PhD. José-Patricio PÉREZ-RUFÍ

University of Málaga. Spain. patricioperez@uma.es

Low-budget music video editing and production: a case study of “Lost Ones” (Joan Thiele) by Giada Bossi

Producción y edición del vídeo de bajo presupuesto: estudio de caso de "Lost Ones" (Joan Thiele) de Giada Bossi

Dates | Received: 27/04/2017 - Reviewed: 05/06/2017 - In press: 07/05/2018 - Published: 01/07/2018

Abstract

Resumen

This paper carries out a production and content analysis of a current music video using “Lost Ones” as a case study. “Lost Ones,” is performed by Joan Thiele, directed by Giada Bossi and produced by Universal Music Italy and Red Bull Music. The main objective will be to connect the influence of music video productions initial constraints with the options applied in direction and editing (such as the budget, the need for commercial communication and the creation of the singer’s branding). We will ascertain whether the accelerated pace of the shot change and the use of post-production filters can make the use of a low-quality image ideal as it creates a stylistic device that ages the image, thus giving it a “retro” look, which is the video creators’ communication intentions. Therefore, video programming on a TDT broadcast quality channel such as VH1 Italy is neither conditioned by the production nor the fact that the video is from an important record label.

Este artículo realiza un análisis de la producción y un análisis de contenido de un videoclip de actualidad, como estudio de caso de "Lost Ones", interpretado por Joan Thiele y dirigido por Giada Bossi con producción de Universal Music Italia y Red Bull Music. El objetivo principal será relacionar la influencia de los condicionantes iniciales de la producción del vídeo musical (en lo relativo a presupuesto y a la necesidad de comunicación comercial y creación de identidad de marca de la cantante) con las opciones aplicadas en la realización y la edición de la pieza. Comprobaremos que el ritmo acelerado en el cambio de plano y la aplicación de filtros de post-producción consiguen hacer de las limitaciones de calidad de la imagen una virtud, por cuanto crean una voluntad de estilo al envejecer las imágenes, dotándolas de un carácter "retro" apropiado a las intenciones comunicativas de los creadores del vídeo. La programación del vídeo en un canal en TDT de calidad broadcast como VH1 Italia no viene condicionada, por tanto, tanto por el nivel financiero de la producción como por su origen desde una de las grandes discográficas.

Keywords

Palabras clave

Music Video; Audiovisual Post-production; Case Study; Textual Analysis; Found Footage; Record Industry

Videoclip; Post-producción audiovisual; Estudio de caso; Análisis textual; Found Footage; Industria discográfica

1. Introduction

This investigation aims to analyze the relationship between music video production and the choice of formal options as well as their creative results regarding direction and editing. This research is based on a case study of a specific video clip that can be used as a model. Thus, to clarify, the primary objective will be to deal with the constraints of a low budget music video (funding and the creation of an artist’s branding) and consequently the discursive results concerning language and formal construction. We will start by analyzing the production and contents of a music video case that we consider to be appropriate for the objectives of the study. We have substantial information about the production and could thus convert it into a model since it adequately resolves production problems.

We would also like to emphasize that we have an educational objective. The study of the production and formal construction of a piece with these characteristics allows us to obtain results and conclusions that encourage teachers and students of audiovisual creation to use this video clip as a well-solved practical audiovisual example, which satisfactorily overcomes the limitations of a low budget production. We have only analyzed one video clip, which is appropriate to our research aims, given that we consider that the analysis of a paradigmatic case conforms to our objectives. Similarly, Edmond (2012) investigated the online distribution of the format with OK Go's video clip. Moreover, this research has an exploratory nature due to its innovative objectives and the object of study.

Our investigation is based on the hypothesis that music video direction and editing techniques can satisfactorily overcome the limitations and constraints brought about by a low-budget, such as technical and staff restrictions. These obstacles can be overcome to the extent that the piece can be distributed on broadcast quality TV channels. We will conduct a case study of a paradigmatic sample. We have investigated the video clip “Lost Ones” directed by Giada Bossi, (Universal Music Italy, 2016) and performed by John Thiele. The video was frequently aired on the Italian TDT channel VH1, which is a national franchise of the specialized channels dedicated to programming video clips from the last four decades. The clips have a nostalgic or vintage look and belong to the group Viacom, which is also the owner of MTV.

The articulation of research with these characteristics, based on the analysis of a piece is, on the other hand, standard practice for content analysis of an audiovisual discourse, not only for cinematographic or fiction television referents (the most common cases) but also video clips. Thus, we have the model of a case study applied by Vernallis (2013) to the video directed by Hype Williams for Beyoncé and Lady Gaga “Video Phone,” which shows a new online distribution phase for music videos. Tarín Cañadas (2012) conducted a discursive and narrative analysis of “Knives Out” by Radiohead, which is directed by Michel Gondry. It is chosen as a model as it addresses the narrative of a long take. Roig and San Cornelio (2015) analyzed the collective production process for the project “Evolution of Get Lucky” by PV Nova. Martínez Carazo (2006, p. 189) maintains that case studies are, “a methodological strategy for scientific research- useful for generating results which enable the strengthening, growth, and development of existing theories or the emergence of new scientific paradigms"; provided that the method is applied to an adequate research design that is scientifically rigorous. Thus, we believe that using case studies is an established and valid methodology for reaching conclusions about the creation and construction of music videos.

We will divide the case study into two parts: on the one hand, we will carry out a production analysis, due to the importance that an extra-discursive issue has for this work, such as the budget and the production constraints. On the other hand, we will apply a textual analysis to the video clip, as it is an audiovisual format inclined to the application of discursive analysis methodology. According to Sedeño-Valdellós, Rodríguez-López, and Roger-Acuña (2016), "few studies deal with video clips from a textual analysis perspective, with the intention to formally characterize them." For this reason, we believe that this research can provide some results of interest to the discipline.

There were numerous studies about music videos in the 80s because the object of study was new at the time and had immediate relevance to cultural industries overall (Jones, 2005). The absence of notable innovation within the format of the 90s and the context of its production, distribution, and reception generated a disinterest for music videos. The emergence of new online video distribution platforms from 2004-2005, which included video clips, brought music videos to the forefront. The appearance of new platforms led to vast amounts of research that questioned the relevance of previous theories: Vernallis (2013), Beebe and Middleton (2007) or Austerlitz (2008) represented these new contributions. We would also like to highlight the works in Spain by Sedeño (2008), Selva (2014), Viñuela (2009) or Rodríguez-López (2016).

Defining video clips and categorizing them has become a complex task, especially from the moment in which the context of creation, production, and distribution changed from its original design, as such previous definitions to the use of the Internet as a means of creation and distribution, have become obsolete. Vernallis (2013) argues that music videos from YouTube have a different aesthetic to those that were first emitted on television, which can only be understood if YouTube is: "video clips are strange, and they are becoming even stranger” (Vernallis, 2013, p.181).

A provisional definition of music videos will depend on our perspective: thus, if we emphasize issues regarding their production, we must understand them as a cultural product created by the music industry, which has a commercial or promotional objective. From a discourse analysis perspective, it is a brief audiovisual format in which the images are subject to the soundtrack, which is a song. Therefore, there are many direction and editing possibilities, and it is by no means forced to follow the development of a narrative. Regarding audiovisual creation, it is an artistic audiovisual phenomenon associated with formal experimentation and an exploration of all the possibilities that the materials that compose it will permit. We accept the most general and formal definition by Tarín Cañadas (2012, p.154), who believes that music videos are an "audiovisual creation which constructs a story, through the interrelation of music and image, creating a unique work." Its main objective is to promote other cultural contents, in other words, the song. Rodríguez-López (2016, p. 15) provides another comprehensive definition; music videos are an “audiovisual and promotional product from the record label, which takes direct influences from cinematographic language, advertising, and artistic vanguards,” It is translated into the visual codes of a song using effective techniques intending to forge, "a singer's brand image."

If textual analysis applied to video clips has been scarce, the academic literature which addresses the study of its production is even rarer, as we have established based on our analysis of an example of a low budget production. This work is based on a video clip whose budget was 5,000 euros, which is very limited, and we consider it to be low, but it is not the lowest. Finding cheaper productions in the professional sphere is possible. According to David Bonilla, from Warner Music, “there is not always 6,000 euros to make a video” (Canal Plus, 2009). Edmond (2016, p. 311) highlights that in the first decade of the XXI century a record label could invest 75,000 dollars in video clip production for a consolidated artist as opposed to 3,000-5,000 dollars for a debut one. The latter conforms to the video that is the object of our study, which is far from the “days of 600,000 dollar videos” produced in the 80s and 90s.

The reduction in music video budgets is a consequence of the overwhelming crisis which has affected the music industry’s ability to generate profits from its activities but is also due to reduced production costs enabled by the digitalization of audiovisual recording and editing, as well as the independence of television distribution. It is this independence that liberates music video creators’ from having to adapt their production quality standards to the ones demanded by broadcast television, at the same time a language different from commerciality criteria can be developed, which has been requested by free-to-air or specialized television programming. Selva (2014, p. 241) maintains that some artists have stopped making videos because of the most significant difficulties for disseminating music videos on television, “many others have simply witnessed the reduction in budgets that their labels allocate for this task.” The crisis situation in the music industry has ensured different tendencies concerning video clip funding, "among them the greatest possible reduction in investment necessary for production (given the success of low-budget videos on YouTube because of their low-budget), or the importance of alternative ways of funding them, such as product placement" (Pérez Rufí et al, 2014, p. 90). Video clips that are mainly distributed on online platforms tend to be low-budget.

2. Methodology

Music videos are an audiovisual format with numerous formal options. The results are linked to the exploitation of techniques dependent on the creators’ frequent and marked creativity, in which the functionality of the image is not required, and the narrative is not an objective. The variety of options and the apparent absence of grammar applied to the image explains why its academic study is complicated as well as its frustrating attempts at categorization.

As aforementioned, we will focus our analysis on only one video clip that can be used as a representative model for low budget production, whose creative and formal options are conditioned by production issues (therefore, extra-cinematographic). The piece chosen is called "Lost Ones," it was directed by Giada Bossi and performed by Joan Thiele. We consider it to be a paradigmatic video in that it mixes different variables that do not contradict each other and encourage us to think that a creative and intelligent strategy was applied to not only achieve excellent commercial results but also to present a debut artist in the music industry and create a brand for the singer. Universal Music Italy produced the video (the Italian delegation of one of the three big multinationals in the sector) together with the drinks brand Red Bull. The video relied upon a meager budget and filming that tended to maximize saving to get favorable results for the artist’s image. This video clip was distributed both via online video platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo, as well as by the television channel TFT VH1 (Italy), consequently fulfilling the premise indicated in the hypothesis to obtain distribution on quality broadcast channels. The commerciality of Universal Music is suitable for the creation of an identity that is more associated with the indie industry and a priori its low budgets. The combination of these elements, as we have mentioned, do not contradict one another. Thus, resulting in a distinct video (in that it hides a productive structure within the commercial industry, which is more complicated than it seems) and it is also representative of the authors’ means to create something on an insufficient budget.

We have decided to focus on an example of the format that is defined by the relationship of production with the application of formal resources associated with the direction and editing of the video. We will apply a case study method to the production and textual analysis of the piece.

Audiovisual production analysis lacks consolidated methodological examples and has depended on particular applications to samples from very different categories. We will base the production analysis on the revision of promotional and informative material published about the performer, the theme, and the analyzed video clip, but especially on the information given to us for our work by the music video director, Giada Bossi, whom we interviewed. In this section, we will describe the content of the analyzed piece, even if we understand that this part belongs more to textual analysis rather than a production one. However, the production can only be explained by the design of the piece and the production companies’ and the creative team’s communicative needs.

We will carry out a textual analysis of the format, according to what Casetti and DiChio (1991) understand concerning film: we will break the pieces in the sample down, and we will recompose them to find out the construction principles and workings. Citing Rodríguez-Lópéz (2014, p. 279), music videos can be understood, “as an audiovisual text inclined to detailed analysis and as an act of visual communication," in a way that the content analysis focuses on, "the codification of observable properties in the text." Through the textual analysis, we intend to find out how the audiovisual piece is constructed, what its most common resources are and to what extent formal or creative decisions have been conditioned by extra-discursive issues related to the production and a limited budget.

In the second part of the analysis, we will first identify the most evident aspects related to the formal construction of the piece, then segment each of the shots to consider the formal aspects that they follow. Thus, we will consider the size of the frame in each shot, following the traditional European scale for shots: Big Long Shot (BLS); Long Shot (LS); Full Shot (FS); American Shot (AS); Medium Shot (MS); Close Up (CU) Big Close Up (BCU) (based on Millerson, 1991, pp. 114-117). We will take note, if we find any "still images” present or still or mobile images generated through graphic editing tools.

Following the distinction made by Casetti and Di Chio (1991, p. 97), we have observed whether there are diegetic or extradiegetic texts. Diegetic texts are those that belong to the basis of the story, in other words, those that have been shot as an integrated element within the staging. Non-diegetic texts (or extradiegetic) would be those “foreign to the narrated world, although forming part of the world that they narrate," in other words, texts that do not belong to the staging and are incorporated in the editing either electronically or digitally, using photographs.

Secondly, we will focus on the composition of the shots. According to standard photographic manuals and audiovisual direction (Villafañe, 2006; Millerson 1991, a correct provision of motifs regarding the limits of the frame would be that which by applying the golden mean to the rectangle of the screen, locates a central motif in one of the strong points, in other words, in the intersection between the lines that join the referents of “perfect” proportionality. This concept has been simplified and called "the rule of thirds," and it establishes the way in which the inside of the shot must be composed. We will observe whether this rule is applied to the shots that make up the music video that we are going to analyze.

The next point we will consider is the number of shots that make up the video and their duration to determine the average length, although we will leave the comment about the perception of the speed of the shot change for the editing analysis. Salt established the studies that relate the duration of the shot to other formal options of filmic discourse in 1974. He created the unit of measurement called ASL (Average Shot Length), which divides the length of the film into seconds per the number of shots (Salt, 2006, p. 389), this later became an example for the interpretation of the speed per change in a shot.

Other interesting works based on ASL are those by Cutting et al. (2011) or the editor Vashi Nedomansky (2013). Sedeño-Valdellós, Rodríguez-López, and Roger-Acuña (2016) use ASL as one of the variables in their video clip analysis methodology. It is a variable which they compare to its categorization (performative, narrative or mixed) and which lead to different conclusions regarding it, depending on the origin of the sample taken for analysis.

Although the analysis and interpretation of the represented images would come before a narrative study or the relationship between story and discourse, we must mention the content of the shots because they explain both production related issues as well as the direction and editing. In any case, we will explore the meaning of the content in each shot individually, as well as the sequence of signified and signifiers, and the global meaning of the piece.

In the case that the shot includes different frames, for example, a camera movement (traveling, zoom, digital movement), we have taken note of these changes to interpret their function in the discourse and the stylistic consequences of their use.

According to Chatman (1990, p.71), the length “deals with the relationship between the time that it takes to make a profound reading of the narrative and the time that events last in the story itself.” We will only mention its most discursive acceptance and the least narrative from this category for our analysis: the duration of the action represented regarding the length of the shot, to take note whether the shot is edited in slow motion, accelerated, or the take has variations in speed within the same shot.

In the final section of our textual analysis, we will study the editing and post-production of the video clip in two parts. Firstly, we will evaluate the perception of the speed created by the change in a shot, and we will try to identify a potential structure in the cadence of the rhythm by comparing the duration of each shot in the sequence. The shot length is a discursive element which like the type of frame or transition between shots, influences the creation of a rhythm in the discourse. Pérez Rufí (2009, p. 110) notes that the size of the frame will condition the psychological duration of the shot, in such a way that the widest shots will require a more deliberate visual exploration, requiring an identification of the motifs and sets, while the close shots could be explored more quickly. As a result, their duration on the screen could be shorter. When the change in the shot does not allow for a satisfactory exploration of each one, the impression would be faster.

In the second part, we will observe whether digital resources, which alter the content of the image, are applied. In other words, whether digital effects in the post-production or treatment of the image are employed, as well as filters that affect the quality of the image, the photography, format or original texture of the original film. As analysts, we will not always be aware of the post-production techniques applied, whereby we can only comment on the effects that are more evident.

3. Analysis

3.1 Production analysis

Firstly, we will carry out a production analysis, and later a content analysis in the second phase. The video clip that we have used for analysis is "Lost Ones" and is a version of the song with the same name. The North American singer, Lauryn Hill, featured it in the album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” (Ruffhouse Records, Columbia, 1998), written by Frederick Hibbert and Lauryn Hill, it was edited in 1998 as a single in The United States and Germany. The new version is performed by Joan Thiele, a 25-year-old Italian born Singer with Italian, Swiss and South American heritage. She debuted with her first single "Save Me" in March 2016. "Lost Ones" was produced by Fabrizio Ferraguzzo (the producer of famous Italian artists such as Giusy Ferreri, Annalisa or Alessandra Amoroso) for Universal Music Italy, it forms part of Joan Thiele’s first E.P. that was released on June 10, 2016.

The video clip was released on YouTube and Vimeo on October 5, 2016, and was frequently aired on the Italian franchise channel Viacom VH1 on TDT. The video was directed by Giada Bossi, who is a young Italian director based in Milan. She studied in Civica Scuola di Cinema di Milano and the SAE Institute Milano and specialized in music video direction (http://giadabossi.com). The rest of the production team was composed of the DOP Jacopo Farina, producer Aimone Bodini, stylist Giorgia Gervasio and editor Filippo Patelli, who shared the editing work with Bossi herself. The production was complemented with images taken by Manuel Coen with a Polaroid camera and shots by Thiele on a personal trip to Columbia.

The video clip was produced by Universal Music Italy and Red Bull Music, which is a department in Red Bull that sponsors events and music productions. The company promotes the Red Bull Tour Bus, which is a 60s style bus that can be converted into a stage. The bus toured Italy as part of the line-up in different festivals. The Redbull bus/stage took Joan Thiele and her group (Gli Etna) to Rome, Genova, Treviso, and Trieste between June 21 and September 30, 2016, where she performed in eight concerts. As the artist’s co-producer, Red Bull also took her to the Red Bull Recording Studios in New York, as well as to the SXSW Festival, as reported in the Italian edition of Rolling Stones (Ferrari, 2016). Both events were recorded and edited by Giada Bossi, who also created the video for the first single by Joan (“Save Me,” Universal Music Italy, 2016), which we will now examine.

The importance of Red Bull as a co-producer of the video clip is founded on the premise of the need to integrate the Red Bull brand or product placement within the discourse. According to Giada Bossi (2017), who was interviewed for this research, “it is not easy to insert a brand (in this case, the Red Bull can) in a discreet way in the video, and it was attempted in the subtlest way possible.” That would explain the creative decision to design the video clip in a way that included a series of images filmed differently, forming a diegesis in which the brand would be included, it was parallel and independent to the images that were shot in the studio.

The artist was the focal point in most shots as it was a performance-based clip, allowing her to describe herself in different situations. Her presence is paramount to the video; the different shots create a portrait of the artist based on different creative, professional, and personal facets. The video clip uses two types of images. Some of them were shot in the studio and edited in 16:9 format, in which the singer is the central motif together with other stage props or flora and fauna (a suitcase, sofa, some flowers, a chameleon, and a world globe). The shots were photographed and artistically directed meticulously. Shots filmed in a natural outdoors setting with a swimming pool that is surrounded by nature were also edited in 16:9. The other types of images were those that were edited in 4:3 format, which was apparently technically inferior and imitated home videos shot on a home video recorder (they included interferences and defects from VHS tapes, even though the images were shot with digital devices). In the images in 4:3 we can see Joan Thiele and Etna in concert performing the song onstage and having fun or dancing in other events and activities in the music festival, arriving at the hotel, traveling by bus, or contemplating the landscape from a mode of transport.

Besides representing Joan, the shots edited in 16:9 format capture motifs in a color that creates a nostalgic audiovisual, they contain vintage elements and "retro" taste and include an old suitcase, a world globe or Polaroid photographs. This nostalgic vision is prolonged in the images in 4:3 format by updating a resource within what can be called “retro-modern” this is achieved through magnetic registers of home video recorders from the 80s and 90s and the VHS look.

Both the images in 16:9 and 4:3 refer to the reason for the trip. The constant movement (movements which are not only represented by the characters' movement but also the internal movement within the frames), including views from the buses, cars or boats, besides others that directly allude to the nostalgic view of the trip, such as the world globe, the suitcase, or the world map showing South America. The video refers to the memory of the trip, shot in an apparently amateur way, thus showing the singer songwriter’s activity in the development of her profession. Giada Bossi, Universal and Red Bull production, shoot the artist on her journey to the New York Studios, emphasizing that the identity of this artist is credible and authentic, to distance her from other young performers’ studied product image. Joan Thiele thus debuts with the support from one of the biggest record labels in the music industry, and a brand image more reminiscent of independent artists who are weathered by experience.

Besides the need to include the Red Bull brand, Giada Bossi states that the video is based on a significant premise: the song is a cover of a song by Lauryn Hill. However, the notion that Joan was “interpreting” Lauryn Hill was avoided, thus granting Joan a personality and a different identity. The cover produced by Fabrizio Ferraguzzo distances itself from Hill’s register, which is primarily hip-hop. He makes it more similar to pop, mixing acoustics and guitars with other electronic elements and making the original rap interpretation more melodic.

Defining a unique identity marked by authenticity and credibility, even if it is based on the interpretation of a cover, led the creators of the video to design it as a mood board. That is a panel or wall of visual referents or images that define and inspire the idea of the artist and her brand. The images worked together to create a portrait of Joan. As a result, her professional routine as a singer was tracked, and legitimized by the live guitar performance. It is as if the video were dealing with a singer-songwriter. Additionally, it indirectly mentions her varied ethnic background and trips all over the world. Even though Joan is an Italian singer, her life experience has taken her to different corners of the world, beyond her family origins, all of which aims to be represented in the clip symbolically.

According to Giada Bossi, the budget for the complete creation (including all the pre-production phases, production, and post-production) was 5, 000 € (plus the VAT). This budget included staff contracts already mentioned in each production phase, camera hire, objectives, and lighting equipment as well as accommodation for technical and artistic staff on the trips made for filming. The shooting for the video was carried out with a Sony A7S II camera (a camera capable of shooting with a 4K resolution) with a vintage photographic lens from Contax, Yashica, Minolta, and Nikkor.

The pre-production phase lasted three weeks, during which time, besides completing the shooting plan, locations were scouted, and the team found self-propelled objects and other ones that form part of the scenery. The video was shot over three days. The shooting plan was the following:

-Day 1: The live performance and backstage shots of Joan Thiele and Etna as well as the group’s interaction in the event were filmed on September 3, 2016, in Treviso Home Festival. These shots were necessary for capturing the live performance, and for the Red Bull product placement. They were edited in a 4:3 format, using filters that “dirtied” the image, which we will comment on later.

-Day 2: the shots in Como were filmed on this day, such as the images that simulate a tropical jungle, the shots in the pool, inside the house and the van. These images are edited in 4:3, and the artist does not appear in some of them.

-Day 3: The studio shots were filmed on the third and final day of shooting using different colored neutral backgrounds and shots. Playing with the lighting creates movement in these shots (of lights and shadows) and static frames (regarding the lack of camera movement). In some cases, the movement is produced within the frame, through Joan’s constant activity; she is either dancing or making some gestures.

The shots that Joan Thiele filmed on a trip to Colombia are added to the other ones. Although there are few, they are integrated into the piece naturally imitating the effect known as found footage, which we will comment on in the content analysis.

The editing and post-production by Filippo Patelli and Bossi took a week and was carried out with Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2017 software (already commercialized in 2016). A VHS filter was applied in some shots through the plug-in of the same name, which is programmed and marketed by the software company Red Giant.

Regarding the budget, Giada Bossi maintains that a clip that costs 5, 000 € could be considered as low budget, although even smaller budget video clips are being made in Europe. The director states, in this sense that a determining factor when making a budget is the need for playback (and consequently lip synchronization with the song) or not. If playback is necessary, playback and sound recording equipment would also be needed and more significant production work during the shooting. It would require the control of valid takes, in addition to post-production and lip synchronization work (even if there is already software capable of synchronizing different audio tracks). There are 17 shots in the performance where there is synchronization between the song and lip movement (from a total of 198 shots, meaning that they only make up 8.5% of the shots). Moreover, most of them coincide with the chorus.

3.2 Textual analysis

Thus, concluded the production analysis, we will continue with the textual analysis. Regarding the issues that we will comment on, we would first like to highlight the concept of the video; as we have previously pointed out, it is markedly conditioned by the budget, the necessity to include the brand and the creation of the artist’s public identity. It is, therefore, a video that mixes meticulous images shot in a studio that is done with diligent artistic direction and lighting with other shots that resemble found footage. Nogueira notes in a music video study of Rage Against the Machine from the 90s that the use of found footage as a technique from documentary films, “acaba por introduzir um sinal de diferenciação (de autenticidade, digamos) num campo onde o artifício e o polimento das imagens é a norma” (Nogueira, 2012, p. 173). Apart from granting the author credibility, as aforementioned, an impression of naturalness and spontaneity is conveyed. Thus, a naive style is simulated, which can be perceived from the moment that we realize it is a stage with significant production work behind it and a desire to communicate a very conscious and studied message.

By focusing on the frames, we can perceive the dominance of the close shots in the entirety of the video clip. Thus, of the 198 shots that compose the video; 83 are Big Close-Ups (42%), 39 are Close-ups (20%), 48 are Medium Shots (24%), 18 are Full Shots (9%), and 10 are Long Shots (5%). 86% of the total shots are Close Shots (BCU, CU, and MS), as opposed to a mere 14% that are wider shots (FS and LS). The biggest shots that appeared as part of the shots filmed and edited as found footage were almost entirely in 4:3 format; also, these were predominant in the first half of the video, as there were only 3 Full Shots from minute 2:30.

We have not found “stills” or mobile images generated through graphic editing tools (or infographics), however, considering the budget of the piece, this option could be logical.

We would like to highlight that the update of textual codes in the discourse is very rarely present, at least regarding the extradiegetic texts inserted in the video editing process. The diagetic texts usually appear integrated into natural scenes to the extent that Redbull (one of the producer’s brand), goes unnoticed in the live concert shot. We do not have much to say regarding the activation of textual contents in the discourse.

Concerning the composition of the shots, we have observed the intention to break away from the composition norms of the rule of thirds. This rupture from the conventions of an audiovisual composition is shown, on the one hand through the singer’s usual location in the center of the frame (instead of from some of her strong points) conversely, the location of the central motif is on the edge of the image. The effect creates a disproportionate “look” above her head on some occasions using frames that show the singer's face or body incompletely for example by “cropping,” her head. We cannot say that it is a direction error or an unwillingness to follow traditional cinematographic direction norms because there is a perceivable readiness to follow tendencies more associated with the vanguard, which can be evidenced through the experimental nature of the video clip.

The total duration of the video clip is 3 minutes 56 seconds; it is composed of 198 shots, a superior number to the usual 120-130 shots (Pérez Rufí and Rodríguez López, 2017), the ASL (Average Shot Length) would be 1.19, which is the same. The average duration of the shot is 1 second with five frames (or 30 frames). The speed of the change in the shot is around a second, which we perceive to be very fast. We have noted that of the 198 shots, only 50 (approximately 25%) go over the average length, while the remaining 148 shots (75%) last less than the average; a proportion which is very elevated. There are only 23 (11% of the total) shots that last more than 2 seconds and only seven shots that go over 4 seconds. 159 and 162 are the more extended shots, consisting of 5 seconds and a frame of 5 seconds and 19 frames respectively. The shortest shots last between 5 and nine frames and are usually edited in continuity (for example, shots 7, 8 and 9 or shots 49 and 50). We will later comment on the structure of the editing regarding the speed of the shot change.

The content of the shots are not random, but instead, each shot has an expressive intent. The expressiveness is achieved by playing with the symbolic nature of the motifs and actions that it produces (for example, those that show traveling), and also by creating a dialogue with each other through the sum of the significants and signifiers that give rise to new ideas. For instance, this occurs via the tracking from the swimming pool to the bath to the floating wet clothes in the pool and the clothes that are hung out, interspersed between the shots of the whale in the sea to it appearing in an aquarium.

A game is created in the first 34 seconds of the shots by hiding the face in front of the camera, which we later discover: we can see that the singer has her back turned to us and had covered her face with her hands. She is hiding behind a mask or the leaves of a tree, even though we see her face a couple of shots later, it is thus revealed that it is a game and the suspense surrounding the figure is false. The game of concealment continues afterward on some occasions, the face hides behind a magazine or hat, or some shots are “cropped” and do not entirely reveal her face.

There is a sequence from day to night in the development of the pseudo-story. We have seen outdoor day locations until 2:34minutes and well-lit shots in the studio (except for a few). At that moment Joan blows out a match with an amplified sound coinciding with a percussion effect, which we could interpret as an image that reminds us of Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962). The studio gets dark, creating movement and change in the interior lighting. The later outdoor shots are at night, making the intention to mark the difference between day and night explicit. We understand that the second part of the music video commences once the match is put out.

The discursive analysis of the video clip leads us to comment on the formats that are used. As we have already highlighted, the clip alternates between images that are 16:9 format and others that are 4:3, thus marking two very different styles. Both the studio shoots or the outdoor locations are elaborated with particular photographic and artistic direction with the images in 4:3, which are found footage. According to the director, the intention behind the use of the 4:3 format with a VHS filter was to standardize all those shots that came from different places (such as the home videos shot by the singer on a trip to Colombia). The contrast between the two types of images is so substantial (as opposed to the “cleanliness” of the shots in 16:9 and the “dirtiness” of the shots in 4:3 strengthened by the use of filters). Therefore, two diegesis or possible worlds are created, the diegesis of the studio and found footage.

We would like to mention the almost complete absence of camera movements. Only 21 shots show some camera or optical movement (in other words, 10.6% of the total), of which there are three zooms (very slowly, in shots 1 and 3 of the video), and the rest are travelings. The traveling shots follow the character's action (for example, jumping into the swimming pool) or are shot from moving vehicles. There is a fast vertical panoramic from bottom to top which shows Joan dancing in a festival with a can (which seems to be Red Bull, although the image does not have much definition).

Other moving shots show a certain instability and camera imprecision. Most of the travelings were carried out in 4:3 format with a VHS filter, consequently the instability created by the movement results in the “dirtiness” of the images.

The internal movement within the still frames deserves special mention. As noted, they have attempted to give meaning and expression to each of the shots, which can be seen on many occasions through the representation of some types of movement within the shot. Joan does not appear to be still at almost any point in time. She moves in each of the shots: she dances, moves her hands, lifts her arms up, turns around, hides her face, looks around at different places, starts to smile or crosses her arms.

We have noted that there are no variations in the speed of played shots, avoiding both slow motion and the acceleration of the images. These types of resources consequently distance the video from realistic representation, by creating some referents of entirely different actions to reality. By avoiding that, the perception of the rhythm resulting from the content gathered for the frame, from the frequency of the change in the shot and the camera or lens movement, but not the relationship between the length of the action represented in the shot and the real duration of shooting the action.

The analysis of editing and post-production brings us back to the notion of speed and the length of the edited shots. Regarding the structure of the durations per each shot in the order of appearance, we can perceive speed and distribution or lengths which are quite regular and held during the whole video clip, without being able to show the normal development in a music video. Music videos usually base their speed on the repetition of similar shots with a cadence that accelerates as the video progresses, given that the spectator has already explored the shots and does not require more time to identify them, while the viewers’ attention is intended to be held through the resource of speed. In this case, there is no particular acceleration for the development of the shot change not even at the end- Even if there is a marked difference concerning the entirety of the video clip from the first shots to the final ones; thus, the video starts with longer shots compared to what we will see later. The initial shot lasts 4 seconds, has 21 frames and uses a Big Close Up of an old tube television, in which an interference line inside the monitor can be seen, coinciding with the eight percussion beats with which the song starts (a technique called cut-to-the-beat). The following shots last close to 2 seconds to introduce the 4:3 shots, which last close to 9 frames.

The last shots in the clip slow the rhythm down a bit. The song concludes with the final repetition of the chorus with a vocal part and guitar chords, between shots 188 and 194 longer shots appear, 2 of them over 4 seconds and another two over 3 seconds. Concluding in 3 shots between 13 and 18 frames, coinciding with the final percussion beats (cut-to-the-beat) and a long shot, and a flash of 1 second with 23 frames that close the video. Apart from the introduction and conclusion of the video, the rest has a uniform development regarding the rhythm of the change in the shot.

Regarding post-production effects, we have noted that a reference has already been made to playing with a change in format and the application of a VHS filter. This filter allows the quality of the image to be "dirtied," especially some shots that do not seem to stand out due to the photographic and stylistic treatment of the shots that are filmed in the studio and the outdoor swimming pool. The “retro” nature of the video is strengthened by the current tendency to use a vintage aesthetic and a nostalgic recuperation of analogic technology. The formal options related to the discourse are thus coherent with the content, giving the piece some unity, without any contradictions in the sum of significants and signifiers.

4. Results and discussion

Parallel to the structure set out in the methodology; we will first discuss the findings related to the production analysis, followed by the content analysis.

Regarding the production process of the video clip, we can conclude that the creative choices are determined by the briefing on which it is based, which is like an advertising campaign. This briefing would have to consider the position of the producers of the song and video clip regarding their needs for commercial communication and reaching company objectives. However, it should also take the creation of identity into account (or a brand) for the person or the group that performs and that will publicly take on ownership of the product (including ownership of the video clip).

Owing to the limited funding of the product, the producers had to concentrate the shoot into the fewest possible days and optimize technological resources. It also requires technical and creative personnel and the availability of locations, as is the case in most audiovisual productions. Music videos, like television spots, demand an unusual quickness in each of the production processes; the video clip was being shot the first week of September 2016, after three weeks of pre-production the work was distributed on YouTube (only one month later), on October 5, 2016.

A low budget video clip requires the same optimization of working days and personnel for editing and filming, therefore conditioning the shooting and editing, which barely uses playback, as aforementioned, or keeps its use to a minimum.

Regarding the content analysis, the planning is coherent with the most common language of video clips created for television, even if we cannot be categorical when referring to a language or video clip grammar. Contemporary TV is made up of close shots which fill the screen and create an impact both due to the closeness of the shot and its brevity. The planning intends to entice spectators, hold their attention, while at the same time allowing them to focus their attention on the description of the performer, as a `piece which aims to present the young debut artist to the music industry.

As a paradigmatic discourse of audiovisual fragmentation and post-modernity, the video clip is coherent when dividing the spatial and time referents of the shot: short durations fraction the shot, but space is also fractioned, through short frames which show portions or details of a more significant motif. The combination of the fragmentation of elements of space and time results in a direction and editing model based on the representation of detail, in an analytical way.

The main conclusion that the analysis of editing and post-production of the video clip shows is that a good editing job can give an excellent finish and a thoroughly professional look, even if the primary material does not have the best technical quality, as in the shots that feign found footage in this work. The solution involves fragmenting the content into very short shots, like a collage, and applying post-production filters that "dirty" the image in a measured and pre-meditated way. The spectator can understand that this “dirtiness” is a stylistic device and is not because the material is technically low quality.

We could interpret the interspersed images as found footage. The singer performs live to give credibility to her professional career. Even if she is a debut singer in the music industry, Joan Thiele has broad experience in her profession; she has played live many hours, go on the road and backstage, and has done everything that being an artist implies professionally.

If a low budget conditions producers’ creative possibilities, they can use their ingeniousness, applying it in the production phase. In addition to this, editing can give rhythm (thanks to quick shot changes). A fresh and contemporary nature can be achieved by treating the image in the post-production phase. This contemporary look can be achieved by mixing formats and using filters while considering the credibility that the technique of found footage transmits. In this way, what could initially be conceived as a production limitation was transformed into an opportunity to create something original.

5. Conclusions

We can conclude that the initial hypothesis has been proven, in the sense that the direction and editing techniques commented on have overcome the limitations of a low budget and particular production conditions. As a result, a music video is capable of being disseminated to mass media distributors and even broadcast quality channels such as TDT. This concept of technical quality connected to the demands of a certain level of professionality regarding the image (broadcast) is what we can object to concerning its relationship to the video clip.

Demanding broadcast quality for a channel dedicated to video clips is relative, as the programmed pieces play creatively with all language possibilities and thus this questions the need for a clean, high-resolution image. Also, VH1's identity in Italy is not only defined by programming contemporary video clips like Joan Thiele’s (and the remainder of the national franchises) but for showing videos from all decades. VH1 is the television equivalent to a nostalgic radio which is specialized in oldies goldies. Therefore there is a place for concert shootings and TV performances from the 70s (recorded on magnetic tape and with a low-quality resolution). Found footage is a stylistic device, as is the case in the video aforementioned for Rage Against the Machine or in “Weather With You” by Crowded House (Capitol Records, 1991), which use takes that seem to be recorded on a Super 8. The variety of formats and resolutions does not inhibit VH1 from programming certain content; thereby, the channel’s audience does not reject the videos. The vintage clip of Joan Thiele is thus consistent with VH1. Like Edmond (2016) we have noted that the video clip for "Here We Go Again" by OK Go, which is considered as a new paradigmatic production model for viral distribution online, required frequent airing on VH1 to turn the viral success of the video into sales.

We do not know what the editing and programming criteria of VH1 are. We suspect that it depends on a combination of factors: relevance and demand for specific content, relationship to the music labels and programming to promote some productions, video clip quality, marketability of the song and trajectory on sales charts, number of plays on streaming platforms, and trends. In any case, the technical finishes of the pieces and even their quality do not seem to be fundamental criteria.

As opposed to online video platforms open to users’ and fans’ productions, such as YouTube, VH1 does not program contents created by users. However, the production programming does not only come from the music industry but also the three leading labels that practically control the international music industry: the so-called Big Three (Warner Music, Universal Music, and Sony-BMG). To broaden this study, we propose investigating the number of productions by the Big Three aired on music channels in the Viacom group (which includes both VH1 and MTV).

Universal Music Italy produced the video for Joan Thiele. Consequently, she was supported by one of the primary record labels, aiming for it to be marketable and achieve a significant distribution of the video clip, E.P., and the artist's singles. Even with a very modest audiovisual investment for promotion, Universal Music Italy took a chance on Joan hoping that she would become a successful artist that aspires to have excellent public recognition and reviews.

Joan’s identity as a performer in this video clip intends to stand out from the music industry’s more commercial objectives and to embrace the” authenticity” of a singer-songwriter. Joan does not only "perform" a cover by Lauryn Hill, but she also sings, plays musical instruments, and composes, therefore approximating herself as an artist to a singer-songwriter and indie creator instead of a studied product in the hands of producers. As a mood board, the video clip focuses on this throughout the piece, showing her in different facets of her professional life in almost all the shots.

As aforementioned, video clips do not only achieve their communication objectives but also turn what initially seem like production obstacles into an advantage, therefore producing an original, fun, aesthetically trendy result, appropriate to a young target audience (millennial) to which we suppose it is directed.

We would like to reiterate how the editing and post-production of the video can make some technically low-quality images acceptable (as with found footage). The result can be achieved by showing interesting content, an accelerated speed of shot change and the use of filters that make the desire to age the image explicit, creating coherence between the content of the shots and the way they are shown.

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