Final song choice

We finally chose to use the song "Cosmic Love" by Florence and the Machine for many reasons.


We chose to do this song for many reasons. For one, we all really like this song and we feel that we could create a video which could do the song as much justice that the original video did. This song will also give us a chance to be as creative as we want (without going too overboard, due to limited budget and time). We will have to opportunity to do something that we are happy with and that is something that is not very conventional for this genre. However, with previous Florence and the Machine videos, they have all been very creative and 'out there' so we would like to follow in those footsteps.

Our video will differ in many ways from the original. Our video will be based on the theme of Alice in Wonderland, however, we will be making our own 21st century twist on Alice and the world around her. Our video will also show perspectives as we will be filming the video as a dream sequence. However, it will show the same amount, if not more, creativity than the original video.

Short list of potential songs

Following the previous blog "Letters requesting copyright clearance for your shortlist of songs." we had to make a short list of songs which we thought we could create a good video to.

* Florence and the machine - Cosmic Love

* Florence and the machine - between two lungs

* Florence and the machine - Hurricane drunk

* Friendly Fires - Paris

* Young Guns - Daughter of the sea

* Marina and the Diamonds - Hollywood

* Bullet for my valentine - Pretty on the outside


The next step was to decide which song would be the one that we would use for our music video.

Letters requesting copyright clearance for your shortlist of songs.

The next thing that our group has to do is figure out what song we would do our music video to. This was a difficult task because we have been restricted to British artists only and our individual music tastes are not well 'rooted' within British music. For example, Jasmine is very in to K-Pop (artists such as SHINee) but because we had been restricted to british music, even contemplating K-Pop was out of the question. Also, we wanted to do a song by Crystal Castles, however due to the restrictions on the music and them being Canadian, we were unable to choose them. During the summer, I (kelly) sent a letter to request copyright clearance to the management of Florence and the machine to use her song "Cosmic Love" in order to give the group a head start in the coursework project. (see below)

(Note: My address and email address have been taken off for privacy reasons.)
We then later on used the letter as a template to also request copyright clearance for the following artists:
* Friendly Fires - Paris
* Young Guns - Daughter of the sea
* Marina and the Diamonds - Hollywood
* Bullet for my valentine - Pretty on the outside

Who was Vladimir Propp and his ideas?

Vladimir Propp, born April 17, 1895, was a Russian and Soviet scholar who analyzed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest narrative elements. He had two main theories about the typical narrative structure of videos.

One theory was within a normal structure there is a sequence of 31 functions. These being:

1. ABSENTATION: This is when a member of a family leaves the security of the home environment. This could be the hero or some other member of the family that the hero will later  rescue. The hero may be introduced here, often being shown as an ordinary person which would help the audience identify with the hero.
2. INTERDICTION: This is when the hero is warned against some action (given an 'interdiction').
3. VIOLATION of INTERDICTION: The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale). This generally proves to be a bad move and the villain enters the story, although not necessarily confronting the hero. Perhaps they are just a lurking presence or perhaps they attack the family whilst the hero is away.
4. RECONNAISSANCE: The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc.; or intended victim questions the villain). The villain makes an attempt at seeking information, for example searching for something valuable or trying to hold someone hostage. They may speak with a member of the family who innocently gives information. They may also seek to meet the hero, perhaps knowing already the hero is special in one way or another.
5. DELIVERY: The villain gains information about the victim and their seeking now pays off and they now acquire some form of information which is often about the hero or victim. Other information can be gained, for example about a map or treasure location amongst many other objects.
6. TRICKERY: The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim's belongings. The villain now presses further, often using the information gained in seeking to deceive the hero or victim in some way, perhaps appearing in disguise. This may include capture of the victim, getting the hero to give the villain something which they wouldn't want to give.
7. COMPLICITY: Victim taken in by deception and therefore unwittingly helping the enemy. The trickery of the villain now works and the hero or victim naively acts in a way that helps the villain. This may range from providing the villain with something (perhaps a map or magical weapon) to actively working against the good people in the situation (due to trickery).
8. VILLAINY or LACK: Villain causes harm/injury to family member (by abduction or some other act which would cause distress); or a member of family lacks or wants something (such as a magical potion, for example). There are two options for this function, either or both of which may appear in the story.
9. MEDIATION: Misfortune or lack of it is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc. The alternative is that victimized hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment). The hero now discovers the act of villainy or lack, perhaps finding their family or community devastated or caught up in a state of anguish.
10. BEGINNING COUNTER-ACTION: Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action. The hero now decides to act in a way that will resolve the problem, for example finding a needed magical item, rescuing those who are captured or otherwise defeating the villain. This is a defining moment for the hero as this is the decision that sets the course of future actions and by which a previously ordinary person takes on the mantle of heroism.
11. DEPARTURE: Hero leaves home;
12. FIRST FUNCTION OF THE DONOR: Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc., preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper;
13. HERO'S REACTION: Hero reacts to actions of future helper (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against him);
14. RECEIPT OF A MAGICAL AGENT: Hero acquires use of a magical agent by a possible variety of ways such as it being directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters;
15. GUIDANCE: Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;
16. STRUGGLE: Hero and villain join in direct combat;
17. BRANDING: Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
18. VICTORY: Villain is defeated;
19. LIQUIDATION: Initial misfortune or lack of it is resolved;
20. RETURN: Hero returns;
21. PURSUIT: Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
22. RESCUE: Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides, or hero saved from attempt on his/her life etc.);
23. UNRECOGNIZED ARRIVAL: Hero unrecognized, arrives home or in another country;
24. UNFOUNDED CLAIMS: False hero presents unfounded claims;
25. DIFFICULT TASK: Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, etc.);
26. SOLUTION: Task is resolved;
27. RECOGNITION: Hero is recognized (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
28. EXPOSURE: False hero or villain is exposed;
29. TRANSFIGURATION: Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc.);
30. PUNISHMENT: Villain is punished in one way or another;
31. WEDDING: Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).

There is another theory which sums up and reinforces the placement of characters in this narrative structure. This includes:

1. The villain — struggles against the hero.
2. The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
3. The (magical) helper — helps the hero in the quest.
4. The princess or prize.
5. Her father — gives the task to the hero and identifies the false hero. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished.
6. The dispatcher — character who sends the hero off.
7. The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
8. False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess

lip sync tutorial reflection

when first given the lip sync task, i was far from enthusiastic about it.
i think because i was so unenthusiastic it did effect the final outcome, none of our group enjoyed the filming because with the time given there wasnt much room for creative imput an much of it was rushed.
however, even though i didnt enjoy the task i did learn alot about the importance of preparation.
for the task we were asked to film a verse and a chorus from the song "hes the greatest dancer" by sister sledge.
after setting up the cd player and the song the cd player stopped working so we decided to use a version of the song from youtube.
after trying out many different shots we decided the best and simplest option to show our skills was to just film the verse and chorus 4 or 5 ways through from different angles whilst jasmine sat on a chair and sang through the words.
after filming we went to go do the editing on final cut pro, after imprting all of the footage we learnt how to use the marker tool, so i then marked on the audio the same begining of the same word of every peice of footage and then line them all up, we had some issues with the sound because we the youtube videa we used was different to the track that we had imported on the computer, so we had to find the youtube video and then we converted it into and mp3 file and then import it onto final cut pro.
after all files were improted marked then lined up i then used the razor tool to cut the film to the beat witch i earlyer marked. after cutting to the beat i deleted sections of the film and then our final video was compleeted.
it was very different to the opning of the thriller film because with the thriller we did alott of planning and we knew exactly what shots were going where , but with the lip sync we had to match exactly the mouth movements, i didnt find the diting harder i just found it alott different.

Analysis of a previous student's work.

Adam, Lisa, Nasima & Sayvita from 283goswell on Vimeo.

I chose to analyse Group 24's music video which I really liked. I thought it worked very well and the whole thing suited the song very well. I really liked the editing of this music video, for example the black and white contrast with only the red showing in colour. Out of all of the videos that I saw during the lesson, this one was my favourite.
I would say that the main intended audience is for people within the teenage category, however the age of the viewer could reach 20's to early 30's. The genre is indie but has some elements of the RnB genre.
The video shows the girl as the singer which makes her the narrator however, she is also the participant within the video. There are also many other participants holding signs with messages on which are the lyrics of the song. (see below).  The lyrics are linked to the narrative due to the signs that people were holding which has some of the lyrics on them.

The choice of locations which from what I can see are college, oxford circus and bond street station and Marble Arch suits the British indie genre. It is not a conventional idea that is used but it can be identified with the genre in question. There is no disruption within the video and the footage flowed throughout the video which gives it a seamless finish.
There was a good use of editing, especially when it came to the black and white with the red. There was a good use of shots and a good variety of them. For example, there are wide shots of when the girl is holding the sign outside the train station, mid shots of people holding signs and close ups of her lips singing the song. There is also a good use of angles such as the side view of her face when she was singing.
I think that the main message that this video and song wants to show and represent to the viewer was how everyone is human and equal and like the main lyric says "everybody needs love". The video shows people from all walks of life as it shows people who are in college, teachers, tourists etc.
From watching this groups work, I have learned just how much needs to be done in order to create a piece of work that is to as high of a standard as this and also what works well within a music video and what would not work. This video shows what we could do editing wise to make the music video really effective.

Who was Vladimir Propp?

Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp was a Russian and Soviet formalist who analysed Russian Folk tales' basic plot components to identify their simplest irreducible narrative elements. Below is a picture explaining his theory of basic narratives of a story.

As you can see in a normal tale there are usually 31 steps which took place in the following sequence:

1. A member of a family leaves home (the hero is introduced);
2. An interdiction is addressed to the hero ('don't go there', 'go to this place');
3. The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale);
4. The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc; or intended victim questions the villain);
5. The villain gains information about the victim;
6. The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victim's belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of victim);
7. Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy;
8. Villain causes harm/injury to family member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc, comits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc);
9. Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc/ alternative is that victimised hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment);
10. Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action;
11. Hero leaves home;
12. Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc, preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
13. Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against them);
14. Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);
15. Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;
16. Hero and villain join in direct combat;
17. Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
18. Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
19. Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revivied, captive freed);
20. Hero returns;
21. Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
22. Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognisably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life);
23. Hero unrecognised, arrives home or in another country;
24. False hero presents unfounded claims;
25. Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks);
26. Task is resolved;
27. Hero is recognised (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
28. False hero or villain is exposed;
29. Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc);
30. Villain is punished;
31. Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).

(credit:http://mural.uv.es/vifresal/Propp.htm)

In modern music videos this theory doesn't apply as much as it used to, this is due to the fact that music video nowadays often doesn't have a story line or it has a very peculiar sequence which makes it unique. However Taylor Swift's music video for Love Story actually fits in with this theory, because the lyrics of her song is a modernised version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

As you can see in this video it is similar to Propp's theory as it is somewhat based on a fairy tale where the Prince ends up with the Princess in the end of the story even though there are disruptions in their love story. However this video doesn't completely fit with Propp's theory because the problems are not the same as Propp's theory because this is a modern music video and therefore making the director show more of a unique take on Propp's theory in the way he narrates the video. 

I think that for my music video I don't think using Propp's theory would be useful because we are thinking about the uniqueness of our video and therefore the narrative structure would be different to his theory.

Reflection on lip synch tutorial experience

For this exercise I have learned many things that involves creating music video, for example getting used to remembering the lyrics of songs and making sure that It matches with the tone of the song in order to create the right emotions from the song. In my group I was responsible for performing and therefore I learnt that it was actually quite hard to convey the right mood on the camera to fit the song, especially getting the lyrics right which I found difficult due to the fact that I was not familiar with the song myself. At first I was enthusiastic with the filming and even did some of the dance move from the original music video, but I realised after the 8th take I couldn't do the exact movements and therefore making it hard to edit in final cut pro.

The editing of our lip sync video was not as perfect as we thought it would be, it lacked many things such as the range of camera angles and I thought that I didn't completely lip sync it exactly with the lyrics which caused some of the clips being edited not on the beat. However this shows that for our final music video that learning lyrics and doing the exact actions over and over again is crucial to the final product and therefore I will make sure that this will be noted when do our music video.

The use of razorblade tool on Final Cut Pro was very useful when editing our video, we learned how to use this during our making of Thriller film in AS, however we learned to use the layering of music and video effectively which we did not learn in AS. I learned that it is important to use the lock tool to make sure that the music stays in place and it goes in sync with the video. I also learned that when syncing the music and video together it is important to make sure that the lyrics matches the action, this was difficult due to the fact that our audio was different from the CD we were given because there was an electronical error on our CD player and therefore causing us to use Youtube which means we had to download the MP3 using youtube downloaded on http://www.flvto.com/ to extract the audio from the youtube video. I also learned he importance of using markers tool on Final Cut Pro to make sure that we cut the scenes to the beat

(insert screen cap here)

I found this website that teaches how to edit to the beat in Final Cut Pro that I found quite useful

http://www.studiodaily.com/main/training/howtutorials/f/post/Edit-to-the-Beat-in-Final-Cut-Pro_10865.html

And a video tutorial on youtube



This will help my group to edit to the beat for our final music video.

(For pictures and video of our lip sync exercise please click here http://candipop10group3.blogspot.com/2010/09/lip-sync-tutorial-pictures.html)

Lip sync tutorial commentary

By doing this activity, I have learned the importance of knowing all the words and the correct rhythm of the song so when you o to the editing process of matching the video with the music, it looks convincing and realistic. This activity also taught me the importance of planning and also how we should shoot the groups own music video so it is as successful as possible. When we were filming the lip syncing, we ended up filming the same thing easily over 10 times because we had done some parts wrong which not only became tedious and annoying, but it was too time consuming. This exercise has given me the knowledge of what to do for the future so the final music video is filmed well and efficiently.
The main things that I thought was the most challenging was getting all the clips together in Final Cut Pro and getting them all in sync with each other. This was because during the filming, not all of the clips started from the beginning so during editing, not all of the clips started from the beginning, making the task of editing harder for us. Another thing which was challenging was filming the same thing over and over again. For Jasmine, who was the person in front of the camera, it was a very laborious task to have the same expression over and over again when it is the 7th or 8th time she has done the same thing. By the end, everyone had had enough of it and I think you can see in some parts of the video (in the previous blog post). Some parts show her enthusiastic which is from the first lot of filming and then in some parts, her 'deadpan reaction' which shows the latte part of the filming process.
During the editing process, many things were learned. I learned how to use the 'razorblade' tool in a more effective way and also layer tracks and videos. I learned how to lock and unlock tracks and delete parts that were in the middle of the footage with ease. The editing process showed me the importance of going to different shots on the beat of the song and just how bed it looked if you changed shots off time. It was also refreshed my memory of all the other editing techniques that I had learned from the previous year when we done the thriller title sequences.
With the editing, I found that it differs dramatically from the opening of a thriller film. For example, when editing the opening of a thriller film, the main concern is to make sure that each shot doesn't last on the screen for too long or you could risk losing the audiences full attention. However, with the music videos, the beat plays a major part in how the video should be edited. When editing the lip syncing video we tried to stick with this type of editing and a new shot is established at the end of a beat. With music videos, the footage has to be tailored and edited around the music whereas with the thriller title sequences, it is the other way round. That in my opinion is the main difference which makes the editing process of music videos different from thriller title sequences.

I think paloma faiths video for upside down is a perfect example of a music video without any real link to its lyrics , however it does have a strong link to paloma herslef, paloma faith is known for being abit a tad obscure. the big balloons and the bright colours make a statement about her sexy but strange taste in fashion and style. the big umbrellas are also something that she is known for walking around with them on red carpets.





this is another example of an indie music video from florance and the machine for her video the dog days are over.

i would interprate the song as a song about rejoyce and celebration about coming out of a bad situation. the song was recently used as the sound track for the film slum dog millionare in witch a boy from the slums wins money and moves from the slums. the film is set in india and the music video had elements of that with the girls that are painted blue and the powders that go off during the different scenes. although now a very complicated video it is visually stunning with effects such as slow motion make the exploading powder looks really work.
it focuses on florence welch as a main focus point and the video slowly bulds up to a big celebrational dancing and singing looking scene at the end.
the hair and make up with very bold and reflects florences very vibrant and unique impact on the music industrie at the moment. with her being such a strong and powerfull artist with a great voice she doesnt need the smoke and mirrors that some artist hide behind.

Lip sync tutorial pictures

During the exercise, pictures were taken by Kelly to show how we carried out the whole exercise and how we managed to create the final video for it. The song we done the lip sync to was the song "He's the greatest dancer" by Sister Sledge and we had to film it using tracking, panning, close ups and a range of different angles.

These photos were when Yasmin was filming all the low angled shots of Jasmine lip syncing to "He's the greatest dancer" By Sister Sledge. The best way we found to establish these shots effectively was for Yasmin to sit on the floor with the camera tilting up handheld.

These photos were taken during the first few shots of Jasmine doing the lip syncing. Here we were establishing a stable straight forward mid shot of her singing along with the song.

These pictures represent the practice stage of this exercise. There is Jasmine trying to memorise the lyrics of the song so when she sings it, she is singing the correct words in the correct order. Yasmin was also practicing with the camera to see what shots she would take first and how she was going to do them.

The end result:

Andrew Goodwin's theory.

The theory that Andrew Goodwin has about music video's are made from a few key points.

He believes that traditional narrative analysis does not really apply to pop videos for three reasons. For one, pop videos are built around the song and their lyrics and secondly they use the singer as both the narrator and as a character. Following this, the singer looks directly at the camera, attempting to involve the viewer.

He also says that pop videos rely on repetition as images are often repeated just like verses and choruses are in the actual song and pop songs and videos have a form of closure so there is a clear structure shown within all typical pop videos. Another point is that pop videos often have easily recognisable features which are frequently the way women are presented as 'objects of male desire'.

There are three types of relations between songs and videos. These three terms are illustration, amplification and disjuncture.

Illustration is when the video tells a story of the lyric. Two examples of this is 'Papa don't preach" by Madonna and "Seize the day" by Avenged Sevenfold.

Amplification occurs when the video introduces new meanings that do not contradict the lyrics but adds layers of meaning and depth behind them. An example of this is the video for "What I've done" by Linkin Park.

Disjuncture is where there is little connection between the lyric and video or when the video contradicts the lyrics of the song. One example of this is Michael Jackson's "Man in the mirror".

Analysis of a music video of your choice, focusing on the four key concepts.

There are four main concepts which must be used when analysing a music video. These are Narrative, Genre, Representation and Media Language. I decided to choose the video to the You Me At Six song called 'Stay With Me' because with the video, you can compare it to other music videos within the rock genre.

In terms of its narrative concept, it generally has a linear structure. This is because it tells a story within the video while frequently going back to a range of shots of the band playing. The video shows this in many ways, for example, you get a wide shot of the whole band playing and you can often see mid shots of the lead singer (see below)

Throughout the whole music video there is an equilibrium as the story is told throughout the whole sequence. The main story in this video shows people who have broken up with their partner and miss them and want them back. The way the people bury something that brings back memories of their relationship and they water it as if it is a plant, shows that they want to relive the memories and fun times they once had. The bands central position is the participant (as they are performing in the video) and also possibly the observer to the actual story which is being portrayed throughout.

The genre is rock and it is a light mood for the type of song, in relation to the lyrics of the song and what the song is about. A major factor for this is the type of lighting which is natural sunlight, even though it seems that it has been enhanced when going through the editing process. The location is set in an open field on a bright sunny day. It almost reminds me of typical 'American' style video because of the conventional summers day that is shown here and is shown in many American videos. The band is shown playing their instruments (Guitars, Bass, Drums and Microphone) which is a stereotypical rock band look in a video. It also gives the audience the opportunity to link this video to the rock genre. The clothes that they were wearing is very casual and were in dark tones (black, greys and white) which could portray that they are 'ordinary' just like the others that are acting in the video. It takes away the glamour of who they are and shows them as human, which is also quite conventional for rock videos.

The editing is conventional here in relation to other rock videos such as Young Guns video for their song "Crystal Clear" (see below).

There is no manipulation of time in the editing process as it has the same type of lighting throughout the whole video which suggests that they have not brought day and night into a whole sequence. The lighting which is seen as natural sun light gives the video a light hearted and almost happy mood to the video.

If generalised to one main category, the target audience for this music video is for teenagers to anyone up to approximately early 20's and the youngest age of about 12 or 13. I would say that this video is conventional in terms of how a rock video is normally filmed, however you can tell that this video was not filmed in the UK unless green screen was used due to the fact that it looks very 'Americanised' and the weather is just something that is rare to see in the UK.

British music video inspirations

I will be looking at 3 different music videos which are in the same genre as the song that I will be thinking of creating for my music video.

The following videos will be British Artists because I think that British music has one of the best music videos for Indie music. Also It is part of the syllabus to do a British artist. I will be exploring the 4 concepts including genre, narrative, representation and media language briefly for each one. also stating which of Goodwin's theory of illustration, amplification and disjuncture.

Foals "Balloons"

This video has no story line for its narrative. It is very abstract and edgy which ties in with the genre of the music video which is Indie. The MV is set in a quirky British house, and the band members wears clothes that are often seen as the typical Indie look which is the quirky hair cut and the vintage looking shirt and smart shoes. This is a very typical British Indie band so the representation of the artists is something that we are accustomed to with their Indie look. The editing in this video is choppy at the beat and it repeats an action a couple of times which gives an edgy feeling. The lighting looks as if it is natural because of the setting.

This is an example of Disjuncture because there is little connection between the lyrics of the song and the video.

Florence and The Machine "Rabbit Heart (Raise it up)"

The genre is very clearly indie-pop as the video gives a feeling of airiness and natural vintage feeling which is very often used in an Indie-Pop music video. The costume itself where everyone is dressed up in a sort of fairy tale or it seems like a renaissance art work gives a very original feel to the video. It's a breath of fresh air from the usual pop video which consist of women acts as something men looks upon. The editing of this video is continuous and it flows as Florence narrates the song. The use of a vintage looking lens or maybe they added the effect creates a very distinct look to the video. It suits the song and the image that Florence has. Also the use of natural lighting works as well to convey the whole fairy tale feel of the video.

I think that this is an Amplification video, as the lyrics "raise it up" and the actions in the video adds the layer of meaning to the song.

Marina and The Diamond "Hollywood"

This video is similar to Florence and The Machine's video in terms of genre because It has a very distinct Indie-pop feel to it. As it is edgy and almost pokes fun at the lyrics. The costume that Marina wears is a collection of stereotypical American costumes which also ties in with the lyrics as she narrates the video and also participate as the main character of the video. There is no story line but it does narrate the lyrics of the song. The editing in this video is also continuous similar to Florence and The Machine, as the song goes on the video seems to flow with the beat, but different to Foals' video because of the different beat in the song. There is lots of close ups of Marina which shows how glamourised she is and that ties in with the tittle "Hollywood"

I think this video is another example of Disjuncture except this video contradicts the lyrics as Marina makes fun of American people.

Summary of the main points of Andrew Goodwin's theory

Andrew Goodwin is a professor of Media Studies in the university of San Francisco. He has wrote many books about the media world. He is very critical in his blog

http://professorofpop.blogspot.com/

there are plenty of articles about him reviewing music videos or music in general.

In his book "Dancing in the Distraction Factory"

He expresses that pop videos nowadays have no traditional narrative analysis. He thinks the reason for this is that music video directors approach narrative from a different angle to novels and films. He thinks that Pop videos are built around songs (often songs do not have traditional narrative structure), and pop music video director uses the singer both as narrator and as a character. Also the singer often looks directly at the camera and trying to involve the viewer at home with the performance.

Repetition is also something that is often seen in modern Pop videos. It means that the audience would become familiar with the genre and have certain expectations, and as the video will be played on TV, the song will also be played on the radio and the video act as an advertisement to buy the CD.

The visualisation of a song in videos may go beyond the original meaning because sometimes the video provides a visual pleasure that makes the viewers want to watch it repetitively and therefore it promotes the song. When a music video promotes other commodities such as films this counts as synergy and is beneficial for both parties.

There are 3 types of relations between songs and videos

• Illustration : where the video tells the story of the lyrics

For example Lady Gaga's Paparazzi video

The way Lady Gaga narrates and also participate in this music video illustrate the song is very unique. She uses costume and the mise en scene in the video to express the mood of the song. The editing and choreography makes the video very illustrative that it is rich in visual aspects. Which is why I think that this video represents Goodwin's illustration law.

• Amplification: When the video introduces new meanings that do not contradict with the lyrics but add layers of meaning.

an video example is Adele's Chasing Pavement

The lyrical meaning of the song is Adele's own personal memory of when she broke up with her boyfriend after he had cheated on her and thought

"What is it you're chasing? You're chasing an empty pavement."

I think that this video suits the amplification idea because the video has a very unique story line and choreography which centres around a car crash in Hyde Park. I think that the video gives a literal meaning to "Chasing Pavements"

• Disjuncture: This is where the is little connection between the lyric and video or where the video contradicts the lyrics.

An example of this is Michael Jackson' Man in The Mirror

I feel that this video is a powerful video because the lyrics itself is very emotional and it's literally like as if Michael Jackson was holding a mirror to the audience saying "this is what the world is like so why don't we change". The use of clips from third world countries makes the video more effective and powerful.

Goodwin also expresses the recognisable features of music videos, for example the way women are presented as objects of male desire in Hip Hop videos and such. Another feature is that videos try and appeal to as wide an audience as possible without forgetting their target audience, for example an older band may feature their younger days in their video to attract younger audience but older audience can still identify with them.

Analysis of a music video of your own choice. Focusing on the 4 key concepts of narrative genre media language and represantation

SHINee Lucifer MV

This is the latest music video by the Korean Pop sensation SHINee. I chose this music video because I think that it is important to be able to see the different style of music video globally. I will be exploring the 4 key concepts of narrative, genre, media language and representation.

The genre of this music video is Korean Pop as easily spotted by the way the video is set out. The difference between western pop music videos and Korean pop music videos is that K-pop music videos focuses on the costume and set of their video also the choreography. It matches with the concept that every album or every band has by their company. Concepts is something that Korean Pop artists use a lot for their look to match the song, and this is not seen a lot in the west, as K-pop artists usually invent themselves everytime they have a new song out. This video has a concept of "futuristic bad boys" so therefore the boys wear a lot of metallic, leather jackets and boots. Also their make up is something that is frowned upon if this was a western music video but in K-pop the use of make up is emphasized for their concept.

The lighting of this video is all artificial. It has a dark setting as the song is about a dark love, and it also matches with their costume and it makes the mood of the video exciting and intriguing as it focuses a lot on the boys.

The narrative of this video is straight forward, there's not a story line or plot it mostly focuses on the choreography and the band member's individual shots. Although the way the dance is choreographed it narrates the lyrics of the song. for example

"If you tie me down and trap me

Then the love is also tied down

The future is also tied down"(english translation of chorus)

The artists acts as the narrator of the song, with their choreography. There is no disruption or equilibrium in this video as there is no story line.

The representation that the audience supposed to identify is that they are the "futuristic bad boys" as the concept is set. Even though audience in the West wouldn't think so, I think that different culture plays a big role in the way the boys are represented. The boys wear excessive make up and has unique hairstyle also the costume plays a big role in the way they are represented. Their style may be seen as a very effeminate and camp compare to normal western pop stars.

This video is edited perfectly to the beat. This plays a huge role in the way the choreography looks and it sets the mood of the whole video. For their music video, they have used “matrix camera” techniques called the “Flow-mo” technique. There were over 120 digital still camera’s taking 100 full frames to 12,000 to fully capture the desired special effects for their music video.
The ”Flo-mo technique” was used for SHINee to maximize the dynamic image of their concept.

They didn't use the green screen much as most of the video is shot in a set.

below is the behind the scene footage of the making of Lucifer.

The individual shots ranges from mid shot and close ups.

these close ups are used to focus on the boys' individual character.

For the dance scenes the camera is often at a low angle looking up at the boys, this gives a powerful and strong mood as they look into the camera.

The use of zoom gives the full impact of the choreography and the Boys costume.