Before we launch in to the two case studies, which are Riptide by Vance Joy and Formation by Beyonce, you will spend this session exploring the brief history of music videos, and watch historical examples. As you go through these videos, you will make notes on media language and representation.
Today's task: analyse all the music videos linked below, making detailed notes. Publish your blog post after you have completed them
Exam link: analysing unseen video texts is a key skill in the exam. Make sure you use the textual analysis toolkit!
Coursework link: use the music videos studied today as inspiration for your own music video!
A music video is an advert for a song
One thing to make completely clear is that a music video is not 'the product'... it is an advert for a product! Music videos are, in general, freely accessible and viewed for free. While in the UK, we tend to call them music videos, in America they tend to be referred to as promos, and in Japan as PV/PMVs (promotional (music) videos). So, by and large, the world is pretty honest about their status as an advert!
A music video is the perfect example of media convergence
Convergence is the combination of two previously separate industries. Examples of media industries include films, TV and music. To see a film you traditionally must go to the cinema, to watch TV you must purchase a TV then select a channel, and to listen to music, you traditionally must buy a record.
Of course, all these industries are now completely combined. You can use your phone to watch a film, stream TV, listen to music, or, while you're at it, edit video, play a videogame or frankly anything else. This process is called digital convergence
Key term - Digital convergence - the coming together of two seperate media industries thanks to digital technology
Recorded music existed at a time that film also existed. So why was combining the two of them such a big deal? The reason is that music is music. It can exist by itself. It doesn't need visuals. So why bother?
The Scopitone and the birth of music videos
The Scopitone was a French invention, a kind of video juke-box that combined music and video. Popular in the 1960's, it meant that artists now had to record visuals as well as music.
Watch this video for an overview of scopitones
Chantal Goya - Si tu gagnes au flipper (1966)
How does this video differ from modern music videos? List all the examples of generic fluidity
Key term - generic fluidity - the way in which a form or genre changes over time
REBECCA - VANITY ANGEL (1989)
Let's quickly skip forward to the 80's!
How does this video use elaborate mise en scene and bricolage to construct meaning for the audience?
Key term - bricolage - where a media product is constructed from a range of elements, often from completely different contexts and time periods
Kylie Minogue - Hand On Your Heart (1989)
How are women represented in this video? And how does the setting and mise en scene anchor this reading?
Pulp - This Is Hardcore (1998)
This song is about a subject completely inappropriate for general audiences (pornography). Yet the video cleverly uses symbolism to convey its message.
How does this video use mise en scene to function as symbolic codes?
Benni Benassi - Satisfaction (2001)
Well if This Is Hardcore is subtle, then Satisfaction is... not. The early 2000s saw a trend of hypersexualisation in music videos, particularly in dance music videos, with many competing to see exactly what they could get away with.
Key term - hypersexualisation - literally 'beyond sexualisation', hypersexualisation is an extreme version of sexualisation, which aims to make it clear to the audience that it's sole purpose is to provide sexual gratification.
How does this video use symbolic codes to construct a representation of women?
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - PONPONPON (2011)
Back to Japan! In many ways, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu us a standard Japanese pop star. However, her producers have constructed an extremely distinctive image and brand identity, which indicates her celebrity status and star appeal
Key term - Star appeal - where a performer has been constructed so distinctively, she generates audience adoration and her appeal goes beyond that of just being a 'performer'
How does the producer of this video construct KPP as a 'star' as opposed to a normal human being? Why should we look at her?
BLACKPINK - 뚜두뚜두 (2018)
And finally let's end in Korea with BLACKPINK.
How does this construct and subvert representations of women?
Remember to publish your notes on your blog!