Andrew Goodwin's theory - Lana Del Ray

Andrew Goodwin in his book Dancing in the Distraction Factory writes about what he defines as the characteristics of music videos. I have decided to apply these to the music video for 

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics/conventions (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band)

Shots that show the narrative of romance, and some type of relationship are a convention within female music video. Also the focus of shots, that show the solo artists costume highlight the convention of fashionable and individual style that is seen within the indie genre. 

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals

(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting)

An example of when  the lyrics seem to relate to the visuals, is where it cuts to the medium-long shot of the main road, when the lyrics say 'The road is long'. The way the camera seems to be travelling along the road as if a shot from the bumper of the car emphasises the journey both physically and metaphorically. Also how the shot shows nothing but the road, implies the vast mundanity of the journey and it's length. 

As the sequence cuts to this close up shot of Lana shows her doing a stereotypical hand movement of her running her hand across her neck, which is often associated with death and a threatening sign. As this is seen the  vocals reach the chorus of, 'We were born to die'. This is therefore highlighted as the climax of the song through the hand gestures which is clarifying and illuminating the songs lyrics. This is very effective, as the shot is very delicate which contrasts the harshness and blunt implications of the words, which have connotations of death.

The shots within this location, provide the opportunity for Lana to lip-sync to her song, and therefore there is a strong relationship between her actions and her lyrics. 

As she sings the line 'Oh my heart breaks', she gently raises her arm and places it across he body on top of her heart. This emphasises the meaning of love, pain and heartbreak, as her delicate movements in her white dress portray her as vulnerable and easily hurt. 

3. There is a relationship between the music and visuals

Born to Die, has a very powerful and rich sound, it uses instruments such as harps and layers of string instruments creates a romantic and luxurious sound. This is highlighted by the majestic and symmetrical opening shots, along with the low angle panning shot of the ceiling which represents the art work's beauty and delicate craft-man ship. 


The video also follows the convention of music and visuals relating through the use of sequence, as shots are relevant and either held or cut in a way that compliments the music. 

The pace is relevant to the song, as shots are held for a medium amount of time, which fits with the luxurious layers of harmonies within the song. 

It would not fit for her to have fast cutting clips as it will distort the viewing experience and cause confusion for the audience, whereas these fluent and gentle clip transitions, take the viewer on a journey with the artist and experience a more relaxed and sensitive song. 

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artists and the artist may develop motifs which reoccur across their work (a visual style)

There is a constant use of close up shots of Lana, This makes it very clear to the viewer that she is the main feature of the music video and representative of the music label. Through the close-up shots there is clear use of lip-syncing and use of facial expressions to highlight song lyrics and style. 
It also draws attention to her white dress, which has association with virtue and innocence, which could also been seen as the 'born', and new born qualities, within the song, which is further emphasised through the church setting. Which is contrasted with her dark red lips, which have connotations of lust, passion and blood. Highlighting the chorus of the song, 'we were born to die', the reference to death, seems to be influenced by the dark blood lips. This provides a clear image of the singer as, passionate and strong due to her contrasting images. 
It also draws attention to her floral band, on top of her head, this presents her as a romantic figure, and keeps into the conventions of the indie genre. 
This will provide the record label with audiences recognising Lana Del Ray, and her close up highlights her grungy-romantic style of song, which they will be able to develop and use within other of the artists music video.

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes etc and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body)  

This shot is shown from behind the seat of the car, where the 'action' is happening. This encourages the viewer to feel as though they are looking on to the action, and that they are within the perspective from the back seat of the car. 

It is also interesting that it combines the notion of looking with the voyeuristic treatment of the female body, as the shots within the back of the car, are where the female is seen as being lustful.

These medium shots of the female and male on the car bonet, show her in a very sexually suggestive shots of her, as lustful and passionate. This encourages a more passionate response to the song, and uses this to be highlight the dramatic and encourages an emotional response from the viewer. 

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc)

The opening shot of the female and male embracing in front of the american flag, could be seen as an intertextual reference to similar american artist and patriotic films. As the two are having an embrace it highlights the unity and patriotism between them, symbolising the whole of america as a solid state. 

The long shot of the opening location of the church with the two tigers and Lana sat on a throne with a floral crown on her head, holds lots of old testament references. 

The tiger itself represents fear and evil combine with its contradictory form of beauty and majestic appearance. 

Whereas the floral headband, could be seen as a reference to the crown of thorns worn, highlighting the power and authority she has, which is further seen through her symmetrical layout and her being in the centre of the image.

Digipack Research

Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold paperboard, which has one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD attached to the inside. Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums.


Here is the Digipack for Florence + The Machine's album 'Lungs' which was released in the July of 2009, this is an example of a very successful and popular female indie artist's design and marketing to her target audience. The album has spent sixty-five consecutive weeks within the top forty album charts.

This is the album art work for Florence's album, the album is called 'Lungs', this is used as a theme for the digipack, as the photo of florence uses dark forest greens which contrast the rich reds, adding to the grunge effect, which is one of the connotations of lungs and organs anyway. Florence's skin has been edited to show it's whiteness which is associated with death and purity, opposite concepts that come together within this cover. As her sleeping position looks almost serene.  I also like the typography for the artists name, the white font contrasts the dark black background.

This is the CD artwork, I like the way that the same white font is used for the album title, this creates a clear sense of identity for the whole album. This also is added to by the actual image itself, the hands holding the heart is very similar to the previous image of florence with the lungs showing. The image itself is very strong because of it's gruesomeness, this is very unusual because florence and the machine appeals to a female demographic, and an image like this could be seen as  quite repulsive for them. 

                            

The back of the digi-pack, adopts the colour scheme of black and white. These colours are quite common because of the contrast between them, which allows the information and font to clearly stand out and be easy to read by the individual. 

The back informs the individual to all of the track names and where they are on the album by placing theme with numbers. This is a convention for the back of an album. I really like the way that the numbers also link up to the arrows on the diagram of the heart, it's quite a cool way to interlink the information with the diagram. 

The diagram of the heart continues the theme of body parts and physical representations of love songs, which are normally associated with the heart. For an artist that has such romantic/grunge songs it is a very unique way of combining the two concepts together. 

Here is the front cover of Kate Nash's album called 'Made of Bricks'. Kate Nash is a quirky female solo artists, which is very like the type of artist i will be using within my music video. 

It's very clever how the title of the album is related to the cover art, showing the connection between the bricks that have made the house which is the main feature on the cover as it is even centred with the framing. This creates continuity within the album, and a clear sense of identity which is useful when marketing. 

I also like the childish font for the album title and artist, the way that it isn't contained and is quite free, is very like the happy vibe the album has to offer, and most of all highlights how this isn't an album about heart break or deep feelings, it highlights the cover's surrealism, as it's meant to be perceived as a type of alice in wonderland effect, with kate almost looking doll like. It's a happy album and will have a feel good factor. 

To highlight the childlike qualities of the cover they have used 3 primary colours of yellow green and blue and red. These are related to childhood because of their simplicity, this then has connotations of fun and happiness. It's also clever because the artist is a very small part of the cover art because of her size compared to the house, however because she is the only part of the image in red she still clearly stands out without taking up the whole of the cover. 

This is the back of the album cover, it contrasts the business which consumes the front cover and is very simplistic within it's format. The grey-blue colour on the back allows clearly for the information of the album to be displayed on. 

I like the way that the track lists are not in a generic format of justified to one side, this messiness creates a playful style which highlights the quirky and fun music that Kate Nash is recognisable for. 

This is the album cover for Marina and the Diamonds album, The Family Jewels. The main focus of the cover is a close up shot of Marina, as she is the lead singer of the band. I think this is very effective as it shows her as the focus and makes the album easily recognisable for consumers. 

I also really like the white font, as it is quiet bold and almost in a scribble handwritten type of font, this gives it a modern and informal type of vibe which highlights the laid back vibe of the album.

I also like the vintage fabric background as it identifies with the conventions if indie and hipster type of fashion and therefore for a young target audience this is very relevant and relatable to.

This is the back of Marina and the Diamonds album. It have a very eye catching close up shot of Marina and The Diamonds. The way that Marina is leaning back, gives her body a distorted type of image, this is kind of similar to the grunge style of Florence's album. Showing me that this type of indie grunge is very common and is successful for female artists.

I also like the way that the same font is used on the back as it gives the album a clear identity. Instead of the typical convention of having the album's track list in a straight line down the back with corresponding numbers, the titles are curved around Marina's head, this joins the artist and the font together and makes it fit together more. 

I'd really like to do something like this, linking the back cover image to the text in a unique and interesting way as i believe it is more appealing to the buyer.  

This is the CD artwork for Marina and the Diamonds, the CD is a very basic format and not like other products where there is a image that is the main feature. The plain silver style is similar to dated albums, and therefore carries on the vintage style, which is very popular within the target demographic that acts like Marina appeal to. 

I also like the way the album uses the same font from the cover, but in black, which co ordinates with the black format of the disc. 

This is the album cover for Eliza Doolittle's album. I like the way that it mixes graphic design in a collage type effect with an image of Eliza. This collage/scrap book effect is similar to the quirky scene style of music, as it captures the fun and 'un-comforming' type of music that would be within the album. 

However it still keeps to the convention of having a clear colour scheme, as the blue sky like background is noticeable as well as the black and white bold printed album titles. 

This is the back cover of Eliza Doolittle's album, it carries on the colour theme by having the sky blue background. Although the fonts are in many different styles, they all still follow the black and white format. The differing fonts highlight the different montage of images that were on the front cover and therefore carry on this quirky effect. 

The full length shot of Eliza shows her clothing and this instantly allows for consumers to label her accordingly, this quirky style of miss match colours and outfits would appeal to someone recognise this as a modern interpretation of fashion, and would therefore also understand the style of music.

This CD artwork is similar to Marin and the Diamonds, as it keeps the plain CD image, again it is similarly used to highlight the 'individual' style of indie and quirky style of female artists who are the new generation of solo artists. 

It has the same bold style of writing that was in the cover fonts, but uses a different colour to again highlight the montage effect used throughout the album, as the CD itself does not appear to fit with the album.

Research 12

This music video by Birdy for her cover of Skinny Love, combines the indie-like vintage vibe that is very current and appropriate at this time with a young female artist that i can easily recreate within my video being from the same generation. I also like the style of music and the key role the piano plays within the song. 

Research 11

To make sure i have covered the many different types of music videos, I have decided to research about band videos, looking at Mumfords and Sons, as although they are a band they have the same musical genre as other artists that i am interested in, and the video also uses shots that include instrument and lighting which i am very interesting in using in my own video. 

Research 10

  I looked at another female solo artist in the indie genre; Lissie in the video When I'm alone, to find some more inspiration for my music video. This video is a good example of the effective use of lighting, filters and instruments that i have previously looked at. 

Research 9

From researching music videos within the indie/alternative genre for inspiration for the types of narrative, instruments, costumes and shots that i should use in my own music video within the same genre I cam across the video from The Temper Trap for their single Love Lost. This video really stood out to me because of the use of actors instead of the artist appearing in the video. Each of the characters within the video lip-syncs the vocals and it is done in a very naturalistic way.

Research 8

I have carried on my research on female artists and have focused on the indie/acoustic genre. As this is the type of music that appeals to me the most. This is the music video for Ellie Goulding's released cover of Your Song.

Research 7

After researching the instrument elements in music videos I have chosen to look at an alternative way of incorporating a band/live music element into the music video. This is a more mellow and acoustic way of showing instruments in the video, so I have selected shots from Damien Rice's video for his single Volcano.

Research 6

I have decided to look at KT Tunstall's music video for her song 'Suddenly I see', I choose to research this video because it is different from my previous posts due to the fact that it is a band based performance video. This gave me the chance to find inspiration for some possible ideas of shots and factors to include in my final video. 

Research 5

I have carried on with my research into female artists by looking at Marina and the Diamonds with her music video for I Am Not A Robot. This is a good video to focus on the conventions that appear in female videos such as a larger focus on fashion and elaborate outfits and makeup. 

Research 4

Within all my research I have focused on music from solo artists. I believe this is because it attracts me the most and is the area I will most likely be using within my final product. This means that i know need to focus on what gender of solo artist to use as male and female music video conventions have many differences due to the consumption that they are marketed for. This is why I have chosen to study another Indie genre music video from female solo artist I blame Coco, with her video Self Machine.

Research 3

For research into music videos, I have decided to look into the alternate/inide genre, and have looked at Ben Howard's music video The Wolves. I have chosen certain shots to analyse as this video really stood out to me through the use of the monochrome footage and the diverse use of shots.

Research 2

After my first research post on John Mayer's video, I decided to look at another music video within the same music genre. I chose to look at Florence and The Machine's iconic music video 'You've Got the Love'. This gave me the chance to focus on different aspects that are important in a solo female artist's video. 

Research 1

For my first research post on a music video I decided to look at John Mayer - Who Says, as i really like the song and wanted to research the types of shots in a music video from a solo artist.