G324: Rough Cut 2 & Feedback

This is our second rough cut for our music video. It has been slightly edited now and it is starting to look like what we hoped it would look like. The editing that has been done is cutting the clips we took to fit the song, the lip syncing has been matched pretty well too in this rough cut. We did however use a transition; the most obvious of was the one that was the into-television transition at 2:12. We are also still planning on re-filming some of the shots. E.g. we are going to film a shot of Amy locking the door so that the window-climbing shot is more justified and the storyline is a lot clearer because with some audience feedback that we got, some of them said that they didn't understand the storyline/narrative.



We have received some more feedback on our music video from target audience members, although this time it is for our rough cut 2, the positives and negatives of rough cut 2 are;

Positives:

• Lip Syncing is really good
• Visuals and music work well
• Good variety of shots
• Nice effects on video
• Good match on action
• Song choice is really good
• Good transitions and cuts
• Performance shots outside are great
• Nice colour effects on argument at the end
• Good zoom at start
• Good OTS

Negatives:

• Can't see eyes of actor in some shots
• Some more effects needed over shots
• Doesn't really look different to rough cut 1
• Camera shaky sometimes
• TV should turn on
• Speed up the flashback at the end
• Some out of focus shots
• Needs to be finished
• Some shots a little too long
• Indoor shots aren't brilliant
• Some shots need to be added in
• Not clear storyline

At the moment the negatives are pretty even with the positives, we hope to correct the negatives and have more positives than negatives on the next rough cut. We aim to get rid off all of the negative comments by our final cut.

G324: Rough Cut 1 & Feedback

This is our first rough cut for our music video. It is a very basic version of what hope our video to look like. Most of the editing has been simply cutting the clips we took to fit the song and then placing them so that they match up to our storyboard. We did however use some other editing techniques and transition; the most obvious of which would be the into-television transition at 2:12. As this is our first rough cut, some of the clips are not completely in sync with the song, however these are aspect that we are currently rectifying in our post production phase. We are also planning on re-filming some of the shots. For example, we are going to film a shot of Amy locking the door so that the window-climbing shot is more justified (allows it to flow).



We have received some feedback on our music video from target audience members, the positives and negatives of rough cut 1 are;

Positives:

• OTS shots are good
• Majority of lip syncing is well done
• The lighting is good
• The cuts are well timed
• Framing is good
• Good range of shots
• Interesting shots
• Good locations
• Clear storyline
• Transitions are really good
• Flows nicely
• Storyline links to the lyrics
• Like that couple in video are wearing similar clothes
• Appropriate shots for genre
• Fits generic conventions
• Pacing of shots work well

Negatives:

• Some lip syncing is a bit off
• ECU of mouth is blurry
• Some shots repeat
• TV should turn on
• Camera is shaky on some shots
• Some shots are slightly out of focus
• Some shots are too long
• SRS looks weird
• Gaps with no footage need to be filled
• Unclear why actor is climbing through window
• Well polished and falls away at the end
• Some colour corrections are needed
• Not complete
• Wider variety of shots could be used
• Repetition could be confusing
• Shorter and more shots in flashback
• Chorus is too repetitive
• Add in names and candidate at start
• Tracking/handheld shots are wobbly

At the moment there are more negatives than positives, we hope to correct the negatives and have more positives than negatives on the next rough cut. We aim to get rid off all of the negative comments by our final cut.

G324: Notes on Cultural Effects Model and How it Applies to a Music Video

The Cultural Effects Theories are what the media do to people, the media is very powerful and the audience is passive. There are  2 main theories in Cultural Effects, the first one is The Hypodermic Needle Theory and the second is The Agenda Setting Theory. The Hypodermic Needle Theory was a theory introduced as soon as radio and televisions were introduced and was mainly used to put ideas into mass medias heads through radio and television means originally. The Agenda Setting Theory was a theory introduced and it is the creation of public awareness and concern of important issues by the news media.

Hypodermic Needle Theory (Also known as the Magic Bullet Theory) (1920s - 1940s)

 

 

The "Hypodermic Needle Theory" is a cultural effects theory, this theory implied that mass media had a direct, immediate and powerful effect on its audiences. The mass media in the 1940s and 1950s were perceived as a powerful influence on behaviour change.  This theory originated in USA during 1920s and 1930s and it was popular in the 1940s. The media is highly influential and audiences are seen as ‘sponges that absorb the media without interference. There were several factors that contributed to this "strong effects" theory of communication, including:

• the fast rise and popularisation of radio and television
• the emergence of persuasion companies, such as advertising and propaganda
• the Payne Fund studies of the 1930s which focused on the impact of motion pictures on children
• Hitler's monopolisation of the mass media during World War 2 to unify the German public behind the Nazi party

 

This animation shows that the information in the needle (the media) is getting put into the audiences head (mass media).

There are two names for this theory "The Bullet Theory" and "The Hypodermic Needle Theory" both of which are the same theory in concept they just have different names and slightly different explanations. The Hypodermic Theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a response. The image that is used to express this theory (a needle) suggests a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver. The bullet theory however graphically suggests that the message is a bullet, fired from the "media gun" into the viewer's "head".

With similarly emotive imagery The Hypodermic Needle model suggests that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the message. There is no escape from the effect of the message in these models. The population is seen as a sitting duck. People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot media material "shot" at them or "injected" into them. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information.

 

 

Example:

The classic example of the application of the Hypodermic Needle Theory was illustrated on October 30, 1938 when Orson Welles broadcasted their radio edition of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds." On the eve of Halloween, radio programming was interrupted with a "news bulletin" for the first time. What the audience heard was that Martians had begun an invasion of Earth in New Jersey.

It became known as the "Panic Broadcast" and it changed broadcast history. Approximately 12 million people in the United States heard the broadcast and about one million of those actually believed that a serious alien invasion was underway. A wave of mass hysteria disrupted households, interrupted religious services, caused traffic jams and clogged communication systems. People fled their city homes to seek shelter in more rural areas, raided grocery stores and began to ration food. The nation was in a state of chaos, and this broadcast was the cause of it.

Media theorists have classified the "War of the Worlds" broadcast as the best example of The Hypodermic Needle Theory. This is exactly how the theory worked, by "shooting" or "injecting" the message directly into the "bloodstream" or the "heads" of the public, attempting to create a uniform thinking. The effects of the broadcast suggested that the media could manipulate a passive and gullible public, leading theorists to believe this was one of the primary ways media authors shaped audience perception.
 

Agenda Setting Theory (1970s)

The "Agenda Setting Theory" is a cultural effects theory, it is the creation of public awareness and concern of important issues by the news media. Agenda setting describes a very powerful influence of the media, the ability to tell us what issues are important. McCombs and Shaw investigated presidential campaigns in 1968, 1972 and 1976. In the research done in 1968 they focused on two elements: awareness and information. Investigating the agenda-setting function of the mass media, they attempted to assess the relationship between what voters in one community said were important issues and the actual content of the media messages used during the campaign. McCombs and Shaw concluded that the mass media exerted a significant influence on what voters considered to be the major issues of the campaign.

The media cannot tell us what to think but it can tell us what to think about. This theory is defined as the process whereby the mass media determine what we think and talk about. In other words, the media can ‘set agendas’ or terms of reference of any discussion be it social, political or economical.

Two basis assumptions underlie most research on agenda-setting: (1) the press and the media do not reflect reality; they filter and shape it; (2) media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues. One of the most critical aspects in the concept of an agenda-setting role of mass communication is the time frame for this phenomenon. In addition, different media have different agenda-setting potential. Agenda-setting theory seems quite appropriate to help us understand the pervasive role of the media (for example on political communication systems)."
 

Example:

McCombs and Shaw focused on the two elements: awareness and information. Investigating the agenda-setting function of the mass media in the 1968 presidential campaign, they attempted to assess the relationship between what voters in one community said were important issues and the actual content of media messages used during the campaign. McCombs and Shaw concluded that the mass media exerted a significant influence on what voters considered to be the major issues of the campaign.

This picture is an example of the Agenda-setting Theory

How these theories apply to a Music Video:

The "Hypodermic Needle Theory" applies to a Music Video because I think that there are certain bits in the music video where they are trying to put things into the audiences head. This is mainly the swear words and nudity in the music videos, a fair few of music videos now have either swearing or nudity to a certain extent in their music videos and it is putting ideas/words into children's heads when they watch the music videos. They are seeming to become marketing devices in a way trying to promote products like "Beats by Dr Dre" in their music videos, these are often seen in the background and are put on show on purpose to promote them.

The Agenda-setting Theory applies to a Music Video because music videos are also used as a device to portray stories, this only happens in a few music videos but these stories may or may not be true but it puts the audiences mind in a different perception and tries to make them remember something that they don't really want to remember, it makes the ideas seem like they are more important that others.

G324: Lyric Analysis and their Importance

Lyrics are highly important I think because they are the main part of the song and typically what the videos are based on. The lyrics are the basis for all songs and can portray feelings or emotion. Lyrics can be like poems and they try and get the writers emotions across to the audience in many different ways depending on the genre.

Queens - Bohemian Rhapsody Lyric Analysis - (this is my opinion on what the lyrics mean, I understand that other people will have a different opinion on what the lyrics mean)

At the start, it starts with the narrator's thoughts:

"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?"

The narrator seems overwhelmed by the idea that he's going to die. He almost wonders whether this is all a nightmare.

"Caught in a landslide, No escape from reality"

 Again, he feels overwhelmed, but he can't really deny that he's about to be killed.

"Open your eyes, Look up to the skies and see,"

 Looking up to heaven and he's wondering about life

"I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy
Because I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low"

Here I think that he is quoting a common perspective: he's just a poor man ("boy") and he doesn't deserve sympathy. Much of the song is about how no one seems to care for the narrator, even though he seems mournful and regretful for his actions.

"Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me"

Now that he's going to die, nothing more matters. He has no future, no hopes or dreams. He's going to die, and there's nothing he can do about it. He feels very hopeless, and from his perspective nothing really matters.

"Mama, just killed a man, Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger, now he's dead"

This part is quite easy to understand, he committed murder. I think that he's reflecting on what he's done, and he mentions this to his mother.

"Mama, life had just begun
But now I've gone and thrown it all away"

He was a young man, he had the chance to live a meaningful life, but instead he killed a man, thus causing his own death via execution.

"Mama, ooh, Didn't mean to make you cry
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow
carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters"

Again he's sorry for his actions, and regrets that his mother now weeps for him, as he will soon be killed. The execution will take place on time, so if he's not back again this time tomorrow, it will mean that the execution happened, that he failed to escape it. The narrator tells his mother that, even if he dies, she should carry on living, almost as if his death didn't matter to her.

"Too late, my time has come"

The execution is imminent.

"Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time"

He has intense fear.

"Goodbye, ev'rybody, I've got to go"

He says a final farewell to his family and friends.

"Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth"

The truth is that he killed a man, and now he faces justice. He's going to die.

"Mama, ooh, I don't want to die
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all"

This is obvious, he doesn't want to be killed, and indeed he wonders if it would have been better never to have been born in the first place.

A new voice starts singing; this voice represents his friends and family who are (or have been previously) protesting his execution.

"I see a little silhouetto of a man"

The narrator seems so poor and pitiful, "a shadow of what he once was", so to speak

"Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango"

I don't know what this means

"Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very fright'ning me"

Both he and them are afraid that he'll be killed. The "lighting" part might indicate that he's to be killed with the electric chair or it could just be symbolic.

"(Galileo.) Galileo. (Galileo.) Galileo, Galileo figaro"

Galileo was unfairly persecuted by the authorities of his time. Galileo didn't commit murder, but the narrator's advocates still draw a parallel, insisting that he doesn't deserve the punishment he's receiving.

"Magnifico. I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me"

The narrator repeats the common belief.

"He's just a poor boy from a poor family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity"

His friends and family argue that, because he's a poor boy, he deserves sympathy and compassion, not death.

"Easy come, easy go, will you let me go"

Here the narrator pleads for his life. He basically says "You don't seem to care about me; I'm 'easy come, easy go'. You don't really care if I live or die. So, if you don't really care whether I live or die, can't you just let me live?"

Then the opposite group, the friends and family of the dead man (and/or the execution authorities) respond to these pleas.

"Bismillah! No, we will not let you go"

The other group wants the narrator to be executed.

"(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go
(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go
(Let me go.) Will not let you go
(Let me go.) Will not let you go. (Let me go.) Ah
No, no, no, no, no, no, no."

The two groups have an argument.

"(Oh mama mia, mama mia.) Mama mia, let me go"

Here the chorus of friends and family says "let me go", but I really think they mean "let him go. Don't kill the narrator"

"Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me"

Beelzebub means Satan. The narrator feels that Satan is out to torment him by leading him to such a sad fate. After all, it was probably a devil that tempted him to commit murder in the first place. Likewise, his family feels Satan is tormenting them as well, by killing the narrator to make them feel sad. Perhaps even the dead man's family joins in on this chorus; they feel that it was Satan who told the narrator to commit murder in the first place, and now they insist that execution is the only holy response to such a sin.

Right before the end, the narrator has a sudden burst of passion.

"So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?
So you think you can love me and leave me to die?
Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby
Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here!"

I'm not sure if he's talking to anyone specific, or if he's just ranting with passion, screaming at everyone and everything involved.

I think that the narrator throws off his guards and fights to escape from his shackles. In the ensuing musical piece, he struggles with the executioners, knocking the room into disarray. The two families watch closely, but everyone knows it's a useless struggle; there's simply no way for the narrator to escape. In his last few moments before death, the narrator resumes his previous state of mind.

"Nothing really matters, Anyone can see
Nothing really matters
Nothing really matters to me"

 Again, because he's about to die, nothing really matters to him. He has no purpose, no hope, nothing.

"Any way the wind blows..."

This is an allusion to the beginning of the song, where this image was used along with "nothing really matters"

I think that my interpretation of the lyrics is that Bohemian Rhapsody is about a remorseful murderer as he's about to be executed.