Evaluation of my music video

Evaluation of my music video

I was given a task which was to create a music video for a song that does not already have a music video for it. Before creating my music video I carried out a lot of research to do with music video genre’s target audiences, and the costing of music videos. I learned that music videos come in different styles which are; Performance (singing/dancing), narrative (telling the audience a story) and concept (selling the audience an ideology). This is when I came to a decision that my music video was going to be both narrative and performance based. Some music videos use all three styles. The example of this which I learned was Christina Aguilera – Beautiful. It was performance based as she was singing. The different clips of people being worried about their image, this is the narrative, and the message she was trying to send to people is that everyone is beautiful. As I carried out my research more I learned that each genre has different conventions. For example the generic conventions of a rock music video are; dark colours and dark lighting, and the majority all contain a music instrument such as drums or a guitar. All music videos are completely different; a key word for this is Diversity. Diversity means that people come from different cultures, backgrounds genders or have different ideas.

 After this I looked at the costs of music videos. I researched Michael Jackson’s music video – Scream. This song was made with his sister Janet Jackson. This music video came to 8 billion dollars, which is the most expensive music video ever. To have a better understanding of why the music video was so much money I researched what the money was used for, I found out that it was used for the computer generated spaceship, the guitars they smashed during the video, and typical normal routine music videos such as make-up artist, lighting etc. After carrying out all my research I then started coming up with my own ideas using the background knowledge I had learnt from my research. The first thing I done was chose my song which was Chris Brown – I Wanna Be. After choosing my artist and the song I then done more research on my artist, my artists target audience, and previous music videos my artist has done to give me an idea of what my target audience would expect and want. Whilst researching this I found out that Chris Brown does a lot of performance based music videos with a narrative which is what gave me the idea to do a performance based song which a storyline within the video.  I then had to get the lyrics and analyse them by splitting the words up and commenting on what I would want to happen in the music video for this part of the song.

 Once I had an idea of what I wanted to happen in my music video I planned my editing styles. I chose my editing styles wisely using the background knowledge of my artist’s previous videos and genre. As the genre is R&B/Rap, the editing styles are usually fast editing if the song is up-beat. However as my song is quite a slow song I chose to do slow editing which is conventional towards the audience because It can get in touch with their feelings more. An editing technique that I decided to use is zoom, this is because it shows both the characters body language then zooms into a close up showing the characters facial expression giving the audience a clear understanding of how the artist is feeling which allows the audience to connect with the artist and be able to relate back to what is happening. As the song is quite slow as well a jump cut will be to quick and sharp for the eyes however zoom keeps you calm and relaxed and you will only be focusing on the main character. When I researched my artists previous music videos I paid attention to the outfits that my artist would wear in the music videos to give me an idea of what my main character should wear and what would be conventional for the target audience. Locations are very conventional in every music video; it sets the mood of the song and what is happening in the music video.

The use of iconography in my music video is very conventional as the song is a slow romantic song, the use of a white rose shows the romance within the song. When planning my music video, cinematography is a big thing to look at as it is conventional to have many different camera shots as it gives the audience a better and clear understanding of what is going on. Before filming my music video I had to create a storyboard so I could have a clear understanding of what I was doing so I knew exactly what to film on the day. After that I had to fill out many forms such as Location release, risk assessment and a filming schedule. After getting all my characters, all my props and finding my location I was ready to start filming, once I had all my footage I edited all the clips together which created my music video. Once my music video was done I compared it to real music videos to see if I matched the correct standards which are expected of a R&B music genre, and of Chris Browns previous music videos. The reason for this was to see if I made my music video professional enough and conventional enough and for it to relate back to the target audience. The lighting and camera shots were conventional to the R&B genre as it spent no long than 10 seconds on each shot and I used bright lighting throughout the music video. Sometimes the lighting was dimmed to help show the artists feelings and mood. Sometimes it made the scene more romantic and sometimes it made the scene more emotional to show that the character was feeling down.

My music video had a lot of close ups as the main focus in the music video should be my artist. So close ups made sure that the attention was not taken away from my artist and it also showed the emotion within the music video. My song contained a story within the video for the song, which made it narrative based as well as performance which is conventional towards my artist and the R&B genre. To make the story more realistic and understanding I used props such as a rose and a mobile phone. My music video was made very similar to Chris Brown’s music videos which is conventional for my target audience as they enjoyed the other music videos so much that they will enjoy this one too as it has things such as performance and narrative. The music video helped show the nice side that Chris Brown has and how sweet he can be which helps get the audience’s attention even more.

Coming to a conclusion If I could change anything about my music video I would get more locations to show a lot more happening which helps make the video get more in touch with your feelings as you are seeing a lot more happen which also extends the story. I would do more camera shots and editing styles too. Overall I am happy with my music video.

Filming schedule

Client Release Form

RELEASE AND CONSENT AGREEMENT

Name:  Rebecca Wade & Stephen Tay

Date:  03.12.11

Production music video by Sabiha Naim-Osman

Locations: John Smith’s house hold. Brandy Smiths Car.

Thank you for your assistance with the above production. Our agreement is as follows:

a) You hereby grant the producers the sole and exclusive rights to record and edit and distribute your participation in Chris Brown I Wanna Be. during the 9th of January until the 24^th  of January. Also you consent to the use of your name, likeness, voice and biographical material in connection with the publicity and exploitation of such sequences forever.

b) All rights in the music video – The characters will be playing piano, singing towards the camera and cooking.

c) This agreement shall be freely assignable by the producers and shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and Scotland and especially the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Yours faithfully

Sabiha Naim-Osman

Read, understood and agreed by

Sabiha Naim-Osman Date: 03.12.11

Jhevaughn Burford Date: 03.12.11

For and on behalf of the producers.

Location Release Form

LOCATION RELEASE AGREEMENT

03.12.11

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to confirm our agreement as follows:

a) You herby grant the producers the right to record in the household that belongs to John Smith, inside the car that belongs to Brandy Smith and the second household which belongs to Michelle Jackson discuss the use of the property and how equipment will be required for the shoot.

b) The period will be from the 9^th of January until the 24^th of January. Other days of half days will be agreed before filming.

c) All rights in the recording made and/or taken by the producers at the property shall be vested with the producers and they shall be entitled to assign, licence and/or exploit the same by all means in all media as they may at their absolute discretion elect. The producers shall be entitled to refer to the property by its true name or by a fictitious name or not to refer to the property by name and shall have no obligation to the owners to include any or all of the recordings in any films of the programmes or to exploit the same or any film or programme in which the same are included.

d) Any damage that may be caused by cast and crew I will be paying for. Anything above the cost of £250,000 I will not be paying for.

e) My expectations of the location are for the household to be quite big with a lot of iconography inside such as piano’s and coffee tables.

f) This agreement shall be freely assignable by the producers and shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and Scotland.

Show your appreciation

Yours faithfully

Sabiha Naim-Osman

Read, understood and agreed by

Sabiha Naim-Osman  Date: 04.12.11

Jhevaughn Burford  Date 04.12.11

For and on behalf of the owners

Risk Assesment

Location Reece Form

Location recce form:

Where or what location are you planning to shoot your music video? In my music video there will be three locations. They will be based in one characters house, a car driving and the second characters house.

What do you like about the inside of the house?  When filming my music video the opening clip was of the main male character in his bedroom. I liked this because it was relevant and made sense to the song as he was getting ready to confront the girl he really likes and It shows the nerves he is feeling him practising in the mirror what he is going to say to her.

What problems might you encounter with it? The problems that can encounter when creating my music video is the lighting because the lights in the house may not be bright enough which makes the camera not look as professional as it should look.

 How do you plan to overcome them? I plan to overcome this by recording in areas of the house which has very bright lighting so you are able to see what is happening and if there is any trouble with the lighting I may change the light bulb or get a torch to brighten the area up.

How is your location relevant to your music video? The inside of the house is relevant to my music video because of some of the lyrics in the song. For example ‘imagine if the pillow that you cried on’. A pillow would not be outside, it would be inside a house which makes more sense which is why it would be wise to record in a house.

Storyboard for music video

Costings

Financing Your Music Video

Michael Jackson Scream Music Video

Michael Jackson has always had high budget music videos, for example he spent $800,000 on his music video “Thriller”, which in these days would be $1.4 million.  However before the video “Thriller” nobody came close to spending money around those budgets, and everything had to be done with limited technological capabilities. As the technology improved, Michael Jackson was spending more and more on his videos, exceeding over $1.2 million on “Black or White”. Michael Jackson’s music video for ‘Scream’ came to $7,000,000. This was twice as much as the next most expensive music video which was Puff Daddy’s ‘Victory’ at $2.7 million.

 Wondering what all the money got spent on?

Computer generated spaceship: $65,000

Breaking guitars: $53,000

Morphing artworks: $50,000

Michael's makeup: $3,000

Janet's makeup: $8,000 a day

Choreography: $40,000

Giant video screen: $80,000

Lighting: $175,000

Cost per day: $636,000 (about 11 days)

Total cost of 11 sets: $5,000,000

Cast £100 per day per extra

Camera Crew:

£7000 One crew per day

Sound Crew

£6000 per day

Lighting

£4000 per day on location

Wardrobe/make up/ hair

£250,000 Basics

Location costs

£5000 props per scene

Construction of sets

£15,000 per set Basic

Hotel Costs

£10,000 per day (covers all crew and cast)

Electrical

£2,500 per week

POST PRODUCTION

(on average a video will take 7 days to edit)

Editing suite

£10,000 per day

Editor

£10,000 per day

Sound editor

£8,000 per day

Overall price - £327600

Chris Brown Lyrics

Planning the editing styles

Planning the editing styles  

Music Video: I wanna be

Artist: Chris Brown

Director: Sabiha Naim-Osman

A variety of editing styles are essential in a music video because without it the video would be quite boring as it’s just a plain video with many straight cuts. Editing styles are also a good way of showing emotion due to the editing style that you use it can set the mood.

One editing technique that I will use in my music video is a zoom, this is because sometimes it is more effective to zoom into something than to just do a straight cut to a close up, it keeps it more calm and relaxed and makes you follow it with your own eyes. For example, if the camera was zooming into the artist’s face it builds more emotion by slowly zooming in however if it was a straight cut there wouldn’t be much emotion involved.

Another technique I will be using is slow editing. Slow editing is when the clips are put together at a slower pace which helps capture the moment which is the reason that I will be using it in my music video. Certain scenes will show important information which makes the music video make sense and understandable hence the reason I want to capture the moment by using slow editing. This can also create suspense which may be needed in my music video, as my song is a love song the boy could be asking a very important question which will create suspense for the audience when they are waiting for the girl’s response.

Straight cuts will be useful in my music video because that is how I will be showing the emotion in a particular scene. As the character will be restless and cannot stay in one place so he will be moving all around the room but instead of showing him walk around a straight cut will be more appropriate and give off a better effect. This can build a relationship between the audiences because it will help them get in touch with the characters feelings and understand the emotion he is going through.

Jump cuts will also be useful in my music video, the same way It will be useful in any other music video because you don’t always stick to the same place most of the time, you usually change from different locations to different outfits and characters which is why a jump cut will be used. This makes the music video more entertaining too as it will not be boring in the same place to whole time. This can build a relationship with my audience because they are seeing more things happening at once altogether which will give them a better understanding of the video which gives a better understanding of the characters feelings.

To end my music video I will fade to black, this leaves it will a happy feeling because it is not just switching off straight away it is slowly fading away which leaves it calm and positive. It may be a dark colour which can be seen as negative but it all depends on the last clip that is used in your video before ending it, at this rate I will end it on a happy clip which will give off the happy vibe when ending the song.

Costume, Hair and Make up

Costume Hair & Make up

For this music video the following need to be worn :

Lead Male

Jeans Blue

Red Checkered Shirt

Trainers

The track is a R&B based song which has previously known for Rhythm and Blues it now has shifted into “Soft Hip Hop” the clothing style is made up of street clothing mainly made up of jeans and trainers. This was born from hip hop rappers in the United States.

It is important for my artist to be dressed in this style to be authentic. The main viewing audience who listen to this artist would be dressed in the same mannor and with this they can identify to the track.

Jeans can be found on the high street in any leading store.

Trainers will be found in a sports store.

Checkered Shirt can be found in any high street store however the shirt that will be used is from TopMan.

Lead Female

Black Leggings

Boots

Loose upper body wear

I have chosen clothing for the female based on everyday high street fashion.

Everyday fashion is essential to this video as the track is very current of the time.

It was important for my female to feel comfortable in what she is wearing while filming as she would need to move around, sit etc, and a dress or skirt would not have been approate for this, as it was not a clubbing or dance track.

Hair

I would like the female to have her hair down slightly tousled/curly this adds to the romance to the video.

The importance of creating the look will add depth to the music video the stylist must be able to break down the story and create a character.

Make – Up

A subtle make is required for both male and female.

Enhancing of the female’s eyes by light shadow with mascara to make the eyes appear larger.

A creator

Lisa Laudat has worked on “Girls Aloud” she is the trusted make up artist for Cheryl Cole.

Laudat has also made up other current artists such as Pink, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Natasha Bedingfield.

A Stylist

Top stylists are Victoria Adcock and Frank Strachan who have also worked on Cheryl Cole.

Adcock was hired to sort out Girls Aloud in 2005 and took them from High street into a more up market territory.

Adcock has also worked on Victoria Beckham and Christina Aguilera.

Strachan provided Cheryl with an all round glamour look.

Strachan has also worked on Kylie Minogue.

References

Mail.Online

VMA’s interview Nicki minaj

Titanic (1997)

TopMan

Topshop

Location and Iconography

Planning the locations and iconography

Music Video: I Wanna Be

Artist: Chris Brown

Director: Sabiha Naim-Osman

Using a variety of locations in a music video is essential because if you just use one location the video will get quite boring as you will be watching the same thing throughout the whole 3 minutes. Also using more than one location can add more of a story to the song as you can show much more happening which will give the audience a better understanding on what the song is about.

One of my locations in my music video will be in a bedroom in a house, this is because I want to show the feelings that my character is feeling and at that moment in time my character is feeling sad so by putting them in the bedroom alone just lying on their bed staring into space or looking into the mirror with a sad face you can convey that they are not happy. In the song the lyrics is basically a boy saying what he wants to say to the girl he really loves so the location can in some ways relate to the lyrics because I will have him practising saying it in his mirror then it will change to the next location of when they are together and show him saying it to her actual face. This location may be able to build a relationship with my audience is some senses because everybody likes to go to their bedroom when they want to be alone or are feeling down, so in some cases the audience may feel as if they can relate back to that. An audience love it when they can relate back to the song.

Another location that I may use is in the shopping centre because in the song it uses a line saying ‘Can I be the one to take your mama shopping’ so it would be useful to show the bond between the boy and the girl’s mother. This could build a relationship with the audience because it could show the boys personality more and make him seem like a really sweet and caring person, especially because they won’t be walking out of a men’s clothes shop it will be women’s which will show that he is not there for himself which will connect with the audience more.

When making a music video iconography is important because without it the video can become quite boring and dull because there is nothing to it. Iconography can give your video that extra push to make it better than what it was. For example if you want to show the romance, instead of just having them look at each other and smile the male could give the female a rose then it would make it seem more cute and enjoyable for the audience. It will also help the audience get in touch with the characters feelings because they have objects that can refer to it. Iconography is an object that can represent meaning for example if somebody has a passion over football, that football will be seen in the music video various times.

In my music video I will use many props to do with the actions that my character is doing. For example a mobile phone, this shows the communication between the two characters, this will benefit my production by making sense of the story being told. This bonds the audience creating a memorable moment in their own lives when they have text or communicated with a loved one nostalgia pulls a viewer in and creates thoughts of ones memories. Using a form of technology that is referenced to a younger audience it’s a prop that is up to date and is very now which shows this music video has been made to go along with a style that wouldn’t be in a video for a track made in the 60’s.

Flowers used in a video such as this one shows there is a romantic element to the song. This creates a mood for the track and the audience. This benefits the production by adding colour and depth to the feeling of the romance, this also aids the audience with the feeling of melancholy of the guy unable to reach out to his love which moves an audience gives them hope while watching that this man will get his girl, it keeps them watching. The flowers inform the audience that it is a love song the way the flowers are given and the way the characters are dressed shows the audience that this is a very RnB track.

The use of a mirror in the music video was a thought pattern of how many of us use a mirror to view ourselves. The guy in the music video uses the mirror to view himself talking to his girlfriend he wants to see how he comes across. He wants to rehearse what he wants to tell her.  The benefit of doing this is to have a prop which makes sense of the lyrics. This helps the audience view the guy as a character to build a relationship between him the song and the audience. They are able to see him vulnerable alone and how he cares how he is seen to his girl. This displays the genre by showing in detail how his appearance mirrors today’s dress code.

Parent companies and the music industry

Universal Music

Universal is a world known industry giant not only has it cornered music it also has film under its belt.

Universal Music UK is the biggest music company and home to many top UK artists churning out hit bands and artists year after year.

From Take That to Florence and the machines to New hit folk band Mumford &Sons and world wide long standing Rolling Stones these artists are owned by Universal.

Small independent labels have tried and tried to come up against the larger Labels however have found it easier to distribute their own artists by allowing companies like Universal  to take over and pump money into them and through that have ownership.

Lets take a look at who is under the Universal umbrella.

                                                         Universal

AM Records    : Formed in 1962 grew to become the largest independent in America worked with Artists such as The Carpenters, Carole King, The Police, Janet Jackson. Reactivated as a frontline label in the UK in October 2006, under Universal. Acts to come out of AM records Duffy and the Horrors.

DECCA Records : This British Label was established in 1929 by Edward Lewis the name Decca dates back to a portable gramophone called “Decca Dulcephone”. Within years it was the second largest record label in the world. Artists included Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday Judy Garland. Today  Decca carrys on discovering talent in areas such as pop, rock, and folk.

FICTION: Founded in 1978 by Chris Parry. In the nineties the label was bought by Polydor who is now under Universal  : Artists are The Cure , The Kaiser Chiefs, Kate Nash and Snow Patrol.

ISLAND Records Group: Great Music since 1959. In 2009 marked the 50^th Anniversary of Island records. The label was founded in Jamaica relocating to London in the early 60’s. Artists The legend Bob Marley, The Fratellis,U2, Grace Jones the B’52’s.

Mercury Records : Def Jam came under this label current world wide artists come from here Rihanna, Kanye West , Jay Z, Mariah Carey one of leading hit makers and distribustion in the word.

GEFFEN : An American label owned by universal . Founded in 1980 by David Geffen. Artists include first signee Donna Summer. Other artists Elton John, Cher , Joni Mitchell , Guns & Roses . Universal Music came along and reorganized labels under Polydor which included Geffen this was in 1999.

LONDON Recordings : HQ in London however originally marketed records in the USA, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979. In America the label was best known as the American imprint of the pre 1971 recordings of the Rolling Stones. Again this label was under Polygram.

Polydor : Founded in Germany in 1946. The UK division was not established until 1956 which coinside the rock’n’roll revolution. Artists include The Jam, Beegees , Van Morrison , Shed Seven and

Eagle eye Cherry.

The Music industry is dominated by the four Majors ,

Universal  Music Group

Sony Music Group

Warner Music Group

EMI Group

The Independants  V  The Major Labels

Independent labels are known as Indie, these labels are record companies in their own right however can suffer with the distribution of their artists music. As technology has changed indie’s  are able to start achieving in the music place with the help of the channel of I’tunes to distribute their projects.

The download market can now help a small label with a couple of artists reach the mainstream.

One of the most successful indie label is that of Beggars Banquet it began as a chain of record shops it followed like many independants and produced artists and distributed their music through the chain of shops. As the genre of music was punk the fan base was already there and many punks or fan of punk music would go out of their way to visit the record stores and buy the music. Artists such as Gary Numan secured the label’s future and paved the way for future artists reaching the mainstream.  Recent indies artists are The Charlatans and The Cult. They now no longer take on new signings. Beggars Banquet now are Beggars Group and now created an umbrella to place other indie labels underneath them. Rough Trade , Matador 4AD and XL recordings have a place in the music industry underneath this umbrella. The distribution is through Alternative Distribution in the US.

The Major labels and the music sold take up 75% of the music market , with the changes in the download market we should start seeing a shift in the market place.

Why do these majors have so much of the market , lets take a look at each world wide.

Sony BMG who have more than 20 smaller labels underneath them have offices in more than 30 countries worldwide.  RCA, Columbia were majors in their time and now come under the Song BMG umbrella. Sony BMG have also have distribution and part ownership in smaller independants they are GOOD music, Nick Records, Wind Up records and Independiente.

Sony BMG are the biggest label in the world however with regards to sales Universal are the top. Universal have an office in nearly every country in the world they own or partly own hundreds of other music labels.

EMI are best known for their signing of “The Beatles”  and they of course became the best selling band in the history of music and that is how EMI put their place on the market. They still to this day own the catalogue of “The Beatles”.  EMI have also had hits with other artists such as Pink Floyd, Pet shop Boys, The White Stripes.

Warner Music Group, were into the film industry and the idea behind the label was to release soundtracks to their movies. This made them an instant hit and placed them on the market as a leading music label. Recently Warner created a very good partnership with the MTV networks this would help with advertising the Warner labels music .

The format for the four majors have now changed EMI recording music business has now been bought by Universal despite Warner Music putting a bid in of around 2 billion dollars.

                                        

What is a music video?

What is a music video?

Make a list of as many music genres that you can think of:

Pop                  

Rock                

Hip hop            

R&B                 

Funky house

Bashment

Reggae

Garage

Opera

Dubstep

Dancehall

For each genre that you have wrote down identify an artist that belongs to that genre:

Pop – Michael Jackson

Rock – Evanescence

Hip hop – Jay Z

R&B – Rihanna

Bashment – Mavado

Funky house – Dj Versatile

Reggae – Singing sweet

Garage – Ms Dynamite

Opera – Susan Boyle

Dubstep – Skream

Dancehall – Beenie man

Task 3:

What is the purpose of a music video?

·                     A market tool to promote a artist/song

·                     A short narrative or representation of the artist

·                     To attract a particular target audience

·                     To identify an artist/group

·                     To buy into the artists lifestyle

·                     To show the different generic conventions of a genre/music video

·                     For the audience to remember the music video

·                     To make a song available to a wide audience

·                     To show more about the artist

·                     The audience request music videos

·                     To build a relationship with the artist

·                     For the audience to understand more about a song

The video contains all 3 elements:

Performance- the artist singing

Narrative- the different images of people

Concept- everyone is beautiful

 Looking at Christina Aguilera’s music video “Beautiful” I can see that the music video has many purposes. This music video can help her attract more of a bigger audience because people can relate to her. Most people doubt themselves and don’t think too good of themselves so this song is for anybody who is insecure to make them feel better about themselves, because nobody is perfect, meaning that it is for a wide audience base. A song is basically a story so a music video is used to portray the song, and the music video fitted in very well with the words of the song which gave it more meaning leaving the audience to have a 100% understanding on the song. The audience will be able to build a relationship with the artist from this song because they know how the artist is feeling whilst singing that song, and a lot of people may have that in common with the artist which helps get in touch with the feelings. This song contains a narrative which represents the artist which makes people enjoy that artists music and like them for who they are because they are being real. If a particular audience will like this song because of the narrative it will persuade them to listen to her other songs which will start getting her a fan base because they will realise they like her music. It takes for the viewers to enjoy one song to start listening and enjoying the rest.

·                     What are the generic conventions of an RnB music video?

An RnB music video will contain generic conventions such as fast cuts to each shot; it won’t spend no longer than 5-10 seconds on one shot. It will usually contain band performance and narrative. Its main focus will be on the lead singer, but it will also focus on stereotypes, for example Beyoncé’s music video for ‘run the world’ because it is a negative stereotype because stereotypically it is known that men run the world. It will contain more close ups because the artist is very important in an R&B music video, so the main focus has to be on the artist. The lighting, depending on the song, will usually have bright lighting because it’s supposed to give a happy feeling and darkness doesn’t usually bring happiness. R&B music videos would usually use soft casual colours such as blue or yellow or red, this is because It cannot disappoint anybody, whereas the colour black would more likely be used in a rock music video. An R&B music video would use a lot of props because there is always usually a big story behind each song so they will use big props such as cars, mirrors, etc.,. In an R&B music video you could expect to see them wearing anything because if it is a song produced by a celebrity like Beyonce or Lady Gaga, you know that they will be wearing extravagant outfits, you wouldn’t usually see the singers wearing something really casual like jeans and a top, it does happen but very rarely. R&B music videos tend to contain a lot of dancing, if you look at singers such as Jason Derulo or Usher who are known for their dancing too.

·                     What are the generic conventions of a girl band music video?

A girl band music video will always try as hard as possible to attract the male audience which will get them a bigger audience so they will dress up in their videos as if they are going clubbing for example, short dresses etc., to make them look as attractive as possible. They would not do their make up in any funky way as which Lady Gaga would; they would just do it normally and casually as they are seen as more serious. A girl band music video doesn’t usually contain many props because it usually has all the girls together doing a performance based video. In a girl band there if obviously more than one or two people so in a girl band music video you will see many straight cuts happening really quickly because there are a lot of singers and they need to show each one by themself, in a close up too. Girl bands are usually very girly so the colours that would get used are most likely to be very feminine colours such as pink or purple. A girl band music video would use bright lighting to show the singers off more and you can see them more clearly.

·                     What are the generic conventions of a rock music video?

In a rock music video you are most likely to have quite dark lighting and dark colours as that is what they enjoy the most, if you look at most rock videos you will notice the similarities, such as they always contain a musical instrument such as a guitar or drums, and when it’s a girl that is singing they will always have a microphone. Camera shots in a rock music video will be the same as any other video depending on the tempo of the song, as if it is a very hyper and loud song the camera shots will move very fast, however if it is a very slow and emotional song the camera will rarely do quick shots it will most likely follow the singer and move slowly panning around.

·                     What are the generic conventions of the following music videos?

1)    Girl band- The Saturday’s “Work” – In the Saturdays music video for ‘work’ the lighting is quite dark with bright lights randomly flashing and shining into the camera at times, this can give off quite a mysterious effect and make the characters in the video seem more attractive and appealing which is what they will be doing to attract a more bigger audience. One long shot is used when it is showing the girls altogether so you are able to see all of them and their full body. However close ups are used of them all individual, especially when they are singing. The video does not use any iconography other than the stage that the girls are standing on, this is because the video is performance based so there is no props that need to be used. The girls are dressed up as if they are going clubbing or for a night out, but in this case it’s because they are performing on stage, this is used to attract a bigger audience because the girls look attractive.

2)    Rock- In the music video ‘My Immortal’ by Evanescence, they have used black and white throughout the whole music video, this is because the song is quite a serious and sad song so if they was to use bright colours it would make the mood happy when it’s not so the black and white was used as an effect to set the mood. The video towards the end starts to contain a band playing many music instruments such as drums, and guitars which is stereotypical for rock music videos. However throughout the video it shows a guy sitting by a piano, relating back to the lighting this can help to set the mood and make it seem emotional. The editing in this video is really slow; the camera just pans around most of the time and slowly travels around the screen zooming in and out, this is because it is not a very upbeat song. People usually always expect rock songs to be all energetic however they are not there are some slow ones too.   

3)    RnB- In the music video ‘Let it burn’ by Usher, it has used bright  but soft colours, this is because it is quite an emotional song so soft colours would be needed rather than harsh bright colours because they are usually happy colours, one of the main colours used in this music video is orange which is a very calm colour. The colours that are usually used in a music set the mood, This music video relates back to the lyrics when coming to iconography, as the song is called let it burn and burning is to do with fire, so in the music video they set the swimming pool on fire as if it is ‘burning’, in the swimming is the girl swimming so it is basically saying to let his relationship with the girl burn, in other words he is giving up on her. An RnB music video most of the time will be performance based because it will always have the artist singing into a camera or dancing, which is classed as performance. This music video contains a lot of fast cuts because it is trying to show the emotion building up in one character whilst they are seeing the other character, however the editing in this video uses slow motion this is used to create a more emotional feeling. The character in this song is dressed very casually just to show off his normal side, however the other character in this video is wearing a bikini but this is because the character is going swimming, however this can be used to try attract more of a male audience towards to song and singer because it will automatically have the girl audience but not much of the male.

4)    Boy band- A boy bands main target is to attract the female audience so in a boy band music video they will dress to impress. This could mean not dressing like their normal casual self but dressing in something that will attract the female audiences eyes. For example in the music video ‘I want it that way’ by Backstreet Boys, they all dress to fit their character, so some of them are wearing suits as some females like their men smart, however one is dressed in combat trousers to maybe show a more rebel side which some girls may love. In this music video they have used extremely bright lighting and colours, this is because it is a very up beat song and gives the audience a chance to see them better. In this music video they use a lot of close up shots; this is conventional in a boy band music video because the female audience would like to see their favourite band members face close up. Boy band music videos are usually mainly performance based meaning that they will rarely use props, in this video towards the end it starts to show the boy band talking to their fans and giving them flowers which is one prop, this is conventional for the music video because it shows that they care for their fans and appreciate them which will make their audience become better if they know that the celebrity that they are supporting appreciates them.

5)    Pop- In the music video for ‘They don’t care about us’ by Michael Jackson they use a lot of long shots this is to show the surrounding and the location that they are in. This is important because they are basically showing the whole community coming together as one and working together so it needs to do long shots to show all the people too. The song uses very bright primary colours this is because it is a very positive song and if you use colours like black or grey that will give the song a dull mood and feeling. The song is all performance based as everybody in the video is performing as they are all dancing around, playing instruments and singing. The music video is very bright as it is based during the day this can also give off a happy feeling because if the brightness is quite low it will give off a sadder vibe. The only props that the video contains in instruments that are being played by all the people in that community, mainly drums are being used. However props do come across when looking at the houses.

6)    Dance- In the music video ‘Get it right’ by Jennifer Lopez it is all fast cuts, this is because it is a very up beat song that has quite a fast beat so the cuts are moving in time with the music. The music video is both narrative and performance based as it has a lot of singing and dancing being performed towards the character however it is done in the story line such as on the TV inside the club that they are in. In this music video a lot of long shots are used, this is because when the characters are dancing you need to be able to see their whole body to see the dancing, also to see everything that is going on in the club. Close ups are used when the main singer is singing to the camera. As the song is based inside the club, many props will be needed such as drink glasses, headphones for the DJ, bags for the women to carry etc. Bright colours and bright lighting is used in this video, however when they are in the club the lighting is more darker but still gives off a happy vibe.

7)    Rap- In the music video ‘Doggystyle’ By snoop dogg they use a low angle shot, this makes the singer Snoop Dogg seem as though he has more power than everybody else. The music video is narrative based as the lyrics match what happens in the music video, especially when it comes to showing him turn into a dog. However it is also performance based as it has Snoop Dogg rapping to the camera. The music video uses bright lighting as it is not  negative song so it does not need to set a sad mood, so using bright lights and bright colours it shows a more happy mood. In this music video the props that are used are car tyres, many of them are randomly on the ground as Snoop Dogg is walking past them rapping. This music video sometimes uses fade’s to move from one shot to another, this leaves a calm mood as it is not jumping from each shot.

8)    Tiny pop- ‘Crazy Frog’ by Axel F has a very fast beat so each shot and edit transition changes to the beat of the music, however it does not do any fancy transitions it only uses straight cuts, but the camera follows behind the character most of the time. The music video is very colourful, this is because it is aimed at a more younger target audience and it will catch more attention to the eye if you see bright colours flashing around on the screen. It is a very up beat song so the mood is up beat meaning the brightness will be bright. The song is a cartoon however it does contain cartoon props such as a motorbike that they are driving on.

9)    Indie-  In the music video ‘Your Song’ by Ellie Goulding they use a lot of close up shots of her face, this is because although it is quite a happy song it is still a slow and in touch with your feelings song, so they done close ups to show the emotion and expression coming from the singer Ellie Goulding, this gives the audience a chance to connect with her more and have a better understanding of her feelings throughout this song. The song just uses normal colours with bright lighting this is because there is no sad mood that needs to be set, so by using bright lights it gives off a happy feeling towards the audience. The whole song just used straight cuts throughout. Ellie Goulding is dressed very casual in this music video, this could be to just show the real her instead of dressing up and pretending to be somebody she is not, this can help her get a bigger audience because audiences like it when they can relate back to a celebrity through music too.

10)  Grime- In the music video ‘Cold Roads’ by K Koke a lot of low angle camera shots have been used, this may be to show he has power and he is staying strong a positive against the world which relates back to the words of the song, that he has the power to stand alone. The video was recorded when it was dark outside so they have used bright lighting to make you able to see the character however the lighting is still quite dull and dark, this is also because it relates back to the words of the song. The artist is dressed very casual in something that he would normally wear on a normal day to day basis, this is because the words of the song would not relate back to him if he was standing there wearing a posh suit so his outfit also matched and related back to the song. The music video contained a lot of editing such as fading two screens together before moving onto another one, this was to give it a more clam effect rather than just jumping to one another, also it shows his life implying how it is all jumbled together and confusing so again it relates back to the song.

11) Garage- So Solid Crew are a garage band and they done a song called ’21 Seconds, This song used a high angle shot to show all the people in the video and where they are standing in what location. This video is performance based however still narrative as the way they are acting and dressed in the music video is not how they would usually be, they have dressed in all black in outfits that people would not wear on a normal day or even going out, and they have contact lenses in which make their eyes look scary, so they were trying to give off a different vibe to what they would normally show. The song is very up beat and fast so they have you many jump cuts moving in time with the music and beat of the song. The lighting is quite dark in this music video as they gave it quite a scary look.

12) Metal- In the music video ‘Poison’ By Alice Cooper, uses a variety of camera shots, a close up is used when they show the girl on the screen this could be to attract the male audience is they see a good looking girl in the video they are going to watch it so the close up can be to show her beauty, long shots are used when the whole band is shown together to show all of them playing their instruments. The music video used very dark lighting throughout; this made the video look more effective because it had bright lights flashing about everywhere making it seem more exciting. In the music video there was a girl that was dressed in white which is the only bright colour in the whole video; she was wearing a white dress which was used to attract a male audience seeing a very pretty girl walking around on the screen. The main singer was dressed in a leather jacket with leather trousers, all in black, this seems casual for this artist to be wearing.

Music videos are supposed to be performance based because it is natural to see the celebrity singing in the music video, however many of them are narrative based but still include performance alongside it. For example Ciara’s ‘Like A Boy’ music video, it is performance based because it has her dancing and singing throughout the music video, however it is narrative because what happens in the video relates back to the words of the song. The song is her singing about what it would be like if she was the boy in the relationship, moving forward in the music video it has her dressed as the boy dancing to show that she is the boy in the relationship now and showing what it would be like, it also has her sitting there singing the song as her normal self to the boy trying to give him a better understanding of how he is treating her. This song will gain a big audience because a lot of girls will relate back to this song, because girls are very in touch with their feelings they always feel as if the boy doesn’t understand however Ciara is putting her foot down and showing everybody how it really is. In the music video the lighting is bright throughout the whole video however the video is all in black and white so there is not much colour to brighten up, this is because they were trying to show how it should be mutual between the boy and girl, as if they have snapped out of the real world because she is not really a boy. It can be seen as a serious song however it is still a very energetic song that you can dance to. The camera does quite a lot of close ups of Ciara when she is dancing with loads of other girls dressed as boys, this is because they don’t want the attention to be taken from Ciara as she is the main singer so they do close ups to keep to main focus on her. The song uses straight cuts throughout, this is to keep in time with the music, as it’s not a slow song it should not have slow camera movement.