Music Video introduction blog task

Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet #69: Music Video. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets - you'll need to save the factsheet to USB or email it to yourself in order to complete this at home. Read the factsheet and answer the following questions:

1) What is the purpose of a music video?

A music video is a message to the audience, entertain and the main purpose of music videos is to promote artists and promote brands. But it's mainly to promote the track. A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes.

2) How has the digital age changed the production and distribution of music videos?

Back in the day pre-production music videos used to follow the idea of a 'concept video'. Music videos were originally designed to promote products to the world wide public in a short space of time. Producers in that era would spend millions if not billions of pounds in order to gain as much coverage as possible. However, in the post-preduction era modern music videos no longer have a huge budget compared to the 1980s and 1990s. In stead aim to spend more money on flashy items like jewellery or rental cars to promote a certain lifestyle to up hold a particular image. Aspects such as music, camerawork and editing have also become fast paced in comparison to pre-production music videos. In terms of distribution, the age of the internet has made it easier for users to access music videos on platforms such as youtube. This means views are able to stream whenever and wherever 24hrs a day however this wasn't always the case. Back in the day, views were more restricted as they weren't able to freely binge watvh their favourite music videos due to their lack of technology like smartphones or even apps like YouTube. 

3) Which three major record labels are behind VEVO? What is VEVO and why was it created?

Vevo (video evolution) is an American multinational video hosting service founded on December 8, 2009, as a joint venture between the "big three" record companies, Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music Entertainment (SME) and Waner Music Group (WMG). 

4) What are the key conventions of a music video?

- lighting matches the narrative which can often portray a certain mood
- genre (hip hop, R&B, etc.)
- mise-en-scene (CLAMPS)
- lip syncing 
- music often matches the pace of the editing 
- either narrative/performance based
- costume often fetishise the body through dance or revealing clothing 
- visual effcts shown in post-preductions 
- montage editing 

5) How can narrative be used in music video? Give an example of a music video that uses a narrative.

Narrative based performance:

- often the video tells a story either that features in the lyrics or is suggested in the lyrics e.g. Girl dumps boy
- the narrative can be like a mini film, with a beginning, middle and end
- or it can suggest some links to a story 
- it can promote a film with clips from the film including telling a story

Narrative based performances contain:

- very fast paced, lots of shots and cuts
- use intertextualilty ( reference other fims, videos or TV) 
- mimic other film and TV genres e.g. Horror or sci-fi
- sometimes the story can contradict what os seen for effect 
- sometimes the artist is a part of the story, or an observer or completely separate 

Examples:

- T.I - war zone 
- 2 pac - hail mary

6) What examples are provided in the factsheet for intertextuality in music videos?

Blink 182 'All The Small Things', makes references to the Back Street Boys 'I Want It That Way', and Christina Aguilera 'Genie In A Bottle', by copying scenes that were in their music videos.
7) Why do audiences enjoy intertextual references in media products?

They may feel like it is a sense of being rewarded when they get intertextual references, they feel more connected to the music video.

8) Read the music video example analysis on page 3 of the factsheet. Select a music video of your own choice and write your own analysis using the following headings:

Coolio - Gangster's paradise 

• Conventions (movement/narrative/artist)
• Intertextuality

The song has direct link to gangster's paradise the movie. Everything about the mise-en-scene Iinks back to the movie. The jacket (costume) that The women wears is similar to the jacket a student wore in the movie to a night out with with her after he won his poetry challenge. The school room (setting) that the school room was set in was the same to the won the women taught the kids in within the movie.

• Representation

In my opinion the music video portrayed how poeople of none white heritage (so for example African Americans or even Mexicans) struggled to survive within their "hood". The artist talks about being "raised by the street lights" and not being able to escape the predicament that he was put into. He also mentions that "death is a heart beat away" so he can't afford to lose his life by not protecting him self due to him not knowing if he will live to see  the age of 24. 

• Audience
• Institution

The music video was set in an institution similar to it's intertextual link from the gangsters paradise movie. The environment which the artist and the other actors were in appeared to be a run down classroom from the movie that had graffiti all over the walls and minimal seating. Setting was quite dark but it had a beam of top down lighting to make the audience focus of the artist when rapping. 

9) Watch the video for Ice Cube's It Was A Good Day (1993). How did this video set the conventions for later hip-hop music videos?

 

Later Hip-Hop videos will follow the conventions of using a narrative based performance to tell a particular story in the music video. It also features the artist in the music video rather than actors playing their role. Low-budget videos filmed where the artist grew up was usually the main theme of the video. The mise-en-scene would be low-rider cars with them playing basketball and the gang culture was also one of the most important themes.

10) How important do you think music videos are in the marketing and promotion of music artists in 2018? Are music videos essential to a band or artist's success?

I think post-modern music videos are very important as they use their videos to portray a certain image or lifestyle. They do this to capture the audience attention so they can build a portfolio and gain more views on their content. i think the lyrics it self is the main reason for their success but having a good music videos to back it up helps to engage the audience watching.