Music Video Beachcombing.

The reason I chose this video was because it was one of the most funniest and unusual video that I liked from the 80's. Here we see Freddie Mercury and the rest of Queen dressed as women stereotypically signifying women in the first minute of the video and we can tell this from their props they are wearing and using. Narrative is kind of seen within the first minute and after 3 minutes of the video where one of the band members gets up and we see another doing housework. However this is not all entirely narrative and is good because it shows the band and there uniqueness which is what makes the video their very own. The audience could be aiming towards women because of all the band members being men and pretending to be women can be appealing towards the opposite sex. The genre however is liked by both male and females as we have seen from their success in the 80's and what they have done is gone against and created something different to represent their genre. This video clearly shows how different Queen were to regular rock bands in that decade and we can understand this by the different clothing they wore and shots they used to show their lyrics and music like at the beginning and coming into two minutes of the video.  

 

I like the use of editing in this video as fades are used to go from one shot to another all the time to quickly show the different areas and aspects within the urban area it has been filmed. This is straight away introduced to us in the first couple of seconds and then progresses throughout the video. There is more of a moral rather than a storyline but you could say that Jay Z is trying to explain another person's life in that sort of upbringing and how everything is not all about money and cars its about the other perks in life that are just there. The audience for this video is heading to people who live in urban areas like that all over the world but especially in America because that is where the video is set and this could reflect someone as a whole by the lyrics and the shots in the video. The mise-en-scene clearly shows the genre of music in a stereotypical way as people would judge and automatically assume that's where a rap video would be based in and about. The video shows who Jay Z is as a person and his message using the background and his surroundings in the video to support his lyrics. Also generally we would think him being a rapper this is where majority of his videos who be set and here he has just stated the obvious of what people would assume. 

I like the fact that the rain is purely there to signify the lyrics of 'Cry Me A River' which is really clever because it suits the mise-en-scene really well. I also like how the close-ups are used on Justin Timberlake to make him look secretive to the woman in the video with him. The storyline is interesting because it shows the past and present and while he is going through her house we as an audience experience that within a minute of the video. It is interesting because there is a story between Justin and the mystery girl that used to be close to him but now in the future does not know of him anymore which almost makes it seem like a film. The audience can be headed to both sex as it is a song that could be liked from both male and females point of views. Females would be mostly appealed by the artist himself where is the males may be appealed by the lyrics and the beat but both can like in anyway. The genre is shown well as it is a song that broadens into many different genres which can allow him as an artist to show his video many ways. Justin Timberlake always is going for the opposite sex feature and majority of his songs are based on the opposite sex so it made sense to make that clear in the video to support him and the lyrics. 

Here Katy Perry has turned her video into the dream that everyone wants their relationship to be like when it comes down to love. Along with the lyrics the video clearly shows this from what is being shown in the video like at the beginning there is a romantic drive with roof down on the car and spending quality time. It is straight away appealing to girls dreaming at a young age of having love like the way she is showing it. Through the narrative she has shown how the couple are in love and what they are doing together it is with the use of shots to show the dream women want. The audience would appeal majorly to girls wanting to have that teenage love because that is what she is trying to explain in the lyrics and showing and expressing that throughout the video. The genre also clearly connotes pop very well by the use of mise-en-scene like in the first minute and the use of props like the romantic drive and the intimacy seen two minutes in. As a whole it shows who Katy Perry is as a artist and a person and how she wants to make her fans see what her music is intended to show. 

   

The use of CGI used throughout the video really suits the song as it is all about sleeping with your 'Eyes Wide Shut' which is awfully clever because the audience can then see what JLS intended to show that experience through the video. I also like how when one member is shown they edit to show two different shots at the same time of them dancing and singing because it looks good and suits the beat to the song when it cuts to the different members. There is some sort of narrative between each member and the girl flying around them because it is almost like she is one they are thinking about when they are asleep and is why they don't want to wake up because she will not be seen. So it works well with lyrics to her trying to play hard to get with them to show she isn't going to let them in easily. The audience that this would mostly appeal towards is obviously females as known throughout their career being a boy band they are adored by girls and the video supports the whole idea of trying to attract themselves to the opposite sex. This represents them well as a group and too whom they are aiming it towards to and the video reflects that well. 

  

The reason I chose this video specifically was because it represented the artist well and where they come from this is shown in the mise-en-scene throughout. The typical everyday life is shown in the video as we see him in the car and on the bus which are general things that would be carried out on a daily basis. So the narrative just follows him around and him living life as we see him going different places and to different scenery. The use of shots are really good as it focuses on just him and things he is doing also where and how they are shot are good like the shots of him standing in the dark where very effective towards the lyrics and the music of the song. This would appeal hugely to mainstream and niche audiences as he as an artist has only become known and big now but this sort of video would appeal to males and females as they may be able to connect with the song. The artist has been represented well and we can see as an audience what type of person he is. Also when watching it we almost put our self in his position as the music works well with the what is being shown like when he is seen in a car in the first 10 seconds it would be seen as a song you would drive with. We also see from where he is, is his normal surroundings as from my research on him he is from Ireland and in the first 30 seconds we see some of that scenery that looks like it. 

   

I like the use of the footage that looks like its from the 90's as this could represent the two producers and who they are. Throughout footage like this is used and we see coming into the first minute a rave scene which suits the genre as it is dub step and dance put together. The narrative is quite jumbled up which is good because it suits the whole dance and rave scene as it could signify the feeling you get being excited and in that vibe and it supports the idea and the music. The mise-en-scene is all based around what was seen in the time of the 90's and what it was like for youngsters and the music emphasizes and almost exaggerates the youngsters in the video. This would again be aimed to both male and female but more towards youths as that is what is shown and is clearly being signified to whom this song is trying to reach out to. Chase and Status are trying to show the dance vibe in their video and so it matches with music they have produced purposely to support that. 

This video completely sets out what I wanted to do for our music video as we wanted to follow the whole laid back country side and the landscape. The shots in here show it really well positioning cameras at different angles to get different views of where the music video is based. There isn't really a narrative but does show people within it there is a couple however that are shown who are going to see Kings of Leon so it could be a story of her going with her boyfriend to see her favorite band. It is quite typical to see the whole scenery but it goes well with the music as it would help the audience visualize what the band set out to wanting their audiences to see. This could appeal to any audience as it is song and video aimed to represent everyone at any age which is why it is good that they have made that clear from the actors shown within the video. This represents where the artists are from as they are from the country sides of America and is why the video is shot the way it is.

Styles and Conventions of Music Videos.

Popular Music Genre:
A popular music genre is where the video clearly matches the genres stereotype and this clearly shows the genre through the use of the shots and the artist, what they're wearing and where they are.

The reason why this sort of rap video is shot like this is purely to match who the artist is and his genre. So Jay-z would be in an urban area showing off designer things but not being in the richest of areas to show what stereotype people are generally expecting whilst watching this sort of genre. This would automatically make audiences think that rap music always revolves around drugs, alcohol, urban areas and designer clothing. We could use this for our video because our genre is acoustic and normally these sorts of genres in their videos show the artist usually with a guitar and also in a landscape rural or even urban area.

'As-live':
An 'as-live' performance is where the artist has a performance which is in front of a fake audience as they are purely there for the video.

The reason I chose this video was because here the women that are standing around the stage have been purposely put there to watch JLS perform. Due to it being men it is obviously going to appeal to women and can with men too but this video shows that appeal with opposite sex very clearly. Other conventions like what they are wearing is almost revealing their top half of their bodies and we do see Aston with no shirt on purely to attract. This would impact hugely on their female audience due to what they are wearing and the women surrounding them to support who the video is trying to attract.

This potential style can be used in our video to make it more appealing to our audience because what we see here is purely for attraction which appeals hugely on their audience.

Narrative:

Narrative is where the video shows some sort of storyline that matches the situation the lyrics and the music are trying to show together.

Here in Katy Perry's video we see the story of a couple when they are young living happily and in love and later on in life she regrets the mistakes she made with her boyfriend when she is old and married to someone else. This could be seen as a typical Hollywood storyline of a couple living life on edge as it is seen in romantic comedies all he time. Also Katy Perry being American herself would reflect her as an artist and her surroundings as she could relate it to her own relationships in the past or something creative and has been written purely to suit the style she is trying to show. Audiences could relate to this by being in relationships or loosing someone that you had to reflect emotions that are shown in the lyrics and music to create the video into something reflecting those emotions. 

Interpretative:
This is when the lyrics in the song are clearly shown through the video, so when somebody for example if in the lyrics it says they are getting up that will be clearly interpreted by being shown an exact shot.

In Kesha's video we see her exactly showing in her actions what her lyrics are saying to interpret what she means as an artist through her lyrics. However it is not complicated things in lyrics that are interpreted just the general things anybody would know. This could have been used to reflect her simplistic ways that she sings as she doesn't have a lot of high notes as majority of the time it is all in time with the beat and her voice sounds as if she is talking. This could impact audiences by the way she chooses to show things and what she generally means with her lyrics. This can be use in our video by using some shots to state the obvious of what is being said in the lyrics.

Surrealism/Abstract:
These sorts of videos are very unexpected and not what you would regularly see or think a video would be like. They are very unique in their own way.

 

Marilyn Manson is usually known is abstract ways and that is what makes him as a person and as an artist reflect this in his music and videos. In this video we see a normal high school house party where Chris Evans is seen as a jock drinking and hanging with girls is the usual stereotype towards teenagers then. Marilyn himself comes along with his group of friends and breaks the normality into the extreme. He has obviously broke the stereotype to represent who is as a person and to show his uniqueness and is why this would impact on his audience a lot as they may also follow in his footsteps. This would be hard to show by going against the normality but can also be very humerus but I wouldn't really like to use this style.

Animation:

This is where computer technology has been used to create fictional backgrounds images and objects. Like seen in the video below with the animated background.

In this video we can see that the whole background has been made out of jelly beans and from the research I did I found out that it took nearly two years to complete the video. You could imagine why it took so long by coordinating the colors and the images with jelly beans would have taken forever to do. She seems a very jolly and laid back person and the use of animation could have been used to signify who she is and what her song is trying to show. This is really appealing to audiences as it is not something that is always seen in music videos and is why it is always interesting to watch something like this. It would be good to try use this style for our own video but will be hard and time consuming but it would produce something effective and appealing.

Intertextuality:

This is where a video has been made to represent another media text like for example a music video has been made promotional wise to sell a film. 

 

 

This video has been purposely made to promote the movie 'Men In Black' and also because Will Smith is an artist/actor it is very useful to make him feature in the song and video. This then will appeal to audiences and get them to watch the movie as well as listening to the song and to promote and gain as much awareness as possible. This could be used for our own but it would be better to create something new and not used from another media text.