Research Task 1 Summer Work

TASK: To identify the importance of genre conventions and star image in attracting an audience to a music video.

What you will do:

TASK 1:

> Pick a genre of music, e.g. Boyband, Punk, Rap, HipHop, RnB, Dance, Rock etc.

> Pick three music videos from that genre, each by a different artist.

> Make a note of the COMMON genre conventions (common visual, aural and technical codes they share)

Think about:

· Narrative style (narrative, performance, concept

· Representation of gender, ethnicity, class and age

· Editing pace, montage / continuity editing?, effects and transitions used (symbolism)

· Cinematography: shot sizes, angles and framing (and what they show / symbolise)

· Mise-en-scene: Lighting (mood), colours (symbolism), performance, facial expression, body language, costumes (symbolism), settings (symbolism - and number of changes of settings)

Embed a link to the music video:

MV1: Aitch -'Baby'

MV2: Iggy Azalea- 'Fancy'

MV3: Eminem- 'Without Me'

Looking at these three music videos we do see some common conventions throughout the videos however each artists has their own style portrayed in the videos. In all three videos we see heavy sexualization of women which is a common convention of rap music videos. In MV1 we see the rapper ‘Aitch’ trying to peruse a women and impress her but then she leaves him where as in MV3 Eminem already has two girls with him which again these are two conventions seen in music videos. Looking at MV2 by Iggy Azalea we see a few differences in the music video as she is a female rapper and the other two music videos are both by male rappers. Even though Iggy is a female in a male dominated industry she has done extremely well which could be because of the use of the typical rap music video conventions. All three of the videos have their own narrative. MV1 follows the narrative of a relationship, MV3 doesn’t really follow a clear narrative structure but it does seem to be a multi-stranded narrative as it has many plots going on at once. In MV2 there is a clear narrative as it follows the narrative from ‘Clueless’ which is one of the most iconic films from the ’90s.

The representations in these videos is quite restricted and stereotypical. All the artists are white and represent an idealistic/aspirational lifestyle. In the videos there are representations of people of colour however it is quite minimal and they are not at the forefront of the narrative for the music video.

The editing pace of the videos are quite fast as rap music is fast however in MV1 the editing pace is slower than the other videos as the song is slower and portrays a much more calm setting and plot line. During the videos we see medium shots bing used the most with eye-line level angles however in MV3 we see more use of low and high angles.

MV2 and MV3 both have intertextual references embedded in the videos. In MV3 we see intertextual references to Elvis Presley, Men in Black, comic books but the main intertextual reference is to Batman and Robin. In MV2 the clear intertextual reference is the film ‘Clueless’. The music video contain almost exact replications of the entire film and follows the same narrative of the film. This is a common theme with Iggy Azalea’s music videos as she also did this for her music video to ‘Black Widow’ where it had a heavy intertextual reference to ‘Kill Bill;.

Another convention we se throughout these videos and other rap videos is the artist showcasing wealth. In MV1 and MV3 both artists are wearing expensive jewelry and even the song for MV1 is about what he owns and what he can buy. In MV2 the film it is referencing is about teenagers who are in extremely wealthy families.

TASK 2:

> Identify how each of the acts has a distinctive star image & apply Goodwin’s theory.

Think about how mise-en-scene and cinematography are used to establish this:

· Mise-en-scene: setting, body language, costumes and make-up, lighting

· Cinematography: position of camera, framing, shot sizes, movement and angles

Write a half page analyzing the three videos via Dyer’s star theory and Goodwin’s theory.

Looking at MV1 we see a distinctive Star images created for the rapper. Aitch is from Manchester but in the video it is showing him in a mansion in LA. This house was rented for the music video but it shows off the idea of his wealth and the idealistic lifestyle they want their star image person to portray. The mise en sane of the video helps to emphasize this as we see him driving an expensive vintage car as well as wearing expensive outfits. The video does not however leave the setting of the house. Looking at Goodwin’s theory we do see a correlation between the lyrics and the video as the narrative of the song is shown in the narrative of the video. This is common for music videos as it helps the audience to understand and decode the information of the songs.

Looking at MV2 we don’t really see Iggy’s star image that much as she is playing a character however the choice of character and intertextual references could be a hint towards her star image being a mixture of different elements from different films she likes. This video does also fulfill Godwin’s theory. I think that it fulfills his theory if the audience has a strong knowledge of the film as the lyrics do match the references to the characters. However if someone who hasn’t seen the film watches the video then I wouldn’t say it fulfills the link between the lyrics and video. This video does fulfill Goodwin’s idea of the artist having a star image in their videos and in real life. The image and representation of Iggy in the video is very different from how she represents herself in real life.

Lastly looking at MV3 we see a clear star image created for Eminem. This star image represents him as getting all the girls, being powerful like a superhero and also being overall a rebellious character. We also see him as living in a mansion and having this idealistic lifestyle than many people (specifically men) aspire to have. The video does also fulfill Goodwin’s theory more than the other two videos as in the video there are clear and strong links between the lyrics and visual. For example he mentions a hospital and being shocked with the defibrillator and we see this in the visuals.

Throughout MV1, MV2 and MV4 the shots are all focused on the artists and they are in the foreground of all the shots. This helps to emphasize their star image and so their importance in the videos.