Research For Music Video - A summarise on what I have learnt about the state of the music industry in 2012.

 In class we discussed how the music industry has changed throughout the last 10 years. We discussed Production, the process of making the music video and recording it to a sufficient standard so that it can make sales. Years ago you would have to book a studio and that was hard and expensive, now music equipment has improved and technology has advance allowing people to buy software and produce music in the comfort of their rooms amateurishly. 

Distribution is how this music gets to the consumer. Before music was distributed on tapes, CDs and records. Now consumers are able to download music via more recent distribution platforms such as the internet- youtube, vimeo and music websites - hulkshare & mediafire, technology such as ipods and ipads via Itunes.

Exchange and profit. The music industry used to make more profit through the actual sales the particular artist made. Now people are able to download music for free from the internet giving no profit to artist and braking the copyright infringement.

Now with the advance technology and the hype around music videos, the quality of the music video is as important as the song itself. This is because the intention is to entertain. Artist are focusing a lot more on their image, and popularity hence the increase of artist collaborating, to promote each other. The profit within the music industry is deteriorating. One artist mentioned that he gets more profit from merchandise rather than the music they sell, therefore it is arguable that the artist image/merch/videos are becoming most important. This is why some artists continuously change their image to appeal to their market.


Example: Rihanna. Her Change From 2005 - Present.

Research For music: Review of my favourite previous student video.

'NaS world is Yours' Was my favourite previous music video, it was unlike the rest of the student videos which follow the typical conventions of a music video, this seemed very original, it's all filmed in black and white which shows they considered the date this song was release. The music video was filmed with a fish eye lense which adds a character and suits the narrative as it's talking about the world, as the audience it makes us look at the world differently.  

The Mis en scene was well though through with the changing locations around London, for example standing in front of a graffiti wall, this suited the genre being hip hop. There are a variety of editing skills such as fast motion and the use of different camera angles which is edited to the music, there's a good flow with the footage and the music. 

One of the main reasons this music video is my favourite is because of the presence the main character as, the performance is natural and it's not noticeable that he is lips singing; he owns the shot and is able to entertain for example the way he moves his body and using hand action which compliment the lyrics e.g. guns (doing a gun sign).  The main character didn't where one costume throughout the video this shows they thought it trough, they understand that music videos don't have a continuity. 

There wasn't a obvious narrative but there was a concept of the world being shared, this was conveyed by their choice to include members of the public, where age is varied along with occupation and age. 

What was going on lyrical sometime matched the lyrics for example when police was rapped the image of police appeared.

Research For Music Video - My Favourite Previous Student Work

My favourite previous student work was a 2008-2009 candi media production of a song by Nas. I found this previous work exceptionally good as the use of jump cuts, angles and precision makes it look very professional. The music video was also filmed through a fish eye lens which i then later found out that the person filming had their hand around the lens the whole time to make it seem as if they were using a fish eye lens. It was very convincing and you would not be able to tell the difference. The mise en scene is spot on and links greatly with the song. The whole music video is filmed in B&W which also gives a feel that was exceptional to the song.

Research For Music Video - Main points of Laura Mulvey's ideas on representation

Laura Mulvey's quote "In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasuring in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly.".
What is meant by this quote is that certain parts of a woman will sell and this is commonly shown in a music video particularly in commercial R&B, Pop (including commercial electro house) and Rap. In her opinion society works in such a way that it creates this representation where males are the dominant, powerful beings who shape the way females should act and look, once this idea is shaped it is constantly applied and females are therefore compared to this ‘fantasy’ and represented in such way that is closes to it.

Eric Prydz - Call on me is a perfect example of Laura Mulvey's ideas on representation. In this video, a group of women move sexually in very little clothing. The camera shots are specific on body parts which could arouse the male viewers fantasies.


HOWEVER


Despite women being portrayed as passive majority of the time, they can also be shown through a dominant eye. This is popular amongst some more strong female singers such as Jessie J, Adele, Emeli Sande and Beyonce, this is usually because their talent is so raw they do not need to sell them selves with indecent clothing. 

Researching for music video: What I have learned about the state of the music industry

In class we explored how the music industry has changed in the last 10 years.

We discussed the Production, the process of making the music video and recording it to a sufficient standard so that it can be stole. Years ago you would have to book a studio and they were hard and expensive, now music equipment has improved and technology has advance therefore people can buy software and produce music in the comfort of their rooms.

Distribution (how this music gets to people and how they know about it) Then- recorded by tape and people would have to pay for concerts whereas now there's a new distribution platforms such as the internet- youtube, vimeo and social, technology such as ipods and ipads.

Exchange and profit. The music industry used to make more profit, people would have to exchange money for records/tapes and concerts and nowadays people are able to download music for free from the internet giving no profit to artist. 

Now with the advance technology and the hype around music videos, the quality of music is becoming slightly less important, videos are becoming just as important as the actual song, people watch the music footage without enjoying the songs, the intention is to entertain. Artist are focusing a lot more on their image, and popularity hence the increase of artist collaborating, to promote each other. The profit within the music industry is deteriorating. One artist mentioned that he gets more profit from merchandise rather than the music they sell, therefore it is arguable that the artist image/merch/videos are becoming most important.

Research For Music Video - Main points of Carol Vernallis theory

In 'Experiencing Music Video’, Carol Vernallis’s focuses on the editing and camerawork of music videos and tries to explain the main points and ideas on particular areas that are taken in consideration when making a music video.

While studying editing and camera work,Vernallis realised that editing in music videos comes much more frequently than in films and in fact they seem to have a rhythmic basis which in most cases closely connects to the beat and lyrics. This means that the usual rules of ‘continuity’ editing which we came across with our AS thriller openings are broken when it comes to editing music videos, because music videos are much shorted than a film and mainly because that way you tend to draw the viewers’ attention to what is on the screen. Another thing which is very common to music videos is the use of jump cuts, this technique is as common in music videos as the use of close ups of a main artist. Having close ups of the main artist makes the audience aware of who the main artist is, resulting in the audience buying their singles/ albums and concert tickets. This is a type of promoting. Finally, Vernallis informs us that a master shot (also known as base track) is frequently used in music videos to give the video structure.

Just Jack – Starz in Their eyes is an example of a music video that illustrates Vernallis’ ideas. This video has 3 base tracks; the hotel corridor, the black screen and the stage which he video keeps returning to. We can also clearly see the obvious use of special effects in the course for instance when the people explode an turn into stars. There is no real continuity as the video features a variety of places that are not linked with the lyrics also there isn't much of a narrative structure.