5ive - Everybody get up

5ive appear to be the school 'rebels'. There is both direct address throughout the whole video but also indirect address is used during the dance routine on stage at the start.
In the video everything is linear. The beginning starts with 5ive dancing on stage then the middle shows 5ive jumping into the crowd and at the end everybody is together doing the same dance routine.
The video shows 5ive to be rebelious and adventurous , they are on stage where they shouldn't be and then they leap into the crowd. It gives of a 'bad boy' image which was extreemly popular in the 90's.
The visuals amplify the lyrics, they are telling students who appear to be sitting their exams to 'get up' and when they do they all do the same dance routine which amplifies the lyrics.
The video is set in a school hall where exams are being sat, it relates to the audience. 5ive are dressed in all black which makes them blend in but their 'boy band image' e.g. hairstyles makes them stand out.
The video is opened with a wide shot of 5ive dancing on stage. Wide shots are used throughout when 5ive are dancing and singing in the crowd. A downward tilt is used towards the end of the video to show the crowd all doing the same dance routine in unison.
Shot-reverse-shot is used in the opening of the video showing 5ive appearing and the students sitting their exams.
There is a representation in this video that boy bands are bad and rebellious. They go to the extreem in this video to create reactions.
The genre of the music is Pop and the audience would be around 12-18 year olds because they see boy bands as cool and also fanciable.

Sandi Thom - I wish I was a punk rocker

Throught the video there is a direct mode of address, Sandi Thom is singing into the canmera like she is talking to the audience. She is perofrming as herself in the video and not pretending to be somebody else.
The video is in a linear order, it appears to have been filmed in one long tracking shot as there are no noticable cuts atall.
The video creates an image that Sandi Thom is normal and down to earth, this is shown through the naturalness of her appearance. She blends in to the video but also stands out because of the camera work.
The visual elements illustrate the lyrics, for example when she sings about a guitar there is a man in the background playing a guitar. It is subtle and not over the top.
Sandi Thom is dressed in clothes that blend in, this demonstrates her normality. The location is busy streets in London which Sandi Thom walks around and then ends up in a park.
Throughout the music video a tracking shot is used which shows Sandi Thom in a mid shot walking through the streets. When she reaches the park the camera zooms out which shows a ful length shot and then a panning shot as Sandi Thom walks past the camera.
There are no cuts in this video it only uses one long shot. Editing techniques such as slowing down and speeding up have been used.
In this video there is a representation that although London is a very big and busy place, there is still time to relax and take a break.
No special effects have been used in this video.
The genre of this video is Soulful Pop and the audience is late teens to late 40's because the 'punk rocker' lyrics relate to the eera.

Lily Allen - Smile

In the video 'Smile' by Lily Allen there is both a direct, sat on the bed talking to the camera, and indirect mode of address; the narrative which is led by performance. Lily Allen is the arstist and she plays the main character in the narrative video. There are no dance routines in the video. It is simply the story of somebody who id reminicing about a relationship and acting out a story.


Although the video appears to be linear, it is actually non-linear because there are flashbacks to when the couple were happy together. The music video starts with the couple splitting up bacause the boy hurt the girl, in the middle of the video we see the girl getting revenge on the boy and in the end it turns out that the boy is dependant on the girl.


The video creates an image of Lily Allen being normal and like everybody else. It shows that she suffers from everyday problems like everybody else and towards the end of the video it shows an image of a strong, independant woman.


The visual elements amplify the song because it shows the reaction then goes on to show the revenge.


In the video Lily Allen wears colours that blend in although she still stands out. Her trademark dress/trainers/earings are seen which shows that she isn't trying to be somebody else. The video has been set in real places; cafe, bedroom; which adds a sense of reality and normality to the video.

The Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl

In this music video there is an indirect mode of address. The audience are seen as onlookers. The video is narrative based as there is no band recognition.

The music video holds a linear structure as is it showing a gir;s thoughout her life in a timeline sort of way. There is a clear beginning; school trip where the boy is picking on the girl. Middle; in the club, skeletons dancing and the end where the girl is leaving the club.

The image for the artist is showing that the brothers are individual and out of the ordinary. The style of music is associated with dance and drugs but the video shows the party goers drinking water which shows that the aritists are of the moment and are representing their style through the music video. The video represents the culture which represents the music.

The visual elements of the song amplify the song and puts it into context. It shows the boy/girl relations and identifies a lonely girl surrounded by boys.

The mise-en-scene holds an intertextual reference in the from of a non fictional book about dinosaurs which shows skeletons, this foreshadows the next location; natural history museum and also the skeletons that the girl later sees. The costume is casual which captivates a young audience and also attracts less attention due to the illegal raves that frequently took place in the 90's.

Zoom and a track shot is used at the start on the coach whch then leads into and extreem close up of the young girl. There is a low angle shot of the children running which holds connotations of a large group having power.

Lots od cuts have been used and also a match on action. Some of tghe special effects include the skeletons dancong and also the fade which shows the young girl become older and change location into club toilets.

The Lighthouse Family - I wish I Knew

The genre of this song is soulful pop, i think this because the song is relaxing which makes it easy to listen to and mellow.
The music video holds a non-linear narrative due to the flashbacks where the lead singer, Tunde Baiyewu, looks into peoples lives. At the start of the video the train moves off and things seem to be going in a linear order but when Tunde Baiyewu starts meeting people on the train the audience see flashbacks into the passengers lives which creates the non-linear structure.
I would identify the target audience as 30+ because they can connect to the song lyrics and because the song came about in the 90's it would be part of their eera. This video would be seen on music channels such as Smooth, VH1 and Magic because they have an older target audience.
Although Tunde Baiyewu stands out due to the smartness of his clothes the mondane colours that he is wearing make hime blend in more with the other train passengers, it shows the status divide between upper class and working class.
The blonde girl who has porceline skin gives connotations of being an angel and when she takes Tunde Baiyewu's hand it is like she is leading him. There are other connotations of religion aswell when the flashbacks show the passengers 'hell' and they are underground on the tube service.

Codes and Conventions

+ Star/band/artist usually appear in the video.
+ Lyrics normally amplified by visuals.
+ Non linear/linear. Most videos are narrative based.
+ Camera movement matches the beat of the song.
+ Visuals use iconography that is reminisant of the genre.
+ Aspect of performance usually direct/indirect.
+ Range of camera angles/close up of star/artist/band.
+ Stars image is amplified through the genre of the music.
+ Special effects usually simple.
+ Realistic locations e.g. club/railway.
+ Use of lip syncing is usually featured in most videos.
+ Normally more than 1 character as ell as the star/artist/band.
+ Usually videos are closed narratives

Music Video Notes

Typical Music Video Features:



+ Bands/Artists

+ Instruments

+ Genre Specific

+ Story

+ Narrative

+ Actors/Actresses

+ Dancers/Routines

+ Special Effects

+ Performance





Music videos are initially a marketing device. They are advertising the artist to increase the fan base and also increase record sales.

Making a music video to accompany a song didn't become mainstream until around 1980. With the first recognised video coming from The Beatles in the form of 'Hard Days Night'. The Beatles had created film inserts around 1965 prior to making the first music video using songs such as 'Penny Lane' and 'Strawberry Fields are Forever', they were both directed by Peter Goldman and were described as fancy and used slow motion along with unusual camerawork.

Music videos became even more popular when 'MTV' was launched in 1981 with 'Video Killed the Radio Star' being played as one of the first music videos. After this music videos became a standard thing, they were cheap to produce and became more high tech by using Chrome Key.



Censorship



Music Videos that were labelled indecent were censored by the British Board of Film Classification. In 1991 Micheal Jackson's' 'Black or White' was censored due to complaints from viewers who said that he indecently touched himself. Other videos that have been censored include Robbie Williams' 'Rock DJ' and The Prodigy's' 'Smack My Bitch Up'.



Music Theory



Some would argue that music videos have made Pop superficially based on image.

Are Pop songs enough on there own to make a meaning and pleasure to the Audience?

"A good music video is a clip that responds to the pleasure of music, in which that music is made visual, in either new ways or in a way that accentuates existing video associations" - Andrew Goodwin, 1992.



Andrew Goodwin's Theory



1 Music videos demonstrate genre, characteristics such as dance routines usually shown

in boy/girl music videos.

2 The relationship between lyrics and visuals either contradict or illustrate the lyrics.

3 The relationship between music and visuals will either illustrate, amplify or contradict what is

happening on screen.

4 The demand of the record labels will include lots of close ups of the artist(s) will develop motifs

which will re-occur across the style of the music videos.

5 Frequent references to the notion of looking voyeurism of the female body.

6 Intertextual reference

The basic function of a music video is to promote and advertise the song and artist. Which will result in the increase of record sales as well as gaining new fans. The first recognised music video was created by the Beatles in 1965 - it was known as 'film inserts' and was directed by Peter Goldman. 'Penny Lane' and 'Strawberry Fields are Forever' were described as fancy due to the experimental camerawork. Music videos are commissioned by the video department at record companies. Somebody will have been assigned the job of commissioning videos for new singles. Andrew Goodwins theory states that there are three different ways in which a video can relate to song lyrics, these are:

+ Illustrate

+ Amplify

+ Contradict.

A video treatment is decided at the start of the process. The record company get together with the artist the define a desired treatment. A treatment could also be described as a concept and outlines what the music video will be about e.g. whether the artist will be performing or whether the video will be based more around showing a story.

When making a student video the main principle to stick with would be to keep the concept simple, if you keep it simple but put in a lot of camera shots and editing techniques it will be good. The story isn't the most important bit.