Essay 1(b) Media Language

Analyse one of your media productions in relation to media language.

I have decided to apply this question to my music production as my video incorporates all of the key aspects of media language (camera skills, editing, sound and mise en scene). The theorists I feel that are the most appropiate for my production is Goodwin, Vernallis, Hall, and Fiske and Hartley.

Goodwin believes that a typical music video has 5 key elements. My video applies to a lot of these elements including, thought beats. These are seen throughout my video and can also be seen when changing the performance to a narrative part of the video. Goodwin also supports my work as I have put meat shots in my video and given the genre of my production this is appropriate as these type of shots are stereotypically suited for a rock indie genre. My video also has a lead singer which portrays the star image. He is seen through the performance as well as the narrative and he is mainly the focus of the camera shots. Dyer also believes that a music video should have a star image as this helps make the video visually interesting. I feel that if I didn't conclude any of the things that Goodwin had said was in a typical music video, my production would be bland and would show no substance.

Carole Vernallis also thinks that there is five things a typical music video has. These involve narrative, editing, camera movement, framing and diegesis. In my music video I used a track so that the camera was constantly moving throughout the full production, making my work not only visually interesting, but showing fluidity throughout my work. I have also used close up shots of the instruments when they are being heard. This was to give the effect that they were playing the instruments as well as giving a stereotypical convention of the rock/indie genre, making it appear professional. I even revealed the diegesis slowly as the clapper board at the very beginning of the production reveals the rest of the video. I feel that Vernallis' five things a video has is more to do with technique and I think that if I didn't have any of the techniques then my music video could come across as boring and disjointed. 

Whilst looking at semiotics, Pierce stated that 'we think in signs'. My music video has evident of this technique as in my narrative, I revealed a shot of a pan with boiling water. This has represented a sign that  the boiling point is in sight. This is also shown in the film burns and the match part of the narrative as the film burns represent the flame getting bigger and when the flame is finally shown on the match, it has given the sign that the pressures have built up. sometimes when people have a lot of pressure and can be left frustrated they can be known as having a 'hot head' or have reached 'boiling point'. This is what I think my signs reveal in my production.

Hall mentions that the audience can get different types of meanings from the same video, maybe not even what you intended. This supports my music video as the audience for my production understand and get the preferred meaning more so than anything else. This can be seen through the lead singer's last breath as it appears as if he is releasing all of his pressure out throughout the song and once the song ends, it almost appears as if a sigh of relief. The double speed in which I used to make the lead singer look fidgety in the narrative, also helps the audience reflect the preferred meaning of being in pressure and the effects this emotion can have. I have even created the jump shots from the performance to the narrative fast as this will help show the audience my preferred meaning of how frustrated and irritated people can become whilst under large amounts of pressure.
My music production also supports Fiske and Hartley's theory that denotation and connotations become ideologies. For example, the colours used in the music video shown on costumes, I.e black and red, give the connotation of anger, frustration and pressure. If you link this with the type of instruments used for this genre, I.e guitar and drums, show aggression and violence. When these are put together with the band members age, youths, it can reflect that youths can be or are aggressive and violent.
In conclusion, I feel that my music production shows various ways in which media language has been used appropriately to convey professionalism throughout my work.

Essay Question 1(b) Representation

Analyse one of your media productions in relation to representation.

I feel that the representation of my music A2 brief is very important as if it is not created to what I believe is accurate for my target audience then the full meaning of my production could be seen in a different way as to what I orignally wanted it to be. My A2 brief was to create a music promotion and on this particular subject area, I have decided to show links to theorists such as Hall, Baker and Perkins, as well as showing postmodernism through my music video. This was a small area to the brief and I feel that these theorists can easily relate to my work in this way.

Hall believes that media shows us things about society and that representations should be meaningful. My music production supports this in many ways as the theme is about pressures within society. This can be seen by the type of class in which the costumes withold (smart, formal wear). The lyrics of the song represent pressure in which the audience can relate to, giving the audience a sense of belonging. This reflects Hall's belief that representation should be meaningful as here it is towards the audience. Also the colour choice helps the audience feel that the band understands of how they are feeling as the main colours (red and black) show connotations of the emotion( i.e fustration, anger and pressure) portrayed by the band and the audience.

Baker believes that mediation is represented in 3 ways, selection, organisation and focusing. This echoes my work, as I represented mediation through the selection of shots in which I created jump shots in Fianl Cut Pro,through organisation by creating calenders on the computer for my blog and applying shots in the correct order, i.e the narrative pan shots were displayed gradually boiling and then splashes, rather than the other way round. I also finally represented mediation through focusing as I collected data from my audience research by creating questionnaires and adding there input to my work.

My work also supports Bakers belief of the 3 different views towards music videos. The 3 views in which he researched were, the reflective, intentional and constructionist's view. My production shows the reflective view as in the narrative in which the matchstick was present, when it gets set a light, it represents the pressures building up of someone, almost as if to irrupt. This view is also seen by the film burns I added through the use of Final Cut Pro. This was to share the same type of pressures, only this was the pressures gradually building up. I also showed an intentional view through my effect using Final Cut Pro. I made the lead singer sing at half speed and perform normally so when I sped him up, the lead singer looked fidgety. Here, the lead singer is representing pressures and how it can effect some people. This could be seen slightly as reflective also as the action in what is occuring represents a meaning of what it's like to be under pressure.

Some people think that it is easier to look at stereotypes when putting a music video together however, Perkins believes that ' some of the many ways that stereotypes are assumed to operate aren't true'.  My music production challenges as well as supports this theory as the having the band perform their song in their production falls against a stereotypical indie rock band. The meat shots also challenge Perkins theory that stereotypes aren't true as these shots are known to be involved in an indie rock music video. However the costumes in which the band members are wearing, supports Perkins theory as they are wearing formal and smart wear, i.e ties, shorts etc, which isn't known to be a stereotypical costume for this type of band to wear.

I have finally chose to look at postmodernism as the distinction between reality becomes blurred and invisible. For example, whilst filming, the band and I were in a studio which had no windows in. Therefore we were in no specific location for the audience to locate. This also showed no sign of the weather either, leaving no signs if it was summer, autumn, spring or winter. The only lighting I used was artificial light. This is also a good example of postmodernism as the audience is unsure wether it was filmed at night or during the day. Throughout the video there also wasn't any watches or clocks in the distance, showing no significance of the time in which it was shot.

I conclude that the representation is very important when it comes to music productions as if the audience in which you are trying to target doesn't understand, then you are sending a message to people that you are unaware of and by doing this, I personally feel that the director would therefore seem to have lost control of their own work and the representations that comes with it.

Essay Question1(b) Audience

'Analyse one of your media productions in relation to audience'.

I think that McQuail's theory that an audience can be described as a 'temporary collective', is very important when creating media texts. I will give examples of this, through my A2 brief of creating a music video. I will analyse other theorists such as Hebdige, Clark et al and Hall.

Firstly however, my reasonings for agreeing with McQuail that audience can be described as a 'temporary collective', is due to the fact that, my target audience for my video could be described as this. For example, since the theme of the video is the pressures in how people may feel, this could target a wide audience as they may only want to listen to the song, whilst they feel what the song is representing. I have also acknowledged that once the target audience of male teenagers like the music,it is also not set in stone, that they will like this band for the rest of their life. This therefore may only target temporary male teenagers.

Hebdige mentions that the music video must relate back to sub culture. I have done this through the band performing with their instruments as this fits the sub genre of indie rock. By doing this, it is easier for the audience to identify with the music and what type of band they are and what they are representing. To make sure that the music video was still fresh, I added a slight narrative to the video which would challenge typical conventions however, give the audience a slight change, to grasp their interest of the music video.

I completely agree with Clark et al's belief as it is ' important to carry out audience research'. I have shown examples of this as I created questionnaires for people to complete about what they expect from this sub genre. Once I had filmed my production, I got feedback from some rough cuts in which was shown to the class. I also uploaded my video onto Youtube and got comments and feedback that way too. This shows that not only having a few people for audience feedback is good but the more the better as the stereotypical band and performance will be more accurate. As I have taken the audience's feedback into consideration whilst creating my video, I think that by doing this, it has helped me gain the correct audience for my sub genre (male teenagers specifically but can vary).

McQuail also describes uses and gratifications for the audience.I have analysed my video and have acknowledged that my music production  involves escapism for my audience, as it helps the audience, channel their energy into the thought beats used throughout and forget the pressures they are facing for a while. My video also involves personal identity as the audience understand the representations of the music video. For example the pan boiling, as the pressures are building up. The lyrics are also a big part of personal identity as the audience could feel that their pressures are building up, like the pan boiling, and also may feel that they have a connection with the band members as they are singing about something that is happening to them. This gives the audience the sense that someone knows how they are feeling

I feel that the type of audience in which my music video could target could either be a mass audience although, only temporary as this type of audience would be based on the emotion behind the lyrics, or an alternative audience, due to the accent of where they are from and the sub genre of their style of music. Hall, mentions that audiences can read music videos differently towards what the true meaning may inflect or can read the preferred meaning. After analysing my music production, I think that my video, has a more dominant reading from the audience, as by the use of colours shown throughout the video, (red and black) they can be connotated  for stress, frustration and pressure. As well as this, the reading can be seen correctly by the use of the double speed in the narrative, making the lead singer look fidgety and on edge. This shows what pressure can sometimes do to people and therefore gives the audience a further understanding of the video.

In conclusion I feel that the audience for any media text is the most important part of the planning as without an audience, they would be no consumers of what you are wanting to sell or make known. I am pleased in how well I have asked for audiences feedback as I feel that I have worked with the audience to put my music video correctly and precisely.

Essay Question 1 (b)

' Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to narrative.'

According to O'Sullivan, 'all media texts tell some sort of story'. I agree with this as the narrative helps portray people's perceptions on particular conventions. I have decided to analyse my A2 brief, which was to create a music video. I will then see how my video supports or challenges any theorists. The theorists in which I will look at, include, O'Sullivan, Todorov, Bartes, Levi-Strauss, Propp,Goodwin and Carlsson.

O'Sullivan believes that all media texts tell some sort of story, including music videos. I have reason to support this as in my video this is present. I edited the shots together in Final Cut Pro to create fast jump shots. These are shown in the music video, gradually becoming faster as the beats become more intense. This resembles the pressure building up in someone's mind. Although this is only subtle in the video, it is still some form of narrative.

Whilst looking at Todorov's theory, I acknowledged that he found that there was five stages to a narrative. I can relate some of these stages to my own video as the beginning of my video tends to begin at stage 3, distruption.  For example, in the narrative the lead singer looks fidgety and on edge. I created this effect by telling the lead singer to perform at half speed when singing but to behave normally. Therefore when I sped this up on Final Cut Pro, it gave the impression that the singer was frustrated and under pressure. Also at the end of the video, it is clear that it is similar to stage 5, new state of equilibrium, as the lead singer lets out a deep breath, almost to show that he has gotten everything said that he needed to say to the audience, therefore making him less pressured and relieved.

My work also reflects Bartes' beliefs that they are narrative codes shown in music videos, enigma and action.My work reflects the action codes as the boiling of the pan signifies how the emotion, pressure, is boiling up inside of the singer and also possibly the audience. The film burns used throughout the video also symbolise the narrative of the pressure building up as eventually a match catches fire, almost like as if  the emotion has irrupted inside. This also resembles the action narrative code as this is reflecting emotions shown through the band members and possibly the audience.

When looking at Levi-Strauss' theory about binary opposites I acknowledged that my music video had challenged this as my narrative only has one person present, yet still reveals a subtle storyline throughout. At the end of my video, the singer is back with the rest of the band however, to complete the narrative, I showed a close up shot of his face, therefore making the narrative, only on the lead singer.

Therefore, my music video also challenges Propp's theory as they believe that stock characters, i.e 'villian e.t.c' are present. My music video challenges this in many ways as in my music video the band members play the role of themselves, therefore having no characters in my production.Also, the only type of narrative shown in my video, represents the lead singer only.

I agree with Goodwin's theory that 'narrative relations are complex', as he further mentions about reusing tradition. I have done this with my music video as this sub genre, indie rock, is known for having the band members performing. I have reused this tradition by telling the band to play the instruments while singing, as if rehearsing. However, to keep my video fresh and interesting for the audience I added a subtle narrative to the video, which would help portray the lyrics of pressure slightly. Since the lyrics are about emotions in particular, this shows an intertextual reference as the lyrics are stereotypical for this genre. Jumps shots are also shown in my narrative and throughout my video, which also shows a reference to indie music as the jump shots can sometimes be used as thought beats when a guitar is strummed or a drum is hit.

I have acknowledged Carlsson's belief that narrative can fall into two groups, performance and conceptual. After looking at my music production and analysing it to my best ability, I can clearly say that my media text, is a performance clip as there is an instrumental performance which is shown throughout the majority of my video. This theory helps me recognise that although I did not intend on creating my video to have a complete narrative, even in parts which I had tried to just show the band performing, there is still a slight narrative. For example, the film burns used through the performance, gives the audience the intention that the match is coming close to being on fire, and the jump cuts between the actual narrative and performance represent the pressures building up.

In conclusion, I feel that any media text in which you create, in this circumstance a music video, will have some sort of narrative, since planning and your ideas are always put into them. Even if the narrative is subtle like mine, it is still there.

Essay Question

Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to Genre.

I think that genre is very apparent in my A2 coursework as this was vital to equip my audience with my music video. I am hoping to analyse my video to show how genre has been shown and created throughout my blog. I will discuss this whilst including theorists such as Grant, Mittell,Altman, McQuail and Goodwin. The song in which my coursework is about is from a song by Maximo Park called 'Apply Some Pressure'.

The overall genre I think that went with my music video was rock however if I was to go into more depth, I would say that it is more likely to be fitted into indie/rock. My reasonings for this is because I do not think the music is as aggressive as stereotypical rock, ie 'Sweet Child Of Mine'. I do however think that this song is more agressive than your average pop song, especially as the band are shown playing their instruments through the majority of the music video. This reflects Grant's belief that within genres there can be some 'recognisable characteristics'. With the band playing the instruments, the audience could think of this as being in the rock genre, however within the music video, there is a narrative perspective which is not vacant in the rock genre. This therefore helps support the sub genre of Indie. The jump shots in my music video are also fast and make a bold jump back and forth from the narrative to the performance episode of the video. This also supports Grant's theory as this is another recognisable characteristics throughout rock/indie music videos. I noticed this at the beginning of my research and knew from the beginning that this was something I definitely had to incorporate into the video.

An editing technique in which I added (double speed) of the lead singer, really helped to give a message to the audience. By using this technique, it made the lead singer look 'jumpy' or 'on edge' so to speak. This went with the lyrics of the song in which the audience may be able to relate to, due to the pressures.  This could also appeal to the audience as how they wish to react to the pressures (erupt etc.). By listening to this song, they may be deflating their chances in wanting to behave in this certain way. Also by using the double speed technique to make the lead singer look on edge, this can also how be people respond to pressure, become fidgety and so forth. This once again mirrors Mittell's beliefs that industries use genre to sell products. By the song being labelled as rock/indie, it is made clear that the emotion that has been used in this video, is the type of emotion the genre will be associated with. When creating the music video, I had this type of genre and emotion in mind and therefore decided to use connotations of pressures and emotion to use with the red coloured ties and the black shirts.

The audience's reaction towards my music video is the most important as this will be a big imapact towards the band, and the genre in which I was trying to portray.McQuail's gratifications are a big impact in the video as this is how the audience would respond or could relate to the music video. I think that the entertainment gratification is important to the music video as I feel that this video would give the audience the feeling of escapism. My reasonings for this is because by the emotion that is shown through my production (stress, pressure,furstration etc.), the audience may feel quite relieved as this relates to the intergration and social interaction gratification. The audience will therefore not feel the need to take their fustration out on anyone as the song itself gives the audience a sense of belonging since the band may appear to know how the audience feels. McQuail's information gratification, may also be seen in the video as the original band may have created this song in the first place to vent the pressures in another way than being agressive. This is why I have tried to interpretate some pressures in my video, ie, the match being set on fire.

Furthermore, my music video also reflects Goodwin's belief of how post modern texts should look.I decided to have a live band performing while I created the production as I feel that this fits the genre well. I have added thought beats into my work by creating short and consistent jump cuts when the beat of the drum occurs. To make sure that my video supports the indie genre, I have also added meat shots of the band members, specifically, the lead singer as this is to support the typical conventions of the genre.

As my production gradually come to the end Bordwell's belief that 'any theme may appear in any genre' is made clear as the theme for my music video is noticed as representing pressure. The fast edited shots I have used throughout, helps give the feeling that something is boiling and will eventually irrupt. With the jump shots  being fast, it can make it hard for the audience to focus on one thing. The colours shown throughout the music video (red and black), help show the audience the anger and frustration behind the song. The film burns used helps show pressure that is gradually building up and when the match is shown it is similar to the pressure of the pan as it is building up and eventually irrupts towards the end of the performance.

I will also write about, Bordwell as he says 'any theme may appear in genre'. I will then write about the pressure, fustration and possibly anger shown through fast edited shots, the colours shown in the video and costumes, as well as the pan boiling.