Our teacher set us an editing and creativity challenge task, which required us to try out and practice one of three editing techniques: iStop Motion, .... We chose to try out and practice... This was helpful because it gave us an insight into what kind of editing techniques would look effective in a music video, and it also gave us first hand experience of how to successfully use final cut express to create and incorporate visually appealing editing techniques into a music video. Everyone in the class was asked to use the first 16 seconds of the song Kickstart by UK artist Example when practicing editing techniques. The reason we chose to practice this editing technique rather than the other two is because we saw it being used in Examples music video for Kickstart, and we liked the idea of the shots sliding, and the peoples feet tapping in synchronisation with the music.
I personally feel that our editing and creativity task didn't turn out to be how I imagined it. However, as we were rushed for time and only had one lesson to experiment and practice editing techniques which were new to us, I strongly feel that this may be the reason why. I feel that we did an okay job considering that we spent about 40 mins filming and only 20 minutes editing. An area in which we could improve in is timing when each shot slides in to ensure that it matches the beat of the song, as they appeared to slide in at random parts of the song. An advantage of using editing techniques is that it gave us the chance to be creative and because there are a variety of different editing techniques which can be used, they don't get boring. A disadvantage of using editing techniques is that filming the footage can be time consuming and if you don't know how to use final cut express efficiently to edit, it could take even longer to edit the footage.
In this music video for Keri Hilson's single Lose Control, she both subverts and conforms to the stereotypical representation of females in R&B and Hip Hop music videos. This suggests that she can come across as dominant to the audience, but at times can portray herself as quite submissive.
An example of her being submissive is denoted in the image above where she is singing and is dancing quite closely in front of Nelly. This part of the performance connotes that Keri Hilson is inferior, and the performance portrays her as a sexual object within the shot, e.g. at 1:52, I denote Nelly seducing and taking control of Keri Hilson's body while she is somewhat erotically dancing around him. This suggests the the audience that Keri Hilson is willing to yield to the Nelly, further supporting the stereotype that women are submissive and are seen as sexual objects within music videos. This is also accentuated through Keri Hilson's body language and posture, which seems quite suggestive and even a little bit sexual through the way she is grabbing her hair. However, she also comes across as quite dominant throughout some parts of the music video, e.g. we see Keri Hilson and a group of females dragging Nelly, who is shirtless and chained up, through a sandy landscape. In a sense, this can be seen as an indirect role reversal, whereby Keri Hilson and the females are taking control of the situation, rather than having the male in control. This subverts to the stereotypical view of females in music videos as it is showing female empowerment.
Another example of Keri Hilson conforming to the typical stereotype of women in music videos can be seen in the image above. The costume that she is wearing at this point in the music video is very short, exposing her whole thigh and the lower half of her backside. This connotes to the audience that she is again, submissive and is willing to dress inappropriately to satisfy the male viewers. This is where the theory of the male gaze introduced by Laura Mulvey can be brought into perspective. The male gaze is the idea that women that pose sexually or are dressed in such a way in music videos, are seen as sexual objects and are generally a heterosexual mans main focus and 'source of pleasure'. At this point, and at many others in this music video, we can see how Keri Hilson is conforming to this theory, by dressing and dancing in such a way that portrays here as submissive to her male audience e.g. at 0.11, at 1:27, at 1:41 and at 3:23 just to give a few. At these points in the music video, we denote Keri Hilson dancing provocatively and she appears to be giving up her femininity for male attention.
The image above, links back to what I talked about earlier with the whole male gaze theory. Here, Keri Hilson is dressed up is some sort of swimming attire which is exposing parts of her torso including her cleavage. Yet again, this represents her as a sexual object within the music video, for heterosexual men to gaze upon. Then way in which Keri Hilson is represented is also shown through the cinematography in the music video. I denote a number of high angle shots on Keri Hilson when she is in the water, connoting that she is inferior and submissive. However, this music video does subvert to the normal expectations of females in music videos, and Keri Hilson can come across as quite dominant, contradicting the idea of Keri Hilson being represented as inferior. Throughout the vast majority of the music video, Keri Hilson remains in the middle of the four power points - she's almost always in the centre of the shot. Even when she is being seduced by Nelly, she is still the camera's main focus in the shot. This connotes that she is superior and in control.
Another way in which Keri Hilson conforms to the typical expectations of females in music videos is through the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. On a number of occasions throughout the music video, particularly at the chorus, I denote Keri Hilson and a group of about five other females dancing quite casually for the first half of the first chorus. When Keri Hilson then says 'Put your hands on my body I, love the way you make my body say I I I', this is when the style of dancing switches up and becomes much more suggestive. At this point, she begins to caress her own body from her hips to her head and back down again. When the second chorus comes up, the females background dancers continue to dance quite casually. However, Keri Hilson dances erotically, on her knees throughout the whole of the second chorus. This portrays her as yet again passive, as she yields to the idea of the male gaze.
The key intertextual reference in Chris Brown's video for 'I Can Transform You' featuring Lil Wayne & Swizz Beatz is from the film Transformers. From the very beginning of this music video, I denote a black sports car driving and then transforming into Chris Brown. This idea has been heavily influenced by the film Transformers and is evident at 1:44 in the Transformers 3 trailer above, when the yellow car transforms into a robot. At 2:25 in the 'I Can Transform Ya' music video, we can see a lady in a costume, which has been heavily influenced by the film Transformers. The colours of the costume and been kept to a minimal (red and black), just like the robots in Transformers and we can see that they have taken elements of the film Transformers by using computer generated images to generate a costume with metal fragments attached to it to make her seem mechanic or 'robot like'.
I imagine that the target audience for Chris Brown's song 'I Can Transform Ya' would be an urban young group of people in between the ages of 12 - 20. The reason I say this is because Transformers the movie has an age certificate of 12+, and so people that have watched the movie may also enjoy watching the music video for the song because of the intertextual reference in it....
The strong and most evident intertextual reference in which Ashanti and Ja Rule's music video 'Mesmerize' is referring to is a scene from one the most famous musical films of all time Grease. The mise en scene, the costumes and the performance in this music video has been heavily influenced by the carnival scene in Grease, in which Danny and Sandy sang a song called 'We Go Together'.
Looking at Ashanti's hair and the clothes she is wearing, we can clearly see that they have tried to imitate the look given to Sandy in Grease. Sandy's actions have also been somewhat imitated by Ashanti in some scenes of the music video. At 0:51, I denote Ashanti smoking a cigarette which is what we see Sandy doing in the carnival scene. However, in Ja Rule's music video, they have created a parody out of this small smoking scene by making Ashanti choke on the smoke from the cigarette that she is smoking. This has been added in to create a humourous effect for the audience. Ja Rule's attire has also been influenced by Danny's costume, which consists of a black t shirt and black trousers.
Intertextuality is important because it allows the audience to recognise aspects of one media text that is shown in another media text, which could potentially increase the target audience significantly. I imagine the target audience for Ja Rule's song Mesmerize would be people in between the ages of 16 - 45. The reason I say this is because hip hop, R&B and rap are all genres that are popular amongst younger people, and this song falls into both the hip hop and R&B catergory. A lot of younger people in between the ages of 16 -25 also look up to rappers such as Ja Rule and see them as role models, and are easily influenced by them. Because the music video has used references from the film Grease, I feel that this may attract older people in their 30's/40's because the music video contains content which they may be familiar with.
Earlier on in the year, our media studies class attended a RichMix workshop in East London, Shoreditch, to further our education into music videos and what exactly is required to produce a successful music video for our coursework.
I feel that spending the day at the RichMix workshop was very advantageous and constructive because the team there provided us with plenty of useful information on how to produce a successful music video. It provided me with the opportunity to practice acting in a music video, which gave me an insight into what it would be like when creating the final project for our coursework. The RichMix team were very accommodating and helpful, and were there to answer any questions that we had.
RichMix workshop helped to better my understanding of how important it is to communicate with others within a group in order to produce a successful music video. The person who will act in your music video should rehearse the lyrics of the song and should actually sing them whilst being filmed, rather than mimicking them. This will make the rehearsal more fun for you and your group, but most importantly, will ensure that your visuals are in sync with the audio and will add a sense of realism to your music video. I learnt that it is important to just be confident whilst recording and not to be put of by others thoughts of you whilst you are acting.
We also took part in a group activity with students from another school which required us to re create the music video for one of Robbie William's well known singles 'Let Me Entertain You'. Our teachers put forward that we get our faces painted in a similar way to those people in the official music video. This allowed us to step out of ourselves, and take on the role of the performers in the actual music video. It enabled us to become more comfortable acting on camera and it gave us the experience that we needed for making our own music videos. It also showed us that we don't necessarily need a high budget to record a successful music video.
Overall, I feel that spending the day at RichMix was very beneficial for me and the rest of the class. We left East London feeling a lot more confident in our abilities to create an effective music video for our coursework. In terms of acting and performance, I feel a lot less worried about what others may think and I've learnt to just be yourself, be creative and have fun whilst recording. I feel that we can take advantage of the information given to us by the staff at Richmix, to produce a successful music video for our final project.
In terms of the cinematography, I feel that this group have used a wide range of different camera shots and angles. I denote an establishing shot being used at the beginning of the music video. However, the unusual thing about this establishing shot is that the camera is moving and it has been shot at a high angle (from a helicopter). This is effective because it shows the audiences the broader scenery in which the music video has been filmed. The audience may be familiar with the scenery and may feel enticed to watch it. I also denote quite a lot of close up shots being used throughout the music video. This is effective because the song is quite a slow and sorrowful noir song designed to evoke deep emotion from the audience.
The close ups used allow us to see the artists face in detail so that we can clearly see how he is feeling through his facial expressions. At 0:47, we can clearly see through the artists facial expressions that he is confused and somewhat upset, which may be something that the audience may feel that they can emphasize with. A low angle shot has also been used, which subverted to my expectations when watching the music video, because low angle shots usually connote superiority and dominance, where as the artist in the music video appears to be vulnerable and helpless. The camera is constantly on the artist which connotes that he is dominant in the sense that the audience are supposed to stay focused on him, rather than anything else.
Regarding the editing techniques and technical aspects of the music video, I feel that the group have included a number of visual effects to keep the viewers engaged with the music video. They have followed the typical conventions of a music video by ensuring that the visuals are synchronized with the audio. An example of the visuals matching the audio can be seen at 1:53, where continuity editing is used to show the audience a progression of events, in this case the artist walking towards the guitar. The clip is cut and the group have appeared to leave out fragments of the footage of the artist walking, to make it seem like he is moving instantaneously. The group who made this music video have cleverly edited the visuals so that the clip of the artist walking cuts every time the drum is hit in the audio.
The pace of the editing in the video is quite fast and transitions are frequently used throughout the majority of the music video. This subverted to my expectations of the pace of the visuals, as I thought that the music video would have been edited at quite a slow pace to match the noir song. This is evident at 0:20, where the screen flashes to introduce the artist. The jump cuts are consistently used between scenes, aided by flashing effects which create a sense of disequilibrium and confusion. This is effective because it relates to the mans mental and emotional state. The jump cuts are also used to show the viewers that time has passed since the previous scene.
I feel that the Mise en scene, in particularly the location of the music video, helps to convey the dark and sorrowful feeling created by the audio. The music video is set in Battersea power station, which could probably be identified by the majority of people living in and out of London. The power station is an appropriate location to use for a noir song because the inside of the power station is quite dark as shown at 2:52 when the man is walking around inside. The only light source available is from the natural high key lighting outside, which is shining through entrances of the power station. The walls on the interior of the power station look blemished and murky, and the floor is filthy and exposed. This is effective because it creates a sense of insecurity and isolation, but at the same time, doesn't make the viewers feel threatened. It relates to the genre of the music which is indie rock/alternative country.
Overall, I feel that the group have successfully followed the typical conventions of a music video, and have used the micro aspects effectively to produce a professional looking music video.
