Music Video - Case Study

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Music Video ProductionCase Study

Natalie Lynch

+Unit 29 - Music Video Production We will look at Music Videos from a number of perspectives, this

template is for you to write up your notes and to complete your case study.

The document is split into 3 different tasks, each with separate questions to answer.

Task 1 is concerned with the purposes of music videos and the strategies employed by labels and artists

Task 2 is concerned with the styles, techniques and conventions of music video production

Task 3 is your own case study into a minimum of three music videos where you can unpack and discuss the videos considering everything you have looked at in Task 1 and 2

+Unit 29 – Music Video Production Learning outcomes, this case study is concerned with

the first two learning outcomes of the unit:

1. Understand the purpose of music videos

2. Understand the styles, conventions, and techniques of music videos

3. Be able to originate and plan a music video production for a specific music track

4. Be able to work to complete production of a music video.

+Unit 29 – Music Video ProductionAssessment Criteria The assessment criteria addressed by this case study,

further details are in your project brief:

+Notes on completing the case study It is often easier to show something you are discussing

than to take time describing it. With this in mind, feel free to add lots of illustrative images from your chosen video examples. Links to YouTube/Vevo/etc are also encouraged.

Remember, when you make a point or define something, you should follow this with an example, an explanation of this and then link to further texts/videos where possible.

If you don’t think there is enough room to add your full response to a question, don’t just reset the font size to really small, add an extra slide wherever necessary.

+Task 1 - Purposes

+Task 1 - Purposes

• Q1 - Outline the 3 core purposes of music video with a short explanation for each:

• Entertainment – This is usually the most common reason why a music video is made. It gives a visual representation of the specific song and attracts the audience by including different features that they will like and find more interesting.

• Branding / Identity – This is where the artist shows or creates their own individual image through the music video. It can reflect their personality or unique style. The existing audience may want to mirror this image but it also might bring in new audiences too.

• Sales – By putting a music video out for viewing, it means that the artist will receive more recognition and publicity so therefore is highly likely to reach higher sales if people like what they hear / see. If they release the video through a different platform or through someone else who is well known, then their audience is likely to grow resulting in more sales.

+Task 1 - Purposes

• Q2 – What are some of the broader purposes of music videos? Think about some of the strategies employed by artists in their videos and how they represent themselves, you could consider where the artist is on a major label, independent label of unsigned, is there a difference between them?

• One of the broader purposes of music videos is that it allows the artist availability of not having to play live. Their music videos are usually of a live performance or something constructed to be similar which can give the audience a feel which is almost the same as if they were seeing them live.

• Another purpose is that the audience can interpret a video what ever way they want to. The music video is there to represent the song so that it can be seen visually and this may help the watchers / listeners understand the song more. It also may pass through a message which may attract more of the same audience or even a new audience.

• Music videos can also be produced in order to increase sales of other products to make them come across more popular. Some companies ask artists to use a certain product in their videos or the artist just includes a particular product anyway and this can highly increase sales as their audiences will want to use it too.

+Task 1 - Purposes

• Q2 – What are some of the broader purposes of music videos?

• A highly effective reason that some music videos are made is to reinforce a political view or social message. This way, awareness is created or increased and then people are left to interpret it in anyway that they would like to. It can also give a huge impact as people may be more willing to help if they see that a well known person is talking about it and maybe helping too.

• Artists may create or be in a collaboration with other artists as means of promotion. By including the other artist in the same music video, it will bring both the main audience and the other artist’s audience together and each artist may gain more followers and fans by doing this.

+Task 1 - Purposes

• Q3 – Describe what is ‘synergy’ is and how it has been used in music videos [min. 3 examples of synergy and convergence]

• Synergy is where different elements of a media conglomerate (a thing that is made up of a number of parts that are all grouped together somehow) work together in order to create new products across different media. It is often useful as it creates a greater effect than both individual things alone and most likely causes increased popularity and awareness of the products.

• Convergence is the coming together of all mass communication outlets within the media. This includes the internet, print, television, radio, as well as portable and interactive technologies through different media platforms.

+Task 1 - Purposes

• Q3 – Examples

• The first example is that a music video may feature clips or be based entirely around a film. Sometimes a soundtrack will be made for a film and the main song will have a music video created in order to help promote and increase awareness of the film. A music video to show this is Celine Dion’s ‘My heart will go on’. This is a very well known song which music video features clips from ‘Titanic’. By doing this, both media products have massively helped with increase the popularity of one another.

• Another example is merchandise from films. This is not always done straight away however if a film proves to be highly popular, merchandise is created in order to re-boost or just to keep sales and popularity high for as long as possible. The Harry Potter series has done this and released a variety of different products that are available to buy worldwide.

• When artists bring out new music it is generally the case that they will tour with that album. This shows synergy as they will have to work together with various other companies in order to produce the tour to be the best they need it to be. This will include venues, merchandise companies, transport, and all other technical things hat they’ll need as well as extras (eg. dancers, backing singers etc.). All of this will help the band to get promoted as well as all the other different companies that are involved. Artists that have toured recently are Justin Bieber, Drake, Catfish and the Bottlemen and many others.

+Task 1 - Purposes

• Q4 – Branding; select an artist you like and look at how they present themselves in their music videos. Explain what their ‘brand’ is, who is appeals to and why they might have done this.

• The artist I have chosen is Drake.

• Drake’s music falls into the genre of hip hop or contemporary RnB. In his music videos he presents himself in the typical way this sort of artist would. His videos involve the most common conventions of the genre he’s in. This involves making everything he has look extravagant – from clothing to cars to houses – it’s all put there to make him look the best. On the other hand some of his videos include gangs, violence and isolated locations which can contrast and alter people’s impressions and thoughts on him and his personality. Some videos objectify females or portray them in a particular way which is again one of the most popular features of music videos across these two genres. Drake might have included this in his videos as he knows it’s the basic thing to show and will know it’s popular among his audience.

• Drake’s personal brand ’OVO’ which covers his own clothing brand, his record label ‘OVOSOUND’ and his annual ‘OVOFEST’ is widely advertised across his videos with himself as well as other people in the videos wearing items from the clothing range. This involves the simple owl logo which is highly recognisable by his audience and the hip hop scene, therefore helping to promote the brand through his own music.

+Task 1 - Purposes• Q5 – Compare One Direction and Animal Collective music videos [find

them on YouTube!], what can you discern about each act from their videos? What is the main aim? Explain why.

• In One Direction’s music, the member’s always tend to be on the screen which is massively different to Animal Collective’s abstract video’s where their faces aren’t shown much if not at all.

In Animal Collective’s song ‘Brother Sport’, it starts off normal, as if it had been filmed on a personal camera. It shows two children running and keeps changing the focus to them throughout the whole video. Shortly in, more psychedelic graphics are introduced that are bright and quick moving across the scree, giving a very abstract feel which will intrigue the viewers. This may be done to attract their particular audience and shows that they might not have had a big of a budget as One Direction in their videos. Animal Collective include a lot of editing and special effects which is what will make their videos unique.

+Task 1 - Purposes• Q5 – Compare One Direction and Animal Collective music videos [find them on

YouTube!], what can you discern about each act from their videos? What is the main aim? Explain why.

In One Direction’s song ‘Steal My Girl’ it starts off with a short scene where the singers in the group do some acting. This is already very different to the video from Animal Collective. It already shows that the two artists have very different aims – One Direction’s to entertain their audience which is generally younger teen girls and Animal Collective who’s main aim is to create an abstract piece which is open to interpretation by anyone. The One Direction video focuses on the 5 singers individually and together and shows them in different scenarios which is meant to be light hearted and funny for their audience.This style is shown throughout most of One Directions videos, however this excludes the more serious songs where they have a different approach to how the music videos are run.

+Task 2 – Styles, Techniques and Conventions

+Task 2 – Styles, Techniques and Conventions• Q1 – Describe and explain the use of camerawork in

music videos, i.e. the types of shot used with examples to illustrate this

• The camera work in music videos generally has a huge impact on how well the music video turns out and how it’s portrayed by the audience. It gives meaning and expresses different emotions through the techniques that are used.

• Close Up Shots (Extreme and Medium close ups)These are one of the most commonly used shots in music videos. It helps to emphasise the emotion of the song as well as the message it’s trying to get across by focusing on the person and their features. It creates a sense of intimacy for the viewer because they’ll generally be watching from a TV, phone or computer. This is very similar to extreme close ups which focus on the artist even more to capture more detail from the facial features. There’s also use of medium close ups which shows the artist from chest to head.

+Task 2 – Styles, Techniques and Conventions• Q1 – Camerawork• Mid Shots

Mid shots are when the artist or actor in the music video is shown from waist height upwards. This focuses mainly on the person as the subject of the shot but also gives an impression of location/setting which can affect the overall feel.

• Wide ShotsStill having the person in the shot taking up a large portion of the frame however a lot of the time everything is in focus so that the viewer can see both the person and the location and how it looks all together. • Extreme Wide ShotsThe location/setting is the main focus of the shot. The artist is visible but can be barely seen and only shown in minimal detail. The idea of the artist being so small can emphasise the location.

+Task 2 – Styles, Techniques and Conventions• Q2 - Describe and explain the use of editing in

music videos, i.e. the way in which shots are sequenced, considering the rhythm of the edit and combinations of shots and post-production techniques

• The most popular and common form of editing in music videos is fast cut montage. This is where a number of images or short scenes (usually 3 seconds or less) are put together in order to show a lot of information or to indicate energy/chaos.

• Split screens, colourisation and CGI are all common ways of editing music videos. This way it can create and offer different feelings or atmospheres for the viewer to experience.

+Task 2 – Styles, Techniques and Conventions• Q3 - Describe and explain some of the technical

developments in music videos, i.e. in terms of how the music videos are filmed, edited/produced and viewed

• High quality and portable video cameras that have become widely popular and available at home for an affordable price. This makes it a lot quicker and easier for artists to create promotional videos still with good results.

• Video recording and editing processes are a big part in the development of modern music videos and therefore effects such as chroma-key and green/blue screens have been introduced and developed further.

+Task 2 – Styles, Techniques and Conventions• Q4 – Genre conventions; often music videos adhere to genre conventions

within their visual style and production techniques. Select a recognisable genre and use illustrations to explain what their genre conventions are…

• The genre I have chosen is indie/rock. General conventions of this genre in music videos are that they usually are shown in black and white. If this is not the case, then they are mostly set in a dark location or various locations with low lighting. More conventions include a large number of close ups and long shots being used, in order to capture the emotion of the artists performing. Conventions in indie/rock music videos often include showing the artist performing or acting rather that a strictly choreographed piece. Sometimes they cut between the two to make it more interesting. A number of times, special effects are used too. This could be to do with lighting effects or small alterations.

+Task 2 – Styles, Techniques and Conventions• Q5 - John Stuart’s description of the music video “incorporating, raiding

and reconstructing” is essentially the essence of intertextuality [something asserted by Andrew Goodwin]. Can you explain what intertextuality is and find some examples of it in music videos?

• Intertextuality is the way in which one media text is referenced to another. It generally means that there’s a type of link to another media product which could be film, television or music to pay respect/promote another media text. Parody music videos also show an example of this.

• A more recent example of intertextuality is in Iggy Azalea’s video for ‘Fancy’, which recreates some of the most recognisable scenes from the film ‘Clueless’. She tries to recreate the scene by involving a very similar outfit, an American high school setting and by being on the phone.

+Task 3 – Case Study

+Task 3 – Case Study

For your individual case study you are required to prepare material on a minimum of three music videos.

This should provide discussion on the usage of the following: Purpose of the video [consider the strategy of the artist and

the intention behind the video, remember the core purposes and break this down into the other purposes we discussed]

Style[s] used Techniques employed Intertextuality Camerawork/editing Genre conventions

+Task 3 – Case Study

• Links;Beyoncé – If I Were A Boy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWpsOqh8q0M

Kanye West ft. Jay Z – No Church In The Wildhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJt7gNi3Nr4

Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPf0YbXqDm0

• You can include as many illustrative stills as you like• Be creative in your approach, it is suggested you use the heading on the

previous slide a guide on how to structure your response to get you started• Remember, make a point, use a specific part of the chosen video as an

example, explain yourself and then link to another video where possible

+Beyoncé – If I Were A Boy

+Kanye West ft. Jay Z – No Church In The Wild• Purpose – The most common theme throughout this

song is trying to get a message across that you have to fight for yourself as there is no one else out to save you. This is the basic meaning of the name of the song ‘No Church In The Wild’.

+Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk