Other Student Music Videos

Small amount of lip syncing
Simple clips

Evaluation

1.       In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

As all of our products relate to the genre of Drum and Bass, we researched generic conventions used in different products of the same genre. First of all, we researched into different music videos for this style. As the artist (Stan SB) does not have a music video for any of his songs, we could not search for any conventions or trademarks he may have used in his videos. Therefore we had to rely on our research in to other videos from this genre. One artist/group that we researched in to was Pendulum; we also used their song Watercolour as our lip-syncing practice. Pendulum often uses very fast cuts in their peace to let the editing echo the pace of their songs (as drum and bass normally has a very fast tempo). In most of their videos, the majority of the shots do not exceed 3-4 seconds. The cuts will often be in time with a beat of the bar, for example the video may cut to the next shot in sync with the first bass drum of a bar. They will also use a very large amount of editing in post-production. This will often consist of what appears to be a large amount of green screened effects. For example, in the music video for Witchcraft, most of the video would have been made in post-production. One part in the video that personally caught my eye would be when the black building blocks form a type of tower which is then suddenly shattered.

While the almost over-the-top editing is used in Pendulum’s videos, other drum and bass artist do not follow this particular aspect. For example, Chase and Status do not tend to use a large amount of green-screened editing. They mainly rely on live-action shooting. For example, in their music video for the song Time, they do not use any extra effects to make the video seem surreal. This is most likely to go along with the storyline of the music video (abusive father commit man-slaughter and shows the effect it has on family. A large amount of this video also works in contrast to the song itself as the song is fast paced, whereas the music video often uses lengthy shots put in to slow motion.   

While we have not used a large amount of special effects (and no green screen), we took the idea of pacing our video from Chase and Status. When the song began building up and climaxed at each of the ‘drops’, this is when we started using shorter clips to try and match the pace/tempo of the song. This then changed as the song became more docile and its texture became thinner having only the vocals and one or two synthesised sounds being played. At this point, the video matched the pace of the song by using longer clips, which normally did not include much movement; lip syncing was the main aspect of these shots.

The only obvious effects that we used in the video were in the flashback sequence near the end of the song/video. We edited the colouring of the shots and made them slightly brighter but with some of the colour taken out. We also added a faded black effect around the perimeter of the video to help give the concept the shots being shown are as a flashback. This type of effect, while basic, has been used in a large amount of music videos (or at least similar effects) to convey the feel of a flashback.


How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

We began looking at links between different artists’ music videos and their digipaks/album covers. The main artist’s we looked at we’re Chase and Status, Pendulum and Nero; this was mainly due to the fact that not many drum and bass artists have both a music video and a digipak/album for their song (Stan SB included).

Chase and Status – as some of their music videos involved a relatively dark and depressing storyline (father that commits manslaughter, drug and alcohol abusive television host/celebrity), their album covers often mirrored these themes (or at least the emotion they are attempting to convey). This was usually achieve by having a black and white image in the background, often showing something that they would assume would make most people feel sad/sorry about. For example, one of their album covers consists of a black and white image of a pouting dog by itself on a street.

However on all of their album covers, they have part of it as a colourful pattern following the CMYK colour scheme (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key) as it can be seen on the cover above. After researching in to other drum and bass album cover (from Chase and Status as well as other artists), we discovered that this colour scheme was a relatively popular design choice for this genre of music. Because of this choice, we decided to produce some draft ideas of our digipak cover based on this colour scheme.  We used a picture of our artist and then alter the colour scheme of the picture to fit this.

1.       What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

By receiving audience feedback, it has allowed me to focus on what my target audience would be and what they would actually want from a music video. I have managed to see this from the different responses received, specifically about what the respondents favorite music videos are (drum and bass videos include Pendulum's 'Watercolour'.

It has allowed me to make decisions on plot and narrative. For example I could see from some verbal feedback that my potential target audience generally likes to see some form of drama in a media text. Through this I could plan out a storyline that involves drama: a dysfunctional couple.

Using the feedback from each rough cut has also helped to enhance each attempt at the music video. It has allowed me to see what most people thought was a problem, and then rectify it accordingly. I have then attempted to do this with all other aspects that viewer found to be needing improvement. A large amount of these problem were the quality of the shots or the steadiness of the camera. This was then addressed to by re-filming a large selection of shots, specifically the ones that the respondents noted negatively about.


How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

I used different media technologies to assist me in these tasks, the purpose of which was because of the efficiency of the different technologies available to me. The most commonly used type of technology was a computer with access to the internet. This was mainly for research purposes as it allowed me to look at other music videos of the same genre. This then allowed me to note down any conventions seen throughout videos of this genre. It also allowed me to see different plot lines used in this style of music, however as they usually consist of exceptionally large parties and raves, I decided to stay with the idea of a dysfunctional relationship.















  

Example of Drum and Bass Digipak

This is an example of a pre-existing Drum and Bass digipak. It seems to bass around the colour green, going against the conventional colours: CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key/Black). Aside from this however, it seems to follow the stereotypical aspects of a normal album of any genre. It includes the title of the digipak, some images (sometimes of the band/artist) and a track list for the CD inside.

Digipak Ideas

This was my first idea for a digipak. My reasoning for this is because I wanted to have an image relating to the title 'Is Anyone Out There'. Therefore my idea was to have an open spaced area (such as a canyon or the open ocean), without any people or animals insight. I also wanted the image to seem as if it was coming from a first-person view, to echo the idea that the artist is in the location shouting 'Is Anyone Out There'.

This was my second idea for a digipak. This design was mainly made to follow the CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key) layout that is often present with both Drum 'n' Bass digipaks and albums.

Knowledge of Drum and Bass Music Videos

History of Music Videos

One of the earliest music videos was Bessie Smith's "St Louis Blues". This particular video was made in 1925 and was showcased in theatres up until 1932. As this was a new, interesting type of media, it was popularised through the use of theatres. As this was a new way for an audience to immerse themselves in this type of entertainment, other began to not only notice, but attempt to create similar products.

In 1940, Disney released a film called 'Fantasia', a video based around different pieces of classical music put to animated sketch. Possibly the most famous of these would be 'The Sorcerers Apprentice'.

Music videos began to increase in popularity and number in the 50s/60s as bands such as 'The Beatles' began to put a selection of their own film together with the music. For example, they made a video to go with 'Strawberry Fields Forever' with some interesting clips of the band together walking through fields as well as having some colorful aspect included, presumably made in post-production.

Eventually, as time went on, artists and bands began to experiment with these music video, pushing the boundaries of what would have stereotypically been seen in music video. For example, in Queen's video for 'I Want To Break Free', the all-male band are seen to be dressed up in women's clothing so as to assimilate the look of specific female 'Coronation Street' characters.



Music videos began to become somewhat of a controversial topic as more and more artist began to experiment with the boundaries of music video, with some of them putting scenes so inappropriate for viewing that they had to be removed and re-filmed. One example could be Frankie Goes To Hollywood's original music video for 'Relax' which had inappropriate content in it.

Now in modern times, artists have begun to take advantage of the freedom given to them with their music videos. However often, it will be the record label that has a large amount of control over the music videos  being made this day. Because of this, they have become much more controversial and much more sexual, often relating to the 'Male Gaze Theory' (Laura Mulvey).

An obvious example of this would be Robin Thicke's video for 'Blurred Lines', a video that has been an extremely controversial topic since it was released on March 20th 2013.

Textual Analysis of Chop Suey

Genre

As this song is classed as ‘Freak Metal’ (along with most of System of a Down’s music), it mainly follows the conventions seen in metal and rock music. The most obvious of which would be the fact that it is showcasing the band playing at a concert in front of a large crowd on stage. They also have used the image of a stereotypical person that would listen to metal music: tattoos, piercings, odd hairstyles, angry, likes to fight. They have also used interesting CGI effects in post-production to phase different members of the band through each other in the chorus’. This helps to emphasize the fact that it is ‘Freak Metal’ by putting something extremely out of the ordinary in the video.

Narrative

The video does not have much of a narrative as such as there is not a particular storyline to follow; it is mainly showcasing the band playing at the concert. Although some parts of the video may have been used to emphasise some of the lyrics.

For example, on the line “Hide the scars to fade away the shake-up”, some of the band member briefly disappear multiple times, possibly linking to “Hide the scars……”.

On the line “I cry…….”, the singer can be seen eating food with others in the background, all with depressed looks on their face, as if they need to cry.

On the last line “When angels deserve to die”, it can be seen that the band is no longer there, having a lyrical link between the end of the concert and death.

Representation

As the video is mainly focused on men, with women only briefly appearing in the crowd scenes, this could be challenging the idea of equality between both genders. However, stereotypically in media texts, it is usually shown as men being the dominating sex, a convention which has been followed in the video.

Lyrical Analysis and its Importance

Lyrical Analysis

Her name is Noel
I have a dream about her
She rings my bell
I got gym class in half an hour
Oh, how she rocks
In Keds and tube socks
But she doesn't know who I am
And she doesn't give a damn about me

'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby
Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby
Listen to Iron Maiden maybe with me

Her boyfriend's a d***
And he brings a gun to school
And he'd simply kick
My ass if he knew the truth
He lives on my block
And he drives an IROC
But he doesn't know who I am
And he doesn't give a damn about me

'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby
Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby
Listen to Iron Maiden maybe with me

Oh, yeah, dirtbag, no, she doesn't know what she's missin'
Oh, yeah, dirtbag, no, she doesn't know what she's missin'

Man, I feel like mold
It's prom night and I am lonely
Low and behold
She's walking over to me
This must be fake
My lip starts to shake
How does she know who I am?
And why does she give a damn about me

I've got two tickets to Iron Maiden, baby
Come with me Friday, don't say "maybe"
I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby, like you

Oh, yeah, dirtbag, no, she doesn't know what she's missin'
Oh, yeah, dirtbag, no, she doesn't know what she's missin'

In the music video, there are multiple links to the lyrics shown throughout, including images that represent the meaning behind the words as well as more obvious links. For example, on the line “Her name is Noel”, the girl (presumably Noel) appears out of the car.

One large link throughout the piece is use of teenagers in the video. As the song is called ‘Teenage Dirtbag’, the use of teenagers in the video was inevitable. However it is cleverly shown in the video by having the majority of the teenagers in the video when the line “I’m just a teenage dirtbag baby” is sung. This is also well done due to the fact that the teenagers are seen to be partying and watching a band, a stereotype of teenagers in high school.

On the lines “She doesn’t know who I am” and She doesn’t give a damn about me”, the girl is seen to be supposedly looking at the boy, but is in fact looking at someone behind him, emphasising the idea that she doesn’t even know the boy exists.  

The other boy leaves the boy on floor after he had been knocked over when the singer says ‘He doesn’t give a damn about me’, again emphasising what point made by the lyrics.

          Another rather obvious example would be when the girl walks over to the boy on the line ‘She walks over to me’.

Having lyrics in a song is very important as they help to convey any points, ideologies or messages meant for the audience. It also the audience to understand the music video better; with lyrical links (such as the ones mentioned above) it can be much easier to understand the meaning behind a song and the music video. This can also work the other way around.

Lip Syncing and its Importance

Lip syncing is what an artist or sometimes an actor will do in a music video to make it seem as if they are singing the song while the video is being played. This is normally done by playing the song while each clip is being filmed as the artist/actor mouths the words. The clips are then later on aligned up with the song itself in the editing stage of production. Sometimes, the entire song is lip synced, whereas other times only some of the lyrics are lip synced in the video.



In this video, the entire song is lip synced by Robert Downey Jr with no other actors of narrative going with it. This video is also unique in the sense that there are no cuts in it, meaning that it was filmed as one long shot.




System of a Down – Chop Suey This video on the other hand is more conventional in the sense that not all of it is lip synced (although a large amount of it is). In this video, it is lip synced by the lead singer of the band, Serj Tankian, as well as small segments of the lyrics being done by other band members.


Lip syncing is important in a video as it can often help viewers to see what the singer’s lyrics actually are; if unclear simply by listening to the song, then by watching the words being lip synced, they can understand it better. But the main reason they are important is to give the effect that the song is actually being performed in the music video, rather than just putting a song with some clips of video.

Purpose of a Music Video

Purpose of a Music Video

Music videos are generally a way of promoting the artist(s) and their music. They will often include a large amount of close-ups of the artist(s), promoting their image to anyone watching. This way, the artist(s) can be more recognised and, through this, become more successful.

                                         One Direction's 'What makes you beautiful'


It is also made simply for entertainment purposes for the audience watching. By doing this, it makes the songs more interesting, therefore making people listen to the song more often, again helping the artist(s) to become more succesful.

Music videos are also often made to help explain the meanings behind a song, using links between the lyrics and the video. For example, in Wheatus' song 'Teenage Dirtbag', on the line "Her name is Noel", a girl appears as the centre of attention in the video (presumably she is called Noel).

This is often done for songs that are made purposely to have a personal meaning or possibly to present a message to people watching. For example, as most of System of a Down's songs have double meaning, some of their music videos are used to emphasize these points. This can be seen in the music video for the song 'Aerials'; the song is about how the paparazzi single people out to make them seem out of the ordinary. This is emphasized by the boy in the video being swarmed by the paparazzi.