Task 2: Styles, Conventions and techniques

A)
Lyric interpretation - Lyric interpretation is how we the listener take in the music. This means that we view the lyrics sung in a certain way that relates to the music video or message that the artist is promoting.

Extending or consolidating song's meaning- usually, the purpose of a music video is to help extend the purpose and meaning of the song. This is done to create an emotional effect on the listener. One example of this where the music video serves this purpose is Eminem's music video to Stan.

Focus on performer- In some music video's, close shots are often used to highlight the main artist(s) in the music video. This allows for the listener to visualise the artist. An example of this is in The Last Shadow Puppets' music video to Bad Habits

Lighting for mood - In many music video's, certain lighting is added to create tension of the mood. Usually, dark lighting videos portray a depressing or sad meaning behind the song. In the music video to Ni**as in Paris, the lighting is very bright and flashing at a fast pace to emphasise the happy, ecstatic and partying mood. The music video includes a brief warning to those who are triggered to epilepsy.

Allusion - This is term used when saying or showing one thing whist trying to hint at something else at the same time. This is usually shown in music videos produced to pay homage. Examples of this would be Ill Be Missing You, by Puff Daddy, 112 and Faith Evans. They were paying homage to Christopher Wallace, aka. Biggie Smalls

B)

1- Special effects such as Chroma Key (green screen) - Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californiacation
This can be seen at 1:34, the band are playing together, behind them we see a skyline and a grassy background. It is clear that they are using a green screen due to the difference of quality between the band and the background.



2- Multi- mage (multiple images on screen at once)
Eminem - Without Me
The multiple images is shown at 0:19. The image on the left is the main icon of the music video, Eminem whilst the image on the right is the featuring artist, Dr.Dre.




3 - Cutting to a beat (White Stripers - Button to Button)


In this music video, we see the band playing their instruments with movement of the beats of the song. As the drum hits a beat, the drummer in the music video also moves along with the tune, this is also seen with the guitarist.





4. An artist miming lip syncing(Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al)



The person on the right mimes the lyrics to the songs throughout the music video. The man on the left is actually the singer of the song but doesn't sing the lyrics in the music video



5. Animation  music video (Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc)

This music video features elements of animation such as hand drawn characters and backgrounds. At some points, it shows real elements that aren't cartoons such as an artist featured on the song





6. Reference to or another artist (Eminem - Guilty Conscience ft. Dr.Dre)

Whilst the song isn't based entirely on Dr.Dre, it does include some past story about his actions. He also plays a main character in the music video as a good conscience. This helped boost his fame and popularity.







C) Illustrative - This term means that the music video is telling us the story of the song. An example of this is the music video to Eminem's Stan, we visualise the music video that represents what is happening in the song.


interpretive- This means that the music video is using the lyrics to create the plot and a certain effect of the music video. An example of this is Katy Perry's Firework, as fireworks are shooting from her chest which leaves a positive effect on younger people of the city, this is encouraging younger audiences to ignite their own firework.

Surrealist- Surrealism is an art movement that surpasses the barrier of imaginary and reality. As a result, it releases a dream like, yet real experience. In this case, the music video to Black hole sun by Soundgarden uses this effect in their music video to simulate an apocalyptic, eerie and haunted sensation.

Pastiche/homage- This type of music video is often produced in memory of someone who has died, in this case Puff Daddy's Ill Be Missing You was made in tribute to rapper Biggie Smalls. The music video even features the rappers wife, Faith Evans, who sings in the song. This is done as a way to remember the rapper as time goes on.

As live - In the music video to Let me Take a Selfie by the chain smokers the ending of the music video shows us a live audience at one of their many concerts. This is done to portray them as a very popular and vibrant group. Showing us a large audience tells us that they are well known.

Parody- A parody is a music video that is made to reenact a music video but in a funnier way. An example of this is Weird Al's parody video of Michael Jackson's beat it (Eat It) turns the well known classic of Jackson's Beat it, into a very funny and humorous music video based on eating food. At the end of the video Weird Al even includes Michael Jackson in Thriller.

Animation-Animation music videos are videos that are made mostly or entirely of animations such as hand drawn or cel animation. One example of this is Kanye West's Good morning. The entire music video is an animation which doesn't show the artist but instead a cartoon video based on his song.

Styles, Conventions and Techniques of the Music Video

Think about the following:

Colour
Location
Choreography & performance
narrative (story)
sexual/ violent content
The image of the musician
Representation (gender, class,age etc...)
Humour
Editing
Lighting

POP
Taylor Swift - bright contrast of colours (red heart,) location: beach, innocent early teenage, age: 22,

Hip Hop
Dr dre ft snoop - sexual nudity, representation of the lower class america, narrative of the past

Rock/heavy metal - shaking camera, strikes fear into the watcher



In concert and 'As live' footage
animation: stop motion and cel animation

Illustrative and interpretive.

An illustrative music video is one which will use the literal lyrics as a basis for the visuals. The visuals and the lyrics will have a strong bond.

Whereas an interpretive music video encourages the audience to speculate as to the deeper meaning of the song, by using a narrative which is not lifted literally from the lyrics, and the bond between the two will not be immediately obvious.


surrealist
Surrealism is an art movement which aims to break down the boundaries between fantasy, dreams and reality.




Pastiche & hommage
Pastiche or homage is where one media text (in this case a music video) references another in an affectionate way (as a tribute)



Conventions:

Lyric interpretation;
extending or consolidating song's meaning;
allusion- making reference to other things (pastiche/homage & parody)
links to other artists -
collaborations?

Visual effects

Due to their experimental nature and the freedom of expression allowed, music videos have often been the basis for experimenting with new visual effects

chroma key
green screen

   29.1 Purpose Of a Music Video By Andrew Mosconi

Promotion of a song: Stan by Eminem

The music video of the song Stan was created to promote the song. The purpose of the music video was to re-enact the story of the song. This is done throughout the music video as the different characters are rapping or singing their part of the story. This is first seen at 2:09, as the character Stan raps his lines.

Another reason the music video promoted the song was due to the controversy used to create a message. The story involves the troubled character Stan abusing his wife. From 4:54 onwards, we hear and are shown signs of abuse aimed at Dido’s character (Stan’s wife.) It is well known that Eminem had a very troubling past that may have included domestic abuse. This may be one reason as to why he decided to use his music video to promote the issue of the song.

Another purpose of the music video is that it helps us to understand the songs message through being able to see the story as well as hear it. At 6:10 we see Stan drive the car off the bridge, which results in the death of him, his wife and child.

 In this screenshot we are shown the character Stan assaulting his wife. This is an important screenshot as it helps us understand the purpose of the music video. This is also one of the reasons why the video became so controversial, which initially helped raise awareness of the topic.

 

In this screenshot we are shown the characters Stan writing messages to his role model Slim. When both characters are rapping in the song, they are writing their letters at the same time.

In this close up shot, the writing is revealed of the front of the letter. It is addressed to the wrapper Eminem, we also see Stan’s name in the top left corner. When we see this letter, we are reminded of the lyrics heard earlier. “Sometimes I scribble addresses too sloppy when I jot 'em.” This is the one of the purposes of the music video; to remind us of the lyrics and the stories message.

Promotion of an artist: PSY - Gangnam Style

 The trendy music video of the song Gangnam Style was used to promote the artist towards the western population of the world. Before the video was released the song and the artist PSY were already known in South Korea, but through the dancing pop based music video, he made a name for himself throughout the world. This was thanks to what the music video was based around.

The video includes the artist PSY and the background dancers continuously dancing throughout the music video. The combination of a catchy song and a simple dance is very effective as it is something that everybody can relate to. Dancing isn’t related or meant for a single group of people, instead it relates to happiness and the ability to have a good time. As a result everybody could relate to the happy vibe the music video would set off, young or old, boy or girl.

 

At the 1:21 mark, PSY is seen doing his well-known dance move; this is also seen thorough out the music video. The main reason this dance promoted the artist is because many people who had seen the music video would do the dance move themselves. As a result people who hadn’t yet seen the music video would soon learn where the dance had originated from, leading back to this video. Subsequently, when people would do the “Gangnam style dance” they were promoting PSY in the process. 

Overall, the music video to Gangnam style had a drastic impact on the artist’s fame. Whilst the song was very catchy, it was the wacky, crazy and chaotic video that helped spread PSY’s name across the world, thanks to the comedic dancing. The video has more than two and a half billion views, worldwide!

Promotion of the artist’s album: Kanye West – Good Morning

Album Name: Graduation

The song Good Morning is the first track that plays on the album ‘Graduation’ by Kanye West. The music video serves as the introduction to West’s album released in 2007. The music video promotes the album through relevance of the album name, story line and by focusing around Kanye West’s long time mascot known as “dropout bear.”

The music video was released in 2007 making the video nearly a decade old. At the time the music video was made, it was one of the few to be released as an animation. This helped bring fame to the album as the video offered something unique that blew the minds of the public. Good Morning’s music video became well known and popular, helping promote the artist’s album.

Focusing on the album cover itself, we see the well-known mascot, ‘Dropout Bear.’ This was the third album in a row that Dropout Bear featured on. In the music video, he is the main character as we follow him on his journey to graduation as he wakes up late. This allows the watcher to connect the video and album together through the similarity of the storyline and the title of the album.

 Another feature that the music video has in relation to the album is that many of the songs that appear on the album are mentioned throughout the music video. Examples of this are at 0:51, an electric sign behind Dropout Bear reads “good life.” This is the name of a song that West included in Graduation, featuring T-pain. Even at 2:55 many more songs in the album are mentioned such as: Stronger, Can’t Tell Me Nothing, Homecoming and more.

Increasing income for the record company: the real slim shady – Eminem

The music video of ‘The Real Slim Shady’ helped contribute to the growth and income of Eminem’s record label: Shady Records. This was through the title of the music video, famous people who were featured in it and the controversy that surrounded it; mainly due to the rapper insulting and parodying many famous people in both the track and music video.

The music video helps advertise Shady records as the video was released only a year after the creation of his record company. It also features a cameo from his mentor and good friend: Dr Dre. Dre’s face appears on a milk carton under the heading “Missing,” along with this Eminem raps:
“and Dr Dre said… Nothing you idiots Dr Dre’s dead, he's locked in my basement.” This helped increase the income for the record label as Dr Dre’s name meant that his fans would have heard about his appearance in the music video and may have learned  about Shady Records as a result.   

Eminem’s stage name ‘Slim Shady’ also helps promote the record label as both the song and label share the name “Shady.” The music video also includes the many different Slim Shadys, both in the music video and in the lyrics. This humorous use of repetition allows for the name Shady to be advertised in different ways. When someone watches the music video, they are then reminded of Shady Records thanks to the comedic character.

The controversy included in the music video is one of the most effective ways of advertising the record label. In this shot, he is seen parodying Britney Spears by dressing up as her and referring to her as a ‘little B*tch’ and that she gave him an STD. Many other famous people are insulted or included in the music video which was related to promoting the record label.

Once people knew about Shady Records, they would become interested in some of the music that the lable company represents. This would go onto increase the income that  Shady records received.

Promotion of and synergy with another media Product: Writing’s on The Wall – Sam Smith

The music video, of Sam Smith’s Writing’s on the wall was created to promote and combine the artist’s song with the movie: Spectre in order to promote the James Bond franchise. As Sam Smith is a very popular artist, his fame is used to promote the movie through a music video.

A method used to promote the movie is including clips of the film, to tease the film to viewers. At 0:51, we are shown Daniel Craig who plays James bond (the protagonist.) In this shot he is shown looking directly into the camera. This is a way of advertising the film as we are introduced to the main character.

Throughout the music video, the artist Sam Smith can be seen also; one scene in particular that is shown throughout the music video features him with coffins covered by the union Jack Flag in the background. This is a very powerful scene as it includes both the artist and advertises the genre of the film (coffin representing fallen soldiers fro the UK, where James Bond is from.) The main purpose of this shot is to hint to the watchers as to what could appear in the movie.

Increasing the range of media an artist is active in: Never say never – Jaden Smith.

Although Jaden Smith features in Justin Beibers song, the music video is entirely based around Smith and the movie he is in, The Karate Kid. Many shots of the movie are included in the music video. This is done to portray the multipul talents that Smith has. It also increases the ammount of sectorts of media that he is involved in.

As the music video was a colaboration with pop artist Justin Beiber, the music video became very popular through the fame and popularity of Beiber. This allowed for Jaden Smith’s to be introduced to the wide fanbase of Justin Beiber increasing the fame and popularity of Smith.

Some close up shots includes both beiber and smith in order to show the two of them are involved in the music. However, some key shots are of jaden smith when he starts to rap; this shows us his ability in the media section of music aswell of acting in movies.

The film and the song both share a message based on motivation and never giving up. Through this posotive message, people will become inspired by Jaden Smith and recognise is talents of being involved in different areas of media

  

                                  By Andrew Mosconi