This week was we had our first classes of A2 Media Studies. We have stated by looking at all 7
different styles of music videos and their 7 conventions.
Styles of music
videos
Conventions of
music videos
Performance
Lyrics
Narrative
Music
Conceptual
Genre
Interpretative
Camerawork
Animation
Editing
Surreal
Intersexuality
Cameo
Exhibition
I learn that there are several ways that music videos can be represented to the audience and that music videos are not only narratives. It is a way that artists can express and portray themselves through their music video interpretation.
The conventions are the things that are usually identified in music videos. These conventions help the artist express him or herself more in term of what their emotions and feelings. Taking the example of the 'Do I Wanna Know?' music video by the arctic monkeys. From this music video they have focused more on the lyrics of the song rather than the music video as it is very plain and simple. The lyrics of the song says 'Do i wanna know? if this feeling flows both ways sad to see you go' showing that the artist had feelings for a girl but doesn't know if she loves him back. I think they have used the simple background to enhance their the meaning of their lyrics to their audience. They want they audience to understand their feelings through their deep words thats the reason for their simple music video.
Stuart Hall came up with the
reception theory in 1970 and said that 'media is encoded my by the creators of
a media text and then decoded by the audience' as the audience have a variety
of ways of looking at a certain media text. Audience
This music video has caused major
controversy of the image and reputation of Miley Cyrus. In this video Miley
Cyrus, who was once before the face of Disney channel known as Hanna Montannah,
is seen swinging almost naked on a wrecking ball, from side to side. The reception theory comes into play, because
it's seen that her producers no longer want her to be known as Hannah Montannah
but as herself Miley Cyrus. Her producers have now allowed her to come out her
shell, by doing this they have allowed her to build a new profile as Miley
Cyrus by being more flexible in what she portrays to her audience through her
music videos and lyrics. Her previous audience being around the age of 10 and
11 who have grown up with her watching her be a calm young teenager on Disney
channel might not agree with her producers, as allowing her to be more flexible
she has come to be seen as rebellious for the music videos she has released
like Wrecking Ball. This can be decoded as oppositional reading by the audience as they might not agree at all with the music video that has been produced. However, not everyone sees
this as a negative view as it can also be a preferred reading by some audiences that believe artist should let their record labels control everything they do. way, As she can
now be who she wants to be by making sexual music videos, styling her clothes
in a different way and by deciding of the lyrics she wants rather than
following orders and being the teenager that was once known as Hannah
Montannah. By being Miley Cyrus she has shown her ability of having confidence
of what she does and no matter what is said about her on the press she finds a
way to continue and be strong about what's said about her. Lastly, some audiences like myself who are in between see this as a negotiated reading. This means I am stuck between both and believe that it is ok for artist not to follow their record labels wants however, the form in which they portray their rebellious forms to the younger target audience should be taken inconsideration.
'The Male Gaze'
The theorist Laura Mulvey's came
up with this theory. She believed that woman are used in different types of
media such as films and music videos only for their bodies, as sexual objects
to apply to the needs of the male ego. In the start of the music video of
blurred lines, where the name of the artist is shown while in the background
images from 0.01 to 0.06 he lays beside one of the almost naked female models.
Having done this has connotations to the male gaze theory as shows that he is
confident in himself and that he has a large male ego by being next to the
woman shows that she is part of that ego. I believe that her theory is true; I
say this because without the woman in the music video it wouldn't allow the
song lyrics to match the video if it only had men. The lyrics also say 'he
don't smack that ass and pull your hair like that' which has references to
sexual terms and makes it seem like he is better than other man and better than
woman .By saying this it also, makes him look like he's using woman as a sexual
object as from the lyrics he is referring to sex and makes sexual movements in
the video. The red lipstick and the outfits of the woman also show that they
are like another prop for the music video as they are just seen walking and
dancing in the background to just fit in with the song lyrics.
'Voyeurism Theory'
Similarly to Laura Mulvey's 'The
Male Gaze Theory', Andrew Goodwins 'Voyeurism Theory' mostly includes men only
watching media for the sake of woman being in the music and he believes this is
done through the camera shot types, images displayed on mirrors and other
screens. From the lady gaga music video Paparazzi in the introduction of the
song from 1.37 to 1.56 we see her wearing a white dress, making out with a male
model who decides to take advantage of her and throw her down the balcony while
someone takes images of them. In my opinion I think this is a perfect example
of the voyeurism theory I believe this because the male model acts like he is
superior to her as he feels he can do whatever he wants with her, as he doesn't
respect lady gaga and just throws her down the balcony. The close ups of them
being too close together and kissing shows his sexual movements also apply to the
theory as he is forcing her to kiss him. Through the images being taken shows
that the voyeurism theory is correct in the treatment of females by allowing us
to see the images being taken from a camera. I believe that producers do use woman as a way of attracting male audiences to watch their productions. In the lyrics she also sings 'this photo of us it don't have a price ready for thoseflashing lights' showing that the images of her doesn't mean anything to the male model. adding on to this the images of her red lips at 4.16 shows her feminism relating both to the theory and to the lyrics of the song.
Ways of seeing
The ways of
seeing theory was invented by John Berger's. His theory included how the
audiences see and interpret a certain media text. He believes that their
interpretation of a media text all depends on the precision, believes, past
history and interpretation of a series of events such as 'men act and woman
appear' or 'fat girls are ugly'. From Meghan Trainors son 'all about that base'
she signs about being all types of sizes as she says 'every inch of you is
perfect from the bottom to the top’. Her target audience being girls are the
ones who are insecure about their bodies and could relate to this music video
as a famous singer is saying it's ok to be fat. However, some young healthy
girls , possibly studying Sport at collage might disagree and think that being
healthy includes having a perfect summer body and that Meghan Trainor is
encouraging obesity and that it is not acceptable. I do agree with the ways of
seeing theory because everyone has their own opinion on things.
The main types of genres best-known are as following:
Genre: This is the genre that everyone can usually identify within seconds. For example when someone says Marc Anthony the first thing I think of is Salsa. This is because salsa is a genre of music and Marc Anthony is one of the legends within the genre.
Sub-genre: Sub-genre is a specific categorie that allows audiences to identify it through the use of similar and recognisable features from a genre. For example romantic salsa is a sub genre of salsa as the beat or the instruments used are a like.
Hybrid genre: This is a merge of different elements within from two genres. An example of this is Aviccii's 'Wake Me Up’ has
elements of Country and Dance music.
Repetition and Differences Theory:
This theory states that products of the same genre use repetition and use similar elements however, they are changes to conform to the individual song, artist and song lyrics. This is benefited or enjoyed by customers as it allows them to know what to see or expect in a music video however, they enjoy seeing it used in different ways. For example in the artist 50 cent- 21 questions ft Nate Dogg we see money, drugs, girls, jail cells and expensive jewellery worn by the artist. Within the first minute of the music video. The plot of the music video was related to the lyrics and we see at the end that it was all a quick flash of what could happen to their relationship. The use of drugs, a jail cell and money was all used to set the theme of something wrong being done and so 50 cent is seen going to jail.
In the music video of Hold you down by DJ Khaled and Chris Brown on the time code of 4:33 to 5:10 we see money being used as a form of reward towards a female. Money is one of the conventions often seen in the rap genre but as said it is used for different situations. We saw that money represented something bad in 50 cent- 21 question ft Nate Dogg music video but it's used in a positive was in Hold you down by DJ Khaled and Chris Brown music video. As my song is of a pop genre I will be sure to use guitars, casual/ fancy costumes and a mixture of genders such as males and females to enhance the point of romance as that is a typical thing to see in a pop genre music video.
Genre as a System Theory:
A theorist named Neal believed that 'a system of orientations, expectations and conventions circulated between industry, text and subject'. This simple means that an industry such as the Cash Money record label are known for producing a lot of rap music. I say this because it has become an expectation of mine to see money in their music video as this related back to the name of the company 'Cash Money'. The conventions always seen here is money which I always see in their texts which relates back to the industry of rap.
Genre Themes:
David Bordwell said that 'In a music video any theme may appear in any genre'. Taking the example of Eminem- Without me we see the theme of a comic strip to enhance the point of rebellion and heroism. From start till the end of the music video we Eminem dressed up as a hero but rapping about 'controversy'. I plan to stick to the conventions of a pop music video within mine.
The theorist Simon Frith, believed that that there are a variety of different styles of music videos. the three main ones he believed to be the most used are performance, narrative and Conceptual. However, as the years have passed new theorists have developed this idea and added more styles of music videos such as interpretative, animation and surreal.
Performance:
performance is the recording of a real life performance of a band or an artist for example Taylor Swift with her song mean, where she performs a musical. In this particular video it makes the audience feel as if taylor swifts concerts are entertaining and exiting and would want to go them. This therefore benefits Taylor Swift because she would be making profits from her concerts. It also help her portray her feelings and thought through the images such as costumes, themes and locations shown in the video. This type of styles are usually used in metal music, punk music or country music.
Narrative:
Narrative is the process in which a music tells a story according to the lyrics of the song. It must contain a beginning, middle and end and can sometimes be seen as a short film. For example Katy Perry's, last friday night. It tells the story of Kathy Beth Terry having a hang over of her friday party. The lyrics match the images in the video. It makes the audience watch the whole music video just to see what happened at the end of the music video. This allows Katy Perry to make interesting music videos that would leave the viewers intrigued and engaged to see the ending. Some videos like Dilemma by Nelly and Kelly Rowland contain a cliff hanger to make their views watch their next music video to see if it is going to be continued or not. This used to be popular in the 1980s however, it's still used today.
Conceptual:
Conceptual music videos are not based on a performance or a narrative, instead it focusses on making the music video interesting by using visuals that are appropriate to the tempo of the song. In order for the images in the music video to be conceptual the images can sometimes be shocking, emotional, humorous, can display the idea of a particular director or can be closely linked to the themes of the artist or the band. Looking at the example of sia she always has the same little girl dancing ballet in her videos. She does this to keep her videos consistant and to amuse her viewers with an exotic dancing that takes a lot of skill and courage to master.
Interpretative:
An interpretative music videos when the lyrics of the song match the images shown on the the screened music video, sometimes not directly. This is done so that each person can interpret their own message from the song or the video. In jibbs video, Chains Hand Low. We can see the singers have long chains, But what exactly are they trying to portray with the music video and lyrics. Well it makes the audience think that they are rich and can the audience who come from a background like theirs can relate and would admire them as they have the same background and they are successful and they would want to be like them. Everyone interprets the video the same way.
Animation:
Animation based music videos are usually hand drawn or computer generated images. Contrasting Performance, this music video type does not contain any real humans. the music video shot me down displayed beside shows a music video based soley on computer based animation, which some hoe looks like a comic. In my opinion this has been done to catch the audience's attention through the images that are not seen in all music videos. This would allow the audience to connect with the music video through the flashing images and allow them to create a story of their own, also having what is seen as a comic music video allows audience to seek their videos more to the continuation of the previous comic.Within animation options are limitless and allows artist
Surreal:
A surreal type of music video may sometimes have no narrative, or message and can be abstract as it has no relation to the lyrics. For example Afterglow by Wilkinson hs a variety of different images and statistics depending on the image shown. Why is this done, it catches the audience's eye by making something they have not usually seen before. It makes the artist stand out and allows the audience to think that some of the images and statistic are relating to the artists life style. It is an indirect of showing what the artists interests might be or showing a contrasting video to the lyrics so audience might find that there is two different messages behind the music video and the lyrics of the song.
Cameo:
Cameo is what we call featuring. Camero is when two artist join forces to create a music video. Taking the example of Chris Brown and Tyga with their Ayo video. They have similar target audiences however, some might not know that Tyga exists so it's like Chris Brown introducing Tyga to his fans. It's a collaboration between both artists to increase their sales. Audiences are interested in this because they get to know new artists, and explore different types of music genres like hip-hop, rap and many others.
Pastiche:
The recording of an existing song being interpreted into different vocals by a different artists. The song impossible originally sang by Shontelle was interpreted into a new voice when James Arthur won the Xfactor by singing this song. I think artists do this to get audiences that like the son already and are interested in a different type of music genre and prefer to hear it one way rather than just through one. What im saying is that audiences like to expand their taste in music and are willing to try listening to new types of music. It benefits the audience as they might get tired of listening to the same thing over and over again.
