Welcome to my A2 blog. This will features Research and Planning and Progress towards my final edit of NSYNC- Gone and the two ancillary texts. The blog will also features our Evaluation of all our coursework.
We were put into groups and told to pick a video we have already deconstructed. We were asked to do a little ore research on the video and to compare the two videos. I chose to do Beyonce- Single Ladies and Will did Snow Patrol- Take Back the City. I think these two were a good choice because they are different genres mine is R&B/Pop and Wills is Alternative Rock. Also Beyonce is a solo artist and Sonw Patrol are a band. Here is our vodcast.
The main thing we found from this is that there is only a few conventions that differ between our genres and also that even the same conventions can be done in a different way to different genres.
The r&b definitely uses the convention of high key lighting a lot more than alternative rock although it is used sometimes.
Representation is the construction in any medium (especially the mass media). Representation is how people know and understand the world of reality.
Media does control us in a way. They choose what we see, they implant ideas into our head.
In music video terms the creator of music videos for example producers and directors pick aspects of reality and reshape them to fit with current society trends and will create a profit. This is how stereotypes are continuously used as audiences will recognise them and people know they will sell.
Representation of Women
Drawing of early burlesque dancers
The current representation of women has been developing from a image of women as early as the 1800s. The stereotype of women was borrowed from showgirls of america in the begin of the silent film industry and Burlesque dancers.
Poster from early Burlesque Days
Another development of this stereotype has developed from strippers. Some characteristics of strippers are:
Bra and hot pants
Glitter on body and clothing
Provocative dancing
Heavy makeup
These aspects have easily made their way into the music videos, particularly in some genres. Rap and r&b, these genres are dominated by men and it is common for them to have women in their videos, some of them are actually strippers.
This is now become the norm. An example of this is the american show candy girls which shows how one women has set up a business by employing girls and they appear in music videos not wearing very much.
We were put into pairs and each pair is to edit the footage of yesterdays shoot so that we get 5 different versions of the video.
The first step is to get the footage of the HD camera and onto the Macs. To do this we need to use and SD card reader and go through IMovie11 to get the footage onto FinalCut.
We need to decide what direction we want the video to take. We have around 17 minutes of footage to play around with.
We have faced a few problems when we first went to film we faced a few problems.
1. Trying to organise a group of people. Not many people were organised enough to bring their own costumes.
2. We didn't have enough time to plan everything properly.
3. We didn't have the access to the props we would of liked.
4. We didn't really have a clear leader as the person who pitched the idea couldn't step up.
This resulted in a wasted hour and meaning we had to delay filming to a later date. We also needed to make sure the nets were put up.
We then filmed the following day and this was much better. We managed to get a lot done. Everyone remembered the costumes, the nets were up, we had got a call sheet roughly done so that we knew what we needed but most importantly we had chosen two 'leaders' so that the group had some direction.
Doing the project is good because it helps us to figure out how hard it is to create a video and idea. A lesson learnt from this is that organisation is key. The next step is to upload the footage to Final Cut edit it.
We have now choosen to do Tom's pitch of Martin Solveig- Hello and now we are deciding on what we have to organise before we shoot. We have to include everyone in the video so we are each having a different role in the video;
So the idea for the video is to hava doubles match. One side is going to be dressed in a more plain kit and the other team is going to be dressed in bright colours. There are going to be many shots of the match. We oing to have ball boys/girls and a umpire to make the match seem more realistic also we are going to have a love intrest for one of the players. We decided to have this a Tom in drag to make it funny.
We have a sheet of the lyrics but the video is over 4 minutes long so we have cut it down to make it easier for us to do. We ave made a very basic call sheet of what shots we are going to have. We plan to film tomorrow.
We were all asked to pitch an idea for a music video for us to do as a class. We had 90 seconds to make our pitch. We had to pick an video that wasnt too difficult because we had limited time to organise and shoot it. It also had to include everyone. I decided to pitch Tony Christie's 1971 hit "Is thie the way to Amarillo" another person also chose amarillo.Peter Kay did a cover of this song in 2005 for comic relief and that is the video i am pitching. My idea was too stick quite close to the video by having each person dressing in the same clothes and walking mid-shot to the camera. In the video other cast members walk into the shot as in the video and lip-syncing. The video that got the won was Toms idea of Martin Solveig's Hello. His idea was to have tennis match like in the video but play a doubles game instead of a singles. The involve everyone we are going to have different roles. We will decide on this next lesson.
"No Scrubs" is a 1999 song recorded by R&Bgirl groupTLC for their album FanMail. Released as the album's first single, "No Scrubs" became TLC's third number-one single and eighth top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100. It also earned them their second Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. The single is generally considered to be one of the group's signature songs and was the 2nd biggest Hot 100 single of 1999, according to Billboard's Year End Charts. The video won the group the 1999 MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video. - Wikipedia
1. This video is a lot different to the R&B videos of these days. But in some ways it is very similar. The outfits the girls wear; they have their belly's on show, this is still present today although many of the top female artists wear a lot less, this shows supports the male gaze theory and shows that it was present 20 years ago. The The camera shots used are slightly different: very lovw angle shots, where the camera is practically underneath the artist arn't used this days because they are very unflattering. They are used frequently in this video.
screen grabs
2. TLC consists of 3 females. They each have their own seperate scenes in this video. The shots are mainly CU of each of their faces and these are edited together. As already said very low angle shot are used as well as very high angle shots. There is also a group scene where they are all together lip-syncing and dancing, they wear similar outfits of black and silver. There is very little chroeography in this video.
Jackson Scream
3. The video has intertexual references to Michael and Janet Jacksons song 'Scream'. All the back grounds are bright white and they wear black to contrast this.
Artist: Rhianna ft Ne-yo Song: Hate that I love you Album: Good girl gone bad Year: 2006 Director: Antony Medler Genre: R&B TA: 15-24
"Hate That I Love You" is a song by BarbadianR&B singer Rihanna, released as the third single from her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad on August 21, 2007. It features R&B singer Ne-Yo.
The song was nominated for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals at the 50th Grammy Awards. Wikipedia The song has been played 67.5 million times on YouTube
1. The video is set in a luxery hotel with a many of the shots of neyo being set on a busy street in New York. Many of Rhianna shots are CU of her face and breast and some long shots of her bottom. Many shots of ne-yo are also CU of his face. The story line is that you are led to believe that they are a couple. As the lyrics are all about loving someone and the way the video it editied you think they are singing the song are about each other. But you discover they infact go off with different people and that they both like each other but they are with other poeple so they can not act of their feelings.
2. Rhianna weary little in this video. She wears a beige bra and a short skirt. She then begins to touch herself in a provocative way. This is an example of the sexualisation that is excepted in todays media. Rhianna is known for not wearing much clothes. Some of her videos have been banned in Britain for being to sexual S&M was banned from british television. This is supports the male gaze theory- that women are only on screen for the view of men. Also because this song was released early years of her career which is I feel she was wearing revealing stuff so she will be liked by males.
3. The shots in this video are typical of an R&B track. The slow movements of the artists and the many CU are very common as this fits the the loud bass and the slow melody. Lots of light in the videos are very common as this makes the artists look more attractive.
Artist: Bruno Mars Song: The Lazy Song Album: Doo-Wops and Hooligans Year: 2011 Director: Cameron Duddy & Bruno Genre: Pop/ R&B Performance Audience: 15-24
"The Lazy Song" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars from his debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans. It was released as the third single from the album on February 15, 2011. "The Lazy Song" displays influences of reggae and Hawaiian music. The song went to number one in the United Kingdom, becoming his fourth number one single in under a year in Great Britain after "Nothin' on You", "Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade". - Wikipedia
1. Lazy song is one continuous, uninterrupted take. This isnt that common for mainstream artists but one reason for Bruno choosing to do this may be that he wants to seem more raw and less like a polished artist who is being directed by a record company. Many artist do things with their videos such a shaky camera to tryr and get their fans to think they are more 'urban' also that they are more like a 'normal' person rather then a glossy professional. Green Day also did this in the video for Redundant. 2. The video is set in bedroom, this ties into the lyrics "i just wanna lay in my bed". Bruno and the dance group where matching check shirts and sunglasses. The bedroom is meant to be a boys bedroom, we can depict this from the skateboard and the guitar also the plain colours. This video is meant to be jokey, it really is appealing to teenagers, it is called the lazy song and teenagers are known for being lazy. The fact they are wearing masks and a man makes a cameo dressed up as a a woman, i think this could be Bruno's mum as he kicks her out just like a teenager would do.
3. The video features Bruno and a dance group from America called the Proreotics. They were monkey masks, this is done in reference to Bruno being known for looking like a monkey. They also were black sunglasses as this is their trade-mark and what they are known for. The camera is just set on a tripod and Bruno and the Proreotics do choreography, a lot of this is very together and in-sync. Their is some sexualisation in the video. At one point (2.35) Bruno and the group pull their trousers down and thrust towards the camera. 4. I think this video is good because it is original and appeal to my age group. This means it has done a good job at attracting a teenage audience.
Director: Ray Kay Genre: Pop/ R&B TA: 15-24 both sexes Performance
"Me & U" is a song by American recording artist Cassie, and produced by Ryan Leslie for her eponymous debut album, Cassie (2006). It was released as the album's first single on April 25, 2006. It reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 2006. It remained in the top forty for nearly five months.- Wikipedia 1. Video starts with some product placement- a Nokia phone this a picture of Cassie on it. Product placement is a very common thing for artists to do as it helps them get more money for a better music video. Cassies name fades onto the centre of the screen and she begins to sing along as the track begins to play.
2. The idea for the video is that cassie is working out in a dance studio and is trying out moves whilst singing, she can't do one move but after a change of outfit she then can then do the move. Cassie lip-syncs throughout the video.
3. She wears very little in this video. A bikini top and joggers at the start, she then takes the joggers off to reveal tight leggings. This is done to appeal to the male audience (male gaze theory). Cassie caused a little controversy when this was released in 2006. A different version of the video was leaked onto the internet. One which is more raunchy and involves her and another man in a hotel room. This was said to be for a European audience but it was never put on television in England.
4. The whole video is shot in the dance studio. The majority of the shots are CU of cassies face and chest. There is also long shots of her whole body and mid shots of her rear end when she is on a table dancing. A lot of shot are taken through the mirror, this could be seen as vein but because cassie is very pretty it is seen as normal as many viewers would want to look like her. As this was Cassies first single it makes sense to just have a video with her in and no extras, not only does it cost less it also means that the public will get to know her.
"Fly" is a song by Trinidadian recording artist Nicki Minaj featuring BarbadianR&B singer Rihanna. The track was produced by J.R. Rotem and co-produced by Kevin Hissink. The song is inspired by the emotion of soaring above and overcoming all stereotypes and negativity, only to have come out victorious. The song charted in multiple countries including Canada and the United Kingdom due to strong digital sales following the release of Pink Friday.- Wikipedia
1. The video starts with a close up of a Jaguar, this immediately signifies that this artist has a lot of money as it is a top of the range Jaguar. The setting for the video is some sort of waste land, it is very foggy and there is burnt out planes and other objects. Most of the video is shot in different parts of this 'waste land'. With CU of Nicki and Rihanna and panning establishing shot of the set. Which begins to look like a junk yard. There is lots of shot variation in this video.
2. Ninki is known for her wacky outfits and her many different wigs.In this video shes wears 4. This is hat makes her different and stand out. This is an example of how artists neeed to have a USP these days, being a good singer or rapper. Another example of this is when Rhianna went to her rocky/edgy style for her 2nd album Good Girl Gone Bad.
3. Then Rhianna enters the scene for the chorus the camera mainly becomes focus on her with many CU of her face and legs, i think this is because she is such a huge star having her on screen should help get the video publicity. Both women are wearing outfits where their chest is exposed. This plays up to the male gaze theory. Later on in the video Nicki wear a very tight cat suit.
4. At a later part in the video there is a scene where there is no lip-syncing and Nicki is fighting ninjas. I think that the ninjas represent the negativity and stereotypes and by Nicki slaying them she is over-coming the negativity.
Artist: Crystal Waters
Song: Gypsy Woman Album: Suprise Year: 1991 Producer: The Basement Boys Director: Unknown Genre: House Narrative/ Performance
Screen grabs of diferent points in the video.
"Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" (also released as "Gypsy Woman (La da dee la da da)") is a house music song by American singer Crystal Waters. It was written by Neal Conway and Waters and is the first single from her 1991 debut album, Surprise. The song includes the chorus of "La da dee, la da da" and a much-sampled organ refrain that is similar to gospel music. - Wikipedia
1. Opening scene is in a studio, plain white background. The Crystal appears at long shot in left hand corner and then disappears. Extreme CU of Crystal camera pans across her face as she starts to lip-sync. CU of a hand wearing a gold glove, some red lipstick, an old fashion hair brish, cut to CU of a person wearing a mask holding a mirror and wearing gold glove. High angle of notes falling through shot. Words begin to swim across the screen - "la da dee la da da". CU of Crystal layered over words. As camera pans out you see the words are printed on a umberella.
2. Next scene is of dancers, camera pans along them and then back. Cut to a mid shot of the person in mask hiding behind lamp post. An orange swirls flashes across the screen and then back to dancers, the shot is over-exposed. Canted angle shot of Crystal which then pans across her face again. A mask appears highly exposed and then the camera pans across and back. Back to the umberella. The next few shots are very fast takes of the umberella, the 2 male dancera and crystal herself. The transition between each takes become gradually faded and they then are all in high exposure.
3. The next sequence of shots are of Crystal who has changed into a white suit and a white polkadot tie. Some high angle and mostly CU to mid shot. The words then flash up in the centre on the screen in different colours of blue, green and orange. The next new shot is of a house, the links in with the words that say 'shes homeless'. Pretty much all the the shots are shots wear the camera is on some sort of track or crane and is panning quickly and smoothly. There are also more shots of the dancers and the person who represent the 'gypsy woman' which as over-exposed. At the end of the video (3.35) the house is burning, i am not really sure what the prefered reading is maybe that woman has burnt ties with her family which is why she is homeless.
4. This video is definatly different from the current ones i have looked at already. The concept does seem very deep, their also isnt a lot of shot variety. A reason for this could be that althought Crystal Waters was quite a well known star she didnt make the money that the biggers stars do such as Beyonce therefore the budget for the video would be a lot smaller.
5. The way Crystal is dressed isnt provocative and she doesnt reveal much flesh. This is very different from the female music artist we see in the charts, Rhianna, Pixie Lott, The Saturdays, Lady Gaga all show a lot of their bodies. Rhianna especially she been in the news for being "too sexy". She was critisied when she performed at the brits for showing to wearing enough clothes.
1. Fade in, mid shot of Beyonce in white lingere in a white room with bunch of white roses in background. Mucis starts straight away and B starts lip-syncing Cut to CU of B looking straight at camera. CU of B holding white rose. Pan to mirror long shot of B walking towards mirror.Cut back to mid shot B stood infront of chairs. The camera looks to be more of a video recorder rather then a high tech camera which is normally used in videos. Low angle shot of B looking at herself in mirror.
2. Cut to B lying on bed still in underwear but now wearing a veil. High aangle shot. B rolling around on bed. CU. Extreme CU of B's face. Cut to B outside in a open field in a huge white wedding dress and veil. Establishing shot of lake with sunset in background. Mis shot of B sat in front of sunset.Camera pans as Beyonce sits up and becomes long shot.
3. Shot of B and man dressed very smart walking down some strairs. Clear this is shot on a video camera as their is a red dot in the top hand corner of the shot. We can denote this is shot at a prom and that it was shot on May 16 1998. B is wearing a wig to make her look younger. Cut to long shot of B and man dancing then they begin to argue and it cuts to a mid shot. Cut to B and man walking out of prom, long shot.
4. Back to B in field twirling around. extreme long shot of B running down hill in wedding dress. Back to mid shot of B sat in sunset lip-syncing. close up of B's long train on her wedding dress. Camera pan up to back of her head. B is walking down an aisle, camera follows. Cutting between shots of the aisle and B in the field.
5. Narrative enigma- As B gets down the aisle the camera pans so you dont see the mans face, ths is done to creat suspense. You are led to believe that the man in the video of the prom is the man she is marrying but you get a shot of the mans face and you see he is a different guy.
6. The next scene is the wedding reception. Their are CU of B and her husband dancing and long shots of the rest of the guests. The final shot i a close up of B smiling.
Artist: Ed Sheeran Song: You need me, I dont need you Album: +
Year:2011
Director: Not found
Genre: Hip-hop/ Soul
Audience: 15-24
"You Need Me, I Don't Need You", or "You Need Me", is a song by British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released as the second single lifted from the debut studio album + and was released on 26 August 2011 in the United Kingdom. This song was appeared on BBC Radio 1's 'Hottest Records in the World'.
1. This video is shot in black and white. I think this could of been done to make the video seem like a classic and memorable. Black and white is associated with old but it is also associated with being well known or a "golden oldie" which is what you would want if you were a music artist.
The black and white video I've found is common in R&B videos i have already deconstructed one black and white video; Beyonce Single Ladies. I think doing a video in black and white makes the artist seem more 'real' and less like a star. Although this could not be the preferred reading because Sheeran is a very new artist. Also the black and white gives the film a cool edge.
2. The video consists mainly of a sequence of shots of a young black man doing sign-language in time to the words.This is an original idea as i haven't seen anything like that before. Their are CU of the mans hands when he is signing and long shots of him. These shots are against a white background of a studio. This is another common video convention in the R&B/Pop world. Another example is Cheryl Cole. When the lyrics are words that a hard to sign or adjectives a picture of said object is shown on screen.
Other shots are of different dances suchs as 'street' and ballet. Street is closely linked to R&B where as ballet is the opposit. This plays against the stereotype of classical dance and urban music not working together
1. The video is set in a luxery hotel with a many of the shots of neyo being set on a busy street in New York. Many of Rhianna shots are CU of her face and breast and some long shots of her bottom. Many shots of ne-yo are also CU of his face. The story line is that you are led to believe that they are a couple. As the lyrics are all about loving someone and the way the video it editied you think they are singing the song are about each other. But you discover they infact go off with different people and that they both like each other but they are with other poeple so they can not act of their feelings.
Artist: Cassie
"Fly" is a song by Trinidadian recording artist Nicki Minaj featuring Barbadian R&B singer Rihanna. The track was produced by J.R. Rotem and co-produced by Kevin Hissink. The song is inspired by the emotion of soaring above and overcoming all stereotypes and negativity, only to have come out victorious. The song charted in multiple countries including Canada and the United Kingdom due to strong digital sales following the release of Pink Friday.- Wikipedia
5. The way Crystal is dressed isnt provocative and she doesnt reveal much flesh. This is very different from the female music artist we see in the charts, Rhianna, Pixie Lott, The Saturdays, Lady Gaga all show a lot of their bodies. Rhianna especially she been in the news for being "too sexy". She was critisied when she performed at the brits for showing to wearing enough clothes.
2. The video consists mainly of a sequence of shots of a young black man doing sign-language in time to the words.This is an original idea as i haven't seen anything like that before. Their are CU of the mans hands when he is signing and long shots of him. These shots are against a white background of a studio. This is another common video convention in the R&B/Pop world. Another example is Cheryl Cole. When the lyrics are words that a hard to sign or adjectives a picture of said object is shown on screen.
her shots are of different dances suchs as 'street' and ballet. Street is closely linked to R&B where as ballet is the opposit. This plays against the stereotype of classical dance and urban music not working together