Introduction to Research for Music Videos

INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH FOR MUSIC VIDEOS

Everyone has an opinion about what is the best ever music video ever but what about NMEs…

http://www.nme.com/list/100-greatest-music-videos/217342/page/1

CATEGORIES OF MUSIC VIDEOS

There are 3 main categories of music video which include

·         Performance Based videos

·         Narrative Based Videos

·         Concept Based

Using the internet, you need to write in your own words, what these three categories mean, giving examples of videos that match each category by embedding clips into the blog entry.  You might also like to comment on which category your music video will fall into or explain if it will be a hybrid of two or more categories.

INTERTEXTUALITY IN MUSIC VIDEOS

Following on from Andrew Goodwin’s theory you need to explain “Intertextuality” in more 




detail. For this entry you could have a written blog entry with embedded video clips and images and / or a filmed video discussion with your group members.  You need to:

·         Explain what intertextuality is

·         Give a variety of examples to demonstrate your understanding

·         Explain why is it used  and why it might appeal to an audience

·         Explain if you are going to use any intertextual references in your music video possibly by uploading your own moodboard or examples of your own inspirations.

RESEARCH INTO THE MUSIC VIDEO INDUSTRY

For this entry you need to carry out some research into the music video industry showing your knowledge and understanding of how the industry works etc.  This entry should be completed as some sort of slide show either on Slideshare, Prezzi or Powerpoint and then uploaded to your blog.  In your presentation you could cover some / all of the following points:

·         How are music videos generally made?  What is the production process?

·         What is the purpose of a music video for the companies / artists that make them?

·         Who are some famous music video directors and why are their videos so well known / successful?

·         How much money is usually spent on the average music video?  Have any been made very cheaply or are there any that have had huge budgets?

·         How do audiences access music videos?  Where can they be seen?

CONVENTIONS

For this entry you should demonstrate your knowledge of conventions of music videos.  Conventions are “common features”.  You could do this as a Prezzi presentation, a collaged picture, or a word entry with images to illustrate your points.  Ensure that for this you cover the following two points, using screen grabs from a variety of professional music videos to illustrate each point where possible.:

·          Conventions of music videos in general (eg close ups, cutting to the beat of the music, etc)

·         Conventions of music videos of your particular genre (eg rock, pop etc)

THE MEDIA INDUSTRY IN THE DIGITAL WORLD

·         Research into the development of TV, including channels (MTV), the Internet, technology and explain how this has changed the music industry. Consider the production, distribution, marketing and promotion process. What is happening to the record label?

THE HISTORY OF THE MUSIC VIDEO

·         What is the history of music video in your chosen music genre?

·         Create a timeline; using visuals (including stills and music videos) to create a timeline of the music video. You should also include any new media technologies that impacted on the production and consumption of music video.

RESEARCH INTO MUSIC VIDEO RECORD LABELS

·         You need to make sure you have accurate and appropriate information about the correct record label your band are going to be signed to. So look at a variety of large and smaller (mass and niche market) labels and condier a variety of them; discussing which ones are most appropriate and why and come to a final decision. You cuold make up your own record label but remember your logo needs to be of high quality. Remember you need to approach this creatively.

ANALYSING MUSIC VIDEOS

You should analyse at least 3 music videos on your blog.  They should be from a similar genre of music to the one you intend on working in.

You should embed the video of each track into your blog along with a title of the song and artist to make it clear what you are analysing.  For each video you need to make sure you don’t just describe what is happening in each video, but instead are making analytical comments about the following features using key media terminology

·         Camera movement, shots, angles

·         Editing transitions, special effects

·         Mise-En-Scene (colour, costume, props, location, facial expression etc)

·         Representation – how the artist / band / characters are represented through these technical elements above

·         Dominant Ideologies – what ideologies are presented in the video, are they dominant ideologies or not?

·         Genre of the music and how this is signified in the video (eg iconography, colour, people etc)

·         Intertextuality – whether the video features any intertextual references, where, to what and why?

·         Audience reception – how might an audience react to or view the video (Stuart Hall’s theory of preferred reading)

·         Why might an audience watch / enjoy this video (Uses & Gratifications etc)

·         Can Andrew Goodwin’s theory be applied to the video, if so, where?

·         Can Laura Mulvey’s theory be applied to the video, if so, where?

·         Are there any Binary Oppositions in the video (Levi Strauss theory), if so, where?

Think About Including…

·         Institutional/reference information

·         Which video are you analysing, who is it by and, if you know, who directed it?

·         What genre does the music belong to and what broad characteristics of that genre does the video have?

·         What is the relationship between lyrics and visuals?

·         Work through the song and identify ways in which the lyrics are illustrated or amplified or even contradicted by the visuals.

·         Pick out some specific examples to back up your argument.

·         What is the relationship between music and visuals?

·         Does the video cut to the beat?

·         Are solo instrumental bits illustrated by the video?

·         Does the video change pace with the music?

·         Give examples to support your points

·         Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?

·         How is the record company looking to sell this track?

·         What image of the artist/band is being offered?

·         How does this video relate to previous videos by the artist?

·         Are there motifs which have been used previously? Or does this video represent a change of image?

·         Is there reference to the notion of looking?

·         Do you get the sense that the artist is on sexual display or that other people in the video are used in this way?

·         Does the camerawork, costume, dance or something else imply sexualised display?

·         Are there references to 'looking' such as screens within screens or binoculars, cameras etc?

·         Give examples and consider why these features have been chosen

·         Are there intertextual references?

·         Do these relate to other music videos, to aspects of the star's image or to completely separate texts such as programmes or films?

·         How are they used?

·         Is the music video perfomance-based, narrative-based or concept-based

·         How much of each?

·          How would you describe the audience for the music videos you have analysed?

Can you find any pastiche/parodies of this star? You could plot their star personality evolution across the decades. How do their videos sell the artist to the target audience. You can look at several videos or videos that span their career. You may also be able to find research into what other people have said about your chosen artist.

As well as this you should also look at Gramsci's hegemony theory and apply gender representation analysis to this artist