Practicing with After Effects

During our initial research into music videos I came across Iggy Azalea's music video for 'Bounce' and there was this one effect that I really liked, I then showed it to my group and they agreed we should try and replicate this effect for our music video.

So this week I started working with After Effects and tried to come up with different ways that I could reproduce this effect. And one idea I had was to use layers and change the opacity of each layer. I also moved layer 2,3 and 4 to the right or to the left so that it adds emphasis to the effect. This is what I created.

Special Effects In Music Videos

Music Video Research: Blonde - I Loved You (feat. Melissa Steel)

The concept of this music video is about the friendship between two girls who live as if their bond is unbreakable, and before you know it life gets in the way and rips that bond apart. While the concept may not have a direct link with the genre of Dance/Deep House the mise en scene does. For instance the location that this music video is set in promotes a very 'urban', 'gritty' atmosphere. This is done through the use of graffiti and run-down buildings. The clothes worn in this music video are conventional of this genre of music.

The main pieces of clothing worn throughout the video are either denim or leather, this is significant as it is the type of clothing that people wear when they go clubbing or dancing and this creates links to the song being a 'dance' song. There is evidence of sexual interaction and alcohol use in this video, and this is linked to the idea of stereotypical behaviours seen at clubs, and the music video draws on it to confirm it's relationship with dance music.

 

The lighting used in the video is quite bleak, it's not very bright but it's also not too dark. This is done to emphasise the gritty scenery. The mise en scene also signifies a run down neighbourhood, which exaggerates the 'urban' feel to the music video as that particular image has become a trademark for urban video, which is further amplified by the graffiti.

 

Music Video Research:Sigma ft. Paloma Faith - Changing

The music video for 'Changing' features elements you would expect to see in a video of the dance genre. An example of this is the use of urban locations, which promotes a 'gritty' feel to the video; the use of graffiti also helps to build on this theme. As an artist Paloma has a very dominant 'Star Image' which is utilised extensively in this video. She has this loud, fun and energetic persona that is fit for the dance genre. The idea of movement (travelling) is the concept used in this video, as we see Paloma travelling around in a 1950s Cadillac which is a further signifier of the dance genre. 

The video also includes a lot of different locations and has a vibrant use of neon colours which signifies the stereotypical club scene and thus links in with the genre of the song. Furthermore, the bright colours seen throughout the video further develops its relationship with the genre as the colours used in the clothing and found in the background can connote strobe lighting used at clubs. The dancing, the colours and the main star all combined create this fun, free and youthful atmosphere, that is representative of the core ideals of dance music.

Music Video Research:Wilkinson - Afterglow

The video for Afterglow is by far one of my favourites because of the ingenuity and originality of the visuals. The concept of the video revolves around a couple, and describes all their time together using objects or metaphors. An example of this is how they used clocks to illustrate the minutes they spent together. 

This music video didn't stick to the typical conventions of a dance track. There is no apparent 'star' to attract viewers; but it is compensated by the engaging narrative. The video gains its appeal and likeability through its comedic value, as well as through the audiences being able to identify with the couple. The music video draws on the idea of a sexual relationship, this is done through the use of sexual equipment and metaphors/innuendos. This is an example of how the video does incorporate elements which are typical of the dance genre. The typical target audience for this music video is 15-26 year old's, who are part of a mainstream culture. 

Genre Research

Goodwin's Theory of Music Videos

Intertextuality

Intertextuality refers to the idea of drawing upon existing texts in order to spark recognition in the audience. Pleasure is derived by those who understand the reference and somehow feel flattered by this.

There are many examples of intertextuality in the video for 'The Monster' by Eminem ft. Rihanna. This video tells the story of Eminem's music career, it uses clips from his most iconic and popular songs to create a montage, describing his struggle with drugs and alcohol and all the commotion that entered his life when his career took off. His music is known for being controversial, gleefully violent and hilarious, this leaves him with the task to create music videos to match just that. There are visual references to 'My Name Is', 'Lose Yourself', 'The Way I Am' and possibly the most iconic moment of his career when he performed 'Stan' with Elton John at the Grammy Awards in 2001.



This image is from the video for 'My Name Is'.

Original Song

The Monster

This image is from the video for 'Lose Yourself'.

Original Song

The Monster

This is the video for 'The Way I Am'.



Original Song

The Monster

Voyeurism - The Female Gaze

Voyeurism is the idea of viewing in order to gain sexual gratification through observing nude bodies or through sexual acts. Voyeurism is most commonly found in music videos , and largely consists of women being objectified in order to attract the male gaze. This is done through the use of low angles, close ups, fragmented body shots, editing and costumes.

We as consumers are very used to seeing the typical images of women being objectified, so it is very uncommon to see males being objectified for the sexual gain of women. A good example of the female gaze and voyeurism is; Jennifer Lopez I Luh Ya Papi ft French Montana.

 The video begins with J-Lo sitting in a room surrounded by half-naked men. The camera slowly pans over one of the men, and immediately it is clear this video is meant for female viewing as it objectifies men.

In this next picture you see her putting on a lot of big gold chains, and then dancing around a lot of very expensive cars. This is the sort of behaviour you would expect to see from a male in a music video. She has completely inverted the image of conventional gender roles in the music video.

Throughout the course of the video we see a lot of shots of men's bodys, including close ups on abs and crotch shots. It also tends to be in slow motion to add greater emphasis on the physique but also for the purpose of having the image linger in the mind of the viewer for longer.

The shot where Jennifer is standing at the front of the pool and the men are all lined up against the side of the pool, gives the impression she is in control and the men are nothing but mere decoration.

Jennifer continues to toy with the men further on in the video. In this shot she and her friends are seen slapping a mans bum and pouring stuff down his pants. His face is not shown just his body. He is made to look more like an object and less like a person. This reflects the action seen in other videos where men are seen slapping women's buts.





Voyeurism - The Male Gaze

Music Video Directors

Construction of a Pop Star-Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift has a noticeable star image. From the type of song she writes to the stories written about her in the tabloids. She is undoubtedly known for her illustrious songs about romance, boyfriends and heartaches. The songs she writes tend to be of the Pop genre, some up beat song and others more sorrowful.

She has this very typical image of this fun loving, innocent, sweet girl which she portrays in the way she dresses as well as the way she acts. As she is young herself and also due to the type of music she creates her  main target audience are young teenage girls.

All her songs and albums have the same themes of 'love', this creates a feeling of continuity. Her fans expect the same type of sounds from her albums, so in order to sell singes and keep her title of a 'star' locked-down she has to produce the same time of music.

She has managed to uphold the same image throughout her career, but as she gets older she can no longer be the 'cutesy' girl we all know her as. So she's had to mature in a lot of ways, from the way she dresses to the mood of her songs. Needless to say she still writes about love songs but she's moving on from her cheesy days, and into recovery anthems, that are very personal to her, this also allows her fan base to feel closer to Taylor.

As a young female with a roller-coaster of a personal life, the tabloids are quick to the know the ins and outs of her life as they unfold. Most of the time thats she's in the news its to do with new relationships or current ones ending. She's also had many interviews surrounding her fashion. With a female fan base as big as hers, she has to work incredibly hard to make sure she looks the best she can. This leads to magazines features on how to 'Dress like Taylor Swift' or 'Taylor Swift Style', which provides her with a lot of positive publicity. She's always on chat shows and doing TV appearances, promoting her new single or album, in the hopes of widening her fan base.

As well as being known for her music, she is also known for the numerous altercations she's had with fellow musicians, the latest one being a twitter war with Katy Perry. She expresses any differences she has with other artists in her music, which gets people talking about her songs, therefore greatening the publicity she receives. She is a true example of someone who uses any and all publicity to her advantage.

She uses social media to interact with her fan
base. Examples of the sort of platforms she uses are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. When doing live performances the presents the same image. She wears quite humble clothing, never provocative and dresses with class. She wants to look respectable but at the same time not too serious because she still has to remain appealing to her fan base of teenage girls. From the first time we saw her in 'Love Story' video with her corkscrew hair, to now having chopped it all of in her 'Shake It Off' video, her appearance in her music videos is slowly adapting in order to stay current.

This is the video for 'Love Story' the song that boosted her into stardom.

And this is her progression 5 years down the line. This is a perfect example of how stars adapt to stay current. The less than impressive dance moves in the video for 'Shake If Off' is her almost saying 'yeah I cant dance, so I'm going to be even worse than I actually so you keep talking about me'. She uses any negativity aimed at her, and uses it to her advantage.

Inspirational Music Videos

Here are a few examples of music videos that i liked the look of. They each have different elements that I would like to incorporate in my actual music video.

The first one is Bounce by Iggy Azalea. I really liked the use of bright colours and the hypnotic video effect used at 1:58.

Another video that I really liked the look of is Problem by Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea. I thought the colours used and the funky showgirl theme was very interesting. 

I also liked the video for How Ya Doin? by Little Mix ft. Missy Elliott. I liked the use of different colours to represent the individual singers. I especially liked the split screen used at 0:13. That is definitely something I would want to incorporate in my music video. I also like the use of the strobe lights on the walls. Obviously due to limits on the budget we won't be able to get something like that for our music video, but we will definitely be experimenting with lights the best we can.