Genre Music Video Research

 

This music video is very similar to how we imagine ours to be. It is redundant to R&B/Pop videos not having a particularly strong storyline, most of the video is focused on showing the artists star persona which will be the demand of the record label. This video proves Laura Mulveys theory about the male gaze where women are objectified and there to be looked at which she is in this video however she is an alpha female when she begins boxing but still keeping the male gaze as a feature because she is not wearing appropriate boxing gear. The shots become much quicker as the chorus begins however the song is quite slow so most shots are long takes. There are quite a few dance routines which are taken in short takes with camera movement on a crane and zooming. During these dance routines it fragments the camera into parts of her body to focus on, e.g hands, feet. In female artists music videos there is quite often a good looking man which challenges the rule of the male gaze and gives a female gaze on the man topless. This is something we would like to include in our video because it will fit the target audience which are girls between the ages of 16-25.              

Lip Sync

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLTzUIeMmC4&feature=g-crec-u

Genre Research

Genre Research from Kiah Bishop

Our Choice Of Song

This is the song we have chosen to use, it is Born To Fly - Tanya Lacey. We chose this because we like that it is not typical rnb/pop, it has elements of regge in. Also it has lyrics which we can create an amplifying and illustrative video which is what we intend to do. We don't want it to have a very specific story to it because this is not a standard rnb/pop song so we wanted to keep with it being different in the video also. I am working with Syra from my media group because we both have the same taste in music and the similar ideas as to what we can do with this project.

Research

Nicki Minaj (Rap/Hip Hop/Pop)

I chose this album cover because I like the use of bright colours, I think it fits with the genre because it appeals to a young audience. Also during my research I have noticed lots of the genre I am going for shows the artists face very innocently. Some feature male gaze type images but never too obviously because the target audience are young females. When making my digipak I am going to use bright colours (pop art) similar to this because I think it is very eye catching and fitting of the genre.

Beyonce (RnB/Pop)

I have chosen this cover because I think even though it is not bright like most in this genre it features a very plain image which gives a calm effect which I like. I would like my digipak to have a bold album name however small like one word or number like this. I like that all the writing is in the same font and the background is just plain. With my image I don't think I will use a male gaze type image because I want my target audience to be slightly younger than this. I think this target audience is older because of the plain maturity of the cover.

Jessie J (Pop)

The same as most pop album artwork this features an innocent looking artists face on the cover. I think this gives away the target audience very clearly because she looks young and innocent. The brightness of the image gives it an almost pop art effect with her bright lipstick and black hair. the simpleness of the image is what I intend to have mine as. The plain writing however with her signature name font looks effective because it is not too bold and overwhelming. 

Rihanna (Rnb/Pop)

This is my favourite cover because I like the brightness of the image because it gives a pop art effect with her bright red lip and hair. The innocent expression on her face fits the genre which is young females because she is not over exposed or anything. I like the use of capital letters for the album name because it makes it bold yet not because its in a soft whiteish colour. I would like to use this sort of cover for mine because I like the effects used and I think it will fit my type of artist perfectly.

Rita Ora (Pop)
I really like this digipak because of the use of black and white for images and bright coloured writing. With this genre there are usually bright coloured images with dull writing, with this being a redundant form of a pop digipak it is also amplifying because there are lots of differences. When I create my digipak I would like to have one similar to this, featuring similarities with a few differences. I like the use of one main bold colour throughout all the artwork. All digipaks show the label and distributors, so I would be required to do this. Rita Ora's digipak connotes her star persona through images, these show she is bold, outrageous, youthful and informal. The images show her to be very relaxed and down to earth which make it easier for her fans to connect with her on a personal level, this is common in Pop digipaks. It is common for Pop albums to have names very simplistic whether they are one word or just a number which I will include in mine. I think showing the artists star persona is very important because it shows they are serious in the industry and well known.
Important Features:

• Barcode
• Parental Advisory
• Tracklist
• Copyright information
• Artist name and album (front and back)
• Images of the artist
• Website/Fansite

The main image on the front cover is of the artist who appears to be looking at the camera. The direct mode of address shows how determined and confident the artist is. The facial expression is not stern or relaxed so i think its giving the impression she is approachable and gentle. The font is quite plain being a sans serif font it makes it very informal. This fits the target audience as they are young. The typography is the same throughout the album with all titles being in bright red capitals, and the less important things in white and black. Thee bright red lipstick gives it a sexual feel however not too extreme.
The CD is bright red creating a strong contrast with the bold white writing which stands out to the audience. Still keeping with the colour scheme with the same font and capitals.
The back cover shows lots of images of the artist in different ways. These images give a good view of her star persona to be very childlike, carefree and fun however determined and confident in the music industry. Still keeping with all the patterns of red, white and black writing with capital letters. The side panels show the album title and artists name including her record label.


                                                       Nicki Minaj (Pop/Rap/HipHop)

The front cover the shows what the artist is like having bright pink and the album being called Pink Friday because Nicki Minaj is known for being girly and doll-like, she often wears the colour pink in her videos. The target audience is able to notice the use of colours and obvious characteristics of this artist. This theme is obvious throughout the digipak. Her outfit is very girly and similar to what a princess would wear, this shows her star persona because she feels shes is the queen and often refers to that in her songs. The back of the digipak is very similar to the front cover by following the same colour scheme. It is obvious her appearance is what the audience is meant to be focused on rather than the music and track list because the images are very large whereas the tracklist is very small and subtle. Her outfit is a long trailed skirt which shows her in a sexual manner with the front of the skirt being basically invisible to the audience all we can see are her legs in a sexual way which is not fitting with the target audience because they are young teens, whereas the back of the dress is obviously like a princess dress which does fit with the audience. In her music videos her costumes are commonly crazy and out of the ordinary which is similar to her as an artist because she is know to make strange noises and voices in her songs. There is a lot of male gaze however this does not match her music because it is generally very simple with a very catchy chorus which targets the younger generation of females. At the bottom left hand corner are the institutions which are positioned in the bottom left so that they are the last thing the audience sees. These will be demands of sponsors or the record label so they are shown to be connected to the audience.

Album advertisements have become much less common due to illegal downloading, record labels would much prefer to put money into advertising their artists tours. I have noticed this during my researching. This has changed my idea from creating an album poster to create a poster for an arena tour.

Typical conventions of a music magazine advert are:

• An image,usually from the digipak
• The date the CD is out or released
• Band name
• Album name
•  Reviews e.g. 5 stars
• Available from e.g. HMV, Amazon
• Record label logo
• Tracks featured
• Website
• Slogan/strap line
• Tour date
• Limited Edition
• Offers to download
• Quotes from newspapers and music magazines
• Name at the top of the advert

                                                                        

  

 Both Jessie J's tour and album album advertisements are basically the same, they both have common factors which the audience will be familiar to, for instance the black, gold and white colour scheme. They both have the same image, they have similar contents too. They are both very plain with minimal information however there are still clear demands from the record label in smaller font on both posters. On my advertisement I am going to create on for a tour because it is becoming less common for artists to have album adverts, they are now promoting them more themselves by having appearances on popular shows ect. I would like to use a colour scheme with a bold interesting image similar to Jessie J's because I think it is very striking and draws attention to it. Album advertisements always show a popular song which has hit the charts because the people feel the rest of the album will be just as good, like this one. Also the use of putting on their website is common in both tour and album posters. It seems like it is important to put only the key information because in this genre I have not found any cluttered posters from information, only from images.

The Pitch

Video Analysis

                                          Justin Bieber – As Long As You Love Me

This video is from Justin Bieber’s third studio album, Believe (2012). Directed by Anthony Mandler, and edited by Jacquelyn London. It features guest appearances by Michael Madsen and Big Sean, the latter of which performs the rap on the track. The video is more of a short film than a music video as it has a very clear narrative. The video marks a key point in Justin’s career as a more mature artist as opposed to his first album ‘My Worlds’.

The video is in the form of a short film which begins with a master shot of+ Michael and Justin talking outside a large gate with sun gazes into the camera to connote the realistic situation. The whole video shows Justin in a very mature state with the narrative at the start adding to this persona. Justin seems to be ‘in love’ reaching maturity willing to risk anything for the girl he is in love with. The video features lots of Goodwins theory one point is that the video is very illustrative to the track and there is a strong relationship between visuals and music. There is a line said by Big Sean which is ‘Camera’s point and shoot’, just as this is said the shot changes to a shot of Justin pointing a camera at the girl.

 This happens twice, he also says the line ‘Now we on top of the world’ which then changes to a mid-close up shot of Justin and his girl on top of a building as if they are ‘on top of the world’. Also this video is entropic to RNB/Pop music videos because it shows a strong storyline whereas in most they just feature dance routines, flash cars/jewellery and minimal clothing. However this video does have a dance routine and a flash car there are no females or males in the video specifically for posing.  In this video similar to most RNB videos it shows an underground type setting where Justin and dancers perform a dance routine. He is also shown driving around in a smart mustang which is a intertextual feature in RNB videos. 

As the song quickens into the chorus there is a strong sense of synaesthesia showing short quick takes of the artist performing a dance routine and lip syncing in front of the camera. It is very obvious the record label have demanded features in the video which are close ups of Justin and also a performance by the featuring artist Big Sean. Having these demands allows us to see their star persona which Justin’s is to show how he is no longer the young teenager singing childish pop music, he is now more mature with his music entering issues such as love conquering all. His star persona is more mature, gentlemanly however much more arrogant. There is only a small amount of the male gaze seen in this video because most of Justin’s fan base are young so it wouldn’t fit the audience to have a redundant RNB video.

 There are a few clips of fragmented parts of the girl’s body such as her thighs. There are a couple of quick shots of male gaze however it is very minimal and not particularly obvious. Another way the male gaze is portrayed is where a mid-close up of Justin  taking pictures of the girl in sexual poses as if she is there to be looked at. There aren’t any particular intertextual references other than the fact Michael Madsen is an actor and usually in films so being in the video gives it a more short film feel to it. Also the video has a movie screen effect with bigger black bars than normal to give the feel of a real film.

Justin’s video fits very well to Propp’s theory where he feels people have their own particular roles. Its very obvious to the audience that Justin is the hero in the narrative because he has lots of close ups and as the video progresses he is shown with bruises and a cut up face from him trying to protect his ‘princess’ so they can be together  however her father gets in the way of it so he is to overcome the villain and get the reward (the girl) but in this particular video he doesn’t get the reward, the villain wins.  Another theorist is Todoror who thinks music videos should have a sequence which is equilibrium, disequilibrium, recognition, reparation and new equilibrium. This video goes with this sequence to an extent. The beginning is the equilibrium where everything is good because her father is unaware of their relationship. It then changes because the father finds writing on his daughters neck saying ‘you r so sexy’,

 he then goes mad and forces them appart. Next Justin recognises what he has to do to get the balance back. The reparation is where Justin gets beaten up by the girls father. And the new equilibrium is where Justin is left without his girlfriend. Another theory written by Levi-Strauss is that all music videos feature binary opposites, a right side and a wrong side. This theory is very clear in this video that Justin is the right side and we are made to think this because he gets all the reaction shots, whereas when the fight occurs the camera is pointing towards Madsen so you are able to see he is in the wrong.  The narrative doesn’t represent Pop music videos because the storyline is very in depth which most aren’t. The fact it shows scenes of a sexual nature shows that his record label is trying to show him in a mature maner however it doesn’t fit the typical audience. Also it shows quite violent scenes when the father is assulting Justin.

The video does have a narrative which most videos feature, a relationship torn appart by a specific reason and they fight to stay together. It’s a narrative that can be repeated which Steve Archer the theorist writes about where there is a repeatability of a narrative in every video.

This video shows most of the theories to be possibly true however it does not fit with all aspects of their theories.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4em3LKQCAQ –The Video.