Callum Taylor.

Unit 29: Music Video Production..

Task 1: Report on the purpose, styles, conventions and techniques of music videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w211KOQ5BMI

Rage Against The Machine - Sleep now in the fire.

Purposes

Rage Against The Machine released their Third studio album 'The Battle of Los Angeles.' on the label 'Epic.' on 2/11/1999. This album's fifth track 'Sleep Now in the Fire.' was released as a single with an accompanying music video. It was produced to promote the album and 'The Battle of Los Angeles Tour.' not only does releasing a music video make the chances of increasing revenue for the label it would have gotten a lot of publicity because during the shooting of the video the New York Stock Exchange was forced to close during the working day, which would have received a lot of publicity, whilst simultaneously reinforcing the rebel image the band had made for themselves. This music video was not used to promote any extensions of outlets for the band 'Rage Against the Machine.' or the label 'Epic'.

Synergy

While the song has been used in movies like 'Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.' it isn't the main theme song of the film and isn't generally associated with the film.

Producers' Strategies.

The song was released on 'Epic Records' on the 3rd April 2000, 'Epic Records is a music label which was started by 'CBS' in 1953'  this label is considered a major label especially considering that is owned by 'Sony music entertainment'. This means that the budget for the music video would have been a good budget for the director, Michael Moore to work with. Big labels are generally willing to spend big in order to make a lot of money this is because the major music labels are purely business and wish to capitalise on the music industry as much as possible whereas a independent label caters to a small niche audience for specific bands, most of the time and because they don't have the money that the big companies have, the budgets are smaller. Due to the content of  the music video it would have created word of mouth exposure for the band, people who lean to the left politically would have been encouraged to see a band protesting and raising awareness of the social inequalities in the US by performing a song "in the belly of the beast." of American capitalism.

Styles.

The music video for Sleep Now In The Fire has many styles and shows examples of many popular music video genres. The main two styles that are exhibited are In-concert footage and narrative. The band is  seen performing the song on the steps on the New York Stock Exchange, 'this footage was shot on 26th January 1999.' is inter cut with a satirical parody of the television  game show 'Who wants to be a millionaire' and is called 'Who wants to be filthy f#&%ing rich.' this is the narrative side of the music video. This use of the in-concert footage with the parody of a beloved game show works well for the music video because it stays true to the bands anti-establishment and punk spirit in a way that not only shows that band being active in their anti-government and political protesting and lifestyle but it also  puts across important statistics helping to spread the message that the video is trying to send. Another aspect of the video that follows a narrative is the in-concert section, this starts by telling the viewer that on the Monday of the week that the video was shot in the New York Stock Exchange reported record profits and record lay-offs. On the Tuesday Wall Street executives said that Rage Against the Machine would NOT play on Wall Street, this is when the video starts.There are also aspects of the video which are interpretative, for example when in some parts of the video there is a green screened background

which is usually money, or people living lavish lives this could be interpreted as saying that to the people who run Wall Street only think of money and the life style that comes with it, this is an important theme of the video as this is perhaps the main point that the band are trying to make with the video also there is a sense that the music video is trying to say that the Wall Street executives are simply playing 'Who wants to be filthy f#&%ing rich' when the camera zooms into the window of the New York Stock Exchange building and then the game show comes onto the screen and that they don't really care about the state of the economy or the lack of monetary equality in society that they only care about that 'game' that is the Stock Exchange .

Conventions

 Lyric Interpretation

There is some minor lyrics interpretation in Sleep now in the fire. While it may be an interpretation of the lyrical themes of the song instead of a direct interpretation of the lyrics, it is still there, mainly in the background and in the satirical game show. The lyrics are highlighting corruption and taking a stand against the government and the way they control the money and how it is not shared among the people and the video shows how money is treated like it is only for the upper class and for people who win it in game shows.

Extending/Consolidating the song's meaning.

There is some extending of the songs meaning as pointed out in Lyric interpretation. The music video extends the basic meaning of the song and turns it into a broader message that the state of economic equality and the general way in which the US government acts is wrong and they are looking out for themselves and their own greed and they will not stand for anyone or anything getting in there way. This is shown not only in the lyrics but in the footage of 'The battle of Seattle.'
an event in which 'WTO' protesters were attacked with pepper spray and rubber bullets by the police.

Allusion. 

There is very little alluding too anything in this music video the only real case of allusion in the video is when the background changes to an image of bombs exploding this could be alluding to the idea that if the US government was to carry on down the path that it has been going down there will be consequences. 

Techniques

Cutting to the beat.

This music video exhibits many typical techniques used in music videos. For example it is cut to the beat of the song this is something that is often present in music videos, this is done partly to make the video feel smoother once mixed with the audio and for a viewer it can be almost uncomfortable to watch if the video is not cut to the beat of the song 

Effects

Sleep now in the fire has a few examples of effects in it. The most prominent of these is the green screened backgrounds that appear throughout the video, this is used mainly to have the band appear to be playing in settings that either aren't possible or cannot be achieved for budgetary reasons. 

Miming/Playback and Lip-syncing.

While part of this music are 'In-concert' there are parts in which the band are in a studio filming the video instead of being in a live performances. In cases such as these the band is hearing the song being played to them while lip-syncing to it. 

Multi-Imaging

Multi-Imaging is a technique used to create different moods or send a message by superimposing other images on top of an image that is already on the screen.
 The only example of this in this video is on text which is superimposed over the images to give some background to the footage and the questions which are shown on-screen during the 'Who wants to be filthy f#&%ing rich' part of the video. 

Camera angles/movement

Due to the fact that this music video is in two main segments, the in-concert and the not in-concert footage it has two distinct styles of filming. For the in-concert section it is shot in a guerrilla documentary kind of way. with lots of handheld shots, with other techniques such as zooming and close-ups. The camera movements in the in-concert footage are fast, this helps to show the atmosphere of the event and keeps the audience on edge because it feels as if they may need to escape quickly. This is done effectively and really does capture the feeling of the performance as it was frowned upon strongly by the people on wall street and they weren't happy with it. One of the most clear use of different camera angles is the high angle shots of the police near the beginning of the video, it seems as though Michael Moore is trying to say that for a while when they were performing, Rage against the machine had the power and not this police.
 This is backed up further by the low angle shots of the band when they are performing on the steps of the Stock Exchange. This is consistent in the footage filmed on Wall Street, and it is also consistent with the director Michael Moore's style. The footage of the satirical game show and the rest of the footage of the band is filmed in a very different way however. For the most part the camera is fairly static and holds a medium shot, there are a few exception, for example in the game show segment there are some arcing 
 crane shots and close ups. however, for the most part it is mostly medium shots of the band, the contestants on the show and the host. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U5IhEAFGwQ

You could be mine - Guns 'n' Roses 

Purposes

On 17/09/1991 'Guns N Roses' released their third and fourth studio albums called 'Use Your Illusion I & II' on 'Geffen Records'. The twelfth  track on 'Use Your Illusion II' called 'You Could Be Mine' was the 'seventh single' released from the double album. This track was used by 'Geffen Records' to promote the double album and the tour that came with the album. It also was used to promote the 1991 film 'Terminator 2: Judgement Day' The tactic of releasing a songs music video to promote an album and tour is used a lot by record companies, big and small. It helps the record make more money from the album and tour. This video was also used to make money for 'Terminator 2:Judgement Day'. This is achieved because it advertises the film to a wider audience, not just cinephiles and average movie goers but to people who love music and the more people who are aware of a product the greater the possibility of making a profit. This video was not used to promote an extension of outlets. 

Synergy

 When two product Synergize, they become synonymous with one another, this can help the sales of both the products. Especially in the case of a music video and a film. This song was used as the 'main theme song of James Cameron's, Terminator 2: Judgement Day.' Not only does the song feature in the film itself but music video contains clips from the film while working them into the video in such a way to make it so the Terminator is has been given a new mission.  To destroy Guns N Roses.  By combining elements of the film and the music video together they become one product. This music video is a good example of synergy as both the film and 'Guns N Roses' both made a lot of money from the partnership. 

Producers Strategies. 

'Geffen records' is a major label which was 'founded in 1980 by David Geffen' given the size of the company and that it was funded by 'Warner Bros' the producers of the video would have a received a large budget to make this music video. Given that big music labels want to make money and the better the music video the better the chance of making large profits,which is the primary goal for any company, By combining the music video with clips of the film also increases the chance of creating an increased revenue stream. This strategy is used by record label and film production studios often. 

Styles

'You could be mine' exhibits a lot of the common styles that are often present in the music video industry. These include a narrative and a lot of in- concert footage. The use of clips from the film to create the story that the Terminator has been sent back in time to destroy Guns N Roses not
only makes references to the first and second Terminator films but it also is better then just having the In-
concert footage interspersed with the clips from the film because it 
 would just be that and people wouldn't respond to it.

Conventions

Lyric Interpretation

'You Could Be Mine' by 'Guns N Roses' features no lyric interpretation in this music video, this is probably because the song is about a abusive relationship and the film is about a cyborg sent back in time to protect a mother and her son from another cyborg sent back in time to kill them and because of the stark contrast in story between the song and the film it makes it hard to make the film clips interpret the story of the song. 

Extending/Consolidating of the songs meaning

Once again given the nature of the two products there is not extending or consolidation of the songs meaning in the music video. 

Allusion

As with the lyric interpretation and Extending/ consolidation of the songs meaning there is no alluding to any other artist or events in the music video. However there is some alluding to the plot of the film. In the video it is clear that there are now two cyborgs and it appears as though the T-1800
 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is now protecting the mother and child that he was sent to destroy in the first film. This would have created buzz about the upcoming film, increasing revenue for the film makers. 

Techniques

Cutting to the beat

 'You Could Be Mine' is, like most music videos, cut to the beat of the song, making the song and video fit together well and to make the viewing of the video as smooth as possible. 

Effects 

 There are examples of effects in 'You could be mine' including the use of slow motion, black and white and the  'Cyborg vision' also there is the use of special effects in the clips from the film. The use of special effects is common in music videos, especially ones that would have been given a large budget to make. The 'cyborg vision' is something that is used in the film as well as in the video, in the video it is used to make it clear that the Terminator is at the performance of 'Guns N Roses' and that they are now his targets. 

Miming/Playback and lip-synicing

Because all of the footage of 'Guns N Roses' in this music video is 'In-concert' footage there is no examples of playback and lip-synicing or of miming and lip-syncing in this video. The band were filmed performing live and the song was dubbed over and synced up to make it look like this is the audio from the live performances.

Multi-Imaging

The  only use of multi imaging in 'You could be mine' is the 'Cyborg vision'. The computerized image is placed over the images that are being shown to make it seem like we are seeing from the Terminators point of view. 

Camera Angles/Movement

 

As is often the case with video shot at concerts 'You could be mine' has a lot of the standard camera angles and movements. These include low-angle shots of the band on the stage performing, close ups of the band members playing their instruments, especially during solo's, this is done to show the technical ability and prowess of the members of the band, crane shots of the band on the stage and of the crowd, this not only shows the size of the stage showing that a band like 'Guns N Roses' are a very big band and that the crowd is a very large one, and lots of fast moving handhelds shots to highlight the energy and atmosphere of the show. These kinds of shots are a mainstay of 'in-concert' footage music videos and are utilized often.

Bibliography

Basham, D. (2000). Rage Against the Machine Shoots New Video With Michael Moore. Available at: http://www.mtv.com/news/1433553/rage-against-the-machine-shoots-new-video-with-michael-moore/ Last Accessed: 27th Sep 2014

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Soundtrack. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0305357/soundtrack?ref_=tt_trv_snd . Last accessed: 21st Sep 2014

Chew, C. (2011) RATM: Sleep Now in the Fire. Available at: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x561309 Last Accessed: 23rd Sep 2014

Epic Records. Available at: http://www.last.fm/label/Epic+Records Last Accessed: 21st Sep 2014

Epic Records. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_Records Last Accessed 21st Sep 2014

Geffen Records. Available at: http://www.last.fm/label/Geffen+Records Last Accessed 27th Sep 2014

Long, A. (2005) Sleep Now in the Fire. Available at: http://www.nme.com/reviews/3424 Last Accessed 21st Sep 2014

Reynolds, P. (1999) Eyewitness: Battle of Seattle. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/547581.stm Last Accessed: 23rd Sep 2014


Rage Against Wall Street. (2000). Available at: https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/22841 Last Accessed 23rd Sep 2014

Sleep Now in the Fire. Available at: http://www.last.fm/music/Rage+Against+the+Machine/_/Sleep+Now+in+the+Fire?ac=Sleep Last Accessed: 21st Sep 2014

Sleep Now in the Fire. Available at: http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2203 Last Accessed: 21st Sep 2014

Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103064/soundtrack?ref_=tt_trv_snd Last Accessed: 23rd Sep 2014

You Could Be Mine. Available at: http://www.last.fm/music/Guns+N'+Roses/_/You+Could+Be+Mine?ac=you Last Accessed: 27th Sep 2014

You Could Be Mine. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Could_Be_Mine Last Accessed 27th Sep 2014