Baby, baby, baby can't you see I'm not alright and if I wanted you to help me I'd have gone to you myself and if I led you on I''m sorry but you need to let it go because I'm begging for a thread that you had severed long ago
Honey, honey, honey don't you pull me back again I swear I'd barely broken free when you turned me around again and I was bleeding when you left me and I never fully healed ain't it funny when bandaids aren't the only thing you need
Promise when you tell me it will all be alright when my head stops hurting the lights will go out
Bleeding when you left me and I never fully healed ain't it funny when bandaids aren't the only thing you need
I chose this song as its beat was very clear, which i feel would be very good to cut to the beat during editing. I felt that the lyrics really allowed for such a range of possibilities with adding a narrative to the music video, the lyrics aren't particularly fast either, so my actor can easily learn them, and lip-syncing shouldn't be a major problem. In terms of other techniques, i felt this song had the potential to do many things, so the types of camera language i wish to incorporate should be very interesting in how it fits the song, as well as having many fast paced cuts could be another option to explore.
Goodwin expressed his theory with identifying a relationship between the visuals and the lyrics, through certain subdivisions such as illustration. Illustrative music videos are very similar to interpretive music videos which explain how, music videos are very literal and will explicitly match the visuals to what the lyrics are talking about. These types of music videos are generally easy to make as their is not that much thought or creativity that goes in to the video, its rather the case of how they will exhibit the matching lyrics and visuals.
Thrift shop by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at 1:02 connotes this style as their whole music video denotes how when certain lyrics are said, the visual is instantly shown. The fact that they was able to bring in RKelly to play a cameo role in the music video was one of many examples that exhibits the illustrative style style within this music video.
Amplifying
The next subdivision would be Amplifying, this is an idea that the visuals change, the music video will use certain colours to enhance the style and to create this special atmosphere, which would try to evoke different emotions within the audience. Amplifying is closely connected to an impressionist video which are music videos generally wont have a specific narrative to them, but they do try and attach themselves to the audience, in the sense that they wish to try and make the audience feel certain emotions.
Hello' from Adele at 1:15 would be an example of an impressionist video as the colours are almost lifeless, they arent sharp and bright, which relate to the feel of the song. By creating an amplifying music video Adele has been able to really engage the audience as we want to continue watching this narrative story play on.
Contradicting
This is where the music video will deliberatly go against the genre conventions, a contradicting music video is much like a genre-subverting video. An example of this would be Lil Dicky 'Save Dat Money' at 2:21 as he produces a hip hop music video but then makes it comical by the use of his lack of stereotypical props, and how he portrays himself in the music video as quite an awkward person that seems very out of place.
For the Lil Dicky by using this style, his music video he has been able to connote his personal style and how he wants to be represented by the public. The style of 'Save Dat Money' has been able to brand himself among his other music videos as a new fresh artist in such a saturated genre of music.
Iconography & Genre Conventions
Iconography is shown through the visual signifiers of a music video, they are the typical conventions that the audience can see in every music video in the same genre. For instance in a hip-hop video there would usually be young women, nice cars, a lot of bright jewellery etc.
For example David Cash's 'chevy' at 1:20 denotes a nice car, attractive young women and wearing lots of jewellery, which clearly connotes that his music video is in the hip-hop genre.
By David Cash doing a more typical genre video he is almost connoting to the audience that he is serious about his work. As he is not very well known like other rappers ( J.Cole etc.) he cant really afford to take risks with his music videos, so by producing Chevy he can show his audience that hes a serious rapper.
Star Persona & Close-ups
Goodwins idea of a star persona music video, consists of the whole music video revolving the artist, most of the video will show them with different movement and angles of the camera moving all around the artist. This can be seen in Hotline Bling by Drake at 1:18 as the whole music video denotes him in a studio set either dancing alone, or in a few cases sitting down on some stairs. A small segment of the music video will cut to some women also dancing but thats not particularly the main focus of the music video, its rather all about Drake poorly dancing.
This idea of a star persona and the use of many cuts can have quite a negative impact on the artist we think that the artist is quite self involved aside from the fact that the actual music video of Hotling Bling is ridiculous and boring.
Voyeurism
Voyeurism is shown through the treatment of the female body, it is where a women is explicit presented much like a materialistic possession. Generally in a music video someone or a group of people will watch the women, which almost allows the audience to watch her as well with out consciously feeling guilty as it becomes socially acceptable to look. An example of this would be in 'Anconda' by Nicki Minaj at 4:24 she will dance around drake in a very sexual way, as his eyes follow her as an audience we can look at her and feel very normal about the situation.
Voyeurism is an idea that is very explicit, the artist will have specific intentions and in some cases a specific message they wish to get across. However in this instance Nicki doesnt seem to have any underlying message, the whole music video is rather saying 'stare at me' which is something that no one respects particularly.
Intertextuality
When a music video uses references mainly from a film, because there has been a synergy created, where the film and artist have worked together. The music video will explicitly use visual references in the music video to show the synergy, the references will not be made up either instead they are actual scenes/shots from the media text being added into the music video.
An example of synergy would be Justin Bieber's never say never at 0:46. Here we are able to see a segment of the film being used in the music video which connotes the synergy that Justin Bieber and the film have.
Using Intertextuality allows the artist to work with a TV/ film institution, which in turn allows for the artist to perhaps enter a different area of media. Justin bieber has been able to feature more cameo roles in some TV programs and star in some episodes. For the artist and the institution it allows them to simultaneously get some exposure in the two different sectors of media. As in this example Justin Bieber has been able to get more exposure and perhaps a bigger audience, whereas for Columbia Pictures they are also able to gain more awareness for their film from Bieber's audience by working with him. Ultimately leading to a greater income as more people are aware.
99 dollar music is an institution specifically designed to allow new, upcoming artist and filmmakers that dont have much money to collaborate with each other and showcase their work. They really have to be creative and experiment with what is possible as they virtually have no budget, thus making the filmmakers/ artist to explore way in to making a fun, exciting music video that can exhibit elements that look professional.
'Strange Machines' by Redding Hunter showed some great use of camera language which almost made the narrative very interesting. The camera made the music video engaging, and although the song was slow which doesn't excite the audience, the fast paced editing of cuts (at 0:27) and the sheer number of them defiantly keeps the audience watching.
What is their ethos?
Their main ethos is producing a music video for 99 dollars or less, but they have other policies in which they wish their artists would keep to. They pride themselves on creating music videos in which are very creative and show great innovation yet there has to be some elements of clear conventions for the specific type of genre. They also want to continuously aim to have music videos that are close to having a professional look and trying to put them on a global platform.
Aaron Kings 'You dont know what it is' would certainly fit this criteria. Their conventional use of having segments of a performance video as well as cutting to a part narrative, certainly its under 99 dollars but it looks professional as the editing effects on the colours of the music video adds more of an interesting aspect to the video. Much like 'Strange Machines' the music video is interesting to the audience we want to really see how and what they have produced, its almost as if we want to really to see if we believe the video is under 99 dollars or not.
What types, labels and genres of music appear on their YouTube channel?
Their is a variety of music on the channel, 'Strange Machines' was very energetic and fast paced in comparison to 'You don't know what it is' which was significantly slower. As a genre it is more o an indie rock feel to it, which can be seen in 'Barbie eat a sandwich' by Care Bears on fire. Of course it is an independent record label as the budget is very small, this is because the music videos are very creative and unusual. The music videos on this channel wouldn't typically be seen from a major record label as they couldn't take the risk in losing money. Perhaps that's a good thing to 99 dollars music videos as they are so creative and unusual that the audience enjoy something so new and different compared to what the majors constantly produce.
What is the relationship between 99dollarmusicvideos.com their film-makers and music acts?
The relationship is almost a learning curve for both filmmaker and artist/band. Both express ideas that can be done and from there it very much develops into a music video. Erik Beck a filmmaker used a Snory Cam strapping to the chest of a person with the camera pointing straight at the persons face this was used in the music video keelay, costing only $30-$40. So the relationship is very much about how they can produced a video that's both creative and professional but for the least amount of money. Both learn more about each others sector, and i think both artist/band and filmmaker become more appreciative of what isnt possible, to how far we can make this video so unique and innovative.
How does 99dollarmusicvideos.com encourage audience participation?
The label its self seem certainly more open and welcoming to new people reaching out and contacting them to create something. Its more the case that if you feel you've got a great idea and you are talented then contacting them and getting involved would certainly be a positive route. In terms of engaging the audience in the music videos, this is created in the uniqueness of the music video and also by the fact that the people that have produced the video are normal, average people that are just trying to do what they love and 'make it' in becoming a bigger artist or becoming a better filmmaker. thats what is the most interesting thing is how we dont look at them as big idols or extraordinary people but rather its how they are like any other person. this can be seen in 'Merp' by savior Adore the fact that she is just a normal person having fun, the audience feel like we could be that person which makes it very interesting and makes us want to watch.
Is it possible to make a professional quality music video for $99?
Yes, it is possible i think that there are many ways that can be explored to create something for 99 dollars or perhaps less. the types of camera language that was shown in 'Strange Machines' or the different editing techniques used in 'Barbie eat a sandwich' defiantly have proven that a lot can be done. i think that there has to be a certain equality between how professional the music video looks, how creative and unique it looks and the general idea behind it. i felt that when watching some of the music videos that some lacked that professionalism but did have a lot of creativity which let it down. Theres no reason why a music video cant be made for 99 dollars but there is an argument that if the conventions arent there and there is that unbalance then the audience wont watch it and it generally just doesnt seem that good.
