analysing your song Let u go

Key: Lyrics are in black, analysis is in dark green.

Lyrics/song link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgBlvIGNtD0
 
Section 1 - Target audience

The age for the target audience is gonna be teenagers aged 15 and over as it is about relationships and love and abuse and isn't really for younger children.The reason I think there is no max age is that sort of relationship can happen to anyone. My theory is that the song was created to education listeners about abuse relationships,  The gender is more women than men as it is about a woman story towards her horrible husband/boyfriend, The interests are relationship and not much else, the location is mostly the USA as that is where they are from. The main ethnicity is anyone but I think it leans towards black people as R & B is a popular genre for Black people. This appeals to more to women than men as this mainly can happen to them rather then males.

Section 2 - analyzing lyrics

I'm so confused
I don't know why I let you treat me like you do
Treat me like you do could mean that she does not like the way she gets treated which could mean that she gets abused, and she just wants to be treated a  woman and not as an object.
We've got issues
I let you walk in and out of my life and that's not right
So much hurt
So much pain
I never thought that I could feel like this but I do
She talks about what she's gone through so far and even this can leave her feeling upset and lower than low.
Being in a relationship with you is like a roller coaster.
A roller coaster goes up and down in meaning good times an bad times.
(Chorus)
(and it all ends right there right there)
I let the rain fall down on me
This could mean pain as in like something falling down on her causing her pain.
I let you get away with everything (woooaahh)
'Get away with everything' could mean that he does stuff that is not to social standard 
I let you slide
This means she let him get away with everything bad he did.
My tears are high 
to cover up mistakes you made (ooohhh heyyyy)
I think that by mistakes she means the bruises that he could have given her.
I let the rain fall down on me (i let it fall)
Again this to be related to him abusing her
I let you get away with everything (woooaahh)
I let you slide 
My tears are high 
to cover up mistakes you made 
'mistakes' could mean that he may have hit her and them the tears made her make up run and hid the bruises
(VERSE 2)
no more sleepless nights
She could be feeling less scared of him coming to beat her at night and now she can sleep a lot better.
Or waiting for you to unlock the door and come inside 
This contines onto this line
I've gotta get a hold of myself 

Cause I have too much pride
Pride means dignity and she doesn't want to lose any of this
(For you to think that you can do the things you do )
i know that you don't love me like you say you do

She says this show that she is smarter than he thinks
(i have to tell myself to just let go of you)
(spoken)
(Male)I'm sorry
the male voice is to be the bad boyfriend in the music video.
(band member)Apology not accepted

(CHORUS)
(and it all ends right there right there)
This could mean that she's standing up to him
I let the rain fall down on me (ooohh)
I let you get away with everything (yes i did)
I let you slide 
My tears are high 
to cover up mistakes you made(ohh the rain falls down yeaaahhh) 
I let the rain fall down on me
I let you get away with everything (wooahhhh)
I let you slide 
My tears are high (high)
to cover up mistakes you made

(BRIDGE)
Everything you did baby 
I let you slide
she again says she let him get away with stuff.
Woaah
Everything you did baby 
A third time she talks about letting him get away with things
I let you slide
woooaahhhh
(I ,I gotta let you go repeated to the end)
this could back up the point that had to repeatedly let him off
Never said anything to hurt you baby 
(Let you goo)Yeaahhhh
ohhh
ohhhohhhhhhh 
I Yeaahhhhh
(Let you goooo)
Woaahhhh
I'm sorry(male)
Let you goooooo
I'm sorry (male)
He kept apologizing

End of lyrics

Section 3 - analyzing music

The music starts off being just a guitar,after a little while what sounds like a some type of keyboard comes in then brings in a beat using bongos and keeps the song going, giving the song a beat and only uses a couple instruments which can be really cool as it is really simple.

Section 4 - analyzing tempo

The tempo is the same and simple and continuous, and this can be good as it can keep people interested. The pace of the song is pretty slow compared to others songs from the same genre.

Section 5 - how you would visually communicate this in a video?

This could help me to design a music video with this song and create a music video more appealing to the audience that will having the most convention ideas while being completing different by items that are linked to the conventional items.
The song will engage young people as the music video will have a lot of slightly hidden items that people of this age will think to them selves , i know/have that. this will be done when my singer holds up her iphone to change the song to the song i am using.

Creating my artist's identity

http://www.unsigned.com/thicke
The group i have chosen is called 'Thicke,'this group is  Sha'Leah Nicole, Shaunise Renee',RaVaughn Nichelle who are all singers.This is a picture of them.

 

I don't know if they have a record label as the website i found them on doesn't say so. If they do it maybe called snkmanagement as that is their email. They all are women who look like they are in their mid 20' as they seem and look young/under 30 at least, they are all black and look like they are Caribbean.

There is not much about this band apart from them being from los angeles in the United States as the they seem like they don't sing anymore and there is no other websites for them.

I want to have the artist's style to be cool and subtle with their clothing. I think my artist should wear normal clothing as I want them to be normal basic people who sing.I think they should be wearing outfits like this that are not revealing but still look cool and nice.

In the picture on right is a good example of this as she is completely clothed and yet still can look cool and fashionable while still being able to move around.

I would not want the artists to wear something like this as though they would get a lot of male audience, it would be negative towards women and other women would dislike the artist for being flashing which would cause them to dislike the artist therefore causing the artist to lose money. 

Andrew Goodwin theory

Andrew Goodwin is a author of a book all about music videos and what they do to the audience.


Andrew Goodwin's 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'

He published is idea's in a book called Dancing in the Distraction Factory: Music Television and Popular Culture. His idea's were that there are 5 key aspects of a music video that the audience looks out for;

Illustrating

Illustrating, Interpretative is when lyrics match up to some degree of the lyrics, for example if the artist says 'Catching that cat down the road while doing back flips on a po-go stick ,' then you would see him or her trying to catch the cat down the road while doing back flips on a po-go stick. This is to connect the lyrics to the song a to create a bond between, the audience and the music video so when a person says something similar, it will remind the viewer about the song and make them want to listen to it again. In the song slim shady - Eminem, what ever he sings about, it comes up on the video. This is done so they can show off how different Eminem is like when he says working at burger king spitting on your onion rings, on the video, the viewer sees him working there and it matches. This adds to the video by creating eye and ear coordination which can help in the future.

Amplifying

Amplifying is when a music video is designed to enhance and upgrade the style and mood of the song, This impacts the audience by making them feel what the music video want them to feel. For example if the song is cheerful and happy and bright, the audience will feel good and happy yet if the song is dark and depressing the mood from the audience becomes passion for the story, depressing and sadness for the artist, actor and/or band. The impact this has on the music video is that it makes audience feel the same way the artist feels when playing the song. the benefit for the audience is they can feel closer to the song/artist. In this song, bad day by Daniel Powter, he sings about a really bad day he's having and the song reflect his mood which in the song is sad, this makes the viewers feel sorry for the artist/actor and them want to tell as many people about the music video as possible.

Contradict

Contradict is when the music video deliberately goes against the lyric and the mood of the song so it can come off as being different and unique so it can appeal to a different audience.This effects the audience as it makes them feel like they don't know what's happening and throws them off in a way. A example of that would be rizzle kicks skip to the good bit, listening to the song will make the listening think this song just has dancing it or something but the music video is set in a school were the duo act as students in a resit science class who make a pink concoction which the students in the same classroom drink and makes them to start kissing each other this happens at 2:00.

Iconography

Iconography, Discussing imagery as iconography in this way implies a critical "reading" of imagery that often attempts to explore social and cultural values, is used in music videos to give a artist their own style to things such as logo. This is done so that everyone will know them and copy them. For example lady gaga is really know for different extravagant outfits and her wasting money on things that are not worth it. For example when she was in the Simpsons for the finale episode of season 23 (Lisa goes gaga) she is seen be changing clothes every few scenes and in one scene crying 'little diamonds,' which seems expensive and wasteful, as you see on the right see is seen in a 23 minute Simpsons episode wearing 15 different outfits which is almost 1 every 3 minutes.

Voyeur

Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or spying on people engaged in sexual behavior, such as undressing, sexual acts, or other actions usually thought to be of a sexual nature. This also called the male gaze which is a theory that stats that the music video are watched is the female character is being sexual in some way. This happens in the music video sak noel loca people, by 1:47 a woman is already half naked in a sexual position. This is done in a music video if the artist/actor likes a someone and is syping on them, this is done to show the viewer that the actor/artist is in love/likes them. This is a popluar theory that Laura Mulvey came up with, in an essay she wrote, in the essay she wrote about how some cameras linger on the female body's curves, how that woman are shown as an erotic being, an orbject or even a prize that the male protagonist could obtain which isnt the way she wants women to be treated and lastly she thinks that men focus on the women rather than looking at everything that  om screen.

This is done in the music video, it wasn't me - shaggy as his wife/girlfriend is watching him as he cheats on her with another woman and he sings about how/where he was caught. Which give off the impression that its ok to cheat of women and that its not that important if you do and get caught.

and intersexuality

This is when a music video uses ideas/footage from another form of media e.g. animation and movies.This is done in a song called Pokemon 'catchatronic', in the music video all of the shots/scene is from the anime show excluding one that has been edited to be used with an event and continuously using them and making a song that has over 7 hundred thousand views on YouTube.

music video

I have chosen this band called Thicke and their song let u go

 And here is the email I sent them to ask them for use of their song

This is the actor I am planning to use in the video. Her name is ama.

Researching 99dollar music videos

What is 99dollarmusicvideo.com?

99dollarmusicvideo.com is a website that gives a want to be director $99 (about £61) and asks them to make a music video only using the $99 and making it to profession level to the best of their ability.

What is their ethos?
99dollarmusicvideos ethos are for the artist to create $99 music video in 24 hours and also edit it in the same amount of time, allowing the artist to show off their creativity using the video and bring together the film producer and the artist to make a good music video.

What types, labels and genres of music appear on website?
There are all kinds of different genres on this website yet usually is rock, soul indie and soft punk/rock. The channel allows artist to create a new genre in music so they can be different. This will help them to be more independent as an artist. A music video that uses animation is Dollar Billz- keelay.


What is the relationship between 99dollamusicideo.com, their film-makers and music arts?
The relationship the website has between the film makers is professional as they become workers, the music arts works with the film makers to create an amazing music video.

99 dollars on youtube

Which cost are and aren't included in the $99?
Making a video can cost more than $100 as t will cost money for background singers, instruments, stage, costumes etc,

How does 99dollarmusicvidoes.com encourage audience participation?
The website uses the audience to like and share videos using youtube and tumblr so people will get the songs and spread it around through word of mouth, making people want to create their own with the website's help. You can see this in most of there videos like "Strange Machines" by Redding Hunter. the video looks like it was filmed by someone who has never filmed a music video before.

Is it possible to make a professional quality music video for $99?
Yes it is as a lot of the videos are really good and look professional yet some can be horrible. This is a music video which I think is really good, "All the Words You Can't Say" by Laarks

Music video techniques

Music videos have a lot of techniques in them; the techniques can work well with them or fail and not work well. Using techniques like having lots of cuts makes sure that while the viewers are enjoying the video they either are completely focused on the video by making the camera change or switch between shots or also they music video can create emotions that will effect the viewer.

 Large number of cuts

Most music videos have a change from one camera on one side of the stage to another camera on another part of the stage, aka a cut, this is used to keep the audience interested as if the music video was in the space and didn't move, not a lot people would like it but this could be wrong as 'Lazy song, (Bruno Mars) ' has got over 400 million views on YouTube so far. The technique is used in most video, and most songs have over 100 cuts, which is about 2 cuts per second. For example Bruno Mars - treasure has about 150 cuts in the whole song as it too cuts twice every second, I think that the intended effect was to try and go with the beat as at almost every beat there was a cut. The technique worked well as it looked really cool and fit in well. The impact it has on the viewer is helps them keep to the beat, and it keeps the audience engaged in the music video.

A song that doesn't to this well as they don't have many cuts in the video is candy by Robbie Williams, this song has about 60 cuts in the song, so that's about half a cut a second, this uses pans instead of cut, The impact on the on the viewer is a point of view so they feel like they are in the music video. The song helps Robbie Williams to show off his talents.

Special effects

Special effects in a music video are things that are unnatural like smoke and mirrored effects this is done, for mirrors as there is only on artist and they may want to add more than one, for example Outkast- Hey Ya has more than one André 3000 (the singer) as he is copied so be can pretend to be all eight members of The Love Below group. This effect makes the audience think 'wow, this is really cool and high tech,' bearing in mind this song came out in late 2003 and was really cool at the time. At 1:30 the camera zooms out and all of the band is shown.

Cutting to the beat

Cutting to the beat is when a cut a happens as soon as there is a beat yet doesn't over cut the song which doesn't make the song look cool, it keeps the audience up with beat. A song that does this well is Rizzle Kicks -Down With The Trumpets as it cuts to the beat sometimes as keeps this going and keeps the song seem different and unique. It represent the artist be making them seem more interesting and engaging. Not a lot of songs do not cut to the beat. This happens a lot like a 1:04 in the song.

Varied camera Language

This is when there are different camera angles for example a high angle, a low angle, a close up,a bird's-eye view and a worm's-eye view. This is used to make the music video look different and not be the same angle each time, this also is used to show if the artist wants so seem small as if they were a child or a make themselves seem bigger as if they we're an adult, using the technique can make the audience like they are in the music video and are older/younger than the artist. For example in the song Kanye West - Runaway, he is seen from a high angle a couple of times, this is used to make the audience feel strong and for him to seem weak and that they are looking 'down' on him. This works for Kanye west as he is in the song, was having thoughts about his old relationships. A song that doesn't have a varied camera angles is Eminem - Slim Shady. This song uses the same few shots from 40 seconds in.

Green screen

Green screen in a music video are things that are unnatural like someone dancing in space. This is done so that they filming crew doesn't have to go far away to film anything because they can just use a green screen, a blue (or green) background in front of which moving subjects are filmed and which allows a separately filmed background to be added to the final image which doesn't cost much to set up and can be done by anyone. A song that does this is Kanye West - Bound 2 as they use a green screen for the background. The effect it has on the audience is that it makes the audience believe that the artist is where they are pretending to be. In this song uses the green screen to show that he is riding a motorbike and switches between him driving alone then  cuts to him with Kim Kardashian sitting in front of him. A song that doesn't do this well is Kanye West - Bound 2 because it is pretty obvious he is in a green screen as no one can drive a motorbike and look at a woman sitting in front of them without crashing, a song that actual does this well is Diane Birch - Valentino.

Lip-syncing

Lip-syncing is a technical term for matching lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. The term can refer to any of a number of different techniques and processes, in the context of live performances and recordings. In the case of live concert performances, lip-syncing is a commonly used shortcut, but it can be considered controversial, it is also used if the artist/singer has lost/hurt their voice. Most music videos are lip-synced so because the artist/band may not have the passion they had before when making the song for the first time. An artist, in my opinion that does this the worst is lady gaga - Poker face as she doesn't really show off her talents but the best would be Lloyd - Dedication To My Ex (Miss That), He really shows the audience his talents even through lip syncing.

Music video styles and conventions

In this section I will be going over the different music conventions, an example, an explanation and animation pact on audio audience of style.

Animation
Animation is when a music video is created using images being created and then recreated only being changed slightly and continued, when played it images will look like they are moving. An example of this would be move your feet junior senior as they use animation throughout the whole video.

The reason this is done is because the artist may not want to be seen and/or they feel like they are ugly and also they may not think they appeal to the song and the record label could ask they to be animated. For example in the same song the artist duo is represented as cartoon man and kid. But in real life they much older. This is because it is such animated and energetic song that 2 grown men may not have been right for it. The song uses this convention well as it keeps to a silly 8 bit cartoon feel which suits the song pretty well.

As - live

As live is when a music video is a concert but it is fake, this is done to make the artist/band more appealing to their audience, the song usually has the artist and/or band on a stage dancing, playing their instruments and singing (lip-syncing). This is done in the music video, Outkast - Hey ya, through out the video the artist plays most of the instruments and dances around and it is staged as a concert and at the same time being filmed and being shown on television, the music video featured a live performance by a band, all eight of whose members are played by André 3000, which was to mimick the Beatles' 1964 performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Narrative

Narrative is when there is a story line to the song and this can get the viewers involved and actually make them care fro the actor/artist. this is done in bob - magic as we see him in a story line.The story is simple, B.o.B the artist is trying to wake himself up from a dream. He was also performing with rivers cuomo in the video on a stage at a wild party. In addition, Paul Iacono from the MTV show The Hard Times of RJ Berger is featured dancing on stage. The video was directed by Sanaa Hamri.

Intertextuality

This is when a music video uses idea/footage from another form of media e.g. animation and movies.This is used in a song called Pokemon 'catchatronic', in the music video all of the shots/scenes is from the animated show and continuously using them and making a song that has over 1 million views on YouTube. The song is done well as through out all most all the voice and sound effects are from the show which reminds the viewers of the different scenes of the show and make them want to re-watch the episode earning the company even more money.

Interpretative

Interpretative is when lyrics match up to some degree of the lyrics, for example if the artist says 'Catching that cat down the road,' then you would see him running down the road catching, in the song slim shady- Eminem, what ever he sings about, it comes up on the video. At 03:16 eminem says 'He could be working at Burger King, spitting on your onion rings,' and on the screen he does exactly what he said. Then at 3:18 he says 'Or in the parking lot, circling,' and again he is coping the lyrics and projecting them onto the screen, The reason this is done is so that the viewer can have a better visual representation of whats happening so they can remember that scene a lot more.

Impressionist

This is when a music video's images match the mood and/or the pace of the song but does however match the lyrics. This is done so that the song doesn't just seem like an ordinary song and so that the music video can be a hot topic for viewers to talk about as they then after hearing the song thinking its going to have a music video based on how the song sounds so if the song is slow paced then the viewer thinks the music video is going to be slow paced but instead have a random unique music video like the one below. In this song (firefly by owl city), the mood is kind of childish and the lyrics use larger words that a child would not know or know of. The song 

Surrealism/abstract

This is when a music video have an element of surprise and becomes unexpected. This is done to make the audience through word of mouth tell their friends/family about the surprise and make them watch it, and then the loop continues for a very long time, till everyone hears about it. In the music video wreaking ball by Miley Cyrus, before watching the music video the song sound pretty normal but after seeing it the music video then becomes a topic that everyone talks about as it spreads via mouth to mouth and social networking sites like facebook and twitter.

The purpose of music videos

The purpose of a music video is to earn money from the song, and also create a  feeling so it leaves you remembering the song and if the song is narrative, to give the listener a better understanding of the song, it is also to give a visual representation of an artist. For example just listening to a song like I need a dollar by Aloe Blacc you would just think the song is about a man who is on his last legs and has no money and he tries to get somewhere,where as instead of his travels to las vegas showing him doing multiply thing including him thinking about what he has done, finally after hitching a ride the makes his way to las vegas, he finds a dollar coin on the floor and spends it on a slot machine and wins, the story line relates to the video as the video.

Music video meanings

Some music videos have no meaning but it random, gangnam style was a huge song as no knew what it meant as it was in Korean which made it even better when a English copy came out and everyone listened to it over and over again, but everyone could do the famous dance that Park Jae-sang (Psy) does and made him the 'King of YouTube'. The biggest reason this song was so famous was because of the dance, the dance made it's way into every bar, party and club as it was easy to do and everyone knew it. The Music video i

Promote a new music video.

Some artist promote their/other music videos that are coming out in the near future. Lots of artist/bands are born from social networking sites such as twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Myspace. Lots of artist became big such as the arctic monkeys on Myspace, Rebecca Black on YouTube or lady gaga on twitter, one of the biggest celebs on twitter, with more that 40 million followers,

Lady gaga's official account (https://twitter.com/ladygaga)

She tweets about gigs and albums she or people she likes's albums, she does this so she can, get lots of fans in the UK the retweet this as she says UK monsters which is where they live.

A tweet from lady gaga

Video release event

Sometimes the video release can become an event in itself. For example Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' was a huge deal when it came out and has over 150 million views on you tube, the song thriller was the 1st song to be a 13 minute short film and was like a story that intrigued the audience.

 

Fanbases

Other artist use the internet to raise awareness for area the artist is unknown in. this could get them more views and more fan and ever create a fan base.For example Arctic monkeys, a band from Sheffield used Myspace to become famous by word of mouth, (Passing information from person to person by talking) used Myspace to connect with people out side England like the USA and Japan.

To create a visual representation of an artist

This allows an artist to be seen whilst not actually performing. A song like this is would be Kingdom skank by Gunva B. This is done if the artist does not want to be seen and possible prejudged.

Different emotions

The reason the artist does this is because they may want the listeners to have a different emotion to the song and see the artist for what they really are. They also enhance the artist's band's representation as all you can hear is them.Using this method could could communicate the energetic and styles of the artist.
A song that does this would be moves like Jagger, he puts 110% in this song.

Reinvent Themselves
Using different emotions, the artist can really reinvent themselves, for example Miley Cyrus when from being a star on Disney channel, a kid's TV channel to dancing around practically naked on YouTube, in her song Wreaking ball at 42 seconds into the song. This is done by making a music video as different to what the media know them to be as possible, so they can attract a newer audience, so for Miley Cyrus this could attract more mature teenagers instead of the young kids around 9 years old.












Some artists try to appeal as being even more talented with their songs Bruno Mars does this well in his song, 'when I was your man.' He showed the whole world that a song could be amazing just on piano and brought a whole generation into loving piano and playing his song on their home pianos.

To create synergy with other media sectors

Some music videos even become so huge that TV shows copy them or makes jokes about them. One example would be American dad, a show about a father who works in the C.I.A, Stan and his son Steve do the thriller dance In the episode May the Best Stan Win This could mean that that song with over 150  million views is so big that they had to dance to it.

Another example would be the Simpsons,(an American adult animated sitcom created by Matt Groening that has been been running for 25 years as of 2014), In the episode 'behind the laughter,' they sang the song boogie and made up a remix for it, and used it twice using the same lyrics but just adding Christmas in the respective places.

Leading to darker places

The music video may also leap into being about darker things such as rape, drugs, suicide, Bulling and love/lust. The artist does this so that the audience and get a different perspective on what is happening. a song that does this is superchick by hero as the song is about bulling.

To be art in their own right

The music video can be become memorable and even be more remember than the song come times.
an example is again Miley Cyrus, as her wrecking ball music video is a big video on YouTube at the moment and many people listen to the song, the video idea then becomes an idea for others to use as they're own videos like coping the video on a webcam website like omegle.com. 

Product Placement

The music video could also pioneer a new use for technology,
This is called product placement, or embedded marketing, this is any form of visual commercial communication consisting of the inclusion of or reference to a product, a service or the trade mark thereof so that it is featured within a program". Product placement stands out as a marketing strategy because it is imperative to attach the utmost importance to "the context and environment within which the product is displayed or used 
 This could as simple as using the item in the video , for example blurred lines had beats pills through out the song and that convinced a lot of fans to go buy the beats pills to listen to the song.

A 1 Direction toy at Argos

Other Some Music video are frequently played to keep the artist in the public eye so that they can sell more products like CDs and toys or other products endorsed by the artist.  This can be used to increase the fan base and to earn a lot of money as the product are usually brought and can be quite expensive. For example this is a one direction toy from Argos which cost 70 pound usually. Having a product like that would make a lot of fans want to buy it, to show their loyalty to the artist.

Story lines

A lot of music video have a story to them, this is to interest the viewer and make them what to know what/why this is happening to the actor/artist.The story line could involve the artist in any way the director of the music video would like to, meaning the video could end up with the main character passing away or having a happy ending, In the music video for Trouble Maker by Olly Murs, is about him randomly constantly running into the same girl again and again, while she tries to keep her jobs but losing them for disagreement on how customers should be treated, the music video uses a story to keep the viewers watching the music video as the artist makes money from the views that the channel gets.