Alex / Matt
You are meeting deadlines and I can see your idea developing, however Alex, your analysis is currently 3+ level and Matt 4-. According to my notes, you still ned to improve on the mood board response and Alex - your technical analysis is for a previous video analysed? You need to have done 3 different videos across your product research.
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Friday, 28 November 2008
cKy - Familar Realm
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=B4SfCiPosk4 (Embedding disabled by request)
Although this video is not what we want in terms of narrative or performance shots, the video shows an unconventional colour scheme change at 2.11 of the video. We could use a similar effect in our video to create the American edge we need to create.
Although this video is not what we want in terms of narrative or performance shots, the video shows an unconventional colour scheme change at 2.11 of the video. We could use a similar effect in our video to create the American edge we need to create.
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Technical Analyis Research
The aim of a technical analysis was to look at the cuts made in music videos, what is captured in each shot and the representation of each shot. I chose a song which has already come up in our research which includes ideas of the kind of music video in which we hope to achieve. The song is by The Explosion and is called 'Here I Am.'
The beginning f the song is a narrative of a skateboarder who exits a house and jumps on his board in a city in a rush to attempt to spread some leaflets advertising a band. These skateboarding shots are put together well with many jump shots for example at 00:36 seconds through when the skateboarder goes up the grass bank, on the way down there are two jump cuts. This moves the action on, and makes the viewing of the music video ambient as the audience don't see everything. This can help for repeatability because by the end of the video they can feel they have missed out on certain aspects of the video which in this case would be the skill of the skateboarding. I found that the background and mise-en-scene of what is included in the shot is also important in the shot for example in one of the skaeboarding shots there are posters on the wall behind him which conveys the edvertisement in live music in the area which helps to understand the narrative of the video.
The performance shots can help to relate the consumers to the band and the way they are represented though shot can apeal to the terget audience. The use of close ups on the main singer and the use of a first person mode of addrress crerates a parasocial intamacy with the audience.
Transitions are important in music videos as they can help to convey the tempo of the song and create a mood, for example this music video with in the first five seconds uses jump cuts which helps to convey that the both the song and the music video is going to be fast moving and up beat. Other transitions used helps to differentiate between sections of the music video. This is done between performance shots and narrative shots where by when there is a switch, a flash transition is used to seperate the sections which helps the audience to understand the music video better. However when the music video switched from the narratie section to the performance shot a clever transition is used where the camera zooms in on to the poster that the skater has placed on the street. The camera moves towards the poster then fills the shot. Here special effects have to be used in order to make a smooth transitions so that it looks like the picture of the poster is moving. Capturing this sort of shot in our music video i thi9nk would prove difficult but if achieved would make a focal point of the video.
By doing a technical analysis and deconstructing a music video it has helped me to understand the task that has been set. By choosing the video i did, i think it has helped me to picture my own shots for the music videos with ideas about how to shoot skateboarding, the locations i would use and the type of performance shots which enhance the artists to convey their image to appeal to their target audience.
The beginning f the song is a narrative of a skateboarder who exits a house and jumps on his board in a city in a rush to attempt to spread some leaflets advertising a band. These skateboarding shots are put together well with many jump shots for example at 00:36 seconds through when the skateboarder goes up the grass bank, on the way down there are two jump cuts. This moves the action on, and makes the viewing of the music video ambient as the audience don't see everything. This can help for repeatability because by the end of the video they can feel they have missed out on certain aspects of the video which in this case would be the skill of the skateboarding. I found that the background and mise-en-scene of what is included in the shot is also important in the shot for example in one of the skaeboarding shots there are posters on the wall behind him which conveys the edvertisement in live music in the area which helps to understand the narrative of the video.
The performance shots can help to relate the consumers to the band and the way they are represented though shot can apeal to the terget audience. The use of close ups on the main singer and the use of a first person mode of addrress crerates a parasocial intamacy with the audience.
Transitions are important in music videos as they can help to convey the tempo of the song and create a mood, for example this music video with in the first five seconds uses jump cuts which helps to convey that the both the song and the music video is going to be fast moving and up beat. Other transitions used helps to differentiate between sections of the music video. This is done between performance shots and narrative shots where by when there is a switch, a flash transition is used to seperate the sections which helps the audience to understand the music video better. However when the music video switched from the narratie section to the performance shot a clever transition is used where the camera zooms in on to the poster that the skater has placed on the street. The camera moves towards the poster then fills the shot. Here special effects have to be used in order to make a smooth transitions so that it looks like the picture of the poster is moving. Capturing this sort of shot in our music video i thi9nk would prove difficult but if achieved would make a focal point of the video.
By doing a technical analysis and deconstructing a music video it has helped me to understand the task that has been set. By choosing the video i did, i think it has helped me to picture my own shots for the music videos with ideas about how to shoot skateboarding, the locations i would use and the type of performance shots which enhance the artists to convey their image to appeal to their target audience.
Evaluation Of Technical Deconstruction
By analysing a song of the same genre ('Blink 182 - First Date') I was able to see how quick the cuts were in relation to the beat of the song, and also see how many shots my group was going to have to take to create a well constructed rock video.
The beginning of the song opens with a performance close-up shot of the drummer playing the intro to the song, this immediately creates 'Blink 182' authentic band status to their audience, this is reinforced through cuts to further medium shots of the band performing in a constructed home studio set. Some of the close-up shots of the frontman also link the bands comical lyrics to the comical performance shown by him. After the first ten shots of performance based shots, the video cuts to a narrative but their are breaks in the narrative after every seven shots or so, that cut back to the home studio set where the band are shown performing to the song again. By repeating the performance shots every so often the band appeal to their target audience as they want to see them perform, but also make the video available to ambient viewing as the consumer only has to watch the video briefly to establish the comical narrative and rock band status Blink 182 portray in the video.
The first ten shots (0.13) show only performance based shots, but shot ten cuts to a medium shot of an urban area establishing the narrative location in the song, the band's van is also shown tearing across the screen in this shot emphasising rocks conventions of breaking rules. By establishing the location the audience are able to see where, what and when the narrative is trying to tell. The narrative side is shown as comical through the costumes, and the overcranked reaction shots showing the band pulling dull and humurous facial expressions. Overcranking is also used in medium shots and dismembered close-ups of women focusing on their body and seductive poses.
Within the first seventy-five shots i covered (within 1.22) three different transissions were used, one is just a straight matched cut, the other was an effect is where the cut opens like a camera lens, and the third was where the transission changes through a clock-work motion until onto a different shot. All of these could be incorporated into our video for 'Disengage The Simulator' as well as the transissions of the poster work in 'The Explosion - Here I Am'.
Through deconstructing each shot in this video I was able to establish how many shots were actually used in such a short space of time, and how the transissions work effectively from performance to narrative based shots.
The beginning of the song opens with a performance close-up shot of the drummer playing the intro to the song, this immediately creates 'Blink 182' authentic band status to their audience, this is reinforced through cuts to further medium shots of the band performing in a constructed home studio set. Some of the close-up shots of the frontman also link the bands comical lyrics to the comical performance shown by him. After the first ten shots of performance based shots, the video cuts to a narrative but their are breaks in the narrative after every seven shots or so, that cut back to the home studio set where the band are shown performing to the song again. By repeating the performance shots every so often the band appeal to their target audience as they want to see them perform, but also make the video available to ambient viewing as the consumer only has to watch the video briefly to establish the comical narrative and rock band status Blink 182 portray in the video.
The first ten shots (0.13) show only performance based shots, but shot ten cuts to a medium shot of an urban area establishing the narrative location in the song, the band's van is also shown tearing across the screen in this shot emphasising rocks conventions of breaking rules. By establishing the location the audience are able to see where, what and when the narrative is trying to tell. The narrative side is shown as comical through the costumes, and the overcranked reaction shots showing the band pulling dull and humurous facial expressions. Overcranking is also used in medium shots and dismembered close-ups of women focusing on their body and seductive poses.
Within the first seventy-five shots i covered (within 1.22) three different transissions were used, one is just a straight matched cut, the other was an effect is where the cut opens like a camera lens, and the third was where the transission changes through a clock-work motion until onto a different shot. All of these could be incorporated into our video for 'Disengage The Simulator' as well as the transissions of the poster work in 'The Explosion - Here I Am'.
Through deconstructing each shot in this video I was able to establish how many shots were actually used in such a short space of time, and how the transissions work effectively from performance to narrative based shots.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
The Explosion - Here I Am
The video for 'The Explosion' - Here I Am' includes aspects of performance shots and skating shots that we want to include in our video for 'Disengage The Simulator'. Because of the weather differences between America and England, we will have to shoot our video using night shots to create the right mood for the song.
Monday, 24 November 2008
Audeince Research Feedback
After playing our track twice and allowing time to write, we allowed a discussion to commence to allow the audience to express their opinions on the song, while Alex and I made notes. We collected qualatitive data which will help us when developing ideas and storyboarding.
Here are the questions we asked, and the feedback we recieved from our group discussion.
1) What images come to mind when listening to this track?
- Over-Cranking, Skateboarding, night shots, stage (performance) shots, breaking the 4th wall with a first person mode of address, fade transitions, black and white filter and common use of HCA + LCA.
2) What key words come to mind after hearing this track?
- 'Fun', 'Chilling', 'Drinking', 'Skating', 'Relaxing', 'Dreaming', 'Good Times'.
3) Have you seen any similar (same genre) track video's recently, what did you like about them?
- cKy - Familiar Values. The video gives a mix of narrative and performance shots, they use a first person mode of adress, and the unconventional colour schemes give it an edgy feel as well as the unconventional (of rock genre) choreographed dance routine.
4) Would you incorporate performance shots or a narrative sructure, or aspects of both? Why?
- Performance + Narrative as it meets conventions of both the band and of the genre, it makes it available for repetition and audiences of the genre like to see a link between the lyrics and the visuals.
5) What is your favourite music video and why?
- Slipknot - Duality. It uses half performance and half narrative, it creates a narrative fuzz, it is available to repetition , there is a link between the lyrics and the visuals, and their is no breaking of the 4th wall.
- Every Time I Die - The New Black. It doesn't make itself clear the first time you watch it so you want to watch it again (repetition), but it also establishes the bands rock status and comical factor they have.
6) Have you any track suggestions similar to what you have just heard?
- The Explosion - Here i am
Conclusion
From our audience research Alex and I recieved information and feedback that allowed us to narrow down what both us (producers) and our audience (consumer) feel is necessary to include in our video to make it successful to our target audience. Through question '1' we were able to see what we should include in our video in terms of visuals and how it should be constructed through images, this will help us develop our storyboard and expand our ideas of the song. Question '2' however is different in that it was used to determine what sort of mood the song conveys, and what visuals we can use to portray this. Question '4' has answered our plagueing question of whether to include a narrative within the video or keep it strictly performance based, through discussions with Alex, we have decided to use a 'skating' concept where the narrative is constructed through skating shots in urban locations. Qustions '3', '5' and '6' have helped us to understand the genre and what is expected from it in terms of visuals. Both 'cKy - Familiar Values' and 'Explosion - Here I Am' have shown aspects we wish to include within our video, and they include; skating shots through city locations; performance shots on a plain background or on stage; and odd colour schemes through parts of the video.
Here are the questions we asked, and the feedback we recieved from our group discussion.
1) What images come to mind when listening to this track?
- Over-Cranking, Skateboarding, night shots, stage (performance) shots, breaking the 4th wall with a first person mode of address, fade transitions, black and white filter and common use of HCA + LCA.
2) What key words come to mind after hearing this track?
- 'Fun', 'Chilling', 'Drinking', 'Skating', 'Relaxing', 'Dreaming', 'Good Times'.
3) Have you seen any similar (same genre) track video's recently, what did you like about them?
- cKy - Familiar Values. The video gives a mix of narrative and performance shots, they use a first person mode of adress, and the unconventional colour schemes give it an edgy feel as well as the unconventional (of rock genre) choreographed dance routine.
4) Would you incorporate performance shots or a narrative sructure, or aspects of both? Why?
- Performance + Narrative as it meets conventions of both the band and of the genre, it makes it available for repetition and audiences of the genre like to see a link between the lyrics and the visuals.
5) What is your favourite music video and why?
- Slipknot - Duality. It uses half performance and half narrative, it creates a narrative fuzz, it is available to repetition , there is a link between the lyrics and the visuals, and their is no breaking of the 4th wall.
- Every Time I Die - The New Black. It doesn't make itself clear the first time you watch it so you want to watch it again (repetition), but it also establishes the bands rock status and comical factor they have.
6) Have you any track suggestions similar to what you have just heard?
- The Explosion - Here i am
Conclusion
From our audience research Alex and I recieved information and feedback that allowed us to narrow down what both us (producers) and our audience (consumer) feel is necessary to include in our video to make it successful to our target audience. Through question '1' we were able to see what we should include in our video in terms of visuals and how it should be constructed through images, this will help us develop our storyboard and expand our ideas of the song. Question '2' however is different in that it was used to determine what sort of mood the song conveys, and what visuals we can use to portray this. Question '4' has answered our plagueing question of whether to include a narrative within the video or keep it strictly performance based, through discussions with Alex, we have decided to use a 'skating' concept where the narrative is constructed through skating shots in urban locations. Qustions '3', '5' and '6' have helped us to understand the genre and what is expected from it in terms of visuals. Both 'cKy - Familiar Values' and 'Explosion - Here I Am' have shown aspects we wish to include within our video, and they include; skating shots through city locations; performance shots on a plain background or on stage; and odd colour schemes through parts of the video.
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Track Discussion, feat. Matt & Alex.
Track discussion:
Matt: The track we have chosen (cKy - Disengage The Simulator) has proposed a couple of problems, one being the fact it has an existing performance based video, and two being that the band are American, and the track has a very American feel to it.
Alex: Yes, but we can counter the problem of American summer weather with the use of lighting devices or using night shots.
Matt: If the video-shop programme offers some good lighting effects i am happy having a look to see what we can achieve, but night shots look quite promising. Alternatively there are several other 'cKy' songs that do not have a video, and do not feel quite as American.
Alex: 'Rio Bravo' by 'cKy' has shown potential to be a good video, but our mood-boards will have to be changed to suit our ideas behind the track.
Team Conclusion: We have decided to stick with 'cKy - Disengage The Simulator' because we can solve the American feel with the use of night shots, and we think these will be effective in making a good video.
Matt: The track we have chosen (cKy - Disengage The Simulator) has proposed a couple of problems, one being the fact it has an existing performance based video, and two being that the band are American, and the track has a very American feel to it.
Alex: Yes, but we can counter the problem of American summer weather with the use of lighting devices or using night shots.
Matt: If the video-shop programme offers some good lighting effects i am happy having a look to see what we can achieve, but night shots look quite promising. Alternatively there are several other 'cKy' songs that do not have a video, and do not feel quite as American.
Alex: 'Rio Bravo' by 'cKy' has shown potential to be a good video, but our mood-boards will have to be changed to suit our ideas behind the track.
Team Conclusion: We have decided to stick with 'cKy - Disengage The Simulator' because we can solve the American feel with the use of night shots, and we think these will be effective in making a good video.
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Audience Research Planning
Methodology:
By using qualatitive research we can obtain focused group opinions allowing us to develop our ideas towards our video. Qualitative will provide opinion rather than statistics. This will direct our video towards our target audience.
Purpose:
We want to recognise the expectations of our target audience through the use of questionaires and a focus group discussion. Through opinions given by others we can see what to include, and what not to include, in our music video for our chosen track, and also see what track out of the two possible 'cKy' gives us more opportunity overall.
Sample Audience:
Criteria of participants; - young male audience
- interest in particular genre
Number of participants; five - Ed Brooks
- Ollie Collard
- Sam Dubery
- Tom Britton
- Doug Surridge
Media Stimulus:
cKy - Disengage the Simulator
Questions (open):
1) What images come to mind when listening to this track?
2) What key words come to mind after hearing this track?
3) Have you seen any similar (same genre) track video's recently, what did you like about them? 4) Would you incorporate performance shots or a narrative sructure, or aspects of both? Why?
5) What is your favourite music video and why?
6) What track provides more opportunity to explore various areas of the genre and why?
7) Have you any track suggestions similar to what you have just heard?
By using qualatitive research we can obtain focused group opinions allowing us to develop our ideas towards our video. Qualitative will provide opinion rather than statistics. This will direct our video towards our target audience.
Purpose:
We want to recognise the expectations of our target audience through the use of questionaires and a focus group discussion. Through opinions given by others we can see what to include, and what not to include, in our music video for our chosen track, and also see what track out of the two possible 'cKy' gives us more opportunity overall.
Sample Audience:
Criteria of participants; - young male audience
- interest in particular genre
Number of participants; five - Ed Brooks
- Ollie Collard
- Sam Dubery
- Tom Britton
- Doug Surridge
Media Stimulus:
cKy - Disengage the Simulator
Questions (open):
1) What images come to mind when listening to this track?
2) What key words come to mind after hearing this track?
3) Have you seen any similar (same genre) track video's recently, what did you like about them? 4) Would you incorporate performance shots or a narrative sructure, or aspects of both? Why?
5) What is your favourite music video and why?
6) What track provides more opportunity to explore various areas of the genre and why?
7) Have you any track suggestions similar to what you have just heard?
Monday, 17 November 2008
Feedback #1
Well done - focused, detailed video research. However, to secure a level 4 planning overall, you need to now add the following:
1. more evidence of group discussions and initial ideas - record all your conversations about your track, ideas, concerns.
2. Your initial response to the track needs to be more detailed - your mood boards should be "annotated" with a blog post, explaining your response.
I will be interested in seeing a record of your ideas on mise-en-sceene - this track has a real US feel and how will you deal with that, filming in January in the UK with grey skys? These are issues with picking American tracks.
1. more evidence of group discussions and initial ideas - record all your conversations about your track, ideas, concerns.
2. Your initial response to the track needs to be more detailed - your mood boards should be "annotated" with a blog post, explaining your response.
I will be interested in seeing a record of your ideas on mise-en-sceene - this track has a real US feel and how will you deal with that, filming in January in the UK with grey skys? These are issues with picking American tracks.
Sunday, 16 November 2008
cKy - 96 Quite bitter beings
I have chosen to do my second analysis on the band that i will be creating a music video for. By doing this i hope to get a better understanding of the attitude and behaviour of the band and the deeper meanings of the video.
This is one of CKY's first songs which was important on making a good impression as a new band. The director was Bam Magera who is a professional skatebaorder and features on the popular stunt show 'Jackass.' Much of the video consists of a montage of clips from the series of 'Jackass' which would have been used to establish there star persona to a new audience because references could be made from the attitude and behaviour of the people on 'Jackass' and linked with the artist. An example of this could be the shots of cars chasing each other and being reckless and crashing into walls. This can reflect the attitude of the band in that to have a good time they have to thrill them selves with speed and destruction rather than safe fun.
Another reference can be made with the use of skateboarding in a number of shots. This has a hegemonic status of being an extreme sport, and known for skateboarders to break into private areas in order to use certain objects as jumps. This is use of indirect illustration as lyics such as 'rules just don't apply' can be linked with the images of jumping of bridges, reckless driving and nudity in public all connotes bad morals and behaviour. This is done to appeal to a rebellious target audience. By using these selected images they create a star persona while appealing to people who watch 'Jackass.'
The performance shots used in the music video can help to sell the song because the consumers enjoy seeing the band playing the instruments and can see the body language which appeals to consumers who aspire to them. Close ups of the instruments shows that the instruments are very important to the band and that they are very in touch with the music despite their rebellious, non-caring attitude. The fast paced performance shots mixed with the montage of stunts could conveys the bands attitude to life in that life is short so enjoy and don't hold back and be impulsive. THis could be showing a deeper value to the song and the video rather than just using bricolage of 'Jackass.'
The target audience for this type of music would be narrow casted on television because of its small appeal to mainstream consumers. It would be likely to be viewed on the music channel 'Karrang.' The viewing of this particular film is ambient as the montage of stunts and jokes are quick and funny and have no deeper meaning to them apart from the humour.
This is one of CKY's first songs which was important on making a good impression as a new band. The director was Bam Magera who is a professional skatebaorder and features on the popular stunt show 'Jackass.' Much of the video consists of a montage of clips from the series of 'Jackass' which would have been used to establish there star persona to a new audience because references could be made from the attitude and behaviour of the people on 'Jackass' and linked with the artist. An example of this could be the shots of cars chasing each other and being reckless and crashing into walls. This can reflect the attitude of the band in that to have a good time they have to thrill them selves with speed and destruction rather than safe fun.
Another reference can be made with the use of skateboarding in a number of shots. This has a hegemonic status of being an extreme sport, and known for skateboarders to break into private areas in order to use certain objects as jumps. This is use of indirect illustration as lyics such as 'rules just don't apply' can be linked with the images of jumping of bridges, reckless driving and nudity in public all connotes bad morals and behaviour. This is done to appeal to a rebellious target audience. By using these selected images they create a star persona while appealing to people who watch 'Jackass.'
The performance shots used in the music video can help to sell the song because the consumers enjoy seeing the band playing the instruments and can see the body language which appeals to consumers who aspire to them. Close ups of the instruments shows that the instruments are very important to the band and that they are very in touch with the music despite their rebellious, non-caring attitude. The fast paced performance shots mixed with the montage of stunts could conveys the bands attitude to life in that life is short so enjoy and don't hold back and be impulsive. THis could be showing a deeper value to the song and the video rather than just using bricolage of 'Jackass.'
The target audience for this type of music would be narrow casted on television because of its small appeal to mainstream consumers. It would be likely to be viewed on the music channel 'Karrang.' The viewing of this particular film is ambient as the montage of stunts and jokes are quick and funny and have no deeper meaning to them apart from the humour.
Friday, 14 November 2008
Alex's moodboard
This is a mood board that i have created. After listening to the chosen track a number of times i considered images and ideas that came into my head and reasearched pictures which i thought suited the song. Along with this i picked out a few key lyrics which have other connotations. My partner's mood board i hope will be simular to my ideas however we will share our individual thoughts on the song and confirm our rough ideas about the music video.
Sunday, 9 November 2008
Blink 182 - The Rock Show
The introduction to the video shows a blank screen with the text ‘On May 2nd + 3rd…this is what they did with the money’, this is used as a humorous devise whereby fans will understand the sarcasm and expect a video with an emphasis on wasting money. This type of humour is a part of the bands meta-narrative, as they are well known for not taking anything very seriously and living life as enjoyably as possible. This screen is followed by a shot of the band handing out money to anyone spontaneously in the streets, this shows their misuse of money and focus on loving life as are shown having a good time. The tour bus is also shown in the shots and is used to allow the audience to recognise their band status, performance shots and concert shots, shot with a ‘fish eye lens’, are also shown for the same reason. The bands meta-narrative is built upon within the video through the shots which show the band laughing and having a good time together whilst spending vast amounts of money on unnecessary things such as stupid hair-cuts, a suit for a tramp and cars for each of the band members.
Theorist ‘Laura Mulvey’ could quote this particular Blink 182 video as being misogynistic because of the objectifying shots of the women in the strip club and washing the car in very little clothing. By moving the camera from the foot to the head of a particular woman the audience is positioned in partaking in the male-gaze. No other techniques are used to objectify the women but feminists can decode the appearance of them in such revealing clothes as being misogynistic. In smashing up the TV within a shot, the conventions of mayhem in rock are reinforced but the good morals of the band are kept by paying the owner with the money supposed to be used to make this video. Two thirds into the video, the video changes to reinforcing conventions expected of a rock band and ‘demonstrate genre characteristics’ as ‘Andrew Goodwin’ quotes in his book ‘Dancing in the Distraction Factory’ (1992). By including shots of the band signing skateboards and bodies it reinforces their band and celebrity status, and the following shot of Tom Delonge smashing his guitar reinforces the adrenalin and mayhem associated with rock. The skating shots shown nearer to the end of the video meet the conventions of the pop punk genre and add an entertainment value to the video. The ending shot of the video is used as a comical advertising devise in which they advertise their album titled ‘Takes off your pants and jacket’.
The lyrics to the song are not illustrated the video of the songs, although there is an emphasis in the video of having a good times the lyrics talk about the want for summer and the huge American festival, ‘The Warped Tour’ where bands like Blink 182 headline. They also talk about summer love and falling in love and gigs, naivety is also portrayed through the lyrics as they portray a character that would do anything without thought when in love. The lyrics ‘Seventeen without a purpose of direction, we don’t owe anyone a f*cking explanation’ reinforces that naivety as they denote a lack of respect for anyone else’s thoughts that have a large effect on your life (family and friends). I personally think this video is very useful for creating the bands meta-narrative as portrays their view on how to live life in an enjoyable way through visuals, it also creates individual star-personas within the band.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vxhl-xV0UOs
Theorist ‘Laura Mulvey’ could quote this particular Blink 182 video as being misogynistic because of the objectifying shots of the women in the strip club and washing the car in very little clothing. By moving the camera from the foot to the head of a particular woman the audience is positioned in partaking in the male-gaze. No other techniques are used to objectify the women but feminists can decode the appearance of them in such revealing clothes as being misogynistic. In smashing up the TV within a shot, the conventions of mayhem in rock are reinforced but the good morals of the band are kept by paying the owner with the money supposed to be used to make this video. Two thirds into the video, the video changes to reinforcing conventions expected of a rock band and ‘demonstrate genre characteristics’ as ‘Andrew Goodwin’ quotes in his book ‘Dancing in the Distraction Factory’ (1992). By including shots of the band signing skateboards and bodies it reinforces their band and celebrity status, and the following shot of Tom Delonge smashing his guitar reinforces the adrenalin and mayhem associated with rock. The skating shots shown nearer to the end of the video meet the conventions of the pop punk genre and add an entertainment value to the video. The ending shot of the video is used as a comical advertising devise in which they advertise their album titled ‘Takes off your pants and jacket’.
The lyrics to the song are not illustrated the video of the songs, although there is an emphasis in the video of having a good times the lyrics talk about the want for summer and the huge American festival, ‘The Warped Tour’ where bands like Blink 182 headline. They also talk about summer love and falling in love and gigs, naivety is also portrayed through the lyrics as they portray a character that would do anything without thought when in love. The lyrics ‘Seventeen without a purpose of direction, we don’t owe anyone a f*cking explanation’ reinforces that naivety as they denote a lack of respect for anyone else’s thoughts that have a large effect on your life (family and friends). I personally think this video is very useful for creating the bands meta-narrative as portrays their view on how to live life in an enjoyable way through visuals, it also creates individual star-personas within the band.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vxhl-xV0UOs
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Sum 41 - In too Deep
I have chosen to take look at this music video as my group plan to produce a similar way of presenting the artist. This video uses AMPLIFICATION becasue there is a link with the song and works to enhance ideas about the band for example the first shot shows their parked van parked over two parking spaces diagonally which conveys that the band are rule breakers. This is continued by the silly types of divnig they do for example sliding off the edge and also cheating by flashing mirrors into their components eyes. This imaturity is helping to present the bands meta-narrative as the star persona is very important when trying to sell a track to a target audience.
The music video also uses ILLUSTRATION for example the line 'i'm in too deep' with references the water that they are diving into and the line' i'm bending over backwards to relate' is syncronised with the visual aid of him bending over backwards into a dive.
Conventions can be seen with in this genre of music like the artists playing in swimming pool instead of on a stage. The use of women in these videos helps to create the bands image and ideogical discourse, but also so that the audience can recognise the bands status and attitude towards playing their instruments which again is important when trying to convey the star persona to their target audience. The performance shots and also the illistrative narrative, along with the meta-narrative makes it evident that the video is for promotional purposes which tries to make the band and their song into a product and using the music video as a piece of advertisement.
These types of videos can normally be related to teen movies where there are uses of bands, teen realtionshipsalcohol, women breaking the rules and coming out top by the end.
The video i think is not art as it focuses on the aesthetics of the artists which helps promotes their product. This video would not be classed as postmodern as many videos are simular and this video does not break any rules of the genre.
This video is very specific to rock genre so would be shown on narrow casting channels with an ambient viewing.
There are numerous connotations in this video the biggest one being the relation to the teen genre. There are many conventions of the teen genre for example the gathering of youngsters, with loud music and having a cheap good time. The fact taht they have turned up to a diving contest in unconventional board short and perform silly dives has connotations to the teen rock genre where by they are breaking the rules, having a good time and despite being the amateurs still win in the end which is the simple narrative of teen films. These conventions along with the location of california with clear blue skies and hot conditions connotes the easy life that is represented by california where fresh ideas are made so the location and set helps to embed connotations into the band.
The music video also uses ILLUSTRATION for example the line 'i'm in too deep' with references the water that they are diving into and the line' i'm bending over backwards to relate' is syncronised with the visual aid of him bending over backwards into a dive.
Conventions can be seen with in this genre of music like the artists playing in swimming pool instead of on a stage. The use of women in these videos helps to create the bands image and ideogical discourse, but also so that the audience can recognise the bands status and attitude towards playing their instruments which again is important when trying to convey the star persona to their target audience. The performance shots and also the illistrative narrative, along with the meta-narrative makes it evident that the video is for promotional purposes which tries to make the band and their song into a product and using the music video as a piece of advertisement.
These types of videos can normally be related to teen movies where there are uses of bands, teen realtionshipsalcohol, women breaking the rules and coming out top by the end.
The video i think is not art as it focuses on the aesthetics of the artists which helps promotes their product. This video would not be classed as postmodern as many videos are simular and this video does not break any rules of the genre.
This video is very specific to rock genre so would be shown on narrow casting channels with an ambient viewing.
There are numerous connotations in this video the biggest one being the relation to the teen genre. There are many conventions of the teen genre for example the gathering of youngsters, with loud music and having a cheap good time. The fact taht they have turned up to a diving contest in unconventional board short and perform silly dives has connotations to the teen rock genre where by they are breaking the rules, having a good time and despite being the amateurs still win in the end which is the simple narrative of teen films. These conventions along with the location of california with clear blue skies and hot conditions connotes the easy life that is represented by california where fresh ideas are made so the location and set helps to embed connotations into the band.
Saturday, 1 November 2008
Gym Class Heroes - Cookie Jar
The music video for Gym Class Heroes 2008 single Cookie Jar opens with a shot of bottles of spirits shadowed by objectified women, this immediately opens the audience to interpretations that the video will be illustrating the lyrics of the song, which presents front-man ‘Travis McCoy’ love for women and his lack of self-control he has during a relationship. The opening scene shows blurred women, which connote how they are there but are un-available to him, the seductive woman using the 'feminine touch' in a seductive manner shows us as an audience why the men find it hard to resist. The close ups and lighting on the frontman 'Travis McCoy' makes the audience aware of who the narratives protagonist is. This particular band mixes both mainstream music with the rock genre and so the video also incorporates what ‘Andrew Goodwin’ calls performance-based shots as well as the narrative aspects which include the club scenes, counselling scenes and the relationship scenes. The audience is aware of the relationship narrative through scenes including where the partner of Travis is shown throwing multiple pairs of womens underwear out of the bed.
Using ‘Laura Mulveys’ theory of mysoginism and the male-gaze we can recognise that in this video the females are positioned in very misogynistic shots so that the audience can recognise why Travis finds himself lacking in self control when he is surrounded by such beautiful women, and therefore the audience is positioned as the male-gazer and thus objectifying the women’s bodies. A perfect example of this is when 'Travis' goes from one undressed woman to the next, likening them to different sorts of cookie's. The band shots also create a meta-narrative for the band and makes us believe that music brings them all together with all sorts of people, as we see conventional gangsters (characters shown with baseball caps and gold chains) and rockers (white males with tattoos from neck to fingers) within the crowd of friends. The shots of Travis in a straight jacket connote and represent how he feels restrained when he cannot be with multiple women.
The lyrics of the song explain how the narrator cannot keep away from more than one woman at a time and that he cannot do anything about it and the quote 'can't keep my hands out the cookie jar' quite literally means Travis cannot keep his hands off women. A metaphor runs throughout the song where the narrator likens women to cookies, confessing that he cant get enough of them, the scene where he has labelled several different girls with different cookie names makes this visually evident to the audience. The final verse of the song denotes the fact that the narrator has been beaten with the quote ‘it is what it is’ finalising his battle. The word ‘freak’ is also echoed at the end of the song which connotes a detatchment to the majority of males.
Using ‘Laura Mulveys’ theory of mysoginism and the male-gaze we can recognise that in this video the females are positioned in very misogynistic shots so that the audience can recognise why Travis finds himself lacking in self control when he is surrounded by such beautiful women, and therefore the audience is positioned as the male-gazer and thus objectifying the women’s bodies. A perfect example of this is when 'Travis' goes from one undressed woman to the next, likening them to different sorts of cookie's. The band shots also create a meta-narrative for the band and makes us believe that music brings them all together with all sorts of people, as we see conventional gangsters (characters shown with baseball caps and gold chains) and rockers (white males with tattoos from neck to fingers) within the crowd of friends. The shots of Travis in a straight jacket connote and represent how he feels restrained when he cannot be with multiple women.
The lyrics of the song explain how the narrator cannot keep away from more than one woman at a time and that he cannot do anything about it and the quote 'can't keep my hands out the cookie jar' quite literally means Travis cannot keep his hands off women. A metaphor runs throughout the song where the narrator likens women to cookies, confessing that he cant get enough of them, the scene where he has labelled several different girls with different cookie names makes this visually evident to the audience. The final verse of the song denotes the fact that the narrator has been beaten with the quote ‘it is what it is’ finalising his battle. The word ‘freak’ is also echoed at the end of the song which connotes a detatchment to the majority of males.
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