Initial Group Planning Ideas (changes made)

Initial Group Planning Ideas

My group consists of Daisy Morecroft, Millie Cooper, Emma Harris and myself. I chose  to work with these people as we had similar ideas regarding genre, style and representation of artist; in which we came to an agreed idea from a previous discussion.

First Meeting: 25/09/13

We have chosen to make our music video to the song 'Nosestrings & Shoestrings' by Nina Nesbitt because she is  an alternative artist appealing to a niche audience in which we are hoping to expand. This particular song doesn't have an existing video in which our audience can compare it to, favouring us as a group. In our first meeting, we discussed 10 main points which we then transferred in note form onto an A3 sheet of paper:

the A3 piece of paper containing all of our original ideas regarding the content of our music video, further discussed in the text below:

Location ideas

We wish to shoot at a quirky seaside location with traditional romantic beach shots and also an arcade, possibly in Southend on Sea or Brighton which is fuelled by young people, also appealing to our target audience. The narrative regarding the relationship between the two will be based in this location as it is particularly romantic, showing them in their happier days. 

We aim to capture a raw performance in regards to our artist. We have initially planned to shoot the artist miming to the song in front of a blank white wall; this then does not draw too much focus onto the artist but the lyrics and narrative of the couple.

Mise en scene ideas

In regards to clothing, we want to capture a vintage vibe; our female character dressed in a floral skirt with a baggy band t-shirt, a studded leather jacket, polished brogues and tights topped with messy hair, simplistic natural looking make-up and a beanie. Furthermore, we picture our 'misguided' male character to be dressed in a vintage shirt, a denim jacket, chino trousers, rugged trainers in order to capture an indie style which will appeal to our target audience.

Iconography will consist of alcohol bottles/drinks in order to portray our male character as corrupt by rebellion. He will be seen to be drinking throughout the video to correlate with the lyrics for the audience to have a further understanding of the song; that the relationship is almost broken because of his issues. Props like cigarettes and lighters will also create a similar effect, but also that is dependent on such things in order for him to feel in control. Props such as cards and skateboards will be used to convey his street orientated life, lacking sophistication and manner that may be seen as desirable. He has no motive in life other than drink, drugs and being on the street; the artist's concern.

We picture our artist to dress very plainly in a white t-shirt or floral dress with eyeliner and a faded lipstick to establish her image; typical of an indie artist in order for the audience to be able to relate to thier simplistic style and therefore possibly adopt it to become more like them. Iconography for the artist will only include the guitar she is playing, also conventional to the indie genre as it shows pure talent and originality.

Editing ideas 

Editing will begin in the video as being slow, in order to harmonise with the song. We will typically use straight cuts and jump cuts in order to successfully show and establish the narrative rather than using complex editing to take the focus off the story. Slow editing is conventional in the indie genre as artists feel the music is more significant than the music video; it establishes an image of themselves as being dedicated to the music rather than the fame that comes with it, a relatable image in which appeals to the target audience. Rihanna's song 'We Found Love' has inspired us to use a time-lapse to exaggerate the couple arguing over his alcohol consumption. The time lapse will portray how the male is feeling; disorientated and all over the place as a result of his alcohol/drug consumption. It will also emphasise their issues as their appear to be stuck in the same position while the world around them is moving forward. Fast-paced editing at the chorus which is only slightly faster than the verses to engage the audience and encourage them to remember the chorus and therefore this makes the video and song more memorable.

Cinematography ideas

Cinematography in the video will be very simplistic in order for the audience to focus on the narrative rather than the complex cinematography. However we aim to use a range of shots including; mid shot, long shot, panning, tracking etc in order to engage the audience through the use of a variety of shots without boring them through lack of range of shots. 

Music video theory we wish to apply

We will follow Goodwin's theoretical point of the relationship between the lyrics and visuals as that is what our narrative is based on; the lyrics speak of a couple who are having issues as a result of the boyfriend's problem with drink and drugs, in which there will be an illustrative relationship with the visuals as we aim to show such relationship to the audience in order for them to understand the song more.

Artist representation

Style of music video: Our video will be divided between a high narrative percentage (70%) and a performance element too (30%) A concept element is not necessary because we are not aiming to sell/promote our audience an idea or theme. Our narrative consists of a deteriating relationship between a male and female actor due to the males alcohol addiction. It will support the lyrics "He's just misguided I think" and "He wears a bottle inside his vest"

The artist will be in the relationship, telling the audience of her problems and therefore will be presented as concerned and no longer happy with her relationship now, in many people can relate to as it is likely that they have similar emotions and therefore she will be easily related to. At the beginning of the video she will be happy with her relationship to show the stages of her relationship; from happy to no longer happy with her relationship as this is effectively portrays the stages of a breakdown of a relationship.

Target audience

Although our artists target audience is rather niche as she has only just started in the industry as an Indie artist, we aim for people within the teenage to young adults range (particularly females who can relate to the song lyrics/our video content) to be our audience.

Codes and conventions of our music genre

By watching other videos of the Indie genre, we have noticed certain genre characteristics appear regularly including artist representation; an everyday but talented individual who is focused on the simplicity of their music rather than 'sugar coating' it to make it more complex and 'exciting'. There is a conventional significance of the emotion in their music as it is based on the song, not their image, in which we will adopt when representing our artist in order for her to be easily related to.

Also, there are key iconography pieces conventionally used in indie music videos including guitars, typically played by the artist. This conveys to the audience that the artist is in fact talented and not a 'commodity' to be consumed by the audience, proposed by Richard Dyer. Guitars suggest that this is how the artist first became interested in music (typically starting by busking) which shows dedication and realism, rather than a quick climb to fame. Our artist will be seen playing a guitar as our target audience are more likely to be able to play guitar than be able to sing as well as the artist themselves, allowing them to build a relationship with them through similar interests/hobbies and feel more like them.

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Second meeting: 30/09/13

Following our previous meeting, in this discussion we have decided to alter a few of out original ideas in order to make our video more appealing and conventional to the genre. We also started to draw up a rough storyboard as to how we intend the video to start. In order to do this, we also started to annotate the lyrics of the song in order to maintain the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals for the audience to understand more of the song.

Changes we have made and why:

Location Ideas:

Instead of using the beach at Southend/Brighton, we have decided base the video in London as it much more diverse in what we can film. There is more location where we can film the couple having fun including the small beach by the River Thames, Brick Lane which consists of several bars/restaurants and also skate parks by the south bank to show the male's street and rebellious side. The time lapse will be much more effective as well as London is much busier and therefore there will be more people going around them emphasising that they are in such position alone.

Other Changes:

We have also decided against our original idea of including the artist in the relationship.  Richard Dyer proposes that a successful artist will be both present and absent in order to maintain the interest of the audience in which we feel is relevant; therefore the artist will performing throughout the video in order to be 'present' but will also be 'absent' when the narrative is being shown. We have decided to use two separate actors to play the couple that the video is based on in order to create such an effect. It allows the audience to focus on the artist and narrative separately, which may be less confusing for them to understand and focus on the image of the artist rather than their acting skills. 

Storyboard:

Rough storyboard to show how our video will begin

We intend to start the video with photos of the couple throughout the relationship to convey to the audience that they were in fact happy, in which this begins the portrayal regarding the breakdown of their relationship; from good to bad. The frame will then transition to the artist singing to show the audience the image of the artist. allowing them to begin to build a relationship with them. The audience will then see a 

photo of the couple at the beach, which will be zoomed into to transition the frame to a beach scene as this portrays the couple as happy and romantic. The video will continue with the couple in various locations in London. You can see the finished version of our storyboards on the blog post: Storyboards

Annotated lyrics

We began to annotate the lyrics of the song in our second meeting in order to develop our ideas regarding how the video will develop. We intend to have a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals and therefore, by annotating them we began to discuss how we could effectively do so so that the audience can understand more of the song. For example, we discussed an idea for the lyric 'He goes out till the lights up, he doesnt care for the day mmm' in which this would consist of the couple being on a field when the sun is rising, showing that he is out at all hours of both the day and night, presenting his rebellious nature. By having them both there, it suggests that the girl is 

effected by his attitudes, that she is also out because she loves him and attempts to accept the way he is; however later in the video we intend to show that she is no longer willing to accept such behaviour. You can see the finished version of our lyric annotation on the blog: Lyric Analysis

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Third Meeting: 11/10/13

In this meeting we discussed other existing music videos that are significant in inspiring the content of our music video as well as the structure. 

Katy Perry - Thinking of You

This particular video was inspirational in terms of how our video will be structured as it has a similar storyline to our narrative. Katy Perry performs within the narrative as well as being the girlfriend in the video, identical to our idea in which this gave us a inspiration as to how we could also effectively achieve this. The video begins with a distressed Katy, suggested to be because of the loss of a former boyfriend, however the audience are unaware why he has gone, where he has gone etc. The video continues by showing the old memories between the two which is juxtaposed with her current state to emphasise her loss and discontent. When portraying Katy as unhappy, she is performing the song which is included in the narrative, as she is in a bedroom with another man. While performing she looks out the window and metaphorically and literally looks back on her old memories. The audience then find out that her former boyfriend dies in the war as we see him get shot in a war like environment. 

The structure of this video is similar to the structure in which we wish to achieve as it addresses similar emotions such as loss and unhappiness. As a result of watching this video, we have determined how we are going to structure the video as there being a contrast of happy times and bad times, much like this video achieves. It will consist of not physically looking back on her memories but will be mentally. Also there will be a performance from the artist to convey emotion for the audience to relate to, much like the artist does in this video. 

Rihanna - We Found Love

This video is inspirational in terms of our music video as it shows a conflicted relationship between two individuals who have lost each other because of it; much like the narrative of our music video. This video in particular influenced the motif of light in which we have chosen to have in order to represent the relationship as being out of control form the use of lighters, sparklers and fireworks. 

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Fourth Meeting: 18/10/13

In our fourth meeting, we annotated the lyrics of the song as a group, in order to get a deeper understanding of the song and interpret this into our music video so that the audience also understood the song in more depth. We first annotated the lyrics in terms of the hidden meaning behind each lyric so that our interpretation was more imaginative rather than simply illustrative. We then annotated the lyrics once again, in terms of how we wanted the music video to be structured in order to correlate with the lyrics. To see our annotations go to Lyric Analysis blog as all ideas that we had, can be found there.

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Diversity

 

Diversity

Diversity can be defined as 'a point or respect in which things differ'. By having a diverse music video, it is unique, not only according to the stereotypical generic conventions regarding; theme, style, mis ens scene, censorship and characteristics, but in the opinion of the audience. Directors such as Chris Cunningham and Michael Gondry are well known for their diverse style, opposing the conventional style of a music video.

Chris Cunningham

Cunningham has worked with artists including Autechre, Aphex Twins, Bjork, The Horrors and Madonna. Although diverse in style, Cunningham was very successful in being awarded for his works. His video 'All is Full of Love' in particular won 'Best Break Through Video', a 'Gold Pencil' award at the D&AD awards and was nominated for 'Best Short Form Music Video'. Here, is an example of Chris Cunningham's diverse work in his interpretation of Madonna's song, 'Frozen' in which this also won 'Best Special Effects' at the MTV music video awards in 1998:

The track 'Frozen' falls in to the genre of Pop, however the style of the video to accompany the song can be perceived as diverse as it subverts the gneneric conventions for a Pop video. The presentation of the artist is very much gothic, with Madonna being dressed in black with very pale skin conveying her as almost scary in appearance rather than happy; a conventional representation of a Pop artist. The black and white theme connotes thriller conventions, as does the deserted location as this makes the artist alone and vulnerable. The effects that transform the artist to both a dog and crow present her as beastly, further connoting thriller conventions as if she were the antagonist with a 'split' personality. The representation of the artist in this video very much subverts the conventional presentation of Pop artist as she is seen to be sad, scary and almost angry in her appearance rather than happy and upbeat. With Madonna creating the conventional Pop video previous to this, her target audience in very much mass. However, this video is more likely to appeal a niche audience who's interests lie in the gothic nature she presents in this particular video.

In this video, the audience can references to Goodwin's theory, in particular the proposal of a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. At this point of the video, the lyrics play, 'love is a bird' in which the audience can visually see birds flying, possibly perceived to metaphorical for love as suggested in the lyrics. This builds a relationship between artist and audience as the audience are able to interpret the song according to the artist's intentions, giving them a deeper understanding of both the song and artist.

The style of the video is mostly performance based, with Madonna singing the song in the deserted location for the majority of the video. This brings the focus on her, allowing the audience to further build a relationship with her as she is present for nearly all of the video. However in her performance she appears to be almost eerie in her behaviour, opposing her usual style of performance by dancing and upbeat suggestive of a proposal made by Richard Dyer; 'stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings'. In terms of Madonna, this proposal suggests she has become a product rather than an artist in order to be consumed by her target audience, reasoning why she has changed her appearance and style. Dyer proposed that artists should remain incoherent and therefore range in style and appearance in order to remain an enigma for their target audience and keep them interested. The video also has a slight narrative as the artist has included animals to represent elements of love. For example, the bird may represent the freedom in which she feels when in love whereas the dog may represent her anger from the love she has lost, suggested in the lyrics of the song. 

Aphex Twins - Come to Daddy

Cunningham also directed the music video for the track 'Come to Daddy' by the Aphex Twins which is constructed as a short film, a typical style that Cunningham adopts in his works. The presentation of the music video connotes thriller conventions similarly to the 'Frozen' video. The music is eerie, there is low key lighting throughout and the face performing the song is distorted so that the audience are unable to recognise them, as if an antagonist keeping a hidden identity to create an enigma. The colour scheme also consists of black and white, similarly to 'Frozen' in which this also creates an eerie atmosphere as this portrays a lack of life, also portrayed though the deserted location. The video begins with an old lady walking her dog on what appears to be an estate, a conventional location of terms of crime as stereotypically 'youths' would love here which creates anticipation, as if the audience are waiting for something to happen, again conventional to a thriller film. With similar stylistic features to 'Frozen' regarding music video content, it is more likely to appeal to a niche audience as the video is very creepy in it's portrayal, rather than enjoyable. The genre of this track falls in to Dance/Techno in which conventional features of such genre consist of parties, dancing and lights in order to create the idea that the song stimulates people in having a good time. However, lack of such conventions make the video diverse and therefore does not appeal to a mass audience.

Goodwin's theory is evident in the video as there is a clear relationship between the music and the visuals. However rather than being a illustrative relationship, the video adopts an amplifying relationship as the editing of the video is shown to be in time with the beat of the song; in which this is conventional to a dance/techno track as this emphasises the beat of the song to the audience in order for them to see and hear the beat to become more familiar with the song. This attribute of the video is conventional rather than diverse to the genre as it encourages the audience to familiarise themselves with the song, appealing to a mass audience.

The style of the video is heavily based upon narrative as a result of it's short film style construction, having a beginning, middle and end.The video begins with an old lady walking her dog around an estate, the middle being consisting of a small collection of midgets taking over the estate portrayed as both rebellious and violent in their attitudes. Finally the video ends with what appears to be a parental figure to the midgets being born from a television on the street of the estate. Such a story can be perceived as diverse as it has no relationship with the lyrics or meaning of the song, it is simply random in accordance to the track. It also isn't realistic in terms of the audience being able to relate to the narrative as this is more than unlikely to happen in real life, whereas a narrative of a break up of a relationship can be easily related to as it is a common occurrence. The video also has minor aspects of performance as the audience is able to see a distorted person in the TV singing the lyrics, however this is not the artist as the artist is not in the video.

By not having the artist in the video, this doesn't allow the audience to build a relationship with the artist, which may affect the success of the artist as Richard Dyer proposes that an artist must both present and absent in order to remain the audience's interest. By being present, the audience get to know the artist in terms of appearance, image and personality portrayed to the audience, and by being absent the audience are wondering where the artist is, what they are doing and therefore obtain an obsession with the artist. However, because the video doesn't show the artist, the audience don't have a figure to attach to and therefore become disinterested.

Michael Gondry

Michael Gondry is an Academy Award-winning French film-maker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He has worked with artists including Kayne West, Kylie Minogue and the White Stripes. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène, creating an unusual and unpredictable visual for the audience. In comparison regarding directing style, Cunningham adopts a much more narrative based style of music video as they are typically constructed as short films that normally create an eerie atmosphere, increasing their diversity. Whereas Gondry conforms to the style of a  conventional music video regarding layout but subverts generic conventions through his manipulation of mis en scene i.e. in the music video fo Kylie's 'Come into My World', a pop song, it is conventional for the artist to be positioned central to the video in order generate interest from the audience as they are focused on her. Gondry conforms to this convention as Kylie is in fact focused on, but  as a result of her being replicated several times in the video, increases the video's diversity.

Kylie Minogue - Come into My World

The track 'Come into My World' by Kylie is considered to be in the pop genre; however there seems to be a lack of conventional generic characteristics such as dance and party scenes, typical of the genre. Instead, the artist is seen to be walking what appears to be in circles in a town similar in appearance to France. Such a simplistic narrative connotes the style of an independent production company constructing the video rather than such a well known artist like Kylie, presenting the artist as down to earth and relaxed. However, the replication of the artist each time she walks in a circle has a relationship with the lyrics 'Come into My World' as it suggests her 'world' is busy and exciting. This presents her as high in her fame and therefore possibly hard for the audience to relate to as their lives do not consist of such lifestyle. Such representation is similar to the proposal made by Richard Dyer, that stars must be ordinary for the audience to relate and extraordinary for the audience to become interested in something different and unusual. The ways in which Gondry presents the artist is diverse in style as it opposes the generic conventions, so much so, that it makes it hard for the audience to relate to the artist and therefore this may cause them to be unable to become interested in them.

Goodwin's theory is present in the video, proposals he claimed made a video successful in appealing to an audience. There is a suggested relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as Gondry has presented Kylie's world as being hetic through placing her in several positions in the frame, also suggesting her exciting lifestyle. The lyrics invite the audience to 'come into [her] world', in which her 'world' is shown though the manipulation of mis en scene, a conventional style of Gondry.
There are is also a lack of Goodwin's theory which arguably is significant in the role of contributing to the video's diversity. There is a lack of close ups of the artist, which are usually included in order for the audience to feel closer to the audience, to build a relationship with them in order to generate an interest in them as an artist as well their music. By having a lack of close ups, the audience feel disconnected to the artists and have no encouragement to engage in the song and artist. This makes the video diverse in style as it subverts the typical approach in representing the artist.

The style of the video much consists of a performance based structure, as the artist is always in the frame consistently singing the song. This subverts the proposal made by Richard Dyer, in which he stated that an artist must be both absent and present in order to maintain the interest of the audience as they are able to build a relationship with them and therefore uphold an interest when absent. However, in the video, the artist is always in the frame constantly repeating the narrative over and over again. This may become boring and uninteresting for the audience as they are able to predict what is going to happen. This also unconventional to the pop genre as they typically show a party scene to engage the audience in having a good time because of the song itself. Therefore, due to the lack of variety regarding the narrative this not only makes the video diverse, but disengaging; the audience find the video unappealing as it lacks exciting content. The video also has aspects of a narrative based video as the artist appears to be walking through a town, in which the audience see the background which includes the everyday life going on. However this is not focused on and therefore may considered irrelevant.


White Stripes - The Hardest Button to Button

an everyday location, unusual for the rock genre

This particular track by The White Stripes is considered to in the alternative rock genre, in which the presentation of the video arguably, is very similar to his previous video 'Come into My World' as he once again adapts the conventional style of which mis en scene is typically used in a music video. The director uses replication to manipulate mis en scene, however instead of the artist being replicated, the instruments are replicated throughout, with the artist moving along with them. However, such editing style created a relationship between the lyrics and visuals in the previous video, whereas in this video it may be considered slightly more random as it does not create such effect, or any other effect. This makes the video more diverse as they is no illustrative reasoning behind the justification of such decision; it becomes confusing for the audience they are able to understand why the director chose to do so. Another unconventional aspect of the music video is the director's choice of location; alongside roads, underground train stations and parks, for these are everyday locations rather than dark and mysterious settings, typically for the rock genre.


As a result, the audience may not be attracted to the video because the representation of the artists lack convention according to the rock genre. The artist has conventional aspects of their image including the clothes, either black or red in which these are typical colours for rock as they convey anger and darkness, appealing to the audience. They also play instruments including electric guitar and drums, considered to be typical rock instruments as they are loud and harsh in sound, they suggest edge. However, with the location being an everyday location, the artist is represented as quite the opposite to edgy, rather everyday, normal people. This will not appeal to the target audience as they expect the artist to be dark and edgy as this is conventional to the genre - making both the video and artist diverse.

artists wearing black and red, connoting danger and edge

Goodwin's theory is evident in the video as there is a clear illustrative relationship between the music and visuals. The editing is time with the beat of the music, in which this emphasises the song as they audience are encouraged to remember the song as they can both visually 'see' the beat, and hear the beat as a result of the music. However, again, there is a lack of Goodwin's theory making the video diverse in style, which could decrease the success of the video. There is a lack of correlation regarding the lyrics and visuals which may cause the audience to be unable to truly understand the concept of the song and therefore become disinterested. Goodwin proposed that such relationship contributes to a successful video, and therefore the video can be considered diverse.

The style of the video is both performance and narrative based; the artists perform the song throughout however due to location changes and interaction with other people the video has a minor narrative. The style of the video is very similar to Kylie's 'come into my world' as it shows the artist always performing the song without appearing absent - again, subverting Richard Dyer's theory that a star must be both present and absent to maintain a fan base. The style of the video is diverse, as it doesn't conform to the generic conventions of rock; it lacks darkness and edge. It is conventional for a rock artist to do a live performance in a dark and dingy location to suggest rebellion and anger, an aspect that this video particularly lacks.

Why have a diverse music video?

There are many positives in making a diverse music video; for example, it gives people something different to watch. By conforming to generic conventions, the audience are able to predict the typical outline of a music video, however by having a diverse music video it is possible that the audience may become more interested as it unpredictable and therefore more exciting. Also, as it is unpredictable it may interest a different target audience as it is something they haven't ever seen before, therefore widening the audience you have intended to appeal to. There are examples of diverse artists such as Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Eminem, all very successful artists and therefore  this proves that diversity does appeal to an 

audience as it is something different and sometimes controversial, 

generating more interest. 

Finally, in terms of the perspective of the director, a diverse music video allows them to have more creative freedom as they do not need to manipulate the micro elements to conform to the generic conventions. They are able to go completely against the typical style of a music video and create their intention easily; in which both Cunningham and Gondry do. These directors subvert what is expected of a music video, however have been deemed successful in their own ways i.e. Cunningham was awarded with the 'Best Special Effects Video' and therefore his work had been recognised as successful regarding the special effects used.

However, a music video has typical generic conventions in order to create a desired affect on the audience; appeal. Therefore it can be argued that a diverse music video can lack appeal as it doesn't offer certain requirements for the audience to deem it successful. For example, in the music video 'Come to Daddy' directed by Cunningham, there is lack of artist presence and therefore the audience are unable to build a relationship with them, they become bored and therefore move on to find another artist who they find interesting. It is conventional for the artist to be present in a music video in order for the audience to have a reason to watch it, they feel closer to them. Such style of diversity doesn't encourage the audience to watch the video and therefore, they wont. There is a lack of connection between audience and artist. Also, as a result of this, it is common for music channels to reject such videos to play on their channel, because they are not appealing to an audience and as a result of them being played on their channel, the audience will not want to watch such channel, affecting their success too. This also influenced the song's success as there is a lack of distribution and promotion, so the target audience are unaware of the song and video entirely; affecting the artist's image as becoming irrelevant.

How has this research impacted your decisions regarding your own music video?

From the research I have conducted in to diverse music video, we have decided as a group to maintain to the generic convnetions of an indie music video. Our artist Nina Nesbitt, is very down to earth and much focused on her music, and by doing a diverse music video this may alter our intended artist representation. Indie artist's have very simple music videos in order for the audience to relate and focus on the music, in which we want our music video to do so. Diverse music videos are much more suited to artist's who known to push boundaries such as Lady Gaga, as this becomes a topic of discussion and therefore artist promotion; it keeps the artist relevant in a good way. However, such a subtle genre like Indie, must remain subtle in order to appeal to the audience as they want an artist to relate to, as well as their music, not a topic to discuss.

Research into Music Genres

 

Research into Music Genres

According to the genre of music an artist creates, this will influence the content of their music video in order to appeal to audience by conforming the conventional genre characteristics. Elements such as mis en scene, cinematography and editing are adapted in a particular fashion in order to attract the target audience and fulfil their demand as to what they want/expect from the music video. However, the artist can also subvert the generic conventions which can also attract an audience as they would appear to be something fresh and unexpected. Artists such as Rihanna have pushed such boundaries and has become very popular and well known for doing so.

Drake:

Drake is a well known rap artist, a genre that typically promotes money, expensive lifestyle, drugs and women. Here in his video to 'Over' we see his representation of the genre of rap:

The video begins with a long shot of the setting, a bedroom in which the artist is been to be centrally positioned in. The shot allows the audience to see that the artist is clearly central in the frame and therefore this conveys his importance and power as the audience are drawn to focus on him. At the stage of the video there is no music/lyrics playing either, further emphasising his importance as there is nothing else for the audience to focus on, just the artist. This particular frame can be related to Richard Dyer's Theory in which he proposed that an artist must be both 'ordinary' and 'extraordinary' in order to appeal to an audience; the artist appears to be in a relate-able location as it is a typical bedroom showing his 'ordinary'side, however he is also a famous millionaire presenting his 'extraordinary' side. This allows the audience to relate to the artist but still be fascinated and show interest in him. 

The video continues by showing a close up of the artist, in which this allows the audience to build a relationship with the artist. This video in particular was one of Drake's first music videos and therefore by allowing the audience to build a relationship with him, this will encourage them to continue to show interest in him and therefore his music. This frame can be related to Goodwin's Theory, in which music videos will include lots of close ups of the artists in order for desired effect to be had on the audience i.e. interest, obsession etc.

The editing in this video portrays a short narrative/representation of the artist's lifestyle as a projection is used show what appears to be city lights on the surrounding walls behind the artist; in which this could suggest that the artist lives a very fast and adventurous life, again showing his 'extraordinary' side to interest the target audience. Through editing there is also an effect that changes the lighting and colouring of this particular scene  several times which could further portray the artists lack of consistency as he lives such an 'exciting' and 'extraordinary' lifestyle. This also conforms to the generic conventions for a rap music video, for the artist is conveying/suggesting his extreme lifestyle which appears to be fast and exciting to the audience.

Later in the video, the artist is seen performing in which this is a generic style when regarding to rap as this allows the audience to focus on the presentation of the artist rather than a strong narrative, taking away the focus from the artist. While doing so, we can also see the appearance of fire in the frame next to the artist, portraying the artist's power and fame. This also connotes a sense of danger; the artist is breaking boundaries as many artists within the rap genre represent themselves as rebellious with anti-social attitudes.There is also an illustrative relationship between the lyrics and the visuals; by showing one line of the song on the screen, this becomes a remembered lyric within the song, making the song more popular amongst the target audience as well as making the video more remembered.

From the previous close up, the audience are able to identify the clothes in which the artist is wearing in the music video; a hoodie and chain around his neck. These items of clothing are heavily associated with rap artists as they portray a both a street identity and lavish, in which this can be correlated once again with Dyer's paradox of an artist being both 'ordinary' and 'extraordinary' in order to keep the audience interested. By identifying the artist's style, this may encourage the audience to buy into the artist's lifestyle by choosing to copy their style for example,  in order to become more similar to them. This again influences the audience to have an interest in the artist.

Near the end of the video, there is a woman dancing in the background of the artist's performance. She is wearing minimal clothing; a common generic convention regarding rap as this is perceived to be a main attribute in such artist's lives as they often include such content physically in videos and in lyrics as well. As the woman is wearing minimal clothing, she is presented in a sexual way which could be interpreted as particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body; a proposal found in Goodwin's theory. This content may give the audience a short representation of the artist's lifestyle as well as attracting a male target audience through content including the revealing of a female body.

Flo Rida:

Flo rida is another well known rap artist, however he made a track called 'Club Can't Handle Me' featuring David Guetta, a dj. Together they created a dance track that shares the conventions of both dance and rap:

The music video begins with the artist arriving at the club in two Lamborghini's. He then gets out the car and throws his money in the air, suggesting he has lots of money to spare. Such iconography conveys to the audience a short representation of the expensive lifestyle in which the artist lives, a conventional portrayal for a rap artist. This will appeal to the audience as it is not the conventional life which they live; this short representation of the artist enables them to 'know' more about the artist and their opposing lives.

As the video progresses, a split screen is included showing the club as very lively while outside on the street is very quiet. This split screen portrays and emphasises to the audience the atmosphere in which the song is suggested to have created as everyone listening to it is perceived to be having a good time. This will appeal to the target audience as they are under the impression that the song is in fact a song that creates and enhances a good time. It is conventional for a dance track's music video to contain a party scene in order to create this.

The location of the music video is mostly based in a club, creating a party scene throughout. This narrative enhances the desired affect on the audience as they feel the song is the reasoning behind people having a good time. By having a club, this also gives a short representation of the artist's life, as both dance and rap artists are perceived to be living a 'party' life consisting of excitement. This appeals to the target audience as they are able to build a relationship with the artists by attaining knowledge about them, as well as buying into the artist's life to become more similar to them. As the song is called 'The Club Cant Handle Me' and the location being a club, there is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals in which Goodwin proposed influenced the success of a music video.

Later in the video when the party is on the street, the artist is positioned in the middle of the frame on a pedestal and therefore higher than those on the ground dancing. By positioning the artist in both a higher and central place in the frame conveys the artist as superior and more important than the others in the frame as this encourages the audience to focus on him. This will appeal to the target audience as they will assume that it is in fact the artist creating such atmosphere and therefore will become interested in the artist in order for them to have a similar effect on them. This is conventional of a rap artist as they are perceived to have an a superior attitude toward them self.

When the party is outside on the street, a high angles shot is used to show the artist. A high angles shot of the artist can be perceived as border-lining arrogance as it is suggestive of a 'look at me' attitude in which this is conventional of a rap artist as being flashy in their music videos in order to convey and emphasise their success. This may attract the target audience as they become interested with the lifestyle of such artists as it is unfamiliar to them.

Killswitch Engage: In Due Time

The final chosen genre I have chosen to analyse according to it's generic conventions is Rock, specifically in the sub-genre of Metalcore; a combination of hardcore punk and extreme metal. I have chosen to analsye 'In Due Time' by the band Killswitch Engage, in which their name only portrays them as conventional Rock artists from the word 'kill'.

The video begins with a panning shot of a line of electric guitars. Electric guitars are conventional iconography for a rock music video as they are perceived as edgy; they have a much harsher and louder sound than acoustic, a softer instrument. This instrument in particular contributes to the artist's image as it portrays them as more of a 'rocker' because the instrument is so typical of the genre. A panning shot emphasises to the audience that they are there, as it shows them one by one to the audience, again emphasising the 'rocker' image of the artists. The video also begin in black and white, another generic convention regarding mis en scene. Such colours make the video darker, they have connotations of anger, misery and mystery. For example, if they lighting were have pink tones, this would represent the artist of girly and happy; obviously not what a conventional rock artists is represented as. Instead black and white, make the artists appear dark and angry, very conventional in terms of artist representation in rock. This appeals to the audience as they can relate to the artists emotionally, therefore seeing their music as an outlet for their anger etc.

Furthermore, the lighting is conventional to the rock genre throughout the entire video. In this particular frame, the artist stands in front of red lights on a black background. The colour red has several connotations such as love and passion. However, in the context of this video, the colour red has been used for anger and danger, other interpretations of red. It highlights the atmosphere as being almost violent, as the colour can also connote blood. Again, this builds the artists representation as being rebellious and aggressive; conventional for rock artists.

The image of the artist is much conventional in terms of the genre. He is bald, giving him an almost thug look which could be viewed as intimidating. Long hair is also conventional to a rock artists as both looks suggest suggest a lack of regard to appearance, rather a rough and tainted image. He also has tattoos, one including barbed wire, indicating his tough attitude as this suggests pain. His clothes are also conventional to rock genre, again black and white to convey darkness. As well as this, the t-shirt the artist is wearing reads the word 'scream' in capital letters to ensure the audience will notice; it could be suggested of the type of music they make as it is included in the sub-genre they belong to, however it is also disturbing and unappealing to those who don't enjoy such music again reinforcing their rebellious image.

The cinematography allows the audience to engage with the band's performance. The close up of the drums provides an intense and intimate relationship between both audience and artist, making them feel involved in the atmosphere of performance. This is conventional in the rock genre to portray the effect the song has, it also emphasises the song itself as the audience can see the instruments up closely. Drums are another piece of iconography that is considered to be conventional to the rock genre as such instruments are typical of the genre; they are loud and provide a chaotic sense in terms of what the audience is hearing.

Censorship

Do you think videos should be censored?

Censorship has a crucial role within the music industry in order to protect the audience from becoming offended, as the progression of the industry encourages artist’s to push the boundaries in order to become controversially known and keep their target audience interested.

Censorship laws and organisations such as Ofcom, aim to uphold the censorship of any content that may harm an audience. Ofcom is a communications regulator that specify in TV and radio sectors in particular. There are many music videos that have been censored or removed from the public eye as they have been deemed to offensive through the sexual exploitation or encouragement to use drugs etc. There are levels regarding severity of content that are dealt with according to how much of the video should be censored or if it should be shown.  

Here are some examples of videos that have all been censored, but in different ways and why they have been censored:

Rita Ora – How We Do

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOOxlVUC08Q

The video to this song contains simple content as it fulfils the generic conventions of a pop song by show casing a party scene. The video itself contains nothing of offensive substance; however MTV chose to censor a few of the lyrics as they could be found unpleasant to some viewers. The words ‘bullshit’ and ‘sex’ were both removed from the song when played on the channel. In terms of censorship, this particular video had minor issues in which only a couple slight changes were made to maintain a certain standard for the audience. After this, the video continued to play on TV.

Eminem ft Dr. Dre – Guilty Conscience

                                           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbw_BxDwdjk

In comparison to the previous video, this video contains much more content that can be perceived as offensive or disturbing. The video is based on 3 examples that portray a moral dilemma in which Dr Dre is attempting to encourage the person to do the right thing and Eminem is trying to convince them to do the wrong thing. Examples include stealing from a shop, having sex with an underage girl and murdering your wife for cheating; all very explicit situations. MTV chose to censor the lyrics of the song that included swearing or offensive content. They also removed the end of the video as it contains a scene showing a murder – an obviously disturbing scene.

Rihanna - SNM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdS6HFQ_LUc

With the song itself being called ‘SNM’ it is obvious that the sog is known for being overwhelming sexually natured; lyrics claiming that ‘chains and whips excite her’. Within the video, there are a large amount of over the top sexual references; people being tied up, whips and sexual toys. When the video first came out, it was immeditely banned from 18 countries. MTV first banned it from day time television, claiming it wasn't appropriate for these hours. They then found to be too offensive to shown on any music channels and therefore it didn’t.

Is Rihanna a Bad Role Model?

Being an RnB artist, Rihanna is well known for pushing the boundaries. Her controversial videos, explicit lyrics and revealing image is what has labelled her as a bad role model; so is she? Or has the media
presented her flaws to us as an audience unfairly?

The video to her track 'We Found Love' is a good example of what is considered to be one of Rihanna's controversial videos. It is based on a couple (Rihanna and an actor) who live a self destructive life and relationship by doing drugs, drinking and gambling. These are just a few examples of the content of this video that many found were inappropriate. MTV found this video too belligerent to distribute as they felt that the artist encouraged the use of drugs throughout to a young audience who are vulnerable to her influence. The video shows pills and other substances as well as the effect on the body i.e. dilated pupils as well as using a tie lapse to convey to disorientation, almost as if they were actually on drugs. The video was also filmed on a farm in Ireland, in which they were later removed from as the farmer who owned the land felt that Rihanna was 'too raunchy' and 'needed help from God' as she was exposing herself openly. In regards to this topic, The Prophet Blog says:

 “When photos of a topless Rihanna running around naked in an Irish field on the set of her ‘We Found Love’ video surfaced earlier this month, it gave the impression that the visual for the Calvin Harris club cut was going to be nothing more than a sexed up, raved up ‘Only Girl (In the World)’. But honey, this ain’t no ‘Only Girl’, and by comparison, Rihanna’s antics make Britney’s recent ‘Criminal’ crime-spree look like afternoon tea with Nan and Grandpa.”

[ http://idolator.com/6050571/rihannas-we-found-love-video-review-revue ]

Rihanna is well known for her revelling image, in which she certainly conveys this at certain parts of the video. There are scenes within the video that do not show, but suggest the couple to be having sex in which Chart Rigger indicates this being 'soft porn', obviously deemed inappropriate for her young target audience, in which she is aware they are in fact young; this is the perceptive of which many people share regarding Rihanna's 'bad role model' behaviour. If she were an idealistic figure in which many young girls look up to, why act as she does?

We are all too aware of Rihanna's 'negative' attributes as a result of media distribution, however, not many are aware of the good that Rihanna does. For example, Rihanna is an artist that supports over 20 charities such as Alzheimer's Association, Red Cross and Stand Up to Cancer - in which she supports in many different ways that not enough people are aware of:

'Grammy award-winning singer Rihanna has time and again proven her dedication to helping children in need, and created her Believe Foundation in 2006 to help terminally ill children.
In partnership with charities across the nation, Rihanna has performed a number of concerts to raise funds for both those charities and the Foundation. After her performances, she met children from the local charities, signing autographs and posing for pictures with her young fans.
The Barbadian-born star explains her reasons for starting the Foundation, “When I was young and I would watch television and I would see all the children suffering, I always said: when I grow up, I want to help.'

[  http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/rihanna#charities  ]

Rihanna donated approximately $5 million to a hospital in Barbados
in order for vital equipment and medicines to be available

As we can see from this quote, Rihanna is an example of a person who had an innate instinct to help others from a young age, in which she has continued to do up until this very day; so why is it that hardly anybody acknowledges this? Why is it that the media do not focus or even expose this side to Rihanna?

Instgram pic of Rihanna's

Her personal social media accounts are heavily focused on, as this gives us as an audience a peek as to 'who the real Rihanna is'. She as often been criticised for the content on her social media accounts such as Twitter and Instagram as they contain bad language, use of drugs and often reference to exploitation of the female body. She has also previously tweeted her argument regarding critic's opinion on her behaviour conveying her anger and outrage on sites such as Twitter.


In less than 10 years Rihanna has won 117 awards, has 7 albums of which she has sold over 40 millions copies of worldwide. Her job is to simply sell music and has asked nobody to idolise her and yet there are millions out there who do? She is still approached by respectable companies such as River Island and Mac to release her own range of products to increase both the companies and the artist's profit, in which this wouldn't be possible if she were not to be popular amongst their target audience. Many argue that it is her attitude and actions that are affecting her younger audience, yet do not address that it is the responsibility of those children's parents to advise them right from wrong. It is fair to conclude that the media abuse their responsibility to educate us as to what Rihanna is up too, as they clearly do not focus on all aspects on her life. All celebrities receive criticism, because it is impossible to please everyone.



To develop this post, you need to-
1) Include the points from the class debate and consider the positives and negatives 
- include eminem points

- emphasise the points are from different perspectives i.e. parents,record label etc

2) Include a summary to explain how your research will assist you with planning your own music video
- do we want a controversial artist
- pros and cons
- no, in order to create a simple artist representation to appeal to our target audience so that they can relate to them.