INTRODUCTION
What is a music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos date back much further, they came into prominence in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip". Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action. Many music videos interpret images and scenes from the song's lyrics, while others take a more thematic approach. Other music videos may be without a set concept, being merely a filmed version of the song's live performance.
HISTORY OF MUSIC VIDEOS
TYPES OF MUSIC VIDEOS
PERFORMANCE VIDEOS
Performance based music videos feature a solo artist or a band performing to the camera. This category includes the recording of live performance, with the aim of demonstrating an artistic talent that is not captured in the recording, such as capturing the energy and enthusiasm of live fans.
NARRATIVE MUSIC VIDEOS
Narrative music videos are music videos with a story; they have a beginning, middle and end. This allows directors to tell the stories they want, how they want and even in the genres they want. You can tell a story from start to finish like Drake’s Hold On, We’re Going Home, show parts of what seems like a bigger story like The 1975’s Robbers or even an alternative narrative like our very own Remedy by The New Citizen Kane where the audience makes up their own mind on the story. This is where the film maker can really shine because they can tell a story in the genre and cinematography of their choosing, sometimes without adhering to the rules of storytelling.
Songs for the most part are already stories, even if the song doesn’t have lyrics, they all tell stories
CONCEPTUAL VIDEOS
It is an artistic expression. There’s an idea behind it or theme that drives the visuals like Childish Gambino’s Sweatpants. Now these can be quite fun because where narrative videos can have less rules; concept videos have none. It’s a limitless playground where anything is possible. CGI? Sure. Stop motion fun? Of course. A series of shots depicting different people’s expressions? Absolutely! Interpreting a song and then bringing it to life in a way that only you (or the director) could like the hauntingly spectacular Feathers Falling by Amani.
Now I’m not saying every type of video has a place, but most do. You wouldn’t imagine One Direction having an artistic concept video, this is an approach more akin to non-mainstream or non-pop music. Due to concept music videos not necessarily telling a story (at least via conventional methods), it’s important that the video captures the feel and tone of the song and this approach doesn’t marry well with pop music and their audiences unless it’s a cross-genre.
LYRIC VIDEOS
A lyric video is a music video where the lyrics appear on screen. The first level of innovation came by making the font and visuals match the song – sweet font and vibrant colours for a bubble gum pop song, edgy font and more hard-core imagery for heavy metal. The next level of innovation was the style of animation for the visuals and text – slow and sexy or fast and impactful. Those are the basics and can be seen in Jodie Abacus’ video I’ll Be That Friend. Notice the vibrant images matching the tone of the song and the font design? It feels right. But lyric videos don’t stop there, it can even be fused with other video types to create something cool and new. Take Ariana Grande’s Everyday which fuses lyric and performance videos or one of my personal favourites Suit & Tie from Justin Timberlake ft. Jay Z which combines lyric, narrative, concept AND animation! Now how cool is that?
ANIMATED VIDEOS
The term “animation” is an umbrella term. We sometimes get artists saying they’d like an animated music video, that could mean anything between cell animation like old fashioned cartoons, CG like Monsters Inc, stop motion like Wallace and Gromit, filming against Green Screen then placing them into another environment and many other variations. They all require different skill sets and disciplines, each very respectable. Animation is basically giving movement to something. In the context of music videos animation can be applied to all types; it can be a narrative stop motion video, a performance video against green screen or a 3D CG concept video full of fun and weird shapes.
Animation is by definition – versatile. Animation should only be used when it’s right, it should feel right and not used as a gimmick. I’m a huge fan of stop motion and the amount of skill, talent and discipline that goes into it and history has some fantastic examples .
STYLES OF MUSIC VIDEOS
IN-CONCERT
Bands will use in-concert footage to fill the space in videos with little narrative or to try and promote a tour or show. Doing this allows the viewer to experience a show and see how the band or artist can perform. It is a good way to blend your platforms and get content shown. It can also show that a band is successful if their music video has them playing a song to a sold out stadium. Some bands use in-concert footage to advertise a tour, or to show how popular a song is because if 50,000 people are singing the lyrics in the video the viewer feels like the song is good and successful. it can be a very powerful and persuasive technique. It could be used in a non narrativevideo to be good to show the artist live, or a narrative video to show progression to fame and having a sell out show. Some other bands use In-Concert Footage for the whole video. The band will perform the song to a live audience, with clips of the band, the venue and the audience. However, the audio from that recording will not be used, as the music video needs to be good sound and the album version of the song will be overlaid onto the video.
ANIMATION
Bands will use animation in their music videos to add a sense of Hollywood into their production. It will be visually appealing if there are exciting special effects or it could add depth to the narrative of the video. Using special effects mean that videos can be more complex and interesting, leading to more people watching if they find the video good to watch. Some bands whole videos could rely on animation for the whole video because a normal camera and normal actors cannot contain their imagination and ideas. They might want to make something in which cameras cannot create, so they will have animated characters. Some artists have used animation for the whole length of some of their music videos. The whole of “Do I Wanna Know” by Arctic Monkeys is animated. The video consists of a line which moves around to create shapes and images and move to the beat of the song. This is effective as it is interesting to watch and expertly executed. It is different to normal music videos which could cause people to want to watch it more. A band called Gorrilaz have characters as animated gorillas, and all their music videos are always of the gorillas either playing music or a narrative based around them. It is very interesting to watch and the music and videos are good. They caused controversy because their fans didn’t even know who the artists were and everyone thought they were a cartoon band. This was an interesting concept to people and therefore they would have been drawn to watching their videos and listening to their music.
REFERENCE/HOMAGE
A reference/homage is when an artist honors another video, film, pop culture reference or any type of media text by reconstructing foundations of the video but not stealing it completely. They will copy certain elements of a video without mimicking the original text. It is a great way to connect with your audience because if they know the original text, then they will feel in the loop and enjoy the video even more. It could also be humorous and an interesting video to watch if they are re-creating a classic video. For example, a band called Alien Ant Farm reproduced a cover to Michael Jacksons - Smooth Criminal. In this video they honour his previous songs by reconstructing sections such as the lit up tiles, his dance moves and the moonwalk. Another example is The Wanted “Walks Like Rihanna”. In this particular video, they parody a variety of famous and iconic boy band music videos. They do this to try and create a bond with the people who have seen the original iconic videos, and maybe to respect their idols as they are a boy band and must have used classic examples as inspiration for their carers. This video recognises the old bands and plays a tribute toward their work.
NARRATIVE
Music videos can have a narrative element to tell a story, or be a visual aid to the story of the song. Some artists want to tell a story in their music videos, such as Michael Jackson and his song ‘Thriller’, in which the video is a short zombie film with a beginning, middle and end. The song features in the video but the video gives the song meaning and a lot of people enjoy having stories. This was the first time that a music video was more like a short film. It was revolutionary at the time of coming out and changed the way music videos are received and presented. It opened a new door for narrative music videos and their potential for making more money and utilising the success of a song.
INFLUENCE OF COMMERCIALS
The influence of commercials on the success of music videos is huge. For a music video to be successful it needs to be viewed a lot and discussed in the public. It needs to raise awareness of the song and the advertising of that video means that it will be seen more if it is advertised well. If the advertising campaign for a video is good, it will spark interest and get the audience excited for the final product. It will influence a good image of the song and the artist, leading to more people watching and potentially buying the song which increases the artists income. Advertising for music videos have been used in the past for bands like One Direction, whether the advertising was on TV or social media. A lot of bands use social media in the build up to a release of a song, and create worldwide ‘hashtags’ which sparks a debate and creates free advertising. They will also post about the song or release short teaser trailers of the upcoming music video
PARODY
A parody is a re created music video, with an element of humor or fun being poked at the original artist. Weird Al Yankovic creates many parodies of popular songs such as Michael Jackson “Bad” and Lorde “Royals”. He does it for comic effect and executes the production well and very similar to the original video, creating a parody of the song. Parodies can be good ways to get material noticed on websites like YouTube because if someone searches a song, then the parody will come up along with the song. Also people might be interested in viewing parodies because it is interesting if they enjoy the artists original work.
IMPRESSIONIST /SURREALIST
Some directors attempt to create a surreal video to appeal to the audience’s senses and leave a long lasting impression of the music video. By doing this it creates interest for the video and therefore profit. It can also enhance or support the personality of the artist, as if it is a crazy video it would reflect on the artists crazy persona. An example of a surreal music video is Coldplay’s ‘The Scientist’. The whole video is presented backwards, even though the story appears to be told chronologically, and the lead singer Chris Martin lip syncs the song even though it is in reverse. He had to learn to mouth the words backwards in order to achieve the desired effect. This video is surreal because the story appears to be told chronologically, but it is in reverse. It leaves a lasting impression of the video and shows Coldplay as a creative and interesting band. Impressionist music videos try and represent true life through scenes. They try to seem realistic, but with a twist. It can be very effective and look good if done well. It is a technique used by bands who put a lot of effort into their work. A famous example is Daft Punk’s music video for ‘Da Funk’. It shows a normal day in the life of an urban person in New York, but the character is a dog dressed in human clothes, rather than a human. This is a still from Daft Punk ‘Da Funk’. A dog dressed in human clothes is impressionist and odd to the senses. It makes the video memorable and adds interest to the song and the band. Chris Martin in Coldplay’s ‘The Scientist’ video. This is the start of the video but the end of the story. This concept makes the video surreal.
PASTICHE
A pastiche is when the music video imitates the style of the work of one or more other artists. Pastiche is different from parody because it celebrates, rather than ridicules, the work it emulates. This is a good way of a band honoring their musical inspirations and showing it to their audiences. It is a respectful way of creating references to other pieces of work and having fun with the idea. "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen is uncommon, because there are numerous dissimilar styles imitated in the song, all mixed together to make one piece of music. It shows how they respect other types of music and want to add them in their own songs and styles of work.
CODES AND CONVENTIONS
WHAT ARE CODES AND CONVENTIONS?
The codes and conventions of music videos are the different techniques used to construct meaning in them. These techniques can be divided into two types; technical and symbolic.
Technical Techniques: how meaning is conveyed using technical equipment e.g the way the way camera angles are used, different types of shots, sound either diegetic and non-diegetic sound, the pace and style of editing, and the genre.
Symbolic Techniques: ways of showing meanings beyond what you can see for example through, facial expressions, gestures, poses and mis en scene.
The conventions of a music video vary depending on genre of music. However, the general conventions include; The Style, The Camera, The Editing Techniques,The Sound (non diegetic and diegetic), Mis en Scene – props, lighting, costume – hair and makeup, location/setting, and colours. Notions of looking - stereotyping.
LYRIC INTERPRETATION
When creating a music video, one of the conventions you will think about is lyric interpretation. When a director listens to a song, they will creates video based around what their interpretation of the lyrics are. Our own interpretation may then be based around the visuals produced as well as our own opinion of the lyrics.
EXTENDING SONGS' MEANING
A song’s meaning can be extended which means that the action and images featured in the music video are being used to the promote the meaningof the song. This leaves the song open to other interpretations.
CONSOLIDATING SONGS' MEANING
Rather than extending a song’s meaning, you can consolidate it so that, rather than opening the meaning of a song, you are using images joined with the sound and music which has an emphatic effect on the message that the music video is promoting.
ALLUSION
Allusion is when a reference to a person, existing text, place or event ismade within a music video. It could be fairly obvious or totally discreet but either way, many music videos feature conventions such as this.
LINKS TO OTHER ARTISTS
In a different way to allusion, music videos may also make reference toot her artists. This means that the video could be either paying homage to that artists style or parodying their style (or previous videos).
MUSIC VIDEO THEORISTS
ANDREW GOODWIN
Andrew Goodwin identified 5 main aspects of a music video, which the audience should look out for, the 5 key aspects are: Thought Beats (seeing the sound), Narrative and Performance,The Star Images, Technical Aspects of the Music Video, Relation of visuals to song
There are 3 steps to identify when looking for thought beats. Firstly, look at the structure of the song, gain knowledge of the music itself, for example the chorus and verses. Secondly, listen to the voice of the song. The artist of the song has their own unique voice. This can provide an identification that works well with the stars image.
ROLAND BARTHES
Roland Barthes said that texts may be open or closed. He narrowed down the action of text into five different codes, which are included into any narrative, this includes music narrative videos. The five codes are: The Hermeneutic Code (HER) The Enigma/Proairetic Code (ACT), The Symbolic Code (SYM), The Culture Code (REF), The Semantic Code (SEM)
The voice of truth HER, is the way the story avoids telling the truth or letting slip the facts. This is to drop clued in through out the video to help create a mystery. This makes music videos very interesting.
The empirical voice is to give the audience a cliff hanger. It builds up tension and leave the audience guessing what happens next.
The voice of the person. This points out to any section in the lyrics that suggests a particular meaning by a connotation which the story suggests.
The voice of symbols. It is fairly similar to the Semantic Code, however it acts at a wider level, as is organises semantic meaning into a broader and deeper set of meaning. This is often done in the use of contrast, where new meanings arises out of the opposing and conflict ideas.
The voice of science. It looks at the audiences wider cultural knowledge, morality and ideology. This relates to the audience and makes the video more interesting and realistic.
VLADIMIR PROPP
Propp suggested that every narrative has 8 different character types. They are called the ‘spheres of action’. A Villain, which fights the hero in someway, The dispatcher, who makes the villain known and sends the hero away, The magical helper, who helps the hero upon his quests, The princess, who the hero adores, The father of the princess, who gives tasks to the hero, however propp says that the father and the princess cannot be clearly identified. The hero – reacts to the donor, False hero who takes credit for the hero's actions, and tries to have the princess for himself.
DIFFERENT GENRES
A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
Music can be divided into different genres in many different ways, such as into popular music and art music, or religious music and secular music. The artistic nature of music means that these classifications are often subjective and controversial, and some genres may overlap.
METAL
Within the genre metal we see many close up shots of the artist/band looking into the camera as if they are tying to intimidate the audience. This combines well with the harsh sounding music that the metal genre produces, as well as this we also see many shots of the band playing their musical instruments. Due to the music being very fast, this allows the editing to be fast so that the music video flows. An example of a metal genre music video is Paranoid by Black Sabbath.
INDIE
In the music genre indie, we commonly see slow paced editing due to the fact that the majority of indie songs are slower paced than a lot of others. We also see many close up shots of the artist singing and the performers doing this that relate to the lyrics so that the audience can feel more relatable to the music video. In Indie music videos we may also see a performer look as if they are struggling in life, this is seen through the close up shots. The lighting is often low key as it sets the mood for the songs and they are often set in common places, for example, restaurants, pubs, car parks, town centers. Many of them are often narrative based as well due to the fact that you can clearly hear the lyrics which allows the audience to relate to the song.
HIP HOP
In this music genre we tend to see many low angle shots of the performer as they want to be seen as the most 'powerful' figure and stand out from everyone else in the video. We also often see many conventions of wealth and an aspect of intimidation as there is sometimes a group of men in the video with fancy watches and stacks of money stacked up. Throughout this genre of music video we often hear that the lyrics are in relation to the visuals and there is often a bit of a narrative behind it, similar to the indie music genre. We also often see use of drugs, alcohol and women in explicit items of clothing throughout this genre as these are usually what the songs are written about and therefore the artist needs to include these aspects so that the audience can relate to the video.
POP
The pop genre is one of the most popular genres in the world. In almost every pop music video we can see bright clothing, high key lighting, performers all smiling, lyrics based on everyday situations e.g. love or partying, played everyday on radios (UK Radios), usually contain dances and follow verse-chorus-verse structure. Pop contains all these features so that the music video feels more up beat like the actual song itself which makes the audience feel more energetic and relatable towards the song. The performers (women) now all wear heavy loads of makeup and revealing clothes and many people watch the music videos because of this as they may be an inspiration to a younger child. An example of a pop music video would be Work by Rihanna.
R&B
This type of music video originally came from the African - American community in the 1940s. The lyrics are often created based upon the writers current feelings and thoughts as a shout for help or an escape to freedom. Due to the fact that there are many genres R&B can fit into multiple due to the fact that it does not have set conventions, it is a highly flexible genre
GENRE THEORY
The genre theory bases it self on codes and conventions of the type of genre you choose, this means everything that should be included in that certain genre i.e. an R&B music video would be shot in an urban area or club, themes and setting etc.
The codes and conventions are the same every time for the same genre, the only thing that’s different is the style in which the director directs the music video, such as techniques, camera work styles etc. The genre theorist Professor Steve Neale is an analytic philosopher and specialist in the philosophy of language who have written extensively about meaning, information, interpretation and communication he declares that ‘’Genres are instances of repetition and difference’’ he states that difference is good as more repetition would be boring and would attract an audience.
Genre refers to the type of music and music video, each genre has it’s own characteristics, techniques, setting, themes etc. Which can be identified and recognised by an audience as that specific genre.
Theorists
• Knight argues that ‘’making sense of texts in genres is an active process of creating meaning.’’
• Duff is like many other theorists, he believes ‘’that genre is evolving over time and that conventions are a result of agreements between the author and reader.’’
• Sonia Livingston says that ‘’Different genres specify different contracts to be negotiated between the text and reader’’ again like Duff.
• Nicholas's Abercrombie says that ‘’Media producers should stick to using the typical conventions in a music video or film, as audiences are guaranteed to like them and identify with them easily.’’
• Andrew Goodwin says that – ‘’Music videos are often constructed by the link between the visuals and the song plus the artist. Relationships are built between these in the video, and the close-ups of the artists gives them the representation and publicity they require. Voyeurism is used to increase the video’s attractiveness, particularly to males, whilst inter sexuality is often employed in humorous videos.’’
FINALISING THE GENRE FOR OUR OWN VIDEO
After doing some extensive research and spending hours on the internet watching music videos of every genre, I sat down with my teammates to discuss what we were going to do. Long discussions and debates later we finally decided that we would choose the genre Indie/Pop as we ourselves resonated with that genre and felt like we could create a product worthy of a good outcome if we went for that genre.
CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF INDIE POP MUSIC VIDEOS
In order to understand fully the codes and conventions of Indie Pop music videos i decided to make a presentation on Prezi.com
DEMOGRAPHICS AND PSYCHOGRAPHICS
1. AGE
The Indie Pop genre is generally targeted at audience members of the age 16-22. The reason it is becoming popular is due to the record labels releasing snippets of information about up coming artists and new songs to entice the audience to watch their music. Therefore the use of social networks is increasing their popularity and spreading the word to a wider audience. Through the medium of YouTube and Facebook.
2. GENDER
There isn't a specific gender that Indie Pop strives to capture. However it's stylistic origins stemmed from Indie Rock and 1960's girl-group pop. Therefore the audience gender varies between men and women.
3. SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHIC
This genre is mostly aimed at 15-21 year old that attend Higher Education or University. This is because they connect with the Indie genre due to being a very independent age. Furthermore, the Indie Pop genre is all about the "independent freedom" which men and women of this age strive to achieve. I believe they would fit into the D social grade due to most of this audience being teenagers and young adults. Therefore they may have part-time or full time jobs that don't exceed their future expectations.
4. OCCUPATION
The occupations for this audience would be parties, hanging out with their friends, not following a crowd, and doing their own thing independently. All of course, because that is what they believe in. I imagine they also would stay to themselves quite a lot and have lots of time to think and do school work as the age range is Higher Education or University.
5. STYLE
The Indie Pop is a genre of alternate rock, and originated from the 1980's UK Indie Rock music genre. Indie Rock has a harsher and edgier sound to the music, however, Indie pop contrasts this by being more melodic and smoother. Furthermore it takes inspiration from the 1960's girl group music and power pop. Therefore this gives the Indie Pop genre more retro elements and makes usage of jingly guitars. The instruments used are mainly pianos and guitars, also the artist can normally play one of these instruments.
MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS
ROBBERS- THE1975
1. CAMERA SHOTS AND MOVEMENT
Most of the camera shots in this video appear to have been filmed using a handheld camera. The shots have an unstable, wavering quality which makes the video appear more realistic, and increases elements of tension and chaos at certain points during the video. The realistic quality that using a handheld camera added to the video allows the audience to feel more involved in the narrative, as if they are watching the events unfold from the perspective of somebody who is actually in the video. Establishing shots haven't really been used in this music video, as it focuses mainly on the story involving the two main characters- setting is not a key element of this video. Close-up shots are used throughout this music video in order to emphasize the intensity of the narrative and to show the emotions of the characters through their facial expressions.
EDITING/TRANSITIONS
The editor has used simple jump cuts to change between clips/camera shots in this music video. This emphasizes the realism of the video and doesn't distract attention from its plot. At the start of the video, the editing is fairly slow paced, reflecting the relaxed atmosphere of this part of the narrative. As the story line dramatizes, however, the editing becomes fast paced, the clips shorter and cuts more jumpy. This highlights the intense and chaotic mood that has developed within the video. The tones in this music video are quite subdued and muted, so a denaturation filter may have been added to the clips during the editing process to create this effect.
MIS EN SCENE
The colors shown in this music video are quite dull and de-saturated (mentioned above)- an effect that was most likely added during the editing process. This type of color scheme seems to be popular within music videos of the indie pop genre, so in this way the band have conformed to a stereotype of their genre. The lighting in this music video appears to be purely natural, which again emphasizes the realism of the narrative. There are some scenes in the video where the lighting creates artistic effects, for example when the two lead characters can be seen together as silhouettes. Professional lighting may have been used here in addition to natural lighting in order to create this effect. These types of artistic shots are common among music videos within the indie pop genre, and add interesting conceptual elements to narrative videos.
I think that the clothing worn by the characters in this music video could be viewed as typical of the genre. The female protagonist of the video can be seen mostly wearing outfits including plain high waisted jeans or shorts with patterned cropped tops. The clothing she wears in the music video is unusual and unique, and therefore fits the indie aspect of this genre. The male protagonist dresses predominantly in black, ripped skinny jeans with various shirts worn throughout the video. His clothing is edgy and fairly distinctive, which also fits the indie aspect of this genre.
I don't think that setting plays a key part in this music video- the storyline is so captivating and focused on that the settings of each scene appear to be a minor background detail. The establishing shot shown below appears to be the only point in the video where the setting is the main focus of a shot. It creates an air of mystery, as commotion and gunshots can be heard from inside the building, yet the audience are unable to see what is actually happening. They are left to assume what happened from the events that occur before and after this particular shot.
REPRESENTATION
In this music video, only the lead singer of the band features enough to show any real representation of character. The lead singer plays a seemingly dangerous character who appears to be quite romanticized. Throughout the video, he drinks, smokes, does drugs and plays with a gun whilst clearly intoxicated, all before robbing a supermarket and getting shot. These actions should in theory make him seem like an unappealing person, however, I think that the presence of a lover throughout the events of the video secure the artist with a desirable 'bad boy' type persona.
GENRE OF THE MUSIC AND HOW THIS IS SIGNIFIED IN THE VIDEO
As mentioned previously, the genre of the music is indie pop. I think that the low saturation and muted quality of the colors in the video are indicative of the genre of music, as this is a common feature in alternative pop videos. The main characters in the video are young adults, and as Indie Pop is quite a modern and newly popular genre of music, the age of the characters in the video reflects this. The clothing of the characters in this music video is also relevant to the genre of music as it is quite unique and unusual- words that relate to the word 'indie'.
Intertextuality
There are no clear intertextual references within this music video. This is probably due to the genre being Indie Pop- the association of mainstream media is not a common feature for an Indie Pop music video to have. However, this music video could be interpreted as a homage to Bonnie and Clyde as it depicts a boy and a girl who are madly in love committing crime together.
Audience Reception
Stuart Hall's Audience Reception Theory demonstrates three ways in which an audience might read a media text. The theory of preferred reading is when the audience reads the text the way the author intended them to. The theory of negotiated reading is when the audience reads the text the way the author intended, but also uses their personal experiences and interests to modify their interpretation. The third theory is the Opposition reading theory, where the readers' social position means that they have an opposing relation to the text. Therefore, they reject the reading.
For The 1975's 'Robbers' music video, I think that the theory of preferred reading is the most relevant as there is a clear storyline for the audience to follow, therefore, they view the video the way that the artist intended. The theory of negotiated reading could also be applied to this video as a viewer could use their own positions and experiences to interpret certain elements of the storyline.
YOU ARE A TOURIST- DEATHCAB FOR CUTIE
CAMERA MOVEMENT
This music video contains a wide variety of shots including tracking shots, areal shots, mid shots, long shots and close ups. Tracking shots seem to be a common feature of Indie Pop music videos, so it is fitting that this video contains a lot of this style of camera shot. Tracking shots have also been included in this music video to follow the artist from setting to setting, which moves the video along. Ariel shots have been used in this video to create visually pleasing and artistic clips of the dancers. This kind of shot is a popular feature of concept music videos, as it fulfils the criteria of making the viewing experience interesting for the audience. Close-ups, mid shots and long shots have been used in this music video to film the band from varying angles. This makes the video feel more enthralling as there is diversity on screen- the footage is of the same people, but the different shots distinguish the clips from one another.
Editing Transitions:
This music video was filmed in one take, using multiple cameras with no edits or re-takes. I think that it was important not to use any editing transitions within this music video as the video itself is quite chaotic and busy, so complicated editing transitions would make it seem over the top, and would minimize the fluidity of the video. Switches between cameras/shots are simple and instant, so as not to distract attention from the visuals on screen.
Mise-en-Scene:
The colors in this video are bright and bold, which contrasts with the typical muted color scheme of an indie pop music video. Lighting and projection are big features in this video, so bright colors are necessary in order to ensure that the full impact of the lighting effects is carried across on screen.
In this music video, the band are shown to be wearing plain black suits. The suits light up with dotted bulbs in alternating colors as the band appear as silhouettes in front of a large screen playing a geometric graphic sequence. The suits match the setting of the video, as the stage and drum kit are lined with blue bulbs also. I think that wearing relatively formal clothing makes the band appear more professional, while adding the lights onto the suits shows the audience that while professional, they are not dull or monotonous.
This music video appears to be set in some kind of production space. This is made clear as the video progresses and shows aspects of the set such as large digital screens, a large performance space and various props, all of which were likely created from scratch exclusively for this video.
Lighting plays a big part in this music video, and features consistently throughout the sequence. I think that it could be argued that lighting is the central focus of this video, as it makes up a large part of the mise-en-scene, including costume and setting. The lighting in this music video is quite artistic and captivating, which makes it clear that this is a concept video.
Representation
I don't think that this music video really highlights any significant representation of the band, however, I think that the mise-en-scene of the video allows the audience to make their own judgement about them. The band members are seen to be wearing all black suits, which light up with bulbs in bold colors. Wearing suits as opposed to a more casual style of clothing could show the audience that the band are professional and take their music seriously, while adding the bright flashing lights to their clothing gives the impression that they are not boring or mundane. I think that the overall concept of this music video showcases the band's creativity and their ability to come up with unique ideas.
Genre of the music and how this is signified in the video
The genre of this song is indie pop, and I think that this is reflected through the conceptual elements of the music video such as the artistic lighting and projection. The colors in this music video are mostly bold and contrasting, which varies from the expected color scheme of a video within this genre.
Intertextuality
There are no clear intertextual references within this music video. This is probably due to the genre being Indie Pop- the association of mainstream media is not a common feature for an Indie Pop music video to have.
Audience Reception
Stuart Hall's Audience Reception Theory demonstrates three ways in which an audience might read a media text. The theory of preferred reading is when the audience reads the text the way the author intended them to. The theory of negotiated reading is when the audience reads the text the way the author intended, but also uses their personal experiences and interests to modify their interpretation. The third theory is the Oppositional reading theory, where the readers' social position means that they have an opposing relation to the text. Therefore, they reject the reading.
For Death Cab for Cutie's 'You Are a Tourist' music video, I think that the theory of preferred reading is the most relevant as the video doesn't really appear to have any deeper meanings, so the audience interprets the video the way that the band intended.
ROYALS- LORDE
Camera Shots/Movements/Angles:
This music video contains a variety of shots including close ups, mid shots, long shots and tracking shots. Using this range of shots makes the video feel more realistic as it enables the audience to see more of various scenes, almost causing them to feel as if they were in the room. It contains footage filmed on both handheld cameras and using a Steadicam, however, the majority of the video has been filmed using a Steadicam/tripod. I think that this gives the video a clean cut feel and allows the audience to focus on the content of the shots, without being distracted by excessive camera movement. Clips of the singer lipsynching to the song have been included in this music video. They consist mostly of close up shots where the singer is looking directly into the camera. This allows the audience to connect more with the artist, and showing close up shots of the artist provides the opportunity for recognition from the audience. A tracking shot of a street has been used at the beginning and end of this music video. This makes the audience feel as though they are travelling to and from the setting of the video, providing closure and a narrative perspective for the viewer.
Editing Transitions:
In this music video, simple jump cuts are used to switch between clips. This emphasizes the clean cut feel that the video has, and ensures that the focus is entirely on the clips on screen rather than having elaborate transitions. Jump cuts also provide an immediate switch between clips, which in turn takes up less screen time. A slow motion effect has been added on to a few of the shots in this video. This makes them more dramatic, which I think fits the overall theme of the music video well.
Mise-en-Scene:
The color scheme in this music video is quite subdued and dull- this effect may have been created during the editing process by decreasing the saturation of the video clips. This gives the music video a bleak and desolate quality, enhancing the dramatic yet realistic feel of the narrative. The lighting in this video is muted, giving each shot an effect that works to enhance the overall theme of the music video.
This music video shows the actors and the artist dressed in simple, plain and modern clothing. This gives the impression that costume is not a large focal point in the video, as the outfits almost seem to blend into their surroundings- they are not out of the ordinary. This highlights the elements of realism shown in this music video and makes it feel more relatable to the audience. The clothing worn in this video also shows that it is set in the present day, which reflects the modern and contemporary style of music.
This music video opens with a tracking shot showing a suburban housing estate. This immediately shows the audience that the video is set in a mundane, everyday environment, which also sets the tone for the whole music video. The other settings used in the video are the various rooms in a house, a gym, a swimming pool, a bus stop and a bus. These settings make the music video and the artist feel more accessible to the audience as they are universally recognized as day-to-day places that have a presence in most people's lives.
Representation
I don't think that this music video shows any specific or particularly prominent representation of the artist. The only featuring that the artist has in this video is short clips of her lip synching to the track interspersed among the narrative clips that make up the majority of the video. This could give the impression that the artist is modest and not self-centred, as she is not the sole focus of the video. The artist is not filmed from a high or low angle, which could be interpreted as her way of showing the audience that she is on the same level as them- they are equals.
Genre of the music and how this is signified in the video
The genre of this music video is Indie Pop. I think that the low saturation and muted color scheme is indicative of this as these are fairly common features for a music video within this genre to have. The actors in the video are young adults, and as Indie Pop is quite a modern and newly popular genre of music, the age of the actors in the video reflects this. The artist is also clearly in her late teens, which backs up my aforementioned point about this genre of music. The video doesn't appear extravagant or over produced, which reflects the 'indie' (independent) aspect of the genre.
Intertextuality
There are no clear intertextual references within this music video. This is probably due to the genre being Indie Pop- the association of mainstream media is not a common feature for an Indie Pop music video to have.
Audience Reception
For Lorde's 'Royals' music video, I think that the theory of negotiated reading is the most relevant as there is a narrative for the viewer to follow, and as there is emphasis on the realism and mundane elements of this video, the audience can read the text as the author intended, while also drawing on personal experience in order to relate to the video.
QUESTIONNAIRE
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RESULTS
RESULT ANALYSIS
After carrying out this survey, everything became much more clearer to me. This played the role of audience research for me and i found out the demographic and psycho-graphic information for our video. The information that the audience delivered indicates what genre they prefer, what they expect to see, what would draw their attention to a music video. Quantitative questions such as "how often do you watch a music video" developed a statistical result which will make it easier for us to make further decisions. Furthermore, qualitative questions such as "how are teenagers portrayed in music videos" led me to know how most people think about these things.
The age group that was the most interested in filling out the survey about indie pop music videos was from 15-22 year olds which instantly defined our target audience for us. These questions did work out in our favor since we were already thinking about doing many things beforehand the survey that we got to know after the survey. Since we asked about the codes and conventions and color scheme etc, we basically got our work cut out for us since we did want to make a video that the audience could relate to.