Sunday, 31 October 2010
Music Video Questionnaire
This questionnaire has been handed out to 10-15 people of all different age ranges. The results are very important as they show which genres are mostly more popular with different age groups than others. For example, the Pop and RnB sub-genre are mainly listened too by young adults and teenagers, which are mainly male and females and the Classical sub-genre are mostly listened too by adults and older adults, mainly starting from 50 years old and they are male and female.
By Romany
Completed Questionnaires
We handed out 10 questionnaires to our target audience to make sure we had the best target audience for our brand image.
These show some of the results we got back. As the different genres appeal to different people, i have chosen the typical answer of pop and rnb as results and the different answer of rock and heavy metal. Out of 10 questionnaires, only a small percentage of the results happened to be outside the typical mainsteam music of today.
By Romany
These show some of the results we got back. As the different genres appeal to different people, i have chosen the typical answer of pop and rnb as results and the different answer of rock and heavy metal. Out of 10 questionnaires, only a small percentage of the results happened to be outside the typical mainsteam music of today.
By Romany
Thursday, 21 October 2010
The most popular genres in music today
https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/singles
Today's charts consist of the most popular sub-genre around, Pop! The most popular artists around, which many audiences listen to are; Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Pixi Lott, Katy Perry, The Script, The Saturdays, JLS, Alexandra Burke, The Wanted, Robbie Williams and Take that all feature in the Top 40 and most of these artists feature in the Top 20. This shows how popular this genre is and how the artists and the record companies have target the right audience to insure multiply viewings and multiply sales on singing and albums.
Bruno Mars (24th October) is this weeks number one with the song: 'Just The Way You Are'. This pop song was released over 5 weeks ago and it has never left the top 5 since it was released. This shows how a good branding image, likability and a sex object appeals to his primary audience of females but he is also a role model to young men as they copy his dress sense and aspire to be like him. The video also creates multiple viewings as he uses a well known actress to appeal to young men.
There is typical use of cimenatography in this video, close ups are used on Bruno Mars and Nathalie Kelley to get across the narrative of this video. The lyrics illustrate the visuals completely. This is rare for a music video, especially a music video in todays society where the well known artists create amazing videos with lots of CGI and they don't connect to the lyrics. Whereas, Bruno Mars connects to the lyrics and so does his video. He brings a new theme and direction to the pop sub-genre and he has already worked with Travis McCoy on the well known song 'Billionaire'. This shows how good branding and the right style image can lead to multiple viewings on the artists videos to make their name known.
This is a very popular album cover. The bright colours against the light back ground stand out when it is on sale. The side lighting against the face on the album cover highlights the emphasis this has on the song and how they are connected through the visuals and the lyrics as Bruno Mars is singing about a women and the image is the face of a women.
The second most popular music video in this weeks chart is The Wanted with their second single, 'Heart Vacancy'. The Wanted are the most popular boy band at the minute, next to JLS and Take That who are going on tour next year and they are all of the same sub-genre, which is pop. The Wanted are sex objects for young women ranging from 15-21. The group have successfully appealed to these ages by the connections between the lyrics and the visuals. They are also role models to male teenagers between the ages of 13-17 as they are very fashionable and male teenagers like to be fashionable to appeal to women.
The start of the music video consists of close ups on the location and the members of the boy band. This appeals to the audience as the fans of 'The Wanted' are interested in where the video has been shot and the close ups on the members show the audience who's who as they are a new boy band.
However, even though Pop is the most popular sub-genre in music, Rock is still a major part as it is one of the first sub-genres that came around. The Rock sub-genre has been very successful as it not only appeals to its primary audience through its use of typical rock conventions but it also appeals to secondary audiences as many bands have mutual songs, for example, We Are The Champions by Queen.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/albums
In the music industry today, Rock sub-genre is often left behind because of how popular Pop sub-genre is in todays society. In the Top 40 album chart show, there are 3 rock bands in the top 10, Bon Jovi, Kings of Leon and Jamiroquai. Bon Jovi have released their greatest hits album to celebrate 25 years of being together as a band. They are so successful to this day as they not only appeal to the primary audience of rock but they produce a wide range of audiences as they keep up to date with the music of today and create music which appeals to todays audiences. One of their most popular songs is Always and this is known across the world, this is a very good example of how they have appealed to their secondary audiences.
Today's charts consist of the most popular sub-genre around, Pop! The most popular artists around, which many audiences listen to are; Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Pixi Lott, Katy Perry, The Script, The Saturdays, JLS, Alexandra Burke, The Wanted, Robbie Williams and Take that all feature in the Top 40 and most of these artists feature in the Top 20. This shows how popular this genre is and how the artists and the record companies have target the right audience to insure multiply viewings and multiply sales on singing and albums.
Bruno Mars (24th October) is this weeks number one with the song: 'Just The Way You Are'. This pop song was released over 5 weeks ago and it has never left the top 5 since it was released. This shows how a good branding image, likability and a sex object appeals to his primary audience of females but he is also a role model to young men as they copy his dress sense and aspire to be like him. The video also creates multiple viewings as he uses a well known actress to appeal to young men.
There is typical use of cimenatography in this video, close ups are used on Bruno Mars and Nathalie Kelley to get across the narrative of this video. The lyrics illustrate the visuals completely. This is rare for a music video, especially a music video in todays society where the well known artists create amazing videos with lots of CGI and they don't connect to the lyrics. Whereas, Bruno Mars connects to the lyrics and so does his video. He brings a new theme and direction to the pop sub-genre and he has already worked with Travis McCoy on the well known song 'Billionaire'. This shows how good branding and the right style image can lead to multiple viewings on the artists videos to make their name known.
This is a very popular album cover. The bright colours against the light back ground stand out when it is on sale. The side lighting against the face on the album cover highlights the emphasis this has on the song and how they are connected through the visuals and the lyrics as Bruno Mars is singing about a women and the image is the face of a women.
The second most popular music video in this weeks chart is The Wanted with their second single, 'Heart Vacancy'. The Wanted are the most popular boy band at the minute, next to JLS and Take That who are going on tour next year and they are all of the same sub-genre, which is pop. The Wanted are sex objects for young women ranging from 15-21. The group have successfully appealed to these ages by the connections between the lyrics and the visuals. They are also role models to male teenagers between the ages of 13-17 as they are very fashionable and male teenagers like to be fashionable to appeal to women.
The start of the music video consists of close ups on the location and the members of the boy band. This appeals to the audience as the fans of 'The Wanted' are interested in where the video has been shot and the close ups on the members show the audience who's who as they are a new boy band.
However, even though Pop is the most popular sub-genre in music, Rock is still a major part as it is one of the first sub-genres that came around. The Rock sub-genre has been very successful as it not only appeals to its primary audience through its use of typical rock conventions but it also appeals to secondary audiences as many bands have mutual songs, for example, We Are The Champions by Queen.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/albums
In the music industry today, Rock sub-genre is often left behind because of how popular Pop sub-genre is in todays society. In the Top 40 album chart show, there are 3 rock bands in the top 10, Bon Jovi, Kings of Leon and Jamiroquai. Bon Jovi have released their greatest hits album to celebrate 25 years of being together as a band. They are so successful to this day as they not only appeal to the primary audience of rock but they produce a wide range of audiences as they keep up to date with the music of today and create music which appeals to todays audiences. One of their most popular songs is Always and this is known across the world, this is a very good example of how they have appealed to their secondary audiences.
Kings of Leon are another very successful rock band who have sold over 6.5 million copies world wide. They have successfully done this by not only appealing directly to their primary audience but by expending their brand image to their secondary audiences. They became well known through the songs "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody". They became well known through the songs "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody". "Sex on Fire" made it to number one in 5 countries, including the UK and "Use Somebody" made it to number 1 in 4 countries but came second in the UK. This shows how popular Kings of Leon's music is and these songs have left a lasting impression of the music world today.
This is a video of Kings of Leon performing their number one single "Sex on Fire" in many different venues. This shows how they continue the typical conventions of the rock sub-genre when they are performing and not just in their videos.
By Romany
Music Videos - Subgenres used together
View more presentations from smcmediastudies.
This video by Eminem and Rihanna is a hybrid music video. It has the well known genres of Rap and RnB, however, this video is more hiphop through the mise en scene of the background, the leather clothing, Eminem's tattoos and the 'bling' that is featured, mainly on Rihanna. It was a very successful video and it had 165,777,665 views on youtube. This video mixed together the two sub-genres conventions and produced a well known, multi-viewed and very popular video with well known artists and actors, which included Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan. There is a mix of race in this video, Eminem, Dominic and Megan Fox are white and Rihanna is mixed race, this widens the audiences appeal. As Eminem is a white rapper, his audience expends out from typical rap audiences. There is the typical use of camera shots, close ups, slow motions, the male gaze. Typical editing, use of CGI and green screen, jump shots and invisible editing. The lighting is very typical of these genres, the low key lighting and side lighting shows the narrative fits with the visuals. The video expressed what is happening in the world today to make audiences aware of this but the video also lets audiences escape everyday life by listening to it.
By Romany
This video by Eminem and Rihanna is a hybrid music video. It has the well known genres of Rap and RnB, however, this video is more hiphop through the mise en scene of the background, the leather clothing, Eminem's tattoos and the 'bling' that is featured, mainly on Rihanna. It was a very successful video and it had 165,777,665 views on youtube. This video mixed together the two sub-genres conventions and produced a well known, multi-viewed and very popular video with well known artists and actors, which included Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan. There is a mix of race in this video, Eminem, Dominic and Megan Fox are white and Rihanna is mixed race, this widens the audiences appeal. As Eminem is a white rapper, his audience expends out from typical rap audiences. There is the typical use of camera shots, close ups, slow motions, the male gaze. Typical editing, use of CGI and green screen, jump shots and invisible editing. The lighting is very typical of these genres, the low key lighting and side lighting shows the narrative fits with the visuals. The video expressed what is happening in the world today to make audiences aware of this but the video also lets audiences escape everyday life by listening to it.
By Romany
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Audience Figures - Album sales ( Wikipedia)
This is a list fo the top 20 album sales of all time taken from wikipedia. The music varies from genre to genre and also some of the videos for the singles really push the boundries.
1. Michael Jackson - Thriller
2. AC/DC - Back in Black
3. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
4. Whitney Housten - The Bodyguard
5. Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell
6. Eagles - Greatest Hits
7. Various Artists - Dirty Dancing
8. Backstreet Boys - Millenium
9. Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever
10. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
11. Shania Twain - Come On Over
12. Led Zeppelin - Led Zepelin IV
13. Alanis Moisette - Jagged Little Pill
14. The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
15. Celine Dion - Falling Into You
16. Maria Carey - Music Box
17. Michael Jackson - Dangerous
18. The Beatles - 1
19. Celine Dion - Lets Talk About Love
20. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
This is the most watched video ever to be produced. The album sold over 100 million copies and the video has been watched by well over that figure. It was the first video to incorporate a gothic horror theme with the music.
It does follow Goodwins and Frasers conventions. There is a relationship between the visuals, lyrics and music. Also, just like a typical mainstream pop video, this video had a large budget of $500,000. Their are a lot of close up's of the artist to emphasise the change in his appearence from one scene to another. The video follows a strong narrative and tells a story the whole way through which makes it very appealing for the audience.
By Richard
1. Michael Jackson - Thriller
2. AC/DC - Back in Black
3. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
4. Whitney Housten - The Bodyguard
5. Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell
6. Eagles - Greatest Hits
7. Various Artists - Dirty Dancing
8. Backstreet Boys - Millenium
9. Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever
10. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
11. Shania Twain - Come On Over
12. Led Zeppelin - Led Zepelin IV
13. Alanis Moisette - Jagged Little Pill
14. The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
15. Celine Dion - Falling Into You
16. Maria Carey - Music Box
17. Michael Jackson - Dangerous
18. The Beatles - 1
19. Celine Dion - Lets Talk About Love
20. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
This is the most watched video ever to be produced. The album sold over 100 million copies and the video has been watched by well over that figure. It was the first video to incorporate a gothic horror theme with the music.
It does follow Goodwins and Frasers conventions. There is a relationship between the visuals, lyrics and music. Also, just like a typical mainstream pop video, this video had a large budget of $500,000. Their are a lot of close up's of the artist to emphasise the change in his appearence from one scene to another. The video follows a strong narrative and tells a story the whole way through which makes it very appealing for the audience.
By Richard
Top 20 Albums of all time
The Top 20 Albums of All Time
All of that bands and artists that feature in the top 20 albums of all time, all have a very strong brand image. They are all well known brands and are distinctive and recognizable in the music industry. Some of these artists/bands have more than one of their albums that feature here. I am going to analysis the album covers of these artists and discuss the brand image that they have created to their audience.
The Beatles
The Beatles are considered the biggest band in the world, of all time. This is partly due to the very strong brand image that they built up as a band. The image they gave off from the start of the band until the end of the band changed dramatically, but the band managed to protray the exact brand image that they wanted to at the time. These are the four albums of the band that features in the top 20 albums:
The 'sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band' album cover shows the wacky and creative side of the band. It gives off the brand image that the band are creative within their music and think of themselves quite highly because very iconic and important people feature in this cover, alongside the band.
The 'Abbey Road' album cover is a photo of the band walking to the abbey road studios. Abbey road is a an exclusive recording studio and by calling the album this and featuring the band outside the studio, gives off the brand image that the band are also important and exclusive. They are all wearing suits which gives off the brand image that they think of themselves and the brand quite serious.
The 'White Album' by The Beatles is a very plain album cover but in some respects is seen as very powerful. This is the only album by the Beatles that doesn't have detailed album artwork on it. This gives off the brand image of the band that they focus alot more on the actual music and do not mess around with artwork of there albums, this cover gives off the brand image that the band are quite arrogant as they are confident enough not to attract their audience with the art work of the album as just the bands name is featured.
'Revolver' by The Beatles is an album cover that has really detailed art work involved. This album shows the creative side on the band and heavily focuses on people that they have been influenced by. It shows the brand image that The Beatles are very diverse as they are inspired from a wide range of different people. This is quite different from some of their other albums which show that they are quite arrogant and consider themselves to be very well known in the music industry.
View more presentations from smcmediastudies.
This is a side show of the top 20 music albums of all time accoridng to
There are many artists that feature more than one album in this top 20 list, these are:
This is a side show of the top 20 music albums of all time accoridng to
There are many artists that feature more than one album in this top 20 list, these are:
The Beatles
The Beatles are considered the biggest band in the world, of all time. This is partly due to the very strong brand image that they built up as a band. The image they gave off from the start of the band until the end of the band changed dramatically, but the band managed to protray the exact brand image that they wanted to at the time. These are the four albums of the band that features in the top 20 albums:
By Emma
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Indie Videos That Break The Rules
Some indie videos does not follow Goodwin or Frasers typical conventions. Some are just so random, or so unconventional that they cannot fit into any category and cannot possibly be refernced to Goodwin and Frasers theories.
The Gorillaz have become world famous for their animated videos and have developed cartoon characters for each member of the band. This video for feel good inc is nothing like most other indie videos. There is however reference to Goodwins six points. There is a relationship between the visual and the music and the artists have certainly created their own iconography.
With reference to Frasers conventions of a music video, the video does make use of the music. Eg when the chorus is sung, the tempo slows down, the song becomes more mellow and the video slows down and suddenly becomes a lot less busy.
The Gorillaz have become world famous for their animated videos and have developed cartoon characters for each member of the band. This video for feel good inc is nothing like most other indie videos. There is however reference to Goodwins six points. There is a relationship between the visual and the music and the artists have certainly created their own iconography.
With reference to Frasers conventions of a music video, the video does make use of the music. Eg when the chorus is sung, the tempo slows down, the song becomes more mellow and the video slows down and suddenly becomes a lot less busy.
Monday, 18 October 2010
Successful Branding
When we were looking at branding, we found some very successful albums and put together our ideas about why we thought they were more successful than others. We concluded that these albums were very successful because they fit the brand image of the artists and the audiences recognise them. This gave us ideas for our albums as we want them to be successful.
By Romany, Emma and Richard
Branding
A 'brand' is the identity of a specific product, business or service which effects its personality. It allows a product to stand out from the crowd. It can take many forms such as: name/sign/symbols/slogan or colour combination. Brands are intrinsically striking/recognizable and their role is to create an indelible impression. It is the emotional and psychological relationship you have with your customers which will help them to recognize your product. If your product/business did not have a brand, it wouldn't stand out on the market and wouldn't become a well known status. Most well known brands are built up over years by different things such as the image of the company, reputation, how is advertises its products etc.
A brand is more than a product , it is about creating an image that people link to a particular type of product- an image and message that will draw them over and over again to buy the same particular product.
According to mudvalley.com, there are eight elements that combine to create brand identity:
Brand essence- what the brand means in a sentence.
Brand Slogan- other a catchphrase linked to a logo
Brand Personality- what kind of character does the brand have?
Brand Values- what does it stands for/against?
Brand Appearance- what does it look like/sounds like/ taste like?
Brand Heritage- what kind of tradition does it have?
Emotional Benefits- What feelings does it offer customers?
Hard Benefits- is it cheaper, better, does it was whiter? what "real" quantifiable benefits does it offer the buyer?
A brand is more than a product , it is about creating an image that people link to a particular type of product- an image and message that will draw them over and over again to buy the same particular product.
According to mudvalley.com, there are eight elements that combine to create brand identity:
Brand essence- what the brand means in a sentence.
Brand Slogan- other a catchphrase linked to a logo
Brand Personality- what kind of character does the brand have?
Brand Values- what does it stands for/against?
Brand Appearance- what does it look like/sounds like/ taste like?
Brand Heritage- what kind of tradition does it have?
Emotional Benefits- What feelings does it offer customers?
Hard Benefits- is it cheaper, better, does it was whiter? what "real" quantifiable benefits does it offer the buyer?
Brands are created by every well known business in the world, it helps the custome to recongize them and rememebr them. Many business's have catchy slogans to intice the audience in.
Coco-cola is a good example of business with a good brand image. Coco-cola have built up their image from the colours they use, the words they use, the way in which they advertise on tv and also their brand values/heritage. Coco cola's brand image is so distinctive that they even influnced the change of colour of father christmas from Green-Red.
A bands 'brand' is a very important role in their success, each band has a 'brand image' that they wish to portray to there audience so that they target the right market. Different bands do this in different ways, some by recognizable symbols and others by certain fonts and colours. Some bands have very well known brands and this has definitely helped them to be shown to the public as they want to be. Bands create there brand image from a number of things such as, Music videos, album covers, photo shoots which helps them portrays themselves to their target genre/market.
I am going to study specific bands, that I feel have a very strong brand image.
OASIS:
Oasis are an English rock band from Manchester formed in 1991, brothers in the band Liam and Noel Gallagher have always tried to promote the strong brand image of the brand, that is excessive sex/drugs/rock and roll and highlight that they are working class boys from manchester who want to take over the world. Oasis's brand image is shows through their album covers, music videos, posters, interviews, reviews etc and there brand is very distinctive and defined. The band have always wanted their music to be seen as 'real' music for 'real person' and have been heavily influences by their idol Paul Wellar.
Oasis's brand image was first hlighlighted in their first released album 'Definitely Maybe' which shows the conventions on the type of band they are striving to be (rock and roll).
This is the album cover for the first album 'Definitley maybe', this mise en scene highlights well, the brand image as it shows the band, playing guitar in a house, drinking red wine and generally having a good time which is classed as the 'rock and roll image' which is what they are trying to express through their songs. The colours used are quite basic and the logo of the band ('oasis') boldly stands out at the top of the cover, the cover is very basically set out and could be considered as an album cover that is straight to the point, just as oasis are. The first track on this album is 'Rock and Roll star' which is the exact image that oasis wanted to portray to their audience.
This is the logo of Oasis, it is featured on all of their products and on merchandise produced. This brand is very well known and is copyrighted to the band. This brand is a recognizable image to fans and it gives off conventions of the band. This brand is quite plain and clear, it has strong, bold letters that i think are striking which is what oasis wanted to achieve. The logo isn't fancy or very detailed which i think represents oasis very well, the logo is coloured in black and white as are most of their music videos. This font has always stayed the same since they became a band which features on the website, this means that the logo has become very farmilar worlwide.
This video is a typical video of oasis and the 'Brand Apperance' that they want to convey. It shows the 'rock and roll' lifestyle that oasis have a reputation for from there brand image that they have built up over the years. The video is set in black and white, which seems to be as a consistent house style of oasis, as the logo is also black and white. This video contains scenes of models, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes and live performances of the band which is what oasis effectively started a band for. Oasis want to give accross the message of having 'made it' in the music industry and to show that there life is one big party, this is their main 'brand value'. They have cleverly shown us this through their various music videos such as this one. An emotional benefit that this type of video offers to the audience is that, Oasis are saying if you join a band, this is how your life will be and this is the lifestyle you will be able to have.
This is one of the typical tops that are sold amougst the Oasis merchandise. This has very strong branding involved, it has the logo right in the center of the t-shirt which has not been changed since the band started out. It also has the unioun jack cenetered around the logo, this is powerful branding as Oasis are a very iconic british band and like to be associated with the brit-pop genre, so they have included this on their tshirt to get their branding once again across to their audiences and highlight what they esentially 'stand for'. The brand apperance of this top is very straight forward, it is almost like a stamp that a fan will wear, showing that they are a fan of the band, there is nothing fancy about the t-shirt as there is nothing fancy about oasis as a band.
Aswell as merchanside of the band, Lead singer Liam Gallagher also brought out his own clothing range called pretty green: http://www.prettygreen.com/
JAY Z
Jay z is considered the 'master' of the the rapping world, but he has carefully built up his brand image over years in the industry. he is one of the most sucsessful rapping artists but also entrepreneurs in America.
In the early years, when no one would give Jay Z a record deal, he decided to create his own record deal which gave jay z a massive brand image, right from the start which produced him a reputation in the hip-hop community. Jay Z is known for his flash cars, expensive clothes, expensive 'bling' which follows the conventions of the hip-hop genre.
This is the image of the record label 'roc-a-fella' records that Jay z founded, it stands for the fact that artists do not need big record labels to product their own songs. It gives Jay z the brand image of independance and the fact that he is willing to stand out from the crowd. From starting his own record label, some would say that Jay Z created his own brand. He recorded and produced his own music which has not been done before in this type of genre. Most of todays rappers have the same brand image that they want to convey as most of them belong to the same label, but Jay Z went against this brand image of conforming to the rapping world.
Jay z has created his brand image in many ways, through his music videos, record label, photo-shoot and even his own clothing range that goes alot further than the typical artist/band merchandise.
This is one of Jay Z's most well known albums. The brand image of Jay is reinforced with this cover as it follows the 'gagster' image which is the brand appearance that Jay Z is trying to portray. Its dominantly black which is the brand heritage of the hip-hop genre.
This is the music video 'Jay-Z - Show me what you got' this video really enhances the brand image of Jay Z. It shows the brand values of luxury by the exotic location and expensive cars and boats featured. Jay Zs brand image is seen as him being powerful, this is shown in the video by him owning the finest of possessions and also dressed in all white to show he is dominant to everyone else in the video.
This is a link to Jay z's own website for his clothing range: http://www.artfuldodgercollection.com/
This is an example of Jay Z's 'The Artful Dodger' clothing line. This enhances Jay Z's brand image as not only a rapper but also a good business man and his new venture, after setting up his own record label. This line is expensive,stylish and exclusive, which is exactly what brand appearance and values Jay Z is showing through this. The emotional benefits it offers the customers is that they feel powerful and exclusive because this clothing line is limited edition.
This is a poster advertising Jay Zs clothing range. It features the word 'roca' which is Jay Zs brand name for all of this products. This poster highlights the brand appearance of Jay Z being 'cool' and has conventions of the hip hop genre from the black and white used. This poster carrys on the brand image of Jay Z as it shows him in his expensive clothes and sunglasses.
This is another great example of how Jay z's brand image is created. Rolling stones magazine is a very well known magazine in the music industry. For an artist to be featured on the front page is a great achievement and shows their power in music. In this shot, Jay Z looks very serious and gangster like which enchances his brand apperance and values. The clothes he is wearing are very posh and 'swish' which highlight his wealthyness and the good lifestyle in which he has.
I am going to study specific bands, that I feel have a very strong brand image.
OASIS:
Oasis are an English rock band from Manchester formed in 1991, brothers in the band Liam and Noel Gallagher have always tried to promote the strong brand image of the brand, that is excessive sex/drugs/rock and roll and highlight that they are working class boys from manchester who want to take over the world. Oasis's brand image is shows through their album covers, music videos, posters, interviews, reviews etc and there brand is very distinctive and defined. The band have always wanted their music to be seen as 'real' music for 'real person' and have been heavily influences by their idol Paul Wellar.
Oasis's brand image was first hlighlighted in their first released album 'Definitely Maybe' which shows the conventions on the type of band they are striving to be (rock and roll).
This video is a typical video of oasis and the 'Brand Apperance' that they want to convey. It shows the 'rock and roll' lifestyle that oasis have a reputation for from there brand image that they have built up over the years. The video is set in black and white, which seems to be as a consistent house style of oasis, as the logo is also black and white. This video contains scenes of models, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes and live performances of the band which is what oasis effectively started a band for. Oasis want to give accross the message of having 'made it' in the music industry and to show that there life is one big party, this is their main 'brand value'. They have cleverly shown us this through their various music videos such as this one. An emotional benefit that this type of video offers to the audience is that, Oasis are saying if you join a band, this is how your life will be and this is the lifestyle you will be able to have.
This is one of the typical tops that are sold amougst the Oasis merchandise. This has very strong branding involved, it has the logo right in the center of the t-shirt which has not been changed since the band started out. It also has the unioun jack cenetered around the logo, this is powerful branding as Oasis are a very iconic british band and like to be associated with the brit-pop genre, so they have included this on their tshirt to get their branding once again across to their audiences and highlight what they esentially 'stand for'. The brand apperance of this top is very straight forward, it is almost like a stamp that a fan will wear, showing that they are a fan of the band, there is nothing fancy about the t-shirt as there is nothing fancy about oasis as a band.
Aswell as merchanside of the band, Lead singer Liam Gallagher also brought out his own clothing range called pretty green: http://www.prettygreen.com/
This clothing line sold expensive,good quality mod clothes that are cosnidered 'cool' in the indie sub genre. The line also sells a range of parka which is what mods used to wear in the 60s. This clothing range adds to the well built up brand image of Oasis as it features Liam Gallagher looking 'cool and cocky' on the photos of him modeling his label. The photos give off the image that you need his clothing line to be cool, and if you dont like it then dont buy it. Which is exactly the image that Oasis protrayed with their music.
Jay z is considered the 'master' of the the rapping world, but he has carefully built up his brand image over years in the industry. he is one of the most sucsessful rapping artists but also entrepreneurs in America.
In the early years, when no one would give Jay Z a record deal, he decided to create his own record deal which gave jay z a massive brand image, right from the start which produced him a reputation in the hip-hop community. Jay Z is known for his flash cars, expensive clothes, expensive 'bling' which follows the conventions of the hip-hop genre.
Jay z has created his brand image in many ways, through his music videos, record label, photo-shoot and even his own clothing range that goes alot further than the typical artist/band merchandise.
This is the music video 'Jay-Z - Show me what you got' this video really enhances the brand image of Jay Z. It shows the brand values of luxury by the exotic location and expensive cars and boats featured. Jay Zs brand image is seen as him being powerful, this is shown in the video by him owning the finest of possessions and also dressed in all white to show he is dominant to everyone else in the video.
This is a link to Jay z's own website for his clothing range: http://www.artfuldodgercollection.com/
This is a poster advertising Jay Zs clothing range. It features the word 'roca' which is Jay Zs brand name for all of this products. This poster highlights the brand appearance of Jay Z being 'cool' and has conventions of the hip hop genre from the black and white used. This poster carrys on the brand image of Jay Z as it shows him in his expensive clothes and sunglasses.
By Emma
Indie Music Videos
According to google definitions, indie music can be described as 'independence from major commercial record labels and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing'.
Indie bands include, Oasis, Kaiser Chiefs, The Kooks and The Foals.
Using Wikipedia, I have managed to find an article on indie record labels. 'Independent labels have a long history of promoting developments in popular music, stretching back to the post-war period in the United States, with labels such as Sun Records, King Records, Stax, etc.
In the United Kingdom during the 1950s and 1960s, the major record companies had so much power that independent labels struggled to become established. Several British producers and artists launched independent labels as outlets for their work and artists they liked, but the majority failed as commercial ventures or were swallowed up by the majors.
The punk rock era saw a plethora of independent labels.[1] The UK Indie Chart was first compiled in 1980, and independent distribution became better organized from the late 1970s onwards.
Here are some examples of indie videos. They differ from amny mainstream pop videos and other genres in a sense that they are differently edited and often have a rough and raw feel to them. They are not technicly difficult to produce and the budget is not extremely high. The mise en scene shows no outstanding colour and often dull locations.
The one night only video is a modern indie video however follows the conventions of a typical indie video in the sense of the mise en scene, cinematography and editing. However, their are elements of other genres with the performance on the roof and the use a very famous actress (Emma Watson).
By Richard
Indie bands include, Oasis, Kaiser Chiefs, The Kooks and The Foals.
Using Wikipedia, I have managed to find an article on indie record labels. 'Independent labels have a long history of promoting developments in popular music, stretching back to the post-war period in the United States, with labels such as Sun Records, King Records, Stax, etc.
In the United Kingdom during the 1950s and 1960s, the major record companies had so much power that independent labels struggled to become established. Several British producers and artists launched independent labels as outlets for their work and artists they liked, but the majority failed as commercial ventures or were swallowed up by the majors.
The punk rock era saw a plethora of independent labels.[1] The UK Indie Chart was first compiled in 1980, and independent distribution became better organized from the late 1970s onwards.
Here are some examples of indie videos. They differ from amny mainstream pop videos and other genres in a sense that they are differently edited and often have a rough and raw feel to them. They are not technicly difficult to produce and the budget is not extremely high. The mise en scene shows no outstanding colour and often dull locations.
The one night only video is a modern indie video however follows the conventions of a typical indie video in the sense of the mise en scene, cinematography and editing. However, their are elements of other genres with the performance on the roof and the use a very famous actress (Emma Watson).
By Richard
Sunday, 17 October 2010
Feedback: 17/10/10
A very good start - good detailed posts with theory and sources referenced.
Genre:
Get a few more videos/images into these posts e.g. the history of music video and analyse how the conventions have developed. Also apply all the typical conventions of music video to your analysis of the another video. Then move onto the conventions of the indie video sub genre. Can you find any vidoes that break the rules - use general genre theory - all genre texts combine the "same but different" (Nick Lacey 1999)
Branding:
Remember to move onto branding - definitions and how it has been used in the music industry - get a couple of artists with strong brand images and analyse their media products - videos, album covers etc...
Audience: Define your target audience
Remember to use all your demographic and psychographic profiling - Maslow, Young and Rubicam- cross cultural characteristsics and niche consumer groupings - get an image of Maslow's pyramid to put in your post etc...
Well done! Miss McNulty
Genre:
Get a few more videos/images into these posts e.g. the history of music video and analyse how the conventions have developed. Also apply all the typical conventions of music video to your analysis of the another video. Then move onto the conventions of the indie video sub genre. Can you find any vidoes that break the rules - use general genre theory - all genre texts combine the "same but different" (Nick Lacey 1999)
Branding:
Remember to move onto branding - definitions and how it has been used in the music industry - get a couple of artists with strong brand images and analyse their media products - videos, album covers etc...
Audience: Define your target audience
Remember to use all your demographic and psychographic profiling - Maslow, Young and Rubicam- cross cultural characteristsics and niche consumer groupings - get an image of Maslow's pyramid to put in your post etc...
Well done! Miss McNulty
Friday, 15 October 2010
A Brief History Of The Music Video Genre
According to wikipedia, the first form of music video came as the illustrated song. This was first attempted by Edward Marks, Joe Stern and George Thomas in 1894 to promote their song the little lost child. As televisions were still a long way off in those days, the process of illustrated song involved projecting a sereis of still images onto a screen for people to watch. Back then, I do not believe that Goodwin and Fraisers conventions of a music video were relvant, or existant for that matter.
When TV was introduced, MTV hit the screens, gracing the nation with what we may call, the first, modern music videos. The first video ever to be shown on mtv was The Buggles' Video Killed The Radio Star. The genre of this song is very hard to categorise but would probably ultimatly be called synth pop. The video is very eperimental and very wacky. There is no one theme. The shot locations vary from broadcating rooms to proper sets.
Although Pete Fraser only wrote about the conventions in 2005, even this video does follow some of the characteristics that fraser talks about. The video makes use of the tempo of the track and often jumps between scenes between the verse and chorus.
Goodwin also published his conventions of music videos in 2003 however Video Killed The Radio Star did infact form a relationship between the lyrics and the video, between the music and the visuals, and most importantly promote the artist.
Other iconic music videos come from Artists such as the late great Michael Jackson and bands such as Queen.
In 1982, Michael Jackson released the video for 'Beat It'. This was very popular with the public because he was already a very well established artist but also, the music video involved things that people get a thrill from watching. Their is lots of dancing, a lot of conflict and is generaly very busy. For it's time, this video really did push the boundries of what was technilogically possible which also added to the excitement to the audience.
Queen's video for Bohemian Rhapsody came from 1975, so seven years before Michael Jacksons video for Beat It. Although, similar to Michael Jacksons video, the Queen video used technologies which were extremely modern and possibly very expensive for the time. According to wikipedia, the video was filmed in just four hours at a cost of £4500, which today, seems a minute figure in comparison to the multi million dollar videos released now, but in 1975, £4500 was a monsterous amount of money.
Over time, typical conventions of music videos have definatly changed. As technology has become more advanced and also the industries involved have become wealthier, music videos have become more experimental and more creative. Bands such as The Gorillaz have pushed the boundries of what is technologically possible. Videos for major bands are less orientated around performing the song eg Bon Jovi, Living On A Prayer or Van Halen's Jump and focus more on bright sets, dancers and technology eg Just Dance by Lady GaGa.
By Richard
When TV was introduced, MTV hit the screens, gracing the nation with what we may call, the first, modern music videos. The first video ever to be shown on mtv was The Buggles' Video Killed The Radio Star. The genre of this song is very hard to categorise but would probably ultimatly be called synth pop. The video is very eperimental and very wacky. There is no one theme. The shot locations vary from broadcating rooms to proper sets.
Although Pete Fraser only wrote about the conventions in 2005, even this video does follow some of the characteristics that fraser talks about. The video makes use of the tempo of the track and often jumps between scenes between the verse and chorus.
Goodwin also published his conventions of music videos in 2003 however Video Killed The Radio Star did infact form a relationship between the lyrics and the video, between the music and the visuals, and most importantly promote the artist.
Other iconic music videos come from Artists such as the late great Michael Jackson and bands such as Queen.
In 1982, Michael Jackson released the video for 'Beat It'. This was very popular with the public because he was already a very well established artist but also, the music video involved things that people get a thrill from watching. Their is lots of dancing, a lot of conflict and is generaly very busy. For it's time, this video really did push the boundries of what was technilogically possible which also added to the excitement to the audience.
Queen's video for Bohemian Rhapsody came from 1975, so seven years before Michael Jacksons video for Beat It. Although, similar to Michael Jacksons video, the Queen video used technologies which were extremely modern and possibly very expensive for the time. According to wikipedia, the video was filmed in just four hours at a cost of £4500, which today, seems a minute figure in comparison to the multi million dollar videos released now, but in 1975, £4500 was a monsterous amount of money.
Over time, typical conventions of music videos have definatly changed. As technology has become more advanced and also the industries involved have become wealthier, music videos have become more experimental and more creative. Bands such as The Gorillaz have pushed the boundries of what is technologically possible. Videos for major bands are less orientated around performing the song eg Bon Jovi, Living On A Prayer or Van Halen's Jump and focus more on bright sets, dancers and technology eg Just Dance by Lady GaGa.
By Richard
Thursday, 14 October 2010
Evaluating Music Videos- Subgenres
Within the music video genre, there are many sub-genres. The most popular sub-genres are pop, r&b, hip hop and rock. All of these videos follow the typical conventions of a music video but more and more bands today are breaking these conventions and pushing the boundaries. However, some music videos break the typical conventions and these are mainly the indie sub-genres. We have chosen some very popular videos from each sub-genre and they show how different each sub-genre is.
Pop: Lady Gaga feat Beyonce - Telephone
This music video by Lady Gaga is a typical pop music video. Lady Gaga is known for her 'out there' outfits and her videos which turn into mini movies. Lady Gaga's video are very inspired by the male gaze. The protagonist in this video, which is Lady Gaga and Beyonce (Honey Bee) are both dressed sexually and in minimal clothing. This completes the male gaze as it shows how the camera looks at women as sex objects. This video also features the progressive theory as it shows Lady Gaga and Beyonce as strong and women who don't need saving by men. As many other pop music videos, there is excessive use of close up's and extreme close up's used to emphasise what is happening in the video and to focus on the artist and their voice. Lady Gaga knows her audience very well, she knows exactly what they want and she gives them the result they want. In the press, Lady Gaga is known as the 'mummy momster' and her fans are known as her 'little monsters', this is down to the branding of her first album 'The Fame Monster' which sold over twelve million copies worldwide. We define a target audience through the use of GRASS. The gender for Lady Gaga's audience is mainly females but she also has a very big gay audience which makes her primary audience both male and female. She doesn't appeal to any specific race, she is a role modal to everyone. The primary age range of Lady Gaga's audience is 16-25 year olds but she also appeals to younger and older audiences. Taking in to account the primary audience for Lady Gaga, according to the socio-economic status and demographic profiling, the classes are B (Middle Classes), C1 (Lower Middle Classes), C2 (Skilled Working Classes), D (Lower Working Classes) and E (Subsidence). Psychographic profiling assumes the audience to be complex and have certain needs that has to be met. There are different audiences which are based upon these aspirations of Mainstreams, Aspirers, Succeeders and Reformers.
Lady Gaga's audience are mainstreams as they buy well known brand names and aspirers because audiences are motivated by status and they follow the high profile fashion that artists like Lady Gaga create. Telephone by Lady Gaga and other music videos offers diversion from everyday pressures and it helps us escape from the real world but from the safety of our own homes. It builds personal relationships as audiences discuss music and the artists they like with other people. They also develop personal identity as they are able to compare their own life to the one they are seeing on the music channels. This video also helps audiences develop their own identity in fashion and to not follow the crowd when deciding on what to wear. Lady Gaga likes to be different and this is what she shows her fans. Surveillance of peoples lifes are everywhere and music videos show what is happening in the world in a dramatic way or through very suttle hints. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is relevent in many media products. This music video offers Maslow's needs of love and belonging as audiences develop friendships when they discuss music videos and whether they like the artist or they don't. This video, espically offers self-esteem and self-actualization to the audience as they aspire to be like their ideal so they grow confidence and creativity to be like Lady Gaga.
There is interesting use of tracking shots and panning shots to show the audience the style of the video and it complements the movement of the performers by circling Lady Gaga and Beyonce as they perform in this video. The sound of this video is very up-tempo and this influences the editing as it has to be fast paced to have multi-views. The fast pace editing meets the style of this video as it is a very fast paced video. This works very well as it makes the video have multiple viewings as many of the images are impossible to grasp on the first viewing.
This is evidence of close ups on the protagonist, whilst the dancers are at the back to let the audience focus on the main vocalist.
This video is influenced greatly by the Thelma and Louise film 1991. The film is about these two waitresses who shoot a rapist and escape in a '66 Thunderbird which is very similar to the section of the video when Lady Gaga and Beyonce are in a cafe and they have put poison on the food which kills everyone in the cafe and they escape in the car from the film Kill Bill. They have included intertexuality into this video to grab the audiences attention as they are familiar with this nostalgia and the associations they have the texts before they are used in music videos such as this one.
Money is no object in this video, mostly shot in a high tech studio where the mise en scene has been created especially for this video.
This music video by Rihanna is her latest video and it has just been released. This is a typical RnB video as it is shot in a very high tech and expensive studio, a lot of green screen is used and it works very well and fits the style of Rihanna. There is use of close ups, medium shots, 360 degree angles, slow motion, long shots and many jump shots in the editing.There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals and the music and the visuals. The colour's are very bright and appeal to audiences, the 'red' theme runs through everything, even Rihanna's hair. The lyrics go along with the visuals as she is singing about being 'the only girl in the world' and Rihanna is the central figure/artist in the video. The target audience for this video is between 16-25 years old, it is mainly females that Rihanna appeals to but because of the male gaze and Rihanna's 'sex symbol' reputation, the secondary audience are males. Rihanna is mixed race, this helps her target audience appeal to a wide range of people. She also appeals to every category of the socio-economic status from A to E.
Rock: Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer
Bon Jovi are a typical rock band, they focus more on the live performance of their singles than the videos. This is a typical convention of rock bands, for example 'The Police', 'Queen' and 'The Beatles' all have videos which only focus on the live performance and the lead up to the gig, which is what this music video is about. Livin' on a Prayer comes from Bon Jovi's second single from their third album 'Slippery when wet' released in August 1986.
There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, the lyrics that mainly show this are:
We've got to hold on to what we've got
'Cause it doesn't make a difference
If we make it or not
We've got each other and that's a lot
For love - we'll give it a shot
This is illustrating that the band are half way there to becoming an established and well known group. The video are shows this as it is showing the lead up to the gig that they are hosting and it is illustrating that they are nearly ready for the gig but they just have to practice some more. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals also with the visuals and the sound. The song is very upbeat in some places and slower in other places and the video represents this very well. There are many close ups of the main artist, John Bon Jovi and there are close ups on the rest of the band as well. Bon Jovi as a band have developed their own star iconography, they are always in their videos even if they are not signing, for example, their video for 'Always' has John Bon Jovi being the main protagonist by featuring in the video and also singing. The mise en scene of Bon Jovi also stays the same throughout their time together as a band. The long hair, rock style clothes, the many videos of gigs and the narrative videos all show the type of star image they have developed over time. 
This is a chronological video as there is a linear narrative in both sections of the video. The narrative/story line which is the main part of the video and the second narrative of Bon Jovi performing in the video too. The way the two narratives cut across each other shows how they are both telling the same story. 
In there video, Livin' On A Prayer, they have many references to voyeurism, especially when they are showing the lead up to the main performance that evening. The main artist, John Bon Jovi looks into the camera screen many times. Bon Jovi have their own style and they don't use intertextual references which is unusual for bands and their videos. This shows the differences in the sub-genres between rock and pop.
The tempo of this song is quite fast but in some places it is a bit slower, this drives the editing to meet the tempo of the song which it does very well. The editing is simple but yet very effective as it meets the tempo of the song and gives the feel the band for looking for when this video was edited. 
There is use of gentler cuts to establish the mood of the video and make the video performance seem more real to the audience than an actual narrative video. The narrative and performance in music videos are rarely complete and fragmented, they tend to suggest story lines and non-linear narratives. This video is an exception as it shows the lead up to the gig and then the gig itself at the end of the song.As we can see, Bon Jovi have followed the conventions outlined by Andrew Goodwin in the book 'Dancing to Distraction' (2003) and Pete Fraser in 'Teaching Music Video' (2005). The narrative theories from Propp, Todorov and Barthes are always important when looking at a media text. According to Propp, there are eight main characters in media texts. For this music video, the hero in this case are the whole band as they have to produce a good gig and make sure nothing is lacking. The helper is the stage crew that help the band create a good gig and make sure everything goes right. The dispatcher are the audience as they help the band get to the stage of making a gig and they help Bon Jovi become one of the biggest bands the world have seen. The princess /reward for the band is the smiles on the audiences' faces and finishing the gig without anything going wrong. Todorov's theory of 'equilibrium, disruption, re-equilibrium' is not visually seen in this video as nothing to shown to go wrong on the lead up to the gig. Barthes theory of questions being asked throughout the video are finally answered at the end of the video. This is called 'enigma code', some of the questions that are asked when this video starts is; What are they practicing for? Will everything go right? Who will be seeing the gig?. These are all answered at the end of the video as we find out that they were practicing for a live gig with a live audience and everything went right. Audiences are defined by GRASS, the gender which this video and band are mainly aimed at are males. This is very typical as males are known to prefer rock music to other sub-genres, however, women are their secondary audience as a male band appeals to women as they are part of the female gaze. The rock sub-genre appeals to everyone, not a specific race. Rock music appeals to all ages, it does appeal to 16-25 year olds but mainly to the older audiences; 26-40 year olds. This rock video appeals to all the groups in the socio-economic status and demographic profiling, A (Upper class), B (middle class), C1 (Lower Middle class), C2 (Skilled Middle class), D (Lower Working class) and E (Subsidence). With psychographic profiling, the audiences for rock sub-genres are Mainstreamers as they seek comfort in buying well known brand names and the audiences are also aspirers as they are motivated by what other audiences are watching and listening to.
Through the uses and gratifications theory, this video offers the main four categories, Diversion, Personal relationships, Personal identity, Surveillance. This sub-genre offers a form of escape from the everyday world and imagine being part of Bon Jovi. It shows how personal relationships can develop when people discuss the video and their favourite bits. It can also develop the audiences personal identity as they copy the mise en scene of their ideals and they dress the same, this was the case when Livin' On A Prayer was released as this clothing and hair style was very popular. The surveillance category, isn't very important in this genre and this video specifically as it shows what is going on in the world of music with gigs and performances but it doesn't give an educationally view on the world. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is displayed in this video as it shows love and belonging within a group of friends and family. It also offers self-esteem and self-actualization as it shows audiences confidence, achievement, respect to others and creativity with their own mise en scene, especially clothes and hair styles.
HipHop: Snoop Dog - Drop It Like It's Hot
By Romany
Pop: Lady Gaga feat Beyonce - Telephone
This music video by Lady Gaga is a typical pop music video. Lady Gaga is known for her 'out there' outfits and her videos which turn into mini movies. Lady Gaga's video are very inspired by the male gaze. The protagonist in this video, which is Lady Gaga and Beyonce (Honey Bee) are both dressed sexually and in minimal clothing. This completes the male gaze as it shows how the camera looks at women as sex objects. This video also features the progressive theory as it shows Lady Gaga and Beyonce as strong and women who don't need saving by men. As many other pop music videos, there is excessive use of close up's and extreme close up's used to emphasise what is happening in the video and to focus on the artist and their voice. Lady Gaga knows her audience very well, she knows exactly what they want and she gives them the result they want. In the press, Lady Gaga is known as the 'mummy momster' and her fans are known as her 'little monsters', this is down to the branding of her first album 'The Fame Monster' which sold over twelve million copies worldwide. We define a target audience through the use of GRASS. The gender for Lady Gaga's audience is mainly females but she also has a very big gay audience which makes her primary audience both male and female. She doesn't appeal to any specific race, she is a role modal to everyone. The primary age range of Lady Gaga's audience is 16-25 year olds but she also appeals to younger and older audiences. Taking in to account the primary audience for Lady Gaga, according to the socio-economic status and demographic profiling, the classes are B (Middle Classes), C1 (Lower Middle Classes), C2 (Skilled Working Classes), D (Lower Working Classes) and E (Subsidence). Psychographic profiling assumes the audience to be complex and have certain needs that has to be met. There are different audiences which are based upon these aspirations of Mainstreams, Aspirers, Succeeders and Reformers.
There is interesting use of tracking shots and panning shots to show the audience the style of the video and it complements the movement of the performers by circling Lady Gaga and Beyonce as they perform in this video. The sound of this video is very up-tempo and this influences the editing as it has to be fast paced to have multi-views. The fast pace editing meets the style of this video as it is a very fast paced video. This works very well as it makes the video have multiple viewings as many of the images are impossible to grasp on the first viewing.
This is evidence of close ups on the protagonist, whilst the dancers are at the back to let the audience focus on the main vocalist.
This video is influenced greatly by the Thelma and Louise film 1991. The film is about these two waitresses who shoot a rapist and escape in a '66 Thunderbird which is very similar to the section of the video when Lady Gaga and Beyonce are in a cafe and they have put poison on the food which kills everyone in the cafe and they escape in the car from the film Kill Bill. They have included intertexuality into this video to grab the audiences attention as they are familiar with this nostalgia and the associations they have the texts before they are used in music videos such as this one.
Money is no object in this video, mostly shot in a high tech studio where the mise en scene has been created especially for this video. The visuals illustrate the lyrics by the video being about a man not letting his girlfriend spend time with her friends and keeps on phoning her to see where she is but then the women reacts and kills her boyfriend by putting poison in the honey which he pours all over his food.
Just a second,
It's my favorite song they're gonna play
And I cannot text you with
A drink in my hand, eh
You should've made some plans with me,
You knew that I was free.
And now you won't stop calling me;
I'm kinda busy.
Stop callin', stop callin',
I don't wanna think anymore!
I left my head and my heart on the dance floor.
Stop callin', stop callin',
I don't wanna talk anymore!
I left my head and my heart on the dance floor.
This connects to the lyrics as they are saying "let me have time alone." The dancing in the video is very aggressive for a female lead and it fits the style/ genre of the music and lyrics.
Many music videos have story lines and this video have a complicated story line. The performance meets the linear narrative as it makes the audience desire to see it again. Lady Gaga is always in her videos, she never just sings and lets other people feature in her video instead of her. This is another part of her style image as everyone expects her to be in her videos. There are references to voyeurism by the women of this video as they look into the camera when they are dancing in the cafe and when Lady Gaga is dancing in the prison corridor. The music videos that have a linear narrative fit in to the three main narrative theories of Propp, Todorov and Levi-Strauss and they sometimes fit in to Barthes theory. This video follows these theories very well. According to Propps theory, Lady Gaga in this video can been seen as the hero, the villian and the false hero as she is in jail at the beginning of the video and poisons people at the end. Beyonce is the helper to the 'false hero' as she helps poison the people in the cafe and helps Lady Gaga get out of prision. The princess in this video is not a person or an object, it is the feeling of achievement and knowing that they have murdered the boyfriend who kept on making trouble. Not all of Propps eight main characters are featured in every video and this is noticable in this video as only four of the eight main characters are present. Todorov's theory of 'equilibrium - disruption - re-equilibrium' is shown when Lady Gaga is in jail and this is normal. The disruption is when Beyonce gets Lady Gaga out of jail and they poison the people in the cafe. The re-equilibrium is when they are on the run from the police and they go to start a new life. Todorov's theory keeps the audience interested in the narrative as they wonder what is going to happen in the rest of the video or the one that follows it. Levi-Strauss's theory of binary oppositions can be applied to almost everything and it is very helpful. The binary oppositions in this music video are Good VS Evil, Weak VS Strong, Normal VS Unnormal and many more. A theory that isn't widely used amungst music videos is Barthes theory of 'enigma codes' where there are questions in set at the beginning of the text and they are answered by the end of the text. For example, the questions that are asked in this text are; Why is Lady Gaga in jail? Will she get out? Why are they poising the cafe? All of these are answered near or at the end of the video but a question that is left unanswered is; Will they get away from the police? This secures multiply viewings by audiences and they are kept guessing by the artist whether another video will be produced to 'wrap up' the unanswered question. As we can see, Lady Gaga follows the conventions outlined by Andrew Goodwin in the book 'Dancing to Distraction' (2003) and Pete Fraser in 'Teaching Music Video' (2005).
Just a second,
It's my favorite song they're gonna play
And I cannot text you with
A drink in my hand, eh
You should've made some plans with me,
You knew that I was free.
And now you won't stop calling me;
I'm kinda busy.
Stop callin', stop callin',
I don't wanna think anymore!
I left my head and my heart on the dance floor.
Stop callin', stop callin',
I don't wanna talk anymore!
I left my head and my heart on the dance floor.
This connects to the lyrics as they are saying "let me have time alone." The dancing in the video is very aggressive for a female lead and it fits the style/ genre of the music and lyrics.
Many music videos have story lines and this video have a complicated story line. The performance meets the linear narrative as it makes the audience desire to see it again. Lady Gaga is always in her videos, she never just sings and lets other people feature in her video instead of her. This is another part of her style image as everyone expects her to be in her videos. There are references to voyeurism by the women of this video as they look into the camera when they are dancing in the cafe and when Lady Gaga is dancing in the prison corridor. The music videos that have a linear narrative fit in to the three main narrative theories of Propp, Todorov and Levi-Strauss and they sometimes fit in to Barthes theory. This video follows these theories very well. According to Propps theory, Lady Gaga in this video can been seen as the hero, the villian and the false hero as she is in jail at the beginning of the video and poisons people at the end. Beyonce is the helper to the 'false hero' as she helps poison the people in the cafe and helps Lady Gaga get out of prision. The princess in this video is not a person or an object, it is the feeling of achievement and knowing that they have murdered the boyfriend who kept on making trouble. Not all of Propps eight main characters are featured in every video and this is noticable in this video as only four of the eight main characters are present. Todorov's theory of 'equilibrium - disruption - re-equilibrium' is shown when Lady Gaga is in jail and this is normal. The disruption is when Beyonce gets Lady Gaga out of jail and they poison the people in the cafe. The re-equilibrium is when they are on the run from the police and they go to start a new life. Todorov's theory keeps the audience interested in the narrative as they wonder what is going to happen in the rest of the video or the one that follows it. Levi-Strauss's theory of binary oppositions can be applied to almost everything and it is very helpful. The binary oppositions in this music video are Good VS Evil, Weak VS Strong, Normal VS Unnormal and many more. A theory that isn't widely used amungst music videos is Barthes theory of 'enigma codes' where there are questions in set at the beginning of the text and they are answered by the end of the text. For example, the questions that are asked in this text are; Why is Lady Gaga in jail? Will she get out? Why are they poising the cafe? All of these are answered near or at the end of the video but a question that is left unanswered is; Will they get away from the police? This secures multiply viewings by audiences and they are kept guessing by the artist whether another video will be produced to 'wrap up' the unanswered question. As we can see, Lady Gaga follows the conventions outlined by Andrew Goodwin in the book 'Dancing to Distraction' (2003) and Pete Fraser in 'Teaching Music Video' (2005).
This music video by Rihanna is her latest video and it has just been released. This is a typical RnB video as it is shot in a very high tech and expensive studio, a lot of green screen is used and it works very well and fits the style of Rihanna. There is use of close ups, medium shots, 360 degree angles, slow motion, long shots and many jump shots in the editing.There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals and the music and the visuals. The colour's are very bright and appeal to audiences, the 'red' theme runs through everything, even Rihanna's hair. The lyrics go along with the visuals as she is singing about being 'the only girl in the world' and Rihanna is the central figure/artist in the video. The target audience for this video is between 16-25 years old, it is mainly females that Rihanna appeals to but because of the male gaze and Rihanna's 'sex symbol' reputation, the secondary audience are males. Rihanna is mixed race, this helps her target audience appeal to a wide range of people. She also appeals to every category of the socio-economic status from A to E.
Rock: Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer
Bon Jovi are a typical rock band, they focus more on the live performance of their singles than the videos. This is a typical convention of rock bands, for example 'The Police', 'Queen' and 'The Beatles' all have videos which only focus on the live performance and the lead up to the gig, which is what this music video is about. Livin' on a Prayer comes from Bon Jovi's second single from their third album 'Slippery when wet' released in August 1986.
There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, the lyrics that mainly show this are:
We've got to hold on to what we've got
'Cause it doesn't make a difference
If we make it or not
We've got each other and that's a lot
For love - we'll give it a shot
This is illustrating that the band are half way there to becoming an established and well known group. The video are shows this as it is showing the lead up to the gig that they are hosting and it is illustrating that they are nearly ready for the gig but they just have to practice some more. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals also with the visuals and the sound. The song is very upbeat in some places and slower in other places and the video represents this very well. There are many close ups of the main artist, John Bon Jovi and there are close ups on the rest of the band as well. Bon Jovi as a band have developed their own star iconography, they are always in their videos even if they are not signing, for example, their video for 'Always' has John Bon Jovi being the main protagonist by featuring in the video and also singing. The mise en scene of Bon Jovi also stays the same throughout their time together as a band. The long hair, rock style clothes, the many videos of gigs and the narrative videos all show the type of star image they have developed over time. 
This is a chronological video as there is a linear narrative in both sections of the video. The narrative/story line which is the main part of the video and the second narrative of Bon Jovi performing in the video too. The way the two narratives cut across each other shows how they are both telling the same story. 
In there video, Livin' On A Prayer, they have many references to voyeurism, especially when they are showing the lead up to the main performance that evening. The main artist, John Bon Jovi looks into the camera screen many times. Bon Jovi have their own style and they don't use intertextual references which is unusual for bands and their videos. This shows the differences in the sub-genres between rock and pop. The lyrics show a general feeling amongst the band and their early success. The video, as stated before, is associated with the song on certain parts but the visuals don't mirror the lyrics of the song which is very normal for a performance video.
We're half way there
Livin' on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear
Livin' on a prayer
Tommy got his six string in hock
Now he's holding in what he used
To make it talk - so tough, it's tough
Gina dreams of running away
When she cries in the night
Tommy whispers: Baby it's okay, someday
We've got to hold on to what we've got
'Cause it doesn't make a difference
If we make it or not
We've got each other and that's a lot
For love - we'll give it a shot
Livin' on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear
Livin' on a prayer
Tommy got his six string in hock
Now he's holding in what he used
To make it talk - so tough, it's tough
Gina dreams of running away
When she cries in the night
Tommy whispers: Baby it's okay, someday
We've got to hold on to what we've got
'Cause it doesn't make a difference
If we make it or not
We've got each other and that's a lot
For love - we'll give it a shot
The lyrics in the chorus mirror the type of video that they are going for as it fits the visuals of the video but the versus don't mirror the video at all. You would expect a chronological video when you see these lyrics but it is a non-chronological video and focus more on the performance which is, once again, very typical for a rock band.
The tempo of this song is quite fast but in some places it is a bit slower, this drives the editing to meet the tempo of the song which it does very well. The editing is simple but yet very effective as it meets the tempo of the song and gives the feel the band for looking for when this video was edited. The sub-genre rock is easily categorised. This is shown through the mise en scene, the themes, performance, cinematography and editing. The typical mise en scene of a rock band is drums, guitar, the use of low key lighting more than high key lighting and the clothes are very important. The leather jackets with tassels on, the leather trousers and the leather cowboy boots clearly show the genre of this band.
There is typical use of cinematography in this video, just like other videos of the same sub-genre and other sub-genres. There is use of 360 degree angles which focus on the main artist. There is excessive use of tracking shots, panning shots, close ups, medium shots and high angled shots to make the band look superior to the crew that are helping the band produce this video and the audience that come to the gig. There is use of slow motion shots to emphasise the theme of the gig they are practicing for and it creates a dramatic feel for the audience. The camera movement accompanies the movement of the performers which is John Bon Jovi and his band. The up-beat music and the fast movement of the artists, for example, the flying through the air and the constant circling of the band shows the dramatic feel to the stage performance. The constant close ups and medium shots of the band creates a relationship between the artist and the audience as they feel included in the video. The editing that is most common in music videos are fast-cutting montage-rendering which makes some of the images impossible to grasp in the first viewing which ensures multiple viewing. The editing which is used most commonly in this video is fast paced to meet the tempo of the video and the performance.
There is typical use of cinematography in this video, just like other videos of the same sub-genre and other sub-genres. There is use of 360 degree angles which focus on the main artist. There is excessive use of tracking shots, panning shots, close ups, medium shots and high angled shots to make the band look superior to the crew that are helping the band produce this video and the audience that come to the gig. There is use of slow motion shots to emphasise the theme of the gig they are practicing for and it creates a dramatic feel for the audience. The camera movement accompanies the movement of the performers which is John Bon Jovi and his band. The up-beat music and the fast movement of the artists, for example, the flying through the air and the constant circling of the band shows the dramatic feel to the stage performance. The constant close ups and medium shots of the band creates a relationship between the artist and the audience as they feel included in the video. The editing that is most common in music videos are fast-cutting montage-rendering which makes some of the images impossible to grasp in the first viewing which ensures multiple viewing. The editing which is used most commonly in this video is fast paced to meet the tempo of the video and the performance. 
Through the uses and gratifications theory, this video offers the main four categories, Diversion, Personal relationships, Personal identity, Surveillance. This sub-genre offers a form of escape from the everyday world and imagine being part of Bon Jovi. It shows how personal relationships can develop when people discuss the video and their favourite bits. It can also develop the audiences personal identity as they copy the mise en scene of their ideals and they dress the same, this was the case when Livin' On A Prayer was released as this clothing and hair style was very popular. The surveillance category, isn't very important in this genre and this video specifically as it shows what is going on in the world of music with gigs and performances but it doesn't give an educationally view on the world. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is displayed in this video as it shows love and belonging within a group of friends and family. It also offers self-esteem and self-actualization as it shows audiences confidence, achievement, respect to others and creativity with their own mise en scene, especially clothes and hair styles. HipHop: Snoop Dog - Drop It Like It's Hot
By Romany
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Study on Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal: Narrative
Once we decided which portfolio we were going to create, we did a research task on possibly the best song writer and performing ever, the king of pop Michael Jackson. We watched his video 'Smooth Criminal' and found what typical conventions of music videos were featured in this video.
By Romany , Richard and Emma
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