Meeting Six

We had once again altered our idea slightly, whilst we were still focused on using intertextuality in the song 'Nine 2 Five' by The Ordinary Boys and Lady Sovereign, we decided we wanted to change our idea from a news reporter to a man who holds down several different 9 to 5 jobs, as we felt that this would match the lyrics to better effect and would also give us more props, costumes and locations to play around with. We also decided that as Lady Sovereign was only a featuring artist in the video she would have no involvement in the job aspect of the video and her input would be purely performance based. We were also interested in the idea of using clocks in the music video as there are lots of different references to time in the song.

Meeting Five

Now we had scrapped the 'St Jimmy' Green Day idea we now went on to further our thoughts related to the 'Nine 2 Five' news reporter idea, we went on to find some music videos that had already been produced with this use of intertextuality implemented into them, here are two examples that we had found:

By furthering our research on these kind of music videos we now had a better idea of how we could put this into our own music video. We also came up with the idea of using both a news desk and a news anchor scene giving us a range of different locations to use in our music video.

Music video director #2

Marc Webb

Most of Marc Webb's work is in the field of rock music, making videos for bands such as Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Incubus, Weezer, AFI and Evanescance. On the other hand he has done work for rappers such as Trey Songz and P. Diddy, showing his adapdability in his style of music video. The one common theme I found in all the videos of his i've watched is the clean fast paced cutting and the use of lighting to create mood, this is shown in the following music videos:

21 Guns - Green Day

Miss Murder - AFI

Make A Move - Incubus

Meeting Four

We decided that it would not be possible to use 'St Jimmy' by Green Day as the band already has an established image that was well known on a global scale, and it would be difficult to produce a green day related music video without including a band performance that was similar to that of Green Day's. This also meant that we could not use similar well-known punk bands as they generally follow the same image and attitude, this now meant that we would persist with the 'Nine 2 Five' news reporter idea.

Meeting Three

We decided to scrap the Daft Punk 'Technologic' idea as we felt the lyrics and repetitive beat of the song meant we could do limited things with the song which may lead to our video coming across as boring. After this change in idea we came up with two other songs that we were interested in developing into our music video, these were 'St. Jimmy' by Green Day and 'Nine 2 Five' by The Ordinary Boys and Lady Sovereign.

We were interested in using either of these two songs as it meant we could develop and idea which involved intertextuality. Firstly with the song St. Jimmy we had the idea of involving a Jeremy Kyle style show and with Nine to Five we realised the lyrics may match the job of a news reporter, we had seen this job involved in a few videos beforehand.

Below are the two songs we are interested in using for our music video:

Meeting Two

SCAN IN ROUGH NOTES AND BRIEF IMAGES AND STORYBOARD IDEA 

Music Video Analysis 1 - Ni**as in Paris

N****s in Paris - Jay-Z and Kanye West

'N****s in Paris' released by Jay Z and Kanye West in 2011 is an influental music video for me due to the use of editing and link between the music and live show/band performance.

Firstly the artists 'Kanye' and 'Jay' are introduced at the start of the music video in bold point emphasising their importance straight from the beginning of the video, furthermore the song title 'Paris' is also shown. This is an odd feature for a music video and may have been used to created a sense of an epic build up to the on screen action, this follows on to the use of live footage constrasting between on stage footage and crowd footage showing the connection and link between artist and audience. The use of heavy strobes throughout the music video emphasises a sense of their live show and also reflects the fast pace of the music, this is also suiting to the double screen zooming effect used throughout the whole music video, which gives the video a specific theme which is not common is any other music video I have seen.

The fast pace of both the music, strobing and double screen effect is then elaborated on the movement and dancing in the crowd emphasising a connection between the music and the crowd, whilst this connection between crowd and artist is used often there are quite often close ups of both Kanye West and Jay-Z using the double screen to show their importance to the crowd. The cutaway to the quote by Will Ferrell links the video the song lyrics and also slows down the tempo for the only time in the whole music video. It also adds a sense of humour to a video which is otherwise a serious performance based video. Finally, the link between 'Paris' and the music video is elaborated on with the use of different landmarks, for example the Arc De Triomphe is used with the use of never ending walls. I believe the purpose of this music video is not only to promote to song but to also promote Jay Z and Kanye West's live show perhaps appealing to a younger audience as the music does aswell.

Meeting One

Our first initial idea for our A2 music video task involved the song 'Technologic' by Daft Punk, I liked the idea of using this song as it had a qwerky beat and repetitive lyrics that we could play with, there was also a robotic voice used for the lyrics which is another idea we could play around with. Our first initial idea was to use a split screen that would divide into further screens as the verse/chorus progressed, this would give make the video stand out from other videos in the dance music genre. I would also interested in developing a rave/dance scene band performance with the use of strobing and a crowd scene. We briefly thought of using V for Vendetta masks for the band member/s to fit the strange and peculiar nature of the song. Ofcourse it is only early days in coming up with a final idea for our music video so our overall idea is subject to change.

Music Video Director #1

Wolf Haley

The alter-ego of famous American rapper 'Tyler, The Creator' (member of Odd Future), 'Wolf Haley' created two of my favourite music videos of 2011. These music videos are for the songs 'Yonkers' and 'She ft. Frank Ocean'. The tone and mood of the music videos often fit the humourous, absurd and aggressive lyrical works in Odd Futures songs. Many reviewers saw Wolf Haley's work as raw, straight forward and contreversial making it popular with both the general public and the music industry. The popularity of Tyler, The Creator rocketed in the year of 2011 and it may have had something to do with the edginess and different styles of his music, but also to do with the out of the ordinary music videos created by his alter ego to help bolster and improve his image across the globe. 'Wolf Haley' also created another music video to the song 'Sam is Dead' this year which follows the same trends and themes as his previous work

'Yonkers' by Tyler, The Creator

'She' (Feat. Frank Ocean) by Tyler, The Creator

Sam Is Dead by Tyler, The Creator and Domo Genesis

Intertextuality

Example 1: Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers

This music video uses intertextuality throughout, with a theme of using a red hot chili peppers based video game

Firstly, the lyrics in the music video match the on screen action in the video game. An example of this in the song is:

Marry me girl be my fairy to the world
Be my very own constellation
A teenage bride with a baby inside
Getting high on information
And buy me a star on the boulevard
It's Californication

During this scene of the music video the main character in the video game comes across a pregnant woman, synchronising the lyrics in the song with the narrative in the music video. Another example of this in the music video is:

Space may be the final frontier
But it's made in a Hollywood basement
Cobain can you hear the spheres
Singing songs off station to station
And Alderaan's not far away
It's Californication

During this part of the music video the main character in the music video walks into an outerspace scene, matching the location created in the song with the onscreen action in the video.

By using a video game theme in this music video, red hot chili peppers may have seperated themselves from other bands in the rock scene. Also by using a unusual style of intertextuality in the music video it may make the song and video more memorable, bringing in a larger audience and eventually enhancing the bands success. This video also held very high tech graphics and visuals for the time of the release, the album entitled 'Californication' was released on June 8th 1999, graphical capabilites have improved durastically in the past 13 years so for a music video to hold such a strong graphic link is impressive for the time it was created.

The music video also contains band performance scenes aswell making the audience more familiar with the band itself. They have also used the bands members to construct the characters in the game which is also another good aspect of this music video as it allows the audience to be able to relate with the members of the band more. All the band scenes cut from a member of the band to the video game aspect of the music video, this shows advanced levels of editing. 

Example 2: Arguing with Thermometers - Enter Shikari

This music video uses intertexuality by creating a news and weather report, the news reporter stays inside the studio for parts of the video and also goes out onto the street and gets involved with some band scenes.

This music video plays more with the idea of humour than my previous example of intertextuality 'californication'. For example at points in the lyrics where the singer is screaming the lyrics, the news reporter will mime this adding a sense of unseriousness and easy nature to a video, even though the lyrics in the song emphasise key problems in the world such as climate change. This video helps show that despite the seriousness of Enter Shikari's lyrics they are still willing to add a humourous theme to their music videos.

The images on the screen in the background match the lyrics that the lead singer of the band is emphasising such as melting ice caps, the song fits the news report theme well as some of the topics and subjects bought up in the lyrics of the song are common news stories. The drummer who is reporting the news shows the weather with his drum sticks once again emphasising a sense of humour.

The video also uses news reports out on the streets with a handheld camera adding a sense of realism to the onscreen action, as it could be perceived as a real news report. An interesting and out of the ordinary music video may also improve the bands popularity.

Album Artwork

here are eight album covers that i will use as inspiration for the digipack i will make towards my coursework task for a level media, i have chosen these album covers as the designs appeal to me. All the album covers i have chosen all seem to be quite busy with lots going on showing that i may hold a preference towards a more digitally creative cover than just using a plain design.

  
 

Goodwin's Theory

Goodwin's theory covers the following ideas:

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).

2 . There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

3. There is a relationship between Mahdi as visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc.) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos, etc.)

Example Music Video: Kill The DJ - Green Day



This music video displays some ideas of Goodwins theory, for example:

• Lots of shots of stage performance from a rock band showing them playing their instruments (expertees in their genre of music)
• The members of Green Day are well known in the rock scene on a global scale, so it could be seen as necessary for them to be the focal point of the music video to please fans of the band etc.
• Some of the lyrics in the music video completley contradict the on screen action, for example at the beginning the lyrics read:

Walking after dark
In the New York City park
Your thoughts are so unholy
In the holiest of old
Onward Christian soldiers
Filled with jivin' mind control

• These lyrics have no reference to the on screen action at the time, as they are on motorbikes in a desert.
• On the other hand, some of the lyrics in the song match the on screen action at the time, for example:

The blood left on the dance floor
Runnin', runnin' red

• These lyrics are relevant to the on screen action at the time as the faces of some of the people of the dancefloor begin to bleed, sychronising the action in the music video with the lyrics of the song.
• The demand of the record label for lots of close ups of the members of Green Day is definantly shown in this music video, especially towards the lead singer and guitarist of the band Billie Joe Armstrong. There are constant close ups of him during the guitar solo part of the video. The other two members of the band are also shown through close ups but not as frequently.
• The pyschadellic feel of the song is put across in the music video with the use of strobing, showing a link between the song and the visuals.

Voyeurism

Voyeurism is a perversion in which a person receives gratification from seeing body parts of others or witnessing others’ sexual behaviour
Voyeurism is the act of watching someone who is performing sexual behaviours such as dancing, undressing or intercourse in order to gain pleasure. The person being watched is often unaware of their audience and in the terms of music videos it is usually a men’s controlling gaze towards women that have been sexually objectified.

Goodwin states that female performers are sexually objectified by camera work and editing with fragmented body shots emphasising a sexualised treatment of the performer.

Voyeurism is often used to help sell a product and create audience interest; there are many apparent uses of voyeurism in many music videos, such as my following example.

Case Study: Toxic - Britney Spears

How voyeurism is shown in this music video:

The main star in this music video is obviously Britney Spears, as he appears in nearly every single frame of the music, despite her music appealing to a mainly female audience, this video is directly aimed at the male market. This is expressed by her wearing revealing clothing and seducing several different men within the duration of the music video, the fact that the men used in the music video are vastly different in looks will entice all kinds of men to the music video. Britney Spears also wears 3 different hair colours in the music video (red, blonde, black) this could have also been done to appeal to a wide audience of men with different preferences. The repetitional usage of the blank white background whilst Britney Spears is singing gives full focus to the main star of the music video, the fact that there are no distractions may also make the male viewer feel like they are in the same place as Britney Spears.

Britney Spears could be perceived as a sex object in this music video, but certain aspects of the music video contradict this idea, for example the low angle camera shots used throughout the video show that she is in power, whilst these types of camera angles are obviously appealing to a male audience they also express Britney Spears being in control. This is also shown at the beginning of the video whilst Britney Spears is being an air hostess, the fact that she is standing up and several men she is serving are sitting down creates different levels in the music video, Britney Spears is looking down on the men showing she is a powerful and strong character, this music video emphasises a stereotype of a dominating female figure. Editing in the music video gives Britney Spears near inhuman superpowers, such as the ability to fly, this once again shows she is a strong character and she obtains abilities beyond an ordinary human being.


Synopsis of 'Toxic' by Britney Spears

Toxic" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears from her fourth album, In the Zone. It was released on January 12, 2004, by Jive Records as the second single from the album

The music video begins with an open shot of an airplane flying surrounded by many doves, referencing the works of Hong Kong director John Woo. Spears appears with blond hair dressed as a flight attendant, receiving a phone call. After serving some of the passengers, she leads a bald overweight man to the bathroom and seduces him. She takes off the man's mask to reveal an attractive man (Matthew Felker) and steals a black pass from his pocket. Spears is then dropped into the back of a Ducati 999, driven by a shirtless male (Tyson Beckford) in a futuristic Paris, that was compared to the 1982 film Blade Runner. She wears a tight black cat suit and sports red hair, inspired by the character of Sydney Bristow from television series Alias. They pass a woman and lift up her dress, a homage to the iconic Marilyn Monroe scene in the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch. They also pass two women frolicking in a store window.

 Throughout the video, there are scenes of Spears naked covered in diamonds. The look was compared to that of Kate Bush in the music video for her 1978 single, "The Man with the Child in His Eyes". Britney Spears then enters Toxic Industries, and gains access to a vault from which she steals a vial of green poison. She accidentally triggers a laser trap when she leaves that she evades with elaborate dance moves, including a back handspring. This is followed by scenes of Spears wearing a black super heroine outfit and black hair. She scales a building and enters an apartment, where her unfaithful boyfriend (Henderson) is waiting. She kisses him just before pouring the poison into his mouth, killing him. Britney Spears kisses him again and jumps out of the window. She lands back on the plane sporting her flight attendant outfit, and winks at the camera. The video closes with a shot of the airplane flying surrounded by doves like the beginning

Personal response to AS coursework

This is the final piece that I created for my first year of A level media studies, me and my group went up to London to film the whole of my opening sequence. We tried to use different camera angles and shots to make the opening sequence more interesting and to keep the audience entertained and gripped by the on screen action.

We had to choose actors that would fit the requirements of the role that we wanted them to play, firstly we had to choose an actor that could play the role of a homeless man, so obviously he had to be quite scruffy looking. We briefed for the actor to wear old and unclean looking clothes (e.g jogging bottoms, cap, hoodie, old trainers). We then had to find someone to fit the role of a shifty looking character, they would have to be wearing preferably all black clothing, as the colour black often connotes danger and a sense of the unknown. With the introduction of this 'shifty' character, there would instantly be a twist in the plot of the opening sequence.

Overall, i feel that our choice of characters and plot of the opening sequence was very good, but problems arose when we had to edit all of our footage into a 3 minute time slot. Firstly we had trouble creating all of the different effects on our opening sequence, and we were close to running over the deadline so our soundtrack to the sequence was very rushed and was not up to the same standards as the onscreen footage. So to conclude, I and my group may need to improve on our time management on the creation of a music video, as it hindered us in the effectiveness of our opening sequence.