The actors in our film will be:
Erick Silva – Main artist
Kyle – Young version of artist
Mum
Lucas – Thug #1
Liban – Thug #2
Abul – Thug #3
Category Archives: Uncategorized
First Shoot!
We’ve just finished filming our first scene for our music video. We had our young actor with us and we shot the scenes of our protagonist playing football in the past. We also had our main actor and shot the transition scenes of him playing football now.
We had a few issues with the tripod but overall the weather, while chilly, was quite lovely with beautiful sunshine to allow us to shoot with the best possible natural lighting. we only had an hour and a half of daylight as there were a few other people also using the court but we’ve gotten off to a good start!
Group Meeting
We had a group meeting to discuss the roles each member of the group will have. We decided to start filming on the 24th Jan 2015. We will meet up at Hackney Wick station then film at the nearby Mabley Green.
So far it has been a struggle to find actors that are reliable and able to come film at short notice. We have had a number of actors bail on us with some citing the differences in our schedules as a main reason why they can’t continue on the project. It has been frustrating as we’ve suffered a few setbacks but hopefully we have now found our main actor and so we can finally get started
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Laura Mulvey – male gaze theory
The ‘gaze’ is a term used to describe the audience perception of people in the media. Laura Mulvey suggests that the audience perception of people on screen has to be seen through the eyes of the heterosexual male. The camera sees the audience through male eyes and lingers on the female body, specifically the curves. It is when these curves are highlighted with specific conventions such as a slow motion shot or a deliberate shot lingering on the body that the male gaze theory is satisfied. The Male Gaze advances the belief that women are their to be looked at for male pleasure. The female viewer must view the film through a secondary perspective and by identifying with the male.
The male gaze theory sought to prove, using psychoanalysis, that the way in which classical Hollywood cinema portrayed the female in film inevitably put the viewer in a male subject position. She realised that the women on screen during the 50’s and 60’s were only there to titillate and capture the ‘male gaze‘. Laura Mulvey went further and said that the women during this era were coded with ‘to be looked-at-ness‘ for the male protagonist of the film to enjoy.
Applying the male gaze theory
Scouting For Girls – She’s So Lovely
The male gaze theory states clearly that ‘the audience is put into the perspective of a heterosexual man’. We can see right from the start that the song ‘She’s So Lovely’ adheres to the Laura Mulvey statement. The deliberate camera movement to shows her legs as she walks past is used to capture the attention of not only the men at the bowling alley but also the male viewers watching the music video at home.
The deliberate slow mo action of the camera as she enters the frame and to reveal her face as we hear the man sing ‘I think that she is beautiful‘ and the guys around her looking at her.We also see her boyfriend looking at the other guys and raising his eyebrows as he kisses the girl to show of his prize. You can see here how the girl is treated solely for the object of male gratification. The lyrics of the song help confirm this point. ‘I love the way she fills them clothes‘
Criticisms of the male gaze theory
- The main objection Laura Mulvey’s theory is that quite simply some women like to be looked at. Females spend time and money to look their best and their are professions (modelling) and events (beauty pageants) held where females are judged solely on their looks and these industries are still thriving.
- The male gaze theory is very narrow minded in the sense that it only mention female objectification. It is not only females that are objectified and many men are given roles in the Hollywood industry based on their appeal to the female viewer.
- The gaze doesn’t have to be inherently sexual and can be applied to people of the same sex. It isn’t only men looking at women but also women looking at women and it is entirely possible for women to compare fashion styles and body image.
Analysis of music videos 2
The music video I will be analysing in this music video is Ed Sheeran – Lego House
The music video of ‘Lego House’ starts with it appearing that Ed Sheeran is being played by Rupert Grint. We see him writing and singing the song and hanging out on the tour bus, but as the video goes on we see him ousted as a deranged stalker as he crashes one of the gigs and is then promptly escorted away from the venue by security. The reason why I chose to analyse this music video is the fact that it tells the viewer a story and the editing in particular helps the viewer understand and go along with the story. Editing is crucial to any music video but more so when that music video has something it wants to tell.
The establishing shot shows the crowd in the audience waiting for the singer and when the next shot shows Rupert walking towards the camera the viewer naturally assumes that Rupert is playing the part of Ed Sheeran. The cross cuts of him singing and getting ready again portrays the same image. The editing here helps set the tone to the viewer and establish the storyline properly.
Another editing technique that was used really well in the video was match cuts. These helped to establish a strong continuity of action and allowed the viewer to see the frustration and anger that Rupert felt as he smashed up the guitar. The fast paced editing in this sequence helps to show to the viewer the frustration that he is feeling. It is these editing techniques which help drive the story on and it is these editing techniques that I need to use in my music video to ensure the story I tell is easy to follow.
Analysing music videos
The music video I will be analysing is Eminem – Lose Yourself.
The genre of this music video is rap and is targeted at a teenage audience just like our music video will be. I feel that ‘lose yourself’ is a good song to compare and obtain ideas from as the subject matter of the video is roughly the same. The narrative of the music video is about giving everything you got and making sure to not miss an opportunity to succeed. You see this from the start when Eminem says ‘If you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment would you capture it or just let it slip?’ The lyrical content of the music highlights the struggle that youngsters go through to stay focused in the face of many distractions and highlights just how hard it is to put yourself first at a time in your life when all every other teenager wants to do is fit in. This is what our music video will also portray and show the pitfalls one youngster from an impoverished background must navigate in order to be successful.
The mise en scene in the music video is crucial to portraying the narrative. We see Eminem standing in a dark street and the only lighting is behind him illuminating him. This puts him in perspective and illuminates his struggle to succeed, while the darkness surrounding him shows how easily he can get lost. The light can be used as a guidance to follow the right path and navigate all the obstacles that may hinder his progression.
It is interesting to note that both times in the music video when Eminem is on the path to success he is also illuminated and light is shining upon him. The first is when he is sitting on the sofa at home working on his music and the light is falling upon him from above showing the audience how hard he is working and secondly when he is performing on stage and the light radiates on him.
I will make sure to use lighting effectively in order to properly portray the willingness and strive for success that the youngster in our music video demonstrates.
Questionnaire – How I will use the responses in my own music video
The questionnaire was a useful tool to help me gauge what my target audience of 16-24 year olds usually look for in music videos. I was able to gain a valuable insight into how they enjoy listening to music, where they watch the majority of their music and what their favourite genre of music is.
Firstly, as there was an equal number of female and male respondents it has allowed me to understand what works well with both the male and female audience rather than getting a biased insight into their expectations of a music video.
The majority of all respondents to my questionnaire were aged between 16-24 years old. This is ideal for me as I plan on mainly targeting the 16-24 male and female audience. It is essential that I am able to attract my target audience so having them answer my questions is most helpful.
The response to the question asking people about their favourite genre of music was quite mixed with people going for a mixture of Hip Hop, Rap and RnB. This is especially pleasing as the song I will be using in my own music video will be Ti ft Justin Timberlake ‘Dead and Gone’ which is a mixture of the three genres.
It was interesting to note that whilst there was a mixture of answers for how often people watch music videos, 42% of all respondents said they only watch music videos sometimes. I was expecting most people to go with the ‘very often’ option. However what came as no surprise was the means of watching these music videos with YouTube a clear winner. This confirms that I will definitely be uploading my music video to YouTube to ensure it gets maximum exposure.
Most people believe that music videos are vital to the success of the song making it vital that I am able to film a good music video that will maximise my outreach. However whilst the importance of music videos is clear, the content of these music videos can vary. There is no outright aspect of a music video that people want to see so it doesn’t matter whether I settle on a narrative or a comedic aspect, what I need to ensure is that whatever I choose I do it well so that the target audience can appreciate the song even more.
Questionnaire
To continue my research into music videos I decided to put up a survey on surveymonkey.com and ask the general public what they think about music videos and what they would like to see. I got quite a few responses and here is the breakdown of the results.
Are you male or female?
As you can see there was an equal number of male and female people participating in the survey.
How old are you?
The majority of the people answering the questions where between 16-24 years of age.
What is your favourite genre of music?
There was an equal split between Hip Hop, Rap, RnB and one person chose Pop as their preferred genre of music.
How often do you watch music videos?
The answers to the question were a lot more varied with their being a wide range of responses.
How do you watch music videos?
The majority of people watch music videos on YouTube highlighting the rise of the internet.
Do you think music videos are vital to the success of the song?
Most people believe that music videos are vital to the success of the song.
What aspects of a music video do you enjoy the most?
Very even split of responses, music videos are very personal and some people prefer to watch a narrative, others a funny video whilst some prefer watching live performances of their favourite audiences.
Embedding problems
Whilst the blogging has been going relatively smoothly I have started to encounter some problems. WordPress doesn’t allow prezis to be embedded on to the blog and so I have been struggling to find a solution. I didn’t want to leave a link to the prezi as that wouldn’t look presentable so what I’ve done is decide to save my prezi as a pdf.
The next step was to save the pdf prezi on to the desktop.
Then I went on the website pdf2jpg.net to convert my pdf file to a jpg file online.
I chose my pdf prezi file and converted it.
Here are the results!
I then put the jpg files on to Microsoft PowerPoint.
Finally I uploaded the PowerPoint presentation on to slideshare and then finally embedded it on to WordPress.
Liban Abdulahi 