Task 2 - Contemporary Music Video - Part 1

I thought this would be a good video to start my research with, though there is lots of shots and fast editing, this is a style of video that my group could quite easily achieve for little expense and in a short amount of time. I also like the way the director of this particular video has blended the two typical music video styles of narration and performance.

Usually a performance based video would have the band in one place or place standing still with perhaps seemingly random things happening behind them were as whats happening around the band in Barefoot Confessor's video is a form of narration. At some moments the band even slightly interacts with the main character in the narration, to give the impression of the band speaking to her and that they are also part of narration, it's almost as though shes stuck in a loveless marriage or relationship and seeing/hallucinating about someone from her past . Although this method is used throughout the video there are three moments when this crossover and interaction is particularly noticeable, first at 1:12 till 1:36 and again at 1:47 till 1:53. This crossover is also used at 2:29 till 2:44 and resumed at 3:54 till 3:17 in a more unusual way being that the performance side and narration side of the video blend, starting with the band under the covers and more closely interacting with the narration lead and then eventually her jumping under and becoming part of the performance.

The Mise-En-Scene fits well with the story behind the video. All the furnishings are dull, brown, bland and drab much like how the female character feels about her life. Also the house has a very English feel to it, there's floral wallpaper which can be best seen at 0:9 to 0:11 and best shown at 1:22 to 1:37 in the living room scene you can see very old fashioned 'manor house' furnishings. All the rooms that are used all tend to have the same theme running through them this means that the audience aren't focusing in on the surroundings, instead they are focusing on the storyline.

Commonly indie type bands tend to use much less effects, and those they use are often just black and white, sepia, or a slight de-saturation in colouring. In this video the director has chosen not only to use dull furnishings but also to de-saturate the video colour to help convey the over all feeling of boredom and thought of 'what could have been'.

I think there is a very strong link between the lyrics and video. They are very parallel in the story they are telling, At the very beginning when the lead singer first appears there is a lot of subtle focus on a condiment of salt and pepper, seen at 0:11-0:13, 0:17-0:20, 0:26-0:27 and 0:29-0:35. The salt and pepper is representative of situation, the choice between the singer who loves her and the her husband, this fits well i feel with the lyrics at this point of the video, "I don't mind if in the short term, if I can only see you when his back is turned, there's no doubt he is a good man, but he can't reach the places that I know I can," and "and I would hold my breath now just to hold your hand".

Just like the relationship between the lyrics and visuals, the relationship between the music and the visuals is also an obvious link from the beginning. At 0;14-0:16 when the instrumental introduction to the song is playing there are close-up shots of the bands guitars, drums and bass being played.

The song and video is very much in the Indie style, this genre is very popular at the moment amongst teenagers and young twenty-soothings. They haven't really taken any risks like in Paul Boyd did in his direction of Twain's 'Man I feel like a woman', so they were always bound to have a good majority or good reviews because their a band you kind of have to already know about, its hard just to stumble on their work. Because the band is quite unknown and unsigned one of there biggest platforms is YouTube, there has been almost fifty comments posted and 15,190 views since it was posted in 20 December 2008 shortly after its release. Many of the reviews read like this, "This song is RIDICULOUS! I fell in love with the music, music style, and the lyrics! It makes my day =D", "this is some good stuff guys! all the best for the big road ahead". Another place where a lot of the bands work is showcased to the audiences is on MySpace, many of the comments are again posative, "so glad i tripped upon your sounds. love your stuff!!!!", "Your music is fab! I love it. Look forward to your future success".

Task 2 - Contemporary Music Video

Filmed: January 11, 1999

debuted: March 3, 1999

Director: Paul Boyd

Another video I decided would be good to look at was Shaina Twain's 'Man I feel like a woman'. I chose this because it is a reversed replica of Robert Palmer's 'Addicted to love', first released in 1986, Palmer's video was shot in a day and used real female models for to play the band. Twain's video takes Robert Palmer's very objectifying theme of his video, with model women all looking the same and moving the same and turns it around, using stereotypical handsome men and having them arranged the same as the women in Palmer's. One of the female models recalls being asked to act like show room mannequin, furthering the idea of these women being manufactured objects, even in the way the models 'dance' is provocative, as they slightly ripple their body's as well as move in time with the music

Movements by the models in Twain's are slightly more dipped and larger although staying simple making the move fitting the up beat sound of Twain's song, just as the women, in Palmer's, more subdued movement fit the smooth sound of his song. The shots used by the director of Twain's video are mirrors of the shots used for Palmer's, with close ups on the face of the singer and of the bands instruments. Were it varies is Paul Boyd, the director of Twain's, chooses to have single shots of Twain alone with out the band behind, the first time he uses this shot can be seen at 0:58 to 0:59, this is to allow room for twain to move and attention to be wholly on her.

Because Paul Boyd chose to reverse the roles of males and females in this video from Palmer's original the video was always going to either be received well or it would flop. In general the video was a hit and won the 'MuchMoreMusic' video of the year award at the 'MuchMoreMusic' awards in 2000. It was also a success with ordinary people all over, comments such as "I love this video. It is the women's Robert Palmer video, 'bout darn time!" from user MySolidDreams, "The similarity to Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love video is hi-larious!! <3">

"I'm a straight guy that shaves his legs to this song." from user w10883.

Although subtle the lighting in this video is staggered, with a lot of white light on Twain making her stand out, especially when she strips to the white shirt as it reflects the light, the light is then slightly less when its on the two band members closet to Twain and even less so on the two furthest away. This creates almost a pyramid effect, initially your eyes are drawn to Twain, then the two band members and then finally the two at the back. The lighting is consistent through out the video, however at 2:30 - 3:34 this changes slightly as Twain undresses the band members are lined up behind her and are dimly lighted, this is because at this moment they are adding nothing to the video they are simply thought of a background. That is the only point in the video where the lighting changes slightly, even at 2:56 where the man are again slightly lined up behind Twain Boyd goes back to using the lighting techniques of focusing on twain then the next two and then the next.

Boyd uses a lot of the same shots in Twain's video, close-ups, mid-shots and wide shots. There isn't a lot of variety to what he shoots in these shots, it tends to stick to the same things, most of the close-ups tends to be of either Twain's face or of an instrument and once or twice of a band member, most of the mid-shots are of the band or Twain and the wide shots are used for Twain on her own and when shes with the band. This could easily get boring as not much changes through out the video in the way of story, set and lighting but it is because of the way in which Boyd edits the the shots together that the audience doesn't get bored. The cuts are quick and clean and often to the beat, keeping the audience interested and makes the video seem fun and modern.

The video opens with a circular video transition i feel this gives the audience the impression that this video will be fun, light and entertaining. There is another of these transitions at 1:40-1:42 fitted to the sound of the electric guitar helping to flow into another shot. Unlike most videos the edits aren't necessarily on or off the beat, they are instead more focused around making the video flow. Boyd breaks the usual rules of editing, for example at 2:08-2:09 he cuts from a wide shot to a close up on Twain, this normally wouldn't work but does, due to the consistent element of Twains head staying in the same place. There is some very interesting, fun editing at 2:34-2:45, its a fun mixture of shot and scenes of her at various stages of her transformation edited to the beat, this editing style is repeated at 3:44-3:50. A part i particularly like and find fun is at 3:47-3:49 when there are three shots edited to the 'woo's, the three edits are shots of her transformation.

I feel as though this is a slight link between the lyrics and the visuals, as the song is about Twain wanting to go out and have fun, this is what she is doing in the video. Although there is not much to the video other then Twain having fun and showing herself off she does pick up on certain lyrics and emphasize them, for example at 2:00 Twain makes a hand gesture for the word 'crazy', she also tuggs on her shirt at 2:01 accompanied with the lyrics "man shirts, short skirts".

Task 1 - Purpose of a Music Video . .

Purpose of Research . .
Before making my Music video it is incredibly important to do research. Research is important to anyone making a media product. The reason for this is because before making a product , especially a media product, it is important to understand, understand how the product is made, your target audience and be able to answer questions effectively.
There is two main types of research you can do, the first is . . .

Secondary research . .
This is the easier of the two as this is information someone else has gathered and put together, it's second hand. The best places to find this type of research is on the internet and in books, although you have to be careful when collecting this information as some could be incorrect. The best secondary research you can find is usually from a mix of sources.

Primary Research . . .
This is the more time consuming of the two as it is a collection of data you have collected yourself and been carried out by you also. The best way to go about carrying out this information is my using questionaries, group feedback sessions and other things such as interviews. Primary research does involve a lot of preparation but is good as it is the post reliable form of research as you created it.

Before creating my music video I am going to do research into music video background and other various music videos.


The very beginning of a visual clip being put with a music track started in France in the late 1950s, the machine that put the two together was called the Scopitone, it was described as a visual jukebox. The machine played short films made by french artists to accompany their songs. The machine quickly spread across Europe and the USA and with it the idea of adding images and film to music/songs. Something that helped propel the development of the music video was the feature film 'A Hard Day's Night' from the early 60's, the movie was based around a musical fantasy land and shot in a mock-momentary style. The film contended musical sequences, this were innovative and influential as they were later used for Promo clip and were also the model for later music videos. These 'Film Inserts' were distributed and shown in many other countries, especially USA, so that the band wouldn't have to make in person appearances to promo them and the movie. By the time The Beatles finished touring in 1966 there work had become more sophisticated including there promotional clips and film inserts.
Promotion is a big part of what a music videos are all about because of the fact that they can go places the band cant and it means the band don't have to make in person appearances. Plus the videos let the audience see what the band are like, or at least what they portraying themselves to be, making the audience feel as they have a connection to the band/artist and are more likely to be fans.
By now the importance of having a promotional clip to go with you single was growing in importance and other bands that took on The Beatles style of promotional clips were 'The Who' who featured in several promotional clips from 1965, The Rolling Stones also appeared in many promotional clips that when with some of their singles. A lot of these bands videos where purposely rough looking and a little rocking roll, but one band that made their clips a little more dynamic was The Doors who had a background in film-making as the lead singer and keyboard player had been studying film at UCLA. The clip for their debut single was full of atmospheric lighting, camera work and editing. Their 1968 anti-war single was also a little different, it combined specially filmed footage of the band, including a fake execution by firing squad. it was also full of inter cutting of graphic images and film of the bloodshed and madness that was the Vietnam War.
This is another example of what a music video can be used for, protest. Not only can the promotional clips and videos be used to show the band but also to show there views, manly on politics. This can create for the audience great respect for the band, again strengthening their 'connection'.
Music television came to the United Kingdom in the late 70's when the popular TV show, Top of the Pops, began playing bands/artist music videos were as normally they would only have live artists on the show. Despite the fact the BBC put strict limits and rules on the number of 'outsourced' videos Top of the Pops could use, if the music video was good the song's sales would increased as viewers hoped to see it on the show the next week. In fact David Bowie can credit director David Mallet with helping Bowie to achieve his first UK number one in nearly a decade and Mallet directed an eye-catching promo to accompany his single 'Ashes to Ashes'.
But when the idea of Music television really took off was when the channel MTV was launched in the U.S. The channel airing "Video Killed the Radio star", it was the beginning an era of 24-hour-a-day music on television with this new outlet for videos the popularity of music videos grew to the point where they began the central part of the music business.
The music video has kept up with today's technology and transferred its self to computers and Internet as well, although it wasn't till the launch of YouTube that the idea of watching a video online was common place. Music videos had had a slow and steady increased in popularity by managing to keep up with trends and technology's, keeping them in the public eye.