Task Three - Understand the techniques of music videos

The aim of this project was to be given a song and a few clips, in which to edit together to form a short music video. This gives me practice in editing together images to a beat before making my own music video. This allows me to practice my timing and getting the images to work in time with the music. It was also an opportunity to learn to use different effects in future videos, some of the effects the task helped me be confident in using was  chroma key, split screen and cutting the clip with the beat.

Task Two – Understand the styles and conventions of music videos

Andrew Goodwin has six key conventions when it comes to music videos, these were identified in 'Dancing in the distraction factory' in 1992 which featured the following conventions of music videos.

Convention 1

 The first convention he states is that different genres of music videos use different key conventions and characteristics. For example if the music video is for a rock single, the band will more than likely have a band sequence, someone playing drums, someone playing guitar and a lead singer etc. An example of this is You Me At Six, even though their music video 'Underdog' has a storyline, it also flicks in between the story footage and band scenes. This is a common thing for rock genres.

However, if you look at a completely opposite genre of pop, for example girl bands they have completely different characteristics. Girl bands usually have 3-5 members, also they tend to have the members in colour co-ordination and in a standing formation (usually triangular shape). A clear example of this is Girls Aloud's music video for their song Biology, from this video you can see that the typical conventions for a pop girl band genre is shown in this video. You see the black and pink colour co-ordinated outfits, matching the background setting, they are also in the triangular formation that is common. Other characteristics of this genre that this video shows are synchronised dance routines and are very colourful. 

Convention 2

The second convention is the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, Andrew Goodwin's belief that in every music video there is always a link between the two. He says this is shown in three different ways, the first is illustration. 

With illustration, the music video uses a set of images to illustrate the meaning of the lyrics and matches the genre of the song, this is the most common type of link between the lyrics and visuals. An example of this is 'Riptide' by Vance Joy. This is because most words of the lyrics they show a picture of what they are saying, e.g. everytime the lyrics say 'Left' in every chorus, they show the left side of some thing. Also whenever they sing 'Riptide', they show a picture of the water.

The second method of linking the lyrics with the visual is amplifying, this is when the visuals add something more than just the lyrics alone, like an additional meaning. The visuals can also give you information that isn't always obvious from just the lyrics on their own. This means the imagery is amplifying the song's meaning.
An example of this is 'Who's Laughing Now' by Jessie J, the lyrics are describing a time in Jessie J's life when she was bullied and how she came out better when she became famous. However, just to reinforce the meaning you see all this happening on screen. It adds meaning that you perhaps would not understand completely without the video.

The third method of the linking of audio with visual is Contradicting, this is where the meaning of the song is not involved at all when creating the music video. An example of this is Call on me, by Eric Prydz. The lyrics are repetitive, 'Call on me, call on me', however the music video is of a groups of women dancers in leotards performing a routine. This is with no link to lyrics, but the director obviously thought this is the most appropriate visual to go alongside this song.





Convention 3

Convention 3 is the Relation of Music to the Visuals, for example that the visuals in a music video, will almost always have a link to the pace in which the soundtrack is. This convention is also shown in the three different ways, illustrate, amplify and contradict.

The first example I will give is illustrates, this is the most common as it the editing keeps pace with the soundtrack, the video that shows this is David Guetta and Nicki Minaj's 'Hey Mama', this editing reflects the beats in the soundtrack. At slower points in the song you see the shots at a slower pace however, just  before the chorus there are three quick beats in which the shots are edited so fast in time with this. This helps the audience understand the video and soundtrack better.



The example I will include of amplify is of Skrillex - Bangarang feat. Sirah, the pace of the editing helps give meaning to the soundtrack, the editing is very fast at every beat in the song continuously, however at the beginning where the music is building up it is slower. This amplify's the meaning of the soundtrack, and helps give a deeper understanding to it. Which helps the audience understand the point of the soundtrack.

The final link is Contradictory, the pace of editing, does not match the speed of the song. The example of this Rudimental's 'Waiting All Night', which the editing doesn't match the pace of the audio. This makes it harder for the audience to make a connection with the audio and visuals. However some directors use it to their advantage in order to have more freedom in what they can create. In 'Waiting all night' it is used appropriately to explain the meaning.



Convention 4: Developing a style

The fourth convention is the recording company creating a motif, or a symbol for an artist in order to develop a style throughout the artists work. This style is usually highlighted through their videos. This gives the artist a distinct look that the audience can recognise instantly and easily. This  gives the artist a brand identity. An example of this is Katy Perry, in one of her first major successful single/video is California Gurls, giving her an original image of bright colours, sweetness and colourful hair. This was reflected again in a later video 'Roar' even though the video is completely different, it still has that element of bright colours and sweet look. This continues through images and even her logo, and fanbase the 'Katykats', even in a new video 'This is how we do'  which even though it has more of a rebellious and attitude aura, it is still brightly coloured and cutsy.

Convention 5: Frequent notion of looking

The fifth convention, he stated that within most music videos there is a focus of watching and looking. This is shown in a watching form especially this focus' on women, and their body. This is easily done by the shots of women in music videos, and used to increase audience interest in watching women dressed provocatively and dancing, especially for a male audience. Whether it be a female artist acting like this with her dancers, or a male artist featuring women dancing, most videos contain this to keep an interest. A very good example of this is Lady Marmalade by four female artists including Christine Aguilera, and Pink. This video shows all four of the women dressed in very little clothing and corsets, and dancing around being very provocative. The main focus of the video is of the women, having low angle shots and close ups to enhance the sexual allure.

Convention 6: Intertexual Refrences

Andrew Goodwin's final convention, is that music videos use intertexual references to other medias for example movie and television. This can be seen though the plot and the storyline of the music video using digital effects and props. This done to increase audience interest as they can see a link to something else they like already, something they are familiar with from other types of medias. An example of this is Jennifer Lopez's I'm Glad, which reflects quite strongly the dancer and routine from Footloose even in the way the actor looks. This gives the audience a familiarity already so they have a connection to the video before even watching it.