MTV Analysis

I have decided to conduct some research on the music channel, MTV, as it is an example of the type of channel in which the genre of our music video will be typically showed on.
MTV stands for ‘Music TeleVision’, and for the past two centuries has proven to be one of the most successful music channels amongst its target audience. It is hosted in America and was first launched on the 1st August 1981. The first show debuted with an image of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon, symbolising the achievement of the show and also promoting it to be something huge. The first video debuted on the show was ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’, again instantly emphasising this buzz created around the first show and re-enforcing the purpose of this television show. This was then emphasised by the tagline “You'll never look at music the same way again."
Throughout the 1980’s, MTV played mostly rock genre of music, such as Duran Duran.
Throughout this time, MTV’s initially success also meant that the introducers and hosts also become well-known celebrities themselves.
In the first few years, MTV broke what was known as the ‘color barrier’ – one of their most notable achievements to date. Artists such as Tina Turner were allowed airtime on the show. However, many artists of the black race were rejected airtime – purely because the genre of the music did not fit into the rock genre MTV were showing and promoting at the time. This achievement was not actually recognized until Michael Jacksons “Billie Jean” was finally given it’s airtime on the show. Throughout the 1980’s, MTV was considered the biggest promotional tool.

In the 1990’s, MTV expanded and the genre of pop was introduced onto airtime. All of a sudden, artists such as ‘New Kids On The Block’ were becoming more and more successful due to MTV’s allowance. The show also started not only showing the name of the artist and the song, but also started showing the name of the director – enhancing their popularity and also advertising their skills.

By 1997, the genre of music played on MTV changed again, with an increase of airtime dedicated to electric pop – artists such as Roni Size and The Chemical Brothers were immediately gaining a load of success. The original genre of pop culture was not totally abandoned, with an introduction of artists such as Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears receiving airtime, generating a huge buzz around them which could suggest MTV holds some responsibility for the massive amount of success in which they have received in pop culture over the decades.

However, in 1997 MTV gained some negative reviews about the decrease in the number of music video’s they were playing. MTV immediately reacted to this and began playing some rock music in combination with the pop music they were already playing, and also began the production of some new shows. One of the most notable shows to this date within all music channels was TRL, which was a chance in which the audience could watch interviews with their favorite artists but also got to watch a number of different music videos, counting down the music chart.

In relation to our own production…
We now realize that the song of our specific genre would have been welcomed to airtime on MTV since around 1997, also showing that it would not be new to a market, furthermore suggesting that our video will have to be different to the usual in order to catch the attention of the audience and prove to be a success. Our research also shows to us that promotional wise, our artist would benefit greatly by appearing shows such as TRL and also ensuring our video gets a lot of airtime on the channel.
(Picture above) Modern day pop female artists (in the same market as our own) such as Miley Cyrus still today make appearances on the MTV show TRL to boost there popularity and the success of there new releases.

(Pictures Below) Some of the most successful modern pop female artists had generated there success from the initial airtime provide by the channel MTV.

Director Research - Jake Nava

I have chosen to do some research on the music director, Jake Nava, as looking through his videography, he has directed some of the most successful music videos of the same genre.
Jake Nava is not only a music director, but is also an advertising director as well as a feature film director. He has won a number of different awards in recognition of his music video, with a lot of credibility going particularly to Beyonce’s debut music video, ‘Crazy In Love’.
Nava began directing music videos in 1994, when he directed Lulu’s video for ‘Goodbye baby and amen’. The black and white music video effectively used lightening to match with the beat of the music. 15 years later, Nava is more successful then ever, having directed over 80 videos
In relation to our own production, Nava has successfully directed a number of ballad’s that revolve around this thought of loneliness or isolation. Some include:
Atomic Kitten – It’s Okay
Pink – Nobody Knows
Leona Lewis – Run
He is also well recognized for creating a successful ‘female empowerment theme’, also closely related to the narrative behind our song.
Jake Nava says the way in which he directs is he takes an idea to the artist and then they usually have an input, for example saying they want more narrative, more exterior etc. He claims the style of the video changes depending on the artist, saying it’s important to give an artist there own unique identity. Nava says the style of the video is dictated by the genre of the music and the vibe that he feels makes the artist that’s doing that song look there best.


In relation to our production...
By finding out about the ways in which Nava finds he directs most effectivly, with evidence from videos of simular artists, it helps to give us some tips and ideas of the most effective way in which we can create a simularily successful video.

Here are just a few influencial stills from some of Jake Nava's directed videos. I felt them influencal for a number of different reasons - Framing of shots, colouring of shots, effectivness of conveying a certain message or value etc.

Filming information

Actors:
Our main actress (the artist) will be around the 17-19 age range. We chose to have them around this age as this is the age that the majority of our target audience will be. Therefore, by having the actress at the same age range, the audience will feel they are able to relate to the actress more and so resulting in the video being more of a success. Our actress will fit into the conventions of a modern popstar (attractive, long straight hair, clear skin etc.)
Our male actor will also be around the 17-19 age range to compliment the actress and also to make the narrative more real. He will be attractive to some extent, but not as attractive as the female. This is to compliment the narrative, suggesting she was too good for him and therefore matching the narrative that she will be better off without him.
Our third actress – the one in which the male is cheating on our artist with in the narrative – will be attractive, but not as attractive as our artist. Again, this is to create this idea that our artist is better then her and to create this empowering feel.


Shooting List
Firstly, we will shoot the performance based scenes. We will do this late December/ early January. We hope to get all these shots done within one day, but are prepared to return to the beach for a second day if all shots are not completed. We have chosen to shoot this first as it is the scene which takes up more time in comparison to the others, so by completing it throughout the holidays we are able to make sure all our attention is dedicated to the video, as appose to term-time where we may be focused more on our other studies.
Within the next few weeks after shooting the video, we will shoot the narrative shots.
The scene of the our male and the third female in the car will be shot in either mine or Laurel’s car or a relative, as this minimises any costs and is also more applicable. The shot with our artist in her room with her friends will be shot in one of our friends rooms – again, minimising costs. We will choose the most feminine room available to again create this empowering feel to the narrative.

Research on a record company

(All info was found on the polydor website)

Founded in Germany in 1946 as the popular music arm of the long-established Deutsche Grammophon label, the UK division of Polydor was not established until ten years later - perfectly timed to coincide with the rock'n'roll revolution that was transforming the musical landscape and establishing youth culture for the first time as a significant phenomenon. Initially, the label concentrated on releasing continental-made recordings - but with Germany a popular touring destination for the emerging British 'beat' groups, there were rich pickings to be had. In August 1961, German Polydor released a single called My Bonnie by Tony Sheridan and The Beat Boys. Nobody realised it at the time, but the record was destined to change the face of popular music, for the backing group was none other than the Beatles. Recorded in Hamburg during the band's legendary three month residency at that city's Top Ten Club, My Bonnie was the first official release by the group and was reissued two years later, when it briefly charted in Britain during the first flush of 'Beatlemania'. Polydor went on to place itself at the centre of the creative melting-pot that was British music in the 1960s by signing a series of adventurous production deals with some of the most dynamic pop entrepreneurs. At the time the approach was highly unusual, but it established a model that has since been much-copied. Giorgio Gomelsky, who had discovered the Rolling Stones and managed the Yardbirds, brought in Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger. Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp brought in the The Who, and via their Track Records imprint, Jimi Hendrix, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Thunderclap Newman. And Robert Stigwood brought two big-hitters to the label with the Bee Gees and Cream.
Between them, they created an enviable pop and rock roster of British-based talent that left the competition trailing in its wake. At the same time, Polydor developed its American connections to become a significant soul and r'n'b powerhouse. Among the acts who came through Polydor was the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown, while the UK license to the Stax and Atlantic labels gave them Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin and a host of other top names. In the 1970s, a combination of enlightened deals with entrepreneurs such as Stigwood and the adventurous policy of the label's in-house A'n'R team, built an impressively broad-based roster. Progressive rock was represented by the likes of the late, great Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher, Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton, both solo and with Derek and the Dominos. Glam rock was represented by Slade and the Rubettes. Then there was a Swedish group who won the Eurovision song contest in 1974 and went on to dominate the charts all over the world for years to come. They went by the name of Abba and their greatest hits Gold album still sells strongly to this day.
Via Robert Stigwood's RSO stable, Polydor also led the way in disco, with the Bee Gees and the chart-topping Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. At one point in 1977-78, Polydor/RSO held the number one slot in the American charts for 23 consecutive weeks, with six different singles. At the same time, Polydor was in the forefront of the punk revolution, signing the Jam, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Sham 69, among others.
Into the 1980s, the dance-funk of Level 42, The Wonder Stuff and Paul Weller's Style Council added further diversity to the roster. In the 1990s the label became even more eclectic. Credible singer-songwriters such as Van Morrison and Eagle-Eye Cherry were signed alongside Britpop heroes Cast and Shed Seven. Former Stones Roses frontman Ian Brown launched a solo career on the label, while the Lighthouse Family and Boyzone flew the flag for the mainstream. Polydor's link with the Interscope, Geffen and A'n'M labels also brought on board an impressive roster of American talent, including Eminem, 50 Cent, Beck, Counting Crows and Marilyn Manson as well as the Nirvana catalogue.
Into the new millennium, the label continues to boast plenty of big pop names from Ronan Keating to Daniel Bedingfield. But it has also built an adventurous roster to revive the potent excitement of the halcyon days of the 1960s. From the realm of contemporary British urban music came the trailblazing Mercury Music Prize-winner Ms Dynamite, while Scissor Sisters, Snow Patrol and Sweden's The Hives spearhead an impressive alternative rock contingent. Other big name include, Will.I.Am, Busta Rhymes, Take That and Miley Cyrus.

Target audience questionnaire analysis

1. What is your favourite music video channel?
There were a whole range of answers that we received for this question. As you can see from the graph below the most popular one proved to be Kerrrang! This implies that the most popular type music in our class is rock.


2. What is your preferred genre of music to listen to?
Again there is a dominant preferred type of music that is apparent and can be demonstrated below.


3. What is your favourite artist from your preferred genre of music?
Due to everyone’s tastes and opinions there were various artists that people preferred. Again the graph bellow will illustrate this.


4. What do you expect to see in a music video from that genre?
Those who answered that their favourite genre of music was pop/RnB said that in a video of that genre they expect to see women and men sexualised to appeal to both genders. Also they are portrayed to be very rich and glamorous. They also expect to see either a lot of upbeat dance moves or a lot of close ups with narrative based performance.
Those who expressed that their preferred type of music was rock said that they would expect to see a performance from the artist because rock is a lot about the skill of the musician; this answer was common amongst those who filled out the questionnaires.

5. What type of performance do you prefer in a video?
The most popular answer was both, proving to us that people want too see performance of the artist and a narrative behind this.


6. Why do you prefer that particular type of performance?
Everyone who completed the questionnaire said that just performance of the artist can be boring. Having narrative within in a video makes it more interesting and in depth and gives a better understanding as to what the song might be about.

7. What is your own personal favourite music video and why?
Again there was a whole range of answers as everyone has different tastes in music and opinions. One favourite is Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson. This is due to the fact it is practically all performance based and this interests the audience because of his dancing and whole demeanour. Another favourite was Scientist by Cold Play. This is because the video is backwards, for example, the narrative starts at the end and everything is played backwards. This also matches with another answer from a different artist. The Academy is… video is also in reverse.

8. Do you prefer black and white videos or colour?
Everyone said, apart from one person that they prefer colour videos. This is slightly negative feedback due to the fact that we plan to have our video in black and white. However, we hope that we make the video good enough for people to like the black and white effect.

9. If you know of any do you favour a particular music video director?
Out of all the people we handed a questionnaire out to only three people knew of any music videos directors, which in my opinion suggests that directors of music videos and quite under rated. Two people said that Dean Karr was their favourite because his videos are “surreal, disturbing and crazy.” From researching him on the internet it seems as though his main focus and genre is that of rock, due to the fact that he made videos for Slipknot, Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper. The other favourite director that was mentioned was Jake Nava. He is an English producer and has worked with some big stars, also from the genre we are focusing on in our production. These include, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Usher and Pixie Lott.

10. Do you think that in creating this it has been useful in trying to establish a target audience?
Everyone replied with yes.


In my opinion I think distributing this questionnaire to members of the class has been very useful to us. This is because it has given us a greater insight into other people’s preferences of music and so illustrates to us whether people will enjoy the type of music we have chosen for our video. It has become apparent from this the majority of the class prefer rock music but hopefully our video will also appeal to them. It is interesting to see what music and videos people like apart from ourselves.

Video Analysis - Rihanna, Take A Bow

The video I am going to analyse is Rihanna – Take a Bow. I chose this video as it is by a female artist of the same genre. It also has the same story behind the narrative and therefore could give us some influence and idea's as to how to portray this particular idea. I have only analysed the first minuite as it will give me a clear, sharp indication of how instantly the narrative can be established.


The video starts with a close-up of Rihanna’s arm placed across her body and then tracks upwards so we see Rihanna’s face. The initial close-up of her arm then tracking upwards helps to show the mise-en-scene of different gold jewellery which she is wearing – The gold ring, the gold watch, the gold necklaces, which are emphasised by the black costume she is wearing. This is a genre characteristic – A lot of R&B artists wear jewellery to show there wealth etc. Once the tracking to the focus on her face is complete, Rihanna sings the rest of the line to the audience in a performance-bases sequence. The remains of the close-up helps to show the emotion on her face, which is to some extent vital when the artist is singing an emotional song – It makes the performance more believable. The black costume and background helps to show the overall mood, as appose to if the costume and background were of a bright colour suggesting a more positive mood of song.

Once Rihanna has finished singing and the next line kicks in, we instantly cut into the first narrative-based shot. This is a medium shot of Rihanna walking away, from an angle which appears to be set on the floor. The mise-en-scene is jeans and more importantly, heels, showing the feministic side of the narrative. The quick shot only lasts for a few seconds – It lasts for the beats between Rihanna’s first line and second

We then have a cut back to the performance based sequence. Again, the shot is very quick and once again only lasts for the duration of the one line ‘a standing ovation’. It is a close up of Rihanna’s face which shows the strong emotion but also how the lyrics she is singing are not to be taking literally but more in a sarcastic, figurative way.

For the part in which Rihanna is not singing, it once again cuts back to the narrative concept. A long shot of Rihanna walking to the window and looking out the curtains, almost as if she’s specifically looking out for something, almost suggesting in context of the narrative that her ex boyfriend has just turned up or something. The mise-en-scene in the shot shows a red chair (red as a colour symbolising romance, again linking to the narrative. You also see the laminate flooring, pure white curtains suggesting that money-wise, she is at a higher working class and earns a lot – a genre characteristic of R&B. The long shot allows us to see the physique of Rihanna, referring to Andrew Goodwin’s theory of the male gaze

We then go cut back to the performance base of a close-up of Rihanna, again showing the emotion as she sings. It then cuts to the scene of her ex-boyfriend knocking on the door, furthermore establishing the narrative. There is then a quick cut back to Rihanna in the narrative based shot by the window, which then cuts back to the ex-boyfriend. This helps to establish the link between these two characters and shows us how Rihanna is not only the performer but also the character within the narrative. We then cut back to the performance based, but this time Rihanna is walking and looking down. By looking down, she is showing a more negative overall emotion as appose to if she was looking up and directly to the camera. There is then a quick cut back to the narrative based as she is walking down the stairs to answer the door. Again, stairs showing she is the owner of the house and furthermore suggesting wealth – a genre characteristic of R&B.

We then start the first verse with the same performance based concept of a close-up of Rihanna against a black backdrop. She is looking directly into the camera, as if singing it directly to the ex-boyfriend. This effect is reinforced by the lyrics – ‘you look so dumb right now’, addressing him directly (as appose to ‘he looks so dumb right now’). This then cuts into a short cut of Rihanna walking towards the door in the narrative base. The medium shot helps us to see chandeliers hanging from the wall again, suggesting wealth. This quickly cuts into a performance-based shot of the back of Rihanna’s head, symbolising the way she’s moving away from the relationship and moving on.

There is then a fade transition to the next narrative based shot. It has a quick close-up shot of the male talking to someone through the wall. This then quickly cuts into a medium shot of Rihanna at the other side. There is then a quick cut to a long shot of him leaning against the door, showing how desperate he is to see her. The fact that Rihanna is singing in the narrative scenes again shows how the experience is one taken from her, as appose to referring to some other relationship. This could work effectively as not only would the target audience relate to the song making it a success, they would also relate to Rihanna as an artist. Both shots the characters are both scene wearing black and a bit of gold jewellery are seen. The black costume, again emphasising the moods, and the gold jewellery being a genre characteristic representing wealth. The fact we see the male talking against the door in the dialogue suggests how he may be begging for Rihanna to take him back. The fact she just stands against the door shows the strength she has to ignore him.
We then have a shot of the performance based sequel, quickly cutting at the beat to the performance base for the line ‘trying to apologise’. In both shots she shows a smirk look upon her face, showing the strength of knowing she is now in control, but also in a patronising way towards the male.

There is then a close up of the male for part of the line ‘trying to apologise, you’re so ugly when you cry’. The close up allows us to see the emotion of the males face, showing how sorry he is, linking with the lyrics. At the beat, we have a quick cut to Rihanna at the other side of the door. Her arms are folded to suggest she’s had enough. She’s facing the side to show a slight sense of vulnerability, which is demolished when her head turns to face the camera and create a sense of confrontation. The absence of her singing the word ‘please’ (when it is actually placed within the song) shows the lack of manners she has towards him and therefore the lack of respect she has for him. We then have a cut back to him, continuously knocking on the door and showing how distressed he is and how much he wants her back. We cut back to Rihanna, and once more back to the male. You see him walking away, making gestures with his arms to show his annoyed and upset expressions

Mise-en-scene of shots

Beach shot: In these shots, our artist will wear an elegant styled coat. The elegance will help represent the feminism of the narrative and the coat help represent the cold attitude coming from our artist. Her hair will be down, again reinforcing the feminism, with overall subtle make-up with additional emphasise on the eyes. There will also be a wind effect upon our artist, firstly because at the time of filming it will be windy, but also because it’s a characteristic of this type of narrative and genre. It will be in black and white to represent the emotion of the narrative.

The shots of the male and his new female will be shot in ambient lighting to represent the realistic view. This shot will also be shot in black and white, not only to represent to mood but to also show it’s a flashback. Both characters will be dressed in casual clothing, e.g. jeans, tops etc. The females’ hair will be down, and will also be the opposite colour of artists to ensure the message is clear that this is another woman. Her make-up will be remotely subtle.

The shot of our artist and her friends will also be shot in ambient lighting to show the realism in the devastation she feels once finding out she’s been cheated on. The friends will wear casual clothing, such as jeans etc. Whereas our artist will be wearing more casual relaxed clothing, such as joggers, a hoodie etc, to represent this stage where she can’t be bothered and doesn’t feel like making an effort as she just feels too distraught. This as well could be a factor in which other girls can relate to – it’s important to reach out and relate to your target audience in order for your video to be successful. All the girls’ makeup will be very subtle to show the comfortability level they have around each other.

Target Audience questionnaire

Below is the questionnaire we have decided to distribute to members of our media class. In my opinion creating this questionnaire will give us an insight into other peoples thoughts, besides our own, on music. It may also give us an idea into whether we think people will enjoy the song we have chosen for our video.
After we have given people time to fill out the questionnaires we will collect them back in and analyse the results. I will create graphs to show what people have answered for each question. I will then upload this onto the blog.


1. What is your favourite music video channel?
______________________________________________________

2. What is your preferred genre of music to listen to?
______________________________________________________

3. Who is your favourite artist from your preferred genre of music?
_____________________________________________________

4. What do you expect to see in a music video of that genre and why?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

5. What type of performance do you prefer in a video. E.g. performance based or narrative based?
______________________________________________________

6. Why do you prefer that particular type of performance?
______________________________________________________
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7. What is you own personal favourite music video and why?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
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8. Do you prefer black and white videos or colour?
_______________________________________________________

9. If you know of any, do you favour a particular music video director? If so why?
_______________________________________________________

10. Do you think that in creating this questionnaire it has been useful in trying to establish a target audience?
_______________________________________________________

How Christina Aguilera has changed over time.

How 'Christina Aguilera' has changed over time.

I have chosen to analyse how Christina Aguilera has changed over time as she is a modern artist in the same genre who overall represents the same concept that our song deals with - independence of women etc.

Christina Aguilera first appeared on our screens in 1993 when she joined 'The Micky Mouse Club', along with other un-established stars at the time, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. Immediatly, her talent was recognised and she was known as 'the little girl with the big voice' amongst collegues. Her performance of Whitney Houstan's 'I have nothing' became on of the shows most memorable performances.

In 1997, Christina represented the USA in The Golden Stag Festival, and after an impressive performance, she was chosen to sing the song 'Reflection' for the upcoming disney film, 'Mulan'. The song earned her a top 20 hit, a 'Golden Globe' nomination, and most importantly, a record with RCA records. A self-titled album was released, which to this day has been voted for as one of the best albums of all time. Off that album, Christina earned three number one singles (Genie in a bottle, What a girl wants and Come on Over) and another single reaching number three (I turn to you). Her new fame also earnt her two grammy awards.
Throughout this era, Christina portrayed a very young, innocence, fresh look. She was mostly seen in subtle make-up, emphasising her fresh blue eyes and her natural blonde hair. Her costumes would mostly be a belly top and trousers.


On the 12th September 2000, Christina widend her fan base by releasing a spanish album, Mi Reflejo. The album was a spanish version of her english released, but also included a few additional tracks. Originally, the album didnt reach as good of a reception and peaked at its best at number 27 in the charts. In the USA, she also released a christmas album, but this also didnt proove to be a success and peaked in at number 28.

Christina's next number one hit came as a duet with Latin singer Ricky Martin. The song 'Nobody wants to be lonely' hit the top of the World Chart. Christina's image seemed to have developed in this video, extensions were put in her hair and christina showed a new nose stud. It was a hint of Christina growing up and the peirces demolished a little part of the innocent image she had been previously portraying.

Her next single prooved to be one of her biggest yet. Christina dueted with fellow female artists, Mia, Lil Kima and Pink to remake the song 'Lady Marmalade' for the film 'Moulin Rouge' in 2001. The single was at number 1 for five consecuative weeks. It earned Christina yet another grammy and also two MTV awards. For this video, Christina and the girls played up to the roles in the Moulin Rouge film and was seen in red, provocotive
clothing and performed infront of a big Moulin Rouge set.

Although Christina's album showed huge success, Christina was not overally happy with it and didn't feel she had much input into it. She felt she was being moulded into an image simply because that image was successful at the time and she was unable to make herself a career as herself. Because of this, her managers contracted was terminated and Irving Azoff was employed to take on the role.

In 2002, Christina released her new album, Stripped, which went straight into the charts at number 2. This era caused a lot of controvosy, with Christina presenting herself in a lot more raunchier, revealing clothing. She'd gained a lot more peircings and had a lot of tattoo's done, and eventually died her hair black - a fair cry from the 'sqweeky clean' image she presented at the beginning of her career! She began to rename herself as 'Xtina' and took part in a lot more revealing photoshoots, wearing minimum clothing. Christina recieved a lot of mixed reactions for this - Some were angry and couldnt grasp the idea the singer had grown up, some loved it and Christina gained a few more male fans heavily due to the male gaze she'd sometimes portray. Despite this, her first single 'Dirrty', became a major success in many different countries. Her second single, 'Beautiful' was almost a very large contrast to 'Dirrty' and reached to the fans that didn't quite hook onto 'Dirrty'. The inspirational ballad recieved a lot of praise and positive reviews, and also reached number two in the charts and earnt Christina another grammy. The next two singles, 'Fighter' and 'Cant hold us down' was a strong symbol of female independance and re-gained a lot of Christina's older fans. The last single from the album was 'The voice within', another beautiful ballad. The singles helped the album stay in the charts for a staggering two years until 2004. Christina was able to appeal to all different types of audiences. The males were interested in her for this 'sex appeal' her image showed and the females were very much into this strong, independent role she was pulling off. Christina then went on her first tour alongside old friend Justin Timberlake. The shows prooved to be a success and Christina carried on touring solo once Justins dates had come to an end. 'Stripped world tour' became the most successful tour of the year and was further released on dvd. Christina also hit the headlines when performing and sharing a kiss with rival Britney Spears and pop queen Madonna on 2004's VMA's. The stunt almost doubled the amount of veiwers.

Later in 2004, Christina gained herself a new look which she was very much praised for. She'd died her hair back bright blonde, added the lipstick and overall presented a lot more of a mature, classy look, bringing back the Maralyn Monroe inspired image, which was then reflected in her style of music - Her new album, 'Back to Basics' consisted of a lot of jazz, feel-good genres. Her new released 2-cd album went straight to number one in several different countries. The album contained a lot more positive tracks and was a lot inspired by her new fiance, Jordan Bratman. In an interview, she said her writing style had significantly improved since Stripped, as she was now in 'a better time and a better place.' The first single from the album was 'Aint no other man' and became a top 10 in a number of different countries'. Her next two singles from the album, Hurt and Candyman, also became top hits. In 2007, Christina brought the album to life on tour - It was circus themed and came onto be the "best tour by a female artist in 2007" - (billboard.com)


In 2008, after giving birth and getting married, Christina was back to perform her new single, 'Keeps getting better' at the VMA's. The song hit the top 10 and an album, 'Keeps getting better: A decade of hits' also reached number 9 in the charts. Christina is currently working on a highly-anticipated album which is to be a full mix of the different genres shes explored within in her successful 12 year career.

Throughout this research, i have learnt alot about the success Christina Aguilera has had. I'm most intregued by the response and reception she gained from the 'Stripped' era and it just highlights to me how much an image can influence a public's view on you.

How has an artist changed overtime - Madonna.

I have decided to study how Madonna has changed over time as she is one of the best selling and best artists of all time.
Madonna is an American recording artist, actress and entrepreneur. She was born in Michigan and moved to New York to pursue a career in modern dance.
In 1982 Madonna signed a single deal with Sire Records, a label belonging to Warner Brothers. Her first release was “Everybody” in 1982. Slowly Madonna’s look and manner of dress, performances and music videos, became influential amongst young girls and women. Largely created by stylist and jewelry designer Maripol, Madonna's style of dress; defined by lace tops, skirts over capri pants, fishnet stockings, jewelry bearing the Christian cross, multiple bracelets, and bleached hair, became a female fashion trend in the 1980s.
Her follow up album, “Like a virgin” in 1984 became her first number one. She approximately sold twelve million copies worldwide. She performed the song at the first MTV Video Music Awards, wearing her then-trademark "Boy Toy" belt. The performance is considered as one of the iconic moments in the history of MTV. The next year, Madonna entered mainstream films beginning with a brief appearance as a club singer in the film Vision Quest. Its soundtrack contained her second US number-one single "Crazy for You". She also appeared in the comedy Desperately Seeking Susan, a film which introduced the song "Into the Groove," her first number-one single in the United Kingdom. Madonna embarked on her first concert tour in America, named the The Virgin Tour.
Madonna then went on to release her third album True Blue in 1986. The album spawned three number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 charts: "Live to Tell", "Papa Don't Preach" and "Open Your Heart", as well as other top-five singles "True Blue" and "La Isla Bonita. In the same year, Madonna starred in the film Shanghai Surprise.
In 1987, Madonna starred in Who's That Girl, and contributed four songs to its soundtrack. In the same year she embarked on the “Who’s That Girl World Tour,” which was complimented on the artists innovative dress. Later that year, she released a remix album of past hits, You Can Dance. In 1988. By early 1989, Madonna had signed an endorsement deal with soft drink manufacturer Pepsi. Here, she debuted her new song “Like a prayer” in a Pepsi advert and also made a video for it. The video was very religious and suggested a relationship between Madonna’s character and a black priest. In the same year she released her fourth album “Like a prayer.” It reached number one on the Billboard 200 album chart and sold seven million copies world wide. By the end of the year Madonna had become the most successful female artist of the decade; with three number one albums and seven number one singles.
In 1990 Madonna started in the film “Breathless”. She once again released another album called “I’m Breathless” to accompany this film. It also featured her eighth US number one; “Vogue.” In the same year she also began her “Blonde Ambition World Tour.” It featured religious and sexual themes and was very controversial, even the Pope encourages Catholics not to attend. In 1992 she won her first Grammy award in the Best Long Form Music Video category. In November 1990 she released her first greatest hits album, named, “The Immaculate Collection.” It included two new songs and had a further number one with “Justify My Love.” Madonna sparked further controversy for the video that was made for her song “Justify My love.” It appeared to be too sexually explicit and was banned from MTV. Her first documentary “Truth or Dare” was released in mid 1991. It was based on her tour but also gave a glimpse of her personal life.
In 1992 Madonna founded her own entertainment company; Maverick, which was a joint venture with Time Warner, giving her twenty percent royalty. It consisted of a record company, film production company, music publishing, television, merchandising and book publishing divisions. The first release was Madonna’s first publication, “Sex.” This is included explicit sexual images photographed by Stephen Meisel. Again, this caused more controversy about Madonna and also caused a strong reaction from the media and general public. However, despite this she sold 1.5 million copies in a matter of days. At the same time she released her fifth studio album “Erotica.” She continued to display her sexualised and provocative image when she featured in the erotic thrillers “Body of Evidence” and “Dangerous Game,” contained scenes of S & M and bondage. At the end of 1993 she began “The Girlie Show World Tour.” Again, she furthered this extremely criticized image when during the tour it featured dressed as a whip-cracking dominatrix, surrounded by topless dancers. Later that year she also appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman. On the show she repeatedly used vulgar and offensive language. Critics and fans said that this time “she had gone too far” and that her career was to be over. Madonna then tried to tone down this image she had given herself by releasing the single “I’ll remember.” She realised that she needed to connect with the public once more and so she wanted to dramatically change her music career. In 1996 she featured in her first critically successful film, “Evita.” She became romantically involved with her fitness trainer, Carlos Leon, and gave birth to their daughter on October 14th 1996.
After the birth of her daughter she became involved in the critically acclaimed Kabbalah. Her seventh studio album Ray of Light portrayed this change in her perception and image. The album won three Grammy awards and the title track “Ray of Light” won a Grammy for “Best Short Form Music Video.” In 2000 she starred in the movie, “Next Best Thing,” where she contributed two songs to the film soundtrack. In 2000 she released her eight album, “Music.” It went to number one on Billboard 200 and produced three singles. In this same year she also became involved in a relationship with Guy Richie where on August 11th she gave birth to their son Rocco. In May 2001 she released she went on her fifth concert tour called the “Drowned World Tour.” Later in the year she also recorded the title song for the James Bond film “Die Another Day.”
In 2004 she participated in the television concert Tsunami Aid. Within the same year she also performed at the Live 8 benefit concert in London. She also released her tenth studio album “Confessions on a Dance Floor” and received the Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Album. The song “Hung Up” from the album went to number one in a record breaking forty-five countries. By 2006 fashion brand H&M had signed Madonna to become their world wide model. Her “Confessions” tour began in May that year and whilst embarking on this she travelled to Milawi to help fund an orphanage. She filed adoption papers to adopt a Milawian boy; the papers were finalized on May 28th 2008.
In April 2008 she released her eleventh studio album “Hard Candy.” To accompany this she went on her “Sticky and Sweet Tour”; becoming the highest-grossing tour ever by a solo artist. In September 2009, Madonna released her third greatest hits album “Celebration.”
As you can see Madonna is a well established artist and is extremely well known around the world. As an artist, what she has done throughout her career has been the subject of much scrutiny from critics. However, she has overcome this and still remains to be one of the biggest artists of all time. This research has allowed me to realise just how much Madonna has done throughout her life time and how successful she has actually been. As you can see her music and style has changed dramatically throughout the years and she has been an idol to men and women around the world.

Analysis of music video director - Trudy Bellinger

I have decided to do an analysis on Trudy Bellinger due to the fact she has made music videos which also match the genre of music we have decided to use for our own production, which is pop. Bellinger is a British music video director. Not only has she made music videos but she has also produced television adverts for Rimmel. She assisted the artist Helen Chadwick on her Of Mutability show at the ICA (she was also a tutor at college) and she was extremely inspiring to Bellinger and helped her widen her vision to the moving image. She was creating her own body of work as an artist and created photographic installations that were very personal and autobiographical and involved performance. Film was the natural evolution and music videos combined her writing, performance and love of fashion and style and music. In her opinion the best thing about being a promo director is being able to relative creative freedom to come up with a concept to visually enhance the music and to then work closely with the artist to execute it. She also loves to see her vision crossover into a wider marker and live shows.
One of her first major videos she made was in 2004, for Girls Aloud, where she produced “The Show” and “I’ll stand by you.” In 2005 she also created a video for “I like the way (you move)” by The Bodyrockers. Bellinger has expressed that this is one of her personal favourite music videos as it is the reason she got a break into the commercial ads for Rimmel with Kate Moss.
In 2007 she made further videos for girls aloud including the songs “Sexy! No no no” and “Walk this way” also featuring the Sugarbabes. Bellinger has expressed that she is most proud of the “Sexy! No no no” video as it allowed her to take Girls Aloud to “another level.” She has also stated that the “Walk this way” video is one the hardest she has had to shoot due to the fact that it was a “technical nightmare.” It was shot over three days - one day a week with two of Girls Aloud one week, three of Girls Aloud the next week and Sugababes the following. They were all composited together in post so it appears they were all together. Every movement had to be blocked especially with Girls Aloud as she had to make sure they never crossed each others action she also had to direct them to react or respond to things she planned to shoot two weeks down the line. The set had to be rebuilt each week and had to line up exactly with the other footage. Bellinger had to match lighting and lenses exactly on all three shoot days. She has continued to keep her loyalty to Girls Aloud and in 2008 made a further two more videos for the songs “The Promise” and “The Loving Kind.” Both of these videos are very glamorous and portray the independent female artists like we want our production to. I think they are well composed and Bellinger’s work can potentially be quite an inspiration to our own production. Through my research it is clear that she is a well loved director, especially by Girls Aloud as they are loyal fans of her work as had made more than one of their videos.

Gantt Chart

Below shows how we will arrange our time. We will try to stick to this plan as best as we can, however, there could be a possibilty of some problems and so we may over run on some weeks. However, we will make sure that the final deadline is met.

Introduction to our music video planning.

Due to taking part in our AS production, myself and Sally have learnt various skills from last year that will greatly benefit in the production of our music video.
This is mainly how to work the software and how to use our time carrying out such a task affectively. We should be able to edit our video faster this year as we already have the skills needed to work the software. We will also be more familiar with how to work the camera and how we can push ourselves with what type of angles and framing we can use for each shot.
We will be developing new skills this year as we will need to learn how to be able to edit our footage in a way which links the movements of the actor’s mouth singing to the song, to the actual timing of the song. We will have to be precise about this and take our time over getting this just right to make the video look professional. I think this process will be harder than last year but will be an advantage to use as it will expand our knowledge in using this software.

In order to plan and film our production we need to research various aspects of music, artists, theorists and videos. This investigation will be useful and may influence or give us ideas as to what we want to feature in our video. In order to film our video properly we need to plan affectively and gain as much outside information as we can. Also, making a Gantt chart will help us divide and manage our time sufficiently to display to us when we should have finished each part of work by and when to meet deadlines, therefore, making sure everything is completed in time.

Once we have completed our research and planning we are able to physically construct our music production. We think we have a strong idea and basis for our video and look forward to viewing our end product.

Cry Me Out - Lyrics

I got got your emails
You just don’t get females
Now, do you?
What’s in the heart
Is not on your head, anywhere.
Mate, you’re too late
And your weren’t worth the wait
Now, were you?
It’s out of my hands
Since you blew your last chance
When you played me


You’ll have to cry me out
You’ll have to cry me out
The tears that I’ll fall
Mean nothing at all
It’s time to get over yourself
Baby, you ain’t all that
Maybe, there’s no way back
You can keep talking
But, baby, I’m walking away


When I found out
How you messed me about
I was broken
Back then I believed you
Now, I don’t need you, no more
The pick on your phone
Proves you weren’t alone
She was with you, yeah
Now, I couldn’t care
That you weren’t aware
We’re through


You’ll have to cry me out
You’ll have to cry me out
The tears that I’ll fall
Mean nothing at all
It’s time to get over yourself
Baby, you ain’t all that
Maybe, there’s no way back
You can keep talking
But, baby, I’m walking away


Gonna have to cry me out
Gonna have to cry me out
Boy, there ain’t no doubt
Gonna have to cry me out
Won’t hurt a little bit
Boy, better get used to it
You can keep talking
But, baby, I’m walking away


(spoken) Listen, I got the emailsI got the text
The answer’s still the same
It’s the way it is
I got to go


You’ll have to cry me out
You’ll have to cry me out
The tears that I’ll fall
Mean nothing at all
It’s time to get over yourself
Baby, you ain’t all that
Maybe, there’s no way back
You can keep talking
But, baby, I’m walking away
You’ll have to cry me out
You’ll have to cry me out
The tears that I’ll fall
Mean nothing at all
It’s time to get over yourself
‘Cause baby, you ain’t all that
Maybe, there’s no way back
You can keep talking
But, baby, I’m walking away

Mood Board

The following mood board was done by both Laurel and Sally:

two minute music video analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uVNj8F9Kfw

I have chosen to analyse this video as it is a recent song and fits into the pop/ r n b genre.
The video starts with a close up of Busta Rhymes wearing glasses and singing to the camera. The background is black with blue lazers/strobe lights giving it a disco/pop feel. The camera stays still but continues to focus on a close up of his face whilst he moves his head as he sings and the lights flash in the background.

The camera then pans out to display to the audience the other artist who is featured in the song (Estelle) who is in a box to the right of the screen. She is within this box also dressed in black just like Busta Rhymes. The background is orange and then changes to pink. The lyrics in the song are “make the world go round” which is written above her head, reinforcing the title of the song. As she dances from side to side the camera follows this giving it a hand held feel.

A quick edit and zoom out of the camera cuts to another scene of her and what appears to be Busta Rhymes dancing back to back. They are both in another box which is framed off centre. The way this is shot suggests that they are on a screen, perhaps a mobile phone. Chinese writing is on either side of these artists with the writing “Feat. Estelle” underneath where they are performing.












Another quick edit then cuts to an extreme close up of Busta Rhymes mouth. Again Chinese writing can be seen on either side. The way this is shot is as though we are watching them on another screen, for example a television. Following this another quick edit changes the scene, to what appears to be a magazine cover. Again this has Chinese writing on it, with English writing (lyrics) appearing as he sings, for example, “better than ever” and “back with a vengeance.” This scene is performance based with a close up of him singing to the camera; still wearing black and concealing his eyes with dark glasses.











This magazine theme continues as the camera rapidly pans the right to same image of Busta Rhymes singing, however, this is in a smaller frame, similar to picture size, suggesting that this picture is in the inside page of the magazine. The camera zooms in on other various pictures of the artist singing on the page, resuming with the Chinese theme.

A quick edit cuts to a medium shot of Estelle and Busta dancing, appearing to be on the magazine cover still. The writing moves and the camera slowly pans out as Busta continues to sing to the camera with the background colours occasionally changing. A further quick edit shows another close up of Busta singing on the front of a magazine cover which is then, picked up by him and fanned back and forth towards the camera.











The colours of the background continue to change, the camera also prolongs to panning in and out of different images of the artists singing. Another quick edit then frames both artists together on screen (as Estelle is the one who sings the chorus) through a midshot. Quick edits also show visuals matching with the lyrics, for example, as it says “bottles popping” the camera focuses on a bottle of Champaign with the cork being popped and over spilling, also as the lyrics about money can be heard, cash falls around them. The movements of the camera also match with lyrics as when they sing “world goes round” the camera rigidly moves as they do. The theme of magazine covers and Chinese writing continues. However, when a quick edit cuts to the next seen Busta Rhymes is dressed in a different costume, similar to that of military style. He is still wearing dark glasses connoting to the audience that this may be some sort of fashion statement.


This music video keeps a very similar theme throughout; that is the magazine layout, the Chinese writing and the costume. Visual codes are displayed on the screen to reinforce the audience of the lyrics. It is quite a colourful video, which differs from the idea for our one, which will be in black and white. There is not a wide range of camera angles, the most popular one being a close up. However, there are some on screen graphics, such as the moving writing, the money and snow floating around them and the magazine layouts. It fits the convention of the video focusing on the performance of the artist and them looking direct at the camera, addressing the audience.

Our ideas for our video

By both Laurel Gray and Sally Cossins