Media Classification of Music Videos

Media Classification of Music Videos:

Why is the regulation of the media so complex?

I can conclude that, from all of the research i have carried out and by taking all of the research and evidence into account, I think that it is extremely difficult to regulate music videos due to the many different factors such as the access that the majority of people have these days to music videos on many different platforms and devices. Accessibility to music videos has increased over the years meaning it is much easier for the general public to hold of and watch music videos online. The audience demands videos that are more explicit and therefore the artists are following what audiences want and music artists have to keep up with this.

Music videos can be viewed on many different websites and apps. MTV have to abide by the watershed and have to observe the timings when explicit content is being shown on the TV and when the explicit content can be shown. The explicit content should only be shown from 9:00pm to 5:30am, the hours of which children should not be viewing the content from these hours.

Media is very difficult to regulate due to the wide variety of various different mediums of media. Music videos are very hard to regulate because of how easy it is to access the music videos. Music videos are very hard to regulate due to the number of people watching and viewing the music videos online, on various websites or apps. Ofcom is an independent regulator for the United Kingdom which regulates all the Medias including music videos. Ofcom creates laws as well as other regulations that regulate who and when media can be shown to audiences.

There should be some type of regulation that should be put into place to regulate when people are watching these music videos and more importantly who is actually watching these music videos. A new way of regulating music videos needs to be put into place as the current way of regulating music videos are not effective and need to be changed in order to regulate music videos more closely. The website/app, YouTube regulates explicit videos for people over the age of 18 by placing a tick box which the viewer has to tick in order to continue and watch the video, by ticking the box you confirm that you are 18 or over, anyone can tick a box which therefore leaves the video open for any member of the general public to then watch.

Media Classification of Music Videos Continued

Media Classification of Music Videos Continued

Year on Year it is becoming more and more difficult for websites such as YouTube to regulate the music videos as there are more and more artists which are producing more and more music videos that includes explicit content such as very strong language, sexual themes and inappropriate themes that are all inappropriate for people aged under 18. As it is becoming clearer that it is so difficult to regulate music videos, the Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that all music videos viewed by people within the United Kingdom will now have an age rating label that will be stamped on the front of the music video or the music CD cover as well as the Digipak. This is a new pilot scheme that has been introduced by David Cameron after it came to light about Rhianna’s music video and song, S and M which was and is extremely inappropriate, this video sparked a lot of debate on these types of videos and how these types of videos should be regulated in an effective way so the correct audience age is watching the music videos. Rhianna’s music video for her song S and M had such a bad reception due to the fact that throughout the whole video things such as ball gags, blow up dolls and fetish all of which is inappropriate for audiences under the age of 18. From all of these David Cameron felt that some kind of regulation needed to be put into place in order to regulate sites such as YouTube as YouTube is the website/app which is most used by people watching videos, targeting the main websites and apps that are used by audiences.

Another example of a music video that became extremely well known for its very explicit content was the song that was sung by Robin Thicke called; Blurred Lines. This song was released with two different versions of the music videos, one of the versions that was released featured female models dancing around Robin Thicke in the nude whilst he was fully clothed in a suit, this of course sparked major crushing criticism for the music artist, Robin Thicke as well as the music video director, all of this criticism came from the general public making it one of the most controversial music videos of all time. This music video can also be linked to the signs and signifier’s theory as the women are nude throughout the duration of the music video whilst the men in the music video are fully clothed showing that women are underneath men in hierarchical terms, which is extremely wrong in the modern day.

There should be some type of regulation that should be put into place to regulate when people are watching these music videos and more importantly who is actually watching these music videos. A new way of regulating music videos needs to be put into place as the current way of regulating music videos are not effective and need to be changed in order to regulate music videos more closely. The website/app, YouTube regulates explicit videos for people over the age of 18 by placing a tick box which the viewer has to tick in order to continue and watch the video, by ticking the box you confirm that you are 18 or over, anyone can tick a box which therefore leaves the video open for any member of the general public to then watch.

Goodwin's Theory of Analysis for Music Videos

Goodwin's Theory of Analysis for Music Videos

Andrew Goodwin's Theory of analysis for music videos can be applied to many different genres of music from pop to rock. Goodwin's theory follows 6 points which can be used when analysing music videos, the 6 points are; 

1) A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals , illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.

2) A relationship between the music and the visuals with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics of the song.

3) Genre-related style and iconography present.

4) Star image, multiple close up shots of the main artist or the vocalist.

5) Voyeurism often plays a large part, especially in relation to females.

6)  Intersexual references to other media, texts maybe present.

Lana Del Rey Star Analysis

Star Analysis:

Background Information
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (Otherwise known as Lana Del Rey) was born of the 21st June 1985 in New York. When Elizabeth was just 15 years old her parents sent her to Kent School to help her assuage her dangerous attachment with alcohol. Elizabeth then graduated from Kent School and became accepted into the State University of New York at Geneseo. However, she made the decision not to go, and instead, went to live with her aunt and uncle in Long Island. Elizabeth spent her time on Long Island working as a waitress and being taught by her uncle how to play the guitar. Not long after learning how to play the guitar, Elizabeth wrote songs and went over the city performing in different nightclubs. When performing in these nightclubs Elizabeth did not go by the name of Lana Del Rey but instead went by the names “Lizzy Grant and the Phenomena” and “Sparkle Jump Rope Queen”.

The Following year Elizabeth was accepted – and decided to attend Fordham University. Elizabeth received a major in philosophy. During these years, due to her own previous problems with alcohol, Elizabeth volunteered at a homeless youth and drug outreach program in addition to painting and rebuilding houses on an Indian reserve site.

Elizabeth gave her first big performance at the Williamsburg Live Song writing Competition. During this competition she met Van Wilson a representative for 5 Point records (a record label). The next year (2007) Elizabeth signed a $10,000 contract with 5 point records even though she was still a senior at Fordham University. However, Elizabeth’s father bought the rights back from her record label because she felt that “nothing was happening” while she was with 5 point records. Elizabeth came up with the stage name “Lana Del Rey” as it reminded her “of the glamour of the seaside” and said “it sounded gorgeous coming off the tip of the tongue.” She was later persuaded by her managers and lawyers to stick with the name Lana Del Rey. I believe this was a great decision as it instantly gave Elizabeth an air of Star quality. The name is so unique, beautiful and glamorous which fits perfectly with her music and persona. Being so unique, it helps Elizabeth stand out as an artist and shows that she has something different to offer the music industry.

After pulling out of five point records, Elizabeth released her first music video on YouTube named “Video games” while being signed with a new record label; Stranger Records.  The video and song quickly became a huge success and put Elizabeth in the sights of Interscope records and Polydor. These record companies knew that they had to have Lana, and so immediately signed a contract with her, beginning work on her second studio album; Born to Die.

Props in Music Videos

Props that are used in Pop music videos

Many different props can be used in a variety of different of music videos and situations throughout music videos that are produced over the years. Props are a vital part of the music videos and help to add to the scene as well as create significance on certain objects as well as people in the music videos. From looking at Pop Music videos I can see that the props that are popular to be used include things that are associated with party's and celebrations as well as people of a younger age. Pop Music videos also include things that are realistic with which fit into the background and surroundings as they should do. Props also form part of the conventions within a music video. Music videos, especially pop music videos include props that narrate the lyrics that are being said or sung especially if the song is a narrative song, props can and are used to pull the music video together and make a really realistic and believable scenes or scene.

Music Video Genre Research (Metal)

Metal

·         The music videos are very fast paced – this goes with the theme of anarchy.

·         The music videos are very dark – this is to make the video look “dangerous” and “edgy”.

·         A lot of the shots revolve around the band or singers performance.

·         There is sometimes a narrative.

·         If there is a narrative, it is sad or dark to go with the theme of the song.

·         The videos usually try to look scary

·         The band members usually wear very dark clothes and have long messy hair.

·         They usually have visible tattoos, piercings etc.

                            

Music Video Genre Research (Country)

Country

·         The music videos are usually very simplistic. Focusing on the artist performing.

·         There are usually a lot of close-ups of the singers face to convey emotion but also develop their star image.

·         The music videos tend to be very slow, steady and simplistic.

·         Not chaotic.

·         Very slow paced music videos – the shots last a very long time.

 

Music Video Genre Research (Rock)

Rock

·         Rock videos are usually very dark.

·         The signer and musicians wear dark clothes

·         They wear eyeliner

·         They usually have a very messy, long hairstyle to add to the chaotic and reckless aspect of the music.

·         They tend not to feature a narrative.

·         Some videos contain effects to make the video darker or more eerie. However, some of the music videos feature minimal effects to add to the “raw” and careless aspect of the music.

·         The videos are not meant to look like masterpieces. This means that the shots are often shaky and unsteady (this is done on purpose).

·         Rock videos tend not to contain much emotion. This is why the camera tends not to focus on the expression on the signers faces (not many close-ups).

·         The music videos tend to contain something blasphemous to religion. For example, upside down cross features in many rock videos. This adds to the carless, chaotic nature that the music aims to achieve.

                                                

Music Video Genre Research (Indie/Alternative)

Indie

·         The music videos usually contain no gimmicks – it is just the singer and the musicians. This keeps the focus on the artist and helps build their star image. This also keeps the focus solely on the music/sound not visuals and appearance.

·         Indie music videos have recently started to contain narratives. This is most likely done to keep up and stay relevant within the music industry.

·         The music videos tend to switch between the narratives to the artist singing. This helps the music have more emotion and meaning.

·         There tends to be less effects and visuals within indie music videos to focus solely on the singers’ voice.

·         The music videos tend to be a lot more creative, slow and peaceful that that of pop and rock. This is because the music is much slower and peaceful than that of pop and rock.

·         Many indie artists go against the conventions of what is considered mainstream. This means that the singers dress in an unusual or retro way. This helps give the signers their own identity, making them stand out as unique and further increasing their own star identity.

·         There are a lot of close-up camera shots within indie music videos. This is because the music tends to be emotional and the close-up shots allow the signers emotion to be captured.

·         Indie music videos feature unusual locations. For example, the cathedral in Born to Die by Lana Del Rey or the prison from Telephone by Lady Gaga.

·         Effects are used within indie music. However, they are not used as much as pop or rock music videos. This is because indie music takes pride in being more natural and raw.

·         The effects that are used a done to convey emotion not to make the video look more appealing.

·         Often the shorts are very slow. This is done to convey emotion and emphasise the meaning of the lyrics.

·         The music videos focus a lot on the musician’s as well. This is done for artistic effect while showing the product has more meaning than just the artist. For example, this can be seen throughout Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Rey.

                                                                     

Music Video Genre Research (Pop)

Pop

·         The songs contain a narrative.

This is good because it makes the lyrics a lot more relatable and memorable.

·         Doesn’t always have continuity editing

This is done to give the music video a more hectic, fast paced feeling.

·         Uses a lot of imagery and symbolism

This helps the singer convey the message of the song much quicker.

·         Typically shows the singer/musicians alongside the narrative (Cross-cuts)

This is done to build the star image of the singer/ band.

·         The shots tend to focus on the singer a lot. This is too help build the singers star image.

This also makes the singer more memorable and lets the viewer the ability to see the musician.

·         Close-ups are used frequently to show the star singing the song. This, again, makes the singer stand out.

The close ups can also be used to show the emotion of the singer.

·         Pan shots are used to show shift the interest of the viewers. Typically from the signer to the environment or musicians.

This also helps give the illusion that the audience are moving with the singer.

·         Tracking shots are used quite a lot. (Especially during the singer moving) gives the audience the feeling of movement with the song.

Again, this is done to give the audience the illusion of moving with the singer.

·         There is a lot of editing within pop music videos. This is because the videos typically have a very high production value, are very complex and energetic.

This editing is essential to make the videos interesting and to help the music video contain as much as possible.

·         Editing is used to coordinate the signers lip singing to the song.

Without this, the music video is at risk of looking very unprofessional, and shows the audience that the signer’s voice has been pre-recorded and edited.   

·         CGI often used

This is done to add impressive effects and backgrounds into the music video.

·         Women are often objectified – treated differently

·         Fancy locations

This is done to make the music video more entertaining and interesting to watch.

·         Usually contain a lot of bright colours.

 This is done to make the video look more appealing to a younger age.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin Theory

“Music videos ignore common narrative as they are essentially advertisements. As consumerism, we make up our own meaning of a song in our minds; a music video can anchor meaning and gives the record company/artist a method of anchoring meaning.”'

-        Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin stated that there are 6 key aspects to a successful and well-made music video. These are 6 aspects are:

1.      A relationship between song/Lyrics and the visuals

This is done to enhance the audiences understanding of the music video, helping to convey the songs meaning through visuals. 

2.      Inter-textual references

These are used to give the audience some gratification for spotting the references. This makes the music video more entertaining to watch. However these references can also be used to boost the stars popularity as it will assist the music video in appealing to another audience.

3.      Frequent close-up of the stars

This is done to make sure that the audience remember the face of the star. This will make them more popular and will also help form an attachment between the star and the viewers. If the viewers didn't know what the star looked like, then their music isn't associated with them. This can greatly hinder the rate in which the stars popularity grows

4.      Thought beats (Music video edited to synchronise with the pace and the beat of the song)

This is done to make the music video look professional as it will synchronise with the pace of the music video. This makes sure that the visuals “flow” continuously with the music video, making it more entertaining to watch.

5.      Genre is conveyed and iconography is used frequently

Iconography is used within music videos to show the audience what the star represents and what genre of music they are identified with. For example, most Lana Del Rey Music videos contain very unique artistic shots, filters and mise-en-scene to show that Lana Del Rey is of the Indie pop genre.

6.      Voyeurism

Voyeurism is typically used to generate audience interest about the star, especially if the star is female. This is because if the audience finds the star sexually attractive they are more likely to be entertained by their content.

                                     

Meeting 3

Narrative Theories

Theorists

There are three main theorists that I have looked at and these are Vladimir Propp, Todorov and Levi Strauss.

Vladimir Propp

He was a Russian critic who specialized in the structure of fair tales. He said that there are the same set of characters used in everything.

• The Villain -- The Joker in The Dark Knight
• The Hero -- Spiderman
• The Dispatcher (Sends hero on way) – Nick Fury in Avengers Assemble
• The Helper -- Robin in Batman and Robin
• Princess -- Gwen Stacey in The Amazing Spiderman
• False Hero – Zap Brannigan in Futurama
• Donor -- Lucius Fox in Batman Begins
• Father who rewards hero --

Todorov

He argued that all stories start with an EQUILIBRIUM. Then an event or series of events cause DISRUPTION, eventually RESTORATION and ORDER is achieved at the end of the narrative.

An example in a film where this theory is tested is The Simpsons Movie. The Equilibrium is when they are all acting normal and Homer is doing chores. The Disruption is the second part when Homer saves the pig. The Realisation is when the Simpsons are kicked out of Springfield and forced to move to Alaska. The Restore and Order is when they go back and save Springfield after Homer has ‘changed’. And then it all goes back to Equilibrium again when the dome is blown up and everyone is free and happy.

Levi Strauss

Strauss’ theory dealt with the idea of BINARY OPPOSITIONS.

• Good/ Bad
• Light/ Dark
• Noise/ Silent
• Strength / Weakness
• Past/ Present

A film example of this theory is the Harry Potter series as Harry is seen as the good guy and Voldemort is always seen as the bad/evil guy.

Lana Del Rey - Music Video Breakdown and Analysis (Born to die)

Lana Del Rey - Music Video Breakdown and Analysis

Lana Del Rey has many music videos with a very high production value. However, this hasn’t always been the case. Before signing with Interscope records and Polydor, Lana’s music videos where very simplistic and featured her very little. This can be seen in Lana’s first music video “Kill Kill”. The music video for Kill Kill consisted of a compilation of vintage home videos which would occasionally cut to Lana singing 5 or 6 words. In the music videos, when Lana was in the shot, she would not be in the centre. This denotes that she didn’t have much star quality and that other things where more important. The videos had a very low resolution and low production value. However, all of this changed drastically when Lana signed with Interscope and Polydor.

Born to die. This music video truly brings out the potential of Lana Del Rey and is a great example of how she managed to adapt to dominate the music industry. Born to die clearly has an incredibly high production value; one of the many perks of being singed to Interscope. Everything within this video is an improvement on Kill Kill. The music video was of such a high standard it won MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction and MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography. The first major difference that we can see in born to die is how Lana is in the centre of the shots and a lot of them are close –ups of Lana’s face. All of the shots in the music video revolve around Lana. This is great as it massively develops Lana’s star image and shows that she is important. Doing this helps grow a fan base around Lana as they now show her as an important and glamorous figure. The next big difference is that there is now a strong narrative to the music video. The music video is about how she dreams of remaining in a relationship that is destining to fail, hence the title “Born to die”. To convey this narrative the video has a lot of cross cuts featuring Lana and her lover together. Furthermore there is a lot of symbolism used to convey the danger of the relationship such as Lana being dead, lying in the arms of her lover.

Another thing that becomes clear is that the music video is a lot more sexual than that of Kill Kill. Sadly, this is mostly due to the entire music industry becoming more sexualised. However, this video used it to convey a deeper meaning, having it fit the overall narrative of narrative of love and passion within the song.

The next impressive change is the location of the music videos. In Kill Kill Lana was in a small room decorated with flowers. However, within Born to Die Lana is sitting in the centre of a beautiful cathedral. This was only possible due to the big budget that Interscope assign to Lana. The budget for the music video is estimated to be around 15 times more than that of her previous music video made with stranger records; Video games. Again, this bigger budget meant that the music video could have much better mise-en-scene. The two tigers by Lana’s side are good evidence of this.

The camera angles and shot types are also more artistic, challenging and high quality. For example the steady, slow zoom to Lana faces. This shot is very slow and steady, while also fitting the pace of the music. This is great because it emphasis how, even the camera work has changed to make Lana Del Rey more relevant. All of this also makes the video look more professional and goes with Lana’s persona of being very collected and effortless.

There are lots of cross cuts within the music video too. This is good because it keeps the music video “flowing”, making sure that there is enough narrative for the audience to understand the song put also enough screen time of Lana so that the audience can remember her. The cross cuts also synergy, not only with the beat of the music, but also to the meaning of the song. All of this proved successful. This is evident through how the music video won various awards and how born to die became the 5^th best-selling album in America in the year of its release. Furthermore, the born to die music video has received over 200,000,000 views on YouTube. This shows how Lana has managed to adapt, becoming more relevant and more appealing to a wider audience.

                                                     

Harrold "Hype" Williams

Music Video Director Harold "Hype" Williams

His full name is Harold "Hype" Williams and he is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter and music video director.

Awards:

• Billboard Music Video Award for Best Director of the Year (1996)


• Jackson Limo Award for Best Rap Video of the Year (1996) for Busta Rhymes' "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check"


• NAACP Image Award (1997)


• 8th annual Music Video Production Association Award for Black Music Achievement (1997)


• MTV Video Music Award in the Best Rap Video (1998) category for Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy wit It"


• MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video (1999) for TLC's "No Scrubs"


• BET Award for Best Director (2006) for Kanye West's "Gold Digger"


• And in 2006, Williams was honored by MTV with its Video Vanguard Award

For a lot of his early videos he worked with John Perez, a cinematographer, and the main style they used was the Fisheye Lens. This distorted the camera view around the central focus. This stopped becoming his signature style in his music videos when he experienced his lowest amount of production in 2003, this low was the lowest he had ever had within his whole career. This screenshot is from one of Hypes first videos by Busta Rhymes with 'Gimme Some More'



His new style became the regular widescreen ratio, while a second shot is split and placed in the upper and lower bars. This can bee seen in the music video 'Diamonds on my Neck' by Smitty: