Analysis of the original video for Wait A Minute

The song that we have chosen for our project is Estelle's 'Wait a minute ( just a touch)'. Here is the original , official video below : 





The original video is a narrative and performance video. It shows the main singer , Estelle , on a Friday night in a club and Saturday morning, walking down the street. The video has many of the usual camera shots that are found in a video , such as jump cuts , long shots and close ups.


There are many ways in which our video will be different. Firstly there will be a main singer but she will also be with two friends. The video will obviously not be set in American like the original , but will be set in London. Our video will hopefully show one day , not two like in Estells video. Our video will not have any on screen writing as is it not necessary in our project. Some of the shots in the original are shaky and badly framed , our video will definitely differ as there will be no shots like that at all.

Copyright clearance letter for 'Wait A Minute'

Here is a copy of the letter that we sent to contact@atlanticrecords.com: 

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a student of A level Media Studies and for my advanced portfolio i will be working in a group to produce a promotional package for the release of a new album track. I would like to request permission to use the below tracks for this project:

Estelle - Wait A Minute ( Just A Touch ) 

The finished project will not be made available publicly and will be used solely for coursework purposes. The holder of the original copyright will be fully acknowledged in the final project.

If you do not hold the copyright for the above tracks i should be grateful if you could forward this request to the appropriate person, or return it to me with the contact details in order that i might approach the copyright holder directly.

Yours faithfully,

Shaiann Mangan ,Caroline Aboikoni ,Jimma Khadiza Miah,  and Shani Henry

Final song choice & reasons

This our final song choice. It is Estelle 'Wait A Minute'. 

We chose this song because we feel we can work very well with the beat and use the 'London Streets' mise - en- scene. This song also relates significantly to the younger audience. 

Watching the video, we realised how we can play around with the props, and clothing to fit the genre of the song. 

The genre of the song is very easy to portray but at the same time interesting too. I think this song displays confidence and can appeal to both the male and female audience. 

It is fun song to work with and we have a lot of ideas of connotations to help illustrate this song very well. 

We showed this song to our media teacher and she thought it was a great song to cut and edit to and we can use the great sceneries in London to depict our own music video well. 

How music video's go viral

There are different ways to get yourself promoted through the Internet. Without being famous on TV some artists can be recognised through posting there video's on YouTube , which therefore if their music is successful to the public eye gets more publicized with more views. These music video's can either go viral, from word of mouth or even through social network such as Facebook, by posting video's on people wall, and then followed by making fan groups for promotion.


Here is an example of an artist home made video:




This is a home video by an artist called Esme Denters.

Because of her recognition through You tube she has come be more successful than just making home made video's.

research: skills audit

Technical skills learnt in AS:

• Edit using markers and base track which is to cut during every beat.
• making a practice pop video
• Use photoshop and the typesof tools.
• made a digipak

Research: music indstry

How are audiences targeted by music videos:

• youtube
• Tv
• Adverts
• Viral
• Worldstar hip hop
• Social networking

What are the audience pleasure of music video:

• Seeing the song being acted out by their favourite artist (story being told)
• Being able to see their favourite artist makes them feel like they have a connection with the artist and makes them fell like they are in the performance becasue they are looking straight at the camera.

How important are music videos to the music industry:

• Form of publicity/promote artist
• Adverts bring money
• Brand awarness
• New fans
• Advertises artists image
• Gets played on the radio

Record labels that dominate the Music industry:

• Universal
• Sony Music
• EMI
• Columbia
• Warner
• Island Records

Major Labels that dominate:

• Sony
• Universal
• Warner
• Columbia

What role do music videos play in the 21st century:

• Music videos play an important role today.
• Create contorvery
• We have more of a visual culture now so music videos suit the generation of today than ever before. because peope like Jessie j and Alexis Jourdan who used to put up videos before they became famous.

research: state of music industry 2012

Problems:

• shops are closing down becasue people are downloading off the internet e.g youtube converter, lime wire.

Death of CD Format:

• Record shops are closin down e.g zavvi, walworths and HMV have closed down 60 stores so far.
• Downloads have increased
• most of this is illegal

Itunes:

• Cheaper single track sales.
• Destroys notion of album
• not enough sales to compensate for loss of CD sales
• Itunes are successfu; the profit they made was 1% more than they did but music sold 10% thefore was not successful and no money was being generated.

An artist stated that "However there are more listeners now than there has ever been before therefore there is a growth in listener but declines in sales".

Video streaming also makes money.

Take that (the band):

• still shift CD'S (STILL SELLS)
• Fan base of older women prefer to by CD'S than download.

Music videos became mainstream after the thriller video by Michael Jackson 6months after MTV had started, because MTV just started in 1981. Music video became sucessful when it started.

Research: Favourite previous student video

Bilal, Karina, Jack, Sevim from 283goswell on Vimeo.

Genre

• Pop/Dance

Narrative

• Amplification- highlighting the meaning of the song
• Illustration- Dancers are there to show the meaning of the song which is to "not hold back"; and have fun.
• A group of people enjoying themselve at a club, dancing, smoking
• The emphasis on having fun.
• Repetition of the chorus, and belly dancers to get male attention.

Audience:

• people who like to have fun e.g dancers
• Lovers
• Teenagers

Representation:

• street dancing - a sense of a young vibe and a young audience also goes with the genre of the song very urban.
• Graffiti also represents urban and the youths.
• belly dancers -  sexiness of females.

Media Language

• Flashing lights
• slow motion
• Fast editing to go with the pace of the song.
• Use of rewind
• video cutting to the beat - goes with the genre of the song and the instrumental, makes the views want to watch it all to the end
• Jump cuts- to make the video look interesting and really exciting

Music Industry/ The state of music industry

1) How are audience s targeted by music videos?

• ADVERTS
• Music channels
• TV
• Youtube
• Social network
• VEVO

2) What are the audience pleasure of music video?

• ENTERTAINMENT
• Seeing there favorite artist - feel a connection, as when the artist looks into the camera.

3) How important are music videos to the music industry?


I think that they are very important, as it gains more publicity!!!!


4) Which record labels dominate the music industry?
ITUNES- an online music store.

5) Which major labels are left?                                                 
The big four...
EMI,
Sony Music Entertainment,
Warner Music group,
Universal music group.








6) What role do music videos play in the 21st century?
Promotion.
gain broader fans, by trying out new things in a music video (create controversy).
A visual culture/more genre.


The state of Music industry


Nowadays rare anyone is buying CDs, record shops are closing down as downloading have increased, much of this is illegal. People mostly use youtube converter.


iTUNES is an on-line music store were there is cheaper single track sales, however,
this is not enough to compensate for loss of CD sales.


  There are music listeners than people buying it; as there is video streaming (music video's watched on-line.

A favourite previous student video.

The world is yours from 283goswell on Vimeo.

This past student music video is successful, as various types of of edits are used, such as jump cuts, special effects are also used that suits its genre of urban hip-hop, the round framing is cleverly used to me.
This video also has cuts on the beat.

The Mise en scene is also effective the fact that this black and white, and the performer appears in front of a graffiti wall.

The audience of this video would most likely be young/teen people, as the representation of this video shows it as city street wise.

Laura Mulvey' ideas on representation

"In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly" (Laura Mulvey, 1992)

The representation on women in music video's, based on Laura Mulvey's idea, is that female figures are mainly used as sexual objects that attract men.

Here is an example:



This representation of women is mostly the genre of pop and RnB, as it shows the women being quite revealing and the men sexually attracted to them.

Summary of Vernallis's theory

Carol Vernallis observations are that in a music video; edits are frequently used than in films. Also looking at Venallis's idea of edits being important to music video's, edits such as quick edits, special effects seem to stand out more often. " Edits seem to have a rhythmic basis closely connected to the song"

Here is an example were special effects is used a lot, also jump cuts are added, repeated shots of the artists is also used!

nu brand flexx anthem





The artists also makes eye contact with the camera mostly through out this song. I have also spotted there is a lot of quick editing going on with the time of the beat.

I think the genre is grime/street and its audience would generally be you youths/adolescences who active and like to have fun (also the people who like grime music).

Analysis of a music video that I feel is great/ copy wright letter

I consider this music video as one of the best music video form.

I find this video very significant because the illustration fits in very well with the video, as in the video there are a few jump cuts towards the people dancing, and also the mise en scene of people dressed as real vampires fits in very well as this song is called "vampire". Also, what I think worked well, was the fact that there were close-up shots of the mouth with fangs, as i feel this song is great, the video makes it better by giving its visual images to the audience.


As i have this artist (Arjun) as a friend on facebook, I decided to write a copy wright letter, to use his track.

And i did get a reply "Hey no problem! Go for it!"
However I wont be using this track, because it would be hard to find good expert dancers and I am in an all girls group, so this song wouldn't be very easy to use, as the singer is a male performer.

Arjun Artist:

New skills, lip sync.

For our practice music videos, we had to learn how to mime a track, my group ad the track called "RESPECT". We had camera us mouthing the song about five times, but in different scenes.

The editing was however, so different from the editing in our As thriller work, as we had to drag all of our shots in final cut pro. and then add markers on every beat, so that there is an edit on a beat, and its easier to cut out (using the cut tool) were you have done a mistake or were you dont like a part of the clip.

We also had to edit the track onto final cut pro, and mute the camera shots we had taken.

 in order to mouth the lyrics, we obviously had to have the music playing out loud, and the lyrics printed out, to help memorise it.

Technical skills developed from our As music video

During our As thriller work, we learnt various different ways of using technical skills, which we then developed these skills in our As music video.

The technical skills I have developed during my As year is.......

1) Using Final cut pro. 

2) Adding text via Live Type.

3) Adding sound via sound track pro.

4) How to convert into HandBrake.

5) The use of Digi packs.

I also learnt how to use camera skills such as..

- Extreme close-ups

- Medium close-ups

- Long shot

- Wide shot

- Two shot

- Panning

We also developed our editing skills further as we used in our thriller As work!

As Summer work music video

PLANNING - Shortlist of potential songs

Estelle-American Boy

Ellie Goulding- Starry Eyed

Dionne Bromfield- Mamma Says

Jessie J- Do It Like A Dude

Estelle-Wait A Minute

Jamelia- Stop

All Saints- Lady Marmalade

laura mulveys

"The world still has inequalities between men and women. women are seen as objects men are shown as a whole. men portray women as objects in the music videos. we see the video through the male prospective. . The male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly."

Dizzy Rascal - Holiday, in the video women are looked upon as sexual objects. this is because the main focuses on his video is of the girl in the yellow bikini and she is shown from the beginning of the video to grab the attention of people especially men. This is because men want something interesting to look at and a woman who is half naked is something that men would like to look at. the camera mainly focuses on her bum, breast, and legs, also in the video the girl is flirting with men liking the attention they are recieving.

As Mulvey says that women are not looked at as a wole but certain aspects of their body is targeted in the video, however it is different for men as they are seen as a whole, we saw this in dizzy rascals video and the video below Missy elliot - all n my girl

As we can see the men are seen as a whole and solid.

summary of carol vernalis's theory

Carol Vernali studied editing and camera work closely in music videos. she found that the edits came much more frequently and faster in music videos than in films. she also observed that the videos have a rhythmic basis connected with the song.

the main points of her observation:

• The usual rules of 'continuity' editing (editing that flows and makes sense) are broken in order to draw attention to what is ion the screen.
• Edits are obvious such as whipe's and special effects added.
• Jump outs are oftern used.
• A master shit (base track) is used sometimes to give the video structure.
• Camera may move in time with the beat.

in the lesson we observed this video and noticed that there was a lot of jump cuts when the camera was on the guy in the red jacket. This editing was used because it made it more fun and interesting for the audience to view. Cross cutting and match cutting is used to link the characters with the main focused object.

I also noticed that there was a lot of slow motion especially in the beginning of the video, and this is to introduce the audience and put their main focus on the main character in this narration. Also the slow moton is used when the three females are on the bike this emphasises that they are in a 'fantacy' world also elaborates on their beauty.

The use of  base track is used when the rap scene is going back and forth between two clips. this is used to add a sense of excitement.

special effects ar used when the bike is riding on its own without the owner on the bike, this gives a scense of unrealisim and adds fun to the video. Therefore wanting to get the audiences attention because its not something that you would see every day; grabbing the audiences attention.

Function of a music video: Research of Andrew Goodwins theory

With research of Andrew Goodwins theory, of structure of a music video, there are three main ideas;

1) ILLUSTRATION, this is where the the video tells a story along with the lyrics for example Jojo - "Leave get out"



There is performance, dance is often shown used to express the feeling or the mood in the song.

2) AMPLIFICATION, This is when videos introduce new meanings that do not contradict with the lyrics, but adds layers of meanings. For example Katy Perry - "Firework"


For example, the narrative thinking of having a begining middle and end, donot occur with this because of short timing.

3) DISJUNCTURE, this is where there is little connection between the lyric and video or where the video contrasts the lyric. For example Wiley- "Wearing my rolex"



This is lyrically about, women taking over the guys bling, however the music video shows, different women dressed in a fox costume, dancing around.

Skills Audit

Technical skills learnt in AS:

• Learnt how to use markers to cut shots
• Learned how to drag shots to final cut pro
• Use effects and add text to the clips. ie. writing the credits
• How to use a camera and place the camer on the tripod to make the shots still. 

andrew godwin

Andrew Godwin believe that pop vidoes do not really have any narrative analyse, and feels that music videos narrative approach is different to novels and films. the reason for the different narrative structures is because:

• Pop videos are built around a song.
• The video contains both Artist as both the narrator and character.
• The Artist giving eye contact with the camera involving the viewer at home.

Andrew godwin also feels pop videos use repetition, not only in the chorus of the song but also reposition of certain image and intertextuality. Therefore becoming familiar with the genre and having expectations. Lastly the video would be played on t.v and the song played on radio. This is because having a music videos promotes the music and in some cases a film as well and encourages repeated viewing.

3 types of relationships between songs and videos:

• Illustration : The video tells the story of the lyrics . Dance expressed to show feelings/mood of the song: "how we roll"

• Amplification: the videos introduce new meanings that do not contradict with the lyrics but adds layers of meaning. Katy perry - fireworks

• Disjuncture: where there is little connection between the lyric and the video or where thevideo contradicts the lyrics e.g Michael jackson - man in the mirror. the song is about self realisation but the video is full of radical world events

Andrew Godwin also feels that women are presented as objects of male desire, especially in hip hop and heavy metal videos. Artists like Beyonce deliberately want to grab male attention and directly looking into the camera ceasing to be passive.

this also is another disjucture video because it  is talking about loving and finding love with a female, however he has clips of his celebrity life e.g going on Tim Westwood show for interviews, meeting fans, on planes , on tour, and has nothing to do with falling in love.

Research: functions of a music video

What makes a music video:

• A song/ the track
• Being able to see the video
• Actors (if its a narrative performance)
• Props
• Editing e.g fast pase
• Music videos differs from other conventional broadcast narratives because music videos are usually 4minute long also consistant music throughout the video

The function of a music video is to promote the song and the artist and possibly the album. The reason for visual viewing of the video is to give a visual element/image/dimension to a song so the audience feels connected with the Artist and also gets an understanding of the persons identity.

Skills audit

. .

AS - review on A2 media leasson

Reflecting back on AS year

Album cover

We decided to call our group "Versisyle". I decided to add the colours pink and purple to give that girly effect. I came up with the word versatile, and our group thought of a twist in the name "Ver-sis-Style".  However I feel that the font should have only been one or two different styles instead of three or more, because that's how album cover is more effective.
I feel that this album cover is successful, and would sell, however it does not suits genre of "soul" as the back looks very street with the use of major effect.

reflecting back on the AS year: digipak

How the music industry uses Social Networking

It is clear that the music industry uses social network sites to promote new and current artists and their projects.

An example of this is Justin Bieber. He is one of the worlds most famous singers and he started off on posting videos on  Youtube , which lead him to being found by Usher and signed to his label.Lily Allen is a British example of how social networking is used by the music industry. She used Myspace to post her signing - which lead to her gaining a huge fanbase and millions of record sales. 

Social networking is not just used to find artists - it also is used to promote them and/or their new projects. Facebook is one of the main sites which this is done on. A simple like of a page to do with the artist shows all friends the artist and any new material they may be coming out with - this allows the news to be spread quickly. Twitter posts from artists also expose their new projects - in a quick free way. An example can be seen below - rapper J Cole tweeted a link to his album which was seen by his 993,358 followers.

Social networking can be used to create a hype among fans about a artist. Recently Rihanna had a series of tasks for her fans to complete on Facebook , which if completed gave away the title for her upcoming album. The tasks were completed and fans were given the album title.

In relation to the A2 project , this type of promotion though social networking sites ( facebook , twitter etc) would be good as firstly it is free. Secondly it can be spread around easily to millions and millions of people by just one click of a 'like' or 'retweet'.

What is the function of a music video?

The function of a music video is to promote the song, artist or the album.
A music video also gives a visual element/dimension to the song it self. A music video also creates an image that the artist chooses to project to his/her audience.
Within the functions of music video's comes the mise en scene, and the editing
however a music video differs from conventional broadcast narratives, music videos tend to have a lot of repeated images, for instance, a cut edit on a beat.

Also within a music video the camera movements are mainly different from a broad cast narrative, as in a music video, you are most likely to see zoom, panning and close-ups. e.g a close up shot of the glamorous artist!

Music video's are also at a much quicker pace than broad cast narratives. On an average music videos are about 3minutes long.

In most video's, there is a series of repetition, this is were we become more familiar with the genre of music. (intertextuality).

Research: Analysis of music

in the first lesson we was given a task to watch 3 music videos (Katy b - louder, Florence and the machine - dogs days over, Maroon 5 - she will be loved) which contained a 'narative performance'. we was then given a sheet which had a grid on it with 6 headings. After watching the music videos we had to complete the grid, and analyse the structure of the music video.

i felt the music video maroon 5 - she will be loved is a perfect example of a narrative performance (a story being told throughout the whole music video) this is because the narrative is very clear, and the story line is a man cheating on his girlfriend with her mum, and the mother leaves her husband because she has been treated badly by him. i fell this is a good example , because it is easy for the audience to follow and understand the meaning behind the song.

The constant apperance of the artist in the song participating in the narration. i believe the reason for the success of the music video is because the audience want to see the artist to make them feel as if they are sharing the same experience.

RESEARCH

Music Industry
How are audiences target by music videos

• Adverts
• Social networking
• Advertising
• Viral- 'Ok Go'-Here it goes again went viral on youtube >>>>OK GO-here it goes

What are the audience pleasure of music video

• Music videos are entertaining to the audience and makes the song a lot more exciting
• Artists eye contact-connects with the audience

How important are music videos to the music industry

• Music videos help promote an artist and also the record label. Music videos advertise an artists image and sound
• Establishes an artists image and sound
• Radio helps to establish a new/exclusive song. 

Record labels that dominate the Music industry

• Universal
• Sony Music
• EMI
• Columbia
• Warner
• Island Records

ITunes dominates the download industry

Major Labels that dominate

• Sony
• Universal
• Warner

What role do music videos play in the 21st century

• Music videos play an important role today.
• We have more of a visual culture now so music videos suit the generation of today than ever before. 

What I have learnt about the state of the music industry in 2012

There are four major record labels that dominate the industry. They are :

 However even though there are still these major record labels - the  industry is suffering from the decline of sales. The CD format is declining , due to many reasons such as music piracy. Due to this many shops are closing - for example chain store HMV is currently planning to close around 60 of its stores during this year. The industry is still making money off ITunes downloads - but this doesnt mean that people buy albums , many just buy a few tracks.

There are expections to this. Take That still manage to sell millions of albums - a reason for this may be that they attract an older audience who are used to buy actual CDs , unlike the younger audiences who download – illegally and legally. Some bands have even used some unusual techniques to sell their music. For example Radiohead , who sold their album , ‘In Rainbows’ on their own website allowing customers to pay any amount they would like.

Review of a previous student video

The previous student video I have chosen is from 2009 / 2010. The song is by pop artist Robyn and is called ‘Bum like you’.  Here is the student video :

As Andrew Godwin comments ‘ pop videos rely on repetition’. This can be seen in this video as we see the singer in the same location many times in the video. Below are screen caps showing an example of on repeated image in the students video:

 In reference to Laura Mulveys quote -  In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly’ .  In this video i don’t believe this is the case. The singer is not dressed provocatively but in cover up fashionable clothing. However in reference to mulvey stating women are ‘dismembered’ could be true. There are a few shots in which we just see parts of the singer – they are shown below.

Overall i think the videos main strengths are that it does work as a pop video. It is fully convincing as it has the usual pop video conventions. As for weaknesses the video does not have any obvious ones , but i think maybe the use of the shots which Laura Mulvey would consider dismemberment could be avoided.

Laura Mulveys ideas on representation

‘In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly’ – Laura Mulvey

This quote basically states that in today’s society, there is an inequality between the pleasure in looking at males and females. Women are put across in a way which embodies the male fantasy meaning they are dressed and made up to represent the male desire.

In music videos women are usually dressed in very seductive barely - there clothes and expertly made up , meaning they are represented as sexual objects. This can be seen in videos by artists such as the group ‘The Pussycat Dolls’. In most of their videos they are dressed in bras , skirts , lingerie – basically outfits which show of their bodies. Their music belongs to the genre of pop , which half dressed females is seen commonly and expected. However there are some artists that challenge this. Missy Elliot is an example of a convention challenging artist. In her videos she is usually covered up in tracksuits or other loose fitting items of clothing , which show that she does not obey to the rules of women in music videos.

I do believe that Mulveys opinion is still relevant in today society. Acts such as Beyonce and Rihanna and even Tulisa from the British band N-Dubz , all dress and are conveyed in videos in a way which embody a stereotypical male fantasy.

Summary of Vernalis's theory

Main points of Vernallis view on music videos

Carole Vernallis observed editing and camerawork in music videos.  She came to the conlusion that edits in music videos come more frequently than in film. She also found that the editing has a rhythmic basis which is connected to the song.

The main points of her observation are below :

•    The rules of continuity editing are broken and draw attention to whats being shown
•    Attention is drawn to really obvious edits – such as wipes and special effects
•      Jump cuts are used often
•      Base tracks ( A master shot) is mainly used to create some sort of structure to the video
•      The camera can sometimes move in time with the music

An example of a music video that does this is below :

.

A summary of Andrew Goodwins theory

Andrew Goodwin feels that traditional narrative analyses don’t apply to pop videos.  The reasons for the different in narratives are :

1.     Pop videos are built around songs – these songs do not have a traditional narrative structure which is – normality , problem , resolution.

2.     The singer is the narrator and character

3.     The singer often looks directly at the camera – they are trying to involve the viewer with the performance

He states that pop videos rely on repetition , which is seen in the images , choruses or lines. This means the audience becomes familiar with the genre and has certain expectations.

Pop songs / videos do have closure. The song has an ending and so does the video , it either builds to a climax or has constant repetition until it fades away.

However there are three types of relations between the videos and songs. These are :

1.     Illustration- The video tells the story of the lyric. For example Ed Sheerans ‘The A Team’. The song tells the story of a female who sells her body for drugs – and the video conveys this by showing the viewer what goes through.

2.     Amplification –  This is when the video adds meaning to the song , which don’t contradict the lyrics but add a deeper meaning. Firework by Katy Perry does this by telling the story of different characters who all struggle but find their inner ‘firework’.

3.     Disjuncture – These type of videos have no connection with the lyrics and sometimes the video may even contradict the lyrics completely.