At the complete polar opposite end of the scale, Universal Music Group (UMG) is the largest record label in the world. Owned by media conglomerate Vivendi, it is the largest (in terms of revenue, market share and operations) of all of the 'big three' labels, and just this week (November 2011) bought ownership of EMI (who previously formed the 'big four'). Formed in 1934, it was originally the music company linked to film studio Univseral Pictures. Controlling interest was bought in 1952 by Decca Records, who were then bought ten years later in 1962 by MCA. Over the next thirty years, MCA (and soon-to-be-linked Polygram) acquired controlling ownership of many other small record labels, including ABC, Chess, Dunhill and Geffen.
In 1995, Seagram bought 80% of MCA Inc, and Polygram in 1998. With that, Seagram merged MCA and Polygram, renaming the newly combined music division Universal Music Group. Over the following fifteen years, UMG's market share rose steadily as it acquired more divisions of smaller labels, growing into the industrial powerhouse we know today. It also has joint ownership of music video service Vevo with two other 'big' major labels, which aims to attract more high-end advertisers. However, some users claim that UMG is using the service simply so it can abuse the DMCA to remove copywritten content from unauthorised (yet harmless) sources.
UMG, within its many divisions, caters for a great number of artists from many genres, all with one thing in common: consumerability. Above everything, it is a profit based organisation, focusing on music as a commodity than an art. It is for this reason that although it may promote some of the greatest artists alive, the label will never have the same heart, soul and passion you'd find in a hard working, music-loving indie label.
Music videos by UMG artists tend to have much higher production values, often with budgets comparable to small Hollywood films. Many of the industry's most famous music video directors are hired to work with these artist, and the videos can become famous in their own right, not just due to their associated song, such as Coldplay's reverse-narrative in the video for 'The Scientist' (bottom).
This week, we narrowed down our shortlist of bands to a handful of artists, from each of whom we selected a handful of lesser famous (non-single) album tracks (which didn't already have a music video). This was our final selection:
Jamie T - Ike and Turner
We chose this song because musically, in terms of texture, style and tempo, it is very straightforward without being too predictable and dull. It also provides a 'blank canvas' onto which we can project any of a variety of ideas. By choosing a rapper, we can focus on the lyricist's performance, and have the option of ignoring conventional rock-band sequences (ie of guitarists/drummers etc), which will give us a lot more time to edit together more creative sequences. This also gives a lot of focus onto the lyrics, which gives us plenty of cues from which we could splinter and channel into the visuals - either direct narrative, thematically, subtext, lyrical references, or alternative interpretations; or not at all - in turn giving the video a strong link to the lyrics.
Ultimately, I am excited by our song choice because it finally presents a landscape for our creativity.
Due to perhaps an over-open-mindedness, coupled with a shared variety of music tastes within our group, deciding on a song was harder than we first thought. This, however, was our own tendency to reject almost anything, assuming that at one point something special, an idea or an image, would jump out and possess us to choose the song. In waiting for this moment, we overlooked many great songs and bands I would've been happy to work with.
Here is a compiled list of all the bands we considered but ultimately (or immediately) rejected:
We began by quickly creating a slightly disjunctive narrative idea for the Little Red Riding Hood brief given to us, and sketched out a full storyboard. We then removed roughly half of the frames at random, creating a fragmented narrative with lots of space for other shots, such as cutaways or other elements. This slightly montage-esque technique, with some elements of narration and a chaotic (on paper at least) storytelling style is extremely conventional for a generic music video.
However, we noted that not all music videos go along with these conventions, such as the all-performance videos that are all performance, or videos that present a Hollywood continuity-style narrative film
Finally, we chose four frames out of these, which we then storyboarded in more detail to discover the actual number of different shots we would need to have filmed if we were doing this for a real video. This was an eye-opening experience for me as to the amount of footage we will need to shoot if only for a single second of video, let alone the whole thing. This exercise also taught me much about the types of shot used in conventional music videos and the way that a narrative idea can be presented in a fragmented fashion to create enigma and sustain interest, compared out work last year with conventional dramatic narrative storytelling in films using continuity editing techniques.
Application of Goodwin’s Theory to a MV of my choice:
‘Can’t Stop’ by Red Hot Chili Peppers
(Dir. Mark Romanek, 2003)
Funk-rock band The Red Hot Chili Peppers have, over their twenty-eight year history, defied the limitations of their genre to become an award winning, internationally recognised band. ‘Can’t Stop’ comes from their eighth studio album ‘By The Way’, and has features a unique surreal style that would later become the inspiration for a plethora of abstract low-budget music videos by indie bands in the ‘YouTube era’.
Unlike other music videos, there is almost no relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. Besides a few of singer Anthony Kiedis’ dance moves (for example, the line “complete the motion if you stumble”) and a couple of other oblique visual references (“your image in the dictionary” is accompanied by a passport-style close-up of bassist Flea), the visual style is largely abstracted from the song.
The video itself was inspired by an exhibition by Austrian artist/sculptures Erwin Wurm. Entitled “One-Minute Sculptures”, it comprised of a series of spontaneous and humourous images, often created from everyday objects in the mise-en-scene. The director is unashamed by translating his influences so directly into the video, and the final frame serves as a tribute to the artist from whom the ideas were taken. The video is also shot entirely in one large, cavernous empty space, and most shots are ‘blank’ with empty, white frames usually except one key colourful object in the frieze, giving the video a very bright, clear, colourful and modern visual style, which imitates the idea of these events taking place in a modern art gallery.
As such, ‘Can’t Stop’ is comprised of a montage of increasingly bizarre and abstract vignettes, featuring members of the band using everyday props to create memorable ‘sculptures’ forming the main concept of the video. However, that is not to say the visuals do not amplify the song. Despite the images themselves being random, the camerawork and editing are used to emphasise certain elements of the song. The sharp riff and funk-based slap bassline are highlighted by the strictly on-beat and fast paced editing. The editing pace also follows loosely the musical texture and rhythm for each section of the song, such as the slower middle eight or the intense guitar solo, creating a synaesthetic bridge between the music, the visual images shown and the way in which they are edited together.
Aside from the ‘sculptures’, the rest of the video comprises of band performance on a small, clear stage. The camerawork, shots, and editing style here is very conventional for a rock band’s performance, with fast cuts and a range of shot angles and distances, including lots of close-ups of the performers and their instruments. Similarly, the motif of star image, although not as prominent as in other music genres, is also featured here. There are many more close-ups of Kiedis as frontman than any of the other band members, especially focusing on his personality represented through flamboyant and erratic dancing rather than musical talent. The video also continues the construction of the band’s visual style as a quirky funk-rock band. They typically perform shirtless live, and their abstract lyrical content and idiosyncratic approach to music is fully represented here. However, a voyeuristic approach can be taken to Kiedis' nude torso, in objectifiying his body through the viewer's "controlling gaze" (see post on voyeurism), emphasising a sexual treatment of the star. Despite this, due to the genre of music and its associated music video styles, and taking into account the way the band has constructed its image over the years, it is logical to conclude that any voyeuristic pleasures gained from watching this video were not a primary motive behind any creative decisions during the production of this music video.
On the other hand, in this music video, there are copious references to the notion of ‘looking’. It begins with a “down the rabbit hole” tracking shot through a plastic tunnel, inviting the audience into the absurd world of the video, and the band. This is referenced in a few later vignettes. A key cutaway featured repeatedly is a close-up of Kiedis singing into a convex mirror, breaking the fourth wall to stare directly at his audience; an inherently scopophilic shot.
Ultimately, by disregarding narrative and instead exploring a unique art-based concept, supported by conventional band-based performance, Romanek manages to create a cohesive yet simultaneously abstract, absolutely memorable music video.
"Where a text alludes to, or references, another text."
Music Videos are often described as postmodern. They draw broadly upon existing texts (from TV, cinema, theatre etc, video games, costumes, fashion, art, photography, even history, etc) to inspire ideas or create new twists, and also to spark recognition in the audience. Some music videos can therefore be seen as a mosaic of references to other texts, genres, and discourses. Some audiences will miss the reference, but it will not necessarily detract from their viewing pleasure. However, it is argued that greater pleasure is drawn when audience feel flattered when they 'get' the reference. Intertextual references may also be presented as parodies: humourous, satirical, mocking or playful references.
The notion of intertextuality was introduced by Julia Kristeva, who argued against the concept of a text as an isolated entity which operates within a self-contained manner, stating that "any text is the absorption and transformation of another".
Examples:
Blur - The Universal
This music video replicates the costumes and settings used in 'A Clockwork Orange'
30 Seconds to Mars - The Kill
The band pays homage to 'The Shining', recreating some of its most famous scenes.
Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love
One of the most famous references to fashion photography. Imitated by Shania Twain's ‘Man I feel like a woman’
R.E.M. - Bad Day
Rather than referencing a particular television show or film, the band imitates a news broadcast
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
Referencing a videogame style popularised by games like Grand Theft Auto.
These are only a select few examples, representing the diversity of intertextual references found in music videos.
Roland Barthes: 'Grain of Voice'
This sees the singing voice as an instrument of expression, unique to the singer. This may even hold trademarks which tie in to the star image, such as Michael Jackson's yelp, Tom Waits' growl, or Liam Gallagher's nasal whine. This can be seen to dominate the performance, separating the song and making it unique. The importance of the singer's vocal 'grain' must therefore also be represented through the visual style of the video.
Synaesthesia
This is the psychological process of visualising images from sounds. This idea is central to understanding or creating music videos, helping to connect with audiences and providing additional pleasure. For this,the grain of voice combines with all elements of the music (from instrumentation, texture, tempo, strucutre, mix, effects and everything else) to create visual associations. These may come from our shared sense of cultural history, intertextual references, or more personal, individual responses.
Genre-defining shoegaze band My Bloody Valentine provide an excellent portrait for the idea of synaesthesia. Their dreaming, swirling, wall-of-noise soundscape is visualised in an extremely literal way in their video for 'To Here Knows When':
Voyeurism
A Freudian idea that explains the gendered pleasures of cinema, referring to the idea of looking in order to gain sexual pleasure. It has been argued that the male viewers' gaze at the screen is geared to notions of voyeurism in that it is a powerful controlling gaze at the objectified female on display. In music videos, the female on display has become a staple element, particularly in female commercial pop and modern rap genres.
Goodwin on Voyeurism
He argues that the female performer will frequently be objectified in this fashion, through a combination of camerawork (eg tilts, close ups) and editing, with fragmented body shots emphasising a sexualised treatment of the star.
This is not just limited to female performers: in male performance videos too, the idea of voyeuristic treatment of the female body is often apparent with the use of dancers as adornments flattering the male star ego.
Laura Mulvey
Mulvey argues that there are three forms of 'looking': camera to characters, between characters on screen, and the audience looking at the screen. All of these presuppose a male audience with a voyeuristic purpose; the 'controlling gaze'. She asks if woman learn to be looked at through the construct of music videos.
The Male Body
However, there is also evidence of a 'post-feminism equality' in music videos, where male bodies are also used to elicit a scopophilic pleasure.
Controlling Female Artists
That is not to say that all female popstars have their bodies used for promotion and pleasure. Some are more complex, being simultaneously sexually provocative and also in complete control and power. Similarly, some show almost no evidence of any desire to evoke any voyeuristic pleasure, focusing more on the music than the star. These situations offer a discussion on the range of experiences of music videos and the contradictory conventions and meanings displayed.
