Representation presi

Representation in the Media

Video I found on Female representation!

Improvement on Section A essays

Before starting each section, make a plan small mind-map to plan what i'm going to write. This will help during the essay incase I forget anything.

Use a wider range of examples within the film I write about as evidence. For example state a vampire movie and the iconography and conventions that i have analysed and used in my AS portfolio.

Use Evidence when talking about my A2 Portfolio. For example, State some music video that are similar or different to what we have created.

Use more media terminology within the essay and relate to the subject I'm writing about.

Explain other types of representation i.e. Male, ethnicity

Explain more ideas and links with the portfolios and our target audience. For example, look at other products with a similar target audience and compare the similarities and differences with that and our products.

Read more exemplars essays for both section A and B including the examiners commentary to see what the have right and wrong.

Read the examiner reports on the OCR website to identify what students normally get wrong and miss and to avoid this!

Exemplar analysis

- The candidate uses her old production to explain what she did differently to create her second, better one. For example, the use of Photoshop as oppose to Publisher was explained.
-However, the only thing the candidate talks about is the basics between how he/she used the programs.It would have been better if they explained in detail how the  use of advanced programs helped her to be more creative and make a better product than before.
-The candidate references an existing theory to do with their coursework; 'David Gauntlett' and relates it to how their product has changed for the better by using it as support for what they have done.
-They have only identified one or two conventions of the product

-The candidate takes into account the role of the audience when talking about why they do what the do for the portfolio.

-Spoken about the research conducted for it and have said why they would apply similar things to their own product.

-They do this by explaining their understanding of representation and applying it to their work and audience.

-A High range of key media terminology is used throughout both answers; 'representation', 'mise en scene'

-Also uses a wide range of examples of artists relevant t the still of product they are making and explaining them in terms of representation. 

Album Cover Research

Most female artists use their own face or image for the from cover of their albums. Male artists also do this but depending on which music genre they fit into. For example; pop artists are more likely to use their own photos.  

    

As the artist are well known, there album cover are very simplistic which means they have limited titling. 

Album Advert Features

Ancillary - Cover Analysis

Cover analysis from Sheida Ay

Essay

Why is the public row between the music artists Sinead O'Connor and Miley Cyrus important in understanding the relationship between artistes and between artiste and audience? Explore with reference to the representation of women, media institutions and the role of the media.

The relationship between artists and their audience is the most important as the audience are what determines an artist’s success. Ideally, the more fans an artist has the more success in terms of profit, publicity and popularity. On the other hand, the relationship between artists is also important as it can connect two different audiences and define personalities based on how they interact. Also if the relationship between artists is not as friendly, it may have a negative effect on each of their careers and may even cause problems and rows between the two fan groups.

The row between Sinead O’Connor and Miley Cyrus started after Miley said that she was inspired by O’Connor’s Nothing Compares To you video which is surprising as they are two completely different artists in terms of personality and style of music. Sinead O’Connor is part of the 1980’s success with her debut album ‘The Lion and The Cobra’ whereas Miley Cyrus is part of today’s most famous with her latest album ‘Bangerz’. In response to Miley’s comparison comment, Sinead replied to which she nicely advised Miley about how she shouldn’t allow herself to me so exploited sexually just so other men can make money from it, as if referring to the male gaze theory.       The response that O’Connor gets from this, that many would find rude and offensive, is screenshots of some of the things Sinead has tweeted when she was mentally ill and seeking psychiatric help and mentions Amanda Bynes’ similar mental illness. Sinead O’Connor was offended by this and warned Miley that she would take legal actions unless she removed her tweets. We can see from this the differences between the morals each of these artist believe in and the way Miley Cyrus feels about this type of mental issue to use it as a mockery and a defence mechanism.

Miley Cyrus started her fame from a show on Disney Channel called Hannah Montana from the age of 11 so her fans and society watched her grow up and witnessed the change of personality from innocent to erotic in the last year which is quite a surprise for everyone but she has managed to do so well for herself that most of her fans still adore her regardless. Miley’s fans are, or at least used to be, young girls but it seems that Miley has officially grown up and wants to change her audience to an older and mature age of not only girls but also males. She has been criticized by the press to represent ‘stripper culture’ not only her videos but in some of her appearance in talk shows, interviews and the most recent VMA awards ceremony. One of the most disturbing yet talked about publicity stunts that Miley pulled recently was at the 2013 VMA awards were she ‘twerked’ during her performance. The incident caused a huge negative reaction from nearly everyone in the media business and the audience however she refused to let any of the negative comments get to her and continued her high profile stardom. For many it seems as though she has officially left the Hannah Montana phase, and is now following the steps of Lady Gaga and Madonna, which is quite interesting in relation to the feud between her and Sinead O’Connor.

The history behind Sinead O’Connor is very significant in helping to understand the relationship between artists and their audience and representation of women. Sinead is known for her strong interest and support in Child abuse, was and women’s right and also for her objection towards the Roman Catholic Church despite coming from a catholic background. During a Saturday Night Live performance in 1992, Sinead O’Connor tore up a photo of the pope while singing “fight the real enemy” to a nationwide audience, while the producers were in shock and tried to cut the camera away of her while the studio audience were not allowed to applaud or show any reaction to the live incident. The controversy was later brought up by Madonna on SNL later as she pulled out a photo of Joey Buttafuoco and tore it up and said that there are better ways to deal with hate towards someone that means something to a lot of people aimed at O’Connor. The public argument continued for quite a while and the last thing saved was that Madonna had made comments about Sinead’s appearance. This entire row seems like a dated version of what is happening today with Miley Cyrus and O’Connor and both artists lost and gained many fans because of the incident just like what is happening recently.

Both Miley and Sinead are huge influences to young girls and women, although for entirely different reasons. Miley’s ability to express herself as being free using her body and actions carelessly can be seen as an admirable trait in young teenagers today who watch all sorts of similar shows in the media whereas Sinead O’Connor really believes in prevention of child abuse and enforcing women’s right. She explains that she can support this by shaving her head so she is not define by her female looks while Miley Cyrus also recently shaved her head but only for a new look and style for her return. The music videos for ‘Nothing Compares To You’ and ‘Wrecking ball’ are similar due to their use of close ups of the singers’ face shedding a tear. O’Connor describes the tear as an impulsive thing as the lyrics of Nothing Compares to You mean something to her. However it was revealed that the tear during the chorus of the song was for her dog which has recently died.

The male gaze theory by Laura Mulvey explains the idea of how females are presented and visually consumed by the audience of that media text. The 3 main things that this theory succeeds to highlight are how men see women, how women see themselves and other women.  The features of the male gaze are created by the use of camera where the lens is pointed at. The camera focuses on the curves of a woman and the events that happen to her, mostly from the perspective of a heterosexual male.  This theory can be used to explain Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking ball video as she appears to be unclothed throughout most of the video. However, others such as Miley Cyrus herself and the director of her Wrecking Ball video, Terry Richardson, would disagree to this as they believe that nudity is a form of expression and art. However, a second version of the Wrecking Ball video was created, known as the ‘directors cut’ and in this version the entire song is film in a close up of Cyrus’ face miming the lyrics. The purpose of this may have been that the director wanted the audience to focus on the emotions and story behind the lyrics of the song rather than anything else. If we look at this from another perspective, Miley’s Video was one of two videos which featured nudity in the top ten of Billboard’s Hot 100 meaning there has to be some sort of pattern and success rate of such videos.   

Requirements- Equipment

Camera - Samsung NX..

Tripod 

Flash lights

Costume 
Illuminati t-shirt 
Doc martins 

Props
DSLR camera 
Ruck Sack 
Dust mask 
Spray paint 

Risk Assessments

Potential problems and possible solutions

General

-Change in weather during filming on different days
This is a problem because the timing and weather will not follow the narrative as it shows one days journey.  
A solution is to film differently to schedule. The likelihood of this may be reduce if the weather is checked by and the schedule takes into account weather conditions. 

-Filming taking longer than expected
This would cause changes to the schedule making it difficult to shoot everything within the date requirements. 
This could be overcome by either adding an extra day to the schedule or increasing filming hours within a day. 

Locations and transport
-Problems with public transport
If there is problems with the underground such as signal failure of delays, this would be reduce filming time by delaying us from getting to our location. 
It would help to plan several different ways of making the journey beforehand and checking underground status' at the beginning of the day.

-Safety 
Some of our filming locations such as underground platforms and the Leake Street tunnel aren't as safe as we hope for it to be. 
We are going to arrange for other people to join us on the set so that we create a group. 

-Locations Consent 
Certain public places may not allow us to film without a permit.
We need to find out exactly which areas need a filming permit and avoid filming there or find a similar place. 

Crew and Actors
-Actor availability
Our chosen actor may not be able to film on a certain day and this again would cause problems in scheduling. 
We need to either secure a back-up for our main character or create the schedule with the actor concerns in mind. It would also help for the actor to have a hard copy of the schedule. 

-Film crew unavailability
If a member of the film crew is not able to come to a shoot, the shoot may still be carried out but it would be very difficult to get it perfect and may require an additional day of shooting. 
The schedule also has to take into account any plans of the film crew. 

Equipment 
-Camera failure; Low battery, low memory, unsuitable for the scene
This would be the most complicated problem to overcome as any of these problems would cause a complete stop to any filming.
Precautions must be take by those in charge of each piece of equipment a night before shooting e.g. camera must be fully charged and the memory card needs to be backed-up on a computer and emptied. 

Locations

Leake Street!
Brings forward the idea of rebellion in general. Graffiti is a form of art but is usually misinterpreted by society. This is relevant to the main character in the video to say she is misjudged mostly by herself.

Underground station
The use of a London Underground Station would give away where the video set.

Dark Bedroom
Connotations: Secretive, personal, lonesome, privacy



Outside a Church
Filming outside the church will contrast the song lyrics which will support the theory we are using (Sven E Carlsson)

Filming Schedule

Schedule

'Protection' Video

Before we saw the video...
We thought of idea for how we'd make the video and we decided that it would be concept narrative. The singer would a be female in the army as the captain since the lyrics say 'I stand in front of you, I'll take the force of the blow'. This is quite similar to Katy Perry's 'Part Of Me' video where she joins the army. 


Original Massive Attack- 'Protection'



The original video takes place in what looks like a series of room in a apartment. But the odd thing about this is that the set is place on the floor facing upwards so that the cast had to be filmed while lying on the floor. 
The concept of the video revolves around the different definitions of 'protection'. The videos portrays a few ways such as domestic violence, child care etc. 

Music Video Script Research

Complex Scripting Template

Simple Music video script

Music video theories!

Sven E Carlsson

His theory: 
Music video narratives are driven by the use of binary opposition. 
For example: Black and white videos, use of male or female etc.

His theory also said that music videos fall into two different categories  Conceptual videos and performance, where performance can be song, dance or instrumental performance. 

Performance
In performance videos, Carlsson explains that the singer becomes the 'commercial exhibitionist'. This means that the singer is no longer seen as the artist but as the selling point and marketing technique for the song, albums, company label... almost like an advert.
Televised bard- in some performance videos the artist's lyrics are about a story and the music video consist of images that the singer uses as personal images. 
Electronic shaman- This is when a only a voice is used on top of images which anchors the lyrics. 

For example;


In the 'We Can't Stop' video, Miley is used as a franchise for her fans, this is shown by her choice in clothing and her dancing/actions. 


Conceptual
Concepts in music videos is mostly to do with the art and meaning behind the lyrics of the songs instead of trying to sell the artist. conceptual videos also do not include any or limited lip synchronisation. 

For example; 


The idea behind Ed Sheeran's 'Give Me Love' video is love by showing that the main character is actually cupid. The artist appears in the video for less than a minute in one scene and this makes him stand out more than if an artist was present through that entire video. 

"Dont Know Why" Lyrics + Ideas

I don't know why, but I cry myself to sleep,

I don't know why, but I can't even feel my heart beat, 

It's like I'm dead inside; 

The only time I feel like me is when I'm getting high, and even that's just for a little while.

^  We see this verse being set in a dark bedroom, with our character on the bed looking rough and confused.
She puts on her clothes, picks up her camera and leave the house. 

Mothers are crying, brothers, sisters are afraid, when did all this become my way, when did blue skies turn to grey?

^ London Underground; train moving from outside to under a tunnel (POV?); sitting at a train station/on the train. She is constantly taking photos oh her surroundings. Audience do not see the photos.

For as long as I remember, for as long as I've known, you reap what we sow, you reap what we sow.

Hey sister, can I stop you, may I ask for some advice? See I've got this friend, who's got this friend and the problem is her life. 

^She takes a photo of a church and then character asks/interacts with someone out side the ‘religious place’ 

She's been fraternising with this devil, she's been playing Satan games, she's been trying to live a life a rebel, it said its her soul that's been exchanged;

^ Leake Street, slow motion of her running through the tunnel with spray paint, painting triangles on wall. She then takes a photo of her and loads of others art. 

 He sings..

I don't know why, but I cry myself to sleep,

(She sings), I don't know why, but I can't even feel my heart beat, 

It's like I’m dead inside; 

The only time I feel like me is when I'm getting high, and even that's just for a little while. 

^She’s shown making her way back home using the underground station. Constantly taking photos. 

I don't know why, but I cry myself to sleep,

(She sings), I don't know why, but I can't even feel my heart beat, 

It's like I’m dead inside; 

The only time I feel like me is when I'm getting high, and even that's just for a little while. 

^Returning home, showing a circular narrative. She places the last photo on the wall and steps back to look at it. The audience finally sees a huge collage of the photos she's been taking as a prisoner behind bars. 

Things that need to be done for this week.

1. Complete lyric idea breakdown with exact details including locations, time, actor, shot list, schedule... Both!
2. Annotate own lyrics Humaira
3. Research into music video script writing Me
4. Attempt script first draft Both!
5. Complete music video theory research Me
6. Storyboard ideas Both!
7. New Mood board Humaira

www.musicvideotheory.com

Digi-Pak Research

Digi-Paks are used as special editions of CD's or DVD's.
Used a marketing product.
They are less vulnerable to breaking.
First created by Meadwestvaco. 
They are quite expensive to make therefore most successful artists only use. 

Types:
-4 panel digipaks
-4 panel digipaks with pockets
-6 panel digipaks
-8 panel digipaks 
-Multi-disc



Ref..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digipak
http://www.discmakers.com/products/digipaks.asp
http://musicians.about.com/od/ah/g/digipacksleeve.htm

Summer Schedule draft

12th August 

Humaira writes out lyrics of chosen song 

We plan music video narrative using whatsapp.

20th August 

We decide on location/s.

21st August

Humaira- blog music video research draft

25th August 

Find similar videos to current idea. 

1st Sept
Meet up to go other things to go on the blog. 

8th Sept 
Meet up to put together ideas on video and plot.  

New and Improved Idea

'Sylvia Ella - Don't know why'

Concept

- Chronological narrative 

- Inspiration: Ed Sheeran - A Team

Plot
Young girl living alone in London, her actions seem religious but her attitude is rebellious.

Character

-Young girl
-Around 18-19 

-Ethnicity; undecided 

Location ideas 

-Broadway/busy street

-Underground station 

-Leake Street 
-Camden Town

-Bedroom 

SFX
-Distorted imagery 
-Black and White video 

Roles

Director-

Sheida

Producer-

Humaira

Script writer-

Sheida and Humaira

Camera man-

Sheida and Humaira

Makeup/Hair/Costume stylist-

Sheida

Editor-

Sheida and Humaira 

Casting- 

Humaira

Director of Photography-

 Humaira 

Inspiration

We find that the lyrics of the song we have chosen would fit a black and white narrative like Ed Sheeran's 'A-team'. 

Our main character is quite similar to the character in the video. 

We imagine our narrative to show a day in the characters like in chronological order like this video. 

However, Ed Sheeran's video does not showcase the lyrics literally, we want out video to represent the denotations of the lyrics. 

Idea

Sylvia Ella - Love 2 Late 





Influences for our video.



This video is quite conceptual and we want to include certain things for the audience to pick out. But we also want it to have some sort of narrative.
The emotions within this video is quite varied; from happy to sad, loneliness...


Locations

Deserted fields. 
E.g. 

Matthew Maltese

iTunes

Amazon

Facebook
Judging from his Facebook 'Likes' he is influenced by Bon Iver, John Mayer, Wolf Gang...
His music is quite similar to these.

Twitter

Website

Soundcloud

Youtube

Unsigned Artist search

Ideal Artists
Matthew Maltese
Matt McGowan
https://myspace.com/nusylviaella/music/songs


Matt Maltese - Lucky Charm video ideas
-Genre: Acoustic
-Location: Bedroom; Lyrics include 'Dreams', 'Your touch', 'Ghost'
-Props: Actor wearing a specific charm on the bracelet. Photo frame of the couple. 
-Narrative/concept; The girl/guy walking around all depressed, singing. Walking around. 
-Costume: Casual wear; pjs?

Andrew Goodwin - Codes and conventions of music videos

Andrew Goodwin - Codes and conventions of music videos - Sheida Ayazi

5 key aspects

• The sound
• Narrative and performance
• The star image
• visual relations to the song 
• Technical aspect

The sound 

The structure of the song; verses, chorus

The style of voice of the artist. 

How the artist addresses the audience.
How these points are displayed video form.

Narrative and performance

Narrative and performance go hand in hand to help keep the interest of the audience even if they watch it over and over again. 

The artist acting as both the narrator and a participant helps the video be unique. 

Lip syncing will always be a key feature but the audience need to believe it real. 

Music videos fail to tell the whole story and only tell it how they feel the song should be and not what it can be.

Star Image
Creates a connection with the audience and increase the popularity of the artist. In terms of setting trends etc.

The artist wants to be seen as unique. This helps them stand out as an artist. 

Example: Michael Jackson's moon walk.
Elvis Presley's Hair style.

Visual Relations To The Song

-Illustration; Certain images connecting to the song meaning or genre.

-Amplify; Certain images are repeated to be reinforced through video to be drummed into our heads. 

-Disjuncture; When the meaning of the song is completely ignored. This gets viewers talking about the music video whether it is good or bad. Although is it hard for the creators to make.

Technical Aspect

Lighting; Low-key, High-key

Colour; Setting
Colour and lighting sets the mood of the key moments in the song.

Mise en scene; Setting, Costume, Props,

Editing; cuts, transitions to the beat; camera speed/movement




Lady Gaga - Just dance. Star Image

Judging from the Just Dance video Lady Gaga seems like a fun and energetic artist. She definitely tries to portray herself this way by being shown dancing or messing around in different settings, wearing different clothes each time. This gives her audience the idea that any future video will include these features since this is the type of person she sets out to be. Lady Gaga's costumes in the video aren't as casual as they could be, the use of sequins and glitter for her clothes also helps her stand out from the many others in her video. Lady Gaga is currently known for her wacky style of clothes but although wacky and outrageous, she has managed to set trends for her fans, creating a star image for herself not only as a music icon but as a trendsetter. Looking at her more recent music videos, the Just Dance video





Ed Sheeran - You need me, I don't need you. Narrative and Performance.

This video is quite unique in terms of its narrative and performance. The person performing in the video is not the artist himself. The video doesn't have a direct narrative for the audience to follow but the performance of the actor is very different to all other music video as the actor is using sign language to express the lyrics rather that doing the typical lip syncing. Therefore although Goodwin's theory says that the artist being the narrator and a participant in the song helps the success of the song, Ed Sheeran's video goes against this, but does not fail to be unique. This is because the artist is generally very successful and popular, so the video aims to illustrate the lyrics rather than aiming to enhance Ed's star image.

Types of Music Videos

PERFORMANCE
Normally features the artists/ band. May have dancers and choreography. Uses a wide range of camera angles and repeats. Popular in some Urban and the Rock genre.











NARRATIVE
Tells a story which is normally relevant to the lyrics. The artist/band can also be present in the video either as part of the narrative or showing performing the song. 








CONCEPT
These video types have no narrative but are based on a single concept which may be unusual or meaningless to the audience.

Taylor Swift - Fifteen PARODY

Original:





Our Parody:

Why music videos?

Why I watch music videos?

• Interest in the artist/song
• Recommendation
• Entertainment
• Understanding the lyrics

Why music videos are made?

• Promotion of album/song
• Marketing
• Make it memorable 
• Creates more meaning for the song
• Make money 
• Get a message across e.g. political

M.I.A Case Study

M.I.A Case Study

6 Shot Analysis

Screenshots

Audience: It is highly likely for the audience to this video to be above 15 years of age due to the use of drugs, violence and gore. 

Narrative: This is is the first scene shot indoors. The nurse going through the long dark corridor tells the audience where the 'story' is set; in a hospital or a mental institute. This scene links to the lyrics "Walking down a horror corridor" implying that the video has a narrative of some sort.

Representation: The image shows a typical representation of a nurse. This is supported my the fact that she is pushing a hospital trolley and is wearing a symbolic costume; long White tunic, white hat and shoes. The image also shows a corridor with many doors which are open with light shining out from the left side of the corridor but are dark on the right side. However, this goes against the philosophy of left and right; good and evil. 

Narrative: This scene gives more information about the main character which is Eminem himself. The shots of him on the CCTV monitors may suggest that he is 'wanted'. Although it's blurry, he can be seen holding a weapon in the background which may give away more about what role the character plays and why he is dangerous.

Representation: Judging from his costume and props used, he comes across as the villain or the rebel. This is also supported by the expressions shown on the monitored. One of the monitored shows a white eye, similar to a snake.

Narrative: This scene identifies the humour within the video.
Representation: The affection towards the mannequin may be because of the fact that the mannequin cannot be murdered like other nurses or patients. Therefore dehumanising himself.

Representation: The bath full of blood could represent the murders committed by the character. It could also represent a ritual.

Narrative: This is one of the final shots in the video which confirms that the main character is actually a serial killer which is shown by the victim around him covered in blood. Watching the rest of the video makes it clear that the victims were slaughtered by the man standing in the middle.