Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was known as MJ, he was in a group with his siblings called  'Jackson Five', one of the earliest of their pop videos was for their song 'Rockin Robin' in 1971. To make this they lip synched and the basic video was to promote the song. In the video they all have a little dance routine, you can see that this video is very old and only used to promot the song.

On the 3rd of November 1979 Jackson released his song 'Rock With You' from his fifth album named 'Off the Wall', the song was originally named 'I Want To Eat You Up'. This song was Jacksons third number 1 on the Hot 100 billboard. His first two where 'Ben' and 'Dont Stop Til' You Get Enough'
 
In this video the lighting works well with his outfit, the lighting and outfit are what makes this video memorable, Jackson was known for his funky outfits and weird music videos and last but not least his outrageous dance moves.

Billie Jean was released in 1982, this song is about a girl who claimed that Jackson was the father of her child. Jackson based it on a woman who used to stalk him, writing him letters about a son she thought was his. Jackson rarely spoke about this woman, but he had a very hard time dealing with this unwanted attention, and he became more reclusive as a result. The song was his way of expressing his feelings without addressing her directly.This won the 1983 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance and Best Rhythm & Blues Song for the writer Michael Jackson.

Jacksons 'Beat It' was released in 1983.

Jakcsons 'Beat It' had a dance sequence of people "fighting" but it a dancing motion. This is relevant because at the time there was a lot of street violence and Jackson was acknowledging the fact that it was happening.


Thriller was released in 1983, and the video was considered the most famous music video of all time, the library of congress announced this which added to the nation film registry in 2009, Thriller was the first music video in their registry. The video was a cultural milestone, because of the elaborate choreography, costume and dialouge, the concept of the long form music video made it a milestone, a mini movie was made for a song, then edited down for the short version, the long version of Thriller, runs nearly 14 minutes long but it had a remarkable longevity, easily racking up over 100 million views when it showed up on youtube, MTV usually ran the short version which ran a little under 5 minutes but it still contained about a minute of a non song content in a storyline that omits most of the movie, the couple it watching at the beginning.


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 a 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 a 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.


Thriller cost about $500,000 to make, jackson record company had no intention of paying for it, since the album was on the downswing and they had already financed video for two of its songs. According to the director John Landis 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.

Following Thriller, Jackson was the biggest pop star in the world, his videos made the news and "Bad" was a major event shown for the first time on BBC, people wanted to see his new image and the dancing.


Similarly to Thriller, Bad has a dance routine, but the costume was more extravagant and his facial features including his skin and hair colour was different and people wanted to see the new image.

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.’

When Southam first started out he took on all the tasks on his video, this included things light the camera, lighting and editing now he uses a director of photography. 

Southam likes the format of music videos as 'you can try new techniques and can have a 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 a higher status' that YouTube.

Southam had a break through he came with his video for Alt J called "Tesselate" the budget was £10,000, and it was a 1 day shoot, he had a large cast and the special affects team used aftereffects.  

After this Southam done Chase and Status video for their song "Lost and Not Found", this was different because the budget was £50,000 it was filmed in Los Angeles, the video was filmed using a stedicam. The video was filmed at 36 frames per second then slowed down, it  was influenced by Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy", as you can tell in this video he went for a early 1990's VHS video look, in this video there are only three shots in through out it. 

Sexism In Pop Videos

Sexism in pop videos

In the 2013 "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke and "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus provoked controversy. Lily Allen's "Hard Out Here" video parodied black music videos that reduce black women's bodies to lurid props.

Pop videos are indeed sexist, women are objectified and viewed as sexual objects.

some example of these are as follows:

 Robin Thicke's Burredlines video is extremely sexist, the women are parading around with practically wearing nothing, and the men are visualising them sexual whilst they are fully clothes. Originally this video was done with the women completely naked however the video couldn't be aired and therefore they just wore practically nothing instead.


However it may be that women bring this on themselves sometimes Miley Cyrus previously released her video called "Wrecking Ball", no she may be being sexualised and this may be to promote the video, but it was her choice on what she could and couldn't do in her video.

This is a video by Jessie J it was released in 2014 and is called "Burnin' Up" and featured in it is rapper 2 Chainz. The video has over 12 million views. Even though the lyrics are about sex and she does very sexual gestures, she is the main singer in this video even though a male is featured in the video she is still portrayed as a strong female figure.




Mambo Number 5 was a huge hit, it was released in 1999 by a man called Lou Bega, the video has over 12 million views. In this video the male is talking about various different women he has on the go at the same time and in different shots the women are dancing in next to nothing, this is almost like an old fashion "Blurredlines" video. 

The theory suggests that the male gaze denies women human identity, relegating them to the status of objects to be admired for physical appearance.The theory suggests woman can more often than not only watch a film from a secondary perspective and only view themselves from a mans perspective. Only 16% of media creators are female. 

However a women's presence in a film is VITAL! a female character has no real importance herself, but it is how she makes the male feel/act that is important, so as a result of this the female is only there to accompany the male.

Mulvey argues that the male gaze leads to hegemonic ideologies within our society. Hegemonic means 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.

An example of this is in the James Bond movie with Ursula Andress

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The Characters that look at other are seen as the are seen as the active role (male), the character that are to be looked at are passive, (female). they are under control of the males gaze and only exist for visual pleasures. 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 thing happen this is why they are active characters.

Mulvey also discussed the term "Socopophilia" this literally means 'Love of Watching', movie making and viewing have been analysed as socophilic practices.

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 is removed. 

An example of this is the beer company Budweiser they put a women on their beer bottle to try and sell it more to the male buyers. 

Lily Allen.

Allen released her new 'Hard out Here' in 2013 the video is almost a feminist video however i think she's is just pointing out the fact that not every women has the body or wants to be sexualised by men and that someone actually have got a brain and can do what men can do at the same time, if not better. 

In this video Jennifer Lopez and Iggy Azalea are sexualising themselves because thats what sell!
All their video consists of is them using their bums to make their song good in the same way Kim Kardashian uses her body to make money.

Jamie Thraves

Jamie Thraves 

Jamie Thraves is a director he made short films at university, he used an award winning short film as a calling card to get his foot in the door with the video production company factory films. He began by shooting three very low budget music videos which cost about £5000 each. As can be seen for many directors in the business it is a precarious existence where their livelihood is dependent on each commission. Thraves submitted treatments for his two best known videos and each was accepted.

Some examples of his work are as follows:

The first for Radio Head called Just the budget was £100,000 and was shot in three days. 

The second was for Coldplay called The Scientist, the budget was £200,000 and this was also shot in just three days.


Thraves' most recent video is for Japanese Popstars called Song For Lisa, currently videos cost on average £20,000 and they take 2 days to make. Thraves has used music videos to get into the film business, he has to far shot three features they are, 'The Low Down', 'The Cry of the Owl' and 'Treacle Jr'.

Top Tips!

Jamie's tip is to use the lyrics but try not to be too literal, and to most importantly go with the emotion of the lyrics.

Katy B's song Broken Record was directed by Jamie himself

I think Katy prefers her music to be quite calm and relaxing but have a house feel to it as well, thats why Thraves added house elements into the video which really worked well.

He also directed Tom Odell's Another Love
Throughout Odell's song he is sitting in a chair in various settings, this fits well with the song, even though the songs about him being emotional it show the final out come out what the person has done to him and that is leave him motionless thats why in his video he is motionless to everything that is going on around him.

Emil Nava

Emil Nava 

Emil Nava began his career as a runner for the film production companies, he worked for blink productions and now he is a freelance for OB management. After working as a runner graduated he graduated as an assistant director, where he would manage the video shoots. He signed to an academy who are the biggest music video production company, he then worked for between the eyes and now works mainly for pulse.  Emil's first budget was for the band kid British and the track, the budget for the track was £20,000 located in manchester, they used local people for the cast. They filmed for one day and edited for two to three, the pre-production took ten days, it demonstrates the very tight timescales involved.

Nava being a music producer really kicked off for him, he directed Jessie J's hit single 'Wild' with Big Sean and Dizzee Rascal. The video got over thirty two million views.

Nava begun to make adverts which generally have a far higher budget and production values but which allow for less creative freedom.



This advert is different to a music video because they have to include a lot more for example the model needs to look like their advertising the product and they also need to include the product, because its an advert they also have a limited amount of time to include everything they need to so the shots need to be quick and cleanly edited.



Nava also directed Paloma Faith's '30 minute love affair'.

This video fits paloma faith's style and song perfectly, she's very glamorous and the song plays along well with the costume and setting.



This song is an award winning hit my Ed Sheeran himself, the video completely contradicts the song but thats what make it an Ed Sheeran video, the lego house is featured in the video and the songs called 'Lego House', this video is one of a kind and really describes Sheerans personality.





Top Tip!

one of Nava's top tip was to use an extreme close up on the face whenever possible, he said that you should never shoot the whole video in long shot or medium shot.

This is from another of Ed Sheeran's video called 'You Need Me' also directed by Nava, this video had a budget of £35,000 

Some of the Production companies that OB work with are:

1. Pulse Films 
2. Rocket 
3. Agile Films 
4. Friends 
5. Wonda 

OB Management work as agents for music video directors. they describe themselves as "three straight up dudes who work out of Denmark Street London" they say that their aim is to nurture talent and work with companies and record labels, they try to match the right director to the right artists.

Star Theory

Stars As Constructions.

Dyer believes artist are constructed through images such as advertising, film magazines and music. His theory claims that consumers prefer artists to convey their true emotions themselves and not to be groomed by record labels who try to create a fake image for them. A real artist can use this as their unique selling point. 

Richard Dyer also Believes that stars are manufactured to make money for their record labels by appealing to target their audiences, as a result of this record labels have to market different artists to cater for certain target audiences as there are both niche and mainstream markets. 

Star theory is that artists become trendsetters, audience members will imitate hair styles and artists clothing styles, artists may have religious beliefs and cultural values that the audience may pick up of if shared by the artist,the internet has meant that audience now have far greater access to the personal lives of stars. stars support the hegemony, dominant ideology which means that the music industry sexualise women and make the men dominant. Gramsci is best known for his theory of cultural hegemony which describes how states use cultural institutions to maintain power in capitalist societies.The music industry creates and promotes artists within clearly defined genres for example rock, rap etc.

These genres offer signifiers such as signs and symbols that send out a specific message, relating to race and gender identities.

Britney spears raises interesting issues regarding female identity in pop music, initially viewed as a role model for the teen girl market, from a gender perspective Britney's identity is placed securely within a male dominated industry that manufactures limited steryotypes of femininity.

In Britney's early video's Britney was surrounded by girlie iconography bedroom culture dolls dressing up with friends, going out together and putting on make up. Teen pig tales complete her image, and choreographed dance routines create the desire to be part of her gang.

Spears' music video 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' was released in 1998, however in this video she is being sexualised in her skimpy school girl outfit.


In my opinion this music video is not empowering to women i can see why one could argue differently however i do not think that a women being half naked is empowering it is sexualising her and the dance moves she is doing are very revealing. she also holds on to a pole a lot and dances next to it like pole dancing.
Britney's song and video narratives express teen girl identity the concerns and reflections constructed as a role model in "I'm not a girl not yet a women" 2001 from a film called 'Crossroads' in 2001 explores tensions of growing up and passage journey from childish innocence to the realities of adult life.

I think that she is very sexually exploited in this video through the costume not so much the dance routine. The Costume is a red (sexual colour)  tight leather jumpsuit. 

Animatic

Survey

Audience research

Audience Research is used to get the audiences opinion and view on the thing that your doing, in this case we want the audiences opinion on our music video and last year we wanted it on our thriller.

There are many ways you can do this for example 

1.  Survey monkey 
2. vox pop 
3. focus group 
4. questionnaire         
5. interviews                                                                         

Music videos never used to matter as much to artists it was about the music and the video would be a bonus, this was because the music would attract the audience for the artist, however now days newer artists concentrate more on the video to attract different types of audiences and more audience the music video is used to promote the song. 

In a music video there are different characteristics of what makes the artist memorable an example of this is 'Do It Like A Dude' by Jessie J in the music video she has very bold black lipstick and has different types if makeup around her eyes. 

Jessie J also used to be know for the block heels she wore in music videos and wore them to events, photo-shoots and even wore them in her book cover. That wasn't the only thing she had a shoulder length black bob hair cut that she was recognised for until she cut it off for comic relief and gave the sponsor money to charity. Even with no hair on her head she still tried to style the hair style by giving it different look such as a finger wave and dying it different colours. this is significant about her music videos because she brought out her album called 'Alive' the album cover is with her head bald and in the music videos she has no hair.

This is from her music video called "Its My Party" The finger wave was developed in the 1920s and she's bringing it back to the 21st century.

Personally i do watch music videos if its for an artist i like for example Ed Sheeran, but i don't watch them often because i prefer to listen to the music on my phone which means you can't watch the videos if the app or iTunes doesn't have them, i think the thing that makes music videos good it the mise-en-scene,  for example the fashion and the setting it is in, this is good because this give people fashion ideas, it inspires stylists, fashion designers or interior designers. An example of a good music video is Meghan Trainor all about that bass she's bringing back pastel colours wearing an Aline dress, the video is very fantasy but reality at the same time for example the scene at the tea party like Alice in Wonderland. Also the lyrics are very meaningful to bigger girls and in this day and age obesity is a huge problem and it makes people feel good about themselves. 

When were doing our audience research we can asked questions like

• what type of genre do you like
• what makes an artist memorable 
• do you watch music videos 
• why do you watch music videos 
• how often do you watch music videos 
• what makes a music video good 
• name a good music video 
• and why is it a good music video

A model of the media

Katy Perry

Katy Perry is a singer and a song writer, she was married to comedian Russell Brand. She kick started her career as a gospel singer. Her target audience is 14-17, she has to be like an older sister or best friend, to reflect some of the anxieties young girls have,  and to be a role model, to be someone that young girls can admire and want to be.

 
This Video is very empowering to young girls, she play the part of a strong women and the lyrics are very direct to the person who is listening. 

in this video she was very comical, as if she wanted to be everyones friend, and as if she could laugh at herself.



  

In this video she was dating sex addict Russell Brand, this videos could be in response to her present situation however this can be her changing her image.

Location sheet

Location Visit Sheet Programme Title: Excellent Gentlemen Writer:Stacey Talbot, Royce Balogun, Laura Bankole, Michael Rhodes Producer:Stacey Talbot, Royce Balogun, Laura Bankole, Michael Rhodes Director: Laura Bankole Date: 2/12/14

Rough Sketch/Explanation of location and key points to note German Market, Christmas Lights, Ice Rink, Roller Coasters. Access to location via: Hyde Park Gate, getting off at  Marble Arch Station   Name and number of location contact: Hyde Park Winter Wonderland Victoria Park Winterville

Health and Safety Issues to note: ·       Be careful when travelling

Potential Filming Problems : ·       Camera getting wet ·       Not being allowed to film in certain areas

Additional Notes:  (map of area/weather forecast etc)

Shot List

Shot List
Scene	Shot Number	Description
Scene 1 (shots 1-4) Scene 2 (shots 4 - 8) Scene 3 (shots 9 -	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9	1. Medium Shot, Michael at  home calling girlfriend breaking up with her.  2. Long Shot, Royce singing in a band room  3. Long/Medium shot Michael walking out of his house and towards the train station 4. Medium shot Switch back to Royce in the music room with instrument and microphone 5. Low Angle Shot of Michael coming out of the station looking around the surroundings  6. Series of close up, medium and long shots of Royce in the music rooms.  7. Long Shot and eye line match of Michael finding the person he was looking for in central London.  8. Medium shot of Michael in discussion with female he meets, apologetic and affectionate.  9.

Andrew Goodwin Part 2

There are three ways music videos work to promote a song, these are amplify, illustrate and disjuncture.
Illustrate- music videos can use a set of images illustrate the meaning of the lyrics and genre this is the most common.
Amplify- this is similar to repeatability meanings and effects are manipulated and constantly shown through the video and drummed into our vision.
Disjuncture- this is where the meaning of the song is completely ignored.
Songs only tend to give us the a gist of the meaning of the song, then as the audience analysing it we make up our own mind
We only tend to get a gist of the meaning of the song and then tend to make up our own idea of what is being told, Goodwin explains that music videos should ignore common  narrative. It is important in their role of advertising. Music videos should have coherent repeatability. Narrative and performance work hand in hand. It makes it easier for the audience to watch over and over without losing interest. The artist acting as both narrator  & participant helps to increase the authenticity however the lip synch and other mimed actions remains the heart of music videos. The audience need to believe this is real.




This video is memorable because it's very strange, the dance moves are weird and the video and the colour images at the back were mesmerising a specially in the way the shots move.

I think this video is memorable for its unique key features like his hair styles and the colours that are used.






This video is memorable also for its uniqueness, her costume and setting is different from a lot of other videos.


This is how the Process works:

1. A commissioner from a record label sends a track to 5-10 directors.
2. The directors then each submit a treatment.
3. This stage is unpaid 
4. The director who has submitted the best treatment is then commissioned to make the video 
5. Only then is the director paid. 

Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody was released in 1975, it was directed by Bruce Gower, the reason this music video us regarded as important is that it was the first music video to have an impact on sales, after the video release the song went to number 1, and to be regarded as the work of art in its own right.