Music Videos

How to analyze a music video...

2009-10-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

Andrew Goodwin writing in ‘Dancing in the Distraction Factory’ (Routledge 1992)

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).
There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
There is often intersexual reference (to films, TV programmers, other music videos etc).

Music Video Proposal-Let’s heal the world

2009-09-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

Music Video Proposal-Let’s heal the world

Title: Music Video Let’s heal the world

Script writer: Jin Hao

Duration: 3 minutes 22 seconds

l Objective

This is a music video of song let’s heal the world which is made by Limkokwing university. It is about peaceful and against violence.

l Rational & Concept

Lyric :

Verse 1

We have only one life

Lets live it in harmony

We live in this wonderful world

A world that makes us one

Verse 2

We cant go on pretending

So lets all start changing

We know love is all we need

For you and me

Verse 3

Lets make a change

Lets make a stand

The world must be together as one

Let us be strong, let us be free

Verse 4

Lets rise lets join hands together

Lets care for one another

Bring peace closer to every heart

Lets live in harmony

Repeat verse 3

Verse 5

We have only one life

Lets live it in harmony

We live in this wonderful world

Lets heal the world

This music video angle focuses of an ordinary guy who thinks this world is too much fighting and violence around people. At the first,

We make any music video must have Key elements of music video, there must be some important elements inside the video. There are Lyrics: suggests general mood or feeling or sense of subject matter. Key lines play a part in the visuals but music video, rarely, illustrates the lyrics as a whole. Music: gives the tempo that drives the editing or editing may emphasize particular sounds from track, i.e., guitar, keyboard or drums. Genre: following the mise-en-scene, themes, performance, camera and editing styles of present music videos, i.e., live performance on rock videos. Camerawork: mise-en-shot is crucial to establish the sense of space and feeling. Camera works to follow artists or talents. CU and lighting are crucial for music video (due to its advertising quality) Editing: most common editing is fast-cut montage. Others use slow-paced editing to establish mood, usually for solo artists with a broad audience appeal (e.g. Dido & Celine Dion). Digital effects are also common, i.e., split screens, colorisation and CGI. Intertextuality : drawing references from other texts sparks audiences’ recognition to encourage greater pleasure and flatter. Cinema, fashion & art are key reference points. Video games are fast becoming references. Narrative and performance

Narrative in songs are often fragmented, thus storylines or linear complex fragments are usually found in music promos, giving audiences the desire to watch the videos again. Therefore, I will make all these important elements inside my music video.

I plan to shot some people fighting in their life, a couple or two teenagers, they don't respect each other, they fight because a bagatelle, beside this, there will be a real war frame in this video, shows cruel battlefield and people kill each other during the war. Secondly, I plan to make some frame on children, because only child has clear mind in this complicated world. I will make a paper plane to connect this whole video, through the flying way of the paper plane, there will be some peaceful visual in this video. Some like they play swing, they play paper plane. It represents a peaceful world in this video. Through these two main elements, it tells people how we need a peaceful area. I hope that through this music video, people all across the world will listen and digest the words so that all of the human being in this planet will stop pretending and immediately make a stand and shower to all mankind with undivided love, care and forgiveness. Thus, with these messages in this song, all of us will make the effort to heal the world and make this planet a wonderful place to live in.

l Target audience:

This music video against violence and it sparkplugs peace. All of the people who are living on this world could be the audience for this music video. Especially for citizens who stay in the chaos country. It represents humanity, freedom and social element. And there are benefits for children, even for people who have a peaceful society. Ask people to respect each other and protect peace. Ask people stay away from violence and war. Therefore, this music is any one in this world.

l Execution & treatment

The main actor, Kim is a white-collar guy aged 22 who think negatively about life and the world. He always wants to spread peaceful message to people around him. However, what he sees are always the opposite ways.

There will be a connection in this video which is a paper plane, it starts from Kim, he throws the paper plane to other places, by the flying way, it shows different peaceful frame.

In verse one, the screen appears to be black to show the night of Kuala Lumpur and cut to Kim opens his eyes. He open his eyes and cut to an old man and a girl open their eyes. Kim start walking in a neighbourhood and look around the surrounding. The camera moves with his eye-level on the surrounding which consists of trees, houses, people and cars. Suddenly, his sight falls on a couple who are fighting each other, they are pushing each others. He sees cracked photo frame on the floor, and the scene becomes blur. Cut to Kim is standing in the balcony, he picks up a paper plane and throw it outside of the balcony. By the paper pass the couple, It seems go back to before, couple’s hands to show togetherness. The guy’s hand tries to cover up the sunlight, shows the couple is fall in love. And it is a peaceful frame.

Nest, Slowly zoom out from a still picture with a group of people from different races. Each of them are holding paper plane. Everyone laugh at each others happily with a picture of sunset behind them. They are happily played together and throw the paper plane to the sky.

Second part of chorus shows a group of friends blow bubbles in a playground nearby swimming pool. Unexpectedly, bubbles are interrupted by a paper plane. they are happy to see the paper plane, they point and talk about it. The paper plane falls on the swimming pool surface, luckily a swimmer pick it up and throws it in the sky once again.

Next , Chorus shows a girl plays swings in a park. Camera focuses on her legs swings, followed by her eye-level on the environment such as trees and sky. High angle of her enjoying play swings and paper plane pass by her head. Her expression is calm, relaxing and enjoying.

Next, two guys pull each others’ shirt in front of lift, they vituperate each other, and put fist to fight. The paper plane pass by them They put hands down from each other and move in to the lift, and the door of the lift close slowly. Scene cut to these two guy play together, shows they have a deep friendship.

A group of friends sit on living room’s couch after reaches home. one of them switches on the television with a remote control. A war movie shows actors fight among each others with powerful bombs and weapons. Another one switches off television as he feels annoy with the fights between human beings. He lies on the couch and closes his eyes. One of them point to the balcony while others smile. There is sunset outside of balcony.

Cut to Kim is standing in the balcony, the paper plane fly pass him.

l Budget

Music Video – Let’s heal the world
Music Video – Let’s heal the world
Title	Quantity	Cost/Day	No.of Days	Amount (RM)	Total (RM)
Title	Quantity	Cost/Day	No.of Days	Amount (RM)	Total (RM)
Crew
Producer	1	RM 800	5	RM 4000
Director	1	RM800	5	RM 4000
Camera Operator	1	RM 600	5	RM 3000
Script writer	1	RM 600	5	RM 3000
Editor / Sound Editor	3	RM 1200	10	RM 12000
	4	RM20000	5	RM100000
					RM26000
Equipment
Camera	1	RM 600	5	RM 3000
Tripod	1	RM 300	5	RM 1500
Light	1	RM 500	5	RM 2500
Light Stand	1	RM 300	5	RM 1500
Tape	3	RM 100	3	RM 300
					RM 8800

Editing
Final Cut Pro 2.0		RM 1000	3	RM 3000
Mac Computer		RM5000	3	RM15000
					RM 18000
Others
Meal	3	RM 300	5	RM 1500	RM 1500
Transport	1	RM 200	5	RM 1000	RM1000
					RM 55300

Music Video - I

2009-09-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

Favourite Music Video?

Why do you like the Music Video?

History

C1900 Edison invents gramophone – Live music is

recorded on discs.

1927 First sound film “The Jazz Singer”

1930s Creation of Musicals

1939 Introduction of Panarom

1940s Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals

1950s & 1960s

Several artists and performers did live gigs on TV programs – Top of The Pops, The Monkees’ TV show, The Beatles released movie

1975 Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody

1977 Saturday Night Fever

1980 David Bowie: Ashes to Ashes

1981 Pop Clips on Nickelodeon

MTV begins broadcast via Warner satelite

1983 Michael Jackson: Thriller

1984 Music Box begins in Europe

MTV Video Music Awards launched

1985 VH1 begins

MTV taken over by Viacom

1987 MTV-Europe begins

The close relationship of music tracks & visual

material can be traced back to 1920s (Germany) &

1930s (USA) in Oscar Fischinger’s abstract

symchronizations & visual interpretations.

At the end of his works, “Get it at your local record

store” was displayed suggesting advertising for the

music track just heard by audience

Short films (8-10min) were made to shocase the

musical talents of artists such as Billie Holiday &

Bing Crosby at cinema screenings as part of

newsreels and main features

The invention of Panarom – a video jukebox placed

at bars and juke joints. Weighed about 2 tons,

contains 20-inch screen with back projection,

each machine played a reel of 8 16mm shorts.

Popular from 1939 – 1946.

1960s Scopitone was created in France. Each

machine showed 36 “play & rewind” short films in

color and allowed consumer choice by selection.

These films comprised of song & dance

performances with high level of female display.

Machine was very successful and by 1965, 1000

machines were installed in USA.

Lots of close ups of covered female parts

dominated these films. Frequently bordering into

pornography, these films prefigured the overt

sexual display of contemporary music videos

currently on TV.

As times changed, Scopitone was unable to cope

with the changing tastes of youth. By late 1960s,

Scopitone produced short films mainly of pop

artists, and reached a different audience.

Competition of TV also proved too great and the

Scopitone died out.

Music Television came about as an idea to create

promo-based program for Nickelodeon (Pop Clips).

British groups had frequent airplay due to the lack

of material from the American acts.

Growth of MTV was rapid when American artists

realised the marketing potential of music videos.

Run DMC & Aerosmith’s Walk This Way & humour of

works by MC Hammer & Coolio marked significance to

the acceptance of rap and became eligible for bigger

budgets. Hype Williams made high budget videos for

successful acts such as TLC, R Kelly & Missy Elliot,

generating record sales and led hip hop to replace rock

as the dominant music form.

Madonna set the route for future female acts with her

high profile & innovative music videos that emphasized

on image, performance, choreography and use of close

ups.

VH1 began in 1985, targeting older audience. MTV-Europe began in 1987, bringing in bigger demography and eventually opening up the rock video market to include other music genres.

MTV diversified and included lifestyle programming such as Unplugged & The Real World. Increased sales generated via Unplugged and popular culture and diversified entertainment also made way for non-white music videos.

The success of MTV as the leading innovative TV programming for youths made image as the key factor in artist promotion and by late 1980s, music promo video was a prerequisite in the promotion of music singles.

Forms & Conventions

Key aesthetic features of music video

• Relationship between lyrics & visuals

• Relationship between music & visuals

• Particular music video style & iconography for specific music genres – live performance for rock videos

• Close ups of main artist or vocalists

• Artist’s star iconography becomes the star image

• Reference to voyeurism usually for women and in terms of system of looking (binoculars, cameras, screens with screens)

• Intertextual references of other music videos, films or TV text.

Relationship between narrative & performance can also

be considered as an aesthetic feature.

Key elements of music video

Lyrics – suggests general mood or feeling or sense of subject matter. Key lines play a part in the visuals but music video, rarely, illustrates the lyrics as a whole.

Music – gives the tempo that drives the editing or editing may emphasize particular sounds from track, i.e., guitar, keyboard or drums.

Genre – following the mise-en-scene, themes, performance, camera and editing styles of present music videos, i.e., live performance on rock videos

Key elements of music video

Camerawork – mise-en-shot is crucial to establish the sense of space and feeling. Camera works to follow artists or talents. CU and lighting are crucial for music video (due to its advertising quality)

Editing – most common editing is fast-cut montage. Others use slow-paced editing to establish mood, usually for solo artists with a broad audience appeal (e.g. Dido & Celine Dion). Digital effects are also common, i.e., split screens, colorisation and CGI.

Intertextuality – drawing references from other texts sparks audiences’ recognition to encourage greater pleasure and flatter. Cinema, fashion & art are key reference points. Video games are fast becoming references.

Key elements of music video

Narrative & performance

Narrative in songs are often fragmented, thus storylines or linear complex fragments are usually found in music promos, giving audiences the desire to watch the videos again.

Representations are often found in music videos such as

a) Voyeurism – enjoying looking at subjects

b) Exhibitionism – subject wants to be looked at

c) Star Construction

– Image, vehicle (promo) & power (economical/artistic)

Making the video

When producing music videos, must consider

- Visual Styles

- Camera work

- Mise-en-scene

- Editing