GOODWIN’S SEVEN

ANALYSIS- OF RECENT MUSIC

VIDEOSHomework

GOODWIN’S SEVEN I chose to explore the convention that

“the demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist.”

This would be an easy convention to use when creating my own music video so I thought I would explore to see the many ways in which different videos use different close ups of the artist.

DEMI LOVATO – MADE IN THE USA

Artist: Demi LovatoSong title: Made in the USADate: July 16th 2013Record Label: Hollywood RecordsGenre: Pop

The artist isn’t one of the main characters in the music video, instead she decided to hire two actors as she wanted to direct the video herself. Although, still prevalence on the screen is the artist and the audience is clearly shown who it is. She is seen singing to a small group of people and playing instruments but more close ups of her face and mid shots to show her figure and fashion outfits are used which shows musical talent is less of a priority than the artists image.

FOXES – LET GO FOR TONIGHT

Artist: FoxesSong title: Let Go For TonightDate: 23rd February 2014Record Label: Sign of the TimesGenre: Pop

Throughout the video, the artist who is a slim attractive 25 year old female is in revealing outfits to show off her body. This attracts attention to her. In today’s music industry, the look of an artist is more important than talent. This is because they make more money from merchandise such as posters, t-shirts or fashion in general and jewellery, etc. Which people will be drawn to if the people are ‘attractive’ over their musical talent and ability. If I was to choose a modern song to do a music video for, I would need to consider this.

OASIS – STOP CRYING YOUR HEARTOUT

Artist: OasisSong title: Stop Crying Your Heart OutDate: 17th June 2002Record Label: Big BrotherGenre: Britpop

The music video follows the story of a girl but still primarily shows close ups and other shots of the lead singer and other band members. Even though there are a lot of other shots of the girl, the audience is clearly told who is singing or playing instruments compared with who is just featuring in the video. Within the band, the camera shots focus mainly on the lead singer as he is the most ‘important’ role of the band. If I was to choose a song like this, I would consider using a set up similar and focus mainly on the lead singer and then use a few clips of the other band members.

BLONDIE – HEART OF GLASS

Artist: BlondieSong title: Heart of GlassDate: 3rd January 1979 Record Label: Chrysalis Genre: Disco, New Wave

The video is focused on the artist singing the song. There are clips of the band that have recorded the music but as Blondie is the artist of the song, she has main prevalence of the music video. In a modern music video of this genre or similar genres, the artist would have many costume, scene, set changes to make the video really interesting. Also, commonly if a band is used they won’t be used in the video. This is because society has changed and would rather see the look of people over their musical talent. But in the 1970s, musical talent was priority which is why this music video is like it is.

THE CLASH – LONDON CALLING

Artist: The ClashSong title: London CallingDate: 14th December 1979Record Label: CBS, Legacy, EpicGenre: Post-Punk

The entire music video is of the band. They are in a set that is supposedly meant to be in London – to match the title of the song. There is no other images, videos, etc. It is primarily focused on the band’s live performance of the song. Again like the other band video, the prevalence of the band is of the lead singer and then the other band members. The instruments are also quite key and have a lot of screen time – even when band members are just playing them in the background or if the shot is focused on them, they are always doing what they are in the recording of the song – unlike modern music videos.

OVERVIEW - SUMMARY All the music videos have the artist

clearly shown to the audience. The music video content has changed

from the 1970s to the early 2000s and then even more drastically into modern music videos.

Music videos used to contain the artist singing and band playing their instruments whereas in modern videos, the artist sings in many random un-related locations in many different designer outfits – they get sponsors.

Society has changed music videos over time.