Music Video Workshop #3 - First Music Videos

 Today we began the workshop by discussing how to bring on a new artist. We agreed that some considerations that need to be taken into account are the individual look of this artist, it has to be unique to them and not a copy or a resemblance to a known or existing artist. When shaping an artist we need to be a little frugal. Money should definitely be invested into them well, however, it should be spent with caution. Some things that we learned we must look for when shaping an artist is reaching a certain target audience. In addition to this, let the audience know what they look like and how they perform live. The aim of this workshop was to look at first music videos of various artists and bands and then analyse them.

We had an initial example of looking at Lady Gaga's "Just Dance." Throughout the duration of the music video, we looked at all the different locations the camera had to be set up. We made a short analysis of it while we were there as well. One thing that was pointed out was that the video portrayed the artist as showing her rebellious side. In addition, at the beginning of the video, the scene of the party seemed a little dead, that is until Lady Gaga joins in and lights it up. We also pointed out that there are some defining features that she is showing. We can tell that she is into fashion, and dance, and is showing to be young and available. A part of the mise en scene in this music video is that there is a constant strong light in the middle of every shot which makes the scenes look like disposable camera pictures of a party. One final thing we considered was the possible length of the shoot day. We came to the conclusion that it most likely last a whole day and was very relentless because each shot location would have taken about 40 minutes to set up and execute. This would be the minimum. There are about 15 shot locations so the shoot day would have been very lengthy.

  

Another example we looked at is "I kissed a girl" by Katy Perry. In this video, I think what the label is trying to show is that Katy Perry is attempting to appeal to a young audience. Some examples of this are the pillow fights and the vibrant pink theme in the video. This music video is not completely male gaze as it is more dressed to impress the same gender than trying to appeal sexually. It is an incredibly formulaic music video. The song has a straightforward structure. We can see this because the scene stays the same as long as the music is the same. The moment the music switches up, the scene immediately follows. Every scheme would take an extended period of time because of needing to style hair and makeup, along with putting on different dresses. The lighting is quite girly, it can be seen as traditional beauty lighting. This would also most likely be a day shoot, however, it would not be as lengthy as the previous example.

Nextly, we looked at a band example which was "I Bet you Look Good on the Dance Floor" by Arctic Monkeys. We figured out that this band only had two main different shot locations. The band tries to emphasise that the point is more about listening to music than trying to make a big music video. In addition, bringing drum sets and a whole band's music equipment everywhere just wouldn't be viable with the amount of time it would take. Traditional bands make the majority of their earnings through tours and live performances. This is the reason they make performing music videos. It shows a taste of what you will get when you end up going to see them live. We also talked about the filming which sort of looks like they purposefully shot it on old cameras for added effect. The way they look on stage makes the audience think they simply showed up in casual attire which they would wear in everyday life. However, I would argue saying that it is carefully thought out clothing just to make the audience feel that way. 

To conclude, it is so much harder to come up with activities for a solo artist's music video to do than for a band. This is because a band will have preemptively set activities. The instruments they play. However, for a  solo artist, there have to be lots of scenes where a lot is happening. This is because otherwise, they will be lost and simply standing around. For example, you would make them stand on cars or dance around in a party atmosphere while they sing.