Renegades is a song by X Ambassadors and is part of the alternative rock genre. During this post I will state each part of Goodwin's theory and see if it conforms or contradict them.
1: Certain music genres include certain features.
Alternative rock has certain generic conventions including...
Close up of artists instruments
Handheld shots
Long shots of artist
I have found that this music video conforms to the first stage of Goodwin's theory as most of the generic conventions of alternative rock are present in the music video.
2. Links between lyrics and visuals.
Some shots within the video conform to the lyrics in the song. An example of this is the line "Two kids, you and me". During this shot it shows the first person which then pans to a second person as shown below.
3. Relationship between music and visuals.
The music video has some relationships between music and visuals for example it tends to cut to the beat. As drums are used heavily in the song the music cuts to them most of the time. This is evident from the music video itself.
4.Close ups of artists.
This video contains many close ups of the artists. Below I have an example of one instance., but this happens multiple times throughout the music video.
5.Artist tend to have their own style of music video.
After looking at other examples of X Ambassadors videos I have found that they are very narrative focused and will cut back to shots of them playing in a small room. This is the general structure of most of their music videos. The other screenshot is from their music video for the song "Unsteady" and highlights my point about the enclosed rooms that the band is normally featured in.
6.Videos feature screens within screens or emphasis on looking
I couldn't find any examples of this the "screens within screens" in the music video and this therefore shows that all music videos do not completely conform to Goodwin's theory, but there are a lot of times in which the music video has the artists looking out of frame. Below is an example of this.
7.Intextual references
I also couldn't find any examples of this within the music video which means this is another example of how all music videos don't conform to Goodwin's theory.
Overall Renegades mostly conforms to Goodwin's theory, but like most music video it does not completely conform as is evident from the last two features (6 and 7).
Since our class has been tasked to re-create the first 30 seconds of the Britney Spears music video "Baby One More Time" our group should improve and therefore our final project should be impacted. This re-make may impact our video since through doing it we will learn how as a music video is filmed this will make our music video better as it will seem more like a professional video. We will also learn the skills required to create a music video. This includes skills such as camera techniques, location selection and editing. Overall these should help our final music video look more professional and therefore of a better quality. Additionally by making this music video we should learn or have a idea of the generic conventions that music videos use, this means that we will know what kind of shots we need or what features we will need to include in our video to make it look like a real music video.
During 1992 a man called Andrew Godwin released a book called "Dancing in the Distraction Factory". This included codes and conventions that are used in music videos today.
1. Certain music genres contain certain features - Different genres have different general conventions that are considered when thinking about the genre. This theory states that all music videos normally follow the general conventions associated with them.
2. There is a clear link between visuals and lyrics (these can show or contradict each other) - This states that there is a link between the visuals and lyrics of the song. This is normally fairly clear to see because the visuals and lyrics either conform or contradict each other.
3) Relationship between music and visuals (the music video follows the beat e.g. cuts are timed to the beat) - The music and visuals in a music video also have a clear relationship and this theory states that all music videos use the beat or tone of the song when making timings for their music videos (e.g. slow paced songs usually have fairly long shots).
4) Record labels demand close ups of the artist - Record labels normally ask that a specific amount of time in music videos are dedicated to close ups of the artists face. This is done so that the record label knows that the artist is being promoted by the music video.
5) Certain artist have their own visual style making their music videos different and noticeable from others - Certain artist in the music industry have their own unique style of music video and normally just by watching it a fan can tell that a music video is made by a particular artist.
6) Videos can features screens within screens or the artist looking at things - This states that videos normally have characters or artists looking at screens or screens surrounding a character or artist. Additionally artists or characters will commonly be looking at something; this can be in or out of frame.
7) Intertextual references - This states that music videos can reference or make fun of other music videos or pop culture. This doesn't have to be references within the music video but this is the majority of references used.
During
this essay I will analyse the music video for Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.
This music video has a big focus on narrative and contains little bits of live
performance, but near the end of the video these two aspects connect together
and therefore add to the narrative of the music video. The music has a strong beat and normally the music videos times it cuts with the beat of the song.
Genre:
The genre of this music video becomes clear to the
audience after the introduction of the song as the song begins fairly slowly
(especially the music edited specially for the music video). The genre for this
music video is clearly action since this goes well with both the tempo and
rhythm that the song has. The genre of the artist (Imagine Dragons) is not the
same genre as their general music normally has a much slower rhythm.
Since the genre of the music is action there are
generic conventions that go with this (e.g. explosions, car chases) during this
particular music video I see that not many of the conventions are met as the
music videos narrative is very strange and surreal.
Narrative:
The beginning shots of the music video are
suggestive since they highlight a women walking through the forest with a cage.
This suggests to the audience that the genre and narrative may be more like
Imagine Dragons other work but as the song a starts to build it transitions to
shots of a lively area full of people, these shots juxtapose each other as in
the beginning the shots are lifeless and empty whereas they becomes full and
busy with lots of people. This kicks off the narrative and shows the audience
that there is a very surreal element to the narrative, additionally it the
camera starts to highlight main characters and shows a few brief shots of the
artist, but it is not a live performance as he is part of the narrative. It then establishes character and clearly shows a villain character, by the fact that he is framed in such as way that he is clearly a dominant character. His costume supports this as it stands out from the other characters who are wearing bland clothing. This is supported by the fact he has a lot more screen time then the other characters within the scene.
This music video contains four of the five stages
within Todorov’s Five Stage Theory. The video begins very slowly with some shots
of a women quietly walking (this is before the music begins). This is a clear
stage one as there is an equilibrium and no distress. Stage two is as the music
begins and it becomes clear to the audience that fights are being held between
the monsters who are being trapped. This is stage two as it is a disruption of
the peace that was present during stage one. Stage four is also included as the disruption is resolved and the artist who were trapped by the villain are saved. This is clear as the villain is on the floor and seen from a high angle connoting his weakness.
Audience:
The audience for this song and video is teenagers
and young adults (14-24 years old). This is due to the fact the images can be
seen as fairly violent for younger audiences, but due to the fact it is with
puppets it’s appropriate for audiences around the age of 9 or so, but it isn’t
targeting them. This is also the age of the target audiencesfor the band therefore this age group would make
sense since the band is trying to make their music video for their audience and
fans. I think the audience for this particular music video is mostly males as
this music video caters towards them since it can be seen as violent, but the
bands target audience are both male and female therefore it is strange that
Imagine Dragons would aim specifically for a male audience.
Intertextual References The main intertextual reference in this music video is the cameo appearance from the actress Alexandra Daddario. She appears in the video as a very dominant female character. She is in such films as "Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters", "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D" and "San Andreas".
Music
videos have a wide span in terms of audiences due to the fact there is a
variety of artists that make music videos for different audiences. Each artist
tends to aim for particular target audiences and therefore they make both their
music and music video relevant to the song and relatable. An example of this
would be Britney Spears “Hit Me Baby One More Time” video has multiple shots
based in a school. The reasoning for this chose is that perhaps the song target
audience is girls aged 10-17 since girls at this age will be attending school. Additionally
girls of this age will be drawn to the genre of music (in this case pop music)
much like boys are stereotypically more drawn towards rap music or rock and
therefore will be drawn to artists who make their music in this genre. The
target of her music video is 10-17 aged girls because of two reasons. The main
reason is that she is a female artist and therefore the music video is immediately
more attractive to females (additionally she is featured in the majority of the
shots used in the video). The second reason is that the themes of the video are
more relatable to that age group since they will be attending school. All
artists use these two aspects in their music videos to target audiences.
Another
example of this is in Eminems music video for “Not Afraid”. The target audience for
this music video is males aged 15-27; this is due to a few reasons. The main
reason is that is has a male artist (that much like in the Britney Spears video
has lots of close ups) and that is features themes that may be relatable to
this age. The reason that the age group is a bit higher than is that the song
features situations that require a more mature audience to become relatable.
The
reasons artists aim their music videos are specific audiences is because it is
easier to aim music videos at a more focused audience them trying to please a
mass audience and therefore they will try and get a small focused audience to
listen to their song and therefore buy one for the CDs that the song is featured
on.
Genres can also affect audiences since different styles of music are sometimes aimed towards different types of audience. It is common that artist will use genre to target specific audiences or to further enforce a video that is aiming for their target audience. An example of this is Eminem since he mainly makes rap music. The rap genre is clearly targeting males but depending on what it is about effects the age of the audience but in Eminems case it is mostly 15-27.
In
conclusion the target of music videos is very large, but different artists design
their music videos are specific audiences.
Bohemian Rhapsody had a huge impact on the music industry as it
was the first music video to be recorded on video. It also used new editing
methods for the time of it release and used high tech special effects.
The new methods of editing helped audience members engage
themselves and not just listen to the music as they did before. This music
video was something that had never been seen before since it used hardware that
was expensive and high tech.
Bohemian Rhapsody also was the start of proper video recording
therefore it was of a good quality that audiences had not seen widely before,
this was due to the fact the tech was expensive and since Queen were already
well known they were able to afford this.
This music video inspired other artists to record using proper
video for their music and therefore as a result started the trend. After a
number of artists started to follow the trend have a music video with a song
become a general aspect of music. During the modern age music videos are
expected when a new single is released.
Bohemian Rhapsody music video was directed by a professional
director called “Bruce Gowers”. Since it was designed by a professional
director it was production standard and therefore was of a good quality. It was
also produced by Roy Thomas Baker who was a professional producer. Due to the
professional team production team that worked on the video it was produced at
the highest quality possible. Due to this Bohemian Rhapsody has become iconic
in the music industry and is said to be one of the greatest music/music videos
ever created.
2005 and onwards - Huge budget music videos with lots of CGI effects. Music videos can now be viewed on demands through websites such as YouTube or Vevo. Chart shows (e.g. Top of the Pops) have become obsolete and due to how fast the internet speeds are people tend to view music on YouTube over TV.
This activity is being done as and class therefore our group has been tasked to do 15 seconds of the music video (1:06 - 1:21). During this activity we may run into some problems...
Extras - One of the problems out group may run into includes the fact in some shots we may need to get a lot of extras. Since our group is made up of 3 people we cannot do it ourselves therefore we will need to ask lots of other people to help us.
Fast Paced Cuts - Another problem we may run is the problem that there is lots of fast paced cuts during our 15 seconds (approximately 14). This means we will need to make sure out time is right during post-production (editing). This may mean editing takes a while since we need to be exact to make sure our 15 seconds matches the other groups 15 second clips.
Framing and Location - During filming we will have to make sure our framing is exact since this is a re-make. Due to the location we are filming in (Chelmer Valley High School) we may have a problem finding locations like the ones within the video therefore framing and location of each shot will have to be fairly close to the video.
For the next few lessons we will be re-making a professional music video as a class. Since we are doing it as a class we will split into small groups and do around 15 seconds of the video each. This means each group will have to plan, film and edit there 15 seconds. This activity will help us learn the necessary skills we need for out full video. Additionally we will get some experience filming a music and may be able to take some ideas from this video.
The genre of the music video for the song “Writing
on the Wall” is within the Pop genre, but the genre of the song itself tends to
be within both the pop and rap genre of music.
The main themes of the music video and song is
“Love” and “Trust”. This is due to the fact that Strickland Banks has betrayed
the trust of his wife and has lied as he told her he’d be coming back soon.
Also due to the fact this song is based around love this is another main theme
of the song.
Out of Todorov’s five stages of equilibrium, three
are shown within in this song. This includes...
1.Equilibrium
2.Disruption
3.Recognised
This song is part of bigger narrative that Plan B
created about a fictional artist (Strickland Banks) therefore the other two
stages are highlighted in the next few songs that they made.
The characters in the narrative are fairly
recognisable. Strickland Banks is seen as false hero as he is the main
character but betrays his wife and lies to her while on the phone, he can also
be seen as villain for the same reasons. The victim within the story is Strickland
Banks’s wife as she is left alone by the villain or false hero.
Representation:
Representation of gender is a big part of this music
video and is shown stereotypically. An example of this is the wife within the
music video is only seen in her kitchen and seen as very domestic. This is
stereotypical as women and rarely highlighted as a main character and are
stereotypically seen within music videos and films as house wives. Strickland
Banks within the clip is seen as the one who earns money as he is the star and
has a creditable job. Additionally he is represented as a celebrity in the
music video since while he is on stage he has a huge group of fans watching
him. He is also seen as successful and popular, but he can also be seen as
held-back as his wife calls him while he is enjoying himself drinking in the
bar.
Visual Codes:
The music video is suggested to be not set in modern
times and set within the 1970s or 1980s. This is shown through certain aspects
within the music video, one of the main aspects of the video being the hair
style that the wife has. This hair style was popular during these times and is
not seen now.
The music video is set within a few different
locations including…
·A night club - where Strickland Banks performs
·A house – Where the wife is cooking a meal
·A bar – Where Strickland Banks gets drunk (as seen to the right)
Different camera angles are used in the music video
for different characters. For the wife a high angle is used. This connotes her
weakness in the relationship and how she can’t control what her husband does.
High angles are used on Strickland Banks as he is in control and is seen as the
false hero in the narrative. This is stereotypical as men are normally seen as
more powerful in both music videos and film.
Technical
Codes:
During the music video certain shots have
connotations. An example of this is when there is a close up on a boiling pan.
In this shot the food starts to rising and fall. This has connotations of love
as it connotes that love can both rise and fall much like food. Also during
this shot the pan boils over. This also has connotations of love as it can the
love between the two main characters is ending and “boiling over” much like the
pan. Another shot that has connotations is the wide shot of the pan boiling
Strickland’s wife. This connotes that love can burns and additionally connotes
that the love between Strickland and his wife is ending.
Audience:
This music video is targeted at a specific audience
and therefore tries to cater and relate to this audience and the content will
be based around them. For this music video I think the target audience is in
the late teens to the early 20s. This is due to certain aspects within the
video. For example…
·Setting – The different locations
within the video are related to the age group mentioned before due. The two
locations that are relatable is the nightclub and bar. These are
stereotypically areas for the age group to be therefore making it relatable.
·The Scenario – The scenario that Strickland
Banks and his wife are in can be relatable to this age group whereas a younger
age group may not be able since it is unlikely they have been through a
situation like the one shown in the video. The target audience may have been
through the scenario presented in the video.
Institution:
The music institution that promoted this video is
679 Warner Music Group and are aiming to promote the fictitious artist
Strickland Banks to a certain age group as well as the music that goes with the
video.
Strickland banks is promoted as a celebrity to the
audience and sold as a star within the world that the music video is set in.
How this will help us with our music video? This will help us as by looking at professionally made music videos we can take aspects from it (e.g. shots) and use them in our own therefore making our music video of a higher quality and overall making it look more professional.
This is a presentation I did in class that shows what makes a good music video. During it I explain the different types of music videos and the codes and conventions expected. Below the video is the presentation featured within the video.
This will help us with our own music video as it will show us what professional music videos have done. We can use these features within our own to therefore make ours seem more professional and therefore make ours a higher quality.
When we make our own music video I will refer to this mind map as I can see what is included in a professional music video. When making our own we will ensure we include at least a few of these features to increase the quality of our music video. This mind map will also give us extra ideas if we become stuck.
