Gender
Demographics may change when it comes to gender, as different genders may prefer different genres of music. Males may prefer more dominant and heavy music like rock, whilst females may prefer to listen to music from the charts like pop music.
Age
Age may vary when it comes to demographics of music videos, as an older audience may prefer an older artist or an older song or a slowed down song, unlike a younger audience who may prefer a younger artist who are more their age and can represent that particular age category, or an artist who produces a more upbeat song.
Education
People with lower education are more likely to listen to music that is in the charts rather than people with a higher education or those of the upper middle class who may have attended private school etc. who might prefer to listen to classical music because their parents or other family members listen to it.
Geographical location
People who live in urban area's may prefer to listen to rap/dance music as they can associate with the artist. People who live in a rural area may prefer to listen to more slower songs instead of upbeat songs. Also those who live in a popular farming area such as, Texas tend to listen to country music.
Lifestyle
Different people with different backgrounds will have different lifestyles. This could be impacted when it comes to music choices. For example, people who are upper middle class and who lead a rich lifestyle may listen to classical music and not like chart music which contains a variety of genres like the working class.
Institution Profile
Different institutions air different genres of music. Institutions are large companies that control markets of the products they distribute this can be anything that airs music such as, television, radio, the internet etc. Channels that air music include Viva, MTV, 4Music, Smash Hits, Magic, Heat, Scuzz, Kerrang, Capital TV. Radio stations include BBC Radio1, BBC Radio1xtra, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 6, Capital Xtra, Classic FM, Kiss FM etc.
BBC Radio 1
Aims to entertain and engage a broad range of young listeners with a distinctive mix of contemporary music and speech. It's main audience is 15-29 year olds. This is similar to Ben Howard's audience as he targets a younger audience of this age range rather than a older audience. BBC Radio 1extra
Is a spin off from BBC Radio 1 it tends to feature Hip-Hop music, R&B and grime. It plays songs that don't feature or get played on BBC Radio 1. BBC Radio 3
Plays Jazz music as well as centres on classical, world music and opera music which will be aimed at the upper-middle classes rather than lower classes. BBC Radio 6
Features songs from the last 40 years which are popular among many social classes, particularly the working classes, but some middle classes may also listen to these as well. Capital Xtra
Like BBC Radio 1xtra, Capital Xtra is a spin off from Capital FM and similar they play the same genres of music which don't feature on the leading radio channel. The genre's include hip-hop, R&B, dance, and rap. They play the biggest songs of that moment. Classic FM
Is the UK's favourite classical music streaming station. It plays the biggest songs produced by classical music composers. Kiss FM
Specialises in hip-hop, R&B, urban and electronic dance music. It also broadcasts on DAB Digital Radio around the UK and nationally on Freeview, Sky and Virgin media.
Viva
Is one of the UK's leading music channel for new music and entertainment. It airs the UK Top 40 and shows exclusive videos for new music. MTV
Is a 24hour entertainment channel. Not only does it play music it also airs popular TV shows and is one of the worlds leading networks for music. 4Music
Airs the latest music that is in the charts and like Viva features brand new never seen before music videos. Smash Hits
Is aimed at teenagers and young adults, and plays Pop music. As well as a TV channel they also have a magazine which is published for the same age target audience as they do for their TV channel. Magic
Plays mainly easy listening music and is based on their radio station magic radio. Heat
Plays chart music and is based on their radio station Heat Radio. Kerrang
Is the worlds number one Rock Music TV channel. It does not air any other music other than rock. Capital Tv
Is like Capital radio and plays the latest chart music and videos.
The song that i am making my video for will feature on specific radio stations and music channels. As Ben Howard is in the singer/songwriter genre, he only has a niche audience and does not appeal to the mass audience. Therefore he will only appear on certain channels and radio stations. The song that i am doing by Ben Howard is Depth Over Distance, he frequently appears on Radio One Live Lounge this means he will feature on Radio 1 more than any other radio station. Radio One is known for covers of other songs done by famous and upcoming artists. The music of the songs which are played on the Live Lounge tend to be purely instrumental based, very rarely are they upbeat. As Ben Howards audience is mainly aged between 15-30, and the audience for Radio One is aged between 15-29 it is ideal for his songs to be played on this station. None of the other radio stations listed appeal to this particular genre. Also he would be played on this station as they tend to cover a lot of live festivals/performances from them, and he is known for doing festivals as many of his songs are instrumental based.
The music channels that would feature Ben Howard would be Viva and 4Music. This is because he rarely features in the charts he only features in the charts of his genre on Itunes. Similar artists to Ben Howard include; Ed Sheeran and Jamie Lawson, however these two artists are more popular and have a bigger audience/fan base, therefore they appear on different radio stations like capital and music channels like capital TV.
The demographic group of Ben Howards audience would be the working class, as the age range is between 15-30. Also as he would only appear on Viva and 4Music, it means he will only appear on Freeview channels as these two music channels are the leading ones on there. But you can also get these channels if you have Sky etc, which means different classes may listen to him but it is very unlikely. Typically people have Freeview if they cannot afford different TV brands, and in most cases it is aimed at the working class as it is cheaper for those who are on a lower income.
Questions
Where do you watch music videos?
What genres do you listen to and why?
What would encourage you to watch more music videos?
What do you enjoy about music videos?
Do you prefer narrative that follows a story of the song lyrics or abstract music videos and why?
What music video did you last watch, and what did you enjoy about it?
How do you discover music?
How often do you watch music video's? Everyday, 2-3days, 4-5days, every week, every month, never.
Do you feel that music videos contribute to the songs success?
Idea One
The initial shot starts with a woman looking at her reflection in a puddle/water. The woman then gradually gets up and the video rewinds, and you can see the woman running backwards through a wood type location. Once the signing in the song starts the rewinding stops, and the woman is stood looking into the camera from a distance (long shot). After this we will see the woman walking across different locations (this relates to the song as she is walking across the distance). During the scenes of the woman walking, flashes of a male show but only certain areas of his body, so his full identity is not revealed. Towards the end of the video the woman stops and is turned sideways, the camera shows a close-up of the woman's facial expression (looking relieved). The camera then zooms out and the woman is looking at the male, this then reveals the males identity. The meaning behind this video suggests no matter the distance, you will over come the obstacles and find each other.
Start: Shows the man and woman together at a train station the woman is facing the camera while the man has his back turned on the camera, to keep his identity a secret. The camera starts spinning around them but still his face is hidden, when the camera stops spinning and slows down she walks away from him and gets on a train. This shows the audience that they are away from each other this refers to the distance of their relationship.
Middle: We see her looking into water with everything still going on around her in a fast motion, and you can see her identity clearly. After you can also see the man looking into water, but his reflection is unclear so you can't see his identity. Throughout the video there are different locations that the woman is walking across.
End: The man and the woman are reunited and the mans identity is revealed.
Idea Two
The song lyrics contain a lot of visual imagery, so the video could be completely abstract. One of the main things that comes to mind when i think of depth over distance is water. So for this video i could incorporate different shots of water, maybe including people in the distance. Also, i could include visual imagery of trees as the song repeatedly refers to their love been as strong as a tree. More imagery i could include, are religious shots such as a church, grave etc. as the song mentions the Lord, showing a shot of a grave could represent their love been eternal and even death would not be able to separate them. More imagery could include the sun breaking through the sky as the song says 'break for the arms of the Lord'.
Idea Three
A man is struggling with the death of his girlfriend, and tries to take his own life because he cannot bare to be without her. However his girlfriend is there but he cannot see her as she is appearing as a ghost. She prevents him from taking his life and he knows that she is there. She starts leaving messages around their home and he response to them and he gains comfort from them. In the end he does not want to be without her anymore, so he takes his own life and they are reunited.
Conventions of form and genre using textual analysis of videos within the same genre as Ben Howard.
Music videos use similar codes and conventions that other videos within that genre use. The audience can become familiar with that genre as the video progresses, as they get used to recognising the different conventions within a genre. It provides a structure that the audience can understand, and also ensure the lyrics of the song fit in with the video of how we would expect it to be.
The conventions of a music video vary depending on the genre of the music. However the general conventions include; the style, the camera, editing techniques, the sound (non-diegetic and diegetic), mise-en-scene (props, lighting, costume, hair and make-up, location/setting, and colours, notions of looking (stereotyping).
Ed Sheeran - A Team
Similar to Ben Howard, Ed Sheeran is within the same genre as him which is singer/songwriter. Many music videos in this genre tend to show abstract imagery or the artist performing at a concert. However some follow a narrative like Ed Sheeran A Team.
When it comes to the mise-en-scene of music videos, they tend to stick to many of the conventions of that particular genre. In the video A Team, Ed Sheeran (the artist) does not appear in the video as an artist but he briefly appears in the narrative. The video follows a girl who is the main character in the video to which it revolves around her. The narrative is developed from this. The girl who is seen living on the streets and is portrayed as homeless appears in many outdoor locations like the streets. From the costume that she wears, it portrays that she is homeless, as you can see her laid on a park bench with a cover, dressed in a jumper and she is also wearing ripped tights. Her makeup adds to her character as she has dark eyeliner messy around her eyes, suggesting she has had a rough night.
Close-ups in this video are shown when their is emotion to be captured by the character. Showing a close-up when the woman is on the streets and crying adds to emphasis that she is lonely. At the start of the video the camera is focused on another woman looking down at a body which when the narrative later develops, the audience can see she is the main character in the video. Again close-ups are used to show emotion in the woman's face when she realises that someone is dead. The camera tilts down to the body of the main character and focuses on her face which is motionless, the camera blurs and zooms into her eyes, and the narrative and the song start. From this the audience will be able to infer that the video has gone back to the start.
Camera movements such as track and pan, creates how the woman feels. By tracking her movement it is like the audience are walking with her on this journey. By panning the audience can get a bigger understanding of the location and setting, and feel as though they are looking at it from her point of view. Rule of thirds are used and she is always centre frame showing she is the main character in the narrative.
The music video is shown in black and white, this can refer to how she see's the world. However at the end of the video there is colour and the woman appears to be looking down from the sky, connoting she has died and is appearing as an angle as the song lyrics refer to repeatedly.
Jamie Lawson - Wasn't expecting that
Ben Howard - Old Pine
Conventions of form and genre using textual analysis of videos
By using codes and conventions, the audience can become familiar with a particular genre, as they get use to recognising the different conventions within a genre. It provides a structure that the audience can understand, and also it ensures the lyrics of the song fit in with the video of how we would expect it to be.
The conventions of a music video vary depending on genre of music. However, the general conventions include; the style, the camera, editing techniques, the sound (non-diegetic and diegetic), mise-en-scene (props, lighting, costume, hair and make-up, location/setting, and colours, notions of looking (stereotyping).
When it comes to the mise-en-scene of music videos, they tend to stick to many of the conventions of that particular genre. In Where Have You Been, Rihanna appears in several locations this is typical of a music video within this genre. The location she is first shown in is a jungle type setting rising out of the water. Instantly the audience will be able to see that it is that sort of location because of the tree's, dark lighting, mist and the water. What adds to this setting is her costume. When we first see Rihanna rising out of the water she is wearing a bikini type top with fitted pants, this can refer to her as being a mermaid and therefore being mysterious. The dark lighting reflects of the water and creates a mysterious atmosphere within the narrative, with the audience not knowing what is going to happen.
Through editing the video cuts between different settings and locations, and it is constantly changing to keep up with the music this is known fast pace editing. Another setting is a desert location, the song lyrics state that she is looking everywhere for someone, and these settings emphasis the narrative relating it to the song. Within the mise-en-scene the props, lighting and costume help create the desert location. The setting design includes sand, tree's, rocks, fire and in the background a sky with a moon, without these we would not know that she is in a desert based location. The costume that Rihanna wears, includes red baggy pants and a fitted top, the colours of her outfits are typical as she is representing people who live/work on deserts, she also wears a head scarf to create verisimilitude which makes her look as realistic as possible. The colours of her outfit standout against the beige background, this highlights her as the main protagonist. Also, the backing dancers are wearing similar outfits so they also standout and create verisimilitude.
As well as the desert and jungle location, Rihanna is shown in other locations, such like an old building where the lighting is mixed between red and orange but is also dark at the same time. In this location she is always centre frame with the dancers in the background, not once does this change unless she is not in the shot. Throughout, this shot which is cut and spread in between other scenes she is wearing a short black dress which is fitted, this emphasises her sexuality and renders her more appealing to her audience. The dancers are also wearing similar outfits again for the audiences pleasure. In the background there is a chair acting like a thrown with a fur cover over it, this could suggest she is like royalty in the video, or even in the real world as a role model/celebrity.
When Rihanna is shown on her own without dancers, she is either infront of lights this could suggests she is in the spot light and is centre of attention. Another time when she is on her own is when she is sitting/laying under a tree. Rihanna wears a pink dress where she is shown multiple of times, relating her to a Hindu God, this also shows her power within the video as well as an artist. Her make-up also represents this image, as she has silver glitter around her eyes. Her dress also lights up and goes red this could be connotations to her been mysterious or that she is looking for love as red connotes love, which the audience will understand and infer.
Props are vital in adding to the scene and create significance's on particular objects or people. The costumes that Rihanna is seen wearing goes with the scenes in the song and reflects the genre. Costume is an important factor because it can have an influence on how the viewers will dress, because they use music stars and celebrities as role models.
Rihanna is only shown with male dancers once, and she is shown with female dancers or on her own for the rest of the video, until the end where she is surrounded by males going back into the water. When she is shown with female dancers she is in an indoor location that looks like a church because of the arched window in the background, which has an orange/red light shinning through. This again could relate to her being multiplied when she is on her own, as she could be representing the Hindu God Shiva, and that has religious connotation like the Hindu God. In this setting the lighting is dark, but Rihanna is highlighted by a green light whilst she is in the centre of the dancers. Her costume is a short black dress, which is tight this emphasises her sexuality and renders her attractive to her audience. The dancers are also wearing similar outfits, which seems to be a pattern in this video.
This video uses typical conventions of camera movements and shots, that are seen in many video's within the same genre. One of the typical camera shots are close-ups, these close-ups show Rihanna as desirable and add to the audiences pleasure. They also create empahsis on the artist, location and emotions. Also, close-ups are not only used to emotions but to reflect the words of the song with the movement of the lips of the artist. The movement of the camera is used to follow and trace the artist. Camera movements include, tilts, crane shots, tracking and pans.
Long shots showing Rihanna dancing suggests that she is a comfortable performer, but the dancing also makes the video more entertaining and viewable for the audience. The dancing refers to the song as well, as it is upbeat and it makes the video more visually pleasant for the viewers. It is conventional for music videos of this genre to contain dancing. While Rihanna is dancing she is looking directly into the camera from the distance that she is at, this shows her enthusiasm, but as the camera changes different angles such as from low to eye level it shows she is in control of the video, but as she dances with the backing dancers she is always dominant especially when it comes to framing. Rule of thirds is used, as Rihanna is centre framed in every shot this clearly points out to the audience that she is important in the video. Medium shots show Rhianna in more detail than long shots, again emphasising her dominance within the music video.
Close-ups in this video show Rihanna taking up the entire frame, especially when signing to the song. At the start of the video, the camera focuses on Rihanna rising out of the water. This is done by extreme close-ups, close-ups, median close-ups, long shots, and tilts. Extreme close-ups are used to show her face which suggests that she is lusting for someone. Close-ups work in a similar way in this video as they show her facial expressions and her emotions inparticular, but show her signing to the song as mentioned. Close-ups not only focus on her face but her body as well. When she is rising out of the water the camera focuses on her curves, this relates to her as being a sexual object (Mulvey), but she wants to be desired by the male audience. Long shots show her body and again show her as a sexual object. There is a tilt up after she has risen out of the water, the tilt starts at her waist and tilts to her face which is shown as a close-up. Slow motion is used when she is dancing, the camera slows down when focusing on her body, this is done for the viewers pleasure. When Rihanna is shown on her own it suggests that she has dominance, especially when she is multiplied referring to her as a Goddess or a female that has power.
Extreme Close Up
Close Up
Long Shot
Centre Frame
Tilt up - from the waist to the face
Jump cuts is the predominant editing technique used in music videos. This is because it allows a sudden change from one scene to another. Similarly transitions such as fade and dissolve are very common in music videos as they create a different effect than to cuts.
Other main conventions consist of: lighting, some music videos are black and white which helps emphasise a particular mood, and some videos have artificial lighting which gives the artist an enhanced look. In this video as mentioned above the lighting varies, in some scenes it is dark and then it is light in others. Having different lights throughout the video makes it more appealing and attractive towards the audience. When Rihanna is seen on her own, there is artificial lights used, this enhances her as an artist but also makes her look more dominant in the video. There is a juxtaposition of ligthing in this video as it crosses between dark and light.
Light Juxtaposition
Special effects such as fade and cross dissolve are also used. Fade is used when the scenes are changing, this is also when cross dissolve is also used. Cross dissolve is where the main image is still on the screen and another image is slowly coming over the top of it ready for when the video changes scene. However, it does not have to change scene it can be just used as an effect.
Cross Dissolve
Colours tend to set the mood of the song through creating an atmosphere for example, dark colours are used more in rock songs such as the Snow Patrol and bright colours are seen to be used more in hip-hop and pop videos such as Little Mix.
Sound is mainly the vocals or the song, but in some cases such as Michael Jacksons Thriller, the producers can make the video into a short film. However, in this video it is purely the song that can be heard.
Cheryl - Call My Name
Within the genre pop/R&B the codes and conventions are similar in Cheryl Call My Name as to those in Rihanna's Where Have You Been music video. Codes and conventions allows more entertainment and visual pleasure for the viewers. Most songs of this genre tend to have relatable topics that the audience can refer to in their everyday lives things like love, sexuality and friendships/relationships, are the main stories/narratives that music videos follow.
Throughout this music video Cheryl engages in a dance routine, through dancing she is expressing song lyrics. The music video is very synchronised with the song, meaning that every beat matches the song, is the same to the dance routine been performed by Cheryl. The instrumental parts of the song are also been illustrated through choreography and dance moves. The video keeps up with the continuous rhythm of the song, including the fast drum beats before the song reverts back to the chorus.
A typical convention of camera movements is that there are a lot of close-ups of the artist in music videos. On the music video itself, there is a variety of close-ups and other shots like medium close-ups, long shots etc. which mainly focus on Cheryl. Like in the video for Where Have You Been it emphasises the artists importance in the video. Like Rihanna, Cheryl creates a sexual display of her body parts by close-ups. The use of dance moves in this video enhance the sexual image that she is trying to create. Her outfit is a bikini top and along with the dance moves she is creating an image for people to desire her. Another example would be Cheryl looking at her own reflection this refers to Narcissus, a man who fell in love with his own reflection. The use of close up shots suggests that women are sexualised in music videos. This is an obstacle for female artists such as Cheryl and Rihanna, because with the use of sexualised dance moves in the music video, audiences would find it difficult to take her serious as an artist. Due to the nature of this video the music video is performance based.
The angles are varied from high to low and canted as well, these all make the video interesting and keeps the audience entertained which is one of the main purposes for a music video as well as to sell their music visually. The lighting within this video is similar to that of Rihanna's, it is both contrasting from light and sunny to dark at night which is also another convention in many music video's, not just in this genre but in general. Low angles used in this video show dominance of the artist as they did in Where Have You Been. As well, there is a track of her feet in the opening scene of the video, which suggests she wants to be sexually desired or to be looked at as an object (Mulvey). Rule of thirds is used in the same way as Rihanna's video, she is always centre framed especially when she moves around male dancers, showing that she is in control.
High and low angles.
Light contrast.
Opening shot.
Centre frame.
The mise-en-scene is very important in this video as Cheryl's clothing is vibrant but revealing, which is relatable to Andrew Goodwin's theory, artist show themselves in this way to sell their music through their sex appeal. Close-ups and slow motions are used when it shows Cheryl wiping her hair which she is known for.
As mentioned the lighting is a contrast of the whole video has been dulled for the dance portion, where the artist, Cheryl is dancing in sync with a group of male dancers in what seems to be a water ally creating an urban area, in front of old school cars and bikes. The city cuts scenes however are in full contrast, with helicopter overview shots of the city at night making a huge contrast to the dulled out dance sequences.
City scene cuts.
Slow and fast motion cut scenes have also been used, creating a change of pace, as well as increasing the climax even more. Although it is rather typical of a music video in this genre, the contrast if the two opposing environments, as well as a dancing silhouette of a woman gives that extra enjoyable viewing for the audience.
As the video is filmed in a urban area within the mise-en-scene there is graffiti on the walls, creating verisimilitude, seeing a birds eye view of the skyline also adds to this. When she first starts dancing with the male dancers there are cars in the background, further on in the video she is seen driving a car which breaks the conventions of a stereotyped female as women are seen as not good drivers, but showing Cheryl driving is challenging the conventions that are held.
Graffiti = Urban area
Jessie J - Do It Like a Dude
Like Where Have you Been and Call My Name, Do it like a Dude has the typical conventions and form of that genre. The mise-en-scene in this video includes a dark room, which can connote danger. But as there is people sat around playing poker it can refer to the gang culture. We can infer this because of the tattoos, people smoking cigars and the make-up and costume that they wear. The costume is dark of the backing actors, but Jessie as the main artist wears a red hoodie, this reinforces gang culture as well as danger. The red lipstick of the extras create visual pleasure for men and they are there to be desired (Mulvey).
Tattoo of angle wings = religious connotations.
When she is dancing on her own, it looks to be a church location with the window in the background, this goes against any religion as gang culture does not really follow/believe in religion. The lyrics and the video go against the core values of the church as it is saying women can do what men do and they are equal, which in the churches view men are more dominant and powerful. Also, in this shot a spot light crosses over her, this could represent a police spot light again reinforcing gang culture. In this video her and other actors/dancers are seen sitting behind a desk with another dancer stood in front of them, this could represent a police interview.
Scenes at the start are intercut with a woman tattooing another woman, a woman slicing a pig's trotter, a woman carrying out chemical experiments which could be drugs (gang culture) and licking a bottle of "poison". These shots, which are a few out of the many radical shots within the music video help express the message that 'women are capable of undertaking what men do'.
There is a tilt up to Jessie lips, this shows her dark make-up as it is a close-up. Like the other videos it shows her lip-signing to the video conveying her emotions. Also, there is a camera blur which suggests that she is mysterious, as well as her low angle showing dominance like the other video's as well.
Dark Make-up.
Camera Blur.
low angle = dominance.
Her mannerism in the video shows that she does not feel anything on how she looks or how she acts. "Nasty face", is the lyric that is used to express this. The women on the stairs also have been portrayed to be very superior and do not feel a sense of intimidation from her, instead they make it clear that they are part of her 'people', within the video.
The song asserts it's tittle, suggesting that Jessie J is as much a man as any man, as a sample of the lyrics shows. This is similar to Rihanna's Where Have You Been video as the video narrative is referring to the song, however this can't be said for Cheryl Call My Name as that does not have a narrative and is purely performance based. All the video's that have been analysed all have performance based music video's, as they all have signing and dancing in them.
A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a song (a complete piece of music).
Modern music videos were primarily made as a tool to promote and market the product, for a hopeful increase in the sale of music recordings. Music videos are often called promotion videos ('promos'), due to the fact that they are promotional devices.
The earliest music videos were filmed mid 1950's, however, before then as early as the 1920's, films by animators such as Oskar Fischinger were accompanied by musical scores labelled 'visual music'.
An early example of a music video dates back to the 1920's, St Louis's Blues - Bessie Smith 1929.
In 1940, Walt Disney released Fantasia, an animated film based around famous pieces of classical music.
From the 1930's to early 1960's, musicals were dominated genres in films, as many were used to promote the music.
1950's and 1960's developments
In 1956 Tony Bennett was filmed walking along The Serpentine in Hyde Park, London as his recording of "Stranger in Paradise" played; this film was distributed yo and played by UK and US television stations, leading Bennett to later claim he made the first music video.
Around 1960 the Scopitone, a visual jukebox, was invented in France and short films were produced by many French artists, such as Serge Gainsbourg, Françoise Hardy and Jacques Dutronc to accompany their songs. Its use spread to other countries and similar machines such as the Cinebox in Italy and Color-Sonic in the USA were patented.
Scopitone Jukebox
The defining work in the development of the modern music video was The Beatles' first major motion picture. A Hard Day's Night in 1964 which was a mock documentary established as a music video. The musical segments in this film arguably set out the basic visual vocabulary of today's music videos, influencing a vast number of contemporary musicians, and countries subsequent pop and rock music video's.
Although unashamedly based on A Hard Day's Night, the hugely popular American TV series. The Monkees was another important influence on the development of the music video genre, with each episode including a number of specially-made film segments that were created to accompany the various Monkees songs used in the series. The series ran from 1966 to 1968.
In 1966 the clip of Bob Dylan performing "Subterranean Homesick Blues" filmed by D A Pennebaker was much used. The clips ironic portrayal of a performances and the seemingly random inclusion of a celebrity (Allen Ginsberg) in a non-performing role also became mainstays of the form. The clip has been much imitated.
The main two elements of a music video are narrative and performance. Music videos also benefited film makers from art schools as they became more challenging with new ideas.
Modern Era
The key innovation in the development of the music video was, of course, video recording and editing processes, along with the development of a number of related effects such as chroma-key. the advent of high-quality colour videotape recorders and portable video cameras coincided with the DIY (do it yourself) ethos of the New Wave era and this enabled many pop acts to produce promotional videos quickly and cheaply, in comparison to the relatively high costs of using film. However, as the genre developed music video directors increasingly turned to 35mm film as preferred medium, while others mixed film and video.
By the mid-1980's releasing a music video to accompany a new single had become standard, and acts like the Jackson's sought to gain commercial edge by creating lavish music videos with million dollar budgets; most notable with the video 'Can You Feel It'.
A good music video would increase the songs sale as the view hoped to see the video again in the following weeks. As Michael Jackson was the first one to make a short film for his music video, that has a beginning, middle and end in Billie Jean and then in a West Side Story.
Modern Era of Music Video 1970's
In the UK the importance of Top of the Pops to promote a single created an environment of innovation and competition amongst bands and record labels as the show's producers placed strict limits on the number of videos it would use, therefore a good video would increase a song's sales as viewers hoped to see the video again the following week.
Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" also started a whole new era for using music videos as promos.
1980's Television and Music Videos
In 1981, MTV was launched.
The first music video to be aired was the Buggles 'Video Killed the Radio Star'.
In the early to mid 1980's artists started to use more sophisticated effects in their videos, and added a storyline or plot to the music video. Michael Jackson was the first artist to create the concept of the short film with the concept of a beginning, middle and end. It wasn't until the 1984 release of the Thriller short film that took the music video format to another level.
Top of the Pops was censorious in it's approach to video content, so another approach was for an act to produce a promo that would be banned or edited and so use the resulting controversy and publicity to promote the release. Early examples of this tactic were Duran Duran's "Girl's On film" and Frankie Goes to Hollywood with "Relax" directed by Bernard Rose & White lines by Grandmaster Flash.
MTV
Music video would, by mid-1980's, grow to play a central role in popular music marketing.
Madonna, owed a great deal of her success to the skilful construction and seductive appeal of her video's. Some academics have compared music video to silent film, and it is suggested that stars like Madonna have constructed an image that in many ways echoes the image of the great stars of the silent era such as Greta Garbo. Although many see MTV as the start if a "golden era" of music videos and the unparalleled success of a new art form in popular culture, others see it as hastening the death of the true musical artist, because physical appeal is now critical to popularity to an unpredictable degree.
Music Video's Today
New technologies have advanced with new software and new ideas which allows music videos to never die and continue to be made and successful. However, in the modern days the typical video follows narratives to do with heartbreak and relationships, where the artist is portrayed in a sexual and provocative way. This all differs on the genre however, but there is nothing that can't be done. As we even have some videos in the form of cartoons, animations, comic and fast moving pictures. Despite all of this they still work in the same way they were intended to, which is to identify with the song and audience to keep them entertained and interactive.
Every medium has its own 'language' that it uses to communicate meaning.
We call these 'languages' because they use familiar codes and conventions that can be understood.
Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules. Each form of communication whether newspapers, TV game shows or horror movies - has its own creative language: scary music heightens fear, close ups intimacy etc.
Understanding the grammer, syntax and metaphor system of media language, especially the language of sounds and visuals which can reach beyond our deepest emotional core, it can increase our appreciation and enjoyment of media experiences as well as helps us to be less susceptible to manipulation.
Semiotics
According to philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1931) "we think in only signs".
Signs take the form of words, images, sounds, odours, flavours, acts or objects, but such things have no intrinsic meaning and become signs only when we invest meaning.
"Nothing is a sign unless we interpreted as a sign".
Anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as 'signifying' something - referring to or standing for something other than itself. We interpret things as signs largely by relating them to familiar systems of conventions.
Linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1974) offered a 'dyadic' of two-part model of the sign. He defined this as been a signifier.
Icon/Iconic: a mode which the signifier is seen as resembling or imitating the signifies - being similar in some of its qualities.
Index/Indexical: a mode in which the signifier is not arbitrary but is not directly connected in someway to the signified - this link can be observed or informed.
Symbol/Symbolic: a mode in which the signifier does not resemble the signified but which is fundamentally arbitrary or purely conventional.
In semiotics, denotation, connotation are terms describing the relationship between the signifier and its signified and an analytic distinction is made between two types of signifieds a denotive and a connotative meaning includes both denotation and connotation.
Roland Barthes (1967), Saussures model of sign focus on denotation at the expense of connotation and it was left to subsequent theorists to offer an account of this important dimension of meaning.
Barthes argued that in photography connotation can be (analytically) distinguished from denotation.
John Fiske (1982) states denotation is what is photographed, and connotation is how it is photographed.
Related to connotation is what Roland Barthes (1977) refers to as myth, which were the dominant ideologies of our time. The first and second orders of signification called denotation and connotation combine to produce ideology which has been decribed as a third order of signification by Fiske and Hartley (1982).
Evaluating media language is an evaluation of all the micro elements and how they have created meaning to inform us about genre, narrative, representation/ideology, targeting of audiences (through micro elements).
Therefore requires us to use semiotic terminology to explain our encoding of elements and codes and conventions within our texts.
'Genre' is a critical tool that helps us study texts and audience responses to text by dividing them into categories based on common elements.
All genres have sub genres (genres within a genre). This means that they are divided up into more specific categories that allow audiences to identify them specifically by their familiar and what becomes recognisable characteristics (Barry Keith Grant, 1995). However, Steve Neale (1995) stresses that "genres are not 'systems' they are processes of systematisation".
Steve Neale - Dynamic Genre
Genre is a term that can be split up into different categories based on characteristics that they share, for example, settings, storylines, narratives, characters and themes. Genre can be referred to music videos, and they can be classified as being a particular genre, such as; pop, indie and rock.
Steve Neale states that 'genres are instances of repetition and difference' and 'genres are not systems, they are processes of systemisation'. He also says that, definitions of genre are historically relative and are therefore historically specific. He believed that there was a system of expectation and that by using our own knowledge and applying conventions of the genre, the audience should be able to infer the narrative and storyline of the music video. He also declares that difference is essential to economy of genre; more repetition would not attract the audience.
Generic characteristics across all texts share similar elements of typical mise-en-scene/visual style (iconography, props, set design, lighting, temporal and geographic location, costume, shot types, camera angles, special effects), typical types of narrative (plots, historical setting, set pieces), generic types i.e. typical characters, typical studio/production companies, typical personnel (directors, producers, actors, music, sound effects), typical sound design (sound design, dialogue, music, sound effects), and typical editing style.
In a typical R&B like the Where Have You Been music video, there is normally a lot upbeat dancing to match the music of the song. From this dancing it is easy to differenciate the genre from other genres, like Rock. There are various generic characteristics across all texts of the same genre that share similiar elements of typical mise-en-scene, this includes; props within the setting for instance the sand which helps to imply that it is a desert location and the water which is shown at the beginning and end of video within the jungle type location. From the set design the audience can understand that Rihanna is in different geogrphical locations, which emphasises the song lyrics "I've been everywhere". As there are different locations Rihanna has costumes to match the location, such as wearing desert clothes. Not only does Rihanna wear costumes to match the location her backing dancers who feature in the video also wear similar outfits. Everything within the mise-en-scene from props, set design, costumes, lighting, and location etc. all create verisimilitude making the video look as realistic as it possibly could be camera techniques add to this such as, shot types, angles and special effects.
The performance within the narrative is conventional of a R&B video, through the plots and set pieces. The set design helps to create the plot and form structure to the narrative, without this the video would not make sense and would not be appealing to the audience as it would not have an effect upon them. This video is purely performance within the narrative based. Having the combination of performance and narrative is typical of a music video as it is hard to have just either a pure performance or narrative, by using both performance and narrative the video can be made more interesting and enjoyable to watch for example, in Kelly Clarkson 'Since You've Been Gone'.
There are typical characters like the artist and backing dancers. As well as a typical studio and/or a production company that have designed the set especially to create the music video. For a music video on this scale there would have been typical members of personnel like directors, producers and actors. The sound of the music and editing styles for example, cutting between different scenes and having various camera shots, are all conventional and typical for a music video within this genre.
Jason Mittell (2001) argues that genres are cultural categories that surpass the boundaries of media texts and operate within industry, audience, and cultural practices as well. Industries use genre to sell products to audiences media producers use familiar codes and conventions that very often make cultural references to their audience knowledge of society, other texts. Genre also allows audiences to make choices about what products they want to consume through acceptance in order to fulfill a particular pleasure.
Many of Rihanna's audience are aged 17 to 19+, and are mainly white or black African. The music industry use Rihanna's popularity from these age and ethnic minority categories to sell her products. Many of her fans see her as a role model outside of music rather than a music icon, but the music industry uses this to their advantage to sell products. Industries use genre to sell products to audiences, media use familiar codes and conventions that very often make cultural references that the audience will be able to interpret and make acknowledgement of. By Rihanna presenting herself in this video through the mise-en-scene and camera shots, it allows the audience to make a decision about what products they want to consume.
Pleasure of genre for audiences
Theorist Rick Altman (1999) argues that genre offers audiences 'a set of pleasures'.
Emotional Pleasures: The emotional pleasures offered to audiences of genre films are particularly significant when they generate a strong audience response.
Visceral Pleasure: Visceral pleasures ('visceral' refers to internal organs) are 'gut' responses and are defined by how the films stylistic construction effects a physical effect upon its audience. This can be a feeling of revulsion, kinetic speed, or a 'roller coaster ride'.
Intellectual Puzzles: Certain film genres such as the thriller offer the pleasure in trying to unravel a mystery or a puzzle. Pleasure is derived from deciphering the plot and forecasting the end or the being surprised by the unexpected.
Different people who watch this music video may react differently and get a different pleasure from it as Rick Altman suggests. The audience may get an emotional pleasure from this, probably a female audience rather than a male audience. But they may be able to relate to the video is some form as trying to find love or being in a relationship this therefore creates a strong response.
The audience may get a visceral pleasure or have a physical effect from the video. This can be a feeling of revulsion, the audience may find the way Rihanna presents herself in the video is disgusting especially those members of the audience who have cultural values, and think Rihanna is inappropriately dressed or shouldn't be surrounded by a mass number of male dancers, dancing in the way she is. However, the audience may feel like the speed of the music and the video have a positive affect upon them making them feel upbeat and happy. Or they may find it thrilling and think its exciting like a 'roller coaster ride'.
As this video starts of mysterious, the audience may try and work out what is going to happen in the narrative. By doing this they are creating a pleasure of an intellectual puzzle. Pleasure is derived from deciphering the plot and trying to guess how the video will end, the audience will try and guess the plot through listening to the song lyrics and trying to understand how it might go. When Rihanna rises out of the water in the start of the video on her own, she looks mysterious, this will quiz the audience of what the video is trying to show. As the video develops Rihanna is in different locations the audience may relate it to the song suggesting the plot is based on the song lyrics. From this they will try and guess how it is going to end or if there is going to be a surprise ending. In this video the plot ends with Rihanna returning to the water on her own like the video initially started, and it concludes where she and the males surrounding her go back into the water. Many of the audience may have thought that she would have found something, but in this case she does not which adds a surprise/an unexpected twist in the narrative/plot, which is uncommon in most music video's of the same genre.
Strengths of Genre Theory
The main strength of genre theory is that everybody uses it and understands it, media experts use it to study media texts, the media industry use it to develop and market texts and audiences use it to decide what texts to consume.
The potential for the same concept to be understood by producers, audiences and scholars makes genre a useful critical tool. It's accessibility as a concept also means that it can be applied across a wide range of texts.
The medium of short film does not have a specific genre. However the things that separate short films from feature films are that they often have single strand narratives and/or focus on the characters. They can be very often anti-narrative/surrealist. Short films can be ambiguous, open meaning (Eco 1981) and often experimental.
Genre Development and Transformation
Over the years genres develop and change as the wider society that produce them also changes, a process that is known as generic transformation.
Christian Metz in his book Language and Cinema (1974) argued that genres go through a typical cycle of changes during their lifetime.
Experimental Stage
Classic Stage
Parody Stage
Deconstruction Stage
Music video is a medium intended to appeal directly to youth subcultures by reinforcing generic elements of musical genres.
They are called pop-promos as they are used to promote a band or artist.
Music videos are postmodern texts whose main purpose is to promote a star persona (Dyer, 1975).
They don't have to be literal representations of the song or lyrics.
In terms of genre, there are narrative and performances and some that combine both.
Both performance and narrative based videos are very often purely intertextual.
Blink 182 - All The Small Things
Weezer - Buddy Holly
They often pastiche/parody films or other commentary on social events. Green Day's Basket Case (1996) pastiches One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975).
Others include themes which may fit around the lyrics of the song or society (particularly if the band are well known activists known for supporting a cause). This is a medium known for being experimental and controversial. The generic conventions stay the same but the style change between music genres. Genre Themes
Genres are not fixed: they constantly change and evolve over time. David Buckingham (1993) argues that 'genre is not simply given by the culture rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change.
As postmodern theorist Jacques Derrida reminds us, "the law of genre is precisely a principle of contamination, a law of impurity".
Arctic Monkey's music video 'Scummy Man'. Portishead's 'To kill a dead man' is essentially a short film noir (1940s detective movie).
Nicholas Abercrombie (1996) suggests that "the boundaries between genres are shifting and becoming more permeable". Abercrombie is concerned with modern television, which he suggests seems to be engaged in 'a steady dismantling of genre'.
