So to begin our mass brainstorm ideas, we decided to break down our ideas into concept, narrative and performance - we both decided we don't want to do only a performance video and it would be much more interesting and educational to do a narrative or concept video! So after jotting down some ideas, we actually came up with a mix of a performance and narrative music video that we really liked. This idea was made from taking one of our narrative ideas and one of our concept ideas to create the final idea. I've put our notes into brainstorm format to make it a little easier to understand!
concept:
Final idea..initial ideas:
So from here we just need to delve deeper into our brainstorm ideas to come up with a definite idea, and then to start planning and shooting!!
In our lesson our teacher showed us some 'one shot wonder's' - a music video filmed in one continuous shot, I thought these were amazing videos and thought the amount of planning they must have taken would have taken such a long time. Ruby and I actually liked the idea so much that we thought about doing a one shot wonder for our own music video, however our teacher told us we wouldn't get marked well on this due to the fact we have to show our editing skills and this is very difficult with a one shot wonder... I watched a number of one shot wonders, many of which were really cool but after about the 20th music video I found 'Goldfrapp - Happiness'. I've never heard of the song before but as soon as I started watching it I knew it was going to be insanely complicated and fantastic, and it was.. so I've decided to analyse this music video and research a bit more about it..
Before I actually start analysing this music video, I'd like to point out something that I only found out part way through researching it - that it's actually a video paying homage to a scene of a film which I think is a brilliant idea for a music video, and also interesting to find out about as I myself wasn't aware that it was perhaps a 'remake' until I researched into it!! It takes a lot of ideas from this orginal video but makes them new and modern, and it also adds a number of other modern ideas into Goldfrapps music video too!
Concept/narrative/performance: So the song actually begins with Goldfrapp sitting on a step lip syncing, by using this as one of the first things you see, the audience will relate the song to her straight away and so linking the song with the artist. This may have been a demand of her record label as labels often ask for the artist to be shown a lot, or sometimes initally the first thing the audience see.
Although it's not actually specifically a performance video, Goldfrapp is seen a number of times posing as different characters throughout the video (policewoman, flower seller, lady at bus stop etc) - again making sure the audience see her and so know what she looks like and relates the song to her. There is no narrative to the music video, but the concept is that this exceptionally cheery man is jumping along and around an estate, coming into contact with various people along his way, all who are obviously amazed that this man is jumping everywhere in such a happy manner and so often stop and think about what he's doing! the last part of the shot is of everyone the man has come across together clapping and also seeming happy!! The concpe fits in really well with the song, obviously the title 'Happiness' fits in with the concept and also the strong jump beat is a perfect beat for the man to jump along too! I think it's a lovely happy concept thats been transposed from 1953 to a modern setting! Here is a screen grab from the old version and Goldfrapps music video, showing the ideas they copied but modernised!
Editing: Of course as it's a one shot wonder there should be no editing. However half way through my research, after watching the video a number of times I started to realise that about 3 times during the video that there were shots when something would cover the entire screen and the shot afterwards wouldn't be exactly as it was before - it was then I decided that this video was actually shot in about 3 takes, of course an utter dissapointment and it takes a lot of the magic and amazement out of the video, however I didn't actually notice until about the eigth time watching so the editing is done very very well! I decided to keep analysing 'Happiness' as it still comes across as a one shot wonder, and although would have been a lot better if it was shot in one take - it's still a magnificent idea! This is one point where two bikers go past the screen, and before you can see the camera is slightly less zoomed in than the second photo...
Camera:
When filming a one shot wonder, the camera shots, placement, angles etc all have to be planned so so carefully, one slip up and the entire video goes wrong!! Although I figured out that Golfrapps video isn't a one shot wonder, it's still only shot in a few takes and so the camera movements will have had to be planned vigorously.
Of course it starts with an establishing shot, which pans into a mid shot of Goldfrapp herself, the camera moves slowly and smoothly, allowing any changes to take place and also for the action in the shot to get ready and happen. The camera also stops at certain places allowing action to happen. Something else I noticed was that the main character of the concept - the jumping man - is always in the middle third of the screen, meaning the audience will always be focusing on him and what he is doing.
Mise-en-scene
It's not a lot different from a usual video - it fits with the song and the music video concept to portray a certain image and mood to the audience. The costumes are all bright, fitting in with the happy concept. Also the costumes are all stereotypical of the characters, especially the characters that Goldfrapp plays, like the policewoman in a conventional policewoman outfit. The props are all very interesting and quirky, again fitting in the fun happy concept and mood of the music video, for example there are bouncy balls, skipping rope, bikes, and bin lids used as instruments!
So after watching the video numerous times and analysing it, although I'm thoroughly dissapointed that it's not a real one shot wonder, it's pretty close and it's still really interesting and thought provoking and has definitely helped towards my research into music videos!!
So we've continued with our initial planning ideas. Our ideas have started to properly develop and become stable. This excited us because it meant we could completely write down our ideas and not have constant changes. We made a presentation for the class just to showcase our ideas and to get any feedback that we could, as we wanted to know what different genders and ages of people would think of our initial ideas. So here is our presentation including the structure of our video, the tone we want to imply and how our research has helped us:
Enjoy! There will be a post soon elaborating on our ideas and showcasing exactly what we want to do within the narrative structure.
So I've decided to analyse a couple more music videos and this one is called 'In your arms' by Kina Grannis. This video is incredible because it's made entirely of jelly beans! Kina is singing and doing actions on top of the jelly beans using stop motion but the entire background and all of the animals and weather are made entirely of jelly beans. So to start us off, here's the video: (prepare to be amazed)
To start off:
Camerawork: So the camerawork in this video is very very simple. The camera position doesn't change, but the angle of the jelly beans does. This gives the impression that the camera is changing position and creating different angles but it's all done with jelly beans. It's very very clever!!
Stop motion: The use of stop motion in this video is absolutely essential. The stop motion makes this video very very incredible to watch. It makes you realise how much work it would take to actually go in to this video, as we associate stop motion with being a slow process, and with the added aspect of jelly beans for the background, it makes the audience appreciate exactly how much work has gone into this video. Also the use of stop motion enables the director to include different things such as jelly bean birds, and Kina's lips etc. It also makes it very easy to change location. For example, she uses a window cleaner to change the location. This makes it very entertaining for the audience to watch as the location is constantly changing which is good because there is no way that the audience could get bored or distracted by something else because we're constantly watching for the change of location.
Mise-en-scene:
Props: Kina changes props from time to time. Some of these include a window cleaner, guitar and goggles. This could help a range of audience members to relate to this video, especially young people. By incorporating young and exciting things to do (and the added value of jelly beans) makes this video an attraction for a younger audience of the teens and 20's.
Costume: Kina also changes costume occasionally. For example when she is skiing, she changes form having a raincoat to having a winter parka. This makes us believe that she is actually in the location, and that the background isn't made of jelly beans. It also makes us believe that she is genuinely cold and she needs a winter parka because of all the jelly bean snow! the added effect of costume to the aspect of the jelly bean background makes the video more realistic and possibly more believable!
Performance aspect: During this video, we constantly see her performing, apart from when her outline turns into jelly beans. Even then when she is animated with jelly beans her mouth is moving, implying that her character is performing. Also she lip synchs the words so we know that she is the main performer. I think the fact that she is there makes this video that much more interesting. It's not just jelly beans all over the place, the added aspect of her acting and singing gives the video another layer. Also it makes the video more personal to her, as it's her video and her song. Also it gives you a visual representation of the performer rather than just pretending she is there, by watching the jelly bean animation.
So as part of my research I decided to look into the director 'Mark Romanek' who is a fantastic director and I found it really helpful and interesting to delve into what makes him tick and his views and inspirations!
So, to carry on with my research I'm trying to analyse as many music videos as I can. I've decided to analyse 'I wanna know what love is' by Foreigner. I chose this one because I'm trying to analyse as many different genres and different styles as I can. This video is performance/ a slight narrative.
Here's the video:
So to start off with:
Camerawork: The camerawork throughout this video is mainly point of view shots. The only significant angle change in a shot is the shot with the 'love interest' at the very end. However there are a few low angle shots to connote power when they're filming the choir sing. This is to poosibly show that the singing or the song itself empowers them and gives them confidence. The significant angle of the love interest implies that she could be 'an answer to his prayers'. He is constantly saying 'I want to know what love is' and this shot at the end of the video portrays to the audience that she is going to be the one to show him! It also ties up the narrative element, as we see her running towards the studio and to him.
Editing: The editing is steady throughout, and the entire video seems to be shot using dissolves as the transitions between shots. This gives the impression to the audience that the struggles of every day life aren't just on you, that everyone goes through them from time to time. Also it is to linger on the previous shot, putting more emphasis on the character we are being introduced to. This makes us recognise them when they all enter as a crown in the last section of the video.
Mise-en-scene:
Props: These are mainly unimportant props such as bags, scarfs etc. The main prop we see throughout is the microphone that the main singer, Lou Gramm uses to sing. Obviously the song is playing all over the different shots, linking all of the characters together, however we don't know how they're linked until the end shot, where the entire cast comes in as a choir for the song. So the microphone was giving us a subtle hint of the link between the characters the entire way through.
Another important use of props to portray things to the audience, is the shot where a building worker is hauling heavy piping work and the lyrics at that moment are 'feels like the world is on my shoulders'. Implying to the audience that he is working very hard, and rather than the lyrics meaning a mental metaphor, the shot shows it physically, emphasising the theme of hardship throughout the video.
Costume: All costumes are vaguely normal. Most people could and would wear the costumes in this video. It could be used to portray the normality of these people in the video.
This video is a fantastically simple video. It portrays to the audience the hardships that people go through every day and the quest for love that every day people can go through. I really like this video because I love this band and this song but also because the lyrics are very simple and very poignant in realtion to the video. It shows normal people in normal situations and helps the audience to relate to the characters by showing these simple people. I could use a style like this for our music video because it helps people of all ages to relate and so we could have a very wide target market. Also this song isn't rude so it's available for any age to relate to.
So I'm carrying on with the research and planning and whatnot. Basically, I've decided to analyse a music video that is by the band 'First day of my life' by Bright eyes. I decided to pick this one because this is one of our choices of songs and I wanted to see what they did with the original video just to see if I could take any inspiration to inject into our ideas.
First off, here's the video:
First off the lighting. The lighting is ambient throughout, as if they're in a home setting. It makes the setting more homely because all the couples people and dogs are all in the same setting, which makes us become accustomed to the setting and the lighting. The setting is indoors, so the lighting is coming from the ambient lights inside the room. Also, there are coloured backdrops in pink and yellow, and both colours connote happiness and love, which is what this video's main message is.
Editing: The editing is steady and staying for an almost equal amount of time on each subject listening to the song. This is to clearly show the audience the different attributes that each character has, such as a pregnant lady playing the song to her baby, a couple fooling around and pushing each other over etc. Also the editing is for the audience to connect with the people that we're seeing. Especially the couples, because everyone is in some kind of relationship, be it friends, a partner, or parents. This especially makes the couples shots more poignant as it reminds you of your loved ones and how much you love them.
Mise-en-scene:
Props: Some of the props make the audience particularly attatch emotionally to that character. For example the lady with the photo, implying that her loved one is dead, makes us particularly emotional as we can relate to her. All the couples are very loved-up and rarely hold props, just each other, possibly implying that they don't need anything else, just each other.
Costume: All participants wear vaguely normal clothes, so that a wider range of audience can relate to them. However, all particpants are dressed in their own style and in their own way which helps the audience to relate to different characters even more.
Camerawork: All shots are in a point-of-view style, because the camera doesn't move. This also helps to relate to certain characters because we don't see any other angle, so we don't see a high angle or a low angle shot, all characters are portrayed with equality. All shots are taken in the same direction, so facing the sofa showing the couples, it's only the couples that change position which helps to distinguish each subject from the next.
Overall, I absolutely adored this video! It was just such a simple concept that really helps you to attatch to each character, couple or family. It was just such a simple idea that really makes you think about keeping your loved ones close. Also the song has very sweet lyrics, which just leaves you with an overall sense of love! The colours and the people just make this video a real treat to watch. I'd like to possibly try something like this because it really makes the audience think about their family and couples etc. It's also very simple but there would be a lot of space for creative freedom. I really real enjoyed this video!
So, we've sat down together and delegated jobs for whose going to do what. This has really helped because we can get to work on what our jobs entail and how to go about them. So here's the list:
Storyboard artist: Words; Ruby and pictures; Carla.
Camera Operator: Ruby
Director: Ruby/Carla
Editor: Ruby/Carla
Sound design: Carla
Continuity: Carla/Ruby
Actors:
Main boy: Max Cunnell
Main Girl: Amber Kuti-Smith
Set locator: Ruby/Carla
Props: Ruby
Costume: Carla
Special effects (stop motion etc): Ruby
Make-up: Carla.
Here's a little picture to keep you entertained after all that writing:
So to continue the research I've done a powerpoint presentation on music video director Spike Jonze. He's worked on music videos with bands such as Weezer, Beastie boys and Ludacris. I decided to study a couple of directors just to get to grips with better techniques I can use in our music video and so I can get used to different styles that different directors use in their videos.
So for my research, I've looked into several different forms of music videos, but one I haven't looked at is commonly known as a 'one shot wonder'. A one shot wonder is a music video that is conducted all in one take! This takes an immense amount of planning and needs to be absolutely perfect in the timing of the song and the actors or objects. I've taken the example of 'Sitting, waiting, wishing' by Jack Johnson. This is done all in one take, however it is all reversed. So the singing is forwards but all actions that take place are reversed, such as playing basketball is reversed etc.
It was very entertaining to watch and very interesting to work out how the director conducted each little section to slot them all together in one take. So I'm going to anayse some bits of the video. First of all, here's the video:
So to start the analysis of this song, analysis of the narrative, concept and performance elements.
I think that this video is concept/performance. Mainly because he performs his song the entire time, even though it's reversed. Also I think that it's concept because there is no narrative or plot so to speak and the effect of the one shot wonder and all of the things happening around the main performer make it entertaining and interesting to watch rather than to relate to, as characters in a narrative would. I think the use of this element, of things exploding and all the other events that happen around the main performer, drew me in because it left me wondering how the director and the performers had orchestrated each little bit to fit exactly in time with the song. Also it was very interesting to watch, because of the element of the reversal of the shot, fitting into the concept bracket. It made you think about the order that things had been placed in and how long it must have taken to get all the reversal bits looking correct! My particular favourite reversal bit was the part where the spaghetti fell on the main performers head, but it seems to fall upwards!
Next the lighting. The lighting seems to switch quite frequently in this video, going from one moment to being very very light white background and lighting to a pitch black section, with only a small fire to illuminate the main performers face.
This change in lighting makes the audience question which mood the perormers are in. Also the ambiguous acting style and the unconnected props make this video an altogether confusing one. However the lighting is mostly always very bright white, connoting innocence or purity. It is also to make sure that the audience can always see what is happening in the reversal of the shot. Using the fire to illuminate the shot in the pitch black scene is a very clever use of lighting because it shows two possible stark contrasts in emotions and is also very entertaining for the audience to watch, as it makes them question the difficulty in switching the lighting settings in a video shot all in one take.
The editing. There was none! Simple is as simple does.
Mise-en-scene:
Props. There were some spectacular props used in this video. For example the picture of a tree that was made of lots of little pictures was mostly always in the background of the shot which makes the audience question its presence. Also, another mostly constant prop was that of Jack Johnson's guitar. He was pretty much always playing it throughout the song, even when getting splattered with spag bol! This makes the audience connect with Jack's guitar playing, and associate him with a guitar. It could also be seen as him never parting from his guitar, as if it's his most prized possession.
Location: The location of this video is all in one room, making the audience even more interested in how the director and actors managed to orchestrate all of the elements of things together. Also, by it being set in one room, we become accustomed to that room and we don't have to keep switching what we relate to with each change of location.
Costume: All actors where the same throughout. This could be to connote stability and comfort in nufamiliar surroundings. Also the clothes are seen as 'normal', probably an outfit that anyone could wear, so universally acceptable with any generation.
Lastly, the music. The song is vaguely slow but has a steady beat throughout. Also its very catchy and the audience clearly recognises when Jack is lip-synching the chorus riff. This makes us associate ourselves with the song because we are becoming involved in the structure of the song by recognising the choruses.
Overall, I thought this video was spectacular! The effect of having the whole video in reverse put a fantastic spin on the video that made it visually exciting and inspiring to watch. I would really like to try and make our video a one shot wonder because I think it demonstrates a huge amount of planning skills, and proves very difficult when coming to directing. It would prove such a good challenge for both me and Carla, we would both enjoy making a one shot wonder extremely!
Our planning phase has started and this is the first and foremost post on our ideas so far. We've made an interactive mind-map that details songs and artists we like, music videos we like and our basic ideas etc. I had to screen shot the mind map because when I put the entire photo on the blog, you couldn't see the writing because it was too small!! So I've screen-shotted the boxes to make it clearer to see :)
So we started off with a box saying 'songs and artists we like'. So we can take inspiration from them etc.
Then we did a box detailing what music videos we like, so we could take inspiration etc.
Then we did a bubble showing our basic, basic ideas. These are just ideas we had for technology we could use such as Green screen, stop motion etc or just ideas we could have such as 'lots of people' etc.
We then proceeded to do a bubble that showed the pros and cons of narrative videos, concept videos and performance videos.
So the first one we did was narrative videos. Here are the pros:
And the cons:
And then pros and cons for:
Pros for Concept videos:
And the cons:
And lastly, pros and cons for:
Here's the pros:
And the cons:
TAAA DAAAA!!!
So from this mind map we managed to sort out our vague ideas. They're not set in stone but we've decided to do a cross between narrative and concept just because it corresponds with our idea and we found a performance video too boring and found that audiences may not like this video as much. We also decided to scrap the 'lots of people' and 'stop motion' basic ideas because we felt that both of these would be extremely hard to incorporate into an outdoor video which is what we want. We also found the idea of lots of actors very scary and decided to stick with characters that audiences can possibly identify with and relate to.
So for a point of reference in our research, we've been given a brief outline of 'Goodwin's six'. Goodwins six is a set of 'laws' pioneered by Andrew Goodwin and applying to music videos. So here are his six laws, and how they make a music video what it is.
1. 'Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.' So a few examples of this a boyband/girlband like 'Boyzone' or 'Girls Aloud' are in the dance or hip-hop genre so you would expect them to perform a dance routine or have a certain urban style to their outfits. A perfect example of this is 'Sound of the Underground' by Girls Aloud. In this the girls wear urban, 'dance-y' outfits that young people can idenify with wearing. Also, they perform a dance routine throughout the entire song, reflecting their genre in the music video.
2. 'There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals'. So this is to reflect that a music video is not a seemingly meaningless promotional tool, in some instances it can be used to portray moral or a message though the visual perception in the music video. However, a link is often put between the lyrics and the actual images we are watching. For example Go:Audio's song 'made up stories' has a clear link between lyrics and visuals. The song is about a man witnessing his girlfriend kiss another man that progresses into something else before his eyes. This actually happens in the video and so we can identify with the singer/band more because we are being told the narrative from two angles; lyrics and visuals.
3. 'There is a relationship between music and visuals'. This can refer to shots being cut in time to the beat. So in Calvin Harrises video 'ready for the weekend' there are different shots in time to the music of the song. This often makes the audience member more involved in the song and more willing to dance or sing along. It is usually expected in dance, hip-hop or urban music videos, as this genre has the most upbeat music involved in it.
4. 'The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artists and the artists may develop motifs which recur across their work.' A perfect example of this is a song called 'Jump' by a very famous rock can called Van Halen. It is a performance video and features lots and lots of close-ups of the main vocalist, David Lee Roth. This was to promote him as a singer but also to promote the band. Lots of close ups also focus on the main guitarist Eddie Van Halen, as he is the nake sake of the band and one of the best guitarists in the rock industry.
5. 'There is frequently reference to the notion of 'looking' (screens within screens, telescopes etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.' In Lady Gaga's video 'telephone', she wears little or no clothes during the entire duration of the video. This displays voyeuristic tendencies and also doesn;t set a good example for young adults! A recurring motif that Lady Gaga uses is the use of strange costumes, for example she has glasses with smoking cigarettes on them. In her videos 'Paparazzi' and 'Born this way' she also wears bizarre clothing, displaying a recurring theme that audiences can relate to.
6. 'There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes etc).' In Madonna's 'Material girl' she copies Marilyn Monroe's 'Diamonds are a girls best friend' by wearing the same clothes, having men giver her presents and having dancing waiters, all alike to Monroe's video. This gives something for the audience to relate to, as they can recognise that it was taken from Marilyn Monroes video. It also links the artist to another famous artist, displaying more than just an intertextual film reference.
I'm now looking into some landmark videos and memorable directors, so I can look at those videos and the directors and perhaps get some ideas of what certain audiences like in music videos and therefore can apply these ideas to my own music video!!
When I was looking around for memorable music videos these are a few that came up on numerous occasions so I researched further into those videos....
Johnny Cash - Hurt - 2002
This music video was one that came up a lot of times throughout my research, and having never heard the song or seen the video I decided to take a look - the outcome was a wonderfully directed video, performance and concept based, although arguably a sense of narration as it seems to follow the highs and lows of his life. The song was one of his last recordings before he died, and it won the best music video in the grammy's. It has archive footage of his life which makes it very personal to him, this seems to be a priviledge to the audience that we get to see such a personal side of him, the fact that it's filmed in his own home adds to this. This video definitely seems to be a memorable one, I personally think it's because of how close he let his fans and audience into his life and feelings via footage of his life and personal surroundings.
Thriller - Michael Jackson
The 13 minute and 42 second long video is one of the most famous video's ever, it's been voted most influential pop music video of all time which is alot within itself! It's also been in the guinness world book of records. It's popular for so many reasons, the length of course, and the promotion and special screenings, and also the advanced technology and make-up made it a huge hit. It's still talked about lots today showing how influential it really was!
Video killed the radio star - The Buggles
Although I've already looked into this video I felt it needed to be mentioned in landmark videos - of course it was the first music video to be shown on MTV and this alone is a fantastic achievement that marked the beginning of a new music video era, however the video and lyrics itself make it all the more important as it's talking about how music videos will make people forget about radio stars! Definitely the beginning of something new and big for music videos. Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim This video is arguably not one of the most famous or well known but I think it's a really interesting idea for a music video and needed to be mentioned as after it came out many other dance related music videos began appearing on the scene. It was recorded in 2000 and was directed by Spike Jonze who is a director I will be looking into in my next research post as his name has come up numerous times. It won 6 MTV awards in 2001 which is a fantastic amount for a music video. I think one of the reasons it's so well known is due to the fact that the well known actor Christopher Walken is the only person in the entire video, and he's doing something that he's not well known for which will obviously make people talk about the video. Another thing I think is interesting is that it doesn't follow many of Goodwin's theories, there are no shots of the band whatsoever therefore people may not relate the song to them firstly as they will think of Christopher first. I think these are just a very small number of music videos that had inspiration on the music video world, some began trends and styles whereas others were just extremely memorable but all were interesting to research anyway!
To gain more information about the history of music videos, when they began and how they've progressed we looked them a bit more, I found some really interesting information that I can add into my planning of my own music video, I've researched some memorable moments in music video history and put them in timeline form, click on the link and it will take you straight there! Music video history!
Hello again! So this time I'm going to be giving a brief outline of the history of music videos. So, enjoy!
So, a music video is a short film that accompanies a complete piece of music. Music videos were first established to promote the sales of the record it was played along with. Music videos can often be called just simply 'promos' as they are used mainly as a promotional tool in the industry.
Here is a timeline I've made on an interactive timeline site called timetoast. It details some of the main events that happened in the music video industry.
Although I've looked into this slightly in my last post, I thought it would be a good idea to really delve into what makes a music video, and so one way I've gone about this is to research 'Goodwin's seven' in more depth;
Andrew Goodwin believes that music videos stereotypically have seven characteristics..
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics; So the music video would show certain traits or stereotypes of the genre, for example rock music often has large performances of the band, whereas acoustic music video's usually follow a narration or a concept. This music video's a good example, Jason Mraz is famous for his acoustic music, and the music video fits in well with this genre - being slow paced and not too much action going on.
2. Relationships between lyrics and visuals; Goodwin noticed that often there was a direct connection between the lyrics and what was going on in the music, perhaps like a narration. This happens in numerous videos, it doesn't always happen all the way through but sometimes only just for a few particular lines. 3. Relationships between music and visuals; In some music videos theres an obvious connection between the beats of the music and whats going on in the video. One of the most famous examples of this would be 'Around the world' - Daft Punk
4. demands of record label; The record label will not only want to sell the record but also get the band known, so they often make the demand that there must be ample shots of the lead singer and band, most often female lead singers will have many close up shots due to demands from their label. 5. Developing motifs or iconography; Goodwin noticed that through the use of music video's, artists would develop a certain trait or style that would then reoccur through many of their video's. For example a lot of stereotypical boybands often have dance breaks or lifting up their shirts to reveal their bodies. 6. Looking; Often in music videos you will notice that the lead singer or band looks directly into the camera, therefore making the audience feel like they are singing directly to them and concluding in the audience relating to the song and artist. 7. Intertextual references; In the song or video there can be references to other types of media, or lines that the audience will recognize from a film or perhaps even a different song, this often becomes memorable to the listener or watcher and so makes them think about the song and listen to it over and over. It was really interesting to look into these theories, and now when I watch music videos I can relate each of his theories to the video, of course this isn't exactly what makes a music video and everyone will have a different view of exactly what makes a music video but I feel this research will benefit me when I come to creating my own music video!
So, to start off the research properly, I've begun to think about and find out what kind of music videos are the landmark videos, the landmark artists and what makes a music video a music video?
So first of all, I've looked into a few of the landmark videos and artists. To start off with, we have 'Video killed the radio star' by The Buggles which was a landmark video due to the fact that it was the first music video shown on MTV, one of the most famous music video channels in the world! This song is incredibly famous and a fantastic karaoke song! I won't talk about it too much, as Carla has already done a huge post on this video, so if you would like to see more research on this music video, refer to Carla's previous post.
Secondly, a band called OK:GO! have completely changed the ideals of a music video. One of their most famous videos is the video of them all on treadmills doing a dance routine. It completely challenged the ideals of traditional music videos in that it was a dance video but not performed by scantily clad women, by bald middle aged men. Also, it isn't a narrative video as there is no story being told throughout it and I would say if anything, it is a concept music video, as it is interpretive and the audiences may not have understood it at first, even though its just a dance routine!
Here's the video so you can laugh yourselves silly at it!
Every single video that this band does is slightly obscure. For instance in their video, 'this too shall pass', there is a huge 'marble run' but with different objects. So it starts off with a car knocking over some dominoes, which then continues and knocks things over for the duration of the video and then splats the band with paint at the end of the song. It is an incredible video because it is just amazing to watch and very entertaining for the audience. Here's a still from this video at the very end, where the four band members get splattered with paint.
Ok:Go! Have also done videos involving dogs and with them dressed as marching bands etc. In an interview with a playstation magazine, they said that their videos were 'just cool ideas that pop up every now and again'. This inspired me because I would really like to do something like this as my music video because it shows that the video has taken lots of time and effort but also that it is very entertaining to watch!
Another landmark music video and also artist is the video 'Smells like teen spirit' by Nirvana. As the 80's progressed, everyone in music videos became inspired from the success of 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson. Nirvana decided to deliberately make a video that challenged the trend of music videos at the time. Nirvana is also famous as becoming one of he world's first grunge bands to make it big. As they were attempting to challenge the stereotype, they deliberately hired a director that had never directed a music video before so that he would have inexperience. His name was Samuel Bayer and he went along with whatever the band said. They said they wanted to incorporate a 'grungey' atmosphere 'almost like one of our gigs.' This video is set in a school hall where the students begin to go crazy because of the music, implying that grunge music was empowering young people of the time. A mosh pit starts and scantily clad cheerleaders are covorting about, also implicating that it is in a gig type setting.
This is definitely a performance video, as it is universally known that the lyrics of this sng make absolutely no sense, so it couldn't be a narrative or concept video. The focal point is on the band but we also see a lot of shots of the crowd and how excited they are getting to show the exciting music and empowered young people. Nirvana used this type of music video particularly to challenge the stereotypes of music videos in the 80's and challenging the lavish production techniques that were used in videos such as 'Thriller'.
Here's the video!
Lastly, another landmark video that sparked off an age of music videos, is that of 'hurt' by Johnny Cash. It was a landmark music video in creating serious music videos that displayed a moral or a message. This video was about Johnny Cash's life and sifting through all of his past and how much he's had to go through and showing that he was still standing. This video was particularly poignant for two reasons, the first being that the director, Mark Romanek, intercutted bits of footage that showed Johnny throughout his life along with the footage that they were shooting at the present day. This from an audience point-of-view makes it very heart-wrenching to watch because it is showing a mans life in one short video and showing all of the pain that he had to go through, e.g. the shot of him in prison.
The second reason that this music video is particularly famous is that Johnny Cash never got to see the success of this video, because he passed away seven months after this video was released in 2003. He was on his way to having a new lease of life in the music industry as '90's kids' were re-discovering his music and his life story as well as all of the old fans anticipating his new music. He died at the age of 71. For that reason this video became significantly significant because it made new fans become attracted to his music and old fans mourn the loss of Johnny cash, and could use this video to look back on his life and view images and moments of his life that they hadn't otherwise had known.
This set off the landmark 'serious' music videos that displayed a clear moral, and therefore was one of the pioneers of a new type of music videos.
