DEVELOPMENT OF MY DIGIPAK CREATION

FOCUS GROUP

MISE EN SCENE

MISE EN SCENE REPRESENTATIONS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

Props - we will be using toys to represent youth and innocence. This will make the audience sympathise for the characters. It also helps to communicate the message of child abuse.

Lighting - general lighting of the video will be quite dark, illustrating its bleak narrative. This adds to the dark mood of the video, emphasising darkness in the characters' lives and suggesting that the lack of colour is symbolic in joy and optimism.

Colour - we will use filters to change the colours of the video to either sepia black or black and white when a flash back shows the destructive abuse of the young girl's father. This is used to show it as a memory and to separate the flashback from the narrative. This is appealing to the audience because despite the fact that they realise whats happening in the narrative and they can the story develop from different stages of the young girl's life. There are unexpected moments revealed as this shocks the audiences. It appeals to the audiences because they find out more about that specific moment, which supports their understanding of the video. 

REPRESENTATION IN YOUR VIDEO

The following social groups include:

Men - a father who is a dominant and aggressive force in the distorted family relationship. He will be represented as close minded and brutal towards his wife and children.

Woman - a caring mother who is abused and disrespected by her husband. A caring and mature figure who shows love to her children despite the father's inappropriate behaviour.

Children - two young girls who are represented as victims of their father's abuse. This will be shown through their character functions and the narrative development as our video will be made.

Ethnicity - The father will be a Somali male, whilst the mother will be a young woman from Yemen, their children will look mixed raced.

Conventional representation of stereotypes within this music video. A dominant male, a under looked female figure being the mother and the daughter. This will be portrayed through  a close up shot showing the fear and frustration from the mother's face and the children. A long shot of the setting will show the scared body language of the children. These negative representations will cause the viewer to sympathise for the characters. It will appeal to the audience as they can empathise the characters' feelings and capture the reality of a broken family to the audience. My group and I believe it'll promote these characters as victims of the society that they live in.

LOCATIONS LIST

The following locations are:

A bedroom - me and my group will record a scene in a bedroom and use a consistency of wide shots , medium shots and close ups. We plan on using this location to portray the natural setting of a broken family who are in a heat of an argument. We plan to use basic shots types such as the ones I've talked about and a low angle shot portraying the father figure as a dominant force in the bedroom scene.
The restrictions and rules are that we have a limit on time with this scene; we plan on making it about 4-7 minutes due to the file formatting. When making our first video we wanted to upload a 10 minute scene however the file size was too big to convert. We will overcome this by having a limit on time for each scene when constructing our video.

School playground. We will film a young girl on the ground crying to convey the impact of the father's abuse; our restrictions is that we might capture footage of students accidentally. Since we can't film anyone without permission if anyone walks into our filming session we will warm them about what we are doing. Again, the limit on time is something we will work on and we'll keep it at 3-5 minutes.

A dark classroom within our school. This room will be used to film a shadow of the dad on a wall. We want to capture the fearsome image of the father in a dark classroom and put it into our music video. One restriction is that we might not be able to access a dark room without autherisation. Therefore, we need to ask for permission from a higher authority. 

STORYBOARD AND LYRICS

Whilst planning the production of our music video, we decided to create a story board to carefully structure exactly which shot types we intend to use to help create a clear and direct link from the lyrics of the song along with the images being shown.  We believed that as a group, discussing and collaborating with one another to make sure we all agreed on which shot types to put together and exactly how much footage we needed and we considered the following:

- The mise en scene (dress code, lighting, location/setting)
- Post - production methods for enhanced editing.
- The availability of each us and a schedule for who and when were to film for our production. 

CREW LIST

Before the production our music video, my group and I created a crew list to make sure everyone understood their roles and we understood that each role would structure how we produced our video in a organised way. 

PROPS LIST

We will be using toys - these toys in the video will represent youth and innocence for the little girl who the narrative will be focusing on. It communicates the message of child abuse to the viewers.

Camera and tripod - we will be using a camera and tripod to capture additional images with a steady camera. This will help our developing production process as we continue to make rough cuts before the final production.

Clothing of characters - We will be using casual clothing, a sense of normality within a broken relationship family in the 21st Century. Black tops and jeans, whilst the younger actors will be wearing iconic clothing towards their role and age. For example, the little girl will be wearing children clothing with vivid colours. 

ANALYSIS OF DIGIPAK ADVERTS

This is a classical advert promoting the what had been the up-coming release for B.I.T.E music. The conventions of this include the colour scheme; the buzzing dark yellow background is interesting in promoting a fashionable Kerrang brand in the past. The capital white font usage shows normality and gives the promotion a classic Kerrang music content promotion. The white bold letter are highlighted in black in order to make the image's features of the what had been the up-coming content easier to read. The choice of image is a medium with a stylish body language; it appears to be a young woman crossing her hands and pointing her pinky and index finger upwards to show a sense of coolness and fashion. The design and layout consists of the features of this page being tilted to the side to make it look more fun rather then formal; these aspects of this advert communicate the pop genre and attract audiences.

This is a very modernised promotional image. The font style is very appealing and conveying the representation of pop with the bright red/pink colour. Also the pose of the young woman who is Katy Perry is very iconic for young woman through her beautiful and figure and her peaceful surroundings. The font style differs between the name and a slogan in blue where it says 'One of the Soya'. Near the bottom in white it has a description of the content which will be included quoting one of the songs '' I Kissed A Girl'' and saying that its a #1 hit. These elements all communicate the pop genre. 

ANALYSIS OF 2 OR MORE DIGIPACKS

EMINEM

The front cover consists of a music album which with the additional detail being highlighted in green with the name of the song in big, white capital letters saying 'WHEN I'M GONE'.  The conventions include the center of the image having the album's name. A medium shot from the waste below is used to show the professionalism and the theme of seriousness in his music with the roses on the stage floor together with his suit and glimmer black shoes. The wording is very formal and clear so that any consumer can easily understand it. This choice of shot has been used compared to that of any other to show the beauty in the song by showing a iconic view of the 'curtain call'.

The inside case of this disc consists of the imagery and the theme of his song being shown throughout the entire production; the front cover's name with the red letter in E also being put into the disc tells the consumer that the disc belongs to that case. Also, the conventions of the dark, atmospheric brown representation shows that its a song of a dark nature and a deeply emotional story line. The font is capital letters  for the name of the artist which is Eminem whilst the songs on the inside are listed in order so that the consumer can see what they've purchased. The layout follows the company and the producers that this artist is with saying ' B-ROKX ABC JAM RECORDS'.  These elements communicate the element of rap.



LIL WAYNE

The conventions of this front cover is that the music industry presenting the star which is Lil Wayne. a common convention is the dark theme which a grey background for the front cover, conveying the presentation of arrogance and evil. The colour scheme of the name shows the artist name in red in and a dark grey filter of the image showing a ominous theme and something interesting at first sight to the consumers. The wording is very appealing as the producers of the artist music is used in a unique font and written at the top whilst the rest of the wording is at the bottom with standard writing apart from the pun at the bottom. It says 'NO TALKING - NO SHOUT OUTS - NO DROPS'; this tells the consumer that the content is purely music and that the producer apply the mentality of Lil Wayne's image in the media is shown through the front cover.  The image choice is a medium shot portraying the focus of Lil Wayne's face . The design and layout are very clear and standard.

The inside cover of this music magazine portrays the list of 36 songs with this CD on the interior having a more brighter colour and the informal font fits in with the 'image' of Lil wayne. The choice of wording is very colloquial as webpage links to the music are given along with the list of songs from this artist. The informal font sees the creativity within the songs and appeal in a physical contexts to the audience ( what they see ). A left-sided long shot of the artist has been placed to that angle for the rest of the information to fit the page. The title and the name of the listed songs are that of a different colour to the webpage link and other information to show the consumer whats what. These elements communicate the genre of rap.

                                                            

The back case simply consists of a low-angle shot of Lil wayne sitting on a sofa; the low angle shot portraying his  power in his industry. That element alone already conveying the audience attraction. The font and wording of the letters slopping downwards also blends in with the image of the artsits, as this is a rap video. The iconography at the top let saying that its a explicit video with forms of aggression, violence and adult content. 

GENRE AND SUBCULTURE

The genre that i've chosen for my music video is Pop. The sub-culture is a mixed group of a young girl aged 6, a grown man for a father and a kind, and gentle mother. The 'family' grouping creates this sub-culture representation.

Artists - Beyone , Adele and Rihanna 

1) image- The image that they create female strength and power since all songs talk about struggles that they went through and their powerful vision of their futures that appear to be becoming more optimistic.

Ethnicity - Beyone has a American nationality, Adele has a English nationality whilst Rihanna is also American but has a Jamaican culture.

Age - Beyonce is 34, Adele is 27. Also, Rihanna is also 27

Gender -  They are all female.

Culture - Their culture is a American background; an American culture which confines the typical lifestyle of the US. The US has the largest economy in the worl.

Ideology - The values of women empowering their destiny and the ideology of female strength runs through all these artists' music videos/

Major/Independent record label -  Rihanna's label records include the following: Def Jam, Rock nation, SRP, Westbury road. Beyonce's record label include Columbia records. Lastly, Adele's record labels include XL and Columbia.

VIDEO 

Content - The content of the music video of beyonce evokes the singular representation of each artist. The music video simply shows for Beyonce a fake or illusion of what 'love' appears to be and her message to her viewer is that falling in love with the wrong man is extremely dangerous. Adele's music video simply shows her passionate feelings and her optimism of her previous relationships and how she wants her previous spouse to be happy despite she is alone. And Rihanna's music video indicates the power of confidence woman should have as it shows he in multiple locations such as the water that she is floating above on to represent her singularity and female equality.

Style and length of editing - The style of Beyonce, Rihanna and Adele's music video seem to show sparks of emotional connection. Beyonce inappropriately dressed showing her audience that physical and mental beauty can be powerful ( mise en scene) and that the length of the music video is 4:14.
Rihanna's music video portrays the mental security that she has as her main lyric is 'shine like a diamond' and this represents the values of confidence and maturity within herself as her locations set the style of her message; the length of the music video is 4:43. Lastly, the style of adele appears to be different as a more dark filter has been used with the camera tracking her movement across the riverbed setting, the songs length is 4:45.

Mise en scene - Beyonce is inappropriately dressed in the first half of her music video whilst she is wearing a wedding dress in her other half of her video; make up and her hair done to portray female beauty. Within Rihanna's music video in the beginning she appears to be naked with the camera only showing the top half her body, whilst in other parts of her video she seems to be wearing normal,feminist fashionable cloths. Adele seems to be wearing appropriate clothing with a black jacket covering her body which links towards the dark cinematography used.

Locations - The location of Beyonce's video is in her bedrooms and in a beach where a out-side wedding is shown. With Rihanna her music video is created in a dark stage. together with a bedroom and a sea-side where she is floating in the water. Adele's music video takes the viewer to a bridge which passes across a river.

Star development - Their careers developed through their record labels and their growing reputation of the ever so growing technology, medium broadcasting of TV's , online websites such as YouTube and Mp3 players .

Camera shots / angles - Within Adele's music video a tracking camera on a bridge tracked her movement for the entire music video; simply allowing the audience to focus on the lyrics rather then the dark setting of the music video. Secondly, for Beyonce a consistency of medium, wide shots, long shots and ELS constructed the narrative of her music based video. Within Rihanna a high angle shot of her on the water shows her feminist side as well as the close ups of her face allowing the viewer to focus on the singular representation of Rihanna.

Characters - Since all music videos construct singular-narrative based representations , no other characters apart from those stars are focused on in the music video.

Colour and lighting - As I've mentioned before , in Adele's music video a dark atmosphere has been created through the dark filter which matches the theme of loneliness within her music video. Beyonce uses very bright light editing of sunlight shining down on her as she approaches the wedding stage, also in her bedroom the natural lighting captures her beauty. Within Rihanna's music video a dark theme has been set together with natural lighting to convey sides of her life-style and complex mindset of the theme 'shine bright like a diamond'.

                                                      Beyonce - Best thing I never had 

Rihanna - Diamonds 

Adele - Someone like you 

                   

AUDIENCE

Audience categories can range from factors such as: age, gender, personality and inspiration.
Audiences have a certain line of expectation that needs to be crossed when creating a music video. When analysing and looking at music videos audiences are different and are interested in different genre elements or categories which depict their interest. For example, a TV show which is on-going such as The Walking Dead, a certain age factor is drawn from young adults and above; this can be seen through the ages of 15-40.
The intensive violence and weapon usage restricts the interest of children and draws a limit of expectation to the audience of that age group.


When looking at gender, specific artist such as Lana Del Ray will peak the interest of the female gender more since she has a feminist representation and is iconic towards the understand of woman through her song. For example, summer time sadness focuses on a lesbian couple who positively reflect on their lives and who commit suicide. This appeals more to woman who have a interest in other woman; excluding the vision of men being a target audience for this video.  Personality and inspiration can come from life experience that people may want to re-think and reflect on; this can be done by watching videos which remind them of situations similar to their own which interests the audiences. This can be done through music video, TV shows, etc...

ALTERNATIVE MUSIC VIDEOS: CUNNINGHAM AND GONDRY

Cunningham 

Cunningham's music is very unique and creative; one theory which I've noticed that isn't applicable to this music video is Laura Mulvey's theory. Mulvey, aged 74, argues that the camera/audience always represents a heterosexual man's perspective of the scene objectifying women. This is not shown, as a young woman is objectified as a independent woman who talks about a single man who can control how she feels when she says '' only you can tear me apart '' from 1:52-1:58. 

CCCS - All sub-cultures don't originate from mainstream music videos. However, it does apply to this alternative music videos in Cunningham's work. Family is a sub-culture shown through youth as a young boy and woman are portrayed. The interests of music videos compared to that of just the music is dying out but it strongly applies as his videos are mainstream. He was won many honours such as the MTV music video awards for breakthrough videos. Also, he was nominated from a Grammy for best short film. However, his unique quality in his music videos generate completely unique ideas. 

Cunningham's work does reflect Hebdige's theory of cultures in their own rights as this music video portrays the love and aspiration of a young woman ( family being the sub-culture in this case ) by having own rights, the rights in this case having the right to love whom you chose. 

McCracken's - People indeed do change, especially within age and become adjusted to different sub-cultures. The theme of love is expressed in this music video; love empowering people's choices and influences as they change for those they love. This is shown through the lyrics of this music video.

This video doesn't support the paradoxes, the video shows no contradiction and doesn't indulge in a star representation as shown. Only two characters are represented.

 Chris Cunningham is a British Video artist. He was born in Reading, Berkshire and raised in Lakenheath, suffolk.
He was famous for directing music videos on ambient music and electronica acts; this included Autechre and Aphex twin.











GONDRY 

One theory that this music video supports is Andrew Goodwin's. One part of his theory indulges with a visual link between the images portrayed and the lyrics. This is very powerful in this music video as a triple narrative is shown of the 3 different woman who appear to be having a stressful day. The continued line of ' How are you doing?' reinforces the busy life style shown and shows a link between the visual imagery and the lyrics.

The mainstream mise en scene representation ( which Gondry is famous for ) shows a normality within his work in this video. A old fashion, triple narrative edit shows the mainstream idea portrayed. 

Hebdige's idea of little cultures in their own rights strongly applies as the typical, stereotype of an American house wife is shown in the suburban representation. The modern and daily life style of this woman reflects that culture strongly. 

McCracken's theory doesn't apply since there is no character within this video changing within age. This artist can't be applied to Gondry's work. 

Dyer star theory on paradox is rich within his second theory which states that ' a star is both present and abscent'. This there is only one character shown, its clear to the viewer who the star is.

Michel Gondry is a french film director, screen writer and producer. He is famous for his intensive vision on visual style and manipulation of mise en scene. Ranked as one of the greatest film of the 2000s, he won an academy award for best original screen play as one of the writers of eternal sunshine of the spotless minds. which came out in 2004. 

EQUIPMENT LIST

1) Digital Video camera , canon DSLR  - The canon digital camera is a high quality camera which will enable my group to gather any images that we need to incorporate into our music videos

2) Camera recorder - The digital recorder will certainly be used to record the footage which will make the music video.

3) Mobile phones - After production, any additional footage which needs to be captured can be done individually before beginning to edit our music video.

4) Apple mac computer - After all the content is gathered, the mac computers will be used to finalise, edit and create our music video.

5) Tripod - A tripod will be used to capture clear, and study shot types.

MEDIA BROADCAST PLATFRORM

Mediums are imperative for the content of music videos to reach their audiences'. Exactly what is a 'medium' in media? Well, a medium in media is a agency or means of doing something. This is applicable towards my music video because we will be broadcasting our music video through YouTube, the TV and online through websites. Knowledge can be consumed through these mediums and its easy for them to access them since its online. Youtube channels which will have a 'recommended' section will also broaden our music video visually.

CONVENTIONS

What are Conventions ?

Conventions are ''common features''; these features are important towards what they try to represent.

   
Conventions of a music video in general ( e.g close ups, cutting to the beat of the music, etc ) demonstrate audience expectations through natural prop usage ( mise en scene ) to make sure that everything vital for a music video's success is included. Conventions including cinematography of appropriate use for the video. Cinematography which exploits the common understanding of what the audience can assume to happen; the setting and location together with what the narrative is saying. For example, Breaking Bad consists of illegal crystal meth cooking, this can be exemplified through the hidden locations which is expected of the audiences and their working suits which protects them from harmful chemicals. The camera shot mainly using medium, long, ELS and wide shot portraying the situations and locations that audiences expect.              

The conventions of music videos of rap consist of a appropriate setting, a more 'cool' location such as a inner city, clubs, parties and activities which include swimming and having a day out in the city. Normal conventions within a rap video include the characters mise en scene such as costumed clothing of rappers idolised or clothes with a strong and popular brand which signifies popularity. My  music video genre is Pop aimed at females; this will include female-like clothing and a more dark atmospheric background as the video focuses on events of negativity.

RESEARCH INTO THE MUSIC VIDEO INDUSTRY

INTERTEXTUALITY IN MUSIC VIDEOS

Further analysis of Intertextuality -

Intertextuality is the relationship between texts and the images portrayed. Intertextuality can be identified through conversations, thought processes of different characters represented and physical activities. Examples of this can be written in a physical format where a specific piece of text has been put in the video/clip to create a message or code to the viewer; in some cases foreshadowing ideas which leads to the over all plot and development of these video clips. In other cases, diegetic sound such as 'inside voices' or thoughts which are portrayed to a specific character and only to the audiences can construct meaning and represent intertextuality importance within music videos. The importance of this links towards the general story and basis of the music video, whether it be a concept based videos or whether it hybridises with performance based and narrative based music videos. Intertextuality will appeal to audiences because music video's thematic styles such as fashion, clothing, time settings can help the audience understand the links between intertextuality and the lyrics of the music video.

I don't really intend to use any form written intertextuality within my music video; the first drafts will simply compile of narrative and performance based representations of the more 'darker tone' style. The music videos image will be based on the narrative a lot more. 

CATEGORIES OF MUSIC VIDEOS

Performance based videos -


Many music videos include performance based music within their videos;this simply means a protagonist/ antagonist is a central figure towards a music videos. This performance based style helps to develop the narrative and takes the audience into the story or message of the music video. Performances can be based through stage performances, it contains a variety of shot types of artist performing through routine of dances, singing or physical/social activities. Naturally, music videos either tend to have a singer performing on a stage set or singularly singing as them as the central focus. Also, music videos tend to have physical performances of activities such as cross country running or basketball to illustrate a narrative and thematic conventions such as inspiration or motivation. This is also means that often link into artist 'real life' situations and represent lifestyles. This strongly hybridises with the narrative based concept which tells a story through the lyrics and has a natural structure; beginning, middle and end. A example of this is Eminem - When I'm gone. It centralises Marshell Mathers , a story which depicts the broken family relationship of the lifestyle that he once used to life, a stage performance together with a developing narrative illustrated the hybridisation of performance based and narrative based music videos.

Narrative based videos -

Narrative music based videos often depicts a story-line towards the actual content. It simply means that the music video has a narrative: a construction of a story. Narrative based music videos usually allow audiences to easily understand what is happening in the video having a beginning,middle and end.

Concept based videos -

Concept based music videos are based on a singular idea. The idea of a concept based music video is to keep the viewer focused on the singular, perhaps icon representation shown on the screen. Whether it be usual or unusual; the videos representation should completely draw the viewer. This makes it a successful music video because a main concept helps producers who are creating a video for a single purpose/message portray it through a concept. A conceptual music video also hybridises with performance based music videos and narrative based music videos which completely compiles to construct a 'whole' representation. 

THE HISTORY OF MUSIC VIDEOS

ANDREW GOODWIN AND LAURA MULVEY MUSIC VIDEO THEORY

ANDREW GOODWIN

Andrew Goodwin suggest that music demonstrates genre characteristics.

depending on the music video's purpose, and the target audience that its aiming at. Genre characteristics can vary through the speech, dialogue and the setting of the actual music video itself. This includes  bands, books/performance inspirations and related genre style music. Genre characteristics can depend on further development of music video's image and print/digital distribution. Merchandising ( the activity is promoting the sale of 'goods' to a large/niche audience) can further enhance the impact of genre characteristics and character image within music video's. Platforms such as Magazines and Film can help reproduce the reputation of music videos. This point strongly links in with genre aspects of music videos.

Andrew Goodwin also suggest that there is a relationship between the lyrics and the audio.

The representations of lyrics have a strong impact on the audio representation itself; this can be conveyed through the genre of music, whether it be rap which has a strong rhythmical construction or juts free-verse rapping. There are also other representations of lyrics, lyrics are the foundation of music songs and the lyrics help to create the genre of music videos. Links between the genre of music videos together with the word choosing strongly links to create a narrative and the image of the song.
Also, narrative construction within a music video is constructed by a link created through the lyrics and audio. For example, Maroon 5 - Maps. This song is based on a couple going to a party and the girlfriend has caught her man indulged in the lips of another woman; through  frustration she leaves the party and is eventually hit by a car. The lyrics is based on the theme of 'so i'm following the map that leads to you'. This choice of lyric continuation reinforces the bond that the main character Adam Leveine has with his girlfriend and a strong emotional link is created through the lyrics and the audio.

Andrew Goodwin's third suggestion is that there are demands of the record label which will include the need for lots close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work ( visual style).

The basic structure and usage of close ups, extreme close ups and medium shots help to construct strong representations and conveying messages. These shot types representation can illustrate themes,genres and messages to the target audience. These basic shot types inextricably blends in with other media representations such as the importance of symbolic aspects of a music video ( intertextuality ) and the sound. Sound is very powerful and has a strong impact; this reinforces the power of close ups and why they're used together with sound and intertextuality. These basics shot types together with the motifs can help represent gratification and iconic representations towards the viewer, this has a even stronger impact if the target audience is a niche audience since this allows the viewer to have a stronger understanding on why motifs are being used.  Record labels will always demand for more dominance in their industries so the artist themselves will be a more central image which helps create a vivid vision of the producers work by the visual style.

Andrew Goodwin's fourth suggestion is that there is a frequently reference to notion of looking ( screens with screens, mirror, stages , etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

Frequent notion is something which isn't always used within a music video. However, when used this can be understood as a camera portraying a representation within a camera. This basically means a 'screen within a screen'.  Voyeurism treatment can be used within a mirror representation, particularity for females through feminism.  However, when comparing this representation to a more masculine point of view voyeurism can be emphasises within action films such as Kick ass ( 2010, directed by Matthew Vaughn) within the scene where the murder of Frank D'amico ). The voyeurism takes place during from 1:32 to 2:30 minutes within this clip.

Finally,Goodwin's last theory says that there often intertextual references ( to films , TV programmes , other music videos ). 

Intertextuality is very powerful towards a music video's narrative, including forms of text within a music video. Creating meaning from one text, depending on what the text actually says depends on the the producer's choices for broad or niche target audiences. These textual meanings can convey specific ideologies or messages to the audiences within TV shows and films. For example, within the film I Am Legend ( 2007, directed by Francise Lawrence ) has a strong opening scene where after a brief interview portraying a woman who presumably has found the cure for cancer; it then cuts to a a establishing shot with intertextuality saying ' THREE YEARS LATER'.  Professionally, capital letter and a bold formatting type tells the strongly tells the audience the negative outcome of this 'cure for cancer'.

LAURA MULVEY 

One part of her male gaze theory suggests that the camera / audience always represents a hetrosexual man's perspective of the scene objectifying woman.

Another part of her male gaze theory suggest that women are only portrayed as one of two possibilities. Either a virginal innocent character or a sexy ''whore'', This is called the virgin / whore dichotomy.

This point can be further understood through female representation of social class within music videos. For example, woman who are constantly objectified as sexual representations for men's arrogance/ego's are more likely to be seen in a rap music video of men who's popularity and image excels. For example, 50 Cent - Candy shop is a prime example of the powerful theory that Mulvey has stated. Also, the cinematography emphasises just that. This has been done through close ups of specific body parts of both men and woman showing a more 'seductive' aspect for men who are hetrosexual.  The cinematography also uses a couple of low angle shots together with the mise en scene ( expensive chains and expensive cars such as Lamborghini ). The camera work also strongly blends in with the song's lyrics, where both 50 Cent ( Curtis James Jackson ) says '' I can take you to the candy shop, i'll let you lick the lolly pop'' from 40-43 seconds.

This also links to Mulvey's other point where the image of a woman is portrayed as two possibilities; a virginal innocence or a 'whore'. The camera shots and the sexual representation of woman can be linked in towards women being objectified.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

DESCRIPTION OF MY TARGET AUDIENCE

POPULAR CULTURE

UNDERSTANDING OF ADORNO  AND HEBDIGE, HOW DO THEY PERCEIVE CULTURE?

Adorno (1903-1969) was a German philosopher and critical theorist. Hebdige in the context of culture argued that " capitalism gave people the product of a 'cultural industry', which is the opposite of communism, this in his eyes has made people undeservedly satisfied ." Adorno thoroughly studied the concept of sub-culture. Since he hada background on studying philosophy ( understanding general life style issues, such as values, concerns, societies ) he understand this concept and that's why his theory still has value to the present day.

Richard ''Dick'' Hebdige is an expatriate (someone who lives outside their native country), he looked at music through the representation of 'meaning of style'. He valued what the 'resistence' of subcultures effected the society he lived in and how it would develop in the future. He argued that " punk emerged as a mainly white style when Black youth became more separatist in the 1970s in response to discrimination in British society" ( Wikipedia - Dick Hebdige ).

YOUTH AND SUB-CULTURE 

Sub-culture is a group within within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of a larger culture. Sub-culture is illustrated within within music through disposition and separation of cultures into groups. For example, within music videos gender and age can create subcultures through different character functions and representations ( Mise en scene/subculture image) such as clothing, ethnic relations, political representations such as the governments laws and rules and social realism which cause different sub-cultures to be created.  One sub-culture is a 'sense of belonging'. This can be shown through a genre-related music video. My group and I are creating a sub-culture of teenagers/young adults primarily females. These female audiences who are contained within this multi-ethnic American representation; is a emotional song which expresses the power of woman's emotions. 

DYER'S STAR THEORY

Dyler's 'star theory' explains how a true pop star does have a lasting significance, and  brand awareness over a longer period of time. Many of the stars populating the top forty currently have not made a sufficient sociological or cultural impact to be classified as true stars if we return to Richard Dyers’ definition.

 Stars as construction - stars can either be represented as obvious heroes or hidden stars which are usually revealed towards the end of the film. A obvious star's image can be established even before the image video is revealed, giving niche and newly interested target audience's a strong interest within what they expect. The artist's cultural background and style of music creation also has a impact on the audience. 

 “A star is an image not a real person that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (eg advertising, magazines etc as well as films [music]).” Dyer, 1979

Star Theory - The theory of stars can be see also as 'genre stars, to simply put it as 'rap star'/'pop star', these iconic representations allows the audience to see how quickly a star has been promoted. Stars have their own vivid image and their importance is often showed in the audience's faces. However, not all stars are apparent, start can also range from a broad choice of character, so the representation of  a 'star' image doesn't always seem so apparent.

Even though the theory of 'star' or star representation is a automatic process, it should be fully understood and recognised, for example pop stars. Pop stars are no longevity, rock and roll is not about singing perfectly or a confident-show buzz personality. If the song is a record buying, if that artist is unique in its style, rather then a transparent offering designed, explicitly to appeal to our blander taste buds served up by a record company interested only in money. A star can have the impact needed which will determine whether a music video is a iconic symbol of successful or not.  The industry and audience links into this; they both serve another purpose for music videos and re-populate audiences. Stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve a purpose for a video which could be selling a certain amount of records or gaining popularity and building reputation. To make money out of audiences, who respond to various elements of a star persona by buying records and becoming a fan. Stars are personal building blocks to a successful music industry. Record companies nurture and shape their stars to the audience's needs- this can be seen through generations of developing TV shows, music videos and film. Character are shown to be what other people perceive to be. They tend to manufacture what they think audiences want, which is a example of proper clothing, materialistic representations and specialist helping starts in their weak spots.

SEAN KINGSTON - BEAUTIFUL GIRL - HIP HOP

The story line of the song shows Sean talking to one of his pears ( who appear to be friends ) talking about his crush on a girl. The video then features him in a American fast-food store where many characters around his age appear to come in order to socialise and to interact with one another. The song starts outside the shop; the song continues it portray him singing inside the shop. The song continues to show him on a table clapping with many other teenagers as he sings about his experience where he 'moves down south' in another store as he song ends with him singing with a quire.

The song starts with a medium shot of Sean Kingston using his natural voice ( with no sound editing for the first 17 seconds ). This natural diegetic sound flows and calmly introduces the viewer into the video. The camera movement is pretty basic and standard, as continues medium shots and wide angle shots have been used to naturally to show the setting of this music video. The setting such as the dinner in the beginning of the scene has been easily established by the audience, and such cinematography is very useful. The mise en scene is expressed through the prop usage such as the clothing worn by what appears to be the fashion for young Americans between the ages of 15-20 years old. The facial expressions seem to be distinctively optimistic and the usage of characters within the age group of 15-20 is very empowering in representing youth as a image of this music video. This strongly links in with the representation of character function and age representation as young adults' lifestyles are generally summed up within this  music video.

Social and political ideologies can be linked in towards not just the narrative, but also through Sean Kingston's representation of love and relationships. Social inequality and national issues within this age group that all confine the natural issues of teenagers/young adults by showing relationships with girls/boys to be filled with frustration, cheating and disinformation. Political aspects of the law and government come in this representation when Sean said '' it was back in 99, watching movies all the time and ohh  I went away for doing my first crime''' ( 2:01-2:04). This form of verbal intertextuality illustrates the political side of this music video.

The genre of this music video is Hip-Hop consisting of rhythmical expressions together with a sense of 'rap', a more creative style of music. This ambient soundtrack together with a multiple usage of beats dropping in after every few scenes in this music video emphasises that this music video is hip-Hop based. Intertextuality communicates in a form of an emotional faze (common through teenagers) who experience difficulties within finding partners and other loved ones. This links in with audience perception as the Stuart Hall's theory allows the viewers of today's society to accept the representation of the music video when targeting a more niche audience, normally between the ages of 15-24.

 Andrew Goodwin's theory can strongly be applied here as a strong relationship between the visual imagery and the music itself; this is shown through the cinematography and the intertextuality I mentioned beforehand. Also this video emphasises the importance of commitment within relationships and creates a form of emotional aspiration for the younger viewers who watch this. Lastly, Laura Mulvey's theory also very powerful in this video as females continuously have been show in this video as an 'object' of love and a form of a heterosexual man's desire. No binary opposites are shown apart from gender separation through the theme of love.

AKON - RIGHT TO LOVE - RNB

The simplistic narrative implicates Akon picking up his girl in a car and driving around the sea shore whilst they view the beautiful scenery and showing  their love for each other; this shows the basic narrative through the lyrics and the scene's setting.

This music video starts of with 3 camera movements showing the destination that Akon is arriving in, a long shot portraying the vehicle, then a wide shot taken from a left-sided angle and another wide shot portrayed from the right side this time. As soon as the vehicle stops, simultaneously the beat of the music drops and the diegetic soundtrack is introduced. A continued usage of long shots and medium shots are portrayed  to show the representation of love and the focal point of this music video. This combo of diegetic sound and cinematography has been used to portray the iconic representation of relationships and happiness.

 The obvious political ideology is represented through the environment and the culture; this ideology also links in with the mise en scene. First of all, not just the protagonists which are displayed, Akon and his girlfriend symbolise the cultural tranquility of their surroundings. Within the opening seconds of the song as Akon's girlfriend was walking past a medium shot of a old man reading a magazine was portrayed through similar dress codes telling the viewer the political and economical distribution of wealth range evenly. This means that the people within this music video live similar lifestyles and the beat of the music makes the viewer feel calm and relaxed. This blends in with the continued usage of medium,close ups and fade away editing shot types used to portray the beautiful surroundings of this video. The cinematography is very powerful for the cultural representation of this music video.

Character representation is very stylistic and the mise en scene empowers the cultural image of the environment that is shown. Children within the streets shown by wide shots and medium shots portrays the average lifestyle of children, emphasising intertextuality in a form of physically-social activities, which makes the audience feel as if this video is filled with cultural youth. The genre of this music video is RNB, the rhythmical beat and the natural tempo of this song ( ambient sound ) reinforces that this is a RNB style song.

Stuart Hall's theory in this case can be represented in either of the 3 ways, however depending individually on the audience's style and taste in music, i'd say the target audience for this song would be both male and females, aged between 14-35.  Also, Andrew Goodwin's theory indefinitely shows a relationship between the visual content and the music itself, A parallel soundtrack has been used. Also, the tone and atmosphere crystalises the beauty of the song's message within this video( the message being that if you love someone you shouldn't care about what others think). Lastly, Laura Mulvey's theory can definitely be used as a woman ( binary opposition ) is connotated as a central figure for a heterosexual character within this music video. This has been shown continuously through the cinematography together with the natural lighting and the ambient sound.

GREEN DAY - WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS - ALTERNATIVE ROCK

The music video begins with a young man and woman who are together in a wide, open and grassy area. The viewers can straight away see that there is a connection between both of these characters. Intertextuality is introduced straight away along with a extreme long shot with a sign positioned on the ground near the grass saying 'wake me up when September ends'. This introduces the song to the audience.

The mise en scene is also very clinical to the approach and the gender profile shown. A normal teenager growing up in the what appears to be urban representation of American. Both Jamie Bell and Evan Rachel wearing standard summer clothing which relates towards setting of the music video makes the content seem more realistic. Through out the music video the narrative of a young man who appeared to have cheated on his girlfriend portrays the negative qualities of a relationship. Juxta- position cinematography has been used to show a double narrative between the singer and the girl and the boy as it shows them going through a troubled situation. The following scene then takes the viewer to a battle field where the boy has become a soldier as the girl is portrayed to be alone as the voice over of her saying " you'll always have some here for you. I'm never gonna leave you" - 6:55 to 7:01.

The song is the fourth single from the group's 7th studio Idiot American (2004) and became a number one hit in Czech Republic, Belgium and in the UK. This links in with audience perception as a number of audiences may have already experienced such  a tragic representation of love, and it definitely relates towards the both genders between the ages of 14-25.  Again, Stuart Hall's theory of audience perspective is important, in this case I believe that the audience's social lifestyle especially in 2015, allows them to agree with what is portrayed in this music video.

Andrew Goodwin's theory of the 5 key aspects are also dominant here as cinematography, visual relation, technical representation ,narrative performance and star theory are portrayed in their own unique way. The image of the protagonist slowly fades into Jamie being an antagonist as the plot is revealed further into the song. However, Laura Mulvey's theory of men objectifying woman is shown not through physical actions but emotionally, as this video portrays a woman's heart being objectified.

EMINEM - BEAUTIFUL - CHOSEN GENRE - RAP

As the diegetic soundtrack simultaneously comes in together with a wide shot from behind Marshel Mathers (Eminem ), strong cinematography continues to be used. For instance, after the wide shot(portraying) it cut to another wide shot from the right side of the video's location setting, a high angle shot type was then used. Such cinematography captures the beauty of the theme and lets to audience quickly see the setting of the music video.

The video portrays Marshel walking into a church where the majority of the music video is shown, he walks into several destinations within the church, the open entrance of the space portrays Marshel along with a black woman walking along with a suit case; a large amount of the video is also shot in a room with a bed on it and a staircase setting. Also, near the ending of the video it shows Marshel walking in the streets to what appears to be a soon reconstructed baseball stadium.

 The church symbolically showing the viewer that religious values interlock with music and that spiritual representations links in to the message of 'beauty'. This clearly represents that the introduction to the video has been used to quickly draw the viewer into the video's environment and shows that the setting has importance. As a continuation of wide shots, long shots and medium shot portraying Eminem are shown, a long shot form behind is also portrayed of a black woman carrying a suit case; at which the beat then drops towards Eminem rapping.  A rather dark style of editing has been used, this dark editing has been used to portray human inequality and blends in with the parallel soundtrack portrayed. The mise en scene also inextricably blends in with  the symbolic representation of the church and the rap music; this is shown through the natural dark clothing portraying the elusive image of 'rap' and 'arrogance'. For example, the typical baggy trousers, the grey top and the common jacket shown. Also the lighting coming in through the windows in this church also portray the 'heavenly' representation of the setting symbolising hope, beauty and faith.

The content that is physically being created is not shown, however, it has been put together with a video and Eminem rapping to complete a wonderful music video. He is the sole character represented and this individuality portrays the image of beauty and faith. Also, religious ideology can be linked in with the message and emotional expression of this music video. The religious ideology shown by music being a form of spiritual believe through the positive message being sang by Eminem is signified through the intensive beat of the song and the rhythmical tone. This tells the audience that the video has a rap basis. When referring to intertextuality, the relationship between the text tells the audience that regardless of how you look or how others may see you as, you're always beautiful, despite any form of negative oppression.  Audience reception is very powerful towards the message that the video is trying to portray. For instance, Stuart Hall's theory suggest three perspectives of human intake. The first is dominant reading (the reader fully accepts the text and it becomes apparent), The negotiated reading ( the reader only partly accepts the content and broadly accepts it ) and the oppositional reading where the reader's social positions makes him deny the text being portrayed ). Through social appeal and person interest, this theory tells the audience that a more niche target audience is aimed at rap rather then every person being into this kind of music. The music video is aimed at males ( possibly females ) aged between 14-50 years of age.

The Andrew Goodwin theory consists of 5 key details. Thoughts of the beat/music ( listening to the message the music is illustrating, such as the message of believing that you're beautiful and how the images link into the magical lighting ). The second is the relationship of the song with the visual content (parallel sound track). This means that there is a strong connection between the imagery being shown and the words of the actual artist; in this case when he says "Lately I've been hard to reach, I've been too long on my own" creating a direct link between the spacious surroundings and given off the feeling of solitude. The third is technical aspects of the video such as editing and props used ( the bed in a room in the second part of this video). The fourth is narrative and song performance, and the last one is star image or protagonist which is clearly shown in this video to be Eminem. Also, Laura Mulvey's theory has no power in this video as only a male is shown and no sexist/sexual preference over woman is shown in this video. As a matter of fact, only one woman who was appropriately dressed was shown in this video cancelling her theory out.

50 CENT - CHOSEN GENRE - RAP

The video begins with 50 cent and Mase talking to a older French gentlemen about purchasing shoes. This is followed by the camera movement which is very interesting in this video as the a extreme long shot of the setting is shown with textual representation, saying 'MONACO' in big, white capital letters. This is followed by a camera panning in multiple positions along with a fade away shot and a usage of medium and natural long shots to portray the scenery has been used to draw the reader into the beautiful setting of the song. Through out the song ,  fade away shot types have been used together with the camera stopping showing prices together with materials (mise en scene) illustrating the focus of the rich cultural representation. Also, the mise en scene is very powerful as higher class adults which are shown as either A/B on the social demographic illustrates the theme of money and power. This is shown through the mise en scene by the clothing of 50 cent and Mase. For example, the representation of their big furry jackets, chains and a $1,000,000 diamond ring shown. The music video features 50 cent and Mase in a Bugatti cruising around Monaco and encountering rich members of the public as they manage to buy shoes, a diamond ring and get some lunch whilst meeting up with their friends. The video then continues as they're both shown driving in their car and buying a $40 dollar car rental and later that day having a social gathering and drinking what appears to be champagne; 50 cent is then shown dashing the drink away as he is unsatisfied with his service. In conclusion, both 50 cent and Mase take a joy ride around Monaco and have a really enjoyable time, showing the viewers what money can buy.

 Those around the central representation of 50 Cent and Mase, their 'friends' shown in the video and a vast majority of rich people shown in the video portrays a perfect economical representation. By perfect economical representation I mean that they're comfortably wealthy. The genre of this particular music video is rap, this is shown through the rhythmical lyrics and the flow of the rapping of 50 cent. Since the video ( if uncensored ) has inappropriate words the iconography is 18+.  The colour seems to be mostly natural with natural lighting of the area and the shots taken from in doors and outside. The genre of this music video is clearly rap through the dialect, 50 cent ( Curtis James Jackson ) has a strong rhythmical vibe. The creation of this video referencing mixed cultural power is very clear in this video. This has also been exploited through the usage of cinematography as a usage of medium and long shots portraying the differentiation of nationalities, who are also shown to be within the hierarchy ( A on the demographic ) and who are shown as completely rich within this music video.

Audience perception can be identified in numerous ways as audiences naturally in a modern society would see this style of music videos to be 'rich' and 'fruitful' as it would fill the natural desires and lifestyles of those growing up in a middle class/ poor society. The audience enjoy what they see as a vast representation of rich materialistic quantity is portrayed, its as if its almost too good to be true.
Andrew Goodwin theory can't be applied here as a typical genre theory is represented, it has central based male figures and doesn't seem to has a large impact and focus on more then 2 characters.  However, Laura Mulvey's theory is a strong example within this music video; as the dominance of male representation is illustrated. For example, a heterosexual dominant male ( 50 cent ) is portrayed when a beautiful woman. one part of her theory suggest that the camera represents a hetero-sexual male's perspective of scenes to be objectifying women. A medium shot together with the soundtrack illustrated their gaze towards the woman's beauty. Binary opposites however can't be referenced as this video doesn't show any appealing opposition-based representations or comparative  representations.

J.COLE - CHOSEN GENRE - RAP

The cinematography in this song is very powerful and a consistency of close ups and medium are portrayed to take the viewer into the reality of the song along with the artist. The viewer can see a double narrative as J cole and another white male are in the bathroom looking at their own reflection whilst J cole is shown brushing his teeth; it then cuts to a wide shot showing J cole hoovering his house on the upper floor. This strongly blends in with the mise en scene and the genre which emphasises the idea of 'rap'. The clothing of the artist ( J Cole ) as he is wearing a thematic t-shirt, consisting of a white colour together with a chain symbolising the rap genre illustrated. Also, when addressing the representation of 'national ideology', the values of his lyric through female expressions show the lifestyle of the suburban quantity living in north Carolina, USA. The next part of the scene takes us to J cole mowing his lawn whilst the white male is having breakfast with his daughter. The setting of the song which is shown to be in the diversity of the United States also portrays the strong life style within the young adult age group. This representation of Mise en scene inextricably blends in with the intertextuality of the song; the state located in the East of United States of America features the song in the complexity of the Suburban streets of Carolina. North Carolina is the 28th most extensive and 9th most populous of the 50 most United States. A long shot portraying a young girl hugging J cole is shown; this tells the viewer a family bond is constructed as a slow motion edit expresses the love of the family who hug J cole including what appears to be his mother and father.

The following part of the scene takes us to a wide shot of the Cole family family singing happy birthday to the young girls whilst juxta position sees the white male as a police officer in a van. When analysing a video like this, audience perception  is not niche whatsoever and is not limited; it mainly comes down to a person's interest. The rap genre's interest can be broken down to a limited age group of 13-26 when analysing a the background of the music video (intertextuality) , Intertextuality is also shown in the following part of the scene where the two narratives that come together sees the white male officer barging into J Cole's home to arrest him as the birthday girl portrayed seeing J being arrested by a long shot ( a camera placed near the door of the room the child is sleeping in). As the music stops a officer is shown who shot the child, the bullet mirrored a firework shooting in the sky. As J Cole is arrested and brought to the officers' vehicle a medium shot portrays him crying; another mid-shot of the white male officer thinking of his daughter shows the link between the feeling of love and emotions and tells the viewer that the officer is sympathising for J Cole's loss.

 the vibe of the song and the actual physical content together with the audio. Gratification theory looks at how and why people enjoy music, therefore the interest from gender and age group representation impacts who is into this music video. Through the representation of Andrew Goodwin the representation of 'Star' can be applied by the continued representation of J.Cole within this video together with the technical aspects such as the editing ( lighting being enhanced ). Also, Laura Mulvey's also indicating the heterosexual representation is strongly portrayed as J.Cole is the centre of this video's representation. Binary opposites are shown through the differentiation of men and woman, portraying men as the dominant force by having a central male figure talking about his vision of love and his perspective of love and relationships.

 

LETTER TO THE PRODUCTION COMPANY