In her last 6 active years as a successful recording artist, singer and songwriter, Lady Gaga's Star Image has developed increasingly. Starting out as a Pop Princess in the media, concerned with partying and getting drunk, to then progressing into conveying the evils of the music industry has shown her development of self appreciation in her new album "Born this way". Although she has changed her image, she has however stayed to the same genre of music; techno/dance/synthesizer. This consistency has made her extremely successful, but also a challenge, to be able to keep her unique and quirky image remaining.
Lady Gaga's appearance as Jo Calderone, promoting her promo shots for her new single "You and I" at the VMA's 2011.
Over the 6 years, Lady Gaga has portrayed many weird and quirky appearances, ranging from different hairstyles, extreme level of skin exposure, dramatic make up and extremely unusual hairstyles. This is the imagery that gives Lady Gaga her fame, and most importantly her star image. However, as she has performed so many perculiar acts, she has to make sure that she maintains her star image, and continues performing these acts, to keep her fans interested and loyal.
Gaga's most prominent appearance change is the Prosthetic bones on her body and face. By doing some research on Gaga, an article I read reads criticisms she faced off the general public for this enhancement as it can be seen as a representative of the suffering of Anorexia. She faces these criticisms, as people do not believe this is the right image to be presenting, as it can lead people into Anorexia.
Lady Gaga's facial implants. She added these angular augmentations to her face for the photo shoot for Born This Way.
After watching the tutorials on how to create a Stop Motion film, I followed the steps, and created my own. I placed my object in front of a window, so I was able to achieve a good and natural light source, which was a form of diegetic lighting.
I downloaded the programme Windows Live Movie Maker to be able to edit the pictures I had taken. It was a very easy programme to use, as all I had to do was upload the pictures that I had taken into it, and place them in the order in which they needed to go in.
In the picture above, an arrow is pointing to a box which says Duration. To create a fast paced Stop Motion, I had to change the duration in every image, in which I chose 0.50. This created a fast moving Stop Motion, to give a natural feeling about it, and to keep it exciting.
Unfortunately, as I did not have my camera on a steady tripod, my camera sometimes shifted slightly, therefore in a few shots, you notice that the camera has slightly moved to the side. Also, as the camera I used is only a 14 Mega Pixel Camera, the beginning and the ending shots are slightly out of focus giving a blurred effect to it.
When I attempt a second go at filming a Stop Motion film, I am going to take into consideration using a professional camera, to get clear and focused shots. I am also going to use a tripod, to ensure that the camera doesn't lose its first position.
As I don't know much about how to be able to do Stop Motion, I searched for some tutorials on Youtube to give me a rough idea, on the resources that I need, and the steps that I need to follow to be able to create a successful Stop Motion Film.
These are the simple steps that you need to follow:
1. Decide on the object you are going to use in your movie. This can be anything, ranging from clay, Lego, building blocks etc.
2. Set up your chosen object in the position that you want them to be in within the set.
3. Place your camera in front of the set.
4. Make sure you have set up a good source of lighting. You can either use a lamp or a flash light to illuminate the set.
5. Take a single photo of the object in single position.
6. Begin the movement sequence. This can be done by moving the object bit by bit, in very small movements each time.
7. Save your pictures onto your computer.
8. Open up your Movie Maker software and import the pictures into it. When you have done this, you are then able to edit the photos taken, to fit them all together to finish your Stop Motion film.
The source of lighting used within this music video, is completely different compared to the majority of many other music videos. Unlike other music videos, which base their lighting around back, fill and key lighting, this music video mainly focuses on just using one light; a light bulb. This comes across effectively, as the lead singer and therefore the star image, Hayley Williams, controls the light.
As the music video is filmed in two small and weirdly shaped rooms, this allows the light idea of the light bulb to work successfully. As Hayley has control over the light bulb, she is able to control who she shines the light bulb on, and how much shadow she creates. As the music genre is indie/rock, there is harsher shadows created, by bringing the light closer to the musicians faces.
These pictures both demonstrate the use of the light bulb being used by Hayley Williams. They both flourish screen shots taken from the music video, which concentrate on the shadows being created. Not only is the light bulb used as a resource of light, but Hayley performs gestures with it, as if she is using it as a microphone to sing into.
In class, we analysed the use of lighting and camera movement used in Carly Rae Jepson's famous Music video "Call me maybe". After doing some background research on lighting, I was able to classify the three main lights being used to lighten, brighten, enhance shadows and set a natural glow; these being the fill light, key light and the back light.
This is a small diagram I produced on paint to demonstrate the use of lights used, and where they are located around Carly and her band to enlighten and enhance the scene.
This is a screen shot from the music video, which I have used to create a diagram to flourish the use of lights. With the Key light being located on the right hand side of the camera, this has created an outline of Carly's body, which is how the shadow has been transformed onto the floor. Also with the back lights shining light towards the front of the set, there are reflections of the light reflected onto the car.
In the left hand corner, located just behind the keyboard player, is a mirror. This has been used to reflect light off, to enhance and increase the amount of light being sent off within the scene. As the back lights are sending off so much light, it creates thin lines of light in the air which creates a cool effect in the music video.
This is a form of lighting which flourishes sexual references. With the wording of "open" being used, this can refer to sexual activities or relations, which will attract the male audience. With the Fill light being glowed upon the star image's face; Carly's face to give a flawless effect, the male audience will be attracted.
During the music video, the camera movement is continuous. Whilst watching the music video several times over and over again, I realised that there wasn't any still images taken place. The camera was constantly moving around the shots being taken, changing from pans, medium close ups and extreme close ups and ranging from different angles. This made the music video more exciting and entertaining to watch, as the camera wasn't located in a still position. Not only this, but the camera movements have been edited to match with the pace of the music, to create a continuous and smooth flow throughout.
Several pans up of the camera are taken, when focusing on the male character; the male who Carly has a crush on. The camera deliberately pans up from the bottom of the males body to the top, to flourish his masculinity, in contrast to Carly's feminine body. This is done to attract the female audience. The camera also focuses on the male from a low angle to make him look more dominating.
These pictures demonstrate the camera panning up the males body
There are also close ups of the males body taken, which relate to a certain lyric of the song "ripped". This relates to Goodwin's theory of the visuals relating to the lyrics. Below are two screen shots taken from the music video to explain the term "ripped"; his body is ripped.
These are two of our storyboard ideas, which we created together as a group after listening to Polar Collective - Weather Girl. We have applied Andrew Goodwin's theory of the visuals matching the lyrics, to be able to create a narrative which follows the story being told within the lyrics.
After listening to the lyrics of Polar Collective- Weather Girl, as a group we decided to begin to put together ideas, which we could put into our storyboard. Together, we discussed what would work well, and what type of camera angles and camera shots would be effective to use.
We thoroughly liked the ideas we had created, but as these notes are only rough, we hope to either improve them, or change them ever so slightly, to ensure that they work sufficiently and effectively.
To start to develops ideas for my storyboard, I listened to our selected song by Polar Collective. This was done to record the lyrics, so I could begin to start applying visual ideas, to match the lyrics. Also by looking at the lyrics, I was then able to take into consideration what was being told within the lyrics, so I could start to create a narrative.
By looking and listening to the lyrics, they suggest that he is in love with a weather girl. This has given us the idea of trying our hardest to match the lyrics with our visuals, to relate the narrative to the song. This is to make it easier to understand, and to also make it more entertaining and interesting, as the audience will be able to follow the boys pathway to the love of his life.
This is a video composed by Katy Perry of her single "You're so gay". This video has influenced and inspired us, by her successful use of using a Barbie throughout, to encourage us to go with our idea of using a Barbie doll as stop motion, within our Music Video Production.
This is a prime example of voyeurism being portrayed by the use of the Barbie doll, meeting Andrew Goodwin's conventions of a music video.
Leading lines are the lines within an image or a shot taken with a camera, that leads the eye of the viewer to another point in the image, or out of the image. Anything within the image which has a definite line, can be classed as a leading line.
To achieve the correct leading line, you need to make sure that you have applied the rule of thirds correctly, to ensure that your shot has been made strongly. You can achieve a leading line shot by using objects such as Fences, Bridges, Railway Tracks etc.
These images demonstrate the idea of leading lines; leading the eye of the viewer to another point in the image, or out of the image.
This is a picture of my friend and myself along a railway track. To understand and increase my knowledge of leading lines, I went out with a friend, to find locations in which have them, to fully understand the idea of a view leading the eye to another point in the image or out of the image. We had taken several shots of the railway, but this picture worked exceedingly well, because it shows the space in front of us as to where we are leading ourselves to, and the space where we had come from, which leads the viewers eye to another point in the picture. As this picture worked so well, I am going to take this into mind, as I could use this location for my music video.
This was another picture I had taken, to also understand and increase my knowledge of leading lines. However, due to the harsh contrast and over exposure within the picture due to the sunlight, the leading lines are harder to see, therefore this would not be ideal, when shooting my music video.
The rule of thirds is the idea that within the camera shot, there should be a guideline which proposes an image divided into nine equal parts, by two horizontal lines and two vertical lines. By doing this, this creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply placing the camera in the middle of the shot.
The picture below is a great example of the guideline of the rule of thirds. As you may see, the tree is placed more towards the right side of the picture, developing a shot in which you can see leading lines within the distance. If the tree had been placed in the centre of the shot, the image would appear as dull, not increasing and allowing the ways in which you can view the image.
This is a diagram which I created using paint. This is a diagram showing the use of back lighting when recording a music video. The purpose of using back lighting is the process of illuminating the object from the back. This causes the edges of the subject to glow, whilst the others remain darker. Back lighting helps to provide separation between the subject and its background, therefore this is used a lot in the theatre.
The back light is often referred to as the hair or shoulder light. This is because normally when a back light is being used, it enhances on the actor, flourishing the edges of his/her hair to glow if they have fuzzy hair. This produces an angelic halo effect round their head, which indicates them being 'good' and 'pure'.
The Key light is the brightest light used out of all three lights used in the process. It is placed at a 45 degree angle towards the camera, making it the primary light source. The purpose of the key light is to highlight the form and dimension of the subject. Key lighting can either produce high key lighting, or low key lighting, which ranges from harsh light to soft light.
The Fill light on the other hand is the secondary light source used, having 50-75% less power than the Key Light. The Fill light is used to decrease contrast and to add more details onto the dark areas of an image. The fill light is often softer and by definition, less intense than the Key light.
The camera should be located and positioned about eye level to the actor/actress. This is to make sure that the shot is taken accurately, and the lights don't cause shadows on the wrong places of the actor/actress' body. For example, if the key light is focused under a 30 degree angle, this may cause the nose to cast a shadow on the upper lip, therefore if the actor/actress' may lip sing, this will be unclear, as the shot will not be illuminated enough by the lighting.
I have done a video analysis of the music video Nightmare, produced by the artist Avenge Sevenfold. This music video is portrayed in a mental asylum where you view the artist performing both narrative and performance.
As the music video begins, the opening scene flourishes images of a heavily tattooed arm. This straight away informs the viewer what type of genre the music video is going to be; in this occasion, the video music was heavy metal. As the arm is being shown, a pair of hands are introduced, attaching what looks like straps to the opposing persons wrists. As the pair of hands are wearing white plastic hands, this indicates that the person being strapped down is being kept within a type of hospital/asylum. Forms of non diegetic sound are used in this scene, to increase the realism of the scene. The sound develops a spooky and uncomfortable atmosphere, as it produces a form of 'la-la-by' sound, which enhances on the unknown and scary atmosphere.
As the second scene commences, a masked man is introduced, in which the camera pans up the body, and focuses for a few seconds on the male's face. The camera is only focused on the male's eyes though, as this is the only part of the male's body which becomes clear to the viewers eye. This is to show the concentration on the male's face, to hint to the audience, that he is about to do something, which take's a lot of concentration to do. Not only this, but as the camera focuses in to the eyes, you realise that the surgeon has bloodshot eyes. This may be frightening to the audience, but it relates to the genre of the music, and portrays the scary atmosphere towards it. This enhances on the idea that the patient is in a hospital/asylum even more, as he looks both professional but frightening, as if he was once in the asylum himself. A slight blur when focusing in is then taken, in which the camera then blurs out, to jump to a different scene.
Several images are then taken with the camera, which flourish threatening symbols of an asylum. As the camera pans around, you notice that there is blood spread all over the walls. Straight away this informed me as a viewer, that the patient wasn't in a hospital, but he was in an asylum instead. This is because, if it was to be a hospital, the surroundings would be clean, however, as there is blood on the walls, and bloody hand prints surrounding the patients bed, this informs me that he is in an asylum. Images of saws are shown, which portray the idea of the patient being cut up. Several images of what look like organs are also captured and shown, to help relate to the genre of the music, and to also relate to the title of the song which is Nightmare.
To relate to Goodwin's theory, there are many shots of the star image taken. As the music video portrays both narrative and performance, there are many shots taken which flourish the band performing on their instruments. Not only this, but the main singer also plays the part of the patient within the mental asylum. Not only does this music video relate to Goodwin's theory just for the star image, but it also relates to his theory, by the relationship between the music and the visuals. This means, that the music video visuals by either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music. This is done successfully as the patient within the asylum links well to the music, as it portrays the "Nightmare" which they are illustrating in both the music and the visuals.
There is a particular scene in this video, which disturbed me.This was the scene where two small children are shown playing with a ball smothered in blood. They also have blood all over them, which became disturbing to me, as children are more vulnerable to the bigger world. Non diegetic sound is used here, to add in the sound of the children laughing, which portrays the children as innocent. I believe that the producers of this music video have used these children, to add to the disturbed atmosphere, and to also make their music video become more vulnerable, to match the music with their visuals; the nightmare.
Throughout the music video, there is a huge use of hard light used, to enhance on the shadows. This creates a harsh amount of light being reflected normally onto one person, to make them stand out more and to also give an unnatural effect towards the video. A back light is also used for the same reasons, and sometimes to increase the amount of light added to the person, to create more shadows. The producers of this music video may of done this, to give the feeling that "you are never alone" and there is always someone or something lurking behind you; your shadow.
During the narrative parts of the video, a green filter is used. This is to enhance on the atmosphere within the asylum to create the sickness feeling toward it. This is used sufficiently as it drags the audience within the music video, to make them feel as if they are a part of the video, and they're in the asylum themselves.
The use of leading lines is used frequently throughout this music video. Especially with the use of the corridors, to show where the surgeons are leading the patient. This is achieved by the correct camera position to the side, instead of filming from the front view of the bed being wheeled forward.
Overall, the narrative matched well with the music, creating a pace which worked well, focusing on the rhythmic editing.
In class, I completed a Textual Analysis of the official music video of 'Ben L'oncle Soul- Seven Nation Army. It portrayed a different type of music video, set in an American Vintage Laundrette. This theme is portrayed through the use of the high key lighting, to create a shadow effect throughout.
This music video is based on both Abstract and performance, where you see the main star playing a part in the video, either singing or playing a variety of instruments; this is known as the Star Image. The main star has been flourished using stock motion, which is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on it's own. This is achieved successfully, as the stock motion runs smoothly within, and creates a jerky and function rhythm with the star images body to match the quirky rhythm of the song.
As the Female walks in, you realise that it has been edited to match the rhythm of the music. This is called Rhythmic Editing. This has been done to achieve the pace of the music and the coordination between the female and the music to ensure that it applies to one another, and the actions don't fall out of rhythm with the music.
A jump cut is taken quickly and sufficiently in the beginning sequence showing the female. A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This sees a shot of the female entering the camera mid shot from the right, placing her items onto the washing machine, to a quick jump cut to a low angle shot, placing her items into the washing machine. This is done to create continuous editing, which aims to give the appearance of continuous time and space in the story-world by de-emphasizing editing.
It portrays voyeurism in a specific shot, when a high angle shot is focused down onto the female to flourish her femininity. It does this, by blocking off her face, and focusing on her main female genitals, which the male audience will attract to. A high angle shot is used in this scene to make the female look vulnerable, as it is as if the audience is looking down onto her. The use of high key lighting is used in this shot to create shadow,to enhance the realism of the shot, but as the camera pans round to capture a front view of the woman, high key lighting is no longer used, and instead low key lighting is used, to dim out the shadows, and enhance on the woman's facial features.
The use of leading lines is very important, as the viewer needs to be able to see the lines within an image that leads the eye to another point in the image, or occasionally, out of the image. This gives the shot a surreal atmosphere to it, therefore to make the viewer know exactly where the person has come from,and where the person is leading to. Ben L'oncle Soul has used the rule of the leading lines and has also successfully used the rule of the third person.
Third person is best described, when you picture your screen being divided into 3rds, and the person is within the first 3rd. This is best presented when the female walks back to the washing machine, as her body is placed within the first 3rd.
There is a shot within this music video which homages; pays tribute to the original version of Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes. In this shot,you see Ben L'oncle performing on the trumpet and the drums in front of the famous black and white triangular background, which was previously used in the White Stripes video.
This post is based on a textual analysis I done of Fountains of Wayne- Stacy's Mum. This video is based around narrative and performance, but the performance side of it is presented through abstract.
This music video portrays a very stereotypical American life within it, showing the ideal house, garden and pool outside. At the very beginning of the video, there is a shot taken of a foot tapping, which indicates the tapping coordinating with the rhythm of the song. A pan of the camera is then moved sideways, flashing images of several other pairs of feet. This tells the viewer that there is a queue of people waiting for something. It isn't until a red car pulls up, that the audience realises that the school children are waiting to be picked up.
This image presents the shot of the tapping foot in rhythm with the music.
Pan of the camera moving along to show the queue of people waiting to be picked up.
This video is mainly based around voyeurism which emphasises on the sexuality of "Stacy mom's" body features. In a specific shot, Stacy's mum is wearing a red bikini, which indicates the colour red meaning love; which the little boy desires for her. Several pans of Stacy's mums body are taken to flourish her feminine body, in order to contrast the difference between Stacy's body and her mum's body. These pans are also taken to fully satisfy the male audience. This is enhanced by the use of slow motion, to fully allow the shots to be clear, and to highlight the sexual tension. Not many shots of Stacy's mum's face are shown, as the shots taken of her are focused on the lower part of her body, such as her legs.
Low angle shot of the legs, to attract the male audience,and to portray her femininity.
Pan up of the camera, to portray her feminine body. Slow motion used to highlight the sexual tension.
Soft lighting is used throughout the entire video, to create a natural looking surrounding. However, at a certain part of the video, there are several shots which use harsh lighting, to create shadows, and to create the realistic atmosphere of the fierce and raunchy shot taken.
The use of harsh and high key lighting to create shadows. Also the use of back light, to enhance on creating the shadows, and to fully make Stacy's mum the most important aspect within this clip.
Whilst watching this music video, I realised that one of Goodwin's theories applied to it. This was his theory of the "notion of looking", which sees the viewer seeing the other person through something else (eg,camera, window, door). In a lot of the shots within this music video, Stacy's mum is seen by the young boy either through a window or a door.
The contrast shown between the two bodies of Stacy's mum and Stacy. This shot also portrays Goodwin's "notion of looking".
