Conventions of a music video

 

Music video director - David Fincher

David Fincher (born on the 28^th August, 1962) is an American film director, film producer and music video director. He first began producing films in 1983 after the release of his first animation film ‘Twice Upon a Time’ and was later hired by the American motion picture visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic where he worked on productions for several films including Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  Fincher later joined the video-production company Propaganda Films where he began to direct music videos and television commercials. He then went on to work with many top-selling recording artists including Madonna, George Michael and The Rolling Stones.

Throughout his music career, he received numerous awards including two Grammy Awards for ‘Best Music Video’ for his work in The Rolling Stone’s music video ‘Love Is Strong’ and Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z’s number one hit ‘Suit &Tie’. In 1989, he received three MTV Video Music Awards for ‘Best Direction’ being one of the most awarded directors in the category, alongside fellow director Spike Jonze.  His video ‘The End of the Innocence’ for American singer Don Henley won MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video in 1990.

Below is a full list of David Fincher’s videography:

Year	Artist	Song Title
1984	Rick Springfield	‘Dance This World Away’
1985	The Motels	‘Shame’
1987	Wire Train	‘She Comes On’
	Patty Smith	‘Downtown Train’
1988	Ry Cooder	‘Get Rhythm’
1989	Paula Abdul	‘Forever Your Girl
	Madonna	‘Express Yourself’
1990	Madonna	‘Vogue’
	Billy Idol	‘Cradle of Love’
	George Michael	‘Freedom 90’
1992	Michael Jackson	‘Who Is It?’
1993	Madonna	‘Bad Girl’
1994	The Rolling Stones	‘Love Is Strong’
1996	The Wallflowers	‘6th Avenue Heartache’
2000	A Perfect Circle	‘Judith’
2005	Nine Inch Nails	‘Only’
2013	Justin Timberlake and Jay-z	‘Suit & Tie’

The history of music videos

 

 

 

I found this task to be very useful as it helped me gain a better understanding of the history of music videos. This task also helped me to increase my knowledge of how music videos began and how they have developed through time with the advances of high-quality technology. For example, in 1967 a series of techniques including reversed film, slow motion, dramatic lighting and a range of unusual camera angles was used for the Beatles video clips in 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Penny Lane'.  I also found it  interesting when exploring the different artists who made an impact in the music industry. The Buggles are a prime example of this being the first band to present their music video on the American video channel 'MTV'. Other stars include Michael Jackson and Madonna who were both shown to have two of the most expensive music videos in history.  I believe this task has helped me expand my knowledge which will hopefully help in the future whilst carrying out my research. I also created a timeline featuring key events relating to the history of music videos.   To see an enlarged version click the centre of the image.

 

Production diary 27/07/14

The past week I have been busy focusing on the planning stage of my music video.  I recently completed a moodboard of my ideas I intend to incorporate in my final music video. I included details similar to Rhianna's music video 'What Now' which features her dancing to the music followed by static and distort camera effects portraying a different side of her. I also included images from other music videos including One Republic - 'Counting Stars' as I want my video to be primarily performance-based. This week, I also made a video montage of different clips taken from a selection of professional music videos to give me more ideas. I believe this will really help me when completing my storyboard and shot list as I will be able to pick out ideas from previous music videos to make my music video to a high standard. 

As the Summer holidays are approaching I intend to utilize my time and focus on the research tasks of this project as I have spent a lot of time this term on the planning process of my music video and very little researching.  I will start by looking at the history of music videos.

Music video montage

After receiving constructive criticism from my teacher following my initial planning ideas I decided to create a montage of different clips taken from a selection of professional music videos which I believe will be relevant for my style of music video. I used a range of different clips including:

Adele - 'Rolling in the Deep'

Beyonce - 'Love on Top'

Christina Perri - 'Jar of Hearts'

Emeli Sande - 'Next to Me'

Jessie J - 'Thunder'

One Republic - 'Counting Stars'

Rhianna - 'What Now'

Ruth Lorenzo - 'Dancing in the Rain'

 Looking back at other music video's I believe is really helpful in the planning process of my music video. I really like the idea of including rain in my music video which would tie in which the lyrics of the song 'Thunder' if I proceed to use this song for my music video. The video 'Dancing in the Rain' by Ruth Lorenzo conveys a couple dancing in the rain which I really like as it suites the theme of a performance based music video. I also like how in the music video 'Jar of Heart's' by Christina Perri, she has used hearts as they appear to be falling from the sky. I will consider these ideas for my final music video.

Initial Moodboard

This is a mood board I made displaying the different images I hope to involve in my music video. After looking at a selection of different music videos, I quite like the idea of having a performance based music video like Rhianna's music video 'What Now'. The video features Rhianna dancing to the music followed by static and distort camera effects portraying a different side of her. The lyrics of the song convey her change in mood as she expresses her feelings of grief and sadness. The music video also includes themes of horror as the lyrics suggest she is being watched as the visuals of the music video change as she appears to look into a mirror - she sees her empty self while something more sinister is watching her without her knowing it. I want to include themes of 'darkness' in my own music video which I will replicate through the artists make-up. The artist in my music video will wear dark and heavy make-up including bold, red lipstick and thick black eye-liner which will appeal to my audience of both men and women cohering to Laura Mulvey's theory the 'Male Gaze'.  As the music video will be performance based I will also include scenes in the drama studio at School and maybe a warehouse alike in the music video One Republic - 'Counting stars'. 

Production Diary 15/07/14

   

After starting this project, I really like the idea of doing a performance based music video. I have looked at a selection of different music videos from a variety of different genres to help me construct my ideas. I really like the idea of Rhianna's music video 'What Now' as well as Jessie J's video 'Thunder'. I believe this will be quite a hard task as these videos are been professionally produced and involve specialist equipment which will limit the quality of my video.