After some discussion with my partner, we concluded that we would be more successful if we worked with another group in cohesion for our music video. We thought that by merging the two groups together we would be able to create one high quality product rather than two mediocre ones and we can also cut down the time spent over two and blend our skills together. In order to do this we had to have a meeting with them to decide which role each member would take on and to ensure that she would work successfully together. This raises some benefits and downsides as we have previously worked together but there was tension in the group due to specific roles not being set. After our meeting we decided on what roles each person sould take in an attempt to lower all risks of tension between us. Without the tension between the members in our group we are confident that we will be able to create a product of excellent quality.
Director Jamie Thraves made short films whilst studying at University. He used award winning short films as a calling card to get his foot in the door with the production company factory films. He first began by filming three music videos that cost around £5000 each. Once leaving University he continued making music videos to the point that they needed to be good for him to survive. He had to become a success in the industry. As the treatment towards his two best videos were sent to production companies, both of them became a success. His main talent was that he made his videos in a way that was unique, his videos were more like mini films rather than generic videos. This is because they contained a story line, rather than a generic band dancing around. One of the main examples of his work is "Just" by Radiohead.
This was filmed and directed by himself in no more than three days. He had a much larger budget than what he is used to, totally at £100,000 for this specific video. The video follows a storyline of Radiohead performing inside a flat. The storyline follows a man that decides to lay down on the floor, who is approached by several people asking him why he is laying down, to which he simply replies "leave me alone" Using Roland Barthes theory of enigma codes we can see that everyone wants to know why the man is lying there. The code keeps the audience interested and makes them eager to know what will happen next regarding the man. This is an example of an "Open text"wherein there are several different meanings that a person can take towards the song. In relation to Goodwin's theory, the lyrics have no meaning towards the storyline in the video, which can cause some confusion in the audiences.
Another of his most popular videos is The Scientist by Coldplay. This video is similar to Just in the sense that the video is similar to a mini film due to the storyline that is used. It is a very different storyline to just though, this music video starts with a man lying on the ground, and then continues the entire way through in reverse. The audience starts off seeing what it is he has been doing as time goes on. We eventually find out that he was driving a car with a girlfriend (assuming) and that he crashed, resulting in her death. We can see from the video that he is walking away from the pain and sorrow that he feels as a result of the death of the girl. Using Goodwin's theory, the lyrics somewhat agree with the visuals.
To conclude, Jamie has an extremely unique style when making videos that most people do not would not opt for. He prefers to tell a story within his work, rather than simply having people dancing around. The way that he uses props and the scene is unique, such as the dark hole in "I will follow you into the dark" and the rewinding in "The scientist" He stated that he prefers using emotion in lyrics, rather than lyrics themselves.
She’s fun, she’s friendly, and she means business. At only 20-years old, Baylor Wilson has spent the last two years working on music and honing in on her songwriting and guitar playing. She has written many new songs and is continuing to capture the “Baylor” sound that people will eventually begin to recognize. Her natural rasp and warmer tone sets her voice apart while her mature and catchy lyrics bring something different and unique to the table. The passion instilled in her is driving her to work with successful individuals in the industry that others may not get the opportunity to work with. Right now, she is continuing to write and play shows every chance she gets. “I understand that when one door closes, another one opens… All I have do is find the next door that’s waiting to be opened." This is a direct quote from the "about" section on her website (Baylorwilson.com)
Laura Mulvey is a feminist film theorist that is known for her essay "the visual pleasure and Narrative Cinema" She is also known for her view on films and the modern cinema, saying how when watching films, she noticed that modern cinema reflects society as patriarchal.
One theory that Mulvey has is that men and women are viewed within films very differently. Her view is that she believed in most films men are the dominant figure, whereas women are usually seen as "Damsels in distress" She says that men tend to have agency within films, which means that they are the only ones to have the ability to move the film forward. Within Hollywood, this is in fact very true.
Within the world of most Hollywood films, women are seen as the object of desire. There are two roles they could follow; An object of erotic desire for characters, and an object of erotic desire for audiences.
This can be argued well within the first Transformers movie. Megan Fox's role in one particular scene shows her leaving over a car, in quite a sexual manner.
The Gaze
The Gaze is Mulvey's idea of how men view Women in music videos. This means that the camera films the storyline from the males point of view. The idea is that women are objects of erotic desire , this is evident when considering the male gaze as it is something that most males would prefer to see. The male character tends to always direct his gaze towards the Female character, almost leading the audience to do the same. The male gaze is generally reserved to as Active, whilst the female gaze is a passive one. The audience of a film or music video is forced to identify with the male character. There are three levels of cinematic gaze, the first is the male gaze. The second is when the camera shows us what a male character is looking at, mostly the female character and the third gaze is when the audience is looking through the camera and what the male character is looking at.
Using Mulvey's theory in a music video.
If we use Mulvey's theory for this video ,we can see that it is extremely true as Rihanna presents herself and the other women in the video. The Mise-en-scene shows supports this idea as Rihanna is wearing skin tight clothing and there isn't much of it. This agrees with the idea of The Male Gaze as it is much more attractive to the male eye seeing Rihanna in skin tight clothing over other forms of clothing. The women and Rihanna use their bodies by bending over cars to appeal to the men. All women in this video are objects of erotic desire. The audience is made to agree with the male gaze.
Katy Perry's audience tends to be young girls around the age of 14-17, this causes her videos to seem to be like she is an older sister to them, or a close friend. Some of her videos such as Last Friday Night and Fireworks appeal to the anxieties of younger girls, due to this she has become someone that young women can admire and idolize, being sexy whilst non-threatening.
Her music videos also demonstrates genre characteristics, as in a stage performance for a metal band, with Katy Perry its more like a girl group, shown in California Gurls when she is dancing around with girls, it is also shown in Hot N Cold.
There is also sometimes intertexual references within her videos, such as Wide Awake referring back to Firework and California Girls.
Waking Up in Vegas shows Katy as being adventurous and going out of her comfort zone. It presents her as a small girl in a big world being taken over by the bright lights in Vegas. She is shown with her boyfriend, played by Joel David Moore, and between them they do not have a lot of money.
They begin to win lots of money through gambling but eventually they lose it all and end up in an argument and nothing to show for their wins in Vegas. There are celebrity appearances such as Penn and Teller (a magician duo) and Daniel Negeanu (a professional poker player). This shows Katy appealing to her target audience as everybody would be dazzled by the attractive bright lights of Vegas but ultimately she shows that it's a bad idea to gamble your money.
Teenage Dream is set on the beach in Santa Barbara, California which is Katy Perry's hometown. This already reflects her private life because she is showing her audience that she is proud of where she has come from and wants to celebrate it. The product placement of the Zero Boys t-shirts further represent Katy's person life as she shows how California appreciate music and how fashion is prominent there. In this music video she wears a lot less make up than Last Friday Night for example which shows her in a more natural state further appealing to her target audience. The message of the video is that you can have fun on a beach with your closest friends if that's what you want to do and that she appreciates 'teenage dreams' as they mean a lot more to her than most people.
For the most part of Perry's Part of Me video it is set at UMSC Camp Pendleton in California where we see her take part in a rigorous combat course. She only used real Marines in the video to portray real courage and strength rather than using actors and actresses. This shows the audience her personal life as she is showing her strength and dedication to improving herself through the mental and physical strength that the Marines have to use when training and then when fighting. We see her with short hair (which she cuts in the video) flattening her chest, removing her jewellery and wears more 'masculine' clothing which shows her stripping away all of the femininity that she usually shows her audience with her pink dresses and colourful hair and makeup. The reason for becoming a warrior ready for combat is because she had broken up with her boyfriend due to him cheating on her and flirting with another woman in his office, she then sees an advert that says "All women are created equal, then some become Marines" which spurred her desire to train. This shows her addressing her target audience as it allows young girls to understand that they do not have to go into careers that are considered 'girly' just because they are female. Even the title of the song shows how much of a personal song and video it is to her as she has a documentary film about her personal life with the same title.
Wide Awake is full of references to Perry's personal life as well as previous songs and videos. For example, at the beginning of the video it has Perry shooting a decent for her California Gurls video. It then goes into 'Wide Awake' and shows her eating a strawberry which is the Album art for her first album 'One of the Boys.' With all of these references it shows Perry's connection with all of her music in the past as well as her development into newer music. There is a part where she is being haunted through a mirror by paparazzi that follow her in her personal life. However she shatters the glass in the mirror and the shards turn into butterflies which appeals to her target audience as it shows how even with people intruding on her life she can still defeat them and be happier with the symbol of freedom happiness with the butterflies in the same way that any of her fans can combat any problems they have and become free. She shows a lot about her personal life as she punches the Prince that comes to her riding a unicorn, this could be her ex-husband Russell Brand who cheated on her and the prince has his fingers crossed behind his back showing a sign of untrustworthiness. The video ends with Perry going on stage singing Teenage Dream.
