Semiotics of music videos
Semiotics of music videos is the observation of
Overview
There are early critics of the importance of analyzing music videos as a semiotic system.
Invisible editing
Many semiotic analysts have examined music videos to decode messages that are being sent to viewers.
Invisible editing (a semiotic term) refers to what film editors use to almost decode a song's message for the audience through narrative actions. Daniel Chandler's example from famous film editor Ralph Rosenblum describes this progression: "a man awakens suddenly in the middle of the night, bolts up in bed, stares ahead intensely, and twitches his nose. Then the film directs towards a room where two people are desperately fighting a billowing blaze"[4] (Chandler, pp. 166, 2007). Because of the actions of the actors, the audience is aware of the next scene before it is shown.
Other examples of invisible editing in music videos are in a more formal narrative style, consisting of a plot or storyline of events and characters.[10] Music videos-making that use a narrative-style script is considered as the more formal approach because the editing involved adds emphasis to the song's chorus, giving it a deeply-ingrained musical archetype. Michael Jackson's Thriller music video is one such work developed from a narrative script. However, Thriller's storyline is also seen as one that exceeds the eponymous song itself; that is, the context of the visual narrative semantically overpowers the meaning of the song.[7]
In contrast, music videos that aren't formally organized may have no segmentation markings that flow with the lyrics and contain abstract images. The music video for Peter Gabriel's song "Sledgehammer" is an example of a formally unorganized music video.
Generally music videos can be said to contain visuals that either represent the potential
Intertextuality
Intratextuality
Intratextuality is a term that is derived from intertextuality, but is considered combining secondary references for marketing and promotional purposes. This type of technique is also called anchorage, found by Roland Barthes:[12] anchoring text to a context that changes the intentional meaning. An example of this would be, the music video, Right Now, by Van Halen. The lyrics of the song Right Now suggest an entirely different meaning than the social empowering messages shown through the music video.
Bricolage
Bricolage is also an example of using many different texts within a context for promotional, marketing, or popularity value.[13] Lady Gaga uses cultural bricolage in her music videos by using fashion and previous memorable characteristics of former pop stars. Michael Jackson's Leave Me Alone is also a form of bricolage because it is a collage of already popular people and pop culture artifacts combined to portray his own message.
See also
- Film semiotics
- Musical semiotics
References
- ^ Tagg, P (1987). "Musicology and the Semiotics of Popular Music" (PDF). Semiotica. 66-1/3.
- ^ Matusitz, J. "Semiotics of Music: Analysis of Chinese Rock and pop in the Post-Cultural Revolution Era". Conference Papers. International Communication Association.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ Langer, S.K. (1942). Philosophy in a New Key: A Study of the Symbolism of Reason, Rite, and Art. Cambridge, Mass: Pelican book.
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- ^ Eisenstein, Sergi (1943). The Film Sense. London: Farber.
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- ^ Chattah, J.R. "Semitoics, Pragmatics and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis". (Doctoral Dissertation). Electronic Theses, Florida State University. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ^ Peeters, H (2004). "The Semiotics of Music Videos: It Must be Written in the Stars". Image & Narrative. 8 (1760–678X).
- ^ ISBN 978-0-231-11798-2.
- ISBN 978-0-203-89429-3.
- ISBN 978-0-374-52136-3.
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