When? do you have a daily music routine? Is some music more
suitable at a certain time of day than another?
I normally like to listen to music throughout a lot of the day, when I am allowed to. This has caused me to develop almost a routine as to when I listen to music and the type of music I listen to. More specifically in the mornings, when I wake up and get ready for school I like to have Capital Radio playing in the background, as it helps to make me feel more awake as they play charts music so it is normally upbeat. Then I also listen to music from my playlist whilst travelling to and from school on the school bus this is also fairly upbeat and quite mainstream too. However when I am at school I only really listen to music during my study and free periods, although this music is normally much slower and calmer so that it doesn't distract me from the work which I am trying to complete. Then in the evenings which is usually before I go to various sporting activities or training I listen to upbeat music again, so that I feel like I have more energy to go and use in the sport.
Where?
Most of the time I listen to music in my bedroom as a lot of the time I listen to music when I am getting ready. Also in my parents car they always have the radio on so I listen to a lot of music in the car too. However when I am home alone I will have the music playing wherever I am in the house, whether that be the kitchen or the living room.
Who with? do you share your music or is it an individual
experience?
I majority wise listen to music on my own because apart from at parties or gigs I am on my own when I listen to music or have headphones in, so it does make it a more individual experience.
How?
I listen to music in a great variety of ways because I listen to the radio and the playlist on my phone/ iPod, however a lot of the time I listen to music to create a background noise which can help me to concentrate better or to make what I am doing more enjoyable, e.g. waking up for school or cooking. This is because I do not like to be doing something in silence when on my own.
Why? What are the pleasures associated with music
consumption? What does it offer the audience and what needs does it gratify?
Listening to music for many people is a way of escapism and is able to take your mind off other things. Also listening to music can help you concentrate as it can be relaxing and soothing. However one pleasure that can be associated with listening to music is that it can get you excited and more alert, especially if the music is very upbeat or you really enjoy the listening to a particular artist.
Uses and Gratifications Theory:
Personal Identification -When I used to get angry with my
parents I used to blast songs that would express how I feel and that would make
me feel better
Information - When I was younger I used to watch Horrible Histories and one way they taught the information was through song. The one particular song that I still remember now is 'My Name is Charles II', because it was catchy and the video that went with it, at the time I found it quite funny.
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Entertainment - When I am at home, if I am bored or not doing anything, I enjoy to listen to upbeat chart music either from spotify or from Capital's internet radio, because it cheers me up and can help me to relax. This is because as they are mainstream songs I am able to hum, sing and enjoy myself.
Social Interaction - When I go on trips with my friends, normally to do with sports trips/ tours, over the time we are there we begin to associate a certain song that was played a lot, that we enjoyed with the trip and so when as a team we are all together we like to play hose songs, or all sing along and laugh about it when if it does come on.
Today we looked into a famous music director. I have looked into and learnt about Hannah Lux Davis. Directors play a huge role in creating music videos because they are the ones who can determine how the artist is portrayed across to the audience and how their music is represented through the artist and this can affect the artist's target audience. Also if the director does not portray the music well it can end up in the music video not being successful in the means of advertising the artist's single.
Hannah Lux Davis is very creative and successful in her creations. This has lead to her to specialize in a single genre, pop, and draw in similar artists to create a music video for each time.
Now that we have completed the preliminary task for which we recreated 30 seconds of the music video 'Fancy'. We now have to look back on it and see how it could have been improved and 1 questions about the production side of our video. Here is the final edited copy of our video that I will be evaluating:
Here is the my evaluation points on my Preliminary task. I have answered 10 questions about the task in as much detail as possible:
Over the past week we have been working on our preliminary task. This is our first attempt and insight into making music videos. We got put into groups and ad to choose around 30 seconds of a music video to recreate. In my group here was: Jack, Tilly and myself.
The music video that we decided to recreate after much contemplation was Fancy by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX. Here is the original video:
Below is the production diary showing evidence of what we completed over the week in order to finish the task. This includes our shooting schedule, props list and story boards hat we created in order to be able to complete this task to our full capability. At the end of the Production Diary is our final edited version of the music video:
Today in class after we learnt about representations of artists, we had to look into an artist that has been around a while, such as Beyonce, and how as time has gone on their Star Image developed and changed. This includes not only through their music but through their images too.
The person who I am doing my Star Profile on in Justin Timberlake:
Today in class we looked into what makes a music video and how they can be different to each other dependent upon what direction they decide to focus their video in e.g. narrative or performance.
This spider diagram shows the main key features that are focused on when looking at and completed when making music videos:
In class today we looked into how music videos over time have created representations and caused stereotypes of certain artists to be formed. This representation of artists can be developed through their Star Image and can change over time depending on how they are advertised to the audience through he media and their videos. Also we found out that a majority of these representations only really take places on female artists over male artists. This is because many of the representations that are created are shown in quite a sexual manner and with much of the media, including music videos, being run by men, the audience are said to prefer to see women in this way and less so for men.
We also learnt that the way someone is represented can be effected by the genre of music they perform, the audiences and institution. Along with this ideology can effect it too because all the different media concepts (e.g. Mise en scene, Lighting etc.) can enforce the representation which is shown. This causes representations to become exaggerated and within music videos, as they are only short and you don't have time to work out what the character/ representation the artist is going for, stereotypes of social groups and people are used to quickly make it clear to the audience watching.
The Burlesque Representation:
The stereotypical representation of a burlesque girl in music videos involves:
- Corsets - Feather Boas
- Fishnet Stockings
- Show Hats
Even though the outfits they wear are fairly revealing or sexual normally in videos involving this image the artist isn't shown as vulnerable or objectified by men. This is because in these videos the shots of the artists a majority of the time are low angle looking up at the women, giving her power, and the close ups that are featured are of their faces and if their body is shown their faces are normally still in the shot too. This stops the objectifying and makes the women still hold power in the video. An example of this representation is in the music video 'Moulin Rouge' shown below:
The Stripper Representation:
The stereotypical representation of the Stripper image in music videos involves:
- Very limited clothing, e.g. bras etc.
- Use of poles an walls
- Glitter on clothing
- 'Open' crouch
In these videos the outfits which the women wear are deliberately revealing and limited as they are advertising the artist's image in a sexual manner. However unlike with the Burlesque representation, this representation is more demeaning towards the woman and objectifies them hugely. This s because many of the close up shots are only on body parts, such as the 'bum shot' without their faces. This sexualisation is continued with the provocative positions that the artists shot in. This representation is manly completed to appeal to the male audience as part of the 'Male Gaze' through voyeurism. An example of this representation is in the music video 'Pour It Up' shown below:
The Gangsta Hoe Representation:
The stereotypical 'Gangsta Hoe' representation in music videos involves:
- Afro American men and women
- Bikini tops and torn shorts (95% Skin)
- Bling
In these music videos if it is not themed otherwise the women are usually dressed like this and shown in a way of being owned by the dominant male in the video and therefore objectified in shots too. This sexual view on women is normally worse in male rapper/ R&B videos as the women are shown to have now power in the video at all. This furthers the idea of the male gaze. An example of this representation is in the music video 'Anaconda' shown below:
These are the main 3 representations you find in terms of women for music videos. However there are other smaller representations that you can find, for example a Pop Princess. These types of artists are usually younger because it wouldn't appeal to their audience if they were shown in a sexual way, particularly as it would be inappropriate and wrong for this to occur. Lots of children TV stars start of as Pop Princesses and as they get older, with their audience, they normally develop and start conforming to one other representations so that they can avoid their children's TV days. An example of someone who developed from holding a Pop Princess image to a Stripper image is Miley Cyrus.
Left: 2008
Right: 2015
Even tough in a majority of videos it is the woman that is objectified and shown in a sexual way through the male gaze, where times are changing and women get a greater equality there are also a few times now where within the video you find the female gaze So rather than the women being dressed in near to nothing and the close up shots being on their body parts the role is reversed. This has happened in music videos such as Ex's and Oh's where Elle King is in formal clothes and the men are wearing limited clothing and shown mud wrestling. It is also shown in Mysterious Girl where there is a female gaze on Peter Andre where it pans up his body when in the shower and coming out of the ocean and the women in the video are wearing normal clothes when he always has his chest out. So this shows ho their audience is only women and not men because even though women are used to seeing the male gaze and voyeurism take place in music videos, men not so much so won't like or watch the video as much. Here is the example 'Ex's and Oh's':
This video also shows how women can be represented as strong and dominant in music videos too, because the whole way through Elle King is shown as more important throughout and is often seen ordering the men around and is shown higher up than the men. This is especially displayed by the low angle shots being on her and the high angle shots being on the men. This portrays inequality in power in favor of women and this is played on throughout the music video as for once the woman is the one surrounded by multiple men rather than the other way around, this is unusual to find in a music video, as it shows she is more dominant individually and doesn't need to be in a group of women around men in order to be shown as strong.
Key Terminology: Voyeurism- Erotic pleasure can be gained by
looking at a sexual object (preferably when the object is unaware that they are
being watch).
Male Gaze (Laura Mulvey 1975) -
She proposed that because filmmakers are predominately male, the presence of
women is often for the purposes of display (rather than narrative). This is to facilitate
a voyeuristic response in spectators, which presumes a male gaze (regardless of
the gender of the spectator) one that is or may feel like a powerful
controlling gaze at the female on display who is effectively objectified and
passive. In male performance videos the voyeuristic treatment of the female
body is often apparent, with the use of dancers as adornments to the male star
ego.
Exhibitionism- Female performers being at once sexually provocative
and apparently in control of and inviting a sexualised gaze in what could be
termed as the opposite of voyeurism.
Raunch Culture (Andrea Levy) – In her book ‘Female
Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture’ Levy attacks the
increasingly sexualised culture that objectifies women. She argues that women
are encouraged to see themselves as objects and to sex as their only source of
power.
An example of this is in the music video for ‘Blurred
Lines’ where around Robin Thick there are multiple female dancers with, in the
original video, no clothes on for no apparent reason as it did not add to the narrative
of the video and they just seemed to be there like that or the sake of it. Along
with this the idea of a male gaze was furthered as many of the shots were o
them and their body whilst “dancing” creating the unaware voyeurism appeal. However as they were hired to do this in the music video and they are supposedly optionally dancing as such, many people also see this video as showing exhibitionism rather than voyeurism. This would fit with the ideas of Levy it would suggest that they only completing those types of dance moves whilst wearing nothing and "tempting" the male artists in he video as a way of showing some power.
