Out of the Box Production
GENRE NOTE & GENRE RESEARCH
GENRE NOTE
I have decided to do a music video for the song Lemon Tree by the German band, Fools Garden, which along with the theme is a somewhat unique perspective on boredom. The actress in the video is going to be dressed as a puppet and act like a complete nutcase. She will lounge about her unkempt house doing things a normal person would not do. This is due to sheer boredom. She will be baking her trousers in the oven, sleeping in the bottom of her cupboard mimicking the way some dolls are kept, skateboarding in the house whilst wearing a kitchen sieve as a helmet, driving a parked car and impersonating multiple characters in a board meeting. The actress will do all this while lip syncing to the words of the song Lemon Tree. This in a way represents the recent pandemic where everyone was dying of boredom and loneliness in their own homes.
WHAT ARE MUSIC VIDEOS?
A music video is a video of variable length, that integrates a music song or music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings.
Music videos are made differently depending on their type. Performance videos are made with the band/artist either lip syncing or playing along with the music. The songs are played through large speakers allowing the artist to play along. However, the narrative videos are more complex. A concept will need to be thought up by a writer or creative director. However, the narrative will need to correspond to the song itself. Some may use live a performance as a music video. They use a variety of styles and techniques including animation, action, documentary etc. Combining these styles and techniques create audience engagement due to the variation of techniques used.
Generally music videos are used for promotional purposes. The music video is usually released before the album. If the music video is good it may gain interest and may even become viral. The more promotion the video gets the more promotion the song and the band get and the more money is made. It is also an extremely effective way of displaying skills and honing them in the best way possible to attract audiences.
Music videos are ideal way to experiment with imagery and allow the imagination to run wild and apply the maximum level of technical skills.
Examples of music videos:
HISTORY OF MUSIC VIDEOS
The music video industry can be divided into the ‘Pre-MTV’ and ‘Post-MTV’ period. The modern music videos that we know now came into existence when 24-hour music television channel MTV was launched in the year 1981. The Buggles’ ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ was the very first music video which was broadcasted on MTV. In the initial few years, the channel did not have a bank of videos to play but gradually the trend of producing videos along with the music started and MTV became a powerful medium to discover new music and artists.
However, there were many events that took place much before MTV’s entry, which contributed to the creation of the term ‘music video’.
American singer Tony Bennett believes that he invented the music video in 1953 with his song ‘Stranger in Paradise’. He wrote in his autobiography ‘The Good Life: The Autobiography Of Tony Bennett’, “I filmed what I believe to be the first music video – I was shot walking in Hyde Park along the Serpentine while my recording of “Stranger in Paradise” was played. The clip was distributed to all the local TV stations in the UK and America, where it was aired on shows like Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.”
Some believe that talkies, sheet music, soundies, musical short films and musical films that existed between the early 1890s and late 1950s were the actual predecessors of the music video.
According to Rolling Stone, it was Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody that invented music videos. It was the success of this song’s promotional clip that compelled record companies to pay attention to videos as a way to market new releases and increase sales.
Whether it was the talkies, Bennett or Queen, the fact of the matter is that each of these milestones played a crucial role in preparing the world for the post-MTV era. Singers became performers and entertainers. Synchronized one-dimensional dancing videos turned into high-production value short movies. Immersive audio and video experience is what artists started to offer through music videos to their listeners. Michael Jackson’s body of work is one of the biggest examples of it.
When Jackson talked about the making and conceptualization of ‘Thriller’, he did not call it a music video; he called it a short movie instead. “My idea was to make this short film with conversation … I like having a beginning and a middle and an ending, which would follow a story,” Jackson said in an interview while talking about 'Thriller'.
How do Brands Harness The Power Of Music Videos?
In the 1980s and the 1990s, the revenue generated from the sale of albums and concerts tickets were the primary source of income for music creators and producers but the music programming industry witnessed a dip in sales during the early 90s. MTV shifted its focus from music shows to reality shows and thus ended the golden period of the 24-hour music channel.
Things changed in 2005 when American video-sharing website YouTube made its debut. The music video industry was revived in that year, and since then it has grown from strength to strength.
With its revival, came product placements. The world of branding and advertising seeped into music videos. It helped music producers to generate an alternate source of revenue. Brands also immensely benefited from it as they realized the reach of music artists and their videos.
Going back to Michael Jackson’s 'Thriller'. It holds the record of number one best-selling album with 62 million copies sold (claimed sales). On YouTube, the official video has garnered 542 million views! It has no product placements as it was made at the time when the concept did not exist.
But the opportunity of monetizing music videos exists now. Therefore, it does not come as a surprise that brands want their share of fame; even it means paying bags full of money just for a few minutes (or seconds) in a music video. In addition, placements in music videos are not time sensitive like TV shows or movies. People stream their favourite music over and over again. If it features top artists, then brands can see a steady stream of revenue being generated from an investment they made 5 or 10 years ago.
Lady Gaga’s 9 and a half minute video ‘Telephone’ has not one but twelve brand placements with Diet Coke, Virgin Mobile, Monster Heartbeats and Miracle Whip being some of them. This 9-minute video got the featured brands noticed by over 296 million people.
Mercedes and Adidas were able to reach 3.2 billion viewers by placing their products in the 2012 released surprise hit PSY’s Gangnam Style. It would be safe to assume that with good visibility came good revenue.
“In a new study, Nielsen found that not only do people notice brands in music videos, but these videos can contribute to a lift of 8 percentage points, on average, in purchase intent and improved perception. Even in the cases where the brand product placements were not as noticeable, overall awareness increased. In essence, these videos can present a more organic alternative to a blatant endorsement, which can be less effective with certain music genres,” a Nielsen Global Solutions report stated.
With more brands and artists maximizing revenue on their videos, new technology in video making is taking over.
The Impact of Digital Age
The next curve of growth in the music video industry life cycle became visible in the last five years due to the advent of social media and technology. The molds of conventional collaboration between an artist and a brand are getting broken every day. What is growing in its place is an environment that thrives on creativity, smart use of technology, commentary on culture and rich visual language.
Case in point: Pharrell Williams’ viral song ‘Happy’. It started as a soundtrack for the movie Despicable Me 2. The song became a massive hit across the world and 100s of tribute videos were uploaded on YouTube. The end result – the movie became one of the highest grossers of 2013 because of its association with Williams’ song.
Canada-based fashion company 'SSense' collaborated with music artists Iggy Azalea, Diplo and FKi to release an interactive shoppable video. In 2015, Grammy-winner artist The Weeknd released ‘The Hill’ music video that offered a virtual reality experience, courtesy of GoPro.
This has opened new channels for brands to market their products in creative ways. A decade ago it would have been impossible to imagine that a tech product can be advertised by showing the ‘experience’ and not necessarily the product. GoPro did it by creating a 360-degree music video and promoting it via a hugely popular music performer, The Weeknd.
Are Brand Placements Getting Out of Hand?
Lady Gaga’s Telephone was heavily criticized for the sheer number of brand placements and how they were presented. At one point in the video, she can be seen wearing Diet Coke cans as hair rollers. This brings forth the alarming shift in the narrative when it comes to storytelling.
Earlier, the music and the artists were at the centre stage and product placement was secondary and seamless. Now, it is becoming too in-your-face and some brands like Beats by Dr. Dre are overdoing it.
It would be wrong to believe that the issue can be fixed by reducing/restricting the number of brands in one video. Primarily because multiple brands are not the main issue. For instance, in Ariana Grande’s ‘Focus’, Samsung Galaxy is the brand that is featured prominently but the song’s theme ‘galaxy’ and the over-presence of the phone did not sit well with the viewers.
A song with a story might require hundred different things. The problem starts when brands are not seamlessly infused or have no place within the story and therefore, stick out like a sore thumb.
Understanding Creative Partnerships
The 24-hour viewing figure of every single video of music artists like K-pop band BTS, Taylor Swift and Adele are record-breaking. BTS’s Fake Love’s 24-hour viewing figure was 35.9 million and now it has over 327 million views. USA’s population is 327.16 million. Therefore, it would be unwise to not take advantage of such an amazing marketing opportunity.
However, emphasis should be placed on inserting brands into videos only where relevant and it can only happen when performers value their personal brand more than the endorsements. There are budding artists like Ella Mai who admit that the extra money through brand placements helps because producing a video is a costly affair. On the other hand, there are celebrated performers like Beyoncé who often voluntarily plug businesses/brands. In her ‘Formation’ song, she casually mentioned Red Lobster, a seafood chain, and the restaurant’s sales increased by 33%!
Technology allows experimenting, getting creative and creating an interactive experience; so there is no room for lazy storytelling. The focus should be on understanding partnerships, endorsements and placements. A music video can have ten paid brands like Lady Gaga, one like Mai or zero like Beyoncé, if the driving force behind the narrative does not affect the music’s soul.
With smart technology enabled syndications, brands and stars today are taking these collaborations to a whole new level. From taking brand endorsements from promotions to the add-to-cart page, video enabling solutions today are closing the loop on collaborations benefits all parties involved.
Genre Research
Genre is any form of communication in any mode with conventions unanimously agreed upon and developed over the years. Categories such as literature, music or other forms of entertainment or art with written or spoken, audio etc are based of some set of stylistic criteria. Genres can be aesthetic, communicative or functional. Genres form by the conventions that change over time as new genres develop and old ones are discontinued. Genres can often be mixed using conventions. Some are rigid while others are flexible. Genres such as these are seen in music videos of various artists, whether they continue on the same genre through albums or singles or they change their genre and concept in each album. The title or type of music of the songs gives the idea of what genre it is. There are now different genres like hip hop, country, jazz, etc. For example, Dave Burbeck- Take Five is a Jazzy genre. It is obvious to the audience by the way the music has that unique way of playing instruments like the trumpet, saxophone, trombone, clarinet, piano, a bass instrument (such as a double bass or electric bass guitar), and drums.
Perspective and colours
Colours are a representation of emotions and deep connections in life. Colours are also used to define seasons, feelings, events, etc.
Here are some colours with their meaning:
RED:
Red has a range of symbolic meanings through many different cultures, including life, health, vigor, war, courage, anger, love and religious fervor. The common thread is that all these require passion.
ORANGE:
Orange depicts optimism, emotion, adventure and is creative. Effects of orange: encouraging, enhances creativity, stimulates appetite, heightened sense of activity, uplifting. Positive traits: positivity, creativity, warmth, spontaneity. Negative traits: insincerity, exhibitionism, being superficial, impatience. Also a colour worn by prison inmates.
YELLOW:
Yellow, the color of sunshine, hope, and happiness, has conflicting associations. On one hand yellow stands for freshness, happiness, positivity, clarity, energy, optimism, enlightenment, remembrance, intellect, honor, loyalty, and joy, but on the other, it represents cowardice and deceit.
BLUE:
Because blue is favored by so many people, it is often viewed as a non-threatening color that can seem conservative and traditional. Blue calls to mind feelings of calmness or serenity. It is often described as peaceful, tranquil, secure, and orderly. Blue is often seen as a sign of stability and reliability.
GREEN:
Green is universally associated with nature, linked as it is to grass, plants and trees. It also represents growth and renewal, being the color of spring and rebirth. Another association is “getting the green light” to go ahead, giving it an association with taking action.
WHITE:
White represents purity or innocence. While a bride wearing white was often thought to convey the bride's virginity, blue was once a traditional color worn by brides to symbolize purity. White is bright and can create a sense of space or add highlights.
BLACK:
The colour Black has a special, full-spectrum status when it comes to the feelings it reflects. Power, elegance, sophistication, status, formality. evil, death, grief, mourning and the occult are some of what the colour represents. Mystery, bleakness, heaviness, depression, rebellion and fear are also what this colour brings to mind.
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