Friday, 27 June 2014
Sunday, 22 June 2014
Ideas for elements in a music video 1.) Narratives i
Narrative: Whilst there are many music videos which don't feature narratives - there are many other videos which do. Some music videos feature narratives which run parallel to the lyrics of the song - an example of this could be Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" video - which follows a narrative of a hardcore party which occurred the night before - just like the lyrics of the video.
One advantage of using this type of storytelling in my own video is that I would be able to easily create and tell a narrative for audiences - as the lyrics and content of the video would be working off one another.
One disadvantage - is that you are very restricted in what you can depict in the video - as it has to be working alongside the lyrics. This can arguably restrict creativity and originality as there is only so much you can do while you're limited to telling the story of the lyrics.
In Enrique Iglesias' "Hero", there is also a narrative to be found in the video. A young straight couple are madly in love and seemingly on the run - as connoted by their bag stashed with cash and speeding through the desert in a car. The couple are stopped by a gang - and the male in the couple stands up against the leader and gets beaten to death for it. Despite having a narrative - it doesn't quite run parallel despite sharing some elements with the lyrics of the song. 'I will be your hero baby' runs with the scenes of the male fighting against the men despite the odds being heavily stacked against him - but the rest of the lyrics are mostly irrelevant to the video.
The advantages of this method of narrative telling through a video is that you're allowed more creative freedom with the narrative you can show in the video, but the narrative will still relate to the lyrics somewhat and this boosts the accessibility as it would remain understandable to audiences.
The disadvantages of this method is that it contains a lack of focus on the lyrics - but still contains some link at points in the video. This could be seen as an attempt to shoehorn in content which is relevant to the lyrics.
There are also examples of videos which have narratives that don't share seemingly any direct link with the lyrics of the song at all - instead being stylized to share more of a connection with the beat and rhythm of the song. One example of this type of video could be DJ Fresh's "Gold Dust" - which features the setting of what looks a fairly poor yet vibrant and jaunty urban environment/ playground full of basketball playing/ rope skipping children and young adults. If you listen to the song below however, the vibrancy and pace of the video relies greatly on the pace of the song - and it works in an effectively interesting way to make the video feel more relevant.
The advantages of this is that you are able to create a video which is easy to watch as the rhythm of the music coincides with cuts and action occurring in the video. However, one disadvantage is that these kinds of videos often sacrifice the ability to tell a narrative - which is very noticeable especially with the example below.
However, there are still some music videos where the actual music doesn't seem to have any bearing on the content of the video. Some of them may be stylized appropriately to hold a narrative of what the artist intended the music to really be about (but these meanings require a lot of interpretation to find). An example of a video like this might be "Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know". Although the lyrics clearly hold a narrative of some kind of broken-down-relationship - the video for the song is wacky, and, other than having a man and a women in the video - doesn't share any kind of resemblance to the music or lyrics - even as far as the rhythm of the song.
The advantage of this is that you are able to create a video which holds a narrative which - in some cases - is not limited at all by the music. This gives total creative freedom with what to produce and allows for the director to tell his own story.
One disadvantage on the other hand is that there is a lack of focus which can make it hard to come up with ideas - as the scope is so wide. It also may suffer from feeling disconnected from the music, and it may not grab attention as well as a more conventional style.
One advantage of using this type of storytelling in my own video is that I would be able to easily create and tell a narrative for audiences - as the lyrics and content of the video would be working off one another.
One disadvantage - is that you are very restricted in what you can depict in the video - as it has to be working alongside the lyrics. This can arguably restrict creativity and originality as there is only so much you can do while you're limited to telling the story of the lyrics.
In Enrique Iglesias' "Hero", there is also a narrative to be found in the video. A young straight couple are madly in love and seemingly on the run - as connoted by their bag stashed with cash and speeding through the desert in a car. The couple are stopped by a gang - and the male in the couple stands up against the leader and gets beaten to death for it. Despite having a narrative - it doesn't quite run parallel despite sharing some elements with the lyrics of the song. 'I will be your hero baby' runs with the scenes of the male fighting against the men despite the odds being heavily stacked against him - but the rest of the lyrics are mostly irrelevant to the video.
The advantages of this method of narrative telling through a video is that you're allowed more creative freedom with the narrative you can show in the video, but the narrative will still relate to the lyrics somewhat and this boosts the accessibility as it would remain understandable to audiences.
The disadvantages of this method is that it contains a lack of focus on the lyrics - but still contains some link at points in the video. This could be seen as an attempt to shoehorn in content which is relevant to the lyrics.
There are also examples of videos which have narratives that don't share seemingly any direct link with the lyrics of the song at all - instead being stylized to share more of a connection with the beat and rhythm of the song. One example of this type of video could be DJ Fresh's "Gold Dust" - which features the setting of what looks a fairly poor yet vibrant and jaunty urban environment/ playground full of basketball playing/ rope skipping children and young adults. If you listen to the song below however, the vibrancy and pace of the video relies greatly on the pace of the song - and it works in an effectively interesting way to make the video feel more relevant.
The advantages of this is that you are able to create a video which is easy to watch as the rhythm of the music coincides with cuts and action occurring in the video. However, one disadvantage is that these kinds of videos often sacrifice the ability to tell a narrative - which is very noticeable especially with the example below.
However, there are still some music videos where the actual music doesn't seem to have any bearing on the content of the video. Some of them may be stylized appropriately to hold a narrative of what the artist intended the music to really be about (but these meanings require a lot of interpretation to find). An example of a video like this might be "Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know". Although the lyrics clearly hold a narrative of some kind of broken-down-relationship - the video for the song is wacky, and, other than having a man and a women in the video - doesn't share any kind of resemblance to the music or lyrics - even as far as the rhythm of the song.
The advantage of this is that you are able to create a video which holds a narrative which - in some cases - is not limited at all by the music. This gives total creative freedom with what to produce and allows for the director to tell his own story.
One disadvantage on the other hand is that there is a lack of focus which can make it hard to come up with ideas - as the scope is so wide. It also may suffer from feeling disconnected from the music, and it may not grab attention as well as a more conventional style.
Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Chosen brief for A2
I decided to go with the brief which includes the production of a promotional package for the release of an album. This package includes a promotional video for the song chosen and two sub-tasks. For my sub-tasks I have chosen to create a cover for the album's release as part of a digipack as well as a magazine advert for the digipack. I will be working alone on the majority of the task - with only help from students not working on the same project as I am. I will be using HD digital cameras to film my project - with other cameras possibly being used to help with the album cover on the digipack and in the magazine. Final cut will be used when editing my project together and I may be using a blogspot blog alongside this website in able to add more detail alongside wix.com posts.
I am into most kinds of music - anything which is catchy and doesn't hurt my ears! But for my production I would like to choose a song which has audio that allows me to experiment with what happens in the video. I hope you enjoy my blog.
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