
- Sony Music Entertainment
- EMI Group
- Warner Music Group
- Universal Group
Artists rely on their management to look after them and their career so that they have fame or work for as long as possible. Record labels use inside publicists to point artists in the right direction so that they can have as many fans as possible, make lots of money for the label and do what most artists do best- ENTERTAIN!
What some record labels forget to advise on is to encourage positive media reports to keep supporters or fans. By doing this, it helps to market merchandise, sell-out tours and inspire and entertain audiences for as long as possible. However, the involovement of social networking, such as Facebook and Twitter directly from the artist has been a huge part of selling tickets, merchandise and gaining new audiences!
There are many record labels out there, some more popular than others, the top 5 since 2009 are;
- Sony Music Entertainment
- EMI Group
- Warner Music Group
- Universal Group
Monday 12 September 2011
History Of Music Videos
Music videos have been around quite a long time, as far as we can see- they started in the early 1980's when MTV based their format around the medium. However, nowadays they have expanded and become a huge marketing device for artists to promote the sale of music recordings.
The majority of artists around these days state that they choose to make videos to show the audience what is meant by the song lyrics and to show their fans what goes round their mind when they listen to the song, and also to show experiences they were thinking of when they were writing the song.
A good example of this is Jessie J's new single- "Who's Laughing Now". She wrote the song when she was a teenager and wanted to release the song and video so she could share the experience of how she was bullied and what it made her feel like, and how she has now overcome it.
A music video can also show the intended target audience for the song, album and artist. For example; Rihanna and her vidoes. The majority of her videos (excluding California King Bed) are very raunchy. Especially S&M which is not allowed to be shown on TV, and is banned in most countries however can be accessed online at the click of a button on the famous YouTube. This shows that Rihanna, as an artist is for young adults who are up for having a good time, go partying every night and are very proud with who they are.
The first 5 music videos aired in the 1980's broadcast on the first day of MTV (1st August 1981) were;
- "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles
- "You Better Run" by Pat Benatar
- "She Wont Dance With Me" by Rod Stewart
- "You Better You Bet" by The Who
- "Little Suzi's On The Up" by Ph. D
The majority of artists around these days state that they choose to make videos to show the audience what is meant by the song lyrics and to show their fans what goes round their mind when they listen to the song, and also to show experiences they were thinking of when they were writing the song.
A good example of this is Jessie J's new single- "Who's Laughing Now". She wrote the song when she was a teenager and wanted to release the song and video so she could share the experience of how she was bullied and what it made her feel like, and how she has now overcome it.
A music video can also show the intended target audience for the song, album and artist. For example; Rihanna and her vidoes. The majority of her videos (excluding California King Bed) are very raunchy. Especially S&M which is not allowed to be shown on TV, and is banned in most countries however can be accessed online at the click of a button on the famous YouTube. This shows that Rihanna, as an artist is for young adults who are up for having a good time, go partying every night and are very proud with who they are.
The first 5 music videos aired in the 1980's broadcast on the first day of MTV (1st August 1981) were;
- "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles
- "You Better Run" by Pat Benatar
- "She Wont Dance With Me" by Rod Stewart
- "You Better You Bet" by The Who
- "Little Suzi's On The Up" by Ph. D
Brief
The brief I have chosen is a promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with a website homepage for the band and a digipak for the album's release.
I have chosen this brief because I enjoy music very much. I go to at least 3 concerts a month and regularly meet celebrities at signings and other events. I found this brief more appealing than the rest because music is a huge part of my life, this is because I find that I'm at the age where I am interested in things other people my age are not particularly interested in. I find that being able to look up to celebrities who are close to my age is really nice and makes me feel positive that someone out there is writing songs about how I feel or have felt. Artists I look up to include; Jessie J, Pixie Lott, The Wanted, Jedward and the JLS boys etc.
The skills I want to develop include learning a wider knowledge of the video software we use, known as Final Cut Express and also to learn more about the media industry when it comes to looking at how music artists are portrayed and why.
My aims when doing this project include;
- Completing a music promo video, website homepage and album digipak for my band at a professional standard.
- Learn how to use Final Cut Express professionally to achieve the look of the music video I originally wanted.
- Try to express creativity and passion in my music video and don't let lack of skills prevent me from creating the look I intend.
I think doing this brief will allow me to develop from AS because in AS I produced a website and found it very successful. I wish to develop more knowledge of different skills, so I think doing video will help me to do this. Also, one of the tasks is to create the homepage of the band's website which I feel I can do successfully without hesitation.
However, challenges of this task will be the post-production of the video task. I have little knowledge of Final Cut Express but I am a very willing learner and am very excited to get started with the tasks.
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