Carol Vernallis's Theory

Laura Mulvey's Theory

This is Laura Mulvey theory on what type of representation we would find in a music video. The theory tells us that depending on the gaze of the male, it determines how the audience views the female figure when presented but also depending on how they are style accordingly. The imbalance sexual between men and women creates a split between an active/male and passive/female suggesting the male has a more dominant role in music videos as they play the active role whereas the female has the more inactive role. 

An example of a video relating to Mulvey's theory is Scouting for Girls's 'she so lovely'.

When watching the video there is a clear knowledge that the main active roles in the video is played by men, this tell us that we as audience is viewing the video from a males gaze. As the music video is continues on to 0:27, that is when the female role is introduced. The male gaze tell us that he is almost in shock because of this women's lovely features, and not only is he the one showing it in the video but all the other men also stop and stare as she enters. As the video continues to 1:05 we see a clear close up of the lead female face, from this a seductive facial expression is portrayed to the audience which suggest a intended act for the male audience make the women seem desperate and seeking attention. Also in 1:49/50 we see one of the male actors 'smacking' the females arse which also suggest that the men have more control over women as she has allowed it to happen and not done anything back. In 2:21 we see the male lead walking over to the female lead, at this point we see her smile upon his arrival, but during that time she is also sitting with her partner, she instantly smile when seeing him. From this we get a sense that the female actor is being very open towards other male attention she is receiving and able to show flirtatious attention towards other men, even though she is with someone. This clearly gives off image that females are players and are able to toy with men as they are able to be with on but still seek attention from another.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin theory on music videos goes against the traditional narrative analyses. He believes that they are approached in a different narrative way compared to novels and film.
The reasons for the different narrative structures are as follows:

•          Pop video are built around songs- and often songs don’t pose traditional narrative structures (normality-problem-resolution)
•          The pop video use the singer both as narrator and as a character
•          The singer often looks directly at the camera – this is an extension of (music hall) performance and trying to involve the viewer at home with the performance

Repetition plays a great key for music videos as they allow a great amount of audience to see the artist work. For example during a music video there is almost always a repeat in images once it reaches a certain part of the song, (e.g. chorus line) by doing this it allows the audience to gradually be familiar with the songs. The video will also be played on TV, radio and advertising film or TV tie-in making the song very familiar through repetition.

Depending on the video type Goodwin has come up with a conclusion of how there are different types of videos.

•          Illustration: this is where the video tells the story of the lyrics.
•      Amplification: occurs when the videos introduce a new meaning that do not contradict with the lyrics but add layers of meaning. 
•      Disjuncture:this is where there is little connections between the lyric and video or where the video contradicts the lyric.

     Kanye West's 'Good Life' shows a clear execution of how a illustrated music video would look like. The video has a animated theme throughout the whole video which highlights the lyrics as the Kanye is sing the song. For example in 0:26 of the video Kanye is singing the lyrics 'I got to shine' and on the screen appears the animated words 'I got to shine'. Also in 0:34 Kanye sing 'throw you hands up in the sky' and as he sings those words animated hands all appear on the screen, which show the relation between the music video and song.

For amplification, its is almost similar to disjuncture but doesn't disregard the lyrics/song but construct complementary layers of meaning to the video. Again in another Kanye West's video, 'homecoming', it suggest that the song is about his home or his arrival of coming home, but the video doesn't show any indication of him actually going home but just of him walking around the streets. This only implies more meaning towards the song but doesn't show a clear connection between the song and video. 

Finally for disjuncture, completely ignores the content and genre of the song and can create a whole new meaning of its own. They will mostly make no sense to the song, for example Fat Boy Slim's 'praise you' has not connection to the song which is why it is considered a disjunctured video.

                                    

Reflecting On AS Year - Technical Skills

Throughout the AS year we learnt and developed a wide range of technical skills. This allowed us to apply these skills into how assignments and projects. 

• How to edit on final cut pro

• How to use a JVC camera 

• To understand different types of shot e,g long shot, mid shot, two shot 

• Understand different types of camera angles e.g birds eye view

• How to use 'prezi' 

• How to embed URL's 

• Understand media language e.g mise en scene, camera, sound, editing

• How to use 'camtasia' 

Reflecting On AS Year

Reflecting on AS year 

As a prep for the A2 course, during the last two weeks of term we briefly covered what a music video is to prepare for the upcoming new term.We looked at what a music video is and what its purpose is. We looked at the reason why the music industry needs to produce a music video. It helps the artist promote
themselves but also their song and or album.

The aim of a music video is to:

• sell the song 
• invoke a reaction from the audience  
• to entertain (showcasing their singing, but also other talents that they may have e.g dancing acting)
• give the audience a better understanding of the song (if the video follows a narrative)

MTV

We also looked at the 'Music TV' what we know as 'MTV'. Launched in August 1st 1981, it's purpose was to allow the audience to watch music videos guided by television personalities, also know as video jockeys (VJs). It allowed all kinds of genre to be channeled to a wide range of audience, allowing them to showcase their talents and music. When MTV first started their target audience were demographic young adults but as the society has changed through the years it's now main audience are adolescents and teenagers.  

Functions of a Music Video

Purposes of a music video

The biggest purpose of a music video is to advertise the performer as an artist and also advertise and promote the performer's music.

What is a music video?

Well according to the dictionary it is "A filmed or videotaped rendition of a recorded song, often portraying musicians performing the song or including visual images interpreting the lyrics" which I some cases this is true, for example the song "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey.

This music video is a perfect example for the definition given above...

However, not all music videos follow the lyrics and the storyline of the song like the song "Love On Top" by Beyoncé.

 

This song is about a man finally putting his relationship before everything else in his life however this story is not illustrated within the music video, instead we have the performer, Beyoncé doing a dance routine with all male dancers and going through a number of costume changes which excludes everything of what the dictionary definition of a music video is.

Copyright Clearance (Research)

Here is a letter that I wrote during the summer break for Jess Glynne.

The Perfect Music Video - AS Year

Music Videos - AS Year

At the end of the AS year we briefly learned about music videos and what some of the purposes are for having them.

One of these purposes is to promote the artist. If an artist is a new to the music industry a music video is one way to give that artist more recognition among the public in order for people to know who the artist is.

Another purpose of a music video is to promote the music. Watching a music video helps the artist as it persuades viewers to go and buy the artist’s single or album.

The last purpose is the idea of visual pleasure.

[RESEARCH] - Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey: Representation

"In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly."

 (Laura Mulvey 1992)

Mulvey's opinion on representation, is very much valid in today's society, as in society stereotypes are created that men are of dominance and women are passive. The idea of the 'male gaze' and 'pleasure' brings to light that women are styled specifically to attract the attention of men, which is both common in music videos such as; RnB, HipHop, Rap and in society itself. This attraction is often portrayed in a way where women are objectified as sexual objects. 

With this in mind, what I would expect to see in these music videos is:

• Attractive females 
• Women who have a lot of skin visible and in little clothing  
• Dismembering - Camera focus on parts of the body e.g bum, legs etc

Here is an example of a music video which supports Mulvey's opinion:

 In this video the female/s is

1. Dismembered - 1:30
2. In little clothing - 0:58

this achieves the idea of the male gaze

And the male has an active role as he is singing and has women all around him. 1:24

An alternative to this idea of representation is:

[RESEARCH] - Carol Vernallis

Carol Vernallis Experiencing Music Video

Carol Vernaillis looked closely at editing and camerawork and how they worked within music videos. Compared to films, music videos tend to have edits more frequently and makes it stand out more. The editing tends to have rhythmic basis closely connected to the song.

Summary of her main observed points:

• rule of 'continuity' editing is broken - more attention on what is on screen
• obvious edits - clear transitions like wipes or special effects added, e.g. changes in colour filters
• jump cuts are more frequent
• camera movement in time with the music, or cuts with the tempo
• many base tracks to give the video structure

This video supports the theory Carol Vernallis has put forward and illustrates the points made above:

[RESEARCH] - Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin: Dancing in the Distraction Factory

[RESEARCH] - What is the function of a Music Video?

Function of a Music Video

What is a Music Video?

A music Video is a short film integrating a song and Imagery produced for promotional/artistic purposes. A music video is different to other moving image media forms as it is produced to create visual pleasure and unlike other media forms it does not necessarily tell a story in chronological order. It uses various jump cuts and split screens are also common. Most of the time the artist is present instead of actors/actresses. Most videos include singing and dancing or some sort of performance and the cuts within tend to match to the song tempo, making the song as well as the video more enjoyable.

The first music video was produced in the 1970's and premiered on TV in 1981. This changed music culture and soon enough music videos became the central promotion for the artist/band. MTV (Music Television) became most known for providing a platform for music videos.

There are many videos that I would consider to be good examples of the music video form. One of my favourites would be Deuces - Chris Brown. I think this is a good example of a music video as it includes both singing and a dance performance which I enjoy in music videos. The video also uses a black and white effect throughout and as it is a modern video it singles out from other media forms. There is no chronological story portrayed in the video further isolating it from other media forms. The cuts are timed to the tempo of the song, and it just generally brings visual pleasure and makes the song more enjoyable.

[RESEARCH] - Copyright Clearance

Copyright Clearance

I sent out 2 emails requesting copyright permissions and received a reply from both.

[REFLECTING] - Technical Skills from AS

Technical Skills From AS

There are many technical skills which I have developed in the AS year and hope to further this year. These technical skills include;

• Blogger
• JVC professional cameras
• Flip/Still cameras
• Final Cut Pro
• Motion
• Audio Converter
• TimeToast
• Picasa
• Photosnack
• Powtoons
• Prezi
• Creative Commons

[REFLECTING] - Music Videos Introduction to A2

Introduction to A2 

In our lessons transitioning from AS to A2, we were given an introduction into Music Videos whereby we discussed what Music Videos are and the history of them. We watched a few videos which later led to a discussion about theory and the Idea of Visual Pleasure (Andrew Goodwin).

The first music video was produced in the 1970s, which was The Buggles -Video Killed The Radiostar. This video first aired on MTV on 1st August 1981 at 12.01. MTV helped showcase videos which helped promote songs.

We also looked at conventional features of a music video.