We have decided to create a music video for the song, Adorn by Miguel. We have chosen this song for multiple reasons. Firstly, we feel that this is a prime example of the male R&B genre without it including rap within the song. This will allow us to use conventions of the R&B genre within the video and it will turn turn out realistic and successful. Secondly, it is done by a male figure which allow us to interpret more views from both sexes which can often make a video more approachable to the real world if it was to be chosen. Thirdly, the song includes an older, new jack swing sound which allow us to more away from it being a typical R&B vulgar video to it being classy and looking a lot more naturally effective. Fourthly, the artist allows us to use his star power to bring a swerve and sophistication to our main character and the back up dancers.
Finally, the song allows us to include both performance and narrative and the performance within narrative, often seen in the R&B genre. This would allow our video to fit in with other videos around today successfully. the bet of the song would allow us to create close up of moving object even though there wont be a band present.
We decided to create a poster, displaying the lyrics, the analysis and what the artist wanted it to portray and the way we would portray it in our music video.
The song black heart is the most successful song of girl band Stooshe's career to date. The song peaked at number 3 in the UK Singles chart, and well in other British and European countries.The song was produced and written by Future cut with a collaboration with Jo Perry and Shaznay Lewis. The video was directed by Matt Shawski and was released on the 29th April 2012.
The video displays clear characteristics of the R'N'B genre for the following reasons. Firstly, the video has the performance within the narrative which is common, using both the elements simultaneously. Secondly, there is a separate performance low lit coloured room which is different to the bright pop back drops and the darker palettes of the rock genre. Lastly there is a male protagonist with which is often emotionally attached in the video. in this case it is the cheating boyfriend. Because they are a girl band, it is common in R'N'B to have matching coordinating outfits often having similar style or colour scheme. This would also fit in with the colour of the backdrop.
The video references the sixties studio performances seen in films such as Hairspray and Dream girls, but the video pays special homage to the girl band The Supremes. Using their iconic three piece setting and hand and body movements and gestures, in addition to the sixties style back drop, props such as the microphones, curtains and cameras. Stooshe wanted to show the grace and soul of the sixties without making it inaccessible to modern day understanding the video.
The lyrics and the video have a direct correlation with the visuals as the story of a cheater to portrayed through the character of one of the singers with the other two playing the supportive friends when they find out, warn then comfort her when she sees for herself what a cheater he is. This take inspiration from the film dream girls as close friends look after each other through their relationships through, before or after a performance. As well as this, they sing in unison and create small actions to the lyrics.
http://www.metrolyrics.com/black-heart-lyrics-stooshe.html "I don't like it when you break it honey." When she says this it shows her singing to a light up mirror and then it shows a close up of the man with another woman. His face looks smug while he eyes up another person in juxtaposition of her saddened face in the mirror.
"Do you feel like a man?"
When she says this she points aggressively at the mirror, personifying the mirror as if it was him and she was yelling at him. As she does this she thrusts her finger at the mirror whilst she looks aggressive, with her face all screwed up.
"You've got a black heart."
when they sing this they all turn to the side and put their hands on their hearts while looking solemn.
"He's big and he's bad, I Love him like mad."
As they sing this they do actions in sync to the music, flexing their muscles and looking aggressive. This mood is carried out throughout the whole video, suggesting that women can be strong in this kind of situation. Because of this, the video will appeal to their teenage girl fan base.
"Ah, sicker, sicker, I'm not feeling your mouth whatsoever."
when they say this they thrust their hands towards the microphones as if they were actually going to be sicker. the protagonist later gives attitude when saying 'I an it feeling your mouth whatsoever' as if to say that she is now rejecting his love. "Momma he's the best I've ever had."
when they say this it show close ups of their face as if they were talking to their mums about their heartbreak. this is stereotypical as mum are usually the one to comfort their daughter if the situation occurs in real life. "He got a black heart."
This time they once again put their hands on their chests but do not turn to the left. They look towards the camera before slowly closing their eyes. "He's got such a dirty black heart in him, an it girls."
As she says this during her performance she looks as if she was talking to all the girls who could be watching this, that might in this situation themselves. Also she tilts her head to the back suggesting that she wants her girls to back her up. Response: "Yeah."
Her friends then instantly reply to the word, yeah showing their support and their tilt their heads in unison. "Ohh, yes I do."
When she says this she looks a lot more confident than when she found out about her lovers cheating, suggesting she has moved n from him.
The music and the video has a correlation as they use the stereotypical beat of the song commonly used in the sixties to lead in the inspiration of the video. Firstly, hey use the beat and the tempo of the song to control the way they sway in unison in the performance. The video is also slowed down in areas within the visuals in slow motion which closely fit in with the tempo of the music.
Secondly, they use the music incorporated in the song so the song was being sung as if she was asking for advice on the guy who has been cheating before she finally went admitted the problem hence why he song fitted perfectly sung in first person rather than on reflection.
Thirdly, they used the scratching of the old music player to start off the song and to introduced the track, making it sound more authentic and fit tin with the narrative.
The effect of the microphones also used this technique during the singing and especially when there is dialogue near the end, when one of them says:
"He's got such a dirty black heart in him, they all reply: yeah," this is to show interaction within the music which is used in the visuals. Finally, they take the title into consideration, changing the background from pink hearts with them wearing pastel colours to the heart having black paint smeared all over them and their outfits become black.
I used photo shop to show all their faces during close ups while they were singing,
showing you all the emotion they had towards the subject and adding realism to the plot.
their eyes are all directed straight at the camera as if they were telling their
own target market,of which are teenage girls, giving them advice on this situation.
Within the video there are lots of close ups of the individual members of the group as well as close ups of the group as a collective. This was mainly because they wanted to highlight who was singing at the time to to give more recognition to the individual members rather than have a specific member who was more foregrounded.
However the protagonist was obviously favoured so that they can continue with the storyline accurately. The close ups also showed her feelings being hurt and feeling deflated after finding out about the affair that happened.
The notion of looking wasn't used on any of the artists themselves but on the male protagonist looking at the woman he had decided to cheat on his girlfriend with. There is a specific shot where it is a close up two shot showing them kiss, and the reaction from the three band members.
This was mainly achieved by over the shoulder shots which allowed the viewer to see what he is looking at. the beautiful girl he wants to have.
The singer's face is blurred to focus the attention on this before foregrounding her once more for the friends reaction.
For our second piece of work we decided to do Geri Halliwell - 'It's Raining Men'.
the video was considered the most successful song of Geri solo career. She gained the number one spot in the UK Singles chart at debut and stayed there for two weeks. The song is a cover of the original, sang by the weather girls, released in 1982. Geri did the cover in April 2001, as it was on the soundtrack for the hit movie Bridget Jones Diary.
The video was directed by Jim Canty and Jake - Sebastian Wynne.
The video displays clear characteristics of a POP anthem video because of several factors. Firstly, it has the big and over the top story line when there is a huge dance number which can be said to look camp. Secondly, there it a lot of costume changes in the video, all displaying her figure and tho re invent her image and create an ideology for the mass audience in the popular genre. Lastly, there is a lot of bright, loud, colours attracting the younger generation and abandoning the low dim lights of R'N'B and the darker palette of Rock.
The video references the films Flash dance, using the audience and turning at into a party/musical vibe. She later also used the film FAME with the dance scene and the last outfit, which get soaked in the rain.
The relationship between the lyrics and the video show only a slight correlation as the video take son the narrative of an audition before it goes horribly wrong before the audition has barely got started.
This has taken inspiration from Flash dance, when the lead flunks her audition at first and is given another chance. it is until she burst into song and there is the huge crowd joining in celebration when the lyrics seem to have some sort of reflection in the video. She continues to do some actions in correlation to lyrics. "Humidity's risen."
when this lyrics were been said when there was a close up pan, moving upwards as the word rising as said. this was also used to show off her new body in her debut as a solo artist as she was labelled the 'fat one' in spice girls. "For the first time in history, it's gonna start raining men."
as she says this she makes a hand rain droplets gesture then thrust her arms into the air before a musical style breaks out among her peers. "I'm gonna go out, I'm gonna let myself get absolutely soaking wet."
as she says this she touches herself in a sexually suggestive way, while intimidating being in the rain.this was another indication of the introduction to a sexier image. "Rough and Tough and Strong and Lean."
as she says this she does actions along with the visuals making hand and muscles gestures. "God bless mother nature."
as she says this she looks up the the open window and the sky, with her arms raising in unison. "Hear the thunder, don't you lose my head."
as she says this, she is transported to a thunder backdrop and she sways her head to the lyrics. "It's raining men, amen."
when she says this the crowd breaks free and comes out of the school in joyful dance. they also add touches of the back drop by making it look like new York, hence the yellow taxi.
The music and visual have a close relationship as they decide to use the tempo of the music to control the songs. Firstly, they do this by making a chorus of dancers come out and do a dance number in the chorus of the song. secondly they decide to join the narrative along with the song but the concept of raining men is not actually used. However because the song is known as a gay anthem so it was appropriate to set the video in a camp setting with lots of boys in tight clothing.
This is also when they reveal her face for the first time because they wanted to use element of surprise.
However, in the beginning they faded in the song with the old style disk player, which scratched when she fell to the ground in her first attempt. there was also diagetic sounds of her dancing in the first attempt which would allowed to play faded in the background to the intro.
in the choruses you could hear the cheers of the backing dancers, adding realism to the narrative portrayed.
within the song there was plenty of close ups and body shots of the artist. this was because of the new image that geri was trying to sell along with the new solo career. throughout the video they're was close ups of her abs, stomach, legs and bum. she also added lots of close ups of her face, showing how happy she was and how much she has changed for the better since the spice girls. in addition the camera also prvillages the judges in the beginning and how they warmed to the song and her dance moves.
the notion of looking was often used in the video to show off her new body and how much better she looked now than when she was in the spice girls and was branded 'fat'. it was used to make the assumption that guys liked her and find her attractive she also made it to look like she took her health seriously and that she was into fitness by wearing sports clothing throughout the entire video, showing her midriff constantly.
Because of this, it is her most successful song of her entire solo career, making number 1 in the UK as well as many Scandinavian countries.
The video Stan is considered one of the most successful songs of Eminem's career. The song was produced by the 45 king (DJ Mark). The 1999 video also featured British singer Dido, of whom played a role in the video as Stan's pregnant girlfriend.
The video displays clear characteristics of the genre by the following reasons. It has a protagonist lip syncing to the lyrics in time with the beat. With this it also has a narrative which would be seen as hard edge. This stereotypically shows the harsh, ghetto side often expressed in rap.
It continues by referencing the passing of his uncle when he committed suicide shortly before the lyrics were written. This shows the lyrical reflection that rappers commonly express when talking about a sensitive subject. It further allows the connotation of a rap song by showing violence full on, referring to the harsh upbringings of the protagonist within the video as well as the Eminem himself.
The relationship between the lyrics and the visual are reflective as the video simply shows a visual representation of the narrative within the lyrics themselves. In the first verse Eminem chooses to write from his protagonist 'Stan's' perspective, as a fan who is becoming slightly obsessed. this is reflected in the video by the fan dying his hair platinum blonde, similar to Eminem before sitting down to write the letter. He starts to read the letter aloud to himself as he writes this and the monologue acts as the first verse. However in the second verse the monologue is often distracted by the flashback of the events that had occurred between Eminem and the protagonist,
but were only seen through the actor eyes. the video goes on ton show the protagonist anger through level of anger in the lyrics and the violent actions towards his pregnant girlfriend. The relationship between the lyrics and visuals switch in the final verse/bridge of the song where the protagonist becomes Eminem himself.
"Dear Stan, I meant to write to you sooner"
He appears in the video to write to his fan when he pieces together that this is they victim on the news, who has just taken his life and killed another.
In the first verse:
"If I have a daughter, guess what I'm a call her? I'll name her bonnie"
This was after his song bonnie and Clyde that he released on the slim shady LP. the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals were enhanced by the background knowledge of Eminem, this allows the audience to gain realism in the protagonist as he should know his previous months.
"I read about your uncle Ronnie too, I'm sorry, I had a friend who killed himself over some bitch who didn't want him." This showed the desparate attempt to relate to his idol, by using his hard times similar to himself. When these lyrics were said in the video, stanley was facing towards the TV, as if he were engaging in a conversation with Eminem right then and there.
"Truly yours, your biggest fan, this is Stan." At the end of the verse he signs off his letter, corrosponding exactly with the lyrics. the lyrics are can also be seen as ironic as at the end he does what only the ultimate fans have done;become a matyr to the artist. as he says this, he slams the pen down and stares deeply into the TV image. "He wants to be just like you man, he likes you more than I do." In the second verse, stanley talks about hes little brother and how he loved eminem more than he did. the visuals showed a flashback when him and his brother was shown enjoying his concert. this is reflected in the end when the younger brother is seen looking over stan's grave, with his hair dyed blonde. This makes a reference to the beginning of the video when stan had dyed his own hair.
"Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds, It's like adrenaline, it's a sudden rush for me." this was illistrated by showing dripping blood on a newspaper, where he had cut himself. Eminem later says how he was worried about him doing this as he was only joking when he said this in previous songs.
"Dear Mister, I'm too good to call or write my fans."
in this quote he talks aggressively towards the picture hanging in his car of the artist, directly addressing him about his apparent flaws. the lyrics suggest that he cant even bring himself to say his name because he is completely let down.
However, the relationship between the music and visuals are not obviously considered as the video concentrates on the narrative between the two protagonists. The video doesn't cut to the beat but in the introduction into the first verse where they're faded cuts to beat the soft drum and Sybille. They use the storm to separate the different verses. There are no solo instrumentals of any of the instruments but there few cuts of close up to Dido lip syncing to the chorus.
However, the chorus was displayed in a way in which it sounded like it was playing on the radio, adding to the realism of the narrative and to add to the pessimistic atmosphere of the video. This was often faded in and out by the sound, introducing the verse.
Non diagetic sounds such as the rain drops and the thunder and the melancholic feeling of the music. The thunder can also represent the anger expressed by Stan and the progression of his anger towards his pregnant girlfriend and Eminem.
In the last verse, when Eminem is writing back, there is diagetic sounds such as the trailer moving, the personal assistants talking and the TV blaring in the background. This is to add realism and to cleverly combine the two stories when Eminem uses the sounds of the TV story to piece together that Stanley was the fan and the person who had committed suicide.
Throughout the song note sounds from the pen can be heard to give the viewer the feeling of the passion when Stan is writing as to when eminen speed of writing was slower and less tense.
There is also a pattern between the verses of the song and the aggressive tone. In the beginning of the song there is a much softer tone than when the cuts are quicker, the diagetic sounds are mush harsher and louder towards the end of the song.
Because of the strong narrative through the entire song it was hard to see many physical close ups of the artist throughout the song, however in the ending verse there are nothing but close ups on the artist while there are few establishing shots, keeping with the theme.
On the other hand, there are many inter textual examples of close ups, shown through the use of Eminem poster and pictures and that displayed through the whole song. this shows that even though they are trying to follow the storyline there are constant reminders of Eminem to promote him as an artist.
In addition, even though the camera privileges Stan, because of his constant battle to be as similar to him as possible, also helping to remind the audiences of the artist without him even being there.
Because of this, it has led to the name Stan used as a slang term for an over obsessed fan who has pushed the artist too far. Other artists within the industry such as Ludacris and 50 Cent have used this term in their own music, gaining Eminem more respect and influence in the hip hop industry. Swizz beats has even made a Stan 2, which he passed on to eminem only for him to turn it down, however swizz beats still used it within his own album the same year.
The notion of looking has not been used for sexual references, but to indicate Stan's behaviour spilling out of control.
The first time that it is used was when he was in the crowd and the notion was used to show Stan's view of his idol but Eminem's quick gaze over the crowd in comparison.
The second time was when Stan writing a letter to Stan in the second verse and he waves back to the TV when footage of eminem is shown, showing his slow sink into obsession and his slow lost of his own self control and madness.
