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  • HOME
  • YEAR 12
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  • THEORY ZONE
    • FULL BOOKLETS
    • GENERAL GUIDES
    • OCR THEORY GUIDES
    • VIRTUAL ROOMS
    • THE MEDIA STOP
  • PRE A-LEVEL
    • A-LEVEL TASTER
    • NEWS
    • MUSIC VIDEOS
    • ADVERTISING
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  • TOPICS
    • COURSEWORK
    • RADIO ONE
    • JUNGLE BOOK
    • MUSIC VIDEO
    • BIG ISSUE
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    • MINECRAFT
    • NEWS
    • TV DRAMA >
      • STRANGER THINGS
      • DEUTSCHLAND83

 MUSIC VIDEO

music video sample exam questions


  1. Explain how representations in music videos are chosen to promote the artist(s). Refer to one of the music videos you have studied to support your answer. [15]
  2. “Music videos reflect the cultural context in which they were made.” 
Discuss this statement through a comparison of the two music videos you have studied: one music video from List A and one music video from List B. 
[15] 

  3. "Music videos create a mood rather than tell a story."  To what extent is this true of the two music videos you have studied? [15]
  4. How important is location in the music videos you have studied? [15]
  5. How does the language (mise en scene, camerawork, VFX and editing) of the music videos you have studied  help to communicate its message and mood? [15]
music videos (MTV) background workbook.pdf
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music video revision pdf version
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music video revision.pptx
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music video question bank - this should form the basis of all your independent work

MUSIC VIDEO QUESTION BANK
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Here is a very basic starting point for music video analysis
Full URL: 
http://www.understandmedia.com/topics/media-theory/143-how-to-analyze-a-music-video

​
The purpose of music videos is to: 
  • help to sell and promote  the song, artist, band, brand, film, live tour
  • make the lyrics more memorable
  • give directors and cinematographers the chance to experiment and try out ideas (Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, David Fincher)
  • provide content for global music channels such as MTV
  • reinforce the traditional the link between music and visual imagery
  • to help artists project a 'star persona' identity. Also helps artists to reinvent themselves and take on new media identities. 

Activity 1
Intro to music video- connotation - study the Dexter opening title sequence
and write down the object and actions you see. Dexter is about a forensic detective who is also a serial killer.  Then write down the connotations of each action/ object and how this secondary symbolic meaning is conveyed to the audience. In doing this task you are exploring some of the ideas of Roland Barthes on symbolic codes. The text is a partnership between audience and producer. 
​
Homework suggestion

Choose a music video, make notes and be ready to present it showing how it illustrates some of the general concepts we have been learning about.
music video analysis grid.docx
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music vids reviews grid activity.pdf
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music video resources.pdf
File Size: 220 kb
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 Activity 2
Watch these 3 TRC YouTubes about Music Videos and explain them with your own examples, using an MV of your choice.
For OCR, you don't need to know the theorists mentioned in the Youtubes below. Just note down the general ideas. You are also welcome to challenge and question.
TRC Media Studies video on Music Video codes and conventions
​
TRC Media Studies video on representations in Music Videos           WORKSHEET
TRC Media Studies video on Textual Analysis of Music Videos            WORKSHEET

​Activity 3 (apply what we have done so far) MUSIC VIDEO LIST A
Watch ‘Stop Where Your Are’ by Corinne Bailey Rae
1) What is the song about?
2) Make careful notes on the grid sheet.
3) What theories could you apply in an A-Level essay?
4) Essay – about 350 words. What is the message of ‘Stop Where You Are? How do the forms language codes & conventions help to convey this message?


Extra reading: Read the article below and make notes - how have past events shaped Corinne Bailey Rae's attitudes and creative output?
​www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/corinne-bailey-rae-i-didnt-want-to-do-anything-after-my-husband-died-1882248.html
Activity 4
'Stop Where You Are' : Study the socio-political contexts sheet. 
Write at least 300 words on how the technical codes and conventions of the video, including mise en scene, help to highlight some of the issues around socio-economic and cultural contexts. 

Activity 5
Study David Guetta's 'Titanium' and fill in a video analysis grid.

Activity 6
Discuss the roles of genre,  narrative and intertextuality in 'Titanium'

Activity 7
​Music video: Do the following in groups 
make notes on how following apply to Titanium & Stop Where You Are. then write 100-120 words of continuous prose. 
Representations and Meanings
Promotion of the artist/band;
Contemporary Context
________________________________
 

​MUSIC VIDEO EXTRA QUESTIONS  & DISCUSSION POINTS
  1. Present and discuss a music video of your choice. Refer to as many media concepts and terminology as possible.
  2. Discuss the importance of camerawork, editing and mise en scene in a music video from List A and one from List B (Stop Where You Are & Titanium)
  3. Explain how representations in a music video are constructed to promote the artist.
  4. 'Music videos reflect the cultural context in which they are made'. Discuss by comparing one video from list A and one from List B.
  5. 'Music videos tend to suggest a mood rather than tell a story.' Discuss by comparing one video from list A and one from List B.
  6. 'Music videos break all the rules of conventional film-making.' Discuss by comparing one video from list A and one from List B
  7. 'Music videos are obsessed by representations of outsiders  and misfits.' Discuss, referring to two music videos you have seen.
  8. 'The characters in music videos are stereotypes rather than real people.' Discuss, referring to at least two music videos.
  9. Discuss the importance of location in the two music videos you have studied from list A and B.
  10. To what extent do the music videos you have studied give prominence to the following aspects: intertextuality; performance; narrative; production design; cinematography; animation and CGI.
  11. How important is intertextuality in the MV's you have studied?
  12. In what ways are the music videos you have studied postmodern?
  13. **Consider some of the theories you have come across in the context of the music videos you have studied. How helpful are these academic approaches? Among others, you could discuss Dyer, Berger, Mulvey, Neale, Gauntlett, Baudrillard,Todorov. 
 


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corinne bailey rae lyrics & notes.pdf
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Rae_socio-polit context.pdf
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titanium notes.pdf
File Size: 140 kb
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EXTRAS & INDEPENDENT WORK

​ WRECKING BALL - Extra Music video task REMEMBER: THIS VIDEO IS NOT ON THE SET LIST
Study the Miley Cyrus 'Wrecking Ball' video and notes then do your own.   
Analyze a music video of your choice – answer the following questions – do a Powerpoint. If it passes our 'peer & teacher review' quality test you can upload it to Slideshare. I or 2 slides per section + screenshots. Try to cover as many areas as you can in each section.
 
1) Institution – information about the director? The success of the video? Cost? Where was it filmed? Studio or real locations? Is the year/ period when it was released important? Does the video reflect the Zeitgeist ('spirit of the time' : cultural, economic, social political landscape in some way?)  To what extent does the video promote the artist or the song in a unique or distinctive way? ​
 
2) Ideology – Themes? Is there a message in the song? Think about the lyrics. Is the message echoed is the visuals/representations/ genre/ narrative? How?
 
3) Narrative – does the video tell a story?  What is the story?  Or is it just about performance and style?
Todorov – 3 part structure? Propp's character archetypes? Can you find evidence of binary opposites (Claude Levi-Straus)?
 
4) Genre- do the visuals link to a particular genre? Sci-Fi, horror, cowboy western, film noir etc? Are there intertextual aspects?
 
5) Representation – think about the places, locations, mood/atmosphere & people – how are they constructed and why?  make a connection with Berger and Mulvey.  Are there links with Judith Butler and Lisbet Van Zoonen?  Mise en scene – realistic or stylized? Real life or fantasy? Clothes & make-up what do they sat about the artist? Stereotypes? Iconography? Props & visual signifiers- denotation & connotation (Roland Barthes). Think about signification = the process of constructing meaning. 
 
6) Language form codes and conventions – comment on camerawork, editing (pace/ rhythm), special effects and sound (diegetic/non diegetic; use of sound FX and ambient sound) . How do they work together? How do the visuals tie in with the song's lyrics?
 
7) Audience- who is the target audience? Male /female/ children teenagers young adults?  – how is the audience engaged and encouraged to continue to keep watching? Use of enigma codes? (How) do the representations match audience tastes, fashions and character? Think about GEARS & MARS=Mainstreamers Aspirers reformers Succeeders – (This is part of the Y&R 4Cs Model)
wrecking ball.pdf
File Size: 458 kb
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ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSIC VIDEOS EVER MADE:

VIDEOS CHOSEN BY YOU. ALL ARE WORTHY OF FURTHER STUDY & ANALYSIS
Stormzy: Blinded By Your Grace
Ariana Grande: God is a Woman
Sia: Cheap Thrills 
Shaun Mendes: Treat You Better
QUEER THEORY
Good slideshare here
Theorists: Judith Butler - Gender Trouble 
David Gauntlett
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