Masculine Identity

George Michael- Faith  

50 Cent- In da Club

                                                                             

   Sean Paul ft Santana- Cry Baby Cry

Rizzle Kicks- When I was a Youngster

                                                 

George Michael:

• Representation of homosexuality
• Promotes a lifestyle choice in terms of dress and appearance with the earing and leather jackets etc
• Shows an individual with the ability to make his own choices

50 Cent:

• Muscular male not affraid to show it
• Strong dominant presence
• Shown as a leader and tested in a lab to understand why he is the best
• Getting ladies is easy for him

Sean Paul:

• Shown as the weaker in this video
• The woman has the control in the relationship as he fights to keep it together
• Representation of a man who is struggling in life to keep his love
• Has the lesser voice in argument with the girlfriend

Rizzle Kicks:

• Showing of youth and care free lifestyle
• Enjoying the memorys of what they wanted to be when they were younger
• Generally having a good time trying to block out all the bad
• Immaturity in a fun sense and that you dont have to loose the child in you.

Music Video with Intertextual References

This is 'Pork and Beans' by Weezer which couldn't have more post modern intertextual references:





1. What makes this MV post-modern?


The entire video is a parody of successful and well known youtube videos that went viral. The video and song in this case is a rebellion against a majority of popular culture and 'doing the things that you want to do' rather than following the crowd to be 'cool' experimenting with the representation of reality and taking on a different view on the world. It puts across the idea that being different is a good think and not being taken hold by the hands of the media and thier institution. The use of utterly ridiculous youtube videos helps to show this as the self generated content of individuals who want to be different and try new things become internet sensations and if you have ever been on youtube you are sure to recognise many of the clips that have been parodied some of which with the original people in them.      

2. Analyse intertextual references.


This video is full to the brim with intertextual references mainly from popular youtube clips many that people will recognise from thier use of the website. All the clip references in the video were viral and therefore well known and loved by much of the youtube community. Some of the youtube clips have been used to show that being different is fun, interesting and not necessarily a bad thing. For example the boy with the glasses and the microphone at centre left of the picture board below who is famous for singing his song 'Chocolate Rain' is different as he has a substantially low and bazaar singing voice and style. 'Numa Numa' at the very bottom right is known for his interpretation and miming of a famous Eastern European song in a funny and embarrassing manner on webcam and became famous for it. Furthermore the Ninja/karate man is known for his hilarious fail at the martial arts and the viewers laugh at this, despite being to bad he is content to continue his routine.

3. What impact do the intertextual references have on the audience?


They at first hand are used for humorous reasons and also to give the audience flashback moments making them say for example ' i remember that video, its so funny'. I then think many of the videos have been used to reflect the audience for what they really are meaning that we all have qualities that are different some of which people will think are weird and its not a bad thing to exploit these qualities as that is what makes us human. I think that is why the intertextual references have been used in backing up the message the lyrics promote.  

Album Covers Research

What are the typical features of an album cover?

• The artist name will be situated somewhere on the front, generally quite easy to see.
• The album name is usually next to the artist name but in smaller writing.
• The focal pint is always around the center of the cover.
• If the artist is on the cover of the album they are usually next to the name and very prominant.
• The text on the cover is in a prominant and font that helps to brand the artist.
• Albums without the artist on the cover will generally have a picture of the artist somewhere on the album and on the cover will be and arty picture with links to the artist some being very abstract.
• Bar code and copyright information on the back.
• Track names and sometimes time codes on the back cover.
• Dates and companies/ record labels also on the back cover.

How can you catagorise the covers infront of you?

I would catagorise them into 2 main groups with then more specific groupings below them. One group would be artist on the cover with any style which could then be split into covers with artist in a photographic sense such as Sean Paul with some minipulation and then an absrtact or arty form of the artist such as the Bonkers and Calvin Harris albums.

The other catagory would be an art style that represents the album and artist which is generally abstrct setting an inticing scene to the viewer. That would then be split into the catagories of abstract, photography and people which can overlap. For example photography applies to the Bloc Party and Blur albums, abstract to the Bassment Jaxx and Oasis albums and people applies to the Muse, Nivana and Blink 182 albums.

What are the functions of album covers?

The main function of course is to market the album and artist through attracting and targeting the relevant audience. The main way the covers do this is through being different and prominant so they will stand out in record store shelve and people are going to be more curious about picking an album up if the cover is attractive or raises questions like 'why did the artist choose this cover?'.

This is Canadian band Billy Talent's first album named after the band. 

Deconstruction

Images used: The layout is fairly simple as is the colour sheme for the front cover as is the back. The colours of red, cream and black on the front make it stand out especially with red being a dominant colour that will stand out on the shelves. They are a Canadian band so there may be a link between the colour scheme on the front and thier nation. The design shows the band walking towards the viewer away from a splat of some sort in the background that could be interpretaded as a hole or the sun and many other things raising questions from the audience. The colour scheme on the back is also simple of just orange, yellow and black which also helps to make the album stand out. The image is a highly saturated and colourised photograph of the band having a chat which advertises the band.

Text used: The font is the same throughout in terms of track names and band name which reflects the punky genre of the band which slightly off centre and twisted lettering which is very subtle. This bold and clear lettering helps the album to stand out and appeals to the right audience and is typical of a début album. The back and front covers of this above album and all their aspects help to advertise the album and artist and help to make it stand out on the shelf for a passer by to investigate.

Research a director: Marc Klasfeld

Marc Klasfeld is an American music video director and has over two hundred music videos  to his name. He has worked with many globally recognised artists from the likes of Katy Perry, Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sum 41, Avril Lavigne and many more. Marc is some what of a superstar himself with multiple MTV awards and nominations throughout his career. He also directs and produces commercials for American TV advertising which have also brought him success.

I have picked two videos that he has produced to talk about: 




I picked 'In too deep' by Sum 41 as I  like both the song and the music video. The video is memorable because of its comic value that is typical of Sum 41 videos. Putting what look like nerdy punks against jocks in a diving competition makes for a great and funny narrative. The video puts forward that the underdogs are better to watch win and nerds fighting back against bully's. The atmosphere of the video is very American college pool party and all about having fun which creates aspiration for the audience to be there as part of the crowd.

The performance in my mind couldn't have taken place in a better location. There is irony song being called 'In too deep' and the performance taking place at the bottom of a dried out swimming pool with a crowd of adolescents encroaching around. It also makes for a great atmospheric feel with great weather also emitting a sense happiness and fun throughout. In terms of the dives the director couldn't have been more creative and hilarious at the same time which is a real selling point to the video. The video has an effect of no matter what mood your in it will still give you a lift.



I picked this video by Flo Rida mainly because of some of the incorporated lighting effects and also much of the dancing that takes place in the video. Although about a third of the shots are derived from the film Step Up 3 (the song being made for the film) the actual shots for the music video try to blend in. If you hadn't seen the film before then you may not know the shots are from the film. The lighting is consistent with a scanning white/blue plasma travelling across the screen throughout the video. When the pace of the music is slow there are fades in the editing and when the beat kicks in then it is cut to the beat which is a common music video technique which could be bought to mind when editing our own video.

Marc Klasfeld's work may help to give our group a good idea on how to produce our own video this a large variety of genres and artists videos to his name and consistently producing new and unique videos for world renowned artists. Our group I think can take a lot of inspiration from Marc's diverse work and possibly pick good parts to use in our video. For example some of the editing and effects can be taken into mind for our video that were used in the Flo Rida video as heavy use of lighting and colouration has been proposed as part of my groups initial idea. 

Music That Defines Me

Blast from the past...



Around year 6, when I was 12, I first heard this song and its a head-banger for sure. Its got rebellious immature teen written all over it! I picked Fat lip as at the time I was into the modern american punk rebel rock with artist such as Greenday making a name for themselves globally and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers releasing thier (in my opinion) best album Stadium Arcadium. I loved and still do love Sum 41 for thier comic and 'lets do something stupid for a laugh' music and music videos. Fat lip is my song from the past for its 'lets go absolutely mental' take on life.

Could listen forever...



Despite being older than Sum 41 as I matured I came to also love Brit Pop as well as many other genres of music. The sounds of Blur and Oasis have something unique and very British about them which is known globally. In this time I also became a fan of listening to embarrassingly long songs that if I played and people didn't like they would have to ride it out. Some people may listen to Beetlebum and think dreary but its one of those songs that grows on you. When I saw this song played at Glastonbury on the TV in 2008 I clocked a ridiculous amount of time with this on repeat. Sorry I'm sad.  

Its only good if you turn it up!!!



Over the last few years I have discovered and come to adore electronic dance and bass music, loving all areas from house to trance, dubstep to drum and bass. I got more into this music through youtube and taking up opportunities to go to 16+ events and dance festivals such as LED festival in Victoria Park just a few months ago. I do like a good dance to be perfectly honest and anyone who doesn't is probably lying or hasn't lived. Less to do with lyrics and more to do with rhythm this music is best at full volume at a party. Strobe by Deadmau5 is an absolute banger, with a build up of a mere 6 minuets 48 seconds it can annoy the hell out of my parents as I insist on playing it loud. You make what you want of the music and I just love the synth atmospherics. Seeing this live was one of the coolest experiences of my life so far!