NEA Research Part 5 - Media Theory Research

Prepatory Tasks

K: What the minimum requirements for the preparatory tasks.

U: The relevance of each of these tasks.

BAT: Undertake preparatory work as prescribed below.

CO: Use media terminology throughout verbal and written communication.

Media Theory Research

In this post, I am going to be researching into how media texts linked to my chosen brief use and include different media theories. This would be important in planning my own research, because I will use these media texts as set examples for planning and producing my own music video. My intentions are to research into music videos that use media theories, so that i can decide which ones to use in my own music video. 

Music Video 1 - Jessie J, Who's Laughing Now 

- Media Theory: Postmodernism, Baudrillard





Postmodernism can be expressed through a wide variety of medias, one of which are music videos. However, there is no real consensus of what postmodernism actually means. Postmodernism can be expressed visually via the presence of postmodern techniques. These techniques can include a parody, intertextuality and hyper consciousness. In terms of hyper consciousness, the video displays the singer (Jessie J) playing multiple, highly stereotypical characters as well as herself. This demonstrates hyper consciences as it reminds the audience that what they are watching is not real. This video is postmodern because it seems to incorporates Baudrillard's idea of hyper-reality. This is because the video appears to continually cut from Jessie as a school girl to Jessie grown up. This depicts postmodernism as no distinction is made between them; the progression of time is conventional depicted with some kind of effect. The lack of this effect confuses the audiences and makes them question which part of the video is actually in real time. In other words, is the young Jessie a flashback or is the grown up Jessie a product of the young Jessie's imagination? This in turn creates postmodern irony because none of what the audience are watching is actually real. This would appeal to the audience, because hyper-reality creates this sense of an ideal world in which society as a whole is exaggerated to look bright and positive. The audience would during the time of the video feel engaged as they would interpret the video as an insight to their ideal world. 

Music Video 2 - Beyonce, Run The World 
- Media Theory: Feminist Theory, Bell Hooks

According to Hooks, in a patriarchal culture, the way women’s bodies are represented as objects is different to the representation of male bodies as spectacle. Gender is performative – our ideas of femininity and masculinity are constructed in our performances of these roles. Gender is ‘what we do’ rather than ‘what we are’. Moreover, gender is contextual – its meaning changes with cultural and historical contexts. However, Beyonce challenges these stereotypical gender roles and represents women empowerment and the shift in time where women are gaining equality to men. This can be seen firstly through the the instrumental and backing track behind the lyrics, which sounds like music played for an army parade. This can be closely associated with the dominance of men, as it is them who participate in elite job roles such as being a cadet in the army. Beyonce's use of this soundtrack is a way of representing the importance of women; and suggesting women have the same power as men to represent the country and serve for the country. There are also references to police officers and music band members - again male associated jobs - where women are playing the roles instead. Beyonce also uses her body posture to make it look as though she is objectifying herself for men, but instead also makes contracting dance moves as if to say this isn't what men should be doing, they should give more value and respect towards women. This would appeal to audiences as this was one of the most popular music videos to have had made a statement about women empowerment, and also to have broken the stereotypical conventions of a female artist's video with the use of certain angles and dance moves for sexual objectification, therefore with this different approach it would attract a mass audience.

In conclusion, conducting research for media theories has helped me with deciding which theories I will possibly be using in my own music video. The theories studied above (postmodernism and feminist theory) are those of which I want to include in my music video. Applying postmodernism to my music video will be shown when I try and use bright colours and unique locations, also using fashionable costuming which will all contribute to creating a hyper-reality for my targeted audience. The feminist theory will be streamed throughout the video, as the narrative and lyrics to my chosen song is related to women empowerment and rejecting a patriarchal society. In terms of the website, both postmodernism and the feminist theory will be used with the layout and images used, those of which the artist of the song will be presented in a way where she is someone to look up to and a role model. In addition, I am going to also be endorsing Barthes' theory of semiology. This is the study of signs, where the signs consist of a signifier and its literal meaning. This will be used in my music video when famous landmarks like perhaps Tower Bridge and the London Eye will be the mise-en-scene. This signifies the Britishness of the music video, and further linking to the artist of the music video's identity - as the artist was born in London.

NEA Research Part 4 - Media Language and Representation Research

Prepatory Tasks

K: What the minimum requirements for the preparatory tasks.
U: The relevance of each of these tasks.

BAT: Undertake preparatory work as prescribed below.
CO: Use media terminology throughout verbal and written communication.

Media Language and Representation Research 

In this post, I am going to be conducting research revolving around the concepts of media language and representation in my chosen brief - music videos. This shall help me identify the specific conventions of media language and representation, so that I am able to include them successfully in my own music video.

Music Video 1 - Ariana Grande, Thank U Next
- Camerawork

The main camera shot used is a wide shot, which could have been used as the music video follows a narrative. Also, there appears to be multiple characters included in the music video, so the wide shot has been used in order to include everyone in the shots. There are also a range of close-up shots, which may have been used to enhance the appearance of  certain characters who may appeal to audiences, as they may be recognisable to the target audience as characters from known films. In terms of camera movements, tracking shots are occasionally used. This could be to create a narrative and it helps the music video transition from one part of the narrative to the next. Pans have also been used in this music video to introduce a new location or scene.  

- Editing

The first thing you notice is the borders along the top and bottom of the screen. This could have been used to make the music video look like a film, or because of the fact it has multiple references to popular films such as Mean Girls, Legally Blonde and 13 Going On 30. Also, the text used to introduce the song name and artist name is the same font used in the hit film Mean Girls, again making intertextual reference. There are also times where scenes are filmed in slow motion, which could give the effect of wanting to enhance certain characters and how they should attract the audience who are most likely going to be young. There are multiple fades to black, which distinguishes scenes and links further to the editing of a film.

- Soundtrack

There is an instrumental at the beginning of the music video, where there are key characters narrating different scenarios. This contributes towards the idea of making the music video into a narrative or short film. There are also pauses during the soundtrack, where there is dialogue between characters. These dialogues are direct references to films. For example, the artist Ariana Grande and another character are sitting in a nail salon, which is a scene replicated from the film Legally Blonde. This has been used to appeal to audiences that may have watched the films included in the video, therefore increasing the mass market audience.

- Mise-en-scene
The mise-en-scene is the key aspect of the music video. A variety of props have been used and there are multiple costume changes and hair and makeup changes as well. There also appears to be multiple locations where the music video has been filmed. This all creates the context of the music video which is based around the three films that have been intertextually referenced. Each costume change, hairstyle and location links to a scene of a film. This makes it easily recognisable for the audience to identify the films. The props used also help do this. For example, there is a pink book titled 'Thank U, Next' which is the exact same book as the 'Burn Book' from Mean Girls. Again, the audience will be able to recognise this. 

Music Video 2 - Billie Eilish, Bury A Friend
- Camerawork
The main camera shots used are the wide shot and close-up shot, which would help with the narrative of the music video and allows the audience to see the expressions of the characters in the video, which may help with setting the tone of the video. The main focus of the video would be the camera movement than the camera shots. The camera is constantly moving in the video, with the majority of the movements being tracking shots and steadicams. This may have been used to fit with the theme of the music video, as it helps to enhance the eery and unsettling atmosphere and create an impact on the audience. There are also certain parts of the video where the camera is held at a fixed position, so that the audience's focus is purely on the artist and so they are not distracted by the movement of the camera. Tilts have frequently been used, again contributing to the 'scary' or 'creepy' theme of the music video.

- Editing
This music video must have required a lot of editing, as there are constant scene changes and fades throughout. The video has been edited to fit the beat of the soundtrack, which helps the video flow and link to the artist's song. This links to the fading to black between different clips of the video, that may have been used to make the video more exaggerated and dramatic. There are also black borders on the top and bottom of the screen, which could have been used to make the video look somewhat like a horror film. Also, the more disturbing and abnormal scenes have been used for the climatic parts of the soundtrack, which links closely to the conventions of a horror film. This could have been used to attract and 'thrill' the audience watching.

- Soundtrack
The tone used for the soundtrack sounds as if it has been edited or auto tuned to being slurred or faint, which has the effect on the audience as sounding like a trance. There is an instrumental at the beginning of the music video, where there is the artist and another person in the scene. The person then performs an acting scene, with short dialogue. This contributes towards the idea of making the music video into a narrative or short film. A range of non-diegetic sounds such as screams have been added in to add intensity to the video and also makes the video appear as a film. The editing of the video also matches the beats of the soundtrack, creating fluidity throughout the video which may help produce a narrative. 

- Mise-en-scene
The mise-en-scene plays an important role in creating this music video, as it is very dramatic and climatic. A variety of props have been used such as beds, tables, chairs and medical equipment like medical gloves and syringes as well as several characters' hands (e.g numerous hands injecting the artist's body) and another character who is present mainly at the beginning of the music video. The location of the video appears to be a house, with different scenes filmed in each room. The costuming of the artist is very plain as she wears white from head to toe, but this contrasts with the lighting used. The lighting is very lowkey and dark, though there appears to be small clips where bright white lighting has been used. The artist also wears contact lenses in several scenes, which makes her eyes look as though they are just all black. This helps the audience with understanding the context and theme of the music video, which is similar to a horror film.


Ariana Grande's Website - https://www.arianagrande.com 



- Layout
When you first access the website, the image above shows how everything has been displayed. The layout is quite simple, with the artist's name displayed in the top left corner of the page. This is a typical convention of any website; the fact the logo/name has been placed where it has is an appropriate place as it is kept out of the way but still made visible for anyone to see. Also across the top of the website are the social media icons and music platform icons, giving audiences direct access to all of Ariana Grande's social media platforms and where they can buy, stream and listen to her music. This could help promote her platforms and allows the audience to interact further with the artist. The fact these icons have been made noticeable could suggest Ariana Grande is fondant of her social media and that she is active on all of her platforms so that she can talk to her fans. In addition, there are three tabs along the top of the page: 'Events', 'Shop' and 'Login'. This is so the audience are able to access particular information they may be searching for, hence why they might be viewing her website. Underneath the border is an image of the album cover, with text to the right stating 'new album' and 'out now' as well as Ariana's name and the album name. This has been placed here to promote Ariana's newest album and to increase the sales and streams of the album. The page further scrolls down to more images and videos of recent music videos and song covers, as well as an image displaying recent merchandise and another image promoting her world tour. This is so the audience can get a brief overview of the type of content displayed on the website, before clicking onto tabs and searching further into the website.

- Navigation
The website has a simple navigation - nothing is too complex to access. The social media icons along the top of the page when clicked on gives direct links to those pages. This is so access to other platforms belonging to Ariana are easier to get to and will attract a bigger audience if all they have to do is click on an icon to be taken to that social media page. Also along the top of the page towards the right corner are three tabs: 'events', 'shop', 'login'. When clicking on the 'events' tab, you are taken to a list of all of the countries and arenas Ariana is going to be performing at, as well as the dates and further links to where tickets and VIP tickets can be bought. When clicking on the 'shop' tab, you are taken to a separate website selling all of Ariana's music (both digital albums and CDs and cassettes) and merchandise. This website is also very simple and self-explanatory to use, and the idea of creating a separate website for the merchandise adds to neatness and simplicity of finding particular information such as tour dates. When you click on the 'login' tab, audiences are given the option to login using a social media page, or registering by email. There is also an option to subscribe to the artist's mailing lists. The use of creating an account with Ariana Grande's website allows fans to interact and keep updated with her latest news and creates a relationship between the audience and the artist where it isn't just the audience viewing the website, but interacting with it and being able to be notified with the latest information fans might want to know. There are also three lines on the left side of the website, which displays the three tabs mentioned, as well as the 'newsletter' subscription service and the social media icons. This has made the different sections of the page easily accessible to the audience. 

- Use of language
Overall, there is little text used on the website. The main reason why text has been used is for the titles of the artist, the album names, mentioning a world tour, mentioning merchandise and single releases. The lack of text used may mean that the artist's intentions were to make the website understandable to anyone around the world. The text promoting an album states 'new album' and 'out now', which has been used for the audience to identity this is the newest release of the artist, and to increase marketing and sales on that album. However, what can be noticeable is that merchandise has been abbreviated to just 'merch'. This can suggest that the audience for Ariana Grande and her website is mainly aimed at a younger age, as the younger generation tend to use slang or shorter words.

- Use of images/text/audio/video 
There are a variety of media displayed on Ariana Grande's website. The first section on the homepage shows the image of the artist's latest album cover, with text stating what the album is called and that it is 'out now'. The colour of the font is black, which contrasts with the pink background of the section of the album cover. That image itself looks pixelated, which stands out to the audience and attracts them as it may appear unusual or strange. Under this section of the homepage is a screenshot of a part of one of Ariana's songs. There is play button displayed next to the text stating the song title, showing audiences that this video can be played just by clicking the button. The music video uploaded to YouTube has been embedded into the homepage, so that the audience is able to watch it from the homepage and not have to be taken to a new page on the YouTube website itself. It also makes the website look neat and professional. Further down the homepage are images of some merchandise Ariana has released, with the text 'new merch bundles available now'. This has been placed for Ariana to promote her new merchandise and images have been used so that fans or the audience can get a preview on what some of the merchandise looks like. The colour scheme of the merchandise are neutral and pastel colours, which ties in with the colour scheme of the whole website. Below that are further images and videos of more song releases, each with a different colour scheme. This could have been used to separate each song as a single and to make the website overall look colourful and appealing to the eye. However, there is one song where the picture promoting it is black and white and the song is titled 'imagine'. This has been intentionally used where the artist may want the audience to actually 'imagine' and use their own minds to fill in colours. It also breaks up the colours between each section of the homepage.


In conclusion, the research I have conducted has helped me with deciding what media language to include to create representations firstly in my music video. I am going to use editing  and intertextuality similar to Ariana Grande's Thank U Next music video, as I feel the genre and theme of the music video is going to be similar to mine in the sense that it follows a narrative. I am going to shoot most of my videos in a wide shot, which both music videos I studied used, so that I can capture the atmosphere and background of the scenes as well as the characters involved. However, as the brief states, I am going to also include other shots, such as close-ups to catch expressions and feelings of the characters.  In terms of lighting, I am going to use high key, bright lighting as the brief requires at least two different types of lighting and locations, so I will follow Ariana's music video. With the webpage, I intend to follow a very similar layout and navigation system to Ariana Grande's website, as it is very easy to access and provides direct links to other pages such as tour dates, merchandising and social media platforms.

NEA Research Part 3 - Intertextuality Research

Prepatory Tasks

K: What the minimum requirements for the preparatory tasks.
U: The relevance of each of these tasks.

BAT: Undertake preparatory work as prescribed below.

CO: Use media terminology throughout verbal and written communication.

Intertextuality Research

In this post, I am going to be researching how intertextuality has been used and produced successfully in my chosen brief - music videos. From conducting my research, I should be able to use some of the ideas from popular intertextual music videos and create ideas of how I might want to use intertextuality in my own music video. 




I researched into two different music videos and how they used and applied intertextuality. I also explained why they might have and from this I will consider using intertextuality in my own video, and how I might do so. The music videos relate to the genre of the music video required in the coursework, and I decided to conduct research with music videos that may inspire me with the production of my own one. What I am deciding to do with my own music video is create references to the film Clueless (like Iggy Azalea's Fancy) in terms of the costuming and find costumes similar to the costumes worn in the film. Also, I may include intertextuality by making a direct reference to Ariana Grande's Thank u, Next music video, as I want to follow the same narrative and storyline as seen in that video.

NEA Research Part 2 - Genre Research

Prepatory Tasks

K: What the minimum requirements for the preparatory tasks.
U: The relevance of each of these tasks.
BAT: Undertake preparatory work as prescribed below.
CO: Use media terminology throughout verbal and written communication.

Genre Research

In this post, I am going to conduct research into the genre of my chosen brief - music videos. The reason being for this is to highlight and analyse the codes and conventions of a range of media texts, in order to help me produce an effective music video of my own. The genre of the text as described in my chosen brief is pop and I will be looking at the conventions of 3 media products of that same genre.

https://prezi.com/view/5LV4LlV6mJqkTFGn22tK/

Researching the conventions held in the genre of my chosen brief has helped with my idea, because I can now begin to make a success criteria of some of the conventions that need to be included so that my music video can be identified as a pop music video. A convention I particularly like are the costume changes and the bright and vibrant colours used in the location and setting. From conducting this research, I have developed my ideas because I am now beginning to consider more detailed elements such as what costumes will be worn and trying to find specific places where there may be bright buildings or objects. Some initial ideas are to go into the city (London) and film scenes infront of iconic places like Buckingham Palace and landmarks such as Tower Bridge and the London Eye. The costuming colours and the colours used in the locations will be bright and vibrant, including colours of pinks, purples, blues, greens etc... Also, my music video will follow a narrative in which I may play the main character in the video, so that it comes across as me being the artist. 

NEA Research Part 1 - History of Music Videos Research

Prepatory Tasks

K: What the minimum requirements for the preparatory tasks.
U: The relevance of each of these tasks.
BAT: Undertake preparatory work as prescribed below.
CO: Use media terminology throughout verbal and written communication.

History of Music Videos Research

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/1977415

From conducting my research, it has inspired me in creating some ideas for my music video. I have looked into the locations and mise-en-scene of the most popular and influential music videos of all time and hope to reinforce this into my own music video. For example, Despacito, the video with the most amount of views, is set by the beach and looks as though there is a celebration or a party. The colours are bright and vibrant and the mood of the video is fun and excitable. I may choose to reflect this in my own music video by setting it in a city or town where there are bright colours and people around.

NEA Briefs

Coursework Briefs

K: The requirements for each of the briefs set by OCR.
U: How to approach the chosen brief, including writing the statement of intent.
BAT: Choose a brief and start planning what to write in the statement of intent.
CO: Use media terminology (all areas of the theoretical framework) in your written and verbal communication.

Briefs (options):

Magazines and online

- producing one front cover and the contents page(s) of the first two editions of a new entertainment magazine that is being launched by Hearst Magazines UK and the working website for the magazine.

- contents can either be single or double page spread.

- web pages must promote the new magazine to its target audience and enables fans to interact with the content.

- statement of intent

- entertainment magazine covers and contents pages

- magazine distribution method

- one homepage and one linked page

- cross media production target audience: fun-loving 16 to 25 year old mass market demographic.

Music Video and online - chosen brief

- work for an independent media production company. You have been given the task of producing a three minute music video for a fictional pop band/artist signed to Sony Music, and the working website for the band/artist.

- can use an existing song for your music video

- feature a narrative appropriate to a music video 

- web pages must promote the band/artist to its target audience and enable fans to interact with them

- statement of intent

- one, three min video

-suitable to broadcast on streaming sites such as YouTube and age appropriate for 16+

- one homepage and one linked page

- cross media production target audience: fun-loving 16 to 25 year old mass market demographic.

Task 3

I have decided to choose the music video brief as i have an interest into the music industry and i do listen to a lot of various genres of music in my spare time. I find this task will match my abilities, because i have had experience with creating videos to an audio and music. For example, i have used iMovie various times to make short trailers and videos with audio over and i have also used editing softwares with various apps like Photoshop and other Adobe software, which may help me with knowledge and skills for editing. I also have an understanding of different camera movements and angles, as this has been studied previously in lessons. However, there are some skills which i intend to develop whilst creating my chosen media text. This may include transitions and effects within the video and timings to match the audio. 

Task 4