Music video- instamental Coldplay- Fix You

evaluation

I decided to do a found footage music video, showing the difference between man made and nature. I chose an instrumental version of fix you by coldplay because it had the right slow tempo and had the same pace as i wanted the video to have. If i had more time i would have liked to add more of my own footage because i found it difficult finding the kind of clips that i wanted,  near the beginning there are 3 of my own clips. I didn't feel like the clips were that high of quality which brought the quality of the video down. The video was supposed to have a message of what we are doing to the Earth but re-watching the video that isn't all that clear. I made my video experimental by putting the clips over clips to try and emphasise my point by comparing them both. Editing was quite easy as it was very simple to cut the clips that i wanted to you as then adjust the contrast so that you can see both clips.

Some of the images are grainy and the quality of the clips that i have found are low quality, also because they are found footage the clips are not all the same size, so when editing i had to change the size of my clips so that they are all the same size, so it doesn't look off when i have put them on top of each other, however it means that there are blank space around the clips because not all the clips were big enough to fit the screen.

It doesn't look that good but, i think the clip go well with the music because of the slow pace and saddened tone. I had to cut the song down to 3 minutes from it's original 6 because of the struggle of finding the clips for a video that long and because of the subject of the video is not all that interesting, the clips are similar to each other, if i had more time i could have came up with a more interesting concept and maybe a more original song. I did rush to find the clips, find the music, find a concept and edit, so it isn't that good of a job, i could have done a better job if i were to give myself more time and had a clearer idea when i started the project of what i wanted to do.

I attempted to have a little bit of experimental by having clips come in at different parts to the music, this happens at the beginning, the clips don't take up the whole screen and there is a bit of blank space around them but the clips are not there for long so that i feel like i can get away with the amount of black space that i have.  

I have a lot of layers to work with because part of what makes this found footage experimental is the layers ontop of each other, so you are seeing the clips at the same time on top of each other. The amount of layers i had at times did confuse me because i wanted certain ones over certain clips and so  the layers did confuse me, if i had been more organised with my layers, it would have been more simple.

music for the video

The song i picked was 6 minuets long which is too long for the music video and considering the time and because i am doing found footage, it is going to be very difficult to made a video that long. I got the much cut down to around three minutes.

Music video plan

for my music video, i am planning on doing an experimental video with found footage, i have picked an instrumental version of coldplay fix you and am doing a theme of man made vs nature, comparing the two extremes.

This is an experimental music video and a narrative one as it shows a story of a man who found a snail and is walking around with it. It is experimental in the way that the music is often interpreted or stopped because he is talking to the snail which makes the music video 10 minuets long, which is longer than the average 3 minutes of a music video.

This music video contains footage from the film Batman. This is similar to what i want to do as i want to include clips within the video which are found footage. Although you could argue this is more intertextual than experimental.

Andrew Goodwin and Carol Vernallis

Andrew Goodwin studied music video for years and in 1992 he wrote a book called :dancing in the distraction factory" In this book he stated the different codes and conventions of a music video. Goodwin thought that the key features of a music video; genre characteristics, relationships between lyrics and visuals (amplify, contradict or illustrate), relationship between music and visuals (illustrate, amplify, contradict), a frequent use of voyeurism (mainly on the female body" and the notion of "looking" (a frame within a frame), intertextual references form Tv shows, films or even other music videos and the demands of the record label which includes "close ups".

Carol Vernallis's theory on music videos contains the 4 key concepts of narrative, editing, camera movements and framing and diegesis. These four key concepts are part of the manufacturing process of a music video. Vernallis suggested with he narrative that the video was a visual response to the music/ lyrics, the video reflects the lyrics. She went on to explain that the narrative isn't always completed and can appear in fragments. Vernallis explained editing, t hat all music videos are edited in the same way, where the editing is visual containing jump cuts, cutting with the lyrics, graphic matches etc. Establishing shots are a key camera shot within the music video and are reused throughout along side close ups (to clearly show the singer or the band). The diegesis is the world of the music video which Vernallis thought to be revealed slowly through the video with many repetitions and some frames would seem more important due to the way they have been framed.

Andrew Goodwin wrote"dancing in the distraction factory" in 1992 when it was published in 1992.

Carol Vernallis wrote Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context in 2004 and went on to become a film and media teacher at Stanford University till current day

Music video results

A large majority of those who did my survey said that they prefer a song to have a music video because the visuals make it more interesting, they can see how the artist interprets the song and the visuals help with he song. The ones who said they didn't prefer songs to have music videos because they focus more on the song. So this tells me that the best aspects to have in a music video is to show a version of how the lyrics can be portrayed.

Based on these results, people like to see narrative and performance in music video equally, these were probably equal due to in most narrative music videos there is an aspect of performance, so people expected to see more narrative and performance over conceptual understanding.  

There wasn't a single answer repeated when asked what is the preferred genre of music, they were all different because the range of people listened to a range of music. This doesn't tell me anything really.

For a music video to be interesting and watchable i have a few different answers that can help put ideas towards the video like dancing, creative visuals and a story. These are all things i could add to my music video to make it interesting.

People said the most common thing to see in a music video is artistic portrayal, meaning how the artist sees the lyrics meaning. Close to that was artistic branding, this is things you can identify the band or singer by, for example a name or a logo on the drums or like Lady GaGa's outfits. 

Lets of people liked seeing a narrative in the music videos, this can relate to a previous question i asked about how to make a music video interesting and someone put a story. Narrative seems to be the most popular and understood genre of music video. Experimental and stadium performance were close by this also goes with some of the answers that were suggested to make a music video more interesting.

This gives me a list of some of the music videos that people watch and listen to, to give me some idea of what people expect and like in a music video.

a majority said that music video often contain intertextual references, in the explanation underneath it was suggested and parodys, where people take popular films or tv shows and create a music video are around them. 

Most people thought that the video should illustrate the lyrics, this is to show on screen what the lyrics are saying. For an example Who let the dogs out should illustrate the lyrics of dog by showing a dog. Although not many music videos illustrate and if so don't do it alone, from my research i have found that it is popular for the video the amplify the lyrics by lip syncing. 

This is the genre of music that i prefer and am most likely to pick a rock/ indie song to put in my music video, i wanted to see how like and popular the genre is, and it is as a 75% majority like this genre of music. 

Music video survey

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DR9WHQG\

Music video analysing

The music video is for "why'd you only call me when you're high" by the Artic Monkeys, the genre is narrative, as there is no performance at during the video, it only shows the band member Alex Turner walking around the streets after getting high/ drunk at a bar. The narrative shows him trying to get in contact and find this girl, after messaging her at the bar and them him leaving to try and get to her house.  You could also argue that the video is also experimental/ conceptual because the man is supposed to be high and this gets illustrated throughout when he hallucinates and the camera shows the hallucination and then what is really happening, the camera also blurs out at some point to re-illustrate that he is meant to be high. The artist acts as a narrator and character of this music video this adds authenticity to the video. Goodwin believed that music videos should ignore common narrative but most current music videos include this one do include a strong narrative that show the songwriters vision of what the song is about.

Hey Ya! By the Outkast music video is a narrative and performance video. It's narrative because before the song starts the video shoes the members of Outkast in the dressing room talking to a manager, then moving onto the stage to perform. It's a narrative of a performance. Then as they are singing and playing Hey ya! on stage it turns into a performance. As they are playing on stage the video also shows the show being played in different homes and the audience reacting to the performance, making it narrative because it is structured. The lyrics in the video are amplified by the artist lip syncing the video, emphasising the words as he sings along. The visuals go with the music video, it amplifies the music, as it is a performance and they are performing the song. This video has a frame within a frame as when the song is introduced they are seen on a TV and watching this from a another screen, makes it a frame within a frame and this breaks the fourth wall and so this could be argued as a type of voyeurism as the audience see's what they don't usually see. The beats within the song are shown by the dancing from the main singer, his movements fit with the beats of the song throughout.



This music video is Katy Perrys Hot n Cold. This video is both performance and narrative , as it does have a narrative of a man changing his mind at a wedding, and during the narrative it has some performance from the singer in different locations, one on stage with a band, another on the street with backup dancers. The music video illustrates the lyrics as she lip syncs throughout the whole video, this is one of the conventions set up by Adrew Goodwin as mentioned in his book "dancing in the distraction factory", although the narrative and performance illustrates the lyrics as Katy chases her man and beats him up because he changes his mind, he is Hot n cold". In all of Katy Perrys music videos, it features Katy Perry, you could argue that this is the branding and unique selling point for the video it is also it's star image. She was during the video rips of part of her dress, so that she is wearing a small outfit, you could argue that this is voyeurism because of this outfit. To help create authenticity is Katy Perry being the narrator and actress in the video because it's like her telling the story and showing it however the reminder that it is a music video comes from the lip syncing.

This music video by Green day for the song 21 guns, is a narrative and performance video. This is shown through a narrative staring a couple trapped in a room with bullets flying through the walls, and then the band playing the song. Both the narrative and performance is happening at the same time and the clips go back and forth between the performance and narrative. Goodwin though that for their roles in advertising, music videos should ignore common narrative, and this is what this music video does as the narrative isn't clearly explained and can be seen as open for interpretation, also the narrative is interrupted by the performance clips. The lyrics, to a certain extent amplifies and illustrates the video. It amplifies because the band lip sync, so it enhances and amplifies the lyrics. The illustration comes from the chorus, as when the chorus starts and the words "21 guns" gets sung, there are bullets flying through the room, illustrating 21 guns. Nearing the end of the video near the 3:26 mark, the music picks up a fast beat and the clips switch to match this beat, it changes every beat to the couple, to the band and back and forth till the music slows down, before it slows down their are explosions that match the beat of the music that adds and amplifying factor to the music because the beats become visual. Before this the music slows down and the lighting turns to low key spotlight lighting to match the slower, more dramatic tone of the music video. 

This music video is Hall of fame by The Script and Will.i.am. This video is performance and narrative, as it is performed by both artists in a warhorse but it is broken up with clips form the narrative about a Boxer and a Ballet dancer. The lyrics are amplified by the lip syncing of the artists and illustrated by the narrative of the boxer and ballet dancer as it shows what they are going to become, demonstrating the "hall of fame". The beat of the song can be seen in the clips of the performance as, at the beginning you see the piano being played with directly shows the music and beat but through the clips of the performance you can see the light flickering to the beat. There is a part toward the end where the beat is amplified as the ballet dancer feels the beat from a speaker and the music becomes distorted but the beat is still clear. The music video contains the star image of the lead member of The Script collaborating with Will.I.Am, it is more advertising when both starts are seen on screen.

Music video and research techniques

Music video lesson 1
Andrew Goodwin- codes and conventions "dancing in the distraction factory"
Carol Vernallis- summarise articles, quotes 
Analysis 5 music video- 2 extensive detail, conventions and construction of video, mention goodwin
Complimentary, contradicting or amplify

The first feature of a music video, Goodwin, claimed was that there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals on screen
Lyrics and visuals:
Illustrating- showing something
amplifying- making it look bigger e.g lip syncing
contradictory- going again lyrics


Genre exists
Stadium performance
studio performance
location
narrative
conceptual/ experimental

Artistic branding
celebrity culture
artistic portrayal
Implications on looking good

following from artist close ups, a feature linked to this is star iconography which each artist will develop in their music video.
This could be though either of the following:
branding
style
brand values/ unique selling points

Looking and voyeurism
concept of voyeurism. meaning the audience see something that they would or should not usually see.
form of
Nudity, near nudity/ revealing cloths
exhibitionism
an intimate location e.g bedroom
frame within frame
The "male gaze" is often used to attract a male audience. the male gaze is a focus on presentation

Andrew goowin noticed music videos are often intertextual references to"
other music videos
films
tv shows
this can be homage, pastiche or even some kind of brand synergy

5 key aspects\

thought beats- where you see the sound
narrative and performance
the star image
relation of visuals to song
technical aspects of a music video

Hndheld, jump cuts, amplifying lyrics with singing, illustrates lyrics with actions matching lyrics, performance and narrative

Genre of music video- explanation and evidence/ context, lyrics with the video - illustration/ amplification/ contradiction, visuals with the music, does it illustrate? amplify? contradict? Narrative with he music, chorus, verse? star image?

Performance, Amplification with lip syncing, voyerism





Research techniques lesson 1

Production research- textual analysis- research conducted to inform the production process of a media product e.g techniques locations, genre etc.
Market research- qualitative- more through investigation into the reasons why products are produced and how they appeal to the consumer. statistics
Audience research - quantitive- the analysis of who consumes what media products and why. opinions focus groups

Primary and secondary

test post 2