Initial reasearch

Initial reasearch

I gave three questionaires out to find out what music and music videos these students were into. This is what they said:

ZOE SAID:

JADE SAID:

SOPHIE SAID:

conventions of dance and electric music

conventions of dance and electric music

MISE-EN-SCENE- Dance videos are often located in clubs where the atmosphere is upbeat and fits the tone of the song. Although the DJ is not doing anything he is still shown with his equipment to show off his musical talent. Females are often shown with little clothing on and the men are seen as very dominant. The crowds in the club are often predominately women with provocative clothing. Other locations where dance music videos may be filmed is in tropical locations, large boats, beaches or large beach houses. An example of this is Jennifer Lopez- on the floor.    

CAMERA TECHNIQUES- As there are no specific instruments to be zoomed in on the main focus is on the crowd and the singer (if there is one). there are lots of shots from up high which shows the whole crowd in the club dancing and so on. This then shows the mood and how everyone is having a great time, this attracts viewers. 

EDITING- often high tech lighting is used so that it fits the beat and gives of club vibes.  

rock music video conventions

rock music video conventions 

rock music is usually filmed in a performance format. This is the band usually being filmed in there natural environment, such as having a band practice or being filmed live. There is often a story which then intertwines with them performing live. Modern rock music tends to have more story based music videos, unlike older rock which is found to still dominate the rock industry tend to just have videos of them performing live and only for the most popular songs will there be videos as there was firstly limited people who had television and also the technology for filming was no where near as advanced as we see it today. Some examples of this are  Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Guns & Roses.

                                         Led Zeppelin- going to California (live at earls court)  

MISE-EN-SCENE- Rock music can be stereotyped to be seen as rebellious and fighting against society, especially the sub genre of heavy metal. The clothing often worn by rock stars is often either very simple or very extreme, For example David Bowie used to dress very femininity in the days of glam rock, where as Iggy pop use not even wear a shirt even at the age of sixty. rock stars often have a piece of clothing that they are remembered by and that resembles them. 

Freddie Mercury always sang with a half microphone stand, something is remembered for.  

for example Slash, who is the guitarist in Guns & Roses wear his top hat and that is something that he is remembered by.

        

likely locations for a music video are arenas and stadiums if the bands music is them at a concert, for louder and more thrash metal the location may be in dark and mysterious places (e.g a forest, abandoned warehouse or buildings).



CAMERA TECHNIQUES- The lead singer is often the main focus of the band and there will be less shots of the drummer, guitarist and other musicians in the band. There are often close ups of the instruments that they are playing to display the talents that they have to the audience. Hand held camera techniques are used to show what it would be there to see them live and to recreate the atmosphere. Even if the song is not particularly good by making the atmosphere seem very lively it makes the watcher of the video feel that they are a very talented band. An example of this is Cage the elephant, come a little closer. 

EDITING- The editing often has to change the frame fairly quickly so that they can focus on each band member for a certain amount of time. Also the editing often has to represent the mood of the song and its pace.

age representation in music videos

age representation in music videos

Youths are seen as reckless and one who don't stop partying and drinking. Younger artists tend to have more upbeat party orientated music videos, for example Rita Ora and her video hot right now shows them having a party, dancing and her singing through a headphone. Older artists such as David Bowie demonstrate there music videos follow a story line as shown in his newest video. Elders also tend to reflect on there younger days in there music videos.

representation of ethnicity

representations of ethnicity 

Black males are usually associated with hip hop/rap and heavily dominate the genre with the exception of Eminem. There stereotype is for them to be brought up in humble backgrounds and for them to be surrounded by gang violence, drugs and sex. In there music videos they tend to show off this gang lifestyle. An example of this is Biggie Smalls video warning. this video involves Biggie Smalls being hunted down by gang members because of the money he has made and him shooting them when they enter his home. This video represents all of the normal things to see a hip hop star being associated with, money, drugs, violence, weapons and 'bling'.

white males are also seen as players and in gangs, but it is not as negatively highlighted as other black artists. Some males aspire to be a player and live this sort of life style, so some people may think that black males are the more dominant of the two as that is the role model that they are representing whether it is negative or positive.





Females are seen as being vulnerable and sex objects what ever there genre is, but there are specific artist who go against this stereotype. my first example is Adele, she doesn't wear provocative clothing in her videos, she intrigues people with the shear quality of her musical ability. Another example is Beyonce who although still wears provocative clothing she tends to be controlling the male rather then being the less dominant out of the two.

performance, narrative and concept

performance video

A performance video focuses mainly on the artist or the band, in there natural enviroment. This can be when with friends, having a band practice, live performances or staged performances. They are usually seen miming the words, but the artist should supposedly be quite well known to create a performance video as otherwise the public may not be as interested in the video. The cost of making a performance music video is usually fairly low as the producers are giving the audience the most realistic image of the band as it is only the band they are showing. An example of this would be Swedish house mafia- don't you worry child as it is just of them performing live.

Swedish house mafia- don't you worry child

This video was Swedish house mafias last ever before they broke up. It shows them performing live. This was very effective as it is unusual to see drum and bass being performed live unless you actually go to the concert. This means people are very curious to what it may be like.

green day- american idiot

American idiot is green days all time best selling song. This video shows them holding a staged performance in a warehouse. one of the reason that the producers may want to to do a performance video is because of the genre, a lot of people who are fans of rock and indie music (bands) like to see how they not just what it sounds like.

concept video

Concept usually contain very strange ideas, and tend to seem very weird to the audience. Although these videos may seem strange to the audience it is an attraction to many consumers. A concept video will keep the audience constantly attracted to what or who is on the screen. There is no particular genre which is attached to concept videos, it is used by a wide range of genres. Some examples of concept videos would be Lady Gaga- Bad Romance. 

narrative videos

A narrative video mainly consists of a story line that links to the lyrics of the song. This is a good way of engaging the audience, songs that use narrative videos can often be featured in films, with scenes from the film in the music video. An example of this would be Bruno Mars- it will rain. 

This is the twilight breaking dawn soundtrack, it features scenes of the film being played through a projector during the music video.  

 

 

 

gender representations in music videos

gender

in music videos the different genders are represented in certain way. This can depend strongly on the genre. Males are represented as being fairly dominate and to have lots of money and girls. Females are represented in a sexual ways and vulnerable. An example of this is 50 cent- candy shop. 

Women

In this video women are represented as sexual objects. They are dehumanized and made vulnerable. Although 50 cent is the main focus in this video there tend to be just as many shots of the women then the artist, which is the same for many other music videos.









Another representation of women is emotional. in rihannas music video stay. The song is about her true love leaving her. She is represented as emotional as she is crying, naked into a bath tub. although the mood of the music doesn't show her acting in a sexual way, we still see her naked in a bath tub.

Pinks music video raise your glasses. Like many of Pinks music videos she is represented as a strong, independent women. The ways that she is represented is her non reveling clothing, her punk rock attitude and  the fact that she is not based around lots of men. other artists like this are Beyonce, Hayley Williams from Paramore.   

Men 

D12-Fight music, this represents Men as being Gang members, with drugs and violence. The fact that they are in a gang makes them look strong and tough.

another representation of men is to be seen as emotional and caring. An example of this would be Bruno Mars- grenade. He is represented as a very caring person who is madly in love with someone as would supposedly do anything for her.

men are also represented as players and pimps. they are seen with many women around them in there videos, representing there ability to be able to pick up women. An example of this is Jay z- give it to me.