MUSIC VIDEOS: MUSIC LANGUAGE

 

MUSIC VIDEOS: MUSIC LANGUAGE

PREP Explain how music videos use media language to promote their artists. Refer to the pair of music videos you have studied from the list below in your answer.

Our music videos are Wheatus Teenage Dirtbag Avril Lavigne Sk8ter Boi

HOW TO ANSWER: Media language points to consider:

the prioritising of the star / the group; the privileging of the star / the groups in the frame

authenticating the star's performance / the band's performance to show their skills

the use of close ups; lip syncing to camera; eye contact with the audience

Both of the music videos were filmed in a way which would advertise the singer/ songwriter to their particular target audience in the Avril Lavigne video it was fast paced to appeal to the punk rock audience the fast paced handheld camera movements helped advertise how defiant and inspiring  Avril Lavigne is to her audience who can look up to her as an audacious Rockstar.  The camera also focused in on her singing the song to help authenticate her talent to her audience this is because her audience want to see her skilful singing on display. Avril Lavigne was also in the face of the camera a lot to show how she doesn't care how other people think music videos should be done she will to it her own way.

In the Wheatus music video it the lead singer Brendan b. Brown playing the dirt bag in the movie this is because the song is a about him being a loser in high school and he plays the character because it is him. This means that the fans of Wheatus at all times either have Brendan b. brown or the band playing the music Brendan b. Brown gets slightly more screen time because he is the leader of the band. They zoom in on his face when he is playing the music so that his fans can see his talent on display there is a lot of camera panning so that the audience get to look at each person showing off their skill.

 

 

 

Look carefully at the front covers of MOJO and RNR magazines. 

QUESTION: How far do MOJO and RNR use different media language to create different connotations? (CONNOTATION meaning: an idea or quality that a word makes you think about in addition to its meaning.)

Answer on your blog. This is a high-value question and should take all lesson to answer. You can use the class blog search engine for more examples of how to analyse music magazines.

In your answer you should have 2 paragraphs:

• analyse the media language in MOJO and RNR magazine. 'Media language' includes the placement of the main image, the type of photography, lighting, colours, fonts, how busy or restrained the cover is, the layout (such as alignment to the margins), how serious or playful 
• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far the media language is used differently in both extracts to create different connotations. Are there similarities in both covers? What sorts of audiences are they targeting? You could think about MOJO's rock aesthetic of living loud and dangerously compared to RNR's folk, rock, blues vibe. 

Dave Grohl is stood in an aggressive stance. He also has a snarl on his face this facial expression along with his stance help you imagine what type of musician he is. The phrase " The further adventures of Dave Grohl may make the viewer feel like he is coming back in his prime ready to create more rock  music.  Dave Grohl was placed in the middle of the magazine cover because he is the main attraction to draw in the readers of Mojo Magazine. The words "Foo fighters" is placed in between his hands this is because he was the lead singer of the band and this represent him holding up the bands name both literally  and metaphorically because he is looking to keep the band going hence the phrase " the further adventure of Dave Grohl" this shows that he is trying to kick start the Foo fighters. The font of the foo fighters shows how free and layed back they are and they are free to express themselves. The crowded front page shows how they are frantic and chaotic.

Christy Moore is lit up with a smile on his face this help demonstrate how he is an Irish folk singer who has a holy part about him. This also is added with his facial expression he has a warm smile. The colour of the background is welcoming and gives you the image of light dirt brown which being a folk singer would remind people of the countryside. On the RnR magazine the font is a lot more peaceful because it doesn't look like it's about to jump out at you. The quote our three fathers is the first line of the lords prayer this gives him the connotation that he is peaceful. The lack of cover lines on the cover represents that it is peaceful because it is stripped down giving it a organised relaxed peaceful connotation. 

 TASK:  Copy this MOJO 2019 cover into a new blog post entitled  MOJO: REPRESENTATION. Then write 4 points, one each about about the following.

How the producers have chosen to construct a version of reality that represents events, social groups and ideas to fit their purposes:

• MOJO wishes to attract a target audience that shares its reverence for ‘classic rock’ so constructs a version of reality that represents musicians as authentic heroes, striving for excellence

The messages and values conveyed and issues addressed:

• MOJO’s front cover associates musicians with quest, danger and struggle, celebrating the values associated with rock music of ‘living fast and dying young’  This is because of the way he looks to be dark and brooding staring into the camera 
  

How and why (e.g. to enable quick interpretation) stereotypes have been used, including anti-stereotyping / counter-stereotyping:

• MOJO’s selection of a cover photograph of a white male may be to fit the stereotype of rock musicians – this will enable instant recognition by audiences
  

• MOJO’s anti-stereotypical positive representation of older people as popular musicians. This may reflect the anti-ageism of an older audience

Which social groups are under-represented or misrepresented:

• MOJO’s front cover represents predominantly white male musicians in photographs, under- representing female musicians and musicians of colour Because on the front cover there are only white musicians and a lack of other people from different ethnic background or gender.

How does Cuffs respect the demands of " family- friendly" viewing? ( Popcorn Prep)

  

Cuffs respects the demands of family friendly viewing by showing no hardcore violence such as when the boy is stabbed in the shop the camera cuts away from the stabbing so that the audience doesn't see the graphic stabbing. So although the show is accurate and is an accurate depiction of what a Brighton police officers day is like it doesn't show the graphic violence. There is also limited use of bad language. 

Lego movie classification

Task 3: Go to the BBFC site and research age ratings. Why was The Lego Movie (2014) given a U rating? You need to click on the Ratings info

  

Go to the PEGI site and research what age ratings are about. Why is The Lego Movie video game classification 7+?

 The Lego movie got a u rating because of the lack of blood and violence because all of the content included in the movie is safe for children of any age to watch it because of the lack of disturbing content. This is because there are no violence, blood or bad language involved in the movie. In the game even if it is difficult that does not decipher the rating it is on what is appropriate due to the content of what's in the game. The Lego movie video game was made a 7+ because of the element of the character having to kill the enemy which is why the game was given the 7+ rating.

LEGO MOVIE POSTER CAMPAIGN

 PREP You all have a handout with the individual character posters and the ensemble poster.

Analyse how gender has been represented in The Lego Movie poster campaign. Use the written handout to help you answer this exam question (10 marks). 

In Emmets poster even though he is meant to be the heroic main character  who saves the universe he is represented as a scared person who is afraid of danger we can see this in the poster because of his facial expression e.g. the terror in his eyes and he is screaming. This goes against the stereotypical representation of male character in action and adventure movies. Because the male hero would normally be strong and brave with little fear but emmet is the opposite of this.

Vitruvius is represented in a very stereotypical character in a Hollywood way as the wise old man we can see this in his poster because of the long hair and beard with his glowing eyes and calm facial expression. He is a very common type of character represented in several different Hollywood movies and Vitruvius fits the stereotype of characters in action and adventure films.

The character Lord Businesses is a stereotypical villain in action and adventure movies he is represented as an angry man filled with lots of hatred we can see this because of his facial expression e.g. the way he is screaming with anger and the menacing unwelcoming teeth shapes on his crown he is a stereotypical male villain in an action and adventure movie because he is a brave and corrupted evil villain.

Wyldstyle is an extremely new concept which movie companies around the world are now realising they should do to attract a larger audience this is to add female heroes for girls to look up to because normally it would only be young men that boys could look up to but movie companies also want to have girls watching the movies because it creates a much larger audience group. We can see in Wild styles poster that she is extremely un stereotypical female character because instead of wearing make up with glitter she has died her hair pink and blue which makes her standout. A stereotypical character   is normally needing saving but compared to Emmet who is the hero of the movie she is calm and composed instead of waiting to be saved by the hero.

In the ensemble poster we can see a variety of posters to interest all sorts of different audiences but we can still see that there are a much larger number of male characters compared to female characters but we can still see that Emmet looks like he is running away from the danger scared but Wyldstyle is composed and ready to fight this an extremely un stereotypical representation of male and female characters in Hollywood action and adventure movies 

LEGO INDUSTRY

 

•  franchise- Is the brand of the Lego Movie this includes all the Lego sets and various other pieces of merchandise and or games and tv programs.
• synergy- This is the partnership that Warnerbrothers established with the Lego franchise and Lego released several different products to promote the movie.
•  tent-pole production- Is when a large amount of money is spent on the employing the actors which can be expensive ( Chris Prat, Will Ferrell and Morgan Freeman.) But they are usually successful and make a large amount of money at the box office. Because of the amount of money spent on advertising 
•  ensemble cast- Is a large cast which has a variety of different characters which earns  that the film can satisfy different audience needs. And also so that each person has a character  which they are interested in.
•  conglomerate-  A single company that owns multiple different companies.
• vertical integration- When a media company owns several different  companies in the same chain of production.