Stylistic influences

Key scenes from stylistic influences: 

Key elements of the video:

 The video jumps straight into the message - Mac is applying lipstick

He then applies mascara. His make-up is messy and smudged, denoting disregard for his appearance due to his emotion and state at of mind, he is only applying make-up to be a woman but does not care if he looks perfect because he does not feel as such.

Mac then takes off the lens that was over the cameras in the video, as though he is reaching for the audience. This, I feel, is a great shot - the front lens is soft and it feels as though Mac is reaching out for a hug from the audience.

 The lens is then fully removed as though he is inviting the audience into his world.

Seconds later mac is showing the steps he goes through in order to become a woman, the earnings and the cap are all vital and representative of the daily routine for people who are not comfortable with the gender they were assigned with at birth. He has invited the audience in to see the truth.

The previous scene then cuts to a soft black fade and then fades out from black here - a smooth transition and works well with the current narrative. Now we see Mac as a woman, make-up, dress and all. The spotlight lifts him from the dark, representative of his negative emotions experienced as a man as he emerges a woman from the previous dark fade. The stage like setting with a curtain draped in the background represents a lacking of fear to bar all 'on stage' to reveal harsh truth.

The two screen grabs above show Mac in a dysfunctional setting as it reflects a confused frame of mind - confusion of social response. Mac has lettuce and cream thrown at him, a physical humiliation mimicking verbal abuse thrown at the Trans* community on a daily basis.

This video is weird and wonderful mainly because that is the style of the artist and all of his videos are as such, but the dysfunctional element always has purpose and is constructed well in a narrative, whether that narrative is simple or complex.

Key elements of the video:

This is one of the first shots that you see in the video. I like this particular shot because it reflects so much emotion without the need of a face. It also shows the thing that everyone does when they are feeling anxious or depressed, putting your palms together. It is so simple, yet it gets the message across in an effective way. The use of dark blue lighting with white light communicates simplicity, yet also a heavily melancholic mood (almost as though you are in the head of the 'character' in the video, feeling his simple and numb emotion) which enforces what the showing of the hands together truly means. 

Here we see the external, looking calm, yet the expression on the face shows a struggle to find an inner peace, and the previous showing of the hands and other facial expressions prior to this enforces that denotation - we are only seeing the external.

In this section of the video, the use of the hands and singing shows a sign of the 'character' in the video opening up to his emotion in an external way for the viewer to see,

This burst of colour comes in when the music begins to pick up, reflective of the 'characters' emotion. The colours look as though they are running through his fingers, and the mix of colours can connote different emotions, combining these two elements we can denote that the 'character' is embracing all of his emotions. The lack of colour in the last screen grab shows the 'character' snapped back into reality.

He then wipes away his tears in a bright blissful pink light, and becomes stronger for facing his inner daemons and emotions.

This simple representation of emotion with body language and lighting is something that would be very useful in my music video, it is simple yet effective and wouldn't take away from the main message in my video.

Short film mini analysis - styalistic influence

Despite this not being a music video, it still follows many conventions of music videos with a thick narrative. Also, this film challenges many conventions that I wish to challenge when I come to making my music video:


- The 'girl' is first wearing very stereotypically 'tarty' clothing and makeup (which is seen so much in the media). As the narrative progresses, this stereotype is challenged as we see that the 'girl' isn't a girl at all, but a female to male (FTM) transgender. He goes from this tarty sexy looking woman to a male, therefore challenging what the audience first expected in the mise-en-scene in relation to costume.


- From this point, the video also challenges the conventions of gender roles. It shows the true and tender side to what and uneducated audience may have previously found laughable as a 'tranny' or a 'dyke'. This is something that I would like to portray in my video - I want it to have a strong and almost shocking narrative in order to grip and audience and have the potential to inspire or open eyes.


- The music in the video could be seen as unconventional as it is extremely delicate and not something you would expect to hear in the charts. It is unconventional when we compare it to a music video as this is not a music video, it's a short film, therefore the music isn't the main aspect, so it wont follow the conventions of music in a music video. This is a feature that I would avoid when making my music video. However, the music does pair well with the video as they share similar features of narrative and the tone of the music sets the tone of the video. This is something that I want to take on board when I make my own product.


Overall I find this short film very useful as a stylistic influence in relation to narrative and content of what I would like to include in my music video.

Current Music Video Conventions

The above image is a mind map of current music video conventions showing how I am going to approach them in regards to conventionality of current trending media products. Next to each initial branch, there are the words 'conventional', 'unconventional' or 'a mix' in brackets - they are what I feel will be the features of my music video, and as shown, most elements will either be a mix of conventional and unconventional or simply unconventional.

Overall I have decided that I want to make something unconventional because conventional products are more often than not produced on a high budget, so I feel that if I try to imitate that with a very low budget/no budget, it will look like a forced imitation. So, I thought it would be best for me to challenge conventions and make a video that will work on a simple concept, basic equipment, limited location/setting and minimal props.

Analysis of music video: Weird Al - Tacky

This video and song isn't an original version, it is a parody of an already existing song and video. I thought that analysing this video coupled with a comical song would be beneficial to my research into music videos because I can then explore a larger breadth of conventions of different themed videos and songs and, then look at the link between the two.

Analysis:
The very first think that I noticed about this video was the fact that it's a parody - I noticed this from the fact that the lyrics were very different, and a comical version of the original song "Happy", and the mise-en-scene made it very clear. By this, I mean that the costumes were comical which was appropriate due to the fact that the purpose of this song and video is to entertain in a comical way. Also, the location is a mix of run down and fancy which is comical due to the fact that the viewer is slightly confused at what they are trying to get at with the location. The run down locations on the video reflect the "tacky" lyrics in the song and the fancy places contrast the ridiculous costumes that the 'characters' wear in the video making it even more comical because it is bizarre and weir.
This is something that I should keep in mind if I end up making a comical music video to a comedy song - contrast, stepping outside of the box, being weird and bizarre on purpose is often comical in current media products.

Analysis of Mac DeMarco - My kind of woman

Genre: Indie rock/pop
Style song: Melodic, dysfunctional, slow

This video and song by a slowly rising artist is very dysfunctional and strange - I am analyzing this because it is a song that I like - therefore if I use this song in my video, it will be a video that I as an A2 student (making a product that has little need for 'public appeal') will produce a good product from because I enjoy it. However, the song is semi-famous and the artist is gradually claiming more and more fame each day, therefore I will have grasped a certain level of conventionality in order to secure at least some audience appeal - it would be a video enjoyed by others, not just myself.
Analysis:
The video starts off with the 'character' in the video applying make-up and a wig which quickly links to the song title 'my kind of woman'. From this we see that the artist has played on the words of 'my kind of woman' by presenting not a love interest, but a persons inner identity breaking free - being transgender or a 'drag queen', therefore the woman referenced in the song is the woman he wants to be, not whom he wants. This challenges media conventions because this narrative doesn't represent something in the 'norm' of peoples knowledge, and often offensive or uneducated people may refer to them as a 'tranny' or 'dyke' to cause offence. This video in that sense is shocking and unconventional as it is breaking the norm and showing the world something that is a very true world for some people. However, it still keeps within Mac DeMarco's dysfunctional and funky style that also adds an extra element of shock and surprise to the video. The dysfunctional style of the video may be interpreted as the exaggerated world of abuse that people who are 'different' may face - it adds an extra layer to the narrative for those who care to look for it.

Analysis of music video: Of Mice & Men - Would you still be there

Again, much like LIGHS, this is a "semi famous" band as they appear on TV radio and magazines (examples of magazine covers - http://www.altpress.com/magazine/issue/308_of_mice_and_men [accessed 29th September 2014], http://www.bigcheesemagazine.com/features/article/of-mice-men-storm-the-cover [accessed 29th September 2014]).

Analysis:
At the start of the video there is a mix of close-up pan shots in order to establish the setting, scene and theme. This is very conventional of current media products as it is done very often to quickly grab the attention of the viewer. This is also done often at the start of the video so that the viewer can establish a narrative to the video and get a quick understand of possible content in the video without having to have a long winded storyline before and during the video (the reason for not wanting this is because having a story before a video isn't for everyone and can often bore the audience because they will just want to listen to the song and watch the video, not the story beforehand).

What I quickly notice about this video is that because the band is a "semi famous band" on the verge of fame, it is following a lot of conventional codes of current media products with it's narrative codes, location and setting and general generic codes in order to appeal to a larger audience and climb it's claim to fame faster. Examples include a suburban and abandoned location which many music videos follow the conventions of - mysterious and abandoned woods, war zone flat planes, run down abandoned buildings (used in many current media products of all different genres, such as Krewella - Alive, The Charlatans - One to another, Adam Lambert - If I had you, Black Veil Brides - In The End, Imagine Dragons - Radioactive ect...) and so on. This is something I can keep in mind for when making my music video as current audiences appear to be attracted to videos with a dysfunctional and broken narrative following the 'characters' (most often the band/artist in a video) breaking away from society and being rebellious, finding a new and place to call their own and be cast away from society.

Analysis of music video: LIGHTS - Banner

I am analysing another music video by LIGHTS because this video is a different genre and theme to the other music video she did (Portal), and I thought it would be interesting to look at the differences in conventionality, content, and how the difference in the style of the song can effect the end result of the music video.

Analysis:
The song here is a more modern and conventional, up beat style song, to a song by LIGHTs previously analysed called Portal.  In this video, we again see (much like the Of Mice & Men - Would you still be there) the conventional music video setting of a barren, isolated and abandoned wasteland to represent the 'characters' in the video breaking away from modern society and following their rebellious calling. My reason for believing that they did this is because the style music of the song is very modern and convention, therefore the music video needs to follow this format and style in order for the song and video to fit well together and to have a higher chance of success.
This is something that I can keep in mind when I come to making my own video - deciding whether I should go with current media conventions with a current media style song, or going against the conventions with a current media song and risk being unsuccessful, but creating something that is new, original and completely my own work instead of mimicking what has been done many times before.