Conventions Of Pop Music

The style of Adele's music videos are an inspiration for my own style of a music video. Adele's music is very emotional and this reflects within the videos. Here I will analyse some shots of a couple of Adele's music videos.

Adele - Someone like you.

Here you can see that the shots are very simplistic but highly edited with a dark contrast. The editing already creates an emotional setting because of the intensity of the long path and the darkness of the trees surrounding. From this I feel that when I choose my own setting for my music video that it is important for me to think about all these features and take into account the idea of editing the settings to make it more intense and emotional. This shot could be seen as an establishing shot, where the environment is being shown and almost introducing the environment for the beginning of the story. This tells me that I should consider an establishing shot at the beginning of my music video to create an atmosphere.

Here the shot shows a close up of the singers face as she is singing. The mise-en-scene is still being considered though the background, we can still see a beautiful image of a bridge, so the environment is still being show to create that sense of innocence and realism as she is walking along a street, an everyday situation. Its not a fancy environment which is seen to be private. As well as this, the emotion on the singers face adds to the complete atmosphere of the video. As the words are emotional, they need to be sang as if the singer really means every word they sing. That is where the audience can completely engage with the video and almost feel the pain that comes through each lyric.

This shot is completely different to the other two, due to the way it has been represented. The back boarder creates a film like style and the landscape image creates an emphasis on the environment. The grey and black colour theme links with the emotional genre, seeing as the colours are seen as "sad" where as with another music video the colouring could be brightly due to the fact the song is happy and cheerful. (For example, Nicki Minaj- The boys)

I like the simplicity of the Adele video and the reason why the video is so simple or intense is the fact that the music video once to focus on the lyrics. This helps me with my music video as the original music video of "You Got The Love" by Florence and the machine does not include intense emphasis on the meaning of the lyrics. "You Got The love" has strong lyrics based around love, the line I will be focusing on in my music video is...

"But you've got the love I need To see me through"

This is because the word "need" sounds desperate and as if they cannot live without it. This will be the story behind my music video by emphasising the need to feel love with someone and how it makes you feel to miss someone, lose someone or never find that someone.

  

Adele - Chasing Pavements.

Here is another screen shot from an Adele music video. This video is seen to be slightly different due to the editing of the video. It is in colour and shows aspects of some creativity in which I feel the other Adele music video (Someone like you) is missing.

This screen shot shows us a male and a female. They are laying on the floor of a pavement and moving about as if standing up. This is very clever how the camera is facing flat down onto them and creating the effect that they are standing up. This is showing the creativity side of what is overall a very sad story. (The story of two people, who have been involved in a car crash and has therefore been throw across onto the pavement where they lay with their bodies motionless. This tell me that emotional videos can be very creative and bright in colour, not just dark and sinister like the 'Someone like you' music video.  

You can see there are the same style of shots in each video still. A close up shot is very common for this genre and seems to help show the emotion that is trying to be persuded though the lyrics and rest of the video. Also you can see there is an establishing shot used within each video, and shows some kind of aspect of the singer walking along in deep thought and emotion, but still showing off the environment in which the video is in. These tell me that if I wish to create strong emotion in my music video I need to look into the shots I use and the environment that I use as all these factors work together to create emotion within my music video.

Theoretical Research

There are three theorists that I will be looking at in particular throughout the process of my creation of a music video, this is because I feel they will help me with my new idea of a narrative story line and they will open my eyes to other concept ideas for my music video.  

 

VLADIMIR PROPP

Vladimir Propp was born on April 17, 1895 in St. Petersburg to a German family. He concluded that all the characters could be resolved into 8 broad character types:

1. The villain — struggles against the hero.  

2. The dispatcher — character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.

3. The (magical) helper — helps the hero in their quest. 

4. The princess or prize — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain.

5. Her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, and marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father cannot be clearly distinguished.

6. The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.

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.

These roles could sometimes be distributed among various characters, as the hero kills the villain dragon, and the dragon's sisters take on the villainous role of chasing him. Conversely, one character could engage in acts as more than one role, as a father could send his son on the quest and give him a sword, acting as both dispatcher and donor.

This connects to my own music video as I wish to create the concept of a Villain and Hero. My idea could indicate that at the beginning, when the person is lost and lost faith and hope in them self, that the people could be their own enemy (there own villain), then when it comes to the end and they begin to feel confident and find them selves, they become a hero!

Claude Lévi-Strauss 

‘The world began without the human race and will certainly end without it.’

Claude Lévi-Strauss (28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a French anthropologist and ethnologist. He argued that the "savage" mind had the same structures as the "civilized" mind and that human characteristics are the same everywhere.

•French anthropologist

•Developed the theory of ‘binary oppositions’

~ Villian and Hero

~ Life and Death

~ Happy and Sad

~ Strong and Weak

~ East and West

These are all Binary oppositions. This again connects to my music video with the idea of having a good and a bad within my video, and again connecting to good and evil with the persons different personalities and attitudes to her life.

Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov born March 1, 1939 in Sofia. He has lived in France since 1963
Todorov looked into the idea of breaking up something into three sections. •Equilibrium (The beginning, where everything is normal and day to day life)


•Disruption (Something happens that changes the normal day to day life, and usually consists of a bad situation or problem)

•New Equilibrium (Where the situation has been resolved and everything is all good again)

This relates entirely to my idea for my music video as you see the transformation form a normal girl, to enquiring a problem and changing into someone who feels very lost, hopeless and lonely. Then at the end, finally conquering all and becoming that "hero" and having her life back to normal but usually with something extra special in her life now that would not of been there before.

Stuart Hall - Audience Reception Theory
Stuart Hall has this theory that with any text there are different types of audience reception...

Regulation Research

The mass media is in the UK is regulated. This means that legal bodies have been set up, usually by the government, to protect the public and safeguard them from harmful or offencive content.

Ofcom is required under the Communications Act 2003 and the Broadcasting Act 1996 to draw up a code for television and radio, covering standards in programmes, sponsorship, product placement in television programmes, fairness and privacy. This Code is to be known as the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.

The Code is set out in terms of principles, meanings and rules and, for Sections Seven (Fairness) and Eight (Privacy), also includes a set of “practices to be followed” by broadcasters. These are to help readers understand the standards objectives and to apply the rules. When applying the Code to content, broadcasters should be aware that the context in which the material appears is key. In setting this Code, Ofcom has taken into account

the following:

1, the degree of harm and offence

2, the likely size and composition of the potential audience for programmes included in television and radio

3, the likely expectation of the audience as to the nature of a programme’s content and the extent to which the nature of a programme’s content can be brought to the attention of potential members of the audience;

4, the likelihood of persons who are unaware of the nature of a programme’s content being unintentionally exposed

5, the desirability of securing that the content of services identifies when there is a change affecting the nature of a service that is being watched or listened

6, the desirability of maintaining the independence of editorial control over

programme content.

These criteria have informed Ofcom’s approach to setting the Code and therefore must be taken into account by broadcasters when interpreting the rules.

- OFCOM is a communication organisation that basically helps the UK stay protected from harmful content on radios and televison. They also help keep privacy to the public and stop any unfair behaviour towards the public by television or radion because they may of invaded their privacy.

- The guidelines for media aimed at under 18's (with reference to sexual content, drugs and language) is that programme makers should always consider the impact that the representation of the use of illegal drugs, the abuse of drugs, smoking, solvent abuse and the misuse of alcohol, may have on younger viewers and listeners. At any time when children are particularly likely to be listening must therefore be editorially justified.

- The rules for employing under 18's in video is that the broadcaster has to judge what is appropriate in each case to ensure compliance with the Code. The level of care must be "appropriate to the particular circumstances".

- Offensive language raises concerns about harm to children. There is a concern that children may imitate offensive language or be upset to hear this language, when their parents or carers have told them it is wrong, before they have worked out their own attitude to its use. Milder language in the early part of the evening may be acceptable, for example, if mitigated by a humorous context. However, in general, viewers and listeners do not wish to hear frequent or regular use of such language, including profanity, before 9 o'clock.

- Flashing images and/or patterns can cause seizures in people with photosensitive

epilepsy. The Ofcom guidelines, based on scientific research, are intended to limit the incidences of seizures and a warning should only be used in place of the guidelines if editorially justified.

Isolated single, double, or triple flashes are acceptable, but a sequence of

flashes is not permitted when both the following occur:

1. the combined area of flashes occurring concurrently occupies more than

one quarter of the displayed (see note 3) screen area; and

2. there are more than three flashes within any one-second period. For

clarification, successive flashes for which the leading edges are separated by

9 frames or more are acceptable, irrespective of their brightness or screen

area.

- All these features can affect the overall outcome of my music video. This is because all features of my music video need to be within the regulations and need to be able to be viewed by the public in a harmless and safe way. These regulations basically tell me what I can and cannot do, and so therefore, following them is allowing me to create a media music video with an intention to be safe to the public.

The Development!

Here I am going to explain the development from my old idea to the new.
Looking at my video analyse, worries began to occur to the similarities of the original music video and the idea I had myself. After doing lots of research and even creating a mini/ half-made music video with the footage in which I had already done, my plan for the music video has changed. With this I would like to explain why, how and what my original and new ideas in tale.

party test with music from Lucy Gosling on Vimeo.
WHY?
My original music video idea was a party like atmosphere in which included features of a actress singing and many handheld videoing features of people dancing and showing characteristics of being under the influence of alcohol. The whole "party" like atmosphere but abit too close to home for being like the original "you got the love" music video, as it was very celebratory as well. So this is what has lead me to look more into the lyrics of the song and bring out the sadness with in it, therefore creating a whole new twist on the atmosphere of the song.

New Idea!
My new plan is to create an almost more sinister version of the song. A male or female who has lost faith and confidence in themselves and feeling lost and lonely.
With this I may include black and white features for some of the early footage, to create those connotations of a sadness in the film. I have thought of some emotional shots of arguing with loved ones and just creating an atmosphere that this is really effecting her relationships with loved ones and friends as well as effecting her as a person and just generally her life.
With this I feel there is a complete difference between the versions of the music video and therefore not allowing the idea of "copying" to be shown in my work. This is very important to me as I feel I can really create a version of the song and music video that no one has really thought about or have thought of the song in that way. The creativity and the idea of having a narrative storyline means that I can be very imaginative and really look outside of the box to create a great music video.

Audience Research

Audience Research from Lucy Gosling on Vimeo.

Audience Research Video Questions (left)
Target Audience Questionnaire (below)

After undertaking some interviewing with 5 different individuals of different genders and ages I have found out some information relevant to my product of a music video. For a music video to be successful in advertising it's song it needs to be engaging and attractive to the target audience. I have found that Females are my main choice of audience. Ranging from the ages of 17-40 this is a very vast age group but due to the lyrics and tone to the song it is seen as very 'Inspirational'. With this factor I find it can connect with a large age group of people.

Here are the type of people I feel would connect well with the official music video of Florence and The Machine: "You Got The Love"...

Amy Sloman         Gemma Gosling          Angie Presland

Age: 17                        Age: 20                          Age: 40 

Hobbies: Shopping,        Hobbies: Shopping,      Hobbies: Reading, driving

meeting up with friends  reading and meeting                  and cooking.
and partying.                 up with friends.
    

But my music video is going to be different to the version by Florence and The Machine and so looking at the age group I am going to pick out a smaller age group to focus on for my target audience. I have decided to eliminate the elder audience and focus on the 17-20 year old. This means I am able to create a more young focused music video as my own age group is within this and so I am able to relate to the parts of the music video I will create therefore meaning my target age group audience will relate to it as well.

Here is my idea of the image and personality of my target audience for my own version of Florence and The Machine: "You Got The Love"...

 Amy Sloman                                                                                Gemma Gosling

   <---- Age: 17                

Hobbies: Shopping, Meeting up with friends 
and partying.

Age: 20                --->

Hobbies: Shopping, Reading, Meeting up with friends and dancing.