Music Video Critique #3: Blank Space - Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is an American singer, songwriter and actress from Reading, Pennsylvania. With album and song sales exceeding 30 and 80 mission, respectively, she is one of the world's best-selling music artists. Her work has earned her seven Grammy Awards and seven Academy of Country Music Awards, among other accolades.

Taylor released her first album, Taylor Swift, on October 24th, 2006, with Big Machine Records, who are an American record label specialising in country music artists. Currently signed artists are Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts and previously Reba McEntyre. Taylor first single, named Tim McGraw, was released in June 2006 and spent most of the year radio touring to promote her album. Since then, Taylor has released another 4 albums, all specialising in country music, apart from her most recent, 1989.

Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now and Red all specialise in country music, whereas 1989 is upon the pop genre, and has become Swift's biggest selling album in her own records, and was the biggest selling album overall of 2014. Her latest album, entitled 1989, was influenced by some of Taylor's favourite Eighties pop acts, including Phil Collins, Annie Lennox and "Like a Prayer"-era Madonna. The album was executive-produced by Swift and Max Martin, with whom she first collaborated with on her 2012 single "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together".

.......................................................................

Blank Space is the second single released from 1989, and the music video to go with it has a hidden message that nobody was expecting. Throughout her career, Taylor has been the media's key topic for relationships. She's famous for writing about previous boyfriends, whether they ended on good or bad terms, and in my opinion, with this music video, she's given the media exactly what they've been treating her like. She's portrayed herself in the video, like the media have been portraying her for years.

"I'm all too aware of the jokes made about all of my ex-boyfriends and how I like to include them in my song writing, and I want to address the general thought of me in a video where I play the crazy villain."

I adore videos that actually have a narrative; a story line; a purpose. It makes them more intriguing and actually have a way of promoting the specific song. I've watched this video so many times now and I'm still not bored of it, because she's over emphasising her personality and I just love it. It's kind of hilarious. When interviewed about the video, a magazine columnist asked if Taylor was 'boy-crazy', in which Taylor responded, "For a female to write about her feelings, and then be portrayed as some clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her, I think that's taking something that potentially should be celebrated - a woman writing about her feelings in a confessional way - that's taking it and turning it and twisting it into something that is frankly a little sexist." However in this video, Swift performs the very unflattering image that the public has foisted upon her, as if to say "You want boy-crazy? I'll give you boy crazy!"

The main thing I noticed, as a media student, when I first watched this video, is the colourings throughout. In the past, Taylor has given us very bright and colourful videos that fit the themes of the song, take Shake It Off, for example. With this video being set in a fairy-tale looking home, the video and story is far from the stereo-typical 'princess' themed narrative. 

Throughout the video we see a number of long, medium and close-up shots which fit within the sensitivity of the lyrics at certain points of the video. The concept of the dominant female is portrayed with what she's wearing, her body language, facial expressions and tone of voice throughout the video. Although she's almost playing to the media in terms of giving them boy crazy, she's doing it in a clever way. There are a number of lyrics which match with the actual script of the song, as if she is physically speaking them to her 'boyfriend'.

If you've seen Taylor's past videos, there is always links either to a real life situation, or videos of hers that have been created before. There are a number of features within this music video that link to her previous songs from other albums, which is a really unique feature Taylor does. With this, she's constantly bringing out new music and videos, but her loyal die-hard fans will never be able to forget her original music, who made her the artist she is today. It's also a nice feature to have as when people watch the video, they may relate to a previous song or video, and this will then give them a reason to go and watch her older material, which keeps it current and still in the public eye.

There are a number of shots within this video that I absolutely adore. The setting, colour grading and angle are absolutely amazing and I fully commend the director for this video. When it was first released, I couldn't stop watching it. One that I did keep my eye on was the in depth content of the picnic they were having. All it consisted of was champagne and sweets. Thinking about it, they're two particularly slim people - eating junk. Does this mean that even though they're nice to look at, they're ugly on the inside? Hidden messages in videos are great.

Overall, I absolutely love this video. I love the narrative, concept, sassiness, colour, song, and camera work. Everything about this video is great and I genuinely wouldn't change 1 second of it. It's so cleverly thought out, with the links to her old music, disney films (Snow White - with the apple), metaphors about them being ugly on the inside. Everything. Genius. High five, Taylor! 

- O

{Sources:}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Swift

http://www.bigmachinerecords.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_Space

Music Video Critique #2: Paul Weller - Wild Wood

Paul Weller is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Starting out with the band The Jam (1976-82), Weller branched out to a more soulful style with The Style Council (1983-89), before establishing himself as a successful solo artist in 1991.

The Jam were an English punk rock/new wave/mod revival band. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries. The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped clothes, and they incorporated a number of mainstream 1960s rock and R&B influences rather than rejecting them, placing The Jam at the forefront of the mod revival movement.

The Style Council were an English band, formed in Woking in 1983 by Paul Weller himself, (the former singer and guitarist with The Jam), and keyboardist Mick Talbot. The permanent line-up grew to include drummer Steve White and Weller's then-wife, vocalist Dee C. Lee. As with Weller's previous band, most of his London based outfit's hits were in their homeland, although the band did score six top 40 hits in Australia, and seven top 40 hits in New Zealand.

Weller went from The Jam to The Style Council as he wanted a change from the "power pop" style to the more soulful style and it gave him the chance to infuse jazz/soul/funk and even a little rap into his songs. In terms of target audience and fans, Weller tended to have a strong fan base from the beginning that followed his every move between bands and onto his solo career.

.......................................................................

Paul Weller released his first solo album, Paul Weller, in 1991. After leaving label Polydor in 1989, Weller formed The Paul Weller Movement in 1990, releasing a single, Into Tomorrow, on his own Freedom High record label in October 1991. Its success - reaching #36 in the UK chart, led to Weller being offered a new record deal with Go! Discs, and the resulting album was released on 1st September 1992, reaching #8 on the UK album chart.

Weller's second album, Wild Wood, was released in September 1993. It made it to number 2 in the UK charts, and contained three UK hits; Wild Wood, Sunflower and Hung Up, all reaching within the top 20. The music video I will be critiquing is Wild Wood, which is a single from the album. At the time that the video was released, Weller was signed to Go! Discs, which was a London based record label launched in 1983 by Andy Macdonald and Lesly Symons. Shortly after the launch, Go! Beat records was launched as a subsidiary for dance artists like Beats International, Gabrielle and Portishead. In 1992, Paul Weller signed.

Throughout this video we see a number of different filming and editing techniques that were very common within the particular era of music videos. Time lapses, cut aways to the artist singing in a different location, traffic marching and point of view shots within crowds of people. All of these features tend to match with the theme and genre of the song, which is very blues-y feeling and calming. In other circumstances, the scenes also are the complete opposite, with the busy crowds within the city and manic scenes.

Time lapses are often seen during the instrumental parts, as it's completely contradicting the part of the song; calm and relaxing to hear, manic to look at. The whole video is a metaphor. "Finding your way out of the wild, wild wood" could be another way of saying "Finding your way out of the crowds", so in this sense, the people are the woods.

In terms of a narrative, there isn't really one at all. This video is just a collection of clips that tell the story of a particular lyric line, rather than from beginning to end. I quite like it, because it makes the video fun and quirky, rather than the stereo-typical love story we normally see in videos these days. As well as the time lapses, there are also image distortions throughout which coincide with the time lapses and create a warped scene. This happens during the shots during the city scenes, and cities are more often than not busy places, which to some people, could be quite a scary place; often leaving their image of a city slightly distorted. 

Overall, I do like this video. It's quirky and different to any I've seen before, and that's what I love about Paul Weller's music and videos. They're not copied, they're completely his own and that's what makes a good musician in this day and age. He may have been inspired by others, but his work is a class unique act.

- O

{Sources:}
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Weller#Solo_career
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Style_Council
https://vimeo.com/38030651

Music Video Critique #1: Faith Hill - American Heart

Faith Hill is an American country-pop singer and occasional actress. She's one of the most successful country artists of all time, selling over 40 million records worldwide. Faith is married to country singer Tim McGraw, with whom she has recorded several duets.

American Heart is a song written by Jim Beavers and Jonathan Singleton, and recorded by Faith herself. It was released on September 30th, 2012 as the second single from her upcoming seventh studio album. The song was announced on her Twitter account and distributed for airplay the following day. For the Twitter debut, Faith responded to questions with the hash-tag #AskFaith prior to her weekly performance on NBC Sunday Night Football that night.

As well as the song itself, a music video premiered a month after the single was released. The music video was directed by Trey Fanjoy, who is a well known music video director in the country music industry and has worked with the likes of Dolly Parton, Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift. The video reached the number one position on the GAC countdown in early December, and in the following May, was nominated in the Female Video of the Year category for the 2013 CMT Music Awards.

The video kicks off with a series of short interviews with a group of kids. All of them are talking about what being American means to them. "We're different on the outside, but we're the same on the inside", is the big takeaway message from the video - and you get that before the music even starts. Faith shared the stage with 10-year-old T.J Jones, as they put together a choreographed number that's worthy of a broadway stage. At various points in the song, Faith steps back to let T.J. take the limelight. 

The concept of the video came from the line in the song, "it bleeds, it scars, it shines when times get hard." Director Trey Fanjoy explained in the behind-the-scenes film that inspired by the lyric, "We have created a 15-foot illuminated 'American Heart' full of red, white and blue stars and stripes. There's a really special metaphor found in all of it, and each of the bulbs represents a different part of our country and a different spirit in our nation. Together, they form something that's bigger than all of us."

I really like this video as it's such a simple concept with a strong message. Studio-based music videos are always a winner in my eyes as you can do so much with them, and I love how both Faith and Trey chose to keep it simple. It's important for songs with a large and special message to keep the video to a basic structure, as the artists don't want all of the attention to focus on the video. Involving the children at the beginning and T.J within the video really shows Faith as a family-friendly artist, and this may be the image that she is trying to portray - and in my eyes, it worked! 

This video falls into the "video using band/artist in a creative way" category. This category consists of 2 main features; the artist being one of the main features during the video, and being creative visually with the lyrics and song itself. With her both performing/lip syncing and acting during the video, it creates a natural and personal feel for the audience watching that the particular artist has put their own spin on the video and has a real input within the choreography.

This video is one of Faith's most involved choreography in a video yet. "When I first heard the song I was brought to tears. I not only knew I had to record it, but I almost immediately saw it visually. It's awesome and so appropriate to be able to share it with my fans first, because they've been so supportive of me throughout the years." 

The beginning of Faith and T.J's appearance originates with them getting ready in what appears to be a dressing room, with T.J. almost assisting Faith as her little companion. This is portraying America, to other countries around the world, as a very friendly place, and ensuring the message is one that can be remembered. No matter how old or young you are, you can still appreciate America in all it's glory and show your appreciation, in this case, through music. 

There are a number of shots that I really like during this video and they all take place within the studio, and by the looks of things, it's all down to the lighting. Silhouette's are absolutely beautiful in any music video, and create a mysterious feel to the whole production. In this video, there are a number of silhouette shots, and I have picked 3 of my favourites. I really like the way they make both Faith and T.J. complete silhouettes, and the bright blue background behind them really emphasises the shapes and dance moves they're performing.

There are a number of different lyric counts within the song, and the shots and views that are used tend to match eachother really well. For the silhouette segment pictures above, the lyrics "cause it beats like a drum down in New Orleans..." which is an upbeat, happy lyric, and the dance moves portray this throughout the video. Silhouette's also create quite a mysterious atmosphere, almost like a cover up of who a person or act really is. 

Other shots I love are the mid-shots of Faith and T.J. during the entire video. They tend to appear near the chorus section and show the loving and affectionate relationship for eachother, which puts a nice family-orientated feel out for the video. This could then foreshadow the upcoming album that this single is on, and show old and new fans a snippet of what her new sound and image is, seeing as her last studio album was in 2005.

Overall, I really like the way Faith channels who she is within the song and lyrics and portrays her love for America throughout the video. Like I said, studio based much videos are always a winner for me as they are unique in their own way and portray the artist for who they really are, without taking the attention away from the song itself. The song reached at #26 in the US Country Airplay charts and is believed to reach #1 when her full album is released. 

- O 

{Sources:}

http://tasteofcountry.com/faith-hill-american-heart-video/

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=27258

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/474246/faith-hill-returns-with-american-heart-video-watch

The State of Music Video

The State of Music Video is an article that was published on Creative Review, a magazine that champions art, design and media. Creative Review is a monthly magazine targeted on the commercial arts and design scene. It has a circulation of around 20,000 readers and focuses content on media originating in the UK, US and further through Europe. The magazine was launched in 2008 and is published by Centaur Media PLC.

Throughout this post I will be discussing what I think the "state of music video" actually is, via content in the article.

.......................................................................

In my opinion, artists make music videos to portray a clearer image of what the particular song message is about. Listeners can sometimes judge a song without knowing the real meaning, and there are artists that are stereotyped for songs in particular, and this could deeply effect their image and portray them in a particular light that isn't well loved with some audiences. Music videos are a great way of promoting an artists' identity and brand within the record they are trying to sell. It's more or less a given now that 90% of music videos are to a single that artists are releasing, thus giving them more exposure and recognition. With the record itself only available to listen to on things like iTunes and Spotify, music videos give the songs an extra platform to be viewed on, such as MTV (Music Television), Vevo and YouTube.

The Creative Review article states a number of facts about the music directors importance and what they're expected to do for the artist, producer and record label. Sarah Nixon, head of music video at Partizan, who represent several leading music video directors, explains it this way: "I think the state of the business has never been worse. What labels expect for what they pay is huge. A director no longer has any freedom - even with no budgets."

In this industry, beggars can't be choosers. You can't expect a director to create this amazing video with unlimited technology and computer generated graphics, for free. With a few honourable exceptions, most music directors have to have a second job to have a decent lifestyle. In late 2002, it was estimated that music directors in the USA made approximately $800,000 a year. This going rate has significantly dropped in the past 5 years and music directors are now struggling to cope with the downfall in profits. "More people than ever want a visual to go with the music. Artists want a visual to go with the music. They need to express themselves, to lift the song, to feed the internet", explained Liz Kessler, head of music video at Academy Films.

In terms of music video budgets, we're looking at less than 10k nowadays. "It's not 30k for an artist anymore - it might be 5k", confirms Mike O'Keefe, head of video at UK major Sony BMG. "Gone are the days of 150k budgets. Those jobs are now at 80k - but we expect the same production values as before, and that's obviously difficult." It's difficult for experienced music video directors to work with such a low budget when they've been used to working with sometimes three or four times of the amount in previous years. Taking it on the other hand, new and upcoming music directors are more experienced with working with extremely low budgets.

Take David Wilson for example. He is an English music video director and animator from Wells in Somerset, currently living in London. David has been responsible for directing and creating a number of music videos, from The Bay to the ever-famous Titanium, with the original song being produced by David Guetta. Wilson has a number of artistic processes that he undertakes when directing and animating music videos. "What I aim to do is respond as personally as possible to music. I work mainly with music videos, so it's mostly about trying to find those right projects where a musician will give me free reign to feel and respond as appropriately as possible to the music."

In a recent interview, David Wilson stated that his video Titanium for artist David Guetta was completely his idea and he was given no direction from Guetta. "Their brief was, 'We want a David Guetta video that doesn't feel like a David Guetta video.' I wrote a very different script before submitting this one," explained Wilson. "Up to then, they had been only doing David Guetta: the featuring artist, always in it. David would be there on the decks, the lady or man vocals would be dancing in front of the camera - it would also need to orientate around a performance." 

As the audience can see, David Wilson stepped away from the stereotypical Guetta video and added his own stamp and trademarks onto it. The video opens in a deserted, destroyed hallway with the main character sitting on the ground. The main character is ultimately running from a SWAT team and ends up in the woods. The boy is caught, but the video ends with the boy using supernatural powers to push the men away in  a burst of power. It's all very far-fetched compared to everyday life but that's what makes it so watchable and enjoyable.

The Titanium music video was very popular on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook in terms of its originality and had over 3,000,000 hash-tags dedicated to it within the first 12 hours of the video being released. This just shows how much social media makes an impact on how music videos spread around the world and how many people they reach within such a small amount of time. Most music videos released in this day and age are bound to reach 1,000,000 in a short amount of time, all due to people sending them to their friends, and so on. By putting a link on Twitter, it could reach a vast amount of people in a short space of time due to the power of re-tweets.

Top US director Chris Milk, states that "It's always the intention for people to forward it to their friends. The main distribution of videos is the internet, and the demographic becomes the distribution channel. If they like it, they distribute it. You've got to do something better than just shoot a band playing." What's more, this tailored distribution system is now also starting to reap financial dividends. YouTube is now signing deals with all the major labels, offering per-view percentage points - very small, but representing a proper revenue stream when it reaches significant views. This gives the artist a platform to upload their music video for free, and earn money, therefore earning a larger profit than what they would without a music video. "YouTube is fantastic for videos", declares Mike O'Keefe. "With the sheer volume of people watching them and distributing them. The number of people watching videos must be greater than even MTV at its height." 

Through personal experience, I use YouTube as a viewing platform for music videos more than any other. I very rarely watch Music Television, and the only time I do is when I have company at home, and we need background noise. I don't sit there watching it, because watching numerous music videos on repeat does get really boring. I use Twitter pretty much every day, and if there's a new music video that I haven't seen on my news feed, then I'll watch it. I have sent videos to various people before, and the most recent one was Taylor Swift's Blank Space. This was a recent world-wide phenomenon. Trending for over 48 hours, the hash-tag #BLANKSPACEMUSICVIDEO was the pinnacle of the success of this video.

Ultimately:
Yes, the music industry does still need music videos, as artists need more platforms other than iTunes to promote themselves, and they like to have visual representation of their lyrics.
YouTube is the starting line of music videos' success, with them being able to spread easily on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, and added benefits are artists being paid for their videos per-view.


- O

{Sources:}
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_(song)
http://www.intuition-online.co.uk/article.php?id=3207

What is a Music Video?

A music video is a is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings.

The History
The first ever music video, known then as a "promotional film", was said to be recorded by the English rock-band, The Beatles. The song Strawberry Fields Forever was released in early 1967, along with the music video which was first aired on 25th February 1967. Directed by Swedish television director Peter Goldman, the video took 2 days to film and entailed a number of different conventions such as; reverse film effects, stop-motion animation and jump-cuts from day to night. Along with another Beatles hit, Penny Lane, the two music videos were selected by New York's MoMA as two of the most influential music videos of the late 1960s.

The popularity of music videos really started to increase in the 1980s, when MTV (a television channel that broadcasts popular and promotional videos) was launched in 1981. The first music video ever aired on MTV was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles. Having a music video meant you had a means to ensure your music was heard all over the world. The majority of videos produced were for British acts, which is why in the 1980s, there was an increasing number of British acts in the American charts. This is a perfect example of the importance of music videos and how they impact the listeners and viewers.

.......................................................................

In terms of style, there a number of different ways to portray a music video and they hold a number of different conventions and themes:

• Studio Performances - A music video shot entirely or mostly in a controlled environment (studio) with lots of props, costumes, green screen and artificial lighting. Usually, these types of videos don't have a true narrative, but rather just add a visual experience to the music without much meaning. They are mainly simple, fun, easy to make videos. (e.g. Faith Hill - American Heart)

• Surrealistic - These music videos are very abstract, and may or may not have relation to the music itself, these videos are very artistic and creative and usually contain a mixture of live footage and animation to add surreal effects or distortion. They appear to be influenced by visions or dreams. (e.g. Faith Hill - Mississippi Girl)

• Interpretive/Impressionist - Similar to surrealistic music videos, interpretive music videos can be abstract and may or may not have a direct relation to the music. The main difference between the two is that interpretive videos don't usually contain distorted, or unreal imagery, they aren't intended to be surrealistic but rather focuses on adding a creative visual experience to the music in which viewers can interpret differently.

• Animation - Animation based music videos are simply partially or entirely animated music videos. This style of music video is usually cheaper to produce since it is entirely digital, and props, venues, cameras and other equipment aren't needed. This style of music video can also compliment a song as it may suit its mood, or can attract their target age group. (e.g. Faith Hill - This Kiss)

• Narrative - Some artists want to portray the meaning or message of their song through the music video. These narrative music videos can either be a literal representation of the lyrics, can be metaphorical or can even be a completely unique storyline not related to the lyrics, or the music. (e.g. Tim McGraw - Highway Don't Care)

• Concert/Live - This style of music video captures the experience of seeing the artist performing live. They can be either staged performances produced in the studio, or can be actual live footage captured during the real performance. This creates a realistic feel and gives the viewer an experience unlike the other form of music videos. It is often used to show the emotion, and attitude of the artist as they perform the song to give the viewer a better feel for the music. It is also used as a marketing tool to promote concerts and tour dates. (Tim McGraw - Southern Girl)

.......................................................................

Music videos are produced for a number of reasons, but one of the main ones is to promote the artist to the public. Music productions tend to bring out an artists' personality and gets them noticed. Through music videos, artists can promote their ideas and themes, maybe put in some personal beliefs. People generally watch music videos for the entertainment it provides and a chance to get a look at the artist from a different point of view.

Music videos tend to be produced when the artist wants to release that particular song as a single. This way, the song can be reached on all platforms. Radio, iTunes and Spotify are all purely based for the digital song, whereas places like Vevo, YoutTube and television channels are able to play and release music videos to help boost the sales during the release. Artists with big record labels such as UMG and SME, they are more likely to have a partnership with Vevo and exclusive access, meaning listeners and viewers will be able to first view the music video on Vevo. Vevo will then allow YouTube to broadcast the video a short while after, and this is the platform where artists can generate income.

.......................................................................

YouTube videos are a great platform for artists and their music videos as it's yet another way for them to generate a solid income with their videos. All official YouTube channels for artists tend to be somewhat linked with Vevo, so the names would be TimMcGrawVEVO or TaylorSwiftVEVO, etc. It is estimated that each music video on YouTube makes $2 per 1,000 YouTube views, and this can be a number of different ways, not just the artists promoting themselves, but also viewers.

YouTube also offers a different approach called 'Content ID'.  This means if someone was to upload a wacky wedding video with a particular song in the background, then the artists record label can agree to cover the thing with ads and take a cut of the royalties. YouTube is also the home for new and upcoming music artists that want to make an impact and a career from singing and performing, and this is yet another way artists such as Taylor Swift, for example, can make even more money. If the upcoming new artist was to put their own spin on one of her songs, and it reaches a certain number of views, then Taylor herself, and also the new artist, would make a profit from this also. Take this cover for example. Here is Tyler Ward, a musician based on YouTube, singing one of her songs from her new album:

.......................................................................

In terms of promoting new music from a particular artist, it's a great starting point for branding a new album or genre that they're going for. One example is country artist Tim McGraw. He's recently released a new album, Sundown Heaven Town, and he's been using social media to create a trend of #NewYearNewMcGraw. On January 1st, this hashtag was created, and he teased fans with music video trailers and lyric videos to enhance his new sound and album, that was released on 16th September. Using Instagram to upload 15 second clips of his first single from the album, Lookin' For That Girl, he gave fans a taster of what his new album would be like. 

By promoting teaser clips, Tim McGraw had a steady fan base and interest in the album. He released these before the first single was released, then had upcoming singles lined up before the release of the album. By releasing the single and music video before the album was released, it almost foreshadows as what's to come for the new album and how Tim McGraw wants to brand himself differently in comparison to his previous albums. It's good for artists to do this sort of thing as it keeps them in the public eye throughout the lead up to their new releases and will give them a solid platform to promote on when the music is finally released.

- O