Monday 22 September 2014

BS: Deconstructing Music Videos

 
Tom Odell - Another Love - 2012
                                                                                       Institutions & Audience 


This music video is most likely to be consumed on the television music channels such as MTV or VEVO, alternatively this music video may also be consumed via the internet, on such websites as YouTube and Vimeo. This video was one of Tom Odell's debut songs, therefore the music video is perhaps done on more of a low-fi budget, as this was before he was a well known artist with the funding to produce a more high-fi video. I personally do not feel that the record label and producers weren't particularly promoting themselves or a particular message, but are in-fact a more industrial label, who are working more to promote the artist and his music.

Genre & Narrative
Within this video there is only one continuous line of action, in which the artist features for the duration of the video. It is a very minimalist video that focuses more on the artist who is performing (lip syncing) during the track, which helps to identify the artists original voice, according to Barthes theory this is identified as "grain of voice" and helps to establish an image for the artist. Within this video it is an image of more musical talent and focus rather then creating a "star image" which is more for fame and money, this is commonly seen within new artists, as they focus more on being recognized and remembered within the industry.

Media Language
The message within this video is about love and relationships, how the artist has been hurt in love once before and does not want to love again. This presents a stereotypical story line as seen over a variety of different medias; films, books and music videos. Gender is also an important representation within this music video, usually it is more often the women who are hurt through relationships, but in this case it is a male, this presents a binary opposition to the stereotypical representations of gender, it is the male who seems weaker and more vulnerable within this video.The artist may have chosen to include and construct these representations due to personal experiences, perhaps this is something that has happened in his life, and perhaps he want to show that it is not only women who are vulnerable and emotional in love.


From this screenshot of the music video clearly there is a lot of mise-en-scene to help emphasize and construct a message and meaning within this video. The room is very dark with low key lighting, this helps to emphasize the a dark perhaps sad emotion which is presented within the lyrics. The costume is also very ordinary, which makes this video seem very ordinary and more realistic, again reinforcing that this was perhaps a personal experience, and something that happens within the real world.


Ed Sheeran - A Team - 2010
 
Representation
This music video is more of a documentary style, following a homeless drug addict. This video is particularly relevant as the artist himself used to be homeless, so to some extent is perhaps more of a realistic representation. There is a lot of ideological discourse within this video, reinforcing the dominant beliefs within society about drugs, how they are devastating, dangerous and can easily destroy you life, as seen within this music video. 


Genre & Narrative
The artist does not feature within this video at all, this shows perhaps that he wanted his music to present more impact, following a realistic story line to really emphasize the lyrics of the song. This video is an extremely illustrative piece, that act out the lyrics of the song, so there are many links with visuals. It is also important to note that this whole video is in black and white, with a dull color wash to emphasize the feeling of sadness and distress within this video. The main character is also dressed badly, with messy make-up and hair, this opposes common representations within music videos, usually women are presented as beautiful and pristine, but the representation of a homeless drug addict is achieved by dressing to conform to the common stereotype of this group of people.

Institution and Audience
Again this video is most likely to be consumed via television music channels, or on YouTube; therefore would be more of an ambient viewing experience, as usually people don't look specifically for the video, but listen for the music or artist and watch the video as a result of this.

Influences on our own piece
From this music video we could take a lot of inspiration from the construction of mood, and of character. The black and white effect works very well in achieving a different feel from color images and is something that we could perhaps take into consideration during the narrative section of our music video.


 
Scouting For Girls - Love How it Hurts - 2011

Institution and audience
Like the majority of music videos they aren't made for a specific audience, but are most likely to be consumed during a more of an ambient viewing. The most common platform for consumption is on music channels such as MTV or VEVO. The genre of this video is pop-rock, and clearly is a more industrial production with an in-depth story line using high tech and advanced hardware/ equipment. For the first time the band did not feature within their own music video, this was not the choice of the band but the record label decided they wanted to produce a video entirely focused on narrative.



Genre & Narrative
Conventions within this video are very stereotypical, it is a narrative following the story of a "geeky" boy falling for the pretty girl, but in a futile attempt as the "bad boy" always wins and gets the girl. But at the end of the video common stereotypes are challenged, when the "geek" ends up with the girl. The lyrics and visuals are very closely linked, almost as if acting them out, so is extremely illustrative, and the visual imagery is closely linked to the main messages and themes within the track.

Media Language
There is no construction of band image within this video simply because the band do not feature in the video, but it does convey a message of how typical stereotypes can be broken, and are not a definite thing. The mise-en-scene within this video makes it seem very realistic as if it has actually happened, it is also shot in very common locations (such as the park) and reinforces the realistic feel to the video.
































 










1 comment:

  1. Some good detailed comments Ben. This post needs editing and additions to bring it up to a level 4. You need to insert the headings as they are on the sheet and bullet point your responses. This needs to be a very detailed post so you will need to include a lot of more content. Currently a level 3

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