Generic Research: Conventions of music videos

Richard Dyer

Dyer believes that in music videos, artists are presented as commodities, showcasing their ‘start persona” to make money. These artists star in music videos that represent them in ways that will appeal to their target audience, and therefore build their fan base. To adhere to Dyer within my music video, I will make the artist likeable and relatable to encourage the audience to interact with my brand further. 

Andrew Goodwin

There are 5 areas of music videos that are common conventions and used within the genre regularly. Within my NEA, i will make sure to include as many of these as possible, as these aid in creating a cohesive and conventional music video. 

-       Visuals of a music video should match up with the music and the beat

-       Intertextuality is common to gain value transference from other texts 

-       Visuals of the band singing and playing instruments to build their star persona

-       Visuals of a music video should match up with the music

-       Notions of looking (like through cameras or telescopes)

-       Narrative based

Planning: Storyboard

Planning: Cast

 Characters

Name: Hayden Stanford

Role: Lead singer/son

Hayden is a drama student at SEC and is hoping to pursue a career in the creative industries as a stunt man. He loves skateboarding and has been doing it for 5 years so has developed lots of tricks that will make great content for my music video. Due to his love for performing, he is confident in front of a camera, especially when doing something he is good at like skateboarding. I think he would work well for this character because he looks the part and isn’t trying to be someone he’s not, so the music video will seem as authentic as possible and like a relatable coming of age. 

 

 

Name: Nicola Slaughter

Role: Mum

I need to have a mother character to complete the storyline of Hayden having someone to be back home for- “back before you know it”, that isn’t a love interest, like in the song, because it’s unbelievable that someone so young would be living with his girlfriend like a husband and wife. I think have this mother son dynamic will be relatable for the audience who can reminisce on their own teenage years and the memories they have. As this character is not a part of the target demographic, it could be seen as risky, but she wont be playing a main role and is a necessary character for the narrative of the music video. 

 

Planning: Locations

 Locations for Music Video

Location: Home

This will be the main setting for the initial shots I take for the start the song, where I will make the main character Hayden’s room the top one in the middle and will zoom into the window where the shot will change to the inside of the room. I will also use the front door/the porch a lot, for scenes where Hayden will be returning or leaving the house, which will e shown by the door opening and closing over and over again. I like the idea of having the porch light turn on at the start of the video, and turn off at the end, to signify the finishing of the song. I will hopefully b able to get shots of the house from a higher level as I can use the house opposite to film from. 

 

Location: Main Street 

This road will be the main location for shots of Hayden skating home and leaving down the road. I like the verisimilitude this location provides as it makes the video more authentic as a real teenagers life that the audience can relate to.

Location: Marine Parade

This is a wide road that I will use for close up shots of Hayden skating. Having a variety of roads and locations for Hayden to travel between his house and his activities will make the journeys seem longer and more adventurous. So I will only be using the road setting s for brief shots.

Location: Hadleigh Castle

This location I will use to establish a mise-en-scene of nature due the views from this hill, especially at sunset. I am thinking of creating long shots of the band in nature playing their instruments, as appose to being in a studio which I don’t have access to. I also want to execute some shots of them from a low angle to create some dimension within the shots, by filming them looking down from a bench or higher point. 

Location: Beach

I want to use this as a main point for the fun activities to take place that Hayden is travelling to be. I would like to film a gathering of friends having fun and messing around in the sea to portray a fun teenage life to the audience. I will need to collect lots of footage at the beach over my summer so that I can compile videos that show a good time. 

 

Location: Skatepark 

I will use this as another location where activities take place as the skatepark is always busy and I can take advantage of the amount of people there. It will also be a great place for me to get shots of Hayden doing tricks that I can edit together in time with the music. The A24 film mid-90s makes use of lots of shots in a skatepark that fit my summery, coming of age aesthetic, so I will use these to show my main character living a fin and independent teenage life.  

Planning: Logo design

I’ve chosen to use the band name LOS boys as it reflects the home town of the band, Leigh-on-sea, but also sounds like lostboys, suggesting that the band’s music helps people find themselves as they grow up and become young adults. This coming of age theme is emphasised by the connotations of lostboys as it links to Peterpan and the teenage boys growing up and discovering themselves. Although the top design is simple, I like the vinyl as the O in the second design, as it has heavier links to music and the band itself. Although the font looks messy, I like the handwritten look, as it emphasises the ideas of youth and coming of age. I chose the pink and orange as they are bright colours that feel summery and warm.

I also made a quick sketch of how I wanted the song title to look in the music video, keeping with the theme of messy, youthful handwriting, I like this 3d idea, especially as it pays homage to the A24 film mid90s, a coming of age. When I eventually edit my final video, I would hope to made these letters animated to create some life and movement within the words.
 

Generic Research: Case Study 3

 WUSYANAME- Tyler, the creator

https://youtu.be/NJea386275c

Tyler the Creator is a popular artist who has developed a strong brand identity and star persona through his cross platform convergence and vertical integration into merchandising. 

His music video is edited in the same style that he portrays across his entire digital platform. He’s driving his signature blue vintage car and is in a 60s neighbourhood where everyone’s clothing is inspired by the styles present in this era. The filter put over the music video gives it a vintage grain and oversaturated look that is consistent with his personal style and brand. 

 

His Instagram page is filled with images from professional photoshoots that have edited the pictures to be in this same vintage style, emphasising this cohesive brand identity he has developed. Across his entire page he promotes upcoming tours as well as new albums and clothing lines whilst still keeping to his ‘house style’, that has been adopted by many of his fans. For example, for his announcement for his newest album Call me when you get lost, Tyler posted a photo in the style of a drivers license, making it his profile picture on all his social media profiles. This led to his fans preceding to copy this trend and edit themselves onto this picture and share that on their social media, promoting Tyler at the same time. It is clear that his brand has a huge impact on the success of his music and creative work. 

Tyler has successfully developed a luxury brand called Golf Le Fleur, that sells a variety of products that fit his own personal aesthetic. For example, in the music video, Tyler’s car has strapped to the top a selection of vintage suitcases, which he actually sells on his online store. 

As well as this, he wears signature colours, like that bright baby blue, and signature patterns that are also sold online. By him wearing his ‘merchandise’, he promotes his audience to interact with his clothing brand and purchase the products so that they can dress and be like him. 

Furthermore, he promoted a pop up store to further promote his clothing brand and solidify his personal style by wearing the items in an instagram post. 

When Tyler goes on tour, he wears stage outfits that are either the actual products he sells on his clothing site, or unique pieces inspired by the colours or patterns of the clothes he sells on Golf Le Fleur. He also incorporates his products into the set of his stages when performing, recently standing next to a trolly of his vintage suitcases when singing at Lallapalooza.  

 

Generic Research: Case Study 2

 Mariposa – Peach Tree Rascals

https://youtube.com/watch?v=U3RjdVmny6A&feature=share

The music video “Mariposa” by Peach Tree Rascals reflects the same aesthetic that I would like to portray in my NEA, depicting a small group of friends exploring the desolate streets and fields in the late evening when the sun is almost going down. Many of the shot types that they use I would also like to include, especially with their reoccurring theme of ‘running’, which I would replace with shots of my main character skateboarding. There is a lack of clear narrative as the video mostly consists of close up shots of the lead singer lip syncing, however the casual vibe of young adults having fun does link to some of what I will include in my final NEA. As Peach Tree Rascals produces indie music that is fun and upbeat, whilst themselves being a young and refreshing band, they appeal to a similar target audience as the one I will be basing my NEA around. 

 

 

 

Camerawork:

This music video makes use of repeated low angle long shots when the song lyrics say “but I’ll keep running”, placing emphasis on the character running, supporting Goodwin’s theory of song lyrics being visually reflected in music videos. I like how these shots capture the mise en scene in the background, whilst also capturing the singer in the mid ground, and the road in the foreground, pulling all these aspects together to create a scene full of life. The contrast between the pink sky, grey road and red trainers make a visually pleasing scene with beautiful cinematography of the natural setting in the background. I hope to reflect scenes like this but instead of running, my main character Hayden will be skating, and I am hopeful to film around Leigh on sea where there are many different settings that I can film Hayden on this journey.

The Close up shot of the man running places significance on moving forward on a journey, and the bright orange trainers add an eye catching aspect to the dull concrete road. These kinds of shots will be effective to use in my music video with the lyrics “the road is long” and “hell of a drive”.

“Mariposa” also uses extreme long shots to capture beautiful mise en scenes. The shots of the lead singer standing in the centre of a field with the sun beaming down create a very aesthetically pleasing and symmetrical image. Shots like these would be effective to recreate but obviously aren’t very natural and are clearly set up to be so perfect, therefore I would like to adapt this idea to look more candid by using a similar beautiful background, but a group of people having fun, oblivious to the camera filming them. 

This more adheres to shot like this, where the characters are just chatting normally, and the camera is filming this candid and natural experience.

 

Editing:

The editing of this music video is pretty basic with simple cuts between different shots to keep the video relaxed to follow the same tempo as the song. A lot of the running scenes cut between shots in time with the music, having the runner get closer with each cut. I would like to replicate this with similar shots of Hayden skateboarding so that shots that last longer, progress faster and don’t get boring for the audience to keep watching. When the my video gets to the “lalalala” section, it would be a good idea to use similar cuts to to keep up with the tempo of the song.

The video makes use of a split screen at some points to portray mirroring shots of the characters in similar positions but different locations. This creates a nice contrast of colours and mise en scene, and also nice opposition- Strauss’s theory. I would like to make use of edits such as this to show the different lives of my characters, and portray two narratives at once. This would work nicely to see how Hayden and his mum react within the same period of time, by using simple shots to not confuse the audience who will have to understand two different shots at once. 

The filter used on the final video creates a low contrast and low exposure image with high saturation to make the colours of the sky and mise en scene pop. This editing style makes the video feel very warm and summery, making the audience feel like they are experiencing this warm summer evening with the characters. 

On some of the shots, there has been a slight grain added to make it feel as though it was shot on a retro camera, therefore making the video feel more authentic. Indie artists and the genre in general conventionally use highly saturated, high grain filters on their products to make them stand out and replicate vintage culture which is why they embrace camera shots that are slightly grainy. I would like to replicate these editing styles in my music video as the song has a very happy vibe that matches summer feels.

Mise en scene:

The music video makes use of multiple different mis en scenes that reflect the adventure that the characters have ben on, exploring multiple different locations. I want to include multiple different locations around Leigh on sea to emphasise this idea of a journey or road trip that is mentioned in the lyrics- “hell of a drive” “Nashville to San Francisco”

There is also shots that make use of high verisimilitude, such as the street signs, random cars parked on the roads, houses and sidewalks, which are used to emphasise the beauty of normal, everyday life. The character in Mariposa is seen running down a street that is extremely conventional and can be related to by the audience who will likely have a similar looking street in their neighbourhood. I want to use scenes like this of Hayden and his friends wandering or skateboarding along suburban streets to show the realism of the video, and make the audience able to relate to this coming of age that I hope to present. 

The characters themselves don’t stand out and are dressed in laid back clothes such as shorts and a hoodie in order to reflect the chill vibe and tempo of the song. I think that for my video I will also use this approach as I want the shots to seem as realistic and genuine as possible, so having the characters wear conventional clothes that they feel comfortable in will help. 

 

 

 

 

Generic Research: Case Study 1

 Thank you, next – Ariana Grande

 

The music video for the hit song “thank you, next” pays homage to many teen movies and famous romcoms, including Mean Girls, Bring it on, Legally Blonde, and 13 going on 30. The camera shots and mis en scenes used in the music video are almost identical to the ones used in the original films, allowing Grande to gain value transference from using successful media products staring iconic female leads. Grande’s target audience is mainly teenage girls who will enjoy these genres of film, and will therefore understand and enjoy the references to familiar favourites. 

 

In addition to the heavy intertextuality within this video, there is also a clear narrative that mimics the ones set out in the original films that Grande references. Using such iconic films allows Grande to replicate snippets of the films whilst still having the audience understand the storyline references. These rom-com films all portray different types of relationships that reflect all of Grande’s ‘ex’s’ that she’s reflecting on in the video (“Sean”, “Ricky”, “Pete”, and “Malcolm”), therefore matching the lyrics to the different scenes, for example, “one taught me love” references the Bring it on scene where Grande is flirting with her crush whilst brushing her teeth, and “one taught me pain”, references the 13 going on 30 scene where Grande cries whilst holding her doll house after her love chose to be with someone else. 

The references to mean girls clearly mimic specific scenes due to the codes of clothing and mis en scene. The use of intertextuality links to the lyrics “Spend more time with my friends, I ain’t worried bout nothing”, as she is clearly having fun with her friends like what happens in the actual Mean Girls film.

In this scene Grande replicates a scene from Bring it on, where the characters are flirting, linking to the basis of the song about past loves and their impact on Grande as a person. The wall in the background magpies the key elements, like the red towel and floral wallpaper, which hints to the audience that they are in fact paying homage.

She moves into scenes that reference Legally Blonde, a movie about a strong woman that opposes stereotypes and becomes a successful lawyer studying at Harvard university. Grande’s lyrics speak about the effect that each of the ‘ex’s’ have had on her and eventually says she’s “turned out amazing”, referencing the concept of how women can overcome their hardships and achieve great things, like how the character Elle Woods does in legally blonde

Towards the end of the music video, Grande wears a slick brown wig and floral red top to replicate what the character Jenna Rink wears in the film 13 going on 30. The doll house and porch reflect a famous scene from this romcom where Jenna cries after being heartbroken by her true love. Linking to the lyrics “learned from the pain”, Grande has used the narrative to reflect her own experience in a way that can be understood by her target audience