For our A2 coursework we have chosen to make a music video. A music video is literally a filmed version of a song. A typical video will include images of the artist performing the song and/or clips interpreting the lyrics. Videos are mostly used on music channels (MTV, Kerrang, Q, etc.) when they are seen on the television. This gives the audience something to look at when listening to the song, in turn making the tune more memorable and promoting the artist and their music thus improving their chances of selling more records.
There are different music video characteristics for different genres, for instance there are more likely to be clips of live stage performances in a video for a Rock song than for a Dubstep one.
In these instances, there are expectations from the record company for the director to include a lot of close up shots of the lead singers/artists as this is what the audience wants and expects.
There are sometimes intertextual references in music videos, where there are references to other videos/films or TV texts. This is clearly recognisable in all of Plan B's videos for his singles from his album 'The Defamation of Strickland Banks'. The album follows the fictional story of Plan B's alter-ego Strickland Banks as he finds fame as a soul singer (Love Goes Down, Writings On The Wall, Stay Too Long) but then loses everything when he's accused of and sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit (She Said, Welcome To Hell, Prayin', etc.). The story is played out naturalistically in the music videos from the album, and so they all link in with eachother. The mise en scene is kept the same in all the videos as well as the lighting, which gives the viewer a sense of continuity even though the videos were all filmed at different times. The same actresses are also used to play Strickland's girlfriend (Vicky McClure) and his obsessive one night stand (Kaya Scodelario) which makes the album seem more like a story than just a collection of songs.
Intertextual links are also often present when songs are used as soundtracks to films. Bryan Adams' song 'Everything I Do (I Do It For You)' features on the soundtrack of 'Robin Hood Prince of Thieves' (1991) and the link is very obvious in the video. There are clips of Adams and his band playing live music in the woods, which symbolises Sherwood Forest, and there are also many clips from the Film played in the Music Video as well. Other examples of this are 'End Credits' by Chase and Status which features in Harry Brown (2009) and 'New Divide' by Linkin Park in Transformers (2007).
There are different music video characteristics for different genres, for instance there are more likely to be clips of live stage performances in a video for a Rock song than for a Dubstep one.
In these instances, there are expectations from the record company for the director to include a lot of close up shots of the lead singers/artists as this is what the audience wants and expects.
There are sometimes intertextual references in music videos, where there are references to other videos/films or TV texts. This is clearly recognisable in all of Plan B's videos for his singles from his album 'The Defamation of Strickland Banks'. The album follows the fictional story of Plan B's alter-ego Strickland Banks as he finds fame as a soul singer (Love Goes Down, Writings On The Wall, Stay Too Long) but then loses everything when he's accused of and sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit (She Said, Welcome To Hell, Prayin', etc.). The story is played out naturalistically in the music videos from the album, and so they all link in with eachother. The mise en scene is kept the same in all the videos as well as the lighting, which gives the viewer a sense of continuity even though the videos were all filmed at different times. The same actresses are also used to play Strickland's girlfriend (Vicky McClure) and his obsessive one night stand (Kaya Scodelario) which makes the album seem more like a story than just a collection of songs.
Intertextual links are also often present when songs are used as soundtracks to films. Bryan Adams' song 'Everything I Do (I Do It For You)' features on the soundtrack of 'Robin Hood Prince of Thieves' (1991) and the link is very obvious in the video. There are clips of Adams and his band playing live music in the woods, which symbolises Sherwood Forest, and there are also many clips from the Film played in the Music Video as well. Other examples of this are 'End Credits' by Chase and Status which features in Harry Brown (2009) and 'New Divide' by Linkin Park in Transformers (2007).
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