Post modern media

Postmodernism - Pulp Fiction

Quentin Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of post modern media.

His great influence by Jean Luc Godard who concentrated on creating parodies and subverted film conventions to create lighthearted humor and recognisable elements.

For example a deliberately bad back drop was used in the car journey scene below:



The following points taken from Pulp fiction highlighting their link to other well known icons/films.

- Mia's hair cut was originally seen in Pandorais box by GW Pabst in 1928, Louise Brooks was the actress this refers to.



- Butch is waiting in his car at some crossroads as he has his path crossed by Marcellus Wallace - his boss. In Alfred Hitchcock Psycho, this same scenario hapened to Marion Crane and her boss.

- Jules reciting the bible links to Robert Mitchum's character in The Night of the Hunter by Charles Laughton in 1955.

Cd cover and magazine

I intend on using the same if not similar image for my cd cover and magazine advertisement. My current idea is that i use the image below which is one of the shots taken from the storyboard.



I will take another photograph of this which will include the male lead from the video (which is meant to resemble the lead from the band) and he will be positioned against the wall holding his guitar. I feel this is a simple idea which follows on from the research i found when looking at current cd covers and adverts. In addition i feel this layout/ image also provides sufficient space around the subject for the name of the band and album etc. The purpose of taking a shot from within the music video creates the automatic link between the two and so this will make it recognisable and effectively advertise each other.

Complete storyboard.

I have just uploaded my final storyboard of both scenes combined together so that the full length of the song can run. I hope that when i come to edit my video i can use the timing of transitions and shots i have created for this mock up allowing my editing process to become less intense. I have tried to think of every element i can between now and filming to help me as much as possible in the later stages when i bring together all of my work.



.. please excuse the proportions of my stick people, at least you get the general idea. In addition, when i come to editing the final piece i do intend on using transitions so that the change of shots isn't so harsh.

I have also now added various comments explaining some of the shots and narrative throughout.

..Unfortunately the embedding code from youtube cuts off part of the right side of the screen and so the majority of the text comments are not visible.

Reschedule

Opening of music video will be filmed on friday 30th and the rest will be filming on Sunday 1st November.

P.s. this is due to not enough people turning up as i didnt spread the word enough about what was happening. I have now created an event on facebook to create a more formal and accurate invite with all the concerning information needed, in addition this way i can hopefully judge how many responses i get as to how many will attend. FINGERS AND TOES CROSSED!

Anamatic Storyboard

Initially I began by sketching out my storyboard and writing brief notes underneth concerning the the camera and additional information for each shot, below is what i came up with:



However since taking my location shots I considered making my storyboard up of images and simply drawing on top of them the directions and where i proposed for the cast to be. This is my final storyboard below. (excuse the poor quality of photo im not sure when these images suddenly turned so poor).
Scene one:
.. this is to be filmed on wednesday 21st october (tomorrow)



Scene two:

Dates for filming

I am due to film the opening scene for my video on Wednesday the 21st October. The location of this will be in the courtyard behind my house as shown in the location images in the previous blog posts. This scene will contribute to just over a minute of the 4.30 minutes of the complete song.

On Friday 23rd October i will be filming the rest of the video in Leicester at my brothers student house. This will make up the rest of the duration of the song.

To ensure that accidents are avoided and risks are minimal i have devised a risk assessment list:

Scene one - in my courtyard:

- uneven ground may cause tripping

- open gates increase risk of cars driving in when Connor is walking through them

Scene two - Leicester - in my brothers house:

- steep stairs are easy to fall up/down

Scene two - Leicester - outside my brothers house:

- filming in the road means that cars people are vulnerable to getting hit or run over

- public place, he filming may cause offence to people if they are on film or if the filming process interferes with them

Plan b

I have had thought of an alternative location if i do not get permission to film at Beaumont Halls; this will be at my house in the courtyard which i am able to access permanently and ensure that people passing by won't become an issue. The same storyboard applies including the same shots and camera angles. I feel this may be more suitable as again the area is smaller then a large green area however this may play to my advantage as through the camera angles i can manipulate how the image appears, In addition this will also make the crowd appear larger as the area will be smaller. I will still have an enclosed environment as the courtyard is surrounded by my house, stables and an outbuilding. I could also turn this scene into a casual gathering or party atmosphere.

Below are pictures i have taken to record my film locations and also explore possible angles for shots:

Latest on filming locations

Today i have spoken to someone based at Beaumont University Halls in Leicester to ask for permission to film on their grounds, at this current time they are contacting security and finding out whether this would be possible or not. I will Confirm an outcome once i know.

However, i have been to my brothers house in Leicester, on Litton road, opposite Victoria Park, where i plan to film the rest of my video throughout his house and the one way streets surrounding it. I have taken basic photographs of the possible rooms in the house which may appear in my music video, please excuse the mess as these photographs are simply to capture the the general shape and location of the building as potential film sets, on the other hand the general appearance within the house is appropriate and not far from the image i would like to create in the final video. The stereotypes that i wish to create in my video are those that are displayed throughout the house such as various items i found including, alcohol, lighters, A LOT of mess, coupons, lads magazines, condoms, guitars and so on; i feel these all help to portray the presence of a male student accommodation.

Below are the photographs which i have uploaded into my flickr account. (i used a Nikon D60 to take these photographs.)



There will be more images to come if i am able to to film at beaumont halls, however if i do not get permission i will have alternative locations where my opening scene will take place.

Storyboard for music video

Here i have taken a document from Mrs Hammond's blog which presents way in which i can present my stroyboard for the music video in various forms to make it as clear as possible for both myself when filming and my cast, ensuring i can communicate my ideas effectively.

Dynamic Learning A2 Music Video Guide Exemplar

my story boards will be posted soon ....

Initial locations

The map below shows the location of where i would like to plan my opening scene. I have chosen this location because of it's centeral green area surrounded my student halls. This would be more effective than my initial choice which was 'Vicky Park', this area would have served the purpose of a wide open space however due to the vast amount of space that there is a small croud of about 20 would look isolated which is the opposite of what i would like to create. And so my new location of Beaumont halls for Leicester univercity students is approprite as the green area is smaller and the surrounding buildings create an enclosure which will be a stationary background allowing all the movement within the shot to be on the cast and not traffic for example. To ensure that i have permission to film within this location i will get in contact with the warden assigned to this plot and confirm what im allowed to do.

The halls of residences are marked by the letter A; this i where i plan to film my opening scene.


View Larger Map

The student house where my brother lives is marked by the letter A ; this is where i plan to film the shots down streets and scenes within the student house.


View Larger Map

Fortunately these two locations are not far from each other and neither of the areas attract too many obsticls, therefore allowing me to easily re-shoot shots if required.

Detail of roles

Throughout my video with the exception of the opening scene there are only two main character roles. This consists of a male which represents the character who has written the song lyrics and so the video is to tell his story, he is the main character. In addition i have a female who is the supporting role appearing throughout the majority of the film along side the male, her purpose is the female interest of the male lead as well as servicing the purpose of the male gaze for the male target audience, similarly the lead male role is to appeal to females.

The age i am looking for throughout the cast is 17-20, the reason being that i want to portray a young adult/student atmosphere through their body language, relating to the student based locations and the genre of the music being the indie scene.

For the rest of the cast included in the opening scene the same stereotype applies however due to them only being background features i would ask them to wear what would be a natural dress code to them, where as i would dress the lead male and female role so that they stand out as the main characters.

I am currently recruiting cast members and hoping to begin filming in the next couple of weeks once i have finalised my storyboard and have a full cast.

'The Male Gaze'

In class we discussed the male gaze theory for the benefit of students creating representations of females. In 1975 Laura Mulvey published her theory 'the male gaze', this is a theory exploring the visual pleasure of narrative cinema and the concept deals with how the audience views how people are presented.

There are three ways in which feminists are thought of:
-how men look at women
-how women look at themselves
-how women look at other women

A feature of this theory is when a camera lingers on the curves of a female body for example a slow pann up from the feet to a woman's face; these shots are often presented in the context of a mans reaction to the event. However this feature relegates women as objects and are forced to view the narrative secondarily because of the identification of the male.

Although this theory does carry criticisms:
-some women like to be looked at in a sexual manor as they enjoy the attention
-some women rely on the interest of men as they may sell their image as a living such as modeling

Along with this theory other theorist read into it concentrating on selling media through facial expressions.

In 1980 Marjorie Ferguson researched female expressions and came up with four different categories:
-the chocolate box
-invitational
-super-smiler
-romantic/sexual

And in 1975 Trevor Millum researched male expressions and produced five categories:
-carefree
-practical
-seductive
-comic
-categorical

Additional insight into this theory come from theorist Johnathan Schoeder in 1998, he believed that 'to gaze' implied more than to look at something/someone. He said that it signifies a psychological relationship of power, where the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze. An example of this may be when a parent tells off a child and they stare bluntly at the for a period of time, because they hold the stare and dominate the situation they have to power.

I feel this won't apply hugely to my project as the storyboard present the male lead with the power, however this theory may affect my choice of casting as i will want the lead female to stand out from any other and stereotypically the female lead is more than likely the most attractive.

Post modern media

It is becoming clearer every day that media is becoming a large element of power throughout the world; it is through the media that the most important messages are communicated from anywhere in the world, such as the news and less importantly 'gossip' about celebrities, although the media intelligently adapts this information and conveys messages via different methods which conserquently produce a false world.

Post modernists claim that in a media saturated world that we are exposed to media 24/7 and because of this the difference between reality and the media representations becomes invisable to society, therefore media reality becomes the new reality.

From an artists point of view value judgement is blurred and everything within the industry becomes down to taste. This outcome of this is that anything can be labeled as art and deserves the right to be viewed by an audience.

Because of the distinction between media and reality has collapsed reality is made up of images and representations. This idea relates to Plato's theory of forms; he believed that there werte two worlds, the world of forms and the material word. These were to accomodate his thinking that for every for of a true ojbect in the material world there was a duplicate in the world of forms however this world includes only the concept. Therefore media has created these two worlds of reality and media reality.

I feel that this will apply to the narrative throughout my music video because it portrays a typical relationship where 'boy meets girl' and they fall for each other. Currently in the media relationships are always made to look negative as people are always breaking up/divorcing, being unfaithfull, using people etc. This has formed a negative stereotype for modern relationship and sadly it has produced a 'new reality' proven by only 50% of marriages surviving. As my audience have grown up in this generation along with these stories in the media they can relate to the broken relationship that is revealed towards the end of the video.

Current thoughts..

Recently i have begun to question using stop motion effects throughout my video since i have researched in Sigur Ros's works and i believe i can create an effective video by manipulating the speed of the camera movement and flow between different shots and scenes. Although despite this i will still make a short attempt to make my own stop motion clip in case i am to change my mind. it is a possibility that i may include in a small section of my video to demonstrate a variety of conventions and methods.