My
video conforms to some of Andrew Goodwin's ideas on music videos, such as the
fact that there is a link between the visuals and the lyrics. This acts as the
basis for the first narrative of my music video, where I have created literal
visual representations of the lyrics using four female models, such as when the
lyrics are "with eyes that burn like cigarettes", there is a shot of
a pair of eyes staring into the camera followed by a shot of somebody lighting
a cigarette, and at times the lyrics even appear on screen. I will refer to
this narrative as ‘the colour narrative’, and the parallel narrative of the
all-boy band setting up for a performance as ‘the black-and-white narrative’. In
my video there is also a link between the music and visuals, another of
Goodwin’s concepts, as I have shots of the female models playing instruments (a
trumpet, bass guitar, and a drum) in time with the music. Additionally Goodwin
suggests that part of the appeal of music videos is voyeurism and the notion of
looking, and my music video conforms to this through the way in which both the female
models of the colour narrative and the male band members of the black-and-white
narrative are portrayed: in fragmented extreme close-ups of their bodies.
This
notion of looking can be linked to Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze,
which applies to my music video as in the colour narrative I used close-ups of
the female models’ eyes, lips, legs, and hair which act to eroticise and
sexualise them. Mulvey identified two types of the male gaze: ‘voyeuristic’ and
‘fetishistic’. The voyeuristic male gaze refers to seeing women as ‘whores’,
whilst the fetishistic male gaze refers to seeing women as ‘madonnas’. My music
video fits in more with the fetishistic interpretation of the male gaze as the
lyrics of the song mean that the models are seen as fantasies and admired,
rather than objectified. This representational issue of gender is commonly
featured in music videos of most genres and my video conforms to this.
In
terms of the representation of women in the colour narrative of my video, it could
be said that the woman described in the lyrics is represented as a fantasy, an
unachievable perfect woman that is an amalgamation of many different women
rather than one real-life person. I did this by shooting the entire video in
extreme close-up and using many different models so that the ideal woman that
the song is about is never shown in full. I used iconic signifiers that would
be recognised as feminine, for example: red lipstick, long eyelashes,
jewellery, high heels, short skirts, lace, etc. This made sure the models were
represented as conventionally beautiful and links to Mulvey’s concept of seeing
women as ‘madonnas’.
Although
it could be argued that the colour narrative of my music video conforms to the
stereotypical representation of women due to the way that the models are
dressed and made-up and additionally some of the props that are used – for
example a blender, which is an item of typical domestic kitchenware that links
directly to the traditional feminine role – it could also be said that there
are aspects of both the lyrics and the accompanying video that contrast with
this image. For example, I have one shot of a girl playing with model cars as
the lyrics are, “she’s changing her MG for white Chrysler Le Baron”, which
contradicts the stereotype of women. It is possible that my video could be
criticised for being anti-feminist as the audience are encouraged to look at
the models, and the video itself in some ways removes their identities because
their whole faces are never shown at once, only a part of their body, e.g.
their legs, or their eyes, or their lips.
My
music video fits into the indie music genre, and so as a result follows many of
the generic conventions, which was also suggested in Goodwin’s music video
theory. For example, the colour narrative features only female models, and
typically indie music uses females in their music videos as a large portion of
fans of their music are heterosexual males. It could be said that the
objectification of and voyeuristic attitude towards women are characteristic of
indie music videos. I also featured close-ups of the musical instruments that
are being played in the song, which is a generic convention of indie music,
particularly in comparison to other music genres, such as RnB and hip-hop,
where there is less of a focus on the instrumental talent of the artist and
more on their success or wealth.
The
black-and-white narrative of my video also conforms to generic conventions in
many ways. For example, black and white music videos are common in indie music
due to the fact that it gives it a rough, vintage feel, e.g. Arctic Monkeys’
video for ‘R U Mine?’. Additionally I dressed the band members in clothes
similar to both real-life performers and fans of indie music. For example, they
are all wearing relatively dark colours – dark jeans, black t-shirts, white
shirt with a black tie, etc. – which is also conventional, and allows the
audience to relate to them.
The
target audience for my video is mainly heterosexual males aged 16-25, due to
the fact that all the models in the colour narrative are girls that fit into
this same age category, and they are sexualised in the video. Additionally the
band members in the black-and-white narrative are male, so a male audience
member can relate to or admire them. However my video, like other indie music
videos, would also attract a secondary female audience of the same age.
Throughout the process of making my music video, I asked members of my primary
and secondary target audience to look at my ideas and work so far and give me
feedback so that I could ensure that it was specifically tailored to the wants
and needs of my intended audience. I did this through polls on my blog and
regular feedback forms and videos.
We
can apply Bulmer and Katz' Uses and Gratifications theory to my music video,
which gives four reasons as to why audiences consume media texts:
entertainment; surveillance; personal identity; personal relationships. We can
deduce that the audience would use my music video for primarily entertainment,
as part of the purpose of music videos is pleasure; also possibly personal
relationships, as music videos are often talked about as much as television
programmes or films, particularly those that are especially controversial,
provocative, or innovative; it could also be argued that personal identity
applies as some viewers may see the female models or the male band members in
my video in an aspirational sense.
My
music video does not follow a conventional narrative in terms of telling a
story - it does not fit into Todorov's equilibrium-disruption-new equilibrium
template. However it can be split into the two parallel narratives: the colour
narrative and the black-and-white narrative. The colour narrative is merely
made up of visual representations of the lyrics, and so as a result does not
follow much of a narrative structure. However, the way in which it declines
through the song, until the middle instrumental where it disappears completely,
and then reappears briefly in the final verse, could be seen as a narrative
structure in some sense. The black-and-white narrative follows a band of three
boys setting up for a performance, filmed in a similar style to the colour narrative.
As the colour narrative declines throughout the song, the black-and-white narrative
becomes more of the focus, and then in the final instrumental the entire
black-and-white narrative is played sped-up. The narrative ends where
conventionally it would begin, with the band set up, the lights turning on, and
them about to play the first note of the song. These two separate narratives
conform to the postmodern ideal of scepticism towards metanarratives, by toying
with generic conventions the black-and-white narrative enforces this sense of
postmodernism, and overall my video has a strong sense of style over substance.
The
costumes of my actors were very important in ensuring that the video had the
right themes and tone. I had my models in the colour narrative wear black
clothes, high heels, short skirts, lace, jewellery, etc. To make sure the
costumes they were to bring would be appropriate, I showed them the mood board
I had made, the costume posts on my blog, and described briefly what I was
looking for. I chose the costumes to be mostly black because it gives the
models a level of sophistication, and makes the use of red in the video really
stand out. The lace, high heels, short skirts and jewellery act as iconic
signifiers for femininity, and the short skirts also link with the lyrics of
the song. The models wore dark eye make-up and false eyelashes to draw focus to
their eyes, and some wore red lipstick to connote lust, passion, and
femininity. In the black-and-white narrative, I had my band members wear clothes
similar to those of the fans of the music so that they were able to relate to
them. My lead singer was dressed in smarter clothes than the others, to make
him stand out further. The other band members wore simple dark clothes: black
t-shirts, jeans, and black or brown workman boots. The props of the colour
narrative all link to the lyrics of the song (like Goodwin's idea of the
relationship between lyrics and visuals) or the instruments being played (like Goodwin’s
idea of the relationship between music and visuals). These include: a blender
and fruit, red tape and scissors, toy cars, drawing pins, a book, monopoly
money, a cigarette and lighter, a drum and drumsticks, and bass guitar, a
trumpet. The props of the black-and-white narrative are all things you would
need for a band’s performance, such as microphones, guitar and bass guitar, a
drumkit and sticks, studio lighting, extension leads, etc.
The
editing of my video is fairly simple; I used cuts throughout and some examples
of split screening. I also removed colour for the black-and-white narrative on
Adobe Premiere Pro and added filters on After Effects to make the colours of my
colour narrative really stand out, and give it a more professional look. My
video is filmed almost entirely in close-up or extreme close-up. As previously mentioned,
I did this to ensure that the models are never shown in full, so that the woman
being represented by the lyrics remains an unachievable enigma.
Magazine Advert
Similarly to my music video, my
magazine advert conforms to the conventions of real-media products. It features
the album title and band name in the centre of the page, so that it draws
attention to it. Additionally, I featured a quote and five-star-rating from NME
magazine at the top of the page, linking to the fact that my video is of the
indie music genre, which is featured in magazines such as NME. Hence my target
audience may well read this magazine and respect and trust the reviews in it.
Typically magazine adverts display an image of the album cover so that
customers will recognise the CD when in shops such as HMV. I also decided to add the 'limited edition red
vinyl' and 'available on iTunes' text as it conveys that the album is available
on several platforms, as most albums currently are, and the mention of vinyl
makes reference to the fact that vinyls have come back in fashion – particularly
in the indie music genre. Hence my magazine advert is continuing the generic
conventions established in the music video.
Digipack Cover
My digipack also further continues these
generic conventions. Typically an album has a ‘house style’ or continuing theme
running through it, and this was something that I knew my video also had to
include in order to look professional. To do this, I took the wood style
background that I had created in Adobe Photoshop for the inside of my digipack,
and used it on both the front and back covers as the background for the cake. I
chose to photograph a cake to use on my digipack as it makes reference to the
band’s name in almost a humorous way, and it also provides a quirky design,
which is not unusual for this genre of music.
All genres of music promote albums
through the release of singles, meaning often the album cover will feature a
sticker with the names of successful singles to draw attention to it. My
digipack is no different, so I added a sticker that said “includes the single ‘Short
Skirt/Long Jacket’”. I also added a ‘Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics’ logo
as often indie music, particularly in comparison to pop music, may feature
explicit lyrics. Additionally the logo now arguably acts another incentive for
teenagers to buy an album rather than a deterrent; especially as in the UK it
does not give the album a minimum age for purpose. Other generic features I
included were: a track list on the back, the band’s website, the copyright details,
a barcode, and the record company logo. These all help to make my product look
as close to real-life media texts as possible.
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