Questionnaire Results

In my post before I explained that I had created a questionnaire on the website: Surveymonkey.com. I decided to do this so I could get a brief over view of what my audience likes and what they expect from music videos as well as their viewing habits and how they view. The results I received were over a 2 week period, and the responses I received were from teachers, friends, work colleagues, fellow students as well as family. I managed to receive 44 responses and below I will be analysing my findings and how they can be incorporated or taken into consideration when I make my video.

Using the online website “Survey Monkey” had its positives and its negatives. The positive being that I was able to distribute my questionnaire to a wider range of people, and is quick and easy to make and to fill out. The negatives being that you could answer one questionnaire on each device. For example if I had the questionnaire up on a computer and filled it out, I would now not be able to fill it in again. I found this to be a negative as I could have been able to have the questionnaire open on one device and got as many people – in my class or friends –  as I could to come to this computer to fill it out.

All the images displayed in the post are enabled to be enlarged simply by clicking on the image itself.

Question 1: “What is your gender?”

This is an important question that every questionnaire begins with. It allows the author to put their findings into a criteria depending on the genres. The amount of replies I received were fairly even and it allows me to view how both sexes view music videos.

Question 2: “What group does your age range fall into?”

This question – similar to Q1 – is always at the beginning of a questionnaire it is needed to judge who you are getting these responses from. As I received responses from  a range of people my results are completely varied but the majority being the ’17-19′ category.

Question 3: “Do you watch music videos?”

This is the first question where I begin to specifically find out results that I need to know for my project. I was quite amazed when I saw the results that so many do watch videos and that only 3 do not. I also know from my knowledge from feedback on the questionnaire that the majority of the maybe’s were because they only watch a video ‘sometimes’ if it is known to be famous (for example: Gangnam Style (Psy) or The Fox (Ylvis)) or if they were a fan of a specific artist or band.

Question 4: “How often do you watch them?”

I decided to ask this question as I wanted to know how often they watch the videos; if it is often and they watch a lot of videos or hardly ever. The results I got were a mixture of people who watch videos every so often to people who watch them every day and the in between that only watch the videos when there is a new one for an artist that they like. I decided to add a comment box in this section as my options may not cover their needs – which is understandable as my questions have gone to a variety of people. The comments that I received were:

• Everyday x4
• Every few months x2

Question 5: “How do you find out about new music videos?”

In today’s generation the use of computers and digital equipment have taken over in music sales and throughout society – but this question has been really interesting as I have actually forgotten a key and clearly influential way in which  music videos are still shown nowadays which was television. The majority of videos were found on YouTube and this is why i recognised YouTube as an institution for music videos earlier on in the blog. Social media in general is the biggest advertisement I have learnt. I wanted to know how people find out about new music videos for when I have finished the production of mine and I will be needing for people to view the video. I added a comment box on this question and this is where I found the realisation that a lot of people still view music videos on TV.  The comments I received were:

• Friends x9
• TV x6
• Family/Sibling x2
• Adverts x1

Question 6: Once you have seen the video would you watch it again?

This question  links into the audience viewing habits if music videos are viewed once – similar to TV programmes or films – or if they’re watched and forgotten about. It is very even between the yes and the no’s however i know from the people who had filled this questionnaire out was that the majority of the maybes were because it depended on what the video was; whether it was something you had to watch again or because they were confused and wanted to understand it that bit different.

Question 7: What devices do you watch videos on?

This question was to do with the digital market that is available now online I wanted to see how viewers find these online services. I have since found out from a previous question that a lot of people still view videos on TV so I am able to take that into account. All 3 of the options are very evenly matched.

Question 8: What do you like to see in music videos?

This question was entirely comment based, the reason why I choose to ask this question was so I could get a feel of what viewers like and what I can incorporate into my video. I received 43 answers in this section (1 person passed the question as it wasn’t obligatory) I have copied and pasted the answers I received straight into this post below.

• Goth
• Special effects
• partying
• Gang cults
• art
• Wildlife
• zombies and goblins
• a good production
• Girls in bikinis
• good range of shots
• Gary Barlow
• Drugs
• Boobs
• I like confusion and to not fully understand what is going on
• if it was a Rihanna song I expect to see a lot of Rihanna
• band performance
• well directed, highly composed videos and edited properly
• post modernism
• controversy!
• interesting shots, Fit girls, good tune
• to take you on an adventure
• boy bands
• good story
• gang culture
• women
• something I can relate to
• costumes and glamour
• I just go on music videos to listen to the song but i normally choose the lyric versions of the songs
• I like a good narrative
• colourful
• a good storyline, maybe some humour, maybe action
• controversial images
• a good storyline
• humour
• A storyline related to the music
• humour
• Action shots
• A good storyline and good music
• Something to connect to the song
• Storyline
• Nothing
• I like funny videos
• I like band performances in videos

Question 9: If you had to recommend one music video for somebody to watch, what video would you choose?

This question like Q8 was entirely comment based, the reason why I choose to ask this question was for research purposes to see what people like to watch. I received 43 answers in this section (1 person passed the question as it wasn’t obligatory) I have copied and pasted the answers I received straight into this post below.

• Black veil brides, knives and pen
• under the bridge Red hot chili peppers
• Chelsea smile – bmth
• 50 cent Candy shop
• up in the air – 30 seconds to mars
• Katy Perry Roar
• nekrogoblikon
• one metallica
• Niki minaj Super Bass
• nirvana – smells like teen spirit
• Gary Barlow – Let Me Go
• Wrecking Ball – Miley Cyrus
• Slam – Pendulum
• red hot chilli peppers – californication
• Rihanna – S&M
• Kanye west – flashing lights
• shizzel – Versace the videos has been directed in a different way
• hurricane – 30 seconds to mars
• smack my bitch up – the prodigy
• berzerk eminem
• panic at the disco – ready to go
• Katy perry – california gurls
• slipknot – before I forget
• sneakbo – look what the cat dragged in
• miley cyrus – wrecking ball
• Thriller – Michael Jackson
• lady gaga – paparazzi
• I don’t know maybe mountains by biffy clyro
• I would choose arctic monkeys do I wanna know
• guns n roses – november rain
• gotye – somebody that i used to know
• eminem – lose yourself
• one direction
• enter Sandman – metallica
• Avril Lavigne’s When You’re Gone music video because the person could easily relate to the storyline.
• Dont you worry child – swedish house mafia
• Tears don’t fall – bullet for my valentine
• Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood
• turbulence
• Thriller by Michael Jackson
• Don’t know
• Wrecking ball
• Hurricane – 30 Seconds To Mars

Questionnaire On Music Videos

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LNN8PZH

This is a survey I put together on the website: http://www.surveymonkey.com, I decided to this so I could get a feel of how people I know and the overall audience views music videos and what they like to see in music videos in preparation for my own project.

You are able to enlarge the images by clicking on them.

Music Videos I Can Draw Influence From

Blessthefall – 40 Days…

On this video I am going to be doing a full in-depth analysis. I will be going into detail on the mise-en-scene, camera work, narrative and effectiveness throughout.

The video starts of explaining the narrative before the music begins. It starts with a news channel, that explains that Beau Bokan (the band’s singer) and Lights (Beau’s wife) have died from a “swamp gas explosion”. It shows mid range photographs of the couple together and roughly put together shots of toxic barrels and caution tape. They fade into a shot of the band as the voice over explains that Eric Lambert (guitarist in the band) ” has come by to express his grief”. Which then cuts to Eric looking “distressed”. It is terribly acted and has an element of humour. We then see more footage as if it was a news feature of men in toxic protection uniforms and a gas mask at the scene of the crime, who is saying “get out of here, no cameras” whilst pushing it away. The editing then cuts to a fuzzy screen.

The track then begins to play and the edit fades into and pans upwards over the two graves belonging to Beau and Lights. The lighting is very dark and it feels as if the setting is truly a graveyard. As the whole band enter in the track, we see an extreme close up poking out of the dirt at one of the graves. Then a body bursting out of the dirt shot with a mid shot. The person shakes off all the dirt and we see it is Beau who is wearing ragged clothing (jacket and jeans). We see a close up of him examining his hands – which gives the viewer the idea that he has come back to life. As he runs out of screen the edit fades into a building skyline with the sun rising. The colour and contrast of this shot is very well done and has a sepia theme.

The story then follows Beau as the main narrative. The first shot we see is of a long shot of him running with the rising sun in the background, whilst he is constantly looking around and behind him to see if anyone has seen him. This is when we get a feel of a setting. It is evidently on the streets of somewhere in America. We can tell this from the way the houses are set out, the roads and street lights and from previous knowledge that the band is from Phoenix, Arizona – this is when get a view of a particular house, which we assume to be Beau’s house.

The next shot is of the protagonist bursting through a door into a front room and pulling off yellow tape from his body. The room is extremely dark as we see the bright lights outside of the room in comparison. The room is a normal basic front room which has a sofa, a lamp, and pictures up on the walls. We know this is his house now because of the tape that we originally saw in the beginning.

He runs to a mirror in the room and we see a point of view shot of what he is seeing in the mirror – which is himself but looking zombified – his clothing is ripped and unclear and his face looks pale and ragged, with his hair also looking unclean and messy. This editing in this segment is very long as the character takes in what he looks like as he throws of the jacket and makes a lot of frustrated gestures by throwing his arms around and he pulls a lot of faces into the mirror that show confusion and that he is scared.

It cuts to him looking outside of the curtains into the street at a side view mid shot. He opens it slightly and jumps back and shuts the curtain – we then see a quickly edited section where we see him lock the door and drop down onto a sofa shown with a closeup. We then see a succession of shots of him using the pillow which demonstrates his frustration as he burrows his inside the pillow. The next shot we see is a mid POV shot of Beau crossing off dates on his calendar – which brings in the first illustration of the song title (40 Days…).

The camera then works on very slight edits here as the camera stays in one position but Beau moves around the room in each edit; for example he is doing push ups on a table, and then jumping on the sofa without properly seeing the cut point as the camera doesn’t move. The significance of this shows he is frustrated and not entertained. The next few shots focus on him either crossing off dates on the calendar with an ‘X’ or a mid shot of him laying down on his sofa watching the TV or looking at pictures; the picture frames and the remote are used as props. The editing of this segment is quick.

The next segment is where the narrative comes into effect. We see Beau sitting at his laptop (which is used as a prop) – shot in a mid shot which stays on focus for a while but then cuts to a point of view shot, so we can see what he is looking at. Which at first you cannot entirely make out what it is; the main focus is of a picture of Beau in the middle of the webpage. The camera and edit then follows a couple of close-ups of Beaus hands and of the website.

Finally we see an extreme close-up of a red pen (prop) circling 40 on the calendar (another prop) which is also significant again to the song title (40 Days…). The next cut goes to a close up of Beau who pulls a facial expression that shows surprise – as his eyes bulge out, and he goes backwards and opens his mouth to form an ‘O’ shape. The camera then goes back to a point of view shot on the laptop and we see that the website he is on is called: “Awakening Dates.com” and he has received many messages on his inbox and this is the source of his surprise. The focus is unsteadily on the laptop for a couple of seconds then we see a final shot of Beau – shot with a close up – pumping his fist which shows his excitement before it cuts to Beau in the mirror checking himself out. We see a succession of shots of him sorting his hair, using a make up brush (prop), putting on his jacket (costume and prop) all shown as a point of view in the mirror before he puts his thumbs up to say he is ready.

By this point we are able to work out the narrative of the video. The death of his wife happened 40 days ago and he has been marking down the time before he goes out to find someone new. He then leaves his house that we saw in the beginning of the video. We see a long shot of Beau skipping out the front door, holding a bouquet of flowers as prop, he also adds in a little heel kick to show his excitement. The lighting resorts back to the sepia theme. The camera pans slightly as he skips off.

The camera cuts to a point of view shot of him knocking on a yellow door with the flowers in his hand. A female character answers the door who is wearing a dark black shirt, a watch and make up that emphasise that the character is good-looking. This is important the viewer gets the impression that she is attractive as the camera then cuts to a close up of Beau looking dirty, untidy and messy – seeing the female character emphasises how bad the protagonist looks. The edit cuts back to a close up of the female character who puts her hand over her mouth, in shock and disgust, and waves her hand in front of her nose implying that he smells. The camera cuts back to Beau as we see his facial expression to show his upset. As we see a final shot of the female character heaving and turning round slamming the door.

The next scene is off Beau – again shown in a point of view shot, although this time not holding the flowers – knocking on another door. Another female character answers the door and again we see her beauty and the only sight of clothing is a thin black strap of  a vest. She is show in a mid shot and looks at Beau up and down and mouths the word “ew” and puts up an ‘L’ to her forehead to imply that he was a loser and shuts the door.

The third attempt is portrayed lightly different as we see Beau from a long shot at the end of the corridor knocking on a third door, the hallway is very dark. Again he is wearing the same costume but this time he is holding the flowers. The edit cuts to the door and the number of the flat is ‘666’ which is a connotation of the devil. She opens the door and looks very gothic, with purple hair, dark black eyes, and red lipstick and this makes perfect sense with the ‘666’ flat number. She moves her tongue like a snake and lunges forward to pull him in to her flat. She is specifically shown like this to make her look strange. She is trying to kiss him – as we see her lips puckered forwards – but Beau is resisting and pulling backwards. The camera cuts back to the original long shot that we saw at the beginning of this scene as he breaks her grasp and runs down the corridor with a scared look on his face. We see one final shot of this third female character licking her lips – which is shown in a close up.

The narrative then takes a turn and doesn’t continue with the search for a new female partner. As Beau enters another room, we see shots of the actual band (his band from real life and in the video) are performing. We see a few mid shots of the band stereotypically head banging. The room is very darkly lit. As he enters we see a mid shot from behind. The song then enters the guitar solo, as we see an opening mid shot image of a white Gibson Les Paul, and the lead guitarist playing the solo. He is wearing a dark T-shirt and a watch from the first view.

The next couple of shots focus on him being handed a can of ‘Rock star Energy Drink’ and him chugging it down. This is clearly a sponsor of the band. It cuts back to the guitar player – who is still soloing – and then back to Beau who is running around trying to drink as many of these energy drink cans as he can. We see a mid shot of him running and spinning on the spot clearly full of energy from the drinks. He then grabs the microphone (prop) and performs his role of the band singer as the vocals enter back into the track as the solo finishes. We see a few close-ups and mid shots of him performing, whilst we see a close up of shots showing crushed cans of the energy drink again – clearly showing the branded label. As the band performance section goes on we see more mid shots of the guitarists head banging and Beau doing his frontman role. A new character then enters the room carrying a few pizza boxes. He is shown in a mid shot, and has long black hair and is wearing a dark t-shirt.

The song goes into a bridge section where it is slower and quieter. The next shot we see adds to the narrative of the story as we see Eric Lambert (the character from the beginning) holding a pizza box. The camera pans upwards from a close up of the pizza to a mid shot of Eric. As the edit picks up to show Beau looking back and forth from Eric to the pizza. As it cuts back to Eric we see a post-production technique shown as Eric’s head is replaced by a slice of pizza and is glowing. Again we see a close up of Beau looking like he can’t contain his excitement and the edit shows the comparison of the real to pizza to the pizza replacing Eric’s head. We see a shot of the protagonist licking his lips and a normal shot of Eric looking confused by what the character is doing. As the band enter back in from the song for another chorus, we see Beau  lunging forward at Eric biting at his neck.

We see an extreme close up of Beau eating at Eric’s head. We see extras in the background looking shocked. We see a close-up of Beau as he tilts his head upwards and his face is covered in blood, and he throws up a load of junk – which we presume to be brains as he has just eaten at his band mate. This reinforces the storyline of his death that he is not alive and is not a real person anymore. He spits out some more and looks around the room as he turns and runs out of the room as people throw cans at him.

The setting is again outside on the streets as the sun is setting. We see a long shot of Beau running away which fades out and back into the graveyard from the beginning of the video. The lighting slightly changes as we see a bright light in the background. When the camera unsteadily cuts to a shot of Beau on his knees over the grave of Lights. It shows a shot of the headstone saying “Lights” and zooms in slowly. As we see a repeated extreme close up shot of a hand poking through the dirt, and Beau’s hand immediately grabbing onto it and pulling upwards. As we see a low angle shot of Beau pulling the hand upwards Lights’ character appear. As Beau did she shakes herself off. Beau is clearly excited as we see an outline of his mouth which shows shock and excitement and by his gestures – as he runs his hands through her hair and places his hands on her cheeks.

We see a final mid shot of the two of them holding hands – almost as if at a wedding ceremony saying their vowels as a post production effect comes in as a heart wipes zooms inwards filling the screen, showing them leaving the graveyard. The cut out of the heart fades to black and a message saying “Till Un-Death Do Us Part” wipes across the screen. Which finally fades out leading to the end of the video.

Once the video is finished and we know the whole narrative, we can then see the illustration and the link between the lyrics and the visual elements. Lyrics in the song like: “And I need you now, cause it’s killing me/And I wish somehow, you were here with me/When I fall asleep I feel you with me/Till I fall asleep and you are with me” show that it is a love song and the true meaning of the song was that he wants to be with his wife.

Lyrics found from research here: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/blessthefall/40days.html

Bring Me The Horizon – Alligator Blood

The things I liked with this video that were used effectively:

• Quick editing is very good, although sometimes too much going on.
• The use of suits, when going to this seedy, sultry setting.
• The use of the cards which is illustrative of the lyrics.
• The passion and the energy from the band.
• The range of shots that are used throughout the whole video – nothing is shot in the same way, always differences.
• The set in which the band play with the red lighting in the background.
• The narrative following each member of the band – but again can be too jammed full.
• The mixing of shots, when it focuses on one specific object and the editing flicks to different objects very quickly and briefly whilst the focus is still on the original object.
• I like the use of the props throughout especially the glass ball at the end.

The things I didn’t like or would improve:

• It’s very good but sometimes there is a bit too much going on.
• I didn’t understand the use of the spider.
• There is a lot of confusion throughout, and you do not understand the story – which makes people come back to watch it – but I think in this case, what goes on in the video is what brings you back, not the story.
• There is a repeated use of the same image throughout the song which is amplified but it also references the use of the title so it mixes the viewers view.

Dead Letter Circus – Lodestar

The things I liked with this video that were used effectively:

• Dark lighting throughout.
• Use of child which is juxtaposing when we see fighting.
• Use of setting with graffiti
• Red mist/smoke/flare when band are performing highlights band
• Energy of performers
• Use of make up and costumes on fighters.
• Acting and passion of fighters.

The things I didn’t like or would improve:

• I don’t like the slowed down shots of the band members as it seems out of time to the video
• The editing is really slow
• You don’t actually understand what the video is about and the relevance of the child or the CGI.
• The smoke that emphasises the band members disappears by the end of the song.

Pierce The Veil – King For A Day (Feat. Kellin Quinn)

The things I liked with this video that were used effectively: 

• Storyline is very clever and is illustrative of the lyrics.
• Close-ups when vocals enter is impressive.
• Energy of the band performing.
• Close-ups of the band pulling masks over is clever.
• Use of setting. Bank vs. Bar/Skatepark.
• Dress sense. Suits vs. Band attire.
• Not entirely serious, has element of humour.

The things I didn’t like or would improve:

• Poor acting – but has to do with humour
• Not a range of shots
• Change of lighting is too drastic in my opinion. Bright vs. dark.

The First – Love.Regret.Forgive.Forget.

The things I liked with this video that were used effectively: 

• The dark lighting throughout.
• Split of narrative/band performance.
• The use of the punching as a note (harmonic) is played on the guitar.
• The narrative turning point at punch as it then tells a story backwards.
• Individual band performing shots are good and show passion and energy.

The things I didn’t like or would improve:

• I didn’t like the use of full band performance shots
• The editing was too slow and didn’t fit the song
• Ineffective use of slow motion that look out of time
• Scene with female character becomes disjointed and confuses the viewer a bit.

Conventions Of A Music Video (Part 3): Brief Conventions Of Different Genres

I have already gone into detail and analysed a video from each of the genres but what I have put together here is a basic list of what is put into each genre of video that solidifies what genre of music is being portrayed.

Rock:

• Rock videos incorporate variety of shots into the mix as it has to cover various members of bands. It does this to translate energy in a performance and also musicianship.
• Rock videos are an exception that they follow all of Goodwins theory of visuals and audio. You get videos that are entirely band performance – for example a band may have finished a tour, and releases a music video comprising footage from the tour – and then there illustrated videos with narratives. It is usually political bands that use amplification and the reason they do this is to get a message across.
• Mise-en-scene can make an impact, the clothing can usually generate a stereotype (see example of analysis of Bullet For My Valentine’s video for “The Last Fight”). Make up and costumes in glam rock/emo/goth videos immediately depict what the genre of music is.
• Posture is a key convention in rock videos, as it again translates the passion an energy. An example being as the singer sings/screams, they throw themselves towards the microphones or pull it closer to them. Or a guitarist head banging and throwing themselves about (An example being: While She Sleeps – Our Courage, Our Cancer – which is shown below).
• The editing is always fast paced and is done on the beat.

Pop:

• Fashion is key for pop music, they will either go in one of two directions, to look desirable and attractive in designer outfits (One Direction, Justin Bieber, Cheryl Cole) or to stand out and make a statement (Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry). I have provided an example of a female artist being shown as voyeuristic and provocative by using controversial dressing.
• They often incorporate dance routines, and make the song upbeat, this in order makes the audience want to dance.
• Pop music videos mainly cater for teens and play on the teen lifestyle by using partying, sex and drinking.
• The artists are used as the “Star Image” and usually shown as a sex symbol. This is played on by making videos seductive and sultry.
• Pop music videos in comparison to how they used to be have had the biggest change in recent times.

Rap:

• The rapper will be shown in a range of shots as they will be the centre of focus. They will be lip-syncing to the camera as if they were talking to the audience. They will often mostly be shot from a low angle as it makes them look dominant, and powerful.
• The editing will match Andrew Goodwins theory that the shots are cut on the beat.
• Usually rap videos are split 50-50 e.g: narrative/performance. They often follow the rule of illustration.
• The mise-en-scene aspect is important as they need to look the part. Usually they will be wearing do-rags, baseball cap, basketball vests, big chains, along with a lot of jewellery. They will also have props, such as money or a weapon of some sort. Sometimes cars will also be used. These are references to wealth and again power. An example being: Lil Wayne – Lollipop which I have provided as an example below.
• Women are objectified in rap videos and the use of voyeurism is strong.

Conventions Of A Music Video (Part 2) Analysis Of Video From Each Genre

In this section of my research I’m going to go onto YouTube and briefly analyse and describe a video from three different genres and I will publish my findings here. The genres I am going to look into detail on are: Rock, Pop and Rap.

Rock/Metal: Bullet For My Valentine – The Last Fight

The video starts with an extreme close up of an eye with sweat on the persons brow; straight away the lighting is very dark. Which unsteadily moves to an extreme close up of both eyes opening. We see another extreme close up of somebody with wrapping around his hands punching his hands together and creating dust.

As the band start playing, we see a mid shot of a man playing guitar. The scene where we are introduced to the first band member is full of connotations. The “Flying V” guitar, the black vest/tank top, muscular arms, long black hair and head banging with a wide stance. The editing then picks up as we are introduced to the rest of the band in a quick succession of shots. Which then goes onto an extreme close up of the wrappings that we saw on the mans hands in the beginning. The shots transition between mid, long, close up, high angled edited together with a straight cut transition.

As the vocals enter we begin to get a narrative as the character which we saw with the wrappings on his hands starts a boxing routine where he is punching the air. The shot goes to a side on close up of the singer as the vocals enter which is significant of the theory of what goes into a music video by Andrew Goodwin. We are then introduced to another character who is putting on a PVC mask. The lighting is very key in this video as it allows silhouettes and shows the passion through sweating and energy.

As the chorus comes in with the line “I will fight” we see the two fighters squaring off and eyeing each other up. This forms a link to the narrative of the song meaning it is illustrated. We then see a lot of shots that split between narrative and band performance, and I have noticed that the camera work is very unsteady and shaky. As the second chorus kicks in again with the line “I will fight” we see the first punch thrown between the two fighters.

The star image factor comes in again as the guitarist plays the guitar solo and the shooting goes straight to him. It splits between him soloing and the fighters fighting. The character in the PVC mask seemingly has the upper hand but we then see a close up of him shaking his head and as the singer sings “should I fight another night or let it die” the fighter starts to pick up the momentum and they seem fairly evenly matched.

There is a final long shot of the fight as they both fall to the ground, we see a montage of shots of them on the ground as the fighter takes off the other mans PVC mask and he realises that he was fighting himself. This gives the song a meaning and the illustration between visual and audio is clear.

Pop: Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball

The video starts off with an extreme close up of Miley Cyrus. The way in which her face is presented straight away shouts out the ‘sex symbol’ principle that I mentioned in my post before. She has a bright red lipstick on – which connotates love and danger which is very cleverly done as the video portrays both in this video. She also has a tear rolling down her face which makes her seem fragile and broken which is symbolic of the saintlyy figure of a women. The white shirt reinforces this. The lighting is also very naturalistic which gives off the sense that she is natural and again saintly.

She then lip sync’s along to the song’s opening lyrics, which suggests that she is talking about a relationship of “falling under your spell” and with the tear the viewer gets the idea that the relationship broke up. Then the first edit happens as the shot straight cuts to a close up of Miley holding a sledge-hammer across her shoulders, with a “pleasured” look on her face. The editing of the beginning is not existent as there is only one shot but as the song progresses the editing picks up. We then see a low angle shot ofher wearing a pair of red Dr Martens boots which is another signified use of the colour red. The camera changes the focus of the camera from the sledge-hammer that she is holding to her frequently. The video then cuts back to the original extreme close up that we the video startedwith as the chorus kicks in and the video opens up.

The shot goes to a long shot where we see below the white vest that we saw from the extreme close up and the saintly image immediately goes as they way she is dressed

contradicts the original view of her. The following shot is a high angled close up of her seductively pressing the sledgehammer to her lips. This is when the voyeurism comes into play and she becomes this sultry person. The viewer sees a long shot of her walking towards as a wrecking ball comes through the setting which is an industrialised wall surrounding. This is the first hint of the connection between visual and sound. This makes the video an amplification as we repeatedly see the same image of either her or the sledgehammer or the wrecking ball. 

The wrecking ball then starts “wrecking” the setting which links towards the lyrics “I came in like a wrecking ball” which is significant of how the relationship ended. We see a mid shot and the main focus is her chest which adds to the voyeurism. We see a variety of long shot pans as she is sitting on top of the ball. Along with her licking the sledgehammer. This is when the costume disappears and she throws her body around like a pole dancer whilst sitting on the ball again looking “pleasured” whilst being completely naked. The rest of the video switches between the extreme close up of her singing, to her naked on the wrecking ball, or seductively fondling the sledgehammer.

This video works on the controversy in order to gain viewers. Miley Cyrus is also desperately trying to get rid of the ‘Disney girl’ tag that she is branded with and is trying to rough her image up and to scrap the innocence. The director of the video didn’t use many media conventions in that there wasn’t a great range of shots but they were clever in the way that the “Star Image” is portrayed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2418231/Miley-Cyrus-defends-controversial-video-Wrecking-Ball–reveals-hidden-message.html – this link shows an interview with Miley Cyrus defending her video to the Mail Online.

Rap: 50 Cent – Candy Shop

The video starts with a panned establishing shot of a mansion. The lighting is extremely dark and misty. Then we see another establishing shot along with some diagetic sound of a gate moving with the logo “Candy Shop”. The gates open and the camera cuts to a low angled shot of  an expensive sports car pulling in. The door of the car opens and we see a low angled close up of a pair of shoes as the character steps out of his car. Which cuts to  another low angled shot of 50 Cent himself. The camera fades into the house of the mansion opening as we are greeted by a female character who says “Welcome to the candy shop”. We see a range of female character who are all wearing voyeuristic lingerie.

As the music starts, the main shot is of 50 Cent rapping along. Making him the “Star Image”. The costume he is wearing is interesting as it acts as a conventions of rap music. He has a baseball cap, do-rag, big jewellery and chains, baggy jeans and big shoes; we also see him wearing a big fur coat. This also acts as a stereotype and connotation of rap. When the rapping begins we see a long shot of him sitting on his sports car as the narrative follows him being led through this mansion by the female character who welcomed him. The editing is really jumpy and doesn’t follow the beat. The narrative is illustrative that the lyrics of the song follows the video, but it is clear what the real message of the song is and the viewer easily understands this.

We see a variety of shots, which range from performance, him searching through the house, or being intimate with the female character. His mannerism during the rap is also very stereotypical. He is shot from a low angle and there is a lot of rocking and hands movements. The video is very sexually orientated and we see a lot of suggestive themes. We see a mid shot of a character in a pink PVC nurse outfit rubbing against him. It switches to her looking “pleasured”.

There is then a long shot of a 5 piece dancing outlet. All of them are wearing red which I have written about before with the connotations of the colour red. It switches to high angled shots. Throughout the dance routine we see a lot of low angled shots of 50 Cent standing on a balcony watching them. This is significant that he is portrayed with the low angled shots looking up to him making this figure, and the camera (significant of the viewer) looks down on the dancers.

Another scene that we see is of a person who has a whip as a prop, and it whips off his clothes, and we see that his body is muscular and toned, and he is covered in tattoos which is also a connotation/stereotype for rap music. During the rest of the videos we see montages of shots of the girls he has been with during his stay in the house, but then the camera uses a girl blowing a bubble with chewing gum to cut to 50 Cent asleep in his car, and the welcoming character of the video working in a drive through for a candy shop.

Conventions Of A Music Video (Part 1)

Dancing In The Distraction Factory – Andrew Goodwin

This book explores the ideas of what a music video is, whether it’s an art form or a simple media text. The book follows and explains what different theorists and critics view music videos.

This next section is analysing what makes a music video and what is needed for a music video to work. The book I aforementioned explains that music videos work on these principles:

Thought Beats:

This part of the theory works on song structure. For example when the vocals enter, the close-up shot of the vocalist helps portray the ‘Star Image’ – which is one of the principles – or a chorus where you would view a full band shot as it is a key point of the song. It is basically being able to see the sound. It is the band telling the story of the song. The technical term for thought beats is: Synthaesthesia.

Narrative and Performance:

Goodwin realised that the whole story shouldn’t be told and there shouldn’t be a complete narrative. The viewer or the audience need to go further into it and to take their own individual interpretation of the story being told. It opens a door for the artist, it brings the viewer back in to get another take on it, it increases authenticity and creativity. For example the video to: 30 Seconds To Mars – Hurricane (which I have posted in a previous post) follows a storyline that confuses yet draws in the viewer, it’s a real post-modernism approach.

Star Image:

The star image is the constant flow of close-ups and shots of the ‘star’ whether that’s the artist or the band or the traditional front person of a band. It can follow a narrative that is directly linked to the character or a personal theme of song. It is also down to the labels who are selling the video by flaunting these shots as a mens of a sex symbol.

Relation of Visuals:

There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. This is something that i have been working hard at. The plan for my music video is to have lyrics to the song that follow the narrative of the story and vice versa. I want the two mediums to tell a story. This is a case of illustration. You can then amplify which is a theory of repetition where the same image or effect is repeatedly shown. Or there’s “disjuncture” which is where the meaning of the song is completely ignored.

Technical Aspects:

The technical aspects follow the way in which the video is put together: the camera work, mise-en-scene, lighting, editing (music videos usually transition between shots on the beat) and if necessary sound and special effects.

The camera work follows how the movement is made and the range of shots available, and then it goes into the post-production as to how well it is edited and cut up.

The lighting helps set the mood of the video and can add effect. It can also be used to signify the genre as well. For example a pop video will be bright and colourful in comparison to a dark metal band.

The mise-en-scene is how well the ‘stars’ are portrayed in what they are wearing, how they are shot, the use of props when needed etc.

I researched into other key aspects that I will need to take into thought when making my video and I have listed these things below also offering a brief definition of each.

Meta-narrative: This is an indirect growth of artist, for example Miley Cyrus who went from an innocent Disney girl to raunchy controversial videos such as Wrecking Ball.

Grain of Voice:  Roland Barthes suggests that the voice is easily distinguishable each is unique – which helps us identify who the artist is.

Repeatability: This simply is how it has an effect on the viewer or the audience that will make them want to come back and view it again. I have mentioned how Hurricane plays on the viewers mind and makes you interpret it in your own way.

Institutions (Part 4): YouTube

YouTube began on February 14th 2005, when three former PayPal employees (Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, Jawed Karim) created a website called YouTube which would be a video sharing site.

They started to create and design the website after February. The first video uploaded to YouTube was a video of one of the co-founders (Jawed Karim) at the San Diego Zoo, it was titled “Me at the zoo” and was uploaded on April 23rd 2005.

In November 2005 they were invested in by a firm called: Sequoia Capital. They invested $3.5 Million. In April 2006, Sequoia and Artis Capital Management added another $8 Million into the company as it became hugely popular even within the  first fewmonths of the site being officially opened.

During 2006 the company grew drastically, uploading more than 65,000 videos and receiving 100 million video views per day in July of 2006. YouTube signed a deal and entered a marketing and advertisement partnership with NBC in the same year. On October 9 2006 YouTube was sold to Google for $1.65 Billion in stock. They planned to continue operating independently. At the time it was Google second biggest acquisition.

The company now has the capability of showing TV shows, and films, as well as a partnership with the Indian Premier League (Cricket). In January 2012 they announced that they were receiving 4 Billion streams a day. As well as stating that 60 hours of videos were uploaded to the site every minute. In 2012 – Gangnam Style by Psy became the first video to surpass 1 Billion views.

“Out of the millions of videos streamed on YouTube’s site every day, music videos are by far the most popular.

According to ComScore, which will start publishing data on YouTube’s channel partners tomorrow, 40 percent of YouTube’s audience watches music videos, more than any other category. Vevo, a joint venture among Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Abu Dhabi Media, has a channel that accounts for 30 percent of YouTube’s entire monthly viewers and is hands-down the most watched YouTube channel . Warner Music’s channel came in second with 20 percent.” (Quote found from: http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2011/08/17/music-videos-dominate-youtube-viewership-2)

information found from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_YouTube

 

Institutions (Part 3): MTV

The concept for a music video channel started roughly around the 1960’s. Around that time was when The Beatles had taken upon making music video to boost sale – this led people to look up and pay attention to the effect that music videos were having. There were version of music video shows taking place – We had Top of the Pops and Australia had Countdown. But nothing ever solidified as a fully pledged music video channel. Many had the idea, like

Gary Van Haas who in 1974 presented a concept to show music videos, it was to be called Music Video TV. They actually signed a deal for the channel to go ahead in 1978; which would see it swap to cable and television viewers. The show did not last though.

MTV preparation began in 1977 when Warner Cable launched a “two-way interactive cable system” which was called QUBE. They began showing the programme: Sight On Sound, which showed live performance footage of artists and a service where the viewers could vote for their favourite songs.

Another preparation began when John Lack (who was CEO of Warner-Amex Satelliete Entertainment (WASEC) – and they having a relation to Warner Cable I aforementioned) contacted Mike Nesmith (who was a former member of the band “The Monkees” – and had been a noted pioneer for the use of music videos in his era) about making a tester show of MTV. Nesmith decided that he did not want to be involved however.

Robert W. Pittman came up with the programming schedule and concept for MTV. He had also had a taste of what MTV could be like when he was part of a 15-minute show on WNBC (a New York station) that was called Album Tracks.

On August 1st 1981, MTV began. They had a countdown and started with the phrase: “Ladies and Gentleman, rock and roll” which was spoken by John Lack. They pioneered the use of the Apollo 11 space shuttle launch – which had been earlier that year. The original logo was of the moon landing with a flag featuring the MTV logo changing colours. The logo was an important feature that has become MTV’s identity. It was designed by a company called Manhattan Design.

The first music video shown was of The Buggles – Video Killed the Radio Star. The effects began when sales of bands that were not played on radio and were shown on MTV began to rise.

Six years later MTV Europe went on air – this was to be the beginning of the growth of MTV. They realised that it wouldn’t be easy to cater for 

everyone in Europe, so they came to the conclusion that they had to regionalise. Obviously as they were relatively new, they had to build a base to work from so they released MTV Europe to grow. This came to the creation of the EMA’s (MTV Europe Music Award).

When technology came around and digital technology had truly began. MTV utilised this advancement and went digital. This allowed them to regionalise, allowing each country their own music channel catering specifically for that country not an overall continent.

MTV has changed its musical direction many times in the past and this is why it caters for many different genres today. MTV began playing less music videos from 1995 – when they introduced reality shows. Statistics show that from 1995 to 2000 they play 36.5% less music videos. MTV president Van Toeffler said that the novelty of music videos had worn off and they needed to reinvent themselves for their ever-growing contemporary audience. As they expanded and reinvented for their new audience. This led to reality shows such as Jersey Shore, 16 and Pregnant, My Super Sweet 16, The Hills etc.

Now they have rebranded themselves again and have dedicated channels for each genre of music as well as a dedicated channel for television series.

This link: “http://www.bearshare.com/history-of-mtv.html” gives you details and statistics on the history of MTV.

Institutions (Part 2): Music Channels on TV

Another institute as to how the music videos are shown and sold to everyone would be music channels on TV. What I did was went onto my TV guide on Sky and found out some information on each of the channels.

I also found out the viewing statistics on the majority of the channels which are shown in the word document/link below. All viewing figures were found from: http://www.barb.co.uk. They were correct from the week November 04 – November 10.

VIEWING FIGURES FOR MUSIC CHANNELS

MTV Music:

• In 2011 MTV re-launched their music video brand, as they had released they had lost their intended and original direction, and were focusing on TV shows, so what they did was create a separate channel for TV shows and to create different channels depicting the different genres of music. MTV Music mainly focuses on pop music and chart shows.

MTV Base:

• This is the second of the new MTV channels that focuses mainly on Pop, R&B, Reggae, Soul and Urban music.

MTV Hits:

• This channel focuses again on Pop, Chart, Rap, Urban genres.

MTV Dance:

• This as the name suggests plays dance tracks coming from a variety of sub genres such as: D’n’B, Dubstep, House etc.

MTV Rocks:

• This channel shows a variety of genres from Indie, Folk, Singer Songwriters, Rock, Punk and Metal.

MTV Classics:

• This channel mainly shows older music from previous eras, and plays songs that are thought of to be anthemic or ‘Classic’.

VH1:

• This follows the trend that MTV Classic follows in that it plays songs from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s etc. that are regarded as classic, however they also do play current songs.

Viva:

• Viva follows what the lost direction MTV does and mainly plays TV shows and films.

MTV Live:

• This channel shows live performances of various artists from a variety of genres.

The Box:

• This channel plays current Pop music, as well as chart music and shows such as: UK Top 40.

4Music:

• This music station is made by channel 4. It plays chart music with shows such as the UK Top 40, but it also plays TV series.

Kiss TV:

• This is the TV channel for the radio station and follows the genres of music that the radio station plays. In this case it is Rap, Urban, Garage, Pop and Chart.

Smash Hits:

• Chart and Pop music ranging from todays charts, to previous charters from the past.

Magic TV:

• As well as Kiss TV it is the channel for the radio station and follows what the radio station would play. In this case it classic songs from past decades.

Heat:

• This is the music channel for the magazine brand. It shows a lot of TV programmes but also has shows dedicated to music videos.

Chart Show TV:

• As the name suggests it plays the chart music, and is fairly self-explanatory.

The Vault:

• This channel specialises in noughties music mostly Pop or past chart music.

Scuzz:

• This station specialises in my target genre. This being: Rock, Metal, Punk, Heavy Metal and all the sub genres that are affiliated with Rock.

Kerrang!:

• Kerrang! is a popular magazine and online service and this is the music channel of the magazine. Kerrang! also promote my target genre as well as Scuzz. This being: Rock, Metal, Punk, Heavy Metal and all the sub genres that are affiliated with Rock.

Vintage TV:

• The music that they play is older classical music dating back from the 40’s to the 90’s.

Planet Pop:

• Planet pop work on a jukebox principle, where they get viewers to text in and request songs to be played. The majority of the music they play is R’n’B and Pop.

Starz:

• This channel is the same as Planet Pop that it works on a juke box principal. It focuses on the same genres of music as well.

BuzMuzik:

• They are also a similar operating channel to Starz and Planet Pop and play the same genres of music.

Flava:

• Flava broadcasts 24 hours a day and focuses on Garage, Hip-Hop, R&B and D’n’B.

Bliss:

• This channel plays popular pop hits, as well songs from the past ranging from the 70’s to 00’s.

Chart Show Dance:

• This is a relatively unique channel as it focuses on urban and mixing of two songs creating “mash-ups”of pop songs.

Clubland TV:

• This channel is the main competitor to MTV Dance, and plays a range of dance genres as well as upbeat pop songs.

Heart TV:

• This is the TV channel to the popular radio station. It plays the same type of music that the radio station plays.

Capital TV:

• This is also the TV channel to the popular radio station. Capital play mostly Pop and chart apart from the odd exception of another genres of music in the chart.

Channel AKA:

• This channel is entirely Rap, and focuses on grime, R&B, Hip-Hop, and is primarily UK based talent.

Institutions (Part 1): Record Labels

Institutions are the companies and labels who help produce and provide funding for the music videos to be made. In today’s society using digital media, it is easy to release a new video and to promote it. New videos are posted and released onto social media sites such as YouTube. Then the use of Twitter and Facebook come into use, as they promote their new video to their fans in order to gain views.

An interesting topic on music videos nowadays is how many views your video can get on YouTube. This determines how well the artist or band is doing in their career. An example would be Justin Bieber’s video of “Baby” which had 926,862,313 views as of 08/11/13.

When talking about institutions, the first thing that comes to mind is: record labels. A record label is an institution that signs artists and bands to a contract in order to record and release music. And there isn’t just one type of record label, there are actually two different groups: major and independent (indie). I will firstly be going into detail on the current ‘Big 3’ major labels. These labels have earned themselves the title of being a major institution by building themselves up and competing to sign the best artists that will sell records. “The major labels represent the majority of the music sold, making up as much as 75% of the music market or more depending on the year” (Quote found from: http://musicians.about.com/od/musicindustrybasics/g/BigFour.htm).

Major Labels:

Sony Music Entertainment:

• Formerly known as Sony BMG Music entertainment when they were in a joint venture with Bertlesmann AG. Up until 2008 when the venture ended and they went their separate ways, the name was then changed to Sony Music Entertainment.
• The company was originally founded in 2004.
• They have many subsidiary labels such as: Epic Records, Columbia Records, RCA Records among many others.
• Sony also have a joint partnership with Simon Cowell, creating the label: Syco Entertainment, who deal with the release of winners of the X Factor, and other Simon Cowell led programmes.
• Sony deal in a wide variety of genres and types of artists, and they allow distribution world-wide.
• Sony boasts many successful and big artists and bands such as: Foo Fighters, Beyonce, Bullet For My Valentine, Bruce Springsteen, Chris Brown, Iron Maiden (UK), Justin Timberlake, Kings of Leon, One Direction, to list just a few but they are amongst many others.

Warner Music Group:

• Warner Music Group was founded in 1958 under the original name of Warner Bros. Records and are based in New York, United States.
• As well as Sony, Warner has a big roster of new, up and coming to legendary artists and bands signed to them.
• They have a big collection of subsidiaries, from the likes of: Roadrunner Records, Asylum Records, Atlantic Records, Parlophone Records and Reprise Records just to name a few.
• Asking Alexandria, Avenged Sevenfold, Bruno Mars, Michael Buble, Biffy Clyro, Led Zeppelin, Linkin Park, Madonna, Metallica, Slipknot, Skrillex and Van Halen are just a few examples of who WMG have under their roster.

Universal Music Group:

• Universal are the largest major label and music corporation in the amount of artists it has, the merchandising and the publishing.
• Universal was founded in 1934 (under the name Decca Records USA) and they became MCA Music Entertainment Group in 1989 and then in 1996 they changed their name to Universal Music Group.
• They are a subsidiary of media conglomerate Vivendi. Universal also own Universal Music Publishing Group – which is the second largest music publishing organisation.
• They are located in Santa Monica, California.
• In 2012 Universal completed the purchase of the former member of the ‘Big 4’ major labels, EMI. The acquisition cost them £1.2 billion.
• Universal also have sister labels, such as: Interscope Records, Geffen Records, Island Records, Def Jam Records, Mercury Records, Motown records, Virign Records as well as many others.
• They have the likes of: Coldplay, David Guetta, Drake, Eminem, Guns N Roses, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Stevie Wonder and many more.

Independent Labels:

Independent:

Outside of the big major labels, there are other types of record companies who are not considered as big, and are named ‘Indie’ labels. There have been many huge bands signing for an indie label or even starting their own label, from huge artist such as The Beatles who set up Apple Records, and also The Rolling Stones who began Rolling Stones Records. However not every Indie label was successful as these two example were not.  These are a few examples of indie record labels and bands that are signed with them.

• Epitaph: Bring Me The Horizon (US Only), Falling In Reverse, Parkway Drive (US and Europe Only), Weezer, letlive.
• Fueled By Ramen: Paramore, Panic! At The Disco, Gym Class Heroes, fun.
• Ambush Reality – Enter Shikari’s DIY label that they are currently running.
• XL Recordings – Adele, Jack White, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, The XX, Vampire Weekend.
• Rough Trade – Arcade Fire, Jarvis Cocker, The Libertines, Anastacia.