Evaluation

For this assignment I had to create a music video trying to match the styles and conventions. Firstly what I had to do was choose a song I wanted to work with.

The song I ended up choosing was Time by Pink Floyd. My reasoning for choosing this song was because I had a strong idea of the narrative I wanted to convey. My first idea I wanted to pick a fast upbeat song, but of all the ones I thought about, I couldn’t think of anything to tell a story, and I wanted to have a narrative based video, rather than performance.

In terms of codes and conventions, I related some of the visuals to the lyrics, i.e. one shot the words in the song is the following:

“Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way”

During the word ‘hanging’, you see Nick hanging onto a rock, then shows me looking at a picture of the girl I want to be with, then cuts to a picture of the two of us together.

Also I used a reference to the notion of looking. The old clips of me are played through the TV, and we see an over-the-shoulder shot of me watching this footage.

During the guitar solo, you see me playing the guitar along with the solo. You don’t see me playing the guitar throughout the solo. I use slow footage during the solo to emphasise the speed of the solo.

The editing in the video doesn’t cut to the music as that isn’t what I intended in the first place for this video, however, the ending fits better with the music, as when the music starts back up, it cuts to me driving, and this ending scene fits well with the words to the song too, as I’m driving home, and the lyrics to the song:

“Home, home again. I like to be here when I can.”

The reaction I got from my music video was positive. Harry Gee-Woolley had this to say:

“The music video was very good. It evokes childhood memories and makes you think back to what you did back as a kid.”

Mark Kipling said this:

“Very emotional. Pulls on the heart strings of the childhood moments.”

Overall I am happy with how the video turned out, and definitely want to make another one in the future, this time maybe going for a performance based upbeat video.

Animatic

Music Video Ideas

For my first idea, I thought about Time by Pink Floyd. Time is about how time is wasted, and how we don't get to do stuff before our time is up. The lyrics start off with meaning to a child, and how we think we have unlimited time, then to middle age and how the years get shorter every year and not finding the time to do things, then by the end of the song the lryics turn towards being old and the end of time becoming ever so near.

In order to make this video relevant to the lyrics, I would want to start the video with a child just living a normal day without a care in the world. Then turning to adelecence and how life becomes more difficult. And then ending with an old aged pensioner just sitting down at home watching TV. In order to achieve this I would need three actors to the play the same person through the three different time periods.

My other idea for Time would be just having one actor for just one time period, prefferebly teenage/young adult when life will change dramatically, and how this person feels he/she has wasted their childhood years and wants to try to make the most of their future so want to try to do what they can to be happy and have a successful life. Or someone who has been addicted to alcohol and drugs and wants to turn their life around.

Music Genre

Illustration – Either a straightforward performance video or a simple narrative video that illustrates the meaning of the lyrics and visualizes the music in a straightforward way.

Amplification - the conventions demonstrated by the music video ‘auteur’ or creative director.

Auter - Director taking control.

Disjuncture - also created by ‘auteur’ directors these videos are completely abstract and have no obvious link to the music, lyrics, song title or artist. In this sense they are a point of ‘disjuncture’ from the song.

Middle of the road or MOR is a broad term encompassing a number of musical styles. Not technically a genre in its own right, it was, and in some places still is, a popular radio format.

Target Audience

Every media text is produced with the intended reader in the mind. It is important therefore that the producer considers both the;
Content of the text – is it suitable/appropriate for the audience?
Style of presentation - is it attractive to the audience and will the content be understood by them.
For example boy bands videos and rock videos will differ in content and style.

Repetition
Audiences play an active part in media texts by demanding repetition and difference.
We reject anything that is not convincing to that type of video, so we play an active role in agreeing structures and conventions.
Repetition of familiar conventions ensures the return of core fans.

Media producers need to be aware of a target audience – the ideal or preferred audience for the text they are producing. There is a difference between the targeted audience and the actual audience.

Music Video Analysis

Metallica - I Disappear

The first music video I will be analyzing is I Disappear by Metallica. The video was directed by Wayne Isham.

The video comes under the rock genre. Metallica have changed their musical style throughout their career, starting off as a thrash metal band in the 80's, then changing to a more commercial mainstream rock genre in the 90's. I Disappear video was made in 2000, when Metallica were still a mainstream rock band. As with the majority of rock videos, all band members are present in the video, all of which having their own part to play, as well as being seen playing the instruments.

The lyrics to the song aren't really portayed in the video. Only one of the verses represents what is being shown. 'Hey hey hey, and I went, and I went on down that road.' During this verse, we see James Hetfield driving in a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro down a hill in San Francisco.

Certain parts of the video are cut to match the music beat. The intro to the song cuts very quickly between different scenes which are later seen in the video, like a brief montage introduction. During the chorus the song slows down, and so does the editing. Rather than throughout most of the video where there are no held shots, it's literally one shot after the other within a a couple of seconds, but when the chorus starts we see longer shots and establishing shots of the environment where the band is playing, which is at the top of a tall rock in Monument Valley, Utah. The best example of editing to the music in this video is when Jason is being pushed around in a mansion by people walking past him, as the drum beat gets faster, the scene flashes between shots then stops as the drum beat slows down.

The band are in the video throughout, there are no actors taking the main roles. Metallica are one of those bands that have great stage presence and make doing what they do look easy. Just like many of their videos, part of selling the song to the audience is to see the band in action rockin' out. This song is part of the soundtrack for Mission: Impossible II, which is an all out action blockbuster, and the video portrays that well with the pace of the video being fast, and has Tom Cruise featured at the end, which is a selling point for the film.

Metallica aren't the type of band who want to give off the impression that they are on sexual display. They are a very performance based band, in which they do give off an impression of heavy metal attitude, and not caring what anybody else thinks. That is Metallica's star image, and they use their music videos to convey this image. Their star image on stage is a strong stage presence, and this is what the audience expect to see in music videos too, and I Disappear does this well. As time has gone on, the band have somewhat toned down a little, in that compared to early performances they don't headbang for example like they used to a lot. I Disappear contains no headbanging, but each member of the band still give off the rock attitude, especially frontman James Hetfield.

There are intertextual references in this video. I Disappear refrences four movies. These four being portrayed by the four members of the band. Kirk Hammet is on a desert being chased by a plane (North By Northwest), Jason Newsted is in a mansion struggling against hundreds of people that walk by him (Brazil), James Hetfield is driving a car down a San Franciscan hill, in a chase sequence resembling Bullitt, and Lars Ulrich jumps out of an exploding building (Demolition Man).

The video has a good concept, portraying other movies, and overall a fast paced video as a way to sell Mission: Impossible II. Performance is on show a lot, the band performing on the rock, and the members with their role. There isn't really a beginning, middle and end as such. All four of the members' roles are struggling, Kirk with the plane, Jason with the people, James with the car and Lars jumping from the building. The video end as if the world has come to an end, especially with Lars jumping from the building when he sees buildings collapsing infront of him and the building he's currently in being next in line to collapse.


Fatboy Slim - Right Here, Right Now

For the second music video I will be analyzing ‘Right Here, Right Now’ by Fatboy Slim. The video was made in 1999. The music comes under the dance genre. In dance videos you would expect to see a form of dance at some point, but this video doesn’t take on that performance aspect to a video, and focuses on the idea of evolution. The video starts off 350 billion years ago. There is a timer counting down from 350,000,000,000.

The only lyrics to this song are ‘Right here, right now’, and ‘Waking up to find your love's not real’. These lyrics have meaning towards the end of the video, when we see time in the present.

The video is cleverly cut. It seems like one continuous shot. The video starts off with a cell in the ocean evolving into a jellyfish, then into a fish, to an alligator, to an ape, and then finally to a person. The camera follows as the character is moving, keeping the same speed as the character at all times. As the fish moves out onto dry land and morphs into an alligator, the lyrics start. As the lyrics stop, and the music kicks in, the alligator begins to move. This happens later on when the tempo of the music changes back to the main beat of the song, and the character is now an ape standing on one spot morphing into a man. When morphing into a man, the timer counts down much slower. As the beat kicks in, he begins to walk again. As the song ends and fades out, the character who is now an overweight man, sits on a bench, and the camera zooms out.

Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim only appears in the video once, dressed as a baker. As the man walks past, he walks away from the camera and towards Norman and grabs a roll or hot dog and eats it. Norman doesn’t appear in many of his videos. Another one of his videos is famous for actor Christopher Walken who dances throughout the video, and Norman doesn’t appear in the video. Norman Cook is an artist who maybe doesn’t believe in promoting himself in that way by a performance, and feels he only wants to use his music as his only promotion.

There are no intertextual references in this video. At the end of the video, once the phases of evolution is complete, the fat man is the cover art for the album You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, in which Right Here, Right Now is on.

There is no narrative as such in this video in terms of the lyrics telling a story. The video is concept based, although evolution could be seen as part of a narrative.