Research - Taylor Swift - 'Shake It Off' music video (Group post) 5

To analyse the costume of a music video I decided Taylor Swift would be the perfect music video with her 'Shake It Off'. This being due to in the music video her exploring all the different styles of dance and there costumes.

 The music video first starts with Taylor in a ballet class at a ballet bar, as all the other ladies are bending over she appears a few people back and starts to sing. Her costume her at the stat is ballet tights, a leotard and a sweatshirt over the top. The costume is typical clothing to wear to a ballet rehearsal.

 The scene then changes to another ballet section but this time the group is preforming a dance routine. There is no props used in this scene like in the previous but still obviously ballet due to the outfits and the point shoes. The costume here shares links with the popular ballet 'Swan Lake' due to the white feathered tutu's and the feathered head dresses. And again the stereotypical ballet tights and shoes.

 The song then changes to a different style of dance. Now it is contemporary dancing. This is clear to dancers due to the costumes worn. The costumes shown above are typical of this genre of dance. Also it is noticeable how the costumes differ on gender and there was no males in the previous two shots but in this contemporary one males are present. Another feature about this shot that is interesting is the use of the positioning of people. In this shot they are spread out around the stage but looks a lot more naturally spaced whereas in the previous two shots for the ballet the positioning has been neat and accurate reflecting the genre.

The fourth change we get is into gymnastic attire. The gymnastic/ribbon twirling genre is apparent due to the use of the prop that Taylor is using. This costume is completely different to the other two also due to being of a different style and a lot more colourful.

 The song then continues and Taylor changes into the disco genre. This genre appeals to older fans of Taylor due to disco music not being a popular genre nowadays. Blumler and Katz in their theory talk about personal identity and about people own identity. Especially in this music video of Taylor Swift it is evident that even if people have a clear identity can vary greater. For example people have Taylor's identity as being a pop star, but here in this video she demonstrates her doing numerous others skill in the form of dance and being a performer. So it's evident that people's identity's are varied and flexible.

This costume is different to all the others which are worn throughout the music video. For this section of the video there is no exact music style due to the dancers in the back ground just 'twerking' and Taylor at the front just moving her arms about. I feel this section of the video is targeted at a large target audience due to 'twerking' nowadays being seen all over the television and everywhere so it covers a large target audience. However the costume I feel is targeted at a teenage audience due to it being to revealing for a younger and adult audience so I feel its targeted at a teenage audience.

This section in the video is unusual due to being unlike any of the other sections in the video. For example all of the other shots used in the video are relevant to dance and the different genres of dance, whereas here the shot is of Taylor singer with a band which is how the stage would be positioned if she was doing a concert for example. Also the costume here is all black which is a feature that is unusual for the video due to the rest of the costumes being bright and out going. However this is adhering to conventions due to being the artist shown singing with the band.

The last costume we see Taylor wearing is a cheerleading outfit where we see her attempting to do a cheerleading routine. The costumes that are worn her are very obviously female and are targeted at the teenage audience due to the difficulty of the routine they are performing.  This is a contrasting outfit to others that are so in the video for example compared to the denim short and leopard print jacket. This are contrasting due to the cheerleading outfits being very feminine and girly whereas the other being clearly feminine but not very girly to the chains and excessive jewellery. After this costume the shots change between all of the previous costumes where Taylor is seen performing that genre dance but in her own style, so it doesn't look strictly correct but is in the music video to make it entertaining to the viewer which this music video certainly is.

As you can see in all of her camera shots, she is stood in a studio with a different coloured background. We can do this by either using the drama studio in our college as we can put different coloured sheets on the walls and it has a lot of room so our models can perform a dance routine. I feel that the music videos backgrounds have been manipulated as I feel that a slight gradient has been used on them, which is something that we could do with our music video as it makes the models body and head stand out to the camera/viewer.

How this has influenced my planning

• I like the idea of the use of different costumes for different shots
• I like the use of the the gradient in the background to make her upper body and face stand out
• I like how she is looking and singing into camera throughout the video.

Research - Music Channels

How this has influenced my planning

• I need to research a music channel that will show my music video
• I will need to come up with a logo for my star and music company
• I will need to come up with some background knowledge for my company

Research - Youtube (group post)

Youtube

The use of Youtube in the distribution and consumption of music videos has greatly increased over recent years. Due to it being so accessible and easy to use, as well as it having a wide range of choice and being free, it has quickly become the most popular way for an audience to view a music video. It also attracts an audience as it provides a way to give feedback on the video and inform the artist as to whether they like or dislike the music or video through the comments and likes/dislikes. This entices people as they can provide their own opinion and debate with others about their ideas.

An example of this is on DNCE's 'Cake by the Ocean'.

The video has a mix of good and bad reviews in the comments section, however the overall view is that it is a good song and music video, which can be seen from the likes/ dislikes, with the likes being 1,250,000+ compared to the dislikes being 40,000+. These views are reflected in the chart rating, with the song once being in the top 5.

The use of the comments section helps Youtube as it shows they are providing a platform to which an audience can communicate with other audience members and the artists themselves, however it can make or break an individual video as bad comments will discourage people from enjoying the music video, or point out mistakes that may have been created in the production by highlighting certain times during the video that other audience members should specifically look out for errors in.

As an institution Youtube is very successful, with over a billion users accessing the site daily. This then reflects into the huge amount of people that subscribe to music channels, such as Vevo. Vevo is one of the most popular music channels that release official music videos for all types of music, although it is predominantly pop music on their channel. They boast an impressive 1,059,700,000+ subscriber count and over 523,754,380,000+ views, showing that Youtube is now one of the most successful places for a music video.

Research - Itunes (group post)

Goodwin (group post)*(Research)

Andrew Goodwin had a theory that there are many different types of music video, the main three being performance, narrative and concept. Other styles include animation and combined styles. His theory said that all music videos fit into one of these styles.

A performance music video is where the video shows the artist or band performing their music to an audience, as if they were at a concert. This can be sourced from an actual concert. An artist may use this type of music video as it is the cheapest and easiest to produce, with no money being spent on multiple locations or costumes, or even actors/dancers. An example of this is Bon Jovi's 'You Give Love', where the video is taken at a gig, and singing is then occasionally directed into camera which helps keep the audiences attention.



A narrative music video is where a story is created that weaves around the lyrics of the song. These are more expensive due to having to pay for costumes, props and set. Typically there are also a number of actors involved, and occasionally the artists themselves are featured in the video. An example of this is The All American Rejects's 'Gives You Hell', where the video is centered around the members of the band arguing with their neighbour due to the two houses having people with different personalities.



A concept music video is created to show an idea or a concept that is quite often obscure and not true to real life, rather being relatable to real life. Due these videos being slightly odd in a sense, it interests the audience and draws them in. An example of this is Fall Out Boy's 'Sugar, We're Going Down'. In the video, the boy it s centered around is presented as different from the use of antlers, which he is shown to be resentful of as people treat him badly because of them. No-one actually has antlers which shows that this is concept instead of narrative as it is addressing an issue instead of just portraying a story.
I feel that this video uses more of a natural performance based video as a lot of the shots use nature, which makes the music video quite colourful and vibrant. I feel that this is created through the costume that they are wearing as it is quite basic and casual, however it could be a representation of the band themselves.

How this influenced my ideas and planning

• I like the idea of just the top of the persons head coming in at the beginning
• I like the use of comedy created through the video 
• I like the idea of the first person framed shot where it looks like someone is looking through a scope

Research - The development of music videos from the 1960s

Music video from 1960 2016 from Morganbullock

Research - Information on music video (research)

The history of the music video gravity from Morganbullock

Research - Sara Bareilles (group post)

This is the homepage for Sara Bareilles. There are numerous different tabs to be opened from the homepage of her webpage such as: tours, news, music, video, store, sign up, social and share. Also there is six different pages that rotate advertising different articles and information about Sara. On the home page there is an image of the artist to make it automatically appealing to the audience as she has been airbrushed to look attractive to the viewer and her outfit works in cohesion with the album title.

 Also on the homepage of the website it advertises the release of Sara's book. She is releasing a song that explains the journey of her creating music and writing her own music. This expresses where her inspiration come from for her songs and it gives you a short description to advertise her book, which also creates synergy because, as you can see, they used the same image and background from her book and used it on the website.

Another feature of the homepage is that it advertises the musical 'Waitress' this is a musical where the score for the musical was produced by Sara Bareilles. This is a great advertisement to put on Sara's webpage due to advertising the musical but also intriguing people who like Sara to go watch it due to being music by her which features on the musicals poster. This creates Cross Media Convergence as the same image is used from the show and the show is being advertised on the website.

This is Sara Bareilles image. She is 36 years old. This is an older music artist in today's society. Considering she is older the the average pop star she dress very modern and in 'trendy' clothing. Sara  in 2007 released her song 'Love Song' which featured on her album Little Voice which sold 3 million copies and was nominated for two Grammy awards for Sara. In 2004 was when Sara released her first single which was 'Gravity'. During Sara's musical career she has been nominated for numerous awards, shown in the table below.

From the table it is very clear that Sara has been nominated but been unsuccessful in receiving any of them. But her latest three nominations are yet to be released to whether she has won or not. Her latest three nominations are for her musical soundtrack 'Waitress' which is a new broadway musical with the score and lyrics created by Sara.

Here is the tour page of Sara's official website. There is a large amount of synergy between this and the homepage due to sharing the same house style. The whole page looks identical to the homepage but this page only has the one image of Sara whereas the homepage has a rotation of different things on a timer. Sara is not currently on tour and does not have any plans regarding a tour which is stated on this page.

At the top of the website there is all the keywords that lead you to other parts of the website. Apart from when you select the 'Social' button. After selecting the social button the social media icons appear at the left hand side, this are all shortcuts directly to Sara's social media pages. This is making it easy for fans to find her on social media and places like iTunes and Youtube.

Sara has recently released a biography "Sounds like me my life (so far) in song" which is shown above. In Sara's book it goes through her journey as a music artist and all of her previous albums. Having a biography is a great way of informing fans and others of the work she has done and about all of her albums.

Above is all of Sara's albums that she has released. It is clear from the amount of albums that she has released that she is a successful music artist. Eric Rosse is Sara's music producer as he is the co-president of EMBR music aswell as being a composer and producer.

How this has influenced my planning

• I understand that I have to create synergy and cross media convergence through my star
• I need advertisement techniques such as books and posters
• I could create a social media page for the artist

Planning - Sara Bareilles - Gravity (chosen song)

Lyrics

Gravity

Something always brings me back to you.
It never takes too long.
No matter what I say or do
I'll still feel you here 'til the moment I'm gone.

You hold me without touch.
You keep me without chains.
I never wanted anything so much
Than to drown in your love and not feel your rain.

[CHORUS:]
Set me free,
Leave me be.
I don't wanna fall another moment into your gravity
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be.
But you're on to me and all over me.

Oh, you loved me 'cause I'm fragile
When I thought that I was strong.
But you touch me for a little while
And all my fragile strength is gone.

[CHORUS]

I live here on my knees
As I try to make you see
That you're everything I think I need here on the ground.

But you're neither friend nor foe
Though I can't seem to let you go.
The one thing that I still know is that you're keeping me down.

You're keeping me down, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
You're on to me, on to me, and all over...

Something always brings me back to you.
It never takes too long.

The reason that we chose this song is because it is very emotional and has a lot of passion, which we thought would be appropriate for our music video as we want to use contemporary dancing which involves a lot of love and passion. We also chose the song as we thought it was slow  and steady so it would be easier to fit a dance routine into it. We didn't think this song was massively popular so we thought that getting copy rights for the video would be easily attainable. Which it was.  I feel that the song has a lot of meanings behind the words which represent the singers past, so we felt that it would bring emotion to the music video.