Showing posts with label examples. Show all posts
Showing posts with label examples. Show all posts

Music Video Analysis - L.A.Love (La La) by Fergie



This music video is especially inspirational because we could include the concepts from this video in the rapping of our song. It started off with editing to the beat by changing the shots every time the beat sounds along with a very short black out to create some mystery for the next scene and that allows the audience to feel upbeat and hyper. The use of long shot then close up then long shot again allows it to hook the audience like Goodwin suggested in his theory and get them interested in what's going to happen next.

She is wearing quite revealing clothes which is usually very common in music videos (sometimes in pop videos) and could be an objectification of women to attract more male audience. The camera also pans up and down their bodies to interpret the idea that they are in a party/club and can also be another signifier for objectification of women in music videos. 

This video also uses the idea of linking the lyrics and visuals together to further highlight the lyrics. For example, when Fergie said "Hollywood" they then showed a shot of the Hollywood sign. They have used this technique throughout the whole video along with graphics to illustrate it as visuals creates a non-traditional montage and allows the audience to remember those particular words very well.  

The artist and other dancers are dressed very brightly which makes the video more exciting and joyful as this is good because it is quite a dancey song. This was further indicated through the high contrast and saturation of the colours used in the video. The camera is always moving which makes the video much more amusing and lively. 

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Music Video Analysis - Part of Me by Katy Perry



This music video by Katy Perry is narrative-based and shows how she changed throughout using the meaning of the song as a link. Her appearance started out to be very feminine and girly but as soon as she was cheated on she completely changed her style to a tom boy, marine hero. 

There are not many performance scenes; she sings while carrying out the activities she is in during the narrative which shows a sense of reality. The performance don't start until three quarter way through the video which can mean she is slowly recovering from the heart break and is not comfortable enough to show her feelings. The atmosphere around her during the singing is also very serious therefore emphasizes that she is not joking around and how a heart break can make someone much stronger. 

Throughout the whole music video, the director has chosen to use high key lighting which suggests what she is doing is the right thing and will create a brighter future for her. However, there are some dark scenes near the end and may connote the dark times of her such as the cheating of her boyfriend that was shown at the beginning but these scenes are very short and snappy which could signify that it is only a very small part of her and will fade over time. 

The editing for this music video is very simple because it is a narrative therefore they have used a lot of still shots, although the camera do move more often than a normal film to make it flow better with the song. The editing techniques are something you would see in a film, for example a match on action like when she places her necklace down on the table. There is some editing to the beat such as when she was cutting her hair in the toilet, every cut was in time with the beat of the music so it makes it smoother. They also use scenes that match the lyrics like at the beginning of the song there was a shot of her driving away in her car when it said "days like this I want to drive away" making the relationship between the song and her even tighter.

This is inspirational because I can use a similar technique for the narrative bits in our music video and the way how she sings during her activities.  

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Music Video Analysis - Blank Space by Taylor Swift

 Taylor Swift - Blank Space


This video starts with a long shot of the place to establish where it is and gives the audience a bit of background information so the narrative makes sense. For example, the big house connotes her being rich. It then cuts to a shot of Taylor Swift which allows the audience to know who the protagonist is and what the whole story is based on. She is also wearing a black, lacey dress with flirty make-up and hair which suggests she is very appealing to guys and has lots of power in them, which was also emphasized by the lyrics "I could show you incredible thing". I have also realised that the camera always moves so everything flows when it cut to a different shot in music videos, although in ' Blank Space' there were a lot of still shots to make it feel like the movie 'The Great Gatsby' - intertexuality. 

The change between different camera shots and fast-paced cutting to the beat makes it more interesting as it flashes at the audience like a montage. During the whole video, she also sings along with the song while showing the narrative, which makes it seem like it's an memory and not a realistic story that's happening at the time. 

The lighting used is also very intensified which makes it seem like she is a very strong women who have the power to rule over guys - especially guys who 'cheat' on her. On the other hand, when she was in love she was wearing lighter and pastel colours to suggest that she is happy, soft and nice but as soon as she realised he is cheating on her, the colour scheme of her clothing also changed to darker colours such as bottle green and red that signify anger and depressed. They also chose to use melted make-up and insane actions to further highlight the anger and sadness. These were also backed up with lyrics 'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream' to show the sudden change. 

I think this is a good influence for our music video because the editing was done very well to keep the music video upbeat and fascinating with different techniques such as using a montage, fast-paced and editing to the beat. We could also look more into including narrative within our music video but still have enough 'performing' shots to draw fans into watching the video.

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Rank Order of Previous Student's Work

Rank Order 

1) 13B6 (Ike & Tine - Jamie T) 
The lip sync was on point and the storyline was interesting. They also had good continuity editing, especially with the shots of the letter.

2) 13A2 (Life Happens - Brandon & Leah)
Good framing and the extreme close up of lips/teeth was effective.

3) 13E6 (Today I Cried - Professor Green)
Good shots and cuts were tight. Performer also suits the theme of the music very well.

4) 13E4 (If You Wanna - The Vaccines) 
Editing needs to be tighter but they had good extreme close up shots and effects. 

5) 13A3 (Nine2Five - The Ordinary Boys) 
Lip sync was a bit off but the choice of the background was interesting. 

6) 13E7 (12 Rounds - Jester)
Editing needs to be tighter and can be improved; for example the drop can be quicker to make it more effective and up beat.  

7) 13B4 (Lost - Paper Aeroplanes)
The flaring of the sun was too much which made the shot too grainy and smoky looking. Some shots were also too zoomed out and lost its power.

8) 13B1 (Rewind - Paolo Nutini)
Lip sync was off and more energy needed. The shot of the guitar was a bit off screen at the beginning.

9) 13B3 (What We Started - J R Aquino) 
The rain made it hard to see when it comes to lip syncing. There were some good close ups, however they need to include more of the singing from performer and less story shots.

10) 13E9 (Today I Cried - Professor Green) 
Using exacts from film made it look unprofessional and more close up needed, especially when singing. Lip sync also need to be improved and more energy.  

11) 13A1 (Sparks Fly - Taylor Swift) 
Camera were shaky at some point and the random transition throughout the video made it very unprofessional. Some graphic match was also done wrongly which made it look bad. There were a few repeated shots when it wasn't needed and it just looks like they didn't put enough effort in it. Lip Sync was also off in some shots. 




What Have I Learnt? 

  • I have learnt that the song choice is best when it's not too slow.
  • Avoid love stories.
  • Lip sync needs to on point.
  • Film one shot for the full song, especially close up of performer singing to allow editing to be smoother.
  • Be careful of the lighting used. For example, flaring of sunlight or artificial light can't be too much in the shot. 
  • Use transitions correctly. Don't use transitions like the diamond or ripple effect.
  • Avoid fields and schools (unless part of story)
  • Works best with close ups 
  • The energy is very important with performer. 
  • Don't repeat shots unless it is essential. 



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