Blog 3

Vernallis discusses several different modes of storytelling inherent in music videos, mainly outlining the different effects of narrative and non-narrative videos. She describes the primary objective of music videos, where they generally underscore the music, highlight the lyrics and showcase the star. In the case of narrative-based music videos, a balance should be struck between the story unfolding on the screen and the original story in the song to avoid the music “hide” into the background. For example, Michael Jackson’s Thriller is a 14-minute music video with Zombie dance and songs. It’s also a typical narrative style video.

However, the narrative function of a music video does not often reflect that of a classic Hollywood film, wherein narrative planks allow audiences to construct expectations and predictions. Instead, music videos produce vaguer and fluid temporality within the narrative, which is not necessarily presented as a cohesive whole but instead demands a relationship with the lyrical and sonic aspects of the music itself.

Non-narrative music videos tend to reflect this idea to an even further extent.  Vernallis proposes that “each shot possesses its truth value” and can be understood in its own right. But because of the length of music, music videos tend to follow the conventions of commercials or film trailers rather than films or television shows: they need to express their intention in a limited amount of time and to a gripping effect.

According to Cescca (2014), Douglas Rushkoff states ‘Most rock videos do not aspire to tell stories with beginnings, middles and ends, but instead impart meaning through visual collage’ and that ‘No attempt is made to convey reality. Instead, videos are liberated into a timeless dream world’. Unlike classic Hollywood cinema, generally “demands attention at every instant” and as such should not depend on what is to happen next, but rather what is happening at each specific moment. It is with this in mind that we can understand music videos as a unique mode of storytelling, both restricted and unbounded by its limitations and stimulus.

References:

Cescca 2014, “Narrative structure of music video”, SCRIBD, updated 24 Sep 2014, viewed 12 Nov 2019, < https://www.scribd.com/document/240792231/Narrative-Structure-of-Music-Videos>

Vernallis, C 2004, “Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context”, Columbia university press, pp 3-26

Blog 2

I think a very effective music video is Beyoncé’s Formation. When I first watched the video, I was shocked by the power of the video. The lyrics of the song contain sharp political criticism, described by the Los Angeles Times as “a statement of the radical black initiative.”. Also, the lyrics are full of power and pride, and the content of MV also echoes the lyrics.

“Formation” was shot in Los Angeles, California, and it features references to Hurricane Katrina, antebellum and Louisiana Creole culture, police brutality, racism and black pride. This music video has won many awards like the best music video, the best photography, the best editor, the best choreographer, and so on. Besides, the director spent hours on the Internet browsing books about history at that time for video creation and looking for images that could resonate. For example, in the opening scene, Beyoncé sits in a police car in the river; At the end, Beyoncé and the police car slowly inundated. And this reflects the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This visual effect is very bold and can drive the audience’s mood so that the audience can feel the situation at that time.

In this music video, the director carefully creates the core concept of the entire MV through choreography, scenes and costumes. Singer wears an elegant full dress to show women’s strength and confidence. It can also see from the various hairstyles, and facial features display by the dancers that the song calls on the audience to accept the diversity of people(Hartmann, J 2017). In the music video, a large number of the close-up shot and long shot make the actors more powerful, more provocative, and more in line with the meaning of the song itself. This music video combines music, lyrics, performances, dance actions, costumes and scenes to achieve a strong visual impact so that the audience can feel the feminism and racism that the singer wants to express.

With the release of songs and music videos, various publications published reflections on songs and the current stage of racial relations in the United States. At the same time, the Islamic minister also mentioned supporting the female singer in his publication. The theme of the video has aroused people’s sensation and resonance, which is the goal and achievement of this music video. Although the music video only uses a simple continuity editing technique, the director combines the mise-en-scene with the song itself appropriately, which shows the symbolic meaning of the song itself.

Reference:
Hartmann, J 2017, “Sound, Vision, and Embodied Performativity in Beyoncé Knowles’ Visual Album Lemonade (2016)”, European Journal of American studies, DOI: 10.4000/ejas.12415 ISSN: 1991-9336, <https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12415>

Blog 1

Why did you enrol in this studio? What would you like to learn about? What would you like to achieve?

One of the small reasons I signed up for this course is my friend’s recommendation. She thought the course was exciting and gave them the chance to create unlimited imagination. Besides, another important reason is that my love for music made me choose egg hunting. To exaggerate, I can’t live without music. I like different kinds of music, such as pop music, electronic music, jazz music. I think the melody of music is the most important because it establishes the style of the whole song. With the right lyrics, the song has a soul. But a complete music work is indispensable to show via video.

From the development of the music video, my understanding and attitude towards songs seem to be changing. In the past, many footages or images usually came to my mind when I listened to music. Those are my understanding of that song. But when I watched the music video, it’s fantastic when all the footages and images come true and are recorded with a camera, and even if it’s different from what I imagined. It gave me a new way to think about the song.

I dedicate to exploring the relationship between music and video, and I think the relationship between them is complementary. So, when I have the opportunity to make a full professional music video, it’s fascinating. Also, compare with shooting, my editing skill is weak. I hope that in the whole process, I can learn and try various styles of editing skills. What I want to achieve from this task is to make a music video full of creativity and even odd. And further mining the association between video and audio, so that the audience can experience music through these two forms.