Post 8: My Music Video

RESEARCH

I researched some existing music videos, analysing both the performance and narrative to find conventions within the pop music video genre. I did this in order to ensure my own music video adhered to conventions of its genre to communicate and anchor meanings about the artist's star identity, values, attitudes and beliefs, and create a synergised and unified brand identity. This also allowed me to look at effective aspects of different music videos, helping to inspire my own video with a visual stimulus of an existing music video as inspiration.

Analysis of Ariana Grande ft Social House "Boyfriend"

This music video uses conventional techniques such as beauty shots and Close-Ups on the artists and main characters. It also adheres to convention by intercutting performance and narrative together and using jump cuts to create action to engage the audience and to create disjuncture. The video is set in a large mansion, with lots of vibrant and rich colours such as Gold, Teal and Purple. This helps to present a luxurious and aspirational lifestyle of wealth often seen in music videos. The camera shots are varied, with a mixture of Long-Shots for action, Mid-Shots for conversation and Close-Ups on the stars themselves. There is lots of camera movement to trace the artists and to make sure the video has movement and doesn't look too static. The lighting and grading is soft with a lot of white light to create a dreamy and airy look. This helps the video to look stylised and visually impressive.  This music video effectively brings the lyrics together with video to create a more literal interpretation. This portrays the grey area around exclusivity when in the beginning stages of a new relationship, portraying ideas of jealousy, manipulations, passion and gameplaying. The video represents different races and genders and presents a heterosexual relationship. 

For my own video, I want to incorporate the following aspects;

- Charging, running at and fighting aspect.

- Use of action shots and camera movement to provide excitement 

- Challenging the portrayal of women as crazy through over-exaggerating and mocking

- The visual portrayal of jealousy onscreen 

- Using femininity as a weapon (CU beauty shots, flattering lighting, seduction to create jealousy)

- The portrayal of a strong female central character

Analysis of Ariana Grande "Thank you, Next"

This music video uses conventional techniques such as lots of bright colours in the mise-en-scene; a technique often used to create an atmosphere in pop videos. It also adheres to convention by incorporating pop culture and intertextuality through remaking key scenes from the 90s chick flick 'Mean Girls'. The setting is an American Highschool, Bedroom and Nail Salon all seen in Mean Girls. This helps to appeal to the 90s kids through nostalgia and to a younger audience by using a familiar and recognisable setting. It also uses Easter Eggs throughout in the "burn book" to allow fans to discover more about the artist and feel part of an exclusive community. It uses a variation of shots for variety, using Close-Ups when a new character or famous star is introduced. As well as starring Ariana Grande herself, the music video also has a star-studded cast with the likes of Elizabeth Gillies and Kris Jenner. The lighting is soft and successfully helps to create beauty shots and a very sleek and glossy look. The video shows many different genders, sexualities and races - not presenting many relationships on-screen but illuding to off-screen relationships.

For my own video, I want to incorporate the following aspects;

- Intertextual references

- 90's intertextual

- Mise-en-scene

Analysis of Taylor Swift "Look What You Made Me Do"

This music video uses conventional techniques such as a luxury and desirable lifestyle through the use of expensive costume and props; lots of focus on the star and their values and beliefs; a mixture of performance and narrative footage intercut and the use of a range of locations with varied action. The video directly challenges rumours and gossip surrounding the star, as done in Thank You Next, letting Swift's true voice be heard and giving a political message as well as an entertaining one. There are also Easter Eggs and intertextual references to past music videos, songs and events in Taylor Swift's life. This makes the music video very distinctly about her and gives Taylor's more invested fans some content to think about, creating an element of exclusivity. Part of this artist development and intertextual use of herself through the ages to show her changing and growth is through the use of multiple selves and mocking. She does this by creating caricatures of her past selves to show how she has matured as an artist, thus revealing her new true self. This allows the music video and lyrics to synergise to show the ideology and values of the star persona, showing people what she is like as a person and therefore allowing them to buy into the brand.

For my own video, I would want to incorporate the following aspects;

- The portrayal of the true self, multiple selves

- A strong female lead

- The reputation and portrayal of a crazy woman

- Images of wealth and money

- Hair and makeup

- Balancing dark and light / Good and bad

- The synergy of star persona and values and ideology

Analysis of Jonas Brothers "Sucker"

This video uses conventions of showing a clear star persona and brand identity. It also adheres to convention through the use of a star-studded cast; both narrative and performance which is intercut; and displaying an aspirational and luxurious lifestyle seen through extravagant costume, luxurious mise-en-scene and location. The cinematography and art direction within this music video makes it all come together, giving it a very particular and stylised look. The use of bold colours and elaborate costumes also engages prospective audiences and helps to create an exciting and aspirational lifestyle that will appeal to the masses. The performance bed of the music video is filmed in the same location as the narrative, with the same characters appearing in both. This blurs the line between performance and narrative, a less conventional trait of the music video which is refreshing and creates variety and memorable performance.

For my own video, I would like to incorporate the following aspects;

- The portrayal of riches and success

- Cinematography and art direction

- Costume and makeup

- Blurred line between performance and narrative

- The portrayal of the "spoilt princess" diva female character

Analysis of Bruno Mars "That's What I Like"

This music video is entirely performance-based, making it uncommon but not entirely unconventional. This simplistic performance style in a blank studio allows the audience to really focus on the song and the lyrics, providing them with a very literal interpretation of the song. It also allows them to get close to the artist without the glitz and glamour of a large scale music video. This creates a sense of intimacy and closeness to the star; creating audience engagement and selling the star, as well as the song. The use of certain gestures and movements are effectively used in combination with the lyrics to anchor meanings and create a preferred interpretation. However, as this style of video is very simple, there are very few varied representations of race, gender, ideologies and relationships other than the ones illuded in the song off-screen in the lyrics and movement.

For my own performance bed, I would like to incorporate the following aspects;

- Movement to highlight interpretations and fix/anchor meaning

- Studio camera framing setups

- Star persona through performance

From this research, I learned of certain conventions of music videos such as intercut narrative and performance footage, the presentation of an aspirational and luxurious lifestyle, intertextuality with modern trends and popular culture and cross-referencing with other types of media such as films, celebrity culture, tabloids and rumours. I also looked at certain elements of music videos I would use as inspiration and incorporate into my own video; such as the presentation of the scorned or crazy woman; elaborate costume and varied locations; the use of the multiple self and doubling; and the presentation of a strong and complex female lead. I will use all of this knowledge while creating my music video to create a dynamic and complex video that adheres to conventions of the pop genre, while still presenting my artists' views and beliefs by challenging conventional perceptions of women in the media and offering multiple interpretations of women in the media.

PLANNING

My pre-production allowed me to really focus on the production aspect of my music video, allowing me to plan meticulously to ensure my initial ideas and interpretation of the song was done justice in presenting my artist in a suitable manner. This planning made it easier to produce my video as there was a clear structure for my production, ensuring I filmed all the footage necessary and really thought about how I wanted every single shot to be interpreted in order to communicate the message and meaning effectively.

Inferred lyrics 

I annotated my lyrics with different possible interpretations to see which themes of the song that I want to amplify and represent in my video.

Inspiration and initial mindmap

I created a mindmap of all my initial ideas to see what aspects I could use in combination to create a suitable narrative. I used my research on existing music videos to help influence this and pulled out some prospective intertextual references to create a direction for my music video.

Initial narrative ideas

I wrote down my initial ideas and stages of the music video to ensure there was a distinct disruption and equilibrium and to ensure that the basic frame of my narrative contained a plot development. This skeleton structure of my video allowed me to pad it out with different intertextual references from different existing music videos and contexts of different eras.

Directors Treatment and Mood Board 

I created a director's treatment to visually show my plot in more detail than my initial idea. This allowed me to begin to pull together ideas for framing, colour schemes, mise-en-scene, costume and makeup. It allowed me to explore the message of my video and express my ideology and beliefs as an artist into my work. It also allowed me to present and explore my ideas for intertextuality. This helped to influence the art direction and visual codes - such as costume, makeup, mise-en-scene, props and location - necessary to interpret and denote my references.

  Basic Chronological Timeline

I made a basic timeline of my video to ensure that the action will fit into the three-minute brief and this helped me to create a Storyboard and Shoot Board with a shot list that will fit into the designated time.

Storyboard


I created a storyboard to draft prospective and rough ideas for camera angles and movement. This helped to guide me on how to dress my sets, where camera placement will be and what equipment I will need to get this type of shot.

Location Recces

I did a recce of all my prospective locations to find which ones are most suitable for my filming and the shots I need. It also helped me to create a plan for the type of framing, movement (if applicable), equipment and camera placement I will use.

Brunswick Estate (Bloomsbury)

Brunswick Estate (Bloomsbury)

Brunswick Estate (Bloomsbury)

Southbank

Costume Montage

My costume montage allowed me to visually plan my costume, giving me plenty of time to source the required items to keep it in line with my creative vision and colour scheme.

Prop list with visual references

I made a prop list to visually show my vision for the aesthetic of my sets. This helped me to effectively and quickly source the props I needed that were in line with my ideas, in advance - meaning I didn't have to compromise my ideas for convenience.

Location Permissions

The location permissions meant I had secured the areas I needed, for the time necessary, before the day of shooting.

Risk Assessment

The risk assessment allowed me to think of any dangers while shooting and how to overcome and prevent them. This ensured that the cast and crew were not at any risk and were looked after throughout my filming.

Shoot Boards for my filming weekends

My Shoot Board allowed me to mock up the shots I wanted. This ensured I had the necessary cast, crew, equipment, costume, and props for each shot. This not only saved time and allowed me to stick to my shooting schedule, but also ensured I didn't forget any shots and that I had good coverage of all of my narrative.

Shoot Board for Saturday 21st September

Shoot Board for 5th and 6th October

My pre-production allowed me to really focus on the detail of my music video to ensure I was fully ready to film. It also flagged up any issues so they could be solves early on in the process to avoid wasting time. The planning made sure I had considered location, costume, art direction, look and feel, camera angles and movement, and the necessary cast and crew. This allowed me to film with very few problems and be fully prepared.