Magazine Advertisement Analysis

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Digipak Analysis

History of music videos

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This is a brief presentation on the history of music videos, with particular interest into the genre we are basing our video on.

Therapy Audio (My chosen track)

This is the audio for our chosen track "Therapy" by Corinne Vielle. I extracted the audio from another Youtube video, and converted it into my own using imovie HD. It is the chosen track we hope to be making a video of in the near future.

Overall findings of R&B videos analysed

I have found that throughout my research, there has been a commonality regarding the types of video used in R&B/Pop. For many cases they seem to be Narrative, with hints of performance incorporated, this may be because unlike concept videos, performance and narrative (P&N) videos make it much easier for the artist to sell their image as related to Goodwin's theory. Along with my 3 music videos analyed, two other examples of music videos that rely on P&N are "She said" by Plan B, and "Cry me a river" by Justin Timberlake. It's quite apparent the artist is trying to sell their individual image as they are the first and the last thing you will see onscreen, and in most cases with a Close up as seen below.

It has also come to my attention that in my most of the videos I analyzed, there seemed to be a direct link between the lyrics and the visuals. Most of the connections seemed to be illustrative in terms of Goodwin's theory in that they are projected visually throughout the video which may be a demand for the artists target audience. The lyrics in many of there songs tend to rhyme also, suggesting that that is a requirement for when making up an R&B song. The artist can also carefully utilize their choice of location, and costume to make a point in their videos. Such as in my previous music video analyzed where Cheryl Cole uses the colour red as a re occurring motif in her video to promote her new, defiant, dangerous image. In that way the image is amplified to the audience, as in done in the video "Cry me a river" where we can see the settings are used in regard to the name of the video.

A possible convention for R&B videos from my analysis is the element of performance shown in their videos. The performance allows the artist to show of their other talents, apart from their voice which may appeal when selling the video to their audience. Videos such as "Thriller" and "Fight for this love" are heavily performance based. Some examples of performance in R&B videos can be seen below, where the artist is directly involved.

The notion of Goodwin's voyeurism in R&B music videos, is something that does happen quite commonly, with certain artists. For those who want to really establish that connection between artist and audience, and make their videos seem more interactive will definitely utilize the lyrics and movements in their song. Such examples mentioned earlier are Cheryl addressing her audience as "You" in her videos as well as pointing outwards to the screen. Others may include Justin Timberlake in "Cry me a river" where we are shown some events through that of a camera, in the artists hand, giving the audience the feeling that they are partly involved in the video.

Therapy lyrics

Therapy lyrics

These are the the lyrics to our chosen track "Therapy" by Corinne Vielle. It is our initial song, although may not be our last as in this point in time we do not have the permission regarding the use of the track, though have tried to acquire permission multiple times.

Fight for this love(2009) - By Cheryl Cole (Video Analysis)

Fight for this love seems to be a concept based video with heavy elements of performance thrown in their which shows that is is similar to that of a typical RnB video. The video starts with a close up of the singer(Cheryl) as this is the first track she has made as a solo artist and it stresses the importance of promoting her new, stylish, independent image. In addition with the use of SFX we can see her name spray painted on walls repeatedly to promote herself which can tie in to Goodwin's theory of the artsit selling themselves. The concept revolves around that of fighting for those things that matter to a person, before they are lost, and never yielding.

The shots used in the video, tend to be more close up than anything else, while the whole video itself seems to be quite digitally adept and appealing with it's variation of SFX in the background the camera tends to focus around the lead singer herself, which relates to Goodwin and his idea of the video tring to promote the artist, which in this case it does.

The use of costume used in the video also pulls attention to the lead singer, she seems to be fond of the colours black and red, which break her away from the rest of her dancing troop as well as again focusing the camera onto her. She is also later shown to be seen wearing new things never seen before to the public eye as if she is trying to set herself up as a fashion icon to her audience. Some of her clothes may also be seen to be fairly provactive similar to Mariah Carey's video "Touch my body" which could suggest that Cheryl is trying to attract members of the male audience with her body.

Her video is maily performance based, which we can see from the very beginning and the lead singer is always positioned in either the front or center of the dance troop, which shows her to be the focus which is seen to be the case for many R&B artists who utilize a group in their videos who imitate and revolve aroun the lead singer in many cases. The lyrics in the song, tend to relate more to the concept of the video(as mentionned in the intro of my analysis), but at times we can witness an illustrative relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as Goodwin suggested- such when she says "Back to the start" and we can see her backing up against a wall. In addition the re-occurring colour of red in her video signifies danger, passion and lust all to due with the concept of her video. She also establishes a connection with her audience, as we can see her point to the camera referring to her audience as "You..." which relates to Goodwin's theory of voyeurism as she is clearly including the audience in her performance.

Touch My Body(2008)- By Mariah Carey (Video Analysis)

Touch My Body, is a more narrative based video, with subtle elements of Performance fit in there. The story begins with a tracking shot of an Engineer pulling up to the lead singers house, where a series of MCU's and reverse shots take place as a brief bit of dialogue takes place between them before the actual song begins, we establish that the lead singer is regonised as her real life persona, which can explain her wealth which we can see from her estate.

In addition we can see from the Costume used in the video, how exposed Mariah looks trying to give off a provacative image, whereas the male in the video is shown to be in direct contrast with his glasses and Id which reads "Compu Nerd" And while this ties in with narrative of the video, which is later seen to be a fantasy of the Compu nerd and his activities with the lead singer(Even in his fantasies, she is seen as the more glamourous through her use of costume), it also shows her to be the one in the spotlight and the one to ultimately get more attention, which can relate to Goodwin's theory of how the artist tries to sell their images in their videos. Their is also sometimes an illustrative link between the visuals and the lyrics in the song. Such as Phrases such "Youtube" where we can see the lead singer pointing to a computer or "Camera" where we can see her pretending to take a picture with her hands.

The rest of the video, is shown to be perormance based, we see that the fantasies of the Compu Nerd are enacted in the rest of the video, while the song is sung by the lead singer and she gets the majority of the camera time, and the ideas of the lead singer getting the main focus as well as incorporating subtle hints of performance is something seen in alot of RnB videos which Touch My Body also does. Through the "Fantasy" sequence of the song, we can also see various changes of location, shown through jump cuts, this shows us that R&B videos like to alter the location reasonably alot, maybe to fit in with the needs of their audience.

Thriller(1982)- By Michael Jackson (Video Anlaysis)

Thriller is more of a Concept/Performance based video, rather than Narrative. The Video begins with a brief intoduction os a young couple at the movies watching a horror movie named "Thriller" Which can already give us some idea of the genre of the song we are about to hear. The Crane shot which is first used to set the scene(Mainly focusing on the Thriller advertisement of the cinema) Along with the music starting in the background with a non- diegetic dog howl suggests again that this RnB video will be on with potentially explicit horror content.

As we see the video progress, we can see that the main focus is on both characters, although Michael himself is always appearing in the front of the woman showing him to be the more important at the time through the backwards tracking shots used. His body movements, the fact that he is the only one talking and even the Mise en scene in terms of his costume(Him wearing bright red) while impending danger, also shows him to be the center of attention, which directly relates to the idea of promting the artist in the video from Goodwin.







The video continues, and as the singing stops briefly we are shown a new setting, that of a Cemetery which is done by a Close up to stress it's importance in the video. A voice over from a man is done which sets up the conceptual part of the video, in that the "Thriller" is that the dead can come back to life - "For no mere mortal can resist, the evil of the Thriller." This can also be applied to Goodwin's theory in that the way the lyrics, or in his case the voice over of the song actually have some literal meaning concerning the video. That evil may be reffering to the power of death and it's ability to corrupt, as we soon see when Michael, once human joins the ranks of the undead once he is encircled by them.

Once we see the converted Michael, the video turns into a performance one in which there is an entire dance routine, and the singing resumes. This is typical for RnB's videos, as they are mainly performance dominated, and once again the attention is shifted to the lead singer, Michael as he is the core of the the dance routine. It seems that during the chorus of the song seems to be where the majority of the performance lies. As we see a build up in the music leading up to the chorus, we can also see a build up in the actual performance in the video, as this is the case for Thriller.

Target Audience Questions

•What genre does your chosen song fall into?

Our song falls into the genre of RnB, as we can see that the lyrics and rhythm of the song are similar to that of other traditional RnB song, for instance It can be said that our chosen song "Therapy" by Corinne Vielle has a similar sound to that of one of my music video analyzed "Touch My Body" by Mariah Carey. In addition, we believe we can turn our song into a heavy narrative/light performance based video as Mariah's was showing it to be a song of the same genre, just by different artists. The lyrics of RnB also seem to follow the conventions of using rhyming couplets such as our chosen songs lyrics "

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqQHXaCKtyo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b8erWuBA44&ob=av3e

•Who typically buys this genre? How do you know?

It has been the general trend that teenagers are the main consumers of R&B music. This was found out by a questionnaire I had answered by the public, regarding the target audience of my genre. Also I had made a survey on Facebook, which was left to be answered by those claiming to be my target audience.

•What age? 12-24 years.

•What are the likes/dislikes of your target audience?

How are these reflected in other music videos from your chosen genre? From the Questionnaire we had answered below, we noticed that the majority of our target audience like narrative with a bit of performance incorporated, as well as 9 of the 15 from our sample agreeing that the preferred artist's style should be mainstream. I regard to the video telling a story, the most common type desired was that of one that contained romantic elements, or had something to do with relationships such as in one of my videos analyzed "Cry me a river" by Justin Timberlake in where it shows a breakdown of relationships.

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(Questionnaire used to gather information on our target audience can be seen below. (15 of these were done and most had similar results with most saying they prefer performance/storyline based videos which they consider to be a requirement from the artists)

•How do the song’s lyrics meet the needs and desires of your target audience?

The lyrics of our song can meet the needs of our target audience through themes, the idea of romance between two teenagers(which reflects our demographic well, 12-24 year olds) can be shown throughout our chosen songs videos and lyrics, such as "Intensely I adore you, attracted I am to you." The idea of the artist created an image of love and relationships seems to be something that the target audience of R&B videos seems to enjoy, as well as the various change in locations which might suit the preferences of our target audience as they might enjoy partying in clubs as seen in "Love In This Club" Usher featuring Young Jeezy.

•How would a concept/narrative/performance video meet the needs of this audience?

The target audience for R&B seem to like a mixture of both narrative and performance to suit their taste, having a dance group revolving around the artist as the lead singer commands the room and stage is symbolic of the energy that youths, and main consumers of R&B music have today. Whereas the concept and narrative side of the video is a way for our videos to express the feelings of our target audience, to make it something relatable to them in real life, such as the formation and breaking down of relationships, or the common image of "Love at first sight"- A prime example of this kind of video being shown below.