Analysing a music video

Analysing a music video
23' - Mike Will Made iT ft Miley Cyrus, Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbEoRnaOIbs

I have chosen to anaylse a music video and this particular one showcases signs of synergy throughout the duration of the music video. Synergy is where two products or companies combine to make a video, and to use the video as a platform to give them success in their respective areas. For example a music video may be made to increase publicity for a product, but may prove successful in its own right. One example is the music video 23 by Miley Cyrus, Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa, this video promotes a series of brands throughout the whole video. The video and the song pay tribute to basketball ledgend Michael Jordan - his jersey number now retired is 23. (Reference 1). Within 30 seconds a Nike Basketball and Chicago bulls merchandise are both promoted, the artist Juicy J is wearing the merchandise from head to toe and you can see this 30 seconds into the music video. The company Chicago bulls is also promoted when Miley Cyrus wears it in her way; the artists promote this company repetitively in the music video as well as other brands.  Miley sports a bikini dress, made from authentic Jordan basketball jerseys and matching sneakers. In various scenes, she treats her feet to a pair of Wolf Grey Air Jordan 5s and Fire Red 3s. Juicy J shows off a pair of Grape Air Jordan 5s and the Olympic-colored Air Jordan 7s, that MJ rocked on his way to winning the gold as a member of the 1992 Dream Team squad. {Reference 2} The music video is 5 minutes and 17 seconds long, within that time seven different brands are shown multiple times, big brand company’s such as: Boy London, Gucci. Dre beats pill, Nike high tops and the obvious Michael Jordan’s (trainers) and Chicago Bulls.

In recent years, record labels have been reluctant to finance a high-budget video, this music video does just that as well as help to provide synergy for the artists starring in it; it targets 16-24 year olds willing to buy products that the artist are wearing. Co-branding happens when a product or products and star/artist become inseparable and Co-branding is used in the whole music video, As well as promoting brands it also helps to expand their audience and this means more viewers, which means more sales for the company’s etc. Teenagers tend to use celebrities as inspiration, meaning whatever they wear the teenager must wear too in order to look “cool”.  For example when audiences of this age watch this video and see Miley Cyrus wearing Michael Jordan’s, the audience immediately react and go and buy the same thing in order for them to look the same. Music videos like this one are created for their intended audience for a reason, they follow the artist because the artists set a trend which they copy from and that is how company’s such as Nike, Gucci and Chicago Bulls all promote their range within music videos so their target audience will watch it and buy the products.

References

Reference 1

mashable.com. 2014. Miley Cyrus '23' Video Is a NSFW Michael Jordan Tribute. [ONLINE] Available at: http://mashable.com/2013/09/24/miley-cyrus-23-michael-jordan/

Reference 2

MTV.com. 2013. Michael Jordan Reacts To Mike Will’s ’23′ Video: What Does His Airness Think?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.mtv.com/news/1715068/michael-jordan-reacts-to-23-mike-will-made-it/.

Single Camera (Soap Opera)

Lauren punches Lucy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIurmAcqn8M

The scene I decided to analyse is a dramatic scene from the soap opera Eastenders, the scene I chose to analyse shows Lauren as the 'the bitch' not wanting to go back home. In the scene its shows a variety of different things about the whole show itself. At the start of the scene, the first character in the scene shows what Lauren has become and who she is in the first few seconds; in the first part of the scene, Lauren is demanding an alcoholic drink from the bartender, however she refuses to listen as she promised Lauren's mum that she wouldn't serve her.  She looks over at three locals on the opposite side of the bar; she looks at them in a way of asking for them to buy her a drink. Even though Laurens mum isn't in the scene, the boys reaction to the bartender shows that the mother is a women to be feared, although they say it in a way that’s comical to the viewers. The setting is in the pub Queen Victoria, where most of the action in Eastenders takes places however in this scene it takes place on the square. When analysing the short scene in the pub, I payed close attention the mise en scene. The majority of the people were wearing casual clothes showing that they are working class, the way Lauren acts and what she wears shows she is a low class citizen. The clothes Lauren wears are quite dark, using black and green as the two main colours that she wears, this could show that Lauren is angry, depressed, upset, or it an show a sign of guilt, and her personality is shown throughout he whole scene. On the other hand Lucy and Abby are wearing much lighter colours like whites and pinks. From the clothes the girls wear it can show a sign of innocence and happiness showcasing three completely different personalities. By the end of the scene I saw that Lauren was in fact the bitch and if she doesn't get her own way she has a temper, in a way I feel the clothes the characters are wearing are meant to show this and could possibly represent the character's personality.

When changing scenes from the pub to the square there is straight cut, when the scene changes from dark to quite natural lighting. Just in this short scene two plot points are shown and created, the first would be Lauren demanding a drink and not getting it, the second is where Lauren punches Lucy. As it is a short scene at end of the episode it is at the point where the majority of stuff goes on, soap opera’s are usually open narratives and in this case Lauren just punched Lucy and walks away as the theme tune for Easternders starts to play (Letting the audience know that it is the end of the episode).

This episode will recur onto a second one and will carry on until the storyline ended, you can tell from this scene that this is a recurring micro-narrative, as a solution hasn't been solved.

Single Camera (Comedies)

Single Camera (Comedies)

The episode I decided to analyse is series 3 of the Inbetweeners; episode one. I will be focusing on four characters, which are the main characters in the series. The first character I will be discussing is Will Mckenzie, Will is the main character in this sitcom and takes the role of the matriarch in the whole programme. The reason why this is, is that Will likes to tell people off if he think something isn’t right, he also the more sensible and the most mature one out of the four characters. Simon Cooper is the second as he takes the role of the fatherly figure in the series, although a bit more immature than Will, he also knows where to draw the line. He steps up when he thinks something isn’t right or whether they are being immature in a situation. The third and fourth are characters Jay Cartwright and Neil Sutherland, Jay is known for the role of being the naughty little brother of the four, he doesn’t know when to stop and winds everybody else up in process. Jay is also the most immature out of all the characters, and in my opinion his character is the funniest. Finally the fourth character Neil Sutherland, he take the role of being the dopey older sister, majority of the time Neil is clueless as to what is going on, as well as Jay he also can be immature but is sometimes unknown of it, he is immature in a way that Neil only can, meaning he doesn’t think about his actions and in a way doesn’t care about the outcome.

In this particular episode act one is where the four are in the car on the way to school and ending when Mr. Gilbert calls Will into his office. This is where plot point one starts, Gilbert asks Will to volunteer in helping out in the fashion show, during the time in his office counts as plot point one, introducing to the viewers properly about the fashion show and asking Will to help, this then sets the scene for act two of the episode. Act two is the fashion show; act two is the biggest out of all three acts and at some point shows the second and last plot point. The second plot point isn’t introduced until near the end of the episode, the second plot point is when Carly asks Simon to model with her as she sacked someone. We immediately see the last plot point fully when Simon walks onto the stage unnoticing that his testicle is where it shouldn't be. This would be the last plot point introducing us then to act three. Act three is the final act of the whole episode and usually the shortest, in this time the characters and their lifestyle (in this case back to school) goes back to normal and the characters discuss between themselves about the day they just had. This sitcom is what is known as a closed narrative, the storyline will not recur to another episode and probably won’t be mentioned in the series again. Lots of camera techniques are used in this episode, some including, single camera shots, high, low and mid shots. An example of a mid shot  at the very start of the scene where the four are in the car, there is a close up of Jays face as he is driving, in this scene, mid shots and close ups are mostly used.

Single Camera (Crime)

The crime programme I decided to analyse was a the first couple of minutes of Crimewatch UK; it began with dramatic sounds and soundtracks and overall it was quite a daunting introduction. The introduction starts off very similar as to what a news report would start off like, however it introduces short clips of what to expect in this particular episode for example, clips of the crime and also short clips of the interviewees involved in a crime. After this there is a short opening title including a dramatic crime soundtrack and also cutaways of forensic scientists, and police car chases; this shows the audience what to expect when watching this programme and also what the show is about in the working title "Crimewatch". When the reporter describes the scenes of a particular crime to the audience the viewer gets more of an insight of what happened through a video clip that has been purposely made. (When watching, the viewer has more of an understanding and also have a sense of what the victim was feeling at the time.) This technique is used to get inside peoples heads so they will feel the need to help; also it is a successful way of providing information about the crime in an interesting way. The video is obviously played by actors re an acting the crime with the voice over from family, friends and interviewees that were knew the victim or had witnessed anything unusual at that time. Once the clip had been played the camera shoots back to the news reporter as she asks for help from the public to confess if they knew any of the wanted men in question by showcasing a series of different images of them. The reporter then offers the public a reward if the wanted men are found, if they find anything or know any information about the crime. This raises public liability to phone Crimewatch, as this show is broadcasted live across the UK it increases the chance of finding criminals massively. When talking to the public the news reporter seems to be in an office with workers doing what they can to find the criminals. This shows the public that they are doing all they can to find information about the crime, whilst asking the public to help out as well so if they are doing it why can't the public? It is a very successful way of intriguing the audience to introduce the different crimes happening at one time, its almost like a news report but instead of telling the audience about, instead they are asking for help from them. Crimewatch UK is an interesting programme that makes people realise what can actually happen and makes them more aware of the world and what can happen.

My own Sitcom family

The Smiths - A typical Britsh family name for a typical british family, The mother Julie-anne is the Matriach of the family, caring, sociable and hardworking to make sure all her family are well. The father, Harold is the opposite, his character is lazy, and with him  being the boss in the family it is either His way or no way. The daughter Millie, like her father she gets everything she wants in life, she gets away with murder and her mother will believe anything she says. Millie is also the younger sibling of the family, and the only daughter, she is the evil sibling meaning she gets her older brother into trouble all the time. Her mother thinks she is the golden child meaning she is her angel. And finally the older sibling Ray, sweet romantic who likes to wind the little sister up. Like his mother he is very hardworking and caring towards everyone.

Julie walters - Mum,65, I chose Julie Walters as the mother in my sitcom; she is the matriarch of the family, also caring, kind, and the most hard working in the family.

Mila Kunis- Daughter,31, Like mother like daughter, takes after mother also kind and caring, the younger sister of the family,doesn't like it when she doesn't get her own way. She is quite nosey, and takes after her mother in being hardworking.

Harrison Ford - dad,72, Hardworking, the oldest in the family likes to tell everyone what to do. Close with his only son, and takes the role of the boss in the family

Ryan Goslin- Brother,34, The older brother of the family, sweet romantic but the prankster in the family, likes to wind up his little sister as he is the older sibling, closer to his dad than his mum being the only son in the family.