The End Of My A2 Media Coursework

I have now finished all of my A2 coursework, and declare this A2 media blog finished!!

Good luck to everyone for their coursework and exams, and remember, keep calm and GANGNAM STYLE!!!

Notes on Media Language

Andrew Goodwin identified a number of features of music videos:

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage preformace in a metal genre music video, dance routine for boy/girl bands).

2. A relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).

3. A relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style)

5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc.) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programs, other music videos, etc.)

Now I am looking back to identify whether any of these features are present within my music video.

1. The genre of my music is acoustic and therefore I have created an acoustic music video. My music video demonstrates a number of genre characteristics. It uses clothing that are seen as normal/casual and not glamorous/showy. It uses long takes for the majority of the video. It uses "soft" editing (meaning the video is generally slow paced and doesn't use cuts such as "jump cuts"), and finally it uses locations that are quiet/isolated i.e. with little or no people in the shot besides the star of the music video. However my music video doesn't use both performance and narrative, which can be seen quite often in acoustic music videos.

2. Within my music video there is a link between the lyrics and the visuals.The link is that the place my actress goes to is the room she draws in, within the video. The part which says "it is us I see" relates to the fact the actress has drawn what are supposed to be her and her (ex) boyfriend. And finally, the part which says the words "dream catch me when I fall, or else I won't come back at all" relates to how the drawings make her feel better when she's sad, as it seems otherwise she may remain heartbroken.

3. In terms of links between music and visuals there aren't many in my music video. When certain parts od the song enter and certain parts end, the visual change, but besides this there isn't anything notable.

4. Since my video used a male artist and only one person within the music video; a female, this means that my music video doesn't use a vast amount of time to show close-ups of the girl, as she is not the artist and therefore not so important to the task of raising awareness of the artist. Even though my artist doesn't have an active part in the music video, there is a small part where the girl looks at a picture of her with her ex-boyfriend, who happens to be the artist, therefore the motif I created is that my artist doesn't play major roles within his music videos, but has small cameo roles/appears somewhere with no major part (such as in the picture in my music video).

5. Within my music video the animations are seen taking an active interest in the girl's life, as they care about her since she created them as well as the fact they are kindhearted drawings that only aim to make her happy. My music video treats the female form in a very respectful way, as at no point is the girl seen in revealing clothing or shown trying to get the attention of the audience through seductive body language or suggestive lyrics within the song. This is quite a contrast to how music videos show women nowadays, but it also conforms to the acoustic music video genre, as acoustic videos are not seen showing off women in voyeuristic ways.

6. Within my music video the animation style I used was heavily based off of the Flash animations of someone who goes by the name of "BarfQuestion". He animates short cartoons that contain incredibly simple drawings (often a boy and girl) that always have a very cute quality to them. The cartoons he creates also have very cute stories and even though they don't use any speech, they don't need it, as the story explains itself by the end and always gives a heartwarming feeling to the viewer, as I and many others have experienced. Therefore my animations are an intertextual reference to "BarfQuestion". Also, the way my artist is part of the video but does not appear in a main role is an intertextual reference to the artist "Fatboy Slim", who appears in his music videos as supporting roles/background characters but never as a major role, thus causing fans to seek him out when watching his music videos.



Anyway guys and girls that's the end of this post :)

I hope you enjoyed my analysis of Goodwin's features of music video within my own, and I hope it helps anyone who is not sure what to do when looking at Goodwin's features of music videos in relation to their own music video.

Discussing "How contrasting musical genres use media language to appeal to their target audience through music videos"

How contrasting musical genres use media language to appeal to their target audiences through music videos

Here I will be discussing the two contrasting musical genres, Pop and Rock.

Pop (even though it refers to “popular music”) in today’s world, usually sticks to music of a particular style. Pop plays heavily on the emphasis of the actual artist, which is shown in a variety of ways in music videos. Take for example the popular music video “As Long As You Love Me ft. Big Sean” by Justin Bieber. In terms of camera, they shots and angles for the majority of the video revolve very much around him, because as mentioned, pop puts particular emphasis on the artist, which is most likely because they are seen as desirable for a number of reasons, which is a base for pop music; an artist that you want to actually see as well as hear. Reasons for wanting to see the artist can range from the fact they are physically attractive, for example Justin Bieber, or the fact they have unique style, for example ‘Lady Gaga’, to many other reasons. The editing also helps compliment the artist, since the cuts in the video mostly just carry the focus on them from one shot at one particular angle to the next, again adhering to the genre of pop music, since there is such emphasis on the artist as a selling point for the music. In terms of sound Pop music videos more than often feature lyrics, and when they do music videos often synchronise the lyrics with the artist, which again make sure they have significance to the music video, such as in Justin Bieber’s music video where most of the lyrics are accompanied by visuals of Justin seemingly singing them. Finally, in terms of Mise-en-scene within Pop music videos, that which is within the frame can denote to anything, be it costume, makeup, prop, or anything else that can be viewed by the audience. This aspect of music videos can really help set up distinct styles to certain artists (since the focus is usually on them within the scene), an example is ‘Lady Gaga’, who through costume, makeup and props has given herself a very unique image, and one that works very well with the target audience, since they are always wondering what she will come up with next for her music videos. The target audience for Pop ranges vastly and is very dependent on the artist. For example, I would say Justin Bieber’s music is mostly aimed at a female audience around the ages of 12 – 18, whereas ‘Lady Gaga’ I would say aims at a male and female audience anywhere between the ages of 13 – 21+.

Rock music videos differ greatly to Pop music videos, this is because with Rock music, bands really enjoy playing the music that they create through their instruments, and as a result, if they do choose to create a music video the focus is usually on the music. Take “Through The Fire And Flames” by ‘Dragonforce’ for example; the camera shots and angles within the video are mostly centred around the instruments the band members are playing, and the level of skill at which they play. The editing helps enhance this, by adding a picture within picture effect within the music video, showing various parts of the song being played, and the speed at which the hands of the band member can coordinate the strings of their guitars. The sound within the music video is seemingly synchronous with the band actually playing their instruments, and in the case of lyrics this is the same; synchronous, again promoting the importance of the music over their personal image. Mise-en-scene usually always shows a casual demeanour in terms of those who play Rock music, because as stressed, the focus is the music. These people seem to not care what they look like as the focus isn’t on them, and honestly I would say they probably spend more time sprucing up their instruments for the music video than they do themselves. I think it is because of Rock’s emphasis on the importance of the instruments creating the song that band members don’t use themselves as promotion material. Rock fans appreciate a bend for their level of skill with an instrument, whereas Pop artists are appreciated for looks on a much larger scale.

Rock and Pop therefore, as you can see by these two paragraphs, are very varying genres. With Rock placing a much larger focus on skill in terms of the creation of music and promotion of the artists through their music, and Pop largely basing around looks and therefore the artist themselves, physically, as an icon for their music.

"As Long As You Love Me" Music Video (Justin Bieber)

"Through The Fire And Flames" Music Video ('Dragonforce')

Essay on "The online age has made media more democratic"

“The online age has made media more democratic”

First of all, I agree with this statement, and I will discuss why. I will also discuss the Gramsci’s theory of Hegemony and give an opposite opinion to that of my own.

Democracy is the idea that everyone has an equal say in something, whether it be who will be the next president, who wins the ‘X Factor’, or simply who should be elected as the head of house at a school. It draws its roots from one ideal; equality, and the dream that in an utopian world we all get a fair chance to voice our opinion, every last one of us. Hegemony however can be seen as an opposite of democracy. Although Gramsci’s theory of Hegemony applies to media, the online age is the object being discussed as the way of making media more democratic, so it applies perfectly. Hegemony is the theory that what is broadcast by the media is simply the view of a small controlling group, demonstrating an idea of a small group having a greater say than us (the audience/general public) over what is broadcast, making us seem less powerful, and those within the group more powerful. It creates this idea of “top down communication”; a hegemonic form of communication in which the powerful elites (i.e. media conglomerates) communicate to those without power (i.e. what was the general public/audiences). Traditional media, e.g. television, radio, newspapers, etc. are kinds of “top down communication”. However, the online age has changed everything.

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”

-          Wayne Dyer

With the online age came Web 2.0, and with Web 2.0 came media democracy. Web 2.0 draws on interactivity and the user as its prime source of power. It encourages involvement through user generated content of every kind i.e. blogs, videos, music, etc. all thanks to the ability to post these things online for the world to see. This gave the audience a say in the content on the web, an example being the number one popular video sharing website ‘YouTube’, since its content is vastly made up by the audience, even though there is a slight presence of large companies on the site. An ability to post videos meant everyone could give their say on anything I wanted, be it food, politics, driving, gaming, the possibilities are endless. But not only had the ability to post videos, simply the ability to comment on a video has given a more democratic feel to media, as everyone’s comments are shared equally for others to see, allowing opinion to be voiced in an even simpler way. In terms of ‘YouTube’ the audience could now affect what people could view, giving birth to the idea of “Bottom Up/Grassroots Communication”. This form of communication means a movement driven by a community, thus grassroots communication is a bottom up form of communication in which the audience become media producers as well as consumers, which is an example of what is mean by the term “prosumer”.

“I think it’s fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we’ve ever created. They’re tools of communication, they’re tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their users”

-          Bill Gates

So what are the strengths of the abilities brought about by the online age and Web 2.0? First, it gives us, the audience, more freedom, as before the online age came about the media really did seem like this hegemonic system, where we simply absorbed what one small group deemed worthy of broadcast across multiple platforms. Now we have the chance to be the broadcasters of the world, which draws directly to the idea of “citizen journalists”; that members of the public (the audience) playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing and giving opinion on the events going on in the world around us, offering us a different view of world-changing events, or simply subtler everyday goings on in the world.

“Journalism is popular, but it is popular mainly as fiction. Life is one world, and life seen in the newspapers another”

-          Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Second, it brings democracy to those that need it most. Because in giving people the ability to make their voice heard equally, we are giving freedom to those who in physical-space might not be able to express it, but in cyberspace can make themselves heard. This ability has allowed us to find out first-hand about some of the injustices that are going on in the world that countries try to hide, such as the videos put online by the civilians within Bahrain during the riots in 2011, as the government kicked out all media crews while the riots occurred, effectively making the country go dark, except of course for those who felt what was going on should be known, and took to the internet with their first-hand phone and camera footage.

Finally, it changes lives. Simply the ability for someone to start a blog and let the people hear their voice has changed their lives forever. Some have been able to let out years of anger supressed inside, others have finally been able to express the deepest love or hatred for absolutely anything, and whether someone else pays attention or not doesn’t matter, because at least knowing  that that exact person has the exact same capabilities as anyone else is such an incredible freeing feeling, that has improved the lives of so many.

As of February 1^st 2012 there are an estimated 450 million “active” English language blogs. If that isn’t proof the people appreciate their new found ability, then I don’t know what is.

But now, the weaknesses brought on by the online age and Web 2.0. In giving everyone an equal say it has also given companies and large corporation a chance to have an equal say, meaning they, just as much as anyone else, can take to sites such as ‘YouTube’ to post videos make themselves known. This leads to, among user-generated-content, videos by companies promoting their latest products and deals, which for the most part seem harmless, but annoy the users, as they are an eyesore on the safe haven from advertising that were once “our” websites (I say our as an audience member myself). Also thanks to the online age it has allowed companies to intrude upon us even when we’re not watching their videos. As thanks to ‘Google’ buying ‘YouTube’ back in 2006, from then on countless videos by the audience have been flooded with advertisements, meaning if we want to watch a video we now are forced to sit through 30-second long advertisements, and have the knowledge that if we want to watch something else we have to endure that process nearly every time, as well as having massive interactive adverts constantly moving in the top right hand corner of the webpage, and sometimes even playing sound.

But in conclusion, there will always be more audience members than companies. Meaning no matter how many company’s videos are uploaded, ours will always drown them thanks to sheer numbers. And we will always persevere when being forced to sit through adverts before watching what we want to watch, and when given the opportunity, will always skip the ads. The online age and web 2.0 have brought far more good than they have bad. Even if companies have been given the ability to invade more of our lives, we persevere in ignoring them where possible, and in all honesty, the power we now have to connect to the world and make ourselves known in an equal and fair manner, is most definitely worth a bit of advertising being shoved in our face. And in relation to the question of whether web 2.0 is “really liberating or empowering ordinary people to take control of the media?” – I believe it is, as to have our own voice and say in the world of media, is democracy in itself, by disproving the theory of hegemony. We are the people, and now we can decide what the world knows.