Young and Beautiful is a song by Lana Del Rey where she remains the character throughout her video. The music video is directed by Chris Sweeny, who had to create a relationship between the music video and the film 'The Great Gatsby' which is what the soundtrack was for. The song broke into the top billboard 100 peaking at a position of 22 The performance piece is sung by Lana herself. Throughout the lyrics there were hints of desperation which reflect Fitzgerald's characters.. I personally like this music video because it is a great example of how good performance music videos are constructed. It provided a lot of inspiration for our video. The video creates an essence of 1920's style which was when the novel was set creating a vivid relationship between the music video and the movie.
Lyrics
[Verse 1] I've seen the world Done it all Had my cake now Diamonds, brilliant And Bel Air now Hot summer nights, mid July When you and I were forever wild The crazy days, city lights The way you'd play with me like a child [Chorus] Will you still love me When I'm no longer young and beautiful? Will you still love me When I got nothing but my aching soul? I know you will, I know you will I know that you will Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful? [Verse 2] I've seen the world, lit it up As my stage now Channeling angels in the new age now Hot summer days, rock 'n' roll The way you play for me at your show And all the ways I got to know Your pretty face and electric soul [Chorus] Will you still love me When I'm no longer young and beautiful? Will you still love me When I got nothing but my aching soul? I know you will, I know you will I know that you will Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful? [Bridge] Dear lord, when I get to heaven Please let me bring my man When he comes tell me that you'll let him in Father tell me if you can Oh that grace, oh that body Oh that face makes me wanna party He's my sun, he makes me shine like diamonds [Chorus] Will you still love me When I'm no longer young and beautiful? Will you still love me When I got nothing but my aching soul? I know you will, I know you will I know that you will Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful? Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful? Will you still love me when I'm not young and beautiful?
The video starts off with an extremely long shot as Lana walks into a room full of mirrors which lights up as she steps closer perhaps, this is utilised to enhance the issue of vanity within the song but also the movie. It sets the scene and begins to create a strong relationship between the visuals and the lyrics. The director uses a lot of close ups so as the audience we also feel that we can share the characters emotions as she looks deeply troubled with a tear drop on her face. It fulfill's the audiences needs for a demand for close ups.
The atmosphere is depressing and dark with the shots of the orchestra in the form of a silhouette. The shots throughout do not have much variety to them but it works really well. These visuals and lyrics suggest insecurities regarding appearance and youth. Throughout the close up Lana is constantly playing with her face conveying her obsession with staying young and in love.
The mood of the song remains consistent as she sings with her sexy husky voice. The overall appearance of the music video appears very art deco. Her facial expressions create a direct mode of address as she gives the impression she is worried, obsessive and paranoid. There remains little contrast in atmosphere but it does not matter as it really suits the style of the song.
In the build up to the bridge the lighting turns red which does show a change in atmosphere. It enhances her desperation to keep her man even after death conveying her love for him as she cannot leave his side. The audience are introduced to a philosophical experience as we see Lana walk through a door which has light soaring out of it suggesting that she is on her way to heaven perhaps where she can stay 'young and beautiful' forever.
As the video progresses it carries on with the same atmosphere. The slow paced depressive atmosphere tells the story all through her performance and all the emotion shared. The whole video represents how vanity can control someones life and the emotions it goes on to share. Overall I think the video works really well. The story is based around vanity and obsession focusing on how that can develop within your life. It visually fits perfectly and creates a really good music video.
To ensure my music video would appear authentic among professional videos within the industry I have spent plenty of hours looking at music videos through Youtube and iTunes I have now collected an array of influential ideas. This has allowed me develop my own stylistic tastes. Some of the intriguing music videos that I have found have all had components which have really caught my eye and I have discussed a few below. I found that many music videos despite aiming to be individual and creating its own sense of style all have similar techniques behind them for example the use of extreme close up's to highlight expression. Many ideas that I have come up with have been influenced by the music videos I have seen which could contribute into my product having the same professional look.
Influences- This video clearly runs with a strong theme throughout and it's influences were The Great Gatsby and then it is obvious to see that all their ideas have run off that. This could be a way that Ruby and I can creatively plan for our music video if we take influence from a theme of something that way we can both come up with more concrete and valued ideas.
Effects-The effect throughout the video also compliment the era the video is supposed to be set in as they have made it look glowing and vintage. I also really like the sillouette look within the music video as you can see the orchestra playing I just think that it's very unique as I have not seen it before. Style- What stands out in this music video to me is the very recognizable style of it. The 1920's art deco look is carried out throughout the entire video which co-insides with the movie it was made for- The Great Gatsby. All components of the music video from make up and costumes to genre makes the video it's own and as the audience you can feel that. Although my music video will not have the art deco look I admire the consistency of the video throughout it makes it a really bold piece and if I could get close to that within my music video then it would almost look as if it could exsist within the real world of music videos.
Influences- The approach of a dark story line has really made this music video and achieve nearly 70,000,000 hits on youtube. Although it does not directly co inside with the lyrics it does really compliment them and give them meaning by what the story of the visual images bring to the audience. Despite that this is not the sort of story line I wish to take up this video is a shining example of the relationship which must be developed within the lyrics and visuals to reach out to the audience.
Effects & Style- For some reason I am obsessed with the black and white effect as I think it looks so classy and gives a bold to certain images like her heavy eyes for example. I think this effect will work on my music video although it could destroy the brightness and vibrance of Camden Town and Brick Lane which is something that will contribute to the stylistic look of our music video although this effect could be considered for the ancillary tasks.
Influences- Chase and Status is one of the most strongest narratives I have ever seen within a music video it also includes performances alongside Delilah. It is one of the most out there videos I have seen which is actually allowed to be shown on youtube. It follows the story of a family where the mother suffers domestic abuse from the father and how it slowly effects them all. The fast past of the music and the shots really creates a strong relationship with the lyrics becoming really emotional attaching the audience even more which is something I would love to create within my own music video- raw emotion.
Effects-The performance throughout this video is a lot more interesting than most. You can see Delilah singing infront of a window with raining running down it- the reflection look. I think this is a really interesting concept and is a bit more original than someone just singing. Ruby and I have been struggling to come up with a performance setting maybe looking at videos like this will help us come up with a more interesting concept so our music video if put in the real multi media world would appeal more interesting to its audience.
Style- The style of the music video follows a family on their struggle with an alcoholic father and we watch graphic scenes of the mother suffering abuse. The style follows following the family around its normal surrounding especially of the house but does not have a specific out going style as the narrative is so strong it does not need a outgoing style to make interesting as the power of the plot does that by itself.
I want my video to look like it could easily be apart of the mass array of professional music videos that are already out their in the industry so to make sure of this I looked at a few of my favourite music videos to develop my own taste and find out what I like to conform to my own style although it would have influenced by others. The music video I have looked will be broken down just to document what I find inspirational as it could be implemented into my own music videos. At the beginning of the course I just began watching tones of music videos and the ones that stick out in my mind are predominantly indie and has a very unique and edgy style yet could be considered simplistic at the same time. The song Ruby and I have chosen screams indie so it would only be practical that I found influence from these videos which I have already looked at to ensure that it would convey to the expectations that a real music video has.
Influence of Gender on a Music Video
Amie
Men are presented
in music videos as being superior to the women that surround them. They
like to show off their wealth by featuring expensive clothing, cars and
gadgets.
Amie Media has reshaped reality in the way in which they present women within their music videos. They try and create a desirable effect in order to drive sales and generate interest. Stereotypically, women are sexualised within music video which would be hard to implement without music videos anyone as getting an actress of our similar age to feel comfortable doing that is very slim and we wouldn't want to do this within our music video anyway but with this approach dominating most of the market it was important to look at...
From burlesque girls to strippers most music videos especially within the rap industry as they try and cast the 'pimp and ho vibe'- videos always include a pole with girls prancing around in next to no clothes with cheeky fragmented body shots throughout. Without questioning it morality and the effect on children as they view their role models it clearly creates sales and interest otherwise record labels wouldn't do it- the old phrase 'sex sells' seems very apparent.
Ruby Overall, the main use of women in music videos is generally for just their bodies and for the purpose of being accessories to men.
Performance Ideas
Completed by Amie and Ruby
Always on the look out for ideas, sitting there during the Chrtistmas holidays on youtube checking out new music I stumbled across Royals by Lorde. I really like the stylistic approach and although her performance piece throughout the video is quite simplistic it works which is something Ruby and I are struggling to do within our music video so when we get back I'll show her what I come found to see what she thinks! But this video proves that the performance within out music video does not have to be over the top with someone smashing up a guitar on the stage to make it look cool. Although we would need someone visually striking as the artist big curly hair and strong make up does make her stand out.
Rubys' Influences
Nicki Minaj - Pound the Alarm
The name of the song and the lyrics both do not have anything to do with the culture
that is explored in the video. Funnily enough the only place that the
lyrics mentions is Ibiza although the video is set in Trinidad. Minaj has used this upbeat song
to make it go with the upbeat nature of the Trinidadian carnival. The
dancing and the view of the people having a good time brings about a happy message from the exciting song. Minaj pays a tribute to her culture from the off start of the song as it starts with a steelpan version of the song, the dancers are in Trinidadian carnival attire. Minaj
preforms with Tribagonian artists: Machel Montano, Bunji Garlin and
Fay-Ann Lyons. Whilst wearing a Trinidadian flag designed bandana
around her mouth she stands with her Trinidadian cousins.This
song topped the US Hot Dance Club Songs as well as peaking at number 15
on the US Billboard Hot 100 and at number 14 on the US Pop Songs.
Black Eyed Peas - Where is the love
This song is very influential on its own but when it is combined with the video, the visuals help shape the message that is trying to be conveyed.
The lyrics are very strong and pull on people's heart strings in the
hope that they will think through their actions before following
through with them.Serious issues such as murders, terrorism, racism and war are covered within this song.
These are covered by these lyrics: 'we try to stop terrorism but we still got terrorists here living'
- 'if you only have love for your own race then you only leave space to discriminate'
- 'nations droppin' bombs chemical gasses fillin' lungs of little ones' This is a more
interesting way to address the issues as the younger generation are
more likely to listen to music rather than watch the news. The music
has incorporated the news to make more people listen, it seems to
target young people due to the rapping nature of the song. The song became the biggest selling single of 2003 and the 25th best-selling single of the 2000s in the UK.Starting our story board our little minds went into overload when it where stressing about what the opening should actually be. Despite watching more videos in the past few months than I have done in my life time we were both stunned by the idea of actually making a decision. For reassurance we both decided that it seemed like the right thing go back and focus on opening shots to gather a range of styles and some information on how people within the professional industry do it in.
Influence, Effects & Styles of Ellie Goulding
Within Goulding's "How Long Will I Love You" video they started off with brief credits regarding who starred in the music video and reveal that it was all filmed on a Nokia Lumia 1020 phone. Then it started with an opening close up shot of her playing the piano. This is something we could use within out music video as Ruby especially has already researched into how instruments are filmed. We are introduced to her love interest as she is playing at the piano planning to write a song. This runs with our consistent theme throughout which has already been pre planned without being aware that this has already been done. Although within this video it is used just as a quick shot where as our narrative is based on this.
She begins 'Goodness Gracious' with establishing shots of the sea, sunset and palm trees in high vibrant colours. This song is different to the type of song we are doing so I do not wish really take this effect into consideration as it looks like it is more of a upbeat clubbing tune which is not something we wish to represent within our music video.
'Explosions' starts off with cool black and white shots on the train. This is something we may experiment with on our way to London when we head to Camden and Brick Lane. Our filming is being done on a Sunday so hopefully we will be able to find a not so busy carriage as this is one of the issues with filming up London the masses of people that are about.
Completed by Ruby and Amie Camera Movement and Shot Type
How Instruments Are Filmed
Instruments are used during the performance part of the music video as it gives fans a chance to experience seeing their favourite musicians in action. Within music videos that are often filmed as apart of a performance piece generally involving lots of close up with the artists and fragmented shots. This provides the audience with a visual experience that they would perhaps get on tour. It shows off the artists skills as a musician which is sometimes over shadowed by music videos so often takes them back to basics. It often highlights the instruments playing and the background introducing the audience to their music which allows them to explore the song and it's lyrics.Instruments are also used as a prop in scenes of music videos, this is instead of them being played.
Ruby filmed someone on a piano so we could see the sound quality and which angles worked best; this includes working with and without a tripod.She put together the clips using Final Cut, then tested out some special effects to see the effect they had on the clips.
Music Drives The Pace of The Editing
Editing fits the tempo of the music. If the pace is fast then this will mean fast cuts which highlight the pace and show the meaning of the song. The shorter the sequence and the more edits made mean the faster the pace will be. The camera movement and the composition of the images play a role in the tempo. Here I have used examples of both fast and slow pace songs, in particular Amie and I are focussing on the slower paced songs because this is the pace of our chosen song - your song. We have noticed that in slow paced songs the shots are longer, in some of these shots they are very still but in others it features the artist moving. An example of a still shot is the opening to skyscraper and an example of a long shot where the artist is moving can be found in Beyonce's drunk in love.
Music throughout all music videos drives the pace of the editing which is something will obviously needed to be considered when editing our own music video. To ensure we understood this we looked at various music videos to see how they done this.
Rihanna- We Found Love
If you could manage to keep up with yourself during this video I would be very impressed. The editing is so fast to match the beat you need to keep up or watch it a few times to value the different shots. Besides the incredible style to this video the fast pace cuts is determined by the beat. This creates an exciting atmosphere which then matches the dance genre it goes along with.
Justin Timberlake- Cry Me A River
The narrative and performance element of this video combined has a strong story which is defined and made from the beat. The pace of the editing is driven by the music and the visual images is told within this capacity proving that the story comes from the lyrics.
Rihanna ft. Kanye West- All Of The Lights
The dance and rap combination video is a combination of all kinds of elements but like the other videos it is increasingly obvious that you cannot deny that music drives the pace of the editing. Even with all the text features at the beginning video they change according the to the lyrics/ beat. It would be hard to find a video that would reject this theory.
Jay Z ft. Kanye West- In Paris
The technical advance on their world tour was brought forward within this music video. The video without a doubt drives the pass of the editing. From when he is singing, to the lighting and all the girls dancing the pace is always made to fit the music. As the music slows so does the upbeat video. This video is a fantastic example as to how editing is driven by the music.
Adele- Make You Feel My Love
Although our song is not quite a ballad this video replicates the sense of pace Ruby and I will be working with as we are editing. The slow music really does have a slow pace and it certainly not full of fast paced cuts. This allows for a more dramatic performance and strong narrative. Also following the other research regarding the demand for close up's it will also provide many opportunities for the audience to feel at one with the artist creating a more intimate feel.
Ellie Goulding- Your Song
Within our music video our song is rather slow paced with insinuates to me that our shots need to match them and unlike hard core rapper video with not be constantly changing to the beat. Ours has more of a soothing feel to it so the pace of our cuts need to a lot slower to give the mellow feel that the song has to it. Looking at other music videos really helped me to notice what we need consider when we edit our own music video which is obviously the soul purpose of research. This post will be refered back to as we can look at other examples to ensure that our music video would survive in the real multi media world to ensure that we are aiming for the top grades.
Amie & Ruby Demand For Close Up's
A close-up can be defined as: 1. A photograph or a film or television shot in which the subject is tightly framed and shown at a relatively large scale. 2. An intimate view or description.
Ruby: The record company demands for many close-ups of the main artist within their music videos. The
demand for close-ups is part of Andrew Goodwin's theory as he feels
that they create intimacy for the viewer putting an emphasis on half of
the commodities on sale. Another purpose of close-ups is to show the
artists lip synching. Close-ups
do not necessarily have to contain the face of the artist, it could
feature parts of the artist, offering alternative angles of them. Although
the point of close-ups are to show the artist, sometimes they are not
completely shown i.e. in the 'move' video for Little Mix it features a
silhouette of the band members, and in the 'live for' video by The
Weeknd the flashing lights make it not as easy to recognise the artist
- these two examples are shown in the video below. To
show how common close-ups really are I have taken sections of four
music videos and highlighted each time that a close-up is used.
Amie: Music Video's demand close up's as the audience want to see the artist and often to entice the audience they may even include close up fragmented body shots for the artist. It is one of the only platforms now days that you can feel insightful within a artists life visually which is something that social networking such as Twitter and Facebook does not provide. Close up's focus on the subject of interest as it generates audience interest and almost suspense. Facial expression is to show emotion but it creates a stronger relationship with the lyrics as you can see and then feel the passion in someones voice which is a different experience you get from close up's with in blockbuster movies for example.
Ruby:
Ruby: Lyrics on the Screen
Ruby made a video about titles along the screen and looked at how they appear within music videos. This research will give us creative ideas when we are editing our own video. Rihanna used various text effects throughout her video to highlight words except our song choice is a lot more mellow therefore a similar effect would be inappropriate. The same effect have also been used within Cher Lloyd's music video but again it is not the same genre so it's irrelevant to what we are doing. From the various examples found by Ruby, Kanye West clearly uses these effects throughout a lot of his videos which appears suitable within the R&B videos. However, we do not want to do this throughout our music video. We want to take an approach similar to Chase and Status, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga just by at the beginning of our music video having the title come up on screen. We may even try to do this in a format of a music channel to give a professional look.
Lyrics can be illustrated by the artist themselves i.e. by miming, pointing or using their fingers. They can be
illustrated by giving a visual to something which is mentioned i.e. if
the lyrics were 'drinking coffee' then a visual of someone drinking
coffee would be shown.
Amie Lyrics within a music video are generally meaningful and the music video will help portray the story and create a deeper understanding or meaning to the song. Their is a distinctive relationship between the lyrics and the video creating a storyline conveying the message to its audience as well as creating a platform for a star sometimes we must remember it is still actually about the song. Within a music video sometimes their may not even be a meaning which must be portrayed in the song all conventions of a music video are still needed to make a video that would consist within the real media world. It is also important to recognize that sometimes music videos totally contradict the lyrics to create confusion amongst the audience only to ensure that they what it in more detail. For example...
But although you could say the video is contrasting to a certain to degree it does have a message behind so it does still have some sort of relationship which is why it does still actually work. The contrast just has to make the audience focus more to understand.
Sharing the work load with Ruby she started looking at music videos to see how performance and narrative are used. She under took a collection of videos and just took notes on what she had been watching. I decided to also come up with my own notes to make sure we were doing things fairly but to also develop my own flavour of how music videos in the real multi media world are and we will both be able to decide on the knowledge we have gained from out research what will make a great quality music video.
Ruby
Amie
Adele- Make You Feel My Love: The powerful ballad is a performance piece with a little bit of a narrative as we find her in a hotel room checking her phone etc although I don't think I would actually even class it as a narrative but just a performance as it is more the setting. The song is too strong to need a story to go with it as her amazing voice tells the story for you.
Jay Z and Kanye West- In Paris: This is a performance piece high paced with modern effects from their tour together. The pair represent a united front whilst managing to promote their tour within the music video!
Martin Garrix- Animals: The video is a narrative piece but obviously has the typical club setting and people dancing. This is why a narrative really works for this video as the lyrics are so limited they can creatively do anything they wish narratively but they just would not be able to construct a performance.
Britney Spears- Work Bitch: The narrative video promotes her new residency in Las Vegas which reveals the artist and the label using a video as a platform to provide and gain publicity and promote what they got going on else where in their lives. Generally within her music videos she also promotes her perfumes proving how an artist uses a narrative to their advantages.
Tinie Tempah- Trampoline: Is a cleverly structured performance piece which uses bold words across the screen to highlight his the lyrics creating a strong relationship a clear advantage of using a performance. The black and white visual effect also looks good as I believe it always looks classy.
Wilkinson- Afterglow: This is one of my favourite music videos as I think that it has been so cleverly done. It is a narrative a couple and about the adventures they do on with subtitles included. It is the first and only video of its kind as I have not been able to find any more. I would of like to used similar stylistic features but it would have been too close to the original.
From my research it is clear that different music videos combine narrative and performance in different combination or chose one or the other. This indicates that when Ruby and I make creative decisions about our music video that their is not necessarily a right or wrong answer. From a student point of view I think it would be the best for us visually with the tools we have to a combination of performance and narrative to make it look like it would fit in the real multi media world.
The clothing in
music videos tend to be different between male and female as the males
seem to be dressed more relaxed and casual whereas women wear more
extravagant outfits which would be seen at a club. The casual wear can
be seen through the wear of casual tees, but sometimes they wear more
smarter outfits, for example the suits worn by Justin Timberlake and
Robin Thicke in the pictures above. The outfits worn by women are more
classy than others, with Miley Cyrus wearing a netted top which reveals
all, in contrast Katy Perry is wearing a longer elegant dress.
Clothing within
indie music videos seems to have a darker colour palette than there is
within the pop genre. The indie look that people go for is shown in
these music videos. The middle picture in the bottom (Paramore) seems
to go against the conventional clothing in alternative music videos as
it bright and colourful.
A white suits
seems to be a favourite for the males along with the topless look which
enables them to show off their bodies which attract all the women which
surround them within the music video. Women are seen wearing outfits
which also show their body off, in particular their bare midriff.
We knew that we would need more than one outfit for our music video, we ended up using three. These were picked out a few days before filming so it gave us time to buy something if we needed to.
In Camden we used two outfits, as the location was outside and we knew that it would be hard to change outfits we tried to keep the changeover minimal. We also tried to keep the outfits thick and warm so that our model did not get cold or ill as the weather was cold and wet. For this reason, the bottom half which consisted of black boots and black decorated leggings stayed the same for the duration of the shots taken in Camden. What changed was the tops worn and her coat changed to a leather jacket or a proper coat.
For the performance we used an outfit of a pink floral skirt and a light blue denim looking top/shirt which was tucked into the skirt. Our model just wore socks instead of shoes because we did not want to get her feet in the shot so we knew it would be OK.
A beanie hat was a necessity to feature in the music video as it just screams indie. In our case we used a black one with a bobble.
Hair:
Our model has long blonde hair which is similar to Ellie Goulding's look. Our model's hair is dip dyed, which means the top half of her hair is a shade of brown and her bottom half is blonde.
Throughout the entire music video her hair stayed in the same style, although at times when filming in Camden it got a bit windswept, within the performance we were able to make her hair have slightly more volume and let it sit differently.
Make-Up:
The look we were going for was a strong bold look which would draw attention to the models eyes, but we still wanted it to be natural and soft looking. We aimed to get the balance of her eyes standing out but not overdoing them so that she looked like she was going to a party as that look would not be appropriate.
When researching into target audience UK tribes was our main source of research as it provided detailed information which I know to be reliable as I have used it in the past and found that it is often updated. They do information on so many groups that it was easy enough to find what suited our video. Finding out our audiences tastes and interests is crucial in making sure that our music video will be well received and go on to make sales.
INDIE SCENESTERS...are always thriving to find new music of all different types. They search around online, records shops, nights clubs and look towards what their friends are listening too. They like to always be the trend setter and find something new before anyone else because their love of music always strives for them to look for the next best thing. The guitar in an more electronic formed has proved more popular showing their new extended taste in music as they are not only crazed by people like Bastille anymore or Bombay Bicycle Club. It clear a new genre is being explored often focusing on low key artists keep them rather hipster too! Most indie scenester will be constantly on the look out for building up their vinyl collection consistently looking for new tracks and documenting all on their music blogs. It has almost become the latest trend for girls to dress like boys following the skinny jeans and converse type look.
Within the music industry a directors personal creative vision influences how all of their music videos look known as the auteur theory which translates author in english. It is almost a display of the artists style and them making their mark within the industry even it means within terms of genre or edition. Before making my own music video I have looked at music directors within the industry that I would potentially like to take something from and experience what has made their music successful by remaining creative and authentic to their our vision.
John Landis...
is clearly be one of the most admirational directors of all time
He was one of the brains behind Thriller
Born in 1950 the American film director, screen writer , actor and producer is a world wide phenomenon
he is mainly known for it his comedy and horror films as well as his music videos
The 13 minutes music video was released in 1983 and was MTV's first premiere video
Since being voted the most influential pop music video of all time it clearly was well received by popular culture winning numerous other awards such as "most successful music video" by Guinness World Records listed it in 2006 during to selling over nine million copies
The video is the most watch also as it is recorded as being seen by four billion all over the world
After previous succession Landis continued to work with Jackson in 1991 on his Black or White music video which was premiered in 27 countries with an estimated audience of 500 million conveying the anticipation of the up coming collaboration of the time.
Throughout his videos Landis continues to modernize taking it a step further for example during 'Black of White' he set the new president for the use of digital morphing raising the standard of state of the art music videos.
Despite only working with Micheal twice the authenticity and originality within his music videos set the new trends and infact probably generated a greater career for Micheal by promoting his music on such an individual scale the world was fascinated with him and his unique style.
Graphic Introduction- at the time of the music video this is was the beginning of future graphics and technology so contextually I think it should be noted although we have come a long way since these videos were released.
Unique Locations- from around the world really varies the feel to a music video strengthening connotations and meanings.
World Wide Appeal- by appearing in various locations throughtout the world illustrates diversity but also provides Michael with a bigger platform to sell his music on.
Facial Interchange Effect- I would love to learn how to do this out of interest although it would not perhaps fit in my video it was perfectly suited to the lyrics and it probably one of the most amazing edits to be seen within a music video.
Unique Ways of Presenting Locations- Authenticity is applied due Landis' original and creative ideas I mean the snow globe effect is just something we have not experienced before as an audience but the simple of ideas appear in some cases to be the most creative.
Strong Theme- from horror to diversity the key is to have a key theme and keep it strong throughout. It could in effect be anything, but just take it and run with it!
Catchy Dance Moves- Thriller's distinctive dance moves certainly made the video it's moves everybody knows no matter what generation or background although putting this effect into my own music video is beyond my ability to make something look professional as it has been previously tried but the end result is always extremely cheesy.
Jonas Åkerlund...
He was a member of the Swedish black metal band Bathory.
In 1997 he directed the acclaimed video for The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up", which sparked controversy due to its depiction of drug use, violence, and nudity and was banded from being play across many channels and stations.
In 1998 he worked with Madonna for the song "Ray of Light". He has also worked with acts such as Metallica, Christina Aguilera, U2, Blink-182, P!nk, Rammstein, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga.
He is a long-time collaborator of pop singer Madonna having worked on such music videos as "Music", "American Life", which was pulled due to its graphic content and the Iraq War, and "Jump".
He also directed her documentary film I'm Going to Tell You a Secret and her concert television special The Confessions Tour: Live from London.Among his more recent works were the controversial pornographic music video for Rammstein's "Pussy", the video for the song "Telephone" by Lady GagaBeyoncé, Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera's 2011 single "Moves Like Jagger", and Duran Duran's single "Girl Panic!".
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The atmosphere is depressing and dark with the shots of the orchestra in the form of a silhouette. The shots throughout do not have much variety to them but it works really well. These visuals and lyrics suggest insecurities regarding appearance and youth. Throughout the close up Lana is constantly playing with her face conveying her obsession with staying young and in love.
In the build up to the bridge the lighting turns red which does show a change in atmosphere. It enhances her desperation to keep her man even after death conveying her love for him as she cannot leave his side. The audience are introduced to a philosophical experience as we see Lana walk through a door which has light soaring out of it suggesting that she is on her way to heaven perhaps where she can stay 'young and beautiful' forever.
As the video progresses it carries on with the same atmosphere. The slow paced depressive atmosphere tells the story all through her performance and all the emotion shared. The whole video represents how vanity can control someones life and the emotions it goes on to share. Overall I think the video works really well. The story is based around vanity and obsession focusing on how that can develop within your life. It visually fits perfectly and creates a really good music video.
