Individual Target Setting Chart
Tuesday 20 October 2015
Monday 19 October 2015
Sunday 11 October 2015
Mid-Term Progress Outline
Assignments and Key Terms Developed:
Mid-Term Progress Check
Narrative Theory
- Todorov, Propp, Levi-Strauss
Example evaluation
Mid-Term Progress Check
Narrative Theory
- Todorov, Propp, Levi-Strauss
Example evaluation
Example textual analysis of one shot in 'The Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be' music video
Artist/Song: The Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be
Director: Michel Gondry
Year:1999
The overexposed medium shot of seven dancers holding up increasingly sized printed cardboard cut-outs one of the dancers' faces illustrates a post-modern simulation of character, and an homage to Andy Warhol's 'Campbell's Soup Cans' where repetition is used for conceptual artistic effect. The copy-of-a-copy-of-a-copy style is one of Gondry's favourite effects in his works, also reminiscent of Kylie's 'Come Into My World' music video (intertextual reference) where doppelgangers of Kylie appear on a carousel-like repetition of the same sequence with slight alterations. The audience appreciates the whimsically absurdist spectacle that Gondry specialises in. Gondry may be an acquired taste and not every audience member will appreciate his style, but it is clear that he has cult appeal in counter-cultural institutions, for a distinctive aesthetic and ambitious use of props and staged mise-en-scene.
Example application of Andrew Goodwin's 6 key features of a music video
Video Selection: UNKLE - Rabbit In Your Headlights (feat. Thom Yorke)
Director: Jonathan Glazer; Actor: Denis Lavant; Year: 1998
Video synopsis
A man wearing a heavy parka walks along the middle of the road in a busy car tunnel. He mumbles, shouts incoherently and seems to be losing his mind. Cars honk and swerve out of his way. One car crashes into him and continues to drive off. The man gets up and starts walking again as if nothing has happened. Another car hits him and watches with contempt as man rolls on the floor. He gets up again. Cars swerve until one car tries to help him, but the man ignores them until they drive off. The man becomes increasingly crazy, shouting louder and grabbing his face. More accidents occur, some cars honk, some swerve, none stop. The man removes his parka and throws it to the ground. He is shirtless underneath. He has bruises and cuts. He stop and opens his arms in a crucifix-like position. A car hits the man, but this time, he stands unmoved and the car is destroyed on impact.
1) Genre characteristics
Ambient, electronic, alternative, trip hop - the video has monochrome visuals, a bleak style in an industrial modern context with a mysterious lead character.
2) Relationship between lyrics and visuals
"I'm a rabbit in your headlights"
Relates to the cars driving by in the tunnel.
"Christian suburbanite"
Relates to his crucifix-like posture at the end of the video.
"Washed down the toilet"
Relates to the lack of respect drivers have for the homeless man as if he is garbage.
"White worms on the underground"
Relates to being in a car tunnel, although the white worms are metaphorical.
"I'm losing my patience"Relates to the impatient drivers who mistreat the man in the tunnel.
"Sucking your soul away"
Relates to the poor treatment by the drivers towards the man, as if they are affecting his state of mind.
3) Relationship between music and visuals
Thom Yorke's lyrics are dreary and moody. The cinematography is also grey, drab and colourless. In the climactic scene of the video, the music swells in a loud rock anthem, echoing the moment of magic realism when the car impacts with the motionless man.
4) Demands of the recording label
Mo Wax Recordings / A&M Records Ltd. London - Independent record label that encourages subversive meanings in music videos and wants to challenge the audience rather than adhering to the mainstream consumption of popular music.
5) Frequency reference to notion of looking
Passers-by stare at the unusual man walking in the tunnel. Point-of-view shots show drivers giving a direct address stare to the camera which is meant to represent the eyeline of the character walking. In one shot after he has fallen after being hit by a car, there is a high-angle direct address shot that shows the perspective of the hopeless victim looking at the malevolent attacker. The final shot where the main remains motionless in Christ-like pose whilst the car crumples into him on impact, he stares directly at the camera and at the viewer. Eye contact has a profound effect throughout the video.
6) Intertextual Reference
The track takes its title from the 1990 thriller film 'Jacob's Ladder' with its dialogue sampled in the song.
Video imagery is an homage to Alan's Clarke's 'Made in Britain'. In that film, the actor Tim Roth walks down a London tunnel shirtless whilst cars drive by honking their horns.
Director: Jonathan Glazer; Actor: Denis Lavant; Year: 1998
A man wearing a heavy parka walks along the middle of the road in a busy car tunnel. He mumbles, shouts incoherently and seems to be losing his mind. Cars honk and swerve out of his way. One car crashes into him and continues to drive off. The man gets up and starts walking again as if nothing has happened. Another car hits him and watches with contempt as man rolls on the floor. He gets up again. Cars swerve until one car tries to help him, but the man ignores them until they drive off. The man becomes increasingly crazy, shouting louder and grabbing his face. More accidents occur, some cars honk, some swerve, none stop. The man removes his parka and throws it to the ground. He is shirtless underneath. He has bruises and cuts. He stop and opens his arms in a crucifix-like position. A car hits the man, but this time, he stands unmoved and the car is destroyed on impact.
1) Genre characteristics
Ambient, electronic, alternative, trip hop - the video has monochrome visuals, a bleak style in an industrial modern context with a mysterious lead character.
2) Relationship between lyrics and visuals
"I'm a rabbit in your headlights"
Relates to the cars driving by in the tunnel.
"Christian suburbanite"
Relates to his crucifix-like posture at the end of the video.
"Washed down the toilet"
Relates to the lack of respect drivers have for the homeless man as if he is garbage.
"White worms on the underground"
Relates to being in a car tunnel, although the white worms are metaphorical.
"I'm losing my patience"Relates to the impatient drivers who mistreat the man in the tunnel.
"Sucking your soul away"
Relates to the poor treatment by the drivers towards the man, as if they are affecting his state of mind.
3) Relationship between music and visuals
Thom Yorke's lyrics are dreary and moody. The cinematography is also grey, drab and colourless. In the climactic scene of the video, the music swells in a loud rock anthem, echoing the moment of magic realism when the car impacts with the motionless man.
4) Demands of the recording label
Mo Wax Recordings / A&M Records Ltd. London - Independent record label that encourages subversive meanings in music videos and wants to challenge the audience rather than adhering to the mainstream consumption of popular music.
5) Frequency reference to notion of looking
Passers-by stare at the unusual man walking in the tunnel. Point-of-view shots show drivers giving a direct address stare to the camera which is meant to represent the eyeline of the character walking. In one shot after he has fallen after being hit by a car, there is a high-angle direct address shot that shows the perspective of the hopeless victim looking at the malevolent attacker. The final shot where the main remains motionless in Christ-like pose whilst the car crumples into him on impact, he stares directly at the camera and at the viewer. Eye contact has a profound effect throughout the video.
6) Intertextual Reference
The track takes its title from the 1990 thriller film 'Jacob's Ladder' with its dialogue sampled in the song.
Video imagery is an homage to Alan's Clarke's 'Made in Britain'. In that film, the actor Tim Roth walks down a London tunnel shirtless whilst cars drive by honking their horns.
Important clips in relation to post-modernism
What is modernism?
What is postmodernism?
Baudrillard - Ideas and Concepts
Examples of Intertextuality
What is a meta-narrative?
What is deconstruction?
What is semiotics?
What is post-structuralism?
Theorists
Lyotard - 'language games'
Baudrillard - 'simulacra and simulation'
Jameson - 'cultural logic' and 'structures of feeling'
Chomsky - 'manufactured consent'
Other related terms:
Hall-of-mirrors/paradox, hierarchies of taste, bricolage, truth as merely a concept, alienated society, lack of causality (non-linear), pastiche, satire, parody, homage, magic realism, irony, hyper-reality, temporal distortion, artifice, authenticity, culture 'eats itself', Emperor's New Clothes effect, ambiguity of meaning, blurred boundaries, scepticism, aesthetics
Other important philosophical concepts to consider:
Feminism - Documentary - Miss Representation
Marxism - A Brief Introduction
Propaganda - What is propaganda?
Capitalism and Socialism - Crash Course
Perception is Believing - Crash Course
Ideology - What is a political ideology?
Postmodern films
Godard, Bazin and Truffaut's 'Cahiers du Cinema' influence on postmodernism:
Breathless, Band of Outsiders, The 400 Blows, 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
'The Matrix' (1999) - Blue Pill or Red Pill
- simulacra and simulation
'They Live' (1988) - Sunglasses Scene
- deconstruction, semiotics
Zizek, Ideology and 'They Live' (1988)
- deconstruction, semiotics, ideology
'(500) Days of Summer' (2009) - Expectations/Reality Scene
- simulation
Analysis of 'Blade Runner' (1982)
- simulacra and simulation
Why is 'Pulp Fiction' (1994) postmodern?
- intertextuality, metanarrative, causality
'Pulp Fiction' (1994) - Dance Scene
- intertextuality
'Dancer in the Dark' (2000) - Factory
- pastiche/homage, bricolage
'Inception' (2010) - Ariadne Learns How To Build Dreams
- hall-of-mirrors, metanarrative
'Fight Club' (1999) - The Things You Own End Up Owning You
- culture 'eats itself', metanarrative
Analysis of 'Memento' (2000) by the director Christopher Nolan
- metanarrative
Anatomy of a Scene of 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' (2013) with director Wes Anderson
- hierarchies of taste
'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' (2004) - Brain Scan Scene
- self-conscious, hyper-reality
'Donnie Darko' (2001) - School Corridor Scene
- intertextuality, bricolage
'The Truman Show' (1998) - Being Spontaneous
- truth is merely a concept
'Shaun of the Dead' (2004) - Record Collection
- intertextuality, parody
'Be Kind Rewind' (2008) - Montage
- intertextuality, parody
Postmodern music videos
Madonna - Like a Prayer
- bricolage, semiotics, deconstructing, subversive, simulation
Lady Gaga - Telephone
- intertextuality, bricolage, hierarchies of taste
R Kelly - Trapped in the Closet Episode 1
- parody, intertextuality, hyper-reality
Eminem - Stan
- subversion, metanarrative, truth is merely a concept
Wiley - Numbers In Action
- simulation, self-conscious, repetition
Radiohead - Just
- cynicism, alienation, truth is merely a concept
UNKLE - Rabbit In Your Headlights
- alienation, subversion, bricolage, magic realism
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
- cynicism, intertextuality, hierarchies of taste, semiotics
Beastie Boys - Sabotage
- pastiche/parody, intertextuality, hierarchies of taste, bricolage
Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice
- magic realism, hyper-reality, hierarchies of taste
Blur - Coffee and TV
- culture eats itself, hyper-reality/simulation
Chemical Brothers - Do It Again
- subversion, bricolage
Michael Jackson - Thriller
- self-conscious, culture eats itself, metanarrative
Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers
- subversion, metanarrative, simulation, hierarchies of taste
Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian At Best
- subversion, hierarchies of taste, paradox
OK Go - Here It Goes Again
- bricolage, high concept
Kylie - Come Into My World
- simulation, metanarrative, hall-of-mirrors, bricolage
Nicki Minaj - Anaconda
- subversion, hierarchies of taste, bricolage, semiotics, hyper-reality
The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face
- hyper-reality, hierarchies of taste, hybridity, persona
Justin Bieber - Where Are You Now
- hierarchies of taste, bricolage, culture eats itself
Faithless - Insomnia
- metanarrative, simulation, subversion
Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
- subversion, semiotics, intertextuality, bricolage, hierarchies of taste, self-conscious, alienation, hyper-reality
Dresden Dolls - Coin-Operated Boy
- bricolage, hierarchies of taste, semiotics, subversive, metanarrative, simulation
Justice - D.A.N.C.E.
- simulation, bricolage, culture eats itself, hierarchies of taste, self-conscious, deconstruction
Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box
- subversion, truth is merely a concept, culture eats itself, alienation, hierarchies of taste, self conscious
Blink 182 - All The Small Things
- parody, bricolage, culture eats itself
Rage Against The Machine - Sleep Now In The Fire
- counter-propaganda, deconstruction, subversion, simulation
Postmodern comedy
Stewart Lee - Joe Pasquale joke
Demetri Martin - Flip Chart
Daniel Kitson - Maverick
The Colbert Report - Interviewed by Bill O'Reilly
Between Two Ferns - Zach Galifianakis (host), Barack Obama (guest)
Nina Conti - Ventriloquist Sketch
Flight of the Conchords - Hiphoppapotamus
The Office - David Brent's Dance
Monty Python - He's Not The Messiah
SNL Sketch - Poehler and Fey as Clinton and Palin
The Daily Show with Jessica Williams - The Hate Class of 2015
Introductory Resources for St. Anne's A2 Media Pupils 2015/16
Click on the following links for helpful resources related to your study and development:
1 - A2 Media Studies Booklet
2 - Textual Analysis Template
3 - Storyboard Template
4 - Portfolio To Do List
5 - Ideology Graph
6 - A2 Media Spec Overview
1 - A2 Media Studies Booklet
2 - Textual Analysis Template
3 - Storyboard Template
4 - Portfolio To Do List
5 - Ideology Graph
6 - A2 Media Spec Overview
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