create a list of the ways in which people can consume music videos. has this changed over the years?
technology has developed -- able to use smart phones with internet to watch videos
able to download music videos on apple products from itunes
portable cd players used to be around
tv based - a lot of people relied on mtv/top of the pops to watch music videos
cassette tapes
mp3 players/ipods that were underdeveloped
record players
The way in which people consume music videos has drastically changed over the years. Where as in earlier years people relied on TV channels like MTV and programmes like Top of the Pops, technology has developed so much that smart phones are available with internet so people are able to watch music videos via their phones.
The purpose of this music video is for an artist to express his/her lyrics through visuals in order to give the audience a clearer understanding of what the song is about, and allows them to build a relationship with the artist. For example, in this particular music video 'Perfect' by Pink the video demonstrates a personal meaning to both Pink and to the audience, as it tells the story of a girl's life who finds it hard to accept herself. The target audience in this video is the young, teenage girls whom struggle to find total acceptance of their appearance so by Pink's music video of 'Perfect', it encourages the teenage girls to become more accepting of themselves. Therefore the purpose of this music video is to not only give the audience an opportunity to see the relationship between the lyrics and visuals of the song in order to gain a further understanding, but to also engage the audience by showing a realistic story so that they are able to connect further to the artist and gain a little self-esteem, as the video demonstrates that if you want acceptance from other people, you must first accept yourself so the music video gives a lot of motivation to the audience and inspiration.
There are various styles within this music video. For example, a narrative is shown initially in the beginning of the video where a midshot is used in one camera shot and then blurred into another midshot of a youn girl who we assume to be the women who we first see withing . The blurring in the midshot to the other midshot is for the audiences purpose so that they can assume that this is a memory that the video is about, illustrating the womens life from a young girl. Having a narrative in a music video helps towards giving the audience and in depth understanding of the lyrics, and so by having a story to go by the video becomes more personal to the artist, and therefore the audience too as they feel they are more able to connect to the artist. The story behind this music video is particularly powerful as it shows off a narrative that is very personal to not only the artist, but definately a lot of young people of whom are fans of this particular artist. The narrative of this music video can be seen throughout which is important as it developes the audiences understanding of the message that this artist is trying to put across.
As the music video plays on, it becomes clear that there is also performance included within it. This can be seen when Pink is singing the lyrics whilst there is a change in slides of each stages of the girls life. This is first seen when the girl is young and being bullied by one of the boys before being told off by the teacher. By having Pink singing the lyrics inbetween the changes of each stage of the girls life, where for example a close up is used of Pink singing directly into the camera, it shows that Pink is telling the audience this story almost as if it is her own. This is particularly poweful for the audience as they then become unaware as to whether the song is based on a personal experience from Pink's life or story that Pink has made up to sing about. However, the fact that there is a close up of Pink singing directly to the camera, the narrative becomes more believable and therefore conveys the idea that this narrative is something from a personal experience.
Similarly to the narrative, there is also a concept withing this music video. This is when the artist sells a particular idea/theme/ideology to the audience and the life that they have lived, in this case it is an example of how P!nk may have spent the best part of life rejecting the idea of accepting herself and only in recent years has become fully happy with herself and her complexion. This can initially be seen when the young girl has make up smeared up on her face and looks into the mirror and frowns, it becomes clear to the audience that she feels different from other people and is trying to fit in, hence her attempt to apply make up onto such young skin. This is powerful as it represents how powerful society is becoming and how unstable people self-esteem is because of society regardless of how young they are. The concept of this music video by P!nk demonstrates this concept of a society where you're not accepted if you aren't what it expects you to be, so this concept is sold to the audience to give them confidence in accepting themselves.
P!nks 'F*cking Perfect' video contains mainy codes and conventions of what an audience will expect to see in a pop music video. For example, as the video begins to tell the narrative of the music video, cinematography is used whereby there is close up of P!nk singing to the camera - to the audience is. This is conventional to a pop music video as it conveys the idea that P!nk is telling her audience a story, giving the music video a personal element which in turn engages the audiences as they feel the artist is speaking specifically to them.
In P!nks music video it is also clear that there are some other conventions. P!nk has demonstrated through mise en scene, costume that the young girl feels unhappy within herself. The audience are able to see this because the girl is wearing dark, gothic colours that metaphorically speaking could represent how the girl feels that her life is dark because she is unhappy with herself and how this dark clothing and making her self different from others in the way in which she dresses a sense of escapism to her. This gives the audience a sense of realism as it demonstrates the real world issues and that it is normal to go through rough stages in your life, particularly if you have a hard time accepting yourself. This music video follows the conventions of pop music video as it helps to tell the narrative and gives the lyrics more impact when the audience are viewing.
However, 'F*cking Perfect' music video by P!nk also challenges the conventions of a pop music video as it features a distrubed scene that could work towards disengaging the audience. This is through mise en scene, body language when the women is laying in the bath with the word 'PERFECT' carved into her arm and her arm is laying on the side whilst her legs are slightly folded. By having the leg slightly folded it conveys the idea that the girl is feeling like she is unable to completely relax as she isn't what society accepts as 'perfect', where as her bloody arm with the word 'perfect' ingraved into it in a relaxed position suggests that because she is so unhappy with herself, and there was no alternative that she could only achieve perfection when it was marked onto her, and so by having the arm in a relaxed postion shows that she has found comfort in having a 'perfect' arm, whilst her legs remain firmly slightly folded shows that she still can not find complete happiness within herself. This challanges a pop music videos conventions as it demonstrates a sensitive topic that some audiences may find disturbing so therefore this could disengage with them which is unusual as the aim of a music video is to engage the audience.
This particular music video appeals to a specific target audience, which is girls aged between 14 - 25 as this is the aged audience who can relate to this music video the most. This is because before 14, young girls may not have the full understanding of not being able to accept themselves, but from 14 onwards young girls bodies are changing that they may struggle with accepting and may feel unhappy with their appearance. Where as towards the age of 25, you have lived enough years to understand things better and therefore have to accept the things that you cannot change. Also, particularly during the teenage years, young girls are influenced by what society percieves to be perfect which is based on celebrities who use airbrushing and photoshop in order to hit societys expectations. This music video appeals to 14-25 year old girls because P!nk reassures that things will get better eventually. Ths can be seen from the beginning where the young girl is getting bullied by a boy, and by the end of the music video when she is then a lady she is with a daughter of her own. This is important within the music video as it could give a sense of hope t the audience, particularly the members of the audience who can strongly relate to the issues involved within this music video. There is also a range of ages throughout the music video, this is because it shows the different life stages of the character and by having these different ages within the music video it demonstrates how, regardless of age, it is possible for anyone to feel that way about themselves and that this unhappiness may last a long while but eventually, once you stop caring about others thoughts on you, it is a lot easier to accept and love yourself and so by having a range of ages within the music video, it therefore appeals to a target audience that varies in age.
Andrew Goodwin created the music video theory where by he believes that there are several characteristics of a music video. These characteristics include:
There's a relationship between lyrics and the visuals
There's a relationship between music and the visuals
Music video should demonstrate the genre characteristics
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
There is frequently reference the voyeuristic shots
There is often intertexual reference
Whether the video is primarily performance based, narrative based or concept based
In order to carry out research into Goodwin's theory I have analysed Eminem's music video 'When I'm Gone'. In this music video, there is a lot of evidence that supports Goodwin's theory. For example, when the music video begins it establishes what type of video it is. In this case of 'When I'm Gone', it is performance, narrative and concept based. Concept is firstly recognised when Eminem introduces himself at what appears to be an AA meeting and says "This is my life", this gives the audience the audience the idea that what Eminem is about to rap about is about his life experiences which works in such a way that it attracts the audience to want to watch the music video and allows them to therefore remember the music video, as it is something personal to the artist and also to the audience.Following the concept of the music video, performance shortly follows whereby Eminem can be seen rapping into the mic and then the camera shot and scenery changes to Eminem in a home environment showing his tattoo's, by having himself rap at this point in the music video it gives the video a sense of realism as it shows the artist is telling the story of the song and how it relates to him. Next, a narrative is introduced and this begins when the young girl is walking into a room. It can be seen that this music video is about Eminem's life style and his current or previous situation that he had going on in his personal life, by him making this music video narrative based it creates a story line for the audience and ultimately leads to more global success and views for the video as it is something that is personal to the artist and therefore, particularly fans of Eminem will be eager to see the personal video.Ultimately, this is conventional to a rap music video as it illustrates personal experience as the audience can relate to the artist and therefore allows a relationship to build between the two.
Throughout the 'When I'm Gone' music video the lyrics and visuals directly relate on a number of occasions to amplify the story that the song and video is telling. This rap begins with a rhetorical question 'Have you ever loved someone so much, you'd give an arm for' and then carries on to say 'Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for' where it moves to a mid shot of Eminem pointing at his arm full of tattoo's. This gives the idea that what Eminem is about to rap about is something personal and perhaps something painful as tattoo's are painful, therefore the use in linking this lyric with a visual for the audience allows the audience to realise that what is about to be spoken about in the rap is something of a really painful experience and personal to Eminem. This is conventional to a rap music video because it demonstrates a personal experience of the artist, and therefore builds a relationship with the audience as the music video gives a sense of realism. In my own music video, I would like to include something like what Eminem has. Though I would like to do a different genre of music, I see 'When I'm Gone' by Eminem as an inspiration as he shows a personal touch to his music video that conveys the idea to the audience that he is passionate about what he raps about, so much so he wants the world to see it. Therefore, in my own music video I would like to include a personal experience that goes hand in hand with the lyrics so that the audience get a better visual from my perspective and therefore be able to build a relationship with the characters in the music video.
Along side with the relationship between the lyrics and the music video, it is also important within a music video to make sure that there is a relationship between the music and the visuals. For example, in the 'When I'm Gone' music video, there is a fast yet steady beat in the track whilst in the video, the actions of Eminem and the actors within the video acting out the story of what the rap is about, are parallel to the beat of the track. There is a melodic beat to the song which allows the music video to have slow movements, this can be seen when Eminem is pushing his daughter on a swing in slow motion. This allows time for an emphasise on the movement and makes certains parts of the song stand out, as it alerts a high importance to the artist. This is conventional to a rap music video as it demonstrates important elements of the song that particularly stand out to the artist himself and shows the artist trying to connect with the audience more therefore building a relationship.
When analysing the 'When I'm Gone' music video it was clear that it demonstrated the stereotypical characteristics of a rap video. Rap video's will often have gold chains, baggy clothing, bandanna's and various other conventions, and these conventions can be seen throughout Eminem's 'When I'm Gone Music Video'. For example, when Eminem is rapping at the start of the music video he is wearing bandanna, a baggy top and trousers whilst being seated in a poor environment. This is conventional to a rap music video as it shows a personal element to it and shows elements of what the rappers life has been like, as it is often said that the beginning part of a rappers life is extremely poor and lacked in riches, so therefore by showing this in the music video 'When I'm Gone' it makes the music video personal to not only the artist, but also the artist.
'When I'm Gone' also demonstrates intertexual reference where by the
relationship of father and daughter is shown and how the relationship is
meaningful but also volatile as well as there being a sense of vulnrability. This is unusual in a rap video as because raps are usually up tempo and aggressive sounding, and so by having a sense of vulnerability to this video it goes against the audiences expectations. This can be seen when Eminem's daughter is walking towards Eminem with yellow cut out people and says "Daddy look what I made" in which Eminem replies "Dad's gotta go catch a plane" This demonstrates a sense of abandonment for the daughter as what she is saying is being disregarded by her dad. This works towards making the audience feel more sympathetic towards the video and the artist because it could be a metaphor for Eminem as he could have suffered that issue when he was younger, so this part of the music video could help to engage the audience further. Ultimately, the use of having challenged the conventional genre characteristics will show the audience and make them want to watch the video more and to tell a story.
Goodwin also suggests that there is 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. This features throughout all of Eminem's video as it contains many close ups which convey the particular feeling of grief and anger that Eminem is feeling, whilst his daughter is feeling hurt and sadness. This can firstly be seen when Eminem is
