To capture the true essence of protest music videos, I first watched a few and analysed them, trying to understand what sets protest music videos apart from others.
1. Freedom is Free by Chicano Batman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkEmnrUzFFE
The idea that freedom isn't free has been the ideological fuel behind America's hyper-militarization for a long time. But Chicano Batman challenges this idea on the funk-soul song Freedom is Free by singing, "You've got your guns up on display/ But you can't control how I feel no way/ 'Cause freedom is free." The music video is a dramatic contrast to the lyrics with a brutally visceral twist to the message: the members are being tortured by waterboarding, a torture technique used by the US military on multiple occasions.
2. Now by Miguel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eFL1zzGK8o
The Mexican/African-American singer Miguel uses his music video Now to she light on immigration detention centres on the last song of his album 'War and Leisure'. In the music video, he's performing at a #SchoolsNot Prisons rally near Adelanto High Desert Detention Centre which is home to over 2,000 detainees from Latin America. There are protestors show holding signs that have crossed out the words 'detention centre' and are replaced with 'prisons' in red ink. The lyrics and visuals also correspond with one another with the lyrics calling out Donald Trump's xenophobic policies towards immigrants with lines "CEO of the free world now/ Should we teach our children hatred?"
3. Fight Like a Girl by Zolita
Both the song and the music video are very female-empowering which is especially addressed with the now infamous line "My body my choice/ My rights and my voice" but adding "Can't grab me by the..." which is a direct reference to Trump's comments about women. The singer tries to dismantle the patriarchy with a girl-cult who all wear red lingerie to embody power but perhaps also a reference to menstruation and being empowered by it shown through a wide range of body types, sexualities, age and ethnicity.
4. You Are the Problem Here by First Aid Kit
Although not accompanied by a music video, the Sweedish duo, First Aid Kit, do an extremely good job in creating a song directly attacking many perpetrators of sexual assault. First Aid Kit abandoned their classic folk harmonising for a harsher and more powerful message which was easily justified by the subject they decided to sing about. The lyrics "I am so sick and tired of this world/ All these women with their dreams shattered/ From some man's sweaty, desperate touch/ God damn it, I've had enough". These lyrics are harsh in their meaning, clearly stating what men do. I was close to using this song for my own media coursework as an obvious protest against sexual abuse against women and the feminist anthem that it has grown to be.
5. Land of the Free by Joey Bada$$
Brooklyn-bred rapper, Joey Bada$$ wasn't shy when releasing his breakout album All-Amerikkan Bada$$. The three 'K's in the album title is an obvious link to the American white supremacist hate group that killed many African-American's and Joey shows this connection through the lyrics in Land of the Free "Three K's, two A's in AmeriKKKa". The rapper navigates finding his fateful path ("I feel my ancestors unrested inside of me/ It's like they want me to shoot my chance in changing society/ But how do I go about it? tell me where I start?/ My destiny rerouted when I chose to follow my heart.") while eloquently tackling racial tensions and changing residence: "Obama just wasn't enough, I need some more closure/ And Donald Trump is not equipped to take this country over." This album he released had many amped tracks such as "Free" and allows Bada$$ to become a musical-political force to be reckoned with.
6. Just A Girl by No Doubt
Gwen Stefani fronted the rock band No Doubt and, considering the rock industry was incredibly male-dominated, it must've been tough. One of the earliest hits addresses this and was a weary retort to sexism and stereotyping with "I'm just a girl in the world/ That's all you'll let me be!" This idea of sexism is shown in the music video with Stefani and her bandmates separated into rooms, with her room being pretty and 'more appropriate for a woman' whilst she applies makeup and talks with other girls, whereas her fellow bandmates are in their room practising music.
7. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next by Manic Street Preachers
The bands first number-one single was about the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). The title was taken directly from a propaganda poster of the time and Manic Street Preachers use disturbing and bizarre visuals to bring forth this idea with the faceless family throughout the video. A line from the song is a direct quote from one of the Welsh miners that travelled to Spain to join the fight against General Franco's army: "If I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists." Nicky Wire, the lead singer of the band, later claimed that the ideology behind the song was saying that political issues seemed to have lost their relevance in modern-day society.
8. Paper Planes by M.I.A
Singer Maya Arulpragasam is the daughter of Sri Lankan Tamil activist so is aware of the struggles immigrants and refugees face daily and understands them first hand. Her song Paper Planes is her 'underdog' song where she represents how an immigrant would adapt when moving to and living in a Capitalist country like the USA. She uses an idea of humour and the stereotype of immigrants taking money to literally create her whole song and the use of gunshots is used to remind people of America's no tolerance for people who are different.
9. Glad to be Gay - Tom Robinson
Homosexuality was only decriminalised in 1967 in England but even ten years later, the LGBT community was still a target of abuse and violent behaviour, as well as police brutalisation which Robinson sings about ("The British police are the best in the world.../ Picking out people and knocking them down/ Resisting arrest as they're kicked on the ground"). The BBC refused to play it on the Top 40 countdown as Robinson, who was a broadcaster at the time, was direct with his lyrics and it quickly became an anthem of gay liberation in Britain.
10. Born this Way by Lady Gaga
Gaga, known for her surreal visuals and subverting some stereotypes for music videos, and nothing is different with her music video Born This Way which has become something of an anthem for many people in the LGBT community as the lyrics themselves make references "Don't be a drag just be a queen". Gaga is known for being influences by Drag Queens in her art in her music videos and this visual stimulus creates an impactful video which is why many LGBT wanted to use this as an anthem.
Forming First Ideas
To organise my thoughts and choose a song, I decided to make some notes on three songs that I was considering using for my media coursework.
You Are the Problem Here - First Aid Kit
Narrative
- Opening wide shot of a band readying themselves to play on a stage without the music. Cuts to shots of the bar they're performing at with a majority older male audience sitting in pairs and threes and talking. At the bar, there is a woman sitting in a red dress with a glass of Coca Cola and the bottle next to it.
- The main singer walks on stage wearing a t-shirt, jeans and a black, wide-brimmed hat. She looks up and the camera cuts back to the girl at the bar who gives her double thumbs up. Cuts back to the singer who smiles at her straighten her microphone and the room goes quiet.
- Close-up shot of the singer's mouth with red lipstick near the microphone as she sings opening lyrics.
- An older man walks up to the girl at the bar and starts speaking to her which she brushes off in favour of listening to the music
- With the line "From some man's sweaty, desperate touch", the man runs his hand along her waist/up her thigh and the camera follows the movement in a close-up before cutting to the woman's face visually uncomfortable.
- Singer gets off the stage and begins to fight the man in tracking motion before it cuts to the same band busking on the street.
- A similar scenario occurs and a man touches a woman inappropriately and the singer of the band does the same thing - leaves the band (still singing the lyrics) to help the woman.
- For the chorus, the camera cuts between the band performing and the singer in a fight with the men whilst singing the lyrics.
- Second verse cuts to the band walking through a group of women with signs saying 'Women's rights', 'No means No', 'My body my choice', etc. with closeups of the band for audience gratification.
- Bridge with "Sisters or daughters or mothers" cuts to mid shots of lots of women of different ages, ethnicities, sexualities, etc.
- Chorus again is the band performing and women protesting with their signs with close-ups of women shouting and of their signs.
- The final line of the song "And I hope you fucking suffer" is a close-up of the singer looking down at the man back in the bar holding the girl from the bar's hand and mouthing the lyrics.
Location
- Smallish Pub - Fatty's Bar, Hadleigh
- Southend High Street at Night
- London Oxford Street
Actors
Singer
2+ Band members
15+ women of different ages, ethnicities, etc.
5+ middle-aged men
Colour Palette and Mise-en-Scene
- Use a range of darker colours like reds and dark yellows to connote rage and reflects a darker mood in the video.
- Shoot colours from beneath the actors to cast shadows to create an imposing atmosphere that can be seen as accusative.
- Give the sense of poor lighting on the street to suggests that sexual assault happens in everyday life as well.
- Want the mise-en-scene to reflect how, although the band are small (playing in small pubs/busking) they sing about pertinent issues that affect people in life all the time and how things won't stop unless we make a change.
Camera and Editing
- Range of close shots used to fulfil Andrew Goodwin's idea of gratifying the audience with shots of the artists
- Tracking shots of the artist moving and also whilst playing their instruments and these shots also give the audience a perspective, as though they're following along with the narrative too - makes it more personal
- Want the shots to change on the beat with the song and be a couple of seconds long to match the song which isn't fast-paced - therefore the editing shouldn't be fast-paced either
Pros
- Would be extremely powerful.
- Could raise awareness of sexual assault and rape.
Cons
- Would be extremely difficult to get the right characters for the role and I don't know enough people to play them.
- Would need to get permission from a pub to film in and, being under 18, this may be difficult.
- Requires a lot of moving about and would take a long time to film.
Girl with One Eye - Florence and the Machine
Narrative:
- Opening shots are of women walking along, some paired, some solitary before cutting to the singer standing against a wall with a suit on and a drawn-on moustache.
- The singer begins lip-syncing the song, walking along, cutting down to her feet skipping along the pavement, avoiding the cracks, as said in the lyrics.
- Scene changes to the singer pushing a woman against a wall in an alley hounding her and mouths the words "Not to fuss and relax" with "relax" being zoomed in on her mouth
- Cuts back to singer walking along and suddenly comes to a halt I time with the lyrics with her hands up. However, a woman walks past and the singer follows her with her head, despite having 'stopped'.
- Cuts to the woman from the alley in bed on her back and she turns to switch off the light
- Back to the singer walking down the street who takes a flower from a woman sitting on a bench before she crushes it with her hand.
- Drags her finger across her neck for 'Slip her a smile' and smiles at the camera.
- Cuts to the woman from the alley in bed on her side with her eye wide open before she rolls over.
- Pushing up girl against the wall mouthing the lyrics and on 'cry' the singer puts her hand over the other girl's mouth.
- Low angled close-up of a hand rising up the girls skirt and a closeup of lips mouth 'Don't worry, it's not gonna hurt'.
- Girl's face is fearful and her makeup has run cause she's scared and crying.
- Cuts to victim closing her front door before sliding down it and sobbing into her hands.
- Repeats the assault by the singer but the girl pushes her and begins to mouth the lyrics herself with 'Hey' and 'Get your filthy fingers out of my pie'.
- Close-up of the girl near the singers mouthing the lyrics and on the 'cry' the camera moves fast in a circle and cuts to 10+ women in a park with protest shouting 'You made me cry' with that on some of their signs.
- The breath cuts back to a close-up of the singer on the street, slightly dishevelled and it zooms out as she staggers along, not singing the lyrics any more.
- Falls onto her knees and when she looks up, she's in the park with the protesting women around the singer, singing the lyrics.
- The final lyric 'cry' is said with an ariel shot of the singer as the women walk away with their fists raised and their signs aloft.
Location
- Rayleigh High Street
- Alley in Hadleigh
- Bedroom
-St George's Park/John Burrow's Park
Actors
- Singer
- Girl from the alley
- Approx. 10 extras
Colour Palette and Mise-en-scene
- The bright colour palette for street scenes to represent the idea that abusers walk free and around us every day with the singer wearing a suit and a drawn-on moustache to symbolise the idea of men sexually assaulting women.
- The dark red colour palette for alley scenes with the woman wearing white, symbolic of purity and as though the abuser is going to take that from her.
- The dark blue colour palette for the victim in her bedroom as she reflects over the horrors she suffered
- The bright colour palette for the protests suggests that there is light in a dark world
Camera and Editing
- Range of close shots used to fulfil Andrew Goodwin's idea of gratifying the audience with shots of the artists and fulfils the performance aspect
- Tracking shots of the artist moving and also whilst playing their instruments and these shots also give the audience a perspective, as though they're following along with the narrative too - makes it more personal
Pros
- Not too difficult to make.
- Sends an impactful message.
Cons
- Difficult due to COVID-19
Exit Music for a Film - Radiohead
Narrative
- First chords are close-up shots of around a teenaged-girls room of family pictures, a picture of the virgin mary, a catholic cross, etc.
- The first line "Wake" is a birds-eye view shot of a teenaged girl in bed and, when the line is sung, she opens her eyes and begins to get out of bed.
- She wipes her face with her hands and reaches a hand down the back of her bed and draws out a bag/purse with "ESCAPE" painted in red letters on it. and cuts between close-ups of her face and drawn out wide shots of her in her room.
- With the next lines, she begins packing a bag and getting dressed into a conservative outfit that covers a lot of her and then continues packing the bag, throwing covert glances to the door.
- Cuts to a symbolic paintin' of hell/devil and cuts to a low shot of the 'father' sitting on the sofa in the living room with a bottle of beer.
- The girl glances towards her father before leaving and getting on train/in a car and meets a friend, they hug.
- Cuts between close-ups of the girl looking out of the window, breathing and her changing into a rainbow outfit and pulling a pride flag out of her bag and laying it on her lap, smiling.
- Shots of the girl and her friend at a pride festival, laughing talking, shots of the parade
- Looks up and the camera follows her to look at the other girl and they smile at one another and when "Alone" is sung, they hold hands.
- Short quick shots of protest signs with intertextual references to famous songs/movies but against LGBT and someone runs at the main girl to hit her and the screen turns black
- The shot is of the girl curled up and she stands up and the camera follows her and she has SFX makeup of bruises and blood on her head and running from her nose, her pride flag over her shoulders.
- She begins to walk and the camera moves back as she moves forwards with a determined look on her face. She wipes away the blood from her nose with her fist and walks through a big crowd of people/down an empty street.
- When the music rises ("Now/ We are one") the shot cuts back and forwards between her walking and her and her girlfriend kissing, touching, holding hands and being intimate as a lesbian couple in love.
- There are also shots of her father yelling at her pointing at pictures of the gay couple together whilst she shouts back - he goes to hit her before it cuts back to her walking down the street.
- The final line is her opening the front door to her house and her father standing there. She takes a deep breath, opens her mouth and the video cuts to black.
Location
- Girl's house: Bedroom, Living room (Bathroom potentially?)
- Train/Car/Bus
- London Pride
- Oxford Street
- Neal's Yard
Actors
- Main Female character who matches the target audience
- Father
- Girlfriend
Colour Palette and Mise-en-scene
- Neutral colours used for the house scenes as there isn't really anything too special going on
- Brighter colours when filming in Neal's Yard and at Prides with saturated reds and yellows to create a warmer colour palette
- When the music changes, the colour palette becomes cooler with blues and greys to create a sombre effect.
- Want the mise-en-scene to reflect issues that the audience will both understand and may be able to relate to. The use of young people reflects the audience and, by filming it at Pride, it requires a certain cultural/social awareness.
Camera and Editing
- Range of different shots from both low and high angles to create a perspective for the audience.
- By using a continuous tracking shot, it allows the audience to feel like they are walking with the character.
- Want the camera to build up a crescendo so the video clips may get shorter to create more tension in the video.
Pros
- Is an important topic for the target audience with a large percentage of young people identifying as LGBT.
- Would be easy for the primary target audience to relate to LGBT themes and the idea of standing up for what you believe in.
Cons
- May be difficult to do due to COVID-19 and Pride Parades being cancelled.
Textual Analysis of Music Videos
DayDreaming
The song I decided to use for my media coursework is a Radiohead piece and the band itself have been able to create one of the biggest names for themselves in both audio and visual history. Their music is used in television purposefully, with each individual song giving a different meaning. This idea is said to be called the Radiohead Effect, the use of Radiohead music used to make the audience think and to form ideas around what effect this is supposed to have.
Only a handful of bands actually can command attention and analysis when their songs are played in a movie scene and Radiohead is one of these very few. Despite two of their members being successful film composers, their original music made by the band itself can be used to shape meaning and impact onto scenes in films.
Radiohead's genre of music is difficult to define as it weaves in and out of genres, however, it is distant yet has a sense of comfort too. Most importantly, Radiohead's music makes people think. The amount of effort put into a singular song is obvious when listening to their tracks and when one of their songs is used in a film, the thought that was originally put into the song itself, come through onto the film as well.
With my own music video, I wanted to create something in the style of Radiohead as I admire their artistic style. The first video I took inspiration from was Daydreaming.
The longer continuous shots were what inspired me from this music video. When the camera followed Thom Yorke, it gave the sensation that you, as the audience, were following him on his journey. That is something I wish to recreate in my own music video, to create a sense of fluidity and narrative in the video. Although there is an eerie, dreamlike atmosphere, the expression Yorke has suggested a sense of serenity that you feel in a dream and I wish to recreate this idea of bliss in parts of my own music video. Radiohead is known for making surreal and intricate music.
The continued use of intertextual references is used to allow the audience to feel a certain sense of gratification of being able to spot certain aspects of the video and relate them to outside references.
Daydreaming is one of the most intricate music videos I have seen and the amount of intertextuality isn't something I can emulate, however, it is something I liked to take inspiration from and use small references in my own video, in the backgrounds for active fans of the band to find. As well as this, the use of continuous shots is also something I would like to include as I feel as though it gives a sense of the audience moving along with the characters and actually being present in the narrative. It allows for the audience to invest themselves more with the character.
Girls Like Girls
Hayley Kiyoko, despite only finding fame recently, quickly made a name for herself amongst the LGBT community. As a lesbian, Kiyoko's music circulates around attraction to women and young girls finding innocent love too, just like other videos would do with straight relationships. She speaks out in a lot of interviews for same-sex relationships to be normalised, especially with younger people as it allows them to discover themselves without having to deal with the hardships.
I personally wanted to take a lot of influence from the specific video clip, especially the innocent love between girls. Another feature I wish to include is the peaceful serenity leading up to a crescendo such as in the music video where the girl gets hurt on a rock and beats up the boy. I feel like this creates a more impactful scene and that it can create more emotion in the video.
From this music video, I enjoyed the narrative that was created and this idea was what I wanted to emulate within my own video with the idea of innocent teenage love against a world that didn't support it. I also liked the normalisation of the girls' love together and how their friendship could also have been their love as it was so easy to slip into. Their care for one another is clear through the video and it is something I wish to represent through my own.
Girls Like Girls is a simple narrative music video, nowhere near as in-depth as Daydreaming, however, I enjoy the simplicity and the narrative is the influence I wish to take from this video. With my own, I want to recreate this women-loving-women relationship that the main characters have whilst including elements of protesting against family life and against those who do not support the young love.
1950
King Princess, another singer who has only recently come into the spotlight, is an LGBT singer who's androgenous style has reached big headlines. When her career kicked off with her hit single 'Cheap Queen', King Princess portrayed herself as a genderless winner in the music video and it had an extremely positive review. She has found herself within the midst of fashion scandals due to her more unique and androgenous style that separates her from the crowd, as well as not shaving her body hair, to make a statement to women that you can live in your body however you want to. Not only is she an advocate for LGBT rights, but she also speaks out for female body empowerment and, despite her young age, but she has also made herself a name.
Lady Gaga is a long time activist for LGBT right, women rights and has repeatedly supported the Black Lives Matter movement along with multiple others throughout her career as an artist. Her activism has brought her a lot of attention as well as outlandish fashion sense and tendency to cause controversy. Although her usual style of music is considered to be pop dance electronic, Gaga shows her vocals in the sombre song Til It Happens To You which speaks out against sexual assault. In her music video, she attempts to highlight the sexual assault that happens on campus to girls, from friends and strangers. It's a powerful song that juxtaposes the rest of her other more upbeat music and is emotional with the message of overcoming abusers and standing tall.
I wanted to take influence from this video from the way that there are almost two sections of the music video: the first half being the vulnerable women who are attacked but the second half shows them conquering this and becoming powerful as they stand with one another. I want this set-up to be used in my own video with the first half being with the singer oppressing the victim and have the woman overcoming their strength in the second half.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWBrN7QV6Y
The music video for Til It Happens To You was created as a visual art piece to bring awareness to sexual assault of young women on campus and the video itself has a very high budget feel. The see of professional cameras suggest at the severity of the topic and the video has a high quality to it, creating a moving and emotional piece. The whole video has a black and white filter, furthering this emotional value to it and suggestive of the deep and meaningful story behind it. There is no performance in the video, instead, giving way to the narrative.
Florence and the Machine is a band that plays mainly indie pop and has been active since 2008. The singer, Florence Walsh is an eclectic artist that is known for her hippie attitude to music where she chooses to express herself.
Her website reflects this side of herself by not being the conventional website. Instead of giving information about the author, Florence chooses to instead have an artistic promo for her new album with small, hand-drawn illustrations with aged photographs of herself. They reflect a certain aesthetic she has and makes her more appealing to those who enjoy a simplified website.
Florence and the Machine have a website that is written for a supportive audience to engage. It introduces the audience to both new and fresh releases. The website is both pandering to the fans with the introduction of known music as well as introducing a 'best of' to people who are visiting for the first time.
- The embedded video spins around and introduced the album cover and introduced the audience to her 10th Anniversary Edition of her album, long-term fans of hers understand the reference to her old album and will be interested to see if there are any differences on the special edition
- This home page also suggests that it changes periodically, depending on the events Florence is having at the time, as the 10th Anniversary section cannot be used permanently.
- There is no clear masthead although Florence's logo is shown at the side of the page with her social medias underneath (although they're not visible in the screenshot)
- Depending on which button the audience presses, they are taken to different pages such as with her store and to listen to her music
- There is no navigation bar and, instead relies on the audience scrolling down the page to look at the homemade effect of the website
- When you click on the individual social media platforms that Florence has on her webpage, you have this cross-media convergence which allows the audience to have a more interpersonal relationship with her as they can follow and interact with her media accounts.
- There is an idea of the brand image shown through the repeated image used in her social media, making her easily recognisable and familiar.
- Her Facebook is her least active account where, the majority of the time, she posts thanking her audience and reposting things from her other accounts, this is since her target audience is millennials who are more likely to use Instagram or Twitter, of which Florence is more active on.
- Florence uses her Twitter to post new music but also to retweet images, videos and messages that her fans leave for her, creating this idea of the interpersonal relationship between fans and celebrities
- Instagram is known for being a photograph page which allows users to share images with captions. Her personal page of @florence is used to share short stories and poems she finds interesting and images and paintings she likes
- This juxtaposes her band account that consists of promos for new songs and videos at concerts and represents the differences between a personal account and a business account
- A YouTube account is important for artists as it correlates all their music and music videos into one area and gives ease of access to their fans and people who want to view their videos
- As well as this, YouTube is the most popular video streaming site on the internet and therefore, by using that site, they're likely to get more views than if they were to use Vevo or another music video streaming site.
- Florence and the Machine also have a Spotify account which helps promote the music. Unlike Apple Music, Spotify is free and has over 240,000,000 users of both free and premium which allows for a much wider audience to listen to her music, a plus for the band as they can reach more people
- However, Spotify doesn't share music videos which is why both YouTube and Spotify are utilised to share their music on a wider scale
- If you choose to sign up to the website, a pop-up shows which allows you to sign up for the newsletter to get more information about your favourite artist.
- The pop-up also mentions about getting more information from Universal Studios about other artists similar to Florence and the Machine, an example of self-promotion and trying to get a wider audience not only for Florence but for other bands under the same studio to try and get more money.
- Both buttons Out Now and Listen Now take the viewer to separate tabs of which you can choose where to listen to her music.
- Simple and easy to manoeuvre and understand
- Her website includes another embedded video of the best highlights in concert of her Lungs tour, with the age shown by the audience and the phones they hold
- It is her celebrating her achievement of having come this far
- The link takes you to the same site as above and allows the audience to listen to her album
- On the home page, there is an option to click Live Dates which takes you down the page to this section. The entire webpage is also accessible to scroll on it, making it easily accessible to anyone.
- This part of the website would usually have the times and dates of Florence and the Machine's next performances, however, due to COVID-19 and also the fact of no recent album releases, there are no dates on her website.
- The band is known for also playing at festivals and this would be advertised on the festival's webpage as well, therefore appealing to a wider audience who may find interest in Florence
- As you continue scrolling down the page you get to Florence's most recent release, High As Hope which is advertised here with links to buy it and listen to it. This reminds audiences that she has new music as well and the whole theme of the website is based on this album with the lighter colour palette and illustrative detailing.
MILCK
As mentioned before when analysing MILCK's music video Quiet, she is an advocate for Women's Rights and her claim to fame came from the 2017 Women's March where a video of her and friends singing an acapella song of quiet went viral. Her website reflects the values she has and shows her using her platform to bring awareness to sexual assault as with the hashtag #ICan'tKeepQuiet.
- As soon as you enter the site, you are met with a prompt to join the Gentle Rebel, an intertextual reference to the book, presents the idea of protesting without hurting anybody
- The way that this is advertised makes it seem like a very personal relationship with the artist is what the audience is looking for with the fact that you receive handwritten emails from MILCK herself allow the audience to build this interpersonal relationship with her.
- The static in the cube for this song creates a sense of uncertainty and trying to block out everything in favour of calm and serenity. Although she sings about being strong, she is still uncertain as to where this may lead her.
- The rising water in this cube symbolises the fact that, due to her breakup, she feels like she is growing, surrounded by this rising water and is unsure how to get out
- At the bottom of the page, there is a section for tour date which, obviously due to COVID-19, is empty, despite her having released an EP this year
- There is also another part advertising the email updates and this is again trying to encourage the audience to take part actively
- When you click on the Get It Now button beneath the album cover, it takes you to another tab where you can choose which program you wish to listen to the music on. This allows for a wider audience and for people who may not be able to access Apple Music due to the paywall, can access it for free on YouTube.
- The shop is generally pretty conventional with both music and clothing for sale branded with MILCK's aesthetic such as the gold and black as well as her hashtag #ICan'tKeepQuiet
- Something a little more unconventional however is the fact that, with pre-ordered items, you receive a personal note from the artist. This personal touch allows the audience to feel more connected with MILCK and creates a relationship between artist and consumer.
- This idea is also only likely possible because she has a smaller fanbase than some other, bigger singers. Because of this, she can afford to send personal messages to people and doesn't take much out of her time
- An idea of brand identity is created through the use of the banner across all social media (which are automatically utilising cross-media convergence) and let the audience know that they're on the right account.
- MILCK's Twitter is obviously up-to-date as she posts about the George Floyd situation as well as the rioting taking place in America at the moment.
- Is an active member of social media which lets her audience engage with her more, strengthening a personal relationship
- Her Instagram has also been updated recently with self-care for activists and she is, therefore, targeting her audience who are likely to be culturally aware young people, likely to take parts in movements like this
1950
King Princess, another singer who has only recently come into the spotlight, is an LGBT singer who's androgenous style has reached big headlines. When her career kicked off with her hit single 'Cheap Queen', King Princess portrayed herself as a genderless winner in the music video and it had an extremely positive review. She has found herself within the midst of fashion scandals due to her more unique and androgenous style that separates her from the crowd, as well as not shaving her body hair, to make a statement to women that you can live in your body however you want to. Not only is she an advocate for LGBT rights, but she also speaks out for female body empowerment and, despite her young age, but she has also made herself a name.
Her music video for 1950 overall has a homemade feel to it with shaking cameras depicting a lesbian couple just being in love casually. As well as this, however, there are elements of performance throughout the video with a band playing whilst King Princess sings. This lipsyncing idea integrated into the video is something I wish to emulate with my video for my coursework as it gives the narrative a broken up feel, which can create a sense of the passage of time. I especially enjoyed the use of the band on a stage, as though performing at a party and feel this idea may also work well in my own, allowing for the narrative to progress easily.
1950 is a performance-narrative music video with a shallow meaning but the video is visually aesthetic to help carry the lyrics. I feel the integrated performance aspect is what I wish to emulate from this video and to adhere to Andrew Goodwin's theory of music videos.
Til It Happens To You
I decided to do another two Textual Analysis to study a couple of music videos about sexual assault as well. However, I decided to still use a long continuous shot for some scenes and therefore Textual Analysis 1 still refers to my revised pitch.Lady Gaga is a long time activist for LGBT right, women rights and has repeatedly supported the Black Lives Matter movement along with multiple others throughout her career as an artist. Her activism has brought her a lot of attention as well as outlandish fashion sense and tendency to cause controversy. Although her usual style of music is considered to be pop dance electronic, Gaga shows her vocals in the sombre song Til It Happens To You which speaks out against sexual assault. In her music video, she attempts to highlight the sexual assault that happens on campus to girls, from friends and strangers. It's a powerful song that juxtaposes the rest of her other more upbeat music and is emotional with the message of overcoming abusers and standing tall.
I wanted to take influence from this video from the way that there are almost two sections of the music video: the first half being the vulnerable women who are attacked but the second half shows them conquering this and becoming powerful as they stand with one another. I want this set-up to be used in my own video with the first half being with the singer oppressing the victim and have the woman overcoming their strength in the second half.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWBrN7QV6Y
The music video for Til It Happens To You was created as a visual art piece to bring awareness to sexual assault of young women on campus and the video itself has a very high budget feel. The see of professional cameras suggest at the severity of the topic and the video has a high quality to it, creating a moving and emotional piece. The whole video has a black and white filter, furthering this emotional value to it and suggestive of the deep and meaningful story behind it. There is no performance in the video, instead, giving way to the narrative.
Textual Analysis of Til It Happens To You by Lady Gaga from daisyq2
Quiet
Connie Lim, known by her stage name MILCK, is a small singer based in LA. She initially rose to fame after a video of her performing her song 'Quiet' at the 2017 Women's March went viral. The acapella number was praised and embraced as an anthem for the movement as it speaks out against sexual abuse and highlights how the victims will share their stories in an attempt to help save lives. She's an activist for women's rights and sexual assault survivors as she is one, having written the song 'Quiet' as a way of coping with abuse. She was eventually signed to Atlantic Records and released her debut EP This Is Not The End in 2018.
The music video for Quiet features a very powerful performance scene where women are all standing in a room playing instruments and singing with MILCK herself and I want to create a similar sense of unity in my own music video. It creates a sense of empowerment and, although the song is quite emotional, the joy the women seem to have at the end of the video suggests that there is happiness even in dark times.
Quiet
Connie Lim, known by her stage name MILCK, is a small singer based in LA. She initially rose to fame after a video of her performing her song 'Quiet' at the 2017 Women's March went viral. The acapella number was praised and embraced as an anthem for the movement as it speaks out against sexual abuse and highlights how the victims will share their stories in an attempt to help save lives. She's an activist for women's rights and sexual assault survivors as she is one, having written the song 'Quiet' as a way of coping with abuse. She was eventually signed to Atlantic Records and released her debut EP This Is Not The End in 2018.
The music video for Quiet features a very powerful performance scene where women are all standing in a room playing instruments and singing with MILCK herself and I want to create a similar sense of unity in my own music video. It creates a sense of empowerment and, although the song is quite emotional, the joy the women seem to have at the end of the video suggests that there is happiness even in dark times.
This music video ending is incredibly powerful and makes you feel strong, despite the audience not being present in the video. I wish to create a similar atmosphere with my music video.
Generic Research Summation
In my general research of music videos, I have found that there is a general scheme to many of them that they seem to have in common:
- a range of different shot types: this is used to create an impression of depth and movement to the video. By having all the shot types the same, the video can feel relatively 2 dimensional.
- a focus on costume: costume comes into play when trying to create an impact on the audience but also for easter eggs to get your audience to engage in more depth (such as in Radiohead's Daydreaming). A change of costume allows for the character to have a different approach and suggests time skips but a singular costume creates a sense of narrative.
- close-ups of the artist: although I originally didn't want to include the artist in my video, after researching other music videos I found that it was important as it adheres to Andrew Goodwin's theory of being able to recognise the artist and therefore I decided to incorporate them to appeal to my audience.
- more than one location: by skipping between locations can give the video more depth and suggests that there is a passage of time. It also makes the video more interesting to watch.
- intertextual references to other media texts: this can make the difference between an active and passive audience by hinting at other texts throughout the music video. Bands like Radiohead that have been around for many years can use their own music as intertextual references, but Hayley Kiyoko references the style from coming-of-age films to create her stylised music video. I intend to do this through this idea of protest signs, relating to the gay liberation movement and also with intertextual references to action films with the continuous shot of walking towards the camera. The words written on her face relate to Lauren Brocious and her #YouDefineYou movement.
- performance vs. narrative: a combination of the two is good to use to fulfil Goodwin's theory but to also engage an audience. I feel to combine the three music videos I looked at would make a good range of differences that I could use for my media so elements of narrative with the story and clips that cut away to film the band playing the music.
- colour palette and lighting: using less lighting sometimes makes footage difficult to make out so instead, using a darker colour palette with the mise-en-scene can create certain moods for videos such as a creepier, more threatening atmosphere to something with bright lighting and a yellow colour palette. I am looking to use brighter lighting for the more positive scenes where the girls are happy and in love and a more grey, faded filter over the scenes of her walking down the street.
Textual Analysis of Websites
Florence and the MachineFlorence and the Machine is a band that plays mainly indie pop and has been active since 2008. The singer, Florence Walsh is an eclectic artist that is known for her hippie attitude to music where she chooses to express herself.
Her website reflects this side of herself by not being the conventional website. Instead of giving information about the author, Florence chooses to instead have an artistic promo for her new album with small, hand-drawn illustrations with aged photographs of herself. They reflect a certain aesthetic she has and makes her more appealing to those who enjoy a simplified website.
Florence and the Machine have a website that is written for a supportive audience to engage. It introduces the audience to both new and fresh releases. The website is both pandering to the fans with the introduction of known music as well as introducing a 'best of' to people who are visiting for the first time.
- First takes the user to the main page of which is unconventional and doesn't have a taskbar or any buttons
- An embedded video fades in with a red square with 'Lungs' written across it in the iconic font used the majority of the time for Florence and the Machine's music
- The simplicity is something introduced early on and is repeated throughout the entirety of the website
- This home page also suggests that it changes periodically, depending on the events Florence is having at the time, as the 10th Anniversary section cannot be used permanently.
- There is no clear masthead although Florence's logo is shown at the side of the page with her social medias underneath (although they're not visible in the screenshot)
- Depending on which button the audience presses, they are taken to different pages such as with her store and to listen to her music
- There is no navigation bar and, instead relies on the audience scrolling down the page to look at the homemade effect of the website
- There is an idea of the brand image shown through the repeated image used in her social media, making her easily recognisable and familiar.
- Her Facebook is her least active account where, the majority of the time, she posts thanking her audience and reposting things from her other accounts, this is since her target audience is millennials who are more likely to use Instagram or Twitter, of which Florence is more active on.
- This juxtaposes her band account that consists of promos for new songs and videos at concerts and represents the differences between a personal account and a business account
- As well as this, YouTube is the most popular video streaming site on the internet and therefore, by using that site, they're likely to get more views than if they were to use Vevo or another music video streaming site.
- However, Spotify doesn't share music videos which is why both YouTube and Spotify are utilised to share their music on a wider scale
- The pop-up also mentions about getting more information from Universal Studios about other artists similar to Florence and the Machine, an example of self-promotion and trying to get a wider audience not only for Florence but for other bands under the same studio to try and get more money.
- When you click on Store, you are taken to another tab with the iconic font for her album Lungs. The colour scheme of red and gold reflects that of the album cover and the new vinyl aesthetic that has been used to update the newest release of the album.
- The site has the main page which gives a range of choices to buy from, especially marketing the seasonal 10th-anniversary rerelease
- Colour scheme is consistent throughout the whole site and compliments that of the main website
- It is also split up into sub-sections with Music and Merchandise being separated, creating ease of movement through the pages
- The music section has both her new and old music in ascending order with the oldest at the bottom and the most recent at the top. It allows audiences to decipher what sort of album they want.
- The merchandise has a mixture of both her old and new clothing which gives the audience a choice of what style they wish to have. The hand-drawn artwork on some of the shirts reflects the style of the main website as you scroll down, furthering this brand identity
- She also sells a book of lyrics and poetry Florence herself has written which is a very personal perchance allowing the audience to feel as though they have a personal relationship with her. It's an unconventional item to have in a merchandise store and this and the name of the book - Useless Magic - reflects the style and aesthetic Florence wishes to achieve.
- Simple and easy to manoeuvre and understand
- It is her celebrating her achievement of having come this far
- The link takes you to the same site as above and allows the audience to listen to her album
- This part of the website would usually have the times and dates of Florence and the Machine's next performances, however, due to COVID-19 and also the fact of no recent album releases, there are no dates on her website.
- The band is known for also playing at festivals and this would be advertised on the festival's webpage as well, therefore appealing to a wider audience who may find interest in Florence
As mentioned before when analysing MILCK's music video Quiet, she is an advocate for Women's Rights and her claim to fame came from the 2017 Women's March where a video of her and friends singing an acapella song of quiet went viral. Her website reflects the values she has and shows her using her platform to bring awareness to sexual assault as with the hashtag #ICan'tKeepQuiet.
Textual Analysis of MILCK's Website from daisyq2
As a small brand in of itself, MILCK uses her website to engage the audience by using certain aesthetics and interesting techniques to engage her audience and make them feel a part of both her music and her values.
As a small brand in of itself, MILCK uses her website to engage the audience by using certain aesthetics and interesting techniques to engage her audience and make them feel a part of both her music and her values.
- The way that this is advertised makes it seem like a very personal relationship with the artist is what the audience is looking for with the fact that you receive handwritten emails from MILCK herself allow the audience to build this interpersonal relationship with her.
- When you click on each individual album/EP that MILCK has on her website you are greeted with one of the videos from it along with an explanation as for her inspiration and reasons behind making it, allows audiences a closer look into their idols life and this makes the singer feel a lot more human, knowing that she struggles with love and family just like anyone else.
- As well as this, when you read more about each album, the cube at the top of the screen changes, depending on which album you're viewing, an interesting Easter Egg which creates an aesthetic.
- This cube grows flowers suggesting that MILCK as a person is growing and blooming and finally becoming her true beautiful self.
- When looked at from bottom to top, the cubes tell a story of heartbreak circling back round to finally being able to heal, which is anchored by MILCK's explanations for her songs.
- There is also another part advertising the email updates and this is again trying to encourage the audience to take part actively
- This idea is also only likely possible because she has a smaller fanbase than some other, bigger singers. Because of this, she can afford to send personal messages to people and doesn't take much out of her time
- Is an active member of social media which lets her audience engage with her more, strengthening a personal relationship
- As previously mentioned, MILCK set up a hashtag #ICan'tKeepQuiet which is a movement against rape and sexual assault, where women can join and share stories and help one another in the journey of recovery and self-healing.
- The website's colours are light and calm, creating a gentle atmosphere and the use of pink genders the site as it is targetted towards women.
Big Thief
Big Thief is a small Indie band who are only recently starting to gain attention, despite having been active since 2016. Both their latest albums U.F.O.F and Two Hands received high reviews from critics and both got into the Top 10 in the US Indie charts.
Big Thief uses their branding to create a simplistic almost homemade aesthetic. Having been known to play in pubs and small venues around the globe, the band are low-key indie pop artists who have a neutral stylised genre in music, which is reflected through their website
- The website opens to an image of the band which allows for gratification for fans, is also recognisable for those who have seen the album and have come to the website from that
- The page introduces the band and their latest album Two Hands as well as mentioning it at the bottom and linking it with the Buy/Stream button. This allows audiences to engage with the website easily.
- The menu button at the side allows the audience to easily guide themselves through the website and gives ease of access with single page slides that some websites don't have (in favour of scrolling)
- The videos section of the website allows the audience to watch some of the music videos produced by the band and this allows audiences to easily access the information
- Here are written the tour dates which are easily spread out and each individual event links to the area where they are performing and place to buy the tickets, allowing for easily accessible content
- The music section links to the bands latest albums and the Spotify playlist of them are links so when you click it, it takes you to their app so that you can play the music for yourself.
- As well as this, on the front page, there is a small list of social media and included are Apple Music and Soundcloud, meaning that there is a wide range of platforms available for listening to their songs.
- It also is in keeping with the colour palette of the rest of the website, creating a strong sense of brand identity
- As well as being able to personally contact them, Big Thief has a section for business contacts, which are used for press releases, booking and management. Because they are a fairly small band, this section is important for them as it allows for people to get in touch if they are scouted and can make more money from being booked for special occasions, etc.
- Just like the artists I've looked at, Big Thief also has a way for their fans to get in contact and to hear more about their recent releases, album updates and personal stories to form more of a relationship with the band.
- From the store section, you are taken to another page where their clothing brand is advertised with different styles relating to their music.
- As well as this, the band also sells their music in CD, vinyl and cassette, the latter being very rare now as the demand for physical copies of music has decreased. This suggests that their target audience is likely to listen with old fashioned devices, maybe being more alternative.
- As mentioned before, the band includes multiple ways of listening to their music, allowing for a wider audience to engage
- They aren't very active on their band social media, using it mainly to introduce their music and merchandise. There are each individually active on their own personal social media platform, suggesting that their idea of the brand is more business orientated.
- How do media producers use language to communicate meaning?
- How do media producers use digital convergence to link their products?
These questions are a way to summarise the codes and conventions I have identified within my research and that theory works to weave in too.
So, how do media producers use language to communicate meaning?
Using language such as colour palette, mise-en-scene, camera shots and editing, media producers can communicate different meanings creating a sense of brand identity for the artist. The use of performance shots with close-ups of the artists, as seen in MILCK's music video for Quiet, adheres to Andrew Goodwin's theory of the Star Persona and is gratifying for audiences to see the artist themselves.
As well as this, intertextuality within media is used to allow the audience to notice it and receive gratification from this as it links to another media product that they are familiar with. This idea adheres to Blumler and Katz' theory of Uses and Gratification and allows the audience to fully engage with the media. However, audiences that do not have a level of cultural competency are unlikely to be able to recognise it and, therefore cannot necessarily point out intertextuality. For example, the intertextual references in Radiohead's Daydreaming relate to the other albums they have produced and unless the audience are long-term fans of Radiohead's they are unlikely to spot these Easter Eggs.
The mise-en-scene created in Til It Happens To You by Lady Gaga allows the audience to immediately feel the tone of the video with the black and white filter that had been edited over it. It creates a sombre mood and automatically begins to convey the message that this is a serious music video with a serious topic and puts the audience in the right perspective when watching it.
How do media producers use digital convergence to communicate meaning?
Digital convergence is the ability to put different tools, such and phone, computer, watch and many others, into one device. Digital convergence is used all the time by media producers and artists, especially when using their online platforms and website. For example, all of the websites I analysed has direct links to the artists' social media platforms, an obvious example of media convergence. As well as this, media producers use Easter Eggs to link to behind the scenes for music videos, taking the audience to YouTube to interact with the extra media, another example of digital convergence and also adhering to Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratification theory as they audience gets to find these hidden Easter Egg's only accessible through discovery.
- The website's colours are light and calm, creating a gentle atmosphere and the use of pink genders the site as it is targetted towards women.
Big Thief
Big Thief is a small Indie band who are only recently starting to gain attention, despite having been active since 2016. Both their latest albums U.F.O.F and Two Hands received high reviews from critics and both got into the Top 10 in the US Indie charts.
Big Thief uses their branding to create a simplistic almost homemade aesthetic. Having been known to play in pubs and small venues around the globe, the band are low-key indie pop artists who have a neutral stylised genre in music, which is reflected through their website
- The page introduces the band and their latest album Two Hands as well as mentioning it at the bottom and linking it with the Buy/Stream button. This allows audiences to engage with the website easily.
- As well as this, on the front page, there is a small list of social media and included are Apple Music and Soundcloud, meaning that there is a wide range of platforms available for listening to their songs.
- It also is in keeping with the colour palette of the rest of the website, creating a strong sense of brand identity
- As well as this, the band also sells their music in CD, vinyl and cassette, the latter being very rare now as the demand for physical copies of music has decreased. This suggests that their target audience is likely to listen with old fashioned devices, maybe being more alternative.
- The idea of brand identity is created through the use of the brand image across all social media (which means they are automatically utilising cross-media convergence) and lets the audience know that they're on the right account.
Language and Digital Convergence
Two questions that we have to ask are:- How do media producers use language to communicate meaning?
- How do media producers use digital convergence to link their products?
These questions are a way to summarise the codes and conventions I have identified within my research and that theory works to weave in too.
So, how do media producers use language to communicate meaning?
Using language such as colour palette, mise-en-scene, camera shots and editing, media producers can communicate different meanings creating a sense of brand identity for the artist. The use of performance shots with close-ups of the artists, as seen in MILCK's music video for Quiet, adheres to Andrew Goodwin's theory of the Star Persona and is gratifying for audiences to see the artist themselves.
The mise-en-scene created in Til It Happens To You by Lady Gaga allows the audience to immediately feel the tone of the video with the black and white filter that had been edited over it. It creates a sombre mood and automatically begins to convey the message that this is a serious music video with a serious topic and puts the audience in the right perspective when watching it.
How do media producers use digital convergence to communicate meaning?
Digital convergence is the ability to put different tools, such and phone, computer, watch and many others, into one device. Digital convergence is used all the time by media producers and artists, especially when using their online platforms and website. For example, all of the websites I analysed has direct links to the artists' social media platforms, an obvious example of media convergence. As well as this, media producers use Easter Eggs to link to behind the scenes for music videos, taking the audience to YouTube to interact with the extra media, another example of digital convergence and also adhering to Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratification theory as they audience gets to find these hidden Easter Egg's only accessible through discovery.
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