Textual Analysis of The Killers

Genre - The genre of this piece is hard to tell from just looking at it because the way in which the band is using old instruments and dress old as well but the performance makes it look like a kind of rock band due to the kind of lead singer and the bass, guitar and drummer which is very similar to a rock band, also the kind of fast paced shots also connote this rock band.

Narrative - The narrative is visually about a prostitute who is in love with the lead singer but is being forced to be with all these other men, this has hidden connotations to the lead singer and his relationship, this could be about how a woman cheated on him and he is trying to give her attention but she cheats on him and hurts him. However it also may have connotations to him cheating on a woman he was trying to give his attention to but the narrative is open to interpretation maybe this is why I feel it is an effective video.

Representation -  The apple represents love and danger in this piece, we can tell this because the red represents danger and the love is always given when she has the apple. The representations of the harlot prostitutes in this piece are through them being the victims of the antagonist who is the girl with the apple controlling them. The representation of the apple turning green at the end means that the danger is gone and he can't control them anymore.

Audience - The audience of this piece is clearly quite mature people as it has a lot of codes to look at which can be interpreted this kind of knowledge is entertaining for mature audiences that enjoy analysing and finding hidden codes in things. Also it could appeal to the audience of The Killers, the fans to allow them to know more about The Killers.

Institution - The record company clearly have a lot of money on this piece because the way in which it has loads of costumes, props and set which has been brought back in time which is a difficult task to do without a large budget. The probably spent quite a lot because this band is very well known and can make a larger audience and draw in more money from making the video entertaining.

What is a Magazine advert and Digipak?

A magazine advert in terms of music video is a kind of advertising upon a band, song or album inside a magazine. It is usually created to be placed upon a wall to provide remembrance and entertainment to audiences. The way in which the magazine advert is created is by colour and font in certain ways that reach their target audience, for example a hard core rock band making an advert which aim to reach at their hard-core rock fan base, they cant do this by having bright colours and soft text on the advert, they would need something a bit gritty and hard to appeal to that audience unless they are using irony which only happens if the band is extremely known. This is an example of a magazine advert:

A digipak is smilar to a magazine advert as it promotes a song, album or artist but at the same time gives a CD and bonus features usually. A digipak is usually bought by long term fans of an artist or band as they feel like a closer connection with them by getting these added features. A digipak looks similar to album case apart from it it split into three sections with a cover, back cover and a section inbetween them, this is a way in which they promote more features and other stuff by the artist to get across to their audience. A digpak is more expensive but more rewarding to an audience member. An example of a digipak would be this:

Initial Ideas on Our Music Video

These are my initial ideas upon my music video, the ones I am most interested in using will be for genre is Singer Songwriter, i really enjoy this kind of emotional music myself and the way in which certain videos are set. For characters I would like a male protagonist, a female antagonist and a female protagonist so I can have a main focus upon a relationship. In setting I would love for it to be set in a run down place like a building or abandoned warehouse. For content I would like to focus upon some pressing issue aswell as the relationship between two. In storyline I am happy with them all but I would either go for the relationship in war or happy, broken and back together.

Textual Analysis of Ed Sheeran

Genre - The genre of this piece is singer songwriter, this very clear as it has a main focus upon a clear narrative like many singer songwriter music videos. It could also be classified as pop due to the high budget gone into the music video, with her wings and effects used such as the sepia effect. However it goes against both genres in the fact that the artist is very low key in the music video whereas they usually feature quite clearly however in this he only features shortly in the diner.

Narrative - The narrative of this piece is about a girl who is essentially the God of love cupid in Greek mythology and she is running round all these places making people fall in love with each other where all she wants is love herself and the arrow stabbed in her neck connotes that she is dying without love and she needs someone and the final uplifting moment at the end where she falls in love with the police officer coming to inspect her body and she comes back alive to fall in love with him.

Representation -  As general connotations go females are definitely the more dominant characters in this piece as we see the female protagonist in most shots causing happiness to other people and her being the main character causing her to be the most dominant. Homosexuality is represented in a positive way as in the piece they connote men and women in love with each other going against the stereotype of a comical character and instead being the main love in this piece, as we see both and male and a female kissing the same sex. We also see ethnicity shown in a positive light instead of its danger stereotype and in this piece we see a black male being kissed by a white female showing that interracial relationships are normal as well.

Visual Codes -Like said before the arrow stabbed in her neck connotes she is dying of love. Her wings represent that not only is she the God of love in this piece but sometimes women are described as "angels" and this is how they are representing her due to the wings connoting she is an "angel" however she is all alone without anyone to love. Also we see people kissing in a night club connoting that love can also occur in these places.

Audience - The audience to this piece are adults, this can range in age however, as it is dominated by 20-25 year olds however we do see other array of ages such as the two 30 year olds kissing and falling in love, this is to show love is universal. However no younger children or teens are shown so this could just mean that they are not the target audience for this video.

Institution - The institution is a very high budget company, this is quite obvious because the effects and shots used are very technical and high budget and the wings must have been a lot to make and the camera itself is a very high quality camera, this is probably due to his pop genre status, so the high budget keeps it in pop and attracts passive audiences and also actives due to all the hidden codes and connotations.

Music Magazine Advertisement

This is a magazine advertisemeant for the band 'Deaf Havana' it advertises their new album 'Old Souls' we know this from the album being on the center of the page and also the name of the album being dirctly underneath the bands name. The advertisement includes information upon the albums release dates, what main songs will be included on the album such as "Boston Square" and "Mildred" which is what is stated on the page.

It also includes what kind of platforms it will be released upon which is under the "Available on"  writing. This advertisement also includes tour dates for the band and where you can buy the tickets for the tours. This means it is quite clearly trying to mainly promote the band as it includes tour dates, album, songs and the band themselves deature at the top of the page.

This advertisement uses a black and white effect on the band themselves at the top of the page, possibly to connote some mystery about the band and also to make it look more emtionaly. The page then goes into colour of the album cover which is behind the box in the center of the page which is light blue this is to again promote the album, the hue blue may connote again some emotion and light hearted music by the band. Also the child may connote some sort of innocence so it may mean the band is quite again light hearted music rather than heavy metal. The fonts used on the band and album are white possibly to again connote innocence and chilled out music. The advertisement makes you feel chilled out so possibly they may be connoting it to their music or being a complete contrast to their music.

Textual Analysis of Nirvana

Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit

Niravana's song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was released in 1991

Genre- The genre for the band/artist would be a rock/grunge, this is easily known by the band having a stereotypical headbanging drummer shown at the start of the video and also by the rock sounding guitars and performance they put on. The genre for the video is also rock because of the live performance the band are putting on which is generally a convention shown in rock artists to boost their star iconography.

Narrative- The narrative of this piece is set in a school gym, where all the kids start to get more wild and turn the place into a party after listening to the band play their song.

Representation- The teenagers in this piece are represented as the dominant characters as they are the only age to be shown apart from the band and the janitor and there are many of them, so this may represent the bands fans and show what audience they are aiming for. The older generation are shown as comical and silly as we have the janitor who is older sway side to side which looks out of place, possibly to connote that the adults are stupid and not as cool as the teenagers are in the video which may be how many teenagers feel in real life.
 

Visual Codes- Visual codes in this may be the fact that there are many older teenage people in the gym so they are communicating to this audience and through the video.

Audience- The audience in this piece is quite distinctly aimed at older teens with the full audience being consisted of older teens between the ages of 16-18. This point is again backed up by the fact they are playing their music inside a american high school gym connoting the mid to older teens but the fact that the audience seems to be fully older teens, it leads me to believe that is the main target audience. However the fact they have made an older man as the janitor who is also dancing to the music may imply that the band can be enjoyed by people of all ages.
 

Institution- The institution at this stage looks very low budget independent company as the video is set in one place and not much story line has gone into it. It seems like they have gathered a bunch of teenagers and made them go nuts in a school gym over Nirvana playing their song.

Music Poster

This is a poster in the magazine 'Rock Sound' which is a magazine mainly focused upon rock bands. The poster is of the lead singer in the band of Green Day singing on what seems to be live on stage. The lead singer or Billie Joe Armstrong is iconic in the band and many times in the bands music videos will feature at the front of the band, this is good that the poster portrays himself as it will attract fans of the band. The fact he is on stage makes it seem like you are actually watching Green Day play live so it will then attract more people that enjoy going to concerts as it makes you feel like part of something just from looking at the image.

Fonts used in this image are quite bold and stand out so it makes people looking at the poster feel like the band is different or outgoing so this may attract people that enjoy something different. Also the fact that the writing is quite big also makes people think the band is quite big and well known. Yellow is quite a main colour used in this image as the guitar is yellow as well as the "Green Day" writing this again may be because the colour stands out and is quite bold possibly to connote the bands attitude to be quite outgoing. In the middle of the image you can see the iconic logo of the band this is to connote that it is still the same band and there are very big as the amount of guitar pics are many as well as the bands fans. The glowing effect in the top right hand corner makes him seem like he is centre stage and is the most important person there possibly to connote that's how the fans may feel when watching him.

Textual Analysis of Plan B

In class we did a full class textual analysis of Plan Bs music video for his song 'Writings on the Wall' the reason we did this was so we got used to and understood the how to analyse a music video. We need to analyse music videos so we can understand what is needed in our music video for when we come to making it.

Plan B Writing's On The Wall is a music video in a series of music videos by the artist all connected in a short narrative of the alter ego known as Strickland Banks of the artist, the company and the artist believed this would be a good marketing point for the artist as it will attract the artists fans and keep them engaged and known, especially in this video through the typography of the sign and also to attract knew fans with the narrative contacting a wider audience. 
Genre- The genre for this music video is Pop/Jazz we can tell this because of the band playing on stage with their instruments and the 80s feel makes it in a jazz kind of way because this was the time that Jazz was big, it is also Pop because the sign says "The ever popular Strickland Banks" connoting that he is famous. The artist is also a Rap and Soul artist. Due to this music video being pop and jazz we expect there to be some issues in the relationship shown on screen as pop music will nearly always follow a certain narrative and a dilemma will occur. What is unexpected in the pop video is that the relationship does not have any final conclusion there is no repair in the relationship.There is intertextual references in the lyrics but not in the video, the lyrics references a Stevie Wonder song called Superstitious.

Narrative- The narrative to this piece is that The artist Plan B is with a girl and the lyrics tell us they must have been together awhile because it says "We used to have fun" so this tells us there have been stages in this relationship. So the girlfriend is at home waiting for Strickland Banks to get home (which is Plan B's alter ego) and she's cooking dinner while he is performing on stage. After his performance finishes he goes out with his band to celebrate and instead of going home he goes back with a girl to her place and cheats on his girlfriend with her and the girlfriend doesn't know. the key themes to this music video are love and trust. The trust is in the girlfriend in allowing him to go out and do what he wants and the love is lost between them and the relationship. According to Todorov's theory of the 5 stages in music videos, this music video ends at the third one. So in the music video we have the equilibrium of the nice girlfriend cooking dinner and he's on stage singing, the disruption is the phone call where he says he is staying out and the recognition of the problem is the not picking up of the phone and kissing the other girl. the characters used in this video is a false hero being Strickland Banks who seems to be a good guy with a good girlfriend, the hero will be the female girlfriend who is desperately waiting for him and the villian is the girl Strickland cheats with.

Representation- Age is quite a key representation in this video as the setting changes for different characters in the music video such as when the camera is on the girlfriend it seems very 80s and happy as many people say the 80s were a good decade and people were having fun like the woman in this piece and it's the same for when Strickland Banks is on stage, this could then connote that their relationship has been going on for a long time, we then see a change in time to modern day for when the other woman becomes introduced and when Strickland Banks is at the parties again to connote their relationship is still there to present day but they are not the fun couple they used to be. Also gender is connoted by the woman being in the kitchen which is a main stereotype that woman have received while the man is at work on stage showing that the male is dominant over the female in this piece. The artist in this video has been represented like a villain and the woman is represented as the hero, Plan B may have done this to open up his audience to woman and show that men can be mean in relationships and hurt women, also maybe to give him some iconography as a known bad man to women. He also tries to make his alter ego a big star to make himself as Plan B seem like it is very popular and has many fans.

Visual Codes- This video is set in three main places; the stage, the club and the house. The stage and the house seem to be set in 70/80s time period and this is where the equilibrium takes place so this setting connotes happy times and the relationship is good. Also the white room with the girlfriend connotes innocence and how she has stuck by Strickland. However the club is a lot different atmosphere and this is where the disruption happens, the club has very low key lighting whereas the house is high key to connote happiness at home and evilness in the club with the other woman. The writing of "STRICKLAND BANKS SOLD OUT" is typography that connotes he is very popular.

Technical Codes-There are a few shots that are used to connote certain thing; such as the extreme close up of the girlfriend at home smoking connoting that they're relationship is burning. Also there are many close ups of meals that are being cooked this can connote how important the meal is to their relationship now and what it means and also how the pot is boiling to connote that she is at boiling point of anger towards Strickland and their relationship is on the edge. There is a personaly view shot of Strickland banks connoting to look at his side of the story and look deeper in the relationship.. Many fast paced cuts could connote how fast their relationship has gone by. Finally the low angle of Strickland and high angle of the girlfriend connotes who is more dominant in their relationship which is Strickland as he is higher than her.

Audience- The target audience for this piece are young people between the ages of, 18-25 as this is a stereotypical age for people to go clubbing we know it is aimed at this audience through the use of short dresses and drinking. It is also aimed at Plan B fans as he is painted as being very popular at the start connoting a connection towards the fans.

Institution- The record company pays for the artist to look like a star with the typography on the sign saying "SOLD OUT" to connote he is big. Also when he performs to the audience they are all going nuts when listening to him once again connoting that he is a pop star and has many fans. Plan B also uses his iconography of a suit and performs to the camera so we know it is Plan B and his alter ego of Strickland Banks.

The Purpose of a Music Video

Music videos have many different purposes but the main one would definetly be to promote. A music video is created to promote things, it is a marketing strategy to get new artists/bands noticed or a song to gain more publicity making it popular to audiences and gaining more downloads and money. It can also promote other products using intertextuality throughout the video, so it could promote a film by referencing a scene or a quote from that movie thus that movie gains more views and more money is made.

Music videos can create a image of a artist by using effects and things that can't be made live on stage thus giving an artist or a band an image that audiences can distinguish them by. Music videos can also be something that can show the true meaning of lyrics in songs and contain codes that were not heard in the lyrics.

Musicians use music videos as again they choose to advertise themselves and gain a bigger profile. It allows the audience to delve into the lifestyle and persona of the musician. Musicians enjoy releasing music videos as it improves their image and they gain more fans, they like to engage their fans into their songs and music videos are a good way of doing this. As here we can see Michael Jackson portraying his cool persona through this video and how he makes everything he touches better because he was one of the most popular artists of his time.

Textual Analysis and Goodwin's Theory

A good music video for Goodwins theory would be Playing With Fire by Plan B because it includes all 7 of Goodwins thory. Firstly it has intertextual references to the film ill Manors which was directed by the artist Plan B so he is trying to promote his film as well as his music. Also in the lyrics he says "David Camerons broken Britain" here he is making references to the news and how the news believe David Cameron has done bad for Britain. Secondly at 1:03 the music matches the visuals as it goes down beat and emotional which matches the sadness of him beating up his mate and also the slow motion which is used to add tension. Also the fast beat throughout matches the visuals and how hectic it is especially at the parts with fire.

Lyrics also match the visuals in many places as if Plan B is telling the story and the visuals are backing that up to us especially when it describes what Jake is doing. At 4:00 the lyrics match to when the visuals show fire, he says the word "fire" to mirror it. The artist in this piece definitely gains some form of iconography, he wants to show to us the audience that he is from these rural areas of London and how bad they treat people in these places and what really goes on to show Britain that something needs to be done, he does this through the lyrics with the visuals to back up how bad it is especially when we see the man tied up.

The genre characteristics of rap that are shown in this piece would be rural areas as we see these areas of London that look beaten up and the council estate to give bad images of these places, making the artist seem rough. With the record label, it definitely requires many close ups of the artist, this is frequent throughout the video improving his star image. Finally the notion of looking is again quite frequent but it is most noticeable at the start when the gang member points to Jake's friend, this makes the notion of looking immediately clear. As we can see this music video used all of Goodwin's 7 techniques, proving that they are vital to the success of a music video.

Real Media Texts - Music Video

The Narrative- The visual narrative of this video is; man rides bike with his friends, gets injured while riding and friends help him conquer his injuries and carry on doing what he loves. Hidden narratives of this video is how important and loving friends can be and also how if you persevere you can do anything.

Setting-This piece is set in America we can tell this by the palm trees representing Miami and the constant heat and sun backs this up. Also the BMX bikes may also represent America because BMXing and skateboarding are two of the most loved hobbies in America and Miami. The places it is also set is a hospital for his injury and a skate park for when the are riding bikes.

Number of Shots- 131.

Transitions used- Cut, Fade to black.

Representation- The main representations used here are age and gender. Gender is shown as predominantly male and how they are the stronger people who can ride BMX's and help recover and overcome obstacles through the main protagonist. Whereas females aren't really shown throughout the piece. Age is also shown as the males look quite old yet riding bikes is something the kids and teens usually do so it represents that hobbies are universal and not bound by age.

Lyrics matching visual-The lyrics in this video do not match the visuals directly but it says "tell me that you need me" and it shows the the male needs his friends to help him beat this issue he is facing.


The Narrative- The narrative to this piece is that it follows the life of a camera and the camera drops in and out of other people's lives to view what is going on. It shows how different things make different people happy and how they are having fun like for example the couple are in love and they make each other happy. They do this so the song makes people think of happy times and promotes it in a feel good way.

Setting- This piece is set in a sunny place, like somewhere where you would go on holiday again to signify happy times. Although it may feature in different laces because the camera goes on a journey with people but the camera is mostly in sunny beachy areas.

Number of Shots- 110

Transitions Used- Various different cuts

Representation- sexuality is shown in this piece in being predominantly heterosexual due to the heterosexual couple shown positively. Age is shown as being very universal as we have a range of ages but again it is predominately middle age and young due to them ages picking up the camera and we see no elderly people or children maybe this is because they are trying to represent their audience. Gender is represented with males being the more dominant due to them having more air time and females are shown as weak and sexual due to the too women on the boat and when they go to a party in short dresses.

Lyrics matching visuals- At the start of the video when she says "you" the male jumps into the shot showing that he is who she is singing about. When she says the word "stranger" another male picks up the camera connoting that he is not part of their life. The Narrative- The narrative of this piece is about a boy in a venue chasing after a girl but she is held back by these two men and the protagonists friends stop the two males while the protagonist and the female run away together and then are hit by a car in the end.

The Setting- This music video is set in some kind of club or a bar, while we have the artist on stage performing to the audience. The high key lighting makes the place look happy and in a good mood whereas when they go down stars away from the artist it is low key and dark. This setting makes the artist seem more enjoyable.

Number of shots- 141

Transitions Used- Cut, fade to black

Representation- males are represented as the dominant characters in this piece as there were many more males than females connote that they are more important and the predominant character in this piece, this could be because the artist is male. Males are also steretypically shown as aggresive by the fight with the males near the pool tables.

Lyrics matching visuals- The lyrics do not match the visuals in many places but if we take the lyrics over the images it would imply that the male has already been with the female in this piece then it makes more sense to say that the lyrics are the males thoughts, wondering if the female will love him again. Also when it says "Angels like you" the camera is on the female while he looks at her and also when it says "there is nothing I can do" the two males that are with the female appear connoting that he can't do anything with them there.

Goodwins Theory

Goodwins theory was that every music video will contain at least 1 of these 7 elements. These 7 elements are key to a good music video and also meeting the demands of the record label. These elements are:

Genre Characteristics- This means that certain genres will display certain characteristics to make it easily distinguishable from other genres. Such as rural areas for rap or bling dependent on the kind of image the rapper wants to portray for him or herself. Such as Kanye West in the start of his New Slaves' video.

Relationship between Lyrics and Visual- This means there is some form of match between what the lyrics are saying and the visuals that are being shown, this is used in most music videos as it helps describe the story the band or the artist are trying to get across. In the music video for Katy Perry's Roar when she says roar in the first chorus it matches to the visuals as a tiger roars and in the water and in the bugs.



Music matching Visuals- Some music videos will match the visuals with the beat of the song, this is to make the audience enjoy the song more and to make the visuals flow to make the audience pay more attention to what is happening. A good example of this would be Kanye West's POWER music video as the staffs that the demons are tapping on the floor are in time with the music.


Close Ups- Most record companies will demand that in music video there must be many close ups of the artist/band to promote their star image. This is vital for music videos as it makes the audience focus upon the artist and the image they are portraying. A example of this would be Lady Gaga, close ups is something she quite regularly uses in her videos as it boosts her pop star image.

The Artist Uses Motifs/Iconography- This means that again to boost the image of the artist they will use certain characteristics to give them a persona and appeal to a target audience. Ke$ha is an artist who does this, she tries to boost her image by making it look like shes always at a party or having fun. By this we can tell she is trying to appeal to mid to late teens and early 20s who attend parties and get drunk on the weekends.

 

Frequent References to The Notion of Looking- This is when artist will look at the camera or look at something, it is a technique that draws audiences in to watching because we see them looking at us and it makes the audience feel part of something. Many artists do this, as shown in the images above.

 

Intertextual References- This means that there are references to other media in the music video, this could mean referencing things that are on TV or the news or other music videos, it can range on all media platforms. Music videos do this to promote other media acts or against other texts to mock them or promote them. Plan B makes references to real life issues on the news in his song ill Manor, he does this in a way to mock the news and touch on pressing issues.

 

Specific Knowledge of Music Videos

This is my knowledge specifically towards music videos at the moment.

Knowledge of Music Videos

This is my mind map upon what I initially know about music videos:

Name and Candidate Number

Daniel Andrew                                                                                           7355