...Just a Thought

I found this video while spending too much time on youtube and it gave me many ideas on costume, setting, voyeurism? furthermore i thought the simple setting and fast cuts clearly show of the pop video's intentions.

My main inspiration from this video was there use of costume they have smart but casual suits which is what i like plus it shows of the pop genre well.

Non-linear narrative

Non linear narrative

Non linear narratve, events that happen ouside of chronological order. Ever since music videos have been around people have been editing and changing to make them more popular and to enhance their own reputation. Most music videos have a simple idea a performance unconventional video or a narrative. A succesfull branch of linear is Non-linear narrative, this came to fame around the same time people started enjoying non-linear films. Recently several Non-linear films have come to fame for example Christopher Nolan's blockbuster 'Memento'.

The main idea of this is so that the creator can change modern and simple conventions to attract a wider target audience and a new version of their song. A video that incorparates a Non-linear narration can assist with the telling of the story by having the conclusion at the start of the video it can show the most intresting part of the song and therefor the viewers are more intrested. Furthermore by having the story chopping and changing it can isolate the themes within the song and it can also show the genre in many clear ways. Non-linear narratives tie in with Tzetvan Todorov's theory.

Narrative theories- Todorov.

Todorov's theory shows his idea that all music videos focus upon equilibrium. The main principles of his theory are Disruption, Recognition, Repair and restoration. He focused his theory on fairy tales.

Disruption of equilibrium: Something upsets the normal balance of life

Recognition of the disruption: something effects the hero.

Attempt to repair the disruption: the hero goes on his quest.

Equilibrium is restored: the hero defeats the villain and the hero life return to what it was before but not exactly the same.

There some issues with this theory the main one is that the theory is very linear and ordered. Furthermore their are some genres that will not be able to use the theory because their is no equilibrium to the music video. Also his theory can be classed as out of date and non-contempory because of how music cops and changes the linear.

Music video theory in the style of Sven E Carlsson

Binary opposites drive the narration e.g. black and white theme.  His main theory is that there are two main concepts that music videos fall into performance and conceptual. However he then splits performance into three different classifications:

Commercial exhibitionist:

This is where the video is made into a promotional video and a selling item. Also making the artist into someone the fans what to aspire to become. So therefore the artist will be the main focus and the shots where he/she is will be high quality and very clear.

Televised Bard:

A televised bard is a singing storyteller who focusing on using image on the video instead of himself as much.   A televised bard concentrates on the story more than on the video.

Electronic shaman

 For the majority of these type videos there will only be the singer’s voice and no shots of them. This will help enhance the idea of focusing on the music. This is less common with rock and indie because they need to be advertised.

Album Analysis

 1.

       The colours in this album cover are black and white which corresponds with the indie stereotype of cheap productions and concentrating on the music not the money.  Next the title is not it capitals which will further emphasise the stereotype of indie rockers not caring about anything like grammar and correct language. The main image is off a man smoking a cigarette or drugs. His facial expression makes the viewer believe it is drugs because of the dazzled and perplexed expression which is the common effect of drugs.  The smoking is a large stereotype of indie rockers because they are seen as being reckless and not caring about their quality of life.  By following the indie stereotype it will instantly remind the viewer of the genre and what kinds of songs are likely to be included in the album.  By not adding anymore tricky and fancy images or text it reiterates the normal production cost of indie music.

2.

         The colours in this video are relatively bright not the very bright colours associated with pop music videos but it resembles the rap/hip hop genre. By having their clothing around the same colour of the background it makes them fit in. The title stereo typical with the clothing colour reiterates people belief that people don’t look beyond and judge people before they have got to know them. The outfit they are wearing is very stereotypical because it is what people associate with their brand of music.   The facial expression they have are very plain and boring which can relate to their songs within the album. When people see this album they can immediately identify the genre and style of music within. The way the name of the band is on the album makes it look as if it has been written on a window covered in condensation. This carries on with the idea people don’t get to know people before they judge them.

 

3.

         The very bright and vibrant colours in this image immediately tell the audience that this is a pop music album. Also the title of the artist and the album resemble sweets and sweets are normally seen as something nice we enjoy and look forward to having.  The image is filled with Voyeurism the image suggest that she is naked and this will attract a wider audience of a variety of age and gender. Using pinkie colours will show that the album is very girly therefore attracting a specific target audience. The bright red lipstick stands out against the rest of the image and this draws the viewer’s eyes also it will make the image memorable and therefore well published.

Music videos in the theory of Firth 1988

Firth came up with three main typologies which can be defined as Performance, Narrative and conceptual.

Performance -  To convey a sense of in-concert experience. ' Performance oriented visuals cue viewers that the recording of the music is the most significant element'

Narrative - Linear stories most of the time love stories because of their popularity. 'Action in the story is dominated by males who do things and females who passively react or wait for something to happen'.

Conceptual - Metaphors to create a mood, offer multiple meanings. 

Performance:

All of these videos have performance as their video this can refer to the music being the most important and significant part of the production. Furthermore it can refer to them being a tour artist/band.  All of these videos refer directly to Firths theory of performance. 

Narrative:

These videos follow Firth theory to the letter in all of the videos the main character narrates and is included in the video while the other character waits for something to happen. Also they are mainly love stories because they are obvious, easy to show and relatable for the audience.

Conceptual: 

These conceptual  videos all have one simple plot but combine different video theorys  because  the market demands for a wider market. These videos have followed firths idea of metaphors or multiple meanings.

Textual analysis of: Rizzle kicks Chatter

 

 

 

 

In this analysis i will be analysing the music video "Rizzle Kicks Chatter" which was dircted by Toby Lockerbie in 2011. The genre of the song is Hip-hop and rap. throughout the video you can see some characteristics that show off the gernre like Mise-en-scene and camera angles.

 

 

 

Througout the video there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. By doing this it will help the viewer remeber the song and it helps portray the story or narration. On of the first refrences is "Smart like Malcolm out of Malcolm in the middle" this has an image of one of the singers wearing glasses and glasses are normally an indication of someone being smart, according to the stereotype. Next relationship is when they say "Don't let me meet you're girlfriend That'll just lead to babies like umbilical chords." there is an image of the main singer with a girl but shes slapping him.

 

 

The record company is looking to sell this product by releasing on an album and single. Throughout the video their several close-ups on both of the artists as to portay the moneymaker and make the audience aware that they are the most important people in the video and to improve their fame level. In all of their videos their are frequent refrences to them and therefore there is little change from one video to the next.

 

In this video their are a few refrenceses of Voyeurism the main one is where there is a "sexy student". They put that in to attract a wider target audience and to get a wider variety of audience e.g. men and women. 

 

In this is a small amount of intertextual refrences however the main refrence is when he says  "Smart like Malcolm out of Malcolm in the middle" this links to a completly differnt medium which is Television. they used it as an example of a smart person when the refrences an image to a lyric. By using this they can generate more fans because fans of malcom in the middle might be attracted to this song.

In conclusion this essay as several textual refrences throughout and most of them relate to Andrew Goodwins theory. By doing this they knew it has the best chance of becoming a higly succesful song and rake in alot of money. Which is what it all about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conventions of pop music videos.

 

 1.       In the majority of modern pop videos there is a variety of bright and vibrant colours. The artist uses the colours to attract the audience and portray the mood and genre of the song.  The use   of bright colours adds an atmosphere to the video.

2.     The costume used in the pop genre are all modern and most of the time fashionable. The clothing they use can affect the viewers because they see the artists as their role models and therefore copy them.  Furthermore the outfit will represent the genre and atmosphere of the song.

3. In the majority of modern pop video the representation of women is provocative and suggestive. So that they can attract a wider target audience.They use these small quick images attract a large amount of the male population. By doing this it furthers the stereotype of women in music video. By advertises themselves like this it will enhance their popularity and fame.

4.       The setting in a pop video is always good weather e.g. a foreign beach with bright sunshine.  They use good weather so it shows the mod and atmosphere of the song. Furthermore if the setting insinuates the mood the viewers will be placed into a happier state because they picked up on the mood.  

5.     Another convention of pop music videos is that they focus a lot of the shots on the lead singer. By doing this they are promoting the artist/band and the genre of music. By focusing more on the lead singer they are singling out the most famous of the group the one person that the fans will generally know the best. When a group is starting out it will focus on the lead singer so that he gets as much publicity as possible and gain worldwide appreciation.

 

Conventions of a rock music video.

1.       The first convention of a rock music video is that the majority are a live performance. Live performance tends to be just the band with an audience performing to them, or just themselves playing to the camera. By using a live performance they save money on creating a music video also it shows of their natural creativity and how they would be live. This is what rock groups tend to do, perform gigs and tours.  

2     2.   Another main aspect of conventions would be the band logo. This is sometimes shown in a music video so the audience knows whose video it is. It tends to be shown for only a few seconds in the video, but is still Identifiable by the fans of the artist/band. Also when a band are new the logo will be the only thing people remember and therefore it is key to their rise to fame.

3.       Mise-en-scene is also a key factor when it comes to the video as props, location and costume have to fit with the narrative and also the genre of the music. In the majority of rock videos the clothing is black and a very simple colour pallet. 

4.       Due to the often fast paced nature of rock music videos, editing is mainly done in the form of straight cuts in time to the rhythm. Fade INS and Fade outs are often used at the beginning and end of more creative videos but for the most part these are not used. Other styles of cuts like wipes are rarely used in the context of rock music video. They use only a few types of cuts to lower editing time and simple because they wouldn’t fit in.

5.        Another convention of rock music videos is that they focus a lot of the shots on the lead singer/guitarist. By doing this they are promoting the artist/band and the genre of music. By focusing more on the lead singer they are singling out the most famous of the group the one person that the fans will generally know the best. When a group is starting out it will focus on the lead singer so that he gets as much publicity as possible and gain worldwide appreciation. 

Conventions Of a indie music videos

1. Hand held filming.  Throughout the music video there are sequences where one of the characters is holding the camera. This extends the further conventions of a relative cheap production. 

   2.  Frequent focus on main singer. The main singer is focused upon the majority of the time so that an upcoming band gains the most publicity with the most recognisable figure in the band.

3.  Minimal cutting one simple recording. Very long slow cuts. This also informs the viewer that the production was relatively cheap. Due to the frequent hand held filming it makes the video easier for them if there are few cuts and very long shots. By having less editing to complete this make the production cheaper and can sometimes be more effective.

4. There is a common outfit for each artist the majority of the time they have skinny jeans, pumps, t shirts, vest tops, denim. Also usually have long-ish hair. The majority of the costume is set in a dark colour pallet and the set follows suit usually.

5. Simple action not fast and excessive behaviour. The pace of the songs a rarely fast and easy to perform.  By having little choreography this will save money for the perfomers and therefore make the production more profitable in the long run.