Below is our section of the dummy mash-up of Justin Timberlake’s song ‘Can’t Stop This Feeling’ . From making this I have learnt how to edit with the pace of the music, what generic conventions should be observed and ignored, how to focus on star image and how to lip sync music to video. This will help when making my full music video, I will make sure not to over complicate my idea for the music video as I had with the dummy mash-up.

Me and my group made a production meeting agenda for the filming of the dummy mash-up, this will allow us to be prepared for our filming day. We looked at what props and costumes we needed and who would bring them and we scouted out the locations we had chosen to film in.

We watched music videos from the genre we had been given: Male pop, we took screenshots from the music videos which we thought were similar to shots we can do for our part of the mash-up. This helped give us inspiration and will help when making the full music video as we know what sort of things are achievable.

We have looked at the star image of male pop stars, me and my group made a pinterest board representing this. We also looked the star paradox; the idea that stars are simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary, we checked whether the stars were present or absent in the media. Click on the picture below to get to the pinterest page.

I watched music videos from the male pop genre, I then took screenshots and put them all together so that I could figure out the repertoire of elements in the male pop genre. This will help me to understand that its important to stick to the generic conventions and to give me some ideas on how to make my dummy mash-up and how to plan for my final music video. However we will go against this blueprint by pushing the conventional boundaries in order to make it interesting and different to watch.

We are going to be making a music video for our section of the mash-up below of different covers of the song ‘Can’t stop the feeling’. Our section is from 3.40 – 4.14 and is of a male pop singer ( the original version by Justin Timberlake). We will be looking at the repertoire of elements associated with this genre. We will watch other music videos from this genre and will analyse the style we should use for our section of the mash-up according to the conventions of the male pop genre and the star images shown.

We have also looked at the lyrics for our section and annotated them with ideas and important things we notice about them.

My analysis of previous students music video, I analysed the music video and whether they followed the genre of the music and the style of the band, as well as what the action codes, enigma codes, semic codes and symbolic codes were. I also saw whether the star image had been clearly presented and if the preferred reading was easy to get.        

Holding a shot steady

In this music video all the camera movements are steady and purposeful, the handheld movements in the flashback are done at the right pace and are very steady.

Framing a shot

The variety of shots used keep the music video interesting, they used different angles well when changing the master shot of the band to high or low angles. The wide angle master shot of the band that they keep coming back to, shows all the members of the band and makes the shot look busy and exciting. The lead singer is in the center of the frame suggesting he is the biggest star of the band.

Variety of shot distances

They used a lot of close ups on each of the band members which shows that they have taken into account star image when deciding what to give close ups to. The shots of the band are often long shots which allows the whole band to be seen as one whereas the shots of the narrative are usually close ups which hide some details this keeps the enigmas for the audience, the lead singer is always breaking the forth wall which makes us feel more involved in the music and the band.

Appropriate to task

The performance side of the music video looks very professional and all follows the style of the band. The music video is fast paced, bold and enthusiastic which correlates with both the genre and pace of the song. The band is shown often as well as the lead singer participating in the narrative this successfully presents the music video as an advertisement for the band.

Mise-en-scene selection

The suits worn by the band reflects the pop rock genre, the blue suit for the lead singer makes him stand out and suggests his greater star image than the rest of the band who all wear black suits. The taking off the jackets is really effect as it pairs with the increased speed of the music. The instruments being fake and made of cardboard is clever as it pairs well with the rustic style of the song and the setting.

Editing for meaning

The edit between the narrative and the performance is quite sudden and unnatural the narrative also gets a bit lost in the performance. However the edit is in time with the beats in the music which follows the genre, the pace of the edit is the same as the pace of the music which is very effective. The narrative cuts out a lot of the unimportant events and we are only shown a bit of the action each time during the parallel editing, this increases the enigma for the audience.

Shot transitions

The transitions in the parallel editing are often fades which give the effect of a flashback/memory. The ellipsis with the jacket being throw at the camera is great and is timed well with the musics transition into a faster pace. The cuts used between the performance and the narrative are a bit too harsh in my opinion sometimes. The preferred reading is shown through the edit in time with the lyrics as they suggest the anger of the singer at this woman and the danger she is in, through the action codes of ripping the painting.

Sound with Images

The lip-syncing was done very well and was in time with the music looked natural as did the bands playing and although they clearly were’t real instruments the actors played as if they were. The edit is significant to the lyrics and the shots change in time with the lyrics that reflect/symbolize the action.

Using titles

The opening title being used on the bottle is subtle yet interesting to see and is also illustrative of the lyrics as they suggest she has a drinking problem, this is the symbolic code of the title. This also as it is quite stylized and quirky reflects the bands style and genre.

First I looked at Kodalines music video for the song ‘Love like this’. I focused on the narrative and metanarrative of the music videos, as well as observing the binary oppositions shown in this. We began to notice the repertoire of elements the things typical of the genre. Whether or not the star participates in the narrative is important as it shows how personal the song is to them.

Then I watched Muse’s music video for Time is Running Out and then analysed it as well. Looking at the differences between the music videos form different genres. This will help me when I make my music video as I will know what features are important and what makes a good music video.

We looked at different types of narrative in music videos stating that they are either illustrative, amplified and disjunctive. We also discussed the ratio of performance to narrative. I studied these videos to look at the media form, the technical conventions, generic features and the narrative conventions. Looking at these helped us to see how much music videos followed the blueprint of conventions.