Felix Gary Gray is an American music video and film director. He was born in New York and raised in LA. Known for his work in the 90’s, he was well known for his work with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre ‘Ntural Born Killaz’ and Outkast ‘Ms. Jackson’. He also worked with other artists such as Tupac and Stevie Wonder. By 2000, he has moved from the music industry and into the film industry. He was well known for his hit remake of the film ‘The Italian Job’ staring Charlize Theron and Mark Wahlberg. He also directed ‘Law Abiding Citizen’ and ‘A Man Apart’.
OutKast - Ms. Jackson - In the video there is great use of editing. Through effects, the animals seem to be part of the song nodding along to it as back up singers`. Here, Gray has used iconic images to amplify the songs meaning of relationships within the family. The message of the song is that there is light at the end of every tunnel - a personal meaning to OutKast.
Reason: It`s so inspirational! The song itself and the images to go with it have a deeper meaning than you think when you first watch it. It`s one of those videos that I can watch over and over again and still not get bored. Also i just love this song!
2. Evanescence - Bring me to life
Reason: I`m always open to listen to several genres of music but i never seem to like a rock side of the industry. However this song has a deep meaning and i like songs like that. The video itself puts you on edge was you watch it, the suspense of it is what i like. I never understand music videos like this but this one is very unique and that`s why i like it.
3. Bruno Mars - Lazy Song
Reason: This song is so catchy! The dance is also really funny. but i like this because its all one shot, a bit like videos from Ok Go like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJKythlXAIY i like how a video can be amazing without hardly any editing. Usually its the editing that makes a video what it is but this just shows that music videos can be that good without it.
I will be analysing ‘Chasing Pavements’ by Adele. It was directed by Mathew Cullen of production company Motion Theory and earned a 2008 MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Choreography. The genre is soul or blues but could be classified as pop. Soul singers use a variety of tones from gentle and smooth, to raspy and harsh, in order to properly convey this range of emotions which is exactly what Adele does in her songs and so the music would suggest it is from the soul genre. This comes from Roland Barthes’ theory of the ‘grain of voice’ which is a trademark sound that immediately sets the artist apart from other singers. However it shows many codes and conventions from pop music videos.
This video holds a lot of evidence from Goodwin’s music video analysis. He suggests that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics that run through the music video. The codes and conventions of a pop music video are that there is usually a sex appeal of the main artists. This video does not do that, however it focuses on other conventions such as no performance and only have one location. There is always a clear narrative. Adele does not always have a clear narrative in her videos. You sometimes have to think deeper into what iconic images represent.
Goodwin also says that there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals, illustrative, amplifying or contradicting. I believe that in this case, the lyrics are illustrated through the visuals of the video at some points. For example when she is leaves the car where her partner is representing her leaving the relationship. We also see her walking on her own which shows how she is lonely. I think the narrative of the video represents her relationship. The couple in the car crash come to life. The camera angle changes as an aerial view which suggests the song is moving towards the chorus or bridge. The couple re-enact their relationship of how they met. They seem happy at first but then they have problems which they resolve. In spite of all the dancing and happiness at that point in the video, the bodies are lying there motionless on the pavement when they are wheeled away in different directions. This represents Adele’s relationship of her and her partner moving away from each other. The setting is at a car crash which suggests that the song is going to be sad before we even hear it.
As well as the lyrics, there is a relationship between music and visuals, illustrative, amplifying or contradicting. It helps the audience to identify the pop genre of the video as is just the artist singing with no performance, just Adele and the narrative helping us to relate to the song. However, the artist is in one outfit, with the same hair and makeup is common in the Soul genre. Her style is old fashioned and unique and shows the meaning of her lyrics and songs in a deeper manner than the stereotypical pop videos where the narrative is based on the sex appeal of the characters in the video. The use of slow shots and dull natural light can embellish the real meaning of the song. This is by creating a sense of gloom and dreariness when the lyrics are portraying sadness. We also get this sad feeling by hearing the tone of music which gives us a generally sad feeling or mood as we listen to it.
Goodwin suggests that the demands of the record label will include the need for a lot of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work creating a visual style for that artist. We see this as she is mostly shot from her upper torso and face using close ups.Her voice in the song has a very powerful quality throughout which we see in all her music videos. This sort of represents her character in a way as trying to be a strong and powerful and independent woman. This contradicts her videos as they are sad. It represents the star through use of iconography; her style appears very elegant and mature with clean cut hair and makeup going into an old fashioned look. She is a role model to younger girls as a strong and successful artist. The lighting places a crucial part in this music video. It highlights the emotion of the song and the style of the artist, so she stands out from the background. This is her visual motif of black and white videos. We see this in all her videos and they are all emotional and about love, where the black and white shows connotations of no hope.
There is frequently a notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body according to Goodwin. This occurs in the video as there is several extreme close ups of the artist showing emotion when not signing and she frequently makes eye contact with the camera. This makes the audience feel like they are involved in how the artist is feeling and so will feel closer to her creating a rapport between the audience and the artist. Adele is a good example of how star image is created. The inspiration to this video is found to be by an incident Adele had with a former boyfriend. One morning, after finding out he had cheated on her, she went to the bar he was at and punched him in the face. After being thrown out, Adele walked down the street alone and thought to herself, "What is it you're chasing? You're chasing an empty pavement.” And from then she wrote this song. This shows how her songs actually have a personal meaning which is unique these days to artists as they follow what the record label want but Adele is unique and I don’t think there is an artist out there who is quite like her.
I think there is intersexual reference to Amy Winehouse who had a lot of videos similar to Adele’s. Her videos were usually black and which and were usually about love and cheating. Her genre was soul and blues as well.
The music video is narrative-based. It tells a clear story and makes you think about its deeper meaning. There are elements with are concept-based. However, narrative in songs is never really complete. The story can be fragmented. They only suggest its meaning leaving the viewer with the desire to watch it again and again to catch what they missed out.
I think this video is a good example to show an example of Goodwin’s theory in a music video. Every part of the song and its video helps us to understand it and by looking at Goodwin’s theory we understand why images are being shown and the reasons behind everything.
I worked with Sarah to look at a music video. We made an analysis of the video and presented it. The purpose was to show how we can learn more during the course and evolve our understanding of music videos.
Playing the game sets up the narrative that they are together but they don’t look happy to suggest the relationship isn’t working
The bright happy colours contradict/juxtapose with the unhappy relationship
She is half out of the shot sometimes which suggests she is close to leaving the relationship
The lyrics have a deep relationship to the mise-en-scene, as the lyrics are portrayed through images for example “wind you up” a wind up toy is shown “let go” hands let go”
Flowers in a beer bottle, reflects the idea of trying to make the best out of the relationship
Her style is shown through the costume and the mise-en-scene
Objects used to symbolize their relationship e.g. toothbrush and socks
Happy colours build expectations of happy relationship which brings a contrast with the lyrics and real message of the song and also brings out light heartedness of the song
Socks moving away from each other and back reflects their relationship making up and breaking up
Shot on stairs to symbolize her inability to leave and that she can’t go back
Competition between them shown through arm wrestling, again following the idea of their relationship as a game
Cake- symbolizes happy families and warms but they obviously aren’t. the idea that it’s a façade trying to be happy but it’s not working
Boxing gloves the shadow the camera angle and the long shot suggests the idea she is fighting with herself, as to the decision of whether to stay or whether to go
The camera is quite shaky and moves quite a lot, which suggests the realism of not only the relationship but also of Kate Nash as an artist showing she is not a glamorous, glossy artist she is more indie
Changing colours represent the changing of her mind, torn as whether to leave or whether to stay
Teddy represents comfort she is not getting from him
Positive lyrics to angry lyrics after second chorus
Anger building as the video shows couple annoying each other
Contrast between them shown through healthy and unhealthy food
Photograph shows how things used to be and bringing a contrast as to how they are now as a couple
Objects separate e.g. watches and socks to show the couple separating
Props seem to be from a different era reflects Kate Nash’s style and also the idea that the couple is stuck in the past
Cassette their story together
Camera low angle shot of suitcase to emphasize that she is leaving
Finally leaving she looks back for the last time
She walks out of the door and the frame showing her leaving for good
Bright colours trying to be happy but it’s a façade
Evokes sympathy from the audience
Literal images of lyrics brings out humor which is represented in the lyrics e.g. “you said I must eat so many lemons cause I am so bitter”
The task now was to remove random stickers off the sheets to leave you with half the sticky notes. The aim of this is to show that you can still have a disjunctive music video that works even with a fragmented narrative doesn't tell a complete story and a fragmented narrative that most music videos use. This reflects Goodwin's theory. The gaps in the middle of the random shots can be filled with performance or edited shots according to the genre of the music video. Not all music videos follow this pattern, some are all narrative and some are all performance. By using tecchniques such as space, frame and movement as discussed by Vernallis, you do not always need a very detailed storyboard.
I learnt a lot from the transition from AS to A2. I learnt more camera skills and editing skills. I had more management over time keeping skills. I also felt i learnt to work better within a team as well as coming up with my own ideas. I feel i broadened my ideas.
The music video starts with the actor on the telephone box statue, at each beat moving up the the next telephone box. We then see the actor on a roof top. The frame will include the blue sky and some building giving a positive and optimistic impression. The actor will then start clapping and clicking along to the beat. When the whistling starts int he song he should whistle along to it. He should then start singing directly into the camera to interact with the audience. It then moved on to him on the riverside where he shows the audience the river. It skips in parts to the signs were we see people holding the signs. The end has a performance element where the actor plays an air guitar. Its ends with people holding up signs with positive phrases on them.
To prepare for filming, we had to organise a time for use to all be free. We filmed before, during and after our lesson time. This gave us 4 and a half hours to film. We had to have all the resources ready which meant to have everything printed and the camera charged. We then filmed our music video.
We wanted a song that was unusual, so we looked into the indie genre. As all of us were fond of One Republic, we looked through their songs and chose Good Life. We also considered "OK GO' and 'Magnetic Man', However we felt this song had a more broader scope for an interesting music video.
The character should be dressed in casual/indie type of clothing which is a typical convention for indie music videos. The actor will provide these clothing with 2 changes of clothes.
Voyeurism comes from Freud and is used to explain the gendered pleasure and can be used to sell the artist's music through sex appeal. For a male, it refers to the idea of looking in order to gain sexual pleasure. There is a powerful controlling gaze at the objectified female of display. This idea can be closely linked to the idea of scopophilia, which is the desire for looking. Most music videos we watch will create this desire to look. A good example of this can be from Robert Palmer, addicted to love.
Goodwin argues that the female on display will often be objectified through a combination of camera work and editing of fragmented shots emphasising a sexualised treatment of the star. An example of this is Beyoncé – Single Ladies where she is showing herself to make a statement by the way she dances and shows off her body. The low angles point upwards enticing men to look.
Females are also used in male artist’s videos with the use of dancers flattering the male star. However the male body is also on display such as in Lady Gaga’s video Born This Way we see the male body on display and women in control. She also dresses in a way that encourages men to look and here is no problem for her to do that as women are used to being looked at in that kind of way. In Nicki Minaj’s video Superbass, there are topless men as well as girls showing off their body which sells her as a star image. She uses men in her video to entice female viewers as well as women to draw in male viewers which will increase her views and promote her as an artist.
Laura Mulvey says that the camera is the male’s view, so all the camera sees is what it wants the men to see. Women get used to the male controlling gaze and women learn to be looked at. This is another way for an artist to sell her image to the audience.
A good example of voyeurism is in Miley Cyrus's Can't Be Tamed, for instance, when the video shows crowds looking in on her as a caged animal, parodying the public's voyeurism of her as a famous person, or to enhance the message of the lyrics. This shows both Goodwin and Mulvey’s theories of voyeurism.
The idea of voyeurism is also evident in music video through ‘screens within screens’ with characters shown watching performers on television or on webcams etc. as on a video camera or CCTV.
