Friday 15 July 2011

This week we looked at various equipment from the school range. I have had a couple problems with blogger but should be sorted soon when my settings get sorted out.

Monday 11 July 2011

Diary

I have been so excited to choose my music video.
I have written down loads of plans for it but I just need to get the right location and I will be done!
I have learnt alot about the norms of music videos and what are succesful styles.
I have learnt about how music video's all have a concept behind them and can relate to real life situations ect.

Thursday 7 July 2011

Ed Sheeran - The A Team

The colouring of the video A team straight away gives off the essence of class and trendiness, this is in contrast to the actual character in the video as she is in the low end of society. The lyrics also suggest that she is of an upper class as it says "They say shes in the class A team" this lyric has a dual meaning as she is a pretty woman and the city that is shown in is upper class, but she is a prostitute that takes A class drugs which relates to the phrase 'A team.'
Prostitution is the main theme highlighted within the video and the handheld camera recording the girl makes it seem as if the viewer is there which helps the audience understand what their life is like. The still camera watching the girl sell "Big Issue" on the street is shot in fast motion and is metaphorical for the world passing her by as she is still stuck on the street. The fact that the girl is selling "Big Issue" is very important for the audience as people always see these homeless on the street and essentially gives the reader an insight to the life behind the homeless.
There is a shot of her at Angel train station which is ironic as she is a beautiful girl but does sinful things to survive, at the same time she is looking at flowers on the street which are unnatainable. This explains how she is desperate to 'blossom' and be in the light, but her financial status doesnt allow her to do so as she has to resort to prostitution.
From a feminist point of view this video would create a bad image of men as it shows how mens sexual desire drives them to treat women as sexual objects. The artist on the other hand is the positive character and essentially puts him in a positive light as he sits down and comforts the woman. These shots of him talking to the girl and caring about her presents him as a positive person and wuold be seen as a good role model for young men.
Marxist theorists would be able to see this negative lifestyle and relate it to the girls economic state. I personally agree with the response a marxist would have which would be that no matter what somebodies financial status is, they should never have to result to self harm or in any sense or form put themselves at the hand of others.

Music Video Analysis


The music video Plan B – Mama is a narrative explaining the relationship that the artist’s mother is having with a man and she is being treated badly. When the husband is in the scenes the lighting is dark and the scene appears to be in greyscale portraying his character as negative.
The song involves a guitar and a drum which would really give off the impression that the song is of an Indie Genre. As the artist starts to rap and the drums turn into a Skippy beat we can quickly identify the hip hop genre and this is parallel to the song as the clothes that the artist wears are typical youth clothing. The beginning of the video suggests that men are more powerful than women, the actual position of the characters explain this as she is cooking and the man is in a vest on the table. The relaxed nature of the man with his back turned can denote how there is no equality in the relationship and explains the negative relationship. Other critics could denote hints of racism within the lyrics as he sings “Its so black and white” which is ironic as the couple are contrasting races which could suggest that these kind of multicultural relationships don’t work due to contrasting views. The quick cuts are metaphorical as they separate the scenes (couple) and emphasise the severity of the situation. These cuts go from the couple, then to the artist (child) and then back to the couple. This has been edited in a way that emphasises how the child is in-between the relationship and is slowly being pushed out as the man treats her badly.

Saturday 2 July 2011

The Streets - Blinded by the Lights



The music video "The Streets - Blinded by the Lights" starts off with a very common man from the east end getting ready for a party. The text shown to the camera is the establishing shot which shows that he is meant to meet the girl in the corner. 'The corner' straight away symbolises the rebellious nature of the two and essentially sets the mood.
The slow beats of the music are paralel to the slow cut aways which helps emphasise the intensity of the drugs and alcohol he has taken and gradually gets more intoxicated. The POV angle allows the audience to see the slow deterioration of his stability and this abstract view is adjacent to the abstract situation that he is in. These drugs essentially take him away from reality and makes him not care of what is really going on which is perceived as a good thing.
There can be a negative response from Feminist critics as women are perceived to be the antagonist which is paralel to the stereotype of the 1800's view on women as they were seen to be problematic. This form of short term pleasure is apparent in the narrative as women and drugs are seen to be pleasurable but lead to negative things.

Friday 1 July 2011

Issues Surrounding Representation

The way in which artists are represented can have some bad feedback with the public as it encourages young people to go down the path of crime and label women. This is usually in hip hop and urban music which sometimes is banned from appearing on some tv shows due to the bad lyrics.

Generic Elements of the Product

The way that the artists are seen is extremely important in a music video. The song can show how the artists are in person and explain the meaning behind the song.
Rap songs for example would usually go with the stereotypical nature of hip hop and would use materialistic items such as lots of money and nice cars and be shown in a wide shot ect to emhpasise the amount of items that they posess.

Research Audit

Artists Faisal, Jordon, Tom, Chloe, Kv, Drama crew, Luke, Alex, Laura, Little sister, Liam,  Dad, Zak, Meave, Me, Max T, Omar, rishi, Keval, Natalie Denton, Billy McCarthy, Mum.

Location – Camden Town, Gilgamesh, Trafalgar Square, Hatch end Car park (lights) Stanmore station. Essex, Amsterdam slight possibility, Braintree, My party on the 15th.

Equipment – Jordon’s camera, Faisals camera, School Camera (Canon/Nikon.)

Conventions Of The Product

A music video essentially an insight into the lyrics and portrays the artist in a certain way which puts them in a positive light. The majority of Music Video's contain a narrative or storyline which is paralel to the song and exposes the meaning behind the lyrics. The way in which the video is shot also resembles how the artists are shown, for example the camera angles could be POV style ect and can all resemble different things.