Genre Analysis - The Music Biz, Meat Loaf

The Music Biz – Meat Loaf

Type of Documentary:
This documentary was a mixed one, because it had a variety of interviews, cutaways, reconstruction and also archive footage, which meant we as the audience would get a better impact of what this documentary represented.

Themes:
There were a different variety of themes throughout the documentary, and these included marketing campaign, importance of selling a song and/or album, getting a Christmas number 1, money, expectations from the record company and the resurrection of comeback.

Narrative Structure:
Throughout the documentary, the narrative structure was pretty easy to stop, the fact that it was about meat loaf meant that the audience clearly knew who he was and what he’d done. At the beginning of the documentary, we found out that, Meat Loaf had been successful during his time as an artist, and his album ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ was extremely successful, and how he gain a lot of fans during his time. During the beginning the audience become enticed by the idea that Meat Loaf is going to make a comeback. Whilst as the documentary continues to the middle, we find out certain things about Meat Loaf, such as him filing for bankruptcy. We also find out that him and why he “went” away. He then gives a quote which states “I’ve not been anywhere” however since the public and press know of his personal life problems, we clearly know that he has indeed been somewhere, he maybe doesn’t want to admit to such things, this then causes the conflict within the documentary. By the end of the documentary we were brought through the comeback of Meat Loaf and how he had been so successful with coming back into the music business and how other bands have failed to make such a comeback like he has, an example of a band that didn’t have a successful comeback would be that of The Village People, this was because they didn’t promote themselves like Meat Loaf did, so in terms of creating a successful comeback, a band or artist has to be committed to promoting themselves all over again, and just plain working hard.

Camerawork:
The camerawork within The Music Biz was pretty similar to all documentaries I’ve watch; they all contain similar work to show off certain aspects of what the documentary is about. This documentary consisted of numerous close ups of Meat Loaf, because he was the main person involved within this documentary. Most of the camera angles had specific meaning in which all almost included Meat Loaf, as he was essentially the star of the documentary. There are a lot of zooms, which symbolises Meat’s power within the documentary, all the focus needs to be him due to the fact that he is making this comeback after so many years out of the industry, therefore this documentary enable him to get even more media coverage thus having a more successful comeback. On location in L.A, there was panning action through and from Meat Loaf and director Michael Bay, in a way this began to show the start of a symbiotic relationship between them, like there some sort of power struggle within the documentary itself. 2 shots were also used to signify the relationship both Michael Bay and Meat Loaf have, it shows that even though they are two different people they are still able to be equal and united together. There are also some very unconventional techniques used in this documentary, like when the camera nods when speaking to Meat Loaf, this then symbolises an audience interaction between in this documentary. The audience then starts to get involved, and they feel more involved within it. There are numerous close ups of Meat Loaf which shows his importance in this documentary, and how without him, this documentary would have been made. An element of this documentary could be classed as a self reflective one, just because as he is the sole purpose of this documentary but he also leads it, and interacts with the audience.

Sound:
Within this documentary sound wasn't that vital, there was no music bed underneath and sound was of a more naturalistic variety, with music from Meat Loaf. We began to get different meanings throughout the documentary in terms of sound, a non-diegetic heart beat was placed within it, and this could have symbolised that since people had put so much money into this comeback, they had to work twice as hard in order to gain something back from all this. This then caused a massive conflict within the documentary itself, they took a risk and didn't know if it would pay off. As the documentary was very simplistic it meant that no a lot of sound was used within it.

Mise-en-scene:
Like all other documentaries, mise-en-scene is vital, helping to portray different ideas amongst it, as it was all relevant to the theme. Green screens were used throughout interviews which consisted of newspaper articles and picture of Meat Loaf; this gave the audience a clear understanding of whom and what this documentary was about. As the documentary progressed we were began to see Meat Loaf on set and music videos, the red carpet and also press interviews. This enabled us to get a better understanding of who he was, and also to gain more knowledge on whom he is as a person, if we didn’t know this already. We begin to realise that promoting Meat Loaf worldwide began to be extremely hard, and some countries had a difficult time trying to promote him, for example London. We then saw red carpet and award ceremonies, this then gave the idea that marketing is extremely important in wanting to win award for your music. From all this marketing we begin to wonder what is better, music or money, or if there was a even split between them. We then saw Meat Loaf at different marketing interviews such as Radio 1 with Pat Sharp, O-Zone and also the TV breakfast show Good Morning Britain. We also begin to see different people who added to Meat Loaf’s successful comeback, and these were the people who could make him but also break him.Within this documentary sound wasn’t that vital, there was no music bed underneath and sound was of a more naturalistic variety, with music from Meat Loaf. We began to get different meanings throughout the documentary in terms of sound, a non-diegetic heart beat was placed within it, and this could have symbolised that since people had put so much money into this comeback, they had to work twice as hard in order to gain something back from all this. This then caused a massive conflict within the documentary itself, they took a risk and didn’t know if it would pay off. As the documentary was very simplistic it meant that no a lot of sound was used within it.

Editing:
In terms of editing, a lot of cutaways were used to emphasis Meat Loaf even though a lot of the documentary had consisted of him. Meat Loaf’s own music videos consisted within this documentary this could have been some sort of promoting tool within itself. Newspaper cuttings and Meat Loaf on location were also used. There was a vital importance of who would be number 1; therefore Meat Loaf would strive to get this place, to gain more publicity. Basic transitions were used in order to move from one thing to another, dissolves were used within the documentary to make it a lot smoother. The cutaways played a vital part in creating this documentary, videos of people placing bet, on who would be Christmas number one was used, along with press interviews and also Meat Loaf around the world promoting himself. A shot reverse shot was used between Meat Loaf and Michael Bay whilst they were in a discussion on what the video for his new music video would be like; it showed that they both had creative input towards the new music video. This then again showed the symbiotic relationship between the star and the director.

Archive Material:
A lot of archive material was used throughout the documentary, which had importance to what was going on, and it also gave people a greater understanding of what the documentary was about, using certain archive material then made it a lot more interesting for people to watch. Meat Loaf music videos were used to show the complexity of his music videos and why it was important to make an new one, which would grab the fans attention when watched. Other archive material included Take That, Mr Blobby’s Christmas number 1, Dena Carol. And also video’s from top of the pops and award ceremonies. The music videos and music used on this documentary meant that people who did not know him or know of his music could be introduced, or reintroduced to the sound of Meat Loaf, therefore increasing his overall fan base.

Graphics:
Graphics within the documentary were used to make it look current and cooler, and therefore being for focused on the younger generations, but at the same time, simple Meat Loaf fans. Interviewees were also superimposed onto fake magazine covers; this could have made the interviewee important, but also was able to keep it interesting for its audience. When an interviewee came up on screen, the caption that introduced them, looked a lot fancier and it made the documentary look more important. The fact that it showed the company they worked for, it held that connection between Meat Loaf and their job title.