Influential Text: Taylor Swift

Influential Text:

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift's video for 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' is influential for me because it has such an iconic video with a lot of key elements that would be effective for us to include.

This video was directed by Declan Whitebloom, who has been behind many successful pop videos like One Direction's 'One Thing', Lawson's 'When She Was Mine', and even another Taylor Swift song from her early career, 'Mean'.

This video has many of the typical features of a pop video; Overflowing personality/character, boy/girl relationship narrative, steady beat for dancing, costumes... Everything that makes it over dramatic and cheesy.
Throughout the video, Taylor Swift clearly illustrates the lyrics of the song in the narrative. For instance when she sings "You called me up again tonight," and is shown standing by a wall-mounted phone and on the other side of the wall stands the antagonist/ex boyfriend.
The video is mostly very illustrative so there aren't very many examples of amplification or contradiction, but there are sections of the video where her different tones and pitches of voice are amplified by the visuals. Like when she sings 'WE' as part of the chorus, her pitch rises and people jump up in the air to mimic the change in her voice.
Another iconic thing about this video is that it is (supposedly) all done in one take, so there is no cutting or edits. It is, however, still possible to tell when the music and the visuals are linked, like when the camera pans to a different area when a new verse or chorus starts.
The instruments included in the video are played by musicians in animal costumes, and although the outfits are eye-catching, the camera never focuses on one instrument to illustrate its sound among the music, I think this is because the narrative is so engaging and the video stays centred on Taylor Swift.
The camera generally moves steadily from one area to another and never changes its pace, and I think that is to do with the song and its even and steady beat. There are no parts of the song that speed up or slow down but there are parts where the music is stripped down to just one guitar playing or piled with lots of instruments. This is shown visually through the number of things going on in the frame. Essentially, when only one or two instruments can be heard, the narrative parts of the video with only one or two people can be seen. When there are lots of instruments playing, there are lots of people in the frame, dancing, wearing colourful outfits, and everything is slightly chaotic.
There are many shots where Taylor Swift in in centre frame, they use a close up of her face or she is the only one looking directly at the camera. This is an effective use of star image because when she is the focus the audience (and also her fans) can feel a connection to her, like she is singing to them. Also the antagonist in the video (her ex-boyfriend) never looks at the camera, which I think reinforces the 'relatable' vibe of the song. The guy is a nameless character, he is only the to represent the character of the annoying ex, so that other people can watch the video and easily identify and apply it to themselves.
In this video we are given a strong, confident perspective on Taylor Swift, where she presents herself a an independent woman who is demonstrating her exasperation at having to deal with situations like this. This was very much a big part of her image after the release of her album 'Red' which was mostly about anger and hurt that she had experienced in relationships. She (and her record label 'Big Machine Records') received a lot of success from this video because it has a relatable topic, easy, catchy lyrics and an interesting and unique continuous video style used.
This video has motifs like her fashion sense, which is really girly, her signature red lipstick and bangs, something that her fans would be familiar with.
Taylor Swift's image has never been about showing off her body, and although there are times when she wears shorts that show off her legs etc, this video isn't for a male audience, its more of a female anthem so there isn't really any reference to voyeurism or the notion of looking.
I would say overall that the video was very narrative based, but at the same time, Taylor Swift slips in and out of the story by interacting with the people around her but then breaking out and singing to the camera. She is in the story but she's also telling it which I think is a very rare feature to see.

Audience Feedback: Pre-production

Audience Feedback:

Pre-production

We conducted a questionnaire that we sent to people (all 17-18 year olds) to learn more about what people liked in music videos. 

These are the responses we got to the questions:

What genre of music do you listen to?

List some of your favourite music videos.

What do you like about these videos?

After hearing the pitch of our music video, what score out of 10 would you give our idea?

What features would you like to see in our music video?

We also recorded responses from a few other people.

After seeing these responses I found that most people like a storyline, but also that sometimes it's important to make the music the focus as well, especially in pop where a lot of videos have a narrative and its important not to overpower the song.

Influential Text: Carly Rae Jepsen

Influential Text:

Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" includes features that we would want to use in our video, like the elements of 'bubblegum pop'. These are usually the bright colours, mainstream outfits and 'girl-meets-boy' narratives.
The video was directed by Ben Knetchel, and he has made sure to keep the cute crush feel of the song that makes the video so typically pop.
The video is edited so that the visuals link with  the lyrics a lot of the time, for instance when she says "Ripped jeans, skin was showing" and he takes off his shirt. This amplifies the lyrics and lets the viewer feel the way that she feels with this crush.
There's also a relationship between the music and the visuals. The editing is mostly on the beat, and while she sings the camera occasionally cuts away to the band behind her to show the guitarists, the drummer and the two guys on the keyboard - mostly during the chorus when the music is most noticeable because of all the instruments that come together. There is a section at the end where the music changes pace and you can only here the violin playing, and the visuals show her in a dream. This matches and emphasises the way that the music is stripped down during that verse.
The record company are trying to sell this song by making Carly Rae Jepsen relatable to their target audience (who would probably be young 12-17 year old girls. She is singing about meeting someone for the first time and instantly crushing on them, and loads of teenage girls will hear the song and like it because its catchy and understandable.
This video looks like it was produced with a bigger budget than the three videos she had before it. The camera quality looks better and her image changed slightly. The clothes are still mainstream but they are put together nicer than in her previous videos where she just wears dresses or plain t-shirts with jeans.
A lot of the time in pop videos, especially with female artists, they are on display for the purpose of the male gaze, and I think she is to an extent, like when she is washing the car in shorts and a vest, but she isn't the focus of 'the gaze'. The guy that she is watching wears a vest as well and his arm muscles are on display while he fixes the car. Even in the first scene, he mows the lawn and takes off his shirt while she watches through a window, and the camera pans up his torso to exhibit his body.  The window is a reference to 'looking' and being watched, and is also a reference to the commonly used narrative of the young gardener and the older woman who sexually objectifies him in TV shows like 'Desperate Housewives'. I like this because the roles are reversed and the man is objectified instead.
I think this video is equally weighted between performance based and narrative based, because although a lot of the music video tells the story of the narrative, there are still shots of her singing in the garage with her band, and she even sings during the narrative shots.

Influential Text: Cher Lloyd 'Want U Back'

Influential Text: 

Cher Lloyd - Want U Back

Goodwin's Theory of Music Videos

Goodwin Music Video Analysis

Intertextuality & Post Modernism

Intertextuality & Post Modernism

 Intertextuality is when one media text refers to or draws ideas from another media text. This could include films, images, music videos, web content etc. For those that understand the references, the experience of watching the music video is more enjoyable but this doesn't mean that for those that don't understand the reference it is less enjoyable.

Blink 182's "All The Small Things"

This video makes fun of a lot of late 90s and early 2000s Pop music videos that were well-known and iconic at the time, including one of their own songs. A lot of people in their 20's and older would recognize these videos being played with and be able to laugh at the ridiculousness of them.

Some of the referenced videos include:

Backstreet Boys - I Want It That Way

N Sync - Tearin' Up My Heart

 

 TLC - Creep

Sugar Ray - Someday

 

Britney Spears - Sometimes

Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle

Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca

98 Degrees - I Do (Cherish You)

Backstreet Boys - Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)

Blink 182 - What's My Age Again?

Genre

Genre

Voyeurism & Objectification of Men: LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It"

Objectification of Men: LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It"

Generally speaking, it can't be said that male objectification is used in this video because the men in the video have an identity and are shown to be empowered by wearing nearly nothing, rather than being in the shots just to fill up space and act as sexual objects. However, this video does incorporate the idea of voyeurism in the sense that it has been purposefully edited to present the male body in a way that is pleasing to the female gaze. 

The first example of this is when the main singer 'Redfoo' rips of his trousers to reveal a shiny light blue speedo. The shot is a close up and zooms in slowly for a second to emphasise the action as well as being slowed down. He then starts to thrust in slow motion while the camera stays focused on the close up of his groin area. His face and the faces of all of his friends/backup dancers have been cut off as well for attention to stay there.

He stands centre-frame while his friends stand symmetrical on either side doing the same pose. He continues his hip thrusting dance until suddenly his friends rip off their trousers and start dancing in tiny metallic speedos as well. The group of men on the screen are dancing in next-to-nothing which some women might find appealing, like male strippers.

When they are all on the beach laying on the sand it might be enticing to the female gaze because they are laid out displaying their bodies from overhead (so the female viewer is in a more powerful position than the men on screen) and also from behind so that Redfoo's bum is visible in the frame.

The camera whip pans to a couple of body-builders in tight short shorts, which gives female viewers a bit of eye candy, because the mid shot is close enough to see all of their biceps and abdominal muscles while still being able to see a bit of their huge thighs. Even the slightly low angle helps to dramatize the size of them and their masculinity.

When they are in a bar and having a catwalk/ dance competition the first guy skateboarding through in his underwear (Skyblu is his performer name) gets groped by a woman in the crowd. This makes it seem like some kind of male strip club where middle aged women come to enjoy themselves and that she playfully touched his spiked underwear like he's performing for money.
It might give females a sense of thrill because a guy performing in his underwear is thrilling and not something that middle aged women are known to watch.

Digipak Research: Katy Perry 'One of the Boys'

Digipak Research:

Katy Perry 'One of the Boys'

Album Covers Research

Album Covers Research

Voyeurism & Objectification of Women: 50 Cent's Candy Shop

Objectification of Women:

50 Cent's "Candy Shop"

50 Cents videos are often reprimanded as being sexist and openly objectifying women. This video is no different, with the entire song and the video's narrative illustrating that women are all just sweets that he can buy for his own pleasure.

The first shot when the music starts has a door opening to a wide shot of a house full of half-dressed women and then cuts back to 50 Cent in the middle of a long shot to show that he is alone with all these women and he has so many girls to pick from.

Even when it cuts to a mid-shot of the woman in black there are still women walking past in the background with their hands on their hips and even just posing on a chair or leaning against the staircase railing. The women are constantly presenting themselves like they are items that need to look good to be bought.

After she welcomes him to the "Candy Shop" the camera tilts upwards to display a girls body as she walks down the stairs from thighs to head showing that she's wearing underwear and exhibits her body in slow motion to please male viewers and give them a full spectacle.

There are then close-ups of the girls' faces, all turning to look at him like they all want him. This video is essentially recreating male fantasies of having a crowd of girls lusting after them.

A wide shot shows him appreciating all of the women that are displaying themselves on the chairs and sprawled over the banisters (like furniture/ possessions).

Then he walks into a room and a wide shot shows a girl laying seductively on the bed with a live projection of her framed up on the wall behind her. This demonstrates the idea of voyeurism and watching someone for pleasure.










After a few seconds of 50 Cent rapping on his own he says "I'm the love doctor" and the scene changes to a mid shot of his face next to a woman in a pink leather nurse's outfit where only her boobs are visible before it slowly zooms out to show the rest of her. Not only is it objectifying her body but it dehumanises her as just a pair of boobs and a bum.

In between all of the shots of the women draped over him, there are shots of him rapping with a woman behind him, dancing and singing the female parts of the chorus. In a lot of parts where she doesn't sing she can still be seen in the shot with him just for show and in her black lingerie.

During the dance sequence with all the girls still half dressed there are a lot of wide shots that are mainly only used when they do something sexual like shake their butts or touch their crotches.

The girl in the next scene is dressed in more pink leather that shows her cleavage. She is introduced with a close up but it cuts to a long shot to show the rest of her outfit and that she is holding a whip. After the first few seconds where she takes off his shirt, she is only in the shot so that she can stand behind him and dance a bit, because she's just there to be a decoration in the frame.

Generally the music video portrays women as sexual objects, possessions or nothing more than decorations in the frame.

Star Image

Star Image:
Nicki Minaj

Music Video Practice 3

Music Video Practice 3

In this practice we tried playing with lighting and the different effects that they have when used in a music video, for example, light behind the head or to one side of the face.

Music Video Practice 2

Music Video Practice 2

In this practice we filmed ourselves disappearing behind a pole. We were trying out a technique that might be useful in our music video.

Music Video Practice 1

Music Video Practice #1

This is our first practise video. We did Rather Be by Clean Bandit and we tried to see what kind of different shots we could use.

Music Video Director Profile: Ruffmercy

Ruffmercy

Ruffmercy (Russ Murphy) is a British music video director. He is well-known in the music industry for his distinctive illustrations and graphics in videos. He works with all types of artists, from heavy hip hop artists like ScHoolboy Q and Danny Brown, to pop and electronic music artists like Lily Allen and Disclosure. He even created Disclosure's trademark image of the drawn face that was featured on the cover of their popular album 'Settle'.

Whereas some music video directors like to focus on the narratives of the video, Russ Murphy has a signature video style. No matter what the message or genre of the song is, he includes his familiar sketch-like drawings in each video which are eye-catching and in some videos they are slightly hypnotic and haunting.

Lily Allen - Sheezus

One example of a haunting and hypnotic video is Lily Allen's "Sheezus". The way that he colours the  whites of her eyes, and flashes all kinds of patterns and dark colours behind her makes the video seem disjointed and jumbled. Even though the video is slightly creepy, I really like it because it's never boring. There's always something on the screen that keeps you fixated and I think usually that would be hard to do in a music video with only one location and only four different costumes. The drawings really help to enhance the tenacious/fiery diva persona she is displaying.

Disclosure - F For You ft. Mary J Blige

In Disclosure's video for 'F For You', Ruffmercy uses the same kinds of drawings like the halo around the artist and outlines of their body, but it has a different effect. Disclosure has a more electronic dance sound than Lily Allen, so Ruffmercy's illustrations have a strobe light kind of effect that makes people want to dance. He includes a lot of flashes of white backgrounds on the beat, which also feels steady to expose the beat. Also none of the illustrations connote something dark and creepy, like in Sheezus he draws a few crucifixes and horns on her head. In this he mostly just outlines their bodies while they dance or draw a simplistic version of them while they dance to accentuate their movements.

MNEK - Wrote A Song About You

The way I came across Ruffmercy in the first place is from MNEK's "Wrote A Song About You". As well as loving the song, I thought the mix of normal time and slowed down clips used was interesting and wanted to see if the director used this as a motif in all of their videos. After researching a bit more about him I found that he had worked on many music videos that I'd seen before. I like the colours he used in this one, and the bold strokes that contrast with the thin squiggly lines. The waves and straight lines together match the song with its steady beat and changing melody.