Lesson Write-Up - 30th Sept

Lesson Write Up – 30^th September 2014

 

What is a stereotype?

·         A label or overall group that we give or git people into based on their looks or personality.

Stereotypes within college:

·         Art kids

·         Btec sport

Why do we stereotype?

·         Because maybe we find it easier to deal with people on the basis of what we think they are like compared to people we think are similar to them

The media reinforces stereotypes

Stereotypes aren’t simple.

·         Stereotypes are assumptions we make based on groups of people

o   How do we come to such conclusions?

o   What so we base our assumptions on?

o   Are we always correct with our assumptions?

Tessa Perkins – Stereotyping

·         Stereotyping is not a simple process and contains a number of assumptions that can be challenged.

·         Perkins identifies 5 such assumptions

o   Stereotypes are not always negative (e.g, the French are good cooks)

o   They are not always about the minority groups or less powerful (e.g upper class twits)

o   They can be held about ones own group

o   They are not rigid or unchanging

o   They are not always false

Not always negative:

·         People assume that stereotypes are negative for example, young troublesome youths, ‘hoodie culture’, however youth can also be seen as positive

Not always about minority groups or less powerful:

·         People assume that stereotypes are aimed at and targeted toward the less powerful but this is not always the case, we base our understanding on things we don’t know about.

Can be held about ones own group:

·         Within our group we stereotype people

Not rigid or unchanging:

·         Once a stereotype has been created it is very hard to change, however Perkins states that over a period of time they can change or develop.

Not always false:

·         Have to have some truth in them otherwise where does it come from?

·         Read stories in the media that help us understand stereotypes.

Implications of Stereotypes:

·         Stereotypes are usually wrong

·         Negative concepts

·         Groups with whom we have little or no contact with

·         About minority or repressed groups, most of the time creating a negative representation of the lower class, probably giving the upper class more power.

·         People ‘hold’ stereotypes and believe them to be true, or do not. Can lead to wrong assumptions

·         If people hold a stereotype, his/her behaviour can change towards a member of a group. Can lead to unfair treatment of members of society.

Examples of Assumptions:

Not about minority: MP’s cheat on expenses (expenses scandal)

Held about ones own group: inmates in prison

Not rigid or unchanging: representation of gay people

Not always negative: nerds are smart

My Basic Ideas

Rae Morris - Cold ft. Fryars

 

Narrative Ideas -

• An abusive relationship, e.g parent and child or husband and wife
• Berak of a relationship
• Betryal of friends

All of these narrative ideas can link to the lyrics in my chosen song, I think the lyrics can be interpretted in different ways and therefore this has allowed me to think about different narratives and ituations I could include in my video, without having to stick to one to suit the song.

Cinematography Ideas -

• Extreme close-up of characters eyes - fits to the lyric 'your eyes aint pretty anymore'
• Extreme close-up of lips - fits to the lyric 'your lips go blue with your thoughts' - I think I could develop this further as by linking it to the abusive relationship storyline idea I could use make-up or special effects to create bruises around the lips.

Lesson Write Up - 25th September

• Narratives explain our culture back to us
• There is no pint in creating a media text that does'nt realte to the audience.

Representation Issues -          Re-presentaion

• meaningless without audience understanding

Any media texts refelcts its society and culture.


Beautful South - Song For Whoever

• satire/satrical - the use of humour to criticse or ridicule - the video ridicules the music industry.

General themes that run throughout any narrative in media texts are shared in society. Eg - love and death.


Radiohead - Street Spirit

• Performance - Abstract - this gives a mood/feel
• In black & white
• Caravan/Trailer Park
• The visual imagery refloected the mood of the song.

What is the text saying and how is it represented visually.

Lesson Write Up - 24th September

In the exam I need to explain how I have used media theory in my own production.

In anarrative we may see a character robbing a bank, the inferred evts of the narrative would be the character waking up, getting dressed etc, we know this happened as he got to this point in the narrative.

Narrative:

Tim O'Sullivan (1998)

• He argues that all media texts tell us some kind of story.
• Through careful mediation, e.g camera angles, media texts offer a way of telling stories about ourselves - not usually our own personal stories but the story of us as a culture or set of cultures.

It is said that there are only 8 different stories in existance, and that represent us as humans, the stories are what we experience and understand.

Kate Domaille (2001)

• Every story ever told can be fitted into one of eight narrative types. each of these narrative types has a source, an original story, upon which the others are based.

Achilles:

• The fatal flaw that leads to the destruction of the previously flawless or almost flawless person. Eg - Superman, Fatal Attraction

Candide:

• The indomitable hero who cannot be put down. Eg - James Bond, Indiana Jones

Cinderella

• The dream comes true. Eg - Pretty Woman

Circe:

• The chase, the spider and the fly, the innocent and the victim. Eg - The Terminator, Smokey and the Bandit

Faust:

• Selling your soul to the devil may bring riches but eventually your soul belongs to him. Eg - Bedazzled, Wall Street

Orpheus:

• The loss of something personal, the gift that is taken away, the tradegy of loss, the journey which follows the loss. Eg - Sixth Sense, Love Story

Romeo & Juliet:

• The love story. Eg - Titanic

Tristan & Iselut:

• The love triangle, unfortunatley one or both of them are spoken for, or a third party intervenes. Eg - Casablanca

Lesson Write Up - 23rd September

Representation Theory

Star Theory - Richard Dyer

 

Objectives:

• To understand Dyer's 'Star Theory'
• Apply the theory to 'stars' in the media
• To summerise the 'Star Theory'
   

Richard Dyer - Star Theory

• The idea that icons and celebrities are constructed by institutions for financial reasons and are built to target a specific audience or group of people. Dyers theory can broken down into 3 sections:
• Audience & Institutions
• Constructions
• Hegemony (cultural beliefs)

He states -

• Stars are commodities that are produced by institutions
• A star is a constructed image, represented across a range of media and mediums
• 'Stars represent and embody a certain ideologies'

Audience & Institutions:

Stars are made to make money. Audiences want to consume what they think is the ideal (or made to believe is the ideal). The institution modifies the stars image around the target audience. They make a star based on what they think the auidence want.

Constructions:

The star is built for an auidence, and is not an actual person. A persona is created for the audience to identify with. So people can differentiate between stars and decided whether they like them or not.

Hegemony:

Leadership or dominance. We realte to the star because they have features that we admire or share. Develops from admiration to idolisation. People sometimes try to replicate what they like about the star, this can sometimes be negative.



Lesson Write Up 17th Sept

• MTV
• Proliferation of hardware
• Creates iconic images - from the video
• Images created via video
• By mid 80's nearly every home had a TV
• Artists began to realise the video was more important than the music

Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer

• At the time when the video was first released the effects in this video were ground-breaking
• Some of the visual imagery reflects the lyrics
• It pushed the boundries of music videos as an art form
• This video shows he is a serious artist as you can see the work, time and effort which had gone into producing this music video.

Voyerism - The more we watch the more we want

In a video the artist doesn't niow who is watxhing  it, but they are part of the deal that allows them to be presented in the way that they are.

Michael Jackson - Thriller

• 12 minutes
• Director of the music video is a fim director
• It was the most expensive music video made at the time
• Music video had now become a global industry
• Music videos are better for advertising rather than the music
• This was a crossover between Hollywood films and music videos
• This created a video that was in the horror genre
• There are 3 levels of diegesis in this music video
• In the film
• Watching the film
• It was a dream

Bob Dylan

• Employs directors and actors for his music videos
• No performance element
• presented as a short film or narrative

OK Go - The Writings on the Wall

• One continuous camera shot - links back to first music videos wityh no editing
• Optical illusion

Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone

• Different characters
• Like changing TV channels
• Refelcts society
• The viewer is in control of what they see

Lyric Timings

Rae Morris ft. Fryars – Cold – Lyric Timings

Your eyes ain't pretty anymore (4secs)
You're not the one I adore (4secs)
And your hips never wave when you walk (4secs)
You're not the one I adore (4secs)

And I won't ever change my mind (4secs)
'Cause I'm so tired of being your love (3secs)
'Cause you've gone cold (2secs)

Cut me and my blood runs (2secs)
Cut me and my blood runs cold for you (3secs)
Cold for you, cold for you (4secs)
Cut me and my blood runs (2secs)
Cut me and my blood runs cold for you (3secs)
Cold for you, cold for you (4secs)

Your voice isn't kind when you talk (5secs)
You walk away when we talk (4secs)
And your lips go blue with your thoughts (5secs)
You never really cared what I thought (4secs)

And I won't ever change my mind (4secs)
'Cause I'm so tired of being your love (3secs)
'Cause you've gone cold (2secs)

Cut me and my blood runs (2secs)
Cut me and my blood runs cold for you (3secs)
Cold for you, cold for you (4secs)
Cut me and my blood runs (2secs)
Cut me and my blood runs cold for you (3secs)
Cold for you, cold for you (4secs)

 

You fell for my charm and my affection (5secs)
I fell for you, I fell for you (5secs)
I fell for a taste of your complexion (5secs)
I fell for you, I fell for you (5secs)
You fell for my undivided attention (5secs)
But it didn't last (2secs)
But it didn't last long (3secs)
I fell for your unique ways (4secs)
I fell for you, I fell for you (5secs)

Cold for ya, (2secs)

Eh (2secs)
Cold for ya, (2secs)

Eh (2secs)
Better without it (2secs)

(for you, for you) (Ey) (4secs)

 

 

Cut me and my blood runs (2secs)
Cut me and my blood runs cold for you (3secs)
Cold for you, cold for you (4secs)
Cut me and my blood runs (2secs)
Cut me and my blood runs cold for you (3secs)
Cold for you, cold for you (4secs)

Cut me and my blood runs (2secs)
Cut me and my blood runs cold for you (3secs)
Cold for you, cold for you (4secs)
Cut me and my blood runs (2secs)
Cut me and my blood runs cold for you (3secs)
Cold for you, cold for you (4secs)

Cold for ya, (2secs)

Eh (2secs)
Cold for ya, (2secs)

Eh (2secs)
Better without it (2secs)
(Ey) (2secs)

 

Cold for ya, (2secs)

Eh (2secs)
Cold for ya, (2secs)

 Eh (2secs)
Better without it (2secs)



Lyric Analysis

Lesson Write Up - 16th September

Representation Theory

 

Laura Mulvey - Representation of Women in the Media

 

My 3 Words to describe...

1. A Woman
- Petite
- Powerful
- Feminine
2. A Modern Day Woman
- Confident
- Smart
- Independent
3. Historical Representation of Women
- Oppressed
- Unimportant
- Property of a man
4. Women In Music Videos
- Objects
- Sexualised
- Exploited
 

Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory:

 

Her concept looks at -

 

• How the audience view women who are presented in the media. She states that women are there to be seen and that the use of the camera portrays them as sexual objects through shot types and movement.

1. How men look at women
2. How women look at themselves
3. How women look at other women

 

The Male Gaze focuses on -

 

•  Emphasises the curves of the female body
• Refers to women as objects
• Display women as how men think they should be seen
• Female viewers view the content through the eyes of a man
• Women are often sexualised and seen as objects

The Male Gaze describes how the audience or viewer is put into the perspective of a heterosexual male e.g the camera lingers over the curves of a womans body.

Laura Mulvey states that in film women are usually seen as objects, rather than possessors.

• Woman is passive to the active gaze from the man
• The camera objectifies women by focusing on the areas men find desirable.

Looking at the music videos for the top 5 songs in the Official Chart, we looked at whther Laura Mulveys theory could be proved correct.

 

Overview Paragraph of Laura Mulveys Theory:

 

laura Mulvey states that women are represented in the media as sexual objects and that viwers are made to see them through the eyes of a heterosexual male. She calls this the 'Male Gaze' theory. When watching existing music videos which were in the charts we found that Mulvey's theory was proven correct. The women were displayed in a way to please men and the cinematography and framing was used to emphasises the curves of thier bodies. Mulvey states that women are presented in this way as it reinforces the medias idea of a perfect woman. When both men and women watch the videos they are viewing them as people they want to be with or look like.



Lesson Write Up - 11th Sept

• Musicians promotional films showed in cinemas as TV's weren't popular
• People started to rent and buy TV's, became main form of entertainment
• Transistor radios
• Proliferation of hardware
• TV
• Radio

The Beatles began performing every Saturday morning on BBC radio.
They performed on the Ed Sullivan Show in the USA, it was watched by 85 million people, played 3 songs.
In the following weeks they had 5 top spots in the charts.
After becoming this successful they no longer needed to make films, instead made short, promotional films.

The Beatles - Paperback Writer

• performance - lip syncing and instruments
• close-ups
• editing

The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour - 1967

• film made for TV
• one hour
• Shown on boxing day
• TV's were in black and white so the colour film did not show
• They expressed ideas against the establishment
• Montage editing, band in a medium long shot, also close-ups

The proliferation of technology allowed these artists to express alternative views to mass audiences.

The Beatles - Hello, Goodbye - 1967

• curtain - signifies performance
• goes from black and white to colour
• first edit at 18 seconds
• poor framing, cuts off head
• imitation of Elvis Presley, cultural sign
• montage editing at the end, which makes it more interesting

The first music video on tape: Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody - 1970's - when the song was originally released it didn't do so we'll, but after the release of the video the song spent 9 weeks at No 1, it was played on the radio and the video was shown on pop shows like Top of the Pops.

• performance elements
• as if in concert
• lights
• instruments
• camera movement
• band movement
• editing effects
• dry ice
• close-ups, low angle

Launch of MTV in early 1980's

Madonna - Vogue

• camera movement
• dance sequences
• fast paced editing
• lip syncing
• close-ups
• lip syncing
• iconography taken from old Hollywood, e.g Marilyn Monroe
• dances in the video became cultural phenomenon's

Bob Dylan - Duquesne Whistle - 2013

• subverting audience expectations
• violence
• not a typical narrative

Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice - 2001

•  Hollywood actor - Christopher Walken
• Dance sequence
• No band performance
• Meant to be memorable

Lesson Write Up - 10th Sept

History of Music Videos

• music videos were originally called 'promotional films'

Don't Look Back - released 1967 - Pennebaker is director - Documentary of Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England

Beginning of the film was the first time music had been put with film as not part of the narrative.

-one continuous shot - no editing - in black and white (economic choice) - zooms out at the beginning to medium long shot of the artist - hand held camera? - in the rule of thirds the lyrics are held central - unconventional - lyrics are anti-establishment - filmed in the middle of London but no icons to suggest so - criticises the government - famous for song writing - breaking rules on purpose - videos create an image of the artist, this is open and honest, he's not miming, no effort and doesn't care - are the men at the side meant to be there?

• the musicians and pop stars of this time would promote their music through films in which they would be the main character
• the songs would be part of the narrative

Cliff Richard - Summer Holiday - 1965

-happy song - blue skies - faster paced editing compared to previous - continuity editing - song is part of the narrative - medium close-up - back projection - more conventional - close-ups - iconography: berets and stripes in France -colour

Cliff Richard - The Young Ones - 1961

-mods and rockers at this time were causing civil unrest - his video represents everyone to be well behaved - song is part of the film narrative

The Beatles - A Hard Days Night - 1964

-documentary style - fast paced editing - anti-establishment - not playing characters - black and white - audience could only see artists in the cinema and TV's were not prominent

The Beatles - Help - 1965

-playing themselves - performing the song - lip syncing - close-ups - editing to the beat - colour = more money - videos create iconic imagery which can be used elsewhere such as record covers

Early 60's bands took advantage of new technologies - radios and TV's

Lesson Write Up - 9th Sept

Class Feedback of Videos -

Go by Grimes ft. Blood Diamonds

• abstract video
• backwards footage
• use of fish-eye lens
• mirrored technique
• neon colours
• however, some lip syncing is out

By The Sword - Slash

• classic rock
• dystopian desert
• good mise-en-scene
• simple narrative
• camera work and editing fit song
• animation not good

Everything You Wanted - Club Feet

• good use of editing
• matched beat of the song

I Got You - Duke Dumont

• mise-en-scene
• p-o-v shot
• gives interesting perspective
• feels like audience is there
• however couldn't see the singer

The Kids Aren't Alright - The Offsprings

• no narrative
• only one location
• literal understanding of lyrics
• direct mode of address
• morph editing

Bonkers - Dizzee Rascal

• funny
• different costumes
• circular (fish eye)
• repetitive
• could be reflecting the lyrics

We watched some videos, that were unsuccessful:

We then watched some professional videos:

Lesson Write Up - 8th Sept 2014

What Makes A Good Music Video?

• different locations
• different characters
• props/costumes
• editing that matches the beat
• varied cinematography

What Conventions Form A Music Video?

• use of different camera angles
• a narrative or storyline
• music
• characters make eye contact - adds emotion

Mise-en-scene like costumes, make-up, and location changes makes the video entertaining and interesting.

Looking at 5 music videos from different genres -