Music Promo Videos

Names: Samantha & Shelley
Name Of Artist: Gary Roberts
Name Of Track: Let Me Paint A Picture

Target Audience:
Older People 45+
Outline Ideas:
Edie's life involving money, love and drugs with Andy Warhole and Bob Dylan.

Conventions of the Genre:
Story Telling
Lip Synching
Playing Instruments
Certain Appearance

Research into Potential Target Audience:
We have chosen our audience to be older people because we think they will enjoy the genre the most. Soft rock and folk music isn't very popular with younger people at the moment so we chose it because we thought it would be a big task and if we do it properly then it could be very successful.

Proposal as to How to Expand Audience/Increase Sales:
As we already know we need to create a CD cover and a magazine cover (changed from a website) which is going to be alot easier seen as we are focusing on older people which are less likely to be on the artist's website. To increase sales, we could put our song on the radio because a higher rate of older people listen to the radio and therefore if they do see the song on T.V they are more likely to watch it as they have already heard it. We could create a website to draw younger people in, but I think after a few more songs this would be more relevent.

What resources will you need?
We will need 3 main actors and some other people to stand around. The main actors will play Edie, Bob and Andy.
We will need to have several settings such as a bedroom, an art gallery (but we will use and art room) a resturant and a shop.
For props we need expensive clothing, such as fur coats, hats, big earrings and dresses. We will need an extra video camera to show andy filming Edie. We was going to use syringes but we had second thoughts and decided it was completely irrelivent so we will just show her effected by drugs.

Audience Theory

-Suture
-Feminist film theory and audiences

Suture
-Classical Hollywood narrative and editing 'sutures' or positions the audience in certain ways making only one preferred reading possible, however unconscious the audience is of that position.

Feminist Film Theory and Audiences

-Laura Mulvey- Visual pleasure and narrative cinema (1975)

Her argument is cinema reflects society therefore cinema reflects a patriarchal society (society is ruled by an interest of men)

How does a patriarchal society manifest itself in cinema?

An example, patriarchy and phallocentrism are linked

The phallus is the symbol of power. (Note how guns are used in films- guns = phallus = power)

The Gaze

The gaze of the camera is the male "gaze".

The male gaze is active, the female is passive.

Within a narrative, male characters direct their gaze towards female characters

The spectator (audience) is made to identify with the male look because the camera films from the optical as well as libidinal point of view of the main character.

Thus 3 levels of the cinematic gaze is character, camera and spectator that objectify the female character.

Therefore the audience is constructed as though everyone is male. Women are forced to look as though they were a male audience member.

Agency

In the classical hollywood cinema the male protagonist has agency. This means he is active and powerful. He is the agent with whom the dramatic action unfolds.

The female character is passive and powerless. She is the object of desire of for protagonist and audience.

Erotic Desire

Mulvey argued that women have two roles in a film.

1) An object of erotic desire for the characters.

2) An object of erotic desire for the audience.

Animatic

I uploaded the pictures to my PC but when I put them together on "Windows Movie Player" it wouldn't upload onto my blog. I am beginning to worry about how were going to do our animatic but I think we are going to start filming anyway until we can work out our technical problem.

Here's some pictures just for proof:

Animatic

Today me and Shelley drew out some shots but unfortunatly the bluetooth on the iMac wouldn't work so I couldn't send the pictures. I will try again at home.

Reception Theory

Given that the effects model and the U&G Model and the Effects Model have thier problems and limitations a different approach to audience was developed by the academic Stuart Hall at Birmingham University in the 1970's.

This considered how texts were encoded with meaning by producers and then decoded (understood) by audiences

The theory suggests that:

• When a producer constructs a text it is encoded with a meaning or message that the producer wishes to convey to the audience.
• In some instances, audiences will correctly decode the message or meaning and understand what the producer was trying to say
• In other instances the audience will either reject or fail to correctly understand the message

Stuart Hall identified 3 types of audience readings (or decoding) of the text:

1. Dominant- Where the audiece decodes the message as the producers want them to do and broadly agrees with it. E.g. watching a political speech and agreeing with it
2. Negotiated- where the audience accepts, rejects or refines elements of the text in light of previously held views. E.g. Neither agreeing or disagreeing with the political speech or being disinterested
3. Oppositional- Where the dominant meaning is recognised but rejected for cultural, political or ideological reasons. E.g. Total rejection of the political speech and active opposition.

Audience Theory

1. Why do we choose to consume certain texts?
2. How does the audience consume texts?
3. What happens when they consume texts?

There are three threories of audience that we can apply to help us come to a better understanding about the relationship between texts and audience.
1. Effects Model/ Hypodermic model
2. The Uses and Gratifications Model
3. Reception Theory

Frankfurt School theorised in the 1920/30s that the mass media acted to restrict and control audiences to the benefit of corporate capitalism and government.

Case Study

Columbine High School Massacre
In 1999, a massacre took place at a high school in the US. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and a teacher, injured 21 others and another 3 were injured whilst trying to escape before commiting suicide. The boys were said to of consumed violent media text such as violent movies, video games, music (such as Maralyn Manson) and internet useage.

Earlier this year, two boys in England were planning the same plot but luckily were caught. They planned to bomb a shopping centre and go on a killing spree at Audenshaw School.

Severance
Simon Everitt was murdered based on a scene three boys had seen in Severance. One of the boys had said whilst watching the film "wouldn't it be wicked if you could actullay do that to someone in real life?!"

Effects Model

Moral Panic Caused by:

• The media produce inactivity, which makes us into students who won't pass their exams or "couch potatoes" who make no effort to get a job.
• The media produces violent "copycat" behaviour or mindless shopping in response to advertisements.

Uses and Gratifications Model

• Unclear that there is any link between the consumption of violent media texts and violent imitative behaviour.
• It is also clear the theory is flawed in that many people do watch violent text and appear not to be influenced.
• Therefore a new theory is necessary.

• Uses and Gratifications Model is opposite of effects model
• Audience is active
• Audience uses the text and is not used by it
• Audience uses the text for its own gratification or pleasure
• Power lies with the audience not the producers
• This theory emphasises what audience do with media texts - how andy why they use them
• Far from being duped by the media, the audience is free to reject, use or play with media meanings as they see fit
• Therefore audiences use media texts to gratify needs for:

1. Diversion
2. Escapism
3. Information
4. Pleasure
5. Comparing relationships & lifestyle with one's own
6. Sexual stimulation

The audience is in control and the consumption of the media helps people with issues such as:

1. Learning
2. Emotional satisfaction
3. Relaxation
4. Help with issues of personal identity
5. Help with issues of social identity
6. Help with issues of aggression and violence

• Controversially the theory suggests the consumption of violent images can be helpful rather than harmful
• The theory suggests that audiences act out their violent impulses through the consumption of media violence
• Audiences indignation towards violence is therefore sublimated, and they are less likely to commit violent acts.

Gary Roberts

Gary emailed me:

I replyed:

Alison Jackson on Andy Warhol: The South Bank Show

Last night on ITV I watched a documentary on Andy Warhol. Although it was mostly to do with his art, some very interesting things were brought up. According to Alison Jackson, Warhol liked his models to be drugged up when filming them because he found the alot more lose and calm on camera. I found this interesting because I now know how I need to act for our video.

I think the acting out of using drugs would look good in our video but I don't think we will do it because it seems very unnecessary and (although it won't) if it made it like a normal music video, it would be highly frowned upon. Also it seems very disrespectful to the artist as we interpret his song to be about drugs.

27th September - Photos

On Sunday, me and Shelley went to Romford and brought some props that we are going to use for or piece. After, we went back to mine and experimented with makeup and applyed false eyelashes (that took FOREVER!) to make me look like Edie. We then took some photos that we may use in the background of our video to make it look the factory with Andy Warholes work up on the walls.

I have edited a few of the photos and here are some of the examples.