Aims:

• Find an artist/band to analyse

FONTAINES D.C.

Fontaine’s D.C. are an Irish post punk band formed in Dublin in 2014, consisting of band members Grian Chatten, Conor Curley, Conor Deegan III, Tom Coll and Carlos O’Connell. In their current tenure they have created 4 albums with their more favourable songs coming in the  most recent album: Romance, released on the 23rd august 2024.

ALBUM COVERS

These album covers show the unique diversity which this band have brought, this idea adds more creativity to the genre of indie rock music and shows they have more artistic attribute which designates in their music videos and the lyrics of their music.

insert music video of Starburster from Fontaines DC

In this music video there are media conventions which includes a range of different ideas, these include the mise-en-scene, editing, star image and lyrics. Firstly, the star image which is the lead singer, he features throughout the entire video, furthermore he stands out from the rest of the band as he is always wearing different clothing which is much more visible compared to the rest. Further, the mise-en-scene of the piece is very much abstract and unique, this has been combined with a bunch of different edits which really bring a uniqueness and abstract feel to the music video.

SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES

social media accounts

Instagram – FontainesBand

Facebook – FontainesBand

Twitter/X – FontainesBand

TikTok – FontainesBand

Key Takeaways 

• Throughout this blog I have noticed that Fontaines DC use a more unique narrative in creating their music. It is a lot more abstract and overall more creative so that they can relay back to the audience their strange nature as well as their outer worldly ideas.

Aims:

• To explore  the relationships with other institutions including the importance of convergence and synergy.
• To understand what you are and are not allowed to do when making your product.
• To consider regulation and issues regarding the marketing and promotion of your product.

When developing a product, establishing relationships with other institutions is crucial for success. Collaborations with research organisations, universities, or industry partners can lead to valuable insights, technological advancements, and resource sharing. This will for businesses and other companies to grow mor exponentially and so will be able to get larger recognition and a form of sales making them increase their overall value. Synergy in these partnerships enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and increases creativity, ultimately leading to a more competitive and well-rounded product.

Understanding the legal and regulatory landscape is equally important. Every industry has specific guidelines dictating what is and isn’t allowed when developing a product. Compliance with safety standards, intellectual property laws, and ethical considerations ensures that businesses avoid legal setbacks from not following a set of laws, these could be competition, employment or even environmental laws making it more secure for the audience to become less exposed to harmful content.

The Advertising Standards Authority of the ASA, enforce guidelines that prevent misleading advertising, inappropriate content, or deceptive marketing tactics. Companies must comply with these regulations to avoid fines, legal action, or reputational harm.

FINAL TAKEAWAYS:

• The use of different institutions in the media as well as the regulators is helpful in protecting online users from harmful content which can impact them mentally or physically
• LEGAL, HONEST, TRUTHFUL, DECENT.

Aims:

• To research music video genre from a theoretical perspective
• To consider how this research can inform my planning

Music video theorist – Andrew Goodwins his theory is that there are 5 key aspects of a music video these include the relationship between song and visuals, the narrative and performance, the technical aspects, star image and the thought through beat.

The first concept which Goodwin displays is how music videos demonstrate genre, I feel as this is very much an influential idea and thought as it gives more context for the audience and helps them to gain more from the journey rather than just photos and images on a screen. My initial ideas for my music video includes two friends who have been reunited after not seeing each other for a couple of years and so I wish to demonstrate a change in genre of music from a traditional indie rock song from the 90’s into a more modern version from the 2020’s

The next concepts which Goodwin has is that there tends to be a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals and also a relationship between the lyrics and visuals. this link between music, lyrics and visuals needs to be obvious to the audience and so making sure that there is either an obvious contradiction between lyrics and visuals or a illustrative similarity between them where the actions represent the words. In my case I feel as though I will have a mix between a illustrative actions in the music video as well as moments where the actions don’t necessarily contradict the words but don’t completely correspond with the lyrics but will in future events be able to lead to actions made.

Moreover, Goodwin’s ideas include ‘the demand of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work’, the understanding identified from this means that the actors’ in the music video are able to have an prolonged influence on the audience.

Furthermore, these theorist ideas are seen in a many different ways. Firstly, some of the lyrics in videos contradict the visuals of the music video, as well as this the relationship between music and visuals can be amplified. Secondly, the demands for record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artists and the artist may develop motifs which recur their work. Thirdly, music videos have a frequent notion to the male gaze and ultimately displays a particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.  Finally, there is a range of intertextual references which are often noticed within music videos which have been noticed by Goodwin’s theory.

Moreover, there are 5 different reasons as to why people watch music videos and listen to music, they are as follows; Firstly, ‘the beats’ or seeing sound in your head – this means that people watch music videos to create a visual representation in their minds of the music and imaging of it, this helps to add to the connection between the audience and the music which create a sense of additional pleasure for the audience. Second, people watch for the narrative or the performance of the actor, this is able to change the way people perceive the music video and the way that different hints can be dropped into the song for an audience to create a motion over, this create more active audiences and spread to the word of content and so helps to make music videos successful. Thirdly, the actor/star image, people are immediately drawn to the big names at the heart of the music video and what Ultimatley attracts them to watching the whole video. An example of this includes Michael Jackson who is one of the very few who are able to make a substantial pay from the use of star imagery this is due to his central role in the Jackson 5 as well as his freakish nature which grabbed many peoples attention, this meant that view would increase and therefore so would the pay for the star-image. Fourth, there are 3 ways in which music videos relate visuals to the song this can be through illustration, Amplification – way of increasing creativity within the music video, and thirdly, the disjuncture of the music video this is a way of showing a different set of meaning to the original song through the video. Finally, the fifth aspect to music videos is the technical aspects, these include 5 things; speed of camera movement and editing, ‘meat’ – this is when the song is close up to the singers face to get the most effective feel out of the video, ‘beats’ the video or actions of the actor will try and stick to a certain beat. Lighting and colour – this should be used to emphasise key moments and add to the dramatic effect of the live performance before the editing is added and lastly the mise-en-scene, this is all the setting and the rest of the stuff visible in the shots and will help to build effect on the audience which can add to the overall outcome of the music video.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• During my research of music videos and the wider theories I have found out that there is a lot more to a music video than just what’s on the screen, there are a lot more pre and post production work which is required in order to create a piece which will have the biggest impact on the audience.
• Further I have found out that Andrew Goodwins theory on music videos analysis is the most influential way on analysing the differences between different music videos and how some attract audiences more than other.

Aims

• To analyse the genre conventions of music videos

Depending on the era of the music video the genre and conventions will be different, for example, in the mid 1900’s the genre conventions would include less of the star and more of the music as the main focus. However, over the last few decades music videos have focused more on the star and the acting rather than the creation and making of the music.

to Begin with

The genre conventions of this video include, Lyrics which are seen as explicit and overly repetitive in some areas, with a mix of rap and hip hop people see this song as understandably popular because of the type of lyrics, the type of music video and the people who feature in the video.

The Mise-en-scene of this music video is going be very expensive as they have all the lavish cars and models as well as the designer clothes and other accessories. From this people will notice that the producer is trying to grab the eye of the public with the expenditure of the production to prove that this song is a big deal and worth the money and hype. Furthermore, the camera angles of the music video are varied, this is so that they are able to keep the audience entertained and excited as well as confused through the mix and quick changing camera angles.

Furthermore, the editing and narrative behind the music video creates an intrigue for the reader as they will become more and more invested the more the video progresses. Examples of edits include the colour change of the picture – Black and white, as well as the quick transitions and size of the picture used to record, the picture doesn’t fit the full frame and therefore grabs the eye of the reader as they feel deprived and will wait to see if the camera size increases and we get to see more of the picture.

Overall, I feel as though this music video has a range of conventions and genre differences which are able to attract to a range of different audiences, this means that in the eyes of the producer and artist they have been successful in engaging their audience and making a music video which will be able to impact many.

Second Video

Music video is unavailable.

This Music video which was recently published by Sabrina Carpenter shows an automatic contrast in comparison to the other video by Kanye West, Firstly, the video begins in colour this automatically sheds a light on the type of video, making it seem more vibrant and somewhat more pleasing on the eye. However, the similarity that it faces with Kanye’s song is that there is a lot of money invested into the production of the video, it begins in a large bedroom with expensive gear on a bed which instantly tells the audience that there is a lot of wealth. Furthermore, the mise-en-scene of the video is almost threatening, in some places there are weapons and potential threats to normal people which Sabrina is using to show her power in comparison to anyone else.

Overall the genre and conventions of this music video show that there is development of music videos over the years, it also shows that there are contrast in the genre of music and the correlation to the music video. for example hip hop/rap has a darker music video whereas a pop song has a more bright and meaningful music video.

FINAL TAKEAWAYS

• There is always a difference in music videos depending on the song lyrics and genre, every video is different.
• Make sure that when creating my own music video that all the lyrics make sense in correlation to the genre of music video.

Aims:

• Explore the traditional ways in which music over the decades have evolved and developed.

The development of music videos since the early 1900’s has evolved majorly. Over the last 90 years I will uncover the differences and the noticeable changes in music videos since 1930 onwards. Significant changes include colour of music videos as well as the choreography and work put into creating a powerful music video.

Firstly, In 1930 the first video I want to analyse is called ‘Crying for Caroline (Spooney Melody). In this music video there is very few words at all and instead a bunch of picture on the screen crossing from side to side whilst the music plays in the background. This genre of music is more subtle and calming for the listeners. Once the singing begins, the singer appears at the front of the screen whilst the images in the background pass by. Furthermore, it is clear to see that all the published work is in black and white. This era of music is very similar throughout the mid 1900’s and there is very little action and choreography to each video.

1958 (1950’s), during this era there is more evidence of stronger choreography as we have people singing from the beginning and less of a melody. Also what I notice is that they have decided to make a music video out of live performance, this shows a bit more of the quality and depth of consideration that people are starting to show in reference to their music videos produced. Finally the colour of the picture is lighter and starting to show hints of different colours standing out from one another.

1965 (1960’s), during this decade we have our first sighting of colour in a music video. The example I am using is The Beatles – Paperback writer. This band decided to showcase their music through a well choregraphed performance similar to one which you see in the early 2000’s. This music video recorded them performing as well as acting at the same time as their music was playing. This would’ve been considered a breakthrough from music as one of the first videos in colour.

1980’s, this next video is also in colour and has strong choreography, however the quality of the music video isn’t as strong as the one by the Beatles. During this video there is evidence of an emotional and emphatic performance, this is created through the different types of camera angles and shots, which make is less realistic and more alien like. Furthermore this would’ve cost the production company so much money as the level of complication and complexity had spiralled the meaning behind music and made people want to fight/compete to create the best music video or most amount of money spent on the video.

Video is unavailable.

In the 1990’s the level of music video had heavily evolved and was made to become more advanced. Bands and other musicians were making music videos where they would show evidence of the band working on the song as well as performing over the song. the cost of production was also very much varied by this time, some people were trying to create the most expensive and extravagant videos whilst others such as beastie boys tried to create a music video of a really low budget to prove effective music videos didn’t require loads of money.

Moving into the early 2000’s also known as the YouTube era involves the introduction of some of the most iconic pop star of my generation including Kylie Minogue as well as the introduction of MTV and other monumental companies such as Vevo. In the 2000’s the level of music video had evolved further and artists had taken more care in their music videos showing more passion for the story and acting behind the lyrics more than the actual creation of the lyrics. For example in Kylie Minogue’s music video ‘Come into my world’ there is lots more focus on the acting than the music.

Finally moving into the more recent years the introduction of Vevo was introduced and the music video Foster the people by Houdini was released. in this music video there is evidence of the creation of the music for example the drums and guitar at the beginning but as the video develops we get more of the behind the scenes creation and acting in the music video. For this video we can see there has been a lot of money spent on the production and choreography of the Video.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• From researching and looking through the music videos over the last century each decade it is clear to see there has been a clear development in terms of music created, the quality of the music video, the quality of the picture in the music video and the overall cost of producing these music videos.
• As a whole it is clear to see the development is obvious and going to have an impact on the audience watching. However each music video created in certain decades will have impacted the audience at the time.