LIP SYNC EXERCISE

The Goodwin theory

Goodwin argues that narratives in music videos are different to those in novels or films as they believe pop videos rely on repetition, the singer is used as a narrator as well as a character (practically playing two roles), pop videos are built around songs, for example songs don't propose a traditional narrative structure and that the singer often looks directly at the character during the performance to try and engage the audience with whatever he/she is doing. 

Goodwin argues that there are three different types of relationships between music videos and the lyrics of there songs. 

The first relationship; 'Illustration' is where the video tells the narrative of the lyric and dance movements are often used to depict feelings/moods in the song. 

Examples of these are in the music video 'Papa Don't Preach' - By Madonna as the lyrics are very closely matched to the video. 

'You always taught me right from wrong' 

These lyrics above depict what the image is showing as her father is teaching her how to do the washing up and how it is polite to help people. 

'Daddy, daddy if you could only see
Just how good he's been treating me'

This is another example of where the lyrics match the action in the music video as we can see she is clearly happy with her new boyfriend from her facial expressions as she is smiling. 

The second relationship 'Amplification' is where the images amplify the lyrics as a narrative which may be used to convey deeper meaning that would not necessarily by picked up from the lyrics alone. 

A music video which shows this is clearly is 'Where is your head at' - By BasementJaxx

'Where's your head at?'

This lyric above supports what is happening in the video as the character of the 'patient' is almost having halucinations as he is seeing human faces in monkeys bodies. The lyric 'Where's your head at?' links to the action as it is asking the character what is wrong with him as he is seeing weird things. 

'You have now found yourself trapped in the incomprehensible maze... '

These lyrics also support the action in the music video as the character of the 'patient' is trapped in a box being attacked by monkeys. As well as this these lyrics depict sanity as the audience watch a psychotic experience. 

The third relationship 'Disjuncture' is where there is little or no connection between the lyric and the music video or where the video contradicts the lyrics. 

An example of 'Disjuncture' is in the music video 'Man in a mirror' - By Michael Jackson. 

'I'm Starting With The Man In
The Mirror'

When Michael Jackson sings these lyrics above the audience see a girl fainting at one of is concerts. This is a clear example of 'Disjuncture' as there is no link as to why this happened. 

'If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place'

The lyrics above contradict the action taking place in the music video as the artist Michael Jackson sings about about making the world a better place, however the audience see and hear police cars. 

Negus - Organic and Synthetic Acts in the music industry.

Negus theory of an organic act is a act that is not 'man made'. The image of the artist is 'enhanced' by the record company and the artist is given time to evolve and progress through their career. Organic artists tend to write and produce their own music. 

Examples of organic artists are Ed Sheeran, James Bay and George Ezra. 

Organic artists are mainly aimed at the older or more sophisticated consumers.

The function of an Organic artist to a record label is that they provide a long term revenue stream; emphasis is give to the album sales and the construction of a successful back catalogue. 

A Synthetic artist is a 'man made' artist. Synthetic artists will be given a short time to prove their success before other combinations will be tried out, the image of the artist is often constructed by the record company.
Examples of Synthetic artists are Katy Perry, Cheryl Cole and Leona Lewis. 

Synthetic artists are mainly aimed at younger, less sophisticated audiences. 

The function of a Synthetic artist to a record label is that they provide immediate profits, they are a short term revenue; emphasis is given to single sales and to promoting first albums. 

As a class we analysed the artist 'Amy Mcdonands' album cover to identify the way her organic image was portrayed.

From looking at this photo the audience can see that it is synthetic as the artists have been placed in a particular way; we can tell it is not a natural shot although it is made to look it. The title of the album is made to look very natural/organic as it looks almost like 'hand writing' however we can tell that it is not. By the writing being in the colour black it stands out against the contrasting background. The facial expressions of the artists also connote that this album cover is synthetic as they look like they are constructed to look happy. The costumes of the artist also are made to look organic/natural however we can tell that they have been dressed like this purposely as they are all colour coordinated. The lighting for album is very glossy which enables the audience to see the artists and there facial expressions clearly; as they are a sold for their good looks as well as their music. From seeing their facial expressions so clearly there faces look flawless and possibly airbrushed which also shows that this album cover again is synthetic as it is not a natural shot. 

Building my first homepage using 'WORD PRESS'

To build my first website I used the website 'Word Press' and created a website for the singer-songwriter, Ed Sheeran. Before making this website for my chosen artist I looked at similar artists too him and looked at there websites. For example; Sam Smith, James Blunt, James Morrison and Jason Mraz. The first thing I needed to do when creating my website was to pick my website theme, where I went for something very simple as I wanted my website to be very sophisticated and not tacky. When looking at the artist websites similar to mine, I found that they all have bars at the top of the home page with topics on that the audience could click to discover more about a certain topic which I thought was a really good idea as it makes it easier for the audience to find certain things they are looking for and because I found this such a good idea I did this myself on my website.

(My Chosen theme) 

(Topic bar)

Once I had done this I then needed to decide on a picture for my header on my homepage, to do this I went on to google images and found a high resolution picture of Ed Sheerans fans at a concert. This photo was black and white which I found was conventional theme for the other singer-songwriter artists. As well as this, over the top of the picture I put Ed Sheerans name in a black box with white writing to stand out, however when the audience click on to his name in the black box his name will go green; the same way his latest album cover is green.

(Headers)

( What I clicked on to make the writing green )

Once I had finished my home page I then put in all the detail for the different topics. For example when people click on 'tour dates' they will see this.

I then did this for all of my topics, So I had a finished website which you can find at https://wordpress.com/customize/hannahvoyanna.wordpress.com

CONVENTIONS OF A WEBSITE IN THE POP/ACOUSTIC GENRE

All four of these artists are very similar as they produce similar genres, as well as this all of these artists are singer song writers which share thoughts of their own through their songs. 

On all four of these artist websites they all have a bar with topics on; for example ( photos, videos, tour dates etc) by having this bar it makes the website a lot more organised and easier for the audience to quickly click on a topic they would like to see more on, about there fan. 

    

    

 

The artists 'Sam Smith' and 'James Blunts' both have the music videos of there current best selling songs on the there website home pages. By having these videos as soon as the audience go on to there websites they will be able to watch it straight away which will hopefully lead to the audience buying the song if they haven't already. 

As soon as the audience click onto Jason Mrazs' website they see a link to his merchandise straight away. By placing the merchandise in the middle of the screen as soon as you click on to the website it puts it in front of the audience without any choice. However by doing this is gets the audience to look at and possibly buy it, because they might not of been interested before if they had to find it on the website. Making it easy for the audience to find I feel Jason Mraz will make a lot more profits than he would of done if the audience had their own choice to look at it. 

On the home pages of the artists Jason Mraz and James Morrison they both have a section of the latest news. This convention is particularly good for fans of these artists as it shows them quickly and easily the latest news; for examples tour dates, release dates or personal life news. 

On the websites of Sam Smith and James Blunt they both have social media icons which allows the audience to take them straight through to there twitter pages, facebook pages etc. By doing this is creates a personal relationship between the audience and the artist as the audience are made to feel like they are 'special' as they can see there social media pages which they post there own thoughts and pictures on.

Although these websites were all made for different artists they all share similar conventions of the stereotypical pop/singer-songwriter genre. For examples James Morrison, James Blunt and Sam Smiths websites all contain pictures of them on there own, suggesting to the audience that they are all solo artists and the focus is on them as an individual. Sam Smiths website also is a monochrome theme which is very simplistic which depicts him as a sophisticated artist. However Jason Mraz's website does show pictures but not on his home page; in order to see photos the audience will need to click on 'media' and then 'photos'. 

Overall Jason Mraz's website I feel stands out the most as it is bright colours which engages the audiences attention. 

What do audiences 'get' out of watching music videos:

In this post I will be looking at three different music videos which were nominated as the best music videos of 2014. 

The first music video I will be looking at is OG MACO - U GUESSED IT, Directed by Goldrush. 

In this video a hand held camera is used when the characters and artist are partying in a hotel lift. As a hand held camera is used it makes a personal relationship/connection between the audience and the characters, as the audience are made to feel like they are watching a video off a phone,which they would not normally be able to see as it is portrayed as a 'backstage' scene. In the music video it states the time; 3.36am, by it being early hours in the morning and the characters are partying it portrays them as 'rebellious'. Also in the music video the audience see body guards looking after the characters, however letting them do whatever they want. By showing shots of the body guards it shows signs of diversion as the audience are able to follow the celebrities lifestyle by having people look after them, and not obey to rules; this allows the audience to escape from reality and give them a glimpse of a celebrities lifestyle.

 

 

 

The second music video I will be looking at is DISCLOSURE - ‘‘GRAB HER”, Directed by Emilie Sornin.

 

This music video is by far very creative, depicting a very surreal environment; which is visually intriguing for the audience, as it explores use of comedy throughout. For example throughout the music video the 'cooperate office world' is being mocked. The music video targets an audience ranging from 16-30 as the music aurally is very engaging and would be heard in clubs/festivals, however it links to the theme of diversion as people in the office environment will be able to understand and relate to the video as it mocks there everyday jobs which they most probably don't want to be doing as they probably dream of a much more relaxed lifestyle just like listening to this song helps them to do. 

 

 

 

The third music video I will be looking at is HYUNA - ‘‘RED’’.

This music video explores sexual themes targeting both a female and a male audience, as the male audience will be engaged by artist herself and females will be intrigued by the artists figure, fashion and good looks. In this music video the artist does many provocative dance movements that depict sexual themes. For example body language as the artist strokes all around her body and often winks. Close ups and mid shots are particularly used in the music video to also depict themes. For example the use of dismemberment as this sexually objectifies the artist, also close ups are scene of objects such and the artist for example, she dances with a banana and a lipstick. The dancing in the music video is very sexual not only by the artist but by the other characters as well which shows they are watching to attract that sort of attention. 

 

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