Music Video Progression

For my music video i have began trying to show a clear understanding of a narrative and the way my music video is coming along makes me feel it is doing this but becoming slightly post-modern as the editing progresses. My music video is now feeling more like a narrative/concept music video because the main theme of the song is time passing and this is being shown through my shots and editing by filming on different days at different times with the same actor however the actor is wearing different clothes to show the idea that time is passing.

This video is i feel not applying to Roland Brathes' theory that stories should have a beginning, middle and end however he also states that there is a cause and effect within the video which creates a series of problems to be solved. I feel that my music video is showing my actor getting over something but the cause is not shown in the video.

As Transition music video

This is my transition music video, from making this video i have learnt basic forms of editing and how to construct a music video into a form of story. I used Adobe Première to edit the footage down to fit with the track my group was given.

To improve my own music video i know i need to plan out my video bit by bit and focus more on the narrative and make sure that Goodwin's theory is used a lot better than what i did in my transition video.

Plan B Music Advert Analysis

The use of monochrome indicates a classical nature towards the style of music and appearance this artist wants to indicate. The formal wear could indicate the target audience for the artist as being middle/upper class.

The red connotes to mean passion which could be an indication to the style of music this artist falls under, links well with the microphone prop indicating his music is along the lines of the soul genre.

Ratings and reviews encourage and attract potential customers of the album.

The use of monochrome indicates a classical nature towards the style of music and appearance this artist wants to indicate. The formal wear could indicate the target audience for the artist as being middle/upper class.

Classical microphone often linked to soul music. Links well with the monochrome and clearly indicates this artist is of a mature taste.

Green Day Album Advert Analysis

The advert itself is very conventional to music and music magazines. They have used the colour scheme of black, red and white, this also goes with the cover of the album which is shown in the advert.

The layout looks like it was set on a A4 page with a landscape image of the lead singer for the single as well as the actual album. They have separated everything on the left column with the use of horizontal white lines so the target audience can distinguish the difference and this also stands out from the black background.

The colour scheme used in this advert reflects rock bands, they have done this with the conventional colour scheme. The main reason for this is because it’s eye catching and appealing to the target audience. The age range for this genre could be between 16-30 as green day have released music for about 20 years.

The main image is the feature of the advert. This has been due to the use of the white writing over the image as it stands out over the darkness of the image as the lead singer is mainly wearing black.

The font that is mainly used is a sans serif font for the information, important information is in red and the rest is in white.

The Writing on the image is all in white to stand out and stick to the colour scheme. The band name is in a sans serif font slightly distressed which goes with the rock image of the band.

Music Video Proposal

Youth Subculture/Target Audience

The indie subculture is a widespread conspiracy by major record labels to give groups the appearance of the starving underground artist, tricking you into sympathizing with them and thus tricking you out of your money.  

A key characteristic of clothing trends within the modern indie culture is focus on uniqueness and individuality, which is often achieved by appealing to fashion trends associated with music from the 1970s (rock, punk and country) and the 1980s (New Wave). Common clothing items include band T-shirts, vintage clothing, striped tops, blazers, distressed jeans, waistcoats, ties, cardigans, scarves and aviators. Some of the most popular footwear choices include Converse or other plimsolls, slip-on shoes of all manners, and various styles of dress shoes.

Definition Of A Music Video

A music Video is a short film accompanied by a popular song released by an artist, the length of the video typically is the same length as the track that accompanies it. There are 3 different types of music videos:

Narrative -The video is narrative based, telling a story through the visuals as well as through the lyrics of the track. These being acted out in a certain combine with the lyrics can be a great match if done correctly.

Performance - A performance video mainly shows footage of the artist/band during a live performance as a staged performance or at a concert. Normally the band or artist needs to be well established to pull off this form of video however many bands with a low budget do this type of video.





Concept - Concept videos are based around a single idea or a concept. These ideas are normally obscure or very surreal with the lyrics having to be in correlation to the visuals created.





 Musics video can mix two types together in one video such as a performance video can include concept conventions or narrative conventions etc.

Digipak Analysis: Gorlliaz - Demon Days

Gorlliaz are an alternative band that have released a wide range of songs that fall into many different genres such as rap and dance. The variety of colour used in the band members reinforces the wide areas of genres they delve in through their music. This makes the band not really stick to typical conventions.

This digipak suits the band because it shows all the band members on it and on the inside panels they are all pulling amusing faces which suits their style and the characters perfectly. The facial expressions each of the band memeber is pulling gives them all a form of character which is a key focus when trying to sell an album.

The design is also simple and clean which ties into the songs they created, the background on this digipak is a clean white, this helps the bands members stand out very strongly. The track listings are clean and easy to read which is a common convention in a digipak, the simplicity in the design of the digipak runs throughout through the black and white used which again is a convention seen in digipaks.

Digipak Analysis: Linkin Park - Jay-z Collision Course

The album 'Collision Course' is a collaboration album between rapper Jay-Z and punk band Linkin Park and the digipak reflects this through its artwork and theme. The style is very street based with the use of graffiti styled prints and stencil style fonts.

The background is the texture of what looks like a wall with graffiti art of various musical imagery such as turntables, speakers, microphones etc. This continues onto the back cover looking as if it is sprayed on or has faded away.

The typeface used for this digipak is a mix between the two artists as this is an album made by two artists, On the cover the typeface is of what is typically seen on CDs of Linkin Park however on one of the sleeves the typeface is typical of Jay-z.

The style of the text and imagery behind it is very busy and quite aggressive in a sense that the cover of the digipak isn't simple and chilled out.

This could be thought to be conventional hip-hop as hip-hop is influenced a lot by street culture so the use of this imagery could be a reflection of this.

The panels all include the wall texture with various pieces of graffiti prints of imagery related to music and sound (Conventional of hip-hop). 

The digipak has a parental advisory logo on the back cover, this is a convention through certain genres of music because of the language used in some tracks of the album. 

DigiPak Analysis: A Day To Remember - What Separates Me From You

 A Day To Remember - What Separates Me From You

 This digipak is a 6 page digipak.

The band combines the sound of pop-punk and metal. The pop-punk aspect can be clearly seen on the digipak through both the bright colours used in the artwork and the cartoon like pictures. The lack of writing on the front cover draws more attention to the colours and pictures, this again is another stereotypical aspect of the pop-punk side of this band.

There is also aspects of the metal genre on the digipak as well, the artwork on the inside covers of the digipak is a lot more serious than that of other photographs, creating a much more serious undertone to the artwork; which is much more able to relate to the metal genre than the pop-punk genre.

On the inside of the digipak there is a story being told throughout, the story being told appears to be the story of a wedding scene. However there is a man looking like he is about to stop them and a smashed up clock. This could suggest the day has gone wrong, there also is a hand towards the left hand side of the digipak, which the audience could see as the hand is coming out of the digipak and inviting the audience to listen to their music.

Music Video Director Research: Tony Petrossian

Tony Petrossian is a music video director who specializes working with well known mainstream rock and metal bands/artists such as Serj Tankian, Rise Against and Slipknot. Tony has been awarded for his works such as his hit Slipknot music video entitled "Vermillion" which won the audience award at the SXSW Film Festival in 2006.

"Vermillion" - Slipknot



The style of stop motion used in the above music video appeals to me because I like how the director has chosen to isolate the actress from her surroundings. An example of this is towards the end of the video where the location of the shot is appears to be in an underground train station, which shows everyone rushing by ignoring her presence.

The use of live performance and stop motion seems very unrealistic due to the frames per second used for the video making it feel like a hallucination or a dream like state.

"Prayer Of The Refugee" - Rise Against




The fast paced editing of the live performance reflects the genre of the track quite well,examples of the fast paced cuts are at 1:56 - 2:06 shows how chaotic and fast paced the track is throughout the music video.

There are many close ups which focus on the lead singer throughout the music video, this shows the image of the band and their style.

Tony has taken the opportunity to promote the awareness of fair trade in the USA by leaving a strong impact through the use of cuts between the band and items around them such as the bananas and toy car. I particularly how the music video ends because of the way the message is put across to the audience.

"Empty Walls" - Serj Tankian



I like how the music video portrays real life events that had been happening at the time of the music video, in the video the children play fighting are portraying the war in Iraq.

The scene from 0:16 - 0:40 shows a young girl building two towers of blocks. A boy launches a toy airplane into the towers, knocking them down and upsetting the girl, and she is shown to want revenge. I like how this again shows an innocent portrayal of life events.

I like the use of the young children being innocent and play fighting portrays real events as games until the ending when the realize it isn't all fun and games in which a coffin is carried and put into a hearse, the coffin is of a solider and you can see this due to the soldiers carrying it and the American flag laid over it.

Music Video Analysis: Enter Shikari - Radiate

This music video was released 10th June 2013. The track is titled 'Radiate' by British band Enter Shikari.

The music video opens with this stand by screen, in the middle of the circle is the band's logo.

I like the use of the editing to include the censor bars across the eyes of the band. Giving them no means of expression.

I also like the use of the lyrics 'To take away our expression is to impoverish our existence' It empathizes the need for expression in music. This ties into the codes and conventions of Goodwin showing their is a relationship between the lyrics of the song and the music video itself.

The use of handcuffs being on the band members also helps support the idea of giving them no form of expression in the video which ties in with Goodwin's theory.

Even though the band is standing still the use of the camera angles and movements with the non ambient lighting and the big bold writing of the lyrics are enough to hold the audiences attention throughout the music video.

Music Video Analysis: You Me At Six - Bite My Tongue

This music video was released 6th November 2011. The track is titled 'Bite My Tongue' performed by the British band You Me At Six.

I like the pace and the lighting for this music video.

When the lead singer flicks a switch the other band members come alive and are attached to wires which seem to symbolize strings and that the band members are like puppets.

The use of 'help' being written in red stands out against the dark mise en scene

Music Video Analysis: Mallory Knox - Beggars

This music video was released on march 12th 2013. The track is entitled 'Beggars' and is performed by the British band Mallory Knox.

A feature i like about this music video is the opening shot of the band in a medium close up in slow mo which is an intertextual reference to Stanley Kubrick's film 'Clockwork Orange.'

Clockwork Orange

  The music video references this scene from 'Clockwork Orange' however has 5 people insted of 4. This suggests the band is symbolising the group of youths from the film.

Beggars

After this shot we then have close ups of each of the band members establishing who is who in the band.
The close ups mainly focus on the lead singer of the band which ties into Goodwin's conventions, by demand they use loads of close ups of the lead member of the band.

Throughout the music video it cuts between the band members and the homeless man which foreshadows an event will occur between the two. The use of referencing 'Clockwork Orange' through the band being dressed as the gang of youths it foreshadows that they are the villains to society.

By referencing to 'Clockwork Orange' the video uses one of Goodwin's codes and conventions of music videos, it uses intertextual reference to a film.

I like the use of the non ambient lighting when the video cuts to shots of the band under a bridge and the lead vocals singing the chorus.

the shot cut to the homeless man being abused by youths and then we cut to the band in which the youths run away. This could suggest that in this music video that the youth of today is an issue on society not the youth of the past.

the shot then cuts to the homeless man looking up at the band, this is giving as a P.O.V shot in a low angle which suggest they have more power in this shot.

I like lyrics of the song and how they tie in with the shots such as when they walk towards the homeless man. The lyrics are 'coming to get you.' This is saying that they are here to help someone in need.