The video for Pendulum’s “slam” is incredibly individual and entertaining yet very simple in its filming, editing and narrative.
The video beings to set the scene of the narrative and events that will take place within it in unison with the introduction in the song building to the music. The first shot is a high angle shot looking down on a car being driven by a man through a small road with a sign at the end of it. As the car approaches the sign the shot changes to dolly shot that gets closer to the sign reading “Road Closed” as if we were the front of the vehicle. The man’s face is then revealed in a close up shot into his mirror followed by the camera panning round from the back of the car to the front of it to a mid shot of the man sitting in it.
A close up of the back seat and in particular a gym bag being removed from the car suggest to the audience that this will play a part in the narrative and its necessity to the man will be revealed later thus keeping the audience’s interest. Another example of a close up is when the man takes a bite from what appears to be a Cornish pasty the audience will relate back to later in the video.
The producers and makers of the video have done their best to include as many interesting features in terms of filming and being artistic as possible with over cranking being used in places combined with an effect that wipes peoples movements across the screen as if they’ve been smudged. In contrast, around twenty seconds later the man is standing in the middle of the street with people walking past him and activities happening very fast.
Quick editing is evident when the music has three quick, successive drum hits and the man starting off quite far back is suddenly right in front of the camera. Point of view shots are also used from the point of view of the main character looking at other people walking past him and giving him funny looks.
Around one minute twenty seconds the use of the bag is revealed when the man removes a CD player and a CD with “slam, Pendulum” written on it. This happens in a number of different locations in different streets. Then as the music speeds up the main character beings to take off his tie, tie it round his head and rip his shirt off to reveal a rather large stomach and unfit figure. He then, in unison with the music, starts to dance topless in the street with on lookers amazed. This is the individual and entertaining element of the video, something viewers will find amusing and want to watch again and they will want to show their friends etc. which means it gains a lot of views and popularity (ultimately popularity for the band and their music).
The rest of the video is just composed using different types of shots of the man dancing to add variation to it and ensure it doesn’t become too boring to watch. The editing fits in well with the music. Transitions between shots are fast when the music is and slow when the music is slow. A good example of that is when the music slows down and takes a break, the man takes a breather and the shots of him in frame become longer but when the music comes back the shots are short and sharp to allow the viewers to get a real feel of the music and feel involved.
Monday, 6 October 2008
Friday, 3 October 2008
Questionnaire summary
I got 6 female and 4 boys to fill in my questionnaire. These are my results in a summary.
Drum n Bass and Hip-Hop were the preferred music genres out of the rest of them. They all enjoy watching music videos and the most popular music channel between them is MTV having 9 people saying they enjoy it and Kiss is then second. When i asked the question of if they enjoy seeing artists in their music video 8 people said they enjoy seeing the artists and 2 people said they didn't mind. 6 people said they like watching narratives in music videos and 4 said they didn't mind. All of my people i got to fill in the questionnaire said they like watching music videos on the TV and then 8 of them said they like watching music videos on myspace. 7 people said they enjoy watching live performances in music videos and 8 people said that the music videos they watch change their opinion of the song if it is bad.
Drum n Bass and Hip-Hop were the preferred music genres out of the rest of them. They all enjoy watching music videos and the most popular music channel between them is MTV having 9 people saying they enjoy it and Kiss is then second. When i asked the question of if they enjoy seeing artists in their music video 8 people said they enjoy seeing the artists and 2 people said they didn't mind. 6 people said they like watching narratives in music videos and 4 said they didn't mind. All of my people i got to fill in the questionnaire said they like watching music videos on the TV and then 8 of them said they like watching music videos on myspace. 7 people said they enjoy watching live performances in music videos and 8 people said that the music videos they watch change their opinion of the song if it is bad.
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
50 cent - candy shop. Music Video analysis.
50 cent - Candy Shop
In this music video, the visuals are illustrating and amplifying the lyrics throughout. The video begins with an establishing shot of the location that the video is going to be set in. There is a close up shot of the name of the castle it is set in being “candy shop” and then the camera pans around the courtyard showing the exact setting. The lighting is dark throughout showing the place to be deserted and eerie and making the viewer want to know what is inside. A red Ferrari pulls up on the drive and the camera does an extreme close up on 50 cent’s feet as he steps out the car. The camera focuses on the trainers that he is wearing as they are G-Unit ones which are his own brand. Focusing on the trainers is key iconography in a hip-hop music video as this is the image people go for and are normally very proud of their clothing and footwear.
When the castle door is opened it then reveals a room of colourful girls wearing little clothing, all being very pretty. This is also a key iconography that occurs in hip- hop music videos as well as flashy, fast cars, both of which encourage voyeurism. The video being shot at night conveys a sense of danger outside but as he enters into the house he is safe with all the girls. There are a lot of wide shots throughout showing the viewer a better picture of the location and making them more involved.
Throughout the video the girls are being really seductive to the rapper, 50 cent, showing how everyone is looking up to him and how important he is in their lives. When 50 cent walks into the room all the girls stop what they are doing and part for him to walk down the middle, the camera follows his movements. This emphasises the power that he has and the “godlike” figure he is to all of the females surrounding him. The editing in the music video is very fast paced showing the speed of the song, making it more upbeat and catchy. The way the audience like to relate to the video is created by the speed also because if it was slow paced it would not match the music and the target audience would be getting bored.
In the middle of the video there is a scene where there is a group of girls dressed in red shiny clothing making them stand out from the dark room and making them seem seductive and sexy. There is smoke around them on the floor emphasizing their bodies. There is an extreme close up on one of the ladies behind which is also an iconography of hip hop music videos again encouraging voyeurism. There is also a scene where a mid-shot is used and 50 cent is surrounded by black walls where women have been painted the same colour to blend in, They then start dancing adding to the gothic look of the music video making the house seem eerie and lonely.
There is a shot when girls are in a bath pouring chocolate all over each others bodies, this is emphasizing the luxury of it all and displaying the wealth throughout the video. There are a few over-the-shoulder shots throughout making the audience of the music video feel nosey yet still part of the scene. There are a lot of close up shots of 50 cent with girls all over him and them teasing him, this showing how wanted he is by the girls in the video and possibly making the audience feel as sense of jealousy aswel.
At the end of the video there is an extreme close up of a bubble-gum being blown and popping. This then leads on to 50 cent sitting in a car outside a drive-through of a fast food restaurant called candy shop. There is a close up on his face when he is being woken up by the bubble gum popping and him realising he has actually only been dreaming. The close up on his face emphasizes how he is feeling at the time so the audience can relate.
Overall, the video is an image of a “real” hip-hop music video with its meaning conveyed through the song with the lyrics and music.
In this music video, the visuals are illustrating and amplifying the lyrics throughout. The video begins with an establishing shot of the location that the video is going to be set in. There is a close up shot of the name of the castle it is set in being “candy shop” and then the camera pans around the courtyard showing the exact setting. The lighting is dark throughout showing the place to be deserted and eerie and making the viewer want to know what is inside. A red Ferrari pulls up on the drive and the camera does an extreme close up on 50 cent’s feet as he steps out the car. The camera focuses on the trainers that he is wearing as they are G-Unit ones which are his own brand. Focusing on the trainers is key iconography in a hip-hop music video as this is the image people go for and are normally very proud of their clothing and footwear.
When the castle door is opened it then reveals a room of colourful girls wearing little clothing, all being very pretty. This is also a key iconography that occurs in hip- hop music videos as well as flashy, fast cars, both of which encourage voyeurism. The video being shot at night conveys a sense of danger outside but as he enters into the house he is safe with all the girls. There are a lot of wide shots throughout showing the viewer a better picture of the location and making them more involved.
Throughout the video the girls are being really seductive to the rapper, 50 cent, showing how everyone is looking up to him and how important he is in their lives. When 50 cent walks into the room all the girls stop what they are doing and part for him to walk down the middle, the camera follows his movements. This emphasises the power that he has and the “godlike” figure he is to all of the females surrounding him. The editing in the music video is very fast paced showing the speed of the song, making it more upbeat and catchy. The way the audience like to relate to the video is created by the speed also because if it was slow paced it would not match the music and the target audience would be getting bored.
In the middle of the video there is a scene where there is a group of girls dressed in red shiny clothing making them stand out from the dark room and making them seem seductive and sexy. There is smoke around them on the floor emphasizing their bodies. There is an extreme close up on one of the ladies behind which is also an iconography of hip hop music videos again encouraging voyeurism. There is also a scene where a mid-shot is used and 50 cent is surrounded by black walls where women have been painted the same colour to blend in, They then start dancing adding to the gothic look of the music video making the house seem eerie and lonely.
There is a shot when girls are in a bath pouring chocolate all over each others bodies, this is emphasizing the luxury of it all and displaying the wealth throughout the video. There are a few over-the-shoulder shots throughout making the audience of the music video feel nosey yet still part of the scene. There are a lot of close up shots of 50 cent with girls all over him and them teasing him, this showing how wanted he is by the girls in the video and possibly making the audience feel as sense of jealousy aswel.
At the end of the video there is an extreme close up of a bubble-gum being blown and popping. This then leads on to 50 cent sitting in a car outside a drive-through of a fast food restaurant called candy shop. There is a close up on his face when he is being woken up by the bubble gum popping and him realising he has actually only been dreaming. The close up on his face emphasizes how he is feeling at the time so the audience can relate.
Overall, the video is an image of a “real” hip-hop music video with its meaning conveyed through the song with the lyrics and music.
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Focus Group
To make me help make my decisions regarding my music video I have chosen 8 boys and 2 girls to have as a focus group. They are between the ages of 13-18 as this is the age that my music video is going to be aimed at. I have chosen more boys as the music video is mainly aimed at boys, as this is the type of genre they are normanly into. When creating ideas or i need advice for my presentation i shall be going to my focus group for advice. The age range will be good because they will all have different ideas which will give me a good range.
My focus group commented on the fact that in my animatic the pictures link to the story of the song such as "im looking for a reason why" and the singer is looking at the sky on the beach. They liked the song choice because it is catchy and they think that the locations chosen for the song are ideal. They suggested that the vocalist has feeling in his face when he is singing the lyrics and that he should definately dress for the occassion. The editing must match up to the lyrics in the song as the narrative is quite strong throughout.
I shall be taking note of all their suggestions and making sure i make these changes when producing my video for Sam Sparro, Black and Gold.
My focus group commented on the fact that in my animatic the pictures link to the story of the song such as "im looking for a reason why" and the singer is looking at the sky on the beach. They liked the song choice because it is catchy and they think that the locations chosen for the song are ideal. They suggested that the vocalist has feeling in his face when he is singing the lyrics and that he should definately dress for the occassion. The editing must match up to the lyrics in the song as the narrative is quite strong throughout.
I shall be taking note of all their suggestions and making sure i make these changes when producing my video for Sam Sparro, Black and Gold.
Questionnaire
Questionnaire
1) How old are you? ________
2) What gender are you? Female / Male
3) What type of music do you enjoy to listen to?
- Pop
- Hip-Hop
- Rock
- Drum n Bass
- Indie
- Alternative
- Other? ________________
4) Do you enjoy watching music videos? Yes/No
6) What channels do you normally watch music videos on?
· MTV
· Kiss
· MTV bass
· The hits
· The box
· Kerrang
· Magic
· Other ___________
7) Do you enjoy seeing artists in their music videos? Yes/No
8) Do you like to see narrative in the music videos? Yes/No
9) Where do you watch music videos?
· TV
· YouTube
· MySpace
· Other ______________
10) Do you enjoy seeing live performances? Yes / No
11) Does the music video change your opinion of song? Yes/No
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
Monday, 15 September 2008
Sven. E. Carlssons
- From doing research into music videos I decided to investigate Sven E. Carlssons.
He thinks that music videos today are a form of art with its own traditions.
The videos fall into three rough groups--
- perfomance clips,
- conceptual clips,
- art clips.
When a music video mostly shows an artist singing or dancing it is a perfomance clip. If a music video contains no perceptible visual narrative and contains no lip-synchronized singing then it is a pure art clip. While music videos use popular music the artistic videos use more experimental music. When the clip shows something else during the video, it is a conceptual clip.
He says:
- "music videos communicate through TV screen and TV speakers"
- "music videos are a form of low brow popular culture"
- "the reception of music videos depends on the beholder".
Carlsson says music videos are a form of audio-visual communication in which the meaning is created via carriers of information such as; the music, the lyrics and the moving images. He says that music videos are composed by adding images to music, and that lyrics and images interact to creating meaning. He also believes that the audience is the decider in how a music video is perceived. Sometimes the musical elements shape the moving pictures. Moments like footsteps are often synchronized with the beat, so that people in the music video seem to walk in sync to the music.
My music video is going to be mainly a performance clip, with the main character doing alot of dancing and singing. This suits the genre of the song and people of this genre enjoy seeing things like this in the music videos. If it was just an art clip then people would be likely to stop watching it as they would get bored and not interested.
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Sunday, 13 July 2008
Music video response - Perfect day, Hoku.
Music video essay - Perfect Day, Hoku.
This video was released to coincide with the film “legally blonde” in which the song appears throughout; thematically it links to a “dumb” blonde’s point of view about life. This video for Hoku seems to be the only main song that everyone knows about therefore it is important in their music career. The song is very catchy and girlie and once it has been listened to once it stays in your head for a long while.
Throughout the video the main type of camera shot is a mid- shot. This occurs mainly throughout because half of the video seems to be clips from the film legally blonde and then the other half showing the band playing and the lead singer singing. When there are clips of the band playing this is when mainly close ups are being used on her face to let the audience interact and understand the lyrics more as they can see them clearly. A two shot is used occasionally to show clips of the actor in the film walking along the street, next to the lead singer in Hoku walking along the street. This shows the audience of the video that the music video is very similar to the actual film and that this could possibly attract in a wider audience for the song.
There are certain moments in the music video when the singer is looking up at the camera, showing that she is trying to win over the audience by appearing friendly. A lot of wide shots have been used when clips of the film are being shown, this showing the audience of the music video an even better insight into the film and they get to try and work out the story line. Wide clips like this give the film even better publicity and hopefully attract more people to watch it.
Most common form of editing is fast cut montage, rendering many of the images impossible to grasp on first viewing ensuring multiple viewing. This does not occur much in the Perfect Day music video though. It occurs when certain scenes of legally blonde are shown, in which the audience of the music video will be wondering why certain facial features have been pulled etc. Split screens do occur to create pleasure for the audience so they get a view of both scenarios in the video. The song is generally quite a fast pace mainstream pop song therefore causing the editing to be fast moving to be equal with the song. There are certain parts in the song where the editing slows down to be in time with the music and then it suddenly goes back to being past paced when the music speeds up.
The song is a typical girlie pop song so they had to do something to attract the males, therefore they have used Voyeurism. The lead girl in legally blonde is a pretty, blonde “bimbo” which most males would be attracted too. Showing clips from the film will attract the male audience because they will want to watch the girl. The body shots shown of the female lead singer are emphasizing her petite figure, therefore agreeing with Goodwin’s theory that the female performer will frequently be shown in this fashion.
Fashion intertextuality has been used in the music video. Constantly you see the lead girl in legally blonde trying on different clothes and looking in the mirror. She is made out to be a clever girl in some of the clips shown and then sometimes shown to be a typical rich girl, by lazing around a swimming pool in pink clothing. A lot of pink is shown in the video, showing again how the song is mainly aimed at young teenage girls who are looking up to the lead girl in legally blonde. Intertextuality also is occurring when the music video is showing clips of the legally blonde film.
The narrative in the music video does follow the lyrics in some ways. Often when the lyrics “nothings standing in my way” are sung then a clip of the legally blonde girl is shown looking angry at her enemy throughout the film. The video is very upbeat and happy and there is a lot of movement and running around showing that they are carefree teenagers and doing what they want, relating to the target audience. The band are shown to be playing in a field with lots of trees around, this area seeming to be peaceful and calm therefore “perfect”, again relating to the lyrics of the song.
Eye contact and facial gestures via the close ups from the camera, role playing through the narrative and the mise-en-scene will help represent the artists to be young and “cool”, like their target audience. This would not be able to be shown in a live performance of the band; therefore the video is one of their main selling points. The video agrees with John Stewart in the fact that the video is used to emphasise an aspiration lifestyle for the target audience.
This video was released to coincide with the film “legally blonde” in which the song appears throughout; thematically it links to a “dumb” blonde’s point of view about life. This video for Hoku seems to be the only main song that everyone knows about therefore it is important in their music career. The song is very catchy and girlie and once it has been listened to once it stays in your head for a long while.
Throughout the video the main type of camera shot is a mid- shot. This occurs mainly throughout because half of the video seems to be clips from the film legally blonde and then the other half showing the band playing and the lead singer singing. When there are clips of the band playing this is when mainly close ups are being used on her face to let the audience interact and understand the lyrics more as they can see them clearly. A two shot is used occasionally to show clips of the actor in the film walking along the street, next to the lead singer in Hoku walking along the street. This shows the audience of the video that the music video is very similar to the actual film and that this could possibly attract in a wider audience for the song.
There are certain moments in the music video when the singer is looking up at the camera, showing that she is trying to win over the audience by appearing friendly. A lot of wide shots have been used when clips of the film are being shown, this showing the audience of the music video an even better insight into the film and they get to try and work out the story line. Wide clips like this give the film even better publicity and hopefully attract more people to watch it.
Most common form of editing is fast cut montage, rendering many of the images impossible to grasp on first viewing ensuring multiple viewing. This does not occur much in the Perfect Day music video though. It occurs when certain scenes of legally blonde are shown, in which the audience of the music video will be wondering why certain facial features have been pulled etc. Split screens do occur to create pleasure for the audience so they get a view of both scenarios in the video. The song is generally quite a fast pace mainstream pop song therefore causing the editing to be fast moving to be equal with the song. There are certain parts in the song where the editing slows down to be in time with the music and then it suddenly goes back to being past paced when the music speeds up.
The song is a typical girlie pop song so they had to do something to attract the males, therefore they have used Voyeurism. The lead girl in legally blonde is a pretty, blonde “bimbo” which most males would be attracted too. Showing clips from the film will attract the male audience because they will want to watch the girl. The body shots shown of the female lead singer are emphasizing her petite figure, therefore agreeing with Goodwin’s theory that the female performer will frequently be shown in this fashion.
Fashion intertextuality has been used in the music video. Constantly you see the lead girl in legally blonde trying on different clothes and looking in the mirror. She is made out to be a clever girl in some of the clips shown and then sometimes shown to be a typical rich girl, by lazing around a swimming pool in pink clothing. A lot of pink is shown in the video, showing again how the song is mainly aimed at young teenage girls who are looking up to the lead girl in legally blonde. Intertextuality also is occurring when the music video is showing clips of the legally blonde film.
The narrative in the music video does follow the lyrics in some ways. Often when the lyrics “nothings standing in my way” are sung then a clip of the legally blonde girl is shown looking angry at her enemy throughout the film. The video is very upbeat and happy and there is a lot of movement and running around showing that they are carefree teenagers and doing what they want, relating to the target audience. The band are shown to be playing in a field with lots of trees around, this area seeming to be peaceful and calm therefore “perfect”, again relating to the lyrics of the song.
Eye contact and facial gestures via the close ups from the camera, role playing through the narrative and the mise-en-scene will help represent the artists to be young and “cool”, like their target audience. This would not be able to be shown in a live performance of the band; therefore the video is one of their main selling points. The video agrees with John Stewart in the fact that the video is used to emphasise an aspiration lifestyle for the target audience.
Lyrics of my chosen song. Sam Sparro - Black and gold
If the fish swam out of the ocean
and grew legs and they started walking
and the apes climbed down from the trees
and grew tall and they started talking
and the stars fell out of the sky
and my tears rolled into the ocean
now i'm looking for a reason why
you even set my world into motion
'cause if you're not really here
then the stars don't even matter
now i'm filled to the top with fear
but it's all just a bunch of matter
'cause if you're not really here
then i don't want to be either
i wanna be next to you
black and gold
black and gold
black and gold
i looked up into the grey sky
and see a thousand eyes staring back
and all around these golden beacons
i see nothing but black
i feel a way of something beyond them
i don't see what i can feel
if vision is the only validation
then most of my life isn't real
'cause if you're not really here
then the stars don't even matter
now i'm filled to the top with fear
but it's all just a bunch of matter
'cause if you're not really here
then i don't want to be either
i wanna be next to you
black and gold
black and gold
black and gold
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