Cultural Effects Model & How It Applies To Music Video

The Cultural Effects Model states that if the same media messages are repeated often enough they will be accepted as fact but audience members can resist these messages. It also suggests that the audience are active and can 'decode' messages in media texts in a number of ways.

There can be different types of readings in The Cultural Effects Model : Dominant, negotiated and oppositional.
Dominant is when the viewer will view the music video and completely understand and absorb the message that the institution has placed in the video.
Negotiated is when the viewer watches the music video and understands the message of the video that the institution has places but might not agree with the message.
Oppositional is when the viewer watched the music video but decides not to view or absorb the message that the institution has put in the video.
We need to make our music video memorable all the while making it so that no one forgets the name of the song and the artist.

When we come to make our music video we will use The Cultural Effects Model to help us make the message of our music video good, we are going to make the message of our music video about how people can feel alone even when they are surrounded by lots of people who are having a good time, in our case at a party.

We Can't Stop - Miley Cyrus

Above is the music video for We Can't Stop by Miley Cyrus, in this video Miley is seen to be partying and dressed in very little clothing. Due to the fact Miley Cyrus is a child star with a large following of primarily under 18s, this video is seen to be very controversial as she is doing things and behaving in a way which would be seen to be inappropriate for an under 18. The audience watching this video, no matter how young will see the video and immediately think that what Miley is doing is unacceptable because she is seen to be a role model by most of her fans.

 

People who have a Dominant view of this video will look at the video and understand that the video is about her and all of her friends having a party and probably won't be able to see any issue with the video.

People who have a Negotiated view of the video will watch the video and be able to see the intended message which has been put in place by the institution but they will also be able to see how other people could find issues and things that are inappropriate with the video.

People who have an Oppositional view of this video will watch it and most likely miss-read the intended message of the institutions and see negative things with the video.   

When making our video, because we are doing along the route of throwing a party, we don't want our video to come out like this one, Miley's video could be seen as tacky, and focusing more on the behaviour in the video as opposed to the actual music and the song.

 

Lip Syncing & Its Importance

What is it?

Lip syncing is moving the lips in synchronisation with a recorded speech or song to give the illusion of a live performance. It is usually put in in the post production phase of a music video by combining the recorded piece of footage with the pre-recorded track. It is done by playing the song on set and have the artist or appropriate band member mime along to the section of words.

What is its importance?

Lip syncing is important in Music Videos as it is the main link between the video and the song, it very unusual that a video doesn't have any lip syncing in it as it is seen to be the main convention of a music video. Lip Syncing helps the audience understand what band member plays what role in the song and who the lead sing or singers are, it also makes the audience feel more included as they are essentially being sung at by the artist in the video. Also another main convention of music videos is performance, which usually can't be achieved without the use of lip syncing.

 The video above accompanies Lily Allen's song called 'Air Balloon', the video featured a great deal of lip syncing. It is obvious that she isn't singing live as she is in the middle of a field and isn't singing into a microphone, however on the set of the video the song would be playing out loud and she would be moving her lips along to the song to give the illusion that she is singing live.

Indepth Analysis of Video From Chosen Genre - Lana Del Rey

Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey

I have chosen to analysis this song as Lana Del Rey is an alternative artist, like the artist I have chosen to make a video for, and also because the video is similar to what we want to make and something we take inspiration from.

 

In terms of Goodwins Theory's on music videos, Young and Beautiful presents a lot of characteristics and really displays Goodwins Theory well.

 

Firstly, this video displays stereotypical genre characteristics of both the genre but also the artist, Del Rey is an alternative artist, and videos for this genre of music tend to be very mysterious and often very emotional and full of feeling as this is typically what music in this genre sounds like. The fact Del Rey has two tear drops on her face shows the emotion in the song, and also the use of an orchestra is not typical in any music video, this is done because Del Rey's video is alternative.

 

Secondly Del Rey is presenting a vague link between the lyrics and the visuals of her video, this is present when there is a shot of Del Rey in a long black dress with curly hair, some people viewing the video could say that she looks older than her age and is dressed slightly old fashioned, this shot has links to the lyrics 'When I'm no longer young and beautiful'. Links to this lyrics are also present when there are close ups of Del Rey as she looks youthful and young.

 

Like the link between lyrics and visuals there is a vague link between the visuals and the music, this can be seen when the orchestra are in shot. As the music lifts and build, so does the conductors body language and the rest of the people with instruments, although this is obviously going to happen as they are playing the music, it still aids in building the song and giving the audience more enjoyment by linking the music and visuals.

 

One of Goodwin's Theory points with regards to music videos is having multiple close ups of the artist in their video, this is very obvious and achieved in this video as for a long period of time at the start and also throughout the video, close up's of Del Rey lip syncing can be seen, this adds a performance aspect to the video which audiences and record labels alike also require or expect.

 

In this video there is no obvious attraction to the notion of how people look or dress, or any voyeuristic attitudes towards women. Due to the fact Del Rey is the only obvious female in the video, she gets the audience full attention, this is already going against what most music videos do where men are the central attraction. To even further the turn away from how women are typically represented in music videos, Del Rey is full clothed, not dancing or doing anything provocative, this will gain some of the audiences attention as this is something they might not expect to see when watching a female singer.

 

The song is featured in the film The Great Gatsby, although there are no clips of the film featured in this video, there are still underlying themes of the film present. Because the film is based in the 1920's the whole theme of the video and the people in it are dressed to suit a 1920's theme.

 

Class is represented slightly in the video as it is quite obvious the Del Rey is of an upper class as she is presented to the audience as someone with wealth and power by the fact she is wearing a large amount of diamond and nice dresses but also because she has an orchestra performing behind her and is centre stage despite being a female.

Indepth Analysis of Video From Chosen Genre - The XX

The XX - VCR



I have chosen to analysis this song as The XX are an alternative band, and this video for their song 'VCR' has similar themes to what we want to put into our video and also has some similar shots to what we want to put in our video as well. This music video also contains some theories which can be found in Goodwin's Theory of Music Videos.

 

Firstly, this video displays stereotypical genre characteristics of both the genre but also the artist, The XX are an alternative band, and their music and videos completely live up to and adhere to what is expected from this genre. Their music tends to be very mysterious and have a lot of hidden messages, the video for this song is one of their more 'easy to understand' videos as many of them are extremely artistic. Alternative music tends to very deep and about love, this video displays these characteristics as a couple are featured in the video.

 

Secondly The XX are presenting a vague link between the lyrics and the visuals in this video, there aren't any actual things shown in the video which link directly to the lyrics that is being sung at the same moment, however there is an overall link to the visuals and the lyrics. The song is referring to a couple throughout the song by reference to the lyrics 'I think we're superstars,
You say you think we are the best thing' and featured throughout the video is a couple.

 

The link between the music and the visuals also has a very weak link. There are some points when the cuts and changes of shots fit with the music. A good example of when this happens is at the beginning of the video, the songs contains some chiming sounds, and whenever one of these sounds is made, on most occasions a cut happens. This is effective, due to the fact the video isn't very elaborate, the fact that the music and the visuals have a link near the beginning will help get the attention of anyone watching the video.   

 

One of Goodwin's Theory points with regards to music videos is having multiple close ups of the artist in their video, this isn't possible in this video as the artists aren't featured. However the two people in the video, despite not being the artists, do have many close ups, helping the audience see what they are doing and also helping the audience see the emotions they are feeling in the video.

 

In this video there is no obvious attraction to the notion of how people look or dress, or any voyeuristic attitudes towards women. The video is in completely black and white throughout meaning you don't get any real detail on what the characters in the video are wearing, both characters remain full clothed throughout also. Both the female and male in this video are seen to equal as they are doing an equal amount of what could be considered as 'work', also the male doesn't have an characteristic attitudes towards the woman, such as making her a house wife, however this could be due to the fact they are both young.

 

The song isn't featured in any major films, meaning there are no major clips which could have been featured in the video, this may also be down tot he type of band The XX are, as they aren't a commercial band as such, they are unlikely to feature any films in their videos. However the song was featured on a programme called 'Lie to me' which would have given the song some exposure, however there is nothing relating to this show in the video.

 

Analysis of Music Video Using Goodwin's Theory

It's Time - Imagine Dragons

Feature 1 - Music video demonstrates genre characteristics - The genre of the band Imagine Dragons is Indie Rock, this genre of music usually produces music videos which are quite empowering is most music in this genre is rock but is normally quite up beat and feel good. Despite the overall theme of the video being quite empowering and uplifting, the fact that the video throughout has a very dark overall means that the video is partly going against the stereotypical feel of a video in this genre.

Feature 2 - There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals -

'And now it's time to build from the bottom of the pit' - When this lyric is being sung the band are seen to be walking out of what seems to be a wreckage or pit.

'The path to heaven runs through miles of clouded hell' - When this line if sung the band are seen to be walking towards a cloudy dark landscape.

These links between lyrics and visuals help the audience gain a better understanding of the meaning behind the video and help them build a connection between the video and lyrics.

Feature 3 - There is a relationship between music and visuals -

When the lead singer sings the line 'Never changing who I am' he punches his chest in time to the beat of the music. Also for the majority of the video, the cuts only happen on a beat of the music, doing this helps with the continuity of the video and helps it flow better.

 

Feature 4 - Record label demands close ups - Throughout the video there is a frequent us of close ups on the male lead singer in the band, doing this helps the audience get a better understanding of who the lead singer is, but also put empathises on the performance part of the video. The record label require close up as it helps the band and mainly the lead singer or front man of the band to get more public exposure, meaning his is more easily recognisable to the public. The lead singer being more recognisable will lead to things like posters and t-shirt being sold as there will be more interest in the public about him.

 

Feature 5 - Regular mention of how people look & voyeuristic treatment of women - There is minimal reference to the way people look in this video and minimal reference to women, however towards the end of the video, there is a female who is suspended in mid-air, as she is dressed in what seems to be just a t-shirt and a jacket, some would say that she looks vulnerable and has been made to look like an object of desire for the other men in the video.

Feature 6 - Intertextual references - Intertextual references are present when other forms of media can be found in a music video, if intertexutal references where present in this video there would be something along the lines of clips or characters from a film or programme the song has featured in, but because this is present in the video, there are no intertexual reference present in this video.

Goodwin's Theory

Independent Learning - Music Video Fact Sheet

The Purpose of Music Videos in the Digital Age

- The purpose of a music video is to sell products, most obviously the song which is featuring over it, however a lot of other things can be sold through music videos.

- Other things which can be sold are things like, the album the song is on, a film that song might be featuring in, an upcoming tour the artist is doing or things like merchandise or clothing brands.

- Music videos are a very different way of marketing to normal forms of marketing as the consumer is actually getting the product they are being sold. For example when you see a car advert on TV, the advert is making the item desirable to you, and not actually giving it to you, however a music video is giving you the song and the video.



YouTube Homepage

- Giving people full access to the product in marketing before the digital age was far to problematic as songs where only available to listen to at certain times in certain places like Top Of The Pops.

- However due to advances in media technologies people are able to watch music videos on portable platforms like YouTube by viewing them on their Mobiles or I-Pods.

- However the fact that people can view things online and on mobile platforms means that people are less likely to buy physical copies of an album/song as they can listen to it online for free.

- At first artists and record companies were reluctant to allow people to upload videos to sites like YouTube due to copyright, however they realised it was impossible to control who uploaded what so they ended up allowing it but by controlling who does it.

- Artists have realised that having their own channels and linking things like iTunes links to buy their songs or links to their social media sites actually helps with publicity and making money.

Conventions of Music Videos

'Haim - Don't save me' - showing one of the main convention
of featuring the band.

- A music video adds something to the experience of listening to the song it is with.

- Although music videos can be extremely varied due to genre there are conventions which are evident through out.

- Movement is essential to music videos and usually complements the rhythm of the song.

- Most music videos have a narrate
ve, the narrative links to the lyrics and illustrate what is being said or be independent from the song and tell a different story.

-Most music videos feature the band and the artist as they are also a product to be sold. The artist is usually seen playing an instrument or lip syncing to the track, depending on their role in the band.

 

- I got this information from a fact booklet which was put together informing people about the purpose of a music video and the conventions you find in a music video.