Textual analysis' of CD covers

Music video tips!

In class we have all been talking about some tips that will help us when it comes to us making our own 1 minute music videos as well as out final product that be will make later one, here is a presentation that I did including some of them tips...

Californiacation storyboard task

Music video recreation task (30 seconds)

Hi everyone, as you will know from my last post our group have been working on a 30 seconds recreation music video of 'Is this the way to Amarillo?'

Here is our finished product, hope you like it...

30 second recreation task storyboard

Here is the storyboard for the 30-second music video that we are recreating for 'Is this the way to Amarillo'...

30 second music video recreation- our music video choice

He everyone, we had a task which was to recreate 30 seconds of a music video of our choice. By recreate it means that we has to make it similar to the actual music video when referring to the shots used and what is actually happening in the picture.

I am working in a group with Josie, Courtney and Owen and we decided that we wanted to recreate the first 30 seconds of the music video for 'Is this the way to Amarillo' 2005. This was a music video made for comic relief (starring Peter Kay) using the original 1996 song.

We thought that this would be a good music video to choose as it is easy for us to recreate, it is fun, cheesy and we wanted to do something different from what we thought other groups would be doing.

Music video recomendations -analysis

Hi everyone, basically in class we were all asked to write down some suggested music videos that we thought would be good to recreate. We watched around 13 of them and wrote down it's genre conventions, how the artist is represented in it and out own rating 0-5 (0 being the worst and 5 being the best).

Here i will be talking about 5 of these music videos and what I thought/wrote about them...

1) One music video that we were shown was 'Paradise' by Coldplay.

I wrote that was a pop song and that the lyrics were matching with what is seen on the screen (one of Andrew Goodwins 6 features of music videos) which is shown through the word 'paradise' and the locations. This is also shown in other ways, for example when the word 'heavy' is used, the man in the elephant costume is holding a cardboard sign and acts as if it is heavy (therefore matching the lyrics)- this is an example of why the sound was good in the video as it matched with what the audience is seeing.

I also wrote that I thought this music video represents the artists to be fun and that they wanted to tell a story (An elephant in a zoo breaking out and going to find it's friends in paradise).

I decided to give this music video a 4 out of 5 as i personally really liked the video and thought that it would have been a good story to recreate.

A few short point of what I thought was good about this music video:

• With regards to camera, this music video used a lot of different camera angles when telling the story which made everything a lot more interesting to watch as a viewer. For example a long shot of the elephant on the unicycle while on a long road which showed how they were on a long way to reach their 'paradise'.
• With regards to editing I really liked the quick cuts that were used of the elephant holding the cardboard signs which had the lyrics written on them. I think that this went well with the beat and made the music video even more fun to watch.
• With regards to mise-en-scene I really liked the idea that was used of the band members dressing up as elephants as I have said that it tells a story and relates to what is being said in the song.

2) 'Part of me' by Katy Perry

In my notes in class I wrote that this song was a pop song and also wrote that included a few of Andrew Goodwin's 6 features of music videos. These include the lyrics matching the visuals (for example when she says 'drive away' she is shown to be in a car driving. Also I think that it includes the need for close-ups of the artist. I also wrote that this music video goes against the idea that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics as people don't nesicarilly expect a pop song to have a military style video.

I wrote that the artist in this music video is represented to be a strong independent woman and I gave this video a rating of 5 out of 5 as I thought that It was good at telling a story, it challenged some ideas and i also liked how the lyrics fitted with what we saw on he screen.

Short points of why i thought this was a good music video:

• With regards to camera, this video also uses a wide range of angles and shots to help tell the story of what is going on. For example I really liked the high angle that was used upon Katy and the other soldiers stood in the water. and this then cuts to just Katy's face singing. I like this as I think that it shows how she is in a way blending in with everyone around her like what would happen if you were in the army, however the focus is still on her which shows also makes her stand out.
• With regard to mise-en-scene I liked some of the lighting that was used, for example when the soldiers were crawling through the mud the lighting was very dark and it was raining. I really liked this as I think it made it a lot more dramatic than how it would have been if it was in the day and the weather was good. 
• With regards to editing, I really liked how in this vidio cuts were made in between to show Katy with her boyfriend before she went to the military as I think that this is an extra for helping tell a story. 

3) 'Shut up' by Stormzy

Although I personally don't think there is a lot to talk about for this music video, I wanted to include it as I liked how it was all done in one take.

In my notes i wrote that was a video for a rap song and that it includes one of the 6 features of music videos. This is the fact that the video demonstrates certain characteristics for being a rap video (wearing urban clothing and peak caps).

I personally rated this music video as a 1/2 out of 5 because I personally didn't like it, however it included some good conventions.

A few points of what is good in this music video:

• With regards to camera, there were no different shots/angles or movements. However as the camera was kind of shaky I think that it fit well with the urban feel to the video.
• With  regards to mise-en-scene, the people in the frame are obviously wearing urban clothing which is one of Andrew Goodwin's 6 features of music videos (demonstrating specific genre characteristics, in this case for a rap song).
• With regards to editing, this whole music video was shot in one take which is what I mainly liked about it. I think that it shows how the artist is consistent and doesn't need anything special to do what he does.

4) 'Oceans' by Seafret

I personally really liked this music video as I thought that it told a good story and was interesting to watch as a viewer. In my notes I wrote that the artists were not featured in it and that a story is being told including a girl with super powers, however people her age don't believe it until she gets angry. 

I gave this music video a rating of 5 out of 5 as i really liked how everything was put together and I think that it went well with the music.

A few good points of this music video:

• With regards to camera I liked how quite a lot of close-ups were used on the main characters face as I thought that it allowed me as a viewer see how she was feeling. I also really liked the use of  crane movement when we saw the word 'loser' on her back and then was able to see her reaction in the mirror when the camera had moved around. I really liked this because I think that it allowed us to see more of her feelings towards things whilst also being more aware of what is happening.
• With regards to mise-en-scene, the knitted super hero outfit that she was wearing is something that I liked as it went well with the setting (a middle-class British street) so therefore makes it easier to understand the social class of the people in the video.
• With regards to editing I really liked the use of eye-line matches in this video, especially when the girl is walking in what looks like a field and she sees people around the same age as her walking towards her. This allows us to see that she looks scared but she keeps on walking anyway, therefore suggesting that she is facing her fears and becoming stronger because of it.

5) 'Barbie girl' by Aqua

Although this is a really cheesy song/music video, I think that people still like it because it tells a story (even though it's quite strange). 

Good points about this music video:

• With regards to camera, I think that this music video uses mainly very simple camera angles/movements. However I like the close-up of the plastic bird on the branch at the beginning of the video because I think that it fits well with the concept of the video that everything is 'plastic' and fake. After this the camera moves upwards and shows the location which is a pink house, car, bright green grass and a blue sky. This shows how everything in the 'barbie world' seems to be perfect/not real.
• The mise-en-scene in this music video was a part of being one of Andrew Goodwins 6 features of music videos. This is because what we see on the screen is what the artists are exactly singing about (being plastic and a barbie girl)
• With regards tot he editing in this music video, everything was quite simple again. For example the 180-degree rule was used when Ken and Barbie were talking at the beginning of the video. However, split screens were also used in this music video which was something that I liked as it showed barbie to be dressed in different outfits/locations so more variation could be seen of this 'Barbie girl's' life.

'Happy' music video case study

Hi everyone, in class we have been talking a little about the music video for 'Happy' by Pharell Williams and talking about things such as what is different about it, why it was very popular and why so many people have made parodies, tributes and their own versions of the video.

Therefore I did a short case study that I would like to share with you all and here it is...

Media 1.0 and 2.0

Media 1.0 ans 2.0 from LauraKN

A brief hstory of music videos

So, in lessons recently we have been talking about the history of music videos, how they have developed over time to become what they are today and how this affects audiences.

I have done a short slideshow of what information I have about the history of music videos including some of my own research, hope you enjoy...


 

Brief history of music videos from LauraKN

Textual analysis of a 'Pre-born' music video

Hi everyone, we had a task which was to do a textual analysis on an iconic music video that came out before we were born. I chose to do the music video for the song 'Bad' by Michael Jackson as I thought that it had some good aspects for me to comment on and was an iconic video when it came out.

This music video was made of the song which came out in 1987.

I think that this task allowed me to see how music videos have changed and developed over time and how different they have become regarding to their content. This is also referring to the different technologies that are available now which makes it easier to film high quality, iconic music video. However, this also showed me how good music videos were able to be produced at this time even though technology was not as developed as it is now. (for example, Michael Jacksons most iconic music video 'Thriller' is still known and loved by a lot of people today even though it was made in 1982 where technology was a lot more limited).

Here is the official music video:

Here is my analysis of this music video:

Blind music video task

Hi all, today in class we did a task where we listened to the song 'A different corner' by George

Michael and we were asked to write down any words the song made us feel, any words that stood out,

what we thought we would see in the music video and even any colours the song just made us think

of.

We did this without seeing the music video before hand so as we therefore had no idea what the

official video was like.

As you can see in the picture below i wrote multiple words such as the lyrics "cut like a knife", "don't

dare" and some other words that I had in mind such as fear/tears, bright lights, heavenly scene, horses

,soft and white shirt because this is what the song and the lyrics made me feel. I also drew a guitar, a

heart and a broken heart, some drums, stars, and did a little scribble of the colour blue.

After we had done this we watched the real video and in many ways it ended up being quite different

from what I expected apart from the bright lights (using in the bright white colours) and the kind of

heavenly feel that there was to the video.This was to test synaesthesia which is a condition where a

sensation in one of the senses, such as hearing, triggers a sensation in another, such as taste or sight.

Therefore after discussing what we all got on our paper with one another we were able to see how

everybody pictured different things when hearing the music...

Here is the official music video of  'A different corner' by George Michael...

Introduction

Hi everyone, I'm back!
Basically, this post is just a short introduction for my A level media blog and I would like to say that
I am very excited to start blogging again and let you know what I will be doing this year.
This years blog is going to be on music videos which is different to last years as it was based on
thrillers and thriller openings. I'm excited to do something new this year and show It all to you and I
hope this everyone will enjoy it.
From now on I will be updating my blog as frequently as possible to keep you all informed of
everything I will be doing and what happens in our lessons, thanks for reading if you did :)