Dean Chalk A2 Media - 1201

Wednesday 24 September 2014

History of the Music Industry Timeline


Phonograph (1870s)
The phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison, in 1878 the first music was ut on record but the phonographs were too bulky and expensive so they weren't used very much.

Vinyl Record (1920s)
This was the time when music started to be created more for the purpose of monetary gain rather than just for entertainment. In order to be able to sell songs the vinyl record was invented as an easier way to transport music which at the time they were being used to transport music to the troops during WW2. Jazz was the main genre of music which lifted the spirits of people during the war.

Jukebox (1920s)
Jukeboxes became very popular as they were a way to listen to music without having to buy vinyl records which at the time could be expensive, jukeboxes were found within most bars and fairgrounds and allowed people to listen to the music of their choice for a small fee (usually coins).

Elvis Presley (1950s)
Elvis Presley was idolized by teens and seen by the parents as rebellious as a lot of his music was anti-authority and sexual. This was also the time when denim jeans became a fashion statement for teens.

The Beatles (1960s)
The Beatles released their first single 'Love Me Do' which became an instant hit. This was also near to the time when audio cassettes were released which benefitted their career. During this time the BBC was the dominant radio station and they refused to play any rock n roll music as it didn't appeal to the older audiences.

Casette Tape (1960s)
The casette tape was created as a more convenient way to purchase music which also allowed you to play it in your car as most cars started to include features to play casette tapes.

Radio Caroline (1960s)
Radio Caroline was one of the many pirate radio stations started at this time, they would have ships which they would broadcast from and play music which other stations would refuse to do such as rock n roll. This was a problem for the music industry as people would record the music from the radio stations onto their own casette tapes and obtain the music without paying for it, however in 1967 the government closed a loophole in the law which allowed for these pirate radio stations to function and shut them down.

Woodstock (1970s)
Woodstock came soon, 2 years after, the first ever music festival and it was hosted in New York. The event sparked a movie, two soundtrack albums and has since been seen as the stuff of legend as it showcased some of the most influential and famous artists of the time, such as Jimi Hendrix and The Who.

The Sex Pistols (1970s)
After the 1960's, the 1970's was the decade of happy and optimistic disco music, coming from bands such as Pink Floyd and Led Zepplin, there were also the other extreme, rebellious, angry punk movements with bands like the ramones, the clash and the sex pistols.

The Sex Pistols were discribed by the BBC as being a 'difinitive English punk rock band'. The anger they had at the world was obvious in their lyrics and they went against the government and establishment, singing about anarchy amongst other things.

Michael Jackson (1980s)
Michael Jackson lead the way as the top male solo artist of the decade. He used music videos as a way to increase his popularity and he released 'Thriller' which was a 14 minute long video to accompany the song. This video and song became a global phenomenon, sales of his album had declined before the video was released and when the video was released the album went straight to number 1 on the MTV charts.

MTV (1980s)
In 1981 MTV was launched as the first ever non-stop music video channel and started a new era in the promotion, consumption and power of pop music. Young people grew up at this time expecting their favourite songs to have music videos to go with them and due to the popularity of music videos record companies had to increase their budgets in order to ensure that music videos are been released along with the songs.

CD (1980s)
The CD was released as a way to easily distribute and sell music, they were initially described as being indestructible as well as producing crystal clear sound, people weren't sure about this technology at first but as CD players became more affordable they became more popular and overtook vinyl and cassettes in popularity.

Live Aid (1990s)
Live Aid was a festival put together in order to raise money for Ethiopian famine. The event was help simultaneously in London, England, United Kingdom and in Philadelphia, Pennylvania, United States and was attended by around 200,000 people in total. It was also broadcasted on television and the estimated global audience was 1.9 billion people across 150 nations. It's estimated that around £150 million was raised.

iPod (2000s)
In 2001 Apple introduced iTunes and that changed the music world forever, they also released the iPod during 2001. Originally it was only intended for Mac computers but in 2003 they released a PC version of the iTunes store and PC users were able to access music downloads. CD sales plummeted and illegal downloads meant that people who may have previously purchased the music on CD were able to get it for free due to the wide number of illegal download websites.

MySpace (2000s)
MySpace was introduced as a way for new music artists to promote themselves when they otherwise wouldn't have been able to.

Friday 12 September 2014

Bang Bang Music Video Analysis


This song features three artists, Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj who are all featured in the music video. Initially the video starts out with the three artists names and then cuts to short scenes with Ariana doing her make up and Nicki getting into a helicopter to introduce them into the video. It then shows Jessie pulling up in a car and everyone in the street looks towards her, this is showing that all attention is on her and she is going to have a big part in the video. Then during the chorus it cuts between Ariana and Jessie as they're both singing. The video then focuses on Ariana during her part and again cuts back to Jessie whilst they're singing to show both of them are singing. A helicopter is then seen flying over the city and as it lands Nicki gets out to start her part, all three artists then join together and are dancing together.



Throughout the video the focus is on Jessie despite the other artists being featured in the video, people are also constantly staring at her and dancing with or around her keeping the attention focused on her. This song and it's music video were used to promote Jessie's career in the US and get people to like her, the song got a lot of attention as it features two big artists in the US and her.


Laura Mulvey's theory is very relevant to this video, as throughout there are women who dressed in exposing clothing which fits the theory of the male gaze being used. However the female gaze is also used in this video as it is directed at both genders, showing topless men.




Of The Night Music Video Analysis


 
Again, this video was made by past media students. There are some things I liked in this video such as the toned down colours and also the text which is overlaid on the video, especially when it writes out the lyrics such as "this is the rhythm". I like the concept of the video where he's missing his girlfriend, however sometimes the video doesn't seem very fluid and when the girl just disappears, if he stayed in place when she disappeared then it would look a lot better but as she disappears he moves as well. Also while the video is quite good I don't think it quite matches up with the song, the song is about having fun at night and there isn't even a scene at night time it's all during the day. I feel like if they used a different song perhaps one that's more mellow and sad then it would have matched up a lot better.
 
 

Rolling in the Deep Music Video Analysis



This is a music video of the song Rolling in the Deep, made by past media students for their A2 work. I like the style of this video. The black and white effect works well with the smoke machine and their clothing also fits with the colours.
 
However while I think the style of this video is quite good with the black and white throughout the video, there are some things I would like to avoid within my video, for a start the lip syncing is out of sync at some points throughout the video, also some of the actions that the male actor is doing look very awkward and as if he's not comfortable. When it starts raining within the video it looks very fake which doesn't help the look of the video.

Previous Student's Music Videos

I looked up music videos made by previous media students on YouTube and was able to find some videos, these have given me some ideas as to what I want to do with my music video and some of the editing techniques and camera angles I could use. The videos at the top of the list were all quite good so I scrolled down more to find some that weren't as good and work out what was bad about them.

Thursday 11 September 2014

James Arthur Video Analysis



This video was made to improve James Arthur's public image, previously he'd been having a lot of bad publicity especially from the LGBT community as his lyrics had contained offensive slurs which they didn’t appreciate. This also caused other people to dislike and resulted in him handing over his social networking accounts to his management.

James Arthur uses this video to show that it's possible for a wide variety of people to enjoy his music, initially he walks up to a stage outside of a pub and is performing on the stage with no one listening. The musicians behind him are of different ethnic origins than he is, showing they can be involved with and enjoy his music too. Throughout the video it cuts to clips showing people of different ethnic origins and age groups. Towards the end of the video all of these people surround the stage and start dancing along with him whilst he's performing, it shows all of them having a great time and continues to focus on the different social groups enjoy the music & interacting with one another, which is something that wouldn't usually happen if they weren't there relating since they're both enjoying the music.

Friday 5 September 2014

Conventions of a Pop Video


Katy Perry - This Is How We Do
This fits the conventions of a stereotypical pop music video, there are a lot of bright colours & people clothed stylishly, all the people in the video are happy and smiling. There are also choreographed dance scenes throughout the video which is very common for pop videos to do.

Conventions of a Rap Video

2Chainz - Fork
This video fits the convention of a stereotypical rap video as the video focuses on the rapper constantly throughout the video, a lot of the people in the video are wearing gold chains which is stereotypical for this genre of music.

Conventions of a Pop Rock Video

Nickelback - How You Remind Me
This video is similar to the other rock video, however this is a pop rock video, it still has the toned down, dim colours however it is in a more normal setting as it's in a city. Another thing it has in common with a normal rock video is throughout the video it skips to scenes of the band performing the song whilst in the music video, however they're wearing casual clothes.

Conventions of a Rock Video

Kings of Leon - Use Somebody 
This video is set in a city environment and features the band constantly performing the song both within the video and showing live performance. The video uses black and white but also shows scenes where there is colour but it is desaturated and there aren't any bright or vibrant colours. The band performing live is very stereotypical for a rock music video and it can be seen within this one a lot.

Conventions of an RnB Video

Beyoncé - Crazy in Love
This video fits with the stereotypical conventions of an RnB video. Throughout the video the focus is on Beyoncé dancing and uses a lot of the male gaze (Theorized by Laura Mulvey) towards the end of the video when Jay Z starts rapping, the camera focuses on him however Beyoncé is still beside him and it occasionally cuts to her, the fact she is beside him whilst the focus is on him suggests that he is dominant over her.