BASE TRACKS - This music video is formed from the transitioning and base track editing of 5 base tracks, showing a live performance by the artists of this song. By laying base tracks filmed from different angles and of different members and their different role within the song and the performance, the audience get a continuous and all-around view of the performance and don't notice the editing between base tracks JUMP CUTS - Jump cuts have been extremely useful in the production of this lip sync video, simply for the fact that they allow the video to match the pace and tempo of the song itself.
I practised how to make a music video for the first time use Premiere.
The tools I used:
The razor tool
I used the razor tool to cut the base track clips into the preferred length.
Cursor
The cursor was used to select and move items within the application.
'M' key
This key (found on the keyboard) was used to mark points of the clips. I used this key often when i need to mark out when the singer started to sing, this was essential for matching the lip-syncs to the audio.
I selected my first base track clipped and marked it to where the singer started to sing.
I then dragged it down and started adding the other clips as well as the audio.
I lined up all the clips
I marked them using the 'M' key and cut them using the razor tool if necessary.
I played the music video and marked it every fourth beat.
I used the razor tool to cut each mark
Once each mark was cut I was able to delete particular parts of certain clips in order to discontinuously edit my music video. This is seen below.
STRENGTHS:
The music video has discontinuous editing
theres more than one base track incorporated into it
In class today we practised using Adobe's Premiere Pro to edit base track footages of a British rock band. Using mainly the markers and the razor tool I've managed to create a short video of them lip syncing in time with the actual audio.
I used Premier Pro to create my opening sequence last year, however today I learnt that you have to add in video footage before you add in the audio.
In the case of two boy bands, the huge difference in the type of record label that they are signed to makes a difference in terms of the types of song and video they will produce, the budgets for these products and also who these products will be aimed at.
BAND: L A N T E R N S O N T H E L A K E
RECORD LABEL: B E L L A U N I O N
Lanterns on the Lake are an indie-rock band formed in 2007. They self released two albums before being signed to the independent label Bella Union in 2010. Due to having a lot of creative control, their Guitarist produced their third album and it was recorded in their houses.
BENEFITS OF BEING SIGNED TO AN INDEPENDENT LABEL -
Artists signed to independent labels have a greater creative control and are often able to produce work that they are proud of and that they feel reflects their feelings and beliefs.
Independent labels are more likely to build an artist based on their niche appeal rather than trying to adapt and change them into the ideal mainstream artist.
Their is also some mobility between independent and mainstream once an artist has been signed to an independent label. Some independent labels will act as 'feeder' labels for mainstream labels and the most successful acts will move on to be signed by the mainstream label.
DISADVANTAGES OF BEING SIGNED TO A MAINSTREAM LABEL -
Stars signed to independent labels have less access to big production budgets and this is often obvious in the type of video that artists are able to achieve.
Independent labels are often satisfied with smaller profits from their acts.
BAND: O N E D I R E C T I O N
RECORD LABEL: S Y C O M U S I C
One Direction is a Pop/Teen Pop band that was formed on the X-Factor. As Syco Music, a subsidiary of Syco entertainment was formed by X-Factor main judge, Simon Cowell, successful acts are automatically signed to the label. The large fan base of the show that they were discovered on automatically provided the band with a large worldwide fan base, typically females aged between 12 and 20.
Due to the being signed to a label as large and reputable as Syco Music, One Direction have been given many significant opportunities such as the chance to complete a US nationwide tour.
The band also have a large collection of merchandise that is instantly recognisable because of the '1D' logo. T-shirts, phone cases, bags, bed covers and other typical merchandise items are all available to purchase with the '1D' logo on them.
BENEFITS OF BEING SIGNED TO A MAINSTREAM LABEL -
Being signed to a mainstream label allows for large budgets in order to produce extravagant music videos as wells as promoting them as much as possible.
Stars signed to mainstream labels are often encouraged to produce music with other artists also signed to the same label. This is important for promotional purposes as target audiences of the other artist are exposed to their work.
DISADVANTAGES OF BEING SIGNED TO A MAINSTREAM LABEL -
Artists often have little input in decision making. They are often told what type of song they will make, how they will look and where they will perform. Despite having a creative job they often have very little creative input and just the face of the record labels ideas.
Watching the past years videos for research into how they decided to present certain songs and how they captured their video I watched one in particular that I really liked. >> https://vimeo.com/80888212
It completes Carol Vernallis' theory with a a variety of different edits: fades, cross cuts and slow motion. Has around 40 base tracks each with a different variety of controlled camera shots.
More along the lines of disjuncture if to compare to Andrew Goodwin's theory as the video doesn't have a narrative it is more about promoting the image of the artist.
The video doesn't objectify objectify women like in Laura Mulvey's theory but the female artist is the focus of the video as she's the only person we ever see in the video and the camera is always on her.
The mise-en-scene here is okay. Doesn't seem like much effort was put into the costumer, however the colour of her top matches her bright red lipstick. The framing of this shot was great as well as the use of a blank wall.
Good use of different angles but the framing isn't right. The mise-en-scene here in this base track is better and you can tell they actually put more thought to this section.
I liked the way the edits were used to make it look like they were recording through a phone.
This shot looking up at them caught my attention as the sun looks like an edit in which their faces are blocked out .
The idea of climbing a tree and sitting on the branch was very risky however , they made it look very skilful .
I loved the use of props through out the video, There was balloons also however , the used of the pink smoke stood out very well as it shows that they planned and executed their plans very well.
This student video is very effective in its use of key codes and conventions of music videos:
BASE TRACKS
Within this video, base tracks are used successfully, and therefore as opposed to the usual effect that is created by continuity editing, the audiences attention is drawn to what is on screen and what the students have planned to be the focus of each shot.
Furthermore, the use of a variety of different locations for each base track makes specific moments of mise en scene, costume and prop more prominent, as although the location changes, these things stay the same. One of the most noticeable examples of this is the blue lipstick which the character can be seen to wear through the whole video.
Using the YouGov profiler I found out the target audience for the aritsts: George Ezra and Paloma Faith. The program comes up with the expected demographics, lifestyle, personality, entertainment the time they spend online and what kind of media they use.
(Young female adults from North East - George Ezra)
(Older female audience from North East - Paloma Faith)
You Gov Profiler allowed me to search up an artist and check the most common age groups and genders who listen to their music.
The first UK Artist I chose was Olly Murs.
I found out that for Olly Murs , the typical audience for him is Females from the age of 40-54 from the North East with the general interests of Celebrities are the typical audience for his Music.
The next UK artist I have chosen was Tinie Tempah.
From this , I have found out that the typical audience for Tinie Tempah is Females aged 18-24 from London. This may be because his music are more exciting and youthful , and he is not old therefore this is why his audience is younger than Olly Murs.
Carol Vernallis's theory is that music videos stand out because of the way they are filmed.
For Example:
Edits are obvious (wipes, washes, slow motion etc.)
Constant jump cuts
Various base tracks
Camera moving in time with the music
A video that clearly follows the rules of this theory is Drunk In Love by Beyonce. The first minute of the song alone features every element of Vernallis's theory.
According to Andrew Goodwin, traditional narrative analyses do not apply to pop videos.
- Pop videos are built around songs - this means they often don't hold a traditional narrative structure that can be recreated in the form of a video.
- Pop videos use the singer as both the narrator and as a character
- The singer often looks directly at the camera - this breaks the forth wall as it appears the artist is trying to make eye connection with the audience.
Furthermore, Andrew Goodwin identified 3 different relations between songs and videos:
ILLUSTRATION - Where the video tells the story of the lyric, dance is often used to express the feelings or moods in the song.
Example of illustration in a music video:
The video for Akon - Locked Up is a good example of the effects of illustration in a music video. The use of base tracks help show everything mentioned in the lyrics, such as the wealthy man "living luxury" and the inmates being "locked up" behind barbed wire. The audience then gain a simple explanation to everything expressed by the artist in the lyrics.
AMPLIFICATION - When the videos introduce new meanings that don't contradict the lyrics but instead add a layer of meaning.
Example of amplification in a music video:
In this video, performed by Mary J Blige, amplification is used successfully, and therefore introduces new meanings to the lyrics by having 3 different narratives running through the song. The audience then begin to understand how the lyrics apply to all three shown situations. This could be argued to widen the audience of the song, by making it relatable to a wider audience, without alienating the core audience.
DISJUNCTURE - Where there is little or no connection between the lyrics and the video or where the video contradicts the lyrics.
Example of disjuncture in a music video:
Disjuncture is very evident in this song by Skrillex, Diplo and Justin Bieber in the sense that the footage the audience see has little to no relation with the theme and concept of the song itself.
Women are presented as objects of male desire however, some artists deliberately present themselves for males to look at but look directly back at the viewers through the camera and therefore cease to be passive.
Videos appeal to as wide an audience as possible without alienating the core target audience
"In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active - male and passive - female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly." (Laura Mulvey, 1992)
Mulvey writes about the importance of representation, as well as the fact that all representations have been well thought out and have an intention within music videos, especially in pop music. Mulvey also discusses the ways in which women are portrayed and the ways in which costume, body language, positioning and props are used to create this representation that we as an audience will the interpret. Mulvey often talks about women being dismembered and this is common, but also very easy to look past in music videos, especially within the R&B and Hip Hop genres where this seems to have become normal.
Various elements of Mulveys theory can be seen in the music video for DJ Khaled - Hold You Down
The women in this video fail to make eye contact with the camera, and therefore play a passive role in the video. However, when they do break the forth wall and do in fact stare directly into the lens, it is more to look attractive then to assert her role as anything other than a 'vixen'.
Furthermore, I found this video interesting to relate to Mulveys theory as often the women aren't in fact dismembered but are instead made part of the mise en scene or back drop. The artists continue their performance while the women stand to look attractive and attract males to watch a video or a song which based on the artists alone, would normally only attract females.
This is a key moment of dismemberment in the video. The audience watch the artist follow the female with his eyes, and are also drawn to doing the same as the camera stays in one position and her legs walk across the frame. The audience is also further encouraged to 'admire' the woman as she moves across the frame in slow motion; there is almost no way the audience aren't drawn into watching her legs.
Andrew Goodwin feels that traditional narratives analyses does not really apply to pop videos. The reason for this is because they approach narrative from a different angle to novels and films. The reason for the different narrative structures are as follows :
- Pop videos are built around songs and often do not pose traditional narrative structures.
- The pop video uses the singer both as narrator and as character.
- The singer often looks directly at the camera , this is an extension of performance and trying to involve the viewer at home with their performance.
Pop videos rely on repetition. Often the video repeats images in the way the song repeats the choruses or lines. Also the repetition in songs of parts and rhythms of other songs which means we become familiar with the genre and have expectations. The video would be played on TV ,the song on the radio and there may be an advertising film.
Pop songs , therefore videos , do have a form of closure and ending. The 3 minute single that a video is based on must end and this is often based on the structure of the music , it builds to a climax or to a constant repetition before fading away.
There are 3 types of relations between songs and videos which are :
1.Illustarion - this is where the video tells the story of the lyric for example 'Pap don't preach' - (Madonna) . Dance us often used to express the feelings in the song.
2.Amplification - This occurs when the videos introduce new meanings that do not contradict with the lyrics nut add layers of meaning.
3.Disjuncture - This is where there is little connection between the lyric and video or where the video contradicts the lyric . Michael Jackson's 'Man in the Mirror' is an example of this. The song is about self - realisation but the video is full of radical world events.
Pop videos often have easily recognisable features. Another feature is the way women are presented , which may be seen in heavy metal and hip hop, Some artists like Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé deliberately present themselves for males to look at them in a certain way.
In some videos the different instruments may represent different objects.
Lastly , videos that are from songs written for particular movies often incorporate from that image in the video , for example N-Dubz - Dance off was for the films street dance.
A music video is the illustration to song lyrics. Used in various ways: to promote a song, to entertain, to give a varied audience a better understanding of a song and to establish the artists image. As well as that, music videos can help give the artist a better perspective of their song.
Music videos aren't as straight forward as one would think; there's more to filming a music video.
For example Katy Perry's video for Last Friday Night. This music video tells a narrative and was a great mode of promotion for the song, with the 5 million views the video received it became very well known. Gave her audience great entertainment.
This is the summer work I did. A story board on the first minute of Sam Smith's song 'I'm not the only one'. Which was quite simple with just a few cuts and, minor changes in location and costume.
Over the summer I made a website for Beyonce using Weebly. In the process of creating this website I got inspiration from Beyonce's website and of Nicki Minaj's website, using features of their websites combined to create my own.
Beyonce's website was fairly simple, not too full of details and had minimal text. Where as Nicki Minaj's website had a lot more going on and very bright pink details. All features of their websites related to the image perceived of the artists.
I had started creating two websites for two different artists of the R&B and Hip Hop genre. I didn't have much progress in developing these websites as I was trying to go for the simplistic and monochrome look. This meant that there was little for me to include in the website. After receiving feedback, I am aware that I had been missing many of the codes and conventions of websites such as the links to social networking sites. These codes and conventions will definitely be included in my productions.
