Steve Archer is an American singer-songwriter and producer. He is a pioneer of the genre of Jesus music.He is the former lead singer of The Archers,contemporary Christian music Jesus music band who toured and recorded throughout the decades of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
He said this about music videos:
“Often, music video will cut
between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band. Additionally, a
carefully choreographed dance might be part of the artist’s performance or an
extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the ‘repeatability’
factor. Sometimes, the artist (especially the singer) will be part of the
storyline, acting as narrator and participant at the same time. But it is the
lip-synch, close-up and the miming of playing instruments that remains at the
heart of the music videos, as if to assure us that the band can really kick it”
We have learnt that there are three types of music videos;
1. Narrative - This type of music video tells the a story to the lyrics, or a connotation of the lyrics, however the video could completely contradict the lyrics. Narrative music videos can also be used to promote the release of films that include that film. The storyline can be virtually anything, and may or may not feature the artist/s.
Here are some examples of narrative music videos: The All American Rejects - Gives You Hell Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me A-Ha - Take On Me
2. Performance - Performance can be anything from live stage performance to just singing. These often include many shots of the artists and the audience performing or just shots of them before of after a performance. Visual styles and close ups are often used in these. Performance is most common in the genre of rock.
Here are some examples of performance music videos: Beyonce - Single Ladies Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child Oasis - Wonderwall
3. Concept - Concpet music vidoes can either be symbolic or thematic, and they are often unusual or obscure for the audience. As concept music videos are very vague, the concept needs to be very attractive to the audience. The rather unusual content of concept music videos can really draw in a audience making then quite popular. There is no particular genre that favors concept.
Here are some examples of concept music videos: Daft Punk - Around The World Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer Chris Cunningham and Aphex Twin - Monkey Drummer
A music
video or song video is a short film integrating
a song and imagery, produced
for promotional or artistic purposes. - wikipedia
A commercial videotape featuring a performance of a popular song, often through a stylized dramatization by the performers with lip-synching and special effects. - dictionary.com
A videotaped
performance of a recorded popular song, usually accompanied by dancing and
visual images interpreting the lyrics - dictionary
An early form
of music video were films which included one song, these took place during the
1940's and were named the Soundies. Most of these were of jazz songs, they were
mainly just bands on a film set bandstand. Soundies were created for the
Panoram Jutebox, these were located in restaurants or bars and there was a
screen to watch the clip whilst the music was played. In the 1950's over
1000 short music films were made as 'television fillers' between programmes, by
Snader Telescriptions. From this films that features musical performances. for example
Elvis became increasingly popular.
Music videos
began to be created in the 1960's and 70's, videos were filmed for music
programmes such as Top of The Pops. Eventually MTV was launched so that music
videos became available 24 hours a day. MTV is still dominant today and reaches
to over 320million television sets, over 90 countries in 5 continents. since
the arrival of YouTube, downloading vidoes of the internet has occurred,
YouTube and downloading are particular threats to MTV and the music video industry.
The first ever actual music video to be produced was 'Video Killed The Radio
Star' by The Buggles. - I this as pretty ironic as the creation of music
videos, and TV reduced the audience to the radio.
Music videos
are now the centre of marketing popular music.
Michel Gondry was born in France, he is now a well known commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. Gondry has quite a varying but short list of films that he has directed, his most favored film is The Green Hornet, which when released was quite popular, he has also directed 'Eternal sunshine of The Spotless Mind', 'Human Nature', 'The Science of Sleep' and 'Be Kind Rewind'. However some of these films are not very well known so his success is mainly from his music video career.
He began his career as a drummer for the band Oui Oui for whom he directed their music videos as well, when the artist Bjork saw this she was determined that he create her next music video for 'Human Behavior', overall he has directed seven music videos for Bjork! Gondry is also well known for filming commercials for bands and companies such as; Levis', Smirn off, talk talk, and Adidas. Gondy is very intuitive in his music videos, and has become an Academy award winner because of this.
Facts:
He played drums in Kanye West's music video for Diamonds from Sierra Leone.
His Levi's commercial still today holds the record for the most awards won by a tv commercial.
I really like the murky sort of effect this video has over a lot of it's clips. I think it makes the video look really simple but effective as it makes the whole narrative ever sadder and cuter, which I'm guessing is what they wanted their audience to feel. The murky effect also made the video have some really nice imagery. For example, the river Thames with Big Ben in the background.
I also think this was shot at a really good hour, it wasn't too dark, but it was dark enough that it had quite a romantic feel, which is another thing I'm assuming they intended as it is a romantic narrative!
Another thing I liked, was the split screen at the end, I thought it worked really well and fit in with the narrative really well!
Similarly, the lip-synching worked extremely well! Which made the music video a lot more effective - After seeing so many student made examples now, I think it is really important to make sure you have a good lip-syncher, as it can turn a really good music video, into a really bad music video as it just makes it so hard to believe as it looks so unrealistic.
Another thing that worked really well was the editing. Particularly the transitions from one shot to another, as it ran really smoothly.
In terms of mise en scene, the costumes even worked really well. I don't know if this was intentional, but as the girl was dressed in a deep red coat, you could tell she was a very warm character, who felt a lot for the boy, but he kept putting off times to kiss her. You could almost say he was being "cold" to her, thus him mainly being dressed in blue colours. Also, underneath her coat, the girl was wearing a white dress, possibly connoting that she was a very honest and true person, and this is why she showed her true feelings by kissing him.
Marc Webb was born in Indiana in the US, he went to to graduate from Colorado College with a degree in English. He is now a film and music video director. His career as a director began with him getting the chance to be the director to the hit film (500) Days of Summer, and this brought him Hollywood's attention! After directing this, Columbia pictures then went on to hire him to direct The Amazing Spiderman in 2012 which was also a big hit.
As for his career directing music videos, so far he has been apart of over 104 music videos! Webb has worked with artists from Green Day, Yellowcard and AFI to Jesse McCartney, Miley Cyrus. P.Diddy and Trey Songz. Marc Webb is not all really that exciting, but he has done so so much!
Marc Webb includes a trademark in a few of his videos, and this is a white lamb. Some people might think this a quite weird but many have considered it to be representative of the christian symbol of the lamb of God. The lamb can mainly be seen in Brand New's video for Six Transit Gloria.. Gloria Fades, where it can be seen on a bar door, and also Yellowcard's video for Ocean Avenue on a brief case.
This music video actually comes with its own disclaimer, "The following content is in no way to be interpreted as misogynistic or negative toward any group of people. It is an art piece and it shall be taken as such". It has been criticized for its depiction of violence against females.. and you can definitely see why! The video features a dead woman hanging at the start of the video, and then we see the artist singing next to her naked dead body still hanging and come to realise that there are many dead women hanging around the room! The next part includes the artist in bed next to two dead women, while he raps and moves their bodies around.. this is concluded by many women seen locked in a room, looking like 'zombies'. There is also a shot with the other artist rapping and behind him we are able to see a woman's dead body laying across the sofa. This then goes on to show a man holing a woman's decapitated head, and her hand laying in blood on the stairs. However, at some points we do see violence against men, as a woman can be seen dragging a man across the floor, and the two women eating from a man's dead boy.
I actually find this video quite scary, the amount of violence in it is pretty disgusting, it is like a short horror film. I think that really this video is just inappropriate, but it does suit the song it was made for. I think that the reason it is so controversial is because of the violence against women and how it's suggested that they have been murdered, and all these people are 'Monsters'.
The video includes many close ups of the artist, which is part of Goodwin's seven definitions of a music video. It also has at some points a link between music and visuals, and a link between lyrics and visuals.
P.S Sorry the lyrics are so rude! I couldn't find a non-swearing version!
In class we were put into groups and given a technique to practice on Final Cut Express and then make it as a tutorial to teach other people in the class how to do that technique! The reason for doing this was because most of the class were new to Final Cut Express, and these techniques are very useful for music videos, therefore we would need to learn them prior to making our own music videos!
We were given split screen... And this is what we made:
In this video, Rihanna tells the story about avenging a sexual assault by shooting the perpetrator in the head. Fortunately, the sexual assault isn't portrayed in detail, yet the shot to the head is. This sparked masses of complaints with the first official complaint being from the Parent Television Council, who protested that the video is violent and inappropriate, and they called for BET and MTV to stop airing it. Rihanna then turned around and tweeted, "I'm a 23 year old rockstar with NO KIDS! What's up with everybody wantin me to be a parent?" and again later: "U can't hide your kids from society, or they'll never learn how to adapt! This is the REAL WORLD!" This sparked even more controversy but BET refused to pull the video, stating that "While we all agree rape is a terrible crime, 'Man Down' offers no positive solution for rape victims except vigilant justice."
I think the most controversial thing in this video obviously is the suggested rape and the border-line graphic shot to the head, however I feel it is something we are so used to seeing in films etc, that it doesn't appear to be a big deal. I think the real issue here is how some people see Rihanna as a role model, therefore seeing her shoot someone isn't something many people feel young children should look up to. I think the video also sparked so much outrage as it can be so easily viewed as there is no age-rating or anything, and that is something people have to consider when creating a possibly controversial music video.
In groups at the start of the year we did a practice music video to the song ' Why Does Love Do This To Me - The Exponents' and we had to show evidence of including green screen, split screen and colour manipulation. No one finished it completely but this is as far as I got in my group with Ellie, Jazz, Ruby and Carla. We have included a lot of green screen, although there is a bit where we have not edited in a back ground as we just didn't have enough time. We also managed to include split screen and some colour manipulation to. Oh, and we also had to include lip-synching to which we have!
I so so so think this music video goes well with the song! The genre of the song and the tone created by the music video just go so well together. It is narrative as it is the story of a guy remembering his girlfriend, and being really depressed about her so he is walking about looking sad, drinking and then goes to her grave. Throughout this he has flashbacks of theirs time together, which I suppose is similar to what we are going to do in our music video! i really love the fact that it is filmed in black and white, it makes the mood of the music video stand out so much.
Throughout the music video there are many close ups of the main guy who the video is centered around, if he is the 'artist' then we would see how this music video relates to Goodwin's seven, as the demands of the record label include close-ups of the artist. This music video also relates to Goodwin's seven in that parts of the music video show a relationship between music and visuals, as well as lyrics and visuals. For example, when the lyrics are "hold on" we see the visuals as being his hands.. and of course you use your hands to hold on.
The filming throughout the video is very good, it is always kept very steady and neat, even the rough flashbacks are suited to the rest of the video. We do not actually find out that his girlfriend is dead until right at the very end because it actually features him hugging her at her grave, but as he walks away we see she is no longer there, this makes the whole video seem quite mysterious as we constantly see shots of her nearby or watching him. the guy's acting throughout the music video is actually pretty good, he genuinely looks sad, I know it is not lip singing but it is still a strength of this music video. I really can not see any weaknesses of this music video except for the fact it does not relate to many of Goodwin's seven, but to be fair is that really even a weakness as not all videos do!
I thought this music video was really interesting as I've probably never seen anything like it. the most obvious thing and most unique thing, is their strange choice of costume and make-up! I'm not sure if it works, but I think it is really interesting.
I liked the individual close-up shots of the girl with the wallpaper behind her, singing "this is the life", with such an unhappy expression. I think it would have been really good if the boy's close-ups shot looked as good, but unfortunately it wasn't a very good shot as the lighting was bad and his shoulders weren't in it. So the cuts between the two didn't look very straight.
One thing I've learnt from watching this video, is not to use imovie to edit our music video. You could tell this was edited on imovie, and it really does lack all the high-tech and advanced edits and effects that are only available on final cut express. This is unfortunate as this video is really interesting and could have been really good if it was edited on a better programme.
You can see how limited the editing is on this in the shot where they are cycling on their bikes, and the only editing used here is a black edging around the frame, and it just doesn't look very good.
Fortunately we won't have this problem though as we will use final cut express!
I think the best thing about this video is the effective lip-synching which makes it more believable! Also, the costume and make-up. I'm not sure if it works, but it is good as it is different and they've put a lot of thought into it. I'm sure they have their reasons for the French theme, it's just a shame that it's not very obvious.
I really enjoyed this music video, and am really interested in what they got for their final mark because I think that it is really good! Firstly the editing at the start of the video is very clever, I really like how they have edited together several clips of the guy moving around in the city location and used split screen too, the editing of the clips and change of the split screen are in time with the music change.. which is one of Goodwin's seven suggestions. Next, as the lyrics in the song change to a rap, the guy begins to lip sing to the faster pace lyrics, his singing is completely in time with the actual song, which is shown through mid shots and close ups. The editing throughout the music video is kept in time with the music, which is also one of Goodwin's seven music video suggestions.
I think that the music video they have created really suits the song that its done to, it is all sort of upbeat but shows anger at the same time. At the chorus I like how they play a sped up version of cars driving and the guy walking along, it definitely went in the with the music. I find the cutting between the clips very interesting as at some points they make it really bright and then it is a different shot when the light dims down again.
This music video is concept and performance, this is because it features the guy performing and their are many close ups of him doing so, which according to Goodwin's seven is because 'the demands of the record label include lot's of needs of close ups of the artist' (even though its not the real artist). It is also concept because there seems to be a storyline to begin with but then it turns out to be concept as nothing actually happens to follow on that storyline. However right at the end of the music video it does turn to be a narrative as well, the storyline is that the guy comes home and finds his girlfriend in bed with another man, the filming at this point is not very good at all in my opinion, I know it is meant to show a rush but still.. I guess a weakness of this music video would be that it is just mainly clips of the one guy performing or moving around, however it does feature some clips of cars, streetlights and road signs. At one point there is a reversed clip of the guy sliding 'up' a banister, I think it really goes along with this music video.
I think this video is really good as she has clearly looked into Goodwin's Seven; as this video really demonstrates certain genre characteristics - which is one of Goodwin's Seven.
It is a very upbeat song, and the editing and visual style really matches the genre. The whole video is very bright and the editing is always fast.
The girl has even gone as far as to dress like Keisha; the artist, which shows that she has done a great deal of research into Keisha and the type of music she does.
Another way in which she has followed Goodwin's Seven, is how the demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist. And there are a lot of close-ups of the artist!!
There is also a relationship between lyrics and visuals - for example the lyrics come up on pieces of paper; and when it says "I'm hearing dirty stories from your friends"; you see a person whispering to her. In terms of Goodwin's theory; she has done a really good job!
There is also a dance sequence in this video which is quite stereotypical of this sort of music. You can tell that this girl has done a lot of really good research before creating her music video!
One of the things I liked the best about this video is the stop motion animation. She has used this really well and always at appropriate times in the music video as it goes in time with the beat of the song. This can be seen really well at 2:54s.
She's also a really good lip-syncher which makes the video really effective and successful!
Although there isn't anything influential in this music video, I do think it is a good example of a music video, and would be helpful for someone doing a similar genre.
I think this is a really, really good music video! One of the things this group did so well, is research the genre of the music, thus their music video matches the genre of the song so, so well! This is something they also would have got high marks for as it conforms to one of Goodwin's Seven; 'music videos demonstrate certain genre characteristics.
Another thing I thought worked really well, is the lighting. We haven't really thought much about lighting and this has made me want to look into what sort of lighting would be good for our video as I think it made the video really effective. However, this may have only been so effective as it is a performance video. A narrative video may not work so well with such harsh and obvious lighting as it may take the realism out of the story.
I also really liked the relationship between the music and visuals. The editing was in time SO well with the music; and for example, when the guitar chords were really important, there would be a shot of the guitar. Which worked really well! I think it's really important to emphasise the important things with extreme close-ups, and perhaps we will take this into consideration with some of our close-up shots... Maybe they should be extreme close-ups? As the effect it has on the audience is a lot stronger!
They also followed another one of Goodwin's Seven; 'the demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist'. Again lots of extreme close-ups were used; which really highlighted the importance of the artist.
I also really liked the frequent references to the "slight" narrative in the video. Although it is a very heavily performance video, it also has a small narrative to it. This worked really well as it didn't distract from the performance, and it was versatile enough that any member of the audience could relate and take their on interpretation on it.
Similarly, I also liked all the random scenic shots in the video. It didn't distract from the video, as it fit in so well with the narrative. Really good video!!!
This is also probably the best lip-synching student example I have ever seen, which makes it so believable and effective!
This song is number 13 on Jessie J's début album which was released on 28 February 2011 from the label 'Island'. This album was her first and sold 105,000 copies in the first week! 'Who You Are' was then later released as a single on the 13 November. The track was written by Jessie and produced by Tony Gad. The first shot in this video is a medium close up which is also the establishing shot of the bedroom as this is the only location used in this video. The layout of the bedroom shows that everything is put in its place, highlighting one of the themes of the songs; that you don't need to be perfect. The artist's body language is meant to be portrayed as sad as she is avoiding eye contact with the camera looking down. This then gives the audience a feel for the tone of the song, which is sad. The close up's of the artist reinforce Goodwin's theory of seven; the demands of the record label include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist. The relationship with the lyrics and visuals in this song is clear with the first line 'I stare at my reflection in the mirror' the camera is positioned in a way that it looks like Jessie is looking into a mirror that is the camera allowing the audience to see her reflection. This is suggesting to her fans that she is letting us in to her highs and her lows. This also reinforces another of Goodwin's seven; a clear relationship between lyrics and visuals.
The length of shots between cuts is linked with the beat and tempo of the music throughout this music video. With long length still shots at the beginning when the music is slow with direct eye contact using a still mid shot setting the pace to match the music. This is communicating the emotion of this song with the audience. This also conforms to another of Goodwin's Seven; a relationship between the music and visuals. During this video when ever Jessie J sings the lyrics 'who you are' it cuts to a close up, these are the most important lyrics in the song and a way to keep this song fresh in the audiences mind. As the song continues the music is building with faster cuts and with the voice becoming stronger and louder wind is brought into the video to build the atmosphere. We can hear the wind hitting with the beat of the song, this is representing power the power you have over your own life which is the real message in this song. This video is made up of close up, medium close ups, a mid shot and a slight pan. This gives a simplistic feel to the video in order for it to be able portray its real meaning and strong emotions. As close ups are known as a powerful shot in the industry, the close ups of the performer with the rain and wind is telling her audience its possible to be strong even when you're weak. This is concept based music video a simplistic concept video with little editing conveying the tone of the song well.
Francis Lawrence was born March 26th
1970, in Vienna, Austria. At age 3 he moved to Los Angeles and is now a music,
video, film and television director and producer. He is famous because of his imaginative,
original music video scripts. At a young age he worked as 2nd
assistant cameraman on ‘Pump Up the Volume’, and this was before he even got
himself a bachelors degree in film production, after attending Loyola Marymount
University. The first thing he did was work on ‘Marching out of Time’ as first
AD.
Lawrence’s first music video was
for Michael Blakey (president of Atico Records), it was ‘Tidal Force - A Man Rides
Through’. Lawrence has worked with artists from Green Day to Lady Gaga, for
whom he received a Grammy for Best Music Video- Short Form for the track ‘Bad
Romance’. As well, he has filmed commercials for companies from Disneyland to
Calvin Klein and has directed films such
as I am Legend and Water for Elephants. Francis Lawrence is known as a ‘visual
story teller’, as everything he does is so dramatic, including the very
controversial music video he created for ‘Britney Spears - I’m A Slave 4 U’.
Music video analysis - Foster The People ‘Pumped Up Kicks’
Foster The People’s ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ music video is mainly a performance music video, and arguably a concept music video – the fun they have together as a band during their work and outside of work.
I think it is a very effective music video as it suits the genre of music that the song is. The song is very upbeat and cheerful and fun! And the music video mirrors this.
The video conforms to a few of Goodwin’s Seven. One of which is how the visuals match the music; editing and camera work and the band’s on-screen actions are often if not always in time with music. However, this video does not fit in with Goodwin’s theory that the visuals match the lyrics, as there is definitely no relationship between the visuals and the lyrics in this video. An example of the visuals matching the music would be when there is a close-up shot of a foot tapping along in time with the music.
This music video also conforms to Goodwin’s theory that the demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist.
I really like some of the special effects in this music video; particularly at the start where there is a pink tint and grainy film effect over a long shot of someone jumping off a cliff into the sea. This shot creates a dream-like effect and shows the adventurous and fun-filled life the band lives and makes the audience envy them and possibly idolise them and wish for a life like there’s.
Rick Springfield is a Australian singer, songwriter, musician, and an actor.He released the track to ‘Jessie’s Girl’
in 1981, the track reached Number1 in the US and Australian charts, the song then
got Rick a Grammy Award for Best
Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1982. The music video was released in 1991, by BMG
entertainment. The video is performance as well as narrative. The narrative
consists of a man watching Jessie and his girlfriend writing a wall, and
singing about it. It then shows the band performing in a street with the
writing on the wall behind them, and the camera switches to just the main
singer singing and clicking his fingers. Next it shows the band performing on
what seems to be a stage, with bright lights behind them. It then goes on to
show the man walking into ‘Jessie’ and
his girlfriend, and looking ‘rather awkward’, they then walk away and he
watches them as he walks in the other direction with their arms around one
another. In the next part of the narrative the man is washing his face in the
mirror and when he looks in the mirror he can see himself performing with Jessie’s
girlfriend in the background, he then breaks the mirror. It is basically him wishing
that Jessie’s girlfriend is his.
In the music video a two
shot is shown of Jessie and his girlfriend to represent how they are separate
from the man and together as a couple. There is also a group shot used of the
band to show how they are one as a band, and are performing. Close ups are used
on only the man, to show his emotions; how he is jealous when he sees them
together, and his expression when he is singing. Another close up is used on
the man when he is seeing himself in the mirror; this shows his reaction to
seeing the girlfriend in it. At this point there is also an over the shoulder
shot used to show the man looking in the mirror, this shows us that it is
actually him looking in the mirror, and we can see both his face and his body. The
costumes of the band and of the man are all dark and plain, where as Jessie and
his girlfriend are dressed more brightly, this could represent how the couple
are happy together, but the man is jealous and sad. Most of the settings used
in this music video are plain, or simple, with the exception of the garden the
man walks into. This could once again represent how the couple are happy (because
of the colours), and he is not. Similarly to this the lighting throughout is
very dark and harsh, (with the garden exception), with very strong bright light
used on the man’s face, this emboldens his emotions. Editing in this has been
kept quite fast-paced, however is a shot lasts a longer period of time then the
editing is slower.
As far as Goodwin’s seven goes
this music video does conform to some of the aspects. Firstly it demonstrates certain
genre characteristics through the performance and guitar playing which shows
they are a rock-type band. Secondly, this music video has many close ups of the
lead singer (not actually sure if it is Rick though?!), which as suggested by
Goodwin is because of the demands of the record label. There is a relationship
between lyrics and visuals, as when the man sings “Jessie is a friend” at the
beginning of the song, he is shown to be looking at Jessie. There is many more examples
of moments like that. Finally there is a slight relationship between music and
visual, as when the beat speeds at the end (about 1:40) the actions on the
screen change in time with the music.
I do lik this music video
because of the mix of narrative and performance. I think the producer fitted in
the performance very well with the storyline off the narrative, Its showing to
me, how he is singing out his feelings because he can’t actually tell her,
because “Jessie is a friend”. I find inspiration in that longer shots promote
slower editing, this may be something Amy and I could use in our music video!
