Textual analysis of existing music video

The second video that i am going to analyse is Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved













Opening scene shows, flashbacks of the video,clips of what has happened previously. then introduces setting and also the artists, this is down by showing the singer named Adam Levine using an ,a medium shot of the back of him the reason for this shot could be to add curiosity as we cannot see who is jumping into the pool of a luxury hotel, this could have be done to symbolise wealth or also to show the setting. The sound that is used for this is like a slow heart beat that breaks when he his the water and the sound of splash overpowers the sound of the heart beat. We then see a double exposure shot, of the artist underwater and two females. This could be done to show that they are on his mind regardless of the situation he is in, it could also be that the females are looking over him. The two females that are shown are mother and daughter, which with the main artist are caught in a love triangle. We then move into an establishes shot of the hotel, and we are introduced to the first of the two females we see her flirting with the pool side staff, we then see her, trying to show affection towards another man which we later find out is her husband who ignores her efforts. So we see her walking away upset. She then dances in front of a group of males, this is done to show her desperation for attention. This could be linked back to the lyrics “She will be loved” we see various shots from all different views and what is happening in that situation. We then see a juxtaposition movement, as the man smudges the womens lipstick across her face this is mirrored and repeated when Adam also does the same action

analysis of lyrics

The lyrics i am going to analyse is, Paramore - Brick by Boring Brick

From analysing the lyrics, I have found the hidden meanings of the song. The whole song is based around a fairytale, an imaginary world that the girl has created in the confides of her consciousness. having references to fairytale stories, for example when song mentions the 'wolf's gonna blow it down' being a refernce to 'The Three Little Pigs' and 'The clock struck 12' being a refernce to the fairytale 'Cinderella' when she has to leave the ball at 12, in relation to the song this would be when she realises she has to leave the fairytale world and come back to reality. Like all fairytales the prince comes to save the princess from tradedgy, however the lyrics of this song has a twist and instead of the prince saving her from the 'dirty ground' (refernce to Cinderella in her rags) but it was a trick, and the prince hadnt come to save her.

The chorus of the song could be interperated as the girl, is trying to bury her fantasy world in a big hole. By burying the castle she is leaving her fantasy world and joining reality. The girl needs reassurance of what is real, and that if you cannot see or feel it, then its not real.

textual analysis of existing media text

In this section I will look at existing media text and analyse them to make connections and find the conventions in which I need to use in my production of a music video promo.

The first video I am going to analyse is Evanescence - My Immortal

The song was released in 2006, taken from the album – “ Anywhere but Home”
The video is filmed in black and white, giving it a sophisticated glamorous look which was used widely in the 1930’s and 40’s, we see the first shot of a foot wrapped in bandages skimming the water, this Is a close up shot of the foot as we cannot see who it belongs to, which could add to the mystery, this is also done to compliment the music at the beginning of the video, which is a gentle piano playing. We then see a shot of a male sat on a chair with his head in his hands, piano to the side of him, back lighting streaming in from the window behind him also adding to the mystery. The head in his hands symbolise he may be worried about a decision he is going to make, or he may regret something that he has done. We then see the main artists Amy Lee laying on a raised plank of wood, with bandages around her wrists, so the can be linked to first the first scene of the bandaged foot, the reason for the bandages could be that she is covering wounds, trying to let them heal. We then switch shots back to the male near the piano. Were the camera quickly zooms in then uses a pan shot around the piano, possibly symbolising that the male is the one that is playing the music throughout the video. The shot then switches setting to a close up shot a male hand wearing a suit, with the shirt hanging out could be symbolising he is a business man but is no longer interested, or maybe that he is in mourning. We see the street pass by as the male is walking away linking to lyrics “and if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave”, so this could be the shot showing us that he is leaving. The shot then pans up, to a close up of the males face. We see he has his tie loosely fastened, and the expression on his face is upset. Could be showing that he doesn’t want to leave her!
We then see Amy Lee look around her whilst singing the lyrics “your presence still lingers here, and it wont leave me alone” could be a sign that she still feels his presence even though she can no longer see him, having a ghost like effect.

An establishing shot is used to show the setting that was used in the first shot, we see a water fountain, as the main focus point in which Amy Lee is dancing around, around the fountain is children playing games, boys playing football, this could be done to symbolise happy times, enjoyment. Also at this point the lyrics say “ when you cry I will wipe away all of your tears, when you scream I will fight away all of your fears” so the children could also be used to symbolise having no fear.
Throughout the video there is uses of juxtaposition, we see evidence of this in the video, at 1min 54secs where we see the man in the video looking up around him at the buildings, then the shot skips to show Amy Lee doing the same but in a different location, looking up at the trees.
The costume of both male and female plays a big part in the idea of being glamorous, with Amy Lee, wearing a long white dress, and the male wearing a suit and tie, however he does not have the shirt tucked in and the tie is loose this could symbolise, a rebellious side. We then see a high angle shot of Amy, laying on the top of a building, the reason for using high angle shots could be to show vunerablilty, the audience is looking down at her.
Then to follow the males story in the video we see a shot of a mirror and are following his movements from looking through the mirror, this gives the shot a different effect as we are not directly looking at him, purpose for this could be that it feels less intrusive as if it is a moment that we would not normally see, that the audience is secretly watching what is happening in the room.

History of my chosen medium

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a piece of music/song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the medium, and later with the launch of VH1. The term "music video" first came into popular usage in the early 1980s. Prior to that time, these works were described by various terms including "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional (promo) clip" or "film clip". With the arrival of the sound films and talkies in 1926, many Musical short films were produced. Vitaphone shorts (1926–30), which were produced by Warner Bros, featured many bands, vocalists and dancers. The series entitled Spooney Melodies was the first true musical video series. The shorts lasted about six minutes long and featured art deco style animations and backgrounds combined with film of the performer singing the song. This series of shorts can arguably be considered to be the earliest music videos. Animation artist Max Fleischer introduced a series of sing-along short cartoons called Screen Songs, which invited audiences to sing along to popular songs by "following the bouncing ball". Early 1930s cartoons featured popular musicians performing their hit songs on-camera in live-action segments during the cartoons. Another early form of music video were one-song films called "Promotional Clips" made in the 1940s for the Panoram visual jukebox. These were short films of musical selections, usually just a band on a movie-set bandstand, made for playing. Thousands of soundies were made, mostly of jazz musicians, but also of "torch singers," comedians, and dancers.

Many "song films"—often referred to as "filmed inserts" at that time—were produced by UK artists so they could be screened on TV when the bands were not available to appear live. Many countries with local pop music industries soon copied the trend towards promo film clips. In Australia, promotional films by Australian pop performers were being made on a regular basis by 1966; in 1968 singer Lynne Randell featured in one of the first promotional clips for an Australian act that was filmed in colour, but most Australian clips from this period were in black and white, due to the fact that Australia did not convert to colour TV until early 1975.

chosen task

for my media production i am going to create a promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following 3 options:

• a website homepage for the brand
• a cover for its release on CD
• a magazine advertisement or the CD

LIIAR - Looking how media concepts can be applied to Music videos.

Language -

Institution -

Idea -

Audience -

Representation