In this blog post I will be posting the emails which have been sent back and forth between VKLC Productions and Amanda Rogers our chosen artist. This is our first email that we sent to Amanda asking permission for our song. We wnated to make oursleves sound prosseional and approachable, mentioning that we were doing this for our A-levels media studies project. We all clubbed togther in writing the email and came out with this:
The next email shows the reply that we got from Amanda the day after we sent it. It was very good news as we were given the permission to go full speed ahead with the making of our music video, with the conditions of sending it to Amanda Rogers for approval before posting it to the public:
The last email dosplays us thanking Amanda Rogers for letting us use her song and confirming the arrangements that Amanda had made previously:
Initially we were very excited with the result that we had wanted. We plan to ahead with the making of the music video. We are very proud that Amanda has come back to us personally, and has agreed to see the finishing product, so we had better make the music video amazing!
Intro Katy Perry is a world wide super-star and is well known for making catchy pop tunes that stick into your head. Katy first rose to fame with her hit single 'I Kissed A Girl' on her first album 'One Of The Boy's'. From then onwards, she has only climbed to the top of the ladder releasing her fourth album 'Prism' in late 2013. This song that i am analysing is very popular and known for its raunchy jungle outfit that displays many points of the notion of looking. Lyrics and Visuals "So I sat quietly" - man hands her bag connotes with just being sitting back and being walked over and pushed around, relating to Katy's past maybe "I stood for nothing, So I fell for everything" - Being pushed around by this guy, she stands for nothing herself because she has always been kept in the dark and controlled. When he gets attacked by the tiger, realises she finally has to fend for herself and make herself something. "You held me down but I got up [HEY!]. already brushing off the dust" - already brushing off that he's not here to put her in the dark, feels no remorse, something to do with relationships maybe. Thinking she is nothing because all she has ever been is with him, but that has changed "I see it all, I see it now" - Millions of glowing eyes appear from bushes, she sees everything now he's gone "I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire, cause I am a champion and you're gonna here me roar" - you see the eyes on 'eye of a tiger' gets down into an animal-like pose on 'roar' it shows tiger roaring in waters reflection showing the tiger inside of her "You're gonna hear me roar" - You see the first signs of her change with the leopard print piece on skirt "Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes, I went from zero, to my own hero" - learning to cope with the jungle ~ learning to cope with her loss, shes her own hero/fights for herself ~spears banana, begins her training for the tiger battle "You held me down but i got up [HEY!], already brushing off the dust" - shower with the elephant ~ showing that she is washing away her old way of life, being renewed/reborn into this wild world "Like thunder gonna" - Elephant trumpets his trunk, because they are so big and heavy they have been known to sound like thunder when they walk "Get ready cause I've had enough, I see it all, I see it now" - animation of tiger having enough and not taking anything from the hunters, fighting back, She realises that's who she needs to be and needs to fight-the king of the jungle "I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire" - She comes out changed into jungle suit, change person, stronger, changed lifestyle "you're gonna hear me roar" - shows off muscles showing she's stronger, metaphorical roar "Louder, louder than a lion" - Iconic shot of her swinging on vine, matches iconic lyric "Ro-ar, ro-ar, ro-ar, ro-ar, ro-ar" - Overcoming her fears, taking control, beating the tiger with her roar, build up of tension, she finally wins "I got the eye of a tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire, cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me roar" - She is a champion and conquered the lion, becoming queen of jungle, showing her power, showing anyone can succeed in what they want to do Close-ups of artist and star image motif In this music video Katy is portrayed as a character who is needy and gets pushed in the dark. The video finally ends with her being queen of the jungle and conquering her fears and just having a positive fighter attitude. There is a total of 33 close-ups in this music video The video ends in a close-up to create that last vital connection with the audience The close-ups make her seem like a strong, powerful, iconic woman in this industry and showing that she can overcome her difficulties and no-one holds her down There are lot's of high angle shots which rienforces the fact that she is strong and powerful because it makes her look taller and tower over us. Music and Visuals Big drum beat to start the song is reflected in the visuals with a big explotion in the background, it simmers down as the opening chords of piano comes in. Shots change on the beat of the music Guy tilts his head when he is taking a selfieto the beat of the music Glowing eyes flash to the rhythm of the piano When she says "roar", tiger in reflection of the lake roars too Second time she says "roar", the camera pans out and up as she slides the pitch of the note. as it slides up an image of the glowing insects flying in the sky form the head of a tiger roaring when she is saying "roar" Diagetic sounds of the spear throwing, animal sounds, and the sounds of the jungle to match the visuals When the music says "hey!" Elephant chucks water at Katy When she keeps repeating the word "roar"all the animals call back almost roaring too. They do this to the beat of the music Last chorus is loud and bigger in texture, relfects in visuals with lots of flowrs and celebatory thingssuch as gift giving as she has beaten the tiger When she says "roar" one of the times in the last chorus, it switches to a shot of the Tiger purring because she has defeated it and it is potrayed as her pet now Last line shows a clopse up of her looking victorious to conclude the song on a positive note to match the positive key the piece of music is in Change of location for different part of the song, also introducing new locations: verse 1- Plane Crash site - day time Pre-chorus 1 - walking through the jungle - night time chorus 1 - by the river in the jungle - night time verse 2 - somehwere in the jungle hunting introducing animals - day time pre-chorus 2 - in the little cave looking at ancient wall paintings - night time chorus 2 - coming out of cave, by the waterfall, swinging on vines - day time build up - bamboo junlge area fighting tiger - day time chorus 3 - all parts of jungle apart from cave, decorated in flowers - day time Reference To The Notion of Looking In the beginning of the song she is wearing a tight pencil skairt that shows off her figure, seems quite girly and like she would never put a finger in the mud In the night time her skirt is all ripped and burnt showing a bit more of her skin as she has spent the whole night in the jungle At the end of the song she is in this short grass skirt and animal print crop-top, this obviously refers to Laura Molvey's theory of the male gaze and living in a mans world. From this music video, lots of girls have wantyed to have a body like Katy Perry and many have gone and bought outifts that look like her jungle one. This outfit that she is wearing shows off all her assets very well and make's people more attracted to her, and therefore this outfit is also used as a marketing device cathcing her viewers. At the very end when she is sitting in the jungle chair she has her legs wide open obviously covered by her leaf skirt, but the point is she has become more open with the audience and has traded her once 'preppy, schoolgirl,girly' look, for a more king of the jungle look with her stance and posture to fit in with the harsh jungle around her. Performance, Narrative or Concept? Based on what I have seen, this video is Performnce and Narative based. This is because she has the story line of the plance crash into the unknown world and conquering it comeing out the queen of the jungle and alos she has lots of shots showing her singing aloing the the music obvioujsly exploiting her as an artist and as part of the marketing process. Intertexual Refrences There arn't many in this music video other than, how did she creash onto this island and who is this man that she was with? Is it a worl employee, boyfriend, boss? The interpretation is left so open. Also the fact the pice started off as if it was a comic coming to life and finishing the same way. Conclusion In conclusion, considering the genre of this piece, the music is very catchy and displays Katy Perry as a strong individual that can cope with all the hard situations. The marketing has also brought up the video with the choice of costume and literall interpretation of the song. Overall I really like this song and I feel that it will sell quite big due to the points I have analysed.
The the genre for this song is a pop ballad where it is basically where the singer Miley Cyrus is very vunerable andshows her true emotions and is maybe linked to a love interest. The song was made to be relatable to others through the lyrics. It is her second single on her album 'Bangerz'.
Lyrics And Visuals
Close-ups Of Artist And Star Image Motifs
In this music video, there are alot of close ups of Miley Cyrus and really how people see her today. There are also extreme close-ups to see the starts true persona. In this music video, Miley is seen to be upset and vulnerable which is a different side to her compared to her other latest single. Its like she wants to let the auidence into her personal life and does this by being naked. Some critics think that miley being naked in this is one step too far, but in a textual analysis you can see that she feels scared and connects with audience because of this.
Music And Visuals
Alot of the music and visuals are in time with each other for example, when she says "I came in like a wrecking ball!" When she says wrecking ball, the video stops being all emiotnal and she almost goes crazy using her hammer and the wrecking ball is shown by wrecking through these walls in slow motion. Thats all that happens in the music video, is when it comes to the chorus, the wrexdking ball is being shown wrecking everything. So when the music picks up pace so does the video.
Refrence To The Notion Of Looking
There are definately lots of refrences in this music video, such as the most common factor that she poses for full frontal nudity in this music video. There is also other points like when shes not naked she is is in a white crop top and white pair of hotpants, and she obviously isn't wearing a bra which creates vouyerism and the male gaze. Other points is that she is kissing a hammer, but not just a normal peck on the lips, a full frontal kiss even licking the hammer at some points. Miley explains "this is because she feels vunerable and by kissing the hammer shows that she loves the pain. And by also being naked shows that she has been emtionally stripped by her ex-fiance Liam Hemsworth."
Performance, Narrative Or Concept
I think this music video is a cross between Performance, because it shows her singing along to her song and the video only presents her. And the other one i think it is, is Narrative because she is telling a story and the lyrics relate to the video in some way.
Intertexual Refrences
There arnt many in this video, but some of the more ovbious ones is that she most have had her heart broken before she wrote this by a love interest, maybe her ex-fiance Liam Hemsworth.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I think that Miley Cyrus's soing Wrecking Ball is a very emotional single that she released from her album to perhaps show that she does have a vunerable side to her and that it is a song that many can relate to about their situations.
When making a music video there are certain things that are definatly conventions that can be seen through other music videos as well. The video's we watched in class were:
Rudimental - Waiting all Night McFly - Love Is Easy Kelly Rowland - Stole Green Day - When september Ends The key conventions that we noticed when watching these were: - the sounds matches the narrative
So for instance when the intorduction finally kicks in, the protagonist in the music video starts running. An example of this would be in the music video 'Look at me now' by Chris Brown featuring Lil'Wayne and Busta Rhymes. the dances matches the words and rhythms from 0:27 till about 1:03
- Having the artist appear in the video
In most cases when it comes to music vidoe's most of them have the artist appear in it and if they dont then the video is mainly pure narrative. A video that mainly focuses on the artist throught the whole video is 'Yellow' by Coldplay where it just shows the lead singer walking on a beach singing out to the audience.
- Having extreme close-ups
Having ectreme close-ups in shots lets the audience feel and see the emotion of the song and of the narrative. A music video that demonstartes this is Christina Agruleria's very famous song 'Beautiful' which tells the story of certain people and the effects bullying has on their lives. The extreme close ups maximise the emtions of this video.
-Showing people playing instruments
showing people playing instruments during a music video is a very popular choice and almost makes the viewer feel like their playing their song just to you and no-one else. Having their instruments makes it more believeable that they are actually playing the song in the music video. a brilliant example of this, would be in Ed Sheerans 'You Need Me I Don't Need You' where it shows him playing his guitar.
-Tracking Shots
tracking shots are used for adding emphasis onto the artist and thier emotions. a great example of this is The Verve's single 'Bittersweet Symphony' where its shows the main singer just walking down a road for the whole music video and what happenes around him.
- Low Angle Shots
Low angles shots in a music video often make the artist or whoever is in shot seem more powerful and important. this technique is often used in rap and hip hop videos as they want to seem rich, powerful and admirable. The example i have used ofr this is the famous Tupac's 'I Get Around' from 3:50 to 3:55. eventhough its very short, just from that one shot alot of power is afflicted from him.
- Slow Motion
Slow motion plays a key part in all music videos as it portrays the realism and emotion of the whole music video and is simply a veyr dramtic effect. The example i'm going to use is 'Wrecking Ball' by Miley Cyrus. Even though the video is very explicit in some areas it portrays slow motion very well.
-Fluid Camera Movements
Fluid camera movements makes the whole of the jusic video have a more finished and professional effect, separating the b-rated music videos from the professional ones.The example i am going to use for this would be 'Only Execption' from Paramore.the whole of the music videoisjust one long shot showing her move in andout of different rooms which is very fluid and professional.
-Lyrics Matching The Narartive
This is a very common element in music videos especially the narrative ones. It helps the audience feel the connection between the lyrics of the song and what is going on on the screen. An example i have used for this would be Taylor Swifts 'Love Story'. The lyrics explain her flash-backing and having a Romeo and Juliet relationshipwhich is also seen on the screen.
Laura Mulvey is a theorist that believes that everything is looked at from a mans point of view, epspecialy in TV and in Film. Her belief is that the men have the 'active' roles and the women have the 'passive' roles. Traditionally the men will have the 'active' roles which be seen as the hero type figures, the ones who save the world and drive the narative forward. Whereas the women are said to play 'passive' roles and are used as an object of lust or erotic and slow the narative down, just acting as a bit of a filler when the directors can't think of anything else . When you look at a movie or TV series, you will note that women are far more outnumbered in terms of roles and they are often sidelined, playing the characters of the dumb blonde that only gets one line or the 'bikini babe' seen taking her clothes off, a house wife not being able to make money for herself, or a disney princess relying on a man to save her life. Seeing a women in a 'male role' as such, meaning that she will be the lead and the men will be sidelined is very rare and is not often portrayed enough in film and TV. In the 'male gaze' of this era it is often split into two parts; -Vouyerism - the notion of looking, the way body parts are portrayed in our society. -fetishistic - a sexual interest in an object of the body Mulvey pointed out that the female characters ofen have two types: -Sexually active female -Powerless female These are both made for the gratification of male viewers because thats all they thought wtahced the TV back in the day. Examples of Sexually Active Female in TV and film: -Bond Girls -House Bunny -Barbra Windsor - Carry On Camping
This video clip shows scenes from 'Carry On Camping' and the vouyerism that Barbara displays
Examples of Powerless Female in TV and film: -Sleeping Beauty -Snow white -Cinderella -sarah connor - terminator
A video from 'Snow White' showing her singing 'someday my prince will come'
"women in any full human form, have almost been completely left out of film..." - Laura Mulvey
The male gaze is very ofen diskplayed in music videos with the same characteristics but in my opinion I think the roles are even worse. You get the wrappers like 50Cent and Ludacris talking about 'ho's' and there are girls dancing in next to nothing beside them, obviously portraying the 'ho'. One ,usic video that is very vouyeristsic is 'Holiday by Dizzie Rascal, showing a pool party with almost every scene showing some part of a womens body. This video actually shows a male gaze in action at 0:43 seconds as he checks her out when she walks past.
