Genre Conventions - Music Video Research

In lesson, I looked at ten different song music videos in the indie genre, in order to determine what genre conventions there are and which ones I want to conform to or subvert in my own music video.
After looking at all the music videos, I decided that although I want to conform to most of the genre conventions; low-key lighting and casual rough clothing, I also want to subvert some by not having my artist perform to the camera and having to reference to a band or instrument. 

"Feel Good Inc." - Gorillaz

I really like this music video because its very unique to its genre. This video clearly demonstrates lots of the conventions of the alternative rock genre. The setting in alternative music videos tend to be quite abnormal - shown here the setting is in a cinema and a lighthouse floating in the sky. The lighting in this video is also quite abstract. The first half of the video shows a very dark, dingy lighting scheme in comparison to the second half which is set outside so the lighting is high-key. The editing also shows this with quick, short cuts verse long shots in the two halves of the video. This contrast conveys the emotion of the song.

 

Electropop Genre Conventions

I decided that I want to do a song from the electro pop genre for my music video. Electro pop is a variant of synth-pop but places more emphasis on the electronic background sound. It combines electronic sound with pop music but features the frequency varying synthesizer as the main instrument. They also feature simple and small dance beats but still differ from dance genres that emphasise the lyrics over the beat.
Music videos is the electro pop genre most often include fast-cut montages which leaves the audience wanting to see it over and over. They're very narrative based and appear quite modern with a lighthearted and relaxed atmosphere. But despite this, videos usually don't tend to stick to easy, safe ideas but instead, seem to be quite experimental. The beat of the song is reflected in the editing and fast pace - which links to Andrew Goodwins theory that there is a relationship between music and visuals to amplify or illustrate the music.
One of the main reasons I am siding towards doing an electro pop song is because there usually is little lip syncing. Lip syncing is quite difficult to get perfect and without it, the audience can relate more.
I have found some really good examples of electro pop songs and artists that i've listed below.

Kesha - "Woman"
This music video exemplifies the conventions of the electro pop genre perfectly. It is edited to the beat but it does have a performance element rather than the usual narrative. I really love this video because its quite light hearted and has got lots of bright colours - which follows those genre conventions.

Lady Gaga - "Applause"
This video is also a good exemplifier because its edited to the beat and there is quite an obvious link between the music and the visuals. There is a dance element and includes quite a modern performance idea with lots of abstract visuals. It supports Goodwins theory as there is a lot of voyeurism and the female body is highlighted quite a bit throughout. Despite this, it also challenges some conventions of the electro pop genre as the lighting is quite dark and has a rather intense atmosphere.

 

Preliminary Task Outtakes

I compiled a few short clips from our filming day; just showing behind the scenes of the video. A lot of time went into the prelim and we got so many shots - even though we only ended up with a one minute video! It was still a lot of fun though!

Preliminary Task Class Feedback

Today the class showed all of our prelim tasks to each other and in doing so, we were able to receive feedback that we can possibly use to ensure our real videos are as best as possible. We did it in the form of a 'what went well' comment and a question.

I got a vast range of good reviews of my prelim. A popular opinion was that it was a very unique song choice and I did it very creatively. The class really liked the range of shots/clips especially the use of slow motion. They said the editing was done well and the contrasting colour use between Black&White and Full Colour was used very well to differentiate between flashback and present. Overall, they said it matched pretty much perfectly to the original video so my goal was achieved.

The majority of questions I got were about how long is took to shoot the video, what I used to film and who operated the camera. It took me two hours and about fifteen minutes to shoot the clips on my friends Samsung phone and I had three different people film for me; Joy, Hugette and Rhianna. I got a couple questions about what I would do differently and in reply, if I had more time I would use more varied locations and filmed more shots with lip-syncing so it would look more realistic. In hindsight, I'm not thinking about using a song in the pop genre like I did for the prelim and I am thinking of song more down the electropop genre. 

I'm so glad I was able to get this feedback back because I can now apply what I've learnt to my own music video.

Preliminary Music Video Task

This is my preliminary music video task the song "History" by One Direction. My original plan was to do "Wannabe" from the Spice Girls but I decided against it because this song had more editing whereas Wannabe is one whole take which would be difficult for me, as I've just started learning about music videos. History also doesn't use too much lip syncing so I was able to ease myself into it. Doing this prelim task definitely opened my eyes to how difficult shooting a music video could be and it got me thinking more deeply about how I want my actual music video to be. I learnt that while miming to the song, 'tis better to sing along and cut the sound out in the editing process. This makes the lip syncing look vastly more realistic. The costumes and location for this video were not spot on or more or less the same than the original but I'll definitely have more appropriate costumes and settings in my own video.

We're showing our prelims to the class tomorrow and I'm quite excited to get some feedback that I can analyse and make sure that my actual video is as best as it can be right from the get go.

Preliminary Task: Characters

In the music video 'History' by One Direction, there are five featured boys; Niall, Liam, Harry, Louis and Zayn so I needed five different girls to be cast as these people. From left to right the characters are:
Niall - Me (Abbie)
Liam - Miruthula
Harry - Kavaljit
Zayn - Sanjidah
Louis - Jamila
I instructed the girls to wear as boyish outfits as they could find so the recreation would look as best as possible.

Preliminary Task: Vlog

I began filming my prelim today so I decided to do a quick vlog about how things went with shooting and editing:

Preliminary Task: Schedule

Unfortunately I was not in on the lesson that the preliminary task was given and groups were assigned so I was hindered quite a bit. By the time I found out about the task, I had only five days to get it completed. Despite this, I have made a clear schedule so I am able to get everything that I need, done by the due date of next Wednesday.
I have study periods all day on Monday and so do the other four girls I need for my video so this is when I plan to film. Here is my schedule:

MONDAY
8:30    Be in school by this time.
8:30 - 8:55    Assembly/Form Time
8:55 - 9:55    Film for one hour
9:55 - 10:15    Break for twenty minutes
10:15 - 12:15    Film for two hours
12:15 - 1:10    Lunch
1:10 - 2:10     Editing for one hour
2:10 - 2:30     Break for twenty minutes
2:30 - 3:30     Editing for one hour

Then if I need to reshoot anything or need to edit more, I have study for another three hours on Wednesday morning so I can do the rest then.

"Busy" - Olly Murs

This is one of my favourite music videos out there. Its kind of a narrative video. Its about Olly Murs, who gets lonely so creates a paper mache female to live with him. The concept is really interesting and abstract and its composed in quite a beautiful way. It conforms to quite a few of Andrew Goodwins music video conventions: the visuals shown on screen link well with the lyrics as the song is all about just enjoying life and not getting caught up in the big things when you can just enjoy the small things in life which is represented on screen by the two characters just going about daily life, enjoying books and having a social gathering with their closest friends. Overall, i think its really well done and represents the genre ideally.