Influences

We have been influenced by many artists during the process of thinking of a new music video. Artists aswell as specific music videos have helped given us ideas that we feel will work with our chosen song.
 

One artist that has influenced us in particular is Rihanna as she has the same genre of music as Inna so we feel that the music videos would be fairly similar. Her music videos are usually to upbeat, fun songs and the video helps show that, which is what we also want our music video to do. Her video to 'We Found Love' is quite similar to our idea as it is based around how she finds love as well as having the element of fun with dancing, alcohol etc. This was the type of atmosphere we wanted to give in our music video. We were inspired by the scene where Rihanna is waving around coloured smoke bomb objects and fireworks so we decided to use sparklers and wave them around in our video. The video also features a love story which is what we are going to include in our video so this artist and music video in particular has been the biggest inspiration to us overall. Rihanna is seen as quite rebellious and sexual in many of her music videos such as 'Rude Boy'. We also want to portray the star to be quite rebellious as this goes with our song choice and the storyline we have come up with. 

Another influence is Rita Ora as her music video 'How We Do' has a fun, party atmosphere which is what we want in our music video aswell. We have already done a video analysis on this explaining how it influenced us. Her image is the type of image we want the star in our video to give off as she is a likeable, confident, sexy, young woman which is a good selling point for an artist.

 

 

Christina Aguilera also shows a very rebellious side in her music video 'Your Body' which helped us think of ideas to show a rebellious side as that is the main focus for the video. She is also seen wearing a lot of bright colours in not only her clothing but her hair aswell. She also uses bright colours instead to represent blood where she destroys the men such as blue paint and pink glitter. We decided to use bright colours in our video as it goes with the fast pace of the song and it also stands out well so we wanted to give the same type of look that Christina Aguilera gives in her video.

 

Britney Spears is an influence, particularly in terms of the outfits. In her 'Toxic' video Birtney had many different looks. In one scene she was dressed as an air hostess in a tight fitting bright blue costume, this shows her being sexual which attracts the male audience. Using voyerism is how we plan to attract the male audience as it is quite a girly song and therefore female based audience however it is possible to appeal to the male audience aswell as Britney does.

Kesha is well known for being quite rebellious, especially in her music video for 'Tik Tok' where she is seen 'brushing her teeth' with alcohol and waking up after a drunk night out. The main idea in our music video is focused around rebellious girls going on a night out and flirting, this is similar to Kesha's video except Kesha is showing the day after and the consequences of the night after and is therefore a bit more messy and hungover. We were also influenced by the scene shown in the image below where she has handcuffs attatched to her wrist. This is where we got the idea from to use a police outfit to show rebellion including props such as handcuffs.

 

Song Ideas

When choosing our music, we came up with a few ideas of what we were looking for.

• Sung by a female as this would make it a lot easier for us to find someone to star in it.
• Upbeat song as we felt this would work better and we'd be able to edit better to a faster song
• Easy to make a storyline out of so that the video would make sense and have a narrative
• Not a well-known music video as it would be compared to the original otherwise

Here are some samples of the song choices we came up with:

Rita Ora - Young, Single & Sexy
We discussed that having an album track would be a good idea as this means the song won't already have a music video meaning we won't be influenced by it. We went through Rita Ora's album and found a song we quite liked. We thought that the lyrics and meaning to this song were really good, however after listening to it a few times we decided that it was a bit too slow for what we wanted.


Inna - Crazy, Sexy, Wild
We decided to research some of the songs by artist Inna as she often has upbeat, dance songs which was what we were looking for. We decided that this song was good however it was quite repeptitive and doesn't have much of a storyline, although this isn't necessarily a bad thing as this means we can be more creative.


Carly Rae Jepsen - This Kiss
When thinking of ideas, we looked at the new albums coming out as we thought finding an album track would be good. We looked at Carly Rae Jepsen's album when finding a song and discussed about using her song 'This Kiss' however after some research we discovered that this would be her next single and therefore have a music video to it and would become quite well known so we decided not to use this song.

Codes and Conventions of the Pop Genre

Codes and Conventions of the Pop Genre

 

Mise En Scene

•Fun, party atmosphere

•Clubbing

•Sun, beach, holidays, boat fun

•Abroad/summer

Behaviour/Acting

•Flirting

•Jumping

•Dancing

•Drinking

 

 

Costume

Girls:

•Shades, bikinis

•High heels, short skirts – night out clothing

•Well-groomed hair

•Lots of make-up

Boys:

•Jeans and t shirts, not smart clothing

 

 

Cinematography

•Quick-paced shots

•Close ups

 

 

Other

•Dance Routines

•Bright colours

•Different locations

A typical pop video opens with a shot of the star in a foreign country, usually on a beach, around a pool or somewhere glamorous and holiday destination looking. A typical video shows the star and others having fun, mucking around and not being too serious, this is stereotypical of pop as it is meant to be fun and upbeat. The party atmosphere throughout the video also represents this. Clothes worn to support the stereotype include bikinis and shorts/skirts which obviously would be worn on holidays and also, for boys, jeans and t shirts rather than suits that may be worn in RnB videos to again represent the relaxed, fun atmosphere. As locations change it usually shows progression over a period of time, where the stars will have changed outfits into a more party time style look with heels. The quick paced shots show there is a lot going on and a lot of action which is stereotypical of a pop video. Other typical conventions include bright or florescent colours, lots of location changes and possibly a dance routine.

Codes & Conventions of a Music Video

Copy of Codes & Conventions of a Music Video on Prezi

What is a Music Video?

‘What is a Music Video?’

A definition of a music video by Peter Fraser:

‘A short, moving image product, shot for the express purpose of accompanying a pre-existing music track and used to encourage sales of the music in another format’

 Key features of a music video by Andrew Goodwin:

·         There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (illustrating, amplifying or contradicting lyrics).

·         There is a relationship between the music and the visuals (illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music).

·         Particular music genres may have their own music video style and iconography (e.g.: live stage performance on heavy rock).

·         There is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close ups of the main artist/vocalist.

·         There is likely to be reference to voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women, but also in terms of systems of looking (screens within screens, binoculars, cameras etc.).

·         There are likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos or to films and TV texts.

Lyrics

Lyrics tend to help establish a general feeling, mood or sense of subject matter rather than offering a coherent meaning. Key lines may play a part in the visuals associated with the song but very rarely will a music video simply illustrate the lyrics literally.

Music

A music video tends to make use of the tempo of the track to drive the editing and may emphasise particular sounds from the track by foregrounding instruments, for example a guitar, keyboard or dru

m solo.

Mise en scene/Genre

While some music videos transcend genres others can be more easily categorised. Most music channels focus on particular music genres. Watching these channels often will enable you to identify a range of distinct features which characterise the videos of different genres. These features may be reflected in types of mise en scene, themes and performance, camera and editing styles.

Camerawork

How the camera is used and how images are sequenced has a significant impact on meaning. Camera movement, angle and shot distance all need to be closely analysed. It should accompany movement of the performers but it may also be used to create a more dynamic feel to the stage performance, for example, circling the band as they perform on stage. Close ups are most commonly used because of the size of the screen and to create intimacy between the performers and the viewers.

Editing

The most common form of editing associated with music is a fast cut, also known as rapid editing, including a montage of images that are cut to the music’s rhythm, however some videos, for example slow ballads, use a slow pace and gentler shot transitions to establish a mood.

Intertextuality

The music video is often described as being ‘post-modern’. This is mainly the theory of how music videos daw upon existing texts in order to spark recognition from the audience. In the 1980’s Madonna’s video for ‘Material Girl’ drew inspiration from ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’; a film from the 1950’s. The Beastie Boy’s video for ‘Sabotage’ is a direct homage to the 1970’s cops of ‘Starsky and Hutch’

Narrative/Performance

Narrative in songs, as in poetry is rarely complete and often fragmentary. The same is true of music promos, which tend to suggest storylines or offer complex fragments in a non-linear order, leaving the viewer with the desire to see them again.

- A definition by Steve Archer:

‘Often, music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band. Additionally, a carefully choreographed dance might be a part of the artist’s performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the repeatability factor. Sometimes the artist (in particular the singer) will be part of the story, acting as narrator and participant at the same time.  However, it is the close up of lip synch and mime of the instruments being played that remains at the heart of music videos.’

The video then allows the audience more variety of access to the performer than a stage performance can. The close up allows the viewer eye contact with their idol and the framework presents the artist in a number of ways which is not possible in a live concert.

Star Image

Music videos allow the record company to position 'their' property in a crowded marker place. The 'look' of the music video and the 'look' of the band allows the viewer to determinate if they like what they see. Fans will also have certain expectations of what they see in the music video so record companies have to be careful to give the fans what they want so they will appeal to the widest possible demographic.

Evaluation of AS Blog and Ideas For This Year

Here is our powerpoint presentation reflecting over our coursework last year and showing ideas for this years coursework: