What its ‘real’ about my video

What its ‘real’ about my video?

Attractive actors

Without sounding obnoxious (because I am the main character), music videos use attractive actors, which I did. This was mainly uncontrollable, because I struggled to find any other willing participants to act in my music video other than me and my boyfriend. However, we are not as ‘attractive’ as ‘Hollywood’ actors. We are not airbrushed, or edited in any way. We are not 100% perfect which would be expected in the majority of music videos. So the actors are ‘real’. The girl is not super skinny, and the boy is not ridiculously muscly, so audiences can relate to them more.

‘Normal’ costume

An example of a typical outfit from a Nicki Minaj music video (extravagant), compared to the costume in my music video.

Nicki Minaj -Bold outfit, extreme hair style, and over the top make up.Me – plain outfit, simple hair style, subtle make up = real.

In ‘proper’ (high-budget) music videos, there is a lot of variety in costume. Also, the costume is very expensive, and often extravagant, and would not be worn in real-life. An example of extravagant costume in music videos is seen in Nicki Minaj videos.

However, All of the costume in my music video is ‘real’. I did not have a budget to purchase costumes, to pay for make-up artists or hair stylists. So I used my real outfits, I applied my make up like I would normally, and I styled my hair in ways that I normally would. However, all of these aspects were planned to ensure variety within the video. These factors made my video ‘real’.

‘Real’ locations

Expensive locations seen in the ‘Burn’ video by Usher

In ‘proper’ music videos, multiple locations are used. They are generally extravagant, such as mansions, and exotic beaches.

However, the locations in my video are very ‘real’. They are realistic, and the audience can relate to the characters because of this. The locations are simple, mainly because of money (or lack of it!), as I could not afford extravagant locations, however, I could have used green screen for this effect. But I chose not to, because the style of the track is simple, and unedited (real), so using simple ‘real’ locations complements the track.

Real situations

In high budget music videos, characters are seen doing unrealistic things such as flying on private jets, or driving Lamborghinis and Ferraris.

I didn’t have the budget to have a plot like these, so the plot was very simple and ‘real’. The character did normal, ‘real’ things. Examples include scenes in a ‘normal’ bed, and in a ‘normal’ field. Using real situations encourages the audience to relate to the characters.

Lack oftechnology

In ‘proper’ music videos, they have an unlimited budget, so expensive equipment is used.I had no budget what so ever, only borrowing school cameras, and using costumes and locations that were easily available (and free!) to me, for example my house. But this meant that the quality of my video was very poor compared to chart music videos. I could not use high quality cameras, artificial light, etc. This made my music video more ‘real’. Although this aspect complements the style of the track because both the sound and image are of a low, grainy quality, this would be the only factor, that I would change if I could. I feel that although the other ‘real’ aspects were due to lack of budget, that they worked well with the style of the track. Although the poor quality of the video worked well with the poor quality of the track, the video would still work well, if not better, with the same locations, characters, costumes, plot and even shots, but with higher quality equipment. For example, the shots that showed the picture being ripped up were too dark to clearly see the picture. If I could afford artificial lighting, this problem would be resolved. And some shots are grainy, which would be resolved with a higher quality video camera.

The ‘realness’ of my video makes it easier for audience to relate to the artist, and it compliments the style of the music track, both being simple, unedited, and ‘real’.