Monday, June 29, 2015
Recreation Task: Pharrell Williams - Happy
Our version of Pharrell Williams ''Happy'' is inspired by the original music video seen on the post above. The idea of this video is different people looking happy and dancing around in different locations. Due to time limits, Oliver and I filmed all of our footage at school or at home. We managed to recreate the notion of different locations, merely by changing angles of shots once we had run out of classrooms and corridors to dance in.
I enjoyed creating this task as it has benefited me highly and has given me a sense of what it will be like to do my actual A2 music video coursework. This task allowed me to think of how things fit to the beat and adapt to the quick cuts that were not appropriate for the thriller task of last year.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Textual Analysis: Happy By Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Williams became known for his ''catchy'' song ''Happy'' in 2014. Not only did Pharrell rule the charts, he also created one of the biggest creations of cross media convergence of its time.
Alongside the release of his single, Pharrell Williams also released a 24 hour version of his music video, which showed different clips depending on the time zone/location in which you clicked the link. This 24 hour music video aired at the Buenos Aires Film Festival, showing how a mass market product can appeal to a niche audience. To date, the video has 668million views on YouTube. The exchange of the 24 hour music video was widely encouraged by Pharrell and his team, along with the encouragement of fans recreating their own version of the ''Happy'' music video, with the original text symbols and ideas from the original music video.
This promotion allowed ''Happy'' to become much more known, with fans from around the globe creating their own ''Happy'' music videos with the tagline, ''We Are Happy From...''. Many examples of exchange have come from places such as Japan, America, Mongolia, Australia, Unibas and many other locations.
Many of the videos were very professional and received many views themselves.
Continuing it's promotion and viral spread, the audio became the soundtrack to the children's film, ''Despicable Me'', creating another link between the single and other media texts. An example of this is the featuring of the films ''Minion'' characters in the music video to the single.
The popularity of the music video comes down to it's simplicity. The video was directed by a French production team, known as ''We Are From LA''. The simplicity of the video was also translated into the hardware used to create it as all the shots were merely filmed with a steady cam. Both the team and Pharrell Williams can be responsible for the changing nature of copyright infringements due to their encouragement for others to use the track to express themselves.
The success of the music video led to it winning many awards at the Grammy's.
Alongside the release of his single, Pharrell Williams also released a 24 hour version of his music video, which showed different clips depending on the time zone/location in which you clicked the link. This 24 hour music video aired at the Buenos Aires Film Festival, showing how a mass market product can appeal to a niche audience. To date, the video has 668million views on YouTube. The exchange of the 24 hour music video was widely encouraged by Pharrell and his team, along with the encouragement of fans recreating their own version of the ''Happy'' music video, with the original text symbols and ideas from the original music video.
This promotion allowed ''Happy'' to become much more known, with fans from around the globe creating their own ''Happy'' music videos with the tagline, ''We Are Happy From...''. Many examples of exchange have come from places such as Japan, America, Mongolia, Australia, Unibas and many other locations.
Many of the videos were very professional and received many views themselves.
Continuing it's promotion and viral spread, the audio became the soundtrack to the children's film, ''Despicable Me'', creating another link between the single and other media texts. An example of this is the featuring of the films ''Minion'' characters in the music video to the single.
The popularity of the music video comes down to it's simplicity. The video was directed by a French production team, known as ''We Are From LA''. The simplicity of the video was also translated into the hardware used to create it as all the shots were merely filmed with a steady cam. Both the team and Pharrell Williams can be responsible for the changing nature of copyright infringements due to their encouragement for others to use the track to express themselves.
The success of the music video led to it winning many awards at the Grammy's.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
The History Of The Music Video
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
Textual Analysis: Thriller by Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' music video is one of the most iconic of its time. Although iconic, it also subverts and adheres to Goodwin's Music Video Theory from the written piece called ''Dancing In The Distraction Factory''. Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'' music video, released in 1982, shows aspects of this theory along with a iconic change to the way music videos had been produced.
At the beginning of the music video, Michael Jackson leaves the movie theatre along with another female character. Although the female character is not dressed provocatively or explicitly, the female character is still shown in a way that creates voyeuristic treatment of the female body. The female is not shown to be obsessively linked to Michael Jackson in a desirable manner, but is presented as rather flirtatious towards him. For example, as the lyrics are introduced, the female is shown to walk in a way that accentuates certain parts of her body. The female is seen to almost strut rather than casually walk, which instantly draws the eye towards her in a non-sexual way, but does show her as being attractive and desirable. She is also shown to be rather vulnerable which may also create a specific view on how she should be perceived.
Also, in the opening of the music video, the lyrics and the visuals are shown to have a relationship. The lyrics state, ''you see a sight that almost stops your heart''. Simultaneously to this, Michael Jackson mirrors the lyrics by continuing to clutch his heart almost as if it is stopping, as stated by the lyrics. This is also shown when the lyrics state, ''But all the while you hear the creature creepin' up behind'' as Michael Jackson grabs the female characters shoulders and acts as if he is a zombie, almost foreshadowing what is about to happen within the music video. This adheres to Goodwin's Music Video Theory as he clearly states that a relationship will be shown in most music videos between the visuals and the lyrics, either illustrative or contradicting. By doing this, Michael Jackson is clearly adhering to the conventions of most music videos despite his iconic change of direction within his choice of video for the song, ''Thriller''.
Michael Jackson himself is also particularly focussed on within the music video. This may be due to the demands of the record label and their need to sell and promote the artist within the video for their song. Goodwin suggests that this use of close ups and motifs will be used throughout their work, is down to the record label and is most often used within the genre of music videos. Michael Jackson in the thriller music video is subject to many close ups, both with others creating a background and of him alone. He is also shown to have his own dance sections which continued to become and iconic motif that Jackson continued throughout his work. These dance routines often showed Michael Jackson as the front man which would have been massively beneficial for the record label to promote him and show him as an individual. This massively adheres to Goodwin's theory.
The music video also references a film/ movie theatre showing intertextuality. The music video starts with a film, including Michael Jackson himself, that is being shown in a movie theatre. This reference to another media text, although the media text is fictional, helps the audience to relate and understand the music video due to its relablitity. For example, cinemas are a wide spread hobby for many people, by including a cinema in the music video, the record label are suggesting that Michael Jackson is a normal person like you and I.
At the beginning of the music video, Michael Jackson leaves the movie theatre along with another female character. Although the female character is not dressed provocatively or explicitly, the female character is still shown in a way that creates voyeuristic treatment of the female body. The female is not shown to be obsessively linked to Michael Jackson in a desirable manner, but is presented as rather flirtatious towards him. For example, as the lyrics are introduced, the female is shown to walk in a way that accentuates certain parts of her body. The female is seen to almost strut rather than casually walk, which instantly draws the eye towards her in a non-sexual way, but does show her as being attractive and desirable. She is also shown to be rather vulnerable which may also create a specific view on how she should be perceived.
Also, in the opening of the music video, the lyrics and the visuals are shown to have a relationship. The lyrics state, ''you see a sight that almost stops your heart''. Simultaneously to this, Michael Jackson mirrors the lyrics by continuing to clutch his heart almost as if it is stopping, as stated by the lyrics. This is also shown when the lyrics state, ''But all the while you hear the creature creepin' up behind'' as Michael Jackson grabs the female characters shoulders and acts as if he is a zombie, almost foreshadowing what is about to happen within the music video. This adheres to Goodwin's Music Video Theory as he clearly states that a relationship will be shown in most music videos between the visuals and the lyrics, either illustrative or contradicting. By doing this, Michael Jackson is clearly adhering to the conventions of most music videos despite his iconic change of direction within his choice of video for the song, ''Thriller''.
Michael Jackson himself is also particularly focussed on within the music video. This may be due to the demands of the record label and their need to sell and promote the artist within the video for their song. Goodwin suggests that this use of close ups and motifs will be used throughout their work, is down to the record label and is most often used within the genre of music videos. Michael Jackson in the thriller music video is subject to many close ups, both with others creating a background and of him alone. He is also shown to have his own dance sections which continued to become and iconic motif that Jackson continued throughout his work. These dance routines often showed Michael Jackson as the front man which would have been massively beneficial for the record label to promote him and show him as an individual. This massively adheres to Goodwin's theory.
Introduction...
For my A2 Media Studies course, I will be expected to make a music video for my coursework piece. Along with this music video, I will be expected to create promotional aspects, such as CD cover and a magazine page/ website to promote the band.
I am really looking forward to creating my own music video due to the fact that music is a strong hobby of mine and is something I enjoy and can often relate to well. Using my skills from last year, I am also expecting that my media product will be more advanced than AS and will be suitable for its purpose.
For my A2 project, I am considering working alone. Although I enjoyed working as a group last year, I feel that allowing myself to have creative ownership over my product will mean that I can learn more from myself and further enhance my skills.
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