Actor profiles

Actor Profiles

The reason I chose Nick to be in my film is because of his style. His dress sense fits the genre of my music video, he does Performance Studies so he won't be camera shy and because he is attractive.

The reason I chose Devon to be in my video is again because she fits the codes and convention of my genre, she does Performance Studies and she's very attractive.

I am going to be using myself in my music video. The reason for this being that as our location is in a particular place it will mean we would have to travel to get to it, this limits the amount of people which could be in the video. I also believe that this is a good idea considering I will have directed the script and therefore will know exactly how we want things to work.
Another reason I decided to be in my film is because I also do performance studies and therefore and used to performing to an audience.

Finally by having all of these factors it means that I, as the actress will be able to relate to the target audience I believe will be viewing my music video. In effect this will make the video more appeling to the target audience and look more professional if the right syle of actor is used in consideration with the style of music.



Richard Dyer

Richard Dyer

Richard W. Dyer is an English academic specialising in cinema. As of 2006 he is Professor of Film Studies at King's College London. Previously he was at the University of Warwick.

He thought that when watching films you should be able to answer these questions:

What sense of the world is it making?

What does it imply is it typical of the world of deviant?

Who is it speaking to for whom and to whom?

What does it represent to us and why how do we respond to the representation?

I have a applied this to a real life text- Life Of Brian

What sense of the world is it making?

Shows us the story of Jesus’ life and the people living when Jesus did and the portrayal of how empty headed they were in those times.

What does it imply is it typical of the world of deviant?

When the film was released England was quite a Christian country therefore people found it offensive.

Who is it speaking to for whom and to whom?

Young, British, open minded adults who are in to controversial text. 

What does it represent to us and why how do we respond to the representation?

It could represent Christians as naive and stupid as they’ll do anything anyone tells them.

By researching Dyer's theory it will will be in my music video, by me deciding on whether upon I want to make my music video controversial and take risks with it. Although I highly doubt that I will as with the song I am using it will be extremely difficult to  make my video controversial.

Settings Board

 

 

With reference to my genre, I think the settings I chose fitted the conventions perfectly. I think this because in all Indie Pop music videos the artists seem to be in a sort of iscolated setting, when a person is described as being 'Indie' it means thet don't really follow the mainstream, they're independent which is where 'indie' is derived from. Therefore it shows their sense of independence and their journey my having a quiet setting. The settings in my music video and other music videos of the same genre seem to be pretty places, making the video asthetically pleasing for audiences.

Below are the two main settings in my music video. As you can see, both of the settings seem to be very isoclated and impressive places. This is the type of image I would like to include in my video. 

This has helped me learn to get the right setting for the music video and the genre of the song and how the audience research showed that beautiful setting are a must to go with the song.  I really like the locations that I chose and think they really make my music video. It really links everything together with the ancillary tasks and the magazine adverts. It is a theme all over my project and shows I have thought about mise-en-scene and everything around this to make my music video as successful as I can.

Institutional and Exhibition Research

Institutional

Silvertip Films is a small UK business based in London that create music videos, corporate/promo videos and film live concerts or events. The artist or company that want a video created for them will approach the company and set up an initial meeting to discuss ideas. I dicovered Silvertip Films when researching which institutions promote and make un-signed artists through music videos.

Here is an example of a few shots of Silvertip's work;
Serena Kern- My Promise

They let the artist have a say in what they want in their music video, but they do also help the artist to develop a clear idea. Their music videos have been broadcasted in the UK and elsewhere in the world, and have even been nominated for awards. They film music videos for both signed and unsigned artists, and their videos have made artists successful.

Silvertip tends to only film narrative videos as this keeps the budget low. As I have not completed my music video yet, I can not say how my text looks like a 'real' product. But because I know I am creating a video with a narrative, I know that this is similar to the type of videos Silvertip create. My video is also slightly different to their videos as I am using more locations than they would tend to use.

Exhibition

If my music video where to be broadcasted in the 'real' world, it would be shown on YouTube and maybe radio stations such as Radio 1. It would fit with other media products that are shown on these types of media broadcasters because they show a wide range of genres and my chosen song isn't as mainstream as other songs.

 

Music videos are very important to the music industry. They help to 'advertise' the band/artist by allowing the audience to identify with them, it helps to give them a brand identity. It also maximises the awareness of the band, by being played on a channel such as MTV every day will increase peoples awareness of the song and the band meaning people are more likely to buy the song. They relte to my text as my artist is still unsinged.

The internet has made a big impact on the music industry. Sites such as Youtube and Vevo have allowed music videos to be easily accessed through the internet. These sites are extremely useful for amateur filmakers to allow their work to be shown. Anyone can upload a film onto YouTube and it can be viewed by millions of people accross the world. If a video gets a certain amount of hits (how many people have watched it) then YouTube will pay the filmaker for the video. Also, if a video does well on YouTube it is likely to gain the attention of large businesses who will then contact the owner of the video. YouTube is where my artists whos song I am using made her fame, and also where I found out about her music.

From doing this piece of research I have learnt how my product would be produced in the 'real' world. I understand what I would need to do if I was to approach a company about producing my music video. I have also learnt how important music video sites such as Vevo and YouTube have been to not only an artist but to amateur filmakers. When I create my music video I will try to use different conventions of the video to my advantage that will help it become popular on YouTube. As the song I am using is about a relationship that has ended and that it is aimed at a young teenage audience (similar to the target audience of YouTube). I will use this to my advantage by making it clear in my video that this is what the video is about so that the audience of YouTube can relate to my video. I will also use young, good looking actors in my video, to possibly increase the views I would get if it was to be uploaded to YouTube. Also I could send my artists song to Silvertip and see what they think and it would help my artist to get more well known.

Stuart Hall - Audience Reception Theory

Stuart Hall, the son of an accountant, was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1932. He moved to England with his mother in 1951. They lived in Bristol before Hall took his place at Oxford University. His Reception theory is a version of reader response literary theory that emphasises the reader's reception of a literary text. It is more generally called audience reception in the analysis of communications models.

His audience reception theory are as follows;

Preferred Reading- Where the audiences accept the producers intended ideas and messages.

Negotiated Reading- Where the audiences accept some aspects of a producer's ideas and messages, but also reject/question somethings and bring in their own ideas.

Oppositional Reading- Where the audiences reject the preferred reading and create a new opposing interpretation.

When these are applied to a modern day music video; Everytime - Britney Spears

Preferred Reading- Britney is not the far different to the normal average girls. This would help her to connect to  younger girls that have issues and makes her more reliable.
Negotiated Reading- They underdtand where shes coming from with her problems but she should have found a better way to express them for example, a break up or her crying, something not as graphic as her chosen music video.
Oppositional Reading- It's wrong, people look up to her they think its an acceptable way out of their problems if they see the video and that its encouragng her fans to self abuse.

By learning Stuart Hall's audience reception theory it will help me to decide whether I would like to use it in my music video. It also will help my apply this to my music video if I chose to use it. In my music video I am thinking of creating a performance/story therefore if I chose to create a conflict I will apply Hall's theory to my text and try and ensure my audience get the preferred reading of my text.

Claude Levi-Strauss

Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist who has had a decisive influence on the humanities in the second half of the twentieth century, including being one of the founding figures of structuralist thought. He was born on November 28, 1908 in Brussels (but from French parents) and died in Paris on October 31, 2009 at the age of 100.

Claude Levi-Strauss’s approach to narrative After studying hundreds of myths and legends from around the world, Levi-Strauss observed that we make sense of the world, people and events by seeing and using binary opposites everywhere. He observed that all narratives are organised around the conflict between such binary opposites.

Examples of binary opposites Good vs evil Black vs white Boy vs girl Peace vs war Civilised vs savage Democracy vs dictatorship Conqueror vs conquered First world vs third world Domestic vs foreign/alien Articulate vs inarticulate Young vs old Man vs nature Protagonist vs antagonist Action vs inaction Motivator vs observer Empowered vs victim Man vs woman Good-looking vs ugly Strong vs weak Decisive vs indecisive East vs west Humanity vs technology Ignorance vs wisdom.

When looking at a modern day film Strauss' theory can be applied to Hairspray;
With the opposite of back vs white.


This shows the conflict between back and white people and what it was like in the 60's. This is a good example of Claude Levi-Strauss' work.



By researching strauss' theory it will help me to decide whether I would like to use it in my music video. It also will help my apply this to my music video if I chose to use it. In my music video I am thinking of creating a performance/story therefore if I chose to create a conflict I will apply Strauss' theory to my text.

Vladimir Propp

Vladimir was Soviet formalist scholar who analysed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irreducible narrative elements.

Here are the stock characters of Propps theory;

The villain — struggles against the hero.

The dispatcher — character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.

The (magical) helper — helps the hero in their quest.

The princess or prize — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain.

Her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father cannot be clearly distinguished.

The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.

The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.

False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

Propp's theory can me applied to modern day films, for example Mean Girls;

Hero-Cady

Villain-The plastics

The Helpers- Lizzy and Damien
The Father- Family and People and School

In the first part of the film Cady would be the part of the hero she is introduced immediately and is the protagonist of the film. We also meet her and her family who have left Africa and cady is about to start her first day at a high school.

Cady is then told not to be friends with the plastics by Damien and Lizzy- Helpers.

They invite Cady to have lunch with them in order to meet her which shows that the interdiction is violated.

We are then introduced to ‘The plastics’ that would play the villain according to the theory.

The plastics then find out that Cady has moved here from Africa and that she likes Aaron in her maths class this would relate to-  The villain has now found out information that she is vulnerable and easily influenced and likes Regina’s ex.

The Plastics have now made the Cady, the hero part of there group in this way Cady turns quite evil which highlights a flaw in Propp’s theory because she has now turned into one of the villains for part of the film. However the fact she has been tricked and is now turning into one of them.

The Hero is also tricked because Regina tells Cady she can’t go with Aaron because its against the girl rules and then Regina gets back with Aaron knowing Cady likes him

Cady plots to get Regina back my doing horrible things to her and is helped by Damien and Lizzy

The hero is tested this is like when Cady is tested by Regina where she flaunts her boyfriend that Cady wants but Cady has to stay strong in order for her counteraction to work.

After Cady sets up all these plans to make Regina unpopular she soon finds out and this is where the hero and villain are now in direct combat.

Regina hates Cady and visa versa.

The hero is then branded Cady is the new plastic however this is not a good thing and does not fit with a hero's description.

The villain who is Regina is defeated and nobody likes her anymore this fits with.

So now Regina wants to get her own back so decided to hand in the burn book which is full of horrible things about people and give it into the headteacher.

Regina the says that's she is the burn book when in fact that was set and pretends shes very upset by what has been done which is the false hero claiming success of true hero.

Cady is exposed as being mean and everyone turns against so she has to not lie anymore and get her friends back and to be liked

This is resolved by true hero when she goes to the prom in order to do her speech and not take the crown but share it with everyone.

Everyone likes her again.

Everything then changes Cady becomes like a normal girl the plastics break up and everyone has joined new groups and have a new appearance.

Although not every part fits, considering this was made a long time ago alot of functions fit with a modern film Mean Girls. I think the main thing that does not work is the thought that the hero must go on a physical journey and leave home because this could be perceived differently in new films. For example Cady did not leave home but she changed and went through a mental journey in Mean Girls

 

By researching Propp's theory it will help me to decide whether I would like to use it in my music video. It also will help my apply this to my music video if I chose to use it. In my music video I am thinking of creating a performance/story therefore I will make sure I use the stock characters to create my story.