Diary entry 11: Finishing filming!!!

Yesterday Sophie and I finished filming the last part of our music video, and from what we've seen of the footage we are hopeful that it will come out well. We filmed the opening sequence of me (the main character) getting into the car and driving away; just in case, we filmed it numerous times with different shots to enable us to chose the right one. Now that all the filming is done we have to edit, create our website and do the animatic story board.  

Grain of voice and Synaesthesia

Synaesthesia is a condition where you can picture the sounds of the music in your mind while a song is playing. For example, you could see a shape or image in your mind which you associate with the song and as each beat plays you see a shape. An example of this is the video below: 

Grain of voice is when an artist has a unique voice that cant be compared to anyone else's, Goodwin described this as like a fingerprint. There voice is so unique that there isn't anyone else in the world that has the same voice as them. Two examples of well known artists that have this are Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston.  This helps create there star image as their voice is so distinct. 

Diary entry 10: Filming performance shots

During our double media lesson's today, my partner and I thought we should use this time appropriately and go and film our performance shots. We chose Kingston as our performance location, as it is an easy location to get to and it has loads of great places where we can film, such as the riverside, bridges, fields and a high street. We managed to get all of our performance shots done, including the guitar in some of the scenes and used a range of various locations. I think this time the filming went really well, because the weather was really good and we played the song in the background so I was singing in time.   

Diary entry 9: Editing Brighton footage

Today in our media lesson, Sophie and I started to upload and edit our footage from Brighton to imovie. We looked through the shots we had taken and were happy with the result. However when it came to the performance shots of me (the main character) in the field singing it was raining when it wasn't in the other shots. However, this could be seen as an artistic representation of the sadness of the song. Furthermore, my singing wasn't in sync with the music and we didn't have enough time to use a broader variety of shots because of the weather. As a result, were going to film more performance scenes in Kingston on Wednesday and this time have the song playing out loud as a prompt, in order for me to keep in time with the music. 

Diary entry 8: Filming in Brighton

Today me and my partner Sophie drove down to Brighton to film the main narrative part of our music video. We came across a couple of problems, for instance the weather was very bad and rainy at the beginning of our filming, the wind was very strong for must of our filming and the car broke down leaving us with a shorter amount of time. Given all of this, we still managed to get all of our narrative shots done and took some location pictures. All in all it was a very good day for filming and we got a lot done, even though the weather was awful and we had scarce time.  

Diary entry 7: Editing

Today my partner and I began to edit our opening sequence to our official music video. We decided to stick with the original idea of the first shot being a mid shot of the main character in the bath with makeup smudged across her face and her eyes closed. Followed by another shot of a close up of her face while she opens her eyes and the camera slowly zooms out as the music comes in. Luckily we did practice shots before hand and filmed a lot of shots to choose from, which made it easier for us to pick the perfect one that fits with the music. We considered having the bath shots before the music came and having it in black and white but then decided we would change it later and see what looks best. In addition, we managed to edit and complete our group discussion video but had difficulties uploading it to our group blog.  

History of our chosen artist/band-Paper Aeroplanes

Paper Aeroplanes are a are Welsh pop band which formed in 2009. They were formerly part of Cardiff-based band Halflight. Richard Llewellyn and Sarah Howells, from Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire respectively, make music that has been compared to Fleetwood Mac, Suzanne Vega, The Sundays, Lisa Loeb and The Cranberries. The BBC described them as "a west coast, easy-riding, folkish indie with a pop sensibility", and The Guardian as "disarming, breezy pop that's tinged with melancholy". Llewellyn was also formerly a member of Cartoon, while Howells was part of rock/riot girl band Jylt. At the end of 2008 they joined forces with the Autonomy Music Group. In January 2009 they worked with John Reynolds (Sinéad O'Connor, Andrea Corr) on two singles that were taken from their album The Day We Ran Into the Sea, which was released in 2010, and described by the BBC's Adam Walton as "'pop' music: brilliantly crafted and stoked from a bruised heart's embers".BBC Radio Wales described it as "the finest radio album to come out of Wales since Rockferry".

The band have featured on Bob Harris's BBC Radio 2 show, being interviewed by Harris and performing a live session. They have also recorded a live video session for the BBC.

Immediately prior to the release of their album We Are Ghosts in March 2011, the band used local independent coffee shops to publicise their music. A limited edition 4-track CD was produced and these were given away at each of 12 of the band's favorite cafe's, in exchange for the purchase of food at the venue. In this way the cafe's also benefited from the publicity.

Below is a link to there official myspace website:

http://www.myspace.com/paperaeroplanes

Research on costumes, makeup and shot types

As I was researching music videos on YouTube and TV music channels I noticed that there were a vast range of different costumes and makeup in each video. In some cases it depended on the genre, for instance if it was a heavy metal or rock song the makeup and outfits would be quite dark using mainly pastel colours. Where as, in pop or hip hop music videos the makeup and costumes would be bright, revealing and sometimes extravagant. When focusing on camera shots, I noticed that all of them had many closeups, this is used to form the connection between the viewer and the artist. However, there are a lot of jump cuts used in pop videos and also change there costume and makeup more than other genres. 

This is an example of a pop music video with a lot of makeup, costumes and even CGI. As you can see it is set in the future and they've used a lot of makeup for the futuristic/alien look.

  
This is another example of a pop video with a lot of makeup instead of costumes. This is not the conventional image of pop music video's instead it is more unique and arty. 

This is a conventional pop music video as it has a variety of different settings, makeup, costumes and camera shots. This music video is mostly focusing on voyeurism.

Diary entry 6: beginning filming

Today my partner and I started to film the opening sequence of our music video and the establishing shot. The scene is of the main character in the bath fully clothed staring up at the camera. We decided this should be our opening shot because it intrigues the audience as to why there's a girl lying in the bath fully clothed and encourages them to continue watching. Additionally we began planning our makeup ideas, band name, and logo for our CD cover which we then uploaded to the group blog. Yesterday we also managed to film our discussion for locations, props etc. Which we will be editing and uploading tomorrow along with editing the opening sequence to  our music video.    

Preliminary Task

Music video that influenced our work

This music video really influenced my partner and I given the fact that it has so many great ideas which could apply to our official music video. Even though the two songs are indefinably different from each other and both have two completely separate meanings. The visuals are still very similar and whilst we were watching the video it had an impact on us, therefore we want to create the same impact in our official music video.  

Other music videos/songs from Paper Aeroplanes

From watching these music videos and listening to there songs it gave us some ideas to what we should use in our official music video and what conventional styles would help create the right  atmosphere in our video.

Music genre styles and conventions

Pop music

Pop is the largest selling genre today.It signifies any music that is commercially produced, with the sole intention of selling more records and reaching a larger audience as possible. Pop music is mainly targeted at teenagers and young youths, though many people associate pop music with the genre of rock, this can be argued. The use of various electronic devices is also widespread in this genre, but this is a very different genre, vis-a-vis trance, which also heavily utilizes electronic sounds. Pop videos tend to use special effects and bright colours, to give a feel good feel, but have the widest range of music video styles with in this genre and can vary between narrative, performance and mixed. This makes it hard to set a list of forms and conventions for this genre as a whole. However, music videos usually have a lot of jump cuts.

County music

Country music is one of the oldest genres of music to date. It originated in the 1920s in Southern parts of the US, and it has slowly spread to all parts of the world. Country music is the most popular genre throughout the United States and often wins Grammy awards over the majority of other genres that we would consider 'mainstream'. The defining characteristic of country music is an acoustic guitar, with just the vocals of the singer to accompany it. Country music has changed over the years, adopting a more modern style, mixing with other genres in order to attract a larger and more diverse audience. 

Hip hop and Rap music

The primary focus of Hip Hop is on beatboxing and DJ scratching. Rap music is another subset of this genre, and it revolves around the artist rapping to a fixed beat. Though this genre evolved in the ghettos of the United States, today it has spread to mainstream culture all around the world, and has become a multi million dollar industry. This genre of hip hop songs started involving more and more people during the 1970s. You tend to find a mixture of narrative and performance based music videos for Hip Hop and Rap. The majority of music videos for this style tend to be set in a lower class area, on the streets. You find a wide range of different settings and styles for these genres however they are predominantly set in lower class areas.

Artists tend to feature within their own videos.

Rock music

Rock music came around in the 1960’s, it evolved as a subset of rock and roll, rhythm and blues, classical and folk music, these have been around since the 1940’s. Primary focus in rock music is on the electric guitar and the many solos that can be created with it. Also the bass guitar and drums are highly in focus. The popularity of Rock music had led to combination of rock with various other genres.
Rock music is something that is omnipresent in all cultural references today, and it is no secret that we associate rock musicians with a rebellious lifestyle, substance abuse and huge fan bases all around the world. Rock videos usually display the band performing on stage, have uneasy camera movements, dark colours, and wide use of special effects. 

Reggae music

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.
Reggae is based on a rhythmic style characterized by accents on the off-beat, known as the 'skank'. Reggae is normally slower than both ska and rocksteady. Reggae usually accents the second and fourth beat in each bar, with the rhythm guitar also either emphasising the third beat or holding the chord on the second beat until the fourth is played. It is mainly this "third beat", its speed and the use of complex bass lines that differentiated reggae from rocksteady, although later styles incorporated these innovations separately. It is unusual to find a reggae genre music video with a narrative, however it is becoming more common as pop is mixing with reggae, for example, Rihanna is known to cover various genres of music from R'n'b to pop, electric dance and her song 'man down' is influenced heavily by reggae and has a narrative storyline. Locations tend to be set in jamaica, and they are usually cheerful music videos with bright colours and dancing. 

Diary entry 5: Planning ideas

Today me and Sophie have picked the song that we will be using for our official music video. (Lost- Paper Aeroplanes). We've come up with some ideas for the storyline and for the shot types we could use. Also, we spent our media lesson researching on Youtube different music videos that inspire us and we can get ideas from.

Research on costumes/shot types

Costumes can be very vital in a music video given the fact that it can represent and symbolise the mood of the main character, what genre the song is and sometimes what era the video is set in. Ive researched various music videos that our similar to ours and added below the costumes we could get ideas from. 

This is a screen shot from Adele's music video Someone like you. The costume in this video is just a black coat and jeans, which portrays that she is depressed. We like some of the shots in this music video such as: the tracking shot when she walks into the scene, and the close ups of her face.  

These are different shots used in Beyonce's music video Broken hearted girl. My partner and I have decided that we like a number of shots from this video. For example, the silhouette, over exposer, and the use of black and white. 

Analysis of previous student work

Overall I would say that this music video is intriguing and makes you want to watch more, however, I didn't like the use of words on the screen because I found them quite distracting and pointless. The video starts with a fade in mid shot of the main characters face as he wakes u, I thought this was a very effective opening shot and instantly grabs the audiences attention. They then sped up the video as he got ready and left the house. I also noticed that they muted the background noises throughout the music video except for when he closed the door to leave. I found that quite pointless and think it would sound better if it wasn't there. In addition, I feel like they didn't use enough extreme close ups, close ups and jump cuts. These are the general conventions of a music video and it would have looked more professional if they were included. I liked the fact that they used a range of numerous different locations from Kingston to central London, also the fact that the music video seemed to be in sync and kept to the beat with the track they chose. However, because they went to different locations they could have filmed some more interesting shots other than just him walking around. The shots that I found effective was the shot of him standing amongst all the people while their walking in fast motion and when they used slow motion then straight after fast motion. I think they used the right amount of transitions because too many can seem tacky, the transitions they used were fade in, fade out, and blur. Halfway through the music video they change into black and white for when the main character is rapping. It would have been more effective here if they used diverse shots on him and close ups. The birds eye view shot of the coffee with a heart shape looked very professional and it then went on to a shot of him reading the newspaper through the shop window which made the video of a higher quality. In conclusion, I understood the storyline of the music video, it was intriguing and made the audience want to watch more and the only thing about it i disliked was the use of words and animated images on the screen. So overall I would say that this music  video is a success a received a fairly high mark.    

Diary entry 4: Planning

Today in our media lesson my partner and I decided to change the plot to our music video. Instead of having the main character crying over her abrupt relationship ending we've changed the story so that she's upset over the death of her former lover. In addition, we've decided to change the location to the sea side, include more props e.g a car and only have one main character in our video. Given that, there are still some ideas that we have decided to keep in our music video including: silhouette, the scenes of the main character crying, fading transition, bath room shot and the shot of the main characters reflection in the mirror. We both feel confident about our new ideas and agree we have developed our main concept to create a more emotional music video.  

Conventions of a CD album

- Title and banner, name of album and artist

- Spine containing album name and artist

- Insert (maybe containing lyrics)

- Main image

- Colour scheme/colourisation 

- CD

- Barcode

- Track list

- Lines and borders


- Band logo


- Special features


- Price


- Record Label


- Year of publishing


- Copyright 


- Reference number


- Guest performers


- Individual track writers, composers, engineers, producers

Purposes of an album cover:


- To protect the album


- To advertise the contents


- Using the artistic design to reflect the creative intentions of artists 


- To reflect the principles, attitudes etc of record label


- To stand out, be interesting and eye catching


- In order to boost sales and enhance profit


- Attracts on retail shelves

Album Digipack/CD analysis

The first thing we notice when we see this CD cover is the striking image at the front. Given the time that this album was released, there hadn't been any other album cover like it therefore it was original unique and inspiring. The image of their faces merged together insinuates that they work well as a team, and the clouds in the background makes it dreamlike and links with the title of the album 'the miracle'. The title also stands out against the blue background as its red. The image instantly intrigues the buyers and holds the majority of the attention. However,  I think the album cover would be more striking if the background was just plain white which would also connect with the title. The genre of the music is not evident from the cover however, the band were immensely well known that the genre would be evident and they could get away with such a distinctive cover. If a buyer doesn't  know the band i believe the cover would be interesting enough for the CD to be purchased. 

This album cover is similar to the previous one in the sense that it has all the band members on the cover.  The images of the band members across the page are eye catching and have been drawn as if the bodies are in motion. Although the central image doesn't act as a logo it grabs the potential consumers attention. The colours all merge well together and the colour scheme is consistent, also the title links with the picture. This is shown by the fact that the title is called 'progress' and each member of the band is slowly making progress one after the other. I think that maybe if the title was in a larger font then the album would stand out more. The name of the artist is the most important convention on the album because it reminds the audience who the artist/band is. In addition, I think that the plain background contrasting against the main image of the artists creates a striking effect. Also I believe the CD cover is successful in communicating the genre of the music across to the consumers but this may be because the band might be trying to re-attract their existing fans. 

This album cover is vey intriguing and attention grabbing as the audience could wonder what the red strips are trying to imply. Behind the three red lines are numerous musical instruments all in white, assorted together in a white room. The title of the album is called the blue print 3, I think this connects with the image because a blue print is a plan to build something and the white instruments are formed together creating a somewhat sculpture. The instruments are all used to perform the music on this album and they are all collected together on the cover to indicate a blueprint. The CD cover doesn't have much colour which could seem boring to some buyers or indicate that the artists sounds are pure.

Examples of digipacks

Lyrics for final choice: Lost- Paper aeroplanes

Lost like the sun in a summer
Lost like my words to your ears
Lost like the notion of now and forever and like my comfortable years

Took a little long way round to find this out
And it seems you had so much to say and I drowned you out

Shame that we didn’t quite make it
Shame ’cause you know me so well
Shame that we’ll wash out with sensory pleasure when I’m under another spell

‘Cause it’s a long way round to find this out
And it seems you had so much to say and I drowned you out

Love like you’ve never loved before
Love like you’ll never again
Love like you’re lost in some old fashioned movie and it all works out right in the end

‘Cause it’s a long way round to find this out
And it seems you had so much to say and I drowned you out
Took the long way round to find this out
And it seems you had so much to say and I drowned you out
And it seems you sang the sweetest songs and I’m lost without

Diary entry 3: Change of plan

Today we found out that two members of our group would prefer to split into pairs. Therefore, my new group would be just me and Sophie. We both realised it would be a lot harder to come up with more ideas and to get all the work done with only two members. However, we were confident that we could manage on our own and given the fact that we are close friends we could work on our media in our free time. 

Diary entry 2: Choices of song

Today in our media lesson we chose our song that we would create our official music video for. We split off into pairs and began looking for songs that would be best suited. After researching on youtube and google we came across many songs such as Valentine- Kina Grannis and Set fire to the third bar- Snow Patrol. Originally, we decided to choose the the Snow Patrol song because as we listened to the it we could imagine ideas for our video. Given that, we realised it would be hard to contact the band and it was a really well known song. Therefore we've decided to look at more songs by Kina Grannis.  

Conventions of a music webpage

• Text- used to update and inform the audience.
• Colour scheme- colours that are associated with the band and colours that draw the audiences attention.
• Logo- Used to make the artist memorable and to make the website instantly recognised by the audience.
• Layout-  consists of the banner, menu, logo etc, how the website is set out to make it easier to navigate.
• Audio-  so the audience are more intrigued by the website and so the artists music can be played easily.
• Podcasts/interviews- makes the audience feel like there interacting with the artist and allows them to find out more about them. 
• Banner- The banner usually contains the logo and advertises the band. Its usually the first thing the viewers sees. 

Example of a banner: 

My timeline of music video history

Music website analysis

The music website that I am analysing is Tinie Tempah's homepage. Images, video and audio are well used on the homepage. The pictures are cleverly spaced out across the page and theres a variety of moving images and still images. The background colour is black with all the writing in white. These features draw the audiences attention and ensure that the audience is engaged. At the top of the the webpage there is a heading stating the latest news in the top left, a border containing the menu, which is illuminous, and a big moving screen where u can buy tickets. In order to make it easier for fans to be updated about the star, theres a border containing sites where you can follow the artist, such as: twitter, Facebook, my space, and Youtube. Not only are there videos of live performances but also interviews and popular music videos. This is key in order to recognise which star and what genre this website is advertising. The website has many ways in keeping the audience interested, for example being able to interact with the website both aurally and visually. 


I think the target audience for the homepage would be fans of the artist, and people who are interested in the genre of the artist. The age of the fans that will be viewing this website would be ranging from 14- 25. They are drawn to the website by the live performance and pictures, by doing this its making the artists music videos highly accessible and results in multiple viewing. Having the music videos, live performances and interviews on the website would appeal to the audience because its instantly viewable, free and easy to find. In my opinion, this website is very successful as it is straightforward, and promotes the star in an interesting way. The first thing you see when you go on the website is a triangular picture of the star in the top middle of the screen, which is very important in order to keep the audience aware of the star. Theres also a moving pictures which change every couple of seconds, which makes viewers stay on the website for longer and ensures that they don't get bored.  


Below is a link to Tinie Tempah's official website:
http://www.tinietempah.com/

Timeline of music video history

Lyrics for 3rd choice: Set the fire to the third bar- Snow Patrol ft Martha Wainwright

I find the map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms, and state lines
The distance from here to where you'd be
It's only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place where I'd find your face
My finger in creases of distant dark places

I hang my coat up in the first bar
There is no peace that I've found so far
The laughter penetrates my silence
As drunken men find flaws in science

Their words mostly noises
Ghosts with just voices
Your words in my memory
Are like music to me

I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold gound
I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms

After I have travelled so far
We'd set the fire to the third bar
We'd share each other like an island
Until exhausted, close our eyelids
And dreaming, pick up from
The last place we left off
Your soft skin is weeping
A joy you can't keep in

I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold gound
And I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms

And miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold gound
and I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms 

Lyrics for 2nd choice: Wires- Athlete

You got wires, going in
You got wires, coming out of your skin
You got tears, making tracks
I got tears, that are scared of the facts

Running, down corridors through, automatic doors
Got to get to you, got to see this through
I see hope is here, in a plastic box
I've seen christmas lights, reflect in your eyes

You got wires, going in
You got wires, coming out of your skin
There's dry blood, on your wrist
Your dry blood on my fingertip

Running, down corridoors through, automatic doors
Got to get to you, got to see this through
First night of your life, curled up on your own
Looking at you now, you would never know

I see it in your eyes, I see it in your eyes
You'll be alright
I see it in your eyes, I see it in your eyes
You'll be alright

Alright

Running, down corridors through, automatic doors
Got to get to you, got to see this through
I see hope is here, in a plastic box
I've seen christmas lights, reflect in your eyes
down corridors, through automatic doors
Got to get to you, got to see this through
First night of your life, curled up on your own
Looking at you now, you would never know. 

Lyrics for 1st choice: Better together- Jack Johnson

[Verse 1:]
There's no combination of words
I could put on the back of a postcard,
No song that I could sing
But I can try for your heart,
Our dreams, and they are made out of real things,
Like a shoebox of photographs,
With sepiatone loving,
Love is the answer
At least for most of the questions in my heart ,
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy,
And sometimes life can be deceiving,
I'll tell you one thing, its always better when we're together

[Chorus:]
MMM, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together

[Verse 2:]
And all of these moments
Just might find their way into my dreams tonight
But I know that they'll be gone,
When the morning light sings
And brings new things,
But tomorrow night you see
That they'll be gone too,
Too many things I have to do,
But if all of these dreams might find their way
Into my day to day scene
I'll be under the impression,
I was somewhere in-between
With only two,
Just me and you
Not so many things we got to do,
Or places we got to be
We'll sit beneath the mango tree now

Yeah, it's always better when we're together
MMM, We're somewhere in-between together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together

MmMMmm MmMMm MmMMm
I believe in memories
They look so, so pretty when I sleep
Hey now, and when, I wake up,
You look so pretty sleeping next to me
But there is not enough time,
And there is no, no song I could sing
And there is no combination of words I could say
But I will still tell you one thing,
We're better together

Analysis of Kesha's music video - Your love is my drug

We were given a task in lesson to analysis a music video of our choice in pairs and then present our ideas to the class. My partner and I chose Kesha's - your love is my drug; below is the music video and points we developed. 

• Shot types: starts with a close up, point of view shots, long shots to show the settings, close ups of animals to show she's in a different country, shot of her legs to show she's walking to the point ( this helps it to flow) and is common in most music videos.
• She's wearing a mask to show she's part of the environment.
• She points at the camera to interact with the audience.
• When she sings your love is my drug the bug eye effect comes up to symbolise a feeling of being high.
• Camera movement: tracks in a close up to show surroundings. 
• The bright colours and animals make the music video interesting and make the audience continue watching.
• Intertextuality is also used, the audience can relate to the music video even more if they have been high.
• Point of view shot is used a lot in order to make the audience involved with the narrative.
• A lot of jump cuts which is common in music videos.
• Kesha and the camera move a lot from rocks to animals. A lot of space is used.
• The outfits represent the hippie style of life which also connects to the lyrics. Hippies are also known for getting high which links with the name of the song.
• The cartoon effects relates to the hippies again and the sense of being high, this symbolises the relationship between visuals and lyrics.
• The turning into cartoons to represent invincibility and again being high.
• The star transition to go from cartoon back to real life.
• Cartoons link with jolly music, she's swimming like a mermaid to show how happy she is and to symbolise the sense of freedom.
• The sunset is romantic, connects the two characters.
• The glowing neon paint relates with the landscape and looks tribal. Also multicoloured represents hippie and how happy she is.

History of MTV- Music television

The rise of MTV started from 1981-2003 where rapid growth was achieved. MTV is the oldest and most influential American cable network specialised in music. It was launched on August 1, 1981 where there was an introduction followed by a video clip of the song "video killed the radio star"- Buggles. MTV became a major presence in the TV industry and in the overall American cultural landscape. MTV was established by Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment Company after extensive marketing research. The key of MTV's viability, was the availability of low cost programming in the form of music videos. Originally these were provided free by record companies, because they thought of them as advertising for their records and performers. 


MTV presented one video after another in a constant flow that contrasted with the discrete individual programs found on other television networks. MTV was like top 40 radio where the clips were repeated from time to time according to a rotational schedule. It soon became apparent that MTV could break a recording act, just as radio had done for decades. A music video is a brief television segment, usually shot on film but intended to be shown only on a TV. The foundation of a video clip is the soundtrack, which is the recording of the song and the sale of which is promoted by the video. In some cases, other material such as sound effects or introductory dialogue may also appear on the soundtrack. The acting in a concept video is usually done but the artists although in some cases the video cuts away from the band to actors who act out a drama inspired by the lyrics. This is some of the displaced musical content of MTV, especially soft rock, has landed on VH1 which is a second video channel owned by MTV. Launched in 1985, VH1 quickly acquired a bad reputation. Otherwise, the channel has had an indistinct image and has languished in the shadow of MTV. By 1994 VH1 was playing slightly harder music and breaking recording artists.


MTV and VH1 are by far the most important outlets for music video programming in the United States. Many competing services have fallen by the wayside, while BET, CMT and TNN are probably the most important survivors as of 1995. These networks specialise in black programming and country and western, which means that they compete only in a limited way with MTV and VH1. Music video and MTV are major ingredients of television programming internationally. MTV Europe, launched in 1987, was followed by an asian service in 1991 and MTV Latino in 1993. VH1 seems poised to follow a similar course, having established a European service in 1994. Both economically and aesthetically, MTV has wrought major changes in the entertainment industries. By combining music with television in a new way, MTV has charted a path for both industries into a future of postmodern synergy.


Below is the link to MTV's official UK website
http://www.mtv.co.uk/videos?s_cid=161&gclid=CLeA6t2WkKwCFUUOfAod0H9GnA

This video is the opening of MTV's first ever broadcast: 

Star Image - Referring to the 3 theorists

Stars are a phenomenon of consumption in that they are a result of our modern culture of consumerism. Consumerism is the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods. Stars can be seen as both ordinary and special, their behaviours are mimicked and lifestyles desired, they seem to have become more influential. Star image is created out of promotion, publicity, body of work and criticism/comments. What most people wonder are if stars are good or rebellious, and if we can categorize them by image rather than by genre or label. However, some stars have multiple images- e.g Madonna, Kylie and Lady Gaga. The author of the star can be individual, multiple- where many authors can be seen in one piece of work, collective- the author is the sum of a team's work, or corporate- where the author is actually the company/business/institutional structure. 


Andrew Goodwin:      


Andrew Goodwin suggested that in order for the audience to identify with the artist, the stars identity has to be created, especially when lyrics lack depth. The construction of stars is central to the economics of the music industry as only the star themselves gurantee a long career. Andrew Goodwin also believes that star loyalty is a key ingredient as fans are loyal to the star, so the star had to be loyal to the fans. He also suggested that many recird companies rely on a few big stars or maybe even just one, in order to be stable, therefore record companies are very dependent on stars and the image they portray. 


Richard Dyer: 

The existence of musical stars has led to a related phenomenon which are the fans and how they are the result of our modern culture of consumerism. He suggested that there are 4 types of relationships that fans have with their star:

1. Emotional Affinity- This is the most common, and is when the audience feels a loose attachment to the artist.
2. Self Identification- When a member of the audience places themselves in the same situation and persona of the star.
3. Imitation- This is mostly common among the young, when the star is seen as a role model.
4. Projection- This is the next level of imitation when it becomes extreme. This is when the fans behaviour, clothes, hairstyles etc are mimicking the star.

Richard Griffith: 

Richard suggests that stardom is food for dreams and has escapist qualities. He believes that it is all about consumption and the way the wealthy show off the fact that they have money. Stars are considered as both ordinary and special, especially when their behaviours are modeled and their lifestyles desired. He believes that stars sell a lifestyle we think is ordinary and achievable, even though its not.