Analysis of music video: Talain Rayne - Twinkle lightly

Genre: Indie pop
Style music: Melodic, emotional, raw

I felt like I would really benefit from analysing this music video as it is a very professional looking video from a "low famous" artists - the video is simplistic much like the fan video for Lemobright by the same artist (see post below).

Analysis:
This video is given it's meaning and strong message through body language, facial expressions, manipulation of lighting, camera shots and careful artistic editing. This then means that if I chose to do my music video for this song or a songs fitting similar conventions to this one, I will have an idea of how to make a simple video look very artistic while flowing well with the song.
Something that I like about this video is the similarity between the official video by this artists for "twinkle lightly" and the fan video for Lemonbright (sang by the same artist) is so similar regarding shots, lighting and setting - the only differences are the lighting effects, colour filter, hues and the lack of large body movement and dancing in this video. I think that even though there is no dancing in this video, it works just as well as the fan video for Lemonbright because it is made clear from his body movements and stableness that he is sad down, which suggests that the emotion in the song is also within him, and that he needs to sit, be still, and enjoy the moment with the song.
This is another thing I can keep in mind when I come to make my won video - I don't have to make the video overly complicated if I am smart with it, I can take very simple ideas such as making the 'character' in the video look sat down in order to represent their emotion, of have the 'character' making small emotional hand gestures that fit well with the tempo in the song to get the message and emotion across to the viewer.

Analysis of music vide: Talain Rayne - Lemonbright

I thought that this music video was very interesting due to its simplicity as there is only one location for the entire video in a dark room with one main light, and the content of the video is mainly close ups of the girl in the video singing mixed with what looks like unrehearsed natural dancing.
Even though this video is not an official video (but a fan video) I still thought it would be very useful to analyse as there is no way I could create an end product that could look like a high budget video, therefore this gives me a look into the reality of what I could create and how I could make something quite simple look effective, artistic and creative.

Analysis:
Despite this video being very simple and basic in content, it surprisingly doesn't get boring or tedious due to clever editing and the actual content; the movement of the dancer and the flow of the shots as well as interesting manipulation of lighting keeps the viewer. These subtle little elements and techniques really bring the songs to life, and the fact that it is basic and maintains the beat and tempo of the song makes the video flow very well with the song. These are all conventional features of any successful music video as it gives the piece an artistic edge and stimulates the viewer in a visual and audible way.
Due to the fact that this is a low budget music video with only one setting and location and what looks like one camera and one light (possibly two) it has followed the conventions of current media product to the furthest extent that it can. We can see this from the camera close ups, lighting tricks, clever and slightly complex editing and the portrayal of the 'character' in the video. However, it breaks the conventions of current media products because of its simplicity, and even though it works extremely well with the song, this isn't the type of video that you may see on TV due to the fact that it isn't gripping enough or exciting enough or complex enough o get appeal in that side of the media. However, it is artistic and simple enough that it will get credit and interest on the internet - especially since this is a fan video.

Analysis of music video: LIGHTS - Portal

The indicated music video is by an artist that is what some would call "semi famous" as she has her own website, has had showings of her work on TV and radio as well as being featured in magazines (evidence of such public media fame is seen in the following link: LIGHTS LOVE - date accessed 29th September 2014). She may have more fame in other locations around the world, but regarding the UK, the main source of her fame is online via youtube, FaceBook and twitter. She has also had several tours for 3 of her albums so far - she isn't a super famous celebrity constantly in the public, eye, but she still has a stapled and known name.
This then comes into play with the look of her music videos - do they follow the codes and conventions of current media products? Is it conventional, origin or generic?

Analysis:
Tying in well with the song, the music video has been filtered black and white - this element of mise-en-scene (lighting and filtering) is very basic, yet adds a certain mystery to the video. The mystery in the video created with lighting and filtering fits in well with the song (as the song is also very simplistic and basic, giving a mystic and mysterious mood) and this is important feature as music videos and songs need to fit together and flow well to become one - a new art form, otherwise their meaning and purpose (escapism - theorised by Blumler and Katz in the uses and gratifications theory) are and lost, therefore the product becomes pointless.

The black and white filter is used a lot in conventional and unconventional media products as it is a great way to represent story, meaning or narrative in a video, whether that be mystery (possible enigma codes), uncertainty, fear, the unknown or even to represent elements of an older time period by mimicking the look of black and white old TV. Therefore, I cannot say whether this element of the video follows current media conventions or popular products or goes against it because it is used very often in a numerous videos with different levels of status, however, I can say that it is not an original idea, making it conventional in that aspect.
Here are examples of a high status and a low status black and white music video to back up my point that it is used in media products of all status types.


Another thing that I notice about this video is the simplicity of shots and the impact that they have. Due to the fact that the song is very slow paces and calming, the video needs to mimic those elements in order for the two to flow well together and to grip the audience in a visual and audible way. This is why the slow and simple shots are effective because they don't under or overpower the lyrics and music of the song, they are in harmony and work well together. This is something that I need to keep in mind when making my own music video - I need to ensure that the shots in the video flow well with the music and lyrics of the songs, and as long as the two share similar obvious elements, the shots don't necessarily have to be complex or heavily edited to be successful or gripping.

List of potentail songs for my music video

Here is a list of songs that I have considered putting with the music video that I am going to create. There is a mix of just songs, songs with videos as well as songs and artists that are famous, semi-famous or simply underground. This gives me a nice variety of videos and songs to analyse and research into, so if I find a style of video that I would like to do I will know how to make/keep it conventional or unconventional and from there know what audience I am trying to target.

Below are links to each of the songs in the list above so that I can come here with convenience and reference back to them throughout the course of my work on my blog.

(lemonbright is not an official music video, but a fan made one. However, it will still be beneficial for me to analyse if I choose to analyse it because it will show what the target audience of the song sees in the song artistically and what they associate visually with the song in comparison to other media products.)

Narrative Theory Mindmap

This mind-map shows how a selection of narrative theories can be applied to what I expect to be the narrative of my final product. I created this mind-map in order to show myself what narrative style my product will follow and how my audience will be effecting elements of my narrative.

Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory

This theory explains how Andre Goodwin believes people view music videos and why. I decided to create this short video of the theory and uploaded it to my blog because it may come in handy to reference associated ideas when I come to research my audience and question them further on decisions I make in the planning stages of my video.

Character Types

I thought that it would be useful for me to do some research into character types due to the fact that my music video will have a rather thick narrative because that is the preference of my demographic - a meaningful and inspiring narrative, meaning there needs to be a very clear representations of characters in the music video.

The 'everyman'  

Non-linear Narratives

This slideshare describes the most typical non-linear style narrative structures for all media texts. A linear narrative is a narrative that has a very clear narrative structure (Barthes linear narrative structure - equilibrium, disruption, recognition of disruption, attempt to repair disruption, equilibrium restored). non-linear narrative structures are the opposite of this - they have a disjointed or unconventional representation of narrative. My reason for producing this slideshare is because despite a music videos not often following narratives of other media texts such as TV and film, they still take on some form of narrative most of the time. For example, 'LIGHTS - Banner' was a video I analysed previously in the blog, and that follows a relatively linear narrative structure, as does my stylistic influence video 'Break free - Ruby Rose'. However, videos I analysed previously in the blog such as 'Talain Rayne - Lemobright' and 'Twinkle Lightly' as well as 'Mac DeMarco - My kinda Woman' follow cohesive non-linear narrative structures. From the plan and storyboard I have so far, I believe that my video will follow elements of all 3 cohesive models.