Similar Product Research 1 - Lenka - Heart Skips a Beat by Maddy Ryder

Lenka - Heart Skips a Beat

This music video by singer/songwriter Lenka is a key example of how mise en scene can collaborate with the subject of the song. The imagery used consists of several medical based costumes (a mock game of 'Operation' followed by a series of back-up dancers dressed as stethoscopes), which gives us a literal interpretation of the lyrics, also used as a title for the song, "My Heart Skips a Beat".

The video follows the two widely used codes of close-ups of the singers face and long shots of the back-up dancers' allowing the audience to focus both the artist and the more surreal imagery used.

Typical of its genre, the music video follows the convention of being both narrative and performative, showing the artist singing along with her performance in the video.

The colours used in this music video are also significant; the producers have followed the code of matching colour to the subject, using mainly blue and white, both of which are commonly associated with hospitals/medicine, again tying in with the title and lyrics "My Heart Skips a Beat".

I find this video interesting because of the way mise en scene is used to establish a connection between the visuals and the lyrics, which is a connection I would like to use in my own music video, although I plan on creating more realistic, believable imagery to fit the honest, down-to-earth tone of the song I have chosen to use.

Developing Similar Product Research By Lucy Barker - Tighten Up, The Black Keys

My Prezi Anaylsis

Similar Product Research 5 by Lucy Barker - Mumford and Sons, Hopeless Wanderer

Mumford and Sons - Hopeless Wanderer

The mise en scene and costume in this video reflect the style of music and create a look for the band, although actors are used, it is a similar look used in another of their music videos. The locations also add to the look becuase it fits in with the costume, the old barn and lack of modern buildings. There is also a concentration on the musical instruments, most shots include them. The video allows the bands personalities to shine through. This creates a representation that they are also 'real' (like Passanger) although slightly more performative. The video is performative based, although I wasn't bored, as I usually am with completley performative based music videos becuase humour was used and I think this is important becuase it makes it different and it makes the artist stand out, this is something that stands out to the audiance in the comments on youtube. The band have taken stereotypes of themselves and then used actors to exaggerate their mannerisms. This shows they are down to earth and they are using media to get across a message. I particulary liked the introduction of this music video where it etablished the tittle becuase it added to the authentic, auntique look that makes the band. This is something we have thought about because it's a common convention used in music videos and we want to include conventions.

Similar Product Research 4 By Lucy Barker - Passanger, Holes

Passanger - Holes

Passanger is an indie/ singer song writer and his music video 'Holes' is completley performative. This suprised me becuase it is the first music video I've come across without narrative or concept elements. After watching the video the first thing I thought about that made it different was the diagetic sound at the end were the artist thanked people for watching him perform, Dyers theory on the matter of images can be applied here, he says 'how we are seen determines how we are treated..... How we see them comes from representation'. The representation of Passanger in this video makes him look really real and like a person that you could meet in real life, rather than a pop star that lives in Hollywood, the shots at the begining also help to make him look more real. Close up shots of him on the guitar show that he is very skilled, I liked the hand held affect used in one of the close-up shots with him and his guitar, this also added to the real representation becuase it was like looking at it through your own eyes. It appears to be a convention of indie/ singer/songwriter music videos that the artist is shown with an insturment or singing. This is a convention we're going to stick to, we will have close ups of the artist singing. There were also lots of long shots to establish a location which also allows the shot to capture the large amount of fans. Becuase it is performance based there is a lack of codes and signifiers which I need in my video to get the message across about materialism.

Similar Product Research 3 by Lucy Barker - Lauren Aquilina, Sinners

Lauren Aquilina - Sinners

This video has performance, concept and a little bit of narrative in it, which is similar to our ideas. I chose to analyse it because I think the imagery and codes used are very powerful. For example the fire which means danger and links in with the tittle of the song 'sinners' this agrees to Goodwins theory, were he says that the lyrics have a visual link. The lyric 'our hearts are too ruthless to brake, let's start fires for heavens sake' is also shown against images of fires braking out on the beach. The video also concentrates on the artist, a convention of all the videos I have looked at that fit into the category of singer songwriter or indie. This is a convention I want to stick to as it creates a look that goes towards the full package, I want my artist to get recognised so I need to put her in the video in almost all of the shots. Codes such as the key are used to give a deeper meaning, it could symbolise secrets being locked away, the interaction with the shots of her looking at the key show that this is why she is singing the song. The average shot length slows down towards the end of the video showing an anticlimax. The mise en scene shows re-curring props such as the bed and on the beach the close ups of faces show panick and disorder. The contrast between the fire that brakes out on the beach and the rain that pours onto her when she is sat on the bed shows pathetic fallacy - it displays her mood or the mood of the song. This video will appeal to teenagers 16-18 because they can relate with the artist, who is also a teenager and it's important that she isn't portrayed as someone older or younger (which she isn't) because it's part of the hook that make people want to watch her videos.

Anaylsing this video has helped me to realise the importance of the locations I chose, especially if they are outdoors becuase the weather and lighting can inflict a meaning.

Sinners is produced by Kode media which is a London based media industry. It is a smaller institution compared to Interscope which is owned by Universal. But because Lauren Aquilina is a small 'undiscovered' artist it fits and I think the overall product is very good. The director of the video is Daniel Broadley who is best suited to direct Lauren's video because although it looks great it was made with low end equipment, he can also promote a star/artist because he knows how to reflect them through the music video.

Similar Prodcut Research 2 by Lucy Barker - Ed Sheeran, Drunk

Ed Sheeran-Drunk

I chose to study this music video because it is a similar style, being singer songwriter. But I found it was completely different to others, because it was very funny and it told a story. In the video the artist becomes part of the story, and the camera shots and props (shot glasses, alcohol cans) suggest he is drunk, so drunk that a cat replaces the traditional role of a best friend, after his break-up. The lighting is used to show the difference before (when the lighting is normal in a night club) and after (when it has a hint of green in it) he has taken shots, showing the affects of alcohol, the blurring technique was also used which gave the impression he was really drunk. I think that it makes the video completely stand out from the rest, because of the way comedy is worked into the video and especially to a younger audience of teens who can relate to it. There was a performative aspect in the video, however not for long, the cat and Ed play the guitar together for a clip.

The editing techniques used in this video are interesting.Text is used as speech for the cat so it is represented more human like, and asplit screen was often used, for example when the cat was ringing doorbells and on the other side of the screen you could see cats entering Ed’s flat for a party, this helped save time because it saved it from being shot after shot of cats entering the building, and also added comedy value. Towards the end of the video, when the climax has been built up, the cutting gets quicker to show panick and danger, that the artist is making a mistake in the narrative. This is useful becuase we can manipulate speed of cuts to create a mood.

Again, Ed Sheeran doesn’t present himself as voyeuristic ornarcissistic, just a normal bloke wearing a casual costume, and again Raynors theory can be applied because all the locations used are realistic and do exist. However the artist avoids looking straight into the camera to make it more story like. My research has supported Perkins theory that ‘stereotypes are not simple’ because the singer/songwriter stereotype can vary but mainly I have found the artist will be someone quite normal and relatable.

The codes in this video send a negative message about popular drinking culture. The artist is the 'victim' of turning to alcohol after his split-up and we want to make our artist the 'victim' of materialism to get across the message that its taking over and that there are more important things. Codes include the average shot length getting faster when the party starts, showing him getting drunker and making bigger mistakes, this is an editing technique we could use to show climax of tension.

Similar Product Research By Lucy Barker - Vanessa Carlton, 1000 miles

Similar Product Research

Vanessa Carlton- 1000 miles

The video is preformative based, the artist is playing the piano, but to make it more interesting its moving ‘down town’ so it goes with the lyrics. The video is very fitting with the title the mise en scene includes a variety of locations as if she is literally walking ‘1000 miles’. Shots nearly always include Vanessa because she is promoting her music, and the fact that there are many close ups of her playing the piano shows recognisation that she is very talented on that instrument, which is something similar in most indie/singer song writer music videos. Her costume looks quite casual which reflects the music because it’s quite easy listening style. The artist looks directly into the eye of the camera, engaging with the audience which is important because it draws the audience directly to the artist, making her the main feature of the video. This fits in with Goodwins theory and helps promote the artist so she can become part of a 'look'. 

The way the artist presents herself isn’t voyeuristic or narcissistic but she still presents herself with confidence. This Is something I aim to do because I think it reflects the genre, so in my music video I will have the artist/main character occasionally looking into the camera but not in a voyeuristic way. Raynors representation theory could be applied to the music video because the background and places she travels whilst playing the piano represents the real world, all locations are real and you can visit them. This is done using a green screen.

The video is produced by Interscope records, which is owned by the Universal music group, which helped get the video out to even more people than who Vanessa Carlton would have stood out to. Interscope records home to over 146 other artists so is a huge platform.