Industrial Research - Music Video Theorists

Andrew Goodwin – identified 7 main aspects of a music video which audiences should look out for. ​

·       1) Links between lyrics and visuals – the visuals will illustrate, amplify or sometimes contradict the lyrics.​

·       2) Links between music and visuals - these may compliment, contradict or amplify one another​

·       3) Genre characteristics – including specific use of lighting, camerawork and props.​

·       4) Intertextual references – to other music videos, TV programmes, films, etc.​

·       5) Notions of looking – the objectification of women, themes of looking and voyeurism, encouraging the viewer to desire the artist and their lifestyle.​

·       6) Demands of the record label - usually the representation of the artist, recognisable motifs for particular artists, etc.​

·       7) Performance based, narrative based, or concept based – a video will usually fall into one of the above categories, although sometimes will be in more than one.

 

Roland Barthes – said that texts may be open or closed. Narrowed down the action of text into five different codes, which can be applied to any narrative – including music narrative videos.​

·       The hermeneutic code - the voice of truth. The code of enigmas or puzzles: The way the story avoids telling the truth, dropping clues and help create a mystery surrounding the narrative or character. This makes music videos very interesting.​

·       The enigma/proairetic code- the voice of empirics. The code of actions – any action proposed has to be completed in a logical order or sequence. The result of these actions form the plot of events within a text. ​

·       The symbolic code- the voice of the symbol. Composed opposites or themes within a text, presenting something or someone that is the complete antithesis of something or someone else. Done in the use of contrast, where new meanings arise out of the opposing and conflicting ideas. ​

·       The culture code- the voice of science. Looks at the audiences wider cultural knowledge, morality and ideology. Relates to the audiences and makes a video more interesting and realistic.​

·       The semantic code- the voice of the person. This points out to any section in the lyrics that suggest a particular meaning by a connotation which the story suggests. The connotation is what is symbolised.​

 

Vladimir Propps – suggested that every narrative contains 8 different character types. They are called the "spheres of action". Many of these character types are identifiable in narrative music videos.​

·       The dispatcher – who makes the villain known and sends the hero on a quest.​

·       The magical helper – who helps the hero upon his quests.​

·       The princess – the reward at the end of the quest, who the hero adores – representative of new equilibrium​

·       The villain – which enters conflict with the hero in some way​

·       The father of the princess – who gives tasks to the hero, but Propps says that the father and princess are not often easily identifiable​

·       The hero – the protagonist to embark on the quest for better / the princess​

·       The false hero – takes credit for the hero's actions, tries to have the princess to himself.

 

Richard Dyre – suggests that icons and celebrities are constructed by institutions for financial game and to target specific groups of people. Celebrities are constructed to represent "real people" experiencing real emotions. Stars are created by the music industry as to serve a purpose- which is creating profit from an audience because fans idolise these stars and provide income through buying music and products.​

·       Audiences and institutions – Dyre argues that increasing the brand identity benefits the institution as they become a household name and increase sales in every aspect of media.​

·       Constitutions – Similar to the audiences and institutions aspect of his theory, saying that increasing brand identity around a star benefits constitutions.​

·       Hegemony – Known as culture – the idea that audiences relate to the star because they have a feature that they share, or something they admire within the star.​

​

Industrial Research - History of Music Videos

 What are music videos for?

• Money-making: Music videos create the opportunity for monetisation. With the creation of YouTube, artists seized the opportunity to upload their videos to the site and this saved the music video industry as previously, before the release of the site in 2005, the revenue generated from the sale of albums and concert tickets were the primary source of income for music producers. YouTube allowed for income to flow constantly, as videos would consistently produce revenue as they are watched by users on the site. 
• Product placement: Music videos allow for product placements, where brands can insert their name or product into an artist's work in some way. Music producers can generate alternate sources of revenue, and brands benefit from the placement as it expands their reach and anchors the product in the mind of fans. Brands often pay large sums of money for a short amount of screen time in a music video, as it means copious amounts of exposure and revenue from video streaming. 
• Lady Gaga's music video for her song "Telephone" has twelve brand placements, with some examples being Diet Coke, Virgin Mobile and Hewlett-Packard – and garnered over 296 million views. 
• Promotion: This can mean promotion of new albums and singles, promoting new artists to an audience, providing for existing audiences, promoting the image and identity of an artist or band that may be exciting- or a deviation from their previous identity  
• Visual and personal storytelling: Artists may wish to use music videos to convey visual images that connote meaning and story related to the song. Many artists use videos as a form of self-expression as well, and can be considered an art form in their use of mise-en-scene – they may convey abstract and non-conventional ideas that music may not be able to offer.

A Timeline

• 1920's and 1930's – Music videos were filmed in one take and were few and far between. Most "music videos" were performance based and short films emerged where artists performed during their duration.  
• 1940's and 1950's - Videos were still performance based however some performances had dance routines in accompaniment. Elvis Presley is without a doubt the most famous example of this during his music videos, taken from full-length movies that starred him (Elvis Presley - "Jailhouse Rock", 1957) 
• 1960's – Dubbed the era of the dancing culture. Videos still remained in basic black and white however technology was advancing and meant different camera shots and techniques could be used. Panning and closeup shots with help from machinery like cranes meant that videos like "Let's Twist Again" (Chubby Checker, 1961) could be created  
• 1970's – Introduced rock and roll bands, but Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" made music video history with techniques and effects like the "kaleidoscope" effect and multiple images merged together were ground-breaking.  "Top of the Pops" was a turning point in the history of music videos, as artists could promote themselves further and perform live on the programme. Colour film also boosted the production of music videos, and they were no longer just a performance of a song. 
• 1980's – The introduction of MTV in 1983 meant artists could reach superstardom through their music videos. The reinvention of Michael Jackson, the success of Prince and introduction of Madonna- music videos of these artists became a permanent fixture on MTV and gained a massive audience. Artists began to break convention with more controversial videos, in an attempt to rise above the others in the competition for stardom.  Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (1982) was undeniably the most prominent music video of the decade. 
• 1990's – Considered the golden age for music videos. Provided an outlet for ground-breaking directors to create narratives and imagery for an artist or song that could become as memorable as the song itself. MTV had the ability to place a song and musician into the pop music sphere and that resulted in lucrative and creative commitment into creating music videos. Gun's N' Roses "November Rain" serves as a good example for this. 
• 2000's - Music videos were able to be immediately and directly uploaded to the web and were widely available on many sites. Because of this availability budgets for music videos reduced. This period of time is marked by the application of the male gaze theory with rising popularity of Hip-Hop and R&B music. 50 Cent's "Candy Shop" (2005) shows the objectification of women and the application of the male gaze theory.  
• 2010's - Emerging artists usually begin to cement their brand identity through performance music videos. Artists who already have a recognisable star image like Rihanna and Beyonce tend to embrace their sexuality in videos. Narrative is a lot less popular in music videos as well, and often include aspects of the artist's wealth and luxurious lifestyle. 

Codes and Conventions of Music Videos

Music videos usually follow the codes and conventions of two main styles - performance and narrative videos - and often feature the artist themselves or actors. 
Performance music videos follow codes and conventions like: 

• Artists and bands may perform songs in unconventional locations. Cliff tops or tropical beaches are not uncommon – Duran Duran's "Rio" has the group performing on yachts and the beaches of the Caribbean.  
• There may be footage of the group in an informal or personal situation to illustrate their career- there may be clips of the group in a recording room, studio or tour bus. 
• Showing amateur, fan-submitted footage, showing concerts or performances from the perspective of a crowd member makes viewers feel like they are a part of the audience, in the experience themselves. 
• Inclusion of footage of the artists at work, performing, singing or playing instruments. This, to audiences, feels personal and includes direct mode of address, so that the audience feels the artist(s) is performing to them specifically. 

Narrative music videos follow codes and conventions like: 

• Use paid actors to portray the narrative of the song; but this can be intertwined with shots of the artists performing, cutting back and forth between the two. - Carly Rae Jepsen's video I Really Like You features this. 
• Music videos can work as short films to communicate the meaning of the song, using the same narrative techniques as a feature film- sometimes with fleshed-out characters that go through a state of equilibrium-disequilibrium-new equilibrium (Todorov) - an example being Taylor Swift's Blank Space. 
• Telling the story of the song lyrics through technical codes and video editing, sometimes abstract and able to be decoded in different ways.