Influential Music Video Analysis

As a group we discussed using a split screen with mirror image and also a rewinding effect of the main star. The music video for Right Here By Jess Glynne influenced us as it has used a split screen and rewinds shots multiple times throughout the video. From seeing these in this video we thought that it would go with our genre and the feeling of our music video, also as Jess Glynne is a solo artist we feel that using the split shots like she has in the video really shows the audience the star which again is perfect for our music video as we have one main artist. From this music video we also felt that it gave off the same vibe and star image we are looking for in our music video. another thing that has inspired us for our music video is the make up. In this video Jess Glynne's make up is natural but is still obvious. we want to add this sort of makeup to our main star when the are in the locations that are not London, this is because we want the make up in London to be big and bold. However when she is not in London we want her to still have make up but not as much as what she would have when in London. 

Influential Music Video Analysis- MNEK wrote a song about you last night

The video for Wrote a song about you last night by MNEK.
This music video is simple within the choice of location and set up however very affective and in the genre of dance and applying the conventions of a dance video. The video uses a range of shots including close up and midshots,the use of this in the video allows the viewer to see the artist, along side this they have used affects to add the different colours onto the video the use of the different neon and pastel colours give the effect of a club and the looks of what we might link with dance music. the colours all contrast with each other which then allows certain  things to standout within the video for example they wil have the background a dark colour and the artsist in a bright colour or rise-versa. thw neon colours used match the dance genre of the song and visually excite the audience. it also imitates a club atmosphere which is most likely to be the location of which this song is played. there is a key change in the song toward the end which we can the see the lighting an effects become more vivid and match the climax within the song. Alongside this they have the animations around the artists this is something that is seen quite often in dance music videos.  The costume in the music video is what we would expect in a mainstream dance music video, they have reflected the mainstream fashion at the time, the rival of 90s fashion this would therefore reflect the psychographic of the song.
For our own music video we are thinging of going with the theme of the 90s fashion as we feel this plays a big role in the dance genre.

Influential Music Video Analysis- AfterGlow

The Music Video for AfterGlow is not a music video that goes directly with the conventions, its not something we would see in a every day music video. This music video has no miming throughout the video, however it has narrative. The video tells a story of what the couple have done over there time together. This is what links the lyrics to the video, because there is no miming they have used varied shots to keep the viewer interested. The main difference in this video in comparison to the other music video is the use of titles throughout the song. in each different shot of the video there is a title this title will be explaining the shot  e.g..

these tell the story within the video without having miming in the video. the use of doing this makes the video more relatable as we believe in to be true.The video does not follow the codes and conventions of   traditional music video however the video still explored the conations of sex through props ad movement and therefore doesn't follow good wins theory of voyeurism. there are no shots of the star dancing or exploiting themselves to please the male viewers.  

Target Audience

 I believe our target audience is between the ages of 15-25. Even though this is such a big gap after carrying out are audience research I feel that these ages will all enjoy this song and it fits well withing the 10 year age gap. For example, 15 year olds will enjoy this as a dance track and summer anthem whilst on school holiday and having free time with friends. 19 year old will enjoy this song at university and within the club life at nightclubs. There will of course be some younger and old then our target audience that will enjoy this song. As the song comes over the genre of Deep House it will have a wide audience as this genre is listened to by many differ went ages, as well as this  it was so successful in the charts it would fall into the psychographic of mainstream.

we will take into count that our demographic may be younger then our target audience and therefore, we won't promote drugs or alcohol. The sexual connotations in the lyrics of the song will be toned down in the visuals, and will be thought through and shown in a less sexual way. However, we will use minimal voyeurism in our visuals; dance moves with connotations of sex. As the track has an urban and dance vibe from a London influence, it is most likely that people from the London area will have the largest demographic. we will be trying to include little bits of everything so that we can have the full potential of our target audience liking and watching the video.

Genre; Deep House

some examples of Deep House music are:

Disclosure: White Noise
Gorgon City: Ready For Your Love
Route 94: My Love
Jess Glynne: Right Here

Genre; Deep House

 

Genre:Deep House

 Gecko (Overdrive) comes under the genre of deep house, a sub-genre of house music.

House music is an electronic dance style of music that originated in Chicago in the early 1980s. It was a development from disco and pop music. Since the early to mid-1990s, house music has been infused in mainstream pop and dance music worldwide.

Deep house is known for complex melody, use of unrelated chromatic chords underlying most sequences, and a soul, ambient, or lounge vibe to the vocals (if any). 

 

digipak analysis

Arctic Monkeys Digipak

This is the Digipak for the Arctic Monkeys first album entitled 'whatever people say I am, that's what I'm not'. The album was released in 2006 and sold over 360,000 copies in the first week.  The Arctic Monkeys are an indie band from the Sheffield's suburbs and had a large following before they got signed and started releasing their singles into the charts.

To stay loyal to their existing fans they have used pictures of Sheffield throughout the digipak to represent where they come from and to make their fans feel like they're the same as them. the artwork used on the CD is evidence that they are an indie band, as it gives them a rock n roll image which suggests they are common like everyone else and aren't glamorous and rich like mainstream bands.

The digipak includes a title page with 'Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not' typed on it, a back page including all their acknowledgements and the back cover including another tracklist. This is the only writing included throughout the whole digipak, as 90% of it is just images. This could be further evidence that they are an indie band, as they are only bothered about the music and don't want to try sell themselves to their fans with stories etc. Furthermore there are no pictures of the band throughout suggesting they aren't bothered about individual fame and only want the fans to appreciate their music and not them which is very indie.

The images used inside the digipak include their target audience of young northern people. There is a man in a white shirt used several times in the digipak and is also featured on the front and back cover. He is seen holding a cigarette on a few of these pictures. Cigarettes are a recurring theme throughout the digipak, probably because their target audience can relate to them. The people shown in the pictures look miserable suggesting a gritty lifestyle living in a run down area where music is there only escape.

Digipak anaylsis

McFly

 have targeted their audience by using their image to attract a female admirers. Their digipak includes lots of images of the band - typical of a boy band. In one image,Tom, who is seen as the main singer of the group is placed in the foreground looking forward, whilst the other band memebers are positions further back, looking away in different directions. In this sense, the digipak therefore serves the purpose of giving the audience, (mainly the female audience), something extra to look at, pictures to keep, pin up, etc. 

The tracklist appears on an old computer screen, which has connotaions of sci-fi films - linking to the alien images, and the title of the album, Radio-Active. McFly seem to be trying to break away from their manufactured image, becoming more 'indie' by using rural images, scribbles and notebook binding to give a more gritty feel. The mutilated microphone could be seen as their creation of rock iconography. For exmple The Rolling Stones used the lips and tongue, similarly to the tongue of the microphone, and Iron Maiden used Eddie, a Zombie Character. It shows McFly are drifting towards a more 'indie/rock' genre. 

Digipack Analyses

Digipak Analyses

Lady Gaga

The artwork used in Lady Gaga’s album – the fame monster is very dark and unusual, as is the image she attempts to portray herself in.  Her stage name plastered all over the case and discs in large text, showing she is thirsty for recognition and wants her name to be well known. The front cover is a large picture of Lady Gaga herself, making the CD less about the music and more about her and her image. The title of the album itself ‘the fame monster’ is evidence of her hunger for fame and fortune. And it appears that the music isn’t the main focus of her album, as oppose to an indie band that are unlikely to feature on the CD as they appear to be more about the music.

The digipak is entirely in black and white this could be an attempt to make it appear more glamorous, however this contrasts with her whacky art choice. Such as the inside cover artwork featuring a nude girl with a black bird, perhaps a hawk or crow either attached to her face or attempting to break of it. The artwork on the back of the digipak is almost a shot from a horror film, it could relate to Craig from slipknot’s mask. 

The alternative is that this album is Lady Gaga’s insight on what fame can do to people, does fame turn people into monsters

digipak/ album art

Conventions of Digipak/ Album Art

- A readable font
- Clear artwork or photos
- Front cover will have Artists name/ Albums name
- Colours match genre of music
- Will have industry logos and sometimes has the parental advisory logo
- The outside packaging is usually card with a plastic inside
- Barcode on the back panel
- They will have folds that present photos, lyrics and hold the CD in place
- The front cover will display the album art

Digipak

The function of a digipak is to appeal to the artist target audience by including more information about them, its purpose is to 'add value' and encourages us to pay for something special and extra. A digi pack consists of between 2-8 panels showcasing a range of photographs of the artist, and text/information about and relating to the album.

Digipak

intertextual references: Mark Ronson feat Lilly Allen - Oh My God

Another video that uses intertextual references is Mark Ronson feat Lilly Allen - Oh My God







In this music video Lilly allen's performance is exactly like jessica's, from the film who framed Roger Rabbit made in 1988 .In this music video the ideas are from the film, the part where jessica is on stage. The film who framed Roger Rabbit has animated cartoons in it, including Betty Boop, but there are also real human beings.

these are shots taken from the video and shots taken from the film who framed Roger Rabbit. although they are not completely similar. Jessica and Lily Allen's characters both do a similar kind of performance, and some shots are borrowed from the film and put into the music video. The producer of the video has played with it, taking ideas from the other text and made a amusing video.

clip of Jessica on stage from Who framed Roger Rabbit.

Intertextual References in Music Videos: We Made You by Eminem

Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can include an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another.

Eminem's music video for 'We Made You' (2009) raised alot of controversy due to the number of intertextual references and the way in which they were portrayed. I chose to use this video because of the various references to celebrities, political figures and films/tv shows.

Female Celebrities
The video references many major female stars such as, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Kim Kardashian. There is alot of irony in the video because they have chosen to have the girls dressed in outfits seen on the real singers but then have them look completely different in terms of what they truly think the girls look like. For example instead of being slim and toned, they have portrayed Jessica Simpson eating a burger and being overweight while wearing her famous Dukes of Hazzard outfit. They also used a Britney Spears impersonator from America's Got Talent - Derrick Barry, to portray Spears in her 'Gimme More' video outfit. One of the most controversial characters portrayed in the video is Sarah Palin because they refer to her being more of a sexual object than a respected politician.

Films/TV Shows

The narrative of the video acts as a parody of the american reality tv program Rock of Love, where Eminem acts as Bret Michaels (the bachelor in the real show) with all of the girls they are mocking surrounding him and almost worshipping him. They make it look very pathetic by over emphasising their desperation for 'love'. Also featured in the video is references to the films: Star Trek and Rain Man. The star trek narrative adds comedic value as well as conforming to the conventions of Eminem's videos which star Dr. Dre because he is ultimately the one with the power/the most knowledgeable one out of the two.

Guitar Hero Reference

The only scenario where Eminem is miming by himself with no other extras in shot is in front of a Guitar Hero backdrop, which would easily be identified by the majority of the audience watching the video. It acts as if he has been dropped on top of the game itself.

Impact on the Audience?

For the majority of the audience, the video will be viewed as comedic because so much of it seems to be Eminem poking fun at the latest celebrity news and it almost seems as though they didn't attempt to hold back from visually representing that, which is not done very often.

The video would also appeal to the fan base of Eminem because he is known for his comedic videos involving poking fun at other stars at the time of production, therefore by following the successes of the previous videos he has made, for example, 'Just Lose It', it will target his fans.

Voyeurism (girl parody)

The video was then made as a parody ('DEFINED LINES')on youtube where three man where dressed in near to nothing with females fully clothed.In early September, “Defined Lines” was removed from YouTube after being flagged as “inappropriate.” Though the parody was later returned to YouTube, the damage was already done. The removal of “Defined Lines” sent a message that the idea of women dominating submissive men is unsuitable because of societal gender roles that portray women as submissive to men. Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” video sexually objectifies women and includes topless women dancing. The “Defined Lines” parody mirrors Thicke’s video with male dancers. So why was “Defined Lines” taken off YouTube, but “Blurred Lines” wasn’t.

Voyeurism

voyeurism

a good example of voyeurism on music video is Robin Thicke's blurred lines:





In March, Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” music video, featuring Pharrell and T.I., was released on YouTube. The song is said to perpetuate rape culture by rejecting the concept of clear sexual consent.

IN THIS VIDEO  nudity, sexual objectification is seen. 

 it was classed and named  the hottest song of the summer 

The song’s lyrics include “You’re an animal,” and “I hate these ‘Blurred Lines’ / I know you want it.” Rather than viewing women as actual human beings, Thicke portrays women as animals starved of sexual attention ; the “blurred lines” is meaning intercourse.

The video has received even more negative attention from feminists and others, because in it three topless women are seen dancing and posing, while the three men—Thicke, Pharrell, and T.I.—are seen well-dressed, in suits. The video demonstrates a clear power dynamic, in which the men are dominant and the women are treated simply as sex objects.

shots such as this one show close ups on the woman's body parts this is exploring the woman and giving the male satisfaction. 

Voyeurism

voyeurism is the practice of obtaining sexual gratification by looking at sexual objects or acts.

Goodwins Theory of  Voyeurism states that:

• women are often the gender being objectified in music videos, this is done through a mixture of camerawork and editing consisting of fragment body shots. 

• imaged of an objectified female are used to control the 'gaze' of the male viewer.