1st draft music video

Initial filming

Today I began to start filming for my music video, but unfortunately quickly found that I did not like the location I had chosen for my filming. So I now have to sit down and consider other locations I can film in. Updates on other filming: I have yet to lock down filming for the first and last verse but will be some time next week. I will film the first verse in Bury St Edmunds and the last in my house. As well as these I will be filming the performance parts that will be cut into parts in the narrative next week.

Representation in music videos

Throughout the music industry there are various types of representation in the videos that accompany the music. Different types of representation include:

• Race
• Gender
• Class

These different things are well represented throughout the music industry in all the genres. Normally the artist will represent their own background from which they come from. For example female artists will tend to represent women more in their videos than they will men. But it is not only who is represented but how they are represented which is important in the music video industry.


Gender
Gender is represented very differently across the different genres of music video as well as within those genres. One huge example is the way women are represented in the pop industry. It is a convention for male artist's music videos in the pop genre to represent women in a sexualised and objectified way. This convention is present in a majority of music videos, Including:

 Robin Thicke - Blurred lines (uncensored)



But in the female side of the pop industry, women are represented in a much different way. They are represented as more powerful and strong even to the point where they are above men. This is mainly a convention in solo female artist's videos, who want to show the strength of women in an industry that demoralizes them. This has become increasingly more popular in the pop industry and more frequent. Some examples:








The way men are represented in music videos is very similar to that of women. As you will see in the previous videos, in male artists videos, men are represented as a dominant force over women and they are presented in an almighty way. Whereas in female artist's videos, they are represented in more of a submissive manor and are much less powerful than women. There may be some videos that break these conventions but I couldn't find any.


Race
Race is another factor that is strongly represented in music videos. Throughout the music video industry race is represented in various different ways and due to the large amount of diverse race in our world, I am going to narrow it down to black and white people. The representation of these two races differs mainly between the different genres of music. Stereotypically, Pop, R&B and Rap more heavily represent black people whereas genres like Rock, Metal and Folk represent white people more. This is because the artists within the industry are sticking to their roots, with rap and R&B originating in black society and folk and rock originating in white history. This may be a stereotypical view but through the music videos I have seen it is an accurate one.
Rock



Rap



Class
Different social classes are represented differently throughout all the different music genres in their music videos. Just like how race is represented, class is represented differently through the different genres. Firstly is the lower classes. These are best represented in rap culture videos because rap itself originated within this class and has grown out of it. So The lower class is better represented because it is most of the artists origins. Although there has been a break recently in this convention with wealthy rap artists releasing videos on how they have mad the big time showing off their new found wealth.








Break in convention:



In this video for Jay z's otis we see him carving apart a maybach, a very expensive luxury class, which shows some rap artists have adapted to upper class videos since they've earnt their money.

The middle class are represented most heavily in rock videos. This is also because this is where a majority of members of rock bands come from and so they are representing their social background.


The middle classes are today best represented by music videos from the rock genre. In a lot of the videos we see the style of middle class life represented by the musicians because, just like rap, it represents the class in which it originated. It is clearly present in a lot of rock videos that middle class is the strong class which is represented. Examples:


As always there are some videos that break these conventions:


The upper class have had their representation changed in recent years, and today I believe they are most heavily represented in the pop industry's videos. This is because the majority of pop stars today have come from enriched backgrounds, and have most likely paid there way into the industry. Other pop stars have made their fortune and are now in the upper classes so represent that now.

Change of song

After several complications with my original music video I have decided that it is for the best to change my song to Cage the elephant - Ain't no rest for the wicked because my idea for this video is a lot easier and I will be able to a lot easier and quicker to film. My idea for this song is a narrative video and I have a better idea for it than my original song. I have chosen this song because it is from my favourite game and I really enjoy the song. I think this will turn out to be a good choice as I can start filming immediately and have a draft in for friday.

Final cut express lessons

As part of our pre-summer work we had to record ourselves teaching different techniques on final cut express. The technique we were given was key framing. Unfortunately our footage was lost but we succeeded in learning how to use key framing which we have to use in our video, so it was very helpful. We also taught the rest of the class how to use key framing which confirmed our knowledge even more as well as being taught the other techniques by the rest of the class. They taught us how to manipulate colour, use green-screen and split-screening. We also have to use these in our music videos and so being taught these things by our peers helped to understand them a lot more than maybe we would have. So even though we lost our footage we were still able to take away something more valuable by knowing how to use technologies that we need to be able to use in the final music videos that we do.

Music video analysis - "Anaconda" Nicki Minaj (representation)

Analysis
This music video for Nicki Minaj's "anaconda" is a prime example of how women are sexualised within the music industry. The song itself is about sex, there's no denying it. And so it would only be fitting for the video to be all about sex as well, which it is. Throughout the video women are envisioned as a play thing for men. All the women are scantily clad and show off more than they probably should be, even to the point where they become whoreish, with Minaj as queen bee. In one shot we see Minaj bouncing another women's bum cheeks with her hands. This may suggest that women don't only use their bodies in a sexual manor to impress men but also to seek the acceptance of other women.

The majority of the females in the video are black, all but one. This itself may suggest either:

• A racial separation within the music industry, music made by black people is different to that made by white people.
• Or that black people have more of a sexual thrust than white people.

Either way there is a larger representation of black people in the video. There is also a majority female representation in the video. This could be suggestive that females are taking over the pop industry and increasing their control over the entire music industry. Even in one of the scenes we see Minaj giving big time pop star Drake a lap dance, showing that she has a large amount of power, which could also be seen as her showing how the music industry is being taken over by women.

This video is absolutely full of product placement. There are times where it is hard to ignore the amount of product placement. Compared to other video analysis I have done for other genres of music, it is obvious that this product placement is seen more frequently in the pop genre than others. Instead of this being a interpretation, what I take from this is that the pop culture has quite literally been changed into a money making machine, with no aim to achieving new feats in music but generating the biggest bonuses for the heads of the big six music labels. This is why no matter how controversial the video is, it has no meaning. It is controversial purely to generate hype and to bring in more money and does this quite successfully with nearly 310 million views on youtube. The pop industry is no longer about music, but like everything else, money.

Previous student work analysis - "Five years time" by Cristina Shaw

Strengths

• The video is very well done and finished off nicely which gives it a class and stands out over those whose aren't as well done.
• The video is a narrative one with bits of concept and fits in perfectly with the song. The video follows the lyrics and the mood of the song and this gives it an edge because the video is as happy as the song and brings a lot of emotion. 
• The shots are very well done and a very good quality. 

• The effects that she uses in her video work well with the mood and style of the video.
• The video is very enjoyable and to a very high level of quality. It is clear a lot of time and care was spent on it.

Weaknesses

• There was occasionally points where the editing was off paced with the song, but other than this I couldn't find myself any other weaknesses of this video.