http://www.slideshare.net/ecclestona/media-narrative-propp-and-todorov
http://jesspriddle.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/diegetic-and-non-diegetic-sound.html
Showing posts with label New A2 2012-2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New A2 2012-2013. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 July 2012
Monday, 2 July 2012
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Barthes and Adorno
For part of Thursday's lesson we looked at (or will have looked at) the 'grain of the voice' (and Adorno) and considered gesture, pulsion and grain.
Essay on Barthes' Musical Semiology
Adorno's Music Theory and the Social Implications Thereof
Above are essays on the both Barthes and Adorno. Ben, since you're a keen Lacanian, my initial (and underwhelming) research suggests that pulsion may be Lacanian in origin. Have a dig around and see if it is...
Further useful resources:
TASK ONE
Choose AT LEAST three music videos from your proposed / preferred genre and produce a detailed analysis of how they fit in to Goodwin. You can do this as one big piece or three individual pieces - your choice. Remember NOT AN ESSAY. DUE 17TH JULY
You MUST consider all the ideas I suggested for the conventions of hip hop post and, in addition, consider the following areas:
(There were some really good videos of people who had done their storyboards on post-it notes and filmed that and edited it to the track but the YouTube account they were on is the one that got closed for copyright claims despite it having been a brillaint educational tool. You don't have to do it on post-its, just an idea if you're looking for something a bit different).
Essay on Barthes' Musical Semiology
Adorno's Music Theory and the Social Implications Thereof
Above are essays on the both Barthes and Adorno. Ben, since you're a keen Lacanian, my initial (and underwhelming) research suggests that pulsion may be Lacanian in origin. Have a dig around and see if it is...
Further useful resources:
Homeworks (all 3 of 'em)
TASK ONE
Choose AT LEAST three music videos from your proposed / preferred genre and produce a detailed analysis of how they fit in to Goodwin. You can do this as one big piece or three individual pieces - your choice. Remember NOT AN ESSAY. DUE 17TH JULY
You MUST consider all the ideas I suggested for the conventions of hip hop post and, in addition, consider the following areas:
- use the words AMPLIFY, ILLUSTRATE and either CONTRADICT or DISJUNCTURE;
- include a Barthesian analysis using AT LEAST ONE the terms GESTURE, PULSION and GRAIN;
- inlcude Adorno's term 'PSEUDO-INDIVIDUALISATION''; and
- EXTENSION: using the data you generated from your audience research consider which video would appeal to the majority of your audience the most and why.
TASK TWO
Due as blog post by the end of the JULY (yes, 31st, even after school has finished). Choose a song of your choice from your proposed/preferred genre and as an individual create a storyboard for a unique music video, edited to the song. Don't forget to include a new band name, track name, album title and record company name at the start of your video. LOADS OF YOU FORGOT FOR YOUR FIRST ATTEMPT. Make it really like a music video, even if you have to draw it - make sure it fits the genre conventions or intentionally subverts them. It must be clear to a viewer what happens in your video. Use Goodwin and your knowledge of the conventions of music videos to create something really effective.
(There were some really good videos of people who had done their storyboards on post-it notes and filmed that and edited it to the track but the YouTube account they were on is the one that got closed for copyright claims despite it having been a brillaint educational tool. You don't have to do it on post-its, just an idea if you're looking for something a bit different).
THINK VERY CAREFULLY WHETHER YOU HAVE INCLUDED ENOUGH SHOTS!
This must be accompanied by an analysis (and this time I will allow a full on essay if you want but don't just resort to this as a default option. Only do it if you feel you have a sufficiently academic writing style to produce an excellent essay. Technical terminology will, as always, make me happy. Especially if it is used accurately) using the same stems as for the task above. In addition to these, above, you must also cover:
- how this piece is more successful than your first storyboard in terms of creating a convincing music video;
- what part you feel is most successful and why;
- what part is least successful and why; and
- what you have learnt about music videos in preparation for planning your coursework piece.
EXTENSION - you could also show this one to an audience and get feedback on what they think is successful and what needs to be changed and why.
TASK THREE
Based on the intial audience feedback you have received, decide on your coursework groups (6 groups max and, this time, no more than 2 to a group - it'll make it easier for you to get loads of marks using the way we're going to make you work come September, that's why) and decide which genre you are going to make a music video for. Then as INDIVIDUALS, choose between 2 - 5 tracks each and share them with your audience and get them to give you feedback on what songs they prefer and why (and, if they want, make suggestions about what they think should happen in a video for the song).
You must have BEGUN to gather this data by 3RD JULY, Again, no need to be posting about it, just so long as you are generating the data and have the research underway.
One way you can do it (in addition to any other ways, and one I srongly recommend) is to use the blogspot poll gadget and add a poll to your blog asking people to give you feedback on your porposed tracks. Post explaining how to do this is here. You should ALSO, therefore, be going on to EACH OTHERS' BLOGS and completing the poll for each class member.
(pause)
(breathe)
AND A COUPLE OF OPTIONAL INDEPENDENT EXTENSION TASKS ON TOP DUE WHENEVER YOU SO PLEASE (as long as it is by the 18th August):
1. Use your knowledge of Adorno and Goodwin create your own Adornoan theory of music VIDEO. Give it a (sensible) name, make it clear it is inspired by Adorno and Goodwin and make it clear that it is a recontextualisation of Adorno's theory (taking something relating to products 80 years in the past to make it relevant for today). Post to your blog a detailed outline of your theory, supporting each point you make with reference to at least one music video. USE A RANGE OF VIDEOS TO ILLUSTRATE YOUR PREMISES AND MAKE YOUR THEORY CONVINCING.
AND/OR
2. Use your knowledge of Barthes and Goodwin create your own theory of the PHENO-VIDEO. Make it clear it is a combination of Barthes and Goodwin (and, if you're feeling kind, a short credit to me in the final slide acknowledging the inital idea came from your erstwhile Media teacher would be loverly - have conducted extensive research and can't find ANYTHING using the term PHENO-VIDEO so I think it is completely original, but then a couple of years ago one of my class thought she'd invented the 'female gaze' and I had to, sadly, let her know it already existed, so am prepared for some clever clogs to show me it is a theory that has been round for donkey's years). Post to your blog a detailed explanation of your theory. You may wish to give some real world examples of music videos you consider to be 'pheno-videos'.
TASK THREE
Based on the intial audience feedback you have received, decide on your coursework groups (6 groups max and, this time, no more than 2 to a group - it'll make it easier for you to get loads of marks using the way we're going to make you work come September, that's why) and decide which genre you are going to make a music video for. Then as INDIVIDUALS, choose between 2 - 5 tracks each and share them with your audience and get them to give you feedback on what songs they prefer and why (and, if they want, make suggestions about what they think should happen in a video for the song).
You must have BEGUN to gather this data by 3RD JULY, Again, no need to be posting about it, just so long as you are generating the data and have the research underway.
One way you can do it (in addition to any other ways, and one I srongly recommend) is to use the blogspot poll gadget and add a poll to your blog asking people to give you feedback on your porposed tracks. Post explaining how to do this is here. You should ALSO, therefore, be going on to EACH OTHERS' BLOGS and completing the poll for each class member.
(pause)
(breathe)
AND A COUPLE OF OPTIONAL INDEPENDENT EXTENSION TASKS ON TOP DUE WHENEVER YOU SO PLEASE (as long as it is by the 18th August):
1. Use your knowledge of Adorno and Goodwin create your own Adornoan theory of music VIDEO. Give it a (sensible) name, make it clear it is inspired by Adorno and Goodwin and make it clear that it is a recontextualisation of Adorno's theory (taking something relating to products 80 years in the past to make it relevant for today). Post to your blog a detailed outline of your theory, supporting each point you make with reference to at least one music video. USE A RANGE OF VIDEOS TO ILLUSTRATE YOUR PREMISES AND MAKE YOUR THEORY CONVINCING.
AND/OR
2. Use your knowledge of Barthes and Goodwin create your own theory of the PHENO-VIDEO. Make it clear it is a combination of Barthes and Goodwin (and, if you're feeling kind, a short credit to me in the final slide acknowledging the inital idea came from your erstwhile Media teacher would be loverly - have conducted extensive research and can't find ANYTHING using the term PHENO-VIDEO so I think it is completely original, but then a couple of years ago one of my class thought she'd invented the 'female gaze' and I had to, sadly, let her know it already existed, so am prepared for some clever clogs to show me it is a theory that has been round for donkey's years). Post to your blog a detailed explanation of your theory. You may wish to give some real world examples of music videos you consider to be 'pheno-videos'.
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
A New Literacy
Impact of the web on audiences - useful for thinking about web2.0, web 3.0 and web 4.0 for the A2 exam.
For those of you thinking about getting some background reading under your belts ready for the exam, have a look at the above link. We haven't started thinking about this yet at all, I'm just making sure that those of you minded to can do some initial reading on things which may be useful for the exam.
For those of you thinking about getting some background reading under your belts ready for the exam, have a look at the above link. We haven't started thinking about this yet at all, I'm just making sure that those of you minded to can do some initial reading on things which may be useful for the exam.
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Links between album artwork and video
One of the things you MUST ensure happens is that you create a direct link between the digipak and the music video. This doesn't, as we will see, have to be obvious (there will be some direct intertextual references, of course, but depending on your genre you may be operating in a state of 'differance' or subtle sign:signification using your active audience's intelligence to make the links).
NIRVANA - IN UTERO
Front cover
Back cover
CD design
Music video 1
Music video 2
SOUNDGARDEN - DOWN ON THE UPSIDE
Front cover
Back cover
Inside front cover
CD design
Music Video 1
Music Video 2
Music Video 3
Monday, 25 June 2012
Your FIRST one minute extract
PART UN
As a blog post (not an essay remember - keep it lively, inventive, original, and laden with technical terminology and expressed as formally as possible please!) DUE 5TH JULY you now need to take your first attempt at a one minute extract and evaluate how successful it was, consider what you have learnt and identify elements of this process which you might try to include / definitely won't be including in your coursework.
Your post should include consideration of the following areas using media terminology:
(If you did this as a PowerPoint, for example, this would be 15 - 30 slides or as a Prezi at least 15 sections).
PART DEUX - SUMMER HOLIDAY TASK #1
You now get to choose (completely free choice) a music video (if you have a preferred genre for your final coursework piece, or a likely genre, choose one that fits!) to recreate a one minute extract of it.
IN YOUR PROPOSED COURSEWORK GROUPS.
This time I want it as near perfect as possible. That means everything (within reason, no need for plastic surgery for example) must replicate as exactly as humanly possible the extract you are recreating. Everything. As close as possible. No fudging this time. The first attempt was a training exercise to get you thinking and using FCP quicker and identifying techniques you might want to use in your piece (every one had a specific genre element or interesting effect to it). This one is to be able to show a high level of technical competence.
You must produce and upload to your blog:
As a blog post (not an essay remember - keep it lively, inventive, original, and laden with technical terminology and expressed as formally as possible please!) DUE 5TH JULY you now need to take your first attempt at a one minute extract and evaluate how successful it was, consider what you have learnt and identify elements of this process which you might try to include / definitely won't be including in your coursework.
Your post should include consideration of the following areas using media terminology:
- Cinematography;
- Editing;
- Sound;
- Mise-en-scene;
- Lighting;
- Direction;
- Organisation of location(s);
- Organisation of cast;
- Organisation of props;
- What you found easy, based upon how you have developed as a Media student since AS;
- What skills / areas in general you think you need to improve on, based on your skills set developed at AS;
- What elements of this video you are now considering including in your own music video (if any) and why;
- What elements of this video do you think will not feature at all in your music video (if any) and why;
- Overall, evaluate how successful your first attempt at a one minute extract is and why;
- Overall, what are the five most important things you gained from this exercise.
(If you did this as a PowerPoint, for example, this would be 15 - 30 slides or as a Prezi at least 15 sections).
PART DEUX - SUMMER HOLIDAY TASK #1
You now get to choose (completely free choice) a music video (if you have a preferred genre for your final coursework piece, or a likely genre, choose one that fits!) to recreate a one minute extract of it.
IN YOUR PROPOSED COURSEWORK GROUPS.
This time I want it as near perfect as possible. That means everything (within reason, no need for plastic surgery for example) must replicate as exactly as humanly possible the extract you are recreating. Everything. As close as possible. No fudging this time. The first attempt was a training exercise to get you thinking and using FCP quicker and identifying techniques you might want to use in your piece (every one had a specific genre element or interesting effect to it). This one is to be able to show a high level of technical competence.
You must produce and upload to your blog:
- The footage itself;
- Behind the scenes footage of you preparing the shoot; and
- A director's commentary (either text or recorded sound) of the final extract, using the stems provided for the analysis of the first minute extract. This time add an extra question - how is this minute extract better than your first minute extract and why?
Extract edited together first week back after the summer.
THERE WILL BE MORE SUMMER HOLIDAY HOMEWORK TOO.
Useful examples of digipak ideas
What are the codes and conventions of a digipak?
- What are the features of a digipak?
- What information is included in a digipak? Where? Why?
- How is information is conveyed in a digipak?
- How is the artist presented? Why?
- Are there any intertextual links? Why?
- How is colour used effectively?
- How are written codes used effectively?
- How big are they?
- What materials are or could be used?
- What is the overall purpose of a digipak (other than to store a CD safely)?
Remember, I don't just share top band work with you. I will share a range of approaches and a range of levels of detail so you can identify what is succesful and why.
AND SOME LINKS
Examples of templates
Example of a blog post
Another example blog
Broken Records
Audience Engagement and Research Tool
You'll be wanting to use these as an extra way of generating data soon.
Saturday, 23 June 2012
Day Thirteen - Earthtone 9
EARTHTONE 9 STREET MAGIC -_IN WHICH SHIPPING CONTAINER HAVE THEY SECURED THE SEMI NAKED DANCING WOMEN?
You know what you're looking for by now. Get those tick lists ready...
YOU FOUND THEM! NO! KHAAAAAN!
What image of the band is trying to be created.
Friday, 22 June 2012
Cory Doctorow on the impact on the net
Article can be found here.
Useful pre-course reading on the impact of the internet on consumer / audience behaviour and sets up questions about the impact on institutions and the implications for the future.
Useful pre-course reading on the impact of the internet on consumer / audience behaviour and sets up questions about the impact on institutions and the implications for the future.
DAY TWELVE - Ben Folds
A VERITABLE HOOTENANNY
OBLIGATORY INDIE SWEATER
AT THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM TO THE SORT OF REACTION BROKENCYDE WOULD GO FOR...
Look at think how these are like what you'd expect from alternative music videos and how they differ.
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Guardian.everything
We obviously haven't started looking at the 'Media in the Online Age' question of the A2 exam as, well, it is a year away. But here is an interesting article. Read, independently. The more independent knowledge you can get about how the internet impacts on the main platforms the better your answer.
Rather than sending in a load of candidates who write the same thing, I like to send in candidates who write different things, because they've approached the course with intelligence and open-mindedness and developed the skills we're meant to be developing in you. Imagine you're an examiner who has read 60 answers near identical and then they get yours. Not a single one the same, not even close. You smile. You think 'someone's actually wanting to do this properly rather than filling them up to scrape the marks' and, lo and behold, the marks come flowing in. Or, if they don't, in rare cases this does happen, it is an accurate reflection of the grade you should have got.
Rather than sending in a load of candidates who write the same thing, I like to send in candidates who write different things, because they've approached the course with intelligence and open-mindedness and developed the skills we're meant to be developing in you. Imagine you're an examiner who has read 60 answers near identical and then they get yours. Not a single one the same, not even close. You smile. You think 'someone's actually wanting to do this properly rather than filling them up to scrape the marks' and, lo and behold, the marks come flowing in. Or, if they don't, in rare cases this does happen, it is an accurate reflection of the grade you should have got.
Monday, 18 June 2012
Thursday, 14 June 2012
What are the conventions of hip hop music videos?
To be posted to your blog IN DETAIL by TUESDAY 2ND JULY. You will get feedback on it and then get to improve it within a week of receiving feedback. Remember, I want you all on as close to 20/20 for R and P as humanly possible.
What are the conventions of hip hop music videos?
With reference to AT LEAST 6 different artists and, by the sheer irrefutable demands of the laws of maths, 6 different music videos.
FORM: NOT an essay. PowerPoint (not too text heavy, but succinct and clear text) or Prezi or Vlog post or a more traditional blogpost or video clips and still images edited together into a piece complete with text explaining. Hey, you could even chroma keyer in your head and make it float round the video as you talk if you want!
INCLUDE: Video, hyperlinks, images, tables if you wish...anything other than just page upon page of text. My blog posts aren't great, if you can't say 'my blog posts are way better than yours' to me, you need to look at what you can do to improve it. This blog post is not a good model.
TECHNICAL TERMINOLOGY - if there is a Media word for it, use it!
MAKE SURE YOU: explain everything clearly. Comment on what has been done and why as well as the effect of it. Maybe even how, depending on what you're thinking about.
THINGS TO CONSIDER / SUGGESTED SECTIONS
Use Goodwin to develop your answer, using the 6 elements he identified. This will give you an effective structure to your response.
1. The video will conform to the conventions of the genre.
This is the main one, this will be the one that really helps you answer the question in detail. There are loads of things to consider. The following bullet pointed list contains ideas. There may be more you want to do, but these will cover lots. These should form a detailed section each.
What are the conventions of hip hop music videos?
With reference to AT LEAST 6 different artists and, by the sheer irrefutable demands of the laws of maths, 6 different music videos.
FORM: NOT an essay. PowerPoint (not too text heavy, but succinct and clear text) or Prezi or Vlog post or a more traditional blogpost or video clips and still images edited together into a piece complete with text explaining. Hey, you could even chroma keyer in your head and make it float round the video as you talk if you want!
INCLUDE: Video, hyperlinks, images, tables if you wish...anything other than just page upon page of text. My blog posts aren't great, if you can't say 'my blog posts are way better than yours' to me, you need to look at what you can do to improve it. This blog post is not a good model.
TECHNICAL TERMINOLOGY - if there is a Media word for it, use it!
MAKE SURE YOU: explain everything clearly. Comment on what has been done and why as well as the effect of it. Maybe even how, depending on what you're thinking about.
THINGS TO CONSIDER / SUGGESTED SECTIONS
Use Goodwin to develop your answer, using the 6 elements he identified. This will give you an effective structure to your response.
1. The video will conform to the conventions of the genre.
This is the main one, this will be the one that really helps you answer the question in detail. There are loads of things to consider. The following bullet pointed list contains ideas. There may be more you want to do, but these will cover lots. These should form a detailed section each.
- Cinematography;
- Editing;
- Sound;
- Mise-en-scene;
- Representation (class and gender are probably the two main ones here, ethnicity seems like an obvious one too but you'll need to find a video with strong visual consideration of conflict/unity);
- What image or message is given to the audience about the artist? How and why?;
- What is included to appeal to the audience
- Ideology (what particular world view / social message / values are held to be important and how is this transmitted to the viewer? This is a chance for you to work in your understanding of Audience theory such as Hypodermics, active audience, mode of address, Morley's dominant, negotiated, oppositional readings etc).
2. There will be a link between the lyrics and the visuals. What, why and how? Lots of examples. The word iconography might be useful. Use the 'genre' label to assist you.
3. There will be a link between the music and the visuals. What, why and how? Lots of examples. Use the 'genre' label to assist you.
4. Close ups of the artist and close ups of key uses of iconography.
5. Use of reference to the act of looking and voyeurism of the female form.
6. Intertextual references. What, why and how have they been used? Lots of examples. The word iconography is going to be important. Use the 'genre' label to assist you.
Looks a lot of work? Good. It is. But if you put as much effort as you can into this you will find that the impending posts I'm going to get you doing will be much, much easier. I cannot stress how much I want to be able to send you off to the A2 exam sat on a big, fat 20/20 of R&P. Do it, do it, do it.
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Excuse me, I am interested in learning about how magnets operate...
FOR THURSDAY'S LESSON.
Just what are the conventions of a hip hop video?
Yes, there will be swearing, sexual references, probably some fire arms and a potentially deeply misogynistic over tone for lots. The daily music video post is going to be on a rather disturbing world view of an Australian group (EDIT: Alburquerquian) who profess to be hip hop (EDIT: interesting sub/hybrid genre of crunkcore) but are, perhaps unintentionally, more akin to a very low rent Screamo band with a deep-seated love for autotuned pop. It is deeply wrong...
Just what are the conventions of a hip hop video?
Yes, there will be swearing, sexual references, probably some fire arms and a potentially deeply misogynistic over tone for lots. The daily music video post is going to be on a rather disturbing world view of an Australian group (EDIT: Alburquerquian) who profess to be hip hop (EDIT: interesting sub/hybrid genre of crunkcore) but are, perhaps unintentionally, more akin to a very low rent Screamo band with a deep-seated love for autotuned pop. It is deeply wrong...
I Am The Least of Your Music Video Problems - Day 3
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/future-of-the-left-bring-the-noise-and-lights-20120612
The embed code off Rolling Stone is not one Blogspot likes, it seems. Sad face.
UPDATE: Interesting, it appears to have embedded. Didn't appear to have worked when I checked in the 'compose' tab. Apologies about size of video.
FURTHER UPDATE: Interesting that Walmart are sponsoring something advertised by Slash given their usual treatment of any artist that might not be considered completely pure or innocent.
This is 'I Am the Least of Your Problems' by Future of the Left. I hope to be getting the album for Fathers' Day, incidentally, oh dear wife who is looking over my shoulder as I type. You'll let my daughter know? That's great but we're not using her university account to fund my obsession, you'd better buy it for her to give to me.
The lyrics are here.
Far less wordy this time. This time it is just a 'things I like about it' post.
I LIKE...
Sideburns. We know this.
The use of the flashing light in the main character's eyeballs at the start.
Black and white. Not usually a massive fan, but works really well in this video to create the mood.
Strobe lights. I have asked to buy some for you for next year by the way.
The way the faces change in time with the strobing, especially Jack the drummer's unmasked/masked face. Really good.
Crazed smile at 1:30
Cutting between band members, matching the eye positions c.1:55
Julia throwing / punching / doing something aggressive at the camera c. 2:35
NOT KEEN ON...
The zoom into the eyeball to show going into his head...
The wide shots of the whole band performing c 0:53. It seems to undercut the pace of the piece, decreasing the intensity they've tried to create through everything else, whilst the one's at 1:24 seem to work fine.
The fact I recognise the actor in it and can't work out who he is.
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Blimey! Posting Rampage
When you come to design your digipaks and magazine advertising campaigns typography is going to be really important.
I clicked the 'next blog' button and, lo and behold, came across this. Some interesting ideas which might be worth having a look at.
I clicked the 'next blog' button and, lo and behold, came across this. Some interesting ideas which might be worth having a look at.
I Can't Stop Catching Them All
Thanks to HM for bringing this song to my attention.
and a behind the scenes look at the production
actually their YouTube channel has lots of good things about making videos, techniques to use, equipment...lots of really interesting ideas. Worth having a look. He is predominantly a photographer but there is still an awful lot that is interesting on this to do with moving image as well.
and a behind the scenes look at the production
actually their YouTube channel has lots of good things about making videos, techniques to use, equipment...lots of really interesting ideas. Worth having a look. He is predominantly a photographer but there is still an awful lot that is interesting on this to do with moving image as well.
Day Two of the Immense Music Video Sharing Exercise
Some thoughts...
Okay, two today (tempted by three because Future of the Left have a new single out featuring a video with heavy use of strobe lights but realise the FotL fanboyisms need to take a back seat for a while, but it will be posted about. Oh it will. UPDATE: three seem to have crept in as I ended up looking at 'Sweet Escape' by Gwen Stefani as well).
Above is a very low budget video for the band Grandaddy. Not a great video, but quite sweet. And makes me sad as they split up soon after having spent a couple of decades getting nowhere near as much acclaim as they deserved.
This next one is vastly more polished. 'The Yeah, Yeah, Yeah Song' by the Flaming Lips. For reference the lead singer is called Wayne Coyne.
Today we looked predominantly at iconography so it'd seem a very sensible thing to focus on. There'll also be a bit on ideology and context as, remember, the context in which a music video is read is vital and needs to be something you consider in your own music videos.
Iconography
This will not be an all encompassing analysis of everything. That'd turn in to several thousand words, so there may be lots of uses of iconography which are not commented on. Just going to post about a few of the things, otherwise it'll just snowball.
I suppose on of the things that needs considering is the oriental fetishism or, for a less overtly Marxist approach , as Said termed it, orientalism.
There's quite a few artists who have adopted in some way a strong visual use of oriental females. In Gwen Stefani's case it was a major piece of iconographic marketing as the Harajuku girls accompanied her everywhere (carrying with it uneasy connotations of colonialism, slavery, sexual fetishim and objectification). It terms of your thinkng of your digipaks and marketing campaigns it is a really useful case study which you might wish to look into and post about independently (hint hint). But, for a basic and brief account, the four girls appeared in her videos, were turned into perfume bottles and appeared in a raft of the promotional material for the album. So there was a strong link between the videos Stefani was producing, the album it was promoting, and the synergetic marketing which accompanied it. Wonder why she did that, eh?
Here, however, in the Flaming Lips' video, it is something far more mocking. Rather than an overt bout of objectification and exploitation, this video takes this representational trope and subverts it. Instead of being mindless objects of visual pleasure the three female characters are active agents in the demise of the oppressors (this'll be covered in more detail in the ideology and context section, though since it is one of the first main images we the viewer are presented with it felt a little lop-sided to not at least acknowledge its presence).
The three doors are also presented immediately and, in terms of both lighting and their actual appearance, thematically moded to suggest intertextual links to many a film or literary setting. Three industrial doors carry with them connotations of choice and imply some kind of salvation/destruction, for one example, the use in 'Alien' of airlocks. The list is actually probably as close to endless as hyperbole will allow before collapsing in on itself. Essentially we are psychologically prepared to consider doors as portals to uncertain futures when presented to us in terms of symbolism. And that is what we have here. When coupled with the fondling of tools this clearly establishes for the audience a further element of torture / twisted fate.
Communist iconography is also prevalent, with the bearskin hat reminiscent of Russian head gear post October Revolution and the images of Korean propaganda establishing the understanding of the artist as both powerful within the narrative but also in opposition to the society he inhabits in the real world. Coyne's distinct command gestures also create our understanding of his power as the protagonist (or antagonist, depending on your reading).
The setting, with high walls and barbed wire and filled with guards with truncheons and men restrained by ropes helps us further understand the power hierarchy in the narrative and, from there, using our contextual understanding, can begin to shape a reading of the text and our response to it.
The sticking of burgers to the businessman is also important. His face is rendered that of a pig, and therefore establishing the ideas of greed and filth, and also to replicate breasts and accentuate the groin - perhaps just crude scatology for the sake of humour, or perhaps a reference to the notion of the use of sexualisation to sell products. That all three victims in the three Acts are symbolically blinded could also show the victims have ignored the consequences of their actions and their fates are deserved. On an unrelated editing note I really liked how the stapling of the bacon to Coyne coincided with the stick clicks (or is it a rim shot?) of the drummer. Whilst the first two Acts occur within the confines of the dictator's stronghold, the dictator's fate is played out in the streets, with those who has used turning against him - a clear message for those in power.
Ideology
As an alternative band, the impression the artist will want to convey is one of nonconformity, outsiders or in opposition to societal norms. We've seen Wayne Coyne leading the implicit (but ultimately not) torture of the wealthy, privileged and/or corrupt (possibly a distinction which the band might not make themselves?)
As an alternative band it is likely, statistically likely, really strongly statistically likely, that the groups' political views will be more inclined to be left wing. Until they get to be really successful or are Keane. 'The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song' was released during the GW Bush administration and is, as you can probably acertain from the lyrics, a criticism of his foreign and domestic policy. As mentioned above the iconography of Communist dictatorships is redolent in the piece and shows the front man taking on the mantle of the opposition to Bush and the Republican right wing. As with the Harajuku girls subversion this isn't to be taken too literally, Coyne is not equating himself with or necessarily praising Kim Jong-Il, but using the imagery associated with Communist dictatorships to:
1) oppose the main focus of his ire;
2) lampoon all forms of abuse of power, of which Communist dictators are particularly adept; and
3) highlight the inability for the rhetorical question in the chorus to be honestly answered by anyone. We know how we'd all like to answer it, but can't say for definite. None of us can, truly. And that is why Coyne faces the same fate as all his enemies in the third Act of the video. It is a deeply moral music video, which is nice. Think too about the link between the visuals and the lyrics, it is "a very dangerous thing to do exactly what you want" and this is highlighted not only by the fates faced by the fat cat and the socialite archetypes, but also by anyone who fails to think of the ramifications of their actions and just acts as they please. To mess with Nietzsche's maxim, what doesn't kill you just makes you more convinced of your own immortality and, therefore, more prone to acts of hubris. I think Nietzsche forgot about Achilles in all honesty. But then there's his idea about the abyss staring into you when you stare into the abyss which suggests our capacity for intolerable cruelty to our fellows in perhaps innate. Grrr, that's the problem with Nietzsche, massive contrarian, you have to be really careful to work out when he's got his tongue in his philosophical cheek, when he's just being moody or when he's being serious. EDIT: and what was the product of mental illness brought about by syphillis. But anyway...
The band are clearly criticising the dominant Western hegemony, not just Bush. The Bush criticisms are implicit and dependent on contextual understanding (see later) but what are clearly attacked are capitalist society in the form of the businessman and celebrity culture / style over substance in the form of the 'It Really Isn't Paris Hilton' character. The tools used by Coyne to pursue these targets could be interpreted in two ways too.
The obsese might be criticised for greed (obviously stereotypical here, not everyone who is fat is greedy), but also the criticism may be on society for how it treats and controls the appetites of the obese (or everyone, ultimately) and members of society at large in a consumer society where the act of consumption can be used to undermine ones individuality. (Go and look back at Harry's presentation of Althusser, or Hannah's on Marcuse on their AS blogs). Oh and Veblen too. Don't forget Veblen.
The police are criticised for being lazy using the well-worn stereotype used in so many different texts of having an insatiable appetite for doughnuts, but their reaction to the doughnuts also highlights the power of the power of the state and that there is a thin line between the police being able to operate as an actual force of law and order and the police being an extension of the power of the state. Coyne's dictator used them to destroy his enemy and they become the arm of the state.
Context
Well, this is all so inextricably linked isn't it? Making the same point again and again though slightly different prisms.
This video was released during the Iraq war, the war of the '45 minutes to nuke the world claims' and my mates and I at uni taking it turns to phone up Richard and Judy during their Channel 4 afternoon show to accuse them of jingoism and getting Monsieur Madeley rather annoyed about one phone call we'd had with one of the production team (one of many, we absolutely bombarded them, the pair of apologists /rant) with the assertion that 'not supporting the war' wasn't, as they had said and accused one guest of, a synonym for 'wanting British soldiers to die' that he actually had a couple of minutes vent about how he thought anyone even questioning the validity of the war was not "supporting our troops" and should be ashamed of themselves and wanted to know what we'd say to the relatives of Britain's war dead (we weren't sure, but figured 'sorry for your loss' would be appropriate). So an audience, thinking about what you think of a stereotypical indie audience member to be like, would be well versed in the contemporary political debates of the time and know the issues surrounding the opposition to the invasion. This political stance will inevitably impact upon the reading of the text by an active audience. My reading of it is a dominant one, I do not oppose it nor do I feel the need to negotiate, it is one I am keen to whole heatedly accept. My reading is informed by my own contextual understanding and has had an impact on everything I have written about iconography and context. How about yours? Your understanding might be markedly different to mine. You may have taken an oppositional or negotiated stance to the reading of the text.
Have a good time, people.
Other things which have been making me think today: (i) why are the Ray Winstone bet-in-play adverts so annoying, (ii) does Kyriakos Papadopolous the Greek centre back look like 1980s kids TV character King Rolo, (iii) is the 'McDonalds' - proud provider of the official player escorts' tag line before the ITV matches really quite sinister in a remarkably startling number of ways and (iv) reckon Saints will buy Gebre Salassie?
Okay, two today (tempted by three because Future of the Left have a new single out featuring a video with heavy use of strobe lights but realise the FotL fanboyisms need to take a back seat for a while, but it will be posted about. Oh it will. UPDATE: three seem to have crept in as I ended up looking at 'Sweet Escape' by Gwen Stefani as well).
Above is a very low budget video for the band Grandaddy. Not a great video, but quite sweet. And makes me sad as they split up soon after having spent a couple of decades getting nowhere near as much acclaim as they deserved.
This next one is vastly more polished. 'The Yeah, Yeah, Yeah Song' by the Flaming Lips. For reference the lead singer is called Wayne Coyne.
Today we looked predominantly at iconography so it'd seem a very sensible thing to focus on. There'll also be a bit on ideology and context as, remember, the context in which a music video is read is vital and needs to be something you consider in your own music videos.
Iconography
This will not be an all encompassing analysis of everything. That'd turn in to several thousand words, so there may be lots of uses of iconography which are not commented on. Just going to post about a few of the things, otherwise it'll just snowball.
I suppose on of the things that needs considering is the oriental fetishism or, for a less overtly Marxist approach , as Said termed it, orientalism.
There's quite a few artists who have adopted in some way a strong visual use of oriental females. In Gwen Stefani's case it was a major piece of iconographic marketing as the Harajuku girls accompanied her everywhere (carrying with it uneasy connotations of colonialism, slavery, sexual fetishim and objectification). It terms of your thinkng of your digipaks and marketing campaigns it is a really useful case study which you might wish to look into and post about independently (hint hint). But, for a basic and brief account, the four girls appeared in her videos, were turned into perfume bottles and appeared in a raft of the promotional material for the album. So there was a strong link between the videos Stefani was producing, the album it was promoting, and the synergetic marketing which accompanied it. Wonder why she did that, eh?
Here, however, in the Flaming Lips' video, it is something far more mocking. Rather than an overt bout of objectification and exploitation, this video takes this representational trope and subverts it. Instead of being mindless objects of visual pleasure the three female characters are active agents in the demise of the oppressors (this'll be covered in more detail in the ideology and context section, though since it is one of the first main images we the viewer are presented with it felt a little lop-sided to not at least acknowledge its presence).
The three doors are also presented immediately and, in terms of both lighting and their actual appearance, thematically moded to suggest intertextual links to many a film or literary setting. Three industrial doors carry with them connotations of choice and imply some kind of salvation/destruction, for one example, the use in 'Alien' of airlocks. The list is actually probably as close to endless as hyperbole will allow before collapsing in on itself. Essentially we are psychologically prepared to consider doors as portals to uncertain futures when presented to us in terms of symbolism. And that is what we have here. When coupled with the fondling of tools this clearly establishes for the audience a further element of torture / twisted fate.
Communist iconography is also prevalent, with the bearskin hat reminiscent of Russian head gear post October Revolution and the images of Korean propaganda establishing the understanding of the artist as both powerful within the narrative but also in opposition to the society he inhabits in the real world. Coyne's distinct command gestures also create our understanding of his power as the protagonist (or antagonist, depending on your reading).
The setting, with high walls and barbed wire and filled with guards with truncheons and men restrained by ropes helps us further understand the power hierarchy in the narrative and, from there, using our contextual understanding, can begin to shape a reading of the text and our response to it.
The sticking of burgers to the businessman is also important. His face is rendered that of a pig, and therefore establishing the ideas of greed and filth, and also to replicate breasts and accentuate the groin - perhaps just crude scatology for the sake of humour, or perhaps a reference to the notion of the use of sexualisation to sell products. That all three victims in the three Acts are symbolically blinded could also show the victims have ignored the consequences of their actions and their fates are deserved. On an unrelated editing note I really liked how the stapling of the bacon to Coyne coincided with the stick clicks (or is it a rim shot?) of the drummer. Whilst the first two Acts occur within the confines of the dictator's stronghold, the dictator's fate is played out in the streets, with those who has used turning against him - a clear message for those in power.
Ideology
As an alternative band, the impression the artist will want to convey is one of nonconformity, outsiders or in opposition to societal norms. We've seen Wayne Coyne leading the implicit (but ultimately not) torture of the wealthy, privileged and/or corrupt (possibly a distinction which the band might not make themselves?)
As an alternative band it is likely, statistically likely, really strongly statistically likely, that the groups' political views will be more inclined to be left wing. Until they get to be really successful or are Keane. 'The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song' was released during the GW Bush administration and is, as you can probably acertain from the lyrics, a criticism of his foreign and domestic policy. As mentioned above the iconography of Communist dictatorships is redolent in the piece and shows the front man taking on the mantle of the opposition to Bush and the Republican right wing. As with the Harajuku girls subversion this isn't to be taken too literally, Coyne is not equating himself with or necessarily praising Kim Jong-Il, but using the imagery associated with Communist dictatorships to:
1) oppose the main focus of his ire;
2) lampoon all forms of abuse of power, of which Communist dictators are particularly adept; and
3) highlight the inability for the rhetorical question in the chorus to be honestly answered by anyone. We know how we'd all like to answer it, but can't say for definite. None of us can, truly. And that is why Coyne faces the same fate as all his enemies in the third Act of the video. It is a deeply moral music video, which is nice. Think too about the link between the visuals and the lyrics, it is "a very dangerous thing to do exactly what you want" and this is highlighted not only by the fates faced by the fat cat and the socialite archetypes, but also by anyone who fails to think of the ramifications of their actions and just acts as they please. To mess with Nietzsche's maxim, what doesn't kill you just makes you more convinced of your own immortality and, therefore, more prone to acts of hubris. I think Nietzsche forgot about Achilles in all honesty. But then there's his idea about the abyss staring into you when you stare into the abyss which suggests our capacity for intolerable cruelty to our fellows in perhaps innate. Grrr, that's the problem with Nietzsche, massive contrarian, you have to be really careful to work out when he's got his tongue in his philosophical cheek, when he's just being moody or when he's being serious. EDIT: and what was the product of mental illness brought about by syphillis. But anyway...
The band are clearly criticising the dominant Western hegemony, not just Bush. The Bush criticisms are implicit and dependent on contextual understanding (see later) but what are clearly attacked are capitalist society in the form of the businessman and celebrity culture / style over substance in the form of the 'It Really Isn't Paris Hilton' character. The tools used by Coyne to pursue these targets could be interpreted in two ways too.
The obsese might be criticised for greed (obviously stereotypical here, not everyone who is fat is greedy), but also the criticism may be on society for how it treats and controls the appetites of the obese (or everyone, ultimately) and members of society at large in a consumer society where the act of consumption can be used to undermine ones individuality. (Go and look back at Harry's presentation of Althusser, or Hannah's on Marcuse on their AS blogs). Oh and Veblen too. Don't forget Veblen.
The police are criticised for being lazy using the well-worn stereotype used in so many different texts of having an insatiable appetite for doughnuts, but their reaction to the doughnuts also highlights the power of the power of the state and that there is a thin line between the police being able to operate as an actual force of law and order and the police being an extension of the power of the state. Coyne's dictator used them to destroy his enemy and they become the arm of the state.
Context
Well, this is all so inextricably linked isn't it? Making the same point again and again though slightly different prisms.
This video was released during the Iraq war, the war of the '45 minutes to nuke the world claims' and my mates and I at uni taking it turns to phone up Richard and Judy during their Channel 4 afternoon show to accuse them of jingoism and getting Monsieur Madeley rather annoyed about one phone call we'd had with one of the production team (one of many, we absolutely bombarded them, the pair of apologists /rant) with the assertion that 'not supporting the war' wasn't, as they had said and accused one guest of, a synonym for 'wanting British soldiers to die' that he actually had a couple of minutes vent about how he thought anyone even questioning the validity of the war was not "supporting our troops" and should be ashamed of themselves and wanted to know what we'd say to the relatives of Britain's war dead (we weren't sure, but figured 'sorry for your loss' would be appropriate). So an audience, thinking about what you think of a stereotypical indie audience member to be like, would be well versed in the contemporary political debates of the time and know the issues surrounding the opposition to the invasion. This political stance will inevitably impact upon the reading of the text by an active audience. My reading of it is a dominant one, I do not oppose it nor do I feel the need to negotiate, it is one I am keen to whole heatedly accept. My reading is informed by my own contextual understanding and has had an impact on everything I have written about iconography and context. How about yours? Your understanding might be markedly different to mine. You may have taken an oppositional or negotiated stance to the reading of the text.
Have a good time, people.
Other things which have been making me think today: (i) why are the Ray Winstone bet-in-play adverts so annoying, (ii) does Kyriakos Papadopolous the Greek centre back look like 1980s kids TV character King Rolo, (iii) is the 'McDonalds' - proud provider of the official player escorts' tag line before the ITV matches really quite sinister in a remarkably startling number of ways and (iv) reckon Saints will buy Gebre Salassie?
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