Michael Shore's theory:
Michael shore concludes that music videos are recycled styles that contains a load of information and views from adolescent male fantasies. He suggests that music videos are subjected around women, wealth and power.
This music video doesn't fit with his theory entirely, but there are aspects which do, power is suggested to us towards the end of the video, but there is no suggestions to wealth and lots of women. Gabrielle Aplin often shows some elements of performance in many of her videos, and in this video has more of a storyline to the narrative of her music video than any of her of music videos.
Andrew Goodwin's theory:
Andrew Goodwin's theory suggests there are certain elements that make the best music video, however this depends on the genre category the music video is in, for example Pop and RnB music videos will focus on the dance routine that will goes with the beat of the song. whereas Indie or Rock artists may show more performance in their music videos. This theory has elements which are represented in the music video, at the start there isn't particularly a state of equilibrium, as the disruption of order happens a the very start of the video, when she gets mugged and the gang of boys steal her car. The recognition is clear often when she is left with nowhere to go. An attempt to repair the damage that has occurred, this is when she gets a place to stay and begins to meet new people and she performs along to the song towards the end.
Laura Mulvey's theory:
Laura Mulvey's concludes that it is the 'male gaze' that is promoted in many music videos from different genres which promotes women with less of an identity and more of something to be looked upon by men, and dive women into two different categories, one of which is 'innocent' the other is 'promiscuous' in this music video she is shown with the 'innocence' which is reflected throughout the video, from her getting mugged and losing everything. The more 'promiscuous' side is shown in a lot of RnB music, for example the hit single 'Blurred lines by Robin Thicke.
John Stewarts theory:
John Stewarts Theory suggests that they must be similar to a TV commercial, this may include different camera shots or lighting to create a different mood to the video. There must also be a visual reference to the arts in cinema or fashion. Or must have a visual reference to the artist personally , this will make the audience feel more connected with the artist and relate to the song.
Here are the lyrics of our chosen song, we tried to follow the narrative of the song, this helped us because it helps us envisage what the video will look like.
1. What basic qualities do you like in a music video?
- Becky Boyfield - "I enjoy narrative and
performance"
- Jessica Shea - "Seeing what stories they come up
with"
- Mrs Conley - "I like to see a lot of performance,
particularly if it's flamboyant"
- Georgina Stevens - "It has to be really good recording
with proper equipment, so you get a clear image"
- Callum Thompson - "If it's entertaining and keeps me
wanting to watch it"
- Miss Yemc - "Something a bit different...something
that I've not seen before...interesting story, interesting visuals"
-Kuziva Mutisi - "Something that grabs my attention and
is memorable"
- Aaron Bailey - "Something that's eye catching and
keeps your attention all the way through"
From the responses to this question it is clear people like to see things that capture their attention and keep it them interested. We can see that most of the audience enjoy narrative and performance story lines that contribute to the entertainment of the music video. my music video will have both narrative and performance that will describe the lyrics.
2. What style of music video you prefer, narrative or performance? - Becky Boyfield - "Both" - Jessica Shea - "I like both but I think I prefer narrative" - Mrs Conley - "Performance, I don't like it when they have a film in the front with all the talking. I can't stand anything with cartoons in" - Georgina Stevens - "Narrative because I think you can get more into a music video when it's telling a story" - Callum Thompson - "Narrative" - Miss Yemc - "Narrative but possibly a mixture of both. A purely performance one wouldn't interest me" - Kuziva Mutisi - "Performance" - Aaron Bailey - "Narrative
The majority of people said they preferred a narrative story line, however there were members of the audience that said they enjoy a performance storyline as well.
3. When you think of Indie genre, what comes to mind?
-Becky Boyfield - "Acoustic guitars and a country side, homely location" - Jessica Shea - "Quite laid back and relaxing" - Mrs Conley - "The Stone Roses" - Georgina Stevens - "Small scale bands, so things like 'The Little Comets' and 'The Foals' that progress into a more mainstream style" - Callum Thompson - "Alternative rock and stuff people don't normally listen to" - Miss Yemc - "Something a bit different, so an interesting visual style, something memorable, something that I've not seen before" - Kuziva Mutisi - "A lot of guitars, very bright and creative" - Aaron Bailey - "More casual than most genres, lots of guitars"
The responses were all very different, the people we asked have different tastes to what they think of Indie music videos. 4. How do you usually discover your music, print or web? - Becky Boyfield - "The web" - Jessica Shea - "Usually web" - Mrs Conley - "Website called 'Bandcamp where you can explore new music videos and artists and music festivals" - Georgina Stevens - "The web" - Callum Thompson - "Web" - Miss Yemc - "Web" - Kuziva Mutisi - "Web" - Aaron Bailey - "Web" From these responses it is clear that nobody discovers their music on the web, they discover it normally on the web, this will be website like YouTube and other music stations like Spotify or ITunes.
5. What is your favourite music genre? - Becky Boyfield - "Indie or Alternative" - Jessica Shea - "Mostly pop, a bit of rock as well" - Mrs Conley - "Rock and a bit pop" - Georgina Stevens - "Indie" - Callum Thompson - "Classic Rock" - Miss Yemc - "Dance Music, electronic and indie a little bit" - Kuziva Mutisi - "R&B" - Aaron Bailey - "Indie"
We can see from these results that there is a range of different preferences in terms of genre, but Indie did come up most often which shows this genre appals to most people.
For our chosen artist, we chose Natalie Lungley, her music is of the Indie/Alternative genre. This genre has a broad range of artists, artists within this genre tend to be solo artists who write their music. But there are many genres for music videos, such as Rock, Pop, RnB, Punk Rock and Indie/Alternative.
The genre of Indie music videos today tend to have been inspired by successful artists and band such as The Beatles and Nirvana and Elvis Presley, legendary musicians like these inspire Indie artists today. Indie artists are short for independent artists. Many Indie artists have an independent style to other genres, some indie artists will go with an older style in terms of the way they dress, or their music. For example Lana Del Rey is an alternative artist who has a very 50's/60's style, she goes with the classic bold colours and bold done up look, you can tell she has inspired her look like pops stars from around that time, such as Marilyn Munroe and Audrey Hepburn. She's taken iconic aspects from that time and made her own look. Her music videos are always very popular due to her vintage unique style and heartfelt songs. Here shows a picture of Lana Del Rey in her music video 'Young and Beautiful.'
Individuality in music videos is what makes an Indie artist most successful, if their music is catchy to the audience it ends up more successful. Indie music has changed massively in recent years, their music is more personal to them individually which is very popular to the public because people are able to relate to their personal experiences. Their lyrics contain strong meanings and metaphors which people distinctively remember and broadens that artists audience dramatically because people enjoy listening to music they can relate to. Below this shows Florence And The Machine who is a very successful Indie/Alternative band. There are similarities to her and Lana Del Rey in terms of their style, they both have a very unique style and have had inspiration from famous Pop stars back in the 60's.
The majority of the target audience for this genre is people from mid teens onwards, people are able to relate to their music and use the lyrics and style as something for their own opinion on things in today's society. A lot of the female Indie artists are more popular with women in particular because of their fashion sense and hair styles etc. The artists become a fashion icon as well. For example Lorde, she has a distinctive style and style in music that she only gives her first name, this demonstrates her independent individuality. Here shows Lorde's album for or cover Pure Heroine.
Alternative genre didn't rank very highly in the mainstream category of music, this is because it is in a completely different category to the music in that category, the music genres in the charts are often in the Pop, RnB or sometimes Rock genre. Also that music is very catchy and easy to remember. However when Nirvana released their hit album Nevermind, it was a real sensation for the Alternative genre of music and boosted up the whole genres reputation. It was released in the 90's and released hit singles that went straight to the top of the chats, such as 'come as you are.' Here to the left shows the album cover for Nirvana's 'Nevermind' album.
Another example of the Indie/Alternative genre is Coldplay, they've released singles that have shot to the top of the charts singles such as 'clocks' and 'scientist' we can see how this genre has evolved over time, their music has become more personal form personal experiences which has help to evolve this genre to becoming very popular with people. This music will influence future artists due to these artists success.
A example of a more recent Indie/Alternative and is Imagine Dragons, they released their hit single ''Radioactive'' which they released December 2012, we know Indie/Alternative songs to have acoustic instruments throughout their songs, Alternative artists contrast slightly with the other solo female artists in terms of their music, Lana Del Rey has more heartfelt styled music whereas Imagine Dragons has a more rock vie to it with their music, this appeals to people because it's theme is upbeat. Often the narrative of Imagine Dragons music video follows a narrative storyline whilst still showing performance, they do this by including snippets of the band members playing their instruments or it will display the band performing. In the music video is set with the band members locked up underground whilst the gamblers above them are betting with money whilst puppets were fighting, and there is a mysterious girl outside whilst all this is happening. The lighting throughout the video is dark and gloomy throughout, this implies they are in a rough area. The band members are locked underground, in addition to this one of them is playing the drums as though he's trying to get help. The narrative of the storyline explains how they mysterious girl helps the band escape the cells whilst there is kayos going on above them.
