Ellie Goulding is an English singer songwriter who has been on the music scene since 2007. Since signing to polydor records in 2009 she has had massive success with her debut album selling over 380 000 copies and reaching number 1 in the UK showing she is massively popular and a great asset to the music industry. Her genre of music is mostly Indie Folk and Folktronica resembling to the styles of Kate Nash and Laura Marling.
Initially I knew what sort of music video I wanted to do and what genre of music I wanted. I like the idea of doing a pop song but not the typical cheesy pop a more of an indie, folk pop sound. With this genre comes such artists as Colbie Collait, Sara Bareilles and Ellie Goulding. After listening to a selection of songs from various artists I have decided that I am going to do Ellie Goulding 'The Writer'. I have chosen to do this song as the narrative is fairly straight forward and tells a story that can be interpreted visually. Also I think this song can be shown in numerous of ways and can even work in an abstract form as most music videos under the same genre tend to do this. As Ellie Goulding is popular and this song was one of her hits I know that my video will appeal to an audience. However I understand this song will be under a new original artist but the audience will most likely be the same. Her style is based upon the genre of her music as are many artists and this can be seen as one of the conventions. I think the song I am choosing to use needs a specific look for it and therefore I shall style my artist around the song.
I particularly like the style of Ellie Goulding and will base the look of my artist very much around hers however I do want some individuality to my artist that somehow doesnt reflect Ellie Goulding so that she is completely original.
The song I have chosen is very much about a relationship and feelings so making significance to that would be appropriate.
Over the years music videos have increased in popularity and in quality. The way in which an artist promotes them self is a massive part of how successful they become. When an artist releases a song, nowadays audiences expect to see a music video along with it. Whether this is completely related to the song itself, it doesn’t matter as the promotion helps the artist to sell themselves.However it wasn’t till the early 60s that music videos actually came onto the scene and even then they weren’t as well-known as they are today. Initially the only way of artists promoting themselves was by actually performing on television and most popularly was on BBCs Top of the pops. Queen were booked to perform on top of the pops with their hit ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ but later couldn’t due to other engagements. It was at this time they then decided to spend £4000 on making a short tape of their single. However at the time bands such as The Beatles became extremely popular and became global super stars almost at an instant and because of their popularity it was actually The Beatles why initially created the first music video. Because of how popular they were TV shows had to be really lucky to get them to appear on their shows. The Beatles felt that they didn’t have the freedom and creativeness they desperately craved when it came to having to constantly travel the world to do appearances, so they decided to film a tape as part of their promotional material.
In 1965 they recorded short films that expressed their humour, down to earth personalities and most importantly their music. These tapes were seen as documentaries but in actual fact they were promoting themselves as artists. The video appeared to show The Beatles performing a number of their tracks including ‘we can work it out’ and ‘ticket to ride’. The videos were available to TV channels across the world meaning global audiences were being targeted. They later in 1966 made more promotional films which appeared in black and white and in colour. Colour TV had been popular in America since the late 50s so this was nothing new for them however European channels were still getting used to the idea. The Beatles filmed different takes of Rain and paperback in order to give variety to a number of different channels so that they would then believe they were getting exclusives. In 1965 Bob Dylan released a tape of his single subterranean homesick blues that was near enough a music video; it showed him switching cards in a sequence that matched the timing of the lyrics. Compared to the music videos that are displayed today the difference and change is easy to pick out. In the Bob Dylan video the same camera shot was used throughout. A number of the Beatles videos were shot in different angles showing that with the right amount of money and technique a music video can have more life to it even in those days. The Beatles and Bob Dylan around that time were seen as new artists as they were the first to write their own songs.
The music videos we have today are far better quality and more creative. As technology has increased so have artist’s promotional material. Special effects were used in videos such as Peter Gabriel’s, sledge hammer. This video included many effects that were not seen in many other music videos around this time so was expectantly unique and managed to reach number 1.Videos like his are more abstract due to the non-narrative approach. They are much more illustrated songs.Interpretation of the lyrics isn’t something that is always done making the music videos less literal then expected.However even though abstract music videos don’t tend to include much narrative, videos like the Peter Gabriel one, still include artist performance showing that no matter what the video shows the artist promotion is still the key element.Queen were initially the first artists to use the special effect technique. Creating image within a video wasn’t very popular at the time and was a new thing to be done, along with the use of camera angles. They differed in ways that could make the videos more appealing to the audience and eventually different genres became more emphasised within the promotional material. For example Queen’s sound was represented by the image they created for themselves in the video. They were a rock band and so were conventionally dressed in a way that suited their style.
In 1999 Fat boy slim released the song right here right now. The music video to this song is much different to many other videos. Almost every music video shows the artist performing their track however this video didn’t show the artist or any form of performance. The video appears to show a visual narrative and one that doesn’t seem to match the lyrics however it still worked and turned out to be rather effective. Even though not all videos are specifically narrative and in complete sync with the lyrics, there are some that are self-reflective and still show performance from the artist. In fat boy slim’s video, not many of these elements are shown yet his video still works.
The quality in music videos nowadays is something that is really noticeable. Therefore the conventions and codes of music videos have changed over the years. This is down to specific elements noted within a genre. For example in a dance video you would expect to see dancers, strobe lights and possibly a club lifestyle for the mise-en-scene as these have become the codes of what we now recognise for that particular genre. All music videos are created according to their genre it’s one of the many conventions that always takes place. Boy band Oasis released a video that was purposely meant to look ‘old fashioned’ when actually it was created in the modern day. Without the audience been aware of the codes for this particular look it would not have worked. The codes for this type of style are most commonly black and white colouring as well as the bad quality effect. The typography and sound can also play a big part as the audience will automatically know what theme and genre is that’s being portrayed just from this.
The difference in the Queen video to the Lady Gaga video stands out massively. Not only is the use of colour much bolder to see but the quality in video stands out. There is much more of a a narrative to the the Lady Gaga video as much more money has been put into the the making whereas its easy to see from the Quen video that it was early days then.
In order to complete my music video I need to choose a song that fits a genre that can easily be interpreted following conventions. The artist I have chosen to mimic in my music video is Ellie Goulding an English singer/songwriter who is currently extremely popular in the music industry. Her music fits into a range of different genres from indie folk to country pop, Making it harder for me to follow conventions when there are so many depending on the genre. For the particular song I have chosen, the genre is more folktronica a mixture of folk music and electronica. It includes elements of acoustic instruments incorporated with hip hop rhythms creating a new sound and overall genre. It’s not one of the many popular well known genres and it was only originally founded as a genre in the noughties. Due to the fact this genre isn’t massively known, the conventions and codes are hard to identify and from research I have found that they’re not that easy to familiarise with even in this day and age. Conventionally folktronica music has a sound that significantly highlights string instruments in an upbeat manner. The rareness of this genre means that artists like Ellie Goulding herself have more of a chance to shine to audiences, as it is something different.
Looking at existing music videos from artists that fit into the folktronica category has shown me that one of the conventions is the way the artist appears to be represented. They are never portrayed in a bold way and almost always appear in neutral colouring. The music videos are never complicated and always seem to be quite simple showing mainly the artist performing in a way that wouldn’t be offensive to the audience. By this I mean this style of music isn’t offensive and can be seen as cool, calm and collected. Music videos such as Imogen Heap ‘Hide and Seek’ and the original video by Ellie Goulding to ‘The Writer’ show the artist in similar ways making me think this may be a convention. They both appear against a pale background with numerous shots of their face’s, which is understandably not representative of all folktronica music videos but gives a general over view to how the artists are represented and how they want to appear to audiences. In my music video I will aim to do something similar with my artist but will try my best to do something completely original showing my own interpretation of the lyrics.
(Imogen Heap 'Hide and Seek' - This video has similar elements as the original video of my chosen song. Her style is very much the same as my artist.)
Some of the conventions I know will be appropriate in order of making the genre recognisable are,a mise- en- scene of nature, a neutral perspective of the artist and a story that can easily be interpreted. For example many videos I have looked at under the same genre show a mise-en-scene of nature with scenes including trees, fields and flowers this may be down to the fact that most folktronica songs are slow and acoustic and have a sense of calmness about them so the iconography of nature relates with this. Also as the songs are known to be slower the lyrics could be seen to have more of an impact on the audience and so having a music video that resembles the style of song is more likely to have an effect.
As stated previously Ellie Goulding had an indie folk side to her with could also come across in this song. It is a similar genre to folktronica making me think the conventions may be similar. Indie Folk music videos are more artistic and creative then most music genres. They can appear subtle often with animations, patterns, colour and saturation used in small doses. There isn’t direct narrative or relationship between the image and lyrics. However there is a relationship between music and image the artist may be shown performing but not throughout the full video. Imagery plays an important part of the video taking away the shine from the artist. This resembles music videos under the genre of folktronica therefore showing they practically have the same conventions.
Many music videos will have different conventions depending on the genre of the artist and song. However there are certain things that almost all music videos tend to have.
The artist features in it some way or another.
Not all music videos are performance based, narrative or abstract but they all do the same purpose which is to promote the artist.
All songs are interpreted visually in a way in which the audience can engage with.
The genre of the music is easily identified by the audience.
Most music videos are suitable for a wide range of audiences so that music channels are able to show them.
The song I have chosen is very much about a relationship and feelings so making significance to that would be appropriate.