RESEARCH: Importance of Music Videos & Structure of Record Industry

RESEARCH: Mood Board

RESEARCH: Song lyrics

Here are the lyrics to our chosen song 'I'll Hold My Breath' by Ellie Goulding

Breathe air you're not used to, tread floors you don't fall through

Make waves...

You crash a symbol hard

Follow no one, always play the wrong card

Waste days, in foreign places

She'd lights, on your better side

Reassure me that you'll wait for me, wait for me as long as it takes!

And I'll hold my breath, I'll hold my breath

Until you see me in your dreams

WE'll stay awake beneath the trees

We'll watch the buildings turn to dust

A sky of diamonds just for us

You are the risk I'll always take

The only branch I'll never break

Thsoe fears we'll blow them all way

Fight fires in your best clothes, touch skin with your eyes closed

Chase thunder...

With the volume down

Pack a suitcase, wonder to the next town

Force quit, on your losing streak

Solve a riddle in a magazine, be tongue in cheek

Tell me that we're still too young,

That we're still too young and I'll my tongue

Until you see me in your dreams

WE'll stay awake beneath the trees

We'll watch the buildings turn to dust

A sky of diamonds just for us

You are the risk I'll always take

The only branch I'll never break

Thsoe fears we'll blow them all way

I'm here, I'm here to save you

No fall, I will swim to save you

Until you see me in your dreams

We'll stay awake beneath the trees

We'll watch the buildings turn to dust A sky of diamonds just for us

You are the risk I'll always take

The only branch I'll never break

Those fears we'll blow them all way

RESEARCH: Song change

We first chose Ellie Gouldings 'Your Song', but after much consideration we realised that if we were to do that video there would be too much to live up to and our video would continuously be compared to the original and also to Elton John's. We still like Ellie a lot so we have decided to opt for another song of hers that she hasn't released yet from her album 'Lights'. We have chosen the song 'I'll Hold My Breath' primarily because the video hasn't been done yet and we have a wide range of ideas which the song will go well with. 

RESEARCH: revenue pie chart

I came across this pie chart when i was doing some research on record companies and i thought it was quite interesting to see how the revenue is distributed between the companies so i thought i would post it on my blog.

RESEARCH: state of the current music industry

The music industry has changed dramatically over the years. Back in the day if you liked the song you would have to go along to your local record shop and buy the whole album. Nowadays you can download the single of the internet. In fact digital singles sales made £160m in 2010 and £21m in albums, compared to 2009 which made £149.7m in singles and £16.1m in albums. Due to illegal downloading the behaviour of the consumer has changed too, seeing as ¾ of the downloads in the UK are illegal. However, when someone decides to download legally they can choose from one of 67 services including Amazon and Itunes. 

 

Online streaming allows music to be delivered to the user on demand and it can either be free or paid with subscription.

Between the 70's and 90's the music industry was dominated by the 'Big 6'. In the 90's that turned into the 'Big 5'. In 2004 Song and BMG combined making the indutsy dominated by the 'Big 4'. Universal Music Group, Sony Entertainment, EMI Groups and Warner Music Group.

RESEARCH: favourite student video

I looked at various previous student videos but my favourite was by Nora Ehizode, Tobi Quadri, Keith Drew and Rex Ejimonyeabala and they covered Coldpays' 'Fix You. This is my favourite video because it is very simple yet very effective.

What i think works really well in this video is that the artist acts as the narrator of the video and not as the character. They left that up to two other actors. I think that the story is very well thought. the fact that the sad parts are in black and white and the positive parts are in colour, establishes the difference between the two. 

The story is about two different characters, the man has been evicted from his house and the women falls pregnant. We aren't aware at the beginning that the two are connected but towards the end we see them reunite. 

RESEARCH: Laura Mulvey's theory

Laura Mulvey basically thinks that thanks to male dominated world, where the male appears to be the active figure, they have created this fantasy of women as an object and this is visible in music videos.

Based on this theory you could expect to see women in little clothing and sexualised and often dismembered by the camera seeing as the lens is being viewed through a man’s eyes a.k.a the cameraMAN. The genre that appears to me to sexualise women the most is rap and hip hop as the image is based around flash cars, money and women.

Adele is the artist that I think challenges this idea the most because she is more about the music more than anything else and when this topics ever arises it is often debated that women don’t need to act sexually in music videos to make money and Adele is always used as proof of this.

If I wouldn’t have been made aware of the year Laura Mulvey made her quote I would instantly think she was talking about 2011 instead of 1992. Her opinion is still completely valid if not even more so.

‘Down’ by Jay Sean ft. Lil Wayne is an example of how women are used in an inferior way. Even though in this video they are not as scantily dressed as in other videos, at 0:36 a number of women surround him and help him put on his jacket, because he is clearly not able to put it on himself.

In the video ‘Spaceship’ by Tinchy Stryder ft. Dappy, even though there is only one woman that appears in the video she is mostly filmed from behind as she walks in slow motion which reinforces the idea of the male fantasy; and also when she appears on the boat she in the middle of the screen therefore the focus is on her.

RESEARCH: Carol Vernallis' theory

The theorist Carol Vernallis observed music videos and she developed some points:

 That music videos don’t follow continuity editing because the editing is not linear, for example ‘Don’t Go’ by Wretch 32 ft. Josh Kumra, at the beginning there is a shot of Wretch 32 standing on the stairs and the next shot we see of him he is sitting back down. 

They use special effects and obvious editing to draw the focus to the artist and making the video more appealing and interesting, for example ‘E.T’ by Katy Perry ft. Kanye West, at 0:44 seconds Kanye touches a holographic screen which is special effects. 

The use of jump cuts often cut to a rapid like in ‘Glad You Came’ by The Wanted, in the first 20 to 30 seconds edit is cut to the raid beat of the song. 

A Master shot or base track being used to establish a structure like the shot below from the video ‘All Fired Up’ by The Saturdays where the girls dressed in black in a black and white room is used as the main clip. 

That the camera moves with the music for example in ‘Price Tag’ by Jessie J, when she says ‘everybody look to the left’ the camera shifts to the left still having her within shot. 

RESEARCH: Andrew Goodwin's theory

Music videos and films follow a different narrative and Andrew Goodwin developed the theory that music videos do not follow the typical structure of normality-problem-solution. Also the singer dominates the role of the narrator (singing the song) and a character (performing in the video) and tends to directly address the viewer by looking at the camera to simulate a performance which involves the viewer. Music videos are all about repetition so that the viewer remembers the song and the artist to then later on buy their singles. There are three categories that music videos fall under: illustration, amplification and disjuncture.

Illustration is where the video matches the lyrics to the song for example in ‘Who’s Laughing Now’ by Jessie J is singing about how people treated her bad who now want to be friends with her again. Therefore for this song there would be no better setting than in a school.

Amplification is when the song does have to do with the video however the video doesn’t follow it exactly, instead it adds new meaning and Pixie Lott’s ‘All About Tonight’ is an example of this as she is singing about how out partying and in the video she is dancing about like she is with her friends about to go on a night out.

Disjuncture is where the song and the video have little to do with each other much like ‘Bounce’ by Calvin Harris ft. Kelis.

RESEARCH: best example of a music video

I think that Rihanna's number 1 hit 'Only Girl' is brilliant video and does exatly what a video is intended to do. It is certainly a feast for the eyes and that is what i think makes it a successful video. A music video is meant to be visual and in this one there are lots of different locations, outfits and props. the editing is also very good for example at the beginning of the first chorus, at about 1 minute in, there are very quick jump cuts between a mid close up, a long shot and an extreme long shot of the artist, all on the beat. Also the camera moves with the song like when there is a part of the song at about 3:17 it goes into slowmo and so does the clip for her yet the fireworks in the background still pop in time with the beat. All in all it does what it is meant to do and promotes the image of the artist and in this case, rihanna's new music and red hair.

RESEARCH: function of a music video

The function of a music video is to provide a visual aid to the song and maximise profit and promote the artist.

Music videos can also be used to promote films like Leona Lewis' 'I see you' and Avatar.

They also advertise well known brands such as Dr Dre's 'beats' headphones and Blackberry's 'playbook'

Lady Gaga's 'telephone' is riddled with brands, from Coca Cola to online dating site, Plenty of fish.

RESEARCH: copyright clearance

Here is a quick clip of some copyright emails that i sent over the summer holidays.

Research: Copyright Clearance

During the summer holidays I contacted a couple of artists/companies in order to get copyright clearance so we can use one of the tracks for our music video. Here are four screen grabs:

Reflecting back on the AS year

When did the lip sync tutorial we were told not to save it for some strange reason so i dont have any evidence of that but i did take a few screen grabs of our prelim. Even though that year we had heard alot about 'the razor blade' we didn't use it that much. However, with a music video we became a aware very quickly how necessary it is. we learn how to lay down a base track and how to mark that and then mark the rest of the clips at the same point to that they would all be in sync. we did do that in the tutorial however with our prelim we slightly forgot to do it so at various times the singing is a bit out of sync. but then again we all learn from our mistakes so now we know were we went wrong and to NOT do it again.

Reflecting back on the AS year

Seeing as i had never used final cut pro, soundtrack pro or livetype ever before, i had a lot to learn:

- how to lay down clips on the time line

- how to add transitions and effects

- how to edit the music using FCP

- how to add text in FCP

- how to combine sounds together in STP

- how to export from STP to FCP

- how to use livetype and then apply it to the video

- how to use the JVC cameras and focus them correctly depending on the distance of the subject and the lighting

RESEARCH: Review Of My Favourite Previous Student Video

This is the student video I chose to analyse, as it was my favourite. I really like the motifs of the red (symbolizing love) and the people holding up the placards as it represents a sense of unity and agreement that “everybody needs love”. The lip syncing was on point and the choice of different locations went well with the genre (British indie). The role of the girl in the video is to be both the narrator and the participant. There are many other participants in the video who hold the signs.

There was a good variety of camera shots and angles, such as:

 Close Up

 Low Angle

 Extreme Close Up

 Long Shot

Two Shot

I think the only downfall of the video is that some of the shots, with the people holding the placards, had too much space above their heads. Other than that I think the music video was great and it made me realise how much effort and thought needs to be put forward in order to create a really good music video.

Adam, Lisa, Nasima & Sayvita from 283goswell on Vimeo.

Reflecting back on the AS year

When we knew which song we had I looked up the singles cover to see what it looked like so i could try to recreate it. That is why they are posing like that. When I heard the song I thought it was from the sixties so i went for the sixties there single cover, even though it was from the eighties. 

If the single would have been released in the sixties the cover would have been perfect seeing as it is in keep with the retro theme like the cover below. 

RESEARCH: Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey’s theory on representation on gender is that women are dismembered and that there is usually a focus on their bodies, whereas men are shown as a whole. A quote by Laura Mulvey:

“In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly”.  

The ‘male gaze’ is the representation of women from the point of view of men.

The following video, Gold-Digger by Kanye West, is a good example of the ‘male gaze’. It shows women (who are half-naked) on covers of magazines and women dancing on men; this suggests that women are in the videos purely for men’s pleasure.  

RESEARCH: Carol Vernallis

Carol Vernallis detected that edits occur more in music videos than they do in film and observed that the editing has a rhythmic basis that connects closely to the song.







Her main points of observation are as follows:

·        The rules concerning ‘continuity’ editing that are usually used are broken as an attempt to obtain concentration to what is on the screen

·        There may be really obvious edits in order to draw attention to themselves, such as wipes and added special effects

·         There are usually jump cuts – these break the rules of ‘continuity’ editing

·         To give the video a structure, a master shot (base track) is often used

·         The camera might move in time along with the music.

A master shot (base track) is used in the video below, Just Dance by Lady GaGa. This is shown from 0:54 to 0.57. 

 In the video below, Dope Boys by The Game, the camera moves in time with the music. This is shown from 4:12 to 4:14.

Obvious edits are used in the video below, All Of The Lights by Kanye West. There is a flashing colour effect that is shown from 1:05 to 1:08

RESEARCH: Andrew Goodwin

In ‘Dancing in the Distraction Factory’, a novel by University of San Francisco’s media professor, Andrew Goodwin, came out in 1993. The novel explores topics regarding music television, and includes an interesting theory.  

Andrew Goodwin’s theory on music videos is that “traditional narrative analyses don’t really apply to pop videos”, there are three reasons that explain this theory.

·         Firstly, he believes that pop videos are built around songs, and that songs sometimes don’t have conventional narrative structures (normality, then the problem, then the resolution).

·         Secondly, in pop videos the artists’ role is both the narrator and the character.

·         Thirdly, the artist directly addresses the audience by looking straight at the camera (also known as ‘breaking the 4^th wall) as an attempt to involve the viewer with the performance.

Repetition is generally used in pop videos in order to make the audience familiar with the genre and have certain expectations. So the music video will be played on TV, the song will be played on the radio and the song will be advertised on films or TV in order to make the song recognizable through repetition.

Sometimes the visualization of a song may not relate much to the original meaning, this may be due to the fact that it provides a visual pleasure, encouraging viewers to watch it repetitively and therefore leading to the promotion of the song. Music videos often promote other commodities such as films which is beneficial for both the song and for the film.

There are 3 types of relations between songs and videos:

1.       Illustration

2.       Amplification

3.       Disjuncture

Sometimes music videos illustrate the connotation of the lyrics. Illustration is the most clear-cut structure for a music video; it is a good example of visualization. The example below, ‘The A Team’ by Ed Sheeran, is a good example of illustration. In a the video is a girl, the song signifies the struggles that she has faced in her life and throughout the song she gets weaker and weaker, resulting in her death; the video shows this happening.

Amplification; when the videos introduce new meanings that do not contradict with the lyrics but add layers of meaning. The example below, Dont Let Me Fall by B.o.B, is a good example of amplification. The song is about him and his career; he is currently at a high point and does not want that to change, he does not want his fans to forget him. In the video there is a bit where he is holding onto something in order to avoid falling; this particular scene adds layers of meaning (that he does not want to fall).

Disjuncture; where there is little connection between the lyrics and video or where the video contradicts the lyrics. In the example below, Single Ladies by Beyonce, demonstrates the disjuncture structure. The song is about being single, whereas in the video it just shows Beyonce and 2 other women dancing throughout the whole video. Thus, there is no connection between the lyrics and the video. 

There are sometimes recognisable features in pop videos; an example of this being women being objectified for the male gaze. This feature exists mainly in hip hop and heavy metal videos. Also, artists try to make their videos appealing to a wide audience, older bands tend to be shown in their younger days on their music videos so younger people can relate to them, however these younger days would be in the 60s and 70s so that older people can still identify with them.

RESEARCH: Analysis of Music Video

‘Like Toy Soldiers’ is an emotional song about disputes within the rap community which often leads to violence. He makes a comparison between rappers about toy soldiers; suggesting that rappers are controlled by others and at the end of the video it shows The Notorious B.I.G, Big L, Tupac Shakur and Bugz (rappers that have passed away as a result of the disputes) in order to display this issue. 

There are a few shots in the recording studio which suggests that music means a lot to the artist. Sentiment is expressed throughout, such as the shots with the artists’ friend in the hospital and the shot when the artist is at his friend’s funeral.

Zooming is used a lot in the music video; attaining an interaction between the audience and the artist. Slow motion is used throughout in order to convey grief and to add more emotion.

This music video is an example of Illustration; it tells the story of the lyrics. The video expresses the emotions of the lyrics which are poignant. At the beginning of the video we see two young boys reading a book which suggests they are reading about the life of the artist.

I really like this video mainly because of the emotion that is conveyed and because of the message behind it. I believe that this video is a great example of the music video form.  

RESEARCH: The Functions of a Music Video

Music videos are used as marketing devices; their main function is to sell/promote/expose the artist in order to maximise profits. Sometimes the more controversial the music video is, the more the profit maximisation and sale boosting. Judas by Lady GaGa is an example of controversy in the music video sector. Music videos are also a means of promoting/establishing the artists image.

In some cases the music video is a key element in making the song memorable, and if the song is not to many people’s tastes, it can make up for it. Occasionally music videos promote brands and/or films, for example The Game promotes Dr. Dre’s headphones (Beats by Dr. Dre) in his ‘Dope Boys’ music video; this benefits both The Game and Dr. Dre.

An artists’ prominence is based on how many views their music video gets. Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’ video on YouTube has over 630 million views.

On his channel it shows that his channel has been viewed over 39 million times and his total upload views are over 1 billion. This demonstrates the importance of music videos.

RESEARCH: Copyright Clearance Letters

Here is a slideshow displaying 7 copyright clearance emails we sent to record companies over the summer..

We did not get replies from any of them so we will have to just continue with our project without copyright clearance.

Lip Sync Tutorial Reflection

I think that the lip syncing exercise was very necessary as it gave me a sense of what it would be like to create an actual music video. My role in my group was to be the performer; I had to lip sync and dance which I eventually adapted to, even though singing and dancing is not really my forte. We were forced to repeat some shots several times due to my coming out of role by either laughing or forgetting the lyrics; this was very time consuming.

I learnt the essentials that contribute in the making of a music video, such as how to portray the correct emotions that the song is conveying in order to make it look believable and realistic. I also realised the importance of planning and learning the lyrics to the song. I was not familiar with the song and therefore the lyrics which was a burden as our time was limited, but we got the shots that we needed and headed straight to the editing suite.

When we begun to edit our video we found it to be more difficult than we expected; we had not attained enough shots. In addition we did not have much of a variety of camera shots/angles. I found the editing of the video tedious and quite exasperating as it proved to be difficult to get the clips to be in sync with each other and with the song.

Throughout the editing process I extended my knowledge and experience on certain tools; the ‘razorblade’ tool was very useful, and though I hadn’t used it much before, I will definitely use it for future purposes. I also learnt that the use of markers is vital when creating a base track in order to match the lip syncing with the song.

At first the lip syncing task seemed pretty straight forward as we were watching the media technician demonstrate how it is done, however when we put our newly learnt skills into practice I realized it was going to be a little harder than I expected.

Technical Skills Development During AS Year

The technical skills that I have developed:

·         Gained more knowledge on how to use Final Cut Pro, Livetype and Soundtrack Pro

·         How to add effects and transitions on Final Cut Pro

·         How to use JVC Digital Tapeless Cameras

·         How to make the image come out clear by adjusting the lens

·         The importance of ensuring the tripod is balanced as it has an effect on the video

·         How to export the sound from Soundtrack Pro to Final Cut Pro

·         How to add different layers of audio on Soundtrack Pro and ensure it all fits together

Digipak from Summer Lessons

I currently cannot upload my digipak as I could not locate it on the college system.

Research: The state of the Music Industry in 2012

Record labels can either be independent labels (also known as indie) or they can be international media groups (also known as conglomerates). There are 4 known major labels; Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Group and Warner Music Group. There are also smaller labels, known as sublabels, which belong to a bigger company but go under a different name.
However, that was not always the case. They were once known as the 'big 6' between the 70's and the 90's, but then one company converged with another of the major labels and it then became the 'big 5' in the late 1990's. And then again two major labels decided to merge in 2004 and they then became the 'big 4'.

Previously people bought their music in analogue formats, like CD's and Vinyl. Nowadays, illegal downloading has taken over, and it has played a major role in the decline of album and single sales. There are also so many ways that people can get hold of music and music videos that not that many people bother to buy songs anymore. Artists will soon have to rely on the sales of gigs and tours because not that many people are buying their tracks anymore. You could definitely say that Mp3 and new technology (Internet, PC's, Ipod's) have ruined the music industry.


But it's not only downloading Mp3 files, but music videos too. And although there are around 65 legal downloading sites (including Itunes, Amazon, and Spotify), people seem to prefer to visit websites such as YouTube and Vimeo where you can watch music videos for free, and download them using YouTube Downloader or other programs like so. YouTube do make money out of advertising, and you can also find that when you visit a website previous to YouTube you are presented with adverts from those websites, for example clothing store websites.

YouTube and other sites like this do have their advantages. YouTube can be used as a way to distribute songs and promote an artist/s. Their popularity is based on the amount of hits (sometimes 'likes') they have on their videos.

Other social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are used to help promote the artist, and give the fans that little bit more that they would have never had without the technology we do have. It gives fans/viewers that extra connection/closeness to the artist.