Textual Analysis in class 2 - Katy Perry

Genre
The genre of this music video is pop, the pace is quite fast which mimics the beat of the song. There is a very strong narrative throughout the music video. It is about everyone doing the same thing, everyone following the same rhythm and no one standing out and being different. However, what is not expected from the music video is that the artists would break away from the pattern and being different to what everyone else was doing, during the course of the music video she begins to see the world differently and therefore she starts to break away from the rhythm, it all started when she pricked her finger on the rose. The intertextual reference within this music video comes from the clothes that the artist is wearing, the outfit appears to be very similar to the outfit from the character Jane from Jetsons.

Narrative
The storyline of the music video is that the artist is going round the theme park of life and she is singing about some of the current problems in the country she lives in. Some of the key themes that are found in this music video would be the fact that your not free living in your own country, everyone's doing the same thing/ acting the same way. Nobody has the courage to stand out from the crowd. there are two main characters in this music video, the female protagonist who is the artist, and the antagonist - which in this case is shown as the government. The music video has a lot of hidden meanings throughout the video and they do help the view to understand more about the lyrics through the video however, these meanings may not be apparent to the viewer the first time they watch it. One of the rides is called the Great American Dream Drop, this particular ride is all about the American housing market and how it could plummet at any moment leaving the people inside stuck and unable to move. During the roller-coaster scene there was a lot of empathises on today's style of dating and meeting new people, at the end of the scene the two people were rated on how they look. One of the rides was called no place like home. It featured two people getting into a catapult and then it appeared that they got catapulted over a fence, connoting that this ride was similar to the number or immigrants or people of an ethnic minority are not welcome in America and the wall captioned "safe trip home" suggesting that they aren't welcome to come back.

Representation 
Overall the music video is a little non stereotypical because you expect everyone to be doing the same thing whereas the reality is that the majority of the people have been pulled into the same rhythm whereas the main character (the artist) after pricking her finger on a rose begins to see the world differently and quickly begins to act differently to what she once did. The "love me" roller-coaster ride shows the representation of both gender and sexuality. Clearly shown on each seat is either a pink or a blue heart suggesting that one is for male and one is for females, once again dictating what people should do and where they should go. However, those pink and blue hearts are placed next to each other making the male sit next to the female, suggesting that this is the only way that the people can find love - with someone from the opposite sex. there is no option for a female to sit next to a female or a male to sit with another male connoting that the ride is not open to homosexual relationships. But again the ride is a metaphor for hat the artist is truly singing about which is the country she lives in - America. The artist plays a main role within the video and as she walks round the theme park we as the viewer get to see the reality unfold before her. However, that role that she play is anonymous although it does break away from the norm and that makes her stand out a little more.

Visual codes
The video is set in a theme park - this is the only location shown throughout the music video. However the theme park and the people within it look very futuristic suggesting that the problems that society and the government have now are still going to be problems in the future because they haven't accepted the change. In the beginning the artist is wearing all white connoting innocents and purity because at the time she is not fully aware of what is happening around her, however nearer the end her costume has changed and now she is wearing very dark clothing suggesting that her eyes have been opened to what the world is really like and therefore she has lost the innocents that she once had. the dominant colours in this music video is definitely pastel colours, all the colours used are very calm and soothing and therefore does not attract attention suggesting that they want this place to be viewed as if it were any other place connoting that they think everyone has the same type of backward thinking society that doesn't accept change. The theme park is called Oblivia - this name is a play on the word 'oblivion' (meaning the state of being unaware or unconscious of what's happening around them) and that is the message that the artist is trying to get across to the audience, we are all doing the same things day after day and things are happening around us and we just don't notice it because we are oblivious to it. One shot that stands out is the close up of the barbed wire rose, at first glance it looked like a normal rose but with a closer look it becomes apparent that even the most prettiest of objects can be deceiving.

Technical codes
The camera follows the artist on her journey through the theme park showing the audience the progression of the star breaking away from the rest of the group - breaking away from the rhythm. There is a close up of peoples feet and they are all moving at the same time again suggesting that everyone is doing what they are expected to do - they are just copying the person in front of them, nobody is daring to be different. The editing is very fast paced, the music video cuts between different shots very quickly to mimic the pace of the video.

Audience 
The music video is aimed at young adults, the video targets that specific audience by using people of a similar age in the video and by the genre of music that the song applies too. its is aimed at the demographic groups E (students) and D (blue collar workers).

Institutions 
Within the music video there doesn't appear to be any obvious links or roles that the record company can play within the video. In this particular video it is the fictional character promotes the star whilst the star is trying to tackle bigger world issues, which is the subject of the song and therefore standing out and being different because the majority of people prefer to change the subject and not think about what's really going on in the world. 

This music video has a lot of hidden meanings that aren't at first the obvious, and it contains quite a few of Goodwin's theories, Looking at a variety of different music videos and seeing the different approaches with the professional music videos will help me come up with a unique music video for my chosen artist and genre. 

Textual Analysis in class - Plan B

Genre
The genre for this particular music video is pop. When watching this music video, you are expecting the woman to stay at home whilst the male goes out with his friends and that there a lot of shots of the artist throughout the video. however, what is not expected within the music video would be fact that the male ended up having a one night stand with someone he met at the bar. There is an intertextual reference present in the song Writings on the wall by Plan B because it shares a line from the song Superstitions by Stevie Wonder.

 Narrative 
The theme running all the way through the music video is the theme of love and trust. The woman shows a lot of trust in the male when he goes out. The whole music video is set in the 60s-70s. It is about a relationship that is slowly falling apart. The woman stays at home to prepare and cook the dinner for her and her partner however, the male stays out later and goes to have some drinks with his friends. As a result at the end on the night he has a one night stand with a girl that he met at the bar. The two main people in this music video are the male artist who is playing a fictional character (Strickland Banks) and his partner the female protagonist. The lyrics suggest that the relationship that the two people are in is slowly falling apart. At the end of the music video there is a shot of a male artist and the female antagonist kissing in the elevator at this point in the song that lyrics being sung are "This time next year, we'll be no more" connoting that he doesn't think the relationship will last another year.

Representation
The music video is very stereotypical of gender, this is shown through the fact that the female stayed at home to cook the dinner for the two of them whilst the male was out singing/working to provide money for the both of them. The fact that he's shown as a celebrity connotes that overall he has more power as well. The artist himself plays a fictional character called Strickland Banks. This character is a well know celebrity in the music video and therefore he doesn't play an anonymous role because the character is incredibly well know, and is the centre of attention in most of the shot.

Visual Codes
The music video is set in three different locations: A night club, A kitchen and a hotel. Nothing in this music video screams modern, it is all set in the 60s/70s era this is obvious by the decorations around the house and the old fashioned telephone. The woman is surrounded by pure white walls in a lot of the shots connoting innocents. However, the male is dressed in very dark clothing connoting that the male could be very sinister/ disloyal. There is low key lighting in the night club where the male is drinking with his friends connoting that something suspicious is going to happen. Whereas the house where the female is cooking the dinner is very bright and colourful, connoting happiness and contentment. At the beginning of the music video there is a written typography covering the majority of the screen. The banner had the characters name written in big letters with the words sold out underneath it connoting that the character is very popular artist. There were a few different shot compositions that stood out to me, there was an extreme close up of the meal that the female was cooking connoting that this meal was important, it could suggest that this was the couples last chance to patch things up within their relationship. There was also a low angle shot of the main character Strickland Banks connoting that he has the power in the situation.

Technical codes
There was a close up of a saucepan in the kitchen where the female was cooking. The liquid with in the saucepan was beginning to bubble/rise, this has connotations of the love they have for each other bubbling over. Later on in the music video there is a long shot of the pan again just as the pan burns her, suggesting that the pan is symbolic of her relationship. This connotes that she is being hurt by her relationship with the male character. There are a lot of point of view shots suggesting that the male is moving around and we as the viewer get to see the evening from his perspective. Throughout the music video there are a lot of fast cuts between the different shot types this encourages the pace of the music video and helps it to stay consistent.

Audience 
The target audience for this music video would be around teens to early 20s (young adult). It is obvious that this is the target audience because the actors/actresses within the actual music video are young adults and the majority of the video is shot in a young club, also the younger people may be able to relate to the narrative of the video because nowadays it is more common for young adults/teens to cheat on there partner. The music video is aimed at the demographic groups D (blue collar workers) and E (Students).

Institutions 
the record company doesn't play a role within the music video, and Plan B played a character that sung his music so therefor he's promoting his album through the music video because the character shares his name with the album title (Strickland Banks)

Analyzing professional music videos will allow me to familiarize myself with the quality of their music videos and I will begins to see similarities between different music videos. It will also help influence what I chose to do for my own music video.    

Goodwin's Theories

Andrew Goodwin identifies 5 key aspects of music videos that we the audience should look out for these are:

Thought beats

·         First step is to looks at the music itself. We must take into account the structure of the song. E.g. chorus/verses.

·         Secondly, the voice of the song. The artists voice is extremely unique and can form identification or trademark that work well with the star image. Roland Barthes theory of the Grain of the voice can be related to this. He sees the singing voice as an expressive instrument and therefore able to make associations of its own.

·         Thirdly, Goodwin also points out that artist’s mode of address. Songs can be seen as stories and the artist the storyteller, making the music video a two communication device, them telling us a story and us listening.

Narrative and performance

·         Songs fail to give us the complete narrative!

·         We only tend to get the gist of the meaning of a song and then tend to make up our own idea of what is being told. Goodwin explains that music videos should ignore the common narrative. It is more important in their role of advertising. Music videos should coherent repeatability. Narrative and performance work hand in hand it makes it easier for the audience to watch over and over without losing interest. The artist acting as both narrator & participant helps to increase the authenticity however the lip sync and other mimed actions remains the heart of the music videos. The audience need to believe that it is real.

The star image

·         The star image is another vital aspect of music videos. Meta narrative which is a big story that describes the development of the star overtime, it has an important part to play in the music video production process.

Relation of visuals to a song

·         Illustrate – Music videos can use a set of images to illustrate the meaning of lyrics & genre, this is the most common.

·         Amplify – this is similar to repeatability. Meanings and effects are manipulated and constantly shown through the video and drummed into our vision.

·         Disjuncture – this is where the meaning of the song is completely ignored.

Technical aspects of a music video

·         Technical aspects hold the music video together through the use of camera work, movement, angles, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and special effects.

·         Speed, camera movement, editing, cutting and post production are all forms of camera.

·         Lighting and colour help set moods and emphasise key moments of the song for dramatic effect.

·         Mise-en-scene, the setting of music videos is vital, it needs to look authentic to attain professionalism.

·         Beats, music videos use cuts to go with the beat or rhythm making the music video more entertaining.

The editing pace in the video is fairly slow mimicking the pace of the music 

Emphasis on 'looking'

·        The 'male gaze' is often used to attract a male audience. The male gaze is a focus on presenting things that appeal to men. This often means a voyeuristic view of, and an objectification, of women. The emphasis on looking also includes the artist looking directly into the camera helping the audience connect with the artist.

Relationship between the lyrics and the visuals.

·       Themes, mise-en-scene and events of the video match with lyrics of the song, to help to portray the message of the song.

Music videos have genre characteristics

·       Certain features are expected out of a video depending on the genre of the music, for example a girl bands/artists are expected to have dancers and close ups of the singers, whilst a Indi band are expected to have performance shots of the band and cut to a fast beat.

By looking at the different theories and how there are portrayed within a music video and I can see through the examples how to execute the theories within the video. The idea of looking into these theories is to try to incorporate them into my own music video.  

Other students music video - Tankus and the Henge

Mise-en-scene

The majority of the people within the setting were wearing really dark clothes. There is low key lighting on the band that are playing in the club connoting that they are trying to take the focus away from themselves or that they are the villains in this situation. However there is high key lighting on the man at the bar and the woman that had just walked in at that point connoting that they are the good people in this situation that that all the focus should be put on them instead of the band performing in the background.

Sound

There is the diegetic sound of the band playing in the background all the instruments that are being played match the rhythm of the song and everything fits together. The instrument syncing worked really well. However there was a point where that singer in the music video laughed and the laugh didn’t quite match up with his lips. Likewise there was point where the lip syncing didn’t work properly because the miming was not in time with the music they were trying to sync it too. 

Camera Angles

Towards the beginning of the video there was a low angle of the main artist connoting that he has some sort of importance to the viewer and that people should look up to him. There was also quite a few close ups and not all of them where a close up of the artist. Some were close ups of the couple in the narrative and others were of the rest of the band.

Narrative/Performance

There is an equal amount of performance and narrative throughout the duration of the music video, the narrative appears to be about how a man and a woman meet in a bar, we watch their relationship blossom as they go out on dates.

Editing

The music video is very fast paced all the way through, which mimics the beat of the music and there is a little colour correction when the band is playing to make the are seem darker and stay consistently dark all the way through the music video.

By looking at this music video have realised that it is a lot more difficult to get the lip syncing correct so I would need to spend a lot of time trying to perfect that where it came to the editing stage of the music video. I would also need to make sure that the person saying the words makes sure that they pronounce then really well to make it easier to lip sync.  

The purpose of a music video

What is the purpose?

·         Promotional tool

o   To sell the song, and invoke a reaction so that the audience remember the song.

o   To give the audience a better understanding of the song.

o   To entertain and show off the artists talents.

o   To sell CDs, DVDs and downloads by creating memorable visuals

o   Marketing for the purpose of exposure and expansion of the artists profile

o   The music video promotes a song which in turn promotes an album

o   Main purpose is to sell an image of an artist

o   Generate money for a record company

·         Extension of income

o   Music videos can help to promote and band or artist after the single or album is released.

o   Some artist are remembered years later solely because of a memorable music video. 

·         Extension of outlets

o    Music videos have been aired on the TV such as chart shows and TV channels like MTV.

o   Labels worked together with MTV to ensure the playing of their videos, leading to increased sales of only certain artists and genres.

·         Synergy

o   Where two areas of media work together.

o   This can relate to a music star releasing a music video which features scenes from a Hollywood movie.

o   This helps to promote the film but also the artist as their song will feature in the film and probably the trailer with a wider number of people will see.

o   E.G. writings on the wall by Sam Smith is featured in the trailer and the James Bond film Spectre.  As well as Daniel Craig featuring in the music video.

Looking into the purpose of music video's will help me to understand why they are so important and why at they are used to promote a song. Its interesting that bands and signers can be remembered primarily by their music video.

Music video target audience results analysis

I asked 11 people 10 questions about music videos. Below are the results from my audience questionnaire.

I asked a variety of different aged people to help me get the best results for the questionnaire.

The majority of people I asked had watched a music videos in their lifetime. Only person that hadn’t watched a music video before and that was the 78 year old male, already beginning to prove that music videos are more aimed at the younger generations.

10 out of the 12 people I asked answered this question with a yes. These people were generally in the younger generation. The people that answered no were aged 70 & 78 again suggesting that music videos are aimed at younger generations 

These results show that no one watches music videos all the time no matter what generation you are. The majority of the younger people that I asked said that they often watched them, with the exception of two males ages 13 that said they don’t watch music videos very often. The 70 & 78 year old said that they never watch music videos. 

The 12 to 13 year olds said that they prefer to watch the music video suggesting that they become more immersed within the video and like the performance/narrative aspect to the video. The 14 to 55 year olds said they prefer to have the music on in the background suggesting that they watch the music video primarily for the musical aspect of the video. The 70 & 78 year olds said that they don’t do either because they don’t watch music videos.

It became apparent that within the different age groups there was nothing that stood out as being more stereotypically towards one generation the majority of people watched/listened to music videos for similar reason. With the exception of the 70 & 78 year old who stated that they don’t watch or listen to music videos.

Question 7

What do you expect a music video to involve?

·         Sinning

·         Music & the singer

·         Imagery etc.

·         The artist

·         To be lively

·         People music and places

·         Humans music colour

·         Singers, dancers

 The most popular answers where that they expected the music video to include singing/ music and the artist. Throughout the different generations they all had roughly the same ideas to what a music video should include. 

The majority of people seemed to like the same music genres. However, the younger generations were the ones who stated that they like genres like grime and rap and it was the older generations 55 to 78 that said that they like listening to country & western and classical music, these two genres where not that popular between the younger generations.

Question 9

Out of those genres do you have a favourite music genre?

·         Classical

·         Chart music

·         Pop

Out of the genres they were given a lot of the people I asked stated that their favourite music was chart music and pop music. This was more apparent amongst the younger generations and the adults. The older generation stated that their favourite music genre was classical. 

 Question 10

Currently what is your favourite music video and why?

·         Liam Payne – strip that down – there’s lots of different filters, effects and different depths of field

·         Cake by the ocean – because it’s funny

·         Liam Payne – Strip that down – because I love Liam Payne

·         John Denver – I just like the songs

·         Crying in the club – Camila Cabella – because its upbeat

·         Crying in the club – Camila Cabella – I like the song

This shows that people that the majority of the people I asked, their favourite music video at the moment are songs that are/ or have been in the charts. And they generally liked the music video because they like the song or they like the artists. The older generation didn’t have a favourite music video because they don’t watch them.

 This question got mixed results in regards to the different aged people and what they prefer. There wasn’t a difference between the different generations everybody seemed to have a different opinion on it and different people like different things about music videos so I wasn’t surprised at the results.

Who are music videos aimed at?

From conducting this questionnaire it is evident that the music videos are aimed at a younger generation. However there are some people that are in the mature adult/ middle aged part of the personal life cycle that also watch/listen to music videos and actually quite enjoy the content provided. I was not surprised to find out that the older generation did not like watching music videos because generally they find it hard to use the technology, they grew up without the use of the internet and therefore had things like records to play their music on and the majority of them still have record players where they play their favourite music and they therefore have no need to watch music videos.  When I make my music video I will make sure that I pick a song from a genre that younger people are going to want to listen to, and design the music video to suit the younger generations.