Framing:- where people, props etc. are placed within the frame (the composition)
Angles:- high angle / birds eye view (filmed from above)
Aerial shot (filmed from a helicopter)
Low angle/ worms eye view (filmed from blow)
Movement- pan/ panning (camera moves on pivot lef, right)
Tilt - camera moves up or down on its pivot (pan up/ down)
Track / tracking shot -(camera attached to moving object to follow the action)
Zoom - camera moves in on an object / moves out from the object
Short take- shot lasts for a short time
long take -camera lingers on the frame
Editing: cutting and splicing the footag to create the finished text.
Editing techniques
Quick cuts:- shot moves rapidly from one frame / shot to the next
fade:- one shot fades away to black and the next shot fades in
Dissolve:- one shot fades out as the next shot simultanously fades in
Wipe:- a shot is literally wipped off the screen by another
Slow motion:- a sequence is slowed down
Fast motion:- a sequence is sped up
Stop motion:- a series of still shots or drawings etc. are taken with a still camera and mixed into a moving image programme to create a digital animation sequence
Mase, your textual analysis pieces are detailed and intelligent - well done. You have also included research into the key theoretical perspectives. You now need to provide evidence of planning work e.g. initial ideas and evidence of storyboarding.
So far i have completed the textual analysis, quantative research, further research and found a song. I am now along with my group hoping to find a actor for our music video who is over 21 and looks mature enough for our RNB, soul music video. We are also looking to complete our storyboard and analysis of song lyrics together. Our group has also delagated tasks to one another to help complete all our research and planning.
Post-Modernism textual analysis Lady gaga- “paparazzi” The music video “paparazzi” is performed by Lady Gaga and directed by Jonas Akerlund. The music video is relatively new having officially been released in July 2009. The music video is both narrative and performance based; the narrative is based around the Lady Gaga’s rise to fame and relationship with her boyfriend. The video has many post-modernist features such as Homage/pastiche, intertextuality, binary divisions and references to popular culture.
The music video begins with close ups of flowers and then a cut to a LA mansion. The LA mansion may remind some audiences of those in the TV series Sunset Boulevard (1950); this is an example of intertexual reference. This may give some viewers pleasure if they are able to understand this intertextual reference; it also represents lady Gaga as a creative artist. The close up of flowers in the opening scenes connote innocence and purity, this may be the way that Lady Gaga is trying to portray herself at the start of the music video. There is also an opening title sequence in this music video at the start; this is an unconventional feature of a Pop/Dance music video. The opening title sequence is a feature of classic Hollywood music videos which maybe a hint to audiences that this music video contains a narrative, this is also an example of pastiche. Next we see a mid shot of a flower with lady Gaga written next to it, this further reinforces that Lady Gaga may be trying represent herself as pure and innocent.
Next there is a cut to the main bedroom of the Hollywood mansion, where we see Lady gaga and her boyfriend making love. There is still no music being played which is unconventional of Pop/ Dance music videos but expected in Post Modernist music videos as these videos are more reliant on style and not the content of the music video. Lady Gaga and her boyfriend move to the balcony where her boyfriend pushes her off. This shows that the narrative of the music video is going to revolve around Lady Gaga and her boyfriend’s relationship.
We then cut to the next example of homage, this time of Alfred Hitchcock’s film “vertigo”. Homage is commonly used in this music video for the audience’s pleasure as those who can understand them will appreciate the music video more. Next there is a cut to the first scene where music is being played in, this scenes shows a lady Gaga pull up in a limo in front of her house. Here we finally see a conventional feature of Pop/Dance music videos, which is back up dancers. This scene leads on to the first piece of binary division in the music video, which is lady Gaga’s robot costume making her look half human and half machine. It could also be argued that intertexuality is being used in this scene as Lady gaga looks similar in this scene to the fembot character in, “Metropolis”. Some auduience may gain pleasure from this scene especially if they are fans of this well known film.
The next scene is of lady gaga and female back up dancers, in this scene lady Gaga is showing off her dancing talents. Her costume in this scene is very unusual which may interest those who are into fashion, as Lady Gaga to some may be seen as a fashion icon. Here costume in the next scene is very interesting as she is wearing minie mouse costume and glasses. Here Lady Gaga is making reference to popular culture and maybe declaring her intentions of becoming an icon like Minie mouse. Referencing to popular culture is a stereotypical feature of postmodernist music videos.
Next we see another Post modernist feature of this music video which is blurring of fiction and reality. This occurs in the next scene where the audience are lead to believe that Lady Gaga is getting arrested for the murderer of her boyfriend, which is fiction. The reality which is shown in the next scene is the media attention and press (newspaper headlines shown in video) she gets as a celebrity. The music video ends in a stereotypical Hollywood film style, with the words “the end”.
Overall, we can say that this is music video makes use of many post modernist features which provide audiences who can understand them pleasure. The blurring of fiction and reality may also provide some viewers a form of escapism from everyday life, as they are drawn into someone elses life forgetting about theirs for a while. However, those who are unable to understand the use of homage and intertextuality in this video due to age are left to enjoy the music, dancing and fashion costumes. For this reason I believe this video does very well in attracting large audiences from a range of ages and interests.
The music video for “Inner city life” shows a representation of life in an urban society. The music video illustrates the different problems and situations people in the urban society are in. The music video begins with an establishing shot of an urban estate full of tall apartment buildings. The buildings are shot from a high angle shot suggesting that the people living in them are vulnerable and seen as inferior to society, this would especially be a Marxists opinion as they believe that this is how people from less well of backgrounds are represented by the media. The dark lighting of the shot suggests that life is hard and dull for the people living in this urban estate. We then cut to a mid-shot of a female singing the lyrics of the song; this shows the audience that this music video is also performance as well as narrative based. We then cut to a family which is possibly living in the urban estate’s kitchen. We see a woman who is possibly a single mother very stressed doing the dishes, with her kids in the background. There is then a cut to the gas meter and then back to her. This is may show that this lady is having problems paying her bills, which makes sense of her stressed out body language. The kids in the background along with the sombre music invite the audience to sympathise with this lady. The high angle shot she is shot from may symbolise that she is inferior in society because of her working class background. Next, there is a cut to a youth wearing a hoody, which some may believe is a stereotypical representation of youths, as they are being represented negatively. Marxists would say that this representation of the youths is what the masses also believe in, as this is how youths are represented to mainstream audiences. We then see the youths playing basketball and not being a nuisance which subverts the stereotypical representation of youths. There are then cuts in between scenes to the female singer performing which remind us that this is also a performance based music video. There is then a cut to another youth who looks vulnerable which subverts the stereotypical representation of youths. This shows that this music video is trying to give a positive representation of people from urban estates, for this reason Marxists would say that this music video is good. The next shot shows a BMW convertible in the urban estate. This car stands out as it does not fit in with urban estate, the dominant belief would be that this car belongs to a drug dealer but as this video is subversive some may be lead to believe that the driver is just passing by the estate rather than living there. There is then a semi-circle pan of the camera to show the car; in this pan we see the driver and passenger disappear this may suggest that drug dealers do not last long in this estate. We then cut to a clubbing scene which is stereotypically represented as a place where people would be taking drugs and drinking especially in an urban area. But in this music video we see that it is just a place where the people in the urban area are just coming to enjoy music. There is an item which we cannot see at first, being passed around the club. At first the audience is lead to believe that this may be drugs but as the music video goes on we understand that this is a cd, which further reinforces the idea that the people in this club are there to enjoy the music. It also once again represents the people in the urban estate positively. We then see a series of shots showing people we have previously seen such as the mother struggling to pay her bills. One of the shots are interesting as it shows a kid riding his bike from a long shot which is shot behind bars, giving the effect that the kid feels imprisoned. The editing technique shot reverse shot is used to show a woman in her bed and the vinyl player spinning a vinyl cd. The connotations of the vinyl CD spinning around could be that this woman’s life is repetitive and dull. We also see a shot showing two old men smiling showing that all is not bad in this urban estate and that the older generation have good memories of this area. Following this shot we see a rundown car being burnt possibly to remove evidence as it may have been stolen by someone on the urban estate. This shot acknowledges that there are some problems in the urban estate but not to the extent the masses are lead to believe. A bird’s eye view shot is used to show a female on her bed who we have seen before from earlier shots. We see a female unable to sleep properly possibly because of pressure as this is a word we here repeated in the lyrics. We see a young child appear and then disappear and then we see a male appear and then disappear. The young child may be the woman’s child who she is struggling to look after, hence the reason she is struggling to sleep. But the significance of the male cannot be easily interpreted; most would probably believe that it is the father of the child who is no longer there to support the child and women. This shows the difficult situations that some people in the urban estates have to live in. Overall, the “Inner city life” music video gives a positive representation of people from urban estates. It can also be said that this video is subversive and goes against stereotypical representation of people from urban estates. Marxists would say that this is a good video as it represents people differently to how they are represented to mainstream audiences. The video represents youths and people at the clubs positively, even though this may not be stereotypical representations of these social groups.
Karl Marx, the founder of Marxist theory believed that the media and its messages could be used for good in the right hands. However, in the hands of what he called the dominant ideology the message could have a dangerously influential and controlling effect on the masses.
The Dominant Ideology
The ideologiacl forces that determine how society functions. Marxists believe that all powerful institutions subtly control how we, the masses, conduct our lives within society.
The Media's Message
Marxists believe that the media plays a significant part in controlling the massesand some would say as an institution it is a greater influence on society than religon, politics and the family (nature over nurture). The supposed subtle dominance with which the media control the masses is also known as hegemonic control.
Hegemony- was an ideological concept first introduced by italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. He believed that the media message could perform a subtle indoctrination, influencing the manner in which society viewed the world until the message becomes 'common sense', unchallenged by the masses. Hegemonic contol is acceptance of the 'status quo'.
Examples
The amount of coverage football gets in the media (espicially compared to other sports) suggests that people should like it. During the world cup we are encouraged to get behind and support our country.
Lifestyle shows / magazines make it seem normal to own high-end appliances and therefore support the captilist economic system.
Micheal Moore's documentary Farenheit 9/11 can be seen as counter hegemonic as it questioned the Bush administration, an administration that was supposdly elected by the majority of U.S voters.
