KNGS Advanced Portfolio in Media

TLC - No scrubs - Music Video Structure Analysis from the-hunger-games

No limit in depth structure analysis - Updated from the-hunger-games

Developed Way Back Structure analysis from the-hunger-games

The third R&B music video that I watched was 'No Limit' by Usher. Like most videos of the genre, this one features the typical convention of choreography performed by Usher (the artist) and backing dancers, albeit with male ones and in a white/grey-walled room and not an urban, everyday setting, which challenges convention as dancers in R&B videos are often female. In addition, the lyrics do not really reflect the music video, which does not have a narrative and is instead focused on performance - although some R&B music videos do this (such as 'Love On Top' by Beyoncé and 'No Scrubs' by TLC), most are constructed to tell a story as well as promote the artist - 'No Limit' only does the latter. However, a variety of camera shots are Despite no symbolic reflection of the lyrics in the video, a small connection is made when some dancers jump and bend over backwards, suggesting that they can do what others would find impossible and that th...

As part of my research into the RnB genre, I have chosen three music videos and looked at what they had in common, their conventions, and  iconography. This will provide inspiration and guidance for when I come to create my own video. This analysis will look at the music video for 'Way Back' by duo TLC. One of the RnB music video conventions that I first noticed was the urban setting and the dancers in the background, as well as the colourful clothes (a common feature of videos in this genre, which connotes an uplifting mood) jewellery and henna tattoos on the hands of Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas (right in video thumbnail). Both she and Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins are involved in the dance routines of the video and play a part in the video's narrative - they can be seen dancing on a roof, in the kitchen and near a swimming pool while looking at the camera, engaging with the viewers as they can be seen to be singing directly to us. Another common convention tha...

The second video that I have looked at for my research is 'No Sleeep' by Janet Jackson. In this video, a narrative has been created, i.e. Janet is alone in a house and is waiting for her lover to return; she is anticipating that when they reunite, they will get 'no sleep', reflecting the song's title and lyrics, which include 'You're missing me / I'm missing you' and 'Cause every second you're away / Feels like forever'; this, along with her sitting on a bed, is one of the first connections created between the song and the visual. Later on, another connection to the title and lyrics is made, albeit a contradictory one, when Janet is seen sleeping on a couch after collaborator J Cole performs his verse - he could be seen to represent Janet's lover, even though the lyrics say that she and the love interest won't sleep when they reunite, defying the typical convention of the lyrics relating to the video. Unlike most R&B mus...

At the beginning of the research stage of the coursework, I looked at three music videos and made notes on the structure, such as graphics, if a story was created, the types of people in the video (artists included) and any figurative meaning in the lyrics that was conveyed in the visual. The videos I watched were Roar (Katy Perry, 2013), I'm Fine (Chip featuring Stormzy and Shalo, 2014) and When The Sun Goes Down (Arctic Monkeys, 2006) - all of different genres and made in different ways. What I noticed about the first music video, Roar, was that it was constructed like a mini movie (which is common for pop songs), due to the fact that there were graphics at the beginning (Roar - A motion theory adventure filmed in Junglescope) and end (The End - Roar). The story of the video, about Perry surviving in the jungle alone, is conveyed in lyrics such as 'You held me down, but I got up/Get ready cause I've had enough' and 'And you're gonna hear me roar...