Duke Dumont - Won't Look Back (Dance song 5) -Research-

NARRATIVE - NOT LYRICS


Does the video demonstrate genre characteristics;

I believe the video does follow some genre characteristics, however it does challenge some characteristics as well. For example the video is based around some's life, and events in their life. This is a very common characteristic for a dance video, and is seen in this one as we track an follow the group of robbers stories from the start of the video to the end. However, normally a house video would be showing someone having fun and doing what they are passionate about, however we see a group of masked men doing all they can to make money. A common dance video would show people having fun and doing what they love, this would often be a rave or party, or showing of their skills in their specific trade. This is kind of seen during the Pogo stick scenes, even though they are using then as a get away from a crime

What is the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals;

Interestingly I don't believe there is much correlation between the lyrics and the visuals, however you could pick out and find links from the lyrics from the chorus. The lyric is "I won't look back'' this is repeated and drained out throughout the chorus. This lyric could be referring to the criminals way of thinking in the video, they have cometed the crime and they won't look back negatively on there actions. It could also be referring a large part of the videos narrative of the criminals being on the run from the police and trying to escape without looking back.

What is the relationship between the music and the visuals;

Throughout the video there are links between the music and the visuals. The first link I spotted from the video was when the music first started playing. The shot the audience sees as the music starts to play is a lose up of one of the criminals eyes, through his mask, in the reflection of the vans mirror. Up until then shots are seen at normal speed, and seem to be unedited, but right when the music start playing we see slow motion edits, more creative camera work and shots. Another very important link I found between the visuals and the music, was when the singing started, just as the singing starts the criminals jumped out of their van and proceeded to start to rob the store.

The demands of the record label will include the need for the artist(s) to be seen through lots of close ups;

In Duke Dumont's 'Won't Look Back' video doesn't feature Adam Dyment, the DJ known as Duke Dumont, at all. This is quite common in the dance music genre for the artists not to feature in their music videos. Because many DJ's keep there identity secret as it helps build up 'hype' towards the DJ and gain publicity. This also could be the same reason almost all DJ's go by a stage name.

There are frequent references to the notion of looking/women are often seen as sex object;

Notion of Looking; 

The first time I spot 'The Notion of Looking' in the video is just as the music starts (0.13). One of the robbers is seen looking in the rear view mirror and the viewers can see his eyes clearly, his face is covered other than his eyes, but by showing his eyes in such a clear way makes this covered character seem more human, but still have a sense of mystery about him.

Rudimental - Not Giving In ft. John Newman & Alex Clare (Dance Song 4) -Research-

Goodwin: 7 key ideas to identify

Does the video demonstrate genre characteristics;

I believe the video does demonstrate some dance video characteristics, one being the fact the video is based around some's life, and events in their life. This is a very common characteristic for a dance video, and is seen in this one as we track an follow the two boys stories from the start of the video to the end. However, normally a house video would be showing someone having fun and doing what they are passionate about, and we see this in the second half of the video, but in the first part of the video the two boys are seen doing all they can to survive. A common dance video would show people having fun and doing what they love, this would often be a rave or party, or showing of their skills in their specific trade. So in the second half of the video we see this as one of the boys is training in what he is passionate about, this training is leading up to a big performance at he end of he video, in his case it is a break dance contest.  

What is the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals;  

I believe there is a some link between the songs lyrics an he songs visuals. For example at the same time as as John Newman sang the lyrics "lost my mind and lost my goal",  the visuals the audience could see was a wide panning shot of one of the boys looking out of his window. The boys facial expression seems like he has lost something in his life and is searching to get it back. As well as that it also acts as an establishing shot.  Below you can see a screenshot from the video as the lyric is heard (0:59)

Another example of the lyrics linking with the videos visuals is when the lyrics sung are "waste my time witch makes thing worse", the visuals are a mid-shot of one of the boys being abandoned by his friend for a group of 'gangsters'. This relationship between this lyric and visuals are so strong because the lyric is representing the boy being lefts thoughts towards the other boy, he feels as the by has wasted his time and he should have just left him to start with. This is the screen shot of the two boys going their two different directions for the first time in the video. (2:04)

Finally my last example of lyrics and visuals having a relationship is when Newman sings "lets start the show for one last time", this lyric is heard as the visual of the boy who got abandoned meet his dance instructor for the first time. This shows the instructor is willing to take the boy 'under his wing' and sees potential in him and believes he will be the head of the "show" one day. Here is the screen shot from the video as the lyric is heard. (2:21)

What is the relationship between the music and the visuals;

The visuals and music are often linked with one another throughout this video showing the feelings of the people seen in shot. For example, when the two boys are running down the street after steeling the mans wallet the beat becomes faster and more upbeat. At the end of the video, when the two boys together again an upbeat trumpet is heard as the two boys are walking down the road with their arms around each other , being filmed by a wide shot. another example of a relationship between the music and visuals is when the boy does an impressive trick for the first time when he is dancing, his instructor is seen to shout 'woo!' this is sinked up to when John Newman shouts 'woo!' before the drop in the music.

The demands of the record label will include the need for the artist(s) to be seen through lots of close ups;

Part of Goodwin's theory is the artists that made the song will be featured quite a lot in the videos, specifically by close ups. However, in the dance genre specifically it is quite rare for the artists to make an appearance in their music videos. This might for a number of reasons, one being that dance music videos are normally telling a story, or showing off someones talent and the video is more effective if the get actors to star in the video rather than star themselves.

There are frequent references to the notion of looking/women are often seen as sex object;

Notion of Looking;

The video starts if with an old flickering TV screen, this has a strong notion of looking because some connotations of  TV are just sitting a looking at the screen and not interacting with anything. After that the in the video we see the boy stand up and look out of the window, because of his terrible surrounding the viewer could believe he is looking for hope or a way to escape his situation.

My final point on 'the notion of looking' is found when the boy is struggling with a dance move and his instructor gestures to him not to hang his head but look t him and coy what he does. This suggests the boy is looking to his for guidance.

Representation of Women;

In the music video for 'Not Giving In' the focus of the story is about two young boys, therefore women are rarely featured at all. This in its self if making men to be seen above women as a women is barely seen in the video at all. However at the very start of the video, before the music has actually started, we see a woman. A women come home, too a poor house with two young boys and a man who has been smoking in front of them. As she walks past the man he grabs her by the arm and she tried to pull her arm back, he then stands up and squares up to her, at this point there is an over the shoulder shot of her looking up towards him. He then hits her in the face, she tries to fight back but he grabs her and strikes her head of the wall. This is put at the start of the video to show the audience the background the two boys are coming from. However it is a lot more important than that at is is basically the only way women are represented in the whole video. So although women are not being seen as sex objects, they are still being seen as physically week, as having to look up to men and are made to make people feel  pity for them.   


Propp's theory of Characters;

Propp's theory states that in all media texts will have some specific character roles being plaid out. One of the characters found in Propp's theory is the villain. In this video I believe there is a clear villain from the start, this is found in the Father of the two boys. Propp's theory says that the villain, who is normally a man, is the cause of the destruction, he is a threat and causes danger to the hero and the heroine. From the opening of the video we can see that he is the villain as he doesn't care about his children, so he's putting them in danger. As well as that we see him physically attack the hero's mother, who can be seen as the heroine.

Another character seen in Propp's theory is the hero. From the opening sequence we can see that the two brothers are acting as the hero. According to Propp's theory the hero normally a male protagonist who's role is to try and keep peace and protect other characters throughout, by doing this the audience are made to like the hero character. In the opening the hero's are seen together, but when their mother is attacked only one of the boys tries to intervene and protect her, this is the first indication that one of the boys is more of a hero than the other. Later on in the video it is revealed to us that the boys int't a hero like we first thought, as we see him abandon his brother for a group of gangsters. This makes him a false hero. Meaning the boy who got left in his own is the hero.

False hero is a character who seems to be on the side of the hero but turns against him, and this is clearly represented through the boy who leaves his brother for a life of crime. The audience ain't sure how to feel towards this character, some would feel anger and a dislike towards him as he chose to leave his friend/bother for a life of crime, however some would feel sorrow and remorse towards him because he's had an ofull upbringing and has been pushed to a road of crime 

Finally we have the heroine, the heroine is usually a passive and vulnerable character who is treated by the villain and has to be saved by the hero. This is clearly seen in the opening scene as the villain, the father, attacks the mother, the heroine and the boy, the hero, tries to defend her. Part of being a heroine is being reliant on the hero to save you from the villain and this is clear to see in the opening scene

Todarov's narrative theory; 

The video for Rudimental's 'Not Giving In' is the one that I can spot the most clear use of Todarov's narrative theory. Todarov's theory states that most stories will follow a basic five step narrative, the first step being a state of equilibrium. In the music video I think this is the only area of Todarov's theory I find hard to identify. This is barbecue the boys quality of life is very poor from the first scene as they are living in a poor house in a shanty town and they share the house with an abusive father, so I wouldn't refer to this as a equilibrium as the two main characters are not safe or happy. However the next step on Todorov's theory is the disruption. although this is the second stage to Todarov's theory we see the disruption happen from the very start. In this video the disruption rises through there father, he is abusive and aggressive towards the boys and there mother and I believe this is the main aspect of disruption. The next stage in Todorov's narrative theory is the realization of the disruption, in the music video the realization happens when they see their mother getting hit by their father, at this point they realize the disruption, we see a shot of the boys looking out of the window in despair. The third stage to Todarov's theory is the restoration of order, this is normally found by the hero going on a quest to gain back happiness and order. You would be able to say this happens when the boys first escape their father, and they are together surviving on the streets and they seem happy together.  Although this video does hold most of Todarov's narrative theory, it isn't in exact order that Todarov would suggest and there is more than one point of disruption.

Philip George - Wish You Were Mine (Dance Song 3) -Research-

Goodwin: 7 key ideas to identify

Does the video demonstrate genre characteristics;

I believe the video does demonstrate dance video characteristics, a dance video characteristic that is demonstrated is that we, the audience are following one person's life/story throughout the video. Another way this video has demonstrated characteristics of dance video is through the type of editing, for example the cuts from shot to shot are done in time with the actual bead of the song, this is very common in the dance video genre. As well as that we see a boy doing what he enjoys and is passionate about, in his case dancing.

What is the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals;

Through out the video we see the star, the young black boy, do dance moved that are replicating the words said in the lyrics. For example when the lyrics read "You're the only girl my heart beats for" the boy does a dance move that replicates a beating heart, with his hands on his chest.

However as this song is more of a' traditional dance' song, meaning it has a lot less lyrics and more of a focus on the beat and music, there is a lot less examples of links between the lyrics and visuals.

What is the relationship between the music and the visuals;

A common example of a relationship between the music and the visuals is the way the tempo of the song controls the pace of the editing and the cuts. This is a very common theme in all of the videos i have looked at. In this video specifically we see a boy dancing, he is clearly dancing to the song, so when the music's tempo is slower or the beat is calmer, the boys dance style is very different to when the beat is fast and up beat.

The demands of the record label will include the need for the artist(s) to be seen through lots of close ups;

Part of Goodwin's theory is the artists that made the song will be featured quite a lot in the videos, specifically by close ups. However, in the dance genre specifically it is quite rare for the artists to make an appearance in their music videos. This might for a number of reasons, one being that dance music videos are normally telling a story, or showing off someones talent and the video is more effective if the get actors to star in the video rather than star themselves. This isn't only specific to this video, it is s theme through nearly all the videos I looked at.

There are frequent references to the notion of looking/women are often seen as sex object;

The Notion of looking;

Goodwin's theory says that in many music videos there is a frequent 'notion of looking' throughout. I fond some examples in this video, one example was in the opening sequence when the family were gathered around the table a mid shot of the father showed him aimlessly and with emotionless face looking into the air, rather that his wife and child. This is quite humours as it could suggest he is looking for a source of entertainment or excitement and it shows the audience what type of background the boy comes from. (0:10)

The next example I could find was through the use of an old TV screen, part of notion of looking can also be done through screens. he uses of big, old TV screens has been quite a recurring theme in the dance music videos I have looked at. (2:06)

Representation of Women;

In the first scene of the video we see the boy sitting at a table in his family home accompanied by his mother and his father. His mother is the first representation of a women in the video, and her character, for the 20 seconds she is on screen, is going against Goodwin's thoughts on how women are represented in music video's. For example the women they have chosen to be the boys mother isn't there to as a sex object at all, actually she is stereotypicaly 'unattractive' and 'over weight', she is fulled clothed and not dressed in a 'revelling' outfit. However she is seen in a apron, this suggests she is the person in the house hold tat does all the chores. And finally she is seen to lean over to her son an wipe some food off his face, this is representing her as a stereotypical role of a mother that cares for her child. 

Later on in the video, when the boy is outside and walking/dancing along the street, we are introduced to this woman. As you can see in the image she is in her front garden working, she is also wearing a full set of clothes and is not sexually revealing herself. So again a women in this video is challenging Goodwin's theory on the representation of women being seen as sex objects in music videos.



Propp's theory of Characters;

 I though the boy we follow isn't technically a hero, as he doesn't save attempt to save anyone and doesn't win over the heroine, however he is deflationary a protagonist who the audience connect with.

This is the same through the whole video,  and I believe many of Propp's characters are not portrait in this video. However I think if there was a villain in this video it would be the police officer who tells our protagonist to move away from the dance class.n this video there is less of a clear narrative, so therefore there isn't as many clear characters.  


Todarov's narrative theory; 

The first scene does show an almost state of equilibrium. This is because we see the family all together and safe, they aren't overly happy but they seem content. Then the music starts, according to Todarov's narrative theory the next stage of the video would be 'disruption'. However there isn't any disruption in this video, this seems to be a theme throughout the dance music video genre because dance music is about happiness and good times and the producers want to represent that through the visuals in the video. 
                                                                     

Rudamental - Waiting all night ft. Ella Eyre (Dance Song 2) -Research-

By Jake Bennett

Kiesza - Hideaway (Dance song 1) -Research-

Goodwin: 7 key ideas to identify

I believe this video does demonstrate a couple genre characteristics, however it does go against some. One way this video is demonstrating genre characteristics is through the artists performance through dance. As a sub-genre of electronic music is 'dance', an expectation of the dance music videos is to see someone, or some people, dancing. However I believe this video is going against a lot of genre characteristics, but doesn't look un-ordinary. This includes the artist staring in the video, the lyrics being lip sung and the video not following a narrative but rather an on going clip of Kiesza dancing through a street. Because of this I believe this video demonstrates genre conventions from a 'Pop' song video.

I think there a very strong relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, this is mostly seen through Kiesza's dance moves. For example when she sings the lyrics ''Over me'' she throws her hands up over her head, when she sings the lyric ''head into the clouds'' she is seen to point up to the sky And finally when she sings the lyrics ''You send me the shiver and the spine'' she runs her hands up along her spine to the top of her neck.
But other than the occasional dance move that simulates the lyrics, the lyrics don't particularly link to the visuals that appear on screen. However we see Kiesza walking through the urban area and dancing with people she meets along the way and generally having a good time, this links to dance music culture and the up beat style of the music is often seen with young people dancing at a party or a rave.

On a whole there isn't much clear correlation between the music and the visuals, however there is some links. For example near the end of the song when the beat is building up for the final drop Kiesza's movements become a lot more fast and energetic, just the like tempo of the music. As well as that the dancers feet are moving in time with the drum beats and claps on the track .   

In this video the artist, Kiesza, is the main focus unlike many other music video's in this genre. However there aren't any close ups as the video in its entirety was filmed in one shot by a handheld steady camera.

The notion of looking is for filled by the continues iteration between performers in the video, part of the choreographed moves involves Kiesza and some of her dancers looking into each others eyes as they dance together. However the notion of looking doesn't only happen between performers in the video but between Kiesza and the other performers and the audience, this happens multiple times throughout the video as Kiesza keeps looking directly into the camera, this has the effect on the audience that they are connecting to Kiesza and they have a feeling of understanding towards her.  

There is a vast representation of women in Kiesza's 'Hideaway' video the main one being through Kiesza herself. She is the main focus of the video and is seen in nearly every shot of the video. I don't believe Kiesza is representing women in a sexual or negative way through her 'Hideaway' video. One way she isn't showing a negative representation of women is through her moments and gestures. At one point in the video (0:49) Kiesza is dancing/walking with one of the male dancers in quite a flirty, sexual manor. However the flirting and sexual actions aren't being led by the male or forced onto Kiesza in any way, in fact because of the way the man fall down and seems to beg her to stay as she walks off I would say Kiesza is in control and is leading the sexual actions with the male. This is going against the way most media and music videos would show sexual actions between a man and a woman, because stereotypicaly men are the ones who lead sexual actions between a heterosexual relationship. However there is more than just Kiesza representing women in the video, she has many female backing dancers appear in the video. For example at a pint later in the video (0:59) Kiesza is joined by 3 more female dancers, and they start performing the dance routine. At this point I'm going to be speaking about the costume the 3 dancers are wearing and the costume we see Kiesza in. On a whole the women seem to be wearing clothes that are comfortable for dancing, and they have quite a complex routine to perform, and clothes that have a 'street' look to it. For example one of the dancers is wearing a pair of red trainers, baggy black and purple tracksuit bottoms and a plain black top. I believe this costume isn't representing women in a sexual or negative way at all, i would even say it is helping to push women to wear clothes they find comfortable and in a style they enjoy to wear. The final point I'm going to make about the representation of women in 'Hideaway' is going to be about Kiesza'a costume, hair and make up. Kiesza is seen to be wearing a pair of red trainers, light blue jeans with black braces and a small white crop top. Over all Kiesza's costume isn't giving  inappropriate sexual vibes, however her top is quite revealing of her chest, however by doing this I believe Kiesza is trying to de-sexualise the female body and make it acceptable for women to wear what they want without feeling like they are being sexual. As Kiesza's 'Hideaway' isn't a narrative driven video, it is more of a performance video so we don't see clear characters. However if I was picking out people to play characters i would pick Kiesza to play the hero as she comes across as powerful and as a leader. But she is defiantly playing the protagonist that the audience connects with.

Music Video Genre/ Initial Ideas -Research-

When my group and I started the project we knew we wanted to do the video for a song with an up beat and vivid vibe, in a genre that we all enjoy out side of the media project. This is because we believe by working in a genre we actually know and enjoy we will get the best outcome an have the best understanding of the task.

Typical Artists/Bands in the genre(s):

• Rudimental
• Disclosure
• Route 94
• Philip George
• Duke Dumont
• Kiesza

Music videos we watched:

• Not Giving In - Rudimental
• Wish you were mine - Philip George
• White Noise - Disclosure
• My Love - Route 94
• Bump & Grind 2014 - Waze & Odyssey 
• I Got U - Duke Dumont
• House Every Weekend - David Zowie
• Feel The Love - Rudimental
• Hideaway - Kiesza

Typical features/Similarities:

• Slow Motion edits
• Narrative driven (personal story)
• Community or dancing involved
• Love or happiness key feature
• Can be a montage and seem confusing
• Quick cuts on instrumental/in rhythm or sync with the beat
• Youth males and females
• any class - sense of community
• Mainly see the artist in video
• City or housing - urban areas

Demographics of the genre are often youth or teenagers


INITIAL IDEAS:

In a 2 hour lesson me and my group sat down and brainstormed our ideas and agreed on the basic story structure.

• The videos story would be focused around a teenage boy and the activities he gets up to in his weekend.
• We thought we could break the different parts of his weekend into different scenes. So we came up with 6 different scenes
• In scene 1 the teenage boy, James, would be seen coming home from school/work looking tired and stressed, he would go upstairs and fall asleep. The music starts
• This would then transition into scene 2 where we see James chilling out with 2 of his male friends. We see them chatting, playing video games and drinking.
• Then we see James and his friend going onto a football pitch and training in football for scene 3. This part would be more 'montagey' and we will see all aspects of James' training.
• We then transition into a video of James at 'Prinks' ,for scene 4,with a larger group of friends (boy and girls). They are seen drinking dancing and laughing together. They are then seen going out of the house.
• Scene 5 would be a big montage of all the highlights and best bits of James' weekend. This would be edited with filters and unique transactions between each shot.
• The last scene, scene 6, would show James coming home like he did in the first scene. But in this scene he is coming home from a night out not from school. 

Music Video 3 (Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down) -Research-

• The video for the song When The Sun Goes Down is a conceptual video, as he artist, Arctic Monkeys, are not lip singing along to the lyrics. Rather the video is based around the theme and story of the lyrics. 
• The video is filmed on the actually streets, not in a set. This gives it a more realistic, gritty feel, it also helps the viewer understand the story line as it looks like they are used to in everyday life. Interestingly I feel it has a similar feel to a film that would be produced by Warp.

Music Video 2 (CHIP - I'M FINE) -Research-

• The music video above is performance, as we can see the artists, they are singing along to the lyrics and the video is not telling a story.
• We can see the three artists who are accompanied by a large group of young men dancing extremely aggressively in the urban scene.
• The men are showing off their materialistic items, for example their designer clothes  and expensive jewelry, this is referred to as 'flexing'. Many of the men found in the video are wearing 'CHIP's' brand 'CASH MOTTO'.
• The video is very fast past and is put together through montage editing, and is filmed by a hand held camera. This make the audience feel like they are more involved with the artists and have a better conection with them.
• As this video falls under performance, it includes close ups of the artist, as well as that the artists are seen in quite a regular day to day urban setting.
• The artists are often looking directly at the viewer, this is referred to as 'direct address' and therefore are interacting with the viewer, in this case all the artists are all male therefore they are following what is expected from them.
• The setting, lighting and overall visual style is what you would expect from a grime video as it looks natural/realistic, and not like a set from a movie. This gives the artists a grander sense of being an everyday person.

Music Video 1 (Katy Perry - Roar) -Research-

• The video for 'Roar' is performance as she is lip singing along side the lyrics.
• This is a typical female video as Katy is seen as erotic, and almost sexualised, even though she is meant to be seen as brave and surviving in the wild.
• The video is shot in a unrealistic set, this means everything is very well lit and vibrantly coloured, like a Hollywood movie set would be.
• There is CGI seen in the music video.
• The narrative is like a mini film, it has a clear beginning, Katy is left in the wild with her 'boyfriend' who is an antagonist. Middle, the 'boyfriend' killed my a tiger and Katy meets a monkey and an elephant learning skills to survive in the jungle. And end, Katy is faced with the tiger and overcomes it through singing. 
• The images that the audience see don't match the lyrics - the word 'roar', and many other lyrics, are used in a metaphor and do link with the lyrics.