Lyrics Planning

What makes a good/successful music video

What is the main purpose of a music video?

The purpose of a music video is to;

1) Sell the song, and invoke a reaction so it leaves you remembering the song

2) To give the listener a better understanding of the song. (If the video is narrative)

3) To entertain (to show off other talents the musician may have, for example dancing or acting)

4) To sell CDs and DVDs to viewers. Creating a memorable visual for the song increases its chances to sell

5) Marketing for the purposes of exposure and expansion of the artist's profile:

Despite all of these being factors in why a music video is important, some people argue that the end result still has to serve one purpose: promotion. The music video is a promotional tool for the artist. It sometimes serves as a conduit to attention from a label, but more often it is a catalyst for CD sales or artist song downloads

What makes a good/successful music video 

Generally, successful music videos are predominantly based around close-ups and mid-shots, some of which will be of the singer or the band. As in most TV this is partly due to the size of the screen as well as to meet the desire of the viewer so that they feel personally connected to their band or artist.

It could be argued that the music video is a means of advertising; if people who are not yet fans are able to view a music video which is exciting and captivating, they will have a stronger desire to buy the artists records than if they were exposed to an uninteresting music video.

Continually, to maintain audience interest, directors and editors make sure to use the most effective means of editing in music videos. This is known as ‘fast cut montage’ which does not allow the viewer to be immediately aware of what the images are as they move so quickly, meaning that they will want to watch the sequence again to have a greater understanding; thus ensuring a higher level of hits on websites like ‘Youtube’ while keeping the audience interest very high.

And example of a music video which uses the technique of ‘fast cut montage’ is the ‘Hype Williams’edit of Big Sean's "Marvin & Chardonnay".

Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' was listed by Guinness World Records in 2006 as the "most successful music video", selling over 9 million. In 2009, the video was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, the first music video to ever receive this honor  This was for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant. 

Andrew Goodwin's Theory (applies to all Music Videos)

Andrew Goodwin has identified a number of key features in music videos. They are:

- A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.
- A relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.
- Genre-related style and iconography present.
- Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.
- Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.

- Inter textual references to other media texts may be present.

He says that music videos are often constructed by the link between the visuals and the song plus the artist. Relationships are built between these in the video, and the close-ups of the artists gives them the representation and publicity they require. Voyeurism is used to increase the video’s attractiveness, particularly to males, whilst intertextuality is often employed in humorous videos.

Many of these features are present in all music videos, depending on the genre of the song and the aim of the record company/artist.

This is an example of a music video, that utilises Andrew Goodwin's theory, this is the Hype Williams directed music video by Lil Wayne's song "6 foot, 7 foot".

I Want You - Lyrics Breakdown

I Want You Lyrics

Location Analysis

The reason we picked this location is because it bears a close resemblance to the Eiffel Tower, this fits perfectly with the imagery we are trying to compose. The Eiffel Tower is the romantic hot spot in France so we wanted to utilize it to compliment the narrative.

The ducks symbolizes union and security, we wanted to present that connotation in our music video, its important to include subliminal messages in our music video 

The steps shown in our music, symbolizes ambition and desire. These Steps are in crystal palace park and instantly I thought this would be effective location for performance scenes where the main artist can rap on theses steps from a worms eye view, or featured artist can sing and dance on these steps with a long shot being used to capture the entire profile of featured artist.

Laura Mulvey's "Male Gaze" Theory

—Laura Mulvey coined the term ‘Male Gaze’ in 1975. She believes that in film audiences have to ‘view’ characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male.
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Features of the “Male Gaze”:

• —The camera lingers on the curves of the female body, and events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a man's reaction to these events. 

• —Relegates women to the status of objects. The female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily, by identification with the male.

This theory applies to the genre in which we are trying to follow the Hip-Hop genre, the genre has known for being controversial regarding the "Male Gaze" by the way in which they portray women in their videos.

Examples of Music Videos, which conform to the "Male Gaze"

Britney Spears - Toxic

50 Cent - Candy Shop

Scouting For Girls - She's So Lovely

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Research into Existing Music Magazines

This is our magazine research for the magazine advert we are eventually going to do. The research will help us in doing so

Director Case Study

Filming Schedule

- Tuesday - 8.30 to 10.30 - At this times we will try and film either the chorus sections, or go off-site and film the rest
- Weekends-Free Periods- We will film in off-site locations such as the park, the high street etc.

Review for the first day of shooting the chorus

Video hook shooting review from jaystarzy

Lighting

Today we were taught about lighting and how as directors of our music video, we have the ability if we so desire to manipulate the type of lighting and the effect of this may create in the drama studio at school. The drama studio is best for shooting scenes of a play  or something which needs a very precise effect or feel about it, for example, the contrast in Kanye West's "All of The Lights" most of the video would have been created in a studio.