Kanye West – Power
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L53gjP-TtGE&ob=av2eThe song is the first single from Kanye’s new album ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ which is out in 2010 and the video was previewed on MTV on August 5th 2010. It was directed by artist Marco Brambilla and is said by Kanye west “it’s not a video, it’s a moving painting”.
I chose this video because it is so different to any other video I’ve ever seen. When I first watched it I was impressed at how it looked so amazing but was such a simple idea. The video starts with a close up of Kanye West’s face staring intensely into the camera with glowing eyes. As the music starts the camera slowly pans out in a continuous take to reveal him standing at the end of a hallway of dark columns with cold columns on either side and surrounded by a number of goddess looking characters in the form of a montage. This montage style is the director and artist Marco Brambilla’s speciality. Some are kneeling, a couple embrace each other, some are dance, some are just sitting there and some are suspended from the ceiling pouring water that flows upwards. Standing either side of Kanye West are two horned women holding staffs, who loosely resemble ancient Egyptian goddesses Isis and Hathor and strike the ground with their staffs in time to the music. The various figures within the ‘moving painting’ represent characters on Major and Minor Arcana tarot cards. Although it is a very short video this continuous shot carries on for most of the video until the end when we see a close up action shots of certain characters in sync to the music. This then goes back to the long shot of Kanye west but this time the only two characters are the two with swords who are slowly moving above Kanye ready to strike him or each other. The video ends with a quick cut to the word Power. It is in bold red glowing lettering on a black background, to make it stand out, with images from the video in each letter and then the screen goes black.
I think the video looks really magical and dream like because of the way it flows so smoothly and slowly and the lighting and colours create a fantasy atmosphere. It also looks like it is inspired by paintings by Michael Angelo, which also have a dream like sense. There is also a strong influence of Greek Gods and Goddesses which gives it a spiritual feel and s airbrushed which makes it look perfect.
Painting by Michael Angelo
I like how at first the song and the video don’t seem in sync as the song is quite fast paced but the movement in the video is low and flowing. However when the beats in the song get heavier there are certain characters who make movements in sync to the music. For example the two horned women standing either side of Kanye West strike their staffs in time to the music and on a heavy guitar sound at the beginning a woman hanging upside sown flares a big piece of silk. This looks really effective and brings the song and the video together.
The song is called Powerful which I think is represented well throughout the video, Kanye West being the most powerful. Firstly the video starts on his face and his facial expressions are intense and stern. He is also in the centre of the shot for the majority of the video and we see that his body language is standing tall and confident. This instantly lets you know he is the main focus. In keeping with the Greek theme, The Sword of Damocles hangs above his head. Domacles means ‘Fame of the People’ so this is another symbol that he is the most important person in the video. He is also wearing a large gold chain with a pendant of Ra which is the Ancient Egyptian sun God and the meaning of the name is said to mean ‘sun’ which is linked to words meaning ‘creative power’ and ‘creator’. This is another symbol to represent Kanye West as being powerful and superior. Other representations of power are that he is surrounded by all these women as if he is their leader and they are worshiping him. He doesn’t move much and although your focus is mostly drawn to the movement lighting and striking images you find yourself drawn back to Kanye West because he is a contrast to the rest of the content. He is in black and although there is a lot of shadow there are mostly light and gold tones. All these show him as being very powerful, like a God surrounded by Greek Goddesses.
Although he is represented as the most powerful I think everything about the video represents power in some way. The fact that it looks like heaven and there are Greek Gods and Goddesses symbolises a higher power. The lighting is also powerful with high contrasts and bright bold lights in the background. Also with the natural sunlight in the clouds and the rays that beam down on Kanye to highlight him as if he is being blessed. There are also showers of glitter and lots of gold tones which connote wealth and luxury. The costumes are extravagant and the flowing material catches your eye. There is also a clip at the end of two men fighting with swords which shows power in a different way in which they are over powering each other or maybe even Kanye West but we don’t know because the video stops as they are close to striking him.
When I first watched the video I immediately thought the video looked striking because of the airbrushed look and the fact I wasn’t expecting it to be like it was. I didn’t think about why it was powerful but after analysing it I’ve found that every aspect of the video has been created to represent power.
Blog 3 – Song Choice
The decision for the song we chose was quick and straight forward as all three of us have similar music tastes. The first suggestion that we agreed on was to create a Pop video so that we could make it into a fun and adventurous project. Then the first artist we thought of to make a music video of this genre was Lady Gaga. We all agreed on this and started to think of possible songs we could use, but we found that most of them already had a music video. After going through all her songs we found four that we could use which were; Disco Heaven, Monster, Star Struck and Fashion. We chose Monster because we instantly came up with a concept for the video and lots of ideas as soon as it was mentioned, so it instantly seemed like a good choice of song.
The main idea we came up with was to use inspiration from differe nt Old Hollywood Horror Films such as Dracula, Frankenstein, King Kong, The Wolfman, Attack Of The 50ft Woman and a more recent film Planet Terror. We decided to look at posters from these movies which gave me more inspiration because of the old fashioned look they had. I also liked the fact that there is usually a ‘damsel in distress’ character in these types of movies and they are shown on most of the posters. We decided these characters would all be played by ‘Lady Gaga’ and in the video we would show her in situations from each movie and include the monster from each movie. I also really like the idea of interpreting the dramatic and cheesiness of the old Hollywood horror movies. I think that would be perfect for a Lady Gaga video as she is very theatrical. I also liked the idea of horror films because they involve lots of dramatic costumes, settings and props which again are perfect for a Lady Gaga music video. We are also going to use the same filming effect of a crackly film and in some areas, sped up footage. This will give it that old style Hollywood effect and I think it will be a lot different from anyone else’s video.
Below are the lyrics to the song. Lady Gaga - Monster Don't call me Gaga I've never seen one like that before Don't look at me like that You amaze me He ate my heart, he a-a-ate my heart (You little monster) He ate my heart, he a-a-ate my heart out (You amaze me) He ate my heart, he a-a-ate my heart He ate my heart, he a-a-ate my heart Look at him, look at me, That boy is bad, and honestly He's a wolf in disguise But I can't stop staring in those evil eyes I asked my girlfriend if she'd seen you 'round before She mumbled something while we got down on the floor, baby We might've fucked not really sure, don't quite recall But something tells me that I've seen him, yeah, before That boy is a monster, m-m-m-monster That boy is a monster, m-m-m-monster That boy is a monster, m-m-m-monster That boy is a monster He ate my heart (I love that girl) He ate my heart (Wanna talk to her, she's hot as hell) He ate my heart (I love that girl) He ate my heart (Wanna talk to her, she's hot as hell) He licked his lips, said to me Girl, you look good enough to eat Put his arms around me Said, "Boy, now get your paws right off me" I asked my girlfriend if she'd seen you round before She mumbled something while we got down on the floor, baby We might've fucked not really sure, don't quite recall But something tells me that I've seen him, yeah That boy is a monster, m-m-m-monster That boy is a monster, m-m-m-monster That boy is a monster, m-m-m-monster That boy is a monster He ate my heart (I love that girl) He ate my heart (Wanna talk to her, she's hot as hell) He ate my heart (I love that girl) He ate my heart (Wanna talk to her, she's hot as hell) He ate my heart, he ate my heart Instead he's a monster in my bed He ate my heart, he ate my heart Instead he's a monster in my bed I wanna just dance but he took me home instead Uh oh, there was a monster in my bed We French kissed on a subway train He tore my clothes right off He ate my heart then he ate my brain (I love that girl, wanna talk to her, she's hot as hell) He ate my heart (I love that girl) He ate my heart (Wanna talk to her, she's hot as hell) That boy is a monster, m-m-m-monster (Could I love him?) That boy is a monster, m-m-m-monster (Could I love him?) That boy is a monster, m-m-m-monster (Could I love him?) That boy is a monster That boy is a monster, m-m-m-monster (He ate my heart ) (Could I love him?) That boy is a monster, m-m-m-monster (He ate my heart ) (Could I love him?) That boy is a monster, m-m-m-monster (Could I love him?) That boy is a monster
Blog 4 – Permission
Dear Producer of Kon Live Distribution,
I am an A2 media student and have been given a brief to design and create a music video within a group. I am writing to you on behalf of my group to ask for your Copyright Permission to use a song of yours. The song we have decided we would most like to create a video for is Monster by Lady Gaga, as it does not yet have a music video. We are very enthusiastic about making this video and would very much appreciate it if you were willing to give us Copyright Permission in order for us to go ahead with the project. The video will not be used for anything other than this project and will not be used with any other professional businesses.
We understand that Copyright is very important and has always been a significant concern to the music industry. Since the arrival of MP3 technology there has been a huge increase in copyright infringement as it has become extremely quick and easy to distribute audio files over the internet, making it very hard for record labels and their artists to carry on producing music. Taking this into deep consideration we thought it necessary to ask for and receive copyright permission from you before using the song.
Yours sincerely,
Dilys Ashton
Blog 5 – Target Audience
Lady Gaga is an American recording artist and in June 2010, Forbes listed her fourth on its list of the 100 Most Powerful and Influential celebrities in the world and she is ranked as the second most powerful musician in the world. Her music is usually in the Pop genre and she has worked with artists such as Akon, Wale, Flo Rida and Beyonce. Lady Gaga has a large audience ranging from many different ages and groups. Her main target audiences are young teenage girls to women around 30, and she has a huge amount of fans in the gay community. These are the main audiences that she attracts but young children also enjoy her music aswell as a male audience and an audience over 30’s. I think she appeals to so many people because not only is she original, different and has an outrageous image but she makes brilliant music that most people can enjoy and appreciate. She has said in many interviews that she is inspired by glam rock artists such as David Bowie, Freddie Mercury from Queen, Madonna, Britney Spears and Michael Jackson, whose music reflects in hers, which has meant that she has gained many fans of theirs.
Lady Gaga has featured on many magazine covers including V, Billboard, FHM, Style, Rolling Stone, Elle, Q, Cosmopolitan and Vanity Fair. The NRS website shows the readership numbers over the past year so I looked at some of the magazines Lady Gaga has featured on to see what the target audiences are for those magazines. From July 2009 to June 2010 the readership for Q by women was 660,000, for men was 79,000 and for 15 to 44 year olds was 587,000. This shows that the main target audience for Elle magazine is women from teens to around 44. Another magazine I looked at was Q which from July 2009 to June 2010 had a readership by women of 175,000, for men was 406,000 and for 15 to 44 year olds was 505,000. This shows that the target audience for Q is mainly men from 15 to around 44 years old. Lady Gaga featured in the cover stories of both these magazines which shows that her audience ranges from mostly women but she also has an interest from a male audience and audiences interested in fashion and music as she has featured in many fashion and music magazines.
Blog 6 – Video Analysis
Lady Gaga & Beyonce – Telephone
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVBsypHzF3UTelephone is a song recorded by Lady Gaga and Beyonce from Lady Gaga’s most recent album The Fame Monster. Lady Gaga has said that it’s about her fear of not being able to enjoy herself because of her dedication to her career. She also says it was filmed as a ‘short film’ rather than a music video and is a continuation of her video Paparazzi. The Video has strong narrative in which Lady Gaga being thrown into a prison cell, she then gets bailed out by Beyonce and they both drive to a diner where they poison and kill the guests having breakfast. The video ends with a dance routine and both of them driving into the distance, being followed by a police helicopter.
There is a lot of dialogue in the video. It starts with about 3 minutes of video without music. The first few shots set the scene with long shots and mid shots of buildings and barbed fences which suggests the setting is a prison. It also has a movie like theme from the start as we see comic book style writing slide onto screen to introduce the Production Label, the name of the video, the artists and actor featured in the video. We also hear distant diegetic sound of cars, a dog barking and a train and a track of detective/action type music playing quietly in the background. This then stops when we see a long shot of cells and a hall from a CCTV camera, which is fuzzy and black and white. This is an establishing shot to show the setting is definitely a prison. There is then a long shot of Lady Gaga being escorted down the hall followed by a tracking shot of girls in the cell. There is diegetic sound of girls of girls taunting and laughing at Gaga and making kissing noises at her. On says “oooh, incoming” as she walks in the room. Then when the two officers, who are transvestites, throw her into her cell and take off her clothes one of them says to the other “I told you she didn’t have a ****” and the other replies “too bad”. This appeals to her audience as it is shows she is humorous and can take the mickey out of the rumours that she is in fact a man. Her video also features transvestites and in the next scene we see her in the courtyard kissing another woman, which shows her representing her gay fans.
Throughout the video we see Lady Gaga and Beyonce in very unusual and extravagant outfits. Gaga is well known for her outrageous style so this video really reflects that in the costumes, props and storyline. This appeals to her audience in a big way because she is living up to her image and making new trends. A wide range of her fan base is because of her image; if it weren’t for the way she dressed then she probably wouldn’t have as many fans. This video will impress many of her fans and make new ones, as it stands out so much.In the next scene she is in a room in the prison where a cat fight takes place, this also creates some humour, and a voice on the loudspeaker announces “Beyonce on the line for Gaga” and repeats. We hear the phone ringing and see Gaga walk to the phone as the music starts. Gaga answers the phone and starts to sing the beginning of the song down the phone. It then goes into the heavy beat of the song and it instantly becomes more of a video as we see Gaga dancing and fast editing to go with the music. Something her audience is more familiar with. This is then followed by the chorus with her and 4 other girls doing a dance routine in the corridor and shots of her in a cell wrapped in police tape. Again it has fast editing to go with the music and shots from lots of different angles like through bars and of her feet to make it more interesting. The video then goes back into the narrative which is established with a transition of a shape of a telephone that takes us to the next scene and the singing stops but the music quietly carries on as non diegetic sound. In this scene she is let out of her cell and we see her walk to a yellow hummer outside the prison. There is also dialogue of the police officer saying “it’s your lucky day. Some idiot baled you out”. There are again lots of shots from different angles including a close up of the bunch of keys and again a CCTV camera shot of her walking outside and the shots are longer because the music is very quiet, unlike the fast shots when the music is fast. She then gets in the car and a blackout sweeps on the screen taking us to the next scene where Beyonce is sat in the driver’s seat and we hear them in dialogue. They then drive of and the dialogue carries on so we get a better idea of what the storyline is. This is then followed a voice on the radio which says “and this is Lady Gaga and Beyonce in Telephone” and then its Beyonce’s singing part in the car which uses mostly mid shots of her from the front and side but also some close ups of her face and shots of Gaga taking photos of her.
She then stops singing but in the next scene we can again still here the music in the background as non diegetic sound. This scene is at the diner which uses another original transition where the shot of the outside of the diner folds away to reveal them inside. In this scene we see Beyonce sat with a man who she puts poison in his tea. We don’t hear any dialogue but there is, again, comic book style text along the bottom of the screen to show what they are talking about. It then goes back into the song, which is the same part as when Gaga answered the phone at the prison. The shots are longer because the music is slower. Throughout the video the pace of the music is always in sync with the shots. We also see the use of more transitions, this time the screen splits into three in a comic book style and we see Lady Gaga in the Kitchen for the chorus where she does another dance routine with many backing dancers. This then goes into a humorous montage of Lady Gaga preparing his meal and a sauce in which she adds some poison. It is done in the theme of a cheesy cookery show with a logo in the corner reading ‘Poison TV’ with a skull logo and a board to the side with the ingredients. The shots are quick and sped up, which makes Gaga’s movements look more humorous and there are sound effects of an audience clapping and cheering and various “tada” noises. She then serves this to the man and after a montage of shots of him and other people eating and coughing we see that they have poisoned and killed everyone in the diner. This used a lot of extreme close ups of peoples mouths eating and them cutting the food and grotesque sound effects of people eating. This montage is then followed by a dance routine in the diner featuring Gaga and Beyonce, and shows various shots of the poisoned people and dancers, which are very much in time to the song.
There is then another transition using stars in red white and blue and we see and hear the car skidding away and driving off with large pink text popping onto screen that reads ‘Wroom’ as the car drives away in a comic book style and a montage using a split screen of clips of Gaga dancing in front of the car and the car driving away. With a transition of flames, the singing briefly stops, but we can still quietly hear the music, and we see a television set with the news broadcasting the crime that they have just committed at the diner. The music gets loader with more shots of the car driving and now both Gaga and Beyonce pulling strange poses in front of the car and we start to hear police sirens in the background, which carry on till the end of the video. 
For the last part of dialogue we see them both in the car in a two shot mid shot and they talk about how they have “done it” and they are “never going to come back”. They then hold hands and a transition of a heart shape shows them being followed by a police helicopter and there is text at the top of the screen reading ‘to be continued...’ This appeals to the audience as we are left with a cliff hanger; we don’t know where they are going and we want to see what happens next. It is a good way of Lady Gaga keeping her fans keen as they know they have got something exciting to look forward to. 
What I’ve noticed while analysing this video is how detailed it is and how many different types of shots and edits there are. I also really like the way there is a storyline which seems quite simple when you watch it once or twice but when you watch it over and over again you realise things you didn’t see the first time. I think the complexity of the video is why it is so successful and people like it because it’s more like a little movie.
Blog 7 - Copying an Existing Video
In class we have been recreating the music video 'Teenage Dirtbag' by Wheatus. It is set in an american highschool so being able to recreate it in college is a good opportunity.
In the first lesson we were given a step by step storyboard of the first 12 shots of the music video.
Blog 8 - Initial Ideas
Here is a thoughts shower of my groups and my initial ideas for the music video.
Blog 9 - Pitch
Within our group we created and presented a powerpoint presentation to the class to show our ideas and plans for the music video. We all contributed to the presentation and each read out different parts of the presentation and it was also recorded. We included information about our target audience based on reasearch of Lady Gaga Fans and prevuious music videos. We also included our initial ideas for the music video along with the lyrics to show where certain themes would link to the lyrics. We also explained why we chose Lady Gaga and her song Monster. We also showed our initial ideas with photos from old hollywood horror movies, including Nosferatu and wolfman, showing the types of shots and where we were getting our inspiration from. One of the most imoportant parts to a Lady Gaga video is the costume and makeup as this is a huge part of her image. So we had a slide to show our initail plans for make up and costume inspiration. Like the masks in Phantom Of The Opera, the big black and white hair in Frankenstein and fangs from Dracula. We also explained our ideas for effects and camera shots as well as our ideas for having backing dancers and differnent characters like Dracula, as we wanted to be as much like a Lady Gaga video as possible. We then concluded the presentation with an overview of what we want the outcome to be.
This is a link to our Powerpoint Presentation:
This is a video of our presentation:
