Wednesday, 20 October 2010

History Of The Music Video

The first music video ever to be made is "Video Killed The Radio star" by The Buggles
The first music video broad casted on MTV's first day, August 1, 1981.

Michael Jackson's - Thriller
It is a 14-minute music video for the song of the same name released on December 2, 1983 and directed by John Landis, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jackson.

Often referred to as the greatest music video ever and has also been voted the most influential pop music video of all time,Thriller proved to have a profound effect on popular culture,and was named "a watershed moment for the [music] industry"for its unprecedented merging of film making and music. Guinness World Records listed it in 2006 as the "most successful music video", selling over 9 million units.

It is the seventh and final single from his sixth studio album Thriller. It was released on January 23, 1984 by Epic Records. The song has appeared on multiple greatest hits compilation albums from Jackson, including HIStory (1995) and This Is It (2009). It was written by Rod Temperton and produced by Quincy Jones. The song, which has a voice-over rap from actor Vincent Price, had originally been titled "Starlight".

Equipment and Prop list

Equipment List
- Digital Camera
- Tripod and Digital Camcorder
- Adobe Premier
-Adobe Photo shop
-Studio Lights
-Spot Lights
-Green Screen / Tricaster

Props
-Smart clothing / Office wear for Noor
-Casual for the all performers
-Computers, Ofiice Scene
-Messy Room, Mobile Phone,

Tuesday, 19 October 2010

Photo's For The Ancillary Tasks

Here are some test shots of Noor our performer and these will help us for picking a photo for our CD cover and the back cover




















Monday, 18 October 2010

Storyboard

The storyboard consists of our performer having a bad day as soon as she wake ups, her room is a mess and she cannot find anything. She seems lost and confused. Her lyrics also link in to the song as she is having a bad day and she stumbles into work late and is a bad morning as its raining and nothing goes right. We then shoot at a office location and we see that her computer freezes and she can get anything right. As work finishes she finally sees her boyfriends which cheers her day up and she everything goes right and she then has a twist and she leaves her boyfriend to go clubbing with her friends. From our location shots we will be shooting the office location at school as there is an empty office we can use, central London such as Hyde Park, St James Park, Trafalgar Square and London Eye to show the night scenes and we will be using restaurants scenes showing Noor and Jack on a date in love and having a good time. We will also be using Harrow On the Hill to show some scenes of Noor and Jack walking up the hill and the posh area showing the loaction and them walking hand in hand while having a converssation.

Location Shots

We shall be using a combination of performance shots in the studio and location shots in the more secluded part of Harrow on the Hill and various places around central London like St James park, Hyde Park and the London eye. The night time shots shall be shot in central London as that is the times she will be out with her boyfriend and her friends for the end. We will also be using office shots to show her work and to link to the song.








Performers

For are video we have chosen 2 main performers, one guitarist and some extras.

Our main performer who will be playing DivaEve is Noor










Michael is going to play Noor's boyfriend and will be also performing.

















Monday, 4 October 2010

Lyrics Analysis

These are the lyrics to Diva Eve's song - Song To Sing Along (Wrong)and this is the analysis.

Thursday, 30 September 2010

Diva Eve - Lyrics

We have chosen Diva Eve as our unsigned artists and have contacted her and she has allowed us to use her song and has kindly typed out her lyrics and mp3 of her song.

This is the song to sing a along when everything goes wrong

It's the day that I get up too late
got a meeting at half nine
there are no clean socks
and the milk's run out
all is going to be fine


I miss the bus and the tube is stuck
there is nothing I can do but fail
if I had a hammer I would slam my thumb
but I don't so I break a nail

I forgot my keys and I lost my glove
and I left my card at home
I can't find a thing, I can hear it ring
but where is my phone?


when the trousers rip and the wrong things slip
out to where they don't belong
i clearly got my knickers in a twist
did I have to wear a thong?


I refuse to get upset
this is the soundtrack in my head
I am the hero of my own big movie
Maybe a looser and flop
lets loose the bad mood and do pop
where is my party hat, lets get silly

he computer crashed the printer died
this is such a perfect day
I'm glad I spent it with you
now get out off my way
I know there's worse
and I know I fine
so f off and let it be
I am cursing cause I like to swear
it's all positive you see

Wednesday, 22 September 2010

Research and Planning

For the unsigned acts we have looked on the Internet on http://www.unsigned.com/ to look and just clicked on the genres that we felt may have suited our group. We have looked at 2 different artists which have two different genres and we have picked Solo and DivaEve.

Solo is a UK artist and sings mainly soul and R&B, we thought we would use the song "Mi Lantina" and have created a storyboard about the video saying that Solo is chasing the girl he could never get and she is unaware of his actions and maybe the scene of them two together are either a dream or actual events. Are target audience is a wide range from 18 to 30 year old as we feel his voice is strong and can attract a widespread audience. We asked 20 people and they said they preferred Solo to DivaEve as they felt his voice was strong and the video had a good narrative. The theme of the video is a combination of a narrative as well as a performance video.

http://www.unsigned.com/1solosoulrbartist

DivaEve is also from London and her music is Alternative, Pop and Acoustic. We thought her target audience is widespread as well as her voice is strong yet the song we have picked is about the troubles of going to work and the hectic schedule she has. We have chosen to pick "Wrong Song" as it is a quirky and upbeat song and the chorus is catchy. The narrative of the video would be that she has to go to work stuck in her 9 to 5 job and she doesnt have a good day but she keeps seeing this guy and it brightens up her day and we could do different snap shots of her going to work. The theme of the video is a combination of a narrative as well as a performance video.

http://www.unsigned.com/divaeve

Wednesday, 15 September 2010

Post Modernism

-Post Modernism is the art and social political movement that aimed to reinvent.

Intertextuality - one media text referring to another
Parody - mocking something in an original way
Pastiche - An artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist or period
Bricolage - Mixing up and using a different genre and style
Homage - Imitation from a respectful standpoint

Lady Gaga - Paparazzi
Lady Gaga's Paparazzi video is about Gaga struggling with her quest for fame as the paparazzi keep following her and during the beginning of the video we see that her boyfriend has set her up as they kiss on the balcony and the the camera's are taking pictures of her. After we see that Lagy Gaga's fighting with her boyfriend to hide from the paparazzi and then her boyfriend pushes her of resulting in her laying in her own blood and the paparazzi taking snaps and referring to her career as over. The scene of her laying in a spiral black and white warp refers to Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' paying Homage and Pastiche.

As the music filly starts we see Lady Gaga getting out a black limousine with crutches and a metallic body suit referring to 'Metropolis' once again showing Homage and Intertextuality. As the song goes on we see her with her boyfriend on the sofa reading magazines and her costume is paying Homage to Minnie Mouse with the glasses and the mouse prints on her body suit. Then she finally takes her revenge on her boyfriend by discreetly poisoning his drink with white powder concealed in her ring. As he falls dead she calls 9-1-1 and declares that she just killed her boyfriend. The police come and arrest Gaga then walks to the police car as the paparazzi surround her once again as images flash by, with newspapers proclaiming her innocence we see that Gaga is back in the spotlight and has regained her fame. The the video ends with her taking mugshots in a tulip type dress. The video is a blurring of fiction and reality as it ends the same way it starts showing a cyclical narrative.

The video is mainly about Lady Gaga showing the media as to having no remorse or sympathy for her privacy and that they care about thier snap "got my flash on it's true, need that picture of you" and she also refers to not sure what it means but "this photo of us it don't have a price, ready for those flashing lights". Lady Gaga maybe saying that the boy she loves in her lyrics is fame and they crave her and she craves them as well but the papparazi can either destroy you make you.



Tuesday, 14 September 2010

Maroon 5- She Will Be Loved Textual Analysis

Maroon 5's She will be loved is a mixture of narrative and performance based.
The video is about Adam Levine - The main singer of the band loving a girl who is already taken and she is emotionally damaged but he still continues to love her even though hes going out with her daughter.

The genre of the track is pop rock and the director of this video is Sophie Muller and the video was released in July 2004. The mise en scene of the video focuses on the narrative and tell the story of the main singer and the woman he is in love with. The video is in colour but some shots are in black and white to show he is reminiscing and to show the past. The costumes look like what normal people would wear showing the realistic approach to the video. The lighting is a natural but some shots when they are in a club is back lighting.


The video is a conventional narrative video even for the genre. The band does feature in the video as Adam Levine's friends but the main star of the video is Adam Levine himself. Adam represents a man who can't leave this woman he is in love with but ends up cheating on his girlfriend - the woman's daughter for her. We also see that she is not loved by her husband or boyfriend so she tries to gain attention from Adam and his band members.

The video starts with a mid shot of Adam Levine looking towards a pool and reminiscing of some memories as he looks back and eventually jumps into the pool. As he jumps in he looks graceful maybe showing that he is trying to kill himself but then it jump cuts onto two woman walking down the street then a jump cut once again to him drowning in the pool and a fade of a older woman's face then a young girl's face and then his own. We then hear the start of the song and the narrative starts. The scene is a pool side and Adam Levine jumps into a pool with a young girl in his arms and him kissing her in the pool showing a full body shot of them kissing. We also see another jump cut to him staring into the camera lenses and the young girl is cuddling up to him. We then see another jump cut of Adam coming up from the water and resting on the pool side staring at the young girls mother - the woman he really loves. We then see the scene of the older woman massaging her husband and getting rejected from him show she decides to gain attention to herself and stares at Adam Levine showing there is some kind of connection between them.

She then flaunts herself to the members of Maroon 5 to gain attention and eventually showing a jump cut to Adam Levine running down the stairs with back lighting and showing the mother on the floor lying but shes not dead and we see Adam helping her and we see her lipstick is smudged and then a jump cut to her husband smudging it and then a jump cut to her and Adam. We see they are full on kissing and then jump cuts of the woman's husband and then a jump cut of a new scene where Adam is in a car watching the woman while she is shopping with her daughter and then another scene to where Adam is fighting with his girlfriend in the flat and the woman is watching them in her car. Then we see a jump cut to a club scene and we see his girlfriend and she smiles at him and then something passes into the camera and then we see the close up of the woman smiling. We see full body shots of Adam and the band and then mid shots of the two lovers. We also then see a jump cut of him dancing with his girlfriend and then another jump cut of the older woman and we see the body language of them both he loves his girlfriend but he shows his affections to her mother and we see he still loves her but can't let go. The club scene also shows the performance of the band as well as a concept. We also see jump cuts of Adam and the older woman kissing passionateley and shot reverse shot of Adam singing and the older woman in a sexy red dress looking at Adam through a long shot. Then we see a close up of Adam and the older woman kissing and we see smudged lipstick on her face. We then see a new scene where Adam and his girlfriend hugging while sitting on a chair in a hotel. We then see a quick swivel to the older woman looking angry and sad while looking Adam and another jump cut to Adam performing we then see a midshot of the older woman and touching her husbands leg and then we see a long shot of Adam and his girlfriend sitting on the chair hugging and the location and props. We then see a quick jump cut of Adam holding his girlfriends hand while looking at her mother. Then another jump cut to Adam in the club scene again. We then see a midshot of the older woman gettign distressed and looking at Adam maybe highlighting she can't take it anymore. Then we see a jump cut of Adam and his girlfriend and then flashbacks of Adam and the older woman, her fighting with her husband, her waiting outside Adam's flat, her flaunting herself and then kissing Adam and then being passionate together. We then see a close up of Adam looking at the older woman and her finally snapping as she pushes her husbands newspaper and then eventually walking off crying towards a fountain. We then see a close up of Adam's face and her husband's face. As she is walking towards the fountain we see the back of her and then Adam running after her and a jump cut to see Adam's girlfriends facial expression. We see a long shot of Adam and the older woman standing next to the fountain but then focused into a close up of them fighting and eventually her giving up and just hugging him while his girlfriend runs down. We then see quick jump cuts of Adam and the older woman hugging and then his girlfriend walking towards them to build up the suspense of whether she knows about them. They then begin to look at each other showing they would kiss and during the middle of the shot we see the girlfriend just staring at them. As the older woman is ready to kiss Adam he looks towards his girlfriend and we see an extreme close up of her eyes and then a jump cut of the flashback when Adam is kissing the older woman and she walks in and then a jump cut to the scene of the fountain and they both look at the younger girl and we just see her eyes again looking sad.



Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved
Uploaded by Maroon-5. - See the latest featured music videos.

Monday, 13 September 2010

Drake - Find Your Love Textual Analysis

Drake's Find Your Love is a performance but also a narrative. It tells the story of Drake finding a woman he is interested in only to find out he is being set up by her and she is owned by Movado - a dance hall singer who is a gang leader or a pimp. We see that Drake knows that she is owned but he still tries to get her and then faces the consequences when he is captured by Movado's men when walking into the town. The location of the video is Jamaica and is directed by Anthony Mandler (who's worked with Jay-Z, John Mayer and Mary J. Blige.

The genre of the track is R&B and the video has a twist when compared to the conventional R&B video. Although the video is not the same as conventional R&B video it has hints of scenes in the club, dancing women, scenes in a studio and Drake having a good times but it also subverts showing the narrative of the song, the use of the model Maliah Michel who plays Drake's lover as well as Movado's. The video also shows the beautiful sets within Jamaica and scenes of the beach and the streets then towards the middle of the video we see Drake walking through "Gully Town" which may signify a ghost town or a town run by gangs or pimps.

Drake represents the hero or the protagonist within the video as he tries to woo Maliah and saves her from Movado but doesn't realise what Movado can really do. We see Drake trying hard to get Maliah and he is successful. The Mise En Scene used on Drake just shows what he would normally wear and the use of the camera techniques show the use of body languages, facial expressions and the scenes within the video. Although Drake does perform in the video its not a long scene as the video is mostly narrative.

The video does start with the blank screen and the line "The worst thing about crossing a line" then the camera shoots past the elderly man's face which is blurred but shows Drake's face clearly, then the shot fades to a black screen and the line "is when you don't know you already have" then the shot fades into a scene where Drake is conversing with the elderly man on the beach and we see the scene is beautiful and the shot is a full body shot as well as an establishing shot. The director may have chosen to show the beautiful scene of the beach to juxtapose the heartbreaking narrative. Then once again the scene is faded into a black screen and a jump cut to a scene of homes and camera shot maybe have been filmed in a helicopter showing a high angle shot of the town and a jump cut straight onto Drake once again talking to the man, we then see the jump cuts of the location in Jamaica and shots of the "Gully Town" and finally a close up of Movado flipping a bullet between his hand and the camera moves into an extreme close up of Movado's face and then him smoking as we see the smoke coming out of his nose and then another jump cut to the "Gully Town" and people with masks on their face and a close of of someones hands in handcuffs which we believe might be Drake. Then another jump cut of the Drake and the old man talking about the girl, the mean tells Drake to go but he ignores the man and goes back to the girl and the narrative starts. During the conversations there are jump cuts of Maliah walking down the beach but still looking straight into the camera.

We then see jump cuts of Drake and Maliah getting intimate and showing steamy scenes of them two but then jumping to Movado and his gang talking about getting Drake. As the song progresses Maliah is standing in the club by herself waiting for Drake but is unaware that Movado's men are watching him as he tries to woo her. The director uses a lot of jump cuts trying to build suspicion or create tension. We see one of Movado's men going through "Gully Town" to aware him of Drake's intentions with Maliah and Movado informs his men to "Do It You Know" which shows the viewers that something bad is going to happen to Drake. The use of close ups, full body shots and mid shots allows the audience to see facial expressions, body language and once again build up tension. As we see Movado's men walking through the down the use of back lighting creating a suspension and danger shows the audience that the narrative is maybe coming to and end and Drake is in trouble. As we finally see Drake walking through the town we see close ups of his face, then close ups of the people watching him go through behind gates showing that Drake is clearly not welcome. The camera jump shots to "Gully Till Dead" on a gate painted in red to signify danger for those who enter and to show the links between that and the narrative.

The use of the steamy scenes with Maliah when compared to Drake walking through the town and then performing in the studio shows the quick pace of the song and the slow tempo towards the end of the video shows that something bad is going to happen. As Drake calls for Maliah over the gates to come and save her the camera jump cuts to Maliah just standing there looking disappointed or not bothered about what is going to happen to Drake next. Then we see a close up of men's feet walking towards Drake and the camera tilts up to see Movado's face and then a over the shoulder shot to see Drake's full body against the gate. As Drake looks behind him the camera swivels around in a 360 degree shot and we see the faces of the men that are going to attack Drake. Then the track slows down and we see once again jump cuts of him and Maliah getting intimate but then Drake realises he is being set up and looks disappointed as we see a close up of his facial expression. As the piano plays only we see that Maliah walks towards Movado in a new scene where they are in a room and Drake is handcuffed while sitting on a chair. Then we see quick jump cuts of Drake and Maliah while there is a voice over from Drake saying "I just gotta see her one more time" and then a black screen with "Find your love" is on the screen and the video ends.



Drake - Find Your Love
Uploaded by umusic. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Wednesday, 21 July 2010

Goldie - Inner City Life Textual Analysis

Goldie's 'Inner City Life' explains the pressures of living in an urban area surrounded by problems. It also explores the difficulties people must go through when living in a council estate. The lyrics also suggest the meaning of this video explaining the difficulties the people are faced with 'living free, i long to feel' showing the people just want an escape route. The main character within the video is a single mother struggling to pay bills and support her children, the video focuses on her showing the struggles she is faced with as well as what she wants which is a husband or a man to help her.

The use of the high angle shot of the estate building connotes an unpleasant feeling and showing that estate is uninviting. The Mise En Scene of the video shows the different camera shots of the estate including the people who live there. The shot of the single mother struggling to pay bills in her cramped flat, messy and dirty suggest the realistic views of the working class struggling to survive in this world. The video may also want to show viewers or the audience that this is what the people are going through. The use of the high angle shot of a boy pushing off a trolley from the balcony suggests the different age groups and what they might be going through when faced with the difficulties. The shot connotes the harsh realities of living on an estate and showing once again the realistic approach of stress and anger.

The use of getting rid of pressure is shown in the 'rave' scene where mostly men are dancing and getting rid of their worries and stress by partying is in sync with the lyrics which are being repeated 'Inner City Life, Pressure Take Over Me' shows how they get rid of their stress. The use of the back lighting may also connote the stress and worries they are going through and the neon lights as freeing them from worry.

The Mise En Scene of the rugged effect of the estate shows the lifestyles of the working class or under class and the Marxist's may agree that the message connotes the realistic lifestyles of the working class and their struggles. Marxist would also argue the messages are positive as the children and the old men are happy, however negative as the stereotypical single mother living in a high rise looks miserable as she struggles to pay bills and finally lights up the bills on the balcony.

The text seems to maintain hegemonic controls as the residence of the urban area are black which is a stereotypical representation of black people nowadays. Unchallenged by the masses the video also shows a BMW convertible with a black male in the driver’s seat who seems to be a representation of a person who has made it out of the 'ghetto' but also showing the positive side as people can make it. The video also challenges the hegemonic control as it shows two men passing something to each other which would typically be drugs as it's what's expected but in fact they are passing a CD.

Audience gratifications are evident in the video as the urban setting may appeal to those of the working class status as they can identify with the environment and the need to feel free from its restrictiveness. The upbeat tempo relates to those who enjoy the funky house music scene usually those in their late teens early 20’s. the artist and main singer both being mixed race can therefore appeal to both genders and appeal to people from ethnic minority backgrounds. The artist Goldie does not feature on this track but does appear in the video as the one who blew up the car and wearing a hoodie confirming stereotypes of the people who live on estates or 'hoodies' as being aggressive and violent.

The video's narrative shows growing up in suburbia or an urban area and the pressures of living in the "ghetto" and showing the single mother struggling to pay her bills and the shows of a council estate. The setting and mise en scene shows Goldie is highlighting maybe his childhood or what life is really like showing the hard pressures that people face, the youth, elderly and the challenges that they face. The messages within the text highlight hegemony as the video highlights the subtle indoctrination influencing the manner in which society views the world as we see young adults in the video passing something which the audience believes to be drugs at first but when we look closer it is only a CD. The video is also challenging the hegemonic control as there are little shots which we view to be a negative stereotype as an audience but then looking closely to only be a realistic image of the pressures the characters face an example would be the children playing basketball rather then being on the 'streets' but also confirming hegemonic control by showing a youth pushing a trolley off the roof of a council flat. The target audience for this text is anyone interested in Jungle, Drum & Bass and Garage genres.



Goldie - Inner City Life
Uploaded by Exus. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Wednesday, 7 July 2010

Post Feminism & Feminism - Britney Toxic

Britney's 'Toxic' video shows the different characters within the narrative that explains the different stories of the characters. The first scene in the aeroplane shows the air stewardess as being sexy yet motherly when looking after the child. Britney's lyrics also suggest that she could have a man and that shes flaunting herself towards them. The video has a polysemic reading as the different audience would say she's either flaunting herself and being promiscuous but also showing she is dominant and in control. The lyrics also suggest that it's about taking drugs or getting high as she does poison one of the men in the narrative but her lyrics suggest this too 'Too high Can't come down Losing my head Spinning round and round', Britney may also suggest that she likes the different guy's within the narrative and they're dangerous show she uses 'Toxic' to explain how she feels about them.

The Mise En Scene of the airplane is CGI but the costume shows her as sexy and with her kissing the guy in toilets she is once again flaunting herself but showing the negative side of her video as she can get 'Hot' guys because she kisses a normal everyday man then takes his mask off to reveal a younger fitter man. She sends out negative vibes of her video as she reveals herself to be raunchy, flaunt and sexy; whereas her audience is of a younger age and mainly girls connoting a negative image and meaning. Another scene of her when she is covered in a diamond body suit shows her wealth, sexiness and her body showing she is confident but flaunting herself to gain more audiences showing she has no talent for singing but for just looking attractive. She wears revealing clothing, changes her hair colour and using men to show her sexiness just proves that she uses her body rather than her talent even within the narrative. The use of close ups, high angle shots, mid shot, full body shots and establishing shot shows her body and her costume and promoting her sexiness.

Post Feminism
-Identifies the male gaze showing women assert their right to dress and be sexually attractive
-Subverting stereotypes as she is showing she is in control within the narratives
-Uses her sexuality to identify the female gaze
-She wishes to surpass the male achievements showing she's rather aggressive and in control
-Each occupation emphasises highly sexual behaviour and costumes

Feminist
-Subjects herself to stereotypes
-Capitalises on her sexuality to cash in money
-Provocative clothing show a negative affect on her audience mostly kids to be influenced
-Chameleon effect - uses her image rather than talent
-May reveal low self esteem
-Connoting that women have to flaunt themselves to get people to watch and buy their songs
-Representing the female gaze using men