G324 - Evaluation Tasks

Question 1

I am going to analyse our music video in reference to five criteria of Andrew Goodwin’s theory of what should be included within music videos. I am also going to analyse the narrative, editing, camerawork and diegesis of our music video in terms of Carol Vernallis’ analysis of which aspects a music video must include. I am going to reference to a range of different music videos which are similar in relation to aspects of our music video.

“There is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics”

Within our video, the visuals represent the narrative in which we are trying to portray. For the lyrics, “’cause you make me smile, yeah you make me smile” we have shown footage of the good memories in their relationship. However, for lyrics such as “I feel like jumping off for the first time” we have shown footage of the couple arguing. Close ups of the artist and/or couple are mainly used during the happy moments. In contrast, long or mid shots are often used when the couple are arguing or unhappy. This signifies the closeness or distance between the couple in both physical and emotional terms. The mood of the song is reflected in the footage, illustrating the narrative.

The use of the lyrics illustrating the narrative shown in the footage is also used within the music video for “Teenage Dirtbag – Wheatus. The lyrics read “it’s prom night and I am lonely, low and behold, she’s walking over to me”. The footage literally acts out the story told in the lyrics, much like in our video.

“There is a relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.”

As our song is upbeat, the cuts in our music video are quick and in time to the beat of the music. This puts emphasis on the song itself.

For example, cuts of the artist shown on different positions on the bench are cut to fit the beat of the music.

A similar concept is used within Beyoncé's music video for “Upgrade you” in order to emphasise certain beats.

“Record companies will demand a lot of close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.”

Several close-ups and mid-shots of the artist are used within our music video. We found this was conventional within the indie-pop genre as it promotes the artist and song as a package. It is also conventional for the artist to star in a narrative within the video, allowing for the main focus to remain on the star. We also used a close up shot of the artist as a master shot, to keep referring back to. This draws the attention back to the song rather than the narrative. The way in which we filmed and dressed the artist also built up her star persona. She is shown as a young, average teenager within the narrative. Whereas, the performance footage where she is dressed in white dresses shows her elegant and innocent side. We have also used close-ups for the digipak and magazine advert. This gives instant recognition of the star and sells the artist as a product as well as the album. Promotion of the artist herself through the average teenager persona again allows for the audience to relate to the star.

This concept is also used within Lana Del Rey’s video for Ride. The artist is shown doing stage performances of her song. Within these scenes, she is dressed in dresses and put under a spotlight. Both of these aspects build an elegant and beautiful character. Parallel editing of the artist leading a care free lifestyle is used. Within these scenes, she is shown in more casual clothing. These personas allow the audience to both idolise and relate to the artist. The continuous close-ups of the artist allows the audience to familiarise themselves with them, increasing their popularity. This helps to promote the artist as an icon as well as their music.

“Voyeurism is present in many music videos, especially in the treatment of females, but also in terms of systems of looking.”

Voyeurism is used in several ways within our music video. Firstly, we have shown intimate scenes of the couple in order to show their closeness at certain points in their relationship. For example, footage of the couple walking hand in hand in different locations is used. This helps the audience to understand the narrative, as these are examples of good memories in their relationship. We have also used voyeurism in a negative way. For example, the male character in the relationship is shown trying to kiss the female character. She then moves away to show that her feelings are not retaliated. This again helps the audience to understand the narrative and the feelings of the characters through their body language. This particular example also allows the female character and main artist to maintain the superior role within the relationship, giving her the power and showing her as an independent woman. This also reflects her confusion of the relationship as told through the lyrics. We have also used voyeurism through using hand held camera work in order to follow the artist running and playing in the woods. This is not only a performance but again maintains focus on the artist. We have also focused on one body part in order to make these scenes diverse compared to the others.

Voyeurism is used in similar ways to our video within Rihanna’s video for Unfaithful. The story line is similar in that there is a growing separation between the two characters. The power is again in the hands of the artist, portraying her as the dominant character. The voyeuristic nature of the camera gives the audience insight to the couple’s relationship in order to understand the situation. This video is another example of a female artist, shown to play the main role in a narrative throughout her music video. The voyeurism within the video again allows for the focus to remain on the artist.

“There are likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos or to films and TV texts, these provide further gratification and pleasure for the viewers/fans.”

We decided to draw on similarities of the style of notebook doodles in our digipak and magazine advert. We had previously seen a similar style to this used on several teen movie DVD covers. This concept channels teenagers, which are our target audience. This makes the artist seem more relatable, as she is made to seem like a average teenager. This is also represented through her clothing. As in the other examples such as the teen films “Easy A”, “Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging”, “Juno” and “Napoleon Dynamite”, all main characters are shown to be wearing their normal clothes. This allows the audience to identify themselves with the stars and the characters they play, therefore causing the same effect with our artist. Intertextuality of these films through the style of the digipak allow the audience to relate to different types of media through simply looking at these visuals. Thus drawing attention from the common target audience of teenagers.

Narrative

As a group, we interpreted the lyrics within our chosen song “Barely Love You Too” to describe the artist losing interest in a boy she once loved. We therefore decided to base the narrative of our video on this story line. To do this we filmed footage of the couple in both good and bad memories of their relationship. We distinguished the memories from the performance scenes through the post editing of the footage. This included changing the colouring of the scenes to sepia and blurring the edges of the frame to give the scenes a dream like mood. As the lyrics in the beginning of the song describe the good side of the relationship; for example, “’cause you make me smile, yeah you make me smile”, we showed footage of the couple as happy through the first verse. As the song continues, the lyrics explain the feelings of the artist fading as she says “I barely love you too”. This suggests a one sided love on the male’s side. We therefore portrayed the male to have an interest while the female is not interested.

Narratives are commonly used within the indie-pop genre. Within Taylor Swift’s video for Trouble, the lyrics explain “I knew you were trouble when you walked in…and now I’m lying on the hard, cold ground”. The narrative within the video illustrates the artist falling in love with a young man who then gets in trouble and is shown to be beaten up. The artist is then shown to be abandoned. The performance scene of the artist is used as the master shot, as in our video.

Editing

The editing throughout our video is used to emphasise the beat of the song. The shots usually last 2-4 seconds. The quick cuts keep the video interesting whilst keeping with the upbeat tempo of the song. The editing is also non-linear, as music videos often tend to defy time continuity.

Quick editing is used within music videos with an up-tempo beat as the cuts emphasise the music.

Camerawork

Within our video, we have used a master shot of the artist performing. This is a shot in which we frequently refer to throughout the video. This offers a sense of continuity throughout. We also use a range of close-ups of the artist in order to keep the focus on her. We use both still and hand held camera work in order to give variety to the video. The hand held camerawork also gives a voyeuristic element to certain shots. We used slow motion within these scenes to exaggerate the hand held element.

Hand held camerawork and slow motion editing is also used within Lana Del Rey’s video for National Anthem. This creates the same voyeuristic effect as within our video.

Diegesis

To keep up with the fast tempo of the song, quick cuts must be used. This therefore means that certain actions may not be completed. For example, a slow motion scene of the artist spinning around in the leaves is shown. However, as the action is in slow motion and lasts a few seconds, we cut the action down in order to keep with the tempo of the song. This therefore means the full spin could not be shown. There are gaps in the diegesis of the video as the video is made up of non-linear, montage editing. This however, does not affect the narrative, as the footage and lyrics contribute to building the story line.