Comparing 3 music videos in my chosen genre

When analysing the three music videos in my chosen genre the conventions that appeared in all three and applied to the pop genre are:

• bright colours
• attractive protagonists/actors
• mainly aimed at teenagers, but can be targeted to a larger population
• main themes are love and the situation of a guy serenading the girl to win her over

Our Song Choice and Lyrics

We have chosen this video as it fits with our chosen genre. Even though we had two song choices to chose from, both from the same artist 'Yasmin'. The two song choices are 'On My Own' and 'Finish Line'. We decided the best one for us to do would be 'On My Own' as we had more ideas of what we could do for the video, and also it is shorter as we could cut out a lot of the video where she isnt singing. The lyrics of the video also gave us more ideas of what we could base the video on, as we were thinking performance based is the best choice for the video. ''Although the road is frightening, im gonna make it on my own'' these lyrics show that we could have the female on her own which shows that she is making it on her own and proving everyone wrong.

The main theme for our video, after reading the lyrics would be a romance video, and we were thinking something along the lines of having a female as the main actor as more people would appeal to a female actor rather than a male. She would be heartbroken through the video, and it would show her getting over an ex and deciding to make it on her own at the end, which is suggested by the lyrics.

3 Music Video Analyses in my chosen genre

Joe Brooks - Superman on Prezi

Bruno Mars - It Will Rain on Prezi

Beyonce - If I Were A Boy on Prezi

Pop Genre

Pop music is a genre of popular music. It appeals to a mass audience as it contains qualities such as being very electric often borrowing elements from other styles including urban, dance, rock, latin and country. There are core elements that define pop, such as:

• short to medium length songs, written in a basic format
• repeated choruses
• melodic tunes
• catchy hooks
• simple/complex structure
• stylistic feel rhythmn

It is generally thought of as a genre which is commercially recorded and desires to have a mass audience appeal. David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop music as ''a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz and folk music''

Genre chosen

Having spent some time thinking over ideas, I have chosen to focus on the pop genre, as this is the genre that interests me the most, and it is an idea that i could easily recreate a music video with. Some of my favourite artists are from this genre, such as JLS, Olly Murs and Ed Sheeran.

Music Video Analysis

This song is about the male singer trying to win over the girl of his dreams by serenading her, this fits with the genre of the song which is acoustic with romance. This video is a classic pop narrative with the male of the video trying to win back the female of the video.

Camera Shots:
The first shot of the video is an establishing shot of the location and the male is placed in the centre of the shot using the fence posts to make the audience focus more onto him, the location also fits with the romantic genre as it is set near a lake with lily pads in the water and the male playing the piano. The actors in the video along with the male singer are all young teenagers and attractive which fits with the romance convention. The point of view shots as if your looking through the males eyes, makes the audience feel like they are in his position and tries to make them feel the emotion that he does.On the balcony of the house towards the end of the video, the male is spending more time with the female that he has been serenading throughout, and the two shot shows the female in the foreground out of focus and the male in the background in focus, so that you can see the emotion on his face. Using the point of view shots, makes the audience appeal more to male singer and the position that he is in, as the audience is more teenagers and they have all experienced having a crush on someone and being scared to tell them.

This screenshot shows the male staring at the female he is trying to win back laughing and having fun with another male which causes his jealousy. Having him on the right side of the image also allows the audience to see the whole shot and also understand how the male is feeling. Again this links back to the conventions of romance.

 



Props:
The props used throughout the video are all props that relate back to the romantic genre, for example the instruments used like the guitar and the piano, and the location around the camp fire and lake. Not using many props throughout the whole video could also suggest that the male doesnt care about material possesions, all he wants is the female. Inside when everyone is playing a game, placing stickers on each others heads, this fits with the romance genre as the male is getting closer to the girl he likes by touching her. This is a classic pop narrative as in the end the guy gets the girl that he wants.

In this screenshot it shows the male and the female together, but this time we see contact between them which is a sign of them both getting closer. Getting more up close to the female would show that the male has gained more confidence knowing that the female likes him. The female and the male are both looking directly into each others eyes which implies 'the look of love'.

Location:
Locating the music video in a house in the woods by the lake side would sound romantic, and more cosy, and also it is more private for the couple and would allow the audience to focus on them more. Having it set in a place like this helps the audience appeal more to the male singer and his situation. Shooting more of the video outside than inside could imply that being out in the open more helps the male think, as when people are heartbroken and dont know what to do about a crush or ex they sit outside and think, and again this matches the males situation.

In this screenshot the male is shown by a lake side and this also connotes love as lakes are romantic places. Showing him with his piano shows that he is a musical, talented guy which could imply that this is how he is going to win the girl of his dreams back. Using a shallow focus which is having him out of focus could imply that without the female in his life he cant see clearly, so this is showing the audience what he can see without her. Again this is matching connotations of heartbreak.

Editing:The use of slow zoom used sets the pace of the song and it shows the emotion. All the edits are slow, which matches the pace of the song, and makes it seem like the male wants to stay in the moment for as long as possible. It then goes to a close up of the males face so that you can see the emotion and it matches the way he feels. When all the cars pull up the camera moves and focuses onto a blonde girl and by the slow pace of the editing the audience know that the song is about her. Repeating the shot of the male playing the piano throughout the video may signify that hes talented and passionate about music. Using a focus pull of the blonde girl in the water with another guy and having the singer in the foreground shows the audience his jealousy.

In this screenshot the fence posts help focus on the male at the end of the pier playing on his piano. This connotes he is a talented and musical guy, also the piano is known as a romantic instrument. Having the male placed in the centre of the shot helps the audience to see that he is the main focus of the shot.

Clothing:
His clothing throughout the video is casual so it doesnt make him stand out from all the other males which implies that he is equal to them and no different to any other teenage male, and it helps us as the audience to relate to the actors and singer and the situation hes in. Repeating the lyrics ''im trying, trying to walk away but i know this crush aint going away'' throughout the song shows that hes saying that whatever he does this crush wont go away, and he's not just going to give up on it like that.  

This image shows the male wearing everyday casual clothing and this suggests that he is just an everyday typical guy and he is no different to any other male. Again placing him in the centre of the video allows the audience to see that he is the main focus of the music video and they can see the whole video is about him.

 Body Language:
The body language of the singer throughout the video is quite timid and shy as it shows he is nervous around the girl which is denotation of being in love, and scared to tell someone how you really feel. The main expression that is on the males face throughout is a smile, when he is shown being with the female which implies that being in love makes him happy.

In this screenshot it shows the male and the female alone together on the balcony, and this choice of location could suggest that together they feel on top of the world and above everything else. Not showing the expression on the female's face but showing the male's face shows the audience after everything he has been through he is finally happy now that he has got the girl.

Lighting:

Throughout the video all we see is daylight which could imply that he sees things more clearly during the day, and it also helps the audience see the whole situation more clearly. It could also imply that romance/heartbreak can happen anywhere and at any time of the day. During the daytime would show the audience a typical day to day life of the male when he is trying to win the female over. The use of natural lighting throughout the video doesnt over-emphasise anything on any one person, everything is in the same light.

This image is showing the male staring out across the lake and this could suggest that he is thinking about the female again this matches with the theme of love and heartbreak.

Actors:
Using an attractive male would make teenage females watch the video, and also having an attractive female, blonde hair and blue eyes would make males want to watch the video so this again appeals to both genders. Using both young adults, would allow people of the same age to sympthise with the actors as they might have been in the same situation before.

This image is an extreme close up of the males face and they do this because they want the audience to see his expression on his face while he is singing. Having him fill the frame of the shot allows the audience again to see the whole face and they can sympathise with him.

Overall i think it would be a mix of narrative and performanced based as you see the male singer throughout the whole video and its focused on him most of the time and even when it isnt the narrative is still playing in the background.It then goes back to the same shot of the lake and him playing the piano as the start, so its like the video completes the circle, this leaves the audience with an enigma as to whether anything further will happen about this 'crush'.

Brief

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the band
• a digipak for the album's release
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak