This is a example of a conceptual music video because the music video shows evidence of exploring the theme 'Tea', for instance I could denote visual images of a cup of tea at the background, which illustrates the theme to the audiences.
The use of technique of the green screen technique also help to illustrate the lyrics to audience, for example when Theresa states 'you're not my cup of tea', the lyrics are visually illustrated to amplify the words. The phrase is amplified because it is important (related to the concept of the music video) At the same time the meaning of the concept is represented through this phrase.
From using green screen it helps indicate to the audiences that this is a pop genre because the use of visual image makes it very colourful, which meets the conventions of a pop genre. In addition it uses lots of pink/pastel colours, which makes it more appealing to female audiences.
This gave us some idea of what we would do for our music video.
Another idea includes the starry back drop, which makes the music video more conceptual because our music 'Off The Radar', explores the space theme through the lyrics, which also amplifies the lyrics.
How I could make this idea possible?
To make this idea possible we could use a projector in a dark room ie: Constellation projector or just using normal projectors used to connect to computers.
We could also purchase sticky stars that glows in the dark, which we could stick on the ceilings or walls to create different coloured glowing effects, which links in to the pop genre.
Finally, Green screening might be the most effective and simple method because using green screening means that we do not need to worry about the amount of lighting not coming through the camera in the dark room. Like in the music video you could clearly see the band members as well as the starry back drop.
Another possible theme maybe a circus theme because the circus fits in well with the pop genre and creates a more of a quirky effect to make it original. This makes reference to the group blog, where you could see some photo's of the recessing shots of a circus in a park, where we thought that it could be one of our potential location for our performance.
In the opening of the music you could see a dome glass ball and it cut's into a performance of the vocalist singing and with back up dancers as if they are inside the dome. I want to use this idea as well but replacing the dome with a planet possibly or just changing the mis en scene of what could be inside the dome with the starry back drops and other ideas that I have mentioned above.
The CGI images of the stars has also inspired me to use 3D effects programs to create a colourful poppy background. As well as linking to the theme to make it conceptual and conforming to the pop genre.
The use of the mis scene scene is well used to illustrate, for example there was a close up shot of the part of the piano, I could denote that the hammer is hitting the strings, which synchronise with the music because the music opens with a piano playing. However, when the music starts to build up (more dramatic), the piano was not a good idea because it doesn't fit in to the rock genre genre. At the same time with the location of were it is filmed, was not suitable, especially with the indoor shoot because it looks as if it's filmed in school or at home. (Lazy mis en scene)
I think that the forest location was pretty good because the gives a sort of eerie vibe, like in those horror films with the haunted castle, which fit's well with the rock genre because a gothical type of image would suit best for a rock artist. However, I think that the lightings could be lower key because in most rock music video that I have watched, usually have dingy lights/dull lightings (Dark Locations) or even set in black and white (sepia mode). Ie: The Gazette, Night Mare, 12012, Golden Bomber etc. Which is conventional in most rock music video.
This music video also lacks originality and creativity because in most parts of the music video is very repetitive, for example I could denote her falling down and running throughout the whole music video, which doesn't show any sense of creativity and that it is important that a music video must include some sort of theory, for example is it conceptual, narrative or performance.
Overall, I think that this music video has failed to explore the theory.
I think that this music video is challenging the codes and conventions of a rock genre music video, for example in this music video we could only see her, which suggests that she is a solo artist. In most rock genre music video's we conventionally see that there is a band group performing together. Which also means that most rock music video's are conventionally performance base. It also challenges the codes and conventions of a music video because it is more conventional to have a male vocal lead in a rock band, but in this music video we focus on female artist, which challenges the typical gender representation in a music video.
The costume of the artist, demonstrates the kind of gothical star persona, for example the long black dress makes the character of the artist seems mysterious and that the colour is associated with being dark, which conforms to the conventions of a rock genre. In addition, she is a white race so that also conforms to the conventions of a rock star persona because it is very uncommon to have other race in a rock band (East Asians are exceptional), for example Black races often stereo typed as being a hip hop artist.
In conclusion, the level of the music video would be a level 1 because it lacks creativity with mis en scene, cinematography, performances and editing.
This is a experiment with I-Stop Motion, with play dough characters.
I think that the I-Stop Motion technique is quite simple but it requires a lot of patience to do, for example when filming the movement of the we would have to stop each time and them film, with the anime it program.
The advantages of using this program is that it is very simple and easy to use. All you need to do is to connect a fire wire to a cam recorder to the computer and you could freely adjust the shots and movements, instead of using the built in web cam to film from the computer. After filming you could also edit the film on i Movie HD.
When taking the shots of the movement, make sure that you have 2 or 3 shots of the same position so that the you could slow down the motion of the play dough dolls. You would have to make sure that when filming from the previous shot that the dolls are in the same position from the last shot so that it looks more natural.
What went well during the process of the I-Stop Motion?
I think that it went well with the motion because in most areas the movement of the dolls were quite natural, in addition I think that the sound effects were a success ie: the voice overs because it fitted in with the characters personality.
It was also a success because the all the voice overs were only done by three people but all voices sounded all different and unique.
What went bad in the during the process of the I-Stop Motion?
During the process of the filming the camera occasionally turns off and that the camera angle changes quite often, which effects the position of the dolls.
The music video demonstrates their star persona, for example the music is in mono colour/sepia mode, which signifies that the band is quite gothical like their visual kei style/look. This conforms to the generic conventions of the heavy metal genre because the use of sepia mode makes the music video serious and horror like, which also fits into their star persona.
The Mise en Scene is also used to represent the genre, for example the location is set in a remote area, which fit's into the horror theme and it illustrates the concept 'Shiver'.
At the same time the music video makes reference to the anime 'Kuroshitsuji' meaning 'Black Butler', which is about a demon who becomes a butler of a young boy, named Ciel but in return he must sell his soul to the demon. The anime is made up of different genres, such as horror, Supernatural, fantasy, which relates to the music video of making the audience feel 'Shiver' down their spine. This also helps to appeal to more audiences and build a wider fan base ie: People that read the manga, watch the anime.
The editing pace of the pace is quite fast, which matches the fast tempo of the music, this represents the star persona of the band because the the fast pace insinuate that they are very energetic, wild, upbeat, which conforms to the rock genre.
This is a poster to advertise their new album 'Shiver'. As you can see the idea of them cross promoting the artist is quite successful because they all carry the same star persona across/through all media promotion, which makes it recognisable for the audiences. For example the use of black and white again is linked to the music video and it also implies to the audiences that their music is just like the name of the album 'Shiver', which makes it quite gothical and horrorish just like their star persona.
Their star persona is also represented through mise en scene, for example their facial expressions displays a serious expression, which signifies to the audiences that their music is serious. At the same time the faces are kind of covered by shadows makes their persona more mysterious and attractive to female audiences.
Their visual image of their fashion sense also help to build a unique star persona, for example the visual kei style is a unusual look but it is a mainstream fashion style in Asia, which means that their music would appeal to a mass audience.
The use of the typography is used to represent the their star persona, for example 'Shiver', is in bold typography which signifies that the band group members stands out just like the letters and at the same time the typography is in white which stand out against the black background, which makes it ghastly.
This is the album cover for 'Shiver', as you can see the similarities between the poster, which spreads their image across so that audience recognise them. The typography 'the Gazette', looks gothical which is a convention to a heavy metal genre. It also helps to represent the artists/band image as being quite gothical. The images of the artists are displayed/positioned on the top, across the album, so that the audience would focus more on the image (hot spot).
This shows the similar use of typography, which makes references to the anime.
This is a image of the anime, as you can see the theme of black and white is also linked and the similar style of costume is evidence of the reference to the manga and where the style is deprived from.
The music video of 'Her Morning Elegance', opens with a high angle shot of a women lying in bed. In the high angle shot I could denote white blanket and white costume, which signify simplicity so that the audiences focus more on the women. The mis en scene/location is also simple so that also draws the attention towards the women. In addition, the bright lighting and the white colour explores the elegant theme just as the music name.
The mis en scene also represents the classical genre, for example I could denote a violin pass by when the violin plays in the music, which shows that this music video is illustrating. This conforms to the music genre because a violin is a tradition instrument that plays in a classical music. At the same time this formulates the elegant theme because the violin makes a elegant sound.
The music is slow pace, which matches the movement of the performance (I-stop motion). The slow movement demonstrates the elegant theme, this shows that the music video is conceptual. And that it captures the movement of people being slow in the morning, which is a representation of daily life.
The music video is a good example of intertexuality, it is represented through mise en scene, for instance the loaction is set in a forest, which is a textual reference of the wonder land from 'Alice and the Wonderland'.
The intertextuality of the music video is also represented through the costume, for example when we first denote Avril Lavigne in a deep dark pit, with a black gothic, frilly dres, which makes reference to the film because it is almost like she is playing the role as Alice (similar costume). How ever, the changes of the costume for being stylized gothical, which relates to her star persona, which is conventional in a punk rock genre music.
From making intertextuality references to the disney film 'Alice and the Wonderland', helps to appeal to their primary audiences, this mainly apply to teenage audiences and young teen because 'Alice and the wonderland' is widely recognized by everyone because it's property originally came from the book, which is another example of intertexuality.
Even though 'Alice and the wonderland' is a well known tale, the music video doesn't appeal to younger childrens because the film is quite modern, which means that younger children wouldn't understand the film (Not enough understanding so most likely to stick with the original tale). However on the other hand, teenagers have knowlege on the original tale, in addition the film was made into a 3D/CGI film, which attracts their attentions.
Another important reference from the film is that at the beggining of the music video, you could denote a white rabbit, which symbolises the rabbit from the tale. (reference of the character.
The use of the mis en scene represents the intertexuality of the film, for example ther is a establishing shot of the tea table all laid out, which is a reference of were Alice meets Mad Hatter from the film (The music video follows the original story plot), which shows that the music video is a narrative music video.
This music video conforms to the theory of ‘Voyeurism’, which is a theory based on a feminist, who believes that female artists are more objectified then men’s. This is most evident in the music video when we first denote a mid shot/high angle shot of Snoop Dog, this connotes that he important because he is dominating the shot. This conforms to the theory of voyeurism because Snoop Dog, a male is represented as being dominant, which is a typical representation of the male gender. However, we could also argue that it subverts the theory because the use of high angle connotes that he is inferior.
The mis en scene of the music video is conforming to the idea of ‘Voyeurism’, for example
at 0:06, you could denote a extreme close up shot of Snoop Dog’s hand. The rings on his hand connotes that he is wealthy, powerful, which portray him as a king. When he removes his hand from the shot, we could denote Katy Perry placed on the board game, this connotes that Katy Perry is being manipulated like a toy/game and that Snoop Dog is in control of her, which conforms to the theory of ‘voyeurism’ because it puts a message across to the audiences that women are manipulative by men.
On the other hand, this music video subverts the idea of feminists, which is represented through editing, for example the duration of Katy Perry in the music video is longer in comparison to Snoop Dog, this connotes that she is important and is more dominant over Snoop Dog because she is the audiences main focus. Which contrast with the opening of the music video, that has mislead the audience to think that Snoop Dog is our main focus.
The mis en scene is used to conform to the feminist theory, for example at 0:55 to 1:06, you could denote Katy Perry with no clothing on, this creates a seductive star persona, which conforms to the feminist theory because the theory states that women is being objectified and exhibited. In contrast to Snoop Dog in clothing and is completely covered, which conforms to the theory of men’s being less exhibited in comparison to women.
The narrative of the music video subverts the feminist theory, for example at 3:32 you could denote a long shot of Snoop Dog with his hands up, which illustrates to the audiences that he has surrendered to Katy Perry and the use of long shot allow the audiences to see that he is by himself in the shot, which signify that he inferior. Within the long shot it also allows the audiences to clearly identify that his costume subverts his usual star persona, for example he would conventionally wear casual clothing as a rap artist. The pink colour the costume also subverts the conventions of the feminist theory because pink is a colour that symbolises feminine.
This is a indie pop genre music video, the conventions of the indie pop genre is represented through the use of cinematography, for example there is a lot of close up shots which focuses on the artist, this is most evident when we denote close up shots of 'Aron', 'Jiiro' and the rest of the group band. The purpose of the close up shot was to attract the attention from the audiences, which shows that they are the main focus.
There are also some long shots, which is used to allow the audiences to see the band together in performance. In the long shot I could denote the artists using hand gestures to put across their feelings/emotions/message across to the audiences. This also fits into the natural theme because they could chose to use graphics to message the audiences.
The mis en scene is located in a forest, for example in the opening of the music video, you could denote a close up shot of a running water (water full), this immediately insinuate to the audiences that it is a natural theme, which fits into the conventions of indie pop.
The use of mis en scene conforms to the codes and conventions of the indie pop genre, for example the costume colour is much simple and that the colour white signifies the pure, clean, fresh which fit's in to the theme of being natural.
The editing pace of the music video also matches the pace/tempo of the music, for example it usually fades and cuts into the next shot of the artists. Which helps slow down the movement of the visual images along with the music, this explains why the music video cuts so often because the music video must capture the audiences interests. The tempo of the music is quite moderate, which makes the music video more passive, which is related to the natural theme.
This music is a pop genre music video. The conventions of the genre is represented through the mis en scene, for example the costume is in bright pink colours, which signifies that the music is up beat just like the artist. This conforms to the conventions of the pop genre because a conventional pop music is usually up beat.
The music video also conforms to the pop genre, for example the use of graphical images of a pink bunny rabbit, which makes this music video conceptual and that the use of pink also indicates that the music is bright, cheerful. The pink colour also appeals to more of a female audiences, in addition it signifies that Rainne Yang star persona is childish and quite feminine.
The music video also have elements of intertextuality, this is represented through the mis en scene, for example we denote Raine Yang in her costume like Snow white (The big red bow), this helps to appeal to younger childrens as the secondary audiences because it is making reference to a disney character. But the main primary audiences would still be teenagers because Raine Yang is about the similar age to teenagers, which means that they would have more to relate to
These are my costume design for the boy band group, the theme of the costume follows the trend of the visual kei look. The purpose to why I have chosen to design their image with the visual kei look is because it is a unique look in Europe, which helps them stand out from the other boy band group (unique selling point). The visual kei look is originated from East Asia ie: Japan, Korea, Taiwan etc.. From this costume design it could also help the band build a even broader/wider fan base to attract audience from East of Asia. The style was inspired by many famous bands from Japan, for example The Gazette, Nightmare etc. In addition a good example of a youtube fame named Beki became famous in Japan for cos playing in Japanese style and anime character. (scouted by a Japanese manager named Satoshi)
This is a example of a conceptual music video, this is most evident when the lyrics states ‘Over time our attachment grows’, this phrase is also supported through the performance, for instance I could denote that there is long shot of the performers on the couch, sitting side by side, which signifies to the audiences that they have a close relationship.
It is also a conceptual music video because the name of the music video ‘Xin Wo’, means new home, which is supported through the performance and the lyrics within the music video. For example ‘please move into my heart, my heart would be your new home, maybe it’s just enough space for the two of us’, this phrase indicates to the audiences that it has a alternative meaning in the name of the music video, which follows the concept of relationships/friendship. As they were singing the lyrics I could denote a two shot/mid shot of the performers, which allows the audience focus on who is singing and at the same time it amplifies the meaning of close relationship to the audience.
The artists/ performers themselves are a representative of the concept because the girls are from a band called S.H.E and the boys are from a band called Fahrenheit, which means two different bands are working together on the music video signifies the close relationship. It also helps build a wider fan base by having to bands performing together.
Another evidence of this being a conceptual music video is shown on 2:07, where you could denote the girl in the center with a heart sign when singing ‘Your heart…’, which illustrates the concept of relationships/bonds because heart is commonly associated/symbolize with affections.
The music video often cuts quite often but accordingly to the music, for example when they were dancing into the waltz (performance), it cut’s on the beats. Again the waltz is a another symbol of bond because you would have co-ordinate with your partner, the concept is also amplified with the use of two shot/mid-shot.
The primary audience of the music video is teenagers and mix of both females and males because the focus of the artists are all young and a mix of females and males. The music video also appeals to teenagers because it has lot’s of colors, which goes along with the positive/cheerful music. And that in the beginning you could denote a cartoonized version of the artists which will appeal to young teenagers/childrens as their secondary audiences. The music is also a theme music for a drama called ‘Romatic Princess’, which is a Rom-com, this means it appeals to a mass audience. This also means that it is an example of intertextuality.
This music video is an example of narrative, this is shown when the MV opens with a establishing shot, in order to set the scene for the story. In the establish shot I could denote a white room with a chalk board, this clearly indicates to the audience that the story is set in a school. It is important for the mis en scene to be iconic (iconography) so that the content could be easily interpreted by the audience, which could help reach to the primary audience, for example in this music video the back board is a iconography of education so it also suggests that the story is set in school, therefore it implies that their primary audiences are students.
The establishing shot then cuts into a long shot, where I could denote four male adult teens daydreaming/sleeping in the classroom. The purpose of this is to introduce the characters to the audiences, at the same time the idea of having the teenagers sleeping in the classroom is a conventional/ stereo typical representation of teenagers acting rebellious, which appeals to audiences within the same age group (young adults/teens) and that possibly appeals to both females and males because we are seeing the story through the boys perspective but on the other hand ’Fahrenheit’, the boy band may appeal to the females because of their charming image.
(0:22)The narrative of the music video, shows all four of the characters become infatuated with the same person and how each of them interact with her in order to gain her interest. This story line is clearly demonstrated in the beginning through cinematography, for example a cutaway shot of the girl walking through the boys, whilst the boys have their eyes glued to her. The purpose of this is so that the audience could get the idea that the narrative is a romance genre, which appeals to female audiences. In this shot you could also define the rule of 3rd, for example you could denote the girl in the center, which connotes that she is important and dominant over the boys because the audiences’ eyes are also focusing on her.
(1:59)As you can see there is a two shot/mid shot, this signify to the audiences that they are in some sort of relationship and to illustrate their mood/emotions, you could denote speech bubbles with smiling faces, which connotes to the audiences that they are in a happy mood. It is important for a narrative music video to clearly illustrate the mood of the characters because the purpose of a music video is to get the audience to feel the mood of the music video.
(1:38)On the other hand, this music video could also be classified as a performance because in between the narratives, the performance of the artists singing and dancing cuts in. For example, there is a long shot of Jiiro, Calvin and Wu Chun singing the phrase ‘I only of feelings for you’, which is the name of the song. The reasons why it is edited to show them singing the phrase, was to allow them amplify the message to the audience, for instance you could denote that their fingers pointing directly at the audience to amplify the ‘you’ in the lyrics.
The music video is also a example of intertuality because it is based on a Japanese/Taiwanese drama called Tokyo Juliet, which is also based on a manga,this means that this music video has a well built fan base.
This music video is a example of a performance, which is very conventional for a rock genre. Also known as Jrock due to it's origin from Japan (Regional and National distinction).
The mis en scene is used to represent the rock genre, for example I could denote the band wearing the visual kei costume, which has elements of gothical look to it, which signify that the artists are different/unique. This conforms to the conventions of the rock genre because rock genre's are usually gothical and serious.
The representation of their costume also indicates that their star persona is quite wild, for example they dye their hair, which signify that they are rebellious and their music are loud and upbeat just like their star persona.
The music video is from the anime music known as Death Note: 'The World', which shows intertextuality between the media because the music and the anime is very gothical, for example the costumes and the low key lightings highlights the style/ the gothical culture.
