One Shot Wonders

An interesting example of how a one shot wonder video can be used, is Coldplay's 2000 hit, Yellow. The song is known for its emotion and rawness, with it still being considered amongst the best songs the band has made, even though the continuously produce hit after hit. The video has an extremely basic concept, relying on Chris Martin's performance as the vocalist to portray the song's obvious emotion. He does it extremely well, performing as if he is in the moment, rather than making a music video, creating an incredibly personal visual, which reflects the brilliant song. Coldplay themselves came up with the idea, firstly wanting all the members of the band to walk down the beach to a sunny backdrop. However, due to one of the band members having to attend a close family member's funeral on the day of the shoot, it was decided that Chris Martin should be the only one to feature, with the circumstances also reflecting Martin's mood. Due to the video being in slow motion, Chris Martin had to sing the song at double speed so that the audio and visual content would be in sync, a common yet difficult practice of music videos. A wonderful video to reflect a wonderful song.




Another example of the format being incorporated in to a music video is the visual for 'Wannabe' by The Spice Girls. It is certainly more chaotic than the Coldplay song I mentioned above, depicting the five different characters of each girl in an abnormal situation, trying to catch the 'madness of the Spice Girls'. The video was a first for director Jhoan Camitz, with his only other experience being TV commercials for companies such as Diesel and Nike. His concept for the video was the girls taking over the building, and running a riot— reflecting the same thing they did when they were looking for a manager and a record company. Because the video needed to be taken in one shot, the group rehearsed the routine several times through the night, while a steadycam operator followed them. The video won Best Dance Video at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, and Best Video at the 1997 Comet Media Awards. It was also nominated for Best British Video at the 1997 BRIT Awards,and was ranked at number 41 in the Top 100 Pop Videos of all time by Channel 4.




An example of the style being used in a different genre, Hip Hop, can be found here. This is an interesting, due to Hip-Hop being conventionally associated with a bravado type video, not the minimalism that a one shot wonder brings.

Influential Music Video's From The 1980's

A-Ha – 'Take On Me'

This 1985 classic propelled this Norwegian trio to international stardom, as well as earning them an MTV Music Video Award for best video. Appreciated due to it's experimental aspect, it is described as 'one of the most successfully executed concept videos of the early MTV era' and uses intertextuality with the ending based on the 1980 film Altered State. Directed by Steve Barron, it is regularly recognised in critic's top 100, due to its collision between fantasy and reality, a trait directors of today continuously try to reproduce.




Queen and David Bowie – Under Pressure

This paramount hit from 1981, pitched two of the greatest artist of the decade together, providing a classic song and classic video to match. Interestingly, the video does not feature Mercury, Bowie or any other members of Queen, relying purely on silent film and documentary footage. Although being a simple and cheap concept, I am fascinated by the portrayal of the contrasting perceptions of 'Pressure' throughout the visual. From collapsing building's to an economic crisis, the video acts as a metaphor to society, all the while accompanied by one of Freddie Mercury's finest hours.

Goodwin's Theory

Close up’s
Intertextuality
Genre characteristics
Voyeurism
Relationship between Music and visuals
Relationship between Lyrics and visuals

Director Study - Jake Nava

Jake Nava grew up in Hackney, London, and went to the University of Westminster, before moving to America to further his career. After moving to America, he signed to a film production company called FM Rocks.

He started making music videos when he left film school, making visuals for UK artists such as Beverley Knight, Atomic Kitten and The Spice Girls. It wasn't long before he was noticed across the Atlantic in the US, with one particular artist propelling his career to the next level. That artist was the worldwide phenomenon, Beyonce, who soon asked Nava to direct her début solo release, 'Crazy in Love'. The video was a surrounding success, aiding the song to a number one position both in the UK and the US. Beyonce herself describes the video as 'celebrating the evolution of a woman. It is about a girl who is at the point of a relationship. She realises that she is in love, she is doing stuff she would not normally do but she does not care. It does not matter she is just crazy in love'.



After the success of that video, he was in high demand by many top artists, such as Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears, Enrique Iglesias and Usher. He has since become a main and prominent fixture on the US music scene, gaining a successful reputation amongst the world's top artists. He has created award winning videos, as well as working with a diverse range of artists, from the genre of pop (Mariah Carey, Britney Spears) to rock legends (The Rolling Stones). The Rolling Stones video was actually based on the look and feel created in the hugely appreciated 2002 film 'City Of God', with Nava presenting his Latin roots, in the form of a music video.







Nava is credited for having the natural talent and ability of capturing individual talent and beauty for each of his subjects he works on. He works very closely with artists, who sometimes ask for my narrative or performance within the visual, and in such cases, Nava goes back to planning in order to suit both his and the artist's needs. His style continuously changes depending on the artist, but he maintains that he always gives the artist their own unique identity, not merely copying another successful format from a previous artist he has worked with. He describes his ever-changing style is due to the 'visual being dictated by the genre of the music, and the vibe he feels will make the artist performing the song, look their best'.

The contrast between narrative and performance in Nava's videos is exemplified perfectly in two consecutive Beyonce video's from 2008. The first 'If I Were A Boy' is a perfectly constructed narrative piece, shot in black and white, telling the story of the song itself. It portrays a narrative about an ordinary day for a couple (played by NFL player Eddie Goines as the male character and Beyonce as the female one) in a role reversal that is hinted at by the lyrics. Beyonce said that the video is 'both compelling and reflective of the independent woman stance that she has exhibited throughout most of her career', highlighting Nava's fondness on creating a personal image for each performer.



The second video was that for 'Single Ladies', shot immediately after 'If I Were A Boy' and displayed to show the contrast between Beyonce and her alter ego, Sasha Fierce, the main theme for her album. Again shot in black and white, the video took 12 hours to make and was a simple concept consisting of Beyonce and 2 other dancers performing a dance routine to the track. The choreography used inspiration from a 1969 Bob Fosse routine entitled "Mexican Breakfast. Knowles said that she wanted to keep the video simple. She explained that it was shot without different camera shots and cuts, without alterations to hairstyles, costumes, sets or lighting. She focused only on the performance. Nava said that on the day the video was shot, the song was divided into three parts. He deliberately used lengthy shots so that viewers "would connect with the human endeavour of Beyoncé's awe-inspiring dance". He stated that all the changes in looks and lighting were executed on-camera because he wanted to keep the feel "very organic and un-gimmicky". Regarding the "Single Ladies" video, Knowles said, "Out of all my videos, it was the least expensive and took the least amount of time. And it ended up being the most iconic. I just wanted to keep this one really minimal. But once we got on the set, it was like, wait a minute. This is something special."



The video garnered nine nominations for the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, and it won three: Video of the Year, Best Choreography, and Best Editing. It won numerous Best Video awards at the MTV Europe Music Awards, at the MOBO Awards, and at the BET Awards. The video received a nomination for "Outstanding Music Video" at the 2009 NAACP Image Awards, and it was ranked at number 4 on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2008 countdown,and at number 3 on VH1's Top 40 Videos of 2009. It has gone on to be recognised as one of the most iconic videos of all time, and certainly this decade, so maybe Kanye was right. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanyegate#Kanye_West_controversy_and_debated_incidents)
















Overall, I admire Jake Nava due to his diverse range of ideas and creativity. He has worked with many different artists and gives them each their own personal identity with each visual, a trait which is admired by the fans, critics and artists themselves.