Analysis of Performance, Narrative & Concept Videos

Performance Video Analysis
This video by Green Day called 'American Idiot' is made up almost completely of shots showing the band performing the song, or Billie Joe lip syncing to the song along with playing the guitar. However, they have made the video interesting and not just used a standard performance by making each band member perform the song at a different speed, such as Billie Joe performing the song sped up whilst Tre Cool is playing the drums at normal speed, etc. This alternates between band members throughout the video and gives the video an individual, creative edge. There is also a theme of the colour green throughout the video, supposedly to go along with the bands name "Green Day". As this is a theme throughout the video it gets stuck in the viewers mind and reminds them of the bands name. There is also an American flag behind the band members as they are performing the song, this is used in an ironic way as the song is about not wanting to be an American idiot. The flag is also green which goes along with the theme of green in the video but also contrasts with the usual red white and blue, making it seem like it is decaying which could also go along with the lyrics which promote a bad view of what America has become. Being a highly political song, Green Day have chosen to use rapid fast paced shots to show their individuality and this promotes anarchy, this is also shown when they smash their instruments at the end of the video which shows their sense of rebellion, which contrasts with the view of what America is today.




Narrative Video Analysis
Chase and Status’ music video, 'Let You Go', shows a television programme based around the very famous Jeremy Kyle’s chat show. This shows the presenter behind the scenes committing most of the offenses the public go on the show to resolve with their family and friends. The genre of music (drum and bass/dance) matches this hard hitting video: one of Goodwin’s forms and conventions. Another one is that the music follows the pace and editing is synced with the audio. This particular video has a narrative which the viewer can follow and in some cases relate with. The song follows this narrative throughout. The director uses a lot of close ups of the actor to show the facial expression and emotions. Nearly almost the shots are dark and dreary which allow the viewer the recognise the mood and atmosphere of the song and video. The storyline behind the narrative used in some ways can reflect the genre of music in more than one way. E.g. the drug taking and alcohol drinking, clubbing and having sex are all part of the dance/dnb/techno scene. This can also represent the band as chase and status are both DJs and I think would be looking for a hard hitting video to match their music which hopefully people will find serious. 




Concept Video Analysis
This video by OK GO called 'Here We Go Again' shows the band performing a dance routine on 6 treadmills, a very original and abstract idea that has never been done before for a music video. It would have had to be shot in one take for continuity, which would have put pressure on the band members to not make any mistakes. The routine is flawless in the video, apart from at about 1 minute in where the man on the front left treadmill starts to fall off, but it is barely noticeable as he recovers well. Another point in the video that could have been as mistake is the very beginning where the man is trying to turn on the CD player and it wont work, however this could have been a deliberate mistake to add humour to the video. The routine is in time with the music and the band tend to do tricks in their routine at key points during the song, making the routine more catchy and eye grabbing, making viewers want to keep watching. This concept was a very simple, yet effective video and soon became a viral hit, giving the band much promotion and success

Performance, Narrative & Concept Music Videos

Types of Music Video
Over the past 10 years, the development of music videos in the music industry has grown and changed immensely. New technology, abstract images and fresh ideas have encouraged artists these days to expand how they represent themselves in their music videos. 
There are three main types of music video; performance, narrative and concept. There are also a range of mixture and animated videos which are not as well known as a ‘type’ of music video.

Performance
A performance video focuses on showing footage of the artist or band either in a casual environment, i.e. socialising with friends, or performing, live performance or staged performance. This style of video uses the band/artist/group throughout the majority of the production and the artist, band members are often miming the words to the song. The genre of music where performance videos are common is indie and rock. The costing on this type of production are also most likely to be the lowest as the producers are in effect giving the audience the most realistic image of the band as it is only the band they are showing. The downside of this is that the band will need to be relatively established to pull off the video, or else interest will become saturated.

Concept

Concept videos are based around a single idea or concept and are usually unusual and obscure, even surreal for the audience. This unusual content is an attraction to many consumers, which draws them in. Concept videos usually are combined with one of the other two styles as the market demands for greater accessibly rather than the somewhat niche that is pure concept art. A successful concept video will keep the audience entertained and constantly looking at what or who is on the screen. No particular genre or type of music is more likely to use concept videos, in fact a range of artists covering all genres have used concept/ art based videos.

Narrative
A song with a narrative based music video the song includes a narrative story of the lyrics/ words being acted out in some way. This style relies on imagery to produce a story for the audience to follow and some narrative videos include clips from films that the song has been featured in. This seems to be used a lot in slower songs, and often tend to be love stories

Animation & Mixture

Animated music videos can range from the images being hand drawn, created by computer graphics or moulded out of material such as plasticine. This style of music video is very creative and creativity and visually entertaining to watch.

A song with a ‘mixture’ music video consists of more than one of the above. The most common video types to combine are performance and narrative.

Music Types and Music Videos

In the music industry, many types of music have been created and labelled as a ‘style of music’. The different music types create various feelings and emotions for different people and conjure up different images, colours and themes. 
These images can be recognised in the music videos that accompany the music:


Rock Music Videos 
Rock music videos usually follow a dark colour scheme throughout and use simple settings. The majority of videos are ‘performance’ based videos, meaning that a lot of shots include the members of the band with their instruments performing. There is a lot of emotion in the videos through the characters and musicians facial expressions, and normally they do not portray happiness in the music videos as they relate the lyrics and meaning of the song to the story line and feelings. 


Pop Music Videos 
Bright colours, flashing lights and creative settings and backdrops are typical features of pop videos. The colours would appeal to mainly younger audiences as many pop artists are young and express themselves through the lyrics of pop music, as well as their costumes that make the musicians look innocent and relatable. Many close up shots are used in videos to effectively show the innocence and fun of the artist. Pop videos usually follow a narrative – tell a story and often include up beat dance routines.


Indie Music Videos 
Common elements included in indie music videos consist heavily of shots of the band and their instruments (very similar to rock music videos). Indie videos often use a narrative throughout and show calm setting (i.e. a field, a room with just instruments in, a quiet street) and some sort of ‘journey’ is usually incorporated. Dark, moody colours and themes are popular in indie videos.

Dance Music Videos 
Bright colours, evocative costume and wealth is heavily shown in Dance/ Hip-hop music videos. The male gaze theory is focused on due to the way women are represented. Women are frequently dressed in clothing which reveals a lot of flesh and have glamorous hair dos and make up. Dance routines set in clubs consist a lot in ‘dance’ videos, this again re visits the male gaze theory. 


R‘n’B Music Videos 
R‘n’B music videos are very often narrative based. They frequently follow a ‘romantic’ or ‘love’ theme and a lot of shots are used of the artist and the actors involved in the video. Similar to dance videos, there are a lot of dance routines featured within R‘n’B videos and women are often dressed in fairly revealing clothes. Money is portrayed very positively as jewellery, cars and designer materials are heavily focused on. Wealth is also reflected in the settings used in videos
including; parties, clubs, mansions etc.

Influential Music Videos

Over time, more money has been pumped into the music industry meaning music videos became more adventurous and are still reaching new levels of creativity to this day. However, putting special effects aside, some music videos remain successful and memorable to us simply because of the reaction they caused at the time of their release. A poll done early in 2010 asked a large number of Myspace and Facebook users what they considered to be the most influential music videos. The top five were said to be:

1. Thriller - Michael Jackson - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_MuUcxHATo

2. Here It Goes Again - OK Go - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCNK7RA

3. Baby One More Time - Britney Spears - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKo4fFVymqk

4. Take On Me - A-Ha - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EXxMlIExpo

5. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guDDPXcdmUI

Music Videos - Censorship

Censorship

Over the years many media productions have shook the public and caused controversy and outrage to the market. Although this is common in the music video industry it also applies over the whole media market. For example when famous director Alfred Hitchcock released his legendary 'Psycho' in 1960 the film was almost band due to the opening scene showing a couple having an affair.

World wide channels that host music videos, MTV being one of them, have been criticized for over censoring what they show or 'don't show'. Although censorship in the market has decreased due to gradual changes in the attitudes and values of the public, we hear bleeped out or muted words deemed inappropriate and extreme sexual imagery removed.


Some examples of artists or songs which have words bleeped out (modern and dated) include;
Enrique Iglesias - Tonight I'm Fucking/ Loving You (2010)
Cee Lo Green - Forget/ Fuck You (2010)
P!nk - (Fucking) Perfect (2010)
Lilly Allen - Kabul Shit (2009)
Akon - I Wanna Love/ Fuck You (2006)
Some of Kanye West's, Eminem's and The Prodigy's material has included language or themes that were considered inapropriate.


MTV channel has edited a number of music videos to remove references to drugs, sex, violence, weapons, racism or homophobia. Many music videos shown on the channel were censored, moved to late-night rotation, or banned entirely from the channel.

Examples of censored/explicit/banned music videos


Robbie Williams - Rock DJ Music Video

Robbie Williams' 2000 hit "Rock DJ" is a memorable video which split the public's view on the explicit shots used. In the video, the artist wishes to attract the attention of the female DJ so he begins to strip out of his clothes (shown left). Failing to get the females attention, he then moves on to "stripping" off his skin and throwing chunks of skin and organ at the girls surrounding him.

They then begin to take notice and quickly begin to 'devour' him until he stands as a skeleton dancing. 

It was not only the sexual nudity that shocked viewers  but also the physical stripping of his skin revealing blood, muscle and organs. The events in the video were described as 'shocking' and 'unexpected' and the video was even given a rated 15 certificate. When the video was released, the shocking reaction it received meant that the video was soon banned from being shown on television, in particular music channels such as MTV and VH1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGelsMOIJZY - Original (explicit)


Maroon 5 - Misery Music Video

Maroon 5's 2010 hit 'Misery' successfully launched their latest 
album 'Hands All Over'. The music video (American version) was as equally gripping. It focused on lead singer Adam Levine and his current girlfriend Anne Vyalitsyna, both very physically attractive and sexy to look at. The video displays Adam and Anne as a broken up couple whilst she plays the "crazy ex-girlfriend" stereotype to the extreme. She offends and tortures her 'ex-boyfriend' by slapping, punching, head butting and threatening him with weapons. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g6g2mvItp4 - Official (American) Version

"Because it kind of turns the whole idea of the sexual energy between two people - a guy and a girl, a music video, you've seen that a million times - that exists in this video, but it's turning it on its ass and having the girl be the more domineering one who's trying to kill me." 
- Levine admitted to MTV News.

However, the UK version made of this sexy and violent music video had censored out every time the "crazy ex-girlfriend" attempts to harm her "ex" by covering the violence with cutesy cartoon graphics including; teddy bears, love hearts and candy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXNqs0LEEss - UK Version

Production of Music Videos

Pre-Production


1. The commissioner of the video sends the track to possible directors and producers, sometimes accompanied by a basic pitch containing what the band wants in their video.

2. These directors/producers come up with ideas for the video which they then turn into a pitch. This is a basic idea and concept of the video and why it will be a good and effective video to make. These pitches will be based upon briefs given to them by the record company, as well as the music itself (what will fit well).

3. The record company will then decide which pitch has most promise to create an effective music video. After a director is chosen they allocate a budget for the video. The chosen producer will deal with the arrangements for the video, as well as making sure the budget is not exceeded.

4. Director of Photography and art director(production designer) then join the team. It's the art director's job to oversee the planning for the look of video, they must scout for locations and plans the shoot location.

Production
5. The artist, cast and crew will arrive at the shoot location. They then work to film the video, this process usually takes one day.

6. Then the 'off-line' edit takes place. This is where an editor cuts assembles all of the footage shot on the day of the shoot over a period of a few days. The record company and artist may ask to see it and suggest changes.

7. After this, the 'online' edit is made. This means that all of the special effects are added, and the video is finalised and is made ready for release.

8. Final product is delivered to the client who subsequently releases it to television, Internet and others.

The time it takes for this process to complete has dropped in recent times, as the demand for music videos is growing greatly, as well as video budgets plummeting. All of the steps may take as little time as three to four weeks.