Music Video Textual Analysis: Nashville Grey Skies (The Shires)

Music Video Textual Analysis: Shoop (Salt-N-Pepa)

"Shoop" is the lead single released from Salt-N-Pepa's fourth studio album; Very Necessary. It was released in the UK during early 1994 where it achieved moderate success. 
Genre: Hip-Hop; a sub-genre of rap.

Music Video Textual Analysis: The Pretenders (Foo Fighters)

"The Pretender" is a song by the American alternative rock band Foo Fighters. 
Genre: Alternative metal

This video follows many conventions of the rock/metal genre. This image showcases a shot at the beginning of the video. The props and setting are standard in the genre with an electric guitar and microphone which are being used to perform with remaining conventional at the beginning of the video. This helps to set up the audience for the video because it inst something out of the ordinary.

The shot focuses on the colour red which is there to suggest the feeling of anger which is present throughout the song. The use of a colour, whether that be through a filter or an item, to convey an emotion is conventional for the genre.




This shot shows the setting of the video which is in a sporting arena. This is quite unconventional with most video's setting being a rock show. This also symbolises the theme of the song which is order verses chaos.




This shot represents the relationship between the music and the visuals because as the music ramps up so does the action on screen. this relates to Andrew Goodwin's theory about how this helps to promote the song.

 This image is an indication to the viewer, that along with the red background, the artist is the embodiment of chaos. This represents the artist as a rebel who doesn't fit in with what is expected by society which is a conventional image for this genre.

Camera Technique Research

Here are some examples of videos showcasing camera techniques which will hopefully boost the quality of our music video. These are particularity effective pieces of research because they cover everything from shot composure and lighting to types of camera and their effects. 

1. This video showcases how to hold and move a camera, to replicate the shots achieved with complex gear such as cranes and dollies. Rather than going for the wobbly handheld look, it states that you can combine pans and tilts with height changes and pushes, to create complex camera moves. This approach adds life to scenes, without requiring a time-consuming setup.

2. This video goes into detail about all the different elements of inexpensive film making by showcasing tricks and techniques which create unique and powerful shots and effects.

Production Elements Of A Music Video

The Process of Making Music Videos

Star Profile: Jamie Thraves

General Audience Research: Quantitative Results

General Audience Research: Qualitative Results

What is your favourite music video?                                         Why?

Mute Math - Typical                                                                Each member of the band had to learn
                                                                                                   their parts backwards.

Fatboy Slim: Weapon of Choice                                            The performance elements are                                                                                                                               awesome.

Radiohead - Just                                                        Its a mystery what the man says.


 Drake - Hotline Bling                                                             The video is colourful.


Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody                                                    There is a good use of lighting.


Katy Perry - Firework                                                               The firework imagery is powerful.


Calvin Harris Ft. Example - We'll Be Coming Back                 There is a strong narrative behind the                                                                                                                      lyrics.

Ludacris - Act A Fool                                                                The video is exiting.


Nelly - Just A Dream                                                                 Visual metaphors which illustrate the                                                                                                                       message of the lyrics.

General Audience Research Questionnaire

Exhibition Platforms

Youtube is an online video sharing platform which allows allows users to upload, view, rate, share, add to favourites, report and comment on videos for free. These features get utilised by record labels to help promote their artistes by releasing their music videos onto the website.

I-tunes is an application used in Apple products to sell music, music videos and other forms of entertainment media. This platform is the most prominent music sharing application that doesn't stream songs and I-tunes allows for the exhibition and promotion of music videos making it an ideal candidate for an exhibition platform.

MTV (Music Television) is a satellite television network that presents music and music videos as well as relevant information.

It is the biggest network of its kind and is a very effective way to release a music video that people will watch, due to the video always being played to accompany the song. Furthermore it has separate channels relating to different genres such as indie and rock.

The ability to directly target our audience is an effective way to share.

Evidently, our choice will have to be Youtube due to it being a free service with a large potential to promote from.This also allows us to keep control over the exhibition something that would be much less possible with MTV and I-tunes.

Our Influence

In our group, we are all fans of different types of music which has influenced our choice of genre. I am a fan of most music however my favourite genres are dance and rock. They have influenced our decision because there is conventionally a clever use of colour in their videos.
Charlotte's favourite music mainly consists of songs from the pop genre. This has influenced our group decisions because she has been our window into the world of pop and the conventions it brings as well as how it is so appealing to a mass audience.
James taste in music is more indie and niche which has had a large creative influence over the direction we are going to take our video. This is because it allows us to think abstractly and more freely.

History of the Music Industry

The modern Music Industry came to fruition in the late 19th century to the early 20th century. Ever since there have been massive changes due to major events and varying trends from decade to decade. The Music Industry is now one of the biggest media platforms, creating many celebrities and icons every year.

Most prominent genres:

Most prominent musical artists:

1940's:

Vera Lynn

Rosemary Clooney

Glenn Miller

1950's:

Tommy Steele

John Dankworth

Guy Mitchell

1960's:

The Rolling Stones

Elvis Presley

The Beatles

1970's:

David Bowie

ABBA

Elton John

1980's:

Queen

Duran Duran

The Police

1990's:

Spice Girls

Take That

Oasis

2000's:

Amy Winehouse

Adele

Coldplay

2010's:

One Direction

Jessie J

Sam Smith

History of the Recording Industry

In the 70's and 80's when the importance of record labels grew, 6 stood out and where considered the big 6 of music labels. These were: BMG Entertainment; EMI (Electronic Music Industry); MCA; PolyGram; Sony Music; Warner Music Group. Universal later acquires PolyGram and Universal Music group becomes one of the big 6.  In the year 2000 EMI and Warner Music Group merged, leaving it the big 5. And in 2004 Sony Music and BMG merged creating the big 4 music labels (Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Music Group, MCA).

Music Genre

The Music Industry is a massively popular type of media platform with huge influences on pop culture. This means that there will be many types of music which is separated into different genres and sub genres.

Pop music became the prominent genre in the music industry back in the 1960’s due to the popularity of the bands and artists such as The Beatles and ABBA. Its prominence grew exponentially with artists like Michael Jackson and Madonna. Some sub-genres for porep a europop and electropop.

Another music genre that has been very prominent throughout the last 50 years is rock. It grew in popularity because of artists like Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones and Jimmy Hendrix. Its sub-genres include alternative rock, indie rock and grunge.

Rap is another largely prominent music genre which came to fruition over the last 50 years and has so because of artists like Tupac, Eminem, Notorious B.I.G and groups such as The Sugarhill Gang. Sub-genres of rap include hip-hop.

Country music has also been prominent within The Music Industry for 50 years and has stayed prominent thanks to artists like Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson and Taylor Swift. Sub-genres include honky tonk and close harmony.

Welcome

This blog will document my expiriences of OCR A2 Media Studies. The brief I have selected is music videos.