Music Videos

In this blog I will be talking about the purposes of different music videos and also the codes and conventions of different genres of music, aswell as the different styles and techniques used in production.

I will mostly be using Hip-Hop songs as examples as my aim is to show videos that a lot of people have never heard of let alone seen, in order to portray the different styles that artists follow all over the music industry.

Purpose:

There are many reasons why an artist or producer would create a music video however the most common reasons are to promote the artist featured in the video and to make money.

Creating a video to a song/beat gives the audience something aesthetic (something to look at) which gives them another way to remember the song. It adds a lot of character and makes the song unique.

Although music videos and beneficial to a song there is a lot of pressure as they can either make or break a song. Fans have a lot of critisism on music videos as a video cannot please everyone. A good video can boost the sales of a song by a huge percentage however a bad video can rapidly decrease the number of sales.

Other reasons why music videos are made can include sending a message to the audience, promoting an artists appearance or simply for entertainment reasons.


Promoting the band or artist:

If you are an artist that is 'up and coming' in the music industry, a great way to get known is to appear in an already successful artist's video in order to get yourself out there.

A good example of this, (although not very well known to most people who aren't interested in Hip-Hop!), is 'Pusha-T' featuring in rapper 'Birdmans' song and music video 'What happened to that Boy' in 2003. After this song Pusha-T became a lot more well known as Birdman was the founder of the record label 'Cash Money Records', featuring artists such as 'Drake', 'Lil Wayne' and 'Nicki Minaj'. This obviously got people looking at the video as Birdman is very well known in the rap industry. This was beneficial to Pusha-T as he got more and more interest by both fans and other producers, artits, composers etc.

Baby ft. Pusha-T - What Happened To That Boy 

Since this rise in fame, Pusha-T went on to be a very well known rapper and eventually singned to Kanye West's record label 'GOOD Music' in 2010 and featured in songs such as 'Runaway' and more recently 'Mercy' and 'New God Flow'. He is currently working on an album named 'My Name Is My Name' which is due to release on July 16th 2013 which wi;ll feature artists such as Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar among others.


Featuring in a song is a great way to get noticed, however if you can create something that goes global, you automatically become known worldwide.
A great example of how a music video has became the most watched video on YouTube of all time is of course PSY's Gangnam Style.

Before this song PSY was not well known around the world but it was the genius behind the iconic dance move which swooped the planet! The video has had 1,636,846,816 views and that number can only get larger as the days go by! This is an astonishing figure in itself however his new song and music video 'Gentleman' broke the World Record for the most views in 24 hours! This proves that a good music video can not only boost your career, but also shows that once you are well-known, people will still watch your latest videos, intrigued to see the new sensation!

Making Money:

Although artists write music for enjoyment a large majority of their motivation is to make money. Although a song itself can generate a lot of money, music videos are a great way to make a lot more money as they can be used for advertisement. The video is more than likely going to be uploaded to YouTube, which is a great idea as so many people now use the internet and YouTube to watch videos. Money can be generated from YouTube views, however the majority of that money will got to both the owner of the channel and also the record label that the artist is signed to. Also, YouTube have a lot of advertisement before the video which can make both the artist and YouTube a lot more money. Music videos are more likely to make money from appearing on TV channels such as MTV. This is because MTV can pay for an exclusive video or one that no-one else has seen yet. Videos can also make money from brands that have allowed the artist to portray them in the video.An example of this, even though it is only a few sesonds in the video, is A$AP Rocky's music video 'Goldie'. There is a lyric in the song 'My Martin was a Maison, rocked Margiela with no laces' which is refferening to the clothing brand Martin Maison Margiela. In the video at 0:32 it shows a pair of Margiela shoes being set on fire. A$AP Rocky must have either asked Margiela if he can use their shoes in his video or they would have approached him about it as it would be copyright and he could be sued.

Also, throughout the video, A$AP is wearing a 'Comme des Fuckdown' hat, a brand which he is linked with through advertisement.

A$AP Rocky - Goldie



Sending a message to the audience:

A lot of songs that artists make have their own personal messages in them which there are portraying to the audience very basically and vaguely. However there are some songs which the artist want the audience to understand their message clearly and portray it even more in the video.

The message can be a good postive message or a very bad, sometimes shocking message. An example of a negative however touching message is in Kanye West's song 'Through The Wire' in which he raps about how he is was in a fatal car crash fracturing his jaw in 3 places, which he luckily survived and shares his experience with the audience by writing a song about it 2 weeks later. The video is a series of photographs and video clips from things such as stages of his surgery, his family and his career so far.

He directly addresses the audience several times in the song, saying things like
'Y'all don't really understand how I feel right now man,'
'I really apologize how I sound right now man
If it's unclear at all, man
They got my mouth wired shut for like I don't know the doctor said for like six weeks
I had reconstructive surgery on my jaw
But I'm still here for you all right now yo'between his verses to let the audience know what the song is about.

Kanye West - Through The Wire

Styles of Music Videos

Different genres of music result in different styles in music videos.
For example Rock bands tend to usually use live in cocert footage for their videos and Indie bands try to tell a story in their videos. Both of which are effective in their own way.

However the music I personally listen to (Hip-Hop), the videos tend to have no storyline but instead are very creative and tend to use animational features, showing just the artist as the main focal point in the video. The main styles of music videos are Performance, Concept, Animation and Narrative.

Performance:

Performance music videos are usually footage of the bands/artist live in concert or just in an empty space in front of a camera.

It is a clever idea for a video as it sells themselves even more by showing the audience what their shows are like, and this is more likely to sell tickets on their tours/gigs if people like the look of the video.

These styles of videos are usually used by Rock Bands as this is the style many of them have chosen to use. I feel that it works perfectly for this genre of music as their performances are extremely lively and filled with a lot of drama which is perfect for a music video as it keeps the audience interested in what is happening on-screen.

A good example of a performance music video is Swedish House Mafia's song 'Don't You Worry Child'.

The video shows the group doing a live show in front of thousands of people. It has lots of different angles and shots which makes the video look like a proper, planned out music video. It is a very clever video as it involves clips of the crowd dancing along to the song. It its the song perfectly as it is a very lively and 'dancy' song and this is portrayed in the video with people dancing long to the song in the crowd.

Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child

Concept:

Concept music videos are usually a story which is told in a confusing and mixed up way in order to keep the audience interested. They are usually fairly depressing and sad. This is a technique used as a way of keeping the audience watching as they want to know what happens at the end. The story is normally broken up by things such as filler clips to take the intensity off of the depressing scenes.

A good example of a Concept music video is Alt-J's song 'Breeze-blocks'. It shows a man and a woman getting chased by a gang and the boyfriend gets beaten up in front of her. At the end the boyfriend gets up and takes the gang on on his own, defeating the gang members for his girlfriend's safety. It is very clever as the video matches the song as in something big would happen on the drop of the beat.

Alt-J - Breeze Blocks

Animation:

Animation music videos feature characters that have been either animated or a drawing, cartoon etc. that usually tell a story. They are very clever as you can literally create whatever you want however you want to. 

Animation music videos are usually used for Indie music genre as it shows creativity and is unique. However, Kanye West uses the technique extremely well in his song 'Good Life'.

It uses animations to explain what he is rapping about for example he says 'watch the money pile' as he piles up an animated pile of money with his hands. He continues to match the lyrics with animation throughout the video which would be a lot easier to see if you watched the video!

Kanye West - Good Life

Narrative:

Narrative music videos tell a story, which is not always related to the song featured in the video. Most of them are about love and do not contain a lot of lip syncing, if any at all. 

The video usually involves two people, most commonly it would be a man and a woman, showing both his and her half of the story. Obviously, it is more likely to show the main characters part of the story, and this can even be the artist of the song acting out the story. This is clever as it makes the video easier to relate to as it is the writer of the song in the video, therefore is more realistic.

A good example of a Narrative music video is another one of Kanye West's songs - Paranoid. This video is about a woman (Rihanna) driving away from a man (Kanye West) really fast through a series of different scenes in order to escape him as she is paranoid. The video has hints in it that Rihanna is paranoid as she looks very scared and keeps looking over he shoulder etc. There are certain shots in the video that allow the audience to know that she is escaping Kanye West as there is a particular shot where his eyes are all white staring down the lens of the camera. I feel that the video is suitable as it acts out a story and does so very well. 

Kanye West - Paranoid

Music Genres:

There are many different music genres including Pop, Indie, R&B, Hip-Hop/Rap, Rock and many, many more!

Pop:

Pop music is more than likely aimed at younger people (not to say that old people don't like it too!) as they are very upbeat songs and the videos are usually about 5 young men with big hair jumping around with some sort of instrument in their hand and overly lip syncing to show the audience they are singing along (when in fact they are not). There is usually a lot of paint and crazy things happening in the video and the group/artist are dancing around and having a great time.

One Direction - Live While We're Young

Indie:

Indie music is usually aimed at fairly basic individuals who enjoy listening to 'unique' music and wearing skinny jeans with tight T-shirts (so mainly younger people). The music video is mainly narrative as they all seem to tell some kind of story whether it be romance or love. The videos can be depressing but can also be upbeat. It is a fairly broad music genre in my opinion.

Hip-Hop/Rap:


Rap videos don't particularly fall into a certain style of video, they just involve the rapper in the middle of the screen miming the words surrounded by girls, money, cars and gold. This is done to show the audience what lifestyle they live, and how much money they have. I myself prefer these videos to any other genre, as I like Hip-Hop because i am interested in that sort of thing. I prefer it because it is simple yet effective and because of how rich they are their videos are made by awesome editors! 

2 Chainz ft. Drake - No Lie

 

4 Music Videos that I like 

Kanye West Ft. Big Sean, Pusha-T and 2 Chainz - Mercy

My favourite video without a doubt has got to be another Kanye West song - Mercy.

It is so creative and i have never seen anything like it before. The editing in the video is incredible and must have taken ages! The video appears to be one continuous shot with the four artists in the song (Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha-T and 2 Chainz) appearing in several different places at once in areas around the scene. 

The main line in the chorus is 'Lamborghini Mercy' so it is very fitting that the video is shot in an underground car park with a black Lamborghini park in the middle of the screen. The camera is constantly moving and the whole video is in black and white. I feel that it looks extremely stylish and suits the song perfectly. The video is literally the artists rapping there verses in one take which I have never really seen in a music video before as there is almost certainly always at least one filler shot in basically every other video. 

The video doesn't really fit into any of the styles i mentioned before however if i were to compare it to one it would be performance as they are singing their lines however not to a crowd. They are just rapping along looking straight down the camera at the audience and moving around the scene. The entire video in my opinion looks very modern and works well.

Rick Ross Ft. Drake and Wale - Diced Pineapples

 

I like this video as it is very stylish and easy on the eye. The sunny scenes make the video have a positive vibe to it. Again, it doesn't really  have a massive relation to any of the styles but i would probably compare it to narrative as it sort of tells a bit of a story. 

It is about Rick Ross, Wale and Drake at their homes on a sunny resort, both with women and showing what they do while they are on holiday. It is a very relaxed song and this is perfectly demonstrated in this video, plus the filming is top notch!

A$AP Rocky - Peso

I like this video as it is very simple in the way that it is filmed but at the same time looks very professional. It has quick cuts from shot to shot and has slow motion in it which gives the video both a quick feel as the cuts from shot to shot are on the beat and a slow feeling obviously because of the slow motion. 

Again, I would compare it to a narrative style because, even though there is no actual story-line, it is about him and his friends in their hometown Harlem doing what the would have done before they got famous and rich.  I like it because he is sat in American diners and goes into supermarkets which even though he is rapping about cars and gold. It is clever as what is happening in the video is very opposite to what he is rapping about.

 

Drake - Started From The Bottom 

Although I don't like the song, I think that this music video is very clever. The video is filmed very well and the editing is also good. There is a lot of slow motion in the video which makes it look good and professional.

again, it is a narrative style as it is about Drake's life before he was famous and includes him as a kid, obviously an actor, playing football for a team in Toronto. He also works in a supermarket and shows him getting promoted to night manager. It then shows his life now in his private jet, a Bentley, lots of gold and girls! I think that it is very clever and works well with the song as the chorus is 'Started from the bottom now we're here'.

Pre-production

Cast and Crew Release Forms;

Cast/Crew release forms are important as they make sure that the production is following legal obligations and they let the actors and crew know what is expected of them in the production. Also, it is  a written document which allows the actors to sign it which means that they agree to being filmed and it is also a way of letting them know what the production team want from the in the film/programme. 

It includes information like the production name, the director's name, the producer's name, the editor's name and the actors address. It also states information that the production team have put together and lets the actors know the terms and conditions. These conditions could include the actors not getting any compensation during the duration of the production, the right for the producer to use the real actors name, voice and image for the production and even things like the actor paying for any damage to property during the production. All of this information must be agreed to before the actor can begin filming.

  

Risk Assessment;

A risk assessment is put into place to avoid any injuries during production. Before composing a risk assessment the locations and sets where shooting will be done must be visited and checked for hazards and precautions. The risk assessment is then made sure that these dangers are either made as safe as possible or whether it is safer to just avoid them all together. Risk assessment must go through every hazard thoroughly in order for the filming to go as safe as possible. The more precautions you take, the less likely anything bad will happen during shooting. It is extremely important to spend time composing a risk assessment as anything that is missed from the location/set could result in an injury to either an actor or a crew member.

 Shooting Schedule;

This is a chart showing what times of day actors will be required for filming and the duration they will be required for. The schedule includes what days filming will occur, for how long, at what location and what actors will be filming. The schedule is useful for both the actors and the crew as actors can see what days they need to work, for how long each day and prepare for the shoot i.e. what they will need to wear. The crew can use the information given to plan where they will shoot, what shots they could use and what they need to be doing. 

Shooting schedule's can also include what props, clothing and equipment will be needed for the shoot. All of this information is very important as both the actors and crew can study it so that they know what to do and when to do it. When a shooting schedule is learnt the filming is faster and easier as appose to the crew not knowing what to do and the whole production taking a lot longer. 

 Production Schedule;

The production schedule shows exactly when everything to do with the production will happen, and for how long it will happen for. It includes information like when editing will commence, when the soundtracks will be added, when the storyboard will be composed and when the final product will be viewed and criticised. It is very important as both the cast and crew need to know thoroughly when everything will happen and when certain things finish. It is important they know this so that they can plan ahead for these different parts of the production and once one is finished they can begin to plan for the next one. It is also important to schedule everything so that the director can stick to the schedule and the project will finish when it was predicted to. If the schedule is not studied then the project could end up taking a lot longer than predicted and everything will take much longer.

Treatment:

A treatment is basically a list about everything in your production. It is created to try and get a producer/director to fund your project, and so that it can possibly become an actual film. Treatments are the most important part of pre production as they have to get a producer's attention in order to sell. A good treatment often results in the scriptwriter attracting a producer to their project and has more of a chance of creating their project. A treatment should include things like the title of the production, the genre of the film, the duration, your target audience, people you will need, sets or locations you want to use, actors, equipment, your budget and health and safety hazards.

 Storyboards;

Storyboards give both the cast and the crew a visual idea of what the director wants each scene to look like and also gives them a chance to learn each shot and get a better understanding of what is expected of them. They are set out as a set of drawings set out in a line with a brief paragraph explaining what is happening in the drawing and what the scene is about. As storyboards are very important in a production, they are also extremely time consuming.

It is also a way of previewing how the shots and scenes will roughly look and is a great way of planning for the actual shoot. Storyboards go with the script and allows actors to get a better understanding of the script itself as they have the chance to look at how they should be saying something or what the scene they will be in acting in looks like. 

Location Recce;

A location recce is put together to avoid or reduce any problems encountered when filming at the location or set. It involves someone visiting the location and observing objects or obstructions around the area which will be used for filming and writing down any problems or errors that can be resolved. 

This can include the position of the sun at the time of day the scene will be filmed to avoid lens flare or even arranging car parking near by for the crew's equipment to be easily transported to the scene and also out of shot. There are many more factors that need to be considered and resolved and all of them must be thoroughly thought through in order to get the best visual result for the production.




Script Writing:

Scripts are very important for both cast and crew because they have all of their lines, actions etc. written on them. It is basically the entire production written onto paper. Scripts must be written in a certain way in order for the actors and crew to recognise it correctly. The writing should be size 11 in Courier New font. 

The first thing to be written on the script should be stage direction for example FADE IN. This shows the entire crew that the film has started. It is also important that you write FADE OUT and the end of the script to show that the film has ended. Throughout the script, any other stage directions will be written on the left hand side of the page and character's name who's turn it is to talk will be written in the centre of the page in capital letters and their lines will be written also in the centre. At the beginning of each new scene should be written like this for example EXT. THE PARK, A TREE - LATER. This means that the scene begins outside in a tree and later than the previous scene. EXT means 'exterior' meaning that the scene is outside and INT. means interior meaning the scene is inside. If then you wanted to cut to another scene you would write CUT TO on the left hand side of the page.

Scripts are very time consuming to put together and read through however it is very important that they are done correctly. If a script is incorrect then the actors would not know what to do/say and it would not run smoothly.

Non Realism

Non-Realism


Non-realism is when the audience knows that the programme, film etc. is not meant to look real and essentially, that the storyline does not have to make sense. They usually involve mythical creatures, aliens, ghosts, spirits and dinosaurs. Both the filming and editing can look un-natural, and allows the director to create any story that they want to. Both sound and lighting can be irregular and the use of sound effects and enhanced sound is common. Basically, anything can happen in a non-realism production 

A good example of a non-realism film is Avatar;

The film is set in the 22nd century and is about a distant moon which inhabits human-like creatures called the Na'vi tribe. The storyline is of an ex army man (Jake Sully) who has lost the use of his legs who travels to the moon and acts as one of the tribe members as something called an Avatar. When he is there he experiences new creatures, war and love. Sully ends up staying on the moon and becoming a full-time member of the tribe out of choice. The film uses different techniques regarding Camera, Lighting, Editing and Sound.



Camera;
Non-realism films use a variety of different camera shots in the production. Some of the main camera angles/shots include:

Close Up Shot:

This shot is usually used to show the audience what is being described in the dialogue, a way of showing a facial expression on a character's face or an important detail in the film. It is a way of getting your audience on the same wavelength in the way that they know what is being described. For example, in this shot, the character looks very relaxed and slightly happy. She could be looking like this due to something that has happened in the scene previously and this shot allows the audience to know what her reaction is.

High Angle/Ariel Shot:

This shot is to allow the audience to know where the character is in relation to the set and also what they are doing.

In this shot it is clear that Jake Sully is hunting creatures from above in order to take them by suprise.

Low Angle Shot:

This shot is used in order to give a mysterious feeling for the audience. It is usually used just before something important happens. It is mainly used to put the audience on edge. This shot is just before the forest gets attacked by humans and they are awoken to the sound of machines chopping up trees.

Sound;

Non-realism films usually have non-diagetic sounds. These are sounds that are added during editing that do not occur in the footage. The reason that directors use non-diagetic sounds is because the majority of sounds used are of unnatural things like gunshots, creature noises and scary sounds. The results of this make the sounds relate to what is on the screen, for example if a monster is roaring then a roaring noise will be added to the shot. Also, editors can edit sounds to make them, for example deeper of higher in order to match the picture.

This is a good example of non-diagetic sound as the creature chasing the Avatar is making different groans and roars.Also, there is music added into the background to make the scene more dramatic.

Lighting;

Lighting in non-realism films is very varied in the way that it can be very dark and gloomy or extremely bright and colourful. Gels can be used to create a coloured lighting. The reason for these strange lighting techniques are to make the footage look unreal and unatural. Lighting which is done correctly can look very effective and contributes to a good quality of film.

As Avatar is mostly animated, colours would have been changed during editing in order to make the shot look effective. Also, the moon where the Na'vi tribe live is portrayed as being a perfect place with a lot of colours and softness to it. This particular shot is mainly purple and blue.

Editing;

The comparison to editing a realism production and a non-realism production is fairly huge. The standard of editing for a non-realism film is much higher and the skill required is immense. The skills needed include knowing how to use green screens, being good at animation, editing sound and lighting effectively and being able to edit smooth transitions between scenes. The editing of a non-realism production is absolutely vital as it can make or break a film. A film which is poorly put together or badly animated is not going intrigue the audience what so ever.

Avatar was filmed using a lot of green screens and animation and the end result is near enough flawless. The film took about 9 years to complete from start to finish and the quality of the animation looks as close to reality as you can get in this day and age.

Here are some examples of the quality of animation in the film Avatar.

Video - Realism

Realism

Realism is a way of making your audience believe that the production is as close to being real as it possibly can. It uses very simply video and editing techniques in attempt to make the programme, film etc. look like a real conversation or scene is taking place.

A good example of Realism programme is Eastenders;

The programme is about a Square in London named Albert Square and the people that live there. It is suppose to be everyday life events that happen in the Square that people, (the audience) can relate to. Obviously events are exagerrated in order to keep the audience interested however it is kept fairly simple and very close to actual reality. Eastenders and Soap Operas in general have very strict techniques they must abide by in order to represent real life and create a successful Soap. These techniques include Camera, Editing, Lighting and Sound.

Camera;

The main two camera shots used in Eastenders is the Medium Close-up shot and the Wide Shot. Over 100 years of filming, research has shown that these shots are the closest to representing a conversation. It also closely represents how we communicate with people as you look into people's eyes when you speak and your vision is naturally wide angle. Also, using these shots make it simple to figure out where the actors are in the scene. This then makes it a lot easier to relate to what is going on and allows you to understand what they are doing and why they are doing it for example.

An example of a Medium Close-up shot;

It shows the person who is talking on the right of the shot and leaves an empty space on the left. This enables the audience to enterpret where the character is in the scene and allows them to have a better understanding. The fact that she is the only person in shot draws the attention to her and lets the audience know that she is the most important thing in the shot.

An example of a Wide Shot;

It shows the two main people in the scene with one being on the far left and the other on the far right. The shot is effective because it lets the audience know where the people are in the room and it makes it easier to relate to their conversation. It also breaks up the scene by adding a shot of both characters rather than flicking from Medium Close-ups.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SemVxW1dVE

This is a clip from Eastenders. It is a great example of both the Wide-angle and Medium Close-up shots. It is constantly flicking from shot to shot however it looks very smooth and the continuety is good. The people in the background of the clip are still very dominant characters in he programme, however the way it is filmed lets the audience know that they are not involved in this particular scene.

 

Sound;

Eastenders use both diagetic and non-diagetic sounds when filming and recording an episode. Diagetic sounds are sounds that can be seen within the shot, and non-diagetic sound are sounds that are heard which are not in the shot. Realism programmes use these techniques to make the programme as realistic as possible.

An example of diagetic sounds;

This is a good example of a still shot taken from an episode. In this shot, you would obviously be able to hear both Masood and Zainab talking, but you would also be able to hear any background noise from the people in the background. You would also hear the opening of the ring box as it is an important part in this scene. You may also be able to hear drinks being poured, bottles clanking together etc. as you can see them in the shot.

An example of non-diagetic sound;

This is a good example of non-diagetic sound. The still shows a scene outside a house on the street. it is a good example because they are right next to the street therefore you would be able to hear cars going by even though you can't see them. You may also be able to hear things like birds, car horns, sirens and other people talking that are out of shot. 

 

Editing;

Eastenders uses very basic editing techniques when putting an episode together. The editing itself may be basic, however the key is to make the continuity of each shot believable. As the programme is suppose to be real-life events of day-to-day life, things like props and actors have to look the same as the scene cuts from shot to shot. even though we as the audience knows that the programme is not real-life, the editors have to portray each scene as being as realistic as possible. This is why we don't see any arty cuts between scenes or any effects used during a shot. There are also no special effects or enhanced shots. This is because, again, the programme is meant to be real-life, and it is meant to look as though you are there looking at it through your eyes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt-K4sTDy3w

This is a scene of when Phil crashes his car. Note how the entire scene seems as though it is happening without any breaks and it feels like the scene was shot using one take. The scene flows well flicking from different shots. Even when the car is crashing there are no special effects or changed lighting etc. it is just simple shots that look effective. 

 

Lighting;

The majority of scenes filmed in Eastenders are filmed outside, therefore the lighting would be very natural provided by the sun or a single, natural looking light. Scenes that are filmed indoors are lit by cieling lights, much like the lights you have in your home. This is done in attempt to make the shot look like the characters are sitting in their home, and it is done to make it look as natural as possible.

This is a shot filmed in the Queen Victoria. The lighting in the shot looks very natural and has that pub feeling about it. There is a slight bit of light which looks like the sun shining through a window. There is no major light reflections on any of the characters or any props in the background. The shot itself looks overall very natural and effective.