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Magazine research #3

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Magazine research #2

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Magazine research #1

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Alt J- Breezeblocks

1. Breezeblocks- Alt J ’The music video for Alt-J’s song Breezeblocks begins with a dead woman lying in a bath, there is man sat with his head in his hands next to her. At first it isn’t revealed what is going on, however, soon after, the water from the tap starts pouring back into the tap and it becomes clear that the video is shot in reverse. The woman then emerges from the bath and it is revealed to the audience that the man has murdered the woman. The rest of the video is focused on the couple fighting within an apartment, all of the video is shot in reverse. The video was filmed in one location, however, the location has loads of different rooms so that the audience is engaged and the scale of the argument is emphasised. The lighting within the video is very dark which helps to add an atmosphere to the video which makes it more engaging and builds tension. As well as low lighting, the video appears to have a pale filter over it to make it look more serious. Many props are used within the video such as the breezeblock, the bath and bottles that smashed. All of these helped make the video more appealing to an audience as all the shots were in reverse so they are intriguing to look at. The use of the reverse camera changes our perception of the video throughout and it I not clear who is in the wrong. There are a wide range of shots within the video. This included many close ups of the actors’ faces and the different props. This appeals to an audience as it helps to really capture the characters emotions and wellbeing and shows that the couple are dangerous towards each other. At the very end of the video there is a point of view shot, this allows for dramatic irony as the audience sees that the woman has a knife before the man, this meet the audience’s needs of a twist and changes the perception that we have of both the man and woman. There are many different angled shots, this allows the audience to see the argument from many different perspectives. Jump cuts are used throughout this video, this shows the frantic setting and how arguments can spiral out of hand without either of the participants realising. The narrative within the video is nonlinear. Rather than the video following the story from the start to the end the video starts at the end and finishes at the beginning. This creates an enigma the whole way through as the audience is waiting to see why the woman is trying to attack him. This appeals to an audience as it adds a lot of drama and leaves the audience wanting to know what’s going to happen. This video appeals to an audience as there is a lot of drama within it. Richard Dyer wrote about the Utopian Sensibilities. His idea was that as humans, we want to watch what we don’t have within our lives, drama being one of them, therefore, this video appeals to the audience. Another reason it appeals to the audience is that there is a lot of energy within the video which is another thing which is missing from our lives.

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Miley Cyrus- Lighter

Lighter by Miley Cyrus stars Miley herself and is a compilation of shot showing her emotions using close-ups. She is naked in the video to show vulnerability and has connotations of sex. Over Mileys face is a projection of vibrant lights that give a sense of energy to the video, the lights are very visually engaging for the audience and reflect her emotions. The video reflects passion by using both close-ups and vibrant lights, her facial expressions are displayed throughout the video in an abstract form that is intriguing to watch. Visual effects were used to further portray Mileys passion and emotions, multiple edits of her face are combined on the screen to show her multiple emotions and gives dramatic affect. The video reflects Miley’s controversial persona accurately, by displaying her body she is channelling her views on body image in the media, the psychedelic visuals also contribute to this as it has connotations of drug use – something that the artist is open about participating in. Her body and emotions are the focus of the video and accompanies the song accurately due to its passionate love-song feel. The video features no narrative and is affective as it reflects Mileys feelings and emotions from her point of view, rather than an outsider thus making the audience feel closer to Miley as a person as they have an insight into her life. Medium range shots give a sense of playfulness and energy to the video as her movement is displayed, Miley is seen jumping and dancing, this gives connotations of the happiness that comes with a relationship and love. I think that this music video appeals to a primarily female audience as it includes a female star, making the video relatable for the target audience, the visuals make us feel as though we are in a metaphorical dream-like state just like Miley. The mise-en-scene in this video suggests vulnerability and intimacy, the lack of props further suggests this as her raw emotions are highlighted.

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A$AP Rocky- L$D

A$AP Rocky – L$D The music video for A$AP Rocky’s song L$D features both A$AP rocky and a love interest walking the streets on the drug LSD. He is dressed in his usual clothes but all of the colours are enhanced or changed so that they stand out and give the effect of being on LSD. The music video was very successful as many people found the video to be an accurate representation of the drugs and the visuals are vibrant and intriguing. As opposed to other artists, A$AP Rocky stars in his own video, this attracts his audience that are usually just as interested in him as a person as his music, people will talk about the clothes that he is wearing as they are rare and collectable. A$AP is known for his style. The video is filmed in many different locations around New York, although the vibrant colours and distorted images make the city almost unrecognisable. The lighting throughout the video is vibrant and the colours highly contrast with the dark shades, each location has a similar lighting style but may feature different colours. At the beginning of the video we have an extreme close up to show drug usage and zooms outward in a spiral to reveal a colourful, visually amazing setting. The scene then spins off of the screen and transitions into a new location, this is how all of the transitions occur throughout the video to show a dream-like state. This particular video has quite a few close ups of A$AP Rocky’s face to show the surrealism that he is experiencing, he often expresses confusion or is amazed by his surroundings. Wide angle shots are used to show the intensity of the setting and medium shots are used to show the intimacy between Rocky and his love interest. There are little close ups of his love interest and she remains emotionless throughout, a shot at the end of the video pans to reveal that she is part of his trip and does not actually exist. There were little props used by the characters in this video (the only ones being marijuana) however the scenery is full of props such as surreal chandeliers and lights. The video attracts us towards the visuals aspects and the emotions of A$AP Rocky, the visuals get more intense when the girl is present in the video. The video appeals to the audience for a range of different reasons; the first being that it shows a personal connection with A$AP Rocky in an intimate setting. This allows the audience to feel as though they know the artist. Another reason that this video appeals to the audience is that it features a lot of amazing visuals that show drug usage in a different, more positive light. The video emphasises surrealism and is never dull.

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Mura Masa- What if I go?

The music video for Mura Masa’s “what if I go” takes place in London and highlights the urban-teenage lifestyle. The video stars several young couples in many different urban locations. The video is cropped into a square and references modern social media such as Instagram, this appeals to the target audience of 16-24 year olds as the website is such a big part of modern society.  The video represents young people in an accurate way, this makes it a lot more appealing to the audience due to its neither positive or negative representation.   The abstract urban locations make the video both intriguing and visually engaging, abstract camera angles accompany this and give an alternative retro feel to the video. The video does not include a narrative, it instead focusses on the chemistry of the couples and their appearances, modern street wear is shown throughout the video and reflects modern fashion trends, further appealing to the target audience. Shots were used affectively in this video, for example close-ups of the teens were used to express their emotion towards each other, although they mainly keep straight faces to fit the stereotype of a moody teenager with attitude. Medium range shots were used to showcase outfits and body language to replicate the teenagers’ personalities, this also gave context to their location. Long range shots were used to show scale and the chaos of the city. These shots were affective in engaging the audience and accompanied the music affectively. Visual effects such as filters were used throughout the video, vibrant reds and pinks were used and gave connotations of passion and rebellion. Jittery images were rapidly shown, the gif-like imagery gave the effect of a captured moment to be treasured, this relates to the idea that they are living in the best years of their lives. Overall the music video is effective at engaging an audience due to its relatability and interesting visuals. The video succeeds in bringing energy to the audience and also meets the audiences needs of surveillance as they are able to see the lives of urban teenagers in an intimate way.

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Media Proposal

Media Coursework Proposal

I will be working in a pair for my AS Media MEST2 Coursework. I will be producing a two minute long music video inspired by the song ‘At The River’ by Groove Armada. Groove Armada are an English electronic music due composed of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay, the duo have many social media accounts including Twitter and Facebook as well as their own website and a SoundCloud account which posts remixes and altered versions of their songs.

The music video will be filmed in both internal and external locations around Bristol, these will include urban and non-urban locations such as in the city center and parks.  The internal locations will be inside houses/buildings.

I will use a large variety of camera shots and angles, these will include long shots/panoramas to incorporate the landscape in to the shot and close ups to add intensity and emotion to the video. I will also be using non-diegetic sound for the music video and there will not be anyone mouthing the words as I want my video to be more about the filming and less about the lyrics to the song. The editing on my video will give it an arty and creative feel. My music video will also include the use of the enigma code to keep the audience interested and wanting to watch until the end. The enigma code is included in Barthes’ five narrative codes, Barthes believed that one or more code could always describe the meaning of a text.

In the music video I will be selective with the use of mise-en-scene, making sure it relates back to the genre of the song and appeals to the target audience. I will also be doing elaborate glitter makeup on my model and person starring in the video to add to the arty and abstract effect I am aiming for.

I will be collecting a wide range of research before I start to film my music video, I have already research the music videos for ‘Leave Before The Lights’ by The Arctic Monkeys, ‘House Every Weekend’ by David Zowie and ‘Hostage’ by Nothing But Thieves. These show a range of the different styles you can use to create a music video such as a video that has an obvious story to it or one that is more about the music and lyrics. This research also helped me to understand how to engage the different needs of the viewers and keep the video enjoyable.

The music video will meet the audience needs of a typical YouTube or MTV viewer (aged 16-30) in many different ways. This is because the music video will be creative and enticing as well as featuring young people to make it reflect the audience and become a relatable video to this target audience.

The content in the video will be artsy and engaging due to the editing used and the many shots, angles and locations. The video will be shot from the point of view of a teenager and will follow her as the story unveils.