This document analyzes the language used in a music video. It summarizes the key stylistic choices made including filming locations, costumes, and casting. The empty house and bridge locations were chosen to match the rock genre. Actors wore iconic rock styles like leather jackets, studs, and tartan. Ages of 18-19 were cast to relate to the target 16-24 audience. A TV was featured throughout to add mystery. Social media would be used to promote the video and convey the ideology of pressure from fame through angry actions like smashing the TV.
2. Language
The language is the key concept of any music video as it gives the
audience an idea as to why you made certain choices that you did in
your music video such as location, costume and casting choices.
I decided to film my music video in an empty house that has been
cleared out of any furniture and wallpaper in order to match the rock
genre of my music video as I think it gives it an eerie and mysterious
look and it also matches my costume choices well. I also decided to
film part of my music video underneath a bridge, in which there was
graffiti against the wall and rubble along the floor to represent a
suburban area and different parts of the world that we live in. I thought
that it would be effective to film here because of what was happening
at the moment of my music video. This is
because this location is where my actor smashed the
TV and it reflects the rubble and glass that is
scattered along the ground.
3. Language
I decided that I wanted my actors to wear the colours red
and black as these colours are iconographic of the rock
genre. During the house location my actor is wearing a red
and black checked open shirt, black t-shirt, black trousers,
red tartan boots, some Jesus bracelets, a necklace with a
cross on it and a single black fingerless glove. The reason
why I chose all of these items of clothing is because I think
that it reflects the rock genre very well, especially the use of
tartan. This makes it very clear to the audience that the
genre is rock as these are conventional and iconographic
items of clothing. It also matches
the stereotype of people who are associated the
rock genre (‘punks’ this links to Tessa Perkins
4. Language
Whilst under the bridge I dressed my actor all in black as I
wanted all of the attention to be on what is happening on
the screen rather than what my actor was wearing as this is
a very effective part of my music video, in which he
smashes the TV. My actor is wearing black trousers, big
black boots and a plain black jacket to make him look quite
simple to focus more on what he is doing rather than how
he looks. I chose the colour black because this colour still
reflects the rock genre very well and matches the mood of
my music video. Black connotes mystery which links a bit
as to why he is smashing the TV and leaves the audience
thinking as it could be due to anger, rebellion, fun or
perhaps even sadness. This leaves the audience thinking
5. Language
My actress is wearing a burgundy/red top, black studded and
fur leather jacket, black high waisted shorts, black ripped
tights, black knee high leather boots, skull necklace, silver
and black bracelets and rings, black nail varnish and red
lipstick. I chose my actress to dress in this way as it matches
the colour scheme of my music video and they are also
iconographic of the rock genre. In particular, leather jackets
are a key convention of the rock genre which is why I decided
to have one of my actors wearing one. Plus, this leather jacket
has fur on the shoulders and studs on the collar which makes
her look more like a rock-star as these are also conventions of
the rock genre. This also links to Tessa Perkins stereotypes
theory as she looks like a stereotypical rock star due to the
6. Language
When casting people to be my actors for my music video I
looked at people who matched the target audience for my
music video which is people aged 16-24 and the ages of my
actors that I casted were 18 and 19 which fits in this range. The
reason why I wanted to do this is so that the audience are able
to relate more to the video because the actors are in the same
age range as them. Whereas if I cast someone who was in
there 40s it would be harder for the audience to connect with
the video because they are not within the same age range, so
some of the messages and values that are given off from an 18
year old performing in this music video may be different to
those of a 40 year old as different age groups have different
ideas and beliefs and are experiencing different things in their
lives so the ideology of the music video could easily change
7. Language
I also decided to make the TV itself a key feature of my music
video that will be shown throughout my music video. This is
because the TV is shown throughout my broadcast section and
when my actor smashes it so I wanted to include images of the
TV throughout the whole video to give the audience an insight
as to what might happen. I have also used the same TV during
each part to show continuity through my work and to show a
link between my actress, actor and broadcaster and what they
are singing about. When researching and watching existing
music videos I noticed that some videos have a particular
item/prop that is used throughout the whole video to add
mystery and suspense as to what is going to happen with it so I
decided to use this technique in my
own music video as well in order to
8. Institution
In order to get my music video well known I would
promote it on social media sites such as Facebook and
Twitter in order to get some views on it on YouTube and
to make more people aware of my music video.
Nowadays most people in my target range use social
media meaning that it is easier for me to send out my
music video and make it more known to the public.
YouTube is also a very popular website in which videos
are uploaded therefore once some people have watched
a previous video my video could come up as a
suggested one to watch, increasing how many people
have seen my music video and how successful my
9. Ideology
Looking at the lyrics to my song the main message is
about the paparazzi and that celebrities just want to
be left alone and not feel pressured all the time to be
perfect role models for the public. Overall, the main
ideology behind the lyrics is pressure from the
paparazzi and the public and that the artists are never
free to do what they want to do because the media is
so strong nowadays that if the artists do anything
slightly wrong or unexpected then it will go global and
cause controversy. So they are trying to let the public
know how they are truly feeling and to try and give
them more freedom in their everyday lives.
10. Ideology
When planning what I would include in my music video I tried
to relate it back to the lyrics as much as possible in order to
get the ideology of the song out to the public more by
reinforcing the messages and values behind the lyrics. The
main way in which I have done this is smashing the TV with
the sledgehammer. This shows that the artists cannot handle
the pressure anymore and that they just want to scream and
let out their anger but they are unable to because of how the
public will react to this. So I have shown the artists letting out
their anger by smashing the TV to show how they are feeling
inside and that they are only human.
Another way which shows these feelings is when
my actor punches the side of the wall to show his
11. Audience
My target audience for my music video is people aged 16-24 as
this is the age at which most people watch music videos as they
have grown up with advanced technology so are more likely to use
it more often because this is what they do for fun and as a hobbie.
I would say that my music video targets this age range due to the
actors that I have included in it as they are in this age range
therefore the audience are able to connect with the music video
more and the artists in it. Plus, I think that the rock genre directly
targets this age range as people at this age are trying to identify
themselves as an individual and find out what style and
personality they want to have, which could be rock. The rock
genre is very free and abstract due to the rebellion label attached
to it. This is why I decided to create an abstract music video as I
think that it reflects the rock image and ideology more and it also
gave me a lot more freedom when it came to filming as I wasn’t
12. Representation
I think that my actors are represented as rebellious in my music
video due to some of the actions that they do such as:
smashing a TV with a sledgehammer, screaming and punching
a wall. All of these actions represent the artists as rebellious
because you wouldn’t expect people to do these things unless
they are distressed or angry about something. This links back
to the ideology of the song which focuses on the pressures of
being famous. Despite this, an alternative view could be that
they are represented as strong because the reason why they
are doing this is to be heard by the public and to try and change
the audience’s views on them. This shows the means that they
are having to result in in order for something to change and for
their voices to be heard. This represents them in a more
positive light because the public may appreciate their
