What is a Literal Music Video

A literal music video, also called a literal video version, is a parody of an official music video clip in which the lyrics have been replaced with lyrics that describe the visuals in the video. ... from the literal version of Tears For Fears' "Head Over Heels").

Different types of Music Videos

Music videos contains a series of events that both make sense to the audience and appear to be unified in time and space. So as to ensure repeated viewings and the effective marketing of the band/artist and song, narrative code must be loose or simply suggestive rather than realistic or detailed.

A degree of authenticity of the performance is sought by the band and the director so we often find lip syncing close-up, mimed playing of instruments, repetition of chorus shots to enhance repeatability, unusual camera shots and angles.

Many of the band performance conventions are included in the conventions for a solo artist plus choreographed dance routines to enhance repeatability

The star image of individuals is important as we can identify the meta narrative of stars through their videos whereby the record label manipulates and changes artists image with each new release to increase sales, consolidate target audiences and broaden appeal to new fan bases

Goodwins Conventions of a Music Video

A visual equivalent to the music - pace of the music dictates the pace of the video, video is cut to the beat

Must encourage repeated consumption - entertains people

Must encourage identification or desire for the artist

Provides an open, polysemic experience for the viewer - Encourages analysis of multiple interpretations

Important Elements:

• Perfomance
• Narrative
• Thematic
• Symbolic

Visually Stylish - Artistic sense to the video

Music Videos are 'Rythmic' montages, with fragmented cuts

A lot of experimental uses of camera angles and shots

Music videos generally has a fast pace

Cinematography and lighting is often conspicuous

They often break to the laws of continuity editing

Conventions of the music video:

• Cut to the beat
• Relationship between the visuals and music
• Relationship between lyrics and visuals
• Close ups of the artist/band - lip syncing and playing instruments
• References to the notion of looking
• Some form of narrative and performance element
• Intertextual references

Narrative Theory

Tzvetan Todorov
Proposed that all narratives have five stages which occur in films, tv, literature as well as other media text.

Equilibrium - Normality at the beginning, when everything appears as it should.

Disruption - When something happens to upset the normality.

Acknowledgement - When the main protagonist realises something has happened and decided to act upon this.

Attempt to restore - The attempt to get things back to normality.

New equilibrium - Everything is back to the new version of normality

Band of Horses - Dilly

Equilibrium - Bikers ride into town, oblivious to the fact that the local people will be against them and take offence to their presence

Disruption -In the bar when it is clear that both groups of people have a mutual dislike of one another and the bikers react by shooting their fingers at people

Acknowledgment - This occurs when the policeman pick up the phone to call for back up to help deal with the threat from the bikers

Attempt to restore - The bikers are stopped from leaving town and there is a shootout to determine who wins

New equilibrium - Bikers depart after the shootout and they go on the run from the law whilst the townspeople struggle to recover from the devastation of the attack



Enrique Iglesias - Hero

Equilibrium - On the run with the women with a car full of money, they're driving off into the sunset, he's happy he thinks he's free.

Disruptions - We see the villain, rather than driving off into the sunset they are driving towards the villain as they don't realise he's there

Acknowledgment - He realises he's got to stay and fight in order to survive

Attempt to restore - He fights for the women and money

New equilibrium - He dies, women survives, villain gets arrested



Katy Perry - Roar
- Equilibrium - Reality is she is in a plane crash and she is scared
- Disruption - The tiger killing the person she was with and realising she is surrounded by tigers
- Acknowledgement - That she has to face the fierce nature and fight the crocodiles and tigers and whatever other animal
- Attempt to restore - She is roaring on top of mountains to try and get help and get off the island where she is trapped
- New Equilibrium - Her new life on the island with animals as friends and living out of the plane and making it her home

Ideologies of the Music Video

• Keith Negus - In his 1989 book "Producing Pop" proposed that there are 2 types of music artists;
• Organic
• Synthetic

He proposed that the music industry works two distinct way to promote itself. The first is to promote long term success and the second method relies on show term hits.

Organic Artists

• Develop a career initially independently of the music industry
• Tend to Write and play most of the instruments on their songs
• Develop through playing live venues before signing with a record label
• Have more freedom initially to chose their image and songs for release
• May start their career independently

Ed Sheeran

Arctic Monkeys

Two Door Cinema Club

The Beatles

Alt-J

Chance the Rapper

The XX

Tyler the Creator

Kings of Leon

Oasis

Father John Misty

The Killers

Lana Del Ray

Nirvana

Synthetic Artists

• Manufactured by the record labels and TV demands
• Generally have an image that is directed towards a tailor made audience
• Begin their careers recording songs either written for them or chosen by record company
• Limited freedom of choice

JLS

One Direction

Shawn Mendes

Take That

Wham 

Coldplay

The wanted

Organic Ideology of Creativity

• A 'Naturalistic' approach to artists
• The seeds of success are within the artists, who have to be 'nurtured' by the record company
• The image of the artist is 'enhanced' by the record company
• The artist is given time to evolve and progress through their career
• Whereas a synthetic artist is given limited time to build a fanbase and career. If success is not immediately forthcoming they are 'dropped' by the label.

Promotional Brief

What we are making in year 13:

• Promotional package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video
• Website homepage for the band
• A cover and 4 sides including the spine for it's release as part of a digipack (CD/DVD package)

Im looking forward to:

• Creating a fast paced music video, a change of pace from the slow thrilling opening sequence we created last year
• More technical editing
• Creating the album covers

Im worried about:

• Finding someone who can lip sync and sing our song well
• Finding a good song that we can all agree on
• Creating a good narrative to film

Welcome To A2!