When Lady Gaga first became well known in the music industry, there was a gap in the market for a new female popstar. With Britney Spears on hiatus from music, record industries were looking for the new ultimate female popstar, and that was Lady Gaga.
The thing that sets Lady Gaga apart from most artists in the past 10 years is her image. When she was first signed, her clothing and hair was provocative but not nearly as out there as it is now. If you watch her 'Just Dance' music video and compare it with her 'Telephone' video, you will notice she has become much more confident with her image and obviously doesn't care what anyone thinks. Her outrageous outfits have led to websites being made and 'Top 50 style' lists being written featuring her strangest ones.
Her behaviour during interviews has also changed to make her stand out more. In early interviews, she acts like a normal girl from New York who is trying to be a successful artist. As soon as she became quite famous however, she started to use an almost British accent and pretended to drink from empty tea cups during interviews. This eccentric behaviour has got her noticed by a huge amount of people and made her fan base grow immensely. People like her because she is different and tend to identify with her individuality. She claims she was an outcast in high school for being too provocative or erratic and felt like a freak, people of all ages can identify with this which makes them want to be a fan of hers.
Lady Gaga's musical niche has also got her recognised, her pop melodies are infused with glam rock sounds making her music remonisent of David Bowie and Queen. She seems to be inspired by these types of music and has based her eccentric image on these artists.
In order to make my music video stand out I will have to create a niche for my artist. I'm not sure whether I could use the same tactics as Lady Gaga has used to promote my artist's music, however I could try and use the idea of being different from other artists in their genre to try and catch peoples attention. I could use a variety of different techniques to stand out from the rest, as I have discovered through research what techniques are used in creating an artists niche. Techniques I could use include:
Camera Work
Every shot, angle and movement of the camera have an effect on the meaning of the video. Directors tend to commonly use close-ups of the artists face in music videos, especially well known artists. This is done to create intimacy with the viewer, but is also used as a selling point of the music, as it is emphasizing half of the commodity on sale. This means that lighting has to be carefully considered when planning these close-ups.
Movement of the camera is usually very limited when it comes to music videos, with panning shots kept to a minimum and using jump cuts to edit. To be different in my music video and to create a niche for my artist I could try and use more continuous shots and panning shots. Directors of music videos tend to try and use interesting angles to make up for the amount of jump cuts in a music video, this is something that I will also have to think about.
Editing
As I have previously said, music video generally include jump cuts instead of continuous shots, and also typically include montages. These brief images sometimes almost make it impossible to grasp the shots on first viewing. In my music video to create a niche maybe I could try and use different transitions such as fades to white or black or screen sweeps, etc.
Another commonly used technique is digital effects, these play with the original images to offer different kinds of viewing experiences for the viewer. These can include CGI, split screens, colourisation, etc. In my music video I am thinking of using a split screen, as this is something that has not been used very much in recent music videos and would make mine stand out.
Voyeurism
This idea comes from Freud, and suggests that the male viewers gaze at the screen is geared to notions of voyeurism, in that it is a powerful controlling gaze at the objectified female on display. An objectified female is often at the center of music videos and has been used to attract attention for years, however if I were to use voyeurism in my music video I would try and make it more original by possibly using screens within screens, characters watching performers on televisions or webcams, CCTV within the world of narrative, etc.
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