Diversity
Why would an artist choose to have a diverse music video ?
There are many different ways in which a video can be seen as being diverse and unique to their audience. The main thing that can make a video diverse and unique is by not following the normal or expected characteristics of the genre of that specific video. For example if a dance music video was to have an unusual setting that was not a club, then it may not appeal to their typical audience but may attract a new one. This would be the same if a indie rock band had no performance in their video and was purely concept or narrative based. So the main way a artist can make their music video unique is by doing something that is not normally associated with the genre they belong to. The main reason that an artist will do this is to get more publicity with their video which will make them more successful and make more money for the record label and the artist.
There are also many positives and negative to making a diverse music video, for example one positive is that it can keep the audience entertained while watching the music video which makes the video easier to watch. However it may be too much for some people with the strange and unusual parts which may put people off and alienate them and the video may not be watched or be bought by many fans of the the artists. Another positive is that it makes the video more memorable for the audience , which will make them hopefully buy the music. This may also help them become fans of the artist and buy into the merchandise and lifestyle that the artist portrays. Although it does not want to be memorable for something negative or shocking as this may do the opposite and make people dislike. Overall it could be both positive and negative depending on the video, and what genre of music it is in for example a pop video would be more mainstream while an indie video could be very unusual and diverse.
Chris Cunningham was born in Reading in 1970 and is a music video director of unique and diverse music videos for artists. Cunningham has done music videos with many artists such as Autechre and Aphex Twin and focuses mainly on the electronic and ambient music genre. However he has done videos outside his typical genre such as Madonnas video "Frozen" which won an award for special effects in 1998 at the MTV music awards. The most well known music videos that he has directed within his usual genre of electronic are Aphex Twins "Window Licker" and "Come to Daddy". Furthermore Cunningham was nominated for a grammy with Bjorks song "All is full of Love". Generally his music videos have lots of close ups of the artist face which help with branding the music video and help with a new audience in seeing the artist. Most of his videos also have some form of evil or unusual aspect to them which can be seen in many forms such as with the editing of artists faces.
We can see how unusual Cunninghams videos are in very unique and diverse through the ways he presents Twin Aphexs videos. Cunninghams video "Windowlicker" starts with two men in a car driving around swerving constantly while they are looking to pick up girls in their car. When they find two girls, there car is pushed out the way by a limousine which has a rich man inside. The most disturbing part is when the rich man gets out of the car he has the artists face edited over the body of someone else whilst he dances with the two girls. This video has both a performance and narrative base with the artist face being part of there performance. His second video is far more diverse with "Come to daddy", where a group of children with the artits face edited on them run around an empty block of flats. Then after a short time a face appears in a broken Tv and tells the children what to do as they run around. Both of his videos is also an adult video with the amount of swearing that is in it so would be unsuitable for most audiences and all music channels. His final video is with Madonna on her video " Frozen" which shows a woman who is having her life,soul and emotions being drained from her. This video is very dark and gothic with ravens flying constantly around and Madonna herself becoming a bird. This completely subverts the usual genre of pop which has themes of being together and normally has bright colours in the video to portray happiness. The audience may dislike this pop video as it is very uncharacteristic of the genre, however it may attract new people to see the video. This however supports the pop genre as her performance is performance based with a narrative alongside.
Michael Gondry is a academy award winning French music video director born in 1963. He has worked with many artists such as The White Stripes, The Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk. The artists that Michael Gondry have done videos which I have looked at are The White Stripes " Hardest Button to Button" and Kylie Minogues "Come into my world". Both of these videos do have the characteristics that rock for The white Stripes and pop for Kylie Minogue are meant to have and both feature the theme of repetition in the videos.
The White Stripes video "The Hardest Button to Button " is conventional to the music genre of rock which it comes under as it is performance based with the two artists playing there guitar, drums and singing in various locations such as on the subway in America. The main themes of the video is repetition with every beat the artists move and so the music, lyrics and visuals all match together with them all moving the video along. Furthermore there are many close ups of the artists which promotes them to the audience and helps the record label brand the artist. The video is very relatable to the audience as it is in familiar places and makes the artists seem more accessible to their fans. This is a typical video that has been made by Michael Gondry. The other song that Gondry has directed is Michael Gondrys "Come into my World" which is very conventional with the pop genre in many ways, however it does differ in some. For example there is no dance routine it is simply her walking around the same street, and there is not specific outfit it is just her in casual clothes. Furthermore it is not in a typical pop location such as a club or beach, it is set in a back street which could be in any city. The audience can also see that it is real through the inter textual references such as a smart car. This video is performance and narrative based as we can see she is singing, whilst she is walking round her world which is very normal and so relatable to the audience. Both of these videos could be played on a music channel as they are both not very offensive and have no offensive parts in there video. This would attract fans of the artists that have already seen the genre but will be unlikely to attract any new audiences.
There are both similarities and differences between both of directors, for example Gondry is much more moderate than Cunningham in language, visuals and the themes of the video. A difference between them is that Cunningham in his videos has the theme of evil and disturbing things whereas Gondry has the main theme of repetition which has lighter themes. However both videos use lots of editing and special effects which help to make the video more eyes catching to the audience. Overall they both compare and contrast in many ways.
Overall we will be using a diverse music video as it fits into our genre of music which is psychedelic rock , which will make it conventional and would possibly appeal to a certain set of fans. However if we wanted to make the video more mainstream we could make the video less diverse which may make the video more popular overall. Although the genre we have picked has many fans so we will be conventional as we can take inspiration from other similar bands music videos to put into our own. Furthermore I believe that it will make the video more entertaining and engaging for an audience which will help them keep interest with the song. However we do not want to make it so extreme that people who are unfamiliar with the genre are put off and do not want to listen to this genre.
There are many different ways in which a video can be seen as being diverse and unique to their audience. The main thing that can make a video diverse and unique is by not following the normal or expected characteristics of the genre of that specific video. For example if a dance music video was to have an unusual setting that was not a club, then it may not appeal to their typical audience but may attract a new one. This would be the same if a indie rock band had no performance in their video and was purely concept or narrative based. So the main way a artist can make their music video unique is by doing something that is not normally associated with the genre they belong to. The main reason that an artist will do this is to get more publicity with their video which will make them more successful and make more money for the record label and the artist.
There are also many positives and negative to making a diverse music video, for example one positive is that it can keep the audience entertained while watching the music video which makes the video easier to watch. However it may be too much for some people with the strange and unusual parts which may put people off and alienate them and the video may not be watched or be bought by many fans of the the artists. Another positive is that it makes the video more memorable for the audience , which will make them hopefully buy the music. This may also help them become fans of the artist and buy into the merchandise and lifestyle that the artist portrays. Although it does not want to be memorable for something negative or shocking as this may do the opposite and make people dislike. Overall it could be both positive and negative depending on the video, and what genre of music it is in for example a pop video would be more mainstream while an indie video could be very unusual and diverse.
We can see how unusual Cunninghams videos are in very unique and diverse through the ways he presents Twin Aphexs videos. Cunninghams video "Windowlicker" starts with two men in a car driving around swerving constantly while they are looking to pick up girls in their car. When they find two girls, there car is pushed out the way by a limousine which has a rich man inside. The most disturbing part is when the rich man gets out of the car he has the artists face edited over the body of someone else whilst he dances with the two girls. This video has both a performance and narrative base with the artist face being part of there performance. His second video is far more diverse with "Come to daddy", where a group of children with the artits face edited on them run around an empty block of flats. Then after a short time a face appears in a broken Tv and tells the children what to do as they run around. Both of his videos is also an adult video with the amount of swearing that is in it so would be unsuitable for most audiences and all music channels. His final video is with Madonna on her video " Frozen" which shows a woman who is having her life,soul and emotions being drained from her. This video is very dark and gothic with ravens flying constantly around and Madonna herself becoming a bird. This completely subverts the usual genre of pop which has themes of being together and normally has bright colours in the video to portray happiness. The audience may dislike this pop video as it is very uncharacteristic of the genre, however it may attract new people to see the video. This however supports the pop genre as her performance is performance based with a narrative alongside.
The White Stripes video "The Hardest Button to Button " is conventional to the music genre of rock which it comes under as it is performance based with the two artists playing there guitar, drums and singing in various locations such as on the subway in America. The main themes of the video is repetition with every beat the artists move and so the music, lyrics and visuals all match together with them all moving the video along. Furthermore there are many close ups of the artists which promotes them to the audience and helps the record label brand the artist. The video is very relatable to the audience as it is in familiar places and makes the artists seem more accessible to their fans. This is a typical video that has been made by Michael Gondry. The other song that Gondry has directed is Michael Gondrys "Come into my World" which is very conventional with the pop genre in many ways, however it does differ in some. For example there is no dance routine it is simply her walking around the same street, and there is not specific outfit it is just her in casual clothes. Furthermore it is not in a typical pop location such as a club or beach, it is set in a back street which could be in any city. The audience can also see that it is real through the inter textual references such as a smart car. This video is performance and narrative based as we can see she is singing, whilst she is walking round her world which is very normal and so relatable to the audience. Both of these videos could be played on a music channel as they are both not very offensive and have no offensive parts in there video. This would attract fans of the artists that have already seen the genre but will be unlikely to attract any new audiences.
There are both similarities and differences between both of directors, for example Gondry is much more moderate than Cunningham in language, visuals and the themes of the video. A difference between them is that Cunningham in his videos has the theme of evil and disturbing things whereas Gondry has the main theme of repetition which has lighter themes. However both videos use lots of editing and special effects which help to make the video more eyes catching to the audience. Overall they both compare and contrast in many ways.
Overall we will be using a diverse music video as it fits into our genre of music which is psychedelic rock , which will make it conventional and would possibly appeal to a certain set of fans. However if we wanted to make the video more mainstream we could make the video less diverse which may make the video more popular overall. Although the genre we have picked has many fans so we will be conventional as we can take inspiration from other similar bands music videos to put into our own. Furthermore I believe that it will make the video more entertaining and engaging for an audience which will help them keep interest with the song. However we do not want to make it so extreme that people who are unfamiliar with the genre are put off and do not want to listen to this genre.
Needs to be finished!
ReplyDeleteYou have provided a good analysis of the two directors styles and explained clearly in your intro what makes a diverse music video.
You need to:
1) Include a conclusion stating whether you will make a diverse music video or not and why
2) Include a paragraph on the advantages/disadvantages of creating a diverse music video
3) Include links of videos analysed
4) Use PEER analysis
You have stated the various advantages/disadvantages of creating a diverse music video , as well as mentioning whether or not you will be creating a diverse music video and why in your conclusion. You have also included your URL links for videos analysed. You still need to make sure your use PEER fully to complete a more detailed analysis
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