On the first day of filming our music video, we went to the iconic land of Winterville at Victoria park in Mile End where we captured the footage of myself and a fellow peer acting like two people in love in a romantic and stereotypical place for couples to go to. Based on the concept of our chosen soundtrack, we then made the decision to have alternative shots of me in the same places and doing the same things in the venue but without Stacey my peer to imply that we are not together anymore. To finalise this we then took some anonymous shots of other 'real life' couples present at the attraction, and then companioned this with an eye line match of me looking on at the couples in a deflated manor. Hopefully, when we come to editing this segment of our music video, it will be evident to our audience that we have gone through a break up and they understand the message we are attempting to convey.
These are pictured examples of me and Stacey at Winterville where we are together in the same place and then a transition using a fade effect to me alone in the exact same place looking sad and deflated. We believed this to be an obvious and effectively simplistic in conveying the meaning of our video to our audience.
These are some of the mesmerising attractions at Winterville that really inspired us to do some filming at the venue. It is unique and relevant to our music video and different from our other settings which I believe will enhance the quality of our final piece of coursework.
The footage that we recorded at Winterville was used in our final coursework piece and was image of the happiness and then the conflict between my character and my peer Stacey and then showing how I am left lonely towards the end of the track. This filming date was successful as when we came to editing our music video we found that we had captured enough footage to use in the dimensions of our work.
Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card-stock outer binding with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. It means the CD comes in a cardboard flip out case rather than a standard plastic hinged case.
Digipak style casing is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD digipak is used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets. On a digipak, you can expect to find;
- Six panels
- Spine
- Barcode
- Track list
- Disk impression
- Membership postcard/flyer
There is also a section where you can find band information or a free flyer or poster that comes in the Digipak.
There are also imperative features that should be included in relation to the information features of a digipak. These regularly include;
-Name of the Artist and Album - it is important to remember that in order to make the information on the digipak appealing to the audience you must consider various factors such as; font, size of the writing, colour and position in relation to the dimensions of the digipak.
- Images - You must consider the size, layout and content of the images you use.
- Colours and themes - this can help the digipak look appealing to consumers and peak their interest in order to aid their desire to purchase the Album.
Analysis
The album by Michael Jackson - 'Dangerous' has a very dynamic and complex front cover. When the audience first perceive the album cover, there is so much to take in that it is almost overwhelming and this effect really engages the audience and grabs their attention. The relationship and interaction between the different colours is effective as they blend together well and do not clash which makes the overall look of the album cover effective and inviting. The audience would identify instantaneously with Michael Jackson's eyes as eye contact is the main factor that connects people together. The fact that we are only witness to his eyes also relates well to the title of the album being dangerous as his eyes create a sense of mystery and mystery and danger quite often link together. This is a tool to invite the audience into the mystery of the album especially as the title of the album is located on top of a gate suggesting the audience should venture into the gate and identify with the content of the album. The animosity created by the different elements of the overall cover provides the consumer and audience with enigmas to answer for themselves. The album cover is very abstract and unique with very different features ranging from throned dogs and birds and many of these different features are juxtaposed to each other and the entire album cover cultivates the idea of randomness and confusion. This can interlink with many problems and accusations that Michael Jackson was facing in the media at that specific time. Overall the album cover is very individual and effective as it intrigues the attention of the audience and develops their curiosity, making them more keen to purchase the album and find out how the music is in comparison to the look of the album cover.
Bastille "Bad Blood" is another album that has a rather unique setting and interesting style. It places emphasis on their lead singer who is highlighted by a light in the centre of the road. The viewer gets the sense that it is an open country road and the dark surroundings of the road entreat a certain danger that the audience register with the rather darkened nature of the cover. This supports the title as there could be something that relates to "Bad Blood" waiting in these unseen areas. The oddity of a man in the middle of a country road suggests that he is in trouble and is running away from something that is following him. There is most definately an intimacy and relationship between the light and the darkened surroundings of the road and is almost suggestive of the idea that bastille is leading the way and is producing the light that surrounds him. Overall, the album cover is intruging and although not as outstanding as Michael Jackson's and other iconic artists, it relates well to the title of the album and invites the audience to watch.
Katy Perry
Hot and Cold
This album cover from Katy Perry is relatively basic and has both Denotations and connotations. There are connotations that relate to Katy Perry's personal life within the media possibly where she places one hand on her ear and in the other she has a banana held up to her other ear suggesting she is blocking out the media and listening to an inanimate object. The fact that what she is holding is a banana is phallic and suggests that one of her issues within the media are being accused of sexually depicting herself and allowing herself to be sexually objectified by the media. Katy is showing herself to be almost rebellious through this picture and is not worried or focused on the negative portrayal of herself. The large font used for her title hot and cold is impacting and the connotation of the title suggests that everyone has their ups and downs and this should not affect what people think of Katy.
This is another KP album cover and is different and contrasted to her previous one. The use of computer technology is more relevant and involved within the picture and Katy is sexualised to some extent through this image. The intimacy between the cloud and stars coupled with the purple backdrop of the image is inviting and easy on the eye and causes the audience to be instantaneously intruged and interested in what the album is to be about. The text on the album cover has resigned and is smaller with a less bolder font and is located right at the bottom and right at the top of the album cover. This places less emphasisi on the text and focuses the audiences attention on Katy Perry. Katy appears to be enimating light from her person and the relationship between her purple dress and the purple backdrop allows the album cover to blend and not clash making it unappealing for the audience to watch. Katy is sexualised where she can be seen in a short dress exposing much of the flesh on her legs and her up body. She has one hand firmly planted on her breast and the other on the side of her face in a sexual manner, this is sexual and inviting for a male audience. Furthermore, this conforms to the theory of Mulvey where she developed the theory of the male gaze and the sexual objectification of women. Overall, the album cover is effective and intriguing as the audience are forced to identify with all the outstanding features of the image.
Rockin Robin is a great example of the simplicity of Pop music videos in the 1970's and is a good starting point to assess how Michael Jackson's videos have progressed and developed in technology as more digital technology has emerged and evolved to aid the complexity and dynamic of music videos. There are many features of Goodwin's theory of the music video as the band is notoriously known as the Jackson 5. They are performing on stage in a studio we assume to the audience which corresponds to with Goodwin's idea that Pop music videos involving group artists are often seen performing a dance routine or on stage to the audience. The video is very basic and shows how when Pop music was just beginning to emerge as a major type of music, the music video that would help promote it was simplistic and easy in nature.
Rock with You - 1979
There is a distinct difference between 'Rockin Robin' and 'Rock with You' over the course of 9 years. The lighting is exotic and impacting on the audience in this video which is accompanied by the stylised and outstanding outfit of Michael Jackson. This shows the slight development of digital technology and style of the music video over the period of the 70s where lighting is used more effectively. This video also conforms to Goodwin's theory of the Pop music video where Michael Jackson is performing to a digital audience in relation the camera.
Billie Jean - 1982
Billie Jean was the first pronounced music video where there was a storyline that accompanied the music of the track. It also shows developments in technology in comparison to his previous videos. The use of the lighting up of everything Michael touches is not only illustration of developments in technology but presents the story that Michael is innocent and not liable for impregnating "Billie Jean" and the lighting up of everything that he touches illustrates his innocence. This illustration within the music video means that this video again conforms to the theory of Goodwin where music videos can illustrate the lyrics of the song and show the meaning behind the lyrics.
Beat It
Beat it is another iconic Michael Jackson video that employs choreography and performance within the video while telling a story at the same time. This shows that the lyrics are relating to the action on screen and therefore conforms to Goodwin's theory of illustration and performance within the music video specifically in the Pop genre. The video also gives a message to the audience that violence isn't the answer and the violent nature of the two gangs is juxtaposed to the choreography towards the end of the video which suggests dance should replace fighting. Michael Jackson appears the peace maker and the men begin to follow him in dancing which again exults Goodwin's idea of the record label presenting and conveying their artists in specific ways. This was one of first videos that had major choreography in it and is a milestone and reference point for future Pop music videos.
Thriller
Thriller is considered the most famous music video of all time and the first to adopt the storyline style to the music video. In 2009, it was added by the Library of Congress to the National Film Registry which makes it the first video in their registry.
Cultural Milestone
The video is undoubtedly a cultural milestone in the history of music videos with the correlation of choreography in music videos, exotic costume and dialogue and extended movie style music video that is edited down to allow the video to be screened on TV. Noticing the longevity of the music video, MTV created a short version of the music video which ran a little under 5 minutes to accommodate the fast flowing nature of music television. Despite this, the main 13 minute long video racked in 100 million views on YouTube when it came out.
The video cost $500,000 to make and Jackson's record label had no intention of paying for it since the album was on the downswing and they had already financed two videos for his album. Michael was adamant that he wanted to turn into a monster and agreed to pay for it himself in order to make it happen. Jackson's director, John Landis took on the project as he saw it as a way to revive the short film genre which he loved.
Jackson did not have to pay for the video because he landed big deals with Showtime TV and MTV who paid for the video and in return be the first to air the video and a behind the scenes documentary of the "Making of Thriller." MTV deemed it unacceptable that Showtime were to broadcast the video before them and so Pittman decided that he was going to pay out £250,000 to broadcast the video after the window was up. MTV were not used to paying for videos so they said they were paying for the documentary film when really they were paying for the music video itself.
1984
At the first MTV music video awards in 1984, Michael Jackson Thriller won;
- Best Performance Video
- Best Choreography
- Viewers Choice
The music video majorly started off a trend seen in music videos to follow with group choreography prominent in Pop music videos from thriller onwards. The video also owes a debt to Alice Cooper who created a music video in 1975 based on Welcome To My Nightmare tour which was written was Vincent Price. Cooper's production was based on a full album but had the theme of a horror and thus she felt she needed compensation from the video.
From 1983 people were able to watch VHS recordings at home people were able to watch Thriller at home which included the 13 minute video and the behind the scenes making of Thriller. This music video became the greatest selling music video of all time and was later certified by the guiness book of world record as the best selling music video of all time pulling in 9 million units. This was majorly assisted by the time the video was released being just weeks before christmas.
The style of the music video being both a short film and a music video means that there is so much involved in the production. The use of the camera interlinks traditional cinematography with music video stylised editing. The short film is of a horror genre which correlates with the music and meaning of the track, this therefore means that the Thriller video conforms to the theories of Goodwin where the music video is illustrative and tells the story of the song. The choreographed routine performed is a trade mark in pop music and is classic. The mise en scene is used very effectively by the director where the costume is very disturbing and intimidating which meets the intentions of the vidfeo where they want to make the audience feel uncomfortable and freightened. Overall, the music video is very iconic and has great impact on the audience and incorporates a range of features that make up a classic pop music video.
Bad
Bad is another iconic music video of Michael Jackson which was the first after the major track of Thriller. The audience was excited to see Michael's new image as they had seen within the media that he had changed his image. By now, Michael was the biggest Pop star in the world and this video was first aired on the BBC.
The music video adopts a performance based persona and Michael can again be seen wearing a fashionable and unique outfit which helps exult his image as a Pop star. The music video is also very illustrative where they are dancing within a car park which is notoriously recognised as being a place where dodgy undertakings happen and people cause trouble in locations like this. This corresponds with the idea that Michael Jackson is 'Bad' and him and his dancers are being troublesome. As well as this, another Goodwin theory that is met by the video is that fact that there is choreography which Goodwin said is typical of a Pop music video.
The Way You Make Feel
In deconstructing this music video, it is obvious that there are features of Laura Mulvey's theories in relation to how the media represents women and perspectives of society. The woman is immediately presented as an object of erotic desire using camerawork that portrayed the sex appeal of the actress such as low level shots of her legs while she is in a pencil skirt which will appease a male spectator where they perceive the woman as something of erotic desire. The objectifying of woman is companioned by the fact that Michael Jackson is showing off to his friends in pursuit of the actress and the men outnumber the woman and make her the main source of sexual desire. In addition, Michael Jackson uses many phallic and sexual movements within his dance moves such as hip thrusting in the direction of the female actress. This corroborates the theories of Laura Mulvey and makes the audience regardless of gender identify with the perspective of the male, hence, the male gaze. Furthermore, Michael Jackson is active and has agency whereas the female is passive and does not have a protagonist purpose within the text. This relates to other theories such as patriarchy and portrays ideas within the media about society that it is male dominated and they make the rules and thus develop the perspective towards women.
Black or White
Black and White is an extremely powerful and inspirational music video made by Michael Jackson which relates to problems faced by Michael within the media and in his personal life. Despite this, it also relates to wider problems within society and gives a message to unite and bring peace between all different types of people. The video is a cultivation of diversity and the mise en scene shows Michael in multiple locations with different cultures and people promoting the notion that it doesn't matter who you are and for everyone to get along. The camera work is effective and the special effects are developed in comparison to previous videos. There are many close up shots in companionship with long shots to engage the audience and keep them riveted by the video. The small story at the beginning brings the comedic element to the song which is useful and compliments the rather serious message of the video and is also evidence of how special effects have developed from his first videos in the 70s to digital technology in 2000s. The reference to Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" at the end of the video is very effective and finalises the message of the video and song. This shows how the video relates to that of Goodwin's theory where the song is illustrated by the action on screen. It also shows the unique use of camera work utilised by Michael's director and filming crew.
Earth Song
This is arguably Michael Jackson's most powerful music video out of all of them. The song and video touches on real life problems and serious topics regarding the world and lives. Real life sequences are placed throughout the video to emphasise what the message is in relation to real life. The video is also a clear example of the development in digital and CGI technology where the powerful sequences and pictures are shown such as dead animals, trees and people living in poverty. This gets the audience to think about what they are seeing on screen and receive the idea that there are problems and things might need change. This shows that the music video is illustrative and thus conforms to the theory of Goodwin in relation to music videos. It also shows contrast between Jackson's previous work where there is more substance and meaning behind his music and videos in comparison to pure performance based videos. Jackson has also been accused by critics of appearing as a Christ like figure. This is based on the fact that Michael seems to heal the surroundings which are damaged and in turmoil and the way he held himself within the trees depicts the image of crucifixion.
Scream
Michael Jackson Scream is the most expensive Michael Jackson video. It cost a whopping $7,000,000 dollars to make and today it would cost $10,834,000 to make. This an extremely high budget of a music video and helps finalise why Michael Jackson was called thking of Pop. This clearly shows the leap in technology from Michael's first video in the 1970s to this video. The mise en scene allows the video to adopt a futuristic vibe with lots of digitalised and stylistic features such as spaceships and the capture of illusion where Michael is walking on the ceiling for a period of time. An example of an iconic effect used is when it appears that Michael is in a room with no gravity and is suspended in the air.
My research
Leave me alone
This is a very interesting and dynamic video of Michael Jackson which is a good example of an amplified music video in relation to Goodwin's theories. Michael Jackson addresses issues surrounding him within the media and the video uses clever techniques to identify these. Another Goodwin theory is met where there are many instances throughout the video where there are screens within screens and Michael's face shows up on things such as Newspapers. The animated nature of the music video is efficient as it allows topics and issues Michael is confronting to be translated into effective imagery which again conforms to Goodwin's theories of repeatability and reoccurring images used to convey a certain message. This video shows the power a music video can have in the media and what messages it can send to the audience.
Sexism is a major issue within the media industry and can be seen within the content of music videos. This is sexism in the form where female artists are objectified in the video as a tool of sexual desire without much agency but something to placate a male audience. While watching the videos, women are forced to identify from the perspective of males and what they wish to perceive. This supplements Laura Mulvey's argument of the Male gaze where the audience must view the media text from the perspective of males with the female constructed as an object of sexual desire and lust.
Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
This is an iconic example of sexism in a music video and the media industry. First and foremost, the actual song lyrics and the message conveyed could be interpreted as representation of a patriarchal society where she is exulting male dominance in relationships in the sense that she is at the mercy of the male she is singing about suggesting that he had the power in the relationship and then when she challenged this power, he walked away leaving her in bits.
Furthermore, the video is extremely sexualised and conforms to Mulvey's theory of the male gaze, the very basic studio setting of the video and the often white and grey background forces the audience to view the video firmly focused on Miley swinging on the huge wrecking ball. The high level of nudity and the fact that Miley is often centred in the middle of the camera suggests that the creator of the video wanted to emphasise the erotic sensations resonated from Miley and her relationship with the camera and audience.
Contrast
There is a big contrast to Miley Cyruses' image as Hannah Montana in comparison to her new image within the music industry. It is suggestive of the idea that the music industry 'prostituted' Miley and created her this image to show her transition from a young and innocent girl to a woman. However, this as been a carried out in an extremely sexual and objectifying way and other ways could have been used to make Miley look more like a woman without having to be outrageously sexual. This suggests that the media sexualises women and females are supposed to adsopt a sexual and erotic personna in order to be successful within the industry. Consequently, these women come under scrutiny by critics based on the sexual exposure within their music videos. This would conform to theories such as that of Laura Mulvey further and this sexual depiction of women is in correlation to the fact that there only 16% of females are media practitioners which suggests that these sexual depictions are heavily determined by male directors which would support the idea that the media industry is sexist and male dominated.
Robin Thick - Blurred Lines
Robin Thick - Blurred lines is an outrageous example of sexism in the media. The fully clothed men are paraded around by completely nude women who are holding themselves in a very sexual and provocative way. This video more than any other music videos related to sexism speaks for itself. It is outrageously sexist and completely and wholesomely objectifies women. This music video conforms thoroughly with the theories of Laura Mulvey who developed the Male Gaze where the camera sexualises the woman and the audience are forced to identify with the perception of the Male while watching the media text which relates to the theory. Also, the camera watches the male antagonist admiring the sexualised woman who normally does not have agency within the media text watched on screen.
The use of various different shots ranging from long shots to close up shots of the women are effective in correlation to the simplistic studio setting of the video where the emphasise is drawn upon the nudity of the women. The way these three different factors interact with each other throughout the video forces the audience to identify with the sexualised women and view this from the male perspective further giving emphasis to how Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze and patriarchy within the media.
Lilly Allen - Hard Out Here
Lilly Allen's video Hard out here is a very controversial video that addresses problems in the medium and especially inequality and sexism within music. The video is a paradox where Lilly Allen is sending a message to the audience showing how things need to change as there are female supporting dancers being extremely sexually provocative with their dance moves which is a depiction of the common day pop or R&B video and addresses these stereotypes. Although the song conforms to the theories of Laura Mulvey in the sense that it is identifying what is wrong with the depiction of women in the media the video is very different and subverts from this theory and women are being sexualised through their outfits and dance moves. Despite this, the video is unique in the sense that the overall message is that what the girls are doing in the video is not necessarily wrong, but it is a constant thing where women are being sexualised in the media and are being depicted as objects of erotic desire.
There are a variety of camera angles used by Lilly Allen's director to again put emphasis on the sexualised nature of the video and the dance movements of the females within the video. There are many close ups on the backsides of the dancers as they move them in a sexualised way. This cultivates feelings of erotic desire for the male audience and the female audience are forced to identify with this and may feel degraded by these shot techniques in the portrayal of women.
Laura Mulvey - Male Gaze
The stem of this theory is that the depiction of women through the camera in media text is from the male perspective and the audience is forced to identify with this perspective which means that they are forced to view women as objects of erotic desire. Furthermore, if the audience do not directly view women as objects of erotic desire then they are identifying with the perspective of the male protagonist who views the female as an object of erotic desire. A good example of this is transformers where Shea Lubuf views Megan Fox as an object of erotic desire for the women to view;
Despite the depiction of women, their presence in media text is essential. They do not normally have much agency in the media text or film but their importance stems from how they make the male character act or feel which helps develop the plot.
Male Gaze and Hegemony
Hegemony is societies perception of the dominant groups in a social or political context. It shows the dominance that subordinate groups obtain over insurbordinate groups. Examples of Hegemony is the upper and middle class dominance over the working class. This relates to sexism in the media and Mulvey's theory of the male gaze based on the fact that it suggests within media texts, the male dominance is shown over the female characters. This results in women objectifying other women Mulvey argues, and this then puts pressure on society even more where women are always sexualised within the media and because there is so much media around for people to view, women feel that they need to look and feel a certain way to accpeted by society.
Visual pleasure and Socophilia
Characters that look at other characters within the media text are active and the characters which are being viewed are often female and less important. It is often suggested that women slow down the narrative and act as inspiration for the male protagonist to act. Men on the other hand move the narrative forward and make things happen which gets them viewed as active.
Socophilia translates into 'the love of watching' and relates keenly to objectifying within the media. Movie and film have often been related to Socophilia practices and the idea that women are objectified within the media. The term derives from Freud's study of the psyche and is a key term in referring to the media.
Patriarchy
A patriarchal media representation is another theory designed by Mulvey which relates to the idea of a dominated society by males where they set the majority of the rules and construct and represent the ideal visions, roles and male dominance over women. The worry about this concept is the fact that if it sustains then the socophillic audience will harbour these ideas and it will turn into reality in society if it has not already.
Anaconda - Nikki Minaj and the significance of Black women in the sexualised media
Nikki Minaj's Anaconda video is a highly sexualised video and it can be keenly argued that it is sexist ranging from the song through to the content of the music video. Starting with the mise en scene, Nikki and her supporting dancers are highly sexualised and objectified making them stimulating to watch as objects of erotic desire and as Mulvey would argue, de-humanising the women. There is also a high amount of Phallic symbols where we witness banana's rotating on the record player and also Nikki Minaj eating a banana herself. There are short and fast paced camera shots and dynamic angles to contribute to the seductiveness of the video and encapsulates the idea of sexual chaos. To further support this, the video has an illustrative persona where the lyrics of the song relate strongly to the visual aspects of the music video and are suggestive of sexism and sexual objectification of women to an even greater extent then that of the actual video.
To further assess the idea of sexism within the music video, nearly all of the dancers that are being perceived as erotic are black. This is suggestive of the idea that, especially within music videos, black women are more regularly sexually objectified than women of other ethnicities. A significant contributing factor to this is the fact that the rap music is very derogatory towards women often using terminology such "bitch" and "Hoe" to describe them which is companioned by women, mostly black women, being sexualised in rap music videos and objects of erotic desire to prance around the male rappers.
Alex Southam is another freelance music video director who has directed many music videos that are in mainstream music, Southam has worked for Agile music who have written a review of the director declaring that Alex is a;
"Exciting new talent who is working in a dizzying variety of styles across live action and animation. Entirely self taught, his inventiveness and creativity have caught the eye with a series of diverse promos for the likes of Walkmen, Alt + J and Lianne La Havas. Alex joined Agile in 2012"
When starting out as a director, Southam had to undertake all the tasks that were involved in the creation of a music video production or a commercial. This included;
- The Camera
- Lighting
- Editing
This was very exhausting for Southam as all of these tasks would be very time consuming and excessive for one to perform by themselves. As Southam began to show promising skills as a director, he earned the privilege of a director of photography and a team to help with the process of creating a music video.
Style
Alex Southam admits that he enjoys the creative freedom that is given to him through music videos in comparison to commercials as his artistic visions are able to be fulfilled and there is much more potential whereas commercials most commonly force directors to follow strict guidelines and restricts what can be done through skilful camera work. Shots are rather generic and dull whereas there is a real potential to explore different avenues with music videos and what potential they have.
He uses "Vimeo" to showcase his productions as this is becoming an important platform in the media and especially for music videos. It is also argued that this platform has a higher status and potential than YouTube.
Breakthrough
Alex Southam's breakthrough came from his production of Tessellate for Alt + J with a small budget of only £10,000. The video was completed in one day and had a rather large cast. Alex used after effects for the special effects used in the video.
It goes without saying that this video from Southam is a very unusual and authentic video with abstract features and a unique use of the camera. With one main setting and a large cast located in the same places throughout. Southam uses the camera to specify a particular character or set of characters in the video in order to try and extract meaning from their interactions. Through the use of close ups juxtaposed to long shots and the meaning of "Tessellate" being the piecing together of mosaics without gaps; it makes it evident to why the video is located in a large cathedral and place of worship where there is many mosaics that are Tessellated. This further supports the theory of Goodwin where the lyrics of the song relate well to the features of the video. This has relevance as it suggests that the close up shots and the long shots are attempting to portray the idea of piecing the lives and the interactions of the different people together. Overall, the video is very unique and clever and gives Southam his own brand of directing.
This video conforms to some of the theories of the media's philosopher's such as Mulvey and Goodwin. The women in the video are sexualised and dancing closely and around the men that remain statutory and bold, this would imply that women are objects of erotic desire and conforms to Mulvey's theory of the male gaze where the audience are forced to perceive women on a sexual level. Goodwin's theory is relevant in this video where the close ups used on the different characters in the video help to develop Southam's artistic style and tendency to opt for the abstract rather than a naturalistic vibe to his music videos.
Chase and Status - Lost and Not found
Alex Southam is arguably best known for his work on the video of the Chase and Status track "Lost and not found." Chase and Status are prestigious DJ drum and bass duo who have been performing together for over 10 years and have made their stamp on the music industry with their high quality music that gets everyone into the party spirit. Alex Southam suggested a video idea for one of their most famous tracks "Lost and not found" that they felt would represent the track well and the duty to create the video was left to Southam.
This is another very unique and enticing video made by Southam where the video is taken all in one shot and shows off his artistic and creative abilities. Contributing to Goodwin's theory of how the lyrics of the song relate to the characteristics of the video; this video portrays different situations where adversity is prominent and the camerawork is useful as it allows the video to flow and promotes continuity and we as the audience are not distorted by continual editing in the video. This allows the audience to become lost in the action and it is a really useful technique to convey the meaning behind the video.
Mulvey's theory of the Male Gaze and patriarchy is not very prominent in this video and there is no voyeuristic behaviours or women sexualised to be perceived as objects of erotic desire. This means that Southam is subverting from many directors within the music industry where he empowers women by not representing them in this way. A prime and specific example in this video would be near the end when the women robs the gun off of the police officer and uses it to get her and her male partner out of trouble. This means the women has agency and subverts from that of Goodwin's theory as she is the female antagonist in this scenario getting the man out of trouble.
Emil Nava is a freelance music director who has directed many music videos for huge artists such as; Jesse J, Calvin Harris, Neyo and Ed Sheeran. He began his career as a runner for different production companies. He started off as a runner for Blink productions and now works as a freelancer for OB management.
After working as a runner, Nava graduated to become assistant director and it would be his responsibility to manage video shoots. Nava then signed to the Academy which is the biggest music video production company, he struggled while working with the production company as the stakes were very high, it was documented by Nava that he was consistently working in the office and always pitching throughout the week. After a strenuous time at the company, Nava left the organisation and joined with a company called 'Between the eyes' and now mainly works with Pulse, a production company situated in London.
Kid British - Our House
Emil Nava's first production was for the Band "Kid British" and their track "Our House" for a budget of £20,000 and the music video was shot in Manchester and only consisted of one full day of filming. The cast involved in the video were local people and were not casted from casting agencies or professional performers. Furthermore, there were only 10 days of pre-production and 2/3 days of post production and editing the video. This demonstrates the tight time scale involved and the making and construction of music videos.
When assessing this video it is clear that the budget was limited based on aspects such as the mise en scene and the lack of items and objects that would knowingly cost a great amount. It was quite a simplistic video filmed in an area that does not appear to be of high prestige and costly in nature. However, what is good about the location and the mise en scene is the fact that it relates well to the lyrics of the song and the general message extracted from the song as a result of this.
Nava on being a music video director
This interview says a lot about the music industry. It shows that it doesn't necessarily matter if you are not completely qualified and you can work your way up from the bottom and Nava did to be successful in this creative sector.
Jesse J - Wild
Jesse J - Wild was filmed by Nava and shows how his career has progressed from that of simplistic and rather low budget independent music video maker to a successful film maker of commercial artists such as Jesse J. When assessing this studio based video, the idea of the video seems to be to place emphasis on Jesse J with a pure white studio background which relates well to the content of the film in the sense that she is talking about her life and where she has ended up and how she has reached fame. Her iconic outfits and the purity of the studio represents the idea of fame and fortune and Nava has done a good job in directing the content of the video in the sense that he incorporates the supporting artists into the video to a great extent and allows the same message to be portrayed through these men.
A combination of different shot types and using at least three different locations between the shots and the editing of the shots to the tempo of the music makes for a successful music video where Jesse J and her supporting artists are represented well and the video depicts their image in relation to the content of the song.
Nava and Adverts
Nava once had a very busy time within the industry, one year he was assigned to shoot 24 videos. When he was working with independent artists and labels, the budget for a music video could be as low as £5,000 to £10,000. This would mean there would be limited amount of freedom when directing music videos and Nava would constantly have to keep in mind the fact that he was working with a budget so some of his ideas might have to be scaled down and not too ambitious.
His largest budget video to date now was a Jesse J music video which had a "price tag" excuse the pun of £160,000. The behind the scenes of this video can be seen below;
Emil Nava also progressed to begin to make advertisements to exult his versatility and progress as a production director. Although his main directing ideas and desires related to music videos. Nava felt the desire to broaden his skill set and direct advertisements for different companies in order to make a greater deal of profit as a freelance director and also gain knowledge and skill in other areas of the industry. Although adverts have a higher budget than that of production, it allows for far less creative freedom which could be a challenge for Nava to adapt to. This is one of the adverts Nava directed and which was televised for the company;
L'oreal Feria 2012 - Dare to be Different
There are features of this advert that mirror that of features found in music videos and more specifically in Nava's work. The studio based personna of the advert can be related to Jesse J - Wild where she was also in a studio and interacting with a camera. There is also quite an upbeat and vibrant soundtrack in the advert where it can be argued that Nava incorporated this to conjure an impacting affect on the audience. This would make the audience remember the video and effectively feel more inclined to go out and purchase the hair product.
Ed Sheeran - You need me
This video is a very effective and unique video. The use of the dark and and slightly illuminated studio allows for the performance of the video to flourish through its simplicity. The unique style of the sign language performed by the assumingly death teenager is an original idea and really makes the video memorable for the audience. This effectiveness is assissted through the witty idea to incorporate inanimate objects within the shots that correspond with the what Ed Sheeran is saying in the lyrics. Furthermore, the interaction between the close up and medium shots is efficient for the nature of this specific video as it keeps supports the idea of keeping the video fairly simplistic. It is clear that the features of this video correspond with other Emil Nava music video's such as Jesse J - Wild with the studio based setting. This would make it easier to identify work that has most likely been done by Nava.
Jamie Thraves is another prestigious director who has directed many music videos for different artists both group and individual as well as some major and some on a less major scale. He started off his career through making short films at University and when one of these films was highlighted for its quality, he exploited its award winning status by placing a foot in the door in the industry through the production company factory films. After this, Thraves was given the tools to create 3 very low budget music videos which cost about £5000 each.
As known in the music video industry it is very much a dog eat dog world. This means that each job is paid on commission and the stakes are very high in relation to what directors need to do to get jobs. Thraves submitted two treatments for his most well known music videos.
Radiohead - Just
This was Thrave's first music video which was capped at the budget of only £100,000 which is minute in comparison to large scale music video projects. This meant that Thraves had to consider what he could and could not do keeping in mind his restricting budget. To further this, Thraves only had three days to complete the music video which meant that work was excessive and intensely full on.
This video shows Jamie Thraves creative talents and his unique style of music videos. It is an oddity and Jamie has done an excellent job in portraying the abstract nature of the video. The features of the video conform to Goodwin's theory of performance within and stage performance specifically in a rock or metal video. There is no sign of Mulvey's theory of the male gaze and this brings up the idea that sexualised depictions of women by the media are more prominent in specific genres.
Japanese Popstars - Song for Lisa
This was Thrave's 2nd music video and had a budget of £20,000 and was also shot in three days. Jamie has used music videos to break into film and has created three feature films.
Thrave's argues that there is importance in using the lyrics but not being too literal with the content of the video. He argues that the most important thing is to go with the emotion of the lyrics.
Katy Perry is an iconic role model and inspirational figure for young adolescent girls where much of the content of her music videos relate to the anxieties and problems that young girls often experience during their teenage years. This reaching out to and appealing to this specific audiences allows girls to be inspired by Katy Perry's music and image. This can further offer comfort to women who need that boast in self-esteem and who need to develop security within themselves facing problems that Katy Perry addresses within her music.
Hot and Cold
In her video "Hot and Cold," Katy addresses the problem of how men can be very volatile with their emotions and feelings, and as a result of this, upset the feelings and emotions of women with little regard from men to how they make ladies feel by doing this.
On analysing the video, it is evident to see that although Katy plays the role of a distressed and upset bride who appears to have just been rejected by her groom, she is still able to maintain a non-voyeuristic yet sexual appearance, all the while being appealing to her young female audience. This is effective because men who view the video are appeased as Katy Perry and all her supporting dancers still uphold a strong degree of sex appeal while in a darker way men are placated by the way the video shows how men often have power and control over situations such as this and empowers them while watching the video.
Despite this, the video reaches out to its main target audience as adolescent girls and young women where it identifies with what they may have experienced and might be feeling at that specific point in time. This gives them reassurance where they feel they are not the only one experiencing problems such as this. It doesn't matter whether it is to the extent of the problem in the video or their problem is similar but on a much more subtle basis.
Last Friday Night
This is another iconic Katy Perry video in the essence that it directly appeals to the teenage female audience where it helps them reflect on problems that they might be experiencing throughout school or college. She appears as a teenage girl who society would notoriously perceive as an outcast or someone who one would not suspect to be in with what is known as the 'cool kids' who condone and attend massive parties such as the one we see in the video.
The message of this video must be assessed on a more subtle level in regards to how Perry's audience would interpret the video. Young teenage girls who feel like they do not entirely fit in are empowered by the content where they feel like they can be as sociable and outgoing as Katy Perry in the video. This is effective and yet again boosts her audiences 'self-esteem.'
The bright pink mise en scene also helps to appeal to the young female audience as it is a popular colour with this specific group. This helps make the video light-hearted and proliferates the fun that is experienced while watching the video as the audience.
On analysing the effectiveness this video has on its audience, it is clear that it gives people a chance to escape into a world of fun and almost re-live memories of the past for older generations. It also shouts the slogan "young, wild and free"which can be helpful to the younger audience as they can identify with this while watching the video.
Katy Perry - Firework
Katy Perry firework is another very inspirational music video with a very strong message for its audience. It highlights the idea that everyone is equal and has the opportunity to explode with their greatness. This means that the video empowers people to exhibit and celebrate themselves no matter what they have encountered in life. The content of the video is effective in representing this message with a strong mise en scene and efficient use of camera angles and shot types.
The video upholds one solid shot of Katy Perry standing rather solitary high up above the streets on a balcony in a white dress which is a representation of her purity. We are subject to witness many different seperarate storylines within the video of people facing adversity which are very common in society. This allows her audience to identify with the content of her video to a firmer degree based on the fact that she has personalised the video to relate to the audience and by the message of the video being the idea of overcoming these problems, people can be inspired by her videos.
Despite the fact that the video is not voyeuristic in nature, Katy Perry still has a certain degree of sex appeal with features such as her make up and many close up shots throughout the video. However, what is more prominent than this is the idea that Laura Mulvey's theory is not overpowering within the video and we see less women represented as sexual objects if we were to compare the features of this video to the features of a video such as Rihanna - shut up and drive. Moreover, the video addresses issues such as domestic abuse from different perspectives and also issues such as homophobia.
Katy Perry - California girls
This is one of the most controversial Katy - Perry videos and it is argued by many critics and even her fans that the video is contradictory of her previous videos in the sense that California Gurls is much more sexualised than any of her previous ones. The video does conform to theories such as the Mulvey theory and does uphold a voyeuristic representation of women. The message taken by the audience from this video is also juxtaposed to her previous work. She is talking about women in a sexualised way, and the innocence of a "candy land" is contrasted by Katy and her supporting women having sex appeal to the audience. These are many reasons why this particular song, made huge amounts of speculation in media circles and caused much controversy and discussion.
The idea that Snoop Dog is leading the game and is in control of the many women in the video is evidence to how it conforms to the Laura Mulvey theory of male dominance within media texts and the male gaze which represents women in a voyeuristic way. Also, some of the lyrics in the song read by Snoop Dogg contain some very demoralising content towards women which undermines them as almost objects for sexual pleasure. This is further supported when assessing the costume the women are wearing throughout and the mise en scene in the video. We witness many girls in candy stylised bikini's with cherries to give implications of nipples, which are highly associated with sexual ideas, and also at the end of the video we see Katy Perry fire cream from the positions of her two breasts. Again this provokes sexual thoughts and is appealing especially to a male audience.
However, this is overshadowed by the sequence in the video where Katy Perry is naked in the pink clouds. This would undoubtedly placate a male audience and provoke sexual thoughts in relation to Katy Perry as her behaviour matches her image where she is acting and moving in a sexualised way.
This shows the direct contrast between this video and her previous work where most of the target audience was young and adolescent women or a united world as a whole.
Overall, although this video has many sexual and voyeuristic elements, it is rather successful in the sense that the song is very catchy and is of high quality. Despite this, Katy Perry addressed the problems surrounding the video and there is clear change in tune within her following work.
Katy Perry - Wide Awake
California Gurls and Wide Awake are argueably the two most juxtaposed music videos placed next to each other by the same artist. The sexualised and voyeuristic nature of California Gurls is diminished by that of the dark and rather subtle nature of Wide Awake. The message recieved from both videos is also greatly contrary in either video. Within Wide Awake, we recieve Katy as almost reflecting on past mistakes and addressing the fact that it is time for change. There are certain implications that Katy is experiencing difficulties or problems within her personal life or issues surrounding her as an artist and these issues appear to be addressed within the lyrics of the song and the content of the video.
At the beginning of the video the audience witness Katy on the set of the California girls music video during the scene where she is naked on the cloud. This is significant because the message of this video is how she has made mistakes but now she is clear headed and ready to conquer and learn from these mistakes. This implies that the California Girls video was a mistake and she is ready to change now and not conform to the pressures of the industry and what they require her to do. At the end of the video we see katy emerging on to stage about to perform her next track, this implies that she has moved on and is back to "herself" for better words.
The technical aspects are effective where there are simple close up shots on Katy Perry's face accompanied with a medium shot of her back which is contrasted to the quick paced multiple shots from California girls. The mise en scene is dark and dim which is contrasted to that of California girl's bright and exotic setting. There is also a part of the video where Katy Perry punches a man depicted as a Knight and shining armour which is suggestive of Katy Perry doing this in real life.
This is the animatic of our storyboard in the planning of our music video which will help us when we come to shoot our video in the lead up to christmas.
This is the storyboard we made for our music video, this will help us when it comes to the filming process of the coursework as it will be clear what shots we need to take and how to execute each shot precisely to how we planned it. Overall, our storyboard is extremely relevant in relation to the planning of our music video, where it gives us direction in finalising our video.
Christmas jumpers and normal jumpers, black jeans, beanie and white t-shirt.(girl)...nice shoes, dressed up hair and make up done and nice winter clothes.
jeans, shirt, jackets and hats.
microphone
microphone
Stacey Talbot,Laura Bankole, Michael Rhodes, and Royce Balogun
Stacey Talbot, Laura Bankole, Michael Rhodes, and Royce Balogun
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