Chosen Song

Emma Blackery - Perfect (The Way You Are)
I decided on this song out of the list that I had gathered because I believe that it has the strongest attributes that I can work with to make a great video. The song has sections, a clear genre, lyrics that can easily create narrative as well as sections that will work well for performance.
There is a build up and break down of tempo which gives the song levels meaning the video can range from large narrative to smaller narrative. However, there is a small weakness that the lyrics could be considered repetitive which means there is not as much choice for things to film for narrative within the video.
I have been given permission to use this song as this is for educational benefits and not commercial gain.

Analysing music videos using Andrew Goodwin’s theory.

Analysing music videos using Andrew Goodwin’s theory.

MIKA  - Grace Kelly
Genre: Pop
This video does demonstrate genre characteristics as there is dance due to the pop genre. The lyrics have a weak relationship to the narrative in the video (the visuals), this is because the lyrics to not correspond to what we see in the video. There is, however, a strong relationship with the music and the visuals because as the song gets more intense, there is more people present in the video and the video becomes more intense at the 'party' that happens within the video.
There is a lot of close ups of the singer which is a demand from the record label to create a visual style and so the audience will remember what the artist looks like for marketing purposes - for example if someone saw a t-shirt with Mika's face on it with not writing, they would know who it is just from the videos. There is no notion of looking or voyeuristic treatment of the female body. There is, however, intertextual reference with spoken words from the film "Country Girl", for which Grace Kelly won an Academy Award in 1954, also with the intertextual references of Freddie Mercury from the band Queen.



McFly - Love Is On The Radio
Genre: Pop Rock
The video demonstrates genre characteristics as there is dance due there being dance for the 'pop' aspect, and a lot of performance for the 'rock' aspect mixed together to create the genre. There is a strong relationship between the visuals and the lyrics, for example, the waving when the lyrics say 'hello', as well as having parts of the video translated into sign language, and hand hearts when mentioning heart beats and love. There is also a strong relationship with the music and the visuals as when the song gets slower, the video goes into slow motion.
There are a lot of closeups of the band which is a means from the record label so that the audience can see memorable people within the videos and on the band's merchandise. There is a minor notion of looking when people in the video look directly into the camera, but nothing else such as mirrors, cameras or screens. There is no voyeuristic treatment of the female body. There is a minor intertextual reference as they have a Michael Jackson impersonator within the video.

Andy Black - We Don't Have To Dance
Genre: Rock
This video demonstrates genre characteristics as there is performance as well as narrative. There is a strong relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as the lyrics say 'how don't you drown in a rainstorm' as the visual changes to rain as well as the mention of the sun going down, and the video taking place at night. As well as the link of lyrics about hell and fire which is on camera. There is a strong relationship to the music and the visuals as when the song slows down, the edit is slower, and when the song speeds up and gets more intense, the edit becomes faster.
There is a lot of close ups of Andy which is a means from the record label as so that he is recognisable on merchandise and for live performances and gigs. There is not a notion of looking except for when Andy looks directly into the camera. There is not voyeuristic treatment of the female body, however the females in the video are there as props and nothing more. There is an intertextual reference of the Steve Miller Band which are a rock band from San Francisco who formed in 1966.



Bad English - When I See You Smile
Genre: Power Ballad
The music video demonstrates clear genre characteristics of performance with other snippets of video placed in between. There is small link between lyrics and visuals as there is clips of people smiling when the lyrics get to the chorus. There is a definite link between the music and the visuals as the song is quite slow, and the video has slow edits with some shots in slow motion that match the tone of the song.
There are close ups of John Waite (singer) and the band in general which is a demand of the record label to sell the live performance aspect of the band so that the audience will know what to expect of a concert'gig from the band. There is no reference to the notion of looking or voyeuristic treatment of the female body. There is no intertextual reference.

How do directors use media language in performance in videos?

Joyriding - frnkiero andthe cellabration

Within this video, the camera is steady though out the entire video which emphasises stability. There is a range of shots ranging from high angles to low angles, close ups to wide shots, from perspective shots (from the bands view) to onlooker shots (from the audiences view). The video has two main colours- white and red, with hints of black on some instruments and ties of the band's outfits. The white is all encompassing and has connotations of Heaven, the red comes into the video when the pace of the music picks up and becomes a lot faster - it comes in with spurts and gradually gets more and more intense as the music goes on in the use of blood, and the representation of Hell. The sound uses the performance to create a more intense atmosphere. The sound becomes more aggressive as the video does simultaneously.
There is a large amount of close ups within the video which intensifies the difference between the black and white mise en scene throughout. The close ups are often of a face of of instrument movement which puts more emphasis on the performance aspect - promoting the band's live performance and inducing marketing within their performance video.
The use of using slow motion just as the live performance ends shows how intense the song and video was, allowing the audience to sit back and think about what they just watched. The shots at the end of the video of the band just standing, breathing heavy after a performance shows the enthusiasm and effort that goes into the live performance aspect of their band.
The shot of Frank smiling at the end shows how although the video is intense (and scary to some) the music is really enjoyable and helps people with the message "yea it's cool, I'll be okay" giving the audience something to believe in and smile with.