Theory Week

With our timetable this year we have practical lessons one week and theory the following week. This week we have begun to learn some theory.
First of all we were given a Glossary of media related words that will be used throughout the course.
I found some definitions that I had not come across and for good practice I am going to put them on here.

Amplification: In this context, to add to the meaning of the lyrics through a visual interpretation which may be quite removed from them.

Animatic: An animated storyboard, often used in advertising, as well as in music video, to give a better idea of the planned project.

AOR: Adult-Oriented Rock, the dominant, white, mid-America music form in early 1980's.

AVID: A professional, industry-standard digital editing system used by many filmmakers.

Brief: The original requirement from the client given to the creative team, via the commissioning editor.

Capture: The action of transferring footage from camera to computer.

Hybird: A combination of different genres or styles.

Iconography: Specific visual features associated with an artist or genre, such as a costume or style of dress, particular jewellery or other objects such as cars, guns, etc.

Offline edit: The basic edit to be viewed by the artist and record company prior to any effects being added.

Online edit: The final edit where where effects are added and the tape produced to broadcast standard.

After going over the key words in the glossary we looked at the theorist Andrew Goodwin's identification of the "Key features of music videos" Goodwin stated six key points:

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics ( e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine boy/girl band).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). 
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals ( either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). 
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work ( a visual style ). 
5. There is frequently referenced to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc.) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There is often intertextual reference ( to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc.).

After going over this theory we applied it to a textual analysis of music videos of which videos we analysed; 

When analysing the videos the features we looked at were:

• Genre characteristics
• The relationship between lyrics and visuals
• The relationship between music and visuals
• Whether there are close-ups of the artist and star image motifs
• Whether there is a reference to the notion of looking
• Whether there are inter-textual refferences
• Whether it is performance-based, narrative-based or concept-based and how much of each

This use of the theory when analysing music videos had made it much easier to analyse the videos and find out different things and when comparing more than one song by one particular artist it is easier to understand the artists style, which will be useful when creating my own video because I will be able to find out what style I should or shouldnt use to meet or challenge the forms and conventions of the chosen artist/genre.

When looking at videos we talked about the use of stop motion (In animation stop motion animation is a cinematic process, or technique used to makes static objects appear as if they were moving. This technique is commonly used in claymation and puppet-based animation. The objects are brought to life by breaking up the figure's motion into increments and filming one frame of film per increment. Webopedia.) we saw great examples of this in Sledge Hammer by Peter Gabriel and also in the song shown above by coldplay.

Previously I never considered using stop motion but after viewing these two videos I have come to think that it would be a great element of film making to include that would show skill and an understanding of film making and different styles. The main thing I have learnt is that I need to keep viewing different music videos even if they are not the sort of music I like as by watching different videos I will find different elements of music videos that I can use as inspiration for my own work.