Hall's Perception Theory

Picture representations

Active audience theory - Uses and Gratifications Theory

The uses and gratification theory is by Blumler and Katz, they ask the question why do people consume media?

Media is consumed for:

• Information - News papers, news channels 
• Personal identity - social media e.g. Facebook, Instagram 
• Entertainment - cinema, youtube, TV, music, radio
• Integration and social interaction - Facebook, twitter, tumblr

If our audience were going to consume our product for entertainment then we would use more colours and use a range of interesting locations as the plane and simpleness of a music video would not be very entertaining.

If our audience were going to consume our product for escapism then we would try to make the video look more like a fantasy and emphasise the fact that it is representing a story or event. Almost like a fairytale with tonnes down colours as if it was a dream.

If our audience were going to consume our product for information seeking then we would make our video in a more formal way, with slower editing that lets the audience take in an signs or information that we are trying to put across to them, like letting them read any text shown on screen.

If our audience were going to consume our product for personal identity then we would create a video  that shows the platforms that they can use to explore the them of personal identity such as Facebook, Instagram and focus the video on a storyline of someone who is trying to find who they are in life.

Record Label Research

STMPED RCRDS

This record label was founded by DJ and producer Martin Garrix, the label has signed artists such as Area21 and Bebe Rexha .

The label focuses mainly on genres such as ambient house; downtempo; electro house; tech house; progressive house; future bass; trap; trip hop.

This highlights that the label is more on the electronic dance music side of things and artists such as Bebe Rexha who are looking to grow not just into the EDM music business but into the pop music business and not as a DJ like most of the artists signed onto the label but as a singer.

This label is also different because unlike most labels it is all about the artists and what they want to do, Garrix has collaborated with all of the artists on the label at least once and it goes to show that the label aims to help young up and coming artists to grow into the music business.

Capitol Records

Capitol Records is an American major record label, it operates as a division of the Capitol Music Group. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label in the United States in 1942 by industry insiders Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallichs. In 1955, the label was acquired by the British music conglomerate EMI as its North American subsidiary.[1] EMI was later acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012 and was merged with the company in 2013, making Capitol Records and the Capitol Music Group both a part of the Universal Music Group

The label has signed artists such as 5 Seconds of Summer, EDEN, Ella Eyre, Don Diablo, Bastille and Niall Horan. This goes to show that bigger record labels such as Capitol Records are more capable to have a broad range of music genres because they have the money to distribute and produce a larger range of music genres.

For the song We Won’t Leave You by Steve Void I think STMPD RCRDS would be a better record label overall because Void produces music that is more focused on the House and Electronic Dance Music genre.

Halls preception theory

Concept stills - Charlie

     The main concept I was trying to capture from using this teddy bear was how it slowly deteriorated into a worsened state over time. These pictures represent that nothing ever lasts forever. The teddy can be seen as "happy" in two of the photos, however as time inevitably moves forward, the teddy gets damaged beyond repair, the teddy's happiness cannot and will not last forever.

If I had more time, I would have used some better locations for the shots as well as more creative angles and lighting. One shot I would've liked to have produced was a birds-eye shot of the teddy floating on a lake. This would have represented vulnerability, loneliness and hopelessness.



What went well- The shots were creative and I utilised different camera skills well. For example, focus.

Even better if I used some different shot types. The locations are creative however, I only used two shot types being medium shots and close ups.

Theories from Berger, Mulvey and Geuntlett

Berger - ways of seeing > people see things through the eyes of ....

• Cameraman's perception > constructs thing image > audience sees this image =  

                                                                                                             audience perception




Mulvey - the male gaze
                   > men act and women appear

• Traditional films represent present men as being active and women as passive.

Gauntlett - masculinity in crisis
                 > men are confused about what they should be like = traditional male + new male

Music Video Representations - Audience

Overall from looking at the feedback the recurring things that comes up is that people think that the artist is a female who is in the her early 20's and maybe even late teens. Furthermore they think that she'd be shown playing the guitar and wearing little to no make up at all dressed in white or light clothes.
The representation that people have in their minds is also that the video would be shot in the artists bedroom or maybe somewhere outside in the sunset making it look romantic and majestic.

Lyrics to the final choice song

"It's Time"

Nothing really seems that different, though my whole world has changed,
And my mind has never felt so distant, and my thoughts are miles away,
Then you cared then you dared, then you opened up a window to my right,
There it goes I lost control,
Now it's written on my pages of my life.

And the story is brought to life,
Trash my pride,
Cause we're burning out tonight,
And it's breaking me,

Remember every slight affection, now we're flying to Amsterdam,
Now you're my one addiction, every part of who I am,
Now we're lost, but at what cost,
Now the silver linings turned a darker grey,
And I know to let go, is the only chance we'll have to fly away,

And the story is brought to life,
Trash my pride,
Cause we're burning out tonight,
And it's breaking me,
And my saviour steps back in line,
But I'll be fine,
So I'm learning now it's time,
For my silly little dream

Now we're lost, but at what cost,
Now the silver linings turned a darker grey,
And I know to let go, is the only chance we'll have to fly away,

And the story is brought to life,
Trash my pride,
Cause we're burning out tonight,
And it's breaking me,
And my saviour steps back in line,
But I'll be fine,
'Cause I'm learning now it's time,
For my silly little dream

For my silly little dream. [x3]

I really like the lyrics to the song, I feel that they bring a range of different emotions and could mean a lot of different things to a number of different people. I think that the lyrics are very relatable and I feel that the music video that we will be able to create with the lyrics will allow us to create a very good narrative/ intertextual music video.

Final song choice

This is the final choice for our music video, we think that this will be a good choice due to the fact we could create a narrative/ intertextual music video with the possibility of having image as a sub-genre of image. We feel that the visuals for the video could fit with the lyrics in a way where many individuals can connect with the music and the video.

Music Genres - representations

Each sequence shows the genre we've chosen through the mis-en-scene that we used such as the performance sequence that we wanted to link with the music genre of an Indie song, we used a piano and a microphone and the fact that we desaturated the clip and amped up the saturation that has made the video look more Indie because it makes the video look more natural and independent to the other clips in the video.
Furthermore the use of the green screen emphasised the fact that we were trying to create a clip that showed a pop music genre. This is shown through the background that we used because of the bright colours that are used, this also shows that we can create a spectacle clip using a very simple method.
Finally the use of filters to create a more faded effect and speeding up the clips creates a more of a narrative and shows a more instrumental genre of music.
However to someone else might see the last clip as referring to a pop song because of the fact that the people in the clips are being shown as wearing clothes that fit in with trends so it may link more to a song that falls in to the genre of a popular culture, this links to the theory of Berger's way of seeing which says that the audience twists what the video is trying to say.
The use of the green screen is effective to an extent because it creates a more interesting back drop for the clips, however if we were to do this again we would have tried to create sequences for to represent a music genre without using the green screen to show that we can use different locations to represent music genres without any upfront planning.

Music Video Choice

I chose this song to be one of the ones to possibly be chosen for our final project as I feel the song will allow us to create either a image, narrative or intertextual music video. I think the lyrics of the song could be interpreted in a number of different ways and I think they will have several different meanings and messages to a number of people.

Again I feel this song could be a narrative or intertextual music video, the lyrics of the song could tell a number of different stories and each individual who listens to the song and watches the video that we would create would mean different things to each person and people would be able to relate in similar ways to what we would want them to.


I think that this song would be a very good video for a narrative music video, I think this because the lyrics of the song send a clear message and could be seen as a break up or someone who needs to let go and move on from a event in their lives.

Music Choice

I chose this song because I am interested in songs that fall into the EDM genre and when I first listened to this song I visualised how I wanted the final product to look like. This is important to me because a music video helps to bring a visual that you can link with the lyrics and as a videographer being able to visualise something as soon as you listen to the music is helpful because that means you already have a starting point.

Practicing lip sincing

Green Screen Practice

Media theories

David Boardwell argues that it is the audience, rather than the director who who defends the genre of a music video.

Mark Reid argues that the genre of the music video changes based on what it is that we know and what it is that we are told. he used the "tomato puree" concept, he asked what would happen if this item was in a different part of the store, would it still be tomato puree or would it change to something that fitted with what surrounded in.

Genre is vital for both the audience and the director of the video, as an active audience, we decipher what genre it is through semiotics - semiotics are what the theorist Barthes refers to. Semiotics are the study of signs.

Goodwin believes that there are six different things that all music video have in common, these include:

These are the different types of music genre's that music videos can include. 

music video theories - Charlie

Media language video

Media Language - pictures

These are pictures of the different types of media language that wee found in some music videos that stood out to make interesting.

Media Langauge - pictures - Charlie

Record Lable research

A&E Records:

A&E Records is a United Kingdom-based record label imprint, owned by Warner Music Group, and operates under the WEA International group of labels at WMG.
A&E Records was formalised on 19 May 2003, when the NewsCorp Music Group of independent  record labels, comprising Mushroom Records UK, Infectious Records, Ultimate Dilemma, Perfecto and 48K, were absorbed into WMG's East West after 20 months of negotiations, with all of its roster transferring over. On 14 November 2004, A&E Records was realigned, and transferred across the company to within the Warner Bros label.

SunBird Records:

Established in 1999, Sunbird Records was initially created as a way of promoting the work of “The Full Zimbabwe”, but gradually developed into a small community of musicians, generally working at “Zig Zag (Recording Services)” in Darwen, Lancashire. Following its 2012 relaunch, Sunbird Records has now evolved into a cross disciplinary community actively encouraging a diverse, sometimes extreme, collective of artists and musicians spanning the worlds of established and alternative music styles. The label is now home to a new generation of cutting edge artists, as well as alumni spanning 15 years.

Record Labels research - Charlie

Def Jam Recordings is an American record label focused predominantly on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). In the UK, the label takes on the name Def Jam UK and is operated through Virgin EMI Records

It was founded in 1983. Def Jam currently has a range of artists signed, most notably, Big Sean, Jeremih and Desiigner.

Fierce Panda Records is a London-based independent record label, with its first release in February 1994. It also produced a small number of releases that year by now famous artists such as Ash, The Bluetones, Baby Bird and Supergrass. Fierce Panda is also credited with releases by Acres of Lions, Air Traffic, Art Brut, The Blackout, Boy Kill Boy, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, Desperate Journalist, Embrace, Goldheart Assembly, Kenickie, Seafood, Keane, Placebo, The Polyphonic Spree and Shitdisco.

Fierce Panda Records would be a good choice as they have had a lot of experience, they were founded in 1994 and have achieved a fair amount of success since then. Fierce Panda's highest-charting single was "Emily Kane" by Art Brut, which reached number 41.

They also hold the record for the highest charting interview single called "wibbling rivalry" which was an interview with Noel and Liam Gallagher

Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well as the compilation album Pillows & Prayers. In addition to releasing new music, Cherry Red also acts as an umbrella for individual imprints and catalogue specialists.

Cherry Red was listed by Music Week as one of the UK’s top ten record companies in 2015 for sales of artist albums.

Cherry Red would suit my chosen artist as they have at of experience within the industry and have had a lot of success since then. Cherry Red is also very welcoming towards new artists and will guide them and support them as much as they can.

My song is called “Warning Signs by Chasing Shadows” they are a newly formed band from Wales. This means they will need a lot of guidance and support as they only formed in 2017. So far, they have only released one song but they hope to release many more, for this reason, I think Cherry Red would be the most suitable for Chasing Shadows as they have a lot of experience when dealing with newly formed bands.

Cherry Red are also very active on social media and even have a newsletter you can subscribe to, they also have a large social media presence which is perfect for trying to get exposure as a newly formed band. 

Music Video stills - Semiotics

Little Mix Shout out to my Ex

The genre of this music video would be either image or sexual. This is due to the semiotics of the video. The camera is constantly close up to the girls, focusing on the lips and the face. This shows the audience that the music video could be in the genre of sexualised music video as women lips are often sexualised and seen in a number of music videos of the same genre.

This image demonstrates how semiotics are used to represent the genre of the music video, by having the girls in full hair and make up by the pool posing for the camera shows how the video can be seen as both image and sexualised. The semiotics also give a false representation to young girls who would listen to music by this band as it is suggesting that you always need to have lots of makeup and wear revealing outfits. The sexualisation of the girls in the music video would be more appropriate for teenage boys rather than 12 year old girls purely because of the sexualised image the video is giving.

The location suggests the music video is image based as the locations throughout the video show a very pretty place that could be seen to others as desirable, it helps to make the girls stand out as it is very plane but with bursts of colours going through. The location helps the audience to recognise that the video is image based as the bursts of colour allow you to focus of the location more, the long shots and high angles of the location also help to emphasise the semiotics of the video as it shows the girls isolated and alone, many women are seen as vulnerable and alone. This combination of shots help to link the fact that the woman are sexualised in the video and also helps the image genre be seen as it gives the audience something else to focus on.

The long shot of the girls again emphasise the sexualisation of the video as yet again they are seen in very little clothing. However, because of the location being by a pool, this is what you expect a woman to be wearing so the pool location draws the attention away from the sexual image as this is what the audience expect to see of someone who is by a pool. The fact the girls are posing in the way they are could contradict an conflict with this as they are posing in quite a sexual way.



This picture shows the semiotics of the image and sexualised music genre as it shows that everything is about how the girls look and the fact that again her lips are the main focus shows how the girls are sexualised through the video. 

This shows the semiotics of the video as the camera shot is a close up to one of the girls, emphasising the way she looks. With the camera focusing on her eyes and lips it helps to show the sexualised image of the girls as the lips and eyes are seen as very sexualised body parts.

Music video genre stills analysis

This analysis links to our video as we have taken concepts from what we have done. For example, we will utilise flashbacks in our final video.

Green Screen Practice

Using a green screen can help create locations that you wouldn't otherwise have access to, such as stages or large houses or the sky. I think the way we used the green screen worked well because we were able to create a narrative, spectacle and performance clip with creative backgrounds.
Using a green screen would be helpful to create a spectacle music video to create a more striking and out of this world visual.



Kanye West's music video for his song Bound2 is an example of a music video that used green screen to create a backdrop for Kanye who is mostly shown singing and dancing with a back drop of what seems to be somewhere above a mountain.

Practice Editing

Music video genre analysis

Media Language and Director's Creativity

Researching music videos

Annotated Stills for Representation

Berger - Ways of Seeing
Berger talks about the way we as an audience see a visual, this means that the artist may have had a different intention but the audience twists what the artist wanted us to see, we interpret the visual in a different way.





Mulvey - The Male Gaze
This theory links with the fact that films present men as active, controlling subjects and treat women as passive objects of desire for men. Overall it talks about how men act and women appear.








Gauntlet - masculinity in crisis
As women become increasingly assertive and successful, men are said to be anxious and confused about their role today.

Summer Assignment - Charlie

https://prezi.com/view/KGBfPdgABkaWYJbvEfws/

Interpretations of Genre Through Editing

After editing these stills I think that depending on the way an image or a clip is editing will determine the way people see the image, wether they think it's a performance image or an image genre image or video.

Image

I think that overall the best way of editing to create an image that represents the image music video genre is to desaturate the image and try to change the contrast to make the viewer focus on the artist rather than it's surroundings. Furthermore I think that a picture or a clip in which the artist is either in the middle of the shot or takes up most of the frame with an effect added to the clip that reflects the message that the artist is trying to tell the audience.
Ariana Grande's Side to Side music video is a good example for an Image genre music video and much like my idea of an image music video it contains various close ups of Ariana Grande as well as constantly placing her in the middle of the shot as well as wearing clothes that have a more vibrant colour such as the luminescent pink top.

Concept
Overall a concept image would most likely be an image that stands out more amongst the crowd of pictures, something more unique and never though of before. An example of this is the images where the blending of two images together to act as an overlay. This adds a soft fantasy effect to the overall image, this effect creates something that is memorable for a viewer. This differs to what we have for concept because it tells a story rather than just trying to stand out, it's using bright lighting and unusual colours such as the blue in his eyes to emphasise the fact that this is a music video that is all about being different.

Spectacle
I personally think that the best editing technique to create a spectacle genre image is the colour isolation because it makes the picture look almost as if it was out of this world, very different to other pictures. This is important because a spectacle genre links to something that you wouldn't see on a day to day basis and a colour isolated image is not something that you'd see everyday.
Katy Perry's Swish Swish music video is a good music video that represents the spectacle genre within a music video because the lyrics don't necessarily relate to what's going on screen. A spectacle music video would be known for having things in the video that you wouldn't see on a day to day basis, such as women basketball players trying to play agains a team of wrestlers. The spectacle genre has also been achieved through the use of bright lighting which focuses mainly on the players which could mean that it's something that's not normal.

Sexualisation

Overall I think that images that link with the genre of sexualisation would be edited by desaturating the picture and trying to accentuate the artists features. In Jason Derulo's Swalla music video the back up dancers are shown to be sexualised because of what they are wearing, shorts that are really short and tight as well as a top that is quite revealing, and the way they are dancing seems to be trying to act as if they were trying to make a guy pay attention to them.


Performance

I personally think that a performance still image would be best edited if it was a split screen of the artist singing in one still and the other still or clip of them playing an instrument such as the piano. These stills in the video reinforce  both the artist image and the performance aspect of the still.
Rage Against the Machine's Gerrilla Radio music video is an example of a music video that has performance aspects within the music video. This is shown through a group shot of the band with their respective instruments as well as a panning shot of each individual member playing their own instrument with a medium or close up shot which is similar to my idea of a performance still or video.

Intertextuality
I think that an still that worked best for intertextuality was the split screen with the boys walking in the middle, this is because it reminds me of one of the posters for Captain America Civil War, this could be because they're walking together as a group like they're preparing for action to happen.
Iggy Azalea's music video for her song Fancy is a perfect example for a music video with an intertextuality genre to it, this is because of the obvious links to the movie Clueless that it has such as the girls signature yellow outfits and her standing in front of the class giving and argument for a debate. Music videos like this try to recreate movies or videos that are important to history.

Art
Overall stills that would fit the genre of art music videos would be stills that follow the rules of photography in terms of composition such as the rule of thirds and leading lines, and using different levels of focus, from deep focus to shallow focus, and it could also be done by introducing art into the stills such as the art being the backdrop for the still or clip.