Music Video Concept Planning

In media we had the chance to give our music video ideas to our peers to give us feedback.This was my first/second idea that I shared.  Here is the concept that I showed to my peers.

My Concept:
My music video would be a first person view of someone going to a club. The surroundings will be sped up and the person will be walking normally. In certain parts of the video it will switch over. In the club people will be dancing and having a good time. At the bar people will be served what looks like potions in experimental bottles.

The questions that were asked to gain feedback were; What would you add? What would you change? And Why? Here are the different types of feedback I received.

Feedback 1
Maybe include a narrative/storyline? There could be scenes before and after the club as well as cutaway shots of a narrative which includes the 'potions'? By doing this it could make the video more visually interesting and give the viewer more to think about. If you have a message you want them to go away with then this will help strengthen it.

Feedback 2
Will the someone be a male or female? Why would the surrounding be sped up? Is this to make the audience feel as if the person is drunk? Also try and add a narrative so that the music has purpose.

Feedback 3
If it's just set in a club, would you consider to have some scenes like before arriving and leaving the club outside so it's like reality is outside and you see him walking into a different dimension/world. I feel one location for a whole music video would be boring and not very inventive to be honest. But I love the whole idea.

Feedback 4
Maybe manipulating the general perception of what a club is meant to be like as you have mentioned potions, maybe make them of club science. I would change the first persons view as this is not generally a good start, maybe over the shoulder shot or just the back.

Third Idea

For my third idea I decided to base it around dreams.  I like the work of Christopher Nolan and his film 'Inception'.  The main plot is about dreams.  I am going to take the Symbol of the Totem used by Leonardo De'Caprio's character 'Dom Cobb' as a symbol in my video.  This symbol will indicate if the music video is a dream or if it is reality.

The reason why I chose 'Inception' is because I think it a very unique film as it creates enigmas about reality.  It also show everybody has a different perception of reality.

However, I wanted to base my idea around video games as the music genre is similar to the music from most video games, especially retro games.

From the Techno and the video games idea I decided that my main plot would be based on dreams which are set in the video game world.

For my music idea, I would start off with the totem used in Inception to bring in the idea about dreams. From there I will have a group of friends sitting around the table talking. A few seconds later things will start to get strange and the friends will have army hats on looking like they are going to war. While this is going on it will be in the first person view. As friends are leaving there will be a big shoot out, first person will get shot and fall to the ground and wake up in a car chase. I will use this as if the first person is in a video game so there is a lot to look at. However I will make sure that I will have the totem used in each scene to make the audiance think about if this is a dream or reality

Here is the beginning to the story board of this idea.

story board by Isaac Trophies Harvey

  

The feedback I received for this idea:

• Don't let the talking go on for too long
• Make sure there is a strong performance and it must show that it is a music video
• If you have problems with finding actors use animation
• Will you keep the idea of ' it is a dream'?
• Keep the motif going ' spinnig top'
• Use visual density
• Think about practical issues.

Album Cover Art Textual Detail pt 2

This is the continuation of looking at close detail within different album arts.

deadmau5 - Right this second (from album 4x4=12)



Textual detail

• Black background.
• Mouse head looks like disco ball.
• Coloured gold.
• deadmau5 font gold.
• Title 'Right this second' in white.
• Minimalist design.

What does this tell us? Why is it effective?

• Links to house music.
• Disco ball - mouse looks happy suggests that you could enjoy the music.
• Live for the moment - links to the album title.
• Music could link to underground artist.
• linked - repeated notes in music.
• Artist wears mouse head when performing - effective way to market - iconic image.

Here is the music for deadmau5 - Right This Second.

Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday Roman Reloaded

Textual detail

• Background splashes of multicolours.
• Nicki Minaj's face painted yellow with bright pink lines over her eyes.
• Her hair pure blonde.

What does this tell us? Why is it effective?

• The album title 'Pink Friday Roman reloaded' links to her alter ego 'Roman' showing strong character.
• striking colour imagery links to where she's from - Trinidad (carnival colours).
• Tribal art on face - strips over eye.
• Barbie image - links to her blonde hair and font is pink in Barbie font.
• Exaggerated femininity - Barbie imagery.

Nicki Minaj - Whip it is one of the songs in her album.

U2 - War

Textual Detail

• Child's face with cut/bruised up.
• Font large and red.
• Serious looking face.
• Hands behind head.

What it tells us? Why is it effective?

• Red font could be linked to blood and violence. 
• Political meaning - having a child - linking into weapon training - child soldiers? 
• Ambiguous image.
• Child could be living in 'War' and finds it difficult.
• Could relate to age - things becoming harder?
• Child fighting with another boy?
• Band from Ireland - Song about British solders in Ireland.
• Political songs - Irish wanting British/English out of Ireland.
• Hands behind head could suggest getting arrested.
• Prisoner?
• Links to background of band.

Here is part of the U2 - War album 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'

Class Identity and Fashion

In 19th and 20th Europe and America, class was identified by style of hat. Nowadays it is seen as different.

Modernist Concept of Identity
Identity has been lost..... how? It's a side effect of industrialisation.

Why did the industrial revolution erodes people's sense of identity?
Here is a glimpse of what the industrial revolution would of looked like as shown at the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony.

Here are the reasons why:

• No individuality any more.
• Overwhelming for people from rural areas.
• Accents were different.
• Interests.
• Lifestyles.
• Lots of people in one place would not know everyone in rural areas like before Industrialisation.
• Cities are anonymous.
• Not known for your trade any more, just by your name.
• Now is collective identity.
• Survival of the fittest.
• Men working harder this means they have less time with their families.
• Ride of capitalism - people want more money. 
• No time for hobbies. 
• Lack of space. 

Industrialisation and Identity

Urbanisation undermined traditional communities which helped form identity (i.e. where are you from, who knows you). In huge cities this 'community identity' is eroded. Changes in work patterns = change in family structure, spilt between private (home) world and public (work). Work demands efficiency not personality - identity became private, 'leisure pursuit'.

Modernist Concepts of Identity

Sigmund Freud a theorist said 'Identity isn't stable and rational, but a constant conflict between id, ego and super-ego, conscious and unconscious minds. 'You' are defined by your previous experiences and subconscious desires. Your core identity is hidden from your concious mind; 'the real' you can only be accessed through psychoanalysis. 

Richard Jenkins and 'Collective Identification'

In media we learnt about a media theorist called Richard Jenkins, this is what he said about collective identification.

"We need to interact with others in order to develop an identity - this would also include interaction with media which develop an internal identity which then is influenced by external factors."

He continued to say......

"When we partake in an event with other people with whom we feel an affinity we are involved in collective identification - our identity receive the approval and solidarity of others."

We then linked this to the media, these are the types of media which link to his theory:

• People that watch same T.V.
• Support same football teams.
• Read same news papers/books/magazines.
• Video games/consoles
• Films/music
• Genre
• Social media such as Facebook/Twitter

The media we consume can offer this collective identification in two ways.

• Feeling 'identification,with a particular character`s behaviour and beliefs (and this could be aspirational). 
• Feeling 'solidarity' with others who like the same media products.

Album Cover Art Textual Detail pt 1

In this post I shall be discussing different album arts which conveys different messages. These are the ones we looked at in more detail.

The Clash - London Calling

Grace Jones - Slave to the Rhythm

Nirvana - Nevermind

The Art of Album Covers

How will looking at other album covers help make my own Digipak design?
From doing this I will get:

• Inspirations.
• How to convey genre.
• How to convey values of an artist.
• Convey experience of the music - pre-digital browsing in record shops - albums were chosen on basis of cover art. 

When analysing album art the key things you should look at for are:

• Images.
• Fonts (and language used in album title).
• Colour scheme.
• Portrayal of artists (if featured).

The artwork can convey many different messages such as:

• Emotional response to the music (mood, atmosphere).
• Genre.
• Star image (values/beliefs).
• Intended audience.
• Uses and Gratifications the music/artist offers.
• Messages about Social groups.
• Ambiguous or intriguing imagery - could be interpreted a number of ways (so always make it interesting to look at). 
• Shocking - deliberately controversial to grab attention.
• Visually dense (lots of images, lots to look at).
• Minimalist - unusually sparse or empty. 

From learning all of this I shall take all into account when making my own.

Anthony Giddens - 'Post-traditional' identy

In post-traditional societies individuals are free to construct their own identity.

Modern (i.e. post-traditional) societies encourage these questions about who we are and who we want to be. They encourage us to construct a lifestyle based around our beliefs and behaviours.

Linking it to the Media
The media can influence this by showing us a range of individuals and behaviours (that affects our beliefs about what is 'normal')  Giddens says our identity has become a self-reflexive project - a continuous and changing narrative of who we are, who we have been and who will be in the future. This meaning 'you' aren't purely your biography  or who you are 'now', or your aspirations.... 'You' are all of these things.

How has 'structuration'  been accelerated by the 'digital revolution'?
Easy access to everything (very fast).


From this we were asked....
How have you changed since Year 11? (Age 16)
Since I have a disability my answers were not the typical answers that a teenager would give, the following are my answers:

• I have gained more social skills which I have used to inspire others e.g. I went to a school where I inspired younger students. Also I have done the same from my own school. 
• I have become more independent i.e. talking in groups and more outgoing, 
• Travelling around on my own e.g. travelling from my house to my church by myself. 
• I now have better knowledge of a varied amount of films.

Music Video - Aiming for As (i.e. producing the 'wow' factor)

How to devlop ideas:
One way to develop ideas is intertextuality which gives it density - 'sampling' - snippets of drum beat orchestra etc - from films/TV/video games - assembling a text out of bits of other texts ('bricolage').

Why are videos that use 'intertextuailty' popular/successful?
This is because some people can relate to certain texts by recognising different texts from a TV show or game depending on the person. People can gain values and beliefs from it. Viewers can also gain familiarity with a specific text making them feel 'clever' and influence 'knowledge'. The reason why it's successful is because it is easy to create as you would be combing already successful elements.

Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' is a great example of intertextuality. Here is why:

Lady Gaga - Telephone ft Beyonce

Caged Heat

The ways this can be seen as intertextual is...

• Female Jungle - This relates to the women in the video - 'soft-porn' fantasy women's prison - licking prison bars. 
• Sexualised prisoners/guards - women in underwear.
• Lesbians
• Electric shock scene 'tape around head/face' - Gaga also wore tape around her face/head. 
• Phone queue - Prisoners 'facing off'.
• Fight scene.
• Main woman walking down isle with two guards - Gaga is also taken down the isle with two guards. 
• Prisoners fighting.

Kill Bill

In Kill Bill the bride steals the pussy wagon and uses it throughout the film. In Telephone Gaga and Beyonce use the pussy wagon to drive away. 

Natural Born Killers

This is intertextual because...

• Sexualised dancing in diner - Lady Gaga also danced in diner.
• Killing man in diner - Beyonce poisons her boyfriend and Gaga poisons the entire diner.
• Annoying sleazy man killed.
• Dance routine - Similar to Gaga's dance.
• Swapping between black and white to colour.

Cooking Mama 

Cooking Mama is seen in Telephone when Gaga is making the poison  This is also heard as the music sounds like a computer game. 

Thelma and Louise

The holding hands at the end in the car is similar to the ending as Gaga and Beyonce.

From this I have learnt that intertextuailty is a good way to attract audience, so I will make sure that I use it for my own production.

Where do popstars come from?

A book called 'The Manual' by Bill Drummond is a book about 'How to have a number One hit the Easy way'! It is a step by step guide to achieve a No.1 single with no money or musical skills. 

Read more about it here...

Critical perspectives of Genre

For my preliminary project 2 our allocated genre was Gangster Rap. Here are a few artists that can be seen on CD covers, posters and videos in the Gangster Rap genre:

• 50 Cent
• Snoop Dogg
• Dr Dre
• Eminem
• Lil Wayne

Some conventions seen in the Gangster Rap genre on CD covers, posters and videos are (see in presentation below):

From this we now know what types of conventions we will need in our project. 

Laura Mulvey - Feminist film Theory and 'The Male Gaze'

Pleasurable Spectatorship
Laura Mulvey analysed the way mainstream films 'construct' an ideal viewer; she looked at how men and women were represented in films and how it would appeal to spectators.

Scopophilia = Freud's phrase for when we get sexual pleasure from looking at other people. Also Freud said people feel guilty when getting pleasure in this way.

Mulvey suggests that going to the cinema was the best place to get 'scopophillia' pleasure. This is because:

• The people in the film aren't aware the spectator is watching (so can't be made to feel guilty).
• No-one else can see the spectator getting pleasure because the theatre is in darkness, plus everyone else is watching the screen too.

Mulvey said the cinema provides voyeuristic pleasure, which means 'pleasure achieved through watching others who don't know they're being observed'.

• Video, DVD and on-line films can provide a similar pleasure as you can watch these by yourself and get the same feeling/pleasure.

A bit of Lacan

Jacques Lacan was a psychoanalyst who expanded and developed Freudians' ideas. Lacan introduced the 'Mirror Stage' which was a useful way of understanding why audiences like films and other media. 

Mirror Stage

This is a stage in a child's development where they see themselves in other people with similar features as them. A child develops sense of 'self' and 'other' that influence his/her thinking for the rest of their life. Mulvey used Lacan's idea about the importance of seeing yourself 'visually reflected to explain why people like films'.

Is there too much sex in Music Videos?

Sexualised music videos are having a negative impact on individuals and society.

In one of our classes we had a debate on this topic. For this topic I was on the "For" side; here are some of the points that I wrote down for the argument:

• Copycat Theory - Young people/ children are influence by clothing and attitudes from music videos.
• Feminine - Sexualise females are seen as sex objects.
• Technology has a heavy influence because it is easy to access e.g. TV, Internet and Magazines.  
• Lyrics in the music influence our vocabulary.
• Cultivation - Over again and again we see the same videos.
• Young children may not understand what they are watching, can be naive.
• Most people have access to T.V and Internet etc.
• Mainly all music genres have sexual content in them either by lyrics or the visual.
• Women wear more sexual clothing to express themselves or not.
• As long as people buy and watch the music and the videos, sexualisation will exist and continue to be in music videos. 

By learning about sex in music videos I now have a better understanding of how women are portrayed in the media. This links to my production as my genre is techno music. This affects it as many techno music videos have women scantily clad, dancing in night clubs. Sometimes these women can be seen drunk and very vulnerable.