Throughout my A2 coursework music video 'Drop The World' by Lil
Wayne, I have developed, challenged and followed existing conventions of a
mainstream rap music video. Andrew Goodwin's theory states that there are seven
key aspects to music videos, some may have more than one, it will also either
be complimentary, contradicting or amplifying.
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The first key aspect that I
have used in my music video is the relationship between the lyrics and the
visuals on screen. The visuals that I have used are to convey the feeling of
the world being moved by the artist. The main lyrics to highlight at this point
are 'pick the world up', the artist uses hand gestures to portray the world
being picked up as the camera also moves in the same direction as his hands. In
addition, using the 'earthquake' effect also helped illustrate the anger and
frustration the artist was trying to show to the audience.
The close ups of the artist are
also complimentary of the lyrics used as the artist uses direct address to
connect with the audience. For an artist, using direct address is important as
it lets the audience understand how serious the concept of the song is. This
allows the audience to become more engaged with the song as they will feel as
if the artist is talking to them specifically, making the audience feel as if
they can almost relate to parts of the song.
It is important for a music
video to create a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals on screen as
it allows the audience to understand the theme of the music video and what
the message or point the artist is trying to get across, this is easy to
achieve when the lyrics and visuals are complimentary or amplified.
An example of this is from
'Last Friday Night' by Katy Perry, in this music video the lyrics are
complimentary of the visuals as she explains all the mistakes and experiences
from a party she went to, making it clearer to the audience by using her
visuals as a flashback to last Friday night.
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Andrew Goodwin also mentioned
that a key aspect is the relationship between the music and the video, this can
be achieved as the video will fit in time with the music. In my music video I
have been able to accomplish this because of the fast paced beat of my music, I
have been able to use on beat editing. On beat editing is having changes in the
video in exact parts of the beat changing to give further effect to your music
video. I have been able edit my video and fit parts of it in time with the
music. This was one of the reasons my artist was able to use actions and hand
gestures on certain drops of the beat. In addition, the shots leading up to the
chorus are intentionally calm. This is to show the juxtaposition of the artists’
emotion. This is so the artist is able to get his message across without
seeming angry about the situations that occur in his life. However, the chorus
is very aggressive and upbeat to show that the artist feelings are coming out.
An example from 'Walks Like
Rihanna' by The Wanted is where the video and choreography in the video have been
structured to work with the song. This has allowed the music video to feature
on beat editing and have smooth transitions between shots.
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Goodwin also stated that
another aspect that music videos featured was that a genre would exist
throughout. In addition, he also stated that artists chose specific props and
costumes to fit into an already existing genre. The typical conventions of a
pop music video is following trends, the clothing will be quite fashionable and
extravagant. In my music video I have used trendy and well-known brands to make
the artist more appealing to the audience. Furthermore, using well-known brands
also helps my artist become more relatable as the audience may own or wear
similar items. This is done by many of today's artist. For example Chris Brown,
Drake, Future and Quavo. I use this convention of real music videos as the
artist wears hoodies from brands Hollister and A Bathing Ape, both known across
the younger members, enabling them to feel as if they are able to identify with
the artist.
I chose to challenge the
typical convention of rap music video as my video did not feature any women.
the reason for this is because it would ruin the seriousness of the video. In
addition, I also made sure my artist did not have on any jewelry on in the
video as that is not the way I wanted my target audience to be able to relate
to the artist.
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Another important aspect is the
several close ups that artists used during their music videos. This is seen as
artistic branding. For an artist, it is extremely important for their face to
be known to their target audience, the close ups allow the audience to pick up
on the emotions and gestures of the artist. Within my music video I use close
ups and extreme close ups for maximum publicity. This would allow the audience
to connect with the artist, identifying themselves through the artists’
emotions.
A real music video example is
'Beautiful' by Eminem, where the close ups are used to develop Eminem's
personality to the audience as the song is more sentimental and has a more
meaningful message. The close ups in this video are used for an artistic portrayal.
My close ups were also used to show the type of weapons that the artists are
holding, immediately drawing in the audience as they will start to have
unanswered questions. In addition, this will also show the target audience the
anger of the artist.
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Goodwin also suggested that an
artist would have a signature part of their music video that will be featured
in the majority of their videos, this can be done through their branding or
their unique style. I have developed this idea as my artist uses branding to
being outgoing and for the audience to relate to him as a normal individual who
shops in similar places. Furthermore, the artists persona makes him more relatable.
An example is Michael Jackson.
Michael would were extravagant and vibrant outfits as his unique selling point
to the audience, along with a video that had an amazing story line. This
allowed him to be more memorable and easily recognisable. Another style of star
iconography is having a similar look to all your music videos. This allows the
audience to instantly know who the artist is. This is done by La Roux as she
uses unusual make up and songs in more than on music video. This portrays the
type of unique selling point she is going for and is most comfortable using.
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Goodwin also mentions that an
aspect that may be used is voyeurism. Voyeurism is something that is unusual
for the audience to see that can be described as explicit or confusing. Within
my music video I have included voyeurism as the CCTV effect makes my video look
distorted and look as if something has happened with video. This will give the
sense of the lyrics being put into action as the artist says ' I know what they
don't wanna tell you', this effect portrays the artist being serious as if who
he is talking about is trying to make the video malfunction. It also give the audience
the feeling of privacy being breached as if what the artist is sharing with the
audience could be incriminating.
A real music video example of
voyeurism is from Rihanna in her song 'Stay'. In this music video, Rihanna is
seen in another light as she seems to be vulnerable which an unusual style for
her. Furthermore, there was also small parts of nudity used as the scenes take
place in the bathroom. This added to Rihanna as an artist because it allowed
her audience to see her in a different situation form her previous songs,
appealing to a wider audience.
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Lastly, music videos can also
convey intertextuality as the music video may contain other forms of media,
this is to appeal to a much wider audience as they some may be able to make
sense of other situations that are mentioned and relate to them.
An example of this is We Made
You by Eminem as he continuously refers to the news of people and makes a
mockery of it. The main reason artist do this is to gather a larger audience
because of the information that he may mention. This can range from news about
other artists to problems going on in the world.
I did not use intertextuality
in my music video as I wanted to challenge this concept and make all the work
in my music video my own. I was able to gather knowledge and inspiration on the
outfits used after doing research on artists with a similar genre.
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