Alex Snowden (2017) A2 Advanced Portfolio

To study how to make a good music video, we were given the task of recreating 30 seconds of a music video. I chose to recreate Jedward's Bad Behavior... for comedy purposes. When filming we kinda went off with the camera angles and the content within the shots but I made sure to make the editing similar to the original.

Synaesthesia is " the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body." (Oxford Dictionary). This means that people who have synaesthesia say that different senses overlap, such as sound and sight as some people say that sounds have colours or textures. 

We were sent out with the cameras to film some footage and put it to a song. I was in a group of four and assisted in using the camera. I decided to edit my own version of the footage as i excel in editing rather than using the cameras. I decided to edit the footage to Tear In My Heart by Twenty One Pilots. This is the finished result.

I decided that for most of the music videos that i create this year they will all revolve around two main genres of music. Rock music and Alternative music, therefore all of my music videos will be different genres of Rock music or Alternative/ Indie music which means my songs could range from Heavy Metal to Indie Pop. The name of my band for the year will be Vertigo (the T will be stylized as a cross) as it fits with the alternative theme of the music they will perform. Inspirations for the band include; Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, Two Door Cinema Club and Matt and Kim as they all fit in the rock or alternative/ indie genres in some way and therefore my full length music video will probably be one of these artists (or similar to their style of music).

In his book "Dancing in the Distraction Factory" (1992) Andrew Goodwin shows that there are six popular conventions shown in music videos. These are; 1.  The music video demonstrates the characteristics of the genre of the song (e.g. stage performances in rock/ metal videos, dance routines in pop videos) An example of this is Halestorm's I Miss The Misery where most of the video is footage of the band's live performances. This is to be expected as it is a rock song and one of the genre conventions is live performances of the band. 2. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals The lyrics are represented by the video, either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting An example of this can be shown is Fall Out Boy's My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up) where the lyrics are "gonna need a spark to ignite" where the trail of petrol is ignited, this is also shown by the lyrics "light em up" and a fire is ...

In lesson, we were given the task of suggesting our favourite music videos so that we could see what makes them appealing. We applied the music videos to Goodwins Conventions of Music Videos to show how they appeal to audiences. The music video that I personally chose was Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. The reason that I chose this music video is because of the mise-en-scene used in the video and the choreography of the dance routine. This music video applies to Goodwins Conventions of Music Videos as it shows the typical genre characteristics as it is a pop song and songs of this genre usually revolve around the artist and usually includes a choreographed dance routine performed by the artist. The music video also shows "demands of the record label" as the video focuses solely on the artist and the video has many close ups of the artists face, this particular artist has also developed a 'motif' throughout most of her music as Lady Gaga is known for her eccentric outfits...

As the academic year comes to an end, a new one begins and with a new year comes a new course. This year in media studies we will be creating a music video for a song of our choice. This will include; planning the music video, creating CD covers, creating a website for the artist and then filming, editing and releasing the music video. Because of the range of different platforms I will be exploring during this course, I will be able to show creativity in new ways as I will not just be focusing on one specific area, unlike last year where we focused on film, I will also be focusing on different forms of advertisement. I am looking forward to this course as I enjoy watching music videos as over time music videos have changed from forms of advertisement for promoting a song to an art of their own as they can show a narrative with some songs becoming small movies (Lady Gaga - G.U.Y. - An ARTPOP Film, Fall Out Boy - This Ain't A Scene, Its An Arm...