Carrol Vernalis

Carol Vernallis Analysis Chart

Audience Theorists

The David Guantlett theory relates to my music video as I am producing and making the music video, which is what his theory suggests. i am able to do this through the use of cameras, and editing software available online and on the computer desktop. My video also fulfills this theory as it may influence other music videos from A level classes, which is also suggested by Guantlett.I may also be accepted for my individuality in the music video, as I do not have to stick to the general guidelines of a music video, and still be accepted as being acceptable by everyone.

My muaic video relates to the theory by Blumler and Katz as the audience has grown in popularity of this genre of music, leading to me producing a music video of this genre (indie). The music video contains what they audience wants to see, a romantic break up, which resolves its self. This relates to the theory as the videos concept is based around what the audience wants, not the producers.

Textual analysis of a music video - Counting Stars

The video that I will be analyzing is Counting Stars by One Republic, and is directed by James Lees. The music is of the pop genre, but with strong elements of folk mixed into it. The characteristics of the video are that involves some narrative, it is not all performance based, and the lead singer, is placed as the 'star' of the group. The video is set in two locations, the floor where the band is located, and a meeting room, where the narrative takes place. There is also an element of surprise among the video as there is a alligator that appears near the beginning of the video, which is not expected. At the end of the video, a hole emerges between the meeting room and the room below where the artist is placed, allowing for some narrative to take place for the artist.

When the alligator appears, this enhances the fact that the lyrics suggest that 'anything that kills me, makes me feel alive'. This means top say that dangerous creatures, like alligators, keep people alive, as they make people constantly stay on guard for the creatures. However, the lyrics themselves, contradict each other, as anything that kills you, usually does, and not 'keeps you alive'. There is then another seen that occurs in the meeting, which is being hosted by a man, who has come up with some ideas. this emphasizes that fact that he has been 'losing sleep', coming up with ideas. therefore the video emphasizes this lyric in the video. Furthermore, there is a lyric that says 'no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars'. at this same point on the video, it shows the people in the meeting celebrate, and a woman praying, that she has done well, and will be rich. The lyrics also mention about living dreams. This is another contradiction in the video, as it shows that band in a very low quality room with cracked walls, poor electricity supplies (a single light bulb in some areas), and it overall does not look well maintained.

The visuals do relate to the music as when the the singer claps, the lights turn on, as if by magic.The video is also cuts to the beats, either after 4 beats (standard) or 8 beats in a slow motion part f the clip. The artists all star swinging their arms, when mentioning 'swinging vines', which is a link between the lyrics and the video. The biggest relationship is the water running up the wall, when the lyrics say that they 'are doing the wrong thing'. This is a clear established link which relates the music to the visuals.

The record company is looking to sell this track, by concentrating on the artist for the majority of the video. They have done this because the band is attractive, and has a strong following, so thereby anyone who likes the band will listen to the song in order to see them, and buy the song. The record label has also added advertisements to the video earning, extra revenue. They have also ensured the lyrics can be listened to by everyone, therefore not eliminating any potential sales, by including swear words, and unpopular genre of music.

The image of the band being offered is one of then dressed in casual clothing, in a run down floor of a building. This image has been chosen throughout the video as it shows that the band is just like everyone else, and is not different form the public, in terms of relating with the song, which suggests the ultimate dream of counting stars. This video is different form ones that they have done in the past, such as Secrets. The older video, is much more narrative based, and is filmed in more locations, in an attempt to reach out to more people, as they did not have as great a following as they do today. The older video (Secrets) also features the artist being involved heavily in the narrative of the video, which is far different form their Counting Stars video. There are many motifs in the video, which have been carried through from other videos, such as they feature the artist playing their song at some stage. However, the levels of narrative and the dress code that the band wear are motifs that change throughout the bands history, from suits and ties, to casual tee shirts and jeans.

Throughout the video there are no signs that any characters or the band are presented in a sexual way, or put on display in a sexual manor. The camerawork, costume and dance to not present that video in a sexual way either as the song is not about presenting people in a sexual way. There are also no shots of people looking at others, as there is nothing revealing to look at throughout the video, as it is all about dreams and ambitions, not women, acting in a sexual manor.

This video relates to many other music videos, but of a different genre. Many rap music videos, feature an environment suach as trhe one used in Countng Stars, as they are lower budget. However, Sean Kingston also uses similar settings to the ones used here as he produces some party songs such as Fire Burning

Analysis of George Michael's 'Outside' video

Analysing an Eminem music video

My Audience

Teenagers are particularly prolific users of this technology and the main consumers of music videos.

Gender: Male

Age: 17

Nationality: British

Hobbies: Listening to music, surfing the internet (especially social networking), watching tv, playing video games

Music taste: Pop/rock, indie      

Overal, our target audience would be aged 14-21, inclined towards males. This is because the band is male  with a strong sense of emotion and power in their debut single. The band may also target females as the members of the band are attractive, and displays this in the video. The core (primary) audience's nationality would be British as the band is British, and are signed to a British label. The songs are also sung in English, so secondary audiences would be english speaking countries, for example America and Canada, who would also be intrigued by the band. Furthermore, the current music in the US and Canadian charts is similar to that produced by the star, leading to increased popularity and sales for the band.

Our target audience would be avid listeners of music, ones who always look for the news music around; either from watching music channels such as MTV or finding out on the internet Youtube. The core audience would prefer genres such as pop/rock and indie as this is the type of genre that the song Pompeii would suit, and may also be fans of a few similar singles already. They would also be keen users of the internet and social networking, meaning that the label and band can directly contact them and inform them on everything they need to know, for example single release dates or tour dates.

Finally, the perfect audience member would also buy music legally, whether that be by buying a physical copy or downloading through sites like ITunes, so that the band and label can become successful and make large profits.

Audience

Audience by Harrydenn

Star Marketing

http://uk.pinterest.com/denn0802/star-marketing/

Representation and Star Image

Representation of Women

Laura Mulvey (Theroist) on Representation

Developing My Treatment

 

This is the treatment for my groups  music video. The song that we have chosen to use is Pompeii by Bastille. I incorporated the groups ideas, and put them all together form the treatment. The video will be narrative, and will symbolise relationships, by the music being played through some ear phones which the characters are listening to.

Narrative Terminology

 

 

Genre Theorists

In summary, the genre theorists suggested that the following: •John Fiske – genre as ‘convenience’ for producers and audiences •Henry Jenkins – genre constantly ‘breaks rules’ e.g. evolving hybridization •John Hartley – genre is interpreted culturally •Daniel Chandler – genre is too restricting •Steve Neale – genre as repetition and difference •David Buckingham – genre in constant process of negotiation and change •Jason Mittell – industry uses genre commercially •Barry Keith Grant - on sub genres •Rick Altman – genre offers audiences a ‘set of pleasures’

Director as Auteur

Auteur Theory

Auteur Theory - Video Maker

The creative role of the director

Task: Read the information below and add some of these quotes to your own posts. Which music video directors do you admire and why? Do you intend that their style should influence your own idea and if so how? Embed some of their videos to your post. 

John Stewart of the music production company Oil Factory, suggests that increasingly music videos reflect the desire of a director to demonstrate their power. The work of Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham are perhaps the most obvious examples of authorial voice and demonstrates the potential of the medium ability director to reach a mass audience with unusual experimental work.

I  like the CGI used in the music promo for Bjork's song, All is full of love. This makes the robots look real, and have human characteristics  which is an impressive use of CGI. I may use CGI in my video, however, I do not think that the use of robots for CGI is necessary in my music video.

I like the Lover Letters video by Chris Cunningham for the way that it is one long clip, with very few cuts throughout the video. i like this because it makes the video flow really well, and the speed at which the camera travels is also at the right speed, to match the tempo of the music. However, I do not think that I will be using this approach in my music video as I would make the video look less aesthetically pleasing if we did not cut the clips of the man walking around town.

The famous music director Jonas Akerland commented that “Music videos aren’t meant to be more than eye candy, not supposed to live long, only supposed to be lifting up the music and make the artist look good. Not supposed to be an art piece lasting for years.”

Telephone by Lady Gaga, was clearly designed by Jonas Akerland with the male gaze in mid, and sticks very closely with his idea, of being eye candy, and only making the artist look good. I do not think this idea could work in my music video as it has a very even number of males and female viewers, so by introducing things that reflect the male gaze would not be appropriate for the female viewers.

Jonathan Glazer the director for Radiohead’s ‘Street Spirit’ video (1996) said “Your images may be the thing that defines the sound… it’s a really strange 3 minute period where you have to hook the audience visually.”

Spike Jonze said in 2000 “I look at short videos as short films, I always make sure they have a beginning, middle and end”.

David Fincher who directed features such as Seven and Fight Club after his success in making music videos commented that “Video is truly abstract, you have complete carte blanche in terms of what it can show”.

Shame, by The Motels, was directed in such a fashion by David Fincher to show someone looking out to themselves throughout the video. Personally, I do not like these kind of videos, so therefore this approach will not be used in my own music video.

Therefore it is clear that the directors have very different views and approaches to making promos. Some think that the promo should have a beginning, middle and end, others think that it should be about eye candy, and others believe that you have to grab the audience visually.

Analysis of promos according to Goodwin

This is my analysis of music promos according to Goodwin. The original promo that I chose to analyse was Superheroes by The Script. I chose this song as it was similar to the one that we are going to use as music to our own music promo, and it may contain features, that I wish to implement into our own music promo.

The Different Elements of Music Videos

Forms and Conventions of Music Videos

These are the seven forms and conventions of music videos according to Goodwin:

1. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (with the visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics)
2. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals (with the visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music)
3. Particular music genres may have their own music video style and iconography (such as live stage performance for the heavy rock music genre)
4. There is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close up shots of the main artist/vocalist.
5. The artist may develop their own star iconography in and out of their videos, which overtime, becomes part of their star image.
6. There is likely to be voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women, but also in terms of systems of looking (screen within screens, binoculars, cameras etc)
7. There are likely to be inter textual references, either to other music videos or to films and TV.

The Theories Of Goodwin

Genre Of Music

Genre means classifying a text according to its content and style as well as its structure and way of production. From all various media, pop music most depends on genre. It also includes the most varied genres of texts. People always invent, cross and revisit genres, and categorisation important for the fans and producers.

Generally, most music can be divided into these categories:

• Pop
• Classical
• Dance/Techno
• R&B
• Hip-Hop/Rap
• Rock
• Metal
• Country
• Jazz
• Blues
• Reggae

Each of them contains a variety of sub-genres, as well as hybrids and mash-ups. However, each of them has specific characteristics (instruments used for melody, rhythm, lyrics and vocals), and can be connected with other things, such as fashion, hair and lifestyle. Each genre has specific ways of demonstration  including performance venues (e.g. nightclubs), radio stations, record shops, festivals and magazines.

Image is crucial for music genre, and an artist's look categorises them before they start performing. For an artist or band to truly fulfil a genre category, they must be represented visually, on records, photos and music videos.

Looks can be as generic as sound: it is hard to differentiate between many hip hop videos, all showing baggily dressed homeboys sitting on porches or outside houses in a generic 'hood, swinging their arms and grinning at the booty passing by. Or maybe driving slowly in big old open-topped cars around a generic 'hood, swinging their arms and waving at the booty they pass by. Similarly, all girl or all boy groups go for videos in a warehouse, or other similar setting, showing them dancing in formation. If the look works, wear it.

Adele, whose music is inspired by classic pop styles of the 1960s and 1970s, is often photographed wearing classic or retro clothing that connects her with her role models Aretha Franklin or Dusty Springfield and makes her seem a serious, soulful artiste in old school mode. Lady Sovereign, on the other hand, identifies with her genre of music through an outsize baseball cap, weird sunglasses and neon colours.

As well as publishing overall sales figures, the Billboard chart is divided into more than 43 different music genre categories.

• Billboard Magazine Music Chart

Genre has always been a cornerstone of music business because customers often dedicate themselves to a certain style of music (eg hiphop, R'n'B) and are not interested in buying outside of it. Go into your local HMV and look at how it is organised along genre. Although many artists resent being categorised into a particular genre in this way, there is no doubt that retailers and customers rely genre to make their choices. Online music streaming services (like Pandora or Spotify) take into account your past genre choices in order to keep playing you new music that you may be interested in buying.

Genre and Sub Genre

This is all the genres of music that are available.

 

These are all the sub genres of each genre of music.

What Music Means To Me

Rockstar by Nickleback is a song that was released in 2005 and was becoming popular during the period when I was in primary school. The song is about focusing on one dream, in this case a rockstar. At this point during school, i also had a clear focus to be a racing driver, in particular in f1, and I was determined to do anything I could to achieve this. This song was close to being number 1 on the UK chart, and was socially recognised throughout the UK and most of the world, earning the band a large revenue. I bought this song on a CD, but I listerned to it frequently on the radio, and on MTV.
Bright Lights Bigger City is a song by Cee Lo Green, and was released in 2011 and reached 13th in the Uk charts. It has a upbeat tempo, and always makes you feel calm, concentrated yet relaxed when the song has ended. This was reflected  by me at this time in secondary school, when I was in year 9. Throughout the year I worked extremely hard to over achieve in some of my subjects, while still inviting friends around to my house to play sports and watch TV. The song is about a going out to the city at the weekend and having fun. I related to this because I was always looking forward to the weekend, as i worked hard during the week. I constantly listerned to this song on the radio, and bougth the album which features this song, 'The Lady Killer'. As well as this, i watched the video online on Youtube, Vevo and MTV.
Maps by Maroon 5 is a song about using a map to find the object/desire that you want, by using a map. This song was released in 2014, and relates to me during this time, as I am deciding on which direction I am going to take my career. I am also deciding on what my primary goal is, and therefore choosing the right path on the map to reach my goal. When this song was released, I first herd it on Youtube and MTV. I then downloaded it onto my playlist from I-tunes, and reached the top 10 in the UK chart so far.