Ellie Goulding

Ellie Goulding- Your Song


"Your Song" is a cover song by Ellie Goulding of the original sung by Elton John. This songs meaning is that the person singing really respects and truly admires the person they are singing to and they want to be with them and for them to be happy together. 


Throughout the video there is constant close ups and extreme close ups of the artist, making her the main focus of the shots in the video, showing she is singing this song to a loved one. The shots of her are very natural she looks fresh and happy presenting her as innocent and warm towards love. The lighting is natural giving a realistic and normal surrounding which the audience can relate more towards, and also with the melody and lyrics of the song the natural setting fits as the song is very soft and warm and form of natural beauty in their love with one another.

In this particular shot the back lighting behind Ellie Goulding is very bright with the sun rising behind her, this again brings a more natural concept to the video, also having the sun rising coming up behind her can conotate new hope and beginnings, which can link to the lyrics of the song "how wonderful life is when you're in the world" and the sun rising can represent the new world they will be living in when they are together and how "wonderful" this new life is going to be. The lighting also gives a more romantic feel to the close up shot, making it more softer with Ellie Goulding's face lighting up which can represent she is happy and hopeful for this new start.  In these particular shots throughout the video, the background is out of focused making the foreground image of Ellie Goulding stand out more and bold by contrasting with the background  scenery. 

The scenery and setting of the music video is very natural and involves the artist being outside alot. This presents the artist in a "norm" surrounding that the audience would have been too giving a more realistic feel to the video. She is wearing everyday clothing and using the train which is a normal thing that society does, the close ups of the train tickets, trees, leaves and shoes add to the normal surroundings of the artist. 

There are two types of shots that are mainly used in this music video, handheld which is shown as "home" videoing and normal shooting. The home videoing gives a more personal level of the video to the audience, it gives a personal insight of her life  that would be only viewed by loved ones, some of the shots are out of focused and soft however this adds to the representation of sharing these moments with this loved one she is enhancing and linking to the title "Your Song" as the home videos are for this person and show the love for this person from the lyrics being sang over the shot. Again it brings about this normal and comfortable surroundings for the artist. I think by using the home videoing is effective as it creates a story behind the lyrics being told and then by having the normal type of shooting typically used can suggest in these shots she is telling the story of her love for this person to the audience and the home videos is "reading between the lines" of the lyrics, giving it a more personal intake. 

The audience is quickly shown the man that Ellie Goulding is talking about, this seek peek gives the audience an insight of the relationship between the two characters, there is a medium two shot of the characters playing a piano, the shot is very intimate and romantic. This shot has the lyrics "I'll buy a big house where we both can live", by having the visual imagery linking to the lyrics represents the narrative of the music video with the songs lyrics. The two shot is cut off at the edge by a door this shot makes it look like the camera is seeking into the two people having this moment together giving this a more personal insight of their lives as the audience are having this certain camera angle making them seem as if they are watching them. The setting gives a homely and comforting atmosphere of the setting, 

After the two shot of the characters there is an extreme close up of the man's hand playing the piano, the keys and timing in which he is playing is the same of the melody and piano key of the song, this can link back to the title and theme of the song, as he playing this song that "is his song" making it more personal as she is remembering the songs and music they did together and putting it this personal love song she has wrote for him. 

The editing of the music video, has the shots flow naturally together, which links in with the nature theme of the video. Some of the shots especially interchanging between the home videoing and normal shooting (0.02-0.08) is switched with a sutle flash of light as if it is the sun being caught on the camera, which keeps within the natural feel of the video. The other edits of the transitions of the shots are fast cuts or straight cuts which helps the continuity and flow of the  music video with the narrative and the different settings being shots in the woods and on the fields. 

The fast cuts become more quicker and shorter from when the music begins to pick up during the end (2.08-2.50) the cuts fit in with the beat of the music keeping up with the flow and continuation over the story being told, and the beat becomes uplifted and joyful as soon as she talks highly positive about her love interest and the lighting of these shots are much lighter suggesting joyful and the end of the song is more hope that she is going to get what she wants. 

The video itself gives a natural atmosphere, there are many shots in the countryside and woods of Ellie Goulding, most of the shots are long shots or medium shots giving the context of natural beauty, in the shots the artist is always smiling or laughing, this gives the video a happy feel showing the audience that the outcome and what she is saying is making her joyful and happy. These shots have a sense of freedom within her character, running through the fields enhance the freedom and happiness she has within herself. The shots are very natural lighting either having bright lighting behind her keeping the eye focused on her.

I think this video is effective as the video fits in with the melody and softness of the song, the music video is simple showing scenery that is peaceful and tranquil fitting with the lyrics of the song as wanting to show her love for this person. As the title is "Your Song" it gives a personal effect and by the use of the different cameras add to the personal touches that would make it someones "song".

Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey- Blue Jeans

Immediatley into the video we are introduced to the characters of the music video using extreme close-ups and close-ups of the artist and the man in the video. These camera shots and angles shows the video is going to be focused on these two characters and the story between them. Having the music video shot in black and white conotates a dreary and slow pace fitting the lyrics and tone of the music, as repeatively it is sung "end of time" and the slow paceness of the song represents the feelings these two people in love will be doing this till then "end of time"

The use of the extreme closeups, show the emotion and expressions of Lana Del Rey's face more effectively, the audience can see her facial expressions telling the story and the love for this man getting the lyrics of the song across more to the audience. The audience can see the pain, joy and desperation the artists has for this man, this can appeal to the audience as they can therefore feel sympathy or relate to the character as they either know how she feels if they have ever felt the lyrics she is singing.

At the beginning of the music video there is a medium shot of water with Lana Del Rey's reflection in it, this editing gives a "fantasy" and dreaming effect to this shot, as the man is looking into the water seeing this women, it could present he is constantly thinking of her, fitting in with the lyrics of the song of "love" and "end of time".

I think the effects of the water of being a rippling effect can conotate that love is unsteady and can take any directions when it needs to, but because these two characters are so in love they can fight through the water and problems.

The editing of the video gives a slow motion effect from the start of the video and including the pool scene at 2.03, this fits the beat of the music, I think this is an effective editing technique as it sets the scene for the audience and gives off immediatley the mood and atmosphere to the music video.

The way the two characters are dressed in the video is very procative, Lana Del Rey is represented as a 'sex object' with extreme close-ups of her lips and eyes, and also the way she is dressed as she is wearing minimal clothing, but still in a respectable sense. For the man is mainly always topless, and always touching or around the artist in the video representing the lyrics in the video "I will love you till the end of time" so the two characters need to be enaging closely together to present this message. Lana Del Ray is wearing white throughout the video, this colour denotes innocence and purity, this could represent the message of this girl being innocent in love and how she is pure keeping her love just to this man and how she would do anything to be with him and the adventure and struggle she will go through to love him.

Having the video set in a pool gives off a gentle and more slow pace sense to the video, they are always kissing and the reflections off the bodies of each of them gives a romantic atmosphere off, when there is a long shot of the pool underwater you can see a crocodile swimming, I thought this can symbolise the danger of love constantly around her as after this shot she goes on singing about the negative times of loving this man "you walked out the door".  

However there is also a saying that you would do anything for love, and the concept of these two characters, especially Lana Del Rey where there are numerous high angled close up shots of her being submerged in water, can suggest that they would drown for love as water in the video is constantly surrounding them. 

This idea of drowning and the power of love can be shown through the ending of the video where there is a two shot of the two characters submerging themselves in the water together, this can back up the concept of doing anything for love. The low angled shot suggests innocence and purity of the love between the characters, the body language of the man holding Lana Del Rey shows protection and affection towards her, even though it is a two shot the camera shot is mainly focused on Lana Del Rey and she is looking up at the camera while the man is looking down at her body, having the artist look directly at the camera makes the audience suggest she is looking at them telling her story making the audience want to sympathize and get more involved as they become more personal towards the artist. 

The transitions from shot to shot is fast cut, however cutting from different angles of the shot e.g. 2.37-2.40 of the scene where the two characters are kissing. I think this is effective of using the different angles of the same scene as it creates a flow and contunity of the story, giving a more romantic feel to the scene. These different shots keep the isolation that these two characters are so in love they don't need to worry about their surroundings. I think this is a good effective way to show a love story in the video as it is only concentrating on two characters and the love that they have for each other which puts the message bluntly and efficiently to the viewers.

The video gives a sense of isolation between the two characters and they are so in love and wanting to be together they are only concentrating on each other and not the surroundings around them, the audience can see the strong love between them as they are keep eye contact which is shown through the two shots in closeups of the characters, I think this is an effective way to represent the lyrics as the audience can visual the lyrics linking with the picture they are being shown. The long shot above the characters implies the journey they have taken to get to where they are now which could be suggested with the two shot of the characters together.

Lana Del Rey has involved unusual and unexpected settings and objects in her videos e.g. tigers in "Born to Die" video. However this video puts across her message that she is trying to convey in her lyrics more simply as the idea of the video is just the relationship between the two characters and I think it is more personal to the audience and they can become involved as they are having an insight on this relationship, using the different shots and camera angles that simply focus on the characters. 

Kate Nash

Kate Nash- Foundations

This video shows the relationship between two characters and how a perfect relationship and the beginning and slowly turned into hatred. Hating the habits each person has and how they simply annoy each other even when they don't intend to. The music video shows the narrative of how a girl (Kate Nash) ends up leaving her boyfriend because they have fallen out of love.

This music video shows a story between two characters, and the lyrics in the song shows the clear narrative that is happening. At the beginning the audience is first introduced to the characters showing what the video will be about. The video is very bright and colourful, and the main focus of the camera is the singer Kate Nash who is telling the audience the story about her and this man, this is effective and it makes the audience feel involved in the story and want to know what happens at the end, close-ups and extreme close-up are used to do this effect. Between each shot the editing uses a fast cut, quickly moving from each clip this fits in with the beat of the song and how the artist is telling the story as each fast shot is showing what she is describing e.g. 1.30-1.34 using the hand wrestling between the characters to conotate the lyrics "yes it was childish and you got aggressive" the hand wresting represents the childish part to the lyrics as hand wrestling is a bit of fun. 


Throughout the video different props are used as well to represent the relationship between these two characters, i think this is also a very effective way of showing the lyrics of the song, it gives a quirky and different style to the video as this isn't normal seen in typical music videos, at the beginning of the video the toothbrush, socks and watches are all linked together throughout the video the objects move away from each other when the lyrics turn into negative words typically at the end of the video this happens showing the ending of the story. 

These props can relate back to the title of the song 'Foundations' as numerously the words "see the cracks in my foundation", the cracks are shown through the socks, watches and toothbrushes through the video and the tightness they have at the beginning of the video and by the end of the video they are moving apart, a good example of this is the medium shots of the characters feet at the end of bed where they are fighting, this shot shows the audience the start of the relationship between the characters falling apart. By using body language like the feet and also the hands near the middle of the video show how relationships can quickly change from good to bad.

The backlighting behind the hands can suggest to the audience that there is hope for this relationship to work after they have had an arguement but by (1.04) their hands move apart and show that in reality fairy tales of living happily ever after don't exist.


Kate Nash uses alot of facial expressions, the use of extreme closeups and close-ups show the emotions the two character are feeling as the video is going on, the expression on the man's face fits the lyrics "got that look in your eye, when i'm telling a story and you find it boring". Having the lyrics fit in with the actions and setting on the video make the video run more fluently giving that effectiveness of a story being told to the audience. 

The video itself is very colourful and bright making it eyecatching and standout, the costumes of the two characters show the personalities and the descriptions that are given in the lyrics to describe them.
The man's costume is dull and dark this presents the character as boring and lifeless just as Kate Nash describes him in the video, contrasting to Kate Nash she is wearing pastel and colourful costumes which makes her standout against the background from a "normal" house setting, keeping her the main focus of each shot she is in.

When using the two shot between the two characters it shows the different moods and personalities of the characters, as Kate Nash is always in bright colours compared to the mans costume is shows he is always down and depressed compared to the artist, because of the colour difference she is always the main focus of the shots throughout the video, showing the audience she is telling herside of the story in this relationship in her point of view.

The video has a quirky and vintage feel to it showing the characteristic of the singer and the uniqueness of her as this feel of music video is not usually seen in the industry. The song is very instrumental and focuses more on the artist is how she is representing her song more then making the video loud and over the top. This type of video fits in suitably with the message and melody of the song as it is playful but still has the emotion the artist is trying to put across.

This song was Kate Nash's break out into the music industry, this unique and quirky video shows the difference between Kate Nash and other female artists out there as she is not seen as a 'sex symbol' or 'sexy' in this video, she is young and talks about typically life in reality, showing her audience she is releasing music that can relate to the audience as well as her.

Genre

The genre of our music we are wanting to do is 'Indie Pop'. Alot of the current popular music is from this type of genre and have done well in the charts so it well known in the music instrudy, most of the music I listen to is from this genre of music and I know what type of music videos are shown and how the music from the artists is represented.

The genre of 'Indie Pop' is alternative rock music, and came about in Great Britian in the mid 80's. The term 'indie' describes the artists as being on independent record labels. This genre goes back into the genre of post-punk, however the term 'Indie Pop' comes from the NME'[s C86 tapes that weekly released bands and artists, they earlier featured bands such as: Primeal Scream and The Pastels and later on bands like The Smiths.

Popular bands currently that are associated in this genre are:

• Florence and the Machine
• Mumford and Sons  
• Noah and the Whale
• The Tings Tings
• Vampire Weekend                                                                                         

Typically the camera movements and angles in these music videos is mainly focused on the band or artist in the centre of the shots either in the form of close- ups or point of view shots. The videos normally contain a narrative, describing visually what the lyrics of the song the artists are singing. Fast Cuts and Straight Cuts are typically used between shots creating the continuity of the storyline being told in the videos. 

History of Music Videos



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Music Videos are a short film integrated with a song, used as a marketing device to promote the band or singer’s new songs and albums to increase consumption intake. Music videos origins take back further but the main intake was during the 1980's as MTV had been established, bands such as The Beetles, Michael Jackson and Madonna used music videos to promote their material, other artists such as: Duran Duran, Adam and the Ants and Madonna owe a great deal of their success to the content and constructions of their videos which appeal to their particular audiences and fans. Music videos includes animation and live action filming, some videos would have sets when being filmed but some were just live performances shown especially in the early years of the forming of music videos.

During each decade more and more artists and bands have been using the production of music videos due to the popularity of using it and to help market and promote material. Videos have now had to have a censorship attached to them due to the content this includes videos such as: Michael Jackson- 'Black and White', Robbie Williams- 'Rock DJ' and 30 Seconds to Mars- 'This is War', all these videos include actions or language in them that may cause offense to viewers, this is how censorship in music videos were introduced.

Due to the increase in technology more music videos could be viewed, the internet helped by the introduction of YouTube, Google Videos, MySpace and Yahoo Videos. The internet helped bring in more music videos and more artists into the music industry.

MTV is an American network which is based in New York, it was launched in August 1981, and the channels original purpose was to play music videos which have gradually introduced other programmes such as: reality shows. MTV has had a dramatic effect on the music industry, promoting and marketing music all around the world, showing concerts, music videos, interviews and news of upcoming or well-known artists. Some shows such as 'Yo! MTV Raps' in 1988 helped introduced and bring popularity to hip hop music to a mass audience for the first time.

Another broadcaster that helped launched music into televisions was Top of the Pops, which was established in 1964, it was a British music chart television programme broadcasted by the BBC, they showed the weeks bestselling music artist and had countdowns in the selling’s of the weekly singles chart. The programme ran for 42 years and had 15 million viewers each week, showing the popularity and importance of showcasing music at this time.

 

YouTube has been the main base of sharing, viewing and
uploading videos, YouTube is a video-sharing website formed in February 2005. This website includes content of movie clips, TV clips, music clips and public sharing blogging or original videos they have made themselves.

  VH1 was launched in 1985 a few years later then its orginal channel MTV, it is an American television network and its purpose was to build off the success of MTV but to appeal to a different target audience of an older generation by playing music videos that are aside from popular music, playing music from a variety and wider range of genres and eras in musics career. The programme played such artists like: Sheryl Crow, Seal, Ace of Base and also rock music but still played favourites of the time such as: Madonna, Elton Josh and Whitney Houston.