This is my A2 media coursework blog. I will be creating a music video for the song 'Confessions' by 'We Are The Ocean'. The project also involves creating a digipak album and a magazine advert for the digipak.
Quite a lot of the time it's ususal too see a little bit of concept or narrative ideas included aswell as the performcance aspect e.g. setting up before the gig or on the road on-route to the gig
Lots of quick camrea movement to give the video lots of energy and break up the takes a little.
In some cases documentory footage is used of the band prehaps when they are on tour this also breaks up the video.
Music videos are used as a marketing tool for the band to sell records and so people can see what they are like and how good they are so then more people will also look up other songs they have done.
Some of the transitions between scenes are sometimes cut to the beat however not all of the time
There are lots of close ups of things such as the fret boards, the bass drum and shots over the head of the drummer etc..to show that the band can play their instruments well.
Narrative ignima is included and created by not seeing band the members faces.
Lots of behind the scenes footage is also used in many examples shots of this include the venue, soundcheck, tour bus, roadsigns, and other backstage access this makes the video a little bit more personal for the audience.
Most of the shots will include the lead singer in them (especially close ups).
Diagetic sounds are often used in the introduction making it into a micro-drama/ short-film.
Members of Heavy Metal bands stereotypically create an image that's true to the genre this includes having long hair and wearing black clothing, they are also quite often seen smoking, drinking alchohol (Jack Daniels) and wearing a hat backwards.
Some narrative and concept videos, other members of the band walk past the lead singer and are just in the background.
Some bands may use their music videos as opportunity to show their support to their fans and maybe include a more personal side to the band, and if the crowd look like they are having a good time at the bands gig then other people will want to go to their gigs. e.g. Bruce Springsteen pulls out someone from his crowd up onto the stage and dances with them.
Lady Gaga (24) from New York, America, produces pop and dance music however she also writes songs, is a record producer, dancer and business woman.
She has been signed to record labels such as Def Jam, Streamline, Cherrytree and Interscope and has produced 4 singles that reached number one in the UK Singles Charts and also both of her albums have reached the number one position in the UK charts.
'Bad Romance' was the 6th single that she released and it got to #1 in the UK.
Too be very broad this song is 'pop' but also dance and has some features of techno and trance included.
This song is aimed at people in their early teens (tweenagers) mainly females however elements of the 'male gaze' is brought in at various points throughout the video. Make up and dressing up also has a big part of the video. Lady Gaga is outrageous, rebellious, and different from the 'norm', this reflects the tweenager idea of acting up at an age your not at and pretending to be someone you aren't.
This video was probably made on quite a high budget, it's very other the top and there are lots of different costumes used from scene to scene.
This video follows the narrative type of music video where they have chosen to follow the lyrics of the song. However this video is unique and abstract so not everything totally fits in with the lyrics. However there isn't really any performance aspects involved.
Personally i think that 15-34 is the main target audience for the video. Males like what they see in it and this is signified by the 'male gaze' aspects included because of the woman, the fact that they aren't wearing much and explicit scenes, this is made very clear and there is no effort made to hide this.
It also appeals to the 'pink pound' and gay culture as the video is really camp.
Sometimes she looks directly into the camera at the audience to try and gauge their attention however when she is singing various lyrics she looks at the men that are sat around her because those specific lyrics are aimed at them. Eyes and 'looking' is really important in music videos as I will look at this more as I look at different examples of music videos, it's especially significant in this because she either wears specially made contact lenses or her eyes have been photoshopped to make her eyes extra enlarged and almost doll like.
At one point she is seen with not much make up on and crying, this shows her feminine and more gentle or personal side to her character.
Tortue is included in the video, this could be her way of showing how women are portrayed in the media and their position within todays society. At various points she is stripped of her clothing and this is totally out of her control. Her body is a very big focal point of the video and she could feel that she needs to use her body in this way in order to make sure she sells records. During the video she plays with the idea of her gender (which has been speculated about lots in the media since being in the fame spotlight about her possibly being a hermaphrodite) and also her identity.
She makes intertextual references to Madonnain the video which shows there is a sense of post-modernism included. Lady Gaga has used lots of elements from the music video for 'Vogue' by Madonna. She uses a big metal bra at the end of 'Bad Romance', Madonna also uses one similar in her video for 'Vogue', at the time it was released, it was very iconic and different from the rest of the video's available at that time.
Feminists VS Post- Feminists.
Feminists would say that Lady Gaga produced the video for 'Bad Romance' in the way that she did because it's the only way for her to make money, sell records and stay in the spotlight. She dances and shows lots of her body because she feels she has to and this is the way that today's society wants to see her and through this she is being exploited.
Post-feminists would say that Lady Gaga is showing that she is a powerful woman is really in control of what she is doing. They would also say that she is in control of everything and is just being playful with her ideas.
Menaissance and He-cession
Woman are now earning a lot more than they did before and are slowly taking over the men in our society. Some people would say that our society is changing from patriarchy (male dominated society) to matriarchy (female dominated society). This is called a 'meaissence' or a 'he-cession' , men are also becoming more heterosexual and the idea of the 'new man' and being feminine is becoming increasingly bigger. This has all come about from the past 10 - 20 years with the likes of people such as David Beckham endorsing various moisturises and products to take care of yourself.
'Good Morning' is the opening track from his 3rd studio album that he released in 2007.
The song wasn't actually released as a single however, the music video was produced be Takeshi Murakmi (he is the person behind the artwork for the album) a Japanese pop - artist.
In the video Muarkmi brings to life the various designs he had compiled for the album booklet.
He uses cel-shaded animation with a computer graphics program. It makes computer graphics appear as if they have been hand drawn.
The video takes place in 'Universe City' in a futuristic time period.
The protagonist in the video is West's mascot and trademark, "Dropout Bear". It appears on the covers of 4/5 of his albums (including 'Graduation') and also various single covers and music videos.
The narrative of the video is the "Dropout Bear" overcoming various obstacles in an effort to get to his college in time for his graduation ceremony.
This style of music video (animation) is unique for it's genre, but i think the video fits with the music and it works really well.
The song was produced by 'Benga' (a Dubstep producer).
The video includes lots of close ups of her face as she is the main focal point.
There are a few locations used in the video such as; in a car, at some recording studios, at a party / club night / gig performing with shots of lots of people dancing having a good time.
At certain points during the video a blurred lens is used on the camera, this makes the audience a little disorientated and could signify or connote that the people on screen have been drinking.
Slow motion is also added as an effect so the people at the gig move in time to the music that is layered on top.
The video uses quite a wide range of shots for example some of them are shot at strange angles, using a side on view of her singing.
Heavy Metal is a very broad genre of music and within it there is loads of scope for very different sounds and styles. I have done some research looking at the different sub genres and here's my findings...
Heavy rock/ metal band that formed in the late 80's.
Music has changes a a lot in the way that it is consumed. Especially from things such as tapes and vinyl's into CD's and MP3's.
The music video is an advert or branding for the band/ artist, lots of rock videos feature the band showing off and proving that they can play their instruments well, so their videos usually feature lots of close ups of fret boards, bass drums and the singer etc...
The band use their own experiences in the video, using footage of when they went to a big city.
It features a woman as the object (this is very common in music videos) this is for something known as the 'male gaze'.
Males are normally the main audience for rock, heavy metal and rap music.
The band have very distinctive clothing and hair style codes. They were a new band at the time this song was released and they had a different and individual style compared to other bands.
Largely medium shots are used however there are a few long shots and close ups of Axel. He is in nearly all of the shots as he is the lead singer and arguably the most important in the band.
Documentary footage is intercut into the video, this is quite common in some music video's, especially using TV news footage.
