Foo Fighters Animatic

Foo Fighters -The Pretender Animatic

We looked at the music video "the Pretender" as an attempt to try to learn how music videos work and how the videos are edited . For example the ways that the edits in the video are in time with the music. Another thing that I noticed is how quickly music videos need to be edited, that was the main issue that I found and because "the Pretender" is a fast paced song then the edits have to be done incredibly quickly.

What we had to do was basically create an animatic and play it side by side with the actual music video of "the Pretender".

Potential songs

Potential Songs

I chose to use this song as a potential track due to its upbeat tempo and easy lyrics to learn. The lyrics would be easy to help to sync with. It also can be used for various styles in the music video, for example, we could easily do a band sequence or a narrative storyline or even both of them put together.




We chose this song as we thought that since it has a fast tempo and simple lyrics would be suitable for a music video. The instruments would be easy to obtain. Odds are we would be doing a band sequence for the video.

Three act structure & Binary Oppositions

Three act structure & Binary Oppositions 

Three act structure

The writer Syd Field has identified what he calls the ideal Paradigm three act structure.

1) The Set-Up

In this structure, a film must be set-up within the first twenty to thirty minutes before the main character or protagonist experiences a 'plot point' that gives him or her a goal that gives him or her a goal that must be achieved.

2) The Confrontation

Approximately half the movie's running time must then be taken up with the character's struggle to achieve his or her goal: this is the confrontation period.

Field also refers sometimes, to the midpoint a more subtle turning point that happens in Act II- the Confrontation  which often has an apparently devastating reversal of the main character's fortune.

3) The Climax

The final quarter of the film (the Three Acts) depicts a climactic struggle by the protagonist to finally achieve (or not achieve) his or her goal and the aftermath of this struggle.

Claude Levi-Strauss and Binary Oppositions

Levi-Struass argued that a structure of narratives was a dependence on Binary oppositions on Binary oppositions.

It is a conflict between two qualities or terms.

Looking for an Artist

Looking for an Artist

The first stage of making a music video for next year is finding the appropriate artist. One of the biggest problems about this is all of the copy right laws, so I would not be able to use signed and famous artists as odds are they would not let me use their music without the ideas of copyright so therefore it would be better to try to get unsigned artist's music so then its more likely that i could use their music, if this fails I can always try to find some new signed artist who wouldn't mind me using their music. 

The track should have to range from 3-3:30 mins long so then the video is not too long but is also not as short. The music should be some sort of upbeat song with changing tempos and that also has enough vocals in it so therefore it would not be boring.

Finally the music video has to have a certain type of music so it will be easier to make. I won't be making a rap video due to the fact that the lip synching it will be too hard to try to synch with the artist. I will not be doing country or western due to the fact that the location is totally wrong, we will not have the setting for the video. And finally I will not be using dubstep or trance due to the lack of lyrics.

Purpose of a music video

Purpose of a Music Video

Music videos are used in a variety of ways, including for promotion and publicity purposes and also as a way of making money, to increase sales.

It helps to promote the artist, their single, perhaps even their album from which the single is from. It also persuades the audience to buy the CD or to download the album.

Music Videos are also used as product placement, for example Christina Aguilera's perfume with her song "Not myself tonight".

The music video exists as only one strand of a multimedia campaign, and is just one way in which a song is promoted.

The music industry as a whole has a relationship with a number of different media: Radio, TV, Print media, Film and New Media.

There is often a clear sense of synergy across a number of platforms-e.g. Film.

Examples of the synergy between films and music videos can be seen between films like "Robin Hood Prince of Thieves" and Bryan Adams' "Everything I do".


 This can also be seen between the film "Four Weddings and a funeral" and Wet Wet Wet's "Love is all around"




Synergy is not only used between Films and music videos but can also be used in Tv programmes as well for example the show "Military wives" and the song "Wherever You Are".



Another example of Tv shows and music videos is of the show "Friends" and the song "I'll be there for you" by the Rembrandts.




The success of a Pop Video can be measured in a variety of ways such as things like, how many hits the song gets, how many people buy the CD and how many people download the songs and albums both legally and illegally. With all new ways that can measure how successful a music video or song is it is hard just to say that the amount of record sales that it gets determines how popular and successful this new song is.

Digipak Research

Digipak Research

What is a Digipak?

Digipaks typically consist of a gatehold (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. It means the CD comes in a cardboard flip-out case rather than a standard plastic hinged case.

Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD Digipak (DVDigipak) is used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets.

What is included in a Digipak?

Photographs/ pictures-usually at least one will be of the artist(s) and another might be of a scene that reflects the mood/ genre of the record.
Track List including song writing credits.
One box with a Disk impression (perhaps a circle over an innocuous background that shows where the disk will go or alternatively design on the actual disk).
A Band/Artist information section (names, instruments, additional musicians, Copyright and year of release etc).
Barcode and QR and a Logo for the record company.
Possibly reference to other albums by the same artist(s).
Sometimes Digipaks include: Membership postcard/ flier and or a Free image/poster.

Analysis of Digipaks

Avenged Sevenfold: "Diamonds in the Rough"

The first thing that is incredibly noticeable about this digipak is that of the use of the imagery on the album cover. The images of the five skeletons are supposed to represent each of the five band members, each with their respected instruments and the fact that they are in the foreground and more or less in the middle of the image so therefore are the first thing that jumps out to you. The imagery behind them of the burning buildings can represent the fast and heavy music that the band plays. The fact that the band's name and name of their album is shown in bright colours and is shown on the middle also helps the bands as it makes the album look much more eyecatching.

Judas Priest: "British Steel" 

Here is the digipak of Judas Priest's album "British Steel". The first thing that I notice is on the front cover we see the image of a razor blade with Judas Priest and British Steel written on it which easily gives us the idea of Steel which the blade would be made out of and the idea of British would come from the fact that they are a heavy metal English band. The fact that the background of the image is just black makes the image look even sharper. On the inside of the digipak we can see the three disks each following the same silver colour of the blade followed with the black background. Then is the two images on the left and right which shows a destroyed city which looked like was burned thanks to the buildings being black and with a red sky. The images on this digipak help to promote the mood of the album and the genre of music (heavy metal). The colours also help to promote this idea because colours like silver or white on top of the black often helps to promote the idea of heavy metal, another album cover that proves this idea is that of Avenged Sevenfold's "Hail to the King".

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Jackson 5 "Rockin Robin"



This is an incredibly basic music video, this was mainly used to promote the song. There was limited sophistication in this video, just different shots of the Jackson 5 lip syncing and pretending to play the instruments used in the song. There were different close ups used in the video as well as the dance routines used for the song.

"Rock With You"



This video is much more sophisticated than that of "Rockin Robin". There was interesting light effects in this video, the light seemed to follow Jackson whenever he moved around and sang. The costume that he wore was much more interesting in this video, using the sparkly clothing to reflect the light which gave the effect of him being the main thing to look at in this video. There were lots of close ups used on Jackson throughout this video to show that he is the main aspect of this video.

"Billy Jean"



This was the interesting first music video that did not just promote the song and use lip syncing, but it also tells a story. It contained the basics of a music video such as lip syncing, dance sequences and also close ups.

"Beat it"




This is another music video that tells an interesting story about gang warfare. This music video is different to Jackson's previous videos due to the elaborate choreographing in the dance sequence at the end which involved plenty of people rather than just Jackson dancing by himself. According to Goodwin this video contains aspects of a pop music video such as its close ups on Jackson and dance sequences.

"Thriller"




The music video is considered the most famous music video of all time, at least by the Library of Congress, which added it to its National Film Registry in 2009, the first music video in their registry.
The video was a cultural milestone introducing:

• elaborate choreography
• costumes and dialogue 
• the concept of the long-form music video, where a mini-movie was made for the song, then edited down for the short version

The long version of "Thriller" runs nearly 14 minutes, but had remarkable longevity, easily racking up over 100 million views when it showed up on YouTube. MTV usually ran the short version, which ran little under five minutes but still contained about a minute of non-song content in a storyline that omits most of the movie the couple is watching at the beginning. 

The video cost was about $500,000 to make.

Jackson's record company had no intention of paying for it, since the album was on the downswing and they had already financed videos for two of it's songs.

According to John Landis (Director), Jackson really wanted to turn into a monster, so he offered to pay for the clip himself. Landis took on the project because he saw it as a way to revive the short film genre, which he loved.
Jackson didn't have to pay for the video out of pocket because they made deals with Showtime and MTV to cover the costs. Showtime got to air a one hour special with the 'making of' documentary and the 14- minute film before it was broadcast anywhere else.
When MTV heard about this, their executive Bob Pittman decided that losing a Michael Jackson video to Showtime was unacceptable, and paid $250,000 for the exclusive broadcast rights once Showtime's window ended. MTV was founded on the principle of not paying for videos, so Pittman got around this by paying for the documentary, even though the money was really used to pay for the film.
The video won for Best Performance Video, Best Choreography, and Viewers Choice at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984.
With its famous graveyard dance, the video started the trend of group dance scenes in Pop videos.
The video owes a debt to Alice Cooper, who in 1975 created a movie based on the stage show for his "Welcome To My Nightmare" tour. Cooper's production was based on an entire album, but it also used a horror theme and was narrated by Vincent Price.
Most homes had Video Cassette Recorders in 1983 and sales of videos were big business.
You could buy a VHS or beta copy of Michael Jackson's "Thriller", which included the full video and also "The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller" a behind the scenes documentary.
This tape became the best selling music video at the time, and was later certified by Guinness World Records as the top selling music video of all time moving 9 million units.
The timing helped, as the video was released a few weeks before Christmas.

"Bad"

Following his success of "Thriller" Jackson was the biggest pop star in the world. His videos even made the new, The video of his song "Bad" was a major event. Shown for the first time on the BBC. People wanted to see his new image and dancing. In this video there was great use of dance a dance sequence with close ups on Jackson.

"Black or White"



This Michael Jackson video was very expensive and inventive. He used this song as an attempt to resurrect his career after the allegations of him being 'strange'. There were problems with his image, his white skin which made people believe that he wanted to be white instead of black and used this song to promote the serious message that it doesn't matter. The ending of the video was a reference of Peter Gabriel's groundbreaking video "Sledgehammer".

"Earth Song"




This video was made to promote a serious message, that of pollution. Throughout this video it could be argued that Jackson was portrayed as a Christlike figure as if he could be the person who could fix the problems of the world.

To conclude it can be argued that as digital technology developed so did Jackson's music videos, they became much longer and much more complex. He also used music videos in a way that had not been used before, he used them to: Reinvent his image, tell stories and to Address some serious issues that affected not only himself but everyone.

Sexism in Pop Videos

Sexism in Pop Videos

In 2013, "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke and "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus sparked controversy between different groups of people due to the sexual undertones of the videos.

Lily Allen's "Hard out Here" video parodied  black music video s that reduce black women's bodies to Lurid props.

Thanks to videos like these there are often many questions that can be asked such as:
Are Pop Videos Sexist?
Are women objectified and viewed merely as sexual objects?

Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory

The Theory suggests that the male gaze denies women human identity, relegating them to the status of objects to be admired or for physical appearance.

The theory suggests women can more often than not only watch a film from a secondary perspective and only view themselves from a man's perspective.

However the presence of a woman in mainstream film texts is something that is vital.

Often a female character has no real importance of herself, it is how she makes the male feel or act is the importance.

The female only exists in relation to the male.

The male gaze leads to Hegemonic ideologies within our society Hegemonic= ruling or dominant in a political or social context.

Mulvey states that the role of a female character in a narrative has two functions. 

1. As an erotic object for the characters within the narrative to view.
2. As an erotic object for the spectators within  the cinema to view.

Gender Roles in Film

The characters that look at others are seen as the active role. (male)

The characters are to be looked at are passive (female) They are under control of the males gaze and only exist for visual pleasure,

Females often slow the narrative down, they act as inspiration for men to act.

Males on the other hand, push the narrative  forwards and make things happen and are seen as active.

Mulvey also discussed the term Scopophilia

Female objectification 

Objectification is related to the Gaze.

The persons gazed at are objectified, treated as an object whose sole value is to be enjoyed or possessed by the voyeur.

Objectified characters are devalued and their humanity removed.

Patriarchal society= Men Dictate the rules.

Mulvey argued we live in a Patriarchal society in which men set  the majority of rules and construct and  represent the ideal visions, roles and male dominance over women.

Sexism in Pop Videos 
Miley Cyrus  "Wrecking Ball"


This video caused outrage from may people for various reasons mainly all of the obvious sexual undertones of this video. This was a stark contrast from the Hannah Montana image which was supposed to be the good little girl. It could be argued that Miley Cyrus made this video to prove that she is now a woman who can do what she wants rather than the little girl that she once was. Sinead O'Connor warned Miley "Not to let them prostitute you!". I think that Miley wanted to do this video to prove to the world that she has grown out of the old Hannah Montana image.

Lily Allen "Hard Out Here"




This video was claimed to be a feminist video what with its lyrics and themes, but equally it can be argued that it is not a feminist video due to the imagery such of the women dancing around in very little clothing. This video was an attempt to a parody of music videos but in the end it still sexualises women too. This video defeated Allen's objective as it objectified women.

Robin Thicke "Blurred Lines"



 This song was banned in 20 Student Unions due to the explicit nature of this song. The lyrics of this song also backs this up which mainly objectifies women and has incredibly sexual themes in it. There is also a different of this song which features the girls seen in the video are topless. Women are portrayed in an incredibly objectified and sexual way.

Suture

Suture

Classical Hollywood narrative, editing, sound and mise-en-scene 'sutures' or positions the audience in certain ways making only one preferred reading (Reception Theory) possible, however unconscious the audience is of that position.

The theory stems from literary and film theories of Roland Barthes, Stephen Heath, Laura Mulvey, Kaja Silverman but formulated by Daniel Day in his "The Tutor Code of Classical Cinema" (1974).

According to these theorists, the audience "stitches" itself into a film by relating to characters or world views expressed in a film, and then filling in the temporal and spacial gaps between scenes with our imaginations.

This is made all the easier when means, techniques, codes and conventions of film are made invisible by the filmmakers.

CASE STUDY 3 Alex Southam

Alex Southam

Has worked for Agile Films who describe him on their website as:

‘Alex Southam is an exciting new talent, working in a dizzying variety of styles across live action and animation. Entirely self-taught, his inventiveness and creativity have caught the eye with a series of diverse promos for the likes of the Walkmen, Alt+J and Lianne La Havas. Alex joined Agile in August 2012.’

To begin with Southam undertook all the tasks on his videos this included doing the Camera work, Lighting and Editing. He now uses a Director of Photography.

Southam likes the format of music videos as, ‘you can try new techniques and can have real artistic freedom’

He is less keen on commercials as they allow for ‘much less freedom’

 He uses Vimeo to showcase his videos – this is becoming an increasingly important platform as it is considered to have ‘higher status’ than YouTube

His breakthrough came with the video Tesselate for Alt J, the budget of the video was £10,000, he shot it all in one day with a large cast. For the special effects used in the video, Southam used AfterEffects.

Another music video that Southam made was of Chase & Status’ “Lost and Not Found”. He was given a £50,000 budget to work with. Southam filmed the video in Los Angeles. He used a steadicam throughout the video to reduce the camera shaking. Throughout this, the video was filmed at 36 frames per second and then was slowed down. It was influenced by Massive Attack’s “Unfinished Sympathy”. Southam went for an early 1990s VHS video look.