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.