Functions of a music video

I chose this music video by R. Kelly and Usher as it is among my favourites. From the beginning of the video it immediately creates a film like tone/feel with R.Kelly on the phone in an office. This is really effective as it helps sustain the viewers level of interest therefore being intriguing.

One of the effects that I love in this video is the  use of jump cuts. This is shown throughout the video and at first shows the two artists; R.Kelly and Usher, as the narrators. This is a significant technique as it introduces them both as the characters. As the song is about a girl that they've 'both' met and are in a intimate relationship with; at nearly every verse it shows another jump cut to the girl.

 However, as the music video follows the concept rule of the male gaze it features edits such as extreme close ups on the young woman's features; Lips and breasts as well as wide shots to show her 'curvaceous' figure/body. This is to further entertain the viewers hence the sexual portrayal of females in the video. Another reason could be of the genre of the music video, R&B which typically follows that portrayal of women as 'gold diggers' and as seductive where as the males are shown as the filthy rich players. Because of that I found this music video extremely entertaining as it somehow challenged with a twist...The roles slightly reversing.

Overall, I love this music video because of the storyline and the creativity of it and that to me made it very appealing.

Reflection on progress:

Looking back to AS I would say I have improved in terms of the creativity of my research blogs. I also feel as though I use a lot more examples to back up my research. However, i do think I need to do more blogging and improve the context of my work and add extra detail. If I was to give my self a mark out of 20 i would give myself a 13. This is because I believe that my blogs are creative however I do feel that they could use a bit more detail and I could upload more blogs!

Previous Student Video Review.

Mainstream v Indie

The benefits of being with a mainstream label and a mainstream artist means you have loads of money invested into your video's and will then be able to produce the most creative and interesting music video's also you are promoted to the audience through merchandise as mentioned in the presentation along with many more resulting more sales within merchandise, tours and music. However it means everything is planned for you by directors, stylists and managers therefore you have little room for yourself as an artist to be independent and creative.

Being in an Indie band signed to a little and independent label means that you can creative and do as you please without having stylists telling you how to dress and directors telling you how to certain things, therefore you can grow as an artist. However and have a little budget to make videos and also may not be as successful as mainstream.

Synergy.

Synergy is where two products or companies combine to make a video, and use the video as a platform to give them success in their respective areas. For example a music video may be made to increase publicity for a film, but may prove successful in its own right. One example is the music video ‘stuck with each other’ the official video for the 'confessions of a shopaholic' film.

A music video helps to provide synergy for the artist starring in it; a popular music video helps to expand their audience and also increases the artists power in the industry. If a video is shown on YouTube for example companies may pay to advertise on the video or through product placement, this would give them synergy through the video which will in turn improve their publicity.

Another example of how synergy is used in a music video can be seen in keri hilson's 'knock you down' music video.

Laura Mulvey: Male gaze theory

What is the gaze?

The idea of the‘gaze’ is one that is concerned with how an audience views the people presented.

Laura Mulvey, a British feminist film theorist, coined the term ‘male gaze’ in 1975. This concept was formed through how Mulvey thought women were represented in film and literature. Mulvey sees the representation of women in film and literature as being dominated by a male perspective.

Features of the male gaze:

- The camera lingers on the curves of the female body, and events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a man's reaction to these events

 - Relegates women to the status of objects. The female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily, by identification with the male

Below are some examples which illustrate the ideas formed by Laura Mulvey.

                                                            Nicki Minaj - Anaconda

In this video, close up's of female body parts are shown in order to gain the audiences attention.This is a clear example of women being objectified in regards to the male gaze.

August Alsina - Numb

In this video, slow motion tracking and tilt shots are used in order to showcase the female body, the camera is often lingering over the curves of the female body. This is also another good example of how the male gaze is used in music videos. 

Tyga ft Young Thug - Hookah

In this video, dismemberment is used to showcase different parts of the female body, therefore objectifying women and clearly showing the Laura Mulvey theory of how women are represented in film and literature.  

Carol Vernalis Theory:

Skills Audit 1:

Looking back on the research I had conducted for my AS practical I would say my research skills have developed. I think this is because i am a lot more focused with the A2 project so therefore i put more effort into my research and finding out key conventional aspects of a music video. Also, I put effort into finding out the likes and dislikes of our target audience in order to ensure we could create a visually entertaining and conventional pop music video.

Research Blog - Andrew Goodwin's Narrative Theory:

Research: Lip-Sycning Tutorial

Today we were shown how to do base tracking editing and lip-syncing  on Final Cut Pro, this is key part of having a successful music video as base tracks give the music video's structure and help have appropriate lip syncing. We edited a music video in the genre of rock with already made footage.

 In the beginning we had to mark where the first word was said so that footage could be in sync and flow in the correct manner, once they are marked on the first word, we had line them up to match the audio itself, as you can see all the marked areas are in line.

In this stage I had to edit to the rhythm of the song in this case on every beat of 1, I marked the clips, therefore the edits will change in time and meet the conventions of a music video, which relates back to Carol Vernallis theory.









In this final stage I deleted the clips that I did not want to be shown therefore these would come across as jump cuts in time with the beat keeping the audience's attention at all times, I thought it would be best to edit in a pattern so for every close up there would be a shot musical instruments for example as you see below there's a flow in the jump cuts which is where I followed Carol Vernallis theory as she believes jump cuts are used frequently.

Music Video Analysis:

Music video costume analysis from _fahmida_n

Research blog: Functions of a music video.

Lipsync tutorial

In today's lesson we learnt about how lip-syncing  shown in music videos.

 The most common shot types in music videos are tracking and panning and this creates and sustains the viewers level of interest throught the use of energy and dramatic vibes.

Base tracks are when a song is played throughout nonstop , in which the artist lip syncs along side it throughout while being recorded . This is done varies times in maybe different locations, costumes and camera angles so when it comes to editing in Final Cut Pro or other editing software's , the music video can be in sync and also have different visual appearances to it.

We also learnt how to use Final Cut Pro in terms of when editing a Music Video , this meant being able to use markers in final cut pro. This was to mark the point in which the lipsyncing would start and the music- the original soundtrack would come in , this then made it easier to edit the film into the track making it more visual pleasurable .

Lipsyncing Tutorial and Final Cut Pro pratice !

Lip-syncing Tutorial

 



In today's lesson , we were given a tutorial on lip-syncing and how it interlinks to editing in Final Cut Pro . This tutorial focused on base track editing , this is a key aspect we must consider when filming our own music videos as it will help make editing our footage a lot more easy and convent meaning more availability to consider the visual appearance and pleasure which we intend to achieve .

We practiced editing a music video of the genre Rock in which we was supplied with the footage already :

 

 

1) Firstly , I started by dragging the Original Soundtrack down to the bar , in which I locked the sides to keep it in place , after this I was then able then to look at all the different footages and then Mark the beginning word of the footage , after doing this with all the footage I was then able to drag the different footages of the band,  in which lead to layers building up meaning I had all my footage on , which looks something like this :

 

2) Secondly , after building up my footage ,  I then had to edit to the rhythm of the song which is shown on the picture which is on every beat of 4, I marked the clips, therefore the edits will change in time with the beat of the song , this refers back to Vernallis 's theory of changes within the music video .



(Here the read marks on the top of the timeline show the marking of every 4 beats which match the beat of the original soundtrack )


3) After placing the footage , soundtrack and markers , it was time to use the Blade tool to cut each section from every 4 beats , in which created a sort of brick wall which I was then able to delete the different clips that I didn't want so it would make my music video jump cut to different scenes , this giving a more appealing look for an audience to watch .



Group: Costume, Setting and Location

In this lesson we watched Rita Ora's new music video- I Will Never Let You Down. As a group we analysed costume, props, location and setting and how it linked to the genre of the music video; Pop.

Rita changed her costume numerous of times throughout the video and we noticed that as the tempo and beat slowed down towards the chorus she was wearing a revealing and sexy black lingerie. This effectively fitted with Laura Mulvey's theory of women being presented in the glare of the male gaze.

The locations and setting also vary in the music video . The corridor and street location is repeatedly shown throughout; through the use of jump cuts. This is very effective as it links with the pop genre which typically shows the dance choreography of the video.

Rita uses a glass mirror as as prop towards the bridge of the song. The use of the glass mirror presents Rita in a seductive way as she kisses it- leaving a mark and smudging her lipstick.

Research: Analysis on costume, setting and location

12. Kimberley, Cindy, Quddus, Joyce from 283goswell on Vimeo.
01. Chris Da Costa, Naomi Oti-Sampson, Renee Bailey, Mahksud Miah from 283goswell on Vimeo.
Jem, Zakariya, Courtney, Fuzail from 283goswell on Vimeo.

Research: Analysis on Previous Student

Research: Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey had a view on representations in music videos and the way gender is portrayed she explains this in this quote: “ In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly“.

What Laura Mulvey is saying in the above quote is that in music videos men are viewed as the dominant, in charge and active within the videos and women are seen as the object of them and are portrayed as submissive, and are purposely styled and behave in a certain way in order to appeal to the male gaze, as the viewers of the music clips (camera) is positioned as a heterosexual man. Now this may not be done obviously and directly in every music video it may be portrayed through phallic symbolism, usually by dismembering parts of the body or sexual suggestions.

By using the camera to position the viewer as a man, displays to the audience that women are objectified and may influence that this is correct, it also sexualizes women on whole while on the other hand making males look dominant and the main focus whether that be through camera angles, mise en scene or phallic symbolism.

Here are some examples of Laura Mulvey’s Theory.

Nicki Minaj - Anaconda

The reason I think this video best displays Laura theory is because Nicki Minaj and her backup dancers and constantly being dismembered throughout the video, in the intro they are hanging off objects making them become apart of the object. Also their clothing choice of shorts, tight gym wear and bathing suits appeals to the male gaze. Lastly my main point is towards the ending of the video Nicki Minaj and Drake are in a shot together Drake is on the chair fully clothed looking down at Nicki Minaj who is on all floor in animal like position.

This video only consists of two people but still supports Laura’s theory of active males and passive females. Throughout Kayne is shown on a clear screen no distractions, full body shots and he is also fully clothed, whereas Kim Kardashian is shown with a movie background and subject to him, she is also half naked and parts of her body are dismembered e.g. lips, boobs and eyes which all suggested in a sexual manner and portray her as a sexual object. Another point is that when Kanye is shown on the motorbike he is riding it correctly in bright lighting whereas the feel is shown on the motorbike in a darker lighting and is a suggestive manor.

Copyright Clearance

Research: Carol Vernallis

Research Blog: Copyright Clearance.

Over the summer break I wrote emails to various record labels in hope to gain copyright clearance. Below is a presentation showing the emails I sent out.


                    

Reflection blog: Skills obtained throughout AS.

Throughout the course of the AS year there have been many technical skills that I have acquired and used. These skills include:

• Creating title sequences using Motion
• How to use final cut pro
• How to use Prezi
• How to use slide share
• How to use Blogger
• How to use time toast
• How to use creative commons
• How to use sound cloud
• How to use a JVC camera
• How to use camera equipment
• How to use still cameras
• Good understanding of the rule of thirds

Reflection Blog: AS to A2 - Music Industry.

In June in our AS to A2 lessons we were taught about different components of the music industry and how they lead to the successful marketing of an artist or band. We learnt about how an artist is promoted and the reason behind why artists and bands use music videos. We also learnt about the conventions found in music videos and how different genres of music often contain various different conventions.

Analysis of costume , setting and location in music video genres .

Reviewing Past Students work

Research: Andrew Goodwin

Illustration - I decided to go forward with this song because the song is continuously talking about lying to a faithful girl and the video compliments this as it displayed the storyline to match the lyrics and tempo of the song. The video being in black and white shows the seriousness behind the lyrics.


Amplification - This music video adds deeper meaning to the lyrics and gives a sentimental visual pleasure and makes the lyrics more personal.

Disjuncture - I think this video best displayed disjuncture because there is little connection between the lyrics and the video, I find this very common in the house genre of music.

Research: Function of a music video

My Idea Of A Good Music Video




The reason I choose this music video is because straightaway you are aware that there is a clear story line in this music video and continuous movement keeping the audience engaged, the editing is used really creatively and has jump cuts matching the tempo of the song throughout, the camera constantly follows the lead artist of the moment keeping the audience attention. There are roughly 6-7 costume changes however there is no clear difference with regards to costume between verse and chorus, however through editing the tempo of the edits slows down for the chorus as the rhythm of the song changes. Various camera shots are used such as; close ups, long shots, mid shots and wide shots however there is rarely any dismembering of the body parts, but the camera is used as male gaze with the angle of the shot's e.g when Nicki Minaj has her legs open we have a low angled shot making it clear what we should be watching. With regards to costume the woman have be purposely styled to appeal to the male gaze for example bikini's, tight fitting clothing and clothing which reveal the artists cleavage area.  As an overall this music video appeals to me as a good music video as there are various edits and special effects, use of bright colours and contrast and also regular costume changes.

Technical Skills

The skills I learnt in AS Media:

 

• I learnt how to use Final Cut Pro to edit
• I learnt how to use Photoshop
• I developed my media technical skills; by using slideshare, prezi, camtasia, timetoast and other photosharing sites to present my work
• I learnt how to embed my work onto blogger
• I learnt how to properly use and organise my work onto Blogger
• I learnt how to screen record using Quicktime
• I learnt how to create Gifs and animations
• I learnt how to make fanpage websites to promote

Reflecting back on the AS year

SUMMER LESSONS REFLECTION


From the summer lessons in June we discussed what we thought Music videos were; it's role and purpose. From that I learnt that Music videos are short films produced to give the audience visual pleasure which is one of the main purposes as well as as being a promotion to a song and album. The idea of music videos creating visual pleasure is effective as makes the viewers gain interest, which can make them to re watch and share.

Music videos tend to vary- a wide range of styles and techniques such as uses of animation, live action filming and documentaries, because of this the target audience also differs depending on the music genres.

To help us understand the history behind music videos we watched various videos and then discussed the differences and similarities. Music videos were produced first in the late 60s; characters, storyline, a short film almost and with singing/dancing. It was more appealing to the viewers and to the artist easier to sell, advertise and promote their song/album. Music videos are very effective as they can be easily accessed via social networks/sites; YouTube.

                                                     
One of the videos we watched as a class was Michael Jackson- Thriller. Despite the music video being released in 1982  it was a huge development in comparison to previous music videos aired on MTV such as Video killed the radio star- The Buggles.








Thriller was made on a $500,000 budget and was unusually long-14 minutes. I think because of the length of the video it may have been the producers intentions of presenting it as almost like a short horror film and this effectively sustaining the viewers interest. 

Thriller proved that it was a worldwide/international success and some could argue that it was because of the then popular genre; horror and romance, hence the two merging effectively together. Thriller aslo helped Jackson to receive a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Till today some would also consider it to be one of the greatest music videos of all time.

 

MTV

MTV ; a Music Television channel, was first launched in August 21st 1981 at 12:01 am. MTV helped audiences to visualise songs as well as for artists to showcase their videos to promote. It worked effectively as it also helped usher a pop culture phenomenom and with that MTV changed the way music was consumed- audio and vision.

Laura Mulvey's Theory

Carol Vernallis's Theory

Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context

Carol Vernallis studied editing and camerawork in music videos, she observed the edits in the music videos come more frequently than in films and stand out to be a disjuncture, which seems to have a rhythmic basis closely connected to the song.

She also notices that:

·         The usual rules of continuity editing that would be found in videos or film is broken purposely to draw attention to what is on the screen.

·         Edit may be made really obvious to draw attention to the edits themselves, For example, wipe, special effects and jump cuts.

·         She also notes that music videos use a base track editing in which helps music videos have a structure

·         Also, the camera may move in time with the music.

Carol Vernallis theory and the elements she discusses can be found in many music videos:

Jump Cuts:

Jennifer Lopez – On The Floor Ft Pitbull:

  
Special Effects:

 Michael Jackson – Leave me Alone

Use of base tracks in the edit :

Lady Gaga - Born this way

This music video out of the three is a very obvious example that illustrates all the points that Vernallis had about music videos. A lot of editing is used, the special effects are used often at the start of the video, this draw attention to the audience as they are very obvious. Jump cuts are also used regularly. The main base track is mostly used through out the video to give it a structure, where all the dancing is shown.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Researching Music Videos - Andrew Goodwins's Theory from sanaaelhaouz

Functions of a Music Video

When looking into music videos, you can see that music videos are made for a purpose which benefits the artist and makers; as well as providing a visual pleasure for its audiences. Functions of music videos are:

To promote:

Music Videos are a good way for an artist/artists to promote what they have to offer as musician which could help sell a single or album or just promote the artist in general , it is also a quick way to gain a mass audience as music videos are easy to gain access to and easy to play .

To entertain

Music Videos also have a lot of thought into how the company behind the artist want to provide visual pleasure and also provide the audience with entertainment and keeps them interested.

To gain a name

Memorable music videos can even help an artist pursue bigger goals in their career and can also make an artist a bigger seller, so music videos also act as a helping hand in gaining a name for an artist.

One example of a music video which I believe perfectly shows these ideas and also reveals what I think a music video should closely look like:

Jennifer Lopez – On the Floor

This video clearly shows the essence of a music video through its camerawork, editing and it mise en scene. Firstly the camera moves in time with the beat, this begins its function to entertain the audience as they are visually hooked to watch the music video and the different shots consisted within it.

Also the use of the mise en scene , where the location was really colourful which matched the energy with the people in the video also the energy within the song , also this idea of On the Floor is illustrated in what we see in the music video as Jennifer Lopez herself and others are literally on the dance floor in a vibrant club dancing .

This music video is also very entertaining due to this micro features , this allowing the audience to remember Jennifer Lopez and might also be interested in looking into her other lyrics this creating the function of gaining a name

Copyright Clearance

Reflecting back on the AS year : Technical Skills

Also , from doing AS Media Studies I have also learnt a lot of technical skills during the course which benefits a large amount in my AS year and also will benefit me this year , while in AS I learnt :

• How to use a fig rig and a tripod when filming
• Learning how to use Final Cut Pro properly
• Understanding and using various shot types .
• Learn to use appropriate camera angles such as High/Low angles
• How to use different software’s to present my work such as Prezi ,Slideshare,Powtoon Camtasia.
• Embedding video clips on to my blogs
• Understanding and learning of media languages (mise en scene, editing, camera, sound)
• Rule of thirds

Reflecting back on the AS year .

Reflecting back on the AS year

What I already know about music videos?

At the end of the AS year, to prepare for our second year of Media, I began to look into music videos and the basic analysis and ideas behind the making and viewings of music videos.

 What are Music Video?

We began talking about the aspects of what Music Videos actually are in which we learnt that they are produced to give a visual app to a song and reveals an idea or interpretation alongside the song. Also, music videos have varies purposes such as promoting a single, the album of an artist and also the artist in general; it sells the son in a way that the audience can remember the song due to the visual aspect it brings.

MTV

We also looked at the making and beginning of the television MTV also known as its full name Music TV which launched on August the 1^st 1980 to help usher in Pop culture . This channel afford audiences to see a variety of music genres as well as music videos which went along with it .This channel then became key to artists who wanted to make a name for themselves as it allowed them to get more viewings on their music videos .

Also looking into MTV, a presenter said “you’ll never look at music in the same way again” this could suggest the idea off the success of MTV as a first major music channel as it has changed the way we consume music and we can now listen to and watch a music simultaneously rather than just listening to it on the radio .

Research: Copyright clearance

Media

This is a short clip of the copyright clearance emails I sent out to various record labels such as Music Universal Group, Crown Music, Parlophone records and Disturbing London asking for permission to use their song for my advanced portfolio, in hope that they would reply although I only received one reply it was interesting to research on these artists find out how many labels the are signed to or previous labels they were signed to also finding out information on how to contact these labels as their contact details are sometimes hard to find it also gave my some background on certain artist and on how they moved over into USA music industry.

Reflecting back on the AS year: Technical

Skills I Have A Developed

Through out the AS media studies I have developed various skills which have enabled me to complete media tasks and I feel these skills will be developed further in A2:

• Knowledge on final cut pro editing and use comfortably 
• How to add effects on final cut pr
• How to add text on final cut pro
• The use of memory cards
• How to use a JVC camera
• How to use a fig rig
• Good understanding of shot types (close up, mid shot, etc.)
• Good understanding on camera angles (worms eye view)
• Good knowledge on how to use Prezi
• Good knowledge on how to use slide share
• How to use Camtasia to record and discuss information
• How to use TimeToast in order to display time line of events
• Using photosharing sites
• Embedding video clips
• Use of screenshots
• How to correctly complete an electronic storyboard
• Understanding of media languages (mise en scene, editing, camera, sound)
• Rule of thirds

Reflecting back on the AS year

What We Learnt

During the summer lesson’s in June, as class we covered what a music video is, some history of music videos and what pleasure it gives to the audience.

Firstly we looked into what a music video actually is and the purpose of them, it became very clear that music videos have become a necessity in the music industry as it helps promote the artist, song and possibly album and create a bigger fan base for the artist being promoted. The music video also gives the audience a better way to engage and relate to the song visually which could possibly give clearer understand of the song, in the lesson we found out the music videos are in a sense a marketing tool as it promotes the artist. And gain a status and name for the artist's for example Lady Gaga is known for her unique and animation take on music videos

MTV

We looked at some content on MTV; I learnt that MTV is music TV channel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This channel was released 1st August 1980’s which helped artists relate to their fans in a greater way. MTV’s definition of music video is “A videotaped performance of a recorded popular song, usually accompanied by dancing and visual images interpreting the lyrics” which is what we see in music videos today. MTV changed the way people listened and reacted to music from that day forward there was a new approach on how to interact with fans/audience. Today there are now various ways to watch music videos; YouTube, Vevo, Viva, MTV and various other websites.

We briefly looked at Andrew Goodwin theory on visual pleasure and how audiences enjoy music videos and have expectations for certain genre's.

Group photo