Research into chosen music genres - Miss Georgiou

I am interested in Paloma Faith's soul music video because the song "only love can hurt like this" is a song that is easy to make a music video to because you can create a narrative to it. The similar artists are Amy Winehouse and Adele.

 Analyse the following points:
1) Analyse a music video and identify the codes and conventions
2) Discuss how mise-en-scene is used
3) Explain what the main camera shots are
4) Explain what the main editing styles are
5) Define the target audience
6) How is the artist represented?
7) What is the style of the music video?
8) How is Goodwin’s theory on music video characteristics used?

Paloma Faith's 'only love can hurt like this' song is from the soul genre, we chose this genre and song because soul songs contain lyrics that allow us to create a conventional narrative music video due to the meaningful lyrics that soul songs, and particularly 'only love can hurt like this' have.


Adele - Someone like you

In this Adele music video soul conventions are portrayed by the use of miss-en-scene. The video consists of the setting of a city whilst the camera focuses on Adele, and there is nobody else around. This shows conveys her loneliness as she is walking on her own, also the video is in black and white which makes it very simplistic and appeal to the audience as it gives a depressing effect. The reflects Adele's emotions whilst she is singing 'someone like you' as she shows her emotions, this gives the audience an insight to Adele's lifestyle and makes them like her more as an Artist. 

Mise-en-scene is also used in this video; the costume Adele is wearing is a long black coat, this is conventional to soul as it is a completely different genre of music compared to the pop music genre where artists wear hardly any clothes to show off they're bodies and gain publicity with flamboyant behaviour. The soul genre has very contrasting costumes suchas Adele's black coat and more appropriate clothing for the older target audience that they present their music to, this means that the video will appeal more to the target audience and conform to the conventions of the soul music genre.

Cinematography is also used in this Adele music video, the use of a tracking shot following Adele through the empty setting, this makes the audience feel as if they are following Adele as she walks along, this makes the video more enjoyable for the audience as they believe that they are a part of the video. Also the way that the camera follows Adele makes it look like the audience are walking next to her from the video's perspective making it more realistic and appealing to the audience. This also portrays Adele as lonely because she doesn't have a partner any more hence the title 'somebody like you', this makes the audience sympathise for her and therefore make the video more relateable and conventional to the soul music genre.

 Also the editing in this video helps to show that the genre is soul. The black and white video mirrors the genre and artist as simplistic, this allows the video to appeal to a wider audience as there is no particular conventions that make the video appeal to a niche audience. This gains publicity for this 'someone like you' video and Adele as an artist as a larger audience can watch her video and possibly like her as an artist and become a fan. Also the black and white theme creates a dull, gloomy setting which reflects Adele's feelings as she is lonely, this is again typical of the soul music genre as the artist's usually sing about relationships and love.

The target audience that the soul genre artist's aim their music towards is 16-40 year olds. Because of the different aged people that listen to soul music are so contrasting, this allows the artists within the genre to focus of making a video for a wider audience than other genres such as rap. Having a wider audience also allows different soul artists to use different music video elements to appeal to different ages of the target audience. Also the vast audience means that the video can include elements that will appeal to young, old, male and female audiences to promote the artists and her music.

Adele is represented as lonely in this someone like you video, the use of dull lighting and her being on her own makes the audience see her as lonely, these mise-en-scene elements help to make Adele's music video conventional to the soul music genre and appeal the the target audience of 16-40 year olds. Also she is represented as independent as she is walking alone, this makes her seem like a role model to the female audience, making the video appeal more to them. This is conventional of the soul music genre as the female artists sing about love and being alone.

The style of this music video is performance, because Adele is being followed by the camera and singing to it this shows us that it is a performance based video. On the other hand it could be partly narrative as it shows Adele walking through an empty setting on her own, making it seem like a story in the video. The performance side of the video makes it appeal more to the audience as it seems like Adele is singing directly to them, and the narrative side of the video will attract a wider audience as it makes the video more exciting to watch.

Amy Winehouse - Back to black

In this soul music video by Amy Winehouse, the mise-en-scene scene elements present the artist in different ways through the use of mise-en-scene, cinematography and editing. The mise-en-scene element of hair and make up makes Amy Winehouse seem different from other artists. Her big eye make-up and big hair draws attention to her throughout the whole video as she is different from the other characters in the video. This makes the audience see Amy Winehouse as a glamorous artist and enjoy her music and music videos and make her seem like a role model to the female side of her audience.

Another mise-en-scene element seen in this 'back to black' music video is setting. The use of the funeral setting throughout the video presents the song as possibly sad, this is typical of the soul genre as soul music videos usually show the artist or actor as either happy and in love, or upset or lonely as you can see in Amy Winehouse's 'back to black' video and Adele's 'someone like you video' which appeals strongly to the target audience as they will sympathise for the artist making the video more appealing.

Cinematography is also used within this 'back to black video' to present Amy Winehouse as a typical soul genre artist. This can be seen through the use of a close up on her face, this shows her perfect eyebrows and elegant eye make-up, this presents her as a classy artist in this video which may not be the case in some of her other videos. This is conventional to the soul genre as soul artist tend to dress well and look professional for their videos compared to the dancing, half dressed pop artist's videos.

The editing in this video, same as in 'someone like you' by Adele is conventional to the soul genre. The whole video being in black and white shows simplicity and originality. This is conventional to the soul music genre as it can be seen and enjoyed by the wide target audience as their are no out of the ordinary elements that would appeal to a niche audience, this increases the publicity for Amy Winehouse and her music and makes her audience engage more to the music video.

The target audience for this 'back to black' video is 16-40 year olds which is the soul genre's target audience. This shows that Amy Winehouse's 'back to black' video is conventional to the soul genre and follows the conventions of a typical soul music video. This also means that the video doesn't have to include any specific age related elements as the age range is very vast which makes it easier for her to promote herself through her music videos.

Amy Winehouse is presented as upset because the video includes scenes from a funeral, this is again typical of the soul genre to present upsetting or depressing feelings throughout artist's videos to show their emotion in the video, which is what is happens in Amy Winehouse's 'back to black' video. This makes the audience sympathise for the artist and make the video appeal strongly to the target audience.

The style of this soul music video is narrative and performance, the narrative shows Amy Winehouse during the scene of a death and funeral which appeals to the audience as they can see her as an emotional artist which may make the music video appeal more to the audience as it more exciting also. The performance side of the video shows Amy Winehouse singing to the camera, this makes her the centre of attention and again allow the music video to appeal to soul music fans as this video is conventional to the soul genre and the audience can identify the artist through the video.