1) Research: Music videos
Watch the following music videos and analyse an aspect of media language for each one:
-> Music video 1: Marshmello x YUNGBLUD x blackbear - Tongue Tied
The music video begins by creating a narrative through dialogue, introducing a "militarised police force" known as "Silencers", utilising Propp's character theory to frame this group as the Villain of the story. Todorov's theory of equilibrium is also used to establish a disruption to peace, which is the fact that the Silencers are "muting all those who cross their path." After the introduction, we see multiple scenes of regular people battling against the oppression of the Silencers: people pushing against the door, the woman, likely the Helper/Sidekick in Propp's character theory, running with a machine, the main character (YUNGBLUD), the Hero, wrestling two officers, people hiding in fear, etc. Then, we see that the main character and the woman have an important relationship, as she cries over him being arrested. This allows the audience to empathise with her, being drawn into the narrative (engaged in the music video) by seeing her as the hero and the Silencers as the villain. She is then arrested similarly, followed by a large-scale battle sequence of a group of people fighting against a group of officers. This woman is then saved by another character, likely the Donor, who then gives her back the machine she was seen running with earlier. This is revealed to be a holographic message from the Hero, which, in turn, inspires an uprising, signalling an attempt to resolve the disequilibrium. The battle sequence ends with the Silencers losing, signalling the return to a new equilibrium, bringing the narrative to a close and satisfying the audience.
The video begins with an eye-level, close-up shot, creating a sense of realism and allowing the audience to see his emotions. From this, the audience can see that he's feeling sad, as it looks like he has been crying. The shot lasts quite a long time before the first cut, emphasising the feeling of realism and giving the audience more time to connect with the singer. The mise-en-scene of the bunting/flag decorations in the setting imply that a celebration is taking place, creating an enigma by making the audience wonder why the singer is crying during a party. The extremely bright sunlight in the background also adds to the idea that the singer should be happy, but isn't, for some reason. The movement of the camera speeds up momentarily to align with the beat of the song, then the camera begins to zoom out to a medium/long shot as more members of the band are introduced, and the singer's mood seems to flip entirely. The setting becomes more cluttered as more party decorations come into view: balloons, streamers, a disco ball, etc., alongside the instruments used by the band. At the height of the song, the camerawork comes from multiple different angles, alongside bursts of confetti, aiding the audience in 'feeling' the energy of the music. At the end of the song, a slow-motion shot is used, paralleling the slow-down of the music.
The editing of the music video begins at an immediate fast pace, cutting to each note or beat an instrument plays. Then, the camera quickly zooms in to the singer, switching between still and handheld shots at different angles. This is then interrupted by a particularly long, still scene of the singer dancing, followed by a scene of the band members walking in front of a spotlight. This constant switching from extremely fast-paced cuts to long, almost 20 second shots engages the audience by keeping the music video different at all times. There is then another long scene of the band members standing still, which then cuts to a more hectic scene of the band playing, back and forth, creating opposition that engages audiences. This then continues for the remainder of the music video, with the pace of editing swapping to keep audiences engaged in the video.
In 'Manchild', the music video continually uses cars as symbolism for men to communicate the message of the song. While there are many cars present in the video, many of them are quite odd: the car in the beginning is seemingly cut in half; one car is a chair with wheels; one car has a trolley; etc., and these 'odd' cars are the ones that the singer, Sabrina Carpenter, is seen with. This allows the audience to discern that she, as she picks the 'odd' cars, willingly picks the "stupid" and "incompetent" men (as said in the song), engaging audiences by allowing them to empathise with her previous experiences. Furthermore, there are many short, almost ridiculous scenes that draw in audiences by subverting expectations: the opening scene with a bird on a turtle (this is a metaphor for her past experiences with men, where she, as the bird, could fly far and wide, yet chooses to stay with the turtle, who only moves slowly along the ground); the scene with a vending machine full of rotting food; the short scene of her throwing toilet paper that shatters like ceramic unexpectedly; etc. This similarly acts as a metaphor, supporting the message of the song and drawing in audiences.
Artist and song you have chosen:
KATSEYE - Mean Girls
Plan for music video (narrative/performance etc.):
Performance-based style of video during verses (lip-syncing, direct address, etc), narrative-based video during chorus - simple narrative of a friend group of girls having a falling out, being petty and arguing over small things, then maturing and resolving the issue through forgiveness and communication.
Link to brief (one small step to improving your community):
Narrative will link to improving community through a message about forgiving those around you who have wronged you in the past, allowing your community to be closer together by attempting to erase tension over petty/trivial matters.
Actors/performers you plan to use:
Friends: Natalia, Zainab, Sanichya, Prachi, Rohanna
Locations:
Rectory Park, Northala Fields, in and around Greenford
Costume/make-up/props required:
Regular, day-to-day costumes with limited or no makeup. Phones will be used as props.
3) Statement of Intent
On the same Summer Project blogpost, write the rough first draft of your 300-word Statement of Intent for the two-minute music video you plan to create. The final draft of this document will be submitted to the exam board alongside your music video production and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available.
-> Doing Statement of Intent for the celebrity gossip magazine instead (practice for coursework)
I plan to produce a celebrity gossip magazine targeted towards a working-class audience with a wide age range of 20 - 30 years old, using a conversational writing style alongside dramatic cover lines to engage audiences. The front cover will feature a paparazzi-like, impromptu picture of a celebrity in a simple outfit, to emphasise them being caught doing something wrong behind-the-scenes. For the front cover, I'll use a sans font to give the magazine an approachable feel for a working-class audience. The double-page spread will feature a celebrity author and their book on improving lifestyle, specifically through the Danish and Norwegian concept of 'hygge'. The text will be an interview of the author that focuses mainly on their ideas on how to improve life, appealing to a working-class target audience, who are likely to be part of the Struggler psychographic. The tone will be hopeful in order to connect with this audience. I will use a large, high-quality photo of the author for the main image, using direct address to engage readers. This will be accompanied by a series of smaller images of the author, to further this engagement.
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