Can sound be primary in narrative film?

I agree with the previous post about sound in film and that it plays an important role nowadays.

On my own train of thought: we need to take into account that film is a VISUAL medium primarily (celluloid at the beginning had no sound strip and first film performances had no live backing either…) So film with sound is really like a multi-media projection as opposed to film, per se – if we were to be picky about distinguishing. So even though sound or lack of it in film is very important IMO it cannot be primary.

Here I’ll give you an example of a narrative film that fails to fulfil its intention because its focus on sound sets the visual as secondary and you don’t come out with anything other than a nice ‘atmosphere’. I am taking this as a feature film example, and not taking into account the sound/image relationship of music videos, experimental work...

In the films of French/Algerian director Tony Gatlif, I’d say music plays an irreplaceable role.

He has just recently done the film Transylvania (which will probably screen at the AIFF this year). NOTE: Even though he is a director I say ‘done’ since he writes, directs and compiles/composes/arranges the music – so an all round auteur.

In a speech he gave in Prague last year for the Czech release of the film, Gatlif said that in it he tried to show the similarity between Roma and Romanian traditional music(s) (ie. music of 2 different ethnicities living in the same country). He said it to rebut claims that he was misrepresenting Romanians by showing them as uncivilized/unruly peoples by likening them to loose behaviour of gypsies (not that all of them are).

The film kind of collapsed on itself, in terms of reception and critique. Those spectators, obviously, did not take any note of the musical intention. And why should they? They went to SEE a film and instead were served up (generalized) visual representations with a nice soundtrack. The imagery was generalised by the author and the film lost focus as a result. Those who praise the film, were either seeing his work for the first time or were just dazzled by the exotic appearance of the content – cinematography and music.

My reasoning? Precisely because in Transylvania he tried to override the image (and story) with music. Unlike in his previous films, generic imagery of superstition, love and underdeveloped characters WERE ARRANGED TO music. So in effect, the (beautiful) imagery becomes the slave. His speech automatically suggested to me that everything comes second to the music in this particular film.

Why would I complain? Well, at (many) times it almost felt like watching a VERY LONG music video (no hostility towards music video, but a statement/realisation that this is intended as a narrative feature film). Sure the images and music are dazzling enough, but they work INDEPENDENTLY. I often found myself forgetting about or ignoring one and focussing on the other. Sure it had moments but the synergy wasn’t there. Moreover a number of times during the speeches during the Czech premiere, the soundtrack was heavily ‘advertised’ and it made me think that the film was really just a vehicle for the soundtrack…

IMO Transylvania undermined his previous 'film essays' on music and their interaction with the image.

I’d say that Transylvannia is a step down from his (perhaps best to date) 2004 film Exils because the latter is a great example of image WORKING WITH sound WORKING WITH image... In Exils, the sound is sometimes diegetic, sometimes not, sometimes it moves the story, sometimes it develops a character, and sometimes it sets the place or comments on a situation. The image performs similar tasks but it is on a par with the sound – it is never drowned by it. So together they COOPERATE to create the meaning of the film.

The imagery is highly symbolic, and at many points of the film without re-editing the sequence, the image and/or story would not make sense without the music. Likewise the music is many times re-defined so that, like Amanda B’s entry which showed music created by kitchen utensils, it would not make sense on a soundtrack (for example) without the image accompanying it (in the film Gatlif uses windshield wipers, bottles and other objects in the characters’ surrounding to suggest music – moreover, he almost completely erases the diagetic/non-diegetic divide)

One other point of interest is that lyrics are almost always given subtitles if the country of screening does not speak the language of a particular song – showing how important the lyrics are – sometimes they are almost like dialogue and sometimes almost like narration. I think that lyrics in his films play such an important role, that if you missed them, you would be left in a vague position as to what the film was about thematically and sometimes narratively (see Vengo)

His films raise interesting issues – always – whether he intends it or not. Gender, authorship and origin, authenticity vs representation, music and image relationship…I’d recommend seeing his films. Ones which I know are available in NZ are: Latcho Drom, Vengo, Gadjo Dilo, Swing, Exils. I also recommend seeing them in order of production because then you understand the latter films better and get to see the exploration, development, maturation and further experimentation of Sound and Image. It isn’t revolutionary but IMO it is successful.

A BIT OF A SPOILER:

The most rewarding part of Exils is the second to last scene which is about a 5-minute single take of a Sufi gathering in Algeria. The first time I watched it I don’t think I blinked nor breathed for the entire sequence. If you turn the sound off while watching it, like the driving scene in Psycho, you wouldn’t get much.

The first scene is also interesting, because it’s ‘full frontal’ male nudity, yet IMO it is mostly devoured of sexual glamour – precisely because of the music and lyrics at that point which still don’t overpower the image. The nude body thus represents something else because the sound guides our interpretation.

You may also want to see one of the last scenes in Gadjo Dilo where the scream of a woman in her burning village is not her voice but the voice of a well known singer singing a very potent and well known song which is in sync with the character’s actions and feelings… It appears at first as non-diegetic sound, so to speak, but on closer inspection of themes it could just as well be diegetic… Gatlif creates no distinction…

Phew! Hope I didn’t bore you! xxx

Music or Image??

In considering the current debate on whether music or the image dominates on screen, it is important to ask the question: would a text have the same effect on us if music was absent? Consider thriller films for example. Without the high-pitched violins etc, we would not be nearly as much on edge. Commentators of Hitchcock's Psycho have even contended that such shrill music is the essence of the film. This is supported by the fact that Hitchcock determined his music, before he did the rest of the film.

This raises the point which I wish to convey, that music determines our reactions to a text, and in particular, our emotive response. I believe that music in films (in particular) appeal directly to our emotions. It determines how we respond to particular characters, situations, and scenes. Gushy music in melodramas and romantic comedies help us fall in love with the characters; a fast-paced, usually popular culture song in action films gets us excited about a big, chaotic sequence; and eerie off-key music in horrors foreshadow danger is ahead. Not only this, music is the most powerful indicator of genre. We can identify which genre we are watching purely from the music.

One final point to consider: why, in the silent film era, were films accompanied by live music? Why were true "silent films" never popular? The answer is, music makes a film. It manipulates our response to a film. It attracts people to a film they ordinarily wouldn't be interested in. It heightens drama, mystery or tension. Thus, is a film without music a film worth watching???

Just a thought on the importance of music and sound

Over the past few weeks I have had the chance to watch films for other courses that I would otherwise not watch. It occurred to me as I was watching them just how important sound, including both the music and the sound effects, is in how we interpret what is happening. In one of the first lectures we were shown a clip about the music in Psycho and the effect of the music in explaining the emotional state of the characters. I started to think how different our understanding of films, and TV shows, would be if the sound was different. The idea that sound is secondary to the image I don’t see as being true. It may be ignored a lot of the time but I think that sound is just as important if not more so as it gives us as the viewer the ability to interpret the images that we see. Comparing older films with more recent films, for me at least, sound has become more important over time as the technology has improved over the years in how easy it is to understand the film and also how the film pulls you into the filmic world. I think that the importance of sound should not be over looked any more as it is vital for the enjoyment of film and TV.

Hip Hop is Dead?

Rap started out being controversial as a medium of artistic, political and national expression for black people. Its success was based on stories and protest of the black African community through the art form most pervasive and accessible to them, music. But now rap has taken on a new meaning where its controversy is a prerequisite for any successful rap album, such as 50 cent, Eminem and other “hard” rappers that seem to be bound to the notion of hip hop containing controversial and subversive elements to attract media attention, and consequentially, big dollars! People ask, “What happened to hip hop??”

Essentially it is now geared towards money and superficial displays of gangster rap personas and images of success, boasting about their money, diamonds & “bling bling”. I believe recent hip hop or “Hip-Pop” has exploited the historical importance that rap played in the 70’s and 80’s of rebellion against the status quo, racism and the ‘black revolution’, to make a lot of money. Essentially it has boiled down to “selling out” and being globally successful, or “keeping it real” and sticking to hip hops original purpose (in turn, losing out on the money & global appeal of the typecast glamorous, misogynistic & materialistic “Hip hop” and “rap”).

The rappers who debate political issues are now only appealing to smaller subcultures but never to the masses. There seem to be very little grey areas, where politically powerful hip-hop messages are promoted globally. It seems the hip hop music industry is, for lack of a better phrase - Black and White: A lot of money globally VS Integrity/respect towards the black community. Appealing either to the black audiences that had spawned the art form, or reinforcing the negative stereotypes they had once fought so strongly against (promoting these stereotypes to a now more globally diverse and young audience). Hip hop is now counterproductive, not “dead”; as stated by ‘Nas’ the rapper who claims that “hip hop is dead”.

Andy Warhol & Rock music?

Andy Warhol is actually neither a rock star nor a musician. However his name is one of the top names in rock music or film industry. Andy Warhol has always been known as a ‘pop artist’. His main job was painting (and designing) but he also took an active part in any media field such as music, film, performance art etc- any media field that he thought he could outstretch his artistic presentation. He painted things that we can see easily around us (eg. in supermarket) such as can of Cambell soup or bottle of Coca-cola, or faces of well known stars like Marlin Monroe. He called his workshop as ‘factory’, and here he stayed not only with some artists like him but also the hippies, beatniks, rock musicians etc. Andy taught them drugs and pushed them to join in the new artistic trend. At that time there was an odd rock band called “The Velvet Underground”, who was much influenced by New York style avant-garde music. This group was also influenced by Andy Warhol, spending much of their times in Andy’s ‘factory ’. Later, they were introduced a woman named Nico, and she joined their band to make a new album called “The Velvet Underground & Nico”. This album is the one with the famous Andy’s banana painting drawn on its jacket. Andy took the charge of this album as a producer, as well as the jacket designer. This album tells much about Andy’s world of artistic work. Just to have a quick look at this album, the first song “Sunday Morning” gives lazy and peaceful feelings. But the lyrics are quite different from the song title, as it talks about a life addicted in drugs and days that have gone by meaninglessly. Likewise, Andy’s paintings give familiar and comfortable feelings when you see them, but in reality for those who accept them as a piece of art work but not as a section of life, his works are shocking and unfamiliar. In this song, such unfamiliarity is concentrated in it beyond the comfort feeling that it gives. There are many simple songs make you to think they are not really like avant-garde music. But the anxious words or dangerous contents in the songs, and repetition of the unfamiliar tunes which might sounds like psychedelic show such characteristics. The huge influence of Andy Warhol on New York still appears in contemporary rock music in many formats. The honest and humane artistic view of Warhol would be continued in popular music in the future.

Some thoughts about “pirated DVD” issue in China.

Some thoughts about “pirated DVD” issue in China.

Although going to the cinema is becoming a part of local peoples’ life, every year the film company still loses a lot of money because of the pirated DVD market. Undoubtfully, the price of film ticket is the first aspect to be regarded. On the one hand, in China, it will usually cost you 50-60 yuan to buy a ticket, which is about 9-10 NZD. Cheap? Maybe. But this price is only available at some casual times. What about prime times? It will cost you much more, even double sometimes. (So in china, it is not a wise choice to take your girlfriend to the cinema, unless you have to. J ) Otherwise, we do have some half- price shifts. But all of them are available on the morning of a certain weekday. Jesus! Who’s gonna see the film at that time??? On the other hand, the price of the pirated DVD is extremely low. You can buy two pirated DVD with a 2 dollar NZ coin. And the point is, all of them are in very good conditions, just like the official ones. If not, you can exchange with the seller until you are satisfied with your choices. Furthermore, an official DVD is about 20-30 yuan. Of course, it is cheaper than going to the cinema. But, with that amount of money, you can purchase 4-6 pirated DVD.
Secondly, in China, the audiences do not have many choices in the film market. Only a few American and European commercial films will be released in China each year. For example, the audiences have no opportunity to view the whole Lord of The Rings trilogy, if they don’t buy the pirated DVDS. Because the first two film of the trilogy is never being shown on the big screen in China. What if a film you are really interested in is not gonna released in the cinema, what are you going to do??? Obviously, most of the people will go to the pirated DVD shop. On some level, this is one of the motivations of purchasing pirated DVDs. Almost all the people know supporting pirated DVD market is not a right thing to do. But they don’t have choice. The quantity of official released film in China is not able to meet the public demand. There is still a long way to go. We have to be patient.

Jxu063

Last.fm : Where Myspace Meets Ipod.

Last.fm is a social networking site like Myspace or Facebook, however it is uniquely focused on music. The idea is that you install software on your PC (and even ipod) which then uploads your listening habits to your profile. With these statistics the site shows you other artists you should like, other users that you are ‘highly compatible’ with, and assesses your compatibility with your existing friends.

The important distinction between this site and others is how it literally uses the music. The user doesn’t pick and choose which songs they ‘like’ or are displayed; the software gets that information directly from your listening habits. So if you secretly listen to MandyMoore but tell everyone you dig Sufjan Stevens then you’re going to get found out.

Which leads to what I find most fascinating about the site: it provides an insight into listening habits that negates to a large extent the sales and radio charts we’re too often hammered over the head with. Last weeks most played artists on the site, for example, include The Beatles and Coldplay; this shows new releases don’t necessarily impact our listening habits as much as the radio would like us to think.

Given the potential use for such information, the final thoughts I have on the site relate to privacy. If this data seems so accurate in predicting tastes should we be worried about making it public? Is it just trivial information that’s fun to look at or does it say enough about an individual that we should want to protect it? Given the prevalence of spyware and tracking software on websites this sort of data could potentially become a target in future. From my experiences with the site, it seems accurate enough that we would want to protect it from being used without consent; though I’m enjoying the site far too much to withdraw my consent and log off.

Last minute advice for research essays

Hi everyone,

Just to clarify a few points for your essays (based on some frequently asked questions over the last week or so)

You should have a clear thesis statement in a few sentences/paragraph. That should explain what you will argue in your paper. It's not enough to say that you will be examining such and such or looking at this or that. You have to let the reader know what you think about that topic. You must give the reader a clear sense of what your argument is and how you will proceed to make your case (a brief 'road map' for the essay is a good idea and will help to orient the reader as to what will follow).

This thesis statement should also indicate the kind of research materials you've looked at (books, articles, music, DVDs, films, videos, websites, whatever etc.).

The research question was there to help you formulate a thesis. You don't have to put the question in the essay if you don't want to. The thesis statement is what's important. The reader wants to know what you have to say about the topic. The reader wants a sense of your voice and perspective.

Remember to cite all sources including websites, recordings, DVDs etc. I prefer APA or MLA citation style. You can find information on referencing out at this website.

Don't forget to submit to turnitin.com as well as submit a hard copy by Tuesday 1 May, 5 pm.

Before you finish and submit the assignment, check the guidelines and criteria for assessment on page 6 of your course outline (available on CECIL if you've lost it). The turnitin ID and password are listed there.

Don't worry too much if you can't find much academic writing about your topic. Some issues haven't been written about that much. As long as you make a carefully reasoned case with supporting evidence it is likely to be a good essay.

Try to write as clearly and directly as possible. Don't use jargon if it's just there to make your essay sound academic. Only use it if it's helpful. Proof read everything. Format and style are important.

We're looking forward to reading the essays.

In response to "New Zealand music and provincial identification"

This is just my response to the post by Rebecca C earlier this week, detailing provincial music genre divisions, or something.

I am hesitant to agree with your particular provincial musical classifications. While I agree generally with some of your statements, I think they ignore a number of great Dub bands in Auckland, “Indy-pop” bands in Wellington, and Alt-rock bands everywhere except 1980’s Dunedin. I may hate the Mint Chicks excitable art-school wankery, but I’m quick to score scenester street-cred by revealing I went to the same (North Auckland) high school as them.

Also, I would disagree that any provincial genre focus would be stifling to music – I would say that any city where there is a high concentration of Dub bands is going to lead to an atmosphere beneficial to the production of Dub music, as the various Dub fans ideas bounce off of each other, exhorting the Dub scene up to new heights.

I’m not sure what has happened to the Dunedin music scene since 1989, but you’re probably right that they just stopped producing music. Hicks.

Also, to say that there seems to be regional music centres is to ignore the scene for smaller bands, which allow varied music scenes to develop all over - even in cultural black holes such as Hamilton. Such a music scene is responsible for the rapid rises and falls of bars such as Underground or Eden’s. (R.I.P)

Further! Given that this IS in fact such a small country, surmounting such regional musical hubs would be trifling for the dedicated band or artist. Witness the regular tours up and down the country organised by A Low Hum, etc. In fact, another perfect example is the album release gig, which, as I have witnessed it, leads to special guest’s bands making the trek Wellington-wards from here or Auckland-wards from there. I would go so far as to say that, especially in the age of Myspace, Bittorrent, and other Interweb related phenomenon that are mentioned as “What the kids are into" in over-simplified Listener articles, that a small country such as ours cannot help but develop what essentially is a nation-wide local music scene. Examine any moderately respectable Auckland band’s Myspace comments section to find a legion of fans in other unenlightened parts of the country trying to get them to do a tour of Napier, Waipukurau and the Manawatu. And because the country is so small – they often do!

Ah to be a Scenester. Anyway, I’m spent.

t.v series and music

Hi everyone
I was just thinking how some t.v series like Sex and the City which I adore contains hardly any music in the show. For example, the opening music sequence is probably the only bit of music that is used besides some instrumental stuff to convey emotions in the scenes of the characters. It was just interesting because the opening musical piece with the credits is such a recognised tune and people download it as their ringtone on their phones yet the show itself includes no incorporation of any musical artists or anything. It would have been interesting to see the rise of music sales if artists/bands had been featured in the series since the show was such a huge hit. Although, the series was filmed from around 1997 - 2004 - its interesting to see the comparison with t.v shows now such as grey's anatomy which has given rise to bands such as Snowpatrol. Just something I was thinking about....

Singer come “”actress””

I was actually here to write about something else but having seen the post by Dian titled ‘Music artist-actor’ I decided I would reply to that instead because I have always pondered the same idea!

Before I get on to my main point I would just like to note that although I totally agree that there is a double standard when it comes to this as there are very few actors/actresses come singers that we recognize on a majority scale for being famous for their music, there is once exception – Christina Milian from “Be Cool”. Although she had singles before her appearance on the film, it was not until after that she really became a well-known celebrity, as a singer.

The way singers can become actors or actresses at the click of their fingers just because they are what is “hot” right now does not necessarily make it right… Some of them really should just stick to singing! Yes they get some experience in an acting environment due to video clips because of the director and so-on and so-on, BUT this doesn’t really give them the ability to act on-screen without their song debut being dubbed over it once the clip has been edited. Also, three minutes and an hour and a half or more on-screen = not the same thing!

Lets take Jessica Simpson for example, whether I like her or not as a person portrayed in the media, the girl can’t act! Why is she therefore cast in roles just because she has an alright voice (when using all the electronics etc I might add!!) and has a good body doesn’t mean she automatically suits the part. I think maybe directors know this but think they’ll do it once anyway cause the first time no-one will know and come along just to see what she’s like! Notice how she hasn’t really been considered for any major role since Dukes of Hazard?? Just something to think about!


- Lydia M

The Grey’s Anatomy launching ground

With the rising popularity of Grey’s Anatomy in America (where it regularly draws over 20 million viewers a week) and around the world, the music featured during the show has also seen its exposure dramatically skyrocket. Snow Patrol’s music, in particular, has gained a significant world wide following ever since their song “Chasing Cars” was featured in the dramatic closing minutes of the season two finale. Following the episode, Snow Patrol became literally inescapable when switching on the radio, or the television.

“Chasing Cars” was also featured in the season finale of One Tree Hill, which aired nearly two weeks before the Grey’s Anatomy episode, yet its appearance was overshadowed by the more popular programme, and Grey’s Anatomy was given the credit for elevating Snow Patrol’s success. Snow Patrol now sees their music used regularly throughout American television, appearing in shows which include Smallville, ER and The 4400.

Grey’s Anatomy has also raised the popularity of other artists such as Anna Nalick and The Fray. Nalick’s song, “Breathe (2am)”, was featured during an episode centred on a bomb threat, and later discovered success on the charts. The Fray’s song “How to Save a Life” was featured during an episode of the second season, as well as American promos for the show. Like “Chasing Cars”, the song later found substantial radio play and success.

With all this exposure, one could debate all this new found success could lead to negative effects on the band. Certainly it has helped such artists find more mainstream commercial success, but has it led to them becoming over-exposed? Has Snow Patrol’s music become so widely distributed that the initial appeal has been lost? I, for one, cringe when I hear “Chasing Cars” or “How to Save a Life” come on the radio, as their constant radio repetition has lead them to achieve the same level of annoyance in my mind that can be equated with the “Crazy Frog” song.

....MUSIC AS SCREENED ON ‘TV-ONE’!

Blog Title: TV CHANNEL PROMO, ADS & POP SONGS… AS SCREENED ON ‘TV-ONE’!

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the many interesting Blog Posts about Music Video Production and the Kiwi Music Industry etc…!

Continuing on with my central Research essay theme… ‘Popular Music and TV Adverts’… I have been finding the best source for analysing Pop Music and TV is by watching TV! As well as the internet and media studies texts on television and music (there are a few in the UOA General Library and in the UOA Music Library).

Thanks to ‘Michelle H’ for contributing a comment to my last blog, and for the handy web addy of the Christchurch City Library’s compiled list of ‘Music Used in New Zealand Television Commercials’.

See: http://library.christchurch.org.nz/music/AdvertMusic/

The website gives an ‘A-Z’ list (which is periodically updated) of Pop Music that features in Kiwi TTV Ads – that is, TV Ads that have been screened on New Zealand Television, however, this is not to say the Ads were produced in New Zealand.

Examples include the well-known TV Car Advert for ‘FORD FOCUS’ with people singing and not knowing the words (i.e., they are singing to the chorus)… the music track is called ‘Bohemian Like You’ by the alternative-pop group ‘The Dandy Warhols’… and anther TV Advert listed is ‘Can-teen National Bandana Week’ which uses the popular song ‘Ma-nah-ma-nah’ which is sung by ‘The Muppets’!

Another helpful website addy for reference purposes is (again) Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipediea.org/wiki/Television_commercial#music

Wikipedia has a global list of TV Adverts and Pop Music tracks.

At this stage I am recording current TV Adverts which feature Pop Music Tracks. A clear example of this is the new Television One Network ‘Channel Promo’ which uses the song called ‘Light Surrounding You’ by the pop group ‘Evermore’.

I’ll post more about TVNZ’s Latest Channel Promo in my next blog.

Bests,

Andrea Francesca

Student – FTVMS 323

Fame or Shame: Reality TV & Music

Reality TV has somewhat made a name for itself in the mainstream industry. Flick on the television and there’s people starving on Survivor, people fighting on the Contender, people gossiping on Laguna Beach, people strutting on America’s Next Top Model and nerds fighting for love on Beauty and the Geek. However when it comes to music and reality television some may see it as something popular or notorious. Take American Idol where mostly normal people, like you and me, have the opportunity to expose our musical talent. Put us on screen and what do you get? Fame or shame or nothing at all.

Is reality TV all about exploitation of the people featured in it? To some extent, yes. However with shows such as American Idol and X-Factor their main aim is to find the one, the idol, the star. Most of the episodes do concentrate on narrowing down the best of the best. But then why make audition rejects sing and dance at a season finale? Or why give unique performers such as William Hung a debut CD? It’s entertainment and it sells. What it comes down to is the simple audition of the individual. The audition does not just judge their singing ability but their personality, sense of dress, and an idea of what sort of person they are. By bringing them to the forefront of national TV requires a blunt judgement on what is acceptable. Not just musically acceptable but ‘marketable’ (in the words of Simon Cowell).

But then again there's someone like William Hung, an American Idol audition reject, who unusually due to his poor singing and unconventional looks led him to have a cult following. His optimistic attitude and eagerness can be seen as a reason for being marketable. It can be seen that the mix of reality TV and music opens up the boundaries of viewing and gives insight into many other facets of entertainment where normal is abnormal. Since reality is distorted in these types of shows some can actually take advantage of it.

Reality TV is simply not that realistic and just a form of entertainment – a place where first impressions generally do last. Reality is distorted to create people generally act differently when watched distorts the representation of ‘real’ reality. What it really is is a fully fabricated world in which everyone is a participant playing a game. Take, for example, Survivor, where participants are specifically selected in order to instigate particular behaviours and conflicts with the help of strategically designed scenarios. Quoting Mark Burnett, creator of Survivor, he states that "I tell good stories. It really is not reality television. It really is unscripted drama."

American Idol can somewhat be compared to the American Dream – fame to fortune, unknown to known. And with that idea entwined into the heads of media junkies some may believe “that they got what it takes”. However for some it could just be the American nightmare.

Dan L

Music artist-actor

Many Music videos nowdays are like minimovies. By watching so many music videos on television, I noticed that being a musician gives you the privilege to be in films too but it hardly works the other way round.

Why and why not? Well like I said, music videos are like minimovies. Therefore, it involves at least some sort of acting. I’m not saying that all musicians are great actors, but they get to work with directors and other actors by making music videos. Many music artists have had leading roles in films after their success in music. Jennifer Lopez (Wedding Planner and Maid in Manhattan), Beyonce (the Pink Panther, and Dreamgirls) are two well-known recent examples. They do not only record music in their movies but also use their success in music to sell the movies. Music videos give music artists the privilege to develop a film career at the same time. Interestingly, it does not work the other way round, not equally anyway. I mean I know that Jamie Foxx had a Grammy nomination but he is still known as an actor not a singer.

Across the Universe

Hi everyone, not sure if this has been posted yet, so apologies if it's been mentioned already.

On the subject of compilation soundtracks and Beatles films, here is a new musical featuring covers of Beatles songs:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Across_the_Universe_(film)

While visiting the film's IMDb page I came across an interesting review (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445922/, scroll down to read). An excerpt:

"It would be cruel to call "Across the Universe" a two hour music video because it tries so hard to be more than that, but it wouldn't be entirely inaccurate either. The movie can be summed up as a series of punctuated scenes and characters each represented by a Beatles song and strung together by a boilerplate love story."

This reminds me of the compilation score phenomenon of recent years, in which certain films/tv programmes have moved so far into the spectrum of music videos that the story and the characters serve to support and punctuate the music (whereas in a traditional film the songs would be used to support the drama and the narrative). An example of this is Garden State, a film that has been praised for its indie soundtrack selections. I remember when I first saw the film, I literally came out of the cinema finding the songs more memorable than the film itself (by the way, this comment is nothing against the movie, I really like it).

A good example can be a comparison of The O.C. and One Tree Hill, two teen shows aimed at the same audience. On careful analysis, one will be able to see the difference - in The O.C., the soundtrack, while prominent, is very much a supporting (although important) aesthetic tool, while in One Tree Hill, the integration of the musical montages feels much more contrived - watch out for the musical cues and the difference is clear. Perhaps this is due to the experience/expertise of the O.C./Grey's Anatomy Music Supervisor Alexandra Patsavas, but it is certainly interesting to see that there are more instances these days of the latter, and to see that audiences seem to have readily embraced these films/shows.

Dennis
ID: 3977394

If real life was a Bollywood film

In response to the earlier post about Bollywood films, I think they are not to be taken too seriously, I know alot of people who can't stand them. I've heard complaints that the colours are over saturated and make the film look painted in some scenes, the acting, unrealistic and the narrative, repetitive. This is where the song and dance sequences come in to use, and make the films watchable. Some would argue that these items are cheesy, but I admit, the whole reason why my friends and I decide to hire out and watch Bollywood films are to have a good laugh at each other, trying to sing and copy the dance moves of the songs (and none of us are Indian). These films allow us to enter a colourful, well choreographed, fantasy world, one that I would think is an escape from a not so colourful, non dancing/ singing and at times, pessimistic reality. Some people actually want to rest from seeing the sexual promiscuity many Hollywood films bring (and even in real life), and this is likely to be one of the rare genres in cinema where sex scenes and sometimes even kissing scenes are often a 'no-no'. So, here is another advantage of Bollywood.
Also, without trying to sound too dorky, there are a few things that would benefit us today which can be taken from these films. For example, just imagine if in real life, a whole group of people broke out into song accompanied by a "pat the dog, screw the lightbulb" dance, whenever someone fell in love. It could be a good remedy for creating peace and unity between violent gangs, war ridden countries or conflicting persons. And if only, after being thrown to the ground by a huge explosion, like in the film, Krish, (the Bollywood version of the Matrix/ Superman), my hair and make up would be flawless and I would look unscathed, as the women did.
But of course, these are only fantasies, and although Bollywood films may contain some elements of truth, this is what they do best-present fantasy.

Idol Competitions Conundrum- A Singing Competition Only?

After reading a few of Nabeel’s posts on the current American Idol competition and the controversies associated with it, e.g. the relative disharmony of Sanjaya’s voice, I wanted to discuss a few of the "cracks" in the Idol competition vaneer.
The audience/performer relationship traditionally experienced through live concert going, and merchandise purchasing or downloading etc.,now channelled into mediated viewing with the extra dimension of weekly voting for your favourite is somehow experiencing ‘speed-wobbles’. The format that has kept the show alive and funded and seen its worldwide popularity grow is also encountering problems according to those unhappy with it. In their opinion the hype that feeds the competition is conversely "destroying" the foundations that fuel its success. Well you can’t have it both ways!

On the one hand we are encouraged as viewers to engage with the performers. Besides the actual live weekly performances, which is expertly lit and managed like a "real" gig on-stage, a major device used by the show is the 40-60 sec vignettes screened before each potential idol’s performances. Every week the content is different but the formula is the same. We see our idols experiencing the rigours of the competition throughout the week, focusing on comments from idols, judges and other industry experts on things like song-choice, arranging, rehearsing, and styling. This is teamed with personal stories and further emotive moments like singing in front of, and receiving tips from a "STAR" (Diana Ross, J-Lo etc.). In turn as viewers and members of the voting public, we are shown shots of the live audience throughout the playing of the weekly shows that explicitly highlight the support for each idol and his or her performance. One particularly overt example of this was the image of a singular overwhelmed young fan, who in great ‘Beatleesque’ form cried her heart out and screamed uncontrollably throughout the entire show (not kidding). This ‘idolising of the idols’ was something of a marketer’s dream and by the end of the show she was actually "rewarded". The trembling girl was pulled up on-stage (the ‘hallowed ground’) by the angelic host (the mediator between the dizzying fantasy of the idol and our own sad reality), to meet every one of her god-like heroes.- The pinnacle in cherished moments for every hardcore fan. The intense "business" of being an idol is very much that, designed to grab our attention and ultimately open our wallet to VOTE.

At the same time (see Nabeel’s post " Sanjaya &his Fanjayas") notorious Idol judge Simon, - the judge that seems most aggravated by Sanjaya and has even threatened to leave Idol forever if "out-of-tune" Sanjaya wins the competition, constantly demands that this is "a singing competition!!!". Is it really only a singing competition? C’mon stop the pretence!!

The voting catch that "lets the audience in on the production process" (see above post) has forced an uncomfortable exposure around the mechanics of what goes into creating a pop sensation, to the apparent alarm of the shows producers/judges and critics. Its as much about personality, image, sharp performances, the correct song-choice (by heartthrob idols for their own viewing fan-base), and clever marketing tactics, as amazing vocal performances. The phenomenon that is Sanjaya proves this.
Its also happened in other shows of similar fashion. Take local "Dancing with the Stars" show which saw ‘challenged’ dancers like Mayor Tim Shadbolt or Rodney Hide get through on the power of something else. For example, Mayor Tim used his political nouse in seeking ‘the vote’. The story was that he campaigned for votes by blatantly offering ‘sweetners’ to his local constituents. I.e., a waiver on their parking fines if they text a vote for him to the show’s voting lines!

But hey its nothing new and everyone knows that! This kind of commodification of pop idols…its as old as hat. The new power of interactive voting muscle just seems to bring it into more immediate focus and add another layer of complexity. The kind of power that media has traditionally had in all types of formats in organising everyone’s buying power is definitely diminishing. In this age of Myspace.com, do-it-yourself film-makers and music makers, the strong hold of the media industries is being wrestled with and at the moment, seems to be a worry for many. In my opinion the games are just going to have to get trickier to literally get the buy-in from the audience. -And if you’re an idol? You better wake-up and be prepared to use every bullet in your ammunition to get through. It ain’t jus’ how you sing baby!

Peace
fiFA

Bollywood Cinema

I have never been able to understand Bollywood movies. All the movies have the same sorts of narrative and i must say very predictable. But this is not what bothers me most, perhaps Bollywood has gained a reputation for its unique style in terms of having at least five or six songs and dancing scenes in each movie. But in my opinion this unique style kills the essence of movies. In today's world we listen to music almost everywhere we go, at home, at work, uni, shopping mall, and supermarkets and etc...sometimes this easy access to music gets too much and we need to escape to a place that does not just make us listen to songs and that place is cinema where you use the film to escape from your own world if not the real world. But unfortunately having songs played in a movie brings you back to the world that you just tried to escape from.

May the First.

Hello everybody.

A good number of people have talked to me over email or in office-hours about the research essay.

My email address is kveale AT gmail.com if anyone wants to talk questions through, and my office hours are:

1-3 Friday this week, and 12-2 Monday next week. The email is mentioned in case anyone finds that'd be cutting things a little fine.

Other than that, I hope you enjoyed the break and good luck for the assignment!

- Kevin.

Eminem meets World of Warcraft

I have never been a huge visitor to youtube.com (mainly because I get so frustrated with how long it takes to download) but this last week I have put that behind me waited patiently. To my surprise I came across some interesting new media styles. For example…

I am not a huge ‘gamer’ but I have enjoyed the odd Eminem track and therefore had a look. I found it interesting how a video game would incorporate such accessibility to character and camera movements, which can be so easily cut out and re-edited together using accessible and affordable editing software to create an entirely new text. After watching a few, I found that most of them rely heavily on the lyrics of the song to match up with the images in the game (or vice versa). While this might be an obvious observation and possibly a very simplistic technique it didn’t hinder me finding it to be aesthetically interesting even for someone who has never seen the game before.

At the end of the day this sort of material will probably appeal mostly to those who associate themselves with the game World of Warcraft but perhaps it may lead to more experimentation and creativity that will appeal more across the board.

New Zealand music and provincial identification

New Zealand Music Month is coming up, that means we will be inundated with “our own” music for an entire month. I don’t think this is a bad thing, some of my favourite bands are from New Zealand. What interests me though is the way that certain areas of New Zealand are identifed with a specific type of music, and what that means for music in the rest of the country.

For example, the sound of Wellington is dub and reggae, the likes of Fat Freddy’s Drop and The Black Seeds. Dunedin was in the limelight with the alternative rock of the 1980s. Bands such as The Chills, The Clean, Toy Love and Straightjacket Fits all hailed from Dunedin to make it big elsewhere.

Here in Auckland we are lucky enough to have a number of sounds to its name. It is the capital of Hip Hop, where the now defunct Dawn Raid once reigned. Artists such as Mareko, Savage and Aaradhna once represented South Auckland, although now have been left stranded without a record company.

Auckland is also indy pop capital of New Zealand where record companies Lil Chief and Arch Hill live. Groups such as The Brunettes, Lawrence Arabia, and Ryan McPhun and the Ruby Suns are at home in the small bars of Auckland central and are able to incestuously borrow band members, support at release parties and generally have a good time.

However, the effect that this classification between the provinces has is that it can stifle music making in New Zealand. Pop bands in Auckland, for example, are easily able to find others to play with and for help (if they’re good enough). However, for a pop band in other places, it is hard for bands to get going. Or if a dub band were to form in Auckland they would have to go to Wellington to find others to play and record with.

It’s even worst for fans. In a small country where musicians are unable to make much money bands rarely get the chance to travel and if they do it is often overseas to promote their music.

However, it makes sense for New Zealand to segregate its’ musical tastes though. With all dub bands in Wellington it is easier for them to put on a better show or to have them come play on your album. Fans that live in the wrong part of the country just need to buy more albums so the bands are able to make money and travel. Or move.

Influence of the Western Music to Japanese Music: J-POP

J-POP is an abbreviation of the Japanese Pop, which means the westernized Japanese music, J-Wave a FM broadcasting station created the name of J-POP and used it to represent the idea of “New Music” of Japanese music, which include popular music, rock’n’roll, hip-hop and soul music.

J-POP began in Showa period, which is the period when Jazz music started to popularize. Jazz music had brought in more music instrument for bar and club which only perform classic music, and which also brought in the element of ‘fun’ into Japan music industry, but which had been compressed by Japanese military in Second World War and stopped its performance. But after the war, American had imported large amount of music style into Japan, one of them is rock’n’roll. In 1956, rock’n’roll had began a new music wave in Japan, which was believed that the band “Kosaka Kazuya and the Wagon Masters” re-preformed the song “Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis Presley and brought up this new wave of rock’n’roll. The whole rock’n’roll activities reached its peak in 1959, but Japanese rock’n’roll began to walk downhill due to the decay of America rock’n’roll, because many Japanese bands were following the style of America therefore they were also affected. But some of the musician started to blend traditional Japanese music and rock’n’roll together, one of the well-known Japanese musician who did this is called阪本九 (sorry couldn’t find the English name for this), his song上を向いて歩こう, had successfully made a new wave of Japanese music. The song is the first song on Cashbox Magazine for four weeks and on Billboard Magazine for three weeks, also ranked first in America, Japan in Japanese music chart, which received a record of selling over one million.

J-Pop had became a part of Japanese culture, which are used in many fields, such as Japanese animations, commodities, commercials, televisions, and films, there are even some television news play J-Pop music in the end of the broadcasting.

MTV kill the Music Video Star

After I read through the article about MTV killed the Music Video Star, I am totally agree that the MTV has pretty much kill the video stars, after the invention of television, people do not just hear the songs but see the image of the stars. But because of the invention of the television, stars do not just focus on their song, but on their appearance and chic outfit, therefore it gives an opportunities for MTV to manipulate these stars, MTV are now packaging and breeding the artists which produce the image that the MTV wish them to be in order to fulfill the desire of the audiences, such as Britney Spears as her image of girl next door, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ image as a rock band, and Pink as a rebelish girl. The images of these artists had been fixed by MTV, therefore the song they sing and write shall not be too far from their image, and this has pretty much killed some talent artists who are not specialized in this genre of music and also being commercialized by MTV. Also, the glittery dress of the stars and the attractive music clip, people often buys the album because of the plot or the impression of the video, even when they find out that the song actually isn’t that attractive, but together with the video, it can be acceptable by the viewers, and often people find out they remember the video clip more than the songs, that is why many artists now like to spend a lot of time on producing the video clip, and this has drag down the quality of the music, and this is why I agree MTV has kill the Music Video Star

Hi all

I dont usually watch much tv, but with the recent holidays, my tv watching habits have increased somewhat. Since half of what we watch on tv is adverts (or so it seems), I have begun to notice their use of music to enhance their "selling" power, as it were.

The use of sound in adverts (and by sound i mean music) tends (for some adverts though not all of them) to fall somewhere central on the continuum between music videos (where music is the focus), and film (where music is used as a subconscious guide to required emotions). What I mean by this is that adverts must cash-in on the emotions of the viewer so as to sell their story and so many use music to accomplish this need.

For example, the recent Air New Zealand adverts use no dialogue to enhance the footage of sweeping vistas and the fulfillment of longing in emotional meetings. Rather, the music takes the viewer into the emotional state of the person going to meet their loved ones, and, by extension, into the emotional high of taking a journey. The music also includes a very 'ethnic' feel, if you will, that reminds one very much of Maori songs and calls. Therefore, the music binds viewers in a feeling of togetherness with implied nationhood and the feeling of heartache and joy as felt by the 'characters'.

However, this use of music as emotional indicator in adverts can fall flat. In the ihug advert, similar in term of its music use (as a alternative to dialogue) to the perious example, the song used is at odds with what the advert is trying to 'say'. The songs lyrics are:

"smile, though your heart is breaking/ smile even though its aching/ although a tear may be ever so near/ smile through your tears and sorrow/ smile and maybe tomorrow/ you'll see the sun come shining through if you just smile."

While one can see the link between the ihug logo and the point that if you use ihug it will bring a smile as it provides the contact you crave after the depression of being apart, it still seems to jar on first thought. The images of smiling people who have ihug are in no way connected to the sorrowful song used except as an inferred past sadness that might have been.This is not clear and so fails an emotional cue in the attempt to sell the product ihug. I certainly wouldnt want to buy a product that is linked with sadness, would you?

Just a thought

Kate van Niekerk

Boy bands in the film and reality

To review the lecture we had before the break, it was about the bands. During the break I have watched a very interesting film-“Heavenly Kings”, and I would like to introduce to everyone here. Also, I want to give some personal thoughts about the film.

Boy bands, they exist everywhere-magazine, advertising, television, radio and film, so it seems that they appear incessantly. However, People response to them differently: some people are driven mad by them, some people just shoot out a snort of disbelief to them. In the realm of popular culture, you have to admit its importance: they increasingly contribute to satisfy a girlish dream and also fill up the wallet of music industrial tycoons.

However, how much do we actually know about boy bands? How to be a member of this kind of band, and what is concealed from the public? Through tracing these four main characters, “Heavenly Kings” explores the things of Hong Kong popular star factory that is been hidden. By adopting the way of zero distance filming, this documentary film dramatically tells the rise and fallen of the boy band “Alive”: Four young people, who have talents and potentials to become famous, once they have engaged with the entertainment business, it turns their life in a different way as it change the potential into actual.

From learning how to sing, dance and performance, as well as how to promote themselves, they successfully bring a new band to us not only in the film but also in the real life. In the opening of the film, it acknowledges that in 1995, the revenue of Hong Kong music industry was 17 billions, however, after 10 years it was decreased to only 7 billions, and then the story starts afterwards. There are also many actual famous popular stars appearing in the film, in the way while they are interviewed. They talk about their personal experience, and the old and new music industry, the rules about such a “game”, and these interviews are edited into the film as part of narratives. In addition, the film director is actually play one of the important roles in this film. Therefore, it perfectly gives us an idea of contrasting between the reality and fabrication.

As a film that is mixed up of fact and fiction, things happened in the film could be true and false, so the audiences can make judgment on it. But, the more important thing is to question does the band “Alive” exist for the real music fans? Or make up or the film making? If a fictitious band becomes famous in the real life, they only have good looking but lack of strength, and they still win the fans over, undoubtedly, in this case this film is such a satire to the Hong Kong music industry.

Diva

While watching the French film Diva, i came to realize that it draws parallels to a topic we will be discussing in the second half of the semester, that is, music as a commodity. The films main focus is on Jules, a Parisian messenger boy who is obsessed with opera singer Cynthia Hawkins who refuses to record any of her works as she believes that that the aura or emotion and sense of atmosphere one experiences is lost when the performance is not experienced first hand. Jules obsession leads him to make a (perfect) recoding of one of Hawkins concerts for his own personal enjoyment, what Jules is unaware of is that he was being watched by two Taiwanese men who which to obtain the tape to make cheap copies for financial gain.

This struggle between Jules wanting the tape for personal interest and the Taiwanese struggle for the tape for reproduction and monetary gain echoes ideas put for by Walter Benjamin in is essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction". In this essay Benjamin outline several ideas such as: even the most perfect reproduced pieces of art (in this case music) lack one element and that is its presence in time and place, that is to say that the "presence of the original is the prerequisite to the concept of authenticity" i.e. The first hand experience of art has a higher value than experience of a reproduction due to its history.

The film Diva draws on this and takes it one step further by criticizing that art can be over produced to the extent where it is forced upon people who do not want to or do not know how to appreciate it. Diva and Benjamin's ultimate conclusion is that while art always has the ability to be reproduced by man, by limiting copies and taking it out of the mass public sphere the audience are able to have a greater appreciation for it. This concept is ultimately preached by Cynthia Hawkins when she decides to only do live performances and refuses to record any albums. If we place this in a modern context i think that lot of people would come to appreciate things they normally wouldn't if it was limited to them rather then being "shoved down their throats" by media or radio.

I highly recommend this film to those who are interested in the bootlegging of live concerts

Little Superstar

This is one of my favourite videos on YouTube.

slight babbling

Again.. the video clip. Someone mentioned that the video clip takes away the appreciation of a good song.
This is very much true, however i think the music video is extremely important to us as a media saturated society. I believe that no matter how intelligent, stupid, funny, lame etc. a music video can get, these videos are important in recognising our culture(nationally, internationally) at each moment in time. You have moments when a song comes on the radio or is being played at a bar, or anywhere and it can automatically trigger memories associated to that particular song or era in which the song was released.
Video's can be a visual trigger. Not just in terms of the song but in its mise-en-scene, its camera technique, themes, views presented, choreography, characters, dancers, costume, make-up, hair etc. In most cases you can tell which era or which country a video clip was made by these such factors. Even when they are set in the past or future, their views of what they were or will be like reflect a culture's or an era's perspective of music and society.
As a visual memory they can enhance a song. Take the incredible song 'Electric Dream' by Shapeshifter. As awesome as it is already, and of course its even better live, those of you who experienced 'Rhythm n Vines' in Gisborne this year, are able to experience a part of your new years or remember that concert through the video clip for this song. The camera filters and editing even give you a sense of the season, summer, travelling and New Zealand. As well as the setting, backdrop and live material.
Or they can do exactly the opposite and turn you away from a song or keep you from even recognising 'appreciating' the song. For example 'London Bridge' by Fergie.. Whether it was a good song or not, i immediately didn't like it when i watched it. It's choreography, setting..possibly even just her, i couldn't interpret it as anything but a tasteless fergilicious dive.
As well as being able to visually bring back eras; i.e Spice Girls 'Wannabe', costume and dance, and create eras i.e. emo- My Chemical Romance, video clips can tell you about the country and culture its mediated through. Take the American hip-hop culture for instance, with its bling, video 'hoes', expensive cars, houses and other pretencious materialistic objects. Its so reptitive its expected from most hip-hop artists, and tells you about what's important in that culture. And with each new must-have technology or media, its quite possible you could tell which era of hip-hop, for example artists such as Bow-wow and the use of MySpace in his latest clip.
New Zealand hip-hop, however. In my opinion...as much as i'm sure Savage would make my hips swing.., his and various other artists attempts to create the same type of video clip doesn't quite fit with a huge portion of NZ culture that they're trying to reach or impress. Scribe's 'Dreaming', video clip was an awesome representation of not only his self but his culture, and the filming and editing of it fitted it perfectly.
A lot of NZ music videos can represent us creatively visually even if not lyrically.

STOMP

Youtube is actually the most amazing thing ever. I knew it was useful, but the quality’s kinda crappy so I wanted to find the dvd of STOMP OUT LOUD to do my research assignment on. However calling around 20 video stores and coming up empty handed, I have resorted to Youtube, what a lifesaver.

So STOMP. Those of you who haven’t heard of them, OMG.



BTW does anyone have the dvd by any chance?

So STOMP initially started out as a live theatre performance of rhythm and movement using everyday objects. Having never seen their live performance, I can still safely say the screen version can’t justify the incredible energy that can come from this group. ‘Stomp out loud’ demonstrates the limitations of mediation in its lack of atmosphere that is created by a live audience and performance fuelled by adrenaline. Performance sound is part of that energy and atmosphere, the vibrations, the contrast of sounds that can only be witnessed and felt as it’s being created, its surrounding, engulfing presence. Screen music in contrast has a flat and one-dimensional feel to it. It does help to bring another level to the imagery, it compliments it to trigger an emotional response within the audience, but it’s also very unnoticeable because of its fluidity. Just as editing is made to look seamless so is the music. The commonly non-diegetic nature of music gives it a secondary position as it’s ‘just added’ to the visuals, as opposed to coming from the visuals.

STOMP OUT LOUD the movie lacks the atmosphere that I assume would come with such an energetic performance, however it does emphasise the diegetics of the live performance. It makes sure that the sounds that are created are shown to have come from the film world, for that’s really the purpose of STOMP - their sounds are authentic, created with bits and pieces of everyday objects, not with computers, synthesizers or other electronic technology – and it isn’t generated from nowhere. The visuals are created specifically to emphasise where the sounds are coming from, the shots are directed at the source of the sounds.

I can’t think of anyting else.

Rock, Emo and Gender

Hi y’all... So, I want to do my research project on something about this...

I think it’s pretty much accepted that the reason that women have been excluded from producing rock music is because rock music is masculine domain, and women are taught from a young age that they have to be feminine... The first step to playing the electric guitar is cutting your long manicured nails... But even if women do have the desire to be a rock star then they have to play by men’s rules and wear their guitars slung like men and sing like men... and I mean really, can you think of any successful women rock groups? If you can, then just think about how many men out number them!

So anyway this got me thinking about how things have changed since the time when rock was so fashionable... and guess what is so fashionable now? Yep that’s right good ole emo music. I would hardly call emo music masculine domain... but yet, men are still the dominant music producers.... WHY IS THIS?

My Chemical Romance even had a big spiel about how they hate rock music because of the “show us your tits” attitude to women... but maybe rock and emo are not that far apart? Remember all the glam metal bands that wore makeup and yet still claim it to be masculine... I don’t know... Any ideas?

COMPUTER-MEDIATED MUSIC

A popular music scholar in Australia is doing a general survey of how we consume music. You are not required to give your name or anything that identifies you. The electronic form is user-friendly and doesn't require more than a few minutes to fill out.

"Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran"

Here's Senator John McCain, possibly the next President of the USA, incorporating the Beach Boys' song "Barbara Ann" into a questionable joke.

A further point to add...

Speaking of ‘Forrest Gump’ being set in the past, I just thought of the film ‘Grease’ (1978).

As ‘Grease’ was set in the 1950s, it would be interesting to study at how the film generated nostalgia for a 1970s audience. Not only does ‘Grease’ feature some songs from the 1950s (remade by cover band Sha Na Na) but the film explodes with images of 50’s cars, drive-in movies, juke boxes, burger joints, big skirts, leather jackets and slicked back hair- to name just a few. I guess that these were reminders of a 1950s youth for an (american) adult audience in the 1970s. But what makes ‘Grease’ still popular thirty years later? Especially to teenagers and kids in New Zealand?

And on another note…as there is so much discussion in relation to sexism- should we be angry that Sandy had to turn “bad ass” to win the guy in the end? Or do you think she could really just do with “loosening up” a little? Or did she become the empowering female taking control over him? Should we embrace her celebration of female sexuality?

Or should we all ease up as its just entertainment? Personally I think the ending of ‘Grease’ was a little flakey but I still love the movie. Is it really worth getting angry about if no one is getting hurt and the product is sold?

Forrest Gump: soundtrack to remember

Just referring to Boogie Nights from a few weeks back, I have been thinking about other films that create that sense of nostalgia through its soundtrack. ‘Forrest Gump’ is a great example, as it found huge success in the soundtrack that was released to accompany the film, selling over 12 million copies*. The soundtrack perfectly complimented the film as both the film and soundtrack covered four decades of history and music. Not only did the film take us back to moments in history, but so did the music used which instantly reminded us of those particular events or eras. Even for those of us that were not born till at least the 1980s, when we hear “Hound Dog” we instantly think of Elvis; when we hear the song “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in your Hair)”, we imagine hippies; and when we hear Creedence Clearwater’s “Fortunate Song” we can be reminded of the Vietnam War. The songs throughout the film relate clearly to the events occurring in the film’s narrative, and have clear associations with the past.

What made the soundtrack successful was its ability to achieve a sense of nostalgia. All of the songs and/or artists featured in the ‘Forrest Gump’ soundtrack were once popular hits and are well remembered. The soundtrack presented some of history’s best loved tracks on one album and is still appreciated by people of all ages. If I remember correctly, not only did my parents own the official ‘Forrest Gump’ soundtrack, I also owned it on double-cassette!

*fact from www.wikipedia.com

When I saw MIMS in the video “This is why I’m hot” my fantasies of a mysteriously hot gangster disappeared…..

Video clips.
They can be either extremely hot (I’m talking Pharrell – “Frontin” hot…)
Or extremely not… (Weird Al Yankovich’s adaptation of “Ridin’ Dirrrty”)

Although I enjoy having a good old perve at all the latest bling and grills that my favourite musicians are rocking… Overall I believe that music videos kill and tarnish good songs! How many songs can you think of, that you have heard on an album or the radio which you have appreciated for the raw tones and lyrics…
Which have then been crashed and demolished by some tacky video, revealing the crummy artist or naff love story which does not live up to your expectations of the song?

“This is why I’m hot” is a favourite song of mine, performed by Mims. When I first heard the song, I had never heard of the artist before and I actually quite enjoyed the fact that I had no presuppositions of what he looked like, his image…or really anything about him…
His amazing voice helped me to build in my head an image of the rapper which was unique to me. Then one day while flicking the channels I hear my mysterious gangsters lyrics… and I look up to see the real Mims on the screen.

Oh dear…

All my hopes and dreams were shattered!
The video definitely did not live up to my expectations, and although I still love the song, I hate to admit that it has been somewhat tarnished from this hideous visual experience.

There is also a real irony in music videos.
Despite being a visual track to accompany a piece of music produced by a certain
Artist / group, the artists themselves predominantly play a very small role in this aspect of the musical experience.

In many video clips, the artist chooses not to be in their video at all or decide to play a small role in the clip. (This is often a wise choice…I hope you are reading this Mims).
However less commonly, the artists choose to play a main role in the video for example Fiona Apple in the video “Criminal”. It became apparent after watching the interview with Apple, that artists often play a very small role in the ideas and visions behind the video – inevitably the visual image which represents the artist to the public. When referring to the video, Apple talked of the Nan Goldin inspired snapshot photography and the atmosphere of the video to be the director Mark Romanek’s vision and spoke like an outsider looking in on the film. I got the impression that Apple had very little say in what the video was going to look like (this could have been a decision of hers). I find this peculiar, that an artist who has written and created a song which as she said in the interview had personal significance, that she would want someone she barely knew, and barely knew her to create a video for this personal song –which she considered an intimate expression of herself.

Music videos… are they really necessary?
I think we should appreciate music, solely for what it is - Music...and leave the visual images to the imagination of each unique listener.

“Nappy Headed Hoes”… Overreaction or Double Standard?

So in the news recently the gender and exploitation issue was thrown open again within the US, and this time the brunt of the issue was the degradation of women in the rap lyrics.

It all began with popular radio host Don Imus calling a national women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hoes” (nappy being a derogatory reference to the hair of some black people while ho is well-known slang for whore). So was he being sexist and racist? Was Imus really to blame for his words, after all, he undoubtedly picked up the saying from hip-hop culture. Isn’t it a double standard that many rap artists today degrade and sexually exploit women in their lyrics on a daily basis and record companies continually pay these artists to create derogatory albums; radio stations continually play these songs or how about the consumers who constantly support these messages of misogyny and sexism by buying these albums. I believe sexism and racism is abhorrent in any form but was the sacking of Don Imus an over-reaction?

Do hip hop and rap artists have the right to freedom within their lyrics to include misogynist and sexist ideas – which they say is merely a reflection of the society that they live in? Being female, I’d say no and hope the sacking of Imus is just one step towards accountability for the exploitation and degradation towards women in general.

Vanisha

sexism - typical

All the commotion and fuss about females displaying their body on screen - whats the problem? It sells music, and like film - its acting... or something like that. Female artists such as PCD, Nelly Furtado, Christina Aguilera etc are criticised by selling their music by displaying sexual body image but what I don't understand is why there is such a problem with this when men are able to do the same and nothing is said about them. Hip Hop artists that remake music with PCD, Nelly Furtado and Christina such as Redman, Snoop Dogg, Timberland etc... encourage this female portrayal by the lyrics they add to the song. "Promiscuous" by Nelly Furtado features Timberland and Justin Timberlake singing lyrics such as "I can see you with my t-shirt on...." all promote the idea of sex in music. It's controversial, popular, and has attitude. Not to mention, these female artists are saying that women can make it into the industry too and show independance and determination. It's something to think about when so many people are willing to point judgement and criticism.... but really what is it that is offending them?

"Hotness", extending nipples and Dan Carter

After reading a blog entry (Jess Wong “Hot and Stupid”) I realised that I totally agree in what she was saying - people hardly react on the way that media sexualises men. Although we see it every single day we don't really see it as being that much of a bigger deal. But if there is this much criticism about the way that that women are portrayed - people should really start noticing the men - not that people don't of course. Take a trip

down to Queen Street I recently made. I had to go up to the Sky Tower gift shop to get something for visiting relatives, and on my way back down - what did I see shining down on me? - Dan Carter’s nearly naked body. (Not that I’m complaining or anything...) Carter of course is the poster boy for the new Jockey Performance underwear range for Men. He was also the model for the 2004 campaign but this 2007 campaign will go global seeing Dan grace countries such as the United Kingdom. In this poster only two things are really noticeable – his abs, his “hotness” and his um...jockeys...?

You can also click onto the website http://www.jockeyperformance.co.nz/ and on the introduction page you can watch Dan in his Jockey’s doing sit ups over and over and over and over again, which I did in fact do (purely for research reasons though of course.)


But back to my walk down Queen Street...After stopping in the middle of the pedestrian crossing and having my moment with Dan I continued on walking and what did I happen to see? No, not another poster of Dan, but a huge billboard ad for Mentos Gum. There is also a TV advert for it, I’m sure you would have seen it; man eats Mentos gum, then his nipples extend about 10cm which he then uses to catch a Frisbee. Sound familiar? Well, in Queen Street is the billboard version of this which is close up billboard of a guy’s chest, then there are tube-like pipe-like objects actually extending from his nipples in the poster (much like the TV advert does). I couldn’t find a picture of it, but I’m sure you know the one I mean. But again, with this advert you are supposed to be drawn to his abs, and his sexiness and again - his hottness.

These are just some examples of the way men are portrayed using their sexuality to sell. The same is in music too. Take rapper Snoop Dogg for example – he has brought the whole “pimp” culture into music. He glorifies the pimp culture lifestyle – exploiting themselves with all their “women”, and their “bling” and the what nots that go with it.

But males are sexualised,their bodies being are exploited, they are using their sexuality to sell products, I mean, who would be interested in buying Jockey’s if say an unknown, unfortunate looking male were the spokesperson for it? Who would want to watch a video of a fully clothed male with every single music video? Surely you wouldn't! And that is the whole point - take an attractive male or female; use their sexuality and body as an asset to help sell a product or music video. I’m not saying that it’s JUST men that we should support, because it is both sexes that are part of it (particular in the music video industry where half naked women are constantly shoved in our faces), we just have to realise that we shouldn’t just be going on about how badly sexualises women are being in today’s society – because it is the men too - not that I’m complaining or anything...

I used to hate musicals

The other day a friend made me watch Chicago and not being a huge fan of films where the characters break out into song, I was reluctant to see it. However I really enjoyed it and was impressed by the way in which the songs were incorporated into the film’s narrative. I expected the transition of Chicago from the stage onto the silver screen to be the standard use of characters just randomly breaking in and out of song – and thus accepting its origin as a theatre production.

The songs in Chicago are carefully integrated into the narrative through the imagination of daydreamer Roxy Hart. Her longing to perform on stage leads to the elaborate song and dance numbers in the film and these are cleverly integrated into the narrative of Roxy committing murder, her imprisonment and trial. I think the most impressive example of this is when Roxy is lying in her cell and gets a beat going in her head from a dripping tap and the guard’s foot steps. The transition from reality into her imagination is expressed when the cell doors slowly open and the song is introduced by the bandleader. At the end of ‘Cell Block Tango’, the music fades and we are brought back to reality through the sound of the tap dripping. Through this method of incorporating songs into the film through the character's imagination, I think Chicago is much more interesting as opposed to the characters just singing in dancing whenever they feel like it for no reason.

Another impressive aspect of the film was its unlikely cast. Despite being borderline skeletal in this film, I thought Renee Zellweger’s performance was fantastic considering she had little experience in both singing and dancing (compared to Catherine Zeta-Jones, whose performance was also flawless). The most surprising performance for me in Chicago was Richard Gere as Billy Flynn, as I am not to fan of the guy, but I thought he did an excellent job. Queen Latifah as Matron ‘Mama’ Morton and John C Reilly as Amos Hart both shine in their smaller roles. On the whole, I found Chicago to be much more than what I expected from a musical and I don't think I'll be so reluctant to see musicals anymore.

hot and stupid

In relation to the representation of genders on screen, most analysis and criticism is on that of the sexual representation of the female. But what about the male on MTV?

Males exploit elements of themselves to attract an audience just like females do, their body, their accessories, their money and fame. These are the characteristics of pop culture, its unimaginable to think of portraying the intelligence, integrity, sensitivity, the genuine feel of real life. Pop music is about fun, entertainment, enjoyment, and therefore the exploitation of the elements involved in these activities are emphasised.

I don’t believe its wrong for women to prance around on the screen, sure it makes them seem like sexual objects, but the men do exactly the same thing. They’re exploiting themselves as well, because these videos are saying that the extent to which men think are with their private parts. So how can we complain so extensively about the objectification of women, when there is a serious representation of stupidity in men? I think it’s pretty fair. Rather be hot than stupid.

Asian Pop-Queens.

There has been a lot of discussion on our 323 blog about the representation of female in music videos, and I agree that the way pop queens are portrayed is an exploitation of their sexuality. I also agree that, even though they over-show their body with sexy custom and dance, they express their individual sexual attraction differently with their own unique style. Here, I want to talk about how Asian pop queens (especially Korean) are represented in their music video which could be unfamiliar to you.


Female singers used to represent themselves as pure, clean and innocent girl in their music videos. They had rather simple and ‘cute’ dance movement with clean and sweet-looking customs. However, female stars started to turn towards the sexy trend and they are now expressing their body in more sexual way. Because of this huge change in style and image of female singers, there are many criticisms about how they are focusing more into their looks, movements, and customs rather than real music talents. Some journalists say pop queens are having a ‘sexy battle’. Because of these media articles and hearsays, the public fans are giving the female star a burden of being the sexiest.




I believe that this sexy trend emerged because of influence of western music industries. It can be said that the music industry became westernized. Many Asian pop queens are now see western pop queens like Beyonce, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Pussycat Doll as a model and follow their style. For example, a Korean young female star (called ‘Boa’) who is famous in Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries has been criticized for following Britney Spears. Although she has been criticized, she was the youngest female singer who went to Japan and had a great success. This huge development of sexy trend in Korean music industries has helped Korean music to grow throughout the neighbour countries.



I found some photos of Britney Spears and Boa's music video which you can compare and see some of similarities.

Good oppotunities

There is an interesting fact in MTV industry, and it can be simply told as an order, which is Chinese – Japanese & Korean – European & American – Asian. Maybe it lets you feel confuse, but if you watch the music videos along this order, you should understand. And in another word to describe that potential rule is globalization and glocalization. It can be observed that more and more Asian music videos contain some western countries’ element, like hip hop dancing, western culture elements and even bring some none Asian people into the video and so on. However, the western music video is really different from the Asian one, those MTV industry producers, especially the American music inderstry, like to add some traditional culture elements from other nations, and also translate into their own understanding and show to their own local audiences. Some people in Asian countries are worried about if their own music video industries disappear, and the local music industry may be subjected of other countries of music video industries in the global market. However, in my opinion, it is not very serious thing to worry about, because in the global market, every local industries may bring new ideas from others and improve their own local industry, and just like the order line shows, the flow of the elements is not only one way, it is like a circle, so the global market may give good opportunities to the individual markets and let them make progresses.