Research and Planning - Post Moderism

Post modernism rejects theories, culture is so fragmented and so diverse there are no need of theories now. Its always equal for example with things such as Shakespeare being more important. As things a re used their meaning changes, and first impressions are important. Post moderism believes there is no meaning so it isnt necessary to look deeply, and subverting is the way forward. Subverting can be found in run lola run, where the woman seems dominant in the start.

Post moderism helps us understand the relationship between media and reality in a new way through simulation, implosion and hyper reality:

• Simulation: where virtual reality is more real than reality, that you don’t have to go somewhere or see something to know what its like, you can see it in a game or on the TV, everything now can be simulated, simulated life.
  
• Implosion: We make no distinction between real experiences and simulated things, eg: real friendships and online friendships
  
• Hyper reality: where the distinction between the two realities becomes harder and harder to notice and the simulated reality gets the upper hand and becomes more important than actual reality

Research and Planning - Feminism.

Feminism challenges the power structures and the roles and perspectives of women. It is particularly interested in the media and the dominant gender roles. Culture determines what we think are the typical stereotypes of males + females and the media influences culture.

Stereotypes of men and women are fed to people through the media and things that we consume. In general men still get paid more than e, as power is still at the heart of it associated with men, the stereotypes have changed slightly as feminists have tried challenging them.

The male gaze: when pretty girls are used to sell things to male spectators and constructs things from a male point of view

"Beauty is a currency like the gold standard. Like any economy its is determined by politics, and in the modern age in the west, it is the last belief system that keeps male domination in tact".- Naomi Wolf.

Research and Planning - Mood Board

Research and Planning - Video Analysis - Taylor Swift (You Belong with me)

Lyrics:

You're on the phone with your girlfriend, She's upset
She's going off about something that you said
She doesnt get your humour like I do

I'm in the room, its a typical Tuesday night
I'm listening to the kind of music she doesnt like
And she'll never know your story like I do

But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming bout the day when you'll wake up and find
That what you're lookin for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me
You belong with me

Walkin the streets with you in your worn out jeans
I cant help thinking this is how it ought to be
Laughing on the park bench thinkin to myself
Hey isnt this easy?

And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town
I havent seen it in awhile, since she brought you down
You say you find I know you better than that
Hey, Whatcha doing with a girl like that?

She wears high heels, I wear sneakers
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming bout the day when you'll wake up and find
That what you're looking for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me

Standin by, waiting at your back door
All this time how could you not know that?
You belong with me
You belong with me

Oh I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night
I'm the one who makes you laugh when you know you're about to cry
I know your favorite songs and you tell me about your dreams
I think I know where you belong. I think I know it's with me.

Can't you see that I'm the one who understand you?
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me

Standing by or waiting at your back door
All this time how could you not know that
You belong with me
You belong with me

Have you ever thought just maybe
You belong with me
You belong with me

The music video is high school based, the star being teenager herself makes it easier for it to be related as she looks young she could easily pass off acting like she is in high school, making it easier to relate to people who are in high school or was recently in high school. It’s a story about a typical teenage romance where the main girl wants to be with a young boy who is with another girl, hence the song title ‘You belong with me’.

The star plays both girl main characters in the video which can take
out the realism and make people which could make viewers believe less in the video. It shows two different sides of the star yet we find the popular girl character she plays less believable to be like the star as we see her as the evil like character. The main girl character also looks like the star in real like which would lead us to believe that the star carries traits from the girl we see in the video. The star sings the lyrics in the video yet at the same time she is doing it in character.


At one point in the video we see the star dressing in different outfits, which look like they would reflect on different types of stereotype of students in school. For example Goth, hippy, dunce. This gives the star many different looks throughout the video which shows all the different types of people you may grow up with in high school. The main girl character that comes off to be like a typical smart geek like character. The features such as the glasses, messy like hair and shot reading books suit her nerdy like character.


The opposite character the girl who the guy is with looks like a typical popular girl who gets a lot of attention and wears stylish tight clothes driving an expensive fancy car as she does in the video. Being a cheerleader compared to the main girl who is in the school band which would be seen to be more geeky in the whole high school stereotypes. The main boy seems typically popular who is in the soccer team with everyone cheering him on in the video including the two girls.


The video goes on to the end to show that she turns up to the prom all glamed up and she and the boy end up together. The video shows realism in the way that you would expect this would be a typical situation you would expect to happen during high school years. However it creates less of a realistic situation as you can clearly tell that the star is already a beautiful girl rather than the nerdy, quiet and unattractive girl she tries to create an image of.

The locations of the video that the scenes are filmed in do not involve an actual high school yet you could imagine by the theme that they are in high school. For example the soccer event, the main girl studying and the prom. Also at the prom the two main girls where different colour dresses, one being red and the other white. This could give us the impression of the main girl in the white dress and the angel and the other the devil as it matches their characters throughout the video. The red is also more revealing which could reveal a more confident and rebellious side to the character. We notice just before the prom there is a close up shot of her taking her classes off which is a big event in the video as it shows she is just about to transform. Once she is there we notice how different she looks and we notice everyone is staring at her as if in shock.


The upbeat lyrics match the quirky and up beatness of the stars action in the video. For example when she is in her bedroom dancing, and when she lip syncs with a lot of exaggeration such as at the soccer game. In the beginning of the video when we see shots of the boy and the girl in the windows the camera angles make us feel like we are the girl looking at the boy from the other window making us feel a part of the video.


The CD cover also fits in with what the video is about and makes it clear what kind of characteristics the actors in the video have. Although the boy on the cover is not the same boy in the video. Also the 'Me' in the title matches the colour of the band girls hair which shows that it is from her point of view.

Preliminary Work - Work of the week - Tom's second visit

The class received a second visit from Tom so he could help us with the new apple macs and teach us to become more comfortable with knowing how to use programs for editing such as Final cut express and iMovie.

We re-filmed some of the footage we had from last time so we could edit it and hopefully get some more useful shots then last time.

The video is about a popstar who is running late for her show so rushes through various halls to get her make up done then rush onto stage

We did various shots such as floor level, high angle and medium close ups. After we were happy with how much we filmed we looked at our shots through final cut express and cut them down. We then put them in sync to the music and had managed to produce a mini music video (without effects) with Tom's help.

Research and Planning - Treatment

Synopsis

Before the music starts off and we see a happy couple walking down a residential street. Blackness suddenly fills the screen and then we see the girl's lifeless face on the floor with blood pouring out of her. Music starts and we see feet running as the body slowly comes backwards till we see the full person.It is the boyfriend running, supposedly following the girlfriend. In the background we regularly notice the band playing along to the song. She leads him into various happy feel places and as he arrives at these places we see a flashback of the couple laughing a joking at the same places the use to go to together. Once come out of these flashbacks we get a quick shot of the girl dead revealing what has truely happened. Once we come out of the shot the flash where we see her dead, we come back into the location she has lead him to and we notice she has disappeared. Locations she leads him to include a park, a fairground, and the last destination being a graveyard when he then realises that she has been dead for many years, by death of him murdering her.

Actors

Boy - Jon

Girl - Ellie

Band

Drummer - Josh

Guitar - Arron

Keyboards - Ali

Singer - Ben

Locations

Dull Street

Park

Fair ground

Beach

Living Room
Outside shop front

Costumes

Band - Suits yet casual.

Props

Instruments

Gravestone

Equipment

Camera

Camera stand

Lights

Video Camera

Research and Planning - Content analysis. Empire of the sun - We are the people.

When the video starts off and the stablishing shot is looking up at the sun with the sunkissed look it is almost as if it is a religious view and we are looking up at god, or even just a simple daydream. Along with the crosses which could come across as being to do with religion or death. We see the facepainted man and with his hat looks as if he is part of a tribe, yet the paint on his face is the look of a skull which is a symbol of death. Digetic sounds of water make us think that it may be some sort of hallucination and looking at the sand and the light of the heat is making us hear what we would crave if we were there (fluids) as what we see at the time of the sound is an empty cup, which we would want to be full of water.

The overall feel of the video is random, there are no links to the lyrics, creating enigmas. With the deserted location we can tell it is most probably a hot country, the foreign language you hear proves that. We see the two tribal characters dressed in there costumes and appear to be dancing in the desert, their heads are dragging and they are doing some mysterious moves, yet stubbling at the same time. We get the opinion that they are quite mad, yet remain dominant throwing their hands up while singing 'We are the people that rule the world'. Along with locations of the church may suggest this is a part of their religion or would just fit in with the theme of death. The main female charcter in the video is seen more as a object of desire which is pretty to look at. Showinf shot of her dancing, simply just to watch. We see more shots of the sun then switch off to a waterfall, where they have magically appeared as if the are in their own imaginations including what they desire with a suspension of reality.

With this huge gold object we see, it looks as if it would be a symbol to do with the tribe, or an item of worship. We then see the people sitting on some building surrounded by dust, as if they may disappear or are high from it. With their tribal stances next to the water it makes out that they may be convinced they have powers and have been able to get themselves to some water using these. Their customes and make up are very dramatic and artistic with a lot of bold colours to help them stand out and give across their bright lively personalities. Their unique moves show they may be doing a religion type trance or simply perfoming to the camera. Shots of him in front of the sun shows he could be dilusional as he keeps disappearing yet looking up on him intimidates the audience.

Objects such as a fan and umbrella randomly appear, with the fan appearing in the jungle where it would least be needed and the umbrella appearing in the dessert where it would also not be necessary. With the woman situated in between the men suggests she may be an object to 'win'. Prancing through the village with various dances going on gives an impression of a celebration going on or some sort of tribal festival.

It then goes back to shots that were from the beginning, showing the people appearing dead in a hole, we see a man standing over them which shows he may be the suspicious murderer, or overall it could have been their hullicinations and none of it could happened and they may have just died in the desert deprived of food and water.

The narrative is very complex and hard to understand, as there could be many interpretations of the video. It also isnt linear as it goes back to the beginning at the very end which could suggest it goes on over and over again and the before events of the beginning may be in the middle. The video is very surreal and with the events that occur in it and the twist of time make it less believable and more of a illusion.

The shots are very edited to the beat and all the close ups show it is very intense.