Storyboard

This is a storyboard of the Britney Spears video ' hit me baby one more time'. By creating this storyboard it will help me when coming to create my own music video as it gives me a way of breaking up the different sections of the video when planning to film it. By doing this storyboard it also gives me an insight of how to create my own storyboard for my music video,

Kid Cudi – Pursuit of Happiness – Goodwin’s Theory analysis.

Kid Cudi – Pursuit of Happiness – Goodwin’s Theory analysis.

Links between lyrics and visuals

Goodwin's theory suggests that almost all music video directors will seek to create a link between the lyrics of the song and the visuals which appear on screen. This is usually through the form of the visuals reinforcing what is being said in the lyrics. This is expressed a few times in the music video for Pursuit of Happiness, as when the lyrics say “people told me slow my road”, everybody in the music video goes into slow motion, with the exception of the artist. It visually demonstrates what is being said in the lyrics, as it shows how the artist is distancing himself from what the "people" in the lyrics are telling him.


Genre Characteristics:

The theory suggests that certain videos across certain genres will display very similar traits to each other. In hip-hop videos, the star is usually seen as being dressed down in comparison to the people around him, in order to suggest that the artist has made it into a different society than the one he was born into. In addition to this, the artist in the video is shown as wearing lots of jewellery and is surrounded by women, both of which are also key characteristics of the genre of hip-hop.

Notions of looking:

Goodwin noticed that most music videos have been directed and edited in a way which plays on the idea of gaze, and to present certain characters differently to others. For example, he noticed that in many music videos, especially in the hip-hop and pop genres (which this video crosses over), women are presented as objects, namely through the male gaze theory. For example, when the characters in the video are uncorking the champagne and spraying it over a woman, it attracts the audience to her, representing her as somebody who the males in the video are able to dominate and use as they please. In addition to this, the female DJ is seen is slow-motion when she is removing the record from its sleeve - this shows that her role is also emphasised as she becomes the centre of the scene when it is in slow motion.

Demands of the record label

Goodwin wrote that the record label usually has a huge pull in how the video ends up looking. As Cudi was signed to independent hip-hop label GOOD music at this point, the company is likely to invest less money in the production, but give him more creative control. In addition to this, the record label has used the video in order to superluminally market Cudi's album, as the sleeve housing the record which the DJ removes in slow motion is actually the album on which Pursuit of Happiness appears. This is why the slow motion is effective when it comes to the theory about notions of looking, as the audience are attracted to the female, and thus should then want to pay more attention to the item she is holding.

Narrative, Performance or Concept based video?

It appears that the video is a mixture of being narrative and concept based, because it contains very little performance, with the lyrics mainly forming how the video has been planned. 

Shot List

This is a shot list of all the different varieties of shots that have been used in the particular section in the Britney spears music video we have been told to film. This help us understand what shots have been used to create effect and how they flow and go with the music. This will help us when filming our own music video as it gives us a way to plan out the different types of shots we will be using and how long they will last, so when it comes to actually videoing our own as we will create our own shot list so it will be easier as we will have a plan to follow for each different shot.

	Shot	Duration	Description
1	Close up	1 sec	Shows a student’s foot tapping the table repeatedly
2	Medium Shot	2 sec	Britney tapping her pencil on her book repeatedly whilst teacher is watching
3	Medium shot	1 sec	Camera focuses on clock – shows that the students keep watching the clock as they want to leave
4	Close up	1 sec	Camera focuses on Britney’s facial expression which shows she clearly wants to leave
5	Medium/close up	2 sec	Teacher staring at Britney
6	Close up	1 sec	Camera reverses back to Britney again which shows her facial expression – bored
7	Close up	2 sec	Camera zooms in on the clock but even more this time
8	Medium shot	2 sec	Camera is now focused on the bell which is another sign Britney can’t wait to leave
9	Long shot/camera tilted up	2 sec	Camera place at the back of the classroom showing the students quickly walk towards the door – also shows the teacher making her look powerful
10	Medium shot	1 sec	Britney leaving the classroom
11	Medium shot	1 sec	Also showing Britney leaving the classroom
12	Long shot/high angle	1 sec	Students running out of the classroom

Notes based on Goodwin's theory

Goodwin’s Theory –

These are the main principles of Goodwin’s theory:

1.      Links between lyrics and visuals –

Goodwin thinks lyrics should link into the visuals that a played on screen, and the lyrics should reinforce what the visuals are trying to get across.  These help deliver the message of the song though these two elements.

2.      Links between music and visuals –

The rhythm of the song goes with the flow of the music and all the cuts within the clip are in sync also to make the clip match the editing and effects used within the music video.

3.      Genre characteristics -

Different genres have different characteristics portrayed within a music video and are meant to differentiate from other genres. An example of this is that most Hip Hop music will be quite faced paced and have quite urban features included opposed to Rnb music and bands are expected to have backing dancers and close up on the singers/artists.

4.      Due to record label demands, there needs to be close ups of artists -  

Record labels do this to help create a brand image for a particular artist and band with help the target viewers engage with them.

5.      Notions of looking -

The male gaze theory is used to portray women as a man’s object as this theory is aimed towards the male agenda. This is because it appeals to men as the camera focus is normally on a women’s body which is emphasised from a man’s point of view looking at a women.

6.      - Intersexual references -

There can be intersexual references in music videos such as references cross linking into TV programs, different music videos and films.

7.      Performance, narrative and concept based –

Performance – shows a performance of an artist within the video which is used as the main focal point.

Narrative – The video tell a story based around the lyrics of the song or is linked into the lyrics some extent.

Concept – These videos are based around one particular idea. This is normally unusual so that it attracts in their target audience and draws them in.

Music video history notes:

Music video history notes:

1914's - First music video was by ‘Bessie smith saint Louis blues'.

 

1930’s – Len Lye song was made for the post office.

 

1940’s – Fantasia was released by ‘Walt Disney’                                                                                                              

In this time duke boxes appeared and started to become popular but faded our though the war period.

 


 

1950’s/1960’s – This is where the main stream filming for music videos started where people started to get filmed dancing etc. Scopitone jukeboxes were released, by where you pressed a button on the jukebox and it came up with loads of people dancing to go along with the song.

 

 

1970’s – Top of the pops came out in this period. There was then a turning point in music where in music videos the whole price was shot and edited on videotape. The first video to do this was - Queens ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. 

 
 

1980’s - This is when MTV was launched and the first music video ever was aired live.

 

1985 – In 1985 they started to release softer types of music so it would attract in people from an older demographic.

 

1986 – Special effects and animations were introduced and used by Peter Gabriel in his music video.




 

Textual Analysis - A Team

Ed Sheeran A Team analysis –

The genre of this music video is pop, like the artist Ed Sheeran. In the A team music video the main character is used as the focal point of the piece as there has been a lot of close ups used on her. This has been used to create a sympathy towards the character from the audience’s perspective. The theme of ‘wasted life’ also shows a link between the lyrics and visuals of the music video which has been further used to create more of a sympathetic feel. The music video displays a strong narrative throughout the video as well as including a performance of a band also. The video tell a story of the girl’s life starting at the end, giving a different perspective of her life. The target audience in my eyes I believe to be older teenagers and young adults between the age brackets of 16-25 as it reflects the age of the character within the video and the artist. The theme of the song revolves around drugs which would probably relate more to this age range as this is stereotypically the age where most people would do drugs or be associated with them, so it would appeal to them more. The lighting used within the clip is very realistic as it is all natural light throughout the clip instead of lighting that is unnatural.

As the music video starts at the end it shows instantly the girl dead, which would be linked to the drugs she was taking. It is also displayed that the girl is homeless as there has been a long shot used to deliver the environment she is in which shows she is sleeping on a bench in a sleeping bag. This instantly makes the audience want to know more about the girl and fall more pitiful towards her because the way she lives. This shot also shows her pulling the sleeping bag around her signalling she is cold and touching her face which makes the audience much more submissive as they can tell she is suffering.

Use the use of her being caked up with makeup makes her come across as quite promiscuous reflecting she may do anything to make money. She is also wearing an oversized man’s coat, as well as wearing ripped tights which shows that she cannot afford to buy herself any new clothes due to what she is wearing and is desperate to find other clothes as she is cold. We can see that the money fuelled for her drugs comes from prostitution as there is a long shot of her body and legs to display she is trying to get cars to stop for her showing she is desperate and you can see her applying makeup when she is in the flat

The girl is portrayed as the protagonist within the video as she is displayed as having no power. This is shows as she used drugs to get away from her miserable life and scenes also show that she has being isolated and by herself therefore is shown to be weak and vulnerable. This makes the girl have constant paranoia which is shown when she is looking behind to her to see if anyone is following. The reason it seems, behind her overdosing at the end of the video is that it shoes the girl trying to escape from the reality of her life, which contrasts to when she stares up into the sky and starts smiling, opening up her arms showing signs of being free.  

Toddarov’s narrative theory –

EQUALIBRIUM: everything is calm at the start when she is wondering around fields with no care in the world.

DISTRUPTION: the girl is homeless so when she is sat in the street with nothing but her sleeping bag reality hits her and this upsets the calm.

RECOGNITION: when she is sat in a café crying and she has mascara all down her face she ends up selling herself for prostitution to make money and then buys drugs with that money.

The representation of this video includes gender, the main character is female but she is both stereotypical and non-stereotypical. She is stereotypical because she ends up selling herself as a prostitute for money which is what most men think women are like however she is non-stereotypical because even though she is depressed you wouldn’t expect her to waste the money on drugs as this is quite a ‘manly’ thing to do. The artist Ed Sheeran is shown briefly but he doesn’t play himself, he plays a man buying a magazine that the woman is selling to make money.

Ed Sheeran is signed to Atlantic Records which was founded in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. They help to promote Ed through the use of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, CD, TV, Music Videos, Newspapers, Magazines, Chat Shows and more.

Analysing this music video will help me with creating my own because it has shown me that the artist doesn’t always have to be the main character for it to be effective for the audience. It shows me what works well and what doesn’t work well within a mainstream artists videos. I can take some ideas and concepts when creating my own.

Why we did a britney remake

Why we did a film opening remake:



We did a film remake of the film ‘drive’ to give us an understanding of how a film opening is laid out such as the sequence of where the different people in credits are placed showing us that the most important people in the film are introduced at the start and the institution logo is shown right at the very beginning. This also gave me and the group a sense of time management as we had to film a range of different shots and edited out our footage in an allocated time. This also gave use first-hand experience on how to use are camera to reflect a range of different camera angels as we had to manipulate the shots in the Drive scene. We also did this so it gave us an understanding on the different transitions needed for the different parts of the clip so that we could reflect an accurate illustration of the film.

This in turn showed us how to create an overall better aspect on how to make a film opening as actually creating an existing one first hand showed us the desired steps need for the film opening to be created and will help us when created our own film opening for our coursework.

Textual Analysis - Plan B

Writings on the Wall – PLAN B

 

Textual analysis –

 

The genre of this music video pop, opposed to the genre of the artist (PLANJ B) which combines all pop, rap and soul music.  The typical narrative throughout the music video is about a married couple, whose husband is having an affair with another lady. The music video is linked to a factional character called Strickland banks.  Plan B made and album about Strickland Banks and based, the song featured on the album are used in combination to create a story. Judging by the title it is expected that there is a sign of something apparent is about to happen when showing shots of the artist. On the other hand the fact that the character does not come home (husband) and cheats on his wife was unexpected in the music video.

The storyline of the video comes across as a love story as it shows scenes of the wife cooking a meal for her husband whilst he is out at work, which then shows him cheating on his wife. This shows running themes throughout the music video of love and heartbreak.

There is a clear structure from Toderov of his 5 narrative theory; this includes:

·         Equilibrium; both the wife and husband are both at aspirate places doing their own daily routine, and shows a peaceful and normal atmosphere.

 

·         Disruption; This is unsettled when the character ‘Strickland Banks ‘meets the other women who he cheats on his wife with, as this created a disturbance of the peaceful atmosphere within the video.

 

·         Recognition; the wife recognises something is wrong when her husband ring home saying that he will be coming home late.

 

There is clear recognisable characters within the music video. An example of this is there is a play on an antagonist and protagonist, as the wife is one of the main focal points of the narrative and the one night stand is shown to cause trouble between the married couple. There is a play on the lyrics to reflect to the audience what happening in the video. An example of this ‘we aint over, but the writings on the wall’ suggests that they are still on love but is clearly shown that things are not how they were before.

Music video presentation.

This is a presentation of me explaining about what is included in a music video and the different elements it is made up off.

Music slideshare presentation

 

Here is the slide share presentation of 'what makes a good music video'.

Mind map on music videos

 

This is a mind map of all the main elements that are needed to be included within a msuic video, that we found through our research. This will help us as when we are creating are own music video we will have the ideas we need on the main elemtns we will need to include within our piece.

candidate number and name

Aaron Randhawa

9244