Friday, 30 September 2011
Practice Filming
In todays lesson we took advantage of the good weather and did some practice filming with our Ken doll. As one of our shots on our storyboard is a swing scene we filmed this scene and edited it into a short clip in order to give the audience an idea of what our video will be based on, which will be useful when presenting our idea to the class. We found today a success and made us excited to film the rest of the video, it also made us realise that the Ken idea worked well.
Monday, 26 September 2011
The Gaze
There are many types of gaze in the media. There are the 'male and female gaze' which regard how men and women are portrayed in the media in order to appeal to the opposite text whilst the other forms of gaze are how the spectator is viewing the text.
Spectators gaze- the spectator who is viewing the text. this is often us, the audience of a certain text
Intra-diegetic gaze- where one person depicted in the text is looking at another person or object in the text, such as another character looking at another.
Extra-diegetic gaze- where the person depicted in the text looks at the spectator such as an aside or an acknowledgement of the ''fourth wall''
The Intra-Intra-diegetic gaze- where the person depicted in the text is watching themselves, e.g on a TV screen
Regarding the gender gaze theory, theorist Laura Mulvey's argues "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (written in 1973 and published in 1975) which expands on the conception of the passive role of women in cinema to argue that film provides visual pleasure through scopophilia, and identification with the on-screen male actor. She asserts: "In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness," and as a result contends that in film a woman is the "bearer of meaning, not maker of meaning." Mulvey argues that Freud's psychoanalytic theory is the key to understanding how film creates such a space for female sexual objectification and exploitation through the combination of the patriarchal order of society, and 'looking' in itself as a pleasurable act of voyeurism, as "the cinema satisfies a primordial wish for pleasurable looking."
Whilst Laura Mulvey's paper has a particular place in the feminist film theory, it is also important to note that her ideas regarding ways of watching the cinema (from the voyeuristic element to the feelings of identification) have been very important in terms of defining spectatorship from the psychoanalytical view point.
Mulvey identifies three "looks" or perspectives that occur in film which serve to sexually objectify women. The first is the perspective of the male character on screen and how he perceives the female character. The second is the perspective of the spectator as they see the female character on screen. The third "look" joins the first two looks together: it is the male audience member's perspective of the male character in the film. This third perspective allows the male audience to take the female character as his own personal sex object because he can relate himself, through looking, to the male character in the film.
Mulveys theory also links to voyeurism, the examples below show how the gaze and voyeurism are used in order to attract an audience.
In this Nat King Cole video the Male gaze is used, the video shows how Nat King Cole is using a waitress as his object of affection and she is portrayed as a slave as he is waiting for her to take his order. This shows that over time the male gaze has developed as today the gaze is portyayed in a more sexual light as the 50 Cent P.I.M.P video below shows but the idea behind a woman being shown in a sexual manner has remained the same over time.Voyeurism has been used here as Nat views himself on a televison screen playing the piano which shows he is watching himself in another way, also the Extra Diegetic gaze has been used as Nat also looks at the camera and acknowledges the audience.
The P.I.M.P video by 50 Cent greatly contrasts the Nat King Cole video as the Male Gaze is used to extreme lengths as women are portrayed in a lot more of a sexual manner, and are shown to appear as slaves to men. Due to their lack of clothing and provocative mannner this supports Mulveys theory that media is used to sexually objectify women. The video used the Intra-diegetic gaze as 50 is often shown singing to women or whilst looking at their bodies, although the Extra-Diegetic gaze is used in parts such as when him and Snoop are singing to the camera. Voyeurism is also used at the beginning of the song where 50 Cent plays his song on his ipod which may be a represenation of his wealth and that he fits into the contempary society which appeals to a wide audience.
The video to Rio by Duran Duran also uses the male gaze in order to appeal to an audience. The shots of the video focus on female body parts which supports Mulveys theory of appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact. The video shows alternate views about how women are portrayed, they on one hand are portayed in a negative way as they are presented in minimal clothing and as objects but they could also be argued to be presented as strong figures as they have control over the men in the video. Voyeurism is not used in the video just the Spectators gaze and the Extra-diegetic gaze.
In Open Your Heart Madonna plays the Male gaze but also contradicts this. Madonna is shown in a strip club in provocative clothing with men watching her dance. This plays on Mulveys theory about women being seen as sexual objects but Madonna also contradicts this as she is controlling what the men see as it is a peep show theme and a shutter goes down on the mens windows, therefore showing she is teasing them.Voyeurism is partly used as we see the viewpoint of the men watching Madonna, showing us the spectators gaze although she does sing directly to the camera using the Extra Diegetic gaze.This represents Madonna as a strong female who can control men but also as a woman who enjoys the sexual attention of men.
Pencil Full of lead presents both the Male gaze but also enpowers women. Initially the women in teh video are presented as sexual objects due to them all being dressed the same and in revealing clothing, being grabbed by the male charcatre. This fulfills the male gaze but this is contradicted as halfway through the song it shows the women being enpowering and controlling the male character and laughing at him. Voyeurism is used in this video as it gives the impression of the video being filmed for a TV station, showing the actual filming is being done for another production which is an effective method.
The Lady GaGa video presents women in an enpowering light which is unsual for music videos as Gaga and Beyonce are presented as villains that are manipulating and seeking revenge on a male character. Although they are shown in revealing clothing the message of the video shows that they are strong and powerful women. Voyeurism is used as CCTV footage of gaga is used and also a TV of a news station of the two singers. This is a clever way of using voyeurism and is called the Intra-Intra-diegetic gaze. In this video women are represented in a less naive light and are shown in a strong light which is a huge contrast to videos such as P.I.M.P.
Theorist Andrew Goodwin believes women are objectified through camera and editing and it is through iconography and visuals that illustrate this.
Spectators gaze- the spectator who is viewing the text. this is often us, the audience of a certain text
Intra-diegetic gaze- where one person depicted in the text is looking at another person or object in the text, such as another character looking at another.
Extra-diegetic gaze- where the person depicted in the text looks at the spectator such as an aside or an acknowledgement of the ''fourth wall''
The Intra-Intra-diegetic gaze- where the person depicted in the text is watching themselves, e.g on a TV screen
Regarding the gender gaze theory, theorist Laura Mulvey's argues "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (written in 1973 and published in 1975) which expands on the conception of the passive role of women in cinema to argue that film provides visual pleasure through scopophilia, and identification with the on-screen male actor. She asserts: "In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness," and as a result contends that in film a woman is the "bearer of meaning, not maker of meaning." Mulvey argues that Freud's psychoanalytic theory is the key to understanding how film creates such a space for female sexual objectification and exploitation through the combination of the patriarchal order of society, and 'looking' in itself as a pleasurable act of voyeurism, as "the cinema satisfies a primordial wish for pleasurable looking."
Whilst Laura Mulvey's paper has a particular place in the feminist film theory, it is also important to note that her ideas regarding ways of watching the cinema (from the voyeuristic element to the feelings of identification) have been very important in terms of defining spectatorship from the psychoanalytical view point.
Mulvey identifies three "looks" or perspectives that occur in film which serve to sexually objectify women. The first is the perspective of the male character on screen and how he perceives the female character. The second is the perspective of the spectator as they see the female character on screen. The third "look" joins the first two looks together: it is the male audience member's perspective of the male character in the film. This third perspective allows the male audience to take the female character as his own personal sex object because he can relate himself, through looking, to the male character in the film.
Mulveys theory also links to voyeurism, the examples below show how the gaze and voyeurism are used in order to attract an audience.
In this Nat King Cole video the Male gaze is used, the video shows how Nat King Cole is using a waitress as his object of affection and she is portrayed as a slave as he is waiting for her to take his order. This shows that over time the male gaze has developed as today the gaze is portyayed in a more sexual light as the 50 Cent P.I.M.P video below shows but the idea behind a woman being shown in a sexual manner has remained the same over time.Voyeurism has been used here as Nat views himself on a televison screen playing the piano which shows he is watching himself in another way, also the Extra Diegetic gaze has been used as Nat also looks at the camera and acknowledges the audience.
The P.I.M.P video by 50 Cent greatly contrasts the Nat King Cole video as the Male Gaze is used to extreme lengths as women are portrayed in a lot more of a sexual manner, and are shown to appear as slaves to men. Due to their lack of clothing and provocative mannner this supports Mulveys theory that media is used to sexually objectify women. The video used the Intra-diegetic gaze as 50 is often shown singing to women or whilst looking at their bodies, although the Extra-Diegetic gaze is used in parts such as when him and Snoop are singing to the camera. Voyeurism is also used at the beginning of the song where 50 Cent plays his song on his ipod which may be a represenation of his wealth and that he fits into the contempary society which appeals to a wide audience.
The video to Rio by Duran Duran also uses the male gaze in order to appeal to an audience. The shots of the video focus on female body parts which supports Mulveys theory of appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact. The video shows alternate views about how women are portrayed, they on one hand are portayed in a negative way as they are presented in minimal clothing and as objects but they could also be argued to be presented as strong figures as they have control over the men in the video. Voyeurism is not used in the video just the Spectators gaze and the Extra-diegetic gaze.
In Open Your Heart Madonna plays the Male gaze but also contradicts this. Madonna is shown in a strip club in provocative clothing with men watching her dance. This plays on Mulveys theory about women being seen as sexual objects but Madonna also contradicts this as she is controlling what the men see as it is a peep show theme and a shutter goes down on the mens windows, therefore showing she is teasing them.Voyeurism is partly used as we see the viewpoint of the men watching Madonna, showing us the spectators gaze although she does sing directly to the camera using the Extra Diegetic gaze.This represents Madonna as a strong female who can control men but also as a woman who enjoys the sexual attention of men.
Pencil Full of lead presents both the Male gaze but also enpowers women. Initially the women in teh video are presented as sexual objects due to them all being dressed the same and in revealing clothing, being grabbed by the male charcatre. This fulfills the male gaze but this is contradicted as halfway through the song it shows the women being enpowering and controlling the male character and laughing at him. Voyeurism is used in this video as it gives the impression of the video being filmed for a TV station, showing the actual filming is being done for another production which is an effective method.
The Lady GaGa video presents women in an enpowering light which is unsual for music videos as Gaga and Beyonce are presented as villains that are manipulating and seeking revenge on a male character. Although they are shown in revealing clothing the message of the video shows that they are strong and powerful women. Voyeurism is used as CCTV footage of gaga is used and also a TV of a news station of the two singers. This is a clever way of using voyeurism and is called the Intra-Intra-diegetic gaze. In this video women are represented in a less naive light and are shown in a strong light which is a huge contrast to videos such as P.I.M.P.
Theorist Andrew Goodwin believes women are objectified through camera and editing and it is through iconography and visuals that illustrate this.
Friday, 23 September 2011
Voyeurism
Voyeurism (from the French voyeur, "one who looks") can take several forms, but its principal characteristic is that the voyeur does not normally relate directly with the subject of their interest, who is often unaware of being observed.
In our video we are hoping to encorporate Voyeurism by the beginning shot being the girl looking through photos of herself from the day she has had, or either of her playing her song on an ipod/cd player. We are yet to decide yet but examples of voyeurism from other videos are Olly murs Heart Skips a Beat as the beginning shot shows the song being played on a record player. Another example is from Madonnas Hung Up video which features her playing her song on a boom box. These are ideas we have taken into consideration, but we are thinking of using more modern technology such as an ipod/iphone in order to fit in with the contempary style of the video. Although we may use a jukebox in order to fit in with the 50s style of the diner we are hoping to use in the milkshake scene.
In our video we are hoping to encorporate Voyeurism by the beginning shot being the girl looking through photos of herself from the day she has had, or either of her playing her song on an ipod/cd player. We are yet to decide yet but examples of voyeurism from other videos are Olly murs Heart Skips a Beat as the beginning shot shows the song being played on a record player. Another example is from Madonnas Hung Up video which features her playing her song on a boom box. These are ideas we have taken into consideration, but we are thinking of using more modern technology such as an ipod/iphone in order to fit in with the contempary style of the video. Although we may use a jukebox in order to fit in with the 50s style of the diner we are hoping to use in the milkshake scene.
Monday, 19 September 2011
Genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music. It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are often used in an undifferentiated way.
Music can be divided into many genres in many different ways. Due to the different purposes behind them and the different points of view from which they are made, these classifications are often arbitrary and controversial and closely related genres often overlap. Many do not believe that generic classification of music is possible in any logically consistent way, and also argue that doing so sets limitations and boundaries that hinder the development of music. While no one doubts that it is possible to note similarities between musical pieces, there are often exceptions and caveats associated.
Kembrew McLeod, in an essay entitled "Genres, Subgenres, Sub-Subgenres and More",suggested that in electronic music, "the naming of new subgenres can be linked to a variety of influences, such as the rapidly evolving nature of the music, accelerated consumer culture, and the synergy created by record company marketing strategies and music magazine hype. The appropriation of the musics of minorities by straight, middle and upper-middle-class Whites in the United States and Great Britain plays a part, and the rapid and ongoing naming process within electronic/dance music subcultures acts as a gate-keeping mechanism, as well."
For our video we have chosen to do an indiepop genre as it allows us to do a quirky style of video and also as a majority of indie pop artists are female this worked to our advantage as we to are using a female singer. Our chosen songs genre is typically a narrative as the lyrics tell the story of a relationship and in order to present this a narrative is needed in order to tell the viewers the story behind the song.
Music can be divided into many genres in many different ways. Due to the different purposes behind them and the different points of view from which they are made, these classifications are often arbitrary and controversial and closely related genres often overlap. Many do not believe that generic classification of music is possible in any logically consistent way, and also argue that doing so sets limitations and boundaries that hinder the development of music. While no one doubts that it is possible to note similarities between musical pieces, there are often exceptions and caveats associated.
Kembrew McLeod, in an essay entitled "Genres, Subgenres, Sub-Subgenres and More",suggested that in electronic music, "the naming of new subgenres can be linked to a variety of influences, such as the rapidly evolving nature of the music, accelerated consumer culture, and the synergy created by record company marketing strategies and music magazine hype. The appropriation of the musics of minorities by straight, middle and upper-middle-class Whites in the United States and Great Britain plays a part, and the rapid and ongoing naming process within electronic/dance music subcultures acts as a gate-keeping mechanism, as well."
For our video we have chosen to do an indiepop genre as it allows us to do a quirky style of video and also as a majority of indie pop artists are female this worked to our advantage as we to are using a female singer. Our chosen songs genre is typically a narrative as the lyrics tell the story of a relationship and in order to present this a narrative is needed in order to tell the viewers the story behind the song. The main generic conventions of a music video in our chosen genre are bright colours, quirky items and cool clothes. Artists similar are Ellie Goulding, Florence and the Machine and Marina and the Diamonds who often feauture individual fashion styles with loud images. For example in the Marina and The Diamonds video for Hollywood there is a reoccuring theme of America and this is played on throughout by using bright colours from the American flag and wearing cheerleading outfits.
Common iconography used is mirrors, often musical instruments and bright colour schemes such as red and blue. For example in the Kate Nash video abstarct items such as telephones and love hearts are used which add to the quirkiness of the video, and also red and yellow have been commonly used in order to present the happiness of the song.
In the indiepop genre the location is often set in the city, which we are aiming to do in london due to the individualness of different parts of London which you would not necessarily find elsewhere. Also there is a commonly a set design made up of bright colours, similar to Marina and the Diamonds in Hollywood. Props are commonly used in order to fit in with the lyrics of the song, for example in Pumpkin Soup above by Kate Nash there is a common theme of love with love hearts, sweets and lips. And in Hollywood there are American related items such as the flag and cheerleaders.
Costume in Indiepop is always very fashionable and up to date with a quirky twist, for example Kate Nash is seen wearing bright colours such as red, yellow and blue in the images above which make them eye catching and interesting to look at. Also stereotypical charcaters are formed such as the boy girl relationship which is commonly found in Kate Nash videos, and also the quirky and cool female who is independent. Common shots used are simple, often with close ups of the singer or panning shots as the walk towards the camera. Most shots are not very technical as they mainly focus on the singer rather than her surroundings. Florence and the Machine is strongly associated with the indie pop genre as she is known for her trademark red hair and unusual powerful voice. These associate her with bright colours and soulful images that show off her lyrics and voice. Florence uses these images to show her power, and by doing this and showed she is the face of indie pop.
Change of Idea
In todays lesson we had a slight change of plan and decided that instead of using a boy in our video, we are going to use a Ken doll to make the video more comical and imaginative. We came up with some great concepts such as using green screen to make the girl in the video the same size as the Ken, and we also had ideas such as them sharing the same milkshake in a 50s style diner and also a rain scene in which Ken hands the girl a cocktail umbrella which transforms into a life size one. Also from looking at the lyrics 'The yolk is in the middle and i'm chewing through the white' we had the idea of the girl cooking the Ken breakfast and him having a haribo sized egg in comparison to her normal sized meal. We believe this idea sets us apart from other candidates as it is original and creative and we're looking forward to developing the idea.
We got this original idea from looking at the Olly Murs video for Busy which showed him having a relationship with a mannequin. Initially we liked this idea and took using a mannequin into consideration, but realising this would be hard to achieve we changed our idea to a Ken doll in order to be more original and also as it was more achievable.
We got this original idea from looking at the Olly Murs video for Busy which showed him having a relationship with a mannequin. Initially we liked this idea and took using a mannequin into consideration, but realising this would be hard to achieve we changed our idea to a Ken doll in order to be more original and also as it was more achievable.
Friday, 9 September 2011
Contacting the producer for consent
In order to use the song Skinny genes we contacted the producer Matthew Prime to gain consent, here is a copy of the email.
Reasons For Song Choice
We decided to choose Skinny Genes by Eliza Doolittle as our song due to the quirkiness of it, we really liked the lyrics and feel we could use them to adapt parts of the video. For example we thought using the cliche of jeans could be a quirky idea, as well as it fitting in with the indie pop genre. We also chose the song as it is ung by a female and believed it would be easier to film amongst us rather than relying on another person to appear in the video. Also as it is quite an upbeat song we can make the video bright and fun and also fit it in and around London, also as Eliza Doolittle is a cool and individual artist we could play on this fact and set the video around her quirkiness by using abstract items that also fit into the indiepop genre such as bubblegum, scrabble pieces and also the obscurity of places in London, such as Camden and Brixton which we hope to use as possible locations.
As well as Skinny Genes we discussed other song choices such as Ed Sheeran, The City as we wanted to base our video around London and we thought the song was inappropiaten for this, but we decided against this idea as we would have needed a male performer in the video and this would not be ideal for us as we would have to rely on them for our filming, which we didnt want to have.
Overall, we feel we have made a good decision on our song choice and cannot wait to start filming.
Different Song Ideas
One of our song choice ideas was The City-Ed Sheeran. We liked this song as it was a song based on city life,and as we wanted to base our video in and around London we believed this would be a good choice of song. Also as Ed is a quirky singer and fits into the indie genre we thought this would be a good choice.
Although possible limitations of using this song would be having to use a male performer, this would be hard to rely upon during filming and using a memer of our own group would be easier.
Another song choice idea was Skinny Genes- Eliza Doolittle. We liked this song due to its quirkiness and upbeat message, we also could fit it into our desired London theme. Also as it features a female singer we could easily use a member of our group rather than having to rely on another individual which could possibly hold back filming progress. We also liked this song as due to its happy message we could use bright colours and use potential street art to add to the quirkiness ofthe song. Also as it is sung by a female we could potentially a male love interest to add a storyline for viewers to follow. Bad points about this is that we don't want to look to copycat to the artist or video, so need to think of original ideas that are not similar to the original video.
Another song idea we had was I Wish I Was A Punkrocker- Sandi Thom. We liked this song as it was upbeat and soulful and again found it would fit in well with our London theme. We also liked the original video and wanted to use a similar panning shot of the main character walking towards the camera. Although the bad point of the song is that the lyrics are very obvious and it was hard for us to think of ideas for what we could do with the song.
Monday, 5 September 2011
Video Ideas
I recently saw this video and really liked it, its really similar to what we want for our own video- set in London, quirky and creative. I love the opening shot of the bike wheel and want to do something similar, thinking we could hire a bike in London by the Thames as we want a shot of the character riding a bike. I also like the graffitti that is written on the surface as she walks, and want to create a similar effect perhaps using stop animation. I like the mixture of bright colours with the neutrality of the sky, such as the bright baloons and graffitti. Overall, i've taken alot of inspiration from this video.
New Ideas
In todays lesson we brainstormed and thought of some new ideas for our music video. We really liked the idea of using scrabble pieces as stop animation for some lyrics in the song. We also started to think about locations and liked the idea of using a colourful market to walk through such as Brixton or Camden. This will add to the edgy images of London and will be effective for the walking shots with the busy background. Also in these locations are alot of interesting graffitti which we would like to feature.
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