Research into chosen artist

The artist we chose to use for our media project is Calvin Harris, we chose this artist as we all knew who he was and appreciated his individual style of music. His music video to the song 'We'll be coming  back' attracted all of my group as it was a dance video but did not conform to the typical conventions as it contained mainly narrative rather than performance. This inspired us to choose this song and create a video that will also be mainly based upon a narrative rather than focusing our attention on any sort of performance.


Calvin Harris is a singer songwriter and DJ, he was born in Scotland on the 17th of January and begun his career as a teenager in his bedroom recording and mixing songs by 1999. He became very anti social when he began making and producing music but said that this was a form of inspiration. His style and genre of music is Electro pop, Electro house and synth pop, he is currently signed with the record labels  Columbia and Ministry of sound. He has released two albums, thirteen music videos and thirteen singles. As you can see from the chart he is most successful in the UK but more importantly he is as popular in the dance charts as he is in the singles chart. This shows that he is well known and recognized as a dance music artist.

Calvin Harris' video to his song 'We'll be coming back' was directed by Saman Keshavarz and belongs to the dance genre. There is use of Dyer's star theory in this video as his paradox that explains that a star should be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer. There is evidence of this in the video but not through the images used. Instead it is done through the narrative of the video. For example the artist Calvin Harris is made to look extraordinary as he is wearing blacked out sunglasses which connote a rich and famous lifestyle and he is shown to be very skilled at driving, this adds to the illusion that the artist is extremely talented and extraordinary however the paradox emerges once the narrative in the video develops. For example towards the end of the video there are close ups of the artist and his accomplice to show that they are happy about completing a mission but really they have been tricked by a women in and motorcycle outfit who appeared regularly throughout the video and have failed their mission, this is showing the artist as more of a failure as he has not completed his task which therefore causes him to appear more ordinary as he is not good at everything.

Goodwin's theory is also used in this video but does not conform to its conventions in this music genre. One of the ideas put forward in Goodwin's theory is that an artists music video is either performance, concept or narrative based. In this case the video is narrative based as the video is telling a story, there is evidence of this as a large amount of the the shots are put together using continuity editing which is used a lot to tell stories. Also it contains almost no performance apart from a small amount of close ups of Example who features in the video singing some of the words to the song and there is no concept in the video as there are no messages or ideas being sold to the audience. Goodwin's theory is used in another way in this video as there are a lot of close ups of the artist, this is usually to please the record label but also to increase awareness of who the the song is by if it is being consumed by someone who is not a fan of the artist yet.

The artist is represented through the use of shot types, for example most of the shots that are of Calvin Harris are close ups to show his expressions and feelings, this helps to show him as someone with a lot of emotion and represents him in a positive way because his facial expressions are never sad or negative, this might be because dance music is generally up beat and not sad. This links in with his target audience who are teenagers and young adults, this is because they are at the age where it is popular to go clubbing and dancing where they are likely to hear music similar to his. The style of this music video is mainly narrative based and composes its shot using continuity editing apart from when there is a flash bask for example when it goes back to someone meeting someone in a dark alley at night. This style of music video is rarely found in the dance genre and subverts the stereotype that all dance videos contain only dancing usually in clubs or bars or even in exotic locations, which this video does not.

To fit in with the video not following the typical conventions of a dance video mise en scene has also been used. For example the setting of the video is not in exotic locations abroad or in exclusive clubs,  instead it is set in very dingy and urban alleys at night; country roads and aged towns out in the country, these locations are not the obvious choices for this kind of music genre and therefore helping to separate the video from the rest. there are however a lot of common camera shots used in this video such as close ups, usually of the artist, there are no clear establishing shots used in this video but this is because the location is not as important to know because there is no ideology in the video.

Another video from Calvin Harris is to his song 'Feel so close', another chart topper in the UK number ones and dance number ones, it was filmed in a small town in California during the summer and is also classed as a dance music video.There are contradicting elements of Richard Dyer's theory that can be found in this video, as one of his idea's is that a stars image will tend to change and develop through long or short spaces of time to keep the audience interested or to appeal to new or different audiences. However in Calvin Harris' videos he is only ever featured in them for less than half of the videos but more importantly his image has never changed dramatically, this is down to the fact that his music, unlike pop which is continuously changing and asking the artists to do so as well, is in the dance genre which has a timeless element about it as it always appeals to the same aged audience of about 16-26 and is always played in the same places such as clubs and bars. Because of this his image and motifs have never had to change to keep up with new demands as there very rarely are any substantial changes within this genre of music. For example in both of the videos I am analysing Calvin Harris is wearing a very similar style of clothes and has kept his sunglasses on which is his motive.

Another theory used in this video is Goodwin's theory which explains that a video should be made up of a mixture of performance, narrative and concept but ultimately one of these aspects should dominate the content of the video. In this video the two that dominate are performance and concept, performance obviously being the characters dancing and the artist singing along side the lyrics in the song and the concept linking in with another theory from Goodwin in that there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The concept is that music brings people together, there is evidence of this as when the music is not playing there are close up shots of a girl looking lonely and sad and there are a group of boys looking at another group of girls in the distance. When the music starts and the lyrics say 'I feel so close to you right now' there are more close ups of the same girl who is now not lonely and is happy because of it, also there are then close ups of the boys hugging the girls from the two groups. This is showing that the music from the song along with the dancing has bought everyone in the narrative closer together. This also backs up the point that there is a strong relationship between the visuals and the lyrics.
     
Calvin Harris is represented in almost an identical way to the previous video in that most of the shots with him in them are close ups to show his emotions but in this video he is not wearing sunglasses which means that his expressions are a lot easier to see which fits in with the theme of the song which is full of emotions and feelings towards other people. Also these close ups show the artist singing which shows Calvin Harris as a performer. This can show people that he has many talents and could increase his audience as he may now be respected as a singer as well as a songwriter.

The target audience for this video is mainly teenagers and young adults as this genre of music is played at the places considered popular to this age group for example clubs. Also the characters focused on in the video all fall into the same age category as the target audience which may help the audience relate to the characters better and enjoy the video more. This music video is similar to other videos in this genre as it follows the common conventions found in this genre such as lots of performance based entertainment for example singing and dancing. Mise en scene is used in this video as almost the entire video is shot using natural lighting and is very sunny, this helps create an up beat and fun feel to the video which is common in the dance genre.

Researching into my chosen artist was a great benefit to me as it enabled me to see what to consider from the very beginning of the planning stage to the finishing stages of the video. This research has inspired my way of thinking in terms of my ideas and plans for my groups video and will definitely have an influence on the final product, this could be through locations used, choice of cast but more importantly it has helped me in deciding the amount of time allocated to performance, narrative and concept in our video.     

Copyright

The copyright law is a legal document that gives the creator of an original piece of work from songs to   inventions exclusive rights it, these rights usually have a time limit on them after which the product is then open to anyone who wishes to copy it or make changes to it. It give the copyright holder the right to be credited for the work, to determine who may adapt the work to other forms, who may perform the work, who may financially benefit from it, and other related rights.  It is used in the music industry by artists to secure and protect their own songs against others who could adapt, perform or benefit financially from it without permission from the creator of the song.

Because we are using an existing song that we have not created ourselves and the song has been copyrighted we had to communicate with the record label that the chosen artist belongs to to see whether or not we will receive permission to use the song for our music video.

In order to find out whether we had permission to use the song or not we firstly had retrieve the telephone number for Sony ME who are Calvin harris' record label and phone them, their UK number was +44 207 361 8000. Once we had contacted them we were given an email address, tom.clough@sonymusic.com and told to email them regarding the permission to use their artists song.  

Once the email was sent we waited patiently for a reply but unfortunately after a week had past we still had not heard from the employee at Sony ME that we contacted originally. 

Research into chosen music genre

I have always had an interest in the dance music genre but it is only recently that i have developed 
my interest and become more evolved with it as I now listen to it more frequently and consequently I 
have been watching a lot more of the videos that go with the songs. Knowing that we would spend a 
lot of time listening to a certain genre of music, me and my group all decided that we could use the 
music genre  as we all listen to it to some degree and would have an interest in creating something to 
run alongside a song similar to this genre. We were all inspired to choose this genre once we began 
watching artists such  as Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, David Guetta and Skrillex. We 
enjoyed the style of these videos and felt that they bought something different to the other genres of 
music. 

One video that we watched that I was particualy captivated by was the video to David Guetta's song

'Titanium', mise en scene is used in this video and helps to enforce the dance image and makes it

clear that it is a dance music video, this is done by the video following the typical conventions of a

music video, one exception is the setting of the video which is a small sub urban town and an empty

school, this subverts the common conventions of a dance video as they are usually set in exotic

locations abroad or clubs, which is where the music is mainly played to its audiences. One thing that

does follow the conventions is that there is high key lighting in most shots in the video. This is to

keep the upbeat theme that is associated with dance music whilst enabling the audience to easily see

what is happening in the video as it is a narrative and the audience will want to see what is

happening. This video subverts from the conventions of other dance videos as the costume the

characters wear in this video are very ordinary and more practical, for example it is set in winter so

the main boy in the narrative is wearing a wooly winter hat, gloves and a large coat, this is not

typical of the dance genre which usually contains luxurious and expensive clothing for the men and

tight fitting, sexually ambiguous outfits for the women, this usually to promote a luxurious, rich and

famous lifestyle. However there is no ideology in this video and is very different to the stereotypes of

this genre which is why I am drawn to it.

Because Goodwin's theory is applied to this video it is focused around a narrative rather than a
concept or performance, because it is a narrative it is telling a story about a specific character, in this
case the young boy. As the boy is the protagonist his feelings and emotions are important to
developing the story and helping to involve the audience. This means that there are a lot of close ups
to show the boy's facial expressions. Other shots used a lot in his video are dolly shots and panning
shots, these both allow the camera to follow the boy without having to switch to another shot. this is
done so the shots are constantly following the boy and moving with him in order to make the
audience feel like they with the boy and are  beside him on his journey which is important as it is a
narrative.

The editing style is pretty straight forward in this video, it is mostly continuity editing as it is a
narrative  and has to make sense and show events in the correct order. There are a few jump cuts to
other locations but are only to show what is is happening simultaneously to the main characters
actions and contain a  relationship to the primary story. The pace of the editing is generally slow but
speeds up for the choruses and the beat breaks of the song. This is to contribute giving an energetic
feel to the video and follows the common conventions of the dance genre in which the editing is fast
paced to excite the audience and give the impression of euphoria and fun which is all associated with
the dance music genre.

The target audience for this video is young adults aged between 18 and 25 as this is the most
commonly aged group of people that go out to clubs and are therefore are the age group that will
have a lot of access to the this kind of dance music as it will be played at clubs and similar places.
Also they are the target age group for many music channels and radio stations like MTV Dance and
KISS which both play mainly dance music and would of heard of this artist so will probably want to
hear a new song from the artist and watch the video for it as well. The artist is not present in this
video as he generally considered to be more of a producer of music than a performer but is still
considered to be an artist. It is hard for the audience to connect with the artist in this video as he is
not in it but instead there is a young boy for the audience to relate to and connect with on an
emotional level.

Another artist that produces products in this genre is Flo Rida, in particularly his video to his song
'Whistle'. This video follows all of the conventions of the videos in this genre, for example the video
is set in an exotic country abroad which is one of the conventions of the dance genre. Also the
costumes used in this video are conforming to the stereotype of the dance genre which is that the
women are dressed to look attractive but also sexually ambiguous. For example the women in this
video are wearing minimal clothing in the form of swim suits and bikinis, this conforms to the
voyeuristic nature of dance videos and fits in with theory which refers to the notion of looking. The
lighting in this video is also typical of the dance genre as it is high key to keep an up beat feel to the
video Goodwin's, for example in this video there is bright sunshine which acts as a form of natural
high key lighting.

There are a lot of establishing shots in this video which is done to show the location of the video
which is a small group of tropical and exotic locations which is a typical location within the dance
genre. There are also a lot of ariel shots, this is also done to show off the location and setting of the
video. There is a heavy use of close up shots in this video, this is done to show the artist and to help
make it clearer who the artist is and raise awareness of the artist. This conforms to the conventions of
the dance genre in which there are lots of close ups used.

The editing style in this video is similar to that of a montage as it is not using continuity editing. The
pace of the editing in this video is fast as it is dance, this editing has to be fast to keep up with the
beat of the song as the song itself is fast because it is a dance track which are are up beat and slightly
chaotic. There is also a technique used called split screening in this video, this allows the video to
show multiple shots of people partying and dancing which ads to the overall feel of a fun and
euphoric atmosphere in the video. The main audience targeted in this video is teenagers and young
adults, this is because they are at the age where it is popular to go clubbing and dancing where they
are likely to be exposed to music similar to the artist in this video.

The artist 'Flo Rida' in this video is represented in a stereotypical way in comparison to the dance
music genre as he is portrayed in a positive way and made to look famous and successful. For
example he is wearing sunglasses in most of the shots in the video which symbolizes wealth. He is
also represented as an entertainer and a performer as he is mainly filmed using mid shots which
allows the audience to see him dancing as well as singing. The style of this music video is
predominantly performance based as most of the shots contain people dancing and the artist singing,
there is very little or no narrative involved within this video and also there is no visible concept being
put forward through the video or lyrics.

Researching into our chosen music genre was a great benefit to me as it enabled us to see what to
consider from the very beginning of the planning stage to the finishing stages of the video. This
research has inspired me and my group's way of thinking in terms of my ideas and plans for my
groups video and will definitely have an influence on the final product, this could be through
locations used, choice of cast but more importantly it has helped me in deciding the amount of time
allocated to performance, narrative and concept in our video.
         
   

Evaluation

The main purpose of a target audience for any music video is to know your audience and understand what they want to see from a music video, this allows you to develop your video or base your plans specifically to meet the demands the target audience. This will contribute to making your video successful as it will contain and feature all of the aspects requested by the target audience which will lead to your audience enjoying the video more than if you had not considered your target audience.

The main bulk of our research was done through a survey given to a group of people as this would give us quantitative results and would help us to gain an overall view of who our target audience would be and roughly what they want to see in a music video. Due to this research we now know what genre of music to do and how to go about showing it. The only problem with this research was that it was not detailed enough so we decided to carry out some qualitative research in the form of one to one interviews (Vox Pops).

We decided to survey 40 people as we felt that this would be a high enough amount to gain a non biased and honest view in order to help ensure that our video is appropriate for our target audience. We did not interview as many as 40 as it is qualitative and we simply did not need this level of information.

The Vox Pops interviews that we carried out were very successful as they were conducted on people of a similar age to our target audience therefore the information will be relevant and reliable. This research will help us when planning our music video as it give us vital information about who our target audience are and what want. This will make planning easier as we now know what locations to use, what characters to use and even how much concept, narrative or performance will be used in the video.

What type of location would you like to see in a music video?

This was an important question as everything else in the video is based around the location and it is vital that the location relates to our target audience. It is clear that an urban location is the most popular therefore we will incorporate this into our planning of the video when choosing a location.




What age are you?

This question is important as it is determining what age our target audience are so we automatically know extra useful information to help us when planning our music video. From the results shown it is clear that our target audience are between the ages of 17 to 20.








What is your favorite music genre?

Knowing what genre of music people like will help us determine who our target audience is and what music they like. This will then make it easier for us to decide what type of music to base our video on and will contribute towards creating a successful music video that will contain all the aspects demanded by our target audience. this will defiantly help me and my group when planning our music video.

What do you expect to see in a music video?

An answer that me and my group were not expecting to see was that most people we surveyed expected to see predominately narrative which we were surprised at as we though that they would expect to see a performance based. This made us reconsider including any sort of performance in our planning as our audience were not as interested in it as they were a narrative.

Due to the results of all of our questionnaires and interviews we have decided to go for a song by the artist Calvin Harris who falls under the dance music genre and has a particular demographic and subculture. There are three main theories for subcultures but the one that best applies to us is the CCCS theory which simply says that all subcultures derive from one main culture in this case this is mainstream music such as pop. Our songs genre is dance which is a subculture of the mainstream  pop music genre, this backs up the point as our music genre (subculture) has descended from the pop music (larger culture).

Censorship

Censorship is all about suppressing or objecting to speech or other communication with the audience which may be considered, harmful, sensitive, or even taboo, this is determined by the government, media outlets, or any other possible corporation with the necessary power to do so. In this case it is the company Office Of Communications (Ofcom) is the corporation with the power that spreads over a wide range of media such as television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. It is Ofcom's job to protect the audience from potential harmful acts or communications through the media.This could be references to drug abuse, violence, sexual encounters, advertisement of illegal goods and any material that could be seen as influencing its audience in a negative way.

Many artists have been targeted by Ofcom since they started up in 2002 but it wasn't until 2003 a year later that Ofcom received its full authority from the Communications Act. One of its most recent artists targeted is Rihanna for her official music video for the song S&M, which Ofcom said had " significant sexual fetish, bondage and sadomasochistic nature''. For example there is a scene containing various shots of the artist walking a man on a leash and whipping him, this is showing explicit behavior and could also be considered dangerous which is one reason why this video was initially banned and then allowed only after the watershed as young children could be exposed to the malicious nature of the video. Also there is a scene in which the artist adopts sexualised positions with blow up dolls and in many scenes Rihanna is wearing rubber and latex fetish outfits as her costume.

Another iconic artist that has had constant collisions with Ofcom is the rap artist Marshall Bruce Mathers III who goes by the stage name of Eminem whose controversial songs and music videos have been frowned upon by the Office of Communications for almost the entirety of his career. The question is whether or not his songs and more importantly his music videos should be censored. There are reasons why people such as parents or MTV would want his music banned or censored as it contains some very disturbing material for example in the video for his song Space Bound there is a shot of the the artist shooting himself in the head which contains some extremely graphic and realistic footage. MTV would not want this shown on their channel as there target audience are young adults and teenagers who may be easily influenced by the footage or may not be able to handle footage of this suicidal nature at a younger age as they do not have as much life experience as some of their older audience and if they are ever faced with a problem they may look to their role model (Eminem) for guidance. Also parents will not want there children seeing this scene as it could firstly upset the child but may also change there view on death and violence like this in a negative way. Another reason why this artists music could be banned by certain radio stations is that in some songs the artist uses lyrics that promotes the act of sexually abusing women and treating them in a negative way, for example in Eminem's song Superman some of the lyrics used contain things such as "Don't put out? I'll put you out" and "bitches they come, they go" these lyrics are talking about mistreating women and taking advantage of them. As this music is played on the radio they is no way of stopping audiences of any age listening to it unless it is censored or not played at all. As well as a young audience being in danger of exposure to this music they are also unfortunately a small minority of people who have varied mental illnesses. These are the most important people when it comes to protecting certain audience from lyrics such as these as they may be a lot easier influenced to behave according to there favorite artists.

There is an argument against censoring as a lot of the audience and most of the artists feel that they are not being allowed to fully express themselves through their music as it is being tampered with by companies such as Ofcom. Eminem is one of the biggest artists when it comes to expressing feelings and emotions through music, most of his fans say that his use of lyrics and visuals in his videos and songs may be rude and sometimes inappropriate but if they where not  it would not be conveying his true feelings or telling the same stories. This is saying that if he was not allowed to fully express himself the way he wanted to the music might not be as popular as it is now or might not connect with the audience as well. People such as the fans of the artist can be inspired by certain scenes from their music videos or lyrics in their songs, for example Eminem bases a lot of his lyrics on his own life and in his song Marshall Mathers his says "last year I was nobody , this year I'm selling records" this is showing how he became famous. This song also contains many sexual references and crude language so if it was censored for being to explicit for some viewers other viewers may not get a chance to listen to the song and be inspired  by it as it is focused around the life of Marshall Mathers and how through everything he managed to become a successful and famous artist.

In my opinion like a lot of people I would like to see and hear all artists work through different ranges off media but unfortunately there is also a large audience who are either mentally ill, too young or easily influenced to be so easily and frequently exposed to constant referencing to sex, drugs, gambling, violence and crime which are all considered too be unsuitable to some viewers.            

Questionnaire results.

Once we had collected the necessary information from our surveys we needed a better way to present and store our results, this is when we decided to show our data through the form of pie charts as this would enable us to analyse the data more efficiently as it would be shown in a simpler layout.

  

Questionnaire

To help me and my group  create a  successful music video it is crucial that we are able to create a video that appeals to our target audience. Questionnaires are important when considering a target audience as it allows you to locate your target audience and find out the necessary information that should ensure that your video relates and connects to the demographic. It is also a good and reliable source of information as it is a form of primary research which can be trusted and is usually very accurate.

Questionnaire

1   1.What gender are you?

MALE             FEMALE

2    2.How old are you?

13-16   17-20   21-24  Other

3. What is your favourite music channel?
        
         ____________________________

4. What is your favourite music genre?

  _____________________________

5. What is your favourite type of music video? 

PERFORMANCE   NARRATIVE    CONCEPT

6. What do you expect to see in a music video?

DANCING  SINGING  STORY  OTHER 

7. What is your favourite music video?

_____________________________

8. What would you like to see more of in music videos?

______________________________________________

9. What type of location would you like to see in a music video?

EXOTIC  DARK  URBAN  BRIGHT  INDOORS  OUTDOORS  OTHER

10. Have you ever heard of Calvin Harris?

YES        NO

We decided to survey 40 people as we felt that that we needed at least this amount to gain an accurate amount of information that would benefit us when making decisions relevant to our work. In order to survey 40 people we decided to split the work load and divide the work between ourselves by taking 10 questionaries each as there are four of us in the group.

  

Major Record Labels / Parent Companies

The definition of a record label is a large company within the music industry that may also own smaller record labels. The major record labels in the UK are currently EMI, Universal music group and Sony music.

EMI are a large company in the music industry and have signed many famous and recent artists. This is done through branching of into smaller subsidiary labels such as Capitol who are responsible for artists such as Katy Perry and Coldplay, Virgin who are responsible for Professor Green and another label would be Parlaphone who are responsible for artists such as Tinie Tempah.

Universal music group are also part of the music industries oligopoly and have many subsidiary record labels such as A&M who are responsible for big and well known artists such as the Black eyed peas



  


        

What is a music video?

What is a music video? Three days grace - Never too late.

The main purpose of a music video is to promote an artist or band and the song that that particular video is made for. If it a good video people will want to watch it again and might tell others about it which will in tern boost popularity of that song and the artist which is good for the record label that own that particular artist, band or group. The target audience for this video is people aged between 15-30 as it has an emotionally fuelled story line that some teenagers can relate to but also falls under the genre of ‘rock’ which is usually aimed at a wider range of audience in terms of age as it is for a niche audience and is done to compensate for this.   

This music video by Three days grace opens with the lead singer of the band sitting on a stool and playing a guitar. He is also wearing a black t-shirt. This one shot conforms to many stereotypes of this music genre and follows the conventions of the rock genre as many other videos in this genre feature a lot of people in either dark or black colours. For example as a request by the record label it is focusing on a band member for publicity, he is surrounded by and is wearing black (signifying death), which is a stereotype of the heavy metal music genre. Also the shot includes the singer playing a guitar, a guitar being the iconic symbol of rock and metal. This is important as it allows the target audience to identify this video as a particular genre and helps to make the video attractive to the demographic as most of the audience for this genre tend to play similar or the same instruments as the band members which can help create a relationship between the artist and the viewer.

One of the conventions of any music video is that fast paced montages are used and this video is no different, in this video it is used to tell a story for example there are short clips of a narrative merged with a performance from the band in quick succession, this story is a sad one and conforms to the ‘emo’ rock genre stereotype that it is depressing for example the subject matter of this video is made up of a story of a young girl who is abused and becomes mentally unstable when she grows up. It is filled with sadness and anger which is effective in getting the audience involved and wanting to watch the video, this is done by the heavy use of close up shots of the characters faces to show emotion. There is a large use of shadows to convey lots of sad emotions in the video.

The audience also see the whole of the band playing their instruments, which is another common theme within the genre of rock. The girl featured in the video is wearing a white dress to connote her as being innocent and pure, this is done to create contrast between her and the man who is attacking her who is wearing red and black, red being the colour of anger, blood and violence and black again conveying death and authority over the girl. The shots of the girl are mainly high angle shots so they are looking down on her, which gives the impression that she is inferior and the shots of the man are low angle shots, which makes him look more powerful in the story.

Also this video conforms to one of Laura Mulvey’s stereotypes that women are either seen as ‘whores’ or as innocent virginal characters. In this case they are represented as innocent virginal characters due to the white dresses worn by them. The band in the video are represented as ‘rock stars’ to match there style of music as they are all playing instruments, wearing dark colours, have unusual hair cuts and have lots of tattoos. All of these things are stereotypically found in music videos related to this genre of music.

The audience may react in a negative way to this video due to its slightly disturbing storyline and the fact that there is not a great deal of ideology involved with the characters and the lifestyle that is being portrayed. However the fact that there are a lot of close ups of the little girl creates a relationship between her and the audience which intrigues the audience and can once again encourage them to watch the video again and share it with friends which could increase the popularity of the song and band.  

Analysis of music genres.

Analysis of music genres.

To help understand the different genres of music and music videos i have looked at three different genres of music videos and analyzed them individually. I will be looking into their cinematography, editing and the mise en scene to help me analyse them.

First of all there is Drake's music video to his song 'Over',  this falls under a mixture of genres with both 'rap' and 'pop'. There are many close up shots of the artist in Drake's music video for his song 'Over', for example he features in all of the first four shots but on the fourth shot there is a close up shot of his face. This is to contribute to advertising the artist and boosting his popularity but also to show the artists emotion to help build a relationship between him and the audience. This follows the conventions of a 'pop' or 'rap'artists music video as it allows the audience access into his emotions and lifestyle and will also appeal to his target audience of teenagers and young adults as it is fueled by emotions and relationships in which the demographic can relate to.

This song is about relationships and shows Drake with other women in the video, for example there is also a two-shot and also a close up of Drake and another female artist ,Rita Ora, who performs very similar music and songs that fit into the same genres. This acts as a visual representation in showing that Drakes is close to her literally in the shot and emotionally in the narrative. This makes it clear that there is a relationship between them in this video. This is done to appeal to the target audience of this video as they are young adults and teenagers who are renowned for having many relationships and can therefore relate to the song lyrics and theme whether they be the good or bad aspects of 'love'. Also the female is Rita Ora who is popular with most of Drakes fans as she produces similar styles of music, this may increase popularity of the song as fans of Rita Ora who do not listen to Drake may persuaded to listen to him. It follows the codes and conventions of 'pop' and 'rap' music as it shows ideology as in the video there are parts of the artist's lifestyle.

In terms of editing in this video it is trying to show that drake is maybe trying to cope with himself, for example there are editing styles that contain multiple images of Drake in one shot and some of the shots have images of him inside of his own silhouette. I believe that this is done to make it look like he cant stop thinking about himself or he is upset or angry with himself therefore he cant get himself out of his mind. Again this follows conventions of similar videos in this genre as it is showing the artists dealing with something and it is allowing the audience into the artists personal life. This can help the the video connect and relate to its audience as most people have done something they are feeling guilty or angry about and maybe that they are not proud of, this also make the artists image seem more realistic which people like in and artist.

The main setting in the video fits in with the whole idea of Drake being inside his own mind as he is sitting in a small room on a bed. This room is shown to be his mind, for example the are multiple images and colours projected on the walls of the room that he is in which represents his thoughts and feelings and makes it clearer that this is his mind. this lets the audience see what the artists is feeling and thinking about which helps them connect with him in a more ordinary and human way.

Again to help the audience and the artist build a better relationship the artist is wearing very average clothes in all of the shots of this video to appear more every-day and believable. The key costume piece in this video is his chain which holds a silver cross. I think this is done to show that even this well known artist looks up to someone or something higher than them.

The lighting in this video is effectively used to show that music is a way of the artist expressing himself, for example in the beginning of the video when he has not begun singing there is low key lighting being used and he is just a black silhouette in the dark but as soon as he begins performing his face is lit up by high key lighting so that you an see the emotions on his face. This shows that he is only able to express feelings thoughts when he can be seen which is when he is performing and singing.

In this video there are props used to decide attitudes taken towards the characters of the narrative, for example the woman that Drake desires is surrounded by crystals and chandeliers in her shots. This is to help the audience associate her with glamor and all the desirability that comes with diamonds and jewelry. In contrast to the artist's ordinary and dull clothes this makes her seem almost to good for him witch a lot of the demographic for the video can relate to. This music video therefore follows the conventions of others work in this music genre as it contains sexually ambiguous and desirable women.

The second video I have analysed is Flo Rider's massive hit 'Club can't handle me' which is predominantly classed as a 'dance' and 'pop' track. The genre of this video can be shown through the video's cinematography, the first example of this is the fact that there are many establishing shots to show different exciting or exotic locations which is typical of the conventions of this genre of music video. There is evidence of this in the second shot of the video which is a wide-angle establishing shot of the outside of a club which makes it clear that the video and song relate to the 'clubbing scene' but more importantly there are two very expensive sports cars pulling up outside. This means that so far the video is showing ideology, typically found in dance and pop videos, and follows the conventions of this genre as it it selling a lifestyle to the target audience through the use of expensive things such as the black and gold Lamborghinis. This therefore creates a relationship between the artist and the audience as the audience would find the cars desirable and and would feel like by watching the video they would possibly become a part of this lifestyle that is being sold to them. This could also make the video and song increase in popularity and boost sales of records.

Music videos made for songs in the dance genre usually include lots of point of view (p.o.v) shots to give the audience the feeling that they are there dancing with the characters in the narrative or the performance. For example in this video there are lots of p.o.v shots of people dancing and having fun when the performance is in the club. This can help the audience connect to the video and the atmosphere as they feel as though they are in the club with the artist. This is a typical convention of a dance music video as it contains lots performances and choreography rather than narratives which would be found in genres such as R&B.

Editing is used in this video to make the club featured in the video appear to be a fantastic place to be, for example in the beginning of the video when the artist (Flo Rida) has not yet entered the club there is a heavy use of continuity editing which is also slow paced. Slow paced editing has been used to convey that life outside of the club and partying is slow and boring whereas in the club all of the shots have been put together in short clips to create fast paced editing which helps the club to appear more energetic and full of fun. The reason continuity editing has been used in the scenes outside of the club is done to create a sharp contrast between this and the distorted montage of shots of the club that are not continuous. This is done to create a sense of mayhem in the club and therefore adding to the desirability of the location. These techniques are common in this genre of music and follow the conventions of most other dance music videos. This all combines to help connect to the target audience who are young adults, the demographic for this video are people who regularly go out clubbing and dancing as they are still young enough to enjoy this but old enough to of experienced going to clubs. They can relate to this video as they could feel as though life outside of their favorite clubs is boring and that they look forward to letting go again and having lots of fun in a club.

The main location in this video is a club based in a city at night. We know this as all of the shots that are set outside are low key lighting and all the light is artificial not natural it is clear that the remainder of the video is set mainly in a club as the shots inside are filled with lots of strobe lighting and lasers which are both commonly found in and associated with clubs and bars. This is to show the artist as someone who enjoys going to clubs and bars at night and having fun. This follows the conventions of dance videos in the music industry as it is filled almost entirely with dancing whether it is on the streets or expensive clubs which this video features. This allows the target audience to connect and build a relationship with the artist as both the artist and the demographic for the video enjoy going out with friends at night and share this passion.

Another feature in this video is the use of costume and props, for example the majority of the females in this video are dressed up with make up on and faltering dresses or other similar outfits. As the target audience for this video are males and females this aspect of the video appeals to both sexes as the male viewers are enticed by the voyeuristic nature of the video and the females can relate to the women in the video as they also probably enjoy getting dressed up and putting make up on to go for a night out in the town. The use of props such as champagne bottles can also contribute to creating a relation ship between the video and the viewer as the audience at this age also enjoy getting drunk and letting go, this relates to the early point that outside of the club for the target audiences is seen as dull and boring. This is also a common feature of dance videos as the actors are usually getting drunk and having fun.                                

                      

This music video by Three days grace opens with the lead singer of the band sitting on a stool and playing a guitar. He is also wearing a black t-shirt. This one shot conforms to many stereotypes of this music genre and follows the conventions of the rock genre as many other videos in this genre feature a lot of people in either dark or black colours. For example as a request by the record label it is focusing on a band member for publicity, he is surrounded by and is wearing black (signifying death), which is a stereotype of the heavy metal music genre. Also the shot includes the singer playing a guitar, a guitar being the iconic symbol of rock and metal. This is important as it allows the target audience to identify this video as a particular genre and helps to make the video attractive to the demographic as most of the audience for this genre tend to play similar or the same instruments as the band members which can help create a relationship between the artist and the viewer.

One of the conventions of any music video is that fast paced montages are used and this video is no different, in this video it is used to tell a story for example there are short clips of a narrative merged with a performance from the band in quick succession, this story is a sad one and conforms to the ‘emo’ rock genre stereotype that it is depressing for example the subject matter of this video is made up of a story of a young girl who is abused and becomes mentally unstable when she grows up. It is filled with sadness and anger which is effective in getting the audience involved and wanting to watch the video, this is done by the heavy use of close up shots of the characters faces to show emotion. There is a large use of shadows to convey lots of sad emotions in the video.

The audience also see the whole of the band playing their instruments, which is another common theme within the genre of rock. The girl featured in the video is wearing a white dress to connote her as being innocent and pure, this is done to create contrast between her and the man who is attacking her who is wearing red and black, red being the colour of anger, blood and violence and black again conveying death and authority over the girl. The shots of the girl are mainly high angle shots so they are looking down on her, which gives the impression that she is inferior and the shots of the man are low angle shots, which makes him look more powerful in the story.

Also this video conforms to one of Laura Mulvey’s stereotypes that women are either seen as ‘whores’ or as innocent virginal characters. In this case they are represented as innocent virginal characters due to the white dresses worn by them. The band in the video are represented as ‘rock stars’ to match there style of music as they are all playing instruments, wearing dark colours, have unusual hair cuts and have lots of tattoos. All of these things are stereotypically found in music videos related to this genre of music.

The audience may react in a negative way to this video due to its slightly disturbing storyline and the fact that there is not a great deal of ideology involved with the characters and the lifestyle that is being portrayed. However the fact that there are a lot of close ups of the little girl creates a relationship between her and the audience which intrigues the audience and can once again encourage them to watch the video again and share it with friends which could increase the popularity of the song and band.