Existing settings

Setting is the in works of narrative (especially fictional), the literary element, setting, includes the time and geographic location in which a story takes place, and helps initiate the main backdrop and mood for a story. 

Conventional settings we expect in different music video genres: 

• Indie/rock - Dark locations are often used to create delusions and mysterious atmospheres, such as alley ways and dark rooms. An example of this technique is the Kings of Leon

• Hip hop - Locations tend to involve parties or a fancy location such as the singers riding in a private jet, alcohol is often involved with with the use of expensive things such as fancy cars an houses. An example of this technique is 50 Cent.

• Pop videos - Set in bright colour locations often in your every day locations. 

I think the genre of a music video plays a huge role in the setting of the music video, Like shown above I researched into a range of different music genres such as indie and pop and found that the setting in the music videos varied depending on what the genre was. Slow and deep songs are more likely to have a dark gloomy location compared to a pop song that is all up beat because the different genres have different purposes, the slow song will have a setting that makes you feel down such as a dark location or locations such as a slum the viewer will gain sympathy for the character. Whereas, in a pop song the main purpose for pop songs are to get you of your seat and dancing and therefore they need a music video that includes bright cheerful colours to make the you happy. 

I think its important the viewer has an understanding of the music video and I think the setting helps create the understanding of the video right from the beginning. Likewise, setting helps to construct mise-en-scene and I think mise-en-scene setting is one of the most crucial aspects of the music video. For example, in Coldplay Violet Hill the song is represented in the video through bleak negative atmosphere, the photograph used often shows close ups of Christ Martins face expressing his emotions in a more elaborated sense which is initially more effective to the audience. The backgrounds are grey which is reinforced by the weather and therefore the weather must have been chosen specifically (there is also references to the month December). throughout the lyrics, there is an expressed uncertainty based upon a relationship where feelings and emotions are confused, this is also portrayed through the video where there musicians are placed apart to show the distance and the strength in playing the instrument shows the anger within. Additionally, in the music video Circus by Britney Spears there are many scenes that are dark and Britney herself is hard to extinguish which empathises the suspense within the circus to create an attraction from the audience. There are also shots to the dressing room showing the preparation behind the show but also creating a eerier atmosphere with the eccentric outfits clashing in colour creating unique and ominous atmosphere as the people do not appear normal, this makes a distance between the performers and audience as they cannot be related together. when the music picks up then the editing shots are much quick again creating a suspenseful performance. the background is familiar in terms of the 'circus'. Both these videos aim to portray a music video which clearly interlinks with their lyrics to allow the audience to understand their music. 

Existing characters

I think characters are really important in a music video because they set the narrative and are usually the main element to a music video. They're something I personally mainly find myself focusing on when watching a music video. In a music video especially sad songs we often emphasis towards the characters and feel their emotions as we watch the video almost making songs relatable as you often feel you become part of the seen.

Character profiles of existing characters/performers in music videos:

Katy Perry in California Girls

Katy Perry in this video is out of the ordinary which makes iconic and rememberable still to this date. She dresses out of the ordinary as well as does things out of the ordinary such as laying on a cloud making her appear like a fantasy that little girls would dream of being as they watch the music video. In this video Katy Perry really engages me as she is going against the ordinary unlike most other music videos, she makes you feel as though you have transported to the imaginary world as you listen and watch the music video which is really effective even now when I hear California girls without watching the music video I still think of the quirky music video in my head. I think in this music video the actors fits in well with the scenery and everything that's around her however, there is no real narrative its just a bit random and doesn't relate much to the song lyrics about 'California girls' when shes in candy world up in the clouds.

Michael Jackson in Thriller 

I believe the character Micheal Jackson plays in his music video to Thriller will always be one of the most famous and well known characters of all time. The music video to Thriller was released all the way back in 1982 and at the time the music video shocked and stunned the public for being so scary. At the time special effects and technology was no where near the quality it is at in the modern day however at the time it was above way above other music videos that were released around a similar time. Like the Katy Perry's California girls music video this video is very out of the ordinary and so is Michael Jacksons as he turns from a normal boy into a warecat and dances with the living dead, now that is something you don't see everyday! And due to that reason I think that's why he is so effective and still gets so many people talk about him, and even dress up for him for fancy dress nights such as Halloween. I think Michael Jackson really adds appeal to the narrative as he gives the 'thriller' experience to the audiences as they watch and listen to the song with his scary costumer, facial expression and quirky dance moves. As like Katy Perry in her music video I feel very engaged with Michael Jackson character as it is iconic and is different from your everyday music video as the character is so far from naturalistic so you feel transported to a complete different location in the comfort of your own home.

Maddie Ziegler in Cheap Thrills by Sia

Sia's music videos are famous for not having herself in but having a small girl in called Maddie Ziegler. She is not your average girl in the music video and that what makes her iconic. she does not speak in the video but dances around in a particular way and pulls over dramatic facial expressions. The way she moves is so fascinating I find my eyes attached to the screen for the whole song. The small girl still appeals to the narrative as shes acts the words out through her dance moves and if you turn the sounds down but watch the video you can often still make out what the lyrics of the song would be which I think is really effective. I really like Sia's idea in this music video, it's one of a kind.

First update for my music video

Olivia, Molly and myself have chosen to work together to create our final music video. We decided to work together after having a chat in class about what type of music video we would like to do and we all have similar ideas on what we wanted our music videos to be like, none of us wanted to make a depressing music video for example. I think us three working together will be a good mix as we are friends with each other and therefore won't be afraid to speak our own opinions on the music video and nudge each other on the make sure work id done to a high quality by deadline. Also, we all have different expertise which will be useful together such as Molly is more confident in editing but Olivia is good at getting blog posts don, by putting our skills together we can get more done more quick and efficiently. Originally I planned to create a music video with two girls in another class , however I soon released the amount of discussing that will required to get the job done and due to this reason I felt it would be more practical to work with people who were in my class, as it meant there was more time to discussing things, work together, and we had more free periods together where we're able to do extra work and go out of school to get things done such as filming footage for our music video. 

Here's a quick update on our initial idea... 

Existing narratives

A narrative or story is any report of connected events, real or imaginary, presented in a sequence of written or spoken words, and/or still or moving images.

Narrative works in music videos to show a combination of the story and the plot, the narrative is the story of what happens and how. Linear narrative is the plot and story working in the same way, and non linear narrative does not run in any specific way using random techniques such as flashbacks to aid the story. 

Conventions of narratives in each of the following genres: 
Comedy - Can be slapstick / dark humour / wit. Often full of jokes, the narrative can feature somebody who is made fun of.
Horror - Conventionally a horror features a storyline where something out of the ordinary occurs like a break in or a ghost in a house. 
Drama - A drama has a unique way of storytelling and can fall under many different styles like period drama / crime drama. 
Romance - An example of a typical romance narrative would be a couple falling in love then breaking up and getting back together again.
Family - Often a cartoon, has a happy narrative as it must be suitable for all ages, an example is two animals meeting and going on lots of adventures together.
Documentary - A documentary is a nonfictional motion picture intended to document some aspect of reality so it could have a narrative featuring a zoo. 
Kids - Similar to family but often following a very simple narrative easier for young children specifically to understand. 

Narrative theories and how they fit with music videos...
Todorov - Proposed that a narrative should have a beginning (a state of equilibrium), a middle (a disruption to the equilibrium) and an end (reinstating the equilibrium). This could fit with a music video with little 'band play' as in the short time of a song it would be difficult to show the stages especially with switching between band play and narrative. 

Propp - Argued that a successful narrative has 6 stages. 
1 - Preparation (the scene is set) 
2 - Complication (a problem / evil occurs) 
3 - Transference (tries to get help) 
4 - Struggle (a fight or difficulty of some sort) 
5 - Return (the 'quest' is fulfilled)
6 - Recognition (hero rewarded, villain punished) 
I don't think this narrative theory would fit with a music video as there is simply too many stages. As much as there can be a story being told it isn't necessarily the same as a tv programme or film. 

Barthes - Suggested that media texts with a narrative were essentially forms of storytelling. 
He believed text was essentially a tangled ball of thread needing to be untangled and in this is the form of the storytelling, which could work in a music video. 

Levi Strauss - Observed that all narratives are based around conflicts between two oppositions, which could work in any music video or film. This theory is much more simple.  

Music video genre/style

Music videos tend to include many long shots, close ups and mid shots. These shots are used to create emphasis on the artist, locations and emotions. Close up shots can be used to reflect the lyrics of the song as well as emotions. With camera movement, the use of it is used to follow the movements of the band or solo performer and camera movements used include tilts, pans, tracking and crane shots. Mise en scene with music videos refers to the arrangement of performers and props within a scene for the production of a music video. It puts importance on the representation of something, for example in the music video for Maroon 5 'One More Night' the contrast between his time spent with and without his partner is shown by skipping between the two kinds of scenes, displaying the breakdown of their marriage. 

Conventions of different genres...

Pop - Pia Mia 'Do It Again'

Pop music videos usually have a very mainstream style, with the people shown dressed in fashionable and stylish outfits. The artists are often portrayed as happy and content and the song is usually linked with love and relationships which is often something relatable to young people like teenagers who are the target audience. Often there is a focus, which most commonly seems to be a woman expressed in a very sexual or seductive way, portraying a sexual atmosphere and often drawing in a different kind of audience. Hair and makeup is used to commutate the views and feelings of the artist and is something which seems to play a much more important role in the music videos from the pop genre more so than any others. 

Rock - The Strokes - You Only Live Once 

Rock music videos often have characters who are depicted as rebellious, going against mainstream society and fighting conformity stereotypically. This is often shown through confidence and stage presence. The main feature, something which is always particularly noticeable about a rock music video is the passion conveyed through the behaviour of the performer on stage. Rather than in a pop music video there would be more narrative, a rock music video tends to focus more on the actual performance of the band. 

Hip Hop - R Kelly - Ignition 

Hip hop music videos such as this one often use low angled close up shots, in order to imply the artists power over the audience. The low angle gives the status because it shows power over the audience and the close up highlights their status by showing that they are important enough to have a frame entirely for themselves. The narrative sometimes shows a crowd enjoying themselves like dancing to the beat of the music which gives credibility to the artist by showing that people enjoy the song. There are lots of references to the wealth of the artist through the use of mise en scene such as cars and money physically shown in them, also giving credibility and symbolising status. Men seem to have all of the power in hip hop music videos, women are seen as disposable items of lust and nothing more. Voyeurism is also used in these videos as the general target audience is seen as males and therefore women are portrayed in a very sexual manner to interest men and attract new fans. 

Based on our research into immediate media products

We had an idea as to which brief we wanted to do before we started the research however after carrying out some research it has cemented our choice of choosing to do a music video.

The group I am working with is two girls; Olivia and Molly. We are all confident in producing our blogs and carrying out planning and research. We are also all confident in voicing our opinions and this has led to us coming up with different ideas and constantly adding bits to make the idea better. Olivia is especially good at creating original ideas and Molly is good at filming and making sure to include different angles and shots. I feel I am quite good at organising and adding detail into the ideas. However, the main area we will struggle is when it comes to editing the footage together as nobody is completely confident with this and therefore we will try hard to make our idea even better so it makes up for the lack of editing skill. 

This year all of the groups ultimate aim is to improve on our piece of work we created last year as we feel we have learnt a lot of skills throughout the process and we think we have picked up understanding of what needs to be done in order to create a higher standard piece of work through listening to our audience feedback. We also aim to improve our editing skills this year as last year we all felt we all had a lot of help from other groups and our teachers. However we would like to keep the same the amount of effort that we put into our work and the level of detail we had in our blog posts.

Research into existing music videos

Wings By Birdy A2 Media Video

This student made music video uses a mixture of both lip syncing and a linear narrative, there is an equal amount of both. This music video is one that stood out throughout our research. The main character is a young girl and she is a strong focus for the media product and this allows us to engage with the video and therefore allowing the emotional aspect of the video to come through. There is no dialogue at all throughout the video and I believe that it isn't needed in this video as it would distract from the emotional connection you get with the video. There are also no credits, which I also believe is a suitable choice. There are multiple locations, three, used between the live performance and the narrative but they all have a link to nature and isolation. 

Wake Up A2 Media Video

Unlike the first music video this media product doesn't include any lip syncing whatsoever but it contains a linear narrative throughout. There are also credits in this music video and they fit in very well at the start of the music video with the modern design and tempo. Another interesting and very good aspect of this music video is that there is only one character used throughout. There is a lot of point of view shots in this video which allow us to feel as if we are going through the same experiences as the character, however these are well complemented by different camera angles and shots to show the skill of the producer/director. There is no dialogue which is quite common within music videos. There are many different locations used throughout two different countries which I haven't seen in any other music video.

See You Again Media Video

The majority of the music video is lip synced and this is presented through narrative and live performance. There are two main characters in this video and the focus of the video is on them throughout. The narrative allows us to feel a connection with the music video and the live performance seems to be included to control the tempo and represent the sadder side of the song and that is why it is presented in black and white. There are no credits or dialogue in the video which seems appropriate. A number of locations are used throughout but the two more prominent ones are a school setting and the woods.