Group Blog

This is a link to our group blog. As part of our A2 coursework we need to put together a music video for a song of our choice. The blog will show the research that our group are completing, The research will be things such as questionnaires so that we can see opinions on what audiences want to see in a music video from a particular genre of music. Throughout this course we will hold group discussions etc and all information and topics we discuss will be posted on this blog. The song we have chosen is Justin Bieber's "As Long As You Love Me" (Acoustic).

sidneysanderson.blogspot.com

Auteurs and Music Videos

Today in class we were studying different styles of music videos based on who had directed it. We looked at two videos in particular, One Kylie Minogue and one from the Chemical Brothers. The pair of these videos are directed by Michel Gondry. As a class we compared these two videos and looked at the approach the director had took to the videos and what style had been used to portray the meaning of the song.

Kylie Minogue - Come into My World 

The Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be



After Looking at Michel Gondry, We then began to look at videos directed by Chris Cunningham. The videos we looked at from this director wear Madonna - Frozen & Windowlicker by Aphex Twin. These videos are very different in terms of the genre and the artist however there are similarities that you can notice between the two videos. For example there is a Crow used to represent the song and the video is quite dark. Also the video from Aphex is also aggressive and dark. Therefore this director will direct a lot of dark videos. In his short movie career he had mainly produced dark films. Examples of these are Alien and Rubber Johnny. All of these films are aimed at a specific crowd, dark and twisted. He also shows this in his music videos, an example of this is in the two music videos, Madonna frozen and Aphex twins come to daddy.

In the video above it shows Chris Cunningham's style, it shows the dark, creepy and emotional. The overall video is about the darkness and the emotion. This is shown by the children in the video, edits and the actors.

The video below is another example of Chris Cunningham's work, the video is Madonna Frozen. Again in the video it shows the dark and emotion that is involved with the producer. Chris Cunningham has a pattern that he follows when making videos.

Madonna - Frozen





Aphex Twin - Windowlicker

Carol Vernallis Theory

Carol Vernallis' theory is based on the editing of a music video. The theory includes four key concepts of editing:

• Narrative
• Editing
• Camera Movement & Framing
• Deigesis

Narrative
Vernallis suggests that the music video is a visual response to the narrative, What Vernaillis means by this is that what is happening in the music video is a representation of the lyrics. Also the theory suggests that there is not always a balance between narrative and performance. The video may be a partial fragmented narrative. Artists may sometimes leave music videos unfinished which lead to the audience beginning to pose questions towards the narrative of the song. Also the video may be a running montage theme.

Editing
Vernaillis also states that music videos may break many of the rules if the continuity editing, Also Editing will match the beat of the music. What Vernallis means by breaking the rules, a few examples of this are: You may see jump cuts, Breaks of the 30 degree rule, Cutting with the lyrics. You may not see smooth transitions, match on action and an even pace throughout.

Camera Movements & Framing
When it comes to the shot types extreme shots are very common. Also the style of framing and movement are usually a continuing theme that is distinctive to that video/genre. The master shots and close ups are used frequently. Any repetitions throughout the video and some frames will appear more important than others due to the way they have been shot/framed.

Deigesis 
The Deigesis may be revealed slowly throughout the music video. The characters may move to the music for example dance routines etc. Some frames may be more important than others due to the way that they have been shot. There also may be pieces missing in the audiences understanding of the deigesis.




The Vernallis' Theory can be applied to this video 'Stan' as what is happening in the video is a reflection of the lyrics. There is also various editing in this video, for example at the end where the thunder and lightning is happening and in sync with the sound of the thunder 'Stan's' reflection appears in the window beside Eminem. Also the camera movements link in with this theory as there are many close ups whilst the people in the video are talking etc. The deigesis is shown by the scene changing along with the verse (Eminem to Stan to Dido). When Eminem is singing it shows him, When Stan is singing  it shows him and when Dido is singing it shows her.

Group Blog Questionnaire

This is the questionnaire that our group has put together to find out what you all think about our song choice.