Wednesday, 4 September 2013

Trip Scene - A Field In England

I really like the editing used in the following clip, which has been taken from the film "A Field In England". Shots are overlapped, reflected, blurred, replayed over again, merged together and manipulated to illustrate a sense of disorientation and drug psychosis.

25 Word Pitch



Existing Bands

The following bands reflect my chosen genre of music and portray a certain style which I want to recreate:









Song Choice

Artist: Pixies
Song: Where Is My Mind
Genre: Alternative Rock
Length: 3:50 mins approx



Lyrics:

Ooh - stop

With your feet on the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
But there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself

Where is my mind? [3x]

Way out in the water
See it swimmin'

I was swimmin' in the Caribbean
Animals were hiding behind the rocks
Except the little fish
But they told me, he swears
Tryin' to talk to me, to me, to me.

Where is my mind? [3x]

Way out in the water
See it swimmin'

With your feet on the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeh
Your head will collapse
If there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself

Where is my mind? [3x]

Way out in the water
See it swimmin'

Oh
With your feet on the air and your head on the ground
Oh

Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Oh
Oh

Sunday, 1 September 2013

Textual Analysis of Music Videos

Name of track: 
Sugar, We're Goin' Down

Artist:
Fall Out Boy



Genre Charactistics:
Pop punk, alternative rock, instruments, rebellion (going behind her father's back), etc.

Relationship between the lyrics and visuals:
Due to the video being concept-based, the visuals do not reflect the lyrics in the song. Although a relationship is constructed throughout the video and described within the song, the on-screen relationship and the lyrics do not match. For example, the pair in the video are forbidden to see each other because the girl's father disapproves, however in the song it seems as if the girl is already with someone else, "Oh don't mind me, I'm watching you two from the closet, wishing to be the friction in your jeans."

Relationship between the music and visuals:
There are shots of the band playing throughout, and the editing matches the quick pace of the song.

Are there any close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
Close-ups of the band members:


Is there reference to the notion of looking?
The vocalist, Patrick Stump, looks directly into the camera as he is singing, as if directly talking to the audience.

Are there intertextual references?
No that I know of.

Is the video performance, narrative or concept based?
Performance and concept-based. The video establishes the life of a socially outcast boy with antlers and his feelings for a neighborhood girl. It is made clear that the girl's father disapproves. Distraught, the boy tries to cut his antlers off, but is stopped by the girl. Later on, the father attempts to shoot the boy with an arrow, but is hit by a car. When he rushes to the man's aid, the boy finds that the father has hooves. They connect and the father accepts him, allowing him to date his daughter. Shots of the band performing in a VFW hall are featured.

Textual Analysis of Music Videos

Name of track: 
Bad Romance

Artist: 
Lady Gaga



Genre Characteristics:
Pop, electronic, bright lights, vibrant, lively, dance routines, girls, etc.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals:
"I'm a free bitch, baby" is expressed in visuals as Gaga burns the man who is trying to "purchase" her.

Relationship between music and visuals:
A dance is choreographed to coincide with the beat of the song.

Are there any close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
Some close-ups:

As the first hook of the song begins, a group of female dancers crawl out of white, coffin-like pods. The centre pod has "Monster" written on it, referring to the "Fame Monster" track, Gaga's "Mother Monster" status and the name given to her fanbase, "Little Monsters." As Gaga emerges, a sign reading "Bath Haus of Gaga" appears, illustrating her creative production team "Haus of Gaga", modelled on Andy Warhol's Factory, and the setting of the video, the bathhouse.

Is there reference to the notion of looking?
Gaga is scantily-clad throughout the video as she has to effectively "sell herself" to the men, and therefore has to dress as an object of their desire.

Are there intertextual references?
Gaga's choreography from "Bad Romance" drew comparisons to the choreography to Michael Jackson's Thriller. The white latex suits in the video were inspired by the wolf costume from the film "Where The Wild Things Are", and Gaga also wore designer Alexander McQueen's famous "Alien" shoes.

Is the video performance, narrative or concept based?
Gaga lip-syncs throughout the video, therefore there are elements of performance, but the video is mainly concept-based. The main idea behind the video is that of Gaga getting kidnapped by a group of supermodels who drug her and then sell her off to the Russian mafia. When the chorus of the song begins, two women pull Gaga out of the bathtub, rip her clothes off and force her to drink a glass of vodka. As the second verse begins, Gaga seductively dances for a group of men bidding for her. After performing a lap dance for one of the men, he raises his bid and becomes the highest bidder for her. When the chorus is played for the third time, Gaga walks towards the man who is sitting on a bed and unbuttoning his shirt. Suddenly, the bed spontaneously combusts with the man still sitting on it and Gaga sinisterly sings in front of the flames. The video ends with her lying beside a smouldering skeleton, on top of the destroyed bed, covered in ashes.