Analysing a classical music video - Katherine Jenkins "Angel"

To analyse Katherine Jenkins "Angel" music video, I am going to use Andrew Goodwins's narrative conventions which are:
- There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (with the visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics)
- There is a relationship between the music ans the visuals (again with visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics)
- Particular music genres may have their own music video style and iconography (such as live performance in heavy Rock)
- There is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close ups of the main artist/ vocalist.
- The artist may develop their own iconography (in and out of their videos, over time which becomes part of their star image)
- There is likely to be reference to voyuerism ( particularly in the treatement of woman, but also in the terms of "looking" e.g screens within screens, cameras etc)
- There are likely to be intertextual references (either to other music videos, films or Television texts.

I will now begin my analysis using the conventions above. At the beginning Katherine is sitting on a white chair and waiting which links to:
" Spend all your time waiting for that second chance and pray that will make it ok".
Video is mainly relaxed, based in only two, maybe three locations. This reassures the audience that no unusual conventions of other genres are going to occur (for example, rock music would show dark lighting, louder music etc).
The locations always consist with Katherine included, keeping us focused on Katherine and not turning/ switching the music off.

The music is very calm and relaxing (typical of the classical genre). The visuals are soft and gentle, set in black and white and Mise en Scene reveals Katherine in a white dress, linking to the song title of "Angel" through purity. Although there isn't a strict link for the visuals and the music, both obtain the same pace and mood.

The classical genre is generally always soft music, with attractive people acting as as the vocalists. The genre always stays true to it's conventions, so doesn't contain any other sections of alternative genres (e.g rock music = loud music, low key lighting etc). This is because we wouldn't be reassured or recognise the music genre and therefore not purchase the product. As a Music Company, they want genres to be very clear so that they do not loose profit. The genre is generally calm with a pleasant content which most of the target audience can relate to, therefore the audience is satisfied.

During the whole of the video, there are a number of close ups and medium shots of Katherine. This is to demonstrate her emotion and her body language, so we as an audience can get a close up of the star! Almost capturing a section of her personal life out of the music bussiness. These keep the audience focussing and therefore continue watching the video.  She is represented as "pure" throughout with visuals such as delicate Mise En Scene (furniture to complement her white dress). We also see a number of high angle shots to make Katherine appear quite innocent and captivationg.

Over the years of her carreer, Katherine's iconography has been created as a gentle angelic young woman. This is developed through her attractive flawless appearance, respectable clothing and of course all of her classical music. When in the public eye, she is well behaved for example, doesn't get drunk or act inexusably.

In the music video, the only reference to voyerism would be the close ups of Katherine, appearing innocent. These could be seen as "eye candy" to the male audience, which could lower Katherine's reputation. Other than this, there are no other references.

Throughout the video, there are no refereces of Intertextuality, as the video is focussed on the "Angel" track rather than promoting other texts.
Now that I have analysed the album cover using Andrew Goodwin's conventions, I will now use Media Language conventions to complete my case study of a classical music video.
Editing
The editing is of a average pace.





Cinematography
Throughout the music video lots of close up shots are taken. This is to keep our attention focussed on Katherine and also shows a "male gaze". The "male gaze" is for the gents of the audience, hense the range of close ups to keep the male audience attracted to watching as Katherine is an attractive woman.

Colour

The main colours used in the music video are blacks and greys. There is no bright and vibrant colours present as the video is simple and classic with just the blacks, greys and the white colours. This is a general conventio of the classic genre as the classic genre wants to maintain a simple look which we know we will be able to associate with the classic genre.

Lighting
The lighting combined with the colour gradience is high key. It allows detail of the mise en scene and Katherine's body language to be recognised





Mise en Scene







Sound

This research will help us progress on as a group as we now know the main conventions of the classical genre. This will help us decide whether the genre's conventions are suitable for what we want to create as our music video. Our main conclusions are that although this helped us determine the conventions of the genre, we will not be using this genre as a basis to work from in our music video. We will alternatively use the indie genre as we think this is the most revelant genre to our target audience. (Teenagers).