Analysis of Music Video #1

I have decided to analyse the song 'Kids' by MGMT as it is one of my favourite songs and I believe the music video is interesting and will be useful to look at in detail.
The video starts off with a blank, black screen as ‘cheering’ sound is played for 1 second. The first shot shows a male and female, both in sports clothing. One is white and the other black, this suggests racial equality in the videos ideology. They dance in tune with the music for 10 seconds. The shot is a medium shot and the camera style is fuzzy which suggests a more handheld effect. The shot cuts to a weatherman standing in front of a ‘7 day weather forecast’ screen. He is also dancing in a comical fashion. This shot is also a medium shot which allows the viewer to see part of the mans surroundings, his body and facial features, however not in full detail. The scene then cuts to a woman’s face. The shot is a close up of her face as she looks towards the camera, turns and dances away. The camera style is a black and white effect which denotates less vibrancy and colour and connotates old-fashioned, television-style effect. The scene shifts again at 0:20 to briefly show a crowd of black males laughing and waving at the camera, supporting the feeling that the viewer is watching television. Then we see a domestic setting environment and a man with two children, presumably his own, standing in front of a television dancing. The shot is a medium shot again, to provide consistency with the other clips and suggesting the shots are all part of the same compilation of shots. A medium shot then shows a man enter the house by opening a door. We, as a viewer, are led to assume that it is the same domestic house in which the children and man were dancing in. At 0:22 the scene suddenly shifts to show a black background, with multi-coloured lights and a woman stood in the foreground. She is wearing white and black face-paint and smiling. The shot is a close-up and only shows her face. A male character is introduced in front of the same style of background; he is also face-painted. They are both dancing, however we only see this through their faces, shoulder and hand movements as only close-up shots are used when filming the face-painted dancers. At 0:35 seconds the scene changes again, showing women dancing. There are three women in the next shot, they move their hips in synchronisation and are similar to each other in appearance. After three seconds of footage the shot reverts back to the face-painted ‘kids’. The scene then changes back briefly to show a group of females dancing. They are wearing sports clothing and the camera shot is a medium shot. This relates back to the original compilation of clips and suggests it is in the same group, e.g. not the central theme of the video. When showing the female dancers a panning shot is used to include all dancers. The camera style also briefly changes to black and white, supporting the idea that the separate scenes are like television clips. Once again, the scene changes back to the face-painted male who is singing the song ‘kids’. Similarly, the face-painted female also sings in synchronisation with the song. When the lyrics say ‘We like to watch you laughing’ the face-painted woman smiles. The lyrics then say ‘You pick the insects off plants, no time to think of consequences.’ The male character shakes his head with a sad expression. The males facial expressions are sad throughout the video while the females remains bouncy, happy and childlike. The characters link well with the song as the song describes, depending on interpretation, children feeling alone and sad.
After researching the video I found out that the facepainted people are from Los Angeles and were friends with the video producer and filmed it as a spur of the moment project. They did not expect it to reach as much success as it did. The girl in the video is called Abby and she said 'We are celebrating a year since Jon posted the video! We never would have thought it would reach over 8 million hits, I never thought it would even reach the Internet!'

Below is a link to the video and an image from the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIEOZCcaXzE

History of Music Videos

Spooney Melodies, produced by Warner Brothers between 1926 and 1931, was arguably the first musical video short film series. These films lasted approximately six minutes long which consisted of footage of the performer singing, art animation and background.

The term 'music video' first came into popular usage in early 1980's. In Chinese music industry, music videos are known as MTV's, because 'MTV' was responsible for making music videos popular.

In the UK, 'Top of the Pops' began playing music videos on television in the late 1970's. However, only limited music videos could be played on television, therefore a small amount of bands and performers benefited from this. Those that did have their songs played regularly on television benefited enormously from it. David Bowie, for example, reached number one because of his eye-catching music video for 'Ashes to Ashes'.

In 1981, music videos became mainstream when MTV launched the first 24-hour music channel. By the mid 1980's this became a main part of music marketing. The first music video ever played on MTV was 'Video Killed the Radio Star' by The Buggles.

The video can be found at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwuy4hHO3YQ

Nowadays, music videos undoubtedly represent a crucial part of the music industry. However, many music videos still remain a controversial issue. On the one hand, music videos give the audience a chance to see an appealing, attractive side to their favourite performers. On the other hand, some believe that music videos marked the end to true, musical talent as performers are now judged on their appearance and looks rather than just their musical ability.

What is a music video?

A music video is a short clip or film that is used to promote the sales of a particular song. The song is accompanied by the film to create a 'music video' that advertises the song artist/band. Music videos appear in many different ways- most commonly actors or the band members themselves appear in a filmed, pre-rehearsed video that often includes the band or singer performing or shows a story unfolding that can be associated with the song it is accompanied with. Other methods producers sometimes use to create music videos are animation, documentary-style footage, a non-narrative approach such as abstract filming or a combination of the listed approaches.

Log Sheet

In this post I will outline the times and dates of when I aim to complete the objectives I have been set. This is a plan I aim to stick by however I will keep in mind that possibile problems may arise with issues such as availability to film, actors needed, editing availability and unforseen issues.

Log Sheet Plan:

20/10- Write Log Sheet- Plan what I aim to complete

02/11- Storyboard- Confirm content for music video

09/11- Research and Planning

16/11- Extended research and planning work

23/11- Write more posts on blog

Researching the Music Industry

The music industry primarily sells compositions, recordings and performances of music. This can take the form of Cd's, records, tickets to live performances, online downloading and television music videos. This industry generates an estimated $40 billion a year, as well as providing countless jobs including performers, music publishers, engineers, booking agents, promoters, journalists, educators, manufacturers, talent managers and many more.

But how did it all start?

Music has always been a thing of excitement, entertainment and great interest across the world. In early years, music was popularly used as a means of spiritual exploration and expressing yourself. That, in essence, has not changed however the meaning behind music has often changed and been distorted.

One example of how music in the past was used to express belief and emotion was blues music in the slave trade. In 1517, the trans-Atlantic slave trade began. This soon became a large business globally. Out of the 35-40 million Africans captured onto slave ships only an estimated 15 million made it to America. Their African heritage was taken away from them, yet many found music as a means of expressing their sorrow and communicating with one another. Thus, Blues music was formed and it remains today as a symbol of how tragic and devastating slavery was to millions of people.

An Introduction to A2 Media

My task, for the A2 coursework aspect of Media Studies, is to choose one of a selection of briefs given to me, complete the chosen task and frequently update a blog to record and evaluate my progress.

The brief I have chosen to do:

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

• A website homepage for the band.
• A cover for its release on CD.
• A magazine advertisement for the DVD.

I have chosen to include the cover for its release on CD and a magazine advertisement for the DVD.