Group 8

I am a student of A Level Media Studies and for my Advanced Portfolio I will be working in a group to produce a promotional package for the release of a new album track. I would like to request permission to use the above track for this project.

The finished project will not be made available publicly and will be used solely for coursework purposes. The holder of the original copyright will be fully acknowledge in the finished project.

If you do not hold the rights for this song I should be grateful if you could forward this request to the appropriate person, or return it to me with the contact details in order that I might approach the copyright holder directly.

Yours faithfully,
Emma Nwachuku

EmmaNwachuku@live.co.uk

Friday, 21 September 2012

Research: Laura Mulvey.

One can infer that Laura Mulvey’s theory on representation is very honest Mulvey states that “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female”. This quote emphasises sexual inequality because we are living in a male dominated world were the portrayal of the sexes is very different women are seen as damsels in distress, emotional and fragile. Whereas males are seen as active, powerful and heroic, I think this quote will be more relevant with hip/hop, R&B and rock and the sole reason that their music is about women and relationships more.

One example of women appealing to male fantasy and dressing provocatively to fit that role is Gold Digger by Kanye West the video features dismemberment as there are a lot of cuts showing a woman’s lips, stomach or bum. Also the male leads are dressed appropriately and the female leads are half naked and on the cover of magazines, one can infer that the video sees women as objects. The song lyrics are quite derogatory to women emphasizing that women are materialistic and superficial ‘She went to the doctor got lypo with your money’ this lyric highlights that women are obsessed with their appearance. I think this video is mainly for male audience due to the way woman are portrayed ad the lyrics of the song.

example of dismemberment in the video.

example of the women on magazine covers, the base track for the video.

Then again there are videos that portray women in a positive and supreme light for example Beyonce’s Run the World (Girls). Even though you could are that the women I the video are dressed for men, the authority of the women in the video counterbalance that. It shows that women are equally as strong as men and to encourage other women to be powerful. The presence of poignant animals such as bulls ad lions that normal symbolise strength and fear emphasize how powerful women actually are in stead of how they are generically portrayed.

‘Boy you know you love it how we're smart enough to make these millions’ this contradicts Kanye wests song, because it portrays women as hard working and determined.

Example of empowering women as men are running away from her.

Both the above gif and this screen shot show, the strong animals that i wrote about above.

Research: Analysis of student work.

I am going to analyse by Kelly, Yasmin and Jasmine in the years 2010 -2011, I chose to analyse their video because I found the narrative very interesting and the mise en scene intriguing and pretty. Like the original video for the Florence and the Machine song Cosmic Love it’s very mystical and imaginative.

They used a range of effects ad cuts I particularly like the cut at the start which went with the beat of the song. The slow motion added depth to video especially when the character with top hat exhaled the cigarette smoke, it made the character look more evil. The lip syncing was very good and went in time with the song. I think the slow motion during the bridge did impact the music video because it made the lyrics more effective.

They used various camera angles ranging from close ups to pans, although the video was very good it didn't there wasn't many locations featured in the video.

They also had a good mise en scene, for example the table filled with strange food and steaming drinks, i think the brightly coloured cigarettes and the big ceramic cupcake, added mystery and youthfulness to the video and went along with the Alice In Wonderland style of the video, i think this video is an example of disjuncture because it has no connection to the lyrics.The costume and make/up was very creative and shows that they took this very seriously compared to other video that didn't have a change of costume.

This extreme close up camera angle was inspired by Florence and the machines video for Cosmic Love. (Top Image)

This scene is also reminiscent to Florence and the Machines video due to the leaves and the forest.

There isn't a significant signifier or iconography that would go with the genre but the group are clearly inspired by Florence and the machine videos as her videos always have a narrative and are quite mysterious and mystical.This music video will be targeted at teenagers/young adults due to the style of the video as its quite feminine the majority that will watch this may be female.

Thursday, 20 September 2012

Research: Andrew Goodwin's Theory =)

Andrew Goodwin’s theory is that music videos don’t really follow the traditional narrative because they choose to do it a different way compared to films and books. They also rely a lot on repetition as the same images would be shown throughout the video just like how the chorus is repeated throughout the song; intertextuality can be used as they repeat rhythms from other songs. Repetition is also used when the song is released as it will be seen on TV, played on the radio it could also be on a soundtrack of a film so that would make the song even more familiar to a wider audience. Music videos do have their own ending during their three minutes but it is more due to the climax they build up to which in the end fades away.

There are some music videos that can go into a deeper meaning into the visualisation rather than the actual words of the song. Whereas some can be very visual which will make people view it repeatedly as they really enjoy it, and some videos can have nothing to do with the words of the song. Music videos can also promote, if it is being used in a soundtrack they will use parts of the film during the video to promote both. There are three types of relations between songs and videos and they are called: Illustration, Amplification & Disjuncture.

His reasons are that music videos often don’t have a narrative structure and is built around the song. Also in music videos the singer is used as both the narrator and character. The singer also has very direct eye contact with the camera as it draws the viewers in wanting to see more as it involves them.

Music videos have recognisable features because of the artist singing as they sometimes have a signature move they do or how the dress. Especially women, they are portrayed as something for men to look at in music videos like women like Beyonce&Rihanna.

I think that the music video ‘We Belong Together’ by Mariah Carey shows Illustration as it shows a story that have meaning with the lyrics of the song. During the song there is a black&white shot showing a flashback which is also from another one of her songs showing the connection between the two. With this video you also see Mariah having her hair done, everything is white, we see flowers so we peace together that its a wedding. Also at the end when she jolts down the isle it all connects with the lyrics through a story.

I think that the music video ‘Who You Are’ by Jessie J shows Amplification as there is a deeper meaning to the lyrics in the video. Throughout the video Jessie J is in one outfit and one location but with a lot of different shots. The base track of her sitting at her dresser makes it look like she is looking in a mirror but is actually the camera. The video looks very simplistic but that gives the viewer a better chance to see what the deeper meaning to the song is. Especially near the end it begins to rain/storm in her room and this also adds a climax to her lyrics and video.

I think that the music video ‘Love On Top’ by Beyonce shows Disjuncture as there is very little connection between the video and lyrics. The whole video is in one scene (a studio) they all change outfits around four times. As they change four times the sky outside comes black and they lights behind the dancers. While she is still in her first outfit she is dancing with dancers, they disappear and then reappear. At the end Beyonce is dancing and drops to the floor for the last pose and it goes back to the first outfit of her doing the same pose.