1a - CONVENTIONS
How do your products use and/or challenge conventions?
MUSIC VIDEO
In 1984 Baker defined two types of video, performance and narrative, known otherwise as narrative and anti-narrative. This was expanded into performance, concept and narrative.
Some videos decide to only focus on one of these three types.
In order to demonstrate the performance capability of the band, I decided to have several pure performance shots, however still have a strong narrative with quirky characters in homage to Suede's earlier videos.
However, I was always very determined not to follow a very common route taken with the narratives of music videos, that of a relationship.
In a band the lead singer will often be signified as the superior member of the band, for example in Suede's Beautiful Ones where we see the band members appearing one after another until the lead singer Brett Anderson appears, as if everything's building up to his entrance, or in Arcade Fire's Money + Love where when all the members are getting out of the car as part of the narrative, he is last to get out and the camera stays on him to see his reaction to the new environment, and later as the whole band is captured apart from him, we follow him on his journey of solitude (akin to Joseph Campbell's Monomyth, all narrative follows the hero's journey tracing all the way back to the myths)
ANDREW GOODWIN'S 6 CONVENTIONS
1. DEMONSTRATION OF GENRE CHARACTERISTICS
Rock overall: Showing the band performing
Focussing on lead singer and guitarist.
The black leather jacket (simulacrum of Marlon Brando in The Wild One, Bad Boy Archetype)
2. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS
My video pretty much ignores the meaning of the song. I had intended to do some puns on the song such as the lead singer holding sugar flowing through his hands, but I wasn't able to do that anymore in time.
There are some lyrics that are visually represented through the body language of the performer: "I feel schizo"
3. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS
The upbeat tone of the track contradicts with the darker tone of much of the video, and I had intended to end with a diegetic outro that would be a juxtaposition/a direct antithesis to the track. However, the performance segments share the, signified through the body language of the band and mostly by the lead singer, which I also occasionally sped up in editing to make it look more energetic and thus achieve verisimilitude.
4. A NUMBER OF CLOSE-UPS OF THE ARTIST
These are a number of close-ups due to the demands of the record label.
I have close-ups, focussed on the lead singer. This is also important for this video to introduce Suede to a new audience, my primary audience.
5. NOTION OF LOOKING
The artist/lead singer will often always look at the audience, the Direct Gaze. During my shoot with the whole band, I didn't follow this through at first, only having some shots where the lead singer gazes.
6. INTERTEXTUALITY
LINK WITH KRISTEVA: (Source)
French semiotician Julie Kristeva developped and coined the term of intertextuality, a post-structuralist who challenged the objectivity. She made the point that:
The music video is seen as one of the most postmodern mediums, drawing inspiration from
My video makes references to many texts, including both Suede's music videos
I would often use another video as a way to fill a gap when writing the plot for one scene. For example for the Clown-Master scene, I had figured out that the protagonist would have her hands. But I didn't know how to create some tension inbetween. So I had her drag the protagonist by the arm just like is done in the Metal Mickey video.
LIST OF INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES:
The narrative storyline started out as a transgender prostitute living homeless on the streets
INTENDED BUT NOT MANAGED
Finding the books in the forest - Fahrenheit 451
The diegetic outro - Halsey's Ghost
DIGIPAK
Just like with music video, album artwork either includes the act or not.
When an artist is new, they will normally be featured on the front cover, often due to pressure from the record label to push forward their image. As their image becomes more grounded with the audience and their career spans on, their is less pressure to do so (examples: Queen, Rihanna)
With indie rock it is very common not to feature photographs of the band in the artwork. However, I decided to include the band in one of the inner panels, so as to have some exposition for fans newly introduced to Suede.
The barcode to the side, I was inspired by Yeah Yeah Yeah's Fever To Tell to do that.
WEBSITE
With websites it is quite important to follow a strict set of conventions so as to make your site user-friendly and easily accessible, especially for potential new audiences.
CONVENTIONS I FOLLOWED:
I didn't have quotes of press reviews because that is something mostly ownly newer artists include, such as I saw with Sly Antics and Francesca Belmonte
SOCIAL MEDIA
I created multiple trailers, which is done more and more nowadays to hype excitement for new content.
Instead of just posting about the artist themselves, I also did posts that were supposed to show Suede's wider artistic interests, such as a love for graffiti (which I also signified in the video)
...
1b - REPRESENTATIONS
How do your products represent social groups and issues?
HAYDEN WHITE (Source, further reading)
JAMES BAKER'S WAYS AT LOOKING AT REPRESENTATION (Source: MANGeR Pack)
James Baker says they are three forms of mediation:
1. SELECTION
What ends up on screen, much more will have been left out
This is so, I was not able to use all of my footage, and while I still have the overall narrative I can tease in the wider package
The digipak ´
2. ORGANISATION
The various elements will be organised carefully in ways that real life is not
- links well with Vernallis's point on the quick editing of music video, the use of ellipsis leads to absence of causality.
I first tried to have longer takes and more takes in general, however I realised that if I want to stay in the conventions of a performance/narrative mix video, I needed to shorten them. That has also lead to the narrative being sometimes more unclearer, as I discovered when gathering audience feedback.
3. FOCUSING
Mediation always ends with us, the audience, being encouraged towards concentrating on one aspect of the text and ignoring others
We are following the protagonist.
Three ways at looking at representation:
1. REFLECTIVE VIEW
...
2. INTENTIONAL VIEW
...
3. CONSTRUCTIVE
....
Any representation is a mixture of:
This can be linked to Roland Barthes's Death of the Author theory, supported by Kristeva's concept of intertextuality, that there is no one fixed creator, and thereby as Stuart Hall would say there is not only one fixed reading.
And if we follow Vernallis's polyvalence of meaning, then the theory of representation applies the most to music video.
GENDER
The narrative of the music video follows a female character.The total number of females in the narrative outnumber the males, although overall with the band there are more males. While their is no conversation, their are two female characters engaging with each other and communicating through body language where there is no male character involved, so it could be said it passes the Bechdel Test.
On the digipak I colour-corrected the red lipstick, though this could be seen as glamorization of the female body pandering to the Male Gaze. However the Direct Gaze from the Female is missing, and it's meant to be clown-like not typically feminine.
I recently realised the image of the band alone could be read as somewhat macho, however their body language is not strongly signifying this.
If I had had time I would have liked to have used make-up to deconstruct the gender representation of the band
SEXUALITY
This video is very heteronormative in its representations
BISEXUALITY: Character of the Flower Maker, and also his interaction with a different gender doesn't go as well as with someone from the same sex
HOMOSEXUALITY: with the lead singer only shown to be interested in a male character, and is not engaging with the protagonist
Also the sexual relationship between two men of that age gap can be quite controversial.
CLASS
The video brings some insight into the deprivileged who live on the street, although it is not a very realistic portrayal of real homelessness.
DISABILITY
Are not at all represented in this video. When the character of the Flower Maker was first being conceived, I had the idea that he would be a blind man, and there is still the possibility that he is, as he may sense other people around him in some other way.
ETHNICITY
My actor for the protagonist was originally Asian, so that could have been more challenging to the Caucasian dominance that seems to exist in narrative characters in music videos, but in the case of student coursework you do not have the luxury of cherry-picking the finer details of your cast, and as happened with me I had to make a last-minute change, so it's not as easy as with sexuality and gender (the former you can always construct).
Most of the cast is white, that does reflect that the majority of the people I know are of that ethnicity, and to an extent that I have a more Caucasian surrounding in my hometown Trier, than say if I lived in London.
REGIONAL IDENTITY
Not applicable as no audio is heard. Some videos will have some moments of audio. The actual regional identities are from Northern Germany, where as the band come from the region and have more rural and local accents.
AGE
I chose to focus on someone in their 20s, this gives my target audience someone to identify with, and particular the teen segment someone to aspire to as they are slightly older
I represented the band as in their 20s. Having them in that age instead of teens also gave them a slightly more credible mature look and appeal for, including sex appeal.
The oldest character is represented as the most dangerous, could be seen to be applying the Old Man Perv stereotype. However the post-track scene hints that there might be more to the character, the moral judgement of the age gap between the two characters is left ambivalent.
How do your products use and/or challenge conventions?
MUSIC VIDEO
In 1984 Baker defined two types of video, performance and narrative, known otherwise as narrative and anti-narrative. This was expanded into performance, concept and narrative.
Some videos decide to only focus on one of these three types.
In order to demonstrate the performance capability of the band, I decided to have several pure performance shots, however still have a strong narrative with quirky characters in homage to Suede's earlier videos.
However, I was always very determined not to follow a very common route taken with the narratives of music videos, that of a relationship.
In a band the lead singer will often be signified as the superior member of the band, for example in Suede's Beautiful Ones where we see the band members appearing one after another until the lead singer Brett Anderson appears, as if everything's building up to his entrance, or in Arcade Fire's Money + Love where when all the members are getting out of the car as part of the narrative, he is last to get out and the camera stays on him to see his reaction to the new environment, and later as the whole band is captured apart from him, we follow him on his journey of solitude (akin to Joseph Campbell's Monomyth, all narrative follows the hero's journey tracing all the way back to the myths)
ANDREW GOODWIN'S 6 CONVENTIONS
1. DEMONSTRATION OF GENRE CHARACTERISTICS
Rock overall: Showing the band performing
Focussing on lead singer and guitarist.
The black leather jacket (simulacrum of Marlon Brando in The Wild One, Bad Boy Archetype)
2. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS
My video pretty much ignores the meaning of the song. I had intended to do some puns on the song such as the lead singer holding sugar flowing through his hands, but I wasn't able to do that anymore in time.
There are some lyrics that are visually represented through the body language of the performer: "I feel schizo"
3. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS
The upbeat tone of the track contradicts with the darker tone of much of the video, and I had intended to end with a diegetic outro that would be a juxtaposition/a direct antithesis to the track. However, the performance segments share the, signified through the body language of the band and mostly by the lead singer, which I also occasionally sped up in editing to make it look more energetic and thus achieve verisimilitude.
4. A NUMBER OF CLOSE-UPS OF THE ARTIST
These are a number of close-ups due to the demands of the record label.
I have close-ups, focussed on the lead singer. This is also important for this video to introduce Suede to a new audience, my primary audience.
5. NOTION OF LOOKING
The artist/lead singer will often always look at the audience, the Direct Gaze. During my shoot with the whole band, I didn't follow this through at first, only having some shots where the lead singer gazes.
6. INTERTEXTUALITY
LINK WITH KRISTEVA: (Source)
French semiotician Julie Kristeva developped and coined the term of intertextuality, a post-structuralist who challenged the objectivity. She made the point that:
signifiers are plural, full of historical meaning, directed not so much to stable signifiers as to a domain of other signifiers.
The music video is seen as one of the most postmodern mediums, drawing inspiration from
My video makes references to many texts, including both Suede's music videos
I would often use another video as a way to fill a gap when writing the plot for one scene. For example for the Clown-Master scene, I had figured out that the protagonist would have her hands. But I didn't know how to create some tension inbetween. So I had her drag the protagonist by the arm just like is done in the Metal Mickey video.
LIST OF INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES:
The narrative storyline started out as a transgender prostitute living homeless on the streets
- Performance of lyric "So pyscho" - Lady Gaga's Bad Romance
- Leather jacket's for the band - Marlon Brando In The Wild One
- The jump cuts of the protagonist waiting - Little Shop Of Horrors
- The fade in and out of layering - Suede's So Young
- The protagonist lying on a mattress - Dog Man Star album cover
- The clapping of hands - Brett Anderson's live performances
- Slo-Motion Biting - The Pixies's Magdalena
- Walking Under Bridge - The Pixies's Magdalena, Depeche Mode's Barrel Of A Gun
- Clown Make Up - Depeche Mode's Halo
- The Flower On The Bench - Backing Performer in The Avalanche's Because I'm Me
- Black + White - Countless music videos, which in again are homaging the black and white film era
- The turn of black and white to colour - Rita Ora's I Will Ne. However, I changed it from being quick to slow. An example that intertextuality isn't just pure copying, you can be influenced but tweak it to make it your own.
- The relationship and interaction between the protagonist and the Clownmaster - Suede's Metal Mickey
INTENDED BUT NOT MANAGED
Finding the books in the forest - Fahrenheit 451
The diegetic outro - Halsey's Ghost
DIGIPAK
Just like with music video, album artwork either includes the act or not.
When an artist is new, they will normally be featured on the front cover, often due to pressure from the record label to push forward their image. As their image becomes more grounded with the audience and their career spans on, their is less pressure to do so (examples: Queen, Rihanna)
With indie rock it is very common not to feature photographs of the band in the artwork. However, I decided to include the band in one of the inner panels, so as to have some exposition for fans newly introduced to Suede.
The barcode to the side, I was inspired by Yeah Yeah Yeah's Fever To Tell to do that.
WEBSITE
With websites it is quite important to follow a strict set of conventions so as to make your site user-friendly and easily accessible, especially for potential new audiences.
CONVENTIONS I FOLLOWED:
- Use of top links
- Merchandise Shop, also naming it Merch as I have seen with several bands. Suede did not do this with their website as their core audience is older, however I am attracting an younger one so it is fitting
- Tour Dates List
- Integration Of Social Media
- A gallery
I didn't have quotes of press reviews because that is something mostly ownly newer artists include, such as I saw with Sly Antics and Francesca Belmonte
SOCIAL MEDIA
I created multiple trailers, which is done more and more nowadays to hype excitement for new content.
Instead of just posting about the artist themselves, I also did posts that were supposed to show Suede's wider artistic interests, such as a love for graffiti (which I also signified in the video)
...
1b - REPRESENTATIONS
How do your products represent social groups and issues?
HAYDEN WHITE (Source, further reading)
Where, in any account of reality, narrativity is present, we can be sure that morality or a moralising impulse is present tooI would definitely say that throughout all my work in both my AS and A2 coursework, I felt a moral impulse
JAMES BAKER'S WAYS AT LOOKING AT REPRESENTATION (Source: MANGeR Pack)
James Baker says they are three forms of mediation:
1. SELECTION
What ends up on screen, much more will have been left out
This is so, I was not able to use all of my footage, and while I still have the overall narrative I can tease in the wider package
The digipak ´
2. ORGANISATION
The various elements will be organised carefully in ways that real life is not
- links well with Vernallis's point on the quick editing of music video, the use of ellipsis leads to absence of causality.
I first tried to have longer takes and more takes in general, however I realised that if I want to stay in the conventions of a performance/narrative mix video, I needed to shorten them. That has also lead to the narrative being sometimes more unclearer, as I discovered when gathering audience feedback.
3. FOCUSING
Mediation always ends with us, the audience, being encouraged towards concentrating on one aspect of the text and ignoring others
We are following the protagonist.
Three ways at looking at representation:
1. REFLECTIVE VIEW
...
When we represent something we are taking its true meaning and trying to create a replica of it in the mind of our audience, like a reflection....
2. INTENTIONAL VIEW
...
The opposite of Reflective, the most important person in the process is the author, and their intentions are key....
3. CONSTRUCTIVE
....
Individuals make up their own mind and are influenced by society in the way they do.
Any representation is a mixture of:
- The thing itself: the music video
- The opinions of the people doing the representation: the director, the band and often also the record label, however in my case there is not as much pressure to appeal towards a mass audience, with the director of Suede's recent feature-length music video saying
- The reaction of the individual to the representation:
- The context of the society in which the representation is taking place: We live in a country where there is anti-discrimination law, and rights for women and LGBT+ people which is not the case in all countries. However, there is still a lack in diverse representation especially in mainstream music videos, so this is a counter-hegemonic challenge of the countless videos that never show non-heterosexual
This can be linked to Roland Barthes's Death of the Author theory, supported by Kristeva's concept of intertextuality, that there is no one fixed creator, and thereby as Stuart Hall would say there is not only one fixed reading.
And if we follow Vernallis's polyvalence of meaning, then the theory of representation applies the most to music video.
GENDER
The narrative of the music video follows a female character.The total number of females in the narrative outnumber the males, although overall with the band there are more males. While their is no conversation, their are two female characters engaging with each other and communicating through body language where there is no male character involved, so it could be said it passes the Bechdel Test.
On the digipak I colour-corrected the red lipstick, though this could be seen as glamorization of the female body pandering to the Male Gaze. However the Direct Gaze from the Female is missing, and it's meant to be clown-like not typically feminine.
I recently realised the image of the band alone could be read as somewhat macho, however their body language is not strongly signifying this.
If I had had time I would have liked to have used make-up to deconstruct the gender representation of the band
SEXUALITY
This video is very heteronormative in its representations
BISEXUALITY: Character of the Flower Maker, and also his interaction with a different gender doesn't go as well as with someone from the same sex
HOMOSEXUALITY: with the lead singer only shown to be interested in a male character, and is not engaging with the protagonist
Also the sexual relationship between two men of that age gap can be quite controversial.
CLASS
The video brings some insight into the deprivileged who live on the street, although it is not a very realistic portrayal of real homelessness.
DISABILITY
Are not at all represented in this video. When the character of the Flower Maker was first being conceived, I had the idea that he would be a blind man, and there is still the possibility that he is, as he may sense other people around him in some other way.
ETHNICITY
My actor for the protagonist was originally Asian, so that could have been more challenging to the Caucasian dominance that seems to exist in narrative characters in music videos, but in the case of student coursework you do not have the luxury of cherry-picking the finer details of your cast, and as happened with me I had to make a last-minute change, so it's not as easy as with sexuality and gender (the former you can always construct).
Most of the cast is white, that does reflect that the majority of the people I know are of that ethnicity, and to an extent that I have a more Caucasian surrounding in my hometown Trier, than say if I lived in London.
REGIONAL IDENTITY
Not applicable as no audio is heard. Some videos will have some moments of audio. The actual regional identities are from Northern Germany, where as the band come from the region and have more rural and local accents.
AGE
I chose to focus on someone in their 20s, this gives my target audience someone to identify with, and particular the teen segment someone to aspire to as they are slightly older
I represented the band as in their 20s. Having them in that age instead of teens also gave them a slightly more credible mature look and appeal for, including sex appeal.
The oldest character is represented as the most dangerous, could be seen to be applying the Old Man Perv stereotype. However the post-track scene hints that there might be more to the character, the moral judgement of the age gap between the two characters is left ambivalent.
No comments:
Post a Comment