Chosen Idea: Child "gangster" narrative. This idea would use conventional aspects of most music videos, but using a child instead of a black rapper. The artist would be shown living everyday aspects of a rappers life, however adding comedic vaulue as the main character would be a chil
Setting & Locations: Daylight and Night time shots - (night shots will be lit up rather then using night mode to avoid the "greeny" effect on the shot. Shops - refers to the wealth that comes with success in the genre - example: trying on expensive clothes.
Party - stage a party setting to represent the "party" lifestyle that is conventional of hip-hop. Subtle references to sex & drugs.
Basketball Court. - sport with reference to american culture, conventional of many hip videos for example.
Streets - symbolises the struggles a rapper goes through in becoming successful, in turn representing how they keep hold of their roots.
Prop List & Costume: conventional "gangster" rap clothing eg. - Baseball caps - Baggy Clothing - Graffiti logos - Pendants - Medallions - Hi-top Trainers The costume used in many hip hop videos are a code to what they artist is trying to portray to audience. For instance, the use of footage in the street represents the artist paying respect to thier roots before success, a success which is established through the luxuries they show in their videos.
Characters:
Tauheed Achktar - older rapper William Crooks - younger rapper
Backgroud Charactors 10+
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Ideas for narrative:
Poker game narrative: This idea would involve the main actor being involved in a poker game, whilst he performs the track for the viewer. The idea of the narrative being based on a poker game symbolises money - a main aspect of the luxurious, wealthy rapper lifestyle the original song portrays.
Perspective narrative: This idea involves living life through the eyes of the main character. For instance the artist could be performing on stage but rather than seeing him, the viewer would see the croud instead. Main disadvantages of this idea would be having enough people to participate and finding a suitable location.
Concert: This idea would be based upon a performance narrative structure. It would basically intail watching the main artist perform the track. It would not really have much of a set narrative, but work with camera shots, pace and editing would all work to giving the video the effect we are aiming for. Once again having a large enough cast and suitable location would be a problem in filming.
Child "gangster" narrative. This idea would use conventional aspects of most music videos, but using a child instead of a black rapper. The artist would be shown living everyday aspects of a rappers life, however adding comedic vaulue as the main character would be a child.
Planning... I have chosen to work with a partner to produce my music video The song we have chosen is by Nelly and is called "Na NaNa Na" The track is from a hip-hop orientated genre and is around four mintues long.
The song last for 4:12 seconds, however the track does not being until around 14 seconds into the video. We have chosen to keep this intro in our video adding our own scene.
[Chorus: Nelly] Well uh-huh, well uh-huh girl I'm parked outside 00:35 And you know that it's sittin on chrome, chrome (uh-huh) Hey, I'm just lookin for a pretty young thang 00:41 that uh, I can take home (take home)00:43 Can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr (yeah) 00:46 Can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr - shorty can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr (yeah) Can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr (yeah)
[Nelly] I'm throwin nuggets out the fellow I push to Carmello 00:57 Yellow on yellow flooded the band and the bezel 1:00 Hear me now! Oh, no, did you see the hue? 1:03 I took the Phantom to the Opera, same van roll through the ghetto 1:05 Can we leave hurr? Shorty need to make up her mind 1:08 I seen them niggaz over there, but they ain't takin my shine 1:13 Got 7 niggaz tryin to be me, out here breakin they spine But they got 7 different levels for they make it to mine 1:15 I want you both shorty (oh) go get it crunk shorty (oh) 1:18 I see your A-T-L stamp and go' head and stomp shorty (oh) I got that shake now, and don't be scared now 1:23 Cause we can come from the kitchen up to that bed now 1:26 Shit it ain't nuttin to a boss, I heat you like air off 1:28 It ain't nuttin, they ain't cuttin, they frontin, that's they loss 1:31 Cause the, 'Tics is good, and the van is paid off 1:34 And I done got so damn cocky I took that Band-Aid off
[Chorus] 1:39 Well uh-huh, well uh-huh girl I'm parked outside And you know that it's sittin on chrome, chrome (uh-huh) Hey, I'm just lookin for a pretty young thang 1:45 that uh, I can take home (take home) Can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr (yeah) 1:50 Can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr - shorty can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr (yeah) Can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr (yeah)
[Nelly] Uhhhhhhhh, picture perfect, I paint a perfect picture 2:01 Third album, same focus, my intent is to get richer 2:03 I'm with my dirty Jazze Phizzle, he yieldin that instrumental 2:06 Youse a cold-ass nigga on the track (SHO' NUFF!) 2:08 Man - I'm tired of poppin these bottles, tired of fuckin these models 2:11 I'm tired of these menage-a nights - yeah right (PSYCH!) 2:16 I was built for it, I got hip for it I even got a little swagger in my limp for it I done had, sex in the city plus sex in the country 2.22 You know - sex in the zoo di-rectly behind the monkeys 2.25 Hold up! Don't get me wrong, I'm lookin for Ms. Right 2.28 But tonight ain't the time, I'm lookin for right now 2:30 It's two-thousand-fo', I'm in a new home 2.32 Threw out the Bentley bought a Double R and kissin' doors 2:36 It's like I'm holdin on to permanent mistletoe, I think you been sittin low I got a driver dirty, he come when the whistle blow 2:41
[Chorus]2:43 Well uh-huh, well uh-huh girl I'm parked outside And you know that it's sittin on chrome, chrome (uh-huh) Hey, I'm just lookin for a pretty young thang 2:50 that uh, I can take home (take home) Can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr (yeah) 02:54 Can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr - shorty can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr (yeah) Can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr (yeah)
[Nelly] 3:05 (Na-nana-na) I'm smoother than you know 3:07 (Na-nana-na) Cadillac do's and bank rolls 3:09 (Na-nana-na) I simply go places you can't go 3:11 Ain't see me in no Linc', but you know that derrty in Brougham 3:13 I be on my (grind-na-grind-na-grind-na-grind) 3:16 With my money on my (mind-my-mind-my-mind-my-mind) 3:18 Plus I'm still in my (prime-my-prime-my-prime-my-prime)3:21 And we be smokin that (la-lala-lala-lala)3:24
[Chorus]3:26 Well uh-huh, well uh-huh girl I'm parked outside And you know that it's sittin on chrome, chrome (uh-huh) Hey, I'm just lookin for a pretty young thang 3:32 that uh, I can take home (take home)3:35 Can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr (yeah) 3:37 Can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr - shorty can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr (yeah)3:39 Can we leave hurr (yeah) can we leave hurr (yeah)
(Na-nana-na, nana, nana, nana) - [repeat to fade]
The lyrics represent the artists way of life, aspects we have decided are going to influence the language, ideology and representation we are going to symbolise in our product, helping us to fully target our niche audience. We are not trying to spoof or imitate the song or video, however we are attempting to take ideas from the lyrics and the original videos mise-en-scene. For instance, Nelly raps about exspensive cars throughout the song, representing the luxurious and wealthy life he lives, which appeals to his target audience, a tactic that we are hoping will help us appeal to the same. The costume seen in the video is also conventional of black, american rappers. Baggy t-shirts and jeans, exaggerated jewellery, hi-top trainers and baseball caps are all regular features of hip-hop orientated tracks, another aspect we are going to include in our product. The speed of the video also compliments the pace of the song. The song is rather pace with a heavy beat in background, which parrallels the pace of cuts in the video. This is another regular feature in hip-hop videos and another aspect we are going to incorparate into our music promo. Despite many people being shot in the scenes, whenever the artist is involved he is the centre image of the shot. This symbolises Nelly as being the main focus of the track, giving the viewer the voyeuristic pleasure of watching him perform. In our own video, our main actor or actors will also be consistently shown in the video as the main focus, representing to the audience that he, she or they are the most vital aspect of the image.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Textual Analysis:
Although Jay-Z is known today as a famous rapper and a producer of Roc-A-Fella record label, he did not start off with the most fortunate setting. The music video portrays the ghetto of Brooklyn, New York in the 1990s and illustrates the struggles that Jay-Z had to go through during his career in order to reach the top of the music industry.
In this track, Jay Z highlights the unfair ways in which he is treat due to the colour of his skin, the incident in the video represents how he and how other people of his race have to constantly deal with prejudice in their daily lives. Driving one mile over the speed limit is something that police would believe is not worth wasting time or effort to pull one over. However, because Jay-Z is from African decent, it is implied that Caucasians do not feel safe about African Americans driving around the streets—Caucasians may believe that African Americans are dangerous, criminals, and/or a possible threat to the community. This stereotype is represented within the narrative, showing the police officer as being white, and suspicious of the black driver, the fact that Jay-Z is famous is not brought into context in this scene.
Within the mise-en-scene, the streets of Brooklyn are shown as being dark through the black and white effect. They are covered in graffiti, which shows youth and possibly the activity of gangs. The half naked women and the big, baggy clothing represent the dreams and goals of people living in that society, although they are being ridiculed for their race.
However Jay-Z is pictured driving around the city with a white man who you would not consider as being involved in Hip-Hop culture. This represents how Jay-Z does not ridicule anyone over their race or wealth, yet all he receives is exactly that. The video cuts on the beat. This can be seen in the dance scene on 02:20, where a group of black men are dancing or "stepping" which is a performance where the dancers make a beat as they move. The song cuts on each beat the dancers are pictured as making.
Textual Analysis:
Blink 182 have been a well established punk-rock band for the best part of fifteen years, their popularity in sub-cultured society and the mainstream society is second to none, and this is massively represented within the comedic"all the small things" video. The opening shot of the video shows the punk rockers walking from their own jet, in all white suits. Although mocking other artists who use this technique seriously, Blink 182 show themselves as being a dominant force in the music industry with this shot. The personal jet represents the wealth they have made from being successful within the music industry, it shows the power they hold and they luxurious lifestyle the live. Blink 182 are nothing like this in real life however they are tying to make a statement about other mainstream artists that are not that talented. The white suits shows success, it also mocks the squeaky-clean image some artists paint themselves as having.
The camera shot is taken from down low, looking up at the band giving them a larger then life image. This shows how powerful and dominant they are in the music industry. However this is not an image they are trying to paint for themselves, the scene is funny but to truly understand it the audience has to have seen the Backstreet Boy video "i want it that way" where the video opens with what is basically the exact same scene, from the plane, to the slow fade in, to the jet flying noise you hear right at the beginning of the track.
As the video kicks in, they are shown performing, surrounded by fanatical fans. Aswell as mocking the Backstreet Boys some more, it actually signifies the popularity and influence Blink 182 has all within the first 7 seconds. The scenes cut on the beat regularly, and the performance aspects of the video correspond with the music. The mise-en-scene changes as the scenes cut, from their mock costume to their usual, defining punk-rock image with the converse, and facial images. Including these conventional items of clothing help the video appeal the niche audience they are aiming their product at.
The black and white scenes of the band at the beach is a spoof of other music videos, mostly soppy, romantic videos. The front man of the band is also shown in a blonde wig and hot pants with the waves splashing on him. The shot is a long shot which represents looking at the girl from afar. This is a scene stolen from Britney Spears' song "Sometime" where Spears walks along a pier in the essentially the same costume. In that video we also watch a man with his dog at the beach, however blink 182 add comedy to it by having the mans pants ripped off by the dog. The sunset, laid on the sand with the waves in the background is also a convention of summer love stories. The sunset scene mocks Christina Aguilera song "Genie in a Bottle", taking the typical convention, then adding comedy through the missing tooth for instance. There are also dance scenes, completely mocking Britney Spears again. Stealing the white costume and slow, boring dance scenes she has in her track.
Blink 182 use this entire video to mock mainstream music, they take coventions from regular pop videos, for instance the man being poured with water as if he was under a water fall in a luxurious location, and adding their own comedic effect by having it really just being the water from a pipe being used to clean a coach.
Textual Analysis:
This is Little Lion Man, written and performed by Mumford and Sons. It is a performance video and corresponds with the music. This established very early with the opening strumming of the track, is coupled with the front man playing the guitar. The sound and guitar on the screen symbolises to the audience that are possibly unaware of Mumford and Sons as a band, that they are an acoustic, folk orientated product. The Editing cuts on the beat of the song, a great example of this can found 00:16 where the cello player stamps on the floor as the percussion comes in. It is repeated on 00:23 when the drummer hits the base drum, representing the beat of the song. It also add to the seriousness and professionalism of the band, as all four members are seen with their instruments performing. The audience can identify the band are of a folk genre with the sound of the banjo in-between the beats. This can also be visually recognised through the video as the band are shown in waistcoats, skinny jeans, blazers and having long hair. Through the mise-en-scene the audience can stereotype the artists as being from an indie/folk scene which in this particular case is correct. The majority of the shots before the front man begins to sing are of the musicians playing their instruments in correspondence to what the audience receives visually. The long shot that pans back, shows all four members of the band, representing them as being very close and not possibly having one main member which is a convention of most modern bands. Each member seems to share close-ups equally and through the cinematography, the audience gets the feeling the band are all very close, and family like, which in turn adds significance to the name of the band.
The mise-en-scene shows Mumford and Sons performing as a band, giving its audience the voyeuristic pleasure of watching them. The video itself is designed to show the audience how talented they are as a live performing band, which will not only get them record sales, but more success in ticket sales.
This video compliments the first song the band released. They are shown on screen as being in an empty, run down theatre, lit up by light bulbs strung across the ceiling. This represents the band coming into fame and success, as you could take the location as being the bands struggles to become a success and the light symbolised them coming into the music industry. The light could also represent possibly the light at the end of the tunnel, what they were chasing as a band before they got famous.
The pace of the video parallels the pace of the song, as the song plays through each verse, the editing cuts are steady. The camera focuses more on medium and long shots at symbolises the calmness of the track, that is until it comes to the chorus where as the song gets faster and more dramatic, so does the visual. The cuts are so much quicker, with close-ups of each member of the band and their instruments. The video also uses this technique in the bridge of the song, where everything becomes quiet and slow. Their is a pan down shot of focusing on the entire band playing slowly, as the pace of the song builds up, so does the pace of the cuts, adding to the intensity of the entire product. The video has no real narrative, it is just a performance video.
LIIAR (Music Video's)
Language: The language of a music video is what the product is trying to portray to the viewer. For instance a video that uses a lot of close ups on the artist involved is trying to implement the focus on the artist, so the viewer watches and admires them as they perform. In a band, although it is not always the case but more recently the front man is the most famous part of the band, in turn becoming the most vital as selling the track as a product. So music videos will tend to focus on them rather then the other, equally important members of the band.
The Language is the way in which the video attempts to communicate with the audience. The use a range of visual languages through as I described earlier the camera work and other aspects such as the
mise-en-scene. What you see in the product is vital, for instance a Westlife song would not show men in leather jackets with greasy long hair, head banging as it is not a code or convention of the genre of music Westlife establish themselves with.
Ideology: This is the ideas portrayed within the product which the artist or institution would like to represent to the audience. Someone's ideology is the way in which they look at the world, and their views on society. Different Artists have different Ideology's even if they come from the same genre in the music industry or they are completely different types of musicians. For instance, George Michaels regularly refer to the acceptance of homosexuality, which is reflected in his music and videos, whereas some like Snoop Dogg would be show themselves as money orientated, with a gangster image and "slapping up some hoes".
Institution: Record Labels are the companies responsible for signing Artists and releasing their tracks. It is their role to produce, distribute and market their products in order to compete with other record labels. Many record labels are branches from other major labels that can focus specifically on one certain genre.
Audience: Audiences are the groups of people the consume the music product. Music videos are designed in specific ways to target a specific audience, in order to promote the product primarily to an audience in which it will be most successful. Music Videos looking to sell in the mainstream stage are lucky as they can aim their products at such a large audience. For instance Bruno Mars' "just the way you are" track was recently number one. It is a generally a RnB track but it has gained so much success with a large audience as the song has gone mainstream.
However, many music videos target a more specific section, what is known as a niche audience. These videos are produced for artists from a sub-culture genres such as Indie/Rock or Hip-Hop. The amount of People products from these genres are being aimed at would be considered more concentrated and is represented as being "anti-mainstream".
For example, Frank Turner as a product would be targeted at a more folk orientated audience and may not reach such popularity in the mainstream music industry.
In contrast however, artists considered to be aimed at a sub-cultured genre can be catapulted into mainstream success through the popularity of their product. For example the Arctic Monkeys started out as an underground indie band, but have now themselves to gain more of a mainstream audience.
Representation: Music Videos use representations to construct meanings and beliefs and symbolise them to their audiences. One of the most commonly noted forms of representation in music videos is expressed through different social groups, and differ in different music genres. For instance, in one of 50 cents music videos, through mise-en-scene, he is represented as living a "gangster" lifestyle, with the luxurious houses and cards, naked women following him like sheep, living in a male dominated society. This is in great contrast to a Band like Blink 182, who are represented as having more of a rebellious, punk rock lifestyle, appealing to teenagers around the world. They are fun and enjoyable, which is symbolised through their comedic videos where they mock themselves and artists from other genres.
History of Music Videos:
A Music Video is a short film or video that accompanies and compliments a music track. Music Videos have, since their real rise to prominence in the 1980's, become critically vital in the promotion of new music tracks giving fans and audiences around the globe the voyeuristic pleasure of being able to watch their favourite main stream artists perform, where without a music video, this may of been a dream people could never fulfil. Some people argue that the introduction of the music video has also hurt the music industry as well as bolstered its success. Now the most important assets of Artists is not their vocal or instrumental ability - but their looks and dance moves on screen have become just as critical, if not more. It is because of this that many musical critics believe the era of 'cheesy pop' music was born, a genre that stormed the music scene in the 1980's and has been at the top ever since.
So, when exactly was the first music video made. Well, that question is open to great debate. MTV or "music television" were the institution that first put music videos out to that world, airing the ironically named Buggles song, "Video killed the radio star" as the first ever music video. However, their had already been videos to accompany music for a long time. Sound Films and Talkies where introduced as early as 1926. They where short films that had a music track coupled with it through technology, a step up from a silent film or a movie with the sound being diegetic. One song short films called promotional clips where another early form of the modern music video. Produced in the 1940's for the Panorama Visual Jukebox these shorties paralleled Musical Films, which where to become so vital and influential to the music videos, especially in the mid eighties. Several, well known, popular music videos show intense similarity to Hollywood musicals from the 30's to the 50's. Many of Michael Jackson's videos are influence by the codes, conventions and styles of a product that at the time was already over thirty years old, for instance the stylised dance scenes in the "beat it" and "bad" videos show great resemblance to certain scenes from the Romeo & Juliet adaptation, West Side Story. On its release, "Thriller" became the most expensive Music Video to date, and many of its aspects where taken from classic 1950's horror.
The black & white mock documentary "a hard days night" was released in 1964 and starred The Beatles. As well including comedic sequences involving John, Paul, George and Ringo in what the audience was shown as their everyday life, the pictures also included exciting and innovative musical sequences, which created a basic structure that countless subsequent music videos have taken as a paradigm. Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd also used documentary form to promote themselves between 1966 & 1970. With fans being able to see their favourite artists perform, fashion on the 1960's and 70's escalated as people wanted to dress like their heroes from off the telly.
In the 1970's, long-running music show top of the pops and Australian counterparts Countdown and Sounds became significant in the rise of the music video as they began to air music video clips on the programmes to promote the latest releases from top artists. The BBC placed strict limits on the number of promo clips TOTP could use, in order that if a clip helped gain an artist great success, it could be shown again the following week by popular demand. Artists began creating music clips to be shown on TOTP when they could not be on the show themselves, for example. In 1980, David Bowie released an eye-catching promo for track Ashes to Ashes. The promos popularity gained excess support for Bowie, helping him reach the top spot for the first time in the best part of a decade. This became a popular and extremely successful tactic for many artists, famously Madness, who constructed comedic short clips for the releases.
The Who's release of all music feature Tommy to compliment their 1969 rock opera that shares the same name.
Then came one of the most significant moments in the rise of the Music Video as Queen released a promo video for one of their most successful songs, "Bohemian Rhapsody" to be shown on Top of the Pops. what was so notable about the clip was that it was the first of music based video to be entirely shot and edited on videotape
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As Split Enz and Blondie became the first artists to release a music promo for every track on their latest albums and the release the clips on Video cassette in 1980 and Micheal Nesmith won the first Grammy for a music clip in 1981, the music industry had been completely revolutionised. The world no wanted to be able to see their favourite artists all the time and with that came MTV's rise to domination. MTV lead the 24-hour-a-day music television era and the relatively new music video material was catapulted into a central in mainstream music.
Everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Madonna where releasing a Music Video to compliment all their successful tracks. The quality of an artists music video had become more important than the quality of the song itself.
The importance of the Music Video has just escalated through the decades in correspondence to the technology available at the time. The quality of Editing and Recording equipment has become vital as has the skill of the director and editor. In more recent times, the credit list of a music video may look as if it has been taken from a new feature length Hollywood film.
With the growth in technology and the Internets rise to dominance in the Music Industry, it has become possible for bands and artists not signed to record labels be able to share their own music videos on streaming websites such as You-tube.
However, many music videos target a more specific section, what is known as a niche audience. These videos are produced for artists from a sub-culture genres such as Indie/Rock or Hip-Hop. The amount of People products from these genres are being aimed at would be considered more concentrated and is represented as being "anti-mainstream".
