Music Video

Music Video
Chloe Barnham- Candidate number: 5021

Wednesday, 22 September 2010

Analysis of Marina and the Diamonds- Oh No.


In this video there is a clear relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. When the singer, Marina Diamandis, sings “don't need love” and a cartoon graphic of a heart appears on the screen and when she sings “I'm only after success”, there is again a cartoon graphic of money and a look of determination on the singers face. This continues throughout the video, with graphics appearing to accompany the lyrics, amplifying their meaning. The visuals in this video do however remind us that the lyrics are meant to be taken as ironic and 'tounge-in-cheek'. She does not actually believe what she is saying and the fact the cartoons reminds us that what she is saying is suppose to be taken as a joke although she is trying to get a message across. As well as the cartoons that appear in the video there is also an obvious relationship between music and lyrics, especially in terms on money in the video. Throughout the video she holds piles of cash, is wearing a dress that is designed to look like a dollar whilst laying on a bed surrounded by money. These shots emphasise how the desire for her to succeed, and for her success means having money.

There is also a relationship between the music and the visuals. This song is a pop song and therefore as you would expect in a pop video there is lots of bright colours, a dance routine and an emphasise on the lead singer. The dance routine also ties in with the fact that this is an upbeat song.
In order to maintain 'star-texts' there is often the demand from the record company to have a number of close ups of the artist or vocalist. This is also the case in this video where throughout the video there is a number of close ups of Marina. These shots remind us of the emphasise there is on how videos are used to sell the music and the artist as a package. One thing this video doesn't do, which is often the case with music females in music videos, there is not a sense of voyeurism, throughout the video she is very aware that she is being watched and is therefore performing to the cameras. Although the record company is playing on the lead singers looks and are using female dancers in short dresses, the voyeurism is lost because these women know what is going on and are acting up to it, which is something that also ties in with lyrics as it is clear that she wants to be noticed because of what she is singing about.


This video is similar to other Marina and the Diamonds videos, as her music videos tend to be colourful and bright, particularly her single 'Hollywood'. The use of close ups is also something used in her other videos, with shots of her nails also becoming recoccuring. She is also becoming synonymous with having this look that involves her wearing bright, quirky dresses, which she carries over into her videos. The look of 'Oh No' is not a one off for Marina and the Diamonds, but it is instead an image that is being built around her, her music and her videos. She does also have this appeal of being a bit like a cartoon character with the clothes she wears, which is being referenced with the graphics. (Shots from 'Hollywood' on left)
There are many other intertextual references in this video. The main one is the link between the cartoon graphics and work by artists such as Roy Lichenstein and Andy Warhol (on right), again something helping build on this image of her being like a cartoon character(on left).

Thursday, 16 September 2010

Different types of music videos

1.Performance
Features an artist or a band performing the song. Examples of this style of video is Coldplay’s ‘Speed of Sound’, and Green Day’s ‘Boulavard of Broken Dreams’. Below is an example of a Performance Video.


2.Story
Features a narrative story with a beginning, middle and end. Examples of this style of video is Mary J Blige’s ‘Runaway Love’, and Daughtry’s “It’s not over”.



3.GAG Video
Relies on visual tricks, visually altering something or someone. Impossible and normally in an fantasy location. Examples of this style of video include Missy Elliot’s ‘Sock it to me’. Below is an example of a GAG video.



4.Dance
Involves choreography. Examples of this style of video includes Gwen Stefani’s ‘Hollaback Girl’ and Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’.



5.Party or Club
Features scene taking place in a dance club or at a party. Examples of this style of video includes Nelly’s ‘Hot in Here’ and 50 Cents ‘In Da Club’.



6.Animated
Features animated images. Artists may or may not be depicted. Examples of this include The Gorlliaz ‘Feel Good Inc’ and Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’.



7.Film Clip
Songs featured on a movie soundtrack, including scenes from the movie in the video. Examples of this style of video included Flo Rida ‘Club Can’t Handle Me’ and Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’.

Monday, 13 September 2010

Practical tasks so far.

So far, in preparation for creating our own music video, we have used existing footage to develop our editing skills. In one task we had various clips which had no soundtrack and a choice of six soundtracks. In this task we learnt how to mark the beat, which we then used when editing together, which we then used to determine which clip we should use and when we should change clips. We also used this skill in the “you wanna what?” and in this case we used the skill to help up match up the video clips with the soundtrack. The skill was particularly important for this task because the singer was miming to the track and so we had to ensure that the soundtrack and videos matched up exactly. This is a useful skill to develop for when it comes to making our own video because it will be important to match the soundtrack to the video clips. When it came to marking the beat for the first task it was about matching the clips to the beat of the music whilst in the second task there was more of a focus on matching the words and the clips up. On reflection I found the second task easier and if possible in my final video I would rather use the second method, however this was something that wasn't possible for the first task as they were not singling in the clips.

In this task we also learnt how to use effects on Final Cut. This was useful to learn, especially as we were using lots of different clips that did not necessarily follow on from one another (especially in the first task) so effects, such as cross dissolve showed us how we could use clips that were not linked together but still make them work. Learning how to use the effects also means that we can improve clips.