The first music video he produced was with the Jackson 5, it was a basic video whose purpose was to promote the music video. There were no unique features to identify the music video as one of the best out. It had simple choreography but still fit the purpose. Referring to Goodwin's theory, the people in the video are dressed in a fitting way for the song and there are a lot of closeups of the performers' faces which are two outlined characteristics of successful.
The video for Rockin' Robin can be seen above.
The next video I will be talking about is rock with you. This video has a very conventional editing style, there is nothing to make it seem outstanding again, but consumers may find the traditional style of editing appealing as it is already within their comfort zone. The video has a contrast of colors and is quite fast and active despite the lyrics and flow of the song being relatively slow moving. The use of lights is interesting in this video though.
The third video is ''Billie Jean''.
This was a breakthrough video for Michael Jackson. It is the first interesting Pop video which tells a story instead of just showcasing basic lip syncing. This video tells a story, it follows Michael Jackson and his search for Billie Jean, it is heavily implied that she is a love interest. In the video Michael is searching for her, Often times he is shown to be alone, which confirms that ''Billy Jean is not my lover.'' There is an identifiable relationship between the lyrics and the visuals in this music video.
Following the success of Billie Jean, Michael Jackson released ''Beat It'', this music video was anticipated by an eager audience across the globe. It feels like Jackson was able to identify a solid recipe which produced good results with a video that combined lip synching and story telling to create a unique experience, as he tried to replicate it with the release following Billie Jean. Regarding some of Goodwin's key points, there is memorable choreography, close ups of Jackson being shown throughout, and a dress code for each person that is relevant and fitting. Overall, a very creative and memorable video which did not disappoint the anticipating fans.
Following Beat It comes the most famous music video of all time. ''Thriller'' single-handedly changed the way that music videos are received and viewed as well as the way they were created from that point forward. Thriller was the first music video to be added to the National Film Industry by The Library of Congress in 2009. The entire music video is fourteen minutes long, again following the recipe of memorable choreography, storyline and lip synching. This video raised the bar for all future music videos, it made a grand statement that stiff movement and basic lip synching were no longer good enough, a music video should be an event that is celebrated as something grand as opposed to something basic. Thriller was celebrated in such a way for a long time. An example of the way this video was celebrated was people going to the cinema just so they could see the full version as opposed to the 5 minute shortened version that was showed on Television at the time. Jackson's record company refused to fund this project, so it had to be paid for by the director John Landis. Jackson made paid deals with Showtime and MTV, giving them rights to show the video. Thriller is responsible for the trend of dance groups in pop videos. It was not unusual to receive a cassette tape of this song as a present for Christmas in the 80s. It was the most selling tape of all time, selling over 9 million copies, as confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records.
After Thriller was created, Michael Jackson was the undisputed most popular pop star in the world. Michael and his team knew they had a lot of expectations to live up to. The video that followed Thriller was for the song ''Bad''. The release of this video was a huge event, as when this video was released it was shown on BBC, people were fascinated to see Jackson's new image and dancing. As is typical of a Michael Jackson video, this video had very active choreography that keeps the audience interested throughout the entire video. The speed of editing varies throughout, as at certain parts of the video longer still shots are used and at certain other parts the editing is very fast and the shots are changing constantly.
The next and final video I will look at is ''Black or White''. This is a video that presents a really strong message in a creative way. It was an incredibly inventive video which cost a lot of money to produce. There were a lot of rumours surrounding Jackson's desire to change the colour of his skin through surgical advancements, as a result of this, he received backlash from black fans because they perceived this change as him being ashamed of being black. Black and White was an attempt to connect back with these fans, with the message being that skin colour is irrelevant as long as you are a good person. The video tries to promote equality, and tries to get people to stop focusing on race as much as the person themselves. Also worth noting that as in all Michael Jackson music videos this one has very unique and very active choreography which keeps the viewer engaged from start to finish.
Tuesday, 10 February 2015
Emil Nava
Emil started his career as a runner in a film studio. A runner is someone who takes care of small jobs such as tidying up sets and areas before filming. While working for a production company, he was promoted to assistant director for a music video. He later signed with Academy, which is regarded as one of the biggest production companies in music. Recently most of his work is done with the company Pulse. He also did freelance work for OB management, this is where he is more involved with the creation of music videos, rather than doing the tedious jobs no one else wants to.
The first music video that Nava created was ''Our House Is Dadless''
He was working with a small budget £20,000, and a time span of four days to film this video. He decided to make a small music video which did not have a massive budget and was not focused entirely on production value, using local scenery and people in an effective way. There was a 10 day period of pre-production which made the project a lot easier for him once it had began. This shows off Nava's ability to plan and function under strict circumstances while still producing incredibly satisfying results.
The next video I will be looking at is one of Emil Nava's more famous pieces of work. The song is called ''Picking Up The Pieces'' by Paloma Faith. This song was made under Sony. For this video, the budget he was working with was significantly larger, as he had £80,000 available to him. This shows because the picture quality has risen substantially in this video. Also, they were able to pick a more specific and suitable location, as the whole video, including mise-en-scene and clothing, looks a lot more posh.
Another one of his more well known videos is of the song by Ed Sheeran ''You Need Me, I don't Need You''. The client for this project was Atlantic records. The budget for this video was a middle ground for what Nava was used to at this point, at £35,000 it is lower than the budget for ''Picking Up The Pieces'' and higher than ''Our House Is Dadless''
The final video I will talk about, is also a more famous video by Nava called ''Do It Like A Dude'' by Jessie J. This was made for Island. The budget for this production was £25,000. The mise-en-scene as well as the setting work to give this away, as it looks like an abandoned flat. The entire area just looks very unclean. This video is a more realistic reflection of certain things that people do.
The first music video that Nava created was ''Our House Is Dadless''
He was working with a small budget £20,000, and a time span of four days to film this video. He decided to make a small music video which did not have a massive budget and was not focused entirely on production value, using local scenery and people in an effective way. There was a 10 day period of pre-production which made the project a lot easier for him once it had began. This shows off Nava's ability to plan and function under strict circumstances while still producing incredibly satisfying results.
The next video I will be looking at is one of Emil Nava's more famous pieces of work. The song is called ''Picking Up The Pieces'' by Paloma Faith. This song was made under Sony. For this video, the budget he was working with was significantly larger, as he had £80,000 available to him. This shows because the picture quality has risen substantially in this video. Also, they were able to pick a more specific and suitable location, as the whole video, including mise-en-scene and clothing, looks a lot more posh.
Another one of his more well known videos is of the song by Ed Sheeran ''You Need Me, I don't Need You''. The client for this project was Atlantic records. The budget for this video was a middle ground for what Nava was used to at this point, at £35,000 it is lower than the budget for ''Picking Up The Pieces'' and higher than ''Our House Is Dadless''
The final video I will talk about, is also a more famous video by Nava called ''Do It Like A Dude'' by Jessie J. This was made for Island. The budget for this production was £25,000. The mise-en-scene as well as the setting work to give this away, as it looks like an abandoned flat. The entire area just looks very unclean. This video is a more realistic reflection of certain things that people do.
Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Digipak Cover Practise
Digipak Cover Practise
The above image is a compilation of random elements, a random image taken from flickr as the background, the title of a random wikipedia article as the Band Name and a quote as the name of the album. Division of Hunter may not mean much to the audience but it is a memorable name which is why I thought it was suitable.
Today I learned how to use photoshop presets to give a new look to an image. Giving the background layer a texture change is especially effective because the image was visibly blurry prior to the application of this change, but now it is impossible to tell, everything looks intentional.
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Sexism In Music Videos
In recent times, certain music videos have stirred controversy because they portray women in an objectified manner. This is done through several techniques, some of the most obvious being voyeuristic choreography and minimal clothing.
Examples of music videos that have done this are Robin Thicke's ''Blurred Lines'' and Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball.
A part of Laura Mulvey's theory suggests that the male gaze denies women human identity, they are reduced to objects that are only there to be admired for their physical appearance. The theory also states that women have to force themselves into a secondary perspective in order to view music videos and films that are being released in modern times, they must view these releases through the eyes of a male.
Similarly to full length films, women are often not able advance the plot of a music video themselves, however they do sometimes advance the plot because they influence the actions of the male character who is in the spotlight.
Mulvey also argues that the objectification of women is infectious, because the media creates outrageous standards for women and seeing as they have to consume the media through the male gaze, they end up objectifying other women, bringing them and often themselves down because they believe they are not good enough.
Mulvey's text suggests that females have two similar purposes in music videos. The first is to be viewed and admired for their appearance by characters within the world of the text which they are in. The second is to be admired by the audience watching the film or video.
Dr. No is a famous example of this, specifically the scene with Sean Connery on the beach with Ursula Andress.
Mulvey discusses the term socophilia, she describes watching movies and music videos as socophilic practices. Socophilia is defined as the love of watching/observing.
Most of Mulvey's writing relates specifically to Hollywood cinema, however the majority of her points transfer over to pop videos without any need of clarification, in short;
•Men are active, women are passive
•Women do not have agency
•The atmosphere of most pieces is patriarchal, man dominated
•Entire audience forced to view through male gaze
The first sexist pop video I will look at is Lily Allen's ''Hard Out Here''
Mulvey's theory can definitely be applied to this video as it is full of women dancing in voyeuristic ways dressed less than formally. Lily Allen was formerly outspoken about the fact that there needs to be more power given to females in the media industry and perhaps society as a whole, but with the release of ''Hard Out Here'' she is made to look like a total hypocrite. This video is encouraging of the male gaze given the dancing and actions of the performers, which acts to contradict the lyrics of the song completely which imply that there are issues that need to be dealt with, a prime example is the phrase ''we've never had it so good uh-huh we're out of the woods and if you can't detect the sarcasm, you've misunderstood'' This phrase implies that female performers may have a hard time bringing up this issue to their peers and superiors, they are forced to do it in roundabout ways such as sarcastic lyrics and contradictory visuals. This video may be a hypocritical cash-in on the controversies that are currently being discussed by people that have the power to change these things, but it may also have a more significant meaning beneath the surface. It could be both. Regarding the mise-en-scene in this video, it is really simple and in line with the objectification of women, minimal clothing and props that they can use to further make themselves seem like objects, such as the champagne one of the dancers pours on herself.
To focus more on the camera angles, it is interesting to note that there is a lot of voyeuristic shots of women and their assets, ranging from close up to medium shots, but these are never on Lily herself, perhaps implying that she is different from the rest of the industry.
The second video I will be analysing in more detail is ''Wrecking Ball'' by Miley Cyrus.
For a lot of the time in this video, Miley Cyrus is completely naked and behaving sexually. The first example of this is her sitting on the wrecking ball and the second that follows shortly is the licking of the sledgehammer, attempting a seductive shot that looks fairly disturbing on the surface. The purpose of this music video is to be an attempt to get rid of the Hannah Montana image. It is possible that Miley wanted to show that she is not controlled by the industry by making this video, but it could also be interpreted that she played right into the female pop music stereotypes by making it. This video is controversial because it is not as simple as it appears on the surface, critics may claim that she is being exploited by the industry and being thrown straight into the stereotypes talked about by Laura Mulvey, but creating a unique video that stands out like this will undoubtedly continue to attract audiences for a long time to come, whether they are in support of the video or not. There is a large focus on mise-en-scene in this video, as Miley behaves seductively with certain objects that you would not typically expect a woman to do this with.
There are a lot of close-ups of Miley's face as expected and suggested by Andrew Goodwin, there is a range of camera angles, from long shot to medium shot and close ups as mentioned before.
The third and final video I will be looking at is Robin Thicke's ''Blurred Lines''
This video sparked controversy because of the way the women are treated in it. The males are constantly shown to be in a position of dominance throughout. This video is a good example of where the women are behaving passively, while the men are behaving actively, effectively deciding what happens next. This is in line with some of the points addressed by Laura Mulvey, regarding passive and active roles. The women in this video are wearing minimal clothing, while the men are fully clothed which emphasises their dominance, the lack of clothing shows that these women are only meant to be admired for their physical appearance, which means they are presented as objects. There is another version of this video where the women are completely naked, but that is not as popular and has not been marketed as intensively because it is not suitable for all audiences, that version of this video places additional emphasis on all the points covered above. Objectively, the dance routine is simple yet effective, but it has a lot of voyeuristic elements as well which are covered by Andrew Goodwin in Dancing In the Distraction Factory.
Examples of music videos that have done this are Robin Thicke's ''Blurred Lines'' and Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball.
A part of Laura Mulvey's theory suggests that the male gaze denies women human identity, they are reduced to objects that are only there to be admired for their physical appearance. The theory also states that women have to force themselves into a secondary perspective in order to view music videos and films that are being released in modern times, they must view these releases through the eyes of a male.
Similarly to full length films, women are often not able advance the plot of a music video themselves, however they do sometimes advance the plot because they influence the actions of the male character who is in the spotlight.
Mulvey also argues that the objectification of women is infectious, because the media creates outrageous standards for women and seeing as they have to consume the media through the male gaze, they end up objectifying other women, bringing them and often themselves down because they believe they are not good enough.
Mulvey's text suggests that females have two similar purposes in music videos. The first is to be viewed and admired for their appearance by characters within the world of the text which they are in. The second is to be admired by the audience watching the film or video.
Dr. No is a famous example of this, specifically the scene with Sean Connery on the beach with Ursula Andress.
Mulvey discusses the term socophilia, she describes watching movies and music videos as socophilic practices. Socophilia is defined as the love of watching/observing.
Most of Mulvey's writing relates specifically to Hollywood cinema, however the majority of her points transfer over to pop videos without any need of clarification, in short;
•Men are active, women are passive
•Women do not have agency
•The atmosphere of most pieces is patriarchal, man dominated
•Entire audience forced to view through male gaze
The first sexist pop video I will look at is Lily Allen's ''Hard Out Here''
Mulvey's theory can definitely be applied to this video as it is full of women dancing in voyeuristic ways dressed less than formally. Lily Allen was formerly outspoken about the fact that there needs to be more power given to females in the media industry and perhaps society as a whole, but with the release of ''Hard Out Here'' she is made to look like a total hypocrite. This video is encouraging of the male gaze given the dancing and actions of the performers, which acts to contradict the lyrics of the song completely which imply that there are issues that need to be dealt with, a prime example is the phrase ''we've never had it so good uh-huh we're out of the woods and if you can't detect the sarcasm, you've misunderstood'' This phrase implies that female performers may have a hard time bringing up this issue to their peers and superiors, they are forced to do it in roundabout ways such as sarcastic lyrics and contradictory visuals. This video may be a hypocritical cash-in on the controversies that are currently being discussed by people that have the power to change these things, but it may also have a more significant meaning beneath the surface. It could be both. Regarding the mise-en-scene in this video, it is really simple and in line with the objectification of women, minimal clothing and props that they can use to further make themselves seem like objects, such as the champagne one of the dancers pours on herself.
To focus more on the camera angles, it is interesting to note that there is a lot of voyeuristic shots of women and their assets, ranging from close up to medium shots, but these are never on Lily herself, perhaps implying that she is different from the rest of the industry.
The second video I will be analysing in more detail is ''Wrecking Ball'' by Miley Cyrus.
For a lot of the time in this video, Miley Cyrus is completely naked and behaving sexually. The first example of this is her sitting on the wrecking ball and the second that follows shortly is the licking of the sledgehammer, attempting a seductive shot that looks fairly disturbing on the surface. The purpose of this music video is to be an attempt to get rid of the Hannah Montana image. It is possible that Miley wanted to show that she is not controlled by the industry by making this video, but it could also be interpreted that she played right into the female pop music stereotypes by making it. This video is controversial because it is not as simple as it appears on the surface, critics may claim that she is being exploited by the industry and being thrown straight into the stereotypes talked about by Laura Mulvey, but creating a unique video that stands out like this will undoubtedly continue to attract audiences for a long time to come, whether they are in support of the video or not. There is a large focus on mise-en-scene in this video, as Miley behaves seductively with certain objects that you would not typically expect a woman to do this with.
There are a lot of close-ups of Miley's face as expected and suggested by Andrew Goodwin, there is a range of camera angles, from long shot to medium shot and close ups as mentioned before.
The third and final video I will be looking at is Robin Thicke's ''Blurred Lines''
This video sparked controversy because of the way the women are treated in it. The males are constantly shown to be in a position of dominance throughout. This video is a good example of where the women are behaving passively, while the men are behaving actively, effectively deciding what happens next. This is in line with some of the points addressed by Laura Mulvey, regarding passive and active roles. The women in this video are wearing minimal clothing, while the men are fully clothed which emphasises their dominance, the lack of clothing shows that these women are only meant to be admired for their physical appearance, which means they are presented as objects. There is another version of this video where the women are completely naked, but that is not as popular and has not been marketed as intensively because it is not suitable for all audiences, that version of this video places additional emphasis on all the points covered above. Objectively, the dance routine is simple yet effective, but it has a lot of voyeuristic elements as well which are covered by Andrew Goodwin in Dancing In the Distraction Factory.
Friday, 16 January 2015
Katy Perry - The Appeal Of Pop Videos and Her Private Life
The target audience of pop star Katy Perry would likely mainly be teenagers, primary girls, from the ages of 14 - 17. When she creates videos she creates them for specific meanings to address sometimes controversial topics. She gives herself an image of an older sister/friend, she wants to be a role model for these people and set them on a good path in life. Katy Perry reflects the problems that girls of that age are likely to have, sometimes even providing a solution or just words of encouragement.
As a part of my analysis I will give three examples of Katy Perry videos, the first one of which will be ''Firework''.
Two major parts of Goodwin's theory are present in this video. Firstly, there were a lot of close ups of Katy's face, which directors demand from artists. She is showcasing her intended position as the person who people can turn to for support and empowerment. The first example of this is when we see the boy that is experiencing an immense amount of stress because his parents are arguing, Katy empowers him and he finds the encouragement to stop his parents from arguing. The second noteworthy scene in this video is of a girl who is not confident in her appearance and as such she is scared to jump in the pool. Katy empowers her and her newfound confidence allows her to get in the pool and no one judges her.
The second video I will be looking is "I Kissed A Girl"
In this video, there are a lot of close up shots which is a part of Goodwin's theory. She succeeds in her branded goal of appealing to mainly teenage girls. She does this through the lyrics and the visuals of the video. They reflect an issue in todays society, which is girls being unsure of their sexuality. the lyrics state that she has a boyfriend but she also kissed a girl. She says she kissed a girl in order to see if it was right for her, but she was not sure if it was or not. This reflects her insecurities, which may appeal to some of her audience, she is also trying to empower them by encouraging them to not worry about other peoples opinions.
The third and final video I will be analysing is ''Wide Awake''
A few of the points raised by Goodwin can be seen in this video. A lot of the message in this video is expressed through emotion and once again there are a lot of close ups of her face. A notable scene in this video is when a firework comes out of her chest, this is a reference the music video ''Firework''. This song is also a portal for her audience to look at her private life. She talks about being ''in the dark'' which reflects her feelings on her marriage which eventually ended. They were married from October 23, 2010 - December 31, 2011. She also says ''Yeah I'm born again'' which means that she is a different and better person now that she is no longer married. The title of the song ''Wide Awake'' also suggests that she now sees that her marriage was a damaging one and she will be a better person when no longer married to Russell. This video is also a symbol of how she is a free woman again.
As a part of my analysis I will give three examples of Katy Perry videos, the first one of which will be ''Firework''.
Two major parts of Goodwin's theory are present in this video. Firstly, there were a lot of close ups of Katy's face, which directors demand from artists. She is showcasing her intended position as the person who people can turn to for support and empowerment. The first example of this is when we see the boy that is experiencing an immense amount of stress because his parents are arguing, Katy empowers him and he finds the encouragement to stop his parents from arguing. The second noteworthy scene in this video is of a girl who is not confident in her appearance and as such she is scared to jump in the pool. Katy empowers her and her newfound confidence allows her to get in the pool and no one judges her.
The second video I will be looking is "I Kissed A Girl"
In this video, there are a lot of close up shots which is a part of Goodwin's theory. She succeeds in her branded goal of appealing to mainly teenage girls. She does this through the lyrics and the visuals of the video. They reflect an issue in todays society, which is girls being unsure of their sexuality. the lyrics state that she has a boyfriend but she also kissed a girl. She says she kissed a girl in order to see if it was right for her, but she was not sure if it was or not. This reflects her insecurities, which may appeal to some of her audience, she is also trying to empower them by encouraging them to not worry about other peoples opinions.
The third and final video I will be analysing is ''Wide Awake''
A few of the points raised by Goodwin can be seen in this video. A lot of the message in this video is expressed through emotion and once again there are a lot of close ups of her face. A notable scene in this video is when a firework comes out of her chest, this is a reference the music video ''Firework''. This song is also a portal for her audience to look at her private life. She talks about being ''in the dark'' which reflects her feelings on her marriage which eventually ended. They were married from October 23, 2010 - December 31, 2011. She also says ''Yeah I'm born again'' which means that she is a different and better person now that she is no longer married. The title of the song ''Wide Awake'' also suggests that she now sees that her marriage was a damaging one and she will be a better person when no longer married to Russell. This video is also a symbol of how she is a free woman again.
Tuesday, 13 January 2015
Contacting the Artist
After only a few hours the artist replied to us and gave us full permission to use her song!
Below is a screenshot showing her consent! Now we have conformation we can now focus on the planning for our music video.
Updated Artist Profile
Name: Melanie Ungar
Age: 21 years old
Genre: Country Pop
No. of members: 1
Target audience: the target audience for this artist would be early teens to early adults.
Home town ; Toronto, Canada
Melanie is a 21 year old unsigned singer song writer from Canada who has always had a passion for music. She was a top 3 finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, a Semi-finalist in Unsigned Only & ISC. and a Reverbnation featured artist.
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