Secondary Research - Music Videos (Using Goodwin's MUsic Video Analysis Theory)

As I am going to have to create my own promotional music video I have decided to look at other videos in order to see how other people have created videos within the industry. I have decided to look at a combination of different genres of music to get a better idea of the criteria for a music video.

The first video is Down - Jay Sean ft. Lil' Wayne



There is a dance routine included in the video as is typical to that of an R’n’B/Pop singer, yet it does not really relate to any of the song and is instead used as a tool to keep the audience interested. The video itself does not really tell a story to go alongside the song and is instead just used to entertain. As well as this, the main male singer Jay Sean shows off his fit physique to the audience to create some sex appeal which is a big thing used in a majority of videos. There is also the use of a female love interest as well as other women throwing themselves over him again to add to the appeal. However the video is quite in the way it uses women’s body which could possibly be to do with the singer who may also want to project himself to a younger audience as well. The video also involves a lot of close up to the main singer but not only this but of the supporting act of Lil’ Wayne who is also a well known artist and so is also key to add to the appeal to the song. However what is different from some other videos is the use of special effects by using glowing lights to create a sense of “magic” within the room or could be related to the sky or something which could then relate to the song with the lyrics “even if the sky is falling down”.
It has no particular use of subcultures in which it is directed to in anyway and its projected toward a very wide audience, yet within the video itself it is very upper class focused with how it is at a ball and everyone is nicely dressed, the men in suits and the women in flattering dresses all of which is fashionable which is key. It gives the video a professional look and something in which people would perhaps aspire to be but has no particular stereotypical references in the visual things we see.


Secondly, Invaders Must Die - The Prodigy



The beginning is particularly related that of the lyrics in this song “Invaders Must Die” by using trespasser signs, army figurines and death within the video. Also it uses the Prodigy logo with the ant throughout it to help point out who is actually singing the song as they are not actually in the video as the main characters but only have a supporting role, instead using the actor Noel Clarke who is quite well known and so again this would attract the audience to watch it. However, what is key to this video is the fact that it does not use women as sex objects and instead concentrates on the song itself and ways to relate this to the video.
This video goes against stereotypes and is shown as very subversive with the use of the lone man who seems to go against any one "type" of person. He seems to be what we would consider a "loner" because he is different and we later realise he suffers from a disorder which therefore could make him fall into that category of stereotypes.

Artic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down

This video is very different from the majority of videos we see today which are all highly over the top in the way they are edited and made to be seen as perfect which is why I like how this video is so very different from the rest. I feel that it shows a high sense of realism in both plot and visual effects as it seems far more "real" than most other videos which show a more fake and "perfect" unreality where women are airbrushed to perfection and their are many different dance routines and everyone being the height of happiness. This video however, shows a more hard hitting reality with a dark grunge effect video with the use of dark colours and real setting. The story line itself is a lot different to normal videos also with an average woman who has not been airbrushed in anyway like someone like Lady Gaga is in her videos, and links in with the song lyrics and "roaming the streets." It also shows fights and disrespects women by treating them badly, which although could be said for the videos of women being scantily clad in other videos yet this video targets it in a different way.
It could also be a representation of the working class. The main women is said to be roaming the streets which could make us question whether she is homeless and this could then be a representation of women who find it very hard to live within todays society having so little money. She is also dressed in a very particular way which some of us today would consider very "chav" or common and in social terms is very beneath a lot of people. The male character seems to take advantage of this which some people could say is quite stereotypical, particularly as the man is quite horrible in the way he treats both the woman and other people around him. He could be seen as the typical "gangster" type character which we see happens a lot in films such as "This Is England" and "London To Brighton" in particular and so it has this film aspect of reality within its storyline.
With these things in mind I would like to consider a few of these ideas in my video as I think that this video is different in the way that it sees things and shows thing in a more realistic way which I would like to incorporate that in my own work.

With these things in mind we need to consider the locations of where we will shoot our video aswell as whether we will conform to stereotypes in order to get our message across in our video. We need to decide whether we want to surbverse against stereotypes or whether to go along with it to find common ground with our audience.
Not only this but do we go with the perfection aspect of the video or sway towards realism to help create a more hard hitting storyline.