Wednesday 29 September 2010

Disco Power Ballads

Disco power ballads are ballads with synthesisers and guitars and are made in the 1970's. They are slow paced, poetic and emotional as with most ballads. 

Charlene-Ive Never Been to Me [LINK]
  • Contains her walking around a mansion alone which signifies she is A social class and is lonely
  • The white flowing dress signifies inocence
  • The use of the oval shpe video in the centre of a white fram signifies a wedding photo book signifying the meaning of the narrative.
Rose Royce - Love don't live here anymore [LINK]
  • Is a performance based video of soul disco pop
  • It is dreamy as signify by the use of cross fades, bright colours and a sparkely frame
  • As with heavy metal the video extentuates the intremental tallent of the musicians focusing on the lead singer within the frame and using lots of tracking and 360 degree shots
  • The female lead is dressed to appeal to the male gaze and the black man stereotypically has an afro and large colar to appeal to moder teenage audiences and fashions of the time
Olivia Newton John - Hopelessly devoted to you [LINK]
  • Performance based video
  • Her in blue light signifies sadness and coldness
  • Cobewebs signify age and is an interextual reference the Lady Havisham
  • Dressed in fashions of the time
  • Flowing dressk, cross fades and close ups signify emotionality
  • At the end the fram stilled before it faded out
Summary of Videos
  • A sense of dreamyness
  • 1 set character nomarlly alone
  • Flowing dresses and scenic sets
  • Pink, blue , purple and white colours

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Power Ballads

Power Ballads :

  • produce slow tempo songs often building to a loud and emotive chorus
  • backed by drums 
  • piano
  • electric guitars 
  • soulfull
  • sometimes choirs [LINK]
Gary Balow - Forever Love [LINK]

  • The protaganist gets up and out of bed alone in black and white this is to signify that the video is sad, romantic and serious he is lonely.
  • We see many different types of coupels signified as couples by the use of a two shot
  • The lesbians and homesexuals shown are stereotypically good looking whith the lesbians in fish net stokings to appeal to the male gaze and the gay couple dancing with makeup on so that they can easily be identified in the short shots. This is an argument for post modernism because although this is a serious song it still is portraying the woman and stereotypes in order to sell the song. However a post feminist would say that the display of the range of couples is in support of free choice.
  • The binary oposites of the young couple kissing and the old couple kissing are to exagerate there difference and make the audience sympathise with both. It could  in a negotiated reading also make them disgusted by putting the old couple last but due to the gentle non diagetic music leads to the preffered reading to sympathise with the old couple.
  • This is a narrative based video


Michael Jackson - You are not Alone  [LINK]
  • This is a performance based video with the progressive concept of Michael and a woman intergrated
  • The woman and Michael appear naked surrounded by pillars there genitals covered by sheets this signifies that are Greek gods and appeals to the male and female gaze
  • The use of the two shots of them naked together signifies they are in a relationship and have just had sex
  • The warming lighting colours signifies the characters are content and confortable and that the environment is peacfull. Using the commutation test if the lighting was low key or in complete blackout it would signify fear and heavy metal
  • The use of the empty theatre Michael appears to be singing in reflects the lyric of the song "alone"
  • There is slow paced aditing because it is a slow paced song with lots of cross fades
  • Michael uses slow expressive arm gestures   
Westlilfe - You Raise Me Up [LINK]
  • Is in black and white to signify sadness and seriousness
  • The Gary Barlow song Forever Love is an intertectual reference to this video
  • The difference in this video is that the couples are only straight couples and the video fails to represent sexuality
  • We do however still see an old couple  

Monday 20 September 2010

Ballads

I let the Music Speak by Abba is a Murder Ballad a Ballad is "a form of verse, often a narrative set to music." Types of Ballads include:
Murder
Power
Rock
Folk
Child
Opera
Jazz
Broadsheet
Irish

Robbie Williams and Gary Balow - Shame
  • This is a folk ballad
  • Two men looking at each other and in two shots signifies that they are both gay
  • We see them both taking there shirt off together which leads the audience into the preffered reading that they are about to have sex however they dont
  • Towards the end they are both about to jump off a cliff into water but decide not to this signifies that they are both metrosexuals
  • The non diagetic guitar is an intetextual reference to brokeback mountain and laundry room and denim outfit worn by robbie is and intertextual reference to the first gay story on Eastenders
  • We see them performing in what appears to be a karaoke in the pub as well as the narrative of them meeting up
  • Using the commutation test and binary oposite if the two men were dressed in black jeans with long hair they would signify heavy metal artists but instead they are wearing blue jeans and have short hair which although less gothic is less metrosexual to signify that these men aren't gay. However there is an  argument that the costumes are an intertextual reference to films such as Brokeback Mountain.The shirtlessness appeals to the female gaze.

Leona Lewis - Run
  • This is a rock ballad
  • The use of the oval shaped window with a black border signifies sadness 
  • The fact we see the artist alone in a rural area in the moors and in a forrest signifies loneliness
  • The use of the black dress in to exentuat Leona's bust and appeal to the male gaze showing how although this is a deep song it still has elements of post modenism. A post feminist would say that she is showing confidence and chosing to dress like that. Although a feminist would say that the song portrays a vulnerable character therefore the dress doesn't fit the song and the only reason she is dressed like that is to appeal to the male gaze and sell the song
  • The notion of looking is shown in the last shot where she looks direectly at the camera
Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight


  • The notion of looking is shown by the slow focus up and light fade up in as phil collins face is revealed looking in an extreme close up at the camera
  • This is a concept based video with elements of performance
  • It is a power ballad
  • The progression of the concept about life development narrative is signified by the use of the empty room and infinate corridor with many doors
  • The use of slow cross fades signifies a dream like state
Summary of What Ballad Video's Commonly Include
  • Mainly narrative based although they can be concept based too all with parts of performance
  • Emotional and slow
  • Lots of cross fades and medium close up to close up shots
  • A panoramic setting shown with long shots to signify the mood of the music so for example Robbie Williams had a waterfall because that song was a happy song about friendship whilst Leona Lewis had a rural setting because it signified loneliness and the song was verry sad
  •  Costume and Mise en Scene is coloured and light to reflect the mood of the song
  • The notion of looking to either connect with the audience or signify a relationship

Viking Metal

Viking Metal Has:

  • galloping pace 
  • keyboard-rich anthemic sound 
  • bleakness 
  • dramatic emphasis on Norse mythology 
  • Norse paganism
  •  the Viking Age [WIKI ]
A key band would include Bathory and Amon Amarth






    Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God [YTB]
    • The mise en scene appears to be all viking except the players jeans and shirts, intruments and the colours in the performance side of the video however no electrical source of light can be seen
    • The woman is portrayed countertypically as shown is not wearing skimpy costumes and portrayed sexually she is however portrayed as a more vulnerable person than the men due to her plain dress instead of armour
    • The performance is warmer in colour than the narritve side of the video portraying a battle to signify the fort they are performing infront of is safe
    • Whilst in viking time that fashion would have been hetrosexual nowadays it is camp due to the long hair and deep roaring voice with gives the song sex appeal
    • We see a lot of head banging in the performance as well as crane/tracking shots and close up shots
    Amon Amarth - The Pursuit of Vikings [YTB]
    • The head banging twirls on the beat of the music
    • This is a performance based video
    • There are many shots of a wall and shots out of focus
    • The performance is unusually without an audience in a small room
    • The frame is slightly tinted green which signifies sci fi
    • The lead singer is the focus of the shots and is without a top on to give the band sex appeal
    Turisas - To Holmgard and Beyond [YTB]
    • Contains shots of viking life
    • Begins with old english sans seri typography
    • It is a narrative based video with performance as part of the dialogue of the narrative
    • There appears to be a possessed old man
    • There are lots of rural landscape long shots

    Summary
    • Viking mise en scene
    • Viking ways of life and cultures
    • Sometimes modern performances
    • Rural long shots

    The Guns and Roses

    Welcome to the Jungle
    • The drinking and smoking we see of Axel to begin with signifies that he is rebellious and therefore appeals to teen audiences
    • The extra footage to begin with contains added diagetic sound
    • The use of the shots of him with no face shown created narrative enigma or it could signify that he is an unlikeable character
    • He is chewing hay which signifies he is from the southern states of America
    • We only see the objective and sexist  point of view shots of a female's legs and bum as the camera pans upwoulds which supports the feministic view that women dont have equal rights in the video as the men
    •  The notion of looking is shown by the use of the television shop in which we see the face of Axel
    • The video cuts to the performance side of the video as the beat of the music plays
    • The performance includes tracking and 360 degree shots focusing on the lead singer
    • It also includes long shots with the audience included within the frame
    • The editing is fast paced
    • Whilst we see the lead singer as the focus of most frames the rest of the band are in the shot too normalkly as a two shot
    • We see instrumental shots to show off the bands instrumental talent
    • The long hair of the band creates a band image and signifies that they are metrosexuals to give them sex appeal for female audiences
    Sweet Child of Mine
    • The use of the black and white shots is polysemic and signifies that the video is either old footage,or arty/sophisticated footage but given that it is intergrated with colour shots the audience is lead to the prefered reading that the black and white footage is honest low quality fan based footage
    • As with most rock bands we see the band logo within the bass drum
    • The video is a performance based video
    • The low angle shot of the guitarist signifies that they are in power
    • We see the camera track which further signifies that the black and white footage is honest
    • Once again the woman in the video plays little role than just the person who is kissed by the band so therefore we only see her bum
    • The editing is fast paced and cuts to the beat
    • The shots start on the lead and end on the lead
    • We see the fast zoom and wipe cuts
    Paradise City
    • It seems as though they are performing in an empty stadium untill the fast wipe cut round to a full stadium
    • We see a time lapse of the audience ariving
    • The use of canted angles could signify the disiness experienced when head banging
    • The editing is fast pace with focus on the lead singer

    Sunday 19 September 2010

    The Darkness I believe in a thing called Love and The White Stripes

    The Darkness I believe in a thing called love
    • The lead singer dominates the quantits of shots
    • Metrosexuality is shown to give the band sex appeal with the long hair and open jump suit
    • This is also an intertextual referance to Queen as it is dramatic Classic Rock
    • Although there are countertypical metrosexual signifiers of men their are also stereaotypical scenes of them fighting with the giant octipuss
    • The scene where he gets hugged whilst naked is an intertextual referance to a pot noodle advert and signifies his naked vulnerability which is again countertypical of the male gender
    • The notion of looking is shown by his use of looking towards the camera
    • The visuals have nothing to do with the lyrics because it is a concept based video.
    The White Stripes - The Hardest Button To Button
    • the instrumental talent of the artist is shown off by the animation as one drum gets left behind on every beat
    • It is a performance based video performed unusually with no audience and outside
    • The female in the band is portrayed countertypically as no male gaze aspect is shown although she is the focus of the video
    • The colours of black and red creat a brand image to sell the song




    Tuesday 14 September 2010

    Heavy Metal Sub Genre's

    Metalic Death
    Thrash
    Death
    Tech
    Death Core
    Christian
    Grind Core
    Folk
    Speed
    Stoner
    Sludge
    Speed Death 1
    Speed Death 2
    Groove
    Drone
    Celtic
    Viking
    Progresinve
    Metal Core
    Pirate
    Industrial
    Groove
    Rap
    Funk
    Tech Death
    Neo Classic
    Nu
    Symphaiz
    Power
    Crust
    Avant Garde

    Friday 10 September 2010

    My Initial Idea for my Final Piece

    I have signified the protaganist as elderly in the narative of the lyrics however to fit the codes and conventions of music videos and appeal to teenage audiences the protaganist must be young.

    The protaganist will be young and an attractive female to apeal to the male gaze however to fit the protaganist to the idea of bad experience I will portray her as low class. Therefore to meet the stereotype the protaganist will be be dressed in sporty clothing with tied back hair and hoop earings so the audience will signify her as rough, poor and with many problems.

    The song lyrics personify powerfull natural things such as the sun and beauty. Since the song is about the consumption of music I will use the 20th most powerfull man in the media and the most powerfull man in the music industry Simon Cowell who I will include in my video to use a celebrity and appeal to modern  and wide audiences as they can easily signify the conatations of a video through a face they know. Obviously I cannot get hold of the real Simon Cowell so I will use masks or even half masks as used by Lady Ga Ga.

    I like the Idea of the band acting out scenarious to reduce the amount of people I will need  such as in the Steps Video Chain Reaction therefore I will use many costumes and four people 2 girls and 2 boys. Again I cannot get Abba so I will use masks.

    The narative will go as follows:
    • A poor rough woman auditions for the X Factor
    •  She gets through
    • She wins
    • She becomes a multi million selling artist owned by Simon Cowell
    How I will do It:
    • Performance will be intergrated with the narrative to create 2 scenes.
    •  A member of the group will act as the protaganist and lead the singing.
    • A long tracking shot will be used of the performance along with close up shots. and medium shots.
    • I will use the screen within a screen effect and show her on TV or on a poster.
    • Skimpy clothing and makeup will apeal to he male gaze.
    • I will use modern fashion and culture to apeal to modern audiences.  
    Problems I may Face:
    • Creating a realistic crowd with 4 people however the irony that a succsessfull artist has no crowd creates humour
    • Getting everyone together
    • Creating a realistic studio environment
    • Lip Sinking
    • Mise en Scene Changes
    • Shot Variation
    The Songs Retold Meaning
    I will make it about the falsification of the music industry through shows like the X Factor. The protaganist is saying I let the music itself speak instead of the person who performs it, the television show, the story behind the person, the persons journey, the amount of money invested into its marketing and I speak the music instead of in the X Factor where the songs are re-produced number ones of old songs. 

    Thursday 9 September 2010

    The Music I have Chosen

    I have chosen the album song "I let the Music Speak" by Abba. Here are the lyrics:



     I'm hearing images, I'm seeing songs
    Is as the rest of the lines polysemic. This line purposely uses the wrong verb with the wrong nouns to signify either a cathartic experience, a crazy overly emotional character or some sort of drug ussage or disoriantation.


    No poet has ever painted
    The meaning of the first line is anchored with the meaning of the first to signify the two lines together are an expression of superintelligent inspiration and creativity. The meanings a slowly revealed much like an opening of the film would to create narative enigma and draw it's audience in.



    Voices call out to me, straight to my heart
    Signifies either: love, God, an argument or some moving event.


    So strange yet we're so well acquainted
    Here she personifies the polysemic event or entity she is describing.


    I let the music speak, with no restraints
    Here it is anchored that she is singing about music although it is polysemic as to whether the music is a metaphor and her expresion of it. An emotional woman is stereotypical of there gender.


    I let my feelings take over Perhaps the male gaze is appealed to here as this line has connotations of a romantic or sexual experience. The use of a female being expresionate signifies that through the stereotype they are young however the line is polysemic and could also signify that the protaganist is an elderly lady who has regrets about holding back in previouse experiences.


    Carry my soul away into the world
    Using the commutation test this could signify that the song is about suicide however with the other lines it anchors the meaning of the song that it is about a cathartic experience.



    Where beauty meets the darkness of the day
    This means that the emotions she feels cheer her up. For this line a long shot of a panoramic landscape or sunrise would fit.





    Where my mind is like an open window
    This could signify a clear mind the reasoning for it is polysemic therefore creates narrative enigma.



    Where the high and healing winds blow
    The binary oposites or the imagery of the darkness of the day and the high winds signifies the conflicts the protaganist faces in the music. The open window signifies the encapsulating experience of the music whilst the wind and beauty signify the cathartic journey it takes her.


    From my shallow sleep the sounds awake me
    This signifies that the protaganist feels awakened and refreshed by music therefore the video should be vibrant in apearance.


    I let them take me
    The protaganist personifies the music as a team of beings.


    (Let them wake me, let them now, let them take me)
    The singer wishes to enjoy the music this could signify she is sentimental and therefore female.






    Let it be a joke


    Let it be a smile


    Let it be a farce if it makes me laugh for a little while


    Let it be a tear


    Let it be a sigh


    Coming from a heart, speaking to a heart, let it be a cry

    The protaganist will do anything tto find pleasure in their experience of music perhaps they are bored.






    Some streets are emptiness, dry leaves of autumn

    This is perfect for the video because the lyrics mention autumn and we will be filming in autmn.


    Rustling down an old alley
    This is a metaphorical setting therefore it will not be used in my video as vibrancy and modern fashions appeal to modern music vieo audiences.


    And in the dead of night I find myself


    A blind man in some ancient valley
    Here the song changes tone from being joyfull to being sad and depressing therefore the video should change tone to reflect the song.


    I let the music speak, leading me gently
    It is clear I will need to characterise "the music" if I am basing my video on the lyrics.

    Urging me like a lover

    Leading me all the way


    Into a place


    Where beauty will defeat the darkest day
    Here "the darkness of the day" tale is brought from a disequilibrium to an equilibirum and intergrated within the other narative of her having a cathartic experience.






    Where I'm one with every grand illusion
    This signifies the protaganist has high ambitouns and is easily lead.


    No disturbance, no intrusion
    This signifies that the protaganist is stuborn and self protected.


    Where I let the wistful sounds seduce me
    The male gaze is once again apealed to.


    I let them use me
    The protaganist feels regret about this.


    (All illusion, no disturbance, no intrusion)






    Let it be a joke


    Let it be a smile


    Let it be a farce if it makes me laugh for a little while


    Let it be a tear


    Let it be a sigh


    Coming from a heart, speaking to a heart, let it be a cry






    Let it be a tear


    Let it be a sigh


    Coming from a heart, speaking to a heart, let it be a cry

    The tone of the song has once again changed from being an expresion of want of enjoyment to being a plee for anything but the illusion she is lead into that distrubes her life.






    Let it be the joy of each new sunrise
    The oxymoron of the "darkness of the day" tale is concluded in thay that the beauty being the sun wins these could be metaphors for experiences within her life.


    Or the moment when a day dies
    Perhaps the protaganist is old and regretfull of her life so therefore wishes to rellive them.


    I surrender without reservation
    The protaganist has given in to life and has left it polysemic as to the reasons why.


    No explanations


    No questions why
    These signify the protaganist hates intrusion or being told what to do.


    I take it to me and let it flow through me


    Yes, I let the music speak


    I let the music speak


    The song is about a woman who is possibly elderly and has a regretfull life. She wishes to enjoy the joy and the sorrow she feels when listening to music either becuase she is bored or has given up on life this is polysemic. The song itself is a series of metaphors which create this polysemy it is therefore up to me to create a narrative based on the consumption of music.

    Tuesday 7 September 2010

    Mixed Bands Close Analysis







    Summary

    Black Artist's

    Shout by Shout for England (Feat. Dizzee Rascal and James Corden)
    • The mise en scene of football footage , fans and shirts reflects the concept of the song
    • preformance based of them raping/singing
    • black man stereotypical with chains and hat and raping
    • Football footage intergrated with them in the stand
    Janet Jackson Together Again
    • Stereotypicaly in savanna
    • Wearing primitive clothing fit the stereotyp of abirigonal
    • Countertypically white people ar mixed in to the danceing
    • She at front of evenly spaced dance group
    • Dance in unison with her  flouting the choriography
    • Long shot with of dancing with cut outs of aborigonal life
    Rihanna Rude Boy
    • Alone with animated background
    • Lots of costume changes
    • Close up shots and long shots of varient angles
    • Lots of setting changes
    • Her playing to men and controlling them
    • No signifier of her race