Music Video Analysis

I am going to analyse two music videos from the same genre of music that I am interested in doing for my video.



This is the video for Ghost by Beyoncé, it is a mix of R&B, rap and pop music. It was produced by Beyoncé and Boots who is also a singer/rapper/songwriter. This video is one part of a song called 'haunted', this video was directed by Pierre Debusschere where as the second video which is named 'Haunted' is directed by Jonas Åkerlund who is the main producer for Beyoncé's videos from her latest album.

This is a very simple video filmed in a studio with most of the video just having a white background with props and clothing be the main feature of the video. Beyoncé is the only person in the video which is unusual as she normally has narrative content such as the video for 'Heaven' or 'XO' dancers such as in the video for 'Single Ladies' although this video is similar as 'Single Ladies' also is filmed in a studio with a white background.

These screenshots from the video show how fabrics and clothing have been used to create effect in the video, there is also a use of close ups of her face here.

These screenshots, again, show how fabric has been used to show off her figure which will add to her iconography, this may also match the lyrics to the song as she is singing about breaking free from convention and stereotype.

When looking at the codes and conventions of this video, there are three theorists: Andrew Goodwin, Joan Lynch & Jon Gow.

Andrew Goodwin wrote a book called Dancing in the Distraction Factory. He was interested in the visual language and imagery that was implicit and explicit within music videos. He studies hundreds of music videos while researching for his book and he came up with some key codes and conventions.

The codes and conventions of Andrew Goodwin this video follows are as follows:

• There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. In this song, she talks about how she wants to break her own convention and is basically saying that she is bored of everything she does and that she wants to break free and the video amplifies this by being so simple unlike any of her other videos which are mostly song and dance numbers.
• There is a relationship between the music and the visuals. In this case, editing has been used to match strobe lighting and cutting between different scenes to amplify the beat of the music or lyric queues.
• Iconography. Beyonce is well knows for her figure and breaking conventions, this video shows both of these as this video shows her in tight clothing and also is completely different to her other videos. This video is very simple and just filmed in a studio whereas most of her other videos have big budgets and huge set and many different locations, often with actors and dancers.
• there is a demand for close ups of the main artist by the record company.

This backs up the demand for close ups of the main vocalist/artist described above.

Joan Lynch stated that there are three basic video structures, performance, narrative and concept. This video is a performance video, we know this because we see Beyoncé singing and performing the song throughout the whole video, there is no narrative content but some may say that there are parts of the video that have a concept feel about them, for example, there is a use of strobe lighting when someone is dancing which doesn't seem to have any reference to the video and we cant really see whats happening, we are just aware there is someone there snd the visuals match the beat of the song.

This is a screenshot to show one of the parts of the song that have a concept feel about them, although the main artist is still in frame, they have edited her to only appear in her own outline where she is dancing, but its has been mirrored in post production to make it seem like there are two people dancing identically opposite each other.

This is also like the screenshot about but here they have changed the exposure so she just looks like a shadow or a shape against the white background so we are forced to focus on the shapes made by her clothing rather than her.

Jon Gow identified six central genres of music videos, they are all defined in terms of their relationship to the display of the performance.

The genres that this video follows are:

• The special effects extravaganza, this means that the performance is overshadowed by spectacular imagery, in this case, the post production editing makes the video much more interesting that her just being in a studio performing the song and at time it is used to amplify the song and lyrics which can be seen in the screenshots above.
• The song an dance number, this means videos focus on the dancing ability of the artists and also their performance ability, this is usually shows through lip syncing techniques. In this video, although it not particularly dominant, there is dancing throughout alongside lip syncing.
• The enhanced performance, this is videos which blend performance elements with other visual elements, this is justified through either associational, narrative or abstract forms of motivation. In this video, performance is blended with an abstract feel of editing, also the clothing she is wearing is used to enhance the performance parts of the video.

Audiences that watch this video will also most probably recognise the genre of this song through the iconography of the video, not just the artist. This video and song follows conventions of other and most R&B songs, there is a definite beat which we hear first and the vocals follow the structure of most hip hop/R&B songs, and also a lot of other Beyonce songs, this structure is: Verse - Chorus - interlude - verse - chorus - music to end track.

Other ways this video is easily recognisable by it audience is through genetic elements, these are elements that help suggest certain genres through location/set, Stereotypes (challenged and conformed), camera, sound, editing & mise-en-scene.

The use of camera is a big part of this video, the use of mid and longs shots show her figure and this is an easily recognisable element of an R&B music video as women are often sung about in songs and shows and sexual being in many videos, although this video challenges this view towards women there is still a use of this element. These shot types also allow audiences to see her fashion and style which fans of hers will be very interested in as this is a big part of the musics genre.

The song and video together challenges a lot of stereotypes, this is because the song is very stereotypically R&B meaning it has a clear beat and bass and also has rap as part of the lyrics/song but the video suggests purity as there is light colours and the artist is very calm and by herself but audiences will still be able to recognise the genre as other Beyonce songs have been filmed in studio settings such as Single Ladies, Love On Top and Upgrade U.

The use of editing in the song isn't major but it has been used to complement dance sequences, we see beyonce dancing but editing has been used to mirror the image to make it look like there are two people dancing, many R&B videos have dance sequences, so this video conforms to these video types but it has been done in a way to also challenge these video types as it has been done in an individual style, you also wouldn't expect to see this type of choreography from rock, indie or alternative videos. Other hip hop/R&B videos also use a big amount of editing such as green screens and CGI.

Although it isn't spectacular, the mise-en-scene is very important in this video and helps to provide audiences with a sense of genre and iconography/significance. The use of lots of white, and natural colours gives the video a sense of purity which matches the lyrics about wanting to stop living the stereotypical 'celebrity' lifestyle. There is a use of strobe lighting which breaks the convention of the video, the white and purity of the set and video changes to black which is much more like the stereotype R&B music video, the strobe lighting may make audiences think of nightclubs which is where they see a lot of their favourite artists playing shows and hosting events, the change of mise-en-scene also matches the lyrics and beat of the song and it changes from the start to almost contrast herself from the start of the song.

The second video I am going to analyse is 'She came to give it to you' by Usher, this is an R&B/Soul song, the video was influenced by the rhythm beats of Haitian Rara bass horn. The video was directed by Philip Andelman and features other artists such as Pharrell Williams who produced the song, and Nicki Minaj who features in the song.

The video is a mix of performance and narrative, set in an illegal nightclub we see Usher performing with a band and we also se him dancing around the club in various different choreographed dances.

This video follows the following of Andrew Goodwin's codes and conventions:

• As this is an R&B song, there is a particular genre to the the video, in this case it is set in a nightclub which is very popular for this genre of music, along with hip hop and rap music videos. There is a lot of choreographed dancing in this video with camera used to amplify this and add certain effects to, at one point, make it seem like he is floating.
• Iconography, there is a big sense of iconography in this video, Usher is well known for dancing in his videos and also his live performances and this video is no different, also this video features Nicki Minaj who is well known for her body image and this video has used camera angles to amplify/show this.
• There is a demand from the record company for lots of close ups of the main artist/vocalist, this video has many close ups of Usher, Nicki Minaj and Pharrell Williams.

This shows the narrative part of the video, here he is entering an electronics store, which is the front of the illegal nightclub, here there is a handheld camera following him, making it feel like you are walking behind him, the camera is giving the idea of point of view.

 This shows how the video is a performance video, here we can see him performing his song on a stage in the club.

This is one of the dancing scenes and this is his iconography, he dances a lot in his videos and here we can see him dancing with a woman in a nightclub scene with actors surrounding them, this suggest the video had quite a high budget as there would have had to have been dancers and actors hired.

The video structures of Joan Lynch that this video follows are as follows:

• performance, this video is heavily performance based, we see usher performing on stage with  band and we also see Nicki Minaj performing on a set. There is also a high amount of dancing in the video with various different dancers and scenes.
• Narrative, there is a small amount of narrative content, this is mostly at the beginning where we see Usher walking into the club, here is also a bit of narrative content from Pharrell Williams who is seen in this video as being the owner of the club.

 This shows another camera angle of him walking into the club, this is part of the narrative content.

 Men playing card and board games can be seen, this is stereotypical of an illegal clubs and may be referenced to crime or gang films.

Pharrell Williams can be seen here looking over, a low angle shot has been used which shows he has power and dominance, allowing us to instantly recognise him as the owner.

When looking at Jon Gows music video genres, this video falls into the following:

• Performance documentary, this is a music video which contains footage of onstage performance but also offstage activity. This video has both of these as he dances around the club but also performs on stage and by himself with a microphone.
• Special effects extravaganza, this is when special effects overshadow the human performance, in this video, at around 1:38 we can see a man eyeball melt and moments later see a man face turn into a skull and then back again, there is also other special effects added to Nicki Minaj's scene, for example a spider can be seen crawling up her body which has been addd in afterwards and her face and hands are made to look distorted which match the static tv's behind her.
• Song and dance number, this video has a high amount of choreographed dances in it  with a high amount of different dancers and choreographers who all have different styles of dancing, this video also focuses on the lip syncing ability of Usher as he is made look look like he is performing the song live on stage.

 These two screenshots show how camera angles have been used to make it look like he is standing and sitting sideways on stairs on on the top of a building, this has been done to give the feeling of bending reality, like an Escher Etching.

 

This backs up Jon Gow's genre of special effects, here we can see her face has been distorted in Post production which makes her face look like its on a static tv screen.

This is another performance scene from the video where it is just Usher in shot with a spotlight on him.

Definition of a Music Video

A music video is a piece of films that accompanies a piece of music. Music videos are created and used for a number of different reasons, they can be used to promote artists and their songs/albums through the video being shown on music video TV channels such as MTV which started showing music videos in 1981.

Mtv logo from 1981.

Pans People in 1969,
a example of what music videos consisted
of before Mtv.

Before there was such a wide accessibility to music videos, many of them were simple and showed the artists in studios or had dancers dancing to the music.

In 1984, Joan Lynch stated three basic music video types, performance, narrative and concept.

Performance videos are usually simple videos of just the band or artist lip syncing the song in a studio or arena scene, these videos may include some dancing scenes, these videos are usually used for rock or alternative bands such as Green Day.

Narrative videos are videos that have a story which tend to amplify the lyrics of the song, these videos usually have a high budget and actors can be hired to play roles instead of or along side the main artist. Pop, R&B, hip hop or alternative and the main genres which predominantly use a narrative structure with artists such as Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj mainly using this structure in their video. Additionally, music video structures can be mixed, for example, artists such as Beyoncé tend to mix narrative and performance structures in their videos.

Finally there are concept videos, these are videos where the visuals don't seem to have a relation to the lyrics or the song, music genres such as dance and electronic music tend to have concept videos and these are sometimes used to back up live performances by DJs.

With these new video structures and the introduction of Mtv, music video producers and directors started to make new types of videos, this allowed artists and bands to create and build iconography and allow directors and producers to use new technology and techniques.

Iconography is on of Andrew Goodwin's codes and conventions of a music video which he stated in his book 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' which was published in 1992.

The cover of 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' by Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin's codes and conventions of a music video are as follows:

• There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (visuals amplifying or contradicting the music)
• There is a relationship between the music and the visuals (visuals amplifying or contradicting the music)
• Certain music genre have their own video style (e.g. R&B includes lots of dancing whereas rock bands tend to use performance structures)
• There is a demand from the record company for close ups of the main artist or band
• Artists develop own iconography, inside and outside of music videos such as dances or style sense
• Likely to be reference to voyeurism, especially in the treatment of women
• Likely to be intertextual references to either other music videos or films/TV programmes

Jon Gow identified six main music video genres in 1992, these genres are defined in terms of their relation to the display of the performance.

• Anti-performance - Videos do not contain content of the song being performed
• Psuedo-reflexive - Videos show the process of production
• Performance documentary - Videos contain footage of onstage performances and offstage activity
• Special effects extravaganza - Human performance is overshadowed by special effects
• Song and dance number - Videos in which the artists dancing and lip syncing ability is shown
• Enhanced performance - Videos in which different video structures are mixed together such as performance and narrative

In conclusion, a music video is used to allow the record labels to increase recognition of artists and their iconography, they can also be used to promote new music, for example if an artist releases songs and videos at the same time and they are shown on music television. Music videos can boost fan basses and might make viewers view more music or see a live show if the video has documentary footage. New technology such as Mtv has helped boost the availability, variety and codes and conventions of music videos into what they are today.

Benny Boom Music Video Analysis

I am looking at two music video directors. The first I am looking at is Benny Boom, He has worked with artists such as Nicki Minaj, B.O.B, Nelly, Meek Mill and keyshia Cole.

Benny Boom is also well know for directing and producing the film 'S.W.A.T: Firefight' in 2011, this film also included music artists such as Nas whom Benny Boom has previously worked with. he also directed the film 'Next day Air' in 2009, this was his first film and helped him to become part of the film industry and later went on to produce and direct 'S.WA.T: Firefight.'

Benny Boom also won a BET award for Video Director Of The Year in 2011.

Benny Boom mainly directs hip hop and rap music videos but does also direct pop videos from time to time. His videos are mainstream videos. He usually works with artists for a number of videos, for example, he directed four music videos for Nicki Minaj between 2012 and 2013, and five videos for Nelly between 2002 and 2008. The most number of videos he has directed for one artist is thirteen videos for Keyshia Cole between 2005 and 2012.

I am going to look at one particular video Benny Boom has directed, this is 'No Love' by August Alsina.

This is an example of one of Benny Booms popular videos, here, he has worked with two big hip hop music artists, this - like many other of his videos - is a mix of a performance and narrative video.

Benny Boom has a certain style in his videos, most of them include a mix of performance and narrative content. In this video we see a wide range of techniques in camera, editing, production and post production. For example, below is some content from a video benny Boom directed for Nicki Minaj which has a very similar look to No Love.

here we can see the performance side to the video

Here we can see the narrative side of the video

This is the opening scene to the video, here we can see the use of cross cutting between a mid shot of him and a close up of his necklace, there is a low camera angle used which would normally signify power, strength or authority but because of the dimly lit scene and his body language or being slumped over, holding his head and looking up would suggest he is the opposite and is not in power or control. Because the light is coming from behind him, a silhouette affect is created adding to the feeling of him being sad or without power because it stops us from being able to see his facial expressions which would suggest he is trying to hide his feeling of being sad.

This particular video has used a lot of editing effects, for example, the video uses split screen, one in colour and one in black and white to show the feelings and emotions of the video and the song along side the artists. This also shows how this video is a mix of narrative and performance as there are shots with him singing and others where he is with someone else but not singing. there is also a difference in mise en scene, cinematography and lighting between the different shots which can be seen below.

Here you can see that whilst he is in a performing shot, he is just in a studio with a plain background, the camera is a medium close up and is in a fixed position. Whereas when August and Nicki Minaj are in the scene together they are in a narrative scene and the mise on scene is completely different, rather than a studio they are in a grand room with low lighting, the way they are acting is more casual and the camera is not in a fixed position, it looks like it is handheld and there are more angles used such as high and low and there are big close up shots, medium close up shots and long shots, this gives viewers a sense and deeper look and feel of the emotions in the song and video, I feel this video has been done like this because of Benny Booms film history.

This follows the same conventions and codes as the last example but here we can see the use of cross cutting again as an editing technique.

This is another example of the high number of different scenes Benny Boom's videos include, here there is a nightclub scene and cross cutting has been used to show what two people are doing at the same time, in different places. we can tell its a nightclub scene by just seeing the inside by the use of mise en scene, when you look at the number of people in the scene, what they are wearing, how they are acting and dancing and because of the dark lighting, props such as glasses and spotlights in different colours. We also see Nicki Minaj wearing almost all white, standing in front of a pure white light and white windows, this gives the suggestion that she is pure and not in the wrong unlike the guy who is in dark scenes and we instantly know he is in the wrong. We also see Nicki Minaj sat on some steps with very dim lighting and from her body language we can tell she s the victim. Cross cutting is used between scenes and shows previous scenes of the video in black and white, this suggests what she is thinking of and lets us know its a flashback, also black and white is used when explaining something that is very to the point and simple to understand which is obviously the idea of the video, its obvious that he is cheating and she knows it and this is used to show this.

This is the last scene from the video, there is a big close up shot of a rose being dropped and broken into pieces, they have edited this clip so it is reversed, this suggests the two characters in the video may have worked out their differences, like the rose (representing their love) has broken but it now been put back together, the fact that the last bit of the video is the two embracing each other would also support this.

In conclusion, I like the way Benny Boom's videos are a mix of performance and performance and sometimes he mixes the two together in the same scene. His editing techniques are interesting and I am interested to try some of these in my music video.

AS to A2 Transition Music Video Project

This is the final edit of the music video my group created during transition. we chose to use the song 'Uptown Funk' because it has an easy to hear and follow beat to it and was a song everyone in our group knew well.

During this project, we learned how to use Adobe Premier Pro as this is how we edited the video.

some of the skills we learned include:

• How to add scenes to the timeline and how to cut them to get the specific part you want
• How to sync the original song to our video scenes
• How to add text over the top of the video

Here we have added the words 'STOP! WAIT A MINUTE' as these are the song lyrics and we used this as a transition between two scenes, we also synced the words to the song.

we did the same here but added the word 'WHUOO' to make this part of the video more interesting as we had to reuse footage which we had used earlier in the video.

Also whilst filming we used new skills such as camera tilting, panning, medium close ups and big close up shots, high and low angle shots.

This is an example of a camera pan and tilt.

Example of a medium close up.

Example of a long shot

Example of a low angle shot.

Example of a high angle shot.

we also used money as a prop which linked with the song lyrics.

Some things I learned were:

• Our video was washed out because the white balancing was wrong and because the weather was a mix of bright sunshine and overcast
• we did not film enough content due to a lack of time for filming and a lack of planning.

From doing this project I have learned basic knowlage on how to edit video footage and how to sync it to sound, I have also learned other editing techniques such as adding text over the top of the video. This experience has also taught me to make sure the camera is set up properly when filming and to make sure I have enough footage for the whole length of my video.

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