Skills Audit

The research done for our thriller opening was less challenging than what we are asked to do for our music video in A2 Media. A strong example of this is the choice of genre, as in AS they had given us a genre ‘thriller’ which made it much simpler as we already had our field of films we would need to look into in order to make our own opening successful. But in A2 we have to first choose our own music genre which will create a variety between all the A2 students, we need to keep in mind what song would make a good music video and also think of the way in which we would promote our artist. There is also a legal side we have to consider this year, as when creating our thriller opening for our AS coursework we didn’t need to think about copyright permission. However this year we need to focus of the different British labels and artists and request copyright to a particular song, this is an important part of our research as it makes us feel more involved with the music industry. Looking back to my AS year I see many differences already in the way our music video have to be filmed, as last year the camera had to be more still and they had to be some kind of narrative structure unlike this year where the camera should not be still as it will not create a lively and impressive music video and also looking at other music videos there’s is little narrative structure in most of them.

State of the Music Industry

For the past decade the music industry has been going downhill, there are many reasons for this downfall. The most obvious one is illegal file sharing, this was first formed in 1999 by Napster (created by Shaun Fanning) which was shut down in 2001. This prohibited site allowed peer-to-peer file sharing which let people download songs illegally. However shutting down Napster wasn’t a good idea, it then opened up the doors for other file sharing sites of its sort. Another reason to this downfall is selling single music tracks instead of a whole album as the artist and producers get very little profit from it. Nevertheless the music industry isn’t all bad as they now make most of their profit from live shows and selling merchandise. Production of music has became much easier in the last couple of years as not more people can get hold of the equipment. The ways in which music is now distributed has also changed as before it was heard through radio or tv and now there is a much bigger selection for example itunes, youtube, tv and radio. 

Planning - Final Song choice

Here it is after much deliberation we chose this song! (It wasn't even on the short list) it's Paloma Faith - Smoke and Mirrors remix

We chose it because it had the consistant vibe we needed, it was upbeat, young. Also because it dosen't have a video therefore it gives us nothing to look up to, which is good. Noone has given this genre of music a go either. It reinforces the UK urbangrind image. We have great concepts and ideas already emrging from a few listens and the video gives us a clear Amplification or Disjuncture Video style ....................... Also the artist went to Candi 6th form!

Planning - Short-list

Here's our short list of potential songs we're looking at : -

Scouting for girls - It's Not About you

Ellie Goulding - Guns and Horses

Eliza Doolittle - Mr. Medicine

La Roux - Under my thumb

Corinne Bailey Rae - My Love

Jessie J - Adbracadabra

James Morrison - This Boy

Coldplay - Viva La Vida

We are swaying towards a more girl feminine artist rather than males prospective, we definatley want a british artist however, DESPERATLEY trying to stray away from anything that has a video!

We also want an upbeat track rather tha a slow, emotional ballad!..

The hunt continues ...

Research - Skills audit

Researching for the AS Thriller wasn't as intense researching for the A2 Music video, i think its heavily down to 3 things: -

• LAW
• GENRE
• TECHNIQUE

Law : - Obviously when we was preparring for our thrillers there was no copyright clearence or anything tlike that involved because anything was mainly off our own backs, even down the music it was created from scratch, where you have the music video now writing to losts of different labels and waiting for responses is intense but also highly important part of the research!

Genre: - In my opinion genre is a big change aswell because last year the genre was pratically given to us it was Thriller and obviously some people threw in a dash of horro to jazz things up, here we have to pick a fresh genre of music ourselves something that we think would make a good video and something that would sell. Its a tough decision to make.

Technique: - Reffereing back to last year now it really does seem much easier, almost as if all we did was point camera shoot. There wasnt much technique in the way a Thriller was filmed compared to the way a Music video was filmed. This year we have to worry about Narrative and Concept of what we're filming rather than just point camera shoot.

Research - The Music Industry

For a long time now the music industry has been in ruins, due to many many things. Unlike other business when it goes down the pan they can't pack up and say they've finished because they provide something the world needs...MUSIC!

Many things have led the industry into a dying business, but the main thing is ILLEGAL FILE SHARING!..

Started by Napster created by Shaun Fanning, it was a website that allowed you to pass audio MP3 files for free without any fees towards your favourite songs. Shutting down napster however was the WRONG idea, it just opened gates to a relm of illegal downloading, minimizing profits low as 89% even causing some music stores to close down.

The Second Coming that was to kick the industry when its down is the wonderful Apple Ipod and partner Itunes. Itunes was a place to buy audio files compatible with your ipod, which artist thought was great, abit of justice. They soon wasn't up for the idea knowing they will make a 7p profit from a £1.59 sale. Apple wins.

Nowdays the Music industry Scavenges for sell out shows and kick ass merchandise to make abit of profit! as it continues to spiral down the pan. Other labels have found profit making schemes by turning them self into an entertainment company not just a record label.

Analysis of a Music Video

For my analysis of a music video, I have chosen to explore the video Magic by BoB.  The main reason I have chosen this video is because it’s very upbeat and the editing is very fast pace, which makes it entertaining and enjoyable. I think this is a great example of what a video should be like as it really sells the image of the artist and also creates a fun image of him in the audiences mind. Even though this isn’t the only video of its sort I believe that it really does stand out and engages the audience. The music video includes a variety of different shots (close ups, mid shots, wide shots ect) which again make the video very intriguing and fascinating.

Review of Previous Student Video

The student music video I have decided to review is from the song 'Hero' DaVinChe Featuring Cleo Sol
I liked this music video for a number of reasons, what particularly stood out was the quality of the performance which made the video look more professional. I also thought that the editing was very good as they included slow motion, jump cuts and a base track, this made the video seem well planned as it looked very competent and skilled. The structure of the music video is both amplification and illustrative, this is because it has both took an idea and amplified it but it also includes illustrative parts for example when she point to her wrist when the song lyrics say ‘I’m always on time’. The use of different locations makes the video more interesting to watch and also makes it more like previous videos of its genre. I do believe there is some representation of the male gaze as the camera sometimes focuses on particular parts of her body which is again common in its genre, however the fact that she is in the foreground makes her active and this means she’s more significant in the video.

http://vimeo.com/couchmode/candi1/videos/sort:newest/17676420#

Research - Review Previous student video

Thrasher from 283goswell on Vimeo.


This Previous student video i feel has lots more strong points than bad. Starting with the edit, it's nice and snappy like a music video is suppose to be. It has lots of flicker effect between scenes however dosent use any slow motion. Within the edit i found quite unusual they has some digetic sound in there where the phone is slammed on the desk, i dont know if the sound complimented the video but it didnt throw me off the song so it was fine.

The camera shots itself were brilliant, they made good use of the low angle shots, selling the artist giving the impression he's on top. Mid-close ups were good, but there wasn't any major close ups that was dissapointing.

The base track editing itself was good, all the lip syncing was in sync.

The narrative of the office boss being an 'asshole' i think worked good, the video was amplification styled which i beleive was the best choice.

The mise en scene was great too the graffiti fitting with the bmx-er fitting with the clothing the artist was wearing all came together to create a real reckless young image of the song.

Analysis of a Music Video

For my analysis of a music video, I have chosen to explore the video Magic by BoB. The main reason I have chosen this video is because it’s very upbeat and the editing is very fast pace, which makes it entertaining and enjoyable. I think this is a great example of what a video should be like as it really sells the image of the artist and also creates a fun image of him in the audiences mind. Even though this isn’t the only video of its sort I believe that it really does stand out and engages the audience. The music video includes a variety of different shots (close ups, mid shots, wide shots ect) which again make the video very intriguing and fascinating.

Function of a Music Video

The most general function of a music video is to promote the artist or band and create a specific and recognisable image for them. Music videos also have the purpose of entertaining a wide spread audience. There is many different music video genres, which are set out for a different audience, they also choose to represent their image in a different ways.

I believe that the demand on music videos will grow as time passes by, as there a way of displaying the artist to the audience and creating a connection between the two. Also as CD’s and download sales are going down, this is a way for artists to get their music out and to also intrigue people into coming to see them live, which is where they could earn money from.

Research for Music Video - Skills Audit

Comparing last year to this year, I would personally say that this year is more challenging and a lot more research is required. Although some research aspects are similar such as finding potential locations and mise en scene including costumes and props, it is more difficult in our research now as we aren't researching into one topic like last year which was 'thrillers'. This year we have to explore genres and find how music fit into the music videos. A key aspect in the difference from last year to this years project are the camera angles and shots. Film videos and music videos are shot in different ways as our film had to be more still and more narrative whereas a music video the camera will mostly move along with the music and there will be no or less narrative.

Copyright Clearance

Research for Music Video - State of the Music Industry

The music industry has changed over the recent years. Before the internet became a source for music, customers and music listeners would go to their local record shop in order to purchase singles and albums they desired. But now consumers have access to download singles and albums through the internet. There are two ways of obtaining music via internet, they are legal and illegal downloading. In 2010, digital single sales made £160m and digital album sales made £21m. Whereas in 2009, digital single sales made £149m and digital album sales made £16m.  Although the numbers in sales have increased, it is lower than what is expected. This is because illegal downloading came along which changed the behaviour of consumers, this caused a major downfall towards the industry as 3/4 of digital downloads in the UK are illegal. Music artists now have to think of other methods of gaining money and profit. Methods such as merchandise and live gigs have become very popular.

Research for Music Video - Previous student review

Nigel, Beverley, Camilla, Irene from 283goswell on Vimeo.

This students music video stood out to me because of the song choice, it really appealed to me as I am most likely within the target audience which they were reaching for. There are a wide range of features within this video that makes this video stand out from the rest. One of the main reasons is the performance of the singer, she really performed the lip sync professionally as if she was actually the real artist. The editing for this music video was excellent because it involved lots of jump cuts which is very common in the genre. Another common feature which is used in a majority of RnB video are the different locations used for different verses, this gives the audience interest as there is something new to look at each verse. As for the mise en scene, I believe that there is some representation of the male gaze as the camera focuses on some parts of her body at times. We can tell that they have thought out the whole video and planned it out well in order to create a music video to fit directly into its genre. As for the structure of the video, it is mainly amplification as she is mainly singing and performing a majority of time but it also involves a slight illustration in one of the scenes.

Research for Music Video - Laura Mulvey's Theory

Laura Mulvey believes that the world is imbalanced as it is male dominated where they appear to be the active figures and the females are passive figures. In music videos, they have created this fantasy of women being used as objects and desire. Therefore, this theory explains how its expected to see females in sexual representations such as wearing little clothing and suggestive body language in music videos as if the viewer are looking through a males point of view. The genres thats appear to show sexualised females the most are included in RnB, Rap and Hip Hop. Being a male, I agree with Mulvey's theory as it is becoming more clearer each day with the latests videos. Both genders seem to constantly use sexual representations in their videos more and more each day that it seems normal to see woman being shown as objects.

Snoop Dogg - Sweat

Research for Music Video - Vernalis's Theory

Carol Vernalli's theory involves the camera work and the editing which are used in music videos and she realised that edits in music videos are faster and much more frequent compared to films. She also found out how most videos are in a form of disjuncture and that the editing is usually created rhythmically so that the editing is very connected to the beat and song.

She believes that the rules of 'continuity' editing isnt followed in music videos in order to catch the audiences attention to what is on the screen. Jumps cuts, special edits and transitions are made really obvious so that it drews attention to itself throughout the whole video. Like all music videos, a master shot is frequently used so the video goes back to that one main scene. The camera used to shoot the video is also used to move in time with the music which gives the edits more rhythm so they connect together.

Research for Music Video - Andrew Goodwin's Theory

There are three types of relationships between songs and videos which are used to support and promote the song. They are:

1. Illustration
2. Amplification
3. Disjunction

Illustration - This is where the video tells the story of the lyrics. The video illustrates the lyrics and genre providing a set of clips and images. This is a straight forward technique which shows the viewers a visualisation. The music video below is an excellent example of an illustrative video as it contains lyrics which link directly to the images. At 1:29 he says "I beat the beat up, call it self defence" and you can see a visual image of him hitting a punching bag as if he is 'beating it up'.

Lil Wayne Ft. Cory Gunz - 6 Foot 7 Foot

(Please note: Explicit lyrics)

Amplifcation - This occurs when the videos introduce new meanings that do not contradict with the lyrics but add layers of meaning. The music video below is a brilliant example of an amplifcation video because it enhances the concept of the song and it's theoretical meaning.

Drake - Marvins' Room

(Please note: Explicit lyrics)

Disjuncture -  This is where there is little connection between the lyrics and video or where the video contradicts the lyrics. The music video below is an example of a disjucture video because as you can see the video is made up of various of random clips such as scooter riding, dancing and more which all isn't linked to the lyrics.

Chris Brown - Beautiful People

Research for Music Video - Music Video Analysis

Kanye West Ft. T-Pain - Good Life

 

I consider this video to be one of the top examples of a music video because it is memorable. I can guaruntee that a majority of people who has heard the song or seen the video will remember the illustrations and colours in this video. In this video, I believe they have recorded a multiple number of basetracks of his whole body while he is performing his song. As a basetrack, the audience will always be brought back to this shot after each scene or illustration shown.

The whole music video is illustration based therefore the scenes are matching the lyrics, this features throughout the whole song. For example: "Now throw your hands up in the skyyy", when he says this, there are illustrations/clip arts of hands aiming 'up' as if they are a crowd to match the lyrics. The illustrations in this video play a very strong and important part of the video because they are used to make up the whole music video. Although the shooting scenes of the video were very simple, including the black and white effect of the artists, the editing on the illustrations and colours worked very well.

They also feature one model who appears to be used as an object because she seems to be revealing a lot of skin including her cleavage and legs. This effect is called the 'male gaze' which is used to draw the male viewers attention towards the video.

Overall, Kanye's music video is very strong and powerful which contains many features to make his video noticable. The video also emphasises the song and title which is 'Good Life', and it shows him having money, girls, travelling the world and seeing bright flashing colourful lights wherever he goes.

Research for Music Video - Function of a Music Video

The function of a music video isn't to only promote the artist but to sell the artist. This works because not only does it promote that one single song, but it may promotes albums which are upcoming or already released. This method then spreads to a wider range of consumers and fans as there is an increase in sales with tickets which are sold for concerts and also possibly merchandise such as clothing and such.

Research for Music Video - Copyright Clearance

Reflecting back on the AS year - New Skills from Lip Sync Tutorial

At the end of the AS year, I had a taster of what to look forward to in the next year which was creating a music video. I got given a tutorial task with my group to create a music video with the use of lipsyncing. Unlike our thriller, lipsyncing seemed to be slightly harder as the video and soung had to be aligned and synced identically. Before editing the music video, we had to record enough footage for the video  but most importantly we needed a basetrack which is a clip of the artist singing/performing the whole song so that in the final video, the viewers will always be brought back to that main scene of the artist. An important part of making a video with lipsync was using markers. They play a big part of making a lipsync video because they are used very effectively by aligning the footages into the correct time it is set and they are mainly used at a begining of a verse.

Reflecting back on the AS year - Technical Skills

Before I started the AS year I had no skills in media and no knowledge about what was to come from the media course such as dealing with the programmes and technology involved in it. But as a quick learner, I developed many technical skills on the way during the production of my thriller film over the course of the AS year. I believe the skills and knowledge I have gained from last year will help me a lot with this years project.

I developed my skills on using the camera and getting use to all of its functions appropriately for the right purpose. These functions include turning the camera on/off, zooming in/out, focusing the camera and so on. I managed to try out the camera on a preliminary task that was set so that we got use to the camera. During the task I learnt how to function the camera properly along with using it on the tripod which was used to keep the camera still and also used to track, pan and tilt. So for the final production of the thriller movie, handling the camera was an ease!

The 3 main technical skills I developed were:

Film editing - by using a programme called Final Cut Pro where we created our final thriller movie. This programme allowed me to import all of the recorded footage, sounds and typography for our thriller so that we can edit it towards how we wanted the outcome to be. The skills I gained from this process included moving clips into place, slicing clips, removing sounds and adding effects.

Sound editing - which was mainly created from Soundtrack Pro. The programme provided a whole range of different sounds for the users different needs. We created a background music for our thriller to add tension and suspense to have a bigger impact on the audience.

Typography editing - where we created our text on Livetype Pro which later was used for our final thriller. This programme allowed us to create text which were needed to show credits for our thriller. It gave us a whole range of fonts, along with being able to download our own fonts, so we could have that special and unique look on our movie.

Reflecting back on the AS year - Creating a Digipak

This is the digipak cover I created last  year, experimenting and testing out different elements.

Laura Mulvey’s theory on representation

Laura Mulvey clearly illustrates that she believes that the media world is gender imbalanced as men are active and women are passive and are made to look attractive for the male gaze. When watching a music video it is expected for sexual representations of females to be shown through revealing clothes and suggestive body language. This is most common in genres like r&b, and hip-hop, although there are starting to be many exceptions as sexual representation is also starting to show up in other genres. I think that Mulvey’s opinion is definitely still right and is now becoming even more clear. Both male and female artists seem to continuously use sexual and provocative videos to the point where it has now become almost normal to see women being presented as objects of desire.

Examples:

50 cent ft Olivia – Candy shop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRcnnId15BA&ob=av2e

This video clearly illustrates women as objects as they are wearing little clothes and the camera moves to body parts were meant to focus on, this is done for the male gaze which projects its fantasy on the female figure. Also the man to women ratio is very unbalanced as there is only one man throughout the video who is the lead singer and the rest are women. 50 cent is made to look like a gangster/pimp.

J. Cole ft. Trey Songz - Can't Get Enough

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0L4lA6bS2E

This video again projects women as objects through the way the camera focuses on specific body parts and their lack of clothes. The men to women ratio is very uneven as there is much more women than men. The two singers are made to look cool and powerful as they stay in the front shot while there is women dancing behind them who have been blurred.

Carol Vernalis

After studying editing and camera work Carole Vernalis observed that edits in music videos come much more frequently than they do in films. Also many stand out as disjuncture and their editing seems to have a rhythmetic basis closely connected to the song. She believes that the usual rules of ‘continuity’ editing are broken in order to draw attention to what is on the screen. Edits which are obvious are added to draw attention to themselves, such as wipes and special effects added, there is also a frequent use of jump cuts throughout the videos. In order to give the music videos structure she believes that there is a master shot (base track) which is often used. Another of her observations includes the camera moving throughout the video with the music.

Examples

Continuity editing broken is shown in ‘Run The World’ by Beyonce as the music video has used very fast edits and many jump cuts in order to grab the viewer’s attention.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBmMU_iwe6U&ob=av2e

A master shot has been used in ‘Jar of Hearts’ by Christina Perri, where every now and again the video would go back to a medium shot of her in a white background of smoke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v_4O44sfjM&ob=av2e

Editing is used in ‘Good Girl’ by Alexis Jordan in a ways that matches the rhythm of the song and all the cuts in the music video are in time with the beat of the song which works very effectively.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAKsClqcgDQ

Summary of the main points made by Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin feels that traditional narrative analyses don’t apply to pop videos. As pop videos are built around songs and do not have pose traditional narrative structure. They also use the singer both as a narrator and as a character in pop videos, in addition the singer often looks directly at the camera. Videos often repeat images in the way the song repeats the choruses or lines. Pop videos have a form of closure and ending, it builds to a climax or to a constant repetition before fading away. The actual visualisation of a song may go beyond the original meaning. The visual pleasure of the video encourages viewing which therefore promotes the song. Sometimes the video can be promoting other commodities such as films. Videos try and appeal to as wide an audience as possible without alienating the core target audience. There are three types of relations between songs and videos.

 Illustration: this is where the video tells the story of the lyric. An example is ‘Last Friday Nigth’ by Katy Perry, which fits exactly with the category that visuals accompany perfectly what is sung. The lyrics tell the story of a teenage girl who has a party on the Friday night and it goes to show the events which took place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlyXNRrsk4A&ob=av2e

Amplification:  this is when the video introduces new meanings that do not contradict with the lyrics but add layers of meaning.  This is an example of a video which creates new meanings that does not contradict but adds to the lyrics, ‘E.T. ft. ‘ by Katy Perry and Kanye West’. The video portrays a Kanye West and Katy Perry in space. The lyrics do not specifically refer to this throughout the song, but do not contradict this storyline either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Sd5c4o9UM&ob=av2e

Disjunction: this is where there is little connection between the lyric and video or the video could contradict the lyrics. Pop videos have easily recognisable features, for example the way woman are presented as objects to male desire.  A model for this is Beyonce as she deliberately presents herself for males to look at but what is different in her videos is that she directly looks back at the viewers through the camera and she ceases to be passive. In some videos the different instruments in the music are represented by different objects.  An example of disjuncture is ‘Single Ladies’ by Beyonce, the video does have some connection with the lyrics but only in small parts of the video. The song is edited quickly to go with the dance routine and has not narrative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m1EFMoRFvY

 Also videos that are from songs written for particular movies often incorporate images from the movie in the video, for example Leona Lewis’s ‘I see you’ from Avatar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YDz-ftqr1g&ob=av2e

Lip Sync tutorial-reflecting back on AS

When performing and filming our music video we quickly learned that lip syncing was very hard, and that putting together a music video didn’t have to be so smooth running and edited as our thriller opening was. When editing our music video we also found it was very different and it was hard because we we're used to editing for films. In order to edit it we used Final Cut Pro, to create a base track we had to chose a particular word and align the singers lip to the word. This would then put the whole song and video clips in the right order. Finally the sound of our video was muted as we inserted the original track.

Skills developed in my AS year

My AS year was the first time I have ever done a media course and so I thought that I might find it difficult when it came to learning how to use some of the technologies and programmes that were new to me. But because I also done film studies as an AS course when it came to making my thriller opening I already had some experience and found it a lot easier. Having said that I also learned a lot of new techniques and how to use some of the other programmes.

For example how to use the camera I learnt in my film studies lesson so when it came to my media coursework I already had some experience. Examples are the basic skills such as switching it on and off, inserting the battery and the memory card, how to zoom in and also how to play back what we have just recorded. However when creating a preliminary task I learned how to adjust the lightning and how to use the lighting tool if we needed it when our location became too dark.

I also had some experience if Final Cut Pro, as I had to use it for my film studies. Through this programme we got to import our video clips, and edit them into our thriller opening. I learned a lot of new skills when creating our opening, for example how to edit the appearance of clips in order for them to create a different feeling, also I learned how to include transitions, even though we didn’t use many in our thriller opening.

I also used Soundtrack Pro in my film lessons but had very little knowledge about it, so when creating my thriller opening I learned a lot of new techniques. It was the programme Soundtrack Pro that we used to create the music/soundtrack to our thriller. This part of the coursework is what I found hardest as there was so many sounds to choose from, in the end we used different ones and mixed them together at times to create suspense. After we created our final soundtrack we imported it into Final Cut Pro.

Me and my group used the programme Live Type to create out titles for our thriller opening. The programme allowed us to create unique and different effects in order for our opening to look unique, it also had a choice of transitions that made our thriller more distinctive. We had to create each text one by one and then insert them into Final Cut Pro.

I also learned how to use some more simple programmes like Handbrake, this allowed us to convert our final thriller opening into mp4 and so then we could post in on our blog. We also learned how to use the Video Drive, which is where saved all our work so that next lesson we didn’t have to be on the same computer.

Creating a Digipack

Unfortunately as I run out of time I didn’t have time to create a complete digi pack. However I was able to participate in filming our music video and also creating a base track. Unluckily I now have no access to this so I can’t display any evidence of it.

Research - Laura Mulvey on representation

This women here, is named Laura Mulvey. Through-out Laura's career she has a very opinionated view on representation.

Representation: How people are projected through stereotypes in media.

eg:- Black boy in hoodie = Thug

Laura Mulvey having study music videos for a long time, began to shine truth on the representation of women in music videos, for instance in most music videos especially the pop/RnB/Hip-hop genres. Women are seen not to be wearing many clothes and dancing around like strippers for example:-



 To the left is a normal everyday casual woman 

Here is Lil waynes opening scene to his music video (can you spot Lil wayne?)

All over the media women are presented as objects/fun/toys from music videos to magazines, everywhere. But why ? The answer is wrong but simple, because SEX SELLS if men see an attractive woman lacking clothes, they are more likely to purchase whatever it is advertising. With Girls/Women if they see a fairly attractive woman on the cover of a magazine or in a music video with alot of attention, they try to aim to be like the woman. Either way, SEX SELLS.

Finally...

... The term most appropiate for this theory is called 'The Male Gaze'

Research - Carol Vernallis

Compared to the Editing and Camerawork we did last year on our AS thriller projects, its extremely different compared to a music video. Carol Vernallis idea's of editing and camerawork are simple.

Editing: Editing is super fast in music video, its full of jump cuts, short clips and slow motion is wedged in there somewhere. All this has to be cramed in a 3 minute video to sell your artist/band. These things are the basics, alot more effects and techniques should be added depending on the song. This is different to our last year full of long cuts and simple edits.

Camerawork: Camerawork varies because last year, in my particular triller opening we used alot of tripod, CCTV footage and panning. This year we need to try to and stray away from being so attached the the tripod, but start to use steady cam. As we are focusing on our artist/band, shots need to be focused around close ups yet still varied.

Research - Andrew Goodwin's Theory

The man above is Andrew Goodwin, Andrew Goodwin has an actual theory about music videos amostly amongt the pop genre of the inustry. Andrew beleived that Music videos falled under 3 different types ILLISTRATIVE, AMPLICATION and DISJUNCTURE. The visual relationship with the lyrics, with these 3 different styles is different. For example :-

Illistrative : This is when the lyrics is the song are being performed on the screen, for example if the lyrics we're. 'He had his head on the window' there would be a man with his head on the window. Pure Illistrative videos tend to be comical and not as serious. An example of a Illistrative video :-

Amplification: This is simply when the video amplifies the songs lyrics and gives it more meaning. An example of a Amplification video is :-

Disjuncture: A disjuncture video is when the video and the lyrics have hardly any relevance or meaning to eachother. An example of a disjuncture video is:-

Research - Analysis of a music video

I've picked this music video because i think it has some major key trates in it that all music videos have. First of all it is clear to see that the high angled shot of the artist standing with the bentley and sing the lyrics is the BASE TRACK EDITING, we know because regulary we come back to this shot and get some Lip Sync action. The is another BASE TRACK EDIT where the feature artist is doing his part.

All the other clips for example the pool party scenes is an amplification, of the the song. With that feel good context of partying and beautiful young women. To follow the video has lots of bright colours to kind of reinforce the happy party theme, also it gives us the denotation that the artist may be of some wealth and that he's the 'life' of the party.

Being the 'life' of the party, the camera is always on him. which agains bring me back to points of SELLing the artist.

The editing in the video follows a specific theme, for example its overflowing with jump cuts, everywhere. Also other than a quick fast foreward hear and there. It has the one effect all music videos have, which is the SLOW MOTION effect. The slow motion effect kind of dissapears in the night party scenes though.

The representation of women in this video is that they are toys/object. (But i'll get on that in another blog)

Overall it's a good video and has many features that help SELL the artist through the music video.

Research - What is the function of a music video ?

The common misconception is that a music video is to show fans a new song or something to put on a music channel........This is wrong.

The function of a music video is to SELL the artist/band. Ensuring you SELL the artist/band you will hope to increase sales in concerts, merchandise and overall fans. SELLing the artist/band, is selling the album also.