Music video duet practise; Elton John & Kiki Dee

In our media lesson today we got into groups in order to practise setting up and filming a variety of shots from different angles, this is to prepare us for our actual music video as we will be in situations were guidance will not be available therefore we must learn some key skills as we will be independent a lot of the time when filming our music video. Me and another member of my group for this task participated in creating a copycat of the classic Elton John and Bernie Taupin duet called 'Don't go breaking my heart' in order to practise our use of camera, lip-syncing and stage performance.



We filmed this duet from four different angles, this is so that when it comes to the editing stage we can pick little sections from the different angles which look the most effective. This is good practise as we will be doing the same for our coursework music video so this is very helpful as it gives us ideas on which angles could look good for certain events and which ones wouldn't. The performance aspect seem to have been the most challenging part whilst doing this task as the fear of others watching and remembering the lyrics more difficult than it seems because of the pressure. However after a one or two practise takes I found that my confidence seem to have risen as I realised that I was taking it too seriously, the more I relaxed the better my lip-syncing was. This should be the same case with our music video as after a few takes the intensity in pressure should decrease as it will become more of laugh and an enjoyable task when taken less seriously and focused on producing a good music video.

Katy Perry; How her pop videos reinforce her brand image and reflect her private life

Goodwin says that pop videos are used to reinforce a brand image. Goodwin can be seen to be right as Katy Perry portrays this idea in her music videos.

Katy's music video 'Firework' was released in 2011, this portrayed a positive image as the key message in the video is to 'Be yourself'. Katy Perry's music videos tend to be of a high production value as they always consist of specials affects, actors and expensive settings. In addition to this they always tell a story with is related to the lyrics and they music video, this music video displays characters going through difficult stages in their life that any teenager would have had to face such as coming to terms with sexuality, self conscious about weight, family problems or struggling to fit in with others. All these elements are evident to be over comed due to the lyrics in the video as they support the idea of escapism and originality. Katy's target audience are teenagers, this music video is more specifically targeted at young girls aged 12-18 as this is their most venerable stage. Katy promotes herself as a big sister to young girls and someone to admire in a positive way and will be encouraged to be listened to by parents/guardians as her music can be seem as motivation.

 

One of Katy's other music video 'California girls' portrays a different side to Katy as she doesn't display these elements of motivation in this music video. This pop video displays a more sexy Katy as her costumes are more reveling and nudity is evident in the video. At this piont in Katy's life she can be seen to be going through Miley Cyrus's current stage of feeling young, free and sexy which is why she shows a more loose image. In addition to this she was married to a famous comedian/Actor Russel Brand who was also known as a sex addict. The couple were completly in love with eachother at this stage which can be seen as a reason why Katy wanted to look sexy as well due to the influence of Russell. Because of this new look Katy gradually drifts aways from her target audience, mostly her young female audience as they wouldnt want to have an image which will portray themsleves as a whore. However some elements to Katy's video's hasnt changed in this one as a story is still being told and has the production value is high. Katy displays a more cool concept to this video which is supported by the lyrics as she bigs up the 'Westcoast' in America and brings a highly rated rappper Snoop Dog in the hope to make the video cooler.


Moving on to her following music video 'wide awake' the begining of this videommakes it look as if 'California girls' was just an act as it starts off how 'California girls' ended. Katy does this in order to get back to her original target audience by sending a message saying the previous music video was not real. This transition was because of the situation in her personal life at that period as she was going through a stage of divource with Russell Brand. Katy realises how big of a mistake she made getting married to him as Russell never really loved her. It was also mentioned by the press that Russel admitted to having to think of other women whenver hima and Katy were having sexual intercourse. It turn out that Russel wasnt the man Katy thought he was which was what influenced the title of this pop video to be 'wide awake' as it symblies her seeing Russel for who he actually is. The music video itself consists of her admitting mistakes she has made and the start of a new begining. The music video is of a hgih production value once again as it is like a mini film. It also tells a story just like her other music videos do. Implication of Katy going back to who she use to be, someone to admire and a role model are evident throughout the video. The presence of the little girl in the video symbolise her trying to reach out to her younger target audience once again as it suggests the idea of girl power. At the end of the video Katy releases a butterfly, this can be seem to be a sign of a new life for Katy in her music as well as her personal life.

Star theory; Richard Dyer

Dyer believes artists are constructed through artificial images such as advertising, films, magazines andmusic. He claims that consumers prefer artists to convey their true emotions themselves and not be groomed by record labels who try to create a fake image for them. A 'real' artist can use this as their unique selling point and be different instead of trying to be something there not.

Richard Dyer also believes that stars are manufactured to make money for their record labels byappealing to target audiences. As a result of this record labels have to market different artists in order tosuit these variety of audiences. Examples of record labels doing this can be seen through the currentMiley Cyrus and Joe McElderry which is now signed to Sony music.

Another one of Dyer beliefs within his star theory is that
artists  become trendsetter in the scene that audience members will imitate
artist on aspects such as their clothing. This can be seen with the Rap artist Drake and his single
'Versace' encourage the younger audience to purchase versace clothing. 

Artists may have certian religious beliefs and culture values that audiences may also pick up on if
shared by the artist. The internet has meant audiences now have far greater access to the 'person' 
lives of stars.

Type of music

Artists can be separated  into two categories, these categories are organic and Synthetic. In the music industry the term, 'Organic' is used to describe music bands which started as a group from the beginning , these member are normally close friends even before the success of there music band. These type of bands would make there own type of music and if the band is signed then record labels will try and sell this music to the correct market segment. These typeof music are more original as they have been created by the members in the band, an example of this is the boy band The Beatles .

The 'Syntheic' category is the opposite  opposite to Organic. These are often done by music as if they 
identify a gap in the market the will target this by developing a new sort of image/music and often an
artist/band is used to fit this gap. This bands tend to cinsist of members who 
are pit together by a music industry in order to sell more record as money is the ultimate goal in this
operation. This method can be seen to be the 'Xfactor' methodology, the boy band One Direction is a 
perfect example of this as they were put together to make a band as the judges in the programme felt 
that they would be more of a success in the music industry as a band rather than individuals. There are 
other bands outside of this programme which are also 'manufactured' artists such as McFly and The 
Spice Girls. 

Major and Independent record label

Although there are many successful record labels the music industry is dominated by four majors, these are Universal, Sony Music, Warner Brothers and EMI. These four are known as 'The Majors' in the music indusrty. These majors are also backed by conglomerates with stakes in other industries such as Film, TV and electronics.

Sony

Warner Brothers

Most of these Majors own or license a series of smaller subsidiary companies in order to reach different kinds of audiences in different kinds of genre. These companies are known as major independents; Columbia, Island, Syco, RCA and Virgin.

Although the music industry is dominate by these 'majors' there are also a large number of small companies which are also known to produce good music without the link to any of the majors, An example of on is Domino Records. Due to the lack of money these companies will tend to only concentrate on a small amount of artists/genre. It is often the case that many of these record labels begin as independents, but then are bought by a major and then become major-independents.

The pitch for my music video

This is our pitch for the music video we are going to make, which is by Behind Bad Luck and is called 'Superman'.

The use of Pop Videos to Market an Image; Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus is an excellent example of the change and power of the pop video. Before Miley's transformation into her most latest image she was use to be known as Hannah Montana in her younger days at the age of 16+ who was a role model to young child, young girls in particular looked up to her as someone they would like to resemble when their older. She was part of a Disney TV programme called Hannah Montana and was also a pop artist as she released several singles and albums.

 

Miley Cyrus then revealed her new image at the VMA awards this year as she came out of a Teddy Bear in her performance half naked. She displayed a number of sexual references as she later started twerking on Robbie Thicke who she made a joint performance with and is old enough to be her dad. She then continued to reveal her rebellious side as she made references to 'Molly' which is a street name for the drug ecstasy. This was evident in her music video 'We can't stop'

 

Miley didn't stop there, her most recent pop video 'Wrecking Ball' created a number of controversy as the opening sequence to the video was inspired by Sinead O'Connor music video 'Nothing compares to you'. In a section of the guardian newspaper Sinead was said to have wrote to Miley with a sub title saying 'Don't let them prostitute you'. This article consistes of of Sinead writing 'In the spirit of motherliness and with love' as she warns Miley not to let the music business make a 'prostitute' of her. She also comments on her views on the music industry as she says that 'they're there for the money' and lack the caring nature for individual artists as all the they care about is selling records and profits. It was then later said that Miley did not appreciate the advice and after the letter was published she tweeted on twitter a screen grab of Sinead's Twitter feed, cpmaring the singers publiv breakdown in 2012 to that Amanda Bynes the actress who was recently held for psychiatic treatment after a seris of incidents including starting a fire.

On the other hand i have come across another article featuring two observer writer debate on whether Miley is being exploited or empowered. One the debaters Berties Brandes says empowered.She points out the fact that she is still only 20years old and there are millions of other girls at that age who would despritatly want to be sexy. She states that the only difference between other girls and Miley is that 'Her idea of sexiness is pretty extreme'. The writer then later concludes that people should not victumise Miley and that it is not entirely her fault for the image she is portraying that the blame should be on the record company as she is only doing what is being adviced.

In addition to this it is evident that Miley is not the only young female artist to do something like this. This act can be seen in the actress/pop artist Lindsey Lohan. She also use to be an idol to young children as she was in alot of childrens films such as Parent Trap, when she grew up she went to rehab due to her addiction to drugs and alchol. The negative publicity and shock can be seen to be abit over the top as Miley is simply one of many female celebrates to potray such an image.



Miley's rebilous and reckless now look and gain her alot of publicity which can be seen as a good thing as many people who had never heard of her now have. Miley has been all over newpapers and magazine covers due to her new look and also seems to be gaining new fans/audience as her views on YouTube on her recent music videos show very high figures.   



Music director Alex Southam; Case Study 3

Alex Southam is also a freelances for OB management. In university he decide to take up Law and received alot of training in order to to into the profession equipped. He then later decided to go in anew direction and work in the filming industry. He began making music videos to learn 'the trade'. He has worked for Agile films who has described him on their website as ‘Alex Southam is an exciting new talent, working in a dizzying variety of styles across live action and animation. Entirely self-taught, his inventiveness and creativity have caught the eye with a series of diverse promos for the likes of the Walkmen and Lianne La Havas. Alex joined Agile in August 2012.’

To begin with Southam undertook all the tasks on his video such as camera, lighting, editing and now uses a director of photography. Southam likes the format of musci videos as 'You can try new techniques and can have real artistic freedom'. He is less keen on commercials as they allow for 'much less freedom'. He uses Vimeo to showcase his video -  this is becoming an increasingly important platform as it is considered to have 'higher status' than YouTube.

His breakthrough came with the video 'Tesselate' for Alt J. This vdeo hade a maxium buget of £10,000, it took a whole day to shoot and consisted of a large cast.



Alex Southam also directed the band Chase and Status music video called 'Lost not found. This had a buget of £50,000 to put together and was filmed in Los Angeles. The whole video was filmed in only three shits using a steadicam.