RESEARCH INTO SIMILAR PRODUCTS

1. Conventions of a Music Video

 FURTHER RESEARCH ON MUSIC INDUSTRY

When an artist makes it into the music industry it means that they have normally been signed to a record label. A record label refers to a brand and trademark that has responsibility and is associated with music recordings and music videos that accompany it. Record labels also have the job of managing other bands that coordinate the manufacture, production distribution and marketing and promotions. They also take it upon themselves to take charge of the enforcement of the copyright protection of their sound recordings and music videos, conduct talent scouting and development of new artists and maintain contracts with recording artists and managers.

In the music industry of today there are 3 record labels that have been recognised as “The Big Three”

1)    SONY MUSIC

·         Global recorded music company

·         Has combination of local artists and international superstars

·         It is home to premiere record label representing music from every genre which is just one single part of the whole ‘Sony’ enterprise

·         They manage and rebig record labels such as Columbia Records and Epic Label Group

·         Artists signed to SME – Britney Spears, Chris Brown, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake

2)    WARNER MUSIC GROUP

·         Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry including Asylum, Atlantic, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner

·         Artists signed to WMG include: A-ha, Bruno Mars, The Darkness, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna, Muse, Linkin Park

3)    Universal Music Group

·         Universal Music Group (UMG) is the world’s largest music content company

·         UMG's music publishing company, Universal Music Publishing Group, discovers and develops songwriters, and owns and administers copyrights to musical compositions for use in recordings, public performances, and related uses, such as films and advertisements. Labels include: A&M/Octone, Barclay, Decca
Artists signed to UMG include: Justin Bieber, The Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, Colbie Caillat, Mariah Carey, Eminem, Nelly Furtado

Independent Labels

An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. Many bands and musical acts begin their careers on independent labels.








CREDIT TO SOURCE : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_label

 

2. Conventions of your Genre

Codes and Conventions of Indie Folk

Definitions -
Folk: Any style of music which represents a community.
Indie: Music that is released on smaller labels that operate independently from the mainstream music business. In indie, the sound is melodic, the instruments are simple but well textured. It usually includes a simple but original guitar riff, bass and simple drum beat, either a keyboard or violin to bring out the underlying melody, and soft vocals, usually well harmonized. The lyrics are powerfully emotional and spark emotion in audience.
Acoustic: Acoustic music is played by using acoustic musical instruments, i.e. instruments in which the sound is not made louder by electronic amplification.

By Nishat and Fahad

  

Conventions of Indie Folk  

·         Indie folk artist wear casual outfits e.g. jeans, leather shoes, t-shirts in colours such as browns and reds.

·         Females normally wear floral print dresses, knitted jumpers and plaid shirts.

·         Indie folk bands have more performance than narrative mostly allowing artist to show more passion for their music.

·         There is usually more performance than narrative which shows the singers passion they feel towards the song.

·         A typical setting for indie folk music is situated normally in the middle of a field of the woods or barns.

·         The lighting is normally bright and warm and natural.

·         Indie folk videos focus largely on nature which makes the video look interesting and pretty.

·         This emphasis on nature contrasts with mainstream music as it gives the impression that it is more pure.

·         Another part of mise-en-scene is the use of fairly lights or candles.

·         There are many long shots used in this genre.

·         There are medium close ups used to show instruments.

·         Star image is less important to indie folk artist that it is to pop stars e.g. Nicki Minaj.

After researching further into our chosen genre of Indie/Folk we realised that our chosen song (there is a line – Tamara Laurel) has elements of Country Pop. This is because after researching Indie Folk music we realised that the results coming up consisted of tracks with a very slow pace whereas our chosen track is much quicker paced, fast and modern. An example of Country Pop music is many of Taylor Swift’s songs.

Key Conventions of pop/country:

Mise-en-scene:

·         The Mise-en-scene of country/pop is normally very narrative based which means that as the music video progresses the viewer is able to establish the story behind it.

·         The lighting in country/pop is normally very natural and ambient.

·         The clothing that the female actors wear are normally dresses and tights, so casual but still with a dressy sense to it. They are hardly ever seen wearing jeans.

·         The boys in the music video are also dressed casually in jeans, hoodies, t-shirts, check shirts, Baseball Jackets etc.  

·         Although the video is narrative based, sometimes it features the actor playing an instrument e.g. guitar.

Representation and Iconography:

·         Normally the representation and iconography of a country pop singer is that they have the typical squeaky clean image and are portrayed very innocently.

·         They storylines are normally representing the idea of young love and relationships that blossom.

·         The videos also normally match the lyrics to the song.

Camera Angles:

·         In pop country Medium shots are regularly used so that we can get a close focus on the characters face to emphasise their emotions. Medium Shots are also used so that the audience can get a clear view of the location the actors are in to realise the style of the music video.

·         Long shots are also used to establish the entire area and place that the music video is taking place in so the audience are able to establish a genre quite quickly.

·         Also if there is narration in the music video, establishing the location helps the audience to understand the narrative more.

·         Close ups are also used to sometimes show the actor singing to the camera. It also heightens the emotion that the actors are feeling.

 

3. Further Research into Similar Music Videos

Editing and Structure of Music Videos

 

Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed Analysis

What is the song about?

Starry Eyed is described by Ellie Goulding to mean being in a state of euphoria when being with someone or meeting some, without any materials such as alcohol or drugs. In other words; it’s a natural state of mind created by being in the presence of someone you adore.

Micro analysis

Shot selection- We see that most of the music video is dominated by close up’s and extreme close up’s of Ellie’s face. This is to show the audience that Ellie is singing along with the song (lip syncing), and to show expressions and emotions in the song that show feelings to the audience.

There is a medium shot of Ellie after the intro, to show the surroundings and the dance that goes along with it. It establishes the scene of the video for the audience and also allows them to see the backing dancers.

After the chorus it then goes back to a long shot of Ellie who appears to be levitating. This shot is to show the change of scene for the audience. It the cuts from close ups of Ellie’s face back to her levitating, again showing the audience the feeling you get of being starry eyed. (It’s surreal to be levitating, meaning being ‘starry eyed’ is surreal. Also Ellie’s expressions show joy and happiness, meaning it’s a good feeling to have!)

There are also long shots of the dancers to allow the audience to see there full dance performance, as they do use quite a lot of the floor space to dance in.

There is a lot of panning in and out with the camera on Ellie. This might be so there isn’t a lot of long boring shots and allow movement to flick to the next scenes.

When it comes to the drop in the song, the camera is pointing at the ceiling, spins around and then pans down till it reaches Ellie’s level, to show her and the backing dancers, and that we have changed scene again.

The last shot is the camera zooming in on Ellie till she becomes blurry on the screen and then going to black.

Editing- As there are about 4 different scenes in this video, there is very rapid cutting between the different parts to make it look continual and flowing to the audience, thus not boring them with long continuous shots of the same scene and person. The editing is cut to make each scene/shot change on the beat, also meaning it looks and flows better for the audience.

At the start of the video, we hear the music seems to becomes not understandable (maybe played backwards). The video reflects this by doing a shot of Ellie singing backwards, and then making it be played forward again. (Obviously filmed her only singing it forwards and then just rewound it).

We also see in some parts, that shots have been captured using stop motion, meaning that lots of frames of the movement have been captured, so the image appears to be going in slow motion. We see this alot with the dancers and Ellie’s starry hands and movements. There are also parts when she is levitating that show a blurred image of her face and body parts. Aswell as slowing down shots, other shots are also sped up. These 3 different parts of editing create and image of distortion, therefore creating the feeling of being in euphoria/surreal feeling to the audience.

There is also a part where Ellie has a starry background behind her. I think this has been filmed on a green screen, with the star background added in later.

Lighting- 2 of the rooms/scenes where Ellie is dancing with the dancers are well lit (normal room lighting), so the audience can see Ellie and the dancers clearly. The shot where Ellie has a starry background (green screen) is very dark. I believe this is to create an out of space sort of feeling for the audience, as stars are normally found in out of space or the sky and creating a theme (explained in Mise-en-scene section).The other scene where she’s levitating in the room, is also very dark. However there is one light shining on her, showing joy to her and making her stand out from the dark background, showing the audience that everyone else is excluded from the state that she’s in (thus the darkness and only the light on her). There is also a lot of light focused on the stars, making them stand out, meaning there and important factor in the video to the audience.

Mise-en-scene- Ellie has 2 different costumes that she wears throughout the video. They both seem to be very fashionable, however seem to be very different, to fit a kind of out of space theme. The backing dancers also have very different costumes, with tassel bits on. I believe this is to create a better image when they are slowing down there movements and so you get the full effect of there dancing, again to fit the state of euphoria Ellie is in.

The scenes seem again to be continuing and out of space theme. They are not very common to what you would find in an average home, left empty with only windows and mirrors. This may make the audience feel that people can see the state of happiness your in, but aren’t allowed to join in or destroy it, meaning they have to watch from the outside. But once you are in that state, you only concentrate on how you feel, and isolate yourself from everything going on out of the state of mind your in (hence the mirrors).

I believe this because the feeling of euphoria leads you to a feeling out of this world, thus the out of space theme’s going on.

Macro analysis

How is the artist presented in the video?

Ellie is presented in a nice caring manor, she does nothing to offend or violate people, or against the norms and values people have. She simply creates the feeling/state of euphoria through facial expressions and dance. She does not do anything provocative, as she knows she may have a young audience who are fans. She seems very normal and down to earth just by how she shows herself in the video.

How does the video target a specific audience?

Nothing is done provocatively to show the state she’s in, Ellie plays is safe as explained above as she knows she may have young fans. Lots of special effects are used to attract a younger audience and to make it stand out to an older audience to, as it is a quite memorable video due to the special effects. 

How is this video typical of videos in this music genre?

Many people who sing/create electro pop like to feature in there video at some point, and this video could be compared to ‘Little Boots – Remedy’, as it has the same sort of set up, the artist singing, backed up with a lot of special effects. Many of these types of artists like to use special effects as it fits in with the quirkiness of there songs and fits in well