Music Video Inspiration

As a group we decided on high key lighting as we felt that it looked very pleasing to the eye and made the day look brighter and happy which fits in with our music video of having a group of friends enjoying themselves while they are young.

This video (Alex G - Roar) represents the type of lighting we plan to use as the lighting almost makes her glow.This music video also inspired us with the  camera shots within the performance aspect of the video as there are close ups of her face at the start revealing her red lips and winged eyeliner which is a typical pin up girl look, as a group we found that the red lips looked good and decided to have our singer wear red lipstick during the performance aspects of our video.

Location was influenced by 'JoJo - Baby It's You' as some of it is filmed in a theme park, this influenced us to make the decision to film on Brighton Pier. Within our music video we film in a variety if different locations to make the video more varied and to denote that the footage has been filmed on various different days.

Performance was influenced by 'Boyce Avenue - On my way' as we liked the look of having the performance based outside as its different compared to just having it in the studio as our video is about being young and enjoying yourself. Also in this video there was fairy lights hanging in the tree which as a group we liked but was unable to full fill so we decided to decorate the tree with buntings and paper chains to create a funfair look as we want the video to be based around fun and happiness.

'Professor Green - Lullaby ft. Tori Kelly' inspired my groups editing as we liked the jump cuts used in this video. As a group we then decided that we wanted out music video to be a montage of shots but a mixture of narrative and performance as we want the music video to be balanced out. We was inspired by this video as we felt the way the clips were edited was very effective and appealing as the transitions were very smooth.

'Tori Kelly - All In My Head' inspired my group with the focus pull as we felt it was a very appealing and attractive shot to have within the music video. Our chosen song includes lyrics about the sun which we plan to have direct links between the lyrics and visuals where we will have a focus pull of the sun and a forest background.

'Tori Kelly - Paper Hearts' inspired my group with both location and props. After seeing this video we felt that the polaroid images were really cute and would give us the opportunity to link our visuals and lyrics together as there is a lyrics about the empire state building and we feel that a polaroid of the empire state building would be a more realistic aim as it would fit in with our video. Also within this video part of it is set in a funfair where tori kelly is denoted enjoying herself. This is the type of representation we want for our artist as we want her to be enjoying herself.

Music Video Storyboard

Music Video Mood Board

Here i have joined both my performance aims for the music video into a mood board to express what aims we have for the music video.
We plan to have narrative shots filmed in a park so that there aren't many restriction and as it is quite a fun place to film which is the type of look we are going for as the long is based around being young and enjoying yourself.
We also decided that we wanted our artist to have red lips as we have seen other music videos where the artists lips are red and though this was a nice idea as the red lips are very attention grabbing and fit in with the male gaze theory as red lips are seen as seductive.
We also plan to film in Brighton as there is a wide variety of different shots we would be able to film up there as there are a lot of rides and fun places up Brighton. London is another place we plan to film as there is a variety of places we can film in as London is full of different attractions.

Initial Idea

Music Video Analysis - 'Ariana Grande - Almost Is Never Enough'

The four microelements are used to conform to the codes and conventions of a pop music video. This is evident with the content and style of the video as it fits the expectations you would have before seeing the music video.

Editing is evident throughout the music video to separate the narrative from performance as there are jump cuts between Ariana Grande singing and short clips of the film being advertised. This connotes that the song is promoting the film and may have been written primarily for the film. Jump cuts are also evident when Nathan Sykes turns up which connotes that the performance and narrative are linked as a couple are being used to sing the song. This fits in with Andrew Goodwin’s theory of intertextual references, as there is an intertextual reference to a film within this music video, which connotes that the audience will be able to make the link and may become interested in the film due to the music video.

Mise-en-scene is used to subvert to how women are usually represented within music videos. An example of this is that throughout the video Ariana Grande is wearing white, this colour connotes purity and innocence, which is the opposite to how women are usually portrayed in music videos. Women are usually sexualized and seen with very provocative clothing. Whereas in this music video the women are denoted as themselves in respectable clothing. Also Ariana Grande looks very glamorous with her hair and makeup, which would appeal to the male audience ad it fits in with the Male Gaze theory (Mulvey). This denotes the counter hegemonic view of women, as they are rarely seen/portrayed positively in music videos.

Sound is synchronous with the footage throughout the video, which makes the music video more affective as the audience is able to keep up with the music video easier. An example of this is at the start the music is very slow and the footage is at the same pace, which connotes that the video will most likely stay at this pace, as the song seems to be very slow. This fits in with Andrew Goodwin’s theory of a relationship between visuals and music, as they are synchronous with each other.

Camera shots/angles are used within this music video to denote the different relationships. The shot Pans from right to left denoting Adriana Grande and Nathan Sykes meeting each other hugging. This connotes that the music video is primarily based around relationships and romance as the song is slow and romantic which fits with the footage. There is also a close up of Ariana smiling to connote that she is happy with her life at the moment and that she’s enjoying herself. This fits in with the Blummer and Katz theory of diversion as it would allow people to escape almost into this perfect world of love and happiness also with there being an intertextual reference they may decide ot watch the film suggesting that they are an active audience.

Overall, the four micro-elements have been used to subvert and partially conform to the stereotype of a pop music video as it fits a few of the codes and conventions. The micro- elements represent Ariana Grande Positively which subverts to the normal stereotype of a music video as they are usually represented badly.

Music Video Analysis - 'Tori Kelly - Paper Hearts'

Through the four micro-elements women are represented in a stereotypical way which conforms to the hegemonic view of women being emotional and weak.

Mise-en-scene (props) represents women as being sentimental and emotional. An example of this within the music video the female protagonist is denoted taking pictures with a Polaroid camera of her and her boyfriend’s hands as memories, which connotes that she wants to remember all of the little things suggesting that she is very sentimental. This therefore conforms to the typical stereotype of women as they are seen as emotional and caring compared to men. This fits in with Blummer and Katz theory of personal relationship, as there will be girls that could relate to the female protagonist within this music video, which would represent Tori Kelly as passionate and caring. These props also connotes that there may be problems within their relationship as it seems as though she is reminiscing upon the times and memories they had.

Sound is also used within the music video to set the scene and to create the mood of the music video. This is evident at the start of the music video where it starts of very soft and slow before Tori Kelly starts singing as it is used to set the scene and to prepare/make the audience aware of what type of music video it will be. The way the song starts creates a very cute and romantic feeling which will mainly attract the female audience. The slow music at the beginning conforms to the typical pop video as it about a romance and you would expect the music to start slowly. The song slowly gets faster as the video progresses however it is still quite slow paced. This suggests that the target audience of this video is mainly female based. Also this connotes that the production company knew that to target the female audience they would need a music video primarily based around relationships. This fits in with Blummer and Katz theory of Personal Relationships as many females watching this music video will be able to relate to the relationship with all of the cute shots of them together. This also fits in with the diversion part of Blummer and Katz theory as this any also give the female audience a chance to get away from any problems within their lives to enjoy the video and romance within it.

Camera shots within this music video make direct links between the lyrics and visuals. An example of this is when the lyrics ‘good times’ come there is a shot of a Polaroid whilst someone writes the words ‘good times’ onto it. This denotes a relationship between the lyrics and visuals which fits in with Andrew Goodwin’s theory as it makes the video more appealing to the audience as they are able to enjoy the video more and will be able to keep up with whatever story is being told without getting bored or confused. There are also a close up of the females protagonists face to connote that she is upset as she is denoted with a tear rolling down her face in an extreme close up of half of her face. This connotes that she is very emotional and mentally drained due to problems within her life. This fits in with Todorov’s theory of equilibrium as the video starts of with a cute couple scene which is the calm start to the music video that you would expect to see with a romance and then throughout there are shots of the female protagonist with tears to connote that the equilibrium has been disrupted. This conforms to the typical girly music video as it is expected to have a typical breakup or upset scene within it so that its not too boring or cheesy.

Editing is evident within this music video to denote all of the cute memories the female protagonist has. An example of this is throughout the video there is a montage of different shots of different days where the couple is spending time together. This is to connote that there are a lot of memories that they share and that female protagonist is reminiscing on the times they had as though they have broken up. Within this music video Tori Kelly is represented as weak which is the hegemonic view of women as they are seem to need a male to look after them and within this video there are more than one jump cut from a memory the couple shared to a shot of her crying. This fits in with Barthes theory of enigma code as it will leave the audience wondering why they broke up or what has actually happened for her to be crying.

Overall, the four micro-elements are used to conform with the codes and conventions of a pop video and to also conform to the stereotype of women. As throughout the video women are seen as weak and dependent on relationships which is hegemonic view anyway.