Influences of imagery

Madonna - Like A Prayer

Fallen Angels (film)

Live Freaky Die Freaky (film)

Green Day - Jesus Of Suburbia

Operate is offline

Unforunatly, our music video has been taken off youtube!
For copyright reasons we are unable to keep it online. Although we gained 500 views before this, and many positive comments.
Although, it is still currently on facebook.

Barbie Girl

We filmed this scene in 'The Footage' on Oxford Road. When we went into the toilets to film, we noticed that the doors, were covered in pictures of barbies! Which made this the most ideal place to film our scene.

This relates back to the barbie representation in this scene and how it subverts a female stereotype. This girly mise en scene, and romantic scene suddenly alternates as, becky leaves the toilet door, wiping blood onto the walls, signifying her mudering the male. This creates a frightening atmosphere, as were juxtaposing a child toy into a more taboo reference.

Costumes

Costumes were very important for our video. Firstly as we wanted to subvert and mimic stereotypes. Secondly, clothes are typically related to females. We still wanted to look feminine, because our theme is not to say, the girly stereotype is bad, but that all different stereotypes are ok. But no matter what we wear we are all female.
We tried to all look different from girly to goth. We looked at other female artists who are important in feminist pop culture from Peaches to Lady Gaga and noticed there costumes are quite exagerated but feminine. From corsets to colourful stocking and drastic make up and jewellry we created a similar idea, but keeping our own personal twist.

Lighting

The lighting was important in the music video, as we wanted to create different moods. I recently watched Wong Kar Wai's film, 'Fallen Angels' which used beautiful colour filters, which by themselves created tense and romantic moods. We enhanced the contrast through most of the film, to give it a gritty atmosphere, linking to its punk roots. But the most idealisc lighting was the scenes with Becky in pub. We used a red colour filter which looked amazing, especially when she was behind the small window. As in this part of the narrative, becky is trying to seduce a male, and we thought the red signified romance and love. But making it darker keeps the edgy atmosphere creating mixed feelings of the characters.

Riot Grrl

Riot Grrl is a feminist punk movement, which inspired not only us, but the artist herself, Peaches. Where bands such as Bikini Kill, The Runaways and Bratmobile. Where female punk bands sang about taboo themes and shocked the public. It also relates to third wave feminism, which means there are many different types of women in the world and we should all be equally respected. Peaches herself sings about controversial issues which arent appealed to a mass audience and create quite a shock to the public. As we were using a peaches song, we wanted to re-create this. Keeping the riot grrl movement strong, and create a female dominant, controversial video. By using a girl band, connotes girls working together, and being a community, rather than one iconic female. We don't represent a girl band, but women all over the world. We didn't want people to just watch this video and enjoy it but give a serious meaning and give girls the courage to be themselves and feel they are strong individuals, which we hope we have acomplished.

References to religion

As religion is an extremely well spoken and debatable topic. Throughout the music video, we've used symbolism and references of connotations of subversions of religion. In the background of the performance scene, there is a large wooden crusifix, which is juxtaposed with the costume of the devil horns worn by the performer. This is emphasise the dominance of women in general. The devil connotes evil and power which is being messed with to create a frightening and dark atmosphere we wanted to create. We wanted the females to be have a bad persona, as this stereoptyes the 'sweet girl' that is usually percieved in girl bands.

Another reason for this is to break authority. To create a controversial video by including a topic people feel uncomfortable to discuss. It represents the womens strong willed minds.

It was influenced by Madonnas 'Like A Prayer' music video which gained alot of critism and topped MTV's '100 music videos that broke the rules.' Madonna being a powerful female in pop culture, is a great role model for our video.

Dark Dolls

We wanted to mix genre's and conventions in our music video to represent different types of women. The music video, 'My Cat' by gothic band, 'Jack Off jill' was a big influence as it uses a juxtaposition of dark conventions and feminine. Also it uses the barbie doll idea, covering them in dark make up subverting the idea.

As we all liked different types of music, it was ideal for us to do this, rather than sticking to one genre or stereotype. It goes more into a stereotype and into the idea of feminism and over powerment. The song and artist herself are great role models to women, so we wanted to recreate it in the video. Giving it a dark twist, to emthasise the dominance of the characters. To seem almost frightening similar to the 'Jack Off Jill' video.

Roecker Calling

American director, John Roecker has directed several music documentries and a stop motion feature film, 'live freaky die freaky.' I am hugely influenced by his controversial idea's and have sent him our music video.

Being a fan of Peaches he enjoyed the video, calling it 'twisted... I love it.' We really appreciate this as I am a personal fan of Roeckers.

Audiene Feed Back.

We have uploaded our video to face book and also to you tube, as a result of this we received very positive feed back. After one hour of our video being up on face book we had already received around 30 comments. They included feed back such as “Very creative… dark and dramatic… amazing, like the way you have stood up for women”. This kind of feed back was very helpful to us in the sense that the message we were trying to put across was obvious which meant we were successful in what we did.
However not everyone liked the video, and we knew this would be the case before we even started filming. We were defiantly aware that the video may come across a bit scary, dark and even disturbing at times but this is what we aimed for. The artist we looked at for our video, Peaces, is a feminist and most of her music is about strong women, dominating and being in control of men. We thought a dark and disturbing theme would be appropriate. Some comments from people who didn’t like the video or didn’t like certain bits of the video were: “Not sure about the darkness… bit scary at times… the bit with the action man sinking and hanging form the trees is quite disturbing… I liked the bit where the girl dragged the guy into the toilets and came out with blood on her hands it was very dark and evil and it was even better when she licked it off her hands!” Even though there were a lot of comments from people that fount it disturbing or scary, there were a lot more from the people that really liked it so we decided to change it and make it more light-hearted.
Another girl in our group Molly sent our video to a director who makes short films which are quite weird and abstracted; to get more professional feed back. He loved our video and encouraged us to keep up our hard work!

Technology

In order to make our video successfully, we used a range of media technologies.
These include:
Camera
Tripod
Lighting
Final cut pro

We each had an active and equal roll in using all of the equiptment. For some parts of the film, we were all required to be in the shot so for this we simply placed the camera on a tripod. However we used a tripod throughout the majority of the film, to make sure the camera was still, unless of course we deliberatley used a hand held technique. We also wanted certain lighting, so instead of using natural light or what ever light was already in the room, we used large spot lights and at some points held these and moved them around, to create an effect which would work well with the music. For editing, we used 'Final Cut Pro'. This allowed us to add what ever special effects we wanted and made it simple for us to do basic editing.

Conventions of real media products

The music video which mainly inspired our own was 'Jesus of Suburbia' By Green day. The song is of a similar style, for example it has dark elements and has been seen as quite contraversal and is also of the same Rock genre. The imagery of the video is both shocking and engaging, which was what we aimed to recreate. We used certain conventions from the video, such as having a storyline which isn't obviously clear and predictable, but mixes up reality with something more extreme and unrealistic. We used similar colours and mise en scene, e.g. extravegant costume and red filters. The video insipired us to take risks and be bold, and to try new things with camera work and effects, which added to the overall mood ofthe video.

However, we wanted our work to be original, so tried ideas of our own. For example using toys to play rolls within the video aswell as people, using several stop motion (including ourselves in the shots) to fit the beat of the music, creating mild violent images such as male dolls drowning and hanging from trees and also the idea of the dolls representing our rolls in the video.

We believe the majority of the ideas worked well , so included these in the video. The narrative structure of the video related to the lyrics and by researching the artist and consepts of feminists, we were able to present this successfully in our music video.

Video, Magazine Advert and Cd Cover

After completing our video, we took into careful consideration the type of Advert and Cd cover we needed to create and thought about how we would relate these to the style and genre of the video. We wanted the front cover of the Cd to have an immediate impression on the viewer of what the song represents and to clearly show the sinister nature of it. Like a lot of real Cd covers, we used photographic imagery of ourselves (as the performers in the video) of the front side of the cover. We kept in the same character as we did in the video itself, in order to keep a clear connection between the cover and song, and edited the images to make them look darker and intimidating, by using photoshop. Also, to maintain the idea of being original in our work, we presented the title in a way other than just placing the text on the cover. Instead, we each held up a white board and then later added the text onto it, making it look as though it was already on the boards, and eventually, the overall image was successful in that it looked as though the images of us were 'mug shots', and this was meant to link in with the fierce female characters of the video.

Once we had agreed on our imagery for the Cd cover, we then looked at several real ones, to help guide us in making our own appear proffessional. We looked at the examples in great detail and imitated the small texts, logos and bar code precisely and then added them to the cover to create a realistic outcome.

We then moved on to the magazine advertisement. We also wanted this to look proffesional, so made sure we kept the same font on both the advert and Cd cover. We used a still frame from our video as the image for the advert and deliberatley chose one which linked in with the title of the song 'Operate', and again we stook to dark tones to reflect the darkness of the song. We carefully added ratings from music magazines and release dates for the album and single, in order to create a smooth and proffesional looking advertisement.

Peaches: Profile

Merrill Beth Nisker better known as Peaches is a Canadian musician who is well known for her explicet lyrics. she programs her own beats to her songs and producise her own albums.
Before she bacame a signed musician she was a elementary school teacher, teaching music and drama.
Her third album features artist such as Beth Ditto, Feist, Joan Jett, Greg Kurstin, Josh Homme, Samantha Maloney, Dave Catching, Brian O'Connor and Radio Sloan.

Her songs have been featured in multiple television shows and Films.
Such as :

- The Might Boosh (T.V Show)
- The L Word (T.V Show)
- Waiting (T.V Show)
- CSI: New York (T.V Show)
- Ugly Betty (T.V Show)
- Mean Girls (Film)
-Lost in Translation (Film)

The track we have choosen (Operate) was featured in the film Mean Girls.

Production Stills

This male doll tracking shot has only a Grayscale filter on to create an eerie atmosphear, as there are action men hanging from there feet on a tree.

This image is Grayscaled and we added a filter called Earthquake which makes the screen shake. We as a group decided that the effect was perfect for this shot, due to Jade kicking a mirror.

This shot of the shoes had been used a few times in the production. In one edit we have Spead up the clip and re-wond it multiple times in a sequence. Another time we have kept the speed the same and hightened the Contrast

This mid-shot has been untouched by the editing due the the red lighting in the location.

This sequence has been used and edited a few times. This peticular one has had the effect Earthquake used on it, to show the fear in the male actors character. The Brightness and Contrast has been edited, to show the synester act that is about to take place.

This close up of Molly has had its Brightness and Contrast modified so add gothic effect.

This image has had very little editing but had Brightness and Contrast modified as in this sequence the is a unseen murder of the male character.

A Grayscale filter has been placed into this sequence due to its dark insinuation of operating on a live person. For this reason again we hightened the Contrast.

This shot contains a unique filter called Dazzle, this filter brightened colours in the shot and darkened the edges. This makes this shot seem scary as it makes Jade look like she is coming out of the shadows.

We hightened the Brightness and Contrast to make the skirt stand out more that before.

We also added Earthquake to add a fear element.

This sequence featuring a male Actionman and a Female Bratz doll shows a synester event using dolls. This is showing a female doll watch a male doll 'drown' without helping.

This sequence was put into grayscale to show the death of the character and also to show the synester act.

This sequence shows Molly, Jade and Adukie dancing and singing. Different parts of this sequence can be seen throughout the production. This sequence has had its Brightness and Contrast edited to create a gothic synester effect and to brighten colours featured in the sequence.

This sequence was Spead up to show multiple poses and the Brightness and Contrast was slightly hightened to the sequence.

This sequence has had no editing due to the lighting in the location we filmed, whiched used red lamps. The red we feel is symbolic for both lust and death which are both featured slightly in this sequence.

This doll scene we used a Grayscale filter over the scene to create a dark and synester atmosphear to the film.

For this shot of Adukie, we hightened the Contrast of the image making it darker to add to the gothic look of the video. We also used two filters on the shot, 'Bad T.V' which creates the effect of a broken television (a shot we used on a later shot of Adukie.) and the Grayscale filter.

The barbie stop-motion shots for the video all had its Brightness and Contrast modified.

A Pink filter has also been used in this sequence reprecent female dominance.

Narrative elements and changes

Our original narrative for the music video was very similar to the final piece, although, minor changes were made. Firstly, we decided to follow a non linear narrative rather than chronological. This created a more thought provoking flow in the video, questioning characters and theories (E.G Feminist theory) and showing different female characters we aimed to create evenly throughout the piece. The connotations of this idea were more metaphorical rather than realistic. From the Barbie dolls and action men representations of powerful women and inferior men and the many different stereotypes of women performed by the 4 actors enthasise women as a whole, rather than dealing with specific stereotypes, aiming to appeal to a mass female audience.

The main idea was to follow four narrative plots, from each of the main characters. We continued with Adukes ‘operating’ scene and Becki’s ‘toilet’ scene. Although, fitting in the other two characters seemed like there was too much going on, as we also used performance and stop motion. We wanted to concentrate more specifically and make the two narratives more detailed as we only had 3 minutes to fill.

We had he idea of hanging the Action men by the throat on the tree’s signifying death, torture and dominance of the females, creating a frightening atmosphere and emphasising the thriller genre. Although, this didn’t seem acceptable as the negative connotations were too inapplicable for a college music video. Instead, were hung them on the trees by the feet, still signifies these themes, without seeming too distressing.

Mise en scene were mainly spontaneous idea’s, although for the performance, we originally were planning a all black background, concentrating on the central characters, on the day of filming we found various props and decided to create a much more interesting set, with background aspects using connotations and linking to previous and future elements in the film I.E. Religion. Even though the mise en scene was changed slightly we kept the original improvisation of performance.

Editing

Once we had all the raw footage we needed, we began the editing process.
We wanted the footage to match the dark sound and style of the music, so we added effects which would work well with this, e.g. black and white and abstract distortion effects such as 'earthquake' which looks as though the shot is shaking. Also, to fit the constant change in tempo, we changed the timing of the shot to make it appear as though it moved faster or slower, which worked well.

When it came to cutting the shots, we focused on correctly matching the lip sync with the song and having a variety of footage and location in each shot, in order to create an abstract look and stop the video from appearing boring. For example, instead of having a long section of the song focused around one person or section of footage, we mixed it up a lot. We also aimed for the cuts to fit in with the timing of the song; to keep a steady flow throughout the song. It should also be noted that we deliberatley did not use any special cross fades between cuts, but chose to keep it simple instead. Without doing this, we were still able to keep the cuts clean and precise and we felt using anything more would have overcrowded the video with effects.

Finally, to add to the over all abstract/exentric feel of the video, we edited the imagery, adding high contrast in some sections, but also tried to keep it looking dark and sinister. We also kept to the idea of having each verse sung by individual people and during the chorus we used footage from our group performance, to add a proffessional element to the video.

Locations and a bit on Mes en Sene

Before we started filming we spent a lesson walking around town looking for suitable locations to use as a set. We were looking for a place that was quite dark and moody to give some of the scenes a scary and intimidating feel. Finally we came across a pub on Oxford Road called the Footage we were given access to the top level of the pub which meant we had the space for our selves. The lighting was perfect as it was dim with a red glow as there were red stained glass windows which we later use as a place to film in front of. We also used the women’s toilets because we needed a shot of Beki luring Callum into a cubical. This was an ideal location as there were pictures of Barbie’s all over the doors which went goes well with the rest our video as there cuts of Barbie’s and Action Men through out.

For the group performance which consists of me (Aduke), Molly and Jade, we filmed under the stairs of a local theatre using fresnel spots and broad lamps to create low key lighting effect. As part of the mes en scene we used a large crucifix as part of the set to contrast with our costumes and Molly’s devil horns. This was to create a sinister feeling.


And finally for the operating scenes we filmed in a very small store room to create a feeling of entrapment. I had a lab coat on with rubber gloves to give the scene a realistic feel. There were pipes on the wall with big metal boxes we thought this would add to the look of the lab in which we tried to create.


Barbie’s and Action Men
We chose to film a shot of the action man sinking in a large tank as it goes with the lyrics ‘hold on or he will sink’. It also creates an uncomfortable feeling of torture; it is for the same reason we chose to hang the Action Men from the trees by there feet. It also creates a feeling of isolation.