Sound and Vision by Straw, Goodwin et al 1993

Music videos exemplify the era of post-structuralism; Goodwin states that writings and research into music videos prove 'disciplines' to be a fluid concept and in the same way theories meet this hypothesis. For example, music videos do not fit into any academic subject. Tv studies, film theory, popular music studies or even postmodernism debates do not cover music video study. Our situation does not fit this theory because, as media students, we are studying the theory and production of music videos within the discipline of media studies. Although, we are not studying music specifically, the idea and teaching of mood, mise-en-scene and character development are all influenced by the genre and tone of the music.

As media students (and becuase media studies is a horizontal discourse), we use our experiences and knowledge gained from other studies in our music video. For example, Will and dan have studied art and design and, as they have founded the inital idea of our video, they have incorporated many of their skills learnt from these subjects into the story board. The ergonomics and movement of the robot are exmplary of their knowldge of design, and their experience of line, perspective, colour, composition and shape from art studies have all been an influence in this idea.

Helen and Kirsty study Enlgish and so have had a key role to play in the creation of the characters. Although all characters are inanimate objects, they each have a personality and so Helen and Kirsty have had ideas involving character development and ways in which these characteristics can be shown using few movements and motions. This is a similar technique to that used in literature, each character must be understood using only a few words and shown through their choices and actions.

As well as jazz, the telephone, Tv and more recently the internet, music videos were the latest in a list of important examples of how the media is developing. There are two advances, which have collided; the development of technology which allows audiences to produce their own videos and the ways in which people access music videos. These developments have made drastic changes to the way students such as ourselves can produce videos. The quality and ease of use the ever-developing software has allowed us to create industry-standard films and has opened the door to many techniques and effects that would have been inaccessible not that long ago. This also means we can develop our creativity as there are less restrictions due to software and budget. These developments have meant we can use technologies such as green and blue screen and stop motion animation easily.

Audience-produced videos are an easy way for producers to get their video out there in many different formats, therefore they are free advertising for the band and so the label behind them. On the other hand, the producers have very little control over these and so audiences can have a negative effect by corrupting videos and making ones which show the band in a poor light. No longer is MTV the only place where audiences access music videos; the development of the internet and mobile technology means music videos are becoming more widely viewed by a more varied audience. This means the producers can access and target their audiences in a more defined mannor, and yet can attract many different people who may not have heard of/not previously interested in the music/band/producer before. However, it also means the corruptive videos are easy to access. Overall, this development appears to be positive for the producers and bands/artists, eventually making them more money than if these developments had not taken place. Because of this ease of access, it is easier for us to actually put our video into the real world, it is free and very simple to upload it onto a site such as YouTube making our video more successful in advertising the band.

Some artists are worried that vanity of the video takes over the importance/sound of the music, meaning that good songs may not be as well recognised as a poor song with a well produced video. X Factor is a prime example of this, although videos are not part of the competition, many of the acts, who are more talented vocally than others, are knocked out of the running early on when poorer vocals are kept in and dance routines, mise-en-scene and lighting compensate and create a popular image for less talented acts. Our music video adheres to this theory as there are no people featured; it revolves around a single robot finding his feet in a new setting. We have replicated the band using further robots, this means the band will be known for the un-stereotypical video and the quality of the animation rather than the look of the band members and also the music becomes less prominent in the video; the action of the robots undermines this.

Music videos limit the audience's imaginationa and pin the lyrics down to a single meaning, whereas without the video, more diverse interpretations could be accessed by more types of audiences. By using a fantasy world and inanimate objects as characters, our film triggers the imagination and hacks into the childhood mind state in which their toys come to life (Toy Story being a prime example). This can appeal to everyone and create reminiscing thoughts. However, by using this strong idea it means the audience will struggle to create their own interpretation after watching the video.