Tuesday, 13 June 2017

LO1: Comparing Two Music Videos

In Da Club by 50 Cent, Philip Atwell, the purpose of the video is to entertain the audience and spread the song to gain a profit, the target audience is young men (16-32), black, in the C1C2D category as these are the deomgraphics the song represents as its similar the artist.

Titles and Graphics
Used a title, saying 'Somewhere' and other description, setting up the story of the music video and narrative without saying expressing specifics. The style of the text, looking like computer text often seen in sci fi or spy films, connotes to the reader that this is a secret facility, and the actions undertaken there are dubious, possiby illegal, which encourages the connotations of the culture.

Use of Transitions
In the intro - the narrative section setting up the rest of the video, fades are used to show a slow progression, as they're travelling in a large, open expanse.
In the rest of the video, simple cuts and cross cuts are used to show the narrative of the story - 50 Cent recovering, and scenes in clubs etc.

Editing Techniques
Cross cutting between different narratives - the club and a lab, is used to show the story through editing, rather than explaining it. This is used to not detract attention from the main focus and draw of the video, the music, which would be done by blatantly stating the plot via text or dialogue.

Narrative
Through an intro using titles, the narrative is explained as being an experiment in an 'Artist Development Centre', telling the audience that 50 Cent is 'developing'. After this, scenes such as 50 Cent doing various exercises, partying etc are shown, telling the viewer that in doing this he's progressing to be an artist - showing the audience what he/the culture thinks an artist should be like.

Performance
At various times in the video, interspersed in the 'training' section, 50 Cent looks at the camera to rap, breaking the fourth wall in the narrative. This breaks the narrative, showing that its a peformance, but the eye contact, closeness to the camera etc is important in making the artist feel real, human, while also following conventions of the genre (although this often entails narrative, cutting to a performance, then cutting back to the narrarive, not performance in the narrative).

Use of Non-Diegetic Sound
The only non-diegetic sound used in this video is the music, playing over the video/narrative of the video, which makes sense as a music video. Sound effects used for the text in the intro can also be considered non-diegetic, as the source isn't shown, and as there was no music playing at that time it fits into the video well.

Use of Diegetic Sound
Sounds of the car, the ambient noise of the surrounding etc were included in the intro to set the scene of the narrative, settting up the president that there will be a narrative throughout the video.
In addition, as 50 Cent performs multiple times throughout the video, the music shifts temporarily from non-diegetic to diegetic. This is also the case in the club, as it can be justified that the music comes from the club surrounding (however, the crosscutting from one point to another contrasts this).

Intertextuality
The intro sequence is directly influenced by spy and action films, with the themed text and establishing shot with a jeep in the desert all being directly taken from films of that genre.



Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, Anonymous Content, the purpose of the video is to entertain the audience and spread the song to gain a profit, the audience is primarily girls/women (12-24) in the ABC1 category as they are the genre most interested in the pop genre.

Titles and Graphics
Only at the end are titles used, being used as credits to tell the audience who was in the music video. This can be seen as to not detract from the narrative of the video, leaving the story up to the images etc.

Use of Transitions
Only cuts and cross cutting were used in the video. This was to create a clean narrative, not distracting from the music and video which are the main attractions, and as it's a story it obeys conventions by not using obvious editing (typical in other music videos). This is typical for the genre of music, relying on the video to create a story and narrative rather than having a performance-oriented video.

Editing Techniques
No obvious techniques were used in this video, instead, subtle editing such as colouring etc was used to help the story, giving it a cinematic look. This made the video more cinematic and added credibility and connotations of professionalism and pride to the video, making viewers more inclined to like and appreciate the video as its similar to films which are coloured similarly.

Narrative
There was a heavy reliance on narrative in this video, a story was shown developing throughout, taking the Todorov form - equilibrium, disequilibrium, resolution, equilibrium (although this is connoted by the resolution, not actively shown).

Performance
Typical of the genre, no performance was included in this video. As it has a heavy narrative focus, crosscutting to performance would take away from this, so instead the story was relied on to convey the narrative along with the song to show meaning.

Use of Non-Diegetic Sound
Apart from the obvious music, there is very little non-diegetic sound in the video, so to not distract from the music and narrarive that both demand attention. However, there was a short part before the fight where there was whooshing sound effect, taking over the music, to connote confusion and panic to the audience at the events of the story.

Use of Diegetic Sound
Diegetic sound is only used at the end, in the 'credits' section, to show comedy at the ineptidude of Ed Sheeran trying to stand up in a fat suit. The lack of dialogue, ambient noise and sound of actions is not ac common, the genre displays such sound often, however the choice to forgo any diegetic sound when playing the song connotes the importance of the video and the lyrics - not distracting from them.


Comparison

Titles and Graphics
50 Cent's video uses graphics much more than Ed Sheeran's, using text in the intro to set the scene of the plot, while no text was used in Sheerans's, instead relying on the connotations of the video to create a story. On the other hand, Shape of You includes credits and logos of the production company that made it, creating connotations that liken it more to a film that a music video, while In Da Club doesn't fo this. This is because Sheeran's video is much more reliant on plot and tells a story, while 50 Cent's is less reliant on this, splitting narrative with imagery equally.

Use of Transitions
As the former music video wants a narrative but doesn't focus on it, effects are used to create a more effective story while not sacrificing time which could be used for the song. As a result, fades are used in the intro to create effect (time passing) as well as making it seem more professional and similar to  a film, as they are commonly used in that setting. This was effective in creating effect for the narrative easily. On the other hand, no transition effects were used in the latter video. This is because it didn't want to detract from the narrative, which is fast paced, by using distracting effects. As a result, both videos used/didn't use effects differently to achieve similar goal, to enhance the narrative, that it did effectively.

Editing Techniques
Both videos chose to be more narrative oriented instead of performance, which effected the editing techniques used. As narrative is important to both, both forewent distracting or obvious editing techniques in favour of showing off the narrative. This is in stark contrast to performance videos, where fades, dissolves, wipes etc are used frequently to create effect. However, the choice was effective in that the narrative was a core focus to the two videos.

Narrative
Important to both music videos, narrative is achieved in the two by using simlar effects. In Da Club uses editing techniques as well as text to convey the meaning of their narrative, while Shape of You uses more typical imagery, creating a 'film' instead of cutting between scenes in a rough narrative as In Da Club does.

Performance
No performance was used in the second music video. However, the first video uses performance towards the second half of the video. This can be seen as combining the tropes of rap videos, such as partying, women, alcohol while performing (as this part took place in a club) while maintaining the narrative structure of the video. In contrast to this, no performance was used in Shape of You. This can be seen as capitalising on the lyrics of the video that make it so well known, using imagery to compliment this instead of performing that connotes relatively little in comparison.

Use of Non-Diegetic Sound
Only music and one sound effect was used in Shape of You, which is effective in not distracting from the lyrics and imagery which are the main draws of the video. However, the 'whooshing' sound effect was used at a critical story point, as well as a more visually entertaining point (3:56) which is effective in focussing on the point, which the whole narrative was leading up to. In comparison, only music was used in the main section of the video to show that music is the most important part of the production, while sound effects were used in the intro (specifically when test was being written) because this is common in action/spy films that also use this text. This is effective in making the video feel more authentic and film-like. So both videos used non-diegetic sound to highlight points which build on the narrative.

Use of Diegetic Sound
The very end of Sheeran's video, the credits, featured diegetic sound - the scene where Ed Sheeran is on the floor in the sumo suit (4:02). This is to build on the comedy of the scene by only using the sound of his struggle, connoting to the audience that he is alone without help, and making the video have a comedy aspect that appeals to viewers. This is similar to 50 Cent's video, where only in the intro was diegetic sound used, ambient sound in the desert. However, this was to build dramatic effect and make the film feel more professional - dramatic, while Shape of You was to show comedy.

Intertextuality

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