Directors Of Music Videos - Anthony Mandler

Anthony Mandler

Anthony Mandler (born April 18, 1973) is best known for his work directing film, music videos, and television as well as being a photographer. His work in the music industry has made him one of the most renowned music video directors, working with the likes of Jay-Z, Beyoncè, Eminem, Usher, Shakira, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, 50 Cent and many more.

His most frequent collaborator is Rihanna. Mandler has worked on sixteen music videos with the singer. There work together began in 2006 with the shooting of "Unfaithful" and has run all the way up to there most recent project, "Diamonds", in 2012.

Mandler began his career as a photographer, he's working having been featured on the covers of major magazines including GQ, Esquire and Men's Health. His has also made many several celebrity portraits for clients such as David Beckham and Lebron James.

Holy Grail - Jay Z Ft. Justin Timberlake:

Diamonds - Rihanna:

Find Your Love - Drake:

Directors Of Music Videos - Spike jones

Spike Jonze

Spike Jones is an American director specialising in music videos film and commercials. He is highly respected by the music industry directing some of the most famous and unique music videos.

Spike jones is a auteur theorist. Auteur Theory is a way of using personal factor in artistic creation as a standard of reference and feature that continues throughout directors work. Jonze's personal factor is making film and music videos that are off beat in their visual storytelling. The idea of having a personal factor, like a trademark, is popular amongst many directors.  

Spike Jonze directed the music video to 'Fat Boy Slim- Praise You'. He shot the video in a 'guerrilla' style, which a form of independent filmmaking characterized by low budgets and simple props using whatever is available. Often scenes are shot quickly in real locations without any warning, and without obtaining permission from the owners of the locations. It reportedly only cost $800 to make. Jonze was praised for his unique style and has influence many other music directors.

The video won three major awards at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards: Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, and Best Choreography. It was also nominated for, but did not win, Best Dance Video.

 

Spike jonze has also worked multiple times in the hip hop scene of directing music videos for popular artists such as Jay Z, Kanye West and The Notorious B.I.G  

Otis - Jay Z And Kanye West

 

 Sky's The Limit -  Notorious B.I.G

 

Directors Of Music Videos - Hype Williams

Hype Williams

A signature style used by Williams throughout the vast majority of his videos ,shot mostly with cinematographer John Perez, was the Fisheye lens which distorted the camera view around the central focus. This was used by the tandem Williams/Perez in Gimme Some More by Busta Rhymes and The Rain by Missy Elliott, however, it was dropped by 2003, when he experienced his lowest level of production activity since the beginning of his career as a music video director.

Another signature style involves placing shots in regular widescreen ratio, while a second shot is split and placed in the upper and lower bars. Videos that use this style include So Sick by Ne-Yo, My Hood by Young Jeezy,Check on It by Beyoncé and many others. In addition to this, he frequently utilizes aerial and tracking shots which often move backwards or forwards, some techniques which can often be seen in Rock the Boat by Aaliyah, Not Myself Tonight by Christina Aguilera and Only U by Ashanti. It is a method often used by Hype which allows his videos to be dynamic, multi-dimensional and atmospheric as opposed to having static camera angles. 

Examples of split screen style
So Sick - Ne-Yo:

My Hood - Young Jeezy:

Check On It - Beyonce:

 

 

Further style traits include the use of slow motion action, deep focus, and smooth cutting. With cinematic qualities, and street like fantasy, his visuals captured an entire period of excess, innovation, and humor in music videos.
Since 2003, Williams has adopted a signature style combining a center camera focus on the artist or actor's body from the torso upward and a solid color background with a soft different-color light being shown in the center of the background, so as to give a sense of illumination of the background by the foreground subject. This has been displayed in Gold Digger by Kanye West, Digital Girl (Remix) by Jamie Foxx and Beyoncé's Video Phone.

Gold Digger - Kanye West

 

Digital Girl  Remix - Jamie Fox

 

 

Video Phone - Beyonce

Goodwin's Theory - Genre Characteristics - Country

Country Music

 Country music is one of the oldest genres of music to date. It originated in the 1920s in Southern parts of the US, and it has slowly spread to all parts of the world. Country music is the most popular genre throughout the United States and often wins Grammy awards over the majority of other genres that we would consider 'mainstream'. The defining characteristic of country music is an acoustic guitar, with just the vocals of the singer to accompany it. Country music has changed over the years, adopting a more modern style, mixing with other genres in order to attract a larger and more diverse audience.

Forms and conventions of country music videos
- Tend to have a strong narrative aspect
- Set in very stereotypical locations, such as rural areas
- Mise-en-scen tends to be very traditional or set in an elder generation, e.g. Victorian
- The artist usually features within the video

Modern day country genres, like many other genres are mixing or being influenced by other genres, 'Pop' being a popular choice. The U.S.A seems to stay true the the original country roots, but other countries, such as the UK welcome many songs influenced by pop as well, such as Taylor Swift.

In the Modern country genre videos the mis-en-scene is very natural ambient lighting. The girls are normally wearing dresses in the music video and boys keep a smart casual look, normally wearing jeans and a shirt. The video is also a narrative music video.The representation of the aritst is that they are innocent and sweet.

Taylor Swift has taken a modern day twist on her country style in order to keep it relevant and popular in the charts.

Goodwin's Theory - Genre Characteristics - Indie

Indie

Indie is often used to mean a sound that relates to an individual interpreted, or the way that a sound is presented or made to fit in with those conventions. The term indie relates to a band or artist that does not conform to any mainstream culture, they completely go against any trending mainstream behaviour or music . The approach gives the artist totally creative freedom and makes them stand out.

The conventions of a music video vary depending on genre of music. However, some of the general conventions are:

• The artist is shown performing.

• Lyrics of the song influence the representation of the narrative and images shown within the video.

• The editing fits in with the pace of the song

• The clothing represents the genre

• Typical rock instruments e.g. guitars, and many indie bands use synthesizers and keyboards to add a psychedelic/weird tone to their music which makes it so distinctive from other music genres.

• Most dominated by males although there are a mixer of male to females 

For most indie music videos the conventions tends to follow a chronicle order of black and white, but not always. The use of close-ups, extremes close-ups and longshot are seen as a signature mark within the indie genre.

Indie artists are within other genres of music for example there will be Indie Folk artists such as Bon Iver and Indie Rap artists such as Kid Cudi.

Both of these artists include conventions sterotypical to the genre they represent however add their own twists to it such as showing more scenery shots in a Bon Iver video. 

Examples

Bon Iver - Holocene

Kid Cudi - Pursuit Of Happiness

Goodwin's Theory - Genre Characteristics - Folk

Folk Music

The Folk music genre, which goes back as far as the 1950's has become popular over the years. Artists such as Bob Dylan, The Kinks and Nick Drake brought it to the nations attention in the 70's/80's and now Laura Marling, Mumford and Sons, Noah and the Whale and many more artists are bringing it back into the international charts.

The good thing about Folk music is that it is not mainstream and "artificial" The music is acoustic and the vocals unsynthesised and pure, Folk artists play their music not for fame but because they just enjoy doing it. The interesting thing about Folk artists is that the audience picks them, they are not forced upon us by the media as superficial pop stars such as Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.

Folk music tend to have an older target audience due to the style in which they do things.

Dark shadows are presented to show the feeling of what the artist is saying and to show the emotions of the song and the artist. The use of light is also what makes a folk music video a folk music video. light is used to put the artist in the spotlight , emphasise the shadows around him/her and bring all the attention towards them.

Exaggerated music playing is also one of the conventions of folk music video. this evokes the audience more and makes them feel more involved as the artist is getting into their role which makes the emotion more believable. 

Close-ups on artist and instrument will be to show how emotionally the artist is and promote the meaning of the song in more depth.

Editing tends to use a lot of black and white in the videos to try and make the whole environment to the song more daunting and eerie from the shadows that are used. 

An Example of Folk Music is Little Lion Man - Mumford and Sons

 

  

Goodwin's Theory - Genre Characteristics - Jazz

Jazz Music

Jazz music videos often consist of bright lights and big bands performing on huge stages. Sophisticated mis en scene, men in suits and women in black dresses with classy hairstyles and bright make-up. The use of old fashioned microphones brings a vintage element to the jazz theme, the videos portray elegance and  sophistication. 

The reasons why Bright Lights are used in jazz music videos are because by using them they make the video stand out and creates a happy mood for both the artist and the audience which helps the video become more watchable and likeable creating more popularity for the video, artist and song.

The performance space is usually quite large and is in many different locations throughout the video. this is to emphasise the energy with in the video. An example of a jazz video using large different locations is Big When I Was Little - Eliza Doolittle 

In other Jazz music videos the costumes the artist wears are very sophisticated unlike the one above. Men are usually seen wearing suits and women are usually seen wearing dresses. This is because it gives of an older, classic and smarter look to match the jazz sound and reputation.

The location of the music videos are also very quite or dull. this si because when the song starts to play the artist and the music will eventually be seen to light up the place with their happy vibe and the mood will lighten. An Example of this would be Michael Bublé - Haven't Met You Yet

In this video it starts off in a fairly dull and empty super market and then turns into a lively party scene with with confetti and loads of people dancing. what this video is trying to represent is the happiness that both jazz and the artist, Michael Buble, Can bring to the audience. 

 

Goodwin's Theory - Genre Characteristics - Hip Hop

Hip Hop Music

Mise en scene in different genres Many music videos have certain elements that make them have various vibes to represent the view of the music tribes, such as: Hip hop music videos use quite dark colours, simple settings and there are portrayals of women to show their sexuality, which appeals to males. On the other hand, the majority of hip hop music artists are males and so, females are the fans. Mise-en-scene is important in music videos. All music videos contain props depending on the genre and type of song it is, such as, if it is a performance style video, there would be performance equipment, instruments, and stages and lighting.  In a hip-hop genre dark colours are often used to portray negative feelings of the artist, for example in “Not afraid” by Eminem the location was mostly in a basement which lacked light, also fear is associated with darkness, thus is emotions where negative until he broke out of the basement.

In a lot of music videos in the hip hop genre rich life-styles are portrayed to show how wealthy the aritst is. things like luxurious mansions, champagne, jewellery, sports cars and designer clothes are all advertised within hip hop music videos as it gives the ideology that all rich people are superior and that the artist is better and superior to his/her peers or even to the audience. Another reason why hip hop artists use the rich look is to seem untouchable to others. A good example of this would be Otis by Jay Z and Kanye West

In this video the aritsts are seen dismantling a maybach, which is a very expensive car. this shows that they are that wealthy that they can simply buy an expensive sports car and destroy it without a care in the world as it does not effect their wealth. 

Other examples: 

Rick Ross - Rich Is Gangsta

French Montana - Pop That - Ft. Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Drake

In Hip Hop music videos there isnt really a narrative the video is mainly shots of people partying and drinking. During the video there will be constant shots of the rapper lip-syncing to the song with normally a lot of girls around him dressed provocatively or surrounded with jewels, alcohol or cars. This again shows to the audience he is someone of high standards and is above everyone else.

The artist usually dresses in designer clothes and will show off the label to the camera or will mention it in the lyrics to show his wealth along with wearing big gold chains, rings and diamonds. The main designers that rappers give alot of attention to are: 

• Gucci

• Louis vutton

•  Givenchy

•  Ralph Lauren

• Versace  

Rappers go further to push the image that they are richer and superior to others by buying and wearing designer clothes these 5 desigenres are the most popular brands that are bought and "name dropped" in songs

Goodwin's Theory - Genre Characteristics - Rock

Rock Music

In Rock music videos the overall tone of the video is dark and quite low key, to give the video an edge and signify genre. The music videos are often very performance based and there is rarely dance routines or a strong narrative. A typical convention of rock music videos is seeing jumping around with guitars, live performances with lots of enthusiasm and energy. Iconography for rock music videos include the band members having piercings, tattoos and wearing dark clothes, which often matches the darker deep meaning of their song lyrics.

The editing of Rock videos are usually fairly fast-paced and adrenaline-fuelled, maintaining audience interest through use of a large variety of shots and effects to maintain an atmosphere and keep up with the sound of the music. Also, there is usually a lot of straight-cutting between shots to do with the story and performance shots that highlight the band's talent and provide small breaks from the story so the audience get to see the band they love and get to feel what it would be like to see them perform.

The setting of rock videos is usually fairly dark because it keeps the audience focused on what is going on and relates to the usual fast-pacing and loud music provided by the artist. They are also usually based around fairly normal settings like clubs or even the street.In terms of clothing most bands have their own image but generally many rock bands have studded outfits with things such as waistcoats having studs on them. They are also stereotypically where vests and sweatbands but they are usually black which shows the dark genre of the music.

Goodwin's Theory - Genre Characteristics - R&B

R&B Music

The main conventions of  R&B music videos are:

• Girls wearing minimal clothing, long hair, slim
• Male artists usually where low raised jeans, with a top and a jacket.
• With the male artists they usually have a woman or women with them dancing sexily who they are singing too.
• With female artists they also have a man in the video that generally are topless in the videos. This is because R and B song are generally about relationships.
• Sunglasses is a prop that is used a lot along with a lot of jewellery (bling) this connotes that they have a lot of money and wealthy.
• A lot of close ups of the artist lip singing             
• Expensive brand new cars/ motorbikes
• Locations are of places in sunny destinations (the beach is a popular place, along with clubs and bars.
• Some R&B artists use special effects to create a unusual dynamic background with lots of colours like the black eyed peas video ‘Boom Boom Pow’
• The performance of the videos is generally the artist being stationary lip singing or often they use tracking shots to follow them walking, this enforces the idea that the audience is actually there.

The target audience for this type of music would be for teenagers from 12 and up to the age of 30.

 The CD cover for R&B album or cover would normally include an image of the artist for girls they would be dressed sexily in tight minimal clothing. For example Beyonce's CD cover is of her in a sexy pose. The colours used are basic black and white with her name in large letters which draws all the attention here. The lighting used here is cleverly done so the consumer is drawn into the middle of the image. Many female artists have these conventions, and many have their own unique designs as their background on the CD cover, for example Alicia keys CD cover for the element of freedom, all links together with the images and colours used on her own official website.

 For men its very similar many of the conventions see in their videos are also shown on CD covers for example props like shades, costume and also sometimes the location is the same. Some of them also have dynamic background but many of them have a simpler effect have gone for black and white colour scheme.

Goodwin's Theory - Genre Characterisitcs - Pop

Pop Music

The characteristics of a pop music video are that it is generally performance based. This is because a lot of choreographed dances take place and also narrative storyline that follow the lyrics.  

In a pop music video the artist or band tends to lip-snync the song and the overall beat tends to be upbeat and fast paced. 

The artist themselves are clothed in stylish, fashionable and mainstream outfits. Normally the artist is seen to be having fun and being happy. The video and song is based around love and romance. On the video set there will be big bold bright colours which are associated with a positive vibe. A lot of pop music videos tend to follow the trends of the current main stream audience and feature those trends in the video e.g twerking. 

another convention is showing young people dancing or clubbing together as it has to appeal to the target audience who are around the same age. Teens are the main target as most of the imagery in the music video is aimed at them such as sex or partying as that is what stereotypical teens enjoy. This is why some artists dress quite provocatively and sexual such as nicki minaj and lady gaga, by dressing like this it draws the attention of the audience. 

A lot of female pop artists use make up to show their feelings in the video and to set an overall vibe, this gives the message across to the audience and plays an important role in the music video.

Goodwin's Theory - Music And Visuals

Music and Visuals

The second principle of Goodwin's theory is that there has to be a link between the visuals and the music. this is in somewhat similar to the principle of matching the lyrics and the visuals however the difference is that instead of the visuals matching the lyrics and doing what the song says, the visuals go along with the beat of the song. For example if a songs beat is really slow and calm using something like a piano then the visuals would match it by having someone walking in slow motion or having not much going on at the time. but then if its followed by the chorus that has drums in the background or something more up beat it will show visuals to match  like someone running, dancing or fighting. Goodwin's idea was that  this helped promote the song and give the meaning and ideas across to the audience.

Goodwin believes that music videos no longer give the full narrative and that the audience can just get the gist of what it truly means. By matching the music and visuals as explained above the it makes it easier for the audience to watch repeatedly without loosing interest and could help the video come across as real.

An example of this would be The Ghost Of You By My Chemical Romance

In this video it shows during the main verses the music is generally calm and slow. The visuals of the music video match the music by showing a scene of people slow dancing together with a band playing (which is my chemical romance, one of the conventions of a rock music video).

 

Then when the chorus is dropped the visuals then change to a scene of soldiers in battle which matches the electric guitar, the drums and the shouting in the chorus as it is fast paced action.

Goodwin's Theory - Visuals And Links

Visual And Links

Goodwin says that the lyrics will make constant reference to visuals in the music video and visuals will reenforce what the lyrics say.

An example of this would be the song Good Life. In this music video the visual presentation matches the lyrics in the song for example when the line "Have you ever popped champagne on a plane" A bottle of champagne is seen to be opened or "popped"

Or when the line "Now throw your hands up in the sky" is said the mideo shows the artist, Kanye West, putting his hands in the air along with a CGI background of giant colourful hands doing the same behind him.

These examples support Goodwins theory of music videos matching the lyrics and visuals together to clearly send a message of what the song is about and to give the audience a feel of what kind of song this is e.g colourful cartoon visuals imply that it is a very joyful happy song.