Genre Characteristics

The term "pop music" originated from popular music.

-simple songs
-variations on existing themes
-associated with rock and roll
-aimed at youth market
-absorbed influences from other genres
-dominated by the American

Our Chosen Song With Lyrics

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go, can't do it alone
I've tried and I don't know why

Slow it down, make it stop or else my heart is going to pop
'Cause it's too much, yeah it's a lot to be something I'm not
I'm a fool out of love 'cause I just can't get enough

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go, can't do it alone
I've tried and I don't know why

I'm just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out, it's bringing me down
I know I've got to let it go and just enjoy the show

The sun is hot in the sky just like a giant spotlight
The people follow the signs and synchronize in time
It's a joke nobody knows, they've got a ticket to the show

Yeah, I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/l/lenka-lyrics/the-show-lyrics.html ]
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go, can't do it alone
I've tried and I don't know why

I'm just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out, it's bringing me down
I know I've got to let it go and just enjoy the show
Just enjoy the show

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go, can't do it alone
I've tried and I don't know why

I'm just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out, it's bringing me down
I know I've got to let it go and just enjoy the show
Just enjoy the show, just enjoy the show

I want my money back, I want my money back
I want my money back, just enjoy the show
I want my money back, I want my money back
I want my money back, just enjoy the show

Collages

Today we have completed our collages which we will be using in our pitch powerpoint.
We made one which involves general ideas & themes for our music video & another which was just costume & makeup inspired.
We are now starting to plan for our timeline which we hope to complete within the next few lessons

Costume & Make-Up Collage

We have created another collage that shows the themes that our costumes and make up will be made up of.

General Theme Collage

We have made a collage that shows the general theme of our music video and the genre of out music video. 

Music Video Analysis - Maisie

I like this video because I really enjoy the way that whole video is telling a story. The whole video is a flashback using a little girl to play her however she is in many of the scenes playing teacher, caretaker etc.

She uses costumes to show who the characters are suppose to be. For example she uses a young girl with a hairstyle similar to hers now, dressed in black clothes. What young Jessie J is wearing compare to the other girls is complete opposite, the other girls in the video were dressed pretty in pink to show them as stereotypical young girls. They are supposed to be the 'popular kids', and the bullies. It is also there to show how Jessie did not fit in at school and how different she was to everybody else.

The top that the young Jessie J is wearing says ‘u r boring’, this is related to what is going on in the scene, because you get a clear shot of the top once she has stormed out of the classroom and lashing out, it is telling the viewers that she was bored of what she was having to go through and was going to do something about it, and this was said without it being said, this is an example of very good use of costume to help the viewer understand what is going on.

I really like the way that she has used this song to tell a story that is obviously close to her heart and very personal and the way that she used her horrible experience and looked at the positive by saying 'Who's laughing now?'
The flashback scenes are set in a school, and you also see Jessie J singing in a classroom, this is her revisiting the memory literally as well as revisiting it mentally by writing and singing this song.

The school is an environment that everybody can relate to and also many viewers will be able to relate to her story of not fitted in, her lyrics and her body language show how she is trying to let the viewers know that they can do the same as her.
This video uses many different camera angles and they all have a reason why. Close-ups are used so you can see the expression of the person in shot, this will give viewers an idea of how they are feeling and be able to relate to them.

Long shots and panning shots are used to show the viewer what is going on in the whole scene; this makes the viewer feel like they are there because they can see everything that is going on.

The props used when young Jessie J goes into the school hall and wrecks everything and very clever. They look like they have been set up for a play, however they represent Jessie J in the later life with the cameras, Hollywood hills etc. Also young Jessie J is looking into the fake camera; this again represents Jessie J’s career after leaving school.

Towards the end of the video it shows young Jessie J going back into the classroom and spraying them all with a fire extinguisher. This represents what she thought about them.

There is also a scene towards the end when young Jessie J is singing with a lot of people behind her also singing. This represents her life now, which is that everybody wants to be her friend and everybody is singing along to her songs.

At the end of the video, the viewers are shown young Jessie J and Jessie J sitting together with their arms around each other, this shows the audience how Jessie J feels about her young self, that she is happy with the way she was.

Word Cloud

This is our completed word cloud.

Group Meeting 3

We have finished our brainstorming & are now working on creating a Word Cloud which will be presented to the class when we do our pitch. We are using a website called Wordle.net, where we have listed the main ideas of the brainstorm to then create our Word Cloud.

Group Meeting 2

We have now decided what song we will be doing our music video to & themes that will be incorporated within the video. We are using themes of love, relationships, confusion & freedom. We have tried to base all our ideas around these themes so our idea is consistent all the way through.
The song we have chosen to do is Lenka - The Show.

Group Meeting 1

Short list of songs

Idea One - Lenka - The Show



Idea Two - Natasha Beddingfield - These Words



Idea Three - Mary J Blige - Just Fine



Idea Four - Ellie Goulding _ Your Song

Music Video Analysis 2

Title: Price Tag

Artist: Jessie J ft B.o.b

Album: Who You Are

Producer: Dr.Luke

Genres: R&B, hip hop, pop, reggae fusion

Release Date: 28th January 2011 (UK)

I will be focusing on Andrew Goodwin’s theory from ‘Dancing in the distraction factory’ to analyse this music video.

There is a metaphoric and contradicting relationship between the lyrics and visuals in relation to the relatively serious issues highlighted in the song and how particular shots seem to mock these ideas by using unrealistic props. Also, the lyrics describe the idea that money is just an object that shouldn’t be the controller of love, relationships, health and that materialistic items are a luxury and should be grateful for not taken advantage of, yet a close up shot of Jessie singing shows her lips covered in pink diamantes contradicting this message, and supporting the supposedly negative perception that expensive or additional objects are needed in order for the music video to appeal to its audience.

Like many pop music videos, typical genre characteristics are evident such as an emphasis on production and technology that is that the music video makes no attempt to hide the indicators to the cost of the making of the video. The music itself also intended to encourage its audience to dance via its beats and rhythms, Price Tag certainly achieves this.

The repetitive close-up shots of the main artist are present to familiarise the star image with its audience for advertisement purposes. This technique is used in many pop music videos, many of which directors have been giving a specific percentage in which the main vocalist should be shown for in the duration of the video to satisfy its audience.

Although the artist is female voyeurism is not present in Price Tag to the extent of that in for example Candy Shop by 50 Cent and Olivia. I believe this is because the target audience would be young adults and therefore this would not be ethical.

Jessie is represented throughout the video in a way in which makes her appear lost in her childhood as well as being frustrated about today’s society. The lyrics of the song suggest she is opinionated and wanting for change. She is generally portrayed in a neutral light meaning that the audience is not intended to dislike nor admire her but rather agree or disagree with her.

Like many of Jessie J's music videos, Price Tag is primarily performance and conceptual based. It starts by briefly showing "Jessie" as a child which could illustrate how her views on materialistic items and values portrayed in the song could have been shared with her views when she was younger. Alongside this visual is the sound a musical toy for a cot would make further illustrating the thoughts and imagination of Jessie's inner child.

I like the use of oversized and under-sized props and how they more than often have no significance to the lyrics. For example a huge bear, toddler sized bike and dolls house could almost a metaphor of Jessie’s childhood.

The mise-en-scene in the video is generated via the use of metaphors, for example the costume is bizarre such as a clown outfit and a ballerina dress which at first seem irrelevant however they all account to the idea that Jessie finds herself wrapped up in the excitement of a ‘child’s play-like world’. Her unusual facial expressions and exaggerated body language further support this.

Broken doll could suggest Jessie’s memories of her childhood are perhaps hurtful or hard due to struggles with money and family.

Jessie in the puppet outfit could be metaphoric to how she felt controlled as a toy attached to string that ables them to move is. This again could be related to her childhood, evident from the clown like make-up and costume which is typically associated with children’s entertainment.

Certain elements of make-up are also beneficial to the music video such as diamante lips because they re-gain interest due to their eye-catching effect.

In means of location when shooting, no natural environments or specifically designed set have been used. All of the backgrounds used in the video appear to have been created and was therefore likely to have been filmed against a green screen. This is apparent because of the use of fading out of colours.

Throughout the video there are obvious examples of gender connotations such as a blue background, traditionally associated with males used when B.o.b is rapping and pink when Jessie is singing.

Video Analysis

Don Diablo & Example – Hooligans

This music video is both performance & narrative, but it is mainly performance throughout. A brief introduction of about 30 seconds sets up the story for the music video, where a rude boy is queuing outside a club & pushes to the front & then gets chucked in by the bouncers. This then continues to the club where the artists are performing. According to Andrew Goodwin’s points in ‘Dancing in the distraction factory’, this music video has a relationship between the lyrics & the visuals. For example when Example sings ‘loose your Rolex rip your t-shirt’ he pulls at his t-shirt which directly relates to what he is singing. He also sings ‘where’s all the hooligans’ as all the people in the club are jumping around in the background which would suggest he is referring to the ravers at the club as hooligans as they are going crazy & all look wild & rowdy. The lyrics of the song are about people going out raving & so the video is of people at a rave which therefore directly links to the lyrics.

The music also relates to the visuals because the edits are very fast & snappy like the music is which makes it interesting to watch. The editors have also managed to make perfect cuts with the beat & the ravers are also jumping to the beat so it looks realistic. Also, in the background of the music there is a loud horn often being played during the song. At about 2:32 minutes in we see a boy pressing the air horn which therefore relates the visual to the music.

These horns are often associated with the police & craziness & as the song is about hooligans is fits in well. Also, as the music turns to just the horns, you see clips of girls holding their bleeding ears which shows how loud the music is.

All these things amplify the relationship between the music & visuals & make the music video more exciting & interesting to watch.

Andrew Goodwin’s fourth point in ‘Dancing in the distraction factory’ states that the record labels demand lots of close ups of the artists in their music videos. This music video follows this point as there are over 55 close up shots of Example & Don Diablo throughout. The camera often does straight cuts from the artists to the crowd as well as to other shots. Example & Don Diablo come across as wild ravers with a lot of energy & have a lot of fun performing & partying. This ties in well with the type of music they make. These are also sometimes seen as stereotypical characteristics of young people now days.

Music Video Analysis 1

This video for 'Super Bass' from Nicki Minaj's debut album 'Pink Friday' was recently released by Cash Money Record Inc, and Universal Records and directed by Sanaa Hamri. The song itself is mostly Rap/Hip Hop. I was intrigued when I first viewed the video because of the excessive use of different shades of pink. The setting of the video appears to be a rich, playful, fantasy world which is evident from the presence of 'sexy' women and materialistic items. 

I found the 'X-ray scan' effect for the drastically slow part of the song particularly interesting because it stands out from the rest of the video.

The costumes the artist wears are extremely bold and colourful and often reveal a lot of her body. 

The make-up and hair of the artist always seem to be highlighted by the camera use. This could be because pink or other bright coloured wigs in particular are Nicki Minaj's 'signature' feature.