Influential Media Texts

                                                      Influential Text Analysis





Meghan Trainors Video  "All About That Bass"  I chose as an influential text because it is a pop genre which is the same genre as our song and is upbeat and includes a lot of ideas we may want to include in our video. Meghan is very girly in this video but also shows a lot of attitude and confidence which is what we would like our video to consist of.




In the video Meghan wears minimal make up throughout, such as mascara eyeliner and a little bit of foundation which is what we like for our main performer.

















 In the Video Meghan has a variety of hairstyles however they are simple and very girly which portray her to be innocent. The video gives off an impression that she's dressed up to be perfect, in parts of the video there are shots that are filmed in what looks to be her room, her room is very neat and tidy again giving off a persona that's she's perfect which relates to the song lyrics. 







The lyrics are saying to the audience that if your not super skinny it doesn't mean your not perfect or you don't look nice. Meghan's saying that being curvy or bigger is okay which relates to a wide audience as their is a lot of insecure people about their weight and how they look.





We can get a lot if inspiration from the video for example the hair and make up and the costume, the light pastel colours used and the attitude


Goodwins Theory For Music Videos

Goodwin stated that the majority music videos seem to include factors of typical genre characteristics or the stereotypical factors of a genre, for example Rap videos will include women in bikinis or wearing little clothing and the rapper showing off expensive items such as cars and big houses. Pop videos will include very bright colours and be very creative and boy/girl band videos mostly likely have a dance routine.

There are always references to the notion of looking and in particular the voyeuristic treatment of the female body. The notion of looking includes both men and women portraying themselves seductively and looking into the camera directly, this is to make the audience feel like the artist is talking to them. The notion of looking can also be portrayed through the use of props for example cameras, mirrors, TV screen, magnifying glass. An example would be Mcflys "Five Colours In Her Hair" as the video is made to look like its being watched through a TV screen in parts of the video.

Voyeurism is selling a artist through sex appeal and is commonly used by women and not men.
A good example of this is Miley Cyrus, in many of her videos she mostly uses sex appeal, in her music video for 'Wrecking Ball' she is what seems to be naked swinging on a giant metal ball, she is using her sex appeal to get across to the audience the message of the lyrics.

In Mileys video 'Cant Be Tamed' she is locked up in a cage like an animal which again is relating to the lyrics of the song or could be related to how she feels to be famous as their is a big audience looking on at her.



Voyeurism can also be referenced through watching something happen from another point of view. This isnt commonly used in music videos as the majority of videos have the artist directly singing in front of the camera but it has been used, in Eminem's 'Love The Way You Lie'  where we see a story between two people play out without feeling involved in it.

Disappearing Behind The Pole

We had to learn various techniques so we could use them for our music video if we wanted to, one technique was learning how to make someone disappear behind an object.

lip syncing practise

For our music video we needed to learn how to lip sync properly along to the song so we don't have any problems in the future when editing.

Lighting Practice

In preparation for our music video we had to practice the use of lighting so we knew how to use it for the future



 i

Practise Album Cover

Using my photoshop skills that i have learned, i have made a practise album cover to show that i am able to do the real thing. I put two pictures together and added the text.

Intertexuality

Inertexuality refers to the relationship between media and other texts such as popular stories (Romeo and Juliet) and films (twilight). Using intertexuality helps the audience create their own theory towards the music video and helps them get a better understanding of it. By using intertexuality the artist will also be able to gain more 'fans' or 'views' because it may be a soundtrack of a popular film/book or it may have reference towards a story, for example in Pharrells song 'Happy' he will gain a lot of views from a younger audience than usual as it is the soundtrack for the 'Desicable Me 2' movies.





Another example of intertexuality is Iggy Azaelas 'Fancy' this refers to the popular film 'clueless'



A good example of intertexuality towards a story is taylor swifts 'love story'
this song is all about romance and love between a woman and a man. The story of Romeo and uliet insantly springs to mind when thinking of love which is why the video is based around the popular play. Referring to the very popular play is a very smart idea as it will make the video much more memorable and will gain a popular amount of views.





The scenes in the video also refer back to 'Romeo and Juliet'

   

Taylor has recreated the scenes from the play , she is in a huge castle and she is wearing a corset showing the time period that the video is set in, these are huge links to the play and we can tell from this that taylor is Juliet. Also the man is wearing a blouse which tells the audience that he is Romeo.

Album Covers

After looking at a variety of album covers from different artists i found the typical features if an album cover include

FRONT

• The artists name
• The name of the album
• An image of the artists (usually a close up of the face)
• A font or effect that stands out 

On the the front of album covers the majority of them will have a close up image of the artist, this is so the audience who is buying the album connects with the artist and feel like they know them on a personal level. This will increase sales and earn the artist more money.

Some album covers dont inlcude the typical features of an album cover:

   BACK

• The track list 
• Some Images 
• Possibly the name of the artist again or an image of the artist

The back of album covers usually have no images  or if they do they only have simple and one or two images. The font of the track list is always a different and unique font possibly relating to the genre of the album, the track list is always clear and spaced out to separate the song names 

Institutional Information                                            

• The bar code                                               
• Song writers/producers
• Record label
• Members of band
• Copyright
• featured artists

   Spine

• Artist
• The title
• Reference number
• record label

Inside the Album

• The song lyrics to each one
• thank you messages 
• images of the artist 

What is the Purpose of an album cover?

• To increase money being earned
• Attract the audience to buy
• To show the genre of the album

Process of photoshop

1) Removing Blemishes

 

                                                                           2) Filters

                                     
















3) Adjusting and Lighting

       4) moving images











                                              


    5) Adding Images

Objectification of Men - Jlo 'I Luh Ya Papi'

       

In today's music industry the majority of videos made, women are always being objectified for the
'male gaze'. Jennifer Lopez obviously has noted this and decided to switch it completely to the males being objectified which is rarely seen in female artists music videos.


When the video begins to play, we see Jlo sitting with her friends talking to what seems to be her 'video director', he is suggesting different ideas where to shoot the video which seem to come across as very simple, one suggestion is a water park maybe suggesting that Jlo will be dressed in a bikini so the woman is being objectified, however the girls make it clear that if this was a male artist he would have girls dancing around him in little clothing with champagne, this leads to the girls saying why cant the males be objectified for once and then the song begins to start.

                                                                                         
In the the first shot when the music begins we see Jlo sitting on the end of a bed with two half naked men lying down behind her, this shows us the power she has over them because of her body language and also the fact that she is fully clothed and the men are not.










In this mid - shot Jlo is purely the focus but within the frame we see half naked men surrounding Jlo and they are standing in a way as if they are waiting to be told what to do by the women, we also see in the bottom left and right corner of the frame the shoes of women giving the impression that they are laying down and then men are serving them.
                                             











Throughout the video the men are always half naked and never fully clothed, in this shot Jlo is again clothed and seems to be showing off the men along side her, there is also more than one man again suggesting the power she has over them. Showing off the men's bodies makes them become objects for women to admire and gain pleasure from this.





                                                                                       
                                                                                 


                                                   
These two shots are a perfect example of the female dominance over man in this video, in the left  picture (mid- shot) the women are in the centre of the frame with the men dancing around behind, with the women being in front of the men it shows that the men follow the women and know their place, the women are also wearing all white with again not much skin showing in comparison to the men. In the right picture we see the male being exposed by one of the women and Jlo looking on, again showing that the females are in control and can do what they want and giving the female audience pleasure, in the left picture the men have glasses on this allows the females to focus on the body.

In this  video Jlo has been very clever as she has obviously noticed that women are always objectified in videos, so she decided to switch it up and has made the males be objectified and be seen as simply a object that is in her possession for people to admire which is rarely done.

Objectification of Women - Lil Wayne ' Lollipop'

Lil wayne has a reputation for his videos being objective to women. In this video he lives up to this reputation and the shots involve women half naked and his lyrics to the song are all about women giving sexual pleasure to a man.


                                                                                   







At the beginning of the video we see lil wayne and another man begin to get ready, they change from casual clothing to smart suits, the change to the suits is to show they have power and are in charge. A limo pulls up outside and the two men and we see it is full of dressed up women showing the women are there for them only. After they enter the limo they embrace eachother as if they have won a prize, showing that they see the women as their winnings.                                                                                  












In this mid- shot we see the men are sitting down and the women have surrounded them and are practically sitting on them , this shows that they want the attention off the men and to the men their just their possessions. The men are fully clothed and the women are wearing skimpy sexual outfits to indicate that they are there to give sexual pleasure to the men and are seen as nothing but a 'sexy' that they can use for their own satisfaction.












This shot has lil wayne focused in the centre of the frame showing he's in control, in the background there are girls dressed provocatively with their cleavage on show, The girls are behind him because he sees them as his own so he's saying he's in charge and they are his. The girls are dancing along to the song and are seen as decorations.







                       
 The video cuts to a close up of a girl laying seductively in a pile of coloured lollipops, this obviously is relating to what the song is suggesting for the women to do and that the girl is inviting the lil wayne over so she can give him what he is singing about, The women are dehumanised and seen as sweets, something that everyone wants and enjoys.

Music Video Directors

Colin Tilley
Colin is a world famous music video director that has directed videos for world famous artists such as Nicki Minaj , Chris Brown , Justin Bieber, Jason derulo he also has produced videos for UK artists like Cheryl Cole and little mix.


The three videos below are some of the videos Colin has directed and have all been very big hits. All the locations that the videos have been filmed in loo very big and expensive. The videos are very creative and artistic with vibrant colours and unique dance moves, this shows that Colin likes his videos to be memorable and very different.













 

Star Image - Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus is one of most talked about and influential artists in the world. She first gained media attention when she became the star of the hit TV show 'Hannah Montana' now people remember her for her controversial change in image and songs.

Songs and Image

After not being in the media spotlight for a while miley shocked the world when she released her new single ' We Cant Stop', this got the whole world talking about her in a split second because everyone knew her as a children's television star and role model and in the song she is singing about taking drugs, sex and partying. Her lyrical themes today are all about sex and relations and taking drugs and alcohol and in past years before her image change her lyrical themes were about childish love stories, were inspirational to children and energetic. So after 'Hannah Montana' finished miley would've discussed her image change with her team and they would've advised her to go ahead with it as it will put her in magazines, online, TV and the more controversial the more people will listen to her songs.

Record Covers

Mileys record covers have transformed from 'sweet innocent girl next door' to 'grown up, rebellious and sexy'. This is because miley has had to appeal to specific audiences, when her covers featured her portraying a sweet girl this is because she had young children admiring her and her character 'Hannah Montana' so in order to keep her fans and her TV show running every cover had to be innocent. When her children's TV programme came to an end she could then be herself or be more 'adult' as she didn't need her young fans, for her type of music she needed to find a much older audience ( 16+0).

Media Coverage

In order for Miley to sell records she needs to keep herself in the media which she hasn't found very hard to do. Miley was all over the magazines and online when she teamed up with music start Robin Thicke to perform at the VMAs where she provocatively dance on him who at the time was married and is a lot older than her this was very smart as she got the whole world talking. Miley also uses twitter (social media) to interact with her 18.5 million followers and promote any music, interviews she has done. At the most recent VMAs she won an award but instead of collecting it herself she got a young man to accept it and in his speech the audience found out that he used to be a homeless man the miley took off the street so again she was talked about all over the world.

When performing miley doesn't hold back she is bold, creative and makes sure the audience goes home remembering it and her music videos are exactly the same, when her video for ' we cant stop' was released it had millions of hits within the first couple of hours as it was interesting and crazy and it currently has around 450 million views.













For Miley to be as big as she is she needs a team around her such as a manager, stylists etc

Rank Order

1 - 13B6  
The storyline of the video was very interesting and it kept my eyes on the video, the variety of locations worked very well specifically the dance,club scene and the lip sync was done very well

2 - 13A2
The close up on the mouth immediately attracts the audiences attention, the use of different backgrounds and locations makes the video interesting

3 - 13E4 
The storyline was effective as i believed the scenes however it was too slow

4 - 13E6
The lip sync and shots were good but the storyline seemed to drag out and i started to get bored also the location of the two boys singing/rapping was the majority of the time the same which made it uninteresting

5 - 13A3 
the editing was very sharp and i liked how they skipped the guy waling at the very beginning however the office scene wasn't very believable as the background is showing

6 - 13E7
the other people in the video weren't doing much and looked uncomfortable, 

7 - 13B3
the song was very slow so it easily became boring but i liked the idea of the storyline

8 - 13B4
Again the song was very slow and i got bored very easily, she wasn't doing anything with guitar and the sun was blaring in some shots making it hard to see the girls face

9 - 13B1
the singing wasn't in sync with the song and very boring there was nothing to keep a viewer watching

10 - 13E9 
there was clips of a film put in between which i didn't understand and made it look uncreative, lip sync wasn't in time and the locations were the same 

11 - 13A1
looked like it could have been filmed on a phone or low quality camera, the camera was shook at times 

Review Of AS Film

What Went Well?

I think that in our film sequence the use of the car and the angles we shot the car at went very well as in crime films the criminals always have some means of escape or getaway car so we matched up with codes and conventions of the genre. The variety of shots we used i think made the film much more interesting to the viewer in particular i liked the garage shot where all the burglars are opening the door up.

Even Better If

I think that we could have improved mainly the lighting particularly in the scenes involving the safe and the cars, the lighting in these scenes were darker than we would've liked them to be which meant that we had to try to lightening the scenes up by the computer when the had already been filmed.