Zendaya - Fireflies lyrics

This is the lyrics to our final chosen song:


Flies turn to flames

When heart start to chase
You'll fall if you run right into the smoke
The lights start to deem when it's almost enough
But flames light this place

Fireflies tonight
'Cause love lights the sky
Hey yeah

So put it up in, put it up in the air
Put it up in, put it up in the air
So put it up in, put it up in the air
Put it up in, put it up in the air

Baby, tell me right that you share
That's the loving put it in the atmosphere
If you want you put more
Living in the air
Just keep your attention so the clouds go nowhere
Just please light this place, oh oh oh oh

Fireflies tonight
'Cause love lights the sky
(Hey yeah)

So put it up in, put it up in the air
Put it up in, put it up in the air
So put it up in, put it up in the air
Put it up in, put it up in the air

Let it burn, burn
Let it burn, burn
Let it burn, burn
Let it burn, burn

Fireflies tonight
'Cause love lights the sky

So put it up in, put it up in the air
Put it up in, put it up in the air
So put it up in, put it up in the air
Put it up in, put it up in the air

Individual treatment of ideas

This post includes my individual treatment of ideas for our chosen music video.

Treatment of Ideas Grid

Final Chosen Song

During the evaluation of our three potential songs, as a group we drew to the conclusion that Fireflies by Zendaya was the best choice for our music video. This is because we could instantly come up with ideas for a concept base video as well as a narrative base video. 

Three potential songs

This is the evaluation of the pros and cons to the three potential songs we had chosen.

1. Zendaya - Fireflies


2. Justine Skye - Hard Work 


3. Miley Cyrus - Stay M&N Pro Remix

Analysis of music video: Representation

This post includes my analysis of representation in a music video of my choice.

How are the men and women represented in the 50 Cent video?

The video starts with an establishing shot of the mansion. The men in this video are represented as dominant, sexual and rich. This is shown through the use of mise-en-scene and camera work. The male appears in a red sports car, a close up shot of the trainers shows the audience that he can afford the latest fashion. The artist image is flashy as he is dressed in baggy shirts, loose jeans, silver chains, hats, a fur coat and a suit. He changes between these outfits throughout the video to show how stylish and up to date he is. On the other hand the women are represented as sexual objects. They are dressed in lingerie, and tight leather clothing. The video is through the male’s point of view which is also the dominant point of view as Laura Mulvey states.

The setting of this music video is in two locations, at the start it is in a mansion then at the end the camera zooms out and the audience realises that the artist is dreaming about the mansion full of women, when in reality he is in a drive through getting food. The point of view shot of the camera zoom into the house full of women, which shows that women are just an accessory for men. This is also similar to what John Berger said ‘men appear and women act’, as seen is this music video the man is performing to the camera while women surround him in the back ground.

Women’s sexuality is exaggerated in this music video, especially when the female is in the bath tub while another female is pouring melted chocolate over her then she rolls a red apple over her chocolate covered body. The red apple signifies the lust and love in the scene as it is meant to be sexually attractive to men. This is a stereotype; the generalisation that all men find this attractive. The artist is also meant to attract females, as the other female’s facial expression shows her lust and interest in the main artists when she uses a whip to take his shirt off.

Analysis of music video: Narrative

This post includes my analysis of the narrative in a music video of my choice.

Analysing Narrative in Music Videos

Codes and conventions research presentation

This post includes my codes and convention research presentation completed with my partner Maya.

Codes and conventions research

This post includes my codes and conventions research into three music genre's, comparing each with a different time period to now.

Codes and Conventions Research

Task 1:

Rock:

• MMF – Miles Away ft Kellin Quinn
  A mixture of both narration and performance
  The concept of this narration is the artist travelling around the world, the performance is set on location as well as on a stage
  The locations vary due to the concept of the narration as we see him travelling on tours a lot. The main setting we see repeatedly is the band sitting inside of their tour bus and the band on stage in front of their fans
  The artist is dressed in jeans with a grey/white top with a leather jacket
  The camera work and pace of editing matches the pace of the beat
• Paramore – Aint it Fun http://youtu.be/EFEmTsfFL5A
  A mixture of both narration and performance
  The narrative is the band trying to beat world records as well as beating each other. The performance is on location as the visuals cut after each successful challenge
  The settings to this is video is set in a number of locations such as a bridge, a field, and in a room because of the concept of the video
  The artist is dressed very feminine as she is wearing dresses but at the same time she is wearing a tracksuit with just a sports bra, she also adds a white blazer to this outfit.
  The pace of editing and camera work matches the beat to the song
• SWS – Alone ft MGK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dol_B35er_M
  Performance based
  On location cuts between being in a building to a cliff to a field and finally someone on a boat in the middle of the river
  They’re in a building with doors to separate each room (most likely a mental hospital) outside the doors their setup of drums and guitars and mike stands are located, then it cuts to the deserted cliff and the deserted field and on the boat in the middle of the river
  The artist is wearing black jeans with a denim short-sleeve coat and a jumper underneath
  The pace of the beat matches the pace of the editing and camera work
• PTV – King For a Day ft Kellin Quinn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icXUkIfZxyg
  A mixture of both narration and performance
  The narrative is about how much they dislike work. The video is on location at their workplace as well as on a stage.
  The video starts off with the band in an office then the video cuts to them discussing a plan at round then the video cuts again to them on stage.
  The artists are dressed in suits when they are at work but change to vest tops and black jeans when they are on stage
  The start of the starts with a guitar riff and the camera slowly zooming into the artists as they work. As soon as the drums and base comes in the artists are distracted. The beat of the song matches the pace of the edits to the visuals

RnB:

• Chris Brown – New Flame
  Performance based
  On location at a beach and some place with stairs and water, with dance routines
  The video cuts between the artists dancing on a beach to the artist in a place with water.
  The artist is dressed in all white with the latest fashion
  High key lighting is used throughout the video. The editing of the video follows the pace of the beat.
• Party Next Door – Recognize ft Drake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsPfSXJaelk
  Performance based
  On location, in a club and a room
  The video cuts between the artist at a club, two girls in a car and the artist in a dark room
  The artist is in plain black clothing
  Low key lighting is used throughout the video apart from the establishing shot of a beach. The editing of the video follows the pace of the visuals
• Trey Songs – Smartphones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sExF5B4G-U
  Mixture of both narration and performance
  On location with no dance routines
  The video cuts between being at a club to the artist being in a club to him being in a house
  The artist is dressed in black jeans white top black cardigan and a black coat
  Black and white video. The pace of the beat matches the editing
• Ciara – Body Party https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9rSBcoX9ak
  Mixture of both narration and performance
  The narrative of this music video is about her body and another body fitting together. On location with dance routines
  The artists is at a house party
  The artist is styled with jewellery and a simple hairstyle as well as a simple outfit
  Low key lighting is used when she’s dancing in the white spot light, as well as in the house. The pace of the editing matches the slow pace of the visuals.

Dance:

• Clean Bandit – Rather Be ft Jess Glynne
  Performance based
  On location no dance routines
  In a bedroom, in a kitchen, on a bike on the road, in a market place, at a restaurant
  We barely get to see the artist
  The pace of the beat does not follow the visuals or the edits. The lighting is very high key when she is at home or on the bike or at the market but when she is in the restaurant the lighting is low key
• Disclosure – White Noise ft Aluna George https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkk2H3Ztrfk
  Performance based
  Performance involving dance routines
  In an abandoned building and deserted areas
  We do not see the artist
  The dance moves (visuals) are timed to the beat where as the editing pace is not timed to the beat throughout the music video. Low key lighting is used
• Kiesza – Hideaway https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESXgJ9-H-2U
  Performance based
  On location with dance routines
  On a street
  Stylish, she is dressed a bit sexual as she has a very tight crop top that pushes her  boobs up (basically a lot of skin is showing)
  The camera tracks the artist as she moves through the street dancing. High key lighting is used throughout the music video
  
  
• Sia – Chandelier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vjPBrBU-TM
  Performance based
  In a building, with a dance routine
  Sitting room, bedroom and kitchen
  We do not see the artist
  Low key lighting is used. The pace of the visuals is slightly faster than the beat but the editing matches the beat

Extension task: chosen time period 1980-90’s

Rock:

• Guns n Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine
• Aerosmith – Cryin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfNmyxV2Ncw
• Nirvana – Come As You Are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vabnZ9-ex7o
• AC/DC – Back in Black https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgnJDJN4VA
  Back in the 80’s/90’s the genre Rock were on a stage where you had a visual of their instruments. They were also purely performance based. Camera work was not steady (Guns n Roses) which matched the pace of the beat as well as the editing. They also had intervals of just guitar riffs. The artists were dressed in tight leather trousers with vest tops and they had long hair with hair bands on the outside. Some rock songs had a narration (Aerosmith).

RnB:

• Aaliyah – Are you that somebody
• Joe – Good Girls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT9bUfWiC7w
• Destiny Childs – Survivor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmc8bQoL-J0
• Tyrese – Sweet Lady https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSlLFx2U4qo
  RnB back in the day was very slow pace (Joe). The editing and camera work matched the pace of the beat. The artists were dressed less provocatively. The narrative to the videos was to find the perfect girl (Joe) or to survive in life (Destiny’s Child). Women artists were more ‘tomboy’ and independent. Female videos were more performance based with dance routines (Aaliyah & Destiny’s Childs).

Textual analysis of music video

This post includes a textual analysis of Eminem's music video Without Me.

Textual Analysis of Music Videos

Andrew Goodwin: Our 1st Theorist

This post shows an outline of Andrew Godwin's music video conventions. 

•A relationship between the lyrics and visuals (illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics)

•A relationship between music and visuals

•A demand from the record company for lots of close-ups of the main artist

•Artist develops their own star iconography in and out of their videos

•Reference to voyeurism (screen within screen, binoculars, cameras…)

•Intertextual references

•Narrative, performance or concept based

•Particular genres may have their own video style and iconography

Introduction

This blog is dedicated to my A2 Level Media Course. Through this blog I aim to take you on a journey, on how to create a music video that looks professional and attractive to a certain target audience. This blog will include posts such as my research planning and construction of my music video. As well as my music video I will have an artist image, my first draft down to my final draft of my music video promoting the artist, a digi pack of the album cover as well as suggested improvements by my peers.

Thank You.