7. YouGov Profiler

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5. Carol Vernallis Research

Yougov-Task 7

Laura Mulvey-Task 6

Laura Mulvey

Feminist writer Laura Mulvey made a statement about the representation of men and women in music videos. She stated that "In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly".

What I believe Mulvey is trying to say here is that the world is not equal, that men are shown more superior than women. She says that men are here to do work and women are there to look nice. She says that music videos have a man staring at a woman and is thinking about sexual fantasies towards the woman and the woman is usually shown as "perfect". 

Examples of Mulvey's statement in music videos is Robin Thicke's and Pharell Williams music video called "Blurred Lines". This video features 3 adult men fully clothed in suits next to women that are naked and have see through clothing. The men in this video are almost always staring at the women and the lyrics of the song even suggest themes of sex.

Carol Vernallis research-Task 5

Task 5

Carol Vernallis is a writer on music videos, she stated that in her essay, "Experiencing Music Video":

• Continuity editing does not neccessarily apply to music videos.
• Edits are very obvious to the eye
• Jump cuts are often used.
• Master base tracks are used in order to maintain structure.
• Camera moves with music.

Example of an edit:

Here is a screenshot from the music video of "Waiting for the end" by Linkin Park, we can see how special effects have been used here to alter the man and his face.

 Example of base master track:

Here are some shots from "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. This song has so many base master tracks in the music video. Above are 3 of them.

Slow motion and flickers

Martin Garrix's "Animals" features many edits such as slow motion and flicker effects.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory-Task 4

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin was a musical theorist. He came up with a theory about pop music. He believed that pop music are:

1. Based on a song rather than having a narrative.
2. The singer is a narrator and character.
3. The singer looks directly into the camera.

He also believed that there are three types of relationships with songs and their videos. The relations are illustration, amplification and disjuncture. Illustration is where the video tells a story and dancing can reflect the mood of the song. Amplification is where the the video adds new meaning to the song that doesn't contradict the lyric but works with the song and adds layers of meaning. Lastly, there is disjuncture. This is where there is no link to the video and the song.

Example of illustration

Numb by Linkin Park

Numb is an example of of illustration as the video shows a girl who feels lonely because she is not like the other people at school. We also see the band performing in the video as well. The lead singer of the band, Chester Bennington, narrates the video with his singing aswell.

Example of disjuncture

Californication by Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Californication is an example of disjuncture as the video is the band members in a video game and the song itself is about the dangers of California.

Example of amplification

Skyfall by Adele

Skyfall is an example of amplification. This is because the song is about someone facing the end of a problem or circumstance and it suggest that something bad may happen because of this. The video itself shows scenes from 007:Skyfall. We see that the characters looked worried and we see an explosion. There is not a direct link between the song and the video but the video does give the song some meaning in an indirect way.

Functions of a music video-Task 3

Funtions of a music video

Music videos

Music videos serve many purposes, these include:

• Making money
• Cause controversy
• Make a statement
• Product placement
• Advertising
• To increase the popularity of a song
• Increase fanbase
• Promotion
• Visual art

Making money is very important for music videos because that helps the artist carry on making more music for their fans to enjoy.

Causing controversy is a known staple of some music videos. For example, Nicki Minaj's music video for "Anaconda" featured her and other dancers shaking her behind for almost the entire music video. Another example is Slipknot's "Devil In I" music video. Slipknot are known for being a bit over the top with their masks. But in this video, it included members of the band eating their hands, getting stabbed repeatedly and the brains and body exploding.

Product placement is very common amongst pop music videos. We can see examples of this in Meghan Trainor's video for "Lips are movin" where there is a HP laptop constantly being shown. This helps the artists, producers and directors as it is another way that they receive money.

But mainly, the point of a music video is to promote and market the song. It is there to boost the sales of downloads or purchases that a song makes. Many people may not like a song but they may enjoy the music video and that could eventually lead them to buy the song. 

I believe one of the best music videos is "Smells like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. I believe it is one of the best music videos because it tells you what the band is all about. It's video is also one of the main reasons why its one of, if not the best song out of the 90s because of how iconic it was. It was artistic because it wasn't like a video we had seen before and it made the band quite a lot of money due to it constantly being played on MTV. Therefore I believe that it is one of the best music videos.

Summer Homework-Task 2

For my summer homework, I created a storyboard for a music video for one entire minute. The song I chose was "Day of the dead" by American rap-rock group, Hollywood Undead. Here is the storyboard.

Introductory Post-Task 1

Introducing myself

Hello, my name is Abdul Ahmed, I am one of the members of group 23. I am currently studying A2 Media Studies, A2 Goverment and Politics and AS Psychology. During the summer lessons, I created a website for my favourite band of all time, Linkin Park. Here is a link of the website I created for them.

http://linkinparkofficialwebsite.weebly.com/

4. Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

According to Andrew Goodwin, there are three types of relations between songs and videos.
- Illustration
-Amplification
-Disjuncture

Illustration is when the video narrates the story of the lyrics. An example of this is Eminem's 'Love The Way You Lie'. As he raps about a relationship, the video synchronises to the lyrics.

Amplification is when the videos introduce new meanings that do not contradict with the lyric but add layers of meanings.

Disjuncture is where there is little connection between the lyrics and video or where the video contradicts the lyrics.

Pop videos have easily recognisable features and Goodwin claims that traditional narrative analyses do not apply to pop videos and their nature. It consists of upbeat movements, face pace, repetition and the singer looking directly looking into the camera. The singer is often depicted as both the narrator and the character.

Often, the repetition characteristics of a pop video are usually associated with memory. The catchy phrases and tunes may be used on an advert for promotion and making it memorable in a customers head. The structure of a pop music usually builds climax or constant repetition before fading away.

Other music videos provide visual pleasure and entertainment and cause the viewer to watch the videos again - encouraging promotion of the artist. Sometimes the actual video itself may be promoting other commodities. For example Wiz Khalifa ft Charlie Puth - See You Again, is an example of a promotion of Fast and Furious 7.

3. Functions of a Music Video

Functions Of A Music Video

The ultimate function of a music video is to promote the artist. However, a music video has many other functions. A music video is quite a long process to make and record companies invest in thousands of dollars/pounds to create a music video. These include close ups of the artists face and mainly consists of the artist's face throughout the video as it allows the audience to familiarise themselves with the singer.

Other functions of a music video include:
- Keeping the audience entertained as well as engaged to the video while they are listening to the song.
- It encourages viewers to watch the video again and again - which enables greater promotion as well as increasing higher revenues for the artist as they get money from a great number of views.
- It may symbolise certain things. Artists have hidden meaning behind the narrative of their videos to give out a bigger message of what they are singing about.
- They also hope to evoke emotion in the audience about what the artists themselves feel when they sing those lyrics.

An example I chose is Adele -  Rolling in the deep.

This video consists of a variety of camera shots used to portray Adele's 'lady-ness' as she sits with a straight posture on a chair. These shots don't only familiarise her with the audience but also give her the audience a positive image of her. There are lots of examples of close ups and mid shots which also contribute to promoting her.

On the other hand, the drummer who is shown, has his back turned towards the camera. This is because Adele is the artist, and she holds greater significance and it is her face that needs to get promoted. Similarly, the other man wearing a dress-like attire has his face covered too.

In this video there are lots of references to glass cups. I do not know the hidden meaning behind these, but this is an example of how artists present a hidden meaning behind their lyrics.

2. Summer Work

1. Introduction Post

Hello. My name is Tahsin and I am currently an A2 student at Candi. I study Psychology, Sociology and Media Studies and I am a huge fan of Eminem and Rihanna.

Here is the link to my weebly website.

http://rihannabadgalriri.weebly.com/

Task 11 - Mainstream Vs Indie

One Direction:

 Syco Music and Columbia Records

Signed by: Simon Cowell

Lanterns of the lake

Independent Label:
Advantages:

• Profit is 100%

• More freedom to what can be produced
• Less restricted
• Greater ownership
• Closer connection to fans/ loyal following

Disadvantages-

• Stressful workload
• Less profit
• Less global recognition
• Funding can be difficult

Mainstream Label:
Advantages-

• Support team e.g producers, distributors, costume designers, choreographers ect.
• Greater awareness
• Funding can be managed easily
• Global recognition or eaiser to become more global

Disadvantages-

• Label may be controlling for what type of music releases
• Labels can take advantage of the artist (e.g. ask for way too much profit percenatage.)
• Profit is not 100% to the artist

How important do you think merchandise and ancillary products are to the success of the band and to the audience?

Really important to gain maximum profit as well as obtain greater brand awareness and give back to loyal fans.

How many different ways can fans find out information?
Social media, Email, Leaflets, word of mouth.
Artist website

Fansite 

Would you rather be signed to a mainstream or independent label?
Mainstream there is more secuirty of not failing
Max profit can be made as artist can become global quicker

Post 9 - Individual homework

The Weeknd - Pretty (Explicit)

The Weeknd - Pretty:

Costume: Abel from the video wears casual, dark, obnubilated attire which represents his obnubilated character as if he is obnubilating something and doesnt want to be descried. He opts to wear the outfit in order to engender a ricochet effect to the audience in order to highlight his dark RNB flow of music. Other characters such as the limo driver is highlighted in the video as looking scruffy to show that his status is much lower than Abel. The woman is almost half the time naked, again reflecting Abels lyrics and the women in the video is only seen as a sexual object.

Setting: From the video there is multiple setting changes from the airport to the downtown streets, and ending with a house. To represent Abels character and that he is always moving around because of his busy lifestyle. However we do not see the lighting change in any of the settings this dark, midnight lighting may suggest to the audience to reflect back on his dark RNB music.

Props: From the music video we see a heavy dark metalic gun used to kill, this can also be highlighted to show Abels violent past, making the audience aware.

Task 8 - Hall of Fame Analysis

Jem, Zakariya, Courtney, Fuzail

Produced hall of fame cover,

(Wasnt able to upload pictures)




I really enjoyed the multiple costume change and the fact that they changed locations multiple of times to create more of an up beat effect which highlights the insturmental of the music, going back and fourth. The panning of the camera had a really dramatic effect emphasising the storyline, and really portraying the lyrics through a movie like scenario into the music video itself. Was really good.

Post 7 - YouGov

Typical Target Audiece for The Weeknd