Pitch

At this point we did our pitch to the class. The only thing we were really sure about was that we wanted to stick with conventions and do a narrative and performance based video. So we decided to take the opportunity to play the song we have to the class and have them come up with some ideas as to what the narrative could be, as this is something we are struggling with.

Most people said that they liked the idea we had of being outside in a rural setting, although there was some debate as to whether it should in fact be in  more urban location.

From what we have heard and gathered from people we will go away and try to come up with some sort of narrative structure to intertwine with the performance and that will link to the lyrical meaning of the song.

The Love Between You and I (Lyrics)

These are the lyrics to the song we are thinking of using for our video:

The Love Between You And I

Jack Simmons

Maybe, maybe in a lifetime the ones that we will resurrect


my monument immortal but tarnished I suspect


that holds my generations failures put to song


             the jail cell holding all our years undone


                the passing of the time we killed when we were young


              the archives of our blessed few


          and all that they've done wrong or haven't done at all



    (chorus)


   when the longing in all our lives


fades as light resigns


away beneath the skyline
'neath the cities


our emptiness reads like a sign


with all the love between you and I



I'll mind my future as the sunlight tends to life


                though my divinity may the tightrope the sharpest knife


                  'cause I've got none of what lies above


               beyond the stars and sky, beyond the flight of doves



                   
(chorus)



 

 x2


 our emptiness reads like a sign


with all the love between you and I

  
Analysis:

• General theme of the past throughout, but also reference the future.
• I imagine using both colour and black and white shots to distinguish between present and memories.
• Slightly negative syntax, matches soft rock genre. Slow motion could be good to use as an effect.
• References to love (stereotypical of genre), but not necessarily boy/girl relationship e.g. could be referencing family relationships, which makes it easier for the listener to relate to, because there is more than one meaning to it.
• References to past and future. Could do something with memories in the video.
• I think a performance section for this song should be more the focus than narrative.

Codes and Conventions - Soft Rock

Now we have decided our genre and analysed videos in the genre, we can see what type of things we should and shouldn't be doing for a soft rock music video from the codes and conventions we have seen in the videos we have analysed:

• Slow motion is used a lot in the majority of videos from this genre.
• Black and white shots are also a common feature, (they were used to establish different time frames in The Script's video).
• The narrative usually matches the lyrics and tell a story. 
• There is also more of a focus on narrative, because the lyrics tell a story.
• Like rock videos there is usually a live performance of the whole band and they use the same shot patterns (c.u's, l.s's, x.c.u etc)
• Concepts are fairly simple for both performance and narrative.
• Low key lighting.
• Darker colours and tones for mise-en-scene.
• Still simple cuts, but they don't happen as often, so the shots are longer.

It is important to note that a lot of these convention cross over into similar and over-lapping genres, such as indie pop/rock and acoustic.

Music Video Analysis

The Script

Breakeven

This video uses similar effects as to the ones I have seen in other videos I have analysed. They have used slow motion shots for effect and I think that this genre is where slow motion is most effective, because lyrically the songs usually have an emotional meaning which can be portrayed well through slow motion. This is also portrayed for the darker toned mise-en-scene (e.g. costume, location, lighting). The editing is done mostly off the beat so it isn't as noticeable throughout the video.

The use of both black and white shots and colour shots is something that I haven't seen much of so far, but it is one of the main features of this video. It helps to identify the past and the present. The use of colour shots on the narrative which depicts the past is effective because it shows happier times which the colour represents. There are also more close up shots used with the two of them to represent their closeness. The black and white shots for the present show the colour (relationship) leaving his life. There are also more mid shots and long shots to show his loneliness/isolation.

Out of all the videos I have looked at I think the whole concept of this best fits the song and tells the story through shots, lighting and colour the best.

Music Video Analysis

Kings Of Leon

Pyro

This video is within the genre we are working in so the conventions seen in this video we can apply to our own music video. The video focuses mainly on narrative and the entirety of the video uses slow motion shots for effect. This works particularly well in this video for things like the fight scene. 

The band has very little screen time in the video and even though they are performing, it is within the narrative of the video and not a separate performance. This makes the audience focus on the narrative and take note what it is about and how it relates to the song. For our music video I don't think this is something we will do as our artist is a new artist that nobody really knows yet. Kings Of Leon are now a global band, so most people already know who they are.

They use low key lighting to match the mood of the song. The mise-on-scene and costumes are very bland, again fitting into the mood of the song and the narrative. These seem to be typical conventions of this genre. It is very unlikely that you would find these things in a pop video. The first shot lasts just over a minute and goes round the whole bar so the audience can see what is going on. By doing this it shows that although there are separate groups of people and different things going on in the video, that they are all going on at the same time in the same place. A lot of the editing is done on the beat of the song and the whole video is done in slow motion which matches the slow pace of the song and the atmosphere that and he video is trying to create.

Genre

Like TV and film, music comes in many different types of genre and then can be sub-grouped. Some genres do overlap in terms of sound and conventions, for example there is little distinction between something like RnB and hip hop. A lot of genres can be broadened further and put into a popular music category. Pop, rock and RnB songs can be classed as popular music songs. 

Some music channels focus on a particular genre so similar codes and conventions will be used in most of the videos. By having selective channels like Kerrang! it means that the audience can establish what genre(s) they like. This is also useful for record companies as they know where to show their videos and know pretty much what audience they are going to get.

Our song is from a sub-genre of rock, probably falling under the soft rock category. Soft rock has elements of rock and folk rock music. Some of the typical instruments used are acoustic and/or electric guitars, drums, piano. Lyrics tend to be more emotional than a rock song and have a slower tempo. 

Now that we have determined the genre of the song, it is important to look at existing music videos within the same genre to see if there are any separate codes and conventions that apply to this genre that you wouldn't see in a more common pop video.

Director Analysis

Jared Leto

Background: 

• Lead singer of rock band 30 Seconds To Mars.
• Has directed all the bands videos since 2006, (sometimes under the name Bartholomew Cubbins)
• Also an actor, starring in films such as Fight Club, Mr. Nobody and Requiem For A Dream.

I chose this director to analyse, because as of yet we don't know what genre the song we will be doing the video for is going to be. Its most likely to fall under a sub-genre of rock. So this director was chosen because the videos are normally something a bit different from conventional music videos and I like the fact that they are something different and it seems that they are treated more like a film than a music video.

In all of 3STM's videos a lot of effort is put into the narrative and a majority of their videos are the length of a short film, the full length of Hurricane being over 13 minutes. This could be because of Jared Leto's experience in the movie industry. The videos have also been described as surreal and artistic which could be a result of working with directors such as David Fincher. Of these three videos The Kill and Kings and Queens combine narrative and performance whereas Hurricane focuses on narrative and is the longest of the three. By focusing so heavily on narrative and making them so long, it subverts the codes and conventions we are used to seeing in rock videos and music videos of other genres.

30 Seconds To Mars

The Kill (Bury Me)

We can see from the very start that this has been treated differently than a normal 3 minute music video. There are conventions of film throughout the video. For example, the video opens with a title screen with the song name and then cuts to a low angle close up shot of the lead singer. There is non-diegetic ambient music to set the tone of the video, a convention that is more commonly used in film. The song does not start until over a minute in and the video begins with dialogue between the band to set up the narrative, again not a typical convention of music videos in any genre. Compared with other videos I have analysed, this video uses fairly high key lighting, although does have a washed out colour palette which goes well with the genre and mood of the video. When the music does start it returns to the typical conventions of a music video with a close up shot of the lead singer lip syncing. It then switches between narrative and performance throughout the video. Cutting on the beat is very common in this video, much more than the other videos I have watched so far. The very fast pace editing used at around 3:30 in the video is still edited on the fast drum beat. Towards the end shots are cut using fade to and up from black, which contrasts with the fast pace nature of the song at this point. They are then used again at the very end of the song, which matches the pace of the song more as it loses some of the extra layers and just has a guitar melody and vocals. There are also parts of the video where the song stops and it goes back to movie conventions by using non-diegetic ambient sounds. Title screens are used throughout, something that isn't typically used in music videos. Other effects are used like flipping the shot so that it has a mirror effect towards the end of the song. I haven't seen this used in any other videos of the genre as of yet and does not seem to be a common effect to use in any genre. 

30 Seconds To Mars

Kings and Queens

Like The Kill this video doesn't have the song starting straight away and looks more like a movie opening, but the video isn't much longer than the song itself. There is an establishing shot of the Los Angeles at night to start and then slow motion shots of the narrative characters and the band, setting up the theme for the video. Slow motion is used throughout the video, and particularly on quieter parts of the song it becomes more prominent. This video uses the more conventional style of both narrative and band performance together and switches between the two regularly. The editing is done off the beat much more, almost completely, in this video which differs to what I have seen so far, not just in the other 30STM video. Compared to other videos, there are a lot of extras in the video as part of the narrative. This contrasts with the performance part of the video when it is just the band in a very isolated location; above Los Angeles at night, and they have the busy city below them. Like a lot of other music videos the singer is lip syncing in both narrative and performance. Compared to The Kill, this video is more like a conventional music video that you would see on the music channels.  

30 Seconds To Mars

Hurricane

This video is by far their longest music video (13m12s) and the original version was banned from a majority of TV networks for being too controversial. For a lot of the video the song Hurricane not played and the song doesn't start until 3 minutes in. It focuses purely on narrative as there is no performance by the band. It uses film conventions rather than that of a music video at the start by having opening credits at the beginning and ambient, atmospheric music playing. Like the Kings and Queens video the first shot is an establishing shot, this time of New York and the visual effects (lightning) and being set at night helps to set the tone. A low angle shot of skyscrapers that zoomed out was very effective in making the audience feel small in contrast with the city which is how the characters are in the narrative. Before the song actually starts there is a non-diegetic drum beat which the editing is cut to and helps to build up tension and create the right atmosphere. The narrative doesn't really begin until about 1 minute 48 when we are introduced to a character/lead singer. Before this it is more like the beginning of a movie when the director just wants to establish a location, time and the lead characters and certain aspects of their character. Sound effects are used throughout the video, another convention of film rather than music videos. Like in film it is used to emphasis things like the fight sequences to have more impact on the audience. From the start it feels a lot more like a short film than a music video as the video is focused purely on narrative and no performance. However, unlike The Kill there isn't any diegetic dialogue, although there is a narrative voice in different parts of the video, again unconventional of music videos. During the song the editing is rarely done on the beat, which is completely different to how it started. Although some of the action in the shots - like changing mid-shot to slow motion-is done on the beat to help emphasis. Slow motion shots are used throughout the video which seems to be a conventional effect for a lot of videos, because its simple and easy to to, but in this video the slow motion is put on part way through some of the shots. For example a shot may start in slow motion then change to normal speed then change back to slow motion to emphasis certain things in the shots, for example part of a fight. Once we see the lead character/singer there are quick cuts in between that show other parts of the narrative and makes the audience question what is happening, something that movie directors try to make their audience feel in films. There appears to be a separate narrative for each character as they never come together which works with the idea of isolation for each person that there is throughout the song.  The video ends with a convention of film by having end credits, not something usually used for the purpose of a music video.

Codes and Conventions

Whilst looking at music videos it is clear that they all have things in common, whatever genre they are in:

• There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals through a narrative which can either illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics.
• The artist is usually the main focus and can be the lead in the narrative and not just part of the performance, which is usually requested by the record company so the artist is well promoted.
• Some videos use intertextual references to other music videos (e.g. Pink's reference to a Jessica Simpson video in Stupid Girls), or to television and movies (e.g. Eminem's Batman and Robin reference in Lose It).
• Quick cuts.
• Lip syncing by artist (sometimes by the lead character in the narrative, e.g. Rupert Grint in Ed Sheeran's Lego House).

There are also codes and conventions within genres as well as the general ones mentioned that are usually used across most genres. The two videos that I have analysed previous to this are both rock songs by British rock bands. From them and watching others like it I have found codes and conventions within the genre of rock:

• Usually a live performance, with or without an audience with the full band playing their instruments, (although the Lostprophets video is an example of subverting this).
• Low key lighting.
• Darker costume colours and a generally darker mise-en-scene as a whole.
• A variety of shot types, (close-ups/extreme close-ups of each band member, long-shots of the whole band).

Every artist develops icons that we expect to see in their videos, whether it be through costume or props. For example, in rock videos an artist is mainly distinguished by style, but in pop videos it could be props, e.g. rapper Nicki Minaj's icon is her different coloured wigs and a love of pink.

Music Video Analysis

Lostprophets

Bring 'Em Down

This video focuses mainly on narrative as there is no full band performance in the video. Like the Young Guns video, low key lighting is used which matches the darker tone of the narrative which conventionally coincides with the lyrics of the song. The video starts with close up shots, then cutting to a close up of the lead singer who lip syncs when the lyrics start, a typical convention of music videos.

As the video mainly focuses on narrative there is a lot more to it, including more characters and more thought into the actual plot of the narrative. There is a lot more focus on the lead singer of the band than the other members, so much so that for someone who comes across the video without any knowledge of the band, it would be unlikely that they would know who the other members are from this video. For Lostprophets, who have been around over ten years, it won't have too much of an effect, but for new artists I think it is important to establish the band in the music videos, as this is what the public are most likely to see from the band.

Effects used include slow motion shots which keep reappearing in a number of music videos across genre, and fast focus pulls. Both of these help to emphasis the tone of the video. Low key lighting also does this. There are several 360 turns of the camera on some shots which is effective as it is a way of putting across the feeling of the lead singer within the narrative. The editing becomes much more fast pace in the middle and end of the video as the story becomes more about action and the song nears the end. The editing starts of on the beat, but towards the end of the song it happens a lot less, because of where the narrative has gone and the fast pace nature of it. The video ends as it started with a shot of nothing but smoke. 

Music Video Analysis

Young Guns

Bones

This music video uses the typical conventions that can be found across all genres. There is a mixture of band performance and narrative intertwined in the video. The video starts with a fade up and then close up slow motion shots of the band members. The music also starts at the beginning of the video. After 14 seconds the song builds up and there is a cut to a shot of the whole band as everyone starts playing. This introduces each band member and establishes them as a complete band. When the lyrics start the video cuts to a close up of the lead singer lip syncing. The narrative part of the video starts after this and plays throughout the video and shows different characters.

 For the majority of music videos the narrative is  related loosely or fully to the lyrics of the song. Low key lighting and washed out colour effects are used throughout to match the mood of the song and also looks to be a convention of the genre as many other rock videos do the same thing. This also is common in rock videos to use darker colours as a bright colour palette is generally associated with pop music videos.

There is a mixture of normal speed and slow motion shots throughout the video in both performance and narrative. It is an effect that is used a lot in a wide genre of music videos, because it is an easy but effective one to use. Silhouette shots are also used in both narrative and performance.

The editing becomes much more fast pace towards the end of the song, as the song as built up to its fullest. The editing is mainly done off the beat throughout, but there are certain shots which have been done on the beat for effect. When it comes to  the end the song has less to it and resembles the beginning, therefore the editing becomes less frequent and not as fast paced. There are also more slow motion shots towards the end of the video. 

The History of Music Videos

Music Videos

A music video is used to help advertise an artist and their song or album. Artists mainly make music videos for new singles and is a way of getting them heard by the public and therefore into the official charts. These days music videos can be both push and pull media products and can be viewed by them being pushed onto us both on TV through music channels like 4Music and MTV or we can go searching for them online, the main sites being artists' official sites or on video websites like Youtube. It is now possible for people to buy music videos for their laptop/iPod etc throught iTunes.

The basic conventions of all music videos include a narrative structure - they tend to tell a story between characters, and a performance - the artist usually performs the song in some form. They are normally done together, but a music video can adopt just one of these and still be successful. This is a basic starting point for all videos.

Just like film and television, mise-en-scene, lighting, shot framing and shot type are important to convey the story. For the majority of music videos, especially those with narrative, the story being told and the factors previously mentioned (mise-en-scene etc) usually reflects the message and subject of the song. For example a typical pop song will use high key lighting, bright colours for costume and happy, smiley characters including the artist. A rock song is much more likely to feature a performance from the artist whether is is with or without narrative, because it shows the whole band together using their instruments that you here on the song.

Brief: Music Videos

A promotional package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three:

• a website homepage for the band
• a digipak for the album's release
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak.