I researched some existing music videos in the pop genre and analysed the narrative and performance. Some videos helped me with either visual inspiration, narrative inspiration or both. The research also helped me pin-point conventions of the pop genre which I could adapt own music video so it's recognisable in the pop genre. Through the conventions, I will be able to strongly communicate meaning: my brand and star identity as well as my values, attitudes and beliefs.
POP MUSIC VIDEOS
The first video I watched was Katy Perry's 'hot n cold'. It's a narrative video about a woman who walks out of her marriage due to her husband's mood swings. She then replies on her support system to get through the rough post-marriage breakup.
Throughout the video, the visuals amplify the lyrics and there is constant cutting to the beat, fast paced editing which often breaks the principles of continuity and narrative flow and extremes such as constant cutting from wide to close-ups. These are typical conventions of a pop music video.
The mise-en-scene throughout is used very effectively to convey Katy's different state of mind at different points in the music video. In the beginning wedding scene, the shot is lit with bright lighting to symbolise Katy's purity and innocence on the loving day of her marriage. However, there is higher saturation in this shot with an almost plastic filter on top of it. This could convey the falseness of the marriage and how Katy is soon to end it.
As soon as Katy reveals why she is annoyed at her husband, this breaks into her singing where there is an audio-visual relationship. The darker lighting, creating shadows in the background and on people's faces juxtaposes with the previous shot and adds to Katy's dramatic reveal of the dumping of her husband. The darker lighting and shadows, which conveys Katy as a more evil character, could be used to introduce a new side of Katy that the viewer hasn't yet seen, foreshadowing the events that are yet to come.
As soon as Katy starts her new independent life without her husband, there are several shots of her in different locations, one being a concert where she is performing her song.
In this section, where Katy is singing in the night club, there are many close up shots of her body. This voyeuristic treatment of the female body strongly links with Vernaliss' pop music video theory. The red lighting, paired with the red pvc dress create a seductive, alluring feel. This gives the impression that Katy is free to express herself after her stifling marriage. Costume and makeup is very important throughout the music video. Later on we see Katy, the bride, with dripping black makeup down her face. This creates a haunting effect, almost like something from a horror movie. This conveys the fact her husband is now scared of her but also conveys her emotional state due to the ending of her marriage and confused character.
- What I really liked in this music video was the theme of escapism and love from her support system conveyed throughout. This has inspired me to really express the escapism feel in my music video. At the beginning of my music video, I will have my character at work, bored, I will grade it to heighten the boredom and blandness of it and when she leaves and meets her friends and girlfriend, I will use fun effects and maybe high saturation, brighter grading to show the difference in my character's state of mind like Katy has done.
- As well as this, the video was full of cutting the beat, discontinuity through jump cuts and disjointed edits and constant cutting from close up to extreme wides. This gave the video an exciting feel and keeps the viewer engaged.
- In this video, I also liked the fact that Katy's friends were majority female. This has really inspired me to create my character as a strong female leads where her friends and girlfriends gives her the support she needs, conveying themes of 'girl power' and friend support.
The second video I looked at was 'Who's Laughing Now" by Jessie J. In this music video, Jessie J is reflecting on her younger years where she was bullied in school and re-inacting the events that happened to her in school with an actor who played a younger version of her.
At the beginning of the video, as soon as young Jessie enters her school, there is a mid shot of the back of her head walking through the corridors. This initially creates ambiguity as to what's going on because we don't see her face and she is also wearing all black. This contrasts with the brightly lit corridor and girls in pink. The audience already see that she is outcast and marginalised by the way she is positioned in the frame.
In the video, where Jessie get bullied, there is a pivotal point in the music video where she can't take it anymore and leaves the classroom. This happens as soon as the beat drops which makes the video cleaner and more dramatic for the viewer since it's in sync.
There is also a juxtapositions throughout the video in the classroom to highlight the chaotic nature of school. Instead of the children being in uniform and behaving well in the classroom like a typical representation of school, the kids are wearing peculiar outfits, the teacher is asleep and at one point, young Jessie arrives and sprays everyone with a fire extinguisher. This doesn't evoke the typical idea of what a school should be and highlights that something is wrong, this could again heighten how Jessie feels outcast and marginalised.
- What I really liked in this video, was also, the theme of escapism that young Jessie conveys. As she reaches breaking point, she lets loose and frees herself by plotting her revenge to her bullies. Although I don't want my character to plot a revenge against her boss as such, I want her to be free and happy again with her friends and girlfriend after she quits her job and I want to be able to convey this new found happiness in my music video very well.
- With regards to the ambiguity at the beginning, I thought this was very effective to engage the audience and I feel I will incorporate elements of this in my music video when I plan the narrative. I want to create some abstract elements to my film which I feel will link well with the ambiguity I will produce. I am thinking of maybe having my character in work clothes at the beginning but also wearing chains all over her to show she is stifled in her job. All the shots after this will have the cast wearing trendy outfits which will contrast with how my character was presented at the start, sad and suffocated by her stifling job.
- After noticing the juxtaposition in this music video, this also inspired me to create a juxtaposition when my character will be at work. Although she will be in formal work wear, I will have certain elements in my music video that contrast with formal wear such as really long bright nails, heavy makeup and song my music video is to. The song is evidently about partying however, putting the song behind shots of my character at work will heighten how much I don't want to be there.
- In the video, there are also many children from different races. In my music video, I am planning on using an Asian girl, an Indian boss and also include a lesbian relationship.
- To symbolise the chaotic atmosphere and also make it an exciting, innovative pop music video there is cutting to the beat, constant cutting from wides to close-ups, unusual pans and tilts and a strong audio-visual relationship. These are more conventions of pop music videos I will include in my music video to make it as true to the pop genre as possible.
- This music video also has a strong female lead which is something I want to incorporate in my music video.
MY MUSIC VIDEO
For my music video, I wanted to create a conceptual, narrative music video which told the story of my character being stuck in a job she doesn't like and then relying on her support system to make her happy again after she quits. The music video will be split into three sections: my character at work quitting her job, her getting her girl friends to pick her up and have a good time together and finally, my character meeting with her girlfriend. By the end of the video, I want to convey the fact that my character is completely free and happy. As she quits, I want the music video to convey the theme of escapism and liberation. Here are my initial ideas discovering the main themes I wanted to convey:
I then created a time coded narrative to help me plan what shoots I needed:
Due to my three-stranded narrative, I wanted the chorus to always have the same content (my character dancing in the bedroom with her friends) so the audience wouldn't be confused with my narrative and that they always have something to go back to and see my character's fun loving character.
I then started looking at locations to film my shots in order to create my music video:
1st outdoor performance shot:
Bush Hill Park - Graffitied wall, EN1
Risk Assessment:
- Public place, don't leave equipment out without supervision
- Be aware of pedestrians
- Be aware of small children running around, especially when kit it up on tripod with headphone sound wires
Office shoot, The Latymer School, N9:
I was originally suppose to film the office scenes in my boss' office but due to some work complications, he wasn't able to allow me to film in his office. Therefore, I used a work office at my school:
Risk Assessment:
- Don't be disorganised, the workspace is important to teachers and has important work.
- Beware of leaving kit outside the office since children will be walking in and out of lesson
Bedroom shoot: My Bedroom, EN1
Since my room is also spray painted, I feel it will showcase my artist's youthful and edgy star persona and will work really well when edited with the shots from the outside graffiti, creating an almost montage type video.
Risk Assessment:
- Several people in my bedroom at once, make sure nobody trips over kit or wires
Shots in the road, for beginning and end of video, EN1:
NW8:
Risk Assessment:
- Public space, don't leave kit unsupervised
- Beware of pedestrians
Casting:
Myself: JAY DAH
Kush: My Boss
Kush has had a lot of media experience before and will know how to behave himself throughout a serious shoot. Also, when looking at www.gov.uk, I found out that Asian men were often discriminated in the workplace:
Although my music video is mainly about female independence and power, I thought this was also an important issue to raise in terms of representation.
Cathy: Girl 1
Cathy has a lot of media experience. She is confident and won't shy away when needing to lip sync in front of a camera and dance. She is also Vietnamese and women of her country and culture are often not represented in music videos. Using Cathy could allow more people in my target audience to feel inspired and or relate to this representation. It will also broaden the audience appeal to my music video.
Lucia: Girl 2
Lucia has a very strong sense of style and will be perfect in terms of giving the video the slight edge I'm looking for.
Lauren: Girl 3
Lauren is a dancer and won't shy away from the camera. Her dyed hair also adds the edge I want to the video. She is also of Brazilian descent which will heighten the representation of different girls in my music video and create a wider a appeal.
Maya: My Girlfriend
Maya has been acting since the age of 12 and has recently finished drama school. Therefore, I feel she will give a very good performance into making my relationship with her believable on camera.
After these initial plans, I was ready to shoot my music video!
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