Music Videos Presentation

MUSIC VIDEOS What are they? And why are they used?

INTRODUCTION The first idea similar to the music videos we know today was in 1894. writers Edward B. Marks and Joe Stern hired electrician George Thomas and various performers to promote sales of their song "The Little Lost Child". Using a magic lantern, Thomas projected a series of still images on a screen simultaneous to live performances. This would become a popular form of entertainment known as the illustrated song, the first step toward music video.

IN CONCERT AND ‘AS LIVE’ A convention typically used in concert or ‘as live’ music videos is allusion. Allusion is a way of implying a message to the viewer subtly. For example, Coldplay use this style in part of their music video for ‘fix you’. This style is used in their music video to differentiate themselves from other ‘boy bands’ by conveying the message that the band is “real” and that they purpose is music rather than image.

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ANIMATIONAnimation is a style that is used throughout the media industry including within music videos. Artists use this as their style of music video to bring originality and to stand out or differentiate themselves from other artists. Animation is also used as a lower cost alternative that live action, but means the same story can be told, to tell the same message. For example ‘The Gorillaz’ use characters as an extension of themselves in all their music videos. An example of one of their animation music videos is for their song ‘Feel Good’.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4V3Mo61fJM]

INTERPRETATIVE An interpretative music video is when the video does not always fit with the lyrics. This means that the audience or viewer makes their own decision about a songs meaning or implications rather than being told by the lyrics and imagery. For example, ‘Birdy’s’ music video for her song ‘Wings’ does not match the video, as the lyrics do not necessarily tell a story themselves it makes sense to that the video reflects this aspect of the song, and is why the interpretative style of the video suits the song. The lyrics in the chorus of the video are:

‘Oh lights go down, in the moment we're lost and found. I just wanna be by your side, if these wings could fly. Oh damn these walls. In the moment we're ten feet tall. And how you told me after it all, we'd remember tonight, for the rest of our lives.’

These lyrics do not dictate or describe a song, yet they do imply a story. This video does reflect these lyrics as the video shows many kids partying and being free (freedom links to wings), until they wake up after. These images link to the lyrics ‘And how you told me after it all, we'd remember tonight, for the rest of our lives.’

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[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJTXDCh2YiA]

NARRATIVE The narrative style in many music videos. This is the typical video that tells a narrative or story that is depicted in the song the video is for. These images are filmed as the song is describe or narrate the scenes. This style is used a lot in the typical boy meets girl song, and tells the story of girl and boy as they meet. Narrative music videos usually stick to a form that the main character has to overcome a problem or aim, this makes the character relatable and the storyline interesting. Also, using this form the viewers gain an emotional connection to the character which makes the video and song more appealing.

For example, Taylor Swift’s music video tells the story depicted in her song 'Mine'. Her music video is an example of a narrative music video, as it tells the story of a girl and how she falls in love. The scenes filmed play as lyrics are sung in the song to describe what is happening in these moments. This is done to link the song and the video, by showing the moments visually from the lyrics the video doesn't draw the attention too far from the song which is the main aspect of the videos.ST

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[http://youtu.be/XPBwXKgDTdE]

“You were in college, working part-time, waiting tables”

“Do you remember, we were sittin', there by the water”

“Flash forward, and we're takin' on the world together

And there's a drawer of my things at your place”

“And I remember that fight, two-thirty a.m. Cause everything was slipping right out of

our hands”

IMPRESSIONIST Impressionist styled music videos are videos that are heavily on the idea of ‘feelings’ or emotions of the viewer. They use imagery such as characters, images, colours, lighting and movements within the shot to provoke a specific or their own emotion from the viewer.

For example, One Republic created a music video for their song ‘Love Runs out’. In the video it shows the same styled shots but in different orders. Movement is used a lot to convey emotion, as most shots are quick movements and quick shots to match the fast pace of the song. The shots use symbolism to represent lifeand time. For example the shots show, children dancing and playing with a ball. As the song is called ‘love runs out’ they light a fuse which runs out at the end of the video, which links to the lyrics “I’ll be your light, your match, your burning sun”. Because of these lyrics they also show time passing with the sun in the background. There is also symbolism to religion, faith and culture. Religion is shown as one of band members wears a cross. The lyrics “Momma said "do what you want, say prayers at night", And I'm saying them, cause I'm so devout.” also support this idea. Different cultures are linked to through European dressage, southern American dances and many more.

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[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OWj0CiM8WU]

SURREALIST A surrealist styled video is a video with unreal elements such as fantasy. This is because surreal mean beyond real. These may be images or videos that symbolise something but they often shown in short or quick bursts, they also do not make sense and are hard to interpret.

An example of a surreal music video is Imagine Dragons music video for their song ‘Shots’. The song is dedicated to the artist ‘tim cantor’ and within this music video it shows various images and artwork featuring the members of the band. The band used ‘tim cantor’s’ artwork for their album art and ‘tim cantor’ created a piece of art for each song. These images or art are interpretations that cantor saw when he heard the songs, and are strange interpretations of his imagination and used in the music video in this way come across to others as surreal or ‘beyond real’.

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[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQrgto184Tk]

PASTICHE The style pastiche is respectful mimicry of a particular artist, style or possibly director. It is used to pay respect to either a style, or artist. Pastiche is when something is copied without being designed to mock unlike a parody.

For example Michael Jackson’s music video for the song ‘Thriller’ is an example of a pastiche music video as it pays tribute the horror movie genre and style. Michael Jackson set his music video for ‘thriller’ in the sale of a typical horror movie. This was different for its time as most videos in this time were montages of show or ‘as live’ footage, impressionist stock footage that as well as effects. Jackson’s video does not mimic a artist or director but rather an entire filming style. They did this by using the typical stereotypes that are used in horror movies. These include fog, graveyards, the night, monsters and the iconic close up of a person screaming. These stereotypes help the viewer understand the narrative the video is trying to portray and also link the video to the horror genre that the video is tribute to.

STYLES

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQrgto184Tk]

PARODY A parody music video is similar to a pastiche music video. Whereas pastiche is where a style is copied to pay tribute to and to show respect, a parody music video copies the style or aspect of another music video and may often change the song lyrics all for comical use, and possible to mock the original song and video.Parody music involves changing or copying existing (usually well known) musical ideas or lyrics. These music videos and songs are often made for entertainment rather than for profit. Because of this there are lots of examples of parody music on youtube, as it is an example of a free video sharing system.

An example of a famous parody is the ‘Eton Style’. This was created by the students of Eton College as a parody for the song ‘Gangnam style’ which is commonly known for its signature dance move. The video ‘Eton Style’ was created for entertainment by the student who mimicked the shots, scenes, and actions from the official music video for their own. Although these aspects were changed slightly to reflect themselves and the school as were the lyrics. This video has gained over 3 million views on youtube for it’s originality.

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[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlx1Yj4SxRM][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUjmT76-6hw]

HOMAGESome artists their music videos and songs to pay respect to another person, group, or something that may have influenced them in their life, career or inspired the song. This reference can be noticed by the audience and often encourages the viewers research the inspired person or work. People often pay homage to a person, charity or piece of work. An example of a homage is the music video for the song ‘Hero’. This was originally written by ‘Mariah Carey’ but in 2011 the x-factor finalists did a cover of the song to pay tribute to army veterans. This was done to thank the people within the army for their work, and for their loss but was also done to raise money for Charity. Homage song when done for charities are often to raise money and help the cause the video is about. For example the charity this song and video was dedicated to was the charity ‘Help the Heroes’ and therefor influenced the song. The video features photos of the veterans to draw attention to the purpose of the song and video and to make the viewer feel attached to the people and the charity.

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[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTeEli3t7Cg]

CUTTING TO THE BEATCutting to the beat is where a piece of music is played over a video. In pre-production, the video is then edited so that the movements within the videos, or the clips change to the beat of the video. This can create a dramatic impact and link the music to the video and editing making “the video seem complete” . This technique is commonly used in music videos as “it draws the attention of the video back to the music”. This technique is also used make a song and video dramatic and emphasises the beat of the song. This technique is commonly used in fast paced song with strong beats. For most music videos this technique is used but in small parts or every so often. The song ‘Happy’ has a strong beat and uses this technique in its music video. In the video the shots change or are cut to the beat of the song swell as the movements of the characters as they dance. This emphasises the beat of the song and makes it more memorable. It also makes the viewer want to move which increases the popularity of the song.

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EFFECTSEffects are used throughout the media industry and music videos are no different. Effects are used mostly for when the aim or an aspect of video is unable to me achieved in real life. When this happens, special effects are used to give this effect with cause issues that may be a problem such as safety or cost, or availability. Although an negative of using special effects is cost. By substituting effects for the real thing it can increase the cost as well as time of production. Done well they are “believable” although too much can make the production look “artificial”. For example Katy perry used special effects in her music video for her song ‘fireworks’. By using special effects, she was able to show fireworks exploding out of the person. This would not have been achievable with special effects for safety reason.

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MIMING AND LIP SYNCINGMiming and lip syncing is when a person mimes the words of the songs as it plays over the video to give the effect that the person is singing the song at that in high quality in the video. This technique is used usually to “show who the singer is” , so that the viewer familiarises the music with the person. Lip syncing is made to look authentic but sometimes if done wrong can make the video and artist look fake. A good example of lip syncing is in Ed Sheeran’s music video for his song ‘Lego House’. This video features Rupert Grint, an actor commonly mistaken for the singer. In the video Ed Sheeran uses the physical similarity to tell a narrative of a character who wishes to be the artist. Lip syncing or mining is used in the music video to convey this narrative to audience. They do this by getting the actor to mime the words as the music plays to look as if he is singing, but at the end the two characters are compared and the audience understands the narrative. Lip syncing is used is this video to tell a story but demonstrates the technique well. Although for most video it is used unless the style of the music video is ‘As Live’ in which the artist is genuinely singing.

TECHNIQUES

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4BLVznuWnU]

MULTI-IMAGEMulti image is when more than one image or video is shown in clip. This can be split screen and can show two images or more. Multi image can also be when two images or more are overlaid to give an artistic effect or to change the viewer sees a shot. Multi-image is good for telling story or in a narrative style music video. This is because split screen or multi-image means the viewer can see “more points of view” and because it can tell “two stories” from both sides. For example multi-image is used in the music video for ‘Joe Brooks’ song ’til my heart stops beating’ in the form of slept screen. This is used int he video to portray two sides of a story, so that the viewer seen the two points of view. This technique helps convey the narrative of the video and the narrative that is portrayed in the lyrics of the song.

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CAMERA MOVEMENTCamera movement can be small shifts in camera such as shake camera, or when a camera shifts between angles rather that citing to a different angle. Although in short productions such as music videos the video can be filmed continuously or in as a one shoot production where the camera follows the character or singer as they move. An example of a music video that uses camera movement is taylor swifts music video for ‘we are never ever getting back together’. This music video is filmed so that the camera follows her character around the scenes. This method of a long continuous camera movement means the viewer “follows the character along a storyline”. Because of this, it makes the technique good for narrative style music videos.

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ANGLESAngles are used in all forms of media including music videos. The angles of the camera can help tell a story such as showing to point of view of a character through what they see. Angles can also be used to make a music video dramatic. Mikky Ekko’s music video is a good example of a music video that uses angles and framing to tell a narrative without anything except sound effects and music. The video is made dramatic by the cinematographic way the shots are filmed. The angles and framing has been used purposefully to portray a point of view (bottom right). The shots are also used to portray a narrative, as in one of the shots is angled canted so that its unbalanced and portrays the chaos of a car crash that is told in the story of the video.

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Music Videos Presentation