Textual Analysis: 5 Recommended Music Videos

In this song, the video is fast paced to match the song type, this is because it is a very alternative dance song and doesn't comform to mainstream conventions. The variety of colour is also used which is normally used in most dance genre songs as it shows happiness and positiveness. The song only uses primary colours in the slow pace parts of the song as it shows the tone of the singer.

The artist wanted it to be represented as an art gallery with the use of the frame and the handheld camera angle on the singer to show that she is the object of looking. In addition, it promotes the use of showing music as an art form.



This song is an indie song so it uses conventions from the genre such as slow motion shots in contrast to fast paces shots. The video also uses a narrative pause during the robbery which shows emphasis on the story within the music video more than the song itself.

The song uses the stereotypical rock cliches to make the band look edgy, this is used by the shots of alcohol and drug use within the video and the showing of sexual activity.



This is another indie styled song and uses conventions from an indie song from the time it was released such as a main focus on the band. The use of showing a record with The Smiths name on the front makes you instantly see who is playing. The song also uses counter types as it makes the male band seem feminine with the use of flowers everywhere.

The band is represented as a figure head as the handheld camera shots are used to make the band open and viewable and also the use of low angle shots and high angle shots makes it look like the band is even more open.



In this song, it uses a lot of dance conventions with the use of dance choreography and people dancing all over the place. There is a lot of high key lighting and bright vibrant colours as it is trying to promote happiness and make people ready for the summer.

The artist uses this song to represent love as an art form and that the wide use of camera shots shows that many people could view your self expression of love to someone else. The use of the country makes it shown as a place of summer and a place where people will go to relax and enjoy themselves which is what the song could have been made for.



In this song, the lyrics illustrate the visuals in the video and that the quick cuts shows exactly what the lyric is trying to say. As if to say it was a very simple idea the lyric was trying to promote. The song also uses a variety of intertextual references like the TV showing velocitie and the note from the Australian Space Research Institute.

The song uses montage to show the matching lyrics and video, the song also uses repetitive shots such as the woman singing but with differences on her face like smeared makeup to show the time process being accelerated.

The History of Music Video

From the research I have compiled into this film, I have learnt that the rate of music videos has increased considerably with the advancements in such things like the Television and the internet. As a result, there is now more music videos out there making the audience for the videos incredibly saturated.

It also shows the styles of music videos people used to gain an audience whether it was with MTV in the 80's or on YouTube in the 21st century.

Storyboard of Californication

This is the storyboard to the music video of Red Hot Chilli Pepper's 'Californication'. This was set as work for us to practice the use of storyboards as it is key to making a good music video, it is essential as it means we have a way of showing our ideas right to the very bar and that we are able to record knowing exactly what we are filming. We were taught how to draw more than stick figures and how the attention to detail is key to make the setting as evident as the movement and the props in the in the storyboard.

Textual Analysis: 'Paul McCartney & Wings - Band On The Run' Music Video

Goodwin's theory was that music videos contain 6 prime features. He pointed this out in his book 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'.

• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
• There is relationship between lyrics and visuals.
• There is relationship between music and visuals.
• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work.
• There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
• There are often intertextual reference to films, tv programmes, other music and videos etc.

In the music video of 'Band On The Run' performed by Paul McCartney & Wings shows evidence of this theory in effect.

"An official video, directed by Michael Coulson, was released along with the song. It served mostly as a tribute to The Beatles, featuring montages of still pictures from their career."- Source Wikipedia

It shows that the music video's intentions was not only for advertisement but to also to show the past history of Paul McCartney and his previous role in The Beatles. There is intertextual references to The Beatles in the music video with the end showing a collage of The Beatles images to look similar to album cover of The Beatles album 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'.














 
In addition to the variety of The Beatles intertextual references in the video, their are also a variety of lyrics that are shown visualy in the video but for different reasons. For example, a lyric says "never seeing no one" and the binoculars zoom in to a crowded housing estate which shows that the visuals contradict the lyrics which may show that the lyrics are trying to represent more than what the words say. On the other hand the visuals may also illustrate the lyrics, this is shown when the lyrics say "I hope you're having fun and it shows there is a man laughing and enjoying himself whilst he watches The Beatles on TV. In addition it is also shown when the lyrics say "when the bell is rung in the village square" it isntantly shows The Beatles under a church bell. This was used in the video to match the video and lyrics together but the lyrics were also meant to symbolise the past in which The Beatles have had and how it represented making a nation happy and that they were very popular.

Another one of Goodwin's theories that is evident in this video is the relationship between music and visuals, this is because there are 3 parts to the song, the beginning starts out slow, this is shown by low-paced editing of the video and a continuity system thats meant to make the video flow. In the next part, the pace begins to increase with the use of the guitar, the editing begins to become faster with the use of images and video in between the people walking in order to make a non-continuity system. The last part is the main part where the song becomes increasingly fast paced with the use of a variety of The Beatles images and references which match with the lyrics.

In the music video, there is often a lot of close up images of The Beatles, this is another theory that Goodwin wrote about and how the record label wants to promote the image of the artist, although the song was by Paul McCartney and Wings, the references to The Beatles and the advertisement behind the song and the video made the song very popular when it was released.

Introduction to my A2 Advanced Portfolio

Welcome to my A2 advanced portfolio for Media Studies. My name is Max Biddlecombe and I decided to continue Media Studies into my 2nd year at Tupton Hall School 6th Form.

The aim of this portfolio in the end is to produce a package release for an album, in which it will include a music promotional video, together with two of the following three products: A website for the band, A CD inlay for its release as part of a digipak or a magazine advertisement for the digipak.

In this course, I aim to learn a variety of skills in the editing of the music video such as the types of editing used to give certain emotions or to promote the specific genre of music which the video is about. I also wish to learn the connotations present in music videos and how different genres are different to each other. In addition, I wish to practice more with photoshop and creating covers for album artwork.

I hope you enjoy the work I post on this blog.