The Auteur Theory

 Auteur Theory: In film criticism, auteur theory holds that a director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision. In spite of, and sometimes even because of, the production of the film as a part of an industrial process, the auteur's creative voice is distinct enough to shine through all kinds of studio interference and through the collective process.

Alfred Hitchcock:

Alfred Hitchcock was an English film director and producer. He's widly considered the master of suspense. Key elements of his style include: Cameo appearances in his films, use of his favourite actors like Grace Kelly, elongated suspense scenes and representations of the psychological. This means most people can tell that a film is made by Hitchcock. It is now considered to be correct that music videos and their directors can have auteurs in the same way. 

When auteur theory was being developed, Alfred Hitchcock was frequently acknowledged as the expert example, and his name brings to mind immediate expectations in terms of themes and techniques. As befit the master of mystery and suspense, his films play with the audience's nerves, sexually or tabooed areas assume central or implicit places in his work (the latent homosexuality of Strangers on a Train, the parody of an Oedipus complex in Psycho and the traumatic remembrance of repressed memories of Marnie), there is a constant element of black comedy, and frequent unusual characterisations. Hitchcock was influenced by the German Expressionists, and admired their ability to express ideas in purely visual terms. It is this visual expression of thought and psychology that Hitchcock achieves throughout his films.

Hype Williams:

                                          

Harold "Hype" Williams (born 1970), previously known as HYPE, is an American music video and film director.

Williams first displayed his work by tagging local billboards, storefronts, and playgrounds using HYPE as his graffiti tag. Williams' big break came when he began working with Classic Concepts Video Productions. Lionel "Vid Kid" Martin & VJ Ralph McDaniels created Williams' first opportunity with the "Filmmakers With Attitude" moniker (FWA), which was Williams' first video company.

Awards Williams has received for his video work include:

. Billboard Music Video Award for Best Director of the Year (1996)

 . Jackson Limo Award for Best Rap Video of the Year (1996) for Busta Rhymes' "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check"

. NAACP Image Award (1997), the 8th annual Music Video Production Association Award for Black Music Achievement (1997)

. MTV Video Music Award in the Best Rap Video (1998) category for Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy wit It"

. MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video (1999) for TLC's "No Scrubs"

. BET Award for Best Director (2006) for Kanye West's "Gold Digger".

Three of Hype Williams' Music Videos:

Kanye West: "All of the Lights" Ft Rihanna 2011

Will Smith: "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" 1998

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JcmQONgXJM

Jay-Z: "Empire State of Mind" Ft Alicia Keys 2009

Applying Goodwin's Theory to: Kayne West-Gold Digger

Goodwin's theory of music videos: Gold Digger by Kanye West Ft. Jamie Foxx.

 I looked at Goodwin's six features and applied each of these features to this music video:
1. Relationship between the lyrics and the visuals:

In the music video when Kanye West is rapping he says: “From what I heard she got a baby by Busta” In this specific example the lyrics are connected to visual on screen lyrics whereby a girl stands underneath them. This, referring to the audience the use of the word ‘she’ in the lyrics helping them to identify her.

Then in the music video when Kanye West continues to rap, he says "18 years, 18 years, she got one of your kids got you for 18 years, I know somebody paying child support for one of his kids." Whilst he is rapping this a little boy appears on screen in a red devil costume. This use of costume and colour in the mise en scene shows the sign of evil and represents a visual metaphor for the lyrics.

2. Relationship between the music and the visuals

At the very beginning of the video we see Jamie Foxx singing and then there is a fast paced beat that kicks in, with this it is edited in a quick flash of images. This is done within 1 or 2 seconds at 0.20-.0.22 into the video. There is also a number of times within the video were visuals are repeated as lyrics are repeated. The visuals are a collection of images of women with minimal clothing and are shown really quickly as there are a number of the images. One of the images is a woman wearing extreme green eye make-up, which conveys a jealous, money-greedy look in her eyes. The idea that it represents the conception of wealth and money suggests the title of the song ‘Gold Digger’ and this is people who seek for money and expenses in other people.

3. Genre characteristics:

The genre of "Gold Digger" is put into the categories of R&B/Hip Hop, but slightly sides more with R&B as is noticeable through the beats of the music and the lyrics. Some of the typical conventions of R&B and R&B music videos are connected with partying and dancing in clubs or in general. And also a convention which I feel is one of the biggest and most common convention is the portrayal of women and their body parts which noticeably almost always are sexually referenced.

 

4. Intertextual reference:

Throughout the music video, the audience are given short snippets of women on the front of male magazines. The texts on the magazine give a suggestion of men’s perceptions of the women’s bodies saying that they are ‘red hot’ and ‘fresh hot’ signifying that the women have good bodies.

 

5. Demands of the record label:

In the music video Kanye West can be recognised through a specific trade mark of his. In parts of the music video there are mid shots of Kanye West dancing and it is noticeable that half of the shirt he is wearing is tucked into his trousers and the other half of it is hanging out. This is something he does in a lot of his other music videos as a way of creating a trade mark sign for his audience and also artist competition to look out for.  

6. Notions of looking:

The women in this music video are sexually referenced through the lyrics of the song and also visually through the video. They are used as an imagery of sexual connotations which then becomes a way of promotion of the music video to specifically male audiences.





Goodwin's Theory

Goodwin's theory on music videos suggest there are 6 principles:

1. Relationship between the visuals and lyrics- Whereby the visuals illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics.

2. Relationship with the music and visuals- This can involve editing that establishes a beat within a song.

3. Genre Characteristics- These are established through the video and what the video portrays. It also means that the video has a connection with the artist and the song reflecting their genre.

4. Demands of the Record Label- This allows an artist to be recognised globally,and also allows them to become a memorable artist. For example dressing or dancing a certain way, possessing a certain lyric or catch phrase etc.

5. Notions of looking- Audiences are made to 'look' at certain things and images displayed in the video. For example a video may use certain camera angles to show a womans body.

6. Intertextual Reference- This is when videos reference either to other music videos, tv, films or other artists in their music video. These then provide further gratification and pleasure for the viewers.

Inspirational Music Videos

1. Concept Based Music Video: This is a video that has no real storyline so may not be linked at all with the song or the artist or band. The images used in the images may also not reflect the lyrics of the song. The first out of my three choices was OK GO- "Here It Goes Again." The reason for my choice was because i absolutely loved how unique this was using the running machines in a totally new way by creating a dance routine on the running machines. Even though i was not familiar with the band and their songs this video drew me in and made me take a liking to the song even more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCNK7RA&feature=player_detailpage


2. Narrative Based Music Video: This is a video that has a storyline and will follow a certain narrative throughout the video. For my second choice of three was Britney Spears- "I Wanna Go." The reason i chose this music video is because this was one of a few of Britneys come back video's from her meltdown so i was excited to see what she had to offer. I loved how cheeky and care free she was but also showing how much of  a strong figure she was when standing up for herself against the press and then also fighting the robots. But the ultimate part of the video that i loved was that the whole thing seemed as if it were a dream and then in the end are left with a cliff hanger as her security guard is still a robot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=T-sxSd1uwoU

3. Performance Based Music Video: This is a video that shows a band or solo artist performing their song either at a gig, or at a club etc. Usually certain bands use guitars and other instruments to make the performance even more realistic. There is also another element of performance based video's whereby the artist or band perform a dance to the camera. For the third choice i have two videos. The first is Arctic Monkeys- "I Bet That You Look Good On The Dance Floor." The Arctic Monkeys don't actually have a designated music video for this song but that they performe at different places, gigs etc and use these as their video, i like the fact its a live performance that they record because it makes me feel as if im their watching them.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK7egZaT3hs&feature=player_detailpage

And the second is Beyonce- "Ego." I chose this particular video because i love the simpliacity of the video. The set is kept exactly the same through out the video and likewise to the costumes. Beyonce has done lots of dance videos before but based on performance i felt this was the best to represent as the focus is just on beyonce and her two dances performing the dance to the camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbnPkK76Ask&feature=player_detailpage

Music Video Timeline

1. 1894- This was the first illustrated example of an illustrated song. Still images were projected onto a screen simultanious to a live performance. In this case the live performance was called "Little Lost Child."

2. Then in 1926 came the arrival of 'The Talkies'. This was when many musical short films were produced featuring bands, vocalists and dancers.

3. Then in the 1930's was the arrival of a number of new adapted music videos. For example:

. Musical films: which were a film genre in which serval songs were interwoven into the film.
. Screen songs: These were a series of cartoon films which encouraged audiences to sing along by follwing the bouncy ball that went across the top of the lyrics on screen.
. Ancestor of the music video: Many artist featured in dramatized performances of hit songs.

4. 1940- Promotional clips: These were short films of many famous jazz artists and their bands of a movie-set bandstand.

5. Then in 1956 was the rise of television. The rise of popular music was tied with the rise of television as the format exposed new stars.

6. 1964- The Beatles. They set the stage for the modern music video with the motion picture "A Hard Days Night."

7. 1965- The Beatles. The band used promotional films. They filmed 10 films which were used to promote album releases.

8. 1981- MTV was launched. 24hr broadcast meant that music videos began to a central role in music marketing by the mid 1980's.

9. 1983- The infamous Michael Jackson "Thriller" arrived. This was his most successful and influential video of all time released.

10. 1985- VH1 introduced. This featured softer music and catered to an older demographic, which widened the audience of music videos.

11. 1995- "Scream" By the Jacksons'. This music video cost around seven million to produce and is the most expensive music video ever.

12. 2005- Youtube and Itunes:

. Youtube: This allows people to watch music online. It gives new artists a platform to raise their popularity.
. Itunes: This allows people to dowload music videos from the internet.

Media Studies A2 task:

Media Studies A2 task:

Our task is to create a promotional music video, this the main task and sided with the video is to create a digipak and a magazine advert/poster.

During this task there is research opportunities for influences

I am extremely enthused by this task and I am really looking forward to researching all about music video’s and past music video’s that will lead me to be influenced for my own music video. I am also eager to plan and film my music video and with this I am eager to experiment with editing and learning how to edit lip syncing. I am also keen to get to grips with FinalCut Pro again from using it last year and also learning how to use photoshop to create magazine posters and digipak's.