Introduction to Music VideosPick a music video you like – you have 10 minutes ONLY

Produce a presentation on the video to feedback to the rest of the class. The presentation must include the following:

• 1 slide explaining what you think the PURPOSES of music video’s are in general.• 1 slide with the video on it to show the class – you’ll need to download the video using zamzar, keepvid or a similar programme.• 1 slide SUMMARISING the video in words – what happens, who’s in it, who are the ‘characters’?• 1 slide explaining who the band or artist is (some history, are they well yet, etc).• 1 slide explaining who the director is, what else they’ve done and any awards or notoriety/controversy the video has received.• At least 1 slide ANALYSING the imagery/plot of the video – what significance do certain moments, scenes, characters have.

Purposes of a music videoI think its all about promotion, a music video can be a really clever

promotional tool on loads of levels. If a band or artist are quite new and unknown a

really good or really controversial music video can help to propel them into fame,

for example OK Go were relatively unknown in the UK until the third single from their

second album was released with a video of the band performing on treadmills. On

the other hand if it’s a band or artist who is already really well known a clever music

video canintroduce them to a whole new audience, for example when Elton

John released the single I Want Love in 2001 he created controversy and interest

around the single by asking Robert Downey Jr. to perform in the video. At the time

Downey Jr. was serving a prison sentence for drug offenses and had to get special

permission. Not only did the controversy help publicise the song but also it

introduced Elton John to a new generation of audience.

I think this shows that on so many levels music video’s are about promoting,

advertising and marketing the band or artist to the public. It also creates another

avenue for the music industry to make money as they can charge channels such as

MTV and companies such as iTunes for the videos.

‘Doo Wop That Thing’ by Lauryn Hill

‘Doo Wop That Thing’ by Lauryn HillSummary

The video presents the singer performing the song in different

era’s – once in the mid-1960s and the other in the late-1990s

using split screen techniques. It is set and filmed in Washington

Heights, Manhattan, New York.

The video shows Lauryn Hill performing the song at what are

known in America as ‘block parties’. Traditionally ‘block

parties’ are held by the community for the community and in

Hill’s video the split screen is used to show both happening at

the same time but in different era’s. There are no particular

‘characters’ in it other than Lauryn Hill herself but there are lots

of extra’s in there who represent the two communities.

Lauryn HillLauryn Hill is an American artist who has been in the public eye

since she was young either as a musician or actress. She began her career as an

actress and appeared in American TV shows a films such as Sister Act 2 while

she was still in high school. She then became part of The Fugees, a hip-hop group made

up of friends she met at high school. The band enjoyed large successes in the

early 1990s before parting ways to try solo careers. It was during this time that Hill

began to put together her first solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill which

was released in 1998 to great commercial success and now considered a modern

classic. The album also enjoyed much critical success in the industry and Hill broke

records at the 1999 Grammy’s for this album by being the first woman ever to be

nominated in 10 categories in one year and the first woman to win 5 times in one

night.

After all her successes Hill became disillusioned with the pressures fame brought her

and in 2000 she dropped out of the public eye all together to focus on other

projects and raising her six children with her partner Rohan Marley (son of Bob

Marley). Although she has released another album and reformed with The Fugees

since then she still avoids publicity to this day.

BigTV!

BigTV! is the working name for film directors Andy Delaney

and Monty Whitebloom, they are also known for their

music videos. The duo are employed by DNA Inc, who are

a well known and respected music video and commercials

production company. Other videos the pair have directed

are; “Crazy” by Seal, “2 become 1” and “Mama” by The

Spice Girls, “Never Ever” by All Saints, “As” by George

Michael and Mary J Blige.

Video AnalysisIn terms of representation I don’t think there is too much to analyse

with this video, Lauryn Hill is ‘herself’ and the other people in the video are playing

normal people enjoying their block party. I do however think some analysis should

be done when it comes to the ideas behind the theme of the video. The theme

seems to me to be comparing or contrasting the past and present, hence the split

screens portraying two events from different time periods. I also think this neatly fits

with the musical styling of the song since it has quite a retro sound to it with the

female harmonies. It’s almost as if the directors are highlighting the musical influences

of the 1960s in the song by playing it out visually on the screen. I also think there

might be a kind of moral to the tale as it were by getting the audience to think about

society and how its morals have changed when it comes to women, men,

relationships, families and children across the decades depicted in the video. This also

allows the directors to link the visual with the lyrics of the song in which Hill talks about

how men and women treat each other and their relationships.