Auteur Theory

Francois Trauffaut

Auteur theory has influenced film criticism since 1954, when it was advocated by film directior and critic Francois Truffaut. The auteur theory is the theory that a director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision. In media, we have analyzed the signature styles of music video director's, Chris Cunningham and Hype Williams.


Other examples of the Auteur theory can be applied to film director, Alfred Hitchcock. The characteristics and recurring patterns of his films are:

• The femme fetale platinum blonde.
• The presence of a domineering mother in her child's life (this is seen in the film Psycho)
• An innocent man accused 
• Restricting the action to a single setting to increase tension
• Characters who switch sides or cannot be trusted
• Tension building through suspense to the point where the audience enjoys seeing the character in a life-threatening situation (eg; Vertigo)
• Mistaken identity

Alfred Hithcock

How can the Auteur Theory be applied to music videos?

Music video directors tend to have recurring themes in their products which creates a brand and a trademark.  Some auteur's have a signature style which they like to incorporate into their videos. There are plenty of things to look our for when searching for a directors style:

• Camera Angles/Shots
• Colours
• Mood/Atmosphere given off
• Genre of the songs the directors often gear towards to
• Mise-en-scene
• Editing

In class we have been looking at the signature styles of Chris Cunningham and Hype Williams. Both video directors show us the importance of signature style, and how it makes the audience recognise  who directed the video. I have chosen to analyse the signature style of Hype Williams, because I think that his video style slightly corresponds with the style I want my own video to emulate.

HYPE WILLIAMS 

Hype Williams is an American music video and film director born in Queens, New York. His body of work has many recurring themes that act as a trademark for his videos:

COLOUR: In his videos, Williams makes it clear that colour is a vital element in his videos. For example; Beyonce - Check On It

In this video, the recurring colour throughout is pink (light pinks and deeper pinks). All of her costume changes follow the colour scheme, which not only gives the video as a whole a feminine feel, but shows us that this is a creation of Hype Williams, as he has talked about his love for vibrant colours in his videos.

BORDERS: As we can see in these screen shots, a border in the form of a pink silk material is used. Borders are also a theme we see in Williams' videos.

Will Smith - Getting Jiggy With It

In these screenshots we can see that there are numerous contrasting colours which can be intriguing to the eye. It makes the video much more interesting, fun and enjoyable. Costumes are also very flamboyant which corresponds with the upbeat and vibrant atmosphere the song provides.

CAMERA TECHNIQUE: A camera method Williams often uses in his videos consist of the using a 'fisheye lens'. This is used to make everything appear larger and more 'in your face' in contrast to what it would look like without any camera technique. He does this plenty of times in the 'Getting Jiggy With It' video, mostly focusing on women's bums as they move their hips towards the camera, thus in order to make them appear larger (an example of Voyeurism)

Getting permission to use Material - Further

Last week, both Romina and I emailed the management of singer's 'Yuna' and 'Charli XCX', in order to get permission to use their songs as an accompaniment for our pop video. However we have had trouble receiving replies from both of them, therefore we emailed another artist's management, 'CHVRCHES', and asked for permission to use their song 'Gun'.  Fortunately, we received a reply straight away and were given the opportunity to use the song for our pop video! Here's a screen
shot of the email we sent and received:

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin identifies 6 key aspects of music videos that we the audience should look out for. His key aspects of music videos are:  

1. A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics. 

2. A relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music. 

3. Genre-related style and iconography present. 

4. Star image, multiple close-up shots of the main artist or vocalist. 

5. Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females. 

6. Intertexual references to other media texts maybe present.

 Complete a case that illustrates this using a screen-grab of a video.

As an example of Goodwin's theory, I will be applying his key aspects to the Spice Girls video, 'Wannabe'.

1.) A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.

During this screenshot, the girls are doing choreography and the lyrics being sung are "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends". As this line is sung, the girls all place their arms away from them to their sides suggesting that they're addressing the people beside them. This makes sense as they're singing about the important of friendship, therefore they're gesturing to their friends standing next to them. 

2.) A relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music. 

This entire video shows multiple close ups and mid shots of the girls' faces, showing them singing along to the soundtrack. This shows that the video is performance based. This screenshot shows Geri Halliwell singing "If you really bug me then I'll say goodbye".

3.)  Genre-related style and iconography present. 

Throughout this video there is a lot of iconography present which is used to represent a particular genre or artist. The members of the Spice Girls are often recognized as dressing or acting a certain way, for instance: 

  Victoria Beckham (or 'Posh Spice') is often recogized as acting or dressing 'posh', ladylike and sophisticated. Here is a screenshot of her posing in a ladylike manor with her legs crossed in a little black dress. 

Another example is a shot of Melanie Chisholm (or 'Sporty Spice') doing a backflip across a table. This correlates with her image as being sporty and athletic.

  Once again, here is a shot of Melanie Brown (or 'Scary Spice') kicking her leg up and pulling a funny face. This is iconic to her image as being vibrant, flamboyant and 'scary'. 

4. Star image, multiple close-up shots of the main artist or vocalist

The video is all shot in one continuous shot, and there are multiple close up shots used in order to show which one of the members are singing. As the camera follows them, the cameraman makes it clear who's solo it is.

5.) Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females. 

In this clip, Victoria uses her feminine charm to comically overwhelm an elderly man.

Options and Considerations

Romina and I have considered using the songs of a couple of artists, and in order to narrow these ideas down and come to a decision, we decided it would be best if we structured everything by writing short blurbs on each artist we have considered, explaining the image and sound they convey. Here are some of the artists that we have considered:

Charli XCX - Charlotte Aitchison is a 21 year old singer from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, and has been writing songs since she was 14. Her style of music can be described as 'Synthpop' 'Darkwave' and 'Electropop'. Her songs can also be described as dark, but catchy pop songs that stay in your head from months on end. I believe her fun, pop songs would be really interesting and fun sound to incorporate into our pop video.

Yuna - Yunalis Mat Zara'ai is a 27 year old Malaysian singer, songwriter and businesswoman. The particular song Romina and I were really passionate on using is titled, 'I Wanna Go'. The song is a stereotypical, however beautiful love song, and as I listened to it for the first time I already imagined how interesting it would be to bring this song to life. I imagined using plenty of long shots of beautiful scenery and using images such as flowers, the sky and all things colourful and beautiful to the eye.

Haim - 'Haim' is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, Califoria. Haim's sound has been described as "nu-folk-meets-nineties-R&B" and have said that they are inspired by the likes of "Pat Benatar, Blondie, Gwen Stefani, The Pretenders and Queen." The interest that Romina and I have in this group is that they range from fun, upbeat sounds to slow and beautiful music, and we think this will be incredibly fun to experiment on as a music video.

Three Elements of a Music Video!

1)  * A PERFORMANCE BASED MUSIC VIDEO *

Little Mix - Salute

  
 Performance based videos show the artist mainly performing their song, live. To illustrate this I have used 'Salut' by 'Little Mix' as an example, as throughout the song the band stand alongside a group of dancers doing choreography. The video shows the girl group fiercly dressed in all black leotards and capes, as they dance with mainly male dancers. The video is set in a dark, mysterious looking abandoned street and warehouse, following the dark and mysterious theme. The girls lipsync to every line in the song, also showing the audience that the main aim of the video is to show that they group are performing. There are multiple shots each showing a different angle, mainly low angles in order to make the girls appear 'larger' and dominate. The choreography and fast paced shot duration adds to the action and drama that the video provides us.

2) * A NARRATIVE BASED MUSIC VIDEO *

Taylor Swift - Love Story

A Narrative based music video will often follow a storyline that an audience can follow. I have used the video 'Love Story' by Taylor Swift, which follows the story of two lovers set in 2008, with an additional storyline set around the 1700-1800s. The video begins with Swift, walking through a university campus and spotting her love interest sitting under a tree, reading a book. As they make eye contact, the video then transitions to an earlier ear, where Swift stands, wearing a corset and gown, and performing on a balcony. The video follows the pair as they continue to fall in love, drift apart and eventually return to each other again. The video then transcends back into modern day as her love interest walks towards Swift and they gaze into each others eyes, where the video finishes. I particularly enjoy performance based videos as it gies the audience an interesting story to follow, instead of just watching the artist sing throughout the entire video.

3)  * A CONCEPT BASED MUSIC VIDEO *

Ariana Grande - Problem

 

 Concept based music videos tend to follow no particular story line. They often don't correspond with the artist or the genre of music, as an example, I have used 'Problem' by Ariana Grand featuring Iggy Azalea.The video follows Grande dancing alongside her fellow dancers, singing in what seems to be a setting from around the 1960s. The two main singers (Grande, Azalea), appear to be following this theme also, by wearing glamorous dresses, hair and makeup inspired by retro 1960s. The video follows a black, white, old-fashioned aesthetic, which contrasts to the overall sound of the song itself, which is very modern and of it's time.

Britney Spears Music Video Reflection

1) What was the task set?
The task we were asked to complete involved us recreating our own 30 second version of Britney Spears' song, 'Hit Me Baby One More Time.' We had to watch the video whilst recording each shot  on a shot list, then proceed to filming the video in our school. After we had to edit our recreation, in order for it to resemble Spears' video herself!

2) What process did you go through to complete the task? (Upload a pic of your shot list for planning evidence.)

At the start of our task, we began by watching Spears' video, with a shot list in front of us, in order to record how long/short each shot was, what kind of shot it was and what was happening in the shot. After we did this as specific as we could, we proceeded to finding the best spots to film our video. The school was a perfect location for this video, since the original video's location is in a school itself. Filming was an interesting process, and I found it a considerably more enjoyable experience in comparison to filming our film openings. There was a lot of fast paced movement, and there was never a dull moment, as we had to find multiple different settings to film in. The first location we had to film in was a classroom, and we attempted to emulate the room as close to the original room in the video. We also attempted to film a few shots of us in the corridor, a highlight of this was when we were to use choreography. I learnt that in pop videos in order to keep the viewer intrigued and want to keep watching, all dancers must give their all, not hold back and show a lot of confidence!

3) What did you learn from the experience? (hint- number of cuts/shots, physical movement, editing, mise-en-scene, performance, etc...)

From this experience, I learnt that filming a video requires a lot more shots/cuts in comparison to a film opening. Also, the duration of shots are a lot shorter. This is to keep the audience interested with the video as a whole. If the shots were longer and resembled a film rather than a music video, the audience would get bored and easily lose interest. In terms of physical movement, there should always be movement happening in a shot, or else this could also lose the interest of the viewer. Physical movement (eg; dancing) also adds a sense of theatricality and makes the video even more fun to watch. Mise-en-scene is usually out of the ordinary to an average-everyday outfit. Audience needs to be kept intrigued with all aspects of the video. Lastly all performers must give their all, in order to make the video lively and exciting. As well as this, the setting should often be relevant to the sound/fell of the song.

4)

The Search For My Artist!

This term, we have been asked to create our very own music video, using whatever song or artist we'd like. As opposed to working individually like last term, me and Romina Lanjani thought it would be really interesting to attempt to work together, considering our ideas tend to correspond with each other. However, we've also been told how important it is to ask for permission and receive the rights to use a specific song, or ask to use an artist, and as our singer we have chosen to ask Kiana Lanjani.

In order to get Kiana's permission, Romina has contacted her through text to see if she will comply with our request! Here is a screenshot of Kiana agreeing to be a part of our project:

My Favourite Music Video and Why

For my favourite video, I have chosen 'Foxes - Let go for Tonight', mainly because it's fun, colourful and has an upbeat 'Pop' vibe to it. These are similar themes that Romina and I wish to incorporate in our own video. Particular shots I really enjoyed were multiple close ups of the singer along with her friends as they have fun messing around with paint. I loved the concept of paint being thrown around the room, as it adds to the fun and childlike vibe Romina and I wish to have in our own video.

Music Video Timeline

NICKELODEON

·         The nickelodeon was the first type of indoor exhibition space dedicated to showing projected motion pictures.

·         Flourished from about 1905-1915

·         People were charged 5 cents for an admission.

·         Mechanical musical instruments (eg; piano or orchestra) were used in order to allow the public to insert money (into the jukebox)

SOUNDIES

·         Soundies were three-minute music films, often including short dance sequences, similar to later music videos.

·         Between 1940-1946.

The films were displayed on the Panoram (film jukebox or machine music) used in nightclubs, bars, restaurants, factory lounges, and amusement centers.

SCOPITONE

·         Scopitone is a type of jukebox featuring a 16mm film component

MUSICALS

·         Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs spoken dialogue, acting and dance.

·         Musicals are performed around the world. They may be presented in large venues, such as big-budget Broadway or West End productions in New York City or London.

1866

A HARD DAYS’ NIGHT (THE BEATLES)

·         A Hard Days’ Night is the third studio album by English rock band The Beatles, released on 10^th July 1964.

·         The American version of the album was released two weeks earlier on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records, with a different track listing.

·        
They did a short film alongside the single, realising they had a strong visual element. This won over the fans also.

TOP OF THE POPS

·         Top of the Pops was a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1^st January 1964 and 20^th July 2006.

·         Each weekly programme consisted of performances from some of that week's best-selling popular music artists, with a rundown of that week's singles chart. Additionally, there was a special edition of the programme on Christmas Day (and usually, until 1984, a second such edition a few days after Christmas), featuring some of the best-selling singles of the year.

      CONCERT FILMS

       A concert film is a type of documentary film which is an   extended live performance or concert by a musician or comedian

MTV

MTV is an American channel launched in 1981.  
The original purpose was to play music videos guided by tv personalities know as 'video jockeys'.
It is often aimed at young adults but it's not targeted at adolescents and teenagers. 

 YOUTUBE 

Popular Youtube vlogger, Zoe Sugg (Zoella)

Is a video sharing website originated founded in February 14th 2005. The site allows users to upload, view, and share videos. Available content includes video clips, TV clips, music videos, and other content such as video blogging, short original videos and educational videos. Youtube used to be owned by Paypal, but it is currently owned by Google.