Assignment Task 29.1 - Purposes of Music Video
Increasing the range of media an artist is active in / Promotion of a Particular Song
J. Cole - Crooked Smile ft TLC
This music video is for one of J.Cole's singles in his 2013 album "Born Sinner". For the range of media displayed in this video I would say it is , political and entertainment based. Firstly it is political due to the fact that it was intended to send a message to the US government's war on drugs and specifically to the innocent victims who are still lost in its battle. It is entertainment based due to time put in to create the script intended for use in the video , to portray the message he was trying to send.
The music starts off with simultaneous Close ups of J.cole and the DEA officer's face , showing how they are starting their day, directing the viewer that they are the main focus of the 5 minute video. to properly introduce the messages intent, we get a glimpse of the DEA agent having breakfast with his daughter, as Cole celebrates the birthday of his sister, who is of the same age. Later , during the DEA raid on Cole's house , he is arrested and watches while his younger sister is accidentally shot by a police officer. The video then concludes with a message dedicated to "Aiyana Stanley-Jones" , A 7 year old girl who was shot and killed during a police raid on her house in Detroit back in 2010. One of the famous stories in spotlight at the time.
In Political awareness, this increased the popularity of J.Cole, showing that Politics can be intertwined with Rap/Hip Hop. Cole received a huge range of recognition for the music video, Roland Lawrence, Chairman of "Justice for Aiyana Stanley - Jones Committee" , released a statement thanking J.Cole for his thoughtfulness saying " This effort and recognition by J.Cole will hopefully will call us all on the table as it pertains to injustice in America , and , in fact , injustice everywhere"
Making the video for Political awareness was a smart business move , in terms of generating profits. On Youtube , the views generated from the audio was almost 3 million, in comparison to the music video which generated 30 million. This recognition helped "Crooked Smile" maintain 12 weeks on Billboard's Mainstream R&B/Hip Hop Charts.
J.Cole's fan base consists of mainly teenagers, teenagers are not popular for watching the news , as much as adults , however if the news is spoken/sung , through a familiar face it would certainly encourage political awareness.
Promotion of the Artists Album/Particular Album
Tory Lanez - Other Side // I TOLD YOU 8 - 19 - 16
This music video is for one of the singles in Tory Lanez's mixtape called The New Toronto released in December 2015. However the music video was not promoting his mixtape , it was promoting his largely anticipated debut album "I TOLD YOU".
Other Side was made to call out Tory's doubters. He said in an MTV interview that it is "a big f*** you to all who doubted me. The teachers that kicked me out of school. And everyone who did not believe ". This is why the music video is so direct with the camera angles , it almost seems as if he is telling us to f*** off. the camera angles consists of many close ups of Tory putting his middle up towards the camera and the pans of the crowd of people also imitating his actions, re enforcing the power of the chorus and adding extra depth in the meaning of it.
The lighting in the video during the outside scenes are very dull , showing off the grey colours which are visible , this is to show that the neighbourhood is not a joyful , happy one and consists of a lot of sadness but they make the most out of it and dance and enjoy the company of each other, the smoke of the motorbikes also adds to the dull colour scheme. Moving on to the strip club , we see brighter happier colour , pink. This is to emphasise the emotion of lust and joyfulness , as the young men bask in the sight of the beautiful women dancing around them as money is falling everywhere. Moving on we see a new tint change , this time it is yellow/ gold. This is symbolising relaxation and wealth as the young men sit comfortable around the table full of money, beverages and smokes. the camera also pans more slower in the table scene to add the feel of relaxation compared to the outside scene which was much faster due to the energetic movement. The slow pans continue into the alternate scene when Tory is in a yellow lit hallway , with money all over the floor. This scene was all about wealth and not as much relaxation compared to the table scene , for the first time in the video we get to see Tory's whole attire due to the mid shot angle of the camera and from the view we see that it is very expensive clothing he is wearing - adding depth to the colour scheme.
Through 3/4 or the music video , in order to match the slow tempo of the song at that moment , we see that the speed of the video has also been slowed down , with slow pans across the strip club to see the women dancing in more detail and the people in the club with more detail.
After that scene , we see a rapid change of pace , with a quick edited cuts , and then the words I TOLD YOU ( AUGUST 19TH ) in the centre of the screen. this date is the date that Tory's album was due to come out. the words on the screen were not accompanied with any or Tory's music but with an orchestral piece of music which is easy to remember along side the writing , almost using a memory trick to stick to the viewers head alongside yellow which is the most visible colour and the first colour that the human eye notices.
The date of the album is also placed in the name of the song , in order to add further promotion to the album , as well as this song.
Tory Lanez - Other Side // I TOLD YOU 8 - 19 - 16
This music video is for one of the singles in Tory Lanez's mixtape called The New Toronto released in December 2015. However the music video was not promoting his mixtape , it was promoting his largely anticipated debut album "I TOLD YOU".
Other Side was made to call out Tory's doubters. He said in an MTV interview that it is "a big f*** you to all who doubted me. The teachers that kicked me out of school. And everyone who did not believe ". This is why the music video is so direct with the camera angles , it almost seems as if he is telling us to f*** off. the camera angles consists of many close ups of Tory putting his middle up towards the camera and the pans of the crowd of people also imitating his actions, re enforcing the power of the chorus and adding extra depth in the meaning of it.
The lighting in the video during the outside scenes are very dull , showing off the grey colours which are visible , this is to show that the neighbourhood is not a joyful , happy one and consists of a lot of sadness but they make the most out of it and dance and enjoy the company of each other, the smoke of the motorbikes also adds to the dull colour scheme. Moving on to the strip club , we see brighter happier colour , pink. This is to emphasise the emotion of lust and joyfulness , as the young men bask in the sight of the beautiful women dancing around them as money is falling everywhere. Moving on we see a new tint change , this time it is yellow/ gold. This is symbolising relaxation and wealth as the young men sit comfortable around the table full of money, beverages and smokes. the camera also pans more slower in the table scene to add the feel of relaxation compared to the outside scene which was much faster due to the energetic movement. The slow pans continue into the alternate scene when Tory is in a yellow lit hallway , with money all over the floor. This scene was all about wealth and not as much relaxation compared to the table scene , for the first time in the video we get to see Tory's whole attire due to the mid shot angle of the camera and from the view we see that it is very expensive clothing he is wearing - adding depth to the colour scheme.
Through 3/4 or the music video , in order to match the slow tempo of the song at that moment , we see that the speed of the video has also been slowed down , with slow pans across the strip club to see the women dancing in more detail and the people in the club with more detail.
After that scene , we see a rapid change of pace , with a quick edited cuts , and then the words I TOLD YOU ( AUGUST 19TH ) in the centre of the screen. this date is the date that Tory's album was due to come out. the words on the screen were not accompanied with any or Tory's music but with an orchestral piece of music which is easy to remember along side the writing , almost using a memory trick to stick to the viewers head alongside yellow which is the most visible colour and the first colour that the human eye notices.
The date of the album is also placed in the name of the song , in order to add further promotion to the album , as well as this song.
Promotion of a particular song
Boyz II Men - End Of The Road
Boyz II Men are an american R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and cappella harmonies. During the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international success. This began with the release of the number one single "End Of The Road in 1992, which reached the top of charts worldwide, the group set a new record for longevity, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks, breaking the decades-old record held by Elvis Presley.
Analysing the video and listening to the lyrics , it is clear to see and understand what the plot is about, a relationship, which is undertaking many rough surfaces in order to reach a clear path and be successful. The video was mainly made to attract more fans to this particular song due to such its high popularity and also to give something to visualise when listening to the song in order to truly understand its meaning
The release of this song was in 1992, a point in time were editing videos were not as crisp and smooth as they are now in 2016. Compared to the other videos i have analysed we see that the quality is not as high as this. We also see that there is not as much colour editing in the more recent videos compared this Boyz II Men video which starts of with the colour blue being filtered to make it the only colour visible on the quadruple as they stroll towards the camera.
However there could be a meaning why the first 10 seconds of the video have a blue filter. There group could be in fact feeling blue which is an idiom which means feeling unwell, and it is usually associated with unhappiness and depression. so this mixes well with the heartbroken theme being interpreted.
Also due to the type of slow R&B it is , we do not see any rapid camera movement. Only slow pans showing all the artists in a mid shot angle and slow fades in editing to show the artists in different locations
Throughout the video it is clear what emotional feeling it is trying make the viewer feel , which is sad and in "their feelings". the colour blue which we elaborated on earlier is portrayed in many different ways as we progress through the video. The Blue Sky which is shown the boys stroll along the footpath , the camera angle is low making it look like the boys are as high as the sky. This is what sky blue is associated with - (sky) blue: peace, serenity, ethereal, spiritual, infinity . The sky blue almost describes that the boys have a peaceful voice and are in very spiritual thoughts. Moving on , we see another type of blue, the sea, Sea blue is associated with Bright blue: cleanliness, strength, dependability, coolness. This is describing the boys as strong men who can take care of their women , dependable in relationships, will not cheat or steal and coolness in the sense that their temper is under control , in the music video the boys are heartbroken and we do not see a sense of anger towards them , they are all cool and relaxed while confronted the female they sing about.
Boyz II Men - End Of The Road
Boyz II Men are an american R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and cappella harmonies. During the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international success. This began with the release of the number one single "End Of The Road in 1992, which reached the top of charts worldwide, the group set a new record for longevity, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks, breaking the decades-old record held by Elvis Presley.
Analysing the video and listening to the lyrics , it is clear to see and understand what the plot is about, a relationship, which is undertaking many rough surfaces in order to reach a clear path and be successful. The video was mainly made to attract more fans to this particular song due to such its high popularity and also to give something to visualise when listening to the song in order to truly understand its meaning
The release of this song was in 1992, a point in time were editing videos were not as crisp and smooth as they are now in 2016. Compared to the other videos i have analysed we see that the quality is not as high as this. We also see that there is not as much colour editing in the more recent videos compared this Boyz II Men video which starts of with the colour blue being filtered to make it the only colour visible on the quadruple as they stroll towards the camera.
However there could be a meaning why the first 10 seconds of the video have a blue filter. There group could be in fact feeling blue which is an idiom which means feeling unwell, and it is usually associated with unhappiness and depression. so this mixes well with the heartbroken theme being interpreted.
Also due to the type of slow R&B it is , we do not see any rapid camera movement. Only slow pans showing all the artists in a mid shot angle and slow fades in editing to show the artists in different locations
Throughout the video it is clear what emotional feeling it is trying make the viewer feel , which is sad and in "their feelings". the colour blue which we elaborated on earlier is portrayed in many different ways as we progress through the video. The Blue Sky which is shown the boys stroll along the footpath , the camera angle is low making it look like the boys are as high as the sky. This is what sky blue is associated with - (sky) blue: peace, serenity, ethereal, spiritual, infinity . The sky blue almost describes that the boys have a peaceful voice and are in very spiritual thoughts. Moving on , we see another type of blue, the sea, Sea blue is associated with Bright blue: cleanliness, strength, dependability, coolness. This is describing the boys as strong men who can take care of their women , dependable in relationships, will not cheat or steal and coolness in the sense that their temper is under control , in the music video the boys are heartbroken and we do not see a sense of anger towards them , they are all cool and relaxed while confronted the female they sing about.
Promotion of a new artist or promotion of an artist's change in musical direction or image
Soulja Boy Tell'em - Crank That ( Soulja Boy)
Soulja Boy, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. In September 2007, his debut single "Crank That" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 The single was initially self-published to the internet, and later became a number one hit in the United States for seven non-consecutive weeks starting in September 2007.
"Crank That" served as the lead single from his debut studio album, souljaboytellem.com and accompanies the Soulja Boy dance. The song is recognized by its looping steelpanriff. It caused what has been called "the biggest dance fad since the Macarena", with an instructional YouTube video for the dance surpassing 27 million views by early 2008.
begins in the "ColliPark Residence" - the owner of ColliPark music records home with two boys imitating the Soulja Boy dance. Mr Collipark - the owner of the record label takes a keen interest in the children's movements, leading him to contact Soulja Boy in an attempt to sign him up to "Collipark Records". His instinct is confirmed when he notices a number of people performing the dance, en route to meeting with Soulja Boy.
This little film introduction in the beginning of the video sets the stage well for the welcoming of the new star Soulja Boy.
The audio then starts with a close up angle on soulja boy's face as he is introducing " the new dance called Soulja Boy" . It then cuts in time with the steelpan bit to a mid shot showing Soulja boy in the centre accompanied by the back up dancers and crown of supporters in the stands. The angles vary from low shots and to high shots when "Superman" is shouted in the lyrics.
The music video starts with rapid cuts when Soulja Boy is rapping the chorus but when he is doing his rap verses the speed kind of slows down and only uses fades in the video to match the pace of the beat.
The Camera angles in this video are specifically supposed to show the whole body of Soulja Boy and the dancers in order for viewers to try and learn this new dance craze.
The lighting in the music video is warm matching it the high rate of activity going on the video , there is not a part in the video where the dance is not going on. The High school hall in which Soulja Boy and the dancers perform in is infused with a lot of energy as we can see from the video , more than 70 people joining in with the dance which encourages viewers to join in.
The reason why this song was so successful was because it used a different way in order to trigger the memory system in our minds, even if people do not know who sang the song they will always know either the name of the dance or how to do it and if they do not know how to do it , they will keep repeatedly watching the video in order to learn it.
Increasing the income for the record company
Birdman - Respek
It was a bizarre scene Friday morning -- the Cash Money/Rich Gange CEO strolled in with at least 6 or 7 dudes, and immediately blurted out, "Stop playing with my f**king name!" He went on to tell one of the hosts he was gonna handle their beef in the streets, but decided to do it face-to-face instead.
The backstory: Birdman's pissed Charlamagne, Angela Yee and DJ Envy and their guests clown him about not paying his artists for example Lil Wayne.
This interview received a lot of publicity not only because it was the shortest interview The Breakfast Club had done but mainly because of what was said by Birdman " Put Respek on my name" made the interview famous. It received almost 11 million views on youtube , the highest out of all The Breakfast Club's view count.
The word "Respek" went viral on twitter with the hashtag feature and that increased the reputation of Birdman and Rich Gang.
Birdman capitalised on this unusual turn of events and decided it was the best time to release a song about called "Respek".
the music video starts with mid shot angle where a elderly woman is patronizingly asking Birdman "what is my name" he says her name and she follows by saying "Put some Respek on my name" mimicking his earlier interview with the breakfast club.
During the music video the whole canvas in which the camera is covering displays a majority of "Respek" clothing which Rich Gang was making a lot of money from. the camera angles varied from extreme close ups of the clothing to mid shots of the whole entourage jumping and joining in with the music as they also show off the clothing.
There are rapid cuts in the music video to match the pace of music being played , the cuts work well with the disorientated pans which occur during the video to show off the black and white colors
Throughout the video , there are regular ad-libs which are added saying "Rich Gang" reminding the audience of the music group and record label, therefor reaching to memory through repetition.
This music video was an excellent idea in promoting not only the song but also the clothing line which was made , this was all generating revenue for the Rich Gang record label. However it was also easy to tell the video was made in a rush because it was just a bunch of people from the record label in a bar hyping the song. the upload of the song on YouTube accumulated almost 10 million views
Birdman only had one thing to say and that was "One of the lessons of Donald Trump's presidential campaign is that attention is everything. In 2016 we live in an attention economy." I feel that After telling the radio host to "put some respek on it when you mention my name," he stuck to his words and has faithfully followed the Trump steps to success. He fully commodified RESPEK. After rolling out "Respek," the merchandise line, this was the perfect time to release this single as the word RESPEK still stands as a topic trend.
Having done some more analysis Birdman not only capitalised RESPEK with the merchandise line and single he then managed to sell it for a huge sum of money. the CEO of Brand Smart China's U.S Division bought the trademark for his phrase RESPEK for a little over $25million and not only that , they plan to roll out an entire line of "respek my name" apparel for him.
Promotion of and synergy with another media product
Elton John - Circle Of Life
"Circle of Life" is a song from Disney's 1994 animated film The Lion King. Composed by Elton John.The song reached #11 in the UK and #18 in the United States, and is featured frequently in attractions based on The Lion King, such as Disney theme parks and parades.
This music video was made in order to promote fans to go and watch the lion king, see who sang the song and listen to more of his music and also for those who have already seen the movie and want to see how it was produced.
The music video starts with a close up in a artists studio as he is draws a little lion cub as the little cub sits and models for the artist. the camera then fades and primarily focuses on the lion cub as it plays around in the art studio. another fade occurs but this time it fades to a music studio where Elton John is playing his piano.
The camera slowly pans around Elton john and his piano throughout the video when it is in the music studio, the video is also edited to show parts of the lion king movie every 2 to 5 seconds in order to display where the song is from and why it was made. Not every angle was mid , in certain fades it would be a close up right in front of Elton's face as he watches the camera and sings, as so he is singing to us the audience. the camera movement is slow in order to match the pace of the music, this is why fades where used instead of cuts so that is allows a smooth transition between the movie scenes and John's playing scenes.
The colour scheme in this music video was special because for the movie scenes they displayed the colour ,due to the fact that it is a cartoon and the colours are what make cartoons what they are and so entertaining and fascinating to watch. But for Studio scenes there was no colour displayed, this is what to properly segregate the emotions the viewer would feel, due to the type of song , you would automatically feel down and sad due to colours in the video however the scenes of colour would improve your mood , making you feel "brighter and enticed" and for those who have seen the movie it would trigger a sense of nostalgia because maybe this was your childhood movie or maybe you really liked the emotional feel the movie gave you.
Soulja Boy Tell'em - Crank That ( Soulja Boy)
Soulja Boy, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. In September 2007, his debut single "Crank That" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 The single was initially self-published to the internet, and later became a number one hit in the United States for seven non-consecutive weeks starting in September 2007.
"Crank That" served as the lead single from his debut studio album, souljaboytellem.com and accompanies the Soulja Boy dance. The song is recognized by its looping steelpanriff. It caused what has been called "the biggest dance fad since the Macarena", with an instructional YouTube video for the dance surpassing 27 million views by early 2008.
begins in the "ColliPark Residence" - the owner of ColliPark music records home with two boys imitating the Soulja Boy dance. Mr Collipark - the owner of the record label takes a keen interest in the children's movements, leading him to contact Soulja Boy in an attempt to sign him up to "Collipark Records". His instinct is confirmed when he notices a number of people performing the dance, en route to meeting with Soulja Boy.
This little film introduction in the beginning of the video sets the stage well for the welcoming of the new star Soulja Boy.
The audio then starts with a close up angle on soulja boy's face as he is introducing " the new dance called Soulja Boy" . It then cuts in time with the steelpan bit to a mid shot showing Soulja boy in the centre accompanied by the back up dancers and crown of supporters in the stands. The angles vary from low shots and to high shots when "Superman" is shouted in the lyrics.
The music video starts with rapid cuts when Soulja Boy is rapping the chorus but when he is doing his rap verses the speed kind of slows down and only uses fades in the video to match the pace of the beat.
The Camera angles in this video are specifically supposed to show the whole body of Soulja Boy and the dancers in order for viewers to try and learn this new dance craze.
The lighting in the music video is warm matching it the high rate of activity going on the video , there is not a part in the video where the dance is not going on. The High school hall in which Soulja Boy and the dancers perform in is infused with a lot of energy as we can see from the video , more than 70 people joining in with the dance which encourages viewers to join in.
The reason why this song was so successful was because it used a different way in order to trigger the memory system in our minds, even if people do not know who sang the song they will always know either the name of the dance or how to do it and if they do not know how to do it , they will keep repeatedly watching the video in order to learn it.
Increasing the income for the record company
Birdman - Respek
It was a bizarre scene Friday morning -- the Cash Money/Rich Gange CEO strolled in with at least 6 or 7 dudes, and immediately blurted out, "Stop playing with my f**king name!" He went on to tell one of the hosts he was gonna handle their beef in the streets, but decided to do it face-to-face instead.
The backstory: Birdman's pissed Charlamagne, Angela Yee and DJ Envy and their guests clown him about not paying his artists for example Lil Wayne.
This interview received a lot of publicity not only because it was the shortest interview The Breakfast Club had done but mainly because of what was said by Birdman " Put Respek on my name" made the interview famous. It received almost 11 million views on youtube , the highest out of all The Breakfast Club's view count.
The word "Respek" went viral on twitter with the hashtag feature and that increased the reputation of Birdman and Rich Gang.
Birdman capitalised on this unusual turn of events and decided it was the best time to release a song about called "Respek".
the music video starts with mid shot angle where a elderly woman is patronizingly asking Birdman "what is my name" he says her name and she follows by saying "Put some Respek on my name" mimicking his earlier interview with the breakfast club.
During the music video the whole canvas in which the camera is covering displays a majority of "Respek" clothing which Rich Gang was making a lot of money from. the camera angles varied from extreme close ups of the clothing to mid shots of the whole entourage jumping and joining in with the music as they also show off the clothing.
There are rapid cuts in the music video to match the pace of music being played , the cuts work well with the disorientated pans which occur during the video to show off the black and white colors
Throughout the video , there are regular ad-libs which are added saying "Rich Gang" reminding the audience of the music group and record label, therefor reaching to memory through repetition.
This music video was an excellent idea in promoting not only the song but also the clothing line which was made , this was all generating revenue for the Rich Gang record label. However it was also easy to tell the video was made in a rush because it was just a bunch of people from the record label in a bar hyping the song. the upload of the song on YouTube accumulated almost 10 million views
Birdman only had one thing to say and that was "One of the lessons of Donald Trump's presidential campaign is that attention is everything. In 2016 we live in an attention economy." I feel that After telling the radio host to "put some respek on it when you mention my name," he stuck to his words and has faithfully followed the Trump steps to success. He fully commodified RESPEK. After rolling out "Respek," the merchandise line, this was the perfect time to release this single as the word RESPEK still stands as a topic trend.
Having done some more analysis Birdman not only capitalised RESPEK with the merchandise line and single he then managed to sell it for a huge sum of money. the CEO of Brand Smart China's U.S Division bought the trademark for his phrase RESPEK for a little over $25million and not only that , they plan to roll out an entire line of "respek my name" apparel for him.
Promotion of and synergy with another media product
Elton John - Circle Of Life
"Circle of Life" is a song from Disney's 1994 animated film The Lion King. Composed by Elton John.The song reached #11 in the UK and #18 in the United States, and is featured frequently in attractions based on The Lion King, such as Disney theme parks and parades.
This music video was made in order to promote fans to go and watch the lion king, see who sang the song and listen to more of his music and also for those who have already seen the movie and want to see how it was produced.
The music video starts with a close up in a artists studio as he is draws a little lion cub as the little cub sits and models for the artist. the camera then fades and primarily focuses on the lion cub as it plays around in the art studio. another fade occurs but this time it fades to a music studio where Elton John is playing his piano.
The camera slowly pans around Elton john and his piano throughout the video when it is in the music studio, the video is also edited to show parts of the lion king movie every 2 to 5 seconds in order to display where the song is from and why it was made. Not every angle was mid , in certain fades it would be a close up right in front of Elton's face as he watches the camera and sings, as so he is singing to us the audience. the camera movement is slow in order to match the pace of the music, this is why fades where used instead of cuts so that is allows a smooth transition between the movie scenes and John's playing scenes.
The colour scheme in this music video was special because for the movie scenes they displayed the colour ,due to the fact that it is a cartoon and the colours are what make cartoons what they are and so entertaining and fascinating to watch. But for Studio scenes there was no colour displayed, this is what to properly segregate the emotions the viewer would feel, due to the type of song , you would automatically feel down and sad due to colours in the video however the scenes of colour would improve your mood , making you feel "brighter and enticed" and for those who have seen the movie it would trigger a sense of nostalgia because maybe this was your childhood movie or maybe you really liked the emotional feel the movie gave you.
