Audience Research Questions

These are the questions will be asking in our audience research video in which we will interview people to make our music video suitable.

Audience Research Questions

Music Video Song Choice

For our music video, we have chosen to do "Snap Out Of It by the Arctic Monkeys. We chose this song as our preliminary music video was the same genre and we wanted to do something similar. For our music video this time, we will use similar effects and techniques such as black and white scenes, fast paced editing and also similar shots and angles.



Our preliminary task:


Artist: Artic Monkeys
Song: Old Yellow Bricks

Music Video Pitch Video

We had to insert Cameron's face into the video as he was not present when it was filmed.

Music Video Pitch

Pitch for our music video.

Music Video Regulation

Music videos in the UK are regulated by OFCOM (The Office of Communications). OFCOM is government approved and has wide-ranging power across television, radio telecoms and postal sectors in order to protect the public from harmful or offensive content. However on the internet, ratings are harder to enforce as anyone can upload anything to the internet. If the video is too offensive or goes against the guidelines, then the host of the website (YouTube) is allowed to take down the video from the website.

Recently there have been tighter restrictions on music videos with regulation being brought in. Music videos are now expected to have age ratings to be shown on them at the start of the music video (similarly to a film)
 

Most Famous Album Covers of All Time

Artist: The Beatles

Album: Abbey Road

Designer: Kosh/Iain MacMillan

Abbey Road is the 11th album released by English rock band The Beatles on 26th September 1969. It was the first album cover not to include the name of the artist or the name of the album which was the designers idea, Kosh. The reason for this was that they were the most famous band in the world at the time and they would easily be recognised even without putting their name on the album cover. The idea to use a crossing on the album came from an image drew by Paul McCartney outside the EMI Studios on Abbey Road. The image of The Beatles crossing the road has become one of the most imitated image in history and there has even been an advertisement against jaywalking with the caption, "If they can, why can't you?".

Artist: Pink Floyd

Album: Dark Side of the Moon

Designer: Storm Thorgerson

Dark Side of the Moon is the eight full length studio album by Pink Floyd. The album was released in March 1973. The album cover represents three elements: the bands stage lighting, the album's lyrics and Richard Wright's request for a simple and bold design. Unlike a traditional prism, the album cover uses six colours and misses out the colour indigo. The album cover itself has been praised and has been listed as the fourth greatest album cover in history by VH1.

Artist: Nirvana

Album: Nevermind

Designer: Robert Fisher

Nevermind is the second studio album by Nirvana. The album art was designed by Robert Fisher and the idea was convinced by Kurt Cobain after he was watching a television programme on water biths. Fisher then found some footage and pictures of underwater births but they were too graphic to use for the album cover. Instead, Fisher sent a photographer to get pictures of a baby swimming in a pool. The album cover is one of the most iconic covers and is the most instantly recognisable in musical history.


Artist: Queen
Album: Queen II
Designer: Mick Rock

The album cover for Queen II was a photograph taken by Mick Rock. The photograph shows Queen standing in a diamond shape against a black background. The diamond shape was inspired by Moai statues on Easter Island. The band decided to hired Mick Rock for the album cover as he had previously worked with other artists such as David Bowie. The band also wanted their album cover to stand out as their last album failed to gain attention. Although the band wasn't too sure on the cover for the album, Rock persuaded them to use it as he thought it was a true reflection of their music.

The Male Gaze Theory by Laura Mulvey (1975)

The Male Gaze Theory was developed by Laura Mulvey in 1975. The theory suggests that women in the media are presented from a feminists point of view to the audience in 3 different ways:

• How men look at women
• How women look at themselves
• How women look at other women

The main feature of the theory is that women are represented as a sexual fantasy from a heterosexual male's perspective. Here is an example of how the theory works in modern-day music videos:

The music video's opening shot, the words "Touch My Body". Not only is this the title of the song and the main hook, but also represents the females in the music video as objects and that they are just there to be looked at by the male audience. The four girls in this shot are also wearing revealing clothing which shows that they are there to show off their bodies to the audience, specifically to hetrosexual males (scopophilia). The words "Touch My Body" could also be seen as "teasing" the male audience as they cannot physically touch them , but they can only do the looking.

Throughout the music video, facial expressions are also used to fulfil the needs of the male ego. The invitational facial expressions which focus on lips, eyes or a smile with the head to one side or looking back to the camera, suggest mystery or mischief. From a hetrosexual male's point of this, this would be see as seductive. (Facial Expressions Mariorie Ferguson 1980) The Mise-en-scene shows the girl wearing a black, floral bikini top which stands out on the light blue/white background which makes her body stand out. The bright pink lipstick also is extremely eye-catching and at the same time enhances her lips and creates a gaze for the male viewers. The hot pink connotates femininity and gives a hint of seduction due to its bright and alluring shade.

 

In this shot, the girl can be seen icing a cake then licking some of the icing off her lips with her eyes closed in a a sexual way which complies with the Male Gaze Theory. The cream on her lips stands out and therefore brings attention to her lips creating an expression directed to the male viewers in a somewhat provocative manner.

The Best/Most Famous Music Videos of All Time

Michael Jackson - Thriller (1983)
Director: John Landis

Michael Jackson's Thriller is one of the most successful and famous music videos of all time as it sold over nine million copies worldwide and is the biggest selling album ever. The song and music video also broke down racial barriers in America at the time as it was played on New York's WPLJ radio station which was traditionally a "white" station. This gained criticism at the time as there were protesters who didn't want "black" music on their radio station. The budget for the 13-minute music video was $500,000 and paid off in 1984 when it won a record breaking eight Grammys.


Beyoncé - Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) (2008)
Director: Jake Nava

The song was released from Beyoncé's third studio album "I Am Sasha Fierce" on October 12 2008. Single Ladies was a single from the album along side with "If I Were a Boy". "Single Ladies" peaked at number one on the US Hot Billboard Chart and the song reached on the top ten singles chart in countries all over the world such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Brazil, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. The music video for "Single Ladies" was shot straight after "If I Were a Boy" in New York and both videos were directed by Jake Nava who she had previously worked with on her music videos "Crazy In Love" and "Beautiful Liar". The music video throughout is black and white ("If I Were a Boy" was also shot in black and white) and the chorography was inspired by "Mexican Breakfast". The video has been parodied and covered all over the world and has been responsible for starting "the first major dance craze of the Internet age".


OutKast - Hey Ya! (2003)
Director: Bryan Barber

"Hey Ya!" became a major success as it reached the top five of charts it entered. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 and the ARIA Singles Chart. In 2009, Billboard announced it was the 20th most successful song of the 2000's in the United States. The song was also used for the Polaroid Corporation as the song became known as "Shake it like a polaroid picture" and was used for television commercials. The music video consists of a live band which was inspired by The Beatles performance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Instead, the music video is set in London. The song received praise and won the award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance at the 46th Grammy Awards.


Lady Gaga - Telephone ft. Beyoncé (2010
Director: Jonas Akerlund

 The song gained lots of praise and positive reviews and it was known as a "stand out track" from Lady Gaga's third EP The Fame Monster (2009). The song charted in many countries due to digital sales and downloads such as Canada, United States, Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands and Hungary. The song was extremely successful in Europe where it reached number one in Belgium, Denmark, Hungry, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom. "Telephone" sold over 7.2 million copies world wide in 2010, making it her best selling singles of all time. The music video for "Telephone" was a continuation of her previous song "Paparazzi" (2009) and was also shot as a short film. The song and music video included Beyoncé where they drove off together after being chased by the police. This was a reference to the film Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction. The video was very successful and was nominated for three awards at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards including Video of The Year.


Bjork - All is Full of Love (1999)
Director: Chris Cunningham

"All is Full of Love" is a single from Bjork's fifth album Homogenic. The song form the music video is the original where as the album version is a remix. Since the songs release it gained lots of attention because of her powerful vocals and was called the highlight of her album. The song reached number 8 in America while reaching number 23 in the UK. The music video was directed by Chris Cunningham who is famous for his unusual style. The music video was considered a milestone of computer animation at the time of its release due to the technology which was used then and still looks futuristic today. The video is listed as one of the best music videos of all time by TIME and MTV. Due to its futuristic and artistic look, the video is on permanent exhibition in New York at the Museum of Modern Art.

Music Video Director Case Study

Spike Jonze is an American music video director born on October 22 1969 in Maryland. He started as an editor of Freestylin' magazine at the age of 17 after his high school graduation. Jonze started to direct music videos in 1992 when he was hired to shoot a video for Sonic Youth's "100%". Jonze's first successful video was a song called Sabotage for the Beastie Boys which was inspired by 1970's styled police and crime shows. The music video won four awards MTV Music Video Awards including best director.

After his breakthrough, he directed many videos throughout the 1990s for many famous artists such as Bjork, Puff Daddy,The Cheical Brothers and many more. Not only did he direct music videos, but he also directed a number of unforgettable adverts for many companies such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Nike and also the car company Nissan. 

In 1999, Jonze directed "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim which was a unusual video as it was shot guerrilla-style and where people started dancing in a large group in a shopping centre in public. The video cost around $800 to produce. Most of the money used was used for food and drinks for the staff and cast on set and for a boombox replacement. At the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, the video won three major awards. The video won Breakthrough Video, Best Direction and Best Choreography. It was also nominated for the Best Dance Video but did not win.



Other famous videos directed by Spike Jonze:

Throughout his music videos, Jonze uses unusual styles and avoids typical elements of a music video such as performances and intertextual references. His music videos are seen as odd but however they stand out from other music videos produced at that time and have also gained a lot more attention.

Website for Artic Monkeys

Artic Monkey's band website.

Arctic Monkeys - Old Yellow Bricks (Practice Music Video)

History of Music Videos

1900 - Thomas Edison invents the gramophone. This was the first step from live music to recorded audio.

1927 - The Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland) was in the first film which wasn't a silent movie. The film included sound for the first time. It was also half musical.

 

1940s - Disney's Fantasia was considered to be the first music video. The film was produced and then the score was written specifically to match the film.

The 1940s was also the peak period of MGMs Hollywood musicals

1954 - Elvis Presley records That's All Right and becomes a sex symbol in the music industry.

1963 - UK's first music TV programme, Ready Steady Go.

1964 - The second UK's TV programme Top of the Pops begins.

The Beatles release the film and album A Hard Day's Night

 

1981 - MTV starts. The first TV station to be dedicated to music. This became a turning point as music videos started becoming more important than the actual song. Music videos start becoming more creative and artistic. Different concepts and ideas are experimented within music videos.
 

1983 - Micheal Jackson's Thriller becomes the longest music video with a length of 16 minutes.

1984 - MTV Music Video Awards start taking place.

1987 - MTV Europe is launched which is broadcasted to 1.6 million homes.

1990 - MTV Unplugged lauches.

1994 - MTV launches the MTV Europe Music Awards.

1997 - MTV UK and Ireland launch their own independent channel.

2001 - Launch of MTV Dance. First music channel dedicated for dance only.

2005 - Lauch of YouTube.

iTunes allows users purchase and download music videos. The number of downloads go to 1 million after 20 days of being released.

2010 - All Lady Gaga's music videos reach 1 billon views alltogether.

Vevo is launched on YouTube which is dedicated for music videos only.

2012 - South Korean artist PSY, breaks YouTube record and becomes the first to reach 1 billion views with 'Gangnam Style'.

2013 - YouTube has 60 hours of videos being uploaded every minute. 4 billion videos are being viewed everyday.

2014 - PSY breaks another record. 'Gangnam Style' is the first video to reach 2 billion views.

Textual Analysis of Music Videos (Godwin's Music Video Analysis)

I have chosen to analyse 2NE1's "I Am The Best". 2NE1 is a South Korean 4 member girl group (consisting of CL, Park Bom, Sandara Park and Minzy) who were formed by YG Entertainment in 2009. YG Entertainment is one of the top three entertainment companies in South Korea currently and is also known as "the 400 billion won company". Another artist who is signed under YG Entertainment is PSY. The song "I Am The Best" topped all South Korean charts just within 24 hours of the song being released. "I Am The Best" was then confirmed to be an "all-kill" for the group.

"I Am The Best" is part of a genre called K-Pop (Korean pop music) and within it has many characteristics and features. Some characteristics of a K-Pop music video include

• bright and bold colours
• dancing
• close ups of the artist
• unusual styles/concepts (hair and clothes)
• studio set
• high production cost
• sometimes have a narrative

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics
The "I Am The Best" music video demonstrates the characteristics of a typical K-Pop video very well. For example in the music video they are shown to be dancing, having an unusual style and bright colours. There are also many close ups of each member of the group and was filmed on a set with a high production cost.

Dancing

Unusual hair styles and clothes/concepts

Close up of the artist

Intertextual references
In this music video there is a reference to the film "Million Dollar Baby". At the beginning the member is wearing a boxing belt which reads "WW Champ" or "World Wide Champion" which shows that the group is strong and their music is beginning to become more popular in other countries around the world. In the second verse in the song, the words "billion dollar baby" are sung (2:14) which refers back to the film "Million Dollar Baby" which is about a female boxer. This again links back to the beginning of the music video as one of the members is shown to be a boxer as she is wearing a hood, shorts and a belt which a boxer would wear at the beginning before the match starts.

 

Relationship between lyrics and visuals
There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. For example, when one member sings "hot fire", the background turns from blue to fire to correspond with the lyrics. (1:04)

 

 



Another example is when another member sings "like a flat tire", it has been edited to make her cheeks look like they are being deflated imitating a tire. (2:07)

 

 

Intro to A2

This is my blog for the A2 course. In this blog I will be looking at music videos and their conventions of their genres.