Trey Songs Magazine Arrtical Analysis

Record Label - Def Jam Records

Def Jam Recordings is an American hip-hop record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group. In the UK, the label takes on the name Def Jam UK and is operated through Mercury Music Group, while in Japan, it is Def Jam Japan operating through Universal Sigma Music. The founder of Def Jam is Russel Simmons and he found the record label in 1984.



Artists linked with the label are , Kanye West , Rick Ross , Jennifer lopez etc.

This information is taken from the def jam official website and wikipedia researching website. I do not think that i will use this record label to promote my artist as it is based in the United States. I am looking to use a England based record label for my artist it is more relevant and local.

Record Label 2 - Konvict

Konvict Muzik is a record label founded by Melvin Brown and R&B singer Akon. Other then Akon there are other popular artists such as Kardinal Offishall, Kat DeLuna, Lady GaGa, American Yard, Brick & Lace, T-Pain and Sway signed to the label. At the beginning of most Konvict Muzik artists' songs there is the sound of the clank of a jail cell, followed by Akon uttering "Konvict". Sway signed to Konvict Record labels in 2007, being the only UK artist signed to the label. Konvict Muzik was founded in 2005 covering genres of R&B, Raggae, Hip Hop and Urban. Konvict Muzik is American located in Atlanta, Georgia.

Interscope records is the distrubutor of Konvict Muzik. Interscope records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.

Konvict Muzik records is a label being parented by Universal Music Group. It is the largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry. It is the largest of the 'big four' record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations.

I think that this record label will be best suited for my artist due to the fact that england grime artist Sway is also signed with the record label which shows that the record label has versatility to the music they produce and could be the best signing to promote my artist

Record Label - Young Money

Young Money Entertainment is an American record label founded by rapper Lil Wayne. The label is an imprint of Cash Money Records and is distributed by Universal Records.

It Was established in year 2005 and founded in the United States of America.

Other Artists That Are Joined With This Label Are :

Drake

Nicki Minaj

Lil Twist

Tyga

Gudda Gudda

Jae Millz

Founder Lil Wayne

Low Budget Music Video 2- Stylo G - My Yout

In this music video we can cleary see the low budget quality by seeing a whole bunch of people just thrown in the video. It looks unorganised amd thats something my goup and i will have to avoid doing. The jump shots are very wild aswell which makes the viewres find it hard to stay tuned with the video and they end up getting lost.
If this video had a choreographed organised set amount people and dancers it will make it look less low budget.

Low Budget Music Video - P2J - Hands In The Air (Uk Grime)

Here is a low budget video , from the start we can see that the camera quality is much lower budget than music videos we have seen earlier in the blog. We can see also see the simple fade out effects they use which looks like something they have made on imovie.
The practical tips i can learn from this video is not to use simple cheap effects which makes the video look less attractive to viewers. Another important tip i have learnt from this is the setting of the video. In this video you see the setting in a run down block of flats which increases the low budget view/effect.

Analysis of Genre Collage

My Genre Collage

Funky House

• In most funky house videos there is either a solo artist or a double act artist. There is normally bright coloured colours flashing in the videos and it is fulfilled of energetic and wild dancing.

• The costumes they wear in funky house videos are very bright and sparkly dresses for the females and the males are often dressed casually. Funky house has a target audience of teenagers so females dress in costumes that will attract the male audience and the females will find the clothes they wear very vibrant and fashionable.

• The location of the videos is normally in a party or night club atmosphere. I think they record in a night club because there Is natural energy and night clubs are a place where people can be their selves and express their selves..

Grime UK Music Videos

For our music video we have chosen the UK Music genre of rap/grime.

Grime is typified by complex 2-step breakbeats, generally around 140 beats per minute and constructed from "different" sounds. Stylistically, grime takes from many genres including UK Garage, dancehall and hip hop.The lyrics and music combine futuristic electronic elements and dark, guttural bass lines.



Above is an example of a grime based group called Roll Deep

Bordwell and Thompson

Bordwell and Thompson are 2 theorists that come up with their 4 corners theory in 2001. In their theory there a

re 4 different sec

tions; Graphic, Rhythmic, Spatial & Temp

oral.

Graphic

This editing is all abo

ut the mise-en-scene, what we are shown on the scre

en thinking about the pictorial qualities within a video.

- Patterns, light and dark, colour similarities and differences.

- Can be used

to create 'smooth continuity' or abrupt contrast.

- Graphic match - shots link together.

- Graphic continuity - Point of interest staythe

same througho

ut

cuts.

- Graphic discontinuity - Everything keeps on c

hanges, plays around with juxtaposition.

Rhythmic

Editing the footage and thinking about the duratio

n of each shot. Rhythmic ed

iting will show that each shot cuts on length according to the beat and tempo o

f the music. Different shots will give different effects.

- All shots same le

ngth

- Some which lengthen steadily

- Shots which get shorter and shorter in length

- Longer shots

- Rapid series of q

uick shots

Spatial

Basically, maintaining continuity through thinking about the space where the event of the music video takes place.

- Continuity - Using an establishing shot (

where taken)

Here is an establishing Shot taken in the video Beyonce - Crazy in Love.

Temporal - The unfolding of time

This is all about continuity and based on the time that the action is taken in and how the video footage manipulates time.

Order - order of events can be manipulated = the story/plot change to interrupt the normal order of time. (Flashbacks must then change to flash forward)

Duration - The events that take place can be altered through use of ellipsis

Frequency - In continuity editing - and event happening tends to only occur once. If the event is repeated it can become a powerful way of building tension and audience expectation.

Andrew Godwin Theory

Goodwins Theory helps to identify the diffrent juztaposistions happening within a pop video explaining the relationship between music, lyrics and image.
Goodwin argues that pop videos can be catergorised in three diffrent ways:
Music
Goodwin argues that The Illustration of Music Always Cuts on Beats , The Amplification of music is that the film cuts on the beat but also off to emphasise features. He argues that the disjunction of music videos cuts off the beat-sometimes it is a sign of a badly made music video.

Lyrics

Illustration - Imagaes illustrate the literal meaning or feeling of the lyrics , often with a band or singing and dancing.

Below we have screen shotfrom Trey Songz -Cant be friends. W

e can see that he is FEELING in pain or in agony due to his hands situated on top of his head

Amplification - Images amplify the lyrics , a specific narrative may be that would not neccessarily be picked up from the reading the lyrics alone.

Disjuncture - Images which do not relate to the lyricas are used sometimes by bands who are already very well established who can afford to risk take.


Band Image

Illustration - Band area - singing.dancong/playing instruments dressed as would be expected.

JLS - Beat Again Screen Shot
Amplification - The band take on fictional roles in the narrative

Disjucture - The band take in a image that is nothing like or the complete opposite of their image e.g the lead singer of texas dresses up as Elvis

Conventions of a Music video (Part 2)

A music video is a videotaped performance of a recorded popular song. It is usually accompanied by dance or a fragmentary story. Music videos often use concert footage for eg. Wiz Khalifa - Up

There are many conventions that is linked with music videos such as :

* Quick shots

* Lip syncing

*Costume Changes

*Makes it Clear If its Group or solo artist

*Montage Editing - This conventions is quite popular in music videos as the editing of the music video doesn't have to flow for eg. an artist could throw a ball and the next shot could be him dancing. As where if it was continuity editing you will have to see the ball travel in the next shot.

*3-4 minutes long

Conventions Of Music Video

Music videos started back in 1981 when the 1st video was aired on MTV, which was 'Video killed the Radio Star'. These are to generate money, entertain audiences, promote music and the artist and create a visual for the song.
The forms and conventions for music videos are:
- Performance
- Lip syncing
- Dancing
- Music
- Concept
- Locations

- Eye contact with audience ------->


- Quick cuts on beat

Close up on the artist ---->
- Not real life
- Montage editing
- Maybe concert footage




- Refers to lyrics
- Suits the genre
- 3/4 mins long ------>

The Kasier Chief - Pedict A Riot

Sound
Singing
Instruments ( gruitar and drums )
Loud music and loud lip syncing

Mise en scene
All members wearing black rock-like clothing
Long black hair
Quite dark, not much lighting

Editing
Rapid cuts between the members
Montage editing

Cinematography
Close ups of the faces and the instruments they are playing
High angle shot of the band playing
Close up of the instruments and the band members
Long shots of the locations

Performance
Eye contact with audience
Jumping and dancing

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Analysis Of A Rock Video - Kings Of Leon

Sound:
Beat cuts with camera movement
Typical 'hardcore' beat and voice
Typical instruments
Mise-en-scene:
Dark colours
Not alot of light
Typical rock costume (vests, black clothes)


Performance:
Lip syncing
Playing instruments
Eye contact
Reaching out



Camera:
Cuts with beat
Typical 'crazy' rock actions
Panning across different members of the group to show they are a band not a solo artist.
Editing:
Montage editing
Quick cuts between group members to make it clear that they are a group

My own impression on the video : Random Buildings , isolated run down building, mullet hair cuts / long hair , guitars / drums being played violently , facial expressions looking druggy , Aggression , demon like behaviour.

Analysis of Michael Jackson - You Rock My World

The 1st Pop video i have chose to analyse is Michael Jackson - You Rock My World.

At the very beggining of the video there is an establishing shot which is showing us the setting and evironment there in. Many pop videos have the conventions of being in situations where they are mixed in with the members of the public.


We now see a medium close up shot of a femle which implies that she is the girl that all of the boys are after hence the song title 'You Rock My Word' She is centre right infront of the camera which also signifies that she is going to play a big part in the music video . also not only that she is centered in the middle of the screen she gets a vast amount of screen time






Here we see michael jackson almost in a behind he scence shot and he is pulling of his famous dance moves. The music here is begginning to gradually get louder which i called 'Crescendo'

This is a crane , high angle shot which is used to show performance of the artist, this is a nice shot of the aritst as it also shows his shadow. The music at this point is quite light as it wants the viewers to focus on his dance moves. The lightining effect is almost like a spotlight scence to give michael jackosn the full attention and screen time. Most pop videos have this to show the artisits individual talent other than singing.

Here is an establishing shot showing the chreographed dancers together. This is a popular shot that you will find in pop videos.

Just Be Good To Green - Pop Video Analysis

Just Be Good to Green" is a reworked cover of Dub Be Good To Me by British recording artist Professor Green from his second studio album, Alive Till Im Dead. The track was originally made back in 2007, when Professor Green was signed to The Beats. The song was composed and produced by Semothy Jones .

Mise-en-scene:- White and black costumes goes with setting

-1 location- Bright lighting-

Lily Allen has respectful clothing on-

StudioPerformance:-

Women dancing in their boxes -

Sing as she looks direct in the camera

Shes goes round getting rid of the other women which seems to be the concept of the video.

Editing - Montage editing / Lots of quick Cuts

Sound - Lip syncing / Singing and Rapping

Cinematography-Establishing Shot Of All The Girls Being Good To Green