Ellie Goulding

For our homework, we had to research into the successes of an artist within our genre, which for me is indie. I chose to study Ellie Goulding because I am a fan of her style of music and she has been extremely successful, especially seeing as she has only been in the public eye since 2009. So why is she so successful?

In 2010, Goulding became only the second artist to top both the BBC's annual Sound of... poll, and win the Critics' Choice Award at the BRIT Awards in the same year, following Adele's win of both in 2008.

After signing to Polydor Records, her debut album 'Lights' went on to place at number one on the UK Albums Chart and sold over 620,000 copies.

Before the release of her debut studio album, Goulding won the BBC Sound of 2010 poll, which showcases the critics, broadcasters and music industry insiders' top choices for rising stars and artists for the coming year.

Ellie's cover of Elton John's "Your Song" became her highest-charting single to date, reaching number two.

Goulding has been nominated for many awards such as 2010 MTV Europe Music Awards and 2010 Virgin Media Awards. She has also recently won the 2011 Glamour Magazine Award for Newcomer of the Year. Goulding has proved to be a huge success with not only the general public, but also the people within the music industry itself.

Goodwin's Rules:

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics

(e.g. stage performance in rock video, dance routine in hip hop)

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals

(the words are interpreted visually either through a narrative, or figuratively through signs and symbols)

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals

(the editing of the visuals is closely linked to the rhythms of the music)

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work

(a visual style)

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, mirrors etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body

6. There is often intertextual reference

(to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc)

Spectacle or Concept

A video that relies on clever imagery, performance, content, effects or references to cultural intertextuality to reach an audience are videos that use spectacle or concept.

Who Do You Think You Are- Spice Girls

This video revolves around people and the band are predominant. Each of their individual personalities are perceived through costume. The video is performance based and contains lots of dancing. The band are lip synching throughout. The video demonstrates genre characteristics due to the dancing in a pop video, this is one of Goodwin's rules which classifies a music video.

Narrative

Music videos that take a narrative approach are designed in a story format, often interspersed with footage of the musical group/performer.

Sorry's Not Good Enough-McFly

A good example of a narrative music video is Sorry's Not Good Enough by McFly. The song is about a break up and the video itself follows the story of the girl breaking up with the boy, who is played by a member of the band. Mixed in with the narrative storyline is the performance element from the band. They are shown performing at the restaurant where the characters are at. There is a clear relationship between the lyrics and visuals which is another of Goodwin's rules.

Intertextuality

Music videos that 'borrow' or subvert cultural products already in existence will appeal to audiences 'knowingness'

We Are Golden- Mika

In this music video, Mika is the only character and is seen dancing around his typical teenage bedroom. Goodwin's rule, having a relationship between music and visuals, applies to this video as the clips and different transactions move to the same beat as the soundtrack. This video is mainly performance based and there are several references to cultural intertextuality when Mika himself dances in a similar way to Michael Jackson, this move is easily recognisable and reaches to a different audience than the actual track itself does.

Analysing a music video

Say You Don't Want It by One Night Only

The genre of this song is indie rock which can also be perceived through the costumes worn by the band members. The setting of the video is New York, which is revealed straight away due to the various fast pace shots of the city that match the beat of the song, this shows a close relationship between the music and the visuals. Before the narrative storyline is revealed, shots of the band playing on a roof are shown. This reveals who is in the band, who are the stars, along with well-known actress Emma Watson, of this video.

Following those shots is a sequence showing the back streets of New York and the people in it. Then the narrative storyline begins. It is a love story which has similar features to the Disney film, 'The Lady and the Tramp'. The full meaning of the story is not realised until the end when it is revealed that the two characters are both dogs. Then the story begins to add up, for example, when they have a pretzel thrown at them and when he is chased out of the shop.

The video itself uses a wide range of shots such as establishing shots and medium close ups. Most of the cuts are straight cuts and there is not much of a relationship between the music and visuals. There are close ups of the artist who plays a predominant character within the video. He lip sings during the shots of the band playing on the roof but not during the narrative shots. The video uses a sort of misty effect in order to not make the colour so bold.

Goodbye AS. Hello A2

Now that we have finished our AS media, we are starting the A2 course, which means we are studying... Music Videos