http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUsVbTj2AY&feature=share&list=AL94UKMTqg-9AuFwrfpWD2PdKS129sgDan

Justin Timberlake - Suit & Tie Feat. JAY Z

I chose this video as the genre was similar with it being R&B it will help me see some conventions in my genre and plan my music video accordingly.

 The video has a black and white theme to it which suggests olden times which is what this video works on when it is trying to show the classiness of the artists. It shows the artists in a hotel room on a piano drinking whisky in posh clothes which suggests upper class. The mise-en-scene also represents the upper class of the artist by them wearing diner suits and a bow tie, it shows them performing on a stage which again shows his celebrity status which is a convention, on the stage they have an old style of performance where they have classic drinks like whisky in crystal glasses and cigars on stage. They have a choreographed dance which breaks convention slightly but works with the theme of the 20th century style performance.

We also see a woman in his hotel room laid on his bed in stockings which shows her as a sexual object which abides by conventions of the genre of music, we also see throughout the video through random jump cuts, a woman who is dancing with little clothing on in a room by herself which also shows again how women are just sexual objects in this genre. They perform in a grand theatre with large chandeliers which also suggest wealth, a large spotlight shines down on the main artist which as i have mentioned before is a strong convention in my genre of music, it suggests the artist is the light in the otherwise dark place.

 The editing in this breaks the conventions a bit as its more of continuity editing then the usual montage editing for my genre of music, this could be due to it trying to be an old style video. The edits in this video always jump to the next one on the snare drum beat in the backing track; we would expect this as it is a main convention in my music video genre and all music videos in general. In their performance there is a lot of long shots to show the dancing of the artists, there also are a few establishing shots to show the location of the theater and the recording studio.

The theme of this video I think is to show how the artists think music was better before and how they would have like more of a classy life, it shows them working in the recording studio with more traditional equipment like a music script even though he was using an electronic tablet to view it on, the music they are making is also made on instruments like brass instruments. I think it shows how they are bringing classic back into the modern era.

 I think this music video works really well in bringing classy into the modern era, and I like the way it goes against convention slightly by bringing more of continuity edit rather than a montage style.
This video clearly represents how good the 'classy life' is and makes the audience jealous of the artists but aspire in there direction which seems to be a convention of this genre of music with all the artists living the good life.

Holy Grail - JAY Z Feat. Justin Timberlake

I chose to analyse this music video as it was in the same genre as mine which is an R&B, Hip Hop cross.

The video starts with some small lights shining in the darkness like fireflies, this reflects a convention of the genre where there is usually a dark setting with the artist or artists being the light in the center.
The're is then a series of jump cutting montage edits to the artist rapping in different locations in a dark abandoned mansion, this all happens when the beat kicks in which is another convention to have the edits faster in parellel style to the music, getting faster when the music is faster, the sound reflects the edits in a different way to which shows on most of the beats in the song an edit happens which is a convention of the genre and music videos as a whole. As i mentioned earlier was a convention, this music video uses strobe lighting in a dim lit room, flashing on the artist which could represent paparazzi taking pictures of him and him being in the spotlight. The edits then slow right down when a diegetic sound of Mike Tyson's fight is on TV with the artist watching it, the slow edits again reflect the pace of music which at this point comes to a halt.

The artist is shown in full in a number of edits, the mise-en-scene shows him in a black shirt and all black trousers and shoes with a large gold chain round his neck which can show his wealth and power in society which stands as a convention in the genre of the men being all about the money and power in contrast to women seen a sexualised objects. In the set there are large stacks of money which again backs up the genre. In the setting the are also some small statues of a pillar with a head on it which has connotations of ancient Greece and the power which was abundant there are also a set of lights around a mirror which also has connotations of stardom and celebraties. The other artist has a similar outfit on with also a blazer on as well, he also has jewellery in the for of a smaller more discrete chain.

The cinematography is mainly mid shots where you can see the artists faces and there upper body for example at 3:14 where you see the artist in a mirror with the lights around it this suggests his celebrity status by the connotations of light bulbs around a mirror. There is also allot of extreme close ups of the artists face like at 3:28, this could be to suggest his emotions in the video and show to the audience what he is feeling.

There is no clear narrative in this music video which is a convention of this genre of music video, they are usually just about style. However what it represents has links to the genre conventions, the genre seems to state that showing the style and money the artists have is the way to go, and what the audience should aspire too.

Brief: to shoot a 60 reconstruction of an existing music video

The video we have chosen is Taylor Swift: You Belong With Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAfFfqiYLp0&feature=share&list=AL94UKMTqg-9De-z6NKY2VpolZ5bVUGGAe

Kanye West Feat. Rihanna- All of the lights

The music video begins with a shot of a black and white board with tens of names on with some classical music in the background, it suggests that these people could be deceased now and showing them respect. 

The video stays in black and white for the intro of the song, the next scene is a clip of a little girl walking from an apartment block by the looks of it.

The little girl is wearing a white fluffy hat and a fluffy white scarf and white wellys, the use of white suggests that she is innocent and the slow classical music also reinforces the attitude. The camera shots in the intro are mostly long shots and show the background scene which makes the girl further look innocent and vulnerable next to the large backdrop of tower blocks in a big city. It also shows her walking past a group of 'hoodies' without looking which could suggest she is no longer scared of people like that since she has been walking the same routes for so long.

The video then switches to a montage editing of the words 'all of the lights' to reinforce the words and also states the artists names and holds focus for a few seconds to show there importance. The lyrics then appear again but all of them are in different fonts and styles of writing associated with different places which could suggest the universal appeal of the song. The video then features the artist with a light behind him so he is a black silhouette which suggests he is the darkness and maybe links in with the start showing how he would be the type of people the girl would be scared of. The video the jump cuts to the artist close up on the side of him holding his head which the song suggests about him doing bad things in the past. This is reinforced in the next jump cut in the montage style edit when the is a clip of a silhouette of him arguing with a girl and being violent.

The song shows how the artist then went to prison for violence and when he was released he found his girlfriend cheating on him, then a jump cut shows him jumping on a police car and destroying it with allot of flashing strobe lights which could represent him going to prison again for assaulting the man his girl was cheating with, the song lyrics also back this up. The mise-en-scene of the artists is: for the male; Black clothing, leather jacket, jewelry, trainers and all of this which is expensive he also wears glasses which could suggest him wanting to hide his identity maby from the police. For the girl; a revealing black top with allot of skin showing and dressed very sexually again all in black, she also has dyed her hair red which could suggest the passion or sexuallity of her or could suggest the violence which is clear in the video, which links to Michael Shores theory of anesthetization of violence through chic.

Montage editing continues through the video jumping between the artists. We then see another male artist wearing a red leather jacket, the red could symbolize the same as the female artists red hair. This videos aim also links to Michael Shores theory of surface without substance which links into this genres conventions.

overall this video seems to show the artist having a bad upbringing and tries to show the audience how hard life can be for people in that area or possibly even relate to some of the audience in similar situations, however he suggests how it can get better and it has done for him, he sees himself as some what of an inspiration.

Here is our final music video of the Taylor Swift song- You belong with me (with bloopers at the end)

Here is our costumes for our Taylor Swift music video remake, here you can see all the outfits for the girl and the one boys outfit, we have the original ones from the music video and also the drawn ones we made to mimic the real ones.