Star Theory - Richard Dyer

Audience Reception Theory

Jamie Thraves

Purpose of a Music Video

Purpose of a Music Video from naominuamah

Alex Southam

A Model of the Media

Mind Map created by Naomi Nuamah with GoConqr

Sexism in Pop Videos

Laura Mulvey

Mulvey's feminist view of cinema can also be suitable for music videos as the theory that women are views as sexual objects of male desire. She also states how the camera is a heterosexual males point of view as they focus on a women's assets.

Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke

Firstly, this music video sparked controversy and has been banned from 20 university student unions due to it's questionable lyrics. The title itself presents the indication of unconsented sex, the "blurred line" Thicke sings about shows how he is unable to figure out if a woman wants to sleep with him or not, so he pursues her further as the lyrics suggest. The music video shows women parading around the men in little clothing. The models are shown flirting with the artists while they seduce them. There is also an unrated version where the girls are completely topless, which heightens the sexual objectification of them and submits to the the male gaze.

 

Hard Out Here - Lily Allen

The message that Allen was trying to present was that women in society and music videos are constantly getting pressured to have a certain appearance to be accepted in society. She also calls out the over use of women twerking in the camera to satisfy men, and the sexual suggestive images of every thing she must do in her video to heighten her sexuality in order to please men. However, the irony is that she features black women twerking and being sexually explicit. Hence, the reason why she may be seen as a hypocrite as she is doing what she's calling others out for doing.



Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus

Previously known as the sweet teenage american sweetheart due to her portrayl of a popular kids show on Disney channel, Hannah Montana. As an attempt to get rid of this well known image, Cyrus exploits herself in her music video "Wrecking Ball". She is shown in a vest and underwear showing most of her skin while using a hammer, also a phallic object, to break walls. Then she is naked on a wrecking ball. These sexualized images of Cyrus can be seen as a way for her to transform into someone else and get an older audience. This can also be seen as a way to gain attention by causing controversy with her sexual objectification.



Adult Swim - DJ Spinking

A current theme in most music videos, especially rap videos, is that we see the sexual objectification of women. However, a reoccurring factor in these videos is to exploit black women above all races. This depiction of the black race can be shown in a negative portrayal. The hyper sexual image of black women presents a more erotic figure to others; which leaves black women to be nothing more than a sexual fantasy for those to desire and lust over. This leads to the belittling of women of the black race, as others outside the race will see black women as being provocative and promiscuous. In this music video we see that the close ups are of the black women's bodies. They sit on the cars not contributing much to the video only to be seen as eye candy and another prop on set much like the cars being showed off. While the men can be seen fully clothed the women wear next to nothing, in an attempt to sexualize them further.

Sonny & Cher Lip Sync Evaluation

During this task we created another lip syncing video to the song "I Got You Babe", similarly to our previous video I took various shots from different angles. With this I filmed each of my partners in an individual close up and also a wide shot of them singing together. We also introduced the use of the dolly into our work, this was so we could get some more unique shots. The dolly helped the camera move smoothly from one person to another with both close ups and wide shots. Then we had to edit the footage on Premiere Pro. As we have previously done this before it became easier to match up the song with the video. In order for their mouths to sync up with the music I had to mark the beat to where the singing started from Sonny and Cher. I then proceeded to match the clips accordingly, switching from one angle to another.

Katy Perry

Follow Naomi's board Katy Perry on Pinterest.

Emil Nava

 First started as a runner then got promoted to an assistant director

A freelancer for OB Management

Nava has made 24 music videos in one year

He also made an advert for L'Oreal in 2012
Adverts are at a higher budget

Now that Nava has become a more successful director and is behind artist's videos such as: Jessie J, Ed Sheeran, Calvin Harris etc. We get to see some of his signature styles as a director. However, unlike some directors Nava doesn't have a clear style on how the videos are presented for example: vibrant colours, black and white or a common theme throughout his videos. However, we do see the type of camera angles he likes to use, Nava seems to like to use a lot of widescreen and close ups of the artist and any other actors featured in the video. 

How Deep Is Your Love - Calvin Harris

Emil Nava also directed one of Calvin Harris' music videos called How Deep Is Your Love. Throughout the video it is prominent who the star of the video is, Gigi Hadid stars as a girl going through a trippy journey. The camera angles tend to focus clearly on Hadid as Nava tries to showcase her beauty. This can also be seen as Nava taking the Male Gaze approach, as the camera focuses on the model's sex appeal.

Additionally she wears little clothing as a way to provoke more sexual attention. 

David Powter - Bad Day

Branding of the Spice Girls

Album Art Exercise

Today we learnt how to edit a album cover on Photoshop, in preparation for our real digipack. We auto generated a band and album name, to come up with the title. As the picture I was given was quit crowded and detailed I didn't need to do much to the photo in Photoshop. Thus, I only enhanced the contrast and vibrancy to make it more attractive and bright. I added the artists name and the album name in this particular font. The reason for my font choice was because I think that it suits the album concept best. Along with this I chose these colours to suit the background image. 

Ed Sheeran - Sing

Lyrics

We chose this song as the lyrics empathise with the concept of friends and travelling. We tried to fit our music video with the lyrics so they's make sense together. The lyrics highlighted are the ones that really stand out and go along well with what our music video is about. 

Lyrics

Nothing's ever what we expect
But they keep asking where we're going next
All we're chasing is the sunset
Got my mind on you

Doesn't matter where we are are are are 
Doesn't matter where we are are are ar-are
Doesn't matter no
If there's a moment when it's perfect
We'll carve our names 

As the sun goes down
Hey
As the sun goes down
Hey
As the sun goes down

As the sun goes down
Doesn't matter where we are are are are
Doesn't matter where we are are are ar-are
Doesn't matter now

You are so lonely now [x2]

Nothing's ever what we expect
But they keep asking where we're going next
All we're chasing is the sunset
Got my mind on you

Doesn't matter where we are are are are 
Doesn't matter where we are are are ar-are
Doesn't matter no
If there's a moment when it's perfect
We'll carve our names 

As the sun goes down
Hey
As the sun goes down
Hey

You are so lonely now [x2]

As the sun goes down.

Added Value - A-ha and Sinead O' Connor

The History of Pop Videos

Bessie Smith

The history of pop videos started with Bessie Smith who was a blues singer. She was a part of one of the first music videos which included a narrative; which had never been done before. Smith's song was included in a short film called St Louis Blues (1929), this film was shown in cinemas for approximately four years. The significance of it being shown in cinemas for so long, is that because the song became so well known many heard it for years, which would never happen today. In the 1920s this was a way to get an artist's music heard by the public, and that was how the song gained popularity.

Bing Crosby

Crosby was one of the biggest stars of the 1940s, he was an actor who starred in many films. He was also a singer whose talents were showcased in films. This example comes from the film White Christmas (1942), here it shows all attention on Crosby as the camera centres it's attention on the singer. This was so that the viewer could focus on the song and his voice, this then helped make the song popular amongst the public. He also featured in a TV special which featured Dean Martin, who was an up-and-coming star. Martin being shown in this special alongside Crosby helped him gain stardom. 

Frank Sinatra 

Later, Sinatra replaced Crosby as the world's biggest star. Likewise to Crosby, Sinatra also starred in many films where he sang songs such as "New York, New York". The film On The Town (1949) was a musical which was previously a musical on broadway. Frank Sinatra was apart of The Rat Pack, where he performed in concerts.  

Elvis Presley 

Presley was one of the biggest rock n roll stars of the 20th century. Likewise to the previous actors/singers, Presley starred in many films where his music was heard. An example where Elvis Presley starred in a film was Blue Hawaii (1961). This movie portrays Presley as a playboy surrounded by girls, this was showed to get Presley attention from teenage fans. Similarly to Sinatra, Presley sung in concerts but he only toured the USA.

The Beatles

The Beatles showcased their music on Top of the Pops, which gained them popularity amongst the public as this was a very popular music show in the UK. The attention that show gave them allowed their music to progress in the charts. These musicians also had their own film called A Hard Days Night (1964). In this debut feature film we got to see the individual personalities of The Beatles; this fast pace film is full of action which would attract younger audiences. As this film showed them getting into mischief younger fans could relate to their behaviour, and featured their music. Also, The Beatles had the first ever official music video with their song Paperback Writer in 1968. 

Top of the Pops & MTV

Top of the Pops began in 1964 and ended in 2006, which aired on BBC. It was shown every week on a Thursday where artists would perform their song on stage. It also featured the weekly chart update of the latest popular music. 

The first music video that was broadcasted on MTV was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles (1981). In this music video there are a variety of special effects, this was a milestone for music videos as more variety was introduced to pop videos. There is also a little girl there which shows how they are trying to reach a different demographic.

Editing to the Beat

We practised the method of how to edit a music video, this required us editing to the beat of the music. To do this we used premiere pro to edit, using the markers i could see where the prominent beats were. With this i cut the individual clips according to the beat. We also learnt different techniques, such as split screen. This allowed me to have different clips on the screen at the same time. Also we added effects to our music video like lightening to make it more interesting.

Audience Research

We let 3 people listen to our song we chose for our music video. The feedback included the feeling this song gave the audience.  This was the response:

• Upbeat
• Warmth
• Positive/happy
• Feel good

The artists this reminded the audience of was the DJ Major Lazer, Kygo, Tori Kelly and Carly Rae Jepsen. In this music video we expect to see an upbeat video with dancing and fun times, with friends goofing off. If the song was a colour it would be a warm tone like yellow or orange. The pictures the song created in the audiences mind was travelling in different countries. The narrative of this song would be friendship and youth.

After the collection of all the feedback we will be going forward with this song.

Styles of Music Videos

Narrative
A music video which contains a story is a narrative. The benefits of these types of videos is that they intrigue the audience, and keeps them watching even if they don't enjoy the song. Another benefit is that it is entertaining for the viewers and leads more people to view it. The disadvantages of a narrative video is that if the story isn't good the viewer may find it boring. Also, it may cost a lot of money to make.

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Performance
A performance video is where the band is the centre of attention as the play their instruments. The advantages of this is that it exposes the audience to the faces of the band, this gains popularity. The negatives are that it may get repetitive and boring.



Pastiche and Parody
This video contains pastiche and parody.  Pastiche is when an artist has a video which is a reflection of past eras. They usually display this with costumes and the set. A parody video is where an artist mocks or tributes another famous artist. For a pastiche video there can be some disadvantages such as some may not get the reference to the past era.



Animation
This is when a music video is purely animated. It can feature other aspects but it is mostly animation. It can be various types of animation, like hand drawn or claymation or CGI. The benefits of this is that the creator has the freedom to be creative and make things you can't do in real life. Also, it costs less than making a complex video in real life.



Intertextual
This is when a video is based on a well known movie or story etc. The advantages of having an intertextual music video is that people may get the reference and enjoy the video more. Furthermore, it will make people share the music video on social media as they'll want everyone to see it. On the other hand people may not get what the video is trying to be, therefore they won't enjoy it as much.

Concept/Abstract 
A concept video is where the song has nothing to do with the video. They are more abstract and make little sense. The advantage of these types of videos is that it can be interesting for the viewer and engaging. It also makes the audience analyse the video and think about what it may mean. The disadvantage is that it could be too weird therefore the viewer will dislike the video.


Cinematic
This is a music video which features clips of the movie the song is for. The positive of having a cinematic video is that fans of the movie will listen to the song and watch the video.