We decided to use a focus group type of audience research as we thought it would be the best way to collect research about our audience.
The audience that will be watching our video would be mainly the 16-25 age group who are interested in the genre of Indie Rap.
These are the steps we took for our focus group audience research:
-We gathered together 10 of our friends who are in the ages of 17-18 in a room
-We then told them that we were going to play our track, we told them the genre and the type of artist Jamie T is.
-Then we asked them to quickly write down whatever came into their head as they listened to the track. We had a criteria for what they were going to write down on a piece of paper which we gave each person. It had headings throughout such as Mood, Narrative, Costume, Props and Characters.
-After listening to the track twice, we held a group discussion where the participants in our focus group told us what they thought about the track. They read out and discussed what they thought about the different headings we provided.
-After, we spoke to the participants individually so to ensure there weren't any peer pressures occuring in that if they were speaking in a group they would follow the groups ideas and not their own. We found that this was not the case and the participants still had the same views.
Evaluation of findings-
We analysed the results and found these things about the focus group response to our track:
Mood- Upbeat, Happy, Confused
Narrative- Confused love story, holiday,
Costume- New era cap, suit,
Props- Suitcase
Characters- Jamie T, Girl.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
PW - Music Video Idea
While analysing several music videos by either technical analysis or deconstruction analysis we also have looked at other music videos during the process of research. This is so we can create our own ideas and by watching other music videos it gives us inspiration so that our own music video will be just as good.
Whilst browsing numerous tracks, I looked at the music video by Plan B. Plan B is in the same genre of our track by Jamie T which is why I looked at it. I have chosen to analyse Plan B because he uses the same lo-fi style music videos as Jamie T which will prove to be helpful with our own production.
Here is the music video 'Pieces' by Plan B.
The main thing I noticed about this music video was when the chorus starts the camera shots that are used are excellent. The chorus uses a number of close up shots of the main character walking down a road looking angry, it then shows his point of view as he is going down the road at a high speed. The location changes behind him frequently which keeps the pace of the video high.
By looking at this music video we have discussed the ideas used and we want to use some of the camera shot ideas that were used in this music video. However, we will not directly copy this video we will just adapt their ideas into our own and add our own creativity to it.
Whilst browsing numerous tracks, I looked at the music video by Plan B. Plan B is in the same genre of our track by Jamie T which is why I looked at it. I have chosen to analyse Plan B because he uses the same lo-fi style music videos as Jamie T which will prove to be helpful with our own production.
Here is the music video 'Pieces' by Plan B.
The main thing I noticed about this music video was when the chorus starts the camera shots that are used are excellent. The chorus uses a number of close up shots of the main character walking down a road looking angry, it then shows his point of view as he is going down the road at a high speed. The location changes behind him frequently which keeps the pace of the video high.
By looking at this music video we have discussed the ideas used and we want to use some of the camera shot ideas that were used in this music video. However, we will not directly copy this video we will just adapt their ideas into our own and add our own creativity to it.
JB - Audience Research
Before creating ideas for our music video, we must first carry out meaningful audience research. We are going to do this because it helps us to understand the audiences views and what they expect to see in a music video of this genre.
We are going to use a focus group to help us create ideas for our music video. We will play our track to 5-10 people to see what they think about our song. We will ask them to brainstorm ideas about our track and ask if they can see any images related to our track. We will then collate ideas as a group and collate any images or ideas we think that are appropriate for our track.
After gaining ideas from others we will then explain our own concept using moodboards and short storyboards and discuss further ideas by developing them.
We are going to use a focus group to help us create ideas for our music video. We will play our track to 5-10 people to see what they think about our song. We will ask them to brainstorm ideas about our track and ask if they can see any images related to our track. We will then collate ideas as a group and collate any images or ideas we think that are appropriate for our track.
After gaining ideas from others we will then explain our own concept using moodboards and short storyboards and discuss further ideas by developing them.
Monday, 28 September 2009
JB - Technical Analysis
The music video which I am analysing is Bloc Party - One more chance, which was released in 2009, the music video and song is all about forgiveness, where the lead singer is asking for one more chance of another relationship with someone, who appears to be an older woman in the video. The video mainly depicts different characters in different situations where they are asking forgiveness, the first one appears to be a father and son, the father is trying to win the son back through playing the piano, the others seem to be through love, dance and a teen romance.
I noticed throughout the video that there were mainly CU shots of the characters, during these CU's there were mainly meat shots which show the expressions of the faces on the characters, the pattern was mainly an establishing MS shot of the mise-en-scene, for instance the first verse was of two people playing the piano, it firstly was MS which showed part of the room and then one person, it then panned to the other, more cheerful person which lasted for 8 seconds to establish the video and make the consumer take time to understand the mise-en-scene. It happens again at 26 seconds where it shows a tracking shot of an MS shot of a woman walking into a room which shows the whole room as well as showing the two characters involved, it will then carry on to mainly CU's which show off the expressions on there faces. The main camera movements were when it was an establishing shot of each verse, the first verse was a raising shot, the second was a track, the third was a pan and fourth was a rise, which connotes that it is a very still emotional track. However the cutting of the shots apart from the establishing ones are quite fast, connoting how quickly emotions change when it comes to relationships. At 3:37 the same shot of the two people on the piano return except it is panning and raising from a different direction with the other person with a happier expression on there face on the CU, which can connote the phrase, "Always a silver lining".
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
PW - Print Media Advertisement Analysis
As I have previously analysed ‘The Streets’ album cover from the album ‘The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living’ I then analysed a magazine advertisement of ‘The Streets’. This advertisement is in a copy of NME and is advertising one of the artists tours. This also advertises their whole brand image too. The visual techniques used in this advertisement are very effective as they make the advert stand out on the page.
First of all, the iconic cigarette lighter has been used once again in the advert, this lighter was used in the album cover as well. This image has become their logo or iconic image in which their fans can relate to them. It also allows people to recognize the artist almost immediately as soon as they see it, for example, if people saw the cigarette lighter like that on a page they would immediately think of ‘The Streets because that is their iconic image.
Dyer’s paradox is related to this kind of brand image, the album cover and the advertisement both look quite ordinary and amateur which shows they are very relaxed but clever because their music and their style is so strong that it does not need glamorous advertisements. The text is quite predominant on the advertisement and is supposed to be bold. This is because the background is black and so is very dark therefore the text needs to be bright to catch the reader’s attention. The same colour is used throughout the advertisement too; it is a strong neon blue colour which also helps the advertisement text to stand out.
First of all, the iconic cigarette lighter has been used once again in the advert, this lighter was used in the album cover as well. This image has become their logo or iconic image in which their fans can relate to them. It also allows people to recognize the artist almost immediately as soon as they see it, for example, if people saw the cigarette lighter like that on a page they would immediately think of ‘The Streets because that is their iconic image.
Dyer’s paradox is related to this kind of brand image, the album cover and the advertisement both look quite ordinary and amateur which shows they are very relaxed but clever because their music and their style is so strong that it does not need glamorous advertisements. The text is quite predominant on the advertisement and is supposed to be bold. This is because the background is black and so is very dark therefore the text needs to be bright to catch the reader’s attention. The same colour is used throughout the advertisement too; it is a strong neon blue colour which also helps the advertisement text to stand out.
PW - Technical Analysis - The Streets 'When You Wasn't Famous'
A technical analysis of The Streets 'When You Wasn't Famous'
For my technical analysis of a music video, I thought that this video would be most appropriate to use. Reasons for this is because it is in the same genre of music as Jamie T. Furthermore, the video has a lot of narrative based performance as well as performance based which is what we were looking to do for our own music video. I analysed the whole video which was a total of 147 shots. It was time consuming but well worth the effort to fully analyse this video as it would greatly benefit me for when it comes to me producing my own music video. The video is not very fast paced, most of the shots are around 2-3 seconds long which compared to other music videos is relatively slow. However, it all depends on the genre of music because dance songs can have shots as quick as 1 second and then pop or RnB songs can have shots as long as 4 or 5 seconds. The rap/Indie/Hip hop genre falls in between the two with shots at an average of 2-3 seconds, however this can variate. There was a high percentage of shots which featured the lead singer, I think this was done so to keep the focus of the audience on him. Also, the narrative of the song was all about him and his personal issues so it was important to portray him as the main character of the narrative.
Camera movement is incorporated to create pace by using handicam shots throughout the video, this ensures that the camera is always moving which helps to keep the consumers attention. The main shots that were used were close ups, this is the 'meat' of every music video and was shown significantly in this music video as you can see the shot reverse shot of every action the main singer does when he interacts with other characters.
Another point that I noticed was how the shot duration increases to 3 or 4 after a long run of 1-2 second shots. This is particularly shown when the location is changed. In this music video the lead singer is seen singing in his narrative based performance through a number of close up shots which have a high cutting rate. Then just before the location is changed the length of cut is increased so to slow down the pace of the video. This sequence occurs at 2:21 where he is lying in bed underneath his covers and the shot continues for 5 seconds. It occurs again at 2:50 when he looks at sings at the camera whilst he is walking for 5 seconds. It also indicates the end of turn of that location.
At the start of the music video, it is a very dull moment as the car arrives, which is reinforced by the slow cutting rate, but as the lead singer who is the main character in the video steps out of the car the cutting rate soon begins to increase over time. By doing this it keeps the rhythm of the music video going and grabs the consumers attention by leaving it as a story which is unfolding. The first 20 shots of the video change dramatically. It starts from a 7 second mid shot to a 4 second close up, to a 4 second long shot followed by 5 more shots which on average are similar in length, however this long cutting rate decreases to only 2-3 second shots which are then carried on in the music video. This has been done to create an effect of pace which increases throughout the video. The same effect is used towards the end of the music video as the shot lengths are increased slightly to slow down the pace and bring the music video to an end.
Here is a link to this music video :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm3fPCJ4DQY
For my technical analysis of a music video, I thought that this video would be most appropriate to use. Reasons for this is because it is in the same genre of music as Jamie T. Furthermore, the video has a lot of narrative based performance as well as performance based which is what we were looking to do for our own music video. I analysed the whole video which was a total of 147 shots. It was time consuming but well worth the effort to fully analyse this video as it would greatly benefit me for when it comes to me producing my own music video. The video is not very fast paced, most of the shots are around 2-3 seconds long which compared to other music videos is relatively slow. However, it all depends on the genre of music because dance songs can have shots as quick as 1 second and then pop or RnB songs can have shots as long as 4 or 5 seconds. The rap/Indie/Hip hop genre falls in between the two with shots at an average of 2-3 seconds, however this can variate. There was a high percentage of shots which featured the lead singer, I think this was done so to keep the focus of the audience on him. Also, the narrative of the song was all about him and his personal issues so it was important to portray him as the main character of the narrative.
Camera movement is incorporated to create pace by using handicam shots throughout the video, this ensures that the camera is always moving which helps to keep the consumers attention. The main shots that were used were close ups, this is the 'meat' of every music video and was shown significantly in this music video as you can see the shot reverse shot of every action the main singer does when he interacts with other characters.
Another point that I noticed was how the shot duration increases to 3 or 4 after a long run of 1-2 second shots. This is particularly shown when the location is changed. In this music video the lead singer is seen singing in his narrative based performance through a number of close up shots which have a high cutting rate. Then just before the location is changed the length of cut is increased so to slow down the pace of the video. This sequence occurs at 2:21 where he is lying in bed underneath his covers and the shot continues for 5 seconds. It occurs again at 2:50 when he looks at sings at the camera whilst he is walking for 5 seconds. It also indicates the end of turn of that location.
At the start of the music video, it is a very dull moment as the car arrives, which is reinforced by the slow cutting rate, but as the lead singer who is the main character in the video steps out of the car the cutting rate soon begins to increase over time. By doing this it keeps the rhythm of the music video going and grabs the consumers attention by leaving it as a story which is unfolding. The first 20 shots of the video change dramatically. It starts from a 7 second mid shot to a 4 second close up, to a 4 second long shot followed by 5 more shots which on average are similar in length, however this long cutting rate decreases to only 2-3 second shots which are then carried on in the music video. This has been done to create an effect of pace which increases throughout the video. The same effect is used towards the end of the music video as the shot lengths are increased slightly to slow down the pace and bring the music video to an end.
Here is a link to this music video :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm3fPCJ4DQY
PW - Location Reccie
Here are the locations we will be using for our location reccie. We will need to go to these locations and take multiple photo's of the locations so to analyse them and discuss where we would like to shoot our music video.
-London
-Gatwick Airport
-Gatwick train station
-Joe's House
-London
-Gatwick Airport
-Gatwick train station
-Joe's House
PW - Trip To Brighton - Preliminary Filming
For our preliminary filming exercise, we went to Brighton for the day to apply some of our skills and practice our filming skills. Our aim was to explore Brighton in search of interesting, inspiring and exciting locations for our video. We had a shot list of many different styles and kinds of shots which we needed to complete. These shots included :
-MLS panning establishing shot for narrative/performance
-use of high/low angle for performance
-footage for sped up shot of character in crowd
-POV handicam shot
-360 pan
-tracking shot of character/performer walking in first person mode of address
-a range of close ups suitable for instruments...
-and at least two other shots of our own design
We managed to shoot most of these shots including many of our own design throughout the day. We managed to shoot a lot of footage and now have edited the footage into a short video.
Here is the link to the preliminary video-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV6ZVhpNSe8
-MLS panning establishing shot for narrative/performance
-use of high/low angle for performance
-footage for sped up shot of character in crowd
-POV handicam shot
-360 pan
-tracking shot of character/performer walking in first person mode of address
-a range of close ups suitable for instruments...
-and at least two other shots of our own design
We managed to shoot most of these shots including many of our own design throughout the day. We managed to shoot a lot of footage and now have edited the footage into a short video.
Here is the link to the preliminary video-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV6ZVhpNSe8
PW - Analysis Of An Album Cover
The album cover I will be analysing is the band ‘The Streets’. Their album is called ‘The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living’. It is their third album which was released on April 10th 2006. The genre of this album is similar to Jamie T which is why I am analysing it, for this reason is because I can then create my own ideas using this inspiration. Both Jamie T and The Streets use traditional English conventions to portray their image.
When thinking of the rule of thirds, this album uses it well. The band logo and name is in the top left of the image. This helps the reader to ‘ visually read’ the album cover and access all the information easily. The typography is set on a bright cigarette lighter which obviously relates to the artist. It is interesting to see that the band name is in a bigger font than the album name. The artist name font is very scruffy looking and unusual. However, the album name font is very simplistic, which could show that the artist is actually very simplistic, scruffy looking and relaxed. On the cigarette lighter, there is a palm tree which looks very idyllic, however, this is in contrast with the background image of the dark street with the uncut hedge and the dark trees. There is also much more contradiction used, the artist is seen in front of the car, slightly to the left of the picture wearing trainers, however, he is stood in front of a Rolls Royce car which is very prestigious and expensive. He is portrayed to be seen as lower class as he is looking scruffy and relaxed, but he is stood in front of an expensive car which could show that he has the sort of money to buy such things like that. The lighting and whole brand image is very lo-fi. The album cover is not very glamorous at all, apart from the expensive car, which is used to contradict the artist. This also adds to the meta-narrative of the artist, as the brand image of him is built up throughout the different album covers he uses.
PW - Mood Board
Here is the mood board I have created for our genre. It shows a number of images of our chosen artist Jamie T and also other artists and genre conventions.
I have learnt a number of things when constructing this mood board because by doing this I have constructed ideas about what this genre is all about and what the conventions of it are. It is important to make a mood board because it gives you initial ideas on what you want your music video to look like and it also gives you inspiration for what I want my music video to represent and show, in terms of both technical aspects and aesthetic qualities.
Monday, 21 September 2009
JB - Institutional Context
What is the procedure for making a music video?
There is sometimes a variation what happens during a music video, it is very much dependable on the genre, artist, budget or director. Firstly the label, artist and management will decide what will be released as the single. The video commissioner then makes a shortlist of possible directors which could be used, the commissioner then sends the track with a summary of ideas of the project to them. When the potential directors receive the commissioners ideas they immediately outline a treatment for him, which then the commissioner will decide what director to use. The director chosen then will develop a story board with ideas of possible locations. As well as the director there will be an art director enlisted as well as wardrobe people and a director of photography, there sets have now been designed. The sets are then built and then the shooting commences, which normally progresses for two days which is then transferred to tape. The editor then produces a rough cut for the video which takes roughly three days. The label, artist and manager evaluate the rough copy and changes are made when necessary before visual effects are added. Then the online finished video is passed to the label for release to TV stations and played before the single is released.
What Role does the digipak play in constructing band/promoting artist?
A digipak plays an important role in promoting an artist, the era we now live in is dominated by technology, especially in music, MP3 downloads artists have become a cheap and easy way in obtaining the music fans want. However the digipack has played an important role in promoting the artists, it is something the fan can physically get hold of and be used as a collectible or memorabilia. It also comes with a booklet with lyrics and acknowledgements in, so fans of the music can sing along to it so the consumer can be focused, instead of being more ambient and nonchalantly switching through songs in a music library such as Itunes.
What is the role in We media?
We media literally means that anyone can now contribute to media in their own way, the best way this is occurring is through the Internet, a new phrase of Web2.0 is becoming more occurring in the media industry. For example, forums are a place where people can congregate and can write there views online and have discussions with other people. They can have communal discussions or private sites, places such a Facebook and Myspace let you have your own personal space where you can tell people online about your interest and small information about yourself. Myspace has been an important role in the music industry, anyone from signed artists to amateurs performing as a hobby can contribute to the music side of myspace and some artists have been signed from myspace, such as lily Allen. Youtube is a very interactive site where you can both view publicly videos which other people have uploaded, this can also be greatly useful for artists to promote there music as they can set up there own channel and upload there music videos and let other youtube user subscribe to there channel.
There is sometimes a variation what happens during a music video, it is very much dependable on the genre, artist, budget or director. Firstly the label, artist and management will decide what will be released as the single. The video commissioner then makes a shortlist of possible directors which could be used, the commissioner then sends the track with a summary of ideas of the project to them. When the potential directors receive the commissioners ideas they immediately outline a treatment for him, which then the commissioner will decide what director to use. The director chosen then will develop a story board with ideas of possible locations. As well as the director there will be an art director enlisted as well as wardrobe people and a director of photography, there sets have now been designed. The sets are then built and then the shooting commences, which normally progresses for two days which is then transferred to tape. The editor then produces a rough cut for the video which takes roughly three days. The label, artist and manager evaluate the rough copy and changes are made when necessary before visual effects are added. Then the online finished video is passed to the label for release to TV stations and played before the single is released.
What Role does the digipak play in constructing band/promoting artist?
A digipak plays an important role in promoting an artist, the era we now live in is dominated by technology, especially in music, MP3 downloads artists have become a cheap and easy way in obtaining the music fans want. However the digipack has played an important role in promoting the artists, it is something the fan can physically get hold of and be used as a collectible or memorabilia. It also comes with a booklet with lyrics and acknowledgements in, so fans of the music can sing along to it so the consumer can be focused, instead of being more ambient and nonchalantly switching through songs in a music library such as Itunes.
What is the role in We media?
We media literally means that anyone can now contribute to media in their own way, the best way this is occurring is through the Internet, a new phrase of Web2.0 is becoming more occurring in the media industry. For example, forums are a place where people can congregate and can write there views online and have discussions with other people. They can have communal discussions or private sites, places such a Facebook and Myspace let you have your own personal space where you can tell people online about your interest and small information about yourself. Myspace has been an important role in the music industry, anyone from signed artists to amateurs performing as a hobby can contribute to the music side of myspace and some artists have been signed from myspace, such as lily Allen. Youtube is a very interactive site where you can both view publicly videos which other people have uploaded, this can also be greatly useful for artists to promote there music as they can set up there own channel and upload there music videos and let other youtube user subscribe to there channel.
Chosen Track, Castro Dies - Jamie T
After much discussion with Paul, we have finally decided that it would be best to use Jamie T - Castro Dies as represntation through our actors will be reasonably easy and we can mix in performance filler shots with a narrative that can be illustrative and easily done.
Here is the track
Here is the track
JB - Analysis Of Print Media Of Advertisement
The advertisement which i am deconstructing is an advertisement for Passion Pit, who are advertising their upcoming Album, Chunk Of Change, which was released on the 12th of Februrary 2009, it was advertised in a February NME taking up the bottom left hand corner of the page. The genre was slightly evident from the way it was minimalistic and with an abstract picture connoting there artistic flair and awkwardness.
The dominant reading path for this advertisement directly leads the consumer to the band name typography is very basic, this however makes it eyecatching, it is also the largest font on the advert and then leads us onto the album name, which is in a smaller font, then there is the release date in the larger font then the album title, this connotes the ranking of importance that they want you to know about. The rule of thirds applies here, especially to the picture of the abstract, psychedelic drawing in the bottom right of the thirds, this will confuse the audience as they will not know what this drawing is about and it is drawing them in so they will understand more about it. The colour of the advertisement is very bland, the background is a grayish colour and the writing is just a plain white, however this leads to its effectiveness as the drawing is extremely colourful and has a variety of colours which will make this stand out on the background even more and will be more likely to attract the viewers attention. It also follows one of Dyers Paradoxes as there is not a band member present on the advertisement page which connotes there star status already, even though it is there debut album as they do not need to be on the advert.
A linguistic device which they have used is a quotation from the NME magazine on supporting there album on a very good review which says,"Passion Pit make the bad go away," which could mean more to it then there music, possibly bad moods and emotions and also decided to use this in there advertisement as a neutral judge. The Artist title 'Passion Pit' can connote that there meaning is that they have a passion for music in there area and would like to display this passion, also the album title, 'chunk of change,' will interest the consumer as they will believe that there has been a change to there music and they will be interested to listen to the difference which they have made.
As this is a newly formed band they have not built up a meta-narrative, however I do believe that the meta-narrative could be formed from this advertisement as meaningful and stand out. They are represented in this advertisement as a very minimalistic group of people which can stand out from other bands due to there artistic flair by building up meaning to the abstract drawing.
This print text maybe consumed in different ways, it can be used in magazines, billboards or Internet sites as side banners or rollovers. They consume it simply by being drawn in by the pictures and the large font of the band name, and then the dominant reading path will take effect, then eventually they would have read all the writing.
The dominant reading path for this advertisement directly leads the consumer to the band name typography is very basic, this however makes it eyecatching, it is also the largest font on the advert and then leads us onto the album name, which is in a smaller font, then there is the release date in the larger font then the album title, this connotes the ranking of importance that they want you to know about. The rule of thirds applies here, especially to the picture of the abstract, psychedelic drawing in the bottom right of the thirds, this will confuse the audience as they will not know what this drawing is about and it is drawing them in so they will understand more about it. The colour of the advertisement is very bland, the background is a grayish colour and the writing is just a plain white, however this leads to its effectiveness as the drawing is extremely colourful and has a variety of colours which will make this stand out on the background even more and will be more likely to attract the viewers attention. It also follows one of Dyers Paradoxes as there is not a band member present on the advertisement page which connotes there star status already, even though it is there debut album as they do not need to be on the advert.
A linguistic device which they have used is a quotation from the NME magazine on supporting there album on a very good review which says,"Passion Pit make the bad go away," which could mean more to it then there music, possibly bad moods and emotions and also decided to use this in there advertisement as a neutral judge. The Artist title 'Passion Pit' can connote that there meaning is that they have a passion for music in there area and would like to display this passion, also the album title, 'chunk of change,' will interest the consumer as they will believe that there has been a change to there music and they will be interested to listen to the difference which they have made.
As this is a newly formed band they have not built up a meta-narrative, however I do believe that the meta-narrative could be formed from this advertisement as meaningful and stand out. They are represented in this advertisement as a very minimalistic group of people which can stand out from other bands due to there artistic flair by building up meaning to the abstract drawing.
This print text maybe consumed in different ways, it can be used in magazines, billboards or Internet sites as side banners or rollovers. They consume it simply by being drawn in by the pictures and the large font of the band name, and then the dominant reading path will take effect, then eventually they would have read all the writing.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
JB - Analysis Of Print Media of Album Cover
The album Cover and Advert which i will be advertising is going to be Arctic Monkeys - Humbug which was released in the U.K on August 24th 2009. The genre of the track is clearly evident as it has the grainy, Polaroid picture effect. Indie albums are always related to the rough, collage styled album covers which look to have a very amateur style to it.
There are a few visual techniques which are used, one of them is that they have used the rule of thirds, the first person you are drawn to is the top left of the rule of thirds, they have done this on purpose as they have given the audience an illusion tactility as they have guided them to the front man, Alex Turner. In turn of this they have now used his arm as a leading line to follow it to the artists name, so they can familiarise themselves with the front man and the band name. The typography of this album name is that it is not on a straight line, which leaves it with a scruffy effect which also connotes the bands representation and will conform with the genre of indie. We notice from the front man that he has his hand over his mouth with him looking like he is laughing, this connotes that the music has a light side to it and has some humour added into it. The lighting levels have not been changed and imperfections have not been touched up in this album cover, this connotes that they are un glamorous and don't want to be associated with the celebrity circuit of the music industry with a photoshopped album cover and want to keep it lo fi, the lighting appears very poor, so it does not show much background, however the lighting is just good enough to have a quite clear view of the artists. There is some white space on this cover, there are two parts to the cover, a large photo and a small photo which looks like it is attached to a wall, this is to give it a simple and minimalistic look to it so it appears effortless. They can follow Dyers paradox as the album cover may look ordinary and amateur, however they are extraordinary through there talent they show on the actual CD which connotes that they are very down to earth and can relate to the consumer, even though they have this very strong talent in music.
This album cover does add to their meta narrative as a very simplistic and rough edged band which coincide well with the indie genre, if you look at previous album covers from the same artists, they have the artists on the front cover, predominantly the lead singer and a very simple artist name and sometimes the album name, the album as well is called 'humbug' which adds to their meta narrative as they are re known for there attitude, the photo which is taken of the band on the album cover however looks like it is rejecting this as Alex Turner looks like he is enjoying himself and looking away playfully. Humbug as well leads to intertexuality, this album name can be ironic intertexuality from the film, 'A Christmas Carol' as Scrooge, one of the characters in the movie, was a very grumpy old man, which connotes that there music is full of attitude, however this could also mean that they are using it playfully in tongue and cheek, it could be contradictory. The consumer can relate to the traits of this album cover as all people would have taken photos using a disposable or Polaroid camera so they can be able to reproduce something which the Arctic Monkeys have made which connotes that the group are not targeting there audience for the upper classes but from middle to lower classes.
There are a few visual techniques which are used, one of them is that they have used the rule of thirds, the first person you are drawn to is the top left of the rule of thirds, they have done this on purpose as they have given the audience an illusion tactility as they have guided them to the front man, Alex Turner. In turn of this they have now used his arm as a leading line to follow it to the artists name, so they can familiarise themselves with the front man and the band name. The typography of this album name is that it is not on a straight line, which leaves it with a scruffy effect which also connotes the bands representation and will conform with the genre of indie. We notice from the front man that he has his hand over his mouth with him looking like he is laughing, this connotes that the music has a light side to it and has some humour added into it. The lighting levels have not been changed and imperfections have not been touched up in this album cover, this connotes that they are un glamorous and don't want to be associated with the celebrity circuit of the music industry with a photoshopped album cover and want to keep it lo fi, the lighting appears very poor, so it does not show much background, however the lighting is just good enough to have a quite clear view of the artists. There is some white space on this cover, there are two parts to the cover, a large photo and a small photo which looks like it is attached to a wall, this is to give it a simple and minimalistic look to it so it appears effortless. They can follow Dyers paradox as the album cover may look ordinary and amateur, however they are extraordinary through there talent they show on the actual CD which connotes that they are very down to earth and can relate to the consumer, even though they have this very strong talent in music.
This album cover does add to their meta narrative as a very simplistic and rough edged band which coincide well with the indie genre, if you look at previous album covers from the same artists, they have the artists on the front cover, predominantly the lead singer and a very simple artist name and sometimes the album name, the album as well is called 'humbug' which adds to their meta narrative as they are re known for there attitude, the photo which is taken of the band on the album cover however looks like it is rejecting this as Alex Turner looks like he is enjoying himself and looking away playfully. Humbug as well leads to intertexuality, this album name can be ironic intertexuality from the film, 'A Christmas Carol' as Scrooge, one of the characters in the movie, was a very grumpy old man, which connotes that there music is full of attitude, however this could also mean that they are using it playfully in tongue and cheek, it could be contradictory. The consumer can relate to the traits of this album cover as all people would have taken photos using a disposable or Polaroid camera so they can be able to reproduce something which the Arctic Monkeys have made which connotes that the group are not targeting there audience for the upper classes but from middle to lower classes.
Friday, 18 September 2009
JB - Responding to a Track
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVkNDe2pnQ4
2. The genre of this tack is predominantly indie, I can tell this as there a full band backing him , the drums and guitars are not synthed, however the way the lyrics are presented could be classified as hip hop as they are not sung but more like a rap.
3. This represents that this is a lo fi track or a hi fi track, it could be taken both ways, as the lyrics at the start are talking about him at his home and describing his life, which come to good effect as lo fi, however as it becomes a narative about travelling to cuba, it could go a step further and be a third person narrative which could deal with a more hi fi video isntead of the 'home video' look to it.
4. There are comparable videos such as Hadouken - Liquid Lives, The streets - Escapist and Example - Who needs sunshine. These videos have a minimal effect where post production effects are barely used, these are useful to us as they can use the small amount of equipment and a low budget which they have and use it as productively as possible.
Example - Who needs sunshine?
Hadouken - Liquid Lives
The Streets - Escapist
5. The budget of the tracks shown, such as Hadouken - Liquid Lives have a very low budget, it is is filmed by a simple handicam and in just one location, a house room, the is effective to this song as the lyrics are about a house party and gives it a lo fi look as it is shaky and minimal post production effects.
6. Boy is fed up with life in England, he likes this girl he has met recently but is to shy to say anything, wants to go Cuba before Fidel Castro dies and wants to take her with him.
7. Suitable locations to film this is at a house, mainly bedroom and living room, a workplace's kitchen, Outside a house in the front garden, and at an airport.
8. A character to use for suitable grain and voice will be white, young male with an indy costume to him.
9.
10. Probably the only other people which could help us with this filming would probably be another girl as a character and a driver as one of us will be the character and the other will be filming if there is a driving scene.
6.
2. The genre of this tack is predominantly indie, I can tell this as there a full band backing him , the drums and guitars are not synthed, however the way the lyrics are presented could be classified as hip hop as they are not sung but more like a rap.
3. This represents that this is a lo fi track or a hi fi track, it could be taken both ways, as the lyrics at the start are talking about him at his home and describing his life, which come to good effect as lo fi, however as it becomes a narative about travelling to cuba, it could go a step further and be a third person narrative which could deal with a more hi fi video isntead of the 'home video' look to it.
4. There are comparable videos such as Hadouken - Liquid Lives, The streets - Escapist and Example - Who needs sunshine. These videos have a minimal effect where post production effects are barely used, these are useful to us as they can use the small amount of equipment and a low budget which they have and use it as productively as possible.
Example - Who needs sunshine?
Hadouken - Liquid Lives
The Streets - Escapist
5. The budget of the tracks shown, such as Hadouken - Liquid Lives have a very low budget, it is is filmed by a simple handicam and in just one location, a house room, the is effective to this song as the lyrics are about a house party and gives it a lo fi look as it is shaky and minimal post production effects.
6. Boy is fed up with life in England, he likes this girl he has met recently but is to shy to say anything, wants to go Cuba before Fidel Castro dies and wants to take her with him.
7. Suitable locations to film this is at a house, mainly bedroom and living room, a workplace's kitchen, Outside a house in the front garden, and at an airport.
8. A character to use for suitable grain and voice will be white, young male with an indy costume to him.
9.
10. Probably the only other people which could help us with this filming would probably be another girl as a character and a driver as one of us will be the character and the other will be filming if there is a driving scene.
6.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
PW - Choosing A Music Track
As the decision date for our track was starting to draw closer, we decided to start narrowing down our ideas so that we could make a well thought out decision on which music track we wanted to use for our music video production. I started to look at boy band tracks but I did not have much success as it seemed like all the good tracks by well known boy bands already had successful music videos, these boy bands were such as Westlife, Backstreet Boys and Boyzone. We then went on to look at artists such as Jamie T, The Streets and Friday Hill. These artists became the three artists in our shortlist. However, after much discussion about what would be best for our group we decided to stick to a Jamie T track. The track we have chosen is called ‘Castro Dies’ by Jamie T. It is a very upbeat track which will suit our ideas. We can now start developing our ideas into a plot treatment and a pitch.
Here is a link to the music track :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVkNDe2pnQ4
Here is a link to the music track :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVkNDe2pnQ4
PW - Auteur Video's
An auteur video is one that has a very unique director who is able to create postmodern videos in their own unique creative style.
'Praise You' by Fatboy Slim was directed by Spike Jonze, he has a unique creativity which shows in the way his videos are produced. They have their own style which makes them unique. 'Praise You' is a very lo-fi video which obviously had a very low budget, which was only $800. However, its effect is massive and does not need so much of a 'glamour' video because its style is so unique. The way that the camera is used to capture all of the dancers in the video is very clever.
His style is so unique that for this video he used himself to star in the video, once he had shown it to Fatboy Slim he was given the go ahead to make it work. The video was so succesful that it won three major awards at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards: It won the Breakthrough Video, Best Direction (awarded to "Torrance Community Dance Group") and Best Choreography (awarded to "Richard Koufey (Spike Jonze)It was also nominated for, but did not win, Best Dance Video.
Here is the link to Fatboy Slims 'Praise You'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ULVQOneeZE
'Praise You' by Fatboy Slim was directed by Spike Jonze, he has a unique creativity which shows in the way his videos are produced. They have their own style which makes them unique. 'Praise You' is a very lo-fi video which obviously had a very low budget, which was only $800. However, its effect is massive and does not need so much of a 'glamour' video because its style is so unique. The way that the camera is used to capture all of the dancers in the video is very clever.
His style is so unique that for this video he used himself to star in the video, once he had shown it to Fatboy Slim he was given the go ahead to make it work. The video was so succesful that it won three major awards at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards: It won the Breakthrough Video, Best Direction (awarded to "Torrance Community Dance Group") and Best Choreography (awarded to "Richard Koufey (Spike Jonze)It was also nominated for, but did not win, Best Dance Video.
Here is the link to Fatboy Slims 'Praise You'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ULVQOneeZE
PW - Music Video Analysis #1
Artist: JLS
Song Name: Beat Again
Producer: Wayne Hector
Genre: Hip Hop/Pop
JLS, also known as ‘Jack the Lads Swing’ are a British based boy band who were formed in 2008, their video ‘Beat Again’ was directed by Jessy Terrero and produced in 2009. The song was very successful on the UK Singles Chart, it debuted at number one, selling 106,299, so the single was the second fastest-selling single of 2009 so far in the UK, behind Dizzee Rascals ‘Bonkers’. In its second week on the chart, it remained at number one, even with a 36% drop in sales, selling 67,731 copies. It has so far sold 301,660 copies in the UK. I am going to be analysing this music video. There are no previous videos by this boy band because they have only just been formed.
Their genre of music is in the pop genre, this specific genre has a number of characteristics that make it unique. In most boy band music videos under this genre, a lot of the video is performance based with only a little amount of narrative. However, this is not always true because there have been videos in the past where boy bands have used just a narrative based video to promote themselves and their song. It is typical for this genre to have the dancers throughout the video and also looking into the camera in a large number of close ups which is continuous throughout.
This music video is all performance based with no narrative involved. However, it can be seen that the boys are singing to the camera in order to make contact with the viewer by singing to them. The main consumer of this video is going to be teenage girls so it was important for JLS to create the right mood for the video.
There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals which is shown very early on in the video. In the first few lines the lyrics say ‘there’s no time’, and simultaneously the boys point to an imaginary watch on their wrists to show what they are singing by making an action. Furthermore, the main action that they use is when they sing ‘Beat Again’ in the chorus and when singing it they use their hands to represent a heartbeat on their chest, this action alludes to the song title and its theme. Also, this action is continuous throughout the whole song when you hear the words, by doing this it creates an iconic look which can then become their trademark action that they can use over and over again when they sing ‘Beat Again’. Therefore the lyric to visual relationship is illustrated and so are linked with one another. I do not think that this video could be considered art, only the fact that they are dancing can possibly make it art but there are no underlying ideas or issues represented in the video, it is purely a commercial video.
The relationship between music and visuals is also strong; the video regularly cuts to the beat which enhances the effect of the video. This also allows the video to change pace to match the music with the help of the dancers who follow the beat of the music with their actions and dance moves.
Some visual techniques are used in the music video to help back up the theme of the song and also the beat of the song. When the dancers stomp their feet the camera slightly shakes to create the effect that they have shaken the room. The biggest visual technique is when the boys look into the camera; this is shot mainly in close up. The close ups are essential in this video as they are the meat of the video; they show the dancers looking into the camera and singing to the audience
The editing of the video has a fast cutting rhythm which cuts with the beat, this is used to keep the rhythm of the video and to keep the consumers attention.
The record company are trying to sell this track to a young audience because the fan base of JLS is mainly the younger age groups. They are trying to create an image for this band which is new and modern. This is the first music video JLS have created so for it to be successful they need to present themselves in the best way possible so that their image is conveyed in the correct way. JLS are reinforcing the dominant ideologies and conventions of a British boyband by using a number of conventional styles and ideas throughout this video. As most boyband music videos use dancing as the main part of their videos JLS have copied this to enhance their own video. They also follow other iconic conventional ideas that other boy bands have used such as smiling, looking into the camera, singing to the audience and using well known dance moves that are easily imitated.
There is a definite sense of sexual display shown in this video. The boy band is dancing in a way that could appeal to girls. As the theme of this music video is about love they can appeal to the opposite sex with ease. Also, the four men are wearing tight t shirts and shirts which show off their muscles. By doing this they are trying to look attractive, therefore by looking attractive they are appealing to the opposite sex. The boys in the boy band are portrayed to be seen as role models, or even for women they could be seen as attractive figures and could well be making good use of ‘macho’ posturing to help sell their brand image.
There is a sense of dismemberment in parts of the video where a couple of the dancers show off their stomachs which could express that they are ‘good looking’ and desirable to girls which ultimately will boost their sales because their fan base will then become larger. However, this does not make them become objects for consumption they are just using themselves as an object to help themselves become more popular. Gender is represented through the way that the boy band is portrayed. They are portrayed to be very handsome and are made to look desirable to the consumer, as they are young men it is a good idea if they aimed their target audience at a young age. This may be because teenage girls and young women have a lot more time to watch TV music channels than any other age group.
This video could be consumed on many of the TV music channels in either ambient or focused viewing. However, I think that it will be consumed a bit more by casual viewing because it is a pop song, its upbeat sound would definitely attract a group of people rather than solo commitment.
Overall I think this music video is very simple but its effect is a lot bigger than most would think. The energetic dancing and choreography makes that video excellent because it attracts the consumer to watch the whole video. As some people just flick through the music channels to find a video rather than sticking to one, I think that this one would stand out.
Here is this music video 'Beat Again' by JLS:
Song Name: Beat Again
Producer: Wayne Hector
Genre: Hip Hop/Pop
JLS, also known as ‘Jack the Lads Swing’ are a British based boy band who were formed in 2008, their video ‘Beat Again’ was directed by Jessy Terrero and produced in 2009. The song was very successful on the UK Singles Chart, it debuted at number one, selling 106,299, so the single was the second fastest-selling single of 2009 so far in the UK, behind Dizzee Rascals ‘Bonkers’. In its second week on the chart, it remained at number one, even with a 36% drop in sales, selling 67,731 copies. It has so far sold 301,660 copies in the UK. I am going to be analysing this music video. There are no previous videos by this boy band because they have only just been formed.
Their genre of music is in the pop genre, this specific genre has a number of characteristics that make it unique. In most boy band music videos under this genre, a lot of the video is performance based with only a little amount of narrative. However, this is not always true because there have been videos in the past where boy bands have used just a narrative based video to promote themselves and their song. It is typical for this genre to have the dancers throughout the video and also looking into the camera in a large number of close ups which is continuous throughout.
This music video is all performance based with no narrative involved. However, it can be seen that the boys are singing to the camera in order to make contact with the viewer by singing to them. The main consumer of this video is going to be teenage girls so it was important for JLS to create the right mood for the video.
There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals which is shown very early on in the video. In the first few lines the lyrics say ‘there’s no time’, and simultaneously the boys point to an imaginary watch on their wrists to show what they are singing by making an action. Furthermore, the main action that they use is when they sing ‘Beat Again’ in the chorus and when singing it they use their hands to represent a heartbeat on their chest, this action alludes to the song title and its theme. Also, this action is continuous throughout the whole song when you hear the words, by doing this it creates an iconic look which can then become their trademark action that they can use over and over again when they sing ‘Beat Again’. Therefore the lyric to visual relationship is illustrated and so are linked with one another. I do not think that this video could be considered art, only the fact that they are dancing can possibly make it art but there are no underlying ideas or issues represented in the video, it is purely a commercial video.
The relationship between music and visuals is also strong; the video regularly cuts to the beat which enhances the effect of the video. This also allows the video to change pace to match the music with the help of the dancers who follow the beat of the music with their actions and dance moves.
Some visual techniques are used in the music video to help back up the theme of the song and also the beat of the song. When the dancers stomp their feet the camera slightly shakes to create the effect that they have shaken the room. The biggest visual technique is when the boys look into the camera; this is shot mainly in close up. The close ups are essential in this video as they are the meat of the video; they show the dancers looking into the camera and singing to the audience
The editing of the video has a fast cutting rhythm which cuts with the beat, this is used to keep the rhythm of the video and to keep the consumers attention.
The record company are trying to sell this track to a young audience because the fan base of JLS is mainly the younger age groups. They are trying to create an image for this band which is new and modern. This is the first music video JLS have created so for it to be successful they need to present themselves in the best way possible so that their image is conveyed in the correct way. JLS are reinforcing the dominant ideologies and conventions of a British boyband by using a number of conventional styles and ideas throughout this video. As most boyband music videos use dancing as the main part of their videos JLS have copied this to enhance their own video. They also follow other iconic conventional ideas that other boy bands have used such as smiling, looking into the camera, singing to the audience and using well known dance moves that are easily imitated.
There is a definite sense of sexual display shown in this video. The boy band is dancing in a way that could appeal to girls. As the theme of this music video is about love they can appeal to the opposite sex with ease. Also, the four men are wearing tight t shirts and shirts which show off their muscles. By doing this they are trying to look attractive, therefore by looking attractive they are appealing to the opposite sex. The boys in the boy band are portrayed to be seen as role models, or even for women they could be seen as attractive figures and could well be making good use of ‘macho’ posturing to help sell their brand image.
There is a sense of dismemberment in parts of the video where a couple of the dancers show off their stomachs which could express that they are ‘good looking’ and desirable to girls which ultimately will boost their sales because their fan base will then become larger. However, this does not make them become objects for consumption they are just using themselves as an object to help themselves become more popular. Gender is represented through the way that the boy band is portrayed. They are portrayed to be very handsome and are made to look desirable to the consumer, as they are young men it is a good idea if they aimed their target audience at a young age. This may be because teenage girls and young women have a lot more time to watch TV music channels than any other age group.
This video could be consumed on many of the TV music channels in either ambient or focused viewing. However, I think that it will be consumed a bit more by casual viewing because it is a pop song, its upbeat sound would definitely attract a group of people rather than solo commitment.
Overall I think this music video is very simple but its effect is a lot bigger than most would think. The energetic dancing and choreography makes that video excellent because it attracts the consumer to watch the whole video. As some people just flick through the music channels to find a video rather than sticking to one, I think that this one would stand out.
Here is this music video 'Beat Again' by JLS:
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
JB - Music Video Analysis #1
Artist: Eminem
Song: 3AM
Director: Syndrome
Genre: Hip Hop
Subgenre: Horrorcore
The video I am analysing is called 3AM by Eminem which was directed by Syndrome in 2009, the genre of this video is hip hop with the subgenre of subgenre which is horrorcore. I decided to use this as it can relate to what song we are doing in our music video, it may not be British or indie whatsoever, but in our song the main type of vocals is rapping, the song is also in a narrative as well and one of the best artists to compare that with is Eminem. The differences are mainly the costume, the vocals are very similar and conform to the hip hop genre, Jamie T’s videos have costume and mise en scene which conforms to Indie. The main conventions of this genre are the way that it is presented through rapping and the backing track is full of hard snares and kick drums. The video conforms to the genre of hip hop as it is very dark and the shots go in time with the beat of the music. The video is Eminem rapping in his alter ego ‘ slim shady’ and is portrayed as a killing spree of him as he tries to escape a rehabilitation centre and murders anyone who stops him.
The relationship between lyrics and visuals is very strong, this is very much a narrative based video and the lyrics are shocking enough as it is, so there is not much need for amplification, such lyrics as, “put my key in the door, bodies laying all over the floor,” as there is a notion of looking as he is walking away and then cuts to a MCU of his feet walking past the dead body as it gives a large shock effect if it is illustrated. It is again illustrated for the usage of drugs, “Holding onto the pill bottle again,” this can conform to the sub genre of horrorcore as horror themed killers normally are subject to drug induced split personas, it also gives another perspective to what has been going on in his life as he has battled drug addiction, but amplified it. There was only one appearance of amplification, which is, “Puts the lotion in the bucket,” which then cuts to a shot of an MS of Eminem in a bathwater of blood, it connotes an increase of shock value to the lyrics, the music video can give good synaesthesia, especially with his grain of voice, at the start of the music video when he says, “there is no escaping,” he has a unique voice that will immediately make you realise as its Eminem as he puts on a slight accent onto it, but as the narrative is proceeding and with the tone of his voice you can have a good sense of subject matter.
There is also a relationship between music and visuals, the video does cut to the beat after the kick drums speed up and then has a screechy synth to bring in the actual beat, when this happens it cuts to Eminem in an MS shot swiping at the camera. The video does change within the music, however there isn’t an increase or decrease, it goes to the beat, during 3 kick drums there is a very fast cutting rhythm and the kick drum is a cue for a transition to another shot, however there are slower followed by fast shots as it does not want to lose its narrative, but is still wants to give a wider view of the incidents.
Interscope are looking to sell this track to people who have a large interest for horror movies, this means that they are aiming to target the audience who are interested in horror movies, which is normally young male adults, this as well is the target for the genre of hip hop. Eminem fans will enjoy this video as it keeps the star motifs and grain of voice, even though there are many inertextual references and in some way different to other Eminem videos due to the mini film look it has about, but he has kept it stereotypical of him. The image of the artist which is being offered is that there are two sides of him, music videos previously of his are very tongue and cheek which regularly mock other artists and they are very comical and light, such as ‘we made you’ that has the artist dress up in many different and amusing costumes mimicking the actions of other artists. However they are saying that there is a different side to him, an alter ego which in fact is dark. The motifs used which have been used previously are to do with him, normally in his videos he either has his top off or has his hood up, but nearly in all his videos he has baggy jeans which are low, however similar to other videos he does name drop a few celebrities, such as Kim Kardashian. He also shows in his music videos his tattoos which conform to characteristics of the hip hop genre, also his grain of voice is very nasally and more fast paced and flowing then other rappers which make him stand out. Also in some of his darker videos previously there is similar mise en scene, such as the video. ‘Cleaning out my closet’ where he is situated in the woods. This video will be mainly consumed in either a communal or solo focused group, people will want to wait on a certain channel, especially the hip hop specialised channels for this to come on as it is mainly a narrative video, so this should be watched from the beginning to the end to understand the meaning of the music video as it can get misleading if watched halfway through, if people watch it communal focused it will socially due to the fact people will want to learn the lyrics, but it will mainly be consumed solo.
The artist is rejecting the dominant ideologies as we believe in our society that murder and should be punished for it, however the artist is going against this as he believes he has a right to murder people that get in his way as he believes there is a just cause in doing it as he is escaping from his rehabilitation centre. In this video he is very much leading the macho look which is portrayed stereotypically within hip hop artists, with subordination he is very much a dominant male with his body language, he is aggressively swaying his arms about and literally swinging them at the camera which connotes his dominance with the open body as he look very intimidating, there is some slight function ranking within the video where there is an MS shot of a nurse, who is in the supportive role of the artist as he is in a rehab clinic. Then there is a notion of looking into the mirror and seeing the artist in the background with a knife which is then connoting that he is in control of the woman and superior to him as he decides her fate.
The artist in some way is on sexual display, such as the final sequence of the video where there is an MS shot him taking his top off and when he is in the woods an MS when it is performance based there is some form of sexual display which is rejecting the concept of this video as it is supposed to be horror related and does not go with the horror conventions, for this sexual display will aim to target the female target group as he has become a sex symbol over the years. The only real way it implies sexual display is through his costume, only when he shows his torso is the only way it portrays it and does not show it through camera work or dance. There is a lot of references to looking in this video, especially through CCTV which conforms well with the concept of the narrative as it is very voyeuristic which connotes that someone is watching him carry out these murders and no one else is about, also the notion of looking is illustrated when there is a LS of a mannequin which has a camera shot through a window and the lyrics are, “kiss the naked mannequin man again, you can see him from the window when you look in.” Also there is a notion of looking of mirror as he is walking away, it gives and added effect to the voyeurism is that there is a bloody handprint on the mirror as he is walking away, this connotes that there has been a struggle from the victim, which is very chilling.
The intertextual references from this music video are predominantly from horror movies, there are very broad and obvious characteristics from a slasher, horror film, very alike to ‘silence of the lambs,’ where there is a lot of gore in the videos where it cuts quickly during the 3 kick drums to give a wider, overall view of what the location like with all the dismembered bodies, also the lyrics, ‘ She puts the lotion in the bucket, she puts the lotion on the skin, before she gets the hose again,’ has been quoted in the film which is famously very creepy. There is also an indirect link to the film Jekyll and Hyde as the editing is very granulated and hazy which can connote that the experiences are very vague and the lyrics are repetitive like, “not again,” meaning that this has not been the first time and connotes that he has an alter ego, similar to the film, Jekyll and Hyde, also in the video it inferences that he changes at a certain time, “its 3AM so you should probably run,” which can relate to old films involving werewolves. It also has a reference to an old fashioned horror film due to its editing effects, they have used an effect which looks like it is being ran by a tape through an old fashioned projector and has a very rigid effect and transitions which are used where one shot is layered on top of the other and is used as a burning through effect such as the 1931 films Dracula, and again Jekyll and Hyde. Overall due to the various filmed which have been included in this music video it could be classified as a use of post modern pastiche due to the fact he decided to take old films from the 1930’s when the majority were predominantly in silent films and has used this to the same effect, except there is sound over the top which makes it slightly different from the silent movies. He has chosen very famous films to use for intertextuality as the audience can identify them well without being a horror film fanatic so even if you are slightly interested in the horror genre you can still understand why he has displayed this in his song.
Overall this video is a dark narrative portrayal of the artist’s alter ego which used illustrative scenes within the video to express the darkness of it all and magnify the significance of him, the oberall effect of this movie which conforms to the subgenre very well is the intertextual references and how it conforms to the genre characteristics of the horror films. Also the way he has not used much amplification is good as it may lose its edge if a lot is put in as they are shocking enough if they are illustrated and more realistic then if they are amplified.
Here is the music video -
Song: 3AM
Director: Syndrome
Genre: Hip Hop
Subgenre: Horrorcore
The video I am analysing is called 3AM by Eminem which was directed by Syndrome in 2009, the genre of this video is hip hop with the subgenre of subgenre which is horrorcore. I decided to use this as it can relate to what song we are doing in our music video, it may not be British or indie whatsoever, but in our song the main type of vocals is rapping, the song is also in a narrative as well and one of the best artists to compare that with is Eminem. The differences are mainly the costume, the vocals are very similar and conform to the hip hop genre, Jamie T’s videos have costume and mise en scene which conforms to Indie. The main conventions of this genre are the way that it is presented through rapping and the backing track is full of hard snares and kick drums. The video conforms to the genre of hip hop as it is very dark and the shots go in time with the beat of the music. The video is Eminem rapping in his alter ego ‘ slim shady’ and is portrayed as a killing spree of him as he tries to escape a rehabilitation centre and murders anyone who stops him.
The relationship between lyrics and visuals is very strong, this is very much a narrative based video and the lyrics are shocking enough as it is, so there is not much need for amplification, such lyrics as, “put my key in the door, bodies laying all over the floor,” as there is a notion of looking as he is walking away and then cuts to a MCU of his feet walking past the dead body as it gives a large shock effect if it is illustrated. It is again illustrated for the usage of drugs, “Holding onto the pill bottle again,” this can conform to the sub genre of horrorcore as horror themed killers normally are subject to drug induced split personas, it also gives another perspective to what has been going on in his life as he has battled drug addiction, but amplified it. There was only one appearance of amplification, which is, “Puts the lotion in the bucket,” which then cuts to a shot of an MS of Eminem in a bathwater of blood, it connotes an increase of shock value to the lyrics, the music video can give good synaesthesia, especially with his grain of voice, at the start of the music video when he says, “there is no escaping,” he has a unique voice that will immediately make you realise as its Eminem as he puts on a slight accent onto it, but as the narrative is proceeding and with the tone of his voice you can have a good sense of subject matter.
There is also a relationship between music and visuals, the video does cut to the beat after the kick drums speed up and then has a screechy synth to bring in the actual beat, when this happens it cuts to Eminem in an MS shot swiping at the camera. The video does change within the music, however there isn’t an increase or decrease, it goes to the beat, during 3 kick drums there is a very fast cutting rhythm and the kick drum is a cue for a transition to another shot, however there are slower followed by fast shots as it does not want to lose its narrative, but is still wants to give a wider view of the incidents.
Interscope are looking to sell this track to people who have a large interest for horror movies, this means that they are aiming to target the audience who are interested in horror movies, which is normally young male adults, this as well is the target for the genre of hip hop. Eminem fans will enjoy this video as it keeps the star motifs and grain of voice, even though there are many inertextual references and in some way different to other Eminem videos due to the mini film look it has about, but he has kept it stereotypical of him. The image of the artist which is being offered is that there are two sides of him, music videos previously of his are very tongue and cheek which regularly mock other artists and they are very comical and light, such as ‘we made you’ that has the artist dress up in many different and amusing costumes mimicking the actions of other artists. However they are saying that there is a different side to him, an alter ego which in fact is dark. The motifs used which have been used previously are to do with him, normally in his videos he either has his top off or has his hood up, but nearly in all his videos he has baggy jeans which are low, however similar to other videos he does name drop a few celebrities, such as Kim Kardashian. He also shows in his music videos his tattoos which conform to characteristics of the hip hop genre, also his grain of voice is very nasally and more fast paced and flowing then other rappers which make him stand out. Also in some of his darker videos previously there is similar mise en scene, such as the video. ‘Cleaning out my closet’ where he is situated in the woods. This video will be mainly consumed in either a communal or solo focused group, people will want to wait on a certain channel, especially the hip hop specialised channels for this to come on as it is mainly a narrative video, so this should be watched from the beginning to the end to understand the meaning of the music video as it can get misleading if watched halfway through, if people watch it communal focused it will socially due to the fact people will want to learn the lyrics, but it will mainly be consumed solo.
The artist is rejecting the dominant ideologies as we believe in our society that murder and should be punished for it, however the artist is going against this as he believes he has a right to murder people that get in his way as he believes there is a just cause in doing it as he is escaping from his rehabilitation centre. In this video he is very much leading the macho look which is portrayed stereotypically within hip hop artists, with subordination he is very much a dominant male with his body language, he is aggressively swaying his arms about and literally swinging them at the camera which connotes his dominance with the open body as he look very intimidating, there is some slight function ranking within the video where there is an MS shot of a nurse, who is in the supportive role of the artist as he is in a rehab clinic. Then there is a notion of looking into the mirror and seeing the artist in the background with a knife which is then connoting that he is in control of the woman and superior to him as he decides her fate.
The artist in some way is on sexual display, such as the final sequence of the video where there is an MS shot him taking his top off and when he is in the woods an MS when it is performance based there is some form of sexual display which is rejecting the concept of this video as it is supposed to be horror related and does not go with the horror conventions, for this sexual display will aim to target the female target group as he has become a sex symbol over the years. The only real way it implies sexual display is through his costume, only when he shows his torso is the only way it portrays it and does not show it through camera work or dance. There is a lot of references to looking in this video, especially through CCTV which conforms well with the concept of the narrative as it is very voyeuristic which connotes that someone is watching him carry out these murders and no one else is about, also the notion of looking is illustrated when there is a LS of a mannequin which has a camera shot through a window and the lyrics are, “kiss the naked mannequin man again, you can see him from the window when you look in.” Also there is a notion of looking of mirror as he is walking away, it gives and added effect to the voyeurism is that there is a bloody handprint on the mirror as he is walking away, this connotes that there has been a struggle from the victim, which is very chilling.
The intertextual references from this music video are predominantly from horror movies, there are very broad and obvious characteristics from a slasher, horror film, very alike to ‘silence of the lambs,’ where there is a lot of gore in the videos where it cuts quickly during the 3 kick drums to give a wider, overall view of what the location like with all the dismembered bodies, also the lyrics, ‘ She puts the lotion in the bucket, she puts the lotion on the skin, before she gets the hose again,’ has been quoted in the film which is famously very creepy. There is also an indirect link to the film Jekyll and Hyde as the editing is very granulated and hazy which can connote that the experiences are very vague and the lyrics are repetitive like, “not again,” meaning that this has not been the first time and connotes that he has an alter ego, similar to the film, Jekyll and Hyde, also in the video it inferences that he changes at a certain time, “its 3AM so you should probably run,” which can relate to old films involving werewolves. It also has a reference to an old fashioned horror film due to its editing effects, they have used an effect which looks like it is being ran by a tape through an old fashioned projector and has a very rigid effect and transitions which are used where one shot is layered on top of the other and is used as a burning through effect such as the 1931 films Dracula, and again Jekyll and Hyde. Overall due to the various filmed which have been included in this music video it could be classified as a use of post modern pastiche due to the fact he decided to take old films from the 1930’s when the majority were predominantly in silent films and has used this to the same effect, except there is sound over the top which makes it slightly different from the silent movies. He has chosen very famous films to use for intertextuality as the audience can identify them well without being a horror film fanatic so even if you are slightly interested in the horror genre you can still understand why he has displayed this in his song.
Overall this video is a dark narrative portrayal of the artist’s alter ego which used illustrative scenes within the video to express the darkness of it all and magnify the significance of him, the oberall effect of this movie which conforms to the subgenre very well is the intertextual references and how it conforms to the genre characteristics of the horror films. Also the way he has not used much amplification is good as it may lose its edge if a lot is put in as they are shocking enough if they are illustrated and more realistic then if they are amplified.
Here is the music video -
PW - Postmodern music videos
Music videos can be considered as being postmodern because there is a lot of intertextuality and bricolage. These music videos set trends, create inspiration for young viewers and the audience copies certain trends and styles that the artist/band shows. The genre of music creates groups within the audience, this is because certain genres convey different styles. However, the postmodern idea can also be considered as negative because some people say that postmodernism is an easy way of creating something new by simply copying other ideas.
JB - Autuer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmfU9jS5lZg
An autuer is when the director has his own creative and personal style, such as tarantino in films, where he has a unique creativity which separates him from other directors for his 'spaced out' feel to his films, such as pulp fiction.
Human by car park north, the autuer's creativity for his unique post modern style is very interesting, especially how he reflects the water off the actors face in a very surreal feel, the way he has placed his transitions can also add to his unique style of post modernism as they cut to shots of other children which connotes a slight feeling over tranquility with it due to a light grey filter over it.
An autuer is when the director has his own creative and personal style, such as tarantino in films, where he has a unique creativity which separates him from other directors for his 'spaced out' feel to his films, such as pulp fiction.
Human by car park north, the autuer's creativity for his unique post modern style is very interesting, especially how he reflects the water off the actors face in a very surreal feel, the way he has placed his transitions can also add to his unique style of post modernism as they cut to shots of other children which connotes a slight feeling over tranquility with it due to a light grey filter over it.
JB - Emap Questions
How do audiences consume music videos
There are different ways in which audiences consume music videos, one of the ways si that they are a casual viewer, which means that they only watch it during an advertisement, only for a few minutes, or are just menu rotating. Passive however is when there is a commitment to the music channel they are watching, whether it is a certain programme they like, or a certain artist, so they have a passion for the music which is being played. There are also people who are called focused and ambient, focused is similar to causal, however, the consumer is more attentive and there is a deeper relationship towards this. Ambient is similar to passive, but there is less surfing, a larger audio appeal, mass appeal and impact repetition. Focused viewing largely attributed to, new songs, favourite artists or a specific programme they are watching. Ambient viewing occurs when there is music in the background, non stop music and to match the mood someone is on. There are also communal and solo consumers, and they also can be ambient and focused. Ambient communal takes place when there are pre-social events or the workplace, ambient solo multimedia sharing, multi tasking and using the TV as radio. With focused communal is dance routines and cheesy favourites, for solo focused it is ‘quick hit’ commercial focus, video hunting and youth magazine.
What considerations has this research raised in terms of planning your production.
This has raised the question in how cheese want it to appeal to your audience, for an ambient audience, our music video will mainly have to be performance based, as it will be easy to flick through the channels for, it would be also good for people in a communal pre social meeting, also in solo ambient people could listen to it like radio as they are multi tasking. However if we wanted to do a narrative emusic video, it would be targest towards the focused group as it has to be watched from the start as the ambient audience will flick to the channel halfway through and would understand the whole meaning of the song. Also if we wanted to produce a dance music video, it would be there would be dance routines involved, this would be appeal more to the communal ambient audience as they would want to learn the dance routines.
There are different ways in which audiences consume music videos, one of the ways si that they are a casual viewer, which means that they only watch it during an advertisement, only for a few minutes, or are just menu rotating. Passive however is when there is a commitment to the music channel they are watching, whether it is a certain programme they like, or a certain artist, so they have a passion for the music which is being played. There are also people who are called focused and ambient, focused is similar to causal, however, the consumer is more attentive and there is a deeper relationship towards this. Ambient is similar to passive, but there is less surfing, a larger audio appeal, mass appeal and impact repetition. Focused viewing largely attributed to, new songs, favourite artists or a specific programme they are watching. Ambient viewing occurs when there is music in the background, non stop music and to match the mood someone is on. There are also communal and solo consumers, and they also can be ambient and focused. Ambient communal takes place when there are pre-social events or the workplace, ambient solo multimedia sharing, multi tasking and using the TV as radio. With focused communal is dance routines and cheesy favourites, for solo focused it is ‘quick hit’ commercial focus, video hunting and youth magazine.
What considerations has this research raised in terms of planning your production.
This has raised the question in how cheese want it to appeal to your audience, for an ambient audience, our music video will mainly have to be performance based, as it will be easy to flick through the channels for, it would be also good for people in a communal pre social meeting, also in solo ambient people could listen to it like radio as they are multi tasking. However if we wanted to do a narrative emusic video, it would be targest towards the focused group as it has to be watched from the start as the ambient audience will flick to the channel halfway through and would understand the whole meaning of the song. Also if we wanted to produce a dance music video, it would be there would be dance routines involved, this would be appeal more to the communal ambient audience as they would want to learn the dance routines.
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