I will never be able to 'unsee' a postmodernist text again!
Fingers crossed for the exam!
:-) au revoir x
Thursday 23 May 2013
Goodbye Lutterworth!
My last day at Lutterworth College tomorrow. I would like to thank Mr. Ford and Mrs. Hammond for their wonderful teaching and hardwork over the past year! It has been a pleasure and I have certainly enjoyed studying Media at A level!
I will never be able to 'unsee' a postmodernist text again!
Fingers crossed for the exam!
:-) au revoir x
I will never be able to 'unsee' a postmodernist text again!
Fingers crossed for the exam!
:-) au revoir x
Monday 20 May 2013
Sunday 19 May 2013
Thursday 16 May 2013
Wednesday 15 May 2013
MEMES
What is a meme?
A meme (pron.: /ˈmiːm/; meem)[1] is "an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."[2] A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena
Find 3 Popular Memes
OVERLY ATTACHED GIRLFRIEND
Overly Attached Girlfriend [OAG] first featured in a YouTube video published by Laina Morris (username wzr0713) on June 6, 2012 that was a submission to a contest held by Justin Bieber who challenged fans to create a "Girlfriend" counterpart to his hit song "Boyfriend". The video, which satirized elements of the Bieber song that have been perceived as clingy, featured the woman staring at the camera with a fixed smile while singing about Facebook-stalking her boyfriend and other themes.[1] The video was noticed by the social news website reddit and quickly became popular gaining more than 170,000 views the first day.[
Arising from the success of the video, 'OAG' became an Internet meme that features the image macro of a young woman featured in the video, smiling and staring manically at the camera that has been captioned in a way that portrays her to be a stalker, jealous, or committed to her love interest to an unhealthy degree.[3][4] The image came from a still from the video was taken and made into an image macro which also became very popular and spread across many social media websites[5] and was remixed in various ways.[6][7]
The subject (and creator) of the original video has continued to produce further videos, approximately once a week. While most feature the OAG persona, some are entirely 'in character', while others cover other issues, including charity fundraising.
CONDESCENDING WONKA
Condescending Wonka is an advice animals image macro series featuring a screen capture of actor Gene Wilder in the 1971 musical Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
GRUMPY CAT
Grumpy Cat (born April 4, 2012), real name Tardar Sauce[1][2] is a female cat and Internet celebrity known for her grumpy facial expression.[3] Her owner Tabatha Bundesen says that her permanently grumpy face is due to feline dwarfism.[3][4] Grumpy Cat's popularity originated from a picture posted to the social news website reddit by Tabatha's brother Bryan on September 22, 2012.[3][5][6] It was made into an image macro with grumpy captions. "The Official Grumpy Cat" on Facebook has over 907,000 Likes.[7] Grumpy Cat stars in Lil Bub & Friendz, a documentary directed by Andy Capper and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2013.[8][9]
A meme (pron.: /ˈmiːm/; meem)[1] is "an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."[2] A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena
Find 3 Popular Memes
OVERLY ATTACHED GIRLFRIEND
Overly Attached Girlfriend [OAG] first featured in a YouTube video published by Laina Morris (username wzr0713) on June 6, 2012 that was a submission to a contest held by Justin Bieber who challenged fans to create a "Girlfriend" counterpart to his hit song "Boyfriend". The video, which satirized elements of the Bieber song that have been perceived as clingy, featured the woman staring at the camera with a fixed smile while singing about Facebook-stalking her boyfriend and other themes.[1] The video was noticed by the social news website reddit and quickly became popular gaining more than 170,000 views the first day.[
Arising from the success of the video, 'OAG' became an Internet meme that features the image macro of a young woman featured in the video, smiling and staring manically at the camera that has been captioned in a way that portrays her to be a stalker, jealous, or committed to her love interest to an unhealthy degree.[3][4] The image came from a still from the video was taken and made into an image macro which also became very popular and spread across many social media websites[5] and was remixed in various ways.[6][7]
The subject (and creator) of the original video has continued to produce further videos, approximately once a week. While most feature the OAG persona, some are entirely 'in character', while others cover other issues, including charity fundraising.
CONDESCENDING WONKA
Condescending Wonka is an advice animals image macro series featuring a screen capture of actor Gene Wilder in the 1971 musical Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
GRUMPY CAT
Grumpy Cat (born April 4, 2012), real name Tardar Sauce[1][2] is a female cat and Internet celebrity known for her grumpy facial expression.[3] Her owner Tabatha Bundesen says that her permanently grumpy face is due to feline dwarfism.[3][4] Grumpy Cat's popularity originated from a picture posted to the social news website reddit by Tabatha's brother Bryan on September 22, 2012.[3][5][6] It was made into an image macro with grumpy captions. "The Official Grumpy Cat" on Facebook has over 907,000 Likes.[7] Grumpy Cat stars in Lil Bub & Friendz, a documentary directed by Andy Capper and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2013.[8][9]
Applying Narrative to my Music Video
Narrative Theory: Applying the Concept
Consider the following:
- How the narrative is organised and structured
- How the conflict is established and how it is resolved
- The construction of the characters in the text and how we are led to relate to them
- The importance of sound, music, iconography, mise-en-scene, editing and other technical features in telling the story
- How the themes and ideas are put forward in the story
- Is your narrative open or closed?
Your chosen text:
- Summarise the lyrics/dialogue in your text
The lyrics are "Living Dead" with the central chorus line being "I'm living dead only alive when I pretend that I have died".
- Are there key lines that you chose to give visual dominance to?
I gave visual dominance to the chorus by using quick straight cuts in a short space of time. A new frame was represented for each word repeated in the chorus e.g. "Dead dead dead" and "Alive -live -live". Also in the bridge I decided to differentiate using post-editing by applying a black and white overlay effect to provide connotations of sophistication and safety. The bridge was much slower than the chorus so the straight cuts were reduced to fit with the reflexive mood and make it contrast with the abrupt frame changes of the chorus.
Importance of the mise-en-scene in your narrative
Does your mise-en-scene Add authenticity to your singer?
The 1950s intertextuality through the costume of an A-line red polka dot dress and props such as the rotary telephone emphasised this. It made the singer's identity appear unique in comparison to other artists.
Is it key to establishing setting and relationships?
The location is key for establishing a relationship as there is obviously a visual contrast between indoors versus outdoors. The indoors establishes a safe and inviting relationship of the artist; the outdoor scene, during the night, provides connotations of loneliness and fear. The mise-en-scene reinforces this with opposing costumes. The artist on the rotary telephone whilst lip syncing suggests that she is directly addressing a recipient on the other line.
Is it part of the voyeuristic context? e.g. By suggesting a setting associated with the sexual allure?
The costume is definitely part of the voyeuristic context as the bedroom setting reinforces the sexual allure and the private life of the artist.
Is it to emphasise and aspirational lifestyle for the audience - John Stewart?
The mise-en-scene emphasises an aspiration lifestyle for the audience. This can be seen in the costume, for example the artist changes dresses, of which are very stylish, which the audience may want to desire to dress like. Additionally, in the outdoor sequence the artist wears a fur scarf and smokes a cigarette which has connotations of an upper class and fashionable lifestyle that the audience may desire. In terms of location, the bedroom reinforces this lifestyle as the furniture is clearly extravagant and suggests an expensive and luxurious style of living. In terms of make-up the heavy make-up with red lipstick and especially the artist's hair in rollers suggests that the artist is high maintenance and takes pride in her appearance, which reinforces her high style of living.
THEORIES to my text:
Roland Barthes
Suggested 5 different codes by which a narrative engages the attention of the audience:
The ENIGMA code:
The audience is intriguied by the need to solve a problem.
This could apply to my music video as the mannerisms of my artist on the rotary telephone whilst lip syncing, suggesting that she is directly addressing the meaning of the lyrics to them, clearly suggests she has a problem. The dominant reading of this could be that she is going through a turbulant relationship that needs to be resolved. The enigma code is arguably resolved as the closed ending of the narrative when a mid-shot reveals that she hangs up the telephone whilst smiling followed by a fade out, suggesting that she has finished the problem with whoever was on the phone.
The ACTION code:
The audience is excited by the need to resolve a problem.
This is not so much applicable to my music video.
The SEMANTIC code:
The audience is directed towards an additional meaning by way of connotation.
This can be applied through the contrasting opposites of the outdoors versus indoors scenes. The outdoor scenes of nightime suggest that she is in a state of equilibrium. This is reinforced by unbalanced framing, with my artist positioned on the far right of the frame in a long shot as she sits on the garden bench, suggesting her state of loneliness. Whereas the indoor shots are much more balanced.
The SYMBOLIC code:
The audience assumres that a character dressed in black is evil or menacing and forms expectations of his/her behaviour on this basis.
This can definitely be applied to my music video as a black dress was used during the night time sequences. This was combined with her smoking and looking away from the camera, reinforcing her rebellious and careless behaviour.
The CULTURAL code:
The audience derives meaning in a text from shared cultural knowledge about the way the world works.
This can be applied to my music video with the suggestion of a turbulant relationship ended over the phone etc. Cultural knowledge of the 1950s is needed to decode the significance of the mise-en-scene and that her style is completely unique to any other artist.
Levi-Strauss
Levi-Strauss' theory dictacted that in every media text there are binary oppositions, or a conflict between two opposites. The audience subsequently are aware of who they should side with, and this technique can also help create a political theme within a text.
E.g.
Good and Bad
This can be applied to my video as this is evident through the warming behaviour of her whilsts indoors in comparison to the careless behaviour of outdoors, for example by smoking.
E.g.
Happy and Sad
The connotations of the night time sequences and camerawork has connotations of her being lonely and unsatisfied with her life. Whereas the smiling, off guard amateur kind of shots in the indoor scenes contradict this. Again, this reinforces the lyrics of 'Living Dead'. The living being a state of happiness and death being a state of sadness.
Todorov
Todorov's theory states tat in a media text there are five stages:
Original Equilibrium
Disruption
Recognition
Attempt to restore
New Equilibrium
Original equilibruim can be applied to the first few shots of the music video, where the artist does not pick up the phone. The disruption occurs when shots of my artist show her answering the phone which follows with attempt to restore to disequilibruim (the apparent deterioration of relations with whoever is on the phone).
Consider the following:
- How the narrative is organised and structured
- How the conflict is established and how it is resolved
- The construction of the characters in the text and how we are led to relate to them
- The importance of sound, music, iconography, mise-en-scene, editing and other technical features in telling the story
- How the themes and ideas are put forward in the story
- Is your narrative open or closed?
Your chosen text:
- Summarise the lyrics/dialogue in your text
The lyrics are "Living Dead" with the central chorus line being "I'm living dead only alive when I pretend that I have died".
- Are there key lines that you chose to give visual dominance to?
I gave visual dominance to the chorus by using quick straight cuts in a short space of time. A new frame was represented for each word repeated in the chorus e.g. "Dead dead dead" and "Alive -live -live". Also in the bridge I decided to differentiate using post-editing by applying a black and white overlay effect to provide connotations of sophistication and safety. The bridge was much slower than the chorus so the straight cuts were reduced to fit with the reflexive mood and make it contrast with the abrupt frame changes of the chorus.
Importance of the mise-en-scene in your narrative
Does your mise-en-scene Add authenticity to your singer?
The 1950s intertextuality through the costume of an A-line red polka dot dress and props such as the rotary telephone emphasised this. It made the singer's identity appear unique in comparison to other artists.
Is it key to establishing setting and relationships?
The location is key for establishing a relationship as there is obviously a visual contrast between indoors versus outdoors. The indoors establishes a safe and inviting relationship of the artist; the outdoor scene, during the night, provides connotations of loneliness and fear. The mise-en-scene reinforces this with opposing costumes. The artist on the rotary telephone whilst lip syncing suggests that she is directly addressing a recipient on the other line.
Is it part of the voyeuristic context? e.g. By suggesting a setting associated with the sexual allure?
The costume is definitely part of the voyeuristic context as the bedroom setting reinforces the sexual allure and the private life of the artist.
Is it to emphasise and aspirational lifestyle for the audience - John Stewart?
The mise-en-scene emphasises an aspiration lifestyle for the audience. This can be seen in the costume, for example the artist changes dresses, of which are very stylish, which the audience may want to desire to dress like. Additionally, in the outdoor sequence the artist wears a fur scarf and smokes a cigarette which has connotations of an upper class and fashionable lifestyle that the audience may desire. In terms of location, the bedroom reinforces this lifestyle as the furniture is clearly extravagant and suggests an expensive and luxurious style of living. In terms of make-up the heavy make-up with red lipstick and especially the artist's hair in rollers suggests that the artist is high maintenance and takes pride in her appearance, which reinforces her high style of living.
THEORIES to my text:
Roland Barthes
Suggested 5 different codes by which a narrative engages the attention of the audience:
The ENIGMA code:
The audience is intriguied by the need to solve a problem.
This could apply to my music video as the mannerisms of my artist on the rotary telephone whilst lip syncing, suggesting that she is directly addressing the meaning of the lyrics to them, clearly suggests she has a problem. The dominant reading of this could be that she is going through a turbulant relationship that needs to be resolved. The enigma code is arguably resolved as the closed ending of the narrative when a mid-shot reveals that she hangs up the telephone whilst smiling followed by a fade out, suggesting that she has finished the problem with whoever was on the phone.
The ACTION code:
The audience is excited by the need to resolve a problem.
This is not so much applicable to my music video.
The SEMANTIC code:
The audience is directed towards an additional meaning by way of connotation.
This can be applied through the contrasting opposites of the outdoors versus indoors scenes. The outdoor scenes of nightime suggest that she is in a state of equilibrium. This is reinforced by unbalanced framing, with my artist positioned on the far right of the frame in a long shot as she sits on the garden bench, suggesting her state of loneliness. Whereas the indoor shots are much more balanced.
The SYMBOLIC code:
The audience assumres that a character dressed in black is evil or menacing and forms expectations of his/her behaviour on this basis.
This can definitely be applied to my music video as a black dress was used during the night time sequences. This was combined with her smoking and looking away from the camera, reinforcing her rebellious and careless behaviour.
The CULTURAL code:
The audience derives meaning in a text from shared cultural knowledge about the way the world works.
This can be applied to my music video with the suggestion of a turbulant relationship ended over the phone etc. Cultural knowledge of the 1950s is needed to decode the significance of the mise-en-scene and that her style is completely unique to any other artist.
Levi-Strauss
Levi-Strauss' theory dictacted that in every media text there are binary oppositions, or a conflict between two opposites. The audience subsequently are aware of who they should side with, and this technique can also help create a political theme within a text.
E.g.
Good and Bad
This can be applied to my video as this is evident through the warming behaviour of her whilsts indoors in comparison to the careless behaviour of outdoors, for example by smoking.
E.g.
Happy and Sad
The connotations of the night time sequences and camerawork has connotations of her being lonely and unsatisfied with her life. Whereas the smiling, off guard amateur kind of shots in the indoor scenes contradict this. Again, this reinforces the lyrics of 'Living Dead'. The living being a state of happiness and death being a state of sadness.
Todorov
Todorov's theory states tat in a media text there are five stages:
Original Equilibrium
Disruption
Recognition
Attempt to restore
New Equilibrium
Original equilibruim can be applied to the first few shots of the music video, where the artist does not pick up the phone. The disruption occurs when shots of my artist show her answering the phone which follows with attempt to restore to disequilibruim (the apparent deterioration of relations with whoever is on the phone).
Monday 13 May 2013
Mix Tape
I've decided to base my mix tape on songs that were significant in my childhood and some later ones. It is also meant to be a kind of homage to me leaving secondary education into supposed 'adulthood' and others are just random ones I enjoy. Songs such as RHCP are dedicated to my fear of working in a boring office doing repitious work. Anyway...
1. All Saints - Pure Shores
2. The Cardigans - My Favourite Game
3. LeAnn Rimes - Can't Fight the Moonlight
4. Nelly Furtado - I'm Like a Bird
5. Hilary Duff - So Yesterday
6. Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Tell Me Baby
7. Sophie Ellis Bextor - Murder on the Dance Floor
8. Amy Macdonald - Poison Prince
9. Yann Tierson - The Piano
10. Shakira - Whenever, Wherever
11. N Sync- Bye Bye Bye
12. HANSON - MMMBop
13. Gwen Stefani - Cool
14. Dido - White Flag
15. Britney Spears - Everytime
16. Kelly Clarkson - Because of You
17. Christina Aguilera - Oh Mother
Sunday 12 May 2013
Tuesday 7 May 2013
Wednesday 1 May 2013
Applying Genre to my Music Video
An introduction to GENRE
David Chanler (2001) - the word genre comes from the French (and originally Latin) word for 'type'
The term is widely used in literary theory, media theory to refer to a distinctive type of 'text'
Steve Neale (1980) declares that "genres are instances of repetition and difference" it is essential for genre to deviate occasionally in order to attract and engage audiences
Andrew Goodwin - Genre Category Amplification
It is closely related to disjuncture, but amplification is just an enhancement of a concept while still retaining a link to it, this technique works brilliantly in marketing and a band in question.
What genre is your music?
Pop
Which generic conventions have you applied?
E.g.
- Extreme close-up of artist's lips whilst lip syncing
- Repetition of chorus shots to enhance 'repeatability'
- Unusual camera shots and angles
- First person mode of address directly engaging the viewer through the camera
- Star Image
- Mise-en-scene e.g. 1950s props and costume/inspired by pop artists such as Christina Aguilera and pin-up
- Locations -> inside and outside
- Camera angles and shot-types e.g. prolific use of mid-shots to make artist more recognisable and lip-syncing distinguishable
- Post-editing e.g. black and white/increased saturation and decreased brightness/fade out/speed up/fast cuts in the chorus and slow cuts in the verses
- Lighting e.g. Halo effect/key lighting
Genres are recognisable through the repeated use of generic codes and conventions
Tom Ryall suggests that the types of conventions found in genres might be group within the following categories
Iconographies (symbolic forms associated with the genre)
Symbolic use of bright colours is an ocnography that is dominanted by the pop genre. For example I replicated this in my music video through the dominant form of red, in the mise-en-scene and subtly in the locations e.g. the sofas. This gave a bright red hue that was enhanced by the saturation in post-editing.
The mise-en-scene of an unusual costume, in this case the 1950s style that is non-conformist to modern day trends, presents the artist in an unusual and recognisable way. This is also a technique to enable her to gain attention for the audience. With the pop music being dominanted by a majority of female audiences it is important not to off put the audience but instead draw them in.
Narrative: (structure - closed)
My music video narrative is closed as the ending is resolved throught the use of a fade out to signify it has finished. There would be no sequels to the video so therefore it is closed.
Representations: (characters/stereotypes)
The artist conforms to stereotypes such as that women are objectified by the dominant male perspective, as theorised by Laura Mulvey.
Ideologies: (beliefs and ideas of the 'ideal' concept, themes)
The lyrics 'Living Dead' is illustrated through the use of two contrasting themes. The first theme is "Living" where the artist is indoors and the bright red hues suggest that she is in a state of equlibrium (as theorised by Barthes). Whereas the second theme of "Death" is represented through the use of a black dress, in contrast to 'Living's red dress, and the darkness of the night time when she is sat outside. The use of a cigarette in the "Death" sequence connotes this ideology that smoking is a cause of death which is only done when alive. The negotiated reading can argued that these two parallels therefore indicate that materialistic things, such as her costume etc which indicate her glamorous lifestyle, do not substitute for a happy life.
By extension the use of the cigarette also reinforces the dominant ideology that smoking is glamorous or fashionable.
Which of the above codes/conventions does your coursework use and how?
Genres and Audiences
If we recognise the genre of a text it enables the audience to feel at home and gain enjoyment from "spotting the conventions and repetition" and making comparison with other texts of the same genre.
However if a text deviates from the conventions it can confuse the audience. At the same tiem we enjoy seeing the rules broken, providing the producer encoding the text does not go 'too far'.
We are more advanced than audiences of the past simply because we've seen more films than anyone in the history of media, so we expect genres to be played with.
What conventions would your audience enjoy spotting in the text?
Use of mise-en-scene/cuts/lip-syncing - these are the most dominant and easily recognisabe
Genre offers audiences a structure or framework enabling us to feel secure in our knowledge.
Tuesday 30 April 2013
Sunday 28 April 2013
Wednesday 24 April 2013
Sunday 21 April 2013
Thursday 18 April 2013
Applying Audience to your Media product
Applying Audience to your Media
Audiences
Julian McDougall (2009) suggests that in the online age it is getting harder to conceive a media audience as a stable, identifiable group.
However –audiences still clearly make sense and give meaning to cultural products.
An audience can be described as a “temporary collective” (McQuail, 1972).
- Changing niche
Key terms: Mass / Niche & Mainstream / Alternative
- Difficult to define specific audiences but not impossible
Is your text popular for a mass audience?
The text I produced I believe is popular for a mass audience as the main focal point, the song, falls within the pop genre which has a mass appeal. Additionally, the female artist can appeal to both male and females so do not eliminate a specific gender group.
Does this relate to your coursework?:
“This leads into a further consideration, which is the definition of 'popular culture as 'low' culture, something not for the elite, but for the 'common' people. Cultural value ('high' culture) has been traditionally associated with dominant or powerful groups - those who have appreciation of classical music, art, ballet, and opera and so on. 'Low' or popular culture is everything not approved of as 'high'. It is vulgar, common, or 'easy‘. It is postmodern”
I believe this relates to my coursework as my text does not feature traditional features associated with ‘high culture’. My media products are predominantly aimed at popular culture and would, in this case, be associated with a ‘low culture’.
Can this be applied to your coursework?:
Another definition of 'popular' is literally 'of the people', a kind of 'folk' culture and this is an interesting area, because it encompasses the idea of an 'alternative' culture which includes minority groups, perhaps with subversive values. The 'indie' music scene is an example of this. So 'popular' culture can and sometimes does, challenge the 'dominant' cultural power groups.
1. You must detail the target audience for your product:
The target audience are female young adults aged between 16-24 years of age.
2. Detail what the audience might identify with in your product (could link to the construction of identity?)
They would identify with the artist mostly, who is aged 23 years and a female. Therefore by fitting into the same target market age gap they can build a rapport and feel as if they can relate to the artist more. They would also identify with the perhaps turbulent emotions that are conveyed in the video (i.e. the title of the song ‘Living Dead’, experiencing reality from fantasy). They may also find a connection with the use of mise-en-scene, such as the heavy make-up but also the desirable unique styling e.g. taking inspiration from the 1950s and demonstrating this in her costume.
3. What meanings/uses they might make from consuming/interacting with the product?
They may derive meanings that a lifestyle that takes inspiration from the past is ‘cool’ etc. In addition, as they may begin to build a rapport and idolise the artist, they may take ideas such as the make-up and overall styling to replicate it in their own lifestyle.
Ien Ang (1991)'audience hood is becoming an ever more multifaceted, fragmented and diversified repertoire of practices and experiences'.
- Diverse
- More Niches
- Audiences are more divided into more sub-categories
1. Do you agree with Ang?
I agree with Ang that audience hood is becoming more diverse as with the new age of technology, media products are more accessible and receivable by specific niche audiences. Although may not be applicable to my media product as a mass audience was targeted. But media product can be more ‘tailored’ to the needs of the audience.
2. You must detail the social demographic of this target audience (gender, age, ethnicity, social class)
Gender: Female
Age: 16-24 years
Ethnicity: White British
Social Class: Middle Class
John Hartley (1987) “institutions are obliged not only to speak about an audience, but crucially, for them –to talk to one as well; they need not only to represent audiences but to enter into relation with them”
To what extent do you agree with this?
I agree with this as audience’s build a rapport with the media they are interacting with; so to continue to gain their attention this must be built to draw them back in. For example, with my artist fitting into the same target market age and requirements of my audience it makes it easier for the audience to see them as a ‘real’ person and continue to interact with them. However, this does not necessarily have to be the case to ‘enter into a relation with them’, where they can still represent an audience without forming a bond with them.
Hartley (1987) also suggests that institutions must produce “invisible fictions of the audience which allow the institutions to get a sense of who they must enter into relations with” .e.g. they must know their audience so they can target them effectively.
How did you do this with your magazine/music video?
Gaining Feedback from your Audience
You attempted to gain feedback from your target market in order to get their opinions
You used the blogs, forums etc. in order to share ideas and images.
You also conducted polls to tailor the product better for your audience.
Write down how you did this.
- I carried out an audience profile where I chose one individual that would fall into my target market and analysed her age, occupation, background and ambitions to get a feel of what would suit my artist best to appeal to the audience.
- Carried out an artist profile of my artist ‘Lexi and the Spectrum’, detailing her background, real name and upcoming releases so that my target market could get a sense of who they may choose to interact and build relations with.
- I created a pitch to my audience before creating my initial artist persona etc. to ensure that the idea would work effectively. I suggested a song and theme which my audience provided feedback on.
- I carried out feedback processes from my audience after the first draft of my music video and ancillary tasks so that I could get my audience’s opinions and reapply them to my video. E.g. they rated the video out of ten so far and added comments for improvement that they would enjoy seeing more or less of in the video.
- I used blogger to share concepts such as the initial representation of my artist as well as photos from real media texts that could be influential or use as intertextuality.
Audience Reception Theories:
Passive and Active Audiences
There are basically two different schools of thought concerning how audiences consume media texts, those that believe that audiences are “passive” and those who believe that audiences are “active”.
The Frankfurt School’s Hypodermic Theory (1930s) This Marxist theory, which was championed by theorists such as Theodore Adorno, assumes a direct stimulus-response relationship between audience reactions and the consumption of media texts.
Passive Audience Theory: The idea that the media ‘injects’ ideas and views directly into the brains of the audience like a hypodermic needle, therefore, controlling the way that people think and behave.
Passive’ audience/hypodermic theories are sometimes referred to overall as ‘Media Effects Theory’, i.e. the media has a direct and powerful effect on its audience. –for your coursework this can relate directly to music videos –debate at the moment concerned with rap/gangster videos, Marylin Manson etc, computer gaming.
- Injects certain ideologies into the audience
Can your c/w in any way be linked to the Passive Audience theory?
This can be linked to my music video as the artist arguably has a direct and powerful effect on the audience. For example, the use of misé-en-scene of heavy make-up and low cut dresses may influence the audience into dressing the same way but passively. Therefore, this promotes the sexualisation of women, becoming the object of desire to the secondary male audience. It may also suggest that this is the only appropriate way of dressing so may reduplicate it. Audiences that are not within the target market but passively view the video may also adopt this point of view, such as younger teenage girls where society views this as inappropriate. In terms of behaviour, within the video my artist levitates from an angered emotion to a happy emotion. Therefore the angered emotion, adhering to the Passive Audience Theory, may input the idea that behaving this way is acceptable (therefore controlling the way people behave).
However, the star image of the artist may also allure the audience so much so that she becomes a role model to other girls, especially within the target market. Arguably, the media in this case may result in the audience wanting to take care of their appearance which may be seen as a positive influence.
Positive:
Artist – role model to girls
Negative:
May influence audience to behave in the same way as my artist – disregards social boundaries
Sexualises the woman – becoming an object of desire to the male audience and nothing more
Pluralist Model and the Active Audience Theory
This is the idea that the audience have an active role to play in the understanding of, and creation, of meaning within a media text.
Predictably enough, the pluralist idea is the exact opposite of a hegemonic one.
A pluralist model argues that there is diversity in society (everyone is different) and therefore there is also choice (we can choose what to believe and what not to believe.)
So in media terms, because the audience (society) is diverse, with different points of view, the media is influenced by society. Because the media need to please the audience they will try to reflect the values and beliefs that are predominant in society. In other words, they give us what we say we want rather than telling us what to think and believe, in order to make us stay ‘in our place’.
- Your own interpretation but hope they have the ‘correct’ aligned ideas portrayed in the video
How can your target audience be seen as active?
My audience can have an ‘active’ role to play in the understanding of my music video as they may interpret that she is going through a break up etc. Although because the audience is so diverse it may also be interpreted that she doesn’t care e.g. by shots of her throwing roses at the camera which connotes her breaking up her desire for love. The audience can reflect whichever belief is most applicable to them, therefore the video is providing them with what they want to believe rather than a direct command on which was is the ‘correct way’.
McQuail’s Uses and Gratifications Theory Dennis McQuail (1972)
1. Diversion/Escapism
2. Personal Relationship: A talking point
3. Personal Identity: identifying with the representations on display
4. Surveillance: Information
- Escapism/Relationship/Surveillance/Identity
How can McQuail’s theory be applied to your c/w?
- Music videos should be for entertainment/escapism – audience want to escape the real world and entire an entirely hyper real world
- Personal Relationship – a talking point within the video e.g. her disregard to social boundaries and denying who she loves
- Personal Identity – the audience can build a rapport with the artist because she fits into the same target market group
- May sometimes have talking point e.g. political etc.
Parkin’s/Hall’s Audience Readings Theory
Frank Parkin (1972) and later Stuart Hall (1980) analysed the readings within audiences as either:
1. Dominant or Preferred Reading: The meaning they want you to have is usually accepted.
2. Negotiated Reading: The dominant reading is only partially recognised or accepted and audiences might disagree with some of it or find their own meanings.
3. Oppositional Reading: The dominant reading is refused, rejected because the reader disagrees with it or is offended by it, especially for political, religious, feminist, reasons etc.
Can any of these readings be applied to your c/w?
Negotiated Reading – the audience recognise the distress in the artist’s behaviour and the equilibrium in some shots but there is not direct meaning as to why this is. For example, with her lip-syncing lyrics down the rotary telephone the audience may assume she is on the phone to her previous lover etc. but this can be debated.
Wednesday 17 April 2013
Thursday 11 April 2013
Media Language: Theorists and Application
Media Language
Theory:
Read the list of relevant theorists. Choose 2 which you
either agree or disagree with and explain how your chosen c/w piece supports or
challenges the ideas.
Charles Sanders
Pierce (1931) – details that ‘we only think in signs’. Signs only represent
anything when society attributes meaning to them. Anything can be a sign as
long as someone interprets it as 'signifying' something - referring to or standing
for something other than itself. We interpret things as signs largely
unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions. It is this
meaningful use of signs which is at the heart of the concerns of semiotics.
AGREE - MUSIC VIDEO
Society has attributed meaning to the connotations of colour to represent emotion, social and cultural ideas. For example, in my music video red was adopted as the primary hue, visible in the location and used predominantly in the subject's costume. The lipstick of my female artist was dark red, as well as her 1950s A-line red polka dot dress. Therefore the red has enhances the sexuality of the subject, making her appear more aesthetically pleasing to a mass audience. Similarly, this can be applied to the use of black and white effect within the video during the bridge. This, in combination with longer shots and non-verbal communication of the subject smiling, had connotations of sophistication as well as security; going against the abrupt 'cool' attitude of shots with full colourant.
Another 'sign' can be applied to the use of props, especially in the adoption of a black retro cigarette holder which was used by the subject to inhale and exhale a cigarette. In modern day terms, it is unconventional and now has connotations of individuality and enhances the 'attitude' of the subject smoking it, in this case the artist. It has connotations of carelessness and non-conformity to expectations of society - becoming more of sign of style than functionality.
Charles Sanders
Pierce (1931) – there are three types of sign that we use every day to
create
meaning; iconic, indexical and symbolic signs.
Icon/iconic: a mode in which the
signifier is perceived as resembling or imitating the signified
(recognizably looking, sounding, feeling, tasting or smelling like it) - being
similar in possessing some of its qualities: e.g. a portrait, a cartoon, a
scale-model, onomatopoeia, metaphors, 'realistic' sounds in 'programme music',
sound effects in radio drama, a dubbed film soundtrack, imitative gestures.
Index/indexical: a mode in which the
signifier is directly connected in some way (physically or causally) to
the signified - this link can be observed or inferred: e.g. 'natural signs' (smoke, thunder,
footprints, echoes, non-synthetic odours and flavours), medical symptoms (pain, a rash, pulse-rate), measuring instruments (weathercock,
thermometer, clock, spirit-level).
AGREE - MUSIC VIDEO
The use of the garden location which was set at night-time can arguably be directly connected to the 'signified', in this case, the artist. The natural signs of the night-time scenery, with dark sky and unnatural lighting, can be inferred as a reference to the subject - providing mysterious and lonely connotations that the artist may be feeling. The autumn leaves around the subject, and wilting foliage, may also be inferred as the subject's own state of mind, again reinforcing the loneliness and 'dieing' state she may be experiencing (again tieing in with the song).
Symbol/symbolic:
a mode in which the signifier does not resemble the signified but which is
fundamentally arbitrary or purely conventional - so that the relationship must
be learnt: e.g. language in general (plus specific languages, alphabetical
letters, punctuation marks, words, phrases and sentences), numbers, morse code,
traffic lights, national flags.
Did your work contain any signs?
Roland Barthes (1967)
– signifier/signified – to discuss connotations that can be attributed to
denotations (signs).
John Fiske (1982) - “denotation is what is photographed, connotation is how it is
photographed”.
Stuart Hall (1980)
– texts can be encoded by producers and meaning is decoded by audiences.
Sunday 7 April 2013
Wednesday 20 March 2013
Jonathan Kramer: Music Theory Application
A very interesting aspect of postmodern music theory. This will help you with your next essay.
Media Theorist Jonathan Kramer says "the idea that postmodernism is less a surface style or historical period than an attitude. Kramer goes on to say 16 "characteristics of postmodern music, by which I mean music that is understood in a postmodern manner, or that calls forth postmodern listening strategies, or that provides postmodern listening experiences, or that exhibits postmodern compositional practices."
According to Kramer (Kramer 2002, 16–17), postmodern music":
1. is not simply a repudiation of modernism or its continuation, but has aspects of both a break and an extension
2. is, on some level and in some way, ironic
3. does not respect boundaries between sonorities and procedures of the past and of the present
4. challenges barriers between 'high' and 'low' styles
Kanye West's 'Diamonds From Sierra Leona' is a prime example of high style and low style. The high style, derived from Shirley Bassey's classic 'Diamonds are Forever' (the James Bond soundtrack) and the mix of Kanye West's rapping can be considered postmodernist in line with Kramer's theory. It also makes a political statement about the blood diamonds, in this case referrring to Sierra Leone in Africa, that have a negative effect on their production.
5. shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity
6. questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist and populist values
7. avoids totalizing forms (e.g., does not want entire pieces to be tonal or serial or cast in a prescribed formal mold)
Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody can be considered postmodern as it contains a ballad section, guitar solo, hard rock section and operatic passage. The song also contains no choruses which goes against the formal mould of a song.
8. considers music not as autonomous but as relevant to cultural, social, and political contexts
9. includes quotations of or references to music of many traditions and cultures The self-reflexive introduction of Lady Gaga's 'Bad Kids' featured on her album Born This Way is an explicit reference to Michael Jackson's 'They Don't Care About Us'. This combination of a hip hop rock and dance-pop, as well as intertextuality, can be considered postmodern.
MJ: "All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us. We don't care what people say we know the truth. All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us. Enough is enough of this garbage."
LG: "We don't care what people say we know the turth. Enough is enough of this horseshit. I am not a freak. I was born with my free gun. Don't tell me I'm less than my freedom"
10. considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music
11. embraces contradictionsThis example, an official remix of Lady Gaga's single 'LoveGame' featuring Marilyn Manson contradicts the exclusivity of rock music with pop.
12. distrusts binary oppositions
13. includes fragmentations and discontinuities
14. encompasses pluralism and eclecticism
15. presents multiple meanings and multiple temporalities
16. locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers
Jonathan Donald Kramer (December 7, 1942, Hartford, Connecticut – June 3, 2004, New York City), was a U.S. composer and music theorist.
Active as a music theorist, Kramer published primarily on theories of musical time and postmodernism. At the time of his death he had just completed a book on postmodern music and a cello composition for the American Holocaust Museum.
Media Theorist Jonathan Kramer says "the idea that postmodernism is less a surface style or historical period than an attitude. Kramer goes on to say 16 "characteristics of postmodern music, by which I mean music that is understood in a postmodern manner, or that calls forth postmodern listening strategies, or that provides postmodern listening experiences, or that exhibits postmodern compositional practices."
According to Kramer (Kramer 2002, 16–17), postmodern music":
1. is not simply a repudiation of modernism or its continuation, but has aspects of both a break and an extension
2. is, on some level and in some way, ironic
3. does not respect boundaries between sonorities and procedures of the past and of the present
4. challenges barriers between 'high' and 'low' styles
Kanye West's 'Diamonds From Sierra Leona' is a prime example of high style and low style. The high style, derived from Shirley Bassey's classic 'Diamonds are Forever' (the James Bond soundtrack) and the mix of Kanye West's rapping can be considered postmodernist in line with Kramer's theory. It also makes a political statement about the blood diamonds, in this case referrring to Sierra Leone in Africa, that have a negative effect on their production.
5. shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity
6. questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist and populist values
7. avoids totalizing forms (e.g., does not want entire pieces to be tonal or serial or cast in a prescribed formal mold)
Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody can be considered postmodern as it contains a ballad section, guitar solo, hard rock section and operatic passage. The song also contains no choruses which goes against the formal mould of a song.
8. considers music not as autonomous but as relevant to cultural, social, and political contexts
9. includes quotations of or references to music of many traditions and cultures The self-reflexive introduction of Lady Gaga's 'Bad Kids' featured on her album Born This Way is an explicit reference to Michael Jackson's 'They Don't Care About Us'. This combination of a hip hop rock and dance-pop, as well as intertextuality, can be considered postmodern.
MJ: "All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us. We don't care what people say we know the truth. All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us. Enough is enough of this garbage."
LG: "We don't care what people say we know the turth. Enough is enough of this horseshit. I am not a freak. I was born with my free gun. Don't tell me I'm less than my freedom"
10. considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music
11. embraces contradictionsThis example, an official remix of Lady Gaga's single 'LoveGame' featuring Marilyn Manson contradicts the exclusivity of rock music with pop.
12. distrusts binary oppositions
13. includes fragmentations and discontinuities
14. encompasses pluralism and eclecticism
15. presents multiple meanings and multiple temporalities
16. locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers
Jonathan Donald Kramer (December 7, 1942, Hartford, Connecticut – June 3, 2004, New York City), was a U.S. composer and music theorist.
Active as a music theorist, Kramer published primarily on theories of musical time and postmodernism. At the time of his death he had just completed a book on postmodern music and a cello composition for the American Holocaust Museum.
Tuesday 19 March 2013
David Bowie: Notes
Present: "The Next Day" released unannounced - album cover "Heroes" taken and white box overlayed with the album title in an Arial font 'The Next Day' on top
Alter-ego
Major Tom
The Thin White Duke
-> Self-reflexive in the song "Station to Station" and featured on the album "Station to Station"
Alladin Zane
Ziggy Stardust:
Self-referential, based on Vince Taylor and inspired by Japanese theatre Bauki (mime)
and the Spiders from Mars -> song
Rejects the idea that performer had relation to the real-life persona
Rock/glam rock music that went against 60s music
Short/catchy/aimed at the revolutionised independent young generation
Cross over appeal -> LGBT communities/young/old/different racial groups
Ambient/experimental/ballads
Moved to soul/funk/psychedelic rock/pop/electronic
Bowie 'Pin-Up' album cover with 60s fashion icon Twiggy
1974: Diamond Dogs based on the book '1984' by George Orwell e.g. Rebel Rebel
Toured in America and influenced by the soul scene and so transformed with stripped down versions/wore suits and adopted soul artist mannerisms
The album cover shows him as "half-dog grotesque" painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert -> controversial as it showed the "hybrid" of his genitilia on the other side of the vinyl cover
1975: Plastic Soul album
->Recorded a song with The Beatles' John Lennon called "Fame" and first artist to appear on the show "Soul Train" (began aiming at the black youth culture with RnB/funk music) - appeal to a different genre can be considered postmodernist
1976: Station to Station album
Funk genre/European sound
Inspired by the Kraftwerk (Germanic electronic band)
Album cover -> David Bowie inside the spaceship
Can't recall making the album at all -> Bowie was involved in heavy cocaine use
He was interested in conspiracy theories at this time/gave the 'Nazi' salute but in fact waving
1977-1979: The Berlin Trilogy ->
Moved to Berlin to reform after cocaine use
Transformed to electronic pop
Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" and "Idiot" were also contributed by David Bowie
Reused these later on in own albums "Let's Dance" and "Tonight"
No such thing as "uncool" prominant
"Casuals" in the late 70s adopted Bowie's look from Low
1976/77: David Bowie survived the Punk/Post-Punk sounds
Many other artist of the time struggled to move away from punk and changing social likes and dislikes
Major Tom -> Harlequin style/started new Romance movement to reject Punk and dress up instead
Recycled Major Tom's Space Oddity
"The Next Day" -> looking back at the Berlin Trilogy
Alter-ego
Major Tom
The Thin White Duke
-> Self-reflexive in the song "Station to Station" and featured on the album "Station to Station"
Alladin Zane
Ziggy Stardust:
Self-referential, based on Vince Taylor and inspired by Japanese theatre Bauki (mime)
and the Spiders from Mars -> song
Rejects the idea that performer had relation to the real-life persona
Rock/glam rock music that went against 60s music
Short/catchy/aimed at the revolutionised independent young generation
Cross over appeal -> LGBT communities/young/old/different racial groups
Ambient/experimental/ballads
Moved to soul/funk/psychedelic rock/pop/electronic
Bowie 'Pin-Up' album cover with 60s fashion icon Twiggy
1974: Diamond Dogs based on the book '1984' by George Orwell e.g. Rebel Rebel
Toured in America and influenced by the soul scene and so transformed with stripped down versions/wore suits and adopted soul artist mannerisms
The album cover shows him as "half-dog grotesque" painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert -> controversial as it showed the "hybrid" of his genitilia on the other side of the vinyl cover
1975: Plastic Soul album
->Recorded a song with The Beatles' John Lennon called "Fame" and first artist to appear on the show "Soul Train" (began aiming at the black youth culture with RnB/funk music) - appeal to a different genre can be considered postmodernist
1976: Station to Station album
Funk genre/European sound
Inspired by the Kraftwerk (Germanic electronic band)
Album cover -> David Bowie inside the spaceship
Can't recall making the album at all -> Bowie was involved in heavy cocaine use
He was interested in conspiracy theories at this time/gave the 'Nazi' salute but in fact waving
1977-1979: The Berlin Trilogy ->
Moved to Berlin to reform after cocaine use
- Low
- Heroes
- Lodger
Transformed to electronic pop
Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" and "Idiot" were also contributed by David Bowie
Reused these later on in own albums "Let's Dance" and "Tonight"
No such thing as "uncool" prominant
"Casuals" in the late 70s adopted Bowie's look from Low
1976/77: David Bowie survived the Punk/Post-Punk sounds
Many other artist of the time struggled to move away from punk and changing social likes and dislikes
Major Tom -> Harlequin style/started new Romance movement to reject Punk and dress up instead
Recycled Major Tom's Space Oddity
"The Next Day" -> looking back at the Berlin Trilogy
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