10 C MUSIC 02

For Module 02 Music, we study a pair of music videos: 

Wheatus Teenage Dirtbag

Avril Lavigne Sk8ter Boi

We look at the media language, media representations and media audiences of these two music videos in class today. In the exam, we will answer a question comparing aspects of them (see below).
To prepare for the exam, today we look at the media language of music videos, such as their codes and conventions:

1. Performance - the singer / band are seen to be playing, to provide authenticity, so that followers believe in the talent and can see their star. Record labels sign stars and promote them  to ensure sales.
2. The visuals (what the star and other characters are seen doing) illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics (the 'story in the words'). Illustration = the visuals play out the story more or less literally; amplify = the words in the lyrics are only the starting point and the story develops in other directions; contradiction / disjuncture = the visuals do not interpret the words of the lyrics and may even show something contradictory.
3. The visuals are usually cut to the beat of the music
4. Refrain - repeated chorus, sometimes with variations

PREP Get to know the two music videos by re-watching them, finding out about the performers and looking up the contexts in which they were produced.

The sample question below is worth 4 marks and you would write about a page.