Music Videos
In this assessment I will be going into detail about the different styles and conventions of a music video and their different purposes.
What is the main purpose of a music video? Depending on the artist or song the purpose of their music video will vary. A common purpose of a music video is to simply present the artists true intention/interpretation of their song in a visual fashion. Doing this allows the artist to further express themselves and share with fans their artistry and official meaning behind the song, without a video fans may have their own interpretation of what the songs meaning is . Another purpose is to increase the songs sales and popularity. Music videos are proven to increase sales and chart positions; this is beneficial for the artist and their label. Essentially the more popular a song the higher the chance it will receive a video.
I recently watched 7 music videos
August Alsina ft. Nicki Minaj – No love
Miley Cyrus – Wrecking ball
Kendrick Lamar – Alright
Nicki Minaj – The night is still young
30 seconds to mars – Closer to the edge
Katy Perry – ET
Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth – See you again
The first music video I watched was ‘ No Love ‘ directed by Benny Boom and performed by August Alsina and Nicki Minaj. The music video is filmed as a narrative. The narrative of this song and video is of a man (August ) failing to stay faithful to his girlfriend ( Minaj ) going out to clubs with another girl and indulging in promiscuous activity. The mans girlfriend then becomes heartbroken when she finds evidence of his unfaithfulness which leads the man to finally see that he has something for his girlfriend that he previously believed he could never have, love.
This video has many styles and conventions. The video is fairly conventional of the R&B genre which generally features a couple going through hard times and a cheating partner. Conventions of this video include key R&B/Hip Hop iconography such as expensive cars, glamorous jewellery and expensive clothing on the actors and artists featured in the video. Other conventions this video follows is its use of setting such as the glamorous home and packed nightclub, both of which are commonly featured in videos of this genre as Rappers are known to spend their money on things which boost their status e.g.: glamorous mansions and hosting or perform at popular nightclubs.
A Style used is black and white filter which is used in flashback imagery of the couple. This is effective as it emphasizes on it being the past of their relationship. Aside these black and white images are special effect imagery which reflect the clips of August and Minaj’s action beside it. In example in a clip with August and Minaj arguing there is special effects used which show lightning to symbolise this tension and dispute in the relationship, in another clip of the couple hugging a batch of flowers begin to sprout to symbolise their love increasing or reaching its peak. I Found this to be the highlight of the video as it adds a smooth and simple stylishness to the video and is very pleasing to the eyes as these vibrant colours spurt out of the colourless black and white filter. (See images)
The purpose of this video seems to simply be to give fans a visual of the songs story and also to increase sales and popularity of the song which it did becoming Augusts first’s video to reach almost 100 million views and chart well on the Billboard 100.
The second video, Wrecking ball by Miley Cyrus is a concept video created in a style specific to the song using heavy symbolism and imagery. The video depicts Miley swinging on a wrecking ball until it finally crashes through walls which appear to be blocking her in. The video uses colour imagery through costume and mis-en-scene or location with the costume being simply white and the walls surrounding her grey, this represents the mood of the song which is emotionally sad and monotone. The song covers heartbreak which is visually interpreted as she breaks through the walls in the room just as her heart is being broken. The location of this video is unconventional as the location is specific to the song rather than the songs genre.
Close up shots used depict Miley crying into the camera. These close up shots create a relationship between Miley and the viewer as she is looking into our eyes telling us of her heartbreak, this further expresses the purpose of the song and video which is to relate to its audience through heartbreak.
The costume in the video is conventional of a pop video as she is seen wearing revealing clothing, a tank top and underwear. Revealing clothing in pop videos is conventional as it is usually viewed as controversial, the more skin someone shows the more the video will be viewed and discussed. This then gains the song more sales, TV play ( as long as it’s censored ) and radio play. The clothing in the video is white to possibly symbolize her pureness until the clothing in the video is removed when she climbs upon the wrecking ball naked and breaks through the wall possibly symbolising her becoming a new person with experience of heartbreak. The decision to have her naked was very smart as it undoubtedly added to the reason the video broke the vevo record for most views in one day racking up over 12 million views. This also presented to us the “new Miley” and that she was beginning to change her image. The video went on to win the MTV video of the year award and peak at number one on the Billboard hot 100 mainly due to video streams.
The third video I watched was Kendrick Lamar’s ‘ Alright ‘ a concept/surreal video with the purpose to convey a message of discrimination and police brutality. The video depicts Kendrick and other black men coming together as a community whilst police continue to “shoot them down on the street “and behave unjustifiably against young black men.
The style of the video begins documentary/narrative style with a hint of surrealism before it becomes an artistic representation of reality with a hint of surrealism. Reality and surrealism, a confusing mix however executed incredibly. The beginning of the music video employs the documentary style of the video as Kendrick narrates a story of violence and discrimination whilst images of this are shown. The entire video is filmed in black and white which immediately draws the viewer in with its ominous ambiance. The video begins with Kendrick narrating to us a poem with clips of bleak and almost apocalyptic imagery. At the end of this introductory narrative we see a young black man escaping the cuffs of a white officer who puts a gun up to the centre of the camera and fires in slow motion before the song finally begins. This use of slow motion is very effective. The discharging of the gun seen up close and slowed down adds an oddly higher intensity and realism to the scene.The “real” video begins with Kendrick and his friends bumping to music in a lowrider being carried by white officers, this juxtaposition highlights the meaning and intention of the video perfectly which is that Police should not be above us and do not follow the brotherhood black men have which is why we see them working together to hold the car like some black men work together as society as a brotherhood.
The surrealism aspect of the video features Kendrick flying through the street, hanging upside down in mid-air and rapping atop a lamppost. This surrealism adds a great stylishness and classiness to the video which many other rap videos are criticized to be lacking in. This further adds to how unconventional the video is of its genre which commonly doesn’t feature as much surrealism, stunts or story depth and substance. The video ends with Kendrick however being shot of the lamppost by a police officer similar to the man in the beginning of the video presenting to us that no matter how high we believe we are or how triumphed we have become in decreasing inequality someone will bring us back down or repeat the past.
The purpose of the video is to cover the theme of discrimination and police brutality which is incredibly popular in today’s society.
The fourth video 30 seconds to mars – Closer to the edge is a performance styled video. Almost all rock bands release at least one “road “ type video which explores the bands tour bus life and the highs and lows which come with being a rock band touring the world. Though these videos present footage from the concerts they are rarely about the actual live experience and more about the band itself, the fans being just part of the background. Closer to the edge is the opposite however as it includes interviews with the fans themselves discussing their lives,loves,fears and how those things contribute to their love of the band.
The video uses many fast cuts and glimpses of flashing lights which contribute to the natural intensity of the video as we see fans screaming and holding hands with the band during performances. The video is colourful due to the lights of the stage which have beaming neon lights which highlight groups of the crowd and 30 seconds to mars themselves. This neon light presents a positive vibe of happiness to the video which is essentially what the video is covering, the happiness of the fans enjoying the band’s music with them and other fans as a community.
The purpose of this video is to thank or highlight the fan base of the band, this video is essentially a gift to them as it focuses on them and how they contribute to the band and its music.
The fifth video I watched was Nicki Minaj – The night is still young. This video follows the styles of singing, pastiche and surrealism. A singing video features the artist in this case Nicki Minaj singing the song with video cuts to different scenes which tell a story. The video begins with glimpses of all the settings in the video such as surrealistic neon lighted bedroom and the city streets of japan. This immediately compells the viewer as they are excited to see more of and what will be placed in these settings building tension.
As Minaj begins to rap her first verse we see her perform choreography with Japanese backing dancer’s infont of a wall of neon. This use of choreography is conventional in Rap and Pop, this being a crossover of both genres as seeing people dance is visually entertaining and makes the video more interesting to watch.
Neon lighting is featured throughout the entire video and adds perfectly to the surreal and positive atmosphere of the video. This use of neon and colour is what makes the video a pastiche as it was extremely common for music videos from the 80s to feature neon light thus making the video an imitation of the 80s which supports the song which carries 80s musical influence. These bright neon colours contribute to the positive lyric content of the song which include “ My only motto in life is don’t lose “ and “ I never worry, life is a journey “ this adds to the purpose of the video which is to show us we should enjoy life as we enjoy music.
In another scene we see Minaj and her dancers dressed in pink outfits with a neon tinted pink building behind them. This use of colour imager presents to the viewer the positive and light mood of the video. The entire video is set at night however each scene is dominated by light, this adds further to the song/videos message that even when you’re in the dark there is light and that light dominates darkness.
In the climax of the video as the lead up to the chorus begins to increase in volume and bass the images presented on screen also do, this gives the video an extra doss of intensity and tension and puts emphasis on the highlight of the song and video. There is also a short clip of a girl drinking with a Matte fit cup which is obvious product placement. This is when a company offers an artist or record label money or a deal to promote their product, this is seen commonly in mainstream music videos with Beats by Dre headphones.
The scenes used to tell the story of the video feature different groups of people of all races and genders making their way to a bright and colourful moon in the sky which brings the groups of people together as one to witness the beautiful sight. This is the climax of the video and adds to a theme of the song which is coming together as a community to enjoy life and experiences as the night is still young and we still have time.
The purpose of this video is to convey the message of society coming together to enjoy life and allow the artist to further express their artistic impression and visual intention of the song as well as further promote the song as it does well on radio.
The sixth video I watched was Katy Perry – ET. This music video is a narrative/Surreal styled video with some narrative. The video uses multiple special effects such as a floating alien and its use of space. In order to show these images on screen a green screen was used. This is used as images of Katy Perry in space couldn’t be presented in reality. This use of special effects and visual images attracts the audience as it makes the video unique and stand out against other videos which may not have the budget to present these special effects on screen.
The narrative of the story is of a female alien queen going on a quest to find a male alien to become king and take her throne with her. The video shows this with Perry searching through space and a post-apocalyptic earth in slow motion. This use of slow motion is effective as it allows the viewer to take in all the visual effects used and the ambiance and atmosphere of the scenes.
The video features many close up shots of Perry’s face in detailed makeup to present her as an alien. These close ups again allow the viewer to see the visual imagery the design artists created and to show to the viewer’s Perry’s interpretation of what an extra-terrestrial looks like.
The purpose of this video is to show what an artist is able to do with a high budget and how they can express their musical or artistic vision, another purpose is to further promote the single as it had high radio play prior to the video.
The final video I watched was Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth – See you again. This video was intended to pay tribute to the star of the film Fast and Furious 7 Paul Walker and to also promote the film itself.
The video for the song features various clips from the film featuring Paul as well as his co-stars. The video is done in the style of a singing music video as we see Rapper Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth singing and rapping the song with intercuts of clips from the movie. This technique of transition is done smoothly and in a fade fashion which emphases on the reflectory theme of the video as we are reflecting on the death of Paul, the lyrics of the song and the current success of his last film.
This video is styled conventionally as it follows the same transition style of other soundtrack music videos or music videos used to promote a film. The wide shots of Khalifa and Puth rapping on top of a hill featured in the film allow the viewer to look at the setting of the video and become familiar with it before they watch the film or if they have already watched the film.
This music video successfully promotes the film as well as respectfully paying tribute to Paul Walker equally and clearly presents this intention through its lack of editing or special effects and simplicity.
In conclusion the techniques and styles in music videos are successful in promoting the artist and song. The use of effects and camera shots make the video more enjoyable to watch and give the video a feel of creativity and individuality.
No comments:
Post a Comment