Possible song choices

Ivory Oasis: Ken Waters- Next To You

The benefits of this song include the fact that it's a very clean sound with a good production quality, making it a good choice to use for the basis of a music video. In addition to this it has a number of repetitive beats that would allow space for work with editing in regards to cuts. As well as this, the song has sections allowing a narrative to move along throughout.

Although the repetitive beat serves as a positive in that context, it also comes with the trouble of becoming irritating as it follows a similar beat throughout the entirety of the song, with only minor changes. The lyrics are also weak and this is an issue as we would struggle to build a narrative around them as they don’t generate many ideas. In addition, the mixture of genre categories it falls under would make it difficult to fit typical conventions and create target audience.

West Coast Massive- Paper Stars

The strengths of this song is that it has a fresh sound with a high production values, meaning it would provide a good basis. The song obtains a very clear genre of indie pop, which provides the ability to build from the typical connotations and features of the pop genre. This song also has a clear narrative build through its lyrics which will make it easier to develop a framework for the music video and connect the video to the lyrics.

The issues in regards to this song is that filming a video to fit the narrative could be difficult, due to slight repetitive themes, and the lyrics are suggestive that it would shot at night where lighting and quality would be effective.

Kiri T- I'm Not Here

The strengths of this song are that the lyrics provide a clear narrative that could be easily translated into a video. It has a  relatively steady beat that provides certain parts the ability to build up in the video we make meaning that the edit can be matched to the backing track. The music and lyrics deliver the typical conventions of the pop genres, so the ideas would provide a base to develop from.

The limitations of this song are that the backing track has a lower quality than the other songs in this selection, in addition, it has the danger of having a music video that is too stereotypical to its genre.

Saski- Faking Bright

The strengths of this song are that it is of a decent quality, clean recording with smooth vocals that allow editing opportunities that could be incorporated in the post-production, as the disjointed vocals could synchronise well with it. Faking Bright also has a clear narrative which is also open to a lot of development creating an interesting video.

A downside to this song is that it has the danger of being too slow to work with making the video slow paced or even a bit boring.

How do directors use media language in performance videos?

Song- The foo fighters- The pretender

The music video for this song uses typical media elements of its genre conventions following common stereotypes. The video also provides a sellable image for the band.

To begin with, the foo fighters have chosen a red black and white colour palette for the music video which is a rather classic yet powerful combination. The white shiny floor seems very clean and pure and opens up the space making the set look bigger than it is, later when it gets covered in red stuff it’s as if the space is being removed. In addition, the lack of a lot of colours reinforces the bands alternative rock genre. In addition, the close ups on the lead singer emphasise the aggressive elements in the song creating a claustrophobic atmosphere making the shot more intense. Alternatively, it could be argued that the close ups are due to the fact he has the most sellable face out of the band members and the many shots of him are for the audience.

Moving on, the video is mainly based around its live performance style which gives the audience an idea of what the band would be like if they went to see them. In this instance, around halfway through, the whole set becomes absolutely covered in what seems to be crushed red fruit that flies from every angle. This demonstrates the wild elements of the band provoking excitement. It also seems rather taboo as the band continues to perform as if nothing’s happening making it seem like they’re used to things like this which gets audiences talking increasing views.

Often, the camera work pans to the side allowing movement making the video seem very dynamic, it also compensates for the lack of movement from the band members.

How and why do different genres use performance and lip sync in videos?

Analysing music videos using Andrew Goodwin’s theory

Telephone-

In the music video for the song “telephone”, the director uses all 6 elements of Andrew Goodwin’s theory making it a prime example as it was highly effective. Regarding element 1, the video displayed its stereotypical genre conventions regarding the fact it follows the pop genre. However, this is more subtle as the video follows the style of Lady Gaga who seems to have a more niche audience due to her quirky uniqueness making the video almost taboo as some things may be non-coherent. It uses a dance routine which is catchy as it quickly spreads word of mouth as viewers may wish to learn it themselves.

Moving on, there is an illustrative relationship between the lyrics and visuals, an example of this is where the video does a glitch effect as the song almost does the same thing. This provides a sense of togetherness to the video as the two things fit together. In relation to the connection between music and visuals, this is pretty much the same further providing this illustrative relationship.

Lady Gaga and Beyonce are the sellable faces in this video. In order to emphasise this, the camera often cuts to close ups of their faces placing emphasis on them and giving them a visual style. There is a conveyed sense they wish to be perceived as rebellious which is displayed in mise en scene particularly through costume in addition to obviously actions. The eccentricity is evident to the audience and for many, it also acts as the main appeal.

Finally, the video uses intertextual reference. It uses the iconic car from Kill Bill which is also likely to build word of mouth and make more people watch the video. In addition, it’ll make people associate the video with Kill Bill and possibly help it establish the same tone as audiences discover similarities.

Come to daddy-

Using a video of a rather opposing genre, “come to daddy” is a video seeming to be of the horror genre due to creepy or scary visuals. It, however, also follows some features of Goodwin’s theory.

Regarding demonstrating genre conventions, it uses jump cuts which adds to this very fast paced feel the video provides. The intensity adds to this. The video has a very dirty mise en scene containing fragmented clips almost creating confusion to the audience as anticipation builds. As the video comes to its climax, the director uses an intertextual reference from the well-known horror film “the ring” reinforcing this almost horror genre the video obtains.