Critical & Contextual Awareness in Music Video Production

In this essay I'm going to talk about the different types of music videos that exist, the difference between them and give some advantages and disadvantages from each one, then I'm going to give some examples and analysed them. I'm also going to talk about Simon Firth and what he did to contribute for the music history, the characteristics of music videos and Andrew Goodwin and outline his theory; then I'm going to give a brief conclusion about what I learned and show some of my one work (2 music videos that we did in class).

Types of music Videos

Simon Firth is a British Sociomusicologist and former Rock Critic and he was one of the firsts to discuss the form and content in 1988. He divided music videos into three typologies: Performance, Narrative and Conceptual.

Narrative Based Video

The video consisting mainly of a story line relating to the lyrics and genre of the song. This is the common way to engage the audience. This is normally used in songs that feature in films, with scenes from the movie cut into the video.

Ex: Pixies- Where is my mind?

Where is my mind? it's a music from Pixies that was incorporated into the soundtrack of the movie Fight Club in 1999. In this video we can see scenes from the actual movie and in between cuts the band playing in concerts. This way the band can "call" the attention for both sides, them and the movie.

Advantages and disadvantages of Narrative Music Videos

Advantages:

They can empathize the artists intentions on the song to be seen. It can show that the artist is more interested in creating a story for their audience rather than just them being on film to show that it's their song;
This way it's easy for the audience to understand and can engage the audience further than just listening to the song;

Disadvantages:

Can be really expensive for the record label to produce;
If the narrative is unclear it can leave the audience confused.

Performance Music Videos

This type of music video show the band/artist performing either to the camera or an audience. This is a popular technique that rock bands use to "call" fans to their concerts using different ways like high energy to be a better experience for the public.

Ex: 30 Seconds to Mars- Closer to the Edge

This video clip starts with some fans talking for the viewer about life and they use a sentence to described.

Next the band appears in the screen in a concert and names of different countries that they performed on the bottom, showing in this clip that they are one rock band that travels for different countries to perform and that everyone can see them live. When they start singing in the video they "present themselves" putting their names side by side with their faces.

With this music video, 30 seconds to mars wants to show to their fans that they don't regret anything about their experience and they shouldn't regret too, showing that if they regret or stop doing something that they thought that would fail maybe they wouldn't be playing in that concert or playing music at all. For the other side the band is showing their fans and their concerts to other people that don't know or never heard about them and showing what they are capable of.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Performance Music Video

Advantages:

They are cheaper to make;
They don't need a great thought put into apart from costume and settings;
They are used for self promotion;

Disadvantages:

They can be generic and can not interest to a lot of viewers;
They can lack in creativity.

Concept Based Video

This type of videos are based around one idea, being sometimes unusual. They sometimes concentrate on a specific editing technique and normally does not consist totally of one concept.

Ex: Pink Floyd- Learning to Fly

The Learning to Fly video is more of a thematic concept music video, very loosely related to lyrics but their is a connection.

In the beginning of the video shows a close up of a face of a man. Next focus in the next and main character, a boy working in the field until the moment that an airplane pass by. When the airplane goes way we see the boy leaving is activity and proceed to is "freedom", in this case the boy goes to the mountain, grabs some feathers, puts on his arms and jump from the mountain to fly. When the camera goes to another point of view, the boy from the scene before now it's a eagle flying around the field. Between takes, in the chorus to be specific, the band always appears on the screen sing it. David Gilmore said that this music and video was inspired by himself because some days he called the band saying that he wouldn't show up and in the other side someone would say "Dave not coming in today cause he's learning to fly". Is also a metaphor for the exit of Roger Waters from Pink Floyd and David Gilmore being now the band leader.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Concept Music Videos

Advantages:

Can be very creative and artistic;
They are very unique and memorable to the viewers;

Ex. Panic! At The Disco- Emperor's New Clothes

Disadvantages:

Sometimes they are strange to the audience, and at the end they start to not understanding what is going on;
If the artist is not featured in the video it doesn't allow the artist to promote their identity.

Characteristics of the Music Videos

Andrew Goodwin in his book "Dancing in the distraction", he shows that exists specific hey features that help make a successful music video and he presents 6 different conventions that you can encounter:

1. The relationship between the lyrics and visuals

In Goodwin's theory we can divided this one in 3 categories when we analyze the relation between the lyrics and visuals of the video, they can be:

Illustrative- the meaning of the song it's made clear since the beginning and through the video (it's the most common);

Ex. Panic! At The Disco- Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time

In this video the message that the band wants to give we shown to us since the beginning of the video and in the song. The song tells the story if a drunken night out. The singer wakes up with no idea where he is or what happened during the "wild night", and with this theme the singer wants to say that the wild night stories that comes out of the night are the best part, therefore 'don't threaten [him] with a good time'.

Also this track is the number two on Death of a Bachelor, it takes after track one, Victorious, about a celebration with friends and presumably tells of the morning after.

The director, Tim Hendrix, said in the behind the scene (www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhM3N78V6Mk) that most of the video was an expiration on is own experience and that nothing is fiction in that video, except of course in the tentacles part that he had the idea to be different because in the lyrics Brendon says "What are these footprints?/They don't look very human-like" so Hendrix had the idea to do something different and funny to the music video.

Amplified- the meaning of the song is exaggerate through the use of visuals;

Ex. Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce- Telephone

In this video we can see how much lady gaga amplified the video with vibrant colors, extreme makeups, extravagant clothes and exaggerate dances and actions. The main inspiration behind the song was Lady Gaga's fear of suffocation, that means that she's scared of never being able to enjoy herself.

This video is a continuation of another Gaga's music video called Paparazzi, where in the last clips she is captured by the police after murdered an ex boyfriend and they put her in jail. In Telephone, where in the first the life post enter prison, then Beyonce's character saves Gaga's character from prison and they escape together; in the second part Gaga's character convinces Beyonce's character to kill her boyfriend how she did in Paparazzi.

In the end both have to escape because they accidentally kill everyone in the dinner, where they where. The director of this music video is Jonas Akerlund and this video was heavily inspired by the work of Quentin Tarantino.

Disjuncture- this means that the meaning of the song is completely ignored and that the images that appears in the video do not relate.

Ex. Ok Go- The One Moment

In this video, Ok Go did an experience with speed in this case at first they did the video in 4.2s and then the rest of the video is all in slow motion. They put a lot of effort into their videos but normally their videos don't relate with the song their singing, normally they try to experience different types of video with all they can to make interesting and fun for the viewer.

The meaning of the song "The One Moment" is about the incredible and special moments that happen in our lives and we can forget like fall in love or a moment that you need to make a big decision. They worked a lot for this video and give a good result in the end; they worked one month to experiment every step and every shot because it needs to be good in the camera. They collaborate with Morton Salt, and this way create something more creative/artistic video, they helped the band create most of the stuff for the video, like the glass with the image, the girl with the umbrella, etc.

2. Narrative/Performance

Music videos are advertisements, for the artist and his work but also they tell the story of the song. To be easy to watch it needs a performance element to the video, as well as a narrative.

For example, atmosphere, tone and mood can be reflected in the way that the editor edited the video using colour, speed and variety of transitions, as well as the setting that are also really important for the feeling of authenticity and the viewer believe what they are watching like beaches have to look like beaches, the viewer as really believe that the artist in that moment in there. Also, normally, the editor follows the rhythm of the song, editing "to the beat".

Ex. Fall Out Boy ft. Courtney Love- Rat A Tat (Part 9 of 11)

In this video we can see part of a narrative, since all of the album is a narrative and all videos together make a story. We also can see the use of different speeds to give more life to the video, including slow motion, a lot of colors and transitions can also be seen in this video.

This music was important to do by the band because in their minds they feel that women has a place in rock and roll and sometimes people forget the importance of that, so they called Courtney Love that they think that she has the voice and the attitude of Rock. Being the album called "Save Rock and Roll" that also was important to noticed. Courtney also wrote the lyrics for the music and was 100% into the album and helping with everything she could to be one of the best musics of the album.

3. The relationship between music and visuals

In this topic can vary depending on the different types/genres of music. Music videos can demonstrate characteristics for example stage performance rock/metal videos or a dance routine for a pop song.

Ex. Avenged Sevenfold- Hail To The King

In this video we can see different characteristics that can demonstrate the type of this music video, that in this case is Heavy Metal/Hard Rock. First we have a lot of shots where we can see the band perform, what is a characteristic for rock and metal music videos, with some guitar and bass shots, the singer singing direct to the viewer and then some thinks that people can associate metal bands with, like skeletons, candles, rituals, the video being in black and white also helps the atmosphere.

4. Demands of the record label

In the fourth point we have the demands that can include lots of close ups of the artists. This is supposed to used to the record label market and advertise, and also give a familiar brand to identify the artist.

Ex. Kiss - I Was Made For Loving You

In this music video we can see without a doubt the fourth point that was mention before. The band is all dressed all with leather clothes, high heals boots like the 70's and paint on their faces. Until today this is the trade mark from the Kiss band and everyone knows them thanks to their face.

At the time the "face" and style of a band was really important because was that what may them special and different from the rest. When they tried to perform without makeup and costumes, the band experienced a minor commercial resurgence but people and fans always wanted the band get back because that was what make Kiss being Kiss. That also is seen when the band in mid-1990s announced a reunion and return to the makeup and costumes what made a huge commercial success.

5. Intertextual References

When the music is influenced by other cultural influences, are often symbols to represent ideas to the audience. This topic can also be divided in 2: Notions of looking, for example, the idea of looking into someones life like in hip hop music videos where women are often looked like objects rather than people, and men are seen as violent or cheating on wives and girlfriends. And the voyeurism

In the fifth is the reference to notion of looking like screens within screens, telescopes and voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

Ex. Coolio ft. L.V- Gangsta's Paradise

In this video we can see parts of the movie Dangerous Minds (1995) and at the same time the singer is also with the actress from the movie.

In the beginning, the singer starts to reflect about his life: that his participation in gangsta activities has drained him of hope, and his damaged relationship with his mother. The narrative turns at this point with Coolio threatening rival gangs with certain death in the event that they take verbal liberties or transgress into his territory.

He educated the listener on the history behind his current position in society. Coolio therefore begins to lament the cyclical nature of the violence in which he partakes, as well as elucidating the collective chaos created by individual greed, selfishness and a lack of education or role models. He ends his personal journey on a hopeless admission, that his situation and surroundings will never improve.

In this song Coolio wants to call the attention to the younger's listening that a live of a gangsta is not "cool" how they think but in fact dangerous and could end with their life's.

That is also shown in the movie that is presented in the music video.

And in the last point we have intertextual reference to films, music videos, characters, etc. This may be used to call attention of people who already know and like the material being referenced.

Ex. Madonna- Material Girl

In a video with intertextual references we can locate different symbols that we can recognize, in this case Madonna decided to be inspired by Marilyn Monroe's performance of the song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

“I’m very career-oriented. You are attracted to people who are ambitious that way, too, like in the song ‘Material Girl’. You are attracted to men who have material things because that’s the security. That lasts longer than emotions; - Madonna, 1986

Madonna said this in an interview in 1986, and she also explained that the concept of the song was indicative of her life at that time. She also was compared and called the "new Monroe".

Conclusion

In this essay I learn to identify different types of music video and with that information is going to help me do a better music video for the work that we are going to do: like identify what type of music video I want to do , what he need to have and is going to make me understanding easily what the band wants.

In this case we are working with a band called "Shoot the Moon" and we are going to do a Performance/Narrative type of video, with a music of their choose.