Thursday 10 November 2011
Digipak Definition
Digipak Definition: Digipak is a patented style of compact disk or DVD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI Media, a MeadWestvaco, Inc resource, which acquired the original trademark holder, IMPAC Group, Inc., in 2000. Digipaks typically consist of a gatefodl (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. Digipaks tend to be used for special editions of CD's rather than ordinary singles.
Case study, Katy Perry - Hot N' Cold
Katy Perry - Hot N' Cold.
The music video is conceptual in the sense that the mise en scene and general visuals reflect they lyrics, But the video could also be narrative, and is telling the story oh how her partners mind id 'Hot and Cold' in the sense that he is having certain doubts about there relationship, I get this thought from the lyrics 'You're yes than You're no". The lyrics "you change your mind like a girl changes clothes" is making a comical reference to his confusion, its representing the change in mood. The video can be quite random and spontaneous at times, for example Katy Perry walks in on a scene with a zebra, this is to reference the lyrics " it's black and it's white". Although the video is mainly narrative there is some performance of her on a stage singing.
The editing style conforms to the stereotypical representation of the Pop genre as the shots speed up as the tempo of the track does, There are many extreme close ups of Katy Perry's face, this is main for marketing but there are also many close ups of the male's face; this is for narrative purposes, it visually explains the males emotions, these close ups are perfectly timed with the lyrics for even more emphasis of the story.
In this particular video Katy Perry is subverting the stereotypical expectations of women in the music industry as she is not dressed provocatively or is doing any visual actions to appeal to the male gaze, she is actually being comical and is not encouraging voyeurism.There are some intertextual references to her single "Waking up in Vegas" which is another video that does not conform to the stereotypical representation of women in music video's but instead it represents her as a fun outgoing women.
Gender representation and stereotypes
Men Stereotypes:
Men engaged in significantly more aggressive and dominant behavior.
Men are typically represented as as independent, adventurous, unemotional and competent.
Men are generally playing male occupational roles such as Fire Fighters, Mechanics ect.
Women are stereo typically playing more feminine roles such as Cheerleaders, Teachers, or Waitresses.
Women are generally engaged in more explicit, sexual and passive behavior(Male gaze)
Women are represented as objects of sexual objects.
women are presented in provocative or revealing clothing.
portrayed as decorative objects such as dancers, compared to males playing instruments
Both of these lists of stereotypes are commonly/most often found in the Hip Hop genre, but they are stereotypes that are found in most genre's just more underground.
In most of Britney Spears' videos, she commonly conforms to stereotypical representations of women in music videos, for example she plays a Flight attendant in the music video ''Toxic", this is a clear example of where the music industry conforms to the representation of women, for example her clothing, She is wearing a tight blue outfit in which there is a cutout around her breasts, which is to appeal to the male gaze. the role itself is demeaning to women as its not a highly respected job, compared to say a lawyer, which is a job that the music industry would portray as a male role.
Men engaged in significantly more aggressive and dominant behavior.
Men are typically represented as as independent, adventurous, unemotional and competent.
Men are generally playing male occupational roles such as Fire Fighters, Mechanics ect.
Women are stereo typically playing more feminine roles such as Cheerleaders, Teachers, or Waitresses.
Women are generally engaged in more explicit, sexual and passive behavior(Male gaze)
Women are represented as objects of sexual objects.
women are presented in provocative or revealing clothing.
portrayed as decorative objects such as dancers, compared to males playing instruments
Both of these lists of stereotypes are commonly/most often found in the Hip Hop genre, but they are stereotypes that are found in most genre's just more underground.
In most of Britney Spears' videos, she commonly conforms to stereotypical representations of women in music videos, for example she plays a Flight attendant in the music video ''Toxic", this is a clear example of where the music industry conforms to the representation of women, for example her clothing, She is wearing a tight blue outfit in which there is a cutout around her breasts, which is to appeal to the male gaze. the role itself is demeaning to women as its not a highly respected job, compared to say a lawyer, which is a job that the music industry would portray as a male role.
Drum n' Bass genre study
Drum and Bass (commonly abbreviated to D&B or DnB) is a type of electronic dance music which emerged in the mid 1990s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats (typically between 160–190 bpm(Beats Per minute)), with heavy bass and sub-bass lines. Drum and bass began as an offshoot of the United Kingdom rave scene of the very early 1990s. Over the first decade of its existence, the incorporation of elements from various musical genres lent to many permutations in its overall style.
Current Drum n' Bass artists would include Chase and Status, KG and DJ Hazard.
Here is a link, with 100 of the top D&B artists and tracks. http://www.trackitdown.net/genre/drum_and_bass/top10.html
the common camera angles that would stereo typically be found in the Drum n' Bass genre would include many close-ups and extreme close-ups on the main artist, more specifically close ups on the instrument they play, and extreme close ups on there faces as marketing. There would be a variety of mid shots showing important actions in the narrative of the actual video.
The editing would most likely be fast cuts, and would typically be in time with the audio, so if the track speeds up so does the editing.
typical representations and stereotypes of this genre would be destructive, frustration and anger, in which we are going to conform to in our music video, we will exploit these representations through the use of editorial skills, the name of our song is 'Fire in your eyes' so we will represent anger through fire, and destruction will also be through fire.
typically in Drum n' Bass, the artist would wear stylish clothing, most likely high end designer brands, and would be located in a modern area, most likely a flat, or 'Bachelors pad' .
The digipak would be quite heavy in composition, showing some form of destruction on the main cover, commonly this would be abstract showing modernism, and to the common person, they would not notice the destruction instead see it as ART.
Current Drum n' Bass artists would include Chase and Status, KG and DJ Hazard.
Here is a link, with 100 of the top D&B artists and tracks. http://www.trackitdown.net/genre/drum_and_bass/top10.html
the common camera angles that would stereo typically be found in the Drum n' Bass genre would include many close-ups and extreme close-ups on the main artist, more specifically close ups on the instrument they play, and extreme close ups on there faces as marketing. There would be a variety of mid shots showing important actions in the narrative of the actual video.
The editing would most likely be fast cuts, and would typically be in time with the audio, so if the track speeds up so does the editing.
typical representations and stereotypes of this genre would be destructive, frustration and anger, in which we are going to conform to in our music video, we will exploit these representations through the use of editorial skills, the name of our song is 'Fire in your eyes' so we will represent anger through fire, and destruction will also be through fire.
typically in Drum n' Bass, the artist would wear stylish clothing, most likely high end designer brands, and would be located in a modern area, most likely a flat, or 'Bachelors pad' .
The digipak would be quite heavy in composition, showing some form of destruction on the main cover, commonly this would be abstract showing modernism, and to the common person, they would not notice the destruction instead see it as ART.
typography
Typography plays a vital role in the visual development in our music video, Its used in the digipac, Poster and in the actual movie itself, We display the title of the song visually, and the artists name, So we need a piece of typography that visually appeals to the user without drawing too much attention away from the actual composition.
When we hear the title 'Fire in your eyes' we immediately imagine fire, so fire would be the stereotypical theme for the text in our development. But then looking into the Dubstep/Drum n' Bass genre, they tend to subvert from stereotypical expectations.
Here are some examples of other types of typography from the genre's Dubstep and Drum n' Bass:
Above is a album cover from a Dubstep album, in this particular example the designer used a abstract futuristic composition to reflect the personality of the actual music.
Again this is a example of another Dubstep album, in which they went for the grunge look, which overall works well and i think it conforms to stereotypes more, when i think of dubstep typography I would think using the grunge style would fit. This type of typography is relatively simple to make, Below is a quick example i done to respond to these example's.
This effect was composed in Adobe Photoshop, when choosing the font for the text i chose to use a simple and clean font to contrast to the grungy green texture. I added a drop shadow so it had some depth to it, aswell as a outer glow to make a 3D looking edge. The satin effect also contributed to the toning on the edge which made it look 3D.
Looking into conventions of Drum 'n Bass typograpy, i couldn't really establish similarities to them, they were pretty much all different, the one thing i would say is they were quite 'poppy' in a sense that the fonts were similar to the pop genre, and styling of them were either similar or completely random.
Here is a example:
My response to this example was more based on the pop genre.
When we hear the title 'Fire in your eyes' we immediately imagine fire, so fire would be the stereotypical theme for the text in our development. But then looking into the Dubstep/Drum n' Bass genre, they tend to subvert from stereotypical expectations.
Here are some examples of other types of typography from the genre's Dubstep and Drum n' Bass:
Above is a album cover from a Dubstep album, in this particular example the designer used a abstract futuristic composition to reflect the personality of the actual music.
Again this is a example of another Dubstep album, in which they went for the grunge look, which overall works well and i think it conforms to stereotypes more, when i think of dubstep typography I would think using the grunge style would fit. This type of typography is relatively simple to make, Below is a quick example i done to respond to these example's.
This effect was composed in Adobe Photoshop, when choosing the font for the text i chose to use a simple and clean font to contrast to the grungy green texture. I added a drop shadow so it had some depth to it, aswell as a outer glow to make a 3D looking edge. The satin effect also contributed to the toning on the edge which made it look 3D.
Looking into conventions of Drum 'n Bass typograpy, i couldn't really establish similarities to them, they were pretty much all different, the one thing i would say is they were quite 'poppy' in a sense that the fonts were similar to the pop genre, and styling of them were either similar or completely random.
Here is a example:
My response to this example was more based on the pop genre.
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Gender Representation in Music Videos
This Song by Pixie Lott; What "Do You Take Me For?" conforms to the stereotypical representation of females in the music industry as the women in the video are being objectified as a object thats supposed to appeal to the male glaze. For example the first shot with Pusha T is a close up, and has many women in the background. This shows he is superior and women are just seen as a object to be behind him whilst he leads, this conforms to the stereotypical expectation of women as in the music industry women are objectified as a sexual appeal, this is to make the target audience wider appealing the the male gender.
On the other hand the women are in larger groups compared the the one man, this makes the women seen superior to the man as they are in a group, more than one female means more power signifying the empowerment of women, this subverts the stereotypical expectation of women in the music industry as it typically categorises women as weak, inferior to man.
Whilst the women are in the group together dancing they appear to be in a military style attack formation again implying the empowerment of women in the music industry. However the contrast this subversion with there provocative clothing,
Wednesday 13 July 2011
Music Video analysis - Coldplay - Strawberry Swing
This son "Strawberry Swing" is a song by English alternative rock band Coldplay and is the fifth and final single from the band's fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends.
This song video is a stop motion video. which features a man called Chris Martin laying on the ground against animated chalk drawings. Stop motion is a effect based on classic frame by frame animation, a rigid animation style that overall looks good. Stop motion introduces a realism aspect with a less modern style. This is affect I can use in my music video, through the utility Istop Motion.
The composition begins with Chris walking up to his house Once he sees that a woman is being held hostage by a giant squirrel, he turns into a superhero and attempts to save her. Along the way, Martin faces attacks from the squirrel and a giant fish in the ocean. When Martin finally gets to the squirrel's home, he rescues the lady by drawing a nut-shaped bomb that blows the squirrel up. The two then fly away and begin to kiss. The animation suddenly stops and Martin gets up off the chalk-colored floor in real speed and walks away.
The video is mainly shot in mid shot as there is allot happening at once its trying to emphasis the story of the character.
Monday 4 July 2011
Astronauts and All
This is a example of a performance based based music video, as the video is of a band purely playing there instruments and singing. This works well for this genre, as there is not usually a good enough story to make a narrative based video on, stereo-typically pop songs lyrics are usually about sex, and party life. Stereo-typically the artists there selfs are a portrayed as good looking so the production company wants allot of close ups, of the band.
In this music video there are allot of close ups of the main singer, to connote sexual appeal to the female audience. And power, he is the lead so he should have more close ups, there are also allot of close ups on the band members playing instruments which conforms to the stereotypical expectation of the pop genre, as band usually have people playing instruments, its part of there USP(unique selling point) so the video has to demonstrate this.
Richmix
Here I was at Richmix theater on a music video workshop with the director _________ who directed spice girls and Robbie Williams. At this workshop, there were a selection of schools, our objective was to replicate the music video Robbie Williams - Let me Entertain you. This was to get us used to being loose on camera and overall gain the understanding of a better performance when it comes to filming. We also got a few tips on how to film. In this image i am on the chair being pushed by a fellow member of the team from another school, we had a camera a chair and a person to push us. I was on the chair, there was other person handling the chair and a Robbie cam, my duties was to film the band, and get closeups of them playing instruments, and generally shots i though were interesting. The Robbie cam was primarily focusing on the person playing Robbie Williams, and the other camera was also doing what i was doing but on the opposing side. We were pushed on the chair in a semi-circular pattern, throughout the whole song. because there was no dolly, or tripod we was essentially playing those parts; we was given a tip by the director, we was supposed to place our elbow on the upper part of our hip, and lock it the best we could whilst holding our right hind through the strap and steadying it with our left hand. This tip was very useful, the footage was fairly steady, and we gained some nice shots. A disadvantage was the fact the person pushing me ran in to bumps on the floor due to wiring, so sometimes there was a lag in the shot.
I See Girls (past student analysis)
This is a Music video composed by a student at Hurtwood House, The song is called I See Girls and the thing i like most about the video is the special effects, they use allot of depth of field to focus the subject matter on the instruments or people playing the instruments. In the opening on the shot where the band member is playing the keyboard they clearly show editing to the beat of the track, on every 4th beat there is a abstract noise as part of the track, so the editor blurs the shot on each 4th beat and plays the note on the keyboard. furthermore this effect works well, and conforms the the pop genre.
This is a example of a performance based based music video, as the video is of a band purely playing there instruments and singing. This works well for this genre, as there is not usually a good enough story to make a narrative based video on, stereo-typically pop songs lyrics are usually about sex, and party life. Stereo-typically the artists there selfs are a portrayed as good looking so the production company wants allot of close ups, of the band.
In this music video there are allot of close ups of the main singer, to connote sexual appeal to the female audience. And power, he is the lead so he should have more close ups, there are also allot of close ups on the band members playing instruments which conforms to the stereotypical expectation of the pop genre, as band usually have people playing instruments, its part of there USP(unique selling point) so the video has to demonstrate this.
Wednesday 29 June 2011
Music Video Research
This is a song composed by Eminem and Royce Da 5', it was published by © 2011 Shady Records/Interscope Records. For my music video I was planning on encorporating animation into my music video, in this particular video animation works well as the animator has included the sound tract with the animation,more specifically they enjoyed working with text. this animation is on nearly every keyword, or word they feel needs to be emphasized; so animation occured very often. in my music video i will compose i will use this idea of animated text as i think it worked well in this video.
The video does not exactly show narrative, the rap genre typically does not though, the image the production company wanted to create for the artist is very stereotypical for the rap genre; they typically tend to wear hoody's and street clothes, the location is a abandoned ware house which implies a hard or rough life which conforms to the rap genre.
What is very stereotypical for the rap genre; which is what makes me like this video is the fact they use allot of animation, i have not come across many rap video's that include animation, they are usually quite boring based on the streets this video subverts stereotypical expectations and it works well.
This video is a narrative based story, it does not use realism as a method of reaching the audience, however the animations tell the story of how the rappers are portraying there lifes. They influence violence as a part of there life. they also objectify women in the video. one of the lyrics is "Nicki Minaj, i want to stick my penis in your anus" this is showing the lack of respect for women in the rap genre.
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