10 Best Music Videos Of 2015 (Billboard Analysis)

Billboard released an article naming their top 10 music videos of 2015. Below is the article...

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/6605833/2015-10-best-music-videos-taylor-swift-maroon-5-sia



ANALYSIS

The first music video that Billboard put up as one of their top 10's was the Sia - Elastic Heart. 

This music video uses Frith's idea of 'Conceptual', as it showcases a younger female, representing the singer 'Sia' and an older male, Shia. This video personally was very interesting for me to watch as it made me think about the actual deeper meaning behind it. In my opinion, I think this song and video presents mental illnesses and how it makes one feel locked in a cage. On one route, the younger child could be helping her father break out of the cage but fails. Another route could be that the two actors represent Sia's mixed personality. Overall, this music video is very intriguing and would also be in my top 10 music video choices. 


The second video that Billboard chose as a part of their top 10 is Maroon 5's - Sugar.

This music video used a different route to any other music video as the band, Maroon 5, went to as many possible weddings in order to 'surprise' the bride and groom. It is a very light hearted and sweet music video which shows the kind nature of the band, essentially reflecting upon their personality. Overall, this music video was a success but would however not be in my top 10 only due to the fact that it lacked in story (narrative), an aspect that majorly appeals to me.


The third music video which Billboard had chosen is Taylor Swifts - Bad Blood.

This music video is definitely in my top 10 as it uses a highly entertaining narrative of many strong women teaming up to battle one another. The fact that the music video has many cameos in it also, broadens the audience as they possibly wait in anticipation to see their favourite female celebrity appear. The use of special effects, hair and makeup, emphasises the strong personalities that each woman has, marking it almost as an anthem for feminism. 


The fourth music video which Billboard had chosen is Kendrick Lamar's - King Kunta.

Kendrick Lamar is undoubtedly one of the most creative and talented rap artists today. With the fact that this song itself is one of my favourite hip hop songs of all time, this music video is also in my own personal top 10. This music video showcases the artist in his hometown, emphasising his popularity, resembling a 'King'. Furthermore, I think that the old school hip hop vibe appeals to rap and hip hop audiences, making it a successful music video. Overall, the lack of effects or 'props/locations' epitomise Kendricks talent as opposed to how fancy his music video is. As the video resembles a 'homemade' video, it allows the audience to almost time travel back to the older days of good hip hop music, something that I admire. 


The fifth music video that Billboard had chose to be a part of the top 10 in 2015 is FKA Twigs - Glass and Patron.

This music video is definitely conceptual and arguably very provocative. I do not entirely get the full meaning of the video as the beginning of the video, personally threw me off, especially because I have not seen this video before. However, towards the end, I realised that the singer gave birth to a dance troupe who are 'vogueing', hence the lyric "hold that pose for me". Overall, the music video is very creative and artistic but it would not personally be in my top 10 because I do not feel that the narrative is as strong as the visuals.  


The sixth music video is Carly Rae Jepson - I Really Like You.

As I have not seen the music video before, I was really surprised that Tom Hanks was the star of a pop music video. The editing style of the video was very basic, however I did like the part where they were texting eachother. Overall, this music video had a childish nature to it so it did not particularly suit my taste. In addition, although I would not personally choose this video as a part of my top 10, I do appreciate the fact that it is light hearted and different from the rest of the music videos that are currently out.


The seventh music video that Billboard have chosen is Shamir - Call it Off.

This music video is completely different to the music videos that have currently been released as it showcases the artist morphing into a puppet. Although the song and overall genre is something that I would not listen to, truthfully, it was an entertaining music video to watch. Overall, the bright colours and concept was more entertaining than a lot of other music videos with its weird and wonderful elements.


The eighth music video is from Beyonce and Nicki Minaj - Feeling Myself.

Due to the fact that this video is not available on YouTube and only on Tidl, I cannot properly analyse it. However, snippets of the music video was placed on YouTube and from those snippets, I can tell that a lot of effort was put into the visuals as opposed to an actual storyline. The video more or less emphasises the two strong and independant women's beauty as well as their confidence. 


The ninth music video is by Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best.

The song itself is not appealing to me personally as it is a rock genre, however the music video is quite entertaining. The clowns give it a more juvenile appeal to it, yet it still did not appeal to me. 


The tenth music video is Madonna ft Nicki Minaj - B*tch I'm Madonna.

This music video is definitely one of my top 10's because of how fierce and confident Madonna is, i.e. The Queen of Pop. She embodied the saying 'age is just a number' as her dancing as well as her physical appearance, as youngers say, 'slays'. The editing style is fast paced, just like the song and uses a variety of props and dance. Overall, this song epitomises the party scene and is very appealing to a young audience.    

Dyer and The X Factor

A key concept in Richard Dyer's Theory was the idea that a star is an image and not a real person. This is constructed out of a range of materials, yet that construction process is neither automatic or fully understood.

The popular and well known music reality/competition programme called The X Factor, have been known to 'construct' the contestants that later win the competition or at least come in the top 3. Below are a couple of examples.

This competitor's name is Ben Haenow, a singer and van driver from Croydon. The change is his appearance is apparent throughout the music video, as he arrives in his audition with many piercings for example, in his tongue, but slowly disappears as he progresses in the competition. This is so that Ben fits into the category of a pop star.

Above are two videos of the same artist, James Arthur. His physical appearance changes drastically from his audition to his final performance. One thing in particular is the change in his teeth. The X Factor have essentially invested money to get his teeth fixed, hoping to receive money out of it. 

The video above shows how the popular group known as 'One Direction' came to be. This video inevitably shows how they were 'constructed' into being a boy band that is famous now.  

Simon Frith's Theory

Simon Frith put forward 3 types of music videos that are 'characterised'. The broad typologies are:
PERFORMANCE
NARRATIVE
CONCEPTUAL

Below is a explanation along with examples of these forms of music videos


PERFORMANCE:

This is the most common type which features the star or group singing in concert to wildly enthusiastic fans. The aim of this is to convey a sense of the in-concert experience. A prime example of this would be Outlandish's song featuring Kato - Desert Walk

Another form of performance video is a display of the star or group in the studio. This reminds the audience that the soundtrack and album are still important. 
"Performance oriented visuals are viewers that indeed, the recording of the music is the most significant element" (Gow 1992) An example of this would be Outlandish's song - After Every Rainfall

NARRATIVE: 

This is a video that may tell any kind of story in linear (order) i.e. cause, effect and sequencing. Love stories are the most common narrative mode in music videos. An example of this is Rihanna's - Hate that I love you. Although this video subverts the norm in which the couple end up back 'together', this is a good example of a narrative love story. 

Another example of a narrative music video is of the action genre. Action in the story is dominated by males who do things and females who passively react or wait for something to happen (Schwichtenberg 1992) An example of this is Rihanna's - Man Down. 

CONCEPTUAL: 

This relies on poetic form, primarily metaphors. The conceptual video can be metaphysical poetry articulated through visual and verbal elements. 
Another form is more of an artistic approach. "These videos make significant use of the visual element, presenting to the eye as well as the ear, and in doing so, conveying truths". Conceptual videos do not tell a story in a clear fashion, but rather create a mood, a feeling to be evoked in the experience of viewing. An example of this would be Sia's - Chandelier. 

Overall, these music videos each are a clear example of each 'category' that Simon has put forward.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Today I researched the music video theorist, Andrew Goodwin, and am going to list different music videos that resemble his points.



GENRE: Videos should represent stereotypes and conventions of the genre e.g. Hip Hop is associated with chains, cars, drugs or girls. A prime music video example would be Snoop Doggs videos such as Peaches N Cream

SOUND AND VISION: Clear relationships between lyrics and visuals. Examples of these are as follows:

ILLUSTRATIVE (visuals represent lyrics)

IN THIS MUSIC VIDEO, THE LYRICS REPRESENTS A RELATIONSHIP IN WHICH THE GIRL FEELS 'UNAPPRECIATED'. THIS IS ALSO PRESENTED THROUGH THE VARIOUS STORY LINES WITHIN THE VIDEO.

CONTRADICTORY (visuals contrast lyrics)

 IN THIS MUSIC VIDEO, THE LYRIC "NO ONE MAN SHOULD HAVE ALL THAT POWER" CONTRADICTS TO THE WHOLE VIDEO AS IT SHOWS KANYE WEST IN THE MIDDLE, ALMOST GOD LIKE, WITHOLDING POWER OVER EVERYONE IN IT.

AMPLIFICATION (manipulation of audience through repetition of key meaning)

IN THIS MUSIC VIDEO, THE LYRIC "IN MY CITY" IS REPEATED AFTER NUMEROUS DIFFERENT CITIES AND COUNTRIES ARE STATED. THIS INFERS A SENSE OF DIVERSITY THAT IS TAKEN PLACE WITHIN THE '416', TORONTO. 

DISJUNCTURE (the songs meaning is ignored)

IN THIS MUSIC VIDEO, THE LYRICS REPEAT "TURN DOWN FOR WHAT" - THE SONG'S MEANING IS IGNORED DUE TO THE EXPLICIT SCENES WITHIN THE SONG AS IT IS A DANCE ANTHEM.

NOTIONS OF LOOKING: We as the audience are 'watching' the performance and gaining pleasure from it. This is related to voyeurism.

THIS MUSIC VIDEO USES THE 'MALE GAZE' THEORY - DEVELOPED BY LAURA MULVEY. THE VIDEO PORTRAYS THE ARTIST IN A HYPER-SEXUALISED WAY IN WHICH THE AUDIENCE RECEIVE 'PLEASURE' FROM WATCHING IT.

STAR IMAGE: Promotion of the star through the video using frequent close ups and recurring motifs to represent the artist.

IN THIS MUSIC VIDEO, RITA ORA USES THIS AS HER 'DEBUT' INTO MAINSTREAM MUSIC. THE AUDIENCE CAN SEE THIS DUE TO THE VARIETY OF ATTRACTIVE OUTFITS AND MAKEUP, MOST IMPORTANTLY THE OVERUSE OF CLOSE UPS IN ORDER TO SHOW THE ARTISTS FACE.

INTERTEXTUALITY: Reference to other media (such as other artists, songs, films). This allows the audience to quickly decode the meaning.

IN THIS MUSIC VIDEO, THERE IS HUGE REFERENCE TO THE FILM 'FAST 7'. THERE ARE ALSO SCENES FROM THE FILM WHICH COMBINES THE SONG AND FILM TOGETHER.

There are so many types of music videos that exist. Andrew Goodwin has covered the basis of these music videos above. My next theorist whom I shall be covering is Simon Frith. 

5 Favourite Music Videos

As I will be creating a music video towards the end of this year, I decided to list my 5 favourite music videos of all time in order to start thinking about what style of video I would like to potentially create. 



I will do a countdown and explain why these music videos in particular are my favourite in terms of camera angles, story/content and editing techniques.

5) Lilly Singh (Superwoman) ft Sickick: Clean Up Anthem

The reason why this music video is one of my favourite music videos is because firstly, Lilly Singh AKA iiSuperwomanii is one of my favourite YouTubers that I like to watch. This music video has many comedic elements that she has implemented from her own YouTube videos such as the parent characters (which she dresses up as). These comedic elements therefore make the music video more entertaining to watch, adding onto the fact that the song itself is very catchy and upbeat. Furthermore, I like the lighting of this music video, specifically when the dance routine takes place. If I were to choose a dance genre for my music video, I would much like it to resemble this. 


4) Kanye West: Stronger

This music video is another one of my favourites, mostly because of the very intriguing storyline and the wide variety of editing. The most aesthetically appealing editing styles of the video is when the scene has slight lines on it with foreign text appearing. The constant close ups of his face with the text creates a more hip hop vibe which I specifically like. Overall, this video has the elements in being a very high quality music video such as the quality of the video itself, the editing, the storyline and also the music as well. 


3) Michael Jackson: You Rock My World

Apart from the fact that this video is by the King Of Pop, Michael Jackson, the story line is pretty basic, along with the editing techniques. However, the reason as to why this video is in one of my top three is because of the strong choreography. Michael Jackson is a renowned dancer as well as artist in general. His sleek moves makes the music video more appealing to watch and adds a certain entertainment factor. Also, Chris Tucker's comedic role within the video makes the video more enjoyable as he comes across as a less serious 'wingman' of MJ. The overall style of the video is very basic but the right set, story, characters and choreography gives it more superiority in comparison to other music videos. 


2) Rihanna: Where Have You Been

This music video in particular has to be one of the most artistic videos on the internet. I love every aspect of this video from the choreography, costume, makeup and 'sets' (backdrops). This video has a very animalistic but tribal vibe to it and it is visually stunning. The lighting in some scenes emphasize the beauty of the artist, Rihanna, and is aesthetically appealing too. The video subverts from a stereotypical 'dance' anthem as it doesn't use the typical party scene which others do. Overall, the video's unique style is a contributing factor to its popularity and also explains why it is my second favourite music video of all time. 


1) Prima J: Rockstar

This is my top music video because of the main fact that this came out during my childhood and I was and still am absolutely obsessed with it. I love the story of two powerful women being 'rockstars', living their life and being proud to be themselves. This music video was very colorful and fun, with the main element being the attitude of the the artists. I personally think that the attitude and role that the artists play are a key feature in what makes a successful music video and this certainly embodies it.


And there you have it! My five favourite music videos of all time. I hope that these videos prove to be a source of inspiration for my music video in the future. Thank you for reading.   

Introduction

Greetings examiner!


My name is Tasneem Ahmed and I am finally in Year 13! This is my A2 Media Blog, where all things A2 related will be posted. In this post I will be explaining the different elements within the A2 course in which I shall undertake such as: 
creating a Digi-Pack in order to promote a new artist, creating a musical lyric video and most importantly, creating a finalized music video in which I will be placed within a team. These are just a few tasks in which I shall undertake. Throughout my A2 Media journey, I will be posting regular blogs so that you can view the progression of my ideas overtime till it reaches a final point. 

I hope this year goes smoothly, without any major obstacles. Welcome to my A2 Media journey...