How a star’s image develops over time through music video

The star that I am analysing is Avril Ramona Lavigne. Born 27 September 1984) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more than $2 million. In 2002, when she was 17 years old, Lavigne broke onto the music scene with her debut album Let Go. The music genres that Avril has worked in are: Pop rock, power pop, pop punk. In her earliest video ‘Nobody’s home’ she is established as isolated, sad and insecure. This is proved as there is a close up of her crying. This creates an atmosphere of sadness. There is a long shot of her trying to get a ride from the cars passing by. This shot displays her as alone and helpless. Also, there is a montage editing of her singing to the mirror and displaying her felling of distress by gripping a hair for example. This enforces the feeling insecurity and instability. Finally, the colour of the hoodie, hair and eye shadow being black enforces this feeling of depression in this video. Furthermore, we see alot of shots of the roads. This creates the feeling of being on the streets. In her later videos we see that she is gradually getting more confident. In the video ‘When You’re Gone’ we get the feeling she has become more self reliant and confident. High angles of her, which make her look innocent. There is a mid-shot her opening her arms to accept the light. This may be a reference to accepting change. Finally, we see in her costume and make up she is wearing black eye shadow but a white dress. This contrasts. In the video ‘Alice’. Avril is strong headed and resilient. This portrayed when she falls down a hole. The falling down the hole is symbolic of failure. However, the visual motif of her climbing out of the hole is played with her saying ‘Can’t stop me now. This shows her resilience. In montage editing we see that she is trying to find a way out. Finally, there is the shot of her sitting at the table with the mad hatter across. This shows that she is confronted with her madness and decides to leave it. Finally, in the video ‘Smile’ we see that she is presented as positive and rebellious. In the video she is like a ghost and picking up the piece and we that people are smiling because of this. The way the record company attempts to sell the star is through the use of use of close up shots and the number of the amount of shots of the artist. In the ‘Alice’ music video there are small section where Avril Lavigne’s face fades in and out constantly in the video. This gives us focus that who the artist is. I consider that the wider cultural significance of the artist is that she is an example of ‘girl power’. However, in here earlier videos she is presented as isolated and insecure. In contrast, in time her videos have become more rebellious. To conclude, when looking as the journey from Avril Lavigne’ s videos from ‘Nobody’s home’ to ‘Smile’, we see that from insecure, isolated and sad to strong headed and resilient to positive and rebellious.

Analysing Narrative in music videos: Lady Gaga – Paparazzi

The video starts with a low angle of the sun and the Bahamas, close up shots of plants and the lighting is warm and natural. In contrast when we see more shots of the interior of the house we see a Chandelier, Money with Lady Gaga’s face on them and  Dr. Dre Beats headphones. So we see the contrast of the warm natural environment of the outside to the artificial and manmade of the inside of the building. This may reflect the artificialness of being a actor both physically and mentally. The building being a mansion and all the lavish items inside suggests That owner is wealthy and to an extent has power.

The music video to an extent follows the Todorovian narrative model, this is presented as each stage is established. In the equilibrium of the music video Lady Gaga is in a surrounding which is of high class. We know this as we see a Chandelier, close up of money with her face. This shows a level of arrogance and dominance of the artist. Furthermore in this stage, she is kissing her lover in bed. We acknowledge this stage is positive. We recognise the disruption stage as the man pushes Lady Gaga of the edge. This scene has reference to Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo and the viwer gets this feeling of a slow movement of time. Recognition is demonstrated when we see Lady Gaga in a wheel chair. Gradually we see her getting better from the wheel chair to the crutches. In the reparation stage we see that she is in a party. Finally in the Re-equilibrium stage Lady Gaga gets her revenge by killing her boyfriend with a drug in his drink. Later we see newspaper pages having titles like ’Rises again’.

I can identify the Proppian characters to a degree. Lady Gaga is the antagonist as most shots are of her and so we are positioned on her side. The protagonist would be the boyfriend as he pushed Lady Gaga of the edge. The structure of the narrative is a linear narrative as it has a beginning, middle and end. Time in this music video is presented in order however is compressed with montage editing. This would give greater impact of the music video in a short amount of time. In this music video there are a display of binary oppositions, I have interpreted them as: Love vs. greed and Good vs. Bad. Good vs. Bad is displayed as the boyfriend does the evil deed of pushing Lady Gaga of the edge of a balcony. However, Lady Gaga comes back in revenge and kills the evil man. Finally Love vs. Greed is displayed as we see that Lady Gaga is in love with the man we see interactions of love like kissing. However, the boyfriend seems to be reaping the benefits and goes to the extent of getting rid of Lady Gaga for selfish reasons.

There are intertextual references in the music video. In the beginning section of the music video there are subtitles in a font which is reminiscent of old French films. This gives the video a vintage feel.  When Lady Gaga is falling there is a black and white spiral in the background, this makes reference to a shot in the Vertigo film. When Lady Gaga is in a wheel chair she has a neck rest which has the Swiss symbol. This may give reference to the location of shooting. When Lady Gaga is in crutches she is wearing a gold colour plated costume, which makes reference to the film Metropolis. Finally, in the scene with the boyfriend and Lady Gaga, we see that the boyfriend has an eye-patch. This makes reference to James Bond villain Emilio Largo who wears an eye patch. The addition of the eye patch enforces the boyfriend being a protagonist. Lady Gaga is wearing a yellow jump suit with micky mouse patterns. Furthermore, her glasses captures the ears of Micky mouse which make her look. By having intertexual reference to Mickey or Minnie mouse this makes her seem innocent. As we associate Minnie or Mickey with cartoons and children’s.

Textual analysis of music video.2

The music video that I am analysing is American Rejects-Dirty Little Secret. It is directed by Marcos Siega is a film, television, commercial, and music video director. Siega working in various fields tells me that he is artist and passionate and I see these elements reflected in the video. The genre that this music video belongs to are: Indie and pop-rock. The broad characteristics of the genres that the music video has are: Close ups of the main singer to promote the artist and the band. Fast paced camera movement and editing. This gives the video more energy and speed. This captures pop-rock aspect. The use of montage editing emphasises the movement and gives greater impact in a reduced amount of time. Also the use of backlighting, gives more contrast. This gives Chiaroscuro lighting which makes the shots look visually interesting. Furthermore, there is use of crabbing and panning. This creates alot of movement. Finally, we see shots of the guitar and drums. This enforces the genre of rock. 2. The relationships that are shown between lyrics and visuals are when the use of Chiaroscuro lighting compliments the lyrics of ‘Dirty Little Secret’ as the more of the shadow we see the more that is hidden. Furthermore, when the singer says ‘Dirty Little Secret’ and 'just another regret,' corresponds with the viewing of the cards making it more interactive visually. ‘You are the only one who needs to know’. This emphasises the exhibitionism as we are being revealed everything. ‘Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret’. This to an extent contradicts the music video. ‘Who has to know’ We don’t see the people’s faces. This demonstrates that it doesn’t matter who knows. ‘Who has to know when we live such fragile lives it’s the best way to survive’ This phrase also contradicts with the visuals, as the singer sings ‘who has to know’ when we are presented with the secrets. Sometimes in the video we are presented with the other band members singing along or joining into the chorus. This demonstrates unity in the band. Near the beginning when the singer says ‘Tell me’ in a raised tone, the camera zooms in quickly. This really captures the raise in tone of the voice. There is a moment in the video when it comes out of the montage editing and the singer has paused from singing. Then there is a cut to a light bulb in the background and zooms out to have a view of the singer singing. This is a effective re-introduction from montage editing of the people.

The relationship between music and the visuals are presented in a manner that when we hear the sound of the drums or the guitar at certain points where they seem to overpower the music we see close ups or mid-shots of them. This compliments each other. Right at the beginning of the video the first of round of beats are played in a very fast pace complimenting this we see a very fast montage editing of people showing there secrets. During the chorus music, which is fast paced so it the camera movement and the editing. During the chorus we see fast tilts, pans, lots of cuts and close ups of the band members and instruments. This captures the speed very well. Another example of visual synchronization is when the music plays the cymbols. So does the drummer. Later in the video when the music has slowed pace so does the movement of the camera and the editing. Nearing to the end the music is slowing down to the point of stopping. We are shown the montage editing of the people showing their secrets but in reverse. Eventually the music stops and when this happens the camera zooms out and tilts down.

The image of the band that is given is of cohesion as we see that their costumes follow a dark tone which is similar. The record company is trying to sell the track as in the video we are shown cards with secrets that might identify the audience. This will make them engaged in this track. In their previous music video ’The all American reject - Swing, Swing’ their performance is based in a shed and around it. This may link with their original situation when starting out as a band. Furthermore, there are less people in the narrative part of the video. This suggests this video had a much lower budget as in their video for ‘Dirty Little Secret’ the performance was in a hall and there were a lot more people also more lighting. The video represents a change in image as the main singer has a different hair style and setting of the performance is different from the ‘Swing, Swing’ video.

There isn’t a notation of looking in the video but being seen, Exhibitionism. This is apparent as we see that the main singer is looking into the camera at times. This shows that he knows he is being watched. The camera work in the video is fluid or swoopy. This is very apparent in any form of rock music videos. Furthermore, the band is shown. Howver not as much as the lead does. The lead singer will give us a direct mode of adress. This engages the viewer and tells me that the director wanted to seel the band through the focus being on the lead singer. 

The music video doesn’t have any intertextual references to engage the audience. However, it does show cards that reveal a person’s secret. The audience can identify with some of these secrets and be engaged. 7. The music video is performance based video. The performance aspects of the video are the band being on the stage and the people showing their secrets.

Textual analysis of music video.1

The video that I am analysing is ‘Love Story’ by Taylor Swift. The video was directed by Trey Fanjoy is a country music and pop music video director Fanjoy has directed over 150 major label music videos. Knowing that Fanjoy is country music and pop music video director I can see and understand that how the country image is vey apparent in the music video as we see alot of outside environtment scenes and the colours that are shown are vibrant and fresh. The genre that the music follows is country pop that is love inspired. The characteristics that the video has that follows the genre are the cuts to the beat which follow closely the beats of the country instruments. Fast paced camera movement & editing illustrates the beat of the music. The use of montage editing captured the narrative in a condensed time. Panning, crabbing and tilts captured the pace of the music. Furthermore, it also captures wistful romance element of the video. Finally, there are a lot of close ups of the artist. This was done to promote the artist and to be seen on smaller screens.

In The music video the lyrics are amplified through the visuals to an extent. This is shown when Taylor sings ‘Say hello’. This is illustrated through a close up shot and Taylor Swift is turning around to face us. Later she sings ‘you were everything to me’. This is presented in a 2 shot and they are positioned close together, which creates an atmosphere of a union between two lovers. Finally, she sings ‘This love is difficult’ in contradiction in the shot Taylor is stroking a Horse. This shot connotes that she is soothing and tending to what the horse can be symbolized as love.

The relationship between the music and visuals in the chorus is presented with the pace of the music being increased. A fast tilt shot is shown going up while Taylor is looking in the distance. The tilt shot really captures the raise in pace in the music. Shots become more swoopy. In the beginning of the music video the pace of the music video is slow and repetitive and sounds like a clock ticking. Visually we see the high school clock, which compliments the shot. Furthermore, there is a slow motion edit. This compliments the pace of the music so it is amplified. Furthermore, when the pace of the music is increased so does the number of cuts.

There are close ups of the artist. This attempts to sell the artist as she is constantly shown in these shots. The image of the artists that is being represented in this video is that she is early 19th century upper class or a princess. Compared with the previous music video by Taylor Sift ‘Picture to burn’ I see that there is no relationship between the videos. We see a change in image between the videos as in ‘Picture to burn’ She is wearing a black colour scheme set of costumes and is presented as independent and rebellious. This is presented through low angles and the music has a constant fast pace. However, in ‘Love Story ’ she is wearing light colour scheme costumes and there is a display of union and love through 2 shots.

The artist is on sexual display to an extent as there is a shot where the camera tilts in a diagonal direction of the back of Taylor. Furthermore, she is wearing a dress which reveals her back. However, she is presented as more of majestic higher class women.

In the video there are intertexual reference to High school, to fairy tales stories and the film pride and prejudice. Intertexual reference to fairy tale stories is portrayed though the shots of castles and a forest. Intertexual reference to the film Pride and Prejudice. This is portrayed in the dance scene. The costumes and the scene are visually similar. Finally there are intertextual references to Romeo and Juliet in the lyrics.

The video is both narrative and performance based. However they are linked very closely. The performance sequences are when Taylor is in the castle structure singing. Whereas the narrative sequences are the ones related with the story of the male and the female.

Introduction

Hello there,
This blog is intended to demonstrate my process of creating a music video. Specifically it will show my journey from analyzing existing media products, researching for my own ideas for my video and understanding other people views to help improve my product. Furthermore, I will look at representing the artist or band through the means of a digipak and poster.