MUSIC VIDEOMUSIC VIDEOBy Paul

It if covers sensitive It if covers sensitive issues, such as issues, such as racism, these racism, these however, have to however, have to be covered in a be covered in a sensible manner. sensible manner.

It also has to be It also has to be suitable for the suitable for the target audience. target audience.

A good music video A good music video has to fit the song. has to fit the song. There are some There are some exceptions where exceptions where the video can be so the video can be so opposite to the opposite to the song that it brings song that it brings in a nice contrast. in a nice contrast.

In this section I will talk about 2 music videos and what styles they follow by theorists such as Andrew Goodwin. The music

Videos are; Rihanna Rude Boy; Katy Perry (feat Kanye West) E.T.; and

A UMG Artist

Rihanna was born on February 20th 1988. Her full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty and chose, like several other artists to adopt their middle name as a stage name. She is know for her great R&B music produced by the UMG label.

She was born in Saint Michael, Barbados and moved at the age of 16 to the United States of America to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers. She subsequently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for the label head of that year Jay-Z

Rude Boy is a song released from her fourth studio album, Rated R (2009). The song was released as the third single from the album on February 19, 2010, through Def Jam. It was written by several people in including the artist her self as well as, Mikkel S. Eriksen and Ester Dean, with many more . Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen of StarGate and Swire producing it. is an up-tempo song and incorporates ragamuffin, pop and R&B.

The song received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with some commenting that it is the highlight of the album, whilst others criticized Rihanna's "monotone" and "icy" vocal performance

Rude Boy peaked at number one the US Billboard Hot 100 in its fourth week for five consecutive weeks, giving Rihanna her sixth number one song on the chart. The song was a commercial success globally, peaking at number one in Australia and attained top five positions in Germany, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.

Rude Boy’s accompanying music video was directed by Melina Matsoukas. The video to Rude Boy has be said to be “unlike any other video she has done before”. This is because it relies heavily on the effect of the green-screen and featured an unusual mix of props, such as a stuffed lion and zebra. The video also claimed artistic-reference to some famous artists, including Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. In the picture of Rihanna they have Photoshopped out the tattoos that she has on her neck as shown in the previous picture.

This video is a hybrid of Dance and Artistic: Dance because of the multilayers and artistic in the way they have chosen to add in lots of bright coloured after effects.

This picture is from the tracks single cover.

Another effect that is used well in the music video is repetition. Its used well because it gives the impression that she is dancing with back up dancers when its just her. If it was in a strip club there would be more than one girl on stage etc at one time. This is what it could represent which would appeal to the songs target audience of Guys aged 16-21. The director has also chosen to play with the colour balance in several scenes. Mainly they have edited the hue to make Rihanna blue/green or pink/purple. This gives the performance more lust and helps keep the complexity.

This effect of having Rihanna as several different dancers relates to one of Joe Gow theories. He claims that there are 6 central genres of music video all are defined by in terms of their relationship to the display of performance. The Key genre that Jow Gow would label this video is The song and Dance number the 5th technique. This is where the videos focus on the physical abilities of the dancing performer and the vocal presentation of the song. 99% of the video Rihanna Lip-syncs to the song and dances.

The pictures to the left show the how the green screen has been worked to provide a simple backing and how they have made the green screen more useful and more effective with repletion. The green screen is very hard to use because its hard to cut out the artists without cutting off a bit of their hair or an object they are holding. This is why in they video they have decided to use a white line around the objects that are not in the green screen and turned everything black and white. This gives a very armature effect to the video because it looks unfinished however it works well with the complex backgrounds as it helps her and the objects stand out more for the background.

Lights:The lights in the video is a very basic studio lighting. This

is because it will give a smooth surface on the green screen making it easier to cut out Rihanna and the objects around her ie the drum set. However they have included a white outline around the objects and Rihanna; this could be a deliberate effect, there to make Rihanna seem like a cardboard cut out, or to help them stand out form the background. If we look at this in terms of lighting, it suggests that this white outline could be a bleed form the objects/artist. This would mean the bleed is simply a shadow.

SoundThe sound in the video is all non-diegetic as Rihanna

song is added in on to the video in later production.

Camera:The camera work in this video is also very basic. This is

because the main attention of the video was spent it after effects with the green-screen. The video mainly consists of long (full body shots) mid (knee to waist) shots of the artists. There are also a majority of close ups and extreme close ups of Rihanna, they have even used a quick zoom in and out, going form close up to extreme close up over and over. This follows part of Andrew Goodwin's theory of their needing to be lots of close-ups on the artists, in this case Rihanna. The effect begins at ~2:40 of the video and works it way out till its at a mid shot ending up in a long shot of Rihanna on the stuffed zebra.

Another Andrew Goodwin theory that can be applied to this video is his last theory based on intertextual references. M.I.A. Boyz was produced n 2007 and they use some the same colours, and the same layer/green-screen effects. These included back up dancers of the same person, with a different colour balance applied. Throughout both music videos they stick to reds oranges and blues. The inspiration behind Boyz was Jamaican heritage – if we place the same circumstances on to Rihanna’s video then we can assume the same colours were used for the same reasons. Also in Andrews Goodwin's theory we can see that there is clear relation between the lyrics and the visuals. There is a clear relation between the lyrics and the visuals throughout the video because it is simply a lustful song and Rihanna does her best to intrigue her targeted audience by wearing revealing clothes as well as dancing sexually with guys.

A EMI Artist

Katy Perry was born on October 25th 1984. Her full name is Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson and chose, like several other artists to use a different surname to create her stage name.

When Katy Perry first released an album it was under the name of Katy Hudson and was Gospel themed. This album was unsuccessful.

In 2007 she had changed labels for the 4th time and shortly after she released “Ur so gay”. This song did not do well chat wise but grab attention. Her second single “I kissed a girl” grab international fame for the artist scoring the top spot in several countries. He second album; first studio album was the 33rd best selling album that year, and for a new artist that was something.

She was born in Santa Barbara, California and was raised by christen parents. Perry grew up listening to only Gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. She has always been focused on becoming a singer/solo artist even though she has not had a good start.

E.T. is a song released from Katy’s third studio album, Teenage dream (2010). The song was released as the forth single from the album on February 16, 2011. The single version features extra vocals by Kanye West. It was written by several people in including the artist her self as well as, Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Joshua Coleman. The track is played over a stomp-stomp-clap beat also used in “The Queens – We Will Rock You”.

The decision to write "E.T." came after its beat was accidentally played in the recording studio

The accompanying music video was directed by Floria Sigismondi. The video shows Perry and West singing and dancing in the space. Upon its release to MTV’s website MTV.com on March 31, 2011 users and critics committed on the video with mixed to positive reviews. Critics, compared it to Lady Gaga's work due to the excessive costumes used on Katy Perry and the style on which the video had been filmed/set.

This video is a hybrid of Artistic and Narative: as it has good costumes but tells a story of 2 lovers in the future.

This picture is from the tracks single cover.

Mise en SceneThis video relies heavily on the use of Mise en Scene for background

and foreground objects as well as costumes. A lot of research has gone in to the foregrounds futuristic part of the video in the Mise en scene. For example the “Pi-ge.on: a common Bird, went extinct in 2030”. It has been said by scientist that all species of pigeon will be extinct by 2030; so by including this dead bird we can assume that the place where she is in fact earth and the year is beyond 2030. Another way we can confirm that its earth is by

the sunglass saying “human” on them. For the background parts of destroyed metal, tires etc. could actually be green screen and they could then focus on having all the stuff in the foreground. For other parts of the video it could follow the same suite like the parts to the left here. For the picture in the lower left corner Blue and green screen could have been used. Green screen could have been used to make the background, and if Katy Perry wore some Blue cloth round her legs this could have been used to make her legs. This shows Katy Perry's legs to be those of a gazelle. In the upper image we see tires and junk in on he ground. This again could be actual tires and broken car/ cable parts and placed in the appropriate position. However it might have been more time effective for the artist to have the floor as green screen in this shoot as well because it save time and would result in the editing staff etc. doing most of this in post production this would also enable them to get the shoot jus the way they want it.

The very vast range of costumes that were used show how iconic Katy Perry can be. Because of her costumes she has been referred to Lady Gaga who would go as far as wearing a dress made of meat. The costumes tend to be cloth and space like suits, but the make up is amazing as well as the contacts that are used in her eyes to make her seem like a lizard. The close up on the artist also is an Andrew Goodwin theory, where the label demands lots of close up on the artist.

Effects cont:As well as the Rihanna Rude Boy Video, this track also

features the use of a green screen. In the shoot to the left taken form the video, we see Katy Perry hanging in space. She is elevated in front of a green screen so that they can give her the space/bursting start/sun effect in the background.

Another effect that they have decided to use is resourced footage. This is where they will cut form what the current shoot is to something that has been film earlier and is not a part of the video. As you can see in the lower shoot they have decided to include a fox dying. This could again represent another species that is going to go extinct in the near future. If this is the case then theses clips could have been included for subliminal reasons hinting on the fact that we are killing our planet.

Lights:Jus like the Rihanna video, the lights are very basic because

it will give a smooth surface on the green screen making it easier to cut out Katy Perry and the Straps holding her up. However they have included a some tires and derby around the her in certain scenes that help make the scene more 3D. This could be a deliberate effect to help make the “future” seem more natural.

SoundThe first 33 seconds of the video is a separate music track.

The main lyrics that are played is “where in the world”. This is played to enhance the effects of the surroundings.

Kanye West is featured in the video and the single version of the track but did not make the original album playlist. This is because it was chosen at a later date to add him in to the track. Kanye West looks like he does normally, he turned up in a leather jacket so didn’t need much costume change, he was playing a futuristic human traveling through space. As he didn’t have any of his costume changed unlike Katy Perry, we can say that he has developed his own star iconography. This is why in all his videos as well as out of them he wears the same stuff. This Star iconography could also be an Andrew Goodwin theory. However there are some theory's by Andrew Goodwin’s that don’t fit the bill for example. The theory that each RnB song will have a choreographed dance routine. A dance routine in the video would not have worked well with the green screen background.

This video covers 2 of Joe Gows theories about music videos . One theory is Performance Documentary: where they music video cuts between the videos and documentary footage in this case it could be the animal and plant footage that looks to be filmed of a TV screen. The other theory is: The special effects extravaganza this is where the human performance in the video is overshadowed by spectacular imagery. This is an effect that is shown more clearly with the scenes where Katy Perry is floating in space, the focus is on the costume, make up, and background this is why they have included a lot of zoomed out shoots of the floating as well as a lot of close ups to see the detail on the makeup. We as the audience don’t actually get to see Katy Perry till near the end where she still has altered her human form and gave her a Gazelle’s legs. As you can see there is a big comparison between her legs and the guys legs standing next to her.

Music Video too pre-recorded footage.

A UMG Artist

Taylor swift was born on December 13th, 1989. Her full name is Taylor Alice Swift and usually chose to have her actual name as a stage name. She is more well known in America, but is known globally as a country-pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.

She was born in Reading, Pennsylvania and she grew up in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania where she lived with her mum, dad, and a brother on a Christmas tree farm. She has been offered several modelling careers by several top company's because of her look and the fact that she is 5' 11” tall.

Back to December is a song released from her third studio album, Speak Now (2010). The song was released as the second single from the album and was sent to radio stations on November the 15th, through Big Machine Records. It was written by Taylor her self, she produced the track her self along with Nathan Chapman.

Back to December’s accompanying music video was directed by Yoann Lemoine. It was filmed in late December 2010, but was before Christmas. The video gives a very good visualisation to the month as well as the cold feelings that are included in the songs lyrics.This picture is from the tracks single cover.

In this video there are some lovely camera shots of scenes and settings. When the video starts there is a beautiful shot of a crisp winter morning. At first it looks beautiful, but towards the end of the video we start to understand the cold involved with the snow, its not only cold physically but

we as the audience start to develop to see this cold as an emotional tool. We start to picture this because of the way the snow is used with Taylor Swift. In the bottom right corner we have snow falling in her house. This adds to the emotion dramatically. The camera angles that are used range form very long shots (Landscape) shoots to extreme close ups. The camera is very stead but it never is stationary on a single frame. In some scenes there is a slight shake but it makes the video seem more personal and easier to relate to. The camera work is the main way this video is filmed so its was important that each scene is captured perfectly.

The video works well with just simple cuts between the guy walking away and Taylor walking around her apartment. The video is a hybrid of staged performance and Narrative. This is because Taylor sings most of the song, and it tells a story. As the video starts several events have already happened that we see at the end of the video. For example at the start of the video he is out of the house walking, but in the end of the video Taylor swift puts a note in his pocket. Part of Andrew Goodwin’s theory says that the label will demand lots of close up of the artists, and in this video is full of them.

Lights:The lighting in this video has be

left natural, however I do think that there may have been some studio lights added to Taylor swifts apartment to help brighten up certain scenes. However this might be just to make scenes performed earlier and or later the same general lighting so it looks like its performed at the same part of the day.

SoundThere is some sound added in the

beginning of the video of the guy walking and the crunch of the snow underfoot

Joe Gow would give this 2 theory's: The Enhanced Performance; and Performance Documentary.

The enhanced performance relates to how effective the snow has been used. This Lyrics to video matching is also a view shared by Andrew Goodwin. In this video the snow is used to represent the cold feelings that are emitted by Taylor Swift.

Performance Documentary because the song is about a break up and the video shows this as well. Again this fits in to the Andrew Goodwin theory about Lyrics and the video matching. There is a not much acting done on either side but it works well because of the way the camera work has been styled.

What I have learnt and will possibly use in my video.

What I have learnt is that it is possible that producers of the music video may choose to do stuff in front of the green screen to save time with the artist. This means that they can get one part over and done with anytime and move on to the next. It is this part that I will use. My time management needs to be perfect when it comes to filming and organising the photo shots. If I need 2 characters on one screen and they can only get there on one day then on that day they both need to do as much as possible together. If I need one for the photo shoot and the other is just hanging around, I need to constructively use this time with the other person and get them to do something in another part of the video by them selves.

If I finish to early I would suggest that I have rushed though something and that it would be best to go back to the original footage and work from scratch and then see if there is anything that can be improved on.

Work with more than one theorists, work with more than one of their theory's per theorist.

If there is an emotion in the scene try to portray this using the camera work as well as the actor/actress

The End :D