GROUP POST: iTunes

Youtube

The use of Youtube in the distribution and consumption of music videos has greatly increased over recent years. Due to it being so accessible and easy to use, as well as it having a wide range of choice and being free, it has quickly become the most popular way for an audience to view a music video. It also attracts an audience as it provides a way to give feedback on the video and inform the artist as to whether they like or dislike the music or video through the comments and likes/dislikes. This entices people as they can provide their own opinion and debate with others about their ideas.

An example of this is on DNCE's 'Cake by the Ocean'.

The video has a mix of good and bad reviews in the comments section, however the overall view is that it is a good song and music video, which can be seen from the likes/ dislikes, with the likes being 1,250,000+ compared to the dislikes being 40,000+. These views are reflected in the chart rating, with the song once being in the top 5.

The use of the comments section helps Youtube as it shows they are providing a platform to which an audience can communicate with other audience members and the artists themselves, however it can make or break an individual video as bad comments will discourage people from enjoying the music video, or point out mistakes that may have been created in the production by highlighting certain times during the video that other audience members should specifically look out for errors in.

As an institution Youtube is very successful, with over a billion users accessing the site daily. This then reflects into the huge amount of people that subscribe to music channels, such as Vevo. Vevo is one of the most popular music channels that release official music videos for all types of music, although it is predominantly pop music on their channel. They boast an impressive 1,059,700,000+ subscriber count and over 523,754,380,000+ views, showing that Youtube is now one of the most successful places for a music video.

GROUP POST: Music Channels

Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin had a theory that there are many different types of music video, the main three being performance, narrative and concept. Other styles include animation and combined styles. His theory said that all music videos fit into one of these styles.

A performance music video is where the video shows the artist or band performing their music to an audience, as if they were at a concert. This can be sourced from an actual concert. An artist may use this type of music video as it is the cheapest and easiest to produce, with no money being spent on multiple locations or costumes, or even actors/dancers. An example of this is Bon Jovi's 'You Give Love', where the video is taken at a gig, and singing is then occasionally directed into camera which helps keep the audiences attention.



A narrative music video is where a story is created that weaves around the lyrics of the song. These are more expensive due to having to pay for costumes, props and set. Typically there are also a number of actors involved, and occasionally the artists themselves are featured in the video. An example of this is The All American Rejects's 'Gives You Hell', where the video is centered around the members of the band arguing with their neighbor due to the two houses having people with different personalities.



A concept music video is created to show an idea or a concept that is quite often obscure and not true to real life, rather being relatable to real life. Due these videos being slightly odd in a sense, it interests the audience and draws them in. An example of this is Fall Out Boy's 'Sugar, We're Going Down'. In the video, the boy it s centered around is presented as different from the use of antlers, which he is shown to be resentful of as people treat him badly because of them. No-one actually has antlers which shows that this is concept instead of narrative as it is addressing an issue instead of just portraying a story.

GROUP POST: History of the Music Video

Music video from 1960 2016 from Morganbullock

GROUP POST: History/Inspiration of the song 'Gravity'

The history of the music video gravity from Morganbullock

GROUP POST: Mise en Scene (Costume)

To analyse the costume of a music video I decided Taylor Swift would be the perfect music video with her 'Shake It Off'. This being due to in the music video her exploring all the different styles of dance and there costumes.

 The music video first starts with Taylor in a ballet class at a ballet bar, as all the other ladies are bending over she appears a few people back and starts to sing. Her costume her at the stat is ballet tights, a leotard and a sweatshirt over the top. The costume is typical clothing to wear to a ballet rehearsal.

 The scene then changes to another ballet section but this time the group is preforming a dance routine. There is no props used in this scene like in the previous but still obviously ballet due to the outfits and the pointe shoes. The costume here shares links with the popular ballet 'Swan lake' due to the white feathered tutu's and the feathered head dresses. And again the stereotypical ballet tights and shoes.

 The song then changes to a different style of dance. Now it is contemporary dancing. This is clear to dancers due to the costumes worn. The costumes shown above are typical of this genre of dance. Also it is noticeable how the costumes differ on gender and there was no males in the previous two shots but in this contemporary one males are present. Another feature about this shot that is interesting is the use of the positioning of people. In this shot they are spread out around the stage but looks a lot more naturally spaced whereas in the previous two shots for the ballet the positioning has been neat and accurate reflecting the genre.

The fourth change we get is into gymnastic attire. The gymnastic/ribbon twirling genre is apparent due to the use of the prop that Taylor is using. This costume is completely different to the other two also due to being of a different style and a lot more colourful.

 The song then continues and Taylor changes into the disco genre. This genre appeals to older fans of Taylor due to disco music not being a popular genre nowadays. Blumler and Katz in their theory talk about personal identity and about people own identity. Especially in this music video of Taylor Swift it is evident that even if people have a clear identity can vary greater. For example people have Taylor's identity as being a pop star, but here in this video she demonstrates her doing numerous others skill in the form of dance and being a performer. So it's evident that people's identity's are varied and flexible.

This costume is different to all the others which are worn throughout the music video. For this section of the video there is no exact music style due to the dancers in the back ground just 'twerking' and Taylor at the front just moving her arms about. I feel this section of the video is targeted at a large target audience due to 'twerking' nowadays being seen all over the television and everywhere so it covers a large target audience. However the costume I feel is targeted at a teenage audience due to it being to revealing for a younger and adult audience so I feel its targeted at a teenage audience.

This section in the video is unusual due to being unlike any of the other sections in the video. For example all of the other shots used in the video are relevant to dance and the different genres of dance, whereas here the shot is of Taylor singer with a band which is how the stage would be positioned if she was doing a concert for example. Also the costume here is all black which is a feature that is unusual for the video due to the rest of the costumes being bright and out going. However this is adhering to conventions due to being the artist shown singing with the band.

The last costume we see Taylor wearing is a cheerleading outfit where we see her attempting to do a cheerleading routine. The costumes that are worn her are very obviously female and are targeted at the teenage audience due to the difficulty of the routine they are performing.  This is a contrasting outfit to others that are so in the video for example compared to the denim short and leopard print jacket. This are contrasting due to the cheerleading outfits being very feminine and girly whereas the other being clearly feminine but not very girly to the chains and excessive jewellery. After this costume the shots change between all of the previous costumes where Taylor is seen performing that genre dance but in her own style, so it doesn't look strictly correct but is in the music video to make it entertaining to the viewer which this music video certainly is.

GROUP POST: Sara Bareilles

This is the homepage for Sara Bareilles. There are numerous different tabs to be opened from the homepage of her webpage such as: tours, news, music, video, store, sign up, social and share. Also there is six different pages that rotate advertising different articles and information about Sara.

 Also on the homepage of the website it advertises the release of Sara's book. She is releasing a song that explains the journey of her creating music and writing her own music.

Another feature of the homepage is that it advertises the musical 'Waitress' this is a musical in which the score for the musical was produced by Sara Bareilles. This is a great advertisement to put on Sara's webpage due to advertising the musical but also intriguing people who like Sara to go watch it due to being music by her which features on the musicals poster.

This is Sara Bareilles image. She is 36 years old. This is an older music artist in todays society. Considering she is older the the average pop star she dress very modern and in 'trendy' clothing. Sara  in 2007 released her song 'Love Song' which featured on her album Little Voice which 3million copies were sold and was nominated for two Grammy awards for Sara. In 2004 was when Sara released her first single which was 'Gravity'. During Sara's musical career she has been nominated for numerous awards, shown in the table below.

From the table it is very clear that Sara has been nominated but been unsuccessful in receiving any of them. But her latest three nominations are yet to be released to whether she has won or not. Her latest three nominations are for her musical soundtrack 'Waitress' which is a new broadway musical with the score and lyrics created by Sara.

Here is the tour page of Sara's official website. There is a large amount of synergy between this and the homepage due to sharing the same house style. The whole page looks identical to the homepage but this page only has the one image of Sara whereas the homepage has a rotation of different things on a timer. Sara is not currently on tour and does not have any plans regarding a tour which is stated on this page.

At the top of the website there is all the keywords that lead you to other parts of the website. Apart from when you select the 'Social' button. After selecting the social button the social media icons appear at the left hand side, this are all shortcuts directly to Sara's social media pages. This is making it easy for fans to find her on social media and places like iTunes and Youtube.

Sara has recently released a biography "Sounds like me my life (so far) in song" which is shown above. In Sara's book it goes through her journey as a music artist and all of her previous albums. Having a biography is a great way of informing fans and others of the work she has done and about all of her albums.

Above is all of Sara's albums that she has released. It is clear from the amount of albums that she has released that she is a successful music artist. Eric Rosse is Sara's music producer as he is the co-president of EMBR music aswell as being a composer and producer.

Filming on Location

To practice filming our music videos, all of our media class collaborated in filming and acting in a joint music video for the song ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ by Journey; however we performed the Glee version. This was a very useful experience as we learnt about directing the actors to show them what we want them to be doing, as well as what shot types can be used to show more emotion and which show more of their movement.

We all met at the Media classroom at Brigg Sixth Form on the 12th of July at 1:15. We split into the groups that we will be creating the music, and each group was given a camera and tripod to practice using. For the actors, we took turns in filming shots and being in them and so everyone got a chance to experience filming, directing and acting so we had experience when it comes to creating the actual music video. The song that we filmed for was the Glee version of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing'.

The first thing we did was arrive at a possible location, and then we set up our cameras to start the first shot. At this point we had to look at the framing, for example using the natural framing of a bridge, tree and fence. This helped to make the shot interesting, and meant that the focal point was the actor being used in the first sequence. We also looked at the type of shots we could use, and what looks most effective. The close up shots rely on the actor having good facial expressions and the long shots require the actor/actors to be well directed in movement so it does not become stilted or awkward.
Something I personally found difficult about directing was when attempting to convey the ideas you have in your head to the actors so they can bring these ideas to life. 

Chosen Song

The song that we chose is 'Gravity' by Sara Bareilles.

These are the lyrics:

Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long
No matter what I say or do
I'll still feel you here 'till the moment I'm gone

You hold me without touch
You keep me without chains
I never wanted anything so much than to drown in your love
And not feel your reign

Set me free, leave me be
I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity
Here I am, and I stand
So tall, just the way I'm supposed to be
But you're on to me and all over me

Oh, you loved me 'cause I'm fragile
When I thought that I was strong
But you touch me for a little while
And all my fragile strength is gone

Set me free, leave me be
I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity
Here I am, and I stand
So tall, just the way I'm supposed to be
But you're on to me and all over me

I live here on my knees as I try to make you see
That you're everything I think I need here on the ground
But you're neither friend nor foe though I can't seem to let you go
The one thing that I still know is that you're keeping me down
You're keeping me down, eh ooh
You're on to me, on to me, and all over

Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long

The reason we chose this song is that when deciding what song to us for our music video, each member of the group spent time individually looking at songs which have meaningful lyrics that we could think of a possible narrative to set the music video on, and then voiced these suggestions to the other members of the group. We then shortlisted possible songs that we could collectively think of ideas for and that would provide an interesting style in our music video. One of our main ideas for the video was to include some sort of dancing, and so we needed a song that we could choreograph a dance to. Gravity has emotive lyrics that we could all think of good shot types for, plus Amy and I could put some classical and more contemporary dance moves to, as we are both graded dancers.

'Don't Stop Believing' lyrics and storyboard

GROUP POST: Email: gaining consent to use Sara Bareilles 'Gravity'

For our music video we wanted to use the song 'Gravity' by Sara Bareilles, but before we could do this we had to gain consent to use the song due to it already having a music video. We searched online for contact email so we could gain consent to use the song. 













All we could do then was wait for a reply and look forward to hearing there response. Finally after three days we got an email with an answer for us:

Video Analysis 2- Geri Halliwell's 'It's Raining Men'

Geri Halliwell's rendition of 'It's Raining Men', originally released by The Weather Girls in 1983, hit the charts on April 30th 2001.
The establishing shot is a medium close up of a females back, and the tattoo they have on it. This shows off the small frame of the person, with a desirable figure as it is thin and toned, which supports Mulvey's theory of the 'male gaze'. The attractive figure will be appealing towards the audience, will encourage them to watch and engage with the music video. Her costume is very revealing, only consisting of black pants and a crop top which further supports Mulvey's theory due to it showing off the person, who the audience does not currently know the identity of, and their body.
During this sequence there is a short ASL with lots of extreme closeups, which creates a sense of tension and excitement about the fast paced choreography and the identity of the dancer, whose face is consistently hidden by either shadow or her hair.















There is a cut to a close-up of Geri Halliwell's face, which is the first time we see the identity of the dancer.








looking into the camera- hand movement into camera










intertexuality- flashdance

group dancing with her- she still the focus









outfit change, location change









voyeristic shot









looking up at her- powerful









narrative begins
fitness

In this shot, Geri is shown to be practising ballet, which is
ballet, very sophisticated, intertexuyality











shows shes not right  for ballet









The next few shots have a strong sense of intertexuality, linking strongly to the film 'Fame'. For example, in Fame, one of the characters bursts through the doors of her school onto the street and begins to dance on and round cars whilst neighbours watch on. These shots are recreated by Halliwell, with even her clothing linking to the film as her t-shirt says 'Famous' on it.

reoccuring shot










syncronised dancing










reoccuring shot









intertexuality- madonna









links to lyrics- its raining









looking into camera, voyeristic









pan up body








Goodwin- theorist
voyeristic
reoccuring shot









ending shot- sexy

Video Analysis 1- Justin Bieber's 'Love Yourself'

Justin Bieber's 'Love Yourself' was released on November 14th 2015.
The establishing shot is a high angle medium long shot of the two actors laying on a bed in comfortable clothing, typically worn whilst lounging around the house, creating a modern representation, also creating verisimilitude. Due to this, you can infer that this is their bed however they are not close together in the shot, signalling some problems in the relationship, which relates to the name of the song. The monochrome colouring at the beginning symbolises that the spark in their relationship is gone. It would be easy to recreate this setting as it can be performed on any large bed, with the rest of the set being minimalistic which is also easy to recreate. The two actors do not look into camera or sing at all, indicating they are not the artists, rather dancers that are helping to tell the story, or meaning behind the song.
All dancing movements throughout the song are on the beat, creating a relationship with the music. This helps the audience to connect the meanings and emotions invoked by the dancing and the music being used in tandem. Occasionally the actors will slip out of dancing and instead walk as normal, which then makes the dance movements more powerful, particularly as it is in a contemporary style.

The next change in shot is to a medium long shot which focuses on the female shrugging the male away from her. This shows the emotions on both of the actors faces, with the woman looking annoyed that the man had disturbed her and the man looking confused as to why she is pushing him away, both physically and emotionally. This further communicates a rift between the two characters. Portraying a strained relationship is a very modern representation, which is further shown by the woman having a short hair cut which, traditionally, would not occur.

After a dance segment, where the male is framed by a door frame some shots, emphasising that the song is from him to the woman, there is a cut to location with the actors now in the corridor as they move through the house. Whilst dancing in this location, all of their movements are framed by the walls and the window at the end, which also highlights again that the set is very minimalistic. The continuation of this from the bedroom further supports the idea that the characters relationship is not a particularly happy or well balanced one. It is clear from the dancing in this shot that the clothing was chosen as items that the actors have good mobility in, as well as being modern and quite trendy, showing the pair to be a modern young couple.

There is then another cut to the kitchen. All of the location changes have continuity due to the characters walking in and out of each shot, which enforces that the movement is occurring around the house at one time. What's interesting in this section is that due to the camera being stationary in each location, an effect is created that makes the audience seem to be observing the breakdown of the relationship through snippets, as if they are meant to observe and interpret rather than connecting emotionally with the actors, but should focus on the song instead, and how most of the lyrics are in past tense. This supports the idea that the video is a look into the past, and that the song is message from the male to the female.
There is an interesting use of props and set in this sequence, as the actors incorporate the fridge and food items into the dance sequence. The door to the fridge is used to frame the woman as she ignores the mans attempts to talk to her, which shows a more stereotypical view of the woman to talk to the man in a relationship about what is wrong and why she is upset. There is a modern view shown as well however, with the woman being portrayed as quite dominant, taking the apple away from the man just when he is about to bite it.

There is then another cut to location with a medium shot as the the actors enter into a sitting room, with the apple the woman is holding creating a sense of continuity and verisimilitude, as she would still be holding it if she had just come from a different room in the house. When they first enter they are slightly out of frame at the top, which reinforces the idea that the audience are seeing the actors relationship through snippets. The set contains a lot of symmetry, with the curtains, windows and chairs all being equally balanced. The only item that particularly highlights either side is through the lighting, and the placement of a lamp on the left, creating a warm glow in that corner of the room. This represents the idea that the person who is mainly in that corner, the male, is the 'good' side in the relationship, and it is the woman that is breaking it up. However both are in a shadow throughout this section which indicates that there may be problems caused by both the male and female. The choreography also contains a lot of symmetry, with the dancers being on opposite sides of the shot. This contradicts most of the previous dancing, with it previously being movements that work in tandem but are completely different. However the style does revert back to its original style after around 15 seconds, which could be inferred as the dancing reflecting the state of the relationship, as it is breaking down.

There is then another cut to two phones, which have been shown in the previous shot as being put down by the actors. This provides continuity between the two locations. The use of phones helps to provide a different type of shot, which will ensure that the audiences' attention is kept as it is an uncommon technique. It is interesting to use two other forms of media to show the music video, which helps to enforce the songs lyrics through the pragmatics of the choreography, with the woman walking away from the man when the relationship starts to work. Meanings can also be taken from the symbolism of the two phones, one being black and one white, which shows how different the two people are in the relationship, and how that whilst they are together, they are also miles apart. This relates back to the meaning of the song as it shows that the people are too focused on themselves to have a stable relationship. Both phones have medium long shots, which enables the audience to be able to see all of the dancers bodies, and their movements.

There is then a cut to location as both actors are now seen in a bathroom. The female is now in a more dressed up outfit and appears to be preparing to out which relates to the lyrics of the song 'maybe you should go and love yourself'. The male is also in a dressier costume however he is not often visible due to the woman blocking him. All of the shots in this sequence are taken through the range of mirrors that surround the pair in the room. From this we can infer that the set is again reflecting the song lyrics due to the woman being obsessed with appearance whereas the man simply wants her to stop and love herself. This is a more stereotypical representation of women

as she is fixated on her looks and not the problems that are occurring around her. The fact that the couple are surrounded by mirrors reinforces this fact. At this point Mulveys' theory of the 'male gaze' can be applied, due to the woman dressing up and putting on makeup, as well as doing her hair. This would supposedly make her more appealing for males, however the lyrics of the song suggest that she does not need this and that her partner wishes her to stop attempting to change the way she looks as he believes her to fine without any of this preening.

There is then another cut to a section of the lounge which allows the audience to see some of the previous locations, the kitchen and the sitting room. From the position the camera is in, there is a vase and part of the sofa in the foreground, out of focus, which frame the sides of the shot and further reinforcing the idea that the audience are seeing small sections of the actors relationship. The changing lighting, with both the male and female turning the light on and off, meaning they cannot see each other as they are never there at the same time reflects that the relationship is coming to an end due to them simply not seeing each other anymore.


After this there is a cut back to the bedroom, which has gone back into the monotone colouring that the video started with. This is a extreme closeup to end the music video, as it relates back to the name of the music video, 'Love Yourself', as well as reinforcing the idea that the song was a message from the male actor to the female actor, which mirrors the way in which the artist of the song is sending a message.

How This Music Video has Influenced my Creativity and Planning

After watching this music video, I would greatly like to include dancing in my own video, as I find the contemporary style very interesting to watch due to it linking to the meaning of the song so well. I do find it odd however that there is no singing or even looking into camera whilst the actors are dancing, which is a convention of music videos. This may be because the dancers are not the actual stars and therefore are not needed to engage with the audience itself. In my own music video I will include some looking and singing into camera as I believe it helps to engage the audience into the meaning of the song, and of the music video. The dancers would also be the artist with the star image that we are portraying, therefore looking into camera would be more appropriate for our music video.
Another idea I would like to recreate in my own music video is the us of lighting to indicate the emotional development of the song, such as using the monotone colouring and brighter lighting on the 'good' person.