When deciding on a narrative for my music video I felt it needed to follow
the uses and gratifications theory for the audiences to make a relationship
with the artist as well as relate to the music video themes and be
entertaining. The linear narrative of my music video highlights the male’s
memories of his visit to London as well as his memories of the female he met
there. The live performance is intertwined with iconic London scenes which
represent the City admirably due to many people knowing the city due to these
locations of the fact they have personally been there. The extreme close up
shots of the female’s eyes and lips can be said to inform the audience the love
the artist had for this girl as the lips and eyes can be sexualised to draw
individuals in. This relates to Andrew Goodwin’s theory of the six elements in
music videos; the one explained here highlighting the visuals are illustrations
of the lyrics: “close your eyes”. I furthered this with the idea that when the
lyrics “walking to you” I captured the females shoes walking round the halls of
her school, which later linked to the ending lyrics “2 more years and you’ll be
done with school” which gives the music video constant linking and repetition
throughout. A final example which is a strong link to Goodwin’s theory is the
constant reference to the artists iconic guitar, close ups appear capturing the
detail and visually showing the audiences his guitar I which arguably made him
famous.
An important element when creating a music video is the chosen theme which
needs to be consistent and run through the song successfully. In order to make
the theme of nostalgia apparent I needed to refer to Saussure’s theory of signs
and signifiers and represent them clearly within my visuals. My main focus of
the music videos planning stage was the mise en scene; lighting and props
especially to ensure I was demonstrating my intentions to the audiences. To begin I created mood boards and researched
the genre to come to terms with the importance of the lyrical focus rather than
the styling. Hence when it came to the mise en scene and styling I decided to
dress my artist is casual, high street clothing such as jeans, simple
trains/shoes and a casual jumper which could be replicated by fans to allow
them to common traits.
When considering the chosen lighting I needed to create a dream like state
which would leave the viewers in awe and overwhelmed. I researched lighting and
decided to use the 800W Redheads to create the spot light effect to enhance the
detailing of his face and give a hard light facing outwards to the camera to
create such a drastic contrast when it came to editing in black and white. On
top of this, I decided to use a soft box which enabled me to enhance the dream
like state as it soften the overall shots I was taking and gave a softer
appearance when watched back. The lighting was an important factor of my music
video as it was heavily performance based, meaning I had to keep the audience’s
attention with the interesting lights and constant change in camera shots and
angles. The lighting I chose follows the conventions of typical soft rock music
videos due to the fact I used a Redhead which is typically used for stage
lighting. The majority of soft rock music videos are performance based and so use
Redhead which are a typical convention, again seen in Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking
out loud” as well as The Plain White T’s music videos. This is because the term
“spot lights” connotes live performances and gigs which is what my chosen band
is known for and so successfully fitting the music video into the small,
exclusive image they have portrayed.
Throughout the editing process of my music video, I decided to use the use
of colour and contrast in my work to make it interesting and convey the
difference between performance and narrative. For example I increased the
brightness to 4 as well as slightly blurred the London scenes at a scale of 2
so that the bright lighting was not in focus. This would be apparent to the
audience instantly as it contrasts the black and white performance narrative.
Moreover, being a signifier to the audience that these are the artists dream
which are unclear and flashbacks, hence not being as long at the performance
shots, subliminally suggesting to the audience we are going back to past trips
which are significant to the artist. In addition many people connect the idea
of photographs with past memories and so this was delivered throughout all
three pieces of my work.
Goodwin stated that within a music video, the music and visuals must intertwine with one another. Hence I decided to use an acoustic song as it portrays harmony and the voice are much slower and create a calming, soft atmosphere with audiences being able to focus on the lyrics. In order for the visuals to fit with the music i needed to ensure I cut the shots on beat as well as use slow minimal movements when filming the live performance. This was able to be created with a steady cam and tripod to ensure the camera did not have harsh movements and was steady. For example when changing shots during the chorus I editing the quick cut on each start to a new line as well as changed between a long shot and close up to keep the audience interested as well use a variety of shots. This way, all of the shots aren’t static but still do not act as a distraction from the visuals but keep the chorus interesting. For each time the chorus was played within the song I repeated these shot sequences to create a consistent pattern and allow the audience to become familiar with the video. This is similarly to other soft rock music videos that are acoustic as they use slow moving shots, however the majority of upbeat songs which are seen within the genre use harsh, static movements to portray the 'buzz' at gigs and so my music video challenges this convention. This is because my music video is slow and also has another narrative intertwined with the performance.
Another element of Goodwin’s theory I choose to utilise is the idea that due to the high demands of the music industry, there is often a strong need or demand for lots of close ups. This meant when researching and planning my work I understood that the video needed to be informing and entertaining and so to do this I needed a range of close ups. Yet when researching the idea further I began to notice these shots were mostly used to sexualise females within the industry for example Taylor Swift and Rihanna. Therefore I needed to use this idea of what the audiences wanted to make my music video successful but I needed to fit it to my original ideas. This lead me to use many close ups but challenge the idea of using them to sexualise the actors and instead, work as a way of highlighting certain signs. An example of this is the constant close ups of the guitar as well as as microphone and London scenes to have emphasis the importance and sentimental value it has for the artist. The close ups also will allow audience’s to identify with the artist (uses and gratifications theory) which will create a greater emotional response when the narrative becomes clear. Audience would be able to feel like they have a gained a personal relationship with the artist as stated within the Uses and Gratifications theory and be able to relate to the raw emotions which are apparent within his facial expressions and direct look into the camera lens. This mirrors the effect Ed Sheeran used when creating his music video "all our stars" when after each flashback he looks directly into the camera as if looking directly at the audience to make a personal connection.
Moreover, a final point is that the music video I created follows the hegemonic norm of heterosexual relationships. I decided to use a male and female relationship along with a iconic city for the reason than many individuals will be able to relate the themes portrayed; directly or indirectly. I highlighted this through the constant close ups of the females defining features such as her eyes followed by the males close ups whilst singing. Many music videos currently see fit to define the conventions of their genre and have little boundaries yet when creating ideas. However I felt that due to the renowned song I chose I felt in order to do the song justice and have a successful music video I needed to follow the conventions. This in a sense gave me a unique advantage as well as able to relate to many generations as my secondary audience.
MAGAZINE ADVERT
When considering my magazine advert within detail I would argue like my video it conforms to the conventions and links to the video. Firstly, I felt the images were the most important factor of my advert and so they had to be center focus, having the detailing and other factors as simplistic as possible. I decided the house style of Polaroid images would be best suited giving a blue tint to the images and linking to the video of black and white edit for the performance. I decided to enhance the Polaroid effect with an outline of a washing line and pegs which hold up the main image of the artist and two other images which enforce the music video. I decided to use this effect to allow the piece to feel personal to each individual as if they have taken the images and held them up themselves. At the top of both the landscape and portrait version I have used a main masthead with the bands name in a Broadway font. This is due to the Broadway writing being well known and iconic within new York which is a running theme through the lyrics.
Furthermore, the band is known for performing at small gigs and building up to large events occasionally. Moreover their music being used within other pieces of media work. I chose the colour scheme of blue, white and gold to be appealing to both males and females as well as connote a calming but expensive feel the single due to the band performing at gigs which have expensive ticket prices for high end students. Finally, I followed the conventions when looking at the basic needs of a magazine advert with the release date and other informative pieces which are typically seen in adverts. This meant my magazine as well stuck to the uses and gratifications theory of being informative. The images I chose had a blue tint which linked to the blue grey background and complemented it greatly. The advert I have created would typically be seen within magazines such as NME and Q reaching out to my primary audiences of males between 16 and 25 as well as secondary audiences of females and males between 13 and 30.
DIGIPAK
Similarly, my digipak must be personal to the target audience as well as link to the advert in order for it to be noticed on a shop shelf or music downloading website such as iTunes. In order to do this I stuck to the same housing style of Polaroid images to make sure the main images were used throughout the ancillary tasks. This meant when identifying my work it was quick and easy as well as stuck to the themes. When considering the conventions of a digipak I decided to keep it simplistic with a four page piece with the typically seen size 6 Arial font for the production information on the back page. Furthermore, I used the logo of the record company as well as a bar code in order to make the medium seem as realistic and professional as possible. I continued the colour scheme of blue, white and gold to keep consistency throughout my work. The tracks at the back of the digipak were placed in a white Arial font with the main song the digipak is centered around in gold. This allowed the single to stand out and been as a main focus. My inspiration for the back page of my digipak was from Ed Sheeran's "X" album with a cut out of him. Due to Ed being within the same genre I felt it was appropriate and could make my own take on this idea with a white and gold silhouette of the artist placed on top of each other. The idea conveyed a sense of unknown and simpleness to the audience and to highlight with no detail the artist can still be identified.
In conclusion, it is apparent that my music video follows the conventions of soft rock music videos with the discoloration or black and white themes running throughout with the contrast of bright colours. Furthermore the idea of a performance and narrative running along side it within thew music video. When considering all these factors and the typical conventions expected of a basic magazine advert, digipak and music video my music video hits the criteria successfully.
In conclusion, it is apparent that my music video follows the conventions of soft rock music videos with the discoloration or black and white themes running throughout with the contrast of bright colours. Furthermore the idea of a performance and narrative running along side it within thew music video. When considering all these factors and the typical conventions expected of a basic magazine advert, digipak and music video my music video hits the criteria successfully.
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