Media Studies

My Choosen Song…

lauraparfett — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:51:59 +0000

“Sweet About Me” by Gabriella Climi

Ooh, watching me
Hanging by
A string this time
Don’t, easily
The climax
Of the perfect lie
Ooh, watching me
Hanging by
A string this time
Don’t, easily
Smile worth
A hundred lies

If there’s lessons
To be learned
I’d rather get
My jamming words
In first, so
Tell you something
That I’ve found
That the world’s
A better place
When it’s
Upside down, boy

If there’s lessons
To be learned
I’d rather get
My jamming words
In first, so
When your playing
With desire
Don’t come running
To my place
When it burns
Like fire, boy

Sweet about me
Nothing sweet
About me, yeah

Blue, blue, blue
Waves, they crash
As time goes by
So hard to catch
Too, too smooth
Ain’t all that
Why don’t you ride
On my side
Of the tracks

If there’s lessons
To be learned
I’d rather get
My jamming words
In first, so
Tell you something
That I’ve found
That the world’s
A better place
When it’s
Upside down, boy

If there’s lessons
To be learned
I’d rather get
My jamming words
In first, so
When your playing
With desire
Don’t come running
To my place
When it burns
Like fire, boy

Sweet about me
Nothing sweet
About me, yeah

Songs to choose from…

lauraparfett — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:47:17 +0000

Ne-Yo – Closer
Rihanna – Take a Bow
Sara Barellis Love Song
Gabriella Climi – Sweet About Me
The Ting Tings – That’s Not My Name
Duffy – Warwick Avenue
Madonna Ft Justin Timberlake – 4 Minutes
Will I Am Ft Cheryl Cole – Heartbreaker
Mint Royale – Singin’ in the Rain

Staff Video Analysis

lauraparfett — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:27:49 +0000

The video has an abstract style to it overall, but gives a slightly more narrative structure to the letter with the introduction of a letter. The letter states “Dear Jess, I’m sorry…” This gives us an insight into the storyline of the video and also makes the character(s) within it alot more identifyable.
At the beginning of the video we are not shown the status of the women who is being featured. The rain and dark surroundings give us a clue that something is wrong. Another, more obvious, sign that something is wrong is shown in the close up of her face – she is crying. Before we are shown the letter, we have no obvious reason why, though we can deduce from the including of a single-second shot of Mr. Gower as a mystery man to Miss Nixon’s sad woman.
This shot, along with the letter and the heart that she draws in the mirror, gives us the theme of heartbreak.
The sence of being lost and heartbroken is defined with the use of very quick cuts to make it appear that she is jumping form one place to another. the connotates the feeling of ‘losing your bearings’ and feeling lost.
The initial shot of the foot son’t do much to identify the character as male or female but the mainly black outfit help to identify the mood of the piece as dark and depressed and sets the mood for the disequilibrium. The defensive obody positioning of the woman highlights her isolation and her fear of become vunerable. Another element adding to this is the wide open space in which she is in, showino one around her – her being totally alone.
The inital shot of the video evolves into a pan upto her face, allowing us too see all of the woman. This allows the audience into her sense of vunerability and mood.
The close ups and over the shoulder shots of the woman help to convey the deep emotion of the video and give a sense of knowing her situation. At the same time as dictating a view of a sad theme, the panning upwards of the camera in the field shot has connotations of inner strength – maybe she is strong enough to get through this?
Although all of this shows her dealing with her emotions, the mid/long/extreme long shot of the character in the field shows just how isolated and alone the woman feels.
Having black and white scenes in the film help to give the feel of sadness or unrest leaving out any signs of happiness that colour may bring.

Music Directors

lauraparfett — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:26:15 +0000

Jonathan Glazer (born 1966 in London) is an English director of films, commercials and music videos.

Since the mid-1990s he has directed a number of music videos, and was named MTV Director of the Year 1997.

His work in these areas is often noted for its originality.

Karmacoma by Massive Attack 1995
The Universal by Blur 1995
Street Spirit (Fade Out) by Radiohead 1996
Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai 1996
Cosmic Girl by Jamiroquai 1997
Into My Arms by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds 1997
Karma Police by Radiohead 1997
Rabbit in Your Headlights by UNKLE ft. Thom Yorke 1998
A Song for the Lovers by Richard Ashcroft 2000
Live with Me by Massive Attack 2006

David “Dave” Meyers is an American music video director.

He has directed close to 200 high-profile videos including;

Jay-Z’s ‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder’
Dido’s ‘Thankyou’
Brandy’s ‘Talk About Our Love’
Hilary Duff’s ‘Come Clean’
Britney Spears’ ‘Lucky’
Stacie Orrico’s ‘(There’s Gotta Be) More To Life’
Dave Matthews Band’s ‘The Space Between’.

He is also a frequent collaborator to Pink, and Missy Elliott, with whom he co-directed ‘Lose Control‘ winning the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video in 2006.

In early 2008, Meyers directed the first 3D music video for Missy Elliott’s single Ching-a-Ling.

Chris Cunningham is an acclaimed English music video film director and video artist.

Cunningham has had close ties to Warp Records since his first production for Autechre.

His infamous video for Aphex Twin’s “Come to Daddy” is perhaps his most well known.

His video for Björk’s “All Is Full of Love” won multiple awards, including an MTV music video award for Breakthrough Video and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video. It can still be seen at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

His video for Aphex Twin’s “Windowlicker” was nominated for the “Best Video” award at the Brit Awards 2000.

He also directed Madonna’s “Frozen” video.

His video work, “flex” was first shown in 2000 at the Royal Academy of Arts, and subsequently at the Anthony d’Offay Gallery and other art galleries. Later, he released Monkey Drummer in the same set.

In 2005 Cunningham released the short film Rubber Johnny as a DVD accompanied by his first book.

Spike Jonze (born Adam Spiegel) is an American director of music videos and commercials, and an Academy Award-nominated director and producer in film and television, most notably the 1999 film Being John Malkovich and the 2002 film Adaptation., both written by Charlie Kaufman.

He is credited as a co-creator of MTV’s Jackass.

Jonze has many alter egos, which have included Richard Koufey (alternately spelled Coufey or Couffe), the leader of the Torrance Community Dance Group, an urban troupe that performs in public spaces. The Koufey persona appeared when Jonze, in character, filmed himself dancing to Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You” as it played on a boombox in a public area. Spike showed the video to Slim, who loved it. Jonze then assembled a group of dancers to perform to Slim’s “Praise You,” which was taped outside a Westwood, California movie theater. The resulting clip was a huge success, and ‘Koufey’ and his troupe were invited to New York City to perform the song for the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. The video received awards for Best Direction, Breakthrough, and Best Choreography, which Jonze accepted, still in character.

Jonze made a mockumentary about the experience called Torrance Rises.

“Hang On” by Teenage Fanclub 1993
“Buddy Holly” by Weezer 1994
“Sabotage” by Beastie Boys 1994 (also writer)
“It’s Oh So Quiet” by Björk 1995
“Da Funk” by Daft Punk 1997
“Praise You” by Fatboy Slim 1998
“The Rockafeller Skank” (version 1) by Fatboy Slim 1998
“Weapon of Choice” by Fatboy Slim 2000
“What’s Up, Fatlip?” by Fatlip 2000
“Wonderboy” by Tenacious D (as Marcus Von Bueler) 2000
“Flashing Lights” by Kanye West (co-directed with West) 2008

Mark Romanek is an award-winning American music video director who has also moved into directing theatrical films.

After a few years writing screenplays, Romanek decided to focus on music videos and signed on with Satellite Films, a boutique division of David Fincher’s Propaganda Films. His subsequent work has come to be regarded as among the best of the medium. He has worked with many top-selling recording artists from different genres of popular music, and his videos have been given credit for making stars out of some.

One of his earliest notable videos was for the Nine Inch Nails song “Closer”. Its critical acclaim was only matched by its critical controversy, many accusing the video as being disturbing, demonic and demented (a big reason why the video was so popular among fans). Romanek would again work with Nine Inch Nails for the song “The Perfect Drug”.

Romanek was given his first Grammy Award for Best Short Form Video in 1996 for “Scream,” a collaboration between the pop superstar siblings Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. The video, which cost $7 million to make, is cited as the most expensive ever made. Romanek won his second Grammy two years later, again with Janet Jackson, for her video “Got ‘Til It’s Gone.”

Romanek’s 2002 music video for country music icon Johnny Cash’s cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” has been hailed by many critics and fans alike as the most personal and moving music video ever made. The song expresses self-loathing and the futility of worldly accomplishments; this content took on a new poignancy when sung by Cash near the end of his life, quietly performing in his memorabilia-filled home, with shots of the flood-ravaged “House of Cash” museum and archival shots of a younger, cockier Cash edited in. The video was nominated for seven VMAs, winning one for cinematography, and also won Romanek his third Grammy.

“Free Your Mind,” En Vogue 1992
“Are You Gonna Go My Way,” Lenny Kravitz 1993
“Closer,” Nine Inch Nails 1994
“Scream,” Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson 1995
“I Try” (second version), Macy Gray 199
“Hurt,” Johnny Cash 2002
“Can’t Stop,” Red Hot Chili Peppers 2003
“Faint,” Linkin Park 2003
“99 Problems,” Jay-Z 2004
“Speed of Sound”, Coldplay 2005

Music Video Directors

lauraparfett — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:04:20 +0000

A music video director is a film director that specializes in creating short films driven by a given music track. These are called music videos and are then used as promotional tools for popular music singles. The earliest music videos were directed by television and film directors; by the 1990s music-video directing had become a specialized field.

World renowned music video directors include: Jonathan Glazer (U.K), Dave Meyers (U.S),Chris Cunningham (U.K), Spike Jonze (U.S), Brett Leonard (U.S), Fredy Polania (U.S) Mark Romanek (U.S), David Fincher (U.S), Michel Gondry (France), Jean-Baptiste Mondino (France), Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (U.S) and Stéphane Sednaoui (France), among others.

Music Video Records

lauraparfett — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:02:20 +0000

Billie Jean’ by Michael Jackson was the first video to air on MTV by a black artist. Initially, the channel did not want to air any music by black artists.

The Buggles ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ was the first video to premier on MTV on August 1, 1981. The millionth video to air on MTV was ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’, aired on MTV February 27, 2000. It’s also the 3rd most aired video in MTV history.

Peter Gabriel’s ‘Sledgehammer’ is the number one most aired music video on MTV.

In 1994, US death metal band Brutal Truth produced a 2.18-second-long video to accompany their track “Collateral Damage.” The video features a sequence of flash frames depicting popular US conservative cultural icons of the late 20th century, and ends with a shot of an explosion. It is the shortest music video ever made.

Michael Jackson’s part feature film, part music video, Ghosts (USA, 1996), is 35 min long and was based on an original concept by horror writer Stephen King. Jackson plays five different roles in the video, directed by Stan Winston. It is the longest music video.

Directed by USA’s Mark Romanek, the video for Michael and Janet Jackson’s hit single “Scream” (1995) cost $7 million to make. … Directed by USA’s Mark Romanek, the video for Michael and Janet Jackson’s hit single “Scream” (1995) cost $7 million to make and was the most expensive music video produced.

The video for What’s It Gonna Be? By Busta Rhymes and Janet Jackson, directed by Hype Williams, cost $2.4 million to make. Computer-morphing … The video for What’s It Gonna Be? by Busta Rhymes and Janet Jackson, directed by Hype Williams, cost $2.4 million to make. Computer-morphing effects accounted for much of this expenditure. The video was inspired by the Terminator movies. It contains astonishing special effects of Busta Rhymes morphing into shape from a liquid base giving it the record of being the most expensive special effects used in a music video.

A Timeline of Music Videos.

lauraparfett — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:43:54 +0000

1941: A new invention hits clubs and bars in the USA: The Panoram Soundie is a jukebox that plays short video clips along with the music.

1956: Hollywood discovers the genre of music-centred films. A wave of rock’n'roll films begins. Some of these films integrate musical performances into a story, others are simply revues.

1966: The first conceptual promos are aired, for the Beatles’ “Paperback Writer” and “Rain”. Early in 1967, even more ambitious videos are released for “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever”.

1970: The record industry discovers these TV-Shows as a great opportunity to promote their artists. They focus on producing short “Promos”, early music videos which started to replace the live performance of the artist on the TV-stage.

1974: ABBA pioneers the use of “Promos” with their clips, directed by Lasse Hallström. These contain innovative effects, camera angles, and a less static look than is the norm at the time. The band continues using such videos throughout the 1970s.

1975: “Bohemian Rhapsody”, a groundbreaking video released by Queen, marks the beginning of the video era and sets the language for the modern music video. The video is considered one of the first to use advanced visual effects.

“Tommy”, the film adaptation of the Who’s rock opera is released.

1979: Devo releases “The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprise”, which is the first music video to include computer animation, as well as traditional animation.

1981: MTV, the first 24-hour satellite music channel, launches in August. Initially few cable TV operators carry it, but it rapidly becomes a major hit and cultural icon.

1983: Friday Night Videos debuts on the NBC television network, allowing nearly all U.S. households to view music videos regularly. Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean video is released on TV, and for the first time a black artist’s video is featured in heavy rotation on MTV with the video for his Beat It hit single.

1984: Michael Jackson’s short film Thriller is released, changing the concept of music videos forever. The Making of Thriller home video is also released in 1984. It is the first ever video about the making of a music video and it becomes the best selling VHS to date.

MTV presents its first Video Music Awards, hosted by Dan Aykroyd and Bette Midler.

The Grammys award Best Short Form Music Video, as well as Best Long Form Music Video.

1985: a-ha find instant stardom with their hit song “Take On Me”, significantly due to heavy rotation play of the song’s video, which features a combination of live action and rotoscoping animation. The groundbreaking video wins several awards and is consistently rated as one of the best for decades to come.

1992: MTV begins to credit music video directors.

1995: Release of the most expensive music video ever “Scream”, from Michael Jackson’s HIStory album, a duet with his sister Janet.

2007: The Music video “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne, becomes the all-time most-viewed video on the internet.

2008: The first 3D video ever is made by Dave Meyers and Missy Elliott for her single Ching-a-Ling / Bjork also makes one for Wanderlust.

Music Videos

lauraparfett — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:33:26 +0000

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song.

Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings.

Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the 1980s, when MTV’s format was based around them.

The term “music video” first came into popular usage in the early 1980s. Prior to then, such clips were described by various terms including “promotional films” or “promotional clips”.

Music videos use a range of styles of film making, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action.