Going on Holiday

Yeah, I'm going on holiday tomorrow morning (really early) until August the 2nd. Soooo I shall not be active with blogging until then I should imagine. Just thought I'd say here as well as on the group blog.

Off to do emergency last minute packing...

-Angela

Here's your group work on Marketing!

Film Noir Films

To watch

Film Noir

Taken from website: www.filmsite.org/film.

Primary Characteristics and Conventions of Film Noir: Themes and Styles
The primary moods of classic film noir were melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt, desperation and paranoia.
Heroes (or anti-heroes), corrupt characters and villains included down-and-out, conflicted hard-boiled detectives or private eyes, cops, gangsters, government agents, a lone wolf, socio-paths or killers, crooks, war veterans, politicians, petty criminals, murderers, or just plain Joes. These protagonists were often morally-ambiguous low-lifes from the dark and gloomy underworld of violent crime and corruption. Distinctively, they were cynical, tarnished, obsessive (sexual or otherwise), brooding, menacing, sinister, sardonic, disillusioned, frightened and insecure loners (usually men), struggling to survive - and in the end, ultimately losing.

Storylines were often elliptical, non-linear and twisting. Narratives were frequently complex, maze-like and convoluted, and typically told with foreboding background music, flashbacks (or a series of flashbacks), witty, razor-sharp and acerbic dialogue, and/or reflective and confessional, first-person voice-over narration. Amnesia suffered by the protagonist was a common plot device, as was the downfall of an innocent Everyman who fell victim to temptation or was framed. Revelations regarding the hero were made to explain/justify the hero's own cynical perspective on life.

Film noir films (mostly shot in gloomy grays, blacks and whites) thematically showed the dark and inhumane side of human nature with cynicism and doomed love, and they emphasized the brutal, unhealthy, seamy, shadowy, dark and sadistic sides of the human experience. An oppressive atmosphere of menace, pessimism, anxiety, suspicion that anything can go wrong, dingy realism, futility, fatalism, defeat and entrapment were stylized characteristics of film noir. The protagonists in film noir were normally driven by their past or by human weakness to repeat former mistakes.

Film noir films were marked visually by expressionistic lighting, deep-focus or depth of field camera work, disorienting visual schemes, jarring editing or juxtaposition of elements, ominous shadows, skewed camera angles (usually vertical or diagonal rather than horizontal), circling cigarette smoke, existential sensibilities, and unbalanced or moody compositions. Settings were often interiors with low-key (or single-source) lighting, venetian-blinded windows and rooms, and dark, claustrophobic, gloomy appearances. Exteriors were often urban night scenes with deep shadows, wet asphalt, dark alleyways, rain-slicked or mean streets, flashing neon lights, and low key lighting. Story locations were often in murky and dark streets, dimly-lit and low-rent apartments and hotel rooms of big cities, or abandoned warehouses. [Often-times, war-time scarcities were the reason for the reduced budgets and shadowy, stark sets of B-pictures and film noirs.]

Some of the most prominent directors of film noir included Orson Welles, John Huston, Billy Wilder, Edgar Ulmer, Douglas Sirk, Robert Siodmak, Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, Henry Hathaway and Howard Hawks.

Femmes Fatales in Film Noir:
The females in film noir were either of two types (or archetypes) - dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femmes fatales - mysterious, duplicitous, double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, tough-sweet, unreliable, irresponsible, manipulative and desperate women. Usually, the male protagonist in film noir wished to elude his mysterious past, and had to choose what path to take (or have the fateful choice made for him).

Invariably, the choice would be an overly ambitious one, to follow the dangerous but desirable wishes of these dames. It would be to pursue the goadings of a traitorous, self-destructive femme fatale who would lead the struggling, disillusioned, and doomed hero into committing murder or some other crime of passion coupled with twisted love. When the major character was a detective or private eye, he would become embroiled and trapped in an increasingly-complex, convoluted case that would lead to fatalistic, suffocating evidences of corruption, irresistible love and death. The femme fatale, who had also transgressed societal norms with her independent and smart, menacing actions, would bring both of them to a downfall.

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This image is taken from the film 'The Big Combo' (1955)

BLK feedback

Excellent postings Angela, demonstrating extremely thoughtful research and ideas development. Well done. Keep posting regularly though; it's important to avoid long gaps between posts

Test Shoot

July 17th
As a group decision, we are going to be test-shooting some performance shots of James lip-synching to the song 'Gold' in the drama block [more information of this is posted on the group blog].

I just wanted to post some ideas here instead of the group blog at first, to build up some ideas to help the trial-shoot go to plan, as I will not have confered with the group on these ideas probably until tomorrow.

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July 20th
The whole group (me, cat, james & luke) spent Friday lunchtime (18th) doing the test shoot in the drama block for performance shots of james.

I think this went really well, not just in the end result but I think we all as a group had a renewed sense of enthusiasm for the project.

80s Videos

They're usually really low-budget (or at least would be to do now) and they're fun and usually really creative.


Duran Duran- Planet Earth


There is only one location for performance, but it is shot from many different angles and distances and therefore sustains interest. The frontman is very charismatic and the aesthetics of the band mean that the performance is visually engaging.

It is cut with some very surreal footage, in an almost-montagey format and includes shots of the band themself.

It is appropriate to the genre and time period as it is very ecclectic and surreal. It also fits with the 'planet earth' theme as it implies a sense of alien-ness.

I really like this video, and it would be so fun to do a song or style like it. Its very montagey and edited well to go with the music. I like the way the visuals totally reflect the tone of the song.

I would really have liked to do a video like this.

New Track Ideas

I would really like to do a Spandau Ballet song.

The band could be a contemporary band who are heavily influenced by 80s music, particularly new wave and new romantic (such as Spandau Ballet, but we shall hypothetically have them not exist for the duration of this idea). It was good music, and I do sort of think new wave will comeback soon (though I do know that Spandau Ballet are new romantic).

They could also borrow from the very classic looks of the time: I'm thinking more thelook of Duran Duran really. A bit like these photos:

also a good inspiration for performance shot; very classic.

Perhaps less 'glam'-ish than in this shot. Slightly more masculine.

again, not quite as camp and 80s as in this image:


The Songs:

Gold

For the video I would have a balanced mixture of narrative and performance (about 50:50).

Narrative: late film-noir style clips imbetween music. Very movie like.

A very loose, typical film-noir style narrative. The actual storyline of this hypothetical 'film' is largely irrelevant. The impression is that the video shows only extracts from a longer, imaginary film alongside the performance (note: it is not suggested that this is a real film being used, it is definately specially shot for the music video). There shall be very powerful aesthetics (good if filming later in the year as well, or even if weather is hot and sunny there is no danger of it never getting dark outside). The conventional film-noir imagery and signifiers (costume- makeup- shot in black and white- detective and femme fatale characters). The main focus is on the female character.

Starting shot (of the narrative) could a big close up, so big that you can only see her lips or eyes, for example: this would be very enigmatic but also very scopophilic, providing almost sensual/sexual pleasure to the male audience. This sexuality of the character would also be conventional to the film noir genre. We would then follow her through the narrative as she meets with a detective or some such down a dark alleyway/ in a car (more difficult as would have to shoot it carefully as to not show that it was being shot in 20th century, if we wanted to make it look authentic) or even a cafe or bench [would fit with lyrics 'thankyou for coming here' at beginning]. The performance would be intercut with the narrative.

We later see her possibly sitting in a cafe but definately looking out of a window (cue typical genre signifiers- theres lots of this window business in film noir and detective films) , smoking a cigarette, looking almost sad. This is new depth to the character- she is vulnerable or unhappy, which fits with the general powerful 'inspirational' lyrics and melody of the song e.g. 'you are gold' 'always believe in your soul' 'You've got the power to know, you're indestructible'. (Almost as if the band/singer cares about her and is singing to her; will be like when you're feeling a bit down and pretend the singer of a song is singing about you to drive you on).

The detective can be the man who the lyrics 'the main with the suit and the face, remember he was there on the case, now he's in love with you, he's in love with you' are concerning. There can be shots of him maybe doing the typical film-noir thing of trying to get through to the femme fatale to admit she loves him or to 'let him in' (open up emotionally to him). He could be (silently to us, obviously) saying: tell me, tell me etc (or shaking her in that sort of way against a wall so we get the gist), and we see her mouth the words 'no, i don't' or 'i dont love you' in quite a cold way. he leaves her right away, clearly heartbroken. She is alone in the room, we see the door close in the background, and she falls to the ground crying or such.

Performance:

In a room very dark except for the quite low-key lighting, so we have some striking shadows (not ridiculously low-key with ghastly huge, detective-story shadows, just enough to be atmospheric and have aesthetic impact, and also partially to fit in with the narrative: i.e. link the narrative visually to the performance). It could be black and white, also, for these reasons. I think this idea is strong and interesting enough to captivate the audience's attention in black and white.

Some images of what I sort of mean:

(for more, go to http://images.google.com/images?ndsp=20&um=1&hl=en&rls=HPNN,HPNN:2006-30,HPNN:en&q=+site:www.newwavephotos.com+duran+duran for a search result that had alot of appropriate images)

There would be alot more powerful, direct address of the camera in close ups by the frontman, and I think James (who I believe we as a group agreed would be one of the lead singers in our other ideas as he (and also Luke) are good at performance and lip-synching) would look very good in the role.

He would be looking at the camera quite... seriously (though mostly for dramatic effect so not in a cold way).

A bit similar to the shots at '0.17' and '0.47' of this Franz Ferdinand video for 'take me out':

Target audience: I think this band could be quite comparable to Franz Ferdinand, who have quite a new wave feel which was different at the time. They had a wide target audience due to the appeal of their music, which was catchy and accessible. This is certainly similar to Spandau Ballet.

I think this song would be very good as it has alot of variation in pace and tune and rhythm, and I also think the lyrics and atmosphere tie in well with the visual idea.

I think the idea would be quite possible to do, as the performance should not be difficult, and will hopefully be possible to make effective, but I think it will be. The narrative shots, though more difficult, I definately believe to be possible. We can also build upon our prior knowledge of this genre of film that we have from our thriller project as AS level.

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Feedback on the idea:

Hi Angelastart with the group blog 1st please. you will find a posting from me on there. I suggest as a group you sit down and read it together, then think about moving forward. the spandau ballet sound is problematic as it is so well known and any form of lip synching would be impossible. Ms B

Response: I do think that the lip-synching would be possible. There is already a video for the song in which they do alot of lip-synching (but it was made in the 80s and is very different to our idea so this wouldn't be a problem). We could also cut to the 'narrative' during very difficult vocal pieces.

Here is the video:

I also think that as we will be targetting a different age group (the contemporary teen-20s market) it wont matter that the sound is well known. Most of my peers I spoke to had not even heard the song or the band.

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EDIT: 18th July

Ahh, I think I may have misunderstood Miss Bs concerns regarding the casting/performance part of the idea a little. She raised the good point that James could have potentially been unconvincing as the lead singer as the voice may not convincingly come out of him, as he is only 17 and the lead singer in Spandau Ballet has a very big, rich, mature voice. For this reason we needed to do a test shoot (see group blog) to ascertain whether he would in fact work in the part- if he had not then it could have led to a huge reduction in the quality of the video.

Following the test shoot it was decided by all that, fortunately, it was a convincing casting for the performance. Phew!

Reactions to group feedback/presentation of treatment

Problems I think were highlighted in the feedback we received following our presentation of our treatment were:

• The band members will be incongruous as a group; their individual ecclectic dress sense, it was said, would make it difficult to comprehend them really being a solid band or even being friends.
• The band have already recently made a video for the song.
• Apparently this video is somewhat similar to our idea.
• Logistically, some of the scenes would just be very difficult to do.

I therefore think that a completely different idea could be beneficial to us.

BLK feedback

good work angela, I like your ideas posts, and great album cover work. how about some further music video analysis - do a few videos that have really inspired you using the framework we used in class. I can see you've already thought about this!

Music Video Analysis: George Michael

An analysis of the video for 'outside' by George Michael. It was the first video he released since he was outed following being arrested for comitting a 'lewd act' in a public toilet in the presence of an undercover cop.

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da5uoggW9Eg&feature=PlayList&p=4F0172206D848CF8&index=1

It begins with a satirical clip of the beginning of what appears to be a German pornographic film. Its credits features such innuendous names such as 'Huu Jars' (i.e. 'huge arse') 'Heidi Kochenblauer' (i.e. 'koch' blower) 'Marchelo Uffenvanken'. This is clearly a rip off of the cheap and tacky films of this nature. The poor dubbing in the background also adds to this, with overtly sexual noises and also the almost sleazy, easy-listening jazz music.

There is an element of scopophilia as the male in the film visibly eyes up the female. She is also playing up to the camera i.e. us alot; i.e. when she fiddles with lips with her finger, directly addressing the camera. As she unties her top, the camera is tight on this, showing us effectively where and what he is looking at= scopophilia.

At this point it is significant that this is set in a toilet, and that the male had previously been innocently washing hands, only to be heavily seduced by the female; she even physically beckons him with her finger. This blantantly intentionally mirrors/relates to the situation that George Michael was in that lead to his arrest previous to this video. The fact that then a close up of her mouth as she blows a kiss at the camera loses focus only to regain focus as the mouth of a much less attractive, older policewoman who is holding her police badge at the camera and we hear sirens in the background. We have been put into George's position and been 'honey-trapped' and seduced and unfairly arrested. This directly addresses the event that George could either have taken to be very embarassing or made work for him. He is clearly resentful towards the situation and thinks himself treated unfairly.

The camera then switches to a more pizelated, blue-tones image of the policewoman, which cut out to a feedback-tinged blank screen as if a television has just lost signal. This plays on the theme of surveillance that runs through the video, particulaely CCTV-style surveillance. Also, before it cuts out there is a slight 'cinema-screen' liney disturbance to the picture (I am unsure of the technical name for it) which links with the 'Hollywood' theme as they are obviously notorious for film.

The word 'HOLLYWOOD' flashes up on screen, with the American flag 'running underneath' making up the actual text. The American anthem kicks in for a short time. This does not seem at all like a genuinely patriotic salute to the country. The Hollywood thing is clearly significant to the underlying theme of the video, that which is related to George Michaels own recent experience, which indeed occured in a toilet in Hollywood (which I have been to =) ).

Now we cut to a helicopter taking flight, which we assume is a police 'vehicle' as we can hear sirens in the background, and it is low-angle which further connotes that the vehicle is of authority. The fact that we see this before we see what has even happened, and the fact that the sound of the sirens and helicopter-chopping-noise appear to be cutting in over the music don't make us immediately sympathise with them. Especially as we think that the male seen previously was wronged by the police force.

Lots of slightly choppy angles from different cameras and make up of different movements (also alot of shots that appear to be shot from a helicopter), as well as shots of people watching and multiple cars being parked outside the toilet where the criminal activity is being carried out, as well as the numerous policemen physically moving the apparently non-resistant arrestee add to the sense of alot of hullaballoo being made out of something that does not seem to have so much police attention warranted, or indeed does not necessarily seem justifiably illegal.

Also, as the man is bundled into the police vehicle, the visuals juxtapose the lyrics 'go outside' as he in fact going inside, which could emphasise his now entrappment.

The 'heli-camera' then zooms out (slightly) of the scene of this man being arrested

The next two scenes are of a cliff-top and boat-top. They are introduced through cross cutting from one location to the other. At first the sweeping shots do not really reveal anything about what is happening in the location. They appear innocent shots sweeping over the sea and coast, or a boat. This is enigmatic, as we wonder at the significance of these shots, or perhaps are even second-guessing what will happen now. Both these establishing shots cut to a black and white, surveillance-style aesthetic which, coupled with the helicopter-style sweeping camera movement, and previous narrative in the video, gives the impression of police surveillance.

Album Cover Research- Blondie's 'Denis'

Blondie: Denis




























FRONT


Image:

• Picture of Debbie Harry


• Close up/beauty shot


• Takes up muh of total area; shoulders stretch entire width of cover


• Direct address, with face turned very slightly to (her) right


• hand on neck


• lips falling apart a little bit


• bleached blonde hair (can tell by darker roots, barely visible)


• very enigmatic expression


• make-up is classic, 80s-style with red lipstick, purple eyeshadow and eyeshadow even on brow bone and strong, solid eyebrows.


• She is wearing a black t-shirt


• it is shot in soft, slightly orange-toned lighting


• set against a similarly orange background

Text:

'BLONDIE' (name of band/group)

• in thick block capitals


• across entire top width


• takes up approx. a fifth of vertical space


• no background/transparent


• solid white

'DENIS' (title of album)

• smaller font


• solid black


• same font as band name


• set approx. a quarter of way across width of cover, to the left.

In botton of right corner names of 5 singles/tracks included on the album:

• same font as other text


• alternating white & black in colour


• all set in slightly different horizontal positions on cover

BACK

Image:

• background is same image as cover shot but blown up (approx. 200%), framed to include (her) right hand side of face up to just over centre of face, and to middle of forehead and imbetween lips and chin.

band shot:

• in bottom left/centre, reaching up to half way up cover


• men dressed in suits


• direct address


• posed, almost al members are smiling

Text:

Track list:

• on left


• takes up approx. half width


• black


• same font as title and band name


• black


• number of track, then song title (first letter capitalised only)

Music Video Analysis

My Chemical Romance's 'Welcome to the Black Parade'

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5nw1-_5-Vk

1. I am analysing 'Welcome to the Black Parade' by the band 'My Chemical Romance'. It was directed by Samuel Bayer.

The music belongs to the 'alternative rock' genre, and often categorised into the sub-genre 'emo'.

The video is highly stylised, with especial attention paid to the presentation of the band. They are all kitted out in matching 'marching band' outfits. The people marching behind the band are all clad in black, and the video is shot in black and white. The main narrative in the video (following the man in the hospital gown) is quite surreal, unclear and very dark; he begins by writhing around in a hospital bed surrounded by several old-fashioned-clothed nurses and we do not know what is happening to him or where he is, which is unnerving.

There is a strong sense of solidarity in the large crowd of people following behind the band in the 'parade' which adds to the sense of this implied in the lyrics with the repetition of 'let's' and 'we'. It makes the viewer feel involved and close to the band/song and the other fans, which is a key component in the success of the emo genre.


This type of visuals is very common to the genre of the music.

Inspirational Videos

to go here.

Interesting Album Covers + Some Analysis

CD Album Covers
System Of A Down: Steal this album!
Manic Street Preachers: The holy bible
Manic Street Preachers: This is my truth tell me yours
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Show your bones

Highly colourful, vibrant: simple and eyecatching but also with engaging textures that add depth to image- looks textures and tactile and makes you want to touch/grab it. The vertical pattern makes up 'YYY' which is really nice and subtle branding for the band and also could represent a ribcage-shape to complement the title 'show your bones'.

Clashing colour combinations of orange, yellow and orange add to the 'eye-catchability' of the cover also.

On further investigation, it appears that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs ran a competition for fans to design a flag that may be incorporated into the cover or the artwork. They then decided to go with the artwork of a professional; Julian Gross from 'The Liars' instead, and this image is a small section of a flag designed by him. Some of the fans' artwork is included on the artwork in the accompanying booklet. Interview: http://www.prefixmag.com/features/Y/yeah-yeah-yeahs/393.

This is a very interesting way of making the fans feel involved with the band, however, and promote the image of the band as being close to their fans.

Spandau Ballet: Gold (the best of..)
Marilyn Manson: Mechanical animals

Very androgenous and alien figure (nipples apparently originally used but decided against in order to emphasise this androgeny and alien-ness) which fits entirely with Marilyn Manson's self-branding. With his videos, and to some extent music, it seems he intentionally tries to create disturbing/futuristic imagery and also create controversy. In that respect, this cover-image of him in full-body latex, including prosthetic breasts, with crazy makeup, certainly fits the MM brand and sells this aspect of him well.

The plain, enigmatic background serves to displace the figure from any particular place or time, which further adds to the way it makes up question the gender and species of the image, as there are few other aspects that we could connote meaning from in the image. The sterile and grey nature of the background, as well as the cold, slightly harsh lighting also add to the futuristic and disturbing atmosphere of the image. It also ties in with the sterile 'mechanical' theme of the title.

Pink Floyd: Meddle

Duran Duran: Rio

Placebo: Sleeping with ghosts

Johnny Cash: The man comes around: American IV

Released in 2002, and the last album released by cash during his lifetime, the simplicity and understatement of the big 'CASH' at the top and a relatively small image is made effective by the sheer icon-status of the man. This album does not need even his full name, and this is clear by the impact of the only four letters on the cover. Anyone that matters, upon seeing this cover, would know who the artist was, and probably by now a large proportion would know the name of the album, despite it not explicitly being stated on the cover.

The image, being highly shadowed and in black and white, almost blends in the the plain black background. However, largely owing to his icon-ishness and the respect felt towards him by almost all fans of [good] music, and given the proximity to inevitable death that this was released, it is a very powerful image. An almost indiscernable, enigmatic expression rhetorates Johnny Cash's effortless impact and permanent importance.

HIM: Deep shadows and brilliant highlights
Mr Bungle: Disco volante

Faith No More: Angel dust

David Bowie: Aladdin Sane

BLK feedback

angela there should be evidence of research and track selection by now, start posting asap so you don't get behind :-)