Generic Conventions of a Music Video

Generic conventions of music videos are all very similar they usually involve fast cuts which will never last more then 5-10 seconds per shot. The videos either try to follow the songs imagery or the story portrayed by the lyrics, this depends on type of my music video being shot whether it's a concept video, narrative or performance. With in these three different types of music video you will find different conventions. For example in performance videos the the convention is to see the band performing the song live or in a music studio. Concept videos don't have many conventions apart from being outside the box. Narrative videos use actors instead of the band members and follow the lyrics with longer cuts then concept videos.

Editing

The music video "The Hardest Button to Button" is very famous for the insane amount of cuts and amazing new ideas on how to edit music videos. The video utilizes pixilation animation to create the effect of dozens of drum kits and guitar amplifiers multiplying to the rhythm of the song.


This is the white stripes The Hardest button to button video

Laura Mulvey

According to Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory the video would take the perspective of the man over the woman, so the audience would see the situation through the eyes of a man. She also believes that women are always depicted as either a 'virgin’ or ‘whore’ type character. The main female character in this video falls directly into this type of theory.The whole style of this video is based in what seems to be a burlesque house which will attract the attention of some viewers. Another music video which shows this type of theory is Katty Perry's California Girls video.

This will definitely apply to our music video because the song is clearly from the perspective of a man who is looking at a woman. it is very unlikely that there would be any perspective of the woman shown in the video. It is probable that women in the video will be represented as the ‘whore’ character.

50 Cents "Candy Shop" is another music video which shows the Male Gaze theory really clearly. its shot from the prospective of this "pimp" he has all of these really flash cars and is in a house full of women which are looking at him with passion and lust. The video shows women wearing small little skirts and the camera is all over the parts of the body which interest men to try and sell sex.

The video to countdown by Beyonce really fits into the Laura Mulvey male gaze theory with Beyonce wearing next to nothing in some shots and the revealing camera angles. The majority of the dancers in the video are female which is trying to make Beyonce spread her market out and get more men to buy her CD's and to women she is seen as a Fashion goddess.

Lyrics of our music video

Excuse me girl
I know it's a bit embarrassing but
I just noticed some tan lines
On your shirt

See I reckon you're about an 8 or a 9,
Maybe even 9 and a half in four beers time.
That blue top shop top you've got on IS nice,
Bit too much fake tan though - but yeah you score high.

But there's just one little thing that really really,
Really really annoying me about you you see,
Yeah yeah like I said you are really fit
But my gosh don't you just know it

I'm not trying to pull you
Even though I would like to
I think you are really fit
You're fit But my gosh don't you know it

So when I looked at you standing there with your hoard,
I was waiting in the queue looking at the board
Wondering whether to have a Burger or chips
Or what the shrapnel in my back pocket could afford
When I noticed out the corner of my eye
Looking toward my direction
Your eyes locked onto my course
I couldn't concentrate on what I wanted to order,
Which cost me my place in the queue I waited for YEAH

I'm not trying to pull you
Even though I would like to
I think you are really fit
You're fit but my gosh don't you know it

Whoa! Leave it out
Are you smoking crack or something?
Leave it Out
Mike just leave it just leave it
We cannot have that behaviour in this establishment
S'not worth it mike, just leave it
Don't Touch Me, S'not Worth It
Don't Touch Me, D, Look I'm Alright
Don't Touch me

For a while there I was thinking - yeah but what if?
Picturing myself pulling with bare white hot wit
Snaring you as you were standing there opposite
Whether or not you knew it I swear you didn't tick
And when that bloke in the white behind us lot queuing
Was clocking onto you too yeah I had to admit
That yeah yeah you are fit,
And yeah I do want it,
But I stop sharking for a minute to get chips and drinks

I'm not trying to pull you
Even though I would like to
I think you are really fit
You're fit But my gosh don't you know it

Now, I bashed my head hard earlier choosing a brew.
But I am digressing slightly so I'll continue.
I didn't want to bowl over all geezer and rude,
Not rude like good but just rude like uncouth,
You girls think you can just flirt and it comes to you,
But let me tell you, see, yes, yes, but you are really rude,
And rude as in good, I knew this as you stood and queued,
But I just did not want to give the satisfaction to you!

I'm not trying to pull you
Even though I would like to
I think you are really fit
You're fit But my gosh don't you know it

Oy, just as you started to make your big advance

With the milkshake and that little donut in hand
I was like nah, I can't, even though you look grand
But you look sharp there smiling hard suggesting and
Gleaming away with your hearty hearty looking tan
But I admit the next bit was spanner to my plan
You walked towards my path but just brushed right past
And into the arms of that fucking white shirted man

I'm not trying to pull you
Even though I would like to
I think you are really fit
You're fit But my gosh don't you know it

What do I give a fuck.. I've got a girlfirend anyway
(whoa, we've all had a drink mate)
We're all a bit drunk, yeah we've had a few fair play
I got this stella I bombed from that last café
This nights not even begun, yes yes oh yay

I did fancy you a bit though yeah I must say
I would rather I hadn't mugged myself on display
But this is just another case of female stopping play
On otherwise a total result of a holiday

I'm not trying to pull you
Even though I would like to
I think you are really fit
You're fit But my gosh don't you know it

[outro]
Ha ha huh huh huh
You're fit but you know it
You're fit but you know it
You're fit but you know it
I think I'm going to fall over
I think I'm going to fall
Fucking hell

Here is the official video which The Streets produced:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPbNMLwmxYk&feature=player_embedded

Goodwin's Theory

Goodwin's theory is based on 8 main principles, the first of these being links between the lyrics and visuals which you see mainly min narrative style films. The second being links between the music and visuals. Genre characteristics which for example means if this is a metal video it will have black and red, this is just one example. Intertextual reference, this could be for example the reference to Tin Man in the video for Parklife. Objectifying women, an example for this is California girls by Katy Perry. Voyeurism, this means that other people are looking at the artist or an insight into the artists life. Demands of the record label, and finally the three different types of music video performance, narrative and concept.

Research into Music Videos

Music videos are short pieces of video integrated with a song to sell an artist’s image and are generally used for either promotional or artistic purposes. The music videos are made usually by recording the band playing the song and overdubbing the studio version or by lip synching.

One of the biggest companies which show music videos is Vevo which is how most videos are viewed on YouTube. Mtv where quick to snap onto the fact that music videos where important, during the 1980s mtv based the channel totally on music videos

Blur – Parklife Analysis

The music video to the song Parklife is mainly performance based but also features many narrative elements as well. The lead singer of Blur (Damon Albarn) and actor Phil Daniels are travelling around London trying to sell Windows. This video has some intertextuality linking to Tin Men which is about a door to door salesman. The Verses in this song are all spoken which links to a narrative style video as they travel from door to door. The video is also synched up with the song for example the cideo cuts when major drum beats occur. The majority of the video are close ups of the band which links to a performance based video. You can see in the video that they are all dressed to represent the genre of Brit Pop. Another piece of intertextuality is the reference to the Beatles album “Abbey Road” where the band walk single file over a zebra crossing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIEsmGzo2UE&ob=av3e

The Foo Fighters – The Pretender analysis

This video is a performance based video, this is because the whole of the video (with the exception of the riot police) the camera is focused on the band. The video appears to be shot in a big warehouse with a white floor and a big red screen behind the band. The red screen has connotations with anger which is what I believe the song is about as it sends a very strong political message.

The video starts off with the front man coming onto the stage with a very long shot as the light of the warehouse start to switch on in time with the guitar. The camera at the starts focuses on this ominous black line which doesn’t mean anything at this point of the video and the camera cuts back to where the other members of the band take the instruments and start playing.

From this point on the editing and camera use a lot of jump cuts, zooms, pans and close up to the front man. The camera also keeps showing the black line and a single member of the riot police stands just behind it and is eventually joined by over 40 members who charge at the band in slow motion when the songs goes quiet at the bridge.

When the song hits the final chorus the big red screen I was talking about at the start of the song erupts and throws the police off guard. The song slowly starts to sound angrier and angrier which could try to represent the fight between the police and the band. As the song ends you can tell the police where defeated and the lead singer falls to the floor

Location Ideas

When we go to brighton to film we want to create a dream like state which is why we choose a pier. We want to have a great deal of our shots to have the pier either behind or some of the rides on the pier.

We want to have another of the main settings to be a pub we are thinking about using a pub from one of our friend family members as this seems to fit with the style of genre and what the lyrics seem to be saying to us. We want our main character to be having a few beers as this is what happens when on a night out.

Types of Music Video

There are three main types of music video Performance based video, narrative Based Videos and Concept Videos.

Performance videos are videos which show the band playing and only feature the band. These are very good videos if you are under a tight budget and you usually see these types of videos in older bands such as Queen, this is just one example of many I could have chosen, the video linked below is Don’t Stop Me Know by Queen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgzGwKwLmgM

Narrative based videos are used to tell a story which generally involves actors and the underlying lyrics fit with what’s being seen. Generally songs with these sorts of music videos will be in films and have links to the films. A video which is a narrative based video could be Parklife by Blur which is linked below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIEsmGzo2UE&ob=av3e

Concept videos I believe are the most interesting out of the different types of videos. Concept videos are generally really weird and bizarre and are usually edited together with a set style or or filmed in a certain way. The closet video I believe which links truly to this is a song by Tool call Stinkfist which is linked below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07pLGIgyfjw

Target audience for “Fit but you know it” by the Streets

The target audience for our music video for Fit but you know it will D – E class people and will generally come from working class backgrounds. The main reasons for this is because the lead singer and the main musical writer for the streets is Mark Skinner, A young adult from this type of background. The video will also target young males this is because the song is about a young attractive women, this effectively takes out the older generation and females from our audience. The lyrical content of the song also targets a younger more “hip” audience with words such as “fit”.

The song also tries to be funny which may interest people who also listen to hip-hop and listen to the urban culture. The sound of the music also sounds like a similar style to early Brit Pop like Blur.

This video will be created to entertain the public, this is because of the way the lyrics are written. The song was created to be fun to play at a gig which is why we have chosen to make the video fun.

Intertextuality

Definition: the whole network of relations, conventions, and expectations by which the text is defined; the relationship between texts. Intertextuality in a nutshell is shaping texts by other texts. You usually see this in the forms of reference to other texts or other pieces of media. The word “Intertextuality” was created by poststructuralist Julia Kristeva in 1966 and has changed many times. Examples of Intertextuality are generally associated with more post modern texts but what the device does in not new at all, there are quotes in the new testament which quotes the old testament, this is probably the oldest form of Intertextuality.

Intertextuality is also used a lot in Robbie Williams song “Let me entertain you” where the video pays homage by referencing old school rocks bands Ozzy Osborne from “Black Sabbath” and “Ozzy Osborne” and Kiss. The way he references Ozzy is by at the video pretending to bite the head off of a dove. Osborne bit the heads off of bats at the concerts he would play at. The way he references Kiss is through the Mise-en-scene. The outfit that Robbie where is the exact same style as the band members from kiss wore.

The long version of the music video Paparazzi by Lady Gaga shows really good Intertextuality throughout of the piece. One reference is straight at the start of the video which is a Hitchcock Vertigo reference. We see Gaga descending into a spiral, free falling through the entire earth.

My influence for the video which we will be creating is by paying homage to the urban UK or other successful grime artists.

Questionnaire

What is your favourite Genre of Music?


Alt Rock Pop RnB Dubstep Rap Metal Indie Other


Do you watch a lot of Music Videos?


Yes No


Where do you watch Music Videos?


Internet T.V


What’s your favourite Music Video?


………………………………………………………………………………


Why?


………………………………………………………………………………


What makes a good Music Video?


Colours Acting Metaphors Live Videos Story

Story Boards

Copyright Permission Letter

Below, is the letter we sent to the copyright holder of the song we wish to use for our music video. As we did not heard back from them, we assumed we were able to use their song.

Dear Copyright Holder,

We are an A-Level group of media students attending Carshalton Boys Sports College. I am writing to request your permission to use the song “Fit But You Know It” by “The Streets”.

If we gain your consent, it will be used for educational purposes, by creating a music video to play alongside the track. We will also be creating a digipak and advert to promote the song. The only people who will be viewing our work, would be fellow students, our teachers, and the exam moderators.

We look forward to hearing from you,

Regards,

Tom Whelan

Jack Morris

Jack Hargreave

Charlie Holt