Props list and costumes

For our prelim task we have to ensure to make our costumes and props as realistic as possible to make the original music video and our music video match as well as possible. 

Costumes
Iggy Azalea :
Scene 1- In this scene I will need to wear a yellow tartan skirt, white knee high socks, a white top, yellow cardigan and black smart shoes. 



Scene 2- In scene 2 you can see Iggy Azalea in a pink cropped jumper, white skirt and white knee high socks. This is what I will have to wear to look like this character.

 

Charli XCX:
Scene 1- For this scene this character will have to wear, a white blouse, white knee high socks, a black skirt and a denim jacket. 



Dionne:
Scene 1- For the character that walks along the corridor with Iggy Azalea she will have to wear a chequered white and black skirt and blazer, a white top, red cardigan and black and white hat. 



Boy in classroom:
Scene 1: The boy in the classroom's costume includes a white t-shirt, a navy shirt, black jeans, sunglasses and black trainers.  




Props 
For the music video we will have to ensure with the correct props that will look like in the music video of 'Fancy'. 
These are the props we will need:
- Tables in the classroom 
- A fluffy pen
- A white backpack
- Books
- Mobile phones
- Paper to throw
- Sunglasses
- Notepads 
- Lockers and content 
- Whiteboards
- Paper aeroplane 

Prelim Task introduction

Over the past week we have been working on our preliminary task. This is our first attempt and insight into making music videos. We got put into groups and ad to choose around 30 seconds of a music video to recreate. In my group here was: Jack, Tilly and myself.

The music video that we decided to recreate after much contemplation was Fancy by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX. Here is the original video:

Representation in music videos

Voyeurism- Sigmund Freud
Erotic pleasure can be gained by looking at a sexual object (preferably when the object is unaware of being watched). Voyeurism is usually used to advertise or sell a product This most commonly seen in music videos, for example; in Fifth Harmony's music video for 'Worth It' the women are seen being objectified in sexualised angles.


Male Gaze- Laura Mulvey 1975
It was proposed that because filmmakers are predominantly male the presence of women is often for the purposes of display (rather than narrative).

Exhibitionism
Female performers being at once sexually provocative and apparently in control of and inviting a sexualised gaze in what could be termed as the opposite of voyeurism.

Female Gaze
The Female Gaze is a Feminist film theoretical term representing the gaze of the female viewer. It is a response to Laura Mulvey's term, "the male gaze," which represents not only the gaze of the male viewer but also the gaze of the male character and the male creator of the film.

Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender.

Star Profile

Today in class for homework we were asked to create a presentation for a profile on our favourite music star. For my star I chose Rihanna, I've always loved her music and her image has changed and been shaped drastically overtime. Below is my presentation on Rihanna and how she has been shaped as an artist since the start of her career to currently. 

Audience- Why and how do you consume music?

Audience

How do you consume music?
I listen to music all throughout the day. When I wake up and I start getting ready to go to school I always put on YouTube and listen to my favourite songs that I like currently. I also listen to music all throughout the day whenever I have a chance, especially when I am at school and completing homework/revising. I also love to listen to music before going out in the evening because it makes me happy and makes me feel energised.

Where?
I usually listen to music in my bedroom when I am at home but I also listen to music a lot at school. When I travel in my car and on buses I listen to music on the radio or on my IPod that I carry with me everywhere.

Who with?
I like to listen to my music usually alone when I'm trying to listen to it to help me concentrate or when I'm travelling. But I also like listening to music with my friends but this is usually when I go to parties or when I go to a gathering with my friends.

How?
I listen to my music usually on YouTube on my IPad when I am at home or on my IPod when I am out or about. When I am getting ready is when I love listening to music the most because it helps to get me in the mood for going out. Also when I am doing homework or revising I like to put my IPod on and it helps me to work independently and helps me to concentrate.

Uses and gratification theory
Personal Identification- When I feel anxious or upset I use music as a distraction and turn up my music really loud to help distract me.

Information- I have learnt a lot from songs and the meanings behind the songs, for example when I was younger Amy Winehouse's song 'Rehab', made me aware of what rehab was and what it feels like to go there.

Entertainment- Beyoncé and her multiple identities and amazing dance routines always seem to entertain me.

Social Interaction- I like going to parties and dancing to my favourite songs with my friends and us all singing along to the lyrics.

Relationship between music video and lyrics

Today in lesson we looked at the relationship between the music video and the lyrics to the song. We looked at the song lyrics for 'Dry The River' by No Rest that we looked at and how we create an image of what the music video may look like when you listen to the song.

There are three steps you should take when identifying the relationship between music videos and the lyrics-
Step 1: Listen to the song without seeing the music video and imagine in your head what it may look like.
Step 2: Look at lyrics and analyse, looking at what genre you may think the lyrics match and what the video may potentially look like. And see whether you may change your views on what the music video may look like after analysing the lyrics.
Step 3: Watch the existing music video and see whether your image of the music video was correct.

Below is the lyrics for the song that we studied...
Dry The River- No Rest

I used to be a king alone
Like Solomon or Rehoboam
And in the eaves, the Corvidae
Did jealous keep my picture frames
And everything did oxidate in place.

But then you came, a single cell
With astrolabe and carousel
And algebra and symmetry
And none of this was lost on me
And I could see how still I’d been before

If I don’t eat, I don’t sleep at all
Like limbs in procession,
Like so many birds
Stampeding like oxen,
Our hearts are a herd

I loved you in the best
I loved you in the best way possible
I loved you in the best

Did you see the light in my heart?
Did you see the sweat on my brow?
Did you see the fear in my heart?
Did you see me bleeding out?

I loved you in the best
I loved you in the best way possible
I loved you in the best way possible
I loved you in the best way possible
I loved you in the best…

And then this is the music video for the song lyrics above:

Carol Vernallis

Carol Vernallis music video theory

Carol Vernallis' music theory was known for her views on music editing. Her theory is based around 4 concepts that relate back to how a music video is produced, these 4 key concepts are: Narrative, Editing, Camera Movement/framing and Diegesis.

Narrative
Suggests that the video is a visual response to the narrative, as in whatever is happening visually reflects the lyrics in the song. However, also says how the narrative may not always be completed and can be partial with the video appearing disjointed, disconnected and fragmented. Don't have to answer every question about the narrative. 

Editing
Says that the video may disrupt or break the conventions of continuity editing. The editing may also be bought to the foreground, become visible and not hidden opposed to the invisible style of continuity editing, meaning the video will have a style of editing running throughout that is distinctive to that video. For example, you might see jump cuts, breaks of the 360 degrees rule, cutting with the beat, juxtaposed frame and graphic matches.

Below is an example of a music video that is over edited and has lots of different cuts and editing techniques. I have chosen Girls Like by Tinie Tempah for this example:

In this one video alone there is 192 cuts, which means it is very face paced and backs up the views of Carol Vernallis.



Camera Movements/framing
States that establishing shots are one of the key features of a music video and are used frequently throughout, other key shots are medium and close up shots which establish the artist. The style of the framing of the video is quite distinctive to the video and also the camera may move in time with the lyrics.

Diegesis
The setting of the music video. Vernallis explains how the diegesis will be revealed quite slowly. The actions in the video are not always completed and may be disrupted in some way. Repetition is key throughout the music video as some frames will appear more important than others due to the way they have been shot. 

Goodwin

Today in lesson we started to look at theorists for media, one of the first theorists that we had a look through was Andrew Goodwin. He said that there was 6 key conventions that can be applied when listening to music videos. He also said their were these conventions because music video's primary purpose is to advertise the song rather than tell a story, which would suggest why the narrative of the music does not necessarily have to be complete or make sense. This however enables the audience and consumers to make up their own meanings in their minds as to what the video means.


Andrew Goodwin 

1) A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics. 
He believed that music video's lyrics either had a complete similarity or direct contrast to the lyrics of the song.  An example of this is in Coldplay's song Up and Up the visuals help to amplify the music and lyrics. 



Also this convention includes the idea of iconography, an example of this is where the lyrics of the song match with the visuals seen in the music video. In Beyoncé's music video for 'Video Phone' they sing the lyrics "you can call me on my video phone..." and then in the video you can see a video phone in the background as seen below. 

t Beats-

2) Thought Beats- This is the idea that you see sound. The visual thoughts beats are often repeated with the chorus to emphasise the lyrics and beat. Goodwin identified that the visuals in a music video are commonly edited in time with the lyrics and change with the pace of song. An example of this change of pace in a music video is by No Rest called Dry The River. It is shown below and you can see by when he becomes heart broken the pace changes.


3) Genre-related style and iconography present- Goodwin recognised that most artists have a trend of repeating certain actions within their music videos to help become their 'trademark' action and helps to make the artists songs recognisable.  This  also represents  the style of the music and is a marketing strategy for the artist and their music. For Example rap songs are usually dark and in a fairly aggressive atmosphere, as seen in rap song 'Blessings' by Big Sean.




But an example of iconography in an artists music videos is in Rihanna's videos where she is seen dancing in a sexualised manor, as seen below in screenshots of her music videos.



4) Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist: the creation of a star image to promote a recognizable brand image- Goodwin said that it is a common feature for record labels to use close ups of the artists in order to promote the sales in the single. This is in order to show the artist throughout the video but is mostly common with female artists as provocative angles are used to sexualise the female artist. This links with Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory. An example of an artist that uses provocative angles in their videos is Iggy Azalea, below are screenshots of these angles in videos...



5) Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.
This was found after Goodwin identified that many music videos include voyeuristic angles of women to help attract a male orientated audience. This is used to sexualise the artist. An example of this is in Chris Brown and Benny Benassi's song 'Paradise' as seen below the women are shown in voyeuristic angles. 

 

6) Intersexual references to other media texts may be present, especially in humorous videos. Goodwin later recognised that it was very common to recognize either the visuals or lyrics of a song to be a direct reference to another media text. This convention is used to engage the audiences.
An example of this use of another media text in a music video is in Iggy Azalea's song 'Fancy' is influenced by the famous film 'Clueless', as seen below with the 'Clueless' Trailer and the 'Fancy' music video:

Timeline of music videos (1929-2016)

This a timeline of music videos dating all the way back to 1929 and also until music videos currently in the modern day. 
A music video is a short clip helping to advertise the music that is shown throughout the video. 
This task has helped me to understand this and realize how music videos have developed and changed over time, as you'll see explained in my presentation below:

Features Of A Music Video

Today I was set the task of analyzing three music videos, identifying the conventions of different genres within music videos in the music industry today.

Video 1: Bad Blood- Taylor Swift (Pop)



This is the music video for Bad Blood by Taylor Swift, it contains mainly narrative and this is due to its nature of being a pop song. This is because the music video follows a story of how a group of strong women are being trained to become warriors and more powerful. Bad Blood is also a narrative due to musical instruments and a performance on stage not being seen present through the duration of the video. This music video is not a concept due to the fact that it does not include for abstract concepts but instead is a way of showing the power of strong women. Concept music videos are usually for the genre of Indie due to them trying to put across a meaningful idea. The editing seems to be a montage of multiple clips of all the different female characters throughout- so causes the editing to become fairly harsh, which is usually stereotypical for a rap video. The mise en scene is a counter-type for what women are usually perceived as in the music video industry, in this video they portray strong, independent women. Which is not normally seen in a pop song, due to its cliche nature. 

Video 2: Gold Digger- Kanye West ft. Jamie Foxx (Rap)



This music video is not a narrative video but instead a concept video. This is stereotypical for a rap video due to them not usually following a story line. This is the same for this video due to it not following a general story line but can see the artists singing to the lyrics in front of montage of clips of real women posing on a magazine. This type of music is fairly aggressive as the artists sing very loud and very aggressive towards the viewers. This is to create the effect of a traditional rap song with the mise en scene of women in small, short outfits and heavy make up. Its location is stereotypical for a rap song with it being set in dark rooms with lots of women in short clothes and dancing women, which shows the male gaze and how the modern age men see women as an object and not a person. It contrasts to an indie music video because it is fairly in your face which is the opposite for indie video which are usually more simplistic and plain.


Video 3: Panic at the Disco- Lying is the most fun... (Indie Rock)



This is a music video by Panic! At The Disco who are a very famous indie rock band, this is a narrative video. This is not stereotypical for an indie music video due to them not usually following a story line. Whereas in this video it follows the story of a man and women who are in love and can not live without each other in their lives. The costumes of the characters is very smart and formal with an old fashion approach with long skirts and smart suits- this contrasts with the costumes in a rap video were clothing is loud, garish and flashy. This shows that this indie music video is trying to reach out to a more romantic audience who appreciate an alternative approach to a music video. The video also has very vivid and bright colors which is not very common for an indie rock video which are usually shown in dark tones because they are trying to be subtle.

What music means to me...

Today in lesson we discussed what music means to us and we were asked to create a presentation on what music means to us. This homework task has helped to use music autobiographically and to think about the significance of music personally. I have created this presentation to highlight my favourite song in my childhood, early teens and currently.