Practical Task- Lip sync task

Below is our Video which demonstrates our Lip sync and Action match. We have used the song All Star by Smash Mouth because it was a fairly low paced song with easy to read lyrics and they were easy to lip sync. Also a key feature of the video was to create action matches, which also make for a good show of technical skill.

This has no bearing on the actual video that Smash mouth produced because this is purely a showcase of action and lip syncing so the narrative of the story doesn't really matter this time.

Practical Task- Frame by Frame

For one of our formative assessments we were asked to create a frame by frame video of any current music video of our choice. This included Camera, Mise-en-scene, location and costume. We had free reign over the choice of music video to copy, however there were certain limitations that prevented us from certain styles and certain songs. The problem with replicating pop is that the costume tends to be elaborate and also has lots of use of Special effects. Later on I decided the best thing to do would be Indie because they don't have elaborate costume or fancy sets and was easily replicable. The song we chose was Ed Sheerans- Lego House

I think that is quite good because it has used the same designs and the same style as the original video. There were some scenes we could not however replicate because we couldn't organise it and in one shot here is out of sync but that is because the shots at the time were out of sync so it would be impossible to get it right in the editing phase without making it look jumpy or of a poorer quality so i decided to keep it as it was. Below is the original.

Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a theory which came about around 1970. It is a collection of Styles, ideals, Literature and media. A common way to describe is a mish mash of genres. E.g. Blade Runner is a mixture of Sci-fi/Film Noir. It is difficult to define but it covers several key terms.

Intertextual Reference- One media text references another

Parody- Mocking something in an original way

Pastiche- Taking reference in a respectable


Here is an example of Parody:

Here is an example of parody. To the left is a clip from the 1970s cop drama- Starsky and Hutch. It is the typical example of a cop show. It does have a certain comical aspect to it in that it is easy to replicate and parody.

And here is a music video for Sabotage by The Beastie Boys. It has parodied this style of cop drama in the use of costume, Mis-en-scene and location in this music video. This differs from pastiche because because it has been done in a satirical way and is made fore comedy as apposed to professional courtesy.


Pastiche:

Here is video for Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds are a girls best friend". It is almost unique in its choice of colour, costume, location, and even actress. It would be hard to think of conventions to parody so it couldn't really be parodied effectively.

And here is a music video Madonna's "Material Girl". Because it is so alike to the original i would class it as a pastiche as opposed to a Parody because it is paying tribute to the original by basically copying the Costume, colour, location. Even madonna looks similar so it is a Pastiche.




Intertextual Reference:

This is a scene from the film "Back to the Future". The scene itself was a classic scene.

This video by Death set has literally hundreds of intertextual references from lots of different science fiction films and TV. The reason for the first video is to demonstrate just how big a Intertextual reference the start of the video is.


Non Linear Narrative: A non linear narrative is a story which does'nt follow a linear story. This is present in lots of films and TV shows such as Momento or Pulp Fiction which do not follow a chronological storyline, which is another way of saying it is a Non Linear Storyline. In music videos However it isnt as common i have found. This is because a story is sometimes difficult to follow and can confuse the audience. This is generally not what a Music video is desighned to do. However there are some exeptions to this rule. For Example the Coldplay video for "Scientist" has a reverse narrative (The story is moving backward) which can be seen as a Non linear Narrative. It is this because it is a narrative in the sense we want to know what is happening.

Tracy Chapman- Fast Car narrative

Linear-Below is an example of our storyboard off the tracy chapman song "Fast Car". This particular storyboard is illustrating a linear approach to the song i.e. as it is sung. The images relate to the lyrics of the song so it is quite easy to document.

However below this text is an example of our attempt to make the text non-linear. We have done a chronological order for the song so there are no flashbacks or past tenses, instead we have a continuous timeline.

Media Textual Analysis

For my textual analysis i am going to use an Indie song. I choose to do this because they generally have a strong sense of narrative which i can comment on and they also have a large creative sense about them which is also interesting to talk about.

The video i am going to use is Arctic Monkeys- Florecent Adolesent Here is that video below.

The reason why i chose to do this video is because it has a strong creative sense about it and it is generally in my mind a good video to analyse. It is a typical example of the Indie Rock genre so is therefore a good one to pick for the genre as a whole.

This is one the opening shot of the video and it presents the Location very well. This shot has been taken from inside a car and shows a journey to this location (which is probebly an old warehouse). Location is always an improtant feature of any music video no matter the genre. For the indie genre it represents otherness, because other genres use more conventional locations, for example hip hop or rap tend to focus on Urban areas as opposed to countryside which is common among indie videos.

In this second shot I have, it in my mind illustrates a Narrative structure. This is a shot of two distinct groups of people having a fight which is a narrative in that somethig is happening. This is a trait present in many Indie videos because they aren't mainstream people dont watch there videos as a means of watching the artists, partially because they aren't well known enough to be recognisable but also because they focus more on the music sense.

In this shot the idea of Costume is emphisised. Here we have a shot-reverse-shot of the two main "factions" in this video. As we can see the one on the right is wearing an elaborate and colourful clown outfit and is in contrast with the other person, because he is wearing dull and ordinary colours, perhaps ment to represent the everyday man. Some indie band have emphasis on elaborate outfits for actors. But they usually dont themselves wear anything other than ordinary. This video is one of the examples of costume playing a key role towards the overall product.

This is an example of Prop because this car has deliberately been put into the video to put emphasis on more of the narrative. Props are an important part of the more wider Mise-en-scene which covers many areas which are crucial to many indie videos (this one included) and gives depth which is what they are trying to go for.

This screenshot is further evidence to support the narrative structure

Album cover analysis

Album Covers are another important aspect of Music Video as a package. They are an extension of an artists creative and promotional package. Different Genres of Music have different Ideas and conventions regaring their album artwork. Although there are general conventions that all in the genre follow, some artists use it as a means of individualism and this can lead to interesting and artistic Covers. Album covers are however becoming more and more obselete because of the huge rise of Internet download and other means of playing music. Dispite this there is still a large market for a physical album. Here are three from the main three genres.

Radiohead- Kid A: This albumn cover from the Indie band Radiohead is a good example of what an album cover is. For the Indie genre there generally is an artistic and entropic view on what an album cover is and this is no exeption. It is at first glance just a mountain range, nothing partically interesting about that. But they arnt usually featured in any Album cover (especially not painted) which makes it very entropic and abstract. The reason for abstractnes as opposed to a more pop video is partially to give the impression that they are an Indie band and again because the individual dosnt matter in the Indie genre as a whole and they focus more on the talant, this relates to the album covers bieng extensions of there artistic talants.

This particular album cover has been constructed deliberatly too look almost unfinished and stuck together. Hence the cuts in the image which give it a more arty feel to it. A standalone picture of a mountain range wouldnt have the desired effect of art even though it is painted it still needed something else. and in the background there is suddenly a red and fiery feel to the image. This could be a representation of energy or power which could be relating to the music or the band. Interestingly the Name of the album has absolutely no relevence to the image. Usually there is some sort of reference no matter how insignificant. But in this there isnt.

Iron Maiden- The Final Frontier: This album cover for Rock band Iron Maiden is an interesting and iconic example of what a Rock album cover could be like. Rock album covers are a little trikier to define that Indie or pop because Rock is one of the Widest genres and covers so many different types of rock. Each different types of rock brings with it its own ideas about what there music is about. And they also have differing ideas about what an album cover should be like. Traditional rock bands like The Beatles or Pink floyd have very different  covers to Heavy metal bands like Metallica and Slipknot. However all rock tends to favour creativity as opposed to advertisement in the usage of album covers

Iron Maiden falls under the rock catagory of Metal and is a good example of Conventions and Beliefs in regards to there Albums. As we can see there is a strong theme of Death, almost unholyness in this artwork. Skulls, blood and cuts are all frequent in this album. This is common with many Metal album covers because they relate to the subculture of the people who generally listen to it. It could also be symbolism for the consequenses of living a Metal lifestyle. But probebly not. Colours in these albums are generally dark and include deep shades of colours. However in my mind this is a slightly more artistic and colourful approach to an album cover.

Tinie Tempah- Discovery: This album cover for pop Tinie Tempah is a typical and conventional take on a pop Album cover. Most Pop music in general focuses on the artist and uses it as a advertisment tool. Album covers are no different and will nearly always have mid shots or close ups of the artists and not much else. Art is not a major componant in this genre, but this specific album is using artwork as well as advertising the individual.

Todorov's narrative theory

Todorov was a Media Theorist who came up with a theory about Narrative structure. This theory can be applied to numerous forms of media like Film, Music Video and other literatures. He split the basic narrative into 4 Sections.

Equilibrium: everything is normal

Disruption of equilibrium: Something upsets the normal balance of life

Attempt to repair the disruption: The Hero goes on a quest

Equilibrium is restored (However not exactly back to the way it was): the hero defeats the Villain.

Toderov used fairy tails and other fantasy legends as a basis for his theory. However this is merely a basic narrative structure, and it can be applied to other scenarios and Genres. For example the Equilibrium could be a man is Alone. The disruption could be he falls in love with a Girl he meets. His attempt to repair would be He tries to start a relationship with this girl. And finally the new equilibrium would be he gets the girl.

In terms of Music Video this can be applied to songs. However in my opinion only certain genres fit this Narrative, for example Drum and bass doesn't generally have a Narrative structure so it dosnt fit the Theory.

In this video for Blur- Coffee and TV there is a Clearly defined narrative. Todarovs narrative theory can be applied to this video because it meets all the basic requirements of the Theroy.

Equilibrium- The equilibrium of this particular video is that there is a family and there son has gone missing. we see this on the image of the milk carten with a picture of a man on the side. We can deduct that this man is connected to the family because of the distressed look of the family in the video.

Disruption of equilibrium- The disruption to this rather dark equilibrium is the Milk Carton itself. The carton comes to life and is clearly concerned for the mans wellbieng. So this has already disrupted the equilibrium with his presence.

Repairing the equilibrium- In an attempt to repair the equilibrium our hero (The milk carton) undertakes a quest to find the missing man (or at least this is what we assume but it just so happens to be true). In any such quest he has to overcome many perilous obsticals that are inbetween him and the missing boy. Obsticals such as a Strimmer, Open road, City life, evil garbage and children. This video follows the narrative master plot of "The Quest" which to involves a hero/heroine undertaking a quest which will somehow make others lives more pleasant. Usually the hero manages to complete his quest but is not entirely the same afterwards. This is similar to this particular quest.

New Equilibrium- Eventually our hero finds the missing man and asks him to come home. So he does go home and the family are very happy to see him. So our heros quest is done and at the end the milk carton is drunk by the missing man and our hero dies. So a new equilibrium is established and as toderovs theory states it is not the same as it was before.