INITIAL VIDEO IDEAS

As you can see from the post below, we want our video to have a very dark and serious nature, like in the What Goes Around video, something completely unexpected but still in relation to the song. We will film a large section of the narrative at night and in urban areas to keep to the raw drum beat of the song. As well as this we have also decided to keep the characters in the video to just two, as we want to keep as much focus on them as possible. Accompanying this we want to aim to have three different performance shots which will feature a variety of different shot types, some will bear a resemblance to the narrative shots but others will also be varied.

Our next step will be to gather inspiration from other videos, different to the ones we have analysed.

CRY ME A RIVER - LYRICAL ANALYSIS

Here you can see the lyrics for our song Cry Me A River. As you can the general outline is that the guy singing the song has been hurt in love, his girlfriend has cheated on despite the fact that she meant to the world to him. He's found out what she's done and he's telling her that it's her time to cry about it, become upset about it. I'd say the lyrics are quite dark and fuelled full of revenge, misery and heartbreak. This contrasted against quite a strong and danceable hip hop beat contrasts against the undertones of the lyrics. Therefore in our music video we will keep the overall theme quite dark and depressing, despite the fact that there'll be a large amount of performance.

You were my sun
You were my earth
But you didn't know all the ways I loved you, no
So you took a chance
And made other plans
But I bet you didn't think that they would come crashing down, no


You don't have to say, what you did,
I already know, I found out from him
Now there's just no chance, for you and me, there'll never be
And don't it make you sad about it


You told me you loved me
Why did you leave me, all alone
Now you tell me you need me
When you call me, on the phone
Girl I refuse, you must have me confused
With some other guy
Your bridges were burned, and now it's your turn
To cry, cry me a river
Cry me a river-er
Cry me a river
Cry me a river-er, yea yea


I know that they say
That somethings are better left unsaid
It wasn't like you only talked to him and you know it
(Don't act like you don't know it)
All of these things people told me
Keep messing with my head
(Messing with my head)
You should've picked honesty
Then you may not have blown it
(Yea..)


You don't have to say, what you did,
(Don't have to say, what you did)
I already know, I found out from him
(I already know, uh)
Now there's just no chance, for you and me, there'll never be
(No chance, you and me)
And don't it make you sad about it


You told me you loved me
Why did you leave me, all alone
(All alone)
Now you tell me you need me
When you call me, on the phone
(When you call me on the phone)
Girl I refuse, you must have me confused
With some other guy
(I'm not like them baby)
Your bridges were burned, and now it's your turn
(It's your turn)
To cry, cry me a river
(Go on and just)
Cry me a river-er
(Go on and just)
Cry me a river
(Baby go on and just)
Cry me a river-er, yea yea


Oh
(Oh)
The damage is done
So I guess I be leaving
Oh
(Oh)
The damage is done
So I guess I be leaving
Oh
(Oh)
The damage is done
So I guess I be leaving
Oh
(Oh)
The damage is done
So I guess I be... leaving


You don't have to say, what you did,
(Don't have to say, what you did)
I already know, I found out from him
(I already know, uh)
Now there's just no chance, for you and me, there'll never be
(No chance, you and me)
And don't it make you sad about it


Cry me a river
(Go on and just)
Cry me a river-er
(Baby go on and just)
Cry me a river
(You can go on and just)
Cry me a river-er, yea yea


Cry me a river
(Baby go on and just)
Cry me a river-er
(Go on and just)
Cry me a river
(Cause I've already cried)
Cry me a river-er, yea yea
(Ain't gonna cry no more, yea-yea)


Cry me a river
Cry me a river, oh
Cry me a river, oh
Cry me a river, oh

DARKBEAT RECORDS LIVE ON FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE & FLICKR

The convergence of music and digital technology especially the internet is growing at a rapid pace. Not only is the primary source for distributing music now the internet, but sites such as Youtube and Facebook are very effective marketing tools not only for independent record companies but for the larger ones as well. With the use of Web 2.0 we are now able to gain feedback to help us create the best possible production that we can.

I have set up a DarkBeat Records page on Youtube and Facebook. Below are the links to how you can access them.

Youtube Channel
Facebook Group

POSTER ANALYSIS

Another part of our ancillary tasks is to create a magazine advert or poster advertising the release of the CD. I have gathered a few existing posters to analyse and draw inspiration from. Each poster is by an artist to similar to the one we will be creating.

Britney Spears - Circus (2008)

This is a poster advertising the release of Britney Spears' 2008 album 'Circus'. As you can see they've used a completely different image to the one on the cover. It shares similarities in terms of the pose and composition but the image on the poster seems to be much more bold and eye catching. The overall theme of the artwork is kept the same in terms of fonts and graphic elements this creates some cohesion to make the whole package seem as a whole project.

Michael Jackson - Thriller 25 Special Edition (2008)

This is a poster for Michael Jackson's Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition. What's interesting with this poster is that the photo of the artist is a live one from on stage, almost like documentary image. This tells us that it's not really relying on anything but the artist to sell the album. This is emphasised by the list of achievements on the side of the poster, they describe the album being 8x Grammy Award Winner and The Biggest Selling Album of All Time. It's different to the Britney poster as it doesn't rely on image and style and design to sell the album, rather than the artist itself and the list of achievements that this album has accomplished.

Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster (2009)

This poster advertisement by Lady Gaga is very simple. It's in black and white and features two images that are on the actual album itself. It's very clear and straight to the point. Introducing the artist and the album title and gives a brief description of the album and the singles that are featured on it. It then states in big bold writing where it's available from before giving information on her website and her record label. The plain sans font does come across as quite effective with the style of artwork.

Eminem - Relapse (2008)

What I like most of all is the creativity with this album poster. The album is called Relapse and tells the story about Eminem's struggle with addiction, which is why I think it's extremely effective to have his face painted out with hundreds of pills and the album title written out like a Doctor's prescription. I think it really works when the artwork for the album has a real meaning to actual meaning behind the album, therefore I aim to be very creative with our album cover and our poster.

CD COVER ANALYSIS

For this next section of the project I will be analysing a three different CD covers in preparation for the production of my ancillary tasks. I have decided to analyse three covers from three artists who are in similar genres of pop music.

Chris Brown - Graffiti (2009)

This is the album cover for Chris Brown's 2009 release for Graffiti. Analysing the usual mise en scene we can see that Chris is stood in black clothing, wearing sunglasses (not your usual everyday clothing) holding a guitar behind his head. He's holding a graffiti can down at the title of the album stood in front of a large window which looks out into space. What I like about this cover that it's got a very individual style using a background which looks out into space rather than a plain coloured background. The low angle shot of Chris presents him as strong and dominant, a traditional representation of men.

Justin Timberlake - Justified (2002)

This is the cover for Justin Timberlake's 2003 release of Justified. Once again the location of the album cover is in a deserted waste land, not a typical day to day location. He's wearing dark clothing which is an effective contrast to the sky and the rocks and land below him, a leather jacket is quite an average piece of clothing for a male unlike the Chris Brown cover. This sort presents him once again as a typical male. However what I find interesting about this cover is the pose that Timberlake. Stood to the side and to the right into the camera sort of gives the impression that he's quite vulnerable, what also backs this up is the way that he's staring into the camera. The mid shot of him makes him the clear focus of the cover so that the audience is very familiar with the artist.

Rihanna - Rated R (2009)

This is the cover for Rihanna's 2009 release Rated R. Possibly my favourite cover, what I really admire about this cover is the effect of the pose that Rihanna's in, the simple layout, yet the the saturation of colour and darkness of it. For a cover for a female artist I think it really breaks the typical codes and conventions of a female album cover. The way her hand is placed over one side of her face as her eye stares intensely into the camera, gives the cover a strong sense of vulnerability yet strength at the same time. The way all the colour has been sucked out of the photo and the composition of how she is positioned within the frame, give the cover a claustrophobic feeling. The way the cover works like a piece of art as the 'R' logo and album title gently sits around the photo is very effective and will be a factor that I would like to include within our album cover.

MUSIC VIDEO CODES & CONVENTIONS

After an in depth analysis of music videos by Pop/R&B artists, I have drawn to some conclusions about the codes and conventions of this genre.

All the music videos that I analysed followed the generic conventions by the portrayal of women in the work. They are presented as sexual icons from the revealing clothing to the way they perform in a suggestive manner. Noticeably in all the videos women are involved in a situation with a man most of the time, their actions are centred around a man. Whether it may be from Britney's quest for revenge on a man or Madonna's saving the world in four minutes with Justin. Then there is the vulnerable state of the female lead in the 'What Goes Around' video how she may be painted out as the villain but she is still very much seen as scared and nervous almost like a child. What I aim to achieve in my music video is to break this convention by presenting the woman as strong and bold to the point where she is on the same level as the man.

When it came to the portrayal of men within the music videos that I analysed, in every single one they were seen chatting up women, undressing women and getting involved with women. A very traditional representation of men, most of the time they are completely in control of the situation and even when they aren't they're rarely phased by it at all.

The range of shot types that have been used in the majority of the music videos that I've analysed consisted of mid-shots and close up shots of the artist, especially in performance. This backs up Goodwin's theory about music videos. There's also a large amount of performance in each video, it's sort of the structure of the video the base and everything after comes together. For example in 'Womanizer' the scenes with Britney performing in the sauna can be seen throughout the whole video, the same goes for '4 Minutes' and the scenes in front of the counter. The videos are edited and cut from scene to scene at a very fast pace, especially within the videos that feature heavy amounts of performance. The lighting in each video obviously is catered to fit the mood of the actual song, however, in each video everything's glossy bright and bold when it comes to the portrayal of the artist.

The location in each of the music videos changes in each one. For instance in 'The Way You Make Me Feel' it is set in a street, a very urban setting. I believe this is meant to add some level of credibility to the artist, for them to appeal to their audience more. Then in other cases like in 'What Goes Around' you've Timberlake in a lavish apartment, a big club, driving expensive cars. When it comes to our music video I think it will be easier and better if we focus the location in a urban area, simply because we have easier access.

MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS

I will now analyse some existing music videos, with a brief idea of what ours will be like we have chosen the music videos which best represent our genre and challenge and explore the codes and conventions. They are all Pop videos, dabbling in electro and R&B.

"4 Minutes"
Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake 
2008
Director: Jonas & Francois

In this video Madonna and Justin Timberlake are seen running around different sets of day to day situations, from a living room, to a used car garage, to a supermarket to an office toilet. As they make their way through the sets behind them is a black line which is sort of dissolving everything in them, I think it's supposed to be a metaphor for time as the song is called '4 Minutes to Save The World'. Accompanying this is numerous performance shots in front of a time counting down from 4 minutes. This backs up Goodwin's theory about a relationship between the music and the visuals.

The first shot you see is of Timbaland stood in front of a giant screen mouthing the words to the song, Madonna and Justin quickly follow to also perform in front of the screen. This is an example of intertextuality and screens within screens another one of Goodwin's theories. The majority of performance shots are close up and mid shots of Justin and Madonna accompanied with a few long shots to show that they're dancing.



Both artists in video are represented as very important people from the narrative shots of them running on top of the cars, what's also important to mention is that despite the fact they're important people, when they're running around every day life they're being ignored by the extras in the video, I feel this is done to keep the focus on them.


What is also noting is the level of dancing in the video, at the start Madonna challenges the codes and conventions of women in music videos, she's pushing the car and running around on top of tables and cars. However during the rest of the video, she performs some very sexual moves and has Justin undress her in the music video, she also undresses him but there is more emphasis on her as she is almost naked by the end of the video. This backs up Goodwin's theory that women are presented as a sexual object in music videos.


The fast paced editing is what I really find captivating within this video. No shot lasts more than a few seconds at most and I feel it really gives the video pace and gives the music and video a level of suspense. I think this could really work in our music video, therefore I will be making sure that we have a large variety of shots to choose from and edit together.


"Womanizer"
Britney Spears
2008
Director: Joseph Kahn

In this video, Britney Spears thinks that her boyfriend is cheating on her. She goes undercover in a series of disguises to confirm what she suspects. Accompanying this is not only performance within the narrative of the story but a performance section in a sauna.

The video begins with Britney dancing in a sauna, she's posing on a bench and is naked. This is represents her as a very provocative woman and once again backs up Goodwin's theory that women are displayed as sexual objects in music videos. She then serves breakfast to her boyfriend who barely looks up from his paper. This is a very traditional representation of the relationship between men and women. Throughout the video we see her in her different disguises, kick her boyfriend in an office chair, slam him against a photocopier and pinning him down in the back of a limousine. This challenges the codes and conventions of women in music videos by the end of the video she is in complete control. The roles of Britney and her boyfriend have reversed.

Once again in this video the editing is very quick to go with the quick tempo of the song. The fact that this video is predominantly narrative means that we will focus a lot on this one when planning our production.

"The Way You Make Me Feel"
Michael Jackson
1987
Director: Joe Pytka

Despite this video being from 1987, I think it's relevant as Michael Jackson is one of the biggest inspirations of many artists today. In the video Michael tries to impress a girl, dancing in front of her, throughout the video she acts completely uninterested and just carries on walking down the street. However throughout the video he slowly wins her over.

In the video it's a very traditional relationship between men and women, htis seems to be a common pattern within the videos that are by male artists. The shots are very long to go with the story as this the first music video that is based on one set. Most of the shots used are long shots which zoom in to become mid shots the camera as tracks along the street and tilts to keep up with the action. There are also some mid shots of Michael when he is miming key parts of the song.

The women once again is portrayed in a very traditional way, she's simply another object of a man's desire and this seems to be her only purpose in the video. She might act unimpressed but there's still a very happy ending.

"What Goes Around... Comes Around"

Justin Timberlake
2007
Director: Samuel Bayer

In this video by Justin Timberlake, he meets a girl at a club she acts uninterested before they both leave. The next scene they're together in bed before she leaves and jumps in a swimming pool, he jumps and saves her. This is a very traditional representation of the relationship of men and women, the typical cliche man saving the woman. The next sceen they are sat with some friends drinking. What's also apparent in this music video is the cuts between the music for scripted dialogue. The narrative of the video is almost separate to the performance shots. The performance shots in the video mainly consist of Justin stood on a stage performing casually, in just vest and shirt, it's very informal. The costume for most of the video is predominantly quite dark and plain. After a large section of performance, Justin discovers one of his friends kissing his girlfriend. A small fight occurs before she runs away and drives off. He chases after her before she crashes for the audience to see that she's dead. 

The narrative in the video proves to be controversial and deals with a dramatic storyline which ultimately goes well with the song. What I also like in this video is that it challanges the codes and conventions of a pop video, due to the fact that his love interest in the video dies. It's unexpected, shocking and leaves you on the edge of your seat throughout. Despite the fact Justin is surrounded by fast sport cars, a beautiful girl and lavish parties which portray what his lifestyle is like, there is a strong sense of dark undertone to the video. It's set at night and the lighting gives it a cold, hollow feel. This might be because the director Samuel Bayer traditionally directs videos for rock artists.

There are also many interesting aspects to the camera work in the video, it's almost filmed like a proper film. There's lots of match on action, focus pulls and handheld camera work, this gives it a sense of reality, something I think could be very effective within the narrative in our music video.

ANDREW GOODWIN

Andrew Goodwin cam up with some key points in analysing music videos. He states in 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'... 

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).

We will be taking these ideas into consideration when analysing music videos in the next stage of our project.