The video

I am now going to brainstorm some ideas on what I can do in my video.

Editing

• I am thinking of doing my video in black and white to fit into the grunge and gritty atmosphere of the video.
• I may do fast paced editing in my film especially through the instrumental part

Mise en scene

• For mis en scene, I have to make sure my music video looks the part and fits into the story line. I am having to make the setting look realistic as possible and make it look glamorous. I am choosing to have a stage like setting, some hallways and a dressing room style.
• For my stars outfit, I am having to choose something glamorous yet something edgy. I am thinking of using a fur coat and something with sequins on, prehaps some sequin hotpants as the sequins will reflect in the light and stand out in the black and white light. I will also need some large sunglasses for my star to hide behind.
• I am going to do my lighting rather bright and highlighted on my main actress to show that the star is being blinded from the lights.

Cinematography

• I am going to have my camera shots used closly on my star as she is singing and as she is walking through the corridoors and maybe use a low angle shot before she goes into her dressing room and the breakdown begins to show that she appears to have dominance over the public but infact she doesnt.

Representation in music video

In her prime, Debbie Harrie was one of the most sucessful female artists of her time. She was an inconic ledgend who was adored and mimicked by many female fans.

She had iconic blonde hair which matched the band name 'Blondie'. Her hair was always messed up to match her pop-rock genre. She always wore 80's rock influenced clothing such as denim shorts, one shouldered dresses and waistcoats. She also always wore sunglasses which could mean two things; star status or vulnerability. To match up with my Atomic song lyric analysis, I have decided to analyse that her sunglasses are used to hide behind the public world of fame and stardom, and that the only place she can be herself is behind these glasses.

For my video, I am deciding to make the main star a young female dressed in modern day style Blondie clothing, with the key item to be sunglasses. She will be dressed beautifally, in edgy yet glamorous clothing and will be in a public place or at one of her shows. Infront of everyone she will act carefree and put on this front that she is alright and tough; when infact she is not, shes weak and vulnerable.

I am deciding to represent the tough price of fame in my music video as I feel the song matches with it. Although I analysed differently before, I am thinking that the lyrics could match upto the fall of fame aswell, such as:

"Make me tonight, tonight make it right" - this could mean that the star has been feeling some form of meltdown for a while now and is wanting tonight to be the night that everything gets better for her and she gets something she really craves and desires in her life to make everything alright.

"Oh your hair is beautiful" - as many current and classic female icons have all had iconic hair, she may think that this is the only thing positive about herself and she is focussing on that and not all the negatives she thinks she has.

"Make it magnificant" - in the context of a breakdown, the star may be abusing substances such as alcohol the blank out her pain from the fame. Many artists and famous celebrities have been known to be dependant on substances so this fits well with the ideology of the video.

"Atomic" - this could represent the final point in her stage of the price of fame; the meltdown. Atomic is widely known as a bomb which can destroy thousands, and this can be represented as fame, the atomic bomb in this persons case is fame and when the bomb goes off, a breakdown happens.

Music video analysis

Here I am going to anylise some music videos so I can get a clear understanding of what I can do to make my music video sucessful.

Everytime by Britney Spears is a slow song done with music by a piano. The tone of the song is very sad and deep, like theres a deeper meaning.



In the first 10 seconds, it shows a white stretch limo slowly driving through an obsessed crowd which bashes on the windows looking for attention. The limo shows that the person inside must be of some importance and that the bashing shows some chaos.

At 0.14 seconds, it shows the inside of the limo. It shows a tired looking man and a glamorous yet stressed woman. They are sat on the same seat but apart - showing tension which is a clear contrast from the chaos outside.

At 0.24 the main star has gotten out of the limo at this point and has now attemtping to make her way through the chaotic crowd. The lights from the photographers blind her and she is unable to walk and looks vulnerable and scared. This may show that their is a darker side to fame and that the once glittering flashing lightbulbs are now painful and overwhelming.

From 0.30 seconds, the stars boyfriend picks up magazines gracing her on the cover and throws them at the interfering crowd and paprazi. This shows that the boyfriend may not like his girlfriends lifestyle and wishes she could be more normal and without all the hang alongs that come with her.

From 1 minute in, the star and her boyfriend are walking down a bright white hallway with two minders. Both minders and the boyfriend are dressed in black and the star in white. This shows that the star is maybe more innocent and angelic but feels fallen due to the pressure from the paparazi and fame as her clothes are torn and like rags. The star and the boyfriend are fighting in the halway which shows tension between them and the minders seprate them, this can also show that her fame and stardom is constantly coming in between them.

From 1.25 the star and her boyfriend are now in the hotel room argueing and smashing vases and other items against the wall. They both seperate and go in seperate rooms, the star goes into the bathroom and smashes the mirror and the boyfriend goes in the living room and smashes something on the table. This shows that despite them argueing and not together, they still have a connection and a link

From 1.59 the star is now in a change of scene, in a plain white background, slowly turning her head showing no expression. This can show that her current state of mind is that she is lost, confused and feeling upset.

From 2.07 she slowly walks to the bath and begins to strip off and get in the bath. This can show that she feels this may be giving her a break and almost cleansing her from the arguements and the stress of her showbiz lifestyle.

At 2.09, both the star and her boyfriend take their tops off in sucession but in different rooms. This still shows that their is a link between them despite what is going on. And also at 2.20 they both run their hands through their hair, but the star finds a cut on her head and has blood all over her hands. This shows that they are still connected but the stress of it all is getting to her more and she may appear more vulnerable and scared.

At 2.28 the scene is the star in the plain white room again, looking directly at the camera singing the words 'everytime I try to fight I fall without my wings'. This shows that she is trying to fight for what is going on in her life at the moment, but is failing which suggests why her relationship and mental state is breaking.

This white hallway turns into a hospital hallway due to the entry of a running nurse and a doctor with a clipboard and some police. At 2.38 it shows the star sinking into the waters of the bath, drowning. At 2.53 it shows the star looking into a hospital room, with her on the bed and people recussitating her, and failing. This shows that she is in afterlife, looking at herself dying due to the over pressure of her life and she decided to end it all.

At 2.55 it shows the star running down the hallway being backlighted with a strong white light This suggests that she is about to die, and is running into the light which is a saying for when someone is seconds away from death.

At 3.04, the boyfriend walks into the bathroom and notices what has happened. He dives into the bath and saves her.

At 3.15 it shows the star back in the hospital but this time in the next room which shows a mother giving birth to her newborn. The star is overlooking this and this shows the thing of 'one life ending, one life begining'. This leaves the viewers in doubt over her death wondering if she has died or not.

At 3.29, the star is being rushed out of her house on a stretcher into an abulance, still the press are there hassling her. This shows that no matter if she is dead or alive she is still getting hassled and her life is still rushed.

At 3.35, she is running back down the backlighted hallway in the oposite direction. This suggests that she is now running away from the light and is now not dying and has been saved by the one person who she does love the most.

And at 3.59 till the end, the star comes up from the water and begings breathing heavily. This shows though that she has saved herself from death and what we saw was just a preminition of what the extent the media can do to a person, they show the glamorous lifestyle of them but at the end of the day you never know what is going on in a persons head or how something can effect them.

In breif, it is about a girl who has it all; from another persons persepective. In her own world away from the public eye her life is full of pain and lonliness that the only place that she feels safe is the place between life and death. Its more than she can handle and she feels sorry for everything she puts people through which links to the lyrics "sorry if my weakness caused you pain".

About a music video

The purpose of a music video is simply to promote the song. The function of this is to increase the sales of the song.

Consumers recieve a vogeuristic pleasure from observing the stars in their music videos. They get a thrill from seeing their new video as a music star can easily show their new look/image in their video and they can be iconic, which sticks in a consumers mind and then the track gets thought and spoken about.

The 5 key points of vogueristic pleasure are:
1. Performance
2. Narrative
3. Lyrical representation
4. Lyric interpretation
5. Abstract

Analysis of Blondie lyrics

The Lyrics for this blondie song are very vague but are interpreted in a few forms.

The song was one of the main songs used in the popular 90's film 'Trainspotting' which focused on the drug culture in England.

The song was used during a scene which was a one night stand. The music to this song is very fast paced and rushed, which can represent a quick paced night of passion in the heroin-chic era of the 1990's.

I interpret this song to be of a woman attempting to make one desperate night beautiful in a time of desperation or horror, like she is grabbing and clinging into the only thing she can get at the moment in her life and almost justifying it. The words 'make it magnificant' shows that she doesnt want to be let down in this situation - she really wants it to be atomic.

The line 'Oh your hair is beautiful' can be interpreted in the main role looking down at the other person in the one night stand. By saying this simple phrase it suggests that she doesnt really know what to say and that she prehaps doesnt even know this person too well and this is the only thing she can say to form a connection with the person.

The history of music videos

A music video is a short video that accompanies a complete piece of a song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the idea. The term "music video" first came into popular use in the early 1980s. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action, usually dependant on the music genre.


Music videos represent a crucial part of the music industry. Artists owe their careers to music videos as they are being given the chance of impressing the public not just with their vocal talent, but also with their looks or moves.Around 3 decades ago, music video used to be less important then it is nowadays. MTV (Music Television) started broadcasting in 1981 in the USA and it marked the beginning of the music video’s dominance over the music industry. The first video ever played on MTV was ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by The Buggles. MTV was broadcasting 24-hour-a-day music and music videos were needed to be produced in order for them to be played on the TV. This then meant music videos began to play an important role in artists’ careers.

It is thought that artists like Madonna have used music videos to represent themselves. She used videos like ‘Like a virgin’ to present a sexy image of herself. She also used it to cause controversy as she had a video of herself on the cross in her ‘Like a prayer’ video. By causing controversy in the video it makes people want to watch it even more and it brings the song out and people will listen and hear about it more.

The birth of the music video has created a new type of directors: video directors. MTV started even listing directors with video credits and this profession has become more and more popular. But it seems that most video directors don’t specialise in this particular art form, they see it as being just a step on the way to directing a movie. Many start directing videos or adverts, hoping to get the recognition to build a name and to direct a movie. It seems that even video directors admit the fact that a music video is secondary to the song itself.

It is now regarded that the music video is as important if not more than the song itself. As it is selling not only the song, it is selling an image of the artist.

Micheal Jacksons Thriller video that was produced in the 1983 still stands as one of the greatest most publicised music video of all time. It is listed as the most successful as it sold over 9 million units. It lasts 14 minutes long as was directed by John Landis with a full script, story and iconic dance routine. This defined a standards for Micheal Jacksons music videos as he then later produced a video with sister Janet for the song Scream. The song and video only lasts 4.30 minutes but cost around £7 million to produce. Because Jackson set such a high standard of his music videos due to thriller, he had to continue to make such outstanding videos to keep it up. This sets him as an iconic artist just down to his music videos alone.

Analysis of a CD cover

This Blondie CD cover is of their Parallel Lines album.

The background is a blunt black and white striped background which has delicate swilred red writing at the top of it. This appears to be like a writing in lipstick done by the only female member of the band, Debbie Harry. When all the other members are in generic black and white suits with dark hair, Debbie Harry is in a white dress with blonde hair, making her stand out and become the dominant female. This album was made in the 1980s which was the era for female dominance, which makes this album cover effective and suits the time.

LIIAR of a music video

Language

The language of a music video will depend on the genre of the music specifically. For example, a young pop band will usually sing about happy cheery things and produce a music video to match, but say if an indie acoustic band produced a music video, they usually focus on the musical instruments rather than the band itself as they may feel that the music instruments such as the guitars are more important and beneifical then the band itself.

Ideology

The idea about music videos is to promote the song to the public. Music videos can cause consumers to remember the song better. Some people may use their music videos to produce controversy such as when Micheal Jackson created the worlds most expensive video for around $3 million. If people know about the music video costing this much, they will want to view it and see for themselves how the money was spent. This creates more viewings for the music video and therefore gets the song out to the public.

Institution
This is about who controls the production process. In media videos, this would be the record labels of the artist. The record labels want the music to sell, so they will produce a really good music video to match it and for it to appeal to the consumers. Again, the record company will match the music video to the artists genre so it appeals to the consumer. Occasionally they will introduce some form of shock tacktic to the consumer, like make it contraversal in a way of the cost or the videos content so that the video gets talking by word of mouth and people know about it.

Audience
The producers of these music videos need to meet the requirements of the consumers. Again this is all about genre as that is what seperates music so widely. To be aimed at a younger audience, the video may be more of a party atmosphere style which suggests that this song is about good times. To be aimed at a more classical audience, the music video may just focus directly on the musical instruments being played and not include a story in the video.

Representation

Representation of a music video usually depends on the lyrics or the band/artist singing them. Usually artists like to represent the music video to the song so it matches. Some artists however like to represent there videos through their genre, like a rock band may include guitars and the band in their video more than a story. Representation in a music video is about how the band or artist is portrayed, more than likely they will want to be portrayed in a glamorous good light so that the music video looks amazing for the consumer. If an artist isnt represented well by the music video, then the song may not get the airtime it hoped for.

Genre

Blondie origionally started out as a punk band in the 1970s and played along the likes of the Ramones. At the start of the 1980s they developed into more of a mainstreem band and created the genre 'power-pop'. Compared to their previous image of being a punk band in the 1970s, they had now become more sucessful and popular as being a power-pop genre and they continued on as this.

Media song

I have decided to do the song Atomic by Blondie.

The lyrics for these are:

Uh huh make me tonight.
Tonight make it right.
Uh huh make me tonight.
Tonight.Tonight.
Oh uh huh make it magnificent.
Tonight.Right.
Oh, your hair is beautiful.
Oh, tonight.
Atomic.
Tonight make it magnificent.
Tonight.
Make me tonight.
Your hair is beautiful.
Oh, tonight.
Atomic.
Atomic.
Oh.

As these lyrics are not very interpretable, I have decided to base my music video around the words 'tonight - make it magnificent'. My idea for my video is to have it based around the current TV adverts for binge drinking where it states 'you wouldnt end a night out like this so why start it like one?'. I am doing this to create an ironic contrast with the lyrics of 'Tonight - make it magnificent'.

A2 media studies.

For my media project for A2 media studies I am producing a music video.

My brief is is to engage with contempary media technologies to produce a media portfolio through a combination of two or more media and then present your research, planing and evaluation in electronic form.

My brief for this is :
1. 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 cover for its release on CD
- A magazine advertisement for the CD.

I have decided to do the last two as I dont have the skills to produce a website homepage.