Friday, 20 December 2013
Monday, 16 December 2013
Questionnaire
Recently we made a questionnaire. We put up a post on our group blog about the results we found. We would be grateful for you to take a look:
Results
Results
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Record Label
On our group blog we made a post about a suitable record label for our band please check it out.
Thursday, 5 December 2013
Influences
I believe it would be an interesting read if you would take a look at our musical influences.
Saturday, 30 November 2013
Filming Moodboard
We created a moodboard for the filming process. It was for organisational purpose, it acted as almost a checklist for what was needed. Here it is on our group page.
Saturday, 16 November 2013
Saturday, 9 November 2013
Audience Profile
On our groups blog page we have created an audience profile. We would appreciate it if you would check it out here, thanks:
Profile
Profile
Thursday, 7 November 2013
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Thursday, 17 October 2013
Group Conflict
Checkout our indecisions as a group and conflict over song choice. We both put up our ideas for our song of choice and then made compromises to get the song right for us. This goes through three posts. Check them out below:
Ste's Choice
My Choice
Commpromise
Ste's Choice
My Choice
Commpromise
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Parody & Pastiche
Parody:
Parody is when a media text imitates another media text in a humorous way. It exaggerates certain aspects of the other one to look at it in a funny way. It could be negative or positive as 'just a laugh'. It is done to please the audience and give them a different way of looking at things. Parodies can be done in music videos and movies. A common parody artist is Weird Al Yankovic. He has made parodies of very popular songs including Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' and Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
Parody can also be done with spoof movies such as Scary Movie and Epic Movie, a not so contemporary one would be Spaceballs.
Pastiche:
Unlike parody, pastiche celebrates the previous work it imitates rather than mocking it. Pastiche is a serious imitation and could be seen as a mark of respect to the previous work. It does not have to be visual, it could be the way something is composed, for example Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. It contains lots of various styles all in the one song. It has a heavy rock section, a ballad part that ends in a guitar solo and even an opera section.
Parody is when a media text imitates another media text in a humorous way. It exaggerates certain aspects of the other one to look at it in a funny way. It could be negative or positive as 'just a laugh'. It is done to please the audience and give them a different way of looking at things. Parodies can be done in music videos and movies. A common parody artist is Weird Al Yankovic. He has made parodies of very popular songs including Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' and Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
Parody can also be done with spoof movies such as Scary Movie and Epic Movie, a not so contemporary one would be Spaceballs.
Unlike parody, pastiche celebrates the previous work it imitates rather than mocking it. Pastiche is a serious imitation and could be seen as a mark of respect to the previous work. It does not have to be visual, it could be the way something is composed, for example Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. It contains lots of various styles all in the one song. It has a heavy rock section, a ballad part that ends in a guitar solo and even an opera section.
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Semiotics
The idea of semiotics was brought about by Morris. He said there were 3 ways in which semiotics happen:
1) The Perception Stage: This is when you become aware of a sign
2) Manipulation Stage: This is when the person has interpreted the sign and has decided how to respond
3) Consummation Stage: The response
This theory consists of denotation and connotation. Denotation is the simple meaning of something. For instance what the object is. Connotation is what that object would stand for or what it represents.
An example is the American Flag. Its denotation is that it is just a material with a design that makes up the American flag. Its connotation is that it is America, representing the American dream and freedom.
It could have a negative connotation of corruption and wars.
Music Video: Avenged Sevenfold - So Far Away
This songs semiotics are very emotional and are about grieving, mourning and reminiscence.
The band are driving around where they grew up and has several flashback scenes to when they were teens. The lyrics of the song suggest family/friends who have died. It is a very emotional song and has tribute aspects. In the video Johnny Christ wears a guitar strap with, 'foREVer' on it to remember the death of the band member The Rev.
1) The Perception Stage: This is when you become aware of a sign
2) Manipulation Stage: This is when the person has interpreted the sign and has decided how to respond
3) Consummation Stage: The response
This theory consists of denotation and connotation. Denotation is the simple meaning of something. For instance what the object is. Connotation is what that object would stand for or what it represents.
An example is the American Flag. Its denotation is that it is just a material with a design that makes up the American flag. Its connotation is that it is America, representing the American dream and freedom.
It could have a negative connotation of corruption and wars.
Music Video: Avenged Sevenfold - So Far Away
The band are driving around where they grew up and has several flashback scenes to when they were teens. The lyrics of the song suggest family/friends who have died. It is a very emotional song and has tribute aspects. In the video Johnny Christ wears a guitar strap with, 'foREVer' on it to remember the death of the band member The Rev.
Intertextuality
Linkin Park - Breaking the Habit
Intertextuality: Is the relationship between two texts. It is when one text uses an idea of another text.
Examples of this would be a music video using the same narrative as a movie but with a different spin on it. They pay homage to a previous text.
Popular examples include Ashanti. Ashanti: Foolish uses the narrative of the movie: Goodfellas.
The song above, Breaking the Habit is an example of intertextuality as the music video is done in the style of a different media text. It uses the style of Japanese anime.
Intertextuality may use other texts but it is still a serious production. The music video may pay homage to someones previous work. The Linkin Park video above shows respect and admiration of the anime genre. Although it doesn't reference anything in particular it is still different than a traditional music video.In my own music video I may use intertextuality however it would be in contrast to the way it is used here. I would pay homage to a specific text rather than an entire genre. Mine may stay in the music video realm, thus being similar to Shania Twains homage to Robert Palmer.
Carol Vernallis
Carol Vernallis breaks down her music video theory into four sections:
Narrative:
Camera Movement:
Narrative:
The Linkin Park video's narrative just like the theory does not appear to have a clear structure and the video is driven froward by the music rather than the narrative itself. The video does contain some performance but the main focus does seem to be the narrative however disjointed it may be. It is in contrast to the theory in the sense that it is not a visual response to the music like the theory would suggest. The narrative seems to be very random. The band are just on a distant planet like landscape. Due to the videos random style it does not have any real closure the camera just slowly zooms out.
Editing:
The video has continuity editing to a degree but does then fall under the theory as it loses the continuity throughout the video. Early in the video there is a shot of the artist rapping, then it cuts to a medium shot of him rapping, however a fish as randomly appeared above him. The band members are all in separate locations, then they all just appear in the same place to perform. At 1:13 the editing matched the musical phrase as the background changed in time to the keyword of the line being said. ('one'). At 1:26 there is an obvious edit when the artist says, 'property.' His character acts as if he skipped a beat and shakes.
Camera Movement:
The video contains some extreme long shots. At the end of the video when the music slows down, the cameras movements also slow down to fit in.
Diegesis:
At the beginning of the video the artist is revealed very slowly. Camera shots of him are taken from behind or from far away so you can't focus on his face. There is a brief shot of his face but it is still mysterious. At 0:13 he is finally revealed from behind a statue. Even this is very slow as the prop is in the way of his face. He is slowly revealed but then becomes the main focus. There are many repetitions of close up shots of the artists. Then there are repetition shots of one of the band members legs and middle area as he is walking. The video contains many repeats of plants growing very quickly.
Narrative:
- Not necessarily a balance between narrative and performance
- Narrative is not always complete
- The video is a visual response to the music
- The structure may appear disjointed
- There is something that drives the video forward which isn't usually the main narrative but maybe the music, performance or another element altogether
- May not always be a clear resolution (closure) at the end
- Poses questions that it doesn't answer or in a montage style
- Video may break or disrupt many rules of continuity editing - clear convention of music video editing
- Editing may match musical phrases or the beat
- Editing can become foregrounded - edits may be obvious to draw attention as opposed to continuity editing
- When it comes to shot types, extremes are common
- Style of framing and movement may run through video and is distinctive to that video
- Camera may move on the lyrics
- Camera may move in time with the music
- Master shot used frequently as are close-ups
- May be revealed quite slowly
- Actions not necessarily complete
- Character or objects may move to the music
- May be gaps in audience's understanding of the diegesis
- Frames may be more important than others
- May be many repetitions
I am going to apply this theory to the music video of:
Linkin Park - In The End
Narrative:
The Linkin Park video's narrative just like the theory does not appear to have a clear structure and the video is driven froward by the music rather than the narrative itself. The video does contain some performance but the main focus does seem to be the narrative however disjointed it may be. It is in contrast to the theory in the sense that it is not a visual response to the music like the theory would suggest. The narrative seems to be very random. The band are just on a distant planet like landscape. Due to the videos random style it does not have any real closure the camera just slowly zooms out.
Editing:
The video has continuity editing to a degree but does then fall under the theory as it loses the continuity throughout the video. Early in the video there is a shot of the artist rapping, then it cuts to a medium shot of him rapping, however a fish as randomly appeared above him. The band members are all in separate locations, then they all just appear in the same place to perform. At 1:13 the editing matched the musical phrase as the background changed in time to the keyword of the line being said. ('one'). At 1:26 there is an obvious edit when the artist says, 'property.' His character acts as if he skipped a beat and shakes.
Camera Movement:
The video contains some extreme long shots. At the end of the video when the music slows down, the cameras movements also slow down to fit in.
Diegesis:
At the beginning of the video the artist is revealed very slowly. Camera shots of him are taken from behind or from far away so you can't focus on his face. There is a brief shot of his face but it is still mysterious. At 0:13 he is finally revealed from behind a statue. Even this is very slow as the prop is in the way of his face. He is slowly revealed but then becomes the main focus. There are many repetitions of close up shots of the artists. Then there are repetition shots of one of the band members legs and middle area as he is walking. The video contains many repeats of plants growing very quickly.
Andrew Goodwin
"Music videos ignore common narrative as they are essential advertisements. As consumers, we make up our own meaning of a song in our minds: a music video can anchor meaning and gives the record company/artist a method of anchoring meaning"
Goodwin's theory of music videos consists of six main points:
1. A relationship between the lyrics and visuals, these can illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics
2. Genre related iconography
3. Voyeurism, especially in relationship to females
4. Intertextual references to other media texts may be present
5. Thought Beats: When you see the sound
6. The creation of brand or star image through multiple close ups of the artist or main vocalist.
I used the music video of We Up by 50 Cent ft. Kendrick Lamar to apply this theory to:
1. There is a clear relationship to the lyrics and video. The title of the song is 'We Up' which is used a lot in the song. This references how successful they are which is shown through all of the expensive things in the video. This includes the big house, the swimming pool and cars. There are other more blatant occasions when the relationship is used. One is where 50 Cent says 'cheese' meaning money and at this point in the video there is a woman counting money. Later in the video Kendrick Lamar says he, 'bought a bible.' In the video there is a bible on screen.
2. In terms of genre related iconography the video is quite stereotypical. It contains most things you would expect to see in a hip hop video. He is in a big house with a swimming pool and a view. He is surrounded by provocative looking women. He is wearing lots of 'bling.' There is cash everywhere. He shows off his expensive cars and wears New Era hats.
3. Voyeurism plays a very big part in this music video. There is a wide shot from behind to show a woman walking by the swimming pool, suggesting she doesn't know she is being watched. In contrast of this there is another woman in the same shot in revealing clothes looking directly at the camera. There is a slow motion shot of a woman counting money to emphasize how desirable she is.
4. There is an intertextual reference made to movies with the opening of the video. The music video has opening credits just like a movie with the main actors and the director mentioned. There are also several insert shots of 50 Cents own branded headphones SMS Audio. This may be done to promote is other successful ventures as an entrepreneur.
5. At 2:11 in the video the camera slides down to slowly reveal all of the woman. As this is happening the music also slides down the scale. Just after this the music rises back up and so does the camera but in a different location. It is of a woman walking by the swimming pool outside.
6. Throughout the video there are close ups of the main artist 50 Cent. He is promoting is brand image of being a highly successful rapper. They show off all of the 'bling' he wears and the expensive clothing along with designer shoes. He has always warn New Era New York hats. This may be to show he is still aware of where he has came from on his trip to the top.
I think that Goodwin's theory is perfectly demonstrated by this video. All of the features Goodwin mentioned can be found in this video.
Goodwin's theory of music videos consists of six main points:
1. A relationship between the lyrics and visuals, these can illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics
2. Genre related iconography
3. Voyeurism, especially in relationship to females
4. Intertextual references to other media texts may be present
5. Thought Beats: When you see the sound
6. The creation of brand or star image through multiple close ups of the artist or main vocalist.
I used the music video of We Up by 50 Cent ft. Kendrick Lamar to apply this theory to:
1. There is a clear relationship to the lyrics and video. The title of the song is 'We Up' which is used a lot in the song. This references how successful they are which is shown through all of the expensive things in the video. This includes the big house, the swimming pool and cars. There are other more blatant occasions when the relationship is used. One is where 50 Cent says 'cheese' meaning money and at this point in the video there is a woman counting money. Later in the video Kendrick Lamar says he, 'bought a bible.' In the video there is a bible on screen.
2. In terms of genre related iconography the video is quite stereotypical. It contains most things you would expect to see in a hip hop video. He is in a big house with a swimming pool and a view. He is surrounded by provocative looking women. He is wearing lots of 'bling.' There is cash everywhere. He shows off his expensive cars and wears New Era hats.
3. Voyeurism plays a very big part in this music video. There is a wide shot from behind to show a woman walking by the swimming pool, suggesting she doesn't know she is being watched. In contrast of this there is another woman in the same shot in revealing clothes looking directly at the camera. There is a slow motion shot of a woman counting money to emphasize how desirable she is.
4. There is an intertextual reference made to movies with the opening of the video. The music video has opening credits just like a movie with the main actors and the director mentioned. There are also several insert shots of 50 Cents own branded headphones SMS Audio. This may be done to promote is other successful ventures as an entrepreneur.
5. At 2:11 in the video the camera slides down to slowly reveal all of the woman. As this is happening the music also slides down the scale. Just after this the music rises back up and so does the camera but in a different location. It is of a woman walking by the swimming pool outside.
6. Throughout the video there are close ups of the main artist 50 Cent. He is promoting is brand image of being a highly successful rapper. They show off all of the 'bling' he wears and the expensive clothing along with designer shoes. He has always warn New Era New York hats. This may be to show he is still aware of where he has came from on his trip to the top.
I think that Goodwin's theory is perfectly demonstrated by this video. All of the features Goodwin mentioned can be found in this video.
Friday, 13 September 2013
My Favourite Album Cover
Album Name: Avenged Sevenfold
Release Date: October 26 2007
History Behind Cover: The band felt due to the diverse nature of the music in the album, including hard rock, metal, symphrock and country, that one picture couldnt truely capture what it was all about. Therefore they went with a simplistic cover of just their emblem on a white background.
The album cover denotes a black image of a skull with wings. This connotes the type of music the band represents, which is dark, heavy rock/metal. They have strong references of death hinted at by the skull. Overall they are just a hardcore band. Thus making the cover fit in with the bands ideology.
The bands target audience would be male and females in their teens to twenties. The cover would appeal to them as they know the iconic logo of the band which is on the cover and would get the themes it represents. They'd like to hear hardcore music.
The cover appeals to me as it is very simplistic and straight away I can recognise what band it is due to the emblem even without the band name and album name on the cover. I have been listening to this banc for numerous years and have grown to really like their music. It is still what I like to listen to today even though it was released six years ago.
Dear God
Despite this songs somewhat religious lyrics, it has little to no meaning at all. The song was improvised whilst drunk on vodka then written down in full very quickly. However it does fit in with the story of the cover of the album due to the fact this is a country style song. This is very different to what the band had done previously. It steered away completely from their metal roots.
Album Covers
An album cover is the front packaging of a commercially released audio product, or album.
Brief History:
Alex Steinweiss was hired by Columbia Records in 1938 to be the art director. He is credited with being the creator of the concept of an album cover/artwork. By the late 40s creating an album cover had become very popular and continues to be into more contemporary times.
As technology advanced album covers are not used as much on CDs. Due to iTunes artists no longer need to package their music in CDs but can distribute them electronically. However this has not completely removed CDs. They are still very popular and need artwork on the cover to stand out. Although music is now distributed electronically, you still receive the album cover artwork electronically too and is displayed on your media device when listening to the album.
To a lot of people the album cover does not matter as it is all about the music, however some bands went too far with their covers and lead them to be banned. This includes Kanye West's 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' Due to the sexual act depicted.
Many album covers don't relate to the artist or genre in anyway as some might expect. Here are some examples:
Some don't contain the album name:
Some don't contain the artist name:
However there are some that do follow a certain pattern. A popular one of this would be Daft Punk as a lot of their album covers are the same but in a different colour.
Brief History:
Alex Steinweiss was hired by Columbia Records in 1938 to be the art director. He is credited with being the creator of the concept of an album cover/artwork. By the late 40s creating an album cover had become very popular and continues to be into more contemporary times.
As technology advanced album covers are not used as much on CDs. Due to iTunes artists no longer need to package their music in CDs but can distribute them electronically. However this has not completely removed CDs. They are still very popular and need artwork on the cover to stand out. Although music is now distributed electronically, you still receive the album cover artwork electronically too and is displayed on your media device when listening to the album.
To a lot of people the album cover does not matter as it is all about the music, however some bands went too far with their covers and lead them to be banned. This includes Kanye West's 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' Due to the sexual act depicted.
Many album covers don't relate to the artist or genre in anyway as some might expect. Here are some examples:
Some don't contain the album name:
Some don't contain the artist name:
However there are some that do follow a certain pattern. A popular one of this would be Daft Punk as a lot of their album covers are the same but in a different colour.
Concepts
Checkout our initial concept ideas on our group blog. Here we have discussed a few possible bands that we coud do video for and also a couple of ideas for the video too.
Concept Ideas
Concept Ideas
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Our Group 3 Blog
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
OutKast B.O.B.
B.O.B is a song by Outkast from 2000. It comes from their album, 'Stankonia'.
The music video is directed by Dave Meyers.
Again this hip hop video has typical features with the attractive women wearing hardly any clothes, the cool cars and bling. However this video is a hit as it has a very psychedelic feel to it with the purple grass and green roads and yellow pavement. Again this video promotes party lifestyle and has a very crazy and hectic approach with there being loads of people running everywhere. There is also a party bus again promoting this lifestyle. There is a car with hydraulics suggesting a crazy lifestyle. When performing they are always directly addressing the audience by looking right down the camera. They want to stand out with their bright purple pimp clothes.
Again this hip hop video has typical features with the attractive women wearing hardly any clothes, the cool cars and bling. However this video is a hit as it has a very psychedelic feel to it with the purple grass and green roads and yellow pavement. Again this video promotes party lifestyle and has a very crazy and hectic approach with there being loads of people running everywhere. There is also a party bus again promoting this lifestyle. There is a car with hydraulics suggesting a crazy lifestyle. When performing they are always directly addressing the audience by looking right down the camera. They want to stand out with their bright purple pimp clothes.
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
Billie Jean is a Michael Jackson song from 1982/3 and is from, 'Thriller'
The music video was directed by Steve Barron
The video opens up in a seemingly poor area, this is due to the rubbish blowing everywhere and the homeless man lying behind the bin. The subject of the video enters(MJ). Everywhere he walks and touches lights up. He changed the homeless man in to nice clothes. This suggests that he brings light/goodness everywhere he goes and is liked by all. The video contains seamless transitions and is easy on the eye with the split screening used. Ultimately no one can actually see him but he lights things up as he moves. There is contradiction over what the song refers to but Michael Jackson claimed it was from experiences with groupies.
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
JAY Z - Big Pimpin'
Big Pimpin' is a song by JAY Z from 2000. It is from the album, 'Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter.'
The music video was directed by Hype Williams.
Like a lot of hip hop videos this video too uses the typical features, which include attractive women in bikinis, bling and the rappers being on a boat. The rappers always perform looking directly into or down on the camera. This promotes their authority and high status. The video is shot on a boat in an exotic location which also shows how rich and successful they are. Overall the video promotes their party lifestyle. The video fits in with the song like the title suggests its all about the women. The song also suggests how they can spend money freely without care being bigshots.
Tuesday, 6 August 2013
Eminem - Stan ft Dido
Stan is a 2001/2 song by rapper, Eminem ft Dido. The song comes from 'Marshall Mathers LP.' It is also featured on 'Curtain Call: The Hits.'
The video is directed by Phillip Atwell and Dr Dre.
The video opens up in a house to a couple seeming to have relationship issues. Ultimately the song is about 'Stan' writing to his favourite rapper, 'Eminem' The song relates to the video as the lyrics are his letters to him in rap form. He feels as if Eminem never answers his fans. It causes him to make rash decisions in depression and he locks his girlfriend in the trunk of his car and drives o a bridge ending in tragedy. Eminem writes back when it's too late this is also in the lyrics. The song as an overall dark theme with the old black and white shots before the death. A long with the funeral scene and news reports of the crash.
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Rihanna - Umbrella ft JAY Z
Umbrella is a 2007 song by Rihanna ft JAY Z for her album, 'Good Girl Gone Bad.'
The music video was directed by american music video director Chris Applebaum.
The majority of the video contains little to no camera movement but just a few long continuous shots of the artists in front of a green screen with simulated rain falling on it, which is fitting for the title, Umbrella. The song lyrics are a lot about the rain and how the two friends/ couple could be under one umbrella. This connotes togetherness. The video features lots of water effects to continue the theme of rain. Like a lot of pop/R&B songs the video featured the dancing of seductive women. The video is well choreographed to have such long shots of dancing scenes.
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Music and Me: Class Discussion
In todays lesson we had a discussion about our progression of music taste from our childhood. A lot of us said that our music was largely influenced from the mainstream pop we had seen on television and the effect of our parents taste in music. In our early childhood people enjoyed to listen to pop artists such as Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears.
A few years ago as a child I remember buying CDs from common music shop, (Virgin Megastores)
and the occasional vinyl with my dad. Nowadays with the advancement in technology and online services I don't even leave the house to buy my music. I will buy the occasional CD for nostalgic and collectibles purposes.
Over the years many peoples influences has gone away from the mainstream pop genre and the classic rock influence of their parents. People have moved with the times and listen to more contemporary genres such as techno. People still however like their rock roots but go with different sub genres such as alternative and metal. Hip hop and rap has remained quite a popular choice.
My particular taste in music has changed a lot. It has gone from the post-brit pop of Coldplay to the alternative metal and post grunge of Breaking Benjamin. A lot of my music taste I have find via the internet with little influence from friends. I have realised that my taste in music a long with many other peoples has changed due to passing of time in to the modern culture we have. However some classic bands may remain popular.
Another band that I am into currently is Disturbed:
I particularly like Joel's music and me post. I think this is because he reminded me a little of my own past and a little of my current taste in music.
A few years ago as a child I remember buying CDs from common music shop, (Virgin Megastores)
and the occasional vinyl with my dad. Nowadays with the advancement in technology and online services I don't even leave the house to buy my music. I will buy the occasional CD for nostalgic and collectibles purposes.
Over the years many peoples influences has gone away from the mainstream pop genre and the classic rock influence of their parents. People have moved with the times and listen to more contemporary genres such as techno. People still however like their rock roots but go with different sub genres such as alternative and metal. Hip hop and rap has remained quite a popular choice.
My particular taste in music has changed a lot. It has gone from the post-brit pop of Coldplay to the alternative metal and post grunge of Breaking Benjamin. A lot of my music taste I have find via the internet with little influence from friends. I have realised that my taste in music a long with many other peoples has changed due to passing of time in to the modern culture we have. However some classic bands may remain popular.
Another band that I am into currently is Disturbed:
I particularly like Joel's music and me post. I think this is because he reminded me a little of my own past and a little of my current taste in music.
Friday, 5 July 2013
Auteur Theory - Tyler, The Creator and Chris Cunningham
Tyler, The Creator:
Tyler aka Wolf Haley is a 22 year old American rapper and music producer. Tyler is a very successful rapper with both of his albums receiving generally positive reviews. Tyler is the a member and the founder of the hip hop collective Odd Future. Tyler likes to design all of the artwork for releases by all of the Odd Future members a long with arranging their costume for videos. Despite his age Tyler is a prominent music director. He directs all of his own music videos and has directed one of Earl Sweatshirt's videos as well.
You can definitely tell that Tyler is an auteur. He has a trademark eye edit in almost all of his videos, that makes him seem very cartoon like and makes his eyes big and all black. His music videos generally have weird and dark themes.
In his video Yonkers, it is all in black and white and on screen he eats a cockroach and throws up. You can clearly tell a Tyler video from anything else as he uses very original ideas that would not have been seen before.
Tyler is usually the main focus of all the videos he directs unless he is directing someone else's song then he makes them the focus. In this Earl Sweatshirt video, WHOA, Tyler displays lots of signature elements. His video is very surreal. He uses eye edits in almost all of his videos. He has similar costume running through his videos. This has the weird/dark theme of the artist waking up in a very unpleasant looking trailer. The video is surreal in the sense of using an old ballerina dancer dancing on top of cars which is not what you would expect. Running through a lot of his videos he promotes the buzzword 'GOLF' on caps he wears. This is to promote his persona.
Chris Cunningham:
Chris Cunningham is a British director who has directed commercials for Playstation and Nissan. He is very well known and successful. He has directed music videos for Aphex Twin which perhaps are his best known work as well as directing a video for Bjork. He also directed Frozen by Madonna which is a very popular video.
Chris Cunningham is clearly an example of auteur due to the weird nature of his videos. An example of this would be his commercial, 'Mental Wealth' for Playstation. In this video it is just a girl alone in a room. She seems pretty isolated and looks like she is being watched on a security camera. The room looks pretty cold and a horrible place to be in which creates creepy vibes. This creepy mood is heightened by the creepy nature of the girl in the video. Her head looks very alien like and she has a very creepy laugh at the end.
In Madonnas video Frozen, the dark nature of his videos continues, this video is very dark on a very broad bare landscape with the artist in all black clothing with black hair. Her head is tilted down as her eyes are looking up at the camera which makes her seem very scary. In this video his technical skills with cameras and editing is shown by the artist falling over and turning in to flying birds. This again promotes the creepy nature of his videos.
Tyler aka Wolf Haley is a 22 year old American rapper and music producer. Tyler is a very successful rapper with both of his albums receiving generally positive reviews. Tyler is the a member and the founder of the hip hop collective Odd Future. Tyler likes to design all of the artwork for releases by all of the Odd Future members a long with arranging their costume for videos. Despite his age Tyler is a prominent music director. He directs all of his own music videos and has directed one of Earl Sweatshirt's videos as well.
You can definitely tell that Tyler is an auteur. He has a trademark eye edit in almost all of his videos, that makes him seem very cartoon like and makes his eyes big and all black. His music videos generally have weird and dark themes.
In his video Yonkers, it is all in black and white and on screen he eats a cockroach and throws up. You can clearly tell a Tyler video from anything else as he uses very original ideas that would not have been seen before.
Tyler is usually the main focus of all the videos he directs unless he is directing someone else's song then he makes them the focus. In this Earl Sweatshirt video, WHOA, Tyler displays lots of signature elements. His video is very surreal. He uses eye edits in almost all of his videos. He has similar costume running through his videos. This has the weird/dark theme of the artist waking up in a very unpleasant looking trailer. The video is surreal in the sense of using an old ballerina dancer dancing on top of cars which is not what you would expect. Running through a lot of his videos he promotes the buzzword 'GOLF' on caps he wears. This is to promote his persona.
Chris Cunningham:
Chris Cunningham is a British director who has directed commercials for Playstation and Nissan. He is very well known and successful. He has directed music videos for Aphex Twin which perhaps are his best known work as well as directing a video for Bjork. He also directed Frozen by Madonna which is a very popular video.
Chris Cunningham is clearly an example of auteur due to the weird nature of his videos. An example of this would be his commercial, 'Mental Wealth' for Playstation. In this video it is just a girl alone in a room. She seems pretty isolated and looks like she is being watched on a security camera. The room looks pretty cold and a horrible place to be in which creates creepy vibes. This creepy mood is heightened by the creepy nature of the girl in the video. Her head looks very alien like and she has a very creepy laugh at the end.
In Madonnas video Frozen, the dark nature of his videos continues, this video is very dark on a very broad bare landscape with the artist in all black clothing with black hair. Her head is tilted down as her eyes are looking up at the camera which makes her seem very scary. In this video his technical skills with cameras and editing is shown by the artist falling over and turning in to flying birds. This again promotes the creepy nature of his videos.
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Music and Me
Childhood:
This song I particularly remember from my childhood as it was a band my mum loved and always had CDs of. I think this song was a favourite and is the one I remember most. It reminds me of us having parties with lots of food and bouncy castles.
The Beautiful South - Perfect 10
First Concert / Dad:
This band, Oasis was a band I loved together with my dad, even though not so much anymore we still occasionally listen to them. It is one of the only musical tastes I share with my dad and it reminds me of staying with him. These were also the first band I saw live at a concert which is a special moment.
Oasis - Whatever
This is another band both me and my dad like and I also went to see them in concert.
Coldplay - Trouble
Now:
Now I listen to Alternative Metal/Post Grunge bands such as Breaking Benjamin and Disturbed. This shows how over time my music taste has evolved. This song is by Breaking Benjamin and is a band I listen to almost daily.
Breaking Benjamin - I Will Not Bow
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
2nd Effective Music Video
Instant Impact:
The video has an instant impact as it is unconventional. It starts off with a white background and a silhouette of a man sitting on a chair. It is not stereotypical of a hip hop track. Other reasons it has an instant impact is that it uses lots of focus pulls and contains somewhat disturbing images of the artist eating a cockroach then being sick so it certainly provokes a reaction. However when he is sick it is in silhouette form. It also provokes a reaction as at the end of the video he hangs himself and cuts out with a close up shot of his legs swinging.
Non Linear Editing:
The video does not use any non linear editing. The video is shot in one long shot at the same location. The performer is just sitting there on a chair.
Repetitions:
The video contains repetitions in the way it uses a lot of focus pulls. The artist is also in silhouette form a couple of times. This could suggest there is a side to him you don't know. The artist also directs the video and like to put effects on his eyes, this involves him blinking a lot and having all black eyes.
Strong Sense of Artist Identity:
There is a sense of artist identity as in a lot of his videos he uses creepy themes and tones. He also has an effect on his eyes that make them all black, when using this effect he blinks a lot and shakes uncomfortably. When seeing a video you can tell immediately it's him.
Performing:
Tyler, is performing all the way through the video, this makes his videos unconventional. He performs whilst acting out the narrative. \this is effective as it keeps you engaged in the video and interested.
Visual Pleasures:
The video uses a lot of focus pulls which keeps you alert in the video, and silhouettes. The video is in black and white but does contain a lot of shine for viewing pleasure. The recording is really high quality it almost appears to not be in black and white.
Wow Factor:
The video definitely has a wow factor. This is due to its creepiness. It contains cockroaches and uncomfortable shaking and even the artist hanging himself with suicidal themes in the lyrics. The camera uses a perspective control lens. This allows the camera to change your perspective of him without the need for re positioning, this is used in the focus pulls at the beginning and the synced zoom ins at the end of the chair on the floor.
Works on different levels:
The song works on different levels as you can see Tyler performing throughout the video however there are verses which he doesn't perform in the video that are performed by him. This is his alter ego Wolf Haley. This suggests a split personality problem. This is backed up through the general chaotic nature of his emotions in the lyrics. He sees all the bad stuff going on but then doesn't care. He talks about 'adventure time' which could refer to doing drugs. His emotions are all over the place, he talks about seeing his therapist but doesn't see the point in it. He ultimately kills himself to get away.
Monday, 1 July 2013
What makes an effective music video?
The video has a huge instant impact due to it's general chaotic nature. The song title, 'Nightmare' ties in to the concept of the video which is why the video remains in your head. The music starts of slow and intense with a man getting tied down to a hospital bed. Some parts provoke a reaction as they are generally creepy for example when little children are playing with a basketball in blood.
Non-Linear Editing:
At the beginning the video contains a lot of jump cuts between the narrative taken place at a hospital and each member performing individually. Although the two are never interwoven the same band members who perform are seen in the hospital narrative. This would hint at it being a 'nightmare' just like the title. The narrative connotes fear due to the children covered in blood, the massive spiders moving around the hospital and the general franticness of the camera work and the movement of the hospital bed. The parallel editing of the performance helps introduce and juxtapose the band members into the hospital(nightmare). The video uses unusual camera placement such as a handheld camera under the hospital bed.Repetitions:
The song always uses the same shot of the artists performing its a medium shot with a black background. This helps introduce the artists as characters into the nightmare. The video uses lots of creepy imagery. There are a lot of high angle shots of the artist in the hospital bed which suggests he has no control.
Strong sense of artist identity:The video always features jump cuts to the artist performing. They are playing their instruments with a black background giving them dark connotations which they are as a heavy metal band.
Visual Pleasures:The video uses a lot of fade cuts which adds to the viewers pleasure of being consumed and lost in the song. The main singer is looking directly at the audience whilst performing further engaging them.
Wow Factor:
The video certainly has a wow factor with the general creepiness of the video and definitely stays in the mind much after watching. The creepiness provokes a reaction of disgust at times with the children covered in blood and the brains on show and the general fear promoted through the mise en scene of psychopaths and tarantulas.
The video could work on different levels and suggests grief, as the bands drummer had died around the time. The nightmare theme could suggest they wish it was all a dream and all of the blood in the video connotes death as well as the hospital itself.
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Blog Brief and Introduction
In Media for A2 the final products I will have to make are:
A Music Video
A CD cover
A Promotional Poster
On my blog you will find all of my research I have done in to music videos. This research will be on different theories of music videos and how they represent the song. The research I will do will help when I am creating my own music video which you will also find on here once completed. What I post on this blog will be from set tasks throughout the course and of my own intuition.
I think I will be likely to include a lot of Hip Hop and rock music videos on here as they are my favourite genres. This will be helpful as it will really gain my interest more than any other genres. That way I can achieve my full potential. Rock is my favourite genre of the two and I can see my music video being of this genre. As this is my favourite I have already seen hundreds of rock music videos over the years which will be in mind upon embarking this project.
Rock and its sub genres tend to have dark themes in their music videos. I wouldn't say I am depressed or a dark person but I find them sort of videos very intriguing and entertaining.
Here is an example:
Here is a Slipknot promotional poster. When it comes to our group making a poster, I would like it to follow this trend.
That being simply just the title, date and image in between.
I am obviously a big fan of the rock genre and sub-genre. Throughout the year I will be focusing on this genre, and will try to follow a lot of its codes and conventions.
A Music Video
A CD cover
A Promotional Poster
On my blog you will find all of my research I have done in to music videos. This research will be on different theories of music videos and how they represent the song. The research I will do will help when I am creating my own music video which you will also find on here once completed. What I post on this blog will be from set tasks throughout the course and of my own intuition.
I think I will be likely to include a lot of Hip Hop and rock music videos on here as they are my favourite genres. This will be helpful as it will really gain my interest more than any other genres. That way I can achieve my full potential. Rock is my favourite genre of the two and I can see my music video being of this genre. As this is my favourite I have already seen hundreds of rock music videos over the years which will be in mind upon embarking this project.
Rock and its sub genres tend to have dark themes in their music videos. I wouldn't say I am depressed or a dark person but I find them sort of videos very intriguing and entertaining.
Here is an example:
Here is a Slipknot promotional poster. When it comes to our group making a poster, I would like it to follow this trend.That being simply just the title, date and image in between.
I am obviously a big fan of the rock genre and sub-genre. Throughout the year I will be focusing on this genre, and will try to follow a lot of its codes and conventions.
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