What Is A Music Video - Miss Miller

A music video is a short period of film which gives more of an insight towards the song and the meaning behind it, which can ensures it to be more popular. A music video tells a story towards the audience of how the artists wishes to portray it. The audience can create a deeper bond with the audience as they are able to watch an element of the artists life which they have experienced and how they have dealt with it through their career. The video allows the audience to experience a different side towards the artist and the song itself, allowing a more in depth and effective response from the audience. The purpose of a music video is so the audience can easily relate towards the song and the artist and then use it in within their life, which makes it effective. Music videos have a range of different genres full of different moods and atmospheres. Within a music video, there are three different styles which are used in order to make it effective, these include: the narrative, which is telling the audience a story. There is the performance aspect, which includes singing and dancing and there is also the concept, which is selling the audience an idea, theme or ideology.

The video I am analysing is 'Super Bass,' by the artist Nicki Minaj. The genre towards this song is hip hop and rap. The purpose of this music video was to show the performance of the singer as she dancing and singing. Another purpose of this music video was to show expensive clothes and cars and the dominance of her female self, which are conventions within the genres of this music video.

A micro element which was used was the feminist side towards the video. This was shown throughout the period the video where there is Nicki is objectifying and down grading men. This is shown as she as she is using men as a prop, dancing around them whilst she is performing to the character. Through the video, at a range of scenes; she is surrounded by boys in which all want her.

Also at one point, she also throws a drink at one of the men, but still continues to have fun and laugh and dance. I think this is effective as it shows a contradiction  towards other hip hop and rap videos where men objectify women in a provocative manner. This then shows the dominance that Nicki has upon men and is an inspiration and to portray to women that you do not need a man to be happy and that becoming more independent is becoming more common. That is the concept towards the music video.

Another micro element which is used is mise-en-scene, costume. This is varied differently throughout the music video. Whilst Nicki Minaj is performing, she was wearing bright colours with colourful wigs and makeup.

This is to draw attention towards herself to show a revealing side towards her. She also gained attention  from wearing minimal clothing of a vest top and very short shorts with her neon underwear showing, whilst wearing with neon Doc Martin shoes. This is used to get attention from a range of audiences and then the narrative starts to differ as the men are shown to be not in control, which they stereotypically would. This is highly effective. A micro element which has the same concept is used near the end of the music video.

This is shown through slow editing of the performer in the pool, in costume of a bikini pouring liquid over herself in slow motion. This is used to show the revealing manner within this video, which encourages women to represent themselves sexually without being objectified by men.

The music video is also portrayed to be fun and friendly as all the girls are dancing around together, smiling and laughing, which is generally expected within the genre of a female singer involved in things like hip hop. There are dance routines throughout the music video, which is a typical convention within this female artist and within the genre. There are also different uses of cinematography to show the artist of Nicki Minaj performing, these range from shots like a close up, to then a long shot to show the audience her outfit and how she is representing herself through the music video. The music video appeals to particular target audiences of older teens (15-25) as it is fun and energetic, but also can be seen in a sexual manner, which can be inappropriate to younger audiences.


From analysing this music video, I have learnt a range of things from the hip hop genre. I have learnt that it is very fun and fast in order to grab your attention and to ensure you are in a good mood, which makes the music video effective. In order to complete this, they used lots of bright neon colours with lots of movement from the camera angles and also the characters involved with the video.

It also involved using expensive things from iconography to make the video more popular and gain more attention from materialistic viewers, which are stereotypically teens and young adults. I think music videos are very effective as people have different interpretations to different things, so by watching a music video, the audience are then able to watch the artists perspective towards the song. This can then give it another meaning. Music videos can also make the song more popular as more people are able to talk about the narrative of the film, allowing free advertisement and can also introduce more fanatics. In my preference, I think music videos are extremely important as it allows he audience to put the voice from the song towards the artists appearance, which allows the audience to feel more of a bond towards the artist and are able to relate towards happy and sad points in their life portrayed through their lyrics and the emotions the artist is expressing in the music video. I am considering doing the genre of hip hoo due to the high amount of creativity it presents all throughout the video, it is also fun and puts you in a good mood.

History of a Music Video - Miss Georgiou

How music videos have changed over the years

Music videos have drastically changed over time due to updates upon the age of technology. Music industries can now access more which can make a music video effective. Another reason is the importance of music videos, over time; they have become more relevant and admired. Overall, it is clear that all aspects of media have evolved over time. 

Websites such as Youtube have helped increase this evolution due to easy access for audiences to watch music videos and then become more popular. Music Videos such as 'Gangnam Style' in recent years is a prime example of how important Youtube is as it became a viral phenomena. As you can see from the image, the music video of Gangnam Style by the music artist of 'Psy' was the most watched music video to this day. Youtube allowed easy access for a wide range of audiences to watch and enjoy this music video. The music video also included a dance trend from the music performer which made the music video even popular. 

Without the impact music videos have upon Youtube, would then highly result in the website not being as effective and at its highest potential as it is today. Music videos have become so popular within the Youtube industry that the channel of 'Vevo' also gained importance. This channel allowed professional music artists to upload their songs and music videos to gain popularity and views.

These are the most watched music videos on the Youtube channel. As you can see, they range from various artists of different genres. This shows different audience preferences and that it is popular with a range of different people. This shows that Youtube is highly effective within the subject of music videos and does not specify in one genre of music.

The music channel of MTV has had a major impact upon the music industry in general. This allowed audiences to become more familiar with the music industry and have easy access to watch music videos and enjoy or relate towards it. The purpose of this channel was to easily play music videos and is primarily targeted at adolescents and teenagers, due to them being stereotypically known for being music fanatics. The MTV music channel was firstly broadcasted on August 1st, 1981 and has been a contribution towards the importance of the music industry to this day.

The budget within different music videos vary. Budgets are used to create more effective and realistic towards the audience. There are a range of things to consider when creating a music video. Budgets are important but not necessarily are the most important. Some of the most successful music videos are just using a camera and watching the artist perform to the camera, whilst juxtaposing that statement the most expensive music videos have also been successful. In my opinion, it depends on the narrative and concept of the film.

One of the most expensive music video is the song 'Black or White,' by the singer Michael Jackson with a $6.9 million budget. This video was to show fun, meaning and a memorable performance. The music video lasted 11 minutes and was premiered in 27 different countries with the estimation of 500 million people viewing this video, showing on things like FOX, Youtube and other music channels.
Another example towards a successful music video with a extremely high budget is madonna- bed time story- $7.7 mill
madonna- die another day $7.9 mill
Madonna express yourself $9.4 mill

Michael and Janet Jackson scream is the worlds most expensive music video with the budget of $10.7 million. There are a range of reasons towards this. Michael Jackson was a very famous artist, so having an expensive music video was expected of him. There was a lot of computer related things within this music video to make it effective and attention grabbing to a wide range of audiences. Things like featuring the generated spaceship were included within the price and making Janet and Michael walk on walls all resulted to the price of $65,000. Another factor towards the expensive price was the making of breaking guitars to highlight the overall message from 'Scream,' which resulted to $53,000. The preparation for the music video to look the part was critical, with makeup artists working on Janet and Michael Jacksons face then led to the overall price of $11,000. The scenery was also an important, but expensive factor, as there were 11 different sets to set the scene of a particular fragment of the music video which was $5,000,000 overall. The choreography also contributed a fair amount to the overall price of this music video as Michael Jackson is famous for his talent of dancing, which led to the amount for this music video of $40,000. Although, this was an expensive music video, it was also benefitical as it did infact attract a global audience and gained on Youtube 42+ million views.

Within a music video, there are a range of technologies involved within making it effective and helping to give a clearer meaning the artist wishes to pursue within the video towards audiences. Technology has recently come of importance and is used a lot more now in recent music videos than old music videos. Things like using IMAX cameras to show audiences a better and clearer view, vlogging cameras are sometimes used to allow the audience feel more connected to the artist as it feels more personal. For example: Justin Bieber in his song 'Beauty and a Beat,' shows a deeper connection as he is holding the camera whilst running around a theme park partying, almost seeing a other side to him. The way in which people get hold of music now has evolved over the years. Companies that now sell music then feel like they are at a dis vantage due to the era of internet phenomena where fanatics are easily able to download music illegally through other websites.

 Green screens are also used frequently to show a scenario in the background eg Nicki Minaj in her video Starships where it starts of at a beach to show more of a concept towards the story and make it more relevant to represent a fun and party atmosphere. Some artists also use a white background so the artist can purely focus on the artists performance, for example: Omarian, Jhene Aiko and Chris Brown 'Post To Be' 

Promotional advertisements are also used to promote an object to a wide range of audiences. These are mainly used in mainstream music. These can range from particular brands of phones to Beats music speakers and so on. These are effective as fans idolise a certain artist and when watching a music and seeing them use it, then makes the fanatics feel like they should get it to be one step closer to be like their idol and having their lifestyle which is portrayed to be perfect full of fun things such as partying and travelling the world. An example of this type of advertisement being used is in the music video 'Pretty Girls' by Britney Spears and Iggy Azlea where they promote the new Samsung phone showing Britney using it.

Another promotional example is used by the artist Miley Cyrus in her music video 'We Can't Stop' showing her turning on a pink Beats speaker as the music video starts. This represent the Beats brand to be popular and loved by successful artists, which makes audiences want to get it to listen to music and to feel closer towards celebrities they admire. 

Another generic artist is the solo singer Ariana Grande, when she was having the most success I. Her career, she released a song called 'The Way,' featuring Mac Miller which included her promoting the IPhone sat nect to her whilst she is performing to the camera. The phone has a particular phone case which was of the outlines of the animal bear. She was known to have this as she would post pictures with it on social media. This sold the idea to fanatics that if they got the phone case, they would be closer to being like her appearance wise, and also her famous half up half down famous hair style. 

Target audience is very important within music videos, as the particular audience are able to relate to the concept and narrative of the music video. For example: a love story is usually more relatable towards young teenage girls. Characteristics such as age, gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality and location are all factors which are taken into consideration when determining the target audience. As the internet is mainly dominated by the younger population, most music videos target younger audiences. Things that are used to attract younger audiences are attractive characters, wealth and an insight towards the artists personal life as teenagers are stereotypically known to be nosey and love to gossip. 

An effective video to a suitable target audience is the song 'Blank Space,' by Taylor Swift. Her target audience is the younger generation, specifying to around 12-17 year old girls. She gtabs their attention by first showing them the lifestyle she is living in, which is a beautiful mansion. This makes the audience want to watch on as being wealthy is commonly wanted by the majority of people, and by watching the music video allows the audience to see what this type of upper class life style is like.

 Both characters in the video are both very attractive, which can attract a wide range of audiences to watch and idolise.

The artist is shown performing in nearly every scene of the video, which allows fanatics and people who idolise her to see new trends she might be advertising, such as style. Through the video, Taylor shows a lot of different outfits whilst showing her love story, which interprets she is taking us on a journey of different times the couple are spending together. 

This video is very effective, as fanatics are always interested in knowing every single detail into a celebrity or anyone's love life. Throughout the music video, it shows the ups and downs of a relationship, which is extremely interesting to watch, especially for younger girls who are yet to experience the good and bad times of having a boyfriend. Some scenes are shown of Taylor getting jealous and crying, then going to the extremes of throwing her boyfriends phone in water.

This music video was extremely effective and shown within its popularity, with it getting millions of views and thumbs up. 

Music genres have changed over the years, mainly by others gaining more popularity as they appeal to the generation who are most interested in music right now, which is the younger generation. Before the 2000's, the instruments were most valued such as piano and the trumpet. In present time, the artist, their type of voice and appearance are now more valued. A lot of things have changed over the years, and the music industry is at its peak, as many people rely on different genres of music to differ certain moods. Right now, music is extremely important and allows audiences to escape from reality for a short period of time to watch a short movie of a music video. I think music videos are extremely important, as they set a certain narrative towards a song which can benefit the song and the artist in many ways. It allows the artist to be creative with ideas and express their inner thoughts and emotions through a short story.