Expectations of a Bruno Mars music video

Genre
Bruno Mars songs generally fit into the pop/r'n'b genre. Some aspects which are expected in a pop video include lip synching, musical instruments, expensive/ glamerous setting or mise en scene, narrative storyline and obvious visuals.
Expectations of a r'n'b music video include scantily clad, attractive women and luxurious setting/mise en scene.

Previous Videos
Bruno Mars previous videos have been typical of the pop/r'n'b genre. Both 'Billionaire' and 'Just The Way You Are' include some lip synching which is typical of the pop genre. Also in both videos Bruno Mars is playing instruments which is another stereotypical aspect of a pop video. In 'Just The Way You Are' there is an attractive woman who is wearing quite short shorts which conveys how r'n'b videos feature pretty women who are scantily clad.

Fan based expectations
When I surveyed Bruno Mars fans on what they expect to see in a Bruno Mars video I found they expected the following:
- a "fit" girl
- Bruno Mars in his trilby hat
- Bruno Mars playing his guitar.

Bruno Mars - A detailed artist research

Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), better known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an American singer-songwriter and music producer. He is known for lending his vocals and co-writing the hooks for the songs "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B, and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy, as well as his own international number-one single "Just the Way You Are". He also co-wrote the international hits "Right Round" by Flo Rida featuring Kesha, "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan, and "Fuck You!" by Cee Lo Green. On October 4, 2010, he released his debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans.

Peter Hernandez was born and raised in the Waikiki neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii by parents Pete and Bernadette "Bernie" Hernandez, of Puerto Rican and Filipino descent.At the age of two he was nicknamed 'Bruno' by his father, due to him being a chubby baby and there being a famous chubby wrestler at the time called Bruno Sammartino.Hernandez was one of six children and came from a musical family giving him a diverse mix of reggae, rock, hip hop, and R&B.From a young age, he was impersonating and performing songs by artists such as Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, The Isley Brothers, and The Temptations.In 1990, Hernandez was featured in MidWeek as "Little Elvis", going on to have a cameo in the film Honeymoon in Vegas in 1992."I watch the best. I'm a big fan of Elvis. I'm a big fan of 1950s Elvis when he would go on stage and scare people because he was a force and girls would go nuts! You can say the same thing for Prince or The Police. It's just guys who know that people are here to see a show, so I watch those guys and I love studying them because I'm a fan," he stated.In 2010 he said, "Growing up in Hawaii made me the man I am. I used to do a lot of shows in Hawaii with my father's band. Everybody in my family sings, everyone plays instruments. My uncle's an incredible guitar player, my dad's an incredible percussionist, my brother's a great drummer, he actually plays in our band. I've just been surrounded by it." He attended President Theodore Roosevelt High School, graduating in 2003 at the age of seventeen, and shortly after moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a musical career.

Before becoming a successful solo artist, Hernandez was an acknowledged music producer, writing songs for Alexandra Burke, Travie McCoy, Adam Levine, Brandy, and Sean Kingston, as well as Flo Rida's international hit "Right Round".He also co-wrote the Sugababes' hit song "Get Sexy" and provided backing vocals on their album Sweet 7.His first musical appearance as a singer was in Far East Movement's second studio album Animal, featured on the track "3D".He reached prominence as a solo artist after being featured on and co-writing B.o.B's "Nothin' on You" and Travie McCoy's "Billionaire"; both songs peaked within the top ten of many charts worldwide. He said of them, "I think those songs weren't meant to be full-sung songs. If I'd sung all of "Nothin' on You", it might've sounded like some '90s R&B." Following this success, Mars released his debut extended play, titled It's Better If You Don't Understand, on May 11, 2010.The EP peaked at the ninety-ninth position on the Billboard 200 and produced one single: "The Other Side", featuring rappers Cee Lo Green and B.o.B.Mars collaborated with Cee Lo Green once more in August 2010 by co-writing his single "F*ck You!". He performed a medley of "Nothin' on You" and "Airplanes" with B.o.B and Hayley Williams at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.
Mars' debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, was released digitally on October 4, and saw its physical release on October 5, 2010.The lead single, "Just the Way You Are", was released on July 19, 2010,and has reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100.The music video was released on September 8, 2010.Two songs from the album, "Liquor Store Blues" featuring Damian Marley and "Grenade" were released to the iTunes Store as promotional singles.He will open for Maroon 5 on the fall leg of the Hands All Over Tour starting October 6, 2010. Mars will also co-headline with Travie McCoy on a European tour starting October 18, 2010.

Although Mars has been referenced as "soft" because of his light falsetto voice, his co-producer says, "What people don't know is there's a darker underbelly to Bruno Mars." Mars himself says, "I blame that on me singing to girls back in high school." Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called him "one of the most versatile and accessible singers in pop, with a light, soul-influenced voice that’s an easy fit in a range of styles, a universal donor."Mars cites Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Prince, and Tupac Shakur as his influences.


Discography

Discography Singles
Title Label Release
Nothin' On You (B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars) Atlantic 29.03.2010
Billionaire (Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars) Warner 24.05.2010
Just The Way You Are Elektra 20.09.2010

Discography Albums - Studio
Title Label Release
Doo-Wops & Hooligans Elektra 15.10.2010

Final Decisions

Today I made the decision to work on my own for my advanced portfolio. I decided to work on my own because it meant I could choose what song I wanted and it also gives me the chance to achieve my best. The song I have chosen to make my video for is Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are.

Textual Analysis Of A Music Video

B.O.B.. featuring Bruno Mars - Nothin' On You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTDv_szmL0

Genre Characteristics
The genre for this song is r'n'b/hiphop. When associating videos with the hip hop/ r'n'b music genre, in particular videos from a male r'n'b/hip hop singer, I expect one characteristic to be pretty women in the video. This video conforms to this characteristic as there are many pretty girls in the video. Another characteristic I would expect to see in a hiphop/ r'n'b video would be a certain way of dressing, i.e trainers, hooded jackets and chunky jewellerey. This characteristic is shown in this video when the artist B.O.B is walking down the street in a hooded jacket, trainers and chunky jewellery.

What is the relationship between music and visuals?
The video corresponds with the lyrics quite a lot. At the beginning of the video the lyrics are "beautiful girls all over the world". During these lyrics the video shows a wide variety of girls, all who look different, which could represent they come from different places in the world. Another moment when the lyrics corresponds with the video can be seen when the words "I've been to London, I've been to Paris" are sung. Whilst these lyrics are sung images of the Eiffel tower and Big Ben appear in the background which is a clear link to the lyrics.

Are the close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?

During the video, there are close-ups of the artists B.O.B and Bruno Mars. The one especially effective close up of these artists can be seen at the beginning when the song first begins. There is a close up of Bruno Mars singing "they got nothing on you" and then a close up of B.O.B singing "nothing, nothing". This close up at the beginning is effective as it pulls the audience in straight away as it is almost as if the artists are singing directly to you.

Is there any reference to the notion of looking?
As I mentioned above, there is a reference to the notion of looking because the close up shows the artists to be looking straight into the camera which feels almost like they are looking directly at the audience.

My Three Possible Song Choices

Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are -(Doo Wops and Hooligans)
This song is one of my three choices. I chose this song because I felt I could make a good story based video to go along with the lyrics, as the meaning behind the song is quite simple.

Daniel Merriweather - Red - (Love and War)
This song is one of my choices because I love the song. I thought choosing a song I love would be a good idea as I will have to listen to the song over and over again once I begin filming. I also chose this song because it is a much more serious song than my first choice and I thought having a diverse range of choices would be a good idea.

Enrique Iglesias feat. Nicole Scherzinger - Heartbeat - (Euphoria)
This song is one my choices because I like the song and also the video is quite basic so I won't be competing against an iconic video if I choose to make a video for this song.

The Gadget Show

Today we watched an episode from channel five's 'The Gadget Show' which was based on the production of music videos. The presenters Suzi and Jason were set the task of making a music video. Suzi had to make a video for the band Fightstar whilst Jason had to make a video for Har Mar Superstar. Suzi had an unlimited budget whereas Jason had to make his music video with a small budget. They were told that a music video was generally either a performance based video, a story based video or a gimmick based video. Jason opted to make a story based video whilst Suzi chose to make a performance based video.
As Suzi had an unlimited budget she chose to use all of the latest and most advanced technology to shoot her video. Whilst there is no way we will have such technology to film our own music videos it was nice to see how and what equipment the professionals use when making music videos.
Jason, on the other hand, used 'off the shelf' equipment i.e. more affordable and less advanced. Some of the equipment he used is actually some of the equipment we are going to use when it comes to filming our own video so we got the chance to see what we could do with the equipment we have.
Overall then, this episode of 'The Gadget Show' taught us the three main types of music videos there is, the equipment you can use if you have an unlimited budget and the equipment you can use if you're strapped for cash.

My Musical Taste

As I like a diverse range of music it is quite hard to narrow it down to certain genres that I like. Therefore I have chosen just to share some of my favourite songs. Generally though I like songs which I can have a good ol' sing along too.

1) The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition


2) Daniel Merriweather - Red


3)Snow Patrol - Crack The Shutters


4)Abba - Dancing Queen


5) Michael Buble - Lost


6) Pulp - Disco 2000


7) Freda Payne - Band Of Gold


8) Amy Winehouse - Me and Mr Jones


9) George Michael - Careless Whisper



10)Darlene Love - All Alone On Christmas