Our chosen music genre is indie/alternative pop, we chose this as we thought as a group we could put together an original piece that not only fitted well with the music video conventions. This genre is also less mainstream then other more pop based genres we could have chosen, which made our idea original with our blend of indie, yet would still appeal to a wide audience because of its pop conventions. Another positive point about choosing this genre is that artists within this field produce less known videos therefore our target audience will not have expectations when listening to our song.
The two artists we chose from our chosen genre of music are Ellie Goulding and Florence And The Machine. Both artists have made it big in mainstream pop all over the world, as well as having an Indie edge and style similar which is conventional for more edgy alternative artists. Florence and the machines video 'KISS WITH A FIST' was one of her debut tracks that propelled Florence to the top of the UK charts in mid 2008. The jump cuts within this video, make the video fast paced and enjoyable. This is typical of a indie pop video as the artist appears enthusiastic and iconic. A mid shot is used in this way to highlight the artists clothing which is unusual and loud with flower prints and funky tights This clothing appeals to the audience as they view the artist as quirky and an individual
The handheld camera shot also makes the video appear low budget which is typical of indie artists. This gives the video a simplistic feel, and appeals to the audience as the artist is the main feature of the video. The audience can relate more to the artist which makes her more successful as people can get hooked by the video and like the song more. This is stereo typical for indie pop videos, as the narrative is a mere 10% where as the audience singing and performance make up 90% of the music video. Conventions of pop videos are also a feature as the high key lighting makes the video bright and airy in order to show the interesting iconography such as the heart shape flowers which the artist carries with her. This motif is a running feature throughout the video, and allows the video to flow better. Visual relates to the lyrics also in this video, with the artist singing about the bed being on fire whilst on screen colorful paper imitates fire. This is conventional of indie pop showing that dramatic events are made lighthearted and fun by special effects and colourful iconography. The target audience for this video is typically a younger audience aged around 13-30. This videos pop genre with an indie edge appears edgy and cool with elements of pop making the song more widely accepted and successful for a global audience. The artist is represented as quirky and cool which is typical for an indie pop star, her fun and edgy nature inspires an audience to dress in a more funky way particular the younger end of the target market which are more impressionable. This music video also fits in with key features from Goodwin's theory. As previously mentioned the visual/lyrics are matched throughout the video when Florence talks about violence she is holding a truncheon as if ready to attack. And genre characteristics are also matched with quirky iconography typical of indie music videos, and the artist featured in a blank white room which is typical of pop videos. The second video I looked at was an early video from fellow indie pop star Ellie Goulding. The chosen video was 'GUNS AND HORSES' which has a variety of characteristics and conventions of both indie and pop music videos. The camera styles features a lot of jump cuts which show the fast paced nature of the audience this appeals to the audience as they are kept interested by the video and the quick paced nature of whats going on. The video also is conventional of an indie track as the narrative is kept at 10% whereas the performance takes up 90% of the video. The fade cut at the start of the video displays the typically alternative setting, which is a forest. This advertises the audience and gives her a quirky edge and shows that she is extraordinary as if inside a dream whilst she is singing.
The visuals relate to the lyrics as when the artist sings about 'guns and horses' soldier ladies come alove and begin dancing. This positioning of the dancers is typical of a pop video also as they are on stage dancing to the music. The colour filters are also another editing style which conveys the genre of the track. This is important as the blue light creates a cool and mystical atmosphere which fits in with the narrative yet the high key lighting on the artist also shows her to be the centre of the music video which makes the audience view her as the main part of the video thus selling the artist and making the song a success. The mid shot really focuses on the artist and allows the audience to see her clothing which is a paid shirt again typical for an indie artist yet fashionable therefore would be liked by her target audience. The target audience for this video again is for a younger 13-30 year olds. The style of the video is abstract and an interpretation of what the artist is singing about. This is typical for a quirky pop song as interpretations give the song more meaning and attract a wider audience. Representations of the artist show her to be quirky edgy and cool, her hand gestures throughout the song show that she gets into what shes singing, conveying her passion which draws in the audience. Conventions of Goodwin's theory are of course followed throughout this video with the lyrics and visuals relating when Ellie sings about guns and horses and soldiers appear, and also the voyeuristic nature of the female dancers wearing minimal clothing and dancing. This is typical of pop genre music videos and women are used to promote the song and create a sexy provocative video which draws in a wider audience particularly a male audience who would want to view the women dancing who are attractive and desirable.
The research conducted on the Indie pop music genre has assisted me greatly with planning my own music video as the variety of female artists similar to our chosen artist follow the conventions of Goodwin's Theory and typically perform more, rather than having a mainly narrative based music video. To create a successful music video within this genre my research has givenme strong ideas about basing the video within a setting such as a forest which is conventional of indie music, yet also making the artist a key character in the performance and the delivery of the song.
Copyright law is designed to give the creator or publisher the sole purpose to distribute there including the right to sell and receive payment for that reproduction.Violation of a copyright is called infringement. This is used within the music industry to protect artists work and insure that the artist is gaining profits from there own song.
We had to apply for copy right to get permission from the artists record label so we could use the song and produce our music video. If this step wasn't complete our video is at risk of having our video taken down, and legal action taken against us. To gain permission for using Nina Nesbitt's song 'Apple Tree' we had to send an email to 'universal' which is her record label.
Originally copyright was a way for the government to restrict other people from re-branding someone else’s work without their consent, enabling them to also receive monetary rewards/payments for the sale of the end product. This policy keeps artist’s reassured that their work will continue to make money and profit without any hassle. The typical duration of a copyright agreement is the whole of the creator’s life +50. If someone is to break the copyright law that is put in place, it is known as infringement. We had to apply for copyright in order to create our music video on ‘Apple Tree’, otherwise my group run the risk of our video being removed from YouTube with legal action taken against us and leaving the examiner to think no video has been produced, therefore breaking copyright guidelines. To do so it consisted of sending an email requesting the artists record label for permission, which for our particular song was ‘Universal’.
My group members are Georgia Crandon, Jenna Van Bergen and Rhianna Macleay.
In our first meeting we disscussed the following:
What type of song we should use
The narrative for our video
Ideas we wish to include
The vibe we wish our video to give off
Locations we can use and why they would be good
For our artist we considered, Ellie Goulding, Nina Nesbitt, The XX , Laura Marling and Florence And The Machine, however we kept going back to our original inspiration of Nina Nesbitt. We wanted to perform Nina Nesbitt as she was an up and coming artist and the audience wouldn't have ideas of her and her videos in their head whilst they were watching our video. Because of this all our alternative artists appeared too mainstream and we felt we couldn't do their videos justice as they were so established, such as Ellie Gouldings song 'Burn'. The vibe for our video and the atmosphere we wanted to create was important, as we wanted to have an edgy style and a kind of creative and different editing techniques. We took inspiration from videos such as 'We found Love' By Rihanna, and Nina Nesbitt's other song 'Stay Out'.
'Stay out' was actually the song we originally planned to do however we felt the video for the song already fit it so well, and we would end up simply copying it rater than thinking of original ideas. Because of this we chose the song 'Apple Tree' which is more dark yet still upbeat and gives us more idea for our video. The idea of our narrative is to have the artist playing guitar and singing the song 'Apple Tree' by nina Nesbitt. Throughout the video will cut back to memories of the artist and her past relationship both the happy memories as well as the sad. The narrative for our video will be very simple, so the audience can follow it easily. This will make our video a success as the target audience of 14-25 year olds will be able to relate to the video and easily understand it.
Our meetings and discussions were effective as we were able to research and plan a whole host of ideas in order to convey to the indie music genre and make our video more of a success. We worked well as a group as we all and individual ideas that we could incorporate into our own music video. Rhianna used her research skills, with Jenna having strong ideas about organisation and production whereas myself and georgia could relate more to the indie music genre and worked on portraying a rebellious teenage relationship that would make our video an overall success.
The primary purpose of a music video is to appeal to an audience and market an artist in order to make him or her successful. In order to do this the music video has to contain a strong narrative, striking iconography and an icon setting to make it memorable. The clothing an artist wears, or in some cases lack off needs to grab the audiences attention and make them view the artist as extraordinary. An artists products are usually displayed in the video also, this links in with advertising and selling the artists products or material items associated with an artist. Profanities and provocative risque material performed by the artist also attracts the audiences attention. When people are talking about a Music videos budget on social media, this makes a music video unique, for example artists such as Lady gaga frequently spend millions in order to produce blockbuster style music videos that are both unique and have a strong narrative in order to attract an audience and make them antisipate its release.
Chris Cunningham and Michael Codry produce big videos that are very diverse and in many cases unusual and unconventional. They frequently go against Dyer and Goodwin theories. Cunningham over the years has produced music videos such as 'come to daddy' which is essensially a dance track however the music video and weird nature of the narrative makes the video completely different and difficult for the audience to relate to or for the music video to shown on mainstream music channels. However Chris Cunningham has also worked with Madonna and Aphex Twin these big stars have both had very different iconic music videos that unlike some of his work have both been shown on major music channels such as MTV music.
The diverse nature of Cunningham's work is demonstrated with the two major videos of this career. both are completely different and sell each artist as an individual.
The music video produced by cunningham called 'Frozen' comes from world famous and iconic artist Madonna who famously changes the way is represented to the audience every decade or so. This video appeared in the early 1990's when Madonna was going through a emotional grungey stage in her career, this is reflected by her overall appearence throughout the song with her dark hair and dark clothes. Madonna does this because she can attract a new audience who would be more interested in this genre of music. her unique gothic style also could mean she is setting a new trend for her fan base who would look up to her memorable performance and wish to immitate what she is wearing in the music video.
When looking at the first music video frozen by Madonna, she appears iconic and emotional. This is in keeping with the visual/lyric relationship, as she sings about being lost and frozen as she stands still in a barren landscape. Madonna appears grungey and gothic which is keeping with the trends of the early 1990's when this music video was produced. She is dressed in a dark long black gown and shape shifts into varies animals. Cunningham goes against typical pop conventions with the performance taking up 90% of the music compared to a minor 10% where as a conventional pop video would most likely be a 60/40 split between performance and narrative. Cunningham makes Madonna a success by displaying her as an extraordinary artist who rebels against traditional pop conventions and makes her appear iconic. The positives of doing this is that the artist gains alot of attention, and the video appears more memorable. Madonna is seen to be a trend setter and by trying a new type of video she can attract a new niche audience. The negatives of having such a diverse music video is that the audience may not be able to relate and or have no interest in the artist and that the video i saw at risk of being unpopular.
In cunnighams other video, 'come to daddy', the presentation of the music video is unlike anything conventional of mainstream music shown on music chan nels such as mtv or 4music. The video appears more to the audience to be a short thriller clip. with a strong narrative relating little to the lyrics other than keeping up with the pace of the music and the dark themes without relating to the dark underground style of music. The characters appear scary, although a dance genre this music video has no conventions of this genre as there is no club setting or shots of people having a good time and being hedonistic. Goodwins theory is followed somewhat by the music becoming fast pace matching the fast paced movcements of the children which is part narrative of the video.
However goodwins theory is completly broken by the narrative which takes place on an english coucil estate, highlighted by long shots which show the barren landscape and desolate surroundings. an old woman is also focused on by a mid shot just before the little girls dressed as old men appear on screen. This is both disturbing and unsual for any dance track, as it gives a horrific and disturbing feel to the song, with young girls dressed as old men terroising old women. The video appears as a fantasy nightmare with the young girls taking on a supernatural and frigtening role. The dark nature of Cunninghams work limits the showing of this video, as most music channels wouldnt even consider playing it as it doesnt appeal to a wide audience and is too explicit for younger audience. The mise en sceen with low key lighting also gives the video a dirty image and makes the video appear even more scary. There is also no conventions followed when it comes to showing a relationship between the artist as he doesnt appear in the video.
The advantages of this video is that is is extremly edgey and will get a small selection of people talking about it, however thie video has got no way of controling a large audience as it is too explicit to be shown on music channels meaning the song cannot be a huge success. this is in keeping with cunninghams work as he uses the motif of the changing face in o0ther videos he has produced primarily to shock and scare the audience.
French director Gondry has produced videos for world famous artists such as Kylie Minogue. Gondry's style is much more artistic and uses a variety of editing techniques which appeal to the audience as they show the artist in an interesting and different way. This compared to the style of Cunningham who's bizarre and strange concepts (even when toned down for madonnas video frozen) make him harder to relate to and the concept more difficult to understand.
Gondry produced the music video 'come into my world' for Australian artist Kylie in 2001. This video is an iconic pop song set in a simplistic setting of a busy hughstreet. This gives the artist an attractive but ordinary star quality meaning the audience can relate to her extremly well. During the video Kylie walks up and down the high road and drops items on the floor. when she passes under a lamp post she is cloned and there becomes two of her. This process repeats over and over again until finally there are several versions of the artist on set. This simplistic editing tool used by Gondry gives the video an interesting and fun edge which is typical for any pop video. Goodwin's theory is also achieved as the visual lyric link appears when she sings 'come into my world' another version of her self appears.
The performance is 90% performance and 10% narrative which is typical of a pop song and gives the audience an accurate representation of the artist who is seen in a normal setting and going about her normal day to day activities. This makes the video both diverse and different. The artist would wish to portray herself in this way becomes it makes her more relatable to her fans and the ordinary high street clothing she wears allows her style within the video to be copied and if people like it they may start wanting to dress like her. This makes her a trendsetter and an iconic overall a more successful star in the music industry. The setting is bright and colourful and shown to be bursting with life, this image of a happy neighbourhood is being sold to the audience which matches with the positive and happy atmosphere of the song. This artist and iconic setting is typican for Gondry whereas Cunningham prefers to use darker emotional background which evokes fear and uneasiness within the audience.
The final video I analysed from Gondry was the song 'the hardest button to button' by Rock due The white stripes. This video features an ordinary setting around a busy city as well as on the subway, this typical setting has been chosen to give the stars ordinary qualities and make them as artists more relatable. However Gondry's typical artistic director skills make him have influenced the video by making the artists instruments appear mutiple times and follow both artists throughout the video.
The audience can relate to the song better because of this techchnique, as the instruments take the artists on a journey which also means the audience are taken on a journey by listening to the song.
Goodwins theory is also used as the rock genre typically shows artists using there instruments. This song does this therefor matching goodwins genre specific criteria. Dark clothing such as skinny jeans and long hair are also worn by the artist to show that they are alternative and part of the rock genre. The settings light and airy atmosphere gives the song a warmer feel thereford maybe attracting a new audience which will make the artists more of a success. The music industry would wish to play this song on music channels such as kerrang and sxuzz as the video isnt explict and safe for all audiences. The ration between peformance and narrative is around 98/2. The reason Gondry uses his techniques of repetition is to ultimatly make an otherwise boring video exciting which attracts the audience and makes the clever video more exciting to watch.
After looking at both directors I feel that Gondrys style of music video would better suit us as its more artistic and relatable. Whereas Cunninhams bizare style and narrative although dark and mysterious, would confuse the audience and not appeal to what they wished to see in a music video. Elements within Cunninghams work however could be incorperated such as the shape shifing use of artist and animals which make the video clerver and interesting to watch. Overall the style of our song would be better suited by Gondrys work as he has worked with indie artists such as whute stripes aswell as pop icons such as kylie, this is the vibe we wish to create with our pop/indie interpretation of Nina Nesbitt and therefore to incorperate his artistic elements would make our end result more successful.
Music videos appeal to an audience in a number of ways based on the genre of music and the type of audience they are trying to attract. Most music videos try to attract as large an audience as possible, in order to make themselves as an artists successful and popular. Different genres of music videos however different genres of using have conventional types of music, for example rap artists usually tell there own story through there video. In addition to this dance videos usually show people dancing within there videos which promotes the feel of there track and shows the music making people in clubs or parties having a good time.
Rap:
DRAKE - OVER
The video of over comes from 2009 when Drake was a relatively new artist. This music video is typical in many aspects of being from a rap artist as it informs the audience of his struggles to make it in the music industry and gives us a personal insight into our life in order to connect the audience with the artist. Editing plays a key role in the style of the music video and makes it enjoyable to watch. In the video the colour filters many times whilst drake is in a bedroom, the lights are fast moving and quickly flash from blue to red and also yellow. This shows the audience that Drake has a fast paced life style and he can never just be left alone as he is famous. This relates to the audience as he is sharing with them aspects of his life, which is conventional of a rap artist to let the audience into his life. Another technique is the relationship between lyrics and visuals, this is when people are reflected and fits in with Goodwin's theory, as it matches with what he is saying 'I know way to many people that I didn't know last year' as the people being shown are blurry and unrecognisable. Which again allows the audience to relate to the artist as Drake is exposing his fast paced life to the audience so they can relate more to him and the song.
Drake is shown in a minimalist room with gold chains clearly visible. This is a clear indicater that he is of the rap music genre, as many artists within this genre frequently show of their wealth through expensive jewlerry. The blank canvas of a room is unconvention for the rap genre, yet drake uses this to his advantage as he is portraying himself as an ordinary star who has it made it big in the industry. This is a key marketing tool as his target audience will understand him and where he has come from aswell as relating better towards him. Which of course will mean he will make more profit.
Another key aspect of Drakes video is the cinematograph. One of these being the shallow focus of himself where a dancer is blurry in the background, this subtly shows the audience that Drake had relations with this girl yet he does not care about her. The next camera shots shows a pretty woman in her bedroom in full focus, therefore highlighting to the audience that he cares deeply about her and not the blurred dancer. This relates to Drakes lifestyle as an audience and he sells himself as attracting alot of female attention which is typical for a rap artist who wishes to show the audience the idealistic life of someone rich and famous. An establishing shot is used with the bedroom back wall where a fast moving american city covers drake. This shows the audience that Drake is becoming lost in his new life of fame and fast moving lifestyle. This literally shows Drake to being swallowed up by the city and all the people within it, which is conventional of a rap artist as he is showing us that he has a fast paced and his fame can get too much.
Whilst sitting in the blank coloured room, a mid to long shot clearly shows the buzz of a city behind Drake. This follows Goodwins theory by displaying a clear lyric to visual relationship, as he sings about his fast paced lifestyle a city rushes behind him. This is used to show the audience that as an odinary star drake finds it hard to come to terms with his new found fame therefore is being absorbed my the city behind him. This follows the flashy conventions of the rap genre who nearly always use urban settings when shooting videos. The audience when watching this are not only visually stimulated, but also buying intc Dake's lifestyle and seeing first hand what he is going through. This intimacy is coneventional of the music genre and makes him more successful.
When drake sings about a girl within the video, goodwins theory is also followed as there is yet another visual lyric link. The close up of the female is typical for a rap genre song as she appears stunning aswell as dressed up nicely. The ideal girlfriend is a common topic for rap songs, which helps promote the girl featured plays up to dyers theory and the woman becomes sexualised with feelings of love and passion being exposed by the artist. The artist in this case Drake, also represents himself as a 'player' which is a conventional way for men to be portrayed in rap songs. the fact she appears in the video also attracts an audience as the woman used is worl famous Rita Ora who not only has a fanbase herself, but is also deemed sexually attractive by the audience and makes them more engaing with the video.
The Mise-En-Scene of the video also appears to be conventional of a rap music video, Lighting goes from low key to high key frequently, and makes the audience feel an on edge vibe, which is what the artists intentionally wants the audience to feel. The iconography used such as a lamp turning on and off
and the red light appears to express his anger which ties in with the audience trying to express how he feels to the audience. The setting in the bedroom is used as a stage to perform his music, where the past is played around him which draws the audience in and makes what he's singing more relevant. Clothing in the video changes frequently which is conventional, and Drake wears a red jacket when he is singing about being angry, this gives away his body language and the colour red has connotations of pain and aguish which is what Drake is feeling throughout the song.
Dance: FLO-RIDA - CLUB CAN'T EVEN HANDLE ME RIGHT NOW
Flo-Ridas music video appears to the audience as being very genre specific. The genre of the music is dance music which is mainstream and largely popular. As an artist Flo-rida uses a variety of editing styles such as the split screen which shows the audience that the club is busy, this is also a lyrics visuals reference as it fits into what the artist is saying about the club not being able to handle him. The visuals relate to the music as when the music slows so does the pace of the video, and when the music speeds up the pace does as well. an audience is drawn in by this as they relate the music to the video successfully. This is conventional of any dance tracks as dark rooms and clubs are used to advertise the artists music and convey people to be having a good time and using dance music as a form of escapism.
In relation with the rap genre, the dance genre also use frequent references to expensive iconography in this case a sports car. Parked outside the club the car advertises the music video by displaying the expensive taste for the artist. Wealth is common feature of the dance genre and the flash images of expensive cars, conveys the artist as a success and makes him more of a extraordinary star to the audience.
Probably the most recognisable feature of the dance music genre, is the use of dancing in a club setting. This is a common feature of music videos that portray dance songs as the artist wants to give the impression of fun and a hedonistic liferstyle. The artist Flo rida here dances within the crowd wearing shades, which further makes him stand out as an extraordinary artist meaning he follows the conventions of dyers theory. He is made more of a success within this genre as he isnt affraid to get involved with the crowd, which makes the audience watching the video on either television or socail platforms relate better to the artist and veiw him as fun and likeable which promotes the sdale of his record and any aditional ancillary products.
Cinematography in this track plays a vital role. The long shot focuses on lamborginis which displays the artists wealth and the artist appears materialistic. Audiences can relate to this by idolising the objects that people within this club have, and this relates to the video via the lyrics of the club not being able to handle them. Another camera shot used is the mid shot which shows the artist in the club. The levels show him on the stage which sells the idea of him being the main attraction to the club and that he is popular and idealised. This is conventional of a dance track as the artist appears powerful and the centre of attention.
The theme of dancing is contiuned throughout the video which is conventional of the dance genre. Females are seen to be carrying bottles of champpage which illistrates the scale of the artists wealth and the amount of girls carrying alchol fits in with the perfomance narrative and shows them to be sexual objects which fits in with dyers theory. The artist Flo Rida is seen to be more successful by the audience as within the video he is portayed as a 'lady's man' and is able to obtain large numbers of girls through being cool and wealthy. This makes the artist a success as his club setting is made vibrant and exciting, somewhere which the audience would wish to go and be intrested in seeing how the perfomance that advertistes the film 'step up 2' plans out. This use of double advertising makes both the film more money byu having big stars apear in the soundtrack, and also step up 2 fans more interested in watching the video in order to see characters from the movie on screen.
The Mise-En-Scene of this song is again very conventional of the dance track genre. Iconography of bottles with sparklers fits the narrative as it shows the audiences extraordinary life and his hedonistic nature if having a crazy lifestyle. The positioning of the females at the start of the video show them to out number Flo Rida. The clothing of the girls was also very revealing, therefor showing them to be attractive and sexual objects. The women also wear the same outfit which shows they are all the same in Flo Ridas eyes and that he can have sexual relations with all of them if he wants, this shows the audience that Flo Rida is a powerful and attractive man with alot of money. The light in the club scene is also very dark which shows the club to be fun and lively this is conventional of a dance track.
Rock:
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE - HELENA
Helena is an early song from American rock band my chemical romance. The strong has very strong connections with the rock music genre and the emo sub genre. The video itself uses fast pasced jump cuts which highlight to the audience the fast nature of the song and express the narrative of the video to be very eventful and to tell an emotional story. This is conventional of any rock song. The use of the mid shot at the end of the video shows the funeral procession and the dancers performing in black clothing. This allows the audience to visualise everything that is going on and see both the cofin and dancers. There is alot of dark and emotional creativity going on which is steryotypical for MCR and the rock music genre.
The lead singer Gerad Way is portrayed in this shot from a high angle. this is used within the video to create a moody atmosphere which is typical of the rock genre. The artist is seen to be wearing black eyeliner and have long black hair that covers his face, This is living up the 'emo' sub genre as many veiwers who watch this will be interested in this style and see the artist portrayed in the same way as them which makes him an ordinary star. the relationship between the artist and the audience is therefore strong, which allows the band to be more successful. This is typical of the rock genre as the aim of this kind of music is to keep fans and appeal to a smaller target audience outside of mainstream chart music.
Tere is certainly aspects of visuals relating to the lyrics, as the lead singer states "can you hear me, are you near me?" when hes standing next to the coffin this directly indicates a deep love for the dead girl who he is talking to. This is conventional of Rock emo music as the artists deeply in love and emotional about his feelings, this appeals greatly to the young teenage and perhaps early twenties audience, who would be deeply into the goth/emo lifestyle and love everyaspect of the music video. The shallow focus of the artist aswell indicates to the audience that the lead singer is the main part of the narrative, and this focus editing style conveys to the audience that he is dark and emotional which is stereotypical of the Rock music genre.
Steryotypes are also followede again later in the music video when one of the band members is seen playing the guitar which follows the conevtions of the music genre. the use of instruments is used in nearly every rock and alternative track, as the fans will want to see music being played, becuase rock fans wish to go and see live music. This intimacyis met within the video and the hardcore edgy stle of the band meber is also displayed, with his talent on the guitar making him appeal more to the audience and the bands strong fan base who will be veiwing this song, perhaps on rock channels such as Kerrang.
The female within this shot from the music video is seen to be coming alive from the coffin anddancing around. The girl is typical of the rock genre, as she is dark and mysterious and also looks pale and wears black. Playing up to the gothic audience she is also attratcive which meets with dyers theory of a female star. When she is persumed dead goodwins theory is also followed as the lyrics relate to whats happening on screen. The words 'can you hear me' are sung which highlights the dramatic and intense mood of the song and lives up to the genre by creating a split between narrative and perfomance. The visuals of this video are very targeted, which although may limit the videos success in the mainstream charts will complely appeal to a rock audience. This is conventional of the genre.
The mise-en-scene of this video is also steryotypical. The iconography used, such as candles and crosses are very gothic and emo related which appeals directly to the audience who would be captivated by this video. The positioning of the band playing there instruments is also what all rock bands do in there music videos to show that the music there playing is real and thus appealing to the audience. The clothing of course is very dark and gothic, with extreme amounts of eyeliner even on the male band members. This is not conventional for society, therefor expressing the emo nature of being out there and trying to rebel against social norms. The lighting is quite low key, even outside where it is raining. This gives the video a sense of foreboding and creates a depressed atmosphere which appeals to the audience who enjoy the dark and mysterious nature of rock music. Even the setting is at a funeral, which is completely in line with the emo nature of the video. The danger rock bands have of performing such a genre specific song video is that it may only appeal to a certain audience making the video not as popular in mainstream music, however this again is stereotypical for rock bands and fans to not care what others thing and be as outrageous as possible.
In the music industry it is very common to see the vast majority of music artists to completly reinvent and change there image over the course of their career in the inudustry whilst they are producing records. This can be for a number of reasons including wishing to remain fashionable and iconic as the styles change and evolve over time. Dyers theory states, in his book 'Stars', that media theorist Weber's theory of 'charisma' is what musicians use in order to create a popular image of themselves and regullarly rebel to conventions of society, by either using their own sexuality and dressing provocativly or simply be seen breaking traditional conventions mainly to appeal to a younger target audience who will then look up at the artist and idolise there seemily cool agenda. Following dyers theory will also allow the artist to make more money through subsidary products as the audience will wish to purchase clothing imitating what 'star' has been seen wearing. Therefore an artist can therefore become known for a signature style and become a trend setter influcing fashion and later becoming iconic, for example when madonna wore a coned shape bra. this has influenced artists such as katy perry, and gaga making making madonna remmebered for such a style way back in the 1980's. Artist may wish to change there image to suit the style and conventions of their record label which gains them publicity and generates more income for the label. Finally when appealing to a new target audience or a change in style an artist will need to change there style of songs, attitude and image in order to appeal to that genre of music so that goodwins theory is followed and there is still a strong video image relationship between the two. Music artists all over the world constantly update there appearance and style in order to remain on top of styles and trends in the music industry.
In Rihannas first really successful music 'If its loving that you want' from the start of Rihanna's Career the audience can see some distinctive features that dramatically differ from how she is portrayed today. The album 'music from the sun' reflects her life in barbados and how the music she produces is child friendly and very poppy. Rihanna is portrayed as the typical girl next door, a care free and bubbly teenager who just wants to 'hang out with her friends' and have a good time. This follows dyers theory completly as Rihanna is shown to be an idol for young girls as she dances on the beach and appears rebellious to her target audience as she dresses provocativly, and would inspire young girls to want to look cool and live the live rihanna lives. This made Rihanna's career a success as her idilic lifestyle incompasses everything what a younger audience would want to live, a stress free life on the beach spending all day dancing and having fun with your friends. Goodwins theory is also followed by the lyric video relationship as Rihanna lays on the beach and states 'if its loving that you want you should make me your girl' This flirtatious attitude is portraying rihanna to be flirty and strong willed. again following the conventions of dyers theory regarding music stars. She appears an inspiration to a young audience yet her behaviour is not considered too risque by the vast majority of adults who are parents, therefore her music can be widely bough which increases its popularity for a younger target audience.This allowed Rihanna to become charasmaic, with the brightly coloured clothes she wears in the video typical of both her carribean roots and her vibrant colourful personality being shown. These aspects again follow dyers theory and her career grew from strengh to strength. After a string of hits becoming increasingly risque as she is sold to the audience to be growing up. This also makes Rihanna more of a success because her target audience of 13-17 year olds are also growing up with her. Her risque behavour in 'pon de replay' is shown through her talking to boys and dancing at night time, however there is still no alcohol shown and her dress is still by todays standards pretty consertavive. As Rihanna is a new artist, referring to Dyer's theory Rihanna is being easily sold to her young teenage audience as an 'ordinary star' who is the typical girl next door. This promotes the idea that anyone can make it in the music industry and makes her more of a success.
Whats interesting from this screen shot, is that contact with boys rarely appears and there are next to no sexual or risque scenes in this music video which differs completly from how we see rihanna today. Rihanna isn't seen with any boys which allows her to really appeal and be sold to a young audience as she cant be critisized or called a bad influence. She is both innocent and stereotypically normal girl who has made in in the music industry.
in 2007 just a few years into Rihanna's Career, The artist we see is completly different. With her hugly successful single 'Umberella' from her approriatly titled album 'good girl gone bad' we can see Rihanna has grown up vast amounts and is now portrayed as a sexy young female who is iconic. This fits in with dyers theory as she appears a star on stage and looks provocative which is fitting for her now more R'n'B styled song. All in all she appears completely different which is fitting with goodwins theory as there is strong links with her sexuality being displayed and the provocative lyrics within in song. She conveys herself to the audience as a variety of characters appearing in a variety of outfits aswell at one point completly naked and covered in metalic paint. This allowed Rihanna to become very successful as the world wasnt expecting the artist to be portrayed in such a way. New audiences were reached because of this and many people became interested in her new style of music aswell as veiwing her as attractive, Rihanan therefore is portrayed as a more 'extraordinary star' which is typical because of her performance based video with no real narrative. The video itself also attratcs audience with its high budget effects and various dancers. Umberella also gained alot of attention because of the collaberation with Rap sensation Jay-Z who appears in the song. Head of her record label Roc Nation, it is within Jay-Z's interest that rihanna is a success as it generates himself and his company more money, therefore he uses his own fan base to influence people into buying Rihannas song. Rihanna comes across as being grown up and sexy, with a completely different look that hasnt been seen in any of her videos before. Her cutting edge short hairstyle also makes her an icon, influnces a young audience of around 14-26 year olds to do the same. The video represents the artist in a different way. She appears more extraordinary and a role model for young women as well as a sex symbol for men. In this screen shot we can see Rihanna wearing contrasting colours which makes her stand out and appears the centre of attention. Her hand gestures also show her fighting out against the water, therefore making her seem more aggressive and defiant against conventions of society which link in with dyers theory of appearing rebellious to become more successful.
Jay Z appears in Rihanna's Video
Multi million dollar record producer Jay-Z also appears in Rihanna's song again signalling a massive change. This also advertises what record label Rihanna is part of (Rockafella Records) which is owned by Jay-Z. She promotes the music of her record label and fits in with the way that the record company wish her to come across.
The colours within the video are black and white monochrome which show Rihanna to be the centre of the video and shows her to have grown into a dark and edgey artist. Rihanna also appears naked and sprayed in silver in front of a triangle. This is associated heavily with Jay Z's record label and also the illuminati. Because of this Rihanna is given a lot more press as she is shown to be a part of Jay Z who is world famous thus making her more successful. Finally she also appears in a french made out fit that fits in with the lyrics and visuals of the song as she is dancing with the umbrella. This shows her to be sexy and also quite hedonistic which is how she is wishing to be portrayed: a woman no longer a naive teen which is how she presents her self in previous videos. This is all evident from her album title of the time ' Good Girl Gone Bad', which after following dyers conventions of star its easy to see why Rihanna wanted to change her image and appeal to a global audience as a grown up attrative young woman.
The final video analysed comes much later in Rihannas career, now in her mid twenties 'We Found Love' Which came out in 2011 shows Rihanna to be comepletly following dyers theory of a star; iconic and charasmatic. Her album Talk that Talk, shows her to be condifent in herself as an artist and really at the top of the industy. After years of gaining more and more success with numerous best selling albums, Rihanna broke out completely from her normal image and made herself into an ordinary yet extraordinary character. This fits in with dyers theory as artists regullarly change their appearence in order to fit in with different styles that are popular. In this video Rihanna is appealing to an edgey more iconic style with the video taking on the form of an artistic film displaying a violent relationship. Something which thanks to the press, many known rihanna to have sufferered from violent relationships and love in the past. The video is set in council estates and fields in England, which makes her an ordinary character that people can relate too and see that anyone can be portrayed as an iconic pop star. However her sexy style and edgy fashion sense make her extraordinary and someone that people would idolize and think was really cool, this heavily follows dyers theory. The lyric visual relationship conventioned by the song with the 'hopeless place' being a grimey flat yet still somewhere where rihanna and her lover are content to be because of the love they have for eachother. This means that rihanna is following both Dyer and Goodwins theory which explains why her video for this song is such a success.
In this screen shot the positioning of Rihanna and her boyfriend convey them to be boyfriend and girlfriend. The couple are seen performing risque kissing scenes and also sexual acts which is completly different to how Rihanna was portrayed at the start of her career in earlier music videos, this shows she is now more confident as an artist and that shes not afraid to be controversial and try new things. This leads her to be following dyers theory, and she is seen to be iconic and fahsionable.
Throughout the video varies special effects such as the changing colour of cigarettes and drugs are shown. This risque behaviour also marks a change in the Rihannas persona. The reason for this is so Rihanna can keep up to date with current trends and appeal to a more mature audience who want to see new things from the artist and be excited and interested by the way she is being portayed. Rihanna does this by making an edgey and visually stimulating music video. She is once again seen kissing her boyfriend in the bath fully clothed which shows the audience she is most likely intoxicated and reckless therefore again following dyers theory.
Rihanna all in all comes across as an attrative trainwreck who has an uncaring attitude and likes to live in the moment. This idea is being sold to the audience, who are mostly teenagers and young adults. The audience would look at this care-free attitude and wish to maybe follow her lead and want to go out and have fun. This makes rihanna more successful as people will see this and become interested in her music and buy her records. The changes in her music also run simultiously with changes in Jay-Z's music therefore showing how the Roc nation label are keeping all the artists up to date to ensure they remain successful through changing styles in the industry. Rihanna is also pushing trollies, and stands on tables in fast food restaurants, this shows how she is living in the moment and being anti-establishment; a popular convention followed by artists and supported by dyer. This is exactly how the audience would wish to be, as the stereotypical teenager just wants to have fun. Rihanna is also fiercely independent in this video and ends up leaving her troubled boyfriend. This shows the audience that she is an independent young woman, and also creates an image of how big an artist she is and needs no-ones help to be successful.
In conclusion all artists who remain popular over a long periof of time must follow both Dyer and Goodwins theory of music stars. Rihanna has portrayed as iconic and in many ways the new queen of pop with her edgy attitude and changing hairsyles. She has inspired many trends and her attitude is sought after by her targeted younger audience who wish to imitate her rebellious attitude and buy into her lifestyle which of course makes her as an artist more successful. Dyer argues that, in many cases, stars' "offscreen personalities" were at least as important as their on-screen personalities in shaping our perceptions of their meanings. This can be applied to the modern day with social media sites displaying artists such as Rihannas off screen personality on places such as instagram, which she has become known for and even more famous. She can make herself more of a success by doing this portraying her lifestyle as hedonistic and more 'real' to her fans who are able to see what she is doing on a daily basis. Music Tv channels report on these images of rihanna in underwear on instragram and her rebelious attitude is seen with her smoking and drinking on a regular basis.
Rihannas image aswell as many other artists image changes constantly to match the changing styles we see in the industty. The main reason for this is to match trends in the music industry and to remain successful. Perhaps the biggest contributing factor to Rihanna however is most likely her age. When she broke on to the music scene around 9 years ago, she was much younger and impressionable therefore over time artists grow up and change the way the public view them. Changing styles such as grundge and edgy pop videos have become popular therefore for rihanna to remain popular she has to follow Dyers theory and change her image this is commonplace in the music industry, and completely fits in with Dyers theory of a music star.
The target audience for this video again is for a younger 13-30 year olds. The style of the video is abstract and an interpretation of what the artist is singing about. This is typical for a quirky pop song as interpretations give the song more meaning and attract a wider audience. Representations of the artist show her to be quirky edgy and cool, her hand gestures throughout the song show that she gets into what shes singing, conveying her passion which draws in the audience. Conventions of Goodwin's theory are of course followed throughout this video with the lyrics and visuals relating when Ellie sings about guns and horses and soldiers appear, and also the voyeuristic nature of the female dancers wearing minimal clothing and dancing. This is typical of pop genre music videos and women are used to promote the song and create a sexy provocative video which draws in a wider audience particularly a male audience who would want to view the women dancing who are attractive and desirable.
