Sunday, 29 September 2013
Pitch Focus Group and Evaluation
Evaluation
From the focus group I gained a lot of positive feedback and constructive criticism to motivate, inspire and improve my idea for the production of my music video.
My peers said I had a good idea and they liked the song I selected. More specifically they liked that I wanted to cut between the artist chilling out with her friends and the artist with her boyfriend or on the phone to him. Another one of my peers said that it's good me casting the artists friends of various ethnicity's it allows for wider relation in the audience. One of my peers mentioned that they liked the dance element in my idea because she thought it was conventional of a music video within the genre of soul. Another peer said that it's good that I am incorporating the artist singing in the music video rather than have someone just singing over a scene. Another strength that was stated is the use of more than one location.
A suggested improvement or potential development of my idea was to have my artist just singing with a mic against a plain background with camera movements - in particular panning from left to right because it is conventional of the soul genre to allow all of the focus to go on the artist due to the basic background. Also
to improve the performance element in my idea a peer suggested that I have the artist singing on a stage in a glamorous outfit with the back-up dancers behind her rather than in a nice park performing. They also said that by improving my idea in this way it will help to develop and showcase the classy representation of the artist.
After gaining this feedback I have decide to alter my idea and instead of having my artist perform in a park, I will have her either performing in front of a plain background with a mic or on a stage.
Blog Reflection - Week 4
Lesson 1: In this lesson my partner and I produced a questionnaire using Survey Monkey, including a series of ten questions in an attempt to learn more about the target audience of our artist - Kim King. I then created an audience profile. This contained information about what a typical audience member would be like(http://www.blogger.com/blogger.gblogID=78077553130801058#editor/target=post;postID=5674079126151335342;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=16;src=postname).
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Lesson 2: As a class we learnt about the conventions of magazine adverts, including; pack-shots, main image/focal point, action line, reviews etc. We looked at various magazine adverts and answered the questions; what is being advertised? Who is the advert targeting? What stereotype is being used? And what message does this give to the audience?
One of the magazine adverts we studied was Britney Spear's advertising her perfume 'Believe'. The advert is targeting females ageing from 16-30 because the artist herself is young, connoting that the perfume is better suited to females that are within this age range. The advert has signified that the fragrance is sweet due to Britney Spear's innocent facial expression and it is likely to attract the attention of young men also within this age range. The stereotype of young, white, blonde haired females being beautiful and seductive is being displayed in this advert. This is evident because Britney Spears is very attractive as she looks naturally pretty and she is being portrayed as seductive due to the lack of clothing, the positioning of her hand on her face and her eyes piercing the camera. This gives the audience the message that this sweet perfume may perhaps have a seducing effect on the opposite sex.
Lesson 3: Whilst my partner learnt more about the conventions of a digipak, I started an analysis of some magazine adverts.
Lesson 4: In this lesson we watched three music videos, a performance, narrative and conceptual video.
We also looked at the music video to Rihanna's song 'Pour It Up' and discussed what it signified as a class.
As a class we decided that this Music video subverts the typical representation of women because Rihanna is represented as a domineering female that is in control as opposed to the typical representation of women being weak and defenseless. This video connotes that having money is power and Rihanna clearly has lots of it as she is throwing it around, also connoting that she doesn't need a man to provide for her she can do that all by herself.
Lesson 2: As a class we learnt about the conventions of magazine adverts, including; pack-shots, main image/focal point, action line, reviews etc. We looked at various magazine adverts and answered the questions; what is being advertised? Who is the advert targeting? What stereotype is being used? And what message does this give to the audience?
Lesson 3: Whilst my partner learnt more about the conventions of a digipak, I started an analysis of some magazine adverts.
Lesson 4: In this lesson we watched three music videos, a performance, narrative and conceptual video.
- Performance: Jay z & Kanye West - Ni**as in Paris
- Narrative: Frank Ocean - Thinking About You
- Conceptual: Massive Attack - Teardrop
We also looked at the music video to Rihanna's song 'Pour It Up' and discussed what it signified as a class.
As a class we decided that this Music video subverts the typical representation of women because Rihanna is represented as a domineering female that is in control as opposed to the typical representation of women being weak and defenseless. This video connotes that having money is power and Rihanna clearly has lots of it as she is throwing it around, also connoting that she doesn't need a man to provide for her she can do that all by herself.
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Sunday, 22 September 2013
Blog Reflection - Week 3
Lesson 1 & 2: These lessons were spent presenting our music video pitches to our class and then holding a focus group to gather feedback from our peers about our ideas. To view my music video pitch and focus group, click on the following links: http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/my-music-video-pitch.html & http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/pitch-focus-group-and-evaluation.html.
Lesson 3: In this lesson I created a blog post evaluating the feedback I gained from the focus group - http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/pitch-focus-group-and-evaluation.html.
Lesson 4: In the final lesson of this week my partner and I created a PowerPoint of job allocations (http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/job-allocations.html), labeling all of the tasks that need to be done in each of the three stages of production for our music video. We designated who would do each task to allow us to organize our time to the best of our ability and make sure that all of the tasks are completed effectively.
Lesson 3: In this lesson I created a blog post evaluating the feedback I gained from the focus group - http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/pitch-focus-group-and-evaluation.html.
Lesson 4: In the final lesson of this week my partner and I created a PowerPoint of job allocations (http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/job-allocations.html), labeling all of the tasks that need to be done in each of the three stages of production for our music video. We designated who would do each task to allow us to organize our time to the best of our ability and make sure that all of the tasks are completed effectively.
Friday, 20 September 2013
Beachcombing
Keyshia Cole - Heaven Sent
This is a great, soothing song by Keyshia Cole and I enjoy it even more when watching the music video as it matches the lyrics and the feel of the song perfectly. A female audience ageing from 16-40 is targeted by this music video through the costume, narrative, style and conventions.
A female audience with ages ranging from 16-40 is targeted through the costume. Keyshia Cole wears long, brightly coloured dresses throughout the music video. The length of the dresses really appeals to this target audience as they are in fashion and are most commonly worn by this age group, more specifically by the older women in the age range as they like to keep their modesty. Therefore females aged from 16-40 can personally identify themselves with Keyshia Cole as they have something in common and will therefore most likely enjoy the music video more. The bright coloured dresses appeals also to this age range, in particular the younger females in the audience as they like to wear bold colours like yellow and pink as they are very pretty and girly. The colours of the dresses also suit the song and the song title because yellow and pink are very innocent colours and reflect a heavenly feel on the audience.
The narrative targets this female audience of 16-40 year olds also as it is about women that cant help who they love and want their love to think that they are 'sent from heaven'. This narrative targets women of these ages as they tend to be in romantic relationships from the age of 16 until the age of 40, therefore they can personally relate to what Keyshia Cole is singing about. The narrative is reflected in the music video as the sole focus is on heaven. The locations used in the music video are very natural, earthly and beautiful locations connoting what heaven looks like and that God's creation is perfect.
A performance style has been used as we see Keyshia Cole throughout the whole music video singing in a heavenly atmosphere. This is to emphasise the heavenly locations used including; beaches and waterfalls and her presence in front of them to show that she can be a piece of heaven for her love. This is to show the target audience that they too can be heavenly for their man.
The audience is also targeted through the camera conventions as we see a lot of long shots and close-ups which are typical in music videos. Especially the use of close-ups to show Keyshia Cole's passion and love for her man as we see her lip syncing the lyrics. There is also a lot of camera movement rather than cuts to follow Keyshia Cole and to track over the sea and the beautiful islands etc. In addition to this there are a lot of dissolves used to show Keyshia Cole's face over the beautiful scenery to show the audience that she is a part of this heaven, literally.
The mise-en-scene in this music video gave me a lot of inspiration for my music video, as it was constructed very well and all of the elements in the mise-en-scene lead to deeper connotations about the preferred reading of the song. Proving that the music video was well thought of and planned in pre-production, therefore I need to make sure that when I am producing my music video it must be planned to the best possible standard.
The Isley Brothers - Busted ft. JS
This is one of my favorite music videos as it tells a good story. I feel that this targets an audience of both genders of the ages 20-35 and this is done through the costume, narrative, style and conventions.
This audience is targeted through the costume because the way the females are dressed in this music video is very modern, slightly provocative and youthful. This allows an audience of 20-35 year olds to perhaps personally identify with their costumes. However, the men in this video dress more sophisticated in suits and ties connoting that they may be of an older more mature age which appeals to a more mature audience.
The narrative in this music video is that a man's girlfriend has been cheating on him with another man. After returning late home one day her boyfriend starts questioning her of her where abouts and she doesn't stick to one story as he had called her friends the ones that she had claimed to be out with. Realizing that she has been lying and is cheating on him, he kicks her out and calls her a taxi to leave the house. This narrative can relate to this target audience of both genders that are 20-35 years old as they may be able to personally relate to the situation as they may have cheated on someone in a relationship or may have even been cheated on.
This music video is a narrative performance. This style has been used so that a story could be told in the music video whilst the artists are singing it, to allow the target audience to really understand the situation and empathize with the man who is being cheated on as we can see and hear his anger.
The conventions demonstrated in this music video are plenty of long shots, to show the artists body language, so that the audience can see their emotion. In this music video in particular there are lots of conventions suiting the R&B/Hip-hop genre, including; mansions, expensive cars, jewelry, designer bags, etc.
I love the narrative performance element in this music video as it helped to highlight the themes of the song. This inspired me because I want to use an artists song that fits into a similar genre as this one (R&B/Soul), so after seeing this music video it has made me consider using a narrative performance styled music video as it is very interesting and entertaining.
Floetry - Floetic
This song is by a female vocal group called 'Floetry', their music video for the song 'Floetic' is very interesting as it involves some animation, some that is relevant to the song and some that is irrelevant. An audience is targeted in the music video through the costume, narrative, style and conventions.
The costumes that the artists are wearing lead me to believe that an audience of both genders with ages ranging from 30-50 are being targeted because the clothing being worn by the artists protects their modesty and they are dressing very age appropriate as they too are within that age range, so little skin in being displayed. Therefore an audience interested in this R&B/Soul genre music would perhaps personally identify with the artists through their costume.
There is little narrative in this music video as it is full of random action from people on the street and some performance from the artists themselves. By filming what seems to be everyday people dancing on the streets of America, an American audience is targeted of both genders between or of the ages 30-50 years old. This will uplift the hearts of the target audience as they will still feel young and vibrant. The action of all of these people dancing together connotes a strong sense of unity between people of different ethnicity's, cultures and faiths. This is connotes a representation of America and London today as the artists state that they are from London when giving a postcode, so they are trying to signify equality.
The Style used in this music video is performance along with some animation.This targets an audience as they are entertaining them through the performance element of the music video to engage the audience as they'll feel like they are singing directly to them through their screens. The animated elements within the music video also provide great elements of entertainment for the target audience as it expresses creativity and uniqueness to separate this specific music video from other mainstream videos within the industry today.
There are a lot of typical music video conventions used, especially within the camera language. There are a lot of close-ups used when the artists are singing, this is to highlight their passion for the song and the lyrics that they are trying to convey to the audience as we see them closing their eyes whilst singing at times. There is also a lot of camera movement, more specifically a lot of pans when showing the other people in the music video standing on the street.
This music video has inspired me as it is unusual for a song of this R&b/Soul genre to use animation, but they have and it looks creative not tacky. Therefore, it has opened my eyes to more potential ideas for my music video which will be of a similar genre because I know that there are no limitations as to what styles can be used in a music video of this genre now.
Aaliyah - One In A Million
This is one of my favorite old songs, by Aaliyah. An audience that are particularly interested in the listed themes; love, romance, partnership, dancing and acting are being targeted through the costume, narrative, style and conventions of the music video.
Throughout the majority of the music video Aaliyah wears crop tops, this hints a theme of romance as the outfits are quite provocative as they reveal a lot of skin, targeting an audience with the interest of romance through the artists costume.
No narrative is really being shown in the music video as the selected style of it avoids revealing a narrative. However, a man does feature in the music video whom the artist dances with suggesting that he is the man she is singing about who's love is a 'one in a million'. This targets an audience with the interests of love, romance, partnership and dancing as we see the pair dancing closely together proving all of these themes existence. Therefore the audience may be able to personally identify with this music video because of the portrayal of these themes.
The style of this music video is performance, but not wholly as it is mixed with elements of dance and acting to signify the main theme 'love' in the song. An audience is targeted through the dancing and acting in the music video as the audience will enjoy it for both entertainment and personal identification purposes. As they will like watching the artist and her partner dancing and they may in fact identify with the dancing because they themselves are dancers or just dance as a hobby.
The conventions of music videos are clearly evident in this music video as we see a lot of camera movement, from tracks to pans. One example of a track used in this video is when it tracks Aaliyah whist she is singing from her legs to head. A lot of close-ups are also used of her face and body whilst she is dancing and standing making small movements performing. The music video includes a lot of transitions in the editing, especially dissolves, which are very common in music videos. For example from 3:17-3:43 there are lots of dissolves from one shot of Aaliyah to another.
This music video has inspired me as the editing is very good as it has been thought of and mapped out really well. A lot of the conventions of a music video within the editing field have been used which make it well structured.
Lauryn Hill ft Bob Marley - Turn Your Lights Down Low
I love this music video because it is very culturally relevant, although it narrows down the target audience, coming from a Caribbean background I enjoy it a lot. A black, Caribbean audience is targeted in this music video through the costume, narrative, style and conventions.
The costume in this music video targets a black, Caribbean audience as the people in it are wearing very bright, bold colours that are representative of the Caribbean islands like; Jamaica, St.Lucia, Barbados etc. These colours are also representative of the Caribbean islands as they connote summer and in these tropical countries the weather is typically always hot even if its raining and the sun is shining for the majority of the time.
There is some narrative in this music video as we see a man take Lauryn Hill out, they seem like they like each other and as they're riding on a motorbike the song sings 'I want to give you some good, good loving', connoting that they are lovers or soon to be lovers. This targets a black Caribbean audience as the pair are black and seem to be riding through a Caribbean island, therefore it is likely that black, Caribbean's will be able to relate to the narrative and song better.
This music video is styled so that there is a lot of narrative showing along with some performance from the artist/s. This is to portray a story to the audience, or the message intended in the song or even to reveal what the song is exactly about. In this music video, the narrative targets young, black Caribbean lovers as that seems to be the main theme in the narrative - sex but in a romantic relationship as it is sung about subtly and respectfully.
The conventions of a music video are used in this one as there is a lot of camera movement, more specifically pans from left to right into the next shot. There are also a lot of long shots to show the people featuring in the music video and the mise-en-scene to really develop a feel for the Caribbean within the audience.
This music video has inspired my ideas for my video as it puts a lot of emphasis on the mise-en-scene, which really helps audience members to understand the song better in a narrative styled music video.
This is a great, soothing song by Keyshia Cole and I enjoy it even more when watching the music video as it matches the lyrics and the feel of the song perfectly. A female audience ageing from 16-40 is targeted by this music video through the costume, narrative, style and conventions.
A female audience with ages ranging from 16-40 is targeted through the costume. Keyshia Cole wears long, brightly coloured dresses throughout the music video. The length of the dresses really appeals to this target audience as they are in fashion and are most commonly worn by this age group, more specifically by the older women in the age range as they like to keep their modesty. Therefore females aged from 16-40 can personally identify themselves with Keyshia Cole as they have something in common and will therefore most likely enjoy the music video more. The bright coloured dresses appeals also to this age range, in particular the younger females in the audience as they like to wear bold colours like yellow and pink as they are very pretty and girly. The colours of the dresses also suit the song and the song title because yellow and pink are very innocent colours and reflect a heavenly feel on the audience.
A performance style has been used as we see Keyshia Cole throughout the whole music video singing in a heavenly atmosphere. This is to emphasise the heavenly locations used including; beaches and waterfalls and her presence in front of them to show that she can be a piece of heaven for her love. This is to show the target audience that they too can be heavenly for their man.
The audience is also targeted through the camera conventions as we see a lot of long shots and close-ups which are typical in music videos. Especially the use of close-ups to show Keyshia Cole's passion and love for her man as we see her lip syncing the lyrics. There is also a lot of camera movement rather than cuts to follow Keyshia Cole and to track over the sea and the beautiful islands etc. In addition to this there are a lot of dissolves used to show Keyshia Cole's face over the beautiful scenery to show the audience that she is a part of this heaven, literally.The mise-en-scene in this music video gave me a lot of inspiration for my music video, as it was constructed very well and all of the elements in the mise-en-scene lead to deeper connotations about the preferred reading of the song. Proving that the music video was well thought of and planned in pre-production, therefore I need to make sure that when I am producing my music video it must be planned to the best possible standard.
The Isley Brothers - Busted ft. JS
This is one of my favorite music videos as it tells a good story. I feel that this targets an audience of both genders of the ages 20-35 and this is done through the costume, narrative, style and conventions.
This audience is targeted through the costume because the way the females are dressed in this music video is very modern, slightly provocative and youthful. This allows an audience of 20-35 year olds to perhaps personally identify with their costumes. However, the men in this video dress more sophisticated in suits and ties connoting that they may be of an older more mature age which appeals to a more mature audience.
The narrative in this music video is that a man's girlfriend has been cheating on him with another man. After returning late home one day her boyfriend starts questioning her of her where abouts and she doesn't stick to one story as he had called her friends the ones that she had claimed to be out with. Realizing that she has been lying and is cheating on him, he kicks her out and calls her a taxi to leave the house. This narrative can relate to this target audience of both genders that are 20-35 years old as they may be able to personally relate to the situation as they may have cheated on someone in a relationship or may have even been cheated on.
The conventions demonstrated in this music video are plenty of long shots, to show the artists body language, so that the audience can see their emotion. In this music video in particular there are lots of conventions suiting the R&B/Hip-hop genre, including; mansions, expensive cars, jewelry, designer bags, etc.
I love the narrative performance element in this music video as it helped to highlight the themes of the song. This inspired me because I want to use an artists song that fits into a similar genre as this one (R&B/Soul), so after seeing this music video it has made me consider using a narrative performance styled music video as it is very interesting and entertaining.
Floetry - Floetic
This song is by a female vocal group called 'Floetry', their music video for the song 'Floetic' is very interesting as it involves some animation, some that is relevant to the song and some that is irrelevant. An audience is targeted in the music video through the costume, narrative, style and conventions.
The costumes that the artists are wearing lead me to believe that an audience of both genders with ages ranging from 30-50 are being targeted because the clothing being worn by the artists protects their modesty and they are dressing very age appropriate as they too are within that age range, so little skin in being displayed. Therefore an audience interested in this R&B/Soul genre music would perhaps personally identify with the artists through their costume.
There is little narrative in this music video as it is full of random action from people on the street and some performance from the artists themselves. By filming what seems to be everyday people dancing on the streets of America, an American audience is targeted of both genders between or of the ages 30-50 years old. This will uplift the hearts of the target audience as they will still feel young and vibrant. The action of all of these people dancing together connotes a strong sense of unity between people of different ethnicity's, cultures and faiths. This is connotes a representation of America and London today as the artists state that they are from London when giving a postcode, so they are trying to signify equality.
There are a lot of typical music video conventions used, especially within the camera language. There are a lot of close-ups used when the artists are singing, this is to highlight their passion for the song and the lyrics that they are trying to convey to the audience as we see them closing their eyes whilst singing at times. There is also a lot of camera movement, more specifically a lot of pans when showing the other people in the music video standing on the street.This music video has inspired me as it is unusual for a song of this R&b/Soul genre to use animation, but they have and it looks creative not tacky. Therefore, it has opened my eyes to more potential ideas for my music video which will be of a similar genre because I know that there are no limitations as to what styles can be used in a music video of this genre now.
Aaliyah - One In A Million
This is one of my favorite old songs, by Aaliyah. An audience that are particularly interested in the listed themes; love, romance, partnership, dancing and acting are being targeted through the costume, narrative, style and conventions of the music video.Throughout the majority of the music video Aaliyah wears crop tops, this hints a theme of romance as the outfits are quite provocative as they reveal a lot of skin, targeting an audience with the interest of romance through the artists costume.
No narrative is really being shown in the music video as the selected style of it avoids revealing a narrative. However, a man does feature in the music video whom the artist dances with suggesting that he is the man she is singing about who's love is a 'one in a million'. This targets an audience with the interests of love, romance, partnership and dancing as we see the pair dancing closely together proving all of these themes existence. Therefore the audience may be able to personally identify with this music video because of the portrayal of these themes.
The conventions of music videos are clearly evident in this music video as we see a lot of camera movement, from tracks to pans. One example of a track used in this video is when it tracks Aaliyah whist she is singing from her legs to head. A lot of close-ups are also used of her face and body whilst she is dancing and standing making small movements performing. The music video includes a lot of transitions in the editing, especially dissolves, which are very common in music videos. For example from 3:17-3:43 there are lots of dissolves from one shot of Aaliyah to another.
This music video has inspired me as the editing is very good as it has been thought of and mapped out really well. A lot of the conventions of a music video within the editing field have been used which make it well structured.
Lauryn Hill ft Bob Marley - Turn Your Lights Down Low
I love this music video because it is very culturally relevant, although it narrows down the target audience, coming from a Caribbean background I enjoy it a lot. A black, Caribbean audience is targeted in this music video through the costume, narrative, style and conventions.
The costume in this music video targets a black, Caribbean audience as the people in it are wearing very bright, bold colours that are representative of the Caribbean islands like; Jamaica, St.Lucia, Barbados etc. These colours are also representative of the Caribbean islands as they connote summer and in these tropical countries the weather is typically always hot even if its raining and the sun is shining for the majority of the time.
This music video is styled so that there is a lot of narrative showing along with some performance from the artist/s. This is to portray a story to the audience, or the message intended in the song or even to reveal what the song is exactly about. In this music video, the narrative targets young, black Caribbean lovers as that seems to be the main theme in the narrative - sex but in a romantic relationship as it is sung about subtly and respectfully.
The conventions of a music video are used in this one as there is a lot of camera movement, more specifically pans from left to right into the next shot. There are also a lot of long shots to show the people featuring in the music video and the mise-en-scene to really develop a feel for the Caribbean within the audience.
This music video has inspired my ideas for my video as it puts a lot of emphasis on the mise-en-scene, which really helps audience members to understand the song better in a narrative styled music video.
Lyric Analysis
Kim King - 'Amazing'
Lyrics:
[INTRO]
Amazing, Amazing yeahhhhh
Your love is amazing, amazing yeahh
[VERSE 1]
He's so masculine anything I ask of him
I got it, even if I don't need it
He's the sole reason that I'm sprung
And I wanna show recognition for all you are
He's so sweet to me, boo the way you speak
Make me wanna just push aside everything I'm doing
To get beside my knight and shining armour
[CHORUS]
Baby your love is amazing (your love)
Taking me high to places I've never seen before
And I need your loving more and more and more (more and more and more)
Baby your love is amazing
Don't know how to come down off this high I feel
Cos boy your love is surreal surreal surreal
[VERSE 2]
Boo it's like you flew in and saved the day
I've been waiting so long for a man so strong
Who can pick up everything I put down
For a girl he holds it down
...... whenever I call him
And yes its all him...
And I won't trade him for nothing
[CHORUS]
Baby your love is amazing
Taking me high to places I've never seen before (and I cant help it)
And I need your loving more and more and more (more and more and more ooh yeahh)
Baby your love is amazing (your love is amazing)
Don't know how to come down off this high I feel (can somebody help me sing it)
Cos boy your love is surreal surreal surreal (your love...)
[OUTRO]
Boo your love's so real to me
Just like......
You make a woman say, ohhhhh (x3)
(Baby hear me when I say)
Boo your love just spoils me
I know....
You make a woman just stutter oh oh oh oh
You make a woman just stutter
[CHORUS]
Baby your love is amazing
Taking me high to places I've never seen before
And I need your loving more and more and more
Baby your love is amazing
Don't know how to come down off this high I feel
Cos boy your love is surreal surreal surreal
Lyric Analysis
Target audience
Age: 18-40
Gender: Predominantly females
Interests: music (R&B, Soul), romantic poetry, art
Location: America/United Kingdom
Ethnicity: Black/White/Asian/Mixed
This song targets this specific audience as people within this audience will be able to relate to the song on a more personal level and will therefore like the song better as they'll find it more entertaining as they understand how the artist feels and can therefore identify with her.
Analysing the lyrics
The artist seems to be singing about how great her boyfriend is and why she loves him. Her boyfriend seems to meet the criteria of the archetypal man in a relationship as he provides for the artist as she sings 'anything I ask of him I got it, even if I don't need it'. She also states that he makes her want to just drop all of her plans to be with him - 'Make me wanna just push aside everything I'm doing
to get beside my knight and shining armour'. In the chorus the artist sings 'boy your love is surreal surreal surreal' this connotes that she has never experienced this kind of love before as it seems different to her in a positive way, signifying that this is the best relationship she has been in. She sings in verse 2 ' it's like you flew in and saved the day', this signified that this man that she is currently in a relationship with has saved her from someone, herself or a bad situation and that for this she is grateful, so not only is he her love but also her hero enhancing the strength of her love. In the third and final verse we hear her sing 'you make a woman just stutter', connoting that her boyfriend really knows how to treat a woman leaving them speechless, from this we understand that he is a gentleman.
Analysing the music
The artists slowly progresses into the main body of the song because it is typical of the R&B/Soul genre.
Analysing the tempo
The tempo of the song is mellow, smoothing and slow.
How would you use the song in a music video
In a music video I would mix the song with some performance and narrative elements. I would have a female lip syncing the lyrics whilst she is with a group of her female friends on the phone to him singing how he makes her feel. Then I would cut to some footage of the woman and her boyfriend together looking in love.
Lyrics:
[INTRO]
Amazing, Amazing yeahhhhh
Your love is amazing, amazing yeahh
[VERSE 1]
He's so masculine anything I ask of him
I got it, even if I don't need it
He's the sole reason that I'm sprung
And I wanna show recognition for all you are
He's so sweet to me, boo the way you speak
Make me wanna just push aside everything I'm doing
To get beside my knight and shining armour
[CHORUS]
Baby your love is amazing (your love)
Taking me high to places I've never seen before
And I need your loving more and more and more (more and more and more)
Baby your love is amazing
Don't know how to come down off this high I feel
Cos boy your love is surreal surreal surreal
[VERSE 2]
Boo it's like you flew in and saved the day
I've been waiting so long for a man so strong
Who can pick up everything I put down
For a girl he holds it down
...... whenever I call him
And yes its all him...
And I won't trade him for nothing
[CHORUS]
Baby your love is amazing
Taking me high to places I've never seen before (and I cant help it)
And I need your loving more and more and more (more and more and more ooh yeahh)
Baby your love is amazing (your love is amazing)
Don't know how to come down off this high I feel (can somebody help me sing it)
Cos boy your love is surreal surreal surreal (your love...)
[OUTRO]
Boo your love's so real to me
Just like......
You make a woman say, ohhhhh (x3)
(Baby hear me when I say)
Boo your love just spoils me
I know....
You make a woman just stutter oh oh oh oh
You make a woman just stutter
[CHORUS]
Baby your love is amazing
Taking me high to places I've never seen before
And I need your loving more and more and more
Baby your love is amazing
Don't know how to come down off this high I feel
Cos boy your love is surreal surreal surreal
Lyric Analysis
Target audience
Age: 18-40
Gender: Predominantly females
Interests: music (R&B, Soul), romantic poetry, art
Location: America/United Kingdom
Ethnicity: Black/White/Asian/Mixed
This song targets this specific audience as people within this audience will be able to relate to the song on a more personal level and will therefore like the song better as they'll find it more entertaining as they understand how the artist feels and can therefore identify with her.
Analysing the lyrics
The artist seems to be singing about how great her boyfriend is and why she loves him. Her boyfriend seems to meet the criteria of the archetypal man in a relationship as he provides for the artist as she sings 'anything I ask of him I got it, even if I don't need it'. She also states that he makes her want to just drop all of her plans to be with him - 'Make me wanna just push aside everything I'm doing
to get beside my knight and shining armour'. In the chorus the artist sings 'boy your love is surreal surreal surreal' this connotes that she has never experienced this kind of love before as it seems different to her in a positive way, signifying that this is the best relationship she has been in. She sings in verse 2 ' it's like you flew in and saved the day', this signified that this man that she is currently in a relationship with has saved her from someone, herself or a bad situation and that for this she is grateful, so not only is he her love but also her hero enhancing the strength of her love. In the third and final verse we hear her sing 'you make a woman just stutter', connoting that her boyfriend really knows how to treat a woman leaving them speechless, from this we understand that he is a gentleman.
Analysing the music
The artists slowly progresses into the main body of the song because it is typical of the R&B/Soul genre.
Analysing the tempo
The tempo of the song is mellow, smoothing and slow.
How would you use the song in a music video
In a music video I would mix the song with some performance and narrative elements. I would have a female lip syncing the lyrics whilst she is with a group of her female friends on the phone to him singing how he makes her feel. Then I would cut to some footage of the woman and her boyfriend together looking in love.
Thursday, 19 September 2013
Song
The song I wish to use for my music video is by a female artist named - Kim King. The music she produces is similar to mainstream musicians such as; Mary J.Blige, Keyshia Cole and Aaliyah as she also specialises in R&B/Soul. Kim King seems to be a dynamic artist as her songs vary in the topics being sung about and the tempo of these songs. I want to use her song 'Amazing' to construct my music video as I envision a lot for this song in particular as it can be aimed at a specific target audience and therefore I feel I can be more creative with my ideas to meet this target audience.
To hear Kim King's song 'Amazing', click on the following link: http://www.unsigned.com/kimking.
To hear Kim King's song 'Amazing', click on the following link: http://www.unsigned.com/kimking.
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
Video Style Remake
All media students in year 12 produced a remake of the music video 'Thrift Shop by Macklemore'. We were allocated sections of the video to remake and randomly selected what music video style we'd be using, my partner and we produced the surrealism/abstract section of the video from 1:44-2:04.
Representation
Stuart Hall: Preferred reading theory = (Old view): Representation is re-submitted information where there is only ONE set of fixed meanings as we understand representations how we have experienced them. (New view): The audience must investigate representations from within and they are open to multiple interpretations as it is a continuous active cycle of creation. "The question of power can never be bracketed out of representation".
EXAMPLE: Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
EXAMPLE: Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
Dominant reading: Miley Cyrus is hurt from her recent break up with her boyfriend and expresses her vulnerable state through her lack of clothes as she has been emotionally stripped bare.
Negotiated reading: I understand that Miley Cyrus has been left really hurt after her split with her boyfriend but there is no need for her to be naked.
Op-positional reading: Miley Cyrus is just attention seeking, she is naked because she wants to show off her body, she wants to be provocative. This is a very bad image for her as she is a very bad role model.
Laura Mulvey: The male Gaze = The term 'The male gaze' was first used by Mulvey to describe what she felt was the male point of view adopted by the camera for the benefit of an assumed male audience.
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| Nicki Minaj - 'I endorse these strippers' |
The image above proves the objectification of women in the media as we see a half naked woman upside down, with money falling on and around her. There is literally a male audience around, staring at her body, this be little's the worth of women as money is just being thrown at this woman.
The image above can also display the empowerment of women, as we see a woman with her hands on her hips alone in the centre of the image, connoting that she is an independent woman who makes her own money as we see her in the shot with money falling.
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| Kelly Rowland - 'Motivation' Proof of male objectification is provided in the image above as we see Kelly Rowland seductively gripping the males chest whilst slowly stroking it as he is wearing no top, his body is being revealed. |
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
Genre theory
Genre as a system (Neale) = 'A system of orientations, expectations and conventions which circulate between industry, text and subject'.
This music video of Biggie Smalls' song 'Sky's the limit' meets our expectations as an audience as it suits the genre perfectly as a lot of the conventions of a hip-hop music video are used to accompany the hip-hop song. The conventions of a hip-hop music video are clearly shown as we see lots of big expensive jewelry, expensive cars, alcohol - champagne, black glasses, mansions, girls, swimming pools in back gardens, paparazzi and fans, there is also a performance element within this music video which is a typical convention of the hip-hop genre.
Repetition and difference = Pleasure for the audience comes from the repetition that they knew would happen and the difference that they did not expect.
Blink 182 use the theory of 'repetition and difference' in their music video as they stick to some of the typical conventions of a boy band within the rock genre, for example - the use of guitars, screaming girls, the lip piercings, etc. But they stray from the typical rock boy band image in their music video as they add a comedic element as they imitate other boy bands and make them seem very effeminate as they dance like girls, dress in women's clothing, dress half naked, etc.
'Any theme may appear in any genre' (David Bordwell 1989) = 'One could... argue that no set of necessary and sufficient conditions can mark off genres from other sorts of groupings in ways that all experts or ordinary film-goers would find acceptable'.
In my music video, the themes I plan to use include; love and romance. I want to use these themes because the song I have chose to use is of the 'soul' genre and therefore I feel that these themes in my music video will suit my genre very well. These themes will engage my target audience as they may be able to personally relate or identify with them and the situations that will occur in my music video.
This music video of Biggie Smalls' song 'Sky's the limit' meets our expectations as an audience as it suits the genre perfectly as a lot of the conventions of a hip-hop music video are used to accompany the hip-hop song. The conventions of a hip-hop music video are clearly shown as we see lots of big expensive jewelry, expensive cars, alcohol - champagne, black glasses, mansions, girls, swimming pools in back gardens, paparazzi and fans, there is also a performance element within this music video which is a typical convention of the hip-hop genre.
Repetition and difference = Pleasure for the audience comes from the repetition that they knew would happen and the difference that they did not expect.
Blink 182 use the theory of 'repetition and difference' in their music video as they stick to some of the typical conventions of a boy band within the rock genre, for example - the use of guitars, screaming girls, the lip piercings, etc. But they stray from the typical rock boy band image in their music video as they add a comedic element as they imitate other boy bands and make them seem very effeminate as they dance like girls, dress in women's clothing, dress half naked, etc.
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| David Bordwell |
In my music video, the themes I plan to use include; love and romance. I want to use these themes because the song I have chose to use is of the 'soul' genre and therefore I feel that these themes in my music video will suit my genre very well. These themes will engage my target audience as they may be able to personally relate or identify with them and the situations that will occur in my music video.
Sunday, 15 September 2013
Blog Reflection - Week 2
Lesson 1: In this lesson I had to write out the lyrics of our chosen song (Kim King- Amazing) and analyse them. In this lyric analysis I had to discuss the target audience, a summary of what the song is about, an analysis of the music, an analysis of the tempo and a discussion of how we'd use the song in a music video (http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/lyric-analysis.html).
Lesson 2: In this lesson I had to create a blog post of some beachcombing where i had to select and use 5 music videos and give a detailed analysis of how they target an audience through the costume, narrative, style and conventions. I also had to discuss how each music video inspired me and what elements could potentially be used in my music video (http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/beachcombing.html).
Lesson 3: As a class we learnt about narrative devices and their effects on the audience reading. These narrative devices included; foreshadowing, pathetic fallacy and dramatic irony. We also recapped Todorov's approach to narrative and looked at how this is used in music video's, for example Robbie Williams - 'She's the one' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVaRHJn_dgM).
Lesson 4: In the last lesson of the week our teachers informed us that we had to deliver a pitch to our class the following week in an attempt to persuade our partner that the song we individually chose should be used for our music videos. We then begun planning our pitches and how they'd be delivered, once we had finished planning them we started developing them in Microsoft Powerpoint.
What have you learnt from the video remake?
After re-making a segment of the music video to the song 'Thrift shop' by Macklemore, I now know a lot about the styles and conventions of music video's. This new knowledge can be found in the following blog post I had created about the styles and conventions of music videos - http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/style-and-conventions-of-music-videos.html. After producing a part of this music video, I now feel that I have gained more knowledge about how to edit a music video to make it unique and interesting.
Lesson 2: In this lesson I had to create a blog post of some beachcombing where i had to select and use 5 music videos and give a detailed analysis of how they target an audience through the costume, narrative, style and conventions. I also had to discuss how each music video inspired me and what elements could potentially be used in my music video (http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/beachcombing.html).
Lesson 3: As a class we learnt about narrative devices and their effects on the audience reading. These narrative devices included; foreshadowing, pathetic fallacy and dramatic irony. We also recapped Todorov's approach to narrative and looked at how this is used in music video's, for example Robbie Williams - 'She's the one' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVaRHJn_dgM).Lesson 4: In the last lesson of the week our teachers informed us that we had to deliver a pitch to our class the following week in an attempt to persuade our partner that the song we individually chose should be used for our music videos. We then begun planning our pitches and how they'd be delivered, once we had finished planning them we started developing them in Microsoft Powerpoint.
What have you learnt from the video remake?
After re-making a segment of the music video to the song 'Thrift shop' by Macklemore, I now know a lot about the styles and conventions of music video's. This new knowledge can be found in the following blog post I had created about the styles and conventions of music videos - http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/style-and-conventions-of-music-videos.html. After producing a part of this music video, I now feel that I have gained more knowledge about how to edit a music video to make it unique and interesting.
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Digital Technology Progression
In the first year of my Media Studies A-Level I feel that I was very creative as I had to produce a British Social Realist film opening sequence with a partner. We had to develop a narrative for our opening sequence that had to be conventional of the British Social Realist genre, but also something unique. My partner and I were creative with our narrative as we decided to subvert the typical representations of pregnant teenagers. Our main character fell pregnant, carrying her abusive boyfriends child. Her boyfriend would regularly beat her up, therefore she decides to run away for the safety of her unborn child. We felt that this was creative because unlike most teens our main character Leah didn't want to abort her child, instead she wanted to protect it and therefore ran away in an attempt to start a new life so that she could allow her child to be raised better than she had been. Stereotypically, teenage girls that are accidently impregnated immediately think to abort it. As teenage girls, my partner and I wanted to steer away from the reckless negative representation of teenage girls to present them in a more positive light through our main character Leah. Having to create a narrative for our opening sequence I feel will help me also be creative in my final year of the course as I feel I now know how to try and think outside of the box and be unique. So when planning my music video I will make sure I am even more creative and different, in order to produce a music video that really stand out in a positive way.The digital technology I used last year included; Blogger (to update my project log and make post http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/evaluation-part-7-technologies-used-in.html).
entries), Youtube (to upload videos of relevance and to upload my continuity editing exercise and British Social Realist opening sequence), Live Type (to create graphics), Issuu (to upload powerpoints for my blog), iMovie (to edit footage), Final Cut (to import final footage and edit graphics in), Video cameras (to film footage), Flip camera (to film vox pop research), etc. In the evaluation of my British social realist opening sequence I made a powerpoint that showed the technologies I used at each stage of production (Last year in the pre-production stage of producing an opening sequence, I conducted a lot of research into the British social realism genre and film opening sequences to learn the conventions of each. This research can be found on my AS media blog: http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/. My partner and I did a vox pop of our target audience to find out what they know about the British social realism genre, the films they've already watched of this genre and what ideas of ours they preferred and why (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/primary-audience-research.html). In the planning of our opening sequence, my partner and I made a shooting script to order the shots that would feature in our opening sequence and organize what camera language each shot would have and what would happen in each shot (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/shooting-script.html). We also made a production schedule where we planned the days when we would film, this allowed us to organise our time better (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/production-schedule.html). Every time before we'd go out to film we'd make a call sheet, to state where we'd be filming, the props, equipment and actors we'd be using to keep ourselves on task. A location recci was also made to show pictures of all of the locations that we'd be using in our opening sequence (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/location-recci.html).
Last year, the post production technology I used included; iMovie (to edit all footage), Final Cut (to import final footage and edit graphics in) and Live Type (to create all graphics).
We studied many conventions last year in relation to the British social realist genre. The camera conventions of this genre were; lots of movements, very few low/high angles, etc. The narrative conventions of this genre were to make the narrative realistic portraying the hardships of working class Britons in an explicit way. The typical themes that are presented in this genre include; poverty, drug abuse, violence, sex, domestic abuse, dysfunctional families, etc. The conventions of sound in this genre is mainly diegetic sound to add to the verisimilitude of the film, including; dialogue, ambient sound, music, etc.
Sunday, 8 September 2013
Blog Reflection - Week 1
Lesson 1: This lesson consisted of some class interaction and individual research. As a class we had to recap what we had studied in year 12 and discussed what we had learnt from that and how our skills developed in our previous year could help us in this current year. We then had to individually find an independent artist that we would like to use for the song of our music video. I chose an artist named 'Kim King' who produces music within the R&b/Soul genre, I discovered her talent on the site 'http://www.unsigned.com' and emailed her asking for her permission to use one of her songs titled - 'Amazing'.
Lesson 2: This lesson was based on retrospective thinking as our teacher asked us to recap all of the technology we had used in year 12 including on-line technologies, hardware and software. We were then asked to think about how our skills in each of these technologies have progressed since then and how we could take advantage of these new found skills in A2. Our teacher then asked us to make a blog post about our digital technology progression (http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/digital-technology-progression.html).
Lesson 3: This lesson was about representation, we recapped it's definition and learnt about some key theorists including; Stuart Hall and his 'preferred reading theory', Laura Mulvey and her theory of 'the Male Gaze'. Our teacher then ordered us to make a blog post about these key theories (http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/representation.html).
Lesson 4: In the final lesson of the week we learnt some key genre theories including; Neale's theory of 'Genre as a system', 'repetition and difference' and David Bordwell's theory 'any theme may appear in any genre'. Our teacher told us to also create a blog post about these theories (http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/genre-theory.html).
What are your initial ideas for your advanced portfolio?
My initial ideas for the music video I am going to create in my advanced portfolio are to produce a music video for a song with the R&B/Soul genre. The style of music video I plan to use is performance/narrative, to mix between the two.
Who would you like to work with?
I would like to work with Kalkidan Brook as I have worked with her in past media projects and we have always been successful as we share similar ideas because we have similar interests. I also feel that working with her on this music video in particular would be beneficial as we both enjoy the same genres of music and therefore our ideas will not conflict.
What are your hopes and fears about the project?
I hope that my partner and I will produce a good music video making the best use of our available resources. I fear that during pre-production my partner and I will plan well but unrealistically, therefore to try and prevent this problem from occurring we will ground our ideas and think about the most effective way we can use our resources to create a professional looking music video.
Lesson 2: This lesson was based on retrospective thinking as our teacher asked us to recap all of the technology we had used in year 12 including on-line technologies, hardware and software. We were then asked to think about how our skills in each of these technologies have progressed since then and how we could take advantage of these new found skills in A2. Our teacher then asked us to make a blog post about our digital technology progression (http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/digital-technology-progression.html).
Lesson 3: This lesson was about representation, we recapped it's definition and learnt about some key theorists including; Stuart Hall and his 'preferred reading theory', Laura Mulvey and her theory of 'the Male Gaze'. Our teacher then ordered us to make a blog post about these key theories (http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/representation.html).
Lesson 4: In the final lesson of the week we learnt some key genre theories including; Neale's theory of 'Genre as a system', 'repetition and difference' and David Bordwell's theory 'any theme may appear in any genre'. Our teacher told us to also create a blog post about these theories (http://lorellefayethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/genre-theory.html).
What are your initial ideas for your advanced portfolio?
My initial ideas for the music video I am going to create in my advanced portfolio are to produce a music video for a song with the R&B/Soul genre. The style of music video I plan to use is performance/narrative, to mix between the two.
Who would you like to work with?
I would like to work with Kalkidan Brook as I have worked with her in past media projects and we have always been successful as we share similar ideas because we have similar interests. I also feel that working with her on this music video in particular would be beneficial as we both enjoy the same genres of music and therefore our ideas will not conflict.
What are your hopes and fears about the project?
I hope that my partner and I will produce a good music video making the best use of our available resources. I fear that during pre-production my partner and I will plan well but unrealistically, therefore to try and prevent this problem from occurring we will ground our ideas and think about the most effective way we can use our resources to create a professional looking music video.
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