music video style reworked

8/9/2019 Music Video Style Reworked

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N ice video; shame about the song

Music videos can be so memorable that uponhearing some songs, we immediately think of the video or its iconography or feel.

Some memorable videos have really help to sellsongs which are in themselves really forgettable.

Some Madonna fans even admit to having forgottensome of her songs as there were not associated promovideos for them; other songs would have been bestforgotten but for their corresponding video!

Can you think of mediocre songs which have a great music video?


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T echnical Codes

When analysing pop video it is importantto consider the technical codes whichare used to construct both the videoitself and the representations inherentwithin it.


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Camerawork

A s with any moving image text, how the camerais used and how images are sequenced will

have a significant impact upon meaning .Camera movement, angle and shot distance allneed to be analysed.Camera movement may accompany movementof performers (walking, dancing, etc) but it mayalso be used to create a more dynamic feel tostage performance by, for instance, constantlycircling the band as they perform on stage.


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L ivin On A Prayer

See Dead or A live


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T he Close Up Predominates

A s in most T V, this is partly because of the size of the screenand

A lso because of the desire to create a sense of intimacy for the viewer.

It also emphasises half of the commodity on sale (not just thesong / single / album, but the artist, and particularly thevoice).

John Stewart of Oil Factory states that he sees the musicvideo as essentially having the aesthetics of the TV commercial , with lots of close ups and lighting being usedmost prominently for the stars face.


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Take a Bow, Madonna, 1994


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Carol Vernallis (see Required Reading pack)

A video must provide a flattering depiction of the singer lip-synching the song.

Unlike the grammar of cinema camerawork, musicvideos make us as aware of the edge of the frame (andof what we cannot see) as of the figure itself.

Music videos (often) frame the body inappropriately.


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Un titled (How does it feel), D A ngelo

1999 Virgin Records A

mericaDirector: Paul Hunter


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E ditingT he most common form of editing associated with the music promois fast cut montage, rendering many of the images impossible tograsp on first viewing thus ensuring multiple viewing .

T here are videos which use slow pace and gentler transitions toestablish mood.

T his is particularly apparent for the work of many female solo artistswith a broad audience appeal, such as Dido.

Watch the videos for Coldplay - Violet Hill (dir. Mat Whitecross)and Radiohead - No Surprises (dir. Grant Gee). Consider howpace has been used to establish mood.

Violet HillDancingPoloticians Radiohead


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On February 11, 2007, OK Go and T rish Sie took home a Grammyaward for "Best Short-Form Music Video" for their music video " Here It Goes Again".

In 2008, Damian Kulash said that the band had not produced theYou T ube videos as part of any overt Machiavellian marketingcampaign. "In neither case did we think, ' A -ha, this will get people tobuy our records.' It has always been our position that the reason youwind up in a rock band is you want to make stuff. You want to docreative things for a living."


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Editing and Digital EffectsOften enhancing the editing are digitaleffects which play with the original imagesto offer different kinds of pleasure for theaudience. T his might take the form of splitscreens, colourisation, slow motion and of course blockbuster film style CGI.Watch the video for Radiohead StreetSpirit (dir. Jonathan Glazer, 1996).

Street Spirit


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J onathan Glazer on Radiohead's Street Spirit (1996)

"With Radiohead, it's very much about convincing T hom Yorkeof your ideas. But once he's chosen you there's not any interference- he wants you to go off and be experimental. I'd had this idea for ages that I'd seen in nature programmes, where they'd film an eagleflying at 1,200 frames per second then cut frames out to slow itdown. It's a technique you see in every second ice-creamcommercial nowadays but back then it was new . ..

In the end, I'd spent so much time filming shots of breaking glass andnuns jumping off trampolines that I hadn't got the right performance

out of T hom. I had to cut the video together with black windowsinserted where he should have been. But the record company likedwhat they saw enough to arrange for me to go to Germany a fewweeks later to film T hom singing. In the end it worked out. T hat wasthe film that, creatively, got me up and running."


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"W ork It " is a hip hop song written byMissy Elliott and her producer T im"T imbaland" Mosley for Elliott'scritically acclaimed fourth studio albumUn der Co nstructio n (2002). T he song'smusical style, and production byT imbaland, were heavily inspired byOld school hip hop from the 1980s,and includes a portion which samplesRun-D.M.C. 's " Peter Piper ".

Video directed by David Myers

L ook again at D ark of the Matinee by Franz Ferdinand for more post-production effects.T he video features the band dressed asschoolboys, dancing in an automatic, almostpossessed, fashion and miming along to the mainvocal track. It was inspired by Dennis Potter 'stelevision play B lue Remembered Hills (1979).T he finale of the video also takes several visualcues from the "Dry Bones" sequence in Si ng i ng Detective (intertextuality)


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Some videos are shot in black and white or monochrome with tinted tones for effect:

T o create a certain mood or ambience and an arty feel (see

Herb Ritts videos such as Madonnas Cherish or JanetJackson's Love Will Never Do He was a fashionphotographer initially)T o create authenticity for the artist / band serious act or toshow they come from the street and have limited budget(even when its not the case) to help with audienceidentification.

Some videos use both, the change within the videooften carrying meaning but for diverse reasons, somenarrative-bound (See use of colour in Michael JacksonsCaptai n Eo )

B lack and White Vs. Colour


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Short film by George L ucas which can be seen at Disney L and (still?)

Shot in 3-D, it features Michael Jackson as a renegade commander inouter space who is eventually able to liberate his evil enemy withmusic . Significantly, Jackson's singing and dancing work to colorize hisfoes , so that the arrival of his music transforms them from monochromebadness to Technicolor goodness a feature of Captai n Eo that maynot be lost on the shows sponsor, Kodak.

From Goodwins Da nci ng i n the Distractio n I ndustry

Can you think of other videos in which achange of colour helpsto propel the narrative?


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Can you explain whymonochrome (sometimes tinted)has been used in these videos?


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B lack and White Vs. Colour

Mix of saturated and distressed colours and black and white combined with adamaged tape look.

"Stupid Girl " is a song by Garbage, released as a single in 1996, taken fromtheir 1995 self-titled debut album. It became Garbage's highest chartingsingle in many territories, including in the US Billboard Hot 100 and in the UKSingles Chart, where it peaked at #4. Its success was driven by an innovativemusic video and cutting-edge remixes which gained massive airplay acrossthe world.

T he video for "Stupid Girl" is a performance piece, inspired by the titlesequence from David Fincher's 1995 movie Se7e n . T he clip was shot in justfour hours entirely within a warehouse. Bayer cut the film into pieces, andsoaked it in his bath, applying deliberate fingerprints and abrasions to thefootage before putting it back together by hand.

(from Wikipedia)


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Iconography

of an artist of a music genreeven of a music director

T he familiarity with a certain iconography helps audience recognition.

What might be the advantages of this?

Individually or in pairs, think of specific artists, music genres(hard rock, indie, R&B, Emo and Goths, New Pop, Hip-Popand Rap, Pop ). Choose one and brainstorm theassociated iconography.


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Star Image

Richard Dyer has noted: a star is a n ima g e co nstructed from a ra ng e of materials

(Richard Dyer 1979)

A ndrew Goodwin has written:

Characterisatio n , fictio n , a nd perhaps eve n narrative itself

exist i n popular music at the poi n t of narratio n , outside of thedie g esis of i ndividual so ng s, live performa nces, or video clips,through the persona of the pop star .

( A ndrew Goodwin 1992)


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Construction of a Pop Star

T hese materials includethe songs (their lyrical themes and musical

structures/genres),the record covers (singles and albums and theimage of the star they present),media coverage (from interviews about career and private life through to tabloid gossip),

live performance (the image through the stageshow)the music videos, which may draw upon theimage presented in each of the other aspects.


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Re-construction of Image

Each video may also draw upon itspredecessor both in reinforcing the stars

existing image and in taking the imageon further, perhaps in new directions.T hus, music videos will act as ashowcase for the stars talents and play

a significant part in the construction andmaintenance of their image.


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T ask: Image Management

Imagine you are a manager for ---------. You feel thatyour client is ready for an image transition or needs image management for some reason.How would you go about managing that evolution?Create as many details as possible to make your scenario realistic. You might want to choose anexisting artist who would benefit from such atransition or create one from scratch.Your task is likely to involve a bit more than a newvideo You need exposure


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F ollow-up task: T racing the evolution of somestars image seen through and/or managed

through some of their videos

Choose from:George Michael

Christina A

guileraBritney SpearsL illy A llenRhiannaKylie Minogue

Madonna too much material?

If you have another idea, ask first!

In pairs or individually, students researchthe evolution of a pop star. There should

be annotations / explanations to go withthe screengrabs. Look at developmentsin their life, desire for a bigger/older/younger audience; change of musicrecord company etc

Goodwin: Star-texts intersect with videoclips.

He says that understanding the stars persona

is a central element to reading videos. He alsotalks of a certain manipulation of theaudience.

To be completed as Home L earning

music video style reworked

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