Alex Southam - Case Study 3

Alex Southam
Case Study 3
 

Alex Southam has been described as an exciting talented man who is able to bring together a variety of styles both live and in animation. Southam has been highly praised for his creativity. He actually taught himself everything he knows and has caught the attention of a few independent promos for the likes of Walkmen. Southam's career began when he joined 'Agile' in August 2012. When making his music videos, Southam usually did everything by himself. This includes tasks such as filming and editing. He is now quite experienced and is a director of photography which aids him when creating a music video. Southam's videos are very unique as he enjoys trying new techniques and experimenting. Southam himself stated that he likes to "try new techniques and can have real artistic freedom". It is very good to use new techniques when filming as it can give the footage more of emotion if done correctly. Also being creative when editing is good as you will be able to manipulate your footage. He uses this onlie programme called 'Vimeo' to broadcast his videos and 'Vimeo' is actually becoming increasingly popular as it is an alternative for users rather than using Youtube and is actually considered to have a higher status than Youtube. Southam's breakthrough came with a promo video for Alt-J's Tessellate. Southam was given a budget of £10,000 and the whole film was shot all in one day. He had a large group to shoot and used an effect in the video. The other video that Southam directed was for Chase & Status for their song Lost and Not Found. In this video his budget increased to £50,000.

Emil Nava - Case Study 2

Emil Nava
Case Study 2 

Emil Nava started his video making whilst he was running for film production companies. He had previously worked for 'Blink Industries' and after working for these companies, he graduated to an Assisntant Director where this enabled him to manage the video to how he liked working for a company called Pulse. After this he then signed to Academy who happen to be the hugest video production company in our generation and he worked extremely hard. He started making adverts which allow a much high budget but consequently means that there is less freedom, arguably, his most famous advert is the 'L'Oreal - Dare To Be Different'. In one year Emil made up to 24 music videos and then he began to work for independent companies and was given a budget ranging from about £5,000 to £10,000. His most expensive music video to date that he has made was for Jessie J for her song 'Price Tag', he was given a budget of £160,000. Emil has worked with many other artists such as Ed Sheeran and Rita Ora. When creating videos for these artists, Emil tries to use the close up shot as much as possible. Nava's first video was for a band known as 'Kid British' for their song 'Our House' and he was given a budget of £20,000. He directed the song in Manchester. Even though the budget was substantially more than smaller independent film companies, he decided that the people in the video would be local residents. The making of this video only took 1 day but the editing took about 2 to 3 days and the pre-production took about 2 weeks. The company that Emil was working for, work as agents for music video directors like Emil himself. They have specifications when looking for these music video directors and these specifications include: natural talent - this is having the born ability and desire to the job and not having to be told everything as you should naturally know what to do. Being able to work with record labels and production companies.

Jamie Thraves - Case Study 1

Jamie Thraves

Case Study

Jamie Thraves started creating music videos while he was studying at university. He then used an award winning short film that he had made himself and called it a "calling card" in order for him to get recognised in the video production company. His intial three videos that he made costed around £5,000 each in terms of shooting it. There is a process in order for a director to be selected to produce a music video. It is very similar to a competition because usually between 5 and 10 directors will opt in for the role of the director in the music video then they will need to pitch their idea to the person who is known as the commissioner. At this point, the directors who have pitched their ideas are not paid for doing so and then the director who appears to have the best idea and fits the scenario the best will be selected to proceed with making the music video and only then will the selected director will be paid for his and idea and sometimes given funds to proceed with the making of the music video. The business for directors is very fragile and sensitive because although 10 directors will have the chance to get the job, there will only really be one person who will get the job. So that essentially is how it works. Thraves has applied for various different jobs and has been successful. One of his videos that has been selected was from Radiohead - Just. Thraves was given a budget of £100,000 and the video was shot in three days. The video for this song is incredibly skillful, interesting and rather ambiguous. In the video there is a man who is just laying down so nonchalantly in the middle of the street throughout the song and passers-by are seeking to understand what is wrong and help him. The video also offers us text which cooperates well with the music. Just as we get to the end we think we are going to find out why he is lying on the floor but then we dont't this could therefore be the reason why the song is called 'Just'. The video is well chereographed and very effective.

The other video that Jamie Thraves was successfully able to create was for Coldplay, for their song called 'The Scientist' which happens to actually be my favourite music video. It is an incredible song and the video just makes it even more better. It is very unique as the whole video starts from the end and goes back to the start. It is incredibly clever and Chris Martin often says in the song "let's go back to the start" so this again cooperates extremely well with the song. Thraves was given a budget of £200,000 to produce this video and once again it was shot in three days. However with this song there was more difficulty as Chris Martin (lead singer of Coldplay) had to learn to sing the song backwards so that the lip synching works well with the video. All of the videos that Thraves has made has allowed him to gain status in the music business and he has made three titles called 'The Low Down', 'The Cry Of The Owl' and 'Treacle Jr'. Thraves uses two well known techniques when creating a music video, he uses the lyrics and tries to link them to the video as much as possible and uses the emotions of the lyrics and displays it in the video.

How Pop Video's Reflect One's Personal Life - Katy Perry

How Katy Perry's Pop Video reinforces her brand identity and reflects her personal life?

Before I begin this post I would like to touch upon what Goodwin stated. He said that "pop videos are used to reinforce brand image/identity". Katy Perry is a famous singer who was born and raised in California. She has released many singles that have been hugely successful due to her incredible voice but also for her unique style of Pop Videos. In this blog, I will examine her style and attempt to conclude her reasons behind these music videos. Katy Perry has a lot of music videos and her target audience is teenagers but in particular girls. She tries to show herself in her videos almost as an ideal big sister looking out and trying to inspire her younger teenage audience. This message is most evident in her music video 'Firework'. The video offers many people who are scared to show their true identity. For example in the video, there is a boy who is a homosexual but it scared to come out and show it due to the discrimination that homosexual that face in society. The idea of the video us to show a positive image to the audience that everyone is different and unique in their own way. A common thing in Katy Perry's videos is that she really goes all out in terms of expenses in her videos. Her videos are of very high budgets.


Before the song 'Firework' was released, Katy was seen in more of a sexual way rather than the ideal older sister as she is seen nowadays. This image of her being a desirable female is seen in one of her older songs which is called 'California Girls'. In this video Katy displays herself in a 'sexy' way, conveying herself as an asset that men desire. A few months after this video Katy found herself engaged to Russel Brand. They got married but the marriage was short lived. Brand stated that he didn't feel any sense of romance during the marriage and even went as far as saying that when they made love, he had to pretend she was someone else to enjoy himself. Consequently this led to their divorce and Katy's next song was arguably inspired from their divorce. The next song was called 'Wide Awake' almost emphasising that she has realised her mistake. In the song, Katy makes a lot of references to her disastrous marriage with Brand. She states "I was falling hard with an open heart" and "I'm not blind anymore". This emphasises that she acknowledges the mistake she made when she got married to Russel and she know is back to her old self. Not only does the song lyrics emphasise her despair but also the video aswell. In the last scene she is with a younger child who we presume to be one of her young fans that she inspires. In this scene, a rather dashing and handsome Prince Charming, who we assume is Russel Brand, arrives on a unicorn ready to take her into an enchanted place and live happily ever after. The old Katy would have been swooped off her feet and would have definitely got onto the unicorn, but the 'wide awake' Katy chooses her young fan emphatically over Prince Charming by giving him a punch to his face defeating him and he even had his fingers crossed as he approached Katy, symbolising that there is no real love between them. This clearly is a reference to her personal life and relationship with Russel but she is now saying to her fans that she is back to her old self.

Andrew Goodwin - Key Conventions

Andrew Goodwin

Key Conventions

Andrew Goodwin’s 6 Features of Music Videos

In his book Dancing in the Distraction Factory, Andrew Goodwin points out characteristics and features that can be found in music videos. Below is the six characteristics he believed to be conventions of the music video genre.

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
   (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
   (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There are often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).

Andrew Goodwin suggests that pop videos can be to reinforce a brand image. An example of this is Katy Perry who I will be doing a separate blog post about later. She promotes her image as an 'ideal older sister' to her young targeted female audience. She serves as a positive role model and this is reflected in many of her songs. Andrew Goodwin recognised that there is a special relationship between the music and the visuals in a music video. He touched upon how the beat used in a song will determine the pace of the editing of the song. If we take this concept into Michael Jackson's song "Beat It", the pace of the song in the beginning is quite slow but as the dancing begins, the pace of the editing picks up. This is to reflect the song as it would be very unusual for a slow song to have fast-paced editing as it would not allow the person who is watching the video to distinguish a relationship between the song and the video. In addition Goodwin also noted that in most pop videos there will often be a lot of close ups of the performing star/band as the record label will try to identify motifs which will reoccur during the performances. If we look at Michael Jackson, he was often depicted and imitated by wearing a white glove. This promoted his singles and also increased his popularity.

Dance routines have a major impact on the success of a music video. This is evident through the song 'Gangnam Style' by Psy. I actually didn't actually know the song myself, till I one day saw a good friend of mine doing it on the road and thought to myself "what on earth is he doing". This music video achieved a record and mind blowing views of over 1 billion on YouTube and topped the charts in the UK even though the lyrics are Korean. This is because of the recognisable dance routine in the video.

Making The Music Video - Top Tips

Making The Video

Top Tips

In order to make a successful music video, it is mandatory that your group follow these rules and guides. By abiding by this guide, we will be on the right road to making a good and effective music video.

1. You must have lip synching

2. The performers MUST learn the song.

3. When filming play the music and sing out loud otherwise the mouth will not look realistic. 

4. Look into the camera. 

5. Sing the whole song. 

6. Film as above in different locations and from a variety of angles. 

7. Create layers on Final Cut and edit between the different layers. 

8. Do NOT use the zoom. 

9. If you need to get closer or more distance - move the camera. 

10. Use the tripod - no hand held shots.

Star Theory - Richard Dyer

Richard Dyer
Star Theory

Richard Dyer believes that artists aee made through artificial images such as advertising and films. He states that consumers prefer artists that show their "true" self and not be manipulated by businesses who tend to attempt to portray artists in a way that will ensure maximum profit and this can lead to an artists being given a whole new images. An artist that is true to themself can use this as an advantage as it would be considered to be there unique selling point which gives them more credibility as there are just being themselves and not being manipulated by music companies. Richard Dyer believes that musicians are manufactured to produce maximum profit for their record labels. The record labels do this by targeting a specific target market and evolving the artist to make them a product to the market. Arguably, an example of an artist being manufactured by record labels is Miley Cyrus who has created nothing but controversy since being manipulated by the record label Sony Music. Another one of Richard Dyer's ideas in his star theory concept is that he believes that artists become role models and trendsetters to the audience they are marketed at which causes the audiences to imitate and behave as their role model artists behave.

Purpose of the Music Promo Video

Purpose of the Music Video

The primary purpose of a music video is to actually sell the song. The video is supposed to help the song by providing visual scenes. The producers of music videos aim to draw attention and advertise the song to its targeted market whether it is young girls or middle aged people. A good example of an excellent music video is Coldplay's "The Scientist". I have previously written about this video on my blog but the video is extremely good as it adds emotion to the song. If you where to watch the video without listening to the song, you will see that the video adds sentimental value to the song which consequently makes you like the song.
There are many aspects of promoting a music video in today's society. Artist such as Britney Spears will try to promote their songs by also selling fragrances. A good example of this is in Britney Spears' song "Circus" she actually promotes her fragrance. The purpose is to earn excess income along with the income from the song itself and it also increases her fan base and popularity if people actually like the fragrance.

Organic and Synthetic

Organic and Synthetic

In music artists and groups are usually categorised into two groups; Organic and Synthetic. I will provide you with examples of Organic and Synthetic groups to help you to understand. The Beatles are an example of an Organic band. This is because they knew each other before they decided to form a band, they also formed the band through friendship. They also toured different countries before they were signed. In Organic groups, the music they make usually comes from them and everything they choose to do is from them.

An example of a Synthetic Group is One Direction. A Synthetic group or artist as been put together by a company to get maximum profit. Each member of One Direction auditioned for the music show 'X Factor' as singles and where put together by Simon Cowell to form the group which is know globally famous and successful. These artists have been put together to compete in the industry amongst other established groups. Synthetic groups usually are put together to obtain maximum profit from the industry. The music industry is constantly evolving so more and more groups are being formed to fill the hole that is in the market for profit.

Record Labels - Majors/Independents

Record Labels
Majors and Independents

Similarly just like the film industry, the music industry is arguably dominated by a collection of Major companies. There are four major national Majors that dominate the music industry and they are:

• Universal
• Sony Music
• Warner Music
• EMI

Recently with EMI progressively coming through there are now only three major companies with the left over profit made by the independent companies. It is quite common now for most of these major companies to now own what is known as Major-Independnt companies. This enables the main conglomerates to obtain various audiences with various genres. Examples of these companies include Virgin, Syco and Columbia.

Pop Videos Marketing An Image - Miley Cyrus

Pop Videos Marketing An Image

Pop videos really market an image. By the way they are presented to the audience, it has a huge effect on how the world responds and reacts. For this blog, I will be looking at Miley Cyrus otherwise known as Hannah Montana. She is a great example of the not only the development of music videos but also how music/pop videos are marketed. Miley Cyrus used to do a show called 'Hannah Montana'. It was a show targeted at young teenagers that displayed Miley to be living a double life with a normal school life and a famous singer life. The show has stopped and is rarely shown on TV now but it is a good example of how Miley's image has changed from the 'good friend, happy girl' image in 'Hannah Montana' to the recent letter from Sinead O'Connor warning Miley not to "let the media prostitute you".

Here is the old image that Miley portrayed in the show 'Hannah Montana':

This is a YouTube video of her performance of her opening show song. You can see the innocence of a young girl and the image shows Miley being an inspiration to younger teenage girls.

However having looked at the 'Old Miley' let us begin to examine the new one. The old one is portrayed in her music videos to be very social, kind and caring, will we be able to say the same thing for the new one? Lets find out.
Miley Cyrus has been under fire with the media recently in 2013 due to her controversial behaviour in the VMA awards. I happened to be watching it live myself as it is a hugely popular event with many famous performers. During her first performance she sang the song 'We can't stop' which has received heavy criticism from the media due to her obscure and unattractive lyrics. Lets watch the video:



In the song, I'm sure its very easy to see the overwhelming comparison between her old image and this new one. In the song lyrics, Miley makes a reference to the class A drug Ecstasy. She says "dancing with Molly". "Molly" is a hidden name for the drug. This is a new stepping stone as we are 100% sure that the old Miley would not have had these lyrics in her songs. The strange thing is she is still aiming her songs at the same fan base which is young teenage girls. With the new Miley continuing to behave in such a way, one would only assume she would lose her fan base. Her deviant behaviour continued as she performed this song at the VMA awards in such a way that would only receive negativity from the media. Miley performed the song with a parade of giant bears dancing around her and also "twerked" on Robin Thicke in his song "Blurred Lines".

The Pitch

The Pitch