Alice by Avril Lavigne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyDRbx8nWFg

This music video was directed by Dave Meyers. Meyers has directed many other music videos, such as Pinks ‘F***in Perfect. Both Avril’s and Pink’s music videos feature some of Meyers techniques. For example, when the main footage is being shown Meyer will ‘echo’ in a new clip, so you can see both clips at the same time. This is effective because it makes the music video more interesting and will capture the targeted audience’s attention, because the technique used is unique.  This music video was premièred on-line on 17^th February 2010. It was also distributed on MTV and uploaded to YouTube. The purpose of this music video is to promote the film to a wider audience, so it can appeal to everyone, and to also sell Avril Lavigne’s new song, ‘Alice.’ 

The genre of this music video is gothic. We can tell because of the colour grading, because Meyer has used dark colours in the scenery and clothes. These colours are mainly blacks and greys, because people always associate these colours with gothic. In addition, the music video contains intertextuality; this is because it shows some footage from Tim Burtons ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ Meyers did this because it will help his audience understand why they have made the video (to help promote the film) and that they have included some scenes from the film and included them into similar shots. For example, when Avril falls down a hole and the Mad Hatters Tea Party; in both these scenes Meyers has included footage from the film to help captivate his audience, so they can enjoy some scenes from the movie and the actual music video. Furthermore he has used conventions for the video, such as the video illustrates the lyrics. An example of this when Avril is sat the tea party and then the lyrics say, “I’ll take a stand,” so she stands up. Using this technique will help the audience understand the lyrics, because sometimes lyrics can hard to interpret the lyrics. 

The Scientist By Cold Play

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB-RcX5DS5A

The Scientist Music Video was directed by Jamie Thraves. Thraves has also directed Blurs Charmless Man, music video. In both The Scientist and Charmless Man you can recognise some of Thraves techniques, for example, both videos start on the street. This could be because Jamie could have spent a lot of his child hood on the streets and this technique that he has used could reflect his past. In addition, the camera mainly focusses on one main person (the main character). This is because Thraves could have been an only child so his parents only focussed on his well-being. This music video was distributed on MTV on the 14^th August 2002. It was then uploaded to YouTube on the 27^th May 2011. The purpose of this video was to promote and sell the single. It did this by creating a story behind the lyrics which may appeal to more people.

The genre of this video is indie. We can tell because indie is related to colours such as reds, greens and blue. For example; in many of the scenes we can see that there is a slight red colour gradient such as the train track scenes. In addition, in a majority of the shots we can see the colours associated with Indie. Such as in the beginning Martin (the lead singer of Coldplay) is led on a blue mattress. As well as that we can tell that it was filmed during autumn due to the colour of the leaves from the trees. This then gives the music video more of an indie look.

The techniques used in this music video are medium shot to a zoom out to a wide shot. This type of shot is in the very beginning of the video. The first scene is a medium shot of a person lying down, the camera then zooms out. Zoom outs are used to reveal things, in this case it used to reveal where the person is, it then goes into a wide shot to reveal the scene. (The person is lying on a mattress which is on a street path). Furthermore, Thraves has used longer shots that last up to 7 seconds long, this is because he wants his audience to feel the characters sad emotion and to do that the shots have to last longer than an average shot; for example an average shot would last for a maximum of 3 seconds which would be for a pop music video.

Thraves has also used conventions for the video, such as illustrating the lyrics. This is due to the talent saying (singing) that he wants to go back to the start, therefore the video is being re-winded to take him back to the start. This is called a reverse narrative . The reason why everything else is in reverse order, but Chris martin is singing in the correct order is because, if he were to sing backwards then it would make no sense, this is then defying the words of the song. So if he sings in the correct order then he is trying to make sense to what has just happened.

Men In Black by Will Smith

http://imvdb.com/video/will-smith/men-in-black

 

The Men in Black music video was directed by Robert Caruso. As well as Caruso directing this music video, he has also directed another of Will Smith’s video, “Just Crusin’.” This video also features special effects, where Will Smith changes his car. Another feature they both use, is that they both have vehicles in, this means that shots have to be made when the car is driving. This is effective as the audiences can then discuss what types of cars are used in the videos. The video was distributed after the release of the Men in Black film. The purpose of the music video is to promote the film and sell the song. This is important because, they have targeted certain people who watch music videos, so they want these people to watch this new film.

The genre of the music video is sci-fi. We know this because the scenery is mainly made of metal colours, such as silvers and black. This gives it more of a professional style and will come across to the audience as a high production value video. Also, there are many techniques used, such as cut to the beat, where Will Smith is in a long corridor on his own. This technique helps captivate the audience’s attention, as it is up to beat. It also uses the ‘Rule of Thirds’ in its closer shots. This is important, because as well seeing where the talent is in the wide shots, we can also see where he is in other shots. An example of this is the end scene where Will Smith wipes the audience’s memories. Caruso also uses the classic wide shot where Will Smith and the other men in black are dancing in a big warehouse, with an alien. The reason why he uses this type of shot is because Caruso wants to capture everyone dancing, and so his audience can imagine what it would be like if they were in this shot.

Robert Caruso has also included intertextuality, because the video shows short clips of the feature film. He did this to help promote the film. In addition the music video uses CGI to create the aliens, this is because Caruso wants to give his audience a taste of how good the quality of the aliens will look in the film. Furthermore, it has narration at the beginning of the video. Tommy Lee Jones is giving an introduction of who the Men in Black are. This will be helpful for the audiences watching this music video who then go on to watch the film, as they would have had a brief introduction of what these ‘Men in Black’ do and who are they are. Also Caruso uses conventions of the video, for example; the video illustrates the lyrics by showing Men dresses in Black and doing their jobs.

 

 

Thriller by Michael Jacson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA

Michael Jackson’s music video for Thriller was directed by John Landis. John Landis has also directed another of Michael Jackson’s videos, Black or White. Both of these featured short narrative clips at the beginning. Thriller was distributed in 1983 as MTV s first world premier video and the video was released on Michael Jacksons YouTube account 4 years ago. The purpose of this music video was to promote the song , his album (which was the name of the song) and for people to buy tickets to see Michael sing it in concert.

The genre of the video is a thriller (as it says in the title). This is due to the lyrics, as both Michael and John wanted to create an environment that illustrated the lyrics. For example when it says “It’s close to midnight” you can automatically tell that the video is set during night, however the lyrics tells us the exact time. As it is a thriller video we can assume the colours that are used are dark greens, blues etc. for the props. Also the colour gradients are dark and dingy, to set the mood. Also the video shows synergy and intertextuality, we can tell because at the beginning of the music video, it shows a short clip and then cuts to Michael Jackson sat in the cinema watching it. In addition the video itself is set out like a short film, this is because it has a story line to it. Due to the video being shot in the early 80s it only uses simple techniques; for example each scene cuts to the time of the beat of the music. In addition the music video was 13 minutes long. This type of music video had never been attempted before, and many people thought it would be unsuccessful. Nevertheless, this music video was extremely successful and had a global audience. Also it uses the classic wide shots, to tell the audience what the scene is like. In many of the scenes the shots can last for 30 seconds, an example of this is where Michael Jackson and his girlfriend are walking along the streets. Using a long shot makes the scene look more realistic to the audience. Furthermore the video uses narration during the first short film and when they cut to in and outside the cinema. In addition, Vincent Price (who is a famous actor) is the voice of the narrator. This is evidence of intertextuality because the director is promoting this actor. In addition, throughout the music video Michael Jackson is the only one wearing colour. This is because he is the main character, so Landis wants him to be noticed over everyone else. As well as that, the contrast between his bright clothes and the scenery will make it look even spookier. Also, the colours he is wearing can represent the genre of the song; which is pop. Furthermore, if you compare this music to modern day videos, you will find that there is not as much choreography. This is because in the 1980s dance music was at its highest, due to the 1970s film ‘Saturday Night Fever.’ Therefore Michael Jackson wanted to represent this era of dance and involve and show off his own dancing skills, which is now the most iconic dance to this day.

Music Video Cost Analysis: Roar By Katy Perry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CevxZvSJLk8

This music video has a high production value. Due to it being filmed in a studio, it would of cost a lot of money to hire the studio per hour. As well as hiring out the studio they would of also had to decorate it in an appropriate; a jungle and to make it look realistic they would of had to have many stage hands to design and make everything. In addition some scenes would of needed a green screen, such as when Katy Perry is swinging on a rope. As well as that the director has rented a tiger and a monkey which would of cost a lot of money. Furthermore, at the beginning an actor was hired to be the pilot for the plane, so that would of cost more money. I estimate that this music video would of cost over $10 000 due to the hiring of the studio, the props, green screen and animals.