Storyboard - Six Key Scenes

Below is a link to our ideas for six key scenes in our music video:

HL: Media Videos - Commercial, Porn or Art?

Recently with the development of new technologies and the current instability of the music industry, many have discussed the necessity of the widely appreciated 'music video'. Is the production merely a promotional stunt to advertise the band and the new track, or is it an opportunity for a director to be praised alongside the success of the track. This question is too bold to be answered in one clear section, to help answer this question one must first split this into three categories:

Commercial

• The band image is shown through the use of visual motifs that of which stay with the audience. Other examples similar to this also include meta-narratives which emphasise the illustrative and amplified ideas.

• This created image is then seen a promotional stunt as the video is seen is more of an advertisement to further improve the bands takings.

• Other features which link a video as a commercial is the excessive use of 'meat shots' which help to almost objectify the band members, creating a link between the members and the actual band.

Porn

• In many ways music videos can also be seen as 'porn' due to the objectification of the female form, which in turn puts women in a bad light, showing men to be just fetishistic 'objectifiers'.

• This representation of women is shown according to Erving Goffman, who analyses the use of the female body in music videos in a number of ways:

1. Artificial Look - the slim, big breasted 'beauty' that is shown in almost every single pop music video.
2. Dismemberment - Where parts of the women are displayed, usually the legs, breast and eyes.
3. Commodification - Which really focuses on the objectification of women, mainly shown by a powerful male protagonist.

• More examples include Ritulization and Relative size however they are very similar to the points made above.

• Other examples of theorists also include 'Laura Mulvey' who focuses on the 'Male Gaze' in music videos where the audience is forces to view the material in the eyes of a heterosexual man.

Art

• Many videos are able to be viewed as art, this is sometime due to the clever and unique content they contain, but also by the introduction of a clever or well known artistic director, whom takes the initial idea and creates a masterpiece.

• New technologies also give directors more power over what they shoot, some directors decide to drop the idea of filming and animate the performance/narrative all together.

• Another reason to agree with the artistic aspect is how music videos are now being viewed more as a film, which higher production values and well written stories in most cases.

Conclusion

To conclude this question, even though music videos and the music industry are changing it still doesn't mean that we will soon lack the creative people, the ones who cut away from the bunch and create something superb and new. For this reason alone i personally and strongly believe that many music videos, not all music videos!, but many can and should be classed as art, Examples such as 'Runaway  - Kanye West' and 'Rabbit in the headlights - UNKLE' are both milestones in filmography which make something that originally was for a promotional benefit into something that can be seen and appreciated a piece of art.

HL: Institutional Conext

What role do NMT's now play in promoting artists? How has this changed traditional practice? To what extent is this an example of 'we media'

The role of NMT's has heightened in the past couple of years, examples such as web 2.0 featuring social networking sites i.e. Facebook, Twitter etc, this allowed artists the opportunity to promote not only music but also their image via the Internet.
Another advantage of this NMT is that there product is able to reach a much wider audience with very little effort due to all the advances in technology around the world.
This type of promoting activity is much different to how is used to be, where a buzz was created about the specific band through word and mouth as well as flayer's and free gigs. Now with use of the Internet network, sites such as Youtube and Soundcloud are able to feature the bands tracks with information concerning contacts. To some extent this is an example of 'we media' as the process will only work if other members choose to use the Internet and acknowledge there advertisement and tracks.

HL: Music Video Deconstruction

Arctic Monkeys - 'Fluorescent Adolescent' (2007)

Directed by Richard Ayoade

Institution and audience

This video would be consumed through music channels such as 'Kerrang' due to the channels special focus on alternative rock music, and also 'MTV' as it introduces upcoming acts and artists as well popular acts such as 'The Arctic Monkeys'. This video is very much a focused piece of viewing due to its illustrative ideas and its developing narrative. Due to this it has a sense of repeatability about it as the ideas revolving round the narrative are interesting and unique meaning that the video is able to stand out above other alternative music videos. Others may also view this music video online due to the director (Richard Ayoade) a well respected comedian & actor, whoes directing portfolio is unheard of by most people. It is clear that due to the success of 'The Arctic Monkeys' the record label 'Domino Records' would of funded the music video and other promotional texts relating to the new track and video.

The XX - 'Crystallised' (2009)

Directed by Alex Flick and Masato Riesser

Genre and Narrative

With an understanding of Goodwin's theory, one is able to understand the evident conventions and forms shown in this music video. To begin, the use of a performance piece demonstrates characteristics of the genre 'indie-rock' as it implies a sense of musicianship as well as a clear example of musical talent.

Another aspect which links to the genre, is the use of a disjunctive relationship between the lyrics and visuals as this low budget performance piece features weird and wonderful images projected over the band as they play.

In the narrative aspect of this video we see how the sound of the music is emulated by the images projected over the band, this paired with the dark background connotes a sense of mystery about the band, with some members pushed into the corner where as the main two vocalist are given prevalence.

In some aspects this video could be received as a piece of art due to its simple yet inventive ideas used in the video, which in turn relate to the band's music as it follows the convention of a normal band however its difference is how they use technology e.g. a drum sequencer instead of a drummer.

 

Frank Ocean - 'Pyramids' (2012)

Directed by Nabil

Media Language and Representation
In this music video directed by 'Nabil' the audience is shown how the media language creates a message/purpose behind the video, this 'message' refers to a social aspect rather then aspects revolving the artists image. It focuses on the social aspects of the male gender i.e. alcohol and strip clubs.
This is then backed up by the shots used, as we are shown a protagonist (Frank Ocean himself) drinking an amount of alcohol and then entering a strip club , this sense of an alcohol induced evening is represented through the use of a colourful and bright colour filter as well as an unsteady camera pan and 'shaky' meat shots.

The mise-en-scene also emulates that of an average American working man i.e. suit with an unbuttoned/loosened tie. This then is an important reference as creates a post modernistic view of the American male society. Continuing with this, we see how the artist Frank Ocean is shown to fit into many stereotypical views of the American male culture. Aspects such as drink driving and over indulgence are shown in this video. Social groups are also represented, as the strip club scene contain a variety of different men, with very different races, jobs and ethnicity's.

However the representation of women is shown to be extremely undermining, this link to the theory of Goffman et al, where the women are dismembered from the real world, the dancers are shown to be more of an object then a being. This in turn introduces ideas behind the voyeuristic and fetishistic view of women, with a main focus being on fetishistic due to the location in which the women are placed. 

Other sexualities are also marginalised again due to the scene leaving heterosexuality to been seen as almost normal, this is ironic as the artist himself has mentioned his bisexuality in an interview.  

Group: Audience Profile

Below is our Audience Profile Presentation focusing on the features of our planned audience:

Group: Brighton Reccie footage and evaluation

(Clip will go here)

Strengths: We found composing the order of the clips to be least challenging, as albeit there was no real story to the shots we composed, we were able to make some sense of them and order them accordinly. Our actual filming of the shots was also something we excelled in, as we were able to identify the angle and distance appropriate for the shot and then carry it out effectively.

Weaknesses: At times during the reccie we struggled to think of possible shots to compose. I feel this was largely down to the fact our original idea would not include any footage in the environment we were in, so we found it difficult to relate anything to our ideas. We also found it difficult to create any sort of story to our shots, and ended up just filming a collection of different types of shots, albeit this was helpful as we explored what variations of shots were effected, we still found there was no correlation between shots.


Evaluation:

• We went to Brighton relatively unsure on what we were going to carry out on the reccie as at the time our idea had no relevance to the destination. On our way there, we concluded we would attempt to maximise the learning we could get out of the trip and agreed we would simply try out a variety of different shots and see how they worked out and if they were effective.

• As a result of this mindset, we achieved the knowledge of which shots most conformed to the genre of our chosen track. As previously said, the location had no relevance to our track, however we gained the knowledge of which angles, distances and movements of shots would be the most effective for our track.

• We learnt from this reccie that randomly selecting shot types is an ineffective way to produce a music video. Mise-en-scene is not enough to conform to a genre, but shot angle, distance and movement has a large role in constructing an image and a concept and therefore we discovered that shot selection would be a key part of our project.

DS: Print analysis

• This poster by Oasis features the faces of each member of the band prominently on it - helping to advertise themselves rather than a concert or event

• The glasses that the most prominent band member is wearing act as an easily memorable motif that can be associated with them and helps create a band image.

• As well as the band's faces, the posrer also features various instruments, which once again relates to how the poster reflects them as a band. The muddled nature of the poster reflects the way in which the band wants to be portrayed as a typical group of spontaneous and carefree friends.

• There is a simple block of text in black and white which reads the bands name - having this means that it is easily readable - and nothing else, all that they want is who they are, and the images to reflect this idea.

• One sign reads 'Workers of the World Relax!'. This is connotes how Oasis wish to relate to their target audience and that the purpose of their music is to connect with their fans, and help them to escape their everyday routine.