My Chosen Artist: Polly Howe

My chosen artist is my friend Polly Howe aka Pollygon who sings and produces her own music and posts on soundcloud. I decided to use her song 'They Are' after she allowed me to choose from the list of her music.

Postmodernism in a Modern Music Video

When researching postmodernism, we researched music videos to analyse in depth and create a presentation on.

I decided to analyse One Directions 'Best Song Ever' video as I felt it fitted with the postmodern style of music video.

What is: Postmodernism

The term Postmodernism is used to describe the changes that took place in Western society and culture from the 1960's onwards that arose from challenges made to established structures and belief systems.
Postmodernism in society today is about breaking the mould of what would be traditional and creating something.

According to Wikipedia:

"The term postmodernism has been applied both to the era following modernity, and to a host of movements within that era (mainly in art, music, and literature) that reacted against tendencies in modernism. Postmodernism includes sceptical critical interpretations of culture, literature, art, philosophy, history, linguistics, economics, architecture, fiction, and literary criticism. Postmodernism is often associated with schools of thought such as deconstruction and post-structuralism, as well as philosophers such as Jacques Derrida, Jean Baudrillard, and Frederic Jameson."

There are many examples of postmodern art and media in the world today. For my coursework I will be looking at postmodern music videos and then creating my own.

Examples of postmodern music videos:

Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé

In this video, postmodern features are very clear throughout. The use of the bright wacky clothing and the over exaggerated almost cartoon like feel of the video are extremely postmodern and not real. There is an emphasis on the cartoon style of the video and also how ridiculous the entire video is, due to the situation they are both in.

In terms of what the music video means, Lady Gaga has always been know to have an extremely deeper meaning embed in the video. Saying she is "always trying to convolute the idea of what a pop music video should be," Gaga told E! that she wanted to take "the idea that America is full of young people that are inundated with information and technology and turn it into something that was more of a commentary on the kind of country that we are.".

The music video for both Beyonce and Gaga, presents a sense of iconography and it applies to a fairly Niche market despite their mass amount of fame between the pair. The quirky, strange and fairly satire comedic take on poisoning people who betray you appeals to a smaller demographic but because of this it makes it extremely postmodern because of its eclectic and randomness.

What is: Uses and Gratifications Theory

Uses and gratifications theory is an approach to understanding why people seek out certain types of media to satisfy their needs. It is an audience-centered approach to understanding mass communication.

Uses and gratifications theory asks the question "what do people do with media?" and "why do people seek it out?"

Blume and Kat's theory assumes that members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. The theory suggests that civilians use the media to fulfill specific gratifications.

This can be applied to music videos where people watch music videos to fulfill certain needs and gratifications, it also suggests that people find these needs satisfied through the artist of the music video, the music or the way that is made and the message it presents.

What is: Genre Theory

Rick Altman

Rick Altman's genre theory was based around the audience already knowing what was going to happen in the video due to the genre and the artist.
When thinking about this theory I drew comparisons to artists like Nicki Minaj, who makes videos that aren't necessarily similar but they always have similar styling and the audience always know what to expect, Nicki's quirky style and on screen persona molds to the term iconography, where specific visual features are associated with a specific artist or genre.

Both of these videos have many similarities because of the bright colours of the video. These videos are both very stereotypical of Nicki Minaj due to the dancing and costumes.

Another example however, which goes against Rick's theory is Miley Cyrus. Her change in persona and style in 2013 also caused a change in her music and their videos, although most would have expected her normal all American girl music videos, when she released We Cant Stop it was completely different to her usual work and started to appeal to a different demographic.

These two videos contrast very well with each other and audiences were not expecting the wacky strange release of We Cant Stop so this goes against Rick Altman's theory as some artists like to reinvent themselves and change their styling.

Steve Neale

Steve Neale's theory involves the use of repetition and difference. In his own words he stated 'Difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre' . Steve Neale is saying that a music video and its genre are defined by two things:
a) How much it conforms with a genre's stereotypes and conventions. (He says that a film must 'conform to these conventions enough that it can still qualify and be identified as a film of that genre')
and
b) How much a film subverts the genre's stereotypes and conventions. (He says that a film must 'subvert these conventions enough that it is still viewed as a unique film. Not just a clone')

An example of this is the music video for 'This Is What You Came For' - Calvin Harris (feat. Rihanna)

This music video both conforms to and subverts Neale's theory about genre stereotypes and conventions. It conforms to the typical conventions of the music video for a pop song, with frequent focus on the singer Rihanna throughout and the use of bright strobe lighting and a 'studio' type setting which is an extremely common convention for a pop music video.

The music video also subverts conventions, through the use of a lack of live performance. Typically in a pop/dance music video there is footage of the DJ playing to a huge crowd however in this video there isn't.

What is: Carol Vernalis Theory

Carol Vernallis

Carol Vernallis is an author and teacher of Film and Media Studies at Stanford University. Vernallis' theory is mainly based on four key areas.

1. Narrative
A music video is a visual response to the song and lyrics not the other way around. The video should support the song and lyric meanings but the artist should remain dominant. This is to appeal to the audience. There doesn't not need to be a balance between narrative and performance. A song can have a full narrative or full performance. A lot of the time, performance takes prominence in order to showcase the star.

2. Diegesis
The world inside the video, this is revealed slowly allowing interventions and a story to develop over time. Repetition is key in music videos because it allows the artist to get a message across through the concept of quantity. It means they can create a world for their song through the video.

3. Camera Movement and Shots
Extremes are very common with establishing shots, even if they are extreme close-ups. Music videos try to avoid shots such as mid-shots. Styles of framing and movement run through the video.

4. Editing
Editing will sometimes match the instruments or beat linking visual images. The audience realise the beat links with visual images and they relate this to other aspects of the video. Music videos constantly break or disrupt the rules of continuity editing.

Magnets - Disclosure ft. Lorde

Narrative: Clear narrative throughout. Video corresponds to the lyrics and the artist Lorde is shown throughout to present to the audience that she is the artist and the focus should be on her.

Diegesis: The narrative of the video is revealed over time, it is unclear to start with but in the end is revealed. Repetition is used with the presence of the characters and of Lorde.

Camera Movement and Shots: Close up shots on Lorde, Number of moving shots following her around. Panning movements.

Editing: A lot of the editing is to the beat of the music and there is a large montage towards the end of the music video. This creates extra interest in the video and the audience are draw in more.

The music video makes a clear link to the theory of Vernallis and applies to all of the factors in her theory. The video makes it clear that Lorde is the artist and the key character in the video, also adding a sense of iconography through her iconic styling and dance style.

What is: Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory

In his book, 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory.' Andrew Goodwin points out characteristics and features that can be found in music videos. Looking at a selection of music videos this can be recognised in many cases.

The Key factors of his theory consist of:

1. The music video demonstrating genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance for a boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop.)

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visuals reflects the music.

4. The demand 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 references (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc.)

Beyoncé - 7/11

Beyoncé's music video 7/11 fits very well with Andrew Goodwin's theory. Throughout the video, which is completely homemade, we see Beyoncé dancing around her hotel room whilst on tour in a simple jumper and her underwear.

The video is extremely freestyled and this is partly why it became so popular. It was completely different to what Beyoncé usually creates and showed her in a normal environment, having fun with her friends and family. She really broke away from her usual extravagant music videos with a plain and simple homemade video.

When analysing the video in terms of Goodwin's theory it was very clear that it fits into all main aspects the video.

1. (Music video showing genre characteristics.) Dance routine hinted to the Pop genre. Although there weren't extremely clear characteristics of the Pop genre but the dancing and clothing gives it a poppy playful vibe.

2. (Relationship between lyrics and visuals.) On some lyrics there are certain dance moves. "Leg moving side to side" - Beyoncé dancing with her legs side to side. "hands up" Beyoncé throwing her hands in the air. "spinning" Beyoncé spinning around. "alcohol" Beyoncé drinking alcohol with her dancers.

3. (There is a relationship between music and visuals.) The fun atmosphere reflects the genre of the song and the purpose for it to be a dance song.

4. (Record label needing focus on the artist.) Beyoncé is the central person in the video, however she isn't being portrayed in her usual light. Due to the video being homemade we are able to see Beyoncé in a very carefree and normal light. The video isn't extremely edited and staged so it feels very natural.

5. (Frequent notion of looking) There is a clear male gaze in this video due to the clothing and dancing. However it hasn't been thrust upon the audience by the directors wanting to exploit the women, because this was all filmed by Beyoncé & was homemade it isn't as exploitative as other music videos and the voyeuristic features of the video are lesser because it is being filmed by Beyonce. Beyoncé has control over how she is being portrayed, this is mainly due to her fame and success as many smaller artists would not have control over how they are portrayed.

6. (Intertextual references) The intertextual reference actually comes from the title of the song, a 7/11 is an American convenience store that specialises in drinks. It is very similar to our British supermarkets. Other intertextual references in the video include the reference to Christmas and the drinking game 7/11.

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The 1975 - Somebody Else

The 1975's video for Somebody Else fits well to Andrew Goodwin's theory whilst it also goes against it in some aspects. The video uses many bright colours but also very dark tones to set the mood of the video.

1. (Music video showing genre characteristics.) Clear reference to the indie genre, Dark gloomy video however no typical shots of the band playing at a gig which is stereotypical of these music videos and usually typical of The 1975.

2. (Relationship between lyrics and visuals.) It is clear that the video shows Matty (the Lead singer) wandering around a small town, lonely seeming to look for 'Somebody Else' however the lyrics don't explicitly link to the music video. The video actually suggests that Matty in himself is 'somebody else' and we see the females that he looks at in the video turn into him.

3. (There is a relationship between music and visuals.) On a number of occasions what we see on screen, correlates with what we can hear and the beat of the music is synced to some of the video to help it all flow together.

4. (Record label needing focus on the artist.) The entire video is focused on the Lead singer Matty, although no other band members are present we can see that he is the face and voice of The 1975 so he is therefore prevalent throughout.

5. (Frequent notion of looking) There are a few occasions where Matty is seen looking into mirrors. There is some male gaze onto the female prostitute in the video, however this quickly changed when she turns into Matty and he is shown in his car (weirdly) having sex with himself.

6. (Intertextual references) There aren't any clear intertextual references in the video apart from the reference to karaoke when the lead singer Matty is in a bar.

My Blog

Welcome to my blog!

Throughout this blog I will be documenting the planning, production and creation of my Music video with the corresponding Digipak and Magazine Advert.
Throughout this process I will be keeping track of my progress and presenting all of my work online.
I am working completely alone on this project and will be carrying out everything by myself.