Research into the Industry

Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device; intended to promote the sale of music recording.

Music videos became prominent in the 1980

's, when MTV based their format around the medium.

Prior to the 1980's these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promo clip", "promo video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip".

Music Video Stations

Without the music stations the music videos would not make such a big impact on the ratings and downloads, such as: 

These music video stations have defied and shaped the music video industry, without these major companies music videos wouldn't be where they are today.

Intertextual Music Videos

Intertextuality is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text. Through-out the history of the music video intertextuality has been used in a number of ways. It can be done by showing parts of a film through a music video; such as, in Whitney Houston's - I Will Always Love You. (1992)

 It is also shown in 'Material Girl' by Madonna, unlike Whitney's I Will Always Love You, she decided to wear the same thing as Marilyn Monroe from her movie 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'.

Furthermore, this was also shown in 'Californication' - Red Hot Chili Peppers , by making the music video to look like a video game shows great creativity. It brings in a new depth to animation and how you can do anything within music videos and how creative you want to be as a producer/director.

The history of the Music Video

Music video's believe it or not have been around since the 1920's when jazz had just come into the picture. Artists like Bessie Smith were able to perform but also make their music reach a far bigger audience then what they would have if cameras and television hadn't existed.

Look below to see my Music video history timeline:

Music videos have increase and have got more technically challenged, more and you see new tricks of the trade on chart shows; like animation, new transitional clips, one shot music videos and so much more.

All of these eras have inspired me to go out and achieve my best for my main task. 'Bohemian Rhapsody' has given me a thought about making my task unexpected and unique, I would like my main task to stand out and not seem like a normal music video.

Mulvey and her male gaze theory.

The Male Gaze.

The concept of male gaze is one that deals with the way the audience looks at the character on the screen. Mulvey made it clear that men look at females as objects, and not subjects how most women would like to be known as.

Mulvey not only came up with this theory for television but also music videos, take 'Single Ladies' by Beyonce this music video shows women to be only good for provocative and explicit images and that they need a man to get through the day.

Mulvey's theory will help me with the genre i have chosen, as i have chosen pop sung by a female singer I will try to add this theory to the planning and execution of my Music Video.

Music video analysis 1

Beyoncé - Single ladies

This Music video adheres to some of Andrews Goodwin's Theory, by being a 'pop' therefore it has the genre characteristics as a typical girl video as they are dancing (a form of movement).

The clothing in the music there is a lot of sexual connotation and the sexual dancing shows the theory of Mulvey of 'the male gaze'.

The lighting also shows the difference between the light and the dark of each woman's different persona and emotional side to themselves. It is also shown through the lyrics and visuals when the motif changes from the regular beat into the minor aggressive key.

In this music video there is use of camera movement and different camera angles, which help portray the song in the right light for their target audience.

The use of close ups on Beyonce and the different  dancers show the 'Single Ladies' in a way of looking for love and a man who will be willing to put a ring on it. This is also shown by the close up of the ring on Beyonce's hand (on her wedding finger) showing that the man should have put a ring on it before he left.

There are no intertextual references in this music video as the dnacers are in a plain room and there are no interruptions of the flow of the music video due to other movies or flash backs entering the music video of any given time.

This is a performance-based music video, there is no sign of any narrative or concept based shots in this video.

Overall, this music video has helped me to understand the different use of camera angles and lighting effects can turn a simple music video into a one of a kind music videos and I will be using these effects in my main task. As we did in our Karaoke task.

Andrew Goodwin Theorist of Music Videos

Andrew Goodwin said that, music videos demonstrate genre characteristics, such as stage performances in metal videos and dance routines for boy/girl bands.

He also said there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals, they could either be illustrative, amplifying or contradicting.

Furthermore, he also said "There is a relationship between music and visuals, either illustrative, amplifying and contradicting."

He additionally stated that "The demands of the of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artists and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style)"

Goodwin expressed "there is a frequent reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc.) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

He published that 'there is often intertextual reference (to films, TV Programmes, other music videos, etc.)

Throughout this year I will be using and practicing Andrew Goodwin's theory, this will make sure I adhere to the task at hand.

Evaluation of karaoke task

Our karaoke task went well, however as a team we felt like we could have improved on a number of areas and they were:

• Due to time we could not film enough footage therefore we had to reuse some of the footage making it seem repetitive. However we managed to hide this with the use of different transitions and different lighting effects.
• Furthermore, due to timing again we didn't have the time to choose different camera angles, this made us feel like we should keep a timing schedule and stick to it whilst filming our main task.
• Due to our actor not being able to come to all the filming sessions we had booked we were unable to proceed with the filming, we thought that when it comes to our main task that we should make sure that our actor/actors are available when we need them.
• As this was our first time using the software and we need to become more confident when using the software and using different transitional clips will make our main task look more efficient and professional.

We understand that there is areas that we need to improve on and with the help of our media technician we will learn how to use equipment and software to make our main task professional and also interesting for the viewer to watch.

Karaoke Task

This is our final Karaoke Task project.

Day 3 Editing.

On the 15th of September, we started the long task of editing our preliminary task.

We started by downloading the song on to the computer that we were using so we had the correct song for the footage.

We already had an idea of what we wanted and where we wanted it by the storyboard we had made, therefore it was easier to edit in the time we had to do so.

We then watched all the footage and determined what we could use and what we couldn't for the video, the basis on bad footage was lip syncing out of time and a use of a bad lighting.

We then spent countless time cutting and editing each of our videos to fit with the song and the mood we were trying to convey.

Overall the video came out well, however there is some areas that we could have improved on. Look up to see my evaluation.

Day Two : Karaoke Task

During my media lessons today, we set up our cameras and lighting system before filming so everything went as smoothly as possible. This helped by making our filming schedule stay on time.

We started the filming in a wide shot to show the scene; which we felt was the best way to open the introduction.

The next scene we did was a mid-close up of our actor which was to get some emotion and movement in the video.

Using a  tungsten light we managed to get the shadow perfect for binary opposites which for this song 'Lego house' felt like an appropriate effect to use.

Additionally, we thought what would be a good way of ending the song; what we decided was that the actor would look down when the camera was in a close-up position.

It was important to keep to our schedule and time keeping to produce enough video footage to start editing in the next lesson.

Day one: Karaoke Task

We started by brainstorming to figure out what we needed, for example; a set, electrical equipment, a song and an actor to help produce this task.

With the help of our ‘Media Technician’ we were able to understand the way we could make good use of our resources. Such as, figuring out a way of taking advantage of every tripod and camera that we have; which included producing the right angle to create the mood we are looking for.

We eventually made a decision on the song which was important as we needed the actor to know the words ready for production.

Finally, we went up to our set which in this case is a stage with blank red curtains and so on. We then got the actor to stand just off centre stage as we felt that the lighting was at its best there. We also played around with the tungsten light, which we agreed was the closest light to natural light; when in conclusion we made decisions on each scene. Therefore we are ready to start filming in our next session.

A2 Media Brief

The purpose of this unit is firstly to assess candidates' ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills (AO3); secondly to assess candidates' application of knowledge and understanding in evaluating their own work, showing how meanings and responses are created (AO2; and finally to assess candidates' ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research (AO4). The unit requires candidates to engage with contemporary media technologies, giving them the opportunity to develop their own skills in these technologies. It also enables them to develop the skills of presentation that are required for further study at higher levels and in the workplace.

Candidate will produce:

• a media portfolio comprising main and ancillary texts;
• a presentation of their research, planning and evaluation in digital format(s)

The media portfolio will be produced through a combination of two or more of the following media

• Video
• Print
• Web-based
• Audio
• Games software

Each candidate will evaluate and reflect upon the creative process and their experience of it.

• A blog
• DVD extras
• a Podcast
• A powerpoint
• a website
• or a combination of two or more of the above.