Britney Re-Make Shotlist

Goodwin's Theory Analysis - Renegades by X Ambassadors

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).



Re-Makes Impact on Our Music Video

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.

Godwin's Theory - Notes

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.

Music Video Analysis – Radioactive by Imagine Dragons

Introduction:

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 audiences  for 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 Video Audiences

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.

Influential Music Video - Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

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.