Next steps analysis.

Now that our group has progressed in analysis for the rap genre and rap videos and we've looked at the demographic's we need to cater to, we can now specify our analysis on what we'll do for our own music video. We've really focused on two aspects of the video and have extensively thought through what we'll do.

Now as we've picked Swimming Pools to be the song we make a video from, it's important to explore different aspects of the video. In the original, there's a marginally negative representation of gender. I say marginally as it's not overly negative, however the females in the video are shown to be objects of desire, as they don't add anything to the video, they are just there to look good. Now some people may see that as a huge negative, I believe as they aren't meant to be the focus of the video and they're not being mistreated or grossly misrepresented, I believe it's only marginally negative. With our video, there won't be a focus on gender, so men and women will be represented equally, as we want the focus to be on the negatives of excessive drinking. The narrative will be mixed, with the main focus being on the main character and how drinking is affecting him, whilst depicting other people drinking and also with visceral shots to represent drinking and to fit with the lyrics of the song.

OUR VIDEO
For our music video, we want the setting of it to be in a party. The idea of it being to represent the negatives of drinking and peer pressure in getting someone to drink excessively. This isn't stereotypical of rap videos, as usually drinking alcohol is associated with partying which is what rappers usually advocate in their songs and videos. We also think the setting will be entertaining and will appeal to an audience, as an entertaining video was the most voted for in our questionnaire. Some problems will be organising a 'party' for us to get the necessary footage and also as some of the actors are under 18, making it realistic will be a challenge. However we can these are problems that can be worked around.

50 Cent - In da club

Schoolboy Q - Collard Greens

Usher - Yeah

R Kelly - Ignition

To submerge our audience and make them feel like they're at the party, we're thinking about using hand held camera work. This is again to make it entertaining, as they can feel like they are at the party. Also we feel this will be the most effective way to show the negatives of excessive drinking and peer pressure as well, thanks to the handheld camera not being fixed to one spot, can capture a lot more footage of the party.

Our take on the music video is positive, as we plan on subverting the stereotypical messages of drinking loads and partying is great by showing the consequences of these actions. We want to set it up by drawing people in and then subverting their perceptions of rap videos and the lifestyle most rap videos condone. We hope by going against stereotypes, we will catch people's attention and the music video will be memorable.

Album covers: Do they require the artist upon them?

The long play record, or album to you and I, has been in existence for nearly 70 years. The albums themselves have artwork on the cases that hold the albums, to save them from looking boring to the average consumer and die hard fan. The idea of having iconic album artwork can be just an illustrious honour as having an iconic album itself, and most commonly they go hand in hand.

A quick search of 'cool album covers' on the internet produces list upon list of thousands of people's opinions. And as a result of this, begs the question 'does the artist need to be on the album cover?'

Here are some albums from the aforementioned 'cool covers' list, and a link to the whole list.

http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/music/50-coolest-album-covers#gallery-15

The Beatles - Abbey Road

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

The Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks

Now, for those who are eagle eyed, out of those 3 covers, only one had the artists on them, suggesting that having the artist on the cover isn't important to how well the album sells.

The Plot Thickens!!

Now, those covers spanned all genre's. My group's practical coursework is focused on the rap and Hip Hop genre, so it makes obvious sense to focus on that.

Now using 3 lists, we can really get a big grasp of famous album covers from the Rap and Hip Hop genre.

Links below
http://uk.complex.com/music/2011/10/hip-hops-50-greatest-album-covers/
http://www.capitalxtra.com/xplore/lists/best-hip-hop-rap-album-covers/
http://genius.com/discussions/51734-Best-hip-hop-album-covers

And upon looking at them, here are some things I have noticed.

• Album covers vary from person to person. Seems kinda obvious but a point to highlight nevertheless. One artist may have an album cover that is more artistic and will not feature the artist at all, whereas other artists will have themselves on the cover.
• The further back the years you look, the more likely you'll find the artist on the artwork

Here are examples of album covers with and without the artist on the album artwork.

These are some of many examples, showing the point that the decision to have an artist on the album artwork is neither here nor there. There are famous albums which incorporate both ideas, and it's not necessary to use one or the other to achieve success.

When looking to make our digipaks, we shall look to what modern album covers look like and will probably incorporate ideas used by rappers and artists that the group enjoy, as to ensure we stick to modern conventions and ensure we have our own input on the product.

Star Theory!

Most musicians nowadays, are not only known through their music. Through many other forms of media, an artist is treated as a marketable brand over a long period of time. Their face becomes well known and is used as an advertising tool.

Richard Dyer says that these musicians or 'Stars' are constructed and artificial. The Usp's which are a part of the image can be copied and parodied, as the person becomes associated with the image, and are virtually unrecognisable without them. The stars are made to appeal to audiences which will then generate more money for the record company. An example of this is the young boy bands who are manufactured to cater to the new generation of 7-12 year olds that come around every 4 or 5 years.

Outside of music, the 'stars will represent certain cultural attitudes and promote certain ideologies, and the more interested the audience, the more it enhances there 'star quality'. Stars will start out as ordinary people, and then become constructed figures. They act as representations as to what people should look like and aspire to be. However, there image is constantly assessed, and for it to maintain the same effect they have on most people, their image had to change with each album.

Kendrick Lamar

As we are choosing one of Kendrick Lamar's songs for our main text, it's important to look at him in terms of how the star theory can apply to him. Music videos are a way to express oneself, and someone who has a lead singer persona would be essential in an advertisement music video. However we want to go with a more abstract/cinematic video, something which is common in rap video's more so nowadays. Kendrick Lamar doesn't create a celebrity image in the same as other mainstream rappers do, so in our video we think it isn't essential to do so.

Analysis of demographic questionnaire.

To get a better feel of what our potential audience for our video think like, my group and I designed a questionnaire which enabled us to get an idea as to what type of person our target audience is, plus their likes and dislikes in terms of the rap genre and rap videos.

Here are the questions from the questionnaire that we made our participants.

• Pleas put your name, age and gender
• What apps or websites do you listen to music on?
• Which of the following describes you best? Pick one.

A digital, free spirited, creative young single.
Someone with high aspirations but low economic status.
And aspirational, fun seeking, active individual 
Part of a high driving, high involvement couple.

• List your 3 Favourite rappers
• If you chose 'creative young single' what would you change about rap videos?
• If you chose high aspirations, why do you watch rap videos?
• What is your favourite rap album and rap video?
• What would you expect to see in a rap video? Does it need to be linked to the song?
• Do you prefer rap videos to be entertaining or to have a message?
• Do you believe we'll need a lead singer for our music video?

Analysis

To gain an understanding of our audience, we decided to analyse the results from the Questionnaire.

This is for the question "which one of these (Life matrix personalities) are you, pick one"

This question was so we could see what type of people are demographic would be. The one most people selected was the 'Digital, free spirited, creative you minds' this didn't surprise me as this is what we expected from our demographic. Also the 'High aspiration' and 'active young single' ones are very high as well. Looking at these two high results now makes our group consider what things we can do to entertain them with our video also.

This is for the question 'Do you prefer rap videos to be entertaining or to have a message'

This will help us in what direction we take when we come to film our Music video. The results were close. but most people chose to have a message. This is good as in our initial ideas and pre planning, we wanted to have a message in our video. I can see how an audience would want a message in the video as they want to be inspired. We'd also want to make our video entertaining, as a high number of people voted for that, and in my opinion the message would stick if it's presented in a humorous.


This is for the question 'does our music video need a lead singer'

The margin was close but the majority said yes. For our product we'll be using a mainstream rappers song, so realistically we can't have the rapper be in our own video, plus in our opinion it wouldn't look right someone else rapping it. We think that as long as the product is good and they are entertained by it, the fact that there isn't a rapper in the video won't affect people's opinion of the song.

Audience profiling research.

When researching ways to categorise different demographics,  I found a few different methods that this was achieved and ones that helped give an insight into my audience. 

One of the ways I found useful in in identifying a demographic is the ABC1 C2DE form. What this does is it makes the different group from the social classes of the audience. With regards to the rap genre that I'm researching, I think that the genre would come from and focus on the lower sections of the table illustrated above, as they focus on the working class more. I think this as a recurring theme in rap music which is money, and more specifically in making money and how much money you have. This theme would strongly resonate with a working class community as they have struggles with money and I believe that it would clearly resonate with them as they are able to relate to the message the rappers put across.

Evaluating this way of profiling a demographic I feel is useful. However there are limitations, one being that it is quite vague and not specific enough for a specific person or category they may fit into.

Another way I found of looking at demographics is through psychographic profiling. This enables advertisers to link the ideologies of the product to there consumer as they understand how important 'brand loyalty' is as the market gets cluttered with brands that don't differentiate themselves.

Linking to this is the four C's, which stands for Cross-Cultural Consumer characteristics , is a way of categorising people with regards to their aspirations. Here is a handy chart with the definitions of some categories as a part of the 4 C's.

In my opinion, I think this is very effective as a company can use this to find a specific person to sell and cater their product too.

Another way of categorising audiences is through called Life Matrix segments. Here's a picture so you can understand what they are.

This is something I have personally used in one of my questionnaires about the rap genre. Developed in 2002, it defines ten categories which are centered around values attitudes and beliefs more than the original simplistic categorisations. I found it useful as there was little chance in overlapping when a person tried to fit themselves in the category. 

Analysing a magazine advert.

This is a magazine advert for the Manic Street Preacher's 2009 album, Journal for Plague Lovers.

Let's analyse!!

• The main image is of a young child, with the drawing making the child look beaten and bruised. This could represent the raw emotion felt through in the album
• It distinguishes music and lyrics. This is because the band took lyrics from one of their former band mates, who disappeared without a trace 14 years previously in 1995. To use his lyrics again adds to the emotion, as it makes people remember him, and also contributes to the atmosphere felt on the album.
• The release date is there to let fans know when it is available.
• The producer is listed to add more prolificness. Steve Albini, regarded as a very talented producer who has worked on loads of famous albums. His name could alter people's opinions on the album.
• There's cross promotion with Amazon, as they are stated to having the album.
• The website is listed for self promotion of the band, as a subtle way to get people to go there so they can keep up with what the band are doing.

Researching Marketing Tools - Digipaks!

 A Digipak is a patented style of optical disc packaging. They usually consist of a gate fold (book style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.

Digipak style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD Digipak is used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets.

Two notable albums with Digipak's are Stadium Arcadium by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West.

What would I expect to find on a Digipak

Here are a few things that generally will feature on a Digipak.

• Bold Images on the front and back panels, these are the two main promoters and will draw people in.
• Front will usually tend to have the artists name in bold, with another bold image accompanying it, to attract people to it.
• Inside the Digipak will feature the disc itself and perhaps artwork different to the art on the front and back of the Digipak. Also things that could be featured are lyrics, artist information and personal messages. 

Analysis of Digipak

This is the Digipak for Stadium Arcadium.

What I found

• Their is a lot of bright colours, used to be aesthetically pleasing.
• The colours of blue, red and purple all mix into one another, suggesting the songs mixing into each other and flowing one after another.
• The image on front cover could be meaning to show a bands progression or distancing themselves from other bands of the same genre or their own discography.
• The appearance of the band on the back could be for the benefit of their new fans, so they can now put a face to who plays the instruments.
• The images go with a space theme, suggesting literal spacing with the band, or could be linked again to distance, suggesting the band is far different from earlier releases.

Researching the Rap Genre.

Genre is definable in a number of ways. As a way of categorising texts, a way of defining codes and conventions for a category of a text and a way of setting up audience expectation. There are other definitions of the category and it's a dynamic concept, one which changes over time in a different cultural contexts.

John Fiske, a known genre theorist, describes genres as 'attempts to structure some order into the wide range of texts and meanings that circulate in our culture  for the convenience of both prodcuers and audiences'

With the genre of rap, it first gained popularity in the U.S. in the 1970s as a kind of street art, particularly among African American teenagers. One of the first rap tracks to gain notoriety was in 1979, when Sugarhill Gang released their breakaway hit, ‘Rapper’s Delight. Once they did, numerous rap acts, including Run-DMC and N.W.A., surfaced, and the genre gained more exposure and popularity. It wasn’t just African American male rappers getting in on the act, either: By the 1980s, white rap bands such as the Beastie Boys and female rap bands such as Salt-n-Pepa were reaching the top of the charts as well.

By the 1990s, rap matured from an old-school-style – which was based o­n relatively simple lyrics – to a new-school-style, which was louder and included more complex lyrics. Artists such as The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg and Tupac ruled the charts during this time, as did Eminem – o­ne of the most popular white rappers of all time.

Rap is part of the Hip Hop genre, and the style is prominent in a multitude of genre's, including soul, dance, pop and rock music. Rap came up in the American society among the black urban youth. It started as a way to criticise the ideology of the American society, and especially the authority and powers that are present in the society. Much of the rap music are arguments against institutions. Often, it contains cultural contradictions that are against the dominant ideology.

Most common ideological discourses in rap are politics, race, gender and sexuality. Even though there is a whole ideology behind rap music, unfortunately the commercialization of it moves this ideology to the background.

With time, the way music has changed is from live instruments into studio made beats. In the beginning, the 'music' was made with live bands, with influences from soul and dance music. As technology has advanced, the genre has moved into more club and dance influences, with music being made with Mixing decks and music software, often utilising samples from actual instruments or anything they can find.

Some audiences, are with the rapper through grass roots connections, for example the same area so they rap about things relatable to the listener. Through codes and conventions, a new fan can pretty much no what to expect with someone in the rap genre, with perhaps one thing subverting normal expectations of the genre, thus making them stand out.

Initial ideas for my practical work.

The song my group and I are creating a video for is for the song "Swimming Pools" by Kendrick Lamar.

There were many reasons for choosing this music video to recreate. One being that Kendrick Lamar is a well known artist so we believe that people will take an interest in the video before they've even seen it. 

Another reason is the subject matter. The verses are about the negatives of excessive drinking, however it has become a popular song at parties. My group believe that this mixed message would be a good idea for a video. We were thinking of shooting the music video at a party where people would be having fun but also could be susceptible to excessive drinking would illustrate this message effectively.

Also, the group and I think that the concept of drinking is interesting and we believe that we can incorporate many different things in our video as it's such a big concept to cover. It allows us to stick to a mixed narrative, allowing us to incorporate even more ideas with what we want in the video.

One thing we want to distance ourselves from in terms of comparison is having a rapper in the video. In Kendrick Lamar's video, he is heavily featured as it's his video. As we don't have Kendrick, we don't want to have someone replicate him in the video. We'll have a character who'll be the main focus, just so there's a story to be followed which is connected to a person, but we won't have a rapper. The star theory helped us with this decision, as we felt there was no brand or image we wanted to endorse.

Main Ideas

These were some brief ideas that we discussed and we would like to include in our video.

Quirky face paint
Close ups on face
Switching between emotions
Editing that matches the beat
Slow motion burning
Food colouring in water

We were thinking of having it set at a party, with the focus on one person who is drinking excessively. Showing how bad this can be, this will be the message we're conveying through the video.

Roles in the group
Charlie Adams - Cinematographer and Director
Aidan Emberton - Print Media Editor and Director 
Dan Grayer (Me) - Video Editor and Director

We chose the roles best suited to our skill sets. We're all going to direct the music video, as we all have ideas of what we want to see in the video.

Linking back to my music labels post, I think that if my group were to choose from the labels that I researched, I think we'd choose Warner Brothers for our video. I believe we would choose this because they are a big mainstream label, and the rap genre in today's society is generally received well by a large majority. By choosing an artist with a genre that is popular with a high majority of people, it would help both parties. It would give the artist and video exposure to a bigger audience and it would make the label money. 

Representation & how useful it really is!

If you want to convey a lot of information about a character or a social group, the best way of doing so is through representations. However representations of groups can often stereotypes.


Anything involving a group can be stereotyped, to make them more identifiable in the media. Here are some stereotypes/ ways that stereotypes can be created-

• Age - all teenagers love rock and roll, have no respect and do drugs and alcohol.
• Gender- all women like housework
• Nationality- all Germans are Nazis
• Places - It always Rains in England

A stereotype is simplistic and doesn't allow for complexity or depth, sometimes there'll be absolutely no truth in the stereotype. 

To give myself a challenge, instead of doing a conventional rap video, i've chosen something completely different.

To explain representation, I'm have chosen Weird Al Yankovic's Parody rap song "White and nerdy" Based off of Chamillionaire's song "Riding Dirty".

Firstly, the social group of Nerds and Geeks are being represented, more specifically those who are white, as the song title goes. The Video and song in my opinion is wholly positive, there are no sub texts or hidden meanings there to cause offence, it's just a comedic songs used for comedic purposes, with Weird Al playing this 'White and nerdy' character and using common traits and things associated with a nerd or geek. It could be argued that it's poking fun at the overly masculine rappers that Hip Hop seem to spawn, with a song about the total opposite of what most rappers would be like.

The Representation of these social groups are constructed primarily through the lyrics, and with visual accompaniments. Mise en scene is the biggest element helping with constructing, mainly through props and costume and theme's that our prevalent amongst people who fit into the 'White and nerdy' Category. Here are some examples of how a 'White and nerdy' person through this video can be identified, with the lyric in quote marks.

Being very good at math. "I know Pie to a thousand places"

Participating in games of chess. "and even the chess team"

Collecting Superhero figurines. "All of my action figures are cherry"

Knowing computer code and a made up Sci Fi language. "I'm fluent in Javascript as well as Klingon"

With the editing, it's very conventional to a rap video, as it flows with lyrics, and cuts at the end of the lyric, to keep up with the flow of the music.

In terms of a Rap Parody an audience would expect all of this. This is because they want to be entertained and also connect to the rap portion of the song.

The Ideologies that are suggested, as explained is what 'White and nerdy' People are like. Another is the Ideology that this group of people and the culture of rap should not mix, this is evident as the chorus features lyrics about Weird al wanting to associate with the 'Gangsters' but he can't because of how 'white and nerdy' he is. 

Levi Strauss's theory of Binary opposites is heavily abundant in the video. With the two contrasting groups of Rappers and Geeks as the main premise of the video. However, towards the end, the two blend together, in these two pictures they show a blend.

The two men look like they are doing a shady drug deal, where in actual fact, Al pays for a Star Wars Dvd, a popular franchise in nerd culture.

Weird Al gets refused to play bowling with the 'Gangsters' and is directed to the 'nerds' instead. The blending is that the two groups are in the same place doing the same thing, whereas outside of the bowling alley
they wouldn't be near eachother

The representation isn't typical to the genre, as is the point of the song, which states how nerds can't associate with rappers, because of how nerdy they are. In most respects, it is a fair representation, but is one to not take seriously and is for the basis of comedy, as both groups are quite diverse with the definitions of 'Nerd' and 'Gangster'. In terms of a rap video, it's subversive in it's representation, but the genre itself, it's common as it matches the lyrics being said.

Typical Codes and Conventions of a rap video.

Hip Hop is currently one of the most popular types of genre's around in society. With this popularity comes a certain 'Image' that is followed by fans of the genre and makers of the genre. One of the main ways these are shown is through music videos. Now these will in some way or another follow certain idea's and the majority in some way will have similar features among them, however some do subvert the normal expectations of what is expected in a rap video.

In my opinion, here are some common elements of a rap video.

1. If the rapper is male, he'll most likely be surrounded by females, to show how dominant and powerful he is.
2. To show power and also wealth, the video will be heavy with mise en scene elements, such as expensive clothing, expensive cars, jewellery and in a basic way to reinforce the idea, stacks of money.
3. They'll most likely be surrounded by a large crowd or 'posse' as it's also referred to. This is once again to show dominance and power and raises his status, showing he's not an outcast as he has a lot of friends, or to a lesser extent people who want to associate with him.
4. The general message will most likely involve drugs or alcohol or sex, as it expresses a care free life, where they can indulge in multiple pleasures without any consequences.

Women in rap video's who aren't the rappers themselves, will most likely be, like with most media products, objects of desire. Especially with a power dominant genre like Hip Hop, the idea of how good you are with a woman then shows how dominant one person can be. Women who are doing the rapping will want to emulate the power that male rappers show in their video's, so the same elements will be present in a female rappers video also.

50 Cent's "In da club" shows these elements from a male perspective.

Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" shows these elements from a female persepctive, with a clever use of sexualising the male backing characters.

The Codes and Conventions of Music videos!

Music videos have been accompanying singles for almost 40 years. They act as a visual aid to compliment the song. Like with any media product, it will have codes and conventions that for the most part are used in most single's. However, like anything with codes and conventions, a music video specific to a genre can subvert certain conventions normally associated with a single of that genre, and also not used at all. A music video can technically feature anything (within moral reason).

There are around 3 types of music videos that exist today, they are

1. The performance (The band or artist will perform their song)
2. The Narrative ( Music video following a story line, can be linear or fragmented)
3. Mixture of previous two, combining both.

With artists or bands signed to a mainstream label, they will have a bigger budget for the music video, but they label will have more of a say as to what the music video will feature, as they're the ones marketing the band/artist.

In my opinion, here are common things prevalent in music video's of artists with a mainstream label.

• With a solo act, any video they are in will have maximum coverage of them, the camera will be on them 90% of the time and elements of mise en scene such as costume and make up will be important in showing them off, they'll be bright and bold to show off the artist as much as possible
• The setting will always be showed off with an Els. Most likely to be an extravagant location, giving off the 'perfect life' ideal that a viewer would like to have, and they can also see the artist enjoying it
• Unfortunately with female acts, they're more likely to be sexualised. This gives them attention from both genders. Females will be awestruck of them and could also be envious of their looks, whereas straight males will see them as an object of desire, based off of the cleverly used Mise en scene elements of costume, make up and facial expressions.
• In some way or another, there'll be product placement in the music video, as a subliminal message for the viewer that the product on display is a must have

Cheryl cole's music video for her single, Call my name, in my opinion features all of these examples.

With pop bands, they'll be marketed to the same extent as solo artists, but with different techniques. One common technique is giving them titles, for example the spice girls had "Sporty" "Ginger "Scary" "Baby" and "Posh" spice. By giving them different titles, they can appeal to a wider audience of people, as there's a high chance that they can relate to one of them, based on name alone. Another example is with boy bands, they'll most likely feature a hot one or a goofy one, or one that doesn't get as much attention. With boy bands especially, they'll appeal to a largely young female audience, as they are objects of desire to them. These personalities will be on display in the music video's.

One Direction's You don't know you're beautiful shows off the points I make about Boy bands.

Independent labels are one's which largely feature bands, and with music video's they'll be lower budgeted but you can tell the band has had more involvement and the music video's always are more imaginative then most mainstream artists video's. They tend to be more passionate and humorous or whatever the band desires. Most music video's with bands, much like solo artists will have a mixture of narrative or performance, but they won't be trying to market or show off the band, it will act more as a visual accompaniment to the song.

Here is The Pixies 'Here comes your man' which aside from being one of my favourite songs, features an imaginative performance music video.

However not all mainstream signed bands will have music video's to show off the band or lack imagination. It can also play to the type of music the band plays.

Here is Weezer's song Undone.

Here is Mcflys 5 colour's in her hair.

Both signed to major labels but with different types of video's, this show's how genre can change the way a video can go with a song. The first video, by alternative rock band Weezer, is very low budget and artistically shot, with not one cut in the whole video. The band played to a sped up version of the song, so when the footage was slowed down to match the original pace of the song, the band members looked slow yet were in time with the music. Directed by famed movie director Spike Jonze, we can see the artistic flair in the video, and we also see something different to the normal performance video, because as the song goes on, the less they mime their instruments.

However with Mcfly's song, the video acts very much as something to show them off. The lead single off their first album, the pop rock band's label had to show them off so they gained a lot of exposure very quickly, a clear feature of wanting them to gain exposure is by featuring their names in the video. This is so anyone watching who is a fan can quickly attach themselves to a certain member.

In my opinion, Music video's should be what the artist wants them to be. I think a label can give them financial backing but shouldn't have direct control as to what the video is about.

Narrative Theory: What is it?

Most Music video's have some sort of narrative, that's a given. I decided to research the idea of a 'narrative' and what it means in regards to music video's. 

Andrew Goodwin, a noted media theorist, believed that an artist in music video has to be involved in the music video, this is important as it makes it look authentic. This can be achieved through performing or acting as the main character or through singing or miming to the song.

Goodwins theory states that there are 5 key aspects which are featured in most music videos, these are-

• Thought through beat, which is seeing what the lyrics mean in the viewers head
• Relationships between the song and visuals
• Narrative and performance of the song
• Technical aspect of a Music video
• Star image (the performer or band) and how they're the centre of attention

Another theorist, Jean-Francois Lyotard, was against looking at narratives in a piece of artwork/media as one big narrative (a meta narrative). He suggested that the traditional ways of thinking about narrative, such as Todorov's equilibrium theory are flawed. He argued that narrative is becoming increasingly fragmented, and that these become stories within stories (micro narratives).

With regards to music video's and artists signed to major labels, ultimately it's up to them how they are represented, especially with solo acts, it helps to market them. With Independent labels, the artists themselves have more control of how they are seen on camera through music videos.

For researching this theory, I decided to find what I considered a very mainstream artist with a mainstream video, one which had been popular within the past year, to show a representation what they are like currently and also what an average person listens to and watches. I chose Katy Perry's Roar.

Whilst looking at the music video for Katie Perry's 'Roar' I can see how it conforms to Goodwin's theory. The whole video is focused on her and what she does. Also by her singing along to the track she is investing herself into her song, by visually performing to the viewer. By having the onomatopoeic word 'Roar' and having animals in her video, she can cleverly work the two together to give the song more power, by connecting the word to the animal, which could be part of the message she is putting across.

For one of the other music videos I analysed, Like toy soldiers by Eminem, in my opinion definitely conforms to Goodwin's theory as he raps along to it, and the story arc follows Eminem and how the rap war has affected him directly, making the audience connect with him as we can visually get an idea of what he thinks of it.

Music Video Analysis 2 - Sweatpants by Childish Gambino

I decided to analyse a second music video to extend my knowledge on rap video's, and get a feel for different rappers styles. For my second piece of music video analysis, I'll analysed the music video for the song 'sweatpants' by the rapper Childish Gambino.

(Warning explicit language in the video, song ends at 3:00, music afterwards is a different song)

The song heavily focuses on the rich lifestyle theme. In an interview, he stated that the song is titled 'sweatpants' as a reference to the fact that rich people can 'wear whatever the hell they like' no matter the occasion, but because they have a lot of money, no one will say anything. It's also been suggested that it's about how people thing Gambino himself is a 'spoilt rich kid' and the song is his response to those comments.

The music video is split into two parts. In the first part of the music video, it repeats itself three times, showing Gambino walk through a restaurant, sit down at a table, stand up then walk to the exit, then it shows him doing it again. This could represent how a rich person's life can become rather monotonous and lacking of anything different then what is usual, the setting of a mediocre restaurant showing how plain that might be with someone who doesn't have money to show off. This could be the artists own thoughts into how the rich lifestyle of going back and forth doing the same things and being privileged thanks to money is a negative, and corresponding to lyrics of showing off about how much money you have, isn't the way to go about life.

Secondly, as the music video progresses, the characters all turn into Gambino, and by the end, everybody in the restaurant is Gambino. This, along with the lyrics, could show how people are only your friends because of how rich you are. Also it could show how money can make you egotistical and only focus on yourself, hence everybody around him turning into him.

The artist himself has a particularly glum expression on his face, expressing tiredness and boredom. This could be an indicator as to how rich people actually are in themselves, despite having all of this money, promoting a message of 'money isn't everything'. His face could also be showing the emotion of lethargy and laziness, as he doesn't always rap along to the track, some segments he'll be walking or sitting and not actually mime along to the song lyrics. This lethargy once again could show the negative aspects of a rich lifestyle.

In what ways can people enjoy Rap and Hip Hop?

To further my understanding of Rap and Hip Hop, I decided to research to genre as a whole and why people listen and enjoy it. But when researching any genre in terms of enjoyment, firstly it's important to understand how people can enjoy them. Rick Altman, a noted theorist, studied genre and found that there are 3 main pleasures that are gained from the genre of a media product themselves. 

He found that the 3 main pleasure's we gain from specifc genre's and their music video's are...

Emotional- Which highlight the emotional feeling that someone will feel when watching a music video, this can range from the highest positive to the lowest negative. The amount of emotion put into a music video can show how much they will enjoy and connect

Visceral- Which show a physical reaction where you may not necessarily have a reason why you like it, you are just drawn to it and automatically favour it.

Intellectual- Which show a message in the video which makes the viewer think, or a story in which the viewer has to work something out.

To further my understanding, I used these 3 points and applied them to a music video I have previously looked at.

Like Toy Soldiers - Eminem

The video of Eminem's Like toy soldiers evokes a very strong emotional response, and in some ways evokes an intellectual response as well.

The genre of the music video is Hip hop and Rap. It could be argued that it is more specifically the 'Conscious hip hop' which is a sub genre of hip hop which aims to challenge the societal consensus (issues that are present in their and our day to day lives). The Genre of rap to me, doesn't have a profound effect on me, I appreciate the talent it takes to compose a good rap that flows and also a melodic beat to accompany it, but the songs and to certain extent the culture they promote and are a part of don't relate to me.

Codes and conventions of the genre are very masculine based. For example, the 'gangster' persona is very common in rap music, as a lot of artists came from poor backgrounds and group up with gangs, giving them the idea to rap about things they know, such as being a gangster and being in a gang. I believe the gangster culture is a negative influence on people, as it promotes a lifestyle of violence, power and the objectification of women. Another convention is for the rapper to show off what the have. To show where they hey  come from to where they are now, they'll contrast their poor childhood with material objects such as the most flashiest and expensive jewellery or 'bling', the fastest and modified cars, locations such as big mansions or an expensive boat, or to a simpler extent just money and a lot of it. This attributes to t the artist wanting to show off. Another conventions which links to the 'gangster' persona is to in  music video, the artist will have a lot of their friends in shot. Not exclusively to just males, however it could be there to show dominance as the artist, male or female, is shown as being the leader of a large group.

The Genre is targeting a young audience as they rap about things they'll want to do, for example hang out with friends or party, they install the idea of living the high life and being successful into their heads, giving the listener a motivation to be like them and live affluently.

In a large portion of rap videos, the representation of women unfortunately is negative. Due to a lot of male rappers using females as 'objects of desire' in their videos, women are sexually exploited and are used as accessories to the men to show how aspirational they are. They usually aren't important in terms of the narrative of the video and are not shown as dominant or positive. With the emergence of more female rappers, the representation has been more positive and empowering as they are going against these stereotypes and bringing more equality in the videos. 

With regards to the brief i have picked, that being a music video, there were a lot of music genres to choose from. In my opinion, I understand the most popular genres are Pop music (obviously) Rap music, and dance music. I believe these are popular as they are the most commercially mainstream, TV channels and radio stations will dedicate the most time to these genres as they are also the most marketable to an audience.