Quick bullet pointed list of the technical skills that you developed during the course of the AS year: REFLECTING

·         Sound track pro- to add any sound affects to the thriller

·         Final cut pro- to actually edit the thriller, making sure everything is in its right place

·         Camera- Placing the camera correctly on and off the tripod

·         Livetype- to add text to our thriller, e.g. credits and the actualy title

·         Handbreak- where we converted the films to make them a suitable size to upload onto blogger

·         Screenshots (cmd+shift+4)- which allowed me to take pictures of useful images that helped my blogs

·         Wordle- where we wrote in a mixture of words that were in a random font and colour, which summed up everything that the audienece thought of our thriller

·         Links to websites- that allowed our blogs to have elements of ICT

what do you understand about laura Mulveys ideas on representation?

’In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly’’.

I believe Mulveys trying to express that in today’s society there is a want for the female figure. Very commonly there is a constant repetition in most of the music videos we see today, these videos show a lot of revealing women, this would usually bring attention to men and cause a norm to today’s society as we start to expect this in most of the successful videos.

The first video that I have found is by N-Dubz called cold shoulder, this video shows a clear understanding of Mulveys theory. You can see in the video there are a lot of naked revealing women. Also I noticed how the two male singers have several women around them, showing a clear demonstration of the male gaze. It also shows how their is sexual imbalance between the females and the males, the males seem to show much more power and the women just seem like objects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDSLcWXrZFM

The second video that I have found is called dirty dancer by Enrique, here you can see a women dancing on a pole all the focus is on her while she wears her revealing cloths and dances quite sexually. This video shows a clear demonstration of the male gaze and demonstrates pleasure while the male singers watch.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHJAUuicC0Q&ob=av3e

A short summary of the main points of vernalis theory

Carole vernallis studied the way camera work and editing worked in music videos. Through her work and observations, she realised that edits are more frequent in music videos then films, and how the edits in music videos come out much more successfully as it connects closely with the beats of the song which stand out as disjuncture.  What vernallis found out was that rules of “continuity” are there to draw attention from the viewers, for example some of the edits that are used have been intentional so that they are noticed like wipes and other special effects.  Jump cuts are used frequently also in most music videos, so it gives a sense of continuity, so they don’t look like they are in one position. Along with base track to give the video a structure lastly the camera would usually move in time with the music so it has a sense of formal formation.

In class we watched this clip from Christopher Walken this is a form of disjuncture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbNzOV6vhD0&feature=related

A summery of the main points of andrew goodwins theory

Andrew Goodwin explains how traditional narrative techniques do not apply to pop videos, mainly because pop videos take a different approach, such as a lot of repetition; this is done mainly to help the audience get familiar with the song and its beats. Pop music are built around songs , which is the reason why he believes the traditional narrative structure does not apply to pop songs as the songs do not usually have a narrative structure. Also pop videos use the singer as both the narrator and a character so the artist has a dual role. Lastly the singer often usually looks directly at the camera, to try involving the audience and creating a personal touch. He also believes that music videos are autonomous, where the song would be completely different from what the original meaning is, like for example when a song is used in a film, like Leona Lewis when she sang the song in Avatar. And sometimes they just use a visual pleasure so it gets more viewings and helps them, to promote their music.  

There are three types of relations between songs and videos that go  beyond the actual meaning :

Illustration: which is when the music videos tells the story based on the lyrics

Amplification: when the video brings about a new meaning but is does not match the lyrics at all.  

Disjuncture: this is when there is slight connection between the lyrics and the video.

This is an example of a pop song that uses the singer as both the narrator and as the character, also noticing how he looks directly into the camera trying to involve the viewers.

Analysis of a music video that you consider the best example of the music video form, clearly explaining why you feel it is a great example.

The music video that I consider the best example of a music video would be 1+1 by beyonce.  My reasons beings are that it is such a simple music video which makes it even more wonderful. The music video allows us to here the strength in her voice, it also lets the audience hear the wonderful talent she has, unlike all her over videos where there is a lot going on, such as dancing and full on energy.

 This video tends to have a lot of close ups where we just see her and all the focus and attention is on her. I also love how the video goes from a close up to a mid shot, allowing a good flow when the beats change. In addition unlike a lot of  her other music videos this video don’t have a sexual tone about it , the video is clearly just focused on her face most of the times , so there is no sense of  sexuality which makes this one stand out even more.

I also love the way the music is set really calm and slow, my favourite part is the extreme close up of her eyes, just because it goes so well with her theme of the song, I also love the camera work and the editing, the editing a tad little bit more, clearly because it adapts so well with her shots for example when there is a shot reverse shot the edits go so smoothly with the beat which make the video look amazing. Another thing I love is where there is a smooth transaction from one scene to another; the editing plays a huge part in this bit where there would be a lot of jump cuts. This I believe goes well with the lyrics as one shot would mould to another very slowly allowing the lyrics to show through the shots , which matches and goes very well with the theme of the song which is a romantic love song. 

The State of The Music Industry in 2012 : RESEARCH

Music has changed within the past 5 years let alone 10. Music consumption has changed, music distribution has changed and most importantly the dawn of the digital download and social networking era had changed music forever.

The very big music company’s had been slow to react to the change happening in music, but now they are alert to the ever changing landscape of music. New artists signed now by big labels really do not have much power or influence in how they are marketed, styled and sold, even the percentage of money they make from their music sales have decreased. This is the music industries response to dwindling album sales and the fall of the physical CD due to mass illegal downloading.

With such falling sales figures artists have had to look at other avenues for better income and this has seen a rise in music concerts and gigs, and at these performances artist push to sell their own branded merchandise to capitalize on their fan base.

Apple reinvented the way we interact with and buy music with their IPod’s and ITunes Store. Now there is another big phenomena called ‘Social Networking’. The social network era has brought a flurry of socializing websites such as YouTube, Facebook & Twitter that make it easier for people to download and share music. Websites like YouTube have made it easy for anyone to upload their own music onto the site which is then made available to the whole world to see.

The popularity of YouTube means that a good music video is as important as ever. The video must draw in the artists default target audience but also appeal to a wider audience which can then be monetized.

The big 4 music labels that dominate the music industry make all the money. Independent labels and artists must rely on very niche fan bases that they have built up through social media. However well social media can work for people it doesn’t mean they can make good money from it that still lies at the hand of the major labels that hold the financial muscle.

Below I have made a video showing the strength the big 4 have on the music industry because they have all the major mainstream artists signed up to them. 

Review of My Favourite Previous Student Music Video : RESEARCH

This Music Video from last year’s media students is a very well done video that uses technical aspects of filming, editing and sound to great effect. One of the main conventions of music videos is that they are edited fast with quick cuts and jump cuts, and this music video has that in abundance. One thing that I noticed very clearly is how everything happened to the beat of the song. This is useful when it comes to editing as cutting to the beat and transitioning to the beat allows for a good flowing visual, that then makes the whole viewing experience even better.

This group clearly put alot of effort into planning for the video.

It’s clear they thought alot about Mise en scene as it fits well with the lyrics and look of the video, it looks like a music video and not something shot by college students. The video also used disjuncture with lots of shots and scenes that do not really mean anything by the song but are there as just visual spectacles for example the belly dancers.  

Bilal, Karina, Jack, Sevim from 283goswell on Vimeo.

The password to watch the above video is 'student'.

what is the function of a music video? :(RESEARCH)

I believe one of the main most crucial reasons would be too obviously promote the artist them self along with the song. From my opinion most successful songs are the ones that have a music video attached with it , this I think would bring more attention as well as show of the artists personality such as if they can dance or dress in a particular way. For example lady gaga she is very controversial but only her music videos allow us to see that. Without the music videos she would not be as successful and world known , for the things she does best.

 

copy right clearance

bullet point all the techniqual skills that you developed during the course.

     * Camera ­recording the shots 
   * Final cut pro – editing the thriller

*     * sound track – adding sounds

*     * live type – adding text

       * handbrake- converting the thriller to able us to put it on blogger.

RESEARCH: What is the purpose of a music video?

In our first lesson we discussed what the purpose of a music video is so we understood what our music videos should be about. We agreed that the main purpose of a music video is to promote the artist whether he/she is in the video or not. It is also a way to promote the song by embedding visuals into the listener's mind, making the song more memorable and hopefully popular therefore increasing sales and revenue. This is what the music companies aim for when making a music video.

In order to promote the artist/song the music video must be edited according to the beat, so a song with a fast beat would have lots of quick cuts and transitions and a song with a slow beat may use special effects such as slow motion, black and white etc. But one of the main techniques used is to make the brand loud and clear to the audience. This ensures that the video sells the artist/song by creating a lets say 'reputation' for the artist. 


Another aspect present is the placement and advertisement of other brands such as clothing and technology which would not only increase the range of the target audience but also attract more consumers to associated brands. people that like the clothes tend to like the artist due to a sense of familiarity. When different media associate with one another it is known as synergy.  

An example of this synergy would be when there is close up of a mobile phone with the network provider/phone model on clear display. 

Virgin Mobile is being advertised in 'Telephone' by Lady Gaga ft Beyonce 

REFLECTING: List of the technical skills developed during the course of the AS year

• Camera - We learnt the main features (how to record) and functions (focus, zoom) and how to use it effectively. 
• Final Cut Pro - Editing program that we used to edit and put together our thriller video. 
• Soundtrack Pro - Sound editing program that we used to produce our music for our thriller video.
• Livetype - Text editing program we used to create our thriller title and credits.
• Handbrake - A program that converts almost anything, but we only used it to convert our videos so we could upload them Blogger. 
• Screenshot (Mac: CMD + SHIFT + 4) - The best idea ever, also enabled us to put up evidence of our work on our blogs
• Prezie -  A web based presentation program that is very easy to use and actually quite fun.
• Wordle - A web based program that enables you to create a poster based on words. We used it as a way to advertise our feedback for our thriller video.

 

My Understanding of Laura Mulvey's Idea On Representation : RESEARCH

‘’In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly’’.

This is a quote from Laura Mulvey, and tells us her views and ideas on gender presentation in music videos. Mulvey suggests that the world is imbalanced with power being held more so by men, she believes that this is the root cause for the female gender being represented in a sexual way. Mulvey talks about the male gaze and how it is an important device that is exploited by music video makers and marketers. The male gaze makes the man active in watching sexualised woman and the woman passive because they have to dress accordingly.

Mulvey believes that females are dismembered when appearing in some music videos, for example within the Rap, R&B and Hip Pop female body parts are show close up in a sexualised manner for the male gaze.

Here are two examples of videos that dismember woman to benefit the male gaze:

Summary Of Vernallis's Theory On Music Videos : RESEARCH

Carol Vernallis wrote a book called ‘Experience Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context’. In this book Vernallis studied camerawork and editing within music videos, she came to the conclusion that edits come at a much more frequent rate then other conventional video forms such as Film. Vernallis also stated that these more frequent edits stand out because they are done as disjuncture, but also the editing seemed to match the rhythmic beat of the music in terms of cutting on the beat.

 

Vernallis made observations about music videos such as:

• Slow motion editing, to emphasize something or even the artist. 
• Frequent use of Jump Cuts is used to match the pace of the music. 
• Special effects are common, this is often used in combination with disjuncture.
• Camera isn't static and sometimes moves along with the music.
• The video often uses a base track or master shot; this is done to help form a structure.

Below are music videos that show some of Vernallis findings in action:

Disjuncture:

Base Track:

Slow Motion and Jump Cuts:

Andrew Goodwin's Theory On Music Videos : RESEARCH

Andrew Goodwin believes that traditional narrative techniques are not relevant when it comes to pop videos. This is because pop videos take a different approach when telling a story, for example

•  Pop videos are assembled around the use of music, and this is why he believes the traditional story telling techniques don’t apply because songs do not use traditional narrative structures.

• Unlike traditional narrative structures, music videos use the artist in a dual role, singer and also character/actor.

• Dissimilar from traditional narrative structures that are one dimensional, music videos tend to try and involve the viewer at home by having the artist look directly at the camera, creating a more personal touch.

Goodwin says that music videos depend heavily on repetition, this allows us the audience to familiarise ourselves with the genre and creating certain expectation and ideas about that particular genre. Pop videos must have an end and this is why they are repeated heavily and then at the end faded away.

He also believes that some music videos are made to go beyond the songs original meaning, for example sometimes the music video can become a visual spectacle that entices the viewer to watch again and again. Goodwin also recognizes that sometimes music is used as a marketing tool to promote other products such as films.

Goodwin stressed that there are three main types of relations between songs and their videos, and these are:

• Illustration is used to tell the story of the song visually, for example in rap music, gun and jewellery is used to illustrate the lyric.

• Amplification is when the video goes into further and deeper levels of visuals that do not contradict the lyrics but add more meaning.

• Disjuncture happens when there little to no relation between the lyrics and the visuals.

Analysis Of My Favourite Music Video : RESEARCH

This music video by Eminem singing ‘Loose Yourself’ is one that I consider to be a great example of adhering to music video form.

One of the first thing to strike me about this music video is that it really emphasises cutting shots to the beat, I believe this is used most effectively when the music is reaching for the beginning and end of a chorus when both the velocity of the music and visuals increase simultaneously.

There is a constant within this music video and that is of a base track that shows Eminem on a street with neon lights behind him reading ‘8 MILE’. This base track runs through the entirety of the music video and it always appears after three to four other shots.

Like most music videos there are a variety of quick edits and also many jump cuts, this links in well with the musical lyrics, it’s as if the world play by Eminem is being visually for us literally, for example Eminem says ‘oh there goes gravity’ and at the same time we see a jump cut of a man standing on the bonnet of a car and then the shot immediately after it he has fallen.

Also the structure of this video conforms to the music video norm of structuring the video using the chorus. The majority of jump cuts and quick edits appear during the chorus.

What is The Function of A Music Video? : RESEARCH

In lesson time we talked about the functions of a music video. I believe that one of the most important reasons for making a music video is to promote the artist along with the song that is being released. This is because music companies want their artists to become household names meaning they will be able to profit from the success of the artist they have promoted and funded, and with a good music video this can be achieved.

A music video should show close ups of the artist, because the artist should be sold at every opportunity. The majority of music videos are cut and edited to the beat allowing for a seamless combination with the music we hear and the visuals we see, this is also another important function of a music video. 

Another aspect of more modern music videos is that of synergy. The best examples of synergy in music videos comes from looking at how company's pay artists or pay for music videos so they use their products or wear their clothing brand in music videos. By doing this, company’s can promote their products by having it associated with big name artists and bands. One example of marketing synergy in music videos is in the video 'Telephone' by Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce, at some point Gaga receives a call/message and the camera cuts to her phone clearly showing a Virgin Mobile Logo. 

Music Copyright Clearance Letter : RESEARCH

Digipack & Analysis: A look back on AS

After the AS exams we came back for preparation work for A2 before the summer. We were given told what was expected of us in terms of skills and knowledge of creating and analysing media. So the first thing we did was learn how to use a new program called Photoshop Elements. We were given a tutorial and then told to create a digipack, luckily for us we this was just practice before the real thing in September. these preliminary lessons were intended for us to get a feel for the new software we would be using. So the first thing we did was create an album cover from scratch.  

We were taught how to use tools such as the magic wand, how to create and effectively use layers, the wide range of other tools at our disposal (eraser comes to mind). So after two lessons this is what I had procured.

We were taught about all the little aspects of an album cover such as record label logos, barcodes, the basic layout. We also had a discussion about how these digipacks had changed over the years. From the limited edition album covers for vinyl records to tape cases and digital CDs. Products have become more compact and reliable making for easy storage and use. 

Summarise what you have learned about the state of the music industry in 2012: RESEARCH

Over the last 10 years, the music industry has changed drastically regarding Production, Exchange and Exhibition. 10 years ago the productions of recording music videos were a lot harder than is today. They would be recorded in a professional studio and then put onto computers, which cost money. Nowadays, people have their own home studios and music is produced quicker. Posters and radios were traditionally used for distribution whereas nowadays artists have their own social network such as Twitter and Facebook and special connections with radio stations. In addition, the younger generation may illegally download the artist’s songs from YouTube or vevo and some may even legally download the songs to help support the artist. 10 years ago, people would generally buy CD’s, tapes, vinyl or even burn CD’s and now people sell and buy mix tapes, illegal/legal downloading and making profits through merchandising.

Audiences are targeted by music videos by the way the video is put across and represented towards the public. The clothing of the women in the videos, providing that they are dressed provocatively appeal to the male audience and how the male artists are dressed to appeal to both male and female audiences as men want to dress like the artist on TV so that they too can appeal to females. They send off a sexual pleasure in making the audience want to continue watching their video. However, there is more to a music video than the clothing. I believe the appeal of a music video is the actual music and whether the words connect with the video. There are some video’s that are made simply for a sexual pleasure, but those are the less known artists such as Maino and Wocka Flocka Flame. Other artists such as Lady Gaga make songs and videos for their own benefit as she has the attitude were she doesn’t care about what people think of her, she also seems to appeal to quiet a wide range of people such as lesbian chic and porn chic that both appeal to the male gaze, she’s controversial. The short film she made with her video ‘’ Telephone” makes it enjoyable for her fans and then allows it to become a viral music video. Product placement for artists are really good as it promotes the music video as well as the product, for example in Lady Gaga’s video “Telephone” the phone she uses has the Virgin media sign on it, there were Pepsi cans in her hair.

Music videos are very important to the music industry because they’re in a sense what the public thrive off of. Listening to the same song on the radio doesn’t have the same guilty pleasure as it does when watching it on YouTube or on a music channel. Its also important because it’s another way that the public can know what the artist looks like now and also what trends they can follow just by watching the video. It’s also another source that brings in more money for the artist.

There are four major labels left which consists of Sony, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers and EMI. 

Review your favourite previous student video: RESEARCH

The previous student video that I am going to review is Group number 12 from last year’s media group and the song they did was called “Hero”. The genre was R&B, and I think the intended audience is from 14-25 year olds, but still generally intended for all age groups. This wouldn’t be the genre that I would like to do as its less likely to work well, however this video works well because there wasn’t much to it but with that, the video stands out and its clear that it was planned out from the very beginning.

There wasn’t a specific narrative for their video, in a way it was a typical type of video for the genre of R&B, a pretty girl and a good-looking boy in some sort of relationship. There wasn’t a performance of any kind but the video still managed to be very interesting and good. Amplification was used in the video as she was seen to be strong like a hero but just without actually having the normal hero’s uniform on. There are many good points to the video such as; the camera work was really good as the person holding the camera had a steady hand. It also worked well because the camera wasn’t static, it was moving, the lip-syncing was exactly accurate and the editing along side that worked really well. Lots of close ups were used to establish the main artist. Jump cuts and slow motion were added; it looked exactly how a music video would look. The entire energy that was put across made the video even better because, the main artist looked as though she wasn’t shy and she wasn’t pushed into doing that role, she was looking directly into the camera, catching her audiences attention.

She wasn’t represented how typical “video girls” normally are, yes she was wearing clothing that was somewhat revealing however she wasn’t pushed into that background just being put there for show. It was easy to see that she was in control of the video and the male character. Even though some of her body parts were showing, she was challenging the representation of girls, especially R&B videos. The male artist being in the background shows that she was more significant and with the song being called “Hero” shows that she is infact going to be his hero and she is going to help him rather than the other way around.

http://vimeo.com/17676420 This is the link for the video. Enjoy :)

Briefly summarise what you understand about Laura Mulvey’s theory on representation: RESEARCH

Laura Mulvey believes that we live in a world dominated by the imbalance of power. She believes that to appeal to a mans fantasy women have to be styled provocatively to suit the male gaze what then leads to inequality between men and women.

How an artist/s looks in a music video would have been planned out carefully so that the artist/s can appeals to every type of man.  Audiences will generally read into the music videos and how they have been out across so that it fits into our own understanding, by doing this we become familiar with how they have been put across and almost learn to expect it again in the next video.

Mulvey believes that they way the artist are dressed are deliberate to attract attention from the opposite sex and in women’s case, both sexes. She also says that women are dismembered meaning that in a music video only certain parts of their body will be show e.g. breast, bum etc. she argues that this is to point out the obsession that some women have over their bodies and the constant hassle to look “perfect”, whereas men in videos are shown a whole, again reinforcing the inequality between men and women.

All in all women are seen as sexual objects and in some ways degraded by the way, they are being represented in the public eye by doing this they attract the wrong type of attention specifically presented for a male viewing.

This video shows very clearly how women are exploited, its called "A movie" and the girls are revealing too much skin and it is quiet disturbing, but it definatly shows how women are presented simply for the male gaze.

This video is Rihanna's Rude Boy and even the words are exploiting herself, and the video does show some sexual gesters that isnt really for daytime television.

Summarise the main points of vernallis’s ideas on editing and camerawork in music videos: RESEARCH

Carol Vernalli found out that the edits in music vidoes happen more often than edits in film that they may stand in as a distraction and that in a music video the editing seems to always be connected with the song in terms of the rhythm matching the edits.

With her observations Vernallis found out that, rules of the continuity are separated so it can draw attention to what is on the screen. Some of the edits used may be done deliberately in order for them to be noticed such as wipes and swoops, along side the special affects. Jump cuts are used quiet often. Base tracks are used as well to give the video some structure so it doesn’t look like the artist is just in one place but in a different set of places. Lastly, the camera often moves in time with the music.

An example that shows her main ideas is Just jack “Mary-Jane” where, base tracks are used: 1. Where the artist is sitting on the chair, 2. when he is in space and part of the narrative and 3. The graffiti wall. Repeated shots of the artist are shown whilst he is making continuous eye contact with the audience. There are many jump cuts in this video, one example is where he is standing up and the next minute he had already walked across to the other side of the screen.

Analysis of a music video that you consider the best example of the music video form, clearly explaining why you feel it is a great example: RESEARCH

I believe that a good music video is “Who run the world (Girls)” by Beyonce Knowles and “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. In my opinion both these music videos convey exactly what a music video is meant to be like.

 The energy alone in both creates an atmosphere that makes everyone watching want to get up and dance, not that all music videos are meant to be like that as some are slow songs that aren’t really meant to be danced to however the lyrics deliver a message in all songs.

The close ups in “thriller” show the dept that the makeup artist went into to create the scary faces, also the close ups help to establish the artist. I believe that when an artist puts their heart and soul into their music video performances, its shows, and it then makes their fans grateful.  In “Who run the world (Girls)” the moving camera work and the unusual transitions help to maintain the video looking good and resulting in being a great music video. In addition, the misce en scene used in videos give the video a sense of reality as well as excitement and fascination.

Another reason why I chose these two videos is because in comparison to each other it shows that in the 1980’s when “Thriller” was made, up until 2011 where “Who run the world (girls)” was made shows that what is needed to make a good video hasn’t changed that much as both videos are really good and indeed stick to the music video form.

A summary of the main points of Andrew Goodwin’s theory, including examples of that following his main ideas: RESEARCH

Andrew Goodwin feels that traditional narrative analyses don’t apply to pop videos, because pop videos approach narrative differently to novels and films. Pop videos use a lot repetition this leads to the audience getting familiar with the song. It’s even used on adverts and radios to again allow the audience to become familiar with the song.

With pop videos there has to be an ending, which is built up towards leaving the audience with a constant repetition of the song before fading away. In some pop videos, the actual meaning of the lyrics has nothing to do with the video, it provides a visual pleasure.  Some videos may promote their commodities such as films so there are three types if relations between songs and videos: Illustration- video tells a story, Amplification- where the lyrics don’t really connect with the video but add layers of the meaning and Disjuncture-  where the lyrics contradict the video.

Women are presented as sexual objects to appeal to men i.e. Beyonce and Madonna but they’re different because they look directly into the camera and they cease to be passive.

What is the function of a music video? RESEARCH

The function of a music video is to promote the artist so that the public can decide whether they like the artist and the song. This is the only way that the artist can make money, other than the public buying their singles/albums.

Rihanna

Usher 

Lady Gaga

Madonna

Research: Copyright Clearance letter

SKILLS: Lipsync Tutorial

In another preliminary lesson in the summer we were taught how to lip sync. Lip syncing is the synchronization of an audio track with the movement of a persons mouth as they sing the same audio track. We learnt that base tracks are video and audio footage of the same song in different locations and camera shots. The base tracks are the foundations of a music video and enable us to create dynamic videos through the process of editing. So the first thing we did was record a few base tracks.

When that was done we uploaded our footage to final cut pro and began the lip syncing process. When cutting we made sure to cut to the beat to ensure fluidity and to make it easier to sync with the audio track we were using. Also during the process we found it easier to create seamless transitions between shots which allowed us to imagine a structure for the music video giving it a dynamic look.

RESEARCH: My understanding of Laura Mulvey's idea on representation

'In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly'.

this statement was made by Laura Mulvey, who suggests that gender representation in music videos is gender biased because she believes that the world is biased in favour of males and that females are seen as objects of sexual desire and pleasure. She acknowledges that the 'male gaze' is an important technique used in music videos and marketing in order to entice and make males active in watching females in videos or advertisements as sexual and provocative.  she says this is done through the process of dismembering which draws the male attention to certain body parts in order to please the male gaze. Dismemberment is used frequently in music video genres such as Hip-Hop, R&B and Rap.

Here is an example of dismemberment and a good example of the objectification of females for the male gaze.

RESEARCH: Summary Of Vernalli's Theory On Music Videos DRAFT

Vernalis' theory is based around 4 main concepts that all relate to the construction of the music video.




1) Narrative - the video is a visual response to the music. Performance and narrative dont need to be balanced and the narrative can be fragmented making the video seem disjointed. The main feature of the video is hardly ever the narrative, most of the time it is the music or performance or a mixture of both. She also says that there may not always be a clear resolution (ending) and that the video may pose questions that aren't answered as well as having a narrative or theme run continuously through it but fashioned as a montage using varying clips and shots.

2) Editing - Editing may match the musical phrases or the beat, this also means that the music video form may break most of the rules of continuity editing as well as making the edit more obvious and visible through the use of jump-cuts, cutting on movement, extreme changes in time, space and pace. you will hardly ever see smooth continuity editing throughout the video or match cuts on action.

3) Camera - Establishing shots and close ups as well as 'extreme' shots are used frequently and the camera may move in time with the music and lyrics. The style of framing and movement may be continuous and distinctive throughout the video.

4) Diegesis (the world of the music video) -
The diegesis may be revealed gradually and actions are not necessarily completed – they may be disrupted or interrupted in some way. Characters or objects may move in time with the music and there may be gaps in the audience’s understanding of the diegesis – in time and space,music, performance and narrative. Also some frames may be more important than others and there may be a lot of repetition e.g. the beat, themes, lyrics, performance,images, colours, camera positions.

RESEARCH: Andrew Goodwin's Theory on Music Videos

According to Andrew Goodwin, traditional narrative techniques are not relevant in pop videos because they use different techniques when telling a story. This is mainly because pop videos are based around the music/song, therefore traditional narratives are not applicable. Also the artist plays two parts: the artist and the character in the video. He also states that music videos, unlike traditional narratives which are one dimensional, try to immerse the viewer in the music visual experience by addressing the viewer directly through the artist looking directly at the camera making the viewer feel more involved. Goodwin also states that music videos consist of heavy repetition which enables the audience to familiarise themselves with the genre thus creating an idea of what to expect from the genre. due to the repetition, music videos tend to end by fading near the end of the song. Goodwin also acknowledges that music videos are used for marketing other media such as movies and also that some music videos are designed to take the viewer on a visual/psychological journey which can become addictive making them come back for more. 

According to Goodwin there are 3 main types of music videos:

• illustration - this is when the lyrics are portrayed visually. i.e. Lupe Fiasco's 'The Show Goes On', the lyrics and the visuals are related by their literal meaning.
• Amplification - this is when the visuals exaggerate the meaning of the lyrics/genre
• Disjuncture - this is when the song and the visuals have little or no relation. This is popular among dance songs such as drum n bass, techno etc.