Members: Rebecca Eastwood, Jodie Surtees, Annie Swanson and Matthew Tulip
Song: "It's Raining Men" - The Weather Girls
Lyrics: genius.com
TASK
I am required, in a team, to work on the production of a music video for a pre-determined song given to us by our lecturer. The scenario is that our music video is for an upcoming band; however, we must first impress them with our wide array of knowledge of video production and the music industry itself. This is in order to sign them on to our label to work on the project.
Learning objectives include the following:
- understand the purpose of music videos
- understand the styles, conventions and techniques in a music video
Deadline: Thursday 10th November (must be submitted by 5:30 pm via Turnitin)
Section 1: What is the purpose of a music video?
Discuss and include promotional benefits, extension of income (funding and revenue) and outlets (i.e. music channel, DVD & CD sales), synergy and the strategies of the producer (i.e. major/independent label).
Section 2: What styles, conventions and techniques are used in the making of a music video?
Styles being the type of music video, conventions being the meanings and the techniques such as the editing and sound.
- Give examples and explain thoroughly -
The Big Three
From largest to smallest, the big three record companies are as follows: Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. Subsidiaries under the big three include:
- Columbia Records, Epic Records, RCA Records and Sony Music Nashville (SME).
- Def Jam Recordings, Caroline Records and Universal Music Group Nashville (UMG).
- Atlantic Record Groups, Warner Bros. Records and Parlophone (WMG).
Courtesy of musicbuisnessworldwide.com:
Combined, the big three record labels make up about 83.9% of the total U.S. album market share, as of 2015 last year.
SECTION 1 - The Purpose Of A Music Video
When it comes to discussing the intrinsic value of having a music video, you not only talk of the message it can deliver, but of the advantages it gains in terms of media promotion. Promotion of the band, as well as the record label assigned to the video's credit, can give much needed publicity all-round. This means the bigger and more popular a music video becomes (be it due to the song or band itself), the better the chances are of having an audience follow both the band and record label.
Promotion is key and can come in all sorts of forms. For example, the James Bond franchise has had numerous artists work alongside their films producers in an effort to create a signature song for that desired movie. The most recent example is Sam Smith's Writing's On The Wall, used for the film Spectre.
The music video itself incorporates scenes from the actual movie, as well as shots of Smith. The song reached No.1 in various charts, including the UK Singles chart. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards. The movie received a 65% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 307 sampled reviews. The movie itself, being produced under Eon Productions (a subsidiary of the conglomerate Danjaq, LCC), had a budget $250 million, while drawing $880.7 million at the box office.
The synergy between film and artist enabled both partners to promote one another's material. This would spark interest in both products, depending on the consumers interest (music, film or both). This results for the movie shows, as for the single, Writing's On The Wall had become the first Bond single to reach #1 in the UK Singles Chart. In addition to its critical acclaim, it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, as well as become a certified gold in the UK, selling at approximately 400,000 units in the UK alone. Unfortunately it did not peak as high as other Bond singles had on a global scale; however, it did enjoy much home grown success.
This just goes to show the benefits of both promotion and synergy can have for a artist and production, as it enables mainstream appeal and cross-media convergence on multiple platforms such as TV, DVD, film and others. Even though the single itself was not as well received critically (compared to past Bond themes), it still gained much revenue and brought publicity to Sam Smith. Not only that, but due to the music video itself, it helped promote the upcoming Spectre, with the video obtaining 138,855,975 views on Sam Smith's worldwide Vevo account on YouTube.
In addition to strategy, it is perhaps more appealing to look for a major music label and perform a beneficial partnership with a franchise such as Bond; however, independent labels can be just as successful, as shown with movie ill Manors and the album bearing the same name.
The trailer incorporates music from the album, and the movie itself shares the themes of the songs found on the track by artist Plan B, who wrote and directed the movie under production of Film London Microwave, BBC Films and Aimimage. Similar to Spectre's theme song, the movie helped to promote it just as the release of iLL Manors helped promote the movie itself. The album went straight to No. 1 in the Official UK Album Charts upon release in July 2012. The album's popularity, being released at No. 1 in the Official UK Album Charts upon its release, helped both artist and movie. On a budget of just $100,000 it made $453,570 at the box office.
Of course the movie itself was independently funded and under a small budget; however, Plan B had the luck to produce their album under the label of Warner Bros. Records, the smallest of the three major international music conglomerates. However, being promoted alongside the movie gave it more of an edge in the independent market as well, being able to cross-converge in both the independent scenes of music and film. This combination enabled for a more broader appeal for both the album and movie, which was arguably beneficial to both their successes.
Thus perhaps a more mainstream approach would be more benefiting for any upcoming band, as synergy helps give an early advantage in the field of marketing and putting more music out there, should the consumer want more of it. With synergy the possibilities are endless, as it may not always be necessary for a song or album to go with a particular movie; still, it is perhaps the most common way for music to reach the mainstream.
This is all the perfect recipe for how a music video can provide successful mainstream publicity and revenue, but what is the intrinsic value of a music video? Why bother investing time and money into such a venture that may possibly fail, or even offer no meaningful benefits? This is why I believe it is important to look at the philosophical side of the music video. Music videos can been implemented within the mainstream and attain a status of ingenuity, and this can be seen with the following:
A-Ha!'s Take On Me saw narrative combined with animation techniques and styles. The song and video is iconic among pop culture and the mainstream, with the music video itself winning six separate awards as well as being nominated for two at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1986. The use of practical and animation techniques was praised, along with the strong narrative.
SECTION 2 - Styles, Conventions & Techniques
Styles, conventions and techniques go hand-in-hand when it comes to bringing the pieces together in order to create the actual product needed. In this case it applies for our music video project. As for discussing the styles for a music video, we need to talk about the exact approach we would take for when creating our project. For example, these are surrealism, synergy, narrative, parody, animation, "live", homage, interpretive, referencing, pastiche, and even adding influence from commercials.
These I have all already covered before, but I shall reiterate their meaning and how theses styles can also apply the conventions of a music video.
Starting off we have surrealism, which relies on juxtaposing and somewhat irrational images to tell a desired story, or narrative. These can all mean nothing in the abstract are may be even analyzed with keen eyes to mean something entirely for the viewer. A good example of this would be Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box, which uses many religious symbols yet also very disturbing imagery to catch the viewer off-guard. This style may be used by a band in order to make something bizarre and unique in an effort to catch onto the mainstream, or perhaps even a niche target audience.
Another style would be synergy, which was previously mentioned in SECTION 1 under both examples of Spectre and ill Manors, whom both used their songs and their music videos to incorporate scenes from the movie as well as the music itself. Synergy sees tow products come together in order to help promote one another in an effort to create publicity and revenue. This would be ideal for any upcoming music band, as the advantage of additional publicity would help the value of the band grow within the public eye.
Narrative is perhaps one of the more complex yet strangely easier ways to make a convention out of a music video. It is easier as any story could be told, and perhaps the song itself need not relate; however, from a technical side, it can be hard to put together the necessary editing and images in order to put across a desired theme in order to tell a story. Meaning is everything for any artist willing to incorporate narrative into not just their songs, but music videos. A perfect example of this would be Eminem's critically acclaimed Stan, which he wrote in an effort to combat his critics beliefs that he did not offer insightful or smart art. If any band wanted to make an impression the same way Slim Shady did, then narrative is the way to go.
Parody would be a peculiar route to take when it comes to trying to get an upcoming band out there; however, it shouldn't be soured on as an option. After all, parody has brought great success to the likes of "Weird Al" Yankovic. Of course, parody is not limited to just on singular artist, as seen with Blink 182's All the Small Things, which saw the band mock various typical boy bands of the era. It is not without it's success, having earned critical acclaim and being named "Best Video" at the 2000 Kerrang! Awards, as well as nabbing "Best Group Video" at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.
Animation is a tricky one to pull off, as it requires many techniques and editing abilities to perform such a task; that being said, the pay off could be massive. Animated music videos are widely popular, as seen with bands such as the Gorillaz. As for an upcoming band, it would definitely catch the eyes of the mainstream in the same way The White Stripes did with Fell In Love With A Girl. These short enabled the band to catch onto a niche audience and later expand its demographic.
A "live" music video would perhaps be the easiest to accomplish in terms of filming and editing the finished product. Live footage and audio could be incorporated or even from concerts and other live performances. They could make for a good first impression for any upcoming band, and could make or break a bands credibility depending on how well received a performance is. The meaning could thus be just that: a make or break performance that will determine a band's success or further progress.
Homage is an interesting one, as it tends to blur the lines a bit and is often confused with pastiche or referencing; however, a homage is mean't to have a tribute effect, not a satirical one. It could serve well for any upcoming band as it could pay tribute to role models or inspirations from the past. Popular figures could be incorporated into the video, or styles depending on the artist being paid tribute to. The meaning of course could not necessarily be the tribute, but offering a different perspective or meaning into that artist's works. This can be seen in 30 Seconds to Mars' The Kill, which paid homage to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.
Interpretive music videos follow the lyrics of a song and tend to have very simplistic conventions, as it only serves to illustrate what the story of the song is being told. It helps that it does not appear to a niche audience as it is more likely to catch onto a mainstream audience, as people tend to enjoy the stories being told by others. Whether the story be happy or tragic, there is always that sense of catharsis we get from it, the emotional cleansing. This can be seen in Katy Perry's Firework.
By using the influence of commercials in music videos, one can make a mockery of modern day media and society, which would present a somewhat rebellious platform for any band. Of course, it could just be the styles and visuals of commercials that would lead to an inspiration in music video presentation. A good example of seeing style of commercials influence a product would be Kanye West's Gold Digger, which takes inspiration from model magazines and sexualized products. These technical decisions can have a wide variety of choice when it comes to picking a desired convention.
Referencing within music videos can often be used for satirical intent (as seen with Alien Ant Farms' cover of Smooth Criminal) or even as a gestural tribute to an artist i.e. The Smashing Pumpkins' Tonight, Tonight. It varies and can be implemented for any new band in either way, depending on the desired convention being delivered. Helps in a way to get across what the band is or what it intends to stand for.
Pastiche, as aforementioned, is often confused with homage or even referencing. The meaning of pastiche is mean't to be that of openly imitating past artist's works, often with satirical intent. This can be seen with "Weird Al" Yankovic's satirical take on the band Devo with the song Dare To Be Stupid. The convention is somewhat simple, as it is mean't to be a mockery for the most part; however, technicality may vary. As with Yankovic's pastiche take on Devo, he utilizes much of the bands on themes and style, as well as other bands of that time.
With all the style types explained, you'd have to wonder which would be the most suitable given our chosen song. Elsewhere, one best be prepared for when it comes to the style of shooting and bringing forth the technique of a music video. This is in reference to camera angles and techniques, how footage is taken and shot. Important camera angles we have looked at and discussed in class include the following:
- Aerial shot - an exterior shot from the air above, giving a clear view of the ground.
- Close-up - focus on the face.
- Extreme close-up - focus on the eyes.
- Medium shot - shot on the upper body, or close up to the entire body.
- Long shot - a shot from afar, usually making the object of focus look small.
- Deep focus - a focus on both background and foreground.
- Dutch tilt - a slight tilt of the camera, making a sideways effect.
- Low angle - a shot looking up.
- High angle - a shot looking down.
- Establishing shot - a shot showing off a location/setting.
- Over-the-shoulder shot - a shot from behind the shoulder, usually focusing on another person from behind another.
- POV shot - a point-of-view camera shot, similar to found footage.
- Crane shot - camera on a crane, usually taking from the air and focusing on a landscape.
These shots are used throughout various mediums and platforms, should it be for TV, film or music. When it comes to music videos, they can be used to emphasize a specific theme or meaning, that perhaps both video and song wish to express. Of course, techniques are not limited to just camera angles, but things such as:
- Cutting to beat - images/footage in a music video cut away to another in time for a beat in the music video. gives it that 'umph' effect.
- Lip sync - when singers do not sing but instead move their lips in tune with the audio lyrics.
- Effects - the visual techniques implemented within a music video, to give off an impression.
- Miming - similar to lip synching where people within a music video would act out a role in tune to the song or rhythmic beat. They can help alter/add to the narrative of a music video.
- Playback - studio recorded sound added over a music video product.
- Multi-image - different types of shots/angles focused on one object.
- Chroma key - a green screen used to add a background setting for a music video. It can be considered to be apart of effects and thus help shape the narrative.
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