• Pastiche = this is an artistic work or style which is similar to the work of another time period or artist
• Bricolage = this is a process where a traditional object or language is given a new and often subversive meaning and context
• Intertextuality = this is when you shape a text’s meaning by another text and is also the interconnection between similar/related works that might influence the audience’s interpretation of the media. It is also the relationship between text, which is inflicted as a means of quotations and allusions
• Implosion = implosion happens when an organisation or a system suddenly collapses or fails and implosion can also be used to describe a person who is subjected to increased pressure and, emotionally at least, bursts inwards
• Cultural appropriation = this is the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of customs, practices and ideas of one person or a society of members of a more typically more dominant society. Cultural appropriation is also called misappropriation. It can be seen as controversial when the members of a dominant culture appropriate from a disadvantaged minority culture

• These terminology definitions link to our production task because our style models mean we will create a pastiche because our work produced will be similar to other music videos that follow the theme of isolation. Our production task is in the theme of isolation, therefore we will be applying intertextuality because we are shaping the meaning of isolation by following a tripartite structure in our music video. Implosion links to the themes of isolation and the economic crisis in “Ghost Town” by the Specials and “Letter to the Free” can be seen as a bricolage of equal rights, no matter what skin colour you have. Finally, cultural appropriation links to our style models, as “letter to the Free” has cultural appropriation of the discrimination of black people due to their skin colour.

My Style Models – The Representation of race, ethnicity and cultural difference

In Just the Way You Are, Bruno Mars is mixed race/latino and stars in the music video, and appears to be in love with a white women, thus emphasising that it doesn’t matter about the colour of your skin, people will fall in love because of what’s on the inside, not based on looks and skin tone. Similarly, Sunflower by Post Maline challenges the dominant ideology as stereotypically in all the Marvel films, the superheroes and villains happen to have white skin, however the creator of Spider-Man: into the Spider-verse has used the protagonist (Spider-man) as being a black man, thus emphasising that anyone can be a superhero and therefore giving a sense of power to black people, especially as with recent events, black people have been discriminated and felt powerless. Overall, most of my chosen style models represent race and ethnicity in a positive way, however The Scientist does not include any black/mixed race people in the music video. Instead, the music video shows cultural difference as Chris Martin (the protagonist) appears to be walking in the more poorer areas of London, but then throughout the video he walks to an open forest, which could be seen as identifying the sense of freedom that he has.

How useful are ideas about narrative in analysing music videos? Refer to CSP “Ghost Town” and “Letter to the Free” in your answer.

Within the Narrative theory, there are many theorists we can apply. An example is Todorov’s Tripartite which explores how all narratives should follow a structure of beginning equilibrium, disruption and ends with a new equilibrium. Another narrative theorist that can be explored is Levi-Strauss and his theory of binary opposites and Vladamir Propp, with his theory of media have 7 different character types, the hero, helper, princess, victim, dispatcher, father and false hero.

Each of the CSPs (both “Letter to the Free” and “Ghost Town” clearly follow Todorov’s Triparite Narrative Theory, and therefore have a clear beginning equilibrium, disruption and new equilibrium. For example, this is shown in Ghost Town with the opening being the initial equilibrium of driving through the streets of the East End of London, showing how London has become a “ghost town”. The disruption is when the car that is being driven swerves out of control, which could be a message how the unemployment rates in the UK were rising upwards out of control and thus emphasising how the whole economy of the UK was out of control. However, the new equilibrium is found and that is when the band return to the car and are seen at the end skimming rocks on a beach, which could be a symbol of things returning back to normal, since previously the car was out of control, whereas now everything has been returned to normal.

Similarly, “Letter to the Free” also follows a tripartite narrative theory. The music video begins with a shot of the setting and then the focus on the black box, which could be interpreted as an infinite symbol of black lives and a constant reminder of the symbol behind the message that “black lives matter”. The disruption can be determined by Common being seen in a prison, playing music, demanding form “freedom”. It can be argued that the disruption of this music video can be the imprisonment of black lives. This also applies Levi-Stauss’ theory of binary oppositions because Common is singing about freedom, however in the music video, he appears to have no freedom because he is trapped in a prison. Finally, the new equilibrium of the music video is the empty shots of the prison and a zooming out close-up of a house, possibly Common’s house, with the outdoor shot symbolising freedom and the freedom he has finally got. Once again, the black box appears to once again remind us of the message of the song that black lives are infinite and are equal to any other skin colour.

Overall, it is very useful for music videos to follow Todorov’s tripartite narrative theory. Not only does following a narrative theory make the music video and context of the song more easier to follow, applying a narrative theory also means that you are able to capture perceptions and messages which can’t be expressed by people personally. For example, Ghost Town is talking about the economic crisis of London during the 80s, however, without the narrative theory of the music video, people could misinterpret the song and see Ghost Town as a place where nobody lives, which is the complete opposite (linking to Levi-Strauss’ theory of binary opposites) since people were living in London, it wasn’t a ghost town with no people, it was a ghost town because everyone was in their homes and not going out to work. Finally, narrative is important due to the old saying of “pictures paint a thousand words”. It can be very hard to convey a message by speaking it, however, using a music video can be a visual way to help convey a message, which is why applying narrative to music videos is an important thing to do

Todorov’s Tripartite Narrative Structure:

The Scientist by Coldplay

• Beginning Equilibrium = protagonist is laying down on a mattress in a rural part of the UK (London and Surrey). It is apparent it is in the rural areas, as identified by the multiple spray painted/graffiti art on the walls. The protagonist next flips off the mattress and begins walking in a town. The protagonist walks backwards and the background characters are also reversed. (Fun fact – Chris Martin had to learnt to sing backwards so while he’s walking backwards, he isn’t singing the song backwards!)
• Disruption = the protagonist walks past people living their everyday lives (shopping in the town centre, playing basketball. The protagonist then walks to an abandoned train track and then walks backwards through loads of woodlands. He sees a child asleep in the woods and the camera focuses on the child
• New equilibrium = from being in the woods, the protagonist puts on his jacket and flies through back into the car, he is then driving on the roads and is with what I presume to be either his girlfriend or his wife.

Because this music video is backwards, it is basically back to front, so isn’t in chronological order, instead it is in a reverse-chronological order!

Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars

• Beginning Equilibrium = the female character begins by listening to music, wearing a pair of headphones. The singer (Bruno Mars) then takes the tape out of the MP3 player. The female looks confused, however the singer pulls the tape and the music starts. He opens up with his name and the name of the song, which has been spelt out using a cassette tape.
• Disruption: the music video is now focused on the cassette tape and Bruno Mars draws out what he’s singing about with the cassette tape. For example, when he says “her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like they’re not shining”, the cassette tape wire transforms into an animation of the female with her eyes blinking. Occasionally, throughout the music video, the camera focuses on Bruno Mars singing and then the female blushing, making it apparent that Bruno Mars is trying to flirt with her. When Bruno Mars makes the cassette animation of the female smile, the female changes it to be a neutral mouth, however, Bruno Mars changes it so the cassette animation is of the female smiling.
• New equilibrium = the female moves over and sits next to Bruno Mars. The animation continues to play and occasionally we see an over the shoulder shot of Bruno Mars and the female looking at the table. The song ends with a point of view shot of the female sat on the sofa, while Bruno mars is sat at the piano, playing the song for her on his piano. During Bruno Mars playing the piano, there are occasional close-ups of him and the female being flirtatious and Bruno Mars stroking her face, thus indicating they have fallen in love.

Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee

• Beginning equilibrium = a record player is turned on and what looks like a drone shot is done over an animated city, with an introduction to the song, by the title and the artists appearing on the drone shot of the city. The music video is possibly animated since the song was used in the film “Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse” and it is stereotypical that superhero films are animated. The protagonist (a young teenage boy) is living his day-to-day life, with shots of him going on the subway station, in school, at home in his bedroom, etc. At 0:46, the parents go off to work and the protagonist goes off to school, which is followed by a close up of the mother kissing her son goodbye before they go off to work/school.
• Disruption = The protagonist next is sat in his bedroom and falls out of his window, however, he is saved by standing on the side of the wall (reference to how Spiderman can attach himself to walls). The protagonist tells his parents about his ability and runs away. He takes off his mask and puts it back on when he sees someone walk toward him. The protagonist is then snatched by an enemy with what looks like their powers and the protagonist and the enemy fight on the streets.
• New Equilibrium = At 2.09 the protagonist has become and adult there is a close up of a photo of a the female all grown up and next a female superhero jumps onto the ground out of nowhere. The superhero female takes off her mask and it happens to be the female the protagonist was friends with at school. They team up and defeat the enemy and the ending shot is of the protagonist realising his powers and then attaching to buildings and he places a sticker on a statue which says “Spiderman”.

For my music video, I am hoping to do an animated music video to differentiate from other music videos.

I like this music video because at the beginning, I like the shot zooming into the protagonist and then zooming out. I also like the way the protagonist is walking and the video is reversed and the background people are walking. I also like the way the protagonist maintains eye contact as it engages the audience and attracts their attention.

I like the way this music video begins with the protagonist wearing headphones (since including headphones are part of the brief). I also like the way the majority of the music video was with the headphone wire being created into images.

I like this music video because I like the animations. I feel this is the music video style I am most steered towards doing as animation will contain no people as I have discovered it is quite difficult working with people.

SETTINGS AND CHARACTERS:

Due to the lockdown measures, I am having to do all my photos around my house and use my family members/pets as characters. I have also used images from the summer holidays a few years ago for the “Utopia” part of the music video.

When lockdown is eased and it’s more safer to go outside, I am hoping to have scenes of deserted streets in Jersey, then the protagonist puts on a pair of headphones and is transported to a Utopia, the World back to normal after Coronavirus, where they are able to meet up with friends and it’s summer, with loads of festivals and sitting on the beach with friends.

However, I will have scenes where the protagonist has their headphones off and are in reality, doing things in lockdown (baking, working, clap for carers, relaxing, etc). The headphones are going to be a symbol of what the future should look like. This is because the song I have chosen is called ”Hope”, which is about finding hope in dark times and Coronavirus can be seen as a dark time because of lockdown measures and how there is a killer virus spreading around and life has been changed drastically to prevent the spread of the killer virus.

Settings Mood board:

Characters Mood board:

Props Mood board:

Music

1. COLONIALISM = it is a policy that a country has over extending or retaining authority over other people or territories, which generally has an aim for economic dominance.
2. POST COLONIALISM = this is the academic study of the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism, which focuses on the human consequences of the control and exploitation of colonised people and land
3. DIASPORA = this is a scattered population where the origin lies in a separate geographic locale. In the past, diaspora was used to refer to the involuntary mass dispersion of a population from indigenous territories
4. BAME = BAME stands for Black, Asian and Minority ethnic people and derives from the “political blackness”, which was an idea that various ethic groups has united behind to fight discrimination back in the 1970s.
5. DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS (GILROY) = this is a term that is used to describe the internal conflict that was experienced by subordinated groups in an oppressive society.
6. CULTURAL ABSOLUTISM / RACIAL ESSENTIALISM = this is a philosophical position that declares a society’s culture to be a supreme ethical value.
7. CULTURAL SYNCRETISM = this is when there are aspect of two or more distinct cultures blend together in order to create a new custom, philosophy, idea or practice.
8. ORIENTALISM (SAID) = this is a book that was written by Edward W. Said where Said developed the idea of orientalism to define the West’s representations of the East, which are the people and societies that inhibit Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.
9. APPROPRIATION = this when you acquire different aspects from different cultures and then use them within a culture
10. CULTURAL HEGEMONY = according to Marxist philosophy, this is the domination of a culturally diverse society. This is by the ruling class that manipulates the culture of society
11. THE PUBLIC SPHERE (HABERMAS) = the public sphere was a term created by German philosopher Habermas, who defines the public sphere as being a “virtual or imaginary community which does not necessarily exist in any identifiable space”. Within the public sphere, individuals can come together freely to form public opinions and legitimisation of state and democracy.
12. THE ROLE OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING IN TERMS OF FAIR REPRESENTATION OF MINORITY GROUPS / INTERESTS = a key issue that is facing PSB (Public Service Broadcasting) is the representation of ethnic minorities as one of the functions of PSB is to reflect the reality of multi-ethnic and multicultural republics.

(TASK1) Background Information:

• A song by ‘The Specials’
• It was released on the 12th of June 1981
• When released, the song spent 3 weeks at No. 1 and 10 Weeks in total on the Uk Singles Chart’s Top 40.
• It was awarded the “Single of the Year” in 1981
• It won an NME award for being the ‘Best Single’
• The song was written just as the 3 band members (Neville Staples, Lynval Golding and Terry Hall) were leaving ‘The Specials’ to form a band called ‘Fun Boy Three’
• According to Dammers, the song was inspired by the band splitting up. He said in 2008: “‘Ghost Town’ was about the breakup of the Specials. It just appeared hopeless. But I just didn’t want to write about my state of mind so I tried to relate it to the country as a whole.”
• The band’s ‘2 Tone” record label gave its name to the genre that fused ska, reggae and new wave.
• Formed in 1977, the group had became the pioneers of a cross-cultural sound that fused the sounds of reggae music with the raw anger of punk.
• In a space of 2 years (1979-1981), the original “Specials” managed to embody the new decade’s violent emerges of violent energies, morals and conflicts.

(TASK 2) Cultural, Social and Historical Background

• The song was addressing the themes of urban decay, deindustrialisation, unemployment and violence in inner cities
• In 1981, industrial decline had left the city suffering badly and unemployment rates were at the highest level within the UK
• In 1981, unemployment was heading up to 3 million people
• The band’s ‘2 Tone’ record label inspired a crisply attired youth movement
  • However, as a consequence, ‘The Specials” gigs began to attract the hostile of presence groups, such as The National Front and the British Movement.
• Ghost Town is believed to be a prophecy that sounds like an aftermath as the Ghost Town it describes of is gutted by recession and appears to be the terrain before a riot.
• 1981 was the height of youth unemployment as the UK reacted to Margaret Thatcher’s cuts and riots were erupting all over the country
• The song consists of many different sounds, chords and unusual instruments to represent the chaos and confusion which was happening during 1981
• The origin of the song began back in 1980, after Dammers had witnessed the St Paul Riots in Bristol. For most of the 1970s, St Pauls, which was a predominantly black and white working class area, was a victim of deteriorating housing, poor education services and and increasingly strong Police presence.
• The band included both members with black and white skin, which was very rare back in the 80s, identifying the “Specials” are challenging the dominant ideology
• Drammers said to the Guardian in 2008 “For me, it was no good being anti-racist if you didn’t involve black people, so what the Specials tried to do was to create something that is more integrated”

(TASK 3) Ways in which this music video creates and communicates meaning using media language

• Some of the band members are in dark suits, whereas some are in bright clothing, which contradicts each other and could possibly signify the divide between different skin colours
• The lighting of this music video is very dark and not much is happening in the background, suggesting the idea of a Ghost Town.
• Cinematography is used through the merging of each scene of the music video, that switches from scene to scene using a sliding transition, which was common in music videos during the 80s
• At 1min 13seconds, the car is swerving out of control, possibly to signify how the unemployment situation in the UK is going out of control
• During the video, the band maintains eye contact, which could identify seriousness
• A creepy tone is used by wha sounds like an accordion, which follows Steven Neale’s Genre theory of sameness, since ‘Ghost Town” could link to the horror genre due to the word “Ghost”
• The panoramic shots of driving down the street identify that it is a ghost town and sets the tone for the song
• The binary opposition theory by Levi-Strauss can be linked to this song because there are 2 contrasting genres of music (ska and jazz)
• Todorov’s theory of narrative structure can be linked to this music video because their the video starts with equilibrium, then progress, then disruption, a resolution and then a new equilibrium is found.
• On the first verse “Too much fighting on the dance floor” it in referencing the riots that are happening on the streets
• The lines “can’t go on anymore, too many people angry” reference how the “Specials” gigs were attracting a hostile of presence groups, such as the National Front and the British Movements.
• Ghost Town EP included discordant horns, haunting chords and demonic vocal harmonies to emphasise how the Ghost Town was a scary place to be.