Analysing music videos

The music Halo has a typical narrative structure because it tells us a love story of a man acting out as an angel in order to protect his woman. At the beginning we see the man in bed, wearing white, as an angel would. At the dance studio, Beyonce is on the dance floor wearing black and we see a high angle shot of the man looking down at her wearing white. therefore, he acts like her guardian angel, looking over her, and we see shots that whenever, Beyonce is with him she's wearing white, which shows us that she's been converted to the good side. Also, when she sings about the light shining, it actually shines at her. Furthermore, she sings that your the only one i want, referring to her man, which proves that the lyrics follows the images.

The Pitch

This is my prezi presentation for my artists song; Rachel Rhodes, Heartland, that I will be using for my music video.

100 Greatest music videos of all time

Madonna - Like a prayer - 1989

It was the most controversial video since, it was trying to provoke actions by upsetting religion. The Americans went ballistic due to the fact that Jesus was black and Madonna had made love to him. The publicity was huge and therefore, she also, lost her contract with Pepsi.

100 Greatest music videos of all time

Robbie Williams - Rock Dj - 2000

For this video, Robbie Williams especially took it to the extreme due to the fact that in order to get the Dj's attention he not only took his shirt and pants off though, his whole flesh which definitely showed his outrageous personality in this video. It was banned because of taking his flesh off and for being provocative.

100 Greatest music videos of all time

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean - 1983


This video was officially the truly greatest video which, couldn't go on MTV due to the fact that Michael Jackson was black however, when people managed to see this video they were blown away. This video definitely captured his peak as a brilliant dancer and it stayed at number 1 on the US charts for 7 weeks.

100 Greatest music videos of all time

Michael Jackson - Thriller - 1983



John Landis is the creator of this music video and was the most expensive video made at £700,000. Jackson himself choreographed the dance for this music video and made up his own dance while tracking his movements walking along the pavement. This video was too scary for the audience since, of the horror theme therefore, the viewers had to stay up until midnight in order to watch it. It sold 50 million copies and during the video it surprised everyone but Michael Jackson where he made sure to turn himself into a monster.

100 Greatest music videos of all time

Peter Gabriel - Sledge Hammer - 1986



Peter Gabriel is against animation videos and this video of all was shown on MTV non-stop due to the fact that it was very inventive and in just 3 minutes we had a lot of things going on. It holds a repetitive way and won 9 MTV awards. Also, it was so famous that Peter Gabriel got annoyed of watching it himself.

Andrew Goodwin

- Andrew Goodwin in 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992) has identified the following features of music videos.He believes that music videos demonstrate genre chracteristics (eg: stage performance in metal videos, dance routiness for boy and irl bands).

Guns n Roses - Sweet child of mine - it's a metal rock band and a self reflective video because you can actually see the camera filming the music video.
- There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illusttative, amplifying or contradicting).

The music video - The Script - The man who can't be moved, is a song that proves there's a relationship between the lyrics and visuals because it talks about how the man won't move from his spot at the corner, as he waits for his girl, which he does.


- The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
Michael jackson has a motif style; his glove. He wears a sparkly white glove on one hand or Jay-Z wears chains for his videos.Therefore, if we see those items we can automatically identify the artist.

- There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatement of the female body.
The video Blurred Lines by Ribin Thicke shows 3 women dressed though, showing some skin therefore, Laura Mulvey says this video is voyeuristic because it uses the 'The Male Gaze' where males look at these women as sexual objects.

- There is often intertectual reference to films, TV programmes and other music videos etc.
The Wanted - Walks like Rihanna do this.

100 Greatest music videos of all time

Eminem - Stan - 2000


This music video is basically telling a story to his fans where he says that he's just too busy sometimes to reply. He hasn't got anytime for signatures most of the time and how he's sorry for not fulfilling a fans dream, as we see Stan get angry. He talks about that its hard to be in a position with those kind of responsibilities.This caused a media outcry.

100 Greatest music videos of all time

Fatboy Slim - Weapon of choice - 2001


For this video they used a famous actor; Christopher Walkens where he danced during this video which, surprised many viewers since, they hadn't expected him to dance. He's usually an actor who acts in psychopathic films, therefore, was great to see him pull it off, as only he could do it.

100 Greatest music videos of all time

Wannabe - Spice Girls - 1996


This music video was filmed in one shot with editing. All the girls had their own nick names as specific characters like:

• Victoria Beckham (Posh)
• Geri Halliwell (Ginger)
• Emma Bunton (Baby)
• Melanie Brown (Scary)
• Melanie Chisholm (Sporty)

This was all about the image since, the band were synthetic and put together. No one had heard of them before however, the moment the video was released the next day, everyone knew them even though, they hadn't much experience in singing especially Posh who was mostly in the background and there for the image. 

100 Greatest music videos of all time

Bjork - It's oh so quiet 1995


This video was filmed in 2 days especially during the day that it was very hot and Bjork was ill. Therefore, this hows the celebration of an old fashioned video which was launched as a great pop moment when it was released.

100 Greatest music videos of all time

Kylie Minogue - Can't get you out of my head - 2001


This video is about how Kylie doesn't expose all her body but more of it to catch the males gaze. It shows that Kylie is in control in this video and definitely captures her as an artist because of her dancing and the way she presents herself in a sexual way.

100 Greatest music videos of all time

Smalltown Boy - Bronski Beat - 1984

This video was created by homosexuals in order to promote their homosexuality. Its basically telling a story about real homosexual people who try and live their lives. First video that was on top of the pops that confronted people that its wrong to beat people up jut because they were gay.

So solid crew - 21 seconds - 2001


21 seconds was a number 1 hit in August 2001. the video is about young kids who want to live their own life and run away from the city, from al the racket and stress and start fresh lives. Therefore, these kids created this song to talk about themselves and lives in 21 seconds however, in the end the group broke up.

My favourite game - The cardigans - 1998


Jonas Akerlund is the man who directed this video and has done many others.

Herbie Hancock - Rock it



The man was a black jazz musician and MTV was reluctant to play his song. Though, in the end it was shown on MTV and was a huge hit. This basically proves that during the time there was many racism going on because of the reluctance to show a black man performing.

Elton John - I want love - 2011

Robert Downey Jr, came out of rehab because of taking drugs in order to help Elton John when performing this video.

Talking heads - Once in a lifetime - 1981

This genre of music is punk and David Burns is the guy whos sings it.

Cry - Godley and Creme - 1985

Originally both guys who played this song were together as a group but as years went by they split up eventually. However, the mosty important bit of this music video is that it uses plenty of close up shots which, makes it effective because it relates to the video "Cry" by showing the emotions of the people who star in it.

Bob Dylan - Subterranean homesick blues - 1965

This video is very influential because at the time, Bob Dylan was the 'coolest bloke' in 1965 and everyone was excited whenever they heard his name. There were even cards sold and then copied by many others though, also, he even had a documentary made about him called, 'Don't look back.'

George Michael - Outside - 1998

George Michael is known to be a homeosexual and since, he was caught by a police officer in the toilets, he decided to do this video and dress up as a cop. However, that police officer wasn't happy with George Michaesl's behaviour and even wanted to sue him.

The prodigy - smack my bitch up - 1997


This video is know to be very controversial and there were many questions asked about it in Parliament since, MP's tried to get it banned.

Fatboy slim - praise you - 1999


People thought that this video was nonsense because there was a community doing a dance off at a local cinema. The manager even came out of the cinema in order to turn off their music.

Johnny Cash - Hurt - 2003


Johnny Cash is a worldwide famous artist and is a countrystar. There was a film created about him called 'Walk the Line'. The video was shot in Nashville, America, at his home because it's said that he was too old to move to another location. However, 6 months after shooting this, he passed away in September 2003.

Contingency Plan

My first idea for this video was to have myself as the vocalist singing in a drama studio and perhaps in some other places like outside surrounded with flowers and trees. I could sit down on a bench or lay down on the grass. Also, I´d love to sing where there would be snow because at one point in the sing she says that ´winter feels colder, with you gone,´ that way I can have myself and the couple in the snow. I also, want a part where the couple go to London and go to a theme park and saing on rollercoasters. I want a scene where they have an argument and the girl walks away though, the boy runs to her and embraces her in a big hug, and to do that they should both be in London by the water where there´s enough light to show whats happening but also, not to light.

However, if this doesn´t happen then I want a lab scene where the couple are doing experiments together and then I want the boy to disappear in every scene to make it look like the girl was only remembering her special moments she used to share with her boyfriend. I also, want the couple to be in the park, taking pictures of each other but then getting her lover to disappear so it looks like she's doing it by herself. Another scene I would use is many scenes in the park and the drama studio because i want to have me in the music video and to show that I'm singing. Then them both swinging on a swing where the audience can see them laughing and having fun together. I also, want a house scene where they play a video game because i beleive that the audience will find that sweet and fun to watch, though then see an argument break out and how the girl misses her boyfriend when he disappears. Therefore, not only does she stare into emptiness missing the good parts of their relationship though, also the bad parts. I want more parts of myself singing on a bench in a park because it looks more like a western style since, the genre is country and have me sning in a dramam studio because most singers sing there. I also, want the song to end with sunlight, and me walking into it. Walking into the light which looks like there's a new beginning.

100 Greatest music videos of all time

A-Ha - Take on me - 1985

Far left

This music video was a huge hit in the 1980's because of the video. It had the lead singer in it who was very famous with the ladies due to his good looks.Therefore, they wouldn't show him much in the video because of this.This was because the girls would want him more that's why he was kept a mystery as suspense for the girls. Eventually this song sold millions and reached number 1.

100 Greatest music videos of all time

Queen - Bahemium Rhapsody - 1970


Originally, Queen never favored being on Top of the Pops, even though they were famous.Instead they would tour because that's what they loved and if they did go on Top of the Pops then they wouldn't have the chance to tour so often since, they were always number 1 on the charts. It was the most significant music video because even though, the song had no meaning its effects were very significant due to the fact that many people had thought that there were many Freddie Mercury's. It was also, at number 1 fro 9 weeks and it was created in 3 hours.

How might we measure success criteria of a music video?

•  We can promote the music video by word of mouth or the number of hits it got on YouTube. 
• Newspaper articles or TV reports.
• How many times its been shown on the televisions music screens like 4music or Viva.
• The amount of publicity the artist may have gotten due to anything they've done.
• Where they've been in the charts, if at the top or bottom.
• CD sales
• Downloads (Illegal/Legal) 

Key features

It's worth considering whether the music video is primarily performance based, narrative based or concept based and how the elements are used in it. 

Extension of income

• It promotes the artists single or album.
• Persuades the audience to therefore buy the CD or download it straight away.
• This raises the audiences awareness or the profile of the band or artist.
• An example of this was Christina Aguileras product placement and perfume (Not myself tonight)

Extension of outlets

• Music channels

• Direct DVD and CD sales
• Website

• Download 

The end of music channel?

Since, millions of people now watch music videos from the internet or on TV channels like "Viva" music channels like 'Top of the Pops' are no longer strong promotional platforms they once were.

In many ways the music channel is in danger of becoming defunct and irrelevant. Online streaming and downloads mean that music videos are instantly accessible. 

Richard Dyer - Star Theory

Stars as constructions

Richard Dyer believes that artists are constructed through artificial images such as advertising, films, magazines and music. He claims that consumers prefer artists to convey their true emotions themselves and not by groomed by record labels who try to create a fake image for them. A real artist can use this as their unique selling point. 

Industry and audiences 

Dyer also believes that stars are manufactured to make money for their record labels by appealing to target audiences. Therefore, these record labels have to market different artists to cater for certain target audiences as there are both niche and whole markets. Examples of label records doing this can be seen through Mirror branding, both Rage Against the Machine and Joe McElderry who are both signed up to Sony music.

Ideology and culture

Another one of Dyers beliefs within his star theory is that artists become trendsetters in the sense that viewers will imitate hairstyles and artists clothing styles. For example how they have done with Justin's Biebers hairstyle of Michael Jackson's glove. 

 Artists may also, have certain religious beliefs and cultural values that audiences may also pick up on if shared by the artist. The internet has meant audiences now have greater access to "personal" lives of the artists. 

Character and personality 

The artists are presented as real human beings though, they support the dominant ideology of their time and are glorified versions of normal working class people. These artists are representations of the reinforced ideas of the music industry. 

Purpose of a music promo video

All music videos act as a product of a brand, in the hope that the audience will be inspired by in order to "buy into the brand". For some artists the image is much more important for them than the quality of the product. The Spice Girls are an example of this.

This is because they each have their own nick name that refers to their image. 

Sporty spice is dressed up in sporty clothing.

Posh spice is dressed up posh.

Then you have baby spice who's the youngest of the group or scary spice.

Finally you have Ginger spice because of her hair. Therefore, even though, these girls don't have much talent for singing they all present their own image which gets viewers to buy their albums. 

Other times it's the song and meaning of the song that is sold, and the artists image that has little to do with the sale of the song.

Relation of visuals to a song

Illustrate - Amplify - Disjuncture 

• Music videos can use a set of images to illustrate the meaning of lyrics and genre, this is the most common.
• This is where the meaning of the song is completely ignored.
• This is similar to repeatability. Meanings and effects are manipulated and constantly shown through the video and drummed into our vision. 

A successful analysis of a Pop music video

Daniel Powter - Bad Day

This scene is a split screen which is effective, as it shows us the two main people in the video who look like they're not bothered to get out of bed.

We then get a birds eye view of the two, as we see the shot belittle them and show them victims of a boring job and life. Overall, we are looking down at them and also, see them in double beds though, only them sleeping in it which shows us that theyre lonely.

We then see a shot of the artist sitting at a piano, which means that even though, his song is telling a story it still cuts back to him. He's sitting in-between two circles, which is very symmetrical and we get a close up of his face where we see he's dressed up in modern clothing. He's not trying to impress anyone with a shirt and tie, just relating himself to everyone else and that perhaps his life isn't that perfect either.

There's a sequence of both the guy and woman, which is a quicker way to show how their daily routine follows. As they both leave their houses, the video seems to be selling a dream and an ideal life since, we see the room as very nice that could seem as expensive including the girls corridor.

Once on the train we see the girl looking at a young couple and we flick back to her to show her face that looks depressed because even the unattractive people are able to find someone. Therefore, why cant she?

 Same goes for the guy who looks at an old couple which he's upset about and looks away because perhaps he wants a long lasting relationship with someone to share it with.

To show the time passing we get a glimpse of the calender as the days change.

During their time at work, we see the girl eating a doughnut however, not interacting with anyone. Same goes for the guy who sits with his classmates though, doesn't laugh when they do.

In general they are both soul mates though, haven't realised it yet. They both have stuff in common especially sitting right next to each other on the circle balls however, not seeing one another whilst eating a hot dog.

When she's at the office we get a nice zoom in to her face from the guys point of view who's opposite her which makes this video successful because he has finally noticed her.

On her way home, she decides to draw on a billboard and when the guy sees it he adds another drawing to it.

This way he is trying to win her over because the next day at work, she's happy because she has an admirer and she's thinking if she'll actually get to meet this guy.

The last scene makes the video very effective because it's a high angle shot of the guy holding an umbrella up for the girl. It shos their empowerement and that they'll no longer be lonely since, we're not looking down at them anymore though up.

Justification of ideas in relation to genre and artist

The way in which my ideas fit in with my artist and genre is because the song is a slow song with a slow tempo and I decided to include a couple in my music video.

However, this couple was special since, the boy had passed away and I wanted to have the girl remember her memories with her partner because I believe it fit the slow tempo of the song.
The way in which it also, fits in with my artist is she was wearing a summer dress. Even though, she hadn't done a video for this piece of music, there was a picture of her in a summer dress with her song lyrics. therefore, I decided t also, wear a summer dress and play the guitar.
When it comes to the instruments, she plays an acoustic guitar and even though, you can't see her playing it though, you can hear the acoustic guitar that's why I had it in my music video.
In the lyrics she sits on a stool in the sun so, I want to put my actors out in the park where it was sunny because it's a summary song and nice, it's not a cold song and not rocking though, calm and sad.

Brainstorm ideas

Preliminary excercise - Elton John/Kiki Dee Duet

Our main aim here was to film Elton John's and Kiki Dee's 'Don't go breaking my heart' video using 3 different angles. After that we had to synchronize those layers into one with all those different angles.

What have you learnt about filming music videos?

What I've learnt about filming music videos is it takes plenty of work. You have to make sure that you have an agreement with your partner to decide when it's the right time for one of us to sing. Plenty of times, there were scenes where we had to look at each other because we discussed this beforehand but sometime either one of us forgot or we did it at the wrong time of the song. Therefore, we had to film the scene all over again which used up some of our time. Also, what I've learnt was that we needed to make sure that we learnt the full lyrics before filming, because we started this duet very quickly and hadn't really revised our lyrics, so we had to stop what we were doing sometimes in order to remember our lyrics. Furthermore, I learnt that filming with a partner is very fun and that you don't just have to stand there singing, but you can dance and look at each other.

Describe the process of editing

When it came to the process of editing, we had to decide who would be Elton John and Kiki Dee so, both of us knew which part we were going to sing. Then we wrote down what shots we would have, so we included; low angle shots, side shots, and middle shots. After we finished filming we went to put our work onto the Mac computers and put it on Final Cut Express where we would edit our finished film. We needed to cut some things out in order to to find the right scenes we needed and had to make sure that the cuts weren't all in one straight line but some were up and some scenes at the bottom, which made it faster to edit because we didn't need to put everything in order.

What have you learnt about editing music videos?

I've learnt to have a variety of different camera shots and angles because it makes the music video look interesting and not boring. Also, when I edit my music video, to make sure I don't put everything in a straight line though, have the scenes cut and moved on top or at the bottom of other scenes. I've learnt to have a plan before filming a music video, so having a storyboard in order to know what shots me and my partner would be doing and at what time we would change the angle of the camera. Finally, I've learnt to just have fun and move around and not make the music video look boring but to also, learn the lyrics before.

In what ways could you improve the filming/editing of the sequence? 

What I would improve when it comes to the filming process is to make sure not to break the 180 degree which I believe we did and to also, remember the lyrics of the song otherwise in a real life situation that would waste time and and money and we would have to film another time. I would improve the way we edited our music video because there was a scene where we used a low angle for and I believe it went on for too long, which in real life would look boring and the audience would get bored of watching. Overall, scenes should be quick and have plenty of locations to make it look interesting.

What is a digipak?

A digipak is a plastic packaging used for CD singles, CD albums and the DVD digipak. It consists of a book style paperboard or card stock outer building. Since, it's made of a toughened cardboard, it's less likely to break easily than the original cases. They are also, a registered trademark of AGI-Shorewood, an Atlas Holdings LLC company. 

On the front of the digipak you get the main artists face or something related to them or their album. On the outside there's a binding that holds the plastic trays inside  also, with pictures of the artists or something to do with their album. The things to include on a digipak are the name of the artist and album, their track list, the bar code and record company logo, the six panels including pictures of their band on the inside, the spine with the name of the artist and album and finally, the disk impression. 

Though, we also, got to look for the colour and see if it fits with the album or if the font size of the title is clear enough to see. Perhaps the images don't link to the actual genre of the music. All these themes are important when creting a digipak for an artist.

The digipak originally benefits the artist because it represents and promotes their new album which brings awareness to the artist therefore, selling the artist and encouraging the public to buy their CD.

What is the purpose of a music promo video?

• To promote the video
• Extension of income
• Extension of outlets (music channel, direct DVD and CD sales, website, download).
• Synergy (films, TV programmes). 
• Advertisement
• Illustrates the song
• Appeals to a visual audience
• Expresses an individuals emotions
• Tells a story
• Markets an image
• Creates a brand

Synergy

The music video exists as only one strand of a multimedia campaign, and is just one way in which a song is promoted.

The industry as a whole has a complex relationship with a number of different media and purposes; radio, TV, print media, film and new media.

There's often a clear sense of synergy across a number of platforms.

Types of Music

Artists can be divided into two clear categories.

• Organic

Is used to describe bands where the music comes first, they make the kind of music they want to make and then the record labels (if signed) try and sell this music to the correct market segment. 

Organic music often appeals to a niche, but can appeal to a mass audience too. 

An example of an organic band is 'Radiohead'. 

They started as a group to play in pubs before they became bigger. 

• Synthetic

The synthetic refers to the X Factor methodology, and it's the record labels that sit in the driving seat.

A gap in the market is identified, and then it's exploited by the development of music, and often the artist, to suit this gap.

Money is the ultimate goal in this operation. Acts such as; The Spice Girl, Mcfly and JLS are good examples of manufactured artists. 

Another example is one direction who are a manufactured band created by the X Factor judges. 

Major Record Labels

The music industry is dominated by four multi national corporations:

• Universal

• Sony music

• Warner Bros

• EMI 

These are referred to as 'The Majors'. the majority of these are baked by conglomerates with stakes in other industries such as; Film, Tv and Electronics. 

Most of these majors own, license, as series of smaller subsidiary companies in order to reach different kinds of audience in different kinds of genre. 

• Columbia

• Island
• Syco

• RCA

• Virgin

These companies are known as 'major-independents'. 

There are a huge number of small companies with little or no financial connection the the majors.

These companies often concentrate on a small number of acts, within specialised niches in the industry.

These are called 'independents'. Eg: of a highly successful independent is 'Domino Records'. 

It's often that record labels begin as independents, but then are bought by a major and then become major-independents.