Thursday 29 September 2011

Codes and Conventions of Dance/House Music

House music is a style of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. House is uptempo music for dancing, although by modern dance-music standards it is mid-tempo and the tempo for house music tended to be slower in the early years of house.
House was boosted in the UK by the tour in March 1987 of Knuckles, Jefferson, Fingers Inc.
The second best-selling British single of 1988 was a house record, the Coldcut-produced "The Only Way Is Up" by Yazz and this was the first house song in the UK.

The music videos for House music tend to have messages about dancing, love, sexuality, and drugs all underpined with repetitive arrangements and a steady bass drum beat.
Another code&convention of a House music video is that it tend to have scantily clad women doing sexy and seductive dance moves. Also, they are usually dressed in clothes that expose their bodies and clothesthat will attract a male audience.

A house music video sometimes has a group of people doing dance moves (freestyle) in a circle and people watching them showcase their talent because the theme of the songs are usually about dance of the beat of the song is supposed to motivate a person to dance.

Similarly another code&convention of a house music is that it will have a shot where a lot of people are dancing in a club, and the DJ is performing this is usually a reference to the home of dance/house music, Ibiza.

Also, the DJ who produced the song usually doesn't appear and the vocals of they song are always sung by a female artist and they usually appear in the music video


The first house music video in the UK 'The Only Way Is Up' by Yazz had a few code&convention of House music.



In this video we can see a few of the codes&conventions of a House music video. The beat of the music shows that it is a House music video. Also, the singer Yazz is dancing all through out the video. She also dances with a group of people of girls. There is also a griup of people gathered around her in a shot that is reminscent of a performance in a club.

The 2007 House song 'Let Me Think About It' Fedde Le Grand and Ida Corr is a modern House music video.

This differs from the 1988 video because of the beat is more up-tempo and suitable to play in a house club. There is also a code&convention of a House music video because the girls are dressed quite skimpyly and throughout the song they are shown dancing. However, the DJ is not visible and the female vocalist Ida Corr is the only singer visible. The female singer also, has a group of girls dancing behind her dancing rather seductively.

Music Video Brief

You have been asked to devise and make a promotional music video for the new act detailed below. As a new act, the record label is keen that this first release appeal to a wide audience and establish an image that is both recognisably unique and appealing to their target audience. With this in mind, the first release will be a cover version and will be used as a platform for future original releases. The record label is happy for this release to be any of the three songs listed below and would like you to choose whichever one you can make a dynamic promo for, as the key thing is to get them exposed!

Magma (real name Jack Mitchell) is a 25 year old DJ from Milton Keynes,who started out working local clubs and making demo tapes for local wannabes. He moved to London at 19 and then went to the home of dance music-Ibiza. He made a name for himself on the mixing decks and has featured on various compillation albums. He has been working with various artists to produce his new album as he is now signed to an affiliate of Sony BMG.

Sound: Dance/ House
Ideology: Party all night, sleep all day
Influences: Fatboy slim, Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx, Delerium, Tiesto
Likes: Sun, clubbing, keeping things chilled and the ladies.
Dislikes: Early mornings, being in the limelight and cheesy pop music.

Song choices:
Freestyler (Bomfunk MCs)
I like the way you move (Bodyrockers)
Uninvited (Freemasons)


Sunday 25 September 2011

Music Video Analysis

Rough Trade

1. Rough Trade and the 1970's
  • Rough Trade Records is an independent record label, based in London, United Kingdom. It was started in 1976 by Geoff Travis.
  • The music trends that were popular were post-punk, alternative rock, folk and 'obscure and challenging music' as a documentary called it. They then went on to sell reggae music as they had formed a relationship with the Caribbeans who lived local.
  • At this time, the ethos of Rough Trade was that they were to remain independent and they had a 'Do it yourself' attitude.
  • Rough Trade was different to large corporations because they were radical idealists who promoted independent artists without a record deal.
  • The technique used to expand the independent music scene was that they too would make their own record label.
  • This lead to Rough Trade's expansion because they got the made their and released tracks from a French band called Metal Urbain who soared to success.
  • The distribution department made a success because of Richard Scott, he sent the music they promoted all over the world to various companies in order to secure an independent distribution deal. The label brought on success from the start as Scritti Politti was the most successful album for Rough Trade as it sold £100,000 copies.
2. The 1980's
  • Contracts effected the development of Rough Trade because they didn't create a contract with band, Still Little Fingers, which gave the band a freeway to leave Rough Trade as they had no document to prove that the ban were theirs.
  • The issues that occurred between the record label and distribution were that Geoff and Richard had a quarrel in which their relationship became antagonistic.
  • The change it lead to was Rough Trade becoming more business focused and they changed their structure by mimicking major record labels.
  • Rough Trade's ideology has been to be an independent label, but due to unforeseen circumstances, they needed a leg to stand on.
  • The artists that led to the success of Rough Trade were: The Smiths, Scritti Politti and The Specials.
  • At the end of the 1980's, the music trend to emerge was Black American Pop.
  • The differences at this time between Rough Trade and other independent music labels were that they were in financial difficulty and were in constant disagreements.
3. The 1990's
  • At the start of the 1990's, Rough Trade incurred some problems such as having a cash flow mismanagement which resulted in their cash flow stopping and their assets being frozen.
  • This affected the label and distribution because they needed money to carry out certain things in order to have the label run smoothly and effectively. Eventually, it lead to the closure and selling of Rough Trade.
  • In order to revive Rough Trade, Geoff Travis and Jeannette Lee sold albums and singles after a party the held. After this they met a group called Pulp who resurrected Rough Trade.
  • Rough Trade began to work with Indie bands as they seemed to be the thing of the present. The Indie bands associated with Rough Trade at this time were Pulp, The Stokes and The Libertines.
4. 21st Century
  • In the 21st century, Rough Trade had evolved as they were not new to the industry, nor were they as naive as when they'd first launched Rough Trade.
  • Rough Trade's working practices are different from the music produced through TV programmes such as X Factor because Rough Trade lets their artists' develop into their own person and have their own identity, rather than telling them what to sing, what their image will be and what type of music to make.
  • At this time, they've had successes such as The Stokes and The Libertines. They have also had Duffy, who has had a number one album on the UK Album Chart.
  • Rough Trade's ideology has developed for the company in the present day as they now produce contracts for their artists so that their label is not only protected but to make sure the artists deliver.
Major vs. Minor
  1. The subsidiary labels Sony BMG own are Sony Music Entertainment, Epic and Columbia, along with the following: Arista
    -Arista Nashville
    -BNA records
    -Zomba Label group
    -J records
    -Legacy recordings
    -U.S. Latin
    -Sony BMG Masterworks
    -Provident Label Group
    -Verity Records
    -Bluebird Jazz
    -Burgundy Records
    -Jive Records
    -LaFace Records
    -Windham Hill
    -1965 Recordings
    -Syco Entertainment
    -Phonogenic
  2. Sony are vertically integrated as the music industry is transitioning from music retail to licensing, broadcasting, marketing and on-demand services. They profit from all these different ventures because they have money to invest and when these things sell out they get a cut. They own the rights to the music the artist has made, as long as they are signed with them. They also own many games and film so can easily play their music on them, widening the audience that hears the music.
  3. Sony profit from media convergence as they released the PS2, but had the ability to write DVDs and a hard drive, allowing video recording and DVD burning functionality. It was to be a media convergence device to make use of the PlayStation brand to gain a place on a new market, however due to its high price it failed to gain any major market share. It was never released outside of Japan.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Tenacious D - Tribute



1. Genre characteristics
  • In the video we see a glittery star, this relates to the rock genre.
  • Rock stars make a mess-Tenacious D made a mess.
  • Rock stars are scruffy and don't show manners as they are known as trouble makers.
  • The fact that the video is a performance show the genre as rock videos are performances.
  • The video has and element of comedy.
  • The fact that the little old lady gets scared shows rock stars are a menace.
  • As they are not sexy in any way, it goes against the rock convention.
2. Relationship between lyrics and visuals
  • Tenacious D said a demon appeared and out popped the demon.

3. Relationship between music and visuals
  • Jack Black sings what the demon is supposed to do and the demon does it.
  • The influx of light when Jack Black introduces the electric guitar solo.
4. Close ups of artist and their motif/s
  • There were many close ups of Tenacious , especially in the singing booth.


5.Notion of looking and voyeuristic treatment of women


6. Inter textual references
  • The demon represents hell as that is what rock music is associated with.
  • White influx of light on the demon may be a reference to good versus evil.
  • Ben Stiller appears.
  • David Grohl from the Foo Fighters.
  • Micheal Jackson-Thriller.

Monday 19 September 2011

Study of a Music Video Director

Jay-Z - 99 Problems



1. Music video that demonstrates genre characteristics
  • 'Hood' area of unemployed men- Brooklyn, New York.
  • Jay-Z makes a point of drawing our attention to where he's from by showing us his hoodie.
  • Representation of a gangster lifestyle; cruising in cars, dog fighting, loitering on streets, getting pulled over by police, basketball and guns.
  • Street dancing and freestyle
  • Scantily clad 'sexy' women who are supposed to be looking sexy, but actually look cheap.
  • Stereotypical race representations- white guy in a suit and the police officer, while the black guys are the jailbirds and loiterers.
  • Criminality/money.
  • Goes against convention of representation of wealth-lacks fancy cars, clothes, bling and women.
  • Women are only a minor element in this video, usually, Hip Hop videos would have more shots of sexy women.
  • Shooting at the end of the video reflects the image of gangster being cool
2. Relationship between lyrics and visuals
  • When Jay-Z said 'From the hood', he pulls his down.
  • A radio is shown when he says, 'Radio.
  • Women are shown when Jay-Z says, 'Bitch'.
  • The camera flashes images of criminal identity shots as he says, 'Paparazzi'.
  • Overall, the images illustrate the lyrics, sometimes literally and sometimes in a subtle way.
  • The theme of the song is that Jay-Z has all these problems as the video is showing us.
3. Relationship between music and visuals
  • The video is cut in time with the beat of the song.
  • The music is hard hitting and aggressive sounding with emphasis on the beat rather than melody.
  • The visuals are also harsh looking and the edits are fast paced to emphasize this aggression.
4. Close ups of the artist and their motif/s
  • A lot of the shots have Jay-Z in them.
  • There are close ups of other men that look aggressive.
  • There are shots of women in long and mid shots because they are not that important.
  • There is less emphasis on Jay-Z on his own as he is already an established artist who doesn't require such exposure.
  • Jay-Z has his own record label as well as being part of Island/Def Jam, which is quite an independent company.
5. References to the notion if looking and voyeuristic treatment of women
  • Jay-Z puts his fingers over the camera so that it seems as though the audience are looking through his fingers.
  • X-Ray vision shot of the money in the boot allows it to see what would normally be concealed.
  • Scopophilic treatment of women is quite uncomfortable to watch as it seems unnecessary.
  • The early establishing shots are almost point of view shots, creating the impression that the audience is looking around the hood.
  • There a video of Jay-Z outside a subway station.
6. Inter textual references
  • The video of himself outside of the subway station may well be referencing himself.


Summer Task

Thursday 8 September 2011

Introduction to A2 Media

For A2 Media studies, we will be focusing on music videos, with paying particular attention to the technical codes and conventions of these music videos.
-In 1965, we are introduced to Bob Dylan Films, who introduced Subterranean Homesick Blues, which is widely credited as one of the first modern music videos.
-Pop Music TV Shows
In 1970, the record industry discovers that TV Shows are a great way to promote their artists, therefore they focus on 'promos' which then started to replace the live performances of the artist on the TV Stage.
-Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, 1975, is a video that is considered to be one of the first to use advanced visual effects as it set the language for a modern music video.
-Technical Codes
Camerawork-is used to show how images are sequenced and how it will have a significant impact upon meaning. Camera movement, angle and shot distance must be analysed. The camera movement may follow moving performers as it creates a dynamic feel to stage performance. Close ups tend to be predominant in TV shows due to the size of the screen, this however creates a feel of intimacy for the viewer.
Editing- the most common form of editing for music promos are fast cut montages in which the images are rendered impossible to grasp on first viewing.
Often enhancing the editing are digital effects which play with the original images to give viewers different kinds of pleasure. It is usually done by split screen which is also known as CGI.
-Andrew Goodwin wrote 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' (Routledge 1992)
  1. Music videos demonstrate and illustrate genre characteristics.
  2. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals.
  3. There is a relationship between music and the visuals.
  4. The demands of the record label will include the need for many close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs, which then may reoccur as it becomes their visual style.
  5. There are frequent references to notions of looking(screens within screens) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
  6. There is often inter-textual reference reference to TV Programmes, music videos and films)
Inter-textual references can add other dimensions of a meaning to a text as well as fulfilling an important role for audiences. These who do not get the reference feel privileged as though it's a secret.