Week 2 - Reflective Blog post

This week we decided to start to work on our mash up of the song Thrift Shop my Macklemore. The class was split into groups of 3 and 4 and, each group was given a section of the song, spanning around 1 minute or so. When we were placed into our groups, our first task was to discuss what style of music video we should use for our music video. Our group decided to go for parody because we wanted to create something entertaining and comfortable for people to see. We believed that parody ticked those boxes and so came to decision to create a parody mash up of Thrift Shop. After this, we decided to create storyboards, so we knew exactly what we were doing in each specific scene. However, our group had some trouble communicating with each other, as there were some disagreements in our planning and choices. However, we managed to come to agreements and compromises and were able to productively film our scenes effectively.

Thrift Shop Mash Up Evaluation

Thrift Shop Mash Up Evaluation

Q1. What style did you choose and why? 

For our Thrift Shop mash up me and my group decided to choose a parody style for it. We thought that this would be the most entertaining and interesting, to come up with our own ideas and incorporate it into the music videos. Furthermore, a parody is rather easy to produce and film, due to the diverse and wide variety of methods we can use for the music videos. For example, me and my group came up with several ideas and ways for our mash up to be like, so we all combined our several ideas into one and went along with that.

Q2. What music video conventions did you incorporate?

The primary music video convention that we used for our mash up was the lyrics. Significant parts of the music video was us lip synching (attempting) to the song. This is because by lip synching it would seem more realistic to the audience watching our video, that we put in a lot of effort and time into it, to make it the best that we could have possibly made it. We also included a fast tempo into our music video because the tempo of the original music video was fast so we wanted to include this fast-like tempo into our music video. Changing too much of the style and conventions of the original music video wouldn't make the best parody, so that's why we didn't want to change too many conventions and things of the original.

Q3. Will you use these styles and conventions in your final production in Y13? Why? Why not?

I believe that I will use these styles and conventions in my final production in Year 13 because I find the parody style the most appealing and attractive to me to produce. I enjoy watching and seeing how they are produced, so the idea of myself producing another parody style next year is very likely. The same goes with the conventions of lyrics and tempo. Lip synching and lyrics become an important role in music videos and their appeal to the audience, so I want to make them priorities in producing my final production in year 13.

Q4. What problems did you face from pre to post-production?

The problems we faced from pre production to post production of our mash up is that there was a lack of communication at times. For example, when deciding to film certain scenes, there wasn't much preparation being done for to, so when filming the scenes there was some arguments and disputes of how to film the scenes. This lead to a lot of time being wasted as, we took a long time making sure all the scenes were filmed in a way where everyone was satisfied. In addition to this, another problem we faced when filming was that we found it rather hard to get the lip synching of the song perfectly, as either we were off the tempo or the lip synching didn't look like it fit to the lyrics. In Post production, the editing and making sure that everything was in the correct place was rather difficult. We had to make sure everything was in sync to what we had planned for.

Q5. What elements did you feel were successful?

The elements that I felt were successful was that we produced a music video that was clear enough to be called a parody. We filmed scenes that went along with the lyrics and added original, entertaining and funny scenes. Also I felt that some of the lip synching was successful, even though it may not have been of a high enough quality to the audience's wants.

Dyer's Star Theory

Stars as Embodiments

Stars as Constructions

Stars as Products

Big companies who sponsor/own very renowned and famous artists know that there is another way of producing a lot of revenue, apart from music. Companies can use merchandise and goods to make a significant amount of revenue. This especially applies if the artist is very famous, as fans of the artist would want to buy things that make them stand out - people will know that they like the specific artist dearly. An example of this is, Justin Bieber. He is one of or the most famous artists in the world right now. He has released many products for his massive fan base, (dominated by females). Examples include his own perfume/fragrance products, clothes and accessories.

Stars as Ideologies

There are certain artists/singers who represent a certain group or class so they can easily get their support. Since the artists represents that one group/class, many fans will get inspiration, support and follow them.

Week 1 - Reflective Blog post

This week we decided to start our A2 coursework, so by the time we come back to school in September we will be ahead of schedule. We started off by studying a couple of theories, styles and conventions for music videos. Styles included: performance, interpretative, narrative, surreal, parody and animation. This massively helped us, as we were able to get an image of how music videos are created, for specific target audiences and use them as inspiration when creating my own music video, later in the year.

Representation of Theories

'The Male Gaze': Pretty Girls - Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea

This music video is an example of Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze'. The song is talking about how girls are pretty and can do whatever they want. This is conveyed through not only the overzealous music video but the lyrics show this: "All around the world, pretty girls wipe the floor with all the boys pour the drinks, bring the noise! We're just so pretty!" The video has many close up shots of the girls wearing rather revealing clothes, as they are showing their legs and bodies. This is for males to gave upon them as sexual objects for their pleasure. They are also shown seductively dancing with many strongly built up men who are wearing vests or are topless. This a stereotype for blonde girls as they are normally seen as unintelligent who are only known for their good looks and their flirtatious behaviour with men.

'Reception' Theory': Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus

This music video has caused major controversy of the image and reputation of Miley Cyrus. She is seen in the music video as naked on a wrecking ball, swinging around. Perhaps the reception theory comes into play, as if the producers of this music video wanted the audience of Miley Cyrus to forget about her past self of her stage name and act: "Hannah Montannah". They want to show the true Miley Cyrus and who she actually is and wants to be. People may decide to agree with this in a dominant side, as they respect her decision and confidence to do this. However people may not agree with this belief and totally oppose it, they are oppositional. They will think that what she is doing in the music video is completely unethical, disgusting and not what young children should be watching. Finally some people may be in the middle of dominant and oppositional - negotiated. This is where they agree or/and disagree with some elements of the video or is just disinterested in the music video.

'Voyeruism' Theory: California Gurls - Katy Perry ft Snoop Dog

The girls in this music video are represented as rather outgoing and confident. They are wearing "clothes" made out of sweets and treats and are there to be voyeured by men, attracting popularity and views. Furthermore, Katy Perry is naked, to which men are going to get further satisfaction and pleasure from voyeuring her. The girls areshown to be slutty and showing too much skin, to which in this society and age right now is what they stereotpyically assumed to be like now.

'Ways of Seeing' Theory: Linkin Park - Crawling

This music video of Crawling by Linkin Park shows a woman who is suffering from an abusive domestic relationship. She constantly looks in the mirror to reflect on actions of what she can do to overcome this horrible treatment she is receiving from her partner. The woman is represented as someone who needs to express their feelings to people who care about her. People may interpret it like this easier than others myabe due to past experiences or history in their lives. Eventually she is able to fortunetly stay strong enough and get over this hurdle in her life to be free from domestic violence and unhappiness. 

All around the world, pretty girlsAll around the world, pretty girlsAll around the world, pretty girls
Wipe the floor with all the boys
Pour the drinks, bring the noise
(It's Iggy-Iggs!)
We're just so pretty!All around the world, pretty girls
Wipe the floor with all the boys
Pour the drinks, bring the noise
(It's Iggy-Iggs!)
We're just so pretty!
All around the world, pretty girls
Wipe the floor with all the boys
Pour the drinks, bring the noise
(It's Iggy-Iggs!)
We're just so pretty!
All around the world, pretty girls
Wipe the floor with all the boys
Pour the drinks, bring the noise
(It's Iggy-Iggs!)
We're just so pretty!

Parody and Cameo

Parody




This video is an example of a parody: an imitation of the style and methods of a paticular artist in this instance/genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effects. It is the parody of Not Afraid by Eminem. The artist here will get benefits of becoming more popular than before; the audience will find the video humorous and entertaining. This consequently, makes the artist more well known and receieve recognition. The artist is also able to portray their creative and imaginitve side to them, in order to produce a humorous video that mimics the music, lyrics and overall style of the original song. It will appeal to the audience because they will find the music video parody hilarious and enjoy the puns and jokes implemented in it. The audience will also get inspirations from the parody to perhaps produce parody's of different songs that they may wish to make.

Cameo

This music video of Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar has many cameos of many famous actors and artists. They can be seen during various parts of the music video in where they are given a stage name. The short cameos of each of the artists/actors will appeal to the original artist: Taylor Swift because she is seen working with many recognisable people, boosting her recognition and popularity. She will also enjoy making the video of cameos of these celebrities as the music video is very imaginitive and creative. The audience will enjoy the music video, including many cameos of famous celebrities and how they collaborated together to produce this music video.

Styles and Conventions of Music Videos

      Styles and Conventions of Music Videos

Narrative 

In this music video there is a story about how Eminem and Dr Dre first met and how their encounter led to the worldwide succession of Eminem. Eminem is desperately trying to convey the message that it was Dr Dre who gave Eminem a chance at the rap/music industry and desperate for him to come back in it (the industry). This is obvious through the lyrics: "Get up Dre I'm dyin', I need you, come back for fuck's sakes!" This is able to benefit the artist as the target audience will be able to see how Eminem deeply feels and his expression of love for Dr Dre, improving his popularity and reputation. Furthermore, it is a rather creative music video, which will be able to appeal and attract the audience, as they want to continue to see what happens at the end. It also gives a moral of story to the audience about celebrity life, as daily life as a celebrity can be difficult to live with, more than people stereotypically expect - easy and laid back. 

Animation

This music video is an animated one produced by games company Riot Games along with Imagine Dragons, for the 2014 League of Legends World Championships. This is also intertextual as the song makes clear references to the game through its lyrics. The game can also be seen being played by the characters. By creating an animated music video the institution, Riot Games were able to save a lot of money as they didn't need to hire any actors, locations and more things that require a substantial amount of finance. In addition to that, the creativity and imagination of the music video is limitless unlike a real/realistic one, as the people in the music video are flying around the air and space without any trouble. This also benefits to the audience as they will be thoroughly engaged to well edited and fast paced video, which will really appeal to them. People will also appreciate the time, effort and creativity that's included in the music video, as the CG effects with the layers of animation look really well made and produced.

Performance

This music video is a perfect example of a performance type because the whole video just consists of Linkin Park performing in front of a live audience. This really benefits the band as the target audience will be able to see the pure excitement and craziness of the live event, meaning that more people will want to go to their live concerts. This is typical as the genre of the song is rock and  a performance type of  music video is common in this genre. The camerawork has many shots of the excited audience, leading to the representation that the band really care about their fans and viewers. This will lead to them gaining increased reputation of interacting with the audience to a deeper level, unlike many other artists. 

Conceptual

This video is neither performance or narrative based, which means it is actually conceptual. The video goes with the tempo of the song, as when the tempo is increased the band in the music videos spin proportionally to this. This is rather beneficial to the band (Two Door Cinema Club) as they are able to be separated from the mainstream and common videos usually found in the music industry, in other words they will stand out from the crowd. People will also want to discuss the music video after watching it more, as they want to know what the music video is about - leading to an increase in popularity. The rather mysterious and eccentric music video will able to impact the audience as it will be memorable. Also, the conceptual music video will allow escapism for the target audience to happen, drawing in more viewers.

Interpretative

This music video by Katy Perry is interpretative because the lyrics of the song match the images shown in the music video itself. The lyrics are made out of cakes and sweets which is really linking to the song: Birthday. This is beneficial to the artist if they are less imaginative and creative, so they will want to create something much simpler. The production of the music video is an easier process as it is really linear. The editing of the video is really attractive and bold, as the colours and images used with and on the lyrics are attractive and bright. Also, the camera movement is rather mellow and slow, further emphasising the joyful and happiness feeling the song has for the audience.

 Surrealism

This music video by The Cranberries - The Zombies has many juxtapositions  and surrealist techniques implemented in this music video. It has a very dark and abstract and there is no clear meaning within the song or video. From this, the artist is able to portray their creativity and imagination to the audience by having a really eccentric and different music video. The artist's popularity will also increase as people will want to know the meaning behind the music video and therefore will discuss it more and more with other people. The target audience will also be appealed to the difference, editing and originality the music video has compared to other mainstream videos.