Research into chosen music genre - Miss Miller

Research into chosen music genre

Introduction
For my music video I have chosen the genre of soul. The reason for my choice is because the genre of soul means the artist can tell a story to their chosen audience, and show meaning and understanding. From this a connection and a relationship can be made between the artist and the target audience, leading to the artist to understand their feelings and enjoy their music. A lot of soul artists have deep meanings behind their music which may involve their past. It is important to establish a genre before you choose your artist as you need to become familiar with the genre and this allows you to look through a varied amount of artists before choosing your own. For my artist i have chosen Adele and her song Home town Glory.

Music analysis
I have chosen to identify two different music artists that are similar to my own so i can analyse and see the different/similar techniques used. I will analyse these two music artists in 8 points.

Amy Winehouse: Amy was an English songwriter and singer known for deep vocals and genres such as soul. Amy's famous soul song - Rehab, was names record of the year and song of the year in the Grammy Awards in 2008. Amy is similar to my artist Adele as they both sing with the genre of soul and both have deep hidden meanings behind their music. In Amy's track rehab, she sung about her past drug life and how her Dad was supportive and helped her through her bad patch. Her emotions were clear to the audience and she had a strong narrative which was understood by all of her audience. Amy has made many popular songs that have been in the charts such as: Back to black, you know I'm no good and tears dry on their own. For this artist i am going to analyse her music video 'Rehab' which was produced in 2009.

The genre of this music video is soul, just like the genre of the song I have chosen to use for my music video. The codes and conventions of the soul genre usually involve a narrative about love, family or problems of the artists own, mono-tone colour scheme and dull colours, slow cuts and editing, and normally no special effects. Within this music video of Amy's she includes the convention of the narrative being about her own life problems and family. The narrative involves her background on refusal to attend an alcohol rehabilitation centre. Her father tries to encourage her to go, but anything anyone does Amy only leads her own way. The lyrics of this song reflect on the conventional narrative. "They trying to make me to go rehab, but I say no no no". The lyrics explain her narrative as she tells her story to the audience that in her own mind she feels that she is fine and doesn't need any support for her problems. Moreover, the mono-tone and bland colour scheme are also seen to be conventional within this music video. The background is very subtle, with no exciting and colours that jump out on the screen, which connects with her outfit and make-up which is also very bland and doesn't show any enthusiasm towards her audience. Another convention which is also challenged within this video is the fact there is no special effects. Within the video there is no strong amount of lighting, strobe lighting or effects used to add to the outcome of the video. This convention works well with the setting and the narrative of the video, as any of special effects would probably ruin the image trying to be sent to her audience, and would be hard to understand the image she is trying to portray.

The first use of mise-en-scene is the location of the music video. The location of this music video is set in a small room, which is represented as a bed-sit. The location shows a lot of people in the background, which are contributing to the background music, but In a subtle way. The man laying on the bed is seen playing a trumpet, and the man sitting on the seal in the background is playing the saxophone. Amy isn't taking any notice of the people in the background, and they aren't seen to be playing the music together. The location within this music video is conventional. The location links to the narrative of the song too. The location shows the walls and floor to be in bad condition, which may represent the way she is feeling and this is there to contribute to her feelings. The un-cared location and mix-matched room is conventional to the soul genre. Moreover, the second use of mise-en-scene is the positioning of the artist. The position of the artist throughout the video is located in the centre of the screen from start to finish. She looks directly at the camera throughout and at one point looks into the mirror as if it is the camera, and down at her audience to catch there attention. The position of the camera depends on how the audiences eye is court. Amy being in the centre of the camera means she grabs her audiences attention straight on and her audience get to understand get to understand the meaning of her lyrics and the meaning behind the song. Furthermore, the third point is Amy's costume. Her costume changes a few times throughout the video. We as the audience first see her to be wearing a silky long dressing gown, with orange, black and white imprints. The dressing gown relates to her laid back character and the laid back background that we see of everyone in there dressing gown and nightwear. As the video continues we see her change into grey heels, and a white dress/coat. This happens within the video when the music becomes more upbeat and Amy is repeating herself about saying no to Rehab. The costume may represent her power if she is dressed classy. We then see her sitting back in an office chair wearing nothing but underwear and an open leather jacket. Again this shows Amy as not caring about what her appearance is and having a laid back attitude to how she leads her life. Her costume changes may also represent the way in which she is trying to change her life. The lighting aspect of mise-en-scene is very dull and minimal. There is no strong lighting shown throughout the whole video and only natural lighting is used. The minimal lighting and dark rooms add to the narrative and emotion of the video. The audience will also be able to gather the emotion that Amy wants her audience to feel, as her emotions come across quite sad, careless and fed up.

The main camera techniques that are used within this music video are close-up's and long-shots. The close-ups are used frequently throughout when she is singing. This is to show her emotion on her face and to express the way she is feeling when singing the lyrics. The close-ups show her emotion, which shows that she is fed up and almost emotionless when singing about people trying to force her to go to rehab. This gives the audience a real picture of how she is feeling and the reason to which she is singing this song. In addition, the long shots are used when she is walking around the house and when the camera focuses on the instrument players in the background. The players move around the house with Amy, and make an appearance wherever she is. The long shots that are used frequently show her costume, how she has changed it and how this reflects and connects to the part of the song that is being sung. The close-up aspect of the camera techniques are conventional to the soul genre as within soul the narrative usually involved love or family issues, so the close-ups of the artists show the emotions they are expressing towards there target audience. This creates a strong relationship between the audience and the artist. 

In addition, the first editing technique used within the music video Rehab is a flash that takes place when Amy is changing her position on screen. The flash takes place when we see amy from a mid-shot taken from the side of her looking into the mirror in the bathroom, and when the place takes places on screen the position of amy changes to her leaning over the sink looking into the camera directly. Amy stares into the camera for a few seconds after this, this is so she creates a relationship with her audience, and can directly tell them whats going on within her life. This flash cutting means the editing sequence durations of the shots are brief and the cut has a duration of two seconds or less. This is conventional to the could genre as this editing skill may reflect on how they are feeling and the fact that the editing technique that is used is very short and brief links to the fact that there is either no editing used within soul music videos or small amounts to add to effect. Moreover, the second main editing style used is a shot reverse shot. This is used when amy is singing with emphasis to her audience telling them 'no no no' and how she doesn't want to go to rehab. The shot revere shot shows her from different angles. At one point the shot shows her in a close-up showing her facial expressions and emotions, then the shot changes to a long-shot showing the background musicians and a long shot of the way she is sitting and positioned, and then reversed back to a close-up. These shots take places very quickly, and all within a matter of seconds. When her audience are watching the video it allows them to concentrate on what is being shown and having to look quickly at what her message is towards her target audience. A shot-reverse-shot is conventional to the soul genre as it is an easy way to show and produce emotion and emphasise.

The target audience of Amy Winehouse's music video Rehab ranges. Her music is enjoyed by a range of ages, including an audiences as young of 16, all the way up to 50's and 60's. As she produces her music with the genre of soul, this can be enjoyed by a large audience as its found relaxing and enjoyable. Younger people may see her as a role model as they see her as a strong individual, with strong intentions that she doesn't need anyone to help her and can get along in life on her own. Whereas the older generation may enjoy listening to her music as it may be relatable or just enjoy her music because of the instruments used and her voice is very specific and only found attractive by certain people. The genre of soul normally means that the narrative will include family issues of a past love life that may have gone wrong. Many of her audiences may enjoy it for that reason that they can relate and understand what she is going through because they have been through it too and can feel the same emotions and feelings that she is creating a good relationship between Amy and her target audience.

The artist within this video represented as rebellious and strong. Her lyrics "he said, i just think your depressed, this is me, yeah, baby and the rest" This is shown as my evidence. Amy has produced this song because she knows she has problems, and wants to share them with the audience. The lyrics show that she is strong and standing up to her fears, and doesn't care what people think about her. Her rebellious side is shown when she refuses to go to rehab and sort out the problems that she is facing. She tells the audience that she doesn't want to listen to anyone else and that she can sort out her problems on her own without anyones help, especially from her dad. Although her representation that is seen by her audience may be that she is seen to have courage to tell her audience about her problems instead of keeping them to herself, which shows that there is a strong bond between the artist and her audience.

The style of this music video is narrative. There is no performance aspect of the video, as she shows no progression of dancing, or singing on stage like the conventional music video in a genre such as pop. The genre of soul normally holds the convention of telling a story and telling this through there lyrics. This is why this music video of Rehab has the style of narrative. The title of the song gives a message to the audience straight away. Before this music video was produced/released the audience knew that Amy was going through some problems involving drink and drugs. When Amy released this song it was because she was fed up of being told was what was wrong and what was right for her.  The narrative within the music video tells a story to the audience that she is admitting to having problems within her life at the time it was made, and she wanted to express to her audience how she was feeling and the reasons for it. She expresses to the audience how she doesn't want to go to Rehab. The concept is pretty similar to the narrative. The concept that Amy is telling to the audience is that you shouldn't lead your life by people telling you what to do, and do what you think is right. This successful video keeps the audience entertained and constantly looking at what is on the screen, and this case its Amy.

For Goodwin's theory the i am looking at point four. 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. Throughout the music video close up's are used frequently to build a relationship between the the Amy and her audience. The use of close up's means her facial expressions and emotions can be felt by her audience and expressed in a way they can feel what she is feeling and how this connects to the

meaning of the song/lyrics. Furthermore, the second point of Goodwin's theory is point five. There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. In certain parts of the video when Amy stands up and is wearing minimal clothing. The audience see her to be bare legged, with nothing but a silky dressing gown that hangs from her. The camera is at a titled angle where the audience see her legs, and the camera then rises up towards the top half of her body. Another part of the music video is when we see Amy sitting on an office desk chair wearing a leather jacket and underwear. We see a lot of her skin within this piece of the music video and they audience view her in a voyeuristic way, as well as the audience viewing her sexually.

The second artist i have chosen to look at for my research into the soul genre is Paloma Faith. The song i have chosen to use for this artist is Picking up the pieces.

Paloma Faith

Paloma Faith: Paloma's full name is Paloma Faith Blomfield. She is a British singer, songwriter and actress known for her retro and eccentric style. Paloma released her debut album 'do you want the truth or something beautiful?' in 2009 and featuring her top twenty singles. The album reached number nine in  the United Kingdom. Faith's music career began when she mimicked famous soul and jazz singers included Etta James and Billie Holiday, whom she has admired all her life. In 2011 Paloma was nominated for 'British Female solo artist' at the BRIT awards. In January 2013, she revealed that she was beginning to write her third studio album during her time she spent in the USA, in particular New York city. This album was then released in 2014, and was named 'perfect' by her audience. To day, she performed at Glastonbury, where she announced her fourth album was being produced. Also coaching the Voice on BBC in 2015, replacing Rita Ora.

Music Analysis
The genre of this music video is soul, just like the genre of the song I have chosen to use for my music video. The codes and conventions of the soul genre usually involve a narrative about love, family or problems of the artists own, mono-tone colour scheme and dull colours, slow cuts and editing, and normally no special effects. From my analysis, the colours of the music video are dull, including colours such as grey, black and misted backgrounds. The opening setting shows the sky to be dark, black, with dark trees, in a almost haunted setting. This is relatable to the codes and conventions of soul music as it can be connected to the narrative and emotions of the song. Furthermore, the narrative of the video. The narrative of the music video is about a crumbling relationship Paloma was facing with her boyfriend, how things were going badly and facing heartbreak. Paloma quoted "The idea is that we've just broken up and we're both very upset. He's sort of besotted by this other version of me who represents perfection. He's in love with perfection, but the perfection doesn't actually exist - it's like the perfection that I've imagined in my own paranoid, self-loathing way.". This relates to the convention of the soul genre as it has the narrative that most soul songs include, as it is easy to tell a story to the audiences through the soul genre as songs are usually quite slow and understandable by a large audience.

The first mise-en-scene point I am going to analyse from this music video is the setting. The setting at the start of the video starts of with a tower/castle type building, surrounded in tree's and woodland. The surrounding are dark and black, showing mysteriousness. The scene opens, as we Paloma and her boyfriend enter the building. The building is stone cold, including a lot of statues outside to greet, which are dirty and old just like the interior and exterior of the building. There are no bold colours that jump out on screen throughout from the setting as they are all bland and simple. This so far is conventional to the soul genre, as the dull and dark colours link to the way the artist is feeling and trying to put themselves across towards their audience. Moreover, the setting carries on to be seen as quite cold. A part of the video we as the audience see Paloma sitting on a bench outside singing to the camera, although the background/setting looks cold and misty, and not much of a picture can be seen, again this may be representing her feelings and link into the message she is trying to send to her audience. In addition, the second point of mise-en-scene is positioning of the artist. At first we see Paloma in a car next to someone so she is not the direct interest, although the camera focus is on her, and makes her centre position of the video. A shot of Paloma also shows her to be positioned in the centre of the camera, this is when she is sat on the bench outside. Her positioning of being in the middle means she has direct contact with her audience and she is the main focus of what her audience are watching and

looking at. This gives her the main authority, and is seen in a positive way as the artist. She is also portrayed within the centre throughout the rest of the music video. In addition, the third point of mise-en-scene is costume. We see Paloma wearing very pale pink matching suited jacket and skirt, gloves, hat and shoes. These also link in with her very pale skin which is easily recognised by her target audience. These pale clothes relate to the background and setting which don't include much colour of emphasis. This relates to the genre of soul due to the fact that she may be feeling down and insecure due to the break-up of her boyfriend.This may also relate to the fact she is feeling cold-hearted and very down, as well as purity and innocence. The fourth area of mise-en-scene that is used is lighting. Lighting within the music video of Picking up the pieces is minimal, as no strobe or strong lighting is used. Natural lighting is mainly used as the setting only ranges between being outside and within the manor house, where lighting from the windows and lamps are used. This is very conventional of the soul genre to have minimal lighting as it usually connects to the narrative and theme. No lighting adds to the image of the artist, this helps with the effect that she is down and upset, connecting to the themes of darkness and heart-break. The audience will also be able to understand what she is feeling by these added effects. The audience will be able to easily relate to the artist if they know exactly what she is feeling and the reasons why. The mid-shot of Paloma allows the audience to see most of her body, and her body language lets her express herself. The movement of her arms, shows she is passionate about what she is singing, showing the passion in her emotions. 

Furthermore, the first main camera technique used is use of frequent close-ups. The close-ups are used of the artist when she is the girlfriend looking over her boyfriend with another woman, as well as the other woman who is with the man, but shown to be controlled and 'perfect'. The close up's over show her emotion whilst singing about being heart-broken, this way the audience can feel the same emotion as her and see her facial expressions about the way she is feeling. Whereas, the other part within the music video she is playing is shown to be at a stand-still and represented as a mannequin. This may show her character as weak, and being controlled by her new boyfriend. The close-up show her perfect make-up and is referenced to by Paloma as "she's flawless, she's all", which is mentioned within the lyrics of the song. The second use of cinematography is extreme long shots. These are used a few times within the music video. This is done a few times, the first when the car is driving up a long windy path to the house, and the camera is on a extreme long shot following the car. An extreme long shot also takes place when Paloma is sitting on a bench outside, where the audience see a full view of the background, setting in front of Paloma, as well as a full view of her as well. This is done so the audience see a full view of what is taking place, and there is obviously a reason for Paloma

wanting her audience to see the view behind her. The close-up shot shows her emotions closely to the audience, and how they should understand what she is feeling and the reasons why. The close-up allows the audience to get a real understanding of what she is feeling and also what she is telling through her lyrics. The car driving up the driveway may have used a extreme long shot so the audience see an overview of where Paloma and the man are going, and get an idea of what the narrative may entail. This is un conventional of the soul genre, as the music videos with the genre of soul usually have the most frequent use of close-ups and shot-reverse shots which can show emotion to the audience easily. Although this is unconventional I think that is has worked well to for fill its purpose and allow the audience to see a narrative taking place.

Thirdly, the first main editing style within this music video is a montage. Four shots are put together within a few seconds to create a montage. The shots of the view of a hill with a car driving past, a zoomed in image of the view, close-up of a statue and then a close-up of the hand of the statue. This is done to speed up time of the journey and the video. After the montage the journey is ended and they have arrived at the house. The montage lets the audience take time to think about what they have seen at the beginning and wait for the singing of Paloma to start, as the start of the music video is the start of the narrative and the start of a story that is going to be told to her target audience. The second frequently used editing style is.. Moreover, the target audience of this music video varies from the ages of 16-30. Her music is very relatable and can be enjoyed by a large audience. The genre of soul means Paloma expresses her emotions through her words and tells a story through her music which can be understood by a lot of people. This show allows the audience to see the artists dark state of mind, and how she is showing this through the location she is travelling in.

The younger audience may enjoy her music because it can be up-beat and enjoyable, the lyrics are easy to memorise and she is a very good singer. The target audience of Paloma Faith has stayed the same from the start of her career to her to this day now. When Paloma first released her music she had a target audience of 16-24 year olds as her first song was very popular within the UK. Her fans/audience have stuck by her and variably stayed the same, as well as now expanding and being enjoyed by a lot more people. The style of the music video is narrative and concept based, there is no element of performance involved. The narrative being told within this song is that Paloma and her ex-boyfriend were going through a hard time and struggling to come to terms with their relationship. The video shows her boyfriend seeing her for something else, and wanting a woman that's perfect and pretty.

The style for this music video is performance and narrative. The performance element can be seen within the whole music video as she is singing towards the camera. Her lyrics towards her audience show the element of narrative, where she is telling her target audience a story of being heartbroken and down. The narrative style is also shown through the scenes that Paloma is shot in, for example most of the background images show a dark and mysterious place, representing how the artist is feeling and portraying her emotions to the audience. Within the video itself, Paloma's style represents her in many ways. Firstly, the clothes that she is wearing. The light pink coat and skirt represent her as being venerable and emotional. The light clothing shows her innocence towards the audience, and elaborating to them how she is feeling, helping the meanings to her lyrics to show through. The pale clothing is relatable to the soul genre, as her audience will understand her emotions easier. Moreover, her representation from her pale and limited make-up. Within the soul genre it is conventional to see a female artist wearing minimal pale make-up on the skin, and a bright red lipstick on her lips. This is what is seen on Paloma. This shows that the audience can relate to why she is doing this, as she shows her passion, heartbreak and anger through her facial make-up.

My research into chosen music genre has allowed me to expand my thoughts onto how my chosen genre is going to work well and what I might need to do to make sure I catch my targeted audience. This will assist me as now I can see the similarities into how the soul genre use specific things and conventions; for example, the use of close-ups and how the colour within both videos are the same. The narrative within the soul genre always varies between two things, as I have found from my research. This has helped me with a narrative for my idea and what it should be, and how this will affect the message that will be sent out to the audience and how much of the performance element needs to be included to balance out between the two. From my analysis the ideas that I will be taking on board are to use a narrative which relates to love, as the audience seem to create a strong relationship with the artist when the narrative of love is involved within the soul genre, as a story can be told easily and a connection can be made. I will also include the need for close-up's as they create a relationship between the audience and the artist as they can understand the artist in a way that they can see there emotions being sent out and portrayed, also helping them understand the artists personality.