Music Videos

Monday 7th January 2019
L/O: To research and select case studies for use of Media Language and Representation

List A:

• Corinne Bailey Ray - Stop Where You Are 
• Emeli Sande - Heaven 

List B:

• Radiohead - Burn the Witch
• David Guetta - Titanium

The music videos in List A could be regarded as 'mainstream' as they come from commercial artists who have been signed by 'major' record labels. The three music videos all feature they respective artist(s) and are a mixture of performance and narrative, and raise a number of similar representational issues surrounding 'street life'. 

Emeli Sande - Heaven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=883yQqdOaLg

The music videos in List B are from alternative or less commercial artists. The three music videos do not feature their respective artist(s) at all, instead, with each music video celebrating the power of narrative and signification and a postmodern emphasis on intersexuality. The videos in List B each use very different representations to each other, but each contrasts clearly with the representations featured in the music videos in List A.

David Guetta - Titanium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRfuAukYTKg


Emeli Sande - Heaven

• Artist - Emeli Sande
•  Genre - RnB/Soul / Pop
• Song Name - Heaven
• Release Date - 2012
• Lyrics - https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/emelisand/heaven.html

Emeli Sande’s ‘heaven’, stands as a solid representative for those in society who intend to make positive contributions. However, although they may ‘wake’ with good intentions, profound issues in society allow their faith, compassion and positive endeavour to diminish. Life becomes a game of survival within a battle of pain, despair, poverty, illness and injustice. As a consequence individuals lose sight of their true purpose and their real dreams.  The lyrics in ‘Heaven’ open doors to the existence of many interpretations. The artist strikes an audience with the repetition of the lyrics ‘oh heaven, oh heaven’. It is as if the artist is crying out in an audacious plea for acceptance, strength, guidance and forgiveness. Heaven may represent the good life in which many strive to achieve, through hard labour and sacrifice. However many face many obstacles in achieving the good life. The idea of crying out to heaven also influences ideas of faith and belief in God and an afterlife. So in this sense the song also stands as one that acknowledges ungodly sins within today’s society. This is what Emeli said about the song: "The song was written after a very long conversation I had with [producer] Naughty Boy. We got into a very deep conversation about religion and how to be good - what we all try to do in this day and age and how difficult it is for our generation because things move so fast, and how there's so many influences and avenues. He said, 'I guess you just have to keep your heart clean' and that sparked the whole song. It was done really quickly and we knew it was a special one as soon as it was done."
Music Video Breakdown - Throughout the video the music has scenes of Sande singing to the sky, and standing outside of a cathedral, there are also many shots where Mary, mother of Jesus' statue is seen in the video. 

David Guetta - Titanium

• Artist - David Guetta
• Genre - Pop
• Song Name - Titanium 
• Release Date - 2011
• Lyrics - https://genius.com/David-guetta-titanium-lyrics

The music video is like a short film, the young boy is different to everyone else and thats looked down on in society. The lyrics do link to the meaning of the song and video, however they do not tell the story. The lyrics of the song do line to the meaning of the music video "shoot me down, but i get up" and "shoot me down, but i won't fall, i am titanium", also linking to the common phrase "sticks and stones may break my bones'. The young boy does not back down and is stronger than all the officers combined. To further the theme of the music video being more like a short film, Davvid Guetta has the film 'Super 8' actor Ryan Lee to play the young boy in the video.

Super 8: 
Super 8 is a 2011 American science fiction horror film written, co-produced, and directed by J. J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, and Kyle Chandler and tells the story of a group of young teenagers who are filming their own Super 8 movie when a train derails, releasing a dangerous presence into their town. The film was shot in Weirton, West Virginia and surrounding areas.

Super 8 was released on June 10, 2011, in conventional and IMAX theaters in the United States. The film was well received, with critics praising the film for its nostalgic elements, visual effects, musical score, and for the performances of the cast, in particular, both Fanning and newcomer Courtney's acting was cited, while also being compared to such thematically similar films as E.T., Stand by Me, and The Goonies. Super 8 was also a commercial success, grossing over $260 million against a $50 million budget. The film received several awards and nominations, primarily in technical and special effects categories, Giacchino's musical score, as well as for Courtney and Fanning's performances.

Wednesday 9th January 2019
L/O: To research and explore representation and cultural context in music video case studies

 

• Pink hair represents rebellion/uniqueness whilst also remaining feminine
• Her jacket is hanging off her shoulders and she is in an almost slouched/relaxed stance which further shows her 'rebelliousness'
• Sight low angle shot making her look more powerful
• Feminine colour scheme 
• Colour of background contrasts her making her stand out more
• Direct gaze shows confidence
• Slight open mouth and slant of body could be seen as passionate/sexual or provocative
• High key lighting makes her look bight and youthful
• Mouth and eyes are highlighted to direct you to where they want you to look - higlited mouth can be seen as sexual
• Image airbrushed, no imperfections anywhere

David Guetta Before Titanium:

Before the release of 'Titanium', David Guetta seems to look very average, his clothes are very plain and basic apart from when he is dressed up for things like magazine covers or carpet events. His album covers are not solely revolving around him and tend to focus on the song name and his name, which is quite typical for DJs at the time. He hasn't really changed much since he released 'Titanium' apart from it being quite clear that he is getting older, he still dresses for normal and is still represented as the 'normal cool DJ' that everyone thinks he is.

Emeli Sande Before Heaven: 

  

• In most images of her she seems to always be looking up and away from the camera. 
• She is very unique and is represented as quite 'quirky' and different to others.

Wednesday 16th January 2019
L/O: How are the following areas represented in the music videos you have chosen?

Emeli Sande - Heaven:

• Religion - The music video shows images of Sande perceives heaven to be like. She is seen to be standing outside of a cathedral and religious statues when she is singing in some of the shots which links to that typical religious symbolism. She also looks up to the sky a lot and also puts her hands together like she is praying which makes it seem like she almost singing/sending a message up to the heavens through her music.
• Class - In the music video, there is no real presence from people of upper or middle class and it solely seems to focus on the lower or working class/poorer people throughout. 
• Ethnicity - We see all different races throughout the video showing that ethnicity doesn't matter and everyone is equal and going through the same thing. In the press at the time, young (especially black) people were perceived i a very negative way and this music video could be trying to show what life is like for these people.
• Masculinity and Femininity -  Males and females are shown to be very similar in this music video. All the men shown in the video are not the stereotypical man that you are used to see being filmed/photographed etc. They are all very skinny and are not going to be seen as stereotypically attractive like most male models would be which helps to further show everyone as equal and follow the theme of the video.
• East London - East London is know to be a fairly poor area. Sands was raised in Bethnal Green in East London which is known to be one of the worst areas. By shooting the music video in this area, not only is it going to shed light on the poor living conditions people in this area are suffering from, it can also give people from there hope as it shows that you don't have to be restricted by your postcode and can get out and make something of yourself; just like Sande did. 

Wednesday 23rd January 2019
L/O: To explore the specific representation of chosen video case studies.

• Social Realism - Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique of the power structures behind these conditions. 
• Transcendence - existence or experience beyond the normal or physical level.
• Post Modernism - A late 20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism, which represents a departure from modernism and is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions, a mixing of different artistic styles and media, and a general distrust of theories.
• Cinephilic recreation - Cinephilic. Adjective. (comparative more cinephilic, superlative most cinephilic) Having a love of films or the cinema.
• Filmic - Relating to films or cinematography.
• Value-Transference - The term can be best defined relative to the commonly used term value creation. While value creation means creating value, value transference is economic activity that involves no value creation, instead it is the transferring of value from one party to another. Value here refers to economic value.

Using social realist representation of street life to represent the authenticity and cultural currency of the artists in list A.

The celebration of the transcendence of poverty and inequality aiming to transfer that value of transcendence of the artists in List A

The use of intertextual, post modern representations in List B videos to transfer the quality of the video itself to the image of the artists.

Narrative Music Videos:

Katy Perry - The One That Got Away 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=290&v=Ahha3Cqe_fk

Genre - Pop

Target Audience - 10-17

In this video Katy Perry plays a fictional character as we follow the story of how she lost her true love. Katy occasionally performs in this video, but does so in character. The artists plays three roles in this video; the old lady living in the present, the younger version of herself who appears in memories and a third abstract character who performs. The narrative is supported by opening and closing scenes that occur before and after the audio track. Katy Perry is represented as the typical teenage girl experiencing her first love which will appeal to her target audience as most of them will feel as though they can relate to this instead of feeling like they should aspire to this which is usually the typical feel from most music videos that artists produce and will also make Katy Perry seem more normal and grounded and highlight that even though she is this big superstar she has still experienced all the same things that most people do. The target audience is positioned at a distance and whilst watching this music video will almost feel as though they are sitting in a cinema watching a film rather than a music video. In the music video values such as love, happiness and a kind of glamour are celebrated but there is also a theme of regret and sadness underlining the whole music video as well.

Exam Style Question:

"Explain how representation in music videos are chosen to promote the artist(s).
Refer to two of the music videos that you have studied to support your answer." 
[10]

In the Emeli Sande video for 'Heaven', it shows a lot bout her younger years/her upbringing. One way this is represented is by having the location that the music video was filmed in the area that she grew up in. It was filmed in Bethnal Green in East London; which is known for not being the nicest place for anyone to live/grow up and by filming her music video her, it is making Sande seem much more real and down to earth, relating more to her audience. It could also be done as a way to spread awareness of the bad conditions people in that area are living in and also, showing those people that there is hope for them no matter what and if they truly believe it, then they can make it out of that area and really do something in life; just like Sande did. As well as this, the music video is heavily revolving around the theme of Religion and funnily enough, Heaven. She is seen in multiple scenes in he music video to be standing outside a cathedral or singing up the sky with either her arms out wide or her hands in the prayer symbol. This could be a way of her again showing that she is not so different from the rest of the population by showing that she also follows the same religion that most people in the UK follow. The way Emeli Sande is represented in this music video is that she is very much just a normal person and that she is not so different from her audience which will help them feel like they can relate to her on lots of different levels. It has also helped spread awareness for the poor conditions people living in the area she grew up are having to face and especially since when this music video was released there was a rise of homelessness in the UK at the time so hopefully this music video could do its part to help get something done about this, which shows that she is also not just stuck up and thinking about herself and is also trying to help others.

In 'Titanium' it is hard to find a representation for Guetta himself as he does not actually appear in the music video. However, the music video is very high quality and it is also very much like film which suggests that the production value was very high. This shows how much he cares about his music and how he wants his music to be perceived as. We can see this from the attention to detail in the music video itself; it is very similar to the film 'Super 8' and he has gone as far as to get one of the actors from this movie to play the main character in his music video. As well as this, the music video shows a boy being hunted by the rest of the world because of his differences (his superpowers in the case of the music video) and this could be a way of showing his views on the current affairs going on in the world at the time the 'Titanium' music video was released. At the time of release, in both the US and the UK there was lots of tension between different races and people were very afraid and distrusting of people who were different to them wether it be race or religion and this music video could be Guetta's way of sharing his opinions on that situation. The music video, although he is not in it, shows David Guetta to be a very professional and serious artist who cares a lot about his music and also his fans as he clearly wants them to have a good experience when listening to his music and watching his videos, which makes him very respected in the music industry.