Textual Analysis 3 - Happy

Happy by Pharrell Williams - 

This song was made for 'Despicable Me 2' soundtrack that was released in 2014. The music video was directed by a French production team and was shit using a steadicam. Cross media convergence has been used for this video, the '24 hours of happy' was launched. It was the worlds first 24 hour music video - users could log on and a clip would appear from anywhere around the world and it would be in correlation to the time that they logged in. The official music video was a edit of the 24 hours of footage - this received over 670 million views worldwide on Youtube. As shown from the mass amount of views, this had a massive global impact. Thousands of countries and cities made their own version of the music video with the tagline 'We are happy from..'. For example; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TYyOl8Q2EI.

Halls Reception Theory - 
'Happy' received positive reactions from around the world and had a mainly dominant reception, The video didn't discriminate and this allowed those all across the globe to enjoy this piece. The upbeat vibe and innocent theme led to many accepting the song as joyful. However, there are some who disliked the song and took a oppositional reception and became annoyed about the song and started a hatred towards the upbeat song.

Gauntlett's Media 2.0 Theory -

Gauntlett's theory of Media 2.0 can be applied to this video also.

Content - As there is many parodies and other versions of this music video, it means the content is abundant.

Distribution - The distribution for this video was also abundant. This was a worldwide phenomenon and was distributed all around the globe.

Attention - Usually, because of the new age media 2.0, attention is saturated. However, as this was such a big project, it received a mass amount of attention across the globe.

Significant Moments of Music Videos

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_IDRlKqQtopoNcKG68OMraXzZ-5ur8P3DJNUwZOxg2I/edit?usp=sharing

Textual Analysis 2

This week in lesson we discussed music videos that our group enjoyed and we spoke about why we liked them and what genre/stereotypes were portrayed through the video.

Rat Boy - 'Sign On'

The genre for Rat Boy's single, 'sign on' is an indie based record. The movie contains fast paced editing, suggesting that the artists want to be perceived as upbeat and youthful. The camera shots used are mostly mid shots and tracking of the artists in their car, this makes the audience feel like they are watching the artists everyday lifestyle and makes the audience feel involved with them. 

The artists appearance is very youthful and common. This is shown by the boys wearing casual gear such as Adidas jumpers and trainers, along with the stereotypical push bikes adding to their demure of those on the dole. This artists audience would probably be most appealing to the younger audience who want to have fun. Intertextuality has been used by this artist, the music video shows the artists riding around in a car and in Supergrass 'Alright' video, they are seen riding around in a bed. There is also a connection with the riding of the chopper bikes in both videos, the common theme between the two videos is the amount of fun it looks like they are having.

Olly Murs ft Demi Lovato -  'Up'

The genre for this song is the classic love/pop song. This song contains many characteristics of the stereotypical genre that it upholds. The video is slow and sad, just like the lyrics; therefore meaning it fits together quite well. The mise en scene in this video shows dark lighting to fit with the depressive lyrics which go along with a break up theme. The costumes both artists are wearing is casual and not styled, giving a more natural and relatable feeling to the audience. The wall is used as a barrier, however intertextuality is used in this scene with the song by James Morrison called 'Broken Strings', which had a similar genre of break up and indifferences. The artists took inspiration from the video in clear ways with the wall acting as a barrier to the smashing the room, suggesting they want to appeal to a similar audience. 

Textual Analysis 1 - Can't Touch This

The music video that was released before I was born that I will be analysing is 'Cant Touch This' by MC Hammer. I will be comparing Goodwins conventions to this 1990 classic.


Andrew Goodwin

• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
• There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals; these lyrics are represented by images.
• There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects of the music.
• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work.
• There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
• There are often intertextual references

Camera Shots
The camera shots used in this music video generally consist of mid shots and some low angled shots were used. The low angled shots made the singer look powerful and high powered. Lots of different camera shots of the outfits worn in this video are shown. This could be linked to Goodwins theory that the demands of the record label have taken power and lots of close ups of the artists outfits are needed.

Mise En Scene
The mise en scene in this music video is stereotypical of early 90's style with the baggy sweat pants and the women wearing very little on the top half of their bodies. The women are dressed provocative and mostly dressed in dark colours, showing an edgy side to them. This fits with Goodwins theory that women are used for voyeuristic reasons and to enhance the male audience into watching the videos.

Editing
The editing in this music video is very quick and upbeat, much like the pop genre of this song selection. The video itself fits well with the up tempo song and the two create work together. This fits with Goodwins conventions of the relationship between music and visuals; the tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects the music well.

Sound
The sound is very upbeat and the lyrics match on action to what is happening the video. Lip syncing can be seen used multiple times and the lyrics match what is happening in the video itself. This is Goodwins convention that lyrics can be represented through images/video.

A2 Media..

I have just started A2 media after a productive year of doing the AS course. This year sounds completely different from last year. Last year we was required to create a short thriller opening, whereas this year we creating a music promotion video and 3 extra tasks which I will present on my blogger. I hope to develop useful skills and I can't wait to get started with my group again as we all worked together so wonderfully.