Analysis - Peter Fraser

In the second half of today's lesson, we split into groups each read an article on either Peter Fraser and Steve Archer. We then summarised the articles.

Peter Fraser - Codes and Conventions
Camerawork
Fraser said that when music videos are made, close ups and extreme close ups are good to use as they focus and create a good image.
He also mentioned that lighting is important and it is best to have a good amount of light on the artist or band themselves otherwise they are camouflaged in with other extras and it doesn't bring the attention to them.
Fraser's last point was that camera work is really important when it comes to making a music video and says that the camera shots and angles make the video.

Editing
Edit's have to match the actions of the artist. For example, if the song is slightly on the slower side, the editing has to be slow and if the song is faster or builds up then the editing has to be faster otherwise nothing matches. Editing has to change with the artist or band and the actions that they do.

Star Image
Fraser said that in order to be in a music video, you have to look the part. Without the 'looks', some artists or bands struggle, as now, a lot of the music industry is based around how people look.
He says that looks make the videos look better and makes people want to watch the videos which means that it is more likely to spread and gain more views.

Voyeurism 
Voyeurism is about the level of performance that is given in videos. Performance in music videos make them interesting to a certain group of people. For example, Beyonce has a certain target audience within her 'performance' area. Boyonce put on a performance mostly aimed at men, whereas others put on a performance for women. Fraser said that performance in a video makes everything.

Intertextuality 
Fraser said that Intertextuality is about having references from other media areas such as films. Sometimes, in music videos there are certain moves or animation that has come from somewhere else, this is intertexuality. The reason as to why this sometimes happens is because it is aimed at a certain audience and other media references can sometimes help to build an audience.

Narrative and Performance 
Fraser said that Narrative is about a story. Having a video that tells a 'story' can make it interesting, however, he does not specifically mean tell a story the whole way through the video, in Fraser's context, he means, have something that tells a story without being boring.
He also says that performance is the most important thing when it comes to making a music video as without performance, the video can be very boring and people won't want to watch it.
Stage performance is something that Fraser mentions when it comes to standing in front of a camera and creating a music video.
Shot value is also important in the narrative and performance area as that alone, can make a performance. Narrative and Performance is all about the repeatability factor.