codes & conventions

After looking at the develpment of techinical codes in music videos over time, these are the codes and conventions we are sticking to in our music video

Codes and conventions of the rock music genre

-          Camera work

·         Constant close ups of members of the band and their instruments

·         Low angle shots capture the lead singers/character and allow them to dominate the screen

·         Mid shots are used to show detailed movements - the character running  

·         Long shots are used to capture an overall image of the narrative of the video.

-          Editing

·         Editing goes at the same speed as the song

·         Speed of the editing also matches the narrative of the song

Intertextuality in our music video

As we looked at John Stuarts theory of intertextuality and from the results of our questionnaires which shows that alot of people are familiar with Linkin Park already, so a better likelihood that they will be familiar with the Somewhere I Belong. we will be using intertextuality within our video.

This is where our inspiration came from to use paper bags over our actors head. When i first looked into researching things we could use for intertextuality this really caught m y attention as it made Mike stand out more as opposed to the court filled with white caped people. this is what i thought we be good to show a difference i our character as to everyone else showing that their is something wrong with him and hes carring hidden secrets. In this video the participants are all wearing a white hooded cape, they are all dressed the same like a cult. People involved in a cult usually share a valued consensus, the regard themselves as being different because they are part of a cult which excludes itself from society that has different morals and values as to themselves.


We have decided to use paper bags over the actors head to show that they are all the same and our main character is different. we needed to make it clear from the start to the audience that their was a clear distinction between the two.

Linkin Park- Catalyst

In the video mike touches the screen and it starts to shakes, this is an effect we are planning on using in our video as its upbeat just like this chorus of the song that would be a great special effect to incorporate and make our video look more technical as we are using other forms of technology. 

The Issue of Bullying  

Bullying uses superior strength or influence to intimidate or abuse (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants. The behaviour can be habitual and involve an imbalance of social or physical power.

Types of bullying: 

1.Physical bullying includes any physical contact that would hurt or injure a person like hitting, kicking, punching, etc. Taking something that belongs to someone else and destroying it would also be considered a type of physical bullying.

2.Verbal bullying is name-calling, making offensive remarks, or joking about a person's religion, gender,sexuality, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or the way they look. Verbal aggression is when a bully teases someone. It can also include a bully making verbal threats of violence or aggression against someone's personal property.

3.Indirect bullying includes spreading rumors or stories about someone, telling others about something that was told to you in private, and excluding others from groups. indirect bullying does not physically hurt the person, but it can be very emotional for the victim. An example would be if you started a rumor that a boy in your class likes playing with dolls, and if the reason that you made up the story was because you thought it was funny. This would be indirect bullying. 

4. Social alienation is when a bully excludes someone from a group on purpose. It also includes a bully spreading rumors  public humiliation, gossiping , social rejection, threat of exclusion from a peer group, isolation and ethnic slur and also making fun of someone by pointing out their differences. This form of bullying can lead to poor body image, low self esteem and depression.

5. Intimidation is when a bully threatens someone else and frightens that person enough to make him or her do what the bully wants.

6. Cyber bullying is done by sending messages, pictures, or information using electronic media, computers (email & instant messages), or cell phones (text messaging & voice-mail . For instance, if you sent a picture of a snake in an email to a person because you know that they are afraid of snakes, that would be an example of cyber bullying  According to a survey done in 2003 only 4% of bullying is listed as "other types" and this would include cyber bullying  Even though this number seems small, the growth of this type of bullying is going up fast because of the spread of technology around the world.

Bullying facts- 

• Almost half of all children and young people (46%) say they've been bullied at some point in their life(2009). A victim of bullying is twice as likely to take his or her life compared to someone who is not a victim.
• 30,439 children called ChildLine in 2010/11 with 11% of calls about bullying.
• Bullying was the main reason boys called ChildLine. ( we are using a male protagonist)
• A survey on pupils in England estimates that 16,493 young people aged 11-15 are frequently absent from school because of bullying. 

Effects of bullying-

The effects of bullying can be severe to many of its victims.
Research shows that half of all children  are bullied during some time in their school life;more than 10% are bullied regularly. And here's a video to support this :

Effects are :

• felling afraid 
• depression/sadness
•  unable to sleep/having nightmares
•  performing badly at school/work
•  not wanting to go to school/work,
• loss of appetite
• stomach aches
• headaches
• acute asthma
•  eczema
• loss of self-confidence
• social anxiety disorder- SAD /phobia
• a temptation into bullying out of revenge
•   suicide caused by bullying.

 And here's a video to support this :

Children feel lost, isolated and depressed. They don't want to socialise with others. Their self esteem is dragged down and effects can haunt them until adulthood.  Some children even take it a step further to be completely free and commit suicide as they see it as the only way out. 

Amanda Todd is 10th grade student that went through years of bullying, depression and anxiety and then finally hung herself on October 10th 2012.  

Here's a link if you would like to read up further about this tragedy:

                        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Todd

Target Audience

Our target audience is mostly teens. From our research that we conducted in the 6th form that we attend, giving out questionnaires across the year groups to teenagers. We found that majority of people have or do listen to music. Based on our target audience of the age range 11-18, we've seen that this is the period during a teens life where they are most affected by bullying. 11 year olds start as small fishes in a big pond at a new big school (secondary) whilst 16 yr olds go onto college or 6th form with the same situation except its more to the working world of adults where they are solely dependent on themselves.
AGE: 11-18
DEMOGRAPHIC: unemployed students, probably working class. 

Representation

TEENS: the most crucial social group because the narrative and the issues are based around them.

MALES/FEMALES: Males are mainly the protagonists in rock music videos; we are sticking to the conventions. Females aren't portrayed in any way.

RACE: the majority of our characters will be wearing paper bags, accept the main character. We were undecided on who was the main character but due to convenience we were able to use Emmanuel Agyeman.  

Questionnaires

Linkin Park was the rock band that people were more familiar with than any other - this confirmed the choice of using Linkin Park as our band. We know that people are aware of the band, this shows there is a target audience that will be interested in our video.  

Majority of people said they have or do listen to rock music, Jahquani also went around and asked people whilst they were filling out the questionnaires. Those that do listen to rock music said they listen to it regularly- at least once a week.

In our generation we listen to music everyday intentionally or not, for example when we walk into shops music is playing.

This question shows that there is a target audience for a rock video.

We rarely see rock artists solo- therefore we associate Instruments with rock bands. There is a lead singer, guitarist, a drummer and a pianist. For example this is the band dynamic for Linkin Park. 

Dark, gothic, demonised items or places are related to rock and heavy metal music. We are going to follow the convention.

This question was based on Richard Dyer's utopian theory 

This is  Music videos providing solutions or compensation for inadequacies for the public. The question featured some of the inadequacies that Dyer outlined-exhausted. We didn't include any of the others as we believed that they weren't relevant for the rock video idea we had. 

The results show that the majority of those asked answered that rock music videos make them feel Energetic. This could be down to the bass and tempo of the song and the instruments being heard- as they are up tempo. Also we associate rock concerts with lots of jumping around and loud music, we expect to see the same in their music videos. 

We are not specifically focusing on making our target audience energetic or make them jump around whilst watching our video; we will try to incorporate things that will make them use their brain

(What is coming next).

The results also show that a lot of people thought rock videos make them depressed- we have taken this into account and have incorporated this into our storyboard/plans. For example we have the basic idea of showing the narrative of a boy who is 'One step to the edge'.....

Concerts are energetic

After discussions with the group we decided to use the song One step Closer. As you can see 52% of those asked said they had heard the song for but nearly an equal amount said they hadn't (48%). 

This song featured on Linkin Park's first album- Hybrid Theory. Many successful songs came from this album, one reason why the song we chose may not have been that famous is because it was overshadowed Numb.  This is a very popular song by the band.

On the other hand people may have bought the album because of numb, therefore hearing the song.

As we have evidence that our target audience know the song we will continue to use it.  

The people who answered questionnaires chose bold and colourful as the lighting they prefer to see. I think we should use this to show a contrast and go against the codes and conventions of a rock video. We are used to seeing dark, black and white videos- using colour will be unique. 

dark

Majority of people said fast pace transitions- this would be a effective way of showing the theme of the song.

The song we have chosen is upbeat with an edgy feel, fast pace transitions would compliment the anger, frustration that the character is feeling.

Majority of people said no- they don’t think rock videos portray women in a negative way. This included seeing them being sexualised, portrayed in a stereotypical way, or seeing them as being weak. Many rock video don’t contain images that sexualise women, they mainly focus on men. These men can be part of the band or be the main characters in the narrative story however in Linkin Park - Numb the main protagonist was a girl.

One person in particular wrote on their questionnaire this isn’t R'n'B; this shows that the audience have already associated the sexualisation of women with another genre.

We are sticking with the codes and conventions of rock videos as we are not choosing to portray women in a negative way. Our main protagonist will be male.

Categories of Music Videos

There are three main categories of Music Videos:

1.    Performance based videos

2.    Narrative based videos

3.    Concept based

1.     Performance based video

Performance based videos consist mostly of the band performing throughout the video, showing the band at live performances or in a studio.

Linkin Park uses this in their "Faint" music video.

The video, directed by Mark Romanek and shot in downtown LA, consists of the band performing in front of an audience and a floodlight. This puts them at the centre of attention showing that they  need to be heard even though they aren’t seen concealing mystery towards them as to why they don’t want to be seen. It can also be a representation of them not being seen within their record label as who they actually are. The silhouettes show them as figures performing for an audience as if they are programmed to do it. The audience is consisted of members from the LPU. Almost the entire video is shot from behind the band, allowing the strong lighting to portray them in silhouettes. Therefore, the faces of the band are not shown throughout most of the video, except at the final chorus where the band is then shown from the front after Chester shouts the last chorus shouting that they are there, they will be seen, they will be heard as them the representation of Linkin park. They perform in front of a derelict building structure with graffiti, such as a monstrous version of the Hybrid Theory Soldier and some Linkin Park symbols. The wall symbolized the background of them; they've worked from the streets up to concerts which is the audience and flashing lights in front of them and now they deserve the recognition as Linkin Park not the product of a record label.

2.      Narrative Based Videos

Narrative based videos have a story line throughout the whole video; it contains mostly footage that attempts to tell a story through moving images. The story is sometimes linked to the lyrical content.

Within Linkin Park’s ‘Crawling’ video narrative based concepts can be seen.  In the video he says ‘I can’t find myself again the walls are closing in’ the video then shows a girl surrounded by a transparent sharp objects that are closing in on her as if she is trap like the lyrics say.  Another lyric says ‘ I've felt this way before so insecure’ the actor in the shower on the floor going into a tight ball implying that she is insecure and scared. Therefore throughout this video lyrics are portrayed to the audience.

  

                                                                      

                    

3.     Concept based videos

These music videos are usually based around one concept or idea. these types of videos are fairly unusual or utilize a particular editing or filming technique.

A video that applies to concept based videos is Linkin Parks ‘Catalyst’.  The idea is to show some sort of battle field between the civilians (public) and masked persons who represent the police force. Its has people consumed by smoke running around, through colourful powder, people wearing gas mask, Chester singing in water with the camera angles being rotated around and in symmetrical view showing a reflection on the water whilst Mike is hooded in a car singing then to the band playing in the smoke as well. Whereas the lyrics say:

‘God bless us everyone
We're a broken people living under loaded gun
And it can't be outfought
It can't be out done
It can't be out matched
it can’t be out run

No’

This is a contrast to the lyrics making it random.

           

       

                           

   

Media Theories

Media Theories

Effect theory-
(Hypodermic Syringe, Inoculation)

What media does to audiences, ‘what are you injecting into your audience?’

Dating from the 1920s, this theory was the first attempt to explain how mass audiences might react to mass media. It suggests that audiences passively receive the information transmitted via a media text, without any attempt on their part to process or challenge the data. Don't forget that this theory was developed in an age when the mass media were still fairly new - radio and cinema were less than two decades old. Governments had just discovered the power of advertising to communicate a message, and produced propaganda to try and sway populaces to their way of thinking.

This was widely done by Hitler and Nazis Germany by manipulating the media to go against a race showing just how powerful the mass media can be.

This theory suggests that, as an audience, we are manipulated by the creators of media texts, and that our behaviour and thinking might be easily changed by media-makers. It assumes that the audience are passive and heterogeneous. This theory is still quoted during  moral panics by parents, politicians and pressure groups, and is used to explain why certain groups in society should not be exposed to certain media texts (comics in the 1950s, rap music in the 2000s), for fear that they will watch or read sexual or violent behaviour and will then act them out themselves.

For example the Frankfurt School: Marxist German Intellectual reacting against Nazis propaganda. Hitler used posters and pictures in newspapers to promote women staying at home, men going to war and children hating Jews. These posters were everywhere so the public had no choice but to consume the information.

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The rise of TV in the 50s and 60s: fear of danger to children. Influence of behavioural scientist Pavlov and his study of dogs; he found that dogs produced saliva when they heard a bell because they had associated the bell with food. In connotation with media and audiences media makes people dependent e.g. we hear the Eastenders theme tune without seeing it but we know its 8pm and the channel is on BBC 1.

Moral panic: concern, hostility, consensus, disproportionality.

(2 step)

MEDIA TEXTS ----------- OPINION LEAERS ---------- MEDIA CONSUMERS

Criticisms

Violence problems are social and psychological not as a result of the media.

Media can be positive, not just corruptive like the theory suggests.

Criticism of the media using this model is often politically motivated.

Uses & Gratification –

What audience do with the media challenging it?

During the 1960’s audiences were made up of individuals who activity consumed text for different reasons.

·         Surveillance – the surveillance need is based around the idea that people feel better knowing that they have knowledge of what’s going on in the world. This awareness makes us feel more secure.

·         Personal identity - the personal identity need explains how being a subject of the media allows us to reaffirm the identity and positioning of ourselves within society. An example of this is in soaps; the characters are usually designed to have widely differently characteristics, so that everyone can find someone to represent them, someone to aspire to and someone to despise. You could find a character that seems ‘cool’ and leads a lifestyle you would like; this could help you set your own goals. Or if you find a character that you don’t like, you could pick out their bad habits and make sure you don’t act like that.

·         Personal Relationships –

1.      Relationships with the media, many people use the television as a form of companionship. The television is often quite an intimate experience, by watching the same people on a regular basis we can feel quite close to them – we grieve, cry, smile and laugh with them,

2.      Using the media within relationship, we can use the media as a spring board to form and build upon relationships with real people. When families came together to watch TV it can be used as a stimulus for conversation.

·         Diversion – this can be termed as an escapism, using media can help us forget about our own lives and problems for a while we think of something else. The media can give us emotional release and also sexual arousal, which includes sex scenes.

Since then, the list of Uses and Gratifications has been extended, particularly as new media forms have come along (e.g. video games, the internet).

Criticisms:
We may not have an option in what we watch.
Ignores any aspects of the Effects Theories. 
Ignores socio-economic factors.

 3. Reception Theory

This work was based on Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding model of the relationship between text and audience - the text is encoded by the producer, and decoded by the reader, and there may be major differences between two different readings of the same code. However, by using recognised codes and conventions, and by drawing upon audience expectations relating to aspects such as genre and use of stars, the producers can position the audience and thus create a certain amount of agreement on what the code means. This is known as a preferred reading. 4. Cultivation Theory

This theory considers the way the media affects attitudes rather than behaviour. The media is seen as part of our socialisation process. The repetition attitudes, ideas may become 'naturalised'.
For example a person who watches a lot of crime shows will eventually believe that there is a lot of violent crime in the city that they live.
'Viewers who watch more Television will be more influenced than those who watch less'. Categorized Television Viewers:
- Heavy viewers (watch TV more than 4 hours)
- Light viewers(watch TV less than 4 hour

Television - 'Cultural Construct'                                 
Mainstream: The common current thought of the majority.
Blurring: Constant exposure to the same images
Blending: Mixing of fiction and the real world.Bending:  Reflection of TV fiction.

Criticisms:
Simplistic- ignores complexity of nature.
Society's views can be affected by other variables.



These theories have been backed up by events that have recently happened- 'Demonised Media Texts'

  Child's Play (1988) was blamed for influencing the murder of Jamie Bulger.This horror movie is notorious for its links to the 1993 murder of three year old Jamie Bulger, in Liverpool,

England. The 10 year old killers, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, supposedly saw the film, and imitated a scene where a victim is splashed with blue paint.
- Marilyn Manson was blamed for the Columbine High School shootings. Two Columbine High School students walked into their school in Littleton, Colorado, shot and killed thirteen people, and injured twenty-three others before turning the guns on themselves.

Richard Dyer's Utopian Solutions Theory
Inadequacy             Poverty                Confusion             Exhaustion               Isolation
Solution                 Abundance            Clarity                  Energy                     Community

This solution gives people a choice of compensation for the inadequacies in their own lives.
3 reasons why audiences choose to consume media
1) social tension
2) inadequacies
3) absence Andrew Goodwin

He has a number of points that are included in music video

Music Videos demonstrate genre characteristics- e.g. dance routines for boy or girl bands. Choreographed dance sequences and interest in the opposite sex.

There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (illustrative, amplifying, and contradicting).

The tone and atmosphere of the visuals reflects that of the music. You can’t have a sad heartbreaking song and have people jumping around happily in the video.

The demands of the record label will include the need for close ups of the artist and may develop motifs which reoccur across their work.

There is frequently reference to notion of looking. There are often Intertextuality reference to TV Programmes, other music videos etc.

Laura Mulvey's Feminist Film Theory and Audiences

·         Cinema reflects society with reflects a patriarchal society.

·         Erotic Desire- Women have 2 roles in media- as an objective of desire for the characters & for the audience.

·         The Male Gaze :

- the gaze of the camera is the male gaze
- the male gaze is active, the female is passive
-The spectator is made to identify with the gaze because the camera films from the optical and libidinal point of view.
-3 levels - camera, character and spectator (triple gaze)

Out of these theorist we used Andrew Goodwin's theory as it best suited our storyboard. He talks about there being a relationship between lyrics and visuals so we incorporated this into our video by using a narrative that linked in with the song and also by adding lip syncing to give a better understanding of what's going on between the song and the narrative. 

Laura Mulvey's theory didn't apply to ours as females did not take a key role in ours, neither were they portrayed as the objective of desire. Our protagonist is male so then this theory is not useful to our group.