Carol Vernallis' Theory

Vernalis' theory simply outlines the fact that editing in music videos has a big contrast to that of a TV programme or a film. She states that editing in film is much more frequent and that it has a rhythmic basis heavily connected to the song that it's for. For example, jump cuts are often used in music videos, which usually increases the pace of the video and keeps the viewer interested, as it would look a bit bland without this type of editing. As well as jump cut editing, music videos tend to use base tracks. This again keeps the viewer interested and gives the video more variety and a more music video feel to it. Lastly, characters in music videos tend to look at the camera, which involves the viewer in the video and keeps them interacted with it. For example, in a class task we counted how many times the two Rizzle Kicks look at the camera in their video for Lost Generation and we counted 25 times.

A summary of Laura Mulvey's theory

Laura Mulvey explores the idea of the way women are portrayed and looked at in music videos. Her famous quote "In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between the active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly." I think this quote is very well written as it outlines the way in which most men look at women who are dressed revealingly in music videos. This disturbing typical male phenomenon is becoming ever so apparent in modern videos today. This frequently occurs in a lot of RnB videos, where there is usually a half naked girls and a man or several men seeming to have whole control over them. A music video which tries to defeat this sexist idea is Beyonce's Girls who Run the World, where there is a lot of girls in the video controlling the men. Although she doesn't really defeat Mulvey's theory as her, and all the other women in the video are still dressed very revealingly much to the males delight.    

An example of a a music video that typifies Mulvey's theory is Lady Gaga- Telephone, which also represents Lady Gaga's controversial character very well.

Andrew Goodwin- Dancing in the Distraction Factory

Andrew Goodwin basically feels as though pop videos don't really include a proper narrative. I think this is mainly down to the conventions that are used in pop videos and music videos in general. These conventions include using the artist as both narrator and performer in the video, as well as them singing over the video itself. More specifically, in the actual music video the artist often looks directly into the camera which effectively involves the viewer with the video. This also contrasts the idea of a TV programme, such as Eastenders where the characters never look at the camera as there is a story to it and they are not bringing the viewer into the story.

Music Video Directors...Who knew?

Yes, just like there are Directors for films there are directors for music videos too. I think that as a Music Video director you must have a good knowledge of the conventions and also other directors. Intertextuality is used in music videos as much as it is used in film, and is something I am considering looking into more to help my groups music video reach it fullest potential.

Clean cut text, shots and colours have become popular within the past couple years and so now the question is if we would want to do what most are doing or go against it. I believe that i will most likely have a spot on the crew behind the camera, so I feel my research now will help inform the decision my group and I will make in post-production. So far a Director or Editor role seems more attractive to me at the moment but I will keep my mind open for whatever may happen.

Music video directors have come into focus more recently because of the increased popularity of putting the directors name on the the video, here are some examples;

Our iDeas So Far...

Even though the team has only been together for a little while, we already have begun thinking over ideas for our music video together. Communication is key or else how will it work? We hope to further develop our ideas when coming closer to decision time. (Click on the mind map to see in detail)

It's All About the Costume...

We were asked to look at the importance of costume in music videos, but before I even researched it I knew what the conventions were. Costumes is imperative in Music Videos, it adds a certain layer to a music video that can change the image of an artist easily. The average number of costume changes for high production genres (Hip-Hop, Pop, Dance) is around 3 to 4 when the video is within the disjuncture and illustration categories, with female artists it can even be me more. The following image goes into further detail;

Admiring Previous Students

I spent my afternoon looking through the 'Hall of Fame' with links of some of the best music video from previous students at our college, I found one by a group that i found stood amongst the others for it clever use of colour and composition. I felt their framing was very sophisticated and well thought out and overall just admired their finished piece. Here's some specific examples;

Them Theories Tho...

So as usual I was talking to myself, discussing music videos as you do; and I thought you might be interested. Here's a podcast of me talking about the three main Music Video Theorists; Andrew Goodwin, Laura Mulvey and Carol Vernallis. (See below for accompanying imagery)

ANDREW GOODWIN:

Mariah Carey in the music video for ‘Beautiful’ illustrating the male desire observation from Andrew Goodwin’s theory.

Illustration

This video from Beyonce follows this format as a story is told in relation to the music video.

Amplification

This example fits because the narrative paired with the lyrics give the song a deeper meaning about a troubled woman.

Disjuncture

Jack by Breach features some interesting dances and costumes that are totally irrelevant to the song.

Laura Mulvey:

In this music video Beyonce works for 'female empowerment' yet the video is from a male viewing point with the 'male gaze' very evident. This is the type of sexual imbalance Mulvey comments on.

Carol Vernallis:

Check It Out - by will.i.am and Nikki Minaj feature all of the convention Vernallis points out; dynamic camera, use of special effects, jump cuts, base tracks and more;