2. Purposes of a music video I think its all about promotion, a music video can be a really clever promotional tool on loads of levels. If a band or artist are quite new and unknown a really good or really controversial music video can help to propel them into fame, for example OK Go were relatively unknown in the UK until the third single from their second album was released with a video of the band performing on treadmills. On the other hand if it’s a band or artist who is already really well known a clever music video can introduce them to a whole new audience, for example when Elton John released the single I Want Love in 2001 he created controversy and interest around the single by asking Robert Downey Jr.to perform in the video. At the time Downey Jr. was serving a prison sentence for drug offenses and had to get special permission. Not only did the controversy help publicise the song but also it introduced Elton John to a new generation of audience. I think this shows that on so many levels music video’s are about promoting, advertising and marketing the band or artist to the public. It also creates another avenue for the music industry to make money as they can charge channels such as MTV and companies such as iTunes for the videos.

3. ‘Doo Wop That Thing’ by Lauryn Hill

4. ‘Doo Wop That Thing’ by Lauryn HillSummary The video presents the singer performing the song in different era’s – once in the mid-1960s and the other in the late-1990s using split screen techniques. It is set and filmed in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York. The video shows Lauryn Hill performing the song at what are known in America as ‘block parties’. Traditionally ‘block parties’ are held by the community for the community and in Hill’s video the split screen is used to show both happening at the same time but in different era’s. There are no particular ‘characters’ in it other than Lauryn Hill herself but there are lots of extra’s in there who represent the two communities.

5. Lauryn Hill Lauryn Hill is an American artist who has been in the public eye since she was young either as a musician or actress. She began her career as an actress and appeared in American TV shows a films such as Sister Act 2 while she was still in high school. She then became part of The Fugees, a hip-hop group made up of friends she met at high school. The band enjoyed large successes in the early 1990s before parting ways to try solo careers. It was during this time that Hill began to put together her first solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill which was released in 1998 to great commercial success and now considered a modern classic. The album also enjoyed much critical success in the industry and Hill broke records at the 1999 Grammy’s for this album by being the first woman ever to be nominated in 10 categories in one year and the first woman to win 5 times in one night. After all her successes Hill became disillusioned with the pressures fame brought her and in 2000 she dropped out of the public eye all together to focus on other projects and raising her six children with her partner Rohan Marley (son of Bob Marley). Although she has released another album and reformed with The Fugees since then she still avoids publicity to this day.

6. BigTV! BigTV! is the working name for film directors Andy Delaney and Monty Whitebloom, they are also known for their music videos. The duo are employed by DNA Inc, who are a well known and respected music video and commercials production company. Other videos the pair have directed are; “Crazy” by Seal, “2 become 1” and “Mama” by The Spice Girls, “Never Ever” by All Saints, “As” by George Michael and Mary J Blige.

7. Video Analysis In terms of representation I don’t think there is too much to analyse with this video, Lauryn Hill is ‘herself’ and the other people in the video are playing normal people enjoying their block party. I do however think some analysis should be done when it comes to the ideas behind the theme of the video. The theme seems to me to be comparing or contrasting the past and present, hence the split screens portraying two events from different time periods. I also think this neatly fits with the musical styling of the song since it has quite a retro sound to it with the female harmonies. It’s almost as if the directors are highlighting the musical influences of the 1960s in the song by playing it out visually on the screen. I also think there might be a kind of moral to the tale as it were by getting the audience to think about society and how its morals have changed when it comes to women, men, relationships, families and children across the decades depicted in the video. This also allows the directors to link the visual with the lyrics of the song in which Hill talks about how men and women treat each other and their relationships.