Analysis of promo video 3

I'm now going to write an analysis on Chris Browns music promo video, 'I can transform ya' which was released November 2009. This song belongs into the R'n'B/soul genre which is branched off from the original genre of 'Soul.' The conventions of R'n'B music has more comparisons with the conventions of Pop music rather then Rock music, however some characteristics in R'n'B include: The music isn't anything 'too' romantic or about 'love,' the songs (especially from the male artists) surround more about the subject of sex and lust for the opposite sex, the sounds is described as more edge, street sound which makes it popular amongst a working class audience, it's created with a hard repetitive beat which for some audience may not find it as easy to listen to as much pop music. Also the lyrics tend to be more similar to pop music in terms of songs about clubs and dancing, the artists (especially males, once again) seem to image themselves as being big womanizers who own a lot of glamorous things such as cars, big houses etc.
One big convention in which this video has is the idea of choreography, Chris Brown choreograph reflects the edge street sound, as it's not conventional routine dancing it's cleaver, sharp and fresh in which makes the video a lot more interesting to watch. Another convention is the idea of the song being more buying someones affection through the lyrics, other conventions which are seen in this video include the idea of the song including the subject of sex surrounding women, however the main artist Chris, interestingly isn't surrounded by women and singing what can be interpreted as inappropriate lyrics about sex and seeing women as more of an object.

There is a stronger relationship between the lyrics and the visuals in this video, especially used from the special effects. The idea of the video seems to be surrounding the main title of the music video being 'I Can Transform Ya' and basically stating the idea of Chris Brown is so wealthy and good looking he 'can transform ya' into anything you'd like. As the lyric 'Like 'em like a fire truck' is performed 3 men including Chris are seen transforming into an actual fire truck (Image to the left.) It reinstates the convention of the idea of these artists being amazing and so rich they can literally do anything they want, even impossible things by transforming. Another example of this is when the lyric 'Then my car transforms to a charter, And we can fly to wherever you ever thought of' and thus a car transforms into a helipcopter. All of this is pointing out the convention of this artists being so powerful, wealthy and out of this world they can transform items into completely other things to seduce women, it's an idea of sex appeal especially when he's stating these lyrics to an attractive female dancer/ model.

There is a strong relationship between the music and the video however, the editing doesn't seem to 'cut' as quick between shots as the other videos did. It seems to show longer shots sometimes up to 8 beats long before an edit to show the choreography in full rather then edit to other scenarios which is what both the other videos which i analysed did, they edits, especially in the chorus, sometimes experienced a 'cut' ever beat to the song. However as the song gets into the second verse the edits speed up, which obviously creates excitement and energy into the video and into the song. There are no solo instrumental bits within the song, however 'Lil' Wayne' is seen with a guitar during the intro of the song, this could suggest that he is the producer of the music as well as featuring in the track. It suggests to the audience that the idea of R'n'B being all computerised music rather then Slipknot who do create all their own music is not true, it presents the idea of the producers still having to play raw materials to achieve this type of music.

It seems like the record company are attempting to see this track though the terms of narcissism, fetishism and Scopophilia elements. The narcissim is aroused in terms of Chris Brown being an ultimate being, he's got a tones physique, he's an amazing dancer, he's claimed in his lyrics he's got a lot of money and claims he gets women through all of these factors which he has. The idea of the male audience wishing to be Chris, it's easy to see why they would fantasise about being like him or seeing him as an idol, the girls in which surround Chris and 'Lil Wayne are also very tall, very thin, very beautiful features and are able to surround people like Chris Brown therefore the female audience could have the idea of wishing they where them female dancers / models within the music promo video. The idea of fetishism within the video is the exampled of when Chris Brown first opens his music video in his very expensive looking suite, worn with also, very expensive looking sunglasses. The items in which he has included in his video such as: Chris Brown actually drives onto the set before the music actually starts and the car he drives onto the scene in looks like a very expensive sports car, the video also includes a various amount of very expensive looking bikes. This is great for attracting a male audience, through the use of fetishism, as the stereotypical male craves items just as what is featured within this video. Finally the idea of Scopophilia is used to sell this track, this is used through the terms of naked bodies and choreography. This is an important element in which i feel attracts most of a female audience especially with the male artists: Chris Brown and 'Lil Wayne are all seen topless within this video and they all have a 'toned' body, a lot of the female audience will receive in pleasure from looking at these bodies therefore gaining pleasure from listening to the song in general. This also can be achieved from using outstanding choreography, in which Chris Brown also uses, this is pleasurable to watch by both male and female viewers and also gives him much more sex appeal as a product and an object.

The image of the artist is an edgy, sexy male. You can see he has tattoos which creates this idea of him being a 'bad boy' and rebellion as an individual which can create a narcisstistic view on his strength and passion from being a rebel within the music industry and in society. He's under dressed to show off his 'toned' body in which society is seen as 'sexy' and 'appealing,' and his dancing makes him seem edgy and creative, this also adds to the idea of 'sex appeal.' This image Chris has created for obviously his new album, isn't how he used to image himself, he used to be seen as the 'cute' and 'good looking' eighteen year old, however as he's become older and received a lot of negative media with accusations against him, this was a very cleaver image transformation as he's become a lot more sexual and edgy to try and gain fans back in which he would have lost during his media downfall.

This video doesn't relate much in terms as narrative to any of his other videos, however in a lot of his music promo videos and performances he includes choreography, for example his music promo videos such as: Run it, Forever and his new single Crawl:
He dances even in his songs which are more ballads then up-beat which some artists and dancers may find it hard to do if they are not experienced as a dancer.
There are close ups on the artist mickey miming to the song, i feel this is basically due to the idea of performing to the audience and the audience feeling special and personally singled out. It also allows the audience to come 'face to face' with the artist Chris Brown which they wouldn't able to do on a daily basis, even if they went to see him on tour.

There is very strong notion of looking within this video, as both the artists Chris Brown and Lil Wayne are both topless and showing off their 'toned' physique. The women who are featured within this video are not as naked as the artists are, however they are wearing quite revealing tight Lycraa costumes. Chris brown can be seen in a low angle singing to the camera, this gives the audience, specifically the female audience, some dominance over him which can be seen as quite a sexy element, the idea you're above him. It's also rather flattering the way the cinematography has been created and also allows the audience to believe the illusion that Chris Brown is performing, personally to you.
The choreography is also sexual as well, with Chris Brown grabbing his crotch, this is seen as a tease, once again specifically towards the female audience. Other choreography sees him touching his own body in a sexual way as well as dancing in the colour black, which is seen as a very seductive colour.

The only inter textual reference in which is seen from this video is the idea of the choreography, especially when he performs the 'crotch move' is specially like the iconic Michael Jackson dance move, and with Chris Brown confirming what a large fan he is of Michael Jackson it perhaps has been performed in memory of. Even if that idea is the case, he seems to have updated it for a modern, edge audience.

The music video is very much performance based, with little narrative. I believe this music is once again a strong concept and performance based music video created to sell the record and to allow the audience closer then you would normally be allowed to the artist. The choreography and special effects create strong entertainment value within the music video, which encourages the audience to watch the full video and eventually purchase the single, once the song has officially 'grown' on the audience.

In conclusion i feel this has also been a very good music video to analyse specifically in how the record company market male artists supplying music to the mainstream audience. There are also strong comparisons and contrasts between both pop music genre and the rock music genre one comparison between them all is they all include mickey miming in the music videos. Britney Spears also included choreography within her music promo video as well as strong notion of looking which is what Chris Brown also includes strongly in his. There isn't a strong contrast between them, and by analysing more music promo videos from different genres i find it increasingly hard to point out the contrasting differences basically they're all using the main conventions for music videos, there doesn't seem to be anything original or different however by creating something completely original perhaps takes the entire concept away and instead of a band promoting a song, it could turn into a 5 minute film instead. These analysis' have helped me decide and think of more ideas I could put within my music promo video, however i also feel i need to put some more ideas which will advertise and promote the artist, which is, like i said before is the concept of the whole idea behind the music video.

Analysis of promo video number 2

For my second video analysis i wished to analyse a music promo video which is strongly contrasted to the Pop genre, the artists are Slipknot and the song is called 'Before I Forget.' It was released 2004 which the album 'Vol 3' soon followed.

The song and band strongly seem to follow the conventions of Rock Music in which, Slipknot are creating music for that certain genre. One first key convention in which they strongly use is the idea of guitar dominating the song to create a catchy and memorable tune. A convention of rock music is also the guitar usually being played through an amplifier which can alternatively completely change the sound of the guitar in this case resulting in the heaving guitar sounding very dark, loud, dominating and creating a lot of energy and excitement for the song. Another convention is the idea of Rock musicians like to be seen with 'their' band, performing in music promo videos or in live performances, other artists such as Marilyn Manson and System Of The Down also comply with this convention of the idea of the group being a 'band.' Another convention in which is very popular is the idea of the music and the artists image being very controversial. Historically, Bob Dylan was the first rock artist to break out in America in the 50s, he broke the rules from singing hopelessly about love and romance, to singing his views on the country and what was going on within the world at that present time, the controversial image he created himself as an artist created a lot of bitter talk, however people eventually did admire him, therefore start doing the same: breaking the rules, deifying to conform and sing about their personal views of the world, and how they are personally feeling. The bands image is also a strong convention of a Rock group, their image always seems to be controversial, shocking and sometimes slightly horrific for the audience to see, it's redefine the audience about the idea of how they're rebelling against society about how society wish for that band to conform, they're rebelling against that, which is basically what Bob Dylan first became famous for.

With this promo video not displaying much information about the artist on a personal level, there is still some strong indication about their ideas and views of society in which again, is a convention. One connection between the visuals and the lyrics is the idea of the lyrics being strong and sounding angry in the first place, this is then sung in such a way, screaming in fact, that the audience are literally forced to listen to them. It also reinstates the original and conventional emotion in which Rock artist are conventionally supposed to feel and also connotes the emotion the band are feeling as they perform this song and sing word by word.

Another convention of Rock bands is obviously the idea of rebelling against society, Slipknot have also followed this convention by giving themselves a harsh and iconic image. Slipknot are more well known for their horrifying masks which cover their face thus hiding their identity, it gives the band strong media attention which results in their music becoming more well known globally and also gives the band that element of mystery, they tease their audience by not showing their identity and instead perform in horrifying masks. Members of slipknot also have long multi-coloured hair which again is rebelling against the stereotype of how 'men' should 'look' within society and also they have many tattoos which are shown in close-ups in the video 'Before I Forget' which are also seen as controversial and strong minded.

There isn't a strong relationship between the lyrics of the song and the visuals in which we see, the only strong link i could point out was when 'Stapled Shut' was sung, a close up of obviously the lead singers mask which has staples stapling the whole mask together all the way down the middle. There is also a strong contrast in what they are singing, and where the actual video is set. The lyrics state 'Claustrophobic, sealed in tight,' these lyrics are strongly contrasted as they are performing in a white building, in which, in interior design is supposed to make rooms look larger, and deceive the idea that areas are larger then they actually are and also, at the end of the video they all walk out of the area so they're not physically 'Sealed In Tight.' There seem to be no other imaging which represents with the lyrics they are stating.

This video does not have a narrative structure involved, it doesn't have a storyline at all with what they are singing. However i feel this is a strong way in getting your lyrics heard, as with pop music they usually hide the competent singers with image, choreography and upbeat happy tunes, and to be honest it's almost like the sales for records like that depend on such an amazing music video because there's no depth to the song, whereas Rock musicians use cleaver and ambiguous lyrics therefore there doesn't need to be as much covering the simple lyrics with choreography and for the video to include a narrative structure as much.
The editing within the video seems to gain speed in between 'cuts' faster towards the end of the song, which is understandable as that is the last time you're going to impress the audience with that song, the last one minute or so, therefore by increasing the fast editing, it creates excitement and almost an adrenaline rush as the energy in the artists has been amplified for that last minute in which defines whether the audience will like that track. The chorus I've noticed cut edits every 1/2 beats of the song in the chorus whereas in the verse it's a steady 'every two beat cut' and within the last chorus the cuts speed up to a cut every beat within the song.

The record company seem to be selling this track by: the controversial and iconic image of Slipknot, and also the cleaver, ambiguous lyrics in which the artists are singing, and by their energetic, passionate performance. The image which is offered is the idea of rebelling against society and singing about how they personally feel and their personal ideas within society. However, a mass audience may be able to connect with their image as they may see it as 'the outsiders' 'the rebels' in society, are able to succeed in producing their own music, with no industry pushed image or industry pushed performing. Their image comes across as strong, energetic and passionate, and the idea of them playing as a bad creates the sense of friendship and also how they seem like ordinary people behind the horrifying masks by enjoying to perform with their 'band mates.' Also through product placement with 'Vans Slipons' the track could also create a wider target audience as if a member of the audience was a strong fan of 'Van Slipons' shoes (The left), just seeing that product within the promo video could strongly convince and convert that audience into buying that track. With product placement it could also work vice versa with that certain product wishing to be placed within that music promo video due to the idea that people will see that certain artist 'promoting' that product. Another example of product placement within a music promo video is 'Dr Dre Monster Beats' headphones which are used in Lady Ga Ga's music video 'Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say).
This certain video actually is very original to other music promo videos in which Slipknot have done, usually the band perform with their 'masks' on, even in the music videos this is what makes their band so iconic. However, with creating a music promo video with their masks off it creates a sense of mystery and also a sense of controversy with the idea you can actually see parts of their faces in this video, of course they still include the masks due to the iconography in which they carry. One strong comparison in which is included in many others of their videos is the idea of 'performance.' In their other music promo videos such as 'duality' and 'wait and bleed' they are performing with all of their band as a group. Also a strong comparison is the idea they play their instruments their own instruments in a lot of their music videos such as 'duality' and 'wait and bleed.'The masks are the only motif which appear in video after video, after all it's their iconic horrifying masks in which people recognise them by.

There doesn't seem to be much notion of looking within this video, however I'd defiantly say the video could dwell the audience to feel to narcissistic emotions towards the band, as they could be seen as amazing artists as they are strong minded with their image and lyrics and also they are very strong and passionate with the idea of rebelling against society, the lyrics state 'I'm caught up in the cattle' - Before I Forget, this could suggest the idea of how it frustrates them and makes them so angry, the idea of conformity within society. Also their Before I Forget promo video the lead singer is seen with dirty finger nails, multi-coloured hair and it's obvious they have strongly rebelled against the ideas and stereotypes in which society believes men should look and what type of music they should produce, and instead they are producing music which they want and also dressing themselves how they want. There is also an element of fetishism from this band, as they represent power and strength to the audience who also feel the same about conforming to society's wishes, as if Slipknot have become that successful without conforming and becoming an everyday 'sheep,' then why can't a member of the audience as well?

There is no narrative structure to this video, it is very much performance based. It's basically all performance, the band are playing their own instruments and the lead singer has as much time as any other band member. This represents the idea of friendship, teamwork and also passion.

In conclusion there is defiantly an aura or passion, mystery and strength in which surrounds Slipknot within their videos, i feel there is some definite contrasts in which how pop artists are marketed and how Rock bands are marketed. Some definite comparisons between them however, both include the idea of being controversial and crave media attention which is needed for records to sell, however Rock musicians like slipknot seem a lot more daring then pop musicians, Rock music isn't only controversial by their image, it's there performances, interviews, music promo videos, attitudes and they always seem to take their controversy to the maximum, there really seems to be no limit with rock musicians however pop musicians like Britney Spears will only take her controversy so far, perhaps it's because she attracts such a mainstream audience it's unhealthy for her career to pursue controversy as much as Slipknot, as slipknot do only attract such a niche market. Another definite contrast is choreography, with choreography being a strong convention within Pop music, Rock music hardly includes choreography within it's music promo videos, and instead what seems like 'live' performances by the Rock band, by playing their instruments. Both sets of music promo videos include mickey miming, however there seems to be something a lot more raw and 'live' about Slipknots music video whereas Britney Spears didn't seem as much. A comparison is the idea of both music promos being very much performance based, however Britney's had more concept based, with the idea of a song being called 'circus' and it actually being shot in a stereotypical circus.
For a completely contrasted genre to Britney Spears, i was expecting more contrasting elements between both the music promos, however it's interesting how both music videos are pretty much the same recipe as one another, they are basically trying to sell the artists image and the artists song so very interestingly the same conventions for The Music Promo Video have been used.

Analysis of a Music Promo Video.

The video i am going to analyse in Britney Spears' video - Circus. It's directed by Francis Lawrence who also directed a previous music video of hers: I'm a slave 4 u. The genre Britney Spears exceeds in is the Pop genre, in which she has created music for ever since her career took off in 1997. As i explained the characteristics of the pop genre in an earlier post, this video just from the beginning has some very broad characteristics in which you'd expect in a pop video, however this video seems to include them all. Strongly including: Very image driven, Commerically friendly, Very performance based and Marketable.

The video has strong links with the lyrics, one strong factor of this is the idea of the video being set in a stereotypical 1940s circus. We can draw this conclusion out from the mise-en-scene, mostly if we analyse the hairstyles and costumes of the dancers and artist.
The lyrics state 'I'm like the ringleader' this is reflected in the costume in which Spears is dressed in, is indeed a stereotypical Ringmasters costume. This includes a whip, a long jacket, a top hat and big boots.
Another example of the lyrics having strong relationship with the visuals is included within her dancing. There's a certain lyric which states: 'I feel the adrenaline moving through my veins' when she mickey mimes it, the choreography reflects a wave of energy running through her body, as well as the other dancers reflecting this lyric also.
The lyric 'We can make a dance floor, just like a circus,' This lyric is also reflected in the visuals with her and the dancers actually dancing on the stage which is made of sand which is stereotypically what a circus looks like.

The relationship between the music and the video is also a strong, with editing such as 'cuts' which are to the beat of the song, especially in the chorus, which is where it conventionally needs to be as the verse and the pre-chorus are to build suspension for the chorus, and with the fast editing to the fast beats, it creates strong excitement.
The choreography is also created to the music beat as well as the lyrics, with big choreography being done on big beats within the verse and chorus. During the chorus of the music video, there's a large number of dancers with Britney Spears being central focus to the audience in which is a convention as she's the artist and she's trying to promote her music. When the last chorus is performed the editing is a lot quicker and faster with a cut happening on average about ever 4 seconds. This creates excitement and hype towards the song which is reflected in the video by at the same time showing strong choreographic work with a lot of dancers. An example of creating the choreography to the beat of the music is, in the last chorus she's dancing with her whip and stomping it on the ground to the beat of the chorus.

The record company seem to be trying to sell this track through the idea of making it a pop dance track which is fun to dance and sing to. They are also relating it to how the media perceive and seem to treat Britney Spears. If we look into the social and historical context with this song, it was at the time in her career when she basically broke down. The lyrics seemed to reflect how the media was treating her and how they saw her 'All eyes on me in the centre of the ring, just like a circus.' I feel this also allowed Britney to become closer to her audience and make it seem more of a personal song as well as a great dance, club song.
She's presenting a sexy and slightly controversial image. Her costume represents her as sexy for example her ringmaster costume consists of a corset, a long jacket, fishnet tights, big boots and a whip. This is a convention of pop music, it's a more image driven genre which i explained in the conventions and characteristics of pop music. The top hat is a strong reoccurring motif within the music video, in which she is either wearing or dancing with in the different scenes. This is a strong resemblance of the image she wishes to play within the circus which is also backed up with the lyric 'I'm like the ringleader.' Another reoccurring prop motif is the idea of the whip, a couple of her dancers are also dancing with the prop as well as her, however link this with her costume and her image is reinstated, as the ringmaster of the circus. The video is also dominated by shots of the star mickey miming in close up, this gives the audience the feeling she is performing to them personally and reinstating the idea of music promo videos are to let the audience watch the star in a performance you wouldn't normally be able to, even if you want to see her in concert. The direct mode of address when she is mickey miming in close up is singling out the spectator, thus making the audience feel special and one in a million. She's seen flirting with the camera at some points of the mickey miming in the video, this is flattering for the audience and for the spectator personally, for this world class star to be seen in close up 'winking' and 'smiling' at the audience is something you would only be able to receive within a music video thus making music promo music videos a lot more special then seeing a live performance.
This video can be strongly interlinked with a lot of Britney Spears' previous videos, one strong point being the idea of choreography within her video, throughout her career she's always been a strong dancer and is always seen dancing in the up-tempo, fast songs. I feel this always captivates the audience into the song, and for children and teenagers they wish to learn the routines, and to learn the routines they have to download the song and study the music video therefore the artists and their music become more very well known. There is also strong directorial comparisons with her other music video for 'I'm A Slave 4 U' which was obviously directed by the same director, the comparisons include the intense, sweaty sexual choreography and closeness of the dancers to Britney Spears. Also the idea of being in a private area which the audience should never really be, in 'I'm a Slave 4 U' she's in a ladies bathroom and in Circus she's in a Ladies dressing room.

There is strong notion of looking within this video one key example is the way the male dancers are placing the main focus on Britney Spears with the choreography during the middle of the music video. There is also about seven male dancers surrounded Britney spears which seems to be demonstrating the idea of sex with a group, the lighting also helps develop this idea due to the main lighting from fire in the background which creates a intense, sexual atmosphere.

The costume with props including whips cracking the floor and the choreography of the female dancers tying the whip around their necks creates an atmosphere of sadomasochism within the video. This gives the idea a sense of eroticism which i feel would only be identified by the male 18+ audience. Adding factors like this i feel widens the target audience of who the companies are targeting the music at, it also creates an edge to the artists image and controversially to the media product. The costume also creates a sexy image for this artist, especially when she's dressed in a bikini top and a short skirt, also there's an idea surround fetishism within the video especially with costume and the idea of dressing up as a ringleader the audience could find this exceptionally appealing.
The interesting cinematography i feel also creates strong voyeuristic pleasure for the audience, especially in the introduction of the song, the camera is positioned all surrounding Britney in her dressing room which could seem rather violating for anyone, however the idea of her not noticing the audience are viewing her creates this idea of voyeuristic pleasure in which the audience receive from this.

As noted before, this song was written at a very important stage in Britney Spears' life as she had just suffered a very public breakdown, the media were always surrounding her, she would be on magazine from covers week after week without a fail, be headlines on tabloid newspapers daily, she was really getting the wrong media attention. The opening line to the chorus 'All eyes on me, in the centre of a ring, just like a circus.' This hints at how she sees the press attention, like she's the main performer in a circus, it's that element of really wishing to see someone perform or act in the flesh however, there's always that craving, that wish for them to fall with no safety net in front of your eyes, people viewed her as entertainment, not a person and i feel this song really describes how she was feeling that moment in time.

The video is very much performance based, it has no narrative involved or no story. However, it is a pop song and another convention for this genre is the idea of there performances being image and choreographed dominated.

In conclusion i feel this was a very strong and worthwhile media text to analyse. I feel is fully uses the conventions of the pop genre however it also creates it's own subtle elements which make it original and more of a special and exciting promo video. I feel the video itself creates a lot of excitement surrounding the song and also around the artist creating some narcissistic feeling towards her being a ringmaster, dominant and female in charge.

The History of Singer - Songwriter Music

The singer songwriter genre is a sub genre of Folk Music. Many will protest how singer songwriters actually being converted and mixed into Pop genre, however it completely depends on the sub genre the artist is supporting.



Early Folk music was basically artists performing chants and poems which was usually accompanied by a classical instrument such as a Harp or a Piano. The Origins of Folk music date back to Northern America from the 1960s with artists such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger being one of the first artists to produce this genre of music. They first wrote songs focusing on social issues and on working class society, which greatly influenced Singer Songwriter artists.




By the later 1970s the original wave of Singer Songwriter genre had been largely adapted and altered to fit a more general pop and soft rock sound. Artists such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Kate Bush fit into this category. This allowed up and coming artists to still be classified as a singer songwriter, however still produce music to the mainstream 'pop' audience.



Within the decade of the 1980s, the Singer Songwriter genre started to become more and more popular and interestingly enough through female artists. Female artists such as Tracy Chapman, Nanci Griffiths and Tori Amos all did well within this period, it's also interesting to note; they where all subverted into the idea of the pop side of the Singer Songwriting genre. The same occurred within the 1990s with strong musical artists such as Mariah Carey, Sarah Mclachlan, Alanis Morriset and Jewel all found strong fame from there musical art. Also in the 1990s artists such as Dace Matthews and Elliot Smith created a sub genre within the Singer Songwriter genre, this being Acoustic- Based. Artists such as Ray LaMontagne, Antony and the Johnsons and Damien Rice all became strong within this new sub genre in the later 2000s as it took a few years to fully establish as a genre where people will notice the type of sound and characteristics where developed for the Acoustic - Based artists and music. This is a quieter sound, with largely impressionistic and ambiguous lyrics which is why this sub genre can be seen as a type of art.

My chosen song!

After much deliberation and advice and feedback from our media teacher, i have decided to create a promo video for the song Eskimo - By Damien Rice which is a song from the genre Singer Songwriter.

I've chosen this song for the strong ambiguity and the pure beauty of the song. I felt there was more challange for me to create a music promo for a Acoustic / Singer Songwriter song as well as try to make it more interesting as some people will critisise how acoustic / singer songwriter music can be boring and drags on for a long legnth of time. I saw the sheer beauty within the song and it also includes a climatic element within the song where an operatic artist starts singing in Finnish. These elements are much more complex and interesting then pop music would create as the ambiguity of Singer Songwriter music atracts more artists and people who are interested in different music, not just mainstream pop.
The lyrics are as complex as the structure of the song, which again is a total contrast to pop songs. Even rock music may seem like the total opposite, but most Rock songs include the same structure Pop songs use:

Verse -> Pre-Chorus -> Chorus -> Verse 2 -> Pre-Chorus -> Chorus x2 -> Bridge -> Chorus x2 -> Instrumental / Voice fades out / Ends.

However the interesting thing about Singer Songwriter music is the idea it's described as art, which the songs are much more creative and structured any way the artists wishes their song to be structured. Whereas pop music may only be seen as a tool to make money, this type of music takes much more time and dedication to create the songs. I feel i can create a strong promo video for this song, it may be more challenging to view the 'art' side of music and create a storyline to, like the song, create ambiguity and provoke the audience to really think about what they just watched. I find it fascinating, when the audience see an action sped up in fast forward, which catches them by surprise, i then like to rewind the footage back and play it at normal pace, it creates slight confusion, this also makes the audience have to pay extra attention to the video as well, which draws more focus to the song and the storyline itself. People are expecting an artistic ambiguous music video to accompany the song and the ambiguous lyrics, the audience is expecting answers from the 'confusing' lyrics and an insight into how much this artist will have control over the finished music video, whether it be more imaged based etc.

Deciding the main song for my coursework...

There are many different songs which I wanted to choose to involve within my brief. With the genre ranging from Pop to Folk to Classical.



The first song I wanted to chose was:


Britney Spears- Every Time

I wanted to do this song for it would have been interesting the image i would have given my actor to be the artist for this song. The pop genre is a strong believer in the artist having a controversial, strong image therefore i would have had to create an interesting image for the female artist. The song also has very interesting lyrics which are obviously written from a personal account and obviously co-written by the artist herself, this would have been interesting to create a story surrounding these lyrics, however i also feel with the lyrics being ambiguous, i could have made the video story equally as thought provoking.
The reason i didn't choose this song was basically i wanted to create something individual, really use the creative energy from a truly powerful and wonderful song which i would bounce ideas off. I just felt this song seemed limp, nothing much interesting within the song. I admit, I personally love the song to listen to, however i wanted a more interesting genre of music, not just pop, i wanted a different type of song and i wanted to create my own individual type of directing and become my own independent director to a song which allows me to do this.

After choosing not to include 'Every Time' within my media coursework, i searched Itunes for a range of different music specialising in different genres. I came across an artist called 'Kate Rusby' who is most famous for singing the theme tune to the BBC sitcom Jam and Jerusalem.


Kate Rusby - Underneath The Stars


This was the second song which i considered choosing to use for my brief. This song has been categorised within the 'Folk' genre, which is a very calm, collective and acoustic genre. I felt this song would make such a wonderful storyline within the music video as it's basically a love story within a song, which is connoted within the title 'underneath the stars' which seems a romantic name at a glance. This song's so interesting, you have a truly individual voice, backed with an acoustic guitar, which is completely different from pop music, as it's nothing over produced to make it mainstream, it just requires a truly talented artist singing their emotions. I felt this would allow me to become a creative director and allow me to really challenge conventions of music videos.
I didn't choose this song overall, because the song it's self just repeated. The song is absolutely gorgeous, it's just i didn't feel it would allow to me create a climax within the promo, I thought it was just drag on and the audience would lose interest within the first 2 minutes which is not what a music video should arouse, negative attention.

My sister introduced me to the artist 'Antony and the Johnsons' and their song 'Another World' it's truly an enchanting, beautiful piece of art placed into music, which i took into consideration to also choose to include within my Media Brief:


Antony And The Johnsons - Another World
This song starts with acoustic piano, and Whales singing distantly in the background. The music is so gentle and calming it sends the audience into some sort of Ecstasy and meditation and with the gentle artist singing how he craves another world with 'peace' and away from 'anger' and 'war.' It would be good to create a music promo with this song, as you could really capture something beautiful to substitute this piece of music.
However, i didn't chose the song due to I felt this would be hard to create a story surrounding this song, really thinking outside the box and not creating a story which would be cliche for this song i.e: Showing nature, destruction and secondary recourses, as i felt it could be Rather difficult for me record some primary footage of war and natural disasters.



Slow Moving Millie- Beasts
This was another musical choice i had, the lyrics are so simply beautiful as they are backed with an acoustic harp sounding instrument. The artist sings how she 'will be the Alice, of your wonderland' and how she 'will be the rabbit, of your magic hat.' This song is basically a love story and i really wanted to use this song over any other, as it features a climatic element within the song which features a full choir all harmonising 'oohs' and 'ahhs' which give the song the endless enchantment and climatic feel. I felt i could produce a strong love story music promo with this song, as a girl finally finding her love at the end, hence the harmonizing climax.
The reason i didn't choose this song, was because it had recently been featured on a global advertisement for 'Virgin Media' with basically the same idea i had to use for the promo therefore i thought it would be a better idea not to use that certain song.

First Ideas of chosen music to include within my brief and the characterists of Pop Music.

The first song i initially thought of was 'Every time' - Performed and written by 'Britney Spears.' Pop music is the commercially friendly genre of music which was at it's prime during the mid 90s and started to become less popular during mid 2000. Pop music seems to be strongly targeted at a mainstream audience, starting from the age around 13+. These are some of the conventions of the genre and the artist performing music from the genre:

The music is extremely marketable - Most of the songs within pop music, is about having a good time, either at a club or a party. It's aiming to appeal to the mainstream audience who enjoy going out and having a good time, as they can connect with the subject the artist is singing about. The music is usually up-beat with including a feel good factor which wants to persuade the audience to get up and dance and just have a good time.

A few lyrics from songs which back up this convention are:

Lady Gaga - Just Dance. Where the lyrics state:

'Just dance, gonna be okay,

Just dance, spin that record, babe'

Pop songs can also be a ballad as well, mostly about love, these slow songs can be used within teenage TV dramas such as Dawson's Creek and One Tree Hill (in which included Britney Spears' - Every time.' to target their audience if they're not completely perfect to dance to in the night clubs. A pop ballad usually shows a softer side to a mainly pop genre situated artist, and can create a connection from the artist to the audience, in which a fast, dance track wouldn't allow. The slow ballads can also get remixed therefore they can be played in the dance clubs. Slow songs are usually about love or romance with the opposite sex, and telling a story about a problem within their relationship or how they're moving on and are not strong.

A few lyrics from a slow pop song:

The pussycat Dolls - Stick Wit Chu:

'I got you,We'll be making love endlessly.

I'm with you (baby, I'm with you)'

The artists are strongly image driven- Through lyrics, live performances, music videos and other forms of exposure: the image of a pop artist is as strong as their musical material. They have to remain edgy, idolising and remain at the top of the news. Artists including Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Madonna have been strongly criticised for their image upon their CD covers, which conventionally are there to sum up the genre and type of songs in which the artist performs, not surprisingly all represent a 'sex' image and all are understandably controversial, however with this media attention, drew more attention onto your music and products which you wish to sell.

Through a pop artists performances, a rememberable, strong and highly choreographed routine seems conventional. With the MTV awards mainly there to award mainstream artists, an amazing performance is essential. Usually, these performances will be again, controversial so media attention is assured and possibly a new song will be performed. Promos for the awards ceremony will include mention of a big pop artists will be performing, thus the performance will create suspension and more media attention.

Recently, Lady Gaga performed at the MTV's Video Music Awards, performing her recent song 'Paparazzi' which featured Gaga performing in her underwear dancing around the stage. However more shockingly towards the end she pretending to knife herself in result, fake blood was covering her body. In the last stunt, she pulled out all the stops by replicating a position in which looks like she's hung her self suicidally. This created a media storm, from charities complaining 'she's romanticising suicide to the younger generation' to artists fighting in her corner defending her performance and labeling it as 'art, visionary and smart.' In other performances has seen the collaboration of two or more artists performing together, artists such as 'Madonna, Britney Spears, Missy Elliot and Christina Aguilera' performed at the 2003 MTV VMA awards, in the end of the performance they all exchange a same sex kiss, which once again created a media storm of attention.

Their music videos have a combination of exposing and promoting their image, which they wish to shout and can include a story of the song. In many fast pop videos, choreography is strongly used, artists such as Justin Timberlake, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and Take That have all used choreography within their music videos. This makes the song seem more appealing for the clubs to play as if you view the artist having a strong dance to this song, and having a good time the audience will wish for that same feeling. The music videos will include shots of them 'Micky Miming' their song in either a close up or medium close up shot, this allows the audience to see their facial beauty and also allows the audience to become 'closer' to the artist, and see them in a light and performing in which they possibly wouldn't ever see in real life. Their music videos have to be edgy and entertaining in order to achieve maximum interest and media attention, all pop acts including Michael Jackson have created music videos to these characterises and have proved to work, as less interesting videos e.g 'One True Voice' seemed to have a cheap budged on their video therefore that was possibly part of the problem why they failed to become a success.

(Britney Spears - Me Against The Music)

(Michael Jackson's Thriller)

Other forms of exposure include television interviews, magazine interviews, documentaries and books which the artist may want to become involved with to create some media attention. Recently the boy band JLS have been on talk show after talk show promoting their new music, as well as promoting their new book. Controversial and shocking magazine interviews may be appropriate for the artist keen to promote themselves. A famous magazine cover was recently, Miley Cyrus when she appears topless for a magazine shoot and interview in Vanity Fair, she was just 15 at the time. It seems exposure and promotion has no limits, with even Britney Spears being a victim of this, as she posed in her bra for Rolling Stone when she was just 16. Pop music seems to attribute to bold statements in lifestyle such as: Sexual Expression which Madonna and Britney Spears are strong believers of, general individual expression and consumer habits which does seem to target such a wide audience.

The music is commercially friendly- Pop music is friendly enough to appeal to any gender of the mainstream audience. As i mentioned before, the music surrounds the idea of having a good time at a party or in a club. It doesn't usually mention anything inappropriated which could be deemed as offensive, political or religious, which makes it very 'friendly' and appropriate for many types of people within the mainstream target audience. The chorus usually involves the artists voice being layered which creates an overpowering catchy chorus which is used to embed into the audiences mind thus makes them singing it for the rest of the day. A song which recently made me do this, personally was Alexandra Burke - Bad Boys after a big performance on the talent show 'The X-factor.'

Pop music is appropriate for many things- Because of Pop musics friendly ideology, radio stations, music channels, adverts and films chose to play this music. Pop music rarely includes inappropriate offensive language, it automatically has a wider audience base, therefore adverts and films will chose to play either an instrumental for that certain popular track or include a section of the song within their advert, with that pop song attracting such a wide audience perhaps using that song within the advert will also attract attention by a wide audience to that certain product in which they are advertising. Also radio stations seem to play pop songs more, due to the fact the songs a hit with audiences as it's not censored with the high pitches 'beeps' therefore it's less annoying, rather than a song Eminem would possibly perform which seems to have every world censored out, which is defiantly more annoying than just listening to an easy flowing pop song with no gaps or 'beeps' censoring out certain words. Films may use that certain rememberable pop song to advertise their film, as, like in advertising, since pop music attracts such a wide audience base perhaps using that popular song within their film trailer, it may attract a wider audience response. They also use pop songs to identify a genre, usually within Action / Crime films, Rock music is played, whereas in Romantic Comedies, Comedies and general feel good films pop music is played within the trailer, which is one of the most popular genre of film in the world, as once again it's attracting the all important mainstream audience.

Pop artists can hired to promote a product- Artists from Michael Jackson to Pink have been known to be hired by an advertisement company to promote a certain product. The musical artist will usually sing a track and mime the song they've recorded whilst making the product which they're advertising the most important thing, which usually involved either Drinking the product, driving the product, using the product, wearing the product etc. Pepsi is a company, known famous for signing up big pop artists in the industry to advertise their product. Artists such as Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Beyonce and Pink have advertised the product where as 'Coca Cola' rivaled with Pepsi and hired the same type of musical artists which specialised and created music for the Pop genre, such as Madonna and Christina Aguilera. With their clean reputation, pretty face and positive messages in songs, these factors make them ideal role model which are usually approved by parents for their children to look up to, therefore having these role models advertise and 'be the face of the product' ensures the wide audience base which already follow these artists, especially the younger generations will ensure they will chose a certain product over another, as like music videos it has an element which allows the audience to become closer to the star, by drinking or wearing products we think the artist does, the audience will feel closer to the star.